“A Sane Mind, A Soft Heart, A Sound Body” May/June 2001—$5.00

MEDITATION: CULTIVATING THE INWARD LIFETHE MYSTIC AND THE OCCULT IN MAX HEINDEL’S WRITINGS—PART 2

THE MYSTERIOUS APOCRYPHAJOHFRA AND THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC—TAURUS AND GEMINI

A CHRISTIAN ESOTERIC MAGAZINE

Front Cover: Flower garden, Corel. Back Cover: Oil on canvas, The Cloister of the World, Arthur Hacker (1858-1919), Planet Art. Above: PhotoDisc

The tree of human virtues rises from the roots of self-mastery

This Issue...Feature

Golden Verses of Pythagoras.................................................................................2

EditorialWisdom Beyond Words.........................................................................................3

Mystic LightMeditation: Cultivating the Inward Life...Friedrich Rittelmeyer..........................4The Mystic and the Occult in Max Heindel’s Writings—Part 2...C.W. .............10What’s in the Next Room...Ben Finger...............................................................17The Mysterious Apocrypha...Ann Barkhurst......................................................20Illusion...D. D. Arroyo.........................................................................................25Cosmic Theology...George Weaver.....................................................................28

AstrologyJohfra and the Signs of the Zodiac—Taurus and Gemini...................................31Gemini and the Children of Alteration...J. Crane...............................................37Were You Born Under a Lucky Star?...Max Heindel..........................................40

From Max Heindel’ s WritingsSpiritual Teachers—True and False....................................................................43

Readers’ QuestionsHow Planetary Forces Affect Mankind; Alchemy and the Garden of Eden.......44A Good Retreat; Rosicrucian vs Orthodox Teachings........................................45

Western W isdom Bible StudyThe Mystery of the Summer Solstice...Corinne Heline......................................46

News PerspectivesNew Reasons for Being Born..............................................................................47

Book ReviewsThe Veiled Pulse of Time...C.W..........................................................................49Tesla, Master of Lightning...C.W. .......................................................................52

Nutrition and HealthHistory and Health Concerns of Soybeans...Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, Ph.D...54

HealingThe Healing Silence............................................................................................58

For ChildrenThe Girl That Lost Things...George MacDonald................................................59

MiscellaneousThe Living Chalice (poem)...Susan Mitchell......................................................24God’s Autograph (poem)...William L. Stidger....................................................27Apart from Me...Paul Foster Case.......................................................................39

“A Sane Mind,A Soft Heart,

A Sound Body”© 2001 The Rosicrucian Fellowship

A Christian Esoteric Magazine

Established byMax Heindel

June 1913

Volume 93, No. 3

May/June—2001USPS 471080—ISSN 0744-432X

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2 RAYS 01

Golden Verses of Pythagoras

FEATURE

FIRST honor the immortal Gods, as the law demands.AMONG others make the most virtuous thy friend! Love to make use of his

soft speeches, and learn from his deeds that are useful.ALIENATE not the beloved comrade for trifling offenses.BEAR all you can, what you can, for power is bound to necessity. TAKE this well to heart: you must gain control of your habits:

First over stomach, then sleep, and then luxury, and anger. WHAT brings you shame, do not unto others, nor by yourself. LET justice be practiced in words as in deeds; then make the habit

never inconsiderately to act. WHATEVER sorrow the fate of the Gods may here send us bear,

whatever may strike you, with patience unmurmuring. THE speech of the people is various, now good, and now evil;

so let them not frighten you, nor keep you from your purpose.IF false calumnies come to your ears, support it in patience. LLET no one with speech or with deeds ever deceive you to do or to say

what is not the best.THINK, before you act, that nothing stupid results; to act inconsiderately is part of a fool.DO nothing beyond what you know, yet learn what you may need: thus shall your life grow happy.DO not neglect the health of the body; keep measure in eating and drinking, and every exercise of the body.

By measure, I mean what later will not induce pain. Follow clean habits of life, but not the luxurious.NNEVER let slumber approach thy wearied eyelids before thrice you review what this day you did: “Wherein

have I sinned? What did I? What duty is neglected?” All, from the first to the last, review; and if you haveerred, grieve in your spirit, rejoicing for all that was good. With zeal and with industry, this, then, repeat; and learn to repeat it with joy. Thus wilt thou tread on the paths of heavenly virtue.

NEVER start on your task until you have implored the blessing of the Gods. If this you hold fast, soon will you recognize of Gods and mortal men the true nature of existence, how everything passes and returns.Then will you see what is true, how Nature in all is most equal.

MEN shall you find whose sorrows they themselves have created; few know how to help themselves inmisfortune. That is the fate that blinds humanity; in circles, hither and yon they run in endless sorrows.

YET, do not fear, for the mortals are divine by race, to whom holy Nature everything will reveal anddemonstrate; whereof if you have received, so keep what I teach you.

HEALING your soul, you shall remain insured from manifold evil.CONSIDER all things well: Let reason, the gift divine, be thy highest guide; then should you be separated

from the body, and soar in the aether, you will be imperishable, a divinity, a mortal no more.

The father of Western Philosophy and Initiation, Pythagoras passed on his teachings orally; they are known to us only through hisdisciples. The moral law taught in his Academy included a five-year probation of silence and meditation, temperance, continence,vegetarianism, and secrecy regarding the teachings, of which The Golden Verses are the most important surviving fragments.

Pythagoras

Illustration, The H

istory of Philosophy, by T

homas S

tanley (1655-1662)

IT IS ALWAYS SOMETHING of a wonderto encounter persons whose wisdom is near-ly palpable. This wisdom is not conditionedon what they say. It is given by their verypresence, as the sun gives light. They may

even, out of genuine humility, admit lack ofknowledge or uncertainty on an issue, yet some-thing bedrock right and firm speaks out of theluminous certitude of their bearing, irrespective ofany any words they might utter. The words of awise person are epiphenomenal. They are likesparks emitted from an inextinguishable fire: theirabsence does not reduce its impact or the strongsense of its presence.

The desire for knowledge brings most people tothe Rosicrucian school. At its root this desire toknow can be framed in the question, “Who am I?”This question has always been asked by seekers ofeternal truth, but the answer, remarkably, haschanged over the course of human earth evolution.

Since the Mystery of Golgotha, the question“Who am I?” can be described as a summons bythe Holy Spirit of each Ego to experience its trueidentity in Christ.

The Christ took on human form and subsequent-ly entered the Earth’s aura to counteract the effectof a gathering invidious materialism, even moreapparent in today’s secular world, as spirits ofdarkness muster to offset the spiritual lightand leaven that the Christ impulse imparts.

One effect of this tyranny of the material per-spective is that it simply does not occur to manypeople, like the callow Parsifal, to ask questionsabout the holy things of life (Whom does the Grail

serve?). Rather, they have opinions, self-styledideas about life, which are really cultural importsthoughtlessly appropriated and claimed as self-originated. The minds of these people are not open.Fear stands guard at the portal of consciousness,refusing to admit the One Who quietly knocks.

Real learning, as Max Heindel never tires ofreiterating, occurs when we bring our soul to bearon what we submit to its contemplative judgment.We learn by adopting an interrogative moodtoward the universe: What? Who? Even as, in ourhearts, we already know the answer: Thou. And,most holy: I. We are on full alert, our inner eyesand ears are wide open. And we wait. We cultivatethe spirit of poised, confident expectation, whichsummons to us what the universe wishes to bringto living understanding through our heart’sintelligence.

The earnest seeker of living truth, he who wouldbe wise, asks that God speak in him. “Speak, Lord,for your servant heareth.” He prays that the Wordbe revealed in his soul because, as Peter said ofChrist, “Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

The Word of Christ forms in us as we attune ourminds to heavenly things; that is, to the noumenalbehind and undergirding what is earthly-physical.Opinions are based on hearsay, on impressions andassumptions, on outer authorities. Opinions shutthe door on knowledge of the Spirit. They are thecurrency of the personality and its worldly transac-tions. Their market value is in constant flux.

If we would be wise, we must seek the kingdomof Spirit. It will be shown and known when we livewith the mind of Christ. ❐

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Wisdom Beyond Words

EDITORIAL

WHEN WE WERE students, thenow nearly forgotten philoso-pher Class gave us a simple keyto the study of works of art,which may be of service to oth-

ers. We should let each work of art act upon us fora time as a whole, and then look at all its details,and lastly, take it into ourselves as a whole oncemore, full of all the impressions it has made upon us.

This advice is not unsuited to meditation. Inmeditation one withdraws oneself into some say-ing or picture. One lets it be there and act upon oneas strongly as possible. When one shuts one’s eyes,one can almost fill the whole space in which one isliving quite full with the content of the meditation,so that nothing else is present in it. Then we beginto notice how meditation works right into the deli-cate substratum of our bodily organization, how itforms our hidden life forces in its own image.Every meditation actually forms within us new lifeforces. Just as...every medicine, as it were, fills aman; that, for example, if a man regularly takemercury, one can perceive spiritually in him a del-icate man of mercury, which grows stronger andstronger, just so is it with the spiritual medicine—meditation. And here also, in every powerfullyaccomplished meditation, the action becomesstronger, and several meditations can act veryfavorably in supplementing one another. If themeditation be strongly carried out, it may evencause bodily pains, because the new thing, which

wishes to enter into us, comes up against the old.But these pains are not like other pains. They arerather healing pains than pains of sickness, andleave behind them when they cease—and this is inour own hands—a feeling that one has becomewell again.

Yet one need not pay attention to the pains, butonly to the picture, the saying, the spirit. If the firststage of its consideration has been made as power-ful as one can make it, one may then let the detailsof the picture, or of the saying, act upon one. Insuch a saying one feels oneself to be in a temple, atwhich one looks in all its details without ever leav-ing it. Thus, in the meditation upon the Cross, onecan first consider the one direction and then theother; first the Cross itself and then Christ upon theCross. One’s efforts are directed always towardsletting everything act as strongly and as long as

4 RAYS 01

Meditation: Cultivatingthe Inward Life

MYSTIC LIGHT

This is the eleventh in a series of articles taken from FriedrichRittelmeyer’s Meditation, Guidance of the Inner Life, pub-lished by Floris Books, Edinburgh. Reprinted with permission.

Fresco, c.1440, Fra Angelico and workshop (including Benozzo Gozolli), San Marco, Florence

St. Dominic, eyes closed to better see, meditates on the cruci-fixion, attended by St. John, Magdalen, and the virgin mother.

possible. One may repeat one’s study of the suc-cessive details several times, if one is not yet ableto remain as long as one would like over oneimpression. Then, in the third stage of the medita-tion, one will have the entire meditation morestrongly, more clearly and more richly alive inone’s soul.

Such advice does not give essential conditionsof meditation. It is only the reporting of experi-ence, in order to help or arouse. In every case,however, it is good at the end of a meditation tobring its results clearly to one’s consciousness, andto let them re-echo within one in all completeness.

Now there are many people who do not at firstsucceed in staying within a picture, as it were, orwithin a saying and living in it. For those it is espe-cially good if they repeatedly go through the sim-plest of exercises in concentration.... One choosessome trifling object—a pencil, a pin, a ring. Andthen for five or ten minutes one forms only suchthoughts as refer to this object. One may think suc-cessively of the shape of the pencil, of its colour,of its making, of its use. One always brings thethought, however simple it is, to the greatest pos-sible clearness and strength, holds it for a momentin full consciousness, and then passes over freelyto the next thought. It is not at all necessary that thethoughts should be weighty. On the contrary, themore trifling the object, the more everyday thethoughts, the more must a man call up freely fromhis own will the power to shape them and to holdthem fast. And that is better for spiritual trainingthan if a man, through the interest which flows intohim from the object, should be driven on of him-self. “This pencil is eight inches long, three-eighths of an inch in diameter—it is octagonal inshape (it might also be round; in that case it wouldhave such an appearance)—it consists of twopieces of wood stuck together—between them isgraphite—it is brown (it might be blue)—it wasmade, etc.” One may go through these thoughtssuccessively and also in the reverse order.

An exceptionally beneficial feeling spreads itselfover the whole brain when one performs such ameditation strongly. One feels as if, for the firsttime, one were beginning to be master in one’s ownhouse. The kingliness of free thinking begins to be

experienced. One begins to control oneself muchmore, to notice much more in other forms of spiri-tual activity where it is that one goes spirituallyastray, to feel much healthier in one’s attitude to life.I have known people who, after such an exercise,dreamt next night that they could ride beautifully.And indeed, to dream of horses not infrequentlypoints to experiences in the sphere of thought, as forexample, when we dream of galloping horsesbecause our nerves are upset. Just as quite simplefinger exercises enable the artist to control quite dif-ferently the instrument upon which he afterwardsplays a sonata, so it is with such a short mental exer-cise. In my own case, although I rightly believedthat I could work concentratedly, this simple exer-cise has enabled me to shorten by half my prepara-tion for a lecture, not only because one becomesmuch clearer and more alert, but above all becauseone notices much more clearly the moments whenone’s mind is not upon one’s work.

When the child rears itself upright, it learns firstto walk freely and afterwards to stand freely. Andso it is organically correct that one should firstlearn to move on in thought before one can standstill in thought. And this simple exercise in con-centration can be of great value to everyone, up tothe greatest thinkers. Many a university professor,who looks down smilingly upon such an exercisewith a pencil as mere childishness, would cease tolaugh after four weeks and would notice that thefive minutes spent daily upon it would save himvery much time and labor. In all activity this exer-cise is helpful, and for the nerves it is very espe-cially healthy.

In this exercise itself, which we here allude to aspreparatory to our meditations, there lies excep-tional power to make one stand upright. It is not bychance that we mention it now, when we wish tospeak of Christ’s resurrection. One may know howto say the very noblest things about Christ’s resur-rection and may yet be able to see clearly the con-nection between the resurrection and such an exer-cise which is performed in the spirit, out of the freeego. Just that one should see these two together isa sign that one’s attitude to life is quite natural.

Today, certainly, there are not a few among thosewho feel themselves responsible for the life of

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mankind, and who wish to work for inward train-ing among wide circles, who would advise direct-ly against such a method of caring for the inner lifeas is here advised. The arguments which arebrought against it are so characteristic and sonumerous that we shall touch upon them.

Some think, for example, that one should not cre-ate for oneself quiet hours out of one’s work time,but should note where in the work itself momentsfor self-recollection come. And one should thenconsider, not any particular saying from any partic-ular book, but the thoughtswhich the work itselfbrings. All this may certainly bring blessing, andfor a thinker or author it might be sufficient. But aworkman or housekeeper would not find it enough.The result of this advice would be that one wouldneglect regular morning prayer and wait to see ifsome time during the day an impulse to prayercame. Similarly, JohannesMuller has said thatprayer is quite real only when it is the naturalanswer to a divine revelation given to us. The fur-ther result of this would be that one no longer hadany special place or time for divine worship, sinceone might have divine worship at any time in anyplace, and everything ought to grow out of life“quite naturally.”

In truth there shows itself here the same over-valuing of the outward life as against the inwardlife, and the same overvaluing of impulses whichcome from without, as against the will whichworks from within, which we regard as a danger;yes, as exactly the danger of our time, which,because mankind will be ruined by it, we areengaged in combating by our studies in meditation.If we admit as valid only the thoughts which cometo us of themselves in our work, in our lives, thesethoughts will, in the case of most people, be verypoverty stricken. It would be a very great loss anda strange folly if we should neglect all that human-ity has acquired in the course of its great spiritualhistory. But we can, of our own free will, placethese great achievements in human history in thecentre of our mind and receive them into ourselvesmore thoroughly than is possible by cursory read-ing, or hearing, or thinking. It would be entirelyone-sided if we too allowed ourselves to be led bylife only from without and gave no heed to that

which can lead us from within. But to the inwardpossibilities belongs that of being able to recog-nize spiritual laws under which we can place our-selves, as, for example, the law of the morninghour, of rhythm, of repetition, that we can experi-ence the power of special hours of consecration,that we should have a will through which we areable to turnof our own accord, freely, to the higherworld. Prayeralso, even when it is primarily theanswer to a revelation, can then, as a free act, with-out hindrance from without, rise out of that whichis within.

Certainly all this may happen unnaturally, maybe labored and forced. And from the fact of thesedangers, such warnings acquire a certain power toroot themselves firmly in men’s souls. Yet at theirroot lies a defective experience of the hidden spir-itual laws, and a defective consciousness of thenecessity of working today, more than formerly,

6 RAYS 01

Illumination, medieval manuscript, New York Public Library

ResurrectionThe resurrection of Christ “must be experienced not as a joyin one’s soul but as a cosmic act.”

from within outward, and, above all, of placing thewill in the service of the spirit. So the enemies ofprogress are extreme individualism, as Protestantreligiousness has trained it, passivity in the, reli-gious life, as it has been handed down to us fromthe past, and materialism, which does not opposestrongly enough inward to the outward life.

But progress consists in the perception that thespiritual life has its own special laws and possibil-ities, upon which one does not stumble of oneselfin everyday life, that only a very assiduous nurtureof one’s inward powers will save us from ruin andthat at the present time free will must above all beawakened and made the vehicle of the Divine. Thehigher man ascends, the more the outward guid-ance by life is replaced by the inward guidance, thehigher ego, which derives its aims and its lawsfrom the spirit.

This is above all true of the resurrection, whichwe must today make our own in a new sense. Tomen in earlier times was brought simply the mes-sage of Christ’s resurrection. That worked imme-diately upon their life of feeling and of will. Now,on the one hand, the certainty of the Biblicalproclamation has been shattered. Men bring theirdoubts against the Biblical account and its histori-cal accuracy. On the other hand, the connectionbetween conception, feeling and will is no longerso living and immediate in men. Many more hin-drances are to be overcome. We must work at thehighest which is in us more consciously and withstronger will-power than did men of past ages.

He who wishes to experience the resurrection ina living way within may start from feeling theearth to be a great grave. It is. The very earth uponwhich we walk is a graveyard. Everywherebeneath us are corpses of living things which havedied. The earth is pervaded by decaying plant life.The sand itself is rock crumbled and broken down.And if it should be, as...spiritual science says, thatthe world of stars at which we gaze is seen by usas physical only because we are physical men, butthat they are in reality much more spiritual and donot consist of perishable matter, then one mightalmost say: In the cosmos, the earth is the greatgrave. That which lives on earth must die. One willhave the right feeling about the earth if one brings

this into one’s full consciousness. Every individualthing which we see bears within it the sign ofdeath. It is often startling when, after some years,one sees an acquaintance again and perceivesclearly how death has put its mark upon his face.Death can be seen everywhere, only our eyes arestill but little open to it.

One may make it an inner exercise to representto oneself those people whom one sees now in theprime of life, and to say to oneself: In 100 years,there will remain of you, as I now see you beforeme, only a few bones in a coffin. It is said thatonce, in Nuremberg, a preaching monk, John aCapistrano, said from the pulpit, “Would you liketo know how you will look in 100 years?” And, asall eyes were raised to the pulpit, he brought out askull from under the desk, held it up and said,“Thus!” Of all the sermons of all the preacherswho had preached in the Church of the Holy Ghostat Nuremberg throughout the centuries, only thisone was actually remembered when I was pastorthere. We are doing nothing extraordinary, nothingascetic, but we are seeing the truth, when we bringour capacity to see death, which is ruler of thisworld, much more strongly to life within us, thanit is present to our superficial and fundamentallycowardly age.

Everything around us is dying—the people,trees, mountains, civilizations, this planet itself.Buddha was more logical than the people of thepresent day when he wished to have this truth everbefore his eyes. Buddha may for ever help human-ity to see the great grave—in which the resurrec-tion must follow! If Christ were not, then Buddhawould have the ultimate truth.

If we have succeeded in gaining this sight withperfect clearness—the earth is the great grave—then we must look up to Christ. It is possible tolook simply at the Risen One. Then one looks intoa world of light which is of quite another kind thanthe world which is passing away, which otherwisewe have around us. Every touch of this worldbrings awakening and life triumphant over death.Doubt is quite impossible if Christ is really there.He is the resurrection and the life.

As long as we are not permitted this look, wemust give heed to the life which we feel to be in

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Christ, to the life which through Him is awakenedin us. We must not be too soon disappointed, butmust observe and wait, until we, in the words ofthe Apostle Paul, “know Him and the power of Hisresurrection.” We must truly experience how dif-ferent He is from this passing world here; how inHim the eternal, which is above time, is revealed.It is merely a matter of the power of our spirit thatwe should see the victory over death which is inHim. I wish we could name some picture of theresurrection in which the Risen One is convincing-ly revealed. I know of none, not even Grunewald.So we may let the saying, “I am the Resurrectionand the Life,” pass through our souls, and may feelespecially the power of the light in this ego sovividly, that in it we pass beyond death. The resur-rection of Christ must be experienced today in itsown peculiar essence if we are to be able to believein that resurrection in the past; it must be experi-enced not as a joy in one’s soul but as a cosmic act.Let him who does not yet feel Christ look upon hisown higher ego, as far as he feels it, or upon thegood. Even he who is at first sure of nothing butthe wish, “I will serve the good even if I myself amlost,” even he feels a beginning of the resurrection.

Now that we have thought of the great world, letus think of ourselves also. Our body is a grave.Some day we shall throw it aside like a husk thathas become useless. Then we give up not the spiritbut the body. Many men have felt that one oughtnever to conceal this truth by living happily inone’s body, that one ought to bring it clearly intoone’s consciousness, that without this conscious-ness one can by no means be a man or live as aman in the true sense. And so, like some monks ofthe Middle Ages, they have slept in their coffins inorder to remind themselves daily of death. Or, likethe Protestant, August Hermann Francke, theyhave represented to themselves every evening asthey went to sleep that this might have been theirlast day, and every morning as they awoke thatthey had received one single day more to be spentin honoring God. August Hermann Francke con-fessed that he owed his life to this custom. That alsowas a meditation that showed its power in this way.

We may feel the traces of decay in our body.Perhaps we already know the spot where death has

lodged itself and out of which it can one day fallupon us, and destroy us. We consider all this withgreat calm. As calmly as, at the end of hisMonologues,Schleiermacher addresses the whitehair which begins to appear upon his head and asFichte in his Mood of a Scholarspeaks of theextinction of the last speck of sun-dust in his body.

These are not pessimistic reflections, or senti-mental self-complacencies, or ascetic torturings ofthe soul, but natural preparations for experiencingthe resurrection powerfully. One may, before goingto sleep, or after awaking, propose this question asan exercise for the soul “What would remain of theeif thou hadst no longer a body?” Then, of course, thebody must be quite at rest, so that it no longer is apart of one’s experience. Then the outer world mustbe completely silent, so that it does not lay hold ofor disturb our consciousness. Then all thoughts andfeelings which thrust themselves up out of our bod-ily life into our spirit must be left behind. Some willfind it hard then, especially, still to lay hold of andhold fast to anything. They may then form for them-

8 RAYS 01

Kingdoms Within the CrucifixionThrough his shed blood Christ brought new life to the Earth.

© A

nthony Cardali M

endeo

selves the idea that it is not so easy to awake in aspiritual world after death and that difficulties mustthen be overcome, and the more materially one haslived, the more there will be of them—even if, afterthe falling away of the body, helps are there for us.If a man, who seeks to conceive of himself apartfrom his body, at first is able to hold fast to nothing,or only to something quite thin and flickering, lethim then think of Christ. He will then be able toexperience quite strongly how he is filled fromwithin with the riches of glowing life, how this lifehas especially the character of being spirituallysteadfast, enduring, sustaining. And so he will expe-rience quite intimately and personally something ofan awakening through Christ.

It is powerfully and entirely convincing to knowfrom one’s own experience how Christ breathesinto the dry bones, how through Him a new life islent to men.

And now one will confess: this is also the trueholiness in my everyday life, that I should in allthings confess Christ, who fans the flame of ahigher life within me. That which I have experi-enced on a more human level, in the crowning withthorns, I here experience in cosmic super-humangreatness. In John’s Gospel it is often said of the“word” of Christ that it awakes man, gives himeternal life (chapter 6). We now experience this asif Christ Himself were the Creative Word spokenby God, through which we are again created out ofdeath. Yes, one may experience this as if we our-selves were quite dead, and out of deep invisiblegrounds of the world, in which the Divine Fatherlives, Christ’s word of life is spoken; and as if weawake in Him to life, to new life, to real life. Wetake all the wisdom and holiness, which willhenceforth lead us in life, out of this living Christ.In the “Act of Consecration of Man” it says: “OChrist, I confess unto that which is revealedthrough Thee; the might of man’s adversary Thoutakest from me.”

If Christ’s word of life is not strong enough tobring about in us such a resurrection, which is onlya first pale gleam of the real resurrection, a greathelp may be—scarcely indeed any painting thatexists today—but the living picture of the RisenChrist given in the Bible. (Continued) ❒

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Letters To StudentsBy Max Heindel

This book contains the direct personalcommunications of Max Heindel with

students of the Rosicrucian Fellowship fromChristmas 1910 to January 1919. Theseninety-seven letters, written in the intimate, earnesttone of a teacher and friend, make inspiringand instructive reading.

Contents include:

Christ and His Second Coming

Heart Development and Initiation

Spiritual Teachers—True and False

The Christ Spirit and the Spiritual Panacea

Incr easing the Life of the Ar chetype

Unnatural Means of Attainment

“Lost Souls” and Stragglers

The Vital Body of Jesus

Please order on page 64

237 Pages. Paper

Published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship

IN THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES(RM), Max Heindel’s fifth book, dictated toa stenographer in 1910, the author gives anextreme definition of occultist, perhaps areflection on his own single-minded pursuit

of knowledge that culminated in his acquiring theteachings embodied in the Cosmo: An occultist isone who “pursue[s] the path of knowledge for thesake of knowledge, considering that an end initself” (14). According to this definition, theoccultist is perilously close to a black magicianbecause his motive for gaining supersensibleknowledge is not selfless. Mystics, on the otherhand, “do not care for knowledge” but eventuallyobtain it as a result of their “inner urge Godward,”which causes them to imitate Christ in all theirdeeds (14). Though the mystic may err because ofignorance, his love will always mitigate his mis-takes and expedite his reformation.

Rosicrucians aim to blend love with a “mysticknowledge.” In view of our preceding study, use ofthe term mystic in this construction is confusingbecause it is really employed as a synonym for“occult.” The Rosicrucian path, if it aims to blendheart and head, does not blend love and devotion-al knowledge (an oxymoron, to say the least). Itblends love and occult/supersensible knowledge.In this instance, moved by a concern for protectingseekers from a misuse of his legacy of occultknowledge, and to “make the possession of higherpowers safe” (15) through the inculcation ofvirtues traditionally associated with the mysticpath, Heindel eliminates reference to the occult.We shall see this tendency arise from time to time

and it does admittedly cause some ambiguity,because the word mysticis made to do the work ofthe word occult, as the context in these instancesmakes clear.

Heindel repeats an expression that first appearsin the Christianity Lectures (pp. 20, 236): igno-rance “is the only sin,” while applied knowledge issalvation (RM 26). A traditional Christian wouldbe perplexed, if not alarmed, upon encounteringthis assertion. For by knowledge Heindel meansoccult knowledge, just as the title of the bookOccult Principles of Health and Healingcould notbe changed to Mystic Principles of Health andHealing. In fact, what makes the ChristianityLectures “Rosicrucian”? Occult knowledge.Christian Rosenkreuz founded the Order of theRosicrucians “with the object of throwing occultlight on the misunderstood Christian Religion”(RCCp. 517).

Traditional Christianity designates the heart pathof soul development and appeals to the mysticbeliever who gives assent to dogma based on faithand authority. Rosicrucian teachings provideoccult facts that enable the mind to participate inthe affirmation of religious doctrine because theintellect has been engaged. By the same token, todescribe the Rosicrucian Fellowship as “An asso-ciation of Christian Mystics” is to say it is an asso-ciation of Christian Christians, or faith-basedChristians. What distinguishes the traditionalChristian from the Rosicrucian Christian is occultknowledge, not mystic belief, for that is preciselytheir ground for their differences. Belief does notsuffice. The Rosicrucian student must know.

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The Mystic and Occult in Max Heindel’s Writings

Part 2

MYSTIC LIGHT

While the mystic may fly on the pinions ofdevotional prayer to the very bosom of theFather, the “occult viewpoint [on any matter]gives a deeper insight and wider scope for use-fulness” (RCL310). After all, it is the mind thatdistinguishes humanity from its younger broth-ers and in particular it is “the task of the Aryanraces to evolve reason” (RCL330). The mysticis under a certain handicap because he “cannotgive a reason for his faith or explain to othersso as to help them. He must develop the intel-lectual side of his nature, to be of the highestuse in the upliftment of humanity” (RCL179).

The “research of occultists begins where thephysical scientist finds his limit and is carriedon by spiritual means” (RM 43, cf. RCL 30).While Heindel emphatically contrasts Catholicmysticism and scientific occultism, especiallyin Freemasonryand Catholicism, in RosicrucianMysterieshe ironically acknowledges that theCatholic religion has “abundant occult infor-mation” (61). In this book the Rosicrucian myster-ies are somewhat demystified, as the authorrecounts some of his experiences as an occultinvestigator, a term he uses eight times. This activ-ity requires “an act of will” (68). In three addition-al instances, however, the author describes anoccult activity which is performed by the “mysticinvestigator.” Here, mysticonly makes sense if it issynonymous with occult. In the first instance, whatthe Apostle Paul calls Powers of Darkness“themystic investigator of the Western World knows”as Lords of Mind (72). The mystic does notmethodically investigate the Region of ConcreteThought, where the Lords of Mind have their firstdiscernible presence.

When technical terms are first introduced, theyare usually paired with phrases like “Rosicrucianterminology” (Cosmo190) or the word “occult.”Typical instances include: (1)“occult sciencespeaks of the Earth Period as Mars-Mercury”(274); (2) Certain beings “sent to the Earth to helpnascent humanity...are known to occult scientistsas Lords of Venusand the Lords of Mercury” (272);(3) “occult scientists speak of the Sixteen Races”(231); (4) “In occult science this is called THEGREAT SILENCE” (122); (5) “the Western

Wisdom school of Occultism” uses the term NewGalilee(RCL240); (6) finally, “the occult scientistcalls the Globes of the Moon Period water” ( ibid213).

The next page (73) Heindel reverts to his normaldistinction by saying that “The Western School ofOccultism,” the Rosicrucians, uses the termArchetypal Forcesto identify certain celestial beingsinhabiting this Region of Concrete Thought.

Conscious, willed investigation of the supersen-sible worlds to discover causes for physical occur-rences is not practiced by mystics, but it is routinefor occultists. They are commonly directed toinvestigate childhood deaths to prove the reality ofthe laws of rebirth and cause and effect (RM 33).Even when the text of Rosicrucian Mysteriesstatesthat certain clairvoyant observations are “in linewith the facts usually seen by mystic investiga-tors” (103), it is occult investigatorswhich ismeant. The same applies to knowledge of theoccult effects of burning incense. So that when onereads that “to the mystic investigator the matter isperfectly clear” (121), one understands that onlythe word occultmakes sense in this context, sincethis is a scientific, not a mystic, investigation andit is the purpose of occult science, not mysticism,

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Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens, Oppenheim, 1618, Stadtbibliothek Mainz

“Whosoever wishes to enter the Philosophical Rose-Garden with-out the key is like a man who wishes to walk without feet.”

to make facts and truths “perfectly clear.” In con-texts similar to the foregoing the normative term isusually provided: (1) “to the occultist the matter isplain” (1Q&A 193); (2) “a fact which is patent tothe occultist” (ibid 205); (3) the writer intends to“turn the light of occultism and reason” on the doc-trine of the cleansing blood” (RCL242).

One further example of an ambivalent use ofmystic in Rosicrucian Mysteriesoccurs in thephrase “horoscopic figure in mystic script” (141).Astrology, in Heindel’s own words is “an absolute-ly true science” (RCL166), which makes scientif-ic astrodiagnosis possible. Astrology is an occultscience par excellence. A mystic science is a con-tradiction in terms. The use of symbols for planetsand constellations no more makes them mysticthan does assigning letters for elements in thePeriod Table of Elements, or Greek symbols (let-ters) for mathematical relationships, such as π (pi).

A stage in Rosicrucian initiation involves learn-ing the supersensible occult script, comprised ofsymbols—such as the two nontouching spirals inthe correctly drawn Cancer glyph, which indicatethe dying and new coming-into-being of plants,cycles of time, etc—that are connected withnature’s secrets. Referring to the caduceus or “staffof Mercury,” Heindel writes: “this occult symbolindicates the path of initiation” (Cosmo412). Thesymbolic drawings and diagrams designed by ini-tiates of occult science translate the the realities ofthe higher worlds into forms that can speak to thehuman intellect and intuition.

Astrology for Heindel was a rich lode of occultinformation. It is also eminently an intellectual dis-cipline (though certainly requiring a highly devel-oped intuitive sense), assuming knowledge ofastronomy, some basic understanding of the geom-etry of angles and logarithms (if one wants exactresults and doesn’t have a computer program!).Astrology will become an accepted and routinelyused science in the Aquarian Age. One appeals tothe Aquarian by addressing his reason, not hisemotions.

“The Rosicrucian Fellowship advocates thestudy of astrology...by all its members (TI 128). If“the child is a mystery” (RM 142), astrology, the“stellar science,” helps to unravel much of that

mystery. Parents “may obtain a guide to the hiddenside of a child’s nature” through astrology, whichreveals what is occult or normally concealed. “Agood and careful astrologer will be able to revealthe character of a person accurately in 99 percentof all cases” (RCL119).

Let us recall that the mystic is “usually devoid ofintellectual knowledge” (Cosmo520) and wouldhave little or no interest in learning an occult scriptin order to practice the science of astrology. Theauthor of the Rosicrucian Christianity Lecturesavers that “astrology is an absolutely true science”(RCL166). Science studies the form and action ofsubstances composing various worlds, sensibleand supersensible. There is the mundane astrologer,whose calculations and interpretations do notrequire occult knowledge, and there is the “eso-teric astrologer” (OPHH 30), who has occultknowledge and uses it in medical diagnosis, prog-nosis, prescription, and counseling.

Since the time of their inception Rosicrucianshave had two purposes—those enjoined by Christ:to teach the Gospel of the New Age and to heal thesick. They can do both more effectively and scien-tifically because they are in possession of occultfacts which connect material effects with theirspiritual causes, thus enabling a true (spiritual)etiology of disease. To assist in that purpose theinitiate founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowshipemployed the science of astrology. In fact, Heindelwrote in Probationer Letter No. 16 that “this sci-ence is the backbone of our teaching.” Such ateaching cannot be called mysticism, not if it pur-ports to be scientifically based. And if theRosicrucian Mystery Teachings aim to correlatescientific facts to spiritual verities” (Cosmo521),those Teachings are no longer mysterious but intel-lectually cognizable facts, be they occult facts.

As an interjection, we make bold to characterizethe course of this study as conforming to Heindel’scounsel which appears in multiple phrasings, par-ticularly in the preface to the Cosmoand in theRosicrucian Mysteries: The writer “would advisethe student to accept nothing from the author’s penwithout reasoning it out for himself” (RM 21). Inaddition we take seriously and are applying theepigraph that appears on the title page of the first

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two editions of the Cosmo, Paul’s injunction to“prove all things.”

In an addendum to the Rosicrucian Mysteries,written in 1921, most likely by Mrs. Heindel, theRosicrucian Philosophy is called “ChristianMysticism.” This it is not, as a later passageregarding the correspondence courses implies:“Christ taught the multitude in parables, butexplained the mysteriesto His disciples” (153).This meat or “deeper teaching” is the occultknowledge contained in the Cosmo. Quite simply,mystical truth cannot be directly taught, it must beintuited. Further substantiation of this distinctionmade by Heindel will follow.

The text of Occult Principles of Health andHealing (OPHH) was based, according to itsForward, on investigation of the superphysicalworlds by a “trained clairvoyant” to determine“the real causes of physical and mental disorders.”The health and healing of the human organism isconsidered “from the occult viewpoint” (ibid). Thefirst sentence in the main text begins with thewords, “Occult science teaches that man is a com-plex being....” The health and sickness of that com-plex being, occultly considered, is the subject ofthis book’s study. The science of physical medi-cine also studies human health and sickness, butwith limited means. Occult science is more scien-tific, more logical than material sciences. Why?“Science merely states the fact, the occult scientistgives the [occult] reason” for the fact (Cosmo356).

Heindel’s Ancient and Modern Initiation(AMI)gives an emphatic and unequivocal assertion onthe “radical” (114) difference between the Christianmystic and the Rosicrucian occult forms of initia-tion: “[T]he Christian Mystic Initiation differs rad-ically from the processes in vogue among theRosicrucians, in which an understandingupon thepart of the candidate of that which is to take placeis considered indispensable” (108). However, atGethsemane, the mystic also realizes the path thatis before him. As a prelude to this distinction,Heindel describes the old initiations (bothAtlantean/Semitic and devotional Christian), mak-ing liberal use of the word mysticas a synonym formetaphoricalor figurative, as in “mystic manna”and “mystic doctrine” (41), “mystic blood” and

“mystic birth” (52), “mystic light” (56), and “mys-tic magnificence” (64). In the phrase “mystic butunmistakable language,” mystic means veiled orshrouded in mystery; therefore Heindel opposesthe qualifying phrase “but unmistakable” to nulli-fy the impression created by the first term. In otherwords, the sense is clear to those who alreadyknow. When Christ uses the mystic or analogicterm living breadto describe Himself, He is refer-ring to the Ego (41). Why does He not simply saywhat He means? Because His disciples are not inpossession of all the occult facts that would makea direct scientific statement meaningful.

In this book (AMI), among other texts, we en-counter the key statement: “All occult development

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The Mountain of InitiationThe names and nature of the stages of Rosicrucian initiationdiffer from, and to some extent assume those of, the Christianmystic initiation. Both paths are “strait and narrow” ascents.

begins with the vital body” (55). Note Heindeldoes not say all mystic development beginswith thevital body—because that would not be correct.The following critical passage explains:

The Christian mystic form of Initiation differsradically from the Rosicrucian method, whichaims to bring the candidate to compassionthrough knowledge, and therefore seeks to cul-tivate in him the latent faculties of spiritualsight and hearing at the very start of his careeras an aspirant to the higher life. It teaches himto know the hidden [occult] mysteries of beingand to perceive intellectually the unity of eachwith all so that at last through this knowledgethere is awakened within him the feeling thatmakes him truly realize his oneness with all thatlives and moves [italics added],

so that he may become “a true helper and workerin the divine kingdom of evolution” (67). If thestudent is taught to know the hidden mysteries,they are no longer hidden, nor are they mysterious.It is a desire for more knowledge which bringsmost of the pupils to the Rosicrucian School (68).

Jacob Böhme and Thomas à Kempis followedthe mystic path (68). Love is the governing princi-ple of the mystic’s life, and thus all-embracinglove “eventually generates in them a knowledgewhich the writer [Heindel] believes far superior tothat attained by any other method,” evidentlyincluding the Rosicrucian (68). With respect to ini-tiation, the mystic “is usually unconscious of try-ing to attain any definite object” (68).

We may understand Heindel’s typical use of theword “mystic” to mean parallel or like, but notidentical with. This is because “in the spiritualworlds there is a different standard of reality” thanin the physical world. So we use worldly terms(light, bread, blood) qualified by the word mysticto indicate similarity, but not identity.

“The Christian mystic....has no reason, but hehas a much safer guide”—the interior voice (AMI89), which is the gift of grace. But there are manykinds of voices. What is the identity of the voiceone hears? Is it reliable? There are “seducing spir-its” (1Tim 4:1). There is a “spirit of error” (1Jo

4:6). John the Evangelist admonishes, “believe notevery spirit but try the spirits” (1Jo 4:1). TheChristian mystic, through the Holy Spirit(Jehovah), eventually “attains to whole wisdom ofthe world without the necessity of laboring for itintellectually” (99). But he must in time “learnhow to acquire knowledge by his own effortswith-out drawing upon the universal source of all wis-dom” (100, italics added).

For all the apparent appeal of the ChristianMystic Initiation to Max Heindel, he was unable totread that path. He was something of a Christianmystic manqué. His sympathies lay with the mys-tic, the heart man, but he aspired to, he required,knowledge. His mind demanded it, with an inten-sity characterized in the story of the sage and hispupil in the Cosmo’s Introduction. And in fact, itwas this “burning thirst for wisdom,” the “centralrequisite” which must be possessed by the aspirantto knowledge, which summoned the Elder Brother.

In Ancient and Modern InitiationHeindel pro-vides the occult keys that open the understandingto the Christian mysteries. The “underlying mysti-cal facts” of the stigmata are “as plain as daylightto those [like Heindel] who know” (117). Theoccult schools concentrate their efforts upon sever-ing the connection between the dense physical andupper etheric bodies at the stigmatic points withoutproducing the exterior manifestation that theChristian mystic cannot prevent because he lacksthe requisite knowledge (118).

Another “occult key” to “the mystery of the cru-cifixion” is given by the initials INRI, “the symbolof the crucified candidate” (121). The mystic imi-tates the life of Jesus “who is his Teacher andguide to the Kingdom of Christ” (123). TheRosicrucian occultist is, at his peril, as a son ofCain and his progenitor, Lucifer, more independentand individual in his pursuit of the Kingdom. Heseeks directly to conceive and nurture the Christwithin through enlightened selfless service, usingoccult knowledge to improve the lot of his broth-ers and sisters.

How is the Rosicrucian occultist a son of Cain?Heindel traces the lineage of Christian Rose Crossthrough Lazarus to Hiram Abif f to Cain. TheMasons also cite Hiram Abif f, the builder of

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Solomon’s Temple, as their spiritual ancestor. Infact, Heindel, though not a practicing Mason,described himself as “a Mason at heart andtherefore frankly opposed to Catholicism”(Freemasonryand Catholicism, F&C, p 6).Why? “Catholicism is an activity of theHierarchs of Water [who seek] to quench thespirits seeking [spiritual] light and [occult]knowledge and to inculcate faith in Jehovah”(11). Freemasonry “is an attempt by theHierarchs of Fire, the Lucifer Spirits, to bring usthe imprisoned spirit “light,’that we may seeand know” (11). To be sure, this is not the mys-tic’s objective. He seeks God directly throughfaith and has no desire for knowledge per se.

Heindel spiritually opposes Catholicism withthe “weapon of the Spirit—Reason” and “firm-ly believe[s] it to be for the everlasting good ofmankind that the Masons should win [‘the bat-tle for the souls of men’—p 5]” (6). This isstrong language. Given this assertion, it is dis-concerting that Heindel should characterizeMasonry as “mystic” (pp 5, 7, 8) and call it a“mystic movement” (14). This is a curious con-junction of terms because the “mystic Mason”endeavors to work on the temple of humanity atlarge and “he aims also to cultivate his ownspiritual powers” (29-30). He strives for “posi-tive Mastership through individual effort” (32),following the path of his ancestor Cain, who wasgoverned by “divine ambition.” In him burned“the divine incentive to original effort” (36).Members of “mystic masonry” are those “whohave the indomitable courage to dare, the unflag-ging energy to do and the diplomatic discrimina-tion to be silent” (13). The traditional mystic can inno way be so characterized; in fact, he would beappalled to be described in these terms. From tra-ditional quarters such “pretensions” might elicitthe same term applied by some to occult pursuits—diabolical.

Since the mystic Catholic is counterpoisedagainst the Mason, to call the Mason a mysticposes real semantic problems unless we knowwhat Heindel intends. And for his meaning to beclear, the term must, as previously defined, meanmetaphorical, or analogical. The Mason is not a

literal builder but a figurative, a mystic, builder.He is an architect of supersensible structures com-prised of materials of ether, soul (desire) and spir-it (thought) substance. He is making a temple forthe spirit, a temple not made with hands. Yet it isrelated to good deeds because from them the soulbody is created. Christian Rosenkreuz“founded theOrder of Temple-Builders” to teach the aspiringsoul how to make the “white stone” (41) by apply-ing occult knowledge to human affairs. Or, asexpressed in Mysteries of the Great Operas, “It isexactly the mission of the RosicrucianOrder, work-ing through the Rosicrucian Fellowship, to pro-mulgate a scientific method of development suited

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The Rosicrucian PhilosopherThe enlightened mind (candle) of the occult scientist can read thebook of Nature and decipher its secrets. Death (the skull) doesnot intimidate or constrain him. He uses it to serve his purposes.In time (hourglass) all shall be revealed.

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particularly to the Western people whereby thisWedding Garment [the soul body, Paul’s somapsuchicon—1 Cor 15:44] may be wrought” (124).

While the Sons of Seth purge themselves of thecurse of selfishness through faith in Christ Jesusand by imitating his life (56), the Sons of Cainwere given the Rose and the Cross to teach them tomake the Philosopher’s Stone. They believe morein works than in faith (56).

Moreover, there is a tendency of the typical mys-tic to devalue the physical world and to disparagethe human physical body. He often seeks todeprive or severely limit it through harsh asceticpractices, and to escape it by cultivating states ofheightened subjectivity, or ecstasy (ecstasis, liter-ally, to stand beside or outside oneself). Theoccultist realizes that he has much to learn frombeing in the body and that it is to be transmutedinto the soul body, which truly becomes the templeof the soul. This was the objective of theRosicrucian alchemists,“deep students of the high-er occult science” (Cosmo 438). Therefore,occultism does not disdain physical existence butseeks rather to understand and master it, even asdid the master occultist and architect of the spirit,Hiram Abiff.

Man’s pilgrimage through matter has beenundertaken “for the purpose of making him anindependent creative intelligence.” The Rosicrucianis a pioneer in this respect because he uses hisintelligence to advance his independence and cre-ativity (RM68). We recall Heindel’s quote from St.Paul framing the text of the first two editions of theCosmo—to “prove all things” by the light of rea-son (obviously including Heindel’s Cosmo, sincethat was his intention for citing the passage) and to“hold fast to that which is good.” Reason and mys-ticism are immiscible because they operate on con-trary premises, according to different principles,and for different results.

We must conclude that the term mystic, as usedby Heindel to qualify masonand masonry, is asynonym for occult and is not intended to equatethe occultist with the heart-centered, faith-led mys-tic of orthodox Christianity. This conclusion isconfirmed by Heindel when he states that“Christian Rosenkreuz was given charge of the

Sons of Cain who seek the light of knowledge atthe sacred fires of the Mystic Shrine” (97). Mystichere means invisible or occult. And the author hasgiven us, according to this book’s (F&C) subtitle,“an exposition of the cosmic facts underlying thesetwo great institutions, as determined by occult [notmystic] investigation.”

The distinction we have discerned may becomeblurred unless we keep in mind Heindel’s dual useof the word mystic. Mystic employed as a nounrefers to the faith-based aspirant on the heart pathof love. Employed as an adjective, it designates aspiritual substance that is suggested by or bearssome resemblance to a physical form or fact.While the candidate on the “head path” works outhis own salvation through tribulation and“engage[s] in Mystic Masonry to consciouslybuild this Temple of the soul,” the soul body (98),his “weaker brothers,” who commit to the “heartpath” of mystic Christianity, rely as “an absolutenecessity” on the cleansing blood of Jesus (98). Inthis passage, mystic carries a double meaning:Referring to the nature of the activity of theMasons, it means occult; referring to the kind ofmason, mystic means symbolic. The builders signi-fied are working with materials and forces relatedto the superphysical worlds, not with bricks andmortar.

Again, both the path (walked by the Sons ofSeth) of simple helpfulness and prayer and the pathmarked out by “specific exercises given by theRosicrucians” (94) can develop ability “to walkthe skies with winged feet,” but they are distinctlydifferent paths and Heindel has most consistentlydenominated them as the mysticand the occultpaths.

This distinction is implicit in the following twosentences: “The Biblical and occult traditionsagree with science” about original darkness (90)and; the Bible “agrees with the occult traditions inthe main points” (92). The Bible presents spiritualtruths in a mystical form; that is, metaphorically.The reader intuits the meaning as best he can.Occult science can more fully and specificallyexplain the Bible because it is in possession ofsupersensible knowledge that the human intellectcan grasp. (Continued) ❐

—C.W.

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MEN ARE ACCUSTOMED tothink of each hour as a separateroom, but the prophet while he isin the here-and-now draws some-thing from another dimension of

the space-time continuum. The non-inferential pre-science of things to come is beyond the scope ofthose natural laws which now enjoy scientificrecognition, but science is looking into this unsus-pected power. Charles Richet, a physiologisttrained in scientific observation and accuratereporting, has testified on the basis of ample evi-dence: “There occur premonitions that can beexplained neither by chance nor by perspicacity,and are sometimes verified in minute details.”

Victorian science fell under the sway of a naivematerialism which minimized the immaterial factsof consciousness. Illumined egos since Plato havedeplored the tendency to drag everything down tothe material husk. The greatest realities of life areneither visible nor tangible. The greatly wise in allages have climbed the altar stairs of prophecy toconfront that mental causal plane which is inter-mediate between absolute essence and materialmanifestation. They have pierced the veil of theirtomorrows.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the physician-poet,noted “the clairvoyance of the faculties in intenseemotion.” However, researchers agree that theconsciousness proper must be in a state of recep-tive passivity. The subject has halted active think-ing and is released to another realm of mind. Thenstriking awareness “enters the mind by a routeother than the recognized senses,” as J. Hattinger

puts it in The UltraPerceptive Faculty. Warcollieropines that well authenticated parapsychologicalevidence “may revolutionize our concept of mindas much as the discovery of radium revolutionizedthat of matter.”

Many distinguished modern thinkers agree thattoday’s research into the supernormal is throwinga new light on the nature of things. Tyrrel con-cludes that precognition has been “revealed underthe strictest conditions that science can demand.The evidence for precognition—the most paradox-ical, perhaps, of all the supernormal phenomena—

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What’s in the Next Room?

MYSTIC LIGHT

East and West Rooms of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness

Through living in the world as the Hall of Service, the aspi-rant evolves an inner light that illuminates the Holy ofHolies wherein all spiritual realities can be seen and known.

is very considerable.” Dr. Osty asserts: “Twelveyears of experiments with many metagnomic per-cipients...have given me absolute certainty thatthere are human beings who can foretell thefuture.” Among the other great names in parapsy-chology research are J. B. Rhine, WaldemarKaempffert, Gardner Murphy, and WilliamMcDougall. .

Albert Einstein has shown time to be no morethan a coordinate or dimension along with thethree spatial coordinates. Ever since Kant carriedthrough the first psychical research project, evi-dence has accumulated that the space-time barrieris not absolute to extrasensory or supersensoryperception.

The paranormal sensing of events remote in timeor space takes us into a new world, but it is not sorare as some think. We all are moved as much bythe attraction of the future as by the impulsion ofour yesterdays, though our greatest prerogative isfree choice in the fleeting present. “Delphi and aPythoness reside in every human breast,” observedHolmes. We all know instances of uncanny “busi-ness vision.” Future events cast their shadowsbefore” more often than the public hears about it.Authentic present-day seers do not try to bolsterthe authority of their act or utterance by saying thatsome propitious power moves or speaks throughthem, but the worth of what they accomplishstands on its own merit.

In every great crisis of history, leaders open todivine guidance have risen to show the way. Whenthe future passed before Joseph in holy vision, hesaid of his wonderful foreknowledge “It is not inme.” The human molders of destiny have reliedupon God’s help for their support, hence we seethe hand of God in history. Cosmic intelligencereaches the human soul insofar as it participates inthe Oversoul. When the vision of the prophet isunsealed to behold this wisdom, it is in no narrowpersonal sense that he exclaims: “My Soul hathspoken and foretold.”

Moses Maimonides, that honest critical thinkerof the thirteenth century, penned the followingcontribution to esoteric Judaism and universal reli-gious understanding in his famous Guide for thePerplexed:

Prophecy is given either in a vision or in adream.

The first degree of prophecy consists in thedivine assistance which encourages a person todo something good and grand. ( We’ve all felt it,but are we grateful to the Source?)

The second degree is this: A person feels as ifsomething came upon him and as if he hadreceived a new power inducing him to speak bythe holy Spirit.

There are other classes of actual prophets,rising to the most intimate divine communion.When the prophet relates, ‘The Lord said untome,’of course he need not add the explanationthat it was in a prophetic vision.

Today scientific investigators are leafingthrough the occult pages of the past with a newappreciation, It is a matter of belief and back-ground whether one calls the superior intelligenceof universe God or Cosmic Mind, but certainly thenature of being transcends the narrow bounds menhave accepted. “Seek and ye shall find,” ChristJesus counseled.

Precognition occurs in matters that concern usdeeply. To gain conscious access to the tablets offate, the individual must attain a certain interiorrelease. A kind of receptive emptiness, free fromactive thought, transcends time as measuredagainst the Sun and stars. Masters of the East andWest have developed techniques of mind control tomake this possible without any threat to sanity.Probably systematic foreknowledge is not foreveryone, and we cannot dispute the fact that non-intuitive thinkers have done some very usefulwork within their own limitations. As a safeguardagainst dogmatic denial, however, they ought toreflect on the words of their own Herbert Spencer:“There is a principle which is a bar against allinformation, which is proof against all argument,and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlastingignorance. That principle is condemnation beforeinvestigation.”

How does this relate to what is “in the next room”for you and me? The first-century Stoic philoso-pher Epictetus has answered the most consequen-tial question that challenges every human mind:

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We ought to come to our interior divinationwithout desire or aversion, as the wayfarer asksof a guide which of two roads leads to his jour-ney’s end. If the wayfarer be utterly in earnest,he inquires with no wish to go by any road,however pleasant, except that which leads tohis proper destination. In the same way oughtwe to come to God as a guide; as we use oureyes, not asking them to show us things as wewish, but receiving the appearances of thingsjust as the eyes present them to us....Though thegood man be granted the foreknowledge of dif-ficulties on his roadway of duty, he will not turnto an easier road but keep to the course consis-tent with his end.

A later philosopher summed it up in a nutshell:“Duties are ours; results are God’s.” When thereare dangers on the road that we ought to knowabout, either to avoid them or to bear them brave-ly if they be the necessary price of our mission, wehave access to that knowledge. Understandingdrives out fear. Coming events of deep concern toyou or your dear ones may very well be foreseen,and the shaping will can change them if the causalstructure be yet in the tentative stage. Prescience ispart of man’s power to understand and control hisdestiny

Thus we have seen that it is no mere parlor trickfor the mind to free itself from time. After a baddream or hunch, many a person has cancelled hispassage on a train—later to read of its crash. If youare “heading for trouble,” a premonition thereofmight help you avoid what would have been instore for you along the path marked out. The futureis a set of probabilities which we can sometimesdeliberately alter when we know what they are.Ideas proverbially “work out their own fulfill-ment.” Epictetus pointed to the hardest duty: “Thegood man will cooperate even with personal hard-ships to come if thus only can he promote theDivine purpose.”

Our process-careers are extended in time as wellas space, connected with past and future.Consciousness is related to time in a way thatestablished science has hardly begun to consider.Many a clearly reported prophesy which was later

confirmed by the event suffices to jolt materialistsfrom their narrow grooves. We should be thankfulthat pioneer scientists are beginning to explore theparanormal for the higher dimensional realm is assubject to law us the world we perceive throughour bodily senses. The prophetic phase of con-sciousness ought to be subject to conscious devel-opment by the many when more of its laws areknown.

Great occultists in all ages have identified thesupersensible causal plane above the the densematerial level to which most are bound. A “psychicstream” runs through the bed of time. We can lookupstream or down, instead of confining ourselvesto the moment that is rippling by.

Sit Auckland Geddes, an English physician,reported a time-binding experience to the RoyalMedical Society at Edinburgh in 1937: “I was freein a time-dimension...wherein now was equivalentto here in the ordinary three-dimensional space ofeveryday life...a psychic continuum spread out intime like a plasmic net.” J. W. Dunne, a Britishaeronautical engineer, set forth an illuminatingtheory of “serial time.” He wrote down dream rec-ollections on awakening, and some of thesedreams came true in real life. As the spark of lifemoves along the wire of time, it should not forgetthat further reaches of the wire are already there.Seeing without their eyes is common among thehighland seers of Scotland. “In today alreadywalks tomorrow,” is a common saying amongthem. Dr. Samuel Johnson was deeply convincedof “second-sight,” which is really the primalvision. Hugo noted that the phenomenon is verycommon in dangerous situations when one’s ener-gies are sharply focused. American folkloreabounds in stories of what might be called “ordi-nary prophecy.” Mary Miller Beard reminds usthat

“Poets often see, as in a glass,Far-off events before they come to pass.”

The supreme mystery of life is clarified by thefact that man can anticipate futurity and see thehidden things of unborn days. He who has oncewithdrawn the dark veil need have no blind fear ofwhat is waiting for him in the next room. ❒

—Ben Finger

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THE APOCRYPHAL BOOKS ofHebrew and Christian Scriptures havealways come in for a goodly enthusi-asm on the part of students of theoccult because it is supposed that these

books were rejected by the orthodox churches onaccount of their esoteric content. And indeed, thatis true of many of them, though not of all. The trueesoteric documents have almost completely disap-peared; fragments alone remain, drawn largelyfrom that class of writings which we may callGnostic, from Gnosis, meaning wisdom.

The documents known as the Apocrypha properare limited in number, being those which were atone time accepted and used in Christian churchesas authentic Scriptures, along with the numerousBooks comprising the Old and New Testaments aswe have them today. The Douay Version of theBible still, to this day, includes the Old TestamentApocrypha, but they are not to be found in theKing James Version.

The few sketchy Gnostic documents whichremain to us are fragments of official texts ofGnostic societies or orders. These contained asmuch of the Mystery Teachings as could be givenpublicly, and they were full of mystical allusions toesoteric doctrines known in their fullness only tothe elect. The Gnostic books include much thatorthodox Christians would call “heathen” doc-trines: Greek philosophy, Persian Christology,Chaldean star lore and doctrine of emanations,Egyptian magic, and so on—all interblended withBiblical elements. Many, if not most, of theChristian Gnostic documents naturally come fromthe communities of Gentile Christians; but many

more are of Jewish Christian origin as well.Gnosticism has been defined as the active

Hellenization of Judaism. Certainly Philo Judeuswas a Hellenist. So also was Jesus of Nazareth. Butit must be remembered that Hellenic cultureincluded Oriental and Egyptian elements datingfrom earliest times in Greece, but especially fromthe conquests of Alexander the Great. Philo Judeusdeclared that all the wisdom of the Greeks could befound in the Hebrew Scriptures, a statement chal-lenged by modern scholars, but which esotericistsknow is the simple truth. But Philo was referring tocertain secret writings to which he, as a Therapeutic,had access, and not to the orthodox canon alone,although he was free to mention only the latter. Itis well known that the Therapeutae and Esseneswere custodians of the Secret Tradition of Israel,and possessed many books not known to the gen-eral multitude.

In the Christian era St. Peter and the Church atRome came to represent the written tradition ofwhat we may today call the Fundamentalist Faith,Pistis; hence it became increasingly materialistic,and in three short centuries separated itself, as ahierarchical Church, from the esoteric Fellowship,although Jesus continued to work upon it fromwithin the Veil, succeeding in every century ininfluencing a few spiritual natures here and there.

It was the Gnostic movement, looking to St.John, which carried on the true esoteric tradition,the Secret Doctrine of Christianity, espousingKnowledge, Gnosisor Sophia, as against the Faith(Pistis) of the fundamentalist group led by Rome.The Bishop at Rome was not then the Pope andhead of the Church officially, but he did occupy the

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The Mysterious ApocryphaHistorical Data and the Occult

MYSTIC LIGHT

most important post in the ecclesiastical empire,and the rest of the Church looked to him for lead-ership. But the followers of St. John have neverrecognized the authority of St. Peter, and St. Johnis recognized as the Great Apostle of Gnosticism.This left-wing Christianity openly referred its ori-gin to the Serpent Wisdom, and attracted into itsfold all the intellectuals of the Christianworld. It was Gnosticism, and not thereactionary group centered inRome, which actually “con-quered” paganism by assimi-lating it into itself. Gnosticsaccepted the canonicalGospel of John, but theyalso had an apocryphalGospel of John of theirown. The only remainingfragment of this apoc-ryphal Gospel has comedown to us through theManicheans, who absorbednot only Mithraism butGnosticism as well, when theGreco-Roman civilization fell.In our own Bible the Gospelof John is symbolized byScorpio, and St. John isshown in sacred art blessing alittle winged serpent whichrises up in a wine cup, obvi-ously a glyph of Gnosticattainment.

The Gnostics thereforelooked not to Rome and a static tradition, but tothe Invisible Church, and to the Risen ChristHimself. Thus every man might become his ownpriest and his own pope without being dependentupon any intermediary, but knowing Christ face toface. The Gnostic churches had numerous sacra-ments; and discipline was strict in the “white”brotherhoods. But, as in our own day, there were“black” cults which also called themselvesGnostic. St. Paul condemns them and their teach-ings as “knowledge (Gnosis) falsely so-called,”and these taught many depraved practices, such asreligious prostitution. Such was the sect of the

Nicolaitans, mentioned in Revelation as hated ofChrist. The central sacrament of the GnosticMysteries was the Mystic Marriage of the neo-phyte with his Angel who represents him beforethe Throne of God. This is still in our own time thepivot of the esoteric work: the holy union of thelower with the Higher Self, called “finding the

Man (or Woman) within.”We ought at this point pause to ask,What has become of the teachings

Christ gave to His disciplesbetween the Resurrection andAscension? Many Gnosticwriters claimed to have atleast part of these most eso-teric of all esoteric teach-ings, for they said that they,like St. Paul, had seen andspoken with the RisenChrist face to face; andfrom these teachings given

by the Risen Christ,Christian Gnosticism traces

its origin.This leads us to the question of

an interesting class of docu-ments called Pseudepigrapha,which means falselyascribed, for they are writtenin the name of some ancientsage or prophet to whoseauthorship they are attrib-uted. Such documents areprominent in Gnostic litera-

ture, but the Bible also contains many of them, aswell as the Apocrypha proper. The Book, of Danielfor example, was certainly not written by Danielnor even in his century. Even the Books attributedto Moses are obviously written by men who livedseveral centuries later than Moses. It is by nomeans proved, either, that St. Paul wrote all of theEpistles which appear in the New Testament underhis name, and it was not, scholars suspect, thesame John who wrote both Revelation and theFourth Gospel.

It is hinted in Gnostic fragments that there was anAntichrist who lived and taught contemporaneously

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Oil on wood, detail from Anne of France, Duchess of Bourbon, Presented bySt. John the Evangelist, Jean Hey, active 1480-1500. The Louvre

While a legendary attempt to poison him explainsthe tradition of showing St. John holding a chal-ice with serpents, this representation is an occultreference to the “serpent” wisdom of ChristianGnosis and the regenerative energies of Scorpio.

with Christ in Palestine. The Manicheans spoke ofan Antichrist as “the devilish Messiah of theJews,” by which they were not referring to theChrist, for the Manicheans were Christians. Mani,a Persian by birth—who, like Jesus, was crucifiedthrough the machinations of a reactionary priest-hood—taught a religion similar to Christianitybased upon the esoteric doctrine of Zoroaster. Hisfather seems to have been a Gnostic Christian, andMani himself speaks highly of certain Gnosticteachers while rejecting the Church of Rome in itsentirety. As mentioned above, an apocryphalGospel of John was treasured by the Manicheans,and fragments of it have been recovered from therecords of the Inquisition in France.

The tradition of an Antichrist who lived contem-poraneously with the Christ is straight from theHebrew Mysteries and corresponds to the Persianconcept of Ahriman, the Lord of Darkness, comingto do battle with Mithra, the Messenger of Light.They could scarcely join battle unless theyappeared in the world at the same time.

The two apocryphal books of supreme impor-tance to Christianity are the Books of Esdras,attributed to Ezra, and the Book of the Secrets ofEpoch. These also are pseudonymous documents,since they were obviously not written by the handof the author whose name they bear. Esdras weshall consider later. Enoch, we mention in passing,was a Hellenistic work (hence, Gnostic,), writtenin Egypt and highly esteemed even in the narrow-er circles of the early Church; but it was consignedto an oblivion extending from the sixth to the nine-teenth century, when it was rediscovered in Russiaand Serbia. It dates from the first half of the firstcentury, being perhaps contemporaneous with theChrist, and certainly with His earliest disciples.

We need not look upon the use of pseudonymsas a mark of dishonesty. It simply means that theauthors of the pseudonymous books wrote “in thespirit of Enoch” or “in the spirit of Esdras.”Similarly, books attributed to Moses refer to aschool of Mosaic thought, or, esoterically, to aMystery Temple of Initiation. The name Epoch, forexample, is variously defined by scholars, but onesignificant interpretation is “The Initiated.” Thusthe various great Temple Builders and Prophets

represent Mystery Schools on the inner planes ofnature, and for long centuries after the death of thebody they continued to teach and guide theircharges esoterically, appearing to them clothedeither in the etheric or the astral body. And whenstudents taught by these esoteric Masters commit-ted their instructions and doctrines to parchment orpapyrus, they had every moral right in the world toascribe the work to the Master whose amanuensisthey were.

However, it is contrary to modern usage, con-trary to modern evolutionary trends, to write pseu-donymous documents in this way. The man whodoes the actual physical and mental labor of writ-ing the book is expected to sign his own name or anom-de-plume, and that nom-de-plume ought notto be drawn from history, unless the writer knowshimself to be an incarnation of the person whosename he takes. It was not dishonest, however, forthe ancient Hebrew writers to use pseudonymsbecause it was a well understood custom amongthe Hebrews, just as we find that among themedieval Arabs a whole school of alchemical writ-ers was known under the collective name of Geber,he being the founder of the school. It is as if all thegraduates of Harvard were to write books signingthemselves Harvard! They would simply be sink-ing their own identities in the common mission.But nowadays we look with suspicion upon suchpractices as encouraging fraud. We prefer to knowwhowrote what, and why.

As we have said, there are pseudepigraphaamong the canonical Books and among the apoc-ryphal Books. Beside these, there are many whichare not now and never have been included in anyorthodox canon. But all of the Apocrypha properwere once included in the canon.

Students often confuse the word Apocalypse

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with Apocrypha. But this is not whollyincorrect, as common usage has made theword apocryphal cover the whole range ofMystery Books, regardless of differences inthe source or nature of the mystery. Fromreferring simply to hidden or esotericbooks, the word Apocryphahas come tomean “spurious” books, or books of doubt-ful authority. Apocalypse, on the otherhand, means the revealing of somethingwhich has previously been hidden. We nat-urally think of the Book of Revelationunder this term first of all. Daniel is anoth-er classic example. An apocryphis a hiddendocument; an Apocalypseis a revelation ofa hitherto secret matter. Some apocryphalbooks arc Apocalypses, some are not.

Among the apocryphal books theApocalypse of 2 Esdras is of prime impor-tance to Christianity, also the Book of theSecrets of Enoch. The Secret Doctrine ofIsrael, guarded by the Essenes, goes back inits literary form to Esdras and the Exile; but theoral or unwritten tradition is still more ancient,going back to Moses—yes, and before Moses,even before Abraham, back to Enoch, the Initiated,who was the eldest Son of Cain and who has beententatively identified with one of the most ancientBabylonian kings—a “dateless antiquity” indeed.Remember that Abraham came from Ur of theChaldees, by admission of the Bible itself.

The Essenes, chief repository of the SecretDoctrine of Israel, gradually disappeared asChristianity arose because they were absorbed intothe new Order. Meanwhile they had guarded theirDoctrine upward of a thousand years, but notunder the name of Essenes-that was only the lastknown name of the Order. But under one name oranother they had been the custodians of theMysteries from Moses until Christ and inheritorsof the still more ancient tradition of Enoch.Apocalyptic literature is largely an expression ofthese Mysteries. As a literary form the Apocalypsecovers an extended period of time: from the Exileto the Middle Ages in Europe; but more especiallythose centuries which included the rise ofChristianity, from 200 B.C. to about 350 A.D.

During the two centuries immediately precedingthe birth of Jesus of Nazareth, Hebrew Initiateswere actively preparing for the coming of theMessiah and Messianic prophecies flooded theJewish world. Historic evidence is lacking on thePersian and Chaldean side, but we may be sure thatthere too the Magi were nightly examining theheavens for the sign which should show that theLord of Light was come.

We repeat that so far as the written record goes,the Secret Tradition of Israel dates from Ezra(Esdras), the founder of the Great Synagogue,which was a spiritual, not a merely material assem-bly. This is not to say that no material assemblywas called. On the contrary the Bible record is per-fectly clear on that point. But the assembly of dis-ciples in the flesh was the merest shadow of thetrue esoteric Assembly on the inner planes ofnature, which was a School of Initiation.

One hundred years after his death, so it is writ-ten, Ezra arose from the dead (was reborn), andthrough a supernaturally illumined memory dictat-ed all the Scriptures lost or destroyed, which wereto be kept secret and sacred and shown only to thewise (such as the Essenes). We see from this that

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Die Bibel in Bildern, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1789-1853)

Canst Thou Number the Stars?In the person of Abraham the impulse of spiritual evolution moved west-ward from Ur in Chaldea to Israel,or from the third (Egypto-Sumerian-Babylonian) to the fourth (Greco-Hebrew) Post-Atlantean Epoch.

there were two Ezras in Bible history wholived, according to the body, a century apart,but who were in fact the same Ego. 2 Esdras,often called the Apocalypse of Esdras (not tobe confused with a later Greek document ofthe same name), dates from the closingdecade of the first century, being thus con-temporary with the Gospel of John. It is acompilation of beautiful mystic visionstogether with their interpretations, which cameto Esdras in the field of Ardath at Babylon.

The Apocalypse of Esdras as a wholecould not possibly be the work of the historicEsdras, dating as it does from the Christianera; but it includes teachings and texts whichare far older, and which do in fact bear thestamp of the original Esdras.

We must understand that all of Esdra’svisions were experiences in the spiritualworld while the prophet was apart from thebody. Here we find the source of MarieCorelli’s book title Ardath. Esdras’teacherand Initiator was the Archangel Uriel. Hekeeps the records of time and therefore canreveal both past and present in the Memoryof Nature: “From the beginning, look, whatthou desirest to see it shall be shown thee.”

Uriel the Archangel commands Esdras: “Go intothe field of flowers where no house is builded, andeat only of the flowers of the field [taste no flesh,drink no wine, but eat flowers only]; and pray untothe Highest continually; then will I come and talkwith thee.” Esdras comments, “So I went my wayunto the field which is called Ardath, like as hecommanded me; and there I sat among the flowers,and did eat of the herbs of the field, and the meatof the same satisfied me.”

Here in the field of Ardath were written theSecret Books during a symbolic “forty days.” “Ishall light a candle of understanding in thy heart,”says the Archangel, “which shall not be put out tillthe things be performed which thou shalt begin towrite. And when thou hast done, some things shaltthou publish, and some things shalt thou shewsecretly to the wise; tomorrow this hour shalt thoubegin to write.”

Then Esdras, in the Field of Ardath, for forty

days dictated day and night to five scribes, pro-ducing in all two hundred and forty books; of thesethe last seventy were kept secret and shown only tothe Elect: “For in them is the spring of understand-ing, the fountain of wisdom, and the stream ofknowledge. “

Thus in the Field of Ardath at Babylon was writ-ten down the Secret Tradition of Israel, whichflowered openly in the Christ ministry.

And Esdras was translated from mortality toimmortality there among the flowers, for it is writ-ten: “A voice called me, saying, Esdras, open thymouth and drink that I give thee to drink. Thenopened I my mouth, and behold he reached me afull cup, which was full as it were with water, butthe color of it was like fire.”

So Esdras drank of the Elixir of Life, the world’sPanacea, and “when I had drunk of it, my heartuttered understanding, and wisdom grew in mybreast, for my spirit strengthened my memory.” ❒

—Ann Barkhurst

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THE LIVING CHALICE

The Mother sent me on the holy quest,

Timid and proud and curiously dressed

In vestures by her hand wrought wondrously;

An eager burning heart she gave to me.

The Bridegroom’s Feast was set and I drew nigh—

Master of Life, Thy Cup has passed me by.

Before new-dressed I from the Mother came,

In dreams I saw the wondrous Cup of Flame.

Ah, Divine Chalice, how my heart drank deep,

Waking I sought the Love I knew asleep.

The Feast of Life was set and I drew nigh—

Master of Life, Thy Cup has passed me by.

Eye of the Soul, awake, awake and see

Growing within the Ruby Radiant Tree,

Sharp pain hath wrung the Clusters of my Vine;

My heart is rose-red with its brimmed wine.

Thou hast new-set the Feast and I draw nigh—

Master of Life, take me, Thy Cup am I.

—Susan Mitchell

THE WOMAN SAT in the darkenedroom and wept quietly into her hands.If she sobbed any louder it wouldawaken her husband and the baby.They would want to know why she

cried, and she could not put into words why shefelt this great pressure of tears. Part of it was thedisappointments that life had continually broughther, but worse was the disappointment she hadbrought herself. Nothing had turned out the wayshe had expected it to. Nothing. And now she hada terrible fear that all her life it would continue onthe same way.

None of the spiritual truths she had believed inso long had worked for her. She made no spiritualadvancement. She was trapped in the worry andterror of the circumstances that made up her life.She did not have time to meditate. She did notserve so she might merit spiritual illumination. Herhusband who once talked so understandingly withher about their mutual ideals had long ago forgot-ten them. He worked and slept Did he ever missthe vision they had started with? She didn’t know.It was so long since they had ever really talked toone another. They were strangers living side byside. Had they loved one another once? There waslittle exchange of affection between them now.They were caught in the monotonous routine ofmerely living, paying bills, trying to get ahead.

Her sobs grew more convulsive, but she muffledthe sound so it could not be heard. Yearning, pray-ing, wanting to live spiritually—none of it had suc-ceeded. If there had only been a teacher to help her.

There had been none. She had hoped therewould be someone to guide her, to tell her of her

mistakes, to point out the way. All the books shehad read had promised that the teacher wouldcome to the sincere seeker, but none had come toher though she had wept and prayed and yearned.

She had stopped reading the books, and herprayers and meditations were less frequent, thoughspasmodically she had continued them through theyears—always hoping one day the miracle wouldhappen. A teacher would come and with hisstrength she could go forward.

She bit at her lips and the racking sobs stopped.There were no tears left. She felt barren and empty.She was beyond the point of despair. Somehow,somewhere, all of this must have been her fault.

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Illusion

MYSTIC LIGHT

Created by Ariel Agemian exclusively for the Confraternity of the Precious Blood

“The Banished children of Eve lament that this our day isbitter and tedious.” We do so until we discover that worldlydifficulties are divine opportunities and that personal well-being and advancement is achieved by helping our fellows.

Her head was tired, and the bitter pain so great shecould not perceive what the faults might have been.

Then she must have fallen asleep in her chair.She was sure of it later. But at the time she wasunaware of dropping off. The dream was vivid,and much of it hurt more than all the pains she hadfelt before. She was alone. Oh, so very muchalone. She walked on an empty desert. The sandstung her feet and the Sun’s heat beat mercilesslyupon her. Far, far ahead she was certain there wasa cool oasis, and in its shade waited comfort andpeace and friends to help her. However, no matterhow she strove to push ahead the sand held herback, and she got nowhere.

Bewildered she cried out, “Is there no one tosave me? No one to help?”

From somewhere a deep voice answered, “To besaved one must first save. To be helped one mustfirst help.”

She wept without understanding, but there wasno more voice. She knew she must go on or perishin the heat. She struggled and as she moved for-ward, she became aware that at her feet where shehad not noticed it before, lay a child reaching up toher. The child’s small arms held her fast, and sheknew a moment of irritation that it should be there.She also felt anger. It took all of her strength tomove at all, and here was a struggling baby hold-ing her back. For a while she tried to move aheadand leave it there. By pulling frantically she didmove ahead a few steps and leave it behind, but asshe pulled free her conscience bothered her. Thechild would die, and she would be to blame. It washer duty, she knew it. She would have to bring thechild with her. Whoever waited at the oasis wouldsomehow know if she didn’t, and they would bedispleased. Without love, without sympathy, onlybecause she must, she returned and picked up thechild. It hampered her as she knew it would. Itmade the walking all the harder, and the child wasnot quiet and grateful, but squirmed and tossed inher arms making their progress difficult. Shewilled herself to go on. At the baby’s wailing sheclosed her mind. “At the oasis they will reward mefor this trouble,” she comforted herself. But shegave no comfort to the baby.

It seemed at last she could see the dim outline of

the trees. Finally she was nearer. It made herquicken her steps though now she was gaspinghard for breath. Then she stumbled over the man.The sand cut her lips, and bruised her legs andarms. It seared her eyes, and she was blinded. Thebaby spilled from her grasp and wailed all thelouder. For a time she only wept in fury. Herstrength was nearly gone. If she did not go on atonce she would never make it.

She rubbed at her eyes and cleared the sand fromthem. She picked up the crying baby and pulledherself to her feet. Then the realization struck her:She could not leave the man. Though she could notsee him clearly through the haze which had settledover her eyes, she knew that he was hurt and thatshe must give him help. She must let him lean onher and somehow bring him also to the oasis.There was no love, no pity in the gesture. Theywould reward her at the oasis. It was the only moti-vation she knew, and she pulled him up beside her.With his weight against her she steadied him on hisfeet and half dragged him along beside her. It wasas though he were in a coma, for he neither helpednor hindered her. He could not. He moved mechan-ically as she dragged him, and the baby still cried,rasping her nerves. She moved on and on, and thensank in the sand. Before she lost consciousness sheknew one moment of regret: “I’ve failed to makeit. Too bad I couldn’t have gotten the baby and theman there and saved them.”

It was her last conscious thought. She awoke andfound she was beneath a palm. Cool water bubbledin a spring nearby. She was at the oasis. Nearbywere the baby and the man, both still unconscious.The voice spoke again. She saw no one, but knewthere were Presences near.

The voice said, “You were brought here onlybecause of the one good thought you had beforeyou collapsed.” She thought and remembered thatat the last moment she had felt real regret that thebaby and the man were lost with her,

The voice continued, “Duty done without love isa worthless coin and will not buy illumination andspirituality.” There was no accusation in the voice,only a statement of fact. She had been judged, sheknew. It was the story of her life. Always she haddone her duty, but it was in pain and a struggle.

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There had been no joy in it. She had sought herown spiritual illumination. She had thought littleof others.

The voice spoke, “Well, there lie the baby andman. Will you minister to them and give them life?Or will you let them die there of your neglect?”

Then, strangely, the biting sand and pall of heatceased to trouble her. Her eyes cleared. She knewthe baby and the man. It was her child, her hus-band. She knew the years of duty she had giventhem, but they had been years of actual neglect.

She understood it all so clearly now. One didn’tprogress by miracles. One walked slowly by doingthe routine things of life. One made truth by livingit in just such a way. Stern duty done without love,without compassion, was worthless. Worse, it wassinful!

She pulled herself up to her feet and went to thespring and brought water for the baby and the man.Tears sprang into her eyes—not for herself, but forthe wasted baby and the crippled man. The babyhad been wasted for lack of joyous loving, the mancrippled because she had not given him lovingunderstanding and walked truly by his side.

Tears of remorse stung her cheeks. The babyopened its eyes and its face broke into a smile. Theman sighed and reached out his hand to her.

She opened her eyes. She was in her own dark-ened room. Her husband was asleep on the bed.She hurried to the next room, and the baby sleptquietly.

Every scene of the dream was vivid upon her.She understood now. “I’ll try . I’ll try ,” shepromised. She hadn’t been alone. Somehow a wis-dom within her told her that she would fall andstumble and make mistakes she might regret, but atlast she would know it was not her own progressshe must fret over, it was how well she could servein joyful love those about her.

As for the teacher—the dream had given herfaith. When she needed help, there would be otherdreams. She was certain of it now. As she truly wasable to apply truth, then truth would be given her.As she lived honestly in the light, so the light inher life would increase.

It was her mistaken selfishness which had kepther chained as her feet had felt chained in the

desert she had dreamed about. She bent to kiss thesleeping baby, and then she went to bed. In hissleep, as though he felt the change, her husbandreached out his arms for her, and she slipped grate-fully into them. ❒

—D. D. Arroyo

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GOD’S AUTOGRAPHS

I stood upon a hill one night And saw the great Creator write His autograph across the sky In lightning strokes, and there was I A witness to this great event And signature magnificent!

I stood one morning by a stream When night was fading to a dream, The fields were fair as fields may be At spring, in golden mystery Of dandelion—then God came on And wrote His signature in Dawn.

One afternoon long years ago, Where glacial tides had ebb and flow, I found a cliff God’s hand had smote; I scanned its breast, whereon God wroteWith some great glacier for a pen His signature for time and men.

One night I stood and watched the stars: The Milky Way and ranging Mars, Where God in letters tipped with fire The tale of every tall desire Had writ in rhyme and signed His name A stellar signature of flame.

Creation’s dawn was deep in night When suddenly, “Let there be light!”Awakened grass, and flower, and tree, The starry skies, the earth, and sea; Then to complete Creation’s span In His own image, God made man, And signed His name, with stroke most sure:Man is God’s greatest signature!

—William L. Stidger

THAT ALL SACRED BOOKS,both among the Orientalists andOccidentalists, begin with acosmogony, has always been agreat mystery among all ortho-

dox theologians. They have been accus-tomed to regard this as purely arbitrary. Thisis because they have not the slightest idea ofthe cosmic basis of theology and religion.They think of the creation of the universalorder and of man as acts out of hand, and astwo separate and distinct creations, having nowell-defined connection. Being monotheists, theyhave no conception of “gods many and lordsmany,” as the great Master puts it, and that thesegods and lords were once men as you and I are. Itis this ignorance that has led them to form uniqueideas about the person of the Christ, as to hisessential divinity. They do not think of Him as hav-ing ever been a manin the sense they think of ordi-nary men; notwithstanding it is said of Him that Hewas made perfect by the things he suffered (Heb.2:10), just as all other people are perfected. Theyconfuse the Logos as the creative God with theAbsolute, the undifferentiated cause of all causes.This has led them to regard man as only humanand as becoming divine by a special act of Deity, agift out of hand—but how they cannot say. Thusthe whole orthodox theology, of all schools, is aconfusion, an inextricable riddle, based on meredogmas.

The logical conclusion to be drawn from the cre-ation accounts of all sacred books is palpable, andthat these books are not read logically is a greatmystery, and is attributable to sheer prejudice.Take, for example, the Bible account of these cre-

ations. “In the beginning God [the Elohim or cre-ative gods] created the heavens and the earth.”Then later on, “God [the gods] said: Let us makeman in our own image and likeness.” Of coursethis refers to man in his ultimate outcome, asElohim, as world creators; but it intimately associ-ates the macrocosm and the microcosm as one, thelatter the child or offspring of the former, and givesa cosmical foundation to all things.

There are seven Worlds or planes of existence:in the macrocosmic sphere, seven planes withinthe space occupied by our solar system; in themicrocosmic sphere, seven planes of existencewithin man. The planes or Worlds are graded inaccordance with the relative fineness of the oneprimordial substance of which they are constituted.The plane of the Absolute—which in fact is not aplane but the all-inclusive—is the source of thelower or outer planes and is not differentiated mat-ter but one continuous mass, the “seamless robe,”so to speak. It is absolutely unphenomenal spirit-substance. It is what the Kabbalists call the “AinSoph,” which means no thing; it is the “Crown,” atthe head of all, which has produced all, and gov-erns all. In this we see the law of correspondence

28 RAYS 01

Cosmic Theology

MYSTIC LIGHTD

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ibel in Bildern, Julius S

chnorr von Carolsfeld (1789-1853)

between the greater and the less, that which isabove and that which is below.

It used to be thought that space was a vacuum,and the translators of King James’version of theBible so regarded it, as they declared that beforecreation the earth was not only without form, butwas void as well, and this word void means a vac-uum. On the basis of this supposition theologiansheld that “out of nothing God created all things,” areally unthinkable idea. But with the discovery ofthe undulatory theory of light it became necessaryto postulate a substance of granulated structurethroughout space. Thus the atom, as a hypothesis,came into being. Among mystics the atom hasalways been recognized, but among materialisticscientists it is of modern discovery. The atom is thegeometric point, replete with life and all that lifeon all planes implies. In this discovery harmonywas established between the physical and themetaphysical spheres.

This creative substance is called the fiery ele-ment, or by modern scientists, the fiery mist.However, in its primal state, while it was yet undif-ferentiated, in the absolute state, it was the wateryelement—not common water as we know it, but itsquintessence, water etherialized to its highest stateof tenuosity. This accords with the Bible statement,“And the spirit of God moved upon [brooded over]the face of the waters.” And thus it has been saidthat all things have proceeded from water.

The first emanation from the Absolute wasLight, “And God said, Let there be light, and therewas light.” The universal agent, or expression ofDeity on the plane of the relative, is Light, the firstradiation of His countenance, the life-giving prin-ciple of Nature. In its manifestation it is the fieryelement.

The atom or geometric point was the first differ-entiation of the Absolute, the first step in the cre-ative process, without which the phenomenalwould have been impossible. It is the life principleof the universe, as well as its localized manifesta-tion. It is also the life principle and localized man-ifestation of man and all other living beings. Onelife runs through all, and that life is Divine, thoughmanifesting on planes below the essentially divine.As the basis of creation, the Kabbalists call this

point IOD, pronounced yod, with the long sound ofo. It is the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Allforms have dimension and extension, such aslength, breadth and thickness; but the point, thebasis of all, possesses no dimensions. It is a merepoint, infinitesimal in space. And yet, because it isthe basis of all forms, it possesses, synthetically,all forms within itself, from nebulous masses downto the most solid forms on the concrete plane. Itpossesses in potentia all that is in the metaphysicaland phenomenal worlds, embracing both formsand forces, things and laws governing them. In themicrocosmic sphere it refers to the germinal point,or seed, out of which the foetus develops into thechild, before it begins to develop in the matrix. Inthe sphere of the mind it represents the point ofconsciousness produced by the picture in the imag-ination of creative deity, whether it be God or man,of the creation to be, on any of the planes. It is thedivine Architect’s archetypal structure. On the partof the cosmic Deity it is the image of the wholecreation and all it embraces; on the part of the Egoin man, it is the image of his own body yet to beformed in the concrete. The point, therefore, repre-sents the sphere of archetypal forms, the first cre-ative day, the Saturn period of the earth.

In the creative process space was needed as theplayground of forms, the field of their operations,for this has always been but interstices betweenatoms. The most refined of the atoms, that whichpervades all space, being a point, is thus surround-ed and given latitude for its individual field ofaction. When the first life wave issued from theAbsolute, the atoms were set vibrating and polar-ized. Thus began motion, which is the second stepin creation, or the second creation principle. Thepoint possesses within itself, statically, all the cre-ative principles, as power, or force, discrimination,order, cohesion, fermentation, transmutation anddisintegration. In it are all the colors, appealing tosight; all sounds appealing to the ear; all tastes,appealing to the palate; all odors, appealing to thescent, and all sensation, appealing to the tactilesense. The entire gamut of planes is syntheticallyembraced in the atom, or point.

In the involution of spirit into matter, there arefive life waves—four apart from the first which

RAYS 01 29

gives the point—and these correspond with thefour first creative days. These life waves takentogether constitute the Great Breath, in both themacrocosm and microcosm, and of this they aremodifications. This Great Breath is that wavymotion which is the cause of the involution of cos-mic undifferentiated matter into the differentiateduniverse. By each life-wave spirit descends deeperand deeper into the vortex of concrete matter.Having reached an ordained nadir of materialinvolvement, spirits composing each life wavebegin the work of evolution, by which they gradu-ally return, with soul, to a primary state of nondif-ferentiation. And so on and on, out and in, the cre-ative work goes on forever.

But involution and evolution are oppositeprocesses, one is outward from the center, theother inward toward the center, just as is true inhuman outbreathing, or expiration, and inbreath-ing, or inspiration. The source of the Great Breath,(not origin, for it never originated but forever hasbeen operative) is God in the absolute sense, inWhom abides eternally absolute Self-conscious-ness, Self-knowledge and Self-mastery. “MyFather worketh hitherto, and I work,” said the greatMaster, and inasmuch as the primal movement isceaseless, the life waves are a necessity and cre-ation the logical result.

These life waves act both positively and nega-tively, experiencing a season of creative activityfollowed by a season of rest or outward quies-cence. This periodicity is illustrated on all planesand in all cycles. Our night and day illustrate it:during the day there is outward activity, at nightthere is rest and recuperation for the next day’sactivities. Winter and summer are the earth’s nightand day. The alternation of cultural dark ages andgolden eras is another time cycle. On all planes lifeand death are illustrations of this great law: lifebeing the period of activity for soul unfoldmentand death the period of rest and recuperation for anew incarnation. Thus the various planes are tra-versed and known during the evolution and invo-lution process. There is great significance in theBible statement of creation, “And there wasevening and there was morning, one day.” Neitherthe macrocosmic nor the microcosmic spheres

descend or ascend by uniform movement but bycycles and planes. Because the Sun is the greatlife-giver, and the Moon a form-giver, these twomovements are called respectively, “The Sunbreath,” and “The Moon breath.”

Periods of day and night, eternally followingeach other, merge into a condition pregnant withboth the positive and negative phases, when nei-ther force is active, though both exist in the poten-tial state. This also is a great law and manifests inboth the universal and the miniature, on all planesand in all cycles. The work of differentiation wasnot completed until there was a division of sexual-ity, symbolized by Eve taken out of Adam. The sexrelation is only a provisional arrangement, institut-ed as a means of generation on the gross physicalplane. As things are it was a necessity, but it shouldnever have descended to the plane of lust, which isthe plane of sin, lawlessness, death, disease, and allthe ills to which our race has ever been subjected.It expresses the “fall of our race.”

The work of redemption is brought aboutthrough regenerative living, by cultivating lifeabove lust, by the mastery of all low desires,including the “lust of flesh.” The result of theregenerative process is the restoration to the stateof equilibrium to oneness with the Father, to thedual-sex life or the androgynous state when Adampossessed Eve within himself and future Eve shallcontain Adam within herself. The great Mastersays “In heaven they neither marry nor are given inmarriage, but are as the angels.”

Now, the dual-sex state, in which man andwoman are separated, may be called the Day peri-od. Dying unto all desire may be called the Nightperiod. The outcome in the restoration of man andwoman to the androgynous state, when both sexeshave merged into one, but neither is prominent, isthe period of absolute rest, or absolute restoration.This law holds good in the minutest cycles as wellas in the greatest, and on all planes of life, fromvegetable through human, in the macrocosm andmicrocosm. Man is closely akin to all life belowand above him, and his line of unfoldment—firstdownward, then upward—is ever into the vortex,then up the spiral, forever cyclically. ❒

—George Weaver

30 RAYS 01

TAURUS

TAURUS, THE BULL, is an earthsign. The sun is in Taurus from 20April to 21 May. Venus is its rulingplanet. It is a negative sign, earth ingeneration. When the sun stands in this

house, new life emerges.I depicted the action, élan, and unchecked move-

ment of the positive first sign Aries; following onfrom that, I now show the passivity and suscepti-

bility typical of Taurus, the next sign. UnderTaurus, substance is moulded into matter, the basisof life. I have particularly tried to stress the fertile,luxuriant nature of the sign.

Under Taurus all is harmony and peace, due tothe ruling planet Venus. By falling asleep, Mars hassurrendered (1). I have provided Taurus with twosymbolical representations: one is the EgyptianApis,

and the other is Jupiter, in the bull form heassumed to carry off Europa. Here Europa isanother rep-resentat ionof Venus. Shehasa rich gir-dlearound herwaist (2) andholds up aburning lamp(3); these arethe ‘magic weapons’assignedto her in the Cabbala. She isdraped in a transparent greenveil to suggest the plant king-dom. I chose the bull Jupiterbecause the planet Jupiter alsorules growth in the plant world.

Venus wears a garland ofseven red roses (4). The rose isVenus’s flower, and there areseven because that is the num-ber of Venus (Netsah) in herposition as seventh sephira onthe cabbalistic tree of life. Thisis also why the sign of Taurus(middle bottom) is shown as aseven-pointed star (5), formingthe heart of a heraldic rose.The planet Venus, the morningstar, shines over the goddess’shead (6).

Amor, or Eros, child to Venusand Mars, flies through the airleading two white doves, thebirds consecrated to Venus (7). This child is the

RAYS 01 31

Johfra and the Signs of the ZodiacTaurus and Gemini

ASTROLOGY

This is the fourth in a series of articles on the twelve signs ofthe zodiac as conceived and painted by the Dutch artistJohfra, coupled with his personal commentary. Johfra,recently deceased, studied the Rosicrucian teachings. Thanksto this association, his wife, Ellen Lorien, has graciouslygranted the Rayspermission to reprint his artwork and text.

1

5

141

151

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32 RAYS 01

RAYS 01 33

ruler of love, being the result of a harmoniousinterplay between oppositely placed poles.

The second Tarot card is in the background: thehigh priestess Isis, who belongs to the sign ofTaurus (8). Because of her death and rebirth, sherepresents the veiled mystery of nature. She bearsa triple crown, showing the moon in her waxing,full, and waning phases, growth being influencedby the moon. This also explains the crescent moonat her feet. She sits in an alcove throne; the tympa-num rests on the two cabbalistic pillars: the redmarble positive pillar of force or strength, Jachin,on the right, and the black marble negative pillar ofform, Boaz, on the left. The tympanum balancesand connects the two principles.

There is a symmetrical cross on the high priest-ess’breast, which represents the four elements thatare the basis of material revelation. Thescroll on her lap, partly hidden by herclothes, is the Torah, the law, which atthis stage of development cannot yetbe completely penetrated.

Those born under the sign of Taurushave a special love for all earthlythings. They also have a sense forharmony and beauty in nature and art.This was the guiding principle behind thedecoration of the frame which is composed ofsumptuous rococo cartouches made of copper,the metal ofVenus. Into this frame I worked thefollowing magical signatures of various aspects ofVenus. Starting from the left-hand side, from top tobottom, they are: the planetary seal (9); under thatthe seal of the planetary intelligence Hagiel (10).Then comes the seal of the planetary spiritKedemel (11), and under that the astrological sig-nature of Venus (12).

In the top right-hand corner is the seal of theOlympic planetary spirit Hagith (13). Under thatthe godly letters of Venus (14), and then the seal ofthe order of angels belonging to this planet, thePrincipalities (15); next, below that the signatureof Asmodel, the angel of Venus and inhabitant ofthe house of Taurus (16); then, another signature ofAsmodel (17), this time as angel ruling over themonth of May, in the same cartouche as the bottom-most signature of Anael, another ruler of May (18).

GEMINI

GEMINI, THE TWINS, is a positive sign, air ingeneration. The sun standsin Gemini at theend of May, the bloom month, when new

life, created in March, flowers in full. Mercury isthe ruling planet.

Continuing on from the idea that Aries bringsthe initial power that is then given form in Taurus,I have placed the accent in the third sign on itsdualism. The problem of this dualism I have takenas the main motif in my depiction of the sign. Geminiis ruled by the growing consciousness of the rela-tionship between the self and the non-self and theinterplay of opposing poles in the cosmos. The prob-lem is how to achieve union through interchange.

Hence, the symmetrical construction of the paint-ing. All positive elements—on every level, as

much macro- as micro-cosmic—are on theright, and all the negative on the left. The

dualism between the poles resolvesitself in a bridge leading to one union.The colours were also chosen with thisin mind. Red is positive, blue nega-tive, and the union between them a

golden yellow (the colour of higherinsight). The background is purple, a mix-

ture of the red and the blue. The golden cloudsshow the element of air under which this sign falls.

The two pillars from Solomon’s temple alsoappear in this painting. The red pillar Jachin iscrowned by a budding staff, symbolizing fire; thefirst suit of the Tarot pack is also staffs (1). The sun,bringer of strength and life, radiates out above it.

The left-hand, feminine pillar, Boaz, bears asilver goblet in which to receive the powers of thesun (goblets, or cups, are the symbol for water inTarot) (2). The moon shines above it, reflecting thepower of the sun. At the microcosmic level, theseopposing principles are embodied in the perfectman and the perfect woman. He points to theheavens and she to the earth, so uniting theirhuman natures (‘as above, so below’).

With their other hands they hold the staff ofMercury, the caduceus. This emblem of the rulingplanet has pride of place because of the importanceof Mercury to this sign. The symbolic form of thestaff encompasses the same basic idea. The polar

34 RAYS 01

powers are represented by the two snakes, whichfind harmonious resolution in the golden centralstaff. The staff is crowned by a winged mirror,

because Mercury, or Hermes, rules over this intel-lectual faculty, which is ‘like a mirror that reflectsall things, while itself remaining clear and motion-less’ (3). That is why our Mercury principle has,through our intellectual faculty, evolved to wis-dom, so that all opposites can harmoniously beunited. Quick as thought, Hermes is the wingedmessenger, the mediator. He is also the Psycho-pompus, the Guide of Souls, who accompanies thedead to the other side.

A lion and unicorn lie in the foreground,another illustration of the opposingprinciples. The lion embodies godlylove as descending power, while theunicorn suggests the pure virginity ofthe receiving primordial substance.In ancient India the sign of Geminiwas often represented as a lion and aunicorn guarding the gate to theHoly City where the ‘King of Powerand Beauty’resides.

Between them, a dog-faced baboon,the cynocephalus, sits on a circle thatsuggests union. The baboon is usedhere as double symbol. In Egypt, it was the per-sonification of Thoth, the god of wisdom andknowledge, the equivalent of the Greek Hermesand the Roman Mercury. He is also represented hereas the lower analytic intelligence (which ‘apes’).Heis the scientific investigator, measuring the worldwith his dividers, a symbol used as far back as theMiddle Ages for the human personality.

He sits on the sign of Gemini, which is con-tained in a figure consisting of a positive (red) andnegative (blue) square, which together form an

octagon: in the cabbalistic tree oflife, Mercury is assigned to Hod, theeighth Sephira, so his number iseight (4).

Two Tarot cards are seen, one foreach pillar, that are usually associat-ed with the sign of Gemini. On theright is the Fool, the nil card of thegreater arcana. A young soul joyfullyand fearlessly sets out upon his pathof life into the incarnation. The trav-elling staff is his will. (5) The knap-

sack hanging from it (6) is to contain the experi-ences he collects in life. He is richly clothed andfull of good cheer. The rose in his hand (7) repre-sents his eternal spark of divine inspiration. Hestands for the first task, and now will have tochoose with care in his confrontation with dualism.

Temperance is at the foot of the left pillar. She isthe mature soul who has learned the lessons of thissign, and she pours a suitable proportion of thestrength or power of the sun into the moon goblet(8). There is an emblem on her breast, a red trian-

gle in a blue square, which represents the polarpowers joined in harmony (9). The golden sun,symbol of higher knowledge, radiates out from herforehead (10). She has wings, to show that she hasbeen raised above earthly things (11). She is theSophia, Divine Wisdom. This Sophia refers to theresolution of dualism, which takes up all the upperpart of the painting, where I have followed one of

RAYS 01 35

the essentials of alchemy: the conjunction of oppo-sites. The pillars finish in two alchemical dragons,which represent the various cosmic principles ofpolarized power. They retain their respective colorsup to the point where their necks entwine, when anintense exchange of powers takes place, in whichboth red and blue become a radiant golden yellow(the colour of insight, the higher Mercury) (12).The Androgyne, the mythical dual being, in whichthe masculine and feminine merge to form a per-fect human, rises from the fire like a phoenix (13).

This resolution of all human dualism is the deep-est mystery and highest goal of alchemy. TheAndrogyne is also represented as a double-headedeagle (a heraldic symbol) (14). Masonic symbolshave been used to show that the actions of the per-fect human being encompass both of its poles: acompass, for the aspect of strength (15) and thecarpenter’s square, for the aspect of form (16).

Now, on to the magical seals taken from thehierarchy of angels and other astral beings that fallunder Mercury. Starting at the top of the frame,

going from left to right, they are: the planetary sealof the angel Ophiel (17); centre top, the signatureof the archangel of Mercury, Raphael (18), and,next to that, the seal of the Olympic planetaryspirits of Mercury (19).

Just under the red dragon’s belly can be seen theseal of the planetary spirits that are subordinate to theangel Ophiel (20), and under the blue dragon’s bellythe signature of the planetary intelligence Tiriel (21).

Since Mercury represents thought, a neutral fac-ulty that is used in everything, one can talk of ahigher and a lower Mercury. Thus, in ancient times,Mercury was considered the god of wisdom andknowledge every bit as much as the god of merchants,liars,and thieves. (Mercury stole Apollo’s bullocks.)One of the most important processes in the GreatWork of alchemy, the sublimation of quicksilver ormercury, represents the process of the ennoblementof thought. The result was known as MercuriusSublimatus in alchemy and is referred toin varioussecret signs; six of these I have drawn oneither sideof the central staff of Mercury (22). (Continued) ❒

36 RAYS 01

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THE STORY OF THE DIOSCURI,the twins in classical Greek mytholo-gy, contains a number of principlesfruitful to spiritual pondering. In thestory, Castor, the mortal twin of human

parentage, dies during a battle, transfixed to a treeby a spear. Polydeuces (or Pollux), the immortaltwin, grief-stricken at the loss of his beloved broth-er, pleads to his father, the god Zeus, that he willforego his immortality if he cannot share it withCastor. Zeus is faced with a dilemma. He does notwish to challenge a decreed fate or his brotherHades, lord of the underworld, nor lose the joy ofsuch a son. So he allows each twin to spend alter-nate days in the underworld and the upper air. Infurther testimony to brotherly love he places theirimages in the stars as the twins arm in arm. Bothshare death and immortality. The twins’ curiousparentage merits meditation, but our attention hereis drawn to the significance of their alternationbetween life and death.

The principle of alternation is among the mostfundamental in the cosmos. Bulwer-Lytton in hiseloquent spiritual novel Zanoni, observes that werethere complete equality in the world there wouldbe no change, no development, no improvement.Were divinity to remain in undifferentiated unitythere would be no creation, no evolution. So, oneof the first acts of creation is a polar differentiationwithin unity into spirit and matter, heaven andearth, actual and potential, will and imagination,life and form, and, of course, Father and Mother—all essential attributes of the primordial polarity.As a dream bridges the actual and the potential, so

unity lies between and within duality, even afterdifferentiation. Polar attraction is a consequence ofunity within duality and as a result, attention isdrawn alternately from pole to pole. From thealternation of attention between poles all new wak-ing consciousness is born; i.e. consciousness is the

RAYS 01 37

Gemini and the Children of Alternation

ASTROLOGY

Aurora Consurgens, early 16th century, Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris

All polarities emanate from and return to Unity. The duality ofGemini and the other mutable signs fosters a variety of expe-riences that feed the unitary Spirit. The androgynous alchemi-cal figure represents the bipolar (will and imagination) humanEgo, which embodies alternately in male and female form.

child of the union of the divine Father and Mother.All evolutionary accomplishment is the result ofcycling alternately between various poles. All cre-ative epigenesis comes from individual applicationto involution and evolution.

In human activity, this principle manifests inmany ways. Through the cycle of many successiverebirths and resurrections we pass back and forththrough the realms of matter and spirit, becomingmore self-conscious with each alternation. Now inthe world of form, then in the world of meaning,the creative consciousness gradually dawns. Onefacet of alternation, distinction, is beautifullydemonstrated in this process.

When the spirit is reborn intothe physical plane it usuallyalternates as male and female.The distinct, separative natureof the external world is per-ceived through the distinctivemasculine or feminine experi-ence wherein we appreciate aspecial point of view, balancedand compensated by the ever-attractive oppositepole. When something is carried to its polarextreme it is experienced and known in its pureststate. This process is realized physically when wetone our bodies via alternate steam baths and icewater dips and more subtly through the gradualalternating experience of summer and winter.

While alternation leads to knowledge and appre-ciation of distinct states of being and their oppo-sites, it also unfolds the relationship of change andconsciousness. Walking through a forest, webecome aware of the nuances of light and shapeand color, but when we stop and remain still andsilent we become aware of the life of the forest.Eventually, through continuous alternations,changes, and adaptations, the still, silent fact ofconsciousness itself dawns on us as a constant. Allwaking consciousness is born through alternationand change. Rosicrucian philosophy is more pre-cise and teaches that consciousness is born of thestruggle between active desire for change andour preservative instinct for constant, steady life.If consciousness is realized through change, thenby shifting attention from the change to the

consciousness itself one becomes self-conscious.Realization of our individual free agency as con-scious beings within divinity is thus born.

In philosophy and politics another facet of theprinciple is expressed. There really are few newphilosophical questions or positions, or even polit-ical stances. There always are nominalists andrealists, idealists and materialists and, in politics,the liberals and the conservatives—with the tide ofadvantage constantly shifting back and forthbetween them. Despite the constancy, neither phi-losophy nor politics is monotonous because thereis always progress. Confronted with the advan-

tages of opposing ideas of thepreceding generation, contem-porary philosophers carry thequestion farther by allowing forprevious arguments and meet-ing them with new sophistica-tions in thought, building on thepast. Everywhere in the contin-uum of time the principle ofalternation leads to progress of

one sort or another.In scientific realms we observe this principle

from the leafing of plants to AC electricity, whichboth improves and enslaves our mode of living.But nowhere is it more classically illustrated thanin the function of the human lungs. Through alter-nate inhalations and exhalations we are revivedwith fresh oxygen and relieved of stale carbondioxide. Even our consciousness in the physicalbody is changed by the alternating oxygenationand carbonation of the blood, as we can see in theextremes of gasping and sighing. It is a miracleworthy of adoration.

Numerous manifestations of alternation arethere for our discovery in the process of self-devel-opment and service. However, the fact that alter-nation, like almost every other principle, can bemisused should also be examined briefly.

We can become so mesmerized by the alterna-tions that we ignore the awakening to general con-sciousness or self-consciousness. Here is the phe-nomenalist who never asks the whys and thewherefores. It is possible to escape into change andbecome a faddist and ignore the responsibility of

38 RAYS 01

Architectural Print (detail) from Speculum Romanae, 1584

Dioscuri at the Quirinal, Rome

self-development, or become indecisively sus-pended in oscillation and be neutralized inprogress. One can psychologically hyperventilatefrom too much alternation. These misapplications,like the positive uses of the principle, are as multi-ple as human creativity allows.

In the cosmic mandala, Gemini, the first mutablesign, most basically and intensely expresses theprinciple of change and alternation. Gemini’s loca-tion in the horoscope indicates where in life theprinciple tends to be most active.

Gemini on the cusp of the 9th house may indi-cate a religious nature best developed or satisfiedby viewing divinity in alternately male and femalecreative aspects, as Father and Mother. On the 2ndhouse cusp, it may indicate alternatives in invest-ment as a means of loosening up the potentiallystiff personality, changing sources of materials ornecessitate alternating the materials themselves toremain solvent. Gemini on the 6th might mean thatcontrol of breath is essential to health. On the cuspof the 5th, it could mean vacillation in child rear-ing where steady honesty is needed; or, on the 7thcusp, misapplied, a situation where alternation andvariety are socially and morally inappropriate.

Mercury, messenger of the gods, is the apt rulerof this sign. As primary significator of the concretemind, Mercury in Gemini demonstrates the classicneutrality of seeking out the truth by looking intoboth sides of the matter. It shows ability to devel-op a line of thought dialectically and a mind thatmight appreciate both the truth and its shadow.

Jupiter in Gemini indicates a propensity toideate from opposing sets of facts but difficulty intranscending them. Venus must have an object forher love and finds alternation discomforting if notdisgraceful, though she will beautify its progres-sive delineations and smooth over its arguments.

In the astrological mandala, Gemini coincideswith the 3rd house, and the principle of alternationfinds optimal expression in one signification ofthat house—communication. We know that lettershave to alternate to be successful communication.But we seem to forget that when we engage in con-versation and go off on our “meaningful” mono-logues.

The 3rd house indicates communication, not

expression (found in the 5th house). Brief, clear,alternating statements make the most direct andrelevant communications as heard in the archetyp-al radio dispatch. Conversely, the prolix story-telling propensities of the opposite sign, Sagittarius,are out of place in this house (the idealism need notbe). At the other extreme, taciturn Capricorn orSaturn in the 3rd house may extinguish communi-cation, often due to insecurity or fear. Cancer com-municates well through pictures or feelings;Taurus may get bound up in clichés, and so on.Possible manifestations of the principle of alterna-tion and the art of communication are infinite andit is a challenge to the creative imagination andintuition of the astrologer to find those relevant tothe horoscope and needs at hand. ❐

—J. Crane

RAYS 01 39

APART FROM ME...

Apart from me

There is neither wisdom,

Nor knowledge, nor understanding.

Into every state of knowledge do I enter,

Into false knowledge as well as into true,

So that I am not less the ignorance of the

deluded

Than the wisdom of the sage.

For what thou callest ignorance and folly

Is my pure knowing,

Imperfectly expressed

Through an uncompleted image

Of my divine perfection.

Woe unto them

Who condemn these my works unfinished!

Behold, they who presume to judge

Are themselves incomplete.

Through many a fiery trial of sorrow

Must they pass

Ere the clear beauty of my wisdom

May shine from out their hearts,

Like unto a light

Burning in a lamp of alabaster.

—Paul Foster Case

From The Book of Tobias

HAVE YOU EVER LOOKEDthrough a kaleidoscope at the pat-terns formed there by the many littlepieces of varicolored glass, andnoticed how the slightest distur-

bance of the position changes the pattern? Also, doyou realize that it would be impossible, or almostso, to duplicate any pattern, no matter how muchyou were to turn; there is such a variety of effect.Similarly, when you look into the heavens nightafter night, you will notice changes among theplanets; in fact, such is the variety of changes thatoccur among them that it would be impossible toduplicate the position which they hold relative toone another while you are reading this, for almosttwenty-six thousand years.

Thus, in the planetary kaleidoscope there is, wemight say, an infinity of patterns. When we realizethat human beings are entering the world constant-ly and that each being is stamped at the firstcomplete breath with the planetary pattern then inthe sky, each one must necessarily be differentfrom everyone else.

Nor should this statement about stellar influencecreate doubt when we consider that wireless wavesof different lengths and different pitch sent outfrom a tiny man-made contrivance can make them-selves felt and can register by mechanical opera-tions involving expenditure of energy thousands ofmiles from their source.

The planetary vibrations from those great orbs inthe heavens make themselves felt millions of milesaway as surely, as easily, and with equal uncertain-ty. We know that the angle of the solar ray deter-

mines whether it is winter or summer. We alsoknow the effect of the Moon upon the waters, andit is within the experience of all that we feel morebuoyant when the atmosphere is clear and dry thanwhen it is moist and murky. And what determinesthese atmospheric conditions but the planets, thecircling stars?

When we look up at this planetary kaleidoscopefrom time to time we see in the heavens variousconfigurations, which are pronounced lucky orunlucky, according to whether they are formedbetween so-called benefics alone, such as Venus,Jupiter and the Sun, or planets said to be malefic,such as Saturn, Mars or Uranus. When Jupiter andVenus are in close conjunction near the mid-heav-en, it is a foregone conclusion that those who comeinto the world under this configuration will enjoya measure of good fortune far above the average,and such persons would therefore be considered

40 RAYS 01

Were You Born Undera Lucky Star?

ASTROLOGYN

asa

"lucky" in the extreme. On the other hand there aretimes when Saturn and Mars occupy the zenithposition for souls that are born to suffer.

But why should one suffer and another be bornunder a lucky star? Why do the stars give good for-tune to one and misfortune to others. If we are bornto "luck," whether good or bad, what is the use orwhere is the incentive to individual effort?

If there is a law of nature which is establishedbeyond doubt, it is surely the law of Cause andEffect. Every cause mustproduce an adequateeffect and nothing whichwe see as an effect can bewithout a pre-existingcause. Moreover, if thisis a universal law, it mustapply to the conditions ofbirth as well as to subse-quent life.

Following up this idea,the next question is: Ifour birth under a lucky orunlucky star is the effect of some prior cause, whatmay that be, or where and how was that cause gen-erated? To that there can be only one answer—thatwe must have made the causes in some previousexistence, which now result in our birth under alucky or an unlucky star.

Thus, by induction, a belief in Astrology requiresalso a belief in a previous existence, as well as infuture lives, for while we are now reaping in ourhoroscopes the effects of our past lives, we are alsoby our acts laying the foundations for a new horo-scope which can only be worked out in a future life.

How closely luck is linked to meritDoes never to the fool occur;Had he the wise man's stone, I swear it,The stone had no philosopher,

said Mephisto sarcastically in [Goethe’s] Faust,and it is true. If we are born under a lucky star, itshows that we have earned good fortune thereby,indicated by forethought, kindness, and our othervirtues expressed in previous lives; for we cannothave friends unless we are friendly ourselves. If

we happen to have Saturn and Mars, instead ofVenus and Jupiter, near zenith, it shows that in thepast we ourselves have not been kindly and friend-ly or we could not now express the opposite traits.But this is just the point where the study ofAstrology should help us. It shows our limitationsfor the present and it points out the obvious reme-dies and how to build for the future.

Can the leopard change its skin? No. Can thelion cease to prey? Absolutely impossible. Can the

flower cease to bloom orthe mineral to crystallize?Certainly not; becausethey are under lawswhich are as unchange-able as the laws of theMedes and Persians. Theyhave neither choice norprerogative but must obeythe dictates of the groupspirit which guides themalong their path of evolu-

tion. But in this respectwe differ radically from those lower kingdoms; wehave both choice and prerogative. We may dowhatsoever we will,and that is a factor which isnever shown in the horoscope, a factor that may bemade to play an all important role in every life.

It is not enough to be born under a lucky star tohave a lucky life, for the horoscope shows only thetendencies, and the person who is so well endowedwill, without question, have an abundance ofopportunities to make his life fortunate in the veryhighest degree. But only insofar as he exerts him-self to grasp opportunityon the wing will thatwhich is foreshadowed in his horoscope come topass. And similarly with the person who is afflictedby the conjunction of two malefics in the mid-heaven, or anywhere else in the horoscope. By hiswill, and the exercise of choice, which are hisdivine birthrights, he may rule his stars and makeof the unlucky horoscope a fruitful life from a farhigher standpoint than the other.

The bark that has been tossed by the tempestharbors a joy when the haven of safety is reachedthat is not equaled on the ship that has alwayssailed on smiling seas.

RAYS 01 41

Only insofar as one,through will and free

choice, exerts himself tograsp opportunity on the

wing will that which isforeshadowed in his

horoscope come to pass.

Who never ate his bread in sorrow, Who never passed the midnight hours Weeping, waiting for the morrow, He knows not yet ye heavenly powers.

From the higher standpoint, those who are livingin the lap of luxury are to be pitied when theirlucky stars give them all the good things of thisworld and cause them to forget that they are stew-ards, and that the day is coming when their soulsshall be required of them with an account of theirstewardship. They shall then be forced to confessthat they have failed to use the substance entrustedto them in the proper manner; while others, underthe strain and stress of life, expressed by the horo-scopical squares and oppositions, have wrung fromtheir unlucky stars a measure of victory.

What wonder then if the King's messengers, thecircling stars, take from the unfaithful steward thatwhich he had and give to the other, changing thelatter's adversity to prosperity in later lives. Thus,

the pendulum of luck and loss, success and failure,swings through many lives, till we learn to makeour own "luck" by ruling our stars.

A god can love without cessation,But under laws of alteration We mortals need, in changing measure, Our share of pain as well as pleasure.

And it is this necessity for change that is minis-tered unto us by the circling stars, which form con-figurations that we call good or evil, though theyare neither from a higher standpoint. For no matterhow good the horoscope, by progression of thestars evil configurations are sure to come, and nomatter how evil, there are always new opportuni-ties for good given by aspects of the Sun, Venus,and Jupiter to our planets at birth. All that we haveto do is to grasp the opportunity, and help ourstars, that our stars may help us. ❐

—Max Heindel

42 RAYS 01

Astro-Diagnosis—A Guide to Healing

by Max Heindel and Augusta Foss Heindel

A treatise on medical astrology and the diagnosisof disease from the natal horoscope.

Astro-diagnosis is the science and art of obtaining scientificknowledge regarding disease and its causes and the means ofovercoming it as shown by the planets.

Ninth Edition. 446 pages. Indexed. Paper. Order on page 64. Published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship.

● A recognized classic in its field, this volume is essential to students of the stellar sciencewho are engaged in healing or nursing, whether they are attached to the orthodox med-ical school or to the nature-cure school.

● Based on thirty years of intensive research, study, and practical experience by theauthors. Special section: How the Rosicrucians Heal the Sick.

● Complete delineations of 94 example horoscopes from the authors’ files.

ONE OF THE MOST difficult prob-lems which confront the leader of aspiritual movement is the impatienceof students who want to reap wherethey have not sown. They are not

patient enough to wait for the harvest, but wantresults immediately, and if they do not sproutwings within a specified time set by themselves,they are ready to cry “fraud” and seek an “individ-ual teacher,” visible or invisible. So long as he will“guarantee” results, they are prepared to throwcommon sense to the winds and follow him blind-ly, though he may lead them to the insane asylumor to a consumptives’grave, or, in the cases ofthose who get off the easiest, simply separate themfrom some of their cash.

This condition has been dealt with before in let-ters to students, but there are always some whoforget and new students are constantly being addedto the class; therefore, it is necessary to reiterateimportant points from time to time.

Hearing recently of one who left a certain centerfor an “individual teacher,” and who seems on thataccount to be envied in a measure by others of thegroup who have not been so fortunate (?), it seemsexpedient to go into the matter again.

Have you ever seen any institution, from kinder-garten to college, where they keep a teacher forevery pupil? We have not. No board of educationwould sanction such a waste of energy, nor wouldthey appoint an individual teacher for anyone sim-ply because that pupil was impatient and wanted toget through school “quick.”

And finally, even if a board could be found will-ing to appoint a teacher in a special case whowould “cram” knowledge into the pupil’s brain,there would be a great danger of brain fever,insanity, and maybe death in that method. If this is

true in schools of physical science, how can any-one believe that it can be different with regard tospiritual science?

Christ said to His disciples: “If I have told youearthly things, and ye believe not, how shall yebelieve, if I tell you of heavenly things?” No“individual teacher,” if such there were, can initiateanyone into the mysteries of the soul until the pupilis prepared by his or her own work. Whoeverprofesses to do so brands himself as an impostor ofa low order.

And whoever allows himself to be so dupedshows very little common sense; otherwise, hewould realize that no truly highly evolved teachercould afford to give his time and energy to theinstruction of a single pupil, when he might just aseasily teach a large number.

Imagine, if you can, the twelve great Brothers ofthe Rose Cross, each tagging around after onepuny pupil! The thought is a sacrilege. Such trulygreat and highly evolved men have other and moreimportant things to attend to, and even the laybrothers who have been initiated by them are notallowed to bother them for small and unimportantmatters.

It may, therefore, be stated emphatically that theElder Brothers do not habitually visit any one inthe Rosicrucian Fellowship, or out of it, as an“indi-vidual teacher,” and whoever thinks so is beingdeceived. They have given certain teachings whichform the basis of instruction in this school, and bylearning how to live this silence of the soul, wemay in time fit ourselves to meet them face to face in theschool of Invisible Helpers. There is no other way.

I trust that this may fix the idea more firmly inyour own mind than it has been before, and giveyou a basis for setting others right who are indanger of being side-tracked. ❒

RAYS 01 43

Spiritual Teachers—True and False

FROM MAX HEINDEL’S WRITINGS

HOW PLANETARY FORCES AFFECT MANKIND

QUESTION: Somewhere in your lit-erature I have read about the forcesof the Sun entering the human bodythrough the crown of the head andthe forces of the planets entering itthrough the forehead. Will you

please give me, the correct information on thissubject, including the effect of these forces onhumanity? Answer: The forces of the solar ray enter the phys-ical body at the center of the forehead just abovethe eyes. The planetary rays, with the exception ofthe Moon, enter the body by way of the brain andspinal cord. The lunar ray enters through the gate-way of the spleen.

It is interesting to know that the direct Sun-rayforces produce spiritual illumination. The forcesreceived by way of the planets give added con-sciousness, moral development, and soul growth;and those which reach us by way of the Moonresult in physical growth.

The solar, stellar, and lunar rays are three-colored: blue, yellow, and red. The blue ray carriesthe life force of the Father. The yellow beam con-tains the life force of the Son, and the red ray bearsthe life force of the Holy Spirit. Each human beingcan absorb only a certain quantity of one or moreof these colors according to the general stage of hisor her evolution. Therefore each individual is dif-ferently affected by the various life forces func-tioning through the star rays.

ALCHEMY AND THE GARDEN OF EDEN

Question: Is there any connection between the

biblical Garden of Eden and the laboratory of thealchemists, the spinal cord? Did the Garden ofEden have any actual physical existence in anyparticular part of the world?Answer: The Garden of Eden did, indeed, actuallyexist. It was the etheric region of our physicalEarth, and mankind dwelt there. This was in thetime known in the Rosicrucian Teachings as theLemurian Epoch. At that time man was not fullyaware of his dense body, and his consciousnesswas focused almost entirely in the spiritual world,particularly in the etheric region. He was banishedfrom that region (i.e., his consciousness wasfocused in the dense world) because of his contactwith the Lucifer Spirits, who taught him how toexercise the creative function independently of theAngels and in that way provide new bodies at will,and also lest he learn the secret of vitalizing hisvital body at will and thus frustrate evolution.

The work of the alchemists in the spinal cord isentirely different. This work consists of thealchemical process of kindling and lifting upthrough the spinal cord to the head that part of thecreative force now being used for the generation of

44 RAYS 01

Planetary Forces;Etheric Eden; Retreat;

Rosicrucian vs Orthodox

READERS’ QUESTIONS

Oil on canvas, reprinted courtesy of the artist, Arthur Douët

Life After LifeThe Rosicrucians teach that the purpose of material existenceis the acquisition of experience (through repeated earthlyembodiments) which nourishes the human spirit fromnescience to omniscience—from impotence to omnipotence.

bodies. When this force reaches the head it willunite with the other half of the creative force,which in the past was lifted up to build a brain anda larynx. When this is accomplished man will beable to speak the creative word, imbued with lifeand vibrant with vital energy. He will possess anetheric organ within the head and throat, an organbeing built by service which will enable him toinfuse vitality into inert substance.

A GOOD RETREAT

Question: Do you know of a place, a home orretreat where one may go to live this beautiful,simple and harmless life you are advocating?Answer: No, we do not know of any home, and ifa home were founded for that purpose, we shouldfeel very sorry for its inmates. If we have a hightemper and go into the mountains to live as recluseswhere there are no people to rile our sensibilities,it is small credit to us that we do not become impa-tient with others. If we find it difficult to overcomeour vices or faults in the city, and go into the wildswhere those temptations do not exist, small is ourcredit for not yielding. We have been placed incities and among our fellows in order that weshould accustom and accommodate ourselves tothem, and learn to keep our tempers despite anyriling—learn to shun temptations where they exist.One may be in the mountains and his heart in thecity, or he may immure himself in a monastery andyet be longing for the pleasures of the world. It isbest to stay in the place where we are found andthere develop the spiritual qualities that shall makeus better men and women. There is work to bedone in the world, and if we fly from the world,how shall we do it? We have a responsibility to ourfellowmen. Unless we discharge that responsibili-ty we are shirking our duty, and fate will bring usback in such an environment that we cannotescape. Therefore, it is better to aim to learn all thelessons that are at our hands instead of runningaway from them.

ROSICRUCIAN VS ORTHODOX TEACHINGS

Question: What is the essential difference betweenthe teachings of the Rosicrucian Philosophy andthe orthodox church?

Answer: There are many, but perhaps the principalone is the teaching of orthodoxy that at each birtha newly created soul enters material existencefresh from the hand of God, that it lives here in amaterial body for a longer or shorter span of timeand then passes out by death into the invisiblebeyond, there to remain for all eternity in a state ofhappiness or misery according to what it did whilehere in the body.The Rosicrucian teaching is that each soul is anintegral part of God, which is seeking to gain expe-rience by repeated existences in gradually improv-ing material bodies and that therefore, it passesinto and out of material existences many times;that each time it gathers a little more experiencethan it previously possessed and in time is nour-ished from nescience to omniscience—from impo-tence to omnipotence—by means of these experi-ences.

Our sense of justice revolts against a teachingwhich sends one soul into a home of culture and anoble family where it has the advantage of wealth,where moral teachings are implanted in the grow-ing child, but sends another into the slums, itsfather a thief and the mother, perhaps, immoral,and where its teachings consist in lying, stealing,etc. If here only once, all should have the samechance if they are to be judged by the same laws,and we know that no two people have the sameexperiences in life. We know that where one meetsmany temptations, another lives comparativelyuntouched by the storms of life.

Therefore, when one soul is placed in a moralenvironment and another, in immoral surround-ings, it is not right to send the one to a heaven ofenjoyment and eternal bliss for doing the right hecould not help doing, nor is it just to send the otherto a hell for stealing and robbing when the envi-ronment and the conditions into which he wasthrown were such that he could not help himself.

Therefore, the Rosicrucian teaching holds thatwe come into whatever place is best fitted for us byour previous experiences in former lives, and thatwe get just what we deserve in all cases; that allexperiences which come to us are just what weneed to give us the appropriate impetus for ournext step in unfoldment. ❒

RAYS 01 45

THERE IS A PLANETARY entitywhich is built by the thoughts anddeeds of humanity. As man finds thepath of redemption through chastity, thebody of Earth is correspondingly puri-

fied and refined. The Earth’s ultimate destiny is tobecome a ball of light floating in a sea of goldenether. The “redemption” of the Earth, its future sta-tus, position, and function, constitutes part of thework belonging to the exalted ninth degree of theLesser Mysteries. This degree is celebrated onMidwinter and Midsummer nights; in fact, it is notpossible to observe the celebration at any othertime. The solstice marks the time when the Earth’svibration is highest and when the cosmic rays of theChrist Life are either entering or being withdrawnfrom it—the former occurring at the Winter Solsticeand the latter at the Summer Solstice.

Christ, the Grand Hierophant of these Mysteries,after having called the Twelve, gave His Mysterieson Midsummer Day as the foundation work of theNew Age religion, the fragments of which weregathered together in the Sermon on the Mount. TheGreat Work was permeated with the spirit of love,unity, and harmony which emanates from the homeworld of the Christ. Consequently to such as havenot touched the Christ world of unified conscious-ness, the Sermon on the Mount seems illogical, sen-timental, and impractical. But to such as have con-tacted the Christ realm it strikes the very keynote ofthe true Christian dispensation.

And seeing the multitude, he went up into amountain; and when he was set, his disciples cameunto him; and he opened his mouth and taughtthem.—Matthew 5:1-2

“He went up into a mountain.” This was the

mountain of spiritual consciousness, the innerplanes where are located all the Mystery Temples.Churches, schools, study groups—organizations ofany kind on the physical plane—are but preparatoryagencies which aim to fit disciples for entry into thedeeper spiritual work. The spiritual work itself,however, lies beyond their scope. No man becomesan Initiate by merely joining this or that body; butwhen he has prepared himself properly an esotericteacher or emissary from a Mystery Templeapproaches him. At this point he may be said tohave “graduated” from the preparatory agency.

He is not yet an Initiate though he has been calledout by his esoteric teacher; he has, so to speak,matriculated in the University of Spirit where thecourse of work occupies thousands of years anduncounted lifetimes. Through continued work heeventually qualifies for Initiation.

In the Christ story this is the time when the disci-ple follows the Master up into the mountain. Thebody is no longer a prison house. He is free to workwith the Christ on the inner planes, as a youngerbrother may work with an elder one who instructshim and supervises his labors. Such inner-planework given to pioneers of one age becomes theestablished religion for the massesof the succeedingage. Thus, through spiritual evolution or progres-sion, God is constantly revealing wider and largervistas of His plan for the ultimate destiny of man.

All of the most important works of the Masterbear both an inner and an outer significance. Themasses were not ready for the inner meanings of theSermon on the Mount; they are not even now ableto receive it with the heart. Only intellectually doesthe twentieth century man accede to its precepts. ❐

—Corinne Heline

46 RAYS 01

The Mystery of the Summer Solstice

WESTERN WISDOM BIBLE TEACHINGS

BIRTH AND DEATH, two of life’sgreat mysteries, are under assault byhumans who seek, it would seem, toimprove on God’s plan for his chil-dren, originally made in His image.

To improve on the way humans exit physicallife, the proposal from some quarters is that a“kinder, gentler death” can be managed bycompassionate caretakers of ill or permanentlypain-wracked persons by allowing them, or, moretroublesome, their custodians (relatives, concernedfriends, doctors), to determine when they shallterminate physical life.

When life is taken by agents other than GodWho gave it—such as by an “accident”, sicknessunto death (acute or chronic diseases), or death by“natural” cause (old age, dying in one’s sleep—those agents actually kill the person, whether it beself-killing (suicide) or other-killing (homicide).The right to determine when one dies is beingsought by some (the Hemlock Society musterspolitical support for this position) as one of the“unalienable rights” enunciated or implied in theDeclaration of Independence.

The irony here is that this declaration of individ-ual independence—the securing of “life, liberty,and the pursuit of happiness”—is being invoked toauthorize life’s cancellation. Under the circum-stances, the pursuit of happiness is conceived aspain’s complete cessation (at the cost of eradicat-ing consciousness itself); and liberty is viewed asrelease from the immobility of a vegetative state oran “irreversible” degenerative condition by bring-ing on the rigor mortis of death.

While modern technology in some instances canmechanically prolong physical life, which would

cease if these artificial supports were withdrawn,such a withdrawal could not be called mercykilling, for the indwelling Spirit is being permittedto assert its plan for the physical body’s demise,and the medical attendants are simply letting“nature” take its course.

While physical life may be fractionally pro-longed by right living, material science does notand cannot know of the proximate origin of lifeuntil the vital body and the etheric region of thephysical world are acknowledged—and the sourceof this life force is guarded by the Cherubim.

Most scientists and the general public seem tothink that God’s prerogative of controlling theonset of life can be arrogated by humans. So didthe Lucifers in ancient Lemuria persuade nascenthumanity—that they could be as gods and propa-gate their kind and know good and evil (the bottomline). This marked the beginning of experiencedmortality. In other words, when humans use thegenerative force without divine knowledge, theynot only bring on the experience of death, but “life”in the physical body becomes increasingly a kindof spiritual death, because it materializes humanconsciousness, blocking awareness of the spiritualworlds and of the Beings who constitute them.

The illusion now being foisted by genetic researchand cytosurgery is that the creation of life can bea laboratory science. Designer babies are in theoffing. Indeed, early models are in the showroom.

Notwithstanding the ingenious exploits of ourbrave new world, procreation remains essentiallyas it was in Eden, just after the Fall. Even if weexclude one of the primal pair from the procreativeact and clone, say, Eve from one of her viableplenipotent (also called totipotent) cells, which,

RAYS 01 47

New Reasons for Being Born

NEWS PERSPECTIVES

having her physical body’s complete genome, canreplicate another body just like it, that cell’s via-bility is a pure gift, a donation from the ethericworld and the archetypal world. If the RecordingAngels deem that the interests of an incoming Egoare best served by using a physical body genetical-ly identical with the mother’s (or, for that matter,the father’s, though it would be developed in thewomb of a nongenetic mother), a similar processof egoic incarnation would take place, although thephysical seed atom of the incarnating Ego wouldnot be placed by the Recording Angels in the headof a male gamete but would be inserted into theprimal maternal cell. The Ego’s instruments wouldenter and take possession of the forming embryo inthe manner described by Max Heindel in TheRosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.

The ruling concern of any Ego in the heavenworlds is that it find parents and a physical envi-ronment best suited to its evolutionary needs. Thatthe incidence of success in reproduction fromcloning or in vitro fertilization are statistically farlower than procreation by “normal” methods is notonly the result of the relatively primitive stage oflaboratory conception. It is a reflection of thevacuity and hubris of human will which appointsitself as the arbiter of how, where, and why a childshould be born. The human plan needs divineconfirmation before the transmission of holy lifeforces to the physical instrument is effected.

In the cloning of animals, beginning with RoslinInstitute’s (Scotland) Dolly in 1997, it has beendetermined that the incidence of death amongfetuses and offspring produced by cloning is tentimes as high as normal before birth and threetimes as high after birth (Time 1/11/99)—a ratewhich would make childbirth by cloning uncon-scionable for mother and child.

If the animal Group Spirit denies viability toanimal seed to prevent hybridizing, the angelicwarders of human procreation find even less fertileground in the self-seeking projects of those whowould enter the generative sheepfold by waysother than those God has wisely provided.

Reproduction by cloning seems vain and arrogant,but there may be karmic causes that would warrantsuch a mode of generating the dense physical

body. Clearly, exceptional lessons would beattending such a means of embodiment.

As for devising one’s own recipe for producingthe ideal baby through genetic manipulation,incoming Egos will make use of the human bodies—new and improved or natural and flawed—thatare available to them. But we may be assured thatif one somatic debility or dysfunction is genetical-ly “weeded out,” another will take its place.Humans need to learn, and physical impairmentworks to our spiritual benefit, while apparent phys-ical perfection may deprive the indwelling Ego ofthe impetus to develop in mind and soul. The densebody was not created to be permanent or perfect.Its very imperfection is a virtue, helping to remindthe Ego that it is in the world but not of it.

A number of ethically dubious generative prac-tices will become increasingly commonplace toaccommodate the personal agendas of single andplural parents. A recent instance is the decision ofthe Nash family to produce a test tube baby for thesole purpose of providing their six-year-old daugh-ter with a possible remedy for her “dangerouslylow blood-cell count and constant fatigue,” causingher doctors to predict her possible death within ayear. Forget that medical diagnosis and prognosisare notoriously subject to error and cannot takeaccount of “hidden” superphysical (etheric, desire,mental) factors that influence and regulate thedense physical instrument. Are children to be con-ceived to be a parts supplier for their siblings, orothers needing body parts? Perhaps this opens up anew area for the payment of karmic debts. A for-mer sacrifice is repaid in kind.

In the case of the Nash designer baby, Adam[sic] has recently (Time, 10/13/00) provided bone-marrow and tissue from his discarded umbilicalcord, after, as one of a number of competing test-tube embryos, he was selected, “screened,” andgenetically matched with his recipient sister.

This we know: Whatever willful way humansblindly intrude into the wise scheme of creation,their intrusion will be turned to God’s good pur-pose. The principle is ever in effect: The celestialmills of consequence do not cease from their finegrinding. God is not mocked. We sow unto life ordeath. We reap as we sow. ❐

48 RAYS 01

SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET said“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends/Rough-hew them how we will.” AuthorWilliam Bryant might elaborate that therough hewer is our personal self, while

the “divinity” is our suprapersonal Self. The VeiledPulse of Time, An Introduction to BiographicalCycles and Destiny(Lindisfarne Press, Hudson,New York, 1993) is less about shaping our endsthan shaping the shaper, the doer; or, expressed inRosicrucian terminology, it is about nourishing thethreefold spirit, the I, with the soul content derivedfrom experience in the threefold body.

Bryant identifies three forms of time, which maybe experienced as a unity:

1) all-at-once Great Time, paradisal, mythic, andeternally now;

2) rhythmic time, which is cyclic, harmonizing,coordinating, and reiterating events;

3) linear, chronological, juggernaut time, lean,face-forward and breathless.

As Bryant sees it, cyclical time mediatesbetween linear and all-at-once time. It “enables theeternal in us to live and grow in the passing time ofthe mortal world.”

In a figure familiar to Rosicrucian students,Bryant suggests that the best way to visualize timeis to imagine it as a synthesis of linear and cyclictime, a three-dimensional spiral or helix—showingthe evolving results of the soul mediating betweenbody and spirit.

Linear time currently reigns over Western culturein technology, science, and economics, impellingus to worship progress, to live in tomorrow today.

It is the time of high blood pressure, ulcers and tyr-annizing schedules. The arrow of linear time “haswounded the spirit of humanity. The spiritualhuman being seems to dissolve in this stream oftime, only the skeleton feels comfortable in it.”

But altering our state of mind changes our expe-rience of time, as in dreams, meditation, alsothrough drugs, and eventually, through initiation.

Bryant is interested in the coil of biographicaltime as both objectively studied and subjectivelyexperienced. He uses the term “time organism” tomean “the active organizing principle responsiblefor regulating the cyclic behavior found in everyprocess, from the mitotic minuet of the amoeba tothe changing states of human consciousness.” Atthe heart of this time organism is rhythm, the alter-ation of passive and active phases, of inhalationand exhalation, contraction and expansion, life anddeath. Rhythm is instilled in our life’s mentalarchetype existing in the World of Thought. It alsocharacterizes the vital body, a time-body that isorganized and functions on the basis of rhythm andorderly recurrence.

That human and cosmic rhythms are interrelatedis made clear by a number of astonishing corre-spondences, particularly as they relate to “breathcycles” of the macrocosm and microcosm. TheGreat Sidereal Year—the time required for the ver-nal equinox to make one circuit of the zodiac—is25,920 years, and a zodiacal age is 2,160 years.Now consider that breathing eighteen times aminute, humans breathe about 25,920 times a day,suggesting that a human day is a microcosmic reflec-tion of the Great Year. Also, a seventy-two-year

RAYS 01 49

The Veiled Pulse of Time

BOOK REVIEWS

life span is just three months over 26,000 days.The normal human pulse of seventy-two heart-beats a minute has its macrocosmic equivalent inthe seventy-two years required for the vernal sunto precess one degree.

Saturn and Jupiter, cosmic sources of contract-ing and expansive energies, also participate inthese rhythmic cycles. Saturn takes twenty-nineyears and 168 days to orbit the sun; that is, itmakes seventy-two revolutions in a siderealmonth, passing through 25,920 degrees of thezodiac. Jupiter orbits the sun 2,160 times in aSidereal Year, passing through 25,920 signs (one ayear). Its cycle in hours is close to the number ofhuman heartbeats per day (103,680 [72x60x24]),and the number of days in its annual cycle arenearly the same as the number of human heartbeatsper hour—4,320.

If our physical life is so attuned to cosmic cycles,we might expect to find some evidence that ourmental and spiritual development is also responsiveto these same cycles. Bryant convincingly detailsthe influence of three of the longer planetarycycles in human affairs. He identifies the seven-year (Uranian) cycle and characterizes each of itstwelve phases, from the first seven years (“TrailingClouds of Glory”), to the “Closing Years.” Theseven-year cycles “regulate the relationshipbetween the inner metabolism of the soul and theconscious mind’s experience of itself,” wherebyraw experience is converted into psychologicalcapacities and faculties. “Swallowed by time atbirth, we are disgorged at death into other dimen-sions of time—even timelessness.”

The second major rhythm is the Chronos cycle,the thirty-year (29+ years) rhythm which “sounds adeep basal tone beneath the complex rhythm of theshorter cycles.” There is a “remorseless inevitabili-ty about this cycle.” Saturn-Chronos is the “Lord ofnecessity and cosmic memory” who, as “Lord ofthe Measures,” coordinates past, present, andfuture. He is the source of order and destiny.

Bryant calls the three successive thirty-yearspans of the Chronos cycle the formative, construc-tive, and reflective periods, respectively. This cycleshows the synchronizing between personal andsocial destiny, a “time mesh between personal and

national genesis.” Biographies of a number of statesmen, artists,

and scientists are cited (including J. F. Kennedy,Nehru, Emerson, Martin Luther, Charles Darwinand Albert Schweitzer) in illustrating the Chronoscycle. On his thirtieth birthday, Martin Luther wrotein his journal: “It is neither safe nor prudent to doaught against conscience. Here stand I. I cannot dootherwise.” So does Saturn inform conscience!

Bryant studied the time charts of hundreds ofindividuals and found that “the more advanced thebeing, the more their time life, their preparation andmission, both confirms and affirms the spiritual

50 RAYS 01

Solar and planetary cycles are intimately correlated with recur-ring patterns of human physiology, emotionality and think-ing. The biographical clock individualizes cosmic rhythms.

laws working in time.” That is, evolved Egos makeoptimal use of their stellar opportunities. They aremasters of their stars.

The third major planetary rhythm Bryant studiesis the Jupiter cycle. While the seven-year rhythm“regulates the cyclic pattern of our inward descentthrough the psychological layers of the personali-ty,” the twelve-year Jupiter cycle “translates thischanging self-awareness into the sequential steps ofour life’s work, the psyche’s expression in theworld.” This is a vocational rhythm, marking phas-es of scientific, artistic, or philosophical activitywhen ideas and relationships mature and yield fruit.

Biography, in Bryant’s original terms, representsa kind of individualized planetary clock. He illus-trates the influence of Jupiter and its twelve year“rhythm of wisdom” cycle by analyzing the life ofLeo Tolstoy in detailed depth.

Clearly, the author of The Veiled Pulse of Time isconversant with many esoteric truths familiar to thestudent of Rosicrucian teachings, but he has a lighttouch in proposing them. He knows that many peo-ple think the human will is captive to star influ-ences and they reject astrology because it seems toimpose a necessity on human behavior, for which,furthermore, they see no compelling evidence.

While materialism attributes all human formand behavior exclusively to material causes, thespiritual view of causality identifies the Self as theselector and transformer of heredity and environ-ment: “The Ego is the primary source of humancausality....Each Self selectsits genetic constitutionwith an interior wisdom infinitely more profoundthan that achieved by the rational intellect....Onecan always detect the presence of an irrepressiblewisdom at the helm of biography....The psychemust obey its rhythms; all the impatience in theworld cannot intimidate the cycles of transforma-tion. No matter what the surface phenomenon ofour existence, the psyche faithfully prepares newopportunities and a stage for synchronizing to cre-ate new connections.”

The more advanced the Ego, the freer it is todetermine what it shall become and how it shall usecosmic energies and temporal rhythms to effect itsintentions. What a person lacks in freedom he willgain through necessity. And invariably necessity is

experienced in some degree as pain and suffering.“Suffering is an inhalationwhich concentrates ourattention.” Pain commands obedience. As C.S.Lewis writes in The Problem of Pain, “God whis-pers to us in our pleasure, speaks to us in our con-science, but shouts in our pains; it is His mega-phone to rouse a deaf world.”

The collision of two contrary thoughts, as well astwo physical bodies, galvanizes consciousness. Ourpersonal destiny is forged not only by our inten-tional will but by the shocks arising from encoun-tering the thrust of other’s wills upon our material,passional, and mental being. These impacts and thesuffering some of them cause us is beneficial, forby them we grow and by growing we heal our-selves. “The metal of being is painfully shapedbetween the hammer of experience and the anvil ofdestiny.” Suffering is our servant, not our master.We rightly view it when we realize that we havecalled it to us to teach us. Adversity happens to us;later we know it is throughus; finally we realize itis for us.

Time cycles mark out the patterns and propul-sions of our being and becoming. This process iscontinuous, as the single life represents but a phase,a day, in the life of the Spirit’s journey to self-con-scious divinity. “If the world is an arena of experi-ence, being allotted only one entrance and exit is anaffront to eternity. After all, how much progress canwe be expected to make in one lifetime?” Bryantreasons that the idea of rebirth is “a totally sensibleconcept of human continuity...the concept ofrepeated earth-lives promotes a healthy self-reverence which fortifies the spirit and adds mean-ing to daily existence and human relationship.”

It is difficult not to quote Bryant because hiswriting is poetic, persuasive, and profound. So itmay be fitting to conclude this review with a finalpassage from The Veiled Pulse of Time: “Without atime structure, biography is nothing more than ‘atale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signify-ing nothing.’ Without destiny, however, time isitself without meaning, while personal evolutionwithout reincarnation is capricious, restricted, andindefinable. Finally, reincarnation is meaninglesswithout the greater goals of immortality.” ❒

—C.W.

RAYS 01 51

Tesla, Master of LightningWHO COMES TO MIND when you think of

the word uranian: Edison? Einstein? How aboutTesla? Nikola Tesla, inventor extraordinaire?

Uranian traits, when not optimally manifesting aspure altruism, include a tendency to eccentricityand unconventionality, impatience with restraint,great independence, and given to investigation ofthe unusual.

One word in particular is associated with Tesla—electricity. Max Heindel interprets the uranian rayas coming “like a bolt out of the blue.” A modernmyth might say that is how Tesla came to Earth: rid-ing a bolt of lightning! He took to bolts of volts likea duck to water. At the 1893 World Fair in Chicago,the tall “merlin-like figure” stepped onto a stage inthick rubber shoes and invited two million volts ofelectricity to pass through him, surround his bodywith a halo of electric flame.

This man, who had something of the wizard abouthim, was a loner, courteous but aloof, brilliant, andenigmatic. He was an intimate of cosmic forces.

When he was about ten, he saw a steel engravingof Niagra Falls. In his mind there appeared a hugewaterwheel being turned by the Falls’powerful cur-rents. He told his uncle Josif that he would go toAmerica one day and capture energy in the way heenvisioned. Thirty years later he did exactly that—at Niagra Falls. Definite prevision working here!

Children are born to parents and in an environ-ment that best promotes their soul growth. Tesla’smother was herself an amateur inventor. She madepractical devices that helped with her householdchores and farm work. Tesla’s father, a distin-guished clergyman, joked that if all the classics ofliterature were destroyed, he would be able torestore them from memory. He assigned Nikolasuch exercises as guessing other’s thoughts, repeat-ing long sentences, and performing mental calcula-tions to strengthen his memory and reason and todevelop his critical sense.

Young Tesla performed calculations in his headmore rapidly than his teacher could write them onthe board. He knew entire books by heart, includingGoethe’s Faust.

That Tesla had certain supernormal abilities wasevident from an early age. He was clearly open to

intuitions from the world of Life Spirit. He wouldpicture people, scenes, and objects so vividly he wassometimes unable to distinguish between externaland imagined reality. Strong flashes of light oftenaccompanied these images, which remained fixedbefore his eyes, even when he pushed his handthrough them. Clearly he was seeing etheric images.

Arguably more inventive and certainly more cere-bral than Edison, Tesla did ground-breaking workwith alternating current motors and dynamos,though the big money had backed Edison’s directcurrent energy generation and transmission, whichdelayed the implementation of Tesla’s more practi-cal and economically efficient proposals.

Tesla’s biographer, Margaret Cheny (Tesla, ManOut of Time) has also written, with Robert Uth, amore general account of his life and inventions,which incorporates over 250 photographs (Tesla,Master of Lightning, Barnes and Noble, 1999). Whatparticularly strikes the reader of this book is Tesla’sinnovative genius, his remarkable conceptualizingability, which almost always was accompanied withworking models and then pressed into the service ofconcrete and useful applications.

Not only did he pioneer hydroelectric power, theresonance coil that carries his name gave rise toradio transmission, though, to this day, the popularmind credits Marconi with inventing the first radio.Tesla’s discoveries spawned neon light and radar.Indeed, x-rays, television, satellite transmission,and advance defense systems (S.D.I.), which todayare a priority concern of military strategists and sci-entists, are all foreshadowed in Tesla’s work. Healso made the first practical remote-controlledrobot, an iron-hulled vessel equipped with “a bor-rowed mind.”

In his personal life Tesla was semi-ascetic andfastidious of person. He did not smoke and bothpracticed and propounded vegetarianism for bothhealth and ethical reasons. He maintained thatabstention from meat gives superior strength andrecommended that “every effort should be made tostop the wanton and cruel slaughter of animals,which must be destructive to our morals.”

Tesla thought big. He wanted to collect the sun’senergy to make large-scale wireless transfers ofelectricity. Though the ionosphere (that region ofthe atmosphere that traps charged solar particles)

52 RAYS 01

was not discovered until 1926,yet in 1900 Tesla filed for a wire-less transmission of powerthrough this region because heintuited its energetic potential. Itis, in fact, a huge electrodynamiccircuit. This swirling energy, orplasma, can be seen at night overthe magnetic poles as the auroraborealis and the aurora australis.

Tesla thought it was feasible tomodify weather by producing arti-ficial lightning. In 1908 heattempted to patent a device toprecipitate water. Though the U.N.General Assembly adopted a reso-lution in 1974 to prohibit actionsthat influence the environment orthe climate, Tesla said of weathermodification, “If I do not live tocarry it out, somebody else will.”

While some of his proposalswould raise serious doubts today among ecologists,Tesla had strong environmental concerns. To reducethe pollution of coal-burning plants, he suggestedthe friendly alternatives of: wind power (“Given agood breeze, I have estimated that there is as muchas half a horsepower to every square foot of areaexposed.”); solar power (using photo-electric cells);and geothermal power (harnessing the “sextrillion”tons of earth heated to 120° C).

Throughout his life Tesla never wavered in hisbelief that there was intelligent life on other planets.As Max Heindel makes clear (RosicrucianPhilosophy in Questions and Answers, Vol 1, pp309-310), members of the human life wave do liveon other planets, but not in dense physical bodies.

Tesla suggested directing the vibrations from anartificial earthquake into the earth to detect the pres-ence of mineral deposits, a kind of dry land sonar.The technique of measuring reflected acousticwaves is used today in geophysical work.

Tesla’s last patent (1928) was for an Aquarian fly-ing machine for “aerial transportation,” resemblingboth a helicopter and an airplane. The helicopter bladewould pitch forward to become a propeller aftertakeoff. This is the progenitor of today’s tiltrotor orVSTOL plane. Sir William Crookes, discoverer of

radiant matter and head of the Royal Society forPsychic Research, used a Tesla coil to help manifestpoltergeists at seances. Though he flatly rejectedmystics, Tesla often spoke like one.

After becoming acquainted with SwamiVivekenanda, he began to incorporate Easternphilosophies into his writing. In 1930 he occultlyobserved that “Matter comes from a primary sub-stance [in Rosicrucian parlance gas or chaos], oftenuity beyond conception, filling all space—theAkasa or luminiferous ether—which is acted uponby the life-giving prana or creative force, callinginto existence in never-ending cycles all things andphenomena.”

One night Tesla’s mother came to him on anangelic cloud. He knew with certainty (later con-firmed) that she had just died. For him telepathy wassimply a special instance of the general phenome-non of wave transmission.

Nikola Tesla was a practical visionary. He pro-cessed intuitions and imaginations with disciplinedabstract thought and willed that his images taketangible form to serve useful purposes. As we moveinto the Aquarian Age more Egos will be born withsimilar creative abilities. ❐

—C.W.

RAYS 01 53

Tesla, something of the showman, poses in this double-exposure publicity photo withhis “magnifying transmitter”, capable of producing millions of volts of electricity.The discharge here is twenty feet. His primary coil was fifty-one feet in diameter.

Tesla Museum

Archives, B

elgrade

HISTORY OF SOYBEANS

SOYBEANS COME TO US from theOrient. During the Chou Dynasty (1134-246 BC) the soybean was designatedone of the five sacred grains, along withbarley, wheat, millet and rice. However,

the pictograph for the soybean, which dates fromearlier times, indicates that it was not first used as afood; for whereas the pictographs for the other fourgrains show the seed and stem structure of theplant, the pictograph for the soybean emphasizesthe root structure. Agricultural literature of the peri-od speaks frequently of the soybean and its use incrop rotation. Apparently the soy plant was initiallyused as a method of fixing nitrogen. The soybeandid not serve as a food until the discovery of fer-mentation techniques, sometime during the ChouDynasty. Thus the first soy foods were fermentedproducts like tempeh, natto, miso and shogu (soy ortamari sauce). At a later date, possibly in the 2ndcentury B.C., Chinese scientists discovered that apuree of cooked soybeans could be precipitatedwith calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate (plasterof Paris or Epsom salts) to make a smooth palecurd—tofu or bean curd.

The use of fermented and precipitated soy prod-ucts soon spread to other parts of the Orient,notably Japan and Indonesia. Although the highlyflavored fermented products have elicited greaterinterest among scientists and epicures, it is the

bland precipitated products that are most frequentlyused, accounting for approximately 90% of theprocessed soybeans consumed in Asia today. Theincreased reliance on bean curd as a source of pro-tein, which occurred between 700 A. D. and thepresent time, has not necessarily been a beneficialchange for the populations of the Orient andSoutheast Asia.

FIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION?The Chinese did not eat the soybean as they did

other pulses (legumes) such as the lentil, becausethe soybean contains large quantities of a number ofharmful substances. First among them are potentenzyme inhibitors which block the action of trypsinand other enzymes needed for protein digestion.These"antinutrients" are not completely deactivatedduring ordinary cooking and can produce seriousgastric distress, reduced protein digestion andchronic deficiencies in amino acid uptake. In testanimals, diets high in trypsin inhibitors causeenlargement and pathological conditions of the pan-creas, including cancer. The soybean also containshemaglutinin, a clot-promoting substance that caus-es red blood cells to clump together. Trypsininhibitors and hemaglutinin have been rightlylabeled growth depressant substances. Fortunatelythey are deactivated during the process of fermen-tation. However, in precipitated products, enzymeinhibitors concentrate in the soaking liquid ratherthan in the curd. Thus in tofu and bean curd, theseenzyme inhibitors are reduced in quantity, but notcompletely eliminated.

Soybeans are also high in phytic acid or phytates.This is an organic acid, present in the bran or hullsof all seeds, which blocks the uptake of essential

54 RAYS 01

History and Health Concerns of Soybeans

NUTRITION AND HEALTH

The information in this article was abstracted from an arti-cle written by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, Ph.D. (an inter-national expert renown in the field of lipid chemistry) forHealth Freedom Newsin September of 1995. The readershould make allowance for the fact that the authors werewriting for a public that is not exclusively vegetarian.

minerals—calcium, magnesium, iron andespecially zinc—in the intestinal tract.Although not a household word, phytateshave been extensively studied. Scientists arein general agreement that grain and legumebased diets high in phytates contribute towidespread mineral deficiencies in thirdworld countries. Analysis shows that calci-um, magnesium, iron and zinc are present inthe plant foods eaten in these areas, but thehigh phytate content of soy and rice baseddiets prevents their absorption. The soybeanhas a higher phytate content than any othergrain or legume that has been studied.Furthermore, it seems to be highly resistantto many phytate reducing techniques such aslong, slow cooking. Only a long period offermentation will significantly reduce thephytate content of soybeans.

Thus, fermented products, such as tempeh andmiso, provide nourishment that is easily assimilated,but the nutritional value of tofu and bean curd, bothhigh in phytates, is questionable. When precipitatedsoy products are consumed with meat, the mineralblocking effects of the phytates are reduced. TheJapanese traditionally eat tofu as part of a mineral-rich fish broth. Vegetarians who consume tofuand bean curd as a substitute for meat and dairyproducts risk severe mineral deficiencies. Theresults of calcium, magnesium, and iron deficiencyare well known, those of zinc are less so. Zinc iscalled the intelligence mineral because it is neededfor optimal development and functioning of thebrain and nervous system. It plays a role in proteinsynthesis and collagen formation. It is involved inthe blood sugar control mechanism and thus pro-tects against diabetes; it is needed for a healthyreproductive system. Zinc is a key component innumerous vital enzymes and plays a role in theimmune system. Phytates found in soy productsinterfere with zinc absorption more completely thanwith other minerals. Literature extolling soy prod-ucts tends to minimize the role of zinc in humanphysiology, and to gloss over the deleterious effectof diets high in phytic acid. Milk drinking is givenas the reason second generation Japanese inAmerica grow taller than their native ancestors.

Some investigators postulate that the reduced phy-tate content of the American diet—whatever maybe its other deficiencies—is the true explanation,pointing out that Asian and Oriental children whodo not get enough meat and fish products to coun-teract the effects of a high phytate diet, frequentlysuffer rickets, stunting, and other growth problems.

MARKETING THE SOYBEAN

The truth is, however, that most Americans areunlikely to adopt traditional soy products as theirprinciple food. Tofu, bean curd and tempeh havedisagreeable texture and are too bland for mostWestern palates; pungent and tasty miso and nattolose out in taste; only soy sauce enjoys widespreadpopularity as a condiment. The soy industry hastherefore looked for other ways to market the super-abundance of soybeans now grown in the UnitedStates. Large scale cultivation of the soybean in theUnited States began only after the Second WorldWar, and quickly rose to 140 billion pounds peryear. Most of the crop is made into animal feed, soyoil for hydrogenated fats, margarine, and shortening.

During the past 20 years, the industry has con-centrated on finding markets for the byproducts ofsoy oil manufacture, including soy "lecithin", madefrom the oil sludge, and soy protein products, madefrom defatted soy flakes, a challenge that has

RAYS 01 55

The production of shoyu or soy sauce originally involved the fermentaionof soy beans in natural salt and water in huge cedar vats, generallybetween 12 to 18 months. Now defatted soybean meal is brewed inlarge tanks for about 4 to 6 months at a set temperature and humidity.

Illustrated by Akiko A

oyagi

involved overcoming consumer resistance to soyproducts, generally considered tasteless poverty foods.“The quickest way to gain product acceptability inthe less affluent society," said a soy industryspokesman, "...is to have the product consumed onits own merit in a more affluent society." Hence theproliferation of soy products resembling traditionalAmerican foods—soy milk for cow’s milk, soybaby formula, soy yogurt, soy ice cream, soycheese, soy flour for baking, and textured soy pro-tein as meat substitutes, usually promoted as highprotein, low-fat, no cholesterol "health foods" tothe upscale consumer increasingly concerned abouthis health. The growth of vegetarianism among themore affluent classes has greatly accelerated theacceptability and use of these artificial products.Unfortunately they pose numerous dangers.

PROCESSING DENATURES AND DANGERS REMAIN

The production of soy milk is relatively simple.In order to remove as much of the trypsin inhibitorcontent as possible, the beans are first soaked inan alkaline solution. The pureed solution is thenheated to about 115 degrees Centigrade in a pressurecooker. This method destroys most (but not all) ofthe anti-nutrients but has the unhappy side effect ofso denaturing the proteins that they become verydifficult to digest and much reduced in effective-ness. The phytate content remains in soy milk toblock the uptake of essential minerals. In addition,the alkaline soaking solution produces a carcino-gen, lysinealine, and reduces the cystine content,which is already low in the soybean. Lacking cys-tine, the entire protein complex of the soybeanbecomes useless unless the diet is fortified withcystine-rich meat, eggs, or dairy products. Most soyproducts that imitate traditional American fooditems, including baby formulas and some brands ofsoy milk, are made with soy protein isolate, that is,the soy protein isolated from the carbohydrate andfatty acid components that naturally occur in thebean. Soy beans are first ground and subjected tohigh-temperature and solvent extraction processesto remove the oils. The resultant defatted meal isthen mixed with an alkaline solution and sugars ina separation process to remove fiber. Then it is pre-cipitated and separated using an acid wash. Finally,

the resultant curds are neutralized in an alkalinesolution and spray dried at high temperatures toproduce high protein powder. This is a highlyrefined product in which both vitamin and proteinquality are compromised. Moreover, some trypsininhibitors remain, even after such extreme refining.Trypsin inhibitor content of soy protein isolatecan vary as much as 5-fold. In rats, even low leveltrypsin inhibitor soy protein isolate feeding resultsin reduced weight gain compared to controls. Soyproduct producers are not required to state trypsininhibitor content on labels, nor even to meet mini-mum standards, and the public, trained to avoiddietary cholesterol, a substance vital for normalgrowth and metabolism, has never heard of thepotent anti-nutrients found in cholesterol-free soyproducts.

SOY FORMULA IS NOT THE ANSWER

Soy protein isolate is the main ingredient of soy-based infant formulas. Along with trypsininhibitors, these formulas have a high phytate con-tent. Use of soy formula has caused zinc deficiencyin infants. Aluminum content of soy formula is 10times greater than milk-based formula, and 100times greater than unprocessed milk. Aluminum hasa toxic effect on the kidneys of infants, and hasbeen implicated as cause in Alzheimer's in adults.Soy milk formulas are often given to babies withmilk allergy; but allergies to soy are almost as com-mon as those to milk. Soy formulas lack cholesterolwhich is absolutely essential for the development ofthe brain and nervous system; they also lack lactoseand galactose, which play an equally important rolein the development of the nervous system. I wouldstrongly discourage the use of soy formulas.

Nitrosamines, which are potent carcinogens, areoften found in soy protein foods, and are greatlyincreased during the high temperature dryingprocess. Not surprisingly, animal feeding studiesshow a lower weight gain for rats on soy formulathan those on whole milk, high-lactose formulaSimilar results have been observed in children onmacrobiotic diets, which include the use of soymilk and large amounts of whole grains. Childrenbrought up on high-phytate diets tend to be thin andscrawny.

56 RAYS 01

FABRICATED SOY FOODS

A final indignity to the original soy bean is high-temperature, high-pressure extrusion processing ofsoy protein isolate to produce textured vegetableprotein (TVP). Numerous artificial flavorings, par-ticularly MSG, are added to TVP products to masktheir strong "beany" taste, and impart the flavor ofmeat. Soy protein isolate and textured vegetableprotein are used extensively in school lunch pro-grams, commercial baked goods, diet beverages,and fast food products. They are heavily promotedin third world countries and form the basis of manyfood give-away programs. These soy productsgreatly inhibit zinc and iron absorption. In testanimals they cause enlarged organs, particularly thepancreas and thyroid gland, and increased deposi-tion of fatty acids in the liver. Human feeding teststo determine the cholesterol lowering properties ofsoy protein isolate have not shown them to beeffective. Nevertheless, they are often promoted ashaving beneficial effects on cholesterol levels.

CANCER PREVENTING OR CANCER CAUSING? The food industry also touts soy products for

their cancer preventing properties. Isoflavone agly-cones are anticarcinogenic substances found in tra-ditionally fermented soybean products. However, innon-fermented soy products such as tofu and soymilk, these isoflavones are present in an alteredform as beta-glycoside conjugates, which have noanti-carcinogenic effect.

Some researchers believe the rapid increase inliver and pancreatic cancer in Africa is due to theintroduction of soy products there. The fatty acidprofile of the soybean includes large amounts ofbeneficial omega-3 fatty acids, compared to otherpulses (legumes); but these omega-3 fatty acids areparticularly susceptible to rancidity when subjectedto high pressures and temperatures. This is exactlywhat is required to remove oil from the bean, assoybean oil is particularly difficult to extract.Hexane or other solvents are always used to extractoil from soybeans, and traces remain in the com-mercial product.

While fermented soy products contain protein,vitamins, anti-carcinogenic substances, and impor-tant fatty acids, they can under no circumstances be

called nutritionally complete. Like all pulses, thesoybean lacks vital sulfur-containing amino acidscystine and methionine. These are usually suppliedby rice and other grains in areas where the soybeanis traditionally consumed. Soy should never be con-sidered as a substitute for animal products like meator milk. Claims that fermented soy products liketempeh can be relied on as a source of vitamin B12,necessary for healthy blood and nervous system,have not been supported by scientific research.Finally, soybeans do not supply all-important fat-soluble vitamins D and preformed A (retinol) whichact as catalysts for the proper absorption and uti-lization of all minerals and water soluble vitaminsin the diet. These "fat- soluble activators" are foundonly in certain animal foods, such as organ meats,butter, eggs, fish and shellfish. Carotenes fromplant foods and exposure to sunlight are not suffi -cient to supply the body's requirements for vitaminsA and D. [The existence of many healthy long-timevegetarians contradicts this assertion—Ed.] Soyproducts often replace animal products in thirdworld countries, where intake of B12 and fat solu-ble A and D are already low. Soy products actuallyincrease requirements for vitamins B12 and D.

Are soy products easy to digest, as claimed?Fermented soy products probably are, but unfer-mented products, with their cargo of phytates,enzyme inhibitors, rancid fatty acids, and alteredproteins most certainly are not. Pet food manufac-turers promote soy free dog and cat food as "highlydigestible."

ONLY FERMENTED SOY PRODUCTS ARE SAFE

To summarize, traditional fermented soy products,such as miso, natto and tempeh, which are usuallymade with organically grown soybeans, have a longhistory of use that is generally beneficial whencombined with other elements of the Oriental dietincluding rice, sea foods, fish broth, organ meatsand fermented vegetables. The value of precipitatedsoybean products is problematical, especially whenthey form the major source of protein in the diet.Modern soy products, including soy milks and artifi-cial meat, and dairy products made from soy proteinisolate, and textured vegetable protein, are new tothe diet and pose a number of serious problems.❐

RAYS 01 57

HOLY SILENCE, familiar to trou-bled hearts in earnest prayer, throbswith healing power. Here we mayenter with faith and thanksgiving thesecret place of the Most High, and

lift our hearts in the vibrant stillness for the heal-ing and help that abound in Him. “Pray to thyFather which is in secret and thy Father whichseeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”

Through the reverent stillness is communicatedthe undeniable knowledge of a Healing Presence,and a man or woman blessed with the inner powerof a living faith may enter alone to partake ofpotent soul refreshment. Peace and power enfoldsuch a worshiper as a shining garment.

There is a compassionate embrace for those whoseek the Father’s mercy. Their need, locked in thehidden places of the heart and mind, is received byHim, transformed by the emotion of His lovetouching theirs, and they arise refreshed and some-times made whole.

Forgiveness is in that Holy Presence, soothingand lifting the contrite heart. Encouragement tolive righteously, to overcome by the light of God’swisdom, to leave with Christ those burdens toogreat to bear, is received with joy. A radiance bornof anguish and pain envelops the heart and fills itwith the bliss of a oneness with Him.

Turning to the spiritual quietude of the secretplace of the Most High, we must fearlessly acceptthe truth of our own responsibilities in the thingswe suffer. In this acceptance, and in the subsequentobedience to the laws of God, minds are stilled,hearts respond to peace, lives become recreatedand whole. Greater service in His vineyard glori-fies the life. ❒

Visible helpers are just as necessary as Invisible

Helpers, and our friends and patients may share ina high privilege, as well as add much to the powerof liberated healing force, by joining us in prayerfor the sick. Our Healing Service is held everyevening in the Healing Temple at 6:30 (7:30 whenDaylight time is in effect) and in the Pro-Ecclesiaat 4:15 P.M. when the Moon is in a cardinal sign onthe following dates:

May.......................................4—11—19—25June.................................1—7—15—22—28

Relax, close your eyes, and make a mental pictureof the pure white rose in the center of the RosicrucianEmblem on the west wall of our Pro-Ecclesia, andconcentrate on Divine Love and Healing.

58 RAYS 01

The Healing Silence

HEALING

Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609–1685),Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy

The Madonna in Prayer

There was a girl that lost things—Nor only from her hand;

She lost, indeed—why, most things,As if they had been sand!

She said, “But I must use them,And can’t look after all!

Indeed I did not lose them,I only let them fall!”

That’s how she lost her thim-ble,

It fell upon the floor:Her eyes were very nimbleBut she never saw it more.

And then she lost her dolly,Her very doll of all!

That loss was far from jolly,But worse things did befall.

She lost a ring of pearlsWith a ruby in them set;

But the dearest girl of girlsCried only, did not fret.

And then she lost her robin;Ah, that was sorrow dire!

He hopped along, and—bob—Hopped bob into the fire!

And once she lost a kissAs she came down the stair;

But that she did not miss,For sure it was somewhere!

Just then she lost her heart too,But did so well without itShe took that in good part too,And said—not much about it.

But when she lost her healthShe did feel rather poor,

Till in came loads of wealthBy quite another door!

And soon she lost a dimpleThat was upon her cheek,But that was very simple—She was so thin and weak!

And then she lost her mother,And thought that she was dead;Sure there was not anotherOn whom to lay her head!

And then she lost her self—But that she threw away;And God upon his shelfIt carefully did lay.

And then she lost her sight,And lost all hope to find it;But a fountain-well of lightCame flashing up behind it.

At last she lost the world:In a black and stormy windAway from her it whirled—But the loss how could she mind?

RAYS 01 59

The Girl That Lost Things

FOR CHILDREN

For with it she lost her losses,Her aching and her weeping,Her pains and griefs and crosses,And all things not worth keeping;

It left her with the lost thingsHer heart had still been craving;‘Mong them she found—why, most things,And all things worth the saving.

She found her precious mother,Who not the least had died;And then she found that OtherWhose heart had hers inside.

And next she found the kissShe lost upon the stair;’Twas sweeter far, I guess,For ripening in that air.

She found her self, all mended,New-drest, and strong, and white;

She found her health, new-blendedWith a radiant delight.

She found her little robin:He made his wings go flap,Came fluttering, and went bob in,Went bob into her lap.

So, girls that cannot keep things,Be patient till tomorrow;And mind you don’t beweep thingsThat are not worth such sorrow;

For the Father great of fathers,Of mothers, girls, and boys,In his arms his children gathers,And sees to all their toys.

—George MacDonald

60 RAYS 01

Reprinted from THE GIFTS OF THE CHRIST CHILD, Fairytalesand Stories for the Childlike, with permission of William B.Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan

This CD is useful for readers who want all of the original English texts of the RosicrucianFellowship’s esoteric Christian teachings. It is helpful also for those who read the translations of MaxHeindel’s works and desire the original English texts for comparative reference.

Invaluable in preparing lectures and conducting topical research. Contains the Complete Index ofBookswhich alphabetically catalogues hundreds of subjects by book and page number.

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