Filename: "RC1002.TXT"
Source: "Ancient and Modern Initiation" by Max Heindel

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                           THE ARK OF THE COVENANT:

   It  is noteworthy  and fraught with great mystic  significance  that  the
aroma  of VOLUNTARY SERVICE is represented as SWEET-SMELLING,  FRAGRANT  IN-
CENSE,  while the odor of sin, selfishness,  and transgression of  the  law,
represented by COMPULSORY SACRIFICE upon the Altar of service,  is  nauseat-
ing; for it needs no great imagination to understand that the cloud of smoke
which  went  up continually from the burning carcasses  of  the  sacrificial
animals  created a nauseating stench to show the exceeding loathsomeness  of
it,  while  the perpetual incense offered upon the Altar before  the  second
veil showed by antithesis the beauty and sublimity of selfless service, thus
exhorting the Mystic Mason,  as a CHILD OF LIGHT, to shun the one and cleave
to the other.

   Let  it be understood also that SERVICE does not consist in  doing  great
things  only.   Some of the heroes,  so-called were mean and small in  their
general lives, and rose only to the occasion upon one great and notable day.

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Martyrs  have  been put on the calendar of saints because they  DIED  for  a
cause; but it is a greater heroism, it is a greater martyrdom sometimes,  to
do  the little things that no one notices and sacrifice self IN SIMPLE  SER-
VICE TO OTHERS.

   We have seen previously that the veil at the entrance to the outer  court
and  the veil in front of th East Room of the Tabernacle were both  made  in
four colors,  blue, red, purple, and white.  But THE SECOND VEIL,  which di-
vided the East Room of the Tabernacle from the West Room,  differed with re-
spect  to  make-up from the other two.  It was wrought with the  figures  of
Cherubim.   We will not consider, however, the significance of this fact un-
til we take up the subject of the NEW MOON AND INITIATION, but will now look
into the second apartment of the Tabernacle,  the western room,  called  the
Most Holy or the Holy of Holies.  Beyond the second veil,  into this  second
apartment,  no mortal might ever pass save the HIGH PRIEST,  and he was only
allowed to enter on one occasion in the whole year, namely, Yom Kippur,  the
Day of Atonement,  and then only after the most solemn preparation and  with
the most reverential care.   The Holiest of All was clothed with the  solem-
nity of another world; it was filled with an unearthly grandeur.   The whole
Tabernacle  was the sanctuary of God,  but here in this place was the  awful
abode of His presence, the special dwelling place of the SHEKINAH GLORY, and
well  might mortal man  tremble  to  present  himself  within  these  sacred

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precincts, as the High Priest must do on the Day of Atonement.

   In  the westernmost end of this apartment,  the western end of the  whole
Tabernacle,  rested the "ARK OF THE COVENANT."   It was a hollow  receptacle
containing the GOLDEN POT OF MANNA, AARON'S ROD THAT BUDDED,  AND THE TABLES
OF  THE LAW which were given to Moses.   While this Ark of the Covenant  re-
mained  in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness,  TWO STAVES WERE ALWAYS  WITHIN
THE FOUR RINGS OF THE ARK so that it could be picked up instantly and moved,
but when the Ark as finally taken to Solomon's Temple, the staves were taken
out.   This is very important in its symbolical significance.  Above the Ark
hovered  the Cherubim,  and between them dwelt the uncreated glory  of  God.
"Three,"  said He to Moses, "I will meet with thee,  and I will commune with
thee from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two Cherubim which are upon
the Ark of the Testimony."

   The glory of the Lord seen above the Mercy Seat was in the appearance  of
a  cloud.   The Lord said to Moses, "Speak unto Aaron they brother  that  he
come not at all time into the Holiest Place within the veil before the Mercy
Seat which is upon the Ark,  that he die not, for I will appear in the cloud
upon the Mercy Seat."   This manifestation of the divine presence was called
among  the  Jews the SHEKINAH GLORY.  Its appearance was attended  no  doubt
with  a  wonderful  spiritual glory of which it is impossible  to  form  any
proper conception.  Out  of  this cloud the voice of God was heard with deep

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solemnity when He was consulted in behalf of the people.

   When the aspirant has qualified to enter into this place behind the  sec-
ond veil,  he finds everything DARK to the physical eye, and it is necessary
that he should have another light WITHIN.  When he first came to the eastern
Temple gate, he was "POOR, NAKED, AND BLIND," asking for LIGHT.  He was then
shown  the dim light which appeared in the smoke above the Altar  of  sacri-
fice,  and told that in order to advance he must kindle within himself  that
flame by remorse for wrongdoing.   Later on he was shown the more  excellent
light  in  the  East  Room  of the  Tabernacle,  which  proceeded  from  the
Seven-branched Candlestick;  in other words he was given the light of knowl-
edge  and of reason that by it he might advance further upon the path.   But
it  was required that BY SERVICE he should evolve within himself and  around
himself  another  light,  the golden "wedding garment,"  which is  also  THE
CHRIST  LIGHT  OF  THE  SOUL  BODY.   By  lives  of  service  this  glorious
soul-substance  gradually pervades his whole aura until it is ablaze with  a
golden light.  Not until he has evolved this INNER illumination can he enter
into the darkened precincts of the second Tabernacle, as the Most Holy place
is sometimes called.

   "GOD  IS LIGHT;  if we walk in the light as He is in the Light,  we  have
fellowship one with another."   This is generally taken to indicate only the
fellowship  of the Saints,  but as a matter of fact it applies also  to  the
fellowship which we have with God.  When the disciple enters the second Tab-
ernacle, THE LIGHT WITHIN  HIMSELF  VIBRATES  TO  THE  LIGHT OF THE SHEKINAH

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GLORY between the Cherubim,  and he realizes the fellowship with his  FATHER
FIRE.

   As  the Cherubim and the Father Fire which hover above th  Ark  represent
the  divine  Hierarchies  which overshadow  mankind  during  his  pilgrimage
through  the wilderness,  so THE ARK WHICH IS FOUND THERE REPRESENTS MAN  IN
HIS HIGHEST DEVELOPMENT.   Three were, as already said,  three things within
the Ark:   the Golden Pot of Manna,  the Budding Rod,  and the Tables of the
Law.  When the aspirant stood at the eastern gate as a child of sin, THE LAW
WAS WITHOUT AS A TASKMASTER to bring him to Christ.   It exacted with  unre-
lenting  severity an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.   Every  trans-
gression brought a just recompense,  and man was circumscribed on every hand
by  laws commanding him to do certain things and refrain from doing  others.
But  when THROUGH SACRIFICE AND SERVICE he has finally arrived at the  stage
of  evolution represented by the Ark in the western room of the  Tabernacle,
the  TABLES OF THE LAW ARE WITHIN.  He has then become emancipated from  all
outside interference with his actions; not that he would break any laws, but
because HE WORKS WITH THEM.  Just as we have learned to respect the property
right of others and have therefore become emancipated from the  commandment.
"Thou shalt not steal,"  so he who keeps all laws because he wants to do  so
has  on  that account no longer need of an exterior taskmaster,  but  gladly
renders obedience in all things because HE IS A SERVANT OF THE LAW AND WORKS
WITH IT, FROM CHOICE AND NOT THROUGH NECESSITY.

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                           THE GOLDEN POT OF MANNA:

   Manas,  mensch,  mens,  or man is readily associated with the MANNA  that
came down from heaven.   it is the HUMAN SPIRIT that descended from our  Fa-
ther  above for a pilgrimage through matter,  and the Golden Pot wherein  it
was kept symbolizes the golden aura of the soul body.

   Although the Bible story is not in strict accordance with the events,  it
gives  the main facts of the mystic manna which fell from heaven.   When  we
want to learn what is the nature of this so-called BREAD, we may turn to the
sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, which relates how Christ fed the multi-
tudes  with LOAVES AND FISHES,  symbolizing the mystic doctrine of the  2000
years which He was then ushering in, for during that time the sun BY PRECES-
SION OF THE EQUINOX has been passing through the sign of the fishes, Pisces,
and the people have been taught to abstain at least one day during the  week
(Friday) and at a certain time of the year from the fleshpots which belonged
to Egypt or ancient Atlantis.  They have been given the Piscean water at the
temple door,  and the Virginian Wafers at the communion table before the al-
tar  when they worshiped the Immaculate Virgin,  representing the  celestial
sign Virgo (which is opposite the sign Pisces),  and entered communion  with
the sun begotten by her.

   Christ  also explained at that time in mystic but  unmistakable  language
what that LIVING BREAD,  or manna, was, namely,  the Ego.   This explanation
will be found in verses thirty-three and thirty-five,  where  we read:  "For

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the  bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth light  unto
the world--I am (EGO SUM) THE BREAD OF LIFE."  This, then,  is the symbol of
the golden pot of manna which was found in the Ark.   This manna is the  Ego
or  human spirit,  which gives life to the organisms that we behold  in  the
physical world.   It is hidden within the Ark of each human being,  and  the
Golden  pot or soul body or "wedding garment"  is also latent  within  every
one.   It is made more massive, lustrous,  and resplendent by the  spiritual
alchemy whereby service is transmuted to soul growth.   It is THE HOUSE  NOT
MADE  WITH  HANDS,  eternal in the heavens,  wherewith  Paul  longed  to  be
clothed, as said in the Epistle to the Corinthians.  Every one who is striv-
ing  to aid his fellow men thereby garners within himself that golden  trea-
sure, laid up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust can destroy it.

                                 AARON'S ROD:

   An ancient legend relates that when Adam was expelled from the Garden  of
Eden,  he  took with him three slips of the TREE OF LIFE,  which  were  then
planted by Seth.  Seth, the second son of Adam, is, according to the Masonic
legend, father of the spiritual hierarchy of CHURCHMEN working with humanity
through Catholicism,  while the sons of Cain are the CRAFTSMEN of the world.
The  latter  are active in Freemasonry,  promoting material  and  industrial
progress, as builders of the  temple  of  Solomon,  the universe, should be.

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The  three  sprouts  planted  by Seth have had  important  missions  in  the
spiritual development of humanity,  and one of them is said to be the Rod of
Aaron.

   In  the beginning of concrete existence generation was carried  on  under
the wise guidance of the angels, who saw to it that the creative act was ac-
complished  at times when the interplanetary rays of force were  propitious;
and man was also forbidden to eat of the Tree of Knowledge.   The nature  of
that tree is readily determined from such sentences as "Adam KNEW his  wife,
and she bore Cain";  "Adam KNEW his wife,  and she bore Seth';  "how shall I
bear  a child seeing that I KNOW not a man?"  as said by Mary to  the  angel
Gabriel.  In the light of this interpretation the STATEMENT of the Angel (it
was  not a curse) when he discovered that his precepts had  been  disobeyed,
namely,  "dying thou shalt die," is also intelligible, for the bodies gener-
ated  regardless  of  cosmic influences could not be  expected  to  persist.
Hence  man  was exiled from the etheric realms of  spiritual  force  (Eden),
where  grows the tree of vital power;  exiled to concrete existence  in  the
dense physical bodies which he has made for himself by generation.  This was
surely a blessing,  for who has a body sufficiently good and perfect in  his
own estimation that he would like to live in it forever?  Death, then,  is a
boon  to the spiritual realms for a season,  and build better vehicles  each
time we return to earth life.  As Oliver Wendell Holmes says:

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"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!
As the swift seasons roll.
Leave thy low-vaulted past,
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut tree from Heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell
By life's unresting sea."

   In  the  course of time when we learn to shun the pride of life  and  the
lust of the flesh, generation will cease to sap our vitality.  The vital en-
ergy will then be used for regeneration,  and the spiritual powers,  symbol-
ized by Aaron's Rod, will be developed.

   The wand of the magician, the holy spear of parsifal the Grail king,  and
the  budding Rod of Aaron are emblems of this divine creative  force,  which
works  wonders of such a nature that we call them miracles.   But let it  be
clearly  understood  that no one who has evolved to the point  in  evolution
where  he is symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant in the West Room  of  the
Tabernacle ever uses this power for selfish ends.   When Parsifal,  the hero
of  the soul myth by that name, had witnessed the temptation of  Kundry  and
proved  himself to be emancipated from the greatest sin of all,  the sin  of
lust and unchastity,  he recovered the sacred spear taken by the black magi-
cian,  Klingsor, from the fallen and unchaste rail king, Amfortas.  Then for
many years he traveled in the world, seeking again the Castle of the  Grail,
and he said:  "Often was I sorely beset by enemies  and  tempted  to use the

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spear in self-defense,  but I knew that THE SACRED SPEAR MUST NEVER BE  USED
TO HURT, ONLY TO HEAL."

   An  that is the attitude of everyone who develops within him the  budding
Rod of Aaron.   Though he may turn this spiritual faculty to good account in
order  to provide bread for a multitude, he would never think of  turning  a
single stone to bread FOR HIMSELF that his hunger might be appeased.  Though
he were nailed to the cross to die,  he would not free himself by  spiritual
power which he had readily exercised to save others from the grave.   Though
he  were  reviled every day of his life as a fraud or  charlatan,  he  would
never misuse his spiritual power to show a sign whereby the world might know
without  the shadow of a doubt that he was regenerate or heaven-born.   This
was the attitude of Christ Jesus, and its has been and is imitated by every-
one who is a Christ-in-the-making.

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                         THE SACRED SHEKINAH GLORY:

   The Western Room of the Tabernacle was as dark as the heavens are at  the
time when the lesser light,  the moon,  is in the western portion of sky  at
eventide with the sun;  that is to say, at the new moon,  which begins a new
cycle in a new sign of the zodiac.  In the westernmost part of this darkened
sanctuary stood the Ark of the Covenant,  with the Cherubim hovering  above,
and also the fiery Shekinah Glory, out of which the Father of Light communed
with  His  worshipers,  but which to the physical vision was  invisible  and
therefore dark.

   We do not usually realize that the whole world is afire,  that fire is in
the water, that it burns continually in plant, animal, and man;  yes,  there
is nothing in the work that is not ensouled by fire.   The reason why we  do
not perceive this more clearly is that we cannot dissociate fire and  flame.
But as a matter of fact,  FIRE bears the same relation to FLAME as SPIRIT to

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the  BODY;  it is the unseen but potent power of  manifestation.   In  other
words,  the true fire is dark, invisible to the physical sight.   IT IS ONLY
CLOTHED IN FLAME WHEN CONSUMING PHYSICAL MATTER.   Consider,  for  illustra-
tion,  how fire leaps out of the flint when struck,  and how a gas flame has
the  darkened  core beneath the light-giving portion;  also how a  wire  may
carry electricity and be perfectly cold, yet it will emit a flame under cer-
tain conditions.

   At this point it may be expedient to mark the difference between the Tab-
ernacle in the Wilderness,  Solomon's Temple, and the later Temple built  by
Herod.   There is a very vital difference.   Both the MIRACULOUSLY ENKINDLED
FIRE  on the Brazen Altar in the eastern part of the Tabernacle and the  in-
visible  SHEKINAH  GLORY in the distant western part of the  sanctuary  were
also  present in Solomon's Temple.   These were thus sanctuaries in a  sense
not equaled by the Temple built by Herod.  The latter was, nevertheless,  in
a  sense  the most glorious of the three,  for IT WAS GRACED BY  THE  BODILY
PRESENCE OF OUR LORD, CHRIST JESUS, IN WHOM DWELT THE GODHEAD.   Christ made
the  first selfsacrifice,  thereby abrogating the sacrifice of animals,  and
finally  at the consummation of His work in the visible world RENT THE  VEIL
and opened a way into the Holy of Holies, not only for the favored few,  the
priests  and Levites,  but that WHOSOEVER WILL may come and serve the  Deity
whom  we  know as our Father.   Having fulfilled the law  and  the  prophets
Christ has done away with the OUTWARD sanctuary, and from henceforth the Al-
tar of Burnt Offerings must be set up WITHIN  the  heart to atone for wrong-

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doing;  the Golden Candlestick must be lighted WITHIN the heart to guide  us
upon our way,  as the Christ WITHIN, the Shekinah Glory of the Father,  must
dwell WITHIN the sacred precincts of our own God Consciousness.

                           THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS:

   Paul  in his letter to the Hebrews gives a description of the  Tabernacle
and much information about the customs used there which it would benefit the
student  to know.   Among other things note that he calls the Tabernacle  "a
shadow of good things to come."   There is in this ancient Mystery Temple  a
promise  given which has not yet been fulfilled,  a promise that holds  good
today  just as well as upon the day it was given.   If we visualize  in  our
mind the arrangement of things inside the Tabernacle,  we shall readily  see
the shadow of the Cross.  Commencing at the eastern gate there was the ALTAR
OF BURNT OFFERINGS; a little farther along the path to the Tabernacle itself
we  find the LAVER OF CONSECRATION,  the Molten Sea,  in which  the  priests
washed.   Then upon entering the East Room of the Temple we find an  article
of furniture,  THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK, at the EXTREME LEFT, and the TABLE OF
SHEWBREAD  at the EXTREME RIGHT,  the two forming a cross with the  path  we
have been pursuing toward and within the Tabernacle.  In the center in front
of the second veil we find the ALTAR OF INCENSE,  which forms the center  of
the  cross,  while the Ark placed in the westernmost part of the West  Room,
the Holy of Holies, gives the short or  upper  limb  of  the cross.  In this

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manner  the  symbol  of  spiritual  unfoldment which is our particular ideal
today was shadowed forth in the ancient Mystery Temple,  and that  consumma-
tion which is attained at the end of the cross,  the achievement of  getting
the law WITHIN as it was within the Ark itself,  is the one that we must all
concern ourselves with at the present time.   The light that shines over the
Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies at the head of the cross, at the end of the
path in this world,  is a light or reflection from the invisible world  into
which  the  candidate seeks to enter when all the world has grown  dark  and
black about him.  Only when we have attained to that stage where we perceive
the spiritual light that beckons us on, the light that floats over the  Ark,
only when we stand in the shadow of the cross,  can we really know the mean-
ing, the object, and the goal of life.

   At  present we may take the opportunities which are offered  and  perform
service more or less efficiently,  but it is only when we have by that  ser-
vice evolved the spiritual light WITHIN ourselves,  which is the SOUL  BODY,
and when we have thus gained admission to the West Room,  called the Hall of
Liberation,  that  we can really perceive and understand why we are  in  the
world,  and what we need in order to make ourselves properly useful.  We may
not remain,  however, when access has been gained.  The High Priest was only
allowed to enter ONCE A YEAR; there was a very long interval of time between
these  glimpses of the real purpose of existence.   In the times between  it
was necessary for the High Priest to go out and function among his brethren,

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humanity,  and  serve  them to the very best of his ability,  also  to  sin,
because  he was not yet perfect,  and then reenter the Holy of Holies  after
having made proper amends for his sins.

   Similar it is with ourselves at this day.  We at times attain glimpses of
the  things  that are in store for us and the things we must  do  to  follow
Christ to that place where He went.   You remember that He said to His  dis-
ciples:   Ye cannot follow me now, but ye shall follow me later.   And so it
is with us.   We have to look again and again into the darkened temple,  the
Holy of Holies, before we are really fit to stay there; before we are really
fitted to take the last step and leap to the summit of the cross,  THE PLACE
OF THE SKULL,  that point in our heads where the spirit takes its  departure
when it finally leaves the body, or off and on as an Invisible Helper.  That
Golgotha is the ultimate of human attainment, and we must be prepared to en-
ter the darkened roon many times begore we are fitted for the final climax.

                  THE FULL MOON AS A FACTOR IN SOUL GROWTH:

   Let  us now consider the Path of Initiation as symbolically shown in  the
ancient Temples with the Ark,  Fire, and Shekinah,  and in the later Temples
where Christ taught.   Note first that when man was expelled from the Garden
of Eden because he had eaten of the Tree of Knowledge,  Cherubim guarded the
entrance with a flaming sword.  Passages like the following, "Adam KNEW Eve,
and  she bore Abel"; "Adam KNEW Eve,  and  she  bore  Seth";  "Elkanah  KNEW

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Hannah,  and she bore Samuel";  also Mary's question to the  angel  Gabriel,
"How shall I conceive seeing that I KNOW not a man?"  all show plainly  that
indulgence  of  the passions in the creative act was meant  by  the  phrase,
"eating the Tree of Knowledge."   When the creative act was performed  under
inauspicious  planetary rays it was a sin committed against the laws of  na-
ture,  which brought pain and death into the world,  estranged us  from  our
primal  guardians,  and forced us to roam the wilderness of  the  world  for
ages.

   At the gate of the mystic Temple of Solomon we find the Cherubim, but the
fiery sword is not longer in their hand; instead they hold a FLOWER,  a sym-
bol  full of mystic meaning.   Let us compare man with a flower that we  may
know the great import and significance of this emblem.   Man takes his  good
by way of the head,  whence it goes downward.   The plant takes  nourishment
through  the root and forces it upward.  Man is passionate in love,  and  he
turns the generative organ toward the earth and hides it in shame because of
this taint of passion.  The plant knows no passion,  fertilization is accom-
plished in the most pure and chaste manner imaginable, therefore it projects
its generative organ,  the flower,  TOWARD THE SUN,  a thing of beauty which
delights all who behold it.  Passionate fallen man exhales THE DEADLY CARBON
DIOXINE;  the chaste flower inhales this poison, transmutes it, and gives it
back pure, sweet, and scented, a fragrant elixir of life.

   This  was  the  mystery of the Grail Cup;  this is  the  emblematic  sig-
nificance of the Cup of Communion, which is called "KELCH" in German "Calix"

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in Latin,  both names signifying the seed pod of the flower.   The Communion
Cup  with its mystic blood cleansed from the passion incident to  generation
brings to him who truly drinks thereof eternal life, and thus it becomes the
vehicle of regeneration,  of the mystic birth into a higher sphere,  a "for-
eign country," where he who has served his apprenticeship in Temple building
and has mastered the "art and crafts" of this world may learn higher things.

   The  symbol of the Cherubim with the open flower placed upon the door  of
Solomon's Temple delivers the message to the aspirant that PURITY IS THE KEY
by which alone he can hope to unlock the gate to God; or as Christ expressed
it,  "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God."  The flesh must
be  consumed on the Altar of self-sacrifice, and the sold must be washed  in
the  Laver  of  Consecration to the higher life where it  may  approach  the
Temple door.   When "naked," "poor," and "blinded" by tears of contrition it
gropes in darkness,  seeking the Temple door,  it shall find entrance to the
Hall of Service, the East Room of the Tabernacle, which is ablaze with light
from  the Seven-branched Candlestick,  emblematic of the luminosity  of  the
full moon,  the moon changing in cycles of seven days.  In this Hall of Ser-
vice  the  aspirant is taught to weave the luminour vesture of  flame  which
Paul called "some psuchicon," or soul body (1st Cor., 15:44), from the aroma
of the shewbread.

   When we speak of the soul body we mean exactly what we say,  and this ve-
hicle  is  in  nowise  to  be  confused  with  the  soul  that permeates it.

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The Invisible Helper who uses it on soul flights knows it to be as real  and
tangible as the dense body of flesh blood.   But within that golden "wedding
garment"  there is an INTANGIBLE SOMETHING cognized by the spirit of  intro-
spection.  It is unnameable and indescribable; it evades the most persistent
efforts to fathom it, yet it is there just as certainly as the vehicle which
it fills-yes,  and more so.  It is  not life, love, beauty, wisdom,  nor can
any other human concept convey an idea of what it is,  for it is the sum  of
all human faculties, attributes, and concepts of good, immeasurably intensi-
fied.  If everything else were taken from us, that prime reality would still
remain,  and we should be rich in its possession, for through it we feel the
drawing power of our Father in Heaven,  that inner urge which all  aspirants
know so well.

   To this inner something Christ referred when He said: No man cometh to me
except  my Father draw him.   Just as the true fire is hidden in  the  flame
that  encloses it,  so that unnameable,  intangible something hides  in  the
sould body and burns up the frankincense extracted from the shrewbread; thus
it  lights the fire which makes the soul body luminous.   And the  AROMA  OF
LOVING  SERVICE to others penetrates the veil as a sweet savor to  God,  who
dwells in the Shekinah Glory similar created above the Ark in the  innermost
sanctuary, the Holy of Holies.

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                         THE NEW MOON AND INITIATION:

   When the candidate entered at the eastern gate of the Temple looking  for
light,  he was confronted by the fire on he Altar of Burnt Offerings,  which
emitted  a  dim  light enveloped in clouds of smoke.   He was  then  in  the
spiritually  darkened  condition of the ordinary man;  he lacked  the  light
within  and therefore it was necessary to give him the light  without.   But
when he has arrived at the point when he is ready to have evolved the  lumi-
nous soul body in the service of humanity.   Then he is thought to have  the
light within himself,  "the light that lighteth every man."   Unless he  has
that, he cannot enter the dark room of the Temple.

   What  takes place secretly in the Temple is shown openly in the  heavens.
As  the moon gathers light from the sun during her passage from the  new  to
the  full,  so  the man who treads the path of holiness by use of his golden

[PAGE 48]

opportunities  in  the East Room of selfless service gathers  the  materials
wherewith to make his luminous "wedding garment,"  and that material is best
amalgamated  on the night of the full moon.   But conversely,  as  the  moon
gradually dissipates the accumulated light and draws nearer the sun in order
to make a fresh start upon a new cycle at the time of the new moon,  so also
according to the law of analogy those who have gathered their treasures  and
laid them up in heaven by service are at a certain time of the month  closer
to  their Source and their Maker,  their Father Fire in the higher  spheres,
than  at any other time.   As the great saviors of mankind are born  at  the
winter  solstice on the longest and darkest night of the year,  so also  the
process  of Initiation which brings to birth in the invisible world  one  of
the lesser saviors, THE INVISIBLE HELPER, is most easily accomplished on the
longest and darkest night of the month, that is to say,  on the night of the
new moon when the lunar orb is in the westernmost part of the heavens.

   All  occult development begins with the vital body,  and the  keynote  of
that vehicle is "repetition."  To get the best out of any subject repetition
is  necessary.   In order to understand the final consummation to which  all
this has been leading up, let us take a final look from another angle at the
three kinds of fire within the Temple.

   Near  the eastern gate was the Altar of Burnt Offering.   On  that  altar
smoke  was  continually generated by the bodies of the sacrifices,  and  the
pillar of smoke was  seen  far and wide by the multitude who were instructed

[PAGE 49]

in the inner mysteries of life.  The flame, the light,  hidden in this cloud
of smoke was at best but dimly perceived.  This showed that the great major-
ity of mankind are taught principally by the immutable laws of nature, which
exact  from them a sacrifice whether they know it or not.   As the flame  of
purification was then fed by the more coarsely constructed and baser  bodies
of animal sacrifices,  exacted under the Mosaic law, so also today the baser
and  more  passionate mass of humanity is being brought into  subjection  by
fear of punishment by the law in the present world-more than by apprehension
of what my follow in the world to come.

   A  light of a different nature shone in the East Room of the  Tabernacle.
Instead  of drawing its nourishment from the sinful and passionate flesh  of
the  animal  sacrifices,  it was fed by olive oil procured from  the  chaste
plant kingdom;  and its flame was not shrouded in smoke,  but was clear  and
distinct,  so that it might illuminate the room and guide the  priests,  who
were the servants of the Temple, in their ministrations.   The priests  were
endeavoring to work in harmony with the divine plan,  therefore they saw the
light more clearly that the uninstructed and careless multitude.  Today also
the  mystic light shines for all who are endeavoring to really serve at  the
shrine  of self-sacrifice-particularly for the pledged pupils of  a  Mystery
School such as the Rosicrucian Order.   They are waling in a light not  seen
by the multitude, and if they are really serving, they have th true guidance
of the Elder Brothers of humanity, who  are always ready to help them at the

[PAGE 50]

difficult points on the Path.

   But  the most sacred fire of all was the Shekinah Glory in the West  Room
of the Tabernacle above the Mercy Seat.  As this West Room was dark,  we un-
derstand that it was an invisible fire, a light from another world.

   Now mark this, the fire that was shrouded in smoke and flame upon the Al-
tar of Burnt Offerings,  consuming the sacrifices brought there in expiation
of sins committed under the law, was the symbol of JEHOVAH THE LAWGIVER; and
we  remember that the law was given to brings us to Christ.   The clear  and
beautiful  light which shone in the Hall of Service,  the East Room  of  the
Tabernacle, is the golden-hued Christ light, which guides those who endeavor
to follow in His steps upon the path of self-forgetting service.

   As the Christ said,  "I go to my Father,"  when He was about to be cruci-
fied, so also the Servant of the Cross who has made the most of his opportu-
nities  in  the visible world is allowed to enter the glory  of  his  Father
Fire,  the invisible Shekinah Glory.  He ceases then to see through the dark
glass  of  the body,  and beholds his Father face to face in  the  invisible
realms of nature.

   The church steeple is very broad at the bottom,  but gradually it narrows
more  and more until at the top it is just a point with the cross above  it.
So it is with the path of holiness;  at the beginning there are many  things
which we may permit ourselves, but as we advance, one after another of these
digressions must be done away with, and  we  must  devote ourselves more and

[PAGE 51]

more  exclusively to the service of holiness.   At last there comes a  point
where this path is as sharp as the razor's edge,  and we can then only grasp
at the cross.   But when we have attained that point, when we can climb this
narrowest of all paths,  then we are fitted to follow Christ into the beyond
and serve there as we have served here.

   Thus  this  ancient symbol shadowed forth the trial and  triumph  of  the
faithful  servant,  and thought it has been superseded by other and  greater
symbols holding forth a higher ideal and a greater promise,  the basic prin-
ciples embodies in it are as valid today as ever.

   In  the Altar of Burnt Offerings we see clearly the nauseating nature  of
sin and the necessity of expiation and justification.

   By  the  Molten Sea we are still taught that we must live  the  stainless
life that of holiness and consecration.

   From the East Room we learn today how to make diligent use of our  oppor-
tunities to grow the golden grain of selfless service and make that  "living
bread" which feeds the soul, the Christ within.

   And when we have ascended the steps of Justification,  Consecration,  and
Self-Abnegation,  we  reach the West Room, which is the  threshold  of  Lib-
eration.   Over it we are conducted into greater realms,  where greater soul
unfoldment may be accomplished.

   But  through this ancient Temple stands no longer upon the  plains  where
the wandering hosts pitched their camps in the hoary past,  it may be made a
much more potent factor for soul growth by any aspirant of today that it was
by the ancient Israelites provided he will build it  according  to  pattern.

[PAGE 52]

Nor  need the lack of gold wherewith to build distress anyone,  for now  the
true tabernacle must be built in heaven-and "HEAVEN IS WITH YOU."   To build
well  and true,  according to the rules of the ancient craft of  Mystic  Ma-
sonry,  the aspirant must learn first to build within himself the altar with
its sacrifices,  then he must watch and pray while patiently waiting for the
divine fire to consume offering.   Then he must bathe himself with tears  of
contrition  till he has washed away the stains of sin.   Meanwhile  he  must
keep the lamp of divine guidance filled that he may perceive how, when,  and
where to serve; he must work hard to have abundance of "bread of shew,"  and
the  incense of aspiration and prayer must be ever in his heart and  on  his
lips.   Then YOM KIPPUR, the Great Day of At-one-ment,  will surely find him
ready to go to his Father, and learn how better to help his younger brothers
to ascent the Path.

[PAGE 53]

                THE ANNUNCIATION AND IMMACULATE CONCEPTION:

   Much  is said in certain classes of the Western World  about  Initiation.
This in the minds of most people seems usually to be associated with the oc-
cultism taught in the religions of the far East;  something that is peculiar
to  the devotees of Buddhism,  Hinduism, and kindred systems of  faith,  and
which  in  nowise  appertains to the religion of  the  Western  World,  par-
ticularly to the Christian religion.

   We have shown in the preceding series on "Symbols and Ancient and  Modern
Initiation: that this idea is entirely gratuitous, and that the ancient Tab-
ernacle in the Wilderness pictures in its symbolism the path of  progression
from  childlike  ignorance to superhuman knowledge.   As the  VEDAS  brought
light to the devotees who worshiped in faith and fervor on the banks of  the
Ganges in the sunny South,  so the Eddas were a guiding star to the sons  of
the rugged Northland,  who sought the Light of life in ancient Iceland where
the  sturdy  Vikings  steered  their  ships  in  frozen  seas. "Arjuna," who

[PAGE 54]

fights  the  noble  fight  in  the  "Mahabharata,"  or  "Great  War,"   con-
stantly being waged between the higher  and  the  lower self,  difference in
nowise from the hero of the northern soul myth,  "Siegfried,"  which  means,
"He who through victory gains peace."

   Both  are  representative of the candidate  undergoing  Initiation.   And
though  their experiences in this great adventure vary in  certain  respects
called  for  by the temperamental differences of the northern  and  southern
peoples,  and provided for in the respective schools to which they  are  re-
ferred for soul growth, the main features are identical, and the end,  which
is enlightenment,  is the same.   Aspiring souls have walked to the Light in
the brilliantly illuminated Persian temples where the sun god in his blazing
chariot was the symbol of Light, as well as under the mystic magnificence of
the  iridescence  shed abroad by the aurora borealis of  the  frozen  North.
That  the  true  Light of the deepest esoteric  knowledge  has  always  been
present in all ages, even the darkest of the so-called dark,  there is ample
evidence to show.

   Raphael  used his wonderful skill with the brush to embody it in  two  of
his great paintings, "The Sistine Madonna" and the "Marriage of the Virgin,"
which we would advise the interested reader to examine for himself.   Copies
of these paintings are procurable in almost any art store.   In the original
there is a peculiar tint of golden haze behind the Madonna and Child,  which

[PAGE 55]

though exceedingly crude to one gifted with spiritual sight, is nevertheless
as close an imitation of the basic color of the first-heaven world as it  is
possible to make with the pigments of earth.  Close inspection of this back-
ground  will reveal the fact that it is composed of a multitude of  what  we
are used to call "angel" heads and wings.

   This  again is as literal a pictorial representation of facts  concerning
the inhabitants of that world as could be given,  for during the process  of
purgation  which  takes place in the lower regions of the Desire  World  the
lower  parts of the body are actually disintegrated so that only  the  head,
containing  the  intelligence of the man, remains when he enters  the  first
heaven,  a  fact which has puzzled many who have happened to see  the  souls
there.   The wings of course have no reality outside the picture,  but  were
placed there to show ability to move swiftly,  which is inherent in all  be-
ings in the invisible worlds.   The People is represented as pointing to the
Madonna and the Christ Child,  and a close examination of the hand wherewith
he  points  will  show that it has six fingers.   There  is  not  historical
evidence to show that the Pontiff actually had such a deformity, neither can
that  fact be an accident;  the six fingers in the painting  must  therefore
have been due to design on the part of the painter.

   What  its purpose was we shall learn by examination of the  "Marriage  of
the Virgin,"  where a similar anomaly may be noted.    In that picture  Mary
and Joseph  are  represented together with he Christ Child under such condi-

[PAGE 56]

tions  that  it is evident that they are just on the eve  of  departure  for
Egypt,  and a Rabbi is in the act of joining them in wedlock.  The left foot
of  Joseph is the foremost object in the picture,  and if we count we  shall
find  it represented as having six toes.  By the six fingers in  the  Pope's
picture and the six toes of Joseph,  Raphael wants to show us that both pos-
sessed  a  sixth sense such as is awakened by Initiation.   By  this  subtle
sense the foot of Joseph was guided in its flight to keep secure that sacred
things which had been entrusted to his care.  To the other was given a sixth
sense  that he might not be a blind leader of the blind but might  have  the
"seeing eye" required to point out the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  And it
is a fact,  though not commonly known, that with one or two exceptions  when
political  power was strong enough to corrupt the College of Cardinals,  all
who have sat upon the so-called throne of Peter have had the spiritual sight
in a greater or lesser degree.

   We  have  seen  in the articles on "Symbols of Ancient  and  Modern  Ini-
tiation,"  which preceded the present article,  that the  Atlantean  Mystery
Temple  known  as  the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was  a  school  of  soul
growth;  and it should not surprise us to learn that the four  Gospels  con-
taining  the life of Christ are also formulae of Initiation,  revealing  an-
other and a later Path to power.   In the ancient Egyptian Mysteries,  Horus
was the first fruit whom the aspirant endeavored to imitate,  and it is sig-
nificant that in the Ritual of Initiation which was in vogue in that day and

[PAGE 57]

which we now call the "Book of the Dead," the aspirant to Initiation was al-
ways  addressed Horus so-and-so.   Following the same method today we  might
appropriately  address those following the Christian Path of  Initiation  as
Christ so-and-so, for as a matter of fact all who tread this Path are really
Christs-in-the-making.   Each  in his or her turn will reach  the  different
stations of the Via Dolorosa, or Path of Sorrow, which leads to Calvary, and
experience  in his or her own body the pangs and pains suffered by the  Hero
of the Gospels.  Initiation is a cosmic process of enlightenement and evolu-
tion of power; therefore the experiences of all are similar in the main fea-
tures.

   The  Christian  Mystic  form of Initiation  differs  radically  from  the
Rosicrucian method,  which aims to bring the candidate to compassion through
knowledge,  and therefore seeks to cultivate in him the latent faculties  of
spiritual  sight and hearing at the very start of his career as an  aspirant
to  the higher life.   it teaches him to know the hidden mysteries of  being
and to perceive intellectually the unity of each with all,  so that at  last
through  this knowledge there is awakened within him the feeling that  makes
him truly realize his oneness with all that lives and moves,  which puts him
in  full and perfect tune with the Infinite,  making him a true  helper  and
worker in the divine kingdom of evolution.

   The  goal attained through the Christian Mystic Initiation is  the  same,
but the method,  as said,  is entirely different.  In the first  place,  the

[PAGE 58]

candidate is usually unconscious of trying to attain any definite object, at
least during the first stages of his endeavors,  and there is in this  noble
School  of Initiation but no Teacher,  the Christ,  who is ever  before  the
spiritual  vision  of  the candidate as the Ideal and the Goal  of  all  his
striving.  The Western world, alas!  has become so enmeshed in intellectual-
ity  that its aspirants can only enter the Path when their reason  has  been
satisfied; and unfortunately it is a desire for more knowledge which  brings
most  of the  pupils to the Rosicrucian School.   It is an arduous  task  to
cultivate  the  compassion  which  must  blend  with  their knowledge and be
the  guiding  factor in the use of it before they are fitted  to  enter  the
Kingdom  of Christ.   But those who are drawn to the Christian  Mystic  Path
feel  no  difficulty  of  that  nature.   They  have  within  themselves  an
all-embracing love, which urges them onward and eventually generates in them
a knowledge which the writer believes to be far superior to that attained by
any  other method.   One who follows the intellectual Path of development is
apt  to sneer superciliously at another whose temperament impels  him  along
the  Mystic Path.   Such an attitude of mind is not only detrimental to  the
spiritual  development of whoever entertains it,  but it is entirely  gratu-
itous,  as the works of Jacob Boehme, Thomas a Kempis,  and many  other  who
have followed the Mystic Path will show.   The more knowledge we possess the
greater  condemnation  also shall we merit if we do not use it  right.   But
love, which is the basic principle in the Christian Mystic's life, can never

[PAGE 59]

bring  us  into condemnation or conflict with the purposes of  God.   It  is
infinitely  better  to be able to FEEL any noble emotion that  to  have  the
keenest intellect and one which is able to define all emotions.   Hairsplit-
ting over the constitution and evolution of the atom surely will not promote
soul growth as much as humble helpfulness toward our neighbor.

   There  are nine definite steps in the Christian Mystic  Initiation,  com-
mencing  with the Baptism,  which is dedicatory.   The Annunciation and  Im-
maculate  Conception precede as matters of course for reasons  given  later.
Having prepared our minds by the foregoing consideration,  we are now  ready
to  consider  each stage separately in this glorious  process  of  spiritual
unfoldment.

   The Christian Mystic is emphatically not the product of one life, but the
flower of many preparatory existences,  during which he has cultivated  that
sublime compassion which makes him feel the whole world's woe,  and conjures
up before his spiritual vision the Christ Ideal as the true balm of  Gilead,
its practice the only palladium against all human grief and sorrow.   Such a
soul is watched over special care by the divine Hierarchies who have  charge
of  our progression along the path of evolution,  and when the time is  ripe
for him to enter that life in which he is to run the final race to reach the
goal and become a Savior of his kind, angels are  indeed  watching, waiting,

[PAGE 60]

and singing hosannas in joyful anticipation of the great event.

   Like always seeks like,  and and naturally the parents are carefully  se-
lected  for (and by such a noble soul from among the "sons and daughters  of
the King."  They may be in the poorest circumstances from a worldly point of
view; it may be necessary to cradle the babe in a manger, but no richer gift
ever came to parents that such a noble soul.   Among the qualifications nec-
essary to be the parents of such an Ego is that the mother be a "virgin" and
the father a "builder."

   It is stated in the Bible that Joseph was a CARPENTER, but the Greek word
is  "tekton"  which means "builder."   In Mystic Masonry God is  called  the
Grant  Architech.   ARCHE is the Greek word signifying primordial substance,
and a tekton is a builder.  Thus God is the Great Master Builder, who out of
primordial  substance  fashioned  the world as  an  evolutionary  field  for
various grades of beings.   He uses in His universe many tektons,  or build-
ers,  of various grades.  Everyone who follows the Path of spiritual attain-
ment,  endeavoring to work constructively with the laws of nature as a  ser-
vant  of  humanity,  is a TEKTON or builder in the sense  that  he  has  the
qualifications necessary to aid in giving birth to a great soul.   Thus when
it is said that Jesus was a carpenter and the son of a carpenter,  we under-
stand that they were both TEKTONS or builders along cosmic lines.

   The  Immaculate Conception,  like all other sublime mysteries,  has  been
dragged  down  into  the  gutter  of  materiality,  and  being  so sublimely

[PAGE 61]

spiritual it has perhaps suffered more by this rude treatment than any other
of  the  spiritual teachings.   Perhaps it has suffered even more  from  the
clumsy explanation of ignorant supporters that from the jeers and sneers  of
the cynic.   The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception,  as popularly under-
stood,  is that about two thousand years ago God in a miraculous manner fer-
tilized a certain Mary who was a virgin, as as the result she gave birth  to
Jesus,  an individual who is consequence was the Son of God in a sense  dif-
ferent from all other men.   There is also in the popular mind the idea that
this incident is unique in the history of the world.

   It  is  particularly the latter fallacy which has served to  distort  the
beautiful spiritual truth concerning the Immaculate Conception.   It is  not
unique in any sense.   Every great soul who has been born into the world  to
live a life of sublime saintliness,  such as required for the Christian Mys-
tic Initiation,  has also found entrance through of immaculate virginity who
were  not  besmirched by passion in the performance of the  generative  act.
Men  do  not gather grapes of thorns.  It is an axiomatic  truth  that  like
begets like,  and before anyone can become a Savior, he must himself be pure
and sinless.  He, being pure cannot take birth from one who is vile; HE MUST
BE BORN OF VIRGIN PARENTS.

   But the virginity to which we refer does not comprehend a merely physical
condition.  There is not inherent virtue in physical virginity, for all pos-
sess  it  at  the beginning of life no matter how vile their disposition may

[PAGE 62]

be.  The virginity of the mother of a Savior is a quality of the soul, which
remains  unsullied  regardless of the physical act of  fertilization.   When
people  perform the first creative act without desire for offspring,  merely
for gratification of their animal lusts and propensities, they lose the only
(physical) virginity they ever possessed; but when prospective parents unite
in a spirit of prayer,  offering their bodies upon the altar of sacrifice in
order  to  provide  an incoming soul with the physical body  needed  at  the
present time to further spiritual development,  their purity of purpose pre-
serves  their  virginity and draws a noble soul to their  hearth  and  home.
Whether a child is conceived in sin or immaculately depends upon its own in-
herent soul quality, for that will unerringly draw it to parents of a nature
like unto its own.   To become the son of a virgin predicates a past  career
of spirituality for the one who is so born.

   The "mystic birth"  of a "builder" is a cosmic event of great importance,
and  it  is therefore not surprising that it is pictured in the  skies  from
year  to year,  showing a graphic symbolism in the great world or  macrocosm
what will eventually take place in man,  the little world or microcosm.   We
are all destined to experience the things that Jesus experienced,  including
the Immaculate Conception, which is a prerequisite to the life of saints and
saviors  of varying degrees.   By understanding this great cosmic symbol  we
shall more easily  understand its application to the individual human being.

[PAGE 63]

The  sun is "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD"  in a material sense.   When in  winter
time it reaches the extreme southern declination at the solstice on December
23rd, the people in the northern hemisphere, where all the present religions
have  had their birth,  are plunged into the deepest darkness and bereft  of
the all-sustaining vital power emanating from the sun,  which is them partly
dead so far as its influence upon men in concerned.   It is therefore neces-
sary that a new light shine in the darkness,  that a SUN OF GOOD be born  to
same  humanity from the cold and famine which must inevitably result if  the
sun were to remain in the southern position which he occupies at the  winter
solstice.

   On the night between the 24th and 25th of December,  the sun having  com-
menced  to  slowly rise toward the earth's equator,  the  zodiacal  sign  of
Virgo,  the immaculate celestial Virgin,  is on the eastern horizon  in  all
northern  latitudes (in the hours immediately preceding midnight).   In  the
science of astrology it is the sign and degree on the eastern horizon at the
time  of birth which determine the form or body of the creature  then  born.
Therefore  the Sun of Good is said to have been born of Virgo,  the  sublime
celestial Virgin, who remains as pure after giving birth to her Sun Child as
she was before.   By analogy the Son of God who comes to save his fellow men
must also be born of an immaculate spiritual virgin.

   From what has been said it is evident that a great period of  preparation
precedes the entrance of a Christian Mystic into the present sphere of human

[PAGE 64]

life, though he in his physical consciousness is usually entirely unaware of
the  fact of the great adventure in store for him.   In all probability  his
childhood days and early youth will pass in obscurity, while he lives an in-
ner life of unusual depth,  unconsciously preparing himself for the Baptism,
which is the first of the nine steps of this method of attainment.

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