Human hands have never lost their fascination to our ancient forefathers, and even now in contemporary times, the novel roles that hands play in the humanities with their dexterity and grace never cease to amaze us. The wondrous execution of a Chopin piece, or an objet d' art fabricated carefully by a master hand--they constantly evoke a sense of joy and wonder within us. The Spirit within us responds positively to the beauty, the harmony, and the symmetry of sound and form as manifested by Nature and human hands.God's gift to man is the freedom of choice and the will to implement that choice.

On the physical plane, the hands are naturally the instruments of that will and divine blessing and have come to symbolize Man, or Adam; for only beings on the evolutionary level of man are given the prerogative to determine their own fate. It is said that not even angels have this freedom to choose, for their nature compels them to abide by the divine law. Man on the other hand, through choice, learns what it means to align himself with, or to disobey Cosmic laws. Man learns the consequences of his actions, and wise is he who takes responsibility for them. Through choice man succumbs to his lower nature and builds pandemonium in his mind and heart or he may give ear to the prompting of his divine Self and form the New Jerusalem--the new abode of peace in the lower aspects of his microcosm that this condition may become ingrained in his character and nature. By choosing the latter, the teaching of the Master Jesus--"Neither shall they say, lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke:17:21)--shall come to pass.

God, Nature, and the higher worlds communicate with Man in various ways--through dreams, through the intuitive and psychic faculties, through symbiotic energy exchange, signs, omens, and especially symbols. Basically, symbols may be classified as natural and artificial. Natural symbols are found in nature. Artificial symbols are those that we invent ourselves and assign certain basic meanings to them. Certain occult symbols--of the natural and artificial types--are known to Adepts and the multitude of beings in the spirit world. Most of these symbols have their origin in archetypal realms in the mental planes. Utilizing these in metaphysical or magickal ceremonies, rites and rituals, facilitates communication and the synergy between habitants of worlds and realms.

Objects of nature are outward symbols of inner realities within our psyche. Understand one and we will eventually understand the other. Master the inner realities and the outward symbols assume a congenial expression to correspond with the inner psychological condition. Since our hands are related to the will aspect of the Spirit, empowering one will have its effects on the other. We will not delve too deeply into this for it will take us too far into the Magical Tradition and beyond the subject matter of this article. Suffice to say that contrary to the understanding of most metaphysical students, Masterhood or adeptship has very little to do with psychicism and much to do with the magick of the divine will within man--the will to love, the will to serve, the will to sacrifice, the will to self-forgetfulness, the will to selflessness, the will to give, the will to create, the will to surrender, the will to be pure, the will to forgive, the will to be open-minded, the will not to be judgmental, etc.--most important of all, the will to implement the promptings of the Divine Spark within the microcosm.

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