Of all the mystical symbols known to Initiates, Man (we use the term "Man" to refer to both genders) is considered as the most ancient among them. Man possessing the masculine and feminine natures, is the epitome of the Cosmos on a microcosmic scale. Within Man's being lies all of the forces, powers, and principles of Nature; embodied within Man are the laws of the universe; mysteriously written within the sacred heart you will find the source of the sacred scriptures of the world. Mystery schools of the past and present regard that being created and considered "good" by the Archcreator as a reflection of the macrocosm; hence the term "microcosm" to refer to the totality of Man, and the usage of mirrors to symbolically convey the teaching of Man's true pristine nature as exemplified in the teachings of Taoism and Dzogchen.

Paracelsus, the medieval alchemist, believed Man to be a miniature solar system. All of the creative powers utilized in the making of a solar-system are to be found inherent within this cosmic child, within Man--the god-in-becoming. Creative and spiritual powers, however, lie dormant in a latent state within Man; their unfoldment will occur as the result of evolution, the process of growing into God's perfect image. It really takes a great deal of involvement with the study of the "Book of Man"--with internal inquiry, with introspection, with the application of principles of mysticism and the occult, and the practice thereof to discover exactly why Man is the universe on a lesser scale, on a lower octave. St. Martin, the enlightened "Theosophist," taught that the study of the nature of Man was the most proper for humanity, especially for the "Man of Desire," for the aspirant--the seeker of Truth. Qabalists of the Jewish mystical tradition refer to Man as the "microprosopus," or lesser countenance," that is, a reflected God upon the realms of formlessness and form. This belief is based on the statement in Genesis of Man being created in God's image. In Javanese mysticism, Man is known as the "Jagad Alit," or the "small universe." There are parallels of this in almost every mystical tradition of the world.

While posing as a microcosmic being, Man is a macrocosmic system to the lower kingdoms in his charge. This is in accord with the principles and famed verse of Hermes; "as above, so below"--to the Law of Correspondence. By studying the microcosm, we in fact study the macrocosm. One of the Quarternary laws of Martinism propounds this particular principle of the "Thrice Greatest." Sentient beings of the lower lifestreams look upon Man as a God--sometimes as a wrathful one. Animals, with their fine instincts developed for them by their group-spirits, their directors of evolution, perceive Man with a sense of love, and a sense of awe and fear. This ambivalent feeling and response in animals are caused by the complexity of Man's egoistic expression, the imperfect manifestation of his innate divinity and his relationship towards life as a whole. Primitive Man, or the primitive mind responds in a similar manner towards Nature, but for a different reason--ignorance, the lack of understanding towards God and Self. The problem of apparent inharmony within Nature therefore, lies within Man himself, and only within his Self, within the microcosmic kingdom of God, will he truly find the solution to right living and right relationships. Though the ordinary mind is the slayer of the Real, it is the spiritualized mind that will nullify its miscreations. Such a principle of the mind, the function of reason of which imbued by Buddhi--intuition, love, and the higher intellect--the "intelligence of the heart" of the hierophants of ancient Egypt, would reveal to Man his "Naked Face," his "Natural State," his true nature, the foundation of his existence, and the unreality of phenomena--the impermanence of form and aggregates.

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