It is of value here when we are dealing with the wielding of force to give a little information anent the use of the hands in such work. One of the Masters has said, "It is but with armed hand and ready either to conquer or perish that the modern mystic can hope to achieve his object." I intend to speak a few words about the hands, for there is more occult teaching hidden in these words than is apparent on the surface.

In one of the old books, available for the instruction of disciples these words are found:

"The armed hand is an empty hand and this protects its possessor from the accusations of his enemies. It is a hand freed from the taint of the four symbolic evils - gold, lust, the dagger, and the finger of enticement."

These words are most significant, and it might be well to study briefly the type of hands and their quality which are distinctive of disciples. In all forms of esoteric teaching the hands play a great part and this for four reasons:

1. They are the symbol of acquisitiveness.
2. They are centers of force.
3. They are wielders of the sword.
4. They are, when employed unselfishly
1. Instruments of healing.
2. Agencies whereby certain keys are turned.

Viewing them as symbols of acquisitiveness it must be remembered that in the average man they are employed to "grasp and to hold" and to acquire that which the man wants for himself and for the satisfaction of his selfish desire. In spiritual man, the hands are still symbols of acquisitiveness but he only grasps that which [576] is needed for the helping of the group and releases at once towards that end that which he has thus acquired. The initiate holds nothing for himself; the savior of the race may utilize all that is laid up in the divine storehouse but not for himself, only for those he seeks to help.

As centers of force the hands play a most potent part, and one that is little understood. It is an occult fact that the hands of a disciple (once he has acquired that acquisitiveness which is based on unselfish group work) become transmitters of spiritual energy. The "laying on of hands" is no idle phrase nor confined solely to the operations of the episcopate of any faith. The occult laying on of hands can be studied in four aspects: