“A Sane Mind, A Soft Heart, A Sound Body” March/April 1997—$5.00

ALONE FOR OTHERSIS COMMUNICATION WITH THE DEAD POSSIBLE?

PICTURES OF THE APOSTLE PETERTHE CHRISTOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

A CHRISTIAN ESOTERIC MAGAZINE

EASTER HYMNDeath and darkness get you packing, Nothing now to man is lacking, All your triumphs now are ended, And what Adam marred is mended; Graves are beds now for the weary,Death a nap, to wake more merry; Youth now, full of pious duty, Seeks in thee for perfect beauty,The weak and aged, tired with length Of days, from thee look for new strength, And infants with thy pangs contest, As pleasant as if—with the breast; Then unto him who thus hath thrown Even to contempt thy kingdom down, And by his blood did us advance Unto his own inheritance, To him be glory, power, praise, From this unto the last of days.

—HENRY VAUGHAN: from Silex Scintillans

Front Cover: Stained glass: Christ Jesus in Gethsemane succored by angel, Notre Dame Basilica, 1885. Planet Art

Back Cover: Stained glass: The Resurrected Christ, Notre Dame Basilica, l885. Planet Art

This Issue...Feature

There is no Death (Poem)...Sir Edwin Arnold ................................2

EditorialThe Calendar of the Soul .................................................................3

Mystic LightSuffering...C. W. ..............................................................................5Alone for Others...Glenn Tinder ....................................................11The Rosicrucian Brotherhood (Part 2)...Robert Fludd ..................14

Max Heindel’s MessageFear and its Mastery ......................................................................19

Readers’ QuestionsIs Communication with the “Dead” Possible? ..............................22

Western Wisdom Bible StudyThe Creation—Part 2...Max Heindel.............................................27Revealing the Hidden Mysteries....................................................31

AstrologyThe Fixed Signs—Part 1...Max Heindel .......................................33Virgo, the Divine Healer...Margaret Wolff ....................................36Satan’s Mission...George W. Weaver.............................................40

Religion and ArtPictures of the Apostle Peter...C. W...............................................43

Book ReviewsThe Christology of the New Testament...Carl Swan.....................49

Nutrition and HealthGinseng—World’s Top Tonic?...A Probationer .............................53

HealingThe Healer (Poem).........................................................................56

For ChildrenRex and Zendah in the Land of the Virgin...Esme Swainson .......57

MiscellaneousEaster Hymn...Henry Vaughn................................Inside front coverSong...Laurence Binyon.................................................................39March/April 1997 Ephemeris...................................................61-62

“A Sane Mind,A Soft Heart,

A Sound Body”©1997 The Rosicrucian Fellowship

AChristian Esoteric

Magazine

Established byMax Heindel

June 1913

Volume 89, No. 2

March/April—1997USPS 471080—ISSN 0744-432X

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There is no death. The stars go downTo rise upon another shore,And bright in heaven’s jeweled crownThey shine for evermore.

There is no death. The forest leavesConvert to life the viewless air;The rocks disorganize to feedThe hungry moss they bear.

There is no death. The dust we treadShall change beneath the summer showersTo golden grain or mellow fruit,Or rainbow-tinted flowers.

There is no death. The leaves may fall,The flowers may fade and pass away—They only wait through wintry hoursThe warm, sweet breath of May.

There is no death, although we grieveWhen beautiful familiar formsThat we have learned to love are tornFrom our embracing arms.

Although with bowed and breaking heart,With sable garb and silent treadWe bear their senseless dust to restAnd say that they are dead—

They are not dead. They have but passedBeyond the mists that blind us hereInto the new and larger lifeOf that serener sphere.

They have but dropped their robe of clayTo put a shining raiment on;They have not wandered far away,They are not “lost” or “gone.

Though unseen to the mortal eye,They still are here and love us yet;The dear ones they have left behindThey never do forget.

Sometimes upon our fevered browWe feel their touch, a breath of balm;Our spirit sees them, and our heartsGrow comforted and calm

Yes, ever near us, though unseen,Our dear, immortal spirits tread—For all God’s boundless UniverseIs Life—there are no dead.

—Sir Edwin Arnold

2 RAYS 97

THERE IS NO DEATH

FEATUREP

lanetArt

IN THE TWELVE ANNUAL phasesof the soul’s calendar, Pisces followsAquarius. However, the longer pre-cessional seasons of the soul are inreverse order: Pisces, the star-cradle

of Christianity, by solar precession of theequinoxes, is now giving way to Aquariusand humanity is entering into what might becalled Christianity’s adolescence.

The roughly 2160 years of the Pisceandispensation have been characterized bymysticism, religious devotion, and institu-tionalized forms of surrendering the indi-vidual will to heavenly and earthly authori-ty. Aquarian energies, on the other hand,like adolescence itself, manifest in a surgetowards independence, with its concomi-tants of antiauthoritarianism, the breakingof traditions, and the erosion of inheritedpractices and assumptions, be they social,political, or religious.

The effects of these advancing stellarinfluences is only too evident in contempo-rary society’s political, cultural and moralferment. William Butler Yeats has given us amemorable reading of the present state ofglobal disequilibrium as it reflects this tran-sition of star-born zeitgeists:

Turning and turning in a widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart;The center cannot hold...The best lack all conviction while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.Surely some revelation is at hand.

Many might wonder, paraphrasing the Irish poet,what “rough beast” from out of the desert isslouching toward Bethlehem to be born.

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The Calendar ofthe Soul

EDITORIAL

Georg Cornicelius (1825-1898)

Christ Tempted by SatanThe Tempter sought to entice Christ Jesus to use His Messianic powersfor personal gratification. Though in the original painting the Master’seyes are red from sleeplessness, the artist shows Him calmly and com-pletely disregarding the proffered “right” of earthly rulership. Ratherdoes He look directly at us, His friends, and propose, “Do ye likewise.”

Those of us who are students of the WesternWisdom Teachings have reason for more confi-dence than is suggested by the apocalyptic tone ofthis poem, Easter 1916, but we are also charged toheed and harvest the annual sequence of stellarinfluences so that the independent-minded and“rights”-centered Aquarian impulses are balancedand tempered by the succeeding Piscean self-abne-gation and piety.

Traditionally, the period of Lent commemoratesthe forty days of fasting immediately following theBaptism when Christ Jesus was tempted by worldlypleasures and powers. Lent is astrologically bestcharacterized by the sign Pisces. As Lent gives wayto Passion Week, something of Aries enters intothe picture as Christ Jesus must do gentle battlewith violence, greed, and ignorance, demonstratesuperhuman moral and physical courage, and holdfast to His spiritual identity without using it toescape or palliate His circumstances. His power canonly be used to endure his apparent powerlessness.

Since Christ became the Earth’s indwellingSpirit, the solar year dramatizes his three-yearministry in the body of Jesus and characterizes theenergies that baptize the human soul and lead it inthe paths of preparation and initiation.

If we would assert our individual rights, let usknow what they truly are so that we may do rightby them. Let us realize that they have been trans-figured in the blood shed by Love incarnate, by theOnly Righteous. Let us understand that our rightsare not to rewards for assumed personal griev-ances, or for unappreciated merit, or for livingexemplary lives. Nor are they entitlements toindulgent behavior or exemptions from civility andmoral accountability. Rather are our real rights theelection by God through Christ to make hard choices,the opportunity to quietly thrive under self-restraint,to enjoy the bitter blessings of dashed expectationsthat better conform us to the likeness of the Resur-rected One, that tether our breakaway wills toGod’s liberating commands and nurture our nascentdivinity.

While we are saved by neither works nor nobleideas, in the absence of both we open the doorupon doom. Faith, good works and wisdom are allevidence of our obedience to Christ, in whose life

we are raised, as we are inwardly illumined by thetruth of the Holy Spirit.

In times of confusion or doubt, let us ask “Whatwould the Master do?” Right relation with God’swill for us will surely follow.

The high ideals of Aquarian service are sancti-fied and become fact when they are baptized inPisces’ self-renouncing waters, where the stam-pede of proud rights drown like Legion’s exorciseddemons.

Easter Sunday seems light years from Thursdaynight’s utter aloneness and Friday’s death on thecross. But daily we narrow that vast divide by rightbeing and right doing. Plank by plank we build thebridge (soul body) that spans two worlds, only oneof which is visible. From what seems an endlesssuccession of good and trying Friday’s, we reach asummit of self-giving, of invincible self-surrender.The crucial time shall come when the soul is per-manently set free, when it dies to mortality and soarsinto the etheric skies of resurrection’s Spring. p

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

It is no small prudence to be silent in the evil time.“For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve”in an absolute way—by giving his life “as a ransom for many.”

HUMANS HAVE KNOWN suffer-ing for as long as they have beenaware of having physical bodies. Infact, the experience of both have acommon source, beginning in the

latter part of ancient Lemuria, in the willful andunrestrained use of the sex force, which broughtabout a gradual closing of the etheric world’s par-adisal doors and a displacement of consciousnessonto the material plane, where childbirth, sickness,old age, and death frame and infiltrate human liveswith suffering.

While the Bible cites willful disobedience as thecause of this fall into material consciousness, wemay also say that it was necessary, if not fortunate;that its instigator, Lucifer, has become humanity’sbenefactor; that a curse of perdition has madepossible the blessing of redemption; and that anignorant adamic humanity will, eventually, rise upout of the valley of the shadow of death bearing anindividualized Christed consciousness.

In the first Rosicrucian Christianity Lecture,Max Heindel asserts that “There is but one sin—ignorance, and but one salvation—applied knowl-edge.” As Plato said, God is Truth and Light is itsshadow. Therefore, if we know Truth and live it,we walk and live in the Light. The first knowing ofthe material world was brought about in Atlanteanmystery temples during the star-regulated times forprocreation. Thereafter knowing became an expres-sion for the procreative act because it intensifiedawareness of the physical world.

If ignorance is sin, suffering can be a dispeller ofignorance, a teacher and guide to right living. As

Max Heindel describes it in “Lucifer: Tempter orBenefactor?” wisdom is crystallized pain: “Oursorrows, when they are past, and we can calmlyview them and extract the lessons they contained,are mines of wisdom, and are wombs of futurejoys, for by them we learn to order our lives aright,we learn to cease from sin.” The educator andauthor Lionel Trilling has a similar understanding.His felicitous expression is that man learns by“didactic suffering.” Psalm 119:71 states that “It isgood for me that I have been afflicted, that I mightlearn Thy statutes.”

Normally regarded as an injustice, if not an evil,suffering manifests on the physical level as pain,on the soul level in myriad trying emotions, and on

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Suffering

MYSTIC LIGHT

Illustration for Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book III, lines 739-41, Gustave Doré

Milton’s Satan is the Western Wisdom’s Lucifer, here shownspeeding down toward Earth, where, in the guise of “the infer-nal serpent,” he prompts the eating of the Tree of the Know-ledge of Good and Evil and initiates the “fortunate fall.”

the mental level as confusion, conflict, doubt, andthe awareness of not knowing.

Suffering can be creative and productive, aswhen incident to physical birth, generating a workof art, or undergoing personality transformationand individuation. Of course one can suffer fromdestructive, selfish behavior, but this too, ultimatelyserves to instruct us in right behavior by function-ing as conscience. St. Paul makes this distinctionwhen he says that “godly sorrow worketh repen-tance to salvation but the sorrow of the worldworketh death” (II Cor. 7:10).

Generally, we may say that suffering serves toeffect change. It prods the mind to ask questions,seek answers, analyze assumptions, more clearlyperceive, discr imi-nate , and evaluate.Suffering awakens—slowly or abruptly. Itshows us the effect ofour actions and even-tually purges us ofwayward desires andfalse beliefs.

A deep study of thenature of sufferingdiscovers a justifica-tion for the existence ofGod, which is theod-icy. For evil, as muchapparently gratuitous suffering is termed, and aloving God do not easily admit of reconciliation.The book of Job explores the nature of sufferingand concludes that we may not always know whywe suffer but that God’s life in us transcends andjustifies all that we may experience that is difficultand distressing. Job’s affirmation is absolute:“Though he slay me, yet will I trust him” (13:15).

Sin based in ignorance designates those soulstates that must result in suffering because theyseparate us from God. The first and greatest sin isexactly the assertion of this God-lessness, main-taining the pre-eminence of personal or privatebeing. On pride pivots all negative suffering. Prideinsists on individual primacy. But our best andhighest is God’s since it is from Him. Thus, oneunnecessarily suffers from the feeling of special-

ness and uniqueness, which are founded in the fearand pride that make one a closed book to others.One nurtures unshareable hurt, conceives an inor-dinate endowment of affliction and a stubborncapacity to morosely endure it, making of it a pri-vate feast of misery.

All forms of suffering are borne, alleviated, andhealed by honesty, acceptance, forgiveness,patience, humility, and love. Which is to say thatsuffering is best met with longsuffering. As theapostle Paul says, charity bears all things andendures all things, and charity never faileth. It issaid that before the eyes can see they must becomeincapable of tears, and that before the ears canhear, they must have lost their sensitiveness. What

kind of person can dothis? The soul thatcan consciously nego-tiate the desire worldmust have attained anequilibrium whichcannot be shaken bypersonal emotion. AsMabel Collins writesin Light on the Path,“no man desires tosee that light whichillumines the space-less soul until pain andsorrow and despair

have driven him away from the life of ordinaryhumanity. First he wears out pleasure, then hewears out pain.” It is an immature soul that will nottake its pleasure and its pain with like equanimity.

In sensation no permanent home can be foundbecause change is the law of this earthly vibratoryexistence. Those who lust for life experience themost intense forms of suffering until, aroused fromtheir stupor of consciousness, they step over thethreshold into a place of peace where the vibrationof life looses its power of tyranny. The sensitivenature must suffer still, but the soul has freed itselfand stands aloof, as another person.

One begins to develop the vital body throughexercises designed to dissociate the Ego from bothphysical appetites and automatic emotional pro-gramming. Increasingly one’s life is regulated by

6 RAYS 97

“No man desires to see thatlight which illumines thespaceless soul until pain

and sorrow and despair havedriven him away from the life

of ordinary humanity. Firsthe wears out pleasure, then

he wears out pain.”

charitable acts, willed service, controlled thought, and an attitudeof prayerful quietude and sober optimism. One is fully present inthe daily bedlam, but not deflected in his course by firefly appari-tions, verbal land mines, or emotional tempests.

It becomes clear that one who desires to escape the meshes ofmortal suffering must develop a far greater capacity to toleratepain and sorrow, not as an experiment in masochism, but by areorientation of the soul, by a girding of the loins of the mind,enabling one to take seriously that most salutary invitation fromthe Man of Sorrows: “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me.”The yoke is the cross, material existence in all its ramifications—splinters, dead weight, inflexibility—which one learns to bearwith poise and tranquillity. In time we discover that it is ChristWho bears the cross and we who bear the Christ. “Surely he hathborne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”

In right suffering lies our liberation from the endless cycle ofcross carrying, from the tempting torture of the two-dimensional,pleasure-pain polarity of self-centered material existence. We learnnot to defend our personal selves, not to shore up our vanity andinflate the balloon of our self-image. We become permeable toinsult, pain, and privation. It comes. We accept it. It goes, we acceptthat too—the coming and the going, the lean and the fat, the lossand the largess, the desolation and the joy—not as numb cataleptsbut as the three who stood in the fiery furnace, as Daniel in thelion’s den, as Elijah in the cave of his own soul at the mouth ofwhich stormed the ferocious elements of his passions—until heheard, in lull of his surrender, the still, small voice of his Ego-God.

Suffering can draw up the blinds on hidden truths, break downthe ramparts of our narrow understanding, and expand our con-sciousness. It promotes detachment from the partial and partic-ular and fosters identification with wholes and unities.

Suffering can be a kind of sustenance or nourishment, as sug-gested by Isaiah’s phrase, “the bread of adversity and the water ofaffliction” (30:20). We deprive ourselves of their benefit when weseek to avoid or ignore all forms of difficulty.

Conscience is the analogue of pain on the mental and emotionallevel. Conscience is a triggering of our moral and spiritual nerves.Its Old Testament antecedent was the brazen altar, where salt wasapplied to the sacrificed animal flesh to signify the searing pain ofgenuine remorse.

Some suffering comes to us as a testing or probation, to proveour mettle, as in being “tried by fire.” In Isaiah the Lord says,“Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosenthee in the furnace of affliction” (48:10). Peter tells us that, given ourcalling, we are naive not to expect suffering: “Beloved, think it notstrange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though somestrange thing happened unto you” (1 Pet. 4:12). Or, as Abbé de Tourville

observes, “There is nothing inthis world without its difficul-ties, and we must accept themwith tranquillity and wisdom,”

RAYS 97 7

Frederic Shields

The Prophet DanielDaniel receives the Messianic vision (Dan.10:21) from the angel after chastening him-self before God. At the seer’s feet the liontypifies past dangers overcome through theintervention of God’s angelic ministers.

learning to be content with lack of contentment.What do we believe? How firmly and how

deeply do we believe it? Life gives us ampleopportunity to demonstrate our convictions and tohold fast to what is deemed right and true. If wecompromise to escape various forms of pain—public disfavor, loss of material benefits, challengeto our beliefs—then we are re-presented with teststo determine if we have attained to the courage ofour convictions. For courage it often reduces to,stoutness of heart, moral stamina to endure variousforms of adversity.

And what of the meek? Isaiah says that the meekwho suffer for no deeds of their own doing shall begiven “beauty forashes, the oil of joyfor mourning, the gar-ment of praise for thespirit of heaviness,that they might becalled trees of right-eousness, the plantingof the Lord, that hemight be glorified”(61:3).

We do not lack forwise counsel to helpus stay our course.Baron Friedrich vonHugel notes that “tosuffer well is far more difficult than to actwell...Holy suffering is the very crown of holyaction.” Consider Christ Jesus and learn the powerand nobility of suffering. Further, he writes, “it isonly suffering meekly accepted, willed, transfig-ured by love of God, of Christ—it is only such thatwill purify or cure anything.”

Whereas it is never God’s will that we suffer, itis His will that we know why we suffer so that wemay desist from what causes it. Abbé de Tourvilleadvises, “We are not responsible for our feelingsbut for our decisions. What does it matter if oursensible nature feels upset? If we act rightly, thenall is well.” And, “we are never so near God aswhen we have to get on as well as we can withoutthe consolation of feeling His presence.” MeisterEckhart has attained to deep wisdom. He knows

that “so long as created things console you and canconsole you, never will you find true consolation.”

We come to better understand the significance ofthe many alchemical processes that require fire forextracting and volatilizing the essence of a thingfrom its material host. This fire is the pain and suf-fering incident to separating the spirit from all itsmanifestations. It may take the form of physicaldisability and infirmity, which help loosen the con-nection between the Ego and its physical instru-ment. Max Heindel’s brushes with death seemed tobring him closer to his Teacher and the spiritualworlds.

The Old Testament is, among other things, asaga of suffering,a n d t h e b o o k o fEcclesiastes cites“the wandering ofdesire” as its cause:“the eye is not satis-fied with seeing northe ear with hearing”(1:8). St. John’s NewTestament echo pointsto “the lust of theeyes and the pride oflife” (1 John 2:16) asprime sources of suf-fering. However, notjust man but the very

earth, “all things are full of labor.” But the apostlePaul makes clear that this is the labor of birth, ofthe gestation of the etheric body. In fact, not onlymankind but “the whole creation groaneth and tra-vaileth in pain together”; by which we infer thatwe mistake much of our pain as something done tous, whereas it is something done for us, as thestretching of the mother’s womb makes possiblethe birth of a new being. We are experiencing theprotracted labor of the birth of the higher Self. It isa labor of love, a spiritual travail, attended andmidwifed by transformative suffering. Likewisethe very earth is in embryonic preparation forits etheric embodiment in the Jupiter Period,occasioning Paul’s rousing reminder that “thesufferings of this present time are not to becompared with the glory that shall be revealed in

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We mistake much of our painas something done to us,

whereas it is something donefor us, as the stretching ofthe mother’s womb makespossible the birth of a newbeing. We are experiencingthe protracted labor of the

birth of the higher Self.

us” (Rom. 8:18). Thus can he“glory in tribulation.”

In fact, Paul contends, and hiscontention is echoed by MaxHeindel in Blavatsky and theSecret Doctrine, that we aresparks of divinity to be made per-fect through suffering. Thomas àKempis writes that “he whoknows how to suffer will enjoymuch peace. Such a one is a con-queror of himself and lord of theworld, a friend of Christ, and anheir of heaven.” Much suffering,then, is a blessing. For “whomthe Lord loveth he chasteneth.”How does he chasten? Largelythrough His minister Saturn, whois the agent provocateur, theadversary (which is the meaningof Satan in Hebrew), whosebeneficent mission is to bringsorrow to dampen our arrogance,to tempt us that our imperfectionsmay be brought before us to be corrected. Saturn/Satan is the great disciplinarian.

We understand why Saturn is dignified in thecardinal earth sign Capricorn, where manifestedactions become our teachers, and exalted in Libra,where his corrective influences help restore physi-cal, emotional, and mental balance. Confirmed inthe knowledge that all things work for goodbecause God knows our every need, Sir ThomasBrowne can survey all the occurrences of his lifeand “perceive nothing but an abyss and mass ofmercies....Those which others term crosses, afflic-tions, judgments, misfortunes, to me, who inquirefarther into them than their visible effects, theyboth appear, and in event have ever proved, thesecret and dissembled favors of his affection.”

An ennobled and chastened Parsifal, no longerthe pure fool, enters the grounds of Montsalvatwhere the hermit Gurnemanz asks him whence hehas come: “Through search and suffering I came,”and by them he developed moral discipline, spiri-tual fortitude, and wisdom, enabling him to admin-ister the Holy Grail and to wield the Holy Spear,

both signifying the attainment of etheric powers. Evelyn Derry, in her book Growing up in

Religion, observes that the pain of feeling lonely isessential to the development of inwardness in thegrowing child. It is the source of religious feelingand through it the necessary sense of selfhoodawakens.

In his Christianity lecture “Astrology, Scope andLimitations,” Max Heindel maintains that “all oursorrows and pains are the result of ignorance.” TheRosicrucian Fellowship Opening Hymn explainsthat man’s ignorance of cosmic law brought dis-cord, resulting in sorrow, death, and woe. And withreason’s torch we search for truth to restore har-mony and life. Contrary to the popular saying,ignorance is definitely not bliss. Yet the OldTestament Preacher claims that “in wisdom ismuch grief: and he that increaseth knowledgeincreaseth sorrow” (1:18). How explain the contra-diction? Christ had yet to come to annul the stingof death and give value to deeds done in the bodyand to open the way to supersensible knowledgeand spiritual attainment. So we may say that lack

RAYS 97 9

Tempera on panel, 42-1/2 x 33-3/4 inches, c. 1565, Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430-1516), Brera Museum, Milan

PietaOne of the most moving depictions of the mourning of the crucified Jesus, theBellini Pieta, executed with confident command of Renaissance realism, shows theMadonna and St. John, who is now Mary’s Christ-appointed spiritual son.

Planet A

rt

of wisdom was the Preacher’s malady, the sourceof his suffering. Unlike Isaiah, he had no fore-knowledge of Christ’s redemptive mission.

A preview of the cessation of sorrow and painwill first be experienced in the Sixth Epoch of theEarth Period, the New Galilee, which will be a pre-cursor of the New Jerusalem, the life described inthe book of Revelation that shall constitute exis-tence in the Jupiter Period.

One who is uniquely in a position to know hassaid of Christ that the three years during which Hewas gradually penetrating the human sheaths ofJesus’ body was a period of “unceasing, perpetualpain, but pain that was transmuted into Love, infi-nite, ever deepening, Love.” Herein we touch onthe deepest mystery of our subject. Deepest painhas the power to transmute itself into a love whichdoes not work in the manner of ordinary love butthrough the mere presence of the one who loves. Itis not a surge of feeling but a consistently radiatingpower. The catharsis of the desire body effects atransformation of passion to compassion, the firethat burns unto death becomes the fire that healsand gives life. The fever that purges portends thefire that illuminates and creates.

The earthly ignominy of physical suffering,rejection, and misunderstanding symbolized by thecrown of thorns, a dying to and an overcoming ofthe world, make possible the inheritance of theKingdom of Heaven, where the liberated spirit iscrowned with wisdom and glory and power. Ascolors are the sufferings of light, so physicalembodiment tinctures the spirit with suffering. Italso brings self-consciousness, knowledge that weare Gods-in-the-making. At present the cost of suf-fering seems inordinate. But this assessment showsa failure of imagination and a paucity of faith.

John the Evangelist reminds us that it is theFather’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. Ifwe desire the high, we must do battle with the low.If we would be resurrected in spirit, we must beconformable to death and participate in the liberat-ing fellowship of Christ’s suffering (Eph.3:10).Thomas à Kempis asks, “Whence shall thypatience be crowned if thou meet with no adversity?If thou wilt suffer no opposition, how wilt thou bea friend of Christ? Suffer with Christ and for Christ

if thou desirest to reign with Christ.” Our acceptable expectation is to know how to be

abased as well as to abound, to know need as wellas plenty, and to further know that this is all possi-ble, nay, assured, because we can do all thingsthrough Christ Who strengthens us. As Jean-Pierrede Caussade counsels, “make God an offering ofthe sorrow that imperfection brings you...[and] letpatience be your weapon.” The victory that over-comes the world, even our faith, is tried in the fireof suffering. Suffering, then, brings vision and,with vision, knowledge. Then we know that Hethat is in us is greater than our mortal self that is inthe world.

Hannah Hurnard reminds us that to love is tobecome vulnerable to pain:

I’ll turn my hands upon thy HeartAnd purge away the dross.I will refine thee in my fire,Remake thee at my cross.

This is Christian alchemy. This is the path tointerior Christening. We are anointed with sorrow.When the spirit is liberated from the body throughinitiation, the etheric nails are pulled from theflesh, the spear is withdrawn from the desire vor-tex, the crown of thorns becomes a diadem ofpotent, radiating light. We advance toward thisprospect, armed with high knowledge, fortified byenlightened will, bent on being optimally useful,knowing that our strength is made perfect in weak-ness, aspiring even to glory in our infirmities, thatthe love-power of Christ may be instilled in us tothe glory of the Father; reminded also that “ourlight affliction, which is but for a moment, workethfor us a far more exceeding and eternal weight ofglory” (II Cor. 4:17).

Corinne Heline writes,

In the heart of today Lives the world of tomorrow,And the builders of joy Are the children of sorrow.

Godly sorrow builds toward the day of liberation,when, as inhabitants of the New City of Peace, alltears shall be wiped from our eyes. So knowing,attainment awaits our doing. p

—C. W.

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RARELY, IN OUR TIMES, do socialand political theorists praise solitude.Again and again such thoughtful writ-ers as Alasdair Maclntyre and RobertBellah tell us that moral rectitude,

fundamental truthfulness, and all of the othervirtues and skills that make us human depend uponsociety: upon our having a lifelong place within asocial order and contemplating the historical “nar-rative” that defines the social order. While all this isno doubt true, it is no less true that our humanitydepends on our capacity for being alone.

Christians may be disinclined to protest theneglect of solitude. Their ultimate goal, the king-dom of God, is after all a society, and their suprememoral principle, love, is a decidedly social virtue.Yet even a moment’s consideration of Christ mustgive them pause. The life and death of Christ wereboth strongly marked by solitude. True, Christ wasaccompanied in his mission by his disciples. But itis striking how little comprehension they seemed tohave either of his words or of the destiny he wasliving out. At the end, in Gethsemane, they couldnot watch with him even one hour. And when hewas arrested, all of them “forsook him and fled.”The lone figure of Christ on the Cross is perhaps thestarkest symbol of solitude our culture possesses:Aren’t Christians forced to entertain the thoughtthat solitude is closely connected with sanctity?

Traditionally, of course, they have. The figure ofSt. Anthony is a classical representation of the spir-ituality that flourishes in solitude; and St. Anthonyis only one of the many fourth-century “desert

fathers” who withdrew from society into the wilder-ness. The hermit is an established type in bothWestern and Eastern Christianity, and monasticinstitutions, even though striving for a common andclosely knit way of life seemingly at the oppositepole from solitude, have often been linked with her-metical institutions and practices of one sort oranother. Near our own day, the traditional Christianrecognition of solitude was expressed by CardinalNewman in his well-known saying, “The soulalone, face to face with God alone.”

Christians, then, have good grounds, both in

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Alone for Others

MYSTIC LIGHT

This article appeared in the April 1996 issue of FirstThings and is reproduced here by permission. The writeris author of The Political Meaning of Christianity.

Tempera on panel, 53 x 35 cm. Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). Capilla Real, Granada

Agony in the GardenThe Gethsemane experience, deep suffering in utter aloneness,endured only by surrendering to God’s will, is here poignantlyemphasized by the presence of the sleeping disciples.

Scripture and in tradition, for questioning the pre-vailing emphasis on society. They can do this insome part simply by appealing to common sense. Onthe one hand, society is stubbornly and radicallyimperfect. It is, as Aristotle makes clear, groundedin military and economic necessity. It follows thatthe final standard governing its actions must beexpediency. The principle that the individual is tobe treated as an end, and never merely as a meansto some other end, cannot possibly rule the life ofany society. Every war shows this unmistakably.Economic developments frequently do so as well:the transition to a market economy in Russia, forexample, a change vitalto the health of Russiansociety, inevitablyworks hardship on indi-viduals when ineffi-cient state-ownedenterprises are priva-tized and “stream-lined.” On the otherhand, we all recognizein our most seriousmoments that we mustdecide certain things—for example, how toconduct ourselves in anambiguous situation or what to believe—allalone. If necessary, society must be defied.

Realizing the significance of solitude, however,depends finally on spiritual considerations. Thespiritually crucial experience of guilt, for example,is always solitary; conscience does not tell me thatwe are guilty—at least, this is not its most forcefulmessage—but that I am guilty. Correspondingly,the faith that I am justified by the Cross in spite ofmy guilt is maintained in solitude: I am justified bymy own, and no one else’s, faith. And when Iembark on the journey toward sanctification, I amsingled out from all others by an unquenchable con-sciousness of moral responsibilities I alone can ful-fill. Even the knowledge that I will die, so essentialto my spiritual being, is knowledge of an intimate-ly personal kind; I know that my death will beunshareable. Indeed, it is scarcely too much to sug-gest that solitude is the strait gate, spoken of in

Matthew, through which all must pass in order toreach eternal life. “One man does not becomeblessed,” says Saint Augustine, “by the blessednessof another.”

Not that solitude is entirely safe. In Notes fromUnderground, Dostoevsky presents a character inwhom solitude nourished the traits of the mass manand the terrorist. Dostoevsky’s portrait suggests adistinction between two different kinds of solitude:the self-absorbed and the communal. The solitudeof the underground man was a form of self-absorp-tion. It meant being embroiled day and night in hisown resentments and obsessions. In communal soli-

tude, however, onestands clear of alienat-ing social constraintsand is steadily attentiveto other human beingsand to God. Such soli-tude as this is a readi-ness for community; itis the solitude of Christ,of love on the Cross.

To speak of commu-nal solitude is implicitlyto mark out communityas something differentfrom society. Social

theorists today seem largely unaware of any suchdistinction, and this is why they pay so little atten-tion to solitude. Society, we might say, is the out-ward order; community, the inward connection.Society is more or less impersonal, hierarchical,and instrumental; community is personal, egalitari-an (in affirming the mystery and consequent incom-parability of persons), and an end in itself. Strictlyspeaking, the kingdom of God is not a society but acommunity, whereas every historical collectivity ispredominantly a society, containing at bestephemeral fragments of community.

As Ferdinand Tönnies—who may have originatedthe distinction—insisted, society (Gesellschaft) isalien and forbidding (“one goes into society as onegoes into a strange country”), while community(Gemeinschaft) is good (“the expression ‘bad com-munity’ violates the meaning of the word”). Writerswho ignore the distinction must also ignore soli-

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In communal solitude one stands clear of alienat-ing social constraints and is

steadily attentive to otherhuman beings and to God.Such solitude as this is a

readiness for community; itis the solitude of Christ, of

love on the Cross.

tude. Almost any society not in a manifest state ofdisintegration is spoken of as a community. If thiswere really the case, if every orderly society were acommunity, solitude would be little needed, for weare communal beings and in a full community onewould realize simultaneously unabridged selfhoodand perfect unity with others. In even the most har-monious societies, however, our communal natureis in some measure violated and we are forced toseparate ourselves from others in order to protectourselves from false relationships. We are forcedinto solitude for the sake of community.

From this standpoint we can understand the pro-visional truth inherent in individualism. Social the-orists who neglect solitude logically enough con-demn individualism; today, individualism is asrarely praised as is solitude. In our fallenness, how-ever, individualism possesses a kind of truth. Wehave fallen into a condition of communal atomiza-tion, and the kind of solidarity we attain throughsociety does not overcome that condition but con-ceals it. In doing this, it renders it irreparable. Tocondemn individualism is to blind ourselves to theneed for solitude, and that, in turn, is to becomewilling captives of society.

Plainly, solitude is good only in the sense that itis necessary; it is not good in itself. It has beencalled “incommunicability”—a consciousness (itmight be of guilt, for example, or of mortality) thatis largely unshareable. The necessity of solitudearises from our fallenness. Solitude is a burden laidupon us by our having turned our backs on God. Indoing this, we have turned our backs also on ourfellow human beings and find ourselves largelydeprived of true relationships. It is tragic that thishas occurred; indeed, the fall into incommunicabil-ity is the primal catastrophe at the source of history.But nothing is gained by pretending that it neverhappened.

It is scarcely too much to say that in a societystressing as strongly as America does the impor-tance of social participation, everything of supremeimportance depends on there being the counter-weight of communal solitude. If you have never, allalone, tried to define your major convictions, youcannot enter into truth-seeking conversation andthus are incapable of deep human relations. If youcannot be apart from others, you cannot engage in

prayer and meditation and thus cannot enter intogenuine relations with God. If you recoil from soli-tude, it may even be said, you are politically dis-abled; you necessarily lack the spirit of indepen-dence needed to stand for what is right in the pub-lic realm.

Yet, since the burden of solitude is the burden ofpersonal responsibility and of mortality, we try con-tinually to cast it off. We follow a route directly con-trary to that of the desert fathers: We flee from thewilderness of solitude into society. Today, societybeguiles us into doing this; through such devices astelevision, bureaucratic organization, and the con-formist pressures arising from mass democracy, ittries ceaselessly to engross us in illusions of com-munity. It may be that one of the ways in which Godintends that Christians be the salt of the earth is bytheir serving as exemplars of Christly solitude. p

—Glenn Tinder

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

From the extremity of His solitude on the cross, Christ Jesusforgives His persecutors, baptizes the Earth with the bloodof His cosmic love, and initiates Christian fellowship of theSpirit. On Golgotha—place of the (Adam’s) skull—death isovercome and humanity is regenerated by the “last Adam.”

FROM THE begin-ning of the world ithas been known thatthere is a death of thebody. And from this it

is clear what remarkable powerhad been given to these men byChrist. The same is true for theone of whom it is said, “I willerect a house to the faithful one,and he will walk before me allthe days of his life.” These arethe people meant by the prophetIsaiah, when he invites, “O houseof Jacob, come, and let us walkin the light of the Lord” (Isaiah2:5), and elsewhere, “Thosewho receive the true light willreceive the power to become therightful sons of God, even thosewho believe on His name.”

You can discern from this thepoint of view and the true char-acter of the inhabitants of thatHouse of Wisdom. In addition,we now must consider how theyare named, and the relationshipgiven to them at that time by theHoly Scripture, namely, sons ofGod, the chosen of the Lord, thechosen generation, prophets,friends of God. Wisdom, notthat of the flesh, but the one aris-ing out of pure fire, kindled by

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the Spirit, brings it about that the children of the world become thechildren of God by being chosen, as Peter said, “Who once were nota people, but now are a people of God.” And this seed is that incor-ruptible spirit which God enclosed within all things, as Christ seemsto confirm with the words, “God is able of these stones to raise upchildren unto Abraham” (Matthew 3:9); that is, new sons of Christ,Christians, whose head, according to the Apostle, is Jesus Christ, forhe says, “I would have you know that the head of every man is Christand the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:95), and further,“You are of Christ, but Christ is of God.”

Christ, who according to the prophets is the light of Israel out ofBethlehem (that is, the House of Bread), speaks in you, and thoughhe does not assume your form, yet he is in you, is “the chief

TheRosicrucian

Brotherhood—Part 2

MYSTIC LIGHT

Michelangelo Caravaggio (1573-1610), Confarelli Chapel, S. Luigi dei Francesi, Rome

The Calling of St. Matthew“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you”—John 15:16. God calls whom Hecalls. Bernard Berenson describes the above portrayal as Christ seemingly cometo arrest the tax collector. The artist, having killed a man in a brawl, projected hisown need for conversion from a violent life style into his conception of Matthew’ssummons. Caravaggio also painted the even more dramatic calling of Saul.

Pla

net A

rt

cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20), whom we—as liv-ing stones—should serve to erect the House ofWisdom. This we should do in the same manner asChrist who as the leader of Israel, the chief rock,sends from his never-failing well the water of life.From this it follows that inasmuch as we are livingstones, so we are seeds of Abraham; inasmuch aswe are seeds of Abraham so we are truly brothersof Christ and true Israelites; and inasmuch as weare true Israelites, we are the Temple of God.

As we are divine seed and also living stones,that is, living stones cut from a single rock,carved out of Christ, so in this faith we havebecome one withChrist, havingbecome, as it were,his members, accord-ing to the word ofthe Apost le , “abody which hasmany members.”Therefore we areinheri tors of thekingdom of heaven.And what is in us,by which we can becalled living stones,is one truth in us. Thus we may believe that we aresons of God, and what beyond this is the night-sideof man is lie and delusion, cannot in truth be calledvirtue or truth. For truth alone will pass safelythrough the trial of fire on the day of judgment. Inthe same manner as we Alchemists seek for thatgold of God which emanates from Christ, so thereis the perfect truth which alone will pass througheach trial of fire in which the true and glowingvirtue is purified, glorified and made moreradiant, as is clearly ev iden t f rom thewords of the Apost le (1 Corinthians 3:13).

Here it must be said explicitly that these Brothersare truly sons of Abraham and Israel, but only spir-itually, not in the flesh. Thus also they are livingstones whom the Evangelist describes as “born outof God,” and not through physical intercourse, ofwhom he also says that it is possible to awakensons of Abraham out of stones.

Because these stones have sprung out of one

stone in this manner, they are also inner and spiri-tual stones. They can be called living stonesbecause they give life and being to stones and allother earthly things which, because of their densityare called “earth” and “stones.” Because they havebeen taken as living stones from the general anduniversal Rock, they make clear that all is in oneand one is in all. For it seems to them that accord-ing to the word of the Apostle, through Him iseverything, and He is in everything, and outsideHim all is illusion and untruth, things which seemto be but are not.

Therefore it is also the task of the true andb l e s s e dAlchemists to dis-tinguish illusionfrom truth, that is,to distinguish theevil from the good.This distinction isnecessary to freeChrist in the cre-a t i o n w h e r eh e was , a s i twere, kept pris-oner by unbelief,and to work against

the godless nature of Barabbas, the son of darkconfusion. Thus we become creators of the trueword and of that wisdom which shines out of dark-ness, making us friends of God, enriched by everykind of gift.

All this happened through the opening of theearth so that, according to the words of Isaiah, “itmay give birth to the Messiah.” But this does nottake place according to the ways of falseAlchemists, but in a divine and mystical manner,which is revealed according to the laws of trueAlchemy. And Paul seems to call the trueAlchemist, “the true husbandman,” saying, “theone who strives will not be crowned unless hestrives righteously,” for the striving husbandmanstands in the first place to harvest the fruits. ButPaul censures other philosophers and theologianswho do not know the Divine Work, calling them,“men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning thefaith” (2 Timothy 8:8). Thus he describes both the

It is the task of the trueAlchemists to distinguish

illusion from truth, that is, todistinguish the evil from the

good. This distinction is necessary to free Christ in thecreation where he was, as it

were, kept prisoner by unbelief.

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good laborers, that is, the builders of the House ofWisdom on the Mount of Reason, and also the evil,the false architects. He points to the right way foreach man to unite himself with the brotherhood ofChrist and the seed of Abraham, to work as the truehusbandman and architect.

Now these are also called Apostolic Brothersbecause they are familiar with those secretswhich the Apostle not only knew, butproclaimed courageously to the world.That is, they know that mysticalwisdom, the secrets of their rela-tionship to the chief corner-stone. For the Apostles calledmen brothers who dedicatedthemselves to the same secretsof God as they did. Fromthis comes that ApostolicBrotherhood of which theApostle Paul speaks, “Thebrotherly love remain inyou,” and Peter, “live ofthe brotherhood,” and else-where, “How good andpleasant it is for brothers tolive with each other.”

Such a common habita-tion has now been taken upby the Brotherhood of theRosy Cross, and their strongbond of love and joy lies intheir knowledge of that oneChrist and that one spiritualrock, upon which founda-tion everything has beenerected. In that Brotherhoodof the Rosicrucians thehighest and only truth, the greatest good-will, andbrotherly love dwells.

In his sermons and letters, Paul calls the mostunbelieving heathens, even the servants of idols,his brothers. We read from the Prophet Micah con-cerning the Lord of Israel, the Saviour fromBethlehem, “Therefore will he rescue them, andthe remnant of his brethren shall return to the chil-dren of Israel.” In this passage a dispersed flock isspoken of, and Christ is clearly characterized as

the Saviour of the world, as is said in Matthew23:8, “One is your Master, but you all are broth-ers.” And he continues, “For one is your Father,who is in heaven.” With these words Christ doesnot indicate brothers in the flesh, but brothers inGod, and he does not address the disciples alone,but the mixed crowd of listeners as well—and

among them were unbelieving Jews andGentiles.

Now we can consider the reasonswhy that Brotherhood can give

itself the name Rosicrucian,since we have explained aboveout of the clear words of theholy Testament why the des-ignations Apostolic andChristian can rightly beused by those chosen ones.And why not the designa-tion “Rosicrucian?” In theRoman Catholic Churchis there not an Order ded-icated to the Holy Cross?Is i t then such a greatoffense to concede to thisApostolic Fraternity, to the

true chosen ones and Broth-ers of God, the name Rosi-crucians? Or is one tobelieve that the designationRosicrucians in such animportant matter meansnothing? I shall here show,however, that to the initiatethe word Rosicrucian orRose Cross reveals the wholesecret of the Brotherhood,

however little it seems to mean to the ignorant.Not without intention was the sign of the Rose

Cross carried on English sails, and by Christianheroes on their breasts in the wars against theSaracens and Turks. The more I consider it worth-while to reveal here before all the mystery of theRose Cross, the more I recognize the justificationof this design for the Brotherhood.

One must certainly know that the teaching ofsalvation has placed before us a twofold cross in

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The Crucified RoseThe original symbol of the Rosicrucian Fraternity wasa hieroglyphic rose crucified upon a cross. The crosswas often raised upon a three-stepped Calvary.Occasionally a cross within a rose was used in con-nection with their activities. The Rosicrucian rosewas drawn upon the Round Table of King Arthur. Richin associations, the rose in this context symbolizespurification of the blood, spiritual unfoldment, andregeneration of the heart (Christing of the love nature).

the sense of a twofold law or twofold sense of theHoly Scriptures, a twofold wisdom, namely, anouter and an inner, whereof the outer is the sheathof the inner. Thus, under the outer law is hidden inHoly Scripture the spirit within the letter, thedivine and mystical wisdom within the seeminglyconfused meaning of the external words.

After Adam had tasted of the Tree of Good andEvil, confusion arose, clear wisdom was veiled bythe darkness of illusion, and error was brought intothe world. Thus, in place of pure and simple unityof unities arose confusion, namely that duality, thattwo-headed monster which looks at good and evilat the same time.

In a similar manner developed the relationshipbetween the inner and outer, the mixture of virtueand vice, the pollution of the mystical wisdom bythe human, the darkening of light through dark-ness, and, to say it briefly, the veiling of the spiritby the letter. But why use further words? Suffice itto say that the same relationship that existsbetween human wisdom and divine Wisdom alsorules between the physical and outer and that inner,spiritual cross. “For,” says the Apostle, “the wis-dom of this world is foolishness with God,” and inanother place,“God has made it into foolishness.”(See 1 Corinthians 1:18 and James 1:22.) “Thywisdom and thy knowledge deceives thee.”

However, the divine and mystical Wisdom is thatwhich is “the hidden wisdom which God ordainedbefore the world unto our glory” (I Corinthians2:7), as testified by the Apostle Paul. James speaksof the other wisdom: “This wisdom descendeth notfrom above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish” (James3:15). This is what one can also say of the cross, forthe real and true being of mystical Wisdom is aninner Wisdom, while the external wisdom is only anillusion, a false image of the true.

The Apostle Paul seems to point to this when hesays: “For Christ is not entered into the holy placesmade with hands, which are the figures of the true;but into heaven itself, now to appear in the pres-ence of God for us; nor yet that he should offerhimself often, as the high priest entereth into theholy place every year with the blood of others”(Hebrews 9:24-25). Throughout the whole chapter,the Apostle seems to prove that parables and “fig-

ures” are all those acts which took place by sprin-kling with “blood of others” in the Tabernacle withthat cross, in which the brazen serpent had beenplaced. The corresponding truth was only to revealitself in a future century, as clearly foretold by hiswords: “The Holy Ghost signified that the wayinto the holiest of all was not yet made manifestwhile the first tabernacle was yet standing”(Hebrews 9:8). In addition, we find writtenelsewhere that the All-Highest does not dwell inhabitations made with hands (Acts 7:48).

From this it is clear that the cross created by thehuman spirit means little, that the worldly wisdommeans little, compared with the divine, mysticalWisdom, which is the power of God. Human wis-dom is pure foolishness, as is also said by theApostle, “The cross of Christ is a stumblingblockto the Jews, foolishness to the Greeks” (1Corinthians 1:23). With “stumblingblock” he refersto the hatred which they harbored against Christ,for they expected only miracles from him. With theword “foolishness” he means not only those whomocked the cross, but also those who accepted theworldly and visible cross instead of the spiritualcross, that spiritual Wisdom which is the power ofGod, the outer instead of the inner.

In the world, therefore, we see two strong oppo-sites from which arise so much strife, such mon-strous discord in worldly affairs, namely, the lightand the darkness. The light is Christ, the darknessis the prince of the letter—the devil. In the samemanner we see both crosses—the one which is thepower of God, true Wisdom, the pure and clearlight; the other is devilish, for the Godhead is notin it, and because it is external, it misguidesaccording to the foolishness of the Gentiles, mis-leading people into worshiping idols; i. e., to aveneration of things which cannot be called divine.And thus through ignorance the cross of the thief isvenerated instead of the living cross.

It was in this sense that a venerable ChurchFather wrote that the cross of Christ consisted oftwo woods, upon which the devil and our SaviourJesus Christ were crucified at the same time. Hadhe said, however, that Christ was crucified on thedead wood, and the other on the living wood, hewould not have spoken in the sense of the Apostle

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who says, “But God forbid that I should glory, savein the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom theworld is crucified unto me and I unto the world”(Galatians 6:14). What he meant by the expressionthat “the world is crucified” is explained by thewords, “I bear in my body the marks of the LordJesus,” (Ibid. 6:17) which is the same as though hesaid Christ’s true and spiritual cross I bear withinme, compared with which worldly things are cru-cified and dead, and therefore I am dead for theworld. Elsewhere he says, “I am crucified withChrist so that I may live unto God” (Ibid 2:19).

We therefore may not worship the outer, satanic,worldly part of the cross, nor are we to surround itwith divers testimonies and venerations. For it is thecross of death, not of life, fashioned out of earthlytimber or some other corruptible material. But wemust venerate only that true, genuine, living cross ofChrist, that is, the mystical Wisdom which is calledby the Holy Scriptures the wood of the Tree of Life,the fountain or root of which is the enlightenedWord. To this is related the saying, “The holy form

of the cross shines out of itsvenerated sheath.”

This “holy form of thecross” is the true inward,central cross of Christ, fromwhich the Brotherhoodtakes its name. They richlydeserve to be calledBrothers of the Cross, for tothis Order not onlybelonged the holy Prophets,but all Apostles, and alsothe true Disciples, as theRe-deemer said, “If anyman will come after me, lethim deny himself and takeup his cross and followme.” (Matthew 16:24)

By this he seems to indi-cate that above all the trueChristian must seek thespiritual cross, and thatthrough the denial of self heis to crucify himself for theworld and the world for

himself. Peter requires similarly that “As newbornbabes desire the milk of the word, that ye maygrow thereby, if so be that ye have tasted that theLord is gracious, to whom coming, as unto a livingstone, chosen of God and precious . . . etc.” (1Peter 2:2-4).

Likewise is said elsewhere, “He that taketh nothis cross and followeth after me is not worthy ofme,” (Matthew 10:38) and further, “He who doesnot take up his cross and follow me cannot be mydisciple.”

In these words, therefore, lies the secret, thegreatest mystery, and from them it follows that noman can be a true disciple of Christ who does not“ask” and “knock,” and thus find and recognizewithin himself that secret cross, and then followsworthily the chief of all mankind and leader ofIsrael from Bethlehem, carrying Christ Jesus withinhimself consciously. From this can be clearly seenthat the true disciple of Christ must be a Brother ofthe Rosy Cross. (Continued) p

Robert Fludd

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Oil on canvas, circa 1515, Bramantino (Bartolomeo Suardi), 1465-1530, Brera Gallery, Milan

CrucifixionThe Crucified is flanked by the repentant and unrepentant thieves and their spirit worldcounterparts, an angel and a devil. Though kneeling in apparent reverence, the devil’sopen-handed gesture suggests that Christ Jesus is being urged to forswear his faith atwhat seems a God-forsaken moment. The very cosmos laments the Passion as the sun andmoon assume mourning visages, emblematic of the crucifixion of the world’s soul.

WE ALL KNOW that it is verydistasteful for one to have tospeak in the first person, and itis something we should avoid;but there are times when an

exception may be made, and I will ask yourforbearance if in the following I use the personalpronoun instead of the usual “we.”

I have been very much exercised for the pastweek, unusually so, in connection with the fear ofa disciple upon entering the invisible world. Everyone of us must some time enter probationership,then advance to discipleship, and later enter intothe invisible worlds. Whether it is this year or next,this life or the next, we must learn to enter theseworlds consciously that we may understand theconditions there.

It is in connection with those conditions andwith fear and its effect that I wish to speak to you.It is well for us to order our conduct, thoughts, andideas along lines that will help us when we reachthat crucial point. This has been brought to myconsciousness many times in past years, and par-ticularly, as said, during the past few days, when itbecame my privilege to help the second of our dis-ciples to enter the invisible world and there takethe first steps alone or with such guidance as Icould give him. It was the fear of past lives and thefear generated during the present life that was thestumbling block that caused much trouble.Because of this it has been thought best to speak toour students upon this subject so they may realizehow fear affects us.

I recall an incident related a number of years agoby an old friend, Dr. Wood, a member of theHumane Society of Los Angeles, whose duties

were to look after little children and especiallythose reported as being abused by their parents.She related that one day, in investigating a reportedcase, she came to a cottage and knocked at thedoor. Upon informing the parent that she was sus-pected of abusing her child, the former becamevery much upset and at first refused to admit Dr.Wood; but upon being persuaded that it would bebetter to allow the investigation she permitted thedoctor to enter that the latter might thereby assureothers that there was no ground for the accusations.

The doctor was surprised to see the child cleanand well kept, with a nicely made cradle and play-things beyond the means of people in circum-stances such as those in which this family seemedto be. The mother cried bitterly over the accusa-tions. She said the child was given to crying spellsthat would last sometimes for hours, and for whichshe could find no reason and no remedy. Dr. Wood,knowing the relation of the visible and invisibleworlds, took the child upon her knee and asked:“Why do you cry? Does Mamma whip you? Whatreason can there be for you to cry so?”

“ I don’t know,” was the child’s reply.“Yes you do know; you are old enough to know

why you cry, and you must tell me. Unless you doso you will make trouble for Mamma.”

Then the child said, “I see things.”This was the solution to the mystery. The little

child had drawn to herself elementals of fear, whichshe had created in a previous life. They were sostrong that they had not left her during the intervalbetween the two last lives in the invisible worlds.As all children are clairvoyant up to a certain age,that child actually saw those things, and they cameto her in the most fearful and horrible shapes.

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Fear and its Mastery

MAX HEINDEL’S MESSAGE

It is not at all an unusual experience for elemen-tals to hover about people entering the invisibleworlds. Every time we have a thought of fear ordespondency we are creating an elemental of fear.That elemental feeds upon the thoughts of fear,worry and melancholy which we send out. This isa fact known to every one who enters the invisibleworld consciously to watch people who haverecently passed out. These elementals of fear hoverabout those who created them and are one of thegreatest obstacles confronting the individual seek-ing to master the conditions of the inner world.

For instance, there is the constant fear of death.Some people cannot think of death without also athought of fear accompanying the thought. Do notthink the force we send out into space is lost—notat all. The conservation of energy is a law workingin all realms. Every thought sent out will, likechickens, come home to roost. Every evil thoughtwe send out gathers about itself coarse matter ofthe desire world, and molds it into a form of themost ugly shape imaginable. These forms remainabout us during life, and when death deprives us ofthe physical body and we enter the invisible worldwhere we are capable of fully vibrating to the mat-ter of which it is composed, we see these forms ofthe elementals created by us; they are the firstthings that make themselves visible to us there.

There is nothing more difficult for people whoenter into the other world to overcome than the factthat the things seen there are not as concrete as inthe outer world. They take everything to be as realas in the physical world despite all one may tellthem. The idea that a monster coming toward themseeking to devour them cannot really hurt themand that its body is not solid, is something theycannot and will not believe until actual experi-ences have again and again made it plain to themthat such things can be chased away by a coura-geous attitude of mind.

In view of the fact that we must some day con-sciously go into the invisible world, it behooves usto impress upon our minds that thoughts of fear area detriment to us there as well as here. If we in thisworld go about with the fear of losing all some day,or with the fear of spending money even for neces-sities—such fear as people whom we call misers

usually have—we must expect to meet thesethoughts in the shape of elementals some time.

“A bank account is your best friend” is a com-mon expression of the present day. Yes, but if youhave hoarded and skimped to get that bankaccount, then it does not do you very much good;or if you have defrauded some one else in order toget that money, it may do you very little good here,and after you leave the physical vehicle at deathyou will have to answer for the way you have gath-ered such an account. People in this world usuallyestimate success by the amount of money that aman has in the bank; but real success consists in

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German print (4976), Martin Schongauer (c. 1450-1491), engraving, 308 x 217 mm, GrayCollection of Engravings Fund, Harvard University of Art Museums, Cambridge, MA

St. Anthony Tormented by Demons

Elementals mold desire stuff into any shape they please tofrighten or mislead the neophyte in the desire realm. They“take a special delight in annoying newcomers by trans-forming themselves into the most grotesque and terrifyingmonsters. They may feign attack on him...as if ready to devourhim. But the moment the neophyte learns that in reality thereis nothing that can hurt him...they soon learn to leave himalone” (Questions & Answers, Vol 2, pages 15-16). Above, acalm St. Anthony is providing these imps scant amusement.

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living a life of the greatest usefulness to one’sfellow men and cultivating an attitude of mindthat goes out in love and cheerfulness to every-one around.

Every one of us has a savings account, theresult of our past thoughts, and every other per-son coming within the influence of that accu-mulation receives its influence for good or evilaccording to its nature. The desire body that sur-rounds us as an egg-shaped cloud is a glassthrough which we see the world about us; and ifwe live with the matter of that body vibratingonly to fear, we shall look upon the world in amelancholy manner.

On the other hand if we are of a joyous dispo-sition and see everything in a joyous mood, wearouse the same mood in other people whom wemeet, and they are always glad to meet usbecause we, being cheerful, make them cheerfulalso. We draw upon the same law that makesone tuning fork vibrate to another of the samepitch; on the same principle we draw from oth-ers exactly what we give to them. If we feelanger and resentment toward them, then wedraw the same from them.

Therefore as we go into the world every daylet us strive to banish all thoughts of fear. Let usstrive to cultivate an attitude of cheerfulness, forthen only shall we draw those influences aroundus that will not stand in our way when itbecomes our privilege to enter the desire world.Let us resolve every morning upon arising thatwe will not send out thoughts of fear, anger, orresentment during that day toward other people,but that we will send out those of love and help-fulness, for this is what we are really here for.

If we shout in the mountains, the echo will giveus back an answer. This should illustrate to us thatwe cannot utter a word that does not echo throughvibrating substance, whether we hear the echo ornot. Whatever kind of thought material we havebuilt with will show in our surroundings and envi-ronment, for we get exactly what we give.Therefore let me repeat again and again that weshould cultivate an attitude of fearlessness andoptimism, always looking at the bright side; neveronce allowing the evil to appear before us except

to see how we may convert it into something good.You may remember the story of the Bible, quoted

in the Cosmo-Conception, about Christ and Hisdisciples passing the decaying body of a dog. Thedisciples held their nostrils and endeavored to turnthe Master’s attention away, but He, looking at thecarcass, said: “Pearls are not whiter than its teeth.”This should teach us that there is always somethinggood in everything and that “every cloud has itssilver lining.” Thus it behooves us to magnify tothe best of our ability the good and minimize theevil; and as we do this relative to others, so willothers do to us. p

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Illustration for Milton’s Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 44-45, Gustave Doré

Putting on the “whole armor of God” described by St. Paulenables the aspirant to cope with external adversaries, but farmore importantly, to contend with the “rulers of darkness” and“spiritual wickedness in high places”(Ephesians 6:11-13). TheMichael in each of us, valiant will, subdues that which opposesthe will of God. Thus the above illustration also shows the micro-cosmic “casting down [of] imaginations, and every every high thingthat exalteth itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5).

QUESTION: IS IT POSSIBLE to estab-lish direct communication with thedeparted ones and to convince ourselvesthat they live?

Answer: “And ever near us though unseen our dearimmortal spirits tread.” We do not need the trivialdevices of materializing cabinet, slate, or ouijaboard to attract to us those whom we wrongly callthe departed.* Our loved ones who have laid asidetheir earthly-bodies are not “dead and gone.” Theyhave not been removed from our lives but merelyfrom our limited physical vision which cannotrespond to the high rate of vibration peculiar to theatoms composing their celestial bodies. They havenot vanished from our space, for the celestial spaceinhabited by them is all around and within our ter-restrial space. It is we who lack the finer senses,the four-dimensional perception necessary to makeus cognizant of the heavenly spheres that encom-pass and interpenetrate our earthly spheres.

There is no dark and sinister curtain shroudingthe land of the dead from that of the living; the veilbehind which our dear ones seem to have disap-peared is only a deception formed by the incapa-bility of our physical senses to be impressed byvibrations beyond a certain rate. This is the mean-ing of the Great Beyond into which our loved oneshave passed. Not a poetical meaning at all, butquite literal and explicit—and comforting. Theyare not beyond nor above in some vast unap-proachable distances of the starry dome; they areright here, right near. The atoms of their heavenly

bodies are only vibrating at a pitch beyond that ofour physical bodies.

Matter is no more and no less than a rate ofvibration. The difference between the lower andhigher, the denser and the finer forms in which theglory of life eternal manifests is a difference in thespeed at which the atoms spin. As the Apostle said,“All flesh is not the same, there is human flesh andflesh of cattle, of birds and of fishes. There are

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There Is No Death

READERS’ QUESTIONS

*Mrs. Heindel took over the editorship of the Rays magazineupon Max Heindel’s translation January 6, 1919. The pre-sent answer to a reader’s question appeared in the April ‘20issue of the Rays. Based on the certitude, explicitness, andfervor with which Mrs. Heindel responds, the reader hasgood reason to believe that she speaks from first-hand evi-dence in describing contacts with the “living dead.”

Watercolor, James J. Tissot, Brooklyn Museum of Art

Mary Magdalene Questions the Angels in the Tomb“‘He is not here, he is risen!’This is the great light that light-ens every tomb, that flames with celestial radiance againstthe background of our deepest sorrow: ‘Christ is risen!’and because He lives, our Elder Brother, we shall live also.”

bodies which are celestial and there are bodies whichare earthly, but the glory of the celestial ones is onething and that of the earthly is another. There is oneglory of the sun, another of the moon, and another ofthe stars, for star differs from star in glory.”

The atoms of celestial matter vibrate with arapidity far beyond that of physical matter, and thedivision of celestial matter into ethereal, desire andthought matter is based on a corresponding differencein vibratory rate. The higher planes to which ourdead have risen arenot higher inspace, but a higherrate of vibration pre-vails and regulatesthe condit ions oflife upon them.

The old Latin hymnis literally true, “Mediavita in morte sumus,”which Luther trans-lates “In the midst oflife we are encom-passed by death.” Theregions of the deadare within the regionsof the living, only the d e a d f u n c t i o n i n celes-tial bodies, the living in physical bodies.

Where the New Testament speaks of the resur-rection of the dead it uses synonymously theexpressions “they arise” or “are raised” or “are liftedup,” all three terms indicating not elevation inspace but exaltation of being. The Greek verb usedby St. John to report the women and Apostles see-ing the risen Christ is one denoting not the outerprocess of perception through the physical eye, but anexalted vision by means of a sublimated inner sense.

The Bible has been given to the Western worldby the Recording Angels. It contains exhaustiveinformation, convincing proof. It is our book, andwe are blessed and fortunate in the possession ofthe joyous Easter message delivered by theGospels. Yet, as if we were “heathen without hope”we turn for consolation to dreary and confusedaccounts of doubtful physical phenomena andwaste our efforts on contrivances of mediumshipwhich are futile as they are profane. Have we no

reverence for the dignity of our dead nor for that ofour Master, Christ Jesus? Are we a Christian nation?Is the Western world to which we belong aChristian world? Why then revert to unwholesomepractices which were rampant amongst the deca-dent nations of antiquity before the time when thepure Christ spirit in the pure body of Jesuscame to purify the earth?

The ignorance amongst us is amazing, or else weshould know that Babylon and Egypt, Greece and

Rome, in their laststages of devo lu -tion, were practic-ing necromancy;that is, trying to con-jure and hold con-verse wi th thedead by means anddevices quite similarto those which havebecome the fashionamong many so-called Christians oftoday. Only on thegrounds of ignorancecan this dabbling be

excused, though it must not be tolerated —thisdesire to imitate the dark and dangerous follies ofa corrupt pre-Christian society.

In an Egyptian tomb of the last century B. C.there was found a planchette. The tomb enshrineda lady of fashion, and in all the capitals of that timefashion decreed that society should gather aroundthe sorceress, play at necromancy, and court blackmagic. That was two thousand years ago andamong “heathen without hope.” But we havereceived the Easter message, “Christ is risen.” Ifwe will only find quiet from the din of the materialworld and listen to the meaning of the Easter news,gladder and grander than that of Christmas, wecannot help but respond in triumphant rejoicing,“He is risen indeed.” And with Him arise all ourdear ones! “Death, where is thy sting; grave, whereis thy victory?”

Since the one reason which prevents us fromconsciously mingling with the celestial world ofour dead lies in the inadequacy of physical matter

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In order to reach the deadwe must rise into the celes-

tial, and it is a sad confusionindeed that whirls so many

of our contemporaries in theopposite direction, and rushes them into frantic

endeavors to drag our deaddown into the physical.

to respond to the requirements of that world,it is obvious how ignorant and futile theattempts are to communicate with themthrough physical means. In order to reachthem we must rise into the celestial, and it isa sad confusion indeed that whirls somany of our contemporaries in the oppositedirection, and rushes them into frantic endeav-ors to drag our dead down into the physical.Let us listen not to the lying trivialities of theouija board but to the solemn rhythms withinus. The ouija board, as other appurtenances ofmediumship, including crystal balls and mir-rors, is of the physical, and all its spellingsspell but one word, death. The rhythms with-in us are the Easter song of Life, for they indi-cate the quickly growing vibratory speed ofour inner, celestial vehicles by means of whichalone we can raise ourselves to the level ofour risen dead.

“He is not here, He is risen; why do youseek the living amongst the dead?” Thusspoke the Angel to the women on Eastermorning when they came to look for thebeloved Master in the tomb. There is anatmosphere of death surrounding mediumisticseances repellent to sensitives, and those whoplay at communication with the dead by phys-ical means play in a tomb where the trulydead congregate—soulless elementals, vampiriz-ing entities, galvanized shells. But our dear ones,our living dead are not there. They have risenabove base, gross physical matter, the low vibra-tions of which are equivalent to death, into a stateof being never to be contacted by groveling in thephysical.

And behold, after the women had turned theirfaces from the darkness of the grave to the light ofthe rising sun, they saw the risen Master walkingtoward them and heard the voice loved above allgreeting them as of old. The tomb, the dark housemade of earthly matter, was empty; the physicalform was relinquished, given to disintegration. TheEgo which they loved was no longer connectedwith dense matter; the sublime individuality whichthey reverenced had risen above physical confinesand clothed itself with the celestial raiment of a

finer form. The Master’s physical body had disappeared, yet

the women on Easter morning, and later theApostles, Disciples, and five hundred of his fol-lowers, saw Him—saw Him in a body resemblingthe dear familiar one but raised above it in gloriousbeauty. In this radiant, translucent, celestial form,free from the limitations of three-dimensionalspace, He appeared almost simultaneously inJudea and Galilee and entered the locked roomswhere his faithful assembled.

The Christ arose by having his vehicle of con-sciousness lifted up or raised to a rate of vibrationhigher than that of the relinquished physical body,and it is after His manner that the resurrection(which means rising) of all the dead takes place.

The poet says “Heaven lies about us in ourinfancy.” In fact, it lies about us all the time, but in

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Oil on canvas. Carl Bloch, 1834-1890. Frederiksborg Castle Chapel, Copenhagen

The Supper at Emmaus“And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, andblessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened,and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.” The artisthas painted a solid-seeming Christ just prior to His dematerializing.

infancy alone, when we havejust returned from the heav-en worlds, do we still pos-sess the finer senses bywhich we contact it. Later inlife our perceptions becomeso dulled that the forms ofthe heavenly playmates withwhom our children hold con-verse are not visible nor theirvoices audible to us. To thechild they are as real andnatural as the inhabitants ofthe physical world, and itwonders why mother andfather are not aware of itsvisitors. These come and goat will through locked doorsand solid walls, since theatoms of their rarifiedbodies, owing to their enor-mous rate of speed, find noobstacle in those of densematter, through which theyeasily pass. The apostles hadsecured their doors in fear ofthe Jews, yet they suddenly found the Master Jesuswho had “died” on Golgotha sitting amongst them.

If we had the pure, child-like vision of thosepious men, we could also see the loved ones whoapparently left us forever, smilingly sitting in ourmidst. When the risen Jesus appeared to the twoapostles on their way to Emmaus, they had beenquietly and lovingly talking of Him, and on otheroccasions when He showed himself to the Twelve,these were gathered in brotherly communion, sin-gle hearted in their devotion to the Master, ready tolisten, not with excited eagerness but with a deep,strong yearning, their minds attuned to the bene-diction “Peace be with you.”

When He appeared to John and Peter and theircompanions at dawn on the shore of the Lake ofGalilee, there was the silence of Nature aboutthem, the hushed expectancy of early morning, thepure breath of the waters and the hills. The castingand raising of nets as reported in the Gospelaccording to St. John is entirely symbolical. Not in

the depths of the lake but in the hidden recesses oftheir own souls were those patient fishermensearching for something—something wonderful,great, and mysterious. They were waiting forsomething, working for something—somethingnew and triumphant which they felt must come ifthey but persevered. The Master had said,“ A littlewhile and ye do not see me, and again a little whileand ye shall see me.” Not to hoist fishing netsfilled with creatures of the water had they come tothe silence of Lake Tiberias, but to collect andgather in the strong net of self-control the erraticemotions inclined to dart hither and thither as thefish of the uncertain deep, and to raise their owninner natures—raise them nearer to Him. TheChrist had risen; if they wanted to meet Him theymust raise themselves. Their self-discipline, theirtrust, their hope, were rewarded when they saw theMaster standing on the shore. “My children,” hesaid unto them.

If we are but quiet, calm, and serene, if we neither

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

The Resurrected Christ Appearing to His Disciples by the Sea of GalileeTheir search for “meat” was unsuccessful until the Risen Christ appears and tells themwhere to cast their nets. So ever shall it be when the inner Christ directs our lives.

give way to lamentations nor seek distraction inthe turmoil of the world, nor stoop to the indigni-ties of mediumistic devices, if we just wait andwork and trust, and love and listen, our dear oneswill come to us. They will come with the tenderlight of the dawn or the soft after-glow of the sun-set. They like the silent time of dawn and twilight.They like the gleam of the morning star and themellow tints of the early evening when earth andheaven merge into one. If we are at home to themat those hours they will not fail to visit us. Theylike the fragrance of the hills, the pure faces of theflowers, the clear notes of the birds. They like thesolemn sound of the sea, a child’s voice, the strainof a sweet melody, the harmonies of great music.They like all that is in accord with their ownheightened rate of vibration and all that has anuplifting effect upon us. They have been raised; ifwe wish to commune with them we can only do soby raising ourselves. To be at home for themmeans to attune our pitch to theirs, and the closerthe approach of our vibratory rate to that of theirsupernal world, the clearer will be our perceptionof their presence, until from a shadowy impressionit rises to a glorious vision, face to face.

What is meant by the assurance that our dearones are ever near us is the comforting fact thatthey are not separated from us through miles ofspace never to be bridged, or to be traversed onlyby weary journeys. It would be erroneous, however,to suppose that they hover around us, as it were,anxiously waiting for our beck and call. They loveus still with a love raised both in intensity and purityas becomes their raised state, though they havetheir own lives to live, filled with the pursuits oftheir own peculiar spheres, their own progress tomake, their own opportunities to seize. Raisedabove the necessity for rest and sleep, the Ego func-tioning in a celestial body is free to take its share inan activity which is as ceaseless as the effulgenceof the never-waning heavenly light. But when inmy sleeping hours I go home to them, I may againtake part in their lives. And all through the day themost marvelous communications system, namelythat of love, keeps me connected with them.

The scientist knows much about the great law ofvibration, but the Christian knows more. He knows

that pure Love is the highest vibration in theUniverse. He knows that thoughts of this love arethe most powerful transmitters of wireless mes-sages into all planes of being. No matter howquickly ethereal matter or desire matter vibrates,the vibration of loving thought is more rapid stilland reaches immediately the consciousness of myloved ones on their heavenly plane. In answer tothe call in my heart they will stand with me by theocean and walk with me over the hills; they willlinger with me on the garden paths in the sweetcompany of my flowers, and with the cadences ofinspired music they will glide to my side. Theywill join me in prayer at the place of worship; thesound of the organ will bring them, the mastermusician’s symphony or the simple song of child-hood days sung in a home where harmony reigns.They come with the breeze that wafts in throughthe open window and mingle their fond whisperswith those of the summer air. And when after theday’s faithful work I rest by the fireside whereonce we used to sit hand in hand, the wonderful,the indescribable happens:

I feel their touch a breath of balm, My spirit sees them and my heart Grows comforted and calm.

They do not come in a physical body nor maketheir presence known by physical means, but wewill feel their nearness with an intensity which isfar more real than any experience in the physicalworld—feel it as something so sweet, so tender, sowondrously gladsome that the delight of it remainsa sacred mystery never to be resolved in words. Wedo not know what love is until we have lost theloved one and then experienced the immensity offeeling, the infinity of happiness, the beatitude ofperfect peace in such moments of reunion. Themere memory of them leaves our soul filled withrhythms of transcendent beauty incomparable andunknown to us before—the rhythms of a highervibration which, if we not only maintain but con-stantly increase it, will make the contact with ourdead more and more conscious, the happy momentsmore frequent and of prolonged duration, until thelast illusion of the enemy called death has vanishedin the triumphant certainty of daily resurrection. p

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HAVING SATISFIEDourselves that the begin-ning of our System andthe work of the creativeHierarchies, as described

by occult science, harmonize with theteachings of the Bible, we will nowexamine the Bible account of the differ-ent “Days of Creation” and see how theyagree with the occult teachings relativeto the Saturn, Sun, and Moon Periods;the three and one half Revolutions ofthe Earth Period; and the Polarian,Hyperborean, Lemurian, and AtlanteanEpochs, which have preceded the pre-sent Aryan Epoch.*

Naturally, a detailed account could not be givenin a few lines like the first chapter of Genesis, butthe main points are there in orderly succession,very much like an algebraical formula for Creation.

The second verse proceeds: “The Earth waswaste and uninhabited, and darkness rested uponthe face of the deep; and the Spirits of the Elohim

floated above the deep.” In the beginning of mani-festation that which is now Earth was in the SaturnPeriod, and in exactly the condition described. Itwas not “without form and void,” as expressed inthe King James version. It was hot, and thus well-defined and separate from the deep of space, whichwas cold. It is true that it was dark, but it could bedark and still be hot, for dark heat necessarily pre-cedes glowing or visible heat. Above this dark

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The CreationPart 2

WESTERN WISDOM BIBLE STUDY

*Occult science teaches that the evolutionary scheme is carried through five Worlds (the Physical World, the Desire World,the World of Thought, the World of Life Spirit, and the World of Divine Spirit), or Cosmic Root-substance of varying rates ofvibration, in seven great Periods of manifestation during which the Virgin Spirit, or evolving life, becomes first, man—then,a God. The names of these seven Periods, or successive rebirths of the Earth, are as follows: the Saturn Period, the SunPeriod, the Moon Period, the Earth Period, the Jupiter Period, the Venus Period, and the Vulcan Period.

It must not be thought that the above-mentioned Periods have anything to do with the planets which move in their orbitsaround the Sun in company with the Earth. In fact, it cannot be too emphatically stated that there is no connection whateverbetween these planets and the Periods. The Periods are simply past, present, or future incarnations of our Earth, “conditions”through which it has passed, is now passing, or will pass in the future.

The three first-mentioned Periods (the Saturn, Sun, and Moon Periods) have been passed through. We are now in the fourth,or Earth Period, which is divided into the Polarian, Hyperborean, Lemurian, Atlantean, Aryan, and two other Epochs whichare unnamed. The three and one-half Periods already behind us have been spent in gaining our present vehicles and con-sciousness. The remaining three and one-half Periods will be devoted to perfecting these different vehicles and expanding ourconsciousness into something akin to omniscience.

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

The Third Day of CreationThe separation of the waters on the Third Day occurs in the Moon Period.A scene more appropriate for the Lemurian Epoch is depicted above.

Earth of the Saturn Period floated the creativeHierarchies. They worked upon it from the outsideand molded it. The Bible refers to them as the“Spirits of the Elohim.”

The Sun Period is well described in the thirdverse, which says, “And the Elohim said, Let therebe Light; and there was Light.” This passage hasbeen jeered at as the most ridiculous nonsense. Thescornful query has been put, How could there belight upon the Earth when the Sun was not madeuntil the fourth day? The Bible narrator, however,is not speaking of the Earth alone. He is speakingof the central fire-mist from which were formedthe planets of our system, including the Earth. Thuswhen the nebula reached a state of glowing heat,which it did in the Sun Period, there was no neces-sity for an outside illuminant; the Light was within.

In the fourth verse we read: “The Elohim differen-tiated between the light and darkness.” Necessarily,for the outside space was dark, in contradistinctionto the glowing nebula which existed during theSun Period.

The Moon Period is described in the sixth verse,as follows: “And Elohim said, Let there be an

expansion (translated “firmament”in other versions) in the waters, todivide the water from the water.”This exactly describes conditions inthe Moon Period, when the heat ofthe glowing fire-mist and the coldof outside space had formed a bodyof water around the fiery core. Thecontact of fire and water generatedsteam, which is water in expansion,as our verse describes. It was differ-ent from the comparatively coolwater, which constantly gravitatedtoward the hot, fiery core, to replacethe outrushing steam. Thus therewas a constant circulation of thewater held in suspension, and alsoan expansion, as the steam, rushingoutward from the fiery core, formedan atmosphere of “fire-fog” con-densed by contact with outsidespace, returning again to the core tobe reheated and perform another

cycle. Thus there were two kinds of water, and adivision between them, as stated in the Bible. Thedense water was nearest the fiery core; the expand-ed water or steam was on the outside.

This also harmonizes with the scientific theoryof modern times. First the dark heat; then theglowing nebula; later the outside moisture andinside heat; and, finally, incrustation.

The Earth Period is next described. Before wetake up its description, however, we have to dealwith the Recapitulations. The verses quoted andthe descriptions given will also correspond to therecapitulatory Periods. Thus what is said of theSaturn Period describes also the condition of theSystem when it emerges from any of the restPeriods. The descriptions of the Saturn, Sun, andMoon Periods would therefore correspond to thefirst three Revolutions of our present Earth Period,and the following would correspond with condi-tions on Earth in the present Revolution.

In the ninth verse we read, “And Elohim said,Let the waters be divided from the dry land...andElohim called the dry land Earth.” This refers tothe first firm incrustation. Heat and moisture had

28 RAYS 97

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

The Fourth Day of CreationIn occult cosmology, the creation of the Sun, Moon and Stars corresponds to thework done in the Hyperborean Epoch (fourth Revolution) of the Earth Period.

generated the solid body of our pre-sent Globe.

The Polarian Epoch. The ninthverse, which describes the EarthPeriod in this fourth Revolution(where the real Earth Period workcommenced), also describes theformation of the mineral kingdomand the Recapitulation by man ofthe mineral stage in the PolarianEpoch. Each Epoch is also aRecapitulation of the previousstage. Just as there are Recapit-ulations of Globes, Revolutions,and Periods, so there are on eachGlobe, Recapitulations of all thathas gone before. These recapitula-tions are endless. There is always aspiral within a spiral—in the atom,in the Globe, and in all other phasesof evolution.

Complicated and bewildering asthis may appear at first, it is reallynot so difficult to understand. Thereis an orderly method running through it all and intime one is able to perceive and follow the work-ings of this method, as a clue leading through amaze. Analogy is one of the best helps to an under-standing of evolution.

The Hyperborean Epoch is described in verses11 to 19 as the work of the fourth day. It is hererecorded that Elohim created the plant kingdom,the Sun, the Moon and the Stars.

The Bible agrees with the teachings of modernscience that plants succeeded the mineral. The dif-ference between the two teachings is in regard tothe time when the Earth was thrown off from thecentral mass. Science asserts that it was before theformation of any incrustation which could becalled mineral and plant. If we mean such mineralsand plants as we have today, that assertion is cor-rect. There was no dense material substance, butnevertheless the first incrustation that took place inthe central Sun was mineral. The Bible narratorgives only the principal incidents. It is not recordedthat the incrustation melted when it was thrown offfrom the central mass as a ring broke, the frag-

ments afterward coalescing. In a body as small asour Earth, the time required for recrystallizationwas so comparatively short that the historian doesnot mention it, nor the further subsidiary fact thatthe melting process took place once more when theMoon was thrown off from the Earth. He probablyreasons that one who is entitled to occult informa-tion is already in possession of such minor detailsas those.

The plants of the incrustation of the central fire-mist were ethereal, therefore the melting processesdid not destroy them. As the lines of force alongwhich the ice crystals form are present in thewater, so when the Earth crystallized, were thoseethereal plant-forms in it. They were the moldswhich drew to themselves the dense material form-ing the plant-bodies of the present day and also ofthe plant-forms of the past, which are embedded inthe geological strata of our Earth globe.

These ethereal plant-forms were aided in theirformation when the heat came from outside, afterthe separation of the Earth from Sun and Moon.That heat gave them the vital force to draw to

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From Die Bibel in Bildern, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

The Fifth Day of CreationThe Lemurian Epoch recapitulates the Moon Period wherein moving, breathinglife first appeared, water and air bringing forth living creatures after their kind.

themselves the denser sub-stance.

The Lemurian Epoch isdescribed in the work of thefifth day. This Epoch, beingthe third, is in a sense aRecapitulation of the MoonPeriod, and in the Biblicalnarrative we find describedsuch conditions as obtainedin the Moon Period—water,fire-fog, and the first attemptsat moving, breathing life.

Verses 20 and 21 tell us that“Elohim said, Let the watersbring forth life-breathingthings...and fowl...and Elohimformed the great amphibiansand all life-breathing thingsaccording to their species, andall fowl with wings.” This alsoharmonizes with the teachingof material science that theamphibians preceded the birds.

The student is invited tonote particularly that the thingsthat were formed were not Life. It does not say thatLife was created, but “things” that breathe or inhalelife. The Hebrew word for that which they inhaledis nephesh, and it should be carefully noted, as weshall meet it in a new dress later.

The Atlantean Epoch is dealt with in the work ofthe sixth day. In verse 24 the creation of mammalsis mentioned, and there the word nephesh againoccurs, explaining that the mammals “breathedlife.” “Elohim said, Let the Earth bring forth life-breathing things...mammals...” In verse 27 Elohimformed man in their likeness; male and femalemade they (Elohim) them.”

The Bible historian here omits the asexual andhermaphrodite human stages and comes to the twoseparate sexes, as we know them now. He couldnot do otherwise, as he is describing the AtlanteanEpoch, and by the time that stage in evolution wasreached there were neither sexless men nor her-maphrodites, the differentiation of sexes havingtaken place earlier—in the Lemurian Epoch. That

which afterward became man could hardly be spo-ken of as man in the earlier stages of its develop-ment as it differed but little from the animals.Therefore the Bible narrator is doing no violenceto facts when he states that man was formed in theAtlantean Epoch.

In verse 28 (all versions) will be found a verysmall prefix, with a very great significance:“Elohim said, Be fruitful and RE-plenish theearth.” This plainly shows that the scribe whowrote it was cognizant of the occult teaching thatthe life wave had evolved here, on Globe D of theEarth Period, in previous Revolutions.

The Aryan Epoch corresponds to the seventhday of Creation, when the Elohim rested from theirlabors as Creators and Guides, and humanity hadbeen launched upon an independent career.

This ends the story of the manner in which theForms were produced. In the succeeding lessonsthe story is told from the point of view which dealsa little more with the Life side. p

30 RAYS 97

From Die Bibel in Bildern, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

The Seventh Day of Creation

The Elohim rested from their creative activities on the seventh day and humanity islaunched upon an independent career in the corresponding Aryan Epoch. In the aboveillustration, six Elohim in the foreground represent the six days of active Creation.

“Fear them not therefore: for there isnothing covered that shall not berevealed; and hid, that shall not beknown. What I tell you in darkness, thatspeak ye in light: and what ye hear inthe ear, that preach ye upon the housetops”—Matt. 10:26, 27.

“And he said unto them, Is a candlebrought to be put under a bushel, orunder a bed? and not to be set on acandlestick? For there is nothing hid,which shall not be manifested; neitherwas anything kept secret, but that itshould come abroad. If any man have earsto hear, let him hear”—Mark 4:21-23.

“No man, when he hath lighted acandle, covereth it with a vessel, or put-teth it under a bed; but setteth it on acandlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.

For nothing is secret, that shall not be made mani-fest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known andcome abroad.

Take heed therefore how ye hear; for whosoeverhath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not,from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth tohave”—Luke 8: 16-18.

THESE THREE quotations from thethree synoptic Gospels illustrate howthree separate personalities reacted tothe same thought. How very importantit is for each one of us to make our

own contacts with universal truth, not relying onan intermediary, because the revelations of a sec-

ond person will, of necessity, be colored by hisown personal needs and limitations. Matthew,accustomed to working directly with people,would shout his glad tidings from the housetops.For him that was the best way to tell others of themysteries that had been revealed to him. He knewfrom experience the deep need men had for thelight, and the equally deep need, when once found,to express it. Yet we are reminded of what anIndian sage said to the eminent American religion-ist, E. Stanley Jones, when he was in India on amission: “What the American people do speaks soloudly that I cannot hear what you are saying.” Sothe phrase “preach from the housetops” must notbe taken too literally.

RAYS 97 31

Revealing theHidden

Mysteries

WESTERN WISDOM BIBLE STUDY

Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper. J. James Tissot. Brooklyn Museum

St. John the Baptist and the Pharisees“For this is he [seen approaching from above], of whom it is written, Behold, Isend my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way beforethee”—Matt. 11:10. The rigorous discipline that prepares the way for Christincludes changing one’s thinking: self-transformation by renewing the mind.

Mark also had had a mystery revealed to him.Until the time of the Crucifixion, when the veil ofthe Temple was rent, only those who had beenchosen and had undergone rigorous training wereeligible for initiation into the “Mysteries.” John theBaptist is a good illustration of the old type ofcandidate who, through ascetic discipline, hadprepared himself for baptism. But now there wereenough people sufficiently evolved so that theway to spiritual unfoldment could be proclaimedopenly—but only to those who had “ears” andcould understand.

From that momentous time the great ChristSpirit would control this planet and He would putHis teachings into the heart of everyone. He would“hide” them there, and they, through their actions,would manifest them openly. One need not beclairvoyant to look into men’s faces and tell whichone loves his neighbor, and which one feels hate.If a man loves money he surrounds himself with itand the things it buys; his every thought is concen-

trated on how to get it, spend it, or hoard it. If aman is genuinely interested in others, he does notneed to shout it from the housetops, all people loveand trust him and flock to him. Truly we acknowl-edge the Christ’s love or lack of it in our every action.

But illumination comes only to those who havedisciplined themselves as rigorously as John theBaptist had, and have opened their “ears.” Christhas chosen all to be initiated and has pointed out thepath, but we must learn to walk on that path alone.

Luke, the beloved physician and friend of Paul,tells us the same truth, but he cannot forbearpreaching a little about it. If we do not set our lighton a candle-stick and help to dispel the fogs ofsuperstition and half truths that lurk in the dark,then that light which we thought we owned shallbe taken from us. But if we do live our life “in thelight” to the best of our abilities, then more andmore mysteries will be cleared for us and our lightwill shine all the brighter until we can walk joy-ously along the path indicated by Christ. p

32 RAYS 97

ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHYIN QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, VOLUME 1

By Max Heindel

Section Headings:

Life On EarthLife After Death

RebirthThe Bible Teachings

Spiritualistic PhenomenonClairvoyance

AstrologyAnimals

Miscellaneous

Would you like to know more aboutHow We Can Know That Rebirth is a Fact?The Nature of the Holy Grail?Whether Each Soul Has a Soul Mate?The Causes of Insanity?The Difference Between Black and White Magic?Why Children Die?The Effect of Cremation on the Spirit?What Sinning Against the Holy Ghost Means?How One Can Avoid Being Obsessed?The Difference Between a Vampire and a Werewolf?The Use of Drugs in Gaining Clairvoyance?Western Versus Eastern Schools of Occultism?The Silver Cord and the Trance Condition?

Within these 417 pages is a trove of information on occult subjects. Seven full-pagediagrams. Indexed. Published by the Rosicrucian Fellowship. Order on page 64.

From the occult point of view this book answers 189 questions asked of the author. You willfind lucid resolution for many of your own conumdrums expressed in the authoritative yetintimate voice of a Christian mystic and initiate.

Max Heindel

WHILE THE NATURE of theCardinal signs is such that theirrays stir our latent forces intoaction, and promote change, themost prominent quality of the

Fixed signs is stability. But the student mustbeware of confounding stability and inertia. Theaction impelled by the rays of Cardinal signs maybe changed into other channels with considerablefacility; all they want is expression. The directionin which they express themselves is a secondary

consideration. Not so with the Fixed signs. Whentheir rays impel to action in a certain direction it isnext to impossible to stay the force or change it.On the other hand, if they deny expression in certainlines, the obstruction is almost insurmountable.

When Fixed signs are on the angles (the first,fourth, seventh, and tenth houses), they exert awell-nigh irresistible force, impelling the individ-ual along a certain line. He may be slow and plod-ding but is sure to be persistent in whatever heundertakes, and whatever talent he may possess ina certain direction will be exploited to its fullestextent. Setbacks which would take the couragefrom a person with Cardinal signs, do not daunt the

man with Fixed signs on the angles; he knows nodefeat, and therefore he usually gains his goal inthe end and achieves success by concentrationupon one point, and persistence in following hischosen path.

On the other hand, such people are conservativeto the last degree. They may see and desireimprovements in various lines, but are exceedinglyslow to adopt measures to accomplish the desiredend; they never do so until thoroughly satisfiedthat a certain method will meet the requirements.

In other words, people with Fixed signs on theangles “look before they leap,” they look a longtime and very, very carefully. On the other hand,when they have once been won over to a certaincause they are faithful unto death, and no moreardent advocates can be found. Their zeal can bealmost fanatical. On the whole, people with Fixedsigns may be said to be the most reliable people inthe world, either for good or bad. When the raysfrom the Fixed signs come through so-called“good” planets and at favorable angles, called“good” aspects, we have a man whose integrity isas impregnable as the Rock of Gibraltar, whocould not be bribed with all the gold or power in

RAYS 97 33

The Fixed Signs—Part 1

ASTROLOGY

Setbacks which would take the courage from a personwith Cardinal signs, do not daunt the man with Fixed

signs on the angles; he knows no defeat, and thereforehe usually gains his goal in the end and achieves

success by concentration upon one point, and persistence in following his chosen path.

the world to wander one single inch from what,according to his light, is the path of strictest recti-tude. He considers life, or even love, as nothingcompared to this rectitude.

But the man whose destiny, self-made in formerlives, has attracted the fixed ray through so-called“evil” planets and at angles called “evil” aspects,has walled himself in with limitations of such anature that his entire view of life is askew.Therefore he is out of harmony with his fellowbeings. Shunned by them, he becomes a recluse oran outcast; hatred and revenge burn in his breast.He may become what we call a criminal, becausewe do not understand how heavy his load is, thathe is a young soul unable to bear the burden of lifewith fortitude equal to our own. If we could onlyhave compassion to see and understand his limita-tions as revealed by the horoscope, perhaps weshould be able to feel pity instead of repugnance.

If every judge were an astrologer, and everycourt clerk were required to cast the horoscope ofeach prisoner arraigned so that the judge might seeinto the soul before judging, we should have moreloving kindness shown those unfortunates and lovewould soon conquer where harshness fails. Such areform will come in a not too far-away future, andthough people of the “fixed” kind we havedescribed will be the most difficult to win over,they will never backslide once the task of conver-sion has been accomplished.

The last expression brings to mind the narrow,sectarian fanatic who thinks everybody is going tohell who does not share his belief, who is as zeal-ous in his efforts to convert all with whom hecomes in contact as in denouncing those who donot respond to his well-meant efforts. He is anothervariety of these fixed people.

The student has now the description of the gen-eral salient characteristic imparted by the raysfrom the Fixed signs, and may easily detect theiraction in any horoscope, when focused through thevarious planets.

The Fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpio andAquarius. In addition to the common characteris-tic, stability, each sign has its own keyword whichdescribes its particular effect, and as the generalquality, stability, is intensified when Fixed signs

are on the angles, so also the individual nature andeffect of each sign is more prominently observablewhen thus placed.

In the Cardinal sign, Aries, the exaltation of theSun fosters individual life, and the dynamic energyof the ruler, Mars, engenders egoism, so that thedominant forces of this sign create the individualself, the separate personality, which is prepared bythe Aries forces to fight its way in life alone andunaided. The forces of the sign Taurus tend to pro-duce the family, that is to say, an aggregation ofindividuals bound by ties of blood and of love.Therefore the Moon is exalted in Taurus; her keyword is fecundation. Through her the generativeforces accomplish multiplication of the individual,and Venus, the ruler of Taurus, is the vehicle ofcoalition, the force which binds parents and off-spring into the integral whole which we call thefamily.

When mankind was in its infancy Jehovah andhis angelic host from the Moon together with theLords of Venus focused the Taurian ray upon ourrace and welded all into one vast harmonious fam-ily obedient to their masters’ wills. The MartialLucifer spirits first started human emancipationfrom superhuman rule through the side of theArian ray which is designated “the goat” in theBible. Later came the “true light,” the Sun Spirit,Christ, Who expresses the Arian ray in so gentle amanner that He is called “the Lamb.” But also Heexalts the individual above the family. Thus, therulers and exaltation rulers of these two signs haveaided human evolution.

The history of man is written in the stars soplainly that the seeing eye may decipher its pagesmost readily and also the pages of the future, nowin the making, for “coming events cast their shad-ows before.” It is marvelous, nevertheless, howThe Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception dovetailswith the esoteric side of Astrology and how aknowledge of this science reveals depths of theRosicrucian Teachings not otherwise accessible.Taurus rules the tongue; its keyword being harmonyand that of Venus coalition, it is plain that Venus inTaurus would designate the soft-spoken peace-maker. But Mars in Taurus destroys harmony byincessant talk, as an agitator or demagogue. Saturn,

34 RAYS 97

whose keyword is obstruc-tion, may cause haltingspeech, loss of voice, ormake a pessimist. Manymusicians have the Sun,Venus or Jupiter in Taurus.

From the symbol icGarden of Eden whereAdam dwelt under theTaurian ray in harmonyand peace, while obedientto Jehovah, he was driveninto the wilderness of theworld under the ray ofScorpio which is ruled bythe Lucifer spirits of Mars.According to their advicehe “knew” his wife. Scorpiohas dominion over the sexorgans, and as the 8th houseis the house of death, soScorpio, being the 8th sign,has in its ray the deadlysting of the serpent; there-fore, death is the lot ofall who are born from sex, and pain and sorrow istheir portion in life. Instead of the harmony whichprevailed under the Taurian regime, discord is thekeyword under Scorpio. “Man is of few days andfull of trouble,” and will thus remain till he findsthe way of regeneration foreshadowed under theother signs.

When the dynamic energy of Mars conveys theray of Scorpio, man becomes indifferent to the dis-cordant cry of pain from his fellow beings. He cancalmly cut a person to pieces in a surgical opera-tion or slay him in battle; he can look withoutremorse into the eloquently pleading eyes of dumbanimals which he tortures on the vivisection table.Fearless to the point of folly, indifferent to danger,he makes an excellent soldier, but a poor general.If the ray of Scorpio, which rules generation, isfocused through Venus the planet of coalition, wemay expect discord through the opposite sex, dueto overindulgence of the passions. Saturn wouldobstruct intercourse and accentuate the discord ofScorpio in that direction.

In a similar manner the keyword of other planetswill give the solution to their effect in each sign. Itrust you will not underestimate what has been saidof the cosmic part of Astrology affecting humanevolution. You may learn fortune telling withoutthat, but we are studying the science of the soul,which was not created at birth, nor does it sufferdeath. To understand Astrology you must knowGod’s plan from eternity and realize that man isever in a state of becoming. Of the two Fixed signswe have considered, Taurus and the Jehovistichierarchies were factors in the creation of thehuman family.

The fallen angels under Lucifer, who rebelledagainst Jehovah, brought the ray of Scorpio to bearupon mankind to assist in their emancipation. Weshall see in the next article that the Sun, being theoctave of the Moon and ruler of the second Fixedsign, Leo, and Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, being theoctave of Venus, are dignified in signs that radiateaffection and altruism. Through them lies the pathof salvation from sin, sorrow, and suffering. p

RAYS 97 35

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

Childlike humanity “falls” into physical consciousness through disobedient use of the sexforce and begins its earthly pilgrimage through matter under the whiplash of Saturniannecessity, seeking atonement and regeneration through Christ from Scorpio’s deathly sting.

IN LATE MARCHwe will enter theh o l y w e e k o fpreparation for thegreatest festival

of the Christian Year,Easter, the festival ofLife triumphant. “Deathis swallowed up in vic-tory. O death, where isthy s t ing? Ograve, where is thyvictory? The sting ofdeath is sin...But thanksbe to God who gives usthe victory through ourLord Jesus Christ.”

But before we can wit-ness the glory of the risen andvictorious Christ on Eastermorning, we have to see himcrucif ied on Good Friday.And together with us at the foot ofthe Cross stands Mary, His mother.

When we came to worship Himon Christmas Night, we saw Him, asmall earth-born child on His moth-er’s lap. On Good Friday we hear our self-sacrific-ing Saviour speaking to his mother from the cross.According to the Gospel of St. John: “When Jesustherefore saw his mother, and the disciple standingby, whom He loved, he said unto his mother,Woman, behold your son! Then said he to the dis-ciple, behold, thy mother.”

And as we arrive at Hisgrave on Easter morning,the first rays of the risingsun reveal a glorifiedwoman standing by thestone which the Angelhas rolled away fromthe empty tomb. Thefallen door of deathnow appears as analtar step; by the altarof life stands life’spriestess. Her face isturned toward the ris-ing sun; behind herthe empty grave. In her

arms, which at Christmasheld the child, she now

clasps a sheaf of goldenwheat, tenderly, lovingly as

if she held a baby; lilies bloomat her feet; her garb is blue as

the skies; soft-eyed rabbits playabout the hem of her garment; her

motherly lips repeat the Easter mes-sage which the Angel proclaimed toher. She, the mother—our Master’s

mother, the Mother of Man, the mother of all liv-ing things—she, mother Mary, Mother Earth, wasthe first one to receive the Easter news of life’s tri-umph over death. “Seek not the living amongst thedead. Thy son is not here. He is risen!”

Thus spoke the Angel. He was the same whothirty-four years before came to her at the first full

36 RAYS 97

Virgo, the Divine Healer

ASTROLOGY

Mary and John at the Sepulcher

moon after the spring equinox and greeted her:“Hail Mary, full of grace, joy be to you, favoredone, the Lord is with you; blessed are you amongwomen; you will conceive and bear a son, and youare to call his name Jesus. He will be great and willbe called the Son of the Most High, and of Hiskingdom there will be no end. And He shall healHis people of all their sins.”

Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew nameJehoshua, Jeho-Shua, which means God saves, orGod heals. “He shall heal His people of all their sins.”His people are symbolized by the disciple at the footof the cross, John, whom he loved. The Spanish lan-guage has a wonder-ful expression to signi-fy the people, the broadmasses of toiling andsuffering, sinning anddying humanity. Theseare in Spanish calledJohn of the Cross. Theyare the Master’s people,for He loves all the sickwho need His healinghand, all the sinnerswho need His savinggrace.

And these peoplewho groan under thecross of disease anddeath in consequenceof their sins, are they not all Mother Nature’s chil-dren? “Behold, they are thy sons,” O MotherEarth, who art as pure as thou art bountiful, as lov-ing as thou art just. They suffer because they havenot heeded thy laws, O pure, virgin Mother. Thoudecreest that man seek woman and woman knowman at thy season, without lust or passion, frompure and selfless love alone, so that thy holy pur-pose might be served and bodies built for the Egosreturning from heaven into thy care. But man hasdisobeyed thee and uses the sacred creative functionfor the gratification of the lowest self.

Thou weepest at the cross, Mother Mary, O pureone, whose mind is chaste as thy white lilies,though thy body conceived and gave birth. Thouweepest, Mother of Man, because thy pure son had

to give his life to save the impure ones. Thouweepest, mother of all earthly creation, because ofthe wrongs done by man to thy younger children.Thy love is all-enfolding, all-embracing; it encom-passes not only humankind but all living things.The animals, gentle and trusting, dumb and depen-dent, the animals whom man betrays and tortures,abuses and slaughters, are thy younger children.

Thou hast ordained that man should eat purefood, the fruit of thy trees, the green herbs and thegolden grain of thy fields. Thy garden, O MotherNature, is as boundless as it is beautiful, and pro-vides pure food in abundance for all thy children,

if they work in harmo-ny with thee and tendand cultivate it so thatit may yield ever-increasing abundance.But thy fallen sonsprefer to defile thefruitful purity of thygarden by hunting,trapping, and slaugh-tering thy defenselesscreatures. The animalsare brought forth bythee for purposes oftheir own evolution,yet man in disobedi-ence to thy laws claimsgreedy and cruel mas-

tership over them.The plant is constituted of a physical body and a

vital body; it has not developed the desire body inwhich emotion and feeling, the sensations of plea-sure or of pain, originate. It has no nervous systemby means of which the sensations prompted by thedesire body are felt in the physical body. The ani-mal has a desire body and a nervous system whichin the higher domestic animals is more sensitivethan that of man in the Lemurian period or of cer-tain Lemurian peoples surviving today. For man tokill these highly sensitive animals; to cause themintense suffering; to cut short their possibility forexperience and evolution; and then to fill his bodywith the agonized flesh of his younger brothers isa desecration of Mother Nature, who provides

RAYS 97 37

For man to kill these highlysensitive animals; to causethem intense suffering; tocut short their possibilityfor experience and evolu-tion; and then to fill hisbody with the agonized

flesh of his younger brothers is a desecration

of Mother Nature.

humans with all the purefood which they need tonourish their bodies andmake them pure, strong,and healthy.

The evolutionary lawsgoverning the plantkingdom are such thatthe plants benefit bybeing gathered and byhaving their fruitsplucked and their seedsscattered. Grain andherbs and fruit are nur-tured with the sweet-ness of the earth andfilled with the life-giv-ing splendor of the sun.But man’s desires arecoarsened by passion;his self-centered mind,which ignores therights of others, leaveshim in ignorance of hisown true welfare; heprefers putrefaction to sweetness, poison to purity,and imagines that he nourishes his body while hedestroys it. For Mother Earth, who gives so lavishlyand lovingly, becomes a stern, avenging, relentlessgoddess when her children are wronged and her lawsdisobeyed. Woe unto man who despises her sweetfoods and gorges upon the flesh of his brotherswhom he has tortured and killed.

Mother Nature watches in dismay as man’s dailyfood turns to poison in his intestines and kills himslowly, gradually, inevitably, through years of painand suffering. One-half of mankind’s diseases iscaused by abuse of the sacred creative function,either in this or in former lives; much of the otherhalf is due to the poisons generated in the humansystem through decaying animal flesh.

Mother Earth weeps at the cross because her holyson had to give his perfect body so that the dis-eased bodies of the unholy ones might be healed.

Before the Resurrection the pure and perfectbody of Jesus, which was found worthy to serve asthe dwelling house of the Christ Spirit, was of the

earth, earthy. It was not a celestial, that is, etheric,body, but a terrestrial or physical body. Jesus wasconceived by earthly parents, but their minds werevirgin pure, free from passion, free from self,aglow with the chaste fire of sacrifice. The bloodand fibre of their bodies was built of the pure foodsfrom Nature’s garden. Jesus was born of an earthlymother, yet the materials provided for his body byhis parents were so pure and used by him in such aperfect manner that his physical body attained tothe highest grade of perfection, namely, the highestrate of vibration possible to physical matter.We have defiled our physical bodies and nowspeak disparagingly of their imperfection. Jesus,who kept his physical body a temple, a sanctuaryfor the Christ Spirit to enter, shows the world theperfection of which the physical body is capable.This perfection is not constituted by external beauty.A physical body may be outwardly perfect in faceand form and yet through crystallization in self andthe consequent low vibration of its atoms, be hope-lessly imperfect for the purposes of evolution, which

38 RAYS 97

Giordano Luca. Mid-1670s. Hermitage Museum, Moscow, Russia

Expulsion of the Money Changers from the TempleThe incident portrayed above symbolizes purging the body temple of all elements and process-es which violate its integrity and purity.

consider nothing but vibratory speed. The atoms of a physical body that is free from

sex passion and impure food, free from selfishness,anger, and greed, finally reach the high rate ofvibration required by the refined atoms of ethericmatter. Thus, automatically, the building of theetheric body keeps pace with the perfection of thephysical body, and when the latter is laid aside for-ever, the Ego has a conscious vehicle ready whereinto function.

Every week in our healing service we hear of thegolden wedding garment which is built by pureliving. This golden wedding garment is the ethericor celestial body. Jesus was the first man who byperfect obedience to Nature’s laws, by perfect purityof life, had raised the earthy atoms of his physicalbody to such a vibratory speed that when they weretorn asunder by death, the etheric atoms immedi-ately took their place and the etheric or celestialform stood ready—conscious, radiant, glorious.

The tomb in which the physical body of Jesushad been laid was empty, but the Christ Spirit atonce transferred His functions to the etheric bodywhich served as His earthly vehicle until the timeof His ascension. “A terrestrial body is sown, acelestial body is resurrected.”

The man Jesus, whose earthly body was so purethat it held the Christ Spirit and withstood thetremendous impact of the Christ vibrations, theman Jesus, our Master and example, was bornwhen the zodiacal sign of Virgo was ascending onthe eastern horizon. In the language of astrology,the earthy sign of Virgo was our Master’s risingsign. Let us meditate upon both the wonderful reli-gious symbolism of astrology and the astrologicalsymbolism of the gospels. Virgo is the sign ofhealth, unless man’s self-willed disobedience per-vert it into the sign of disease. Virgo is the sign ofthe healer. Jesus, healthy through purity, healed theailments of mankind. Virgo is the sign of selflessservice such as rendered by Him; of pure food suchas nourished His blood; of chastity such as exaltedHis mind and His body. Virgo is the sign of MotherNature, Mother Earth, and the sign of obedience toNature’s laws.

There is a wall of flesh before the eyes Of John who yet perceives and hails his king,

It is our Lady’s painful bliss to bringBefore mankind the glory of the skies.

Jesus has given us the example that transmuta-tion of the earthy and mortal body into the celestialand immortal one must be accomplished not insuperphysical spheres but by a life of purity andservice lived on this earth.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was an earthlywoman—but “Behold, I tell you a mystery.” Hisbody conceived by Mary, carried by Mary, born ofMary, was found perfect enough to receive theChrist Spirit. Thus Mary, mother of Jesus, becomesMary, mother of Christ. This is the apotheosis ofmotherhood, so sacred, so wondrously mystical thatwords are rendered mute.

Mary, whom the Christ Spirit in her son’s resur-rected celestial body greets on Easter morning, isno longer the mortal woman. She is the DivineMother, the mother of Life immortal.

In the old Anglo-Saxon tongue the Goddess ofLife was called Eastre. All living things weresacred to her; her festival was held in spring. OurChristian Easter derives its name from her. Let ustake with us into Easter week the mystic wordsfrom the deeply religious soul of Joyce Kilmer, theyoung American poet, whose body was offered formankind’s sins on the battlefields of France duringthis century’s First World War:

O, Mother Mary, give us Christ to carryIn our hearts, that we may conquer death. p

—Margaret Wolff

RAYS 97 39

Song

For Mercy, Courage, Kindness, Mirth,There is no measure upon earth.Nay, they wither, root and stem,If an end be set to them.

Overbrim and overflow,If your own heart you would know;For the spirit born to blessLives but in its own excess.

Laurence Binyon

SOME YEARS AGO a promi-nent Cincinnati attorney preparedand delivered a lecture entitled,“Why Doesn’t God Kill theDevil?” He was a member of one

of the orthodox denominations and gave hislecture in the best known church in the city.The purpose of this article is to answer thatquestion. If, as orthodoxy contends, thedevil is the enemy of both God and man, andGod is stronger than the evil one, why is itthat his satanic majesty is permitted to con-tinue his nefarious work?

Occultists and mystics find no difficultyin answering the question. Instead of con-ceiving universal being as divided into sep-arate and detached entities, each one separateand distinct from every other, as is held byorthodoxy, they conceive of life or being asone, undivided, and indivisible essence andforce, and each individual organism, appar-ently detached but really an expression ofDeity, inherent within the organism.

To illustrate, let us say that I hold in myhand a rose, in full bloom and beautiful in itsvariegated colors. If I ask the scientist, “Bywhat process was this rose fashioned and sobeautifully tinted?” his reply will be, “It is theproduct of modes of motion, or rates of vibrationfrom within,” for scientists are believers in theunity of life, or the co-relation of forces, and in theesoteric conception of dynamic force. They onlyfail to see that force is but another term for Deity.

I ask an orthodox professor of Christianity thesame question, and his reply is, that God made therose, which work from the professor’s viewpoint

was performed in some inexplicable way by anoutside Being, a single unit, God. His conceptionof Deity is exoteric, assuming a being detachedfrom the products of His work. This conception isentirely unscientific and unscriptural. It sees theletter, the phenomena, but fails to see the spirit. ForGod is not in phenomena. He is in the spirit; Hesimply manifests in phenomena. The rose men-tioned is an expression of God on the plant plane.

40 RAYS 97

Satan’s Mission

ASTROLOGY

Engraving from Illustrations of the Book of Job, William Blake, 1823, Virginia Museum, Richmond, Virginia

Then went Satan forth from the presence of the LordThe next picture in this series on Job illustrates the remainder of theBiblical text: “and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his footto the crown of his head.” God has sanctioned Satan’s testing of his ser-vant Job because he is faithful and can prove his piety. Nevertheless,Blake subcaptions this picture, “it grieved him [God] in his heart.”

The life or power within the rose is just as trulyDeity as is the Divine Fatherhood, or the Holy Spirit.

In the Bible God is declared to be the “All and inall.” Even phenomena is an aspect of spirit. It is spiritin a state of differentiation. This being true, it is evi-dent that Satan or the Devil is one life with Deity, asis the life within the rose that created it. Satan is butan aspect of Deity, God manifest on the plane ofSatan. The spirit that animates Satan is identical withthe Spirit that animates the Fatherhood; they differsimply in rate of vibration, or in mode of motion.

Satan is but a specialization of God, a beingappointed by God to do a special work, and there-fore, God’s ally. It is his to tempt, to try, to afflict,not for the purpose of overthrowing mankind, butfor the purpose of purging and empowering. Goddoes not tempt, nor is He temptable—that is, Godin the synthetic sense. But as specialized in Satan,he does tempt and try mankind. “ Whom the Lordloveth He chasteneth,” not for His pleasure, but forour profit. This is the work of purgation withoutwhich mankind could never evolve, for we aremade perfect by the things we suffer. Should any-one fail to stand the test, either of temptation oraffliction, he is simply left behind in the same classon the day of trial or judgment and becomes a lag-gard. For this Satan is not to blame, but the incom-petent sinner. Satan really had much rather that theman would stand the test than not, but with theresult that he has no option. From what has alreadybeen said, this is palpable, however it may seem tothe afflicted and tempted man.

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth tobe joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward ityieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness untothem that are exercised thereby” (Hebrews 12:11).No child feels comfortable under the rod, no crim-inal under the penalty of the law. A wise child willprofit by the chastisement but a rebellious child willthink that his parent is his enemy. It is just so in therelation of mankind to Satan. Those who withstandhis temptations will be grateful, but the failureswill regard him as the enemy of both God and man.

The planet and spirit Saturn is the Satan of theBible. He is called “Old Father Time” because hismission is limited to time, the period of humanunfoldment. He is called “the God of this world,”

because his work has to do with the human orworld side of our race. He is also called “the princeof the power of the air, the spirit that now workethin the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2).This is because Saturn’s influence permeates theatmosphere, and operates within the souls of thedisobedient or undeveloped in an apparentlymalefic way. In fact, Saturn is good and his influ-ence remedial, but to the disobedient he seemsmalefic. For this reason he gets a bad name and ispictured in a most grotesque way.

As Satan, he is represented as the god Pan, that isa human goat. Saturn governs the sign Capricorn, thegoat sign, and people born while the Sun is transitingthis sign are given to panics. Their frights consist inspells of “blues” or hysterics. The metal of Saturn islead, bluish in color, and one of the heaviest metals.

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Oil on Canvas. Ary Scheffer, 1795-1858. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

The Temptation of ChristThe third of three temptations is here illustrated: to surren-der one’s soul for dominion over all the world. The artist hasdepicted a Devil whose outward appearance does not miti-gate against what he believes to be an attractive proposal.

Saturn’s influence is the cause of all general panics,financial or otherwise. Yet Saturn represented as thegod Pan is what the sinner sees within himself. Heis the goat man, and continues to be as long as heneeds the ministrations of Saturn.

The Bible gives two notable examples of Saturn’smission. In one instance he brought about the afflic-tion of Job. Jehovah and Satan are said to have hada parley about this patriarch. Satan accused Job ofworshiping God for selfish purposes and said if Godwould strip him of all his possessions, he wouldcurse God to His face. So God consented that Jobbe given over to the trials of Satan who made himbereft of everything but his life. The real secret ofJob’s afflictions is seen in the statement that he wasa perfect man in his generation; but it is implied hewas not a regenerate man and Saturn set about toconsummate this objective, succeeding admirably,for Job emerged from the refining fires reflectingthe image of God—a god-man. He was coveredwith boils from head to foot, and every boil extractedjust so much poison from the blood; that is, it elim-inated from his blood all lustful desires, whichpurification enabled him to live the regenerate life.

The other well-known instance of Satan per-forming God’s unlikely work is the temptation ofthe Christ Jesus in the wilderness. The three temp-tations offered Him are the strongest that canappeal to a human being: those of meeting thedemand of a starving body, of making a spectacu-lar display of one’s abilities, and the ambition togovern the earth. There are but few who would notsteal, or by any other illegitimate means come intopossession of food, to prevent starvation. It is thesame with the other temptations. In this case, how-ever, Saturn found a perfect man, a man living thesinless life, so that his temptations failed to produceany result, since the result intended had alreadybeen produced. The Master showed Himself able tostand the test, and so was qualified for His highmission as the Savior of the world and of mankind.

Satan, death and hell are but provisional agen-cies. They are all remedial, and when they shallhave fulfilled their missions, they will be relegatedto the discard, and God will have destroyed Satan,or “killed the devil.” Until then his mission isabsolutely a necessity. p

—George W. Weaver, D. D.

42 RAYS 97

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THE APOSTLE PETERseems to be the Gospel’swhipping boy, the disci-ple (excluding Judas)who gets all the bad press.

As a New Testament “personality,”he may be more vividly realized thanSt. Paul, despite the latter’s manyself-defining epistles.

John’s account of Peter’s callingexplains that his brother Andrewsought him out with the words “Wehave found the Messias,” and hebrought him to Christ who gave himthe surname Cephas, which is Syriacfor stone, Petros being the Greekequivalent. Matthew’s account of thecalling (4:19) is different. He reports that the twobrothers were fishing and Jesus but called them to“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men,”whereupon “they straightway left their nets andfollowed him.” No hesitation, no mulling over theconsequences of changing their profession in aninstant. Peter is acting spontaneously, without reserva-tion, fully committed. Acting on impulse will createproblems for him as well as serve to endear him tohis Master for what we may describe as his trans-parent simplicity and emotional childlikeness.

Luke’s account of Peter’s calling (5:1ff.) high-lights the fisherman’s powerful piety. After hisboat was used by Jesus to speak from offshore tothe press of people, the Lord instructed him to letdown his net for a draught. Peter responded that hehad toiled all night and taken nothing. Why

attempt another cast? But he let down his net andenclosed a great multitude of fish, whereupon hefell down at Jesus’ knees saying, “Depart from me;for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Here is Peter,always genuine, instantly aware of his lack of faith.As a future fisher of men, he may look back to thisevent and when the prospects for the harvest ofsouls may look bleak, he can remember that theLord has instructed a draught and regardless of theApostle’s doubts, there await so many souls to be“caught” in Christ’s net of forgiveness and salvation(153 or 9, the number of humanity), that his ownmeans for securing them will prove inadequate.

After His difficult saying about eating His fleshand blood, causing many of His disciples to leaveHim, Jesus asks the twelve, “Will ye also goaway?” Simon Peter answers Him, “Lord, to

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Pictures of theApostle Peter

RELIGION AND ART

Tempera on paper, 1514-1515, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) 1483-1520. Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Miraculous Draught of FishesOne of a group of painted cartoons serving as the design for tapestry weaversin Flanders, the resulting tapestries destined for the Sistine Chapel, the abovescene conflates the miraculous catch with the calling of Peter and his brotherAndrew, as recounted in Mark and Matthew. James and John, probably withtheir father Zebedee, in the second boat, are becoming aware of the unfoldingdrama. Peter kneels in reverent recognition of Christ Jesus’power and Person.

whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternallife. And we believe and are sure that thou art thatChrist, the Son of the Living God” (John 6:68-69).John makes clear that his co-disciple believed thatJesus was the Messiah (Christ), which Hebrew tra-dition described as “the Son of the Living God.” Itis true that, as he says, Peter believes, whereas theEvangelist, being closer to Christ, knows Jesus’spiritual identity. Here at the outset we are intro-duced to the distinctly human nature of belief—that however earnest and emphatic in demonstration,it is not founded on the certitude of direct cognitionor spiritual vision and is thus subject to variableness.

In an incident that may refer to the sameexchange in Caesarea Philippi reported by John,Matthew relates that Jesus asks His disciples“Whom say ye that I am” (16:15ff.). Peter answerswith the identical words given by John. Here Peteris more emphatic, as if he had direct vision of theChrist Being occupying the Jesus body. For fleshand blood cannot declare one’s real identity, butrather obscures it. While Christ Jesus states as afact that Peter is blessed by the Father because it isHe Who has given Peter this visionary gift, it isalso clear that its possession has not been won byPeter’s own effort, for subsequently, on severaloccasions, he fails to recognize Christ Jesus (whenHe came toward them at night, walking on water,and when He appeared after the Resurrection bythe Sea of Galilee). In fact, we might surmise thatPeter yet retains a degree of the involuntary (nega-tive) clairvoyance that was the natural endowmentof early man but was gradually lost as the vital anddense physical bodies came into exact coincidenceand as both instruments became condensed byself-centered emotions and sense-bound thinking.

Peter’s ardent, impetuous nature gives rise toone of the Gospel’s most memorable scenes (Matt.14:22ff.). It is night. The disciples are in a boattossed by rough water and buffeted by contrarywinds. Jesus had been praying on land and now iswalking on the water toward them. At first the dis-ciples think they are seeing a ghost (“spirit”). Thenthey see it is the Lord. (We refrain here from con-sidering this event as the account of an initiatoryexperience in the desire world.) Peter says, “Lord,if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.”

Jesus bids him come and he begins to walk on thewater. But he soon looses his initial buoyant confi-dence as he takes his mind off the reason for hisventure, and he begins to sink, calling on the Lordto save him. Jesus says, “O thou of little faith,wherefore didst thou doubt?”

Practically speaking, a lapse of faith in one’sability to walk on water is scarcely cause for con-demnation. But Peter insists on being tested and isdetermined to demonstrate his faith. He can wellrepresent those zealous and enthusiastic aspirantswho want to forcefeed their spiritual progress andwho desire spectacular results before fully estab-lishing the wherewithal to realize them. The Rockupon which Christ Jesus will build his Church is

44 RAYS 97

Water color, 66 x 81 cm, 1990, Dennis Klocek. Courtesy of the artist

Walking On WaterThe gospel incident narrating Peter’s attempt to walk onwater is shown by the artist as an initiation experience. Thedisciples are in their boat at night on the lower level of thephysical world while they appear above in the desire worldin the vessel of their soul bodies. The Christ stands encour-aging a sinking Peter. The Holy Spirit inspires from above.

not Peter per se but the rock-firmfaith in Christ Jesus that Peterpotentially possesses.

Peter’s inability to comprehendhis beloved Master’s mission isstarkly apparent in his response toJesus’ foretelling of His necessarysuffering and death. The discipleis troubled: “Lord, this shall notbe unto thee.” Were he to say“should,” he would show hisunderstanding of the distinctionbetween what he personal lydesires and what is right or neces-sary. Jesus sternly rebukes hisemotional friend with the strikingwords, “Get thee behind me,Satan: thou art an offense untome: for thou savorest not thethings that be of God, but thosethat be of men” (Matt. 16:22-23).

Here we see Peter possessive ofthe outward person of Jesus,wanting to protect him from phys-ical danger and abuse. Such awonderfully human reaction isbased on a sort of misguidedmother love, and, finally, ignorance. It is of a kindwith the loud lamentation of survivors upon thedeath of a loved one, which display, unbe-knownst to the grievers, actually interferes withthe departed’s right progress.

The natural desire to save the physical life at allcost, which desire had occasioned Peter’s outburst,is countered by Jesus’ subsequent remark that notonly He but His disciples also, if they would“come after” Him, will have to deny this instinctiveimpulse to prioritize the physical body and take upthat instrument as a cross and follow Jesus. “Forwhosoever will save his life shall lose it; and who-soever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

After coming down from the mountain whereJesus has been transfigured before them, Petershows another trait which has been bequeathed tothe Catholic church that venerates him as itsFounder—the desire to build a shrine to commem-orate a “miracle,” or the manifestation of the

superphysical in the material dimension. Matthewand John do not recount this incident but Luke(9:28ff.) and Mark (9:1ff.) do. Luke’s comment aboutPeter’s desire to build three tabernacles to honorJesus, Moses, and Elias undercuts the disciple’smis- directed enthusiasm. Luke’s almost parenthet-ical description of Peter’s remark, which Jesussimply lets pass as an adult would a child’s ineptrequest, is “not knowing what he said.” How oftencould the same be said of some hasty or ill-consid-ered statement or proposal we have made? Peter isnot one to weigh his words or to reflect beforeentering on a course of action. He jumps in at once,with no qualifications or demurrals. That is whatpart of us finds so appealing in Peter, and at timesmakes him appear foolish—as in “a fool for God.”

Though Judas was keeper of the purse, on oneoccasion Peter is assigned the task of obtainingtribute money from the mouth of the first-caughtfish (Matt. 12:24ff.). The anachronistic irony is that

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Ford Madox Brown (1821-1893). Tate Gallery, London

Christ Washing St. Peter’s FeetA greatly reluctant and uncomfortable Peter submits to His Master’s self-abasingact while the other disciples look on intently (Judas at left is unloosing his sandal).Christ Jesus is both demonstrating his gratitude for service and practicing the pre-cept: “He who would be the greatest among you, let him be the servant of all.”

what is here to be given to Caesar shallsubsequently be given to the Pisceaninstitution that descends from Peter, theRoman Catholic church, which shallconfer spiritual favors and blessings onworldly powers that are tributaries toits great material wealth.

Only John records the MaundyThursday footwashing (13:3ff). ChristJesus has already washed the feet ofsome of the disciples. When He comesto Peter, the literal one asks “Lord, dostthou wash my feet?” He is aghast andembarrassed that one so high and holyshould perform such a menial and per-sonal act. His resistance to the lowlygesture is obvious and Jesus explains,“What I do thou knowest not now; butthou shalt know hereafter.” These words should suf-fice, should they not? Peter knows his Masterknows what He is doing. But he does not relent:“Thou shalt never wash my feet.”

Thus speaks headstrong Peter. He has a sense ofwhat is right, and subjecting the Messiah to thisindignity is not right. But actually it is Peter whosuffers the indignity. When Jesus answers, “If Iwash thee not, thou hast no par t with me,”Simon just as vehemently turns heels, reverseshis position and exclaims, “Lord, not my feet only,but also my hands and my head.” First oneextreme. Then the other. Here is this unpremeditat-ing, earnest soul, quick to speak and act, and asquick to repent his actions and words if he beshown their error. The man is strong up front. Heis learning to get strong down deep, wisely strong.

Peter correlates with Pisces, at the outset unsta-ble as water. He is the ‘wave’ man who becomesthe Rock of Initiation after he awakens the Christprinciple within himself.

Peter knows that the one “whom Jesus loves,”who is literally closer to His heart at the LastSupper, might be better able to read his Master’sthoughts, for He has just said that one of theassembled twelve will betray Him. Peter, neversubtle or incurious, asks John to inquire of theLord whom He means. Why does not Peter ask hisquestion directly? Might he be obscurely intuiting

his own inadequacy, his own sinful nature, hisunpredictability, his reversibility (demonstrated onlyhours later)? This would speak well of him for humil-ity, but poorly of him for not knowing his own mind.

On the Mount of Olives, while Jesus is prayingand, as it were, sweating blood, Peter, James, andJohn have fallen asleep. Jesus is disappointed:“What, could ye not watch with me one hour?”(Matt. 26:26-40). Peter’s inability to remain inconsciousness at the high level where Jesus iswrestling with dark forces, to watch with Him, wascommon to his fellow disciples, in spite of theirgood will and intention to do otherwise. Commit-ting all one’s available resources to an endeavordoes not insure that one will immediately succeed.But not persisting will assure failure.

Even when Caiaphas’ guards seize Jesus inGethsemane and Peter instantly rallies to Jesus’ aidby brandishing his sword and cutting off Malchus’ear, his brave response is judged by Christ Jesus tobe irresponsible and ill-advised because it does notaccord with the principle of pacifism in His teach-ings—as expressed in “turning the cheek” and“Blessed are the peacemakers.” It is also subject tothe spiritual law that “they that take the sword shallperish with the sword.” More to the point, Jesushas already informed his disciples of what musttake place and that Scripture is to be fulfilled. ButPeter finds it hard to accept this prospect, even

46 RAYS 97

Duccio di Buoninsegna (1260-1320), from the Maestà (46 panels). Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena

BetrayalEven as Judas delivers the “kiss of death,” thereby identifying the one to beseized by the high priest’s guards, the disciples begin to desert their master.Only Peter rallies to Jesus’ aid, smiting Malchus and cutting off his ear.

though it be his Master’s will. Hehas perceived that Christ Jesus isthe Son of God, but at this momentHis power seems to be in question.Peter wants to protect Him Who,should He pray to His Father,would be attended by “more thantwelve legions of angels.”

What can we learn here? That,like Peter, we will toe the line anddo our duty and pledge our alle-giance—unless something reallyunjust or offensive to our naturecrops up? Doesn’t a part of usembrace Peter’s defensive action,find it even admirable? But Jesus’business is not the way the worlddoes business and if we vow not tobe conformed to the world, then wemust be obedient to all that vowentails. Humility and consistency will surely helpus in our resolve.

The most poignant instance of Peter’s sayingone thing and doing another, of passionate affir-mation that fails to be confirmed in action, is in histhrice denying knowing Jesus so he can “save hisown skin.” Not only has he said, “Though all menshall be offended because of thee, yet will I neverbe offended,” but more grandly, “Though I shoulddie with thee, yet will I not deny thee” (Matt.26:33-35). As Mark reports it (14:29), Peter’s oathof fealty is tinged with bravado: “Although all shallbe offended, yet will not I.” But what does he infact do? Through John’s intercession (John 18:15ff),the doors to the high priest’s palace are opened tohim. Peter enters and is three times recognized asone of Jesus’ followers. He feigns ignorance and hisdenials (Matt. 26:70-74), like the man himself, arestrong: 1) “I know not what thou sayest.” 2) “I donot know the man.” 3) “Then began he to curseand to swear, saying, I know not the man.”

Luke’s account of this event shows the Lord’sprescience. He tells Peter that Satan desires to sifthim as wheat (22:31ff), but He has prayed for Hisdisciple that his faith fail not. But He knows Peteris yet wavering because He then says, “When thouart converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Peter

answers, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, bothinto prison, and to death,” but not, we see, until heis converted, and it takes the dramatic denial of theLord to convert him.

Is Peter to be singled out as more fickle andinsincere than his fellows? The text says that allthe disciples pledged their solidarity with Jesus atthe Last Supper. Following upon his affirmation ofloyalty, “Likewise also said all the disciples.” ButPeter seems to be the most vocal, the mostemphatic, the most absolute, the most, shall wesay, lacking in humility.

When we read of this incident, we are troubled.We ask, Peter, how could you? But would we havedone otherwise, when the chips were down, to saveour own neck? For no mistaking, the high priestand his henchmen meant business. Still, how greatthe fall from the impassioned oath of to-the-deathloyalty to low oaths of anger and rejection. AndPeter knows it. He is heartbroken. After he hearsthe second crowing of the cock he remembersJesus’ words and is shocked by shame and engulfedin misery. He goes out and weeps bitterly.

When Mary reports to the assembled disciplesthat she has seen the Risen Christ and that His sep-ulcher is empty, Peter and John race to the tomb,John outstripping his elder companion (John 20).

RAYS 97 47

Oil on canvas, 122 x 159 cm. Guercino (Giovanni Grancesco Barbieri), 1591-1666. Louvre, Paris

The Tears of St. PeterAs the Mother of the Man of Sorrows mourns His violent death, Peter’s grief iscompounded by remorse for thrice denying that he knows his Lord and Master.

But at the tomb’s entrance Peter enters immediate-ly (as in “fools rush in”?) while John holds back,entering later. What is happening here? Is John giv-ing another instance of Peter’s impetuosity, hisleaping before looking, his being possessed byundisciplined fervor. Just as likely is John gra-ciously implying that Peter, being Peter, is con-sumed by love and hope that brook no hesitation orforethought. He is fully in character.

John’s account of the Easter Monday fishing isactually an elaboration of the calling of Peter asrecorded by Luke. Here, having fished all nightand caught nothing, day breaks and the resurrectedJesus inquires from the shore if the disciples haveany meat. He instructs them to cast their nets onthe right of the vessel. They do and their net is bur-dened with fish. It is John who then recognizes theLord. But it is, characteristically, Peter who, uponhearing the word (he didn’t see the Word), castshimself into the sea. John is already with the Lordin spirit. Peter needs to be with Him bodily. Thistime he does not sink. He can swim, or wade.

When they have finished dining Jesus asks Peterthree times, “Simon, lovest thou me.” Peter is“grieved” to have to assure his Master three timesof his love. And he must also wince as he painfullyrecalls his thrice denying the One for Whom henow professes love (“more than these” other disci-ples), the same One Whom he vowed to followinto prison and unto death. And even here, some-thing of the old Peter, can we say, the jealous Peter,who wants to be first, who wants all of His Lord’slove, asserts itself. For he is told in unmistakableterms that his vow will be fulfilled: when he is oldhe will stretch forth his hands and be bound andcarried where he “wouldst not.” To which Peterresponds, even as might an adolescent, “Whatshall this man [John] do?” Okay, I’m going to dieunder compulsion, but what about John? Will hehave a better death? John’s Gospel suggests thatPeter may have been competing with the other dis-ciples, especially John, for the Lord’s attention andfavor. Jesus answers Simon, “If I will that he tarrytill I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.”

With a few exceptions, this word portrait has notconsidered Peter in an esoteric sense as the per-sonification of one of the twelve human faculties

or zodiacal energies. Nor has it attempted to studythe Gospel narratives as accounts of initiatoryexperiences. We have intended simply to look atPeter’s all-too-familiar humanness. We may evenregard him as the New Testament’s Everyman, theone most like those (us) who would follow Christ: atonce most faithful and most fallible; saying onething and then doing another; giving up all to fol-low Him and then dictating the terms or the limitsof our obedience to him; or even, God forbid, deny-ing we have ever known him. If such a one is cho-sen to feed the Lord’s sheep, surely we each havethe same commission and the same hope that weare favored of the Lord and are each entrusted withwork no other can do. So may we secure the Lord’sblessing—along with a personal key to heaven. p

—C. W.

48 RAYS 97

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610). S. Maria del Popolo, Rome

The Crucifixion of St. Peter“When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,and another shall gird thee, and carry thee wither thouwouldest not....Follow me” (John 21:18,19). Peter, in a con-summate act of humility, insists on an inverted crucifixion toindicate his unworthiness to imitate the death of his Lord.

Planet A

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TODAY WE FREELY usehonorifics or superlatives tocharacterize Christ Jesus, butthis practice is actually theresult of what was a painstak-

ingly long, often polemical, and occasionallymortal effort to determine the nature of theBeing Who appeared as the crucifiedNazarene two thousand years ago. Eachterm denominating this Person was originallyfraught with potent ia l controversy.Christology emerged from out of the com-petitive, conflicting context of JudaicMessianism, Hellenistic rationalism, andRoman Caesarism.

Oscar Cullman has written an intellectu-ally challenging and closely argued book(The Christology of the New Testament,1957, translated from the German,Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA) on thisemergence of Christological consciousnessin the first century of the Christian era. This schol-arly study, strongly relying on the GreekSeptuagint, collated with Hebrew Masoretic textsand the Aramaic Peshitta, conceives Christ Jesus’influence in terms of four functions: His earthlywork, His future work, His present work, and Hispre-existence. Each historical function is signifiedby titles, most of which first appear in the OldTestament in (of course) non-Christian contexts.

Several preliminary remarks are in order. Thename Christ (Christos, anointed) is the Greektranslation for the Hebrew Messiah. Cullman usesthis term less frequently than we intend because he

attributes to Jesus qualities and powers thatRosicrucian Christianity specifies for the separateBeing, the archangelic Christ. As Cullman makesclear, Jesus declined calling himself Messiah(Christ) because the Jews understood the term tosignify the deliverer of the Hebrew people in anationalistic, this-worldly sense. Finally, sinceCullman’s exegesis is orthodox, he does not recog-nize the existence of any Being superior to God theFather, whereas Western Wisdom teaches that theFather is the highest initiate of the lifewave associ-ated with the celestial sign Sagittarius, the Lords ofMind, and that the Universal Absolute denominatesa vastly higher and distinctly other Being.

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The Christology ofthe New Testament

BOOK REVIEWS

Piero della Francesca (c. 1416-1492), Pinacoteca Communale, Borgo Sansepolero, Italy

The Resurrection

An austere and formidably frontal Christ, resurrected and at the sametime more substantial than the sleeping guards, here provides a com-manding example of the Kyrios, Lord of life and vanquisher of death.

Nevertheless, Cullman’s Christology has greatmerit, as we shall attempt to outline.

The author uses the expression Christology toencompass “everything which refers to the unique-ness of the person and work of Jesus Christ.” Theoldest Christian confessions are not trinitarian butare expressed exclusively in Christological terms.In attempting to answer the question “Who isChrist?” this book does not explore Christ Jesus’nature but His function. The discussion of naturesbecame necessary at a later time in Church historyto identify heresies and is primarily a Greek, not aJewish or biblical problem.

The Christological titles which refer to the earthlywork of Christ Jesusare the Prophet, theSuffering Servant ofGod, and the HighPriest. Christ Jesus’future work is desig-nated by the Messiahand the Son of Man.The present work ofChrist Jesus is bestcharacterized by thetitles Jesus the Lord(Kyrios) and Jesusthe Savior (Soter).The fourth Christo-logical function, the pre-existence of Christ Jesus,is given by the titles Jesus the Word (Logos), Jesusthe Son of God, and Jesus as “God.”

This fourfold grouping of titles is not arbitrarybut accords with the actual process by which firstcentury Christians developed an understanding ofChrist Jesus’ person and action. Only gradually dida multifaceted but organic comprehension of sal-vation history emerge—Christology as a redemptivehistory extending from original creation to theeschatalogical new creation (New Jerusalem), ahistory whose vital center is the earthly life of Jesus.

While Jesus was living on earth, His words anddeeds worked on His contemporaries first by theirvery force and original content. These initialimpacts caused His followers to invoke severalconcepts from their religious tradition to explainHis “authority”—those of the Messiah, the Prophet,

and the High Priest. At first helpful, these titleseventually proved both insufficient and even mis-leading. Jesus never called Himself Messiah becauseof the word’s political and kingly associations. Onthe contrary, He ever sought to divest himself ofthe worldly expectations implicit in the traditionalunderstanding of Messiah as Israel’s liberator andpriest-king—to the disillusionment of Judas andthe dismay of many of His other disciples.

The title of Prophet proved inappropriatebecause Christ Jesus was He to Whom the lastprophet, John the Baptist, pointed as the One Whowas to come. As Prophet, Christ Jesus could onlypoint to Himself as that One. The title of High

Priest, a sacerdotalterm, had but limitedusefulness, thoughhistorically the HighPriest was often boththe presiding Prophetand the spiritual rulerof his people, dictat-ing the importantaffairs of the Hebrewkings.

Only the eventsassociated with Hisdeath, Resurrection,subsequent manifes-

tations, and Ascension opened the spiritual eyes ofChrist Jesus’ followers. Then His return (parousia)in an imminent and concrete sense gripped theirminds. But now a second coming required moredefinite understanding of His first coming. Herebegan in earnest, under the suasion of the HolySpirit, the recollection of Jesus’ sayings anddoings. “It was the experience of His lordshipwhich gave the real impetus to a consistent formu-lation of Christology.” Its main root was in worshipof Jesus as the present Lord, Who was prayed to (theAramaic Maranatha—“Our Lord, come!”—the veryearly liturgical prayer found in 1 Corinthians 16:22)and confessed (Kyrios Christos—Christ is Lord!).

At the heart of New Testament Christology is theKyrios title. It was the center of the early Christianconfessional life from which the believer attemptedto understand the other Christly functions. Though

50 RAYS 97

In calling Jesus Kyrios earlyChristianity transferred every-thing the Old Testament says

about God, Who was soaddressed, to Christ Jesus,

the present divine ruler Who,rules the Church, the world,

and the life of each individual.

not the oldest title, it was the most inclusive of Hisattributes. In calling Jesus Kyrios early Christianitytransferred everything the Old Testament saysabout God, Who was so addressed, to Christ Jesus,the present divine ruler Who, since His exaltation(after the Ascension) rules the Church, the world,and the life of each individual.

Christ Jesus is the supreme Lord (Kyrios,Adonai) of the Earth because to Him all power inheaven and in earth has been given (Matt. 28:18),whether the power proceed from Thrones, Dominions,Principalities, or Powers, since Christ is the solefocus through Whom these celestial potencies rayupon Earth. He is not only the door from Earth toHeaven, He is the door from Heaven to Earth.

Christ Jesus is Lord not because He is God’s Sonbut because, being God’s Son, He yet did not assertthat dignity but humbled Himself, emptied Himselfof all rightful claim to authority and became obe-dient to carrying the cross of the Earth’s body andsuffering physical death. Wherefore (that is, there-fore), God has exalted Him unto Himself and givenHim the unsurpassable name, Kyrios, to the Father’sultimate glory. This passage from Philippians 2:6-11 is featured in the Rosicrucian Fellowship’s nightlyTemple Service. In emulation of Christ Jesus theprobationer is urged, “he who would be the great-est among you, let him be the servant of all.” Suchis the royal, Christ-obedient road to God.

The claims for and by Jesus were startling tomany of His contemporaries, though all the titlesapplied to and by Him were already known. It wasnot the Messiah role to which they strongly objected.But to claim He was the Son of God (“I and theFather are one”) was for orthodox Jews arrant blas-phemy. Yet Jesus reveals Himself as the Son ofGod by His obedience. Adam sought sonship bytrying to ‘steal’ it, by disobedience. Jesus demon-strated Sonship by fusing his will with the Father’swill and by electing death. Adam incurred death bywillful disobedience. Two of the three temptationsof Christ Jesus after His Baptism were addressedto his status as Son: “If thou be the Son of God...”Jesus resists the call to miracle working and worldlydominion (Messiahship). Only by this refusal isHis divine power ratified.

As the Son of God Christ Jesus is obedient not

only unto death but to the end of time, fulfilling theplan of divine redemption, whereupon, in consum-mation of His obedience, there is a final “subjec-tion of the Son” to the Father, “that God may be allin all” (1 Cor: 15:28). Herein lies the key to NewTestament Christology: “It is only meaningful tospeak of the Son in view of God’s revelatoryaction, not in view of his being.” His entire natureis given to fulfilling His Father’s will—thus, para-doxically, making Him God as God reveals Himself:God crucified—skandalon and foolishness!

Perhaps the most enigmatic term, and the onlytitle Christ Jesus applied to Himself, is the Son ofMan. He suppresses the Son of God identity, itsnotoriety being counter to His purpose, and focuseson His earthly mission, His humiliation. Accordingto Cullman, the title Son of Man embraces the total

RAYS 97 51

Watercolor with pen, 193/4 x 151/8, William Blake, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England

The Archangel Michael Foretelling the CrucifixionChrist Jesus in His capacity as the Son of Man suffers thedeath on the Cross for the redemption of Adam and Eve,restoring the true image of God to humanity. The nail passesthrough Christ’s foot to pin the serpent’s head to the Crosswhich rises from the conquered bodies of Sin and Death.

work of Jesus. As Jesus used the term, it indicates“an eschatalogical redeemer.” “The expectation ofthe Son of Man was common in Jewish esotericcircles. It represented the highest conceivable dec-laration of exaltation in Judaism.” Christ Jesus isthe Son of ideal Heavenly Man, original Man asGod created him. Pre-existence in heaven is thuspresupposed for the Son of Man.

Occurring sixty-nine times in the SynopticGospels, Jesus used Son of Man in two senses: asthe effector of the work of redemption, and as theOne Whose earthly task was to suffer death uponthe cross. This term includes the office of judg-ment from the throne of glory as well as the com-prehension of all mankind in one Person. In it isimplicit both the appearance on the clouds of heavenin divine majesty and the deepest humiliation ahuman can experience. As Adam, first Man lost hishighest possession, the “image of God,” so the Son ofMan, Paul’s second Adam, restored to humanity thatdivine image. As Adam ate from what subsequentlybecame known as the tree of disobedience, the secondAdam corrected that transgression on the cross, thetree of obedience. All Christological concepts pointin the direction of Christ’s character as the “imageof God” and to His identity of form with God.

Saviour (Soter) is not an early term becauseKyrios (Lord) subsumed it. Like Lord, it too wasoriginally applied to God in the Old Testament andlater transferred to Christ. Saviour referred not toJesus’ earthly work but to His total work, hissalvific benefice. For neither by Himself nor byothers was Jesus ever called Saviour during hislifetime. He received this title when He demon-strated that He is God sent from God and returnedto God. To Jewish ears, Jesus meant the same asSoter (Saviour). This is how Matthew explains thename: “for he shall save his people from theirsins” (1:21). Luke writes, “unto you is born thisday a Saviour, who is Christos Kyrios” (2:11). Tocall Jesus Soter would have been understood as‘Jeshua Jeshua.’ Only later did the use of Soterbecome part of the IΧθYΣ (Ichthys—Jesus Christ,Son of God, Saviour) creed. The saving from sin isthe effect of Adam’s sin and the impact upon earthlymatter of mankind’s accumulated sin. The spiritualmechanics of this salvific act are described by

Western Wisdom Teachings as the shedding of bloodby which Christ both gained and maintains accessto the Earth.

The Logos (Word) is the eternal revealer, whocommunicates Himself since the very beginning.While Genesis opens with the words “In the begin-ning God created the heavens and the earth,”John’s Gospel begins, “In the beginning was theWord.” “The evangelist gives a new Genesisaccount, now presented in the light of the Mediatorof revelation.” The utterance of God which calledthe world into existence is the same which speaksto us in the life of Christ Jesus. The formative Wordwhich was from the beginning, this same Word (Logos)was made flesh in the New Testament. Nineteenhundred years have permitted some domesticationof John’s Prologue, but identifying the historicalperson Jesus as the hypostasis or revelation of theLogos continues to be a radical assertion. TheLogos is God in His revelation, God as He can onlybe known—in the action and Being of His Son:“No one cometh unto the Father but by me.”

The author is scrupulously faithful to the spirit ofthe texts he considers without being dogmaticallyinsistent on the correctness of each word. He iscomfortable with the fact that words and phrasesmay have been added, modified or misconstrued inredaction and translation. He writes from a perspec-tive enlightened by a deep immersion in the culturesand ideas of the time he is studying, and his conclu-sions derive from the dictates the texts themselvesas seen in this cultural and philosophical context.

Cullman, as an accomplished scholar, makes anadmirable admission: “Because the first Christianssee God’s redemptive revelation in Christ Jesus, forthem it is His very nature that He can be knownonly in His work—fundamentally in the centralwork accomplished in the flesh. Therefore, in thelight of the New Testament witness, all mere spec-ulation about his nature is an absurdity. FunctionalChristology is the only kind which exists.” That is,Christ Jesus is all that the titles ascribe to Him andused by Him signify because of what He does,what He did, and what He will have done by theend of time. Here is ground for our faith and impulseand example for our own Christ-directed action. p

—Carl Swan

52 RAYS 97

LIFE’S TOO SHORT to be tired,”1 thefull-page ad proclaimed. But that’s notthe only strike against fatigue. It’salso quite dangerous. Depression,2

stress, boredom, moodiness, cranki-ness, anger, pessimism, gloom—are there any ene-mies of the good life that are not in some wayrelated to or exacerbated by fatigue? It can alsohinder those on the spiritual Path.3

That’s where ginseng comes in. All things con-sidered, it may be mankind’s foremost fatiguefighter, the world’s top tonic. Not a stimulant, atonic. There’s a huge difference. To grasp thenature of a stimulant, one must note the word’s ori-gin, from the Latin, meaning to goad. Duringancient Romans chariot races, sticks with sharppoints at the end were used to goad, or whip up,tired horses. It might be said that energy was beingborrowed from the future—and that is exactlywhat stimulants do to the human body, whicheventually has to pay. We’ve all heard of “coffeenerves.” Caffeine is a stimulant, actually a poison,which the body seeks to eliminate by increasing itsmetabolism, resulting in a temporary surge ofenergy.

Not so ginseng, a tonic. It supplies nutrients thatenable the body to function more perfectly, ener-getically, harmoniously; there’s no borrowing fromthe future. Results are not as rapid as with coffee,for nature works more slowly, but more effectively.There is not just a temporary spurt of energy, but ageneral long-term rise in the level of well-being aswell as improvement of body functions. Forinstance, after one has been taking ginseng for

awhile one may feel strangely lighter and alsomore limber while walking or jogging.

Ginseng also offers protection against viral andmicrobial infection, against excessive heat andcold, and radiation exposure. It fosters better elim-ination and endocrine function, improved visualand hearing acuity, and is useful in the treatment ofthe three major degenerative diseases: diabetes,heart disease, and cancer. It optimizes oxygenusage, increases glycogen storage, enhances func-tioning of the nervous system, and promotesspeedier convalescence from illness.4

Aren’t there other herbs that claim to be tonicand therapeutic? Indeed. So why prefer ginseng?Some years ago, Bill Moyers, former White Houseassistant, best-selling author, and producer of edu-cational TV, visited Mainland China where, amongother things, he studied its healing practices. Nopeople have worked longer and more assiduouslywith herbs than the Chinese, and they told him thatof the eight hundred herbs used by them, ginsengranks first. They also insist that one cannot liveirrationally, follow hurtful health habits, andexpect ginseng to atone for one’s physical sins.

RAYS 97 53

GinsengWorld’s Top Tonic?

NUTRITION AND HEALTH

Ginseng is a low plant with three leaves at the top. Each leafis made up of five leaflets. It has small greenish-yellow flowers,some of which later produce scarlet berries. The fleshy root isused in medicine and in general nutrition. American ginseng,cultivated chiefly in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and Wis-consin, is deemed better than the Chinese or Korean varieties.

Herb R

esearch Foundation

Rather, if one lives by the laws of health,it then can be a sort of bonus.5

“To the Chinese, ginseng was and isthe most powerful and most preciousherbal commodity...used...to increasemetabolism, reduce fatigue, and raisemental and physical capabilities.”6 Nextto the Chinese, perhaps no people havestudied ginseng more eagerly than theRussians, especially right after WorldWar II. Even more than the Chinese, itwas they who brought it to the world’sattention. They consistently gave it totheir Olympic champions and cosmo-nauts as a result of the studies by Dr. I.I. Brekhman.

There’s also this: just because an herbis sold in a health food store and adver-tised to be of therapeutic value does notmean it is even safe: Readers may besurprised and shocked by the long list of herbsavailable from health food outlets which have beenfound to cause major bodily harm—kidney trou-ble, irregular heart rate, abnormal blood pressure,paralysis, and even death: Ginseng is not amongthem!7

Being a one hundred percent healthful product,ginseng is not addicting; only harmful substancesare. Is it habit-forming? Is there any pleasurableactivity that, especially if repeated often enough, isnot so? “Old habits die hard.”8 Isn’t that why pub-lishers of magazines offer initial low rates, at littleor any profit, to get people in the “habit” of read-ing their products, encouraging subscriptions, andenabling them to make a profit later.

But there’s a difference between addictive andmildly habit-forming substances. One morning thewriter, having used ginseng for several years, for-got to take it. Not until almost noon did he noticefeeling slightly “different,” not tired, even thoughhe had walked several miles, and remembered hisomission. But it is a well-known fact that regularcoffee users have freely confessed that until theyhave had their morning dose of caffeine, they can-not function properly.

To derive maximum benefit from ginseng, a fewfacts should be kept in mind. It is always best to

take it on an empty stomach, preferably followedwith a little liquid. It can be taken with meals; it isan integral part of Chinese meal preparation. Itshould never be taken late in the day unless oneneeds to stay up extra long. It comes in variousforms—tablets, capsules, powders; the extracts orconcentrates generally offer the most for one’smoney. Just because a brand is expensive does notmean it is extra good. If offered at a low price it iswell to remember one generally gets no more thanwhat one pays for.

The beginner should gradually build up theamount taken. Some forms of ginseng are notpleasant to the taste, but that should be no deter-rent—the therapeutic value of lemons, garlic, andhorseradish, despite their taste, is well known. Thebest way to offset ginseng’s original taste is to addhoney. In fact, some brands suggest that this canaugment the herb’s potency.9 A word of caution:some kinds of ginseng and certain honeys, if com-bined, taste so delicious and produce such analmost instant upsurge of euphoria as to becomevery much habit forming!

Ginseng may be mentioned in the Bible: Its afi-cionados claim it is the pannag mentioned inEzekiel 27:17, for its botanical name is panax,10

thereby possibly giving rise to the word panacea,

54 RAYS 97

Size of above ginseng is relative to a silver dollar (white spot). The plant’sChinese name, which means “likeness of a man,” is due to the shape of theroot. Those shaped most like a human body, which are the wild varieties,are the most valuable. Cultivation tends to produce regular roots.

which means cure-all. While in the literal sensethis is incorrect, ginseng may be nature’s nearestequivalent.

“If something sounds too good to be true, mostlikely it is,” the public radio commercial periodi-cally reminds us. Perhaps some readers are harbor-ing reservations concerning ginseng. It may bewell, therefore, to listen to the critics. One of themauthored an article carried in a widely circulatedsports journal that presented the results of a studyconducted by a Ph.D. nutritionist at a prestigiousU.S. university involving daily doses of ginsenggiven to eight athletes while eight other athleteswere given placebos. After six weeks there was nodifference between the two groups’ physicalprowess.11

Some comments regarding this study are inorder:

1. Sixteen persons is not enough to prove any-thing scientifically.12

2. Because of the powerful influence of mindover matter, placebos are not reliable in scien-tific tests; they can be just as effective as “thereal thing.”13

3. The athletes were described as “highlytrained.” Perhaps they had already reached theirtop performance level and no extra energyenhancer would make any difference.

4. There are different kinds of ginseng: American,Chinese, Korean, Manchurian, Siberian, etc.Only one kind was used; this is no basis forcondemning all species.

5. The kind used has been “disowned” by somein the “ginseng community” as not being realginseng.

6. Sixty drops of ginseng was the daily dosage.This was said to be the normal amount; ath-letes need to take more than the average personif striving for above-average performance.

7. The article does not say how the ginseng wastaken. As stated above, some ways are betterthan others; perhaps an inferior method wasused.

8. Ginseng is often prepared with alcohol, whichat times is 50% or even more of the product.14

Alcohol, an alkaloid, is harmful, hence no realprogress should be expected.15

9. Who sponsored the experiment? “Experiments”can be designed to yield desired results. Therehave been experiments that “exonerated”white sugar; it was not too long ago we weretold tobacco is not addictive.

10. “Over 1,000 clinical studies have confirmed its(ginseng’s) undeniable power to increase yourstamina, boost your energy levels and super-charge your resistance.”16 What is “one”against “over 1,000”? Especially if that “one”is as badly flawed as that analyzed above?Ginseng is one of the “best longevity herbs.”17

And even if it should not add years to your life,it will add life to your years.

All things can be abused and ginseng is noexception. One can take too much, indicated ifinsomnia sets in, even more if one gets “theshakes.” In that case, one should cut back at once.Yet there is an even more dangerous way ginsengmay be abused:

“If the newly generated power, which...ginsengcreates, is to flood the system with a new supply ofprecious hormones, continence must accompanyits use....No man or woman who is seeking rejuve-nation for the mere sake of added indulgence willfind in ginseng the answer to his prayers.”18 p

—A Probationer

1. Women’s Sports Fitness, July/August 1996, page 92; Let’s Live,July 1996, page 96.

2. Depression costs the U.S. $5 billion a year. Dr. Hugh L.Fichelberger, on The Protestant Hour, monitored over WPTF(Raleigh, North Carolina), June 23, 1996.

3. Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13.4. Siberian Ginseng, Betty Kamen, Ph.D., page 13; Nutrition

News, Volume XI, #2, pages 2, 3.5. Let’s Live, July 1996, page 76.6. Saturday Evening Post, July/August 1996, page 79.7. “Herbal products do not require regulation by the FDA”

Newsweek, May 27, 1996, page 12.8. Time, May 27, 1996, page 27.9. “Ginseng is a blood sugar equalizer.” Let’s Live, June 1996,

page 24.10. Home Health, Spring 1996, page 8.11. Runner’s World, June 1996, pages 30-32.12. Newsweek, April 29, 1996, page 56.13. Time, May 20, 1996, page 54.14. Energy Times, June 1996, page 18.15. Psycho-Physiopathy, Book 2, page 77, Teofilo de la Torre.16. New Healing Discoveries, Julian Whitaker, M.D., page 9.17. Let’s Live, June 1996, page 87.18. Sickness and Senility are Unnecessary, Dr. Leon De Seblo,

page 96.

RAYS 97 55

TO A YOUNG PHYSICIAN, WITH DORÉ’SPICTURE OF CHRIST HEALING THE SICK

So stood of old the holy ChristAmidst the suffering throng;With whom His lightest touch sufficedTo make the weakest strong.

That healing gift He lends to themWho use it in His name; The power that filled His garment’s hemIs evermore the same.

For lo ! in human hearts unseen;The Healer dwelleth still,And they who make His temples clean The best subserve His will.

The holiest task by Heaven decreed,An errand all divine,The burden of our common needTo render less is thine.

The paths of pain are thine. Go forthWith patience, trust, and hope;The sufferings of a sin-sick earthShall give thee ample scope.

Beside the unveiled mysteriesOf life and death go stand,With guarded lips and reverent eyesAnd pure of heart and hand.

So shalt thou be with power enduedFrom Him who went aboutThe Syrian hillsides doing goodAnd casting demons out.

That Good Physician liveth yetThy Friend and Guide to beThe Healer by GennesaretShall walk the rounds with thee.

—John Greenleaf Whittier

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

March..............................4—10—17—24—31April........................................6—13—20—27

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

56 RAYS 97

TThhee HHeeaalleerr

HEALING

Watercolor, J. James Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

Jesus Heals the Possessed Boy on Mt. Tabor

THE ENTRANCE to the next land wasthrough an archway, the pillars ofwhich were almost entirely coveredwith sheaves of corn, held in place bytwisted bands of leaves, among which

were twined branches of fruit and flowers.It reminded them of the harvest festival.At the base of each of the pillars

was a bowl of water, and round eachof these were engraved words.

On one: “Only with clean handsand feet can ye enter this land.” Onthe other: “Cleanliness is next toGodliness.”

The space between the pillars hadno gate, but seemed to be filled withcorn, growing higher than the chil-dren’s heads.

There was no path to be seen, andwhen they touched the corn with theirhands, it was stiff and unbending, andthere was no way through.

Zendah looked at the scroll ofHermes and pointed out to Rex what itsaid: “When you arrive at the Land of theVirgin, wash in the water of the basins andempty it in front of the growing corn; thenpronounce the Password.”

They went to the basins and began to wash theirhands, Rex taking one and Zendah the other.“Do you think we must both wash in each ofthem?” asked Rex.

“Of course, silly,” said Zendah, “I expect theyare different kinds of water; I am sure they felt dif-

ferent to me, when I put my hands in.” Then sittingdown on the ground she put her feet into the watersof both bowls.

“I don’t see any need to do that,” grumbled Rex,who thought they were wasting time by so muchwashing. But when Zendah pointed out that the

motto on one of the bowls did say some-thing about feet, he thought it was better

to do the same. Having finished, theythrew out the water as directed, whenthese words formed in the sand attheir feet:

“Purity is Service.” The words slowly formed and

disappeared. A voice startledthem. “Welcome children, at last.”

They looked up, and there, part-ing with both hands what hadseemed to be stiff, unbendingcorn, was Hermes.

“You have managed very wellwithout me up to now,” he said, “but

I have never been very far away,though you did not notice me. It was I

who whispered in your ears when youdid not know quite what to do.”

He beckoned them to him, and parting thecorn with one hand, he pointed with the other to apath leading through it. On they went, throughmiles and miles of corn fields, oats and barley,wheat and maize, and many other kinds of grain.They were all ripe and waiting to be gathered. Atthe far end of the path they came out into openand pleasant country, and there they were met by

RAYS 97 57

Rex and Zendahin

FOR CHILDREN

TT HH EE LL AA NN DDOO FF TT HH EE

VV II RR GG II NN

several women dressed in yellow robes, some-what resembling the colour of the corn.

These women did not seem to see Hermes,but spoke to the children at once.

“Have you washed your feet?” asked one.“Are your hands clean?” demanded another. “I hope you have not brought the least speck

of dirt into the Land of the Virgin,” said athird.

Rex and Zendah were puzzled and looked atHermes to know what to say.

“Ladies,” he said, “there is no need for yourquestions, which are quite right for most peo-ple, but these children are using their star bod-ies, and as you know those are always clean,yet they could not have entered this landunless they had used the water in the bowls atthe gate.”

The women solemnly bowed to the childrenwho went on with Hermes, walking throughthe sunlit country. Everywhere were littlehouses standing in their own neat little gar-dens, every one just a little different from theothers.

One thing these gardens had in common—there was not a weed to be seen anywhere, andin each one there were formal beds of flowersand tidy paths with not a stone out of place. It wasall so spick and span that they were almost afraidto walk along the roads.

Passing at last away from these country places,they came to the capital of the country whichHermes told them was called the Town ofPerfection.

Here were fine clean buildings that seemed to bemostly offices for doing different kinds of busi-ness. Inside they found clerks, busily writing inenormous ledgers, adding up sums with rows androws of figures.

Every wall was covered with shelves dividedinto hundreds of pigeon holes, filled with papers,and all labeled with different names. People wererunning to and from these holes either puttingsome papers away, or fetching some out. Theywere very busy, too busy to explain anything to thechildren, who did not feel very much interesteduntil Hermes told them that the writing which was

done there was very useful to the other lands,because this recorded and kept safe the importantthings that happened.

Then they went down to a large room below theoffices where they became greatly interested. Itwas the largest laboratory that they had ever seen.Men and women in long white coats, helped by anumber of quite small boys about the age of Rex,were grouped round small, blue gas flames watch-ing queer-shaped glass tubes.

Some were pounding things with pestles in mor-tars. Every now and then there would be an explo-sion in one of the tubes, and all would gather roundand make notes in their own little notebooks. Oneman was squeezing juice out of various fruits, fill-ing glass tubes with it, and trying the effect ofdrops of different colored liquids on the juice. Thisresult too was noted in a book.

“What are they doing?” asked Rex.“They are trying to find out which things are the

most valuable foods for people to eat.”

58 RAYS 97

Rex pulled a face. “I think the best foods arethose that taste the best. “

Hermes laughed. “I am afraid they do not allthink so in this land. “

From there they passed through a doorway intoa greenhouse filled with plants and flowers in fullbloom, many of which were quite strange to them.

“Why!” said Zendah, after she had run first fromone queer plant to another, “they are not a bitlike our flowers at home.” The head gar-dener came up just then, and replied:

“No, of course not, this is wherethe fairies help us to grow newkinds of fruit and flowers. See,this is how we do it—butfirst I must see if the starssay it is the right time.”And he went to a book thatwas hanging in a cornerof the greenhouse, andran his finger down apage. “Yes, in five min-utes we may begin.” Sofrom a box he took asmall brush, and going toa white lily-like plant thatwas growing near them, hetook some of the yellowpollen from its stamens, andthen passing to a gorgeous redflower, he placed the pollen onthe long green rod that grew in thecentre of the flower.

“Now,” he said, “we must tie it up in amuslin bag so that nothing else can touch it, andwhen the seeds ripen, we shall be able to grow abeautiful lily, red with white spots, or it may bewhite with red spots, I cannot say which, for thatall depends on the fairies.”

Then he gave them a peach with a pineapple fla-vor and an apple with no core nor seeds, that had amusk flavor.

He showed them a blue rose and a bright yellowsweet pea. “All these flowers and fruits are dis-covered here first before you can grow them downon Earth,” he said.

Zendah caught hold of his arm, “When shall we

be able to grow a blue rose?” she said. He shookhis head mysteriously: “When the Head Gardenercomes to live with you,” he replied.

They could hardly drag themselves away, but atlast Hermes said they must hurry on, and tookthem into a garden enclosed by high stone walls.Each wall was covered with fruit trees, and in themiddle was a six-sided bed filled with white

Madonna lilies. In the centre was a mostunusual fruit tree; the leaves shone, sil-

ver-like, and the fruit sparkled likeJewels with different colors.

Right on the topmost branchwas a golden apple that shone

as the Sun.“That is the most valu-

able thing in this land,”said Hermes, “the GoldenApple of Knowledge andHealing. There is onlyone at present in thewhole universe. Some ofthose people you justsaw are trying to makeother fruit trees grow onelike it. They have suc-

ceeded in growing a silverone that will do a great deal

of good, but they have notfound out how to grow the real

apple yet.” From this courtyard, they entered

the palace. Here, as everywhere else,everything was exactly where it should

be—nor could you find a fault with anything; butstill, it was not as beautiful nor as comforting asthe Palace of Venus.

All the walls were covered with white and yel-low linen hangings with little streams of water run-ning in channels down every passage, so that youhad to step through water to enter any room. Thisprevented your taking dust into any of the rooms.In the largest hall, at the far end, there was a daisupon which were seated five wise-looking youngmen at a round table.

The chair at the head of the table was vacant; theonly real difference between it and the others being

RAYS 97 59

that it was more beautifully carved. Hermes toldthem that was his chair, but he was so busy as themessenger of the gods, that these five men gov-erned for him when he had to be away.

“Then too, my brother Vulcan helps, but he is sooccupied at his forge making beautiful works of artthat he has not much time for ruling either, andmany people do not know when he is here.”

They just peeped into a workshop at the side ofthe hall and saw Vulcan hammering out sheets ofmetal. Numbers of young people were making allkinds of useful things, from vases and bowlsto tiny buckets. The most noticeable thing wasthe fineness of the details, and the polish theyimparted to each article.

Back once again in the largehall, Hermes took a beauti-

fully colored apple froma plate and gave it toZendah. Looking at itwith surpr ise , shefound it was made of

metal, though it lookedso real. “This is only a copy of

the real apple of health,” hesaid, “but even this will take away headaches whenyou smell it, and cure quite a number of otherthings too.”

Into Rex’s hand he dropped a lily-shaped pin,with the head made of jasper, telling him to keepthis as a remembrance of the Land of the Virgin.

From another dish he took a large flat cake, andbreaking it in half he gave them each a piece.“Nowhere will you find such satisfying bread asthat from the Land of Purity,” he said.

Indeed, after they had tasted it Rex and Zendahthought they had never had such delicious breadbefore.

Returning from the hall toward the entrancegate, they passed all the neat little houses, and oncemore came to the corn fields.

Hermes showed them the path and waved hishand; they walked through and soon found them-selves outside the Land of the Virgin, and close tothe next gate. (Continued) p

—Esme Swainson

60 RAYS 97

T eachings of an Initiate contains some ofthe last findings of Max Heindel’s exten-

sive investigations into the invisible realms asthey are incorporated into the final lessons tohis students. Topics include:

The Sign of the Master

The Way of Wisdom

Esoteric Significance of Easter

Scientific Method of SpiritualUnfoldment

The New Sense of the New Age

The Death of the Soul

Religion and Healing

As an Initiate of the Rosicrucian Order,Max Heindel was well qualified to impart

esoteric knowledge.

Please order on page 64

Seventh Edition. 212 Pages. Indexed. Paper. Published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship

Teachings of an Initiate

by Max Heindel