{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_54407/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_54407","id":"gutenberg_54407","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54407","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Essays, Letters & Speeches","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Rosicrucians"],"text":"Gleanings of a Mystic\n\n                                  BY\n                              MAX HEINDEL\n\n                       [Illustration: Colophon]\n\n                         A SERIES OF ESSAYS ON\n                          PRACTICAL MYSTICISM\n\n\n                             FIRST EDITION\n\n\n                      THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP\n\n                      International Headquarters\n                             Mt. Ecclesia\n                         Oceanside, California\n\n                                London:\n                 L. N. Fowler & Co., 7 Imperial Arcade\n                            Ludgate Circus\n\n\n\n\n                           COPYRIGHT, 1922.\n                                  BY\n                           MRS. MAX HEINDEL.\n\n\n                           FELLOWSHIP PRESS\n                           OCEANSIDE, CALIF.\n\n\n\n\nForeword\n\n\nThe contents of this book are among the last writings of Max Heindel,\nthe mystic. They contain some of his deepest thoughts, and are the\nresult of years of research and occult investigation. He, too, could\nsay as did Parsifal: \u201cThrough error and through suffering I came,\nthrough many failures and through countless woes.\u201d At last he was given\nthe living water with which he was able to quench the spiritual thirst\nof many souls. He also developed to their depths pity and love, and\ncould feel the heart throbs of suffering humanity.\n\nStrong souls are usually endowed with great energy and impulse, and\nthrough these very forces, they forge to the front ranks though they\noften suffer much. As a result they are filled with compassion for\nothers. The writer of these lessons sacrificed his physical body on the\naltar of service.\n\nIn writing the books and monthly lessons of the Fellowship, in\nhis lectures and class work, and in the arduous pioneer work of\nestablishing Headquarters within the short span of ten years, Max\nHeindel accomplished more than many who are blessed with perfect\nhealth could have accomplished in a lifetime. His first book, his\nmasterpiece, \u201cThe Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception,\u201d was written under the\ndirect guidance of the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross. It carries\na vital message to the world. It satisfies not alone the intellect,\nbut also the heart. His \u201cFreemasonry and Catholicism,\u201d has found its\nway into many Masonic libraries. The occultist has received much from\nthe book entitled, \u201cThe Web of Destiny,\u201d which is a mine of mystical\nknowledge and helpful occult truths. It is also a guide to the\ninvestigator, establishing danger signals for the venturesome ones who\nwish to take heaven by storm. To the science of astrology he has given\nmore in a few years than has previously been discovered in centuries.\nHis two valuable works, \u201cSimplified Scientific Astrology\u201d and \u201cThe\nMessage of the Stars,\u201d deal largely with the spiritual and medical\naspects of astrology. The latter gives methods of diagnosis and healing\nwhich form a valuable addition to the works of other authors, both\nancient and modern. These books may be found in the libraries of many\ndoctors of the old school.\n\nIn \u201cGleanings of a Mystic\u201d are found twenty-four lessons which were\nformerly sent out to students. It is the wish of the writer of this\nintroduction that these lessons may carry a message of love and cheer\nto the soul-hungry reader and hope to the disconsolate one.\n\n  \u2014_Augusta Foss Heindel._\n\n\n\n\nTable of Contents\n\n\n  Chapter I.\n\n  Initiation: What It Is and Is Not\u2014Part I.                            7\n\n\n  Chapter II.\n\n  Initiation: What It Is and Is Not\u2014Part II.                          14\n\n\n  Chapter III.\n\n  The Sacrament of Communion\u2014Part I.                                  21\n\n\n  Chapter IV.\n\n  The Sacrament of Communion\u2014Part II.                                 28\n\n\n  Chapter V.\n\n  The Sacrament of Baptism.                                           37\n\n\n  Chapter VI.\n\n  The Sacrament of Marriage.                                          46\n\n\n  Chapter VII.\n\n  The Unpardonable Sin and Lost Souls.                                54\n\n\n  Chapter VIII.\n\n  The Immaculate Conception.                                          61\n\n\n  Chapter IX.\n\n  The Coming Christ.                                                  69\n\n\n  Chapter X.\n\n  The Coming Age.                                                     77\n\n\n  Chapter XI.\n\n  Meat and Drink as Factors in Evolution.                             85\n\n  Chapter XII.\n\n  A Living Sacrifice.                                                 94\n\n\n  Chapter XIII.\n\n  Magic, White and Black.                                            101\n\n\n  Chapter XIV.\n\n  Our Invisible Government.                                          108\n\n\n  Chapter XV.\n\n  Practical Precepts for Practical People.                           114\n\n\n  Chapter XVI.\n\n  Sound, Silence, and Soul Growth.                                   121\n\n\n  Chapter XVII.\n\n  The \u201cMysterium Magnum\u201d of the Rose Cross.                          130\n\n\n  Chapter XVIII.\n\n  Stumbling Blocks.                                                  138\n\n\n  Chapter XIX.\n\n  The Lock of Upliftment.                                            147\n\n\n  Chapter XX.\n\n  The Cosmic Meaning of Easter\u2014Part I.                               153\n\n\n  Chapter XXI.\n\n  The Cosmic Meaning of Easter\u2014Part II.                              160\n\n\n  Chapter XXII.\n\n  The Newborn Christ.                                                167\n\n\n  Chapter XXIII.\n\n  Why I am a Rosicrucian.                                            173\n\n\n  Chapter XXIV.\n\n  The Object of the Rosicrucian Fellowship.                          180\n\n  Catalogue of Publications.\n\n\n\n\nChapter I\n\nINITIATION: WHAT IT IS AND IS NOT\n\n\nPART I\n\nIt is no rare occurrence to receive questions relating to Initiation,\nand we are also frequently asked to state whether this order or that\nsociety is genuine, and whether the initiations they offer to all\ncomers who have the price are _bona fide_. For that reason it seems\nnecessary to write a treatise on the subject so that students of the\nRosicrucian Fellowship may have an official statement for reference and\nguidance in the future.\n\nIn the first place let it be clearly understood that we consider it\nreprehensible to express condemnation of any society or order, no\nmatter what its practices. It may be perfectly sincere and honest\n_according to its light_. We do not believe that we rise in the opinion\nof discriminating men and women by speaking in disparaging terms of\nothers; neither are we laboring under the delusion that _we_ have all\nthe truth and other societies are plunged in Egyptian darkness. We\nreiterate what we have often said before, that all religions have\nbeen given to mankind by the Recording Angels, who know the spiritual\nrequirements of each class, nation, and race, and have the intelligence\nto give to each a form of worship perfectly suited to its particular\nneed; that thus Hinduism is suited to the Hindu, Mohammedanism to\nthe Arab, and the Christian religion to those born in the Western\nHemisphere.\n\nThe Mystery Schools of each religion furnish to the more advanced\nmembers of the race or nation embracing it a higher teaching, which,\n_if lived_, advances them into a higher sphere of spirituality than\ntheir brethren. But as the religion of the backward races is of a lower\norder than the religion of the pioneers, the Christian nations, so also\nthe _Mystery Teaching of the East is more elementary than that of the\nWest_, and the Hindu or Chinese Initiate is on a correspondingly lower\nrung of the ladder of attainment than the Western Mystic. Please ponder\nthis well so that you may not fall a victim to misguided people who try\nto persuade others that the Christian religion is crude compared with\noriental cults. Ever westward in the wake of the shining sun, the light\nof the world, has gone the star of empire, and is it not reasonable to\nsuppose that the spiritual light has kept pace with civilization, or\neven preceded it as thought precedes action? We hold that such is the\ncase, that the Christian religion is the loftiest yet given to man, and\nthat to repudiate the Christian religion, esoteric or exoteric, for any\nof the older systems is analogous to preferring the older textbooks of\nscience to the newer ones which embrace discoveries to date.\n\nNeither are the practices of Eastern aspirants to the higher life to\nbe imitated by Westerners; we refer particularly to the breathing\nexercises. They are both beneficial and necessary to the unfoldment\nof the Hindu, but it is otherwise with the Western aspirant. To him\nit is dangerous to practice breathing exercises for soul unfoldment;\nthey will even prove subversive of soul growth, and they are, moreover,\nabsolutely unnecessary. The reason is this:\n\nDuring involution the threefold spirit has become gradually incrusted\nin a threefold body. In the Atlantean Epoch man was at the nadir of\nmateriality. We are just now rounding the lowest point on the arc of\ninvolution, and starting upward on the arc of evolution. At this point,\nthen, all mankind is immured in this earthly prison house to such a\ndegree that spiritual vibrations are almost killed. This is, of course,\nparticularly true of the backward races and the lower classes in the\nWestern world. The atoms in such backward race bodies are vibrating at\nan exceedingly low rate, and when in the course of time one of these\npeople develops to a point where it is possible to further him upon\nthe path of attainment, it is necessary to raise this vibratory pitch\nof the atom so that the vital body, which is the medium of occult\ngrowth, may to a certain extent be liberated from the deadening force\nof the physical atom. This result is attained by means of breathing\nexercises, which in time accelerate the vibration of the atom, and\nallow the spiritual growth necessary to the individual to take place.\n\nThese exercises may also be used by a great number of people in\nthe Western world, particularly those who are not at all concerned\nabout their spiritual advancement. But even among those who desire\nsoul growth there are many who are not yet at the point where the\natoms of their bodies have evolved to such a pitch of vibration that\nacceleration beyond the usual measure would injure them. Here the\nbreathing exercises would do no harm; but if given to a person who\nis really at the point where he can enter the path of advancement\nordinarily mapped out for the Hindu\u2019s precocious brothers and sisters\nin the West, in other words, when he is nearly ready for Initiation and\nwhen he would be benefited _by spiritual exercises_, then the case is\nfar otherwise.\n\nDuring the aeons which we have spent in evolution since the time when\nwe were in Hindu bodies, our atoms have accelerated their vibratory\npitch enormously, and as said in the case of one who is really nearly\nready for Initiation, the pitch of vibration is higher than that of the\naverage man or woman. Therefore he does not need breathing exercises\nto _accelerate_ this pitch, but certain spiritual exercises suited to\nhim individually which will advance him on the proper path. If such\na person at this critical period meets some one who ignorantly or\nunscrupulously gives him breathing exercises, and if he follows the\ninstructions accurately in the hope of _getting quick results_, he\nwill get them quickly but in a manner he has not looked for, since\nthe vibratory rate of the atoms in his body will in a very short time\nbecome accelerated to such a pitch that it will seem to him as if he\nwere walking on air; then also an improper cleavage of the vital body\nmay take place, and either consumption or insanity follows. Now please\nput this down where it will burn itself into your consciousness in\nletters of fire: _Initiation is a spiritual process, and spiritual\nprogress cannot be accomplished by physical means, but only by\nspiritual exercises._\n\nThere are many orders in the West which profess to _initiate anyone\nwho has the price_. Some of these orders have names closely resembling\nour own, and we are constantly asked by students whether they are\naffiliated with us. In order to settle this once and for all, please\nnote that the Rosicrucian Fellowship has constantly taught that _no\nspiritual gift may ever be traded for money_. If you bear this in mind,\nyou may know we have no connection with any order which demands money\nfor the transference of spiritual power. He who has something to give\nof a truly spiritual nature will not barter it for money. I received\na particular injunction to this effect from the Elder Brothers in the\nRosicrucian Temple, when they told me to go to the English speaking\nworld as their messenger, a claim I do not expect you to believe _save\nas you see it justified by fruits_.\n\nNow, however, about Initiation: What is it? Is it ceremony as claimed\nby these other orders? If so, any order can certainly invent ceremonies\nof a more or less elaborate kind. They may by flowing robes and\nclashing swords appeal to the emotions; they may appeal to the sense\nof wonder and awe by rattling chains and by deep sounding gongs, and\nthus produce in their members an \u201c_occult feeling_.\u201d Many revel in the\nadventures and experiences of the hero in \u201cThe Brother of the Third\nDegree,\u201d thinking that this is surely Initiation, but I tell you that\nit is very far from being the case. _No ceremony can ever give to any\none that inward experience_ which constitutes Initiation, no matter how\nmuch is charged or how fearful the oaths, how awful or beautiful the\nceremony, or how gorgeous the robes, any more than passing through a\nceremony can convert a sinner and make him a saint, for conversion is\nto the exoteric religionist exactly what Initiation is in the higher\nmysticism. Please consider this point thoroughly, and you will have the\nkey to the problem.\n\nDo you think that any one could go to a person of depraved character\nand agree to convert him for a certain sum and carry out his part of\nthe agreement? Surely you know that no amount of money could bring\nabout that change in a man\u2019s character. Ask a true convert where he got\nhis religion and how he got it. One may tell you that he received it\nupon the road as he was walking along; another says that the light and\nthe change came to him in the solitude of his room; another that the\n_light struck_ him as it struck Paul upon the road to Damascus, and\nforced him to change. Every one has a different experience, but it is\nin every case _an inward experience_, and the outward manifestation of\nthat inward experience is that _it changes the man\u2019s whole life_ from\nthe very least to the very greatest aspects.\n\nSo it is also with Initiation; it is an inward experience, entirely\n_separate and apart from any ceremonial whatever_, and therefore it is\nan absolute impossibility that any one could sell it to any one else.\nInitiation changes a man\u2019s whole life. It gives him a confidence that\nhe never possessed before. It clothes him with a mantle of authority\nthat never can be taken from him. No matter what the circumstances in\nlife, it sheds a light upon his whole being that is simply wonderful.\nNor can any ceremony effect such a change. We therefore hold that\nanyone who offers initiation into an occult order by ceremonials to\nevery one who has the price, brands himself as an imposter. For the\ntrue teacher, if he were approached by an aspirant with an offer of\nmoney for spiritual attainment would answer indignantly in the words\nused by Peter to Simon, the sorcerer, who offered him money for\nspiritual powers: \u201cThy silver perish with thee.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter II\n\nINITIATION: WHAT IT IS AND IS NOT\n\n\nPART II\n\nTo obtain a better understanding of what constitutes Initiation and\nwhat the prerequisites are, let the student first fix firmly in his\nmind the fact that humanity as a whole is slowly progressing upon\nthe path of evolution, and thus very slowly, almost imperceptibly,\nattaining higher and higher states of consciousness. The path of\nevolution is a spiral when we regard it from the physical side only,\nbut a lemniscate when viewed in both its physical and spiritual\nphases. (See the diagram of chemical caduceus in _The Rosicrucian\nCosmo-Conception_, page 410.) In the lemniscate, or figure 8, there\nare two circles which converge to a central point, which circles may\nbe taken to symbolize the immortal spirit, the evolving ego. One of\nthe circles signifies its life in the physical world from birth to\ndeath. During this span of time it sows a seed by every act and should\nreap in return a certain amount of experience. But as we may sow seed\nin the field and lose return on that which falls on stony ground,\namong thorns, et cetera, so also may the seed of opportunity be wasted\nbecause of neglect to till the soil and the life will then be barren\nof fruit. Conversely, as diligence and care in cultivation increase\nthe productive power of garden seed enormously, so earnest application\nto the business of life\u2014improvement of opportunities to learn life\u2019s\nlessons and extract from our environment the experience it holds\u2014brings\nadded opportunities; and at the end of the life-day the ego finds\nitself at the door of death laden with the richest fruits of life.\n\nThe objective work of physical existence over, the race run, and\nthe day of action spent, the ego enters upon the subjective work of\nassimilation accomplished during its sojourn in the invisible worlds,\nwhich it traverses during the period from death to birth, symbolized by\nthe other ring of the lemniscate. As the method of accomplishing this\nassimilation has been most minutely described in various parts of our\nliterature, it is needless to repeat it here. Suffice it to say that at\nthe time when an ego arrives at the central point in the lemniscate,\nwhich divides the physical from the psychic worlds and which we call\nthe gate of birth or death according to whether the ego is entering\nor leaving the realm where we, ourselves, happen to be at the time,\nit has with it an aggregate of faculties or talents acquired in all\nits previous lives, which it may then put to usury or bury during the\ncoming life-day as it sees fit; but upon the use it makes of what it\nhas, depends the amount of soul growth it makes.\n\nIf for many lives it caters mainly to the lower nature, which lives to\neat, drink, and be merry, or if it dreams its life away in metaphysical\nspeculations upon nature and God, sedulously abstaining from all\nunnecessary action, it is gradually passed and left behind by the more\nactive and progressive. Great companies of these idlers form what we\nknow as \u201cbackward races\u201d; while the active, alert, and wide-awake who\nimprove a larger percentage of their opportunities, are the pioneers.\nContrary to the commonly accepted idea, this applies also to those\nengaged in industrial work. Their money-getting is only an incident,\nan incentive, and entirely apart from this phase their work is as\nspiritual as or even more so than that of those who spend their time in\nprayer to the prejudice of useful work.\n\nFrom what has been said, it will be clear that the method of soul\ngrowth as accomplished by the process of evolution requires _action_ in\nthe physical life, followed in the post-mortem state by a _ruminating\nprocess_, during which the lessons of life are extracted and thoroughly\nincorporated into the consciousness of the ego, though the experiences\nthemselves are forgotten\u2014as we forget our labor in learning the\nmultiplication table, though the faculty of using it remains.\n\nThis exceedingly slow and tedious process is perfectly suited to the\nneeds of the masses; but there are some who habitually exhaust the\nexperiences commonly given, thus requiring and meriting a larger scope\nfor their energies. Difference of temperament is responsible for their\ndivision into two classes.\n\nOne class, led by their devotion to Christ, simply follow the dictates\nof the heart in their work of love for their fellows\u2014beautiful\ncharacters, beacon lights of love in a suffering world, never actuated\nby selfish motives, always ready to forego personal comfort to aid\nothers. Such were the saints; they worked as they prayed; they never\nshirked in either direction. Nor are they dead today. The earth would\nbe a barren wilderness in spite of all its civilization did not their\nbeautiful feet circle it on errands of mercy, were not the lives of\nsufferers made brighter by the light of hope which radiates from their\nbeautiful faces. Had they but the knowledge possessed by the other\nclass they would indeed outdistance all in the race for the Kingdom.\n\nMind is the predominating feature of the other class. In order to\naid it in its efforts toward attainment, mystery schools were early\nestablished wherein the world drama was played to give the aspiring\nsoul while he was entranced, answers to the questions of the origin\nand destiny of humanity. When awakened, he was instructed in the\nsacred science of how to climb higher by following the method of\nnature\u2014which is God in manifestation\u2014by sowing the seed of action,\nmeditating upon the experience, and incorporating the essential moral\nto make thereby commensurate soul growth; also with this important\nfeature, that whereas in the ordinary course of things a whole life\nis devoted to sowing and a whole post-mortem existence to ruminating\nand incorporating the soul substance, this cycle of a thousand years,\nmore or less, may be reduced to a day, as held by the mystic maxim, \u201cA\nday is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.\u201d To be\nexplicit, whatever work has been done during a single day, if ruminated\nover at night before crossing the neutral point between waking and\nsleeping, may thus be incorporated into the consciousness of the spirit\nas usable soul power. When that exercise is faithfully performed, the\nsins of each day thus reviewed are actually blotted out, and the man\ncommences each day as if it were a new life, with the added soul power\ngained in all the preceding days of his probationary life.\n\nBut!\u2014yes, there is a great big _BUT; nature is not to be cheated_;\nGod is not to be mocked. \u201cWhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he\nalso reap.\u201d Let no one think that the mere perfunctory review of the\nhappenings of a day with perhaps the light-hearted admission of,\n\u201cI wish I had not done that,\u201d when reviewing a scene where he did\nsomething palpably wrong, will save him from the wrath to come. When we\npass out of the body into purgatory at death and the panorama of our\npast life unfolds in reverse order to show us first the effects and\nthen the causes which produced them, we feel in intensified measure\nthe pain we gave others; and unless we perform our exercises in a\nsimilar manner _so that we live each evening our hell_ as merited that\nday, acutely sensible of every pang we have inflicted, it will avail\nnothing. We must also endeavor to feel in the same intense manner,\ngratitude for kindness received from others, and approbation on account\nof the good we ourselves have done.\n\nOnly thus are we really living the post-mortem existence and advancing\nscientifically towards the goal of Initiation. The greatest danger of\nthe aspirant upon this path is that he may become enmeshed in the snare\nof egotism, and his only safeguard is to cultivate the faculties of\nfaith, devotion, and an all-embracing sympathy. It is difficult, but it\ncan be done, and when it has been accomplished the man or woman becomes\na wonderful power for good in the world.\n\nNow, if the student has pondered the preceding argument well, he has\nprobably grasped the analogy between the _long cycle_ of evolution\nand the short _cycles_ or steps used upon the path of preparation. It\nshould be quite clear that no one can do this post-mortem work for him\nand transmit to him the resulting soul growth, any more than one can\neat the physical food of another and transmit to him the sustenance\nand growth. You think it preposterous when a priesthood offers to\nshorten the sojourn of a soul in purgatory. How, then, can you believe\nthat anyone else can\u2014no matter what the consideration\u2014obviate the\nnecessity of a number of purgatorial existences for your benefit\nand transmit to you at once the usable soul power you would have\nacquired had you pursued the ordinary course of life to the day you\nare ready for Initiation? Yet this is what the offer to initiate a\nperson not yet upon the threshold means. You must have the soul power\nrequisite for Initiation or no one can initiate you. If you have it,\nyou are upon the threshold by your own efforts, beholden to no one,\nand may demand Initiation as a right which none would dare dispute or\nwithhold. If you have it not and could buy it, it would be cheap at\ntwenty-five million dollars, and the man who offers it for twenty-five\ndollars is as ridiculous as his dupe. Please remember that if anyone\noffers to initiate you into an occult order, no matter if he calls it\n\u201cRosicrucian\u201d or by any other name, his demand of an initiation fee at\nonce stamps him as an impostor, explanations to the effect that the\nfee is used to purchase regalia, et cetera, are only added evidence\nof the fraudulent nature of the order for it is said, \u201cInitiation is\nmost emphatically not an outward ceremony, but an inward experience.\u201d\nI may further add that the Elder Brothers of the Rose Cross in the\nMystic Temple where I received the Light made it a condition that\ntheir _sacred science must never be put in the balance against a\ncoin_. Freely had I received, and freely was I required to give. This\ninjunction I have obeyed, both in spirit and to the letter, as all know\nwho have had dealings with the Rosicrucian Fellowship.\n\n\n\n\nChapter III\n\nTHE SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION\n\n\nPART I\n\nTo obtain a thorough understanding of the deep and far-reaching\nsignificance of the manner in which the Sacrament of Communion was\ninstituted, it is necessary to consider the evolution of our planet\nand of composite man, also the chemistry of foods and their influence\non humanity. For the sake of lucidity we will briefly recapitulate the\nRosicrucian teachings on the various points involved. They have been\ngiven at length in the _Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception_ and our other\nworks.\n\nThe Virgin Spirits, which are now mankind, commenced their pilgrimage\nthrough matter in the dawn of time, that by the friction of concrete\nexistence their latent powers might be transmuted to kinetic energy as\nusable soul power. Three successive veils of increasingly dense matter\nwere acquired by the involving spirits during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon\nPeriods. Thus each spirit was separated from all other spirits, and the\nconsciousness which could not penetrate the prison wall of matter and\ncommunicate with others was forced to turn inwards, and in so doing it\ndiscovered\u2014ITSELF. Thus self-consciousness was attained.\n\nA further crystallization of the before mentioned veils took place in\nthe Earth Period during the Polarian, Hyperborean, and Lemurian Epochs.\nIn the Atlantean Epoch, mind was added as a focusing point between\nspirit and body, completing the constitution of composite man, who was\nthen equipped to conquer the world and generate soul power by endeavor\nand experience, each having free will and choice except as limited by\nthe laws of nature and his own previous acts.\n\nDuring the time man-in-the-making was thus evolving, great creative\nHierarchies guided his every step. Absolutely nothing was left to\nchance. Even the food he ate was chosen for him so that he might obtain\nthe appropriate material wherewith to build the various vehicles of\nconsciousness necessary to accomplish the process of soul growth. The\nBible mentions the various stages, though it misplaces Nimrod, making\nhim to symbolize the Atlantean kings who lived _before_ the Flood.\n\nIn the Polarian Epoch pure mineral matter became a constituent part of\nman; thus _Adam_ was made of earth, that is, so far as his dense body\nwas concerned.\n\nIn the Hyperborean Epoch the vital body was added, and thus his\nconstitution became plantlike, and _Cain_, the man of that time, lived\non the fruits of the soil.\n\nThe Lemurian Epoch saw the evolution of a desire body, which made man\nlike the present animals. Then milk, the product of living animals, was\nadded to human diet. _Abel_ was a shepherd, but it is nowhere stated\nthat he killed an animal.\n\nAt that time mankind lived innocently and peacefully in the misty\natmosphere which enveloped the earth during the latter part of the\nLemurian Epoch, as described in the chapter on \u201cBaptism.\u201d Men were\nthen like children under the care of a common father, until the mind\nwas given to all in the beginning of Atlantis. Thought activity breaks\ndown tissue which must be replaced; the lower and more material the\nthought, the greater the havoc and the more pressing the need for\nalbumen wherewith to make quick repairs. Hence necessity, the mother\nof invention, inaugurated the loathsome practice of flesh eating, and\nso long as we continue to think along purely business or material\nlines we shall have to go on using our stomachs as receptacles for the\ndecaying corpses of our murdered animal victims. Yet we shall see later\nthat flesh food has enabled us to make the wonderful material progress\nachieved in the Western World, while the vegetarian Hindus and Chinese\nhave remained in an almost savage state. It seems sad to contemplate\nthat they will be forced to follow in our steps and shed the blood\nof our fellow creatures when we shall have outgrown the barbarous\npractice as we have ceased cannibalism.\n\nThe more spiritual we grow, the more our thoughts will harmonize\nwith the rhythm of our body, and the less albumen will be needed to\nbuild tissue. Consequently, a vegetable diet will suffice our needs.\nPythagoras advised abstinence from legumes to _advanced_ scholars\nbecause they are rich in albumen and apt to revive lower appetites.\nLet not every student who reads this rashly conclude to eliminate\nlegumes from his diet. Most of us are not yet ready for such extremes;\nwe would not even advise all students to abstain entirely from meat.\nThe change should come from within. It may be safely stated, however,\nthat most people eat entirely too much meat for their good; but this\nis in a certain sense a digression, so we will revert to the further\nevolution of humanity in so far as it has a bearing upon the Sacrament\nof Communion.\n\nIn due time the dense mist which enveloped the earth cooled,\ncondensed, and flooded the various basins. The atmosphere cleared, and\nconcurrently with this atmospheric change a physiological adaptation\nin man took place. The gill clefts which had enabled him to breathe in\nthe dense water laden air (and which are seen in the human foetus to\nthis day) gradually atrophied, and their function was taken over by the\nlungs, the pure air passing to and from them through the larynx. This\nallowed the spirit, hitherto penned up within the veil of flesh, to\nexpress itself in word and act.\n\nThere in the middle of Atlantis the sun first shone upon MAN as we\nknow him; there he was _first born_ into the world. Until then he had\nbeen under the absolute control of great spiritual Hierarchies, mute,\nwithout voice or choice in matters pertaining to his education, as a\nchild is now under the control of its parents.\n\nBut on the day when he finally emerged from the dense atmosphere of\nAtlantis; when he first beheld the mountains silhouetted in clear,\nsharp contours against the azure vault of heaven; when he first saw\nthe beauties of moor and meadow, the moving creatures, birds in the\nair, and his fellow man; when his vision was undimmed by the partial\nobscuration of the mist which had previously hampered perception;\nabove all, when he perceived HIMSELF as _separate_ and _apart from all\nothers_, there burst from his lips the glorious, triumphant cry, \u201cI AM.\u201d\n\nAt that point he had acquired faculties which equipped him to enter the\nschool of experience, the phenomenal world, as a free agent to learn\nthe lessons of life, untrammeled save by the _laws of nature_, which\nare his safeguards, and the reaction of his own previous acts, which\nbecome _destiny_.\n\nThe diet containing an excess of albumen from the flesh wherewith\nhe gorged himself, taxed his liver beyond capacity and clogged the\nsystem, making him morose, sullen, and brutish. He was fast losing\nthe spiritual sight which revealed to him the guardian angels whom he\ntrusted, and he saw only the _forms_ of animals and men. The spirits\nwith whom he had lived in love and brotherhood during early Atlantis\nwere obscured by the veil of flesh. It was all so strange, and he\n_feared_ them.\n\nTherefore it became necessary to give him a _new food_ that could\naid his spirit to overpower the highly individualized molecules of\nflesh (as explained in the _Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception_, chapter on\nAssimilation, p. 457), brace it for battle with the world, and spur it\non to self-assertion.\n\nAs our visible bodies composed of chemical compounds can thrive only\nupon chemical aliment, so it requires spirit to act upon spirit to aid\nin breaking up the heavy proteid and in stimulating the drooping human\nspirit.\n\nThe emergence from flooded Atlantis, the liberation of humanity from\nthe absolute rulership of visible superhuman guardians, their placement\nunder _the law of consequence and the laws of nature_, and _the gift\nof_ WINE are described in the stories of Noah and Moses, which are\ndifferent accounts of the same event.\n\nBoth Noah and Moses led their followers through the water. Moses calls\nheaven and earth to witness that he has placed before them the blessing\nand the curse, exhorts them to choose the good or take the consequence\nof their actions; then he leaves them.\n\nThe phenomenon of the rainbow requires that the sun be near the\nhorizon, the nearer the better; also a clear atmosphere, and a dark\nrain cloud in the opposite quarter of the heavens. When under such\nconditions an observer stands with his back to the sun, he may see\nthe sun\u2019s rays refracted through the rain drops as a rainbow. In\nearly Atlantean times when there had been no rain as yet and the\natmosphere was a warm, moist fog through which the sun appeared as one\nof our arc lamps on a foggy day, the phenomenon of the rainbow was an\nimpossibility. It could not have made its appearance until the mist\nhad condensed to rain, flooded the basins of the earth, and left the\natmosphere clear as described in the story of Noah, which thus points\n_to the law of alternating cycles_ that brings day and night, summer\nand winter, in unvarying sequence, and to which man is subject in the\npresent age.\n\nNoah cultivated the vine and provided a spirit to stimulate man. Thus,\nequipped with a composite constitution, a composite diet appropriate\nthereto, and divine laws to guide them, mankind were left to their own\ndevices in the battle of life.\n\n\n\n\nChapter IV\n\nTHE SACRAMENT OF COMMUNION\n\n\u201c_In Remembrance of Me._\u201d\n\n\nPART II \u201cThe Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed took\nbread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take, eat;\nthis is MY body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.\nAfter the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying\nThis cup is the New Testament in MY blood. This do ye, as oft as ye\ndrink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and\ndrink this cup, ye do shew the Lord\u2019s death till he come. Wherefore,\nwhosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord\nunworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.... For\nhe that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation\nto himself.... For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and\nmany sleep.\u201d\u2014I Cor. 11:23-30.\n\nIn the foregoing passages there is a deeply hidden esoteric meaning\nwhich is particularly obscured in the English translation, but in the\nGerman, Latin, and Greek, the student still has a hint as to what was\nreally intended by that last parting injunction of the Savior to His\ndisciples. Before examining this phase of the subject, let us first\nconsider the words, \u201cin remembrance of me.\u201d We shall then perhaps be\nin better condition to understand what is meant by the \u201ccup\u201d and the\n\u201cbread.\u201d\n\nSuppose a man from a distant country comes into our midst and travels\nabout from place to place. Everywhere he will see small communities\ngathering around the Table of the Lord to celebrate this most sacred of\nall Christian rites, and should he ask why, he would be told that they\ndo this in remembrance of One who lived a life nobler than any other\nhas lived upon this earth; One who was kindness and love personified;\nOne who was the servant of all, regardless of gain or loss to self.\nShould this stranger then compare the attitude of these religious\ncommunities on Sunday at the celebration of this rite, with their civic\nlives during the remainder of the week, what would he see?\n\nEvery one among us goes out into the world to fight the battle of\nexistence. Under the law of necessity we forget the love which should\nbe the ruling factor in Christian lives. Every man\u2019s hand is against\nhis brother. Every one strives for position, wealth, and power that\ngoes with these attributes. We forget on Monday what we reverently\nremembered on Sunday, and all the world is poor in consequence. We\nalso make a distinction between the bread and wine which we drink at\nthe so-called \u201cLord\u2019s Table,\u201d and the food of which we partake during\nthe intervals between attendance at Communion. But there is no warrant\nin the Scriptures for any such distinction, as anyone may see, even\nin the English version, by leaving out the words printed in italics\nwhich have been inserted by the translators to give what they thought\nwas the sense of a passage. On the contrary, we are told that whether\nwe eat or drink, or whatever we do, all should be done to the glory of\nGod. Our every act should be a prayer. The perfunctory \u201cgrace\u201d at meals\nis in reality a blasphemy, and the silent thought of gratitude to the\nGiver of daily bread is far to be preferred. When we remember at each\nmeal that it has been drawn from the substance of the earth, which is\nthe body of the indwelling Christ Spirit, we can properly understand\nhow that body is being broken for us daily, and we can appreciate the\nloving kindness which prompted Him thus to give Himself for us; for let\nus also remember that there is not a moment, day or night, that He is\nnot suffering because bound to this earth. When we thus eat and thus\nrealize the true situation, we are indeed declaring to ourselves the\ndeath of the Lord, whose spirit is groaning and travailing, waiting\nfor the day of liberation when there shall be no need of such a dense\nenvironment as we now require.\n\nBut there is another, a greater and more wonderful mystery hidden in\nthese words of the Christ. Richard Wagner, with the rare intuition of\nthe master musician, sensed this idea when he sat in meditation by\nthe Zurich Sea on a Good Friday, and there flashed into his mind the\nthought, \u201cWhat connection is there between the death of the Savior\nand the millions of seeds sprouting forth from the earth at this time\nof the year?\u201d If we meditate upon that life which is annually poured\nout in the spring, we see it as something gigantic and awe-inspiring;\na flood of life which transforms the globe from one of frozen death\nto rejuvenated life in a short space of time; and the life which thus\ndiffuses itself in the budding of millions and millions of plants is\nthe life of the Earth Spirit.\n\nFrom that come both the wheat and the grape. They are the body and\nblood of the imprisoned Earth Spirit, given to sustain mankind during\nthe present phase of its evolution. We repudiate the contention of\npeople who claim that the world owes them a living, regardless of\ntheir own efforts and without _material_ responsibility on their part,\nbut we nevertheless insist that there is a _spiritual_ responsibility\nconnected with the bread and wine given at the Lord\u2019s Supper: _It must\nbe eaten worthily, otherwise, under pain of ill health and even death_.\nThis from the ordinary manner of reading would seem far-fetched,\nbut when we bring the light of esotericism to bear, examine other\ntranslations of the Bible, and look at conditions in the world as we\nfind them today, we shall see that it is not so far-fetched after all.\n\nTo begin with, we must go back to the time when man lived under the\nguardianship of the angels, unconsciously building the body which he\nnow uses. That was in ancient Lemuria. A brain was needed for the\nevolution of thought, and a larynx for verbal expression of the same.\nTherefore, half of the creative force was turned upwards and used by\nman to form these organs. Thus mankind became single sexed and was\nforced to seek a complement when it was necessary to create a new body\nto serve as an instrument in a higher phase of evolution.\n\nWhile the act of love was consummated under the wise guardianship of\nthe angels, man\u2019s existence was free from sorrow, pain, and death. But\nwhen, under the tutelage of the Lucifer Spirits, he ate of the Tree of\nKnowledge and perpetuated the race without regard for interplanetary\nlines of force, he transgressed the law, and the bodies thus formed\ncrystallized unduly, and became subject to death in a much more\nperceptible manner than had hitherto been the case. Thus he was forced\nto create new bodies more frequently as the span of life in them\nshortened. Celestial warders of the creative force drove him from the\ngarden of _love_ into the wilderness of the world, and he was made\nresponsible for his actions under the cosmic _law_ which governs the\nuniverse. Thus for ages he struggled on, seeking to work out his own\nsalvation, and the earth in consequence crystallized more and more.\n\nDivine hierarchies, the Christ Spirit included, worked upon the\nearth from without as the group spirit guides the animals under its\nprotectorate; but as Paul truly says, none could be justified under the\nlaw, for under the law all sinned, and all must die. There is in the\nold covenant no hope beyond the present, save a foreshadowing of _one\nwho is to come_ and restore righteousness. Thus John tells us that the\n_law_ was given by Moses, and _grace_ came by the Lord Jesus Christ.\nBut _what is grace_? Can grace work contrary to law and abrogate it\nentirely? Certainly not. The laws of God are steadfast and sure, or\nthe universe would become chaos. The law of gravity keeps our houses\nin position relative to other houses, so that when we leave them we\nmay know of a surety that we shall find them in the same place upon\nreturning. Likewise all other departments in the universe are subject\nto immutable laws.\n\nAs _law, apart from love, gave birth to sin, so the child of law,\ntempered with love, is grace_. Take an example from our concrete social\nconditions: We have laws which decree a certain penalty for a specified\noffense, and when the law is carried out, we call it _justice_. But\nlong experience is beginning to teach us that justice, pure and simple,\nis like the Colchian dragon\u2019s teeth, and breeds strife and struggle\nin increasing measure. The criminal, so-called, remains criminal and\nbecomes more and more hardened under the ministrations of law; but when\nthe milder regime of the present day allows one who has transgressed\nto go under suspended sentence, then _he is under grace_ and not under\nlaw. Thus, also the Christian, who aims to follow in the Master\u2019s\nsteps, is emancipated from the law of sin by grace, provided he forsake\nthe path of sin.\n\nIt was the sin of our progenitors in ancient Lemuria that _they\nscattered their seed_ regardless of law and without love. But it is\nthe privilege of the Christian to redeem himself by purity of life\nin remembrance of the Lord. John says, \u201cHis seed remaineth in him,\u201d\nand this is the hidden meaning of the bread and wine. In the English\nversion we read simply: \u201cThis is the _cup_ of the New Testament,\u201d\nbut in the German the word for cup is \u201c_Kelch_,\u201d and in the Latin,\n\u201c_Calix_,\u201d both meaning the outer covering of the seed pod of the\nflower. In the Greek we have a still more subtle meaning, not conveyed\nin other languages, in the word \u201c_poterion_,\u201d a meaning which will be\nevident when we consider the etymology of the word \u201cpot.\u201d This at once\ngives us the same idea as the chalice or calix\u2014a receptacle; and the\nLatin \u201c_potare_\u201d (to drink) also shows that the \u201ccup\u201d is a receptacle\ncapable of holding a fluid. Our English words \u201cpotent\u201d and \u201cimpotent,\u201d\nmeaning to possess or to lack virile strength, further show the\nmeaning of this Greek word, which foreshadows the evolution from man\nto superman.\n\nWe have already lived through a mineral, a plant, and an animal-like\nexistence before becoming human as we are today, and beyond us lie\nstill further evolutions where we shall approach the Divine more and\nmore. It will be readily conceded that it is our animal passions which\nrestrain us upon the path of attainment; the lower nature is constantly\nwarring against the higher self. At least in those who have experienced\na spiritual awakening, a war is being fought silently within, and\nis all the more bitter for being suppressed. Goethe with masterly\nart voiced that sentiment in the words of Faust, the aspiring soul,\nspeaking to his more materialistic friend, Wagner:\n\n    \u201cThou by one sole impulse art possessed,\n      Unconscious of the other still remain.\n    Two souls, alas, are housed within my breast,\n      And struggle there for undivided reign.\n    One, to the earth with passionate desire,\n      And closely clinging organs still adheres;\n    Above the mists the other doth aspire\n      With sacred ardor unto purer spheres.\u201d\n\nIt was the knowledge of this absolute necessity of chastity (save\nwhen procreation is the object) upon the part of those who have had\na spiritual awakening which dictated the words of Christ, and the\nApostle Paul stated an esoteric truth when he said that _those who\npartook of the Communion without living the life were in danger of\nsickness and death_. For just as under a spiritual tutelage, purity of\nlife may elevate the disciple wonderfully, so also unchastity has a\nmuch stronger effect upon his more sensitized bodies than upon those\nwho are yet under the law, and have not became partakers of grace by\nthe cup of the New Covenant.\n\n\n\n\nChapter V\n\nTHE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM\n\n\nHaving studied the esoteric significance of our Christian festivals,\nsuch as Christmas and Easter, and having also studied the doctrine\nof the Immaculate Conception, it may be well now to devote attention\nto the inner meaning of the sacraments of the church which are\nadministered to the individual in all Christian lands from the cradle\nto the grave, and are with him at all important points in his life\njourney.\n\nAs soon as he has entered upon the journey of life, the church admits\nhim into its fold by the rite of _Baptism_ which is conferred upon him\nat a time when he himself is irresponsible; later, when his mentality\nhas been somewhat developed, he ratifies that contract and is admitted\nto _Communion_, where _bread_ is broken and _wine_ is sipped in memory\nof the Founder of our faith. Still further upon life\u2019s journey comes\nthe sacrament of _Marriage_; and at last when the race has been run\nand the spirit again withdraws to God who gave it, the earth body is\nconsigned to the dust, whence it was derived, accompanied by the\nblessings of the church.\n\nIn our Protestant times the spirit of protest is rampant in the\nextreme, and dissenters everywhere raise their voices in rebellion\nagainst the fancied arrogance of the priesthood and deprecate the\nsacraments as mere mummery. On account of that attitude of mind these\nfunctions have become of little or no effect in the life of the\ncommunity; dissensions have arisen even among churchmen themselves,\nand sect after sect has divorced itself from the original apostolic\ncongregation.\n\nDespite all protests the various doctrines and sacraments of the church\nare, nevertheless, the very keystones in the arch of evolution, for\nthey inculcate morals of the loftiest nature; and even materialistic\nscientists, such as Huxley, have admitted that while self-protection\nbrings about \u201cthe survival of the fittest\u201d in the animal kingdom and\nis therefore the basis of animal evolution, self-sacrifice is the\nfostering principle of human advancement. When that is the case among\nmere mortals, we may well believe that it must be so to a still greater\nextent in the Divine Author of our being.\n\nAmong animals might is right, but we recognize that the weak have a\nclaim to the protection of the strong. The butterfly lays its eggs\non the underside of a green leaf and goes off without another care\nfor their well-being. In mammals the _mother_ instinct is strongly\ndeveloped, and we see the lioness caring for her cubs and ready to\ndefend them with her life; but not until the human kingdom is reached\ndoes the _father_ commence to share fully in the responsibility as\na parent. Among savages the care of the young practically ends with\nattainment of physical ability to care for themselves, but the higher\nwe ascend in civilization the longer the young receive care from their\nparents, and the more stress is laid upon mental education so that when\nmaturity has been reached the battle of life may be fought from the\nmental rather than from the physical point of vantage; for the further\nwe proceed along the path of development the more we shall experience\nthe power of mind over matter. By the more and more prolonged\nself-sacrifice of parents, the race is becoming more delicate, but what\nwe lose in material ruggedness we gain in spiritual perceptibility.\n\nAs this faculty grows stronger and more developed, the craving of the\nspirit immured in this earthly body voices itself more loudly in a\ndemand for understanding of the spiritual side of development. Wallace\nand Darwin, Huxley and Spencer, pointed out how evolution of _form_ is\naccomplished in nature; Ernest Haeckel attempted to solve the riddle of\nthe universe, but no one of them could satisfactorily explain away the\n_Divine Author_ of what we see. The great goddess, _Natural Selection_,\nis being forsaken by one after another of her devotees as the years go\nby. Even Haeckel, the arch materialist, in his last years showed an\nalmost hysterical anxiety to make a place for God in his system, and\nthe day will come in a not far distant future when science will have\nbecome as thoroughly religious as religion itself. The church, on the\nother hand, though still extremely conservative is nevertheless slowly\nabandoning its autocratic dogmatism and becoming more scientific in\nits explanations. Thus in time we shall see the union of science and\nreligion as it existed in the ancient mystery temples, and when that\npoint has been reached, _the doctrines and sacraments_ of the church\nwill be found to _rest upon immutable cosmic laws of no less importance\nthan the law of gravity_ which maintains the marching orbs in their\npaths around the sun. As the points of the equinoxes and solstices are\nturning points in the cyclic path of a planet, marked by festivals such\nas Christmas and Easter, so birth into the physical world, admission\nto the church, to the state of matrimony, and finally the exit from\nphysical life, are points in the cyclic path of the human spirit\naround its central source\u2014God, which are marked by the sacraments of\n_baptism_, _communion_, _marriage_, and _the last blessing_.\n\nWe will now consider the rite of baptism. Much has been said by\ndissenters, against the practice of taking an _infant into church\nand promising for it a religious life_. Heated arguments concerning\n_sprinkling versus plunging_ have resulted in division of churches. If\nwe wish to obtain the true idea of baptism, we must revert to the early\nhistory of the human race as recorded in the Memory of Nature. All\nthat has ever happened is indelibly pictured in the ether as a moving\npicture is imprinted upon a sensitized film, which picture can be\nreproduced upon a screen at any moment. The pictures in the Memory of\nNature may be viewed by the trained seer, even though millions of years\nhave elapsed since the scenes there portrayed were enacted in life.\n\nWhen we consult that unimpeachable record it appears that there was\na time when that which is now our earth came out of chaos, dark and\nunformed, as the Bible states. The currents developed in this misty\nmass by spiritual agencies, generated _heat_, and the mass ignited at\nthe time when we are told that God said, \u201cLet there be light.\u201d The\nheat of the fiery mass and the cold space surrounding it generated\n_moisture_; the fire mist became surrounded by water which boiled, and\nsteam was projected into the atmosphere; thus \u201cGod divided the water\n... from the waters ...\u201d\u2014the dense water which was nearest the fire\nmist from the steam (which is water in suspension), as stated in the\nBible.\n\nWhen water containing sediment is boiled over and over it deposits\nscale, and similarly the water surrounding our planet finally formed a\ncrust around the fiery core. The Bible further informs us that a _mist_\nwent up from the ground, _and we may well conceive_ how the moisture\nwas gradually evaporated from our planet in those early days.\n\nAncient myths are usually regarded as superstitions nowadays, but in\nreality each of them contains a great spiritual truth in pictorial\nsymbols. These fantastic stories were given to infant humanity to\nteach them moral lessons which their newborn intellects were not yet\nfitted to receive. They were taught by myths\u2014much as we teach our\nchildren by picture books and fables\u2014lessons beyond their intellectual\ncomprehension.\n\nOne of the greatest of these folk stories is \u201d_The Ring of the\nNiebelung_\u201d, which tells of a wonderful treasure hidden under the\nwaters of the Rhine. It was a lump of gold in its natural state. Placed\nupon a high rock, it illuminated the entire submarine scenery where\nwater nymphs sported about innocently in gladsome frolic. But one of\nthe Niebelungs, imbued with greed, stole the treasure, carried it out\nof the water, and fled. It was impossible for him, however, to shape\nit until he had forsworn love. Then he fashioned it into a ring which\ngave him power over all the treasures of earth, but at the same time\nit inaugurated dissension and strife. For its sake, friend betrayed\nfriend, brother slew brother, and everywhere it caused oppression,\nsorrow, sin, and death, until it was at last restored to the watery\nelement and the earth was consumed in flames. But later there arose,\nlike the new phoenix from the ashes of the old bird, a new heaven and a\nnew earth where righteousness was re-established.\n\nThat old folk story gives a wonderful picture of human evolution.\nThe name _Niebelungen_ is derived from the German words, _nebel_\n(which means mist), and _ungen_ (which means children). Thus the word\n_Niebelungen_ means _children of the mist_, and it refers back to the\ntime when humanity lived in the foggy atmosphere surrounding our earth\nat the stage in its development previously mentioned. There infant\nhumanity lived in one vast brotherhood, innocent of all evil as the\nbabe of today, and illuminated by the Universal Spirit symbolized\nas the Rhinegold which shed its light upon the water nymphs of our\nstory. But in time the earth cooled more and more; the fog condensed\nand flooded depressions upon the surface of the earth with water;\nthe atmosphere cleared; the eyes of man were opened and he perceived\nhimself as a separate ego. Then the Universal Spirit of _love_ and\n_solidarity_ was superseded by egotism and self-seeking.\n\nThat was the rape of the Rhinegold, and sorrow, sin, strife, treachery,\nand murder have given place to the childlike love which existed\namong humanity in that primal state when they dwelt in the watery\natmosphere of long ago. Gradually this tendency is becoming more and\nmore marked, and the curse of selfishness grows more and more apparent.\n\u201cMan\u2019s inhumanity to man\u201d hangs like a funeral pall over the earth,\nand must inevitably bring about destruction of existing conditions.\nThe whole creation is groaning and travailing, waiting for the day\nof redemption, and the Western Religion strikes the keynote of the\nway to attainment when it exhorts us to love our neighbor as we love\nourselves; for then egotism will be abrogated for universal brotherhood\nand love.\n\nTherefore, when a person is admitted to the church, which is a\n_spiritual_ institution where love and brotherhood are the mainsprings\nof action, it is appropriate to carry him _under the waters_ of baptism\nin symbol of the beautiful condition of childlike innocence and love\nwhich prevailed when mankind dwelt _under the mist_ in that bygone\nperiod. At that time the eyes of infant man had not yet been opened\nto the _material_ advantages of this world. The little child which is\nbrought into the church has not yet become aware of the allurements\nof life either, and others obligate themselves to guide it to lead a\nholy life according to the best of their ability, because experience\ngained since the Flood has taught us that the broad way of the world is\nstrewn with pain, sorrow, and disappointment; that only by following\nthe straight and narrow way can we escape death and enter into life\neverlasting.\n\nThus we see that there is a wonderfully deep, mystic significance\nbehind the sacrament of baptism; that it is to remind us of the\nblessings attendant upon those who are members of a _brotherhood_ where\nself-seeking is put into the background and where _service_ to others\nis the keynote and mainspring of action. While we are in the world,\nhe is the greatest who can most successfully dominate others. In the\nchurch we have Christ\u2019s definition, \u201c_He who would be the greatest\namong you, let him be the servant of all._\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter VI\n\nTHE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE\n\n\nWhen stripped of nonessentials the argument of the orthodox Christian\nreligion may be said to be as follows:\n\nFirst, that tempted by the devil, our first parents sinned and were\nexiled from their previous state of celestial bliss, placed under the\nlaw, made subject to death, and became incapable of escaping by their\nown efforts.\n\nSecond, that God so loved the world that He gave Christ, His only\nbegotten Son, for its redemption and to establish the kingdom of\nheaven. Thus death will finally be swallowed up in immortality.\n\nThis simple creed has provoked the smiles of atheists, and of the\npurely intellectual who have studied transcendental philosophies with\ntheir niceties of logic and argument; and even of some among those who\nstudy the Western Mystery Teaching.\n\nSuch an attitude of mind is entirely gratuitous. We might know that the\ndivine leaders of mankind would not allow millions to continue in error\nfor millennia. When the Western Mystery Teaching is stripped of its\nexceedingly illuminating explanations and detailed descriptions, when\nits basic teachings are stated, they are found to be in exact agreement\nwith the orthodox Christian teachings.\n\nThere was a time when mankind lived in a sinless state; when sorrow,\npain, and death were unknown. Neither is the _personal tempter_ of\nChristianity a myth, for the Lucifer spirits may very well be said to\nbe fallen angels, and their temptation of man resulted in focusing his\nconsciousness upon the material phase of existence where he is under\nthe law of decrepitude and death. Also it is truly the mission of\nChrist to aid mankind by elevating them to a more ethereal state where\ndissolution will no longer be necessary to free them from vehicles\nthat have grown too hard and set for further use. For this is indeed a\n\u201cbody of death,\u201d where only the smallest quantity of material is really\nalive, as part of its bulk is nutrient matter that has not yet been\nassimilated, another large part is already on its way to elimination,\nand only between these two poles may be found the material which is\nthoroughly quickened by the spirit.\n\nWe have in other chapters considered the sacraments of baptism and\ncommunion, sacraments that have to do particularly with the spirit.\nWe will now seek to understand the deeper side of the sacrament of\nmarriage, which has to do particularly with the body. Like the other\nsacraments the institution of marriage had its beginning and will also\nhave its end. The commencement was described by the Christ when He\nsaid, \u201cHave ye not read that He which made them at the beginning made\nthem male and female, and said: For this cause shall a man leave father\nand mother and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh?\nWherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.\u201d Matt. 19:4-6. He also\nindicated the end of marriage when he said: \u201cIn the resurrection they\nneither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God\nin heaven.\u201d Matt. 22:30.\n\nIn this light the logic of the teaching is apparent, for _marriage_\nbecame necessary in order that _birth_ might provide new instruments to\ntake the place of those which had been ruptured by _death_; and when\ndeath has once been swallowed up in immortality and there is no need of\nproviding new instruments, marriage also will be unnecessary.\n\nScience with admirable audacity has sought to solve the mystery of\nfecundation, and has told us how invagination takes place in the walls\nof the ovary; how the little ovum is formed in the seclusion of its\ndark cavity; how it emerges therefrom and enters the Fallopian tube;\nis pierced by the spermatozoon of the male, and the nucleus of a human\nbody is complete. We are thus supposed to be \u201cat the fount and origin\nof life!\u201d But life has neither beginning nor end, and what science\nmistakenly considers the fountain of life is really the source of\ndeath, as all that comes from the womb is destined sooner or later to\nreach the tomb. The _marriage_ feast which prepares for _birth_, at\nthe same time provides food for the insatiable jaws of _death_, and so\nlong as marriage is necessary to generation and birth, disintegration\nand death must inevitably result. Therefore it is of prime importance\nto know the history of marriage, the laws and agencies involved, the\nduration of this institution, and how it may be transcended.\n\nWhen we obtained our vital bodies in Hyperborea, the sun, moon, and\nearth were still united, and the solar-lunar forces permeated each\nbeing in even measure so that all were able to perpetuate their kind\nby buds and spores as do certain plants of today. The efforts of the\nvital body to soften the dense vehicle and keep it alive were not then\ninterfered with, and these primal, plantlike bodies lived for ages. But\nman was then unconscious and stationary like a plant; he made no effort\nor exertion. The addition of a desire body furnished incentive and\ndesire, and consciousness resulted from the war between the vital body,\nwhich builds, and the desire body, which destroys the dense body.\n\nThus dissolution became only a question of time, particularly as the\nconstructive energy of the vital body was also necessarily divided, one\npart or pole being used in the vital functions of the body, the other\nto replace a vehicle lost by death. But as the two poles of a magnet\nor dynamo are requisite to manifestation, so also two single-sexed\nbeings became necessary for generation; thus marriage and birth were\nnecessarily inaugurated to offset the effect of death. _Death, then, is\nthe price we pay for consciousness in the present world_; marriage and\nrepeated births are our weapons against the king of terrors until our\nconstitution shall change and we become as angels.\n\nPlease mark that it is not stated that we are to become angels, but\nthat we are to become _as angels_. For the angels are the humanity\nof the Moon Period; they belong to an entirely different stream of\nevolution, as different as are human spirits from those of our present\nanimals. Paul states in his letter to the Hebrews that man was made\n_for a little while_ inferior to the angels; he descended lower into\nthe scale of materiality during the Earth Period, while the angels have\nnever inhabited a globe denser than ether. As we build our bodies from\nthe chemical constituents of the earth, so do the angels build theirs\nof ether. This substance is the direct avenue of all life forces, and\nwhen man has once become as the angels and has learned to build his\nbody of ether, naturally there will be no death and no need of marriage\nto bring about birth.\n\nBut looking at marriage from another point of view, looking upon it as\na union of souls rather than as a union of the sexes, we contact the\nwonderful mystery of Love. Union of the sexes might serve to perpetuate\nthe race, of course, but the true marriage is a companionship of souls\nalso, which altogether transcends sex. Yet those really able to meet\nupon that lofty plane of spiritual intimacy gladly offer their bodies\nas living sacrifices upon the altar of _Love of the Unborn_, to woo a\nwaiting spirit into an immaculately conceived body. Thus humanity may\nbe saved from the reign of death.\n\nThis is readily apparent as soon as we consider the gentle action of\nthe vital body and contrast it with that of the desire body in a fit\nof temper, where it is said that a man has \u201clost control\u201d of himself.\nUnder such conditions the muscles become tense, and nervous energy is\nexpended at a suicidal rate, so that after such an outbreak the body\nmay sometimes be prostrated for weeks. The hardest labor brings no\nsuch fatigue as a fit of temper; likewise a child conceived in passion\nunder the crystallizing tendencies of the desire nature is naturally\nshort-lived, and it is a regrettable fact that _length of life_ is\nnowadays almost a misnomer; in view of the appalling infant mortality\nit ought to be called _brevity of existence_.\n\nThe building tendencies of the vital body, which is the vehicle\nof love, are not so easily watched, but observation proves that\ncontentment lengthens the life of any one who cultivates this quality,\nand we may safely reason that a child conceived under conditions of\nharmony and love stands a better chance of life than one conceived\nunder conditions of anger, inebriety, and passion.\n\nAccording to Genesis it was said to the woman, \u201cIn sorrow shalt\nthou bear children,\u201d and it has always been a sore puzzle to Bible\ncommentators what logical connection there may be between the eating of\nfruit and the pains of parturition. But when we understand the chaste\nreferences of the Bible to the act of generation, the connection is\nreadily perceived. While the insensitive Negro or Indian mother may\nbear her child and shortly afterward resume her labors in the field,\nthe western woman, more acutely sensitive and of high-strung nervous\ntemperament, is year by year finding it more difficult to go through\nthe ordeal of motherhood, though aided by the best and most skilled\nscientific help.\n\nThe contributory reasons are various: In the first place, while we are\nexceedingly careful in selecting our horses and cattle for breeding,\nwhile we insist upon pedigree for the animals in order that we may\nbring out the very best strain of stock upon our farms, we exercise\nno such care with respect to the selection of a father or mother for\nour children. We mate upon impulse and regret it at our leisure, aided\nby laws which make it all too easy to enter or leave the sacred bonds\nof matrimony. The words pronounced by minister or judge are taken to\nbe a license for unlimited indulgence, as if any man-made law could\nlicense the contravention of the law of God. While animals mate only at\na certain time of the year and the mother is undisturbed during the\nperiod of pregnancy, this is not true of the human race.\n\nIn view of these facts is it to be wondered at that we find such a\ndread of maternity, and is it not time that we seek to remedy the\nmatter by a more sane relation between marriage partners? Astrology\nwill reveal the temper and tendencies of each human being; it will\nenable two people to blend their characters in such a manner that\na love life may be lived, and it will indicate the periods when\ninterplanetary lines of force are most nearly conducive to painless\nparturition. Thus it will enable us to draw from the bosom of nature,\nchildren of love, capable of living long lives in good health. Finally\nthe day will come when these bodies will have been made so perfect in\ntheir ethereal purity that they may last throughout the coming Age, and\nthus make marriage superfluous.\n\nBut if we can love now when we see one another \u201cthrough a\nglass darkly,\u201d through the mask of personality and the veil of\nmisunderstanding, we may be sure that the love of soul for soul, purged\nof passion in the furnace of sorrow, will be our brightest gem in\nheaven as its shadow is on earth.\n\n\n\n\nChapter VII\n\nTHE UNPARDONABLE SIN AND LOST SOULS\n\n\nSome of our students have been exercised about the unpardonable sin,\nand as this subject has a certain connection with the subject of\nmarriage, one being a sacrilege and the other a sacrament, it might be\nwell to elucidate the matter from a different point of view than has\nbeen formerly taken in our literature.\n\nFirst let us see what is meant by a sacrament, and why the rites of\nbaptism, communion, marriage, and extreme unction are properly so\ncalled; then we shall be in a position to understand what sacrilege is\nand why it is unpardonable.\n\nThe Rosicrucians teach, only with more detail, the same doctrine\nthat Paul preached in the 15th chapter of 1st Corinthians, starting\nat the thirty-fifth verse, that in addition to the body of flesh and\nblood we have a soul body, _soma psuchicon_, (mistranslated \u201cnatural\u201d\nbody), and a spiritual body; that each of these bodies is grown from a\ndifferent _seed_ atom and that there are _three_ stages of unfoldment\nfor Adam, or man. The first Adam was taken from the ground and was\nwithout sentient life. Soul was added to the _second Adam_; thus he had\nlife within, a leaven laboring to elevate the clod to God. When the\npotential of the soul extracted from the physical body has been raised\nto the spiritual, the _last Adam_ will become a life _giving_ spirit,\ncapable of transmitting the life impulse to others directly as flame\nfrom one candle can be communicated to many without diminishing the\nmagnitude of the original light.\n\nIn the meantime the germ for our earthly body had to be properly placed\nin fruitful soil to grow a suitable vehicle, and generative organs were\nprovided from the beginning to accomplish this purpose. It is stated in\nGenesis 1:27, that Elohim created them _male_ and _female_. The Hebrew\nwords are \u201c_sacre va n\u2019cabah_.\u201d _These are names of the sex organs._\nLiterally translated, _sacr_ means \u201cbearer of the germ.\u201d Thus marriage\nis a _sacr_-ament, for it opens the way for transmission of a physical\nseed atom from the father to the mother, and tends to preserve the\nrace against the ravages of death. Baptism as a _Sacr_ament signifies\nthe germinal urge of the soul for the higher life. Holy Communion, in\nwhich we partake of bread (made from the _seed_ of chaste plants), and\nof wine (the cup symbolizing the passionless _seed_-pod), points to\nthe age to come, an age wherein it will be unnecessary to _transmit_\nthe seed through a father and mother, but where we may feed directly\nupon cosmic life and thus conquer death. Finally, extreme unction\nis the _sacr_ament which marks the loosening of the silver cord, and\nthe extraction of the sacred germ, freeing it until it shall again be\nplanted in another _n\u2019cabah_, or mother.\n\nAs the seed and ovum are the root and basis of racial development,\nit is easy to see that no sin can be more serious than that which\nabuses the creative function, for by that _sacr_-ilege we stunt future\ngenerations and transgress against the Holy Spirit, Jehovah, who is\nwarder of the creative lunar forces. His angels herald births, as\nin the cases of Isaac, John the Baptist, and Jesus. When he wanted\nto reward his most faithful follower, he promised to make his seed\nas numerous as the sands on the seashore. He also meted out a most\nterrible punishment to the Sodomites who committed _sacr_-ilege by\nmisdirecting the seed. He even visits the sins of the fathers upon the\nchildren to the third and fourth generations, for under his regime\n_Law_ reigns supreme. Man has not yet evolved to the point where he can\nrespond to _love_. He requires from his enemies an eye for an eye, and\nwith the same measure that he metes, it is meted unto him.\n\nThough this seems very cruel to us who are each day evolving more\nand more the faculties of love and mercy, we must remember that this\nretributive justice relates purely to the physical body, which is under\nthe laws of Nature just as much as any other chemical composition\nin the universe. When abuses have weakened it, it is incapable of\nfulfilling its mission and meeting our demands in any respect, just\nas is the case with any other machinery which we have made from the\nmaterials around us. There are no miracles such as would be required to\ngenerate a sound and healthy body from parents who have transgressed\nthe laws of nature by their abuses; therefore that sin cannot be\nremitted but must be expiated; but when time and care have restored the\nnecessary strength and vigor, the body will again perform its functions\nin a normal and healthy manner.\n\nThus we understand that under the law there is no mercy, for mercy\nis dictated by love. Therefore it was perfectly in consonance with\ncosmic order when _Christ, the Lord of Love_, said that all things\nwould be forgiven to men which they did against Him, as _love_ is the\nreigning feature in His kingdom; but whatsoever was done contrary to\nthe _law_ of Jehovah must meet its full retribution. We cannot be\nsufficiently thankful for the wonderful religion which He gave us,\nparticularly if we compare it with those under which less evolved\npeoples are now struggling. Take the Buddhists, for instance: grand and\nbeautiful though their leader was, he saw only _sorrow_, a constant\nstruggle against the laws of nature. He aimed to teach his followers\nto transcend that condition by perfect obedience such as that whereby\nwe have conquered the laws of electricity and other forces in nature.\nThe Buddhist sees nothing but the cold and merciless law; on the other\nhand, we of the Western World have before our eyes from the cradle to\nthe grave a beautiful picture of One who said, \u201cCome unto me all ye\nthat labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u201d\n\nBut it may be asked, \u201cWhat about _lost souls_; are they a figment\nof the imagination also?\u201d To this question may be answered, \u201cyes,\u201d\nalthough it needs some qualification. We shall best understand the case\nif we go back into the history of mankind and view the experiences of\nsome who have transgressed, for they will furnish us an example of\nwhat may happen. In order to establish the point properly we shall\nreiterate a few of the Rosicrucian teachings regarding the genesis\nof the earth and of man upon it. Three great stages of unfoldment\nhave preceded the present Earth Period. _The Father_ is the highest\nInitiate of the Saturn Period, inhabiting particularly the Spiritual\nSun. _The Son_, the cosmic Christ, is the highest Initiate of the Sun\nPeriod, inhabiting the Central Sun and guiding the planets in their\norbits by a ray from Himself, which becomes the indwelling spirit of\neach planet when it has been sufficiently ripened to contain such a\ngreat Intelligence. Jehovah, the _Holy Spirit_, is the highest Initiate\nof the Moon Period and dwelling in the physical, visible sun. He is\nregent of the various moons thrown off by the different planets for\nthe purpose of giving beings who have fallen behind in the march of\nevolution more rigid discipline under a firmer law, to awaken them and\nspur them on in the proper direction if possible.\n\nWhen we look into space, we perceive that some planets have a number\nof moons and others have none; but as there are laggards in any large\ncompany, and as moons are required to aid these stragglers to retrieve\ntheir lost estate if possible, we may be sure that these planets which\nhave no moons now have had them in the past. Those Great Beings of\nwhom the _Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception_ speaks as \u201cLords of Venus\u201d and\n\u201cLords of Mercury\u201d were, in fact, stragglers from those two planets.\nIn the dim distant past they inhabited moons which encircled their\nrespective planets, and were successful in retrieving their loss in\na large measure under the discipline given them there. Later they\nreceived the opportunity to serve the humanity of our earth, and by\nthat service to secure a return to the home planet whence they had been\nexiled. They were _lost_ under the _law_, but _redeemed by love_; and\nthus we may infer that opportunities for service will also bring to\nother beings, who may become \u201clost,\u201d the opportunity to retrieve the\npast.\n\nSince it may puzzle the student as to what becomes of the moons\nupon which such beings dwell for a time, we may say that the solar\nsystem is to be regarded as the body of the Great Spirit whom we\ncall God, and as any growth caused by an abnormal process pains us\nwhen it occurs in our body, so also such crystallizations as moons\nare sources of discomfort to that Great Being. Furthermore, as our\nown systems endeavor to eliminate such abnormalities as growths, so\nalso the universe endeavors to expel moons which have served their\npurpose. While the beings who have been exiled to a moon are there, the\nPlanetary Spirit of the primary planet by his care for these beings,\nholds the moon in its orbit, and we speak of his love for them as the\nLaw of Attraction; but when they have returned to the parent planet,\nthe Planetary Spirit has no further interest in their cinder-like\nhabitation. Then slowly the orbit of the vacated moon widens, it\ncommences to disintegrate, and it is finally expelled into interstellar\nspace. The asteroids are remnants of moons which once encircled Venus\nand Mercury. There are also other seeming moons and lunar fragments\nin our solar system, but the _Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception_ does not\nconcern itself with them as they are outside the pale of evolution.\n\n\n\n\nChapter VIII\n\nTHE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION\n\n\nThe periodical ebb and flow of the material and spiritual forces which\ninvest the earth are the invisible causes of the physical, moral, and\nmental activities upon our globe.\n\nAccording to the hermetic axiom, \u201cAs above so below,\u201d a similar\nactivity must take place in man, who is but a minor edition of Mother\nNature.\n\nThe animals have twenty-eight pairs of spinal nerves and are now in\ntheir Moon stage, perfectly attuned to the twenty-eight days in which\nthe moon passes around the zodiac. In their wild state the group spirit\nregulates their mating. Therefore there is no overflow with them. Man,\non the other hand, is in a transition stage; he is too far progressed\nfor the lunar vibrations for he has thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves.\nBut he is not yet attuned to the solar month of thirty-one days, and\nhe mates at all times of the year; hence the periodical flow in woman,\nwhich under proper conditions is utilized to form part of the body of\na child more perfect than its parent. Similarly, the periodical flow\nin mankind becomes the sinew and backbone of racial advancement; and\nthe periodical flow of the earth\u2019s spiritual forces, which occurs at\nChristmas, results in the birth of Saviors who from time to time give\nrenewed impetus to the spiritual advancement of the human race.\n\nThere are two parts to our Bible, the Old and the New Testaments. After\nbriefly reciting how the world came into being, the former tells the\nstory of the \u201cFall.\u201d In view of what has been written in our literature\nwe understand the Fall to have been occasioned by man\u2019s impulsive and\nignorant use of the sex forces at times when the interplanetary rays\nwere inimical to conception of the purest and best vehicles. Thus man\nbecame gradually imprisoned in a dense body crystallized by sinful\npassion and consequently an imperfect vehicle, subject to pain and\ndeath.\n\nThen commenced the pilgrimage through matter, and for millennia we have\nbeen living in this hard and flinty shell of body, which obscures the\nlight of heaven from the spirit within. The spirit is like a diamond\nin its rough coat, and the celestial lapidaries, the Recording Angels,\nare constantly endeavoring to remove the coating so that the spirit may\nshine through the vehicle which it ensouls.\n\nWhen the lapidary holds the diamond to the grindstone, the diamond\nemits a screech like a cry of pain as the opaque covering is removed;\nbut gradually by many successive applications to the grindstone the\nrough diamond may become a gem of transcendent beauty and purity.\nSimilarly, the celestial beings in charge of our evolution hold us\nclosely to the grindstone of experience. Pain and suffering result,\nwhich awaken the spirit sleeping within. The man hitherto content with\nmaterial pursuits, indulgent of sense and sex, becomes imbued with a\ndivine discontent which impels him to seek the higher life.\n\nThe gratification of that aspiration, however, is not usually\naccomplished without a severe struggle upon the part of the lower\nnature. It was while wrestling thus that Paul exclaimed with all the\nanguish of a devout, aspiring heart: \u201cOh wretched man that I am * * *\nThe good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that\nI do * * * I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I\nsee another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and\nbringing it into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.\u201d\n(Rom. 7:19-24.)\n\nWhen the flower is crushed, its scent is liberated and fills the\nsurroundings with grateful fragrance, delighting all who are fortunate\nenough to be near. Crushing blows of fate may overwhelm a man or woman\nwho has reached the stage of efflorescence; they will but serve to\nbring out the sweetness of the nature and enhance the beauty of the\nsoul till it shines with an effulgence that marks the wearer as with\na halo. Then he is upon the path of Initiation. He is taught how\nunbridled use of sex regardless of the stellar rays has imprisoned\nhim in the body, how it fetters him, and how by the proper use of\nthat same force in harmony with the stars he may gradually improve\nand etherealize his body and finally attain liberation from concrete\nexistence.\n\nA shipwright cannot build a staunch oak ship from spruce lumber; \u201cmen\ndo not gather grapes of thorns;\u201d like always begets like, and an\nincoming ego of a passionate nature is drawn to parents of like nature,\nwhere its body is conceived upon the impulse of the moment in a gust of\npassion.\n\nThe soul who has tasted the cup of sorrow incident to the abuse of the\ncreative force and has drunk to the dregs the bitterness thereof, will\ngradually seek parents of less and less passionate natures, until at\nlength it attains to Initiation.\n\nHaving been taught in the process of Initiation the influence of\nthe stellar rays upon parturition, the next body provided will be\ngenerated by Initiate parents without passion, under the constellation\nmost favorable to the work which the ego contemplates. Therefore the\nGospels (which are formulae of Initiation) commence with the account\nof the immaculate conception and end with the crucifixion, both\nwonderful ideals to which we must some time attain, for each of us is\na Christ-in-the-making, and will sometime pass through both the mystic\nbirth and the mystic death adumbrated in the Gospels. By knowledge\nwe may hasten the day, intelligently co-operating instead of as now\noften stupidly frustrating through ignorance the ends of spiritual\ndevelopment.\n\nIn connection with the immaculate conception misunderstandings prevail\nat every point; the perpetual virginity of the mother even after giving\nbirth to other children; the lowly station of Joseph, the supposed\nfoster-father, etc. We will briefly view them in the light of facts as\nrevealed in the Memory of Nature:\n\nIn some parts of Europe people of the higher classes are addressed\nas \u201cwellborn,\u201d or even as \u201chighwellborn,\u201d meaning that they are the\noffspring of cultured parents in high station. Such people usually look\ndown with scorn upon those in modest positions. We have nothing against\nthe expression \u201cwellborn;\u201d we would that every child were well born,\nborn to parents of high moral standing no matter what their station in\nlife. There is a virginity of soul that is independent of the state of\nthe body, a purity of mind which will carry its possessor through the\nact of generation without the taint of passion and enable the mother to\ncarry the unborn child under her heart in sexless love.\n\nPrevious to the time of Christ that would have been impossible. In\nthe earlier stages of man\u2019s career upon earth quantity was desirable\nand quality a minor consideration, hence the command was given to \u201cgo\nforth, be fruitful, and multiply.\u201d Besides, it was necessary that\nman should temporarily forget his spiritual nature and concentrate\nhis energies upon material conditions. Indulgence of the sex passion\nfurthers that object, and the desire nature was given full sway.\nPolygamy flourished, and the larger the number of their children, the\nmore a man and a woman were honored, while barrenness was looked upon\nas the greatest possible affliction.\n\nIn other directions the desire nature was being curbed by God-given\nlaws, and obedience to divine commands was enforced by swift punishment\nof the transgressor, such as war, pestilence or famine. Rewards for\ndutiful observance of the mandates of the law were not wanting either;\nthe \u201crighteous\u201d man\u2019s children, his cattle and crops were numerous; he\nwas victorious over his enemies and the cup of his happiness was full.\n\nLater when the earth had been sufficiently peopled after the Atlantean\nFlood, polygamy became gradually more and more obsolete, with the\nresult that the quality of the bodies improved, and at the time of\nChrist the desire nature had become so far amenable to control in the\ncase of the more advanced among humanity that the act of generation\ncould be performed without passion, out of pure love, so that the child\ncould be immaculately conceived.\n\nSuch were the parents of Jesus. Joseph is said to have been a\ncarpenter, but he was not a worker in wood. He was a \u201cbuilder\u201d in a\nhigher sense. God is the Grand Architect of the universe. Under Him\nare many builders of varying degrees of spiritual splendor, down even\nto those whom we know as Freemasons. All are engaged in building a\ntemple without sound of hammer, and Joseph was no exception.\n\nIt is sometimes asked why Initiates are always men. They are not; in\nthe lower degrees there are many women, but when an Initiate is able\nto choose his sex he usually takes the positive masculine body, as\nthe life which brought him to Initiation has spiritualized his vital\nbody and made it positive under all conditions, so that he has then an\ninstrument of the highest efficiency.\n\nThere are times, however, when the exigencies of a case require a\nfemale body, such as, for instance, providing a body of the highest\ntype to receive an ego of superlatively high degree. Then a high\nInitiate may take a female body and go through the experience of\nmaternity again, after perhaps having eschewed it for several lives, as\nwas the case with the beautiful character we know as Mary of Bethlehem.\n\nIn conclusion, then, let us remember the points brought out, that\nwe are all Christs-in-the-making; that sometime we must cultivate\ncharacters so spotless that we may be worthy to inhabit bodies that\nare immaculately conceived; and the sooner we commence to purify our\nminds of passionate thoughts, the sooner we shall attain. In the\nfinal analysis it only depends upon the earnestness of our purpose,\nthe strength of our wills. Conditions are such now that we can live\npure lives whether married or single, and cold; sister-and-brother\nrelationships are not necessary either.\n\nIs the life of absolute purity beyond some of us yet? Be not\ndiscouraged; Rome was not built in a day. Keep on aspiring though you\nfail again and again, for the only real failure consists in ceasing to\ntry.\n\nSo may God strengthen your aspirations to purity.\n\n\n\n\nChapter IX\n\nTHE COMING CHRIST\n\nWe have previously seen how infant humanity in Atlantis lived in unity\nunder direct guidance of divine leaders, and how they were eventually\nbrought out of the water into a clear atmosphere where the separateness\nof each individual from all others became obvious at once.\n\n\u201cGod is Light\u201d\u2014the Light which became life in man. It was dim and\nachromatically diffused in the misty atmosphere of early Atlantis,\nas colorless as the air on a densely foggy day in the present age,\nhence the unity of all beings who lived in that light. But when\nman rose above the waters, when he emerged into the air where the\ngodly manifestation, Light, was refracted in multitudinous hues,\nthis variously colored light was differently absorbed by each. Thus\ndiversity was inaugurated, when mankind went through the mighty arch\nof the rainbow with its variegated and beautiful colors. That bow\nmay therefore be considered an entrance gate to \u201cthe promised land,\u201d\nthe world as now constituted. Here the light of God is no longer an\ninsipid single tint as in early Atlantis. The present dazzling play of\ncolor tells us that _the watchword of the present age is segregation_,\nand therefore so long as we remain in the present condition under the\nlaw of alternating cycles, where summer and winter, ebb and flow,\nsucceed each other in unbroken sequence, so long as God\u2019s bow stands in\nthe sky, an emblem of diversity, it is yet the day of the kingdoms of\nmen, and the kingdom of God is held in abeyance.\n\nNevertheless, as surely as the Edenic conditions upon the fire girt\nislands of ancient Lemuria ended in separation into sexes, each\nexpressing one element of the creative fire, and making the union\nof man and woman as necessary to the generation of a body as is the\nunion of hydrogen and oxygen to the production of water; and as\nsurely as emergence from the watery atmosphere of Atlantis into the\nairy environment of _Aryana_, the world of today, promoted further\nsegregation into separate nations and individuals, who war and prey\nupon one another (because the sharply differentiated forms which they\nbehold blind them to the inalienable unity of each soul with all\nothers); just as certainly will this world condition give place to a\n\u201cnew heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.\u201d\n\nIn early Atlantis we lived in the deepest basins of the earth where the\nmist was densest; we breathed by means of gills and would have been\nunable to live in an atmosphere such as we have now. In the course of\ntime desire to explore beyond caused the invention of airships, which\nwere propelled by the expansive force of sprouting grain. The \u201cark\u201d\nstory is a perverted remembrance of that fact. Those ships actually did\nfounder upon mountain tops where the atmosphere was too rare to sustain\nthem. Today our ships float upon the element in which the Atlantean\nships were at one time immersed. We have now contrived various means of\npropulsion able to carry us over the highlands of the earth which we\noccupy at present, and are commencing to reach out into the atmosphere\nto conquer that element as we have subjected the waters; and as surely\nas our Atlantean ancestors made a highway of the watery element which\nthey breathed _and then rose above it to live in a new element_, just\nas certainly shall we conquer the air and then rise above it into the\nnewly discovered element which we call ether.\n\nThus each age has its own peculiar conditions and laws; the beings who\nevolve have a physiological constitution suited to the environment of\nthat age, but are dominated by the nature forces then prevailing until\nthey learn to conform to them. Then these forces become most valuable\nservants, as for instance, steam and electricity, which we have\npartially harnessed. The law of gravity still holds us in its powerful\ngrip, although by mechanical means we are trying to escape into the new\nelement. We shall at a not distant time attain to mastery of the air,\nbut as the ships of the Atlanteans foundered upon the mountains of the\nearth because their buoyancy was insufficient to enable them to rise\nhigher in the light mist of those altitudes, and because respiration\nwas difficult, so also will the increasing rarity of our present\natmosphere prevent us from entering the \u201cnew heaven and the new earth,\u201d\nwhich are to be the scene of the New Dispensation.\n\nBefore we can reach that state, physiological as well as moral and\nspiritual changes must take place. The Greek text of the New Testament\ndoes not leave us in doubt as to this, though lack of knowledge of the\nmystery teachings prevented the translators from bringing it out in the\nEnglish version. Did we but believe the Bible even as we have it, we\nshould be spared many delusions and much uneasiness concerning the time\nof this. Whole sects have disposed of their belongings in anticipation\nof the advent of Christ on a certain day, and have suffered untold\nprivations afterwards. Schemers have passed themselves off as Christ\nor even as God, have married, raised families, and died, leaving their\nsons, who were supposed to be Christs, to fight for the kingdom.\nA temporal government was forced to banish one of these militant\n\u201cChrists\u201d to an island of the Mediterranean, and another to an Asiatic\ncity where he is now under military supervision. Nor is there any sign\nthat the future will lack similar claimants; rather, the sacrilegious\nimposture is spreading.\n\n_We may rest assured that the divine leaders of evolution made no\nmistake when they gave the Christian Religion to the Western World\u2014the\nmost advanced teaching to the most precocious among mankind._ It may\ntherefore be regarded as a detriment when an organization undertakes\nto graft a Hindu religion (which is excellent for the people to whom\nit was divinely given) upon our people. The imported Hindu breathing\nexercises have certainly sent many people to insane asylums.\n\nIf we believe Christ\u2019s words: \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world,\u201d\n(_kosmos_, the Greek word used for \u201cworld\u201d meaning \u201corder of things\u201d\nrather than our planet, the earth, which is called _gee_,) we shall\nknow better than to look for Christ today.\n\n\u201cFlesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God\u201d any more than\nthe gill breathing creature of early Atlantean times was fit to live\nunder the natural conditions prevailing in the present age where \u201cthe\nkingdom of men\u201d exists. Paul, in discussing the resurrection, does\nnot say as in the English translation, \u201cThere is a natural body and\nthere is a spiritual body.\u201d I Cor. 15:44. He affirms that there is a\n\u201c_soma psuchicon_,\u201d a soul body, and tells in the preceding verses\nhow this is generated from a \u201c_seed_\u201d in the same way as explained\nin the Rosicrucian teachings. The Bible affirms that our bodies are\ncorruptible. (It also teaches that one organ, the heart, is an\nexception. This has reference to the seed atom in the heart. Ps.\n22:26.) Therefore our bodies must be changed before Christ can come.\n\nIf these things were believed, few would run after impostors, and the\nlatter would have their labors for their pains. But Western papers\nunfortunately give notoriety to such schemers, though regarding them as\na joke as well they may, for it would be preposterous to believe that\nthe great and wise Being who guides evolution could be so shortsighted\nas not to know that the Western World would never accept the scion of\nwhat it regards as a semi-barbaric race for its Savior.\n\nWhen preparations were made 2000 years ago, for the embodiment of the\nSavior of the world, Galilee was the Mecca for roving spirits. Thither\nflocked people from Asia, Africa, Greece, Italy, and all other parts of\nthe world of that day. Conditions there were exceptionally congenial\nand attractive so that, as declared by various scholars who have\ninvestigated the matter, Galilee was as cosmopolitan as Rome itself.\nIt was, in fact, the \u201cmelting pot\u201d of that day. Among others, Joseph\nand Mary, the parents of Jesus, had emigrated from Judea to Nazareth in\nGalilee before the advent of their firstborn, and the body generated in\nthat environment was different from the ordinary Jewish race body.\n\nIt is an incontrovertible fact that environment plays a great part\nin evolution. We have today upon earth _three great races_. One, the\nNegro, has hair which is _flat_ in section, and the head is long,\nnarrow, and _flattened_ on the sides. The orbit of the eye is also long\nand narrow. The Negroes are descendants of the Lemurian Race.\n\nThe Mongols and kindred peoples have _round_ heads. Their hair is round\nin section, and the orbits of their eyes are also round. They are the\nremnants of the Atlantean Race.\n\nThe _Aryan Race_ have oval hair, oval skulls, and oval orbits of the\neyes, these features being especially pronounced in the Anglo-Saxons,\nwho are the flower of the race at present.\n\nIn America, the Mecca of nations today, these various races are of\ncourse represented. Here is the \u201cmelting pot\u201d in which they are being\namalgamated. It has been ascertained that here there is a difference in\nchildren belonging to the same family. The _skulls of younger children\nborn in America are more nearly oval than the heads of their older\nbrothers and sisters born abroad_.\n\nFrom this fact and from others which need not be mentioned here, it\nis evident that a new race is being born on the American continent;\nand reasoning from the known fact that the Christ came from the most\ncosmopolitan part of the civilized world of 2000 years ago, it would\nbe but logical to expect that if a new embodiment were sought for that\nexalted Being, His body would more likely be taken from the new race\nthan from an ancient one. Otherwise, if there is virtue in obtaining a\nSavior from the older races, why not get a Bushman or a Hottentot?\n\nBut we may be sure that though impostors deceive for a time, they are\nfound out sooner or later, and their plans come to naught. Meanwhile,\nprogression continues to bring us nearer the Aquarian Age, and _a\nTeacher is coming_ to give the Christian Religion impetus in a new\ndirection.\n\n\n\n\nChapter X\n\nTHE COMING AGE\n\n\nWhen we speak of the \u201cComing Age,\u201d of the \u201cNew Heaven and the New\nEarth\u201d mentioned in the Bible, and also of the \u201cAquarian Age,\u201d the\ndifferences may not be quite clear in the minds of our students.\nConfusion of terms is one of the most fertile seed grounds of fallacy,\nand the Rosicrucian teachings aim to avoid it by a particularly\ndefinite nomenclature. Sometimes an extra effort seems necessary to\ndisperse the haze engendered by current cloudy conceptions of others as\nsincere as the present writer, but not so fortunate in having access to\nthe incomparable Western Wisdom Teachings.\n\nIt has been taught in our literature that four great epochs of\nunfoldment preceded the present order of things; that the density\nof the earth, its atmospheric conditions, and the laws of nature\nprevailing in one epoch were as different from those of the other\nepochs as was the corresponding physiological constitution of mankind\nin one epoch different from those in the others.\n\nThe bodies of ADM (the name means _red earth_), the humanity of fiery\nLemuria, were formed of the \u201cdust of the ground,\u201d the red, hot,\nvolcanic mud, and were just suited to their environment. Flesh and\nblood would have shriveled up in the terrible heat of that day, and\nthough suited to present conditions, Paul tells us that they cannot\ninherit the Kingdom of God. It is therefore manifest that before a new\norder of things can be inaugurated, the physiological constitution of\nmankind must be radically changed, to say nothing of the spiritual\nattitude. Aeons will be required to regenerate the whole human race and\nfit them to live in ethereal bodies.\n\nOn the other hand, neither does a new environment come into existence\nin a moment, but land and people are evolved together from the smallest\nand most primitive beginnings. When the mists of Atlantis commenced to\nsettle, some of our forbears had grown embryonic lungs and were forced\nto the highlands ages before their compeers. They wandered in \u201cthe\nwilderness\u201d while \u201cthe promised land\u201d was emerging from the lighter\nfogs, and at the same time their growing lungs were fitting them to\nlive under present atmospheric conditions.\n\nTwo more races were born in the basins of the earth before a succession\nof floods drove them to the highlands: the last flood took place at the\ntime when the sun entered the watery sign Cancer, about ten thousand\nyears ago as told Plato by the Egyptian priests. Thus we see there is\n_no sudden_ change of constitution or environment for the whole human\nrace when a new epoch is ushered in, but an overlapping of conditions\nwhich makes it possible for most of the race by gradual adjustment\nto enter the new condition, though the change may seem sudden to\nthe individual when the preparatory change has been accomplished\nunconsciously. The metamorphosis of a tadpole from a denizen of the\nwatery element to one of the airy gives an analogy of the past, and\nthe transformation of the earthworm to a butterfly soaring in the air\nis an apt simile of the coming age. When the heavenly time marker came\ninto Aries by precession, a new cycle commenced, and the \u201cglad tidings\u201d\nwere preached by Christ. He said by implication that the new heaven and\nearth were not ready then when He told His disciples: Whither I go you\ncannot _now_ follow, but you shall follow afterwards. I go to prepare a\nplace for you and will come again and receive you.\n\nLater John saw in a vision the new Jerusalem descending from heaven,\nand Paul taught the Thessalonians \u201c_by the word of the Lord_\u201d that\nthose who are Christs at His coming shall be caught up _in the air_ to\nmeet Him and be with Him _for the age_.\n\nBut during this change there are pioneers who enter the kingdom of God\nbefore their brethren. Christ, in Matt. 11:12, said that \u201cthe kingdom\nof heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.\u201d This\nis not a correct translation. It ought to be: The kingdom of the\nheavens _has been invaded_ (_biaxetai_), and invaders seize on her. Men\nand women have already learned through holy, helpful lives to lay aside\nthe body of flesh and blood, either intermittently or permanently, and\nto walk the skies with winged feet, intent upon the business of their\nLord, clad in the ethereal \u201cwedding garment\u201d of the new dispensation.\nThis change may be accomplished through a life of simple helpfulness\nand prayer as practiced by devoted Christians, no matter with what\nchurch they affiliate, as well as by the specific exercises given in\nthe Rosicrucian Fellowship. The latter will prove barren of results,\nunless accompanied by constant _acts_ of love for _love_ will be\nthe keynote of the coming age as _Law_ is of the present order. The\nintense expression of the former quality increases the phosphorescent\nluminosity and density of the ethers in our vital bodies, the fiery\nstreams sever the tie to the mortal coil, and the man, once _born of\nwater_ upon his emergence from Atlantis, is now born _of the spirit_\ninto the kingdom of God. The dynamic force of his love has opened a way\nto the land of love, and indescribable is the rejoicing among those\nalready there when new invaders arrive, for each new arrival hastens\nthe coming of the Lord and the definite establishment of the Kingdom.\n\nAmong the religiously inclined there is a definite unceasing cry: How\nlong, O Lord; how long? And despite the emphatic statement of Christ\nthat the day and hour are unknown, even to Himself, prophets continue\nto gain credence when they predict His coming on a certain day,\nthough each is discomfited when the day passes without development.\nThe question has also been mooted among our students, and the present\nchapter is an attempt to show the fallacy of looking for the Second\nAdvent in a year or fifty or five hundred. The Elder Brothers decline\nto commit themselves further than to point out what must first be\naccomplished.\n\nAt the time of Christ the sun was in about seven degrees of Aries. Five\nhundred years were required to bring the precession to the thirtieth\ndegree of Pisces. During that time the new church lived through a\nstage of offensive and defensive violence well justifying the words\nof Christ: \u201cI came not to bring peace but a sword.\u201d Fourteen hundred\nyears more have elapsed under the negative influence of _Pisces_, which\nhas fostered the power of the church and bound the people by creed and\ndogma.\n\nIn the middle of the last century the sun came within orb of influence\nof the scientific sign _Aquarius_, and although it will take about\nsix hundred years before the Aquarian Age commences, it is highly\ninstructive to note what changes the mere touch has wrought in the\nworld. Our limited space precludes enumeration of the wonderful\nadvances made since then; but it is not too much to say that science,\ninvention, and resultant industry have completely changed the world,\nits social life, and economic conditions. The great strides made in\nmeans of communication have done much to break down barriers of race\nprejudice and prepare us for conditions of Universal Brotherhood.\nEngines of destruction have been made so fearfully efficient that the\nmilitant nations will be forced ere long to \u201cbeat their swords into\nplowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.\u201d _The sword has had its\nreign_ during the Piscean Age, but _science will rule_ in the Aquarian\nAge.\n\nIn the land of the setting sun we may expect to first see the ideal\nconditions of the Aquarian Age: A blending of religion and science,\nforming a religious science and a scientific religion, which will\npromote the health, happiness and the enjoyment of life in abundant\nmeasure.\n\n\n_Sugar For Alcohol_\n\nIn the chapter elucidating the Law of Assimilation in the _Rosicrucian\nCosmo-Conception_, we stated that minerals cannot be assimilated\nbecause they lack a vital body, which lack makes it impossible for man\nto raise their vibratory rate to his own pitch. Plants have a vital\nbody and no self-consciousness, hence are most easily assimilated and\nremain with man longer than cells of animal flesh, which is permeated\nby a desire body. The vibratory rate of the latter is high, and much\nenergy is required in assimilation; its cells also quickly escape and\nmake it necessary for the flesh eater to forage often.\n\nWe are aware that alcohol is a \u201cforeign spirit\u201d and a \u201cspirit of\ndecay,\u201d because _it is generated by fermentation_ OUTSIDE the\nconsumer\u2019s system. Being \u201cspirit,\u201d it vibrates with such intense\nrapidity that the human spirit is incapable of tuning it down and\ncontrolling it as food must be, hence metabolism is out of the\nquestion. Nay, more, as we cannot reduce its vibratory rate to that of\nour bodies, this foreign spirit may accelerate their vibratory pitch\nand control us as happens in the state of intoxication. Thus alcohol is\na great danger to mankind and one from which we must be emancipated ere\nwe can realize our divine nature.\n\nA stimulant spirit is necessary while we live on a _diet of flesh_ or\nprogress would stop, and _a food_ has been provided for the pioneers\nof the West that answers all requirements; its name is \u201csugar.\u201d _From\nsugar the ego itself generates alcohol_ INSIDE the system by the very\nprocesses of metabolism. This product is therefore both food and\nstimulant, perfectly keyed to the vibratory pitch of the body. It has\nall the good qualities of alcohol in enhanced measure and none of its\ndrawbacks. To perceive properly the effect of this food, consider the\npeoples of eastern Europe where but little sugar is consumed. They are\nslavish; they speak of themselves in terms of depreciation; the pronoun\n\u201cI\u201d is always spelled with small letters but \u201cyou\u201d with a capital.\nEngland consumes five times as much sugar per capita as Russia. In\nthe former we meet a different spirit, the big \u201cI\u201d and the little\n\u201cyou.\u201d In America the candy store becomes a most dangerous rival of the\nsaloon, for _the man who eats sweets will not drink_, and there is no\nsurer cure for alcoholism than to induce the sufferer to eat freely of\nsweets. The drunkard abhors sugar, however, while his system is under\nthe sway of the \u201cforeign spirit.\u201d\n\nThe temperance movement was begun in the land where _most sugar is\nconsumed_, and has _generated \u201cthe spirit of self-respect.\u201d_\n\n\n\n\nChapter XI\n\nMEAT AND DRINK AS FACTORS IN EVOLUTION\n\n\nIn previous chapters we saw how infant humanity was cared for by\nsuperhuman guardians, provided with appropriate food, led out of\ndanger\u2019s way, and sheltered in all respects until grown to human\nstature and fit to enter the school of experience to learn the lessons\nof life in the phenomenal world. We saw also how the rainbow points to\nnatural laws peculiar to the present age, how man was given free will\nunder these laws, and how the spirit of wine was given to cheer and to\nstimulate his own timid, fearful spirit, to nerve it for the war of the\nworld.\n\nIn an analogous manner the irresponsible little child who has been\nbrought under the waters of baptism by its natural guardians is cared\nfor through the years of childhood while its various vehicles are being\norganized. When the parental blood stored in the thymus gland has been\nexhausted and the child thus emancipated from the parents, it awakes\nto individuality, to the feeling of \u201cI AM.\u201d It has then been prepared\nwith a knowledge of good and evil with which to fight the battle of\nlife; and at that time the youth is taken to the church and given the\nbread and wine to nerve and nourish him spiritually, also as a symbol\nthat henceforth he is a free agent, only responsible to the laws of\nGod. A blessing or a curse, this freedom, according to the way it is\nused.\n\nIn early Atlantis mankind was a universal brotherhood of submissive\nchildren with no incentive to war or strife. Later they were segregated\ninto nations, and wars inculcated loyalty to kin and country. Each\nsovereign was an absolute autocrat with power over life and limb of his\nsubjects, who were numbered in hundreds of millions, and who yielded\nungrudging and slavish submission, an attitude maintained to the\npresent day among the millions of Asiatics, who are vegetarians and\nconsequently need no alcohol.\n\nAs flesh eating came into vogue, wine became a more and more common\nbeverage. In consequence of flesh eating much material progress was\nmade immediately preceding the advent of Christ, and because of\nthe practice of drinking wine an increasing number of men asserted\nthemselves as leaders, with the result that instead of a few large\nnations such as people Asia, many small nations were formed in the\nsouthwestern portion of Europe and Asia Minor.\n\nBut though the great mass of people who formed these various nations\nwere ahead of their Asiatic brethren as craftsmen, they continued\nsubmissive to their rulers and lived as much in their traditions as\ndid the latter. Christ upbraided them because they gloried in being\nAbraham\u2019s seed. He told them that \u201cbefore Abraham was, I AM,\u201d that is,\nthe ego has always existed.\n\nIt is His mission to emancipate humanity from Law and lead it to\nLOVE, to destroy \u201cthe kingdoms of men\u201d with all their antagonism to\none another, and to build upon their ruins \u201cthe kingdom of God.\u201d An\nillustration will make the method clear:\n\nIf we have a number of brick buildings and desire to amalgamate them\ninto one large structure, it is necessary to break them down first and\nfree each brick from the mortar which binds it. Likewise each human\nbeing must be freed from the fetters of family, hence Christ taught\n\u201cUnless a man leave father and mother he cannot be my disciple.\u201d He\nmust outgrow religious partisanship and patriotism and learn to say\nwith the much misunderstood and maligned Thomas Paine: \u201c_The world is\nmy country, and to do good is my religion_.\u201d\n\nChrist did not mean that we are to forsake those who have a claim upon\nour help and support, but that we are not to permit the suppression of\nour individuality out of deference to family traditions and beliefs.\n\nConsequently He came \u201cnot to bring peace, but a sword;\u201d and whereas\nthe eastern religions discourage the use of wine, _Christ\u2019s first\nmiracle was to change water to wine_. The sword and the wine cup are\nsignatures of the Christian religion, for by them nations have been\nbroken to pieces and the individual emancipated. Government by the\npeople, for the people, is a fact in northwestern Europe, the rulers\nbeing that principally in name only.\n\nBut the fostering of the martial spirit such as prevails in Europe was\nonly a means to an end. The segregation which it has caused must give\nplace to a regime of brotherhood such as professed by Paine. A new step\nwas necessary to bring this about; _a new food_ must be found which\nwould act upon the spirit in such a way as to foster individuality\nthrough _assertion of self without oppression of others and without\nloss of self-respect_. We have enunciated it as a law that only spirit\ncan act upon spirit, and therefore that food must be a spirit but\ndiffering in other respects from intoxicants.\n\nBefore describing this let us see what flesh has done for the evolution\nof the world.\n\nWe have noted previously that during the Polarian Epoch man had only a\ndense body; he was like the present minerals in this respect, and by\nnature he was as inert and passive.\n\nBy absorbing the crystalloids prepared by plants he evolved a vital\nbody during the Hyperborean Epoch and became plantlike both in\nconstitution and by nature, for he lived without exertion and as\nunconsciously as the plants.\n\nLater he extracted milk from the then stationary animals. Desire for\nthis more readily digestible food spurred him on to exertion, and\ngradually his desire nature was evolved during the Lemurian Epoch.\nThus he became constituted like the present day _Herbivora_. Though\npossessed of a passional nature, he was docile and could not be induced\nto fight save to defend himself, his mate, and family. Hunger alone had\nthe power to make him aggressive.\n\nTherefore, when animals began to move and sought to elude this ruthless\nparasite, increasing difficulty of obtaining the coveted food aroused\nhis craving to such an extent that when he had hunted and caught an\nanimal, he was no longer content to suck its udders dry but commenced\nto feed upon its blood and flesh. Thus he became as ferocious as our\npresent day Carnivora.\n\nDigestion of flesh food requires much more powerful chemical action and\nspeedy elimination of the waste than that of a vegetable diet as proved\nby chemical analysis of the gastric juices from animals, and by the\nfact that the intestines of Herbivora are many times longer than those\nof a carnivorous animal of even size. Carnivora easily become drowsy\nand averse to exertion.\n\nWhen prodded by the pangs of hunger the ferocious wolf does indeed\npursue its prey with unwavering perseverance, and the spring of the\ncrouching king of beasts overmatches the speed of the wing-footed\ndeer. By ambush the feline family foil the fleetest in their attempts\nto escape. The cunning of the fox is proverbial, and the slinking\nnocturnal habits of the hyena and kindred scavengers illustrate the\ndepth of depravity resulting from a diet of decayed flesh.\n\nThe vices generated by flesh eating may be said to be lassitude,\nferocity, low cunning, and depravity. We may tame the herbivorous\nox and elephant. Their diet makes them docile and stores enormous\npower which they obediently use in our service to perform prolonged\nand arduous labor. The flesh food required by the constitutional\npeculiarities of Carnivora makes them dangerous and incapable of\nthorough domestication. A cat may scratch at any moment, and the\nmuzzling ordinances of large cities are ample proof of the danger of\ndogs. Besides, energy contained in the diet of Carnivora is so largely\nexpended in digestion that they are drowsy and unfitted for sustained\nlabor like the horse or elephant.\n\nThe drowsiness following a heavy meal of meat is too well known to\nrequire argument, and the custom of taking stimulants with food is an\noutgrowth of the desire to counteract the deadening effect of dead\nflesh. The intensified effect of feasting upon _flesh in an advanced\nstate of decay_ is well illustrated in \u201csociety,\u201d where banquets of\ngame that is \u201chigh\u201d are accompanied by orgies of the wildest nature and\nfollowed by indulgence of the vilest instincts.\n\nThe Westerner who can live upon a clean, sweet, wholesome diet of\nvegetables, cereals, and fruits, does not become drowsy from his\nfood; he needs no stimulant. _There are no vegetarian drunkards._ The\nsoothing effects of vegetable food manifest as finer feelings, which\nreplace the ferocity fostered by flesh food. Many need the mixed diet\nyet, for the practice of flesh eating has furthered the progress of the\nworld as nothing else except perhaps its companion vice\u2014drunkenness;\nand though we cannot say that they have been blessings in disguise,\nthey have at least not been unmitigated curses, for in the Father\u2019s\nkingdom all seeming evil nevertheless works for good in some respect,\nthough it may not be apparent upon the surface. We shall see how\npresently.\n\nA private corporation, the East India Company, commenced and\npractically achieved the subjugation of India with her three hundred\nmillion people, for the English are voracious flesh eaters, while\nthe Hindu\u2019s diet fosters docility. But when England fought the flesh\neating Boers, Greek met Greek, and the valor displayed by both sides\nis a matter of brilliant record. Courage, physical as well as moral,\nis a virtue and cowardice a vice. Flesh has fostered self-assertion\nand helped us to develop a backbone, though unfortunately often at the\nexpense of others who still retain the wishbone. It has done more as\nwill be illustrated:\n\nAs said previously, the crouching cat is forced to employ strategy to\nsave strength when procuring its prey, so that it may retain sufficient\nenergy to digest the victim. Thus brain becomes the ally of brawn. In\nancient Atlantis _desire for flesh developed the ingenuity of primitive\nman and led him_ to trap the elusive denizens of field and forest. The\nhunter\u2019s snare was among the first LABOR-SAVING DEVICES\u2014which mark\nthe beginning of the evolution of mind, and of the uncompromising,\nunflagging struggle of the meat fed mind for supremacy over matter.\n\nWe say \u201c_the meat fed mind_,\u201d and we reiterate it, because we wish\nto emphasize that it is by the nations which have adopted flesh food\nthat the most noteworthy progress has been made. The vegetarian\nAsiatics remain upon the lower rungs of civilization. The further west\nwe travel, _the more the consumption of meat increases as does the\ndisinclination for bodily exercise, and consequently the activity of\nthe mind is increased to a higher and higher pitch in the invention of\nlabor-saving devices_. The American agriculturists\u2019 acres are counted\nby thousands, and they harvest large crops with less labor than the\npeasant of the East who has only a small patch of ground. The reason\nis that the poor, plodding, grain fed Easterner has only his hands and\nhis hoe, which he keeps in motion all day and day after day, while the\nmeat fed, progressive Westerner turns power-driven implements into his\nfertile fields and sits down in a comfortable seat to watch them work.\nOne uses muscle, the other mind.\n\nThus the indomitable courage and energy which have transformed the face\nof the Western World are virtues directly traceable to flesh food,\nwhich also fosters love of ease and invention of labor-saving devices;\nwhile alcohol stimulates enterprise in execution of schemes thus\nhatched to procure the maximum of comfort with a minimum of labor.\n\nBut the spirit of alcohol is obtained by a process of fermentation.\nIt is a _spirit of decay_, altogether different from the _spirit of\nlife_ in man. This counterfeit spirit lures man on and on, always\nholding before his vision dreams of _future_ grandeur, and goading\nhim to strenuous efforts of body and mind in order to attain and\nobtain. Then when he has achieved and attained, he awakens to the\nutter worthlessness of his prize. Possession soon shatters illusion\nas to the worth of whatever he may have acquired; _nothing the world\nhas to give can finally satisfy_. Then again the lethal draught drowns\ndisappointment, and the mind conjures up a new illusion. This he\npursues with fresh zeal and high hopes to meet disappointment again and\nagain, for lives and lives, until at last he learns that \u201cwine is a\nmocker,\u201d and that \u201call is vanity but to serve God and to do His will.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter XII\n\nA LIVING SACRIFICE\n\n\nVolumes, or rather libraries, have been written to explain the nature\nof God, but it is probably a universal experience that the more we read\nof other people\u2019s explanations, the less we understand. There is one\ndescription, given by the inspired apostle John when he wrote \u201c_God is\nLight_,\u201d which is as illuminating as the others are befogging to the\nmind. Anyone who takes this passage for meditation occasionally will\nfind a rich reward waiting, for no matter how many times we take up\nthis subject, our own development in the passing years assures us each\ntime a fuller and better understanding. Each time we sink ourselves\nin these three words we lave in a spiritual fountain of inexhaustible\ndepth, and each succeeding time we sound more thoroughly the divine\ndepths and draw more closely to our Father in heaven.\n\nTo get in touch with our subject, let us go back in time to get our\nbearing and the direction of our future line of progress.\n\nThe first time our consciousness was directed towards the Light\nwas shortly after we had become endowed with mind and had entered\ndefinitely upon our evolution as human beings in Atlantis, the land of\nthe mist, deep down in the basins of the earth, where the warm mist\nemitted from the cooling earth hung like a dense fog over the land.\nThen the starry heights of the universe were never seen, nor could the\nsilvery light of the moon penetrate the dense, foggy atmosphere which\nhung over that ancient land. Even the fiery splendor of the sun was\nalmost totally extinguished, for when we look in the Memory of Nature\npertaining to that time, it appears very much as an arc lamp on a high\npole looks to us when it is foggy. It was exceedingly dim, and had an\naura of various colors, very similar to those which we observe around\nan arc light.\n\nBut this light had a fascination. The ancient Atlanteans were taught\nby the divine Hierarchs who walked among them, to aspire to the\nlight, and as the spiritual sight was then already on the wane (even\nthe messengers, or Elohim, being perceived with difficulty by the\nmajority), they aspired all the more ardently to the new light, for\nthey feared the darkness of which they had become conscious through the\ngift of mind.\n\nThen came the inevitable flood when the mist cooled and condensed. The\natmosphere cleared, and the \u201c_chosen people_\u201d were saved. Those who\nhad worked within themselves and learned to build the necessary organs\nrequired to breathe in an atmosphere such as we have today, survived\nand came to the light. It was not an arbitrary choice; _the work of the\npast consisted of body building_. Those who had only gill clefts, such\nas the foetus still uses in its prenatal development, were as unfit\nphysiologically to enter the new era as the foetus would be to be born\nwere it to neglect to build lungs. It would die as those ancient people\ndied when the rare atmosphere made gill clefts useless.\n\nSince the day when we came out of ancient Atlantis our bodies have been\npractically complete, that is to say, no new vehicles are to be added;\nbut from that time and from now on _those who wish to follow the light\nmust strive for soul growth_. The bodies which we have crystallized\nabout us must be dissolved, and the quintessence of experience\nextracted, which as \u201csoul\u201d may be amalgamated with the spirit to\nnourish it from impotence to omnipotence. Therefore, the Tabernacle\nin the Wilderness was given to the ancients, and the _light of God\ndescended upon the Altar of Sacrifice_. This is of great significance:\nThe ego had just descended into its tabernacle, the body. We all know\nthe tendency of the primitive instinct towards selfishness, and if we\nhave studied the higher ethics we also know how subversive of good the\nindulgence of the egotistic tendency is; therefore, God immediately\nplaced before mankind the Divine Light upon the Altar of Sacrifice.\n\nUpon this altar they were forced by dire necessity to offer their\ncherished possessions for every transgression, God appearing to them\nas a hard taskmaster whose displeasure it was dangerous to incur.\nBut still the Light drew them. They knew then that it was futile to\nattempt to escape from the hand of God. They had never heard the words\nof John, \u201cGod is Light,\u201d but they had already learned from the heavens\nin a measure the meaning of infinitude, as measured by the realm of\nlight, for we hear David exclaim: \u201cWhither shall I go from thy Spirit?\nor whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven,\nthou art there: if I make my bed in hell, thou art there. If I take the\nwings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even\nthere shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. If I\nsay, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light\nabout me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth\nas the day, for the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.\u201d\n\nWith every year that passes, with the aid of the greatest telescopes\nwhich the ingenuity and mechanical skill of man have been able to\nconstruct to pierce the depths of space, it becomes more evident that\nthe infinitude of light teaches us the infinitude of God. When we hear\nthat \u201cmen loved darkness rather than Light because their deeds were\nevil,\u201d that also rings true to what we unfortunately know as present\nday facts, and illumines the nature of God for us; for is it not true\nthat we always feel endangered in the dark, but that the light gives us\na sense of safety which is akin to the feeling of a child who feels the\nprotecting hand of its father?\n\nTo render permanent this condition of being in the Light was the next\nstep in God\u2019s work with us, which culminated in the birth of Christ,\nwho as the bodily presence of the Father, bore about in Himself that\nLight, for the Light came into the world that whosoever should believe\nin Christ should not perish, but have everlasting life. He said, \u201cI am\nthe Light of the World.\u201d The altar in the Tabernacle had illustrated\nthe principle of sacrifice as the medium of regeneration, so Christ\nsaid to His disciples: Greater love hath no man than this, that he\nlay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends. And forthwith\nHe commenced a sacrifice, which, contrary to the accepted orthodox\nopinion was not consummated in a few hours of physical suffering upon\na material cross, but is as perpetual as were the sacrifices made upon\nthe altar of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, for it entails an annual\ndescent into the earth and an endurance of all that the cramping earth\nconditions must mean to such a great spirit.\n\nThis must continue till a sufficient number have evolved who can\nbear the burden of this dense lump of _darkness_ which we call the\nearth, and which hangs as a millstone about the neck of humanity, an\nimpediment to further spiritual growth. Until we learn to follow \u201cin\nHis steps,\u201d we can rise no higher towards the Light.\n\nIt is related that when Leonardo da Vinci had completed his famous\npainting, \u201cThe Last Supper,\u201d he asked a friend to look at it and tell\nhim what he thought of it.\n\nThe friend looked at it critically for a few minutes and then said:\n\n\u201cI think you have made a mistake in painting the goblets from which\nthe apostles drink so ornamental and to resemble gold. People in their\npositions would not drink from such expensive vessels.\u201d\n\nDa Vinci then drew his brush through the entire set of vessels which\nhad drawn the criticism of his friend, but he was heartbroken, for he\nhad painted that picture with his soul rather than with his hands, and\nhe had prayed over it that it might speak a message to the world. He\nhad put all the greatness of his art and the whole-hearted devotion of\nhis soul into that effort to paint a Christ who should speak the word\nthat would lead men to emulate His deeds.\n\nCan you see Him as He sits there at that festive board, THE EMBODIMENT\nOF LIGHT, and speaks those wonderful, mystic words: _This is my body,\nthis is my blood, given for you_\u2014a living sacrifice.\n\nIn the past period of our spiritual career we have been looking for\na Light _exterior_ to ourselves, but now we have arrived at the point\nwhere we must look for the Christ light within and emulate Him by\nmaking of ourselves \u201cliving sacrifices\u201d as He is doing. Let us remember\nthat when the sacrifice which lies before our door seems pleasant and\nto our liking, when we seem able to pick and choose our work in His\nvineyard and do what pleases us, we are not making a real sacrifice\nas He did, nor are we when we are seen of men and applauded for our\nbenevolence. But when we are ready to follow Him from that festive\nboard where He was the honored one among friends, into the garden of\nGethsemane _where He was alone_ and wrestled with the great problem\nbefore Him while His friends slept, then are we making a living\nsacrifice.\n\nWhen we are content to follow \u201cin His steps\u201d to that point of\nself-sacrifice where we can say from the bottom of our hearts, \u201c_Thy\nwill, not mine_,\u201d then we have surely _the light within_, and there\nwill never henceforth be for us that which we feel as darkness. _We\nshall walk in the light._\n\nThis is our glorious privilege, and the meditation upon the words\nof the apostle, \u201cGod is Light,\u201d will help us to realize this ideal\nprovided we add to our faith, _works_, and say by our deeds as did the\nChrist of da Vinci, \u201c_This is my body and this is my blood_,\u201d a living\nsacrifice upon the altar of humanity.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XIII\n\nMAGIC, WHITE AND BLACK\n\n\nFrom time to time as occasion requires we warn students of the\nRosicrucian Fellowship in our private individual letters not to attend\nspirit seances, hypnotic demonstrations, or places where incense\nis burned by dabblers in occultism. Black Magic is practiced both\nconsciously and unconsciously to an extent that is almost unbelievable.\n\u201cMalicious animal magnetism,\u201d which is only another name for the Black\nForce, is responsible for more failures in business, loss of health,\nand unhappiness in homes than most people are aware of. Even the\nperpetrators of such outrages are, as said, often unconscious of what\nharm they have done. Therefore it seems expedient to devote a chapter\nto an explanation of some of the laws of magic, which are the same for\nthe white as for the black. There is only one force, but it may be used\nfor good or evil; and according to the motive behind it and the use\nthat is made of it, it becomes either black or white.\n\nIt is a scientific axiom that \u201c_Ex nihil, nihil fit_\u201d (out of nothing\nnothing comes). There must be a seed before there can be a flower, but\nwhere the first seed came from is something which science has failed to\nexplain. The occultist knows that all things have come from _arche_,\nthe infinite essence of chaos, used by God, the Grand Architect, for\nthe building of our universe; and, given the nucleus of anything, the\naccomplished magician can draw upon the same essence for a further\nsupply. Christ, for instance, had some loaves and some fishes; by\nmeans of that nucleus He drew upon the primordial essence of chaos for\nthe rest needed in performing the miracle of feeding a multitude. A\nhuman magician whose power is not so high can more easily draw upon\nthe things which have already materialized out of chaos. He may take\nflowers or fruit belonging to some one else, miles or hundreds of miles\naway, disintegrate them into their atomic constituents, transport them\nthrough the air, and cause them to assume their regular physical shape\nin the room where he is entertaining friends in order to amaze them.\nSuch magic is _grey_ at best, even if he sends sufficient of his coin\nto pay for what he has taken away; if he does not, it is Black Magic to\nthus rob another of his goods. Magic to be white must always be used\nunselfishly, and in addition, for a noble purpose\u2014to save a fellow\nbeing suffering. The Christ, when He fed the multitude from chaos, gave\nas His reason that they had been with Him for several days, and if they\nhad to journey back to their homes without physical food they would\nfaint by the wayside and suffer privation.\n\nGod is the Grand Architect of the Universe and the Initiates of the\nWhite Schools are also arche-tektons, builders from the primordial\nessence in their beneficent work for humanity. These Invisible Helpers\nrequire a nucleus from the patient\u2019s vital body, which is, as students\nof the Rosicrucian Fellowship know, given to them in the effluvia\nfrom the hand, which impregnates the paper when the patient makes\napplication for help and healing. With this nucleus of the patient\u2019s\nvital body they are able to draw upon virgin matter for whatever they\nneed to restore health by building up and strengthening the organism.\n\nThe Black Magicians are despoilers, actuated by hatred and malice.\nThey also need a nucleus for their nefarious operations, and this they\nobtain most easily from the vital body at spiritualistic or hypnotic\nseances, where the sitters relax, put themselves into a negative frame\nof mind, drop their jaws, and sink their individualities by other\ndistinctly mediumistic practices. Even people who do not frequent such\nplaces are not immune, for there are certain products of the vital body\nwhich are ignorantly scattered by all and which may be used effectively\nby the Black Magicians. Chief in this category are the hair and finger\nnails. The Negroes in their voodoo magic use the placenta for similar\nevil purposes. One particularly evil man, whose practices were exposed\na decade ago, obtained from boys the vital fluid which he used for his\ndemoniac acts. Even so innocent a thing as a glass of water placed in\nclose proximity to certain parts of the body of the prospective victim,\nwhile the Black Magician converses with him can be made to absorb a\npart of the victim\u2019s vital body. This will give the Black Magician the\nrequisite nucleus, or it may be obtained from a piece of the person\u2019s\nclothing. The same invisible emanation contained in the garment, which\nguides the bloodhound upon the track of a certain person, will also\nguide the Magician, white or black, to the abode of that person and\nfurnish the Magician with a key to the person\u2019s system whereby the\nformer may help or hurt according to his inclination.\n\nBut there are methods of protecting oneself from inimical influences,\nwhich we shall mention in the latter part of this chapter. We have\ndebated much whether it were wise or not to call the attention of\nstudents to these facts, and have come to the conclusion that it\ndoes not help anyone to imitate the ostrich which sticks its head\ninto a hole in the sand at the approach of danger. It is better to\nbe enlightened concerning things that threaten so that we may take\nwhatever precautions are necessary to meet the emergency. The battle\nbetween the good and the evil forces is being waged with an intensity\nthat no one not engaged in the actual combat can comprehend. The Elder\nBrothers of the Rosicrucians and kindred orders which, we may say, in\ntheir totality represent the Holy Grail, live on the love and essence\nof the unselfish service which they gather and garner as the bees\ngather honey, from all who are striving to live the life. This they add\nto the lustre of the Holy Grail, which in turn grows more lustrous and\nradiates a stronger influence upon all who are spiritually inclined,\nimbuing them with greater ardor, zeal, and zest in the good work and in\nfighting the good fight. Similarly the evil forces of the Black Grail\nthrive on hate, treachery, cruelty, and every demoniac deed on the\ncalendar of crime. Both the Black and the White Grail forces require a\npabulum, the one of good and the other of evil, for the continuance of\ntheir existence and for the power to fight. Unless they get it, they\nstarve and grow weaker. Hence the relentless struggle that is going on\nbetween them.\n\nEvery midnight the Elder Brothers at their service open their breasts\nto attract the darts of hate, envy, malice, and every evil that has\nbeen launched during the past twenty-four hours. First, in order that\nthey may deprive the Black Grail forces of their food; and secondly,\nthat they may transmute the evil to good. Then, as the plants gather\nthe inert carbon dioxide exhaled by mankind and build their bodies\ntherefrom, so the Brothers of the Holy Grail transmute the evil\nwithin the temple; and as the plants send out the renovated oxygen so\nnecessary to human life, so the Elder Brothers return to mankind the\ntransmuted essence of evil as qualms of conscience along with the good\nin order that the world may grow better day by day.\n\nThe Black Brothers, instead of transmuting the evil, infuse a greater\ndynamic energy into it and speed it on its mission in vain endeavors\nto conquer the powers of good. They use for their purposes elementals\nand other discarnate entities which, being themselves of a low order,\nare available for such vile practices as required. In the ages when\nmen burned animal oil or candles made from the tallow of animals,\nelementals swarmed around them as devils or demons, seeking to obsess\nwhoever would offer an occasion. Even wax tapers offer food for these\nentities, but the modern methods of illumination by electricity, coal\noil, or even paraffin candles, are uncongenial to them. They still\nflock around our saloons, slaughter houses, and similar places where\nthere are passionate animals, and animal-like men. They also delight\nin places where incense is burned, for that offers them an avenue of\naccess, and when the sitters at seances inhale the odor of the incense\nthey inhale elemental spirits with it, which affect them according to\ntheir characters.\n\nThis is where the protection we spoke about before may be used. When\nwe live lives of purity, when our days are filled with service to God\nand to our fellow-men, and with thoughts and actions of the highest\nnobility, then we create for ourselves the _Golden Wedding Garment_,\nwhich is a radiant force for good. No evil is able to penetrate this\narmor for the evil then acts as a boomerang and recoils on the one who\nsent it, bringing to him the evil he wished us.\n\nBut alas, none of us are altogether good. We know only too well the\nwar between the flesh and the spirit. We cannot hide from ourselves\nthe fact that like Paul, \u201cthe good that we would do, we do not, and\nthe evil that we would shun, that we do.\u201d Far too often our good\nresolutions come to naught and we do wrong because it is easier.\nTherefore we all have the nucleus of evil within ourselves, which\naffords the open sesame for the evil forces to work upon. For that\nreason it is best for us not unnecessarily to expose ourselves at\nplaces where seances are held with spirits invisible to us, no matter\nhow fine their teachings may sound to the unsophisticated. Neither\nshould we take part even as spectators at hypnotic demonstrations,\nfor there also a negative attitude lays one liable to the danger of\nobsession. We should at all times follow the advice of Paul and put\non the whole armor of God. We should be positive in our fight for the\ngood against the evil and never let an occasion slip to aid the Elder\nBrothers by word or deed in the Great War for spiritual supremacy.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XIV\n\nOUR INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT\n\n\nIt is well known to students of the Rosicrucian Philosophy that each\nspecies of animals is dominated by a group spirit, which is their\nguardian and looks after these, its wards, with a view to bringing them\nalong the path of evolution that is best suited to their development;\nit does not matter what the geographical position of these animals\nis; the lion in the jungles of Africa is dominated by the same group\nspirit as is the lion in the cage of a menagerie in our northern\ncountries. Therefore these animals are alike in all their principal\ncharacteristics; they have the same likes and dislikes with respect\nto diet, and they act in an almost identical manner under similar\ncircumstances. If one wants to study the tribe of lions or the tribe\nof tigers, all that is necessary is to study one individual, for it\nhas neither choice nor prerogative, but acts entirely according to the\ndictates of the group spirit. The mineral cannot choose whether it will\ncrystallize or not; the rose is bound to bloom; the lion is compelled\nto prey; and in each case the activity is dictated entirely by the\ngroup spirit.\n\nBut man is different; when we want to study him we find that each\nindividual is as a species by himself. What one does under any given\ncircumstances is no indication of what another may do; \u201cone man\u2019s meat\nis another man\u2019s poison\u201d; each has different likes and dislikes. This\nis because man as we see him in the physical world is the expression\nof an individual indwelling spirit, seemingly having choice and\nprerogative.\n\nBut as a matter of fact man is not quite as free as he seems; all\nstudents of human nature have observed that on certain occasions a\nlarge number of people will act as though dominated by one spirit. It\nis also easy to see without recourse to occultism that the different\nnations have certain physical characteristics. We all know the German,\nFrench, English, Italian, and Spanish types. Each of these nations has\ncharacteristics which differ from those of the other nations, thus\nindicating that there must be a _race spirit_ at the root of these\npeculiarities. The occultist who is gifted with spiritual sight knows\nthat such is the case, and that each nation has a different race spirit\nwhich broods as a cloud over the whole country. In it the people live\nand move and have their being; it is their guardian and is constantly\nworking for their development, building up their civilization and\nfostering ideals of the highest nature compatible with their capacity\nfor progress.\n\nIn the Bible we read that _Jehovah_, _Elohim_, who was the race\nspirit of the Jews, went before them in a pillar and a cloud, and in\nthe Book of Daniel we gain considerable insight into the workings of\nthese race spirits. The image seen by Nebuchadnezzar with its head of\ngold and feet of clay showed plainly how a civilization built up in\nthe beginning with golden ideals degenerated more and more until in\nthe latter part of its existence the feet were of unstable, crumbling\nclay, and the image was doomed to topple. Thus all civilizations when\nstarted by the different race spirits have great and golden ideals, but\nhumanity by reason of having some free will and choice does not follow\nimplicitly the dictates of the race spirits as the animals follow the\ncommands of the group spirits. Hence in the course of time a nation\nceases to rise, and as there can be no standing still in the cosmos,\nit begins to degenerate until finally the feet are of clay and it is\nnecessary to strike a blow to shatter it, _that another civilization\nmay be built up on its ruins_.\n\nBut empires do not fall without a strong physical blow, and therefore\nan instrument of the race spirit of a nation is always raised up at\nthe time when that nation is doomed to fall. In the tenth and eleventh\nchapters of Daniel we are given an insight into the workings of the\ninvisible government of the race spirits, the powers behind the throne.\nDaniel is much disturbed in spirit; he fasts, for fully _three weeks_,\npraying for light, and at the end of that time an archangel, a race\nspirit, appears before him and addresses him: \u201cFear not, Daniel, for\nfrom the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and\nto chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come\nfor thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me\n_one and twenty days_, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came\nto help me; and I remained there with the king of Persia.\u201d After he\nexplains to Daniel what is to happen, he says: \u201cKnowest thou wherefore\nI came unto thee? _and now will I return to fight with the prince of\nPersia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come_,\nand there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael,\nyour prince.\u201d The archangel also says: \u201cIn the first year of Darius the\nMede, even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him.\u201d\n\nSo when the handwriting is on the wall, some one is raised up to\nadminister the blow; it may be a Cyrus, a Darius, an Alexander, a\nCaesar, a Napoleon, or a kaiser. Such a one may think himself a prime\nmover, a free individual acting by his own choice and prerogative,\nbut as a matter of fact he is only the instrument of the invisible\ngovernment of the world, the power behind thrones, the race spirits,\nwho see the necessity of breaking up civilizations that have outlived\ntheir usefulness, so that humanity may get a new start and evolve under\na new and a higher ideal than that which ensouled it before.\n\nChrist himself when upon earth, said: \u201cI came not to bring peace, but a\nsword,\u201d for it was evident to Him that as long as humanity was divided\ninto races and nations there could be no \u201cpeace on earth and good will\namong men.\u201d Only when the nations have become united in a universal\nbrotherhood is peace possible. The barriers of nationalism must be done\naway with, and to this end the United States of America has been made a\nmelting pot where all that is best in the old nations is being brought\ntogether and amalgamated, so that _a new race with higher ideals and\nfeelings of universal brotherhood may be born for the Aquarian Age_.\nIn the meantime the barriers of nationalism have been partially broken\ndown in Europe by the terrible conflict just past. This brings nearer\nthe day of universal amity and the realization of the Brotherhood of\nMan.\n\nThere is also another object to be gained. Of all the terrors to\nwhich mankind is subjected, there is none so great as _death_, which\nseparates us from those we love, because we are unable to see them\nafter they have stepped out of their bodies. But just as surely as the\nday follows the night, so will every teardrop wear away some of the\nscale that now blinds the eyes of man to the unseen land of the living\ndead. We have said repeatedly and we now reaffirm that one of the\ngreatest blessings which will come from the war will be the spiritual\nsight which a great number of people will evolve. The intense sorrow of\nmillions of people, the longing to see again the dear ones who have so\nsuddenly and ruthlessly been torn from us, are a force of incalculable\nstrength and power. Likewise those who have been snatched by death in\nthe prime of life and who are now in the invisible world are equally\nintense in their desires to be reunited with those near and dear to\nthem, so that they may speak the word of comfort and assure them of\ntheir well-being. Thus it may be said that two great armies comprising\nmillions upon millions are tunneling with frantic energy and intensity\nof purpose through the wall that separates the invisible from the\nvisible. Day by day this wall or veil is growing thinner, and sooner\nor later the living and the living dead will meet in the middle of the\ntunnel. Before we realize it, communication will have been established,\nand we shall find it a common experience that when our loved ones step\nout of their worn and sick bodies, we shall feel neither sorrow nor\nloss because we shall be able to see them in their ethereal bodies,\nmoving among us as they used to do. So out of the great conflict we\nshall come as victors over death and be able to say: \u201cO death, where\nis thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter XV\n\nPRACTICAL PRECEPTS FOR PRACTICAL PEOPLE\n\n\n\u201cIf I were to do business on the principles laid down in the Sermon on\nthe Mount I would be down and out in less than a year,\u201d said a critic\nrecently. \u201cWhy, the Bible is utterly impracticable under our present\neconomic conditions; it is impossible to live according to it.\u201d\n\nIf that is true there is a good reason for the unbelief of the world,\nbut in a court the accused is always allowed a fair trial, and let us\nexamine the Bible thoroughly before we judge. What are the specific\ncharges? \u201cWhy, they are countless,\u201d answered the critic, \u201cbut to\nmention only a few, let us take such passages as, \u2018Blessed are the poor\nin spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven;\u2019 \u2018Blessed are the meek\nfor they shall inherit the earth;\u2019 \u2018Take no thought for the morrow,\nwhat ye shall eat or what ye shall drink.\u2019 Such ideas point the way to\nthe poor-house.\u201d\n\n\u201cVery well,\u201d says the apologist, \u201clet us take the last charge first.\nKing James\u2019 version says: \u2019No man can serve two masters. Ye cannot\nserve God and mammon, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for\nyour life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your\nbody what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food and the body\nthan raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: they sow not, neither do\nthey reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.\nAre ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can\nadd one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?\nConsider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they toil not, neither\ndo they spin. And yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory\nwas not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the\ngrass of the field, which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven,\nshall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore\ntake no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink?\nor, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? for after all these things do\nthe Gentiles seek; your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need\nof all these things. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His\nrighteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.\u2019\u201d\n\nIf this is intended to mean that we should wastefully squander all\nwe have in prodigal or riotous living, then it is of course not only\nimpractical but demoralizing. Such an interpretation is, however,\nout of keeping with the tenor and teaching of the whole Book, and\nit does not say so. The Greek word _merimnon_ means being overly\ncareful or anxious, and if we read the passage with this alteration\nwe shall find that it teaches a different lesson which is entirely\npractical. Mammon is the Syriac word for riches, desired by foolish\npeople. In the preceding paragraph Christ exhorted them not to become\nservants or slaves to riches, which they must leave behind when the\nsilver cord is broken and the spirit returns to God, but seek rather\nto live lives of love and service and lay up treasures of good deeds,\nwhich they might take with them into the Kingdom of Heaven. In the\nmeantime, He exhorted, be not overly anxious regarding what you shall\neat and drink and clothe yourself with. Why worry? You cannot add a\nhairbreadth to your height or a hair to your head by worrying. Worry\nis the most wasteful and depleting of all our emotions, and it does no\ngood whatever. Your heavenly Father knows you need material things,\ntherefore seek first His kingdom and righteousness and all else needed\nwill be added. On at least two occasions when multitudes came to Christ\nin places far from their homes and distant from towns where refreshment\nwas obtainable, He demonstrated this; He gave them first the spiritual\nfood they sought and then ministered to their bodily needs direct from\na spiritual source of supply.\n\nDoes it work out in these modern days? Surely there have been so many\ndemonstrations of this that it is not at all necessary to recount any\nspecial one. When we work and pray, pray and work, and make our lives\na living prayer for opportunities to serve others, then all earthly\nthings will come of their own accord as we need them, and they will\nkeep coming in larger measure according to the degree to which they are\nused in the service of God. If we regard ourselves only as stewards and\ncustodians of whatever earthly goods we possess, then we are really\n\u201c_poor in spirit_\u201d so far as the evanescent earthly treasures are\nconcerned, but rich in the more lasting treasures of the Kingdom of\nHeaven; and if we are not out and out materialists, surely this is a\npractical attitude.\n\nIt is not so long ago that \u201c_caveat emptor_,\u201d \u201cLet the buyer beware,\u201d\nwas the slogan of the merchants who sought after earthly treasures and\nregarded the buyer as their legitimate prey. When they had sold their\nwares and received the money, it did not matter to them whether the\nbuyer was satisfied or not. They even prided themselves on selling\nan inferior article which would soon wear out, as evident in the\nshortsighted motto, \u201cThe weakness of the goods is the strength of\nthe trade.\u201d But gradually even people who would scorn the idea of\nintroducing religion into their business are discarding this _caveat\nemptor_ as a motto, and are unconsciously adapting the precept of\nChrist, \u201c_He that would be the greatest among you, let him be the\nservant of all_.\u201d Everywhere the best business men are insistent in\ntheir claim to patronage on the ground of the service they give to the\nbuyer, because it is a policy that pays, and may therefore be classed\nas another of the practical precepts of the Bible.\n\nBut it sometimes happens that in spite of their desire to serve their\ncustomers, something goes wrong and an angry, dissatisfied buyer comes\nblustering in, decrying their goods. Under the old shortsighted regime\nof _caveat emptor_ the merchant would have merely laughed or thrown\nthe buyer out of the door. Not so the modern merchant, who takes his\nBible into business. He remembers the wisdom of Solomon that \u201ca soft\nanswer turneth away wrath,\u201d and the assertion of Christ that \u201c_the meek\nshall inherit the earth_,\u201d so he apologizes for the fault in the goods,\noffers restitution, and sends the erstwhile dissatisfied customer away\nsmiling and eager to sing the praises of the concern that treats him\nso nicely. Thus by obeying the practical precept of the Bible, keeping\nhis temper in meekness, the business man gains additional customers who\ncome to him in full faith of fair treatment, and the added profit in\nsales made to them soon overbalances the loss on goods which may have\ncaused the dissatisfaction of other customers.\n\nIt pays dividends in dollars and cents to keep one\u2019s temper and\nbe meek; it pays greater dividends from the moral and spiritual\nstandpoints. What better business motto can be found than in\nEcclesiastes: \u201cWisdom is better than weapons of war. Be not rash in\nthy mouth, be not hasty in thy speech to be angry, for anger resteth in\nthe bosom of fools.\u201d Tact and diplomacy are always better than force;\nas the Good Book says: \u201cIf the iron be blunt we must use more strength,\nbut wisdom is profitable to direct.\u201d The line of least resistance,\nso long as it is clean and honorable, is always the best. Therefore,\n\u201c_Love your enemies, do good to them that despitefully use you_.\u201d\n\nIt is good practical business policy to try to reconcile those who do\nus harm lest they do more; and it is better for us to get over our\nill feeling than to nurse it, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall\nhe also reap, and if we sow spite and meanness, we breed and beget in\nothers the same feelings. Furthermore, all these things will apply in\nprivate life and in social intercourse just as in ordinary business.\nHow many quarrels could be avoided if we cultivated the virtue of\nmeekness in our homes; how much pleasure would be gained; how much\nhappiness would come into our lives if in our social and business\nrelations we learned to _do unto others as we would that they should do\nunto us_!\n\nThere is no need for the great mental strain that so many of us are\nworking under concerning what we shall eat and what we shall drink.\nOur Father in Heaven does own the earth and the fullness thereof; the\ncattle on a thousand hills are His. If we learn truly to cast our cares\nupon Him, there is no doubt that the way out of our difficulties will\nbe provided. It is a fact, acknowledged by all authorities who have\ninvestigated the subject, that comparatively few people die from lack\nof necessities of life, but a great many die because of overindulgence\nof the appetites. It is the practical experience of the writer and\nnumerous others that if we do our work day by day as it appears before\nus, faithfully and to the best of our ability, the wherewithal for the\nmorrow will always be provided. If we go according to the instruction\nof the Bible, doing all \u201cas unto the Lord,\u201d it does not matter what\nline of honest work we follow; we are then at the same time seeking\nthe Kingdom of God. But if we are only time servers, working for fear\nor favor, we cannot expect to succeed in the long run; health, wealth,\nand happiness may attend us for a little while, but outside the solid\nfoundation of the Bible there can be no lasting joy in life and no real\nprosperity in business.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XVI\n\nSOUND, SILENCE, AND SOUL GROWTH\n\n\nSincere students of the Science of the Soul are naturally anxious to\ngrow in grace that they may serve so much better in the Great Work of\nHuman Upliftment. Being humble and modest they are only too painfully\naware of their shortcomings, and frequently while casting about for\nmeans to facilitate progress they ask themselves, \u201c_What hinders?_\u201d\nSome, particularly in bygone ages when life was lived less intensely\nthan now, realized that the everyday life among ordinary humanity had\nmany drawbacks. To overcome these and further their soul growth they\nwithdrew from the community to a monastery or to the mountains where\nthey could give themselves over to the spiritual life undisturbed.\n\nWe know, however, that that is not the way. It is too well established\nin the minds of most of our students that if we run away from an\nexperience today, it will confront us again tomorrow, and that the\nvictor\u2019s palm is earned by overcoming the world, not by running away\nfrom it. The environment in which we have been placed by the Recording\nAngels was our own choice when we were at the turning point of our life\ncycle in the Third Heaven, we then being pure spirit unblinded by the\nmatter which now veils our vision. Hence it is undoubtedly the one that\nholds lessons needed by us, and we should make a serious mistake if we\ntried to escape from it altogether.\n\nBut we have received a mind for a definite purpose\u2014to reason about\nthings and conditions so that we may learn to discriminate between\nessentials and nonessentials, between that which is designed to hinder\nfor the purpose of teaching us a virtue by overcoming it, and that\nwhich is an out and out hindrance, which jars our sensibilities and\nwrecks our nerves without any compensating spiritual gain. It will\nbe of the greatest benefit if we can learn to differentiate for the\nconservation of our strength, accepting only that which we must endure\nfor the sake of our spiritual well-being. We shall then save much\nenergy and have much more zest in profitable directions than now. The\ndetails of that problem are different in every life; however, there are\ncertain general principles which it will benefit us all to understand\nand apply in our lives, and among them is the effect of silence and\nsound on soul growth.\n\nAt first blush it may surprise us when the statement is made that\nsound and silence are very important factors in soul growth, but when\nwe examine the matter we shall soon see that it is not a far-fetched\nnotion. Consider first the graphic expression, \u201cWar is hell,\u201d and then\ncall up in imagination a war scene. The sight is appalling, even more\nso to those who see it with the undimmed spiritual vision than to those\nwho are limited to physical sight, for the latter can at least shut\ntheir eyes to it if they want to, but the whole horror lies heavily\nupon the heart of the Invisible Helper who not only hears and sees but\n_feels_ in his own being the anguish and pain of all the surrounding\nsuffering as Parsifal felt in his heart the wound of Amfortas, the\nstricken Grail king; in fact, without that intensely intimate feeling\nof oneness with the suffering there could be no healing nor help given.\nBut there is one thing which no one can escape, the terrible noise of\nthe shells, the deafening roar of the cannon, the vicious spitting of\nthe machine guns, the groans of the wounded, and the oaths of a certain\nclass among the participants. We shall need no further argument to\nagree that it is really a \u201chellish noise\u201d and as subversive of soul\ngrowth as possible. The battle field is the last place anyone with a\nsane mind would choose for the purpose of soul growth, though it is\nnot to be forgotten that much of this has been made by noble deeds of\nself-sacrifice there; but such results have been achieved _in spite of_\nthe condition and not because of it.\n\nOn the other hand, consider a church filled with the noble strains of\na Gregorian chant or a Handel oratorio upon which the prayers of the\naspiring soul wing their way to the Author of our Being. That music\nmay surely be termed \u201c_heavenly_\u201d and the church designated as offering\nan ideal condition for soul growth, but if we stayed there permanently\nto the neglect of our duties we should be failures in spite of the\nideal condition.\n\nThere remains, therefore, only one safe method for us, namely, to stay\nin the din of the battle field of the world, endeavoring to wrest from\neven the most unpromising conditions the material of soul growth by\nunselfish service, and at the same time _to build within our own inner\nselves a sanctuary_ filled with that silent music which sounds ever in\nthe serving soul as a source of upliftment above all the vicissitudes\nof earthly existence. Having that \u201cliving church\u201d _within_, being in\nfact under that condition \u201c_living temples_,\u201d we may turn at any moment\nwhen our attention is not legitimately required by temporal affairs to\nthat spiritual house not made with hands and lave in its harmony. We\nmay do that many times a day and thus restore continually the harmony\nthat has been disturbed by the discords of terrestrial intercourse.\n\nHow then shall we build that temple and fill it with the heavenly\nmusic we so much desire? What will help and what will hinder? are the\nquestions which call for a practical solution, and we shall try to\nmake the answer as plain and practical as possible, for this is a very\nvital matter. The _little things_ are particularly important, for the\nneophyte needs to take even the slightest things into account. If we\nlight a match in a strong wind it is extinguished ere it has gained a\nfair start, but if the little flame is laid on a brush-heap and given\na chance to grow in comparative calm, a rising wind will fan the flame\ninstead of extinguishing it. Adepts or Great Souls may remain serene\nunder conditions which would upset the ordinary aspirant, hence he\nshould use discrimination and not expose himself unnecessarily to\nconditions subversive of soul growth; what he needs more than anything\nis _poise_, and nothing is more inimical to that condition than _noise_.\n\nIt is undeniable that our communities are \u201cBedlams,\u201d and that we have\na legitimate right to escape some noises if possible, such as the\nscreeching made by street cars rounding a curve. We do not need to\nlive on such a corner to the detriment of our nerves or endeavors at\nconcentration, but if we have a sick, crying child that requires our\nattention day and night, it does not matter how it affects our nerves,\nwe have no right in the sight of God or man to run away or neglect\nit in order to concentrate. These things are perfectly obvious and\nproduce instant assent, but the things that help or hinder most are,\nas said, the things that are so small that they escape our attention\nentirely. When we now start to enumerate them, they may provoke a smile\nof incredulity, but if they are pondered upon and practiced they will\nsoon win assent, for judged by the formula that \u201cby their fruits ye\nshall know them,\u201d they will show results and vindicate our assertion\nthat \u201cSilence is one of the greatest helps in soul growth,\u201d and should\ntherefore be cultivated by the aspirant in his home, his personal\ndemeanor, his walk, his habits, and paradoxical as it seems, even in\nhis speech.\n\nIt is a proof of the benefit of religion that it makes people happy,\nbut the greatest happiness is usually too deep for outward expression.\nIt fills our whole being so full that it is almost awesome, and a\nboisterous manner never goes together with that true happiness for\nit is the sign of superficiality. The loud voice, the coarse laugh,\nthe noisy manner, the hard heels that sound like sledge hammers, the\nslamming of doors, and the rattling of dishes are the signatures of the\nunregenerate, for they love noise, the more the merrier, as it stirs\ntheir desire bodies. For their purpose church music is anathema; a\nblaring brass band is preferable to any other form of entertainment,\nand the wilder the dance, the better. But it is otherwise, or should\nbe, with the aspirant to the higher life.\n\nWhen the infant Jesus was sought by Herod with murderous intent, his\nonly safety lay in flight, and by that expedient were preserved his\nlife and power to grow and fulfill his mission. Similarly, when the\nChrist is born within the aspirant he can best preserve this spiritual\nlife by fleeing from the environment of the unregenerate where these\nhindering things are practiced, and seek a place among others of\nkindred ambitions provided he is free to do so; but if placed in a\nposition of responsibility to a family, it is his duty to strive to\nalter conditions by precept and example, particularly by example, so\nthat in time that refined, subdued atmosphere which breathes harmony\nand strength may reign over the whole house. It is not essential to\nthe happiness of children that they be allowed to shout at the top of\ntheir voices or to race pell-mell through the house, slamming doors\nand wrecking furniture in their mad race; it is indeed decidedly\ndetrimental, for it teaches them to disregard the feelings of others in\nself-gratification. They will benefit more than mother by being shod\nwith rubber heels and taught to reserve their romps for outdoors and\nto play quietly in the house, closing doors easily, and speaking in a\nmoderated tone of voice such as mother uses.\n\nIn childhood we begin to wreck the nerves that bother us in later\nyears, so if we teach our children the lesson above indicated, we\nmay save them much trouble in life as well as further our own soul\ngrowth now. It may take years to reform a household of these seemingly\nunimportant faults and secure an atmosphere conducive to soul growth,\nespecially if the children have grown to adult age and resent reforms\nof that nature, but it is well worth while. We can and _must_ at least\ncultivate the virtue of silence in ourselves, or our own soul growth\nwill be very small. Perhaps if we look at the matter from its occult\npoint of view in connection with that important vehicle, _the vital\nbody_, the point of this necessity will be more clear.\n\nWe know that the vital body is ever storing up power in the physical\nbody which is to be used in this \u201cSchool of Experience,\u201d and that\nduring the day the desire body is constantly dissipating this energy in\nactions which constitute experience that is eventually transmuted to\nsoul growth. So far so good, but the desire body has the tendency to\nrun amuck if not held in with a tight rein. It revels in _unrestrained_\nmotion, the wilder the better, and if unbridled makes the body whistle,\nsing, jump, dance, and do all the other unnecessary and undignified\nthings which are so detrimental to soul growth. While under such a\nspell of inharmony and discord the person is dead to the spiritual\nopportunities in the physical world, and at night when he leaves his\nbody the process of restoration of that vehicle consumes so much time\nthat very little, if any, time is left for work, even if the person has\nthe inclination to think seriously of doing such work.\n\nTherefore we ought by all means to flee from noises which we are\nnot obliged to hear, and cultivate personally the quiet yet kindly\ndemeanor, the modulated voice, the silent walk, the unobtrusive\npresence, and all the other virtues which make for harmony, for then\nthe restorative process is quickly accomplished and we are free the\nmajor part of the night to work in the invisible worlds to gain more\nsoul growth. Let us in this attempt at improvement remember to be\nundaunted by occasional failures, remembering Paul\u2019s admonition to\ncontinue in well-doing with patient persistence.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XVII\n\nTHE \u201cMYSTERIUM MAGNUM\u201d OF THE ROSE CROSS\n\n\nOccasionally we get letters from students voicing their regret that\nthey are alone in the study of the Rosicrucian Philosophy, that their\nhusbands, wives, children, or other relatives are unsympathetic or even\nantagonistic to the teachings, despite all efforts of the said students\nto interest favorably these friends and thus obtain companionship in\ntheir studies, or at least freedom to follow their bent. This friction\ncauses them a certain amount of unhappiness according to their various\ntemperaments, and we are asked by these students to advise them how\nto overcome the antagonism and convert their relatives. This we have\ndone by personal letters and have been privileged to help change\nconditions in not a few homes when our advice has been followed; but we\nknow that frequently those who suffer most acutely are silent, and we\nhave therefore decided to devote a little time to a discussion of the\nsubject.\n\nIt is truly said, very truly, that \u201ca little knowledge is a dangerous\nthing,\u201d and this applies with the same force to the Rosicrucian\nteachings as to any other subject. Therefore, the very first step is\nto find out _if you have enough knowledge_ to be on the safe side. So\nlet me ask the question: What is the Rosicrucian teaching which you\nare so anxious to have others share and to which they object? Is it\nthe twin laws of \u201c_Causation_\u201d and \u201c_Rebirth_?\u201d They are excellent for\nexplaining a great many problems of life, and they are a great comfort\nwhen the grim reaper appears and robs our home of some one near and\ndear. But then you must remember that there are many who do not feel\nthe need of any explanation whatever. They are constitutionally as\nunfit to apply it as a deaf mute is to use a telephone. It is true that\nwe work to better advantage when conscious of the law and its purpose,\nbut let us take comfort from the fact that these laws work for good\nto all whether they know it or not, and therefore _this knowledge is\nnot essential_. They will suffer no great loss because they do not\nembrace this doctrine, and they may escape the danger incident to the\npossession of \u201ca little knowledge.\u201d\n\nIn India where these truths are known and believed by millions, people\nmake little effort at material progress because they know that they\nhave endless time, and what they do not accomplish in this life may\nwait till the next or a later life. Many Westerners who have embraced\nthe doctrine of rebirth have ceased to be useful members of their\ncommunity by adopting a life of indolence, thereby bringing reproach\non these so-called higher teachings. If your friends will have none\nof this teaching, leave them alone. Making converts is by no means\nthe essential point of the Rosicrucian teaching. The Guardian of the\nGate will not examine them as to knowledge, and he may admit some who\nare entirely ignorant of this matter and shut the door in the face of\nothers who have devoted their lives to studying, lecturing on, and\nteaching these laws.\n\nThen if the doctrines of \u201cCausation\u201d and \u201cRebirth\u201d are unessential,\nwhat about the _complex constitution of Man_? Surely it is essential to\nknow that we are not merely this visible body, but have a vital body\nto charge it with energy, a desire body to spend this force, a mind\nto guide our exertions in channels of reason, and that we are virgin\nspirits enmeshed in a threefold veil as egos. Is it not essential to\nknow that the physical body is the material counterpart of the Divine\nSpirit, that the vital body is a replica of the Life Spirit, and that\nthe desire body is the shadow of the Human Spirit, the mind forming the\nlink between the threefold spirit and the threefold body?\n\nNo, _it is not essential to know these things_. Properly used,\nthis knowledge is an advantage, but it may also be a very decided\ndisadvantage in the case of those who have only \u201ca little knowledge\u201d\nin that direction. There are many such who are always meditating on\n\u201cthe higher self\u201d while entirely forgetful of the many \u201clower selves\u201d\ngroaning in misery at their very doors. There are many who dream day\nand night of the time when they will take their daily _soul flights_ as\n\u201cinvisible helpers\u201d and ease the sufferings of the sick and sorrowful,\nyet would not spend a five cent car fare and an hour\u2019s time to bring a\npoor, friendless soul in a city hospital a flower and a word of cheer.\nAgain I say that the Guardian of the Gate is more likely to admit him\nwho did what he could than him who dreamed much and did nothing to help\nhis suffering fellow man.\n\nIf you could get people to study the Rosicrucian teachings about death\nand the life after, you would feel it important that they should\nalso know about the silver cord remaining unbroken for a period\napproximating three and one-half days after the spirit has left the\nbody, and that it must be left undisturbed while the panorama of its\npast life is being etched into the desire body to serve as arbiter of\nits life in the invisible world. You would like them to know all about\nthe spirit\u2019s life in purgatory\u2014how the evil acts of its life react upon\nit as pain to create conscience and keep it from repeating in a later\nlife the acts that caused the suffering. You would have them know how\nthe good acts of life are transmuted into virtues usable in later lives\nas set forth in our philosophy.\n\nYou have no doubt been surprised at the assertion that a knowledge of\nthe great twin laws is unessential. Probably the next assertion that\nit is immaterial whether others learn about the constitution of man\nas we know it may have scandalized you; and you will undoubtedly feel\nshocked to have it stated that the Rosicrucian teachings concerning\ndeath and the passing of the spirit into the unseen worlds are also\ncomparatively unnecessary to the purpose we aim to accomplish. It\nreally does not matter whether your relatives understand or believe in\nthese teachings. So far as your own passing is concerned, an earnest\nrequest that they leave your body quiet and undisturbed for the proper\nperiod will probably be carried out to the letter, for people have an\nalmost superstitious regard for such \u201clast requests\u201d; and if any of\nyour friends pass over, _you_ are there with your knowledge and can do\nthe right thing for them. So never mind if they refuse to take up that\npart of the Rosicrucian teaching.\n\nBut the student may say, \u201cIf a knowledge of the before mentioned\nsubjects which seems of such practical value is immaterial to\nadvancement, then it follows that study of the Periods, Revolutions,\nWorld Globes, etc., is entirely so. That disposes of everything taught\nin the \u201d_Cosmo_,\u201c and there is nothing left of the Rosicrucian teaching\nwhich we have embraced and to which we have pinned our faith!\u201d\n\n_Is nothing left?_ Yes, indeed, ALL IS LEFT, for those things mentioned\nare only the husks which you must remove to get at _the meat in the\nnut_, the kernel of it all. You have read the \u201c_Cosmo_\u201d many times\nperhaps. Maybe you have studied it and feel proud of your knowledge\nof the world mystery, but _have you ever read the mystery hidden in\nevery line_? That is the great and essential teaching, the one teaching\nto which your friends will respond, if you can find it and give it to\nthem. The \u201c_Cosmo_\u201d preaches on every page THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE.\n\nFor our sakes Deity manifested the universe. The great creative\nHierarchies have all been and some of them still are _our servants_.\nThe luminous star angels, whose fiery bodies we see whirling through\nspace, have worked with us for ages, and in due time Christ came\nto bring us the spiritual impetus needed at that time. It is also\nsignificant in the extreme that in the parable of the last judgment\nChrist does not say, \u201cWell done, thou great and erudite _philosopher_,\nwho knoweth the Bible, the Kabala, the \u2018_Cosmo_,\u2019 and all the other\nmysterious literature which reveals the intricate workings of nature\u201d;\nbut He says, \u201cWell done, thou good and faithful servant: * * * enter\nthou into the joy of thy lord. * * * * For I was an hungered, and\nye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; * * *.\u201d Not\none single word about knowledge; _the whole emphasis was laid upon\nfaithfulness and service_.\n\nThere is a deep occult reason for this: _service builds the soul body_,\nthe glorious wedding garment without which no man can enter into the\nkingdom of the heavens, occultly termed \u201c_The New Galilee_,\u201d and it\ndoes not matter whether we are aware of what is going on, so long as we\naccomplish the work. Moreover, as the luminous soul body grows in and\naround a person, this light will teach him or her about the Mysteries\nwithout the need of books, and one who is thus God-taught knows more\nthan all the books in the world contain. In due time the inner vision\nwill be opened and the way to the Temple shown. If you want to teach\nyour friends, no matter how skeptical they may be, they will believe\nyou if you preach the gospel of service.\n\nBut you must _preach by practice_. You must become a servant of men\nyourself if you would have them believe in you. If you want them to\nfollow, you must lead, or they will have the right to question your\nsincerity. Remember, \u201cye are a city upon a hill,\u201d and when you make\nprofessions they have a right to judge you by your fruits; therefore\n_say little, serve much_.\n\nThere are many who love to discuss the harmless, peaceful life at\ndinner, oblivious of the fact that the red roast on the table and the\ncigar in the mouth dull the effect. There are others who make a god of\nthe stomach and would rather study dietetics than the Bible; they are\nalways ready to buttonhole their friends and discourse upon the latest\nfood fad. I knew one man who was at the head of an esoteric group. His\nwife was antagonistic to occultism and the meatless diet. He forced her\nto cook his vegetables at home, and told her that if she ever dared to\nbring meat into _his_ kitchen or contaminate _his_ dishes with it, he\nwould pitch her and the dishes into the street, adding that if she must\nmake a pig of herself she could go and get flesh food in a restaurant.\n\n_Is it to be wondered at that she judged the religion by the man and\nwould have none of it?_ Surely he was to blame, being \u201chis brother\u2019s\nkeeper,\u201d and though this is an extreme case, it makes the lesson more\nobvious. It is to the everlasting praise of Mahomet that his wife\nbecame his first disciple, and it speaks volumes for his kindness and\nconsideration in the home. His is an example we should all do well to\nfollow if we would win our friends to the higher life, for though all\nreligious systems differ outwardly _the kernel of all is_ LOVE.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XVIII\n\nSTUMBLING BLOCKS\n\n\nNot infrequently the remark is made by people who have no sympathy with\nor aspirations to live the higher life, that it unfits people for the\nworld\u2019s work. Unfortunately it cannot be denied that there is seeming\njustification for the assertion, though in reality the very first\nrequisite for living the higher life involves an obligation to comport\noneself irreproachably in dealing with material matters, for unless\nwe are faithful in the little things, how can we expect to be trusted\nwith greater responsibilities? It has therefore been deemed expedient\nto devote a lesson to the discussion of some of the things which act as\nstumbling blocks in the life of aspirants.\n\nIn the Bible story where the king sent out his servants with\ninvitations to the feast he had prepared, we are told that his\ninvitations were refused on various grounds. Each one had material\ncares, buying, selling, marrying, therefore they could not attend to\nthe spiritual things, and such people we may say represent the greater\nnumber of humanity today, who are too engrossed in the cares of the\nworld to devote even a thought to aspiration in the higher direction.\nBut there are others who become so enthusiastic upon the first taste\nof the higher teachings that they are ready to give up all work in the\nworld, repudiate every obligation, and devote their time to what they\nare pleased to call \u201chelping humanity.\u201d They will readily admit that it\ntakes time to learn how to be a watchmaker, a shoemaker, an engineer,\nor a musician, and they would not for a moment dream of giving up\ntheir present material business to establish themselves as shoemaker,\nwatchmaker, or music teacher just because they felt enthusiastic about\nor inclined to take up such work. They would know that lacking the\nproper preparation and training they would be doomed to failure, and\nyet they think that just because they have become enthusiastic over the\nhigher teachings they are at once fitted to step out of the world\u2019s\nwork and devote their time to service similar, even though in a lesser\ndegree, to that rendered by the Christ in His ministry.\n\nOne writes to Headquarters: \u201cI have given up flesh eating, and I long\nto live the ascetic life, far from the world\u2019s noise that jars upon me.\nI want to give my life for humanity.\u201d Another says: \u201cI want to live the\nspiritual life, but I have a wife who needs my care and support. Do\nyou think I would be justified in leaving her to help my fellow men?\u201d\nStill another says: \u201cI am in a business which is unspiritual; every\nday I must do things which are against my higher nature, but I have a\ndaughter dependent upon me for an education. What shall I do: continue\nor give up?\u201d There are of course many other problems presented to us,\nbut these serve as fair samples, for they represent a class which is\nready to give up the world at the slightest word of encouragement,\nand rush off to the hills in the expectation of sprouting wings\nimmediately. If the people who are in that class have any ties, they\nbreak them without a scruple or a moment\u2019s consideration.\n\nAnother class still feels some obligation, but could be easily\npersuaded to repudiate it in order that they might live what they call\n\u201cthe spiritual life.\u201d It cannot be denied that when people get into\nthis state of mind, when they lose their ambition to work in the world,\nwhen they become shiftless and neglectful of their duties, they merit\nthe reproach of the community.\n\nBut as already said such conduct is based upon a misunderstanding of\nthe higher teachings and is not at all sanctioned by the Bible or the\nElder Brothers.\n\nIt is a step in the right direction when a person ceases to feed on\nflesh because he feels compassion for the suffering of the animals.\nThere are many people who abstain from flesh foods for health\u2019s sake,\nbut theirs being a selfish motive, the sacrifice carries with it no\nmerit. Where the aspirant to the higher life is prompted to abstain\nfrom flesh food because he realizes that the refining influence of a\nmeatless diet upon the body will aid him in his quest by making the\nbody more sensitive to spiritual influences, there is no real merit\neither. Truly, the person who abstains from flesh foods for the sake\nof health will be much benefited, and the person who abstains to make\nhis body more sensitive will also get his reward in that respect, but\nfrom the spiritual point of view neither will be very much better. On\nthe other hand, whoever abstains from flesh food because he realizes\nthat God\u2019s life is immanent in every animal just as in himself, that\nin the final analysis God feels all suffering felt by the animal, that\nit is a divine law, \u201cThou shalt not kill,\u201d and that he must abstain\nout of compassion, this person is not only benefited in health and by\nmaking his body more sensitive to spiritual impacts, but because of the\nmotive which prompts him he reaps a reward in soul growth immeasurably\nmore precious than any other consideration. Therefore we would say by\nall means abstain from flesh food, but be sure to do so prompted by the\nright spiritual motive or it will not affect your spiritual interests\none iota.\n\nWhen the enthusiast says that he wants to get away from the world and\nthe noise that jars upon him to live the ascetic life, it is truly\na strange idea of service. The reason why we are here in this world\nis that we may gather experience, which is then transmuted into soul\ngrowth. If a diamond in the rough were laid away in a drawer for\nyears and years, it would be no different than before, but when it\nis placed against the grindstone by the lapidary the harsh grinding\nprocess removes the last atom of the rough coating and brings out the\nbeautiful, luminous gem. Every one of us is a diamond in the rough,\nand God, the Great Lapidary, uses the world as a grindstone which rubs\noff the rough and ugly coating, allowing our spiritual selves to shine\nforth and become luminous. The Christ was a living example of this. He\ndid not go away from the centers of civilization, but moved constantly\namong the suffering and the poor, teaching, healing, and helping until\nby the glorious service rendered, His body was made luminous on the\nMount of Transfiguration, and He who had trodden the Way exhorted His\nfollowers to be \u201cin the world but not of it.\u201d That is the great lesson\nthat every aspirant has to learn.\n\nIt is one thing to go out in the mountains where there is no one to\ncontradict or to jar upon our sensibilities and keep our poise there;\nit is another thing entirely to maintain our spiritual aspirations and\nkeep our balance in the world where everything jars upon us; but when\nwe stay on this path, we gain a self-control which is unattainable in\nany other manner.\n\nHowever, though we are careful to prepare our food well and to abstain\nfrom flesh eating or any other contaminating _outward_ influence,\nthough we want to get away to the mountains to escape the sordid\nthings of city life, and we want to rid ourselves of every outward\nthing that may prove a stumbling block to our progress, still what\nabout the things that come from _within_, the thoughts we have in our\nminds and our mental food? It will avail us not one iota of good if we\ncould feed our bodies upon nectar and ambrosia, the ethereal food of\nthe gods, when the mind is a charnel house, a habitat of low thoughts,\nfor then we are only as whited sepulchres, beautiful to behold from\nwithout but inwardly full of a nauseating stench; and this mental\ndelinquency can be maintained just as easily and perhaps it is even\nmore apt to be maintained in the solitude of the mountains or in a\nso-called spiritual retreat than in a city where we are busy with the\nwork of our vocation. It is indeed a true saying that \u201can idle brain\nis the devil\u2019s workshop,\u201d and the safest way to attain to interior\npurity and cleanliness is to keep the mind busy all the time, guiding\nour desires, feelings, and emotions toward the practical problems\nof life, and working, each one in his own immediate environment, to\nfind the poor and the needy that he may give them whatever help their\ncases require and merit. That class which has no ties of its own may\nprofitably make ties of love and friendship with those who are loveless\nand friendless.\n\nOr if it is the care of a relative\u2014wife, daughter, husband, or anyone\nelse that claims us, let us remember the words of Christ when He\nsaid, \u201cWho are my mother and my brother?\u201d and answered the question\nby saying, \u201cThose who do the will of my Father.\u201d This saying has been\nmisconstrued by some to mean that the Christ repudiated His physical\nrelationships for the spiritual, but it is only necessary to remember\nthat in the last moments of His life on earth He called to Him the\ndisciple whom He loved and brought him to His mother, giving him to\nher as a son and charging the disciple to care for His parent. Love is\nthe unifying force in life, and according to the higher teachings we\nare required to love our kin, but also to extend our love natures so\nthat they may also include everyone else. It is good that we love our\nown mother and father, but we should also learn to love other people\u2019s\nmothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, for universal brotherhood\ncan never become a fact so long as our love is confined only to the\nfamily. It must be made all inclusive.\n\nThere was one among the disciples of Christ whom He loved especially,\nand following His example we also may bestow a particular affection\nupon certain ones, though we ought to love everyone and do good even to\nthem that despitefully use us. These are high ideals and difficult of\naccomplishment at our present stage of development, but as the mariner\nsteers his ship by a guiding star and reaches his desired haven though\nnever the star itself, so also by setting our ideals high we shall live\nnobler and better lives than if we do not aspire, and in time and\nthrough many births we shall eventually attain, because the inherent\ndivinity in ourselves makes it imperative.\n\nFinally then, to sum up, it does not really matter where we are placed\nin life, whether in a high station or a low. Present environment with\nits opportunities and limitations is such as suits our individual\nrequirements as determined by our self-made destinies in previous\nexistences. Therefore it holds for us the lesson we must learn in order\nto progress properly. If we have a wife, a daughter, or other family\nrelations to hold us to that environment, they must be considered as\npart of what we have to reckon with, and by doing our duty to them we\nlearn the required lesson. If they are antagonistic to our belief, if\nthey have no sympathy with our aspirations, if we have on their account\nto stay in a business and do things which we are not pleased with, it\nis because we must learn something from these things, and the proper\nway for the earnest aspirant is to look conditions squarely in the face\nwith a view to finding out just what it is that is needed. This may\nnot be an easy matter. It may take weeks, months, or years to solve\nthe problem, but so long as the aspirant applies himself prayerfully\nto the task, he may be sure that the light will shine some day, and\nthen he will see what is required and why these conditions were imposed\nupon him. Then having learned the lesson or found out its purpose, he\nwill if he has the right spirit prayerfully bear the burden, for he\nwill know that he is upon the right road and that it is an absolute\ncertainty that as soon as the lesson of that environment has been\nlearned a new way will be opened up showing him the next step upon the\npath of progress. Thus the \u201cstumbling blocks\u201d will have been turned\ninto \u201cstepping stones,\u201d which would never have happened if he had run\naway from them. In this connection we would quote the beautiful little\npoem:\n\n    \u201cLet us not waste our time in longing\n      For bright but impossible things.\n    Let us not sit supinely waiting\n      For the sprouting of angel wings.\n    Let us not scorn to be rush-lights,\n      Everyone can\u2019t be a star,\n    But let us fulfill our mission\n      By shining just where we are.\n\n    There is need of the tiniest candle\n      As well as the garish sun;\n    And the humblest deed is ennobled\n      When it is worthily done.\n    We may never be called on to brighten\n      Those darkened regions afar,\n    So let us fulfill our mission\n      By shining just where we are.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nChapter XIX\n\nTHE LOCK OF UPLIFTMENT\n\n\nHave you ever seen how ships going up a canal or river are lifted from\none level to another? It is a very interesting and instructive process.\nFirst the ship is floated into a small enclosure where the water level\nis the same as that of the lower part of the river where the ship has\npreviously been sailing. Then the gates of the enclosure are shut and\nthe ship is cut off from the outside world by the high walls of the\nlock. It cannot go back to the river without; even the light is dimmed\naround it, but _above_ the moving clouds or the bright sunshine are\nseen beckoning. The ship cannot rise without assistance, and the law of\ngravitation makes it impossible for the water in that part of the river\nwhere the ship has been sailing to float it to a higher level, hence no\nhelp may be looked for from that source.\n\nThere are also gates in the upper part of the lock which prevent the\nwaters on the higher levels from rushing into the lock from above,\notherwise the inrushing water would flood the lock in a moment and\ncrush the ship lying at the bottom level because acting in conformity\nwith that same law of gravitation. It is from _above_, nevertheless,\nthat the power must come if the ship is ever to be lifted to the higher\nlevel of the river, and so to do this safely a _small stream_ is\nconducted to the bottom of the lock, which lifts the ship _very slowly\nand gradually but safely_ to the level of the river above. When that\nlevel has been reached, the upper gates may be opened without danger to\nthe ship, and it may sail forth upon the expansive bosom of the higher\nwaterway. Then the lock is _slowly_ emptied and the water it contained\nadded to the water at the lower level, which is thereby raised even if\nbut slightly. The lock is then ready to raise another vessel.\n\nThis is, as said in the beginning, a very interesting and instructive\nphysical operation, showing how human skill and ingenuity overcome\ngreat obstacles by the use of nature\u2019s forces. But it is a source of\nstill greater enlightenment in a spiritual matter of vital importance\nto all who aspire and endeavor to live the higher life, for it\nillustrates the only safe method whereby man can rise from the temporal\nto the spiritual world, and it confutes those false teachers who for\npersonal gain play upon the too ardent desires of the unripe, and\nwho profess ability to unlock the gates of the unseen worlds for the\nconsideration of an initiation fee. Our illustration shows that this is\nimpossible, because the immutable laws of nature forbid.\n\nFor the purpose of elucidation we may call our river the river of\nlife, and we as individuals are the ships sailing upon it; the lower\nriver is the temporal world, and when we have sailed its length and\nbreadth for many lives, we inevitably come to the lock of upliftment\nwhich is placed at the end. We may for a long time cruise about the\nentrance and look in, impelled by an inner urge to enter but drawn by\nanother impulse towards the broad river of life without. For a long\ntime this lock of upliftment with its high, bare walls looks forbidding\nand solitary, while the river of life is gay with bunting and full\nof kindred craft gaily cruising about; but when the inner urge has\nbecome sufficiently intense, it finally drives us into the lock of\nupliftment, and it imbues us with a determination not to go back to\nthe river of worldly life. But even at that stage there are some who\nfalter and fear to shut the gate behind them; they aspire ardently at\ntimes to the life on the higher level, but it makes them feel less\nalone to look back upon the river of worldly life, and sometimes they\nstay in this condition for lives, wondering why they do not progress,\nwhy they experience no spiritual downpouring, why there is no uplift in\ntheir lives. Our illustration makes the reason very plain; no matter\nhow hard the captain might beg, the lock keeper would never think of\nreleasing the stream of water from above until the gate had been\nclosed behind the ship, for it could never lift the ship an inch under\nsuch conditions but would flow through the open gates to waste in the\nlower river. Neither will the guardians of the gates of the higher\nworlds open the stream of upliftment for us, no matter how hard we\npray, until we have shut the door to the world behind us, and shut it\nvery tight with respect to the lust of the eyes and the pride of life,\nthe sins that so easily beset us and are fostered by us in the careless\nworldly days. We must shut the door on them all before we are really in\na condition to receive the stream of upliftment, but once we have thus\nshut the door and irrevocably set our faces forward, the downpouring\nbegins, slowly but surely as the stream of the lock keeper which lifts\nthe vessel.\n\nBut having left the temporal world with all its deeds behind and having\nset his face towards the spiritual worlds, the yearning of the aspirant\nbecomes more intense. As time passes he feels in increasing measure\nthe void on both sides of himself. The temporal world and its deeds\nhave dropped from him as a garment; he may be bodily in that world,\nperforming his duties, but he has lost interest; he is in the world\nbut not of it, and the spiritual world where he aspires to citizenship\nseems equally distant. He is all alone and his whole being cries and\nwrithes in pain, longing for light.\n\nThen comes the turn of the tempter: \u201cI have a school of initiation,\nand am able to advance my pupils quickly for a fee,\u201d or words to that\neffect, but usually more subtle; and who shall blame the poor aspirants\nwho fall before the wiles of these pretenders? Lucky are they if, as\nis generally the case, they are merely put through a ceremonial and\ngiven an empty degree, but occasionally they meet one who has really\ndabbled in magic and is able to open the flood gates from the higher\nlevel. Then the inrush of spiritual power shatters the system of the\nunfortunate dupe as the waters of the river above would wreck a vessel\nat the bottom of the lock if an ignorant or malicious person were to\nopen the gates. The vessel must be lifted slowly for safety\u2019s sake, and\nso must the aspirant to spiritual upliftment; patience and unwavering\npersistence in well-doing are absolutely indispensable, and the door\nto the pleasures of the world must be kept closed. If that is done we\nshall surely and certainly accomplish the ascent to the heights of the\nunseen world with all the opportunities for further soul growth there\nfound, for it is a natural process governed by natural laws, just as is\nthe elevation of a ship to the higher levels of a river by a system of\nlocks.\n\nBut how can I stay in the lock of upliftment and serve my fellow man?\nIf soul growth comes only by service, how can I gain by isolation?\nThese are questions that may not unnaturally present themselves to\nstudents. To answer them we must again emphasize that no one can lift\nanother who is not himself upon a higher level, not so far above\nas to be unreachable, but sufficiently close to be within grasp of\nthe reaching hand. There are, alas, too many who profess the higher\nteachings but live lives on the level with ordinary men and women of\nthe world or even below that level. Their professions make the higher\nteachings a byword and call down the scorn of scoffers. But those who\nlive the higher teachings have no need to profess them orally; they\nare isolated and marked in spite of themselves, and though handicapped\nby the misdeeds of the \u201cprofessors,\u201d they do in time win the respect\nand confidence of those about them; eventually they call out in their\nassociates the desire of emulation, they convert them in spite of\nthemselves, reaping in return for this service a commensurate soul\ngrowth.\n\nNow is the time of the year (Christmas) when the crest wave of\nspiritual power envelops the world. It culminates at the winter\nsolstice, when the Christ is reborn into our planet, and though\nhampered by the present (from the limited viewpoint) deplorable war\nconditions, His life given for us may be most easily drawn upon by the\naspirant at this season to further spiritual growth; therefore all who\nare desirous of attaining the higher levels would do well to put forth\nspecial efforts in that direction during the winter season.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XX\n\nTHE COSMIC MEANING OF EASTER\n\nPART I\n\n\nOn the morning of Good Friday, 1857, Richard Wagner, the master artist\nof the nineteenth century, sat on the verandah of a Swiss villa by\nthe Zurich Sea. The landscape about him was bathed in most glorious\nsunshine; peace and good will seemed to vibrate through nature. All\ncreation was throbbing with life; the air was laden with the fragrant\nperfume of budding pine forests\u2014a grateful balm to a troubled heart or\na restless mind.\n\nThen suddenly, as a bolt from an azure sky, there came into Wagner\u2019s\ndeeply mystic soul a remembrance of the ominous significance of that\nday\u2014the darkest and most sorrowful in the Christian year. It almost\noverwhelmed him with sadness, as he contemplated the contrast. There\nwas such a marked incongruity between the smiling scene before him,\nthe plainly observable activity of nature, struggling to renewed life\nafter winter\u2019s long sleep, and the death struggle of a tortured Savior\nupon a cross; between the full-throated chant of life and love issuing\nfrom the thousands of little feathered choristers in forest, moor, and\nmeadow, and the ominous shouts of hate issuing from an infuriated mob\nas they jeered and mocked the noblest ideal the world has ever known;\nbetween the wonderful creative energy exerted by nature in spring, and\nthe destructive element in man, which slew the noblest character that\never graced our earth.\n\nWhile Wagner meditated thus upon the incongruities of existence, the\nquestion presented itself: Is there any connection between the death\nof the Savior upon the cross at Easter, and the vital energy which\nexpresses itself so prodigally in spring when nature begins the life of\na new year?\n\nThough Wagner did not consciously perceive and realize the full\nsignificance of the connection between the death of the Savior and the\nrejuvenation of nature, he had, nevertheless, unwittingly stumbled upon\nthe key to one of the most sublime mysteries encountered by the human\nspirit in its pilgrimage from clod to God.\n\nIn the darkest night of the year, when earth sleeps most soundly in\nBoreas\u2019 cold embrace, when material activities are at the very lowest\nebb, a wave of spiritual energy carries upon its crest the divine\ncreative \u201cWord from Heaven\u201d to a _mystic birth_ at Christmas; and as a\nluminous cloud the spiritual impulse broods over the world that \u201cknew\nit not,\u201d for it \u201cshines in the darkness\u201d of winter when nature is\nparalyzed and speechless.\n\nThis divine creative \u201cWord\u201d has a message and a mission. It was born\nto \u201csave the world,\u201d and \u201cto give its life for the world.\u201d It must of\nnecessity sacrifice its life in order to accomplish the rejuvenation\nof nature. Gradually it _buries itself in the earth_ and commences\nto infuse its own vital energy into the millions of seeds which lie\ndormant in the ground. It whispers \u201cthe word of life\u201d into the ears\nof beast and bird, until the gospel or good news has been preached to\nevery creature. The sacrifice is fully consummated by the time the\nsun crosses its Easter(n) node at the spring equinox. Then the divine\ncreative Word expires. _It dies upon the cross at Easter_ in a mystical\nsense, while uttering a last triumphant cry, \u201cIt has been accomplished\u201d\n(consummatum est).\n\nBut as an echo returns to us many times repeated, so also the celestial\nsong of life is re-echoed from the earth. The whole creation takes\nup the anthem. A legion-tongued chorus repeats it over and over. The\nlittle seeds in the bosom of Mother Earth commence to germinate; they\nburst and sprout in all directions, and soon a wonderful mosaic of\nlife, a velvety green carpet embroidered with multicolored flowers,\nreplaces the shroud of immaculate wintry white. From the furred\nand feathered tribes \u201cthe word of life\u201d re-echoes as a song of\nlove, impelling them to mate. Generation and multiplication are the\nwatchwords everywhere\u2014_the Spirit has risen_ to more abundant life.\n\nThus, mystically, we may note the annual birth, death, and resurrection\nof the Savior as the ebb and flow of a spiritual impulse which\nculminates at the winter solstice, Christmas, and has egress from the\nearth shortly after Easter when the \u201cword\u201d \u201c_ascends to Heaven_\u201d on\nWhitsunday. But it will not remain there forever. We are taught that\n\u201cthence it shall return,\u201d \u201cat the judgment.\u201d Thus when the sun descends\nbelow the equator through the sign of the scales in October, when the\nfruits of the year are harvested, weighed, and assorted according\nto their kind, the descent of the spirit of the new year has its\ninception. This descent culminates in birth at Christmas.\n\nMan is a miniature of nature. What happens on a large scale in the\nlife of a planet like our earth, takes place on a smaller scale in the\ncourse of human events. A planet is the body of a wonderfully great\nand exalted Being, one of the Seven Spirits before the Throne (of\nthe parent sun). Man is also a spirit and \u201cmade in their likeness.\u201d\nAs a planet revolves in its cyclic path around the sun whence it\nemanated, so also the human spirit moves in an orbit around its\ncentral source\u2014God. Planetary orbits, being ellipses, have points of\nclosest approach to and extreme deviation from their solar centers.\nLikewise the orbit of the human spirit is elliptical. We are closest\nto God when our cyclic journey carries us into the celestial sphere\nof activity\u2014heaven, and we are farthest removed from Him during\nearth life. These changes are necessary to our soul growth. As the\nfestivals of the year mark the recurring events of importance in\nthe life of a Great Spirit, so our births and deaths are events of\nperiodical recurrence. It is as impossible for the human spirit to\nremain perpetually in heaven or upon earth as it is for a planet to\nstand still in its orbit. The same immutable law of periodicity which\ndetermines the unbroken sequence of the seasons, the alternation of day\nand night, the tidal ebb and flow, governs also the progression of the\nhuman spirit, both in heaven and upon earth.\n\nFrom realms of celestial light where we live in freedom, untrammeled by\nlimitations of time and space, where we vibrate in tune with infinite\nharmony of the spheres, we descend to birth in the physical world where\nour spiritual sight is obscured by the mortal coil which binds us to\nthis limited phase of our existence. We live here awhile; we die and\nascend to heaven, to be reborn and to die again. Each earth life is a\nchapter in a serial life story, extremely humble in its beginnings,\nbut increasing in interest and importance as we ascend to higher and\nhigher stations of human responsibility. No limit is conceivable,\nfor in essence we are divine and must therefore have the infinite\npossibilities of God dormant within. When we have learned all that this\nworld has to teach us, a wider orbit, a larger sphere of superhuman\nusefulness, will give scope to our greater capabilities.\n\n    \u201cBuild thee more stately mansions, O my Soul.\n    As the swift seasons roll,\n    Leave thy low vaulted past;\n    Let each new temple, nobler than the last,\n    Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,\n    Till thou at length art free,\n    Leaving thine outgrown shell by life\u2019s unresting sea.\u201d\n\nThus says Oliver Wendell Holmes, comparing the spiral progression\nin the widening coil of a chambered nautilus to the expansion of\nconsciousness which is the result of soul growth in an evolving human\nbeing.\n\n\u201cBut what of Christ?\u201d someone will ask. \u201cDon\u2019t you believe in Him? You\nare discoursing upon Easter, the feast which commemorates the cruel\ndeath and glorious, triumphant resurrection of the Savior, but you seem\nto be alluding to Him more from an allegorical point of view than as an\nactual fact.\u201d\n\nCertainly we believe in the Christ; we love Him with our whole heart\nand soul, but we wish to emphasize the teaching that Christ is the\nfirst fruits of the race. He said that we shall do the things He did,\n\u201cand greater.\u201d Thus we are Christs-in-the-making.\n\n    \u201cThough Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,\n    And not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn.\n    The cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain,\n    Unless within thyself it be set up again.\u201d\n\nThus proclaims Angelus Silesius, with true mystic understanding of the\nessentials of attainment.\n\nWe are too much in the habit of looking to an outside Savior while\nharboring a devil within; but till Christ be formed IN US, as Paul\nsays, we shall seek in vain, for as it is impossible for us to perceive\nlight and color, though they be all about us, unless our optic nerve\nregisters their vibrations, and as we remain unconscious of sound when\nthe tympanum of our ear is insensitive, so also must we remain blind\nto the presence of Christ and deaf to His voice until we arouse our\ndormant spiritual natures within. But once these natures have become\nawakened, they will reveal the Lord of Love as a prime reality; this on\nthe principle that when a tuning fork is struck, another of identical\npitch will also commence to sing, while tuning forks of different\npitches will remain mute. Therefore the Christ said that His sheep knew\nthe _sound_ of His voice and responded, but the voice of the stranger\nthey heard not. (John 10:5). No matter what our creed, we are all\nbrethren of Christ, so let us rejoice, the Lord has risen! Let us seek\nHim and forget our creeds and other lesser differences.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XXI\n\nTHE COSMIC MEANING OF EASTER\n\nPART II\n\n\nOnce more we have reached the final act in the cosmic drama involving\nthe descent of the solar Christ Ray into the matter of our earth,\nwhich is completed at the Mystic Birth celebrated at Christmas, and\nthe Mystic Death and Liberation, which are celebrated shortly after\nthe vernal equinox when the sun of the new year commences its ascent\ninto the higher spheres of the northern heavens, having poured out\nits life to save humanity and give new life to everything upon earth.\nAt this time of the year a new life, an augmented energy, sweeps with\nan irresistible force through the veins and arteries of all living\nbeings, inspiring them, instilling new hope, new ambition, and new\nlife, impelling them to new activities whereby they learn new lessons\nin the school of experience. Consciously or unconsciously to the\nbeneficiaries, this outwelling energy invigorates everything that has\nlife. Even the plant responds by an increased circulation of sap,\nwhich results in additional growth of the leaves, flowers, and fruits\nwhereby this class of life is at present expressing itself and evolving\nto a higher state of consciousness.\n\nBut wonderful though these outward physical manifestations are, and\nglorious though the transformation may be called which changes the\nearth from a waste of snow and ice into a beautiful, blooming garden,\nit sinks into insignificance before the spiritual activities which run\nside by side therewith. The salient features of the cosmic drama are\nidentical in point of time with the material effects of the sun in the\nfour cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, for the most\nsignificant events occur at the equinoctial and solstitial points.\n\nIt is really and actually true that \u201c_in_ God we live and move and have\nour being.\u201d Outside Him we could have no existence; we live by and\nthrough His life; we move and act by and through His strength; it is\nHis power which sustains our dwelling place, the earth, and without His\nunflagging, unwavering efforts the universe itself would disintegrate.\nNow we are taught that man was made in the likeness of God, and we\nare given to understand that according to the law of analogy we are\npossessed of certain powers latent within us which are similar to those\nwe see so potently expressed in the labor of Deity in the universe.\nThis gives us a particular interest in the annual cosmic drama\ninvolving the death and resurrection of the sun. The life of the _God\nMan, Christ Jesus_, was moulded in conformity with the solar story,\nand it foreshadows in a similar manner all that may happen to the _Man\nGod_ of whom this Christ Jesus prophesied when He said: The works that\nI do shall ye do also; and greater works shall ye do; whither I go thou\ncanst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards.\n\nNature is the symbolic expression of God. She does nothing in vain\nor gratuitously, but there is a purpose behind every thing and every\nact. Therefore we should be alert and regard carefully the signs in\nthe heavens for they have a deep and important meaning concerning our\nown lives. The intelligent understanding of their purpose enables us\nto work so much more efficiently with God in His wonderful efforts\nfor the emancipation of our race from bondage to the laws of nature,\nand for its liberation into a full measure of the stature of the sons\nof God\u2014crowned with glory, honor, and immortality, and free from the\npower of sin, sickness, and suffering which now curtail our lives by\nreason of our ignorance and nonconformity to the laws of God. The\ndivine purpose demands this emancipation, but whether it is to be\naccomplished by the long and tedious process of evolution or by the\nimmensely quicker pathway of Initiation depends upon whether or not\nwe are willing to lend our cooperation. The majority of mankind go\nthrough life with unseeing eyes and with ears that do not hear. They\nare engrossed in their material affairs, buying and selling, working\nand playing, without an adequate understanding or appreciation of the\npurpose of existence, and were it unfolded to them it is scarcely to\nbe expected that they would conform and co-operate because of the\nsacrifice it involves.\n\nIt is no wonder that the Christ appeals particularly to the poor and\nthat He emphasizes the difficulty of the rich entering the kingdom of\nheaven, for even to this day when humanity has advanced in the school\nof evolution for two millenia since His day, we find that the great\nmajority still value their houses and lands, their pretty hats and\ngowns, the pleasures of society, dances, and dinners more than the\ntreasures of heaven which are garnered by service and self-sacrifice.\nAlthough they may intellectually perceive the beauty of the spiritual\nlife, its desirability fades into insignificance in their eyes when\ncompared with the sacrifice involved in attaining. Like the rich young\nman they would willingly follow Christ were there no such sacrifice\ninvolved. They prefer rather to go away when they realize that\nsacrifice is the one condition upon which they may enter discipleship.\nSo for them Easter is simply a season of joy because it is the end of\nwinter and the beginning of the summer season with its call of outdoor\nsports and pleasures.\n\nBut for those who have definitely chosen the path of self-sacrifice\nthat leads to Liberation, Easter is the annual sign given them as\nevidence of the cosmic basis of their hopes and aspirations. As Paul\nproperly states in that glorious fifteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians,\n\u201cIf Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is\nalso vain.\n\n\u201cYea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have\ntestified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up if so\nbe that the dead rise not.\n\n\u201cFor if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.\n\n\u201cAnd if Christ be not raised your faith is vain; ye are yet in your\nsins.\n\n\u201cIf in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most\nmiserable.\n\n\u201cIf after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what\nadvantageth it me if the dead rise not?\n\n\u201cBut now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of\nthem that slept.\u201d\n\nBut in the Easter sun which at the vernal equinox commences to soar\ninto the northern heavens after having laid down its life for the\nearth, we have the cosmic symbol of the verity of resurrection. When\ntaken as a cosmic fact in connection with the law of analogy that\nconnects the macrocosm with the microcosm, it is an earnest that some\nday we shall all attain the cosmic consciousness and know positively\nfor ourselves by our own experience that there is no death, but that\nwhat seems so is only a transition into a finer sphere.\n\nIt is an annual symbol to strengthen our souls in the work of\nwell-doing that we may grow the golden wedding garment required to make\nus sons of God in the highest and holiest sense. It is literally true\nthat unless we walk in the light as God is in the light, we are not in\nfellowship; but by making the sacrifices and rendering the services\nrequired of us to aid in the emancipation of our race we are building\nthe soul body of radiant golden light which is the special substance\nemanated from and by the Spirit of the Sun, the Cosmic Christ. When\nthis golden substance has clothed us with sufficient density, then\nwe shall be able to imitate the Easter sun and soar into the higher\nspheres.\n\nWith these ideals firmly fixed in our minds, Easter time becomes a\nseason when it is in order to review our life during the preceding year\nand make new resolutions for the coming season to serve in furthering\nour soul growth. It is a season when the symbol of the ascending sun\nshould lead us up to a keen realization of the fact that we are but\npilgrims and strangers upon earth, that our real home as spirits is\nin heaven, and that we ought to endeavor to learn the lessons in this\nlife school as quickly as is consistent with proper service, so that\nas Easter Day marks the resurrection and liberation of the Christ\nSpirit from the lower realms, so we also may continually look for the\ndawn of that day which shall permanently free us from the meshes of\nmatter, from the body of sin and death, together with our brethren in\nbondage, for no true aspirant would conceive of a liberation that did\nnot include all who were similarly placed.\n\nThis is a gigantic task; the contemplation of it may well daunt the\nbravest heart, and were we alone it could not be accomplished; but the\ndivine hierarchies who have guided humanity upon the path of evolution\nfrom the beginning of our career are still active and working with us\nfrom their sidereal worlds, and with their help we shall eventually be\nable to accomplish this elevation of humanity as a whole and attain to\nan individual realization of glory, honor, and immortality. Having this\ngreat hope within ourselves, this great mission in the world, let us\nwork as never before to make ourselves better men and women, so that by\nour example we may waken in others a desire to lead a life that brings\nliberation.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XXII\n\nTHE NEWBORN CHRIST\n\n\nIt has often been said in our literature that the sacrifice of Christ\nwas not an event which, taking place on Golgotha, was accomplished in a\nfew hours once and for all time, but that the mystic births and deaths\nof the Redeemer are continual cosmic occurrences. We may therefore\nconclude that this sacrifice is necessary for our physical and\nspiritual evolution during the present phase of our development. As the\nannual birth of the Christ Child approaches, it presents a never old,\never new theme for meditation, from which we may profit by pondering it\nwith a prayer that it may create in our hearts a new light to guide us\nupon the path of regeneration.\n\nThe inspired apostle gave us a wonderful definition of Deity when\nhe said that \u201cGod is Light,\u201d and therefore \u201clight\u201d has been used to\nillustrate the nature of the Divine in the Rosicrucian teachings,\nespecially the mystery of the Trinity in Unity. It is clearly taught\nin the Holy Scriptures of all times that God is one and indivisible.\nAt the same time we find that as the one white light is refracted\ninto three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, so God appears in a\nthreefold role during manifestation by the exercise of the three divine\nfunctions of _creation, preservation, and dissolution_.\n\nWhen He exercises the attribute of _creation_, God appears as Jehovah,\nthe _Holy Spirit_; He is then Lord of law and generation and projects\nthe solar fertilizing principle _indirectly_ through the lunar\nsatellites of all planets where it is necessary to furnish bodies for\ntheir evolving beings.\n\nWhen He exercises the attribute of _preservation_ for the purpose of\nsustaining the bodies generated by Jehovah under the laws of nature,\nGod appears as the Redeemer, _Christ_, and radiates the principles of\nlove and regeneration _directly_ into any planet where the creatures of\nJehovah require this help to extricate themselves from the meshes of\nmortality and egotism in order to attain to altruism and endless life.\n\nWhen God exercises the divine attribute of _dissolution_, He appears as\n_The Father_ who calls us back to our heavenly home to assimilate the\nfruits of experience and soul growth garnered by us during the day of\nmanifestation. This Universal Solvent, the ray of the Father, emanates\nfrom the Invisible Spiritual Sun.\n\nThese divine processes of creation and birth, preservation and\nlife, and dissolution, death and return to the Author of our being\nwe see everywhere about us, and we recognize the fact that they\nare activities of the Triune God in manifestation. But have we ever\nrealized that in the spiritual world there are no definite events, no\nstatic conditions; that the beginning and the end of all adventures of\nall ages are present in the eternal \u201chere\u201d and \u201cnow?\u201d From the bosom of\nthe Father there is an everlasting outwelling of the essence of things\nand events, which enters the realms of \u201ctime\u201d and \u201cspace.\u201d There it\ngradually crystallizes and becomes inert, necessitating dissolution\nthat there may be room for other things and other events.\n\nThere is no escape from this cosmic law; it applies to everything in\nthe realm of time and space, the Christ ray included. As the lake\nwhich empties itself into the ocean is replenished when the water that\nleft it has been evaporated and returns to it as rain, to flow again\nceaselessly toward the sea, so the Spirit of Love is eternally born of\nthe Father, day by day, hour by hour, endlessly flowing into the solar\nuniverse to redeem us from the world of matter which enmeshes us in its\ndeath grip. Wave upon wave is thus impelled outward from the sun to all\nthe planets, giving a rhythmic urge to the evolving creatures there.\n\nAnd so it is in the very truest and most literal sense _a newborn\nChrist_ that we hail at each approaching Yule-feast, and Christmas is\nthe most vital annual event for all humanity whether we realize it or\nnot. It is not merely a commemoration of the birth of our beloved\nElder Brother, Jesus, but the advent of the rejuvenating love life of\nour Heavenly Father, sent by Him to redeem the world from the wintry\ndeath grip. Without this new infusion of divine life and energy we\nshould soon perish physically, and our orderly progress would be\nfrustrated so far as our present lines of development are concerned.\nThis is a point we should endeavor to realize thoroughly in order that\nwe may learn to appreciate Christmas as keenly as we should.\n\nWe may learn a lesson in this respect as in many others from our\nchildren or from reminiscences of our own childhood. How keen were\nour anticipations of the approaching feast! How eagerly we waited\nfor the hour when we should receive the gifts which we knew would be\nforthcoming from Santa Claus, the mysterious universal benefactor who\nbrought the toys for the coming year! How would we have felt had our\nparents given us the dismembered dolls and broken drums of yesteryear?\nIt would surely have been felt as an overwhelming misfortune and would\nhave left a deep sense of broken trust which even time would have found\nit difficult to heal; yet it would have been as nothing compared with\nthe cosmic calamity that would befall mankind if our Heavenly Father\nshould fail to provide the newborn Christ for our cosmic Christmas gift.\n\nThe Christ of last year cannot save us from physical famine any more\nthan last year\u2019s rain can drench the soil again and swell the millions\nof seeds that slumber in the earth awaiting the germinal activities\nof the Father\u2019s life to begin their growth; the Christ of last year\ncannot kindle anew in our hearts the spiritual aspirations which urge\nus onward in the Quest any more than last summer\u2019s heat can warm us\nnow. The Christ of last year gave us His love and His life to the last\nbreath without stint or measure; when He was born into the earth last\nChristmas, he endued with life the sleeping seeds which have grown\nand gratefully filled our granaries with the bread of physical life;\nHe lavished the love given Him by the Father upon us, and when He had\nwholly spent His life, He died at Eastertide to rise again to the\nFather, as the river by evaporation rises to the sky.\n\nBut endlessly wells the divine love; as a father pities his children,\nso does our Heavenly Father pity us, for He knows our physical and\nspiritual frailty and dependence. Therefore we are now confidently\nawaiting the mystic birth of the Christ of another year, laden with new\nlife and love sent by the Father to preserve us from the physical and\nspiritual famine which would ensue were it not for this annual love\noffering.\n\nYounger souls usually find it difficult to disabuse their minds of the\npersonality of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, and some can\nonly love Jesus, the man. They forget Christ, the Great Spirit, who\nushered in a new era in which the nations established under the regime\nof Jehovah will be broken to pieces that the sublime structure of\nUniversal Brotherhood may be built upon their ruins. In time all the\nworld will realize that \u201cGod is spirit, to be worshiped in spirit and\nin truth.\u201d It is well to love Jesus and to imitate him; we know of no\nnobler ideal and none more worthy. Could a nobler one have been found,\nJesus would not have been chosen as a vehicle of that Great One, the\nChrist, in whom dwelt the Godhead. We shall therefore do well to follow\n\u201cin His steps.\u201d\n\nAt the same time we shall exalt God in our own consciousness by taking\nthe word of the Bible that He is spirit, and that we cannot make any\nlikeness which will portray Him for He is like nothing in heaven or\non earth. We can see the physical vehicles of Jehovah circling as\nsatellites around the various planets; we can also see the sun, which\nis the visible vehicle of the Christ; but the Invisible Sun, which\nis the vehicle of the Father and the source of all, appears to the\ngreatest of human seers only as a higher octave of the photosphere of\nthe sun, a ring of violet-blue luminosity behind the sun. But we do not\nneed to see; we can feel His love, and that feeling is never so great\nas at Christmas time when He is giving us the greatest of all gifts,\nthe Christ of the new year.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XXIII\n\nWHY I AM A ROSICRUCIAN\n\n\nNot infrequently we find that some one takes the platform to explain\nwhy he is a Baptist, Methodist, or Christian Scientist, and what his\nparticular faith may be. We have often been asked by our students for\nsomething which would help make plain to their associates why they\nhad embraced the teachings of the Elder Brothers given through the\nRosicrucian Fellowship, in preference to the faith which they had left.\nWe will, therefore, endeavor to give a succinct resume of reasons which\nappeal to us as sufficient, but students will doubtless find many other\nreasons equally good or better, which they may add verbally to what is\nhere said.\n\nIt should be made clear in the very beginning that students in the\nRosicrucian Fellowship do not call themselves Rosicrucians. That title\napplies alone to the Elder Brothers, who are the hierophants of the\nWestern Wisdom Teaching. They are as far beyond the greatest living\nsaint in spiritual development as that saint is above the lowest fetish\nworshiper.\n\nWhen the bark of our life sails lightly upon smooth summer seas,\nwafted along by the fair winds of health and prosperity, when friends\nare present on every hand, eager to help us plan pleasures which will\nincrease our enjoyment of this world\u2019s goods, when social favors or\npolitical powers come to us to gratify our every wish in whatever\nsphere our inclinations seek expression, then, indeed, we may say and\nseem justified in saying with our whole heart and soul: \u201cThis world is\ngood enough for me.\u201d But when we come to the end of the smiling sea of\nsuccess; when the whirlwind of adversity has blown us upon the rocky\nshores of disaster, and a wave of suffering threatens to engulf us;\nwhen friends have failed and every human help is as far off as it is\nunavailing, then we must look for guidance to the skies as does the\nmariner when he steers his ship over the waste of waters.\n\nBut when the skipper scans the sky in search of a star whereby to\nsteer the ship safely, he finds that the whole heavens are in motion.\nTherefore to follow almost any one of the myriad of wandering stars\nvisible to the eye would be disastrous. To meet the requirements the\nguiding star must be perfectly steadfast and immovable, _and there\nis only one such, namely, the North Star_. By its guiding light the\nmariner may steer in full confidence and bring his ship to a haven\nof rest and safety. Likewise one who is looking for a guide which he\nmay trust in days of sorrow and trouble should embrace a religion\nfounded on eternal laws and immutable principles, able to explain\nthe mystery of life in a logical manner so that his intellect may be\nsatisfied, and at the same time containing a system of devotion that\nmay satisfy the heart, so that these twin factors in life may receive\nequal satisfaction. Only when man has a clear intellectual conception\nof the scheme of human development is he in a position to range himself\nin line therewith. When it is made clear to him that this scheme is\nbeneficent and benevolent in the very highest degree, that all is truly\nruled by divine love, then this understanding will sooner or later call\nout in him a true devotion and heartfelt acquiescence which will awaken\nin him a desire to become a co-worker with God in the world\u2019s work.\n\nWhen seeking souls come to the door of the church to seek surcease from\nsorrow, they cannot be satisfied with the platitudes that it is the\nwill of God that sorrow and suffering have come to them, that in His\ndivine providence He has seen fit to scourge them, and that they must\ntake it as an indication that He regards them as His beloved children\nand be satisfied no matter what happens. They cannot see that Deity\ndoes justice when He makes some rich and many poor, a few healthy and\nmany sickly; and it is only too often in evidence that iniquity is\nprosperous while rectitude is in rags.\n\nThe Rosicrucian teachings give clear and logical information concerning\nthe world and man; they invite questions instead of discouraging them,\nso that the seeker after spiritual truth may receive full satisfaction\nintellectually; their explanations are strictly scientific as they are\nreverently religious. They refer us for information regarding life\u2019s\nproblems to laws that are as unchangeable and immutable in their realm\nof action as the North Star is in the heavens.\n\nThough the world whirls upon its axis at the rate of one thousand\nmiles an hour, we stand safely anywhere upon its surface because the\nprinciple of gravity prevents us from being hurled into space by the\nterrific speed. We know that the law of gravity is eternal; it will\nnot act today and suspend action tomorrow. When we enter a hydraulic\nelevator we rest safely upon a column of water because that fluid is\nmore incompressible than most solids, and this property is the same\nyesterday, today, and forever. Were its action suspended for even a\nfew moments, thousands of people would fall to their death; but it is\nsteadfast and sure, therefore we trust it implicitly.\n\nThe law of cause and effect is also immutable; if we throw a stone into\nthe air, the act is not complete until by gravitation it has returned\nto earth. \u201c_Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap_,\u201d is the\nway this law is expressed in the realm of morals. \u201cThe mills of God\ngrind slowly, but they grind exceeding small,\u201d and once an act has been\ndone, the reaction will come some time, some where, as surely as the\nstone that was thrown into the air will return to the earth.\n\nBut it is manifest that all of the causes that we set going in life\ndo not ripen in the present existence, and it therefore follows that\nthey must find their fruition somewhere else at some other time, or the\nlaw would be invalidated, a proposition that would be as absolutely\nimpossible as that the law of gravitation could be suspended, for\neither would make chaos out of cosmos. The Rosicrucian teachings\nexplain this by a statement that man is a spirit attending the School\nof Life for the purpose of unfolding latent spiritual power, and that\nfor this purpose he lives many lives in earthly bodies of increasingly\nfiner texture, which enable him to express himself better and better.\nIn the lower grades of this school of evolution man has few faculties.\nEach life-day he comes to school in the morning of childhood, and is\ngiven lessons to learn, and at night when old and gray the nurse maid\nof nature, \u201cDeath,\u201d puts him to sleep that he may rest from his labors\nuntil the dawn of another life-day, when he is given a new child body\nand new lessons. Each day \u201cExperience,\u201d the teacher of the school helps\nhim to learn some of the lessons of life, and gradually he becomes\nmore and more proficient. Some day he will have learned the entire\ncurriculum of the school, which includes building of bodies as well as\nusing them.\n\nThus when we see one who has few faculties, we know that he is a young\nsoul who has gone to life\u2019s school only a few days; and when we find a\nbeautiful character, we recognize an old soul who has spent much time\nin mastering its lessons. Therefore we do not despair of God\u2019s love\nwhen we see the inequalities of life, for we know that in time all will\nbe perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect.\n\nThe Rosicrucian teachings also take the sting of sorrow out of the\ngreatest of all trials, the loss of loved ones, even if they have\nbeen what is called wayward or black sheep; for we know that it is an\nactual fact that _in God we live and move and have our being_; hence,\nif one single soul were lost, a part of God would be lost, and such\na proposition is absolutely impossible. Under the immutable law of\ncause and effect we are bound to meet these loved ones some time in\nthe future under other circumstances, and there the love that binds us\ntogether must continue until it has found its fullest expression. The\nlaws of nature would be violated if a stone thrown from the earth were\nto remain suspended in the atmosphere, and under the same immutable\nlaws those who pass into the higher spheres must return. Christ said,\n\u201cYe must be born again,\u201d and \u201cIf I go to my Father, _I will return_.\u201d\n\nBut although our reason may reach into the mysteries of life, there\nis still a higher stage, _actual first-hand knowledge_. As a matter\nof fact the foregoing propositions are capable of verification by\neach one, for we all have a _sixth sense_ latent in our being, which\nwill sometime enable us to view the spiritual world with the same\ndistinctness as that with which we see the temporal. This sixth sense\nwill be developed by all in the course of evolution, and there are\ncertain means whereby it may be developed now by all who care to take\nthe necessary time and trouble to do so. Some have done this, and they\nhave told us of their travels in the land of the soul. We believe\ntheir testimony concerning that place just as we believe what people\nwho have traveled in Africa or Australia tell us of those countries.\nAnd just as we say that _we know_ the earth rotates upon its axis and\nrevolves in its orbit around the sun because we have been thus informed\nby scientists who have made the investigations and calculations that\nestablish these facts, so also we say that _we know_ the dead live,\nand that whether dead or alive, in the body or out of it, we are all\nenfolded in the love of our Father in Heaven, without whose Will not\nthe smallest sparrow falls to the ground, and that He cares for all and\norders our steps in harmony with His plans to develop our spiritual\npowers to the highest possible degree.\n\nSo because of the logical, soul-satisfying philosophy of life given\nby the Rosicrucians, we follow their teachings in preference to other\nsystems, and invite others who wish to share the blessings thereof to\ninvestigate.\n\n\n\n\nChapter XXIV\n\nTHE OBJECT OF THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP\n\n\nThe object of the Rosicrucian Fellowship has been clearly stated in our\nliterature, as have the means whereby it is hoped to attain the end in\nview, but in response to requests for a succinct summary we devote this\nchapter to that subject.\n\nThe world is God\u2019s training school. During the past we have learned\nto build different vehicles, among others the physical body. By this\nwork we are promoted from class to class, each with its particular\nscope of consciousness. We evolved eyes that we might see, ears that\nwe might hear, and other organs that we might taste, smell, and feel.\nBut not all egos were promoted at every step. When the mist in the air\nat the time of Atlantis condensed and filled the basins of the earth\nwith oceans of water, driving men to the highlands, many perished by\nasphyxiation because they had not evolved lungs. They could not pass\nthrough the portal of the rainbow, which was, so to speak, the entrance\ngate to the new age with its dry atmospheric conditions.\n\nAnother great world transformation is coming, we know not when; even\nthe Christ confessed His ignorance of the day and the hour; but He\nwarned us that the day would come as a thief in the night, and He\nprophesied that the conditions in the world would then be similar to\nthose prevailing in the days of Noah; they were living then in carefree\nenjoyment of life when suddenly the floodgates of heaven were opened,\nand death and destruction spread before them.\n\nChrist told us that it is possible to take the kingdom of God by storm\nand attain to the consciousness and conditions there prevailing. But\nPaul informs us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;\nhe states that we have a soul body (_soma psuchicon_\u20141 Cor. 15: 44),\nand that we shall meet the Lord _in the air_ when He comes. This soul\nbody is therefore as necessary to entrance into the new age of the\nkingdom of God, as a body equipped with lungs was to the Atlanteans who\ndesired to enter into the age in which we are now living. Therefore it\nis necessary that we make our calling and election sure by preparing\nthe _Golden Wedding Garment_, the soul body, which alone can secure our\nadmission to the mystic marriage.\n\nThe multitude is slowly moving in the right direction as led by the\ndifferent churches, but there is an ever growing class that, so to\nspeak, feels the wings of the soul body sprouting, people who feel an\ninner urge to take the kingdom of God by storm. Though unaware of any\ndefinite ideal, they sense a greater truth and a more certain light\nthan those which the Church radiates; they are tired of parables and\nlong to learn the underlying facts at the very feet of Christ.\n\nThe Rosicrucian Fellowship was started for the purpose of reaching this\nclass, to show them the way to illumination, to help them build their\nsoul body and evolve the soul powers which will enable them to enter\nconsciously into the kingdom of God and obtain first-hand knowledge.\n\nThis is a large undertaking, none greater and even under the most\nfavorable existing conditions progress must be slow, but if the\naspirant will continue with patient perseverance in well doing, it can\nbe done.\n\nThe methods are definite, scientific, and religious; they have been\noriginated by the Western School of the Rosicrucian Order, and are\ntherefore specially suited to the western people. Sometimes, but very\nrarely, they bring results in a short time; generally it requires years\nand even lives before the aspirant attains, but the following system\nwill in the end bring all to their hearts\u2019 desire.\n\nThe Tabernacle in the Wilderness was a symbolic representation of the\nway to God, and, as Paul says, held a shadow of better things to come.\nEverything in it had its spiritual meaning. The table of shewbread\ngives us an important lesson germane to our present consideration.\nStudents will remember that the ancient Israelites were commanded to\nbring the shewbread to the tabernacle at stated intervals. The grain\nfrom which this was made was given them by God but they must prepare\nthe soil in which it was to grow, they must plant and cultivate, they\nmust weed and water, so as to secure the greatest possible increase;\nthey must harvest and thresh, grind and bake, ere they had the loaves\nwhich they brought to the tabernacle as _bread to shew_ for their toil.\nSimilarly, God gives to all the grain of opportunity to serve, but it\nis our duty to cultivate these opportunities and nurse and nourish\nthem in the soil of loving kindness so that they may bring a great\nincrease. We must always bear in mind the words of Christ that He came\nto minister and to serve. Therefore anyone aspiring to follow in His\nsteps and to be great in the kingdom of God must ever be on the lookout\nfor opportunities to serve his fellows. Each day must be filled as full\nas possible with kind and considerate deeds, for they are the warp and\nwoof of which the _golden wedding garment_ is woven. Without these\n\u201cworks\u201d no amount of prayer, fasting, or other religious exercises will\navail. It is useless to repair to the temple without this _bread to\nshew_ that we have really worked in the Master\u2019s service.\n\nThe foregoing is also the teaching of the exoteric churches; but the\nfollowing is the exclusively Rosicrucian scientific teaching and\nmethod, based upon the deepest knowledge of spiritual facts whereby the\naspirant is enabled to gain the maximum soul growth in each life, so\nthat his spiritual advancement is accelerated beyond his very wildest\ndreams. Therefore this is the most important spiritual teaching that\nhas been given to man in modern times, and no one who tries honestly to\nfollow this simple method can fail to be enormously benefited:\n\nEther is the medium of transmission of light, that which etches a\npicture on the photographic film. It permeates the air, and with every\nbreath we draw from birth to death ether enters our system and etches\na picture of our surroundings and actions on a little atom in the\nheart. Thus each carries with him a complete record of his life, which\nis assimilated after death. Expiation of the evil deeds causes pain\nand anguish in purgatory. These are thus transmuted to conscience to\nprevent repetition of the same mistakes in succeeding lives: the good\ndeeds are transmuted to love and benevolence. Instead of waiting for\nthis post-mortem transmutation of the shewbread of life, the aspirant\nwho desires to take heaven by storm may assimilate the fruits of each\nday after retiring and before going to sleep by running over the deeds\ndone. The events of the day are considered in reverse order, so that\nthat which happened in the evening is taken first, then the happenings\nof the afternoon, forenoon, and morning. This is important for it\nconforms to the way the life panorama acts after death, taking first\nthe events just prior to death, last the events of infancy. The object\nis to show the effects and then refer them to their antecedent causes.\n\nIn this retrospection it will do the aspirant no good to run over the\nevents of the day and mildly blame himself where he did wrong\u2014he is\nusually sure enough to praise himself sufficiently for his good deeds.\nBut he must remember the altar of burnt offerings where the sacrifices\nfor sin were offered. They were first rubbed with salt and then placed\non the altar to be consumed by a divinely enkindled fire. Anyone knows\nwhat an intense pain is caused when salt is rubbed into a wound, and\nthis rubbing with salt is symbolic of the pain the aspirant must feel\nfor his wrongdoing. Now mark that it was not permissible to place\nthe sacrifice on the altar until it had been thus rubbed with salt.\nGod would not accept it before, but _when it had been salted it was\nconsumed by a fire kindled by God Himself_.\n\nThis tells us that unless we have washed our evil deeds of the day in\nthe salt of our tears and heartfelt contrition, God will not accept our\nsacrifice of repentance; but when we have really repented, our sins\nwill be washed away and our recording atom will be clean as the driven\nsnow. With respect to our good deeds we may remember that there were\ntwo little piles of frankincense on the top of the shewbread. These\nwere offered upon the altar of incense, where the smoke ascended as a\nsweet savor to the Lord, so different from the nauseating stench that\nwent up from the altar where the sin offerings were burned. Is it any\nwonder that God took no delight in the sacrifice of bulls and calves,\nbut delighted in a contrite heart and a repentant spirit?\n\nIt is this spiritual aromatic extract of our good deeds that builds our\nsoul body. By the ordinary natural process it takes about one-third\nas many years in our post-mortem existence as we lived in the body,\nto reap what we have sowed. But when an aspirant has assimilated the\nfruits of life by faithful retrospection at the end of each day, he\nis free as soon as he leaves the body and may use the years spent by\nothers in purgatory and the first heaven as he pleases. Furthermore,\nas he needs neither food, shelter, nor sleep, he may spend twenty-four\nhours a day doing good. Thus he has practically as many years of\nservice and soul growth after death as the number of his earth life;\nand being trained and schooled in this work his attainments are\nprobably greater than could be made in a number of lives lived in the\nordinary way.\n\nTo aid deserving aspirants, still deeper and more definite teachings\nare given by the Elder Brothers through the Rosicrucian Fellowship.\nStudents who feel the inner urge may ask for information concerning\nthese teachings.\n\n\n\n\nIndex\n\n\n  Abel, man of Lemuria, 23.\n\n  Action, desirability of, 16.\n\n  Action, good, required for soul body, 183.\n\n  A. D. M., red earth, 78.\n\n  Adam, a Polarian, 22.\n\n  Airships of Atlantis, 71.\n\n  Albumen not needed by spiritual, 24.\n\n  Alcohol, action, 83.\n\n  Altar of sacrifice, 96.\n\n  America, the melting pot, 112.\n\n  Angels, humanity of Moon Period, 50.\n    lived in etheric world, 50.\n    guided man, 32.\n\n  Anglo-Saxons, pioneers of race, 75.\n\n  Animals ruled by group spirits, 108.\n\n  Aquarian Age, science to rule in, 82.\n    six hundred years until, 81.\n    teacher of, 76.\n\n  Arche-Tektons, Initiates are, 103.\n\n  Ark, airship of Atlantis, 71.\n\n  Aryan Age, invaders of, 80.\n\n  Aryana, national segregation of, 70.\n\n  Assimilation of life experiences, 184.\n\n  Asteroids, remnants of Moons, 60.\n\n  Astrology, value of in marriage, 53.\n\n  Atlantis, destruction of, 180.\n\n  Atlantean epoch, the nadir of materiality, 9.\n\n  Atlanteans aspire to light, 95.\n    divinely guided, 69.\n\n  Atlantis, airships of, 71.\n    atmosphere of, 69.\n    man becomes man in, 25.\n    peaceful conditions of, 86.\n\n  Atmosphere, changes of, 180.\n\n  Attainment, method of, 171.\n\n\n  Baptism, soul\u2019s urge for higher life, 55.\n\n  Black Brothers, increase evil, 106.\n\n  Black Magic, frequent practice of, 101.\n    golden, wedding garment protects against, 106.\n    practices of, 103.\n\n  Blood hound, follows invisible emanation, 104.\n\n  Born of water and spirit, 80.\n\n  Brain gained at sacrifice of creative force, 32.\n\n  Breathing exercises, danger of, 9.\n    use of, 10.\n\n  Brotherhood, all members of, 44.\n\n\n  Cain, a Hyperborean, 23.\n\n  Candles, tallow, attract elementals, 106.\n\n  Causation, 177.\n\n  Children, training of, 127.\n\n  Chosen people, 95.\n\n  Christ, annual coming of, 171.\n    bodily presence of the Father, 98.\n    forgiveness of, 57.\n    Inhabits central sun, 58.\n    man a Christ-in-the-making, 158.\n    mission of, 47, 87.\n    power of, 158, 159.\n    preservation, principle of, 168.\n    sacrifice of, 98.\n\n  Christ, _see also_ Earth Spirit.\n\n  Civilization, evolution of, 111.\n\n  Communication with dead, 113.\n\n  Communion, points to age to come, 55.\n    worthy celebration of, 31.\n\n  Conscience gained in purgatory, 184.\n\n  Consciousness result of war between vital and desire bodies, 49.\n\n  Conservation of strength, 122.\n\n  Contentment lengthens life, 51.\n\n  Contrition, importance of, 185.\n\n  Conversion and Initiation, 12.\n    inner experience, 13.\n\n  Converts, making of, 132.\n\n  Courage, 91.\n\n  Creation, principle of Jehovah, 168.\n\n  Creative hierarchies guide man, 22.\n\n  Crystalloids aid in evolving vital body, 88.\n\n\n  Dead, communication with, 113.\n\n  Death, care of body after, 134.\n    conquest of, 56.\n    price of consciousness, 50.\n\n  Dense body, care of after death, 134.\n    crystallized state of, 47.\n    raising vibrations of, 10.\n    restoration of in sleep, 128.\n    spiritualization of, 74.\n    under laws of nature, 57.\n\n  Desire body, control of, 128.\n    destroys dense body, 49.\n    gained in Lemuria, 23.\n    reaction of man\u2019s acts, 25.\n\n  Dietetics, albumen not needed by spiritual, 24.\n    legumes not needed by advanced, 24.\n\n  Diplomacy and force, 119.\n\n  Dissolution the Father\u2019s power, 168.\n\n  Divine hierarchies work upon man, 22.\n\n  Divine leaders abolish religious errors, 46.\n\n  Divine spirit and physical body, 132.\n\n\n  Earth conditions cramp humanity, 99.\n    crystallization of due to man, 32.\n\n  Earth Spirit body and blood, 31.\n\n  Earth Spirit, _see also_ Christ.\n\n  Earthly goods, use of, 117.\n\n  Easter, Christ\u2019s liberation, 160.\n    vital, force of, 161.\n\n  Effort brings opportunities, 15.\n\n  Ego chooses work of life, 64.\n\n  Egotism, protection from, 19.\n\n  Elder Brothers hierophants of western wisdom teaching, 173.\n    high status of, 173.\n    not mercenary, 20.\n    transmute evil, 105.\n\n  Elementals inhaled with incense, 106.\n\n  Emancipation, God\u2019s purpose, 162.\n\n  Environment chosen by ego, 64, 122.\n    power of, 74.\n\n  Epochs, changes of, 77.\n\n  Ether etches pictures on seed atom, 184.\n    medium of transmission of light, 184.\n    new element, 71.\n\n  Evolution, 177.\n\n  Evolution of man, 35.\n    path of spiral, 14.\n\n  Exercises: Breathing practices, 9, 10.\n\n  Experience, a grindstone, 63.\n\n  Extreme unction, 56.\n\n\n  Faculties, evolution of, 177.\n\n  Fall, unchastity, 62.\n\n  Family, duty to, 127.\n\n  Father, The, dissolution principle of, 168.\n    highest Initiate of Saturn Period, 58.\n    inhabits spiritual sun, 58.\n\n  Finger nails used in Black Magic, 103.\n\n  Flesh, eating of, difficult to digest, 90.\n    material progress result of, 23, 86, 92.\n    necessitated by materialism, 23.\n    sins of, 90.\n\n  Flood, sun in Cancer, 78.\n\n  Food, significance of, 22.\n\n  Forgiveness of Christ, 57.\n\n  Free Will, 22.\n    of Initiate in choice of environment, 64.\n    in Atlantis, 25.\n\n\n  Galilee, melting pot, 74.\n\n  Gill clefts replaced by lungs, 24.\n\n  Gills of early Atlantis, 70.\n\n  Glass of water in Black Magic, 104.\n\n  God, immanence of, 161.\n\n  Golden wedding garment, _see_ Soul Body.\n\n  Good Friday, 153.\n\n  Gospels formulae of Initiation, 64.\n\n  Grace and forgiveness of sin, 34.\n\n  Grail, _see_, Holy Grail.\n\n  Group Spirit, 108.\n\n\n  Hair used in Black Magic, 103.\n\n  Healing, Rosicrucian method of, 103.\n\n  Help, practical, 133.\n\n  Hierarchies, service of, 135.\n    still active, 166.\n\n  Hindu breathing exercises, 73.\n\n  Holy Grail, many orders constitute, 105.\n    two forces of, 105.\n\n  Holy Spirit, _see_ Jehovah.\n\n  Human spirit and desire body, 132.\n\n  Humanity, salvation of, 160.\n    slowly progressing, 14.\n\n  Hyperborea, generation in, 49.\n\n  Hyperborean epoch, man plantlike in, 22.\n    vital body gained in, 22.\n\n  Hypnotism, danger of, 107.\n\n\n  I as pronoun, 83.\n\n  Inactivity causes straggling, 16.\n\n  Incense, Black Forces use, 106.\n\n  Inequalities, harmonizing of, 178.\n\n  Initiates, arche-tektons, 103.\n    bodies of, immaculately conceived, 64.\n    choose own life work, 64.\n    purity of, 64.\n    may be women, 67.\n\n  Initiation, changes life, 13.\n    confers authority, 13.\n    free, 13.\n    inner experience, 12.\n    money cannot buy, 11.\n    requirements for, 20.\n    spiritual process, 11.\n    spiritualizes vital body, 67.\n    through spiritual exercises, 11.\n    tribulation leads to, 63.\n\n  Initiation fee, impossibility of, 20.\n\n  Inner vision opened, 136.\n\n  Intellectual conception of life, 175.\n\n  Intensity of feeling, 19.\n\n\n  Jehovah, creation principle of, 168.\n    dwells in physical sun, 58.\n    highest Initiate of Moon Period, 58.\n    race spirit of the Jews, 110.\n    regent of various moons, 58.\n    warder of creative forces, 56.\n\n  Jesus race body of, 74.\n\n  Judgment, Sun in Libra, 156.\n\n  Justice of life, 175.\n    with mercy, 33.\n\n\n  Knowledge, necessity for, 131.\n\n\n  Larynx gained at sacrifice of creative force, 32.\n\n  Law, knowledge of, 131.\n\n  Law of Consequence given to Atlanteans, 26.\n\n  Laws of nature and destiny, 25.\n\n  Legumes not needed by advanced, 24.\n\n  Lemurian epoch, desire body gained in, 23.\n\n  Life Spirit and vital body, 132.\n\n  Light, Atlanteans aspire to, 95.\n    symbol of God, 167.\n\n  Living church within, 124.\n\n  Lords of Mercury, stragglers of past, 59.\n\n  Lords of Venus, stragglers of past, 59.\n\n  Lord\u2019s Supper, _see_ communion.\n\n  Lost souls, 58.\n\n  Love endlessly born, 169.\n    keynote of coming age, 80.\n    of souls, 53.\n    transcends sex, 51.\n\n  Lucifer spirits cause body\u2019s crystallization, 32.\n\n  Lungs related to spirits\u2019 freedom, 24.\n\n\n  Man becomes man in Atlantis, 25.\n    mineral-like in Polarian Epoch, 88.\n\n  Marriage necessitated by disintegration and death, 49.\n    sacrament of, 55.\n    transcends sex, 51.\n\n  Materialism, predominance of, 163.\n\n  Matter, limitation of causes self-confidence, 22.\n\n  Materialization, varieties of, 102.\n\n  Meat non-permanent as food, 82.\n\n  Meat eating, _see_ Flesh eating.\n\n  Michael, race spirit, 111.\n\n  Milk aid in evolving desire body, 89.\n    given in Lemuria, 23.\n\n  Mind, effect of meat upon, 93.\n    given during Atlantean epoch, 22.\n    given for discrimination, 122.\n    link between spirit and matter, 132.\n\n  Minerals, assimilation impossible, 82.\n\n  Moderation in food, 136.\n\n  Mongols, descendants of Atlanteans, 75.\n\n  Moons, discipline stragglers, 59.\n    physical vehicles of Jehovah, 172.\n    tumors of universe, 60.\n\n  Moses led followers through water, 26.\n\n  Motive, importance of, 101.\n\n  Mysteries, soul body teaches, 136.\n\n  Mystery schools furnish higher teaching, 8.\n\n\n  Nationalism must pass, 112.\n\n  Nations, rise and fall of, 110.\n\n  Negroes, descendants of Lemurians, 75.\n\n  New Galilee, 135.\n\n  New heaven and new earth, _see_ Aquarian Age.\n\n  New race, 75.\n\n  Niebelungen ring, 42.\n\n  Nimrod, Atlantean king, 22.\n\n  Noah, 27.\n\n  Noise, evil effects of, 125.\n    stirs desire bodies, 126.\n\n  Nucleus in magic practices, 103.\n\n\n  Orthodoxy, arguments of, 46.\n\n\n  Panorama etched into desire body, 133.\n\n  Passion, crystallizing power of, 32.\n\n  Periodic flow of earth, 62.\n\n  Philosophy, hidden meaning in, 135.\n\n  Physical body, _see_ Dense body.\n\n  Pioneers the active workers, 16.\n    two classes of, 17.\n\n  Pisces, creed and dogma of, 81.\n\n  Planet, body of Great Spirit, 156.\n    evolution of, 41.\n    orbit of, 156.\n\n  Poise, necessity for, 125.\n\n  Polarian had only dense body, 88.\n\n  Polarian epoch, dense body in, 22.\n    mineral-like state of man in, 22.\n\n  Polygamy, 66.\n\n  Possession cures desire, 93.\n\n  Post mortem experience, 15.\n\n  Post mortem state, 16.\n\n  Preservation, Christ principle, 168.\n\n  Progress, impossible to unworthy, 150.\n\n  Proselyting unnecessary, 132.\n\n  Providence of God, 120.\n\n  Purity, redemption of, 35.\n\n\n  Race spirits cause racial characteristics, 109.\n    high ideals of, 110.\n\n  Racial characteristics, 109.\n\n  Rainbow, advent of, 27.\n    emblem of diversity, 70.\n    entrance to new age, 180.\n    gates to promised land, 69.\n\n  Reconciliation, desirability of, 119.\n\n  Recording angels give religions, 7.\n\n  Religion, happiness from, 126.\n\n  Religion given by Recording Angels, 7.\n    suited to nations, 8.\n\n  Religious errors, not long permitted, 46.\n\n  Responsibility not to be shirked, 127.\n\n  Resurrection, Easter Sun symbolizes, 163.\n\n  Retrospection, good gained by, 184.\n    importance of, 18.\n\n  Rhine Gold, 42.\n\n  Rosicrucian messengers, 11.\n\n\n  Sacrament, Hebrew derivation of, 55.\n    importance of, 38.\n\n  Sacrifice, evolution result of, 97.\n    soul growth from, 165.\n\n  Sanctuary, inner, 124.\n\n  Saints, 17.\n\n  Salt, 185.\n\n  Science becomes religious, 40.\n    to rule Aquarian Age, 82.\n\n  Seances, danger of, 107.\n\n  Seasons symbolize diversity, 70.\n\n  Self-Sacrifice, advancement from, 38.\n    of Christ, 100.\n\n  Selfishness bane of race, 43.\n\n  Separation of sexes, 32.\n\n  Service builds soul body, 135.\n    essential in life, 135.\n    the policy that pays, 118.\n    redemption of stragglers, 59.\n\n  Sexes, separation of, 32.\n\n  Silence, great help in soul growth, 126.\n\n  Sin must be expiated, 57.\n\n  Sixth sense, 178.\n\n  Sleep, work during gains soul growth, 129.\n\n  Solar system body of God, 59.\n\n  Son, _see_ Christ.\n\n  Sorrow, keynote of Buddhism, 57.\n\n  Soul amalgamates with spirit, 96.\n\n  Soul body, 54.\n    from seed, 73.\n    light of teaches man, 136.\n    of new age, 181.\n    methods of building, 80.\n    protects against Black Magic, 106.\n    wedding garment of new age, 80.\n\n  Soul growth dissolves crystallized bodies, 96.\n    helps in, 126.\n    method of, 17.\n\n  Sound, effect of, 124.\n\n  Spinal nerves, animal twenty-eight pairs of, 61.\n    man thirty-one pairs of, 61.\n\n  Spirit orbit of, 156.\n\n  Spiritual forces, ebb and flow of, 61.\n\n  Spiritual sight result of war, 112.\n\n  Spiritual world, time non-existent, 169.\n\n  Spring and Earth Spirit, 31.\n\n  Stellar ray, 64.\n\n  Strength, conservation of, 122.\n\n  Sugar beneficial effects of, 83.\n    cure of alcoholism by, 84.\n\n  Sun ascends at Easter, 165.\n    in Cancer, the flood, 78.\n    invisible vehicle of God, 172.\n    visible vehicle of Christ, 172.\n\n\n  Tact, value of, 119.\n\n  Talents of ego, 15.\n\n  Teacher of New Age, 76.\n\n  Temple, way to shown, 136.\n\n  Thought breaks down tissue, 23.\n\n  Time, non-existent in spiritual world, 169.\n\n  Tolerance for our families, 137.\n\n  Tree of knowledge, 32.\n\n  Tribulation prepares for Initiation, 63.\n\n  Trinity, mystery of, 167.\n\n\n  Unfoldment, three stages of, 55.\n\n  Universal solvent, 168.\n\n\n  Vegetarianism, advantages of, 91.\n\n  Vegetarian needs no alcohol, 91.\n\n  Virgin spirits enmeshed in matter as egos, 132.\n    self-consciousness attained by, 22.\n\n  Vital body charges body with energy, 132.\n    constructive energy of, 49.\n    evolved by Hyperborean, 22, 88.\n    medium of occult growth, 9.\n    spiritualized by Initiation, 67.\n    stores up power, 128.\n    vehicle of love, 51.\n\n\n  War, spiritual aspects of, 123.\n    spiritual intensity of, 104.\n    spiritual sight result of, 112.\n\n  Water, Noah and Moses led followers through, 26.\n    used in Black Magic, 104.\n\n  Wedding garment, _see_ Soul Body.\n\n  Western Initiates more advanced, 8.\n\n  Western Mystery Teaching Christian, 47.\n\n  White Magic, unselfish, 102.\n\n  Wine, given in Atlantis, 26.\n    self-assertion from drinking, 86.\n    stimulates spirit of man, 27.\n\n  Word, cosmic meaning of, 155.\n\n  Workers, the pioneers, 16.\n\n  World, God\u2019s training school, 180.\n\n  World change to come, 181.\n\n  Worry, evil of, 116.\n\n\n  You as pronoun, 83.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nRays From the Rose Cross\n\nTHE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP MAGAZINE\n\n  A Monthly Magazine of\n  MYSTIC LIGHT\n  Subscription $2.00 per year\n  _General Contents_\n\n\n _The Mystic Light Department_ is devoted to articles on Occultism,\n Mystic Masonry, Esoteric Christianity and similar spiritual subjects.\n\n _The Question Department_ is designed to give further light upon the\n various subjects dealt with in the different departments.\n\n _The Astral Ray Department_ gives Cosmic Light on life\u2019s problems. So\n far as space permits horoscopes of subscribers\u2019 children are read each\n month. These readings show the hidden faults and talents to help the\n parents bring out the best in their charges.\n\n Vocational Readings for young men and women are given to show them the\n sphere in the world\u2019s work for which they are best fitted.\n\n_Studies in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception._ Our Origin, Evolution\nand Ultimate Destiny are religiously, reasonably and scientifically\nexplained in this department.\n\n_Children\u2019s Department._ Stories for the children.\n\n_Nutrition and Health._ In this department articles on health and diet\nteach how to build bodies wisely and well.\n\n_The Rosy Cross Healing Circle._ Its meetings and their results.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nThe Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception\n\n_Seventh Edition_\n\n600 pp. cloth Price $2.00, postfree.\n\n\nThis remarkable book by Max Heindel marks an entirely new departure in\nmystic literature.\n\nFor the first time in history the _Western Wisdom Teaching_ concerning\nLife and Being which the Rosicrucians have guarded for centuries, is\nhere given by an authorized messenger, for it is held that the world\nis ready to receive this advanced science of the soul, the religious\nphilosophy of the Aquarian Age, now at hand. The existing soul-hunger\nand the satisfying nature of the Rosicrucian teachings are equally well\nattested by the phenomenal sale of this great book, and many thousands\nof letters received by the author from grateful students located all\nover the world, who testify that they there found what they have long\nsought elsewhere in vain.\n\nWe give herewith some headings of chapters and subdivisions as a slight\nindication of what is contained in this mine of mystic light and\nknowledge.\n\nPart I.\n\nThe Visible and Invisible Worlds, The Four Kingdoms, Man and the Method\nof Evolution. Spirit, Soul and Body; Thought, Memory and Soul-growth.\nThe conscious, subconscious and superconscious mind. The science of\ndeath, the beneficence of purgatory, life in heaven. Rebirth and the\nLaw of Consequence.\n\nPart II.\n\nThe Scheme of Evolution. The Path of Evolution. The Work of Evolution.\nGenesis and Evolution of Our Solar System. Chaos the seed-ground of\nCosmos, Birth of the Planets, Planetary Spirits. Evolution of the\nEarth. The Moon, the eighth sphere\u2014retrogression. Occult Analysis of\nGenesis. The Nebular Theory.\n\nPart III.\n\nChrist and His Mission. The Star of Bethlehem, the Mystery of Golgotha\nand the cleansing blood. Future Development and Initiation. Alchemy\nand Soul-growth. The Method of Acquiring First-hand Knowledge. Western\nMethods for Western People. Esoteric Training. Christian Rosenkreuz and\nthe Order of Rosicrucians. The Rosicrucian Initiation.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nThe Rosicrucian Philosophy\n\nIN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS\n\nPrice $2.00, Postfree.\n\n\nA book of ready reference upon all mystic matters, which ought to\nbe in the library of every occult student. It covers 432 pages; has\na considerable number of illuminating diagrams, is printed on fine\npaper in clear type, reinforced binding of cloth with the beautiful\nRosicrucian Symbols stamped upon the cover in red, black and gold; and\nthe three edges are also gold.\n\n\n_PARTIAL LIST OF SUBJECTS_\n\n _Section I._\u2014_Life on Earth._ Social Conditions, Marriage, Children,\n Sleep and Dreams, Health and Disease\n\n _Section II._\u2014_Life After Death._ Cremation. Purgatory, The First\n Heaven, The Second Heaven, The Third Heaven, Guardian Angels.\n\n _Section III._\u2014_Rebirth._ The Law of Rebirth, The Law of Causation,\n Transmigration.\n\n _Section IV._\u2014_The Bible Teachings._ The Creation, The Fall, The\n Immaculate Conception, Sayings of Christ.\n\n _Section V._\u2014_Spiritualistic Phenomena._ Mediumship, Obsession,\n Materialization.\n\n _Section VI._\u2014_Clairvoyance._ Dangers of Psychism, True Spiritual\n Unfoldment, Initiation.\n\n _Section VIII._\u2014_Animals_. Their Life Here and Hereafter.\n\nIt is truly _AN OCCULT INFORMATION BUREAU_!\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nHow Shall We Know Christ When he Comes?\n\nBy Max Heindel\n\n15c Postfree.\n\n\nThe title indicates sufficiently the scope of the book.\n\nIt is direct and to _the point_ like all the writings of this author.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nThe Rosicrucian Mysteries\n\n_AN ELEMENTARY EXPOSITION_\n\nBY MAX HEINDEL\n\n  200 pp. cloth.       $1.50 postfree.\n\nThis is the Book for the Busy Man\n\nwho is seeking a solution to the Great Mystery called Life, but lacks\nleisure to wade through volumes of metaphysical speculations. The lucid\nand logical explanations carry conviction\u2014they bear\n\n_THE STAMP OF TRUTH_\n\nNevertheless, the language is so simple, clear and devoid of\ntechnicalities that _a child can understand_ its message. It is\ntherefore specially suited to beginners, but advanced students will find\n\n  _THE MYSTERY OF LIGHT\n  COLOR AND CONSCIOUSNESS_,\n  and similar subjects of vital interest.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nChrist or Buddha?\n\nAnnet C. Rich.\n\nForeword by Max Heindel.\n\n30c. Postfree.\n\n\nThe idea that India is the main repository of occult knowledge is held\nby many who have forsaken the Christian Religion to embrace Hinduism.\n\u201cChrist or Buddha?\u201d shows most clearly that\n\n_THE WESTERN WISDOM TEACHINGS_\n\nthrow a light upon the problems of life which is much more intense,\nfar-reaching and soul satisfying in every respect than that of the\nEastern teachings. A partial list of contents will indicate its scope.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nFreemasonry and Catholicism\n\nBy MAX HEINDEL\n\n_An Esoteric Exposition of the Cosmic Facts underlying these two Great\nInstitutions, as determined by Occult Investigation_\n\n\nDescribes the influence of each of these institutions upon the\nevolution of mankind and the ultimate destiny of each.\n\nThe building of King Solomon\u2019s Temple has always remained a theme of\ngreat interest; but add to this the story of the Queen of Sheba and the\nreal builder of the Temple, Hiram Abiff, so seldom read of in current\nliterature, and truly one is confronted by a story of exquisite and\ntranscendent interest.\n\nTo have read this book is to have delved deep into the past and to have\ngained a glimpse into the mysteries that have puzzled philosophers in\nages gone by. Only a Mystic and a trained Seer who has the divine gift\nof reading the Akashic Records of the past could give such a lucid\ndescription of this great subject.\n\n\n_THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERY MASON\u2019S LIBRARY_\n\n\n  Bound in cloth.      98 pages.      Price $1.00\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nThe Web of Destiny\n\nHOW MADE AND UNMADE\n\nINCLUDING\n\nThe Occult Effect of our Emotions\n\nPrayer\u2014A Magic Invocation\n\nPractical Methods of Achieving Success\n\nBy Max Heindel\n\n\n175 pp. Cloth Bound\n\nTwo Dollars Postfree\n\n\nThese four series of lessons in one volume are the collected fruits of\na Mystic\u2019s investigations showing the unseen forces which shape our\ndestiny.\n\nThis valuable information is now given for the first time in book form.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nRosicrucian Interpretation of Christianity\n\nANCIENT TRUTHS IN MODERN DRESS\n\nPrice 10c Each, Postfree\n\n\n  No. 1. The Riddle of Life and Death.\n  No. 2. Where Are the Dead?\n  No. 3. Spiritual Sight and the Spiritual Worlds.\n  No. 4. Sleep, Dreams, Trance, Hypnotism, Mediumship and Insanity.\n  No. 5. Death and Life in Purgatory.\n  No. 6. Life and Activity in Heaven.\n  No. 7. Birth a Fourfold Event.\n  No. 8. The Science of Nutrition, Health and Protracted Youth.\n  No. 9. The Astronomical Allegories of the Bible.\n  No. 10. Astrology; Its Scope and Limitations.\n  No. 11. Spiritual Sight and Insight.\n  No. 12. Parsifal.\n  No. 13. The Angels as Factors in Evolution.\n  No. 14. Lucifer, Tempter or Benefactor?\n  No. 15. The Mystery of Golgotha and the Cleansing Blood.\n  No. 16. The Star of Bethlehem; A Mystic Fact.\n  No. 17. The Mystery of the Holy Grail.\n  No. 18. The Lord\u2019s Prayer.\n  No. 19. The Coming Force; Vril or What?\n  No. 20. Fellowship and the Coming Race.\n\nThese lectures are particularly suitable for beginners. Read\nconsecutively, they give a comprehensive outline of our philosophy.\n\n_THEY FIT THE POCKET_\n\nand allow a busy man to utilize time on cars en route to or from\nbusiness.\n\n_GIVE ONE TO A FRIEND_\n\nIt is an inexpensive and a helpful gift.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nMysteries of the Great Operas\n\nBY MAX HEINDEL\n\nFaust, Parsifal, The Ring of the Niebelung, Tannhauser, Lohengrin\n\n\nThe Secret Teachings concealed in the Great Myths as embodied in the\nmajor operas are here interpreted. The Evolutionary Plan and Methods\nof Spiritual Unfoldment are shown to lie hidden in the imagery of Folk\nTales. The treatment of this subject adapts the book to the use of the\nmusician and student of folklore as well as to the occultist.\n\n  Bound in Cloth with the usual three colored\n  gold covers used on all Rosicrucian\n  Fellowship Books.\n  $2.00 Postfree\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nIn the Land of The Living Dead\n\nAN OCCULT STORY\n\nBY PRENTISS TUCKER\n\n\nThis is a fascinating story of a young mystic\u2019s experiences during\nthe Great War, both upon the seen and the unseen planes. The\nauthor possesses great aptitude for portraying conditions upon the\nsuperphysical planes so that the layman can form a concrete conception\nregarding them.\n\nPublished by The Rosicrucian Fellowship\n\n  168 Pages      Cloth Bound      $1.50 postfree.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nThe Message of the Stars\n\nMAX AND AUGUSTA HEINDEL\n\n  708 pp.      Cloth.      $3.50, Postpaid\n\n\nThis book gives a complete system of reading the horoscope for\ncharacter and the various fortunes of life. The progressed horoscope,\nand the art of prediction are fully dealt with. An exposition of\nMedical Astrology and a system of diagnosing disease from the\nhoroscope, used for many years by the authors in their extensive and\nsuccessful practice, are included, and also a number of articles on\nthe philosophy of Astrology. The subject of Medical Astrology is\nillustrated by 36 example horoscopes.\n\nA new index has been added to both Natal and Medical Astrology. This\nwill be invaluable to the student in quickly locating any desired\ninformation in either department.\n\nThis book is the classic of modern Astrology. It is set in a most\nattractive style, printed on fine paper, with durable binding, the\ncover stamped in colors like other Rosicrucian textbooks.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nSimplified Scientific Astrology\n\nBY MAX HEINDEL\n\n_Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged_\n\nWITH MAX HEINDEL\u2019S PORTRAIT\n\n  198 pp.      Bound in Cloth.      $1.50 Postpaid.\n\n\nA complete textbook on the art of erecting a horoscope, making the\nprocess simple and easy for beginners. It also includes a\n\nPhilosophic Encyclopedia\n\n\u2014AND\u2014\n\nTables of Planetary Hours\n\nThe Philosophic Encyclopedia fills a long felt want of both beginners\nand advanced students for information concerning the underlying reasons\nfor astrological dicta. It is a mine of knowledge arranged in such a\nmanner as to be instantly accessible.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nSimplified Scientific Ephemeris\n\n_1860 TO DATE._ _PRICE_, 25c _EACH YEAR_\n\nThe increasing difficulty experienced by Astrologers in obtaining\nEphemerides has induced us to enter the field and produce\n\nA Better Ephemeris\n\nAT HALF THE PRICE USUALLY CHARGED BY OTHERS\n\nThe type is as large as used in this book, the print is clear and\nbeautiful. It will save eye strain.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nSIMPLIFIED\n\nScientific Tables of Houses\n\nLatitudes 25 to 60 Degrees, Inclusive\n\n  Volume 1.\n  25-36 degrees\n\n  Volume 2.\n  37-48 degrees\n\n  Volume 3.\n  49-60 degrees\n\n\nWITH LONGITUDES and LATITUDES\n\nof about\n\nFIFTEEN HUNDRED CITIES OF THE WORLD\n\n50c each volume postpaid.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nEarthbound\n\nBY AUGUSTA FOSS HEINDEL\n\n\nThis is a new lecture in our Rosicrucian Christianity Series. It is\na very interesting description of the soul who is earthbound after\ndeath, the conditions which surround him on the superphysical planes,\nhis activities there, and the causes which hold him in that state.\nThe dangers of the ouija board, as affording a field of operation for\nearthbound spirits, are also described.\n\n  13 Pages.      Paper Bound.      Price 10c.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nThe Mystical Interpretation of Christmas\n\nBY MAX HEINDEL\n\n\nFive dissertations in one volume, upon this most interesting Subject of\nCHRISTMAS from the Mystical Viewpoint, showing the occult significance\nof this great event.\n\n  Attractively Bound in Heavy Paper.      $1.00 postfree.\n\n                      \u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\u2015\n\nCorrespondence Courses\n\nIN\n\nCHRISTIAN MYSTICISM AND ASTROLOGY\n\n\n_Christian Mysticism_: A correspondence course of twelve lessons upon\nthe _Rosicrucian Philosophy_, using the _Cosmo-Conception_ by Max\nHeindel, as a textbook. This philosophy gives a logical analysis of the\norigin, evolution, and future development of the world and man, showing\nboth the spiritual and scientific aspects. It is entirely Christian,\naiming to make religion a _living factor in the world_ and to lead to\nChrist those who cannot reach Him by faith alone.\n\nThis course is open to all who are interested.\n\n\n_Astrology_: We want to _help you to help others_, and for that reason\nwe have instituted a correspondence course in Astrology. Astrology is\nto us a phase of religion, a Divine Science. We teach it to others on\ncondition that they will not prostitute it for gain.\n\n_Anyone who is not engaged in fortune telling_ or similar methods of\ncommercializing spiritual knowledge may be admitted to this course.\n\n  Address:\u2014\n\n  \u2014SECRETARY\u2014\n\n  The Rosicrucian Fellowship, Oceanside, California.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\nObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations\nin hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and\npunctuation remains unchanged.\n\nThe entry \u201cCatalogue of Publications\u201d has been added to the Table of\nContents.\n\nItalics are represented thus _italic_.","title":"Gleanings of a Mystic: A Series of Essays on Practical Mysticism","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":47105}