seals, the seven castes into which the Egyptians and East Indians were
divided, and the jubilee of seven times seven years. Among the
dedications to the twelve signs we mention the twelve months of the
year, the grand cycle of 12,000 years, the twelve altars of James, the
twelve labors of Hercules, the twelve divisions of the Egyptian
Labyrinth, the twelve shields of Mars, the twelve precious stones,
ranged in threes to denote the seasons, in the breastplate of High
Priest, the twelve foundations of the Sacred City, referred to in the
Book of Revelation, the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve tribes of
Israel, and the twelve Disciples. In the Book of Revelation alone the
number 7 is repeated twenty-four times, and the number 12 fourteen
times.



THE TWELVE THOUSAND YEAR CYCLE.

In determining the duration of the period within which were to occur
the events taught in the doctrines of the Exoteric Creed, the ancient
Astrologers dedicated a thousand years to each of the signs of the
Zodiac, and thus inaugurating the cycle of twelve thousand years,
taught that, at its conclusion, the heaven and the earth, which they
believed to be composed of the indestructible elements of fire, air,
earth and water, would, through the agency of the first of these, be
reduced to chaos, as a preliminary to the reorganization of a new
heaven and a new earth at the beginning of the succeeding cycle. Such
was the origin of the grand cycle of the ancient Astrolatry, and it
must be borne in mind that its authors made its conclusion to
correspond in time and circumstance to the doctrines relating to the
finale of the plan of redemption.