Filename: RC1088.TXT
Source: "The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions & Answers, Vol. II"
                by Max Heindel

[PAGE 3169]

                       DETERMINING THE TIME OF EASTER:

                              QUESTION NO. 142:

   I  AM A MASON AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT DETERMINES THE TIME  OF  EASTER
EACH YEAR.   ALSO, WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
AT EASTER AND THE RESURRECTION OF HIRAM ABIFF IN THE MASONIC RITUAL?

   ANSWER:   The Masonic legend says that in the beginning  Jehovah  created
Eve,  and the Lucifer Spirit,  Samael,  united with her and from this  union
Cain was born.  Then Samael left Eve and she became virtually a widow.  Cain
was thus the son of a widow, and from him descended all the draftsman of the
world,  including Hiram Abiff, the grand master workman on Solomon's temple,
who is therefore also called "son of a widow," as are all Freemasons to this
day.   After Samael had left Eve,  Jehovah created Adam,  and he united with
Eve,  with the result that Abel was born.   Thus Cain was  semi-divine,  in-
spired by his own inherent creative genius which is seen in his sons to this
day  in  statecraft  and  all industrial inventions which  go  to  make  the
civilized world,  while Abel was the child of two human beings.   He id  not
know how to create but tended docilely the flock already created for him  by
the author of his being, Jehovah.

[PAGE 3170]

   Jehovah slighted the sacrifice of Cain,  who had made two blades of grass
grow where formally there was one.  He would rather have a docile automation
like Abel who could be depended upon to obey implicitly His commands than an
original thinker like Cain.  So there was enmity between Cain and Abel, with
the result that the latter was slain.  Then SETH was born, and from his have
descended all those who follow blindly the dictates of their creator and are
known as the PRIESTCRAFT and their followers.   Among them was Solomon,  the
king.   To him Jehovah revealed the design for his Temple,  but Solomon  was
unable  to  execute the design and therefore was compelled to  engage  HIRAM
ABIFF, A CUNNING CRAFTSMAN, A SON OF CAIN, AND THEREFORE THE SON OF A WIDOW.

   High  mystic  Mason  recognize the fact that from  the  cosmic  viewpoint
Hiream  Abiff  is symbolized by the Sun.  While the Sun (Hiram)  is  in  the
northern signs,  Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo,  he is among
faithful friends and followers, but when in the course of the year he enters
the southern signs,  Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, he is assaulted by the
three  conspirators as recorded in the Masonic legend and finally  slain  at
the  winter solstice to be again resurrected as he climbs towards the  equa-
tor,  which he crosses at the vernal equinox.   The Masonic  legend  relates
that the Queen of Sheba journeyed from afar to see the wise Solomon of  whom
she had heard so much.   She was also shown the beautiful temple and  wanted
to  see  the  cunning  craftsman, the master builder and his workmen who had

[PAGE 3171]

wrought such a marvel.

   But there had always been enmity between the sons of Cain and the sons of
Seth.   Even when they have co-operated they have never trusted  each  other
fully, and Solomon feared that his beautiful fiance might become enamored of
Hiram Abiff.  Therefore he endeavored to call the workmen himself,  but none
responded.  They "knew the voice of their shepherd," Hiram Abiff (the Sun in
Aries,  the sign of the Lamb).  They were trained to obey his call and would
heed  no their voice.   Therefore,  Solomon was finally forced to  send  for
Hiram Abiff and request that he call his artisans,  and the moment he lifted
his hammer (Aries,  which is the sign of his authority and exalation),  they
came  in a multitude that could not be numbered,  each one eager to  do  his
will.

   In the spring the Sun (Hiram) enters Aries,  the sign of his  exaltation.
This sign is shaped like the hammer which Hiram raised,  and all the workmen
on  the temple (the universe) rush to do his bidding and carry on  his  work
when  he ascends to the throne of his dignity and authority in the  northern
heavens.   He is their shepherd because at the vernal equinox he enters  Ar-
ies,  the sign of the ram or lamb.   Him they hear but these  nature  forces
take command from no other than the Sun in Aries, the Eastern Sun.

   This  is the cosmic interpretation,  but according to the law of  analogy
Hiram,  the  son  of  Cain,  must  also  be  raised  to  a  higher degree of

[PAGE 3172]

initiation.   Only the Sun Spirit about to soar into the heavens  could  ac-
complish  this feat.   Hence HIRAM WAS REBORN AS LAZARUS AND RAISED  BUT  HE
STRONG GRIP OF THE LION'S PAW.  He had been a leader of the craftsmen during
the regime of Jehovah and His creature Solomon.   By this initiation he  was
raised  up  for the purpose of being a leader in the Kingdom of  Christ  and
helping  the same people on into a higher phase of their evolution.   There-
fore,  he became a CHRISTIAN charged to explain the mysteries of the  CROSS,
and  a symbol of this mystery the ROSE was added thereto,  and this  mission
was embodied in his symbolic name, Christian Rosenkruez.

   The rose is called the emblem of mystery in general,  but most people are
not aware that this addition of the rose to the cross was the origin of that
symbolic significance.   The rose is the emblem of the mystery of the  cross
because  it explains the path of chastity,  the transmutation of blood  from
passion  to love.   Lazarus therefore became Christian Rose Cross,  and  THE
ROSICRUCIANS  ARE  THE SPECIAL MESSENGERS OF CHRIST TO THE SONS OF  CAIN  as
Jesus is to the sons of Abel.

   The Pharisees knew a great deal of the occult origin of these two classes
of  humanity,  and therefore the Lazarus miracle was to  them  the  crowning
crime of the Christ.  They became seriously alarmed then that their national
religion  would  be superseded by another if any more such signs  were  per-
formed, for they sensed that it was an initiation  of  a  higher nature than

[PAGE 3173]

they knew of and that it boded an entrance into a higher cycle.   Before the
Christ  all the religions were race religions suited to the people  to  whom
they  were given and suitable only for those people.   All  these  religions
were JEHOVAH RELIGIONS.   As the FATHER was the highest Initiate of the Sat-
urn Period,  so CHRIST, THE SON, was the highest Initiate of the Sun Period,
and JEHOVAH,  the Holy Spirit,  was the highest Initiate of the Moon Period.
From Jehovah came the race religions which endeavor to prepare mankind along
the path of evolution by means of law.   These race religions are to be  su-
perseded  by the universal religion of the Sun Spirit,  Christ,  which  will
unite  all men into one brotherhood.   The change from one to the other  and
the  fact that the religion of the lunar God Jehovah must precede the  reli-
gion of the Sun Spirit,  Christ, is symbolized by the manner in which Easter
is determined.

   The  rule  in present use for determining the time of Easter is  that  IT
FALLS  ON THE FIRST SUNDAY FOLLOWING THE PASCHAL FULL MOON.   This  was  the
original  time adopted by the earliest Christians who had knowledge  of  and
regard  for the occult significance,  but very soon ignorant people  started
schisms  and  fixed  it  at different  times.   This  occasioned  no  little
contraversey.   In the second century a dispute arose on this point  between
the  Eastern and Western Churches.  Easter Christians celebrated  Easter  on
the  14th  day  of  the  first  Jewish  month  or Moon, considering it to be

[PAGE 3174]

equivalent  to the Jewish Passover.   The Western Christians kept it on  the
Sunday AFTER the 14th day, holding that it was the commemoration of the Res-
urrection of Jesus.   The Council of Nice 325 A.D.  decided in favor of  the
Western use,  branding the Eastern practice with the name of heresy.   This,
however,  only settled the point that Easter was to be held not on a certain
day of the month or moon,  but ON A SUNDAY.   The proper astronomical  cycle
for  calculating the occurrence of the Easter Moon was not  yet  determined,
but  they finally deferred to the ancient method of fixing the  festival  by
the Moon, and so the ancient original custom was finally revived.

   Thus Easter is now held upon the same day as required by the occult  tra-
dition  to symbolize properly the cosmic significance of the event,  and  in
this respect both the Sun and the Moon are necessary factors,  since  Easter
is not merely a solar festival.   The Sun must go not only past the equator,
as it does on the 21st of March, but the full Moon after the vernal  equinox
must also be passed.  Then the following Sunday is Easter, the day of Resur-
rection.   The light of the vernal Sun must be reflected by a full Moon  be-
fore that day can dawn on earth,  and there is as said a deep meaning behind
that method of determining Easter, viz.,  that HUMANITY WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY
EVOLVED TO HAVE THE RELIGION OF THE SUN, THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION OF UNIVERSAL
BROTHERHOOD, UNTIL THEY HAD BEEN FULLY PREPARED THROUGH THE RELIGIONS OF THE
MOON  WHICH  SEGREGATED  AND  SEPARATED  HUMANITY  INTO GROUPS, NATIONS, AND

[PAGE 3175]

RACES.   This is symbolized by the annual rise of the Sun Spirit  at  Easter
being deferred until the Jehovistic Moon has thrown back and fully reflected
the light of the Easter Sun.

   All the founders of race religions, Hermes,  Buddha,  Moses,  etc.,  were
initiates in the Jehovistic mysteries.   They were Sons of Seth.   At  their
initiation  they became ensouled by their particular Race Spirit,  and  this
Spirit,  speaking  through the mouth of such an initiate gave  LAWS  to  his
people, as for instance, the Decalogue of Moses, the laws of Manu, the noble
truths of Buddha, etc.  These laws manifested sin because the people did not
and could not keep them at their stage of evolution.  So they made a certain
debt of destiny in consequence.   This destiny the human initiate founder of
the religion had to take upon himself and so had to be born again and  again
to help his people.  Thus Buddha was born as Shankaracharya and had a number
of  other rebirths.   Moses was reborn as Elijah and John the  Baptist,  but
Christ,  on the other hand,  did not need to take birth in the first  place.
He  did it of His own free will to help humanity,  to abrogate the law  that
brings sin, and emancipate humanity from the law of sin and death.

   The Race religions of the lunar God, Jehovah, conveyed the will of God to
mankind in an indirect manner through seers and prophets who were but imper-
fect instruments, as the lunar rays reflect the light of the Sun.

[PAGE 3176]

   The  mission of these religions was to prepare mankind for the  universal
religion of the Sun Spirit,  Christ,  who manifested among us without an in-
termediary as the light which comes direct from the Sun,  and "we behold His
glory  as the ALONE BEGOTTEN of the Father,"  when He taught the  gospel  of
love.   The Christian religion gives no laws,  but preaches love as the ful-
fillment of the law.   Therefore no debts of destiny are generated under it,
and Christ,  who was under no necessity to be born in the first place,  will
not  be drawn to rebirth under the Law of Causation as were the founders  of
the lunar race religions,  who must bear from time to time the sins of their
followers.   When  He appears it will be in a body made of  the  two  higher
ethers:   the light and reflecting ethers, the golden wedding garment called
SOMA  PSUCHICON or soul body by Paul, who is very emphatic in his  assertion
that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  He asserts that we
shall be changed and be like Christ, and if we cannot enter the kingdom in a
fleshy body it would be absurd to suppose that the King of Glory would  wear
such a coarse, cubersome garment.

   The priestcraft from which Jehovah drew His representatives, the prophets
and  founders of religions and spiritual temple builders,  are the  Sons  of
Seth.   The  Sons of Cain still feel in their breasts the divine  nature  of
their ancestor.  They repudiate the indirect method of salvation by faith of
the church and insist upon finding the light of wisdom themselves by  direct
methods of WORK, perfecting themselves in the arts  and  crafts and building

[PAGE 3177]

the temple of material civilization by industry and statecraft according  to
the  plan of God,  the Grand Architect of the Universe,  Christ  being  "the
Chief Corner Stone" and each mystic Mason a "living stone."

   In  time,  however,  these two great streams of the Sons of Seth and  the
sons  of  Cain must unite in order to reach the portals of  the  kingdom  of
Christ.   Before His time there was no way in which such an amalgation could
take place;  but when Christ, the great Sun Spirit, came, Solomon was reborn
as Jesus,  into his lower vehicles the Christ Spirit entered at the Baptism;
and  Hiram Abiff was reborn as Lazarus.  When Lazarus was raised up  by  the
strong grip of the Lion of Judah's paw,  Hiram and Solomon,  the former  an-
tagonists, sank their differences as prompted by Christ Spirit, and both are
working now for the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ.  It was this the
Pharisees  in  some way sensed or surmised and hence their fears  that  this
Jesus would initiate many people and subvert them from the race religion  to
which they (the Pharisees) were wedded.

[PAGE 3178]

                   REASONS FOR THE TRIALS OF THE ASPIRANT:

                              QUESTION NO. 143: 

   SINCE  I HAVE COMMENCED TO STUDY THE ROSICRUCIAN TEACHINGS AND AM  TRYING
TO  LIVE  A BETTER LIFE,  IT SEEMS AS IF TROUBLE PILES UPON ME IN  A  MANNER
WHICH  I  HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE,  AND IT SEEMS AS IF THOSE  WHO  ARE
CLOSEST TO ME BY RELATION ARE THE ONES WHO PARTICULARLY TRY ME.  SOMETIMES I
FEEL AS IF I WERE GROWING,  AT OTHER TIMES IT SEEMS THAT LIFE IS A  FAILURE.
WHAT IS THE REAL STATUS, AND WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THESE TRIALS?

   ANSWER:   When a ship is drifting down a river with the tide, the engines
go  around without seeming effort,  and it makes great  headway.   Likewise,
when an automobile goes down hill the engine is able to carry the load with-
out  effort and good progress is made.   But when a ship must stem the  tide
and force its way against the current, or when an auto must climb a hill, it
means  considerable  expenditure of effort,  and progress is not  so  rapid.
There are obstacles to be overcome.  Every little rock is felt, etc.

   It is likewise with the Spirit.   So long as we drift with the stream  of
life and go with the tide of humanity, everything seems to run smoothly, and
no trouble is encountered.   However,  the moment we leave the current,  and
strive to take the path toward the higher life, we encounter the friction of
the general run of humanity, and of course the very ones  who are closest to

[PAGE 3179]

us  will  naturally be the ones against whom the friction is  the  greatest.
Thus  these seem to be the opposition, and to retard our progress  on  every
possible  occasion.   They seem to strive in every manner  to  obstruct  our
path,  and  we feel it the more keenly because we think that those  who  are
closest, nearest, and dearest to us should be the ones to appreciate our ef-
forts, and to support us therein.  It is not so, however.  We should not ex-
pect that from them.   They are going with the tide.   We are going  against
it, and the friction is as absolutely necessary as the friction of the water
against the ship that is stemming the current up the river.

   When  you have walked but he sea shore you have noticed how  rounded  and
smooth,  yes even polished,  the stones on the beach have become by the con-
stant tituration--by friction against the other stones.   For ages and  ages
all the rough corners have been worn off,  and they have that beautiful sur-
face  that  is so peculiar to stones along the beach.   We may  liken  these
stones to humanity in general.  By the friction against one another for ages
and  ages,  the worst corners will be worn off,  and at last we will  become
rounded out,  smooth, polished, and beautiful as the beach stones are.   But
take a diamond in the rough.   It is not allowed to attain its polish by the
ordinary slow process,  like the beach stone.  The lapidary takes it in hand
and grinds it,  and there is a screeching noise every time the stone is  put
to the wheel.

[PAGE 3180]

   However,  every  time a screech of pain comes from it there  is  a  rough
piece  of the surface worn off,  and a brilliant polished part  appears  in-
stead.   Likewise,  it is with the Ego who aspires to  higher  things.   God
there is the lapidary,  who polishes the stone,  and it is not pleasant when
the  rough  portion  is being taken off of us,  when we  are  being  pressed
against the grindstone of sorrow and calamity.  Nevertheless, from out of it
all  we shall come shining and brilliant as diamonds.   Let not your  heart,
therefore,  be troubled,  for the sorrows and tribulations which  now  beset
your path are but the grinding against the stone by the lapidary.   You  may
be sure that whatever is the present feeling, the outcome will be all right,
for God is LOVE.   Although He applies the severest measures at the  present
time, in the future it will bring you out polished and resplendent.

[PAGE 3181]

                          FINDING THE WOMAN WITHIN:

                              QUESTION NO. 144:

   IN PART FOUR OF TANNHAUSER YOU STATE, "THE MAN MUST FIND THE WOMAN WITHIN
HIMSELF."   ALSO, THAT WE MUST CONFRONT THE DWELLER ON THE THRESHOLD.   WILL
YOU KINDLY MAKE THESE TWO POINTS CLEAR?

   ANSWER:   As a matter of fact the Spirit is neither male nor female,  but
during the present state of manifestation it became necessary to devote  one
half of the creative force to the development of the brain, wherewith we may
CREATE  mental  images  which we then reproduce in concrete  matter  of  the
physical world.   This, therefore, necessitated developing a physical organ-
ism with two sexes--one expressive of ONE QUALITY OF THE SPIRIT,  WILL,  AND
THEREFORE MALE; THE OTHER EXPRESSIVE OF IMAGINATION, WHICH IS FEMALE.

   As  each Spirit is born alternately in a male and a female body,  it  ex-
presses also alternately the twin faculties of the Spirit--will and imagina-
tion.   One  of these qualities predominates in each life,  and  accordingly
makes the manifestation of the masculine or feminine.  But as the Spirit re-
turns day after day,  or life after life,  to the Great School,  it  becomes
more  and more soulful and consequently more capable of expressing  the  two
qualities of the Spirit simultaneously and in an even measure.   Thus by de-
grees the man finds the finer feminine qualities in himself,  and  the woman

[PAGE 3182]

finds  the noblest traits of the man.  When that point has come where  there
is a perfect balance, the mystic marriage takes place.

   You  know it is said that in heaven there is neither marriage nor  giving
in  marriage,  because there the Spirit is untrammeled by the fetter of  the
flesh.   There sex plays no part.  There the dual soul qualities are usable,
and consequently the marriage of one to another is unnecessary.   Each there
creates  the archetype of his or her coming body without the  assistance  of
anyone else,  save the divine Hierarchies, and thus provides for the  future
embodiment.   It is only when we leave the realm of soul, and enter into the
realm  of sex that the cooperation of someone else is needed for the  forma-
tion  of a concrete physical vehicle to fit into the archetype which was  in
the  first  place made by the Spirit itself in heaven.   Now the  sooner  we
learn  to see in ourselves A WHOLE CREATIVE UNIT,  the more we preserve  our
own creative force, and send it upward for spiritual purposes, the sooner we
shall find the man or woman WITHIN OURSELVES.  The mystic marriage will then
have been performed,  and this links the two poles and leaves us with a con-
sciousness which is creative in all realms of nature.

   At  the same time,  let it be understood that while we are here  in  this
physical  world,  and have lessons to learn here,  we must have  instruments
wherein to learn.   We ourselves have by the sacrifice of others attained to
this  privilege.   They have helped to give us a body,  and we should  never
shirk the responsibility of giving someone else the opportunity of obtaining

[PAGE 3183]

a  body through our services,  provided we are in proper health,  and  other
circumstances  are right.   Also we should feel that we can give the  Spirit
which comes to us the proper environment in which to grow.

   About  the  Dweller  on the Threshold:   It was said that  it  is  always
manifested as being of opposite sex,  because all of our temptations and the
evil we do,  everything that is reprehensible, comes from the HIDDEN SIDE in
us,  and  in  each life this hidden side takes shape  as  of  opposite  sex.
Through  the opposite sex we are tempted to commit the sin which drove  man-
kind out of the state of purity called symbolically, the Garden of Eden.  It
dwells upon the threshold of higher realms, and each one who dares seek  en-
trance must first vanquish this demon.

                  THE THEOSOPHICAL TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS:

                              QUESTION NO. 145:

   IT IS CLAIMED BY SOME THEOSOPHISTS THAT THEIR TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS IS
THE  ONLY  GENUINE  ORDER AND THAT THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP  IS  A  BRANCH
THEREOF.   PLEASE  TELL US WHAT IS THE TRUE STATUS OF THAT ORDER,  AND  WHAT
CONNECTION IT HAS WITH THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP.

   ANSWER:   It is an unfortunate fact lamented by all leaders of  societies
that  misinformed members make extravagant statements which have no  founda-
tion  whatever in facts.   It has always been the policy of The  Rosicrucian
Fellowship  to  live in peace with all other religious societies,  to  speak
well of them and their leaders on all occasions, and we would never think of
violating our ideal of FELLOWSHIP by an attack on anyone.

   The  leaders of The Theosophical Society follow similar  principles.   We
have never seen them as aggressors against any other organization.   We know
positively that they are friendly to The Rosicrucian Fellowship,  and  would
not for a moment countenance such an arrogant assertion as that their Temple
of the Rosy Cross is the only genuine order.   They know better.   As to the
statement  that The Rosicrucian Fellowship is only a branch of their  order,
it is sufficient to say that The Rosicrucian Fellowship was started years in

[PAGE 3184]

advance  of the T.S.  Order of the Rosy Cross.   Such misstatements as  men-
tioned come from narrow,  irresponsible people and they are not believed  by
the  great body of Theosophists,  who are broad minded and well informed  on
this  very  subject  by  the study of our own  text  book,  THE  ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION.

   We  have  sold many thousands of copies of this work to  members  of  The
Theosophical  Society.   Large lodges like those of London and Chicago  have
bought  five  hundred copies at a time;  others like Boston  and  Washington
bought  several  hundred copies at a time and repeated their  order  several
times.   At one time the Theosophical Book Concern negotiated for the  whole
edition  then on the press,  but as we needed most of it right away to  fill
large  orders  from jobbers in New York and London the  deal  fell  through.
Thousands  of  copies have been sold direct from our Headquarters  to  indi-
vidual Theosophists,  and letters redolent with praise have been sent in  by
many hundreds of Theosophical Society members.   Lodge leaders have  written
enthusiastically  to Mr.  Heindel of the great value of the book as  a  text
book  in  their classes,  and reviewers in many of their  publications  have
praised  it in the highest terms.   The last review we have seen is  by  Mr.
Wedgwood in the official organ of The Theosophical Society, THE THEOSOPHIST,
February, 1915.  Mr. Wedgwood there reviews another book and for the sake of
comparison mentions a number of writers, among others, "Max Heindel,  author

[PAGE 3185]

of a fascinating and really able book, THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION."

   He comes to the conclusion that,  "Heindel's is probably the most able of
these books.  It sets forth a fairly rational and coherent scheme, and while
certain  of  his points seem to invite doubt,  others call  forth  from  the
intuition a flash of ready recognition which is unmistakable.   Clearly  the
book represents a definite occult tradition.  It touches upon many interest-
ing  points  which  so  far have not been considered  by  Mrs.  Besant,  Mr.
Leadbeater, or Mr. Sinnett."

   THE THEOSOPHIST is, as said, the official organ of The Theosophical Soci-
ety and is edited by Mrs.  Besant.  Thus two of the highest officials of The
Theosophical  Society  and founder of the Theosophical Temple  of  the  Rosy
Cross  have officially endorsed THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION as  a  book
which  "clearly  represents a definite occult tradition."   They  are  great
souls who do not feel the need to bolster up a foolish pride and vanity by a
supercilious sneer at another organization, as some who are not worthy to be
called their followers,  do.  They have, moreover,  minds which can discover
merit  in others and generosity to acknowledge the fact.   This is also  the
case  with the great body of the membership of The Theosophical Society,  or
they would neither have bought THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION nor acknowl-
edged its merits,  and the small minority who make the claim that the  Theo-
sophical Temple of the Rosy Cross is the only genuine  order  and  that  The

[PAGE 3186]

Rosicrucian Fellowship is a branch--Well!  They will learn.

   Regarding the origin of the Theosophical Temple of the Rosy Cross, we are
informed by the Secretary of the American Section of The Theosophical  Soci-
ety,  Mr.  A.  P.  Warrington, in the May issue, 1913,  of THE AMERICAN THE-
OSOPHIST:

   "The founders and supreme heads are Heracles, Helios,  and Lomia,  (names
probably taken for mystic purposes by Mrs.  Besant,  Mrs.  Russak,  and  Mr.
Wedgwood.--Editor).  The following has been issued by the heads:

   "'In The Theosophical Society there are many who find the fittest expres-
sion for their highest emotions in stately and rhythmical ceremonials...very
many  such  Egos  are  groping  about  unsatisfied  in  numerous  fields  of
research...for these Egos the line of ceremonial is the way of least  resis-
tance...Up to the present time,  however,  there has been little opportunity
of The Theosophical Society for the study of ceremonials and the  mysteries.
It  is therefore the desire of the founders of the new order  to  synthesize
the scattered teachings in The Theosophical Society literature as well as in
other available literature...To nourish into new life the smoldering fire on
the altar of spiritual aspiration...'

   "'While  recognizing that there is but one true Occultism they will  seek
to find it in its Western Manifestation in order to enrich, not to supplant,
its Eastern aspects.

[PAGE 3187]

   "'In choosing the name TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS, the founders had in mind
various  ancient  organizations;  one was the famous Order  of  the  Knights
Templars,  which  was  formed  to protect pilgrims  traveling  in  the  Holy
Land...In  like  manner the present Templars of the Rosy Cross  desire  that
they  may prove worthy to gather around the Bodhisatva when he comes  again,
and defend the mysteries with a sword of the spirit.'"

   This  is a straightforward and obviously honest statement  that,  feeling
the need of ceremonial as an incentive to spiritual aspiration,  they  orga-
nized  The Theosophical Society Order of the Rosy Cross in the hope that  it
might make them more fit servants in their Master's vineyard,  and who would
not bid them Godspeed?   They do not claim to have received occult  instruc-
tion to start such a temple from the Brothers of the Rosy Cross.   In  fact,
they  confess  they  do not know if there is such a  temple,  at  least  Mr.
Wedgwood does--and Mrs.  Besant prints it in the same review where he speaks
of THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION.   He wonders what is the source of such
books and asks the question:

   "Are  there schools of Western occultism still existing on  the  physical
plane?   The  repository,  perhaps,  of the alchemy of the Rosy  Cross,  and
wherein  the lesser mysteries still are celebrated?   Or do these  teachings
emanate  from superphysical lodges of teachers out of incarnation who  still
cherish the doctrine of medieval monastic occultism,  blended  as  it  often

[PAGE 3188]

was,  with a stronger tincture of orthodox Christianity?  It would be inter-
esting and well to know."

   Max Heindel states there is such a temple and his contention is supported
by  the fact that he has written THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION which  has
found ready endorsement from many thousands of thinkers in The  Theosophical
Society and out.  Most of them are gifted with intuition, like Mr. Wedgwood,
and  some with spiritual vision.   To doubt his modest claim to be the  mes-
senger  of  The Rosicrucian Order in the face of the fact that he  has  this
book, involves the greater difficulty of believing him its originator, for a
monumental scheme of unfoldment of the world and man,  such as this book re-
veals,  was never hatched in a human brain.   Hence there is but one tenable
conclusion:   that Max Heindel tells the truth when he says he  visited  the
Temple of the Rosy Cross, that he was there initiated into the mysteries and
given the teachings contained in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION,  which he
was enjoined to publish and promulgate.

   It may also be said in support of this claim and as evidence of his  sin-
cerity and unselfishness,  that he did not use this great knowledge for per-
sonal gain by putting as high a price on this book as possible.  He had been
cautioned by the Brothers of the Rosy Cross not to sell the "Pearl of Knowl-
edge"  entrusted to him, and he went to the other extreme and made the price
of the book so low ($1.00), that he lost money on the first two editions.  A

[PAGE 3189]

valuable  seventy-two page index was added in the third edition,  also  much
new matter,  and the price of this handsome six-hundred page book was raised
to one dollar and fifty cents,  netting a small surplus which is all  turned
into  the work.   Mr.  Heindel does not get a penny from any of  his  books.
Surely  he must be sincere in his assertion that he is the messenger of  the
Order of Rosicrucians, and that The Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded to be
the herald of the Aquarian Age, now drawing near.

   Thus, to sum up:

   The  Theosophical  Temple of the Rosy Cross is an Order founded  by  Mrs.
Besant and her coworkers to aid aspirants to the higher life by  ceremonial,
invented by themselves.

   The Rosicrucian Fellowship is the Herald of the Aquarian Age,  promulgat-
ing  the  Western  Wisdom Religion formulated by the Brothers  of  the  Rose
Cross,  and published by their messenger,  Max Heindel,  in THE  ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION.

   We  are sorry to say there can be no connection between  The  Rosicrucian
Fellowship and the Theosophical Temple of the Rosy Cross, or any other Theo-
sophical Society Order.   We have a high opinion of their membership,  and a
sincere regard for many with whom we are personally acquainted,  but we have
espoused  the  Western Wisdom Religion.  We thoroughly  believe  in  Western
methods for Western people, and are therefore forced by the laws of logic to

[PAGE 3190]

take the position that our Theosophical friends,  however sincere,  are mis-
taken in their efforts to promulgate among the people of the West a religion
divinely given to the people of the East.

   We did indeed rejoice when we first heard that a Temple of the Rosy Cross
had  been founded by the leaders of the Theosophical Society,  for  we  took
this  to be an indication that they had seen the true Christ Light,  in  the
West,  and were preparing to emulate the "Wise Men of the East" who traveled
westward  following the Christ Star to Bethlehem.   However,  we were  sadly
disappointed  to note their statement of motive in studying the Western  oc-
cultism, Rosicrucianism, etc., as contemplated, in this new temple:  "in or-
der to enrich, not to supplant, its eastern aspects."

   Thus the aim of The Theosophical Society and their subsidiary Orders  are
diametrically opposed to The Rosicrucian Fellowship, as East is to West, and
however sincere our personal regard for individual members,  we cannot  work
with them as a society.

   It does not follow that we are obligated to attack them, however, or that
we would retaliate when a misguided member of The Theosophical Society makes
statements  which we consider derogatory to the dignity of our  Association.
Let us be careful,  rather,  not to bring up subjects which may provoke such
remarks.  Let us quietly but persistently continue to promulgate the Western
Wisdom Religion and emphasize the fact that it is the WESTERN METHOD FOR THE

[PAGE 3191]

WESTERN PEOPLE.   So shall we further the work of the Elder Brothers  better
than by idle arguments which waste our time and convince no one, for convic-
tion comes from within.

NOTE:   Since the foregoing was written, The Theosophical Temple of the Rose
Cross  has been disbanded,  and the building at their American  Headquarters
turned into a Catholic church where the former Templars are now  worshiping.
Had their "Temple of the Rose Cross"  been originated by the Elder  Brothers
who  are the Hierarchies of the Western Wisdom School it would have  endured
for centuries instead of a year or two.

                       LETTING DEFECTIVE CHILDREN DIE:

                              QUESTION NO. 146:

   FROM THE OCCULT POINT OF VIEW IS IT RIGHT OR WRONG TO LET A DEFECTIVE IN-
FANT DIE, AS WAS DONE IN THE BOLINGER CASE?  PLEASE LET US HAVE YOUR VIEW ON
THE MATTER.

   ANSWER:   When we consider the defectives as a class,  it is first neces-
sary  to realize that the Spirit is not defective.   It has had  innumerable
past lives during which it has sown certain seeds and reaped appropriate ex-
periences therefrom.  Experiences which could not be reaped in one life have

[PAGE 3192]

been held over until the next life or later lives,  and have there  attained
their fruition.   None of us, however, are capable of expressing in one body
all  of  the attainments that we have acquired in our many  previous  lives,
therefore we have many seeming anomalies brought to light in the  investiga-
tion  of  psychical researchers who have found that ignorant people  in  the
peasant class in this life, have been able under the spell of hypnosis or in
trance  to speak Greek and Hebrew, also to discourse learnedly  on  abstruse
subjects.  Thus it is evident that the Spirit may be likened to a diamond in
the rough which is being gradually ground upon the grindstone of experience.
In  each life a new facet permits the light to enter and adds that light  to
the light already obtained through facets ground in many previous lives.  By
this process we shall eventually attain to the perfect light which makes  us
divine.

   Because of our limited perception,  we call certain actions evil and cer-
tain other actions good,  whereas from the larger point of view it is simply
a  question  of  experience.   Some characters or facets  of  the  spiritual
diamond seem to be fairly perfect in this life.   At least they do not  seem
out  of the ordinary to be sufficiently marked,  and therefore we call  them
perfect.   Others are different from the rest and we therefore in our  igno-
rance call them defective.   Similarly with bodies.  Although as a matter of
fact none of us possess a perfect body,  nevertheless, we take an average as

[PAGE 3193]

a  standard and anything that does not come up to that mark we  call  defec-
tive.   We allow those who are not mentally very different from the  general
run of us, to go about unmolested, but imprison those who seem to have a de-
cidedly different turn of mind.   We pay no attention to the ordinary defor-
mities of body,  but designate those which are materially different from our
standard  as defective.   Some think that they have a right to destroy  any-
thing or anybody that is not up to the standard which they think ought to be
normal.

   As a matter of fact,  the normal body is the result of a certain mode  of
life in previous existences which was then standard.   But the so-called de-
fective minds and defective bodies are the results of the efforts of Spirits
to be free to move along what we would call unconventional lines of  thought
or action.  Therefore genius and idiocy have always been twin brothers,  and
any  doctor who attempts to cut short the life of one he may think a  defec-
tive  is just as liable to deprive the world of a great genius as he  is  to
rid it of a poor creature that would be a burden to himself and others  dur-
ing his miserable existence.  Thus, even from that point of view it would be
absolutely  contrary to the interest of society to allow any one  to  decide
arbitrarily  whether a child should live or die.   it is the duty  of  every
doctor to do all in his or her power to prolong life in the body so that the
Spirit may gain the experience it has come  for.  If  that life is to be cut

[PAGE 3194]

off nature will take care to do that herself.

   Investigation of the Bolinger case shows that that Ego had lived its pre-
vious life as a nun,  and was burned at the stake.   The result was that  it
lost  the fruit of that life,  and under the law of infant mortality it  was
therefore necessary for the new body to die soon after birth.   Thus no  op-
eration  could have saved the life in this instance,  but that does  not  do
away with the fact that the doctor was negligent of duty in not  endeavoring
to preserve the life.   It would not do to speak in a public magazine of the
causes in that previous existence which led to the tragedy which  terminated
it and had a bearing upon the present birth as a so-called defective.   Suf-
ficient  to say that the Spirit has now gone into the First Heaven and  will
there receive the moral training which will restore to it the fruits of  ex-
perience garnered during that past unhappy life.   Thus when it is reborn in
the course of a few years it will probably have a perfectly normal body.

[PAGE 3195]

                          THE NATURE OF PSYCHOMETRY:

                              QUESTION NO. 147:

   WILL YOU KINDLY EXPLAIN JUST WHAT IS MEANT BY PSYCHOMETRY?

   ANSWER:  It is well known to all scientists that the history of the earth
during  the  ages may be ready by anyone trained in  the  art.   Prehistoric
animals  and  plants may be reconstructed from their  fossil  remains.   The
cataclysmic effects of great volcanic eruptions may be traced.  The paths of
glaciers  melted many millennia ago are as plain as if they were now  moving
towards  the sea.   The erosion by water of rocks now found in  dry  deserts
tells its tale of changing topographical and climatic conditions as plainly,
or more so, than if the record were written on the pages of a book.

   But  to  those who see with the SPIRIT EYE there is accessible  a  deeper
record which coincides with and completes the chain of facts revealed by ge-
ology.  The marks left on the rocks, by the grinding glacier and the rushing
river,  are as scars of strife on the soldier's body,  from which a keen ob-
server may draw conclusions concerning the conflict,  which caused them  ac-
cording  to  the pitch of his imagination.   These deductions  may  fit  the
facts, but it is more than probable that errors will creep in.  At any rate,
if the soldier can be  persuaded to tell the tale of  how  he  received  the

[PAGE 3196]

scars  we shall certainly secure a more complete and authentic account  than
if we rely entirely on deduction.

   Similarly,  if nature can be made to supply the story of past events,  we
shall  have a true tale of the things that have taken place in past  periods
with their varied flora and fauna.

   That  this  is possible to one possessing the so-called second  sight  is
common knowledge among millions of people.   By assuming a passive attitude,
and taking a piece of lava thrown from a volcano in eruption, they see as on
a film the cataclysm witnessed by that fragment from the fiery furnace.   By
taking a letter and pressing it to their foreheads they may see the  writer,
the room in which he wrote, and other details.  But mark this,  WITHOUT THAT
LETTER  OR  LAVA THE PSYCHOMETRIST CAN SEE NOTHING,  and sometimes  he  sees
things  he would rather not.   nor has he the power to shut out such  sights
and scenes.  Therefore, this faculty is of doubtful value, to say the least.

   Another class has cultivated the faculty of reading the Memory of  Nature
at  will by scientific exercises and an appropriate life calculated to  aug-
ment the etheric aura surrounding each being or object.   They hold the mas-
ter key to nature's mysteries.

   Much  has  been  given out in the Rosicrucian  Teachings  concerning  the
Memory of Nature, and a great deal of our information has been obtained from
that source by the latter  method of POSITIVE INVESTIGATION.  We hardly need

[PAGE 3197]

warn our readers of the danger of attempting to awaken the passive phase  of
this faculty.

                          RESULTS OF BURNING SPICES:

                              QUESTION NO. 148:

   WILL  IT RAISE THE VIBRATIONS OF A ROOM TO BURN SPICES,  AND IF  SO  WHAT
KIND OF SPICES SHOULD BE USED?

   ANSWER:   When disembodied Spirits wish to influence those who are  still
enmeshed in the mortal coil,  it is necessary for them to have a vehicle  of
sufficient  density  to  impinge upon the brain centers,  or  under  certain
circumstances upon the coordinating mechanism of the cerebellum.  Given such
a  vehicle these Spirits can and do impress their victims  physically,  mor-
ally, or mentally, according to their disposition.

   It is a self-evident truth that one does not gather grapes of thorns, and
because  a Spirit has no dense body is not a sign that it is  a  philanthro-
pist.   There are more weeds in the physical world than flowers,  and  there
are  more  evil (because undeveloped) Spirits in the  invisible  world  than
there are good and noble ones.

   When one burns incense in a room, the smoke and the odor which we see and

[PAGE 3198]

sense  is  material of such density that it may be made use  of  by  certain
classes  of Spirits which are attuned to the vibratory rate of that  incense
which  is  being  burned.   When a  reputable  occultist,  who  has  evolved
spiritual  sight  and is able to see the various entities in  the  invisible
world,  has compounded an incense which he finds offers a vehicle  only  for
Spirits of a helpful nature who incline to raise the vibrations of those who
breathe  the incense and the Spirits with it,  then it may be an aid  during
periods of prayer to raise the consciousness of the devotees to a union with
the Divine.

   On the other hand,  if the incense has been compounded by some one  igno-
rant of occultism, perhaps by one who has a selfish motive in view,  then it
is  a vehicle for Spirits of a similar nature who clothe themselves  in  the
smoke and odor,  enter the bodies of those who are present where the incense
is  being burned and incite them to acts of debauchery and sensualism.   The
Chinese punk sticks are a good example of this variety.  It is also possible
that  when  this practice has been indulged in for some time  the  obsessing
Spirits may obtain such control over their victims that they incite them  to
frenzy,  causing them to exhibit the symptoms of epilepsy,  frothing at  the
mouth,  etc.,  or they may interfere with the bodily movements in  a  manner
similar to that exhibited in the so-called St. Vitus dance.  Therefore,  the
practice of burning incense is very dangerous,  and ought to be  strenuously
discouraged.

[PAGE 3199]

                          RESPONSIBILITY OF RULERS:

                              QUESTION NO. 149:

   IN A RECENT LESSON WE WERE TOLD THAT THE RACE SPIRIT INFLUENCED DIFFERENT
PERSONS TO TAKE A PART IN GREAT WORLD MOVEMENTS.  IF THE PART WAS UNJUST, IS
THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR IT?  WOULD HE SUFFER FOR IT?

   ANSWER:   The statement was made in the Students'  Lesson for  September,
"Our  Invisible Government,"  that the divine hierarchs who guide  evolution
from the invisible worlds always find an Ego who is strong,  either for good
or evil, and use that one when progress demands the fall of an old nation or
the raising of a new.  However, it would be impossible to induce a Spirit of
a  brutal and tyrannical nature to play a self-sacrificing and  noble  part.
He  cannot  change  his character overnight any more than  the  leopard  can
change his spots,  and vice versa,  a Spirit of a noble nature will not con-
sent to play the part of a tyrant or autocrat.

   Each one will act in harmony with his basic nature, and therefore the di-
vine  hierarchs always choose some one who is of a character fitted  to  the
part they want him to play in the coming crises, and place him in such a po-
sition that he has the power to carry out his designs,  whether for good  or
ill.  On that account he  becomes  at  least partly responsible for his acts

[PAGE 3200]

and the consequences thereof.  If he does well, and by his acts of nobility,
justice, and altruism aid a nation to rise, guiding it through the rocks and
shoals of its infancy,  as did George Washington,  for instance,  then great
honor  and glory will naturally be his in some future life where he will  be
given dominion over others whom he may help.  On the other hand, if he plays
the part of a Nero in breaking up a great empire, doing as it is said of one
of the kings of israel,  "evil with both hands greedily,"  naturally  sorrow
and suffering will result.   He probably cannot be made to feel all the pain
which he inflicted any more than a George Washington can receive all the joy
which has come to the millions who have benefited through his wisdom and al-
truism,  but each will certainly receive as much as it is possible  to  give
him,  or at any rate as much as is required to make one a good man  and  the
other a better.

                      THE PURPOSE OF PHYSICAL EXISTENCE:

                              QUESTION NO. 150:

   I  SEE  QUITE  CLEARLY HOW WE CAN LEARN  GREAT  LESSONS  CONCERNING  THIS
PHYSICAL EXPRESSION OF LIFE, BUT DO NOT SEE WHY THE PHYSICAL WORLD IS NECES-
SARY TO TEACH US ETHICS OR MORALS.   IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO LEARN ETHICS AND
MORALS IN THE HIGHER WORLDS,  JUST WHY IS A PHYSICAL WORLD,  OR WHAT WE CALL

[PAGE 3201]

THE PHYSICAL EXPRESSION, NECESSARY?

   ANSWER:   Yes,  and no.   All other worlds are not by any means physical,
even  to those who inhabit them.   It is perfectly true that one  feels  the
handclasp of a friend in the invisible worlds just as we do here,  but  that
is because we think resistance into the hand of the other party and our own.
We do this quite unconsciously,  of course, but the effect is the same.   It
lends  a  resistance to our hands,  and our hand stops where  it  meets  the
other's,  just  as it would be stopped by the solid flesh and bone  here  in
this world.  However, did we not, when we clap our friend on the back in the
first  joy of greeting,  think this resistance,  our hand would go  straight
through  his body,  and we can at any time we wish interpolate our own  body
into  his or any one else's without inconvenience to ourselves or  to  them.
Here in the physical world such a thing is of course impossible.   Here  ev-
erything  is rigid and solid,  comparatively speaking,  but it is this  very
quality  that imparts value to the physical world as a school in  right  and
accurate  thinking,  for that is what it is,  as has been explained  in  THE
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION.

   The  illustration  was there given of how an inventor may  mould  in  his
mind,  from mind stuff, an engine or a machine which he has designed to do a
certain work.   The machine which he thus visualized has wheels that revolve
perfectly and the whole thing works smoothly, but when he  comes  to put his

[PAGE 3202]

ideas down on paper so that workmen may execute his design,  it is  probable
he  will find alternations are necessary in this plan,  and later  when  the
wheels have physical form in iron and steel, it is quite likely that some of
them will rub against each other and cannot be put into the places where  he
has  designed  in his mind stuff because those places are  already  occupied
with other wheels.  Then it is necessary for him to remodel his idea in such
a manner as his physical machine shows him to be necessary,  until he has it
running perfectly.   Thus his thought and idea is corrected by the  mistakes
as shown in the physical world.

   Had there been no physical world he would have had no means of correcting
his inaccurate conception of what that machine should be, and it is very im-
portant that he should learn to think accurately and correctly.   By and  by
when we are sufficiently evolved we shall not stand laboriously and  fashion
things  with our hands,  but we shall conceive the idea of what we  want  to
create in our minds and then we shall speak the word that will bring it into
being.   Nor  will these creations be mere machines.   They will  be  living
things.   Therefore,  if we do not learn to think correctly, we shall create
monstrosities that will have to be destroyed because of the evil nature they
would develop in whatever Spirit inhabits them.

   That brings us to your question about ethics and morals.  it is said that
"handsome is that handsome does,"  and also that "beauty is only skin deep."
At  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the face is an expression

[PAGE 3203]

of the soul.   We all speak about someone as having a good face,  and others
as having an evil expression, showing the power of thought to mold the flesh
in accordance with the morals and ethics of the person.   Therefore,  we are
learning morals and ethics here,  and must learn them in order to understand
how  to use them to mold the form and features of the things that  we  shall
create.   In order to become thoroughly efficient tools, however, our morals
and ethics must be intensified a thousand fold, just as we have already seen
is the case with thought.  Thought is all-powerful in its own subtle realms,
but  is  hampered  when working in the resistant material  of  the  physical
world.   Similarly morals and ethics are also handicapped.   They are,  how-
ever, being developed by exercise as the muscle grows, and there could be no
exercise  if they were not used in a world where there is resistance.   That
is a slow process but it makes for efficiency.

   If you remember the law of infant mortality, you will also recollect that
the little children,  who die because an accident or other unfortunate  cir-
cumstance  prevented them from living their purgatory,  are  taken  straight
into the First Heaven and there taught by compassionate ones the moral  les-
sons that they should have learned in their previous purgatory.  Let us sup-
pose  that one of the lessons an Ego had to learn was sympathy,  because  it
had  been  cruel  and  hard  in  its previous life.  Perhaps it had tortured
animals  physically or human beings mentally and found great pleasure in  so
doing.   Such a little child would then be taken to purgatory at a time when
an  Ego of similar propensities was living its purgatory and expiating  acts
of cruelty.   The child's body would then probably be interpolated into  the
desire  body  of  the  other one and it would feel  what  he  or  she  would
feel--the  suffering  of the tortured animals on account of  their  physical
pain  and the sufferings of his human victims in mental anguish.   Thus  the
child would pick up very quickly the lessons that had to be learned,  and be
made  ready for rebirth in a short time.   Thus both the invisible  and  the
visible worlds play their part in teaching us ethics and morals,  and  there
is no doubt that both are indispensable,  or the wise beings who guide us on
the path of evolution would find other means of more efficiency to teach  us
the needed lessons.

Continued with file "RC1089.TXT"

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