Filename: RC1083.TXT
Compiled From: "The Rosicrucian Philosophy In Questions & Answers, Vol. II"
                by Max Heindel

[PAGE 2969]

                              RAISING THE DEAD:

                              QUESTION NO. 73:

   IN  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS YOU STATE THAT CHRIST DID NOT RAISE  THE  DEAD.
IN  ST.  JOHN,  CHAPTER TWO,  VERSE 11,  CHRIST SAID,  "OUR  FRIEND  LAZARUS
SLEEPETH," AND THEN IN THE 14TH VERSE JESUS SAID UNTO THEM PLAINLY, "LAZARUS
IS  DEAD."   IT SEEMS AS IF THE CHRIST MUST HAVE BEEN MISTAKEN IN THE  FIRST
PLACE,  ACCORDING TO THIS.  WHICH IS RIGHT?  AGAIN IN ST. MATTHEW,  THE 10TH
CHAPTER, 8TH VERSE, THE APOSTLES WERE TOLD TO RAISE THE DEAD, ETC.

   ANSWER:   Most of the trouble and misinterpretation of what  the  Gospels
really mean comes from the great misunderstanding of most people who believe
that they are intended to relate the life story of an individual named Jesus
Christ.   It is perfectly true that they have been patterned after the  life
of Jesus, and it speaks for his greatness that his life should be taken as a
pattern by the recorders of four different Schools of Initiation.   However,
what  these men really wanted to write was the formulae of  initiation,  and
the four Gospels therefore embody, hidden beneath an outer coating of blinds
and  nonessentials,  the formulae of initiation of  four  different  Mystery
Schools.

   The  instance mentioned,  the raising of Lazarus,  or the widow's son  of
Naim,  does  not  involve  calling  a  departed Spirit back to its discarded

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vehicle.  That is not done.  "When once the silver cord is loosed the Spirit
returns to God who gave it and the dust whence it was taken."  When a candi-
date  comes to a point where he is to be raised up to a higher level  and  a
greater  power than he possessed before,  then he must first die  to  things
that are past and behind him.   The path becomes narrower and narrower  with
every  step,  and he cannot enter into the straight gate which  leads  to  a
higher realm in nature until he has shed the body that correlated him to the
next lower realm.   Therefore, in that sense it is said of him at the moment
when he is ready for the transition that he is DEAD.

   If you will read FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM,  you will find that Lazarus
had  previously been Hiram Abiff,  the Master Mason,  and chief  builder  of
Solomon's Temple; that Jesus had been previously embodied as the personality
called Solomon;  and that the Christ Spirit dwelling in Jesus at the time of
the  recorded raising of Lazarus was the great Initiator who raised  him  up
and  made  him a Hierophant of the Lesser Mysteries.   He is  now  known  as
Christian Rosenkreuz,  the head of the Western Wisdom School,  and co-worker
with Jesus to unite humanity and bring them to the Kingdom of Christ.

   In a similar manner,  and upon a smaller scale,  the Apostles were  given
power to raise the dead.  To the babes they gave only MILK, but to those who
were strong they gave the MEAT of the doctrine,  and instructed them in  the
mysteries, until they had reached a certain point where, by living the life,

[PAGE 2971]

they  died and were raised up to a more abundant life in a larger sphere  of
usefulness.   However, as already said, these deaths did not involve what we
usually call the death of the body.

                       NATURAL RICHES AND SPIRITUALITY:

                              QUESTION NO. 74:

   THE  BIBLE  SAYS:   "BLESSED ARE THE POOR FOR THEIRS IS  THE  KINGDOM  OF
HEAVEN."   IT ALSO STATES THAT IT IS MORE DIFFICULT FOR A RICH MAN TO  ENTER
HEAVEN THAN FOR A CAMEL TO GO THROUGH THE EYE OF A NEEDLE.   MANY OTHER PAS-
SAGES  SEEM TO SHOW THAT POVERTY IS A BLESSING AND THAT RICHES ARE A  CURSE.
WHY  THEN TO THE CHURCHES SOLICIT MONEY AND ACQUIRE RICHES,  AND WHY IS  THE
ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP STARTING TO DO THE SAME?

   ANSWER:   We are well aware that a superficial reading of the  Bible  may
and  does  give a semblance of justification for ideas as set forth  in  the
above question, but even by applying common sense apart from Scripture it is
self evident that poverty cannot be regarded as a virtue in itself.  Neither
are riches AS SUCH to be classed as a vice.   The passage quoted from  Luke:
"Blessed  are  the  poor  for  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of God," requires a

[PAGE 2972]

qualification.  This Matthew gives when he writes:  "Blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs if the Kingdom of Heaven."

   In the beginning mankind was set on the earth to till it,  make it fruit-
ful,  to have dominion over everything there.  In other words,  they were to
labor, and naturally the fruits of their labor must accrue.  As time went on
possessions  had accumulated and also man's desire for possessions.   There-
fore instead of man having dominion over the world and over things  therein,
as Emerson said:   "THINGS are in the saddle and ride humanity."   Many  and
many a man thinks that he owns a store,  a business,  or factory,  but if he
were to sit down and take actual and unbiased account of his things he would
find that the factory and the store own him,  that he is a slave to his pos-
sessions,  that they demand his time and the joy of life which might  other-
wise  be his.   He lives in constant fear that he may be robbed,  or that  a
business failure may take away his possessions.   He is never at peace,  al-
ways afraid because of his riches.  Such a condition is all too common,  and
under that condition riches are certainly a curse.

   That man, however, is not poor in spirit.  Another may legally own a fac-
tory,  giving employment to a large number of men,  and may yet feel himself
God's  steward,  taking care of a certain part of the world's work.   As  he
does not consider himself the personal owner of the things around him, he is
really poor in spirit, though he may be rich in a legal sense.  Moreover, if

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he is consistent in carrying this attitude of mind to his death,  then it is
an  absolute  certainty he has laid up a great deal of treasure  in  heaven.
Therefore  he  is rich in that place and will enter with flying  colors,  no
matter if the gates were microscopical.

   Similarly,  churches may acquire great riches on earth and gain  treasure
in heaven if they use them well for the alleviation of suffering.  That does
not  mean either,  that we should give to everyone  INDISCRIMINATELY.   Dis-
crimination  is certainly a great factor in soul growth,  and we have  every
precedence  and  incentive to use that faculty in giving as well as  in  all
other  departments of life.   Indiscriminate giving often makes  paupers  of
people  who would otherwise be useful.   Certainly the Bible is not  so  il-
logical that it would hold that poverty in itself is a virtue,  for then  we
could all lead a life of idleness,  which attitude is unfortunately all  too
common among people who profess to follow the higher life.   As a matter  of
fact,  many poor people may have to give an account of the reason  they  are
poor.  Opportunities come to each and every one of us, and if we have failed
to grasp them,  if we have been spendthrifts of time and of the little mate-
rial  means  we have had and thereby prevented ourselves from  getting  more
wherewith to do good,  we shall certainly have to render an account for  our
actions.   On the other hand,  the rich man who has used his riches well may
be commended for the way he has conducted his Father's business.

   As for the reference to The Rosicrucian Fellowship,  it is scarcely worth
answering,  for,  of  course,  anyone who uses discrimination knows that The

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Rosicrucian  Fellowship  as  such  has not been  soliciting  funds  for  the
Ecclesia  or  anything else.   Certain members within  the  Fellowship  have
started an agitation for funds,  and there is no reason why that may not  go
on among themselves.   The paraphernalia wherewith to do the work has to  be
obtained,  and if the members feel that need,  and want to supply it,  it is
certainly their privilege.  The writer has absolutely no right to interfere.
Therefore, the letters are published and the opinions that are expressed are
in order.   Only if instigated in any sense by the writer, would they be out
of  place and detrimental to the work of the Fellowship,  for,  as is  often
said, it is not permitted to him to solicit contributions for anything what-
ever.

                          RESURRECTION OF THE BODY:

                              QUESTION NO. 75:

   WHAT IS MEANT IN THE APOSTLES' CREED AND IN THE BIBLE BY THE RESURRECTION
OF THE BODY?

   ANSWER:   The Apostles'  Creed was not composed until centuries after the
Apostles had passed away,  and then it was taken to embody what they had be-
lieved.  Neither  they  nor  the  Bible  teach the resurrection of the body.

[PAGE 2975]

That phrase is not to be found in the Good Book at all.  In King James' ver-
sion  we  read (Job 19:26) that "though after my skin,  worms  destroy  this
body,  yet in MY FLESH shall I see God;" and this passage is the chief reli-
ance of those who endeavor to establish this absurd doctrine.  However,  the
translators appointed by King James were poor Hebrew scholars,  and most  of
them died before the translation was completed.   In the Revised Version you
find another interpretation as follows:

   "And after my skin,  even this body is destroyed;  then WITHOUT MY  FLESH
shall I see God."  Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God; there-
fore,  what in the world would be the use of having a body such as  we  have
now?  Furthermore, this body must be perpetuated at the present time, and we
are told that in the resurrection there shall be neither marrying nor giving
in  marriage--another  argument which shows that a vehicle of  another  kind
from the flesh will be used.  Besides, it is a well-known,  well-established
scientific  fact that the atoms in our bodies are constantly coming and  go-
ing.  Now, if there is to be a resurrection of the body, which sets of atoms
is  it to be that shall come forth in this resurrected body?   Or  if  every
atom  that ever was in our body from birth to death is to be in that  resur-
rected  body,  would it not be an enormous conglomeration,  since we  should
then  have immense bodies composed of layers?  It would in fact be a  scien-
tific conundrum.  Now, as Paul says, THE SEED is put in the ground each time
to gather a new body.  (See I Corr., 15).

[PAGE 2976]

                          THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION:

                              QUESTION NO. 76:

   ON  PAGE 472 OF THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION IS THE  FOLLOWING  PARA-
GRAPH:

   "THE  VOW OF ABSOLUTE CELIBACY APPLIES TO THE GREATER  INITIATIONS  ONLY,
AND EVEN THEN A SINGLE ACT OF FECUNDATION MAY SOMETIMES BE NECESSARY,  AS AN
ACT OF SACRIFICE, AS WAS THE CASE OF PROVIDING THE BODY FOR CHRIST."

   THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION TEACHES THAT JESUS, THE CHRIST, WAS BORN OF A VIR-
GIN,  WHICH  IS OTHERWISE EXPRESSED AS AN IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.   ARE  SUCH
TEACHINGS, AND IN ITS STRICTEST ADHERENCE TO THE DEFINITION "DIVINE," IS THE
BIRTH OF JESUS SO CONSIDERED BY THE ROSICRUCIANS?

   ANSWER:   According to the teachings of the Rosicrucians IT IS  NECESSARY
TO  DISTINGUISH VERY SHARPLY BETWEEN THE CHRIST AND JESUS.   When we  search
the Memory of Nature we find that the Spirit born into the body of Jesus was
a very advanced Ego,  which had reached a most sublime spirituality  through
many  lives of holy,  self-sacrificing service, and it is possible to  trace
the previous births of that Ego as easily as we may seek out the past  expe-
riences of any other entity belonging to the human race.  However,  we shall
search in vain for any previous embodiment of the Christ because He does not
belong to? our evolution at all.  He was the highest Initiate of the Sun Pe-
riod,  and  the  ordinary  humanity  of  that  far  distant  past  have  now

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evolved to a state of high spirituality.  We may call them Archangels.

   Until  2,000 years ago the earth was ruled with an iron hand  by  Jehovah
and His Angels,  who were the evolutionary product of a past period.   Under
His regime the fear of the law was pitted against the desires of the  flesh.
Every transgression required an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.   This,
however,  left  no scope for the evolution of love and  altruism.   "Perfect
love casteth out all fear,"  and Christ came into the world to save humanity
from law and egoism by cultivation of love and altruism.

   However,  it is an inexorable law in nature that no one can build a  body
of material which,  by evolution,  he has not learned to manipulate,  and in
the far distant past, when the Archangels were at the human stage, the world
which they inhabited was made of desire stuff.  Hence, as our dense physical
body  is  made from the chemical constituents of our present earth,  so  the
densest  body of an Archangel is made of desire stuff.   For many  centuries
before  He  actually came into our midst,  the Christ Spirit worked  on  the
earth from the outside, to purity the earth's desire body that we might gain
materials  wherefrom to build purer and better desires and emotions.   Obvi-
ously this could be done much better by an INDWELLING Spirit if a way  could
be provided to secure for it an entrance into the earth.  It was the mission
of Joseph,  Mary,  and Jesus to provide this vehicle,  consisting of a dense
and vital body,  to which the desire body and higher vehicles of the  Christ
could link themselves for a brief period while He accomplished His mission.

[PAGE 2978]

   When the generative act is performed in a low, brutal manner,  when it is
tainted  with  lust  and passion it certainly degrades below  the  level  of
beasts those who participate in this act of desecration.  On the other hand,
when prospective parents prepare themselves by prayer and lofty  aspirations
to  perform the act as a sacrament,  regardless of  self-gratification,  the
conception is immaculate.  It is evident that it is not the physical virgin-
ity that counts as a virtue, for every one is at that stage during the early
years of life.  It is the purity, the chastity of the soul,  which makes the
pure virgin, both father and mother.

   According to the teachings of the Rosicrucians,  backed up by research in
the  Memory of Nature,  such was the condition of Joseph and Mary  when  the
body  which  formed around the seed atom of Jesus was  conceived.   The  Sun
Spirit,  Christ,  could not construct such a vehicle.  Besides it would have
been  a  useless expenditure of valuable energy for such a great  Spirit  to
pass through the womb and bring a body up through the years of childhood un-
til  it had arrived at the age of maturity where it could be  used.   There-
fore,  this task was delegated to Jesus who used the body until the time  of
the Baptism, when we are told the Spirit descended upon it as a dove.  There
Jesus  left  his body which was inhabited from that time to the end  of  the
Christ Spirit,  and we have thus, during the three years' ministry, to  deal

[PAGE 2979]

with a composite entity, JESUS THE CHRIST.

   It  should be understood that the great Hierarchies who have aided us  in
our evolution always work WITH the laws which they have given for our  guid-
ance and not against them,  and having once evolved the method of building a
body by the union of man and woman,  they would not think of suspending that
law any more than they would for a single moment think of suspending the law
of  gravitation.   We can easily imagine what chaos would result if  people,
houses, street cars, and everything else not securely anchored to the earth,
would tumble into the air,  and the disasters to our social structure  which
would follow the suspension of the law of fecundation can also be  imagined.
In fact the interpolated accounts also make it clear that Joseph intended to
put Mary away.   Such a course would naturally follow a miracle not known or
believed by the ordinary husband.  As a further evidence of tampering by the
translators  you will also notice that the genealogy of Jesus is  traced  to
Joseph, and if he were not the father this would be foolish; then also Jesus
could not have been said to have sprung from the root of David.

   There are ways,  however, of making a body available to the Adept without
going through the womb.   Before describing this method let it be thoroughly
understood  that the term "Adept"  is not to be applied to the  egotists  or
charlatans who thus style themselves in newspaper advertising or among a co-
terie  of  dupes.  The  true  Adept  is  one who has reached a high stage of

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spirituality,  and what that stage is, we shall understand by comparing  the
ordinary seer and the Initiate with him.

   The seer is one who has developed the spiritual sight.  If he has no con-
trol  over  the  faculty,  he sees things in the invisible  world  wen  they
present themselves before him.  He has choice neither as to what he sees nor
when,  nor the power to shut off any scene that may be disagreeable to  him.
The VOLUNTARY seer is one who,  at will,  can call up sights and scenes from
the  invisible worlds and can turn his spiritual vision upon any  object  or
even for as long or as short a time as he desires.

   It  is commonly believe among most people who have not given the  subject
thought,  that when any one is able to see things in the invisible worlds he
is,  so to speak, omniscient, and knows about everything there.  As a matter
of  fact,  the ability to see things in the invisible worlds does not  carry
with it the faculty of understanding all about them, any more than the abil-
ity to see a machine here gives us the knowledge how to operate it.

   The Initiate is one who has not only the ability to see things in the in-
visible worlds, but also the faculty of leaving his body consciously and op-
erating or investigating these things.  Thus by degrees he acquires a knowl-
edge  of their inner workings and how to link these forces,  which  we  call
laws of nature, to the chariot of evolutionary progress.

   The  Adept  is  one who sees and knows,  and  has,  in  addition,  become
proficient in the use of the laws of nature  for  the production of what, to

[PAGE 2981]

the ordinary person,  seems magic,  but which is in reality only the  higher
application of the same laws that govern in the ordinary course of life.

   We are all familiar with the fact that food which we take into our system
is  largely wasted because of our lack of knowledge regarding the  real  re-
quirements  of this vehicle,  coupled with the fact that most of us  eat  to
please the palate rather than to nourish the system.   This interferes  with
the metabolism and more food is wasted than assimilated.

   Even  that  part  of the food which we assimilate does  not  always  form
healthy tissue,  but flabby flesh, which is a dead load on us, and the vital
body  is constantly struggling to rid itself of undesirable  surplus  waste.
After  a heavy meal the seer may observe a black band of elastic,  jellylike
consistency,  formed of ether,  about the abdominal region of the  gourmand.
This is the poison, generated by the fermentation of unhealthy food taken in
an  overdose,  which is being expelled by the dense body  by  the  radiating
streams of the vital body in the effort of the latter vehicle to cleanse the
clogged system.

   We also waste bodily tissue by indulging in pleasures, by unnecessary mo-
tions  and emotions,  causing the dense body to age and die long  before  it
would die if properly used.

   The  Adept is different.   He knows how to control his actions  and  emo-
tions,  thus saving all unnecessary strain upon the body.  He also knows the
exact elements required to keep up his body, and  the  proper  proportion in

[PAGE 2982]

which to take them.   Thus he secures the maximum nutrition and a minimum of
waste.

   For  that reason he may keep his body in a state of  youthful  appearance
and  vigorous  health  for  hundreds  of  years.    It  is  said  among  the
lay-brothers of the Rosicrucians that Christian Rosenkreuz is today using  a
body  which ha been thus preserved for several centuries.   This may or  may
not  be so,  the writer has no means of knowing,  for our august  leader  is
never seen by any of the lay brothers who gather at the Temple for the  mid-
night Service.   His presence is only FELT,  and is the signal for beginning
the work.   However,  in conversation with some of the lay brothers who have
been connected with the temple for twenty,  thirty,  and forty years in this
life,  it  has developed that the Elder Brothers,  of whom we speak  as  our
Teachers,  look just about the same today as they did thirty or forty  years
ago.   Judging by the standards of ordinary men we should say that the Elder
Brothers seem now to be about forty years of age and this lends color to the
statement of teaching as given in the foregoing.

   We see then that the Adepts are able to preserve their bodies for  centu-
ries,  maybe millenniums,  but they are also able to create a new vehicle if
for any reason that becomes expedient, and this is one of the ways described
by the Elder Brother.

   It is a law in nature that the cell life inherent in any particle of food
must be overpowered by the Ego before it can be assimilated.   (See in  this
connection the chapter on assimilation in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION).

[PAGE 2983]

Hence,  it  is impossible for the Adept to make an extract of  the  elements
whereof  a body is built forming them into a vehicle and then stepping  from
the old to the new.  He must first take them into his own body that they may
be attuned to the seed atom and properly assimilated.   Then after they have
been appropriated by him in the manner decreed by the laws of nature, he may
again  extract them and use them to build a new body.   Therefore the  Adept
commences this work by increasing his diet and extracting the surplus amount
of food.   Being so thoroughly self-controlled he also has the power to con-
trol  and  hold  in subjection the live food elements  which  he  then  uses
gradually to build a body.  This vehicle is usually placed in a room not en-
tered by anyone else.  When it is finished and the Adept desires to make the
change, he simply steps out of his old body into the new.

   The  use  of this method is the solution to the mystery  surrounding  the
early  life  and antecedents of such men as Count St.  Germain,  Cagliostro,
etc.   They were Adepts who stepped out of an environment when they had out-
grown  their usefulness into a new field.   The bodies they had left  behind
bore no names, and no one suspected that the Spirit which had inhabited them
had not taken the usual post-mortem course.

   It  is also a law in nature that no one can make a vehicle unless he  has
learned by evolution how to do it.   Great and mighty as was the Cosmic  Sun
Spirit, Christ, He could not build a dense body, either in the  womb,  or by

[PAGE 2984]

the  magical method last described,  for he never had the experience in  the
heaven  life  where  the archetypes of bodies are built,  nor  has  He  gone
through  the  actual experiences such as have been the lot  of  mankind  for
ages.   Therefore,  it was necessary that someone be chosen to build a  body
for Him.  That honor and privilege fell to Joseph, Mary and Jesus,  who fur-
nished the dense body and cared for it during the years of growth until  ma-
turity had been reached,  together with the vital body necessary to keep the
dense  instrument  alive  and to complete the link of  the  desire  body  of
Christ.

   Thus,  when properly understood, it is true that Jesus was born of a vir-
gin and that the conception was immaculate.   The mistake likes in confusion
Jesus  with  Christ.   mark that the Angel Gabriel commanded that  his  name
should be called JESUS.  Christos means "anointed," and refers to an office,
a function,  and not to a person.  Therefore, it is not until after the Bap-
tism when he has been anointed with the Spirit that he is spoken of as Jesus
Christ,  or in English,  THE ANOINTED JESUS.  It is also a mistake to regard
the  birth of Jesus as unique.   We have the word of Christ that the  things
which He did, shall we also do and greater.  The Immaculate Conception,  the
Baptism (the christening or anointing),  the period of service and ministry,
the Cross and the Crown,  will in their turn become personal experiences  to
every one among us,  for we are all Christs-in-the making and must  sometime
grow to the full stature of Divinity.

[PAGE 2985]

                        WHY THE JEWS KEEP THE SABBATH:

                              QUESTION NO. 77:

   THE ROSICRUCIANS TEACH THAT CHRIST IS THE SUN-SPIRIT, AND IT SEEMS THERE-
FORE  PERFECTLY LOGICAL THAT WE KEEP SUNDAY SACRED TO HIS WORSHIP IN  CHRIS-
TIAN LANDS.   HOWEVER,  JEHOVAH IS THE RULER OF THE MOON.  WHY THEN WERE NOT
THE  JEWS TAUGHT TO KEEP MONDAY HOLY INSTEAD OF SATURN'S DAY,  WHICH IS  NOW
THEIR SABBATH?

   ANSWER:  There is an esoteric connection between Saturn, the Sun, and the
Moon,  which rule Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  The Sun and Saturn are min-
isters of life and death, and the Moon is, so to speak,  the shuttle-cock on
which mankind is constantly being thrown from one pole to another while  the
web of experience is being woven.  The Moon's north Node,  which we call the
Dragon's Head,  partakes of the nature of the life-giving Sun and ushers hu-
manity into the period of physical activity.   The South Node ushers us into
the  rest of death by the saturnine forces of the Dragon's Tail.   In  other
words,  both Saturn and the Moon are gates of entrance an exit from the  in-
visible world,  or Chaos, the Moon in a planetary capacity and Saturn in the
cosmic sense.

   When  a great Creative Date of Manifestation is ushered in,  time  always
begins  with  a  Saturn  Period,  and  at that time the life waves of Spirit

[PAGE 2986]

which have been undergoing the subjective phase of evolution during the pre-
ceding  Cosmic Night are ushered into active manifestation,  and this  takes
place  during  the  Saturn  Revolution of  every  Period.   In  the  smaller
earth-sphere  of our present activity when an Ego is ready for rebirth  into
terrestrial life the Moon marks the time of both conception and birth,  thus
taking  over  the saturnine function of ushering in evolving Egos  from  the
dark  Cosmic Night of death to the solar universe of life and light.   There
are,  however, some Egos who do not evolve, but are stragglers upon the path
of evolution.   For them there comes a time when they are finally ejected to
the  Moon  and are denied the opportunity and privilege of  rebirth  in  the
present  evolutionary class.   they then remain upon the Moon until the  ve-
hicles  they have crystallized by lack of action are finally dissolved,  and
as  they cannot go forward with the stream of evolution,  there is only  one
other way open to them,  viz.,  to gravitate back through the gate of Saturn
into Chaos,  or Cosmic Night,  where they must await another opportunity  of
manifestation in a later life stream.

   Jehovah  is not Ruler of the Jews to the exclusion of all  other  people.
He  is the Law-giver and Cosmic Lord of fecundation.   Therefore,  He has  a
special  mission  to perform for all pioneer people of any  poch  or  period
where  a  great host of Spirits are to be furnished with vehicles of  a  new
type.  It is He who multiplies the pioneer people abundantly, gives them the

[PAGE 2987]

laws  appropriate to their evolution and thus starts them upon a new  period
of  development.   If we remember this fact and also bear in mind  that  the
first part of an epoch is saturnine,  then we shall understand that although
the original Semites who were the forbears of the Aryan race were multiplied
as the sands on the seashore and given their laws by Jehovah, they were also
living  in the Saturn part of the Aryan epoch and therefore  were  logically
taught to keep Saturn's day as a day of rest.

   The Bible says that the law was supreme until the advent of the great Sun
Spirit.   Christ  started a new phase of evolution under  the  principle  of
LOVE,  AND REGENERATION.   This ended the regime of Jehovah and the sway  of
Saturn,  not abruptly of course,  for there is always an overlapping of  the
old and the new.  However, from that time we,  the pioneer Christian people,
have entered upon the second, or Sun part of the Aryan Epoch, and are there-
fore now substituting the Sun's day for the day of Saturn,  as a day of wor-
ship.

   As  we  have spoken of the Moon and Saturn as being the gates  of  Chaos,
this may cause the students to wonder what becomes of the rest of us, and we
may therefore briefly state the Western Wisdom teaching on this point.

   Ordinary humanity who follow the path of evolution are led to the Kingdom
of Christ, the Sun Spirit.

   Stragglers  who  fail to keep up with the procession  retrograde  to  the
Kingdom of Jehovah, the Moon Spirit.

[PAGE 2988]

   The  advance guard of humanity,  the Initiates who have passed  both  the
lesser  and greater Initiations and appear before the Liberator  (the  great
Being in charge of evolution on Earth), are given the choice of staying here
an helping their brothers in this world or of going to Jupiter and preparing
the conditions under which humanity may evolve in the future Jupiter Period.

   Advanced souls who misuse their powers as black magicians eventually ret-
rograde directly to Saturn and are forced into Chaos by dissolution of their
vehicles.

   Saturn has a preponderance of the fourth or reflecting ether.   Hence its
pale light,  and the Egos who go there leave a record of their lives and are
then propelled outward toward chaos by way of Saturn's moons.

   Jupiter has a preponderance of the third or light ether.  Hence its bril-
liancy, and the advanced Egos who come to Jupiter from the outside go inward
through the moons and then begin, as said, a constructive work for the Jupi-
ter Period.

[PAGE 2989]

                       MEANING OF THE LETTERS I.N.R.I.:

                              QUESTION NO. 78:

   WHAT  IS THE MEANING OF THE LETTERS I.N.R.I.  SOMETIMES PLACED  OVER  THE
CROSS?

   ANSWER:   We are told in the gospel story that Pilate placed a sign read-
ing,  "Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorem," and His Cross, and this is translated
in  the authorized version to mean "Jesus of nazareth,  King of  the  Jews."
But the four initials,  I.N.R.I.,  placed upon the Cross represent the names
of the four elements in Hebrew:  Iam, water; Nour,  fire;  Ruach,  spirit or
vital air;  and Iabeshah,  earth.   This is the occult key to the mystery of
crucifixion,  for it symbolizes in the first place the Salt,  Sulphur,  Mer-
cury,  and  Azoth  which were used by the ancient  alchemists  to  make  the
Philospher's Stone, the universal solvent, the elixir-vitae.

   The two "I's"  (IAM and IABESHAH) represent the salient luna element  wa-
ter,  (a)  in fluidic state holding salt in solution,  and (b)  in  the  co-
agulated extract of this water,  "the salt of the earth."   In other  words,
the finer fluidic vehicles of man and his dense body.   N,  (NOUR) in Hebrew
stands for fire and the combustile elements,  chief among which are  SULPHUR
and phosphorus, so necessary to oxidation and without which wram blood would
be an impossibility.  The Ego could not then function in the body, nor could

[PAGE 2990]

thought find a material expression.   R (RUACH) is the Hebrew equivalent for
the Spirit,  Azoth,  functioning in the mercurial mind.   Thus the four let-
ters,  I.N.R.I.,  placed over the Cross of Christ according  to  the  gospel
story  represent composite man,  the Thinker, at the point of his  spiritual
development  when he is getting ready for liberation from the cross  of  his
dense vehicle.

   Proceeding  further along the same line of elucidation we may  note  that
I.N.R.I.  is the symbol of the crucified candidate for the  following  addi-
tional reasons:

   IAM is the Hebrew word signifying water, the fluidic lunar element, which
forms  the  principal part of the human body (about 87 per cent),  and  this
word is also the symbol of the finer fluidic vehicles of desire and emotion.

   NOUR,  the Hebrew word signifying fire,  is a symbolic representation  of
the heat-producing red blood lden with martial iron, fire, and energy, which
the occultist sees coursing as gas through the veins and arteries of the hu-
man  body,  infusing it with energy and ambition,  and without  which  there
could  be neither material nor spiritual progress.   It also represents  the
sulphur  and phosphorus necessary for the material manifestation of  thought
as already mentioned.

   RUACH,  the Hebrew word for Spirit, or vital air,  is an excellent symbol
of the Ego clothed in the mercurial mind  which  makes  man MAN, and enables

[PAGE 2991]

him  to control and direct his bodily vehicles and activities in a  rational
manner.

   IABESHAH is the Hebrew word for earth, representing the solid fleshy part
which makes up the cruciform earthy body,  crystallized within the finer ve-
hicles  at birth and severed from them in the ordinary course of  things  at
death, or in the extraordinary course of things at death, or in the extraor-
dinary event that we learn to die the mystic death and ascend to the glories
of higher spheres for a time.

   This stage of the Christian Mystic's spiritual development therefore  in-
volves  a reversal of the creative force from its ordinary  downward  course
through the tripartite spinal cord where the three segments are ruled by the
Moon,  Mars,  and Mercury,  respectively,  and where the ray of Neptune then
lights the REGENERATIVE SPINAL SPIRIT-FIRE which, mounting upward,  sets the
pituitary body and the pineal gland into vibration.   This,  opening up  the
spiritual sight and striking the frontal sinus,  starts the crown of  thorns
throbbing with pain as the bond with the physical body is burned by the  sa-
cred spirit-fire which wakes this center from its age long sleep to a throb-
bing,   pulsating  life,  sweeping  onward  to  the  other  centers  in  the
five-pointed stigmatic star.   They are also vitalized and the whole vehicle
becomes aglow with a golden glory.   Then with a final wrench the great vor-
tex  of the desire body located in the liver is liberated,  and the  martial
energy  contained  in  that  vehicle propels  upward  and  sidereal  vehicle
(so-called because the stigmata in the head, hands,  and feet are located in
the same relative position to one another as the points  in the five-pointed

[PAGE 2992]

star),  which  ascends  through the skull (Golgotha),  while  the  CRUCIFIED
CHRISTIAN utters his triumphant cry,  "Consummatum est"  (it has been accom-
plished), and soars into the subtler spheres to seek Jesus whose life he has
imitated  with  such  success and from whom he  is  henceforth  inseparable.
Jesus is his Teacher and his guide to the Kingdom of Christ where all  shall
be united in one body to learn and to practice the RELIGION OF THE FATHER to
whom the Kingdom will eventually revert that He may be All in All.

                              QUESTION NO. 79:

                       THE MIRACULOUS DRAFT OF FISHES:

   IF WE SHOULD NOT EAT MEAT, I PRESUME FISH IS INCLUDED.   WHAT THEN IS THE
ANSWER  TO  THE MIRACULOUS DRAFT OF FISHES AS TOLD IN THE BIBLE?   NO  DOUBT
THESE WERE WANTED FOR FOOD.

   ANSWER:   We have often stated,  that while the Gospels are true versions
of the life of the man Jesus, they are also manuals of initiation.  The Sun,
as visible in the heavens,  is the physical light bearer which is the "light
of  the  world,"  but  behind  it  there  is the invisible Sun carrying also

[PAGE 2993]

spiritual light.   The initiate who follows the path of initiation is in the
same sense a light burner or enlightener of the people.  Therefore, his life
is  inseparably  connected  with the Sun, which in its  yearly  course  goes
through the twelve signs of the zodiac by direct motion from Aries, the ram,
to  Pisces,  the fishes,  and in its course ripens the grain and  the  grape
which  feed  mankind physically.   There is also another motion of  the  Sun
known by astronomers as the precession of the equinox,  whereby the Sun goes
through  each  sign  in  about 2,100 years.   This  is  connected  with  the
spiritual  progress of humanity,  and therefore the symbol of the savior  of
any age is always that of the sign through which the Sun at that  particular
time is moving by precession.

   To keep within historic times,  we may say, that at the time when the Sun
by precession went through the sign Taurus,  the Bull or Calf was  worshiped
among the most advanced human nations.   We find the Bull,  Apis,  among the
Egyptians,  and Mithras,  the persian Christ, riding upon a Bull.   However,
when the Sun by precession moved from Taurus, the Bull, into Aries, the sign
of the Ram or Lamb, GOD'S PEOPLE WENT OUT OF EGYPT at the passover,  or ver-
nal equinox,  when the Sun passes over the equator.  It then became idolatry
to worship the Bull or Calf, and they were taught to worship the Ram or Lamb
of  God.   At the time of the advent of Christ the Sun by precession was  in
about  seven degrees of Aries and within orb of the next sign,  Pisces,  the
FISHES.  He was the Savior of the coming  dispensation.  Therefore He sought

[PAGE 2994]

FISHERMEN,  and as He took them from their vocation, He stated He would make
them FISHERS of men.   All through the New Testament you will find this con-
tinual allusion to FISHES.

   At  the time when the Christian religion was being established after  His
death, there was controversy whether the symbol of this Savior should be the
Lamb or the Fish.  Therefore, as a relic of that controversy we have even to
the  present day the bishops wearing a mitre shaped as the head of  a  fish.
At the same time the functionaries of that church also have the staff of the
Shepherd,  signifying the connection with Aries, the lamb.  It was not until
several  centuries after the crucifixion of Christ Jesus that the  Lamb  was
used as His symbol.   Pisces, the sign of the fishes, is a watery sign,  and
therefore  we see at the doors of the Catholic Church the holy water  where-
with  the worshipers make the sign.   They are taught that on  Fridays  they
must  abstain from the use of meat and take FISH instead,  and  also  during
Lenten season FISH is the main food.  All this because the Sun by precession
is going through the sign Pisces.   It is now nearing Aquarius,  the sign of
the  Son of Man,  and in that day and age the symbol of the savior  will  be
different.   A different phase of the Christian religion will also have  its
vogue to meet the needs of the more advanced generations which will then in-
habit the earth.  In fact, that is the object of the Rosicrucian Teachings.

[PAGE 2995]

                        "THERE SHALL BE NO MORE SEA":

                              QUESTION NO. 80:

   IN  THE APOCALYPSE JOHN SAYS,  "THERE SHALL BE NO MORE SEA."   WHAT  DOES
THAT MEAN?

   ANSWER:   It  means  just what it says,  for the earth  itself  is  going
through a number of stages of evolution which furnish the conditions  neces-
sary for our development.   There was the dark age during which the material
for our planet was gathered together in a fermentative and germinative  con-
dition  which  produced heat so that at a certain point  when  the  creative
fiat, "Let there be light" was uttered, this material became a luminous fire
mist,  revolving upon its axis and heating the surrounding atmosphere  which
was then cooled by contact with outer space.   Thus moisture was  generated,
and it fell upon the glowing planet,  with the result that a steam went out-
ward, a fire fog.

   For  aeons  of time this evaporation and condensation went on  until  the
earth was encrusted and became what we know as dry land,  from which a  mist
went upwards, to also stated in the Bible.  This cooled and condensed,  com-
ing down upon the earth as a flood which finally cleared the air and gave us
the  atmospheric conditions which prevail today.  In the past we had  bodies
fitting us to live in the varying environments on the earth,  and today  our
vehicles are largely composed of water, as are the bodies of the animals and

[PAGE 2996]

plants.  However, the Bible tells us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom  of God.   We are told that we shall put off the physical  body  and
that we shall be caught up in the air; also as you mention,  "there shall be
no  sea."   Thus the general conditions are placed before us and  there  are
quite a few signs that though these changes are being brought about  slowly,
they are surely coming.   Scientists are now beginning to recognize the fact
that the earth is being deprived of its moisture.  Says the Literary Digest:

   "Many authorities recognize the fact that the earth is slowly losing  its
moisture.   How this can occur is partially explained,  we are told by  C.F.
von Hermann,  in SCIENCE (New York), by the action of electrical  discharges
in decomposition vapor.  One of the component gases, hydrogen, is very light
and rises to the upper limits of the earth's atmosphere,  where it is  ulti-
mately  thrown off.   This loss of hydrogen means in the long run a loss  of
water.   The decomposition of the earth's moisture, with final loss, is also
brought about by other agencies, notably the effect of the light-rays of the
upper part of the spectrum.  Mr. von Hermann quotes a writer in UMSCHAU, Dr.
Karl  Stoeckel,  as saying:   'It is believed that the ultra-violet rays  of
sunlight  which fall upon the water vapor suspended in the lower  strata  of
the  earth's  atmosphere decompose a small part of it to  produce  hydrogen,
which rises to great heights."

   On this Mr. von Hermann comments as follows:  "I do not think it has been
pointed  out  before  that  the  earth's surface must be continuously losing

[PAGE 2997]

hydrogen  through the decomposition of water vapor by every flash of  light-
ning.   Pickering and others have recognized the hydrogen lines in the spec-
trum of lightning,  and the larger works on meterology mention the fact that
lightning flashes decompose some water .  .  .  The hydrogen formed by every
lightning  flash  rises rapidly to the upper atmosphere and is lost  to  the
earth.   Considering the frequency of thunderstorms during the summer season
in both hemispheres and at all times in the equatorial regions,  the loss of
hydrogen in this way cannot be considered as insignificant.  As long as con-
ditions upon the earth remain such as to render thunderstorms possible,  the
slow dessication of the earth must continue."

   Thus  the teachings of the Bible are being vindicated on every  essential
point as science advances.   The facts discovered show how the past and  the
present  have  been described with accuracy.  This gives us reason  for  our
faith  that  the  future developments will also be found in  line  with  the
truths taught in the Bible.

[PAGE 2998]

                        COLORS OF THE TABERNACLE VEIL:

                              QUESTION NO. 81:

   WHY  WERE THE COLORS OF THE VEIL IN THE TABERNACLE PURPLE,  SCARLET,  AND
WHITE?   WHY WERE NOT THE THREE PRIMARY COLORS, BLUE, RED, AND YELLOW REPRE-
SENTED?

   ANSWER:   Blue is the color of the Father who rules over the  whole  uni-
verse  continually from the beginning of manifestation to the  end  thereof,
omnipresent in everything that lives,  breathes, and has its being.   Red or
scarlet  is the color of the Holy Spirit which generates  living  creatures.
When  life takes a wrong expression,  if restrained by a code of  laws,  the
Holy  Spirit thus becomes Jehovah,  the Law-giver.   Yellow is the color  of
Christ,  the Lord of Love,  who by that divine Principle supersedes the  law
and brings us again in direct contact and harmony with the Father.

   Thus you will see that under the ancient regime it was impossible to have
included  the  yellow and made all three primary colors  emblematic  of  the
Temple.   For the time being the Father and Jehovah reigned.   The blue  and
the scarlet,  their colors,  were on the Temple,  and purple,  which is  the
color  resulting from the intermingling of the two primaries  before  named,
was also there,  showing not only their separate existence but their  unity.
In the last place there was the  white  space  emblematic  of  the fact that

[PAGE 2999]

still something remained unmanifested, and that was the third color, yellow.

   From  the  time  of  Christ,   the  true  Western  Mystery  School,   the
Rosicrucians,  have had as their emblem the Red Roses, emblematic of the pu-
rification of the desire nature; the golden star, showing that the Christ is
born  WITHIN THE DISCIPLE and radiates from the five points which  represent
the head and the four limbs.  This is reflected upon the blue background em-
blematic of the Father.  Thus it shows that the manifestation of God,  UNITY
IN TRINITY, has been accomplished.

   I  have  often thought that there was one lack in the literature  of  the
Rosicrucian Fellowship, namely, a devotional book, and thousands of our stu-
dents have probably felt the same.   To supply this lack many have taken  up
books of Eastern origin, which is a very bad practice.  Many lives ago, when
we of the Western world were in Eastern bodies,  at a time when there was no
Western  world,  as we know it today, these things fitted us,  but today  we
have  advanced beyond,  and should rather look to our Christian  saints  for
guidance on the path of Devotion.   My own special book has been THE  IMITA-
TION OF CHRIST by Thomas a'Kempis.  It is a wonderful volume.   There is not
a case in life that cannot find some fitting passage in this book;  and  the
more one reads it the more one loves it.  You probably know the residents on
Mt.  Ecclesia  take turns alphabetically at reading during the  morning  and
evening  services.  Whenever it comes my turn I pick up Thomas a' Kempis and

[PAGE 3000]

read  a  chapter,  starting at the beginning and going through to  the  end.
Then  one can being over again.   There is never a dull moment in the  whole
book, and it would be well for students who feel the desire for something to
accelerate their devotional nature,  to take up this little book as a  read-
ing.   It  can,  I believe be procured from most book sellers all  over  the
world.

                   THE TEMPLE VEIL AND THE PRIEST'S ROBES:

                              QUESTION NO. 82:

   WHY  WERE THE COLORS OF THE VEIL OF THE TEMPLE AND THE PRIEST'S ROBES  AS
SPOKEN OF IN EXODUS, BLUE, PURPLE, AND SCARLET, INSTEAD OF THE THREE PRIMARY
COLORS?

   ANSWER:   The  Tabernacle  in the Wilderness was the  first  church  ever
erected on earth.  When humanity had been driven away from the basins of the
earth  by  the condensation of the waters which had previously hung  like  a
dense  mist over the earth,  the spiritual sight which had  hitherto  guided
them became a hinderance to physical development.  Thus it waned,  and man's
senses became focused in the physical world.   This change involved a sever-
ance from  the Divine Hierarchies who had hitherto guided man on the path of

[PAGE 3001]

evolution.   They became invisible and man missed them.  Then there arose in
his  heart a longing for God which was met by giving him the  Tabernacle  in
the Wilderness and prescribing certain divine laws for his guidance.   JEHO-
VAH was the Law-maker and the particular Genius of the Original Semites  who
were the seed race of the coming Aryan Epoch;  and behind Him stood the Most
High,  the Father.   You will find this in such passages as Deuteronomy  32,
verses  8 and 9,  where it is stated that the Most High divided  the  people
into  nations and gave a certain portion to the Lord,  who guided  them  and
brought them out of EGYPT,  the land where the Bull was worshiped,  into the
Aryan Rainbow Age.  This was inaugurated by using the blood of the Lamb, Ar-
ies  [sign],  at the Passover accomplished by Noah and giving them  laws  by
moses which were all symbolically shown in the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

   The color of the Most High, the Father,  is a spiritual blue.   The color
of Jehovah is red (indicating the sacrificial aspect of blood) and the  mix-
ture of these two colors produces purple.  Therefore,  these tow colors were
shown on the veil of the Temple,  but there was also the color WHITE,  which
showed in symbology that something was still missing.   Under the regime  of
Jehovah  it was necessary to give an eye for an eye,  a tooth for  a  tooth.
That was demanded by the Law dictated by Him, and given to Moses.   This Law
reigned  until  CHRIST, who then brought GRACE and TRUTH, rending the Temple
veil.  Under that ancient law sacrifices of animals were compulsory, for hu-
manity had not yet learned how to make a sacrifice of themselves.   When the
Christ  showed the way to truth had life by making a sacrifice  of  Himself,
the Temple veil was rent,  the old system was abrogated,  and a new way  was
opened for the salvation of "whosoever will."

   In the new dispensation there is therefore no veil on which the color  of
the  Initiator  may be displayed.   A better way has been found  of  marking
those that are Christ's with His golden color INDIVIDUALLY,  and thus it  is
that  those who follow the path of service and self-sacrifice evolve  within
their  own aura the golden Christ color, which is the third of  the  primary
colors.   This is the priestly robe of the new dispensation without which no
one can ever enter the Kingdom,  and no robe obtained at pseudo  initiations
can ever take its place, no matter what price is paid.

Continued with file "RC1084.TXT"

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