Prepare yourself to meditate on the sword in a small room, in a quiet place. Sit in front of a white wall, either in a chair or on a cushion in the Eastern style if you are used to it. In front of you place a real two-edged sword with a cross-hilt, or its drawing. As for breathing, do as stated above. The meditation should last for 15-20 minutes at the beginning, and longer, if you can, later. At the beginning, meditate with the eyes half-open and in half-light, assisting yourself with the mental repetition of words concerning the archetypal or spiritual qualities of the sword.

 

Remember to begin each meditation on the symbols after having prayed to the Most High to help in the successful outcome of the meditation, and do not forget to thank Him at the end: Say few but strong words.

 

The meditation with the help of the real object or its painted or drawn shape, should then be continued by visualization with the eyes closed, that is, with the detailed and perfect reconstruction of the symbol. Also, make sure your backbone and neck are as straight as a plumb-line.

 

These instructions are the same for every meditation. In the meditation, evoke the sword as a symbol and its meanings, which must be interiorized. So, say to yourself that the steel of that well-tempered blade is the initiatic will, the faith, the inner fire; it is the power of the Re-Awakened and of the Cherubim, guardian of the Tree of Life in Eden. At the right time, with words and actions, the two edges of the blade are the certainty of always striking evil from wherever it comes.

 

The hilt has the strength of the cross to remind the Initiate of the four elements and the mastery to be exercised over them; it is the vertical Initiation which comes from on high, and the horizontal which comes from Man and the Brethren who support him; it is the crucifixion of the instincts and the sacrifice of the Cosmic Hero on Golgotha, in conformity with the Mystery of the Holy Grail .

 

The sword is the weapon which the Builders of the Temple grip with the left hand, using the right for what is used for work: trowel, mallet.

 

The sword is the weapon of the “fearless and pure hearted” Knight, defender of the weak and the oppressed. It represents the invincible fighter against the enemies of the ‘Great Architect of the Universe’ and the Brethren who are persecuted by the obscure forces of the skies and earth, sometimes hidden in the unconscious; it is the initiatic will ‘par excellence’ which can become an instrument of consecration or of thunderbolt.

 

It leads one to the experience of the Bodhisattva, the Helper and the Liberator, in whose hand it becomes the flaming sword of life and death, the first for the perfectible and the perfect, but the second for those who are hostile to perfectibility.

 

To meditate, before, during and after the Initiation, on this symbol and managing, at the same time, to live a social and personal life in keeping with the meaning of the symbol, means winning perfection and knowledge, freeing both yourself and others in order to fight together for the defense of the Faith in the Religion taught by Saint John, exalted to the service of Justice and Love, which assumes that every barrier of a dogmatic tendency is smashed in the complete fulfillment of Freedom, Brotherhood and constructive Co-operation with God.

The flameless sword expresses the adamantine and vigilant will of the Brethren who keep watch to defend or correct the Recipient, but when it is flaming it represents the Word, that is, the active thought, symbol of rebellion against vices and crimes, which must be attacked and repelled in our temples.

 

It is a wonderful symbol, expressing forcefully the Word-Light- Sound in a perfect unity of action during the purification and expiation through the hammer of destiny.

Tommaso Palamidessi

excerpt from "THE SWORD AS AN EXAMPLE OF MEDITATION."

of the  14th Booklet