Filename: RC1066.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" by Max Heindel

[PAGE 2362]

           THE CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH; AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS:

   Even  among  occult scientists it is counted amount  the  most  difficult
problems to investigate the mysterious construction of the Earth.  Every oc-
cult scientist knows how much easier it is to thoroughly and accurately  in-
vestigate the Desire World and the Region of Concrete Thought and bring back
the  results into the Physical World than to investigate completely the  se-
crets of our physical planet, because to do that fully, one must have passed
through the nine lesser Mysteries and the first of the Great Initiations.

   Modern scientists know very little about this matter.   So far as seismic
phenomena are concerned, they very frequently change their theories, because
they  are constantly discovering reasons why their previous hypotheses  were
untenable.   They have, with all their usual splendid care, investigated the
very  outside shell,  but only to an insignificant depth.   As for  volcanic
eruptions,  they try to understand them as they try to understand everything
else, in a purely mechanical way, depicting the center of the Earth as a fi-
ery  furnace and concluding that the eruptions are caused by the  accidental
admission of water and in other similar ways.

   In a certain sense, their theories have some foundation, but in this case
they  are, as always, neglecting the spiritual causes which to the occultist

[PAGE 2363]

appear to be the true ones.  To him, the world is far from being "dead."  On
the contrary,  its every nook and crevice is permeated by spirit,  which  is
the leaven that causes changes in and upon the planet.

   The different kinds of quartz, the metals, the disposition of the various
strata--all  have a much higher significance than the materialistic investi-
gator has ever been able to grasp.  To  the  occult  scientists,  the way in
which these materials are arranged is full of meaning.  On  this subject, as
on every other, occult science stands in the same relation to modern science
as physiology does to anatomy.  Anatomy  states with minute detail the exact
position of every bone, muscle, ligament, nerve,  etc., their relative posi-
tions to one another and so forth,  but does not give any clue to the use of
any  one of the different parts of which the body is composed.   Physiology,
on the other hand,  not only states the position and structure of every part
of the body, but also tells their use in the body.

   To  know the different strata of the Earth and the relative positions  of
the  planets  in the sky without having also a knowledge of  their  use  and
meaning  in  the life and purpose of the Cosmos,  is as useless as  to  know
merely  the positions of bones, nerves,  etc.,  without  understanding  also
their use in the functional economy of the body.

                          THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST:

   To the trained clairvoyant sight,  of the Initiate of the various degrees
of the Mysteries,  the Earth appears built in strata,  something like an on-
ion,  one layer or stratum outside another.   There are nine such strata and
the central core,  making ten in all.  These strata are revealed to the Ini-
tiate  gradually.  One stratum becomes accessible to him at each Initiation,

[PAGE 2364]

so  that at the end of the nine lesser Initiations he is master of  all  the
layers, but has not yet access to the secrets of the core.

   In  ancient parlance these nine steps are called the "Lesser  Mysteries."
They  take  the neophyte consciously through all that relates  to  his  past
evolution,  through the activities of involuntary existence,  so that he  is
able to understand the manner and meaning of the work he then performed  un-
consciously.  He is shown how the present ninefold constitution (the  three-
fold body,  the threefold soul,  and the threefold spirit) was brought  into
existence;  how the great creative Hierarchies worked on the virgin  spirit,
awakening in it the Ego,  helping it to form the body;  and also the work he
himself has done,  to extract from the threefold body as much of the  three-
fold  soul as he now possesses.   One step at a time is he led  through  the
nine steps of the lesser mysteries, the nine strata.

   This  number nine is the root number of our present stage  of  evolution.
It  bears a significance in our system that no other number does.  It is the
number of Adam, the life which commenced its evolution as Man, which reached
the  human stage during the Earth Period.  In the Hebrew,  as in the  Greek,
there  are no numerals,  but each letter has a numerical value.   In  Hebrew
"Adam"  is called "ADM.)  The value of "A" is 1; of "D," 4; and of "M,"  40.
If we add these figures, we get 1+4+4+0=9--the number of Adam, or humanity.

   If we turn from the Book of Genesis, which deals with the creation of man
in the hoary past,  to the Book of Revelation,  which deals with his  future
attainment, we find that the number of the beast which hinders is 666.  Add-
ing these figures, 6+6+6=18; and further, 1+8=9--we have again the number of
humanity,  which  is  itself the cause of all the evil which hinders its own

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progress.   Going further, to the point where the number of those who are to
be  saved  is  stated,  we  find  it  to  be  144,000.   Adding  as  before,
1+4+4+000=9--again the number of humanity, showing that practically it  will
be  saved in its totality,  the number incapable of progress in our  present
evolution  being negligible in comparison to the grand total,  and even  the
few who fail are not lost, but will progress in a later scheme.

   The consciousness of the mineral and the plant is really unconsciousness.
The  first glimmering dawn of consciousness begins with the animal  kingdom.
We  have seen also that according to the most modern  classification,  there
are thirteen steps in the animal kingdom:  three classes of Radiates;  three
classes of Mollusks;  three classes of Articulates; and four classes of Ver-
tebrates.

   If we regard ordinary man as a step by himself,  and remember that  there
are  thirteen Initiations from man to God, or from the time he commenced  to
qualify himself for becoming a self-conscious Creative Intelligence, we have
again the same number, Nine: 13+1+13=27 2+7=9.

   The number 9 is also hidden in the age of Christ Jesus, 33; 3+3=9, and in
a similar manner in the 33 degrees of Masonry.  In olden times Masonry was a
system of Initiation into the lesser Mysteries which, as we have seen,  have
9 degrees, but the Initiates often wrote it as 33.  Similarly we read of the
l8th  degree  of  the  Rosicrucians,  which  was  only  a  "blind"  for  the
uninitiated,  because there are never more than 9 degrees in any lesser Mys-
tery, and the Masons of today have but very little of the occult ritual left
in their degrees.

   We have also the nine months of gestation, during which the body is built

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up   to   its  present  efficiency;   and  there  are  in  the   body   nine
perforations--two eyes, two nostrils, two ears, one mouth, and the two lower
orifices.

   When  the advancing man has passed through the nine  lesser  Initiations,
gaining thereby entrance to all the layers of the Earth,  entrance into  the
core is yet to be won.  That is opened to him by the first of the four Great
Initiation, in which he learns to know the mystery of the mind, that part of
his being begun on Earth.   When he is ready for the first Great  Initiation
he has developed his mind to the degree all men are destined to attain to at
the end of the Earth Period.   In that Initiation he is given the key to the
next stage,  and all work done by him after that will be such as humanity in
general will do in the Jupiter Period, and does not concern us at present.

   After his first Great Initiation, he is an Adept.  The second,  third and
fourth Initiations pertain to the stages of development to be arrived at  by
ordinary humanity in the Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan Periods.

   These thirteen Initiations are symbolically represented in the Christ and
His twelve Apostles.   Judas Iscariot  is the traitorous propensities of the
lower nature of the neophyte.  The beloved John is the Venus Initiation, and
Christ Himself symbolizes the Divine Initiate of the Vulcan Period.

   In different schools of occult science the rites of Initiation vary, also
their statement of the number of Initiations, but that is merely a matter of
classification.   It will be observed that such vague descriptions as can be
given become that such vague descriptions as can be given becomes more vague
as one proceeds higher and higher.   Where seven or more degrees are  spoken
of,  almost nothing is said of the sixth Initiation, and nothing whatever of
the ones beyond.  That  is  because  of  another  division--the six steps of

[PAGE 2367]

"Preparation." and the four Initiations which bring the candidate to the end
of the Earth Period, to Adeptship.  Then there must always be three more, if
the philosophy of the school or society goes so far.   The writer,  however,
knows of none but the Rosicrucians who have anything to say of the three Pe-
riods  which preceded the Earth Period, save the bare statement  that  there
were such Periods.   They are not brought very definitely into  relationship
whti our present phase of existence, however.  Likewise, other occult teach-
ings simply state that there will be three more schemes of evolution, but no
particulars are given.  Of course, under those circumstances, the three last
Initiations are not mentioned.

   Diagram  l8 will give an idea of the arrangement of the  Earth's  strata,
the central core being omitted to indicate more clearly the lemniscate  for-
mation of the currents in the ninth stratum.   In the diagram the strata are
represented  as being of equal thickness, thought in reality some  are  much
thinner than other.   Beginning at the outside, they appear in the following
order:

   (1)  The Mineral Earth:  This is the stony crust of the Earth, with which
Geology deals as far as it is able to penetrate.

   (2)   The Fluid Stratum:   The matter of the stratum is more  fluid  than
that  of the outside crust,  yet it is not watery,  but rather more  like  a
thick paste.   It has the quality of expansion,  like that of an exceedingly
explosive  gas,  and is kept in place only by the enormous pressure  of  the
outer crust.  Were that removed, the whole of the fluid stratum would disap-
pear  in  the space with a tremendous explosion.   These correspond  to  the
Chemical and Etheric Regions of the Physical World.

   (3) Vapor Stratum:  In  the  first  and  second strata there is really no

[PAGE 2368]

conscious life.   But in this stratum there is an even-flowing and pulsating
life, as in the Desire World surrounding and inter-penetrating our Earth.

   (4)   Water Stratum:   In this stratum are the germinal possibilities  of
the  that  exists upon the surface of the Earth.   Here are  the  archetypal
force which are back of the group spirits; also the archetypal forces of the
minerals,  for this is the direct physical expression of the Region of  Con-
crete Thought.

   (5)   Seed Stratum:   Material scientists have been baffled in their  ef-
forts to discover the origin of life, how the first living things came forth
from previously dead matter.

   In reality,  according to the occult explanation of evolution,  the ques-
tion should be how the "dead" things originated.   THE LIFE WAS THERE PREVI-
OUS  TO THE DEAD FORMS.   It built its bodies from the attenuated,  vaporous
substance long before it condensed into the Earth's solid crust.   ONLY WHEN
THE LIFE HAD LEFT THE FORMS COULD THEY CRYSTALLIZE AND BECOME HARD AND DEAD.

   Coal is but crystallized plant bodies;  coral is also the crystallization
of animal forms.   The life leaves the FORMS and the FORMS die.   Life never
came into a form to awaken it to life.  Life departed from the forms and the
forms died.  Thus did "dead" things come to be.

   In this fifth stratum is the primordial fount of life from which came the
impetus that built all the forms on Earth.   It corresponds to the Region of
Abstract Thought.

   (6)  Fiery Stratum:  Strange as it may seem, this stratum is possessed of
sensation.    Pleasure and pain,  sympathy and antipathy have here their ef-
fect  on  the  Earth.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  under  no possible

[PAGE 2369]

circumstances can the Earth have any sensation whatever.   The occult scien-
tist,  however, as he watches the harvesting of the ripe grain and the gath-
ering  of fruit from the trees in the autumn,  or the plucking  of  flowers,
knows  the pleasure experienced by the Earth itself.   It is similar to  the
pleasure felt by the cow when its bursting udders are being relieved by  the
sucking calf.  The Earth feels the delight of having yielded nourishment for
its progeny of Forms,  this delight reaching its culmination in the  harvest
time.

   On the other hand, when plants are torn out by the roots, it is patent to
the occult scientist that the Earth senses a sting of pain.  For that reason
he  does not eat the plant-foods which grow under the Earth.   In the  first
place they are full of the Earth force and deficient in Sun force,  and  are
additionally poisoned by being pulled up by the roots.   The only  exception
to  this  rule  is  that  he may partake  sparingly  of  the  potato,  which
originally grew on the surface of the earth,  and has only in  comparatively
recent times grown beneath the soil.   Occultists endeavor to nourish  their
bodies on fruits which grow toward the Sun, because they contain more of the
higher Sun force, and have not caused the Earth pain.

   It might be supposed that mining operations would be very painful to  the
Earth,  but the reverse is the case.  Every disintegration of the hard crust
causes  a sensation of relief and every solidification is a source of  pain.
Where  a  mountain torrent washes away the soil and carries  it  toward  the
plains,  the earth feels freer.  Where the disintegrated matter is again de-
posited,  as in a bar outside the mouth of a great river,  there is a corre-
sponding sense of uneasiness.

   As sensation in animals and men is due to their separate vital bodies, so

[PAGE 2370]

the feeling of the Earth is particularly active in this sixth stratum, which
corresponds  to the World of Life Spirit.   To understand the pleasure  felt
when mining operations are disintegrating the hard rock,  and the pain  when
deposits  gather,  we must remember that the Earth is the dense  body  of  a
Great Spirit,  and to furnish us with an environment in which we could  live
and  gather  experience,  it had to crystallize this body into  its  present
solid condition.

   As evolution proceeds,  however, and man learns the lessons pertaining to
this acme of concretion,  the Earth will softer and its spirit more and more
liberated.   This  is what Paul meant when he spoke of  the  whole  creation
groaning and travailing, waiting for the day of liberation.

   (7)  Refracting Stratum:  This part of the Earth corresponds to the World
of Divine Spirit.  There are, in occult science what are known as "The Seven
Unspeakable Secrets."   For those who are not acquainted with these secrets,
or  have  not as least an inkling of their import,  the properties  of  this
stratum must seem particularly absurd and grotesque.   In it all the  forces
which are known to us as the "Laws of Nature" exist as moral,  or rather im-
moral  forces.   In the beginning of the conscious career of man  they  were
much worse than at present.   But it appears that as humanity progresses  in
morals,  these forces improve correspondingly; also that any lapse in morals
has  a  tendency to unleash these Nature forces and causes  them  to  create
havoc upon the Earth;  while the striving for higher ideals makes them  less
inimical to man.

   The forces in this stratum are thus, at any time,  an exact reflection of
the  existing  moral status of mankind.  From the occult point of  view, the

[PAGE 2371]

"hand of God"  which smites a Sodom or a Gomorrah is not a foolish supersti-
tion, for as surely as there is individual responsibility to the law of Con-
sequence  which brings to each person the just results of his deeds  whether
for  good or evil,  so is there also community and national  responsibility,
which  brings upon groups of men corresponding results for their  collective
acts.   Nature  forces are the general agents of such  retributive  justice,
causing flood,  s or earthquakes, or the beneficent formation of oil or coal
for various groups, according to their deserts.

   (8)   Atomistic Stratum:   This is the name given by the Rosicrucians  to
the eighth layer of the Earth,  which is the expression of the World of Vir-
gin  Spirits.   It seems to have the property of multiplying many  fold  the
things in it;  this applies,  however,  only to those things which have been
definitely formed.   An unshapen piece of wood,  or an unhewn stone has  not
existence there,  but upon anything which has been shaped,  or has life  and
form (such as a flower or a picture),  this stratum has the effect of multi-
plication to an astonishing degree.

   (9)  Material Expression of the Earth spirit:   There are here lemniscate
currents,  which are intimately connected with the brain,  heart and sex or-
gans of the human race.  It corresponds to the World of God.

   (10)   Center  of Being of the Earth spirit:   Nothing more can  be  said
about this at present except that it is the ultimate seed ground of all that
is in and on Earth, and corresponds to the Absolute.

   From the sixth or fiery stratum to the surface of the Earth are a  number
of shafts in different places.  The outer ends of these are called "volcanic
craters."  When  the  Nature  forces in the seventh stratum are unleashed so

[PAGE 2372]

that they can express themselves through a volcanic outburst,  they set  the
(sixth)  fiery  stratum in motion and the agitation spreads outward  to  the
mouth of the crater.   The bulk of the material is taken from the  substance
of the second stratum, for that is the denser counterpart of the sixth stra-
tum as the vital body, the second vehicle of man,  is the denser counterpart
of the life Spirit,  the sixth principle.   This fluidic stratum,  with  its
expansive and highly explosive quality, insures an unlimited supply of mate-
rial at the point of eruption.   The contact with the outer atmosphere hard-
ens that part of it which is not blown away into space,  thus forming a lava
and dust,  until,  as the blood from a wound congeals and stanches the flow,
so the lava finally seals the aperture from the inner parts of the Earth.

   As  might be gathered from the fact that it is the  reflected  immorality
and  anit-spiritual tendencies of manking which arouse the Nature-forces  in
the seventh stratum to destructive activity,  it is generally profligate and
degenerate peoples who succumb to these catastrophes.   They,  together with
others  whose  destiny,  self-generated under the law  of  consequence,  for
various reasons,  involves a violent death, are gathered from many lands  by
the superhuman forces, to the point where the eruption is to occur.   To the
thoughtful,  the volcanic outbursts of Vesuvius,  for instance,  will afford
corroboration of this statement.

   A  list of these outbursts during the last 2,000 years shows  that  their
frequency has been increasing with the growth of materialism.   In the  last
sixty years,  especially,  in the ratio that materialistic science has grown
arrogant  in its absolute and sweeping denial of everything spiritual,  have
the eruption increase in frequency.  While  there  were but six eruptions in

[PAGE 2373]

                                DIAGRAM 18:
   
                         CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH:
                           
                    \VOLCANO/
                     \ /|\ /
                      | | |
------------------------|---------------------------------------------------
| 1                   | | |  MINERAL STRATUM                               |
|   --------------------|-----------------------------------------------   |
|   | 2            >>>|>| |  FLUIDIC STRATUM                           |   |
|   |   ----------------|-------------------------------------------   |   |
|   |   |  3       >>>|>| |  VAPOR STRATUM                         |   |   |
|   |   |   ------------|---------------------------------------   |   |   |
|   |   |   | 4    >>>|>| |  WATER STRATUM                     |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   --------|-----------------------------------   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   | 5>>>|>| |  SEED STRATUM                  |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   ----|-------------------------------   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |>|>| |  FIERY STRATUM             |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   ----------------------------   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   | 6 | 7  REFLECTING STRATUM    |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   --------------------   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |ATOMISTIC STRATUM |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   ------------   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | MATERIAL |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   BRAIN  |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | -------- |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | |      | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |9|  10  | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | | /|\  | |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
                                     |
                                     |
                                    /|\
                                     |
                     ---------------------------------
                     |       EXPRESSION OF THE       |
                     |         EARTH SPIRIT          |
                     |                               |
                     |      -------\   /-------      |
                     |      |       \ /       |      |
                     |   SEX|        *        |BRAIN |
                     |      |       / \       |      |
                     |      -------//|\\-------      |
                     |               |               |
                     |              /|\              |
                     |             HEART             |
                     ---------------------------------

[PAGE 2374]

the first 1,000 years after Christ, the last five have taken place within 51
years, as will be shown.

   The first eruption during the Christian Era was that which destroyed  the
cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, in which the elder Pliny perished, A.  D.
79.   The older eruptions followed in A. D. 203, 472, 512, 652,  982,  1036,
1158, 1500, 1631, 1737, 1794, 1822, 1855, 1872, 1855, 1891, 1906.

   In  the first thousand years,  there were six eruptions;  in  the  second
thousand there have been twelve,  the last five occurring in a period of  51
years, as before stated.

   Of  the  entire number of l8 eruptions,  the first nine occurred  in  the
so-called "dark ages," that is to say, the l600 years during which the West-
ern World was dominated by what are commonly termed the "heathen," or by the
Roman  Church.   The remainder have taken place in the  last  three  hundred
years,  during which the advent and rise of Modern Science, with its materi-
alizing tendencies, has driven almost the last vestige of spiritually to the
wall,  particularly  in the last half of the l9th  Century.   Therefore  the
eruptions for that period comprise nearly one-third of the total number that
have taken place in our Era.

   To counteract this demoralizing influence,  a great deal of occult infor-
mation has been given out during that time by the Elder Brothers of  Wisdom,
who  are ever working for the benefit of humanity.   It is thought  that  by
giving  out this knowledge and educating the few who will still receive  it,
it  may  be possible to stem the tide of materialism,  which  otherwise  may
bring  about very serious consequences to its advocates who,  having so long
denies the existence of the spiritual,  may be unable to find their  balance
when  they discover that though still living, they have been deprived of the

[PAGE 2375]

dense body.   Such persons may meet a fate too sad to contemplate with equa-
nimity.   One of the causes of the dread "white plague" is this materialism,
not traceable to the present incarnation perhaps, but the result of previous
materialistic beliefs and affirmations.

   We have spoken of the demise of the elder Pliny,  at the time of the  de-
struction of Pompeii.  It is interesting to follow the fate of such a scien-
tist,  not  so much for the sake of that particular individual  as  for  the
light it throws upon the manner in which the memory of Nature is read by the
occult scientist,  how the impressions are made upon it,  and the effect  of
past traits upon present tendencies.

   When a man dies,  his dense body disintegrates,  but the sum total of its
forces can be found in the seventh or reflecting stratum of the Earth, which
may be said to constitute a reservoir in which,  as forces,  past forms  are
stored.   If,  knowing the time of the death of a man, we search this reser-
voir,  it is possible to find his form there.   Not only is it stored in the
seventh stratum, but the eighth or atomistic stratum multiplies it,  so that
nay one type may be reproduced and modified by others.  Thus it is used over
and  over again in the formation of other bodies.   The brain-tendencies  of
such a man as Pliny the elder may have been reproduced an thousand years af-
terwards,  and have been partly the cause of the present crop of materialis-
tic scientists.

   There is still much for modern,  material scientists to learn and to  un-
learn.   Though they fight to the last ditch what they sneeringly  term  the
"illusionary ideas" of the occult scientist, they are being compelled to ac-
knowledge their truth and accept them one by one, and it is only a matter of
time when they will have been compelled to accept them all.

[PAGE 2376]

   Mesmer, who was sent by the Elder Brother, was worse than ridiculed,  but
which  materialists  had changed the name of the force  discovered  by  him,
calling  it "hypnotism"  instead of "Mesmerism,"  it at once became  "scien-
tific."

   Twenty  years ago Madame Blavtsky,  a faithful pupil of Eastern  Masters,
said that the Earth had a third movement,  in addition to the two  producing
day and night and the seasons.   She pointed out that the inclination of the
Earth's axis is caused by a movement which,  in due time,  brings the  north
pole to where the equator is now and still later,  to the place now occupied
by the sought pole.  This, she said, was known to the ancient Egyptians, the
famous  planisphere at Dendera showing that they had records of  three  such
revolutions.   These statements,  in common with the whole of her unexcelled
work, "The Secret Doctrine," were hooted at.

   A few years ago, an astronomer, Mr. G. E. Sutcliffe,  of Bombay,  discov-
ered and mathematically demonstrated that Laplace had made a mistake in  his
calculations.   The discovery and rectification of this error  confirmed  by
mathematical  demonstration the existence of the third motion of the  Earth,
as  claimed  by Madame Blavatsky.   It also afforded an explanation  of  the
theretofore puzzling fact that tropical plants and fossils are found in  the
polar regions,  as such a  movement would necessarily produce,  in due time,
tropical and glacial periods on all parts of the Earth, corresponding to its
changed position in relation to the Sun.  Mr.  Sutcliffe sent his letter and
demonstration to NATURE, but that journal refused to publish them,  and when
the  author made public the discovery by means of a pamphlet,  he drew  upon
himself  an appalling storm of vituperation.  However, he is an avowed and a

[PAGE 2377]

deep student of "The Secret Doctrine," and that explains the hostile  recep-
tion according his discovery and its inevitable corollaries.

   Later,  however, a Frenchman, not an astronomer, but a mechanician,  con-
structed  an apparatus demonstrating the ample possibility of the  existence
of such a movement.   The apparatus was exhibited at the Louisiana  Purchase
Exhibition at Saint Louis, and was warmly endorsed by M. Camille Flammarion,
as  worthy of investigation.   Here was something concrete,  something  "me-
chanical,"  and the editor of THE MONIST,  thought he described the inventor
as a man laboring somewhat under "mystic illusions"  (because of his  belief
that  the  ancient Egyptians knew of this third motion),  nevertheless  mag-
nanimously overlooked that feature of the case and said that he had not lost
faith in M.  Beziau's theory on that account.   He published an  explanation
and an essay by M.  Beziau, wherein the motion and its effects upon the sur-
face  of the Earth were described in terms similar to those used  by  Madame
Blavatsky and Mr. Sutcliffe.  M. Beziau is not definitely "billed" as an oc-
cultist, therefore his discovery may be countenanced.

   Many  instances  might be cited showing how occult information  has  been
corroborated  later  by  material science.   One of them  is  the  atomistic
theory,  which  is  advocated in the Greek philosophies and  later  in  "The
Secret Doctrine."  It was "discovered" in 1897, by Professor Thomson.

   In Mr. A. P. Sinnett's valuable work, "The Growth of the Soul," published
in  1896,  the author stated that there are two planets beyond the orbit  of
Neptune,  only one of which,  he thought,  would be discovered by modern as-
tronomers.  In NATURE for August, l906, the statement is made that Professor
Barnard, through the 36-inch Lick refractor, had discovered such a planet in

[PAGE 2378]

1892.   There had been no mistake about it, yet he waited fourteen years be-
fore he announced his discovery!  One need not be concerned about that, how-
ever.   The main point is that the planet is there,  and that Mr.  Sinnett's
book said so ten years before Professor Barnard's claim to prior  discovery.
Probably,  previous to l906 the announcement of the newly discovered  planet
might have tended to disarrange some popularly accepted theory!

   There  are many such theories.   The Copernican theory is not  altogether
correct, and there are many facts that cannot be accounted for by the lauded
Nebular  theory  alone.    Tycho  Brahe,   the  famous  Danish   astronomer,
refused to accept the Copernican theory.   He had a very good reason for re-
maining  true to the Ptolemaic theory because, as he said,  by it the  move-
ments  of  the  planets figured out correctly,  while  with  the  Copernican
theory, it is necessary to use a table of corrections.  The Ptolemaic system
is correct from the standpoint of the Desire World,  and it has points  that
are needed in the Physical World.

   By  many  the statements made in the foregoing pages will  be  considered
fantastic.   Be  it so.   Time will bring to all a knowledge  of  the  facts
herein  set forth.   This book is only for the few who,  having freed  their
minds from the shackles of orthodox science and religion,  are ready to  ac-
cept this until they have proven it wrong.

[PAGE 2379]

             CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUZ AND THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS:

                       ANCIENT TRUTHS IN MODERN DRESS:

   Having  encountered among the public a widespread desire to  learn  some-
thing of the Order of Rosicrucians,  and as there is a lack of understanding
of  the  important place occupied by the Brothers of the Rose Cross  in  our
Western civilization, even among our students, it may be well to furnish au-
thentic information upon the subject.

   Everything in the world is subject to law, even our evolution is thus en-
compassed;  spiritual and physical progression go hand in hand.   The sun is
the physical light bringer and, as we know,  it apparently travels from east
to west bringing light and life to one part of the earth after another.  But
the  visible  sun is only a part of the sun as the visible body is  a  small
part of composite man.   There is an invisible and spiritual sun whose  rays
promote soul growth upon one part of the earth after another as the physical
sun promotes the growth of form,  and this spiritual impulse also travels in
the same direction as the physical sun; from east to west.

   Six  or seven hundred year B.C.,  a new wave of spirituality was  started
near  the western shores of the Pacific Ocean to give enlightenment  to  the
Chinese nation and the religion of Confucius is embraced to this day by many
millions in the celestial kingdom.  Later we note the effect of this wave in
the  religion  of  Buddha,  a  teaching  designed to stir the aspirations of

[PAGE 2380]

millions  of Hindus and western Chinese.  In its westward course it  appears
among  the more intellectual Greeks in the lofty philosophies of  Pythagoras
and Plato,  and at last it sweeps over the western world, among the pioneers
of the human race, where it takes the lofty form of the Christian religion.

   The Christian religion has gradually worked its way to the westward, even
to the shores of the Pacific Ocean and thither the spiritual aspirations are
being  massed and concentrated.   There they will reach a point of  culmina-
tion,  prior to taking a new leap across the ocean and inaugurating a higher
and  more  lofty spiritual awakening in the Orient than now exists  in  that
part of the earth.

   Just  as day and night,  summer and winter,  ebb and flood,  follow  each
other  in unbroken sequence according to the law of alternating  cycles,  so
also  the  appearance of a wave of spiritual awakening in any  part  of  the
world is followed by a period of material reactions, so that our development
may not become onesided.

   Religion,  Art  and Science are the three most important means  of  human
education, and they are a trinity in unity which cannot be separated without
distorting our viewpoint of whatever we may investigate.   TRUE RELIGION em-
bodies both science and art, for it teaches a beautiful life in harmony with
the laws of nature.

   TRUE  SCIENCE  is  artistic and religious in the highest  sense,  for  it
teaches us to reverence and conform to laws governing our well-being and ex-
plains why the religious life is conducive to health and beauty.

   TRUE  ART is as educational as science and as uplifting in its  influence
as religion.   In architecture we have a most sublime presentation of cosmic
lines  of  force  in  the  universe.  It fills the spiritual beholder with a

[PAGE 2381]

powerful  devotion and adoration born of an awe-inspiring conception of  the
overwhelming grandeur and majesty of Deity.   Sculpture and painting,  music
and  literature inspire us with a sense of transcendent loveliness  of  God,
the immutable source and goal of all this beautiful world.

   Nothing short of such an all-embracing teaching will answer the needs  of
humanity permanently.  There was a time, even as late as Greece,  when RELI-
GION,  ART and SCIENCE  were taught unitedly in Mystery temples.  But it was
necessary to the better development of each that they should separate for  a
time.

   RELIGION held sole sway in the so-called "dark ages."   During that  time
it  bound both Science and Art hand and foot.   Then came the period of  Re-
naissance and ART came to the fore in all its branches.  Religion was strong
as yet,  however,  and Art was only too often prostituted in the service  of
Religion.   Last came the wave of modern SCIENCE,  and with iron hand it has
subjugated Religion.

   It  was a detriment to the world when Religion shackled  Science.   IGNO-
RANCE and SUPERSTITION caused untold woe, nevertheless man cherished a lofty
spiritual ideal then;  he hoped for a higher and better life.   It is  infi-
nitely more disastrous that Science is killing Religion,  for now even HOPE,
the only gift of the gods left in Pandora's box, may vanish before MATERIAL-
ISM and  AGNOSTICISM.

   Such a state cannot continue.  Reaction must set in.  If it does not, An-
archy will rend the Cosmos.   To avert a calamity RELIGION,  SCIENCE and ART
must reunite in a higher expression of the GOOD,  the TRUE and the BEAUTIFUL
than obtained before the separation.

   Coming  events cast their shadows before, and when the Great  Leaders  of
humanity  saw  the tendency towards ultramaterialism which is now rampant in

[PAGE 2382]

the Western World, they took certain steps to counteract and transmute it at
the auspicious time.   They did not wish to kill the budding Science as  the
latter has strangled Religion, for they saw the ultimate good which will re-
sult when an advanced Science has again become the co-worker of Religion.

   A spiritual Religion,  however, cannot blend with a materialistic Science
any  more  than  oil can mix with water.   Therefore  steps  were  taken  to
spiritualize Science and make Religion scientific.

   In the thirteenth century a high spiritual teacher, having the symbolical
name Christian Rosenkreuz--Christian:   Rose:  Cross--appeared in Europe  to
commence  that work.   He founded the mysterious Order of Rosicrucians  with
the  object of throwing occult light upon the misunderstood Christian  Reli-
gion and to explain the mystery of Life and Being from the scientific stand-
point in harmony with Religion.

   Many centuries have rolled by since the birth,  as Christian  Rosenkreuz,
of the Founder of the Rosicrucian Mystery School,  and by many his existence
is  even regarded as a myth.   But his birth as Christian Rosenkreuz  marked
the  beginning of a new epoch in spiritual life of the Western World.   That
particular Ego has also been in continuous physical existence ever since, in
one or another of the European Countries.   He has taken a new body when his
successive  vehicles have outlived their usefulness,  or circumstances  ren-
dered  it expedient that he changes the scene of his activities.   Moreover,
he is embodied today--an Initiate of high degree, an active or potent factor
in all affairs of the West--although unknown to the World.

   Her  labored  with the Alchemists centuries before the advent  of  modern
science.  He,  through, an intermediary, inspired the now mutilated works of

[PAGE 2383]

Bacon.   Jacob Boehme and others received through him the inspiration  which
makes their works so spiritually illuminating.  In the works of the immortal
Goethe and the masterpieces of Wagner the same influence meets us.   All un-
daunted spirits who refuse to be fettered by either orthodox science or  or-
thodox  religion,  who fling away the husks and penetrate to  the  spiritual
kernel  regardless of vilification or of flattery,  draw  their  inspiration
from  the  same  fountain as did and does the great  spirit  which  animated
Christian Rosenkreuz.

   His  very name is an embodiment of the manner and the means by which  the
present day man is transformed into the Divine Superman.  This symbol,

                           "Christian Rosen Kreuz"
                         [The] Christian Rose Cross,

shows the end and aim of human evolution,  the road to be traveled,  and the
means whereby that end is gained.   The black cross,  the twining green stem
of the plant,  the thorns, the blood red roses--in these is hidden the solu-
tion of the World Mystery--Man's past evolution,  present constitution,  and
particularly the secret of his future development.

   It hides from the profane,  but reveals to the Initiate the more  clearly
how he is to labor day by day to make for himself that choicest of all gems,
the Philosopher's Stone--more precious than the Kohinoor; nay,  than the sum
of  all earthly wealth!   It reminds him how mankind,  in its ignorance,  is
hourly wasting the actual concrete material that might be used in the forma-
tion of this priceless treasure.

   To  keep him steadfast and true through every adversity,  the Rose  cross
holds aloft, as an inspiration,  the  glorious consummation in store for him

[PAGE 2384]

that  overcometh,  and  points to Christ as the Star  of  Hope,  the  "first
fruits,"  Who  wrought  this marvelous Stone while inhabiting  the  body  of
Jesus.

   Upon investigation it has been found that there was in all systems of Re-
ligion a teaching reserved for the Priest-craft and not given to the  multi-
tude.  The Christ also spoke to the multitude in parables, but explained the
inner  meaning of these parables to the disciples,  to give them  an  under-
standing more suited to their developed minds.

   Paul  gave "milk"  to the BABES or younger members of the community,  but
"meat"  to the STRONG who had studied more deeply.   Thus there  has  always
been  an INNER and an OUTER TEACHING, and this inner teaching was  given  in
so-called  Mystery Schools which have changed from time to time to suit  the
needs of the people among whom they were designed to work.

   The  Order of Rosicrucians is not merely a secret society;  it is one  of
the Mystery Schools,  and the Brothers are Hierophants of the lesser Myster-
ies, Custodians of the Sacred Teachings and a spiritual Power more potent in
the  life of the Western World than any of the visible  Governments,  though
they  may  not interfere with humanity so as to deprive them of  their  free
will.

   As  the path of development in all cases depends upon the temperament  of
the  aspirant,  there are two paths, THE MYSTIC and THE  INTELLECTUAL.   The
Mystic is usually devoid of intellectual knowledge;  he follows the dictates
of his heart and strives to do the will of God as he FEELS it,  lifting him-
self upward without being conscious if any definite goal,  and in the end he
attains knowledge.  In the middle ages people were not as intellectual as we
are nowadays,  and those who felt the call of a higher life usually followed
the mystic path.  But in the last few  hundred  years,  since  the advent of

[PAGE 2385]

modern science, a more INTELLECTUAL humanity has peopled the earth; the head
has completely overruled the heart, materialism has dominated all  spiritual
impulse and the majority of the thinking people do not believe anything they
cannot  touch,  taste or handle.   Therefore,  it is necessary  that  appeal
should be made to their intellect in order that the heart may be allowed  to
believe what the intellect has sanctioned.  As a response to this demand the
Rosicrucian Mystery teachings aim to correlate scientific facts to spiritual
verities.

   In  the past these have been kept secrete from all but a  few  Initiates,
and even today they are among the most mysterious and secret in the  Western
World.   All so-called "discoveries" of the past which have professed to re-
veal the Rosicrucian secrets, have been either fraudulent,  or the result or
treachery upon the part of some outsider who may, accidentally or otherwise,
have  overheard fragments of conversation, unintelligible to all  but  those
who have the key.   It is possible to live under the same roof and on  terms
of the closest intimacy with an Initiate of any school,  yet his secret will
always  remain hidden in his breast until the friend has reached  the  point
where he can become a Brother Initiate.   The revealing of secrets does  not
depend upon the Will of the Initiate, but upon the qualifications of the as-
pirant.

   Like  all other Mystery Orders,  the Order of Rosicrucians is  formed  on
cosmic lines:   If we take balls of even size and try how many it will  take
to cover one and hide it from view, we shall find that it will require 12 to
conceal  a thirteenth ball.   The ultimate division of physical matter,  the
true atom,  found in interplanetary space, is thus grouped in twelve  around
one.  The twelve signs of the Zodiac enveloping our Solar System, the twelve

[PAGE 2386]

semi-stones of the musical scale comprising the octave,  the twelve Apostles
who clustered around the Christ,  etc., are other examples of this  grouping
of 12 and 1.   The Rosicrucian Order is therefore also composed of  12  Bro-
thers and a 13th.

   There are other divisions to be noted, however.  We have seen that of the
Heavenly  Host of twelve Creative Hierarchies who were active in our  scheme
of evolution,  five have withdrawn to liberation, leaving only seven to busy
themselves with our further progress.   It is in harmony with this fact that
the man of today, the indwelling Ego, the microcosm,  works outwards through
seven visible orifices in his body:  2 eyes, 2 ears, 2 nostrils and a mouth,
while five more orifices are wholly or partially closed, the mammae, the um-
bilicus and two excretory organs.

   The  seven roses which garnish our beautiful emblem and the five  pointed
radiating star behind, are emblematical of the twelve Great Creative Hierar-
chies  which  have assisted the evolving human spirit through  the  previous
conditions   as  mineral,   plant  and  animal,   when  it  was  devoid   of
self-consciousness  and unable to care for itself in the  slightest  degree.
Of  these twelve hosts of Great Beings,  three classes worked upon and  with
man of their own free wills and without any obligation whatever.

   These  are  symbolized by the three points in the star  upon  our  emblem
which points upwards.   Two more of the Great Hierarchies are upon the point
of  withdrawal,  and these are pictured in the two points of the star  which
radiate  downward  from the center.   The seven roses reveal the  fact  that
there  are still seven Great Creative Hierarchies active in the  development
of  the  beings upon earth,  and as all of these various  classes  from  the
smallest to the greatest are but parts of One Great Whole whom we call  God,
the whole emblem is a symbol of God in manifestation.

[PAGE 2387]

   The Hermetic axiom says:  "As above so below," and the lesser teachers of
mankind  are also grouped upon the same cosmic lines of 7,  5 and 1.   There
are  upon earth seven schools of the lesser Mysteries,  five of the  Greater
Mysteries and the whole is grouped under one Central Head Who is called  the
Liberator.

   In  the Order of Rosicrucians seven Brothers go out into the World  when-
ever occasion requires; appearing as men among other men or working in their
invisible  vehicles with or upon others as needed;  yet it must be  strictly
kept in mind that they never influence people against their will or contrary
to their desires; but only strengthen good wherever found.

   The  remaining five Brothers never leave the temple;  and though they  do
possess physical bodies all their work is done from the inner Worlds.

   The Thirteenth is Head of the Order, the link with a higher Central Coun-
cil  composed of the Hierophant of the Greater Mysteries,  who do  not  deal
with ordinary humanity at all, but only with graduates of the lesser Myster-
ies.

   The  Head  of the Order is hidden from the outside world  by  the  twelve
Brothers,  as the central ball mentioned in our illustration.   Even the pu-
pils of the School never see him,  but at the nightly Services in the Temple
His presence is FELT by all,  whenever He enters,  and is the signal for the
commencement of the ceremony.

   Gathered around the Brothers of the Rose Cross,  as their pupils,  are  a
number  of "lay brothers";  people who live in various parts of the  Western
World,  but are able to leave their bodies consciously,  attend the services
and  participate in the spiritual work at the temple;  they having each  and
every  one been "initiated"  in the method of so doing by one of  the  Elder
Brothers.  Most of them are able to remember all that happens, but there are

[PAGE 2388]

a few cases where the faculty of leaving the body was acquired in a previous
life  of well-doing and where a drug habit or a sickness contracted  in  the
present  existence has unfitted the brain to receive impression of the  work
done by the man when away.

                                 INITIATION:

   The  general  idea of initiation is that it is merely  a  ceremony  which
makes  one member of a secret society; that it may be conferred upon  anyone
willing to pay a certain price, a sum of money in most cases.

   While  that is true of the so-called initiation of fraternal  orders  and
also in most pseudo-occult orders,  it is altogether an erroneous idea  when
applied to initiations into various degrees of truly occult Brotherhoods, as
a little understanding of the real requirements and of their  reasonableness
will readily make clear.

   In the first place there is no golden key to the temple; merit counts but
not money.   Merit is not acquired in a day; it is the cumulative product of
past  good action.   The Candidate for initiation is usually totally  uncon-
scious that he is a candidate,  he is usually living his life in the  commu-
nity  and  serving his fellow man for days and years  without  any  ulterior
thought until one day there appears in his life the teacher, a Hierophant of
the  lesser  Mysteries appropriate to the country in which he  resides.   By
this  time  the candidate has cultivated within himself  certain  faculties,
stored up certain powers for service and help, of which he is usually uncon-
scious or which he does not know how to properly utilize.   The task of  the
initiator  will now be plain;  he shows the candidate the latent  faculties,
the   dormant   powers  and  initiates  him  into  their  use;  explains  or

[PAGE 2389]

demonstrates  to  him FOR THE FIRST TIME how the candidate  may  awaken  the
static energy into dynamic power.

   Initiation may be accomplished by a ceremony, or not,  but let it be par-
ticularly observed,  that while Initiation is the inevitable culmination  of
prolonged spiritual endeavor, whether conscious or the reverse upon the part
of the candidate,  it can positively never take place till the requisite in-
ner  development has accumulated the latent powers which Initiation  teaches
how to use dynamically,  any more than pulling the trigger can cause an  ex-
plosion in a gun that has not first been loaded.

   Neither is there any danger that the teacher may overlook anyone who  has
attained the requisite development.   Each good and unselfish deed increases
the luminosity and vibrant power of the candidate's aura enormously,  and as
surely  as the magnet attracts the needle,  so will the brilliancy  of  that
auric light bring the teacher.

   It is,  of course, impossible to describe in a book intended for the gen-
eral  public the stages of the Rosicrucian Initiation;  to do so would be  a
breach  of  faith and it would also be impossible for lack of words  to  ad-
equately express oneself.   But it is permissible to give an outline and  to
show the purpose of initiation.

   The lesser Mysteries deal only with evolution of mankind during the Earth
Period.  In the first three and one-half Revolutions of the life wave around
the seven globes the Virgin Spirits had not yet attained consciousness.   In
consequence of this fact we are ignorant of how we came to be as we are  to-
day.   The candidate is to have light upon that subject so by the  spell  of
the  Hierophants during the period of initiation into the first  degree  his
consciousness  is turned towards that page of the memory of  nature  bearing
the records of the first revolution when we recapitulated the development of

[PAGE 2390]

the  Saturn Period.   He is still in full possession of his  every-day  con-
sciousness; he knows and remembers the facts of twentieth Century life,  but
he  is now consciously watching the progress of the evolving host of  Virgin
Spirits of which he formed one unit during the Saturn Revolution.   Thus  he
learns  how the first steps were taken in the Earth Period towards the  goal
of attainment which will be revealed to him in a later step.

   Having learned the lesson as practically described  earlier,  the  candi-
date  has  acquired first-hand knowledge upon this subject and has come into
direct touch with the Creative Hierarchies in their work with and upon  man;
he is therefore able to appreciate their beneficent labors in the World  and
is  in measure able to range himself in line with them;  becoming  thus  far
their co-worker.

   When  the  time  has arrived for him to take the  second  degree,  he  is
similarly  caused  to  turn his attention to the conditions  of  the  second
Revolution  of the Earth Period,  and as depicted in the memory  of  nature;
then he watches in full consciousness the progress made at that time by  the
Virgin  Spirits,  much  as  Peter Ibbetson, the  hero  of  a  book.   "Peter
Ibbetson,"  by  George du Maurier;  it is well worth reading,  for it  is  a
graphic description of certain phases of subconsciousness--watched his child
life during the nights when he "dreamed true."   In the third degree he fol-
lows the evolution of the third or Moon,  Revolution,  and in the fourth de-
gree  he sees the progress made in the half-Revolution we have made  of  the
fourth.

   There is, however, a further step taken in each degree; the pupil sees in
addition  to the work done in each revolution also the work accomplished  in
the corresponding Epoch during our present stay upon globe D, the Earth.

   During the  first degree he follows the work of the Saturn Revolution and

[PAGE 2391]

its latest consummation in the Polarian Epoch.

   In  the second degree he follows the work of the Sun Revolution  and  its
replica:  the Hyperborean Epoch.

   During  the  third degree he watches the work as performed  in  the  Moon
Revolution and sees how that was the basis of life in the Lemurian Epoch.

   During  the fourth degree he sees the evolution of the last half  Revolu-
tion with its corresponding period of time in our present stay on Earth; the
first  half  of the Atlantean Epoch which ended when the dense  foggy  atmo-
sphere subsided,  and the sun first shone upon land and sea;  then the night
of  unconsciousness  was over,  the eyes of the indwelling  Ego  were  fully
opened, and he was able to turn the Light of Reason upon the problem of con-
quering  the  World.   That was the time when a man as we now know  him  was
first born.

   When in the olden system of initiation we hear that the candidate was en-
tranced  for a period of three and one-half days,  reference is had  to  the
part of initiation just described,  and the three and one-half days refer to
the  stages  gone through,  they are not by any means  days  of  twenty-four
hours;  the actual time varies with each candidate,  but in all cases he  is
taken  through  the unconsciousness development of mankind during  the  past
Revolutions,  and when it is said that he is awakened at the time of sunrise
on the fourth day that is the mystical way of expressing that his initiation
into  the work of the involuntionary career of man ceases at the  time  when
the sun rose above the clear atmosphere of Atlantis.   Then the candidate is
also hailed as a "first-born."

   Having  become familiar with the road we have traveled in the  past,  the
fifth degree takes  the  candidate to the very end of the Earth Period, when

[PAGE 2392]

a  glorious  humanity is gathering the fruits of this Period and  taking  it
away from the seven globes upon which we evolve during each day of  manifes-
tation, into the first of the five dark globes which are our habitation dur-
ing the Cosmic nights.  The densest of these is located in the Region of Ab-
stract Thought,  and is in reality the "Chaos" spoken of earlier and on  the
following pages.   This globe is also the Third Heaven, and when Paul speaks
of being caught up into the Third Heaven and of seeing things there which he
could  not  lawfully  reveal,  he was referring to  the  experiences  of  an
equivalent of this fifth degree in the present Rosicrucian Mysteries.

   After being shown the end in the fifth degree,  the candidate is made ac-
quainted  with the means whereby that end is attained during  the  remaining
thee  and one-half Revolutions of the Earth Period;  the four remaining  de-
grees being devoted to his enlightenment in that respect.

   By  the  insight  he  has  thus acquired  he  is  able  to  intelligently
co-operate with the Powers that work for Good, and thus he will help to has-
ten the day of our emancipation.

   In order to rout a common misconception we wish to make clear to students
that we are not Rosicrucians because we study their teachings, nor does even
admission  to  the temple entitle us to call ourselves by  that  name.   The
writer,  for instance,  is only a lay brother,  a pupil,  and would under no
circumstances call himself a Rosicrucian.

   We know well, that when a boy has graduated from grammar school he is not
therefore  fitted to teach.   He must first go through high school and  col-
lege,  and  even  then  he may not feel the call to  be  a  school  teacher.
Similarly  in  the  school of life,  because a man has  graduated  from  the
Rosicrucian Mystery School  he  is  not  even then a Rosicrucian.  Graduates

[PAGE 2393]

from  the various schools of the lesser mysteries advance into five  schools
of the greater mysteries.   In the first four they pass the four Great  Ini-
tiations  and at last reach the Liberator,  where they receive  a  knowledge
concerning  other evolutions and are given the choice of remaining  here  to
assist their brothers or enter other evolutions as Helpers.  Those who elect
to  stay  here  as helpers are given various positions  according  to  their
tastes  and natural bent.   The Brothers of the Rose Cross are  among  those
Compassionate  Ones,  and it is a sacrilege to drag the Rosicrucian name  in
the  mire by applying it to ourselves when we are merely students  of  their
lofty teachings.

   During  the past few centuries the Brothers have worked for  humanity  in
secret;  each night at midnight there is a Service at the temple  where  the
Elder  Brothers,  assisted by the lay brothers who are able to  leave  their
work  in  the World (for many of them reside in places where it is  yet  day
when it is midnight in the location of the temple of the Rose Cross), gather
up  from everywhere in the Western World the thoughts of  sensuality,  greed
selfishness and materialism.   These they seek to transmute into pure  love,
benevolence,  altruism  and spiritual aspirations sending them back  to  the
World to uplift and encourage all Good.  Were it not for this potent  source
of spiritual vibration materialism must long ago have totally squelched  all
spiritual effort,  for there has never been a darker age from the  spiritual
standpoint than the last three hundred years of materialism.

   Now the time has come,  however, when the method of secret endeavor is to
be supplemented with a more direct effort to promulgate a definite,  logical
and sequential teaching concerning the origin, evolution and future develop-
ment of the World and man, showing both  the  spiritual  and  the scientific

[PAGE 2394]

aspect:  a teaching which makes no statements that are not supported by rea-
son and logic;  a teaching which is satisfying to the mind, for it holds out
a reasonable solution to all mysteries; it neither begs nor evades questions
and its explanations are both profound and lucid.

   But,  and this is a very important "But,"  THE ROSICRUCIANS DO NOT REGARD
AN  INTELLECTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF GOD AND THE UNIVERSE AS AN END IN  ITSELF;
far from it!   The greater the intellect, the greater the danger of its mis-
use.   Therefore,  THIS SCIENTIFIC, LOGICAL AND EXHAUSTIVE TEACHING IS GIVEN
IN  ORDER  THAT MAN MAY BELIEVE IN HIS HEART THAT WHICH HIS HEAD  HAS  SANC-
TIONED AND START TO LIVE THE RELIGIOUS LIFE.

                     THE SYMBOLISM OF THE ROSE CROSS:

   When inquiring into the meaning of any myth,  legend or symbol of  occult
value,  it is an absolute necessity that we should understand that,  as  any
object  in the three-dimensional world may, or rather must,  be viewed  from
all points to obtain a full and complete comprehension thereof,  so all sym-
bols  have  a number of aspects.  Each viewpoint reveals a  different  phase
from the others, and all have an equal claim to consideration.

   Viewed in its fullness,  this wonderful symbol contains the key to  man's
past  evolution,  his present constitution and future development,  together
with the method of attainment.   In the form where it is represented with  a
single rose in the center it symbolizes the spirit radiating from itself the
four vehicles:  the dense, vital and desire bodies plus the mind;  where the
spirit  has  drawn  INTO its instruments and  become  the  INDWELLING  human
spirit.   But  there was a time when that condition did not obtain,  a  time
when the three-fold spirit hovered above its vehicles and was unable to  en-
ter.  Then the cross stood alone without the rose, symbolizing the condition
which prevailed in the early third of Atlantis.   There was even a time when
the  upper limb of the cross was lacking and man's constitution  was  repre-
sented  by  the  Tau (T) that was in the Lemurian epoch when he had only the

[PAGE 2395]

dense, vital and desire bodies, but lacked the mind.  Then the animal nature
was  paramount.   Man followed desire without reserve.   At a still  earlier
time,  in the Hyperborean Epoch,  he was also minus the desire body and pos-
sessed only the dense and vital bodies.  Then man-in-the-making was like the
plants:   chaste and devoid of desire.  At that time his constitution  could
not  have  been represented by a cross.   It was symbolized  by  a  straight
shaft, a pillar (I).

   This  symbol has been considered phallic,  an emblem showing  the  licen-
tiousness  of  the people who worshiped it.  Truly it is a  symbol  of  gen-
eration, but generation is by no means synonymous with degradation--far from
it--the   pillar   is   the  lower  limb  of  the   cross,   symbolical   of
man-in-the-making when he was plantlike.   The plant is unconscious of  pas-
sion, desire, innocent of evil.  It generates and perpetuates its species in
a manner so pure,  so chaste,  that properly understood,  it is a model  for
fallen  and passionate humanity to worship as an ideal and it was  given  to
earlier races with that intent.  The Phallus and Yona used in the Greek mys-
tery  temples  were given by the hierophants in that spirit,  and  over  the
temple was placed the enigmatical words:  "Man, know thyself,"  which motto,
properly understood,  is similar to that of the Rose Cross, for it shows the
reason for man's fall into desire, passion and sin, and gives the key to his
liberation  in the same way that the roses upon the cross indicate the  path
of liberation.

   The  plant  is innocent,  BUT NOT VIRTUOUS;  it has  neither  desire  not
choice.   Man has both.   He may follow desire or not as he wishes,  that he
may learn to master himself.

   While he was plant-like,  a hermaphrodite, he could generate FROM HIMSELF
without the help of another,  but though he was as chaste and as innocent as
the  plants,  he  was also as unconscious and inert.  In order to advance he

[PAGE 2396]

must have desire to spur him on, and a mind to guide him, and therefore half
his  creative force was retained for the purpose of building a brain  and  a
larynx.   He had at that time a round shape similar to that of  the  embryo,
and the present larynx was a part of the creative organ which adhered to the
head when the body straightened out.  The connection between the two is seen
even today in the fact that the boy,  who expresses the positive pole of the
generative force,  changes his voice at puberty.   That the same force which
builds another body when it is sent OUTWARDS builds the brain when  RETAINED
is  equally clear when we consider that sex mania leads to  insanity,  while
the profound thinker will feel little inclination for amorous practices.  He
uses  all  his creative force to generate thought instead of wasting  it  in
sense gratification.

   At  the time when man commenced to withhold half his creative  force  for
the above mentioned purpose, his consciousness was directed INWARDS to build
organs.  He was capable of SEEING these organs and he used the same creative
force  then under the direction of Creative Hierarchies in planning  and  in
executing plans of organs, that he now uses in the OUTER world to build air-
ships, houses, automobiles, telephones, etc.  Then he was unconscious of how
that  half of the creative force was used which was sent OUTWARDS  for  gen-
eration of another body.

   Generation was carried on under the guidance of Angels.  At certain times
of the year they herded the growing man together in great temples and  there
the  generative act was performed.   Man was unconscious of the  fact.   His
eyes had not yet been opened,  and though it was necessary for him to have a
partner  who  had the half or other pole of the creative force available for

[PAGE 2397]

generation  which he retained to build organs within,  he did not  at  first
KNOW  his wife.   In ordinary life he was shut within himself so far as  the
Physical World was concerned,  but it was different when he was brought into
such intimate and close touch with another, as in the case of the generative
act.  Then for the moment the spirit pierced the veil of flesh and Adam KNEW
his wife.  He had ceased to KNOW HIMSELF--thus his consciousness became more
and more and more centered outside himself in the OUTSIDE WORLD and he  lost
his INNER PERCEPTION.   That cannot be fully regained until he has passed to
the  stage where it is no longer necessary to have a partner in  generation,
and he has reached the development where he can again utilize his WHOLE cre-
ative force at will.   Then he will again KNOW HIMSELF as he did during  his
stage of plant-like existence,  but with this all important difference  that
he will use his creative faculty consciously,  and will not be restricted to
using  it  solely for the pro-creation of his own species,  but  may  create
whatever he will.  Neither will he use his present organs of generation, but
the  larynx will SPEAK the creative WORD as directed by the  spirit  through
the co-ordinating mechanism of the brain.  Thus the two organs built by half
the creative force will in time be the means whereby man will eventually be-
come an independent self-conscious creator.

   Even  at the present time man molds matter both by thought and voice,  as
instanced in scientific experiments where thoughts have created an image  on
photographic plates,  and where the human voice has created geometrical fig-
ures in sand,  etc.   In proportion as man becomes unselfish he will release
the  creative force held in leash.   That will give him added thought  power
and  enable him to utilize it for upliftment of others instead of  to  plant
how to degrade and subject others to his will.   He will learn how to master
HIMSELF and cease to try to master others, except it be done temporarily FOR

[PAGE 2398]

THEIR GOOD,  but never for selfish ends.   Only one who has mastered himself
is  qualified  to rule others,  and competent to judge when that  should  be
done, and what is best for them.

   Thus  we see that in time the present passionate mode of generation  will
be  again superseded by a pure and more efficient method than  the  present,
and  that also is symbolized in the Rose Cross where the rose is  placed  in
the  center between the four arms.   The long limb represents the body,  the
two horizontals, the two arms, and the short upper limb, the head.  THE ROSE
IS IN PLACE OF THE LARNYX.

   The rose,  like any other flower,  is the generative organ of the  plant.
Its green stem carries the colorless,  passionless plant blood.   The  blood
red rose shows the passion filled blood of the human race,  but in the  rose
the vital fluid is not sensuous,  it is chaste and pure.   Thus it is an ex-
cellent  symbol of the generative organ in the pure and holy state to  which
man  will  attain when he has cleansed and purified his blood  from  desire,
when he has become chaste, pure and Christ-like.

   Therefore  the  Rosicrucians look ardently forward to the  day  when  the
roses shall bloom upon the cross of humanity,  therefore the Elder  Brothers
greet  the aspiring soul with the words of the Rosicrucian  Greeting:   "May
the Roses bloom upon your Cross," and therefore the greeting is given in the
meetings of the Fellowship Centers by the leader to the assembled  students,
probationers  and  disciples who respond to the greeting by saying  "And  on
yours, also."

   John speaks of his purification (1st epistle,  III,  9) and says that  he
who is born of God cannot sin, FOR HE KEEPETH HIS SEED WITHIN HIM.  It is an
absolute  necessity  to progress that the aspirant should be chaste.  Yet it

[PAGE 2399]

must be borne in mind,  that absolute celibacy is not required of man  until
he has reached a point where he is ready for the great initiations, and that
is a duty we owe to the whole to perpetuate the race.   If we are  mentally,
morally,  physically and financially able,  we may approach the act of  gen-
eration  as a holy sacrifice laid upon the altar of humanity,  but  not  for
sensual pleasure.  Neither should it be performed in an austere,  forbidding
frame  of mind,  but in glad giving up of oneself for the privilege of  fur-
nishing a friend seeking rebirth with the body and environment he needs  for
development.   Thus we shall also help him cultivate the blooming roses upon
his cross.

[PAGE 2400]

                        MORNING AND EVENING EXERCISES: 

                             THE EVENING EXERCISE:

   The value of exercise,  RETROSPECTION, is of greater value than any other
method in advancing the aspirant upon the path of attainment.  It has such a
far-reaching effect that it enables one to learn now,  not only the  lessons
of this life, but lessons ordinarily reserved for future lives.

   After going to bed at night the body should be relaxed.   Then the aspir-
ant begins to review the scenes of the day IN REVERSE ORDER,  starting  with
the  events of the evening,  then the occurrences of the afternoon,  of  the
forenoon, and the morning.  He endeavors to PICTURE to himself each scene as
faithfully  as possible--seeks  to REPRODUCE BEFORE HIS MIND'S EYE all  that
took place in each pictured scene WITH THE OBJECT OF JUDGING HIS ACTIONS, OF
ASCERTAINING  IF HIS WORDS CONVEYED THE MEANING HE INTENDED OR GAVE A  FALSE
IMPRESSION,  OR IF HE OVERSTATED OR UNDERSTATED IN RELATING  EXPERIENCES  TO
OTHERS.  He reviews his moral attitude in relation to each scene.  At meals,
did he eat to live,  or did he live to eat--to please  the palate?   Let him
judge himself and blame where BLAME is due, PRAISE  where merited.

   People sometimes find it difficult to remain awake till the exercise  has
been performed.  In such cases it is permissible to sit up in bed till it is
possible to follow the ordinary method.

[PAGE 2401]

   The value of retrospection is enormous--far-reaching beyond  imagination.
IN  THE  FIRST PLACE,  we perform the work of restoration  of  harmony  CON-
SCIOUSLY  and  in a shorter time than the desire body can do  during  sleep,
leaving a larger portion of the night available for outside work than other-
wise possible.   IN THE SECOND PLACE, we live our purgatory and first heaven
EACH  NIGHT,  and build into the spirit as RIGHT FEELING the essence of  the
day's experience.   Thus we escape purgatory after death and also save  time
spent in the first heaven.  And LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, having extracted day by
day the essence of experiences which make for soul growth,  and having built
them into the spirit,  we are actually living in an attitude of mind and de-
veloping  along  lines that would ordinarily have been reserved  for  future
lives.   By the faithful performance of this exercise we expunge day by  day
undesirable  occurrences from our subconscious memory so that OUR  SINS  ARE
BLOTTED  OUT,  OUR AURAS COMMENCE TO SHINE WITH SPIRITUAL GOLD EXTRACTED  BY
RETROSPECTION FROM THE EXPERIENCES OF EACH DAY,  AND THUS WE ATTRACT THE AT-
TENTION OF THE TEACHER.

   The pure shall see God,  said Christ,  and the Teacher will quickly  open
our  eyes WHEN WE ARE FIT to enter into the "Hall of Learning,"  the  desire
world,  where we obtain our first experiences of conscious life without  the
dense body.

                            THE MORNING EXERCISE:

   CONCENTRATION,  the second exercise,  is performed in the morning at  the
very earliest moment possible after the aspirant awakes.   He must not arise
to  open blinds or perform any other unnecessary act.   If the body is  com-
fortable he should at once relax and commence to concentrate.   This is very

[PAGE 2402]

important,  as the spirit has just returned from the desire world at the mo-
ment of waking, and at that time the conscious touch with that world is more
easily regained than at any other time of the day.

   We remember from Lecture No.  4 that during sleep the currents of the de-
sire body flow, and its vortices move and spin with enormous rapidity.   But
as  soon  as it enters the dense body its currents and vortices  are  almost
stopped  by the dense matter and the nerve currents of the vital body  which
carry messages to and from the brain.   It is the object of this exercise to
still  the dense body to the same degree of inertia and insensibility as  in
sleep,  although the spirit within is perfectly awake, alert, and conscious.
Thus we make a condition where the sense centers of the desire body can  be-
gin to revolve while inside the dense body.

   Concentration is a word that puzzles many and carries meaning to but few,
so  we will endeavor to make its significance clear.   The dictionary  gives
several definitions,  all applicable to our idea.  One is "to draw to a cen-
ter";  another from chemistry,  "to reduce to extreme purity and strength by
removing valueless constituents."   Applied to our problem, one of the above
definitions tells us that if we draw our thoughts to a center,  a point,  we
increase  their strength on the principle that the power of the  sun's  rays
increase  when  focused  to  a point by means of  a  magnifying  glass.   By
eliminating from our mind for the time being all other subjects,  our  whole
thought  power is available for use in attaining the object or  solving  the
problem on which we are concentrating; we may become so absorbed in our sub-
ject  that  if  a cannon were fired above our heads we would  not  hear  it.
People may become so LOST in a book that they are oblivious to all else, and

[PAGE 2403]

the aspirant to spiritual sight must acquire the faculty of becoming equally
absorbed in the idea he is concentrating upon,  so that he may shut out  the
world  of sense from his consciousness and give his whole attention  to  the
spiritual world.   When he learns to do that, he will see the spiritual side
of an object or idea illuminated by spiritual light, and thus he will obtain
a knowledge of the inner nature of things undreamt of by a worldly man.

   When  he has reached that point of abstraction the sense centers  of  the
desire body commence to revolve slowly within the dense body,  and will thus
make  a place for themselves.   This in time will become more and  more  de-
fined, and it will require less and less effort to set them going.

   The subject of concentration may be any high and lofty ideal,  but should
preferably  be of such a nature that it takes the aspirant out of the  ordi-
nary things of sense,  beyond time and space; and there is no better formula
than the first five verses of St. John's gospel.   Taking them as a subject,
sentence by sentence,  morning after morning, will in time give the aspirant
a  wonderful  insight into the beginning of our universe and the  method  of
creation--an insight for beyond any book learning.

   After a time,  when the aspirant has learned to unwaveringly hold  before
him for about five minutes the idea upon which he is concentrating,  he  may
try  to suddenly drop the idea and leave a blank.   Think of  nothing  else,
simply  wait to see if anything enters the vacuum.   In time the sights  and
scenes of the desire world will fill the vacant space.   After the  aspirant
has become used to that,  he may demand this,  that,  or the other thing  to
come before him.  It will come and then he may investigate it.

[PAGE 2404]

   The main point,  however, is that BY FOLLOWING THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS THE
ASPIRANT IS PURIFYING HIMSELF;  HIS AURA COMMENCES TO SHINE AND WILL WITHOUT
FAIL DRAW THE ATTENTION OF THE TEACHER who will depute someone to give  help
when  required for the next step in advancement.   Even if months  or  years
should  go by and bring no VISIBLE result,  rest assured that no effort  has
been in vain;  the Great Teachers see and appreciate our efforts.   They are
just as anxious to have our assistance as we are to work.  They may see rea-
sons  which make it inexpedient for us to take up work for humanity in  this
life or at this time.   Sometime the hindering conditions will pass,  and we
shall be admitted to the light were we can see for ourselves.

   An  ancient  legend says that digging for treasure must be  done  in  the
stillness  of  night and in perfect silence;   to speak one word  until  the
treasure is safely excavated will inevitably cause it to disappear.  That is
a  mystic parable which has reference to the search for spiritual  illumina-
tion.   If we gossip or recount to others the experiences of our  concentra-
tion hour,  we lose them; they can not bear vocal transmission and will fade

[PAGE 2405]

into nothingness.   By meditation we must extract from them a full knowledge
of the underlying cosmic laws.   Then the experience itself will not be  re-
counted,  for we shall see that it is but the husk which hid the  kernel  of
worth.   The law is of universal value as will be at once apparent,  for  it
will  explain facts in life,  and teach us how to take advantage of  certain
conditions  and  to  avoid others.   The law may be  freely  stated  at  the
discoverer's discretion for the benefit of humanity.   The experience  which
revealed  the  law  then  will  appear  in its true light as of only passing
interest and unworthy of further notice.  Therefore, THE ASPIRANT SHOULD RE-
GARD EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS DURING CONCENTRATION AS SACRED AND SHOULD  KEEP
IT STRICTLY TO HIMSELF.

   Finally,  BEWARE OF REGARDING THE EXERCISES AS A BURDENSOME TASK.   ESTI-
MATE THEM AT THEIR TRUE WORTH;  THEY ARE OUR HIGHEST PRIVILEGE.   Only  when
thus regarded can we do them justice and reap the full benefits from them.

Continued with file "RC1067.TXT"

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