They are Not Dead, Nor Do They Sleep....

Mouravieff argues that the "Knight" is actually a deformed personality (in terms of the ideal, but perhaps the best deformation?):

"The main characteristics of the Knightly type are his sense of equity and his devotion to duty. He aspires to accomplish deeds which may even lead him to sacrifice his life, and he will take any risk gladly for a beautiful ideal. One must not think that this type of Knight only belongs to bygone ages and that he is extinct today. This type always exists. However, he seldom comes to power in the environment 3 that characterizes our epoch. For modern methods of selection demand a certain suppleness, an elasticity of character on the part of those who aspire to leading roles and which for the Knight is completely foreign to his nature. If he competes in the race towards the summit of the human hierarchy, he soon gives up the struggle, either by his own action or because the circumstances eliminate him automatically. We can come across this type of human being in all strata of society; but in our intellectualized environment he is unlucky in business as well as in politics. On the other hand, he may make a military career or find a post in the magistracy or devote himself to social work. The different degree of development, and the particular nature of his intellectual and motor centres, lead to a whole series of psychic and psychological shadings in this type of man 2. Besides this classical type of Knight, there are others who fall into the same general category, like the hermit-monk, the Prophet, and the Apostle. One may also include artists of all kinds."
Gnosis 2


This picture represents the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a dragon. Antichrist. This is the deformation of the human personality, at its worst, in the "three centers".

Sola Fide's Danger

"In relation to the Absolute II his attitude differs, at least in appearance. Human intelligence pays homage to the greatness of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross, Yet man above all wants to consider himself as the beneficiary of the sacrifice of his Lord, who appears to him essentially as his Saviour: salvation seems to him an acquired right, a reward for the divine sacrifice..."

Mouravieff, Gnosis II

Another way to put this is that the Protestant doctrine of Sola Fide, at its worst and perhaps even its best, opens the door to a horrible error - the objectification of Christ's sacrifice in a way impossible even during the era of rampant Indulgences, so that every person can automatically assume themselves as part of the Kingdom, rather than accepting the task to become born again and obtain the inheritance, second born of many brethren under the First.

Spiritual Fatherhood, Magnetism, the Matrix

Another good post at Unurthed.

The A arrows represent the blind forces of Fate, which drive man in misery from birth to death. If he succeeds in absorbing magnetic impulses (Wordsworth's "vernal wood" impulses?) from the Divine, which flow from Center E, outside or transcendent from profane Life as man begins it, he will develop a small clear center which is magnetized to the Good. This provokes conflict in himself and around him (Jesus' "sword" which divides man from himself and crucifies the "old man"). Man, at this point, must survive, because to lose this center and fight would be to end up worse than before. But now he has help - he will be linked magnetically to stronger men or women with stronger centers, in a chain which leads closer and closer to the Divine. This was the old Catholic ideal of spiritual fatherhood and obedience.

Head & Heart

There is, however, one stumbling-block. This is impatience, the wish to get
results immediately. If we give way to this desire, we fall into the error which is
typical in this kind of research — that is — we will tackle the problem by purely
intellectual means. But in this domain, nothing can be acquired by the Cartesian
spirit acting alone. This is no longer purely a question of intelligence, but also of
wisdom, and a simultaneous and sufficient emotional participation is necessary.
Neither the head alone nor the heart alone can lead the student far. We would
not know how to pick up an object with only one finger: we could touch Jt or
push it, but to hold it, the simultaneous action of two fingers is necessary. If he
does not wish to fail, the student who tackles the elements of Gnosis or higher
Knowledge must realize from the beginning that work on these symbols
requires a simultaneous effort of head and heart,

Symbols

Beginning with the last century, the word symbol began to assume a wider
significance and to lose its original Hellenistic or Christian meaning. For
example, in modern literature, Symbolism appeared as a reaction to the totally
representative art of the Parnassians. Here the symbol is conceived as the
expression of the intimate relationship existing between two objects, in which
the one that belongs to the physical world is supposed to evoke that which
belongs to the moral world and so reach the deepest layers of the human soul.
This is how people compared the poetry of the Symbolists to music, in which the
rhythm and tones generate feelings and emotions that escape analysis.
It is clear that in this idea the symbol is undetstood as a sign created by man to
help the communication of his ideas, impressions and messages — in short,
everything, however refined, that is situated on the human plane. This
conception leaves a great deal of freedom for the creation and interpretation of
individual symbols.
In short, such a creation is wholly the product of the underdeveloped and
unbalanced human Personality, and consequently symbols of this kind, along
with the symbolism to which they give birth, have only relative value. The fact
that they are accepted by large sections of humanity, all belonging to the same
civilization, is due to a certain uniformity in the deformation of their Personality
—a uniformity that is a reflection of their education and upbringing. It also often
happens that this deformation is voluntary due to the hypnotic effect of Fashion
— especially in weak natures that wish to appear strong. This usually originates
in a fear of being 'outmoded'. This fear can become an obsession that leads to
'avant garde' activities of every sort —in Art, as elsewhere.
In the esoteric sense, Symbols are always revealed, and their deeper meaning
is precise and cannot be subject to free interpretation, since, whether expressed
in human words, diagrams, or works of Art, they express objective truths that
have been reached in a higher state of consciousness. Therefore a symbol that is
of value esoterically speaking could be partly or completely understood,
depending on the level of consciousness reached by the one who tries to
understand its meaning. But the measure to which it is understood will not
change its general meaning, which will remain the same whatever the level of
comprehension.

Eye of the Soul

"It is only after the Second Threshold that the awe-struck Faithful begin to
progressively discover this world through the medium of their higher centres.
About the working of these centres we have already quoted the following words
of St Isaac the Syrian: 'The soul, like the body,has two eyes: but while the eyes of the
body both see things in the same way, those of the soul see them differently; one
contemplates the Truth in symbols and images; the other contemplates it face to face.'