among John's following, which spread rapidly to the surrounding
country, at this promise of the coming of the Lord--the
Master--perhaps even the Messiah of the Jews. And many more came unto
John, and with him waited for the Coming of the Master.

This John the Baptist was born in the hill country of Judea, nearly
thirty years before he appeared as a prophet. His father was of the
priestly order, or temple caste, who had reached an advanced age, and
who lived with his aged wife in retirement, away from the noise and
confusion of the world, waiting the gradual approach of that which
cometh to all men alike. Then there came to them a child of their old
age, unexpected and unhoped for--coming as a mark of especial favor
from God--a son, to whom they gave the name of _Johanan_, which in the
Hebrew tongue means "Jehovah is gracious."

Reared in the home of his parents--the house of a priest--John
saturated himself with all the Inner Teachings reserved for the few,
and withheld from the masses. The Secrets of the Kaballah, that system
of Hebrew Occultism and Mysticism in which the higher priests of Judea
were well versed, were disclosed to him, and occult tradition has it
that he was initiated into the Inner Circle of the Hebrew Mystics,
composed of only priests of a certain grade, and their sons. John
became an Occultist and a Mystic. When the boy reached the age of
puberty, he departed from the home of his parents, and went into the
wilderness, "looking to the East, from whence cometh all Light." In
other words, he became an Ascetic, living in the wilderness, just as
in India even to-day youths of the Brahmin or priestly class sometimes
forsake their homes, renouncing their luxurious life, and fly to the
jungle, where they wander about for years as ascetics, wearing a
single garment, subsisting on the most elementary food, and developing