The Key to Above and Below
Hear ye and list ye, O children of Khem, to the words that I give that shall bring ye to the Light. Ye know, O men, that I knew your fathers, aye, your fathers in a time long ago. Deathless have I been through all the ages, living among ye since your knowledge began. Leading ye upward to the Light of the Great Soul have I ever striven, drawing ye from out of the darkness of night.

Know ye, O people amongst whom I walk, that I, Thoth, have all of the knowledge and all of the wisdom known, to man since the ancient days. Keeper have I been of the secrets of the great race, holder of the key that leads into life. Bringer up have I been to ye, O my children, even from the darkness of the Ancient of Days. List ye now to the words of my wisdom. List ye now to the message I bring. Hear ye now the words I give thee, and ye shall be raised from the darkness to Light.

Far in the past, when first I came to thee, found I thee in caves of rocks. Lifted I thee by my power and wisdom until thou didst shine as men among men. Aye, found I thee without any knowing. Only a little were ye raised beyond beasts. Fanned I ever the spark of thy consciousness until at last ye flamed as men.

Now shall I speak to thee knowledge ancient beyond the thought of thy race. Know ye that we of the Great Race had and have knowledge that is more than man's. Wisdom we gained from the star-born races, wisdom and knowledge far beyond man. Down to us had descended the masters of wisdom as far beyond us as I am from thee. List ye now while I give ye wisdom. Use it and free thou shalt be.

Know ye that in the pyramid I builded are the Keys that shall show ye the Way into life. Aye, draw ye a line from the great image I builded, to the apex of the pyramid, built as a gateway. Draw ye another opposite in the same angle and direction. Dig ye and find that which I have hidden. There shall ye find the underground entrance to the secrets hidden before ye were men.

Tell ye I now of the mystery of cycles that move in movements that are strange to the finite, for infinite are they beyond knowledge of man. Know ye that there are nine of the cycles; aye, nine above and fourteen below, moving in harmony to the place of joining that shall exist in the future of time. Know ye that the Lords of the Cycles are units of consciousness sent from the others to unify This with the All. Highest are They of the consciousness of all the Cycles, working in harmony with the Law. Know They that in time all will be perfected, having none above and none below, but all One in a perfected Infinity, a harmony of all in the Oneness of All.

Deep neath the Earth surface in the Halls of Amenti sit the Seven, the Lords of the Cycles, aye, and another, the Lord from below. Yet know thee that in Infinity there is neither above nor below. But ever there is and ever shall be Oneness of All when all is complete. Oft have I stood before the Lords of the All. Oft at the fount of their wisdom have drunken and filled both my body and Soul with their Light.

Spake they to me and told me of cycles and the Law that gives them the means to exist. Aye, spake to me the Lord of the Nine saying: O, Thoth, great are ye among Earth children, but mysteries exist of which ye know not. Ye know that ye came from a space-time below this and know ye shall travel to a space-time beyond. But little ye know of the mysteries within them, little ye know of the wisdom beyond. Know ye that ye as a whole in this consciousness are only a cell in the process of growth. The consciousness below thee is ever-expanding in different ways from those known to thee. Aye, it, though in space-time below thee, is ever growing in ways that are different from those that were part of the ways of thine own. For know that it grows as a result of thy growth but not in the same way that thou didst grow. The growth that thou had and have in the present have brought into being a cause and effect. No consciousness follows the path of those before it, else all would be repetition and vain. Each consciousness in the cycle it exists in follows its own path to the ultimate goal. Each plays its part in the Plan of the Cosmos. Each plays its part in the ultimate end. The farther the cycle, the greater its knowledge and ability to blend the Law of the whole.

Know ye, that ye in the cycles below us are working the minor parts of the Law, while we of the cycle that extends to Infinity take of the striving and build greater Law.

Each has his own part to play in the cycles. Each has his work to complete in his way. The cycle below thee is yet not below thee but only formed for a need that exists. For know ye that the fountain of wisdom that sends forth the cycles is eternally seeking new powers to gain. Ye know that knowledge is gained only by practice, and wisdom comes forth only from knowledge, and thus are the cycles created by Law. Means are they for the gaining of knowledge for the Plane of Law that is the Source of the All. The cycle below is not truly below but only different in space and in time. The consciousness there is working and testing lesser things than those ye are. And know, just as ye are working on greater, so above ye are those who are also working as ye are on yet other laws. The difference that exists between the cycles is only in ability to work with the Law. We, who have being in cycles beyond thee, are those who first came forth from the Source and have in the passage through time-space gained ability to use Laws of the Greater that are far beyond the conception of man. Nothing there is that is really below thee but only a different operation of Law.

Look thee above or look thee below, the same shall ye find. For all is but part of the Oneness that is at the Source of the Law. The consciousness below thee is part thine own as we are a part of thine. Ye, as a child had not the knowledge that came to ye when ye became a man. Compare ye the cycles to man in his journey from birth unto death, and see in the cycle below thee the child with the knowledge he has; and see ye yourself as the child grown older, advancing in knowledge as time passes on. See ye, We, also, the child grown to manhood with the knowledge and wisdom that came with the years. So also, O Thoth, are the cycles of consciousness, children in different stages of growth, yet all from the one Source, the Wisdom, and all to the Wisdom returning again. Ceased then He from speaking and sat in the silence that comes to the Lords. Then again spake He unto me, saying: �O Thoth, long have We sat in Amenti, guarding the flame of life in the Halls. Yet know, we are still part of our Cycles with our Vision reaching unto them and beyond. Aye, know we that of all, nothing else matters excepting the growth we can gain with our Soul. Know we the flesh is fleeting. The things men count great are nothing to us. The things we seek are not of the body but are only the perfected state of the Soul. When ye as men can learn that nothing but progress of Soul can count in the end, then truly ye are free from all bondage, free to work in a harmony of Law. Know, O man, ye should aim at perfection, for only thus can ye attain to the goal. Though ye should know that nothing is perfect, yet it should be thy aim and thy goal. Ceased again the voice of the Nine, and into my consciousness the words had sunk. Now, seek I ever more wisdom that I may be perfect in Law with the All. Soon go I down to the Halls of Amenti to live beneath the cold flower of life. Ye whom I have taught shall nevermore see me. Yet live I forever in the wisdom I taught. All that man is is because of his wisdom. All that he shall be is the result of his cause. List ye, now to my voice and become greater than common man. Lift thine eyes upward, let Light fill thy being, be thou ever Children of Light. Only by effort shall ye grow upward to the plane where Light is the All of the All. Be ye the master of all that surrounds thee. Never be mastered by the effects of thy life. Create then ever more perfect causes and in time shalt thou be a Sun of the Light Free, let thine soul soar ever upward, free from the bondage and fetters of night. Lift thine eyes to the Sun in the sky-space. For thee, let it be a symbol of life. Know that thou art the Greater Light, perfect in thine own sphere, when thou art free. Look not ever into the blackness. Lift up thine eyes to the space above. Free let thine Light flame upward and shalt thou be a Child of the Light.

TABLET XII THE EMERALD TABLETS: TABLE OF CONTENTS