Essence;" "Essence of Life," etc., which meaning must not be confounded
with that usually and commonly employed in connection with the term,
i.e., "religious; ecclesiastical; spiritual; ethereal; holy," etc., etc.
To occultists the word "Spirit" is used in the sense of "The Animating
Principle," carrying with it the idea of Power, Living Energy, Mystic
Force, etc. And occultists know that that which is known to them as
"Spiritual Power" may be employed for evil as well as good ends (in
accordance with the Principle of Polarity), a fact which has been
recognized by the majority of religions in their conceptions of Satan,
Beelzebub, the Devil, Lucifer, Fallen Angels, etc. And so the knowledge
regarding these Planes has been kept in the Holy of Holies in all
Esoteric Fraternities and Occult Orders,--in the Secret Chamber of the
Temple. But this may be said here, that those who have attained high
spiritual powers and have misused them, have a terrible fate in store
for them, and the swing of the pendulum of Rhythm will inevitably swing
them back to the furthest extreme of Material existence, from which
point they must retrace their steps Spiritward, along the weary rounds
of The Path, but always with the added torture of having always with
them a lingering memory of the heights from which they fell owing to
their evil actions. The legends of the Fallen Angels have a basis in
actual facts, as all advanced occultists know. The striving for selfish
power on the Spiritual Planes inevitably results in the selfish soul
losing its spiritual balance and falling back as far as it had
previously risen. But to even such a soul, the opportunity of a return
is given--and such souls make the return journey, paying the terrible
penalty according to the invariable Law.

In conclusion we would again remind you that according to the Principle
of Correspondence, which embodies the truth: "As Above so Below; as
Below, so Above," all of the Seven Hermetic Principles are in full