| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: Pope raised his head above all.
This teaching shows forcefully that the Pope is the very
Antichrist, who has exalted himself above, and opposed himself
against Christ because he will not permit Christians to be
saved without his power, which, nevertheless, is nothing, and
is neither ordained nor commanded by God. This is, properly
speaking to exalt himself above all that is called God as Paul
says, 2 Thess. 2, 4. Even the Turks or the Tartars, great
enemies of Christians as they are, do not do this, but they
allow whoever wishes to believe in Christ, and take bodily
tribute and obedience from Christians.
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: the revelation of certain Mysteries; he becomes an associate
of a certain Totem, a certain God; a member
of a new Society, or Church--a church of Mithra, or Dionysus
or Christ. To do any of these things he must be
born again; be must die to the old life; he must pass
through ceremonials which symbolize the change. One
of these ceremonials is washing. As the new-born babe
is washed, so must the new-born initiate be washed; and
as by primitive man (and not without reason) BLOOD was
considered the most vital and regenerative of fluids, the
very elixir of life, so in earliest times it was common to
 Pagan and Christian Creeds |