Filename: RC1063.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel

[PAGE 2260]

                          THE HEART AS AN ANOMALY:

   No lesson,  though its truth may be superficially assented to,  is of any
real value as an active principle of the life until the heart has learned it
in longing and bitterness,  and the lesson man must so learn is that what is
not  beneficial  to all can never be truly beneficial to  any.   For  nearly
2,000 years we have lightly assented with out lips that we should govern our
lives in accordance with such maxims as "Return good for evil."   The  Heart
urges mercy and love,  but the Reason urges belligerent and retaliatory mea-
sures,  if not as revenge, at least as a means of preventing a repetition of
hostilities.   It is this divorce of head from heart that hinders the growth
of a true feeling of Universal Brotherhood and the adoption of the teachings
of Christ--the Lord of Love.

   The mind is the focusing point by means of which the Ego becomes aware of
the material universe.  As an instrument for the acquisition of knowledge in

[PAGE 2261]

those  realms the mind is invaluable,  but when it arrogates to  itself  the
ROLE of dictator as to the conduct of man to man,  it is as through the lens
should  say  to an astronomer who was in the act of  photographing  the  Sun
through a telescope:   "You have me improperly focused.  You are not looking
at the Sun correctly.   I do not think it is good to photograph the Sun any-
way, and I want you to point me at Jupiter.  The rays of the Sun heat me too
much and are liable to damage me."

   If the astronomer exercises his will and focuses the telescope as he  de-
sires,  telling it to attend to its business of transmitting the  rays  that
strike it,  leaving the results to him, the work will proceed well,  but  if
the  lens  has the stronger will and the mechanism of the  telescope  is  in
league with it,  the astronomer will be seriously hampered in having to con-
tend with a refractory instrument,  and the result will be blurred pictures,
of little or no value.

   Thus it is with the Ego.   It works with a threefold body,  which it con-
trols, or should control through the mind.  But, sad to say, this body has a
will of its own and is often aided and abetted by the mind, thus frustrating
the purposes of the Ego.

   This antagonistic "lower will" is an expression of the higher part of the
desire body.   When the division of the Sun, Moon, and Earth took place,  in
the   early  part  of  Lemurian  Epoch,   the  more  advanced   portion   of
humanity-in-the-making  experienced  a division of the desire  body  into  a
higher  and a lower part.   The rest of humanity did likewise in  the  early
part of the Atlantean Epoch.

   This  higher  part of the desire body become a sort of animal  soul.   It
built the cerebro-spinal nervous systems and the voluntary muscles,  by that
means  controlling  the  lower  part of the threefold body until the link of

[PAGE 2262]

mind was given.   Then the mind "coalesced" with this animal soul and become
a co-regent.

   The mind is thus bound up in desire; is enmeshed in the selfish lower na-
ture,  making it difficult for the spirit to control the body.  The focusing
mind,  which should be the ally of the higher nature, is alienated by and in
league with the lower nature--enslaved by desire.

   The law of the Race religions was given to emancipate intellect from  de-
sire.   The  "fear of God"  was pitted against "the desires of  the  flesh."
This, however, was not enough to enable one to become master of the body and
secure its willing co-operation.  It became necessary for the spirit to find
in  the body another point of vantage,  which was not under the sway of  the
desire  nature.   All  muscles  are expressions of the  desire  body  and  a
straight road to the capital,  where the traitorous mind is wedded to desire
and reigns supreme.

   If the United States were at war with France, it would not land troops in
England, hoping in that way to subjugate the French.  It would land its sol-
diers directly in France, and fight there.

   Like a wise general, the Ego followed a similar course of action.  It did
not commence its campaign by getting control of one of the glands,  for they
are expressions of the vital body; nor was it possible to get control of the
voluntary muscles, for they are too well garrisoned by the enemy.  That part
of  the involuntary muscular system which is controlled by  the  sympathetic
nervous  system would also be useless for the purpose.   It must get into  a
more direct touch with the cerebro-spinal nervous system.   To do this,  and
secure a base of operations in the enemy's country, it must control a muscle

[PAGE 2263]

which is involuntary,  and yet connected with the voluntary nervous  system.
Such a muscle is the heart.

   We have previously spoken of the two kinds of muscles--voluntary and  in-
voluntary.   The latter are formed in lengthwise stripes and  are  connected
with functions not under the control of the will, such as digestion,  respi-
ration,  excretion,  etc.   The voluntary muscles are those which  are  con-
trolled  by  the  will through the voluntary nervous  system,  such  as  the
muscles  of the hand and arm.   They are striped BOTH lengthwise and  cross-
wise.

   The above is true of all muscles in the body EXCEPT THE HEART,  which  is
an involuntary muscle.  Ordinarily, we cannot control the circulation.   Un-
der normal conditions the heart-beat is a fixed quantity,  yet to the bewil-
derment  of  physiologists,  the heart is  CROSS-striped  like  a  voluntary
muscle.   It is the only organ in the body exhibiting this peculiarity  but,
sphinx-like, it refuses to give material scientists an answer to the riddle.

   The  occult  scientist easily finds the answer in the memory  of  nature.
From  that record he learns that when the Ego first sought a  stronghold  in
the heart, the latter was striped lengthwise only, the same as any other in-
voluntary  muscle;  but  as the Ego gained more and more  control  over  the
heart, the cross-stripes have gradually developed.  They are not so numerous
nor  so well defined as on the muscles under the full control of the  desire
body,  but as the altruistic principles of love and brotherhood increase  in
strength  and  gradually overrule the reason, which is based in  desire,  so
will these cross stripes become more numerous and more marked.

   As previously stated,  the seed-atom of the dense body is located in  the
heart during life and withdrawn only at death.   The active work of the  Ego
is  in  the blood.  Now, if we except the lungs, the heart is the only organ

[PAGE 2264]

in the body through which all the blood passes in every cycle.

   The blood is the highest expression of the vital body,  for it  nourishes
the entire physical organism.   It is also, in a sense,  the vehicle of  the
subconscious memory,  and in touch with the Memory  of Nature,  situated  in
the highest division of the Etheric Region.   The blood carries the pictures
of life from ancestors to descendants for generations, where there is a com-
mon blood, as produced by inbreeding.

   There are in the head three points, each of which is the particular  seat
of one of the three aspects of the spirit (See diagram 17),  the second  and
third aspects having, in addition, secondary vantage grounds.

   The desire body is the perverted expression of the Ego.   It converts the
"Selfhood"  of the spirit into "selfishness."  Selfhood seeks not its own at
the  expense of others.   Selfishness seeks gain regardless of others.   The
seat of the human spirit is primarily in the pineal gland and secondarily in
the  brain and cerebro-spinal nervous system,  which controls the  voluntary
muscles.

   The  love and unity in the World of the Life Spirit find  their  illusory
counterpart in the Etheric Region,  to which we are correlated by the  vital
body, which latter promotes sex love and sex union.  The life spirit has its
seat primarily in the pituitary body and secondarily in the heart,  which is
the gateway of the blood that nourishes the muscles.

   The actionless Divine Spirit--The Silent Watcher--finds its material  ex-
pression in the passive,  inert and irresponsive skeleton of the dense body,
which is the obedient instrument of other bodies, but has no power to act on
its  own initiative.   The Divine Spirit has its strong hold in  the  impen-
etrable point at the root of the nose.

[PAGE 2265]

   In reality there is but one spirit,  the Ego,  but looking at it from the
Physical  World,  it  is refracted into the three  aspects,  which  work  as
stated.

   As the blood passes through the heart, cycle after cycle, hour after hour
all  through life,  it engraves the pictures it carries upon the  seed-atoms
while they are still fresh,  thus making a faithful record of the life which
is  indelibly  impressed on the soul in the POST MORTEM  existence,   It  is
always in closest touch with the life spirit,  the spirit of love and unity,
therefore the heart is the home of altruistic love.

   As  these pictures pass inward to the World of Life Spirit,  in which  is
the  true  memory  of nature,  they do not come through  the  slow  physical
senses,  but  directly  through the fourth ether contained  in  the  air  we
breathe.  In the World of Life Spirit the life spirit sees much more clearly
than it can in the denser Worlds.   In its high home it is in touch with the
Cosmic  Wisdom and in any situation it knows at once what to do and  flashes
the  message of guidance and proper action back to the heart,  which as  in-
stantaneously  flashes  it  on  the the brain  through  the  medium  of  the
pneumo-gastric nerve,  resulting in "first impressions"--the intuitional im-
pulse,  which is always good, because it is drawn directly from the fountain
of Cosmic Wisdom and Love.

   This is all done so quickly that the heart has control before the  slower
reason  has  had time to "take in the situation,"  as it were.   It  is  the
thought  that man "thinketh in his heart,"  and it is true that "so is  he."
Man is inherently a virgin spirit,  good,  noble and true in every  respect.
All that is not good is from the lower nature,  that illusory reflection  of
the Ego.  The virgin spirit is always giving wise counsel.  If we could only

[PAGE 2266]

follow  the impulses of the heart--the first thought--Universal  Brotherhood
would be realized here and now.

   But  that  is just the point where the trouble begins.   After  the  good
counsel of the first thought has been given, the mind begins to reason, with
the  result that,  in the great majority of cases,  it dominates the  heart.
The telescope arranges its own focus and points where it lists,  despite the
astronomer.   The  mind  and the desire body frustrate the  designs  of  the
spirit by taking control and, as they lack the spirit's wisdom,  both spirit
and body suffer.

   Physiologists  note that certain areas of the brain are devoted  to  par-
ticular thought activities and phrenologist have carried this branch of sci-
ence still further.   Now, it is known that thought breaks down and destroys
nerve  tissues.   This and all other waste of the body,  is replaced by  the
blood.   When, through the development of the heart into a voluntary muscle,
the  circulation of the blood finally passes under the absolute  control  of
the  unifying  life spirit--the Spirit of Love--it will then be  within  the
power of that spirit to withhold the blood from those areas of the brain de-
voted to selfish purposes.   As a result,  those particular thought  centers
will gradually atrophy.

   On  the other hand,  it will be possible for the spirit to  increase  the
blood  supply when the mental activities are altruistic,  and thus build  up
the areas devoted to altruism,  so that, in time,  the desire nature will be
conquered  and the mind emancipated by Love from its bondage to desire.   It
is only by complete emancipation,  through Love, that man can ruse above the
law and become a law unto himself.   Having conquered himself,  he will have
conquered all the World.

   The  cross stripes of the heart may be built by certain  exercises  under
occult training,  but as some of these exercises are dangerous,  they should

[PAGE 2267]

be  undertaken  only under the direction of a competent  teacher.   That  no
reader  of  this book may be deceived by imposters  professing  ability  and
willingness  to so train aspirants for a consideration,  it is  emphatically
repeated  that NO TRUE OCCULTIST EVER BOASTS,  ADVERTISES HIS OCCULT  POWER,
SELLS  OCCULT  INFORMATION OR LESSONS AT SO MUCH EACH OR FOR A  COURSE;  NOR
WILL  BE  CONSENT  TO A THEATRICAL DISPLAY.  HIS WORK IS DONE  IN  THE  MOST
UNOBTRUSIVE MANNER POSSIBLE AND SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF LEGITIMATELY HELP-
ING OTHERS, WITHOUT THOUGHT OF SELF.

   As said in the beginning of this chapter,  all persons earnestly desiring
the higher knowledge may rest assured that if they will but seek,  they will
find the way open for them.   Christ Himself prepared the way for "whosoever
will."   He will help and welcome all real seekers,  who are willing to work
for Universal Brotherhood.

                           THE MYSTERY OF GOLGOTHA:

   During  the  last  2,000 years much has been said  about  "the  cleansing
blood."  The blood of Christ has been extolled from the pulpit as the sover-
eign remedy for sin; the ONLY means of redemption and salvation.

   But  if the laws of Rebirth and Consequence work in such a way  that  the
evolving beings reap as they have sown,  and if the evolutionary impulse  is
constantly   bring  humanity  higher  and  higher,   ultimately  to   attain
perfection--where  then is the need for redemption and salvation?   Even  if
the need existed, how can the death of one individual help the rest?   Would
it  not be nobler to suffer the consequences of one's acts than to hide  be-
hind another?  These are some of the objections to the doctrine of vicarious
atonement  and  redemption  by  the  blood  of Christ Jesus.  We will try to

[PAGE 2268]

answer them before showing the logical harmony between the operation of  the
law of Consequence and the Atonement by Christ.

   In the first place,  it is absolutely true that the evolutionary  impulse
does work to achieve ultimate perfection for all; yet there are some who are
constantly straggling behind.   At the present time, we have just passed the
extreme  point of materiality and are going through the sixteen  Races.   We
are  treading "the sixteen paths to destruction,"  and are  consequently  in
graver  danger of falling behind than at any other part of the  evolutionary
journey.

   In the abstract,  time is nothing.   A number may fall behind so far that
they  must  be  abandoned,  to take up their further  evolution  in  another
scheme,  where they can continue their journey to perfection.   Nevertheless
that was not the evolution originally designed for them and it is reasonable
to suppose that the exalted Intelligences in charge of our evolution use ev-
ery means to bring through in safety as many as possible of the entities un-
der their charge.

   In ordinary evolution,  the laws of Rebirth and Consequence are perfectly
adequate  for bringing the major portion of the life wave up to  perfection,
but they do not suffice in the case of the stragglers,  who are lagging  be-
hind in the various Races.  During the stage of individualism,  which is the
climax  of the illusion of separateness, all mankind needs extra  help,  but
for the stragglers some additional special aid must be provided.

   To give that special aid,  to redeem the stragglers,  was the mission  of
Christ.   He said that He came to seek and to save that which was lost.   He
opened the way of Initiation for all who are willing to seek it.

   Objectors  to  vicarious  atonement  urge:  That  it  is cowardly to hide

[PAGE 2269]

behind another;  that each man should be willing to take the consequence  of
his acts.

   Let us consider an analogous case.   The waters of the Great Lakes narrow
into  the  Niagara River.   For twenty miles this enormous volume  of  water
flows rapidly toward the falls.  The river bed is filled with rocks and if a
person who goes beyond a certain point does not lose his life in the  rapids
above the cataract, he will surely do so by the plunge over the brink.

   Suppose  a  man appeared who,  in pity for the victims  of  the  current,
placed a rope above the cataract,  although he knew that the conditions were
such  that in doing so,  he himself could not by any possible chance  escape
death.   Yet  gladly and of his own free will,  he sacrificed his  life  and
placed  the  rope,  thus modifying former conditions so that  any  otherwise
helpless  victims who would grasp the rope would be saved and  thenceforward
none need be lost.

   What  would we think of a man who had fallen into the water  through  his
own carelessness,  and was struggling madly to reach the shore, if he should
say:   "What!   Save myself and seek to avoid penalty of my carelessness  by
shielding  myself behind the strength of another,  who suffered  through  no
fault  of  his own,  and gave up his life that such as I  might  live?   No,
never!   That would not be "manly."  I will take my deserts!"   Would we not
all agree that the man was a fool?

   Not all are in need of salvation.  Christ knew that there is a very large
class who do not require salvation in this way,  but just as surely as there
are  the ninety-and-nine who are well taken care of by the laws  of  Rebirth
and  Consequence  and will reach perfection in that way,  so there  are  the
"sinners"  who  have  become  "bogged" in matter and cannot escape without a

[PAGE 2270]

rope.  Christ came to save them and to bring peace and good will to all,  by
raising  them to the necessary point of spirituality,  causing a  change  in
their desire bodies which will make the influence of the life spirit in  the
heart more potent.

   His  younger  brother  Sun  spirits,  the  Archangels,   had  worked   as
Race-spirits on the desire bodies of man, but their work had been from WITH-
OUT.   It  was simply a reflected spiritual Sun-force and came  through  the
Moon--as moonlight is reflected sunlight.  Christ, the Chief Initiate of the
Sun spirits,  entered directly into the dense body of the Earth and  brought
the direct Sun-force, thus enabling Him to influence over desire bodies from
WITHIN.

   Man cannot gaze long upon the Sun without becoming blind because its  vi-
brations are so rapid that they destroy the retina of the eye.   But he  can
look  without harmful results upon the Moon,  the vibrations from which  are
much slower; yet they are also sunlight, but the higher vibrations have been
taken up by the Moon, which then reflects the residue to us.

   So it is with the spiritual impulses which help man to evolve.   The rea-
son why the Earth was thrown off from the Sun was because our humanity could
not endure the Sun's tremendous physical and spiritual impulses.  Even after
an  enormous  distance  had  been placed between  the  Earth  and  Sun,  the
spiritual  impulse  would still have been too strong had it  not  been  sent
first to the Moon, to be used by Jehovah, the Regent of the Moon,  for man's
benefit.   A number of Archangels (ordinary Sun spirits) were given  Jehovah
as helpers in reflecting these spiritual impulses from the Sun upon the  hu-
manity of the Earth, in the form of Jehovistic or Race-religions.

   The lowest vehicle of the Archangels is the desire body.  Our desire body
was  added  in  the  Moon  Period,  at  which  time  Jehovah was the highest

[PAGE 2271]

Initiate.   Therefore  Jehovah  is  able to deal  with  man's  desire  body.
Jehovah's lowest vehicle is the human spirit (see diagram 14) and its  coun-
terpart is the desire body.  The Archangels are His helpers because they are
able to manage the spiritual Sun forces and the desire body is their  lowest
vehicle.   Thus they are able to work with and prepare humanity for the time
when  it  can receive the spiritual impulses directly from  the  Solar  Orb,
without the intervention of the Moon.

   Upon Christ,  as the highest Initiate of the Sun Period, is laid the task
of sending out this impulse.   The impulse which Jehovah reflected was  sent
out by Christ,  Who thus prepared both the Earth and humanity for His direct
ingress.

   The  expression,  "prepared the Earth,"  means that all  evolution  on  a
planet is accompanied by the evolution of THAT PLANET ITSELF.   Had some ob-
server  gifted with spiritual sight watched the evolution of our Earth  from
some  distant star,  he would have noticed a gradual change taking place  in
the Earth's desire body.

   Under  the old dispensation the desire bodies of people in  general  were
improved by means of the law.   This work is still going on in the  majority
of people, who are thus preparing themselves for the higher life.

   The higher life (Initiation) does not commence,  however,  until the work
on the vital body begins.  The means used for bringing that into activity is
Love,  or rather Altruism.   The former word has been so abused that  it  no
longer conveys the meaning here required.

   During the old dispensation the path of Initiation was not free and open,
except to the chosen few.   The Hierophants of the Mysteries collected  cer-
tain  families  about  the  Temples,  setting  them apart from all the other

[PAGE 2272]

people.   These chosen families were then rigorously guarded as  to  certain
rites and ceremonies.  Their marriages and sexual intercourse were regulated
by the Hierophants.

   The effect of this was to produce a race having the proper degree of lax-
ity  between the dense and vital bodies; also to wake the desire  body  from
its  state of lethargy during sleep.   Thus a special few were made fit  for
Initiation and were given opportunities that could not be given to all.   We
see  instances of this method among the Jews,  where the tribe of Levi  were
the chosen Templars;  also in the caste of the Brahmins,  who were the  only
priestly class among the Hindus.

   The Mission of Christ,  in addition to saving the lost,  was to make Ini-
tiation  possible to all,  therefore Jesus was not a Levite of the class  to
which  priesthood came by inheritance.   He came from the common people  and
though not of the teacher class, His teaching was higher than that of Moses.

   Christ Jesus did not deny Moses, the law, nor the prophets.   On the con-
trary,  He  acknowledged them all and showed the people that they  were  His
witnesses,  as they all pointed to One Who was to come.   He told the people
that those things had served their purpose and that henceforth Love must su-
persede Law.

   Christ Jesus was killed.   In connection with this fact,  we come to  the
supreme and fundamental difference between Him and the previous teachers, in
whom the Race spirits were born.  They all died and must be reborn again and
again to help their peoples bear their destiny.   The Archangel Michael (the
Race-spirit of the Jews) raised up Moses,  who was taken up to Mount Nebo to
die.  He was reborn as Elijah.  Elijah returned as John the Baptist;  Buddha
died and was reborn as Shankaracharya; Shri Krishna says, "Whenever there is

[PAGE 2273]

decay of Dharma.  . .and. . .exaltation of Adharma, then I myself come forth
for the protection of the good,  for the destruction of evil-doers,  for the
sake of firmly establishing Dharma.  I am born from age to age."

   When death came Moses' face SHONE and Buddha's body become ALIGHT.   They
all reached the stage when the spirit begins to shine from within--but  then
they died.

   Christ Jesus reached that stage on the Mount of Transfiguration.   It  is
of the very highest significance that HIS REAL WORK TOOK PLACE SUBSEQUENT TO
THAT EVENT.  He suffered; was KILLED--and RESURRECTED.

   Being  killed is a very different thing from dying.   The blood that  had
been  the vehicle of the Race-spirit must FLOW and be cleansed of that  con-
taminating influence.  Love of father and mother, exclusive of other fathers
and mothers,  must go--otherwise Universal Brotherhood and an  all-embracing
Altruistic Love could never become an actuality.

                             THE CLEANSING BLOOD:

   When  the Savior Christ Jesus was crucified His body was pierced in  five
places;  in the five centers where the currents of the vital body flow;  and
the  pressure  of  the crown of thorns caused a flow from  the  sixth  also.
(This is a hint to those who already know these currents.   A full  elucida-
tion of this matter cannot be publicly given out at this time.)

   When the blood flowed from these centers, the great Sun-spirit Christ was
liberated from the physical vehicle of Jesus and found Himself IN THE EARTH,
with individual vehicles.  The already existing planetary vehicles He perme-
ated with His own vehicles and, in the twinkling of an eye, diffused His own

[PAGE 2274]

desire body over the planet,  which has enabled Him thenceforth to work upon
the Earth and its humanity from WITHIN.

   At that moment a tremendous wave of spiritual sunlight flooded the Earth.
It  rent the veil which the Race-spirit had hung before the Temple  to  keep
out all but the chosen few,  and it made the Path of Initiation free thence-
forth  to whomsoever will.   So far as concerned the Spiritual Worlds,  this
wave transformed the conditions of the Earth like a flash of lightning,  but
the dense, concrete conditions are, of course, much more slowly affected.

   Like all rapid and high vibrations of light,  this great wave blinded the
people by its dazzling brilliance,  therefore it was said that "the Sun  was
darkened."   The very opposite was what actually occurred.   The Sun was not
darkened,  but shone out in glorious splendor.   It was the excess of  light
that  blinded the people,  and only as the entire Earth absorbed the  desire
body  of  the bright Sun-spirit did the vibration return to  a  more  normal
rate.

   The expression,  "the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus," means that as the
blood flowed on Calvary, it bore with it the great Sun-spirit Christ, Who by
that  means secured admission to the earth itself and since that moment  has
been  its Regent.   He diffused His own desire body throughout  the  planet,
thereby  cleansing it from all the vile influences which had grown up  under
the REGIME of the Race-spirit.

   Under the law all sinned;  nay,  more--they could not help it.   They had
not evolved to where they could do right for Love's sake.  The desire nature
was  so strong that it was an impossibility for them to rule it  altogether,
therefore their debts, engendered under the law of Consequence,  piled up to
monstrous  proportions.  Evolution would have been terribly delayed and many

[PAGE 2275]

lost to our life wave altogether it some help had not been given.

   Therefore did Christ come "to seek and to save that which was lost."   He
took  away the sin of the world by His cleansing blood,  which gave Him  en-
trance to the Earth and its humanity.  He purified the conditions and we owe
it  to  Him  that  we  are  able to  gather  for  our  desire  bodies  purer
desire-stuff than formerly,  and He continues working to help us,  by making
our external environment constantly purer.

   That  this was and is done at the expense of great suffering to  Himself,
no one can doubt who is able to form the least conception of the limitations
endured  by  that  Great  Spirit in entering  the  hampering  conditions  of
physical existence, even in the best and purest vehicle possible; nor is His
present limitation as Regent of the Earth must less painful.   True,  He  is
also Regent of the Sun,  and therefore only partially confined to the Earth,
yet  the  limitations  set by the crampingly slow vibrations  of  our  dense
planet must be almost endurable.

   Had  Christ Jesus simply died,  it would have been impossible for Him  to
have done this work, but the Christians have a RISEN Savior; One Who is ever
present  to help those who call upon His Name.   Having suffered  like  unto
ourselves  in all things and knowing fully our needs,  He is lenient  toward
our  mistakes  and failures so long as we continue trying to live  the  good
life.  We must ever keep before our eyes the fact that THE ONLY REAL FAILURE
IS CEASING TO TRY.

   Upon  the death of the dense body of Christ Jesus,  the seedatom was  re-
turned to the original owner,  Jesus of Nazareth,  who for some time  after-
ward,  while  functioning in a vital body which he had gathered temporarily,

[PAGE 2276]

taught the nucleus of the new faith which Christ had left behind.   Jesus of
Nazareth has since had the guidance of the esoteric branches which sprang up
all over Europe.

   In many placed the Knights of the Round Table were high Initiates in  the
Mysteries  of the New Dispensation.   So were the Knights of  The  Grail--to
whom was finally confided Joseph of Arimathea's Grail Cup, which was used by
Christ  Jesus at The Last Supper.  They were afterward entrusted  also  with
the  Lance  which pierced His side, and the receptacle  which  received  the
blood from the wound.

   The  Druids  of  Ireland the Trottes of  Northern  Russia  were  esoteric
schools  through  which the Master Jesus worked during the  so-called  "Dark
Ages,"  but,  dark though they were, the spiritual impulse spread,  and from
the standpoint of the occult scientist they were "Bright Ages"  compared  to
the growing materialism of the last 300 years,  which has increased physical
knowledge immensely, but has almost extinguished the Light of the Spirit.

   Tales of "The Grail," "Knights of The Round Table," etc., are now scouted
as superstitions and all that cannot be materially demonstrated is  regarded
as unworthy of belief.   Glorious as are the discoveries of modern  science,
they have been bought at the terrible price of crushing the spiritual  intu-
ition and,  from a spiritual standpoint,  no darker day than the present has
ever dawned.

   The  Elder Brothers,  Jesus among them, have striven and are striving  to
counteract  this terrible influence,  which is like that in the eyes of  the
snake,  causing the bird to fall into its jaws.   Every attempt to enlighten
people and awaken in them a desire to cultivate the spiritual side of  life,
is an evidence of the activity of the Elder Brothers.

[PAGE 2277]

   May  their efforts be crowned with success and speed the day when  modern
science shall be spiritualized and conduct its investigation of matter  from
the standpoint of spirit,  for them, and not until then, will it arrive at a
true knowledge of the world.

                           "AS ABOVE, SO BELOW":

                                    |
                                    |
               GOD                  |
     /--------\    /--------\       |      NEGATIVE             POSITIVE
     |        <<*>>          |      |                    *
     \--------/ |  \--------/       |                    |                   
                |                   |                    |            
        |-*     |   *-|             |         |----------|--------|   
Saturn  |       |     |   Vulcan    |         | Group 1  | Group 2|   
Period  |-------|-----|-| Period    |         |----------|--------|-|G.3
          |-----|-----| |           |           |--------|--------| |
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |G.4
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |
Venus   |-|-----|-------|  Sun      |     G.3 |-|--------|----------|G.5
Period  | |-----|-----|   Period    |         | |--------|--------|  
        |       |     |             |     G.4 |          |        |     
        |       |     |             |         |          |        |
Moon    |-------|-----|-| Jupiter   |     G.5 |----------|--------|-| G.6
Period    |-----|-----| | Period    |           |--------|--------| |
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |
        |-|-----|-------|           |     G.6 |-|--------|----------|G.7
Earth   | |-----|-----|   Period    |         | |--------|--------|
        |       |     |             |         |          |        |
Mercury |       |     |    Mars     |         |          |        |
 Half   |--     |   --|    Half     |     G.7 |----------|--      |
                |                   |                    |        |
                |                   |                 ---|--------|
                                    |
                                    |
                                     
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
   GROUP NO.       |   1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
COMBINING CAPACITY | R2O   | R O   | R2O3  | R O2  | R H3  | R H2  | R H   |
                   |       |       |       | R M4  | R2O5  | R O3  | R2O7  |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
ATOMIC WEIGHT      | LI.7  | GL.9  | B.10.9| C.12  | N.14  | O.16  | FL.19 |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
DENSITY            |  Na   |  Mg   |  Al   |  Si   |  S    |   P   |  Ce   |
                   | 0.97  | 1.75  | 2.49  | 2.65  | 2.06  | 1.84  | 1.38  |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|

    The world, the man, and the atom are governed by the same law. Our dense 
earth is now in its 4th stage of consolidation. The mind, the  desire  body, 
and the vital body are less solid than our 4th vehicle, the dense  body.  In 
the atomic weight of the chemical elements there is a  similar  arrangement. 
The 4th group marks the acme of density.

[PAGE 2278]

                     FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND INITIATION:

                         THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION:

   The  Rosicrucian speaks of the Earth Period as Mars-Mercury.   The  great
creative  Day of Manifestation is embodied in the names of the days  of  the
week,  for  our  week-days have been named  after  the  evolutionary  stages
through which the virgin spirits pass in their pilgrimage through matter.

DAY:                    CORRESPONDS TO THE:                     IS RULED BY:
Saturday............... Saturn Period.......................... Saturn
Sunday................. Sun Period............................. The Sun
Monday................. Moon Period............................ The Moon
Tuesday................ First half of the Earth Period......... Mars
Wednesday.............. Second half of the Earth Period........ Mercury
Thursday............... Jupiter Period......................... Jupiter
Friday................. Venus Period........................... Venus

The Vulcan Period is the last Period of our scheme of evolution.   The quin-
tessence of all the preceding Periods is extracted by the recapitulation  of
spiral after spiral.   No new work is done until the very last Revolution on
the  very  last  Globe and then only in the Seventh  Epoch.   Therefore  the
Vulcan Period may be said to correspond to the week,  which includes all  of
the seven days.

   The claim of astrologers that the days of the week are ruled by the  par-
ticular planet for which they are named, is well-founded.  The ancients were
also  familiar with this occult knowledge, as is shown in their mythologies,

[PAGE 2279]

in  which  the names of the gods are associated with the days of  the  week.
Saturday  is plainly "Saturn's day";  Sunday is correlated to the  Sun,  and
Monday to the Moon.  The Latins call Tuesday "Dies Martis,"  which obviously
shows its connection with Mars, the god of war.   The name "Tuesday"  is de-
rived from "Tirsdag,"  "Tir"  or "Tyr,"  being the name of the Norse god  of
war.   "Wednesday"  was "Wotensdag,"  from Woten, also a Norse  god;  it  is
called "Dies Mercurii"  by the Latins, showing its association with Mercury,
as given in our list.

   Thursday,  or "Thorsdag,"  is named for "Thor," the Norse god of thunder,
and is called "Dies Jovis" by the Latins, after the thunder god,  "Jove"  or
"Jupiter."

   Friday is named for the Norse goddess of beauty, "Freya," and for similar
reasons, the Latins call it "Dies Veneris," or Day of Venus.

   THESE NAMES OF PERIODS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PHYSICAL PLANETS,  BUT
REFER TO PAST, PRESENT OR FUTURE INCARNATIONS OF THE EARTH;  for,  again ap-
plying the Hermetic axiom, "As above, so below,: the macrocosm must have its
incarnations as well as the microcosm, man.

   Occult science teaches that there are 777 incarnations, but that does not
mean  that the Earth undergoes 777 metamorphoses.   It means  that  evolving
life makes
                        7 Revolutions around the
                        7 Globes of the
                        7 World Periods.

   This pilgrimage of Involution and Evolution, including the "short cut" of
Initiation,  is embodied in the Caduceus, or "Staff of Mercury" (see Diagram
15),  so called because this occult symbol indicates The Pat of  Initiation,
which  has been open to man only since the beginning of the Mercury half  of
the  Earth  Period.  Some  of the lesser mysteries were given to the earlier

[PAGE 2280]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                               DIAGRAM 15:

       THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION AND THE FOUR GREAT INITIATIONS:


               Ordinary Humanity pursues the spiral path
       The Initiate goes the straight and narrow way that leads....

                                  TO
                                 GOD
   /--------------------------\   *   /--------------------------\
  <---------------------------->--|--<---------------------------->
   \--------------------------/   |   \--------------------------/
                                  |[4]
                   |--*           |         *--|
        1          |             /|\           |           7
  SATURN PERIOD   \|/             |           /|\    VULCAN PERIOD
    [Saturday]     |              |            |       THE WEEK
      VIOLET       |--->---->---->|---->---->--|-|   [Embracing All
                     |--->----->--|-->---->----| |      The Days]
                     |           /|\            \|/      WHITE
                    /|\           |              |   [Including All 
                   |-|<----<----<-|----<----<----|     The Colors]
                   | |---<----<-----<-----<----|
        6         \|/             |[3]        /|\          2
  VENUS PERIOD     |             /|\           |      SUN PERIOD
    [Friday]       |---->---->----|->----->----|-|     [Sunday]
      RED            |----->---->-|---->---->--| |      INDIGO
                    /|\           |             \|/
        3            |            |[2]           |         5
  MOON PERIOD      |-|----<----<--|---<----<-----|    JUPITER PERIOD
    [Monday]       | |--<-----<------<----<----|        [Thursday]
      BLUE        \|/             |           /|\         ORANGE
                   |             /|\           |
        4          |----->------>------>-------|-|
     EARTH--         |->------>---|-->------>--| |   --PERIOD
  MERCURY HALF      /|\           |[1]          \|/   MARS HALF
   [Wednesday]       |--<        /|\          <--|    [Tuesday]
     YELLOW                       |                     GREEN
                                  |
                                 /|\
                            [THE  | CADUCEUS]
                                  |
                                 / \
                       THE WAY OF INITIATION
There was no Initiation prior to the end of the  Mars  half  of  the  Earth 
Period. The Lesser Mysteries embrace human evolution in the Mercury Half of 
the Earth Period.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[PAGE 2281]

Lemurians and Atlanteans, but not the Four Great Initiations.

   The black serpent on diagram 15 indicates the winding, cyclic path of In-
volution,  comprising the Saturn, Sun and Moon Periods, and the Mars half of
the Earth Period, during which the evolving life built its vehicles, not be-
coming fully awake and clearly conscious of the outside world until the lat-
ter of the Atlantean Epoch.

   The  white  serpent represents the path that the human race  will  follow
through the Mercury half of the Earth Period,  and the Jupiter,  Venus,  and
Vulcan Periods, during which pilgrimage man's consciousness will expand into
that of an omniscient, Creative Intelligence.

   The serpentine path is the path followed by the great majority;  but  the
"Staff of Mercury," around which the serpents twine, shows the "straight and
narrow way," the path of Initiation, which enables those who walk therein to
accomplish in a few short lives that which it requires millions of years for
the majority of mankind to accomplish.

   It need scarcely be said that no description of the initiatory ceremonies
can be given,  as the first vow of the Initiate is silence; but even if per-
missible,  it  would  not  be important.  What  concerns  us  in  getting  a
bird's-eye view of the evolutionary path is to ascertain the results of  the
ceremonies.

   The whole result of initiation is to give to the spiritually aspiring  an
opportunity  to develop the higher faculties and powers in a short time  and
by severe training,  thereby gaining the expansion of consciousness that all
manking will surely possess eventually,  but which the vast majority  choose
to  acquire through the slow process of ordinary evolution.  We may know the

[PAGE 2282]

states of consciousness and their concomitant powers attained by the  candi-
date as he passes through successive great Initiations provided we know what
those future states and powers will be for humanity in general.   Some hints
have  been given and more may be logically deduced by an application of  the
law of Correspondences, to give a fairly rounded picture of the evolution in
store for all of us, and the magnitude of the great steps in Initiation.  To
do this it may help us to glance back over the steps by which the conscious-
ness of man has been evolved through the various Periods.

   We remember that during the Saturn Period the unconsciousness of man  was
similar to that of the dense body when plunged into the deepest trance  con-
dition;  this was succeeded,  in the Sun period,  by a dreamless-sleep  con-
sciousness.  In the Moon Period the first glimmering of waking showed itself
in inward pictures of outward things.  The entire consciousness consisted of
such  inward representations of external objects,  colors,  or  sounds.   At
last, in the latter part of the Atlantean Epoch, this picture consciousness,
in which objects could be observed outside,  clearly and distinctly outlined
in space.   When this objective-consciousness was attained, man became aware
of  an outside world and for the first time thoroughly realized the  differ-
ence  between "self"  and "others."   He then realized his separateness  and
thenceforth the "I" consciousness, Egoism, became paramount.  As previous to
that  time  there had been no thoughts nor ideas dealing with a  an  outside
world, there had consequently been no memory of events.

   The   change   from   the   internal   picture   consciousness   to   the
objective-self-consciousness was effected by a very slow process,  commensu-
rate with its magnitude,  lasting from the existence on Globe C in the third

[PAGE 2283]

Revolution of the Moon Period, until the latter part of the Atlantean Epoch.

   During  that time the evolving life passed through four great  stages  of
animal-like development before reaching the human stage.  These steps of the
past  correspond to four stages yet to be passed through,  and to  the  four
initiations.

   Within these four stages of consciousness previously passed there are al-
together  thirteen steps,  and from man's present state to the last  of  the
Great Initiations there are also thirteen initiations--the  nine degrees  of
the lesser mysteries and the four Great Initiations.

   There is a similar division among our present animals which can be traced
through Form,  because, as the form is the expression of life,  so each step
in its development must necessarily show a step forward in consciousness.

   Cuvier  was  the  first to divide the animal kingdom  into  four  primary
classes,  but  was not so successful in his division of these  classes  into
sub-classes.   The embryologist, Karl Ernst von Baer, also Professor Agassiz
and  other  scientists,  classify the animal kingdom into four  primary  and
thirteen subdivisions, as follows:

   I    RADIATES:
              1-Polyps, Sea-anemones and Coral.
              2-Acaleph, or Jelly-fish.
              3-Starfish, Sea-urchins.
   II   MOLLUSKS:
              4-Acephala (oysters, etc.).
              5-Gast ropoda (snails).
              6-Cephalopoda.
   III  ARTICULATES:
              7-Worms.
              8-Crustacea (lobsters, etc.).
              9-Insects.
   IV   VERTEBRATES:
              10-Fishes.
              11-Reptiles.
              12-Birds.
              13-Mammals

[PAGE 2284]

   The  first three divisions correspond to the remaining three  Revolutions
of the Mercury half of the Earth Period,  and their nine steps correspond to
the nine degrees of the lesser mysteries, which will have been taken by  hu-
manity in general when it has reached the middle of the last Revolutions  of
the Earth Period.

   The fourth division in the list of the advancing animal kingdom has  four
subdivisions:   Fishes,  Reptiles,  Birds,  and Mammals.   The steps in con-
sciousness thus indicated correspond to similar states of advancement to  be
attained by humanity at the end of the Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan Pe-
riods and which any qualified individual may now attain by initiation.   The
first  of the Great Initiations gives the stage of consciousness which  will
be attained by ordinary humanity at the end of the Earth Period;  the second
that  to which all will attain at the end of the Jupiter Period;  the  third
gives the extension of consciousness to be reached at the close of the Venus
Period;  the last brings to the initiate the power and omniscience to  which
the majority will attain only at the end of the Vulcan Period.

   The  Objective-Consciousness by which we obtain knowledge of the  outside
world  is dependent upon what we perceive through the medium of the  senses.
This  we call "real,"  in contradistinction to our thoughts and ideas  which
come to us through our inner consciousness; their reality is not apparent to
us in the same as that of a book or table,  or other visible or tangible ob-
ject in space.  Thoughts and ideas seem misty and unreal, therefore we speak
of a "mere" thought, or of "just" an idea.

   The ideas and thoughts of today, however,  have an evolution before them;
they  are  destined  to  become  as  real,  clear and tangible as any of the

[PAGE 2285]

objects  of  the outside world which we now perceive  through  the  physical
senses.   At present, when a thing or a color is thought of,  the picture or
color  presented by the memory to our inner consciousness is but a  dim  and
shadowy one compared with the thing thought of.

   As early as the Jupiter Period there will be a marked change in this  re-
spect.  The the dream-pictures of the Moon Period will return, but they will
be subject to the call of the thinker,  and not mere reproductions of  outer
objects.   Thus there will be a combination of the pictures of the Moon  Pe-
riod  and the thoughts and ideas consciously developed during the Earth  Pe-
riod, that is, it will be a Self-Consciousness Picture-Consciousness.

   When a man of the Jupiter Period says "red," or speaks the name of an ob-
ject, a clear and exact reproduction of the particular shade of red of which
he is thinking,  or of the object to which he refers,  will be presented  to
his inner vision and will also be quite visible to the hearer.   There  will
be no misconception as to what is meant by the words spoken.   Thoughts  and
ideas  will be alive and visible, therefore hypocrisy and flattery  will  be
entirely eliminated.  People can be seen exactly as they are.  There will be
both  good and bad,  but the two qualities will not be mingled in  the  same
person.   There will be the thoroughly good man and the downright evil  man,
and  one of the serious problems of that time will be how to deal  with  the
latter.   The Manichees,  an Order of still higher,  spirituality  than  the
Rosicrucians,  are at present studying that very problem.   An idea  of  the
condition  anticipated  may be gained from a short resume or  their  legend.
(All mystic orders have a legend symbolic of their ideals and aspirations.

   In  the  legend  of  the  Manichees  there  are two kingdoms--that of the

[PAGE 2286]

Light-Elves and that of the Night Elves.  The latter attack the former,  are
defeated  and must be punished.   But, as the Light-Elves are as  thoroughly
good as the Night-Elves are bad,  they cannot inflict evil upon their  foes,
so they must be punished with Good.   Therefore a part of the kingdom of the
Light-Elves is incorporated with that of the Night-Elves and is this way the
evil is in time overcome.  Hate which will not submit to hate,  must succumb
to Love.

   The  internal  pictures of the Moon Period were a certain  expression  of
man's external environment.   In the Jupiter Period the pictures will be ex-
pressed from within;  they will be an outcome of the inner life of the  man.
He  will  also possess the additional faculty,  which he cultivated  in  the
Earth Period, of seeing things in space outside of himself.  In the Moon Pe-
riod he did not see the concrete thing, but only its soul-qualities.  In the
Jupiter  Period he will see both,  and will thus have a thorough  perception
and understanding of his surroundings.  At a later stage in the same Period,
this  perceptive  ability will be succeeded by a still  higher  phase.   His
power to form clear mental conceptions of colors, objects, or tones will en-
able him to contact and influence supersensuous beings of various orders and
to secure their obedience, employing their forces as he wishes.   He will be
unable  to send out from himself the forces wherewith to carry out  his  de-
signs,  however,  and will be dependent upon the help of these superphysical
beings, who will then be at his service.

   At the close of the Venus Period he will be able to use his own force  to
give his pictures life and to set them out from himself as objects in space.
He will then possess an Objective, Self-Conscious, Creative-Consciousness.

   Very little can be said about the high spiritual consciousness which will

[PAGE 2287]

be attained at the close of the Vulcan Period;  it would be quite beyond our
present comprehension.

                           SPIRALS WITHIN SPIRALS:

   It  must not be supposed that these states of consciousness  commence  at
the  beginning of the Periods to which they belong and last until  the  end.
There is always the Recapitulation,  and therefore there must be the  corre-
sponding stages of consciousness on an ascending scale.   The Saturn Revolu-
tion of any Period,  the stay on Glove A,  and the first Epoch on any Globe,
are repetitions of the Saturn Period states of development.  The Sun Revolu-
tion, the stay on Globe B, and the second Epoch on any Glove are Recapitula-
tions  of  the  Sun Period states of development,  and so on,  all  the  way
through.   Hence it will be seen that the consciousness which is to  be  the
especial and peculiar result or product of any Period,  does not begin to be
evolved    until   all   the   Recapitulations   have   been   made.     The
waking-consciousness  of the Earth Period was not started until  the  Fourth
Revolution,  when the life wave had reached the Fourth Glove (D), and was in
the Fourth or Atlantean Epoch on that Globe.

   The Jupiter Consciousness will not start in the Jupiter Period until  the
Fifth  Revolution,  when the Fifth Globe (E) has been reached and the  Fifth
Epoch commences on that Globe.

   Correspondingly,  the Venus consciousness will not begin until the  Sixth
Revolution  has come to the Sixth Globe and Epoch,  and the  special  Vulcan
work will be confined to the very last Globe and Epoch,  just before the Day
of Manifestation closes.

   The  time  required  for  passing through these respective Periods varies

[PAGE 2288]

greatly.   The  further into matter the virgin spirits descent,  the  slower
their  progress  and the more numerous the steps or stages  of  progression.
After the nadir of material existence has been passed and the life wave  as-
cends into more tenuous and mobile conditions, the progress is gradually ac-
celerated.   The Sun Period is of somewhat longer duration that  the  Saturn
Period,  and the Moon Period is longer than the Sun Period.   The  Mars  (or
first) half of the Earth Period is the longest half of any Period.  Then the
time begins to shorten again,  so that the Mercury half of the Earth  Period
the latter three and a half Revolutions, will occupy less time that the Mars
half; the Jupiter Period will be shorter than the Moon Period; the Venus Pe-
riod  shorter than the corresponding Sun Period;  and the Vulcan Period  the
shortest Period of them all.

   The states of consciousness of the different Periods may be tabulated  as
follows:

PERIOD:       CORRESPONDING CONSCIOUSNESS:
Saturn....... Unconsciousness corresponding to deep trance
Sun.......... Unconsciousness resembling dreamless sleep
Moon......... Picture consciousness corresponding to dream state
Earth........ Waking, objective consciousness
Jupiter...... Self-conscious picture consciousness
Venus........ Objective, Self-conscious, Creative consciousness
Vulcan....... Highest Spiritual Consciousness

   Having taken a general survey of the states of consciousness to be devel-
oped  in the next three and a half Periods,  we will now study the means  of
attainment.

                           ALCHEMY AND SOUL-GROWTH:

   The dense body was started in the Saturn Period,  passed through  various
transformations  in  the  Sun  and  Moon Periods, and will reach its highest

[PAGE 2289]

development in the Earth Period.

   The  vital body was started in the second Revolution of the  Sun  Period,
was reconstructed in the Moon and Earth Periods,  and will reach  perfection
in the Jupiter Period, which is its fourth stage, as the Earth Period is the
fourth stage for the dense body.

   The  desire  body was started in the Moon period,  reconstructed  in  the
Earth period, will be further modified in the Jupiter Period,  reaching per-
fection in the Venus period.

   The mind was started in the Earth Period, will be modified in the Jupiter
and Venus Periods, and attain perfection in the Vulcan Period.

   Reference to diagram 8 will show that the lowest Globe of the Jupiter Pe-
riod is located in the Etheric Region.   It would therefore be impossible to
use  the dense physical vehicle there,  as only a vital body can be used  in
the  Etheric Region.   Yet it must not be supposed that after  spending  the
time from the beginning of the Saturn Period to the end of the Earth  Period
in completing and perfecting this body,  it is then thrown away that man may
function in a "higher" vehicle!

   Nothing  in Nature is wasted.   In the Jupiter Period the forces  of  the
dense body will be superimposed upon the completed vital body.  That vehicle
will then possess the powers of the dense body in addition to its own facul-
ties,  and will therefore be a much more valuable instrument for the expres-
sion of the threefold spirit that if built from its own forces alone.

   Similarly,  Globe  D of the Venus Period is located in the  Desire  World
(see Diagram 8),  hence neither a dense nor a vital body could be used as an
instrument  of  consciousness, therefore the essences of the perfected dense

[PAGE 2290]

and vital bodies are incorporated in the completed desire body,  the  latter
thus becoming a vehicle of transcendent qualities, marvelously adaptable and
so  responsive  to the slightest wish of the indwelling spirit that  in  our
present limitations, it is beyond our utmost conception.

   Yet the efficiency of even this splendid vehicle will be transcended when
in  the Vulcan period its essence,  together with the essences of the  dense
and vital bodies,  are added to the mind body,  which becomes the highest of
man's  vehicles,  containing within itself the quintessence of all that  was
best in all the vehicles.   The vehicle of the Venus Period being beyond our
present power of conception,  how much more so is that which will be at  the
service of the divine beings of the Vulcan Period!

   During  involution the creative Hierarchies assisted man to  arouse  into
activity the threefold spirit, the Ego, to build the threefold body,  and to
acquire the link of mind.  Now, however, on the seventh day (to use the lan-
guage of the Bible),  God rests.  Man must work out his own salvation.   The
threefold  spirit  must complete the working out of the plan  begun  by  the
Gods.

   The  human spirit,  which was awakened during Involution in the Moon  Pe-
riod,  will be the most prominent of the three aspects of the spirit in  the
evolution  of the Jupiter Period,  which is the corresponding Period on  the
upward arc of the spiral.  The life spirit,  which was started into activity
in the Sun Period, will manifest its principal activity in the corresponding
Venus  Period,  and the particular influences of the Divine Spirit  will  be
strongest in the Vulcan Period, because it was vivified in the corresponding
Saturn Period.

   All three  aspects of the spirit are active all the time during evolution

[PAGE 2291]

but  the  principal activity of each aspect will be unfolded in  those  par-
ticular Periods, because the work to be done there is its special work.

   When the threefold spirit had evolved the threefold body and gained  con-
trol of it through the focus of Mind,  it commenced to evolve the  threefold
soul by working from within.   How much or how little soul a man has depends
upon  the amount of work the spirit has done in the bodies.   This has  been
explained in the chapter describing post mortem experiences.

   As  much of the desire body as has been worked upon by the Ego is  trans-
muted  into the emotional soul,  and is ultimately assimilated by the  human
spirit, the special vehicle of which is the desire body.

   As much of the vital body as has been worked upon by the life spirit, be-
comes the Intellectual soul, and it builds the life spirit, because that as-
pect of the threefold spirit has its counterpart in the vital body.

   As much of the dense body as has been worked upon by the Divine Spirit is
called  the Conscious soul,  and is ultimately merged in the Divine  Spirit,
because the dense body is its material emanation.

   The Conscious soul grows by action, external impacts, and experience.

   The  Emotional soul grows by the feelings and emotions generated  by  ac-
tions and experiences.

   The Intellectual soul,  as mediator between the other two,  grows by  the
exercise of memory,  by which it links together past and present experiences
and  the  feelings  engendered thereby, thus creating  "sympathy"  and  "an-
tipathy,"  which could not exist apart from memory, because the feelings re-
sulting from experience alone would be evanescent.

[PAGE 2292]

   During the involution the spirit progressed by growing bodies, but evolu-
tion  depends upon soul growth--the transmutation of the bodies  into  soul.
The soul is,  so to say,  the quintessence,  the power or force of the body,
and when a body has been completely built and brought to perfection  through
the  stages  and Periods as above described,  the soul  is  fully  extracted
therefrom and is absorbed by the one of the three aspects of the the  spirit
which generated the body in the first place; thus:

   The  CONSCIOUS  SOUL will be absorbed by the DIVINE SPIRIT in the seventh
Revolution of the Jupiter Period;
   The  INTELLECTUAL  SOUL  will be absorbed by the LIFE SPIRIT in the sixth
Revolution of the Venus Period;
   The  EMOTIONAL  SOUL  will  be  absorbed by the HUMAN SPIRIT in the fifth
Revolution of the Vulcan Period.

                             THE CREATIVE WORD:

   The  mind is the most important instrument possessed by the  spirit,  and
its special instrument in the work of creation.   The spiritualized and per-
fected larynx will speak the creative Word, but the perfect mind will decide
as to the particular form and the volume of vibration,  and will thus be the
determining factor.  Imagination will be the spiritualized faculty directing
the work of creation.

   There  is a strong tendency at the present time to regard the faculty  of
imagination slightingly,  yet it is one of the most important factors in our
civilization.   It it were not for the imagination,  we would still be naked
savages.  Imagination planned our houses, our clothes and our transportation
and  transmission facilities.   Had not the inventors of these  improvements
possessed the mind and imagination to form mental images,  the  improvements
could  never  have  become concrete realities.  In our materialistic day and

[PAGE 2293]

age  there is scarcely an effort made to conceal the contempt in  which  the
faculty of imagination is generally held,  and none feel the effects of this
more acutely than inventors.  They are usually classes as "cranks,"  and yet
they  have been the chief factors in the subjugation of the  Physical  World
and in making our social environment what it is today.   Any improvement  in
spiritual or physical conditions must first be imagined as a possibility be-
fore it can become an actuality.

   If  the student will turn to diagram 1 this fact will become  clear.   In
the comparison there drawn between the functions of the different human  ve-
hicles and the part of a stereoptican, the mind corresponds to the lens.  It
is  the focusing medium whereby the ideas wrought by the imagination of  the
spirit  are projected upon the material universe.   First they  are  thought
norms  only,  but when the desire to realize the imagined possibilities  has
set the man to work in the Physical World, they become what we call concrete
"realities."

   At the present time,  however,  the mind is not focused in a way that en-
ables  it to give a clear and true picture of what the spirit imagines.   It
is not one-pointed.  It gives misty and clouded pictures.   Hence the neces-
sity  of  experiment to show the inadequacies of the first  conception,  and
bring about new imaginings and ideas until the image produced by the  spirit
in mental substance has been reproduced in physical substance.

   At  the best,  we are able to shape through the mind only such images  as
have to do with Form, because the human mind was not started until the Earth
Period,  and therefore is now in its form, or "mineral" stage,  hence in our
operations we are confined to forms,  to minerals.   We can imagine ways and
means of working with the mineral forms of the three lower kingdoms, but can

[PAGE 2294]

do  little or nothing with the living bodies.   We may indeed  graft  living
branch to living tree, or living part of animal or man to other living part,
but it is not life with which we are working; it is form only.   We are mak-
ing different conditions, but the life which already inhabited the form con-
tinues to do so still.   To create life is beyond man's power until his mind
has become alive.

   In  the Jupiter Period the mind will be vivified to some extent  and  man
can then imagine forms which will live and grow, like plants.

   In the Venus Period, when his mind has acquired "Feeling,"  he can create
living, growing, and feeling things.

   When he reaches perfection,  at the end of the Vulcan Period,  he will be
able to "imagine" into existence creatures that will live, grown, feel,  and
think.

   In the Saturn Period the life wave which is now man started on its evolu-
tion.   The Lords of Mind were then human.  They worked with man at that Pe-
riod, when he was mineral.  They now have nothing to do with the lower king-
doms, but are concerned solely with our human development.

   Our present animals started their mineral existence in the Sun Period, at
which time the Archangels were human, therefore the Archangels are the  rul-
ers and guides of the evolution of that which is now animal,  but have noth-
ing to do with plant or mineral.

   The  present plants had their mineral existence in the Moon period.   The
Angels  were then human,  therefore they have special concern with the  life
that now inhabits the plants,  to guide it up to the human stage;  but  they
have no interest in the minerals.

   Our  present  humanity  will  have  to work with the new life wave, which

[PAGE 2295]

entered evolution in the Earth Period and NOW ENSOULS THE MINERALS.   We are
now  working  with  it by means of the faculty  of  imagination,  giving  it
form--building it into ships, bridges, railways, houses, etc.

   In the Jupiter Period we shall guide the evolution of the plant  kingdom,
for  that which is at present mineral will then have a plant-like  existence
and  we must work with it there as the Angels are now doing with  out  plant
kingdom.  Our faculty of imagination will be so developed that we shall have
the  ability,  not only to create forms by means of it,  but to endow  those
forms with vitality.

   In the Venus Period our present mineral life wave shall have advanced an-
other  step,  and we shall be doing for the animals of that period what  the
Archangels  are  now doing for our animals--giving them living  and  feeling
forms.

   Lastly, in the Vulcan Period it will be our privilege to give them a ger-
minal mind,  as the Lords of Mind did to us.  The present minerals will then
have  become  the humanity of the Vulcan Period,  and we shall  have  passed
through stages similar to those through which the Angels and Archangels  are
now  passing.   We  shall then have reached a point in  evolution  a  little
higher that that of the present Lords of Mind, for remember,  there is never
an exact reproduction anywhere, but always progressive improvement,  because
of the spiral.

   The Divine Spirit will absorb the human spirit at the close of the  Jupi-
ter Period;  the life spirit at the close of the Venus Period;  and the per-
fected  Mind,  embodying  all that it has  garnered  during  its  pilgrimage
through all the seven Periods,  will be absorbed by the Divine Spirit at the
close  of the Vulcan Period.   (There is no contradiction of  the  foregoing
statement  made  elsewhere  that  the Emotional soul will be absorbed by the

[PAGE 2296]

human spirit in the fifth Revolution of the Vulcan Period,  because the lat-
ter will then be within the Divine Spirit.)

   Then  will succeed the long interval of subjective activity during  which
the virgin spirit will assimilate all the fruits of the septenary Periods of
active  Manifestation.   It is then merged in God,  from Whom  it  came,  to
re-emerge at the dawn of another Great Day,  as One of His glorious helpers.
During  its past evolution its latent possibilities have been transmuted  to
dynamic  powers.   It  has acquired Soul-power and a Creative  Mind  as  the
fruitage of its pilgrimage through matter.   It has advanced from  IMPOTENCE
TO OMNIPOTENCE, FROM NESCIENCE TO OMNISCIENCE.

                THE METHOD OF ACQUIRING FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE:

                               THE FIRST STEPS:

   The  time has now come for pointing out the way by which each  individual
may investigate for himself all the facts with which we have dealt thus  far
in our study.  As stated in the beginning, there are no special "gifts"  be-
stowed upon any.   All may know for themselves the truth concerning the pil-
grimage  of the soul,  the past evolution and future destiny of  the  world,
without being compelled to depend upon the veracity of another.   There is a
method whereby this valuable faculty may be acquired,  and the earnest  stu-
dent quality himself to investigate those super-physical realms; a method by
which, if persistently followed, the powers of a God may be developed.

   A  simple  illustration  may indicate the first  steps.   The  very  best
medicine is well-nigh helpless without the tools of his craft.  Indeed it is
the hall mark of a good artisan that he is very fastidious as to the quality
and  condition of the tools he uses, because he knows that the work  depends
as much upon their excellence as upon his skill.

   The Ego has several instruments--a dense  body,  a vital body,  a  desire
body,  and a mind.  These are its tools and upon their quality and condition
depends  how much or how little it can accomplish in its work  of  gathering
experience in each life.  If the instruments are poor and dull there will be

[PAGE 2297]

but little spiritual growth and the life will be a barren one, so far as the
spirit is concerned.

   We generally estimate a "successful" life by the bank account, the social
position attained,  or the happiness resulting from a carefree existence and
a sheltered environment.

   When life is regarded is that way all the principal things that make  for
permanency  are forgotten;  the individual is blinded by the evanescent  and
illusionary.   A bank account seems such a very real success,  the  fact  is
forgotten that from the moment the Ego leaves the body,  it has no equity in
gold  nor any other earthly treasure.   It may even have to answer  for  the
methods employed in amassing that hoard and suffer great pain in seeing oth-
ers spend it.   It is forgotten that the important social position also dis-
appears  when  the silver cord is loosed.   Those who once fawned  may  then
sneer, and even those who were faithful in life might shudder at the thought
of an hour spent with no company but that of the dead.   All that if of this
life alone in vanity.  Only that is of true value which can be taken with us
across the threshold as the treasure of the spirit.

   The hot-house plant may look very beautiful as it blooms in its sheltered
glass house,  but should the furnace fire go out,  it would wither and  die,
while the plant that has grown in rain and sunshine, through storm and calm,
will survive the winter and bloom afresh each year.   From the viewpoint  of
the  soul,  happiness and a sheltered environment are generally  unfortunate
circumstances.   The  petted and fondled lap dog is subject to  diseases  of
which the homeless cur,  which has to fight for a scrap from a garbage  can,
knows nothing.  The cur's life is hard, but it gets experience that makes it

[PAGE 2298]

alert,  alive and resourceful.   Its life is rich in events,  and it reaps a
harvest  of experience,  while the pampered lap dog drones it time  away  in
fearful monotony.

   The case of a human being is somewhat similar.   It may be hard to  fight
poverty  and hunger,  but from the standpoint of the soul it  is  infinitely
preferable  to a life of idle luxury.  Where wealth is nothing more  than  a
handmaid of well thought out philanthropy,  which helps man in such a way as
to really uplift him,  it may be a very great blessing and a means of growth
for  its possessor,  but when used for selfish purposes and  oppression,  it
cannot be regarded as other than an unmitigated curse.

   The  soul is here to acquire experience through its  instruments.   These
are the tools furnished to each at birth,  and they are good,  bad or indif-
ferent  according  to what we have learned through past  experience  in  the
building of them.  Such as they are we must work with them, it at all.

   If  we  have become aroused from the usual lethargy and  are  anxious  to
progress, the question naturally arises, What must I do?

   Without well-kept tools the mechanic can do no effective work; similarly,
the instruments of the Ego must be cleansed and sharpened;  then we may com-
mence  work to some purpose.   As one works with those wonderful tools  they
themselves improve with proper use and become more and more efficient to aid
in the work.  The object of this work is Union with the Higher Self.

   There  are three steps by which this work conquers the lower nature,  but
they are not completely taken one after the other.   In a certain sense they
go together, so that at the present stage the first receives the most atten-
tion, the second less, and the third least of  all.  In time, when the first

[PAGE 2299]

step  has  been wholly taken,  naturally more attention can be paid  to  the
other two.

   There are three helps given in attaining these three stages.  They can be
seen in the outside world,  where the great Leaders of humanity have  placed
them.

   The  first help is Race religions, which by aiding humanity  to  overcome
the desire body, prepare it for union with the Holy Spirit.

   The full operation of this help was seen on the Day of Pentecost.  As the
Holy Spirit is the Race God,  all languages are expressions of it.   That is
why the apostles,  when fully united and filled with the Holy Spirit,  spoke
with  different  tongues  and were able to convince  their  hearers.   Their
desire  bodies had been sufficiently purified to bring about the  wished-for
union  and this is an earnest of what the disciple will one day attain  to--
the  power  to speak all tongues.   It may also be cited as a  modern,  his-
torical example, that the Comte de St. Germain (who was one of the later in-
carnations  of Christian Rosenkreuz the founder of our sacred Order),  spoke
all languages,  so that all to whom he spoke thought he belonged to the same
nation as they.  He also had achieved union with the Holy Spirit.

   In the Hyperborean Epoch,  before man possessed a desire body,  there was
but one universal mode of communication and when the desire body has  become
sufficiently purified, all men will again be able to understand one another,
for then the separative Race differentiation will have passed away.

   The  second help which humanity now has is the Religion of  the  Son--the
Christian religion, the object of which is UNION WITH CHRIST by purification
and control of the vital body.

[PAGE 2300]

   Paul refers to this future state when he says:   "Until Christ be  formed
in you,"  and exhorts his followers,  as men who are running a race,  to rid
themselves of every weight.

   The fundamental principle in building the vital body is repetition.   Re-
peated  experiences work on it to create memory.   The Leaders of  humanity,
who  desired  to give us unconscious help by certain  exercises,  instituted
prayer  as a means of bringing pure and lofty thought to work on  the  vital
body,  and enjoined us to "pray without ceasing."  Scoffers have often asked
sneeringly why it should be thought necessary to always pray, because if God
is omniscient He knows our needs and if He is not, our prayers will probably
never reach Him; and if not omniscient, He cannot be omnipotent,  and there-
fore  could not answer prayer in any case.   Many an earnest  Christian  may
also have thought it wrong to  be  continually  importuning  the  Throne  of
Grace.

   Such  ideas are founded upon a misunderstanding of facts.   Truly God  is
omniscient and requires no reminder of our needs, but if we pray aright,  we
lift ourselves up to Him,  thus working upon and purifying our vital bodies.
If  we pray aright--but that is the great trouble.   We are  generally  much
more concerned about temporal things than we are about spiritual upliftment.
Churches will hold special meetings to pray for rain!  and the chaplains  of
opposing  armies or navies will even pray before a battle that  success  may
follow their arms!

   That  is  prayer to the Race God, Who fights the battles of  His  people,
gives them increase of flocks and herds, fills their granaries and caters to
the material wants.  Such prayers are not even purifying.  They are from the
desire body, which sums up the situation thus:  Now Lord,  I am keeping your

[PAGE 2301]

commandments to the best of my ability and I want You to do Your part in re-
turn.

   Christ  gave  to  humanity a prayer that is,  like  himself,  unique  and
all-embracing.  In it there are seven distinct and separate prayers; one for
each  of  the seven principles of many--the threefold  body,  the  threefold
spirit and the link of mind.   Each prayer is peculiarly adapted to  promote
the progression of that part of composite man to which it refers.

   The purpose of the prayer relating to the threefold body is the  spiritu-
alization  of those vehicles and the extraction therefrom of  the  threefold
soul.

   The  prayers relating to the threefold spirit prepare it to  receive  the
extracted essence, the threefold soul.

   The prayer for the link of mind is to keep it in its proper relation as a
tie between the higher and the lower nature.

   The  third help to be given to humanity will be the Religion of  the  Fa-
ther.   We can have very little conception of what that will be,  save  that
the ideal will be even higher than Brotherhood and that by it the dense body
will be spiritualized.

   The Religions of the Holy Spirit,  the Race religions,  were for the  up-
lifting  of  the  human  race through a feeling  of  kinship  limited  to  a
group--family, tribe or nation.

   The purpose of the Religion of The Son, Christ, is to further uplift man-
kind by forming it into a Universal Brotherhood of separate individuals.

   The  ideal of the Religion of The Father will be the elimination  of  all
separateness, merging all into One, so that there will be no "I" nor "Thou,"
but  all will be One IN REALITY.   This will not come to pass while  we  are
still  inhabitants  of  the  physical  Earth, but in a future state where we

[PAGE 2302]

shall  realize our unity with all,  each having access to all the  knowledge
garnered by each separate individual.  Just as the single facet of a diamond
has access to all the light that comes through each of the other facets,  is
one  with them,  yet bounded by lines which give it a certain  individuality
WITHOUT SEPARATENESS, so will the individual spirit RETAIN THE MEMORY OF ITS
PARTICULAR EXPERIENCES,  while giving to all others THE FRUITS of its  indi-
vidual existence.

   These  are the steps and stages through which humanity  is  unconsciously
being led.

   In past ages the Race spirit reigned alone.   Man was content with a  pa-
triarchal and paternal government in which he had no part.  Now all over the
world we see signs of the breaking down of the old system.   The caste  sys-
tem, which was the stronghold of England in India, is crumbling.  Instead of
being separated into small groups, the people are uniting in the demand that
the oppressor shall depart and leave them to live in freedom under a govern-
ment of, by and for the people.  Russia is torn by strife for freedom from a
dictatorial,  autocratic government.   Turkey has awakened and taken a  long
stride toward liberty.  Here in our own land, where we are supposed to be in
the  actual enjoyment of such liberty as others are,  as yet,  only able  to
covet or fight for,  we are not yet satisfied.   We are learning that  there
are other oppressions than those of an autocratic monarchy.   We see that we
have still industrial freedom to gain.  We are chafing under the yoke of the
trusts  and  an  insane  system of  competition.   We  are  trending  toward
co-operation, which is now practiced by the trusts within their own confines
for private profit.  We are desirous of a state of society where "they shall

[PAGE 2303]

sit  every man under his vine and under his fig tree;  and none  shall  make
them afraid."

   Thus,  all  over the world,  the old systems of paternal  government  are
changing.   Nations, as such, have had their day and are unwittingly working
toward Universal Brotherhood in accordance with the design of our  invisible
Leaders, who are none the less potent in shaping events because they are not
officially seated in the councils of nations.

   These  are  the slow means by which the different bodies of  humanity  at
large  are being purified,  but the aspirant to the higher  knowledge  works
CONSCIOUSLY to attain to these ends,  by well-defined methods,  according to
his constitution.

                     WESTERN METHODS FOR WESTERN PEOPLE:

   In  India,  certain methods under different systems of  Yoga,  are  used.
Yoga means Union and,  as in the West,  the object of the aspirant is  union
with  the Higher Self;  but to be efficacious,  the methods of seeking  that
union must differ.  The vehicles of a Hindu are very differently constituted
from those of a Caucasian.   The Hindus have lived for many,  many thousands
of  years in an environment and climate totally different from  ours.   They
have pursued a different method of thought and their civilization, though of
a  very  high order,  is different from ours in its effects.   Therefore  it
would be useless for us to adopt their methods, which are the outcome of the
highest occult knowledge and perfectly suited to them, but as unsuitable for
the people of the West as a diet of oats would be for a lion.

   For instance,  in some systems it is required that the yogi shall sit  in
certain positions, that particular cosmic currents may flow through his body

[PAGE 2304]

in  a  certain way to produce certain definite  results.   That  instruction
would be altogether useless for a Caucasian,  as he is absolutely impervious
to those currents, because of his way of living.  If he is to attain results
at all, he must work in harmony with the constitution of his vehicles.  That
is why the "Mysteries"  were established in different parts of Europe during
the  Middle Ages.   The Alchemists were deep students of the  higher  occult
science.   The popular belief that the object of their study and experiment-
ing was the transmutation of baser metals into gold,  was because they chose
that symbolic way of describing their true work, which was the transmutation
of the lower nature into spirit.   It was thus described to lull the  suspi-
cions of the priests,  without stating a falsehood.   The statement that the
Rosicrucians were a society devoted to the discovery and use of the  formula
for  the making of the "Philosopher's Stone" was and is true.   It  is  also
true that most people have handled and do often handle this wondrous  stone.
It is common, but of no avail to an but the individual who makes it for him-
self.  The formula is given in the esoteric training and a Rosicrucian is no
different in that respect from the occultist of any other school.   All  are
engaged in the making of this coveted stone,  each,  however,  using his own
methods,  as there are no two individuals alike and consequently really  ef-
fective work is always individual in its scope.

   All occult schools are divisible into seven,  as are the "Rays"  of Life,
the  virgin  spirits.   Each School or Order belongs to one of  these  seven
Rays,  as does each unit of our humanity.   Therefore any individual seeking
to unite with one of these occult groups, the "Brothers" in which do not be-
long to his Ray, cannot do so with benefit to himself.  The members of these

[PAGE 2305]

groups are brothers in a more intimate sense than are the rest of humanity.

   Perhaps if these seven Rays are compared to the seven colors of the spec-
trum, their relation to one another can be better understood.  For instance,
if a red ray were to ally itself with a green ray,  inharmony would  result.
The same principle applies to spirits.   Each must proceed with the group to
which  it belongs during manifestation,  yet they are all one.   As all  the
colors are contained in the white light,  but the refractive quality of  our
atmosphere seems to divide it into seven colors,  so the illusory conditions
of concrete existence cause the virgin spirits to seem grouped and this  ap-
parent grouping will abide while we are in this state.

   The  Rosicrucian Order was started particularly for those whose high  de-
gree of intellectual development caused them to repudiate the heart.  Intel-
lect imperiously demands a logical explanation of everything--the world mys-
tery,  the  questions  of life and death.   The reasons for  and  the  MODUS
OPERANDI of existence were not explained by the priestly injunction "not  to
seek to know the mysteries of God."

   To any man or woman who is blest,  or otherwise,  with such an  inquiring
mind it is of paramount importance that they shall receive all the  informa-
tion they crave, so that when the head is stilled, the heart may speak.  In-
tellectual knowledge is but a means to an end,  not the end itself.   There-
fore,  the  Rosicrucian purposes first of all to satisfy  the  aspirant  for
knowledge that everything in the universe is reasonable,  thus winning  over
the rebellious intellect.   When it has ceased to criticise and is ready  to
accept provisionally,  as PROBABLY true, statements which cannot be  immedi-
ately  verified,  then,  and  not  until  then,  will  esoteric  training be

[PAGE 2306]

effective  in developing the higher faculties whereby man passes from  faith
to first-hand knowledge.  Yet, even then it will be found that, as the pupil
progresses in first-hand knowledge and becomes able to investigate for  him-
self,  there are always truths ahead of him that he knows to be truths,  but
which he is not yet advanced sufficiently to investigate.

   The  pupil will do well to remember that nothing that is not logical  can
exist in the universe and that logic is the surest guide in all the  Worlds,
but he must not forget that his faculties are limited and that more than his
own powers of logical reasoning may be needed to solve a given problem,  al-
though  it may,  nevertheless,  be susceptible of full explanation,  but  by
lines of reasoning which are beyond the capacity of the pupil at that  stage
of  his  development.   Another point that must be borne  in  mind  is  that
unwavering confidence in the teacher is absolutely necessary.

   The  foregoing is recommended to the particular consideration of all  who
intend  taking the first steps toward the higher knowledge.   If the  direc-
tions given are followed at all,  they must be given full credence as an ef-
ficacious  means  to  accomplish  their  purpose.    To  follow  them  in  a
half-hearted manner would be of no avail whatever.   Unbelief will kill  the
fairest flower ever produced by the spirit.

   Work  on  the different bodies of man is carried on  synchronously.   One
body  cannot be influenced without affecting the others,  but the  principal
work may be done on any one of them.

   If  strict attention is paid to hygiene and diet,  the dense body is  the
one  principally affected,  but  at the same time there is also an effect on
the  vital body and the desire body for,  as purer and better materials  are
built  into the dense body,  the particles are enveloped in purer  planetary
ether and desire-stuff also,  therefore the planetary parts of the vital and
desire bodies become purer.   If attention is paid to food and hygiene only,
the personal vital and desire bodies may remain almost as impure as  before,
but it has become just a little easier to get into touch with the good  than
if gross food were used.

   On  the other hand if,  despite annoyances,  an equable temper is  culti-
vated, also literary and artistic tastes, the vital body will produce an ef-
fect  of  daintiness and fastidiousness in physical matters  and  will  also
engender ennobling feelings and emotions in the desire body.

   Seeking to cultivate the emotions also reacts upon the other vehicles and
helps to improve them.

Continued with file "RC1064.TXT"

End of File

