To-day on dear Point Loma we are observing the sacred ceremonies of the laying of the corner-stone of the Isis Temple of Art, Music and Drama.
On this chosen spot, which will be a great seat of learning, will now be reared the first building of the School for the Revival of the Lost Mysteries of Antiquity, which is destined to illumine and uplift Humanity.
The Arts will be taught in their higher forms, for the benefit of all the peoples of the earth, and here will be demonstrated their proper place and power in the world.
The Foundress and Directress of this great institution has told us of the "importance of Music and the Drama as vital educational factors," and that "Music is not only one of the refinements of life, but part of life itself."
The Spirit of Music is Love. It is the language of the Soul, the expression of the heart. It is universal, and has been cultivated in some form from time immemorial.
Every age and clime has its variety of musical idiom, and is suggestive of its history and stage of development. Every one should cultivate the knowledge of love of music, for as Shakespeare truly says:
"The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus;
Let no such man be trusted."
That music is a living force and power is shown in every phase of life. It adds solemnity and dignity, or inspires hope and courage, or brings new life and joy on any occasion. There is nothing like a familiar strain of melody to revive old recollections. It softens and purifies the depths of our natures, where often nothing else would, and it has been proven, as Shakespeare says, that "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast."
For it arouses emotions latent and undivined and attunes our souls to the harmonies of the Universe. It embodies the inner feelings of which other arts can but exhibit the effect. It suggests still more than it displays, and stimulates the imagination of both witness and performer. "Its privilege is to delight, refine, enlighten and ennoble, suggesting the beautiful, the ideal and the perfect."
By the magical spell of sound we are, for the time, liberated from earthly bounds, and, entranced by its wondrous harmonies, we feel the unity and concord existing in all things, and something of the divine love which is everywhere manifest. The laws governing musical harmony correspond with Nature's laws of Universal Brotherhood. In a perfect musical production, each note blends in purest harmony, and so in the grand Symphony of Life must we each play well our part, and sound our tones in unison, making them sweet and clear and true.
Thus by being in perfect accord with all that lives, we shall be united in the loving bond of Brotherhood. Then will "Truth, Light and Liberation" be established, and we shall attain to our heritage of divine wisdom and Eternal Peace and Joy.