The Gnosis and the Law
by Tellis S. Papastavro

One of the many blessings that Saint Germain has brought and bestowed upon mankind, since His assumption of the Office of Chohan of the Seventh Ray, was the use and practice of "Decrees". A "Decree" is the invocative request of an individual to God or His Messengers, through the voice of the outer self, for the granting of a particular need, be it ephemeral or one's own eternal freedom. It transcends common prayer, for while in the latter the appeal takes the form of an entreat, in the "Decree", it is accepted as an accomplished fact.

In the Bible we read: "Decree a thing and it shall be established unto you." To many of us these words had no more meaning or significance than similar admonitions presented in the Scriptures and repeated time and again in the past many years. Even to Saint Germain Himself, it seems, the true potency of the "Decrees" was not fully recognized, until sometime after it became apparent that He was to represent the Ray of Freedom - the Seventh Ray - in the next two thousand years. It came to Him, as we will see, through the courtesy of the Elohim Arcturus and the Archangel Zadkiel, both of Whom represent the Seventh Ray, one for the Elementals and the other for the Angelic Kingdom.

A "Decree" is more than a vocal expression, and its efficacy is determined not only by the amount of feeling and conviction that is released through it but also, by the clarity of the thought form, held in the mental body, showing the useful purpose of the request. This triad forms the pattern around which the physical energies of the worded decree coalesce and are best depicted when the individual, through practice, becomes still and allows the energy, radiation, and power of the "I AM" Presence, through the Holy Christ Self, to flow into and nourish the lower bodies of the outer consciousness [note 1]

To accomplish this, however, it is most essential that these lower bodies be trained to be man's servants and not his masters. The stilling of the mental body; the quieting of the surging sea of the emotions; and the refusal to allow the etheric body to conjure up failures and disillusions of the past, are of the utmost importance. Then what the Psalter had said: "Be still and know that "I AM" God," can come to actual reality and contemplation, in the use of the "Decrees" is on hand.

In the use of the "Decrees", there is the release of one's own energy, which both Ascended Masters [note 2] and the "I AM" Presence, must have and require not only for the granting of ephemeral requests but of one's own eternal Freedom. The conscious application to the Mighty "I AM" Presence, through the "Decrees" makes every call a sure instrument for an answer, while in most prayers, it is a hoped-for activity. In prayer, there is an appeal for the granting of a request, while in the "Decree", it is accepted as an accomplished fact.

Going back to Saint Germain, in a discourse He gave to the students of "The Bridge to Freedom", in Philadelphia, January 1, 1955("Bridge", July, 1955, p. 9) gave details of how the knowledge and use of the "Decrees" had their propitious beginning and how the Elohim Arcturus and the Archangel Zadkiel, both of the Seventh Ray, gave Him the idea. In the same talk, expanding in retrospect, He also gave us information hitherto unknown, in regard to a Chohan assuming His new Office; what is expected of Him and how He goes about achieving it.

"---Each Chohan, when He begins a new endeavor, has to enter the Heart of the Silence and find out how to present the Law through the vibratory action that can best reach the minds of the people embodied. It is the souls of embodied mankind that the Chohan must serve. The Karmic Board, through Cosmic Law, decides who is to come into embodiment; who is to get the benefit of the radiation during every two thousand year cycle. Then the Chohan, Who is the heart of the radiation for that two thousand years, has to draw forth from the Heart of God a way and means of presenting that particular aspect of Truth, so that the individuals who are His charges in that two thousand years, will get the greatest possible benefit. Beloved Lord Maitreya supervises each successive Chohan in this preparatory service.

When it became apparent that I was to have the opportunity of representing the Freedom Flame in this two thousand year cycle (as the great Cosmic Wheel turns), I had no more to work with than you have in this room today! I had only My consciousness, My mind, My feelings and My access to God and His Universal Wisdom, through contemplation. People think that as soon as you become Ascended, every plan is laid out before you. That is not true. Each of Us, on the scale and ladder of evolution up to Alpha and Omega Themselves, must use Our faculties to develop a "seed idea" and I am sure that Alpha and Omega [note 3] do the same with the superior Sun of the Galaxy of Galaxies.

Each of Us has to draw forth consciously, ways and means to fulfill Our part in the Divine Plan [note 4]

First, I had to find a place on the surface of the Earth, free enough of etheric records so that the consciousness of mankind would not be over-laid with the tremendous blood records, distresses and fears of the past. America was such a place. Then I had to find individuals whose consciousness I could reach by whatever means I could evolve - individuals who would believe in Me - those whose consciousness was receptive enough to receive My vibration and share My vision. This was not too difficult, for I had friends of many ages, all of you here among them. These individuals I endeavored to contact first, through the kind offices of Helena Blavatsky [note 5] and others. Then there was before Me the problem of how to benefit the race quickly.

One day while I was within the Heart of the Silence, the Beloved Archangel Zadkiel and the Great Elohim Arcturus gave to Me the idea of training people in the power of invocation, in the power of magnetization, and in the power of conscious decrees [note 6]

That day was the happiest day in My Service as a Chohan, for I knew that which could be accomplished through individual and group endeavor would hasten the Earth's evolution by millions of years. The establishment of groups of people upon the surface of the Earth who would create "force fields" [note 7] by releasing their energy in giving decrees; magnetic centres to draw the Angels, the Devas and the powers of God became My aim. These radiating centres would be foci through which God's blessings would spread forth into the mental and feeling worlds of mankind. That became My next endeavor. Such groups were established, decree patterns were set up and a certain understanding of the spiritual Law of the "I AM" Presence entered the consciousness of the people.

Then the beloved Maha Chohan and beloved Morya came to Me with the opportunity to expand the understanding of a few who could sense My vibration and would be willing to step across the abyss of reason into a new world. Each one of you has crossed that abyss upon the bridge of faith and has become a creator of force fields which are magnetic currents drawing the Presence of the Ascended Host and the spiritual radiation from above. I could spend a month talking upon "force fields" alone.

Do you know what a magnet your heart is? It keeps the elements of Earth, water and air in your physical body from flying into space. It keeps the members of your body together. It keeps life flowing from the Central Sun through your individual Presence, which animates your form and gives you the use of life, intelligence and consciousness. It draws to you all manner of things, good or evil, according to the power of your attention. That magnetic power in the heart has not been utilized consciously for a constructive purpose by many individuals, since the days of Atlantis.

Arcturus, Zadkiel and Myself set into action at Inner Levels, a plan whereby you might learn to magnetize more power and more Light and thus expand your own individual spheres of influence. Then, collectively, you could create a "pull" on God Beings Who, for the lack of this "pull" have not been able to serve mankind [Note 8]

Even Alpha and Omega Themselves, will not deny the magnetic pull of your heart. Remember the Sun Itself (Helios) any Cosmic Being, any Angel, Deva or Power of Light, must respond to the magnetic pull of your heart in invocation. Then why allow the magnetic pull of your heart to draw into you disintegration, doubt, fear and all these things which are registered on the face of the Earth, when you have within you the power to magnetize the blessings of even Alpha and Omega, the Beings in the Central Sun of our System.

The present condition of your physical and inner bodies is the result of unconscious magnetization. You have no idea what you draw into that, there is, in reality, no limitation that can withstand the very nature of your being; you are absorbers! You should, also be radiating centres of constructive thought and feeling, absorbing only that which you consciously desire, instead of allowing yourselves to enter a state of negative consciousness which is mostly active except in the time of actual application [note 9].

Your thoughts and feelings should be positive radiating centres in the knowledge of the mastery of the "I AM" Presence; in the knowledge that there is in reality no limitation that can withstand the power of your Light; in the knowledge that there is no ill-health; in the knowledge that there is no distress, disintegration or death!

Now, what is the usual reaction? A student comes into a class and stays for a course of seven days, becoming filled with the fire and enthusiasm which is the radiation of the Master. Yet the moment they return into their individual worlds and the energy of the masses touches them, they again absorb limitations [note 10].

God! Oh God! You are provided with two powers, the same as the Sun; the power of magnetization, to draw towards you only that which you want, and the power of radiating what you wish to give forth to bless life. Until you learn to control these two forces, you are a plaything for any energy that chooses to attach itself to you---" [note 11].

In the following, Saint Germain gives us additional information and means by which the best results can be obtained through the use of decrees.("The Seventh Ray", p. 54)

"---The efficacy of the Decree is determined both by the amount of feeling and conviction that is released through it, and the clarity of the picture held in the mental body, which actually forms the pattern around which the physical energies of the worded fiat coalesce.

For instance, the Flaming Sword of Lord Michael, the Archangel of Deliverance, is His own thought form, vitalized by His God-Feeling of absolute mastery and directed by His Will, and often His Word, into conditions that require assistance. If He had no clean-cut thought, His sword would be vague, vapory, poorly formed and would act with little efficacy.

The ability of the student to picture the Activity which he is decreeing to be established unto him or through him and the amount of positive feeling in the efficacy of that Activity to manifest control of a situation, form more than eighty per cent of the power in the decree. Therefore, the interest of the student must be behind the decree, and his energies must be positive and controlled if he is to have results of a positive nature.

The amount of power which is released through the decree varies according to the nature of the student. I have seen a man struck dead by a whispered decree of hate and venom which was charged with sufficient force to shatter the physical envelope. (Of course, the generator did not realize that he was signing his own death warrant the moment he released his decree.)

The control of energy through the vocal chords is determined by the amount of Mastery which the individual has over the emotional body. The volume of sound released is not as important as the quality of the sound. For instance, the hysterical scream of a person in distress releases much volume, but renders no constructive service. Yet, there is the controlled summons of the Initiate which raises the dead to life and which, in both volume and power, is known to shatter glass and blow out walls.

Some individuals can, by nature, be extremely positive in the use of a low, Masterful tone. Others cannot convey feeling except by the exertion of a measure of physical force which gives assurance to the lifestream of accomplishment. Here, Freedom is the order of the day. Action is the requisite of the hour.

Balanced control of energy, whether it is coupled with the "loud voice" by which Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb, or the Voice of the Silence by which the Sun is bidden to rise each morning from the bed of night.
When the decree is coupled with the visualization of the activity of the Sacred Fire, which is being invoked, the positive quality of the voice will avoid the "sense of battle" which is sometimes apparent in the uncertain life energy of the student.

On the other hand, more feeling is charged into the group which will be revivified in their individual activities if the decrees are given in a good, firm manner.

The importance of the audible decrees lies in the fact that the thought and feeling forms are clothed in the substance, energy and vibratory action of the octave in which most of the distressing appearances abide.
I would emphasize that power is drawn and focused through the rhythmic invocation which emphasizes the feeling of the student body, clarifies the thought form and builds the momentum in the release of the energy, not only of the unascended beings, but of the Great Ones Who always respond to such calls. Unless the group with which one is working are Masters of Invocation, force is scattered by changing the pattern and decree too often and little is accomplished thereby.

When I am called upon to work with a group of chelas, My first endeavor is to center the consciousness of the individuals within the Heart of the Sacred Fire. From this centre, the invocative powers of the lifestreams are most effective.

"I consciously enter and abide within the Heart of the Sacred Fire - the true centre of my Being."

"I AM" the Presence of God within the Heart of the Sacred Fire and I speak and command with authority."

"I AM" vested with the Power of the Three Times Three." "I AM" vested with the Power of Transmutation."

"I AM" vested with the Power of Precipitation."

"I AM" vested with the Power of Levitation." on and on ad infinitum.

Short, clear endings are preferable because they seal the decree in the feelings of the energy of the students as well as the conditions which are being transmuted. Then in the command and authority of the Presence within the Heart of the Sacred Fire utilize the Power in one good, rhythmic decree and let the momentum build---.

"In the Name of the Presence of God which "I AM" - through the Magnetic Power of the Sacred Fire vested in me I command---

In the Decrees, I advocate using constructive thought patterns rather than destructive ones like "tornado" because all destructive activities of nature pictured add to the coming appearance when nature's forces are unleashed.

If you were in a position to have the inner sight opened for a moment and could see the tremendous response of the Beings at Inner Levels when a group of mankind vested with the conscious Power of the Sacred Fire send up the rhythmic release of their energy in a word pattern, it would fire you with the desire to stay with that form until the signal of your feeling world acknowledged full accomplishment.

The ascending invocation completes its pattern on the last word of the Decree and the God-Beings begin Their Outpouring on the first word of the Acceptance.
On the next rhythmic wave, the Ascending Invocation rises to the top of the preceding crest and then, with the added momentum of the increased energy, pierces further into the Upper Spheres and brings back an amplified Outpouring.

The competence of the director in drawing the energy into a rhythmic beat determines the efficacy of the decree and the height to which it can reach with the subsequent return of the God-Light into the world of man---.

The volume of sound is not so important as the unity of the energy. Some people can accept accomplishment only through the strong release of the spoken word - others can accept accomplishment through the feelings - it all depends upon the evolution of the individual and the tendencies of the nature.

Suffice to say, rhythm, one-pointedness, clarity of the pictured activity and sufficient speed of timing - to keep the inner bodies alive - are requisites to God Accomplishment---."

Alpha, the Great Eternal Progenitor, speaks to Man

An Address by the Creator of Our Galaxy
(Refer to note 3)

In the following, we present an address given by Alpha, the Solar Logos of the Great Central Sun, "Alpha and Omega", the Creator of our Galaxy, the Great Eternal Progenitor, under Whom the Seven Solar Systems, one of which is our own, Helios and Vesta, have Their Being and evolve.

As far as it is known, this is the first time in the history of this Planet that this Great, Exalted Being, literally our God and our Creator, has come to Earth and spoken to His people. The address was given to the students of The Summit Lighthouse, at Woodstock, Ontario, Canada, September 2, 1961. It is presented here through the courtesy of "The Summit Lighthouse".

The Address

"Celestial Choirs, Hail!

"I AM" Alpha! Omega standeth beside Me, and with a Voice, as a Voice of many waters, I speak to those beloved Heart Flames - not only upon the Planet Earth - upon Terra, My Beloved, but upon all Systems of Worlds, bringing the pulsation of Our Eternal Flame and the Victory of that Flame, which is your very life!

It is Our Will that you recognize that We have eternally desired and sired within you from the beginning, the Great Tablets of the Divine Commandment - the Eternal Law of Our Being, by which is sustained Our Own Existence; therefore, within you there is a manifestation and a tracing of the Sacred Fire Element upon those Tablets within your Heart where We have written Our Commandments. As We have declared, within your hearts and your minds, will We write Our Law! The Law of God - the Law of Adoration is reflected in the words: "I AM" - for "I", ALPHA, the One Who signifies the Source - the numeral 1, and the word I.

OMEGA, My Beloved, represents the "AM", and is therefore called Ah-may-ga. I - AMega - the Beginning and the Ending - declare that the pulsating Life Waves by which the entire Cosmos is created is a boon to sharing Our dove with all Systems of Worlds and binding them together in a great Divine Unity of Eternal happiness and solicitude.

Peace, then, floweth like a River from Our Throne, and the sense of Adoration which pours out into the Cosmos, blesses all those Beings who are sustained by the Light Wave that floweth from Us.

You upon the Earth are fortunate ones, for, although you have been enclosed by the shadows of mortal will - as mortal will has misused the Free Energy which We so freely gave - "I AM" apprised by the The Great Divine Director and Those Who have to do with the magnification of the Sacred Fire upon this Earth, that you are being exalted and lifted up from day to day, regardless of appearances to the contrary, which (as Beloved Saint Germain - Sanctus Germanus - has told you) are only temporal manifestations - all transmutable by Our Light and the Radiance of the Sacred Fire.

Expand, then, Our Light, without limit! Accept Our Blessing today, and know that the Powers in the Great Central Sun are no different than the Powers in the Sun of your System of Worlds. For there is a duplication of the Light from Our Light there present, and that which Helios and Vesta manifest is a duplication of Our Radiance.

It has been Our wish, from the Beginning, to share with all the Creation, all the Goodness that We have, and to hold back nothing of our Radiance from the smallest atom on the smallest System of Worlds. Therefore, the permanent atom within each of your Hearts is a replica of the Crystal Atom of My Own Being.

Think! Think! Think! of the meaning of My words. For therein lies the "key" to your Eternal Freedom. And the asserting of your dominion shall lift the Earth and its evolutions into a state of Exaltation Eternal.

The blessings of OMEGA be upon you - and may We bestow here a Focus of Our Radiance, sustained by the Great Divine Director and all the Hosts of Heaven.
May Our Cosmic Cross of White Fire watch between Thee and all of the Hosts of Heaven for you are never absent from Us. There is in this Replica of My Being a Ribbon of Light connecting you all with My "I AM" Presence and so of a Truth - though it may not seem so to your outer selves - WE ARE ONE.

Receive, O prodigal Children, Our Kiss of Peace, and know - though you may feel far away from Me, that "I AM" nigh, even at the very door of your Heart, knocking with the Eternal Gift of Life with each Heartbeat, and I determine that you who desire to do Our Eternal Will shall not fail.

I thank you and I ask the Cosmic Choirs that came and sang as I began to speak, to sustain their great magnificent tones for twenty-four hours, according to your Earth time. Let those vibrations be anchored here, and bless all for ten thousand miles from this centre!

In the Name of the Mighty "I AM" Presence, I, ALPHA, the Beginning, and OMEGA, the Ending, have spoken."

Saint Germain's previous re-embodiments

As far as it is possible for us to know, the spiritual career of Saint Germain - Sanctus Germanus, as He, usually, called Himself - started about seventy thousand years ago. He was the Head of one of the greatest empires of that day which, centering at what we know today, as the Sahara Desert, extended from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the Indies. In those days, the Sahara was not an arid desert but a fertile, productive region. Even at that far distant epoch, Saint Germain was highly evolved and one of His main aims, at that time, was to raise the then-existing civilization to masterly levels. Doubtless, He was fully qualified to win His Ascension, but, as we are told, He declined so that by continuing to live in the world of form, he would gain more experience and be better prepared to fulfill the mission which He, inherently, knew was the ultimate purpose of His Being. Having developed what we know as "continuity of consciousness", he could remember events of previous re-embodiments, this greatly assisting Him to His purpose.

Historically, we know of His life as Joseph, the husband of Mary, Mother of Jesus. How He was selected for that has been related in a previous chapter. But before then, in one of His re-embodiments, He was the prophet Samuel and later, in the Fourth century, A. D., we find Him as the monk Amphibalus, in England, where he was beheaded at 303 A. D., as a heretic. In the church calendar, He is recognized, today, as Saint Alban. During the Fifth century - 411485 - we find Him in Greece, as the philosopher Proclos, and later again in England as a member of the "Round Table" of King Arthur, as the magus Merlin.

England seems to have had a particular attraction to Him, and in the Thirteenth century (1211 - 1294) again lived there, as the monk Roger Bacon, whose wisdom and knowledge was such as to be considered one of the greatest intellects of the English world.

At the end of the Fourteenth century, as Christian Rosenkrentz, at the tender age of five, He was placed in a monastery to follow Monasticism. He distinguished Himself so much at it that, before reaching maturity, as a teenager of seventeen years of age, He had become so famous for His virtues and wisdom that in visiting the Wise Men of Damcar, in Arabia, the Magi there welcomed Him as One that for so long they expected. How long He remained there is not known but on His return to England, He brought with Him a translation into Latin, of a work in Arabic, written by the Magi at Damcar. It was at that time that He visited the Egyptian Branch of the Great White Brotherhood where He was initiated. In Germany, He founded the Order of the "Rosy Cross", from which the present "Rosicrucian Societies" have developed.

In those days, spiritual darkness was so thick, impenetrable and dismal, that, as Saint Germain, in one of His addresses to the students related, He and His fellow aspirants had to meet in great secrecy, disguised and in caves, for fear of Ecclesiastical persecution.("Bridge", October, 1958, p. 6)

His life as Christopher Columbus is well known and reference to it is made elsewhere in these pages; let it be repeated, however, that in His attempt to find a new world, His reaching Cuba was not entirely accidental, for once being one of the Priests of the Temple of Archangel Zadkiel's there, it was natural that the place's vibrations would have attracted Him to it.

It is worth noticing, though not verified officially, that after his embodiment as Columbus, Saint Germain re-incarnated and assumed the body of Paracelsus. In the light that America was discovered in 1492 and Paracelsus was born in 1493, offhand this theory seems fantastic. Such a thing, however, is more than possible and Saint Germain, being highly evolved, could most easily assume the physical form of Paracelsus in the same manner that Jesus assumed the physical form of Apollonius of Tyana. Those who are inclined in the belief of this theory, base their argument on the fact that Paracelsus had many similarities in taste and knowledge with Saint Germain.

First and foremost, was an alchemist, something for which Saint Germain was greatly interested; he devoted himself to metaphysical studies and his research for the elixir of life was, certainly, uncommon. To crown it all, his particular interest and study of the Latin translation of Christian Rosenkrentz's book from Damcar was truly phenomenal [note 12]

The last earthly life of Saint Germain was that of Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626, natural son of Queen Elizabeth and legal successor to the Throne of England. This Throne was denied to Him by His Own mother and when later the "usurper", James I, embezzled the money of the Treasury, Saint Germain, as Francis Bacon, and Official Royal Exchequer; assumed full responsibility and was legally condemned for it. Referring to this, in one of His addresses to the students, He said that James I "conveniently" took the money and "My name has not as yet been cleared of it".

As we know, Saint Germain has brought the Violet Transmuting Flame to this Earth and is the Great Power behind it. It is not generally known, however, that even before His Ascension, He "volunteered to have that Violet Ray actually grafted into His Own Heart. Thus He came into embodiment, century after century, as the most powerful concentrated radiating centre of that Violet Ray and Flame, until the very places where He lived and moved the scent of Violets was clearly discernible---.(Archangel Zadkiel, "Bridge", March, 1958, p. 11).

As Francis Bacon, Saint Germain wrote several Books and Treatises, among them the Shakesperean Plays. As He Himself related it, in one of His addresses to the students, He followed His own funeral, as Francis Bacon, in physical, living form, - and as we are told, it was a feminine body.

He received His Ascension, May 1, 1684, in Transylvania, Hungary, where He went for that purpose from England.

The first Ascended Master Being He met on the other side was the Cosmic Being Goddess Liberty, Whom He asked, "if she knew anyone there from Whom He could get help for mankind."

"There is some One", She told Him, and that "some One" was Herself.("Bridge", January, 1957, p. 17)

The Great Divine Director was His Guru and Teacher and, we are told, He was overshadowed by Him. Originally, He came from the Planet Venus.("Bridge", July, 1959, p. 82)

Between the years 1710 and 1822, He appeared in physical form in different parts of Europe and America, and no one ever could learn His real identity. He was known as Count de Saint Germain, in France, Wonderman in Germany, Count Bellamore in Venice, Prince Rakoczy in Dresden, and with different names elsewhere. He was known to possess vast wealth, but nobody could learn its source. During the French Revolution, if Marie Antoinette followed His advice and directions, the bloodshed would have been avoided. If Napoleon had continued following Saint Germain's guidelines, not only Saint Helena would have remained unnoticed to the world, but also, a united Europe would have been created, with the ending of all wars [note 13]. The assistance Saint Germain has been giving to America, since her inception, is not generally known, but if it were, it is questionable whether it would have been recognized and appreciated.