The Rhythm of the Middle Ages, or
a Gift From the Viscount de Figanière
* Life is slow, as it builds and preserves. It is quick, as it destroys and leads its own structures to decay. Being free from hurry allows us to be profound. Anxiety produces aggression. It also condemns people to a superficial view of things.
* In the Mahatma Letters, the Masters of the Wisdom say that an intense acceleration of material progress is the way Karma safely leads every misguided civilization to self-destruction. This takes place in strict accordance with the Cyclic Law.
* Since the starting point of Modern Age, in the 15th century, a distinct acceleration of events has ceaselessly taken place in the West. In every century, social events got quicker. And nearly everyone thought acceleration was good. We were even proud of such high speed of events. Yet high speed means there is no time to be careful or to duly think before acting.
* Helena Blavatsky was critical of Western societies, because of their mental superficiality and their use of hypocrisy, as a way to deceive themselves. She was not alone. The mystics of all nations have always made severe warnings against the exaggeration of material progress and the leaving aside of spiritual improvement of human beings.
* The Viscount of Figanière (1827-1908), a personal student of Ms. Blavatsky, left an occult gift to the generations of theosophists coming after him. He left his book “Lettres Japonaises” (139 pp.), which makes a severe examination of modernity in the West and discusses its misguided love of falsity. The volume praises the positive aspects of the Middle Ages.[1]
* Figanière is the main pioneer of modern Theosophy in Portuguese language. He wrote the fascinating novel “Guesto Ansures”, whose action occurs in the 8th Century. His defence of the Middle Ages is a defence of outward slowness. [2] There is nothing wrong with material progress, as long as it does not prevent us from dedicating ourselves to things that are more important than mere materiality. Voluntary simplicity is of the essence.
* The Masters wrote in their Letters that the future civilizations will be like the ancient ones, under a new form. The Bible states the same “law of recycling” in Ecclesiastes 1: 9: “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”
* Human souls have nothing to lose, therefore, if a “quick and anxious” civilization insists in destroying itself, in spite of the efforts of Those Who Know to reduce the causes of human suffering. Winter is necessary for a new Spring to come.
* The Portuguese and Brazilian saying goes: “There is nothing like one day after another.” In other words, there is nothing better than the law of Karma in its natural motion. It is the gradual sequence of situations along time that clarifies whatever may seem incomprehensible in the present moment.
* Being able to wait in peace is of fundamental importance, but “waiting” is something you must put in practice while doing the right thing and planting the best. Karma punishes every falsehood, and fully unmasks all forms of hypocrisy. We can be sure about it. The question is whether we don’t let ourselves be carried away by lies, or by illusion, and if we stay away from all dishonesty that we identify as such.
* Truth reveals itself to us step by step. It does so one layer after another and inevitably, especially when we are willing to see it, to accept it, and to act accordingly. If you do not search for truth, truth will search for you, and it will find you.
* Both spring and autumn are paths of transition. Spring is a gateway to the fullness of summer, or outward plenitude. Autumn promises and prepares the happiness of retreating to the essence, which means inner plenitude. In the summer, one is invited to be modest, moderate, and to remember the coldest months when outside life is reduced and withdrawn.
* Each season is a gateway. In winter, there is a secret promise of spring and summer. Just as in astrology you can better understand each sign by observing how the opposite sign works, so each season of the year has a secret intimacy with the opposite part of the cycle.
* Everything is symmetrical, and opposites complement each other, as in the creative dynamics in the daily life of a happy human marriage. Life develops and unfolds according to the law of equilibrium. The Karmic scales work 365 days a year. Sensible pilgrims trust the Law and consciously sow what they want to harvest.
Illegitimate Ritualisms
* An article published by the Independent Lodge of Theosophists quotes Helena Blavatsky saying this about illegitimate secrets in esoteric organizations:
* “… All efforts of the greatest craft [to deceive] are doomed to failure on the day they are discovered.”
* And the article proceeds:
* “At the right time, Truth prevails. If Blavatsky is right, every falsehood in the theosophical movement will implode in due time, thus opening the door of Karma to new blessings and making it easier for sincere theosophists to help mankind. So be it. Om, Shanti, Om.” [3]
NOTES:
[1] Click to see Lettres Japonaises, by Visconde de Figanière.
[2] Examine the novel Guesto Ansures, in Portuguese language. The work is available also in Spanish in the associated websites.
[3] From In 2011, a Crisis in the Egyptian Rite.
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The article “Thoughts Along the Road - 82” was published on the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists on 04 March 2025. An initial version of it is part of the May 2022 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, pp. 8-9.
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Read more:
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Print the texts you study from the websites of the Independent Lodge. Reading on paper helps us attain a deeper view of philosophical texts. When studying a printed text, the reader can underline sentences and make handwritten comments in the margins that link the ideas to his personal reality.
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Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.
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