cal and religious beliefs, but the
fundamental doctrine of Reincarnation was held to during the entire
period of history in Ancient Egypt, and was not discarded until the
decadent descendants of the once mighty race were overwhelmed by
stronger races, whose religions and beliefs superseded the vestiges of
the Ancient Doctrine. The Egyptians held that there was "Ka," the divine
spirit in man; "Ab," the intellect or will; "Hati," the vitality; "Tet,"
the astral body; "Sahu," the etheric double; and "Xa," the physical body
(some authorities forming a slightly different arrangement), which
correspond to the various "bodies of man" as recognized by occultists
to-day.

The Ancient Chaldeans also taught the doctrine of Rebirth. The body of
Persian and Chaldean mystics and occultists, known as "the Magi," who
were masters of the Hidden Wisdom, held to the doctrine of Reincarnation
as one of their fundamental truths. In fact, they managed to educate the
masses of their people to a much higher point than the masses of the
Egyptians, and, escaping the idolatrous tendencies of the Egyptian
populace, they manifested a very high degree of pure philosophical,
occult, and religious knowledge. The Magi taught that the soul was a
complex being, and that certain portions of it perished, while certain
other parts survived and passed on through a series of earth and
"other-world" existences, until finally it attained such a degree of
purity that it was relieved of the necessity for further incarnation,
and thenceforth dwelt in the region of ineffable bliss--the region of
light eternal. The teaching also held that just before entering into
the state of bliss, the soul was able to review its previous
incarnations, seeing distinctly the connection between them, and thus
gaining a store of the wisdom of experience, which would aid it in its
future work as a helper of future races which would appear on the face
of the earth. The Magi taught that as all living things--nay, all things
having existence, organic or inorganic--were but varying manifestations
of the One Life and Being, therefore the highest knowledge implied a
feeling of conscious brotherhood and relationship toward and with all.

Even among the Chinese there was an esoteric teaching concerning
Reincarnation, beneath the outer teaching of ages past. It may be
discerned in the teachings of the early philosophers and seers of the
race, notably in the work of Lao-Tze, the great Chinese