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[ T H E R O S I C R U C I A N M Y S T E R I E S ]
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[ ]
[ BY ]
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[ M A X H E I N D E L ]
[ [1865-1919] ]
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AN ELEMENTARY EXPOSITION OF THEIR SECRET TEACHINGS
THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP
Mt. Ecclesia
P.O. Box 713
Oceanside, California, 92054, USA
[PAGE 3] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
LIST OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I:
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS AND THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP................5
CHAPTER II:
THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION...................................16
Three Theories of Life...............................................20
We Are Eternal (Poem by the Author)..................................26
CHAPTER III:
THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS...................................36
The Chemical Region..................................................36
The Etheric Region...................................................41
The Desire World.....................................................51
The World of Thought.................................................67
Creed or Christ (Poem by the Author).................................85
CHAPTER IV:
THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN................................................87
The Vital Body.......................................................89
The Desire Body......................................................94
The Mind.............................................................97
[PAGE 4] LIST OF CONTENTS THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
CHAPTER V:
LIFE AND DEATH.........................................................99
Invisible Helpers and Mediums........................................99
Death...............................................................103
The Panorama of Past Life...........................................112
Purgatory...........................................................116
The First Heaven....................................................127
The Second Heaven...................................................132
The Third Heaven....................................................135
Birth and Child-Life................................................137
The Mystery of Light, Color and Consciousness.......................139
Education of Children...................................................143
[PAGE 5] THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS
CHAPTER I
THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS AND THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP
OUR MESSAGE AND MISSION
A SANE MIND
A SOFT HEART
A SOUND BODY
----------------
Before entering upon an explanation of the teachings of the
Rosicrucians, it may be well to say a word about them and about the place
they hold in the evolution of humanity.
For reasons to be given later these teachings advocate the dualistic
view; they hold that man is a Spirit enfolding all the powers of God as the
seed enfolds the plant, and that these powers are being slowly unfolded by
a series of existences in a gradually improving earthy body; also that
this process of development has been performed under the guidance of ex-
alted Beings who are yet ordering our steps, though in a decreasing
measure, as we gradually acquire intellect and will. These exalted
Beings, though unseen to the physical eyes, are neverthless potent fac-
tors in all affairs of life, and give to the various groups of humanity les-
[PAGE 6] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
sons which will most efficiently promote the growth of their spiritual
powers. In fact, the earth may be likened to a vast training school in
which there are pupils of varying age and ability as we find it in one of
our own schools. There are the savages, living and worshipping under most
primitive conditions, seeing in stick or stone a God. Then, as man pro-
gresses onwards and upwards in the scale of civilization, we find a
higher and higher conception of Deity, which has flowered here in our
Western World in the beautiful Christian religion that now furnishes our
spiritual inspiration and incentive to improve.
These various religions have been given to each group of humanity by
the exalted beings whom we know in the Christian religion as the Recording
Angels, whose wonderful prevision enables them to view the trend of even
so unstable a quantity as the human mind, and thus they are enabled to de-
termine what steps are necessary to lead our unfoldment along the lines con-
gruous to the highest universal good.
When we study the history of the ancient nations we shall find that at
about six hundred years B.C. a great spiritual wave had its inception on
the Eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean where the great Confucian re-
ligion accelerated the progress of the Chinese nation, then also the reli-
gion of the Buddha commenced to win its millions of adherents in India, and
still further West we have the lofty philosophy of Pythagoras. Each system
was suited to the needs of the particular people to whom it was sent. Then
came the period of the Sceptics, in Greece, and later, traveling
[PAGE 7] THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS
westward the same spiritual wave is manifested as the Christian religion
of the so-called "Dark Ages" when the dogma of a dominant church compelled
belief from the whole of Western Europe.
It is a law in the universe that a wave of spiritual awakening is always
followed by a period of doubting materialism; each phase is necessary in or-
der that the Spirit may receive equal development of heart and intellect
without being carried too far in either direction. The great Beings afore-
mentioned, who care for our progress, always take steps to safeguard hu-
manity against that danger, and when they foresaw the wave of materialism
which commenced in the sixteenth century with the birth of our modern sci-
ence, they took steps to protect the West as they had formerly safe-
guarded the East against the sceptics who were held in check by the Mys-
tery Schools.
In the fourteenth century there appeared in central Europe a great spir-
itual teacher whose symbolical name was
CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUZ
or
CHRISTIAN ROSE CROSS,
who founded the mysterious Order of the Rosy Cross, concerning which so
many speculations have been made and so little has become known to the
world at large, for it is the Mystery School of the West and is open only
to those who have attained the stage of spiritual unfoldment necessary to be
initiated in its secrets concerning the Science of Life and Being.
[PAGE 8] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
If we are so far developed that we are able to leave our dense physical
body and take a soul flight into interplanetary space we shall find that the
ultimate physical atom is spherical in shape like our earth; it is a ball.
When we take a number of balls of even size and group them around one, it
will take just twelve balls to hide a thirteenth within. Thus the twelve
visible and the one hidden are numbers revealing a cosmic relationship and
as all Mystery Orders are based upon cosmic lines, they are composed of
twelve members gathered around a thirteenth who is the invisible HEAD.
There are seven colors in the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green,
blue, indigo, and violet. But between the violet and the red there are still
five other colors which are invisible to the physical eye but reveal them-
selves to the spiritual sight. In every Mystery Order there are also seven
Brothers who at times go out into the world and there perform whatever work
may be necessary to advance the people among whom they serve, but five are
never seen outside the temple. They work with and teach those alone who have
passed through certain stages of spiritual unfoldment and are able to visit
the temple in their spiritual bodies, a feat taught in the first initiation
which usually takes place outside the temple as it is not convenient for all
to visit that place physically.
Let not the reader imagine that this initiation makes the pupil a Ro-
sicrucian, it does not, any more than admission to a high school makes a boy
[PAGE 9] THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS
a member of the faculty. Nor does he become a Rosicrucian even after hav-
ing passed through all the nine degrees of this or any other Mystery School.
The Rosicrucians are Hierophants of the Lesser Mysteries, and beyond them
there are still schools wherein greater Mysteries are taught. Those who
have advanced through the Lesser Mysteries are called Adepts, but even they
have not reached the exalted standpoint of the twelve Brothers of the
Rosicrucian Order or the Hierophants of any other Lesser Mystery School
any more than the freshman at college has attained to the knowledge and
position of a teacher in the high school from which he has just graduated.
A later work will deal with initation, but we may say here that the
door of a genuine Mystery School is not unlocked by a golden key, but is
only opened as a reward for meritorious service to humanity and any one who
advertises himself as a Rosicrucian or makes a charge for tuition, by either
of those acts shows himself to be a chrlatan. The true pupil of any Mystery
School is far too modest to advertise the fact, he will scorn all titles or
honors from men, he will have no regard for riches save the riches of love
given to him by those whom it becomes his privilege to help and teach.
In the centuries that have gone by since the Rosicrucian Order was first
formed they have worked quietly and secretly, aiming to mould the thought of
Western Europe through the works of Paracelsus, Boehme, Bacon, Shakespeare,
[PAGE 10] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Fludd and others. Each night at midnight when the physical activities of the
day are at their lowest ebb, and the spiritual impulse at its highest flood
tide, they have sent out from their temple soul-stirring vibrations to coun-
teract materialism and to further the development of soul powers. To their
activities we owe the gradual spiritualization of our once so materialistic
science.
With the commencement of the twentieth century a further step was taken.
It was realized that something must be done to make religion scientific as
well as to make science religious, in order that they may ultimately blend;
for at the present time heart and intellect are divorced. The heart
instinctively feels the truth of religious teachings concerning such
wonderful mysteries as the Immaculate Conception (the Mystic Birth), the
Crucifixion (the Mystic Death), the Cleansing Blood, the Atonement, and
other doctrines of the Church, which the intellect refuses to believe, as
they are incapable of demonstration, and seemingly at war with natural law.
Material advancement may be furthered when intellect is dominant and the
longings of the heart unsatisfied, but soul growth will be retarded until
the heart also receives satisfaction.
In order to give the world a teaching so blended that it will satisfy
both the mind and heart, a messenger must be found and instructed. Certain
unusual qualifications were necessary, and the first one chosen failed to
pass a certain test after several years had been spent to prepare him for
the work to be done.
[PAGE 11] THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS
It is well said that there is a time to sow, and a time to reap, and
that there are certain times for all the works of life, and in accordance
with this law of periodicity each impulse in spiritual uplift must also be
undertaken at an appropriate time to be successful. The first and sixth
decades of each century are particularly propitious to commence the
promulgation of new spiritual teachings. Therefore the Rosicrucians were
much concerned at this failure, for only five years were left of the first
decade of the twentieth century.
Their second choice of a messenger fell upon the present writer, though
he knew it not at the time, and by shaping circumstances about him they made
it possible for him to begin a period of preparation for the work they
desired him to do. Three years later, when he had gone to Germany, also
because of circumstances shaped by the invisible Brotherhood, and was on the
verge of despair at the discovery that the light which was the object of his
quest, was only a jack-o-lantern, the Brothers of the Rosicrucian Order
applied the test to see whether he would be a faithful messenger and give
the teachings they desired to entrust to him, to the world. And when he had
passed the trial they gave him the monumental solution of the problem of
existence first published in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION IN November,
1909, more than a year before the expiration of the first decade of the
twentieth century. This book marked a new era in so-called "occult"
literature, and the many editions which have since been published as well as
[PAGE 12] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
the thousands of letters which continue to come to the author, are speaking
testimonies to the fact that people are finding in this teaching a
satisfaction they have sought elsewhere in vain.
The Rosicrucians teach that all great religions have been given to the
people among whom they are found, by Divine Intelligences who designed each
system of worship to suit the needs of the race or nation to whom it was
given. A primitive people cannot respond to a lofty and sublime religion,
and VICE VERSA. What helps one race would hinder another, and in pursuance
of the same policy there has been devised a system of soul-unfoldment suited
especially to the Western people, who are racially and temperamentally unfit
to undergo the discipline of the Eastern school, which was designed for the
more backward Hindus.
THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP
For the purpose of promulgating the Rosicrucian Teachings in the Western
World, the Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded in 1909. It is the herald of
the Aquarian Age, when the Sun by its precessional passage through the
constellation Aquarius, will bring out all the intellectual and spiritual
potencies in man which are symbolized by that sign. As heat from a fire
warms all objects within the sphere of its radiations, so also the Aquarian
ray will raise the earth's vibrations to a pitch we are as yet unable to
comprehend, though we have demonstrations of the MATERIAL workings of this
[PAGE 13] THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS
force in the inventions which have revolutionized life within the memory of
the present generation. We have wondered at the X-ray, which sees through
the human body, but each one has a sense latent which when evolved will
enable him to see through any number of bodies or to any distance. We marvel
at the telephone conversations across the continent of America, but each has
within a latent sense which when evolved will enable him to see through any
number of bodies or to any distance. We marvel at the telephone
conversations across the continent of America, but each has within a latent
sense of speech and hearing that is far more acute; we are surprised at the
exploits of ships under sea and in the sky, but we are all capable of
passage under water or through the sky; nay, more we may pass unscathed
through the solid rock and the raging fire, if we know how, and lightning
itself is slow compared to the speed with which we may travel. This sounds
like a fairy tale today, as did Jules Verne's stories a generation ago, but
the Aquarian Age will witness the realization of these dreams, and ever so
much more that we still do not even dream of. Such faculties will then be
the possessions of large numbers of people who will have gradually evolved
them as previously the ability to walk, speak, hear, and see, were
developed.
Therein lies a great danger, for, obviously, anyone endowed with such
faculties may use them to the greatest detriment of the world at large,
unless restrained by a spirit of unselfishness and an all-embracing
altruism. Therefore religion is needed today as never before, to foster love
and fellow-feeling among humanity so that it may be prepared to use the
great gifts in store for it wisely and well. This need of religion is
[PAGE 14] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
specially felt in a certain class where the ether is more loosely knit to
the physical atoms than in the majority, and on that account they are now
beginning to sense the Aquarian vibrations.
This class is again divided in two groups. In one the intellect is
dominant, and the people in that class therefore seek to grasp the spiritual
mysteries out of curiosity from the viewpoint of cold reason. They pursue
the path of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, considering that an end in
itself. The idea that knowledge is of value only when put to practical
constructive use does not seem to have presented itself to them. This class
we may call OCCULTISTS.
The other group does not care for knowledge, but feels an inner urge
God-ward, and pursues the path of devotion to the high ideal set before them
in Christ, doing the deeds that He did as far as their flesh will permit,
and this in time results in an interior illumination which brings with it
all the knowledge obtained by the other class, and much more. This class we
may describe as MYSTICS.
Certain dangers confront each of the two groups. If the occultist
obtains illumination and evolves within himeslf the latent spiritual
faculties, he may use them for the furtherance of his personal objects, to
the great detriment of his fellow-men. That is black magic, and the
punishment which it AUTOMATICALLY calls down upon the head of the
perpetrator is so awful that it is best to draw the veil over it. The mystic
may also err because of ignorance, and fall into the meshes of nature's law,
[PAGE 15] THE ORDER OF ROSICRUCIANS
but being actuated by love, his mistakes will never be very serious, and as
he grows in grace the soundless voice within his heart will speak more
distinctly to teach him the way.
The Rosicrucian Fellowship endeavors to prepare the world in general,
and the sensitives of the two groups in particular, for the awakening of the
latent powers in man, so that all may be guided safely through the
danger-zone and be as well fitted as possible to use these new faculties.
Effort is made to blend the love without which Paul declared a knowl-
edge of all mysteries worthless, with a mystic knowledge rooted and
grounded in love, so that the pupils of this school may become LIVING expo-
nents of this blended soul-science of the Western Wisdom School, and
gradually educate humanity at large in the virtues necessary to make the
possession of higher powers safe.
[PAGE 16] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
CHAPTER II
THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
THE PROBLEM OF LIFE
Among all the vicissitudes of life, which vary in each individual's
experience, there is one event which sooner or later comes to
everyone--Death! No matter what our station in life, whether the life lived
has been a laudable one or the reverse, whether great achievements have
marked our path among men; whether health or sickness has been our lot,
whether we have been famous and surrounded by a host of admiring friends or
have wandered unknown through the years of our life, at some time there
comes a moment when we stand alone before the portal of death and are
forced to take the leap into the dark.
The thought of this leap and of what lies beyond must inevitably force
itself upon every thinking person. In the years of youth and health, when
the bark of our life sails upon seas of prosperity, when all appears
beautiful and bright, we may put the thought behind us, but there will
surely come a time in the life of every thinking person when the problem of
life and death forces itself upon his consciousness and refuses to be set
aside. Neither will it help him to accept the ready-made solution of anyone
else without thought and in blind belief, for this is a basic problem which
every one must solve for himself or herself in order to obtain satisfaction.
[PAGE 17] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
Upon the eastern edge of the Desert of Sahara there stands the
world-famous Sphinx with its inscrutable face turned toward the
East, ever greeting the Sun as its rising rays herald the newborn day. It
was said in the Greek myth that it was the wont of this monster to ask a
riddle of each traveler. She devoured those who could not answer, but
when Oedipus solved the riddle she destroyed herself.
The riddle which she asked of men was the riddle of life and death, a
query which is as relevant today as ever, and which each one must answer or
be devoured in the jaws of death. But when onece a person has found the
solution to the problem, it will appear that in reality there is no death,
that what appears so, is but a change from one state of EXISTENCE to
another. Thus, for the man who finds the true solution to the riddle of
life, the sphinx of death has ceased to exist, and he can lift his voice in
the triumphant cry, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory?"
Various theories of life have been advocated to solve this problem of
life. We may divide them into two classes, namely THE MONISTIC THEORY, which
holds that all the facts of life can be explained by reference to this
visible world wherein we live, and THE DUALISTIC THEORY, which refers part
of the phenomenon of life to another world which is now invisible to us.
Raphael in his famous painting, "The School of Athens," has most aptly pic-
tured to us the attitude of these two schools of thought. We see upon that
marvelous painting a Greek Court such as those wherein philosophers were
[PAGE 18] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
once wont to congregate. Upon the various steps which lead into the building
a large number of men are engaged in deep conversation, but in the center
at the top of the steps stand two figures, supposedly of Plato and Aris-
totle, one pointing upwards, the other towards the earth, each looking the
other in the face, mutely, but with deeply concentrated will; each seeking
to cinvince the other that his attitude is right, for each bears the con-
viction in his heart. One holds that he is of the earth earthy, that he
has come from the dust and that thereto he will return, the other firmly
advocates the position that there is a higher something which has always ex-
isted and will continue regardless of whether the body wherein it now dwells
holds together or not.
The question who is right is still an open one with the majority of
mankind. Millions of tons of paper and printer's ink have been used in
futile attempts to settle it by argument, but it will always remian open to
all who have not solved the riddle themselves, for it is a basic problem, a
part of the life experience of every human being to settle that question,
and therefore no one can give us the solution ready-made for our acceptance.
All that can be done by those who have really solved the problem, is to show
to others the line along which they have found the solution, and thus direct
the inquirer how he also, by his own efforts, may arrive at a conclusion.
That is the aim of this little book; not to offer a solution to the
problem of life to be taken blindly, on faith in the author's ability of
[PAGE 19] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
investigation. The teachings herein set forth are those handed down by the
Great Western Mystery School of the Rosicrucian Order and are the result of
the concurrent testimony of a long line of trained Seers given to the author
and supplemented by his own independent investigation of the realms
traversed by the Spirit in its cyclic path from the invisible world to this
plane of existence and back again.
Nevertheless, the student is warned that the writer may have
misunderstood some of the teachings and that despite the greatest care he
may have taken a wrong view of that which he believes to have been seen in
the invisible world where the possibilities of making a mistake are legion.
Here in the world which we view about us the forms are stable and do not
easily change, but in the world around us which is perceptible only by the
spiritual sight, we may say that there is in reality no form, but that all
is life. At least the forms are so changeable that the metamorphosis
recounted in fairy stories is discounted there to an amazing degree, and
therefore we have the surprising revelations of mediums and other untrained
clairvoyants who, though they may be perfectly honest, are deceived by
illusions of FORM which is evanescent, because they are incapable of viewing
the LIFE that is the permanent basis of that form.
We must learn to see in this world. The new-born babe has no conception
of distance and will reach for things far, far beyond its grasp until it has
learned to gauge its capacity. A blind man who acquires the faculty of
sight, or has it restored by an operation will at first be inclined to close
[PAGE 20] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
his eyes when moving from place to place, and declare that it is easier to
walk by feeling than by sight; that is because he has not learned to use his
newly acquired faculty. Similarly the man whose spiritual vision has been
newly opened requires to be trained; in fact, he is in much greater need
thereof than the babe and the blind man already mentioned. Denied that
training, he would be like a new-born babe placed in a nursery where the
walls are lined with mirrors of different convex and concave curvatures,
which would distort its own shape and the forms of its attendants. If
allowed to grow up in such surroundings and unable to see the real shapes of
itself and its nurses it would naturaly believe that it saw many different
and distorted shapes, when in reality the mirrors were responsible for the
illusion. Were the persons concerned in such an experiment and the child
taken out of the illusory surroundings, it would be incapable of recognizing
them until the matter had been properly explained. There are similar dangers
of illusion to those who have developed spiritual sight, until they have
been trained to discount the refraction and view the LIFE which is permanent
and stable, disregarding the FORM which is evanescent and changeable. The
danger of getting things out of focus always remains, however, and is so
subtle that the writer feels an imperative duty to warn his readers to take
all statements concerning the unseen world with the provverbial grain of
salt, for he has no intention to deceive. He is therefore inclined rather to
[PAGE 21] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
magnify than to minimize his limitations and would advise the student to
accept nothing from the author's pen without reasoning it out for himself.
Thus, if he is deceived, he will be self-deceived and the author is
blameless.
THREE THEORIES OF LIFE
Only three noteworthy theories have been offered as solutions to the
riddle of existence and in order that we may be able to make the important
choice between them, we will state briefly what they are and give some of
the arguments which lead us to advocate the Doctrine of Rebirth as the
method which favors soul-growth and the ultimate attainment of perfection,
thus offering the best solution to the problem of life.
1) THE MATERIALISTIC THEORY TEACHES THAT LIFE IS BUT A SHORT JOURNEY
FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE; THAT THERE IS NO HIGHER INTELLIGENCE IN THE
UNIVERSE THAN MAN; THAT HIS MIND IS PRODUCED BY CERTAIN CORRELATIONS OF MAT-
TER AND THAT THEREFORE DEATH AND DISSOLUTION OF THE BODY TERMINATE EXIST-
ENCE.
There was a day when the arguments of materialistic philosophers seemed
convincing, but as science advances it discovers more and more that there is
a spiritual side to the universe. That life and consciousness may exist
without being able to give us a sign, has been amply proven inthe cases
where a person who was entranced and thought dead for days has suddenly
[PAGE 22] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
awakened and told all that had taken place around the body. Such eminent
scientist as Sir Oliver Lodge, Camille Flammarion, Lombroso, and other
men of highest intelligence and scientific training, have unequivocally
stated as the result of their investigations, that the intelligence which we
call man survives death of the body and lives on in our midst as independ-
ently of whether we see them or not, as light and color exist all about the
blind man regardless of the fact that he does not perceive them. These
scientist have reached their conclusion after years of careful investiga-
tion. They have found that the so-called dead can, and under certain cir-
cumstances do, communicate with us in such a manner that mistake is out of
the question. We maintain that their testimony is worth more than the argu-
ment of materialism to the contrary, for it is based on years of careful
investigation, it is in harmony with such well established laws as THE
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MATTER and THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF ENERGY. Mind is
a form of energy, and immune from destruction as claimed by the materialist.
Therefore we disbar the materialistic theory as unsound because out of har-
mony with the laws of nataure and with well established facts.
2) THE THEORY OF THEOLOGY CLAIMS THAT JUST PRIOR TO EACH BIRTH A SOUL IS
CREATED BY GOD AND ENTERS INTO THE WORLD WHERE IT LIVES FOR A TIME VARYING
FROM A FEW MINUTES TO A FEW SCORE YEARS; THAT AT THE END OF THIS SHORT SPAN
OF LIFE IT RETURNS THROUGH THE PORTAL OF DEATH TO THE INVISIBLE BEYOND,
WHERE IT REMAINS FOREVER IN A CONDITION OF HAPPINESS OR MISERY ACCORDING TO
THE DEEDS DONE IN THE BODY DURING THE FEW YEARS IT LIVED HERE.
[PAGE 23] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
Plato insisted upon the necessity of a clear definition of terms as a
basis of argument and we contend that that is as necessary in discussing the
problem of life from the Bible point of view as in arguments from the
platonic standpoint. According to the Bible man is a composite being con-
sisting of body, soul, and Spirit. The two latter are usually taken to be
synonymous but we in sist that they are not interchangeable and present the
following to support our dictum.
All things are in a state of vibration. Vibrations from objects in our
surroundings are constantly impinging upon us and carry to our senses a cog-
nition of the external world. The vibrations in the ether act upon our eyes
so that we see, and vibrations in the air transmit sounds to the ear.
We also breathe the air and ether which is thus charged with pictures
of our surroundings and the sounds in our environment, so that by means
of the breath we receive at each moment of our life, INTERNALLY, an accu-
rate picture of our external surroundings.
That is a scientific proposition. Science does not explain what becomes
of these vibrations, however, but according to the Rosicrucian Mystery
Teaching they are transmitted to the blood, and then etched upon a little
atom in the heart as automatically as a moving picture is imprinted upon the
sensitized film, and a record of sounds is engraved upon the
[PAGE 24] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
phonographic disc. This breath-record starts with the first breath of the
new-born babe and ends only with the last gasp of the dying man, and "soul"
is a product of the breath. Genesis also shows the connection between breath
and soul in the words: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul" (The same word: NEPHESH, is translated breath and soul in
the above quotation.)
In the post-mortem existence the breath-record is disposed of. The good
acts of life produce feelings of pleasure and the intensity of attraction
incorporates them into the Spirit as soul-power. THUS THE BREATH-RECORDS OF
OUR GOOD ACTS ARE THE SOUL WHICH IS SAVED, for by the union with the Spirit
they become immortal. As they accumulate life after life, we become more
soulful and they are thus also the basis of soul-growth.
The record of our evil acts is also derived from our breath in the mo-
ments when they were committed. The pain and suffering they bring cause
the Spirit to expel the breath-record from it being in Purgatory. As that
cannot exist independently of the life-giving Spirit, the breath-record of
our sins disintegrates upon expurgation, and thus we see that "the soul that
sinneth, it shall die." The memory of the suffering incidental to expurga-
tion, however, remains with the Spirit as CONSCIENCE, to deter from repeti-
tion of the same evil in later lives.
Thus both our good and evil acts are recorded through the agency of the
[PAGE 25] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
breath, which is therefore the basis of the soul, but while the breath-
record of good acts amalgamates with the Spirit and lives on forever as an
immortal soul, the breath-record of evil deeds is disintegrated; it is the
soul that sinneth and dies.
While the Bible teaches that immortality of the soul is conditional upon
well-doing, it makes no distinction in respect of the Spirit. The statement
is clear and emphatic when...."The silver cord be loosed...then shall the
dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return to God who
gave it."
Thus the Bible teaches that the body is made of dust and returns
thereto, that a part of the soul generated in the breath is perishable, but
that the Spirit survives bodily death and persists forever. Therefore a
"lost soul" in the common acceptance of that term is not a Bible teach-
ing, for the Spirit is uncreate and eternal as God Himself, and therefore
the orthodox theory cannot be true.
3) THE THEORY OF REBIRTH: WHICH TEACHES THAT EACH SPIRIT IS AN INTEGRAL
PART OF GOD, THAT IT ENFOLDS ALL DIVINE POSSIBILITES AS THE ACORN ENFOLDS
THE OAK; THAT BY MEANS OF MANY EXISTENCES IN AN EARTHLY BODY OF GRADUALLY
IMPROVING TEXTURE ITS LATENT POWERS ARE BEING SLOWLY UNFOLDED AND BECOME
AVAILABLE AS DYNAMIC ENERGY; THAT NONE CAN BE LOST BUT THAT ALL WILL ULTI-
MATELY ATTAIN TO PERFECTION AND REUNION WITH GOD, EACH BRINING WITH IT THE
ACUMULATED EXPERIENCES WHICH ARE THE FRUITAGE OF ITS PILGRIMAGE THROUGH
MATTER.
[PAGE 26] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Or, as we may poetically express it:
WE ARE ETERNAL
On whistling stormcloud; on Zephyrus wing,
The Spirit-choir loud the world-anthems sing;
Hark! List to their voice: "We have passed through death's door,
There's no Death; rejoice! life lives evermore."
We are, have always been, will ever be.
We are a portion of Eternity,
Older than Creation, a part of One Great Whole,
Is each Individual and immortal Soul.
On Time's whirring loom our garments we've wrought,
Eternally weave we on network of Thought,
Our kin and our country, by Mind brought to birth,
Were patterned in heaven ere molded on earth.
We have shone in the jewel and danced on the wave,
We have sparkled in fire, defying the grave;
Through shapes everchanging, in size, kind and name
Our individual essence still is the same.
And when we have reached to the highest of all,
The gradations of growth our minds shall recall,
So that link by link we may join them together
And trace step by step the way we reached thither.
Thus in time we shall know, if only we do
What lifts, ennobles, is right and true.
With kindness to all, with malice to none,
That in and through us God's will may be done.
[PAGE 27] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
We venture to make the assertion that there is but one sin: IGNORANCE,
and but one salvation: APPLIED KNOWLEDGE. Even the wisest among us know
but litte of what may be learned, however, and no one has attained to per-
fection, or an attain in one single short life, but we note that everywhere
in nature slow persistent unfoldment makes for higher and higher development
of everything, and we call this process evolution.
One of the chief characteristics of evolution lies in the fact that it
manifests in alternating periods of activity and rest. The busy summer, when
all things upon earth are exerting themselves to bring forth, is followed by
the flood-tide. Thus, as all other things move in cycles, the life that ex-
presses itself here upon earth for a few years is not to be thought of as
ended when death has been reached, but as surely as the Sun rises in the
morning after having set at night, will the life that was ended by the death
of one body be taken up again in a new vehicle and in a different environ-
ment.
This earth may, in fact, be likened to a school to which we return life
after life to learn new lessons, as our children go to school day after day
to increase their knowledge. The child sleeps through the night which inter-
venes between death and a new birth. There are also different classes in
this world school which correspond to the various grades from kindergarten
to college. In the lower classes we find Spirits who have gone to the school
of life but a few times, they are savages now, but in time they will become
wiser and better than we are, and we ourselves shall progress in future
lives to spiritual heights of which we cannot even conceive at the present.
[PAGE 28] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
If we apply ourselves to learn the lessons of life, we shall of course ad-
vance much faster in the school of life than if we dilly-dally and idle our
time away. This, on the same principle which governs in one of our own in-
stitutions of learning.
We are not here then by the caprice of God. He has not placed one in
clover and another in a desert, nor has He given one a healthy body so that
he may live at ease from pain and sickness, while He placed another in poor
circumstances with never a rest from pain. But what we are, we are on ac-
count of our own diligence or negligence, and what we shall be in the future
depends upon what we will to be and not upon divine caprice or upon in-
exorable fate. No matter what the circumstances, it lies with us to master
them, or to be mastered as we will. Sir Edwin Arnold puts the teaching most
beautifully in his "Light of Asia:"
The Books say well, my Brothers! each man's life
The outcome of his former living is;
The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and woes,
The bygone right breeds bliss.
Each has such lordship as the loftiest ones,
Nay, for with powers around, above, below,
As with all flesh and whatsoever lives ACT maketh joy or woe.
Who toiled, a slave, may come anew a prince
For gentle worthiness and merit won,
Who ruled, a king, may wander earth in rags
For things done or undone.
[PAGE 29] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
Or, as Ella Wheeler Wilcox says:
"One ship sails East and another sails West
With the self same winds that blow.
'Tis the set of the sail, and not the gale,
Which determines the way they go.
As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate
As we voyage along through life.
'Tis the act of the soul, which determines the goal
And not the calm or the strife."
When we wish to engage someone to undertake a certain mission we choose
some one whom we think particularly fitted to fulfill the requirements, and
we must suppose that a Divine Being would use at least as much common sense
and not choose anyone to do his errand who was not fitted therefor. So when
we read in the Bible that Samson was foreordained to be the slayer of the
Philistines and that Jeremiah was predestined to be a prophet, it is but
logical to suppose that they must have been particularly suited to such oc-
cupations. John the Baptist, also, was born to be a herald of the coming
Saviour and to preach the Kingdom of God which is to take the place of the
kingdom of men.
Had these people had no previous training, how could they have developed
such a fitness to fulfill their various missions, and if they had been fit-
ted, how else could they have received their training if not in earlier
lives?
[PAGE 30] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
The Jews believed in the Doctrine of Rebirth or they would not have asked
John the Baptist if he were Elijah, as recorded in the first chapter of
John. The Apostles of Christ also held the belief as we may see from the in-
cident recorded in the Sixteenth chapter of Matthew where the Christ asked
them the question: "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" The
Apostles replied: "Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias;
and others Jeremias or one of the Prophets." Upon this occasion the Christ
tacitly assented to the teaching of Rebirth because He did not correct the
disciples as would have been His plain duty in His capacity as teacher, when
the pupils entertained a mistaken idea.
But to Nicodemus He said unequivocally: "Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God," and in the eleventh chapter of Matthew,
the fourteenth verse, He said, speaking of John the Baptist: "THIS IS ELI-
JAH." In the seventeenth chapter of Matthew, the twelfth verse, He said:
"Elijah is come already and they knew him not, but have done unto him what-
soever they listed." "Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them
of John the Baptist."
Thus we maintain that the Doctrine of Rebirth offers the only solution
to the problem of life which is in harmony with the laws of nature, which
answers the ethical requirements of the case and permits us to love God
without blinding our reason to the inequalities of life and the varying cir-
cumstances which give to a few the ease and comfort, the health and wealth,
which are denied to the many.
[PAGE 31] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
The theory of heredity advanced by materialists applies only to the
FORM, for as a carpenter uses material from a certain pile of lumber to
build a house in which he afterward lives, so does the Spirit take the sub-
stance wherewith to build its house from the parents. The carpenter cannot
build a house of hard wood from spruce lumber, and the Spirit also must
build a body which is like those from which the material was taken. But the
theory of heredity does not apply upon the moral plane, for it is a known
fact that in the rogues galleries of America and Europe there is no case
where both father and son are represented. Thus the sons of criminals,
though they have the tendencies to crime, keep out of the clutches of the
law. Neither will heredity hold good upon the plane of the intellect, for
many cases may be cited where a genius and an idiot spring from the same
stock. The great Cuvier, whose brain was of about the same weight, as Daniel
Webster's, and whose intellect was as great, had five children who all died
of paresis; the brother of Alexander the Great was an idiot; and thus we
hold that another solution must be found to account for the facts of life.
The Law of Rebirth coupled with its companion law, the Law of Causation,
does that. When we die after one life, we return to earth later, under cir-
cumstances determined by the manner in which we lived before. The gambler is
drawn to pool parlors and race tracks to associate with others of like
taste, the musician is attracted to the concert halls and music studios
where there are congenial Spirits, and the returning Ego also carries with
it likes and dislikes which cause it to seek parents among the class to
which it belongs.
[PAGE 32] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
But then someone will point to cases where we find people of entirely
opposite tastes living lives of torture, because grouped in the same family,
and forced by circumstances to stay there contrary to their wills. But that
does not vitiate the law in the slightest. In each life we contact certain
obligations which cannot then be fulfilled. Perhaps we have run away from a
duty such as the care of an invalid relative and have met death without com-
ing to a realization of our mistake. That relative upon the other hand may
have suffered severely from our neglect, and have stored up a bitterness
against us before death terminates the suffering. Death and the subsequent
removal to another environment does not pay our debts in this life, any more
than the removal from the city where we now live to another place will pay
the debts we have contracted prior to our removal. It is therefore quite
possible that the two who have injured each other as described, may find
themselves members of the same family. Then, whether they remember the past
grudge or not, the old enmity will assert itself and cause them to hate anew
until the consequent discomfort force them to tolerate each other, and per-
haps later they may learn to love where they hated.
The question also arises in the mind of inquirers: If we have been here
before why do we not remember? And the answer is that while most people are
not aware of how their previous existences were spent, there are others who
[PAGE 33] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
have very distinct recollection of previous lives. A friend of the writer
for instance, when living in France, one day started to read to
her son about a certain city where they were then going upon a bicycle tour,
and the boy exclaimed: "You do not need to tell me about that, Mother. I
know that city. I lived there and was killed!" He then commenced to de-
scribe the city and also a certain bridge. Later he took his mother to that
bridge and showed her the spot where he had met death centuries before. An-
other friend travelling in Ireland saw a scene which she recognized, and she
also described to the party the scene around the bend of the road which she
had never seen in this life, so it must have been a memory from a previous
life. Numerous other instances could be given where such minor flashes of
memory reveal to us glimpses from a past life. The verified case in which a
little three year old girl in Santa Barbara described her life and death has
been given in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION. It is perhaps the most
conclusive evidence as it hinges on the veracity of a child too young to
have learned deception.
This theory of life does not rest upon speculation, however. It is one
of the first facts of life demonstrated to the pupil of a Mystery School. He
is taught to watch a child in the act of dying, also, to watch it in the in-
visible world from day to day, until it comes to a new birth a year or two
later. Then he knows with absolute certainty that we return to Earth to reap
in a future life what we now sow.
[PAGE 34] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
The reason for taking a child to watch in preference to an adult is that
the child is reborn very quickly, for its short life on Earth has borne but
few fruits and these are soon assimilated, while the adult who has lived a
long life and had much experience remains in the invisible worlds for centu-
ries, so that the pupil could not watch him from death to rebirth. The cause
of infant mortality will be explained later; here we merely desire to empha-
size the fact that it is within the range of possibilities of every one
without exception to become able to know at first hand that which is here
taught.
The average interval between two Earth-lives is about a thousand years.
IIt is determined by the movement of the Sun known to astronomers as PRE-
CESSION OF THE EQUINOX, by which the Sun moves through one of the signs of
the Zodiac in about 2,100 years. During that time the conditions upon Earth
have changed so much that the Spirit will find entirely new experiences
here, and therefore it returns.
The Great Leaders of evolution always obtain the maximum benefit from
each condition designed by them, and as the experiences in the same social
conditions are very different in the case of a man from what they are for a
woman, the human Spirit takes birth twice during the 2,100 years measured by
the precession of the equinox, as already explained: it is born once as a
man and another time as a woman. Such is the rule, but it is subject to
whatever modifications may be necessary to facilitate reaping what the
Spirit has sown, as required under the Law of Causation which works hand in
[PAGE 35] THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION
hand with the Law of Rebirth. Thus, at times a Spirit may be brought to
birth long ere the thousand years have expired, in order to fulfill a cer-
tain mission, or it may be detained in the invisible worlds after the time
when it should have come to birth according to the strict requirements of a
blind law. The laws of nature are not that, however. They are Great Intel-
ligences who always subordinate minor considerations to higher ends, and
under their beneficent guidance we are constantly progressing from life to
life under conditions exactly suited to each individual, until in time we
shall attain to a higher evolution and become Supermen.
Oliver Wendell Holmes has so beautifully voiced that aspiration and its
consummation in the lines:
"Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past;
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!"
[PAGE 36] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
THE CHEMICAL REGION
If one who is capable of consciously using his spiritual body with the
same facility that we now use our physical vehicles should glide away from
the Earth into interplanetary space, the Earth and the various other planets
of our solar system would appear to him or her to be composed of three kinds
of matter, roughly speaking. The densest matter, which is our visible Earth,
would appear to him as being the center of the ball as the yolk is in the
center of an egg. Around that nucleus he or she would observe a finer grade
of matter similarly disposed in relation to the central mass, as the white
of the egg is disposed outside the yolk. Upon a little closer investigation
he would also discover that this second kind of substance permeates the
solid Earth to the very center, even as the blood percolates through the
more solid parts of our flesh. Outside both of these mingling layers of mat-
ter he would observe a still finer, third layer corresponding to the shell
of the egg, except that this third layer is the finest, most subtle of the
three grades of matter, and that it interpenetrates both of the two inner
layers.
As already said, the central mass, spiritually seen, is our visible
world, composed of solids, liquids, and gases. They constitute the Earth,
[PAGE 37] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
its atmosphere, and also the ether, of which physical science speaks hypo-
thetically as permeating the atomic substance of all chemical elements. The
second layer of matter is called the Desire World and the outermost layer is
called the World of Thought.
A little reflection upon the subject will make clear that just such a
constitution is necessary to account for facts of life as we see them. All
forms in the world about us are built from chemical substances: solids, liq-
uids, and gases, but insofar that they do move, these forms obey a separate
and distinct impulse, and when this impelling energy leaves, the form be-
comes inert. The steam engine rotates under the impetus of an invisible gas
called steam. Before steam filled its cylinder, the engine stood still, and
when the impelling force is shut off its motion again ceases. The dynamo ro-
tates under the still more subtle influence of an electric current which may
also cause the click of a telegraph instrument or the ring of an electric
bell, but the dynamo ceases its swift whirl and the persistent ring of the
electric bell becomes mute when the invisible electricity is switched off.
The forms of the bird, the animal, and the human being also cease their mo-
tion when the inner force which we call LIFE has winged its invisible way.
All forms are impelled into motion by desire: the bird and the animal
roam land and air in their desire to secure food and shelter, or for the
purpose of breeding. Man is also moved by these desires, but has in addition
other and higher incentives to spur him to effort; among them is desire for
[PAGE 38] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
rapidity of motion which led him to construct the steam engine and other de-
vices that move in obedience to HIS desire.
If there were no iron in the mountains man could not build machines. If
there were no clay in the soil, the bony structure of the skeleton would be
an impossibility, and if there were no Physical World at all, with its so-
lids, liquids, and gases, this dense body of ours could never have come
into existence. Reasoning along similar lines it must be at once apparent
that if there were no Desire World composed of desire-stuff, we should have
no way of forming feelings, emotions, and desires. A planet composed of the
materials we perceive with our PHYSICAL eyes and of no other substances,
might be the home of plants which grow unconsciously, but have no desires to
cause them to move. The human and animal kingdoms, however, would be impos-
sibilities.
Furthermore, there is in the world a vast number of things, from the
simplest and most crude instruments, to the most intricate and cunning de-
vices which have been constructed by the hand of man. These reveal the fact
of man's thought and ingenuity. Thought must have a source as well as FORM
and FEELING. We saw that it was necessary to have the requisite material in
order to build a steam engine or a body and we reasoned from the fact that
in order to obtain material to express desire there must also be a world
composed of desire stuff. Carrying our argument to its logical conclusion,
[PAGE 39] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
we also hold that unless a World of Thought provides a reservoir of mind
stuff upon which we may draw, it would be impossible for us to think and in-
vent the things which we see in even the lowest civilization.
Thus it will be clear that the division of a planet into worlds is not
based on fanciful metaphysical speculation, but is logically necessary in
the economy of nature. Therefore it must be taken into consideration by any
one who would study and aim to understand the inner nature of things. When
we see the street cars moving along our streets, it does not explain to say
that the motor is driven by electricity of so many amperes at so many volts.
These names only add to our confusion until we have thoroughly studied the
science of electricity; and then we shall find that the mystery deepens, for
while the street car belongs to the world of INERT FORM perceptible to our
vision, the electric current which moves it is indigenous to the realm of
FORCE, the invisible Desire World, and the thought which created and guides
it, comes from the still more subtle World of Thought which is the home
world of the human Spirit, the Ego.
It may be objected that this line of argument makes a simple matter ex-
ceedingly intricate, but a little reflection will soon show the fallacy of
such a contention. Viewed superficially any of the sciences seem extremely
simple; anatomically we may divide the body into flesh and bone, chemically
we may make the simple divisions between solid, liquid, and gas, but thor-
oughly to master the science of anatomy it is necessary to spend years in
[PAGE 40] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
close application and learn to know all the little nerves, the ligaments
which bind articulations between various parts of the bony structure, to
study the several kinds of tissue and their disposition in our system where
they form the bones, muscles, glands, etc., which in the aggregate we know
as the human body. To understand properly the science of chemistry we must
study the valence of the atom which determines the power of combination of
the various elements, together with other niceties, such as atomic weight,
density, etc. New wonders are constantly opening up to the most experienced
chemist, who understands best the immensity of his or her chosen science.
The youngest lawyer, fresh from law school, knows more about the most
intricate cases, in his or her own estimation, than the judges upon the Su-
preme Court bench who spend long hours, weeks and months, seriously deliber-
ating over their decisions. But those who, without having studied, think
they understand and are fitted to discourse upon the greatest of all sci-
ences, the science of Life and Being, make a greater mistake. After years of
patient study, of holy life spent in close application, a man is oftentimes
perplexed at the immensity of the subject he studies. He finds it to be so
vast in both the direction of the great and small that it baffles
description, that language fails, and that the tongue must remain mute.
Therefore we hold (and we speak from knowledge gained through years of close
study and investigation) that the finer distinctions which we have made, and
shall make, are not at all arbitrary, but absolutely necessary as are divi-
sions and distinctions made in anatomy or chemistry.
[PAGE 41] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
No form in the physical world has feeling in the true sense of that
word. It is the indwelling life which feels, as we may readily SEE from the
fact that a body which responds to the lightest touch while instinct with
life, exhibits no sensation whatever even when cut to pieces after the life
has fled. Demonstrations have been made by scientists, particularly by Pro-
fessor Bose of Calcutta, to show that there is feeling in dead animal tissue
and even in tin and other metal, but we maintain that the diagrams which
seem to support his contentions in reality demonstrate only a response to
impacts similar to the rebound of a rubber ball, and that must not be con-
fused with such feelings as LOVE, HATE, SYMPATHY and AVERSION. Goethe also,
in his novel. "Elective Affinities," (Wahlverwandtschaft), brings out some
beautiful illustrations wherein he makes it seem as if atoms loved and
hated, from the fact that some elements combine readily while other sub-
stances refuse to amalgamate, a phenomenon produced by the different rates
of speed at which various elements vibrate and an unequal inclination of
their axes. Only where there is sentient life can there be feelings of
pleasure and pain, sorrow or joy.
THE ETHERIC REGION
In addition to the solids, liquids, and gases which compose the CHEMICAL
[PAGE 42] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
REGION of the Physical World there is also a finer grade of matter called e-
ther, which permeates the atomic structure of the earth and its atmosphere
substantially as science teaches. Scientists have never seen, nor have they
weighed, measured, or analyzed this substance, but the infer that it must
exist in order to account for transmission of light and various other pheno-
mena. If it were possible for us to live in a room from which the air had
been exhausted, we might speak at the top of our voices, we might ring the
largest bell, or we might even discharge a cannon close to our ear and ] we
should hear no sound, for air is the medium which transmits sound vibra-
tions to the tympanum of our ear, and that would be lacking. But if an elec-
tric light were lighted, we should at once perceive its rays; it would il-
lumine the room despite the lack of air. Hence there must be a substance ca-
pable of being set into vibration, between the electric light and our eyes.
That medium scientists call ether, but it so subtle that no instrument has
been devised whereby it may be measured or analyzed, and therefore the sci-
entists are without much information concerning it, though forced to postu-
late its existence.
We do not seek to belittle the achievements of modern scientists. We
have the greatest admiration for them and we entertain high expectations of
what ambitions they may yet realize, but we perceive a limitation in the
fact that all discoveries of the past have been made by the invention of
[PAGE 43] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
wonderful instruments applied in a most ingenious manner to solve seemingly
insoluble and baffling problems. The strength of science lies vested in its
instruments, for the scientist may say to anyone: "Go, procure a number of
glasses ground in a certain manner, insert them in a tube, direct that tube
toward a certain point in the sky where now nothing appears to your naked
eye. You will then see a beautiful star called Uranus." If his directions
are followed, anyone is QUICKLY AND WITHOUT PREPARATION able to demonstrate
for himself the truth of the scientist's assertion. But while the instru-
ments of science are its tower of strength, they also mark the end of its
field of investigation, for it is impossible to contact the spirit world
with PHYSICAL instruments; so the research of occultists begins where the
physical scientist finds his limit and is carried on by SPIRITUAL means.
These investigations are as thorough and as reliable as researches by
material scientists, but not as easily demonstrable to the general public.
Spiritual powers lie dormant within every human being, and when awakened,
they compensate for both telescope and microscope, they enable their pos-
sessor to investigate, instanter, things beyond the veil of matter, but they
are only developed by a patient application and continuance in well doing
extended over years, and few are they who have faith to start upon the path
to attainment to perseverance to go through with the ordeal. Therefore the
occultist's assertions are not generally credited.
We can readily see that long probation must precede attainment, for a
person equipped with spiritual sight is able to penetrate walls of houses as
[PAGE 44] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
easily as we walk through the atmosphere, able to read at will the in-
nermost thoughts of those about him, and if not actuated by the most pure
and unselfish motives, would become a scourge to humanity. Therefore that
power is safeguarded as we would withhold the dynamite bomb from an anarch-
ist and from the well-intentioned but ignorant person, or, as we withhold
match and powder barrel from a child.
In the hands of an experienced engineer the dynamite bomb may be used to
open a highway of commerce, and an intelligent farmer may use gunpowder to
good account in clearing his field of tree-stumps, but in the hands of an
ill-intentioned criminal or ignorant child an explosive may wreck much pro-
perty and end many lives. The force is the same, but used differently, ac-
cording to the ability or intention of the user, it may produce results of a
diametrically opposite nature. So it is also with spiritual powers, there is
a time-lock upon them, as upon a bank safe, which keeps out until they have
earned the privilege and the time is ripe for its exercise.
As already said, the ether is physical matter and responsive to the same
laws which govern other physical substances upon this plane of existence.
Therefore it requires but a slight extension of PHYSICAL sight to see ether
(which is disposed in four grades of density); the blue haze seen in moun-
tain canyons is in fact ether of the kind known to occult investigators as
CHEMICAL ETHER. Many people who see this ether unaware that they are pos-
sessed of a faculty not enjoyed by all. Others, who have developed spiritual
sight are not endowed with etheric vision, a fact which seems an anomaly un-
til the subject of clairvoyance is thoroughly understood.
[PAGE 45] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
The reason is, that as ether is physical matter, etheric sight depends
upon the sensitiveness of the optic nerve, while spiritual sight is ac-
quired by developing latent vibratory powers in two little organs situated
in the brain: the pituitary body and the pineal gland. Even near-sighted
people may have etheric vision. Though unable to read the print in a book,
they may be able to "see through a wall," owing to the fact that their op-
tic nerve responds more rapidly to fine than to coarse vibrations.
When anyone views an object with etheric sight he sees THROUGH that ob-
ject in a manner similar to the way an X-ray penetrates opaque substances.
If he looks at a sewing machine, he will perceive first, an outer casing;
then, the works within, and behind both, the casing farthest away from him.
If he has developed the grade of spiritual vision which opens the Desire
World to him and he looks at the same object, he will see it both inside and
out. If he looks closely, he will perceive every little atom spinning upon
its axis and no part or particle will be excluded from his perception.
But if his spiritual sight has been developed in such a measure that he is
capable of viewing the sewing machine with the vision peculiar to the World
of Thought, he will behold a cavity where he had previously seen the form.
[PAGE 46] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Things seen with etheric vision are very much alike in color. They are
nearly reddish-blue, purple or violet, according to the density of the
ether, but when we view any object with the spiritual sight pertaining to
the Desire World, it scintillates and coruscates in a thousand ever changing
colors so indescribably beautiful that they can only be compared to living
fire. The writer therefore calls this grade of vision COLOR SIGHT, but when
the spiritual vision of the World of Thought is the medium of perception,
the seer finds that in addition to still more beautiful colors, there is-
sues from the cavity described a constant flow of a certain harmonious TONE.
Thus this world wherein we now consciously live and which we perceive the
world of FORM, the Desire World is particularly the world of COLOR, and the
World of Thought is the realm of TONE.
Because of the relative proximity or distance of these worlds, a statue,
a FORM withstands the ravages of time for millenniums, but the COLORS upon
a painting fade in far shorter time, for they come from the Desire World;
and MUSIC, which is native to the world farthest removed from us, the World
of Thought, is like a will-o-the-wisp which none may catch or hold; it is
gone again as soon as it has made its appearance. But there is in color and
music a compensation for this increasing evanescence.
The statue is cold and dead as the mineral of which it is composed and
has attractions for but few though its FORM is a tangible reality.
[PAGE 47] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
The forms upon a painting are illusory, yet they express LIFE, on ac-
count of the COLOR which has come from a region where nothing is inert and
lifeless. Therefore the painting is enjoyed by many.
Music is intangible and ephemeral, but it comes from the home world of
the Spirit and though so fleeting it is recognized by the Spirit as a
SOUL-SPEECH fresh from the celestial realms, an echo from the home whence we
are now exiled. Therefore it touches a chord in our being, regardless of
whether we realize the true cause or not.
Thus we see that there are various grades of spiritual sight, each
suited to the superphysical realm which it opens to our perception: etheric
vision, color vision, and tonal vision.
The occult investigator finds that ether is of four kinds, or grades of
density: the CHEMICAL ETHER, the LIFE ETHER, the LIGHT ETHER, and the RE-
FLECTING ETHER.
The CHEMICAL ETHER is the avenue of expression for forces promoting as-
similation, growth, and the maintenance of form.
The LIFE ETHER is the vantage ground of forces active in propagation, or
the building of new forms.
The LIGHT ETHER transmits the motive power of the Sun along the various
nerves of living bodies and makes motion possible.
The REFLECTING ETHER receives an impression of all that is, lives and
moves. It also records each change, in a similar manner as the film upon a
moving picture machine. In this record mediums and psychometrists may read
the past, upon the same principle as, under proper conditions, moving pic-
tures are reproduced time and again.
[PAGE 48] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
We have been speaking of ether as an avenue of FORCES, a word which con-
veys no meaning to the average mind, because force is invisible. But to an
occult investigator the forces are not merely names such as steam,electric-
ity, etc. He finds them to be intelligent beings of varying grades, both
sub- and superhuman. What we call "laws of nature," are great Intelli-
gences which guide more elemental beings in accordance with certain rules
designed to further their evolution.
In the Middle Ages, when many people were still endowed with a remnant
of NEGATIVE clairvoyance, they spoke of gnomes, elves, and fairies, which
roamed about the mountains and forests. These were the EARTH spirits. They
also told of the undines or WATER sprites, which inhabited rivers and
streams, and of sylphs which were said to dwell in the mists above moat and
moor as air spirits. But not much was said of the salamanders, as they are
fire spirits, and therefore not so easily detected, or so readily accessible
to the majority of people.
The old folk stories are now regarded as superstitions, but as a matter
of fact, one endowed with etheric vision may yet perceive the little gnomes
building green chloryphyll into the leaves of plants and giving to flowers
the multiplicity of delicate tints which delight our eyes.
Scientists have attempted time and again to offer an adequate explana-
tion of the phenomenon of wind and storm but have failed signally, nor can
[PAGE 49] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
they succeed while they seek a mechanical solution to what is really a
manifestation of life. Could they see the hosts of sylphs winging their way
hither and thither, they would KNOW who and what is responsible for the
fickleness of the wind; could they watch a storm at sea from the etheric
viewpoint, they would perceive that the saying "the war of the elements"
is not an empty phrase, for the heaving sea is truly then a battlefield of
sylphs and undines and the howling tempest is the war cry of spirits in the
air.
Also the salamanders are found everywhere and no fire is lighted without
their help. However, they are active mostly underground, being responsible
for explosions and volcanic eruptions.
The classes of beings which we have mentioned are still sub-human, but
will all at some time reach a stage in evolution corresponding to the human,
though under different circumstances from those under which we evolve. But
at present the wonderful Intelligences we speak of as the laws of nature,
marshal the armies of less evolved entities mentioned.
To arrive at a better understanding of what these various beings are and
their relation to us, we may take an illustration: Let us suppose that a me-
chanic is making an engine, and meanwhile a dog is watching him. It SEES the
man at his labor, and how he uses various tools to shape his materials, also
how, from the crude iron, steel, brass, and other metals the engine slowly
take shape. The dog is a being from a lower evolution and does not compre-
hend the purpose of the mechanic but it sees both the workman, his labor,
and the result thereof which manifests as an engine.
[PAGE 50] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Let us now suppose that the dog were able to see the materials which
slowly change their shape, assemble, and become an engine, but that it is
unable to perceive the workman and to see the work he does. The dog would
then be in the same relation to the mechanic as we are to the great Intel-
ligences we call laws of nature, and their assistants, the nature spirits,
for we behold the manifestations of their work as FORCE moving matter in
various ways but always under immutable conditions.
In the ether we may also observe the Angels, whose densest body is made
of that material, as our dense body is formed of gases, liquids, and solids.
These Beings are one step beyond the human stage, as we are a degree in ad-
vance of the animal evolution. We have never been animals like our present
fauna, however, but at a previous stage in the development of our planet we
had an animal-like constitution. Then the Angels were human, though they
have never possessed a dense body such as ours, nor ever functioned in any
material denser than ether. At some time, in a future condition, the Earth
will again become ethereal. Then man will be like the Angels. Therefore the
Bible tells us that man was made A LITTLE LOWER than the Angels. (Hebrews
2:7).
As ether is the avenue of vital, creative forces, and as Angels are such
expert builders of ether, we may readily understand that they are eminently
[PAGE 51] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
fitted to be warders of the propagative forces in plant, animal, and man.
All through the Bible we find them thus engaged: Two ANGELS came to Abraham
and announcd the birth of Isaac, they promised a child to the man who had
obeyed God. Later these same Angeles destroyed Sodom for abuse of the cre-
ative force. ANGELS foretold to the parents of Samuel and Samson the birth
of these giants of brain and brawn. To Elizabeth came the ANGEL (not
Arch-angel) Gabriel and announced the birth of John; later he appeard also
to Mary with the message that she was chosen to bear Jesus.
THE DESIRE WORLD
When spiritual sight is developed so that it becomes possible to behold
the Desire World, many wonders confront the newcomer, for conditions there
are so widely different from what they are here that a description must
sound quite as incredible as a fairy tale to anyone who has not himself seen
them.
Many cannot believe that such a world exists, and that other people can
see that which is invisible to them, yet some people are blind to the beau-
ties of this world which we see. A man who was born blind, may say to us:
"I know that this world exists. I can hear, I can smell, I can taste, and
above all I can feel, but when you speak of light and of color, they are
non-existent to me. You say that you SEE these things. I cannot believe it
for I cannot SEE myself. You say that light and color are all about me, but
[PAGE 52] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
none of the senses at my command reveal them to me and I do not believe that
the sense you call sight exists. I think you suffer from hallucinations."
We might sympathize very sincerely with the poor man who is thus afflicted,
but his scepticisms, reasonings, objections, and sneers notwithstanding, we
would be obliged to maintain that we perceive light and color.
The man or woman whose spiritual sight has been awakened is in a similar
position with respect to those who do not perceive the Desire World of which
he speaks. If the blind man acquires the faculty of sight by an oper-
ation, his eyes are opened and he will be compelled to assert the existence
of light and color which he formerly denied, and when spiritual sight is ac-
quired by anyone, he also perceives for himself the facts related by others.
Neither is it an argument against the existence of spiritual realms that se-
ers are at variance in their descriptions of conditions in the invisible
world. We need but to look into books on travel and compare stories brought
home by explorers of China, India, or Africa; we shall find them differing
widely and often contradictory, because each traveler saw things from his
own standpoint, under other conditions than those met by his brother au-
thors. We maintain that the man who has read most widely these varying tales
concerning a certain country AND WRESTLED WITH THE CONTRADICTIONS OF NARRA-
TORS, will have a more comprehensive idea of the country or people of whom
he has read, than the man who has read only one story assented to by all the
authors. Similarly, the varying stories of visitors to the Desire World are
of value, because giving a fuller view, and more rounded, than if all had
seen things from the same angle.
[PAGE 53] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
In this world matter and force are widely different. The chief charac-
teristic of matter here is INERTIA: the tendency to remain at rest until
acted upon by a force which sets it in motion. In the Desire World, on the
contrary, force and matter are almost indistinguishable one from the other.
We might almost describe desire-stuff as force-matter, for it is in inces-
sant motion, responsive to the slightest FEELING of a vast multitude of be-
ings which populate this wonderful world in nature. We often speak of the
"teeming millions" of China and India, even of our vast cities, London,
New York, Paris, or Chicago; we consider them overcrowded in the extreme,
yet even the densest population of any spot on Earth is sparsely inhabited
compared with the crowded conditions of the Desire World. No inconvenience
is felt by any of the denizens of that realm, however, for, while in this
world two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time, it is dif-
ferent there. A number of people and things may exist IN THE SAME PLACE AT
THE SAME TIME and be engaged in most diverse activities, regardless of what
others are doing, such is the wonderful elasticity of desire-stuff. As an
illustration we may mention a case where the writer, while attending a reli-
gious service, plainly perceived at the altar certain beings interested in
furthering that service and working to achieve that end. At the same time
there drifted through the room and the altar, a table at which four persons
were engaged in playing cards. They were as oblivious to the existence of
the beings engaged in furthering our religious service, as though these did
not exist.
[PAGE 54] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
The Desire World is the abode of those who have died, for some time sub-
sequent to that event, and we may mention in the above connection that the
so-called "dead" very often stay for a long while among their still living
friends. Unseen by their relatives they go about the familiar rooms. At
first they are often unaware of the condition mentioned: THAT TWO PERSONS
MAY BE IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME, and when they seat themselves in
a chair or at the table, a living relative may take the supposedly vacant
seat. The man we mistakenly call dead will at first hurry out of his seat to
escape being sat upon, but he soon learns that being sat upon does not hurt
him in his altered condition, and that he may remain in his chair regardless
of the fact that his living relative is also sitting there.
In the lower regions of the Desire World the whole body of each being
may be seen, but in the highest regions only the head seems to remain.
Raphael, who like many other people in the Middle Ages was gifted with a
so-called SECOND SIGHT, pictured that condition for us in his Sistine Ma-
donna, now in the Dresden Art Gallery, where Madonna and the Christ-child
are represented as floating in a golden atmosphere and surrounded by a host
of genie-heads: conditions which the occult investigator knows to be in har-
mony with actual facts.
[PAGE 55] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
Among the entities who are, so to speak, "native" to that realm of na-
ture, none are perhaps better known to the Christian world than the Archan-
gels. These exalted Beings were human at a time in the Earth's history when
we were yet plant-like. Since then we have advanced two steps; through the
animal and to the human stage of development. The present Archangels have
also made two steps in progression; one, in which they were similar to what
the Angels are now, and another step which made them what we call Archan-
gels.
Their densest body, though differing from ours in shape, and made of
desire-stuff, is used by them as a vehicle of consciousness in the same man-
ner that we use our body. They are expert manipulators of forces in the De-
sire World, and these forces, as we shall see, move all the world to action.
Therefore the Archangels work with humanity INDUSTRIALLY and POLITICALLY as
arbitrators of the destiny of peoples and nations. The Angels may be said to
be FAMILY SPIRITS, whose mission is to unite a few Spirits as members of a
family, and cement them with ties of blood and love of kin, while the Arch-
angels may be called race and national spirits, as they unite whole nations
by patriotism or love of home and country. They are responsible for the rise
and fall of nations, they give war or peace, victory or defeat, as it serves
the best interest of the people they rule. This we may see, for instance,
from the book of Daniel, where the Archangel Michael is called the prince of
the children of Israel. Another Archangel tells Daniel (in the tenth chap-
ter) that he intends to fight the prince of Persia by means of the Greeks.
[PAGE 56] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
There are varying grades of intelligence among human beings; some are
qualified to hold lofty positions entirely beyond the ability of others. So
it is also among higher beings. Not all Archangels are fitted to govern a
nation and rule the destiny of a race, people, or tribe; some are not fitted
to rule human beings at all, but as the animals also have a desire nature,
these lower grades of Archangels govern the animals as Group Spirits and
evolve to higher capacity thereby.
The work of the Race Spirit is readily observable in the people it gov-
erns. The lower in the scale of evolution the people, the more they show a
certain racial likeness. That is due to the work of the Race Spirit. One
national Spirit is responsible for the swarthy complexion common to Ital-
ians, for instance, while another causes the Scandinavians to be blond. In
the more advanced types of humanity, there is a wider divergence from the
common type, due to the individualized Ego, which thus expresses in form and
feature its own particular idiosyncrasies. Among the lower types of
humanity such as Mongolians, native African Negroes and South Sea Islanders,
the resemblance of individuals in each tribe makes it almost impossible for
civilized Westerners to distinguish between them. Among animals, where the
[PAGE 57] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
separate Spirit is not individualized and self-conscious, the resemblance is
not only much more marked physically but extends even to traits and charac-
teristics. We may write the biography of a man, for the experiences of each
varies from that of others and his acts are different, but we cannon write
the biography of an animal, for members of each tribe all act alike under
similar circumstances. If we desire to know the facts about Edward VII, it
would profit us nothing to study the life of the Prince-Consort, his father,
or of George V, his son, as both would be entirely different from Edward.
In order to find out what manner of man he was, we must study his own indi-
vidual life. If, on the other hand, we wish to know the characteristics of
beavers, we may observe any individual of the tribe, and when we have stud-
ied its idiosyncrasies, we shall know the traits of the whole tribe of bea-
vers. What we call "instinct" is in reality the dictates of "Group Spirits"
which govern separate individuals of its tribe telepathically, as it were.
The ancient Egyptians knew of these animal Group spirits and sketched
many of them, in a crude way, upon their temples and tombs. Such figures
with a human body and an animal head actually live in the Desire World. They
may be spoken to, and will be found much more intelligent than the average
human being.
That statement brings up another peculiarity of conditions in the Desire
World in respect of language. Here in this world human speech is so diversi-
fied that there are countries where people who live only a few miles apart
[PAGE 58] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
speak a dialect so different that they understand each other with great dif-
ficulty, and each nation has its own language that varies altogether from
the speech of other peoples.
In the lower regions of the Desire World, there is the same diversity
of tongues as on Earth, and the so-called "dead" of one nation find it
impossible to converse with those who lived in another country. Hence lin-
guistic accomplishments are of great value to the Invisible Helpers, of whom
we shall hear later, as their sphere of usefulness is enormously extended by
that ability.
Even apart from differences of language our mode of speech is exceed-
ingly productive of misunderstandings. The same words often convey most op-
posite ideas to different minds. If we speak of a "body of water," one
person may think we mean a lake of small dimensions, the thoughts of another
may be directed to the Great Lakes, and a third person's thoughts may be
turned towards the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. If we speak of a "light,"
one may think of a gaslight, another of an electric arc-lamp, or if we say
"red," one person may think we mean a delicate shade of pink and another
gets the idea of crimson. The misunderstandings of what words mean goes even
farther, as illustrated in the following.
The writer once opened a reading room in a large city where he lectured,
and invited his audience to make use thereof. Among those who availed them-
selves of the opportunity was a gentleman who had for many years been a
veritable "metaphysical tramp," roaming from lecture to lecture, hearing
[PAGE 59] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
the teachings of everybody and practicing nothing. Like the Athenians on
Mars' Hill, he was always looking for something "new," particularly in the
line of phenomena, and his mind was in that seething chaotic state which is
one of the most prominent symptoms of "mental indigestion."
Having attended a number of our lectures he knew from the program that:
"The lecturer does not give readings or cast horoscopes FOR PAY." But see-
ing on the door of the newly opened reading room, the legend: "Free Read-
ing Room," his erratic mind at once jumped to the conclusion that although
we were opposed to telling fortunes for pay, we were now going to give free
readings of the future in the Free Reading Room. He was much disappointed
that we did not intend to tell fortunes, either gratis or for a consider-
ation, and we changed our sign to "Free Library" in order to obviate a
repetition of the error.
In the higher Regions of the Desire World the confusion of tongues gives
place to a universal mode of expression which absolutely prevents misunder-
standings of our meaning. There each of our thoughts takes a definite form
and color perceptible to all, and this thought-symbol emits a certain tone,
which is not a word, but it conveys our meaning to the one we address no
matter what language we spoke on earth.
[PAGE 60] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
To arrive at an understanding of how such a universal language becomes
possible and is at once comprehended by all, without preparation, we may
take as an illustration the manner in which a musician reads music. A German
or a Polish composer may write an opera. Each has his own peculiar terminol-
ogy and expresses it in his own language. When that opera is to be played by
an Italian bandmaster, or by a Spanish or American musician, it need not be
translated; the notes and symbols upon the page are a universally understood
language of symbols which is intelligible to musicians of no matter what na-
tionality. Similarly with figures, the German counts: ein, zwei, drei; the
Frenchman says: un, deux, trois, and in English we use the words: one, two,
three, but the figures: 1,2,3, though differently spoken, are intelligible
to all and mean the same. There is no possibility of misunderstanding in the
cases of either music or figures. Thus it is also with the universal lan-
guage peculiar to the higher regions of the Desire World and the still more
subtle realms in nature, it is intelligible to all, an exact mode of expres-
sion.
Returning to our description of the entities commonly met with in the
lower Desire World, we may note that other systems of religion than the
EGYPTIAN, already mentioned, has spoken of various classes of beings native
to these realms. The Zoroastrian religion, for instance, mentions SEVEN
AMSHASPANDS and the IZZARDS as having dominion over certain days in the
month and certain months in the year. The Christian religion speaks of Seven
Spirits before the Throne, which are the same beings the Persians called
[PAGE 61] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
Amshaspands. Each of them rules over two months in the year while the sev-
enth: Michael, the highest, is their leader, for he is ambassador from the
Sun to the Earth; the others are ambassadors from the planets. The Catholic
religion with its abundant occult information takes most notice of these
"star-angels" and knows considerable about their influence upon the af-
fairs of the earth.
The Amshaspands, however, do not inhabit the lower regions of the Desire
World but influence the Izzards. According to the old Persian legend these
beings are divisible into two groups: one of twenty-eight classes, and the
other of three classes. Each of these classes has dominion over, or takes
the lead of all the other classes on one certain day of the month. They
regulate the weather conditions on that day and work with animal and man in
particular. At least the twenty-eight classes do that, the other group of
three classes has nothing to do with animals, because they have only
twenty-eight pairs of spinal nerves, while human beings have thirty-one.
Thus animals are attuned to the lunar month of twenty-eight days, while man
is correlated to the solar month of thirty or thirty-one days. The ancient
Persians were astronomers but not physiologists; they had no means of know-
ing the different nervous constitution of animal and man, but they saw
clairvoyantly these superphysical beings; they noted and recorded their work
with animal and men, and our own anatomical investigations may show us the
reason for these divisions of the classes of Izzards recorded in that an-
cient system of philosophy.
[PAGE 62] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Still another class of beings should be mentioned: those who have en-
tered the Desire World through the gate of death and are now hidden from our
physical vision. These so-called "dead" are in fact much more alive than
any of us, who are tied to a dense body and subject to all its limitations,
who are forced slowly to drag this clog along with us at the rate of a few
miles an hour, who must expend such an enormous amount of energy upon pro-
pelling that vehicle that we are easily and quickly tired, even when in the
best of health, and who are often confined to a bed, sometimes for years, by
the indisposition of this heavy mortal coil. But when that is once shed and
the freed Spirit can again function in its spiritual body, sickness is an
unknown condition, and distance is annihilated, or at least practically so,
for though it was necessary for the Saviour to liken the freed Spirit to the
wind which blows where it listeth, that simile gives but a poor description
of what actually takes place in soul flights. Time is non-existent there, as
we shall presently explain, so the writer has never been able to time him-
self, but has on several occasions timed others when he was in the physi-
cal body and then speeding through space upon a certain errand. Distances
such as from the Pacific Coast to Europe, the delivery of a short message
there and the return to the body has been accomplished in slightly less than
one minute. Therefore our assertion, that those whom we call dead are in re-
ality much more alive than we, is well founded in facts.
[PAGE 63] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
We spoke of the dense body in which we now live, as a "clog" and a
"fetter." It must not be inferred, however, that we sympathize with the
attitude of certain people who, when they have learned with what ease soul-
flights are accomplished, go about bemoaning the fact that they are now im-
prisoned. They are constantly thinking of, and longing for, the day when
they shall be able to leave this mortal coil behind and fly away in their
spiritual body. Such an attitude of mind is decidedly mistaken; the great
and wise Beings who are invisible leaders of our evolution have not placed
us here to no purpose. Valuable lessons are to be learned in this visible
world wherein we dwell, lessons that cannot be learned in any other realm of
nature, and the very conditions of density and inertia whereof such people
complain, are factors which make it possible to acquire the knowledge this
world is designed to give. This fact was so amply illustrated in a recent
experience of the writer:
A friend had been studying occultism for a number of years but had not
studied astrology. Last year she became aroused to the importance of this
branch of study as a key to self-knowledge and a means of understanding the
natures of others, also of developing the compassion for their errors, so
necessary in the cultivation of love for one's neighbor. Love for our neigh-
bor the Saviour enjoined upon us as the Supreme Commandment, which is the
[PAGE 64] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
fulfillment of all laws, and as astrology teaches us to BEAR and FORBEAR, it
helps as nothing else can in the development of this supreme virtue. She
therefore joined one of the classes started in Los Angeles by the writer,
but a sudden illness quickly ended in death and thus terminated her study of
the subject in the physical body, here it was well begun.
Upon one of many occasions when she visited the writer subsequent to her
release from the body, she deplored the fact that it seemed so difficult to
make headway in her study of astrology. The writer advised continued atten-
dance at the classes, and suggested that she could surely get someone "on
the other side" to help her study.
At this she exclaimed impatiently: "Oh, yes! Of course I attend the
classes. I have done so right along; I have also found a friend who helps me
here. But you cannot imagine how difficult it is to concentrate here upon
mathematical calculations and the judgment of a horoscope or in fact upon
any subject here, where every little thought-current takes you miles away
from your study. I used to think it difficult to concentrate when I had a
physical body, but it is not a circumstance to the obstacles which face the
student here."
The physical body was an anchor to her, and it is that to all of us. Be-
ing dense, it is also to a great extent impervious to disturbing influences
from which the more subtle spiritual bodies do not shield us. It enables us
to bring our ideas to a logical conclusion with far less effort at concen-
[PAGE 65] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
tration than is necessary in that realm where all is in such incessant and
turbulent motion. Thus we are gradually developing the faculty of holding
our thoughts to a center by existence in this world, and we should value our
opportunities here, rather than deplore the limitations which help in one
direction more than they fetter in another. In fact, we should never deplore
any condition, each has its lesson. If we try to learn what that lesson is
and to assimilate the experience which may be extracted therefrom, we are
wiser than those who waste time in vain regrets.
We said there is no time in the Desire World, and the reader will
readily understand that such must be the case from the fact, already men-
tioned, that nothing there is opaque.
In this world the rotation of the opaque earth upon its axis is respon-
sible for the alternating conditions of day and night. We call it DAY when
the spot where we live is turned towards the Sun and its rays illumine our
environment, but when our home is turned away from the Sun and its rays ob-
structed by the opaque earth we term the resulting darkness NIGHT. The pas-
sage of the earth in its orbit around the Sun produces the seasons and the
year, which are our divisions of time. But in the Desire World where all is
light there is but one long day. The Spirit is not there fettered by a heavy
physical body, so it does not need sleep and existence is unbroken.
Spiritual substances are not subject to contraction and expansion such as
arise here from heat and cold, hence summer and winter are also
[PAGE 66] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
non-existent. Thus there is nothing to differentiate one moment from another
in respect of the conditions of light and darkness, summer and winter, which
mark time for us. Therefore, while the so-called "dead" may have a very
accurate memory of time as regards the life they lived here in the body,
they are usually unable to tell anything about the chronological relation of
events which have happened to them in the Desire World, and it is a very
common thing to find that they do not even know how many years have elapsed
since they passed out from this plane of existence. Only students of the
stellar science are able to calculate the passage of time after their de-
mise.
When the occult investigator wishes to study an event in the past his-
tory of man, he may most readily call up the picture from THE MEMORY OF NA-
TURE, but if he desires to fix the time of the incident, he will be obliged
to count backwards by the motion of the heavenly bodies. For that purpose he
generally uses the measure provided by the Sun's precession: each year the
Sun crosses the Earth's equator about the twenty-first of March. Then day
and night are of even length, therefore this is called the vernal equinox.
But on account of a certain wobbling motion (nutation) of the Earth's axis,
the Sun does not cross over at the same place in the zodiac. It reaches the
equator a little too early, it PRECEDES, year by year it moves BACKWARDS a
little. At the time of the birth of Christ, for instance, the vernal equinox
[PAGE 67] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
was in about seven degrees of the zodiacal sign Aries. During the two thou-
sand years which have intervened between that event and the present time,
the Sun has moved BACKWARDS about twenty-seven degrees, so that it is now in
about ten degrees of the sign Pisces. It moves around the circle of the zo-
diac in about 25,868 years. The occult investigator may therefore count back
the number of signs, or whole circles, which the Sun has PRECEDED between
the present day and the time of the event he is investigating. Thus he has
by the use of the heavenly time keepers an approximately correct measure of
time even though he is in the Desire World, and that is another reason for
studying the stellar science.
THE WORLD OF THOUGHT
When we have attained the spiritual development necessary consciously to
enter the World of Thought and leave the Desire World, which is the realm of
light and color, we pass through a condition which the occult investigator
calls The Great Silence.
As previously stated, the higher regions of the Desire World exhibit the
marked peculiarity of blending form and sound, but when one passes through
the Great Silence, all the world seems to disappear and the Spirit has the
feeling of floating in an ocean of intense light, utterly alone, yet
absolutely fearless, because imbued with a sense of its impregnable securi-
ty, no longer subject to form or sound, past or future; all is one eternal
NOW.
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There seems to be neither pleasure nor pain and yet there is no absense of
feeling but it all seems to center in the one idea: "I AM!" The human
Ego, stands face to face with itself, as it were, and for the time being all
else is shut out. This is the experience of anyone who passes that breach
between the Desire World and the World of Thought, whether involuntarily, in
the course of an ordinary cyclic pilgrimage of the Spirit, which we shall
later elucidate when speaking of the post-mortem existence, or by an act of
the will, as in the case of the trained occult investigator; all have the
same experience in transition.
There are two main divisions in the Physical World: the Chemical Region
and the Etheric Region. The World of Thought also has two great subdivi-
sions: The Region of Concrete Thought and the Region of Abstract Thought.
As we specialize the material of the Physical World and shape it into a
dense body, and as we form the force-matter of the Desire World into a de-
sire body, so also do we appropriate a certain amount of mind-stuff from the
Region of Concrete Thought; but we, as Spirits, clothe ourselves in spirit-
substance from the Region of Abstract Thought and thereby we become indi-
vidual, separate Egos.
THE REGION OF CONCRETE THOUGHT
The Region of Concrete Thought is neither shadowy nor illusory. It is
the acme of reality, and this world which we mistakenly regard as the only
verity, is but an evanescent replica of that region.
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A little reflection will show the reasonableness of this statement and
prove our contention that all we see here is really crystallized thought.
Our houses, our machinery, our chairs and tables, all that has been made by
the hand of man is the embodiment of a thought. As the juices in the soft
body of the snail gradually crystallize into the hard and flinty shell which
it carries upon its back and which hides it, so everything used in our
civilization is a concretion of invisible, intangible mind-stuff. The
thought of James Watt in time congealed into a steam engine and revolution-
ized the world. Edison's thought was condensed into an electric generator
which has turned night to day, and had it not been for the thought of Morse
and Marconi, the telegraph would not have annihilated distances as it does
today. An earthquake may wreck a city and demolish the lighting plant and
telegraph station, but the thoughts of Watt, Edison, and Morse remain, and
upon the basis of their indestructible ideas new machinery may be con-
structed and operations resumed. Thus thoughts are more permanent than
things.
The sensitive ear of the musician detects a certain musical note in e-
very city which is different from that of another city. He hears in each
little brook a new melody, and to him the sough of wind in the treetops of
different forests gives a varying sound. In the Desire World we noted the
existence of forms similar to the shapes of things gere, also that seem-
ingly SOUND PROCEEDS FROM FORM. But in the Region of Concrete Thought it is
[PAGE 70] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
different, for while each form occupies and obscures a certain space here,
form is nonexistent when viewed from the standpoint of the Region of Con-
crete Thought. Where the form was, a transparent vacuous space is observa-
ble. FROM THAT EMPTY VOID COMES A SOUND which is the "keynote" that cre-
ates and maintains the form whence it APPEARS to come, as the almost invis-
ible core of a gas-flame is the source of the light we perceive.
Sound from a vacuum cannot be heard in the Physical World, but the har-
mony which proceeds from the vacuous cavity of a celestial ARCHETYPE is
"the Voice of the Silence," and it becomes audible when all earthly sounds
have ceased. Elijah heard it not while the storm was raging; nor was it in
evidence during the turbulence of the earthquake, nor in the crackling and
roaring fire, but when the destructive and inharmonious sounds of this world
had melted into silence, "the still small voice" issued its commands to
save Elijah's life.
That "keynote" is a direct manifestation of the Higher Self which uses
it to impress and govern the personality it has created. But, alas, part of
its life has been infused into the material side of its being, which has
thus obtained a certain will of its own and only too often are the two sides
of our nature at war.
At last there comes a time when the Spirit is too weary to strive with
the recalcitrant flesh; when "the Voice of the Silence" ceases. No matter
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how much earthly nourishment we may seek to give, it will not avail to sus-
tain a form when this harmonious sound, this "word from heaven" no longer
reverberates through the empty void of the celestial archetype. "Man lives
not by bread alone," but by the WORD, and the last sound-vibration of the
"keynote" is the death-knell of the physical body.
In this world we are compelled to investigate and to study a thing be-
fore we know about it, and although the facilities for gaining information
are in some respects much greater in the Desire World, a certain amount of
investigation is necessary, nevertheless, to acquire knowledge. In the World
of Thought, on the contrary, it is different. When we wish to know about any
certain thing there, and we turn our attention thereto, then that thing
speaks to us, as it were. The sound it emits at once gives us a most lumi-
nous comprehension of every phase of its nature. We attain to a realization
of its past history; the whole story of its unfoldment is laid bare and we
seem to have lived through all of those experiences together with the thing
we are investigating.
Were it not for one enormous difficulty, the story thus obtained would
be exceedingly valuable; but all this information, this life-picture, flows
in upon us with an enormous rapidity, in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye, so that it has neither beginning nor end, for, as said, in the World of
Thought, all is one great NOW; TIME does not exist.
[PAGE 72] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Therefore, when we want to use the archetypal information in the
Physical World, we must disentangle and arrange it in chronological order
with beginning and ending before it becomes intelligible to beings living in
a realm where TIME is a prime factor. That rearrangement is a most difficult
task as all words are coined with relation to the three dimensions of space
and the evanescent unit of time, the fleeting moment, hence much of that in-
formation remains unavailable.
Among the denizens of this Region of Concrete Thought we may note par-
ticularly two classes. One is called the Powers of Darkness by Paul, and the
mystic investigator of the Western World knows them as Lords of Mind. They
were human at the time when the Earth was in a condition of darkness such as
worlds-in-the-making go through before they become luminous and reach the
firemist-stage. At that time we were in our mineral evolution. That is to
say: the human Spirit which has now awakened was encrusted in the ball of
mindstuff, which was then the Earth. At that time the present human Spirits
were as much asleep as is the life which ensouls our minerals of today, and
as we are working with the mineral chemical constituents of the earth, mold-
ing them into houses, railways, steamboats, chairs, etc., etc., so those Be-
ings, who are now Lords of Mind, worked with us when we were mineral-like.
They have since advanced three steps, through stages similar to that of the
Angels and Archangels, before they attained their present position and be-
came creative Intelligences. They are expert builders of mind-stuff, as we
are builders of the present mineral substances, and therefore they have
given us necessary help to acquire a mind which is the highest development
of the human being.
[PAGE 73] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
According to the foregoing explanation it seems to be an anomaly when
Paul speaks of them as evil and exhorts us to withstand them. The difficulty
disappears, however, when we understand that good and evil are but relative
qualities. An illustration will make the point clear: Let us suppose that an
expert organ builder has constructed a wonderful organ, a masterpiece. Then
he has followed his vocation in the proper manner, and is therefore to be
commended for the good which he has done. But if he is not satisfied to
leave well enough alone, if he refuses to give up his product to the musi-
cian who understands how to play upon the instrument, if he intrudes his
presence into the concert hall, he is out of place and to be censured as
evil. Similarly the Lords of Mind did the greatest possible service to hu-
manity when they helped us to acquire our mind, but many subtle thought in-
fluences come from them, and are to be resisted, as Paul very properly em-
phasizes.
The other class of beings which must be mentioned are called Archetypal
Forces by the Western School of occultism. They direct the energies of the
creative archetypes native to this realm. They are a composite class of be-
ings of many different grades of intelligence, and there is one stage in the
cyclic journey of the human Spirit when that also labors in, and is part of,
that great host of beings. For the human Spirit is also destined to become a
[PAGE 74] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
great creative Intelligence at some future time, and if there were no school
wherein it could gradually learn to create, it would not be able to ad-
vance, for nothing in nature is done suddenly. An acorn planted in the soil
does not become a majestic oak overnight, but many years of slow, persist-
ent growth are required before it attains to the stature of a giant of the
forest. A man does not become an Angel by the mere fact of dying and enter-
ing a new world any more than an animal advances to be a man by the same
process. But in time all that lives, mounts the ladder of Being from the
clod to the God. There is no limitation possible to the Spirit, and so at
various stages in its unfoldment the human Spirit works with the other na-
ture forces, according to the stage of intelligence which it has attained.
It creates, changes, and remodels the Earth upon which it is to live. Thus,
under the great Law of Cause and Effect, which we observe in every realm of
nature, it reaps upon earth what it has sown in heaven, and vice versa. It
grows slowly but peristently and advances continually.
THE REGION OF ABSTRACT THOUGHT
Various religious systems have been given to humanity at different
times, each suited to meet the spiritual needs of the people among whom it
was promulgated, and, coming from the same divine source: God; all religions
exhibit similar fundamentals of first principles.
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All systems teach that there was a time when DARKNESS reigned supreme.
Everything which we now perceive was then non-existent. Earth, sky, and the
heavenly bodies were uncreate, so were the multitudinous forms which live
and move upon the various planets. All, all, was yet in a fluidic condition
and the Universal Spirit brooded QUIESCENT in limitless Space as the One Ex-
istence.
The Greeks called that condition of homogeneity CHAOS, and the state
of orderly segregation which we now see: the marching orbs which illumine
the vaulted canopy of heaven, the stately procession of planets around a
central light, the majestic Sun, the unbroken sequence of the seasons and
the unvarying alternation of tidal ebb and flow--all this aggregate of sys-
tematic order was called COSMOS, and was supposed to have proceeded from
Chaos.
The Christian Mystic obtains a deeper comprehension when he opens his
Bible and ponders the first five verses of that brightest gem of all
spiritual ore: the gospel of St. John.
As he reverently opens his aspiring heart to acquire understanding of
those sublime mystical teachings he transcends the form-side of nature, com-
prising various realms of which we have been speaking, and finds himself
"in the spirit," as did the prophets in olden times. He is then in the Re-
gion of Abstract Thought and sees the eternal verities which also Paul be-
held in this, the Third Heaven.
[PAGE 76] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
For those among us who are unable to obtain knowledge save by reason-
ing upon the matter, however, it will be necessary to examine the fundamen-
tal meaning of words used by St. John to clothe his wonderful teachings. It
was originally given in the Greek language, a much simpler matter than is
commonly supposed, for Greek words have been freely introduced into our mod-
ern languages, particularly in scientific terms, and we shall show how this
ancient teaching is supported by the latest discoveries of modern science.
The opening verse of the Gospel of St. John is as follows: "In the BE-
GINNING was the WORD and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD." We
will examine the words: "beginning," "Word," and "God." We may also
note that in the Greek version the concluding sentence reads: "and God was
the Word," a difference which makes a great distinction.
It is an axiomatic truth that "out of nothing, nothing comes," and it
has often been asserted by scoffers that the Bible teaches generation "from
nothing." We readily agree that TRANSLATIONS into the modern languages pro-
mulgate this erroneous doctrine, but we have shown in THE ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION (chapter on "The Occult Analysis of Genesis"), that the
Hebrew text speaks of an EVER-EXISTING essence, as the basis whence all
forms, the Earth and the heavenly lights included, were first created, and
John also gives the same teaching.
The Greek word ARCHE, in the opening sentence of the Gospel of St.
John has been translated THE BEGINNING, and it may be said to have mean-
ing, but it also has other valid interpretations, vastly more significant of
the idea John wished to convey. It means: an elementary condition, a chief
source, a first principle, primordial matter.
[PAGE 77] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
There was a time when science insisted that the elements were immutable,
that is to say, that an atom of iron had been an atom of iron since the
earth was formed and would so remain to the end of time. The alchemists
were sneered at as fanciful dreamers or madmen, but since PRofessor J. J.
Thomson's discovery of the electron, the atomic theory of matter, is no
longer tenable. The principle of radio-activity has leter vindicated the
alchemists. Science and the Bible agree in teaching that all that is has
been formed from one homogenous substance.
It is that basic principle which John called ARCHE: primordial mat-
ter, and the dictionary defines archeology as: "the science of the origin
(ARCHE) of things." Masons style God the "Grand Architect," for the Greek
word tekton means builder, and God is the Chief Builder (TEKTON) of ARCHE,
the primordial virgin matter which is also the chief source of all things.
Thus we see that when the opening sentence of St. John's Gospel is pro
perly translated, our Christian religion teaches that once a virgin sub-
stance enfolded the divine Thinker: God.
That is the identical condition which the earlier Greeks called Chaos. A
little thought will make it evident that we are not arbitrary in finding
fault with the translation of the gospel, for it is self-evident that a word
[PAGE 78] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
cannot be the beginning, a thought must precede the word, and a thinker must
originate thought before it can be expressed as a word. When properly trans-
lated the teaching of John fully embodies that idea, for the Greek term
LOGOS means both the reasonable thought (we also say logic) and the word
which expresses this (logical) thought.
1) In the primordial substance was thought, and the thought was with
God, And God was the word,
2) That (The Word), also was with God in the primal state.
Later the divine WORD, the Creative Fiat, reverberates through space and
segregates the homogeneous virgin substance into spearate forms.
3) Every thing has come into existence because of that prime fact, (The
Word of God), and no thing exists apart from that fact.
4) In that was Life.
In the alphabet we have a few elementary sounds from which words may be
constructed. They are basic elements of expression, as bricks, iron, and
lumber are raw materials of architecture, music, literature, or poetry, but
the contour of the finished product and the purpose it will serve depends
upon the arrangement of the raw materials, which is subject to the
constructor's design.
But a heap of bricks, iron, and lumber, is not a house, neither is a
jumbled mass of notes music, nor can we call a haphazard arrangement of al-
phabetical sounds a word. These raw materials are prime necessities in con-
struction of architecture, music, literature, or poetry, but the contour of
the finished product and the purpose is will serve depends upon the
[PAGE 79] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
arrangement of the raw materials, which is subject to the constructor's de-
sign. Building materials may be formed into prison or palace; notes may be
arranged as fanfare or funeral dirge; words may be indicted to inspire pas-
sion or peace, all according to the will of the designer. So also the
majestic rhythm of the Word of God has wrought the primal substance,
ARCHE, into the multitudinous forms which comprise the phenomenal world,
according to His will.
Did the reader ever stop to consider the wonderful power of the human
word? Coming to us in the sweet accents of love, it may lure us from paths
of rectitude to shameful ignominy and wreck our life with sorrow and re-
morse, or it may spur us on in noblest efforts to acquire glory and honor,
here or hereafter. According to the inflection of the voice a word may
strike terror into the bravest heart or lull a timid child to peaceful slum-
ber. The word of an agitator may rouse the passions of a mob and impel it to
awful bloodshed, as in the French Revolution, where dictatorial mandates of
mob-rule killed and exiled at pleasure, or, the strain of "Home, Sweet
Home" may cement the setting of a family-circle beyond possibility of rup-
ture.
Right words are true and therefore free; they are never bound or fet-
tered by time or space; they go to farthest corners of earth, and when the
lips that spoke them first have long since mouldered in the grave, other
voices take up with unwearying enthusiasm their message of life and love, as
for instance, the mystical "Come unto me" which has sounded from unnum-
bered tongues and brought oceans of balm to troubled hearts.
[PAGE 80] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Words of peace have been victorious where war would have meant defeat,
and no talent is more to be desired than ability always to say the right
word at the auspicious time.
Considering thus the immense power and potency of the human word, we may
perhaps dimly apprehend the potential magnitude of the Word of God, the Cre-
ative Fiat, when, as a mighty dynamic force it first reverberated through
space and commenced to form primordial matter into worlds, as sound from a
violin bow molds sand into geometrical figures. Moreover, THE WORD OF GOD
STILL SOUNDS to sustain the marching orbs and impel them onwards in their
circle paths; the Creative Word continues to produce forms of gradually in-
creasing efficiency, as media expressing life and consciousness. The har-
monious enunciation of consecutive syllables in the Divine Creative Word
mark successive stages in the evolution of the world and man. When the
last syllable has been spoken and the complete word has sounded, we shall
have reached perfection as human beings. Then TIME will be at an end, and
with the last vibration of the Word of God, the worlds will be resolved into
their original elements. Our life will then be "hid with Christ in God,"
until the Cosmic Night, Chaos, is over, and we wake to do "greater things"
in a "new heaven and a new earth."
[PAGE 81] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
According to the general idea Chaos and Cosmos are superlative anti-
theses of each other. Chaos being regarded as a past condition of confusion
and disorder which has long since been entirely superseded by the cosmic or-
der which now prevails.
As a matter of fact, Chaos is the seed-ground of Cosmos, the basis of
all progress, for thence come all IDEAS which later materialize as railways,
computers, telephones, etc.
We speak of thoughts as being "conceived by the mind," but as both
father and mother are necessary in the generation of a child, so also there
must be both IDEA and MIND before a THOUGHT can be conceived. As semen ger-
minated in the positive male organ is projected into the negative uterus at
conception, so ideas are generated by a positive human Ego in the spirit-
substance of the Region of Abstract Thought. This idea is projected upon the
receptive mind, and a conception takes place. Then, as the spermatozoic nu-
cleus draws upon the maternal body for material to shape a body appropriate
to its individual expression, so does each idea clothe itself in a peculiar
form of mind-stuff. It is then a thought, as visible to the inner vision of
composite man as a child is to its parent.
Thus we see that ideas are embryonic thoughts, nuclei of
spirit-substance from the Region of Abstract Thought. Improperly conceived
in a diseased mind they become vagaries and delusions, but when gestated in
a sound mind and formed into rational thoughts they are the basis of all the
material, moral, and mental progress. The closer our touch with Chaos, the
better will be our Cosmos, for in that realm of abstract realities truth is
not obscured by matter, it is self-evident.
[PAGE 82] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Pilate asked "What is Truth?" but no answer is recorded. We are in-
capable of cognizing truth in the abstract while we live in the phenomenal
world, for the inherent nature of matter is illusion and delusion, and we
are constantly making allowances and corrections whether we are conscious of
the fact or not. The sunbeam which proceeds for 90 millions of miles in a
straight line is refracted or bent as soon as it strikes our dense atmo-
sphere, and according to the angle of its refraction, it APPEARS to have one
color or another. The straightest stick appears crooked when partly immersed
in water, and the truths which are so self-evident in the higher worlds are
likewise obscured, refracted or twisted out of all semblance under the il-
lusory conditions of this material world.
"The truth shall set you free," said Christ, and the more we turn our
aspirations from material acquisitiveness and seek to lay up treasure above,
the more we aim to rise, the oftener we "get in the spirit," the more
readily we "shall know truth" and reach liberation from the fetter of
flesh which binds us to a limited environment, and attain to a sphere of
greater usefulness.
Study of philosophy and science has a tendency to further perception of
truth, and as science has progressed it has gradually receded from its
erstwhile crude materialism. The day is not far off when it will be more
reverently religious than the church itself. Mathematics is said to be
[PAGE 83] THE VISIBLE AND THE INVISIBLE WORLDS
"dry," for it does not stir the emotions. When it is taught that "the sum
of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees," the dictum is at once ac-
cepted, because its truth is self-evident and no feeling is involved in the
matter. But when a doctrine such as the Immaculate Conception is pro-
mulgated and our emotions are stirred, bloody war, or heated argument, may
result, and still leave the matter in doubt. Pythagoras demanded that his
pupils study mathematics, because he knew the elevating effect of raising
their minds above the sphere of feeling, where it is subject to delusion,
and elevating it towards the Region of Abstract Thought which is the prime
reality.
In this place we are dealing with worlds in particular, and will there-
fore defer comment upon the remainder of the first five verse of St. John's
Gospel:
And Life became Light in man,
5) and Light shines in Darkness.
We have now seen that the Earth is composed of three worlds which inter-
penetrate one another so that it is perfectly true when Christ said that
"heaven is within you" or, as the translation should rather have
been, AMONG YOU. We have also seen that of these three realms two are
subdivided. It has also been explained that each division serves a great
purpose in the unfoldment of various forms of life which dwell in each of
these worlds, and we may note in conclusion, that the lower regions of the
Desire World constitute what the Catholic religion calls PURGATORY, a
[PAGE 84] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
place where the evil of a past life is transmuted to good, usable by the
Spirit as conscience in later lives. The higher regions of the Desire World
are the FIRST HEAVEN where all the good a man has done is assimilated by
the Spirit as SOUL power. The Region of Concrete Thought is the SECOND
HEAVEN, where, as already said, the Spirit prepares its future environment
on Earth, and the Region of Abstract Thought is the THIRD HEAVEN, but as
Paul said, it is scarcely lawful to speak about that.
Some will ask: Is there then no hell? No! THE MERCY OF GOD tends as
greatly towards the principle of GOOD AS THE INHUMANITY OF MAN towards cru-
elty, so that he would consign his brother men to flames of hell during
eternity for the puerile mistakes committed during a few years, or perhaps
for a slight difference in belief. The writer has heard of a minister who
wished to impress his "flock" with the reality of an eternity of hell
flames, and to demonstrate the fallacy of a heretical notion entertained by
some of his parishioners: that when sinners go to hell they burn to ashes
and that is the end.
He took with him an alcohol lamp and some asbestoes into the pulpit and
told his audience that God would turn their souls into a substance resem-
bling asbestos. He showed them that thought the asbestos were heated red hot
it did not decompose into ashes. Fortunately, the day of the hell preacher
has gone by, and if we believe the Bible which says that "in God we live
and move and have our being," we can readily understand that A LOST SOUL
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WOULD BE AN IMPOSSIBILITY, for were one single soul (Spirit) lost, then
logically a part of God Himself would be lost. No matter what our color, our
race, or our creed, we are all equally the children of God and in our
various ways we shall obtain satisfaction. Let us therefore rather look to
Christ and forget creed.
CREED OR CHRIST?
No man loves God who hates his king;
Who tramples on his brother's heart and soul,
Who seeks to shackle, cloud, or fog the mind
By fears of Hell has not perceived our goal.
God-sent are all religions blest;
And Christ, the Way, the Truth, the Life,
TO Give the heavy-laden rest,
And peace from sorrow, sin, and strife.
At his request the Universal Spirit came
TO ALL THE CHURCHES, not to one alone;
On Pentecostal morn a tongue of flame
Round EACH apostle as a halo shone.
Since then, as vultures ravenous with greed,
We oft have battled for an empty name,
And sought by dogma, edict, creed,
To send each other to the flame.
Is Christ then twain? Was Cephas, Paul
To save the world, nailed to the tree?
Then why divisions here at all?
Christ's love enfolds both you and me.
[PAGE 86] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
His pure sweet love is not confined
By creeds which segregate and raise a wall,
His love enfolds, embraces HUMAN KIND,
No matter what ourselves of Him we call.
Then why not take Him at His word?
Why hold to creeds which tear apart?
But one thing matters, be it heard,
That brother-love fill every heart.
There`s but one thing the world has need to know;
There`s but one balm for all our human woe.
There`s but one way that leads to heaven above--
That way is human sympathy and love.
[PAGE 87] THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
CHAPTER IV
THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
VITAL BODY--DESIRE BODY--MIND
Our chapter head, "The Constitution of Man," may surprise a reader who
has not previously studied the Mystery Teachings, or he may imagine that we
intend to give an anatomical dissertation, but such is not our intention.
We have spoken of the Earth upon which we live as being composed of se-
veral invisible realms in addition to the world we perceive by means of our
senses. We have also spoken of man as being correlated to these various
divisions in nature, and a little thought upon the subject will quickly con-
vince us that in order to function upon the various planes of existence de-
scribed, it is necessary that a man should have a body composed of their
substance, or at least have specialized for his or her own use, some of the
material of each of these worlds.
We have said that finer matter, called desire-stuff and mind-stuff, per-
meates our atmosphere and the solid Earth, even as blood percolates through
all parts of our flesh. But that is not a sufficient explanation to account
for all facts of life. If that were all, then minerals, which are interpen-
etrated by the World of Thought and the World of Desire, would have thoughts
and desires as well as man. This is not the case, so something more than
mere interpenetration must be requisite to acquire the faculties of thought
and feeling.
[PAGE 88] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
We know that in order to function in this world, to live as a physical
being among other like beings, we must have a physical body all our own,
built of the chemical constituents of this visible world. When we lose it at
death, it profits us nothing that the world is full of just the very
chemicals needed to build such a body. We cannot then specialize them, and
therefore we are invisible to all others. Similarly, if we did not possess a
special body made of ether, we should be unable to grow and to propagate.
That is the case with the mineral. Had we no separate individual desire
body, we should be unable to feel desires and emotions, there would be no
incentive to move from one place to another. We should then be stationary as
plants, and did we not possess a mind, we should be incapable of thought,
and act upon impulse and instinct as animals do.
Some one may of course object to this last statement, and contend that
animals do think. So far as our domesticated animals are concerned that is
partially true, but it is not quite in the same way that we think and rea-
son. The difference may perhaps best be understood if we take an illu-
stration from the electrical field. When an electric current OF HIGH VOLT-
AGE is passed through a coiled copper wire, and another wire is placed in
the center of the coils, that wire will become charged with electricity OF A
LOWER VOLTAGE; so also the animal, when brought within the sphere of human
thoughts, evolves a mental activity of a lower order.
[PAGE 89] THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
Paul, in his writings, also mentions the NATURAL BODY and the SPIRITUAL
BODY while the man himself is a Spirit inhabiting those vehicles. We will
briefly note the constitution of the various bodies of man invisible to the
physical sight but as objective to spiritual sight as the dense body to or-
dinary vision.
THE VITAL BODY
That body of ours is composed of ether is called the VITAL BODY in
Western Mystery Schools, for, as we have already seen, ether is the avenue
of ingress for vital force from the Sun and the field of agencies in nature
which promote such vital activities as assimilation, growth, and propaga-
tion.
This vehicle is an exact counterpart of our visible body, molecule for
molecule, and organ for organ, with one exception, which we shall note
later. But it is slightly larger, extending about one and one-half inches
beyond the periphery of our dense vehicle.
The spleen is the entrance gate of forces which vitalize the body. In
the etheric counterpart of that organ solar energy is transmuted to vital
fluid of a pale rose color. Thence it spreads all over the nervous system,
and after having been used in the body it radiates in streams, much as
bristles protrude from a porcupine.
The rays of the Sun are transmitted either directly, or reflected by way
of the planets and the Moon. The rays directly from the Sun give spiritual
illumination; the rays perceived by way of the planets produce intelli-
gence, morality, and soul growth, but the rays reflected by way of the Moon
[PAGE 90] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
make for physical growth as seen in the case of plants, which grow dif-
ferently when planted in the light of the Moon from what is the case when
they are planted when the Moon is dark. There is also a difference in plants
sown when the Moon is in barren and fruitful signs of the Zodiac.
The solar ray is absorbed by the human Spirit which has its seat in the
center of the forehead; the stellar ray is absorbed by the brain and spinal
cord; and the lunar ray enters our system through the spleen.
The solar, stellar, and lunar rays are all three-colored, and in the lu-
nar which supplies our vital force, the blue beam is the life of the FATHER,
which cause germination; the yellow beam is the life of the SON, which is
the active principle in nutrition and growth; and the red beam is the life
of the HOLY SPIRIT, which stimulates to action, dissipating the energy
stored by the yellow force. This principle is particularly active in gen-
eration.
The various kingdoms absorb this life-force differently, according to
their constitution. Animals have only 28 pairs of spinal nerves. They are
keyed to the lunar month of 28 days and therefore dependent upon a Group
Spirit for an infusion of stellar rays necessary to produce consciousness.
They are altogether incapable of absorbing the direct ray of the Sun.
Man is in a transition stage, he has 31 pairs of spinal nerves which
keys him to the solar month, but the nerves in the so-called cauda-equina
[PAGE 91] THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
(literally, horse-tail) at the end of our spinal cord are still too undevel-
oped to act as avenues for the spiritual ray of the Sun. In proportion as we
draw our creative force upward by spiritual thought we develop these nerves
and awaken dormant faculties of the Spirit. But it is dangerous to attempt
that development except under guidance of a qualified teacher, and the
reader is earnestly warned not to use any method published in books, nor
sold, for their practice usually leads to insanity. The safe method is never
sold for money or any earthly consideration however large or small; it is
always freely given as a reward of merit. "Ask and ye shall receive, seek
and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened," said the Christ. If our
life is a prayer for illumination, the search will not be uncertain, nor the
knock without response.
When solar energy has been transmuted in the spleen it traverses the
whole nervous system of the body, glowing with a most beautiful color of a
delicate rosy hue. It answers the same purpose as electricity in a telegraph
system. We may string wires between cities, erect telegraph stations, in-
stall receivers and transmitters. We may even have operators ready at the
keys, but until electric fluid is turned into our wires, the telegraph keys
will refuse to click.
So also in the body, the human Spirit is operator, and from the central
station of the brain, nerves ramify, go through the whole body to all the
different muscles. When this vitalizing fluid of which we are speaking tra-
verses the nervous system, the Ego may send his commands to the muscles and
[PAGE 92] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
cause them to move, but if the vital fluid for any reason does not flow into
a certain part of the body such as an arm or a limb, then the Spirit is po-
werless to move that part of the body and we say that it is paralyzed.
When we are in health, we specialize solar energy in such great quanti-
ties that we cannot use it all in the body and therefore it radiates through
the pores of our skin in straight streams and serves a similar purpose as an
exhaust fan. That machine drives the foul air out of a room or building and
keeps the atmosphere within pure and sweet. The excessive vital force which
radiates from the body drives out poisonous gases, deleterious microbes, and
effete matter, thus tending to preserve a healthy condition. It also pre-
vents armies of disease germs, which swarm about in the atmosphere, from en-
tering, upon the same principle that a fly cannot wing its way into a build-
ing through the exhaust fan. Thus it serves a most beneficent purpose even
after it has been utilized in our body and is returning to the free state.
It is a curious and most astounding sight when one first observes how,
from exposed parts of the body such as hands and face, there suddenly com-
mences to flow a stream of stars, cubes, pyramids, and a variety of other
geometrical forms. The writer has more than once rubbed his eyes when he
first perceived the phenomenon, for it seemed that he must be suffering from
hallucinations. The forms observed are chemical atoms, however, which have
served their purpose in the body and are expelled through the pores.
[PAGE 93] THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
When one has eaten a meal, vital fluid is consumed by the body in great
quantities, for it is the cement whereby nature's forces build our food into
the body. Therefore the radiations are weakest during the period of diges-
tion. If the meal has been heavy, the outflow is very perceptibly dimin-
ished, and does not then cleanse our body as thoroughly as when the food has
been digested, nor are the radiations as potent in keeping out inimical
germs. Therefore one is most liable to catch cold or other diseases by over-
eating.
During ill health the vital body specializes but little solar energy.
Then, for a time, the visible body seems to feed upon the vital body, as it
were, so that the vehicle becomes more transparent and attenuated at the
same rate as the visible body exhibits a state of emaciation. The cleansing
odic radiations are almost entirely absent during sickness, therefore com-
plications set in easily.
Though science has not directly observed this vital body of man, it has
upon several occasions postulated the existence of such a vehicle as neces-
sary to account for facts in life, and the radiations have been observed by
a number of scientists at different times and under varying conditions.
Blondlot and Charpentier have called them N-rays after the city of Nantes
where the radiations were observed by these scientists; others have named
them "The Odic fluid." Scientific investigators who have conducted re-
searches into psychic phenomena have even photographed it when it has been
[PAGE 94] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
extracted through the spleen by materializing Spirits. Dr. Hotz, for in-
stance, obtained two photographs of a materialization through the German me-
dium, Minna-Demmler. On one a cloud of ether is seen oozing out through the
left side of the medium, shapeless and without form. The second picture,
taken a few moments later, shows the materialized Spirit standing at the
medium's side. Other photographs obtained by scientists from the Italian
medium, Eusapio Palladino, show a luminous cloud over-hanging her left side.
We said in the beginning of this description that the vital is an exact
counterpart of the dense body with one exception: it is of the opposite sex,
or perhaps we should rather say POLARITY. As the vital body nourishes the
dense vehicle, we may readily understand that blood is its highest visible
expression, and also that a positively polarized vital body would generate
more blood than a negative one. Woman, who is physically negative, has a
positive vital body, hence she generates a surplus of blood which is re-
lieved by the periodic flow. She is also more prone to tears, which are
white bleeding, than man, whose negative vital body does not generate more
blood than he can comfortably take care of. Therefore it is not necessary
for him to have the outlets which relieve excess of blood in woman.
THE DESIRE BODY
In addition to the visible body and the vital body we also have a body
made of desire stuff from which we form our feelings and emotions. This ve-
hicle also impels us to seek sense gratification. But while the two instru-
ments of which we have already spoken are well organized, the desire body
[PAGE 95] THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
appears to spiritual sight as an ovoid cloud extending from sixteen to
twenty inches beyond the physical body. It is above the head and below the
feet so that our dense body sits in the center of this egg-shaped cloud as
the yolk is in the center of an egg.
The reason for the rudimentary state of this vehicle is that it has been
added to the human constitution more recently than the bodies previously
mentioned. Evolution of form may be likened to the manner in which the
juices in the snail first condense into flesh and later become a hard shell.
When our present visible body first germinated in the Spirit, it was a
thought-form, but gradually it has become denser and more concrete until it
is now a chemical crystallization. The vital body was next emanated by the
Spirit as a thought-form, and is in the third stage of concretion which is
etheric. The desire body is a still later acquisition. That also was a
thought-form at its inception, but has now condensed to desire-stuff, and
the mind, which we have only recently received, is still but a mere cloudy
thought-form.
Arms and limbs, ears and eyes are not necessary to use the desire body,
for it can glide through space more swiftly than wind without such means of
locomotion as we require in this visible world.
When viewed by spiritual sight, it appears that there are in this desire
body a number of whirling vortices. We have already explained that it is a
[PAGE 96] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
characteristic of desire-stuff to be in constant motion, and from the main
vortex in the region of the liver, there is a constant outwelling flow which
radiates toward the periphery of this egg-shaped body and returns to the
center through a number of other vortices. The desire body exhibits all the
colors and shades which we know and a vast number of others which are inde-
scribable in earthly language. Those colors vary in every person according
to his or her characteristics and temperament, and they also vary from mo-
ment to moment as passing moods, fancies, or emotions are experienced by
him. There is, however, in each one a certain basic color dependent upon the
ruling star at the moment of his or her birth. The man in whose horoscope
Mars is peculiarly strong usually has a crimson tint in his aura; where Ju-
piter is the strongest planet the prevailing tint seems to be a bluish tone;
and so on with the other planets.
There was a time in the Earth's past history when incrustation was not
yet complete, and human beings of that time lived upon islands here and
there, amid boiling seas. They had not yet evolved eyes or ears, but a
little organ: the pineal gland, which anatomists have called THE THIRD EYE,
protruded through the back of the head and was a LOCALIZED ORGAN OF FEELING.
It warned the man when he came too near a volcanic crater and thus enabled
him to escape destruction. Since then the cerebral hemispheres have covered
the pineal gland, and instead of a single organ of feeling, the whole body
inside and out is sensitive to impacts, which of course is a much higher
state of development.
[PAGE 97] THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
In the desire body every particle is sensitive to vibrations similar to
those which we call sight, sounds, and feelings, and every particle is in
incessant motion, rapidly swirling about so that in the same instant it may
be at the top and bottom of the desire body and impart at all points to all
the other particles a sensation of that which it has experienced. Thus every
particle of desire-stuff in this vehicle of ours will instantly feel any
sensation experienced by any single particle. Therefore the desire body is
of an exceedingly sensitive nature, capable of most intense feelings and
emotions.
THE MIND
This is the latest acquisition of the human Spirit, and in most people
who have not yet accustomed themselves to orderly, consecutive thought, it
is a mere inchoate cloud disposed particularly in the region of the head.
When looking at a person clairvoyantly there appears to be an empty space in
the center of the forehead just above and between the eyebrows. It looks
like the blue part of a gas flame. That is mind-stuff which veils the human
Spirit, or Ego, and the writer has been told that not even the most gifted
seer can penetrate that veil, said to have been spoken of in ancient Egypt
as "THE VEIL OF ISIS." None may lift it and live, for behind that veil is
the Holy of Holies, the temple of our body, where the Spirit is to be left
secure from all intrusion.
[PAGE 98] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
To those who have not previously studied the deeper philosophies the
question may occur: But why all these divisions? Even the Bible speaks only
of soul and body, for most people believe soul and Spirit to be synonymous
terms. We can only answer that this division is not arbitrary but ne-
cessary, and founded upon facts in nature. Neither is it correct to regard
the soul and the Spirit as synonymous. Paul himself speaks of the NATURAL
BODY which is composed of physical substances: solids, liquids, gases, and
ethers; he mentions a SPIRITUAL BODY, the vehicle of the Spirit, com-
posed of the mind and desire body, and THE SPIRIT ITSELF, which is called
EGO in Latin or "I" in English.
That term "I" is an application which can be made only by the human
Spirit of itself. We may all call a dog, dog; or we may call a table, table,
and any one else may apply the same name to the dog and to the table, but
only a human being can be called "I." Only he himself can apply that most
exclusive of all words, "I," for this is the badge of self-consciousness,
the recognition by the human spirit of ITSELF as an entity, separate and
apart from all others.
Thus we see that the constitution of man is more complex than appears
upon the surface, and we will now proceed to note the effect upon this mul-
tiplex being of various conditions of life.
[PAGE 99] LIFE AND DEATH
CHAPTER V.
LIFE AND DEATH
INVISIBLE HELPERS AND MEDIUMS
There are two classes of people in the world. In one class the vital and
dense bodies are so firmly cemented that the ethers cannot be extracted un-
der any circumstances but remain with the dense body at all times and under
all conditions from birth to death. Those people are insensible to any
supersensuous sights or sounds. They are therefore usually exceedingly skep-
tical, and believe nothing exists but what THEY can see.
There is another class of people in whom the connection between the
dense and the vital bodies is more or less loose, so that the ether of their
vital bodies vibrates at a higher rate than in the first class mentioned.
These people are therefore more or less sensitive to the spiritual world.
This class of sensitives may again be divided. Some are weak characters,
dominated by the will of others in a NEGATIVE manner, as mediums, who are
the prey of disembodied Spirits desirous of obtaining a physical body when
they have lost their own by death.
The other class of sensitives are strong POSITIVE characters who act
only from within, according to their own will. They may develop into trained
clairvoyants, and be their own masters instead of slaves of a disembodied
Spirit. In some sensitives of both classes it is possible to extract part of
[PAGE 100] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
the ether which forms the vital body. When a disembodied Spirit obtains a
subject of that nature, it develops the sensitive as a MATERIALIZING MEDIUM.
The man who is capable of extracting his own vital body by an act of will,
becomes a citizen of two worlds, independent and free. These are usually
known as INVISIBLE HELPERS. There are certain other abnormal conditions
where the vital body and the dense body are separated totally or in part, as
for instance, if we place our limb in an uncomfortable position so that cir-
culation of the blood ceases. Then we may see the etheric limb hanging down
below the visible limb as a stocking. When we restore circulatiion and the
etheric limb seeks to enter into place, an intense prickly sensation is
felt, due to the fact that the little streams of force, which radiate all
through the ether, seek to permeate the molecules of the limb and stir them
into renewed vibration. When a person is drowning, the vital body also
separates from the dense vehicle and the intense prickly pain incident to
resuscitation is also due to the cause mentioned.
While we are awake and going about our work in the Physical World, the
desire body and mind both permeate the dense and the vital bodies, and there
is a constant war between the desire nature and the vital body. The vital
body is continually engaged in building up the human organism, while the im-
pulses of the desire body tend to tire and to break down tissue. Gradually,
in the course of the day, the vital body loses ground before the onslaughts
[PAGE 101] LIFE AND DEATH
of the desire body, poisons of decay slowly accumulate, and the flow of vi-
tal fluid becomes more and more sluggish until at length it is incapable of
moving the muscles. The body then feels heavy and drowsy. At last the vital
body collapses, as it were; the little streams of force which permeate each
atom seem to shrivel up, and the Ego is forced to abandon its body to the
restorative powers of sleep.
When a building becomes dilapidated and is to be RESTORED and put in
thorough repair, the tenants must move out to let the workmen have a free
field. So also when the building of a Spirit has become unfit for further
use, it must withdraw therefrom. As the desire body caused the damage, it is
a logical conclusion that it also must be removed. Every night when our body
has become tired, the higher vehicles are withdrawn, only the dense and vi-
tal bodies being left upon the bed.
Then the process of restoration commences and lasts for a longer or
shorter time according to circumstances.
At times, however, the grip of the desire body upon our denser ve-
hicles is so strong that it refuses to let go. When it has become so inter-
ested in the proceedings of the day, it continues to ruminate over them af-
ter the collapse of the physical body, and is perhaps only half extracted
from that vehicle. Then it may transmit sights and sounds of the Desire
World to the brain. But, as the connections are necessarily askew under such
conditions, the most confused dreams result. Furthermore, as the desire body
[PAGE 102] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
compels motion, the dense body is very apt to toss about when the desire
body is not fully extracted; hence the restless sleep which usually accompa-
nies dreams of a confused nature.
There are times, of course, when dreams are prophetic and come true, but
such dreams result only AFTER complete extraction of the desire body. Under
circumstances where the Spirit has seen some danger, perhaps, which may be-
fall, it then impresses the fact upon the brain AT THE MOMENT OF AWAKENING.
It also happens that the Spirit goes upon a soul flight and omits to
perform its part of the work of restoration; then the body will not be fit
to re-enter in the morning, so it sleeps on. The Spirit may thus roam afield
for a number of days, or even weeks, before it again enters its physical
body and assumes the normal routine of alternating waking and sleeping. This
condition is called TRANCE, and the Spirit may remember upon its return
what it has seen and heard in the super-physical realm, or it may have for-
gotten, according to the stage of its development and the depth of the
trance condition. When the trance is very light, the Spirit is usually
present in the room where its body lies all the time, and upon its return to
the body it will be able to recount to relatives all they said and did while
its body lay unconscious. Where the trance is deeper, the returning Spirit
will usually be unconscious of what happened around its body, but may re-
count experiences from the invisible world.
[PAGE 103] LIFE AND DEATH
A few years ago a little girl by the name of Florence Bennett in
Kankakee, Illinois, fell into such a trance. She returned to the body every
few days, but stayed within only a few hours each time, the whole trance
lasting three weeks, more or less. During the returns to her body she told
relatives that in her absence she seemed to be in a place inhabited by all
the people who had died. But she stated that none of them spoke about dying
and no one among them seemed to realize that they were dead. Among those she
had seen was a locomotive engineer who had been accidently killed. His body
was mangled in the accident which caused death. The little girl perceived
him there walking about minus arms, and with lesions upon his head, all of
which is in line with facts usually seen by mystic investigators. Persons
who have been hurt in accidents go about thus, until they learn that a mere
wish to have their body made whole will supply a new arm or limb; for
desire-stuff is most quickly and readily molded by thought.
DEATH
After a longer or shorter time there comes in each life a point when the
experiences which a Spirit can gain from its present environment have been
exhausted, and life terminates in death. Death may be sudden and seemingly
unexpected, as for instance by earthquake, upon the battle-field, or by ac-
cident, as we call it, though in reality death is never accidental or un-
foreseen by Higher Powers. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without divine
[PAGE 104] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
will. There are along life's path partings of the way, as it were; on one
side the main line of life continues onward, the other path leads into what
we might call a blind alley. If the man takes the latter path, it soon ends
in death. We are here in life for the sake of gaining experience and each
life has a certain harvest to reap. If we order our life in such a manner
that we gain the knowledge it is intended we should acquire, we continue in
life, and opportunities of different kinds constantly come our way. But if
we neglect them, and the life goes into paths which are not congruous to our
individual development, it would be a waste of time to let us stay in such
an environment. Therefore the great and wise Beings who are behind the scene
of evolution, terminate our life, that we may have a fresh start in a dif-
ferent sphere of influence. The Law of Conservation of Energy is not con-
fined to the Physical World, but operates in the spiritual realms also.
There is nothing in life that has not its purpose. We do wrong to rail
against circumstances, no matter how disagreeable. We should rather endeavor
to learn the lessons which are contained therein, that we may live a long
and useful life. Some one may object and say: "You are inconsistent in your
teachings. You say there is really no death; that we go into a brighter ex-
istence, and that we have to learn other lessons there in a different sphere
of usefulness! Why then aim to live a long life?"
[PAGE 105] LIFE AND DEATH
It is very true that we make these claims, and they are perfectly con-
sistent with the other assertions just mentioned. However, there are lessons
to be learned HERE which cannot be learned in the other worlds, and we have
to bring up this physical body through the useless years of childhood,
through hot and impulsive youth, to the ripeness of manhood or womanhood,
before it becomes of true spiritual use. The longer we live after maturity
has been attained, when we have commenced to look upon the serious side of
life and started truly to learn lessons which make for soul-growth, the more
experience we shall gather and the richer our harvest will be. Then, in a
later existence, we shall be much more advanced and capable of taking up
tasks that would be impossible with less length of life and breadth of ac-
tivity. Besides, to die is hard for the man in the prime of life with a wife
and growing family whom he loves, with ambitions of greatness unfulfilled,
with hosts of friends about him, and with interests all centered upon the
material plane of existence. It is sad for the woman whose heart is bound up
in home and the little ones she has reared to leave them, perhaps without
anyone to care for them; to know that they have to fight their way alone
through the early years when tender care is needed and perhaps to see those
little ones abused, and she unable to lift a hand, though her heart may
bleed as freely as it would in Earth life. All these things are sad, and
THEY BIND THE SPIRIT TO EARTH for a much longer time than ordinarily; they
hinder it from reaping the experiences it should reap upon the other side of
death, and they make it desirable, along with other reasons already men-
tioned, to live a long life before passing onwards.
[PAGE 106] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
The difference between those who pass out at a ripe old age and one who
leaves this Earth in the prime of life may be illustrated by the manner in
which the seed clings to a fruit in an unripe state. A great deal of force
is necessary to tear the stone from a green peach; it has such a tenacious
hold upon the fruit that shreds of pulp adhere to it when forcibly removed.
So also the Spirit clings to the flesh in middle life and a certain part of
its material interest remains and binds it to Earth after death. On the
other hand, when a life has been lived to the full, when the spirit has had
time to realize its ambitions or to find out their futility, when the duties
of life has been misspent and the pangs of conscience have worked upon the
man, and shown him his mistakes; when, in fact, the Spirit has learned the
lessons of life, as it must have to come to old age, then it may be likened
to the seed of the ripe fruit which falls out clean, without a vestige of
flesh clinging thereto, at the moment the encasing pulp is opened. Therefore
we say, as before, that thought there is a brighter existence in store for
those who have lived well, it is nevertheless best to live a long life and
to live it to the fullest extent possible.
[PAGE 107] LIFE AND DEATH
We also maintain that no matter what may be the circumstances of a man's
death, it is not accidental; it has either been brought about by his own ne-
glect to embrace opportunities of growth or else life has been lived to the
ultimate possible. There is one exception to that rule, and that is due to
man's exercise of his divine prerogative of interference. If we lived ac-
cording to schedule, if we all assimilated the experiences designed for our
growth by the Creative Powers, we should live to the ultimate length, but WE
OURSELVES usually shorten our lives by not taking advantage of opportuni-
ties. It also happens that OTHER MEN may shorten our lives and cut them off
as suddenly as the so-called accident whereby the divine rulers terminate
our life here. In other words, murder, or fatal accidents brought about by
HUMAN CARELESSNESS are in reality the only termination to life not planned
by invisible leaders of humanity. No one is ever compelled to do murder or
other evil, or there could not come to them a just retribution for their
acts. The Christ said that evil must come but WOE UNTO HIM BY WHOM IT
COMETH, and to harmonize that with the law of divine justice, "as a man
soweth, so shall he also reap," THERE MUST AT LEAST BE ABSOLUTE FREE WILL
IN RESPECT TO EVIL ACTS.
There are also cases where a person lives such a full and good life of
such vast benefit to humanity and to himself that his days are lengthened
beyond the ultimate, as they are shortened by neglect, but such cases are of
course too few to allow of their being dwelt upon at length.
Where death is not sudden as in the case of accidents, but occurs at
home after an illness, quietly and peacefully, dying persons usually experi-
ence a falling upon them as of a pall of great darkness before termination
[PAGE 108] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
of life. Many pass out from the body under that condition and do not see the
light again until they have entered the superphysical realms. There are many
other cases, however, where the darkness lifts before the final release from
the body. Then the dying person views both worlds at once, and is cognizant
of the presence of both dead and living friends. Under such circumstances it
very often happens that a mother sees some of her children who have gone be-
fore, and she will exclaim joyously: "Oh, there is Johnny standing at the
foot of the bed: my, but hasn't he grown!" The living relatives may feel
shocked and uneasy, thinking the mother is suffering from hallucinations,
while in reality she is more clear-sighted than they. She perceives those
who have passed beyond the veil, who have come to greet and assist her to
find herself at home in the new world she is entering.
Each human being is an individual, separate and apart from all others,
and as experiences in the life of each differ from those of all others in
the interval from the cradle to the grave, so we may also reasonably infer
that the experiences of each Spirit when it passes through the gates of
birth and death. We print what purports to be a spirit message communicated
by the late professor James of Harvard at the Boston Spirit Temple, and in
which he describes sensations which he felt when passing through the gate of
death. We do not vouch for its authenticity as we (the writer) have not in-
vestigated the matter personally.
[PAGE 109] LIFE AND DEATH
Professor James had promised to communicate after death with his friends
in this life, and the whole world of psychic research was and still is on
watch for a word from him. Several mediums have claimed that Professor James
has communicated through them, but the most remarkable are those given
through the Boston Spirit temple as follows:
"And this is death, only to fall asleep, only to awaken in the morning
and to know that all is well. I am not dead, only arisen.
* * * * *
"I only know that I experienced a great shock through my entire system,
as if some mighty bond had been rent asunder. For a moment I was dazed and
lost consciousness. When I awakened I found myself standing beside the old
body which had served me faithfully and well. To say that I was surprised
would only inadequately express the sensation that thrilled my very being,
and I realized that some wonderful change had taken place. Suddenly I be-
came conscious that my body was surrounded by many of my friends, and an un-
controllable desire took possession of me to speak and touch them that they
might know that I still lived. Drawing a little nearer to that which was so
like and yet unlike myself, I stretched forth my hand and touched them, but
they heeded me not."
* * * * *
"Then it was that the full significance of the great change that had
taken place flashed upon my newly awakened senses; then it was that I real-
ized that an impenetrable barrier separated me from my loved ones on Earth,
and that this great change which had taken place was indeed death. A sense
of weariness and longing for rest took possession of me. I seemed to be
transported through space, and I lost consciousness, to awaken in a land so
[PAGE 110] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
different and yet so similar to the one which I had lately left. It was not
possible for me to describe my sensations when I again regained con-
sciousness and realized that, though dead, I was still alive.
"When I first became conscious of my new environment I was resting in a
beautiful grove, and was realizing as never before what it was to be at
peace with myself and all the world."
* * * * *
"I know that only with the greatest difficulty shal I be enabled to
express to you my sensations when I fully realized that I had awakened to a
new life. All was still, no sound broke the silence. Darkness had surrounded
me. In fact, I seemed to be enveloped in a heavy mist, beyond which which my
gaze could not penetrate. Soon in the distance I discerned a faint glimmer
of light, which slowly approached me, and then, to my wonder and joy, I be-
held the face of her who had been my guiding star in the early days of my
earth life."
* * * * *
One of the saddest sights witnessed by the seer at a death-bed is the
tortures to which we often subject our dying friends on account of ignorance
of how to care for them in that condition. We have a science of birth; ob-
stetricians who have been trained for years in their profession and have de-
veloped a wonderful skill assist the little stranger into this world. We
have also trained nurses attendant upon mother and child, the ingenuity of
brilliant minds is focused upon the problem of how to make maternity easier;
neither pains nor money are spared in these beneficent efforts for one whom
we have never seen. But when the friend of a lifetime, the man who has
served his kind well and nobly in profession, state, or church, is to leave
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the scene of his labors for a new field of activity, when the woman, who has
labored to no less good purpose in bringing up a family to take its part in
the world's work, has to leave that home and family, when one whom we have
loved all our lives is about to bid us the final farewell, we stand by, ut-
terly at a loss how to help. Perhaps we even do the very things most detri-
mental to the comfort and welfare of the departing one.
Probably there is no form of torture more commonly inflicted upon the
dying than that which is caused by administering stimulants. Such potions
have the effect of drawing a departing Spirit into its body with the force
of a catapult, to remain and to suffer for some time longer. Investigators
of conditions beyond have heard many complaints of such treatment. When it
is seen that death must inevitably ensue, let not selfish desire to keep a
departing Spirit a little longer prompt us to inflict such tortures upon
them. The death chamber should be a place of the utmost quiet, a place of
peace and of prayer, for at that time, and FOR THREE AND ONE-HALF DAYS AFTER
THE LAST BREATH, the Spirit is passing through a Gethsemane and needs all
the assistance that can be given. The value of the life that has just been
passed depends greatly upon conditions which then prevail about the body;
yes, even the conditions of its future life are influenced by our attitude
during that time, so that if ever we were our brother's keeper in life, we
are a thousand times more so at death.
[PAGE 112] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
Post-mortem examinations, embalming, and cremation during the period
mentioned, not only disturb the passing Spirit mentally, but are even pro-
ductive of a certain amount of pain, there still being a slight connection
with the discarded vehicle. If sanitary laws require us to prevent decompo-
sition while thus keeping the body for cremation, it may be packed in ice
till the three and one-half days have passed. After that time the Spirit
will not suffer, no matter what happens to the body.
THE PANORAMA OF A PAST LIFE
No matter how long we may keep the Spirit from passing out, however, at
last there will come a time when no stimulant can hold it and the last
breath is drawn. Then the silver cord of which the Bible speaks, and which
holds the higher and the lower vehicles together, snaps in the heart and
causes that organ to stop. That rupture releases the vital body, and it,
with the desire body and mind, floats above the visible body for from one to
three and one-half days, while the Spirit is engaged in reviewing the past
life, an exceedingly important part of its post-mortem experience. Upon that
review depends its whole existence from death to a new birth.
The question may arise in the student's mind: "How can we review our
past life from the cradle to the grave, when we do not even remember what we
did a month ago? To form a proper basis for our future life, this record
ought to be very accurate, but even the best memory is faulty." When we un-
derstand the difference between the conscious and subconscious memory and
[PAGE 113] LIFE AND DEATH
the manner in which the latter operates, the difficulty vanishes. This dif-
ference and the manner in which the subconscious memory keeps an accurate
record of our life experiences may be best understood by an illustration, as
follows: When we go into a field and view the surrounding landscape, vibra-
tions in the ether carry to us a picture of everything within the range of
our vision. It is as sad as it is true, however, that "we have eyes and see
not," as the Saviour said. These vibrations impinge upon the retina of our
eyes, even to the very smallest details, but they usually do not penetrate
to our consciousness, and therefore are not remembered. Even the most power-
ful impressions fade in the course of time, so that we cannot call them back
at will when they are stored in our conscious memory.
When a photographer goes afield with his camera, the results which he
obtains are different. The ether vibrations emanating from all things upon
which his camera is focused, transmit to the sensitive plate an impression
of the landscape, true to the minutest detail; and, mark this well, this
true and accurate picture is in no wise dependent upon whether the photogra-
pher is observant or not. It will remain upon the plate and may be repro-
duced under proper conditions. Such is the subconscious memory, and it is
generated automatically by each of us during every moment of time, indepen-
dently of our volition, in the following manner.
From the first breath which we draw after birth to our last dying gasp
[PAGE 114] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
we inspire air which is charged with pictures of our surroundings, and the
same ether which carries that picture to the retina of our eye is inhaled
into our lungs where it enters the blood. Thus it reaches the heart in due
time. In the left ventricle of that organ, near the apex, there is one
little atom which is particularly sensitized and which remains in the body
all through life. It differs in this respect from all other atoms which come
and go, for it is the particular property of God,and of a certain Spirit.
This atom may be called the book of the Recording Angel, for as the blood
passes through the heart, cycle after cycle, the pictures of our good and
evil acts are inscribed thereon to the minutest detail. This record may be
called the subconscious memory. It forms the basis of our future life when
reproduced as a panorama just subsequent to death. By removal of the seed
atom--which corresponds to the sensitized plate in a camera--the reflecting
ether of the vital body serves as a focus, and as the life unrolls slowly,
backwards, from death to birth the pictures thereof are etched into the de-
sire body, which will be our vehicle during our sojourn in Purgatory and the
First Heaven where evil is eradicated and good assimilated, so that in a fu-
ture life the former may serve as CONSCIENCE to withhold the man from
repeating mistakes of the past, and the latter will spur him to greater
good.
A phenomenon similar to the panorama of life usually takes place where a
person is drowning. People who have been resuscitated speak of having seen
their whole life IN A FLASH. That is because under such conditions the vital
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body also leaves the dense body. Of course there is no rupture of the sil-
ver cord, or life could not be restored. Unconsciousness follows quickly in
drowning, while in the usual post-mortem review the consciousness contin-
ues until the vital body collapses in the same manner that it does when we
go to sleep. Then consciousness ceases for a while and the panorama is ter-
minated. Therefore also the time occupied by the panorama varies with dif-
ferent persons, according to whether the vital body was strong and healthy,
or had become thin and emaciated by protracted illness. The longer the time
spent in review, and the more quiet and peaceful the surroundings, the
deeper will be the etching which is made in the desire body. As already
said, that has a most important and far-reaching effect, for then the suf-
ferings which the Spirit will realize in Purgatory on account of bad habits
and misdeeds will be much keener than if there is only a slight impression,
and in a future life the still small voice of conscience will warn much more
insistently against mistakes which caused sufferings in the past.
When conditions are such at the time of death that the Spirit is dis-
turbed by outside conditions, as for instance the din and turmoil of a
battle, the harrowing conditions of an accident, or the hysterical wailings
of relatives, the distraction prevents it from realizing an appropriate
depth in the etching upon the desire body. Consequently its post-mortem ex-
istence becomes vague and insipid; the Spirit does not harvest the fruits of
[PAGE 116] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
experience as it should have done had it passed out of the body in peace and
under normal conditions. It would therefore lack incentive to good in a fu-
ture life, and miss the warning against evil which a deep etching of the
panorama of life would have given. Thus its growth would be retarded in a
very marked degree, but the beneficent Powers in charge of evolution take
certain steps to compensate for our ignorant treatment of the dying and
other untoward circumstances mentioned. What these steps are, we shall dis-
cuss when considering the life of children in heaven; for the present let it
be sufficient to say that in God's kingdom every evil is always transmuted
to a greater good, though the process may not be at once apparent.
PURGATORY
During life the collapse of the vital body at night terminates our view
of the world about us, and causes us to lose ourselves in the unconscious-
ness of sleep. When the vital body collapses just subsequent to death, and
the panorama of life is terminated, we also lose consciousness for a time
which varies according to the individual. A darkness seems to fall upon the
Spirit; then after a while it wakes up and begins dimly to perceive the
light of the other world, but is only gradually accustomed to the altered
conditions. It is an experience similar to that which we have when coming
out of a darkened room into sunlight, which blinds us by its brilliancy, un-
til the pupils of our eyes have contracted so that they admit a quantity of
light bearable to our organism.
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If under such a condition we turn momentarily from the bright sunlight
and look back into the darkened room, objects there will be much plainer to
our vision than things outside which are illumined by the powerful rays of
the Sun. So it is also with the Spirit; when it has first been released from
the body it perceives sights, scenes, and sounds of the material world which
it has just left much more readily than it observes the sights of the world
it is entering. Wordsworth in his ODE TO IMMORTALITY noted a similar
condition in the case of newborn children, who are all clairvoyant and much
more awake to the spiritual world than to this present plane of existence.
Some lose the spiritual sight very early, others retain it for a number of
years, and a few keep it all through life, but as the birth of a child is a
death in the spiritual world and it retains the spiritual sight for a time,
so also death here is a birth upon the spiritual plane, and the newly dead
retain a consciousness of this world for some time subsequent to demise.
When one awakes in the Desire World after having passed through afore-
mentioned experiences, the general feeling seems to be one of relief from a
heavy burden, a feeling perhaps akin to that of a diver encased in a heavy
rubber suit, a weighty brass helmet upon his head, leaden soles under his
feet, and heavy weights of lead upon his breast and back, confined in his
[PAGE 118] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
operations on the bottom of the ocean by a short length of air tube, and
able to move only clumsily and with difficulty. When after the day's work
such a man is hauled to the surface, and divests himself of his heavy gar-
ments and he moves about with the facility we enjoy here, he must surely ex-
perience a feeling of great relief. Something like that is felt by the
Spirit when it has been divested of the mortal coil and is able to roam all
over the globe instead of being confined to the narrow environment which
bound it upon earth.
There is also a feeling of relief for those who have been ill. Sickness,
such as we know it, does not exist there. Neither is it necessary to seek
food and shelter, for in that world there is neither heat nor cold. Never-
theless, there are many in the purgatorial region who go to all the bothers
of housekeeping, eating and drinking just as we do here. George Du Maurier
in his novel, PETER IBBETTSON, gives a very good idea of this condition,
in his life lived between the hero and the Countess of Towers. This novel
also illustrates splendidly what has been said of the subconscious memory,
for George DuMaurier has somewhere, somehow discovered an easy method which
anyone may apply to do what he calls "dreaming true." By taking a certain
position in going to sleep, it is possible, after a little practice, to com-
pel the appearance, in a dream, of any scene IN OUR PAST LIFE, which we de-
sire to live over again. The book is well worth reading on that account.
[PAGE 119] LIFE AND DEATH
When a fiery nebulae has been formed in the sky and commences to re-
volve, a little matter in the center where motion is slowest commences to
crystallize. When it has reached a certain density it is caught in the
swirl, and whirled nearer, and nearer to the outward extremity of what has,
by that time, become the equator of a revolving globe. Then it is hurled
into space and discarded from the economy of the revolving Sun.
This process is not accomplished automatically as scientists would have
us believe, an assertion which has been proven in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-
CONCEPTION and other places in our literature. Herbert Spencer rejected the
nebular theory because it required a First cause, which he denied (though
unable to form a better hypothesis of the formation of solar systems), but
it is accomplished through the activity of a Great Spirit, which we may call
God or any other name we choose. As above, so below, says the Hermetic ax-
iom. Man, who is a lesser Spirit, also gathers about himself spirit-sub-
stance, which crystallizes into matter and becomes the visible body which
the spiritual sight reveals as placed inside an aura of finer vehicles. The
latter are in constant motion. When the dense body is born as a child it is
extremely soft and flexible.
Childhood, youth, maturity, and old age are but so many different stages
of crystallization, which goes on until at last a point is reached where the
Spirit can no longer move the hardened body and it is thrown out from the
Spirit as the planet is expelled from the Sun. That is death--the commence-
ment of a disrobing process which continues in Purgatory. The low evil pas-
sions and desires we cultivated during life have crystallized the
[PAGE 120] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
desire-stuff in such a manner that also must be expelled. Thus the Spirit is
purged of evil under the same law that a sun is purged of the matter which
later forms a planet. If the life has been a reasonably decent one, the pro-
cess of purgation will not be very strenuous nor will the evil desires thus
expurgated persist for a long time after having been freed, but they quickly
disintegrate. If, on the other hand, an extremely vile life has been led,
the part of the expurgated desire nature may persist even to the time when
the Spirit returns to a new birth for further experience. It will then be
attracted to him and haunt him as a demon, inciting him to evil deeds which
he himself abhors. The story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not a mere fanci-
ful idea of Robert Louis Stevenson, but is founded upon facts well known to
spiritual investigators. Such cases are extremes, of course, but they are
nevertheless possible, and we unfortunately have laws which convert such
possibilities of probabilities in the case of a certain class of so-called
criminals. We refer to laws which decree capital punishment as penalty for
murder.
When a man is dangerous he should of course be restrained, but even
apart from the question of the moral right of a community to take the life
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of anyone--which we deny--society by its very act of retaliatory murder de-
feats the very end it would serve. If the vicious murderer is restrained un-
der whatever discipline is necessary in a prison, for a number of years un-
til his natural death, he will have forgotten his bitterness against his
victim and against society, and when he stands as a free Spirit in the De-
sire World, he may even by prayer have obtained forgiveness and have become
a good Christian. He will then go on his way rejoicing, and will in the fu-
ture life seek to help those whom he hurt here.
When society retaliates and puts him to a violent death shortly after he
has committed the crime, he is most likely to feel himself as having been
greatly injured, and not without cause. Then such a character will usually
seek to "get even," as he calls it, going about for a long time inciting
others to commit murder and other crimes. Then we have am epidemic of mur-
ders in a community, a condition not infrequent.
The regicide in Serbia shocked the Western world (in 1914) by wiping out
an entire royal house in a most shockingly bloody manner, and the Minister
of the Interior was one of the chief conspirators. Later he wrote his mem-
oirs, and therein he writes that whenever the conspirators had tried to win
anyone as a recruit, they always succeeded when they burned incense. He did
not know why, but simply mentioned it as a curious coincidence.
To the mystic investigator the matter is perfectly clear. We have shown
the necessity of having a vehicle made of the materials of any world wherein
we wish to function. We usually obtain a physical vehicle by going through
the womb, or perhaps in a few special cases, from a particularly good mate-
rializing medium, but where it is only necessary to work upon the brain and
[PAGE 122] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
influence someone else to act, we need but a vehicle made of such ether as
may be obtained from fumes of many different substances. Each kind attracts
different classes of Spirits, and there is no doubt that the incense burned
at meetings where the conspirators were successful was of a low and sensual
order and attracted Spirits who had a grudge against humanity in general and
the King of Serbia in particular. These malcontents were unable to injure
the king himself, but used a subtle influence which helped the conspirators
in their work. The released murderer who has a grudge against society on ac-
count of his execution, may enter low gambling saloons where the fumes of
liquor and tobacco furnish ample opportunity for working upon the class of
people who congregate in such places, and the man whose spiritual sight has
been developed is often sadly impressed when he sees the subtle influences
to which those who frequent such places are exposed. It is a fact, of
course, that a man must be of a low caliber to be influenced by low
thoughts, and that it is as impossible to incite a person of benevolent
character to do murder--unless we put him into a hypnotic sleep--as to make
a tuning fork which vibrates to C sing by striking another attuned to the
key of G. But the thoughts of both living and dead constantly surround us,
and no man ever thought out a high spiritual philosophy under the influence
[PAGE 123] LIFE AND DEATH
of tobacco fumes or while imbibing alcoholic stimulants. Were capital pun-
ishment, newspaper notoriety of criminals, and the manufacture of liquor and
tobacco eliminated from society, the gun factories would soon cease to ad-
vertise and go out of business along with most of the locksmiths. The police
force would decrease, and jails and taxes would be correspondingly
minimized.
When a person enters Purgatory he is exactly the same person as before
he died. He has just the same appetites, likes and dislikes, sympathies and
antipathies, as before. There is one important difference, however, namely,
that HE HAS NO DENSE BODY WHEREWITH TO GRATIFY HIS APPETITES. The drunkard
craves drink, in fact, far more than he did in this life, but has no stomach
which can contain liquor and cause the chemical combustion necessary to
bring about the state of intoxication in which he delights. He may and does
enter saloons where he interpolates his body into the body of the physical
drunkard so that he may obtain his desires at second hand, as it were, in-
citing his victim to drink more and more.
Yet there is no true satisfaction. He sees the full glass upon the
counter but his spirit hand is unable to lift it. He suffers the tortures of
Tantalus until in time he realizes the impossibility of gratifying his base
desire. Then he is free to go on, so far as that vice is concerned. He has
been purged from that evil without intervention of an angry Deity or a con-
ventional devil with hell's flames and pitchfork to administer punishment,
but under the immutable law THAT AS WE SOW SO SHALL WE REAP, he has suffered
[PAGE 124] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
exactly according to his vice. If his craving for drink was of a mild na-
ture, he would scarcely miss the liquor which he cannot there obtain. If his
desires were strong and he simply lived for drink, he would suffer veritable
tortures of hell without need of actual flames. Thus the pain experienced in
eradication of his vice would be exactly commensurate with the energy he had
expended upon contracting the habit, as the force wherewith a falling stone
strikes the earth is proportionate to the energy expended in hurling it up-
wards into the air.
Yet it is not the aim of God to "get even;" LOVE is higher than LAW
and in His wonderful mercy and solicitude for our welfare He has opened the
way of repentance and reform whereby we may obtain forgiveness of sin, as
taught by the Lord of Love: the Christ. Not indeed contrary to law, for His
laws are immutable, but by application of a higher law, whereby we accom-
plish here that which would otherwise be delayed until death had forced the
day of reckoning. The method is as follows:
In our explanation concerning the subconscious memory we noted that a
record of every act, thought, and word is transmitted by air and ether into
our lungs, thence to the blood, and finally inscribed upon the tablet of the
heart: a certain little SEED ATOM, which is thus the book of the Record-
ing Angels. It was later explained how this panorama of life is etched into
the desire body and forms the basis of retribution after death. When we have
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committed a wrong and our conscience accuses us in consequence, and this ac-
cusation is productive of sincere repentance ACCOMPANIED BY REFORM, the pic-
ture of that wrong act will gradually fade from the record of our life, so
that when we pass out at death it will not stand accusingly against us. We
noted that the panorama of life unwinds BACKWARDS just after death. Later in
the purgatorial life it again passes before the spiritual vision of the man,
who then experiences the exact feeling of those whom he has wronged. He
seems to lose his or her identity for the time being and assumes the condi-
tion of his one time victim, he experiences all the mental and physical suf-
fering himself which he inflicted upon others. Thus he learns to be merciful
instead of cruel, and to do right instead of wrong in a future life. But if
he awakens to a thorough realization of a wrong previous to his death, then,
as said, the feeling of sorrow for his victim and the restitution or redress
which he gives of his own free will makes the suffering after death unne-
cessary. Hence "his sin is forgiven."
The Rosicrucian Mystery Teaching gives a scientific method whereby an
aspirant to the higher life may purge himself continually, and thus be able
entirely to avoid existence in Purgatory. Each night after retiring the pu-
pil reviews his or her life during the day IN REVERSE ORDER. He starts to
visualize as clearly as possible the scene which took place just before re-
tiring. He then endeavors to view impartially his actions in that scene, ex-
amining them to see whether he did right or wrong. If the latter, he endeav-
ors to FEEL AND REALIZE AS VIVIDLY AS POSSIBLE that wrong. For instance, if
[PAGE 126] THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES
he spoke harshly to someone, and upon later consideration finds it was not
merited, he will endeavor to FEEL exactly as that one felt whom he wronged
and at the very earliest opportunity to apologize for the hasty expression.
Then he will call up the next scene in backward succession which may perhaps
be the supper table. In respect of that scene he will examine himself as to
whether he ate to live, sparingly and of foods prepared without suffering to
other creatures of God (such as flesh foods that cannot be obtained without
taking life). If he finds that he allowed his appetite to run away with him
and that he ate gluttonously, he will endeavor to overcome these habits, for
to live a clean life we must have a clean body, and no one can live to his
highest possibilities while making his stomach a graveyard for the decaying
corpses of murdered animals. In this respect there occurs to the writer a
little poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
"I am the voice of the voiceless;
Through me the dumb shall speak,
Till a deaf world's ear
Shall be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.
The same force formed the sparrow
That fashioned man the king;
The God of the whole
Gave a spark of soul
To furred and feathered thing.
[PAGE 127] LIFE AND DEATH
And I am my brother's keeper
And I will fight his fight,
And speak the work
For beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right.
Thus the pupil will continue to review each scene IN REVERSE ORDER from
night till morning, and TO FEEL REALLY SORRY for whatever he has done amiss.
He will not neglect to FEEL GLAD either when he comes to a scene where he
has done well, and THE MORE INTENSELY HE CAN FEEL, THE MORE THOROUGHLY HE
WILL ERADICATE THE RECORD UPON THE TABLET OF THE HEART AND SHARPEN HIS CON-
SCIENCE, so that as time goes on from year to year, he will find less cause
for blame and enhance his soul power enormously. Thus he will grow in a mea-
sure impossible by any less systematic method, and there will be no
necessity for his stay in Purgatory after death.
This evening exercise, and another for the morning, if persistently per-
formed day by day will in time awaken the spiritual vision as they improve
life. This matter has, however, been so thoroughly treated in number 11 of
the ecture series "SPIRITUAL SIGHT AND INSIGHT" that it is unnecessary to
dwell upon the matter further in this place.