Book review by Meik Meurer
Sometimes, as a seeker of truth and wisdom, one is faced with the question of whether reincarnation exists and how to gain insight into a possible path of enlightenment and initiation.
Initiation by Elisabeth Haich [1] could be called a mystical-biographical novel. The author did chose the form of a story in which the main character expounds insights based on her own experiences. The reader is thus presented with a surprising multitude of ideas and thoughts. Ancient Egypt is central to the story and in addition to inspiring philosophical questions there is this: is it true and did it all actually happen that way?
Books written in the form of an autobiography offer a special opportunity, namely that the author takes you into her or his own experience. Elisabeth Haich succeeds in this quite well and also from the very beginning. She describes in a penetrating way how her own search for knowledge and truth began already in her early childhood. From remarkable associations across many events and recurring dreams, we learn that this is a poignant search, a being moved by things you are far from immediately understanding.
The storyline remains a captivating dynamic piece of work, so intriguingly written that even the reader cannot help but participate in the inner struggle to first roughly encompass the themes set forth and then to begin to strive for a deeper understanding, to be able to see the whole.
When Elisabeth Haich then, in the second half of the book, actually provides detailed esoteric information about the various forces in the universe and their relationship to each other – even with explanations of their connection to geometry, astrology and other cosmic aspects – then as a reader you are eager to take in this fare as well.
The way Haich writes with feeling and insight and thus creates a permanently fascinating whole is impressive. You will not easily finish this book in one sitting. The wealth of information and the story mean that as a reader you need to pause now and then for reflection and to let everything sink in. This is perhaps even the best aspect of this book: taken along in the story, we can understand that – regardless of whether it all really happened – initiation is not a hurray-experience for your ego, but requires the willingness to reflect deeper and further and thus strive for true encompassing. This while being touched in your soul by something which you are far from understanding immediately.
As you can see from the symbolic representation in the form of the pyramid, each of the four faces of God contains the three divine aspects. This results in a twelve-fold manifestation which is present at every point of the universe and is acting in everything that exists, beginning with the individual creatures living on the planets and running throughout the planets to the suns and the systems of suns, throughout the universe, just like little circles in larger ones and larger circles in still larger ones, on and on to infinity. So if you understand one of these circles, you will understand the inner structure of the entire universe and of every single creature in it; for the entire visible universe is based on this twelve-fold manifestation of God.
Quote from the chapter The Four Faces of God
References:
[1] Elisabeth Haich, Initiation : mystic-biographic novel. Origo, Zurich 1954
Hungarian edition: Beavatás : óegyiptomi misztériumok. 2 vols. Édesvíz K., Budapest 2004
[2] Elisabeth Haich, Sexual Energy and Yoga, Stuttgart 1966
[3] Elisabeth Haich, Tarot, Stuttgart 1969 (reviewed new edition: Wisdom of the Tarot: 22 stages of initiation. Hamburg 2013)
