Why I Am A Rosicru cian

BY MA! HEIN DEL

Oc e a ns id e, Californ ia .

P r in te d in U S A
. . .
 THE

R o s ic ru c ia n M y s t e r ie s
A n E le m e n ta ry E x p o s itio n of

Th e ir Se c re t Te a c h in g s
13!

MA! H EIN D EL
t or
Au h o f: Th e R o si r i n C os m o C o n e p t io n Th R osi r
c uc a c . e i
c uc a n
P h ilo so p h y i n Q e s t io n s
u an d A n s w e rs T h
. R osi r e o u

i
c an I nt e rp r e t t io n f C h ri s t i n i t y R y s
a o a . a

f ro m t h e R os e C ro ss t
, e c.

P R ICE 7 5 CE N TS m y!

R O SIC R U C IAN F ELL O W S HIP

Mo u n t E c c le s ia .

O CEA N S ID E , CA L IF O R NIA .
CHAPT E R I .

T HE O R DER O F RO S IC R U CIA N S A N D T HE
R O SI CR U C IA N FEL L O W S HI P 5
A Ne w S te p 17
Mo u n t E c c le s ia 24

CHA P T E R II .

THE P RO BL E M O F LI F E A N D ITS SOL U TI O N 27

Th r e e Th e o r ie s o f Lif e 34
We Ar e E te rn a l .
( Poem by th e
A ut h or ) 41

CHAPT E R III .

T HE VI S IBL E A N D T HE I N V I S IBL E WORL D 54

Th e Ch e m ic a l R e g i o n 54
Th e E th e ric R e g i o n 61
Th e D e s i r e Wo r ld 74
Th e Wo r ld of Th o ug h t 95
C r e e d o r Ch ris t .
( Poem by the
A uthor ) 118

CHA PT E R IV .

THE CON S TITU TI O N O F MAN 1 20

Th e V ita l B o dy 1 22
Th e D e s ir e B o dy 1 30
Th e Min d 1 33

2 81 5 6 9
CHAP T E R V .

LI FE A N D DEAT H 1 36
In v is ib le H e lp e r s a n d M e diu m s 136
D e a th 1 42
Th e P a n o ra m a of P a s t Lif e 1 53
1 58
Th e F irs t H e a v e n 1 73
Th e S e c o n d H e a v e n 1 79
Th e Th i r d H e a v e n 1 82
Bi r th a n d Child Lif e
-
1 86
Th e My s te ry of L ig h t, Co lo r a nd

C o n s c i ou s n e s s 1 87
E du ca tion of Children 1 92
 CHA P TE R I .

@112 GDrhrr nf us im rris na

A N D TH E

R O SIC R UC IAN F ELL O W S HIP

O UR M E S S AG E A N D MIS S IO N

A S a ne M ind
A S of t H e a r t
A S o u n d Bo dy

B ef ore e nt e ring upon an exp lanation of

th e teachi ngs Of t h e Rosicrucians it may be
,

well to say a word about th em and about th e

plac e they hold in the evolution Of humanity .

F o r reasons to be given later these teach

ings advocate the dualistic view ; th ey hold
that man is a spirit enfolding all th e powers
Of G o d as the seed enfolds th e plant and ,

that the s e powers are being S lowly unfolded

by a series Of existences in a gradually im
proving earthy body ; also that this process
O f d e velopment has been performed under

the g u idanc e Of e x alt e d beings wh o ar e yet

o rd e ring ou r st ep s , though in a d e cr e asing
5
6 THE R OS IOBU OIA N MY S TE RIES

m e as u r e, as we gradually acqui re intell e ct

and will These exalted B e ings th ough u n
.
,

seen t o the p hysical eyes are neverth eless

,

potent factors in all a ffairs Of life and give ,

to the various groups O f humanity lessons

whi ch will most e f ciently promote the
growth o f their spiritual powers In fact .
,

the earth may be likened to a vast training

school in whi ch there are pupils Of varying
age and ability as we nd it in o n e Of o u r
o wn schools . There are th e savage s living ,

and worshipping under m ost primitive co n

ditio n s seeing in stick o r stone a God Th en
,
.
,

as man progresses onwards and upwards in

t h e scale Of civilization we nd a higher and
,

higher conception Of Deity which has do w

! ,

ered here in our Western World in the beau

tiful Christian religion th at n ow fu rnishes
o u r spiritual inspiration and in c entive to

improve .

Th ese various religions hav e been given

to each group Of humani ty by th e exa lted
beings whom we know in the Ch ristian reli
gion Es the Recording Angels wh ose won ,

d e r f u l prevision enable t h em to view t h e

trend Of eve n so unstable a quantity as th e
human mind and thus th ey are e n abled to
,

determine wh at steps are n ecessary to lead

 THE O R DER OF R OS IOR UOIAN S 7

ou r e nfoldment along the lin e s congruou s to

the hi gh e st universal good .

-When we study the hi story Of th e ancient

nations w e S hall n d that at about s ix hun
dr e d years B C a great spiritual wave had
. .

its inception on the E astern shores Of th e

Pacic O c e an wh e r e the great Confucian R e
lig io n accel e rated th e progress o f th e Ch i
nes e nation then also the Religion Of th e
,

Buddh a commenced to win its millions Of

adherents in India and S till further West
,

we have the lofty phi losophy Of Pythagoras .

E ach system was suited to the needs Of the

p articular people to whom it was sent Then .

came the period Of the S ceptics in Greece , ,

and later traveling westward th e same spi r

,

itu a l wav e is manifested as the Christian

religion Of the S O called Dark A ges when
-

the dogma Of a dominant church compelled

belief from th e whole Of Western E uro pe .

I t is a law in the universe that a wave Of

spiritual awakeni n g is always followed b y
a period Of doubtin g materialism each ,

phase is necessary in order that the spirit

may receive equal development Of heart an d
intellect W ithout bei n g carried to o far in
either direction Th e Great Beings afore
.

mentioned W h o care for o u r progress a l

, ,
8 T HE R O S IOR UCIAN MY S TE RIE S

ways take steps to safe g u ard humanity

against that danger a n d wh en they fore
,

s a w the wave Of materialism whi ch com

m e n ce d in the sixteent h centur y with the
birth O f o u r modern S cience they took ,

steps to protect the West as they had f or

merly safeguarded the E ast against the
S ceptics who w e re held in check by the My s
te ry schools .

In the thirteenth century there appe ar ed

in central E urope a great spiritual t e ach e r
whose symbolical name w a s
Christi an Rosenkreu z .

or

Christian Ros e Cross .

wh o founded th e mysterious O rder o f the

Ros y Cross concern i n g which S O many spec
,

u l a tion s have been made and S O little has

be come known to the world at large f or it ,

is th e Myster y school Of the West and is

only open to those who have attained the
stage o f spiritual unfoldment necessary to
be initiated in its secrets conce rning th e
S cienc e Of L ife and Being .

I f w e are S O far developed that w e ar e

abl e to leave o u r dense physical body and
take a soul ight into interplanetar y spa c e
w e shall nd that the ultimate physical atom
 THE O R DER O F R OS ICR U OIAN S 9

is s ph e rical in S hape like o u r earth ; it is a

ball When w e tak e a number Of balls Of
.

e ve n S i ze and group them aroun d o n e it will ,

tak e j u st tw e lve balls to hide a thirteenth

Thu s th e twelv e vi sible and the one
hidd e n are nu mbers revealin g a cosmic r e
la ti on s h ip and as all Mystery O rders are
bas e d u p on cosmic lines they ar e composed
,

o f tw e lv e memb e rs gathered around a thir

te e nth wh o is th e invisible h e a d .

Th e r e ar e seven colors in th e s p ectrum :

r e d oran g e , ye llow, gr ee n blue indigo and
, , ,

viol e t But b e tween the violet and the red

.

ther e a r e still another ve colors which are

invisibl e to the phy sical eye but reveal
themselves to the s p iritu al sight In every .

Myst e ry O rder ther e are also seven brothers

w h o at times g o o u t into the world and t h ere
pe r form whatever work may be necessary to
advanc e the people among wh om they serve,
but v e ar e never seen outside the templ e
Th ey work with and teach those alone w h o
have passed through certain stages o f spir
itu a l unfoldment and are able to visit th e
templ e in their spiritual bodi e s ; a feat
tau ght in the rst initiation which u s u ally
tak e s place outside the temple a s it is n ot
10 T HE RO S I C R U C IA N MY S TER IE S
'

convenient f o r all to visit th at place p hysic

ally .

L e t not the reader ima g ine that this initi

atio n makes th e pupil a Rosicrucian it does ,

not a ny more tha n admission to a H igh

,

S ch ool makes a boy a member O f th e faculty .

No r does he become a Rosicrucian even a f

ter having passed th rough all the nine de ~

grees Of thi s o r any oth er Mystery S ch ool .

Th e Rosicrucians are H ierophan ts Of the

lesser Mysteries and beyond them there are
,

still sch ools wherein Greater Mysteries are

taught T hose who have advanced th rough
.

the lesser Mysteries and have become pupils

Of the Greater Mysteries are called A depts ,

but even they have n o t reach ed the exalte d

standpoi n t Of the twelve Broth ers Of the R o
s ic r u cia n O rder o r the H ieroph ants of a n y

other lesser Mystery S chool a n y more th an

the freshman at college has attained to the
knowl e dge and position Of a teach er in th e
H igh school from which h e has just gradu
ated .

A lat e r work will deal with initiation but ,

we may say here that the door O f a genuine

Mystery S chool is n ot unlocked by a golden
key but is only open ed as a reward for meri
,

tor iou s service to humanity and any o n e

 THE O RDER O F R OS IORU OIAN S 11

"
u
s

wh o advertises h ims elf as a Rosicrucian o r

mak e s a charge f o r tuition , by either Of
those acts shows h imself to be a c h arlatan .

The true pupil Of any Myst e ry S chool is far

to o modest t o advertise th e fact, h e will
scorn all titles o r honors from men he will ,

have n o regard for ric h es save th e riches of

love given to him by those whom it becomes
his privilege to help and teach .

In the centuries that have gone by since

the Rosicrucian O rder was rst form e d th ey
have worked quietly and secretly aiming to ,

mould the thought Of Western E urope

through the works Of Paracelsus Boehme , ,

B aco n S hakespeare F ludd and others E ach

, ,
.

night at midnigh t wh en the p hysical a c tiv

ities Of the da y are at t h eir lowest ebb and ,

the spiritual impulse at its highest ood

tide they have sent o u t from th eir temple
,

soul stirri n g vibrations to counteract mater

-

ia lis m and to further t h e development o f

s oul powers T O their activities we ow e th e
.

gradual spirituali z ation Of o u r once S O ma

te r ia lis tic science .

With the commencement Of the twentieth

century a further step w a s taken It w a s real
.

iz e d t h at something must be done to make

12 T HE R O S IORU OIAN MY S TERIE S

religion scientic as well as to mak e

science religious in order that they may u l
,

timately blen d for at the present t ime h eart

an d i ntellect are divorced T he heart in
.

stinctively feels th e trut h Of religious teac h

in gs concernin g such wonderful mysteries
as th e Immaculate Conception ( the Mystery
birth ) t h e Crucixio n ( T he Mystic Death )
, , ,

th e clean sin g blood and the atonement a n d

ot h er doctrines Of the Church all Of ,

wh ich the intellect refuses to believe as they

are i n capable Of demonst r ation and seem ,

in g ly at war with natural law Material

a dvancemen t may be furthered when in
te lle c t i s domin a n t a n d t h e lo n gings Of t h e
heart u n satised but soul growth will be
,

retarded un til th e h eart also receives satis

faction .

In order to furnis h to th e world a teachi ng

which S h all satisfy h ead a n d h eart alike t h e
Rosicrucian F ellows hip w a s started not to
proselyte but rath er to make the Ch ristia n
,

Religio n a livi ng factor in th e land by e n

c o u r a g in g people to remain with th eir
c hurch es whi le giving them the explanations
which creeds may h ave obscured To such .

a s h ave already severed t h eir connect ions

with the church it O e r s a t e mporary a n
 THE O RD ER O F R OS IOR U OIAN S 13

chor e ge until th ey h ave become aroused

anew to th e beauty of th e Christian teach
ing .

Peo ple o f various denomi nations enter e d

u c a tio n a l institutions such a s H arvard o r
Yale and S tudy Mythology Psychology and
, ,

Com p arativ e Religion there without p r e j u ,

dice to their religious a f liation S tudents .

ma y enro ll with the Rosicrucian F ellows h ip

o n the ver y sam e basis An yone is eligible
.

wh o is not a Hyp n o tis t P r of e s s iona l Me

,

dia m , P a lm is t or As tr o log e r .

Th e se higher teachings are n ever given

f o r a monetary co n sideration Peter in Old .

en days severely rebuked S imon the S or

, ,

cerer w h o wa n ted to buy spiritual power

that h e migh t prostitute it for material gain ,

and the E lder Broth ers also refuse to open

t h e door to those who prostitute th e spirit
ual sciences by casting horoscopes reading ,

palms o r giving clairvoyant read ings pro

f e s s ion a lly f o r money
,
The Rosicrucian
.

F ellowship advocates the study Of Palmistry

and A strology by all its members and f u r ,

textbooks at
nominal 11 may acquire
ability instead Of remaining the dupes Of
,
14 TH E R O SI C RU C IA N MY S TE RIE S

professionals who are Often mere pretend

ers .

During th e p ast few years since we rst

comm enced to disseminate the Rosicrucian
teachings th ey have spread like wild r e
,
-

over the civilized world They are studied

.

with avidity from the Cape o f Good H ope to

the A rctic Circle a n d beyond they have ,

found responce in the hearts Of all classes

Of people Among the snow clad huts o f
.
-

A laskan miners and in Government H ouses

wher e a tropical wind unfurls the Britis h
L ion . In the capitals Of T urkish A utocracy
a n d American Democracy alike o u r a dh e r ,

e nts may be f ound in Governm e n t In s titu

tions as well as in the humblest walks Of life ,

all in lively corresponden ce and close touch

with o u r movemen t and working f o r p r o m ul
g a ti o n o f t h e deeper trut h s co n cerni n g L if e
th e O fces Of spir itual a n d me dical a dviser
and Being which are helping them .

A pplicatio n f o r e n rollmen t as S tu de n t
may be made to Ge n eral S ecretary Rosi oru
c ia n F e llo w s h ip w ,
O cea n
,

Califo rn ia We exact neith er Initiatio n fee

.

n or dues O ur e xp e n c e s a r e met b y freewill

.

O e r in g s from S tudents .
16 THE R O S IOR U C IA N MY S TE R IE S

itu a l powers will enable us to help or harm

o u r weaker brot h ers It is only justiable
.

wh en ef ciency in S ervic e o f H umanity is

th e Object .

The Rosicrucian method Of attainment

di ff ers from other S ystems in o n e especial
particular : It aims even at the very start
, ,

to emancipate the pupil from dependence u p

o n others to make hi m S E L F R E L IANT
,
-

in the v e ry highest degree so that he may ,

be able to sta n d alone under all c ir cu m s ta n

ces and cope with all co n ditions O nly on e .

who is thus strongl y pois e d can help the

weak .

When a number Of pe ople meet in a class

o r circle for self development along NE GA
-

T IVE lines results are usually achi eved in

,

a short time o n the principle th at it is easier

to drift with the tide than to breast the cur
rent Th e medium is not master Of his a c
.

tions however but the slave o f a spirit c on

, ,

trol H ence such gath e rings must b e shu n

.

ned by Probationers .

E ven classes whi ch meet in positive atti

tude Of mind are not advised by th e E lder
Brothers because th e latent powers Of a ll
,

members are massed and visions o f the inner

worlds Obtained by anyone th e r e are partly ,
 THE O RDER OF R O S IOR U OIAN S 17

du e to the faculties Of others The heat Of .

coal in the center of a re is en h anced by

surrou n ding coals , and the clairvoyan t pro
du c e d in a circle be it ever s o positive is a
, ,

h o t hous e plant , to o dep endent hims e l f to be

-

trusted with the care Of others .

T herefore each Probatio n er in th e Rosi

crucian F ellowship performs his exercises
in the seclusion and privacy Of h is room .

Results ma y be Obtained more slowly by th is

system but when they appear t h ey will be
, ,

manifest as powers cultivated by himself ,

useable independently Of all oth ers Be .

sides the Rosicrucian methods build charac

,

ter at the same time as th ey develop spir it

u a l faculties a n d thus safeguard t h e pupil

against yieldi n g to temptation to prostitute

divine powers f o r worldly prestige .

The term Of probation depends upon th e

diligence o f the aspiran t but is at least a
,

year A t the end Of that period h e may

.

send a written request f o r individual in

struction by th e E lder Brothers This will .

be given if possible and th e Probationer

,

will then be adva n ced to D is cip le s h ip .

A F UR T HE R S T E P .

H aving th us inaugurated a new S chool O f

18 T HE R O SI C RU C IA N M Y S TERIE S

Thought we are n ow co n templating a fur

ther step .

It is a trite saying that ma n is Of few

days and full Of trouble but among all v i
,

c is s itu d e s Of life n one a ff ect us more than

loss o f health We ma y los e fortun e o r

.

friends with comparative equanimity b u t ,

when health fails a n d death th reatens the ,

strongest falter a n d realizing human im

,

potence we are more ready to turn to divine

power f o r succor th an at other times .

Therefore the o f ce Of spiritual adviser

has always been closely associate d with
h e aling
. Among savages the priest was a l

s o medicine man -
in ancient Greece Ae s cu l
,

a p iu s was particularly sought by t h ose in

ne e d Of healing Christ healed the sick a n d
.

the early Church followed in H is steps Ce r .

tain Catholic O rders have continued the e u

de a v o r to assuage pain during the Ce n
tu r ie s which have interve n ed between th at
day and the present In times Of sickness
.

the good father came as a representati ve

Of o u r F ather in H eaven and what he lack ,

ed in skill was made up by love a n d sym pa

thy If he was indeed a true and h ol y pr iest
and by the fait h engendered in th e patient
by the priestly O ic e H is care Of th e p a
.
 TH E O R DER O F RO S I CR UC IA N S 19

ti ent did n o t commence at the S ickbed n or

was it term inated at recovery T he grati
.

tude o f the patient towards the physician ,

a n d the tie closer t h an ever possible where

are divorced .

It is not denied that the double O fce gave

the incumbe nts a most dangerous power
over th e people a n d th at that power was
,

at times abused I t is also patent that t h e

.

art Of medicine has reach ed a stage Of e f

c ie n c y which could not have been attai n ed

save by devotion to that o n e particular end

and aim The safeguards o f sanitary laws
.
,

the extinction Of i n sect car r iers Of disease

and th e consequent immunity are monu
mental testimonies to the value Of modern
S cie n tic methods Thus it may seem as if
.

all were well and n o need o f furth er e ffo r t ,

but in reality until human ity as a wh ole e n

,

joys p erfect health , there is no issue more

important than the question : H OW may we
attain and maintain health !
In addition to th e regular S ch ool Of S ur
gery an d Medicine which depends exclusive
ly upon p h ysical means for th e cure Of dis
ease other systems have sprung up which
,

depend e n ti r ely o n mental h ealin g It is th e

.

custom Of organi z ations which advocat e

20 THE R OS ICRUOIAN MY S TER IE S

mind cure , natu re cure and other lik e

,

meth ods to hold experience meetings and

, ,

publish j ournals with testimonials from

thousands o f grateful supporters w h o hav e

be n eted by th eir treatments a nd if physi ,

c ia n s Of the regular school did l ikewise t h ere

would be n o lack of similar testimonials to

th eir efciency .

The o p ini on Of thousands is of gr e at

value but it does not prov e anythi ng f o r
, ,

thousands may hold an opposite vi ew, o c ca

s io n a lly a single man may be righ t and the

rest Of the world wrong as when G a llile o

,

maintained that th e earth moves .T oday

th e wh ole world h as been converted to the
opi nion for wh ich he su ffered torture ,

and we assert that a s m a n is a c o m p os ite

,

b e ing c u r e s a r e s u c c e s s fu l in p r op o r ti on a s
,

th e y r e m e dy d e f e c ts o n th e p h y s ic a l m o r a l
,

a n d m e n ta l p la n e s o f B e ing We als o main

.

tain th at resul ts may be Obtained mor e easi

ly at certai n times wh en stellar r a y s are
propitious to h ealing Of a particular dis
ease o r by treatment with remedies pre
,

v i o u s ly prepared u nd e r auspicious condi

tio n s .

It is well known to mod e rn physici a n s th at

th e condi tion Of th e blood and therefore Of
 THE O RDER O F R OS IOR U OIA N S 21

th e whol e body changes in s ympathy with

the state o f the mind and the more they use
,

suggestion as an adj u nct to medicine the ,

more success ful they are F ew perhaps would

.

credit the further fact that both o u r mental

and phy sical condition is inuenced by plan
e ta ry rays which change as the planets

mov e, and y e t in these days since th e prin
cip le o f radio activit y has been establis h ed
-

we kn ow that e very body projects into space

numb e rless littl e particles Wireless tele
.

g raph y has taught us etheric waves travel

swiftly and s u rel y through trackless space
and o p erat e a key according to ou r will .

We also know that the rays Of the sun a ffect

us di e r e n tly in th e mornin g wh en they
strike us horiz o n tally and at noon wh en they
are perpendicular If the light rays from
.

th e swift moving sun produce physical a n d

mental changes may n o t th e persistent ray
,

Of S lower planets also have a n e ff ect ! If

they have they ar e factors in h ealth n ot to
,

be overlook e d by a thoroughly scientic

h ealer.

Disease is a ma n ifestation Of I gn oran ce ,

th e o nly s in and H eali n g is a demo n st r ation

,

Of applied knowledge wh ich is th e only s a l

22 T HE R OS ICR U OIAN MY S TER IE S

vation Christ is an embo di ment Of the Wis

.

dom principle and in proportion as the

,

Christ is formed in us we attain to health

, .

T herefor e the h ealer must be spiritual and ,

en deavor t o imbue his patient with hi gh

ideals S O that he may eventually learn to
conform to God s L aws wh ich govern th e u ni

verse and t hus attain permanent health in

futu r e live s as well as n ow .

Bu t faith without works is dead If we .

persist in living under unsanitary condi

tions faith will not save us from typ h oid ,

and when we apply preventatives of proper

kind or remedies in S ickness we are really ,

S howing our faith by works .

L ike other Mystery O rders the Rosi oru

e iaus have also aimed to h elp h u manity in

th e attainment Of bodily health and it has

been written in various works that th e mem
bers Of th e O rder took a v o w to h eal others
free o f charge L ike all oth er previous s o
.

called r evelations this statement is some

what garbled Th e la y b r o th e r s take a v o w

.

to min ister to all accordin g to th e best Of

their ability f r e e o f c h a rg e Th at vow in .

cluded h ealin g Of course f o r such me n as

,
24 THE R O S IOR U OIAN MY S TER IE S

M OUNT E CCL E S IA .

A t this writing we have just bought forty

acres in the town Of O ceanside 83 miles south ,

Of L o s Angeles I t is on e o f th e sightliest
.

spots Of beautiful S outh ern Californi a S itu ,

ated upon the promonto ry o f a hi gh table

land and overlooking the surrounding coun
,

try in a radius Of forty o r more miles S anta .

A na Mountains shelter it from the cold North

Wind E astwards we see the lovely S an L uis
.

Rey Valley with its historic O ld Mission a n d

the river like a S ilver band winding its way
towards the O cean Farther E ast the S an
.

! a c in to Mountain r e ars its snow capp ed -

peak T he promontory Of L a ! Olla with its

.

wonde r ful caves hi des from view the p r o

g r e s s iv e city Of S an Diego in the ver y S outh
westerly corner Of Uncle S am s spacious

realm Towards t h e setting s u n is S anta

.

Catalina I sland , with its remarkable s u b m a

rine Ga r dens , glisteni ng like a j ewel upon
t h e bosom Of the Pacic O cean , while a gor
geons sunset a carn ival Of color inspires
, ,

love and devotion to t h e Master A rtist Who

designed all this beautiful Wo r ld .

S urf bathi ng is in vo g ue th e yea r round

-
,

the climat e is frostless , fresh fruits a n d v e g

 THE O RDER O F R O S IOR UCIAN S 25

etables are plentiful in all seasons The .

balmy air is in itself an elixir Of life excess ,

iv e heat is u nknown Co ndition s are alto

.

gether conducive to attainmen t Of health a n d

healing power as in no other place we have
,

eve r s e en in o u r world wide travels -

.

We named this b e auty spot Of nature : -

Mou n t E c cle s ia .

E cc le s ia is
a Greek word translated

church o r congregation in the Bible .

It is derived from e kk a le o o I call o u t
and r e ally means an assembl y Of the called .

A s soon as funds become available we will

erect suitable buildings for H eadquarters the ,

S chool Of H ealing Dormitory S anitarium

, ,

and last but not least a place Of wors h ip

, , ,

an E cclesia where the S piritual Panacea
ma y be prepared .

There also H ealing S ervices may bring

succor Of the high est poten cy to afflicted
ones wh o seek th is avenue to Obtain relief
,

from th e Great Physician : O ur Fath er in

H eaven H e is the Great H ealer Who per
.

forms all cures no matter who is His in s tr u

,

ment o r what that me ssenger calls hi mself

,
.

E v e n Christ testied : I can of mine own
26 THE R O SIC R U CIA N MYS TE BIES

self do nothi ng and gave the Glory to th e
,

F ather S O s h all we also content ourselves

.

to fervently praise God f o r the privil ege of

being o n e Of th e chann e ls f o r H is H ealing
Power .

Meantime w e will s eek o u t prospective

helpers in t h e work who ca n give t h eir tim e
and talents and it is our intention to build
,

a small cottage in a corner Of th e grounds

for temporary occupa n cy Th is work will
.

probably be completed before the end o f th e

present year a n d S O after January 1 1 9 1 2
, , , ,

all communications o f whatever nat u re

s h oul d be addressed to
THE R O S I CR U CIAN FE LL OW S HIP
Mount E cclesia
O CEA N S ID E , CALIFOR N IA .
 CHAPT E R II .

illhr rnhlrm nf lifr anh

Elia S o lution

THE P R OBLE M OF LIF E .

Among all the vicissitudes Of life which ,

vary in each individual s experience, th ere

is o ne event whi ch s ooner o r later comes

to e very on e Death ! NO matter what our
S tation in life whether th e life lived has
,

been a laudable o n e o r the reverse whether

,

great achi evements have marked o u r path

among m e n ; w h ether health o r sick ness h ave
been o u r lo t, whether we have been famous
and surro u nd ed by a host Of a dmi ring fr ien ds
o r have wandered u n known t h rough th e years

o f o u r life at some t ime t h ere comes a mo

,

me n t wh en we sta n d alone before th e portal

Of death and are forced to take th e leap into
the dark .

T he thought Of this leap and o f what lies

bey ond must inevitably for c e itself upon
27
28 TH ER O SI CRU C IA N MY S TERIE S

e very thinkin g person In the years Of

.

y outh and health when the bark Of o u r life

,

sails upon seas Of prosperity wh en all a p ,

pears beautiful and bright we may put th e ,

t h ought behi nd us but there will surely

,

come a time in the life o f every thinking per

s o n when th e problem Of life and death for

ces itself upon hi s consciousness and r e

fuses to b e s e t aside Neith er wi ll it help
.

him to accept the ready made solution Of

anyone else without thought and in blind b e
lief f o r thi s is a basic problem which every
,

o n e mu st solve for himself o r herself in o r

der to O btain satisfaction .

Upon th e E astern edg e o f the Desert O f

S ahara there sta n ds the world famous -

S phi nx with its inscrutable face turned to

ward th e E ast ever greeting t h e sun a s its
,

r ising rays h erald th e newborn day I t was .

said in the Greek myth that it was th e wont

Of this monster to a s k a riddle Of each trav
eler S he devoured th ose who could not a n
.

swer but wh en O edipus solved the riddle s h e

,

destroyed h erself .

The riddle wh ich s h e asked o f men was

th e ri ddle Of life a n d d eath a query which ,

is as relevant today a s eve r a n d wh ic h eac h ,

o n e must answer or be devoured in t h e jaws

 THE PRO B LE M O F L IFE AN D ITS S OLU T I ON 29

Of death But wh en once a person has found

.

the solution to t h e problem it will appear

,

that in reality there is n o death that what ,

appears s o is but a change fr om o n e state

,

o f e x is te n c e to anot h er T hus for the man

.
,

w h o nds the true solution to the riddle o f

life the sphinx o f death has ceased to ex
,

is t and he can lift his voice in th e tr iu m

,

phant cry O h death wher e is thy S ting Oh ,

grave where is thy victory .

V arious theories o f life have been a dv o ca t

ed t o solve this p roblem Of life We m a y .

divide them into tw o classes n amely th e ,

m o n is tic th e o ry which holds that all t h e

,

facts Of life can be explained by reference

to this visible world wherein we live and th e ,

du a lis tic th e o ry which refers part o f th e

,

phenomenon Of life to another world whi ch

is n o w invisible to us .

Raphael in his famous painting th e

S chool o f A thens has most aptly pictured
to us the attitude Of t h ese two schools O f
thought We see upon that marvelous
.

painting a Greek Court such as those where

in philosophers were once wont t o congre
gate Upon the various steps which lead in
.

to the bui lding a large number Of men ar e

engaged in deep conversation but in th e ,
30 THE R OSI CR U CIAN MY S TE RIES

center a t the to p o f th e steps stand tw o

gures supposedly Of Plato and A ristotle
, ,

o n e poi n ting u pwards th e ot h er towards the

,

earth each looking the oth er in th e face

, ,

mutely but with deeply concentrated will

, .

E ach seekin g to convince th e other that hi s

attitude is righ t f o r each bears the convio
tion in hi s heart O ne holds that he is Of
.

the earth earthy that he h as come from the

,

dust and that thereto he will return the ,

oth er rmly advocate s the position that

th ere is a higher someth ing which has a l
ways existed and will co n tinue regardless Of
whether the body wherein it n ow dwells
holds together o r not .

The question w h o is right is still an ope n

one with the majority o f mankind Mil .

lions Of tons Of paper and printer s ink hav e

been used in futile attempts to settle it by

argument but it will always remain open to
,

all who have not solved the riddle t h em

selves f o r it is a basic problem a part Of th e
, ,

life experience o f every human being to

settle that question and therefor e n o o n e
,

can g iv e u s th e solution ready made for ou r

acceptanc e A ll that can be done by thos e
.

who have really solved the probl em is to ,

S how to others the line a ng whi ch t hey

32 T H E R O SI C RU C IA N MY S TERIE S

forms are S O changeable that th e m e ta m o r

p h osis recou n ted in fairy stories is discoun ted
th ere to an amazing degree and th erefore we
,

h ave th e surprising revelation s Of mediums

and oth er untrain ed clairvoyants who ,

th ough th ey may be perfectly honest are de ,

c e iv e d by illusions O f f o r m whi c h is evanes

cent because th ey a r e in capable Of viewing

,

t h e lif e that is the permanent basis Of th at

form .

We must learn to see in this world The .

new bor n babe h a s n o co n ception o f distan ce

-

an d will reach for th ings far far beyond its

,

gr asp u n til it h as lear n e d to gauge its c a

p a c ity A. blin d man w h o acquires the fac
u lty Of sigh t o r has it restored by an opera
,

tion will at r st be inclin ed to close his eyes

,

wh e n moving from place to place a n d de ,

clare t h at it is easier to walk by feeling t h an

by S ight th at is because he h a s n o t lear n e d
,

to u s e hi s newly acqui r ed faculty S imilar .

ly the man whose spiritual vision h as been

newly opened requires to be trained in fact ,

h e is in much greater need th ereof th an t h e

babe and th e blind man al r eady me n tio n ed .

Denied th at train ing h e would be like a new

bo rn babe placed in a n ursery wh e r e th e
walls are lined with m irrors Of diff erent
 T H E PRO B LE M O F LI FE A N D ITS S OLU T I ON 33

convex and concav e curvatur e s which ,

would distort its own shape and th e forms

Of its attendants If allowed to grow up in
.

suc h surroundings and unable to s e e th e real

s h apes of itself and its nurses it would nat
u r a lly believe t h at it s a w ma n y different and

distorted S hapes where i n reality the mirrors

were responsible f o r the illusion Were th e.

persons concerned in such an experiment

and th e child taken ou t Of the illusory s u r
roundi n gs it would be i n capable Of rec
,

o g n iz in g them until the matter had been

properly explained . T h ere are S imilar

da n gers Of illusion to those who h ave de
ve lo p e d spiritual sight until they have been
,

trained to disco u nt the refraction and to

vi ew the lif e which is permanent a n d stapl e ,

disregarding the f o rm wh ich is evanescent

and changeable T he danger Of getting
.

things o u t Of focus always remain s however

and is so subtle that the writer feels an im
p e r a tiv e dut y to warn his readers to take all
statements concerning the unseen world

c lin e d rather to magnif y t h an to mi n imi z e

his limitations and would advise the s tu

dent to accept nothing from the author s pen
34 THE R O SI C RUC IA N MY S TE R IE S

without reasoning it ou t f o r himself Thus .

,

if he is deceived he wi ll be self deceived and

,
-

the author is blameless .

Th r e e Th e o rie s of L ife .

O nly th ree noteworthy th eor ies have be en

O ffered as solutio n s to t h e ri ddle Of e xist
ence a n d in order th at th e reader may be
able to make th e important ch oice between
t h em we will state briey what th ey are and
,

give some Of th e arguments wh ich lead us

to advocate t h e doctrine Of Rebirth as the
meth od which favors soul growth and t h e u l -

timate attainment Of perfection th us O ffer ,

ing the best solution to the problem Of l ife .

1 ) THE MA TERIA LIS T I C T HEORY te a c h e s th a t

lif e is b u t a s h o r t j o u rn e y f r o m th e c r a dle to
th e g r a v e th a t th e r e is n o h ig h e r in te lli
,

g e n c e in th e u n iv e r s e th a n m an; th a t h is
m in d is p r o du c e d b y c e r ta in c o r r e la ti on s o f
m a tte r a n d th a t th e r e f o r e d e a th a n d d is o lu
ti o n f o th e b o dy te r m in a te
e xis te n ce .

T here was a day wh en the arguments o f

Materialistic phi losoph e r s seemed couvin
cin g but as science advances it discovers
,

more and more that there is a spiritual side

to the u n iverse Th at life and con sciousness
.

may exist with out being able to give us a

S ign h as been amply prove n in th e cas es
,
 THE PROBLE M O F LIF E AN D ITS S OLU TI ON 35

W here a person w h o was e ntranced and

t h ought dead for days has suddenly awaken
ed and told all that had taken place aro und
the bod y S uch eminent sc ientists as S ir
.

O liver L odge Camille F lammarion L a m b r o

, ,
w

s o and ot h er men Of highest i n tel ligence and

scie n tic training have u ne q u ivocal ly stated

,

as the result Of their investigations that th e ,

intelligence which we call m a n survives

death Of the body and lives o n in o u r midst
as independen tly Of wheth er we s e e them or
not as light and color exist all about the
blind man regardless o f th e fact t h at h e
does not perceive them T h ese scientists .

have reached their conclusion after years Of

careful investigation T hey h ave foun d th at
.

the S O called dead can a n d un der certai n cir

-
,

c u m s ta n c e s do communicate with us in such

,

a ma nn er that mistake is o u t Of t h e question .

We mai n tai n that their testimony is worth

more than the ar g umen t O f materialism to
the contrary f o r it is based upon years Of
,

careful in vestigation it is in harmo ny with

,

such well e stablished laws as th e la w of c o n

s e r v a ti o n o f m a tte r a n d th e la w of c ons e rv a

ti o n of e n e rg y Mind is a form o f energy

. ,

and imm un e from destruction a s claimed by

the materialist Therefore we disbar th e
.
36 THE R O SI C R U C IA N MY S TER IES

materialistic th eory as unsou nd because o u t ,

o f harmony wit h th e laws Of nature and with

well established facts .

2 ) THE THE ORY of T HEOLO G Y c la im s th a t

j u s t p r i o r t o e a c h b i r th a s o u l i s c r e a te d b y
G o d a n d e n te rs in to th e w o r ld w h e r e i t liv e s
f o r a ti m e v a r i
y gn f r o m a fe w m in u te s to a

f e w s c o r e o fy e a r s ; t h a t a t th e e n d o f t h is

s h o r t s p a n of lif e i t r e tu rn s th r o u g h th e p o r

ta l of de a th to th e in v is ib le b e y o n d wh e re ,

i t r e m a in s f o r e v e r in a c o n ditio n o f h a p p i
n ess or m is e ry a c c o r ding to th e de e ds d on e
in th e b o dy du ring th ef ew y e a r s i t liv e d h e r e .

Plato insisted upon the necessity Of a

clear deni tion Of terms as a basis Of argu
ment and we co ntend th at that is as
necessary in discussin g the problem o f life
from the Bible po int o f view as in argu
ments from the platonic standpoint A ccord .

ing to the Bible man is a composite being

consisting Of body soul a n d spirit T he tw o
, .

latter are usually taken to be synonymous ,

but we insist that they are n ot interchange

able and present the f ollowin g to support
o u r dictum .

A ll things are in a state of vibration Vi .

b r a tio n s from O bjects in ou r surro u ndings

ar e constantly impingin g upon us and carr y
 THE PROBLE M O F LIFE A N D ITS S OLU T I ON 37

to ou r senses a cogni tion Of th e external

world The vibrations in the ether act upon
.

o u r eyes s o that we s e e and vibrations in the

,

air t r a n smit sounds to the ear .

We also breathe th e air and eth e r whi ch is

thus c h arged with pictures Of o u r surround
ings and the sounds in o u r environment S O ,

that by means Of the breath we receive at

each moment of o u r life in te rn a lly an a o
,
~

curate picture Of o u r external surroundings .

That is a scientic proposition S cience .

does n o t explain what becomes Of th ese vi

b ra tio n s however but according to the Rosi
,

crucian Mystery teachi n g they are trans

m i tte d to the blood and then etched upon a
,

little atom in the heart as automatically as

a moving picture is imprinted upon th e s e n
s itize d film a n d a record Of sounds is e u
,

graven upon the pho n ographi c disc Th is .

breath record starts with th e rst breath O f

-

the newbo r n babe and ends o nl y with the

last gasp Of the dying man a n d soul is a,

product o f t h e breath Gen esis also s h ows

.

the connection between breath an d soul i n th e

words : An d th e L ord God formed man Of
th e dust Of the ground and breathed into his
,

nostrils t h e breat h o f life ; an d man became

: n ep h e s h is
a living soul ( T he same word ,
38 THE R O SI C RU C IAN MY S T E RIE S

translate d br e ath a n d soul in th e above q u o

ta tio n )
.

In th e post mortem existence the breath

record is disposed o f Th e g oo d acts Of life
.

produc e feelings Of pleasure a n d the inte n

s ity Of attraction incorporates t h em into the

spirit as soul power Th u s th e b r e a th r e c

-
.
-

o r ds of ou r g o o d a c ts a r e th e s o u l w h ic h is

s a v e d f o r by the union with the spirit the y

,

become immortal As t h ey accumulate life

.

after life we become mo r e soulful a n d they

,

are thus also th e basis Of s o u lg r o wth .

Th e record Of o u r evil acts is also de

rived from o u r b r eath in the moments wh e n
t h ey were committed Th e pain and suff er
.

i n g th ey brin g cause the spirit to expel t h e

breath record from its bein g in Pu r gatory
-
.

A s th at cannot ex ist indepen d e n tly O f the

life givin g spirit th e breath recor d Of o u r
-
,
-

S ins disintegrates upon expur g atio n and ,

t hus we s e e th at th e s oul th at S inn eth it ,

S h all die .Th e memory o f the su ff erin g
in cidental t o expurgatio n however remains ,

with t h e spirit as c o n s c ie n c e to deter from

,

repetitio n o f th e same evil in later lives .

Thus both o u r g oo d and evil acts are r e

corde d th rou g h th e agency Of th e breath ,

whi ch is therefor e the basis Of th e soul, but

40 THE R O SI C RUC IA N MY S TERIE S

u a lly im p r o v ing te wtu r e la te n t p o w e rs

i ts
a r e b e ing s lo w ly u nf o lde d a nd b e c o m e a v a il

a b le a s dy n a m ic e n e rg y , th a t n on e c a n b e
lo s t b u t th a t a ll w ill u ltim a te ly a tta in to p e r
f e c ti o n a n d r e u n io n wi th G o d, e a c h b rin g in g
w ith it th e a c cu m u la te d e xp e r ie n c e w hic h is
th e f ru ita g e o f i ts p ilg ri m a g e th r o u g h m a t
te r .

O r, as we may p oe ticall y ex pr e s s it :

WE ARE E T E R NAL .

On whistling s torm c lou d ; wing on Z ephyrus ,

The S pirit choir loud the World anth ems

- -

S i ng

H ark ! L is t t o their voice we have passed

through death s door

T here s no Death ; rej oice ! lif e lives ever

more .

We are have always been will ever be

, , .

We are a portion Of E ternity

O lder t h an Creation a part Of O ne Great ,

Whole ,

I s each Individual and immortal S oul .

 T HE PROBLE M O F LI FE AN D IT S S OLU TI O N 41

On
T ime s whirring loom o u r garments
we ve wrought

E ternally weave we o n network Of Though t ,

O ur kin a n d o u r country by Mi n d brought

,

to birth ,

Were patterned in heaven ere molded on

earth .

We have shone in the Jewel an d danced on

t h e Wave ,

We have sparkled in F ire defying th e grave ;

Through shapes everchanging in si z e kind , ,

and name
O ur individual essence still is the sam e .

An d when we have reached to the highest of

all,

The gradations Of growth ou r minds s h all

recall
S O t h at link by link we may j oin them to
gether
And trace S tep by step th e way we reach ed
thither .

Th u s in time we shall kn ow if only we do ,

What lifts ennobles is right and tru e

, ,
.

With kindness to all ; with malice to none ,

That in and throu gh u s God s will may be

don e .
42 THE R O SI C RU C IA N MY S TE RIES

We venture to make th e assertion that

ther e is but one sin : Ig n o ra nce and but o n e
salvation : Ap p lie d ! n ow le dg e E ven the
.

wisest among us kn ow but little o f what may

be learned however and no on e has attain ed
, ,

to perfection o r can attain in one single

,

S hort life but we note that eve rywhere in na

,

ture slow persistent unfoldment makes for

higher and higher development Of every
thin g and we call this process evolution .

O n e Of the chief characteristics of e v olu

tion lies in the fact that it manifests in alter
nating periods Of activity and rest Th e .

busy summer, when all things upon earth are

exerting th emselves to brin g forth is follow,

ed by th e rest and inactivity o f winter Th e .

busy day alternates with the quiet Of nigh t .

Th e ebb Of t h e ocean i s succeeded by th e

dood tide Thus a s all other th in g s move in
-
.
,

cycles t h e life th at expresses itself here u p

,

o n earth for a few years is n o t to be thought

Of a s ended when death h a s been reach ed ,

bu t a s surely as t h e s u n rises in the morni ng

after h aving s e t at n igh t will t h e life th at
,

was ended by t h e death Of o n e body be taken

up again in a new vehi cle and in a di ff erent
environment .
 TH E PROBLE M O F LIFE AN D ITS S OLU T ION 4 3

T hi s earth may in fact be likened to a

school to whi ch w e return life after life to
learn new lessons as o u r ch ildren go to
,

school day afte r day to increase th eir knowl

edge Th e ch ild sleeps through th e night
.

which interve n es between tw o days at sch ool

and the spirit also h a s its rest from active
life between death and a new birth Th ere .

are also diff eren t classes in thi s world

school which correspond to the various
grades from ki n dergarten to college In th e .

lower classes we nd spirits who have gone

to the school Of life but a few times th ey ,

are savages n o w but i n time they will b e

,

come wiser and better than we are and we ,

ourselves shall p rogress in future lives to

spiritual heights Of which we cannot even con
c e iv e at the present If we apply ourselves to
.

learn the lessons Of l ife we shall Of ,

course advance much faster in the sch ool of

life than if we dilly dally and idle ou r t ime
-

away This o n the same principle wh ich g ov

.
,

erns in o n e Of ou r own institutions Of learn

We arHee has hnotere placed

In

then by the caprice of

ir not ,

G od .
in clover and
on e

another in a desert nor h a s H e given o n e a

healthy body s o th at h e may lIv e at ease
44 THE R O SI C R U C IA N MY S TER IE S

from pain and sickness while H e plac e d a n

,

other in poor circumstances with never a

rest from pain But what we are we are o n
.
, ,

accou n t Of o u r o wn diligence o r ne g ligence ,

and what we s h all b e in the future depends

upon what we will to be and not upon Divine
caprice or upon inexorable fate NO matter .

what the circumstances it lies with us to ,

master them o r to be mastered as we will

, ,
.

S ir E dwin A rnold puts the teac h ing most

beautifully in hi s L ight o f A sia .

T he B ooks sa y well my Brothers ! each

,

man s life

T he outcom e o f his former living is ;

The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and
woes
Th e bygon e right breeds bliss .

t i ! O O O

E ach has such lords hi p as the loftiest ones

Na y for wit h powers around above below , ,

A s with all esh and whatsoever lives

A c t mak e th j oy o r w o e .

O C 3
1 O I

Wh o toiled a slave may come anew a prince

,

F or gentle worthiness and merit w o n

Who ruled a ki ng may wan der earth in rags
,

F or things done or u ndon e .
 THE PROBLE M O F LI FE AN D ITS S OLU T IO N 45

O r as an
, u nkn own po e t says :

O ne s hi p sails E ast and anoth er sails We st

W ith th e self same winds that blow .

Tis the s e t Of th e sail and not the gale

, ,

Which determines th e way they go .

A s the winds Of the s e a are the ways Of fate

A s we voyage alon g through li fe .

Tis the act o f t h e soul which determines

,

the goal

And n o t th e calm o r the strif e .

When we wish to engage som e one to nu

de r ta k e a certain mission we choose some on e
whom we think particularly tted to fulll
the requiremen ts and we must suppose that
a Divine B eing would u s e at least as much
common sense and not ch oose anyone to go
,

b is errand who was not tted therefor S O .

when w e r e ad in the Bible that S amson was

foreordained to be th e slayer Of th e P h ilis r

tines and that Jeremiah was predestined to

be a prophet it is but logical to suppose that
,

th ey must have been particularly suited to

such occupation John the Baptist al so was
. ,

born to be a h e r ald o f the coming S avior and

to preach th e ki n gdom o f God which is to
tak e th e p lac e Of th e kingdom Of men .
46 T H E R O SI C RU C IA N M Y S TERIE S

H ad th ese people had no previous train

ing h ow could th ey have developed such a
,

tn ess to fulll th eir various missions and ,

if they had been tted how else could they

,

h ave received th eir training if not in e arlier

lives !
Th e Jews believed in the Doctrine Of R e
b irth o r they would not h ave asked John the
Baptist if he were E li ja h as recorded in th e
,

I s t chapter Of John T h e A postles Of

.

Christ als o held th e belief as we may see

from the incident recorded in t h e S ixteenth
chapter Of Math ew where th e Ch rist aske d

them the question : Whom do men say th at

I th e S on Of Ma n am ! T he A postles r e

plied : S ome s a y that T hou art John the
Baptist ; some E lias ; and others J e r e m ia s o r
,

o n e Of th e Prop h ets Upon this occ asion
.

the Ch rist tacitly assented to the teachi ng

Of Rebirth because H e did not correct the dis
c ip le s as would have been H is plain duty in

His capacity as teacher when the pupils e n

,

te r ta in e d a mistaken idea .

But to Nicodemus H e said unequivocally :

E xcept a man be born again he cannot see ,

th e kingdom Of God and in th e eleventh
ch apter Of Mathew the fourteenth verse H e
, ,

said speaking o f Jo hn t h e Baptist :
, th is
48 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S T ERIE S

E uro pe there is no case w h er e both father

and s on are represented Thus the sons o f .

criminals though th ey have th e tendencies

,

to crime k e e p o u t Of the clutches o f the law

, .

Neither wi ll H eredity hold good upon the

plane Of the intellect f o r many cases ma y
,

be cited wher e a genius and an idiot spring

from the same stock T he great Cuvier.
,

whose brain was Of about th e same weight ,

as Daniel Webster s and whose intellect was

,

as great had v e children w h o all died Of

,

paresis the brother Of Alexander the Great

,

was an idiot and thus we h old that another

,

solution must be fou nd to account f o r th e

facts Of lif e .

Th e law Of R ebirth coupled with its c o m

panion law th e law Of Causation does th at
,
.

Wh en we die after o n e life we return to ,

earth later under circumstances determi ned

,

by the manner in wh ich we lived before Th e .

gambler is drawn to p O Ol parlors and race

tracks to associate wit h others Of like taste ,

the musician is attracted to th e concert h alls

a n d music stu di os by congenial spirits and
, ,

th e returning E g o also carries wit h it its

l ikes and dislikes wh ich cause it to seek par
e nts among th e class to wh ich it belongs .
 THE PROBLE M OF LI FE AN D ITS S OLU T ION 49

But the n someone will point to cases wh ere

we nd people Of entirely opposite tastes liv
ing lives Of torture because grouped in th e
,

same family a nd forced by circumsta n ces to

,

stay t h e r e contrary to their wills But th at

.

does not vitiate th e law in th e slightest in ,

each life we contract certain Obligations

which can n ot th en be fullled Per h aps we
.

have ran away from a duty such a s the care

Of an invalid relative and h ave met death
without coming to a realization o f o u r mis
take That relative upon th e oth er hand may
.

have su ff e r ed severely from o u r neglect and ,

have stored up a bitterness again st us before

death terminates the s u e r in g Death and
.

t h e subsequent removal to another environ

me n t does n o t pay o u r debts from this life ,

any more th an t h e removal fr om the city

where we now live to anoth er place will pay
the debts we have contracted prior to o u r r e
moval It is therefore quite possible th at
.

the two who have injured each other as de

scribed may nd themselves members Of
,

the same family . Then whether they r e

,

member the past grudge or no t th e Old e u

,

mity will assert itself and cause them to

hate anew u n til th e con sequen t discomfort
forces them to tolerate each other and per ,
50 T H E R O SI C RU C IA N MY S TER IE S

h aps later th ey may learn to love where the y

hated .

Th e question also arises in the mi nd Of in

q ir e r s : I f we h ave been h ere before why do
u

we not remember ! And the answer is th at ,

wh ile most people are not aware Of h ow th eir

previous existences we r e spent th ere are ,

others wh o have a very distinct recollection

o f previous lives A frie n d o f t h e writer s

.

f o r instance wh en living in F rance o n e day

, ,

sta r ted to read to her s o n about a certain

city where th ey were th en going upon a b i
cycle tour and th e boy excla imed : you do
,

not need to tell me about th at moth er I .

know that city I lived th ere a n d w a s killed !

,

H e then commenced to describe the city and

also a certain brid g e L ater he took h is
.

mother to th at b r idge and s h owed her th e

spot wh ere h e had met death centuries b e
fore A noth er fr ie n d travelli n g in Ireland
.

s a w a sce n e w h ic h s h e recogn ized a n d s h e a l

s o described to th e pa r ty t h e scene around

the be n d Of th e road wh ich s h e had never

see n i n t h is life S O it must h ave been a mem
,

c r y from a previous life Numerous ot h er

.

instances could be given wh ere suc h minor

as h es Of memo r y reveal to us g limpses from
a past life T he veried case in whi ch a lit
.
 TH E PROBLE M OF LI FE AN D IT S S OLU T I ON 51

tle t hree year Old girl in S a n ta Ba r ba r a de

scribed her life an d death h a s been given in
the Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception It is pe r .

haps th e most con clusive evidence as it

hinges o n the veracity Of a chi ld to o young
to have learned deceptio n .

Thi s theory Of life does not rest upon spec

u la tio n however it is o n e o f t h e rst facts Of
,

life demonstrated to the pupil Of a Mystery

school H e is taught to watch a chi ld in th e
.

act Of dying also to watch it in th e invisible

, ,

world from day t o da y until it comes to a ,

new birth a year o r two later T hen he .

kn ows with absolute certainty th at we return

to earth to reap in a future life what we now
s ow .

The reason for taking a child to watch in

preference to an adult is that the child is r e
, ,

born very quickly for its s h ort life o n earth

,

has borne but few fruits and these are soon

assimilated while the adult who has lived a
,

long life and had much experien ce remai n s in

,

the invisible wo r lds f o r centuries S O th at the ,

pupil could n o t watch him from death to r e

birth Th e cause O f infant mortality will be
.

explained later here we merely desire to em

,

p h a s iz e the fact that it is within the range

o f p ossibilities Of ever y o n e without e x ce p
52 THE R O SI CRUCIA N MY S TERIE S

tion to become able to kn ow at rst h and

that which is here taught .

T he average interval between tw o earth

lives is about a th ousand years It is de .

te r m in e d by the movement o f th e s u n kn own

to astronomers as p r e c e s s i o n of th e e q u in ox ,

by which th e s u n moves th rough o n e Of the

S igns Of the Z odi ac i n about 2 1 00 years Dur .

ing that time th e co n ditions upon earth h ave

ch anged s o much th at th e spirit will nd e n
tir e ly new e xperiences here and therefore it
,

returns .

The Great L eaders o f evolution always Oh

tain the maximum ben et from each condi
tion designed by them and a s t h e e xp e r ie n
,

c e s in the same social conditions are very

di e r e n t in t h e case Of a man from what

they are for a woman th e human spirit takes
,

birth twice during t h e 2 1 00 years measured

by the precession Of the equinox a s already
explained it is born once as a man and a n
,

o ther time as a woman S uch is the rule b u t

.
,

it is subject to whatever modicatio n s may

be necessary to facilitate reaping what the
S pirit has s own as required un der th e law of
,

Causation wh ich works h and in han d wit h the

law Of Rebirth Thus at times a spirit may
.
,

be brought to birth long ere the th ousand

 TH E PRO B LE M O F LI FE AN D ITS S OLU T I ON 53

y ears h av e expired in order to fulll a cer

,

tain mission o r it may be detained in th e in

,

visible worlds after th e time when it S hould

have come to birth according to the S trict r e
q u ir e m e n ts Of a blind law The l aws Of na
.

ture are n o t that howev e r They ar e Great .

In telligences wh o always subordinate minor

co n side r ations to hi gh e r ends and un der their
,

b e n e ce n t guidanc e w e ar e constantly pro

gressing from life to life u nder conditions ex
a c tly suited to e ach indiv idual until in time ,

we shall attain to a hi gh e r evolution and b e

come S uperm en .

O liver Wendell H olmes has s o beautifully

voiced th at aspiration and its cons u mmation
in th e lin e s :
Bu the e mor e stat e ly mansions O h ! my
il d
80 11 1,

A s the swift seasons r Oll ,

L eave t hy low vaulted past ;

-

L e t eac h new temple nobler th a n t h e last

, ,

S hut th e e from heaven with a dome more

vast .

T i ll at length th ou art free ,

L eavi n g th y outgrown s h ell by h f e s unrest

ing s e a.

 CHA P T E R III .

( the IH
iF t F s a il the I nvis ib le
mnrlh
THE CHE MICAL R E G ION .

If o n e wh o is capable O f consciously using

h is spiritual body with the same facility that
we now use o u r physical ve hicles should
glide away from the earth into interplanetar y
space the earth a n d the various oth er plan
,

ets O f our solar system would appear to h im

to be composed Of three ki n ds Of matter ,

roughly speaking . Th e de n sest matter ,

which is ou r visible ear th would appear to

,

hi m as being the center Of the ball as the

yolk is in the center o f an egg A round that
.

n e u cle u s he would Observe a ner grade Of

matter similarly disposed in relation to the

central mass as the whi te Of the egg is dis
,

posed outside the yolk Upon a little closer

.

investigation he would also di scover that this

second kind o f substance permeat e s the solid
54
56 THE R O SI C R U C IA N MY S TE RIE S

engin e rotates under th e impetu s Of an in

visible gas called steam Before steam lled
.

its cylinder the e n gine stood still and wh en

, ,

the impelling force is s h ut Off its motion

again ceases . The dyn amo rotates un der
th e still mor e subtile inue n ce Of an electric
current whi ch may also cause the click Of a
telegrap h instrument o r th e ring Of an elec
tric bell but the dynamo ceases its swift
,

whirl and the persistent ring Of th e electric

bell becomes mute when the invisible electric
ity is switch ed Off The form Of the bird
.

the animal a n d t h e human being als o cease

their motion when the inner force which we
call life has winged its i nvisible way .

A ll f orms are impelled into motion by de

sire th e bird a n d th e animal roam land
and air in their desire to secure food and shel
ter o r for the purpose Of breedi n g man is a l
, ,

s o moved by these desires but h a s in addition

,

oth er and h igh er incentives to spur h im to

e ffort , among th em is desire for rapidity Of
motion wh ich led hi m to construct th e steam
engine and other devices that move in Obedi
ence to h is desire .

If there were no iron in th e mountains

man could n ot build mach in es If th ere were
.

no clay in the soil the bony structure Of th e

,
 T H E VISIBLE AN D
.
THE I N VI SIBLE WORLD 57

s keleton would b e an impossibility, and if

t h ere were no P hysical World at all with its ,

s olids , liqui ds and gases , thi s dense body Of

ours could never h ave come into existe n ce .

Reasoning along similar lines it must be at

once apparent that if there were no Desire
World composed Of desire stuff we s h ould
-
,

have n o way Of forming feelin g s emotio n s ,

and desires A planet composed Of th e ma

.

te r ia ls we perceive with o u r p hy s ic a l eyes

and of n o other substances , migh t be th e
home Of plan ts which grow unconsciously ,

but have n o desires to cause t h em to move .

The human and animal kingdoms however ,

would be impossibilities .

Fu rthermore there is in the world a vast

,

number Of thi ngs from the simplest an d

,

most crude instruments to the most in tricate

,

and cunning devices which have been con

structed by the hand Of man Th ese reveal .

the fact Of man s though t and ingenuity

.

Thought must have a source a s well as f o r m

a n d f e e lin g
. We s a w th at it was necessary
to h ave the requisite material in order to
build a steam e n gine o r a body and we rea
s on e d from the fact that in order to Obta in

material to express de s ir e th ere must also be

a world composed Of desire stu ff Carrying .
58 T H E R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TE RIEs

ou r argume n t to its lo g ical co n clusion we a l ,

s o hold that unless a World Of Th ou g ht pro

vides a reservoir o f mind s tu upon wh ich

we may draw it would be impossible for us to
,

think and invent the things which w e see in

eve n the lowest civilization .

Thus it will be clear that the division Of a

planet into worlds is not based o n fanciful
metaph ysical speculation , but is logically
necessary in the e conomy Of nature Th ere .

for e it must be taken into consideration by

any on e w h o would stud y and aim to under
stand the inner natur e O f things When we.

s e e t h e street cars movin g along o u r streets ,

it does not explain to s a y that the motor is

driven by electricity Of so ma n y amperes at
S O many volts These names only add to o u r
.

confusion until we have thoroughl y studi ed

the scienc e Of electricity and th en we shall
nd that the mystery deepens for while the
,

street car belongs to the world Of in e r t f o r m

perceptible to o u r vision the electric cur
,

rent which move s it is indigenous to th e realm

Of f o rc e the invisible Desire World and the
, ,

thought whi ch created and gu ides it com e s ,

from th e sti ll mor e subtile World Of Thought

which is the home world Of the hu man spirit ,

the E g o.
 THE VISIB LE AN D T HE I N VISI B LE WORLD 59

I t may be objected th at thi s line Of argu

ment makes a s imple matter exceedingly in
tr ic a te but a little reection will soon s h ow
,

the fallacy o f such a contention Viewed

.

supercially an y Of the sciences seem ex

tre m e ly s imple ; anatomically we may divi de
the body into esh and bone chemically we
,

may make th e simple divisions between solid ,

liquid and g a s but to th oroughly master the

,

scien c e Of anatomy it is necessar y to sp end

years in close application and learn to know
all t h e little n erves the ligaments which
,

form articulations between various parts of

the bony structure , to study the s eve ral
kinds Of tissue and their di sposition in ou r
system where they form the bones muscles , ,

glands etc which in th e aggregate we kn ow

, .
,

as the human body To properly under

.

stand the science Of chemistry we must

study the valen ce Of the atom whi ch de
termines t h e power Of combination Of the
various elements together with other nice
,

ties such as atomic weight density etc

, , ,
.

Ne w wonders are constantly opening up to

the most experienced ch emist wh o under ,

stands best the imm ensity o f h is chosen

science .
60 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TERIE S

T he youngest lawyer fres h from law

,

school knows more about the most intricate

cases in his o wn estimation th an the judges
, ,

upon th e S upreme Court bench who spend

long hours weeks and months seriously de
, ,

liberating over their decisions But those .

wh o without having studied thi nk th ey u n

, ,

de r s ta n d and are tted to discours e upon

the greatest O f all sciences the science o f,

L ife and Being m a ke a greater mistake

, .

After y e ars o f patient study Of holy life ,

spent in close application a man is Often

,

times perple x ed at the immensity o f the sub

j e c t he studies H
. e nds it to be S O vast in
both th e direction o f the great and small
that it bafes description that language ,

fails and that the tongu e must r emain mute

,
.

Therefore we hold ( and we speak from

,

knowledge gained through years Of clos e

study and inves tigation ) that th e n e r dis
,

tin c tion s whi ch we have made and shall ,

make are not at all arbitrary but absolutely

, ,

n e cessary as are divisions and distinctions

made in anatom y or chemistr y .

NO form in the physical world has feeling

in the tru e sense Of that word I t is the in .

dwelling life which feels as we may readi l y

,

s e e from the fact that a body which respond

 THE VISIBLE AN D T HE I N VI SIBLE WORLD 61

e d to the slightest touch whi le instinct with

life exhi bits n o sensation whatever even
,

when cut to pieces after the life h a s ed Dem .

o n s tr a tio n s have been made by scientists ,

particularl y by Professor Bos e o f Calcutta ,

to S h ow th at th ere is feeling in dead animal

tissue and even in tin and othe r metal but ,

we maintain that the di agrams whi ch seem

to support hi s contentions in reality demon

strate only a response to impacts similar to
the rebound o f a rubber ball a n d that must
,

n o t be confused with such feeli n gs a s lo v e ,

h a te s y m p a th y and a v e r s i o n
, .Goeth e also ,

in hi s novel E lective Afn itie s ( Wahl,

verwa n dtschaft ) , brings out some beautiful

illustrations wherein h e makes it seem a s if

atoms loved and hated from th e f a ct th at

,

some elements combine readi while oth er

substances refuse to amalgamate a ph enom ,

enon produced by the di e r e nt rates o f

speed at which various elements V ibrate and
an unequal inclination Of their axes O nly .

where th ere i s sentient life can th ere be feel

ings Of pleasure and pain sorrow o r j oy
,
.

Th e E th e ric R eg ion .

In addition to th e solids liquids an d gases

,

which compose the Ch e m ica l R eg io n Of th e

62 T HE R O SI CR U CIA N MY S TERIES

Physical World there is also a ner grad e Of

,

matter called E th er wh ich permeates the

,

atomic structure of th e ea r th and its a tmos

p h e r e substantially as science teaches S ci .

e ntists have n ever seen nor have they ,

weighed measured o r analy z ed this sub

,
.

stance but th ey infer that it must exist in

,

order to accou n t f o r transmission Of light

and various oth er phenomena If it were .

possible for u s to live in a room from whi ch

the air had been exhausted we might spe ak
at the top Of o u r voices we might ring the
,

largest bell o r we might even disch arge a ;

cannon close to our ear and we shoul d hear
n o s ound f o r air is the medium which trans
,

mits s ound vibratio n s to the tympanum Of

o u r ear and t h at would be lacki ng
, But it .

an electric light were lighted we should at ,

once perceive its rays ; it woul d illumine the

room despite the lack Of air H ence ther e .

must be a substance capable Of being s e t in

,

to vibration between the electric ligh t and

,

o u r e yes That me di um scientists call ether

.
,

but it is s o subtile that no instrument has

be en devised whereb y it may be measured
o r analy z ed and therefore th e scientists are

without much inf ormation conc e rning it ,

th ou gh f orc e d to p ostulat e its exist ence .

64 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TE RIE S

Th e s e inv e stigations ar e as thorough and

as reliabl e as res e arch e s by material
scientists but n o t as easily demonstrable to
,

th e general public S piritual powers lie

.

dormant within eve r y human being and ,

when awaken ed they compensat e f or both

,

telesco pe and microscop e they e nable their ,

possessor to investigate in s ta n te r things b e

, ,

yon d the v e il o f matter but the y are only de

,

v e lo p e d by a patient application and contin

u a n ce in w e ll doing extended ov e r y ears and ,

few are they wh o hav e faith to start upon

th e p ath to attainment or perseveran c e to g o
through with the ordeal Therefor e the oc .
~

cultist s ass ertions are n o t gen e rally cr ed

ite d .

W e can r e adily s e e that long probation must

p reced e attainme n t for a person equipped
,

with spiritual sight is able to penetrate

walls Of houses as easily as we walk th rough
the atmosphere able to read at will the in
,

n e rm o s t thoughts Of those about him if n ot

, ,

actuated by th e most p ur e and unselsh mo

tiy es would b e come a scourge to humanity
,
.

Therefore that power is safeguarded as we

would withhold th e dyn amite bomb from an
anarchi st and from the well intentioned but -
 THE VISI B LE AN D TH E I N VISIBLE WORLD 65

ignora n t person o r as we withhold match

, ,

and powder barrel from a child .

In the hands Of an experienced engineer

the dynamite bomb may be used to open a
highway Of commerce a n d an intelligent,

farmer may use gu n powder to good accou n t

in clearing his eld Of tree stumps but in -
,

th e hands Of an illin te n tio n e d criminal or ig

n o r a n t c hi ld an explosive may wreck muc h

property and end man y lives Th e force is .

the same but used di ff eren tly according to

, ,

the ability o r intention o f th e user it may ,

produce results Of a diamet r ically opposite

nature S O it is also with spiritual powers
.
,

there is a time lock upon them as upon a

-
,

ban k safe which keeps out all until they have

,

earn e d the privilege and the time is ripe for

its ex ercise .

A S already said the ether is physical mat

,

ter and r espo n s ive to th e same laws which

govern oth er p hysical substan ces upo n this
plane o f existen ce .Th erefore it requires
but a slight exten sion O f p hy s ica l sig ht to
s e e et h er
, ( w h ic h is disposed i n four gra d es
Of de n sity ) th e blue h aze seen in mou ntain
,

ca n yo n s is i n fact eth er Of th e kind known

to occult investigators as c h e m i c a l e th e r .

Many people who s e e th is eth er are n u ,

66 T H E R O SI C R U CIA N MY S TER IE S

awar e that they ar e possessed O f a faculty

not enj oyed by all O th ers w h o have de .
,

v e lo p e d spiritual sight are not endowed

with etheric vision a fact which s eems an ,

anomaly until the subject o f clairvo y an c e is

thoroughly understood .

Th e r e ason is that as ether is physical mat

,

ter etheric si g ht depends upon the sensitive

,

ness Of the optic nerve while spiritual sight

is acquired by developing latent V ibratory
powers in two little organs situated in the
brain : the Pituitary body and the Pineal
gland Nearsighted people even may have
.
,

etheric vision Though u nable to read th e

.

print in a book they ma y be able to , see

through a wall owing to the fact that their
,

optic nerve responds more rapidl y to ne

than to coarse V ibrations .

When anyone views an Object with etheric

sight he sees th r o u g h that O bj ect in a man
ner similar to the way an x ray penetrate s -

opaque substances If he looks at a sewing .

machin e he will perceive ; rst an outer

,

casing ; th en th e works within and behind

, ,

both th e casing furthest away from h im

,
.

If he has developed the grade Of spiritual

vision which opens the Desire World to
him and h e looks at the same Object he will ,
 THE VISIBLE A N D TH E I N VISIBLE WORL D 67

see it both inside and o u t If he looks close

.

ly he will perceive every little atom spin

,

ning upon its axis and no part o r particle

will be excluded from his perception .

But if his spiritual sight has been develop

ed in such a measure that he is capable Of
,

viewing the sewing machine with th e V ision

peculiar to the World Of Th ought he will b e ,

h old a cavity where he had previously seen

th e form .

Things seen with etheric V ision are very

much alike in color they are nearly reddis h
,

blue purple o r violet accordi n g to the den

, ,

s ity o f the ether but when we view any Oh

,

j e c t wit h the spiritual sight pertaini ng to

the Desire World it scintillates and co w s
,

cates in a thousand ever changing colors s o

i n describably beautiful that they can only
be compared to living re and the writer ,

therefore calls this grade Of vision c o lo r

s ig h t but when th e spiritual vision o f
, the
World Of Thought is the medium o f p erce p
tion the seer nds that in addi tion to still
,

more beautiful colors there issues from the

,

cavity described a constant ow Of a certain

harmonious to n e Th us this world wherein
.

we now co n sciously live and which w e per

c e iv e by means Of o u r physical senses is pr e
68 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TER IE S

eminently th e world Of fo rm th e Desire ,

World is particularly th e world Of c o lo r and

the World of T hough t is th e realm Of ton e .

Because Of t h e relative proximity o r di s

tance Of these worlds a statue a f o r m with
, , ,

stands the ravages Of time for millenniu m s ,

but t h e c o lo rs upon a painting fade in far

s h ort e r time for th ey come from the Desire
,

World a n d m u s ic wh ich is native to th e

,

World furth est removed from us th e World ,

o f Th ought i s like a will O th e wisp which

,
- - -

no n e may catch o r hold it is gone again as

,

soon as it has made its appearance But .

there is in color and music a compensation

f o r th is i n creasing eva n esce n ce .

Th e statue is cold a n d dead as the miner a l

Of which it is composed and h as attractio n s
f o r but few though its f o rm i s a tangible
reality.

The forms upon a pain ting are illusory

y et they express lif e o n accoun t Of the c o lo r
,

wh ich has come from a region where nothi ng

is inert and lifeless Th e refor e the p ainting
.

is enjoyed by many .

Music is intangible and ephemeral but it ,

comes from the home world Of the spirit and

though S O eeting it is recogni z ed by the spir
it as a s ou l s p e e c h fr e sh from th e celestial
-
 T HE VISI B LE AN D TH E I N VISI B LE WORLD 69

realms an echo from th e home whence we

,

are now exiled and th erefore it touch es a

,

cord in o u r bein g rega r dless Of wheth er we

,

reali z e the true cause o r not .

Thus we s e e th at th ere are various grades

Of spi r itual si g ht each suited to th e super
,

p hysical realm which it opens to ou r per

c e p tio n : E theric vision color V ision a n d
,

to n al vision
.

T he occult investig ator nds th at eth er is

Of f our ki nds o r grades Of den sity :
,

The Chemical E th er ,

Th e L ife E th er ,

The L i g h t E ther ,

T he Reecting E th e r .

Th e Ch e m ic a l E th e r is the avenue of ex
pression for forces promotin g assimilation ,

growth an d th e maintenance Of form

Th e Lif e E th e r is the vantag e groun d of
forces active in propagation o r the building
,

Of new forms .

Th e Lig h t E th e r transmits the motive

power Of the sun along the various nerves O f
liv in g bodies a n d makes motion possible .

Th e R e fle c tin g E th e r receives an impres

sion Of all th at is lives and moves It also
,
.
70 THE R O SI C R U C I A N MY S TERIE S

records e ach change in a S imilar manner as ,

th e lm upon a moving picture mac h ine In .

this reco r d med iums and psych ometrists

may read the past upon the same principle ,

as under prope r condi tions moving pictu res

, ,

ar e reproduce d time and again .

W e have been speaking Of eth e r as an

avenue Of f o rc e s a word wh ich conveys n o
,

m e aning to the average mind because force ,

is invisible But to an occult investig ator

.

the forces are not merely names such as

steam elec tricity etc H e nds them to be in
, , .

te llig e n t beings Of varying grades both sub ,

and superhuman What we call laws Of na
.

ture , are great intelligences which guide
more elemental beings in accordance with
certain rules designed to f u rth e r th eir e v o
lu tio n .

In the Middle A ges when many people ,

were still endowed with a remna n t Of n eg a

tiv e clairvoya n ce t h ey spoke O f Gn omes a n d
,

E lves o r F airies whic h roamed about t h e

,

mountains and forests These were t h e .

e a r th spirits T hey also told o f the Undine

.

o r w a te rs p rite , w h ich i nh abited rivers and

streams o f S ylphs which were said to dwell
,

in the mists above moat a n d moor as a ir ,

spirits but not much w a s said Of the S ala

,
72 T HE R O SI CR U C IA N MY STER IE S

help but t h ey are mostly activ e u nde r

,

grou nd Th ey are responsible f o r e xp lo

.
.

s ions and volcanic e ruptions .

T he classes Of bein gs which we h ave men

tio n e d are still s u b h u m a n b u t will all at s ome
-
,

time reac h a stage in evolution correspond

ing to th e human th ough under di ff erent
,

circumstances from th ose under which we

evolve But at presen t th e wonderful intel
.

lig e n c e s w e speak Of as th e laws O f nature ,

marshall the armies o f less evolved entities

mentioned .

To arrive at a better understandi ng o f

what thes e various bein gs are and their r e ,

lation to us we may take a n illustration :

,

L e t us suppose that a mech ani c is making

an engine a n d meanwh ile a dog is watching
,

hi m . I t s e e s the man at his labor and how ,

he uses various tO Ols to S hape his materials ,

also how from th e crude i r on steel brass

, , ,

a n d other metals the engi n e slowly takes

shape The dog is a being from a lower e v
.

o lu tio n a n d does n o t comprehend the pur

pose Of th e mechanic but it s e e s both th e

workman his labor and the resul t thereo f
, ,

which manifests as a n e n g in e .

L e t us now suppose that t h e dog were only

able to s e e th e materials which slowly
 THE VI S IBLE A N D TH E I N VISIB LE WORLD 73

chang e their shape assemble and become an

,

engine but that it is unable to perceive th e

workman and to see the work h e does Th e .

dog would then be in the same relation to th e

mechanic as we ar e to the great intelligences
we call laws Of natu r e a n d th eir ass istants
, ,

t h e nature spirits f o r we behold th e mani

,

f e s ta tio n s o f their work as f o r c e moving

matter in various ways but always u n d er
immutable conditions .

In the ether we may also Observe th e

angels whose densest body is made Of th at
,

material as o u r dense body is fo r me d Of

,

gases liquids a n d solids T hese bein gs are

, .

o n e step beyo n d the human S tage a s we a r e ,

a degree in advance Of the animal evolution .

We have never been a n imals like o u r pres

ent fau na however but at a previous sta g e
, ,

in the development Of o u r plan et we had an

a n imal like co n stitution
- Th en th e an g els
.

were human though they have n ever pos

,

sessed a dense body such as ours n or eve r ,

fu n ctioned in any material denser th an

ether A t some time in a future conditio n
.
, ,

the earth will again become eth ereal Th en .

ma n will be lik e the a ngels Th e r efo r e th e .

Bible tells us that man was made a little

w h ile lower than the angels ( Paul s letter to
74 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TERIE S

the H ebr ews second chap ter seventh verse ;

, ,

s e e m a rg in a l r e a ding )
.

A s e ther is th e avenu e Of V ital , cr e ative

forces and as angels are such expert build
,

ers O f ether , we may readily understand that

th ey are e mine ntly tted to be warders Of
th e propagative forces in plant animal an d ,

man All through the Bible w e nd them

.

thus engaged : T wo a ng e ls cam e to A braham

and announced the birth o f I saac they p r o m ,

is e d a c h ild to the man w h o had obeyed God .

L ater th e s e s a m e a ng e ls destroyed S odom

for a b u s e of th e c r e a tiv e fo rc e Ang e ls fore
.

told to th e p a r e n ts o f S amuel and S amson ,

th e birth Of th e s e giants Of brain and brawn .

T O E lizabeth cam e the a ng e l ( not archangel ) ,

Gabriel and annou n ced th e birth Of John ,

later he appeared also to Mary with the m e s

sage that s h e w a s chosen to bear Jesus .

Th e D e s ir e Wo rld .

Wh en spiritual sight is develop ed s o

th at it becomes possible to behold t h e Desire
World , man y wonders confront th e newcom
er f or co n ditions ar e s o wi dely di ff ere nt
,

from what they ar e here that a description

,

must sound quite as incredible as a fairy

t ale to an y one who has n o t h imself seen them .
 T H E VISIBLE AN D T HE I N VISIBLE WORLD 75

Many can not e ven believe that such a

world exists and th at other people can s e e
,

t h at wh ic h is invisible to them yet som e peo

,

ple are blind to the be auties of thi s world

w h ich we see A man who was born blind
.
,

ma y say to us : I know th at this world ex

is ts I can hear I can smell I can taste and
, , ,

above all I can feel but when y ou speak Of

light and Of color they are nonexistent to
,

me Y o u s a y that y ou s e e th es e things I
.
,

cannot believe it for I cannot s e e myself .

Y o u say t h at light and color ar e all about

me but none Of th e senses at my command
,

reveal them to me and I do not believe that

t h e sense y o u call s ig h t exists I think you
.

su ff er from hallucin ations We might s ym

.

p a t h iz e very S incerely with t h e poor man

w h o is thus a fflicted but his scepticism rea
, ,

s o n in g s a n d Objectio n s and sneers n o tw ith

standing we would be obliged to maintain

that we perceive light an d color .

The man whose spiritual sight h a s been

awakened is in a simila r pos itio n with r e
spect to those who do n ot perceive th e De
sire World O f wh ich he speaks If th e blin d .

man acquires the faculty Of S ight by an o p

e r a tio n,
his eyes are open ed and he will be
compelled to assert th e existence Of ligh t an d
76 THE R O SIC R U CIA N MY S TE R IE S

color whi ch he formerl y deni e d , and wh e n

spiritual sight is acquired by anyone he a l ,

so perceives f o r himself the facts r elated by

oth ers Neither is it an argument against
.

th e existen ce Of spiritual realms th at seers

are at variance in their descriptions Of condi
tions in the invisible world We n eed but to.

look into books o n travel and compare s to

,

ries brought home by explorers o f Ch ina In ,

dia o r A frica a n d we s h all nd them di e r

in g widely and Often co n tradictory because ,

eac h traveler saw th ings from his o wn stand

poi n t u n der other conditions than those met
,

by his brother authors and we maintain that

,

t h e man who has r ead most widely th ese

varying tales concern i n g a certain Country
a n d w r e s tle d wi th th e c o n tr a dic ti o n s o f n a r

r a to rs will have a more comprehensive id e a

,

Of the country o r people Of whom he has

read than the man who has only read o n e
,

story assented to by all the authors S imi .

la r ly t h e varying stories Of vi sitors to the

,

Desire World are Of value because giving a ,

fuller V iew and more ro u nded than if a ll

, ,

had seen things from th e same angl e .

In this world matter and force are widely,

di ff erent The ch ief c h a r acteristic Of matter
.

here is in e rtia : the tendency to remain at

 THE VISIBLE AN D T HE I N VISI B LE WORLD 77

rest un til acted upon by a force which sets it

in motion In th e Desire World o n th e con
.
,

tr a r y force and matter are almost in dis tin

,

g u i s h a b le o n e from t h e other We might a l.

most describe desire stu ff a s fo r ce matter - -

,

f o r it is in incessant motion respo n sive to ,

th e slightest f e e ling o f a vast multitude Of

beings wh ich populate th is won derful world

in nature We Often speak Of th e teeming
.

millions Of China and India even Of our ,

vast cities L ondon Ne w Y ork Paris or Ch i

, , ,

cago we co n sider t h em overcrowded i n th e

,

extreme yet even th e den sest populatio n O f

,

any spot upon earth is sparsely inh abited

compared with th e crowded co n ditio n s Of th e
Desi r e World NO i n co nven ien ce is felt by
.

a n y Of th e denize n s o f th at realm however , ,

for wh ile in this world two thi ngs cannot

,

occupy the same space at th e same time it is ,

di e r e n t there A number Of people a n d

.

t h in gs may exist in th e s a m e p la ce a t th e
s a m e tim e and be engaged in most diverse

activities regardless o f what oth ers are do

,

ing such is the wonderful elasticity o f desire

,

stuff As an illustratio n we may mention a

.

case where th e writer while attending relig

ious service plainly perceived at the altar
,

certain be ings interested in furthering that

78 THE R O SI CR U CIA N MY S TERIE S

service and working to achieve that end A t .

th e same time there drifted through t h e room

a n d the altar a table at which fo u r persons
,

were engaged in playing cards T hey were as

.

oblivious to the existence Of th e beings e n

gaged in furtheri n g our religious service as ,

though th ese did not exist .

The Desir e World is the abode O f those w h o

have died for s ome time subsequent to that
,

event and we may me n tion in th e above con

,

n e c tio n t h at the S O called
-
dead very O ften

stay for a long whi le among their still living

friends Unseen by th eir relatives they g o
.

about the familiar rooms A t rst th ey are

.

Often unaware o f the condition me n tioned :

t h at two persons may be in the same place

at the same time and when they seat them
,

selves in a ch air o r at the table a living rela

,

tiv e may take the supposedly vacant seat .

The man we mistakenly call dead will at rst

hurry o u t o f his seat to escape being sat upon ,

but h e soon learns that being sat upon does

n o t hurt h im in his altered conditio n and t h at ,

he may remain in hi s chair regardless Of th e

fact that his living relative is als o sitting
there .

In the lower r e gions Of the Desire World

th e whole body o f each being may be seen but ,
80 THE R O SI CR U C IAN MY S TERIE S

are expert manipulators Of forces in the D e

sire World and these forces as we shall see
, , ,

move all the world to action Therefore th e.

A rcha n g els work with h umanity in du s tria lly

and p o li tic a lly as arbitrators o f the destiny
o f peoples and nations T he Angels may be
.

said to be fa m ily spirits whose m ission is to

-

unite a few spi r its as members Of a

family and cement them with ti e s Of
,

blood and love Of kin whi le the A rchangel s

,

may be called race and national spirits as ,

th ey unite whole nations by patriotism o r love

o f home and country . They are r e sponsibl e
for the rise and fall Of nations they give war ,

o r peace victory o r defeat as it serves th e

,

best interests o f the pe ople they rule This .

we may see for instance from the book Of

, ,

Daniel where the Archangel Michael ( not to

,

be confounded with the Michael wh o is a m ,

b a s s a do r from the sun to the earth ) is call ed ,

the prince Of the childre n Of I srael Another .

A rchangel tells Daniel ( in th e tenth chapter )

,

that he inten ds to ght th e princ e o f Persia

by means of the Greeks .

There are varying grades Of intelligenc e

among human beings some are qualied to
,

h old h ig h a n d lofty positions entirely beyond

the ability o f oth ers S O it is also among
.
 T HE VISIB LE A N D T HE I N VISIBLE WORLD 81

higher beings not all A rchan gels are tted to

,

govern a nation a n d rule the de s tin y o f a r ace ,

people o r tribe some are not tted to rule

,

h uman beings at all but as th e animals also

,

have a desire nature th ese lower grades Of

A rcha n gels govern the ani mals a s group
spirits and evolve to higher capacity thereby .

Th e work Of the race spirits is readily Oh

servable in th e people it governs The lower .

in the scale Of evolutio n th e people th e more ,

they S how a certain racial like n ess Th at is .

due to th e work Of th e race spirit On e .

national spirit is respo n sible for th e swarthy

complexion common to Italian s for instan ce
, ,

whil e another causes th e S can din avian s to be

blond In th e more advanced types o f h u
.

manity there is a wider diver g en ce from th e

,

comm on type due to th e i ndividual ized E g o

, ,

wh ich thus expresses in fo r m and featu r e its

o wn particular idiosyncrasies Among th e
.

lower types Of h um anity such a s Mon g olian s ,

native African Negroes a n d S outh S ea

I slan ders the resemblan ce Of individuals in
,

each tribe makes it almost impossible fo r civi

lize d Westerners to distinguish betwee n
them A mo n g a nimals wh ere th e separate
.
,

spirit is not individualized an d self con scious -

,

the resemblance in not only much mo r e

82 T H E R O SI C R U C IA N M Y S TERIE S

mark e d physica ll y but extends even to traits

and characteristics We ma y write the b i .

o g r a p h y Of a man f o r the experiences o f each

,

varies from that Of others and h is acts are

di fferent but we cann ot write the biography
,

Of an animal f o r members o f each tribe all act

alik e under similar circumstances If we de .

sire to know the facts about E dward V II it ,

would prot us nothing to stud y the life o f

th e Prince Consort his f ather o r Of George
-
, ,

III h is s on as both would be entirely di ff er

, ,

ent from E dward In order to nd o u t what

.

manner o f man he was w e must study hi s ,

o wn individual life If o n the other hand

.
, ,

w e wish to know the characteristics Of beav

ers we ma y Observ e any individual Of the
,

tribe and when we have studied its idi o s yn

,

c r a s ie s w e shall know the traits Of the w h ole

,

tribe Of beavers What we call instinct is
.
,

in reality the dictates Of g r ou p s p irits whi ch

govern separate individu al s o f its tri b e
telepathically, as it were .

The ancient E gyptians knew O f th e s e ani

mal group spirits and sketched many Of them ,

in a crude way upon their temples a nd

,

tombs S uch gu res with a human body and

.

an animal head actuall y live in th e desire

world T h ey may be spoken to and will be
.
,
 T H E VISI BLE A N D TH E I N VISI B LE WORL D 83

found much more intelligent th an the ave r

age human being .

That statement brings u p another peculi

a r ity Of co n ditions in t h e Desire World in r e

spect Of language H e r e in thi s World h u

.

ma n speech is s o divers i ed that th ere are

countries where people wh o live only a few
miles apart speak a dialect S O different that
th ey un derstand each oth er with great dif
cul ty and each nation has its o wn language
,

that varies altogeth er from th e speech Of

other peoples .

In the lower R egions O f the Desir e World ,

t h ere is th e same diversity Of tongues a s o n

earth and the S O called dead Of o n e nation
,
-

n d it impossible to co nverse with th ose wh o

lived in anoth er country H ence linguistic .

accomplishments are Of great value to th e

Invisible H elpers Of wh om we s h all h ear

,

later as their sphere Of usefuln ess is enorm

,

o u s ly extended by that abi lity .

E ven apart from di ff erence o f langua g e

o u r mode Of speech is exceedingly productive
Of misu n derstan din g s Th e same words Of
.

ten convey most opposite ideas to di e r e nt

minds If we speak o f a body of water
.
,

o ne person may t h ink we mean a lake o f small

dimensions the thoughts of another may be
,
84 THE R O S I CR U CIA N MY S TERIES

dir e ct e d to the great Am erican L akes and a

third person s thoughts may b e turned to

wards the A tlantic o r Pacic O ceans If w e .

speak o f a ligh t o n e may thi nk o f a gas
,

light another of an electric A rc lamp o r if

,
-
,

we say red one person may think we mean
,

a delicate S hade o f pink and another g ets the

idea o f crimson The misunderstandings o f
.

what words mean g oes even farther a s illus ,

tr a te d in the following .

The writer once open ed a reading room in a

large city where he lectured and invited hi s
,

audience to make use thereof Am ong thos e .

who availed themselves o f the opportu nity

was a gentl eman who had for many ye ars

been a veritable metaphysical tramp ,

roaming from lecture to lecture hearing th e ,

teachings Of everybody and practicing noth .

ing L ik e the A thenians o n Mars H ill he

.

,

was always looking f o r something new ,

particularly in the line Of phenomena and his ,

mi n d was in that seeth ing chaotic S tate which

is o n e O f the most prominent sym ptoms o f

mental indig estion .

H aving attended a n u m ber o f o u r lectures

he knew from th e program that : T he lec
turer does not give readings o r c ast h OI O ,
'
v

scopes fo r p a y But seeing on the door o f
.
 THE VISIBLE A N D T HE I N VISIB LE WORLD 85

the n ewly open ed reading room the legend : ,

Free Readi n g Room his erratic mind at
,

o n ce jumped to th e co n clusion th at alth ough

we were opposed to tellin g fo r tu n es for pay ,

we were now g oing to give fr ee readi ng s Of

t h e future in t h e F ree Readin g Room H e .

was much disappointed th at we did n ot inten d

to tell fortun es either g r atis o r for a c on s id
,

e r a tio n a n d we c h anged ou r S ign to

, Free

L ibrary in order to obviate a repetition Of
the error .

In the higher Regions o f the Desire World

the confusion Of to n gues gives place to a uni
versal mode Of expression which absolutely
p r eve nts misu n dersta n din g s Of o u r meanin g .

Th ere each Of o u r th oughts takes a denite

form a n d color perceptible to a ll and this ,

though t symbol emits a certai n tone which is

-
,

not a word but it conveys o u r meanin g to th e

,

o n e we address no matter what language he

spoke o n earth .

T O arrive at an understanding Of how such

a u n iversal langua g e becomes poss ible and is
at o n ce comprehended by all with out prepa
,

ration we may take a s an illus tration th e

,

manner in which a musician reads music A .

German or a Polis h compose r may w r l te an

opera E ach h a s hi s o wn peculiar te rm m o l
.
86 THE R O SI CR U CIAN MY S TERIE S

og y and e xpresses it in his own la nguage .

Wh en that opera is to be play ed by an Italian

band master o r by a S p anish o r American
,

musician it need not h e translat ed the notes

, ,

and s ymbols upon the pag e are a un iversally

understood language o f symbols which is in
te llig ib le to musicians Of n o matter what na
tio n a lity S imilarly wit h gures th e German
.
,

counts : e in zwei drei ; the Fren chman says :

, ,

u n deux
, ,
trois and in E nglish we use the
,

words : o n e two th ree but th e gu res : 1 2 3

, , , , , ,

though di ff erentl y spoken are intelligible to ,

all and mean the same There is no p o s s ib il

.

ity o f misundersta n ding in the cases Of either

music o r gures T hus it is also with th e uni
.

versal lan g uage peculiar to the hi gher R e

gions Of the Desire World a n d th e still more
subtil e realms in natu re it is intelligible to
,

all an exact mode O f expression

,
.

Re tu rning to o u r description of th e entities

commonl y met with in the lower Desire
World we may note that Oth e r systems Of r e
,

lig ion than the E gyptian already mentioned , ,

has spoken Of vari ous classes o f beings native

O f these realms The Z oroastrian Religion
.
,

for instanc e mentions S e v e n Am e s h a s p e n ds

,

and the Iz zards as having dominion over cer

tain days in the month and certain months in
88 T HE R O SI C RU C IA N MY S T ERIE S

twenty eight days while man is correlated to

-
,

the solar month o f thirty o r thirty one days

-
.

T he ancient Persians were astronomers but

not physiologists they had no means of know
,

ing the di fferent nervous constitution Of a ni

mal a n d man but th ey s a w clairvoyantl y
,

these superphysical beings they noted and

,

recorded their work with animal and men

and o u r o wn anatomical investigations may
S how us the reason f o r these divisions Of the
classes o f I zzards recorded in that ancient
system O f phi losophy .

S till another class o f b eings shou ld be

mentioned : those wh o have entered the De
sir e World t h rough the gate O f death and are
n o w h idde n from our physical vision These .

s o called dead are in fact much more alive
-

t h an any Of u s who are tied to a dense body

,

and subject to all its limitations w h o ar e ,

forced to slowly drag this clog along with u s

at th e rate of a few miles an hour who ,

must expend such an enormous amount Of

energy upon propelling that vehicle that we
are easily and quickly tired even when in ,

the best o f health and wh o ar e O ften con

ned to a b e d sometimes for years by the
, ,

indisposition Of this heavy mortal coil But .

when that is once S hed and the freed spirit

 TH E VISI B LE AN D TH E I N VISI BLE WORLD 89

can again function in its spiritual body S ick ,

ness is an unknown condition and distance

is annihi lated o r at least practically s o, for
,

though it was necessary for the S avior to

liken the freed spirit to the wind whi ch blows
where it listeth th at S imile gives but a poor
,

description Of wh at actually takes place in

soul igh ts T ime is nonexistent th ere a s
.
,

we shall presently explain s o th e wr iter h a s ,

never been able to time himself but h as o n ,

several occasions timed oth ers whe n he w a s

in th e physical body a n d they speeding
through space upon a certain errand Dis .
s

tances such as from t h e Pacic Coast to E u

rope t h e delivery Of a short message th ere
,

and the return to th e body h a s been a ccom

p li s h e d in slightly less t h an one minute .

T herefore o u r assertion that those wh om we

,

call dead are in reali ty much more alive th an

we is well founded in facts
,
.

We spoke O f the dense body in which we

t
n ow live ,
as a clog and a fetter I t mus .

not be inferred h owever th at we sympath ze ,

i
,

with the attitu d e o f certain people wh o when ,

they have learned with wh at ease soul g i h ts -

are accomplis h ed g O about bemoanin g th e

,

fact th at th ey a r e now imprisoned T hey a r e .

co st tl th i k i n Of and lo n g in g f o r th e dav
n a n y n g , ,
90 THE R OS I CR U C IA N MY S TERIE S

when th ey shall be abl e to l e ave this mortal

coil behind and y away in th eir spiritual
body S uch an attitude o f mind is decidedly
.

mistak en , th e great and wise beings w h o are

invisible leaders O f ou r evolution hav e not
placed us h e r e to n o purpose V aluable les
.

sons are to be learned in thi s visible world

wherein we dwel l th at cannot be learned in
,

any other realm Of n ature and th e very c o n

,

ditio n s o f density and inertia whereof such

people complain are factors whi ch make it
,

possible to acquire t h e knowledge this world

is designed to give Thi s fact was s o amply
.

ill ustrat e d in a recent experience Of th e wri

ter : A fri e nd had been studying occult
ism for a numbe r o f ye ars but had n o t stud
ie d astrology .

L ast ye ar S h e b e cam e arou s e d to th e im

portance o f thi s branch o f stud y as a key to
self knowl edge and a means O f understand
ing the natures O f others also O f developing
,

th e compassion for th eir e rrors s o necessary

,

in th e cul tivation o f love o f o n e s neighbor

.

L ove o f o u r neighbor the S avior enj oined

u po n us as the S upr em e Comm andment
which is the fulllment o f all laws and as ,

A strology teaches us to b e a r and f o r b e a r it ,

h e lps as noth ing else can in the dev elopment

,
 THE VIS IBLE A N D T HE I N VI SIBLE WORLD 91

of th e su p r em e virtu e S he therefore j o i ned

.

o n e O f the classes started in L o s Angeles by

th e writer but a sudden illn ess quickly ended

,

in death and thus terminated her study Of

the subject in the physical body er e it was ,

well began .

Up on o ne O f man y occasions wh en she v is

ite d the writer subsequent to her release
from the body she deplored th e fact th at it
,

seemed S O di f cult to make headway in her

study o f astrology T h e writer advised con
.

tinned attendance at the classes and s u g ,

gested th at s h e could surely get someone On
the oth er side to help her study

.

A t this she exclaimed impatiently : Oh

yes ! o f course I atten d the classes I have ,

done S O right alo n g ; I have also foun d a

friend who helps me here But you cann ot
.

imagine h o w difcult it is to co n centrate h er e

upon math ematical calculations a nd th e ju dg
ment Of a h oroscope o r i n fact upon any s u b
j e c t here
,
w h ere every little t h ough t curre n t -

takes you miles away from your study I
used to thi nk it difficult to concentrate when
I h a d a physical body but it is n ot a circum
,

sta n ce to th e obstacles which face the studen t

92 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TE RIE S

Th e ph y sical body was an anchor to her,

and it is that to all O f us B e ing d ens e it ls
.
.

also to a gr e at extent imp e rvious to di stu rb

ing inuences from which th e mor e subtle
spiritual bodi es do not shield us It enables .

u s to bring our ideas to a logical conclus ion

with far less e ff ort at concentrat ion than is

necessary in th at realm wh ere a ll is in such
incessant and turbulent motion Thus we ar e .

gradually developing the facul ty o f holding

o u r thoughts to a center by existence in t h is

world, and we should value o u r opportunities

her e rather t h an deplore the lim i tations
,

whi ch help in o n e direction more than they

fetter in another In fact we s h ould never
.
,

deplore any condition each h a s its lesson If

, .

we try to learn w h at that lesson is and to

assimilate t h e experience which ma y b e e x
tracted therefrom we are wis e r than those
,

who waste time in vain regrets .

We said ther e is no time in th e Desire

World and th e reader will readily under
,

stand that such must be the case from the

fact already mention e d that nothing th e re
, ,

is opaqu e .

In this world the rotation Of th e opaque

eart h upon its axis is responsible f o r the a l
te r n a tin g conditions o f day and night We .
turned towards t h e sun and its rays ill u min e
ou r environment but when ou r home is
,

turned away from the s u n and its rays Ob

struct e d by the opaque earth we term the r e
s u ltin g darkness : Night The p assage Of th e
.

earth in its orbit around the s u n produces

t h e seasons a n d the year wh ich are o u r di
,

visions o f time But in t h e Desi r e World

.

where all is ligh t there is but o n e lon g day .

T he spirit is not th ere fettered by a heavy

physical body S O it does n o t need sleep and
,

existence is unbroken S piritual substan ces

.

are n o t subj ect to co n tractio n an d expan sion

such a s arise here from h eat and cold h en ce ,

summer and winter are also no n existent -

.

T hus there is noth i n g to di fferentiate o n e

moment from another in respect Of th e con
ditio n s o f light and darkness summer an d ,

winter whi ch mark time f or u s Th erefore

,
.
,

whi le the S O called dead may h ave a very
-

accurate memory of t ime as regards th e life

they lived here in the body they are usually
,

unable to tell anything about the ch r o n olo g l

cal relation Of events which h ave h a ppened
to th em in the Desire World a n d it is a very,

common thing to nd that they do not even

know how man y years have a la p s e d since
94 T HE R O SI CR U C IA N MYS TERIES

th ey p ass ed o u t from th is plane Of existence .

O nly students o f the S tellar Science are abl e

to calculate th e p assage o f tim e af te r th e ir
demis e .

Wh e n th e occu lt inve stigator wishes to

study an event in the past history Of man h e ,

may most readily call up th e pic ture from

th e m e m o ry o f n a tu r e but if h e desires to x
,

the time Of the incident he will be obliged to

,

count backwards by th e motion Of the b eav

e n ly bodi e s .F or that purpose he genera lly
uses the measure provided b y the sun s pre

cession : E ach year the sun crosses th e earth s

equator about the twenty r s t Of March Then

-
.

day and nigh t are Of even length therefore ,

this is called the V ern al e q uinox But o n ac .

.

count o f a certain wabbling motion o f the

earth s axis the s u n does not cross ov e r at

,

the same place in the Z odiac it reach es th e

,

equator a little to o early it p r e c e de s year by

, ,

year it moves b a c k wa rds a little A t the tim e

.

o f the birth Of Christ f o r instance the V er

, ,

nal E quinox was in about seven degrees Of

the Z odi acal sign Aries During the tw o
.

thousand years which intervene betw ee n

that event and th e p resent time the s u n has
,

moved b a c k w a r ds about twenty seven de -

grees s o that it is now in about ten degrees

,
96 T HE R OS IC R U OIA N MY S TE RIE S

on e eternal NOW Th ere seems to be n e ither

.

pleasure nor pain a n d yet th ere is no absence

O f feeling but it all seems to center in the one

idea I a m / Th e h uman E g o stands ,

fac e to face with itself as it were and for th e ,

time being all else is s hut o u t Thi s is the ex

.

p e r ie n c e of anyone who passes that breac h

between the Desire World and th e World of
Th ought wh eth er involuntarily in th e
, ,

course o f an ordinary cyclic pilgrimage Of

the soul which we shall later elucidate when
,

speaking Of the post mortem existence o r by

-
,

an act of the will as in th e case Of the trained

,

occult investigator all have th e same e xp e r i

,

ence in transition .

Th e r e are two main divisions in the Physi

cal World : th e Ch em ical Region and the
E theric Region .Th e World O f Thought als o
h as tw o great subdivisions : T he Region Of
concrete T hought and the Region O f abstract
T hought .

A s we sp e ciali z e the material o f the Physi

cal World a n d s h ape it a den se body and as ,

we form the fo r ce matter O f the Desire -

World a desire body so also do we appropri

,

ate a certain amou n t Of m in ds tu ff from the

Re g ion Of concrete Th ough t ; but we as spir ,
 T HE VISIBLE A N D T HE I N VISIBLE WORLD 97

its clothe ourselves in spirit substance from

,
-

the Region Of abstract Thought and th er eby

we become individual , separate E gos .

Th e R eg ion of Con crete Th ou g ht .

Th e Region o f concrete Thought is neither

shadowy n o r illusory I t is th e acme Of real
.

ity and this world whi ch we mistakenly r e

gard as the only verity, is but an evanescent
re pli ca Of that Region .

A little reection will show the reasonable

ness of thi s statement and prove o u r c o nte n
tion that all we s e e here is really c r ystallized
thought O ur houses o u r machinery o u r
.
, ,

chairs and tables all that has been made by

,

the hand o f man is the embodiment o f a

thou g ht A s the juices in th e soft body Of

.

the snail gradually crystallize i nto th e h ard

and in ty S hell which it carries upon its back
and which hides it S O everythin g used in our
,

civilization is a concretion Of invisible in ,

tangible mind S tu The thought O f James

-
.

Watt in time congealed into a steam engin e

E dison s

and revolutionized th e world .

thought was conde n sed i nto an electric gener

ator whi ch has turned n i g h t to day an d had ,

it n ot been for th e th ou g h t O f Morse an d Mar

coni th e telegrap h would not have ann ihi l
,
98 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TERIE S

at ed distance as it does today An earth

.

quake may wr e ck a city and d emolish the

lighting plant and teleg raph station but th e ,

th oughts Of Watt E dison and Mors e remain

, ,

and upon th e basis O f their indestructible

ideas new machinery may be constructed and
o p erations resumed . T hus thoughts ar e
more permanent than things .

Th e s ensitive ear O f the musician d etects a

certain musical note in every ci ty whi ch is
diff erent from that o f another city H e hears .

in each little brook a new melody and to him ,

the so u nd o f wind in the treetops o f di ff erent

forests give a varyi n g sound In the Desir e
.

World we noted the existenc e O f forms simi

lar to th e S hapes Of things here also that ,

seemingly s o u nd p r o c e e ds f r o m fo r m but in ,

the Region Of concrete Thought it is di e r

ent f o r while each form occupies and Oh
,

scures a certain space here f orm is n on e x

,

is te n t when view ed from th e standpoint Of

the Region Of concrete T h ought Where the .

form was a transparent vacuous space is o b

, ,
.

servable F r o m th a t e m p ty v oid c o m e s a
.

s o u n d whi ch is the keynote that c r e a te s and

maintains th e f o rm whence it a p p e a rs to
come as the almost invisible core Of a gas
,

a m e is th e source Of the light we perceiv e .

1 00 T HE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TERIE S

t ype for man lives not by bread alone b u t
, ,

by the W O RD and the last sound vibration

,
-

O f the keynote is the death knell O f th e phy
-

s ic a l bod y .

In this world w e ar e com p ell ed to inv esti

gate and to study a thi ng before we know
about it and although the facil ities f o r gain
,

ing information ar e in some res p ects much

greater in t h e Desire World a cer tain ,

amo u nt O f investigation is necessary never

th e le s s to acquire knowledge In the World
.

o f Thought o n the contrary it is di ff erent

, , .

When w e wish to know about any certain

thing ther e , and we turn our attention there
to then that thing speaks to us as it were
, ,
.

The sound it emits at onc e gi v es u s a most

luminous compreh ension o f every phase o f
its nature We attain to a reali z ation Of its
.

past history ; the whole story o f its unfol d

ment is laid bare and we seem to have lived
through all o f those experiences toget h er
with the thing we are investigating .

Were it not f o r o ne enormous difficulty the ,

story thus Obtained woul d be exceedingly

valuable : But all thi s information t h is life ,

pictu r e ows in upon us with an enormous

,

rapidity in a moment in the tw in kli n g of an

,

eye s o that it h a s neith er beginning nor end

, ,
 T H E VISIB LE AN D TH E I N VISIBLE WORLD 1 01

for as said in t h e World Of T h ought a ll is

, , ,

o n e great NOW T ime does not exist

, .

Therefore when we want to use the arch e

,

typal information in the P hysical World we ,

must disentangle and arrange it in chro n o

logical order with beginning an d endin g b e
fore it becomes intelligible to beings livin g in
a realm where Time is a prime factor Th at .

rearrangement is a most di fficult task as all

words are coined with relation to th e three
dimensio n s Of space and the evanescent unit
Of time the eeting moment hence much Of
, ,

that information remains u n available .

A mong the d eni z ens Of this Region o f con

crete Th ought we may note particularly two
classes O ne is called the powers Of darkn ess
.

by Paul and the mystic investigator Of th e

Western World kn ows them a s L ords of
Mind They were human at the time wh en
.

the earth was in a condition Of darkn ess such

as worlds in the making go through before
they become luminous and reach th e r e m l s t
stage A t that time we were in our m ineral
.

the ball Of m in ds tu ff wh ich was then th e

,

earth At that time th e present Human S pir

.

its were a s much asle e p a s is th e l i fe W t ll

1 02 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TER IE S

ensouls o u r minerals Of today and as w e ar e

,

working with the mineral chemical c on s titu

ents of the e arth molding them into hous e s
, ,

railways steam boats chairs etc etc s o

,
-
, , .
, .
,

th ose beings who are now L ords O f Min d

, ,

worked with us when we were mineral like -

.

Th ey have since advanced three steps ,

t h rough stages si m ilar to that o f the Angels

a n d A rch a n gels before they attain ed th eir
,

present position and became creative inte lli

g e n c e s. T h ey are expert builders o f mind
stu ff as we are builders Of the present min
,

eral substances and th erefore they have given

u s necessary h elp to acqui re a mind which is

the hi ghest development Of the human being .

A ccording to the foregoing explanation it

seems to be an anomaly when Paul speaks Of
th em as evil and exhorts u s to withstand
t h em . The di fficul ty disappears however , ,

when we understand that good and evil are

but relative qua n tities An illustration w ill
.

make the point clear L e t us suppose that
an expert organ builder has constructed a
wonderful organ a masterpiece Then he has
, .

followed his vocation in the proper mann er ,

and is th erefore to be comm ended f o r the

good which he h as done But if he is not sat
.

is e d to leav e w e ll enough alon e, if h e r e fu s e s

1 04 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TE RIE S

fore it attains to the stature Of a giant Of the

forest A man does n o t becom e an Angel by
.

t h e mere fact Of dying and entering a new

world any more than an animal advances to
be a man by the same p rocess But in time .

all that lives mounts the ladder Of Being

,

from the clod to the God Ther e is no lim ita

.

tion possible to the spirit and s o at various ,

stages in its u nfoldment the H uman S pirit

works with the other nature forces accord ,

i n g to the stage O f intelligence whi ch it has

attained I t creates changes and remodels
.
,

the earth u pon which it is to live T hus nu .

,

der the gr e at law Of cause and e ffect which ,

w e observe in every realm Of na tu re it reaps ,

upon earth what it has s own in heaven and ,

vice versa It grows slowly but pe rsistentl y

.

and advances continually .

Th e R eg ion of Ab s tra c t Th ou g ht .

V arious religious systems have been giv en

to humanity at diff erent times each suited to ,

meet the spiritual needs Of the people among

whom it was promulgated and coming from , ,

the sam e divin e source G Od all reli g ions ,

exhibit S imilar fundamentals o r rst princi

ples .

A ll systems teach that there w a s a tim e

when da r k n e s s reigned supreme E verything .
 T H E VISIBLE AN D T HE IN VI SIBLE WORLD 1 05

which we n o w perceive was th en n on exist -

ent E arth sky and the heavenly bodies

.
,

were uncreate S O were th e multitudi nous

,

forms wh ich live and move upon the various

planet s A11 all w a s yet in a u idic condi

, ,

tion and th e Un iversal S pirit brooded q u ie s

c e n t in l im i tless S pace a s th e O ne E xistenc e
.

The Greeks called that con di tion Of homo

g e n e ity C h a o s and the state O f orderly segre
,

g a ti o n which we now s e e ; the march ing orbs

whi ch illumine the vaul ted canop y of h e aven ,

the stately procession Of planets around a

central light the majestic s u n ; the unbroken
,

sequence o f t h e seaso n s an d the unvaryin g

alternation Of tidal ebb and ow all this

aggregate Of systematic order wa s called ,

C o s m o s and was supposed to have proceeded

,

from Chaos .

The Christian Mystic Obtains a deeper com

prehe n sion when he opens h is B ib le an d po n
ders the rst v e verses Of th at bri g htest
gem o f all spiritual lore : the Gospel Of S t .

John .

A s he r everently opens his aspiring heart

to acquire understanding Of those sublime
mystical teachings h e transcends th e fo rm
side Of nature comprising various realms o f
,

whi ch we have been speaking a n d nds him

,
1 06 TH E R O SI C RU C IA N MY S TERIE S

self in the spirit as did the prophets In,

olden times H e is then in the Region Of a b

.
.

stract Thought and sees the eternal verities

which also Pa ul be held in this th e thi rd , ,

heaven .

F or those among us who are unable to Ob

tain knowledge save by r e asoning upon the
matter however it will be necessary to ex
, ,

amin e the fundamental mea ning Of words

used by S t John to clothe his wonderf u l
.

teaching which was originally given in the

,

Greek language a muc h simpler matter than

,

is commonly supposed f o r Greek words have ,

been freely introduced into o u r modern lan

guages particularly in scienti c terms and
, ,

we sh a ll S how how thi s ancient teaching is

supported by the latest discoveries O f mod
ern science .

The O pening vers e Of the gospel O f S t John .

is as follows : In th e b eg in n ing w a s the
Wo rd and th e Wo rd was with G o d and th e
, ,

Wo rd was G o d We will examine the
.

words : beginning Word and G o d ,

We
.

may also note that in the Greek version the

concluding sentence reads : and God was th e

Word ,
a di ff e rence which makes a great
distinction .
1 08 THE R O SI CR U C IA N MY S TER IE S

co v e r y o fthe el e ctron th e atomic th eory Of

,

matter is no longer tenable Th e pr inciple

,
.

Of radio activity h as later vindicated t h e Al

-

c h emists S cience and the Bible agre e in

.

teachi ng that all th at is h as be en formed

, ,

from o n e homogeneous substanc e .

I t is that basic principle which John called

a c e
r h
primordial matter and the dictio n ,

ary denes A rcheology as : th e science Of
the origin ( a r c h e ) Of t h ings Masons style .

G o d th e Grand A rchitect for the Greek ,

word ; t ektos means builder and God is the ,

Chief Builder ( te k to s ) o f a rc h e : the primor

,

dial virgin matter whi ch is als o the chi ef

source Of all things .

Thus we see that when the ope ning s e n

tence o f S t Jo h n s gospel is properly trans
.

lated o u r Ch ristian Reli g io n teach es that

,

once a virgin substance enfolded th e divine

Thinker God .

That is the identical condi tion which th e

e arlier Greeks called Chaos A little thought .

will make it evident that w e are not arbitrary

in nding fault with th e translation o f th e
gospel for it is self evident that a word can
,
-

not b e th e beginning a thought must preced e

,

the word and a thinker must originate

,

tho u ght b e fore it can be expressed as a word .

 T HE VISIBLE A N D T HE I N VISIBLE WORLD 1 09

W hen properly tran slated the teach ing Of

John fully embodies that idea for th e Greek ,

term log os means both the r e asonable

we
thought ( also s a y L ogic ) an d th e
,
,

word which e xpresses thi s ( logical ) thought .

1 ) In th e pr im o r dia l s u bs ta n ce wa s th ou h t
g ,

a n d th e th o u h t w a s wi th G o d
g
A nd G o d w a s th e w o rd,
2) T HAT !Th e W o rd! , , a ls o w as with G od in
the p rim a l s ta te .

L ater the divine W O RD ; the Creative Fiat,

reverbe r ates throu g h spac e an d s e g e g r a te s
the h omogeneous virgin substance into sepa
rate form s .

3 ) Ev e ry thing h as c om e in to e x is te nc e be
ca u s e o f th a t p rim e
f a c t, !Th e W o rd O f
G od ! , a nd n o thing e x is ts a pa r t fro m th a t

fac t .

4 ) In tha t w as Life .

In the a lphabet we have a few elem entary

sounds from which words may be co n struct
ed. They are basic elements of expression ,

as br icks iron and lumber are raw m a te ria ls

,

Of a rchitecture o r as a few notes are compo ,

nent parts o f music .

But a h eap Of bricks iron and lumber is , ,

not a house neither is a jumbled ma s s Of

,

n otes music nor can w e call a hapha z ard a r

,

rangement o f alphabetical sounds : a word .

1 10 T RO SIC RU CIAN MY S TERIE S

Th e s e raw materials a re prime necessities in

con struction o f architectu re m usic liter a ture
, ,

o r poetry but the contour o f the n is h ed pro

,

duct and the p u rpose it will serve depends

upon the arrangem ent o f th e raw m aterials ,

whi c h is subject to th e constructor s design

.

Bui lding m aterials m a y be formed to prison

o r palace : notes m a y b e arranged as f a nf a re

o r fu neral dirge ; words m a y be i n dited to ln

spire pa s sion o r peace all according to th e

,

will o f the designer S o also the majesti c

.

rhythm o f the Word o f God has wrought th e

prim al substance : a r c h e into the m ultitu di n
,

ou s forms which comprise the phenomenal

world accordin g to Hi s will
,
.

D id the reader ever stop to consider th e

wonderfu l power o f a hum an word Com ing .

to us in the sweet accents o f love it m a y l u re ,

us from paths o f rectitude to shameful ig no

m iny and wreck o u r life with sorrow and r e
morse o r it may spu r us on in noblest e ffort s
,

to acquire glory and honor here or hereafter

, .

According to the inection o f the voice a

word may strike terror in to the bravest heart
o r lull a timid chi ld to pe acefu l slumber Th e .

word o f an agitator may r o u s e th e p a ssions.

o f a m ob and impel it to awful blood s hed as ,

in the French R evolution where dictatorial

,
 112 T HE RO SI C RU C IAN MY S TE RIE S

to sustain the marchi ng orbs and impel them

onwards in their circle paths the Creative ,

Word continues to produce form s o f gradu

a lly increas ing e mc ie n cy , as medi a e x pressing

life and consciousness The harmoni o u s

.

e nunciation o f consecutive syllables in the

D ivine Creative Word mark successive stages

in evolution of the world and man When the .

last syllable has been spoken and the com

pl e te word has sounded we ,
shall have re a ched
perfection as hum an beings T hen Time will .

be at an end and with th e last vibration of

,

the Word o f God the worlds will be resolved

,

into their original elem ents O ur life wi l l

.

then be hi d with Christ in God till the Co s ,

mic Night Chaos is o ver , a nd we wake to
,

do greater things in a new he a ven a n d a

new earth .

A c cording to the general idea Chaos and

Cosmos are superlative antitheses o f o n e a n
other Ch aos being regarded as a past cond i
.

tion o f confusion a n d di sorder whi ch h as lo n g

since been entirely s uperseded b y cosmic o r .

der which now preva i l s .

A s a matter of fact Chaos is the seed

,

ground o f Cos m o s t h e b a s is o f a ll progre s s

, ,

f o r thence com e a ll ID E A S w hich l a ter m a

 T HE V I S IBL E AN D T HE I NVI SIBL E W OBL D 113

te r ia li ze as R ailways S team boats Tele , ,

phones etc , .

We speak of thoughts as being conceived

by the mind but as both father and m oth er
,

are necessary in t h e generation o f a chi l d s o ,

als o there m ust be both ide a and m in d before

a th ou g h t can be conceived As semen germ .

in a te d in the positive male organ is projected

into th e neg a tive u terus a t con ception s o ,

ide a s a r e gener a ted by a positive Hu m a n E g o

in the spirit subst a nce o f th e R egion o f a h
-

str a ct Th ough t This ide a is proj ected u pon

.

t h e receptive min d and a conception t a kes

,

pl a ce T hen as the sper m a tozoic nu cleu s

.
,

dr a ws upon the m atern a l body for m a teri a l

to sh a pe a body a ppropriate to its individu a l
expre s s ion s o does each idea cloth e it s e l f in
,

a peculi a r for m o f m in d s tu I t is t h en a .

tho u ght a s vi s ible to the inner vision o f co m

,

it m a n a s a c h ild is to its parent

p o s e .
,

Thus we see that ideas are embryonic

tho u gh ts nu clei o f spirit substance from th e
,
-

R egion o f a bstr a ct Thought I mproperly .

conceived in a dise a sed m ind th ey beco e m v a

ga ries a n d del u sions but wh en gest a ted in a

,
.

s ou nd min d a n d form ed i to r t i o l th o ghts

n a n a u

t h ey are the basis o f all materi a l moral and ,

114 THE RO S I C RU C IAN MY S TE RIE S

m ental progress and th e closer o u r touch

,

with Ch a os th e better will be ou r Cosmos

, ,

for in th a t real m o f abstract realities tr u th is

not ob s cu red by m a tter it is self evident
,
-
.

Pil a te was asked what is T ruth b u t no ,

a n swer is recorded We are inc a pable o f

.

cogn izin g tr u th in the abstract while we live

in the p h enom enal world for the inherent n a
,

t u re o f m atter is illusion and delusion and ,

we are const a ntly ma king allowances and cor

re c tions whether we are conscious o f the fa c t
o r not . T he sunbeam which proceed s for 90
m illions o f m iles in a straight lin e is refract ,

ed o r bent as s oon as it strikes o u r dense a t

,

m o s p h e r e and according to the angle o f its

,

refraction it a p p e a rs to have o n e color o r an

,
.

other T he str a igh test stick appears crooked

.

when partly im m ersed in water a nd the ,

truths whi c h are s o self evident in the Higher

-

worlds are likewise obscured refracted o r ,

twisted o u t of all semblance under the illu

sory conditions o f this material world .

Th e tr u th shall set you free said Christ

, ,

and the m ore we turn o u r aspirations from

material acquisitiveness and seek to lay up
tre a sure above the m ore we aim to rise the
, ,

oftener we get in the spiri t the more read ,

ily we sh a ll know truth and reach libera
116 THE RO S ICRU CIA N MY S TE RIE S

upon the rem ainder o f the 5 rst verses of St .

John s gospel :

A nd Life b e ca m e Lig h t in m a n ,

5) a nd Lig h t s h in e s in D a rk nes s .

W e have now seen that the earth is com

posed o f three worlds whi ch interpenetrate
o n e another so that it is perfectly true when

Christ said that heaven is within v o u o r ,

the translation should rather have been ;

a m ong y ou We have also seen that o f t h ese
.

three realms tw o are subdivided It has also .

been explained that each division serves a

great purpose in the unfoldment of various
forms of l ife which dwe l l in each of thes e
worlds and we may note in conclusion that
, ,

the lower regions o f the D esire World c o n

s titu te what the Catho li c reli g ion calls P u rg a .

to ry a place where the evil o f a past life is

,

transmuted to good us able by the spirit as

,

conscience in later lives The hi gher regions

.

o f the D esire W orld are the rs t He a v e n

where all the good a man has done is assim ,

il a te d by the spirit as s ou l power Th e R egion .

o f co ncrete Thought is the s e c on d He a v e n ,

where as already said the spirit prepares

, ,

its future environment o n earth and the R e ,

g ion o f abstract Thought i s the thi r d H e a v

 T HE V IS IBLE A ND T HE IN VI S IBL E W O RL D 1 17

e n, but as Paul s a id it is scarcely lawful to

,

speak about that .

S ome will a s k : is there then no hell l N o !

o

Th e m e r cy of G o d ten ds as gre a t l y tow a rds

the principle o f G OO D a s th e in h u m a ni ty

of m a n tow a rds cru elty s o that h e wou ld
,

consign his brot h er men to am es of h ell du r

ing eternity for the pu eri l e m ist a kes c om
m itte d d u ring a few ye a rs o r per h a ps for a
,

slight di ff eren ce in belief T he writer h as

.

heard o f a m in ister who wis h ed to im press

h is o c k with the reality of an eternity of
hell am es and to dem onstr a te the fa ll a cy of
,

a heretic a l notion en tert a ined by som e o f h is

p a r i s i o n e rs : that when sinners c a m e to h ell
they burn to ashes and that is the end .

He took with him an alcohol lamp and

s om e a sbestos into the pulpit and to l d his
audience that G o d wou ld turn th eir sou ls
into a substance resem bling asbestos He .

showed them that though the asbestos were

heated red hot it did not decom pose into
ashes F ortunately the day of th e hell
.

preacher has gone b y and if we bel i eve th e

'

,

Bible which s a ys th a t in God we live a n d
d l
move and have ou r being we can ,
r e a l y
understand that a los t s ou l w ou ld b e a n im
p o s s i b i li
, ty for were o n e single soul lost th en ,
118 T HE RO SIC RU C IAN MY S TE RIES

logically a part o f God Himself woul d b e

lost No matter what o u r color , o u r race or
.

o u r creed we are a ll equally the children o f

,

God and in o u r various ways we s h all obtain

s a tisfaction L e t us therefore rather look
.

to Christ and forget Creed .

Cr e e d or Ch ris t!
N o man loves God who hates hi s kind ;
Wh o tram ples o n his Brother s heart and

soul .

Wh o seeks to s h ackle ; cloud o r f o g the mind ;

By fears o f He ll has nor perceived o u r
go a l .

God sent are all religions blest ;

-

An d Ch rist ; the W a y t h e T ru t h and L ife

, ,

T o give t h e he a vy laden rest

-
,

And peace for S orrow S in and S trife , .

A t h is req u est the Universal S pirit cam e ;

To a ll th e c h u rc h e s ; n o t to o n e alone ,

On P e n tecosta l m orn a tongue of ame ;

R ound e a c h apostle as a h a lo shone .

S ince th en as vultures ravenous with greed ;

,

We o f t h a ve b a tt l ed for a n empty n a m e ,

An d so u ght by D ogma E dict Creed , , ,

To send each oth er to t h e ame .

 CHA P T E R IV .

3 hr Co ns titutio n of man

O ur c a h pter
h ead the constitution
,

of m an , m a y s u rprise a reader who
has n o t previous l y st u died th e My s
te r y teac h ings o r h e m a y i m agi n e th a t
,

we intend to give an a n a tom ical dissertation ,

but s u ch is not o u r intention We h a ve s p o.

ken o f the earth u pon whi ch we live as being

composed o f several invisible realms in a d
dition to the world we perceive by m e a ns o f
ou r senses We have also spoken o f man as
.

being correl a ted to these various divisions in

nature and a little thought upon the s u bject
,

will quickly convince us that in order to

fu nction upon the various planes of exist
ence described it is necessary that a man
,

should have a body composed o f their sub

stance or at least have speciali z ed f o r his
,

o wn use some o f the material o f each o f

,

these worlds .

We have said that ner matter called de ,

sire stu ff and mi nd s tu permeates ou r a t

,

1 20
 THE CO N STITUTI O N O F MAN 1 21

m osphere and the solid earth even a s blood ,

percol a tes through a ll p a rts o f ou r es h .

But th a t is not a sufc ien t expl a nation to a c

co u nt for all facts o f life If th a t were all .
,

then minerals which are interpenetr a ted by

,

t h e world o f thought a n d the world o f desire ,

woul d have th oughts a n d desires a s we l l a s

man This is not the c a se s o som ethin g
.
,

more th a n mere interpenetr a tion m ust be r e

q u i s ite to acquire the fac u lties o f t h oug h t
and feeling .

We kn ow th a t in order to fu nction in this

world to live as a physica l bein g a m on g o th
,

er l ike beings we mu st have a physi c a l body

, , ,

all o u r own ; bu ilt o f t h e ch e m c ia l c o n s titu

ents of this Visible world When we lose it .

at de a th it prots us nothing th a t the world

,

is full o f j u st the very chem icals needed to

build such a body We can not th en spec i a l .

ize them and therefore we a r e in vi s ible to

,

all others S im il a rly if we did not possess

.
,

a speci a l body m ade of ether we shou ld be ,

u nable to grow a n d to prop a g a te Th a t is

the c a se with the m in er a l Ha d we no sep .

a r a te i n divid u a l desire body we s h o u ld be ,

un a ble to fee l de s ires a n d em otion s th er e ,

wo u ld be no in cen tive to move from o n e

place to another We should th en be st a tion
.
1 22 T HE RO SIC RU CIAN MY S TERIES

ary as plants and di d we n o t possess a mind

, ,

we sho u ld be in c a p a b le o f though t and act ,

upon impulse a n d instin ct as animals .

S om e o n e m a y o f co u rse object to thi s last

statem ent and contend that animals do
,

thi nk S o far as o u r domesticated animals

.

a r e concerned that is parti a lly true but it

,

is not quite in the same way that we think

a n d re a son The di fference may perh a ps
.

best be understood if we take an illustr a ti on

from the electric a l eld When an electric
.

current of h ig h v o lta g e is passed through a

coiled copper wire and another wire is plac
,

ed in the center o f the coils that wire wi ll

,

become charged with electricity of a lo w e r

v o lta g e s o also the animal when bro u ght
,

within the sphere o f hum a n thoughts evolves ,

a mental activity o f a lower order .

Paul in his writings also mentions th e

, ,

n a tu r a l b o dy and the s p i r i tu a l b o dy whi le the

m a n himself is a spirit inhabiting those vehi

cles We will briey note the constitution
.

o f the various bodies o f m a n invisible to the

physical sight but as objective to spiritu al

sight as the dense body to ordinary Vision .

Th e V i ta l Bo dy .

Th at b ody o f ours which is composed o f

ether is called the v ita l b o dy in Wester n
1 24 T HE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE s

light o f the moon from what is the case when

they are planted wh en t h e m oon is dark .

There is also a di ff erence in pl a nts sown

when the moon is in barren and fruitful signs
o f the Z odiac .

The solar ray is absorbed by the human

spirit which has its seat in the center o f th e
fore h ead the stellar ray is absorbed by the
,

brain and spinal cord and the lunar ray e n ,

ters o u r system through the spleen .

Both s olar stellar and lunar rays are

,

three colored and in the lunar ray which

-
,

supplies o u r vital force the b l ue be a m is th e

,

life o f The F ather whic h causes germ ination

, ,

the yellow beam is th e life o f T he S on wh ich ,

is the active principle in nutrition and

growth and the red beam is t h e life of th e
,

H oly S pirit which stim u lates to action dissi

, ,

pating the energy stored by the yellow force .

T his principle is particularly active in gen

e r a tion .

The various kin gdoms absorb thi s life

force diff erently according to t h eir c o n s titu
,

tion An imals h a ve only 2 8 pairs o f spinal

.

nerves They are keyed to the lunar m onth

.

o f 2 8 days and therefore depende n t upon a

G r o u p s p ir it f o r an infusion of stellar rays

necessary to produce consciousness They .
 THE CO N STITUTI O N O F MAN 1 25

are a ltogether incapable o f absorbing the

direct r a y o f the s u n .

Ma n is in a transition stage he has 3 1 p a irs

,

o f spin al nerves whic h keys hi m to the solar

m onth but the nerves in th e s o called c a u da

,
-

equina literally : horse tail -
at the end of
o u r spinal cord are still too undeveloped to
,

act as avenues f or the spiritual ray o f the

I sun. In proportion as we draw ou r creative
force upward by spiritual thought we develop
these nerves and awa ken dormant faculties of
the spirit Bu t it is dangerous to a ttem pt
.

that developm ent except under guidance of

a qualied tea c her , and the re a der is e a rnest

ly warned not to use any m eth od published

in books or sold for their practice usual l y
, ,

leads to dementia The s a fe method is never

.

sold f o r money or any earthly consideration

however large o r sm a ll ; it is always freely

given as a reward of merit As k and ye
.

shall receive seek and ye shall nd kno ck

, ,

and it sh a ll be opened s a id the Christ If
,
.

o u r life is a prayer for ill u m in a tion th e ,

search will not be uncertain, nor the knock

without response .

When s olar energy has been trans m uted

in the spleen it traverses the whole nervou s
system o f the body glowing with a most
1 26 T HE RO SIC RU CIAN MY S TE RIE S

beaut iful color o f a delicate rosy hue I t .

answers the same purpose as electricity in a

telegraph system We may string wires b e
.

tween cities erect telegraph stations install

, ,

receivers and tr a ns m itters We m a y even

.

have oper a tors ready at th e keys but until

,

ele c tric u i d is t u rned into o u r wires the,

telegraph keys will refuse to click S o also

.

in the body the human spirit is ope rator and

, ,

fr om the central station of the brain nerves ,

ramify g o through the w li o le body to all the

,

di ff erent muscles When this Vitali zing ui d

.

o f which we are speakin g tr a ver s es the ner

vous system the E g o may send his com m a nds

,

to the m uscles and cause them to move but if

the Vital uid for any reason does n o t ow
into a certain part o f the body such as a n
a rm o r a limb then the spirit is powerless
,

to move th a t part o f the body and we say that

it is paralyz ed .

When we are in health we speciali z e solar

,

energy in such great q u antities that we can

not use it all in th e body and therefore it
radi a tes through the pores o f o u r skin in
straight str eams and serves a simi lar pur
pose as a n exhaust fan That machine drives
.

the foul air ou t o f a room o r buildi ng and

keeps the atmosphere within pure and sw ee t .
1 28 T HE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE R IE S

digestion If the meal has been heavy the

.
,

o u tow is very perceptibly dimini shed and ,

does not then cleanse ou r body as thoroughly

as when the food has been digested nor are ,

they as potent in keeping o u t inimical germs .

T herefore o n e is most liable to catch cold

or other disease b y overe a ting a fau l t which
,

sho u ld be avoided by all who wis h to keep

in good health .

During ill health the vital body special

izes b u t little solar ener g y Then for a time ,
.
,

th e visible body seem s to feed u pon th e vital

body a s it were s o that the veh icle be c omes
,

more transparent and attenuated at the same

rate as the Visible body exhibits a state o f
emaci a tion T he cleansing odi c radi a tio n s
.

are a l m ost entirely absent du ring sickness ,

therefore complications set in s o easily .

Though science has n o t directly observed

this Vital body o f m a n it has upon several
,

occasions postu l ated t h e existence o f such a

vehicle as necessary to account f o r facts in
life and the radi a tions have been observed
by a number o f scientists a t di e r e n t times
and under varying conditions Blo n dlot and
.

Charpentier have called them N rays after -

the city of N antes where the r a di ations were

observed by these scientists others have ,
 T HE CO N S TITUTI O N O F MA N 1 29

nam ed them Th e O dic uid S cientic .

investigators who have conducted researches

into psychi c phenomena have even photo
graphed it wh en it h as been extr a cted
thro u gh the spleen by m a ter i a l izing spi r its .

D r H otz for inst a nce obt a ined two ph oto

.

graphs o f a m ateri a liz a tion throu gh th e ,

Germ an medi u m Minna D e m m le r O n one a

,
-
.

cloud o f ether is seen oozing o u t throu gh th e

left side o f the m edi u m sh a peless a n d with
,

o u t form . Th e se c on d pictu re t a ken a few ,

m o m ents later Sh ows the m ateri a lized spirit

,

standing at th e m edium s side O th er ph o

.

to g r a p h s obt a ined by scientists from th e

It a li a n m ediu m E u s a p io P a ll a dino Show a
,

luminous clo u d over hanging her left side

-
.

We said in the beginning o f this de s crip

tion that the Vit a l body is an exact counter
part o f the den se body with o n e exception : it
is o f th e opposite s e x or perh a ps we s h oul d
rather s a y pol a rity A s th e Vital body nour
.

ishes the den se vehicle we m a y re a di ly u n

,

de r s ta n d th at blood is its h igh est Visib l e e x

pre s sion a n d a lso t h at a positively pol a rized
,

vit a l b ody wo ul d generate m ore b l ood th a n a

negative o n e Wom an who is physically neg
.

ative has a positive vit a l body h ence S h e g e n ,

e r a te s a s u rplus o f blood which Is r e h e v e d by

1 30 T HE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE S

the periodical ow S he is also more prone

.

to tears , whi ch are white bleeding th a n m a n

, ,

whose negative vital body does not generate

m ore blood t h an he can co m fo r tably t a ke c a re
of. T h erefore it is not nec ess a ry for him to
have the outlets whi ch relieve excess o f bl ood
in woman .

Th e D e s ir e B o dy .

In addition to the visible body and the

Vital body we also h a ve a body made of de
sire stu ff from which we form o u r feelings
and em otions T his vehicle also impels u s to
.

seek sense gratication Bu t whi le the two

.

instruments o f which we h ave a lready spok

en are well organized the desire body a p
, ,

pears to spiritual sight as an ovoid cloud

extending from sixteen to twenty inches b e
yond the physical body It is above the
.

head and below the feet s o that o u r dense

body si ts in the center o f thi s egg shaped -

clou d as the yolk is in the cen ter of an egg .

The reason for the rudi m entary state o f

thi s vehicle is that it has been added to the
,

human constitution more recently than the

bodi es previously mentioned E volution o f
.

form may be likened to the manner in whi ch

1 32 T HE RO SIC RU CIA N MY S TE RIE S

number o f other vortices The desire body

.

e xhibits all the colors and shades which we

know and a vast number of others which are

indescribable in earthly langu a ge Those .

colors vary in every p e r son acc ording to hi s

characteristi c s a nd temperament and they
also vary from m oment to m oment as pass
i1 g moods fancies o r emotions are e xp e ri
,

e n c e d by h im . T h er e is however in each
o n e a certain basic color dependent upon

the r u lin g st a r at th e m o m ent o f hi s birth .

T he man in whose ho roscope Mars is p e c u

,

lia rly strong us u a lly ha s a crimson tint in

his aura w h ere J u piter is the strongest
,

pl a net th e prevailing tint seems to be a bluish

tone and so o n with th e other planets
, .

There was a tim e in th e e a rth s past hi s

tory when incr u s t a tion was not yet com plete ,

and human beings o f that time lived upon

islands here and th ere amid boiling se a s
,
.

They h a d n o t yet evolved eyes or ears but ,

a little organ : the pineal gland whi ch anato

,

m ists have called th e thi r d e y e protruded

,

through the back of th e head and was a lo ca l

iz e d o rg a n of f e e ling whi c h warned the man
.

when he came to o n e a r a volcanic crater and

thu s enabled h im to escape destruction S in c e .

then the cerebral hemi spheres have c overed

 T HE CO N S TITUTI O N O F MAN 1 33

the pine a l gland a n d instea d of a single or

,

gan of feeling th e wh o l e b ody in side a n d o u t

,

is sensitive to im pa c ts wh ich of course is

,

a much higher state o f development .

In the desire body every p a r ticle is sen si

tive to vibrations S im i la r to th ose whi c h we
c a ll S ight sou nds a n d feelin gs a n d every p a r
,

tiele is in in c essan t m otion r a pi dly swir l in g

a bo u t s o th a t in th e s a m e i n st a n t it m a y be at

the top a n d bottom o f the desire body a n d im

part at all points to a ll the oth er particles a
sen sation o f that whi ch it h a s experien c ed
thu s every parti c le o f desire s tu in this
vehicle of ours will instantly feel any sensa
tion experien c ed by a n y S ingle particle .

Therefore the desire body is of an exceedin g

ly sensitive nature capable o f most intense
,

feelings and emotions .

Th e Min d .

This is t h e latest a cqu i s ition o f the hu m a n

spirit a n d in m ost people wh o h ave not yet
,

ac c u stomed th em selves to order l y ,

c o n s e
c
u

tive th ough t it is a m ere inch o a te c l o u d d i s

,

posed particu l arly in th e region of th e h e a d .

When l ooking a t a person cl irvoy tlya a n t h ere

appe a r s to be a n em pty sp e a c in th e e ter
c n

of t h e fore h e a d j us t a b ove a n d betwee n the

1 34 T HE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE S

eyebrows I t looks like th e bl u e part o f a gas

.

a m e Th a t is m ind stuff whi c h ve ils the h u

.

m a n spirit o r E g o and the writer has been

, ,

told that n o t eve n the most gifted seer can

penetrate that veil whi c h is said to have been

spoken o f in ancient E gypt as th e v e il o f

Is is which none may lift and live f o r b e ,

hind that veil is the H oly o f H olies the tem ,

ple o f o u r body where the spirit is to b e left

,

secure from all intrusion .

To those who have not previously studied

th e deeper philosophies the question may c c
cur : But why all th ese divisions ; even th e
Bible speaks only o f soul and body for most ,

people believe s oul and spirit to be s yn o ny

mous terms We can only answer that this
.

division is n o t arbitrary but necessary and ,

founded upon facts in nature N either is it.

correct to regard the soul and the spirit as

s y s n o n ym o u s Paul himself speaks o f th e
.

n a tu r a l b o dy which is com posed o f physical

substances : solids liquids gases and ethers ;

, ,

he mentions a s p ir itu a l b o dy which is the

,

vehicle o f the spirt composed o f th e mind a n d

desire body and th e s p ir it i ts e lf whi ch is
, ,

called E g o in Greek o r I in E nglish .

That term I is an appelation which can
o nl y be made by the hum an spirit o f itself .
 CHA P T ER V .

Ette a nh l32 t

In v is ib le He lp e rs a nd Me diu m s .

There are two classes o f people in the

world In o n e cl a ss the Vital and dense
.

bodies are s o rm l y c emented th a t th e ethers

cannot be extr a c ted under any circumstances
b u t rem ains with t h e dense body at all times
and u n der all conditions from birth to death .

T hose people a r e insen s i b le to a ny s u p e r s e n

s u o u s s igh ts o r s ounds T h ey are th erefore
.

usu a lly exceedi n g l y sceptic and believe noth

,

ing exists b u t wh a t th e y c a n s e e .

There is another cl a ss o f people in whom

the c onnection between th e dense and the
Vit a l bodies is m ore o r less loose s o th a t ,

the ether o f th eir Vital bodies vi b r a tes at a

higher rate th a n in th e rst class mentioned .

Th ese people a r e therefore m ore o r less s e n

s itiv e to the spirit u a l wo r ld .

T his class o f sen s itives m a y a gain be di

v i de d
. S ome are we a k ch a racters dom in a t ,

1 36
 L I FE AN D DEAT H 1 37

ed by the will o f oth ers in a n eg a tiv e m a nn er ,

as m ediums wh o a r e the prey of disem b odied

,

spirits desirou s o f obt a inin g a physi c a l b ody

when they have lost their own by death .

Th e other cl a ss o f sensitives a r e strong

p o s i tiv e characters who a ct on ly from with
,

in according to th eir o wn will Th ey m a y

, .

dev e lop into tr a in ed c l a ir voy a nts a n d b e ,

their o wn m a sters in ste a d of sl a ves of a dis

em bodied spirit In som e sen sitives o f b oth
.

c l a sses it is possib l e to extr a c t p a rt o f th e

ether whi ch form s th e Vit a l b ody Wh en a .

disem bodi ed spirit obt a ins a s u bje c t o f th a t

natu re it develops th e sen sitive a s a m a te
,

r ia lizin g m e diu m Th e m a n wh o is c a p a b le
.

o f extr a cting hi s o w n Vital body by a n a c t

o f will beco m es a citizen o f two wo r lds in de

, ,

pendent a n d free T hese a r e us u a l l y known

.

as In v is ib le H e lp e rs There a r e c ert a in oth er

.

abnorm a l c on ditions where th e vit a l b ody a n d

the dense body a r e sep a r a ted tot a l l y o r in
part f o r in stan ce if we pl a ce ou r lim b in an
,

uncomfort a ble position so th a t cir cu l a tion of

the blood ce a ses T hen we m a y s e e th e eth eric
.

limb h a nging down below th e Visib l e lim b a s

a stocking When we restore cir cu l a tion a n d
.

the etheric lim b seeks to enter into p l a c e an ,

intense prickly sens a tion is felt du e to th e ,

1 38 T HE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE S

fact that the little streams o f force which ,

radiate all through the ether seek to per ,

meate the molec u les o f the l imb and stir th em

into renewed vibration When a per s on is
.

drowning the vit a l b ody also separates fro m

,

the dense vehicle and the intense prickly pain

incident to resuscitation is also due to th e
cause mentioned .

While we are awake and going about ou r

work in the Physical World the desire body
,

and mind both pe rmeate the dense and the

,

vital bodies and there is a constant war b e

,

tween the desire n a ture a nd the vit a l body .

The Vital b o dy is continually engaged in build

ing up the hum an organis m while the im pu ls
,

es o f the desire body tend to tire a n d to break

down tissue Grad u a ll y in the course of th e
.
,

day the vit a l body lo s es gro u nd before the

,

onslaughts o f the desire body poisons o f de

,

cay slowly accumul a te and the ow o f vit a l

uid becomes m ore a n d more sluggish until ,

at length it is incapable o f moving th e m u s

c les
. The body then feels he a vy and drowsy .

A t l a st the Vit a l body collapses as it were , ,

the little stream s o f force whi ch perme a te

each atom seem to shrivel up and the E g o ,

is forced to abandon its body to the r e s tor a

tive powers of sleep .
1 40 T HE RO SI C RU CI AN MY S TERIES

the desire body is not ful ly extracted hence ,

the restless sleep whi ch usually accompani es

dreams o f a confused nature .

There are tim es of course when dreams ,

are prophetic and come true b u t s u ch dream s

,

result only a f te r c om plete extraction of th e

desire body Under circu m stances w h ere the
.

spirit has seen some danger perhaps whi ch ,

m a y befa ll and then impresses the fact upon

,

th e brain a t th e m o m e n t o f a wa k e ning .

It al s o h appens th at the spirit goes upon a

s oul ight a n d om its to perform its part of
th e work o f re s toration then the body wi l l
,

not be t to r e enter in th e m orning so it

-
,

sleeps o n The spirit m a y th u s roam aeld

.

for a num ber o f d a ys o r even weeks before

, ,

it a gain en ters its ph ysic a l body and assum es

the norm al ro u tine o f altern a ting waking and
sleep T hi s c ondition is called tr a n c e and
.
,

the spirit may rem em ber upon its return

what it h a s seen a n d he a rd in th e super phy -

s ic a l re a lm o r it m a y have forgotten accord

, ,

ing to the stage of its developm ent and th e

depth o f the tr a nce condition When the .

trance is very light the spirit is usually

,

present in th e room where its body lies all

th e time and upon its return to the body it
,

will be able to recount to relatives all th ey

 LIFE A N D D EAT H 1 41

said and did while its body lay uncons c iou s .

Where the trance is deeper th e retu rn in g ,

spirit will us u a lly be u n c on sciou s of wh a t

happened around its body b u t m a y recount ,

e xperiences from the invisible world .

A few years ago a little girl by the name

o f Florence Benn ett in ! ank a kee Illinoi s , ,

fell into such a trance S he retu rned to th e

.

body every few days but st a yed within on l y

,

a few hours each time a n d the whole tr a nce

,

lasted t h ree weeks m ore o r less D u rin g th e

, .

ret u rns to her body s h e told relatives th a t ,

in her absence she seemed to be in a pl a c e

inhabited by all the people who di ed Bu t .

s h e s tated th a t no n e o f t h em spoke a bo u t dy

ing a n d no o n e among th em seem ed to re a l ize

t h at they were dead Amo n g t h ose s h e h a d
.

seen w a s a locom otive en gineer who h a d b een

accident a l ly ki l led His b ody w a s m a n g l ed
.

in the ac c ident whi ch cau sed de a th Th e l it .

tle girl perceive d h im th ere w a l king a b ou t

minu s arm s a n d with lesions upon h is h e a d
, ,

a ll o f which is in li n e wit h f a c ts us u a l ly see n

b y m ystic investig a tors P ersons wh o h a ve

.

been hurt in a c c iden ts go a b out thu s u ntil ,

they le a rn that a m ere wis h to h a ve th eir

body m a de whole will s u pply a new arm or
,
1 42 T HE RO SICRU C IAN MY S TERIE S

lim b ; f o r desire stu ff is most quickly and

readily m olded by t h ough t .

D e a th .

After a longer o r shorter time there comes

in e a ch life a point w h en the experiences,

which a spirit can ga in from its present e n

v i r o nm e n t have been e xhausted and life
, ,

terminates in death .

D eath may be s u dden and seemingly u n e x

p e c t e d,as f o r instance by eart h q u ake upon ,

the battle e ld o r by accident as we call it

-
, , ,

b ut in reality de a th is never accidental o r

,

unforeseen by Higher Powers N ot a spar .

row falls to the ground without divine Will .

T here are along l ife s path partings o f the

,

way as it were o n o n e side the m a in line

, ,

o f life continues onward the other path le a ds ,

into what we might call a blind alley If the .

m a n takes th a t path it soon ends in death, .

We are here in life f or the s a ke of gainin g

experience and each life has a certain harvest
to reap .If we order o u r life in s u ch a man
ner that we ga in the knowledge it is intended ,

we should acquire we continue in li fe and

, ,

opportun ities o f diff erent kinds const a ntly

com e ou r way But if we neglect them a n d
.
,

the life goes into p a ths whi ch are n o t c on

1 44 T II E RO SI C RU C IAN MY S TE RIE S

im pulsive youth to the ripen ess of manhood

,

o r wom a nhood before it becomes o f true

,

spiritu a l u s e T he longer we live after ma

tu r ity has been attained ; when we have com
m e n c e d to look upon the serious side o f li fe ,

and started to trul y learn less ons which make

for s o u lg r o w th the more experience we shall
,

g a th er and the richer o u r harvest will be .

Then in a later existence we sh a ll be so much

, ,

more advanced a n d capa b l e o f taking up

,

t a s ks th a t wo u ld be impossible with less

length of life and breadth of activity B e .

sides it is hard to die for the m a n in the

,

prime of life with a wife and growing fam ily;

whom h e loves ; with am bitions o f greatnes s
unfullled ; with h osts o f friends about h im ,

and with interests all centered upo n th e ma !

te r ia l plane o f existence It is sad for the

.

woman whose heart is bound u p in home a n d

the little ones she h as reared to leave them
, ,

perhaps without anyone to care for th em ; to

know that th ey have to ght their way alone
through the early years when her tender care
is n eeded and perh a ps to see those little ones
,

abused and s h e unable to lift a hand though

, ,

her heart may bleed as freely as it would in

earth life All these things are sad and
.
,

th e y bind th e s p i rit to e a r th for a much long

 LIF E AN D D EAT H 1 45

er time than ordinarily th ey hinder it from

,

re a ping the experiences it Should reap upon

the other side o f death , a n d they m a ke it
desir a ble along with other re a sons a lre a dy
m e n tio n ed to live a long life before passin g
,

onwards .

The diff erence between those who pass ou t

at a ripe o ld a g e and o n e who le a ves this
,

e a rth in th e prime o f life m a y be illu strated

,

by the manner in whi ch th e seed clings to a

fruit in an unripe state A gre a t de a l of .

force is necessary to te a r the stone from a

green pe a ch ; it has s u ch a tena c iou s h old
upon the fru it that shreds o f pulp a dh ere to
it when forcibly rem oved s o a lso the spirit
,

clings to t h e es h in m iddle life a n d a c e r

tain part o f its m ateri a l interest rem a in a n d
bind it to e a rth a fter death O n th e oth er .

h a nd when a life h a s been lived to th e fu ll

, ,

when the spirit h a s h a d time to re a l ize its

a m bitions o r to n d o u t t h eir f ti l ity whe
u ,
n

the du ties o f life have been performed a n d

s a tisfa ction rests upon th e brow o f a n a ged
m an or wo m a n ; o r w h en t h e life h a s been
m isspe n t and the pangs o f c ons c ie n c e h a ve
worked upon th e m a n a n d Shown h im h i s
,

m istakes w h en in f a c t t h e spirit h a s le a rn
; , ,

ed t h e lessons of life a s it must h ve to o e a c m

,
1 46 THE R o s Ic RU c IAN MY S TERIE S

to o ldage ; then it may be likened to the seed

o f the ripe fruit whi ch falls o u t clean with ,

o u t a vestige o f esh clingin g thereto at th e ,

moment the encasing pulp is opened There .

fore we say as before that th ough there is

, ,

a brighter existence in s tore f or those who

have lived well it is nevertheless best to live
,

a long life and to live it to the fullest e xtent

possible .

We also maintain that n o matter what may

,

be the circumstances o f a man s death it is

,

n o t accidental ; it has either been brough t

about by his own negle c t to embrace op p o r

tu n itie s o f growth o r else life h a s been lived
,

to the ultimate pos s ible There is o n e e x ce p

.

tion to that rule and that is due to man s

,

exercise o f his di vine prerogative o f inter

ference If we lived according to sched u le
.
,

if we all assimi l a ted the experiences design t

ed for o u r growth by the Creative Powers ,

we should live to the ultimate length but ,

w e o u rs e lv e s usually shorten o u r lives by not

taking advantage of opportunities and it also ,

happens that o th e r m e n m a y shorten o u r

lives and cu t them o ff as s u ddenl y a s the s e
called accident where b y the divine rul ers
terminate ou r life here In other words mur.
,

der , or fatal accidents brough t about b y h u

1 48 THE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE S

nal release from the body Then the dying

.

person views both worlds at once and is cog ,

ni z ant o f the presence o f both dead and liv

ing friends Under s u ch cir c um st a nces it
.

very often happens th a t a m oth er sees some

o f her children w h o h a ve gone before and s h e ,

will ex c l a im j oyously : O h there is J o h nn y
,

standing at the foot of my bed ; my but hasn t

b e grown ! T he living relatives m a y feel

shocked and u ne a sy thinking the mother suf
,

f e rin g from h a llucin a tions while in reality

,

s h e is m ore cle a r sighted than they she per

-
,

c e iv e s those who h a ve pas s ed beyond the veil ,

who h a ve come to greet and assist her to nd

herself at home in the new world she is e n
tering .

E ach human being is an individual sepa ,

rate and ap a rt from all oth ers and as e xp e r i

,

e n c e s in the life o f each di ff er from those of

all others in the interval from the cradl e to

the grave s o we m a y a lso re a sonably infer
,

that the experiences o f each spirit vary from

th ose o f every oth er spirit when it passes
,

through the gates o f b irth a n d death We .

print wh a t p u rports to be a s p i ri t m e s s a g e
com m u n icated by t h e late professor J a m e s of
H a rvard at the B osto n spirit tem ple a n d in ,

which he describes sensations which he felt

 L IFE A N D D EAT H 1 49

when passing through the gate of death We .

do n o t vou ch for its authen ti c ity a s we h a ve

not investigated the matter personally .

Professor James had prom ised to c om

m u n ic a te after de a th with h is friends in th i s
life, and the whole world of psychi c resear ch
was and still is on watch for a word from
him S everal m ediu ms have cl a im ed th at
.

Professor Jam es has comm u nicated through

them but the most rem a rkable are th ose
,

given through the Boston spirit temple as

follows :

An d thi s is de a th onl y t o f a ll a s l eep o nly to
, ,

a wa k e n in th e m o r n i n g a n d t o k no w tha t a ll is w e ll .

I a m n o t dea d o nly a ri s e n
,
.

a: a: >1:
a: a:

1 on l y k now tha t I e x pe ri enc e d a g reat sh oc k
throu gh m y e nti re sy s t em a s i f s o m e m igh ty bon d
,

h a d b ee n re nt a s u n de r F o r a m o m e nt I w a s da z e d
.

a nd l o t i
s c o n sc o u sn s s e . W h e n I a w a k e n e d I f o u n d
m s y e l f t d i b e s i d e th e o l d b o dy w h i ch h a d
s a n n g
e
s r v e d me a f ith f u ll y a nd w e ll . T o sa y t h a t I w a s

p
su r r s d i e w l
ou d o n l y i n a d e q u a t e l y e x p re s s t h e s e n

ti
s a on th a t th r ill e d my v e ry b e i n g a,
n d I r e a l i z e d
tha t s om e wo n de r f u l ch a ng e h a d t e p l e a k n a c . S u d
de nly I b e c a m e c o n s c i o u s tha t m y b o d y w a s s u r

ro u n de d b y m an y o i m y f ri e d d t l
n s a n a n u nc o n r o
,

l a bl e de s i r e t o o k po s s e s s i o n o f m e t o s pe a k a n d
t ou ch them tha t the y m i gh t k n o w th a t I st i ll l ived
o

D raw i ng a littl e n e a re r to th t w i h a h c w a s s o li e
k
1 50 THE RO SIC RU C IAN MY S TERIES

a nd y et u n li k e m ys e l f I s tret che d f o rth m y ha nd

,

a nd t ou che d th em b u t they hee de d m e no t
,
.

1k t at a: at t

Th en it was tha t f u ll s ign i fica nc e o f th e
th e

g r e a t ch a n g e th a t h a d t a k en p l a c e a sh e d u p o n m y
n ew ly a wa k e n e d s e ns e s ; th en it w a s tha t I re a li z e d

tha t an i m pe netra bl e ba rri e r s ep a ra t ed m e f rom m y

love d on e s o n ea rth a n d tha t thi s g rea t cha ng e
,

whi ch h a d ta k e n p l a c e w a s i ndee d dea th A s e n s e .

o f w ea ri n e s s a n d l o ngi n g fo r re s t t oo k po s s e s s i on
of me I s e e m e d t o b e t ra n s po rt e d thro u gh s p a c e
.
,

a n d I l o s t c o n s c i ou s n e s s to awa k en in a l a nd so
,

di ff e re nt a nd y e t s o s i m il a r t o th e o ne whi ch I h a d
la t e l y l e f t It w a s no t po s s ibl e fo r m e to de sc ribe
.

m y s e n sa ti ons wh en I a ga i n re g a i n e d c o n sc i o u s n e s s
a nd re a li z e d tha t tho u gh de a d I w a s s ti ll a live
, , .

"
Wh e n I rst b e ca m e consc i ou s o f m y n e w e n
v iro nm e nt I w a s r e s ti ng in a b e a u ti fu l gr ov e an d ,

w a s re a li z i ng a s n eve r b e fo re wha t it w a s to b e a t

p ea c e w ith mys e l f a n d a ll th e wo rl d .

It al l t t
I It

I k no w tha t on l y w ith th e g re a t e s t di f c u lty
sha ll I b e e n a bl e d t o e x p r e s s t o yo u m y s e n s a tio n s
when I f u lly re a li z e d tha t I h a d a wa k e n e d to a n e w
li fe All w a s still , n o s ou nd b rok e th e s il e n c e Da rk
. .

n e s s h a d s u rro u n de d m e In f a c t I s ee m e d to b e
.
,

e nve l ope d in a h e avy m i s t , b e y o n d whi ch m y g a z e

c ou l d n o t pen et ra t e So o n in th e di s ta n c e I dis
.

c e rn e d a f a i n t g li mm e r o f li ght , whi ch s l owl y a p

p r o a ch e d m e , a n d th e n ,
t o m y wo n d e r a n d jo y I ,

behe l d th e f a c e o f h e r w h o h a d b ee n m y gu i di ng

s tar in th e e a r l y da y s o f m e a rth li fe
y .
1 52 T HE RO SI C RU C IAN MY S TERIE S

Probably there is n o form o f torture more

commonly inicted upon the dying than th a t ,

which is caused by administering stimulants .

S uch potions have the e ff ect o f drawing a de

parting spirit into its body with the for c e o f
a catapult to remain and to s u ff e r f o r some
,

tim e longer Investigators o f conditions b e

.

yond have heard m any complaints o f such

treatment When it is seen that death must
.

inevit a bly ensue let not selsh desire to keep

,

a departing spirit a little longer prompt us

to inict s u c h tortures upon them The death .

chamber should be a place o f the utmost

qui et a place o f peace and o f prayer for at
, ,

that time and fo r th r e e a n d o n e ha lf da y s

,
-

a f te r th e la s t b r e a th the spirit is passing

,

through a Gethsemane and needs all the as

s is ta n ce that can be given The value o f the
.

life that has just been passed depends greatly

upon conditions which then prevail about th e
body ; yes even the conditions o f its future
life are inuenced by o u r attitude during
that time, s o that if ever we were o u r broth
er s keeper in life we are a thousand times

,

more s o at death .

Post mortem ex a minations embalming and

-
,

cremation du rin g the period m entioned not ,

only disturbs th e passing spirit m enta lly b u t ,

 L IFE AN D D EAT H 1 53

is even productive o f a certain am ount o f

pain for there is still a slight con nection with
,

th e discarded vehi cle If s a n it a ry l a ws r e

.

qu ire u s to preven t decom position while thus

keepin g the body f o r crem a tion it m a y be ,

p a c ked in ice till th e th r ee a n d o n e h a lf d a ys -

h a ve passed After th a t tim e th e spirit wi l l

.

n o t su ff er no m atter what h a ppens to the

,

body .

Th e P a n o ra m a
f o a P a s t L if e .

N o m atter h o w lon g we m a y keep th e spirit

from p a ssin g o u t h owever a t l a st th ere wil l ,

com e a time wh en no stim u l a n t c a n h o l d it

a n d the l a st bre a t h is dr a wn Th en th e si l ver
.

cord o f which the Bible spe a ks a n d whi ch

, ,

holds the hi gh er and the lower vehi c l es to

gether sn a ps in the heart and c au ses th a t o r
,

gan to stop T h a t r u ptu re rele a ses th e vit a l

.

body a n d th a t with the desire body a n d

, ,

mind oat above the visible body for from ,

one , to three a n d o n e h a lf d a ys while th e-

,

spirit is engaged in reviewing th e p a st l ife ,

an exceedingly importa n t p a rt of its po s t

mortem exper ience Upon th a t review de .

pends its whole existence from de a th to a

new birth .
1 54 THE RO SI C RU CIAN MYS TE RIE S

th e cradle to the grave when we do not even

,

remem ber what we did a month a g o and to ,

form a proper basis f or ou r futur e life this ,

record ought to be very accurate but even ,

th e best memory is faul ty ! When we under

s t a nd t h e di ff erence between the conscio u s

and sub conscious memory a nd th e m a nner

-

in whi c h th e latter operates the dii c u lty

,

vanishes Thi s di ff erence a n d the manner in

.

which the s u b c on s cious memory keeps an

-

a c c ur a te record o f o u r life experien c es m a y

be best understood by an ill u stration as fol ,

lows : When we go into a eld and view the

s u rroun ding lands cape vibrations in the
,

ether carries to us a pictu re o f everything

within the range o f o u r Vi s i on It is as sad
.

as it is true however that we have eyes and
,

see not , as the S avior said These vibra
.

tions impinge upon the retin a o f our eyes ,

even to the very smallest details but th ey ,

usually do n ot penetrate to o u r consciousness ,

and therefore are not rem em bered E ven .

the most powerfu l impressions fade in

cou rse o f time s o that we cann ot cal l th em
back at will when they are stored in ou r con
,

scious m emory .

When a photographer goes aeld with h is

ca m e ra the results which he obtains are dif
1 56 T HE RO SIC RU CIA N MY S TE RIES

as the blood passes through the heart cycle ,

after cycle the pictures o f ou r good and evil

,

acts are inscribed thereon to the minutest de

tail This record may be called the sub con
.
-

sciou s memory It forms the basis o f o u r fu

.

ture life when reproduced as a panorama just

subsequent to death By removal o f the seed
.

atom which corresponds to the sensitiz ed

plate in a camera the reecting ether o f the
,

vital body serves as a focus and as the li fe,

unrolls slowly backwards fro m death to birth

,

t h e pictures thereof are etched into the de

sire body which will be o u r veh icle during ou r
s oj ourn in purga tory and the rst heaven
where evil is eradic a ted and good assimilated ,

s o that in a fut u re life t h e former m a y serve

as c o n s cie n c e to withhold the man from r e

p e a tin g mistakes o f t h e past and the latter
,

will spur u s to greater good .

A phenomenon similar to the panorama o f

life usually t a kes pl a ce where a person is
drowning People who h a ve been r e s u s c i
.

ta te d speak o f having seen their whole life

in a a s h . That is because under such con
d itio n s the vital body also leaves the dense
body O f course there is n o rupture of the
.

silver cord o r life could not be restored

,
.

Unconsciousness follows quickly in drowning,

 L I FE AN D D EAT H 1 57

while in the usual post mortem review the -

c o n s c ious n ess contin u es u n til t h e Vit a l b ody

coll a pses in the same m anner th a t it does

wh en we go to sleep T h en con sciou s n ess
.

c e a ses for a wh ile and the p a n oram a i s ter

m in a te d . T herefore also the tim e occu pied

by th e panor a m a v a ries with diff erent per
s ons accordi n g to whether the vit a l body w a s
,

s trong a n d he a lthy o r h a d becom e t h in and

,

em a c i a ted by protr a c ted illne s s The lon ger .

th e tim e spent in review and th e more qu iet,

a n d peaceful the surro u ndi n gs the deeper ,

will be the etching whi c h is m a de in th e desire

body A s a lre a dy said th a t h a s a most im
.
,

portant a n d f a r reaching e e ct f o r th en the ,

su ff erings which the spirit will realize in

pu rg a tory o n account o f bad habits a n d m is
deeds will be mu ch more keen than if th ere ,

is on ly a slight im pression and in a fu tu re ,

life the still s m all voice o f conscien c e wi ll

warn s o mu ch more insistently aga in st mis
takes which c aused suff erings in the past .

When conditions are s u ch at the time o f

death that the spirit is disturbed by outside
conditions f o r instance th e din a n d tu r m o
,

of a battle the h a rrowing

,
conditions of an

a ccident o r the hysterical

w a ilings of re
l
l a
tiv e s the distraction prevents it from r e a i z
,
1 58 T HE RO SI C RU C IA N MY S TE RIES

ing an appropriate depth in the etchi ng upon

th e desire body Consequently its post m o r
.
-

tem e xistence becomes vague and insipid the ,

spirit does not harvest fr u its o f experien c e

a s it should have done h a d it passed ou t o f
,

the body in peace and under normal condi

tions It would therefore lack incentive to
.

good in a fu ture life and miss the warning

,

a gainst evil which a deep etching o f the pano

rama o f life would have given Thus its .

growth would be retarded in a very marked

degree but the b e ne ce nt powers in charge o f
,

evolution t a ke certain steps to compensate

for o u r ignorant treatment o f the dyin g and
other untoward circum stances mentioned .

What these steps are we shall discu ss when

,

considering the life of children in he a ven f o r ,

the present let it be s u ic ie nt to s ay that in ,

God s kingdom every evil is always tr a ns m u t

ed to a greater good though the process may

n o t be at once apparent .

P u rg a to ry .

D uring life the collapse o f the vital body

at night terminated o u r view o f the world
about u s a n d caused us to lose ourselves in
,

unconsciousness o f sleep When the vital .

1 60 THE RO S I C RU CIAN MY S TE RIE S

spiritual world than to this present plane o f

existence S ome lose the spiritual sight very
.

early others retain it f o r a number o f years

,

and a few keep it all through life but as the ,

birth o f a child is a death in the spiritual

world and it retains the spiritual sight f o r a
time so also death here is a birth upon the
,

spiritu al plane and the newly dead retain a

,

consciousness o f thi s world f or some time

s u bsequent to dem ise .

When o n e awakes in the D esire W orld a f

ter having passed through aforementioned
experiences the general feeling seems to b e
,

o n e o f relief from a heavy burden a feeling ,

perh a ps akin to th at o f a diver encased in a

heavy rubber suit a weighty brass helmet
,

upon his head leaden soles under hi s feet

,

and heavy weight s o f lead upon his breast

and back conned in his operati ons on the
,

bottom of the ocean by a short length o f air

tube and able only to move clumsily with
,

difculty When after the day s w o rk such

.

a man is hauled to the su rface and di vests

,

him self of h is heavy garments and he moves

about with the facility we enjoy here he must ,

s u rely e xperience a feeling o f great relief .

S om ething like that is felt by the spirit when

it h as been divested o f the mortal coil and is ,
 L I FE A N D D EAT H 1 61

able to roam all over the globe instea d o f b e

ing con ned to th e narrow environment whi ch
bound it upon earth .

There is also a feeling of relief f or those

who h a ve been ill S ickness s u ch as we know
.
,

it does not exist there N either is it n e c e s

, .

sary to seek food and shelter for in th a t ,

world there is neither heat nor cold Never .

th e le s s there are m any in the purgatorial r e

,

gions w h o g o to all bothers o f housekeeping ,

eating and drinking j u st as we do here .

George D u Mau rier in his novel Peter Ib

b e tts on gives a very good idea o f this con di
tion in the life lived between the hero and
,

the Countess of T owers This novel also il .

l u strates splendidly what h a s been s a id of the

sub conscious m em ory for Geo D u Maurier
-
, .

h as som ewhere s om ehow dis c overed an easy

,

method which anyone m a y apply to do wh a t

he calls dream ing true By taking a cer
.

tain position in going to sleep it is possible , ,

after a little practice to compel the appear

,

ance in a dre a m o f a n y scene in ou r p a s t

, ,

life which we desire to live over aga in The

,
.

book is well worth reading on that account .

When a ery nebulae has been formed in

the sky a n d comm ences to revolve a little ,

m atter in the center wh ere motion is slowest

1 62 THE RO SI C RU CIAN MY S TE RIE S

com m ences to crystalize When it has reached

.

a certain density it is caught in the swirl and ,

whirled nearer and nearer to the outward

e xtremity o f what has by that time becom e
, ,

the equator o f a revolving globe Then it is .

hurled into space a n d discarded from the

economy of the revolving s u n .

Thi s process is not ac complished automat

ic a lly as scientists would have us believe ,

a n assertion whi ch has been proven in Th e

R os ic ru c ia n Cos m o Co nc e p tion and other

places in ou r literature Herbert S pencer
.

also rejected the nebul ar theory because it

required a F irst Cause whi ch he denied
, ,

though unable to form a better hypoth esis o f

the formation o f s olar system s but it is ,

accomplished through the activity o f a Great

S pirit which we m a y call God o r by any
,

other name we ch oose A s above s o below

.
, ,

s ays the Hermetic axiom Ma n who is a .

,

lesser spirit also gathers a bout himself

,

spirit substance which crystallizes into mat

-
,

ter and becomes the visible body wh ich the

spiritual sight reveals as placed in side a n
a ura o f ner vehicles . The latter are in c o n
stant motion When the dense body is born
.

as a child it is extrem ely soft and exible .

1 64 T HE RO SI C RU C IA N MY S TE RIES

R obert L ouis S tevenson but is founded upon

,

f a c ts well known to spiritual investigators .

S uch cases are extremes of course but they,

are nevertheless possible and we have u n

fortunately l a ws which convert such p o s s ib il
ities to probabilities in the case o f a certain
cl a ss o f s o called criminals We refer to laws
-
.

which decree capital punishment as penalty

o f murder .

When a man is dan gerous he should o f

c ourse be restrained but even apart from the
,

q uestion o f the m oral rig h t o f a community

t o take the life o f anyone which we deny
s ociety by its very act o f retaliatory m u rder

d efeats the very end it would serve f o r if the

,

vicio u s murderer is restrained un der what

e ver di scipline is necessary in a prison f o r a
,

number o f years until hi s natural death he ,

will have forgotten hi s bitterness against his

victim and against s ociety and when he
,

stands as a free spirit in the D esire World ,

he may even by prayer have obtained for

g iv e n e s s and have become a good Christian .

He will th en g o o n his way rej oicing and ,

will in the future life seek to help those whom

he h u rt here .

When society retaliates and puts him to

a violent death shortly after he has commit
 L IFE A N D D EAT H 1 65

ted the crime he is m ost likely to feel him

,

self a s havin g been greatly injured a n d not ,

with ou t c a u se T hen s u ch a ch ar a cter will

.

us u a lly seek to get even a s h e c a l l s it h e

,

will go abo u t for a lon g tim e in c iting oth ers

to com mi t m u rder a n d oth er c r im es Then .

we h a ve a n epidem i c o f m u r ders in a c om
munity a condition not infrequent
, .

The regicide in S ervia shocked the Western

Wo r l d by wipi n g o u t a n entire roy a l h ou se in
a m ost shocki ngly bloody m a nner and th e,

Min ister o f th e Interior w a s o n e o f t h e chief

co n spir a tors L a ter h e wrote h is mem oirs
.
,

a n d th erein he writes that whenever th e con

s p ir a to r s h a d tried to win a n yone as a r e

c ru it t h ey alw a ys succeeded wh en t h ey burn

,

ed incense H e did n o t know why but s im

.
,

ply m en tioned it as a curious coin cidence .

T o th e m ystic investigator th e m a tter is per

f e c tly cle a r We h a ve s h own the necessity of
.

h a ving a veh i c le m a de o f th e m a terials of a ny

wor l d wh erein we wis h to fu n ction We u s u .

a lly obt a in a p hysi c a l vehi cle by goin g

through t h e wom b o r perh a p s in a few
,

speci a l c a ses from a particularly good mate

r ia lizin g m ediu m b u t wh ere it is on l y n e c e s
,

sary to wo r k u pon th e br a in a n d inu e nc e

someone else to a ct we need b ut a vehi cle
,
1 66 THE RO SI C RU C IAN MY S TE RIE S

made o f such ether as may be obtained from

fumes of many di ff erent substan c es E ach .

kind attracts di fferent classes o f spirits and ,

there is n o doubt that the incense burned at

m eetings where the conspirators were suc ~

c e s s f u l was o f a low and sensual order and

attracted spirits w h o had a grudge against

h u m a nity in gener al and the ! ing o f S ervia
in p a r ticular T hese malcontents were nu
.

able to injure the ! ing himself but used a

,

s u btle inuence which helped th e conspirators

in their work The rele a sed murderer who
.

has a grudge against society o n account o f

his execu tion m a y enter lo w gambling s a
,

loons where the fumes o f liquor and tobacco

fu rn ish am ple opportunity for working upon
the class of people who congrega te in such
pl a c es and the m a n whose spiritual sigh t has
,

been developed is often sadly impressed when

he sees the subtle in u ences to whic h those
w h o frequent s u ch places are exposed I t is a
.

f a ct o f co u rse th at a m an must be o f a low

,

caliber to be in u enced by low thoughts and ,

that it is as impossible to incite a person of

benevolent ch a r a cter to do m u rder unless
we p u t him into a hyp n otic sleep as to
m a ke a tuning fork whic h vibrates to C si n g
by striking anoth er attu ned to t h e key o f G ,
1 68 THE RO SI C RU CIA N MY S TE RIE S

a nd more Ye t there is no true satisfaction

. .

He sees the ful l gl a ss upon the coun ter but

h is spirit hand is unable to lift it He suf.

fers tortures o f T ant a lus until in time he

realizes the impossibility o f gratifying his
base desire Then he is free to g o o n s o
.

far as th a t vice is concerned He h a s been

.

purged from that evil witho u t intervention o f

an angry deity o r a conventional devil with
h ell s a m es and pitchfork to admi n ister

punishment but under the immutable law

, ,

t h a t as we s ow s o shall we reap he has suf

,

f e r e d exactly according to his vice I f his

.

craving f o r drink was o f a mild nature h e ,

wo u ld scarcely m iss th e liq u or whi ch he c a n

not there obtai n I f his de s i r e s were strong
.

and he s imply lived f o r drink he would s u f

,

fer verit a b le tortu res o f hell witho u t need

o f act u al am es . Thus the pain experienced
in eradication o f his vice wo u ld be exactly
commensurate with the energy he had e x
pended upon contracting the habit as the ,

force wherewith a falling stone strikes the

e a rth is proportionate to the energy e xpend
ed in hurlin g it upwards into the air .

Ye t it is not the aim o f God to get even ;

lo v e is hi gher than la w and in His wonderful

mercy and solicitude f or ou r welfare He has
 L IFE AN D D EAT H 1 69

opened the way o f repentance and reform

wh ereby we m a y obt a in forgiveness o f s in a s ,

t a ught by th e L ord of L ove : th e Christ N ot .

indeed contrary to la w , for His laws are im

m u t a ble b u t by a pplic a tion of a h igh er la w
, ,

wh ereby we a c c om pli s h here th a t whi ch

,

would otherwise be del a yed u ntil de a th h a d

for c ed the day of re cko n in g T he meth od is
.

a s follows :

In o u r explanation concerning the s u b c on -

scious memory we noted that a record of

every act thought and word is transm itted
,

by air a n d ether into ou r l u n gs thence to th e

,

blood a n d n a lly inscribed u pon the tablet of

,

the he a rt a cert a in little s e e da to m whi ch is

,

thu s the book o f R ecordin g Angels It w a s .

l a ter expl a in ed h o w this p a nor a m a of life is

etch ed in to the desire body a n d form s th e b a
s is o f retrib u tion after de a th . When we h a ve
com m itted a wrong and ou r cons cien c e a c
cuses u s in consequ ence a n d this accu s a tion
,

is productive of sincere repen tan ce a c c o m

p a n i e d b y r e f o r
, m the pict u re o f t h a t wro n g
act will gr a d u ally fade from th e record of ou r
life s o th at when we pass out at death it wi l l
,

not stan d accusingly a ga inst us We noted .

that the panoram a o f life u wind b ck r s

n s a w a d
just after death L ater, in the purgatorial
.
1 70 THE RO SI C RU CI AN MY S TE RIE S

life it again passes before the s pirit u al vision

o f the m a n , who then e x periences th e ex a ct
feeling o f those whom he h a s wronged He .

seems to lose his o wn identity f o r th e time b e

ing and assumes the condition of his on e
,

time victim h e experience s all the mental and

,

physical su ff ering himself whic h h e in icted

u pon others Th us h e le a rns t o be mer c iful
.

instead o f cruel and to do ri g ht instead o f

,

wrong in a fu ture life But if he awakens to

.

a thorough realization o f a wrong previous to

his death ; then as said the feeling o f s orrow
, ,

for his victim and the restitution o r redress

which he gives o f his o wn free will makes the ,

s u ff ering after death unnecessary hence ,

his sin is for g iven

.

The R osicru cian Mystery teaching gives a

s c ie n ti c m e th o d whereby an a spirant to h ig h

er lif e m a y p u r g e hi mself continually and th u s

,

be able to entirely avoid existen c e in purga

tory E ach night after retirin g the pupil r e
.

views his lif e d uring the past day in r e v e rs e

o r de r . He starts to visualize as clearly as
possible the scene which took place just b e
fore retiring He then endeavors to impartial
.

ly view his actions in that scene exam ining

them to see whether he did right or wrong I f .

the latter, he endeavors to fe e l an d r e a lize a s

1 72 T HE RO SI C RU CIA N MY S TER IE S

The same force formed the sparrow

Th at fashioned man the king ;
The G o d o f the whole
Gave a spark o f soul
To furred and feathered thing .

An d I am my broth er s keepe r

And I will gh t h is ght ,

And speak the word

F o r beast and bird
Till the world shall set thi ngs right .

Thus the pupil will continue to review each

scene in r e v e rs e o r de r from nigh t till morn
ing and to f e e l r e a lly s o r ry f o r wh atever he
,

has done amiss He will not neglect to fe e l

.

g la d either when he comes to a scene where

he has done well and th e m o r e in te n s e ly h e
,

c a n f e e l th e m o r e th o r o u g h ly h e w ill e r a di
,

c a te th e r e c o r d u p o n th e ta b le t of th e h e a r t

a n d s h a r p e n h is c on s c ie n c e s o that as time
,

goes on from year to year he will nd less

,

cause f o r blame and enhance his s oul power

enormously Thus he will grow in a meas u re
.

impossible by any less systematic method ,

and there will be no necessity f o r hi s stay in

purgatory after death .

Thi s evening e x ercise and another for the ,

morning if persistently performed day by

,
 L I FE A N D D EAT H 1 73

day will in time awaken the spiritual vision

,

a s they improve life This m atter has how

.
,

ever been s o thoroughly treated in number

,

1 1 o f the lecture series :

S p ir itu a l S ig h t
a n d In s ig h t; i ts s a f e cu ltu r e a n d c on tr o l

,

th a t it is u nne c essary to dwell upon the mat

ter further in this place .

Th e F irs t He a v e n .

In the rst heaven which is located in th e

,

higher regions o f the D esire World the pan ,

oram a o f life again unrolls and reveals every

scene where we a im ed to help or benet o th
ers They were not felt at the tim e the spirit
.

was in the lower regions for hi gher desires ,

cannot express them selves in the coarse mat

ter composing the lower regions of the D e
sire World b u t when the spirit ascends to
,

the rst heaven it reaps from each scene a ll

the good which it expressed in life It will .

feel th e gratitu de poured out by those whom

it helped if it comes to a scene where itself
,

received a favor from others a n d wa s g ra te

f u,
l it will experience the gr a tit u de anew .

The s u m o f a ll these feelings is there amalga

mated into the spirit to serve in a future life
as incentives to good .
1 74 THE RO SIC RU C IAN MY S TE RIE S

Thus the s oul is purged from evil in pur

,

g a to r y ,
a n d strengthened in good in the rst
heaven In on e region th e extract o f s n e r
.

ings become c o n s cie n c e to deter u s from doing

wrong in th e other region the quintessen c e
,

o f good is transmuted to b e n e v o le n c e and a l

truis m which are the basis o f all true prog

ress Moreover purgatory is f a r from being
.
,

a place o f p u n is h m e n t it is perh aps th e most

,

b e n e ce nt realm in nature f o r b e ca u s e o f ,

p g
u r a ti o n w e a r e b o r n i n n oc e n t life after life .

Th e tenden cies to commit the same evil f o r

which we su ff ered rem ain with us and temp
ta tio n s to commit the s a me wrongs will b e
placed in o u r path un til we have consciously
overcome th e evi l here tem ptation is not s in
, .

however the s in is in yielding

, .

Among th e inhabitants of the invisible

world there is o ne class which lives a partie
u la r ly painful life , som etimes for a great
many years nam ely the s ui cide w h o tried to
, ,

play tru ant from the school o f l ife Ye t it is .

not a n angry God o r a malevolent devil wh o

ad m ini s ters p u nishment but an immu table ,

la w which proportion s the su ff erings di ffer ~

ently to each individ u a l suicide .

We le a rned previo u sly when considering ,

the World o f T hought that each form in this

,
1 76 T HE RO SI C RU C IAN MY S TE R IE S

e nc e d in consequence o f the act o f s u icide wi ll

remain with him in futur e lives and deter h im
from a similar mistake .

In the rst heaven there is a class who have

not had any p u rgatorial existence and who
lead a particularly j oyous life : the children .

O ur homes may be s a ddened almost beyond

endurance when th e little ower is broken
,

and the sunshine it brought has gone But .

could we see the bea u tifu l existence w hich

these little ones lead and did we understand
,

the great benets which accrue to a child from

its li m ited s tay there o u r sorrow would b e at
,

least ameliorated in a great m easure and the ,

wound upon ou r heart would heal more

quickly Besides as nothing else in the
.
,

world happens without a c a use s o there is ,

also a much deeper cause for infant mortal

ity than we are usu a lly aware o f and as we ,

awake to the facts of th e case we shall be,

able to avoid in fu ture the sorrow incident to

loss o f o u r little ones .

To understand the case properly we must

revert to the experiences of th e dyi ng in the
de a th hour We rem em ber th a t the pano
.

ram a o f the past life is etch ed upon the desire

body during a per iod v a ryi n g from a few
h ours to t hree a n d o n e h a lf d a ys just s u b s e
-
,
 LI FE A N D DEAT H 1 77

quent to dem ise We rec a ll also th a t u pon

.
,

th e depth of this etching depends th e cle a r

ness o f the pictu re and that the m ore vivid
,

th is p a n or a m a o f life the m ore inten sely will

,

the s pirit s u ff er in purga tory a n d fee l th e

joys o f heaven ; also that the gre a ter the s u f
,

f e r in g in p u rg a tory the stronger th e consci

e n ce in the next life .

It was e xpl a ined how the horrors of death

u pon the battleeld in an a c c ident o r ot h er
,

u n tow a rd circum st a n ces wou ld preven t th e

spirit from giving a ll its attention to the pan
or a m a o f life with the res u lt th a t there wou ld
be a light etchi ng in the desire body followed ,

by a vague and insipid existence in purga tory

and the rst heaven It w a s a lso stated th a t
.

hyster ic a l l a m en tations in th e de a th ch am b er
would prod u ce the s a m e e ff ect .

A spirit which had thus escaped su ff ering

proportionate to its m isdeeds a n d which had
,

n o t experien c ed t h e pleas u re commen s u r a te

with the good it h a d done wou ld n o t in a f u

,

ture life h ave as well developed a cons c ience

as it ou ght to have n o r would it be as b e n ev
,

olen t as it o u ght to be and therefore the life

, ,

terminated under conditions over whi ch th e

spirit had n o c on trol wou ld be p a rtly wa sted
,
.

T he Gre a t L eaders o f humanity th erefore

1 78 T HE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE S

take steps to counteract such a calamity and

prevent an inj u stice T he spi r it is brought
.

to birth c a used to die in child h ood it r e e u

, ,
-

ters the D e s ire World and in th e rst h eaven

it is tau ght the lessons o f which it was de
p r iv e d previously .

A s the rst heaven is located in th e D esire

World which is the real m of light and col
,

or where matter is shaped most readily by

,

thought the little ones are given wonderful

,

toys im possible o f constru ction here They .

are taught to play wi th c o lo rs w h ic h w o rk

u p o n th e ir m o r a l c h a r a c te r in exactly th e
manner each child requi res A nyone who is .

at all sensitive is a ff e c ted by the color o f h is

clothing and surroundings S ome colors have .

a depressing e ff ect whi le others inspire us

,

with energy a n d others again soothe and

,

comfort us In the D esire World the e ff ect

.

o f colors is much m ore intense they are much .

more potent factors of good and evil there

than here a n d in thi s color play the chil d
, ,

imbibes unconsciously the quali ties which it

did not acqu ire o n account o f accident or la
m entations o f relatives O ften it a lso falls to
.

the lot o f s u ch relatives to care for a ch ild in

the in vi sible world or perhaps to give it birth
,

and see it die Thus they recei ve just retri

.
1 80 THE RO SIC RU CIA N MY S TE RIE S

counts for the inane goody goody nonsense

,
-

o f which these thi ngs deliver themselves .

When passing from the rst to the second

h eaven the spirit experiences the condition
,

known and described previously as The

Great S ilence where it stands u tterly alone
,

c onscious only o f its divinity When that si

.

lence is broken there oats in upon th e sp irit

celestial harmonies o f th e w o rld of ton e
wh ere th e second heaven is l ocated It s eems
.

then to lave in an ocean o f sound and to ex

p e r ie n c e a joy beyond a ll description a n d
words as it ne a rs its heavenly h om e f or thi s
,

is the rst o f the truly spirit u a l rea lm s from

which the spirit has been exiled d u ring its
earth life and the subsequent post mortem -

existence In th e D esire World its work was

.

c o r r e c tiv e but in the W orld o f Thought the

,

human spirit becomes o n e with the nature

forces and its c r e a tiv e activity begins .

Under the law o f causation we reap exactly

what we sow and it would be wrong to pl a ce
,

o n e spirit in an environment where there is a

scarcity o f the necessities o f life where a ,

scorching sun burns the c rop and mi llions die

from famine o r wh ere the ra g ing ood
,

sweeps away primitive h a bitations not bui lt

to withstand its ravages and to bring another
,
 L I FE A N D D EAT H 1 81

spirit to birth in a land of plenty with a fer ,

ti l e soil which yields a m a xim u m of in crea s e

with a m inim u m o f l a bor where th e ear th is
,

rich in m in er a l s th a t m a y be used in in du s tr v
to fa c ilit a te tr a n sport a tion o f produ c ts of th e
soil from on e point to another If we were .

thu s placed without actio n o r a cqu ies c en c e

upon o u r part t h ere wou ld be no j u sti c e b u t
, ,

a s o u r po s t m ortem existen ce in pu rg a tory

-

a n d the rst heaven is b a sed upon o u r m or a l

attitude in this life s o o u r activities in the

secon d heaven are determ ined by ou r m ent a l
a s pir a tio n s a nd th ey produce o u r fu ture
physi c al environ m ent f o r in th e secon d h e a v
,

e n ,
the spirit be c o m es p a rt o f the n a t u re
forces which work upon the earth a n d ch a nge
its clim a te ora a n d fa u n a A spir it o f a n
,
.

in dolent n a ture wh o in du lges in da y d r e a m s

,

a n d m et a physic a l specu l a tion s h e r e is not ,

tr a n sform ed by de a th respe c tin g its m en t a l

a ttit u de a ny m ore th a n reg a rdi n g it s m or a l
propen sities It will dre a m awa y tim e in
.

heaven glorying in its sights a n d so u n d s

,
.

T hus it will negle c t to work po u n it s f tur

u e

o
c u ntry a nd return to a b a rren a n d a rid la n d .

S pirits o n the oth er ha d whose m ter i l

,
n ,
a a

spir a tio n s le a d t h e m to de s ire s o called-

s o l
a
id com forts o f he a rth a n d h om e ; who a m to
1 82 T HE RO S I C RU CIAN MY S TE RIE S

prom ote great industries and whose mind is

concerned in trade and comm erce will build ,

in heaven a land that will suit their purpose :

fertile im m in e r a lize d with navigable river s
, ,

and sheltered harbors They will return in

.

tim e to enj oy upon earth the fruits o f their

l a bors in the sec on d heaven as they reap the
,

result o f th eir life upon earth in purgatory

and the rst he a ven .

Th e Th ird He a v e n .

In the third heaven most people have very

little consciousness f o r reasons explained in
connection with the R egion o f A bstract
T hought f or there the th ird heaven is lo
,

c a te d
. I t is therefore more of a place o f wait
ing where the spirit rests between the time
wh en its labors in th e s e c o n d h e a v e n have been
com pleted a n d the time when it again e xp e ri
e n c e s the desire f or rebirth But from thi s
.

re a l m inventors bring down their ori g inal

ide a s ; there the philanthropist obtains the
clearest vision o f how to realize hi s utopian
dream s and the spiritual aspirations o f the
saintly minded are given renewed impetus .

In time the desires o f the spirit f o r further

e xpe riences draws it back to rebirth and th e ,
1 84 THE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S T ERIE S

been made no evasion is possible d u ring life .

We have free will wi th regard to the fu ture ,

but the past m a tu r e destiny we cannot e s
cape as sho wn by the incident recorded in
,

Th e R o s ic ru cia n Cos m o Co n c e p tio n where ,

the writer Warn ed a well known L o s An geles

lecturer that if he left his home upon a cer
tain day he would be injured by a convey
,

ance in he a d neck bre a st and shoulders

, , , .

The gentlem an believed and intended to heed

o u r warning N evertheless h e went to S ierra
.

Madre to lecture u pon the fatefu l day He .

was injured in th e places stated by a collision

and later explained : I thought the twenty
eighth w a s the twenty n in t -

When the spirit has made its choice it de ,

scends into the second he a ven where it is in

structed by th e Angels and A rchangels h ow
to build an archetype o f the body which it
will later inha b it upon earth A lso here we
.

note the operation of the great law o f justice

which decrees that we reap what we s o w I f .

o u r tastes are coarse and sensual we shall ,

build an archetype which will express these

qualities if we are rened and o f aesthetic
taste we shall build an archetype corre
,

s p o n din g ly rened but no one can obtain a

,

better body than he can build Then as th e .

,
 LIFE A N D D EAT H 1 85

a rchitect wh o builds a h o u se in which he a f

te r w a r ds lives will s u ff er discomf ort if h e
,

neglects to properly ven til a te it so also th e

,

spirit feels disease in a poorly constructed

body and as the archite c t learns to avoid
,

m istakes and rem edy the short comings o f -

o n e ho u se when b u ilding another s o also th e

,

spirit which s u ff ers from defects in its body ,

learns in time to bu ild better and better vehi

cles .

In the R egion o f Concrete Thought the ,

spirit also draws to itself m a teri a ls for a new

mind A s a magnet draws iron lings b u t
.

leaves other substances a lone s o also each

,

spirit draws only the kind o f m in d stu ff whic h -

it used in its form er life plu s th a t which it

,

has learned to u s e in its presen t post mortem -

state . Then it descends into the D esire

World where it gathers m a terial f or a n e w
desire body s u ch as wi l l express appropri
a tely its m or a l c h a r a c teristics a n d l a ter it
,

attr a cts a cert a in a m ou n t o f eth er which is

bu ilt into th e m old o f th e ar ch etype c on
stru cted in the second he a ven a n d acts a s c e
men t between the solid s liquids a n d ga seou s
,

m ateri a l fro m t h e bodies o f p a ren ts wh i ch

form s th e den se physic a l body o f a chi l d and ,

in due tim e the latter is b rou ght to birth .

1 86 T HE RO SI C RU CIAN MY STE RIES

Bir th a nd Child Life .

It must n o t be imagined however , that

,

when the little body o f a child has been born,

the process o f birth is completed Th e dense .

physical body has had the longest evolution ,

and as a shoemaker w h o has worked at his

trade for a nu mber o f years is more e xpert
than an apprentice and can make better shoe s
and qu ick e r s o also the spirit which has built
,

many physical bodies produces them qui ckly ,

but the v ital b o dv is a later acquisition o f the

human be ing Therefore we are n ot s o e xpert
.

in building that vehicle Consequently it

.

takes longer to construct that from the mate

rials not used up in making the lining o f th e
archetyp e and the vital body is n o t born until
,

the seventh year Then the period o f rapid

.

growth commences The desire body is a

.

still later addition o f composite man and is ,

not brought to birth until the fourteenth year

when the desire nature expresses itself m ost

strongly during s o called hot youth and the
-

,

m ind which makes m a n m a n does n o t come

, ,

to birth unt il the twenty r s t year

-
In law .

that age is recognized as the earliest time h e

is tted to e x er cise a franchi se .
1 88 T HE RO SI C RU C IAN MY S TERIE S

of m orning a nd
dwell in the u tterm ost par ts
of the sea even there s h all thy h a nd le a d
,

me .

When in the dawn of Being G o d th e Fa th

, ,

e r enunciated Th e W o r d a n d Th e H o ly S p i r ,

i t m oved u pon the s e a o f homogeneo u s V i rg in

Ma tte r primeval D a rk n e s s was turned t o
,

L ig h t That is therefore the prime m a n if e s

.

ta tion o f D eity and a stu dy of the principles

,

o f L ight will reve a l to the m ystic intuition a

wonderful s ource o f spiritual inspiration As .

it would take us to o far aeld from ou r sub

j e c t we shall n o t enter into an elucidation of
that theme here except so far as to give an
,

elementary idea o f how divine L ife energizes

the human frame and stimulates to action , .

Truly God is ONE and undivided He en

, ,

folds within His Being all that is as the white ,

light embraces all colors Bu t He appears .

three fold in manifestation as the white light

-
,

is refracted in three primary colors : Blue ,

Y ellow and R ed Wherever we see these col

.

o r s they are em blematical of the F ather S o n ,

and H oly S pirit These three primary rays.

of divine L ife are di ff u sed o r radiate d

through the s u n and produce L if e Co ns ciou s ,

n e s s and F o r m upon ea c h of the seven light

bearers the planets whi ch are called th e
, ,
 LI FE A N D D EAT H 1 89

S even S pirits before the Throne Their

.

nam es are : Mercury V enus E arth Mars , , , ,

Ju piter S aturn and Uranus B ode s law

, .

proves that N eptune does not belong to ou r

solar system a n d the reader is referred to

S implied S cientic A strology by the
,

present w r iter for m athematical demons tra

,

tion o f this conten tion .

E ach o f the seven planets receives the light

o f the sun in a diff e e r n t measure according ,

to its proximity to the central o r b and th e

constitu tion of its a tm osphere a n d the b e ,

ings upon each according to their stage of

,

developm ent have a ffin ity for some o f th e

,

s olar rays . T hey absorb the color or colors

congruou s to them a n d reect the rem a inder
,

upon the other pl a n ets T his reected ray .

bears with it an im pulse o f the nature o f th e

beings with whi ch it has been in contact .

Thus the divi n e L ight and L ife comes to

each planet either directly from the sun or
, ,

reected from its s ix sister planets and a s ,

the s u m m er breeze which has been wafted

over bloom in g elds carries upon its silent
invisible wings th e blended fragrance o f a
m ultit u de o f owers so also t
,
h e s u btle in u

e n ce s from t h e garden o f God bring to u s the

commingled impulses o f all the S pirits and
1 90 THE RO SI C RU C IA N MY S TERIES

in that varicolored light we live and move a nd

have ou r being .

The r a ys whi ch come directly from the s u n

are productive of spiritual ill umination th e ,

reected rays from other planets m ake for

added consciousne s s and moral developmen t
and the r a ys reected by way o f the moon
give physical growth .

But a s e a ch planet can only absorb a ce r

t a in qu a ntity o f o n e o r m ore colors a c cording
to the gener a l stage o f evolution there s o ,

each being u pon e a rth : mineral pl a nt an imal

, ,

and m a n c a n only absorb a n d thrive upon a

cert a in qu a ntity o f th e v a rious rays proje c t
ed upon the e a rth Th e rem ainder do n o t af
.

feet it o r prod u ce sensation any more th a n

,

the blind a r e consciou s o f light and color

whi ch exists everywhere around them .

Therefore e a ch being is di ff erently a ff ected

by the stell a r r a ys and the science o f A strol
o gy a fu n d a m ent a l truth in nature o f e n or
,

mo u s benet in the attainment o f sp iritual

growth .

From a horoscopic gure in mystic script

we may le a rn o u r o wn strength a n d weaknes s ,

with the path best suited to o u r developm ent ,

o r we may s e e the tendencies o f those friends

wh o come to u s a s chi l dren a n d what traits

,
1 92 T HE RO SI C RU CIA N MY S TE RIE S

necessary to erect a horoscope Many con .

struct a horoscope in s u ch an involved m a n

ner s o fearfu lly a n d wonde r fully m a de
,

that it is unre a d a ble to th em selves or other s ,

while a sim ple gure easy o f reading may be

,

constructed by anyone who k nows how to add

and subtract This method has been thor
.

oughly elucidated in S im plied S cient ic

A strology which is a com plete text book ,

thou gh s m all and inexpensive and any par ,

ent who has the welfare of his o r her children

thoroughly at heart s h o u ld endeavor to learn
for themselves f o r eve n though their ability
,

m a y not co m pare with th a t o f a professional

a strologer, their intim a te knowledge o f the
child and th eir deep interest wi ll m ore than
compensate for such lack and enable them to
s e e most deeply i n to the child s character by

means o f its h oroscope .

E du c a ti on o f Childr e n .

R espectin g the birth o f the v a rious vehi

cles a n d the in uen c e whic h th at h a s upon
life we may s a y : that du ring the tim e from
,

birth to the seventh year the lines o f growt h

o f the physic a l body are deter m ined and as ,

it h a s been noted that sound is b u ilder both

 L IFE !AN D D EAT H 1 93

in the great and small we may well imagin e ,

that rhyt hm must have an enorm ous in u

ence upon the growing a n d sensitive litt l e

child s organis m T h e apostle John in th e
.

rst chapter of his gospel expresses thi s idea

mystic a lly in the be a utifu l words In t h e :

beginning was the W O R D and

without it was not anything made that w a s

made and the word became esh
the word is a rhythm ic sound whi ch issued ,

from the Creator reverberated through th e

,

uni verse and marshaled countless millions o f

atoms into the m ultiplex variety o f shapes
and form s which we s e e abou t us Th e .

mountain the m a yow e r the mouse and th e

, ,

man a r e all em bodiments o f th a t great Co s

mic Word which is still sounding th rough th e
universe a n d which is still building and eve r
buildin g though u n he a rd by ou r insensitive
ears But though we do not hear that w o n
.
.

de r fu l celestial sound we may also work u pon

,

the little child s body by terrestrial m u s ic

,

and though the nursery r hymes a r e with ou t

sense they are nevertheless be a rers of a w on
,

de r f u l rhythm and the m ore a child is taug h t

,

to say sing a n d repe a t th em to d a nce and to

, ,

m arch to them ; the m ore m u s i is

c in c o r p o

rated into a child s daily life the stronger

,
1 94 THE R OS IC E U C IAN MY S TE RIES

and healthier will be its body in future years .

There are two m ottoes which apply d u ring

this period o n e to the ch i l d and th e other to
,

the parent : E xa m p le and Im ita ti o n N o crea .

t u re under heaven is m ore im itative than a

little child and its conduct in a fter years wi ll
,

depend largely upon the exam ple set by its

parents durin g its early life It is no use to .

tell the child not to mind it has n o m ind ,

wherewith to discrimi nate but follows its ,

natur a l tendency, as w a ter ows down a hill ,

when it imitates Therefore it be h ooves

.

every parent to remem ber fro m m orning til l

night that watchfu l eyes are upon h im all the
time waiting but for him to act in order to
follow his exam ple .

It is o f the utm ost importance that the

child s clothi ng should be very loose p a rtien

,

la rly the clothing o f little boys as chang ,

garments often produce vices which follow a

man through life .

If a nyone should attempt to forcibly ex

tract a babe from the protecting wom b o f its
mother the outrage woul d result in death
, ,

because the babe had n ot yet a rrived at a m a

tu r ity sufcient to endu re im pacts o f th e
P h ysic a l World In the th ree septen a ry p e
.

r io ds w h ich follow birth the invisible vehi

,
1 96 T HE RO SI C RU CIA N MY S TER IE S

that puberty is reac hed A t the age of four

.

teen we have the birth o f the desire bod y ,

wh ich marks the com mencem ent o f self asser -

tion In earlier years the child regards itself

.

more as belonging to a family and s u b or di ,

nate to the wishes o f its parents than after

the fo u rteenth year The reason is thi s : In
.

the throat o f the f ce tu s a n d the youn g child

there is a gland called the thymus gland ,

whi c h is largest before birth then graduall y

,

diminishes thr ough the years o f chi l dh ood

and nally disappears at ages which vary ac
co r ding to the c haracteristi c s o f the ch ild .

Anatom ists have been pu z zled as to the fun c

tion o f this organ and have not yet come to
any settled conclusion but it has been sug
,

gested that before development o f the red

marrow bones the child is not able to m a nu
,

facture its own blood and that therefore th e

,

thymus gland contains an essen ce supplied ,

by the parents upon whi ch the chi ld may

,

draw during infancy and chi ldhood till able ,

to manufacture its o wn blood That theory

.

is appro xi m ately true and as th e family

,

blo od ows in the chi ld it looks upon itself a s

,

part of the fam ily and n o t as an E go Bu t .

the moment it commences to manufacture its

o wn blood the E g o asserts itself , it is no
,
 LI FE AND DEA T H 1 97

longer Papa s girl o r Mamma s boy it h a s a n
,

I de n tity o f its o wn T hen com es the c r iti

-
.

cal age when parents reap wh a t th ey h ave

s own T he mind has n o t yet been born noth
.
,

ing holds the desire natu re in che ck a n d ,

'

much very m u c h depen ds upon how th e

, ,

child has been taught in earlier years a n d

what example the parents have s e t At this .

point in life self a ssertion the feeling I a m
-
,

m y s e lf i s stronger than at any other ti m e

,

and therefore authority should give pl a ce to

Adv ic e the parent should practice the utm ost
,

tolerance f o r at no tim e in life is a h u m a n b e

,

ing a s m uch in need o f symp a thy a s d u ring

the seven years from fou rteen to twenty one -

when the desire nature is ram pant and u n

checked .

It is a crim e to inict corpore a l pu nis h

ment upon a child a t a ny age Migh t is n ever .

right a n d as the stronger parents s h o u ld a l

, ,

ways have com p a ssion for the we a ker Bu t .

there is o n e fe a tu re of corporeal punishm en t

which m akes it p a rticu l a rly d a ngerou s to a p
ply it to the you th : n am ely th a t it w a kens th e
,

pas s ional n a tu re whi ch is alre a dy perh a ps b e

yond the control of a growing boy .

If we whip a dog we shall soon bre a k its

,

spirit and transform it into a cringing cu r ,

1 98 THE RO SI C RU C I AN MY S TE RIE S

and it is deplor a ble th a t s ome parents seem

to regard it as their m ission in life to bre a k
the spirit of their children with the rule o f
the rod If there is o n e universal l a ck am ong
.

the hu man race which is more apparent th a n

any other it is lack of will and as p a rents we
, ,

may remedy th e evil in a l a rge measure by

guiding the wills o f o u r chi ldren along suc h
lines as dictated by o u r own more mature
reason s o that we help them to g row a back
,

bone instead of a wi s hbone with whi ch u n

fortunately most o f us are a ficted Ther e .

fore never whip a child when p u ni s hment is

, ,

necessary correct by withholding favors o r

,

withdrawing privileges .

A t the twenty r s t year the birth o f the

-

mind transform s the youth into a man or a

wom an fully equipped to commence hi s own
life in the school o f experi ence .

Thus we have followed the human spirit

a round a life cycle from death to birth and

maturity we have seen h o w im mu table law

,

governs his every step and how he is ever

en c om passed by the loving care o f the Gre a t
and Glorious Beings w h o are the ministers o f
God The method o f his future developmen t
.

will be explained in a later work which will

deal with The Christian Mystic Initiation .
TH E R O S I C R U C I A N
C O S M O C O N C E P TIO N
-

MY STIC CH R IS TIANITY
A N EL E M E NTAR Y TR EATIS E UP O N

MAN S P AS T E V OLUT I ON P R E S E N T CONS TITU

,

TI ON AND F UT UR E D E V E L OP ME N T

BY

MA! HEINDEL

ITS ME S S AG E AND MIS S ION .

A S ANEMIN D .

A S OF T HE A R T .

N
A S O U D B OD Y .

THIRD ED IT ION
R evise d , E n la rg e d a nd Inde xe d .

PR ICE O NE D OL L A R AND I
F F TY CE N T S .

P O S T F R EE .
 TH E R O S I C R UC I A N CO S M O CO N C E P T I O N

T h ir d E d iti o n .

Th e ha n ds o m e s y m b o li c a l c ove r d e s i g n is s t a m pe d
in re d bl a c k a nd g o ld e dg e s a l s o g ilt P ri c e
, , .

T hi s b oo k n o w c o n t a i n s 602 p a g e s l Z m o a n d 3 -
.

p a g e s f ro m p 5 14 ha v e b ee n re writt e n th e s u b j e c t c
.
,

In iti a ti o n h a s b ee n m u c h m o r e tho ro u g hl y t re a t e
th a n in th e e a rli e r e d iti o n s a n d a n u m b e r o f p a g e
h a v e b ee n d e vo t e d t o a n e x p l a n a ti o n o f th e S y m b o lis
of th e R o s e Cro ss .

L a s t , b u t n o t l e a s t , a n i n de x o f a b o u t 6 0 p a g e s h a
b ee n a dde d, whi c h is s o tho ro u g h tha t it m i g ht a l m o s
b e c a ll e d a C o n c o rda n c e .

Th e I n de x is a rra n g e d with p a rti c u l a r vi e w t o fa c il

'

t a t e t o p i c a l s t u dy , b u t a t th e s a m e ti m e a l p ha b e ti c
o rde r h a s b ee n a dhe re d t o a s n e a rl y a s p o s s ibl e W .

a d d a n a l p h a b e ti c a l li s t o f th e w o rds i n d e x e d .

O pp o s it e e a c h wo rd in thi s li s t w ill b e fo u n d a n u m
b e r, whi c h r efe rs t o a p a g e in th e I n d e x O n th a t p a g .

th e wo rd is g ro u pe d w ith o th e rs pe rt a i n i n g t o th
sa m e top i c .

Th e s t u d e n t is p a rti c u l a rl y r e q u e s t e d t o n o t e th
c o n s e c u ti ve a r ra n g e m e n t o f r efe r e n c e s F o r in s ta n c
.

u n d e r th e h e a d i n g V it a l Bo d y
, , th e fi rs t r e fe re n c
t e ll s wh e r e tha t vehi c l e h a d it s rs t i n c ep ti o n th e la s ,

d i r e c t s t o a p a g e w hi c h t r e a t s o f its n a l s p irit u a liz a

ti o n a n d th e i n t e rv e n i n g refe re n c e s p o i n t in o rde rl
,

s u c c e s s i o n t o th e p l a c e s w h e r e it s g ra du a l u n fo ldm e n
is d e s c rib e d . r efe r e n c e s in th e m s e l ve s fo rm a
. ,

e x c e ll e n t s y ll a b u s o f th e vit a l b o dy .

By d ili g e n t a n d i n t e lli g e n t u s e o f thi s i n de x th e R o s

ic ru c ia n Co s m o Co n c ep ti o n w ill b e fo u n d a m o s t c o m
p e e a d
l t n e x h a u s ti v e r efe r e n c e lib ra r y a n,
d w e r e c o m
m e n d s t u d e n t s to s t u dy t h e i n d e x a s m u c h a s t h e b o o k
Th e m r e e r e ad i n g o f r efe r e n c e s w ill o f t e n c l e a r c o m
p r eh e n s i o n o f a s u b j e c t a n d reve a l m u ch tha t IS h i d
de n in a e n e ra l r e a di n o f th e b oo k .
 INF O RMATIO N

B UREAU

(Ebe B us it rut iau bilos opbp

tr!

causatinus aub g unners

43 2 pp 1 2 m o s tyle an d ni sh lik e this boo k : h an dso m e
. .
,

sym b olic al c over s ta m pe d i n re d bla ck an d gold Edges

, .

full g old re en forc e d an d v ery du ra bl e bin d ing Pri ce by

,
-
.

m a il
Many qu e s ti on s were
ask ed the wri ter a fter hi s lectures
in vari ous p art s of the Unite d S tate s an d E u r o p e ; qu e s ti o ns
wh i ch d ealt w ith an d p r obe d d ee p l y int o e v ery p ha s e o f the

s oul li fe here an d Herea fter T hes e qu e sti ons he sa v ed

- .

an d later selec ted 1 89 of them wh i ch were o f m os t u n i

,

v er s al intere s t for com pilati on i nto a b oo k of occult in

fo rm ati on an d rea dy re feren ce .

I t i s a b oo k whi c h ou ght to be in th e libra ry o f e v ery

occult s t ud ent th e h an ds om e s tyle o f thi s p u bli c ati on will
,

mak e i t much a pp rec iated a s a g i ft -b oo k a nd th e merely
nom inal p r i c e i s an i n cent i ve to liber ality .
 33 0511211 113 3 1!
I I

I NT E R P R E T AT IO N OF

t u s ttamtp
I I I

ANCIE NT T RUTHS IN MO DE R N DR ES S

T he pri ce o f the se lec ture s i s 5 cent s ea ch plus 1 cen t

p os t age for ea c h c opy .

No . 1 . T H E RI DDLE OF L I F E AN D DEATH . Presen t
in g a s o l u ti o n whi c h i s bo th sc ienti c an d religi ous .

No 2 . . WHERE A R E TH E DEAD !


No 3 . . S P I RI TUAL S I G H T AND TH E S P I RITUAL
WO RLDS
S ho win g tha t we h a v e a latent s ixth
.


sen s e an d what it o pen s u p to us w hen cu lti v ated
, .

No 4 . . S LEE P DREAM S T RA NCE HY P N O TI S M MEDI
, , ,

UM S H IP AND I NSAN I TY .

No 5 . . DEATH AN D L I F E I N P URGAT ORY Desc rib .

in g the metho d o f d eath an d p u rg ati on al s o h ow im ,

m u table la w an d n ot a n a v en g in g D ei ty tran smu tes

th e evil ac t s of li fe to e v erla s t in g g oo d .

No 6 . .LIF E AN D ACT IVI TY I N H EA VEN S h owi ng .

h o w the Hum an S pirit as s im ilate s the G oo d of its

pa s t li f e an d c reate s it s en v ironm ent fo r a f u tu re re
birth al so h ow it prepares a n ew bo dy
, .

No 7 .
'
.BIRTH A F o UREo LD Ev E NT D e sc ribin g the .

antenatal pre p a rati o n s for birth an d the s piritu al ,

c h an g e s whi ch ina u gu rate the peri od o f e xc ess i v e

phys i c al g ro wth in the 7th y ear t he c a us e of p u be rty ,

at 1 4 an d m atu rity at 2 1 T hi s kn owledg e i s a b so .

lu te ly e ss en t ial to the rig h t c are of a c hil d .

No 8
. .TH E S C IENCE OF NUTRI TI O N HEALTH AND ,

P R O TRA C TED Y O UTH S h ow in g the m aterial c ause of
.

earl y d eath an d the ob vi ous pro phyla cti c .

No 9
. .T HE A ST RO N O MICAL ALLECo RIE s OF TH E

BIBLE .

No 1 0
. . ASTROLOG Y ; ITS S COP E AN D LI M ITATI ONS .

S howi ng the s piritu al s i d e of a s trol ogy h ow it enable s ,

th os e wh o s tud y it to help thems el ve s an d o thers .

NO 1 1
. . S P IRITUAL S I GHT AN D I NS I GHT
I ts cu l
tu re c ontr ol an d leg iti m ate u s e givin g a d enite an d
, ,

s a f e m eth o d o f attainm ent .

No 1 2
. . P ARS I FAL Wagner s f am ous My sti c Mu s i c
.

D ra m a a m ine of i n sp iratio n to spiritu al effort

, .

No 1 3
. . T H E ANGELS As F ACT ORS I N EVO LUTI O N .

S ho win g j us t what p art the A n gel s A r changel s , ,

C heru bi m S era p him et c p lay in the D ram a of L ife

, , .
,
.

No 1 4
. . L UCIEE R T EM P TER O R BE N EEACTOR
,
S how
in g the o rigi n an d the m i ss i on of pa in an d s orrow .

NO 1 5
. . T HE MY STERY OE G O L GO TH A AN D TH E

CLEA N SI NG BLOO D A rati onal e xplanati on whi ch
.

s ati s e s hea d an d heart a li ke .

NO 1 6
. . T H E S TAR OF BETHLEHEM ; A MY STIC

F AC T .

No 1 7
. . T H E MY S TERY O F TH E H O L Y G RAI L T he .

way to attain m ent .

NO 1 8
. . TH E LORD S P RAYER

S howing the e soteri c
.

s i d e an d h ow i t applie s to the s e v en fol d con s tituti on

,
-

of m an .

No 1 9
. . TH E CO M ING F ORCE ; V RIL O R WHAT !

NO 2 0
. F ELL OW S HI P AN D TH E CO M ING RA CE
. .

S h ow in g wh y the Bible co ntain s b ot h the ! ewi s h an d

the Ch ri s tian Relig io n s, a n d why b oth c omb ine d are
p ecu liarly a d apte d to the sp iritu al nee ds o f th e We st
e rn Worl d an d why ! esu s was b orn a ! ew .
 u rntitit a strology
'

T hi s i s a com plete boo k of instru ction It h as a f1 .

s et of ta ble s nec essa ry to learn h ow to c as t a h o ro sco p e in

th oroug hl y sc ienti c mann er an d the rule s h a v e bee n
,

s im p li e d th at ability to a dd an d subtra c t i s th e only m at

m atie al kn owle dg e requ ired . Pri c e 3 50 .

Th is b oo klet an d the s i m pli ed m ethod it con ta in s

c a stin g a h o rosc ope in a th o ro ughl y sc ienti c m ann er
p ubli she d i n ord er to enable anyone wh o c an a dd an d SD
tra c t to do th e work hi ms el f ins tea d Of rel yin g on oth e
,

T hu s h e will obta in a d eeper kn owled g e Of the c au se s whi

are Operative in his li fe th an any p ro fe ssi on al a strolog
wh o i s a s tran g er c an give .

T he as trol og er wh o wor ks i n hi s own f ami ly or am OI

hi s neighbo rs an d fr i en ds an d works for lov e c an do m o
, ,

to h el p them th an the most a ccom pli she d p ro fe ss i on

astrol og er wh o i s o f c ours e un able to see as d ee ply in
, ,

th eir c on di tion s.

S eeing that such are th e vi ews of th e writer h e wishes ,

s tate m ost em phati cally th at he d oe s n ot c a s t h orosco pes a

wi l l n ot c on s ent to do so un d er an y c ir cums tan c e s I
.

teach e s astrol ogy f ree of ch arge a s part o f the sp iritu

,

phi l os oph y wh i ch h e h a s e s po us e d for th e sa m e rea son th

,

h e le ct u res on oth er p has es o f occu lt kn owledge to h e

th os e wh o want to help them selves .
THE PLANETARY .

HO UR DIAL
S H O W S AT A G L A N C E t h e P la ne t s t h a t r u le e a c h
ho u r o f th e d ay an d
, th e in flu en c e t he y e x er t .

A W O N D E R F UL D EV I CEa rra n g e d i n h ar m o ny
w i t h la w s d i sc o v ere d t h o u s an ds o f y e ars a g o b y A n
c ien t C hal d ean an d E g y p t ian A s t r o l o g er s y e t ,

c leare d o f all m y s t ery an d pu t in s h a pe t ha t all m a y

rea d an d un d er s t an d .

I NV A L UA BL E , fo r i t t ell s h o w t o m a k e u s e o f N a
t u re s la w s a t C ri tic al M o m e n t s O f o u r li v e s ; a ccu

ra t e ly an d q u i ck l y , p o in t in g o u t t h e har m o nie s a n d

d i sc o r d s ; th e b e s t t i m e to brin g th e v a ri o u s a ff a ir s
o f li f e to a s ucc e s s fu l i ssu e .

EV ERY MO V E L I F E m a y b e m a d e in ha rm o ny
IN
w i t h na t u re s la w s L ea rn t h e line s O f lea s t re s i s t

.

an c e .

S I MP L E , I NS T R UCT I V E , P R O F I T AB L E . A ny
o ne abl e to re a d c an u se an d a ppl y i t to hi s own
c a s e I t M ar ks Y our
. F or t una t e H o u r s .

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