The Theosophical Seal - Canadian Theosophical Association

The Theosophical Seal by Arthur M. Coon
Primer of Higher Space, following Hinton's and Ouspensky's works on higher dimensional space and its
relationship to life. Lines, angles and curves, forming every conceivable geometric pattern in complex
combinations and arrangements are designed to show that the outer world of Nature and the inner world
of Spirit are intimately and intricately interrelated. This interrelationship between the inner and the outerthe
Noumenon and the phenomena- finds it expression through geometric figures. They have called it a
new Symbology of the spiritual life. The idea behind this form of expression is that invisible forcesincluding
thought and emotion- produce vibrations in the rarer media which surrounds us and which may
be caught or fixed, so to speak, in a particular series of geometric figures. Music , the most etherial or
fluid of the arts, might thus be compressed or frozen within a composite figure made up of cubes,globes,
tetrahedrons,pentahedrons, etc., fantastic arrangements. The term"Architecture is frozen music" became
a popular expression. This term really originated a century earlier by the German Neo-Platonic
philosopher Frederick Von Schelling (Philosophie der Kunst, pages 576- 593). The idea of interpreting
the universe and life in terms of mathematics has been taken up by modern philosophers, with the
benefit of the advanced science of physics, and forms an approach to the subject which has a close tie-in
with science itself.
Manly P.Hall, in his "Symbolism, the Universal Language". (Lectures on Ancient Philosophy") makes
some interesting observations on the meanings of lines, curves, angles, etc.. Writing about caricatures,
he shows that every phase and degree of human emotions and character may be portrayed by the
correct usage of lines. By the convex, concave or angular lines,little idiosyncrasies of character may be
emphasized out of their normal proportions, depicting personal traits otherwise unsuspected. As every
artist knows, lines,-horizontal, vertical, oblique, convex and concave- as applied to the human face (and
figure) tell a story beyond the power of words. Today this art has a universal appeal through the medium
of the cartoon. Wit, satire and criticism, through the art of suggestion, become by far more potent than
direct statement- and avoid the danger of incrimination. The language of lines may be summarized
briefly: straight lines and angles denote strength and are therefore masculine; curved lines and arcs
express beauty and suggest the feminine.
Symbolism plays an important part in the world's great literature, particularly Oriental literature. Myth ,
allegory, parable and glyph are universally recognized techniques in portraying- and preserving- spiritual
or philosophic truths. Some of the most profoundly beautiful literature the world has ever known, written
thousands of years before the Christian era, comes to us from India, cradle of the ancient Aryan race.
The Puranas, Upanishads and Gita contain not only the supreme laws of the spiritual life and rules for
attaining union with God, but also the story of cosmogenesis- of the creation and evolution of the
universe and of man. All of this is told in epic form, using allegory and myth. In what better way could the
sublimity of these truths have been preserved over the thousands of years of the infancy of the human
race Our own Bible is an outstanding example. Serious and sincere students agree that many of the
stories of the Bible are meaningless, not to say fantastic, unless interpreted in the light of symbolism: The
Serpent and the Garden of Eden, Noah's Ark, Jonah in the Whale's Belly, Joshua and the Walls of
Jericho - to mention a few which everyone knows. To translate these remarkable stories as history is to
miss completely the profound truths so thinly veiled. Symbolically, we may read in them the pilgrimage of
the human soul through its rounds of manifestation, the cosmogenesis of life and form in our solar
system, the way of perfection and the eventual reunion of man with God. The greatest tragedy of
Christendom is the blunder of the western world in having read its sacred scriptures only as history or
geography. It seems most appropriate to insert here another quotation from Manly Hall: "Symbols are
formulated to clarify truths which in their abstract form are incomprehensible. Idolatry consists in the
inability of the mind to differentiate between the symbol and the abstract principle for which it stands".
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