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AN ADVENTURE
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AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
BY
A STUDENT OF OCCULTISM.
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OCCULT PUBLISHING CO.
1887.

CoPYRIGHT, 1887,
BY FRANZ HARTMANN.
J. S. CUSHING & Co., PRINTERs, BosTON.
/*
2-/4, -33
AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
THE EXC URSION.
| AM penning these lines in a little village in
the Alpine mountains, in Southern Bavaria,
and only a short distance from the Austrian fron-
tier. The impressions I received yesterday are
still fresh in my mind; the experiences which
caused them were as real to me as any other ex-
perience caused by the events of every-day life;
nevertheless, they were of such an extraordinary
character that I cannot persuade myself that they
were more than a dream.
Having finished thé long and tedious labor of
investigating the history of the Rosicrucians, and
studying old worm-eaten books, mouldy manu-
scripts hardly legible from age, passing days and
parts of night in convent libraries and antiquary
shops, collecting and copying everything that
4 AMONG THE ROSIGRUCIANs.
seemed to be of any value for my object in view,
and having at last finished my task, I made up my
mind to grant to myself a few holidays, and to
spend them among the sublime sceneries of the
Tyrolian Alps.
The mountains were not yet free from snow,
although the spring had advanced; but I was
anxious to escape the turmoil and noise of the
city, to breathe once more the pure and exhilarat-
ing air of the mountain heights, to see the shining
glaciers glistening like vast mirrors in the light
of the rising sun, and to share the feeling of Byron,
the poet, when he wrote the following verses: —
“He who ascends to mountain tops shall find
The loftiest peaks most wrapp'd in clouds and snow;
He who surpasses or subdues mankind
Must look down on the hate of those below ;
Though high above the sun of glory glow,
And far beneath the earth and ocean spread,
Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow
Contending tempests on his naked head,
And thus reward the toils which to these summits led.”
Boarding the train at K., I soon arrived at S.
Thence I wandered on foot, highly enjoying the
change from the smoky atmosphere of the crowded
streets to the fresh air of the country, pregnant
THE EXCURSION. 5
with the odor of the pines and the daisies, the
latter of which were appearing in places from
which the snow was gone. The road led up
through the valley of the river, and, as I ad-
vanced, the valley grew more narrow and the
sides of the mountain more steep. Here and
there were clusters of farmhouses, and some rus-
tic cottages clinging to the projecting rocks of the
mountains as if seeking protection against the
storms which often blow through these valleys.
The sun was sinking down below the western
horizon, and gilded the snowy peaks of the moun-
tains and the brazen cross on the top of the spire
of the little village church, from which tolled the
curfew, or, as it is here called, the Ave Maria,
when I arrived at O., which was the place se-
lected as a starting-point for my excursions into
the mountains.
Finding a hospitable reception in the village
inn, I soon retired to rest, and awoke early in the
morning, having been aroused from my sleep by
the tinkling of little bells hanging around the
necks of the goats, which were sent out to their
pasturage. I arose and stepped to the window.
The shadows of night were fleeing before the
...sº
6 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
approach of the coming sun; the dawn had begun,
and before me in sublime array stood the grand
old peaks of the mountains, reminding me of
Edwin Arnold's description of the view to be
had from the windows of Prince Siddartha's pal-
ace, Vishramwan. There the grand mountains
stood, – - -
{& Ranged in white ranks against the blue-untrod
Infinite, wonderful — whose uplands vast,
And lifted universe of crest and crag,
Shoulder and shelf, green slope and icy horn,
Riven ravine and splintered precipice,
Led climbing, thought higher and higher, until
It seemed to stand in heaven and speak with gods.”
Soon I was on the way, and wandered farther up
through the valley along the river-bed; but the
river was here merely a small stream, rushing and
dancing wildly over the rocks, while farther down,
where it had grown big, it flowed in tranquil ma-
jesty through the plains. The valley through
which I wandered seemed to cut through long
ranges of mountains, and other valleys opened
into this. Some of these valleys were known to
me, for I had roamed through them and explored
their mysterious recesses, caves, and forests some
twenty years ago; but there was one mysterious
THE Excursion. 7
valley which had not yet been explored by me,
and which led towards a high, bifurcated mountain
peak, whose summit was said to be inaccessible,
and upon which the foot of no mortal had ever
trod. Towards this valley I seemed to be attracted
by some invisible but irresistible power. I left as
if, into its unexplored depths, at the foot of this
inaccessible mountain, the secret and undefined
longings of my heart were to be satisfied ; as if .*
there a mystery was to be revealed to me, whose
solution could not be found in books. *
The sun had not yet risen above the horizon,
and the dark woods to the right and left were of
a uniform color. As I entered the narrow, myS-
terious valley, the path rose gradually, leading
through a dark forest along the side of a mountain.
Slowly and almost imperceptibly it ascended; at
first it was near the rushing stream, but as I pro-
gressed the roar of the torrent sounded more and
more distant; the foaming stream itself seemed to
sink farther down. At last the forest became
thinner and the dark woods were now far below
me; but before me and above the intervening trees
rose the naked cliffs of the inaccessible mountain.
Still the path led up higher. Soon the distant
8 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS,
noise of a waterfall was heard, and I approached
again the bed of the mountain stream, which, how-
ever, now seemed to be a mass of rocks, split into
pieces by some giant power, lying about in wild
confusion, while the white foam of the water
danced between the cliffs.
Here and there were little islands of soil covered
with green vegetation. They stood like isolated
tables in the midst of the wilderness; for the com-
bined action of water and air had decomposed and
eaten away a great part of their foundations, and
they looked like plates of soil resting upon small
pedestals; hard as they are, their final tumble is
merely a question of time, for their foundations are
slowly crumbling away.
My path led me upwards, sometimes nearing
the river-bed, sometimes receding from it, leading
sometimes over steep rocks, and again descending
to the bottom of ravines formed by the melting
snows. Thus I entered deep into the mysterious
valley, when the first signs of sunrise appeared
upon the cliffs above my head. One of these
towering peaks was crowned with a halo of Hight,
while beyond it the full sunlight streamed into the
valley below. A mild breeze swept through the
THE EXCURSION. 9
tops of the trees, and the foliage of the birch-trees,
with which the pine forest was sprinkled, trembled
in the breeze of the morning. No sound could
now be heard, except occasionally the note of a
titmouse, and more rarely the cry of a hawk who
rose in long-drawn, spiral motions high up into the
air to begin its work of the day. -
Now the ash-gray walls and cliffs began to as-
sume a pale silvery hue, while in the rents and
crags of the rock the dark blue shade seemed to
resist the influence of the light. Looking back-
wards, I saw how the valley widened, and, far down,
the stream could be seen as it wandered towards
the plains. Obtaining more room as it advanced,
it spread, and formed ponds and tanks and little
lakes among the meadows. On the opposite side
of the valley rose the tops of high mountains far
into the sky, and between the interstices of the
summits, still more summits arose. The foot of
the range was covered with a dark vegetation, but
the mountain sides exhibited a great variety of
colors, from the almost black appearance of the
rocks below to the ethereal white of the farthest
peaks, whose delicate hues seemed to blend with
the pale blue sky. Here and there the surface
10 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
was already covered with spots of light from the
rising sun, falling through the rents of the rocks
and through the branches of trees, foreboding the
near arrival of the orb of day. Thus the higher
peaks enjoyed the warm light of the sun long be-
fore it shone into the valley below; but while it
shone in its full brightness upon the mountain
tops, the dark shadows in the deep valley became
thinner and began to disappear. .
At last the solemn moment arrived, and the sun
rose in his sublime majesty over the tops of the
mountains, becoming visible to all. The shadows
fled, and a flood of light penetrated into the val-
ley, lightening up the dark forest of pines and
illuminating the caves of the rocks. Shining upon
the fields of snow and the glaciers, its light was
reflected as in a mirror and produced a blinding
effect, but upon the rocky surface it became soft-
ened, and made them appear in a thousand various
hues. -
The road turned around a projecting part of the
mountain, and suddenly I stood in full view of the
inaccessible mountain. Between the place where
I stood and the base of the mountain there was an
almost treeless plain, and the soil was almost with-
THE EXCURSION. 11
out any vegetation. Everywhere the ground was
covered with stones and pieces of rocks, many of
which seemed to have fallen down from the mys-
terious mountain and to have been broken in the
fall. Here and there was a small spot covered
with moss or small vegetation, sending fantasti-
cally shaped branches of green upwards along the
sides of the inaccessible mountain towards the
bare gray walls of the summit, where giant senti-
nels of a forbidding mien stood eternally and im-
movable, and seemed to defend their strongholds
against the aggressive vegetation, crowding the lat-
ter back into the valley. Thus the eternal combat
which had been raging for untold ages still con-
tinued to rage; but the front lines of the contend-
ing armies changed from year to year. Everlasting,
like the eternal truths, stand the bare gray rocks
upon the summits; here and there the vegetation
invades their kingdom, like illusions approaching
the realm of the real; death is victorious; the
green spots are buried each year under the de-
scending rocks; but again life is the victor, for
those rocks decay, and a new life appears upon
their withered faces. -
In the limestone formation of the Alpine
12 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
mountains, the rocks decomposed by wind and
rain assume often the most fantastic shapes,
which often suggest the names which are given
to the mountains. Very little power of imagi-
nation is required to behold in the shape of
the summits of the Wilden Kaiser Mountain the
figure of the emperor Barbarossa, with his long
red beard, with crown and sceptre, lying in
state, unaffected by the cold of the winter or
the summer's heaf, waiting to be resurrected;
or we may see in the shape of the Hochvogel
the form of an eagle spreading its wings; in the
Widderhorn, the shape of the horns of a ram;
etc. At the base of the mountains and in the
valleys the soil is covered with loose small rocks
and piles of sand, in the midst of which the
Colts-foot plant (Fussilago Farfara) spreads its
large green leaves, and the blue bell-shaped flowers
of the Monks-hood (Aeonitum Napellus) wave their
heads. In some secluded spots grows the celebrated
Edelweiss (Guaphalium Leontopodium), resembling
in size those which grow on the Popocatepetl in
Mexico, and on the Cordilleras of South America.
There may also be found the Mountain Gentian,
the Alpine Rose, the Mandrake, Amica montana,
THE EXCURSION. 13
mysterious Hypericon, and other curious plants
full of healing powers and mysterious virtues.
Wherever a sufficient quantity of soil has accumu-
lated to enable a tree to grow, a larger kind of
vegetation appears; but the little crust of earth is
not deep enough to afford a solid footing to large
trees. They may grow to a certain height, but
some day a storm will arise and sweep down the
mountain sides, and then the work of destruction
begins. Grand old tree-corpses, whose roots have
been torn from the soil, are lying about, their
barkless, bleached branches like so many skeleton
arms stretched up towards heaven, as if they had
been calling for help in the hour of their death,
but no help had arrived. Smaller growths of
dwarf-trees surround them and cover the ground
or feed like parasites upon the substance of the
dead. - - -
The spring had advanced; but among these
mountains the seasons are interlaced with each
other. The red and yellow leaves painted by au-
tumn were seen among the green foliage of the
stunted pines. The moss clinging to the steep
precipices shows the reddish color obtained in the
fall, and in many clifts and caverns linger the
*
14. AMONG THE ROSICR, UCIANS.
snow and ice of the past winter; but above the
red and green. and the pure white snow the gray
masses of the summits rise in a succession of pillars
and points, with domes and spires and pinnacles,
like a city built by the gods; while in the back-
ground spreads the gray or blue canopy of heaven.
Thin streams of water run down from these heights
over the precipices, and as they splash over the
projecting rocks they are reduced to vapor before
reaching the ground below. The rocks themselves
have been hollowed out, forming large caves, and
indicating how powerful those little veins of water
may become, if swelled by the floods from the
melting snows of the summits.
After enjoying for a few minutes the sublimity
of this scenery, I continued my way and ap-
proached a little stream coming from a waterfall
in the distance. I wandered along its border, and
the water was so clear that even the smallest
pebble could be distinctly seen at the bottom.
Sometimes it appeared as motionless as if it were
liquid crystal penetrated by the rays of the sun,
and again, meeting with obstacles in its way, it
foamed in its rocky bed as if in a sudden fit of
rage, while in other places it tumbled in little
THE EXCURSION. 15
cascades over pretty pebbles and stones, forming
miniature cataracts which exhibited manifold
colors.
In these solitudes there is nothing to remind
one of the existence of man, except occasionally
the sawed-off trunk of a tree, showing the destruc-
tive influence of human activity. In some old,
rotten, and hollow trunks rain-water has collected,
sparkling in the sun like little mirrors, such as
may be used by water-nymphs, and around their
edges little mushrooms are growing, which our
imagination transforms into chairs, tables, and
baldachinos for fairies and elves. -
Where I now stood, the ground was covered
with moss, and occasionally there was to be seen
a great, white thistle, whose sharp-pointed leaves
sparkled in the sunlight. At a short distance I
saw a small grove of pines, looking like islands in
the desert, and to that grove. I directed my Steps.
There I resolved to rest and enjoy the beauty of
nature. I laid myself down upon the moss in a
place which was overshadowed by a mighty pine.
The music of the mountain stream was heard at
a distance, and opposite to the place where I
rested there was to be seen a waterfall, spreading
16 AMONG. THE ROSICRUCIANS.
into a vapor as it fell over the rocks, and in the
- vapor appeared the colors of the rainbow. The
mist fell into a basin formed of rock, and from a
rent in this basin, overgrown with moss, the water
foamed and rushed, hastening down toward the
valley, to become united with the main body of
the river. - -
For a long time I watched the play of the water,
and the longer I watched the more did it become
alive with forms of the most singular shapes. Super-
mundane beings of great beauty seemed to dance
in the spray, shaking their heads in the sunshine
and throwing showers of liquid silver from their
streaming curls and waving locks. Their laugh-
ter sounded like that of the falls of Minnehaha,
and from the crevices of the rocks peeped the ugly
faces of gnomes and kobolds watching slyly the
dance of the fairies. Above the fall the current
seemed to hesitate before throwing itself down
over the precipice; but below, where it left the
basin, it appeared to be irritated by the impedi-
ments in its way and impatient to leave its home;
while far down in the valley, where it became - *
united to its brother the river, it sounded as if the
latter was welcoming it back to its bosom, and as
THE EXCURSION. 17
if both were exulting over their final union in a
glad jubilee.
What is the reason that we imagine such things?
)
Why do we endow “dead things” with human
consciousness and with sensation ? Why are we in
our moments of happiness not satisfied to feel that
we live in a body, but our consciousness craves to go
Out of its prison house and mix with the universal
life? Is our consciousness merely a product of
the organic activity of our physical body, or is it
a function of the universal Life, concentrated—
so to say — in a focus within the physical body ?
Is our personal consciousness dependent for its
existence on the existence of the physical body,
and does it die with the latter; or is there a spiritual
consciousness, belonging to a higher, immortal,
and invisible self of man, which is temporarily
connected with the physical organism, but which
may exist independent of the latter? If such is
the case, if our physical Organism is merely an in-
strument through which our consciousness acts,
then this instrument is not our real self. If this is
true, then our real self is there, where our con-
sciousness exists, and may exist independently of
the latter. If we mentally float along the curves
18 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
of the mountain tops, sinking gradually downwards,
rising suddenly upwards, and examining in our
imagination the things upon their surface, why
do we feel such a sense of exhilaration and joy,
as if we were really there, but had to leave our
material body behind, because it is too heavy to
accompany the spirit to the top of the inaccessible
mountain? It is true, a part of our life and con-
sciousness must remain with the physical form, to
enable it to continue to live during our absence
and to attend to the functions of life; but we have
read of somnambules and persons in an ecstatic
condition, whose inner spiritual self, with all its
powers of consciousness, sensation, and perception,
was absent from their apparently dead forms, and
visited distant places, going and returning with
the velocity of thought, and bringing descriptions
of such places which were afterwards verified and
found to be true. - • .
Why do we find life in all things, even in those
who are considered “dead,” if we merely put our-
selves in a condition in which we can perceive that
they are living? Can there be any dead matter in
the 'universe? Is not even a stone held together
by the “cohesion” of its particles, and attracted
THE EXCURSÍON. - 19
to the earth by “gravitation’’’ But what else
and “gravitation * but energy,
is this “cohesion'
and what is “energy’” but the Soul, an interior
principle called force, which produces an outward
manifestation called matter; but which must ulti-
mately be identical with force or substance, or by
whatever name we may call a thing of which we
have no conception. If this view is correct, then
all things possess life, all things possess soul, and
there may be soul-beings, whose outward forms are
not so gross as ours, and who are therefore invisi-
ble to our physical senses, but which may be per-
ceived by our own soul. - .
In the silence of nature thoughts grow to be
waking dreams, and dreams become visions. I im-
agined how in this solemn solitude I might remain
all the rest of my life, perhaps sharing my habita-
tion with a few congenial friends. I imagined how,
united by common interests and having identical
objects in view, we might be happy and obtain
knowledge together. Here, far away from the
superficiality and shallowness of common life, a
far greater clearness of mental perception, a much
deeper concentration of thought, a much higher
conception of the truth regarding the mysteries
20 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
of nature and man might be obtained. How much
would our senses be sharpened for the perception
of external and internal things; how much would
our knowledge of self increase ! What would we
care about the tomfooleries of what is called “so-
ciety”; what would we care to know what is going
on in that great insane asylum called “the world”?
Here we could live undisturbed within Our OWn
selves, unpestered by the necromantic practices of
“society,” which daily and hourly force us to
go out from within our own selves, to appear
where we do not desire to be, to act as we
do not desire to act, to bow down before the
goddess of fashion, whom we despise in our
hearts. - -
Would such a life be useful for us and useful
for others? If it is true that the world and we
ourselves are made up of ideas, then it is just in
such solitudes where the best conditions might be
found to grasp and remodel ideas. Thoughts and
ideas cannot be merely illusions; they must have
a real existence, as real and perhaps more lasting -
than the objective things of this world; for we
know that ideas outlive the death of the forms in
which they are represented; we know that ideas,
THE EXCURSION. 21
like other fruits, are born and become mature, and
whenever an idea is mature it appears on the men-
tal horizon of the world, and is often grasped at
the same time by some receptive minds. A man
who is able to grasp and remodel exalted ideas, and
give them material expression, may do much more
for the benefit of the world by living alone and in
solitude, than by living among the world where his
work is continually impeded by affairs of minor
importance. The ideas which he shapes will not
die with his body. They will be thrown upon the
great mirror, the Astral Light, and be preserved
in the memory of the world, to be grasped and
utilized by others. - -
What is that being we call man, after all? What
is this living animal organism of flesh, blood, and
bones, which lives for a while and then dies, and
which the great majority of people esteem so highly,
as if it were their own immortal self, and for the
comfort of which they often sacrifice their self-
respect, their dignity, honor, and virtue? Is it
anything else than an animal in whom an intellec-
tual activity of a higher order than in other ani-
mals predominates? Can this intellectual activity
be the product of the mechanical, chemical, and
22 AMONG THE ROSIC RUCIA.N.S.
physiological activity of dead matter 2 If not,
what is the cause of this activity, and can this
cause exist independently of the form 2 What is
a man without any intelligence? If intelligence,
as it necessarily must be, is an attribute of the
spirit, what is a man without any spirit and with-
out spiritual intelligence 2
While I was meditating about this question, a
stupid laughter sounded close by my side. I had
been so much engaged with my own thoughts that
I had not noticed the approach of the stranger;
but looking up I saw close by my side one of those
half-idiotic human beings whom they call cretins,
and who are often found in the mountainous
countries of Switzerland and Savoy. I was
somewhat surprised and startled, and not a little
annoyed at the unwelcome interruption, and
I asked him rather abruptly; “What do you
want?” -
A broad grin passed over the face of the dwarf,
for such he certainly was, as he answered, “Mas-
ter says I should guide you to his house.” I was
somewhat astonished by his reply, but remember.
ing that the dwarf was an idiot, and that no intel-
ligent answer was to be expected from him, I
. THE EXCURSION. . 23.
asked, “Who is your master?” His answer was,
“Imperator”; and as he spoke that word a spark
of intelligence seemed to shine in his eyes, and the
tone of his voice seemed to indicate that this Im-
perator, whoever he might be, was undoubtedly
somebody to whom the cretin rendered implicit
obedience. I attempted to ask the dwarf more
questions, and to find out who his Imperator
was, or where he lived, but all my efforts to obtain
information from one who was evidently an idiot
were unavailing, and he merely grinned and
repeated the words which he had already said
before. I therefore at last made up my mind
to go with him and see how the adventure
would end.
The cretin walked ahead and I followed him;
he led me towards the base of the inaccessible
mountain. While we were walking on and the
idiot often turned back to see whether I was fol-
lowing him, I had a good opportunity to study his
dress and his features. He was not over three feet
high, and evidently a hunchback. His clothing
consisted of a brown gown, to which a hood was
attached, which made him appear like a small
Capuchin monk of the order of St. Augustine.
24 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
+ * -
An immense big head and a comparatively large
body rested upon very thin and small legs, while
his feet seemed again to be extraordinarily large.
Perhaps on account of his small size and the
healthy color of his face, he appeared to be almost
a child; but this opinion was contradicted by a
gray beard of considerable length which adorned
his face. In his hand he carried a staff made of a
dead limb of a tree, which he had evidently picked
up on his way. - -
THE THEOSOPHICAL MON ASTERY. 25
II.
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY.
H FOLLOWED my weird companion, and soon
we regained the path running along the bed of
the creek, which flowed tranquilly over a bottom
covered with white pebbles, and the shallowness
of the water seemed to indicate that we were not
far from its source. As we approached the mys-
terious mountain the stone walls appeared to rise
perpendicularly before us, and there was no place
visible where any other being but a bird could
have ascended ; but as we came still nearer, I
noticed a rent or break in the side of the wall,
opening like a cave or a tunnel. This tunnel we
entered, and I saw that it penetrated the giant wall
and led into another valley beyond. A few steps
brought us to the other end of the tunnel, and an
exclamation of joy and surprise escaped my lips as
I belield the beautiful sight which was presented
before my eyes.
Before me was a valley surrounded by mountains
26 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
of evidently inaccessible height, and in this
valley nature and art seemed to have combined to
endow it with an almost superterrestrial beauty.
Like a vast ocean bay it opened before my sight,
closing at the distance with a kind of natural
amphitheatre. It was covered with short grass
and planted with maple-trees, and on all sides
there were forests and groves, small lakes and
lovely creeks. Immediately in front of me, but
still at a considerable distance, rose the vault of a
sublime mountain peak high into the blue ether of
space, presenting a cavity with Overhanging rocks,
looking like the hollow space under a gigantic
wave, having been petrified by some magic spell.
The sides of the mountain sank in energetically
drawn lines towards a lower declivity, and then
again rose abruptly to an imposing height.
In the presence of so much sublimity I became
dumfoundered. My companion seemed to com-
prehend my feeling; for he, too, stood still and
laughed, as if he were pleased to see how full
of admiration I was. The stillness which sur-
rounded us would have been complete if it
had not been for the noise of a cataract at a
distance to the left, falling over a steep preci-
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTE {R.Y. 27
pice and appearing like a string of fluid silver
backed by the dark gray rock. The monoto-
nous rush of that fall in contradistinction to the
surrounding stillness seemed to me like the rush
of the river of time in the realm of eternity;
another world than the one to which I had been
accustomed seemed to have descended upon me;
the air seemed more pure, the light more ethe-
real, the grass more green than on the other side
of the tunnel; here seemed to be the valley of
peace, the paradise of happiness and content.
Looking towards the high peak in the distance,
I noticed what seemed to be a palace, a fortress, or
a monastery of some kind, and as I came nearer, I
saw it was a massive building of stone. Its high
walls rose above the tops of the surrounding trees,
and a dome, as if of a temple, crowned the top of
the building. Its exterior appearance indicated
the solidity of the walls. It was built in rectangu-
lar form, but its architecture was not of a regular
style; it presented many projecting windows, tur-
rets, balconies, and Verandas.
On the other side of the valley nature was not
less sublime and inspiring. Gray giant cliffs,
standing out prominently against the steel-blue
28 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
background of the sky, rose up to an extraordinary
height. Below the highest peaks long strips of
white clouds had settled around the mountain, and
seemed to separate the top of the latter from its
main body. The part below the cloud was partly
covered by the shadow and partly illuminated by
a pale ghostly light, producing a glamour. There,
where the masses of clouds rested against the bulk
of the mountain, it seemed to me that I was looking
into a world of destruction. It was as if the
utrails of the mountain had been torn up, and
tl, uniformity of the desolate jumble of rocks
was only interrupted by a few remnants of snow
situa, d in the caverns and crags of the mountain.
As w advanced we came into a broad avenue
leading oo the building, and I beheld a man of
noble and imposing appearance approaching. He
was clad in a yellow robe, his head covered with
black flowing hair, and he walked with an elastic
step. When the cretin saw this man he hurried
towards him, prostrated himself before him, and
vanished.
I was struck with astonishment by this extraor-
dinary occurrence, but I had no time to reflect,
for the stranger approached me and bid me
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 29
f
welcome. He appeared to be a man of about thirty-
five years of age, of tall and commanding stature,
and his mild and benevolent look seemed to pene-
trate my whole being and to read my innermost
thoughts. “Surely,” I thought, “this man is an
Adept l”
“Yes,” answered the stranger, as if he had been
reading my thought, “you have fallen into the
hands of the Adepts, of whom you have thought
so much and whose acquaintance you often de-
sired to make, and I will introduce you into our
temple and make you acquainted with some of
our Brothers of the Golden and Rosy Cross.”
I scanned his face, and now it seemed to me as
if this man were not a stranger. There was some-
thing so familiar about him as if I had known him
for years, and yet I could not find a place for him
in my memory. In vain I tortured my brain to
find out when or where I had met this man, or at
least some other one resembling him in appear-
ance. But again the Imperator of this Rosieru-
eian Society, for such he proved to be, answered
my unspoken thought by saying: “You are right;
we are not strangers, for I have often been in your
presence and stood by your side, although you did
30 - AMONG THE ROS ICR, UCIANS.
not see me. I have directed the flow of ideas
which streamed into your brain, while you elabo-
rated them and put them down in writing. More-
over, this place has often been visited by you
while your animal body was sleeping, and you
have conversed with me and with the brothers;
but when your soul returned to its house of flesh
and blood, it could not impress the memory of
the latter with the recollection of the events
through which it had passed, and you could re-
member none of your transcendental experiences
when you awoke. The memory of the animal
form retains only the impressions which are made
upon it by the avenues of the external senses; the
memory of the spirit awakens when we are in the
spiritual state.”
I told the Imperator that I considered this day
the happiest one in my life, and only regretted
that I would not be permitted to remain here for-
ever, as I felt that I was not yet worthy to remain
in the society of beings so far exalted above my
OWn State. -
“We shall not permit you to go away very
Soon,” answered the Master. “You will have
ample time to see how we live. But as to your
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 31
permanently remaining here, this is at present an
impossibility. There are still too many of the
lower and animal elements adhering to your con-
stitution and forming a part of yourself. They
could not resist long the destructive influence of
the pure and spiritual air of this place; and as
you have not yet a sufficient amount of truly
spiritual elements in your organism to render it
firm and strong, you would, by remaining here,
Soon become weak and waste away like a person
in a state of consumption; you would become mis-
erable instead of being happy, and you would die.”
“Master,” I said, “then I may at least hope to
learn, while I am here, the mystery of those great
Spiritual powers which you possess; by which you
are said to be able to transform one thing into an-
other, and transmute base metals into gold 7”
“There is nothing mysterious or wonderful
about it, my friend,” said the Imperator. “Such
things are not more wonderful than the ordinary
phenomena of nature which we see every day.
They are only mysterious to those whose own
prejudices and misconceptions hinder them to see
the truth. We need not be surprised about them
any more than about seeing the moon revolve
32 AMONG THE ROSIC RUCIANS.
around the earth, or watching the growth of a tree.
It is all merely the effect of that one primordial
power which is called the Will, and which called
the world into existence. It may manifest itself
in various ways, and on the seven different planes
of existence, as mechanical force or as a spiritual
power; but it is always the same divine primordial
power of Will, acting through the instrumentality
of the organism of man, who directs it by his in-
telligence.”
“Then,” I said, “the principal requirement
would be to learn how to strengthen the Will?”
“Not so,” said the Imperator. “The Will is a
universal power; it holds together the worlds in
space and causes the revolutions of planets; it
pervades and penetrates everything, and does not
require your strengthening it, for it is already
strong enough to accomplish everything possible.
You are only an instrument through which this
universal power may act and manifest itself, and
you may experience the fullest extent of its
strength if you do not attempt to oppose it. But
if you imagine that you have a will of your own,
whose mode of action is different from the univer-
sal will, you merely pervert an insignificant part of
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 33
the latter and oppose it to the great original power.
The more you imagine to have such a will of your
own, the more you will come into conflict with
the original will-power of the universe; and as
you are only an insignificant part of the latter,
you will be overwhelmed and bring on your own
destruction. Your Will can only act powerfully if
it remains identical with the will of the universal
Spirit. Your Will is strongest if you have no will
of your own, but remain in all things obedient to
the Law.”
“Then,” I said, “how can we accomplish any-
thing at all? If we can do nothing through the
power of our own will, we may as well never at-
tempt to do anything, but wait until Nature per-
forms her work without our aid.”
“We can accomplish nothing useful,” answered
the Master, “by attempting to employ any will of
our own ; but we may employ our Reason and
Intelligence to guide and conduct the already ex-
isting universal Will-power in Nature, and thus
we may accomplish in a few moments certain
things which it would require unconscious nature
much longer periods of time to accomplish without
our aid. The miller who employs the water of a
34 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
river to set his mill in motion does not create water,
nor does he attempt to make the river run upwards
towards its source; he merely leads the stream
into certain channels and uses the already existing
current in an intelligent manner to accomplish his
purpose. In the same manner acts the Adept.
He guides the existing power by his intelligence,
and thereby causes it to accomplish certain things
in accordance with the law of nature. Man’s In-
telligence is perhaps the only thing which he may
properly call his own ; and the highest intelligence
to which he may possibly aspire is the perception
and understanding of the universal truth.”
“Do you see yonder cloud which has settled
below the top of the mountain 2° continued the
Adept. “It will remain there until some current
of air blows it away, or until a change of tempera-
ture causes it to rise or to fall. If we disperse it
by causing the universal forces of nature to act
upon the dense masses, we do not act against the
law of nature, but guide it by our intelligence.”
While the Master spoke these words, he extended
his hands toward the mountain, below whose top
the clouds had collected, and immediately it seemed
as if life had been infused into the dense mass.
- s - ... • * *
• - ~ • * x- – “… * - | “. .
\
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 35
It began to whirl and to dance, and finally it rose
like a column of smoke up to the top of the moun-
tain, ascending from there high up into the air,
giving the mountain the appearance of a volcano.
At last it collected again far above the top, in the
air, forming a little silvery cloud, through which
the sunshine was streaming.
I wondered at this manifestation of life in a
cloud; but the Adept, reading my thoughts, said:
“Life is universal and everywhere; it is identical
with the Will. It is not a product of man, nor
can it be monopolized by him. He receives a cer-
tain amount of it at the time when he enters the
world; Nature supplies him with it and lends it
to him ; and he must return it to her again when
he makes his eacit from the world. Only he who
has succeeded in facing a certain amount of the
life principle within his permanent inner self may
call that life his own, and retain it after the death
of the form.”
During this conversation we had slowly ap-
proached the building, and I had now an oppor-
tunity to examine its exterior in all its details.
It was only two stories high, but the rooms seemed
to be lofty. It was built in a quadrangular form,
36 AMONG THE ROSIOR, UCIANS.
and surrounded by oaks and maple trees, and a
large garden or park. Seven steps of white mar-
ble led up to the main portal, which was protected
by two massive pillars of granite, and over the
door appeared in golden letters an inscription, say-
! ing: You, who enter here, leave all evil thoughts
behind.
We entered through the portal into a large ves-
tibule paved with flagstones. In the midst of this
room was a statue of Gautama Buddha on a pedes-
tal, and the walls were ornamented with golden
inscriptions representing sonne of the most impor-
tant doctrines of the ancient sages. To the right
and left, doors opened into long corridors leading
to the various apartments of the Brothers; but
the door opposite the entrance led into a beautiful
garden, where I beheld many plants and trees such
as usually are only to be found in tropical climes.
The back of this garden was formed by a building
of white marble, surrounded by the dome which I
had seen from the distance, after entering through
the tunnel, and on the top of the dome was a sil-
ver dragon resting on a golden globe.
“This,” said the Imperator, “is the sanctuary
of our temple; in this you cannot enter. If you
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 37
were to attempt it, the immediate death of your
personality would be the consequence; nor would
it serve you even if you were able to enter and
live, for in that sanctuary everything is dark to all
who do not bring with them their own spiritual
light, the unextinguishable lamp of divine intelli-
gence to illuminate the darkness.”
We walked into one of the corridors. On our
left there were numerous doors leading into the
cells or apartments of the Brothers, but to the
right was a wall, occasionally opening into the
tropical garden, and the interstices between these
openings were filled out with beautifully painted
landscapes. One of these landscapes represented
Indian scenery, with the white snow-covered Hima-
laya Mountains in the background, while the fore-
part of the picture represented what appeared to
be a Chinese pagoda, with a small lake and wooded
hills at a distance.
“These pictures,” the Master explained, “repre-
sent the various monasteries or lamaseries of our
order. The one before you is situated near a lake
in the interior of Tibet, and is occupied by some
of the highest Adepts of our order. Each of
these pictures shows also a part of the country in
38 AMONG THE ROSICIRUCIANS.
which the monastery is located, so as to give a
correct idea of the general character of the local-
ity. But these pictures have an occult quality
which will become apparent to you if you concen-
trate your mind upon some part of the picture.”
I did as directed, and concentrated my attention
upon the grand portal of the lamasery, and to my
astonishment the door opened, and the tall form of
an Indian, dressed in shining white robes, with a
turban of pale yellow silk upon his head, stepped
out of that door. I immediately recognized him
to be one of the Tibetan Adepts whom I had seen
in my waking dreams. He, too, seemed to recog-
nize me, and smilingly nodded his head, while I
bowed reverentially before him. A fine-looking
horse was brought forward by some attendant,
which he mounted and rode away. -
I was speechless from astonishment, but the ſm-
perator Smiled and drew me away, quoting a pas-
sage of Shakespeare, with a little modification ; for
he said, “There are many things in Heaven and
Earth which are not understood by your philoso-
phers.”
We passed on to another picture, representing
Egyptian scenery, with a convent in the fore-
THE THEOSOPHICAL MON ASTERY. 39
ground and pyramids at a distance; it was of a
more gloomy character than the former, probably
on account of the desert places by which it seemed
to be surrounded. The next picture represented a
similar building, situated in a tropical and moun-
tainous country, and the Adept told me it was one
located somewhere in the Cordiller&s of South
America. Another one showed a Mohammedan
temple, with minarets and the half-moon upon
their tops. I expressed my surprise to see all the
various religious systems in the world represented
in these Rosicrucian orders; for I had always
believed that the Rosicrucians were an eminently
Christian order. ~
The Imperator, again reading my thought, cor-
rected my mistake. “The name ‘Rosicrucian Or-
der,’ or the “Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross,’”
he said, “is a comparatively modern invention, and
was first used by Johann Valentin Andreae, who
invented the story of the knight Christian Rosen-
crew2, for the same purpose as Cervantes invented
his Don Quichote de la Mancha : namely, for the
purpose of ridiculing the would-be Adepts, reform-
ers and gold-makers of his age, when he wrote
his celebrated “Fama Fraternitatis.” Before his
40 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
pamphlet appeared, the name Rosicrucian did not
mean a person belonging to some certain organized
society by that name, but it was a generic name,
applied to all Occultists, Adepts, Alchemists, or
in fact to anybody who was or pretended to be
in possession of some occult knowledge, and who
was therefore supposed to be acquainted with the
secret signification of the Rose and the Cross :
symbols which have been adopted by the Christian
church, which were, however, not invented by her,
but which were used by all Occultists thousands
of years before Christianity was known. These
symbols do not belong exclusively to the Chris-
tian church, nor can they be monopolized by her.
They are as free as the air for any one who can
grasp their meaning, and unfortunately very few
of your Christians know that meaning; they only
worship the external forms, and know nothing
about the living principle which those forms rep-
resent.”
“Then,” I said, “a spiritually enlightened man
may become a member of your order, even if he
did not believe in any of the so-called Christian
dogmas?”
To this the Imperator answered: “No man can
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 41
become a member of our exalted order whose
knowledge is merely based upon dogmas, beliefs,
creeds, or opinions which have been taught to him
by somebody, or which he has accepted from hear-
say or from the reading of books. Such imaginary
knowledge is no real knowledge; we can know
nothing except that which we ourselves know, be-
cause we feel, see, and understand it. That which
is usually called knowledge is merely a matter of
memory. We may store our memory with innum-
erable things, and they may be true or false; but
even if they are true, they do not convey real
knowledge. Real knowledge cannot be imparted
by one man to another; a man can only be guided
to the place where he may obtain it; but he must
himself grasp the truth, not merely intellectually
with his brain, but also intuitionally with his heart.
“To obtain real knowledge we must feel the
truth of a thing, and understand that it is true,
and know the reason why it cannot be otherwise.
To believe in the truth of anything without
having real knowledge of its truth is merely a
superstition ; and therefore all your scientific,
philosophical, and theological speculations are
based upon superstition and not upon real knowl-
42 AMONG THE ROSIC RUC IANS.
edge. The science and knowledge of your mod-
ern philosophers and theologians is continually in
danger of being overthrown by some new discov-
ery, which will not amalgamate with their arti-
ficial systems, because the latter are built upon
sensual perceptions and upon logical argumenta-
tion. The truth cannot be overthrown; it needs no
argumentation, and if it is once perceived by the
spiritual power of perception and understood by
the spiritual intelligence of man, it conveys real
knowledge to the latter, and cannot be disputed
away.
“Our order has, therefore, nothing to do with
ereeds, or beliefs, or opinions of any kind. We
care nothing for them; we only want real knowl-
edge. If we were all sufficiently perfect to rec-
ognize all truths by direct perception, we should
not need any books or instruments; we should not
need to use logic or make any experiments. But
if we were in such a state of perfection, we should
not be here; we should be in Nirvana. As it is,
we are still men, although far above the intellec-
tual animal which is usually &alled man and has
not been regenerated. We still use our books and
have a library, and study the opinions of thinkers;
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 43
but we never accept such books or opinions, even
if they came from Buddha himself, as our infalli-
ble guides, unless they receive the seal from our
reason and understanding. We venerate them
and make use of them; they serve us, but we do
not serve them.”
During this conversation we walked into the
library, where thousands of books were standing
upon a great number of shelves. I noticed many
ancient books of which I had heard, but which I
had never seen. There were the sybilline books, .
which are said to have been destroyed by fire; the
books of Hermes Trismegistus, of which only one
is believed to be in existence; and many others of
priceless value for the antiquary or the student
of hermetic philosophy. While I wondered how
these brothers came into possession of such treas-
ures, the Imperator said: —
“Well may you be surprised how we came into
possession of books which do not exist; but the
secret of this is, that everything, and consequently
every book which ever existed, leaves its imperish-
able impression in the Astral Light, and that by
certain occult means these impressions may be
reproduced from that universal storehouse in the
44 AMONG THE ROSIO IRU CIA.N.S.
memory of nature, and be put in a visible, tangible,
and material shape. Some of our brothers are to
a great extent engaged in making such reproduc-
tions, and thus we have without any financial ex-
penses obtained these treasures, which no amount
of money could have procured.”
I rejoiced to hear these words, because they
confirmed my opinion that life in a solitude was
not necessarily a life of uselessness, and that ideas
are real things, which may be seen and grasped
far more easily in a tranquil place than while we
are surrounded by the turmoil and the petty cares
of life in “society.”
In answer to this thought, the Imperator said:
“Our monastery has been founded by spiritually
enlightened people who had the same thought
which I read in your mind. They therefore se-
lected this spot in a secluded valley, whose exis-
tence is known to only few, and by making use of
certain elementary forces of nature, which are as
yet unknown to you, they created an illusion
which renders this place safe against all unwel-
come intruders. Here those in whom the germ of
divinity, being latent or dormant in the heart of
every man, has awakened into life and activity,
THE THEOSOPHICAT, MONASTERY. 45
may find the conditions required for the further
development of that germ. Here we live in peace,
separated by a barrier from the outer world, which
the latter cannot surmount ; for even if the exis-
tence of our retreat were known, it would be an
easy matter for us to create other illusions, which
would prevent the intrusion of those who attempt-
ed to enter it. We are, however, not excluded
from that outer world, although we never enter it
with our physical forms. By the exercise of our
clairvoyant and clairaudient powers, we may at
any moment know what is going on in that world;
and if we desire to come into personal contact
with it, we leave our physical forms and go out in
Our astral bodies. We visit whomsoever we want,
and witness everything without our presence being
perceived. We visit the statesman, the minister,
the philosopher, and discourser; we infuse thoughts
in their minds which are useful, and they do not
know from whence those thoughts come. If their
prejudices and predilections are very strong, they
may reject those thoughts; but if they are reason-
able people and know how to discriminate, they
will follow the silent advice and profit by it. It is
true, that by setting a great annount of will-power
46 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
into motion we might handle mankind as if they
were merely automatons, and we could cause them
to do what we please, while they would still im-
agine that they were following their own inclina-
tion. But to do so would be against the rules of
our order and against the great Law, for the latter
decides that each man shall be the creator of his
own Karma. We are permitted to advise the
people, but we are not permitted to interfere with
their freedom.
“We accept,” the Adept continued, “in our
circle every one who has the necessary qualifica-
tions to enter it, no matter to what religious belief
he may have adhered before he obtained true
knowledge ; but you will perceive that these quali-
fications are not in everybody's possession; they
cannot be conferred by favor, and it is a well-
known saying, even among the lowest grades of
, occultists, that the Adept cannot be made, but
|
that he must grow to become one.”
“Master,” I said, “would it not be well for
those who desire to develop spiritually and to be-
come Adepts, to imitate your example and to
select some secluded places where they could
reside undisturbed and give their time to interior
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 47
meditation and concentration of thought? I know
that there are at present a great many people in
various parts of the world, belonging to various
nationalities and having various creeds, who have
become convinced of the fact that the conditions
under which the majority of the men and women
of our present civilization exist and live, are not
conducive to the quick attainment of a higher
spiritual state. They believe that the objects
which people usually strive to attain during their
comparatively short life upon this globe, such as
the gratification of pride and ambition, the hoard-
ing of money, the enjoyment of sexual love, the
obtaining of bodily comfort and pleasure, etc.,
cannot be the true objects of life; but that our
present life is only one of the many phases of our
eternal existence, and that terrestrial life is only
a means to an end, namely, to afford the conditions
by which the divine element, germinally contained
in every man, may grow and develop, whereby
man may attain a higher life like yours, which is
not subject to transformation and death, and is
therefore of permanent value.”
The Adept, who had patiently listened to my
outburst of enthusiasm, smiled, and said: “If those
|
|
|
|
|
48 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
|
||
|
people have advanced so far as to be able to bear
a life of seclusion, let them enter it; but to do so
it would, above all, be necessary that they should
possess some real knowledge. Only those who
possess such knowledge will be able to live har-
moniously together. As long as men move merely
on the plane of beliefs and opinion, each man’s
opinions and tastes will differ from those of the
other to a certain extent, and I am afraid that
your proposed harmonial society would prove in
the end to be a very unharmonious one, and not
at all conducive to that tranquillity necessary for
interior concentration.
“I have, however, no doubt that even under such
unfavorable auspices considerable advantage might
be derived from tablishment of theosophical
monasteries in secludev. . . " If you had any
colleges, seminaries, schools, or societies where the
truth could be taught without all the accompany-
ing rubbish of scientific and theological miscon-
ceptions and superstitions, which have accumulated
through the ages, great progress would undoubtedly
be made. As the present civilization now stands,
there are two methods adopted for the education
of the people. One is by means of what is called
ſ
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 49
Science, the other by means of what is called Reli-
gion. As far as Science is concerned, her deduc-
tions and speculations are based upon observation
and logic. Her logic may be good enough; but
her powers of observation, upon which the fun-
daments of her logic rest, are restricted to her
very imperfect faculties of sensual perception, and
therefore your science is based entirely upon ex-
ternal illusions, and is consequently a superficial
and illusive science, knowing nothing about the
inner life, which is far more important than ex-
ternal phenomena. Her doctrines regarding the
fundamental laws of nature are wrong, and there-
fore all her deductions are wrong as soon as she
leaves the plane of illusions.
“You must not misunderstand me,” he contin-
ued, seeing that I did not fully grasp the mean-
ing of his words. “I do not mean to say that
your modern science knows nothing about the
external appearances of things. She knows what
she sees and understands; but not being able to
See anything except external and sensual phe-
nomena, she only knows external effects. She
knows little or nothing about the invisible causes
which produce such visible effects, and as soon
)
50 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
as she attempts to speculate about them, she
errs; because causes are not the consequences of
their effects, but the consequences of still more
interior and fundamental causes, of which mod-
\ern science knows absolutely nothing, and which,
therefore, cannot serve her as a basis from which
to draw logical conclusions concerning their ulti-
mate effects. She knows a great deal about the
little details of existence which are the ultimate
effects of the action of universal Life; but she
knows nothing about the Tree of Life, the eternal
source from which all these transient phenomena
Spring. -
“As far as your modern theology is concerned,
it is based upon an entire misconception of terms
which were originally intended to signify cer-
tain spiritual powers, of which your priests and
laymen can have no correct conception because
they have not the spiritual powers necessary to
conceive of such things. They dispute with
each other about the qualities of certain princi-
ples, while neither the one nor the other party
knows anything whatever about the object of
their disputation. Being narrow-minded, the uni-
versal principles and powers which are active
THE • THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 51
within the great workshop of nature have, in
their conceptions, become narrowed down to per-
sonal and limited beings; the divine and infinite
power which men call God, which exists every-
where and without which nothing can possibly
exist, has been reduced in the minds of the igno-
rant to an extracosmic deity of some kind, who
can be persuaded by mortals to change his will,
and who needs substitutes and deputies upon
this earth to execute his divine laws. Your re-
ligion is not the religion of a living God who
still lives and who executes his own will; it is the
religion of a dead and impotent god who died
long ago and left an army of clergymen to rule
in his stead. Therefore your modern religions
are systems of superstitions from which the truth
has been excluded; the infinite God has been
deposed from his eternal throne in the hearts
of men, and fallible mortal priests have been put
in his place. Love has departed, and fear rules
mankind; each individual seeks his or her hap-
piness, and forgets the existence of others. Each
one wants to be saved at the expense of another;
each one wants to obtain a reward which he has
not merited ; all think that to live is the object
•,
}
1
*
|
ſ
{
|
\
\
52 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
of life, and few realize the fact that man's life
can have Only one reasonable object, namely, to
benefit humanity, and that only he can hope to
live eternally who obtains the power to live, not
in his perishable self, but in the spiritual ele-
ment of humanity. -
“Your theology should above all be based upon
the power to spiritually perceive the truth. But
- where can you find a clergyman who has any
spiritual perceptions, and who dares to trust to his
intuition more than to the dogmas prescribed by
his church. If he dared to have an opinion of his
own and to assert it, he would cease to be a minis-
ter of his church and be considered an heretic.
In our ‘intellectual’ age everything is left to
intellectual investigation alone; little is done to
develop the intuitive power of the heart. The
consequence is, that our present generation are
like people looking at everything by means of a
telescope; they see, but they do not feel what
they see, and the consequence is an entirely false
conception of nature and man.
“Man is neither more nor less than a living
organism or instrument through which the Uni-
versal One Life acts. In so far he is merely an
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 53
intellectual animal. But man's Organization, es-
pecially that of his brain, is far superior to that of
inferior animals, and therefore man is enabled to
become an instrument for the manifestation of the
highest principle in the universe, which is called
the Principle of Divine Wisdom.
“The instrument, or organism, through which
the divine principle acts in man and through man,
from within outward, upon the external world, is
the organism of the Soul. In this organism the
|
universal and undifferentiated divine Spirit finds | L–
j j
J.
*-*
the soil to grow in an individualized form; it finds
the stimulus for its development and the food
from which it may draw its strength. As long as
man is unacquainted with the processes going on
in this (to him) invisible organism, he will have
little power to guide and control these processes;
he will resemble a plant, which is dependent for its
existence on the elements which are unconsciously
brought to it by the winds and the rains, or which
may accidentally be found in its surroundings; it
has neither the power to prevent nor to promote
its own growth. But when man obtains a knowl-
edge of the constitution of his own soul, when he
becomes conscious of the processes going on in its
54 AMONG THE ROSTCRUCIANS.
f
organism and learns to guide and control them, he
will be able to promote his own growth. He will
become free to select or to reject the psychic in-
fluences which come within his sphere, he will
become his own master and attain — so to say—
psychic locomotion. He will then be as much
superior to a man without such knowledge and
power as an animal is superior to a plant; for
while an animal may go in search of its food and
select or reject what it pleases, the plant is chained
to its place and depends entirely on the conditions
which that one place affords. The ignorant de-
pends on the conditions prepared for him; the
knowing one can choose his conditions himself.
_ “For many centuries a superstitious belief was
prevailing among the ignorant as well as among
the learned. It was believed that man was a
finished being, incapable of any further organic
improvement. It was, of course, known that dur-
ing his lifetime his knowledge could grow, and
that as he advanced in age he could learn things
which he did not know when he was young; but
thought and intellectual activity were looked upon
as something incomprehensible, as a force without
matter, as an activity without substance, as a
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 55
nothing. They did not know where man stored /
the knowledge which he acquired, nor what be."
came of it when he died. They did not know
whether or not after the death of his body he
would have another, or even perhaps a still greater,
opportunity to acquire knowledge; and if he º/ -
learn something after ‘death’ and without having
a body, what was the object of his having any
physical body at all? None could tell. The
scientists discarded such questions as being un-
worthy of their consideration, and they preferred
annihilation rather than to confess that there was
something in the wide expanse of nature which
they did not already know. The theories ad-
vanced by the theologians were not more satisfac-
tory than those of the scientists, for they believed
— or professed to believe — that man was a com-
plete being, having come in a finished state out of
the hands of his Creator and, as a punishment for |
his subsequent bad behavior, having been im-"
prisoned upon this planet. They furthermore
were of the opinion that, if a man were leading a
pious life, or, after leading a wicked life, obtained
the pardon for his sins and the favor of God, he
would after his death become a superior being,
56 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
be ushered into a paradise, and live in a state
of never-ending enjoyment. -
“It will be acknowledged now by every inde-
pendent thinker, that these theories were not very
satisfactory to those who desired to know the
truth. But there was nothing either to prove or
to contradict such assumptions, and, moreover, the
multitude did not think; they paid their doctors
to do their thinking for them. -
“Since the publication of ‘Esoteric Buddhism'
the opinions of the scientists and those of the
theologians have been equally shaken in their
foundations. The old truth which was known to
the ancients, but which had almost been entirely
'forgotten during our modern age of materialism,
that man is not a finished being, incapable of any
further organic development, but that his body
and his mind are continually subject to transfor-
mation and change, and that no transformation
can exist where no substance exists, because force
cannot exist without substance, has become almost
universally known. It was demonstrated to the
scientists that their science extended only over a
very small portion of that mysterious being called
Man; that they only knew his outward appear-
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 57
ance, his shell, but nothing of the living power
acting within that mask which is called the physi-
cal body. It was demonstrated to the presump-
tuous theologians who believed that man’s eternal
welfare or damnation depended on their blessings
or curses, that justice cannot be separated from
God, and that God alone is immortal. It was
made logically comprehensible to the intellect
that God is the divine spiritual element in .../
which alone will continue to live after all the
lower and imperfect elements are dissolved, and
that therefore a man in whom God did not exist
in a state of divinity could not, after the death of
his body, jump into a higher state for which he
was not fit, and which he was not able to attain/
while alive. - -
“The exposition of the essential constitution of
Man, known to the Indian sages, described three
hundred years ago by Theophrastus Paracelsus,
and again set forth more fully and clearly than
ever before by A. P. Sinnett, is calculated to
humble the pride of the scientists and the vanity
of the priests. When it is once more known and
digested, it will prove to the learned how little
they know, and it will draw the line for the
58 AMONG THE ROSICR, UCIANS.
_*
legitimate activity of the clergyman as an instructor
in morals. It proves that man is not already a
god, as some had imagined themselves to be. It
proves that a man may look like an intellectual
giant, and still be, spiritually considered, only a
dwarf. It demonstrates that the law which gov-
erns the growth of organisms on the physical
plane is not reversed when it acts within the cor-
responding organisms on the psychical plane. It
|
shows that out of nothing nothing can grow; but
that wherever there is the germ of something,
even if that germ is invisible, that something may
grow and develop.
“The growth of every germ and of every being,
as far as we know it, depends on certain condi-
tions. These conditions may be established either
by means of the intellectual activity of the being
itself, having the power to surround itself by
such, or they may have been established by exter-
nal causes, over which the being has no control.
A plant or an animal cannot grow unless it re-
ceives the food and the stimulus which it requires;
the intellect cannot expand unless it is fed with
ideas and stimulated by reason to assimilate them;
the spirit cannot become strong unless it finds in
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 59
the lower principles the materials required for
the acquisition of strength, and is stimulated by
the light of wisdom to absorb that which it
requires. *
“One element necessary for the development of
strength is resistance. If we enter one of the vast
pine forests of the Alps, or of the Rocky Moun-
tains in the United States, we find ourselves sur-
rounded by towering trees, whose main trunks
have very few branches. Upwards they rise like
the masts of a ship, covered with a gray bark,
naked, and without foliage. Only near the tops,
which reach out of the shadows which they throw
upon each other, the branches appear and spread
up to the utmost tops, which wave their heads in
the sunlight. These trees are all top-heavy; their
principally or only developed parts are their
heads, and all the life which they extract from
the ground and the air seems to mount to their
heads; while the trunks, although increasing in
size as the tree grows, are left undeveloped and
bare. Thus they may stand and grow from year
to year, and reach a mature age; but some day,
sooner or later, some dark clouds collect around
the snowy peaks and assume a threatening aspect;
60 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
the gleam of lightnings appears among the swelling
masses, the sound of thunder is heard, bolts of
liquid light dart from the rents in the clouds, and
suddenly the storm sweeps down from the sum-
mit into the valley. Then the work of devasta-
tion begins. These top-heavy trees, having but
little strength in their feet, are mowed down by
the wind like so many stems of straw in a field
of wheat; there they lie rank after rank, having
tumbled over each other by the fall, and their
corpses encumber the mountain sides. But at the
edge of the timber, and outside of the main body
of the forest, looking like outposts or sentinels
near the lines of a battle, there are still here and
there some solitary pines to whom the storm could
do no harm. They have, on account of their iso-
lated positions, been exposed to winds all their
lives; they have become used to it and grown
strong. They have not been protected and shel-
tered by their neighbors. They are not top-
heavy, for their great strong branches grow out
from the trunk a few feet above the soil, continu-
ing up to the tops, and their roots have grown
through the crevices of the rocks, holding on to
them with an iron grasp. They have met with
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 61
resistance since the time of their youth, and by
resisting have gained their strength.
“Thus intellectual man, growing up protected |
by fashion and friends in a school, college, univer-
sity, or perhaps within the walls of the convent,
finds himself isolated from contrary influences
and meets with but little resistance. Crowded
together with those who think like him, he lives
and thinks like the others. Over their heads
waves the banner of some accepted authority,
and upon that banner are inscribed certain dog-
mas in which they believe without ever daring
to doubt their veracity. There they grow,
throwing upon each other the shadow of their
ignorance, and each prevents the others from see-
ing the sunlight of truth. There they cram their
brains with authorized opinions, learning a great
many of the details of our illusory life which
they mistake for the real existence; they become
top-heavy, for all the energy which they receive
from the universal fountain of life goes to º
ply the brain; the heart is left without supply;
the strength of character, of which the heart is
the seat, suffers; the intellect is overſed and the
spirit is starved. Thus they may grow up and
62 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
become proud of their knowledge; but perhaps
Some day new and strange ideas appear on the
mental horizon, a wind begins to blow, and down
tumbles the banner upon which their dogmas
have been inscribed, and their pride tumbles
down with it. -
“But not only on the physical and the intel-
lectual plane; in the realm of the emotions, too,
the same law prevails. He who desires to de-
velop strength must not be afraid of resistance;
he must obtain strength in his feet. He must
be prepared to meet the wind of contrary opin-
ions, and not be overthrown when the storms of
passion arise. He should force himself to re-
main in contact with that which is not accord-
ing to his taste, and even to harmonize with
that which appears inimical, for it is really his
friend, because it may supply him with strength.
He should learn to bear calumny and animosity,
envy and opposition; he should learn to endure
suffering, and to estimate life at its true value.
The contrary influences to which he may have
been exposed will cause a tempest to rage
through his heart; but when he has gained the
power to command the tempest to cease and to
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 63
say to the excited waves of his emotions, Be still!
then will the first gleam of the rising sun appear
in his heart, and before its warm glow the cold
moonlight thrown out by the calculating and
reflecting brain will grow pale; a new and still
larger world than the external one will appear
before his interior vision, in which he will be
contented to live, and where he will find an in-
exhaustible source of happiness, unknown to
those who live a life of the senses. Henceforth
he will require no longer to speculate reflectively
about the truth, for he will see it clear in his
own heart. Henceforth he will not be required
to be exposed to storms, but may seek shelter
in a tranquil place; not because he is afraid of the
storms, which can do him no harm, but because
he wants to employ his energies for the full de-
velopment of the newly awakened spiritual germ,
instead of wasting them uselessly on the out-
ward plane. * -
“Thus it appears that only after having
reached a certain state of maturity, life in a !
solitude, isolated from contrary influences, be- *
comes desirable and useful, and that those who
retire from the world as long as they need the
64 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
world are attempting to ascend to the kingdom
of heaven by beginning at the top of the ladder.
Let him who needs the world remain in the
world. The greater the temptations are by
which he is surrounded, the greater will be his
strength if he successfully resists. Only he who
can within his own mental sphere create the
conditions which his spirit requires, is independ-
ent of all external conditions and free. He
who cannot evolve a world within his own soul
needs the external world to evolve his soul.
“ Unspiritual men, therefore, who retire from
, the world because they are afraid of the world,
cannot be considered to be heroes who have re-
nounced the world; they deserve rather to be
regarded as cowards who have deserted their
ranks at the beginning of the battle with life.
Such people sometimes retire into convents for the
purpose of having a comfortable life, and in addi-
tion to that a ticket to heaven. They imagine to do
a service to God by leading a harmless and useless
life; for which imaginary service they expect to
obtain a reward at the end of life. But the re-
ward which they will receive will also exist merely
in their imagination. As the sensualist wastes his
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 65
time in the prosecution of useless pleasures,
so the bigot wastes his time in useless ceremonies
and prayers. The actions of the former are in-
stigated by a desire for sensual pleasure in this
life, those of the latter by the hope for pleasure
in another life; both are acting for the purpose
of gratifying their own personal selves. I am un-
able to see any essential difference between the
motives and morals of the two.
“But with spiritually developed man the case is
entirely different. The divine principle in man
exists independent of the conditions of relative
space and time; it is eternal and self-existent. It
cannot be angered by opposition, nor irritated by
contradiction, nor be thrown into confusion by
Sophistry. If it has once become conscious of its
own power in man, it will not require the stimulus
required by the physical organism and afforded by
the impressions which come through the avenues
of the senses from the outer world; for it is itself
that stimulus which creates worlds within its own
substance. It is the Lord over all the animal
elemental forces in the soul of man, and their tur-
moil can neither educate it nor degrade it, for it is
Divinity itself in her pure state, being eternal, un-
changeable, and free.
66 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
“He in whom this divine principle has once
awakened, he who has once practically experi-
enced the inner life, who has visited the kingdom.
of heaven within his own soul, he who stands firm
upon his feet, will no more need the educating in-
fluences of the contending storms of the outer
world, to gain strength by resistance; nor will he
experience any desire to return to the pleasures
and tomfooleries of the world. He renounced
nothing when he retired into the solitude; for it
cannot be looked upon as an act of renunciation
if we throw away a thing which is a burden to us.
He cannot be called an ascetic ; for he does not
undergo any discipline or process of hardening; it
is no act of self-denial to refuse things which we
do not want. The true ascetic is he who lives in
the world, surrounded by its temptations; he in
whose soul the animal elements are still active,
craving for the gratification of their desires and
possessing the means for their gratification, but who
by the superior power of his will conquers his ani-
mal self. Having attained that state, he may re-
tire from the world and employ his energies for
the further expansion and the employment of the
spiritual power which he possesses. He will be
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 67
perfectly happy, because that which he desires he
can create within his own interior world. He ex-
pects no future reward in heaven; for what could
heaven offer to him except happiness which he
already possesses. He desires no other good but
to create good for the world. -
“If you could establish theosophical monasteries,
where intellectual and spiritual development would
go hand in hand, where a new science could be
taught, based upon a true knowledge of the funda-
mental laws of the universe, and where at the
same time man would be taught how to obtain
a mastery over himself, you would confer the
greatest possible benefit upon the world. Such a
convent would, however, afford immense advan-
tages for the advancement of intellectual research.
The establishment of a number of such places of
learning would dot the mental horizon of the
world with stars of the first magnitude, from which
rays of intellectual light would stream and pene-
trate the world. Standing upon a far higher
plane than the material scientists of our times,
a new and far greater field than that offered to
the latter would be laid open for investigation and
research. Knowing all the different opinions of
68 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS,
the highest accepted authorities, and not being
bound by an Orthodox scientific creed, having at
their service all the results of the investigations of
the learned, but not being bound to their systems
by a belief in their infallibility, they would be at
liberty to think freely. Their convents would
become centres of intelligence, illuminating the
world; and if their power of self-control would
grow in equal proportion with the development of
their intellect, they would soon be able to enter
adeptship.”
The Adept had spoken these words with un-
usual warmth, as if he intended to appeal to my
sympathy and to induce me to use my efforts to
establish such convents; there was a look of pity
in his eyes, as if he exceedingly regretted the state
of poor ignorant humanity, with whose Karma, he
was not permitted to interfere forcibly, according
to the established rules of his order. I, too, re-
gretted my own inability to establish such monas-
teries, and for once I wished that I was rich, so as
to be able to make at least an attempt with one
such establishment. But immediately the Impera-
tor saw my thought in my mind, and said: —
“You mistake ; it is not the want of money
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 69
which prevents us to execute this idea; it is the
impossibility to find the proper kind of people to
inhabit the convent after it is established. Indeed,
we would be poor Alchemists if we could not pro-
duce gold in any desirable quantity, if some real
benefit for humanity could be effected thereby,
and of this I shall convince you, if you desire it.
But gold is a curse to mankind, and we do not
wish to increase the curse from which humanity
suffers. Distribute gold among men, and you will
only create a craving for more ; give them gold,
and you will transform them into devils. No ; it is
not gold that we need; it is men who thirst after
wisdom. There are thousands who desire knowl-
edge, but few who desire wisdom. Intellectual
development, Sagacity, craftiness, cunning, are to-
day mistaken for spiritual development, but this
conception is wrong; animal cunning is not intel-
ligence, craftiness is not wisdom, and your most
learned men are the last ones who can bear the
truth. Even many of your would-be Occultists and
Rosicrucians have taken up their investigations
merely for the purpose of gratifying their idle
curiosity, while others desire to pry into the
secrets of nature to obtain knowledge which they
|
|
70 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
desire to employ for the attainment of selfish ends.
Give us men or women who desire nothing else
but the truth, and we will take care of their needs.
|
d
*
#
}
l
\
:
who cares nothing for comfort? What will it take
How much money will it require to lodge a person
| * g -
to furnish the kitchen for those who have no de-
sire for dainties? What libraries will be required
{
|
|
|
#
for those who can read in the book of nature ?
What external pictures will please those who wish
to avoid a life of the senses and to retire within
their own selves? What terrestrial scenery shall
be selected for those who live within the paradise
of their souls? What company will please those
who converse with their own higher self? How
can we annuse those who live in the presence of
GOd 2 ”
Here the Adept paused for a moment, and then
continued, saying: “Verily the theosophical mon-
astery of which I dream is even superior to ours.
It is located far away from this earth, and yet it
can be reached without trouble and without ex-
pense. Its monks and nuns have risen above the
sphere of self. They have a temple of infinite
dimensions, pervaded by the spirit of sancity, be-
ing the common possession of all. There the dif-
THE THEOSOPHICAT, MON ASTERY. 71
ferentiation of the Universal Soul ceases, and Uni-
fication takes place. It is a convent where there
exists no difference of sex, of taste, opinion, and
desire; where vice cannot enter; where none are
born, or marry, or die, but where they live like
the angels; each one constituting the centre of a
power for good; each one immersed in an infinite
ocean of light; each one able to see all he desires
to see, to know all he wants to know, growing in
strength and expanding in size, until he embraces
the All and is one with it.” -
For a moment it seemed as if the soul of the
Adept had gone and visited that blissful state of
Nirvana, a state of which we mortals cannot con-
ceive; but soon the light returned into his eyes,
and he smilingly excused himself, saying that he
had permitted himself to be carried away by the
sublimity of this idea. I ventured to say that
probably millions of ages would pass away before
mankind would arrive at that state.
“Alas!” he answered, “the conditions which
our present state of civilization imposes upon its
followers are now such as to force the vast major-
ity of the latter to employ nearly all their time
and energy in an outward direction, instead of
72 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
employing them for their inward growth. Each
man has a certain amount of energy which he may
call his own. If he wastes all that energy on the
outward plane, either for the attainment of sensual
gratification or in intellectual pursuits, he will
\have nothing left to develop the divine germ in
his heart. If he continually concentrates his mind
Joutwardly, there will be no inward concentra-
tion of thought, which is absolutely necessary for
the attainment of self-knowledge. The laboring
classes, the people of commerce, the scientists,
doctors, lawyers, and clergymen are all actively
engaged in outward affairs, and find little time for
the inward concentration of their powers. The
majority are continually busy to run after shadows
and illusions, which are at best only useful as long
as they last, but whose usefulness ceases when the
heart ceases to beat. Their time and energy are
taken up in procuring what they call the ‘necessi-
ties of life,’ and they excuse themselves by saying
that it is their misfortune to be so situated as to
be forced to procure them. Nature, however, cares
nothing for our excuses; the law of cause and
effect is blind and inaccessible to argumentation.
A man climbing over a mountain top and falling
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 73
over a precipice, is as much in danger of breaking
his neck as if he had jumped down voluntarily ;
a man who is not able to progress will be left as
far behind as one who does not desire to progress.
But nature is not so cruel as she appears to be to
the superficial observer. That which man requires
for the purpose of living is very little indeed, and
can usually easily be obtained ; for Nature has
amply provided for all of her children, and if they
cannot all obtain their proper share, then there
must be something seriously wrong, either with
them individually or with the social organization
as a whole. There is undoubtedly a great deal
wrong in our social Organization, and our philoso-
phers and politicians are continually trying to
remedy it. They will succeed in their task when
they succeed in making the laws of the human
world harmonize with the laws of nature, and not
before. That event may take place in the far-dis-
tant future. We have not the time to wait for it.
Let each one attempt to restore harmony in his
own individual organism and live according to
natural laws, and the harmony of the social organ-
ism as a whole will be restored.
“The great bulk of those things which are said to
74 AMONG THE ROSIO FRUCIANS.
ſ
be the necessities of life are only artificially cre-
ated necessities, and millions of people lived and
attained old age long before many of the things
which our modern civilization considers as being
absolutely necessary had been discovered or in-
vented. The term ‘necessity' has a relative
meaning; and to a king a dozen of palaces, to a
nobleman a carriage with four, may appear as much
a necessity as to a beggar a bottle of whiskey, or
to a fashionable man a new swallow-tail coat. To
get rid at once of all such fancied necessities and
the trouble which is imposed upon us to attain
them, the shortest and surost way is to rise above
such necessities and to consider them not to be
necessary at all. Then a great amount of our
energy would become free, and might be employed
for the acquisition of that which is really neces-
sary, because it is eternal and permanent, while
that which serves’ merely temporal purposes ends
in time.
“There are thousands of people engaged in
prying into the details of the constitution of
external objects and to learn the chemical and
physiological processes going on therein, without
manifesting the least curiosity to know their own
THE THEOSOPHICAL MONASTERY. 75
constitution and the processes going on within their
own organization; although it would seem that a
knowledge of the latter is far more important than
an investigation of the former. Science says that
she wants to know the laws of nature in all their
minute ramifications, and yet she pays no atten-
tion whatever to the universal and fundamental
law from which all these ramifications spring; and
thus she resembles an insect crawling over a fallen
leaf and imagining thereby to learn the qualities/
of the tree. It is surely the prerogative of intel-
lectual man to investigate intellectually all the
departments of nature; but the investigation of
external things is only of secondary importance to
the attainment of knowledge of our own interior
powers. All primary powers act from within;
effects are secondary to causes. He who considers
the knowledge of external things to be more im-
portant than the knowledge of self, possesses very
little wisdom indeed.”
“These doctrines,” I said, “will never be ac-
cepted by our schoolmen; they look upon the
very term “Theosophy’ with contempt; they be- "
lieve that a knowledge of external things is the
* only knowledge attainable, and the only one worth
76 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
ſ
- having, and this illusive knowledge they call exact
science.”
“I pity them for their imperfections,” answered
the Adept; “nevertheless their views are justifiable
from their own standpoint. If they object to the
term ‘Theosophy, it is because they do not
know what the term means; and as it has often
been misapplied, they have formed a misconcep-
tion about it. We can know nothing except what
we know theosophically; because theosophical
knowledge is the result of feeling, seeing, and
understanding a thing. Their sense of seeing
and feeling does not penetrate below the external
surface of things, and they therefore know theo-
sophically merely the outward appearance, and the
internal causes are left to speculations which are
often erroneous. The higher sense, by which the
Adept is able to penetrate with his consciousness
into the interior of things and identify himself
for the time being with the object of his observa-
tion, share its sensations, to feel as if he were that
object, to see the workings of the interior causes,
and consequently be able to understand them, is
unknown to the scientists of our present civili-
zation.” . - -
THE THEOSOPHICAT, MONASTERY. 77
As the Adept finished this sentence, a sound as
if produced by the tinkling of small silver bells.
was heard in the air above our heads. I looked
up, but nothing was to be seen from which that
sound could have proceeded.
“This is the signal,” said the Adept, “that the
members of our order are assembled in the Réfec-
tory. Let us go to join their company. Some
refreshment will undoubtedly be welcome to you.”
78 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
III.
THE REFECTORY.
WE stepped out into the corridor and entered
the garden. The palm-trees and exotic
plants, by which we were surrounded, formed a
strong contrast to the weird and desolate scenery,
with its fields of ice and scrub-pines, which I had
seen before entering this enchanted valley. High
bushes of Fuchsias changed with Rose-bushes, and
all were covered with the most beautiful flowers;
the air was perfumed from the odor of many varie-
ties of Hyacinths, Heliotropes, and other plants
whose names I do not remember. Nevertheless
the place was not a hot-house, for there was no
other roof over it than the clear blue sky. I won-
dered whether perhaps the garden was heated
from below the surface, and the thought came
into my mind that so much luxury seemed not
to agree with the views, expressed by the Adept,
that those who live within the paradise of their
own souls do not care for external sensual gratifi-
THE REFECTORY. 79
cation. But the Imperator seemed to know my
thought even before it had taken a definite form
in my mind, and said: —
“We have created these illusions to make your
visit to this place an agreeable one in every re-
spect. All these trees and plants which you see,
require no gardeners, and are inexpensive; they
cost us nothing but an effort of our imagination.”
I went up to one of the rose-bushes and broke
one of the roses. It was a real rose, as real as I
had ever seen one before; its odor was sweet, and
it had just unfolded its leaves in the rays of the
mid-day sun.
“Surely,” I said, “this rose which I hold in my
hand cannot be an illusion, or an effect of my
imagination ?”
“No,” answered the Adept, “it is not produced
by your own imagination, but it is a product of
the imagination of nature, whose processes can be
guided by the spiritual will of the Adept. The
whole world, with its solid planets, its mountains
of granite, its oceans and rivers, the whole earth
with all its multifarious forms, is nothing else but
a world of the imagination of the Universal Mind,
which is the creator of forms. Forms are nothing
80 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
real, they are merely illusions or shapes of sub-
stance; a form without substance is unthinkable
and cannot exist. But the only substance of
which we know is the universal primordial ele-
ment of matter, constituting the substance of Uni-
versal Mind, the A’kósa. This element of matter
is invisibly present everywhere ; but only when it
assumes a certain state of density, sufficient to
resist the penetrating influence of the terrestrial
light, does it come within the reach of your sensual
perception, and assume for you an objective shape.
The universal power of will penetrates all things.
Guided by the spiritual intelligence of the Adept,
whose consciousness pervades all his surroundings,
it creates in the Universal Mind those shapes
which the Adept imagines; for the sphere of the
Universal Mind, where he lives, is his own mind,
and there is no difference between the latter and
the former, as far as the sphere of the latter ex-
tends. By an occult process, which cannot be at
present explained to you, but which exists prin-
cipally in an effort of will, the shapes thus
created in the mind-substance of the Adept are
rendered dense, and thereby become objective and
- \ -
real to you.” - -
THE REFECTORY. 81
“I acknowledge,” I said, “that this is still in-
comprehensible to me. Căn an image formed in
your head come out of your head and assume a
material form 7” -
The Adept seemed to be amused at my ignorance,
and smilingly answered : “Do you believe that
the sphere of mind in which man lives exists only
within the circumference of his skull 2 I should
be sorry for such a man ; for he would not be able
to see or perceive anything whatever, except the
processes going on in that part of his mind con-
tained within his skull. The whole world would
be to him nothing but impenetrable and incom-
prehensible darkness. He would not be able to
see the sun or any external object; for man can
perceive nothing except that which exists within
his own mind. But fortunately for man, the
sphere of the mind of each individual man reaches
as far as the stars. It reaches as far as his power
of perception reaches. His mind comes in contact
with all things, however distant they may be from
his physical body. Thus his mind—not his brain
— receives the impressions; but these impressions
come to his consciousness within his physical
brain, which is merely the centre in which the
messages of the mind are received.”
82 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
After giving this explanation, the Adept, evi- -
dently still seeing some doubts in my mind,
directed me to look at a Magnolia-tree which
stood at a short distance. It was a tree of per-
haps sixty feet in height, and covered with great,
white, beautiful flowers. While I looked, the tree
began to appear less and less dense. The green
foliage faded into gray, so that the white blossoms
could hardly be distinguished from the leaves; it
became more and more shadowy and transparent;
it seemed to be merely the ghost of a tree, and
finally it disappeared entirely from view.
“Thus,” continued the Adept, “you see that
tree stood in the sphere of my mind as it stood
in yours. We are all living within the sphere
of each other’s mind, and he in whom the power
of spiritual perception has been developed may
at all times see the images created in the mind.
of another. The Adept creates his own images;
the Ordinary mortal lives in the products of the
imagination of others, either in those of the im-
agination of nature, or in those which have been
created by other minds. We live in the paradise
of our own soul, and the objects which you be-
hold exist in the realm of our soul; but the
S.,
THE REFECTORY. 83
spheres of our souls are not narrow. They have,
expanded far beyond the limits of the visible
bodies, and will continue to expand until they
become one with the Universal Soul and as large
as the latter.
“The power of the imagination is yet too little
known to mankind, else they would better be-
ware of what they think. If a man thinks a
good or an evil thought, that thought calls into
existence a corresponding form or power within
the sphere of his mind, which may assume den-
sity and become living, and which may continue
to live long after the physical body of the man
who created it has died. It will accompany his
soul after death, because the creations are at-
tracted to their creator.”
“Does, then,” I asked, “every evil thought or
the imagination of something evil create that
evil and cause it to exist as a living entity?”
“Not so,” answered the Imperator. “Every
thought calls into existence the form or power
of which we think; but these things have no
life until life is infused into them by the Will.
If they do not receive life from the Will, they
are like shadows and fade soon away. If this
84 AIMONG THE ROSICR, UCIANS.
were not the case, men could never read of a
crime without mentally committing it, and thereby
creating most vicious Elementals. You may im-
agine evil deeds of all kinds, but unless you have
a desire to perform them, the creations of your
imagination obtain no life. But if you desire
to perform them, if your will is so evil that you
would be willing to perform them if you had
the external means to do so, then it may per-
haps be as bad for you as if you had actually
committed them, and you create thereby a liv-
ing although invisible power of evil. It is the
Will which endows the creations of imagination
with life, because Will and Life are fundamen-
tally identical.” º
Seeing a doubt arise in my mind, he continued:
“If I speak of the Will as a life-giving power,
I am speaking of the spiritual will power which
resides in the heart. A will power merely exer-
cised by the brain is like the cold light of the
moon, which has no power to warm the forms
upon which it falls. The life-giving will power
comes from the heart, and acts like the rays of
the sun which call life into action in minerals,
plants, and animals. It is that which man
THE REFECTORY. - 85
desires with his heart, not that which he merely
imagines with his brain, which has real power.
Fortunately for mankind in general, this spirit-
ual will power which calls the creations of the
imagination into objective visible existence is in
the possession of very few, else the world would
be filled with living materialized monsters, which
would devour mankind; for there are in our
present state of civilization more people who har-
bor evil desires than such as desire the good.
But their will is not spiritual enough to be power-
ful; it comes more from the brain than from
the heart; it is usually only strong enough to
harm him who created the evil thought, and to
leave others unaffected. Thus you see how im-
portant it is that men should not come into pos-
session of spiritual powers until they become
virtuous and good. These are mysteries which
in former times were kept very secret, and which
ought not to be revealed to the vulgar. If you
make use of them, be careful to discriminate be-
tween the good and the evil disposed.” -
We entered through a Gothic portal into a hall.
The light fell through four high windows into the
room, which was of an octagonal form. In the
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86 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
f
midst of this room stood a round table surrounded
by chairs, and the corners formed by the sides
of the octagon were provided with furniture of
various kinds. There were quite a number of
the Brothers assembled, some of whom I recog-
nized from having seen their pictures in histori-
cal representations; but what astonished me above
all was that there were two ladies present, — one
appearing very tall and dignified, the other one
of smaller stature and of a more delicate, but not
less noble, appearance, and exceedingly beautiful.
To find ladies in the monastery of the Brothers
of the Golden and Rosy Cross was a fact which
surprised and staggered me, and my confusion
was evidently observed by all present; but after
having been introduced to all the persons pres-
ent, — or, to express it more correctly, after hav-
ing had them all introduced to me, for they all
seemed to know me and not to need my intro-
duction, — the tall lady took my hand and led
me to the table, while she smilingly spoke the
following words: — - -
“Why should you be so surprised, my friend,
to see Adepts inhabiting female forms in com-
pany of those whose forms appear to be of a
THE REFECTORY. 87
male character? What has intelligence to do
with the sex of the body? . Where the sexual
instincts end, there ends the influence of sex.
Come, now, and take this chair by my side, and
have some of this delicious fruit.”
The table was covered with a variety of excel-
lent fruits, some of which I had never seen before,
and which do not grow in this country. The
illustrious company took their seats, and a conver-
sation ensued in which all took part. I only too
deeply felt my own inferiority while in this place,
but every one seemed to exert his powers to reas-
sure me and to make me imagine that I was their
equal. The Brothers and Sisters hardly tasted
the food, but they seemed to be pleased to see
me enjoy it, and in fact my morning walk and the
pure air of the mountain had given me a very good
appetite. The noble lady next to whom I was
seated soon succeeded in making my embarrass-
ment vanish, answered my questions in regard to
the causes of certain occult phenomena, and made
a few practical experiments to illustrate her
doctrines. The following may serve as an ex-
ample of the powers she possessed to create il-
lusions : — •
!
}
88 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
We came to speak of the intrepidity and un-
daunted courage which he must possess who
desires to enter the realm of occult research:
“For ’’ she said, “the whole elemental world, with
all its monstrosities and animal elements, is Op-
posed to man's spiritual progress. The animals
(Elementals) living in the animal principle Of
man’s constitution, live on his life and on the sub-
stance of his animal elements. If the divine spirit
awakens within the heart of man and sends his
light into those animal elements, the substance
on which these parasites live becomes destroyed,
and they begin to rage like other famished beasts.
They fight for their lives and for their food, and
they are therefore the greatest impediments and
opponents to the spiritual progress of man. They
live in the soul of man, and are, under normal con-
ditions, invisible to the external senses, although
under certain conditions they may even become
visible and objective. They live in families, and
reproduce their species like our terrestrial animals;
they fight with each other and eat each other up.
If a man’s selfish desires, such as are of a minor
type, are all swallowed up by some great master-
passion, it merely shows that a monster elemental has
THE REFECTORY. 89
grown in his soul and devoured all the minor
elementals.” . .
I answered that it was impossible for me to
believe that man was such a living and walking
menagerie, and said I wished I could see one of
these elementals, so as to realize what it is.
“Would you not be afraid,” she asked, “if such
a vicious thing would appear before you ?”
I began to boast of my bravery, and said that I
was never afraid of anything which I could see
with my eyes and reach with my hands; that fear
was the outcome of ignorance, and that knowledge
dispelled all fear.
“You are right,” she answered ; “but will you
be so kind as to hand me that basket with pears.” -
I stretched forth my hand after the basket with
pears, which stood in the midst of the table, and as
I was about to grasp it, a horrible rattlesnake rose -
up between the fruit; rearing its head and mak-
ing a noise with its rattles as if in great anger.
Horror-struck, I withdrew my hand, barely escap-
ing its venomous bite; but while I stared at it,
the serpent coiled itself again up among the pears,
its glistening scales disappeared in the basket, and
the snake was gone.
90 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
“If you had dared to grasp the snake,” said one
of the Brothers, who had witnessed the scene, “you
would have found it to be merely an illusion.”
“The Will,” remarked the Imperator, “is not
merely a life-giving power; it is also a destroyer.
It causes the atoms of primordial matter to collect
around a centre; it holds them together, or it may
disperse them again into space. It is Brahma,
Vishnu, and Sāva in one ; the creator, maintainer,
and destroyer of form.”
“These Elementals,” said the beautiful lady,
“master us if we do not master them. If we at-
tack them without fear, they can do us no harm;
our will is destructive to them.”
The conversation during our breakfast turned
about Occultism and kindred subjects. “ Occult.
ism and Alchemy,” said one of the Brothers,
“are at once the most difficult and the easiest
things to grasp. They are indeed easy to compre-
hend, if we only remain natural and look at the
mysteries of nature by the light of reason, with
which each human being, except an idiot, has
been endowed by nature at the time of his birth.
But if in the place of reason, the artificial candle-
light of false logic, sophistry, and speculation is
THE REFECTORY. $. 91
placed by an irrational education, man steps out
of his natural state and becomes unnatural. The
images of the eternal truths, which were mirrored
in his mind while he was a child and innocent,
and not sufficiently intellectually developed to
understand them, become by the time that his in-
tellect is developed, so distorted and perverted by
the prejudices and misconceptions by which his
mind is fed, that their original forms are no more
recognizable, and instead of seeing the truth, man
only sees the hallucinations which his fancy has
created.” *
“Do you mean to say,” I asked, “that man can
possibly know anything about the nature of things,
except that which is taught to him by others?”
“Does the child,” asked the Adept, in 3,1] SW61°
to my question, “need an instructor to explain to
it the use of its mother's breasts? Do the cattle
require books on botany to know which herbs are
poisonous and which are wholesome 2 Those arti-
ficial systems which have been created by man,
and which are therefore unnatural, cannot be read
in the book of nature; to know the name of a
thing which has been invented for it by man, the
child needs man's instructions; but the essential
92 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
attributes of a thing are independent of the name
given to it. Shakespeare says that a rose would
have an agreeable odor, even if it were called by
Some other name. At the present state of educa-
tion, natural philosophers know all about the
artificial names and classifications of things, but
very little about their interior qualities. What
does a modern botanist know about the signatures
of plants, by which the Occultist recognizes the
medicinal and occult properties of plants as soon
as he sees them? The animals have remained
natural, while man became unnatural. The sheep
does not need to be instructed by a zoölogist to
seek to escape if a tiger approaches; it knows
by his signature, and without argumentation,
that he is its enemy. Is is not much more im-
portant for the sheep to know the ferocious char-
acter of the tiger, than to be informed that the
latter belongs to genus Felis. If by some miracle
a sheep should become intellectual, it might learn
so much about the external form, anatomy, physiol-
ogy, and genealogy of the tiger, that it would lose
sight of its internal character and be devoured by
it. Absurd as this example may appear, it is
nevertheless a true representation of what is done
THE REFECTORY. 93
in your schools every day. There the rising gen-
eration receive what they call a scientific educa-
tion. They are taught all about the external
form of man, and how that form may be com-
fortably fed, lodged, and housed, but the sight of
the real man who occupies that form is entirely
lost, his needs are neglected, he is starved, ill-
treated, and tortured, and some of your “great
lights of science have become so short-sighted
that they even deny that he exists.”
“But,” I objected, “is it not a great prerogative
which intellectual man enjoys over the animal
creation, that he possesses an intellect by which
he is able to understand the attributes of things
which the animal merely instinctively feels?”
“True,” said the Brother; “but man should use
his intellect in accordance with reason, and not
oppose his intellect to the latter. Instinct in ani-
mals is the activity in the animal organism of the
same principle whose action in human beings is
called reason. It is the faculty of the soul to feel
the truth; while the function of the intellect is to
understand that which is instinctively or intui-
tively felt by the soul, or perceived by the exterior
senses. If the intellect were to act only in
94 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
harmony with reason, all intellectual human beings
would not only be intellectual, but would also be
wise ; but we know from our daily experience
that intellectuality is not necessarily accompanied
by wisdom, that often those who are most cunning
are also most vicious, and the most learned often
the most unreasonable.”
“The first and most important step,” continued
the Brother, “ which man must make, if he desires
to obtain spiritual power, is to become natural.
Only when he has thrown off all his unnatural
qualities can he hope to become spiritually strong.
If he were to become spiritual before he becomes
natural, he would be an unnatural spiritual mon-
ster. Such monsters have existed and still exist.
They are the spiritual powers of evil acting through
human forms; they are the Adepts of Black Magic,
sorcerers and villains of various grades.”
“Then,” I said, “I presume that great criminals.
are to a certain extent black magicians.” -
“Not necessarily so,” answered the Brother.
“The majority of evil-doers do evil, not for the
love of evil, but for the purpose of attaining some
selfish purpose. The villains who are on the road
to black magic act evil because they love it, in the
THE REFECTORY. 95
same sense as those who are on the road to true
adeptship perform good merely because they love
good. But whether man performs good or evil
acts, a constant or frequent repetition of such acts
causes him finally to perform them instinctively,
and thus his own nature becomes gradually either
identified with good or with evil. He who merely
tortures a fly for the sake of torturing it, and be-
cause he is pleased to do so, is farther progressed
On the road to villany and absolute evil with con-
sequent destruction, than he who murders a man
because he imagines it to be necessary for his own
protection that he should murder him.” * -- ~ *
Here the conversation began to turn about
White Magic and the wonderful powers of certain
Tibetan Adepts. The Imperator, who had recently
visited them, gave a detailed account of his visit.
But, strange as it may appear, while all the details
of the other part of our conversation remained
deeply engraven in my memory, the account given
f
{
l
|
t
\
i
ſ
by the Imperator about that visit is entirely
effaced from my mind, and I cannot remember any-
|
i
thing whatever about it. It is as if its recollec- |
tion had been purposely eradicated from my mind.
After our breakfast was over, the Imperator
!
96 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
recommended me to the care of the two Lady-
Adepts, and told me that he would soon rejoin us"
to show me his alchemical laboratory. I then ac-
companied my two protectors into the beautiful
garden.
We passed through an alley formed by Oleander
bushes in full bloom, and arrived at a little round
pavilion standing upon a little eminence, which
afforded a beautiful view of the country and the
tall mountain tops in the distance. The roof of
the pavilion was supported by marble columns
and surrounded by ivy, which grew around the pil-
lars and nearly covered the roof. hanging down at
intervals in the open spaces. We seated ourselves,
and after a short pause, my friend, whom I will
call Leila, said: “I owe you an explanation in
regard to the remarks which I made when I saw
your astonishment to see the female sex represented
among the Brothers of the Golden and Rosy Cross.
Your intuition told you right. It indeed not very
often happens that an individual attains adeptship
while inhabiting a female organism, because such
an organism is not as well adapted as a male one
to develop energy and strength, and it is, there-
fore, frequently the case that those women who
**
THE REFECTO i*Y. 97.
have far advanced on the road to adeptship must
reincarnate in a male organism, before they can
achieve the final result. Nevertheless, exceptions
are found. You know that the organism of a man
is not fundamentally different from that of a
woman, and in each human being are male and
female elements combined. In women usually the
female elements preponderate, and in men the male
ones are usually most active, although we meet
with women of a masculine character, and with
men who are of a womanish nature. In a perfect
human being the male and female elements are
nearly equally strong, with a slight preponderance
of the male element, which represents the produc-
tive power in nature, while the female element
represents the formative principle. This occult
law, which to explain at present would lead us
deep into the mysteries of nature, will become
comprehensible to you if you will study the laws
of harmony. You will then find that the Mall-f
agcord is the harmonious counterpart of the Dur-
accord, but that the greatest beauty finds its
expression in Dur. Other and numerous analo-
gies may be found, and we shall leave it to your
own ingenuity to find then out.
98 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
“If you therefore find an Adept inhabiting a
female organism, you will be right in concluding
that such an abnormal circumstance is due to
some extraordinary conditions and experiences
through which such an Adept has passed during
his last incarnation. A plant in a hot-house will
grow faster than one which is not cared for, and,
likewise, extraordinary suffering may cause the
early development of the flower of spirituality,
which without such suffering would have taken
place, perhaps, much later in some other incarna-
tion.” -
This revelation stirred up my curiosity, and
I begged the lady to give me an account of her
past life, such as it was before she beeame an
Adept.
“It is painful,” answered Leila, “to dwell on
the memories of the past, but perhaps our sister
Helen will give you such an account of her life.”
The lady addressed smiled, and said: “I will
certainly do so to afford a pleasure to our visi-
tor, but my life in comparison with yours has
been very uninteresting. If you will proceed
with your history, I will add mine at the end.”
“Very well, then,” answered Leila; “but to
THE REFECTORY. 99
simplify matters, and to save time, I will show
you its pictorial representation in the Astral Light.
Look upon the table before you.”
I looked upon the polished surface of the round
marble table standing in the centre of the pavil-
ion, and as I looked, there appeared upon its sur-
face the lifelike image of a battle-field. There
were the contending armies fighting with swords
and spears, men on horseback and some on foot,
knights in glistening armor, and common soldiers.
Hot grows the fight; the dead and wounded cover
the ground, and the soldiers to the left begin to
give way, while those to the right press forward.
Suddenly there appears at the left a beautiful
woman, dressed in an armor, carrying a sword
in one hand and in the other a banner. Her
features resemble those of the Lady-Adept. At
her sight the men to the left seem to become
filled with strength, while their enemies seem
to be stricken with terror. The latter flee,
pursued by those of the left, and a shout of
triumph arises, and the picture fades away.
Now there appears another picture upon the
table. It seems to be the interior of a Catholic
church. There is a great assembly of dignitaries
100 AMONG THE ROSICIRUCIANS.
of church and state, of knights and nobles, bishops
and priests, and a multitude of people. In front
of the altar kneels an armored knight, who seems
to be the king, and a bishop, ornamented with
the insignia of his office, puts a golden crown
upon his head; but by the side of the king stands
again that noble-looking woman, with a smile of
triumph upon her face. A solemn music is heard,
but as the crown rests upon the head of the king
and he arises, a thousand voices hail him, and
the picture fades away.
The next picture iepresents a dungeon filled
With instruments of torture, such as were used
at the time of the Inquisition. There are some
men dressed in black, and in their eyes burns
the fire of hate ; there are others dressed in red;
they are evidently the executioners. Some peo-
ple with torches appear, and in their midst is
Leila bound with chains. She looks at the men
in black with pity and contempt. They ask her
some silly questions, to which she refuses to an-
swer, and then they begin to torture her in a
most cruel manner. I averted my sight, and
when I looked again, the picture was gone.
In its place appeared another. There is a pile
THE REFECTORY. 101
of wood, and in its midst a stake to which a chain
is fastened. A procession approaches, led by vil-
lanous-looking monks and guarded by Soldiers.
Crowds of people surround the pile, but they
give way as the procession approaches. In the
midst of the monks and hangman walks Leila,
looking pale and emaciated from torture and suf-
ferings; her hands are tied, and a rope is fastened
round her neck. She mounts the pile and is
fastened to the stake. She attempts to speak,
but the praying monks dash water into her face
to force her to remain silent. A hangman ap-
pears with a brand of fire; the wood begins to
burn; the flames touch the body of the beauti-
ful woman. I desired to see no more ; I buried
my face in my hands; I knew who Leila was.
After I had recovered from the impression
which this horrible sight had made upon my
mind, I expressed to Leila my admiration for
her valor and virtue. I had always admired her
as a historical character, and desired to see her
portrait. Now she stood before me, the living
original, youthful and strong, noble and beauti-
ful, and yet, according to the views of mortals,
over 450 years of age.
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102 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
It is useless to attempt to conceal a thought in
the presence of the Adepts. Leila observed my
thought, and answered it.
“No,” she said, “I am much older than you
think. I and you, and we all, are as old as crea-
tion. When the spirit began to breathe after the
great Pralaya was over, sending out of the centre
the light of the Logos, which called the world in
existence, we lived already, and we will continue
to live until this light returns to its source. Our
real I knows no age; it remains ever young, it is
eternal and independent of the conditions of time.
Nor can our forms be destroyed by fire. They are
the mirrors in which the spirit reflects its divine
image ; matter is as eternal as space and spirit,
and as long as matter exists, the spirit will reflect
its image therein. Spirit requires such an image
for the purpose of attaining self-knowledge. A
man cannot see his face without the help of a
mirror; we cannot see ourselves objectively unless
we step out of ourselves. This is an impossibility,
because the spirit is one and cannot be divided in
two. Therefore it reflects its light into matter,
and sees itself in the mirror.”
“But,” I said, “your body was destroyed by
T H E REFECTO IX,Y. 103
the fire. How is it that I see you before me in a
visible, tangible form 7”
“That which was destroyed,” answered Leila,
“was merely the grossest material substance of
my physical Organization. As the fire consumed
the gross matter, my astral form arose above the
fire and the smoke; it was invisible to the multi-
tude present, whose senses are so gross that they
can only perceive gross matter; but it was visible
to the Adepts who were present in their ethereal
forms, and who took care of me, and after a short
period of unconsciousness I awoke again to exter-
nal life. Gradually my body hardened again by
the action of the influences prevailing in my new
home, and therefore I am now as visible and tangi-
ble to you as if I were still inhabiting my gross
material form.”
“Then, I presume,” I said, “that the astral
body of every human being or animal could be so
hardened, after having left the physical form, and
thus the spirits of the dead could be made to
appear in a tangible and visible form.”
“It could be done, and it has often been done,”
answered Leila, “by the vile practices of the necro-
mantic art. It can be done with the astral forms
104 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
of those who have suddenly died by accident or
murder, and in whose astral forms is therefore still
a great deal of molecular adhesion ; but the astral
forms of those who have died a natural death, or
who have died long ago, cannot be thus evoked,
because their astral corpses have already been de-
composed by the influences of the astral plane.
But those “materialized' forms have no life of
their own, and cannot endure. They only live by
the life-principle infused into them by the necro-
mancer who performs such acts consciously, or by
the medium who performs them unconsciously.
To enable an astral form to continue to live after
the death of the physical form, the former must
have attained life during the life of the physical
body.”
“Surely,” I said, “in every human being the
astral form contained within the physical body
has life.”
“True,” she answered, “but not in every human
being is it the centre of life and of consciousness.
'In ordinary mortals the seat of life is in the blood
contained in the veins and arteries of the physical
form, and the astral form lives only, so to say, from
the reflex of that physical life. In the Adept, the
THE REFECTORY. 105
centre of life and consciousness has been estab-
lished in the organism of his soul, clothed with
the astral form, and is therefore self-conscious and
independent of the life of the physical body. I
had already during former incarnations acquired
that life and consciousness of the spirit. I was on
the way to adeptship before I was born in a peas-
ant's hut. During my childhood I had spiritual
intercourse with Adepts, although I knew them
not intellectually, because my intellectual ac-
tivity, the result of my physical organization, was
then not sufficiently perfect to understand that
which my spirit perceived. But,” she continued,
“let us drop these metaphysical speculations,
which I see fatigue your brain, and which be-
come still more difficult of comprehension, as
there is no rule without some exception, and the
laws of nature are liable to produce endless varie-
ties of modification of action. Let us hear the
history of our sister Helen.”
I had for a long time observed the features of
this other Lady-Adept ; and it seemed to me as if
I had seen her somewhere, perhaps in my dreams.
Yes, I remember that when I was a mere child I
once had a vision, while in a state between sleep-
106 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
ing and waking, when it seemed to me as if an
angel or a superterrestrial being, clad in white and
holding a White Lily in her hand, were floating in
the air over my head, extending the lily towards
me. How often had I prayed in my heart to see
that beautiful form again ; and now, if I did not
mistake, this lady was the form I had seen in
my dream.
She was of exceeding great beauty; her long,
black, waving hair formed a strong contrast to
her plain, white, and flowing robe, covering her
form with graceful folds. Her teint was pale
and delicate, her profile was pure Greek; her
dark eyes seemed to penetrate to the innermost
centre of my soul, and to kindle there a fire of
pure love and admiration without any admix-
ture of the animal element.
“My life,” said Helen, “was one of little im-
portance. I was born at St. Petersburg, and my
father was an officer in the imperial army. He
died while I was very young, and left his family
in great poverty. Besides the company of my
mother, my relatives, and a teacher, there was
nothing to attract me to earth. My mind un-
folded and revelled in superterrestrial joys; I
THE REFECTORY. 107
loved poetry; I loved to look at the clouds sail-
ing in the sky, and to see in them objects of
beauty; I communicated in spirit with the heroes
of the past. But the development of my physi-
cal form could not keep step with the unfold-
ment of the mind. Cold, starvation, and want
hastened its dissolution. After having reached
my eighteenth year, I left my wasted, consump-
tive form, and was kindly received by the
Brothers.” - -
Her plain and modest tale filled my heart with
pity. “And was there no one,” I said, “ among
your country people intelligent enough to per-
ceive your genius and to give you support 2"
“They erected a costly monument to my mem-
Ory,” she answered, “after my body had suc-
Cumbed. A part of the money expended for it
would have procured me the necessities to prolong
my life. Those who knew me while living admired
my poetry and my talents, but they were poor
like myself. But let that pass. The conditions
under which men live are the effects of previously
acquired Karma. My poverty and suffering were
my gain. I have cause to be well satisfied with
my lot.” -
108 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
While the lady spoke, I scanned her features.
Was it really she who had appeared to me years
ago in a dream 2 Was it she who waved that
lily as if pronouncing a blessing? Was it the
magnetic current which seemed to stream through
that symbol into the depths of my heart, and to
call there a higher life into activity? Could
that event have been a dream? Did it not fill
my whole being with happiness at the time when
it happened? Did its memory not remain deeply
engraved in my heart, when thousands of other
dreams had faded away ?
Helen rose, and reaching out through one of
the open spaces between the pillars, she broke
a white lily flower which grew close by the wall.
This she gave to me, and said, “Keep this flower;
it will not fade like a dream ; and when you see
it you will know that I am not a product of
hallucination.” -
I thanked her and begged her to remain my
protector in the future, as she had been in the
past. To this she answered: “We can only as-
sist those who protect themselves. We can only
influence those who are ready to receive our
influence. We can only approach those who
THE REEECTORY. 109
spiritually approach our own sphere. Love causes /
mutual attraction; evil repulses. The pure will
be attracted to the pure, the evil ones to that
which is impure. To give presupposes the ca-
- pacity to receive on the part of him who is to
receive. The sunlight is open to all, but not all
are able to see it. The eternal fountain of truth
is inexhaustible and universal; but those who
open their hearts to the sunshine of truth are
few. Seek continually to rise above the sphere of
animality, and you will be in company of those
who have thrown off their animal elements and
live in the spirit.” - *
As the lady finished speaking, another Adept
approached the pavilion. He was a man of small
stature, but with a highly intellectual expression
upon his face which at once indicated that he
must be a Master. His head was almost bald
on the top, and showed a most remarkable for-
mation of his skull; at each side, however, there
were gray locks of hair, and I immediately rec-
ognized in him one whose picture I had often
seen and whose presence I had often felt, and
whom I will call Theodorus. He had been a
great Adept and Rosicrucian during his earthly
110 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
life; he had been a great physician, and per-
formed most wonderful cures. He had been a
great Alchemist, and knew the secret of the Cross
and the Rose, of the Red Lion and the White
Eagle. . .-
As he entered, he announced that the Impera-
tor had been called away to attend to some im-
portant affairs connected with politics in the
mundane plane. He jocularly remarked that he
had gone to prevent a certain statesman from
committing an act of imbecility, which would, if
he did not succeed in preventing it, be produc-
tive of a great war. He was therefore deputized
by the Imperator to show me the alchemical labo-
ratory and to correct some of my misconceptions in
regard to Alchemy. I was rather reluctant to leave
the presence of the ladies, and I would have been
willing to die at that moment to enable my soul
to remain in their presence; but I could not
with propriety decline the invitation. The ladies
permitted me to retire, and I went with Theo-
dorus into the halls of the Monastery. -
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 111
IV.
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY.
E went through a beautiful and broad corri-
dor, all along whose sides stood finely exe-
cuted marble statues representing the gods and
goddesses of antiquity, and busts of the heroes of
olden times. “These statues,” my companion
remarked, “represent the elemental principles and
powers of nature, and they were thus personified
by the ancients to bring the attributes of these
principles within the conceptive power of the mind.
None of the old Greeks and Romans, except the
most ignorant, ever believed that Zeus, Pluto,
Neptune, etc., were existing personalities; nor did
they ever worship them as such. They were
merely symbols and personifications of formless
powers. Likewise, every man’s form and body is
not the real man; it is merely a symbol and per-
sonification of the character and attributes of the
real man, a form of matter in which the thoughts
of the real man have found their external expres-
112 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
sion. The ancients knew those things; it is only
the modern wiseacres who mistake the external
illusion for internal truths, and the form for the
principle. It is modern materialistic religion
which has degraded the Universal Spirit into a
limited being, and the great powers of nature into
Christian saints.” - -
We entered into a circular hall in the form of a
temple. It had no windows, but received its light -
from a cupola of clear glass. High over our heads,
below the cupola, was a large interlaced double
triangle made of gold and surrounded by a snake
biting its tail. In the midst of the room, and
directly under that symbol, stood a round table
with white marble top, in the centre of which was
a smaller representation of the figure above, exe-
cuted in silver. The walls were ornamented with
bookcases, in which were a great number of books
on Alchemy. At one side of the room there was -
a kind of altar upon which stood a burning lamp.
A couple of crucibles, a few bottles lying upon a
side-table, and a couple of armchairs completed the
furniture of the room.
I looked around, expecting to see some furnaces,
stoves, retorts, and other implements, such as are
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 113
Q
described in books on Alchemy, but could see none.
My instructor, reading my thoughts, laughingly
said: “Did you expect to find here an apothecary
shop 2 You mistake, my friend. All this array
of bottles and pots, of furnaces, stoves, retorts,
mortars, filters, strainers, distilling, purifying, and
refining apparatus, etc., described in books on
Alchemy, is nothing but nonsense, written to
mislead the selfish and vicious, and to prevent
them from preying into mysteries which they are
not fit to receive. The true Alchemist requires
no ingredients for his processes, such as he could
buy in a chemist's shop. He finds the materials
which he needs within his own organization. The
highest processes of Alchemy require no mechani-
cal labor; they consist in the purification of the
soul, and in transforming animal man into a divine
being.
“The invisible principles of which the constitu-
tion of man is made up are called his metals,
because they are more lasting and enduring than
flesh and blood. The metals which are formed by
his thoughts and desires will continue to exist
after the perishing elements constituting his physi-
cal body have been dissolved. Man's animal
114 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
principles are the base metals of which his animal
organization consists; they m ust be changed into
nobler metals by transforming his vices into
virtue, until they pass through all colors and turn
into the gold of pure spirituality. To accomplish
this it is necessary that the grossest elements in
the form should die and putrefy, so that the light
of the spirit penetrate through the hard shell and
call the inner man into life and activity.”
“Then,” I said, “all those alchemical prescrip-
tions which we find in the books are only to be taken
in a figurative sense, and have nothing to do with
material substances, such as salt, sulphur, mercury,
etc.” - -
“Not exactly so,” answered the Adept. “There
are no hard lines separating the various kingdoms
in nature, and the actions of laws manifested in -
one kingdom find their analogies in other king-
doms. The processes taking place in the spiritual
planes are also taking place in the astral and mate-
rial planes; subject, of course, to such modifica-
tions as are imposed by the conditions existing
upon these planes. Nature is not, as your scien-
tists seem to believe, an agglomeration of funda-
mentally different objects and elements; nature is
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 115
a whole, and everything in the organism acts and
is acted on by every other thing contained therein.
This is a fact which the ancient Alchemists knew,
and which the modern chemists would do well to
remember ; for we find already in the book of
Sohar the following passage, which I advise you
to note down in your book, so that you will not
forget it: Everything that eacists upon the Earth
has its ethereal counterpart above the Earth (that is
to say, in the inner realm), and there is nothing,
however insignificant it may appear in the world,
which is not depending on something higher (or
more interior); so that if the lower part acts, its
presiding higher part reacts upon it.
“The Microcosm of Man is a true counterpart,
image, and representation of the great Maeroeosm
of nature. In the former are contained all the
powers, principles, forces, essences, and substances
which are contained within the latter, from the
Supreme and divine spiritual principle, called God,
down to the grossest state of the Universal One
Life, in which it is called Matter. Those princi-
ples may be latent or active in either of the two
Organisms; they may exist merely germinally in a
form, or they may be in a developed state. In
116 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
each human being are contained germinally the
essences which constitute the mineral, vegetable,
animal, or human kingdom ; in each man are con-
tained principles which may be developed into a
tiger, a snake, a hog, a dragon, into a Sage or a
villain, into an angel or devil, into an Adept or a
God. Those elements which are made to grow
and to be developed will become the man and
constitute his own self. Look at the double inter-
laced triangle over your head; it represents the
Macrocosm with all the forces contained therein,
the interpenetration and union of Spirit and
Matter, within the never-ending circle of eternity.
Look at the smaller symbol upon the table before
you ; it represents the same elements within the
constitution of Man. If you can bring the double
7.
i
interlaced triangles existing within your own self
into exact harmony with those existing in the
Universe, your powers will be the powers of na-
ture, and you will be able to guide and control by
your reason and will the processes unconsciously
taking place within the realm of the latter.
“The universal process, by which all the
processes of life take place, is the principle of
Life. He who can guide and control the power
*…*
|
(ſ L -i. i. |iº 1. º / . . f f : '... &. ( ; ! § .” --.
-> *
! . . . . . .
jº. * . . . L', * – l
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 117
of life to do his will is an Alchemist. He can
create new forms and increase the substance of
those forms. The chemist creates nothing new;
he merely forms new combinations of the sub-
stances in his possession; the Alchemist causes
the substance to attract other elements from the
invisible storehouse in nature, and to increase.
The chemist deals with matter in which the prin-
ciple of life is inactive, that is to say, in which it
manifests itself merely as mechanical or chemical
energy; the Alchemist deals with the principle of
life, and causes living forms to come into exist-
ence. The chemist may transform sulphur into
an invisible air and cause that air to become sul-
phur again, and the sulphur obtained at the end
of the experiment will be just as much in quantity
as it was at the beginning; but the gardener who
puts a seed in the ground and prepares the condi-
tions necessary for that seed to grow into a tree,
is an Alchemist, because he calls something into
existence which did not exist in the seed, and out
of one seed he may thus obtain a thousand seeds
of the same kind.” -
“But,” I objected, “it is said that the Rosicru-
cians possessed the power to turn iron, silver, or
118 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
mercury into gold. Surely there is no gold in
pure silver or mercury; how, then, could they
cause something to grow which did not exist?”
The Adept smiled, and said: “Through your
lips speaks the learned ignorance of your modern
civilization, which cannot see the truth, because
it has created a mountain of misconceptions and
scientific prejudices which now stand between
itself and the truth. Let me then tell you once
more that Nature is a Unity, and that conse-
quently each particle of matter, even the smallest,
is a part of nature in which the possibilities of the
whole of nature are hidden. Each speck of dust
may under favorable conditions develop into an
universe in which all the elements existing in
nature can be found. The reason why your sci-
entists are unable to comprehend this truth is
because their fundamental doctrines about the
constitution of matter and energy are entirely
wrong. Your Dualism in theology has been the
cause of untold misery, creating a continual quar-
rel between God and the Devil; your Polytheism
in science blinds the eyes and obstructs the judg-
ment of the learned, and keeps them in ignorance.
What do you know about the attributes of
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 119
primordial matter? What do you know about the
difference between matter and force? All the so-
called “simple substances * known to your science
are originally grown out of primordial matter.
But this primordial matter is a Unity; it is only
One. Consequently each particle of this primor-
dial matter must be able to grow under certain
conditions into gold, under other conditions pro-
duce iron, under others mercury, etc. This is
what the ancient Alchemists meant when they said
that each of the seven metals contains the seeds
of the other seven ; and they also taught that, for
the purpose of transmuting one body into another,
the body to be transmuted would have to be re-
duced first into its Prima Materia.
“But,” he continued, “I see that you are anx-
ious to have the truth of these doctrines demon-
strated by an experiment; let us then see whether
it is possible that we can make gold grow out of
its seed.”
Without rising from the big armchair in which
Theodorus was seated, he then directed me to
take one of the crucibles upon the table, to see
that it was empty, and to put it upon a tripod
over the flame burning upon the altar. I did as
**
1
() AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
2
directed. He then said: “Now take some of the
silver pieces which you have in your pocket, and
throw them into the crucible. I took seven Marks
which I had with me, and did as he said. After a
few minutes they began to melt, and as I saw the
silver in the crucible to have become fluid, I told
the Adept that it was molten. He then indicated
a small bottle containing some red powder, which
stood upon the table, and requested me to take
some of that red powder and to throw it into the
crucible. There was a little silver spoon lying
upon the table, and with this I took what seemed
to be about one or two grains of the red powder
from the bottle, and was going to throw it into
the crucible, but Theodorus stopped me, saying
that this was too much powder, and it should not
be wasted. He told me to throw the powder back
into the bottle and to wipe the spoon with a piece
of paper, and then to throw the paper into the cru-
cible. The quantity of powder which adhered to
the spoon after I had returned the former to the
bottle was so little as to be hardly visible ; never-
theless, I did as he told me, and threw the little
piece of paper upon the molten silver. Immedi-
ately the paper burned, and the molten metal
THE ALO HEMICAL LABORATORY, 121
began to foam and to rise, so that I was afraid
that it would run over the sides of the crucible ;
but each bubble burst as it reached the top, and
it exhibited a variety of the most beautiful colors.
This play lasted for about fifteen minutes, when
the boiling ceased, and the foaming mass sank
back to the bottom of the crucible. Theodorus
noticed that it had become quiet; he directed
me to take the crucible from the fire and to
pour the contents upon a marble slab. I did as
he told, and directly the mass became solid, and
appeared to be the finest gold.
“Take this gold with you,” said Theodorus, “and
let it be examined, so that you will be convinced
that you have not been the victim of a halluci-
nation.” -
I was very much astonished, and I thought
how much our people would give to become ac-
quainted with the secret of this red powder. I
desired to ask the Adept how this powder could
be prepared, but I did not dare to ask the ques-
tion aloud, because I was afraid that Theodorus
would think I desired to know the secret for
the purpose of enriching myself. But the Adept
saw my thought, and said: —
122 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
“The secret how this red powder is prepared
cannot be explained to men until they become
]]] Ol’6 spiritual; because it is a secret which can-
not be merely theoretically explained, but whose
knowledge must be practically acquired. How
can we teach mankind to employ powers which
they do not possess, and of which they do not
even know the existence? Nevertheless, the
germs of these powers are contained in a latent
condition within the organism of every human
being.
“It would be foolish to suppose that gold could
be made out of any other substance than gold;
but every substance contains the germ of gold
in its own primordial matter. -
“In the alchemical laboratory of nature, iron-
pyrites and other substances produce gold in the
course of ages, because the element of gold con-
tained in their primordial element grows by the
action of the life principle of nature, and grows
to be visible gold. This process, which it may
require unconscious Nature millions of years to
accomplish, can be accomplished by Nature in a
few minutes if her will power is guided by the
spiritual consciousness and intelligence of the
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 123
Adept. It is as impossible to make gold grow
out of anything containing no gold as it is im-
possible to make an apple-tree grow out of a
cherry-stone. But if we wish to see an apple-
tree grow out of a seed, we do not insert it in a
hole bored into a rock; but we select a proper
piece of soil, where it can grow by the aid of
warmth and of moisture. Likewise, if we desire
gold to grow out of the ‘seed’ or principle of
gold, we must add the proper soil which it re-
quires; and this ‘soil' is furnished by the red
powder, which contains the life principle for the
production of gold. Know that there is no ‘dead’
substance in the universe, and that even a stone
or a metal contains life in a latent form. If the
life principle within such a substance becomes
active, the substance may begin to form and to
produce the various colors which you saw in the
crucible. If the mass were cold and solid, the
element of life would be slow to penetrate below
the surface of the metal; nevertheless, the trans-
mutation would gradually take place; but in the
molten mass the life-giving substance becomes
thoroughly mixed with the metal, ebullition takes
place, and the transmutation is quickly performed.
ſº
124 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
“Why should growth and development and
transmutation of form be possible only in the
vegetable and animal kingdom 2. It is equally
possible in the mineral kingdom; the only dif-
ference is that in the former it takes place within
a sufficiently short period of time, so as to come
within the observation of man ; while in the lat-
ter these processes take place very slowly, and
many generations of men may pass away before
any progress in the growth of metals can be
observed.
“The seed for the production of plants grows
in the plants themselves; the seed for the pro-
duction of animals grows in the animals; the
‘seed' for the production of ‘metals rests in the
metals. It is not sufficient merely to melt gold
to make it grow ; it must be reduced to what
the Alchemists call Water, which means its pri-
mordial matter. This is done by the addition of
the red powder, of which an almost impercepti-
ble quantity is sufficient to cause the growth of
a great quantity of gold. The few atoms of
powder which you used were enough and to
spare to transmute your silver, as you will see
if you now examine your gold, which has not
&
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATOIRY. 125
absorbed all of the red powder which adhered
to the paper.”
I looked at the gold, which had now become
cold enough to be handled, and, indeed, upon its
surface there were some little red pearls like
rubies, which seemed to indicate that they were
parts of the red powder which had not been
absorbed by the molten mass.
“This red powder,” Theodorus continued, “is
the celebrated Red Lion of the Alchemists. Some
call it Sulphur, others call it Mercury, some call
it Salt. It is, indeed, each of those three, one as
well as the other, for the three form a Trinity in
a Unity, which is inseparable and cannot be
divided.”
“Master " I exclaimed, “teach me this secret,
and I promise you that I will never use the knowl-
edge obtained for any selfish purpose whatever.
I have learned enough of Occultism to know that
worldly possessions and riches are useless for the
purpose of spiritual development, and that they
are in truth the greatest obstacles which can be
put in the way of those who desire to progress.
I only desire to know the truth for the sake of
the truth, and not for the purpose of obtaining
3.|
126 AMONG THE ROSECRUCLANs.
any selfish advantage. Teach me these secrets,
and I will forget. my own self, and devote my life
to benefit the universal brotherhood of humanity.”
“Very well,” answered the Adept. “I will do
all I can to show you the way, but you must do
your own walking. To teach you the secret how
to make gold is identical with teaching you all
the secrets of the constitution of nature, and of its
counterpart, the microcosm of man. This cannot
be done in a few hours, nor within a few days,
and it would be against the rules of our order to
retain you here longer than after sunset. But to
enable. you to study this science of Alchemy, I
will lend you a book which you may read and
study; and if you keep your intuitional faculties
open and your mind unclouded, I will be invisibly
mear you and assist you to understand the mean-
ing of the secret symbols contained therein.”
With these words Theodorus handed me a book
containing a number of colored plates with sym-
bols and signs. It was an old book, and its title
was: “The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.”
“The size of the book,” continued the Adept,
“renders it rather inconvenient for you to carry it
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 127
On your descent from the mountain, but I will
send it to your hotel at the village, where you
will find it at your arrival.”
I thanked the Adept, and looked once more at
the mysterious book. I glanced at the titles of
the pages, and saw that they treated about the
greatest of mysteries, of the Macrocosm and Mi-
crocosm, of Time and Eternity, of Occult Num-
bers, the Four Elements, the Trinity of All, of
Regeneration, Alchemy, Philosophy, and Cabala;
it was indeed a book on Universal Seience.
“If you practically understand the contents of
this book,” said Theodorus, “ you will not merely
Rnow how to produce gold out of the baser metals,
which is one of the lowest, most insignificant,
and comparatively worthless parts of our art, but
you will know the mystery of the Rose and the
Cross; you will know how to come into posses-
sion of the Philosopher's Stone and the Universal
Panacea, which renders those who possess it im-
mortal. You will then not merely know how
to direct the processes of life, so as to make
pearls and diamonds and precious stones grow,
but you will know how to make a man out of
an animal, and a god out of a man. This last
|
128 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
alchemical process is the one thing which is needed,
and in comparison all other arts are merely play-
things for children. What will it serve us to run
after illusions, which will vanish in time, if we can
obtain within ourselves that which is eternal and
real 2’’ - -
I asked the Adept whether I would be per-
mitted to show that book to others, or to have
it copied and printed; upon which he replied:—
“There are at present few people in the world
who would be able to comprehend this book
to its fullest extent; but there are some who
desire to know the truth, and for the sake of
these few you may risk to throw pearls before
the swine. The symbols contained in these pages
must be not merely seen and studied with the
intellect ; they must also be grasped by the spirit.
To make this plain to you, know that each occult .
symbol and sign, from a mere point up to the
double-interlaced Triangle, to the Rose and the
Cross, has three significations. The first is the ex-
oteric meaning, which is easily understood; the
second is the esoteric or secret signification, which
may be intellectually explained; the deepest and
most mysterious one is the third, the spiritual
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 129
lmeaning, which cannot be explained, but which
must be practically experienced by the spirit.
This practical, internal experience is arrived at
by the power of intuition, or the faculty by
which the spirit often feels the presence of things
which he cannot see with the bodily senses, and
therefore not understand intellectually as long
as he has no spiritual power. If a person once
feels interior things with his heart, sees them by
his internal sight, and understands their attri-
butes through his intellect, then such a person
has become illuminated, and is practically an
Adept. -
“As the number Three grows out of the One,
likewise the Seven grows out of the Three; be-
cause by a combination of three numbers or let-
ters four complications arise, forming with the
original Three the number Seven; and thus there
are not merely three, but seven, explanations of
each symbol. You see, therefore, that the mat-
ter is very complicated, and requires deep study.
Nor would it benefit you if I were to explain to
you all the various meanings of these symbols;
for to learn such explanations from another does
not necessarily convey real knowledge, but is
130 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
often merely a matter of stuffing the memory
with the opinions of another. Such knowledge
is of the kind which is acquired in your colleges
and universities, and we want none of it. Self
is the man. That which he finds out by his own
experience, that he knows, and nothing more.
“When I was an inhabitant of your world, I
had many a hard rub with your doctors of medi-
cine and of divinity, because they lived upon the
ignorance of the people, and the more I enlight-
ened the latter, the less flattering grew the bread-
and-butter prospects of the former. I usually
found that the more learned your doctors were,
the more did they lose their reason. I live here
in peace, and care little about their disputations
and argumentations; but I take occasionally 8,
glance at the world, and I do not see much change
for the better.” . . .
“Nevertheless,” I said, “you will agree that
science has made a great deal of progress since
those days?”
“True,” he answered, “she has progressed in
some things and retrogressed in others. She has
made many inventions to increase the physical
comforts of man and to gratify his desires; but in
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 131
proportion as man's desires have been gratified,
they have also grown, and new necessities have
been created. Many of your most useful inven-
tions, however, have not been made by the help,
but rather in spite of the opposition, of your pro-
fessional scientists. But of what use are all these
scientific attainments for the eternal well-being of
man 2 They are made for the comfort of the physi-
cal form, and their usefulness ceases when the
physical form ceases to exist. These attainments
would be all right, if men and women did not waste
all their time to enjoy them, and thereby neglect
the development of the metals, which are to last far
longer than the physical form. -
“Moreover, if the psychical faculties of man
were developed, many of your most useful inven-
tions would be perfectly useless; they would be
displaced by far better methods, in the same sense
as bows and arrows have become useless since the
invention of gunpowder and guns. You are very
proud of your railroads and telegraphs, but of what
use are they to a man who is able to travel with
the velocity of thought from one place to another,
however distant that place may be. Learn to
chain the Elemental Spirits of Nature to the
~
132 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
chariot of your science, and you may mount an
Eagle and ride through the air.”
“I should be very glad,” I said, “if you would
inform me how a person can travel with the veloc-
ity of thought from one place to another. . It seems
to me that the weight of the physical body would
present an insurmountable impediment.”
“Neither would psychically developed man need
to take that cumbrous form along on such travels,”
answered Theodorus. “What or who is Man?
Is he that semi-animal mechanism, which eats,
drinks, and walks, and wastes nearly half of its life
in unconscious sleep; that mass of bones and mus-
cles, of blood and sensitive nerves, which hinders
the free movements of the spirit who is chained to
it ; or is the man that invisible something which
thinks and feels, and knows that it exists?
I said, “Undoubtedly the real man is the think-
ing principle in man.” -
“If you admit this,” answered the Adept, “you
will also agree that the real man is in that place
and locality wherein he thinks and perceives; in
other words, he is there where his consciousness
exists. Thinking is a faculty of the mind, and not
a faculty of the physical body. Wherever our mind
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 133
exercises that faculty, there is our true habitation;
whether our physical form is there too is a circum-
stance which need not concern us more than it
would concern us to carry a warm and heavy coat
which we are accustomed to wear in winter,
along on our trip while we are making a summer
excursion. Thinking is a faculty of the mind, and
|Mind is universal. If we learn to think independ-
ently of our physical brain, we may as well exer-
cise that faculty in one place of the universe as in
another, without taking our physical body along.”
“But,” I objected, “how can a universal and
therefore unorganized principle think, without
using for that purpose an organized brain’’’
“Shortsighted mortal!” answered Theodorus.
“Who says that the Universal Mind is without
an organization? Who has so little judgment as
to suppose that the highest organized living and
conscious principle in the universe is without an
organization, if even the inferior kingdoms upon
the face of the earth, such as crystals, plants, and .
animals, cannot exist without an organization?
Surely the air does not think; it has no firm
organization: but the Universal Mind is not air,
nor is it empty space; it has nothing in common
134 AMONG THE ROSIO RUC IANS.
with either, except its being everywhere present.
It is the highest organized principle in the uni-
VēTS6.
- “Inferior man, in whom the consciousness of
his higher spiritual self has not awakened, can-
not think without the aid of the physical brain;
he cannot experience a consciousness which he
does not yet possess; he cannot exercise a fac-
ulty which is merely latent within his organiza-
tion. But the man who has awakened to the
consciousness of his higher self, whose life has
been concentrated into his higher principles,
which exist independently of the physical form,
constitutes a spiritual centre of consciousness,
which does not require the physical brain to
think, any more than you require the use of your
hands and feet for the purpose of thinking. If
a person in a somnambulic condition travels in
spirit to a distant place and reports what he has
seen there, and his observations are afterwards
verified, must we not conclude that he has been
at that place, and would it be reasonable to Sup-
pose that he has taken his physical brain with him
and left the empty skull behind 2 How absurd is
such an idea; but verily its absurdity does not
THE ALOH EMICAI, LABOIRATORY. 135
surpass that of your suggestion, that the universal
mind is without an organization.”
I was somewhat confused for having inconsid-
erately expressed an opinion about a subject of
which I could not know anything, and the Adept,
moticing my regret, continued in a mild manner:
“If you desire to know the organization of nature,
study your own constitution, not merely in its
physical, anatomical, and physiological aspect, but
especially in its psychological aspect. Study what
may be called the physiology of your soul. If
your foot were not an Organized substance inti-
mately connected with your brain by means of
the nerves and the spinal cord, you would never
be able to feel any sensation in your foot; the
latter might be burned or amputated, and you
would not be aware of it unless you should see
its destruction or become otherwise conscious
of its loss. You do not think with your foot,
you think with your brain; or, to express it more
correctly, you think by means of your brain. But
if you were more spiritually developed, you would
be able to sink your thought and consciousness
from your brain down into your feet, or in any
other part of your body, and, so to say, live in
136 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
that part and be entirely unconscious of any
other part. It has already come to the compre-
hension of some of your more advanced scientists
that sensation and consciousness may be with-
drawn from any part of the body, either by an
effort of the will and imagination of the person
who undertakes the experiment, or by the aid of
the will and imagination of a ‘magnetizer’ or
‘mesmerizer. In the same manner the opposite
thing may be done, and a person may concentrate
himself, so to say, in any part of his own organ-
ism, or in any part of the great organism of
nature with which he is intimately and insepa-
rably, although invisibly, connected. A man
who believes that he exists independent of na-
ture and separated from it, labors under a great
illusion. The fundamental doctrine of Occultism
is that Nature is only One, and that all beings in
nature are intimately connected together, and that
everything in nature acts upon every other thing
therein. The feeling of isolation and separateness
existing in individuals is only caused by the illu-
sion of form. Man's form is not man; it is merely
a state of matter in which man for the time being
exists, and which is continually subject to change.
THE AICHEMICAL LABORATORY. 137
It may be compared to an image in a mirror, in
which the character of man is imperfectly re-
flected, and although it differs from the image
in a mirror in so far as it is temporarily endowed
or infused with life, sensation, and consciousness,
nevertheless it is nothing else than an image; for
life, sensation, and consciousness do not belong
to the form ; they are functions of the invisible
but real man who forms a part of the invisible
organism of nature, whose mind is a part of the
universal mind, and who, therefore, if he once
realizes his true character and learns to know
his own powers, may concentrate his conscious-
ness in any place within or beyond his physical
form, and see, feel, and understand what takes
place in such a locality.”
“These ideas,” I said, “are so grand that I am
not yet fully able to grasp them; but I fear that
they will never be accepted by our scientists, who
cannot see beyond the narrow systems which they
themselves have created.” - -
“True,” answered the Adept; “they will not
be accepted or understood by our present genera-
tion of scientists; but they will be known in the
future to those who are not merely learned, but
138 AMONG THE ROS IC 13 UCIANS.
wise, as they were known to the wise men of
the past. Ignorance and self-conceit are twin
brothers; and it flatters man’s vanity to believe
that he is something self-existent and different
from the rest; and the more a man is learned
in superficial science, the more does he believe
in his own imaginary superiority and separate-
ness. The consciousness of the great majority
of intelligent people in our intellectual age is
nearly all concentrated within their brains; they
live, so to say, entirely in the top story of their
houses. But the brain is not the most important
part of the house in which man resides. The
centre of life is the heart; and if consciousness
does not take its residence in the centre of life,
it will become separate from life, and finally
cease to exist. Let those who desire to develop
spiritually attempt to think with their hearts,
instead of continually studying with their brains.
Let them attempt to sink day after day their
power of thought down to the centre of life
in the heart, until their consciousness is firmly
established there. At first they will see nothing
but darkness; but if they persevere in their
efforts, they will behold a light at that centre
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 139
which illuminates the mind. This inextinguish-
able light will send its rays as far as the stars;
and in it they may see the past, the present, and
the future. . -
“The greatest mysteries in nature are by no
means difficult to understand, if we only prefer
to look at them instead of looking at our own
illusions. The grandest ideas are easy to grasp,
if we merely prefer to grasp them instead of
holding on to those which we ourselves have
created. Man's mind is like a mirror in which
the ideas floating in the universal mind are re-
flected, comparable to a tranquil lake in which
you may see the true images of the passing clouds.
If the surface of the latter is disturbed, the
images become distorted ; if the water becomes
muddy, the reflections Cé8,Sé altogether. Like-
wise, if the mind of man is in a tranquil state
and clear of foreign elements, he will reflect
the grandest and noblest ideas existing within
the world of mind. If we desire to think rea-
sonably, we should allow Reason to do her
thinking within our brain; but if we attempt to
be wiser than Reason, our mind becomes filled.
with our own illusions and those which we have
140 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
acquired, and we cannot see the truth as it is, but
we see it as we imagine it to be. -
“This truth you will find symbolically or alle-
gorically represented in all the principal mytholo-
gies and religious systems of the world. It is
the old story of the ‘Fall of Man.” As long as
man remained in a state of purity, -that is to
say, as long as his will and imagination were one
and identical with the will and the imagination
of the spiritual power acting within nature, — he
knew the truth and was all-powerful; but when
he began to will and to imagine in a way different
from that universal power, he lost sight of the
truth and could see only his own illusions. If
man wants to see the truth again, he must give
up his own way of thinking and reasoning and
let Reason will and think in him. But you may
as well ask a miser to give up the treasure which
he has collected and hoarded during a lifetime as
to ask a modern scientist or philosopher to give
up his own way of thinking. I see in your heart a
desire to establish a reasonable society; but let me
warn you that if you attempt to accomplish this
by appealing to the learned, you will have se-
lected the most unreasonable method to accom-
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 141
plish your purpose, and you may be certain that
it will fail.”
“I acknowledge,” I said, “that I have been
thinking of finding means to establish such a
society, or a school for spiritual development,
where those who desire to progress might be able
to spend their energies for the purpose of that
which is useful and lasting, instead of being
forced to run after the illusions of the world.
I have been mentally seeking for a place in a
solitude where the members of such a society
might lead an interior life. I should like to estab-
lish a theosophical monastery, where we could
live like yourself, surrounded by all the grandeur,
sublimity, and stillness of nature, escape the servi-
tude of fashionable society, and step on the path
to adeptship. But surely I could not think of
selecting our members from the ranks of the un-
educated and ignorant.”
“Select them among those who are pure and
virtuous,” answered Theodorus, “and your choice
will be well made. Choose those who have no
preconceived opinions and prejudices, teach them
the processes how to develop their spiritual pow-
ers of perception, and you will soon have the
142 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
most enlightened society in the world, That
which is to-day called learning and education is
merely a very laborious method of acquiring a
little superficial knowledge which mankind is
forced to adopt because they do not know how
to develop their spiritual faculties. If the latter
method were taught and practised, real knowl-
edge would soon occupy the place of mere learn-
ing, certainty the place of belief conviction the
place of opinion, true faith the place of creed. If
every inhabitant of your proposed monastery had
no way of willing and imagining of his own, but
if they all were living mirrors in which Divine
Wisdom is reflected without any adulteration,
such a monastery would be the greatest ornament
of the world. Such centres of spiritual intelli-
gence would be like suns of first magnitude Oll
the mental horizon of the world. One such centre
would be sufficient to illuminate the world with
its wisdom and to send its intellectual rays to the
utmost limits of the planet.”
- “And what is to hinder the establishment of
such a centre of intelligence 2''. I asked. -
“Nothing but the imperfections of man,” an-
swered the Adept. t There are two sources from
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 143
which the obstacles arise, which are in the way of
those who desire to attain self-knowledge and im-
mortality. One class of obstacles arises from
man's interior self, the other from the external
conditions in which he lives. The internal obsta-
cles are caused by his acquired scientific or theo-
logical prejudices and misconceptions, and by the
living elemental forces active within the animal
principle in the constitution of man. As they are
fed and grow strong by external influences, they
manifest themselves in various ways, producing
animal impulses, and in combination with the in-
tellectual acquirements they grow into the more
dangerous class of vices, such as ambition, vanity,
greed, intolerance, selfishness, etc. Each of these
animal elements, or Elementals, may grow into an
intellectual but unreasonable being, and finally
constitute the very Ego of man. Man may have
a great many such Ego's within him, until perhaps
one of these overmasters the others and becomes
the king in the realm of his soul. Each of these
Ego's absorbs a share of the life and consciousness
of the man in whose soul it exists, and may finally
even occupy all space within the intellectual sphere
of the latter, so as to paralyze reason or drive it
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144 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
away. The world is crowded with such intel-
lectual or semi-intellectual Elementals in human
shape, in whom reason has been paralyzed to a
greater or lesser extent. You see them every day
in the streets, in the pulpit, the forum, in the halls
of learning, as well as upon the market-place.
Man’s principal object in life should be to keep the
realm of his mind free from such intruders, so that
the king of reason may rule therein without being
impeded. His duty is to fight the Herculean bat-
tle with those animal and intellectual Elementals,
so that they will become servants of the king, and
not become his masters. Can this be accomplished
if all our energies are continually employed on the
outward plane; if we are never at home within
ourselves; if we are continually engaged with the
illusions of life, either in the pursuit of sensual
gratification or in the so-called intellectual pur-
suits, tending to give us knowledge of outward
things but conveying no knowledge of self? Can
we expect to accumulate our energy and employ
it at the centre within ourselves, if we continually
spend it at the periphery 7 Can we hope to be
able to spend all our power, and at the same time
to be able to retain it? An affirmative answer
would be as irrational as unscientific.
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 145
“A power to become strong at the centre must
be directed towards the centre; for it is only by
resistance that it can accumulate and become
strong. A king who goes away from his kingdom
and leaves it without protection may find other
rulers there when he attempts to return. To be-
come conquerors over nature we must fight our own
battles, and not wait until nature fights them for
us. The more the animal elements within man’s
constitution are stimulated into life and activity
by the temptations coming from the external world
through the avenues of the senses, the hotter will
be the battle, and the stronger will man's reason
grow if he successfully resists. This is the battle
which the great Gautama Buddha fought, and of
which he came out victorious, because he was over-
shadowed by the Bo-tree of Wisdom. -
“I will attempt to give you a rational and
scientific explanation of the effects of inward con-
centration of mind and introspection; and, that
you may not think I am revealing secrets which
ought not to be revealed to the uninitiated, I refer
you to the books of the great Greek philosopher
Plotinus, who revealed them long ago, but whose
ideas are still far beyond the grasp and under-
standing of your modern lights of wisdom.
146 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
“According to that philosopher, there exists
nothing in the universe but God;’ but if this
word does not please you, because it has for ages
been subject to misconceptions, and because, if we
speak of God, the people will insist in imagining
that we are referring to an external and personal
god, which is an absurdity, because no place can
be found in nature for such a god, -let us call it
the ‘Real.” -
“According to Plotinus nothing has any real
existence but the Real, and all the phenomena in
this universe are merely illusions created by the in-
ternal activity of the Real. No man can see his
own face without the aid of a mirror, and likewise
the Real, when it awakes from its sleep after the
great Pralaya, cannot see itself without the aid of
a mirror. There is no other substance but that
which belongs to the Real, to serve as a mirror ;
and therefore the Real, so to say, steps out of its
own centre and looks within itself, and thus an
intellectual activity is created, by which the Real
perceives the images existing within its own sub-
stance; and this activity going from the periphery
towards the centre is called the Universal Mind.
The same process takes place if a person by the
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 147
power of introspection directs his thoughts towards
his own centre of consciousness existing in his
“heart, and thus attempts to see what is going on
within himself. Now this activity going towards
the centre could never have created an external
world, because the external world exists, so to
say, on the periphery, and requires a centrifugal
power, to call it into existence. The intellectual
activity of the Universal Mind is a centripetal
power, and could therefore not act from the centre
towards the periphery. But you know that every
action is followed by a reaction. The centripetal
power finding resistance at the centre, returns and
evolves a centripetal activity, and this centripetal
power is called the Soul. This soul-energy is the
medium between the centre and the periphery,
between Spirit, and Matter, between the Creator
and his creations, between God and Nature, or
whatever names you may choose to give to it.
The Soul is the product of the centrifugal activity
of the Universal Will, put into action by the cen-
tripetal activity of the Universal Imagination. If
these plain facts, expressed in plain language, with-
out any scientific jargon, without circumscriptions,
philosophical circumvolution and modern gibberish,
4
148 AMONG THE ROS ICR, UC IANS.
are comprehensible to you, all you have to do
is to apply it to man, who is the microcosmic
counterpart of the great macrocosm of nature. If
you direct the power of your mind inwardly
towards your centre, instead of letting it fly off into
the external sensual world, the resistance which it
finds at the centre will cause a reaction, and the
stronger the centripetal power which you apply,
the stronger will be the centrifugal power created;
in other words, the stronger will your Soul become,
and, as the latter grows strong, its invisible, but
nevertheless material, substance will penetrate
your physical, visible body, and serve to trans-
form it into a higher kind of matter. Thus you
may at the end become all Soul, and have no
gross physical body. But long before that time
arrives, you will be able to act upon matter by the
power of your soul, to cure your own bodily ills
and those of other people, and to do many wonder-
ful things, even at distances far away from your
visible form ; for the activity of the soul is not
limited by the circumference of the physical form,
but emanates far into the sphere of the Universal
Mind.”
I told Theodorus that these ideas were as yet
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 149
too grand and too new to me, to be grasped im-
mediately ; but that I would attempt to remember
them and to meditate about them in the future.
“You will do well if you do so,” said the Adept,
“and I will take care that they remain in your
memory.” -
“If the doctrines of Plotinus are true,” I
asked, “then it would seem that the vast majority
of our thinkers are continually thinking the wrong
way ; because they are engaged all their lives in
prying into external things, and do not seem to
care a straw about what is taking place within
themselves.”
“Therefore,” answered Theodorus, “they will
perish with their illusions; and the Bible is right
in saying that the ways of the worldly-wise are
foolishness in the eyes of the Eternal.
“What will it serve you, if your head is full of
intellectual rubbish and speculations about the
details of the phenomenal illusions of life, and you
become a senile imbecile in your old age 2 What
will it serve you, roaming about the world and
gratifying your curiosity in regard to its details,
and, if your external senses perish and you attempt
to return to your house, you find it occupied by
150 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
|
|
wild animals? Perhaps it would be better for the
learned if they knew less of scientific theories and
had more practical self-knowledge. It would be
better if they had fewer scientific speculations and
more spiritual power. If they were to employ, for
instance, their time and energy for the develop-
ment of the spiritual power of clairvoyance, which
they spend to find out the habits of some species
of African monkey, they would fare better by it.
If they were to obtain the power to heal the sick
by the touch of their hands, instead of seeking
new methods to poison humanity by inoculations
of injurious substances, humanity would be the
gainer. There are thousands of people who work
hard all their lives, without accomplishing any-
thing which is useful at the end. There are
thousands who labor intellectually or mechani-
cally to perform work which had better be left
undone. There are vastly more people engaged
in undermining and destroying the health of
man than by curing his ills, more engaged in
teaching error than in teaching the truth, more
trying to find that which is worthless than that
which is of value ; they live in externals and will
perish in the externals; they run after money,
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 151
and the money will live, while they themselves
die. - . . .
“The obstacles which arise from the external
world are intimately connected with those from
the inner world, and cannot be separated; be-
cause external temptations create inward desires,
and inward desires call for external means for
gratification. Still, there are many people who
do not crave for the illusions of life, but who
have not the strength to resist them. Many
have a desire to develop spiritually and to gain
immortality, but they believe themselves forced by
external circumstances, which they dare not re-
sist, to employ their time and energy for the
attainment of worthless things, instead of using
their strength to dive down into the depths of
the soul to search for the priceless pearl of wis-
dom. Thousands of people have not the moral
courage to break loose from social customs,
ridiculous habits, and foolish usages, which they -
inwardly abhor, but to which they nevertheless
submit because they are customs and habits to
act against which is considered to be a social
crime. Thus thousands sacrifice their immor-
tality to the stupid goddess of fashion.
152 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
“Who dares to break loose from the bondage
imposed upon him by fashion, and to exchange for
it the freedom of eternal life 2 Who dares to face
the calumny and the contempt of the ignorant, to
obtain in its place the applause of the wise? Who
has the courage to incur the sneers of the imbecile,
the ridicule of the ignorant, the laughter of the
fool, and gain thereby a light of whose existence
those who live in eternal darkness know nothing?
But the vast majority of people drown the voice
of reason by the speculating power of the intel-
lect. Rather than have their vanity suffer, they
allow the spirit to starve; rather than be cruci-
fied and to resurrect into immortal life, they
submit to the galling chain; they lose their
appreciation of liberty, and, becoming used to
their chains, begin to love them and to impose
them upon others; thus proving true the saying
of the poet, —
“It is the curse of every evil act,
That it forever must give birth to evil.”
“I am not a believer in total depravity of the
human nature; I know that man’s animal princi-
ples, on account of their inherent instinctive ef-
forts for the preservation of their existence, are
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 153
opposed to the development of his higher princi-
ples, because the life of the higher involves the
death of the lower; but I also know that in each
human being is contained a power for good, which
may be made to develop if the proper conditions
are given. There are elements of good and ele-
ments of evil in every man, and it depends on
ourselves which class we desire to develop.
From a cherry-stone nothing can grow but a
cherry-tree, from a thistle-seed nothing else than
a thistle; but man is a constellation of powers
in which all kinds of seeds are contained; you
may make him grow to be a hog or a tiger, an
angel or a devil, a sage or a fool, according to
your own pleasure.
“The continual rush after more money, more
comfort, more pleasure, after we already possess
all we require, and which characterizes our present
civilization, is not necessarily a sign of greed,
viciousness, and moral depravity; but it is rather
caused by the instinctive impulse, inherent in the
constitution of man, to reach something higher
and better, which expresses itself on the physical
plane. Man intuitively knows that, no matter
how rich in money or fame he may be, he has not
154 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
yet reached a state in which to be contented and
to rest ; he knows that he must still keep on striv-
ing for something, but he does not know what
that something is. Not knowing the higher life,
he strives for more of those things which the
lower life affords, and thus wastes his energies for
the attainment of things which are useless to him.
Thus we may see a bug or a butterfly falling into
a lake, and in its vain efforts to save itself from
drowning swimming away from the shore, because
it does not know in which direction the means for
salvation exist. Thus the curse of the world and
the root of all evil is ignorance. The curse of man
is his ignorance of his essential nature and final
destiny, and the efforts of a true system of religion
and science ought to be above all to remove this
ignorance.
“But it is also true that ignorance and conceit
are closely connected together, and that the igno-
rant hate him who is wiser than they. If one man,
knowing more about the requirements of his
nature, and desirous to employ all his energies for
the attainment of a higher state, were to dare to
assert his manhood and to rebel against the chains
of fashion, could he continue to live unmolested
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 155
in his community? and if he were to emigrate to
another, would he not be exposed there to the
same troubles 2 He would still come in contact
with men who hated the light because they were
educated in darkness, who would misunderstand
him, suspect his motives, and persecute him; and
woe to him if he had any human failings upon
which the snake of slander could fasten its poison
fangs. Wherever darkness exists, there exists
abhorrence of light. Wherever ignorant man
enters, there enter his imperfections. Wherever
ignorance resides, there are her attending angels,
suspicion, envy, and fear. Would it not be more
within the scope of a true science to enlighten
man about his true nature, than to invent theories
regarding the causes of phenomena which she does
not know and which she cannot prevent?
“That which is almost impossible to accomplish
by the unaided efforts of a single individual, may
often easily be accomplished by the co-operation
of many, and this law seems to prevail in all
departments of nature. If a sufficient number of
people were determined to retire from the harle-
quin stage of the world and to turn away from the
tomfooleries of a fashionable existence, they might,
156 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
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if they could harmonize with each other, form a
power sufficiently strong to repel the attacks of
the monster which would devour them all if they
were separated and unaided by each other.
“There have been at previous times, as there
are now, numerous people who became convinced
that there is a higher and inner life, and who
desired to surround themselves with such condi-
tions as were most favorable for its attainment.
Such people were not merely to be found in
Christian countries, but also among the ‘heathen’;
and thousands of years ago lamaseries and lodges,
orders, monasteries, convents, and places of refuge
have been established, where people might strive
to attain a higher life, unimpeded by the aggres-
sions and annoyances of the external world of illu-
\sions. Their original purpose was beyond a doubt
very recommendable. If in the course of time
many such institutions have become degraded and
lost their original character; if instead of being
places for the performance of the noblest and most
difficult kind of labor, they have become places of
refuge for the indolent, idle, and superstitious; it
is not the fault of that principle which first caused
such institutions to be organized, but it is the con-
fºr
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 15'ſ
sequence of the knowledge of the true nature of
man and his powers and destiny having been lost,
and with the loss of that knowledge the means for
the attainment, the original aim was naturally lost
and forgotten. -
“Such a degradation took place in Europe,
especially during and after the Middle Ages, when,
enriched by robberies and endowed by dying
thieves who wanted to buy salvation, they amassed
great wealth and lived a luxurious life, feasting
on the fat of the land. They then knew nothing
more of the conditions of a higher existence; they
became centres of attraction for the hypocrite and
the idle. They passed away their idle hours in
pious amusements and in striving to gain material
wealth. Instead of being centres from which
blessings should spread over the country, they
became a plague to the land. They robbed the
rich, and, vampire-like, they sucked the last drop
of blood out of the poor. They continued in this
manner until the cup of their crimes was full,
when the great Reformation caused the downfall
of many and the reform of the rest.
“There are still numerous convents existing in
Europe, and in America, their number is on the
158 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
*
increase. The modern reformer, the socialist and
materialist, looks upon them with an evil eye; but
the unprejudiced observer will not deny that some
of them are doing a great deal of good in their
own way. Some have established schools, others
opened hospitals; and above all are the Sisters of
Charity unsurpassed in their usefulness in the
care for the sick. Thus some of these orders
serve the noble purpose of benefiting humanity,
and their usefulness could be increased a thou-
sand-fold if the light of spiritual knowledge — the
Holy Ghost, to whom they pray — were to be per-
mitted to descend upon their ranks. * -
“Do the religious orders as they are now fulfil
their original purpose of raising man up into a
higher and spiritual state of existence, or are they
merely centres around which pious and benevo-
lent people have collected who teach schools and
nurse the sick, -occupations which might perhaps
equally well be performed without confessing any
particular creed? If the religious convents are
calculated to develop true spirituality and to pro-
duce truly regenerated men and women, they
will be the places where we may find some mani-
festations of spiritual powers; for a latent power
THE ALO HEMICAL LABORATO i*Y. 159
which never manifests itself is of no use; it cannot
exist in an active state without manifesting itself.
Let us therefore be permitted to ask: Do the in-
habitants of our convents consciously exercise
any spiritual powers ? Can they knowingly cure
the sick by the touch of their hands? Are their
inner senses sufficiently opened, so that they may
See and hear, taste, smell, and feel things which
are imperceptible by the senses of average man 7
Can they prophesy, with any degree of certainty,
future events, except by the conclusions of logie”
Are there any among them who have become
Adepts? What do they actually know about the
conditions required to enter a higher state of con-
sciousness than that of ordinary mortals? What
do they know about the means to enter adeptship
and to obtain a conscious future existence? What
do our monks and nuns know about the constitu-
tion of the human soul, and especially of those
souls who are entrusted to their care? What are
their experiences when in that higher state called
ecstasy 2 If there is one among them who enters
into a state of trance, or is levitated into the air,
or serves as an instrument for the production of a
simple mediumistic phenomenon, do they know
160 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
the causes which produce such effects, or is such
an occurrence considered to be an unexplainable or
supernatural miracle? Is not the person to whom
such a thing happens considered a saint 2
“It is useless for them to assert that they can
forgive sins, or that sins can be forgiven through
them ; for such an assertion can neither be proved
nor disproved intellectually: it will always remain
a mere matter of opinion. If they do not possess
any spiritual powers, we cannot believe that they
are able to communicate them to others; and if
they do communicate any such powers upon others,
where are their effects to be seen 2 Do the igno-
rant become wise after having been baptized with
water? Do those who have submitted to the cere-
mony of confirmation obtain true faith? Does
the sinner become innocent after having the load
taken off from his conscience by means of absolu-
tion? Can our clergymen change the laws of
nature ? Can they by any external ceremony
cause the growth of an inner principle? or does he
who enters a church an animal, come out an ani-
mal still 2
“These are perplexing questions, and I would
not like to be understood as if I desired to throw
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 161
any discredit upon the motives of any of the in-
habitants of our convents and nunneries. I am
personally acquainted with many of them, and I
usually found them to be good and kind and well-
meaning people, without that priestly pride and
arrogance which unfortunately often character-
ize the clergyman of the world; but I believe
that all the good which they do they could per-
form as well, and even a great deal better, if they
were to undertake the study of the soul, its organ-
ization and functions, and if they were qualifying
themselves for that study. They would then be
able to develop consciously those higher faculties
which have spontaneously developed among some
of their members, who on account of such an un-
expected and abnormal development were called
miracle-workers or saints. -
“How can any one be a true spiritual guide
who has no spiritual powers, and who, perhaps,
does not even know that such powers exist?
What would you think of a surgeon who knew
nothing whatever of anatomy 2 what of a physi-
cian who did not know his patient 2 what of a
blind painter, a deaf musician, an imbecile mathe.
matician 2 What shall we think of a physician
162 • AMONG THE ROSIORTUCIANS.
of the soul who knows nothing at all about the
soul or its attributes, who has never seen it, and
merely is of the opinion that it exists? Have we
not a right to doubt the usefulness of such a
physician, and exclaim with Shakespeare, —
“Throw physic to the dogs; I’ll none of it’?
If the inhabitants of our convents and monas-
teries, instead of employing the time and energy
which they need for the performance of their
customary ceremonies, for the saying of rosaries
and the repetitions of litanies, etc., were to em-
ploy them for the purpose of acquiring self-knowl-
edge, for the study of the essential constitution
of man and of nature, and for the acquisition of
spiritual power, their usefulness might be ex-
tended to an enormous extent. Their knowledge
would be no longer restricted to earthly things,
but expand to heaven ; they would not need to
nurse the sick, for they could cure them by the
touch of their hands; they would not need to bap-
tize people with water, for they could baptize them
with the spirit of sanctity; they would not need
to listen to confessions, for they would be able to
read the thoughts of the culprit. Why should
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 163
they not be able to do their duties much better if
they were wise instead of ignorant; if they knew
the truth instead of blindly accepting a creed; if
they had the power to accomplish that which they
now expect an invisible and unknown power to
accomplish in response to their prayers? If the
public believe that there is one miracle-working
saint at a convent, do they not rush there to re-
ceive his or her blessings? What would be the
fame of a convent composed entirely of saints
whose powers could not be doubted?
“But how can monks and nuns acquire such
powers? How can they qualify themselves for
such a study? It has been said that it is ten
times more difficult to remove an old error than
to find a truth; and there lies the difficulty. A
page which is already full of writing will have
to be cleaned before it can be written upon again.
They would have to purge their minds of all
dogmatism and sophistry before they can see the
truth; they would have to become like children
before they can enter the kingdom of heaven
within their own souls. They would have to
remove the mountain of rubbish which has accu-
mulated in time in the vestibule of the temple,
A
164 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
consisting of errors and superstitions, and in the
corpses of forms from which the spirit has fled.
Ages of ignorance have contributed to its growth,
and it has become venerable by age. T he inhabi-
tants of the convent bare their heads and bend
their knees when they approach that pile, and
they do not dare to destroy it. To become wise,
they would have to learn the true meaning of
A their own doctrines, symbols, and books, of which
they at present merely know the outward form
and the dead letter. They would have to form
a much higher and nobler conception of God
than to invest him with the attributes of semi-
animal man. They would have to base their
moral doctrines upon the intrinsic dignity of the
divine principle in man, instead of appealing to
the selfish desires of man and to his fear of pun-
ishment, to induce him to seek his salvation.
“This may be accomplished in the far-distant
future, but not at the present time. Ages and
centuries will roll away before the sunlight of
truth will penetrate through the thick veil of
materialism, which, like an icy crust, covers the
true foundation of human religions. Look at the
ice-fields of the Alps, covering the sides of the
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 165
mountain, sometimes many miles in extension.
They extend in solid blocks, perhaps more than
a hundred feet thick, down to the valley. They
are the products of centuries; and firm as the
rock the ice appears; and yet these rigid and
apparently immovable masses move and change
from year to year. They grate the rocks upon
which they rest, and they throw out that which
is foreign. There may cracks and fissures be seen
at the top, and if, as happens sometimes, a man
falls in one of these fissures, his remains may be
found many years afterwards at the foot of the
glacier, below the field of ice, having been spewed
out by the latter.
“Change, slow change, is going on everywhere
in nature. Even in the most rigid and Orthodox
religious systems, in the most benighted hearts
and heads, there is going on a continual change.
Already the doctrines which were expounded
in the pulpits of the Middle Ages have been mod-
ified to a certain extent. The proportions of the
devil have shrunk so much that the people have
almost ceased to fear him, and in the same degree.
as clerical power has diminished, the conception of
God has assumed a grander aspect. Already the
166 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
necessity of performing humanitarian labors has
been to a certain extent recognized, and is by
some considered to be of almost equal importance
to the performance of the prescribed ceremonies.
Still the change goes on, gradually but slowly; for
there is a powerful giant who by his negation
resists the decay of the pile of rubbish, and the
name of this giant is Fashion. It is fashionable
to support certain things, and therefore the masses
support them. .
“Is the progressive part of the world going to
wait until the legally appointed guardians of the
truth have found out the true value of the treas-
ure in their possession ? Have we to wait until
they have cleaned the jewel from the dark crust
which they have permitted to accumulate around
it for centuries? Messengers have arrived from
the East, the land of light, where the sun of
wisdom has risen, bringing with them costly
moonlight pearls and treasures of liquid gold.
Will their untold wealth be intrusted to the
safe-keeping of those who possess the old and
empty forms, or will the new wine be filled in
new casks, because the old ones are rotten?
“But why should those who have begun to see
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 167
the dawn of the day close their eyes and wait
until the blind would inform them that the sun
is rising over the mountains? Is love of the truth
not strong enough to accomplish that which the
fear of a dread hereafter has been able to accom-
plish 2 Cannot the enlightened classes establish
lay-convents, which would offer all the advantages
of Orthodox convents without the disadvantages
of the latter? Could they not establish a garden,
where the divine Lotus-flower of wisdom might
grow and unfold its leaves, sheltered against the
storms of passion raging beyond the walls, watered
by the water of truth, whose spring is within ;
where the Tree of Life could unfold without be-
ing encumbered by the weeds of superstitions and
errors; where the soul could breathe the pure
spiritual air, unadulterated by the odor of the
poison-tree of ignorance, unmixed with the efflu-
via of decaying superstitions; a place where this
Tree of Life, springing from the roots of the Tree
of Knowledge, could grow and spread its branches,
far up in the invisible realm where Wisdom re-
sides, and producing fruits which cause those
who partake of them to become like God and
immortal.”
168 AMONG THE ROSICRUCLANs.
Here the Adept paused, as if in deep medita-
tion; but after a moment of silence he said:
“Yes, by all means establish your theosophical
monastery, if you can find any inhabitants for it;
for it will be easier to introduce the truth into a
house which is not occupied, than into one which
is occupied by its enemies.”
“But,” I objected, “such an institution would
require an Adept as a teacher. Would you con-
sent to teach?”
To this Theodorus answered, “Wherever there
is a want, the supply will not fail to come, for
there is no vacuum in nature.”
At this moment I heard again the sound of the
invisible silver bell in the air, and the Adept, ris-
ing, said that he was called away for a few min-
utes, and invited me to remain until he should
return. He left the laboratory, and I remained
alone. I amused myself in looking over the book
containing the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians,
and my attention was attracted by the sign of a
Pentagram turned upside down, so that the two
points of the lower triangles pointed upwards.
At this moment a voice sounding behind my
chair said: “In this symbol is contained eternity
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 169
and time, god and man, angel and devil, heaven
and hell, the old and the new Jerusalem with all
its inhabitants and creatures.”
I turned, and I saw by my side a man with an
extremely intelligent face, dressed in the habit
of a monk. He excused himself for causing an
interruption in my thoughts, and said that I
seemed so deeply engaged in meditating over
those figures that I had not observed his en-
trance. - -
The open countenance, the pleasant looks, and
the intelligent expression of the face of my visitor
at Once gained my confidence; and I asked him
who he was, with whom I had the honor to speak.
“I am,” said the stranger, “the Famulus, or, as
you well may call it, the Chela, of Theodorus.
They call me jocularly his intellectual principle,
because I have to do his work when the old
gentleman is asleep.” * . •
I found this remark very funny; and the
stranger offered to show me all the curiosities of .
the laboratory, a proposition which I gladly ac-
cepted. He showed me many curious things. Of
some of those I had read in books on Alchemy;
others were entirely new to me. At last we came
170 AMONG THE BOSICRUCIANS,
to a closed shrine; and my curiosity led me to ask
what it contained.
“Oh!” answered the monk, “this shrine con-
tains some powders for fumigations, by the aid
of which a man may see the Elemental Spirits of
Nature.” A.
“Indeed!” I exclaimed. “Oh, how I should
like to see these lovely spirits I have read a
great deal about them in the books of Paracelsus;
but I never had an opportunity to see them.”
“They are not all of them lovely,” said the
monk. “The Elementals of Earth have human
forms. They are small; but they have the power
to elongate their bodies. These Gnomes and Pig-
nies are usually ill-humored and cross; and it is
just as well to leave them alone, although sometimes
they become very good friends of man, and even
may show him hidden treasures and mines. The
Elementals of Air, the Sylvans, are of a more
agreeable nature ; still we cannot rely upon their
friendship. The Salamanders, living in the ele-
ment of Fire, are ugly customers, and it is better
to have nothing to do with them. But the
Nymphs and Undines are lovely creatures, and
they often associate with man.”
THE ALCH EMICAT, LABORATORY. 171
“I wish I could see those beautiful water-
sprites,” I said ; “ but I am inclined to believe
that they belong to the realm of the fable. For
many years, accounts given by seafaring men
spoke of mermen and mermaids, which they in-
sisted to have seen at a distance. They said that
those people were like human beings, of whom
the upper part resembled a man or a woman,
while the lower part of their body was a fish.
They told great stories about their beauty, their
waving hair, and how finely they could sing; and
they called them sirens, because it was said they
could sing so well that men who heard their
voices would become oblivious of everything else
than their songs. At last, such a siren was caught;
and it proved to be nothing else than a curious
fish of the species called Halicore Catacca, which
at a distance may be mistaken for a man, on ac-
count of its color, and which barks somewhat like
a dog. Perhaps those Undines and Nymphs are
also nothing but fishes.”
“This is a most erroneous opinion, my dear
sir,” answered the monk. “The Halicore is a
fish; but the Nymphs and Undines are elemental
spirits of nature, living in the element of water,
172 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANs.
being, under ordinary circumstances, invisible to
man, and which can therefore not be caught in
this manner. They are almost like human beings,
but far more ethereal and beautiful; and under
certain circumstances they may be seen by man.
They may even attain a permanent material form
and remain on land; and a case is even known in
which a certain Count Stauffenberg married such
a nymph on account of her beauty and lived with
her for more than a year, until some stupid theo-
logian frightened him by telling him that his wife
was a devil. The count at that time had fallen
in love with some good-looking peasant-girl, and
so the interference of the preacher was welcome,
and he took this as a pretext to drive his true
wife away. But she revenged herself; and on
the third day after his second marriage the count
was found dead in his bed. These nymphs are
very beautiful. They are strong in love, and
are constant; but they are also said to be very
jealous.”
The more the monk spoke about the Water-
nymphs, the stronger grew my desire to see them.
I begged him to make a fumigation with the mys-
terious powder, and he at last consented. Putting
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 173
a few pieces of dry maple-tree bark and a few
dried leaves of laurel into a brazier, he added some
pieces of charcoal and lighted them. He then
strewed some of the mysterious powder, and a
white smoke arose, filling the room like a mist
and with a very sweet odor. The objects in the
laboratory could soon be seen only dimly through
that mist, and soon disappeared altogether. The
walls of the chamber were no more to be seen. The
air seemed to be put in a vibratory motion and to
become more dense; but, far from feeling oppressed
by this, I felt a great exhilaration and satisfaction.
At last I knew I was in the element of water, and
was supported by it. I was swimming, but my
body was as light as a feather, and it required no
effort whatever to keep me from sinking; it seemed
as if the water was my own element, as if I were
born in it. A light shone directly above my head.
I rose up to the surface and looked around. I was
in the midst of the ocean, dancing up and down
with the waves. It was a bright moonlight night.
Right above me stood the full moon and threw
her silvery rays upon the water, causing the rip-
ples and the foamy crests on the tops of the waves
to sparkle like liquid silver or diamonds. Far in
174 AMONG THE ROSICRUCIANS.
the distance appeared the coast with a mountain
range, which seemed familiar to me. At last I
recognized it as the coast of the island of Ceylon,
with the range of mountains beyond Colombo
and Galle; surely I could not mistake, for I
recognized the Adam’s Peak. .
Never shall I forget the agreeable sensation
caused by that ethereal bath in the moonlit sea in
the Indian Ocean. It seemed to me that at last
my wish had been fulfilled, and that I was free of
my mortal body and its weight ; and yet I was
myself. I could see no difference between the
body I inhabited now and the one I inhabited
before the fumigation was made, only my present .
body was so light that it seemed as if it would
float in the air as easily as it did upon the water.
Listen some faint sound is brought by the
breeze ; it seems to be a human voice. It comes
nearer, and now I hear it plainly; it is the melo-
dious song of a female voice. I look in the direc-
tion from which the sound seems to come, and I
see three forms floating upon the waves, rising
and sinking and coming nearer. They seem to
play with each other, and as they approach I
behold three beautiful females with long, waving
THE ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY. 175
hair; but the one in the middle surpasses the
others in beauty. She seems to be the queen, for
she wears a wreath of water-plants upon her head.
Still nearer they come. Now they seem to see me
and stop. They consult together, but curiosity
seems to conquer their fear. They come quite
close and speak to me. Their voices are full and
melodious, their language is foreign to me, and
yet I understand what they say. Having dis-
covered that I am a mortal, they seem as anxious
to cultivate my acquaintance as I am anxious to
be on friendly terms with them.
They invite me to go with them to their home;
they speak of their palace constructed of beautiful
shells among the coral-reefs in the depths of the
ocean; of the milk-white pearls with which they
have ornamented the walls; of the azure blue of
the waves shining through the transparent walls
of their houses; and the curious thin gs which no
mortal ever had seen. I object, and tell them
that I am mortal and that I could not live in
their own element; but the beautiful queen, rising
out of the water up to her waist, smiles and shakes
her charming head, and fluid diamonds seem to
stream from her waving locks. “Come,” she
176 AMONG THE ROSICHUCIANS,
whispers; “no harm will befall you, for my love
shall protect you.” She extends her beautifully
shaped arms towards me and touches my shoulder,
and at her touch my consciousness fades away.
A voluptuous sensation pervades my whole being.
I feel that I am dissolving in the element of water;
I only dimly hear the distant thunder of the
breakers as they roll upon the sandy beach. I
feel that my desire, has been fulfilled, - a moment,
and I know nothing more.
THE END. 177
V.
THE END.
HAVE little more to add to my tale. I awoke,
and, opening my eyes, I found myself stretched
upon the moss, in the shadow of that mighty
pine, where I had evidently fallen asleep. The
sun stood still high above the western horizon,
and far up in the sky two vultures described long-
drawn spirals in the air; and in their cries I
seemed to recognize the voice of the queen of the
Nymphs. On the opposite side of the valley was
still the rushing waterfall with the foaming basin,
and the spray still rose in the air, and the water
still flew over the moss-covered edge.
“Alas!” I exclaimed, “has all I have seen been
nothing else than a dream 2 Has that which seemed
so beautiful and real been merely an illusion of
my brain, and have I now returned to real life?
Why did I not die in the arms of the queen, and
thus save myself this horrid awakening?”
I rose, and, as I rose, my eye fell upon the bud
178 AMONG THE IROSICRUCI ANS.
of a White Lily sticking in a button-hole of my
coat. I could not believe my eyes, and suspected
that I was again the victim of a hallucination. I
grasped the Lily. It did not vanish in my grasp ;
it was as real as the earth upon which I stood; it
was of a kind which does not grow in these cold
mountainous regions; it only grows where the
air is mild and warm. I remembered the gold;
I put my hand into my pocket, and there, among
the few remaining silver pieces, I found a solid
lump of gold as bright as the purest; but the
little ruby pearls had dropped off from its surface
and were lost. I then recollected the precious
book which the Adept had promised to send to
my room in the village inn; but somehow it
seemed to me that I had committed an indiscre-
tion during the absence of Theodorus by prying
into the secrets of his laboratory and listening to
the temptations of the Famulus. I felt as if I did
not deserve the favor, and was doubtful whether
or not he would send me the book.
I flew more than I walked down the mountain,
along the road leading toward the village. Little
did I now care for the scenery; neither for the
mountain tops, which were gilded by the rays of
THE END. 1T 9
the setting sun, nor for the murmuring river. It
grew dark; and the full moon arose over the hills,
looking exactly like the moon I had seen some
hours before in the Indian Ocean. I calculated
about the difference of time between Germany
and Ceylon, and I found that indeed I might have
seen the moon shine in the Bay of Bengal while
the sun was shining in the Alps.
I arrived at O., little heeding the astonished
looks of the villagers, who may have believed me
insane as I hurried through the streets. I entered
the inn, rushed up stairs to my room, and, as I
entered, I saw upon the table the precious book,
“The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.” On the fly-
leaf were written a few lines in pencil, saying : —
“Friend, I regret that you left our home so ab-
puptly, and I cannot invite you to visit us again for
the present. He who desires to remain in the peace-
ful valley must know how to resist all sensual at-
tractions, even those of the Water Queen. Study
this book practically, bring the circle into a square.
Mortify the metals, calcimate and purify them of
all residua. When you have succeeded, we shall
180 AMONG THE ROSIORUCIANS.
meet again. I shall be with you when you need
777,63,
“Yours fraternally,
“THEODORUS.”
It may be imagined that, in spite of my fatigue,
I did not go to sleep very early. I walked up and
down in my room, thinking over the events of
that memorable day. I tried to find the line be-
tween the visible and invisible, between the objec-
tive and subjective, between dreams and reality,
and I found that there was no line, but that all
these terms are merely relative, referring not
merely to the conditions of things which appear
objective or subjective to ourselves, but to our
own conditions, and that while in one state of
existence certain things may appear real to us
and others illusive, while in another state the illu-
sions become real, and that which before seemed
to be real is now merely a dream. Perhaps our
whole terrestrial life will seem to be at the end
nothing else than a hallucination.
As I walked about the room I observed a Bible
belonging to my host lying upon a cupboard. I
felt an impulse to open it at random and to see
what it said. I did so, and my eye fell upon the
THE END. 181
twelfth chapter of the second epistle of the apostle
Paulus, written to the Corinthians, where it said:
“I knew a man in Christ, above fourteen years ago
(whether in the body or whether out of the body I
cannot tell ; God knoweth); such a one was caught
up into paradise and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
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*w-
PROSPECTUS.
THE SECRET SYMBOLs of THE RosiCRUCIANs, ETC.
CONSIDERABLE attention has been paid of late to the
study of the Eastern Religions, but comparatively few
people have attempted to penetrate behind the veil
which hides the sanctuary of the Christian religion.
Such attempts were, however, made during the Middle
Ages by the Hermetic Philosophers, called the Brother-
hood of the Golden and Rosy Cross, and they laid down
the results of their investigations in certain Symbols,
which were called “secret,” because they can be
understood only by those who possess the key to their
understanding. This Key, which alone opens the door,
is Spirituality, that is to say, Reason, unadulterated by
sophistry, free from dogmatic and sectarian prejudices,
free from scepticism and superstition.
Among the great majority of the followers of the
Christian church this key has been lost, and sophistry
has taken the place of understanding. There is, per-
haps, not one in a thousand of laymen or priests who
knows the true meaning of the symbols and ceremonies
of the Christian church. What the modern Christian
usually knows about Christianity is merely its historical,
but not its spiritual, character. The Bible has been
degraded into a mere history of the Jews, the universal
glorious Christ-Spirit, the Light of the World, the
divine element in Man, which lives to-day as it ever
lived since the beginning of the world, has in the
|
minds of his worshippers dwindled down to a mortal
man, who lived among the Jews and was executed as
a criminal.
Ever since the days of the great Reformation, when
the Bible became the common property of the people.
who were unable to understand the secret meanings of
its fables and allegories, which were known only to
the initiated, the Cabalists, Alchemists, and Rosicru-
ciams, the Christian religion has been studied more in
its intellectual than in its spiritual aspect. Its exter-
nal forms have passed through a severe scrutiny by
those who could see in them nothing but the external
forms, and their internal spirit was lost. The authori-
ties of the church, being themselves unable or unwilling
to explain their secret meaning, insisted that the fables
and allegories of the Bible should be accepted in their
literal sense, however absurd and unintelligible the
latter may be. The intellect of the educated classes
revolted at such an attempt to put their reason in
bondage, and the consequence was that the spiritual
power of the church has been lost in proportion as the
latter lost sight of the eternal truth. From a religion
of Divine Wisdom, teaching the true relation which
Man bears to the Eternal Source from which he eman-
ated, and to which it is his destiny to return, modern
, Christianity has become almost entirely a system of
forms and ceremonies with little or no spirituality, a
means to afford a comfortable living to the priesthood,
a method of deceiving the ignorant and gullible with
false hopes, and of restraining the wicked by fear,
while the Christian places of worship have become
more than ever deserted, except by such as use them
as places for religious amusement or for the display of
fashion, and there are comparatively few who bring
with them the living Christ, when they visit the church.
Sentiment has taken the place of Spiritual power,
superstition and scepticism the place of the life-giving
Faith, and even the meaning of the terms signifying
divine virtues have become unknown among the learned.
The attacks of the materialist, sceptic, and arguer
about the forms of Christianity are allowed to go on
without any defence being made, and if such a defence
is ever attempted, matters are usually rendered still
worse for the church, on account of the inefficacy and
unreasonableness of the arguments used by its de-
fenders. - *
Under such circumstances it must be thrice welcome
to every lover of Truth, whether he be a Christian
minister, a layman, or an “infidel,” as it will be to
every Occultist, Theosophist, and Mason, to see the
truths of religion revealed by the “Secret Symbols of
the Rosicrucians.” For three centuries these symbols
have been hidden away, nor would it have been of
much use to have them published sooner, as they
would not have been understood. Now, however, as
the Light, which arose from the East, originating in
the recent revival of the study of Eastern, books, has
begun to radiate over the West, we may study and
understand these symbols in this light. We may thus
perhaps redeem Christianity from her present state of
degradation and decay, and restore to her the living
Spirit of Christ.
To facilitate the study of these Symbols, a Vocabu-
lary has been added, giving correct definitions and
explanations of the occult terms occurring in the
book.
THE SECRET SYMBOLS OF THE
ROSIORUCIANS
OF THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES,
CoPIED AND TRANSLATED FROM An Old GERMAN MS. BY
FRANZ HARTMANN, M.D., will, BE PUBLISHED
NovDMBER -1, 1887, BY THE
OCCULT PUBLISHING COMPANY.
The plates of the Secret Symbols, 26 in number, will be
colored by hand, exactly duplicating the originals which Dr.
Hartmänn secured during his researches among ancient Mss. and
occult works in Germany.
IDr. Hartmann, who has within the past few years contributed
several volumes to the literature of Occultism, and has become
widely known as a remarkably well-informed writer on those
subjects, has prepared an interesting and exhaustive Introduc-
tion to the work; also a Vocabulary giving correct definitions
and explanations of the occult terms occurring in the book.
The author says: “It is a book which ought to be in the
hands of every Occultist, Free Mason, and Catholic Priest, who
wants to know what he is talking about.”
The volume will be finely gotten up, in large type, printed on
heavy paper, and substantially bound.
A specimen page, showing one of the colored plates as it will
appear in the volume when completed, will be sent free on
application. - s
The price, after publication, will be $6.00 per copy.
To those who subscribe and remit us previous to Nov. 1,
1887, the price will be $5.00 per copy.
3 copies to one address for . . . $13.
6 6 & ' ( & & 4 & & * e • $2 5.
ADDRESS -
OCCULT PUBLISHING COMPANY,
Box 2646, Boston, Mass.

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