GIFT OF
H
THE
IN
BY
MAX HEINDEL
THIRD EDITION
POSTFREE
INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
S00trrurtatt 3WUmiHljtp
Mount Ecdesia
OCEANSIDE CALIFORNIA
L. N. FOWLER
7 IMPERIAL ARCADE, LUDGATE CIRCUS
LONDON
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COPYRIGHT, 1922
BY
MRS. MlX HEINDEL
All rights, including translation, reserved. Permission
to copy or translate will be readily given upon
.application to author.
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PARTIAL LIST OF SUBJECTS.
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SECTION 1. LIFE ON EARTH.
Social Conditions.
Marriage.
-Children.
Sleep and Dreams.
Health and Disease!
SECTION II. LIFE AFTER DEATH.
The Scienee-of Beata^
Cremation.
Purgatory.
The First Heaven.
The Second Heaven.
The Third Heaven.
Guardian Angels.
SECTION in. REBIRTH.
The Law of Rebirth.
The Law of Causation.
Transmigration.
SECTION IV. THE BIBLE TEACHINGS.
The Creation.
The Fall.
The Immaculate Conception.
Sayings of Christ.
SECTION V. SPIRITUALISTIC PHENOMENA.
Mediumship.
Obs ession.
Materialization-
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4 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
SECTION VI. CLAIRVOYANCE.
Dangers of Psychism.
True Spiritual Unfoldment.
Initiation.
SECTION VII. ASTROLOGY.
True and False Astrology.
Prayer and Astrology.
Freewill and Astrology.
SECTION VIII. ANIMALS.
Their Life Here and Hereafter.
SECTION IX. MISCELLANEOUS.
SECTION X. CLASSIFIED LIST OF QUESTIONS AND INDEX.
LIST OF DIAGRAMS
PAGE.
The Supreme Being, God and Other Gods 98
A Life Cycle 132
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit 260
The Path of the Unused Sex-Currents 304
As Above, so Below 420
Man 's Past, Present and Future Form. . . 421
The Four Kingdoms : . . .'." 422
The Constitution of the Earth 423
The Seven Worlds 424
Diagram Showing the Comparative Reality of the Visible and
Invisible Worlds by Using a Stereopticon as Illustration. 425
The Seven World-Periods 426
The Seven Days of Creation 342
Four Great Initiations. . . . . . . 427
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A WORD OF EXPLANATION.
The .questions contained in this book have been asked
of .the writer after lectures delivered by, .him in various
cities, and,. in. mo$t cases, ; th.e questions reveal a certain
knowledge of., the subject on the, part of , the inquirer.
For, the benefit of, those who are not Jamiliar with The
Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, it may be well to give the
following information concerning the, philosophy and the
terms used. With that, key, it , will ,. be ea.sy for anyone to
understand the answers to the questions. It may also be
in place to state at this point that each question has been
answered regardless of what has been said in answer to
any other question, so that each answer is complete in itself.
This has occasioned repetition of some things said in
answer to one question when replying to another which is
similar, but it will be found that in all cases where there is
such repetition it presents a new aspect of the subject,
so that the writer has no apology to make, for he considers
the method used of greater value than a reference to some
other answer which perhaps the inquirer might not have
time to look up.
The Rosicrucian Philosophy teaches that man is a com-
plex being who possesses :
(1) A Dense Body, which is the visible instrument he
uses here in this world to fetch and carry; the body we
ordinarily think of as the whole man.
(2) A Vital Body, which is made of Ether and per-
vades the visible body as ether permeates all other forms,
5
6 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
except that human beings specialize a greater amount of the
universal ether than other forms. That ethereal body is
our instrument for specializing the vital energy of the sun.
(3) A Desire Body, which is our emotional nature.
This finer vehicle pervades both the vital and dense bodies.
It is seen by clairvoyant vision to extend about 16 inches
tfutside our visible body, which is located in the center
of this ovoid cloud as the yolk is In the center of an egg.
(4) The Mind, which is a mirror, reflecting the outer
world and enabling the Ego to transmit its commands as
thought and word, also to compel action.
The Ego is the threefold spirit which uses these vehicles
to gather 'experience in the school of life.
SECTION I
Questions dealing with
LIFE ON EARTH
QUESTION No. 1.
// we were pure spirit and a part- of an Alli-kno.wingi
God, why was it necessary for us to take this long pil-
grimage of sin and sorrow through matter?
Answer: fn the beginning of manifestation, God differ-
entiated within Himself a multitude of potential spiritual
intelligences,, as sparks are emitted by a fire. [These spir-
itual intelligences were thus potential flames : or , to s, but
they are not yet fires, for, though endowed with , the all-
consciousness of God, they lacked se//-consciousness ; being 1
potentially omnipotent as God, they lacked dynamic power
available for use at any moment according to their will ;
and in order that these qualities might: be evolved it was
imperative that they should go through .matter.! ; Therefore,
during involution each Divine Spark was encased in vari-
ous vehicles of sufficient density to shut off the outer
world from their consciousness. Then the spirit within,
no longer able to contact the without, turns and finds
itself. With wakening ^//-consciousness comes the spirit's
struggle to free itself from its prison, and during evolu-
tion the various vehicles which the spirit possesses will be
spiritualized into soul, so that, at the end of manifesta-
tion, the spirit will not only have gained se//-consciousness
but also soul-power.
There is a tendency upon the part of most people to
believe that all'that is is the result of something else, leav-
9
10 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
ing no place for any original new building. Those who
study life usually speak only of involution and evolution;
those who study the form, namely, the modern scientists,
are concerned with evolution only, but the most advanced
among them are now beginning to find another factor,
which they have called epigenesis. Already, In 1757, Cas-
par Wolff issued his Theorea Generationis, wherein he
showed that in the development of the ovum, there are
a series of new buildings not at all foreshown by what
has gone before, and Haeckel, indorsing this work, says
that nowadays we are no longer justified in calling epi-
genesis a theory. For it is a fact which we may demon-
strate, in the case of the lower forms where the changes
are rapid, under a microscope. Since the mind was given
to man, it is this original creative impulse, epigenesis,
which has been the cause of all our development. Truly do
we build upon that which has been already created, but
there is also something new due to the activity of the
spirit, and thus it is that we become creators, for if we only
imitated that which had already been laid out for us by
God or Angel, it wouM never be possible for us to become
creative intelligences; we would simply be imitators. And
even though we make mistakes, it may be said that we
often learn much more by our mistakes than by our
successes. The sin and the suffering which the inquirer
speaks about are merely 'the result of the mistakes we
make, and their impression upon our consciousness causes
us to be active along other lines which are found to be
good -that is to say, 'in^harmony with nature. Thus this
world is a training school and not a vale of tears wherein
we have been placed by a capricious God. (See Ques-
tion Xo. 9.)
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS H
QUESTION No. 2.
' 7/ "God made matt a little lower than the Angels" how
is it possible that man is ultimately to become their supe-
rior in the Spiritual World?
Answer: This question reveals a misapprehension upon
the part- of the inquirer. It has never Been so stated in the
Rosicrucian teachings, but something has been said which
may have been so misconstrued. The fact of the- matter is
that evolution moves in a spiral and there is never a repeti-
tion of the same condition. Angels are an earlier stream
of evolution who were human in a previous incarnation or
the earth, called the Moon Period among Rosicrucians,
The Archangels were the humanity of the Sun Period
and the Lords of Mind, called by Paul the "Powers' of
Darkness," were the humanity of the dark Saturn Period.
We are the humanity of the fourth period of -the present
scheme of manifestation, the Earth Period. As all beings
in the universe are progressing, the humanity of the pre-
vious periods have also progressed so that they; are now
at a higher stage than they were when they were human
th^ey are superhuman. Therefore, it is perfectly true that
God made man a little lower than the Angels. But as
everything is in a state of spiral progression, it is also
true that our present humanity is a higher and more
evolved humanity than the Angels were; and that the
Angels were a higher order of humanity than the Archan-
gels were when they were human. In the next step we
shall attain something like the stage of the Angels at
the present time, but we shall be superior to what they
are now
12 EOSICRUCIAN' PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No 3.
Why should it be "necessary for us to come into this
physical existence? Could we not have learned the same
lessons without being imprisoned and limited by the dense
conditions of the material world ?
Answer: The New Testament was written in Greek
originally, and the word Logos means both word and the
thought whieh precedes the word, so that when John tells
us in th% first '"chapter- of his Gospel that "In the beginning
was the word, and the word was with God, and the word
was God," we may also translate that verse: "In the
beginning was the thought, and the word was with God,
and God was the word." Everything exists by virtue of
that fact (the word). In that is "life."
Everything that exists in the universe was first a thought,
that thought then manifesting as a word, a sound, which
built all forms and itself manifested as the life within
those forms. Th&t is the process of creation, and man,
who was made in the 'image of God, creates in the same way
to a certain extent. He has the capability of thinking ; he
may voice his thoughts and in that way, where he is not ca-
pable of carrying out his ideas alone, he may secure the
help of others to realize them. But a time is coming when he
will create directly by the word of his mouth, and he is
now learning to create by other means, so that when
in time' lie becomes able to use his word to create directly
lie will know how. l"hat training is absolutely necessary.
At the present time he would make many mistakes. Be-
sides, he is not yet good he would bring into being
demoniac creations.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 13
In the earliest dawn of man's endeavor, he used the
solids; muscular force was his only means of performing
work, and from bones and stones which he picked up from
the ground, he shaped his first crude instruments to be
wielded by his arm. Then came a time when in a rude
dug-out he first trusted himself to the waters; a liquid
and the water wheel was the first machinery. The liquid
is already much stronger than the solid. A wave will raze
the decks of a ship, tear out the masts and twist the stout-
est iron bar as if it were a thin wire ; but water power is a
stationary force and therefore limited to work in its imme-
diate vicinity. When man learned to use the still more
subtle force which we call air, it became possible for him
to erect windmills in any place to do his work and sailing
vessels brought the whole world into communication.
Thus, man's next step in unfoldment was achieved by the
use of a force still subtler than water and more universally
applicable than that element. But wind was fickle and not
to be depended upon ; therefore, the advancement in human
civilization achieved by its use paled into insignificance
when man discovered how to utilize the still more subtle
gas which is called steam, for that can be made anywhere
and everywhere, and the progress of the world has been
enormous since its advent. There is, however, the draw-
back to its utility that steam-power requires cumbersome
transmission machinery. This drawback is practically elim-
inated by using a still subtler force, more readily trans-
missible; electricity, which is altogether invisible and
intangible.
Thus, we see that the progress of man in the past has
depended upon the utilization of forces of increasing
subtlety, each force in the scale being more readily capable
of transmission than the ones previously available, and we
14 EOSICRtJGIAN PHILOSOPHY
can readily realize that further progress depends upon the
discovery of still finer forces transmissible with still greater
facility. We know that that which we call wireless teleg-
raphy is accomplished 'without even the -use of wires, bttt
even that system is not ideal, for it depends upon energy
generated in a central plant, which is stationary. It in-
volves the use of costly machinery and is, therefore, out
of reach of the majority. The ideal force would be a power
which man could generate from himself at any moment
without machinery.
A few decades ago Jules Verne thrilled us with delight
when he conjured up before our imagination the submarine
boat, the trip around the earth in eighty days, etc. Today
the things that he pictured have become facts surpassing
even his imagination, and the day will come when we shall
have available for use a power plant such as spoken of
above. Bulwer Lytton, in his ''Coming Kace," has pic-
tured to us a force called "Vril " which certain imaginary
beings are possessed of and which they can use to propel
themselves over land, through the air and in various other
ways. Such a force is latent within every one of us, and
we speak of it sometimes as emotion. We feel its far-reach-
ing power at times as temper when it is unleashed, and we
say "a man has lost control of himself." No amount of
work can so tire the physical body and wreck it as when the
enormous energy of the desire body is let loose in a fit
of temper. Usually, at the present time, this enormous
force sleeps, and it is well that it should be so until we
have learned to use it by means of thought, which is a
still more subtle force. This world is a school to teach
us how to think and feel aright so that we may become
qualified to use these two subtle forces the power of
thought and the power of emotion.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 15
' An illustration will make clear how this world serves that
purpose. An inventor gets an idea. The idea is not yet
& thought, it is but as it were a flash which has not ye1
>i ok en shape, but gradually he visualizes it in mind stun*
He forms in his thought a machine, and before his mental
vision that machine appears with the wheels revolving thi
way and that, as necessary to accomplish the required work.
Then he commences to draw the plans for the machine, and
even at that stage of concretion it will most certainly
appear .that modifications are necessary. Thus we see that
already the physical conditions show the inventor where
Ms thought was not correct. When he builds the machine
in appropriate material for the accomplishment of the
work, there are usually more modifications necessary. Per-
haps, he may be; obliged to throw the first machine away,
entirely rearrange his conception and build a new machine.
Thus the concrete physical conditions have enabled him to
detect the flaw in his reasoning; they force him to make the
necessary modifications in his original thought to bring out
a machine that will do the work. Had there been only
a World of Thought, he would not have known that he
had made a mistake, but the concrete physical conditions
show him where his thought was wrong.
The Physical World teaches the inventor to think aright,
and his successful machines are the embodiments of right
thought.
In mercantile, social or philanthropic endeavors, the
same principle holds good. If our ideas concerning the
various matters in life are wrong, they are corrected when
brought into so-called practical uses and thus this world
is an absolute necessity to teach us how to wield the power
of thought and desire, these forces being held in leash to a
great extent at the present time by our material conditions.
16 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
But as time goes on and we learn to think aright more and
more, we shall at last obtain such a power of thought that
we shall be able to think the right thought at once in every
case without experimenting, and then we shall also be able
to speak our thought into actual being, as a thing. There
was a time, in the far, far past, when man was yet a spir-
itual being and when the conditions of earth were more
plastic. Then he was taught directly by the Gods to use
the word as a means of creation and he worked thus forma-
tively on the animals and the plants. We are told in the
Bible that "God brought the animals to man and he named
them." This naming was not simply calling a lion a lion,
but it was a formative process that gave man a power over
the thing he named, and it was only when selfishness,
cruelty and unbridled anger unfitted him for the master-
ship that the word of power spoken of by the masons was
lost. When holiness shall have again taken the place of
profanity, the word will be found again and will be the
creative power of the divine man in a future age.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 17
QUESTION No. 4.
// this earth life is so important and really the basis
of all our soul growth, the latter resulting from the experi-
ences we gain here, why is our earth life so short in com-
parison with the life in the Inner Worlds, approximating
a thousand years between two earth lives?
Answer: All that is in this world which has been made
by the hand of man is crystallized thought; the chairs upon
which we sit, the houses in which we live, the various con-
veniences, such as telephone, steamship, locomotive, etc.
were once a thought in the mind of man. If it had not
been for that thought, the thing would never have appeared.
In similar manner, the trees, the flowers, the mountains
and the seas are the crystallized thought forms of the
nature forces. Man, when he leaves this body after death
and enters the Second Heaven, becomes one with those
nature forces ; he works under the direction of the creative
hierarchies, making for himself the environment which is
necessary for his next step in unfoldment. There he builds
in "mind stuff," the archetypes of the land and the sea;
he works upon the flora and the fauna; he creates every-
thing in his environment as thought forms, and as he
changes the conditions, so they appear when he is reborn.
But working things out in mind stuff is very different
from working things out in the concrete. At the present
time we are very poor thinkers, and therefore it takes
an enormous period of time for us to shape the thoughv
forms in the second heaven ; then, also, we must wait a con-
siderable time before these thought forms have crystallized
into the actual dense physical environment to which we
18 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
are to come back. Therefore, it is necessary that we should
stay in the Heaven World for a much longer time than we
remain in the earth life. When we have learned to think
aright, we shall be able to create things here in the Physical
World in a much shorter time than it now takes to labori-
ously form them. Neither will it be necessary then to stay
out of earth life as long as at the present time.
QUESTION No. 5.
How long will it be before we can do without these physi-
cal bodies, and function altogether in the Spiritual Worlds
again ?
Answer: This question reveals a state of mind which is
all too common among people who have become acquainted
with the fact that we possess spiritual bodies in which
we may move through space with lightning rapidity, bodies
which do not need the material raiment and, therefore,
will require no care upon the part of their owners. These
people long then for the time when they may grow such
figurative wings and shed this "low and vile mortal coil"
altogether.
Such a state of mind is extremely unfortunate. We
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 19
should be very thankful for the material instrument which
we have, for that is the most valuable of all our vehicles.
While it is perfectly true that our physical body is the low-
est of all our vehicles, it is also a fact that this vehicle is
the most finished of our instruments, and without that the
other vehicles would be of little use to us at this time.
For while this splendidly organized instrument enables us
to meet the thousand and one conditions here, our higher
vehicles are practically unorganized. The vital body is
formed organ for organ as our dense physical body, but
until it has been trained by esoteric exercises it is not a
fit instrument to function in alone. The desire body has
only a number of sense centres which are not even active
in the great majority of people, and as for the mind, it is an
unformed cloud with the great majority. We should aim
today to spiritualize the physical instrument, and we should
realize that we must train our higher vehicles before they
can be of use. For the great mass of people that will-
take a long, long time. Therefore, it is best to do the
duty that is close to our hands, then we hasten the day
when we shall be able to use the higher vehicles, for that
day depends upon ourselves,
20 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 6.
Does the spirit enter the body at the time of conception
or at the time of birth ?
Answer: It has been ascertained, J?y clairvoyant Livesti-
gation that at the time of death the spirit takes with it the
forces of one little atom located in the left ventricle of the
heart, which is called the seed atom, for it is the nucleus or
seed around which all the material in the body gathers, and
every atom in the body must be capable of vibrating in
unison with that seed atom. Therefore, that atom is
deposited in the semen of the father some time previous to
conception, and later placed in the womb of the mother.
But conception is not at all identical with the time of
sexual union of the parents. The impregnated spermatozoa
is sometimes not imbedded in the ovum until fourteen days
after the union of the parents. It is this impregnation of
the ovum that may be called the time of conception, for
from the moment when the impregnated ovum leaves the
Falopian tube the period of gestation commences. During
the first eighteen to twenty-one days, all the work is done
by the mother, but at that time the reincarnating Ego,
clothed in a bell-shaped cloud of desire-and-mind-stufT,
enters the womb of the mother and the bell-shaped cloud
closes at the bottom so that it is then ovoid, or egg-shaped
Then the spirit is definitely enmeshed in the flesh and can-
not escape any more, but must stay with the mother until
liberated by birth. In the present stage of our unfold-
ment, the spirit does very little conscious work upon its
coming vehicle, but it is present all the time and helps
unconsciously in the task of providing its instrument. This
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 21
is no more remarkable than that we are able to digest our
food and work our respiratory organs without being con-
scious of the process.
QUESTION No. 7.
What was the purpose in the division of the sexes?
Answer: The division of the sexes was brought about at
a very early stage of man's evolution, when he had as
yet no brain or larynx. One-half of the creative force was
then turned upward in order that these two organs might
be built. The brain was made for the evolution of thought
whereby man creates in the Physical World. Houses, cities,
steamships, railways, everything made by the. hand is crys-
ta.llized human thought. The larynx was also made by the
creative sex-force in order that man might express his
thoughts. The connection between those organs and the
force expressed through the lower creative organ will be
evident when we remember that the boy who possesses the
positive creative force changes his voice at the time of
puberty, when he is first able to procreate his kind; also
that the man who abuses his sex-force becomes an idiot,
while the profound thinker who uses nearly all his creative
22 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
force in thought will have little or no inclination for
amorous practices.
Prior to this division man was, like some plants today,
ft complete creative unit capable of perpetuating his kind
without the help of another. The faculties of thought and
speech have been bought at the loss of this creative power;
but now that half of the creative force which is expressed
through brain and larynx may be used to create things
in the world houses, ships, etc.
QUESTION No. 8.
Is the soul of a woman masculine and the soul of a man
feminine?
Answer: Speaking generally, we might say "yes," the
vital body which is eventually transformed, transmuted and
spiritualized into soul is of the opposite sex. It is formed
organ for organ exactly like the dense physical body with
this one exception, and this elucidates mr.ny facts otherwise
unexplainable. The faculties inherent in the vital body
are growth, propagation, assimilation and memory. The
woman having the positive vital body is matured earliei
than the male, the parts which remain plant-like, such as,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 23
for instance, the hair, grows longer and more luxuriant,
and naturally a positive vital body will generate more blood
than the negative vital body possessed by the masculine,
hence we have in woman a greater blood pressure, which it
is necessary to relieve by the periodical flow, and when that
ceases at the climacteric period there is a second growth
iri woman, particularly well expressed in the saying "fat
and forty."
The impulses of the desire body drive the blood through
the system at varying rates of speed, according to the
strength of the emotions. Woman, having an excess of
blood, works under much higher pressure than man, and
while this pressure is relieved by the periodical flow, there
are times when it is necessary to have an extra outlet;
then the tears of woman, which are white bleeding, act as
a safety valve to remove the excessive fluid. Men, although
they may have as strong emotions as women, are not given
to tears because they have no more blood than they can
comfortably use.
Being positively polarized in the Etheric Region of the
Physical World, the sphere of woman has been the home
and the church where she is surrounded by love and peace,
=#hil- man fights the battle of the strong for the survival
'of the fittest, without quarter in the dense Physical World,
'where he is positive.
24 ROSICPJJCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 9.
Do we keep the same temperament through all our
lives?
Answer: The Ego may be likened unto a precious stone,
a diamond in the rough. When it is taken out of the
earth the stone is far from beautiful ; a rough coating hides
the splendor within, and before the rough diamond becomes
a gem, it must be polished upon the hard grindstone. Each
application to the stone removes a part of the rough coat
arid grinds a facet through ^vhich the light enters and is
refracted at a different angle from the light thrown back
by the other facets.
So it is with the Ego. A diamond in the rough, it enters
the school of experience, the pilgrimage through matter,
and each life is as an application of the gem to the stone.
Each life in the school of experience removes part of the
roughness of the Ego and admits the light of intelligence
at a new , angle, giv,ing a different experience, and thus
as the angles of light vary in the many facets of the dia-
mond, so the temperament of the Ego differs in each life.
In each life we can show forth only a small part of our
spiritual natures, we can realize only a small part of the
splendor of our divine possibilities, but every life tends
to make us more rounded and our temperaments become
more even. In fact, it is the work upon the temperament
that is the principal part of our lesson, for self-mastery
is the goal. As Goethe says,
"From every power which all the world enchains,
Man liberates himself when self-control he gains."
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 25
QUESTION No. 10.
Is the desire body subject to sickness and does it need
nutrition and replenishment? .
Answer: In a certain sense it is, during earth life; that
is to say, sickne?s shows itself first in the desire body and
in the vital body, which become thinner in texture and
do not specialize the ^rital fluid in the same proportion
as usual during health. Then the dense physical body
becomes sick. When recovery takes place the higher
vehicles show improvement before the manifestation of
health is apparent in the Physical World.
But if the inquirer means to ask concerning conditions
after death, the matter is different. Although a person
may be sick here, perhaps bedridden for years and unable
to move- about, when death has taken place, and he feels
himself without the dense body, there is at once a sense of
relief, a feeling of gladness and lightness which is unusual
to him, and he suddenly wakes up to the fact that he has no
pain attd is able^to move about. If he understands^ condi-
tions, he will also know that it is unnecessary for him to
take nourishment, for the desire vehicle needs no replen-
ishment. Many people, however, are not aware of the
fact and therefore we find in the lower regions of the
Desire World that sometimes they will go through all the
motions of ordinary house-keeping. Hence the stories of
some spiritualistic investigators, who have found these con-
ditions in the Invisible World; and this also accounts for a
great deal of that which George Du Maurier has told of the
life of Peter Ibbettson and the Countess of Towers, in his
novel bearing the hero's name. This novel is recommended
26 KOSICEUIAN PHILOSOPHY
to the reader as giving a fine illustration of the operation of
the subconscious memory where the hero deals with his
child-life, and of actual conditions in the lower regions of
the Invisible World, where his experiences with the
countess are concerned.
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QUESTION , .No. 11.
flow is it that one atones for all sin in Purgatory, then
at rebirth must again suffer through the Law of Cause and
Effect for sins of a former life?
i. ' -
Answer: There are two distinct activities in Purgatory.
First, there is the eradication of bad habits. For instance,
the drunkard craves drink just as much as he does before
death, but now he has no stomach and alimentary canal
wherein to contain the liquor, so that, although he may
go around to the various saloons, although he may even get
inside the whiskey casks and steep himself in the liquor,
he obtains no satisfaction, for there are no fumes as when
chemical combustion takes place in a stomach. Thus he
suffers all the tortures of Tantalus "Water, water every-
where, and not a drop to drink/'
But ; as desire in this world burns out when we realize
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 7
that it cannot be gratified, so in time the drunkard is cured
of hia desire for drink, because he can obtain no liquor, and
he is. born innocent of evil so far as that- particular vice
is. concerned. However, he must overcome that vice con-
sciously, and so at a certain time temptation will come in
his way. When he has grown up a companion may ask
him to "come and have a drink." Then it depends upon
whether he yields or not. If he does, he sins anew and
must be purged anew, till at iast the cumulative pains of
repeated purgatorial existence will cause him to have a
disgust for drink. Then he will have consciously over-
come temptation and there will be no more suffering from
that source.
As to the evil that we have done to others, for instance,
where we have dealt cruelly with a child placed under our
care, where we have beaten and starved it or otherwise
maltreated it, the scenes where we have thus done wrong
will have impressed themselves upon the atom in the heart ;
later on, the etching will have been transferred to the desire
body and the panorama of life, which unrolls backward,
will again bring these scenes before our consciousness. We
shall then ourselves feel as the child felt who was our vic-
tim; we shall feel the stripes that we inflicted just as the
child felt them; we shall feel the mental anguish and
mortification; we shall suffer pang for pang, and then,
when we are reborn, we shall meet our victim and have
the opportunity to do good to that victim instead of doing
evil. If we do so, well and good ; if our old enmity asserts
itself as before, then further stripes in the next Purgatory
will at last cause us to see that we ought to be merciful
with those under our care. So we do not suffer anew for
sins of a former life; we are born innocent through the
blessed ministrations of Purgatory, and at least .every evil
28 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
act we commit is an act of free will. But temptations are
placed before us in order to ascertain whether the purging
has been sufficient to teach us the needed lessons, and it is
our privilege either to yield or to stand strong and firm
for the good.
-
-non: "t
>.'* "till
fi? iii aiojffc -;:' y v>fev-Hnr..
iij oj
When the- spirit parses out of the body at
death, the parroramarof its past life passes before it during
the first three -and one-half days after its release from
the body. These pictures are etched into the desire body
and form the basis of life in Purgatory and the First
Heaven, which are located in "the Desire World. ;i!ne past
life is reproduced in pictures shifting backward so that
the scenes which happened just previous to death are first
gone over; then follows the life toward childhood and
infancy. In Purgatory only the scenes where the soul did
wrong are reenacted, and the soul sees itself as being the
one whom it wronged and suffers as those suffered whom
it wronged in earth life. The record of these sufferings
is indelibly engraven upon the seed atom, which is the only
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 29
part of the dense body the soul takes with it and keeps
permanently from life to life. This is, in a way, the
"book" of the "Recording Angel," and as the suffering
caused by a certain act has been engraven upon this seed
atom in Purgatory, it is evident that when in a new life
similar circumstances arise and the old temptations come
before us, the suffering which" we experienced because of
that wrong deed is present iri'the seed atom to warn us that
such and such a course of aetibh was wrong. That is f*e
"voice of conscience/' a#d i-f^he suffering entailed in Pur-
gatory was sufficiently interise, we shall have the power to
resist whatever temptation comes before us. If. on the
other hand, from certain different causes, the suffering was
not keen enough, we may yield permanently or temporarily
in another life to the same^ternptations that cost suffer-
ing in previous lives; we :: my VieldeVeh against the small
murmurings of conscience. But when^lf'aWreleased from
our bodies and p'apg into Purgatory ; 'fh& "next time, we shall
there 'have the adiMl suffering 'ca^ed ^by our yielding fe
temptation, and'the cumulative effects* of this suffering will
at last be sufficient to restrain us from the course which
caused us pain.
When a temptation has come before us in an earth life
and has been put aside consciously, we shall have learned
the lesson and conscience has accomplished its purpose.
Replying definitely to the question, we may therefore say
that conscience is the spirit's memory of past sufferings
occasioned by the mistakes in previous lives.
30 RQSICRUeiAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 13.
.
What is genius?
.
Answer: From the ordinary standpoint, genius seems
to hi;an accident. The theory of heredity will not account
lor it, for sometimes the most commonplace people bring
a child into the world which is a genius, and the most
highly educated and intellectual people have idiots for their
children. At other times we find both idiots and geniuses
in. the same family. In fact, insanity and genius may be
said to be the two extremes where the mental qualities of
humanity meet.
.... If we try to account for genius by heredity, we cannot
help asking ourselves why there is not a long line of
mechanical ancestors before Thomas Edison, who might
then be regarded as the flower of a family. But we find
that in all cases the appearance of genius is not possible of
deduction to any law when viewed from the mere material
standpoint.
When we bring the law of causation and its companion
law, the law of rebirth, to bear upon the problem, the mat-
ter is very different. This theory asserts that earth life is
a school of experience; that at each new birth we are born
with the accumulated experiences of all our past lives as
our stock in trade, our capital; that some of us have
attended this school of experience during many lives, and
have gathered much store. Perhaps we have developed one
particular faculty more than others, so that we have become
extremely expert in one special line of endeavor. That is
genius.
In order to express some of our faculties, for instance,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 31
music, it is necessary that we should have certain physical
characteristics such as long and slender fingers, a delicate-
nervous system, and, particularly, the ear should be spe-
cially developed in order that we may express ourselves as
musicians. Material required for that expression cannot be
found anywhere, but the law of association would naturally
draw a musician to other musicians, and there he will find
ready to his hand the materials wherewith to build for him-
self a body such as is required for the expression of his tal-
ent. Therefore, it sometimes seems as if musicians -are
born in families ; for instance, twenty-nine musicians were
born in the Bach family in two hundred and fifty years.
-' . ' -
QUESTION No. 14.
Is a soul that is born as a woman always a woman in
its after lives, and can it never become a man? And what
is the time between incarnations?
Answer: No, the spirit is double-sexed and usually
expresses itself in its successive lives alternately as man
and woman. There are, however, sometimes cases where,
according to the Law of Consequences, it is preferable that
32 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
a spirit should appear for several successive lives in a
certain sex.
The law is this:
As the sun moves backward among the twelve constella-
tions by the movement which we call the precession of the
equinoxes, the climate of the earth, the flora and fauna are
slowly changed, thus making a different environment for
the human race in each successive age. It takes the sun
about two thousand years to go through one of the signs
by precession, and in that time the spirit is usually born
twice, once as a man and once as a woman. The changes
which take place in the thousand years between incarna-
tions are not so great but that the spirit will be able to
extract the experiences of that environment from the stand-
point of both man and woman.
However, there may sometimes be cases where the time
is also changed. Xone of these .laws are inflexible as the
laws of the Medes and the Persians, but are administered
by Great Intelligences for the benefit of mankind, so that
conditions may be changed in order to fit the exigencies of
individual cases. For instance, in the case of a musician.
He cannot find the material wherewith to build his body
everywhere. He needs particular help to build the three
semi-circular canals of his ear in such a manner that they
will point as nearly as possible in the three directions of
space; he also needs special help to build the delicate
fibres of Corti, for his ability to distinguish shades of
tone depends upon these features.
In such a case, when a family of musicians with whom
he has connection is in a position to give birth to a child,
lie may be brought there, though his stay in the Heaven
World should not ordinarily terminate for another hun-
dred years, for perhaps another opportunity might not offer
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 33
for two or three hundred years after he should be born if
the law were adhered to. Then, of course, such a man
is ahead of his time, and not appreciated by the genera-
tion among which he lives. He is misunderstood, but
even that is better than if he had been born later than he
should have been, for then he would have been behind the
times.
Thus it is that we so often see geniuses unappreciated by
their contemporaries, though highly valued by succeeding
generations who can understand their viewpoint.
QUESTION No. 15.
When a man pays his debts, cares for his family and lives
a moral life here, will he not be all right hereafter?
Answer: No, there is something more required, and
there are many people of just that belief who have a rather
unenviable time in the Desire World after death. They
are, of course, to be looked up to from the standpoint of
this life only, but at the present time we are required to
at least cultivate some altruistic tendencies in order to
progress beyond our present evolutionary status.
We find the people who have neglected the higher duties
in the fourth region of the Desire World after death.
34 ROSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
There is the business man who paid a hundred cents on
the dollar, who dealt honestly by everyone; who worked
for the material improvement of his city and country as a
good citizen, paid his employes fair wages, treated his wife
and family with consideration, gave them all possible
advantages, etc. He may even through them have built
a church, or at least given very liberally to it, or he may
have built libraries or founded institutes, etc. But he did
not give himself. He only took interest in the church for
the sake of his family or for the sake of respectability; he
had no heart in it, all his heart was in his business, in
making money or attaining a worldly position.
When he enters the Desire World after death he is too
good to go to Purgatory and not good enough to go to
heaven. He has dealt justly with everyone and wronged
nobody. Therefore, he has nothing to expiate. But neither
has he done any good that could give him a life in the
First Heaven where the good of his past life is assimilated.
Therefore, he is in the fourth region between Heaven
and Hell, as it were. The fourth region is the centre of
the Desire World and the feeling there is most intense;
the man still feels a keen desire for business, but there he
can neither buy nor sell, and so his life is a most dreadful
monotony.
All that he gave to the churches, institutes, etc., counts
as nothing because of his lack of heart. Only when we
give for love will the gift avail to ~bring happiness here-
after. It is not the amount that we give, but the spirit
that accompanies the gift, which matters; therefore, it is
within the power of everyone to give and thus benefit him-
self and others. Indiscriminate money giving, however,
often causes people to become thriftless and indigent, but
by giving heartfelt sympathy; by helping people to believe
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 35
in themselves and start in life with fresh ardor when they
have fallen by the wayside; by giving ourselves in services
rendered humanity, we lay up treasure in heaven and give
more than gold. Christ said: "The poor are with us
always." We may not be able to bring them from poverty
to riches and that may not be best for them, but we can
encourage them to learn the lesson that is to be learned in
poverty; we can help them to a better view of life, and
unless the man who is in the position designated by the
inquirer does that also, he will not be "all right" when
he passes out; he will suffer that dreadful monotony in
order to teach him that he must fill his life with something
of real value, and thus in a succeeding life his conscience
will spur him on to do something better than to grind out
dollars, though he will not neglect his material duties, for
that is as bad as to spurn spiritual endeavor.
QUESTION No. 16.
It is sometimes contended that we have a right to think
what we will and are not responsible for our thoughts. Is
that so from an occult point of view?
Answer: No, indeed; it is very much the reverse, and
we do not need to go as far as what is usually called
occultism; we find that idea expressed by Christ in the
36 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
sermon on the mount, where he tells us that "The man who
has looked upon a woman with desire has, in fact, already
committed adultery 1 ' and when we realize that as a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he, we shall have a much clearer
conception of life if we only take into consideration the
acts of men, for every act is the outcome of a previous
thought lut these thoughts are not always our own.
When we strike a tuning fork, another tuning fork of
the same pitch being near, not only the one which is struck
will ring, but the other will also commence to sing in
sympathy. Likewise, when we think a thought and another
person in our environment has been thinking along the
same line, our thoughts coalesce with his and strengthen
him for good or evil according to the nature of the thought.
It is no mere fancy when in the play called "The Witch-
ing Hour/' the hero aims to help a scoundrel escape from
the State of Kentucky, where the latter is about to be
arrested for murder of the Governor. The hero, a man
of considerable thought power feels that he may have
prompted the criminal. He tells his sister that previous to
the time of the murder he had thought that the murder
could be committed just in the manner in which it was
actually done. He is under the impression that his thought
may have been caught by the brain of the murderer and
have shown him the way to commit the murder.
When we go into a jury box and we see before ourselves
the criminal, we behold only his act ; we have no cognizance
of the thought which prompted him. If we have been
in the habit of thinking evil, malicious thoughts against
one person or another, these thoughts may have been
attractive to that criminal, and on the principle that when
we have before ourselves a saturated solution of salt it
will only take a single crystal to make that salt solution
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 37
solidify, . c c also if a man lias saturated his brains with
thoughts of murder, the thought that we sent out may be
the last straw breaking the back of the camel, destroying
the last barrier which would have held him from com-
mitting the act. .
Therefore, our thoughts are of vastly more impoitance
than our acts, for if we will only think right, we shall
always act right. No man can think love to his fellow-
men ; can scheme in his mind how to aid and help them,
spiritually, mentally or physically, without also acting out
these thoughts at some time in his life, and if we will
only cultivate such thoughts, we shall soon find sunshine
spreading around us; we shall find that people will meet
us in that same spirit that we send out, and if we could
realize that the desire body (which surrounds each of
us and extends about sixteen to eighteen inches beyond the
periphery of the physical body) contains all these feelings
and emotions, then we would meet people differently, for
we would understand that everything we see is viewed
through the atmosphere which we have created around
ourselves which colors all we behold in others.
If, then, we see meanness and smallness in the people
whom we meet, it would be well to look within to ascertain
if it is not the atmosphere we are looking through which
colors them thus. Let us see if we have not within our-
selves those undesirable qualities, and then begin to rem-
edy the defect within ourselves. The man who is mean
and small himself radiates those qualities, and whoever
he meets will appear mean to him for lie ivill call out from
others the very qualities which he manifests, on the prin-
ciple that the vibration of a tuning fork of a certain pitch,
when struck, will cause another of identical pitch to vibrate.
On the other hand, if we cultivate a serene attitude, an
38 KOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
attitude that is free from covetousness and is frankly
honest and helpful, we shall call out the best in other
people. Therefore let us realize that it is not until we
have cultivated the better qualities in ourselves that we can
expect to find them in others. We are thus in very truth
responsible for our thoughts, we are indeed the keepers of
our brothers, for as we think when we meet them, so do
we appear to them, and they reflect our attitude. Apply-
ing the foregoing principle, if we want to obtain help to
cultivate those better qualities, let us seek the company
of people who are already good, for their attitude of mind
will be of immense help to us to call forth in us the finer
qualities.
QUESTION No. 17.
// a person is constantly bothered ly evil thoughts which
keep coming into his mind, although he is constantly fight-
ing them, is there any way in which he can cleanse his
mind so that he will think only pure and good thoughts?
Answer: Yes, there is, and a very easy way at that.
The inquirer has himself suggested the chief difficulty in
his question, when he says that he is constantly fighting
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 39
these thoughts. If we take an illustration we shall see the
point.
Supposing we have a particular dislike for a certain
person whom we meet every day upon the street, perhaps
a number of times. If we stop each time we meet that per-
son and herate him for walking upon the street, for not
keeping out of our sight, we are each time adding fuel to
the fire of our enmity, we are stirring him up, and for pure
spite he may seek to waylay us so much the more. Both
like and dislike have a tendency to attract a thought or
an idea to us, and the added thought force which we send
out to fight evil thoughts will keep them alive and bring
them to our mind the oftener, in the same way that quar-
reling will cause the person we dislike to waylay us for
spite. But if, instead of fighting him, we adopt the tac-
tics of indifference. If we turn our heads the other way
when we meet him upon the street, he will soon grow tired
of following us ; and, on the same principle, when thoughts
of evil come into our minds. If we will but turn away
with indifference and apply our minds to something that
is good and ideal, we shall find in a short time that we are
rid of their companionship and have only the good thoughts
we desire to entertain.
40 KOS1CRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 18.
// woman is an emanation from man, as per the rib story,
will she in the final return to unity be reabsorbed, losing
her individuality in the masculine divinity?
Answer: The "rib story" is one of those instances of
gross ignorance upon the part of the Bible translators
who possessed no occult knowledge in dealing with the
language of the Hebrews, which in writing was not divided
into words and had no vowel points. By inserting vowels
at different points and dividing words differently, various
meanings to the same text may be obtained in many places.
This is one case where a word pointed in one way reads
"tsad" and in another way "tsela." The Bible translators
read the story that the God had taken something from
Adam's side ("tsela"), and they were puzzled as to what
it was and so, perhaps, they thought it would have done
him the least harm to take a rib ("tsad"), hence the fool-
ish story.
The fact was that man had first been like the Gods,
"made in their image," male and female, a hermaphrodite,
and later one side was taken away so that he became divided
into two sexes. It may be further said that the first organ
which was developed as it is now was the female organ,
the feminine side having always existed in everything
before the masculine, which came later, and, according to
the law in evolution, that "the first shall be the last," the
feminine will remain a distinct sex longer than the mascu-
line, and, therefore, the inquirer is altogether wrong in
the supposition. It is the masculine that will be absorbed
in the feminine. Even now it is seen that the masculine
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 41
organ is gradually contracting at its base and will finally
cease to be.
As for losing her individuality, such a thing is impos-
sible; it is just the purpose of evolution that we should
become individuals, self-conscious and separate during evo-
lution, self-conscious and united during the interludes
between manifestation.
QUESTION No. 19.
Why has woman been cursed by inequality, assumed in-
feriority and injustice since the beginning of human ex-
istence upon this plane?
Answer: In the first place, we must remember that the
spirit is neither male nor female, but manifests in that way
alternately, as a rule. We have all been men and we
have all been women. Therefore there can be no question
of inequality if we look at life from the larger point of
view. Certain lessons must be learned by the spirit in each
age which can only be learned from the standpoint of
a woman, and there are other lessons only to be learned
by incarnation in a male body. Therefore, of a necessity,
there must be the change in sex. It sometimes happens,
42 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
of course, that for certain reasons a person must appear
as a male for several incarnations and then, of course,
when he takes upon himself the female garb, it may jar
considerably. In that case we have a very masculine
woman, perhaps a suffragette of a militant nature. On
the other hand, a spirit may sometimes have been embodied
for several incarnations in a female garb and then may
appear as a man of a very effeminate nature, a regulai
"sissy." But even upon the hypothesis of alternating in-
carnations, many of us probably were incarnated in
Rome in the opposite sex, and taking the law of causa-
tion into consideration, the treatment of women by the
men of that time was not such as to cause these Eoman
women when incarnated now as men to give any great
concessions to their former masters.
QUESTION No. 20.
Why was the suffering of Marguerite so extreme and out
of proportion to that of Faust, even to imprisonment and
the death penalty, while his life, liberty and pursuit of
happiness was unmolested?
Answer: This question has reference to one of the
myths which have come down through the ages, and con-
trary to the popularly accepted opinion a myth is not a
story made out of whole cloth, but is veiled truth, reveal-
ing in symbol great spiritual principles. These myths were
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 43
given to infant humanity for the same reason that we
give our children ethical teachings in nursery stories and
picture books, which impress themselves upon the infant
mind in a way intellectual teaching would be incapable of
doing.
Goethe, who was an initiate, has treated this Faust
myth in a way that is wonderfully illuminative, and the
key to the problem is found in the prologue, which is
laid in Heaven, much in the same way as we find in tho
opening of the Book of Job. The Sons of God appear
before the Throne and the Devil among them, for he is
also one of the Sons of God. He is given permission to
try to seduce Faust in order that the spiritual activities
may be called forth and virtue developed. It is one of
our great mistakes to regard innocence and virtue as syn-
onymous; every one among us is born innocent, he comes
here without any evil, that has all been purged away, but
he has certain tendencies which may develop into vice
and, therefore, he must be tried in every life to see whether
he will yield to temptation and embrace vice, or whether
he will stand firm and develop virtue. Faust is tempted,
he falls, but afterwards he sincerely repents and trans-
mutes the evil forces to good, so that at last he is saved.
Repentance and reform before death has wrought his sal-
vation, the impure passion he felt for Marguerite gave
place to his pure love for Helen. Marguerite also, yields
to the temptation, she repents and is saved by means of
the forgiveness of sins. Thus in the case of one it is salva-
tion ly acts. By his energy, which dominates the evil
forces, he builds a new land, a land where a free people
may live under better conditions; he is seeking to lift
humanity to a higher plane, and by that act, by his un-
selfish work for others, he is redeemed from the powers of
44 ROSICRUCiAN PHILOSOPHY
evil. In Marguerite's case, salvation results from prayer
and repentance. Thus we have in that drama, as repre-
sented by Goethe, a perfect symbol of the Western teaching
that there is both the forgiveness of sins and the expia-
tion of a wrong act by a corresponding right act. Death
is something that comes to all and the suffering which
was incident to the wrong act in each case is surely none
the less in the case of Faust, where it was prolonged
over a long period of years, than in the case of Marguerite,
where the life is ended in a much shorter time. The only
difference is that Faust has overcome consciously and will
in future life be immune to temptation, while the case
of Marguerite is problematical. In a future earth life she
will yet have to meet temptation in order that it may be
made manifest whether or not she has developed the
strength of character requisite to withstand the wrong
and adhere to the right.
QUESTION No. 21.
Is there any place, either in the Old or New Testament,
wherein men were told to marry and then live as brother
and sister at any time or under any condition? And if not
in the Bible, why do you teach it?
Answer: The Original Semites were the fifth of the
Atlantean races. They came out of the drowning Atlantis
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 45
as told variously in the stories of Xoah and Moses. They
were to go into a Promised Land, not little insignificant
Palestine, but the whole earth as it is now constituted. It
was promised because the earth was undergoing the changes
usual when a new race is to take possession. Floods had
destroyed the Atlantean civilization and in the wilderness
of Gobi, in Central Asia, wandered the nucleus for the
present Aryan races.
At the time when such a nucleus was to become a world
peopling race, naturally, the begetting of children was a
prime consideration. Therefore, it was looked upon as the
duty of everyone to beget numerous children and be ex-
ceedingly fruitful. But we are not living in those times
now; the world is well peopled and the re-incarnating Egos
are taken care of without special endeavors at generation.
We have never advocated general celibacy, or that people
should marry and then live at all times as brother and
sister ; but we have taught that married people, according
to their circumstances, should help to perpetuate the race.
That is to say, if both husband and wife are physically,
morally and mentally able; when they are possessed of
a home, wherein an incarnating Ego may obtain the
chance of embodiment and experience, they should offer
themselves as a living sacrifice upon the altar of human-
ity and give of the substance of their bodies to furnish
an Ego with a vehicle, inviting it into their home as they
would invite a dear guest, thankful that they may be
able to do for it what others have done for them. But
when the act of impregnation has been accomplished, they
should refrain from further intercourse, until again they
feel sufficiently fitted to generate the body for another
child. Such is the teaching of the Rosicrucians concern-
ing the ideal relation between husband and wife. They
46 KOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
hold that ^he creative function should not be used for
sensual purposes, but for the perpetuation of the race for
which it has been, naturally, designed. This is an ideal
condition and may be beyond most people at the present
time, like the injunction to love our enemies ; but if we do
not have high ideals we shall make no progress.
QUESTION Xo. 22.
Is there a soul-mate belonging to every soul through all
eternity? If so. would it not be better to remain unmar-
ried a thousand years than to marry the wrong mate ?
Answer: As the light is refracted into the seven colors
of the spectrum when passing through our atmosphere,
so also the spirits which are differentiated within God are
refracted into seven great rays. Each class is under the
direct guidance and domination of one of the Seven
Spirits before the Throne, which are the planetary genii,
the Star Angels. All the Virgin spirits in their successive
incarnations are continually intermingling in order that
they may gain the most varied experiences; nevertheless,
those who have emanated from the same Star Angel are
always sister or twin souls, and when they seek the higher
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 47
life, they must enter the path of initiation through a
lodge composed of members of the same ray from which
they originally came, thence to return to their primal
source. Therefore, all occult schools are divisible into
seven, one for each class of spirits. That was the reason
Jesus said to his disciples "Your father and mine" None
could have come into as close touch with him as these
disciples were, except those belonging to the same ray.
Like all other mysteries, this beautiful doctrine has been
degraded to a physical or material idea such as embodied
in the popular conception of twin souls or affinities; that
one is male and the other female, and very often they
are somebody else's wife or husband. In such cases the
doctrine of twin souls is often made an excuse for elope-
ment and adultery. This is an abominable perversion.
Each spirit is complete in itself, it takes upon itself a
male or a female body at different times in order to learn
the lessons of life, and it is only during the present stage
of its development that there is such a feature as sex at
all. The Ego was before sex, and will persist after that
phase of its manifestation has passed away.
48 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 23.
Is it wrong for first, second or third cousin-s to marry,
and if so, why ?
Answer: The purpose of marriage is the perpetuation
of the race, and according to the physical nature of the
parents, plus their environment, will the child be. We
find, for instance, that the emigrants who come to our
shores are different from the children they beget, and
that the children that they beget here in America are dif-
ferent from the children begotten in Europe. For in-
stance, the longheaded Sicilians beget children who have
a more rounded head, and the round-headed Jews beget
children who have a more oval shaped head, thus showing
in all races a tendency to amalgamate and bring into birth
a new American race.
These changes are not at all brought about by accident.
The great leaders of humanity always aim to bring about
certain conditions in order to produce certain types. For
only in that way can the faculties be evolved that are
necessary to the progress of the spirit and there was a
time when it was necessary to the evolution of the Ego
that they should marry in the family. At that time
humanity was not so evolved and individualized as they
are now. They were ruled by a family spirit which en-
tered into the blood by means of the air they inspired to
help the Ego control its instrument. Then humanity had
what is known as second sight, and that second sight is yet
found among people who have persisted largely in mar-
rying inside the family, such, for instance, as the Scotch
Highlanders and the Gypsies.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 49
But it was necessary that men should forget the Spirit-
ual World for a time and remember no life but the pres-
ent. In order to bring this change in consciousness
about, the great leaders took certain steps, one of them
being the prohibition of marriages in the family. When
we read in the fifth chapter of Genesis that Adam lived
for 900 years and all the patriarchs lived for centuries,
it does not really mean that the persons named lived
themselves during that length of time, but the blood which
coursed in their veins was transmitted directly to their
descendants and this blood contained the pictures of the
family as it now contains the pictures of our individual
lives, for the blood is the storehouse of all experiences.
Thus the descendants of the patriarchal families saw
themselves as Adam, Methusaleh, etc. Of course, during
the centuries, these pictures gradually became faint and
when the memory of Adam faded out from the blood of
his direct descendants it was said that Adam ceased to
live.
As man became more individualized, he was to learn to
stand upon his own legs without the help of the family
spirit. Then international marriages were permitted, or
even commanded, and marrying inside the family was no
longer allowed. That killed clairvoyance. Science has
demonstrated that when the blood of one animal is inocu-
lated into the veins of another animal, haemolysis, or the
destruction of blood, takes place, so that the lower animal
is killed. But the introduction of strange blood, in what-
ever way accomplished, always kills something, if not the
form at least a faculty, and the strange blood introduced
by marriage killed the clairvoyance possessed by primitive
man. That this statement is true about strange blood
being destructive can be noted in the case of hybrids.
50 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Where, for instance, a horse and a donkey are mated the
progeny is a mule, but that mule is minus the propagative
faculty, for it is neither under the group spirit of the
horses nor under the dominion of the group spirit of the
donkeys, and if it would propagate, the result would be a
new race not under the dominion of any group spirit. The
mule is not so far evolved, however, that it can guide its
instrument without the assistance of a group spirit, and so
the propagative faculty is denied the group spirit with-
holding the fructifying seed atom. "With humanity it was
different, however. When they had come to the stage
where international marriages were commanded, they had
arrived at the point in evolution of self-consciousness
where they were able to steer their own bark and where
they must cease to be God-guided automatons and become
self-governing individuals. The greater the mixture of
blood, the less the indwelling spirit can be influenced by
any of the race or family spirits which influenced our an-
cestors. Thus greater scope is afforded the incoming Egos
when we marry strangers than when we seek a cousin for
a mate.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 51
QUESTION No. 24.
Would it be wise for two people of the same tempera-
ment to marry if they were both born under the same sign
of the zodiac?- In August, for instance?
Answer: It is said that a person is born every second
of the day; thus there would be 3,600 born in an hour.
86.400 in a day of 24 hours, and about two millions and a
half in a month. If they were supposed to have the same
temperament and the same fate in life, we should only
have twelve kinds of people, and yet we know that there
are no two people exactly alike, so that it is foolish to say
that people have the same temperament because they are
born under the same sign of the zodiac, as determined by
the month.
To cast a horoscope scientifically, it is necessary to take
into consideration the day and the year when a person
was born, for the planets do not arrive at the same rela-
tive positions more than once in twenty-five thousand,
eight hundred and sixty-eight years. We must further
take into consideration the hour of the birth and if possible
try to get the minute, on account of the swiftly changing
position of the moon. If we also take into consideration
the place, we can calculate the rising sign, which gives the
form of the body. Then we have an absolutely individual
horoscope, for the degree of the zodiac rising on the eastern
horizon changes every four minutes, so that even in the
case of twins there would be a difference.
In order, then, that the astrologer may say whether the
marriage of two people will be harmonious or otherwise,
it is necessary for him to cast the horoscope of the two
52 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
persons arid endeavor to find out if they will be physically,
morally and mentally congenial. The judges by compar-
ing the ascendants, or rising signs, which show the physical
affinity. The position of Mars and Venus will show
whether they are morally of the same caliber, and the Sun
and Moon show their mental characteristics. Thus he has
an accurate gauge as to whether their natures will blend,
but predictions based upon anything short of such a calcu-
lation are worthless.
QUESTION No. 25.
Please give the views of the occultist regarding the
white races intermarrying with the inferior mongolians
and negroes; also in regard to their progeny?
Answer: The human spirit is neither colored nor
white, but in different stages of its progress it has used
black, yellow and white bodies, and it is the belief of the
writer from certain indications that the next great race
will be a beautiful blue. The races are only bodies, used
for a time in the evolution of the spirit, and we at one time
inhabited the black bodies. When we left them, other, and
less advanced spirits took possession of the black race
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 53
bodies. We then occupied the yellow bodies. Later on we
left also the yellow bodies, and at present are occupying
the white ones. Under our tenancy these various bodies
evolved and increased in efficiency, but naturally, when
'the other classes of spirits which are not as far advanced
as we in the West, entered the bodies we left, those
bodies gradually degenerated.
These lower classes of spirits, our weaker brothers, have
to take our leavings; therefore, we naturally owe them a
certain debt, and marriage with the lower races is neces-
sary in order to create something higher. The negro
bodies of the South, the bodies of mulattoes, mestizoes and
octoroons are much superior to the black bodies of the
negroes in Africa, and are, of course, inhabited by a much
higher grade of Ego than the African negro body; and
thus there is an unbroken ladder maintained all the time
between the pioneers and the lowest races. For, as the
flower would be an impossibility if there were not the min-
eral soil wherein it can grow, so also is a white race with
the sensitive bodies and high strung nerves such as we find
in the West, an impossibility if it were not that we as
spirits had had the experience gained in our advancement
through the lower races. The debt we owe to those who
have taken our leavings must be canceled, and that is most
successfully accomplished by providing the intermediary
links which bridge the gulf between race and race. In the
case of the Southern negro there are other reasons a na-
tional destiny incurred by us on account of his compulsory
importation and subsequent servitude.
54 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
.*
QUESTION No. 26.
Why is the negro commonly said to be marked with the
curse of Cain? If he is the descendant of Ham, accord-
ing to Biblical ethnology, how can that race be any older
than the sons of Shem or Japhet? Is not the most in~
tellectual, successful and enduring race that history records f
namely, the Jew, the one that has left itself most free from
a mixture?
Answer: The Bible does not state anywhere that the
negroes are the 'descendants of Ham; besides it is well
known that the Biblical ethnology as commonly under-
stood among orthodox people is an utter impossibility in
view of the facts of geology and ethnological research. We
are past the day when anyone will dare to make a state-
ment such as, for instance, was made by a learned Dean
of Cambridge University less than a century ago, namely,
that the World was created on Friday, the 10th of Oc-
tober, 4004 B. C., at nine o'clock in the morning. The
Biblical ethnology also has the exact year of the flood and
similar events fixed, but from the occult point of view,
which is derived from a direct reading in the picture gal-
lery of the past, which we call the memory of nature, the
case is very different. We find there that there have been
various epochs or great stages of unfoldment in the earth's
history, and that the negro was the humanity of the third
of these epochs, the Lemurian. The whole human race
of that time was black skinned. Then came a time, called
the Atlantean Epoch, when humanity was red, yellow, ex-
cept one race which was white. These people were the
Original Semites, the fifth of the Atlantean Races. These
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES 55
Atlanteans are called Niebelungen, or children of the mist,
in the old folk stories, for at that time the atmosphere of
the earth was a very dense fog. In the latter half of the
Atlantean Epoch this atmosphere condensed, floods re-
sulted and gradually the sea covered the larger part of the
globe. Then the atmosphere became clear above the earth.
This point in evolution is described in the Bible where
Noah, the leader of the Semites, came out from the drown^-
ing Atlantis and first saw the rainbow, a phenomenon im-
possible in the foggy atmosphere of early Atlantis. We
also hear of that emigration in the story of Moses and the
Israelites coming out from Egypt while the Egyptian king
and his men drown in the waters of the Red Sea. These
people had been chosen to become the progenitors of our
present Aryan races, but not all of them were true to the
commands of their leader. There were some of them who
"went after strange flesh," and that is the greatest crime
possible at such a time, for when a leader is aiming to
instil new faculties into a new race, the admixture of
strange blood has a tendency to frustrate his plans. There-
fore, some of these chosen people were lost, that is to say,
they were abandoned by their leaders and did not become
the forbears of the new humanity.
Those who were thus lost or left behind are, strange to
say, the present day Jews, who at one time married into
the families of their Atlantean brethren, contrary to the
commands of their divine leader, and yet today think
themselves the "chosen people" of God. There is no doubt
that the earliest Jews remember their sin in marrying out-
side of their tribes. Thus they instilled into their de-
scendants the strong dislike against mixing with other
tribes, and so these rebels have since been faithful to the
injunction not to marry among the Gentiles.
56 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
As for their being intellectual as a race, we say No !
In the Polarian Epoch man evolved a dense body, and the
vitalizing principle in the Hyperboreon Epoch. In the
Lemurian Epoch came the desire body to give in-
centive to action, and the mind was added in the Atlantean
Epoch, giving to man cunning. Thought, or reason, is
the faculty to be evolved in this Aryan epoch, and a study
of facts will reveal to us that the Jews still are strongly
actuated by the Atlantean faculty cunning.
The leaders of humanity have been endeavoring to get
these people to mix with the other races in order that they
might be lifted out of their present condition. Their Bible
tells us how they have been exiled time and again, without
avail; they have remained a people apart. The Christ was
sent to them as one of their own, because it was thought
that they would take the word of one from among their
midst, but "they chose Barabbas." That was the last
straw; it was seen that it was impossible to save them in a
body. Since then they have been scattered over the whole
world, a people without a country, to induce them to amal-
gamate in that way, but such is the stiff-neckedness of this
people that to this day they are still separate. Here in
America, however, in "the Great Melting Pot," they are
beginning to slowly amalgamate. They were lost by marry-
ing outside their tribe into a lower race, but in time they
will be saved by marrying into the more advanced races,
here upon the American continent.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 57
QUESTION No. 27.
Has the Rosicrucian Philosophy any specific teaching
concerning the training of children?
Answer: There is perhaps no subject of greater im-
portance than that. In the first place, wise parents who
are desirous of giving the child all advantages, commence
before the birth of the child, even before the conception,
to prayerfully turn their thoughts toward the task they
are undertaking, and are careful to see that the union
which is to bring about the germination takes place under
the proper stellar influences, when the moon is passing
through signs which are appropriate to the building of a
strong and healthy body, having, of course, their own
bodies in the best possible physical, moral and mental con-
dition.
Then during the period of gestation they hold before
their mind's eye constantly the ideal of a strong, useful
life for the incoming entity, and as soon as possible after
birth has taken place they cast the horoscope of the child,
for the ideal parent is also an astrologer. If the parents
have not the ability to cast the horoscope themselves they
can at least study the stellar signs that will enable them
to intelligently underftand what the astrologer tells them;
but under no circumstances will they consult a professional
astrologer to help them, one who prostitutes the science
for gold, but will seek the aid of a spiritual astrologer,
though they may have to seek some time. From the child's
natal chart the strength and weaknesses of its character
can be readily seen. The parents will then be in the best
position possible to foster the good and take appropriate
58 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
means to repress the evil before the tendencies work them-
selves out into actualities, and thus they may in a large
measure help the incoming entity to overcome his faults.
Next, the parent must realize that that which we term
birth is only the birth of the visible, physical body, which
is born and comes to its present high stage of efficiency
in a shorter time than the invisible vehicles of man, be-
cause it has had the longest evolution. As the foetus
is shielded from the impacts of the visible world by
being encased in the protecting womb of the mother during
the period of gestation, ?o are also the subtler vehicles en-
cased in envelopes of ether and desire stuff which protects
them until they have sufficiently matured, and are able
to withstand the conditions of the outer world.
Thus the vital body is born at about the age of seven, or
the time when the child cuts its second teeth, and the
desire body is born at about fourteen, or the time of
puberty. The mind comes to birth at about twenty-one,
when we say a man has reached majority.
There are certain important matters which can be taken
care of only during the appropriate period of growth, and
the parent should know what these are. Though the organs
have been formed by the time the child comes to birth, the
lines of growth are determined during the first seven years,
and if they are not properly outlined during that time, an
otherwise healthy child may become a sickly man or woman.
In the first chapter of St. John, we read that "In the be-
ginning was the word . . . And without it was not
anything made that was made . . . and the word be-
came flesh." The word is a rhythmic sound, and sound is
the great cosmic builder, therefore during that first sep-
tenary epoch of its life the child should be surrounded by
music of the right kind, by musical language the swing
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES 59
and rhythm of nursery rhymes being particularly valuable.
It does not matter about the sense at all; what matters is
the rhythm; the more the child has of that, the healthier
it will grow.
There are two great watchwords which apply to this
period of a child's life. They are called imitation and
example. There is no creature in the world so imitative
as a little child; it follows our example to the smallest
detail so far as it is able. Therefore, the parents who seek
to bring up their child well will ever be careful when in
the presence of the little one. It is no use to teach it not
to mind ; the child has no mind, it has no reason, it can
only imitate, and it cannot help imitating any more than
water can help running down hill. If we have one kind of
food for ourselves which is highly seasoned and cooked in
French style, perhaps, and we give our child another dish,
telling it that what we eat is not good for it, the child may
not then be able to imitate us, but we implant the appetite
for such food in the little one. When it grows up and can
gratify its taste it will do so. Therefore, the careful par-
ents 'hould abstain from the foods and liquors they do not
wish their child to partake of.
Regarding the clothing, w r e may say that at that time
the child should be entirely unconscious of its sex organs,
and therefore the clothing should be particularly loose at
all times. This is specially necessary with little boys, for
oftentimes a most seriously bad habit in later life may re-
sult from the rubbing of too tight clothing.
There is also the question of punishment to be consid-
ered; that too is an important factor at all times in
awakening the sex nature and should be carefully avoided.
There is no child so refractory that it will not respond to
the method of reward for good deeds and the withholding of
60 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
privileges as retribution for disobedience. Besides, we recog-
nize the fact that whipping breaks the spirit of a dog, and
we oftentimes complain that certain people have cultivated
a wishbone instead of a backbone that they are lacking in
will. Much of that is due to whippings, mercilessly ad-
ministered in childhood. Let any parent look at this from
the child's standpoint. How would any of us now like to
live with someone from whose authority we could not es-
cape, who was much bigger than we, and have to submit
to whippings day by day? Leave the whipping alone and
much of the social evil will be done away with in a genera-
tion.
When the vital body has been brought to birth at the
seventh year, the faculties of perception and memory are
to be educated. The watchword for this period should be
authority and disciphship. We should not, if we have a
precocious child, seek to goad it into a course of study
which requires an enormous expenditure of thought. Child
prodigies have usually become men and women of less than
ordinary mentality. The child should be allowed to follow
his own inclination in that respect. His faculties of ob-
servation should be cultivated, he should be shown living
examples. Let him see the drunkard and what vice has led
him to; show him also the good man, and set before him
high ideals. Teach him to take everything you say upon
authority and endeavor to be such that he may respect your
authority as parents and teachers. At this time he should
also be prepared to husband the force which is now being
awakened in him, and which will enable him to generate
his kind at the end of the second period of seven years. He
should not be allowed to gather that knowledge from pol-
luted sources, because the parents shirk the responsibility of
telling him from a mistaken sense of modesty. A flower
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 61
may be taken as an object lesson, whence all the children,
from the smallest to the biggest, may receive the most
beautiful instruction in the form of a fairy tale. They may
be taught how flowers are like families without bothering at
all with botanical terms, so long as the parents have studied
in the slightest degree a little elementary botany. Show
the children some flowers. Tell them "Here is a flower
family where there are all boys (a staminate flower), and
here is another flower where there are only girls (a pistilate
flower). Here is one where there are both boys and girls
(a flower where there are both stamen and pistils). Show
them the pollen in the anthers. Tell them that these little
flower boys are just like the boys in the human families;
that they are adventuresome and want to go out into the
world to fight the battle of life, while the girls (the pistils)
stay at home. Show them the bees with the pollen basket^
on their legs, and tell them how the little flower boys be-
stride those winged steeds, like the knights of old, and go
out into the world to seek the princess immured in the
magic castle (the ovule hidden in the pistil) ; how the little
pollen, the flower boy-knights, force their way through the
pistil and enter the ovule; then tell them how that signi-
fies that the knight and the princess are married, that they
live happy ever afterward and become the parents of many
little flower boys and girls. When they have fully grasped
that, they will understand also the generation in the animal
and human kingdom, for there is no difference ; one is just
as pure and chaste and holy as the other. And the little
children brought up in that way will always have a rever-
ence for the creative function that can be instilled in no
better way.
When a child has been thus equipped, it is well fortified
for the birth of the desire body at the time of puberty.
62 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
When the desires and the emotions are unleashed, it enters
upon the most dangerous period of its life, the time of the
hot youth from fourteen to twenty-one, for at that time the
desire body is rampant and the mind has not yet come to
birth to act as a brake. At this time it is well for the
child that has been brought up as here outlined, for its par-
ents will then be a strength and an anchor to it to tide it
over that troublesome period until the time when it is full
born the age of twenty-one, when the mind is born.
QUESTION No. 28.
Why are children born in a family where they are not
welcome?
Answer: It shows a sad state of society when a question
such as this can be relevant, as, unfortunately, it is. The
primal purpose of marriage is the perpetuation of the race
and people who are not willing to become parents have no
right to marry. It should be the right of every child to be
well born, and welcome. But while we are careful to seek
out the best strain in the animals which we use for breeding
purposes, in order that we may get the hardiest and best
stock, we usually do not think at all of the physical, moral
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 63
and mental fitness of the one we select to be the father or
the mother of our children. In fact, it is usually consid-
ered indelicate if not indecent to think of children at all,
and when they come in spite of preventatives, the parents
are often distracted with grief. But the law of cause and
effect is not to be thwarted. The mills of the Gods grind
slowly but they are sure to grind very small, and though
the centuries may pass by, there will come a time when the
one who is an unwilling parent must himself seek an em-
bodiment anew, and perhaps he will then be reborn into a
family where he is not welcome. Or perhaps the unwilling
parent of one life becomes a childless one in the next.
Cases are also known to the writer where such a couple has
been blessed with numerous children whom they desired
and passionately loved, but who died in childhood one after
another to the great grief of the parents.
QUESTION No. 29.
Where children do not come to a man and wife who
deeply long for them, is there not some way to induce some
soul in the unseen world to accept their invitations to
reincarnate? Where the conditions in the home are most
favorable, it would seem that among the many souls await'
ing incarnation one would find the conditions right.
Answer: This is undoubtedly one of the conditions
where the would-be parents have some time in a previous
64 BOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
life neglected their opportunity, or, perhaps, have taken
precautions to avoid begetting children. Or, if this is not
the case, it may be that at a later day their hopes will be
fulfilled. The writer has observed a case where a spirit
seeking incarnation followed the mother about, and he was
told by someone else who had known the mother that that
Ego had been following her from before her marriage.
The marriage proved barren, however, and only recently
came the news of the divorce. It was plain that although
this Ego evidently desired incarnation through the mother,
it refused the father. We sometimes hear of marriages
which are barren, and then when the marriage contract has
been dissolved and the partners have each remarried, both
have become parents, showing that they were perfectly able
to become parents from the physical standpoint, and that
it was the incarnating Ego that was lacking. For this
should be noted, that unless there is an Ego seeking em-
bodiment through a married couple, their efforts will be
fruitless. From the ordinary standpoint that would not
appear to be so, but it will be readily seen that as the 1
chemical constituents of the semen and the ova are at all
times the same, there would be no reason why a union of
the sexes should be fruitful at one time and barren at an-
other if they were the only factors. We know that if we mix
hydrogen and oxygen in proper proportions we always get
water; we know that water will always flow down hill; and
thus all the laws of nature are invariable, so that unless
there were another factor than the chemical mixture of
semen and ova there would always be issue. And this un-
known and unseen factor is the reincarnating Ego which
goes only where it pleases and without which there can be
no issue.
If the inquirer will pray earnestly to the angel Gabriel,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 65
who is the ambassador of the Eegent of the Moon to the
earth, and therefore a prime factor in the generation of
bodies (vide the Bible), it may possibly avail to bring the
desired result. The best time is Monday at sunrise, and
from the new Moon to the full.
QUESTION No. 30.
How do you explain the fact that a child so often inherits
the bad characteristics of the parents?
Answer: We explain by saying that it is not a fact. Un-
fortunately, people seem to lay their bad traits to heredity,
blaming their parents for their faults, while taking to them-
selves all the credit for the good. The very fact that we
differentiate between that which is inherited and that which
is our own, shows that there are two sides to man's nature,
the side of the form and the life side.
The man, the thinker, comes here equipped with a mental
and a moral nature, which are entirely his own, taking from
his parents only the material for the physical body. We
are drawn to certain people by the law of causation, and
the law of association. The same law which causes mu-
sicians to seek the company of one another in concert halls,
66 KOS1CRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
gamblers to congregate at the race tracks or in pool rooms,
people of a studious nature to flock to libraries, etc., also
causes people of similar tendencies, characteristics, and
tastes to be born in the same family. Thus, when we hear
a person say, "Yes, I know I am thriftless, but then my
people never were used to work, we always had servants/'
it shows that similarity of tastes and nothing more is
needed to explain it. When another person says, "Oh,
yes, I know I am extravagant, but I just cannot help it, it
runs in the family," it is again the law of association, and
the sooner we recognize that instead of making the law of
heredity an excuse for our evil habits, we should seek
to conquer them and cultivate virtues instead, the better for
us. We would not recognize it as a valid excuse if the
drunkard should say, "No, I cannot help drinking, all my
associates drink." We would tell him to get away from
them as quickly as possible and assert his own individuality,
and we would advise people to cease shielding themselves
behind their ancestors as an excuse for bad habits.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 67
QUESTION No. 31.
Does not the cliild inherit its blood and nervous system
from its parents? If so, will it not inherit disease and
nervous disorders also?
Answer: In the foetus, in the lower part of the throat
just above the sternum or breast bone, there is a gland
called the thymus gland, which is largest during the period
of gestation and which gradually atrophies as the child
grows older and disappears entirely by or before the four-
teenth year, very often when the bones have been properly
formed. Science has been very much puzzled as to the use
of this gland, and few theories have been advanced to ac-
count for it. Among these theories one is that it supplies
the material for the manufacture of the red blood corpuscles
until the bones have been properly formed in the child so
that it may manufacture its own blood corpuscles. That
theory is correct.
During the earliest years the Ego which owns the
child-body is not in full possession, and we recognize that
the child is not responsible for its doings, at any rate not
before the seventh year, and later we have extended it to
the fourteenth year. During that time no legal liability for
its action attaches to the child, and that is as it should be,
for the Ego being in the blood can only function properly
in blood of its own making, so that where, as in the child-
body, the stock of the blood is furnished by the parents
through the thymus gland, the child is not yet its own
master or mistress. Thus it is that children do not speak
of themselves so much as "I" in the earlier years, but iden-
tify themselves with the family; they are Papa's girl and
68 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Mama's boy. The young child will say "Mary wants" this
or "Johnny wants that/' but as soon as they have attained
the age of puberty and have begun to manufacture their
own blood corpuscles, then we hear the boy or girl say, "I"
will do this or "I" will do that. From that time they begin
to assert their own identity, and to tear themselves loose
from the family.
Seeing, then, that the blood throughout the years of
childhood, as well as the body, is inherited from the par-
ents, the tendencies to disease are also carried over, not the
disease itself but the tendency. After the fourteenth year,
when the indwelling Ego has commenced to manufacture
its own blood corpuscles, it depends a great deal upon itself
whether or not these tendencies shall become manifested
actualities in its life.
QUESTION No. 32.
Can a person be influenced in natural sleep as he can in
hypnotic sleep, or is there a difference?
Answer: Yes, there is a difference. In the natural sleep
the Ego, clothed in the mind and desire body, draws out-
side the physical body and usually hovers over the body, or
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 69
at any rate remains close to it, connected by the silver cord,
while the vital body and the dense body are resting upon
the bed.
It is then possible to influence the person by instilling
into his brain the thoughts and ideas we wish to communi-
cate. Nevertheless, we cannot then get him to do anything
or to entertain any idea except that which is in line with
his natural proclivities. It is impossible to command him
to do anything and to enforce obedience, the same as it is
when he has been driven out by the passes of the hypnotist,
for it is the brain which moves the muscles, and during the
natural sleep his brain is interpenetrated by his own vital
body and he is in perfect control himself, while during the
hypnotic sleep the passes of the hypnotist have driven the
ether of which his vital body is composed out of the brain,
down to the shoulders of the victim, where it lies around his
neck and resembles the collar of a sweater. The dense
brain is then open to the ether from the hypnotist's vital
body, which displaces that of the proper owner. Thus in
the hypnotic sleep the victim has no choice whatever as to
the ideas he entertains or the movements he makes with his
body, but in the ordinary sleep he is still a free agent.
In tact, this method of suggestion during sleep is some-
thing which mothers will find extremely beneficial in treat-
ing refractory children, for if the mother will sit by the
bed of the sleeping child, hold its hand, speak to it as she
would speak when it is awake, instill into its brain ideas of
such a nature as she would wish it to entertain, she will
find that in the waking state many of these ideas will have
taken root. Also in dealing with a person who is sick or is
addicted to drink, if the mother, nurse or others use this
method, they will find it possible to instill hope and heal-
ing, materially furthering recovery or aiding self-mastery.
70 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
.This method may of course be used for evil, but we cannot
refrain from publishing it, as we believe that the good
which can be done in this way will much more than offset)
the few cases where some misguided person may use it for
the wrong purpose.
QUESTION No. 33.
What are dreams? Have they all a significance, and
how can we invite or induce dreams?
Answer: In the waking state, the different vehicles of
the Ego, the mind, desire body, vital body and dense body
are all concentric. They occupy the same space, and the
Ego functions outwardly in the Physical World. But at
night, during the dreamless sleep, the Ego, clothed in the
desire body and the mind, withdraws, leaving the physical
and the vital body upon the bed, there being no connection
between the higher and the lower vehicles, save a thin,
glistening thread, called the silver cord. It happens, how-
ever, that at times the Ego has been working so inter-
estedly in the Physical World and the desire body has be-
come so stirred up that it refuses to leave the lower vehicles
and is only half withdrawn. Then the connection between
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 71
the sense centers of the desire body and the sense centers
of the physical brain are partly ruptured. The Ego sees
the sights and scenes of the Desire World which, in them-
selves, are extremely fantastic and illusory, and they are
transmitted to the brain centers without being connected
by reason. From this condition come all the foolish and
fantastic dreams which we have.
h
It happens at times, however, that when the Ego is
altogether outside the dense body, as in dreamless sleep, it
sees an event concerning itself about to materialize, for
coming events cast their shadows before, and ere anything
happens in the material world it has already happened in
the spiritual worlds. If, upon awaking from such an ex-
perience, the Ego succeeds in impressing the brain with
what it has seen, we have a prophetic dream, which in due 1
time will come true, or which the Ego, if its Fate permits,
may modify by a new action. For instance, if warned of an
accident, it may take steps to counteract the impending
calamity.
Eegarding the second part of the question, "How can we
invite or induce dreams," we may say that, of course, it is
of no advantage to invite or induce dreams of the confused
and fantastic kind, and, as for the other kind, there comes
a time in a man's life when he begins to live the higher
life. Then, gradually, by certain exercises, he evolves the
faculty of leaving his body consciously at night or at any
other time. He is then perfectly conscious in the invisible
worlds. He can go wherever he pleases to the ends of the
earth in minutes of time and as he learns how to con-
sciously work in those invisible worlds, he does not "dream'*
any longer, but lives another life that is fuller or more
real than the one he now lives.
72 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 34.
What is sleep and what causes the body to go to sleep?
Answer: During the daytime the vital body specializes
the colorless solar fluid which is all about us, through the
organ we call the spleen. This vitality permeates the
whole body and is seen by the clairvoyant as a fluid of a
pale rose color, having been transmuted upon entering the
physical body. It flows along every nerve, and when it is
sent out by the brain centers in particularly large quantities
it moves the muscles to which the nerves lead.
The vital body may be said to be built of points which
stick out in all directions, inward, outward, upward and
downward, all through the body, and each little point goes
through the center of one of the chemical atoms, causing
it to vibrate at a higher rate than its natural speed. This
vital body interpenetrates the dense body from birth to-
death under all conditions except when, for instance, the
blood circulation stops in a certain part, as when we rest
a hand upon the edge of a table for some time and it "goes
to sleep," as we say. Then, if clairvoyant, we may see the
etheric hand of the vital body hanging down below the 4
visible hand as a glove, and the chemical atoms of the hand
relapse into their natural slow rate of vibration. When we
slap the hand to cause it to "wake up," as we say, the
peculiar prickling sensation we feel is caused by the points
of the vital body which then reenter the sleeping atoms of
the hand and start them into renewed vibration.
The vital body leaves the dense body in a similar man-
ner when a person is dying. Drowning persons who have
been resuscitated experience an intense agony caused by the
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 73
entrance of these points, which they feel as a prickling
sensation. f
During the daytime, when the solar fluid is being ab-
sorbed by the man in great quantities, these points of the
vital body are blown out or distended, as it were, by the
vital fluid, but as the day advances and poisons of decay
clog the physical body more and more, the vital fluid
flows less rapidly; in the evening there comes a time when
the points in the vital body do not get a full supply of the
life giving fluid; they shrivel up and the atoms of the body
move more sluggishly in consequence. Thus the Ego feels
the body to be heavy, dull and tired. At last there comes a
time when, as it were, the vital body collapses and the
vibrations of the dense atoms become so slow that the Ego
can no longer move the body. It is forced to withdraw
in order that its vehicle may recuperate. Then we say the
body has gone to sleep.
Sleep is not an inactive state, however; if it were there
would be no difference in feeling in the morning and no
restorative power in sleep. The very word restoration im-
plies activity.
When a building has become dilapidated from constant
wear and tear and it is necessary to renovate and restore it,
the tenants must move out to give the workmen full play.
For similar reasons the Ego moves out of its tenement at
night. As the workmen work upon the building, to make
it fit for re-occupancy, so the Ego must work upon its build-
ing before it will be fit to reenter. And such a work is done
by us during the nighttime, although we are not conscious
of it in our waking state. It is this activity which re-
moves the poisons from the system, and as a result the body
is fresh and vigorous in the morning when the Ego enters
at the time of waking.
74 KOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 35.
Do the Rosicrucians believe in materia medica, or do they
follow Christ's method of healing?
Answer: It is generally acknowledged by the best prac-
titioners that materia medica is an empirical science; that
drugs do not act in the same way on all persons, and that, 1
therefore, it is necessary for the physician to experiment
with his patients. Hence materia medica is unsatisfactory.
Drugs cannot be relied upon to do the work at all times.
Observation shows that while all oxen will thrive on
grass; and all lions are content with a diet of flesh, we find
in the human being that there is always an individuality
which makes each different from all the rest of his kind;
and this peculiarity of the human race arises from the fact
that while each species of animals is the expression of one
single group spirit which guides the separate animals from
without, there is in each human being an individual in-
dwelling spirit, an Ego, and therefore one man's meat is
often another's poison.
It is only when materia medica takes this point into con-
sideration that it can be of real service in all cases, and
the way to find out the peculiarities of the spirit that dwells
in the patient body is to cast his horoscope to see when the
times are propitious for the administration of drugs, giving
the appropriate herbs at the proper time. Paracelsus did
that, and therefore he was always successful with his pa-
tients ; he never made a mistake. There are some who use
astrology for that purpose today; the writer, for instance,
has thus used it in diagnosis in many cases. He has then
always been able to see the crises in the patient's condition,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 75
the past, present and the future; and has thus been able
to afford much relief to persons suffering from various ill-
nesses, it is to such uses that astrology should be put, and
not degraded into fortune telling for the sake of gold, for,
like all spiritual sciences, it ought to be used for the benefit
of humanity, regardless of mercenary considerations. If
physicians would study the science of astrology, they would
thus with a very slight effort be able to diagnose their pa-
tients' condition in a manner altogether impossible from
the ordinary diagnostician's point of view. Some phy-
sicians are waking up to that fact and have discovered
by their experiences that the heavenly bodies have an in-
fluence upon the human frame. For instance, when the
writer was in Portland, Oregon, a physician mentioned as
his observation that whenever it was possible for him to
perform an operation while the moon was increasing in
light, that is to say, going from the new to the full moon,
the operation was always successful and no complications
would set in. On the other hand, he had found that when
circumstances compelled him to perform an operation when
the moon was going from the full to the dark there was
great danger of trouble, and that such operations were
never as satisfactory as those performed while the light of
the moon was increasing.
There is also a tendency among physicians more and
more to cure by suggestion, giving to the patient a harmless
pill and a good suggestion. Every mother, whether she
knows the potency of suggestion or not, at times uncon-
sciously applies it in the case of her child. If the little
one falls, she may by her suggestion cause it to either cry
or laugh. If she says to the little one, "Oh, you poor little
baby, you've hurt yourself very bad, that poor little head
of yours," the child will commence to cry; but if, on the
76 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
other hand, she points to the floor and exclaims, "Oh, dear,
how you hurt that poor floor, why that is too bad kiss it !"
the child will be very sorry it hurt the floor, thinking not at
all of its own lesions.
In a similar manner the physician influences his patient,
and it is criminal for a physician to enter the sickroom with
a gloom} 7 mien, asking the patient to make his will, telling
him that he has not long to live. Those things act upon
the patient in a manner far greater than realized, and many
a physician has thus killed those whom he might have
saved. On the other hand, if he is cheerful and comes into
the sickroom with a smile and an encouraging word, if he
gives a harmless cure and a good suggestion the patient is
apt to recover where otherwise he might succumb to the dis-
ease. Thus, suggestion is far beyond materia medica. The
faith which the patient has in the physician will work
wonders, either for good or for evil, and faith was the
method which Christ used in his healing. If the inquirer
will look up the instances where the Christ healed the sick
in the Bible, he will find that there was always a question
concerning the faith of the one seeking healing. To each
applicant the Christ said, "According to thy faith, be it
unto you."
That skepticism destroyed even His power is, perhaps,
most evident from the passage where we are told that He
journeyed to His native city and found that a prophet is
not without honor save in his own country. This story is
told in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, also by Mark,
and it is significant that the last verse in the thirteenth
chapter of Matthew says that He did not do many mighty
works because of their unbelief. Mark tells us that be-
cause of their skepticism He was only able to heal a very few
people by laying His hands upon them.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 77
The open mind is an essential requisite to all investiga-
tion and skepticism is absolutely fatal to the attainment
of knowledge. As an illustration, we may mention that the
writer was in Columbus a few years ago and there went to a
lecture by Professor Hyslop, the Secretary of the Society
for Psychological Research. The subject of the lecture
was "New Evidence of a Future Life." The writer was
astonished to find that Prof. Hyslop did not present in his
lecture one single point which had not been brought out in
the last twenty years in the reports of the Society to which
he belongs. But the solution came after the lecture, when
a question brought out the fact that Prof. Hyslop did not
believe in anything that had been said in the Society's re-
ports, lie did not believe in the results obtained by anyone
but himself. This evidence which he had just presented
had been collected by him; therefore it was new to him
and he expected his audience to take his word, although he
himself was unwilling to take the word of anyone else,
and as an illustration of how skepticism acts, he uncon-
sciously gave a very fine example, when he related that, go-
ing to a medium on a certain day, Eichard Hodgson, de-
ceased, spoke through the medium and Prof. Hyslop com-
menced to ask questions which, though quite simple, Mr.
Hodgson had great difficulty in answering. Prof. Hyslop
at last impatiently said, "Why, what is the matter with you,
Eichard; when you were alive you were quick enough;
why can't you answer now?" "Then," said Prof. Hyslop,
came the answer, quick as lightning, "Oh, every time I get
into your wretched atmosphere I go all to pieces." Prof.
Hyslop could not understand the reason why, but anyone
who has seen a pupil before a Board of Examiners which
has made up its mind that he is a dunce will know why,
und understand that it was Prof. Hyslop's critical skeptical
78 ROSICBUCIAX PHILOSOPHY
attitude of mind which caused Richard Hodgson's great
difficulty in communicating. We may, therefore, say that
we believe in materia medica when used in conjunction with
astrology and also in Christ's method of healing, which
is Faith Cure, and in the power of suggestion and the vari-
ous other systems of healing. They all contain some truth,
though unfortunately many are made into fads and carried
to extremes. Then they lose their power for good and be-
come menaces to those who might otherwise have been bene-
fitted.
QUESTION Xo. 36.
Since suffering is the result of our own actions, do you
think it wrong to take medicine to remove pain if one is
not hopelessly ill or dying?
Answer: This question reveals an attitude of mind that
is extremely deplorable; as well ask if it is right to try
to save one's self if drowning, for falling in the water is
also an effect of some self -generated cause. Certainly, it
is our duty to take medicine administered by a properly
qualified person, or attempt to cure the ills from which we
suffer in any other way possible that appeals to us. We
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES 79
should be doing decidedly wrong if we allowed our physical
instrument to deteriorate for lack of proper care and at-
tention. It is the most valuable tool we possess, and un-
less we use it circumspectly and care for it, we are
amenable to the law of cause and effect for that neglect.
A question such as this reveals an altogether erroneous
idea of the law of cause and effect. It is our duty to ^ry
to rise above conditions instead of allowing circumstances
to guide our lives. There is a beautiful little poem which
aptly enunciates this idea :
"One ship sails east and another sails west
With the self same winds that blow;
; Tis the set of the sail and not the gale
Which determines the way they go.
"As the winds of the sea are the ways of Fate
As we voyage along through life,
'Tis the act of the soul which determines the goal
And not the calm or the strife."
If we endeavor to turn the sails of our bark of life
aright, we shall always be able to modify if not to alto-
gether change conditions, and make our lives what we
will instead of sitting supinely waiting for the clouds to
pass by, because we have made those clouds ourselves. The
very fact that we have made them ought to be an inspira-
tion to give us the courage and energy to unmake them,
or push them away as quickly as possible.
80 KOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 37.
What form of healing do you advise, physicians or prac-
titioners, as in the Christian Science belief?
Answer: That depends upon the nature of the sickness
and the temperament of the patient. If it is a case of a
broken leg, a surgeon is obviously the one to call. If there
is an internal disorder and it is possible to get a broad
minded physician, then in certain cases he is the one to
get. If, on the other hand, a mental healer, Christian
Science healer or anyone else who is spiritually minded can
be brought in, they may help a person who is himself
strong in faith, for, as a tuning fork which is of certain
pitch will respond when another tuning fork of the same
pitch is struck, so will the person filled with faith respond
to the ministrations of these last named ones. But where
faith in their methods is lacking in the patient, it is far
better to send for a regular physician in whom the patient
has confidence, for health or sickness depends almost alto-
gether upon the state of the mind, and in the conditions
of sickness where a person is enfeebled, he becomes hyper-
sensitive and should not be thwarted in his preferences.
Besides, whatever good there is in any system of healing,
the effects upon a certain person will be beneficial or the
reverse in exact proportion to his faith in its healing
power.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 81
QUESTION No. 38.
What is your opinion in regard to fasting as a means of
curing disease?
Answer: We may readily conceive that there are more
people in the West who die from over eating than from
getting too little food. And under certain conditions fast-
ing for a day or two is undoubtedly beneficial, but just as
there are gourmands and gluttons, so there are also others
who go to the opposite extreme and fast to excess. There
lies a great danger. The better way is to eat in modera-
tion and to eat the proper kinds of food; then it will not
be necessary to fast at all.
If we study the chemistry of food we shall find that
certain foods have properties of value to the system under
certain conditions of disorder, and taken properly food is
really medicine. All the citric fruits, for instance, are
splendid antiseptics. They cleanse and purify the alimen-
tary canal. Thus they prevent disease. All the cereals,
particularly rice, are anti-toxins; they will kill disease
and the germs of putrefaction. Thus, by knowing these
medicinal properties of the different foods, we may very
readily secure a supply of that which we need to cure our
ordinary ailments b} r food instead of by fasting.
82 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 39.
Do you consider it wrong to try to cure a bad habit, such
as, for instance, drunkenness, by hypnotism ?
Answer: Most decidedly yes. Looked at from the
standpoint of one life, such methods as for instance those
employed by the healers of the Immamiel movement, are
undoubtedly productive of an immense amount of good.
The patient is seated in a chair, put into a sleep and there
he is given certain so called "suggestions." He rises and
is cured of his bad habit; from being a drunkard he be-
comes a respectable citizen who cares for his wife and fam-
ily, and upon the face of it the good seems to be un-
deniable.
But looking at it from the deeper standpoint of the oc-
cultist, who views this life as only one in many, and look-
ing at it from the effect it has upon the invisible vehicles
of man, the case is vastly different. When a man is put
into a hypnotic sleep, the hypnotist makes passes over him
which have the effect of expelling the ether from the head
of his dense body and substituting the ether of the hyp-
notist. The man is then under the perfect domination of
another; he has no free will, and, therefore, the so called
" suggestions" are in reality commands which the victim
has no choice but to obey. Besides, when the hypnotist
withdraws his ether and wakens the victim he is unable to
remove all the ether he put into him. To use a simile,
as a small part of the magnetism infused into an electric
dynamo before it can be started for the first time is left
behind and remains as residual magnetism to excite the
fields of the dynamo every time it is started up, so also
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 83
there remains a small part of the ether of the hypnotist's
vital body in the medulla oblongata of the victim, which
is a club the hypnotist holds over him all his life, and it is
due to. this fact that suggestions to be carried out at a
period subsequent to the awakening of the victim are in-
variably followed.
Thus the victim of a hypnotic healer does not overcome
the bad habit by his own strength, but is as much chained
in that respect as if he were in solitary confinement, and
although in this life he may seem to be a better citizen,
when he returns to earth he will have the same weakness
and have to struggle until at last he overcomes it him-
self.
QUESTION No. 40.
Are there any methods of eradicating the calcareous
ter which comes into our bodies by wrong methods of
diet ?
Answer: The question shows that the inquirer is awara
that our bodies are gradually hardening from childhood
to old age, on account of the chalky substances contained
in most of the foods we usually nourish our bodies upon,
84 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
This calcareous matter is primarily deposited in the walk
of the arteries and veins, causing what is known to the
medical profession as arterio-sclerosis or hardening of the
arteries. The arteries of a little child are extremely soft
and elastic, like a rubber tube, but gradually as we ad-
vance through childhood, youth and on toward old age, the
walls of the arteries become harder in consequence of the
deposits of chalk left by the passing blood. Thus in time
they may become as stiff and unelastic as a pipe stem.
There is a condition which is called pipe-stem artery. The
arteries then become brittle and may break, causing hemor-
rhage and death. Therefore it is said truly that a man
is as old as his arteries. If we can clear the arteries and
capillaries of this earthy matter, we may greatly prolong
life and the usefulness of our body.
From the occult standpoint, of course, it is no matter
whether we live or die, as the saying is, for death to us
does not mean annihilation but only the shifting of the
consciousness to other spheres; nevertheless, when we have
brought a vehicle through the useless years of childhood,
past the hot years of youth, and have come to the time of
discretion when we are really beginning to gain experience,
then the longer we can prolong the time of experience the
more we may gain. For that reason it is of a certain value
to prolong the life of the body.
In order to accomplish that result, we must first select
the foods that are least impregnated with the choking
substances which cause the induration of arteries and
capillaries. These may be briefly stated to be the green
vegetables and all fruits. Next, it is of importance to seek
to eradicate the choking matter which we have already
absorbed, if that is possible, but science has not yet
found any food or medicine that will with certainty pro-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 85
duce that effect. Electric baths have been found to be ex-
ceedingly beneficial but not entirely satisfactory. Butter-
milk is the best agent for eradicating this earthy sub-
stance, and next comes grape juice. If taken continually
and in generous quantities, these substances will consid-
erably ameliorate the hardened condition of the arteries.
QUESTION No. 41.
Is not nature guilty of frequent physical malformations
in the plant and animal world as well as in the human race,
.and can there be a perfectly whole and sane intelligence
with a forceful will in a diseased or malformed body?
Answer: We would ask, what do you mean by nature?
Bacon says that nature and God differ only as the print
and the seal. Nature is the visible symbol of God, and we
are too apt to think of nature nowadays in a materialistic
sense. Back of every manifestation in nature there are
forces, not blind forces, but intelligences. Perhaps an
illustration will enable us to realize our relation to them.
Supposing we have materials and tools; we are en-
gaged in making a table and a dog is sitting looking at us.
86 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Then the dog, a being of a lower kingdom, will gradually
see us planing the wood and putting the top on the legs ;
it will see the table coming into existence by degrees; it
may watch the process, though it may not know the use
of the table and may not understand what is in our minds
while we are fashioning the table. It simply beholds a
manifestation, it sees us working and views the results.
Supposing further, for the sake of illustration, the dog
could see the materials and how they were gradually being
shaped into a table, but could not see us working and
putting the various pieces together to form this table;
then the dog would be in about the same relation to us
as we are to the nature forces. What we speak of as
electricity, as magnetism, as expansion in steam, etc., are
intelligences which work unseen to us when certain condi-
tions are brought about. Nature spirits build the plants,
form the crystals of the rock, and with numerous other
hierarchies are working around and about us unseen, but
nevertheless busy in making that which we call nature.
These are all evolving beings, like ourselves, and the
very fact that they are evolving shows that they are im-
perfect and therefore apt to make mistakes which natur-
ally result in malformations, so that it may be said in an-
swer to the question that the invisible intelligences which
make what we call nature are guilty of frequent mistakes
as well as we.
As to the second part of the question, whether there
can be a perfectly whole and sane intelligence with a force-
ful will in a diseased or malformed body, we may say
"yes, undoubtedly," but as the expression of that intelli-
gence is dependent upon the efficiency of its instrument,
it may, naturally, be hampered by the physical deformity,
on the same principle that no matter how skilled the work-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES 87
man is, his efficiency depends in a great measure upon
the condition of his tools.
QUESTION No. 42.
What is the effect of vaccination from the occult point
of view?
Answer: Bacteriologists have discovered that many dis-
eases are caused by microorganisms which invade our body,
and also that when this invading army begins to create a
disturbance the body commences to manufacture germs of
an opposing nature or a substance which will poison the
invaders. It is then a question of which are the strong-
est, the invaders or the defenders. If the defending mi-
crobes are more numerous than the invaders or if the
poison which is noxious to the invaders is manufactured
in sufficient quantities, the patient recovers. If the de-
fenders are vanquished or the body is unable to manufac-
ture a sufficient quantity of the serum necessary to poison
the invaders, the patient succumbs to the disease. It was
further discovered that when a certain person has once
successfully recovered from a specific malady, he is im-
mune from renewed attacks of that disease for the reason
88 ROSICKTJCIAN PHILOSOPHY
that he has in his body the serum which is death to the
germs that cause the disease he has once weathered.
From the above facts certain conclusions were drawn :
(1) If a healthy person is inoculated with a few of the
germs of a certain disease he will contract that disease in
a mild form. He will then be able to develop the saving
serum and thus he will become immune to that disease in
the future.
That is the philosophy of vaccination as a means of pre-
venting disease.
(2) When a person has contracted a disease and is un-
able to manufacture a sufficient quantity of the serum
which will destroy the invading microorganisms, his life
may be saved by inoculation with the serum obtained
from another who has become immune.
As it is not easy to get such antitoxins or cultures from
human beings, these germ-cultures and poisons have been
obtained from animals, and much has been written both
for and against the use of such methods of fighting disease.
With these we are not here concerned; the inquirer asks
for the occult viewpoint, which goes deeper than the ques-
tions at issue, as seen from the material side of life. There
are undoubtedly cases where disease has been prevented by
vaccination and cases where death has been prevented by
the use of antitoxin ; there are also cases where vaccination
and antitoxin have caused the fatality they were designed
to prevent, but that is beside the question. From the
occult viewpoint vaccination and the use of antitoxin
obtained by the processes in use in bacteriological institutes
is to be deplored. These methods work a wrong on the
helpless animals and poison the human body, making it
difficult for the Ego to use its instrument.
If we study the chemistry of ' our food we shall find
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 89
that nature has provided all necessary medicine, and if
we eat right we shall be immune from disease without
vaccination.
When in normal health the body specializes a far greater
quantity of the solar energy than it can use. The surplus
is radiated from the whole surface of the body with great
force and prevents the entrance of microorganisms which
lack the strength to battle against this outwelling current,
nay, more ! on the same principle that an exhaust fan
will gather up particles of dust in a room and hurl them
outward does this vital fluid cleanse the body of inimical
matter, dangerous germs included. It must not surprise
us that this force is intelligent and -capable of selecting
the materials which should be eliminated, leaving the
beneficial and useful. Scientists recognize this fact of
selective osmosis. They know that while a sieve will
allow any particle of matter to pass through which is
smaller than the mesh of the sieve, the kidneys, for instance,
will keep certain fluids of use to the body, while allowing
waste products to pass. In a similar manner the vital
fluid makes a distinction, it rids the body of the poisons
and impurities generated inside and repels similar prod-
ucts from without.
This emanation has been called N^-rays, or Odic fluid,
by scientists who have discovered it by means of chemical
reagents which render it luminous. During the process
of digestion it is weakest, for then an extra quantity of
the solar energy is required for use inside the body in the
metabolism of the food; it is the cementing factor in
assimilation. The heartier we have eaten, the greater is the
quantity of vital fluid expended within the body and the
weaker the eliminative and protective outrushing current.
Consequently we are in the greatest danger from an inva-
90 KOSICRUC1AN PHILOSOPHY
sion by an army of inimical microorganisms when we have
gorged ourselves.
On the other hand, if we eat sparingly and choose the
foods which are most easily digestible, the diminution of
the protective vital current will be correspondingly mini-
mized and our immunity from disease will be much en-
hanced without the necessity of poisoning our body with
vaccine.
QUESTION Xo. 43.
If, as you state, the Ego dwells in the blood, is not then
the practice of blood transfusion from a healthy to a dis-
eased person dangerous? Does it affect or influence the
Egos in any way, and if so, how ?
Answer: Among the latest discoveries of science is
haemolysis the fact that inoculation of blood from the
veins of a higher animal into one of a lower species,
destroys the blood of the lower animal and causes its
death. Thus the blood of man injected into the veins
of any animal is fatal. But from man to man it is found
that transfusion may take place, althought at times there
are deleterious effects.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 91
. In olden days people married in the family; it was then
looked upon with horror if one should "seek after strange
flesh." When the sons of God married the daughters of men,
that is to say, when the subjects of one leader married out-
side the tribe, there was great trouble, they were cast off by
their leader and destroyed, for at that time certain qual-
ities that we now possess were to be developed in humanity
and were thus implanted in the common blood which ran
pure in the family or small tribe. Later on when mar-
was to be brought down into more material conditions,
international marriages were commanded and, from that
time on, it has been looked upon as equally horrible if
persons within the same family united in marriage.
The old Vikings would not allow anyone to marry into
their family unless they had first gone through the cere-
mony of mixing blood to see if the transfusion of the
blood of the stranger into their family was detrimental
or otherwise. All this was because in earlier times human-
ity was not as individualized as it is today. They were
more under the domination of the race spirit or family
spirit, which dwelt in their blood, as the group spirit of
animals does in the blood of animals. Later the inter-
national marriages were given to free humanity from that
yoke and make every separate Ego sole master of its own
body without outside interference.
Science has lately found that the blood of different
people has different crystals, so that it is possible now to
tell the blood of a negro from the blood of a white man;
but there will come a day when they will know a still
greater difference, for just as there is a difference in the
crystals formed by the different races, so there is also a
difference in the crystals formed by each individual man.
The thumb-marks of no two people are alike, and it will be
92 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
found in time that the blood of each human being is dif-
ferent from the blood of every other individual. This
difference is already evident to the occult investigator, and
it is only a question of time when science will make
the discovery, for the-distinguishing features are becom-
ing more marked as the human being grows less and less
dependent, more and more self-sufficient.
This change in the blood is most important and in
time, when it lias become more marked, it will be produc-
tive of most far-reaching consequences. It is said that
"nature geometrizes," and nature is but the visible sym-
bol of the invisible God whose offspring and images we are.
Being made in His likeness, we are also beginning to
geometrizc, and naturally we are starting on the sub-
stance where we, the human spirits, the Egos, have the
greatest power, namely, in OUT blood.
When the blood courses through the arteries, which are
deep in the body, it is a gas; but loss of heat nearer the
surface of the body causes it to partially condense, and in
that substance the Ego is learning to form mineral crys-
tals. In the Jupiter Period we shall learn to invest them
with a low form of vitality and set them out from ourselves
as plant-like structures. In the Venus Period we shall
be able to infuse desire into them and make them like
animals. Finally, in the Vulcan Period, we shall give
them a mind and rule over them as race spirits.
At the present time we are at the very beginning of this
individualization of our blood. Therefore it is possible
at present to transfuse blood from one human being to
another, but the day is near at hand when that will be
impossible. The blood of a white man will kill all who
stand lower, and the blood of an advanced person will poi-
son the less cultured. The child at present receives its sup-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 93
ply of blood from the parents, stored in the thymus gland,
for the years of childhood. But the time will come when
the Ego will be too far individualized to function in.
blood not generated by itself. Then the present mode of
generation will have to be superseded by another whereby
the Ego may create its own vehicle without the help of
parents.
QUESTION No. 44.
What are the causes of insanity?
Answer: To answer that question would require vol-
umes, but we may say that from the occultist's standpoint
there are four classes of insanity.
Insanity is always caused by a break in the chain of
vehicles between the Ego and the physical body. This
break may occur between the brain centers and the vital
body, or it may be between the vital and desire body, be-
tween the desire body and the mind, or between the mind
and the Ego. The rupture may be complete or only partial.
When the break is between the brain centers and the
vital body, or between that and the desire body, we have
the idiots. When the break is between the desire body and
94 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
the mind, the violent and impulsive desire body rules and
we have the raving maniac. When the break is between
the Ego and the mind, the mind is the ruler over the
other vehicles and we have the cunning maniac, who
may deceive his keeper into believing that he is perfectly
harmless until he has hatched some diabolical, cunning
scheme. Then he may suddenly show his deranged men-
tality and cause a dreadful catastrophe.
There is one cause of insanity that it may be well to
explain, as it is sometimes possible to avoid it. When
the Ego is returning from the invisible world toward re-
embodiment, it is shown the various incarnations available.
It sees the coming life in its great and general events,
much as a moving picture passing before its vision. Then
it is given the choice, usually, of several lives. It sees
at that time the lessons it has to learn, the fate it has
generated for itself in past lives, and what part of that
fate it will have to liquidate in each of the embodiments
offered. Then it makes its choice and is guided by the
agents of the Recording Angels to the country and family
where it is to live its coming life.
This panoramic view is seen in the Third Heaven
where the Ego is naked and feels spiritually above sordid
material considerations. It is much wiser then than it
appears here on earth, where it is blinded by the flesh to an
inconceivable extent. Later, when conception has taken
place and the Ego draws into the womb of its mother, on
about the eighteenth day after that event, it comes in con-
tact with the etheric mold of its new physical body which
has been made by the Recording Angels to give the brain
formation that will impress upon the Ego the tendencies
necessary to work out its destiny.
There the Ego sees again the pictures of its coming life,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 95
as the drowning man perceives the pictures of his past life
in a flash. At that time the Ego is already partially
blind to its spiritual nature, so that if the coming life
seems to be a hard one, it will oftentimes shrink from
entering the womb and making the proper brain connec-
tions. It may endeavor to draw itself out quickly and
then, instead of being concentric as the vital and the dense
bodies should be, the vital body formed of ether may be
drawn partially above the head of the dense body. In
that case the connection between the sense centers of the
vital body and the dense body are disrupted and the result
is congenital idiocy, epilepsy, St. Vitus dance, and similar
nervous disorders.
The inharmonious relation between the parents which
sometimes exists is often the last straw that makes an
Ego feel that it cannot enter such an environment. There-
fore, it cannot be too seriously impressed upon prospective
parents that during the gestatory period it is of the utn. >st
importance that every thing should be done to keep the
mother in a condition of contentment and harmony. For
it is a very hard task for the Ego to go through the womb ;
it taxes all its sensibilities to the very utmost, and inhar-
monious conditions in the home it is entering are, of
course, an added source of discomfort, which may result in
the above named dreadful state of affairs.
96 SOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 45.
When an insane person dies, will lie still be insane in the
Desire World?
Answer: That depends upon where the break is, for
insanity is a rupture in the vehicles between the Ego and
the physical body, and this derangement may occur between
the Ego and the mind, between the mind and the desire
body, or between the desire body and the vital body, and
also between the latter and the dense body. If the break
is between the dense and the vital body or between that and
the desire body, the Ego will be perfectly sane in the
Desire World immediately after death, because it has then
discarded the two vehicles which were afflicted.
Where the break occurs between the desire body and
the mind, the desire body is, as a matter of course, still
rampant, and often causes the Ego much trouble during
its existence in the Desire World; for the Ego, of course,
is at no time insane. What appears as insanity arises
from the fact that the Ego has no control over its vehicles ;
the worst of all, obviously, is where the mind itself has
become affected and the Ego is tied to the personality for
a long time until these vehicles are worn away.
SECTION II
Questions dealing with
LIFE AFTER DEATH
1st Cosimc Pl&ne
Tofc'bW
Cosmic Planer
Tth Cosmic Plane include 5 all
ii line, the Sever? worlds bnj
Subdivisions o} it.
World oV VW
UJorldoj- Divine
"World o\
(*>"> h* "UJorldof
Phvt-'.c&l UWld
QUESTION No. 46.
What is the use of knowing about the after-death state,
what happens in the invisible world, and all these things?
Is it not far better to take one world at a time? Sufficient
unto the day is the trouble thereof. Why borrow more?
Answer: If we knew beyond a doubt that at some time
we should be forced to leave our country and go to another
place to live for a great many years before we would be
allowed to return, would it not be a good policy for us
to acquaint ourselves with the language, the customs, and
the laws of that country? Thus equipped we would not
feel so strange, and we would be able to take advantage
of whatever opportunities for growth and study we should
find there; we would not be apt to run contrary to its laws
and get into trouble in consequence of our ignorance, and
in many similar ways it would be to our advantage to know
about that country.
The foregoing illustrates aptly our position with regard
to the Invisible Worlds. After death we shall find our-
selves there, and if we are able now to obtain information
concerning the conditions there, it will surely benefit us
greatly. In the first place, there is the advantage that
knowledge will take away from us the fear of death, because
we never fear that which we know. In the second place,
by knowing about Purgatory and the First Heaven, and
by knowing about the evening exercise where we review the
99
100 ROSICRTJCIAN PHILOSOPHY
happenings of the day in reverse order, we may live our
Purgatory here and now in small doses, obtaining the for-
giveness of sins instead of waiting to expiate our evil deeds ;
and if we take advantage of our knowledge we shall be liv-
ing in an attitude such as we would not attain before
entering the future lives, by assimilating daily the good
that we have done and expurgating the evil. Thus we
shall be able to go soaring through Purgatory and the
First Heaven immediately after death.
By knowing what we are expected to accomplish in the
Second Heaven, we can more intelligently apply ourselves
to the work there; we gain greater consciousness of that
realm by familiarizing ourselves with it daily. Thus in
various ways we shall be fitting ourselves to become invis-
ible helpers, to live consciously all the time and shorten
our evolution by millions of years.
QUESTION Xo. 47.
Is there any limit of time set to the earth life before we
are born?
Answer: Yes, at the time when the Ego is coming to
rebirth, it forms the creative archetype of its physical form
in the Second Heaven with the help of the Creative Hier-
QUESTIONS AND AX3Yv T E2S 101
archies. That archetype is a singing, vibrating thing,
which is set into vibration by the Ego with a certain forci
commensurate with the length of the life to be lived upon
earth, and until that archetype ceases to vibrate the form
which is built of the chemical constituents of the earth
will continue to live.
The law of cause and effect, however, is the arbiter of
the way the life is to be lived, and certain opportunities
for spiritual grow r th are set before the Ego at various
points in its earth life. If these opportunities are made
use of, the life will continue along the straight path, but
if not, it diverges, as we might say, into a blind alley where
the life then is terminated by the creative hierarchies, which
destroy the archetype in the Heaven World. Thus we may
say that the ultimate length of an earth life is determined
before we are born physically, but the life may be shortened
if we neglect certain opportunities. There is also the pos-
sibility in the case of a few, where the life has been thor-
oughly lived, where it has been very full, and where the
person has endeavored in all cases to live up to his oppor-
tunities, that more life may be infused into the archetype
than had been done in the first place, and so the life
may be prolonged, but as said, that is only in exceptional
-cases.
102 BOSICKUCIAX PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 48.
7s it possible to shorten the time between death and a
new birth, so as to hasten one's evolution, and, if so, how?
Answer: Yes, it is possible for everyone who will take
the pains to review this life every day, in the reverse order,
from evening until morning, judging himself for the
things he has done amiss, promising himself to rectify
his mistakes and doing it to the best of his endeavor.
When he does that he will eradicate the sins he has com-
mitted from his life and he will steadily become a very
much better man or woman than those who do not per-
form this simple exercise. Thus the sins which would
otherwise be expurgated in Purgatory have been already
dealt with in life and so the Purgatorial existence will be
materially shortened. When at the time of the evening
exercise, the man reviews the good he has done and prom-
ises himself to endeavor to do even better in the future
he is also assimilating the good he has done each day, and
will therefore make enormous strides in soul growth so
that he will also obviate the necessity for life in the First
Heaven. Such a man will then be definitely treading the
path of initiation; he is then in reality outside the ordi-
nary laws which govern mankind, for he is a helper in
evolution and will, therefore, be given the opportunity to
return to earth in that capacity much sooner than would
otherwise be the case.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 103
QUESTION No. 49.
Are there any seasons and times, ages and epochs, in the
other world?
Answer: Xo. We might say that there it is all one long
day. There is no time, for that which makes time here is
the rotation of the earth upon its axis and its orbital
revolution around the sun. These motions make day and
night, summer and winter, heat and cold, etc., because
the earth's opaque and solid composition renders it imper-
vious to the rays of light and heat emitted by the sun, so
that one-half of the earth is always cold and dark. But
in that other world nothing is opaque nor solid, hence,
there is neither heat nor cold, there is neither summer nor
winter, there is no light, there is no night, but it is one
long bright day.
Therefore, we often find that those who have passed
out by death, while fully remembering their past earth
life, will have no sense of time since passing out, and
may sometimes ask the question as to the length of time
which has elapsed since that event.
There is only one method there of gauging time, and this
is used by the trained clairvoyant in fixing events when
he is reading in the memory of nature, namely, by astrol-
ogy, by noting the positions of the stars. Of course, if the
event he is looking for is something which happened in his-
torical times, he may readily fix the year of the occurrence
by noting some historical event which happened at the same
time, but where he has to go back for many thousands of
years, as, for instance, when he wishes to determine the
time of the Atlantean floods, he uses particularly the
104: EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
precession of the equinoxes, which is the motion of the sun
backward through the twelve signs of the zodiac, a motion
that requires about twenty-six thousand years to bring the
sun once around the circle. He may then read back to
the times of the Atlantean floods, counting how many of
such periods of twenty-six thousand years elapsed between
the first flood and the second, the second and the third,
and then the years from then to our present time. If he
is ignorant of the stellar science, he cannot do that, so
that is one more reason why the student of occultism should
familiarize himself with astronomy.
QUESTION No. 50.
Does a person who lias been buried alive become conscious
of his condition? And how does the spirit get back to the
body when it lays in the grave ?
Answer: It is evident from the changed position of
corpses in coffins that sometimes when a body has been
buried before tlie spirit had definitely left it, that spirit has
returned to the body and moved that body about in ago-
nizing attempts to obtain the necessary air. And, of course,
that would show that consciousness had been regained in
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 105
the body. The spirit, of course, is not at all hindered by
the solid nature of the earth and the coffin from coming
and going, a spirit passes just as easily through a wall or
other opaque or dense obstacle as we pass through the air.
QUESTION No. 51.
Why do children die?
Answer: There are many causes for the death of chil-
dren. We will give a few of the principal ones. In the
first place, when an Ego returns to earth life, it is drawn
to a certain family because it can there get the environ-
ment which is calculated to further its progress, and where
it may liquidate a certain amount of the fate generated by
itself in previous existences. Then when parents make
such radical changes in their lives that the Ego would
not be able to get that experience, or liquidate that fate,
the Ego is usually withdrawn and sent to another place
where it may get the right conditions for its growth at that
time. Or it may be withdrawn for a few years and reborn
in the same family when it is seen that the conditions can
be obtained there at that late time. But there is a cause
that is responsible for infant mortality which lies much
106 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
farther back, namely, in" previous lives, and to understand
this cause it is necessary to know something about what
takes place at death and immediately after.
- When a spirit is passing out of the body, it takes with it
the desire body, the mind and the vital body, and the vital
body is at that time the storehouse for the pictures of the
past life. These are then etched into the desire body dur-
ing the three and one-half days immeditely following
death. Then the desire body becomes the arbiter of man's
destiny in Purgatory and the First Heaven. The pains
caused by expurgation of evil and the joy caused by the
contemplation of the good in life are carried over to the
next life as conscience to deter man from perpetuating the
mistakes of past lives and ta entice him to do that which
caused him joy in the former life more abundantly.
When those next of kin to a dying person who are
present in the death chamber burst into hysterical lamenta-
tions at the time the spirit passes out, and keep that up
for the next few days, the spirit which is at that time
in exceedingly close touch with the Physical World will be
much moved by the grief of the dear ones, and will not
be. able to focus its attention closely upon the contempla-
tion of its past life, and thus the etching made in the
desire body will not be as deep as it would if the passing
spirit were left in peace and undisturbed. Consequently
the sufferings in Purgatory will not be as keen nor will
the pleasures in the First Heaven be as great as otherwise
and therefore, when the Ego returns to earth life, it will
have lost a certain part of the experience from the previous
life. That is to say, the voice of conscience will not speak
with the same emphasis as would have been the case had
the. Ego been left undisturbed by lamentations.
.In order to compensate for this lack, the Ego is then
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 107
usually brought to birth among the same friends who
lamented over it, and it is then taken away from them
while yet in the years of childhood. Then it enters the
Desire World, but, of course, a little child has not com-
mitted any sins that need to be expurgated and so its desire
body and mind remain intact; it then goes directly into the
First Heaven to wait until a new embodiment offers, bufc
this waiting time is used to school it directly in the effect
of the different emotions, both good and evil. And often a
relative meets it and takes it in charge, having the task of
teaching it that which it had lost through the lamentation
that person indulged in, or else it is taught by others. At
any rate, the loss is more than made up, so that when the
child returns to the second birth it will have as full a^
moral growth as it would have had under ordinary circum-
stances had there been no lamentation at the time when it
passed out.
QUESTION No. 52.
What is the cause of the vast number of deaths which
occur in infancy and childhood?
Answer: When the man passes out at death, he takes
with him the mind, desire body, and vital body, the latter
108 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
being the storehouse of the pictures of his past life. And
during the three and one-half days following death these
pictures are etched into the desire body to form the basis
of the man's life in Purgatory and the First Heaven where
the evil is expurgated and the good assimilated. The ex-
perience of the life itself is forgotten, as we have for-
gotten the process of learning to write, but have retained
the faculty. So the cumulative extract of all his experi-
ences, both during past earth lives and past existencies in
Purgatory and the various Heavens, are retained by the
man and form his stock in trade in the next birth. The
pains he has sustained speak to him as the voice of
conscience, the good he has done gives him a more and
more altruistic character.
Now, when the three and a half days immediately fol-
lowing death are spent by the man under conditions of
peace and quiet, he is able to concentrate much more upon
the etching of his past life and the imprint upon the
desire body will be deeper than if he is disturbed by the
hysterical lamentations of his relatives or from other
cause?. And he will then experience a much, keener feeling
for either good or bad in Purgatory and in the First
Heaven, and in after lives that keen feeling will speak
to him with no unmistakable voice; butwhere the lamen-
tations of relatives take away his attention or where a
man passes out by an accident, perhaps in a crowded street,
in a train wreck, theater fire, or under other harrowing
circumstances, there will, of course, be no opportunity for
him to properly concentrate: neither can he concentrate
upon a battle field if he is slain there, and yet it would not
be just that he should lose the experiences of his life on
account of passing out in such an untoward manner, so
the law of cause and effect provides a compensation.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1Q9
We usually think that when a child is born it is born
and that is the end of it; but as during the period of
gestation the dense body is shielded from the impact of
the outside world by being placed within the protecting
womb of the mother until it has arrived at sufficient ma-
turity to meet the outside conditions, so are also the vital
body, desire body and mind in a state of gestation and
are born at later periods because they have not had as
long an evolution behind them as the dense body and,
therefore, it takes a longer time for them to arrive at a
sufficient state of maturity to become individualized. The
vital body is born at the seventh year, when the period
of excessive growth marks its advent. The desire body
is born at the time of puberty, the fourteenth year, and
the mind is born at twenty-one, when the child is said to
have become a man or woman to have reached majority.
That which has not been quickened cannot die, and
so when a child dies before the birth of the desire body
it passes out into the invisible world in the First Heaven.
It cannot ascend into the Second and Third Heaven be-
cause the mind and desire body are not born and wil)
not die, so it simply waits in the First Heaven until
a new opportunity for embodiment offers, and where it
has died in its previous life under the before-mentioned
harrowing circumstances, by accident or upon the battle
field or where the lamentations of relatives rendered it
impossible for it to gain as deep an impression of the
evil committed and the good accomplished as would have
been the case had it died in peace, it is instructed when it
has died in the next life as a child in the effects of pas-
sions and desires so that it learns the lessons then which
it should have learned in the Purgatorial life had it re-
mained undisturbed. It is then reborn with the proper
HO EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
development of conscience so that it may continue its
evolution.
As in the past man has been exceedingly warlike and
not at all careful of the relatives who passed out at death
because of his ignorance, holding wakes over those who
died in bed, which were few, perhaps, compared to those
who died on the battle field, there must necessarily on that
account be an enormous amount of infant mortality, but
as humuanity arrives at a better understanding and realizes
that we are never so much our brother's keeper as when
he is passing out of this life and that we can help him
enormously by being quiet and prayerful, so also will
infant mortality cease to exist on such a large scale as at
present.
QUESTION No. 53.
Does the cremation of the dense body after death affect
the spirit in any way?
Answer: During life and in the waking state of con-
sciousness, the vehicles of the Ego are all together and con-
centric, but at death the Ego, clothed in the mind and
desire body, withdraws from the dense body, and as the
vital functions are at an end, the vital body also is taken
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS HI
out of the dense body, leaving it inanimate upon the bed.
One little atom in the heart is taken out and the rest of
the body disintegrates in due course. But at that time
there is an extremely important process going on, and
those who attend the passing spirit in the death chamber
should be very careful that the utmost quiet reigns there
and in the whole house, for the pictures of the whole
past life which have been stored in the vital body are pass-
ing before the eye of the spirit in a slow and orderly pro-
gression, in reverse order, from death and back to birth.
This panorama of the past life lasts from a few hours to
three and one-half days. The time is dependent upon
the strength of the vital body which determines how long
a man could keep awake under the most severe stress.
Some persons can work for fifty, sixty and seventy hours
before they fall down exhausted, while others are capable of
keeping awake only a few hours. The reason why it is
important that there should be quiet in the house of death
during the three and one-half days immediately following
death is this: During that time the panorama of the past
life is being etched upon the desire body which will be the
man's vehicle while he stays in Purgatory and the First
Heaven, where he is reaping the good or ill that he has
sown, according to the deeds done in the body.
Now, where the life has been full of events and the
man's vital body is strong, a longer time will be given
to this etching than under conditions where the vital body
is weak, but during all that time the dense body is con-
nected with the higher vehicles by the silver cord and any
hurt to the dense body is felt in a measure by the spiri-t.
So that embalming, post mortem examinations and cre-
mation are all felt. Therefore, .these should be avoided
during the first three and one-half days after the time
EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
of death, for when the panorama has been fully etched
into the desire body, then the silver cord is broken, the
vital body gravitates back to the dense body and there is
no more connection with the spirit, which is then free to
go on with its higher life.
When the body is buried, the vital body disintegrates
slowly at the same time as the dense body, so that when,
for instance, an arm has decayed in the grave, the etheric
arm of the vital body which hovers over the grave also dis-
appears, and so on until the last vestige of the body is
gone. But where cremation is performed the vital body
disintegrates at once, and as that is the store-house of the
pictures of the past life, which, being etched upon the
desire body to form the basis of life in Purgatory and the
First Heaven, this would be a great calamity where cre-
mation is performed before the three and a half days are
past. Unless help were given, the passing spirit could not
hold it together. And that is part of the work that is done
by the invisible helpers for humanity. Sometimes they are
assisted by nature spirits and others detailed by the Crea-
tive Hierarchies or leaders of humanity. There is also
a loss where one is cremated before the silver cord has
broken naturally, the imprint upon the desire body is never
as deep as it would otherwise have been, and this has an
effect upon future lives, for the deeper the imprint of the
past life upon the desire body, the keener the sufferings in
Purgatory for the ill committed and the keener also the
pleasure in the First Heaven which results from the good
deeds of the past life. It is these pains and pleasures in
Purgatory of our past lives that are what we call con-
science, so that where we have lost in suffering we lose also
the realization of wrong which is to deter us in future
lives from committing the same mistakes over and over
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 113
again. Therefore, the effects of the premature cremation
are very far reaching. Sad it is to say, that while we
have a science of birth with obstetricians, trained nurses,
antiseptics and everything else necessary to the comfort and
well being of a little stranger, we sadly lack a science of
death to help us to care for the departing friends of a life-
time.
QUESTION No. 54.
// a person has lost his memory through nervous shock
or fever, does that affect his vital body and prevent him
from getting the record of his life in the three days imme-
diately following death?
Answer: No. Memory is of three kinds : There is, in
the first place, the record which is made by our senses.
We look about us in the world, we see and hear things,
these impressions are engraven upon the cells of our brain
and we are able to consciously call them back yet not
always, but in varying degree, for this memory is extremely
unreliable and capricious, and were this the only method
of gaining a record of our lives the law of cause and effect
would be invalidated our after life would not be a sequence
of what we have done or left undone in the past.
114 EOSICBUCTAN PHILOSOPHY
There must be another memory, and this is what scien-
tists have called the subconscious mind. Just as ether car-
ries to the camera of the photographer a record of the sur-
rounding landscape and imprints it upon the sensitive
plate to the minutest detail, regardless of whether the
photographer observed these details or not, so also does the
same ether which carries a picture to our eye and imprints
it upon the retina carry into our lungs a similar picture
which then is absorbed by the blood, and as the blood passes
through the heart this record is indelibly inscribed upon
the sensitive seed atom which is located in the left ventricle
of the heart near the apex. The forces of that seed atom
are taken out by the spirit at death and contain the record
of the whole life to the minutest detail, so that, regardless
of whether we have observed the facts in a certain scene or
not, they are, nevertheless, there.
George Du Maurier has written a story called "Peter
Ibbettson," wherein this theory of the subconscious memory
is very clearly shown. Peter Ibbettson, a prisoner in an
English penitentiary, learned how to "dream true,' 7 that is
to say, by putting his body in a certain position he learned
how to lock the currents of ether within himself so that at
night he was able at will to keep in touch with any scene
in his past life that he desired to ; there he would see him-
self as a spectator (grown man that he was), and he would
also see himself among his parents and playmates and in
the environment as he was at the time that scene wa->
enacted. He would see the whole scene with many more
details than he had been able to observe at the time when
the events took place in this material world. That was
because, under these circumstances, he could get in touch
with his own subconscious memory. He would have been
unable to gain any information concerning the future, but
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 115
the past had been inscribed upon the tablet of his heart and
was, therefore, accessible under the proper conditions. It
is from this subconscious memory that the record of life
is taken after death, and as that is dependent upon the
breath alone, it continues regardless of all other circum-
stances while life is in the body, and though a man may
lose his conscious memory and become unable to recall past
events at will, the subconscious memory contains them all
and will give them up at the proper time.
QUESTION No. 55.
// a disembodied spirit can pass through a wall, can it
also pass through a mountain and the earth, and can it see
what is inside?
Answer: That depends upon what kind of a disem-
bodied spirit the enquirer has in mind. When a man dies,
he is just the same as he was before with the exception that
he has no dense body and, therefore, it is perfectly possible
for him to pass through a wall or mountain either. But
he is not able to pass through the earth.
It is a well known fact that, though most clairvoyants
and ordinary psychics are capable of telling much about
116 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
the sights and the scenes of the Desire World, there is very
little information at hand concerning the inside of the
earth, for it is found by ordinary clairvoyants that if they
attempt to enter the earth there is something like the same
effect as when a man hurls himself against a wall. That
is because the earth is the body of a great spirit and that
spirit may not be approached in its inner recesses, except
by the path of initiation. There are nine layers of vary-
ing thickness in the earth around the core, which forms, as
it were, a tenth part, and the Lesser Mysteries are the gate
which leads to that innermost core. There are nine degrees
in the Lesser Mysteries, and in each degree the candidate
becomes able to penetrate into the corresponding layer of
the earth, while the tenth initiation belongs to the Greater
Mysteries where there are four divisions. The first teaches
all that can be known by man in the Earth Period; the
second of the great initiations would bring him the knowl-
edge that will be gained by all humanity at the end of the
Jupiter Period ; the third of the great initiations would
bring him the wisdom attained by humanity at the end of
the Venus Period, and the fourth would end his evolution
in the present scheme. He would have the same standing
as humanity will have at the end of the Vulcan Period.
Then he will know all that the earth will contain in this
embodiment and its future manifestations. The Lesser
Mysteries will alo have taught him the evolution he went
through in the three periods previous to our present Earth
Period. It is these secrets which are locked up in the
earth, until man has opened the door himself in the proper
manner, so that no spirit, whether in the body or discarnate,
can see what is inside the earth until the gate of initiation
has opened its latent faculties.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
QUESTION No. 56.
Do we meet our loved ones after death, even if they hav4
held a different belief from our own? Or, perhaps, been
atheists?
Answer: Yes, we certainly meet them and we know
them, for there is no transforming power in death. The
man will appear just as he was here because he thinks of
himself as being of that shape, but the place where we
meet, of course, depends upon several things.
In the first place, if we have lived a very religious life,
so that we shall have no existence at all in Purgatory and
but a very short existence in the First Heaven, going almost
directly to the Second Heaven, whereas, the one whom we
love was of such a nature that he would have a long stay
in the Desire World, then, of course, we should not meet
until he arrived in the Second Heaven. If we pass out
shortly after our friend, the meeting would not take place
for perhaps twenty years; but then, that would not mat-
ter, for in those regions a person is entirely unconscious of
time.
The materialistic friend, if he had lived a good moral
life, as we usually find that those people do, would remain
in the fourth region of the Desire World for a certain
number of years, according to the length of time he had
lived, and would then pass into the Second Heaven,
though he would not have there as full and as perfect a
consciousness as that possessed by a person who had been
dwelling on the realities of life.
We would see him, know him and be associated with him
for centuries in the work upon our future environment, and'
118 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
there he would not be materialistic at all, for when the
spirit arrives in that high region, it is not under the delu-
sions which sometimes envelop it here in this material
world. Each and every one knows himself as a spiritual
being and feels the memory of this earth life as we feel a
bad dream. The spirit, upon entering that world, wakes up
to its own true nature in any case.
QUESTION No. 57.
Do we recognize loved ones who have passed out through
the gate of death?
Answer: Yes, we certainly do. When a man passes
out of this body, he is exactly the same as he was before.
There is no difference whatever, except that he has no
physical body; he sees himself i-n the Desire World, and as
he retains in his consciousness a picture of himself as he
looked here, this desire body will at once take the shape
possessed by the physical body, so that any one who had
known him in earth life will also know him when he has
passed over into the beyond. Besides, it may be well to
add that there is no transforming power in death that man
is also mentally and morally the same person. We often
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS H9
hear people who have loved some one speak of the dear,
departed angel, even if they conceded that he was very much
of a devil here in earth life, but they usually think it
irreverent to refer to him as such when he has passed out.
The fact remains, nevertheless, that only those who were
good here are good there.
QUESTION No. 58.
Does the man who commits suicide stay longer in Purga-
tory than the people ivho die naturally?
\ Answer: When the Ego is coming down to rebirth it
descends through the Second Heaven. There it is helped
by the Creative Hierarchies to build the archetype for its
coming body, and it instills into that archetype a life that
will last for a certain number of years. These archetypes
are hollow spaces and they have a singing, vibratory mo-
tion which draws the material of the Physical World into
them and sets all the atoms in the body to vibrating in
tune with a little atom that is in the heart, called the seed
atonn, which, like a tuning fork, gives the pitch to all the
rest of the material in the body. At the time when the full
life has been lived on the earth the vibrations in the arche- 1
120 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
type cease, the seed atom is withdrawn, the dense body
goes to decay and the desire body, wherein the Ego func-
tions in Purgatory and the First Heaven, takes upon itself
the shape of the physical body. Then the man commences
his work of expiating his evil habits and deeds in Purga-
tory and assimilating the good of his life in the First
Heaven.
The foregoing describes the ordinary conditions when the
course of nature is undisturbed, but the case of the suicide
is different. He has taken away the seed atom, but the
hollow archetype still keeps on vibrating. Therefore he
feels as if he were hollowed out and experiences a gnawing
feeling inside that can best be likened to the pangs of in-
tense hunger. Material for the building of a dense body
is all around him, but seeing that he lacks the gauge of the
seed atom, it is impossible for him to assimilate that matter
and build it into a body. This dreadful hollowed-out feel-
ing lasts as long as his ordinary life should have lasted.
Thus the law of cause and effect teaches him that it is wrong
to play truant from the school of life and that it cannot
be done with impunity. Then in the next life, when diffi-
culties beset his path, he will remember the sufferings of
the past which resulted from suicide and go through with
the experience that makes for his soul growth.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 121
QUESTION No. 59.
Does a good man have to go through Purgatory and be
conscious of all the evil there before he can get into the
First, Second and Third Heaven? And, if so, isn't that an
undeserved punishment for him?
Answer: The inquirer should get away from the idea
of punishment. There is no such thing as punishment.
Whatever happens to a man is in consequence of immutable,
invariable laws, and there is no personal God who gives
rewards or punishments as he sees fit, according to an in-
scrutible will or any other such method. When the Ego
invests itself with bodies, or when it divests itself of its
vehicles, this is done on the very same principle and by the
very same laws that govern, for instance, in the case of a
planet. When a planet is being formed from the central
firemist, a crystallization has taken place at the poles where
motion is the slowest. The crystallized matter is thrown
out by centrifugal force and flies into space because it is
heavier than the rest of the firemist. For similar reasons,
when the body of the spirit which is densest has become so
crystallized and heavy that the spirit can no longer use it
to gain experience the process of disrobernent is accom-
plished by the centrifugal force which naturally eliminates
the dense body first. That is what we call death. Then
the spirit is free for a time, but the coarsest desire
matter which was the embodiment for the lowest pas-
sions and desires must also be thrown off, and it is the
forcible ejection of low desires that causes pain in Pur-
gatory where the centrifugal force of repulsion is the
strongest. If a man has any of that coarse matter in his
122 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
desire body, naturally he will have to stay in Purgatory
and undergo the process of purgation before he can enter
the First Heaven. There the centripetal force of attrac-
tion whirls all the good in the life inward to the spiritual
center, where it is assimilated as soul power available for
the use of the spirit in its next earth life as conscience.
Thus our stay in Purgatory depends upon how much of the
coarse desire matter there is in the man, and a good man
naturally would have very little or nothing of that kind.
Therefore, he would have no life to speak of in Purgatory;
he would pass directly through those regions into the
Heaven World.
QUESTION Xo. 60.
What is the condition of the victim of a murder and the
victim of an accident subsequent to death?
Answer: There is no such thing as an accident, at least
where the accident terminates fatally. The life of any
person in its ultimate length is ordinarily decreed before
birth, but there are certain points of life where there is as
it were a parting of the ways, where certain opportunities
for growth are placed before the person, which he may
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1^3
either take or leave. Where he fails to use his opportuni-
ties, the life, as it were, runs into a blind alley, and
terminates shortly afterward.
That, however, is not usually the case in an accident, but
there may be certain reasons which make it desirable that
the man should be cast out of his body in a violent manner.
He is then in the same position as all others when they have
passed out ; he commences his Purgatorial existence at once.
The case of the victim of murder, like the case of the
suicide, is different. Man, on account of his divine nature,
is the only being who has the prerogative of causing dis-
order in the scheme of his unfoldment, and as he may end
his own life by an act of will, so may he also end the life
of a fellow creature before its time has come. The suffer-
ing of the suicide would also be the suffering of the mur-
dered, for the archetype of his body would keep on gather-
ing material which it would be impossible for him to assimi-
late ; but in his case, the intervention of other agencies pre-
vent the suffering and he will be found floating about in his
desire body, in a comatose state, for the length of time that
he would ordinarily have lived. If the murderer is brought
to justice, as we say, and suffers capital punishment, the
magnetic attraction will bring him together with his vic-
tim, who will constantly remain before his gaze, and that
is really a much more severe punishment than any which
we could mete out to him ; but the victim knows naught of
the presence of its slayer.
124: EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 61.
Where is heaven?
Answer: The Christ said "Heaven is within," and yet
we are shown that at the time when He left His disciples,
He ascended into heaven. To understand this, we must
analyze the constitution of a planet, and according to the
hermetic action "as above so below," we shall understand
better if we first analyze the constitution of man.
The man has first the dense body which we see with our
eyes, but that dense body is not as solid as it appears; in
fact it is permeated by a number of invisible vehicles. It
is composed of the solids, the liquids and the gases of the
chemical region, but these, science tells us, are interpene-
trated by ether, for man's body is no different from all
other things in the world, and in the densest solid as in the
rarest gas, science says, and says truly, every little atom is
vibrating in a sea of ether. This ether is still physical
matter; a considerable portion is specialized by man and
forms an exact counterpait of our dense body, besides pro-
truding about an inch and a half beyond the periphery of
our visible body. It was this part that the doctors in Bos-
ton weighed by placing dying people on scales. They noted
that when the last breath was drawn something having
weight left the body and the side of the scales which had
the weight on it fell to the floor with startling suddenness.
The newspaper reporters claimed that the doctors had
weighed the soul, but what they did weigh was this vital
body composed of ether which leaves the body at death.
We have a still finer vehicle called ilia desire body, which
is composed of what occultists call desire stuff, and it may
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 125
be seen by one having the sixth sense unfolded as an egg-
shaped cloud enveloping the dense body on all sides, so that
the latter is located in the center of the desire body, as
the yolk is in the center of the egg, with the differ-
ence only that while the white envelops the yolk but does
not interpenetrate, this desire body permeates both the vital
body and the dense body in every nook and cranny. There
is a still finer material in the makeup of man which we may
call "mind stuff," composed of the coarsest material of the
world of thought, the material wherein we form our con-
crete thoughts, and this envelopes the indwelling Ego.
The world is similarly constituted. Besides this visible
world which we see, composed of the solids, liquids and
gases, , and interpenetrated by ether, there is also a Desire
World which permeates every part of the Physical World
and reaches out into space beyond both air and ether. Then
there is the World of Thought, and that also penetrates
every part of our planet, from center to circumference,
reaching out into space still farther than any of the other
worlds.
During earth life, man lives upon this firm, visible earth,
but after death, according to the deeds done in the body, he
may be still imprisoned here, as the Purgatory regions are
everywhere around and about us, also below in the inner
recesses of the earth. The First Heaven is also here in a
certain sense, insofar as similar material to that of which
it is constituted is around and about us, but the First
Heaven itself, the place where the spirits who have beer/
liberated usually dwell, is beyond our atmosphere. The
Second Heaven may also be truly said to be within, for the
material of which it is constituted is here and the spirits
who are there might visit us, yet the conditions here, the
thought currents, etc., would be derogatory to their work
126 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
and development. Therefore, they prefer to stay in the
farthermost, outermost part of our planet, where the pure
mind stuff is unsullied by our selfish and deleterious
thought currents.
The Third Heaven is a place of which very few people
at the present stage of development have any consciousness,
because most of us are guided in our thought activities
more by emotions and feelings concerning concrete things
than by abstract thought, which is the peculiar faculty per-
taining to the Third Heaven. When we think of love, we
usually think of love in connection with some person; that
is a concrete thought. But of Love in the abstract, very
few of us are able to think. We can think of a house, an
animal, etc., they are concrete, but we dislike to think of an
abstract proposition such as, for instance, that the square
of the hypothenuse equals the squares of the other two sides
of a triangle. Therefore, most of us have very little con-
sciousness in the Third Heaven, and consequently very little
of the material of that world is in the makeup of our
planet.
1
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 127
QUESTION No. 62.
It is said that there is no sorrow in heaven, but if our
loved ones are met there and then pass on, does not the part-
ing from them involve at least a sense of dissatisfaction?
Answer: No, it does not, for there we see things as
they are. Here we are blinded. When the Ego comes
into the Physical World, it is in one sense a cause for
rejoicing, as we rejoice at the birth of a child, for this
world affords us experience and material for soul growth.
But looking at it from another point of view, when the
Ego comes into this world and enters the prison house of
the dense body, it is in the most limited condition imagi-
nable, and to rejoice at the time when the child is born
and lament when it is liberated by death is in reality
analogous to rejoicing when a friend is put in jail and
giving way to hysterical lamentations when he is liberated.
When the spirit passes into the Heaven World, it meets
a number of those with whom it has associated in earth
life in the First Heaven, but there it has already become
so spiritual and so much in touch with the realities that
it knows there is no death. Therefore, when someone
passes into the beyond there is a rejoicing and a pleasure at
the preferment of one whom we hold dear, and the knowl-
edge that we shall meet again will certainly take away
any pang that might be felt by those who are left behind.
128 EOSICRUCTAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 63.
Please explain Jiow to concentrate in order to help those
in the other world? Do you mean sitting in the silence
and sending out loving, helpful thoughts to them?
Answer: The ability to send out a thought and the
power that that thought has to accomplish the purpose
for which it is sent, depends upon the definiteness where-
with the thinker is able to visualize that which he desires
to accomplish. And the usual occult schools, particularly
those along the lines of Eastern thought, advise the method
of concentration whereby thoughts are focused upon one
single point, as the rays of the sun are brought to a focus
in a magnifying glass, for thus their forces are massed,
and as the sun's rays will burn when focused, so will the
thought invariably accomplish its object when concen-
trated to a sufficient intensity.
It takes long practice, however, to learn how to do that,
and there are very few people in the West who are able to
thus direct their thoughts to any purpose. The western
religion, recognizing this disability, teaches another method
which is much more efficient than concentration, namely,
prayer.
Therefore, if we wish to help those who have passed
out of the body, we may pray earnestly for their welfare
and that they may learn the lessons of this life thoroughly
in their experiences in Purgatory and the First Heaven;
then we shall accomplish much more than if we try the
cold, intellectual method of concentration. The attitude
of the body sometimes has a great deal to do with the
intensity of the prayer, and if a kneeling position seems
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 139
to facilitate the act, the kneeling position should be taken.
On the other hand, as Emerson said:
"And though your knees are never bent
To Heaven, your hourly prayers are sent;
And, be 1 hey formed for good or ill,
Are registered and answered still,"
so that the attitude of the body during the act of prayer is
immaterial except as found to be conducive to produce the
greatest intensity of purpose; for that is what makes the
prayer effective.
QUESTION No. 64.
Do those who have passed out of earth life keep watch
and ward over us who are left behind; for instance, do
mothers look after their little children, or even the larger
ones ?
Answer: Yes; very often a mother who has recently
passed out will watch over her little children for a long
time, and instances have been recorded where mothers
have saved their babes from dangers. Though not know-
ing consciously how to materialize, love for the little ones
and intense fear for their safety caused the mothers in
130 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
such instances to draw to themselves material so that they
could be seen by the little ones. Those whom we call dead
do not usually go away from the house where they have
lived until quite a long time after the funeral. They
stay in the familiar rooms and move about among us,
although they are unseen by us. Of course, when their
time comes to go into the First Heaven, they do not remain
any longer in our houses, but very often they visit them.
When in time they enter the Second Heaven, they are no
longer conscious of this physical sphere in the sense of
having homes, or friends, or relatives ; they are then rather
to be looked upon as nature forces, for the time being, for
they work upon the earth and humanity in the very same
manner as the nature forces who do not take human'
embodiment.
Thus it is perfectly true that they watch over their
loved ones for a long time after they have passed out, and
it has been often noted by persons attending the death of
a mother whose children had passed out, perhaps a num-
ber of years before, that at fne time of dying she would
see the children around her bed and exclaim : "Why, there
is Johnny, and what a big boy he has grown to be," and
so on. The people around the bed would probably think
that a hallucination, but it is not, and it will be noted that
a certain phenomenon always attends those visions, namely,
when a person dies there comes over him a darkness which
he feels descending upon him. Many persons pass out
without again seeing the Physical World. That is the
change from our light vibrations to the vibrations of the
Desire World, and is similar to the darkness that spread
over the earth at the time of the crucifixion. With other 1
people it happens that the darkness lifts after a moment
and then the person is clairvoyant, seeing both the present
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
world and the Desire World, and there, of course, appear
the loved ones, who have been attracted by the impending
death, which is a birth into their world.
_ Thus we may say tliat_ouxJ.oyed_ ones are interested in
our welfare for a long time after passing out, but it must
be remembered that there is no transforming power" in
death; that it does not give them any special ability to care
for us, and that they have, no means of really influencing
'our affairs, so that it is not quite right to look upon them
as our guardian angels. They are merely Interested spec-
tators except in a few specific cases where an intense love
enables them to perform some slight service in case of
great need. That service, however, would never take the
form of enriching us or anything 'like that, but is more
in the nature of a warning of danger or the like.
*
132
KOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
A-LIFE-GYCLE
Almdsserice
Thoufhf v 5oul-Essence of
'Rifht Reltof built mt
ds
Desire fw Experience-
d SoulGrovtfr
drdivs the EV>
To Re.Birth
Good inpevst life butUinto
the M'md asHi^
Uo K-orh on New
It Gathers
Materials for
Nev Mind
World
dnd
Thought
Essence of dim built info
Soul ds Rvjht "Feeling
Suffering purj-5 Soul
Soul views panorama of I _
... 1 -.c, Gl I feet*
past L>'i[
of Ment&lit?
Chans*-
pr'nne of L'i[e
[42 p 14
:paGro^ri^ te 5^ft* of fU- Majority
lal
World
Bfc<j |Rr7ia ? of Serious Lffe
This chart shows the passage of the Ego, which is represented
by the wheel at the top of the diagram, through Purgatory; the
various Heavens, and its return to Rebirth; also the septenary-
epochs of earth-life.
SECTION III
Questions concerning
REBIRTH
QUESTION No. 5.
Why, with a few exceptions, are we reincarnated, with-
out having the slightest knowledge of any previous exist-
ence, to suffer blindly in this life for transgressions com-
mitted in some former life of which we are now entirely
ignorant? Could we not advance better and quicker spir-
itually if we knew where we had erred before and what acts
we must correct before we can progress?
Answer: It is one of the greatest blessings to man that
he does not know his previous experiences until he has at-
tained considerable spiritual advancement, because there
are in our past lives (when w T e were much more ignorant
than we are now) dark deeds that call for retribution, and
this fate is being gradually liquidated, so that did we
know our past lives, did we know how and when the law
of cause and effect w r ill bring to us retribution for past
misdeeds, we would see this impending calamity hovering
over us, and fear of our fate would then be apt to rob us
of the strength wherewith to battle against it, and at the
time of its arrival we should stand appalled and helpless.
On the other hand, not knowing what is behind us, we
escape knowing what is before us, and, therefore, we learn
the lessons without being deprived of our strength by fear
Besides, for those who wish to know, there are certain
means of knowing what lessons we are to learn and how
best to learn them. For instance, our conscience tells what
135
136 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
we are to do or not to do. If we care to study the science
of astrology the horoscope tells us our tendencies and the
lines of least resistance, so that by working with these laws
of nature Tre may advance quickly, and the more we follow
the dictates of our conscience the more we study the laws
of nature as revealed by astronomy, the quicker we shall
be. ready for first-hand knowledge.
In "Zanoni," Bulwer Lytton speaks of a fearsome specter
which met Glyndon as he was attempting to enter a step
in unfoldment not hitherto attained by him, and that is
called in Occultism the "Dweller on the Threshold." Be-
tween the time of death and a new birth, this Dweller on
the Threshold is not seen by man, but it is the embodiment
of all our past evil deeds, that must first be passed by one
who wishes to enter the inner worlds consciously and attain
to a full knowledge of conditions there: but there is also
another Dweller which is the embodiment of all our good
deeds, and that one may be said to be our Guardian Angel.
If we have the courage to pass the hideous one, which is
perceived first because formed of coarse desire matter, we
shall soon obtain the conscious help of the other and then
we shall have the strength to stand fearless in the storms
of villification that come to all who attempt the path of
unselfishness. But before we have passed this specter we
are not fitted for knowledge of our previous lives; we
must rest content with the ordinary view given to mankind.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEBS 137
QUESTION No. 66.
Are all the human beings that people the earth at the
present time souls that have gone through earth life before*
or are new souls being created all the time?
Answer: The ingress of the spirits into the human
bodies, as constituted at the present time, commenced in
the stage of the world's solidification known as the Lemu-
rian Epoch, and was not fully completed until the middle
of the Atlantean Epoch, a period of time occupying, per-
haps, millions of years. But since that time, there has
been no farther ingress ; the door is definitely closed be-*
cause we have now evolved so far that those who had no*.,
reached the stage where they could manipulate a human
body at that time would be too far behind us to catch up
with our further development. Since that time, the spirits
which were embodied in human shapes have been evolving
by repeated embodiments so that, without exception, every
one of the human beings now on earth has been embodied
at difterent times and in different environments.
138- EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 67.
How do we know beyond a doubt that rebirth is a fact?
Is it not possible that those who so state may be suffering
from hallucination ?
Answer: The trained clairvoyant who is able to read
in the memory of nature may follow the life of a person
from their present state backward, through the years of
childhood. He will then see them in infancy,- follow them
through the gestatory period to the time when the spirit
entered the womb of the mother. He may go back through
their heaven life, their life in Purgatory, arriving at the
time of death inline- previous life, then follow them back-
ward and see the whole life. But in the case of an adult,
the time involved is usually a thousand years or more, and
of course, it is possible, were there no other means of veri-
fication, that this might be hallucination. In the cases
of children, however, who have not reached puberty there
is a comparatively short interval between incarnations. In
such a case it is easy to verify a reembodiment among one's
own acquaintances, and that is in fact part of the educa-
tion of a pupil of the Elder Brothers. He is shown a child
which is about to die and is told to watch that child in the.
invisible world for perhap'one or two years, following it
step by step until it takes a new embodiment perhaps
with the same and possibly with other parents. When the
pupil has thus followed an Ego through the invisible worlds
from one death to the next birth, he knows absolutely that
the law of rebirth is a fact in nature, and he often has
occasion on account of his other investigations, to pursue
such studies of the past lives of many individuals.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 139
Still, it may be urged, is not this clairvoyance of which
he speaks as his means of investigation in itself a hallu-
cination?; May he not be, although perfectly honest, the
victim of a chimerical vision? It may be stated in answer
to that suggestion, that he has every day at his disposal
the means for verifying his observations When a man has
visited the city of New York and has seen the city he will
never be tempted to say, I wonder if I could have been
mistaken? He lias 'been there and knows it. So it is
with the clairvoyant. At times when he leaves his body he
meets and works with people whom he does not know in
ordinary life. Later he may be invited to visit these
friends from the invisible world; he may travel by their
clairvoyant direction to a city where Le is a stranger; he
may find them in the street and house seen clairvoyantly,
recognize them and be himself recognized. He may then
converse with these friends of the things they did and the
places they visited in their invisible bodies, and if he evei
had any doubt of the reality of his life outside the dense
physical world, he is then once and for all time convinced
of the reality of his experiences while out of the body.
He knows that they are not strange, he knows that he can-
not have been glamored, but that his life there, his work
there and his experiences there are as real as his life, his
work and his experiences here.
140 BOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 68.
Do the souls that have passed into Purgatory and through
the' First, Second and Third Heavens come back here and
reincarnate on this earth, or do they go to other spheres?
; Answer: They come back to this earth again until they
have learned the lessons that can be .learned here. It is
essentially the same principle as when we send a child to
school. We do ; not send it to kindergarten one day, to
grammar school the nex-t, and to college the third day, but
we send it to kindergarten day after day for a long time,
until it has learned all the lessons that are to be learned
there. The knowledge it has gained in kindergarten forms
the basis for what it is to learn in the grammar school;
that again is sthe foundation for the lessons of the high
school and the college. By a similar process we have
learned lesson? under different conditions in the past, and
in the future, when we have learned all that can be learned
from our present earth environment, wo shall also find the
tasks of higher evolutions awaiting. us. There is endless
progress, for we are divine as our Father in heaven, and
limitations are impossible.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
QUESTION No. 69.
Do we come in contact with the friends of one life when
we are born again into a new earth life?
Answer: The law of rebirth has for its companion law
the law of causation. It will be manifestly apparent that
there are many causes set going by all of us which do not
bring about effects in this life. For instance, a husband
is sick and the wife cares for him with great self-sacrifice.
There is obviously a debt there, and if the sickness con-
tinues until the end of the husband's life, there is in that
life no opportunity for a return of the favor. 73ut if we
know what the laws of nature are and how they operate,
we shall understand that they are not set aside by such
small matters as cessation of life in a certain body. If
we break a limb it is not healed the next day, although we
may have slept at night unconscious of our hurt; but when
we awaken the limb is in about the same condition as on
the previous day. So it is with the deeds done in the body
in one life. Although we pass through the life between
death and a new birth, and are now unconscious of former
lives, nevertheless, when we enter upon a new life, the law
of association, the causes generated in a former life, will
bring us into a new environment where we shall find our
old friends and our old foes. We know them, too, al-
though perhaps we do not directly recognize them. Some-
times, however, we meet a person for the first time and are
drawn to that person; we feel as if we had known that
person all our lives, and that we could trust him or her
with everything we have. . That is because the spirit within
sees an old friend and recognizes him, though unable to
142 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
impress the recognition upon the brain it now possesses.
Or perhaps we may meet a person and feel that we would
not care to be in his company; we instinctively dislike
him though we have no reason from ordinary points of
view ; but there also it is the recognition of the spirit which
bridges the past and sees an old-time enemy. Thus our
instinctive likes and dislikes are guides, dictated by former*
experiences, and they will usually be found to be reliable
in the light of subsequent experience.
QUESTION No. 70.
Is the experience gained in each incarnation recorded
separately and added to the previous ones, so that in the
end the spirit will be entirely conscious of the complete sum
of its experiences, or is the experience of one life more or
less unconsciously absorbed by the next succeeding incarna-
tion, so that only a general effect is obtained?
Answer: When we were children we learned to write
and we went through many awkward motions before we
had finally cultivated the faculty. In the years that have
gone by we have forgotten all about the experiences we
went through while learning, but our faculty remains ready
for our use at any time required.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 148
In a similar manner, experiences we have had in differ-
ent lives are usually forgotten by the man, but the faculties
he has cultivated remain and are ready for his use at any
time. Thus we sometimes see a man who has never had
a lesson in painting who is nevertheless an artist to the
very tips of his finger ends, able to paint the most wonder-
ful pictures. He has brought over from past lives a fac-
ulty which he is now able to use. When we hear of a
Mozart composing at three years of age, that also shows
the accumulation of the sense of harmony in the past'.
Thus it may be said that, although we do not remember,
we always have the faculties cultivated in our past lives for
use in the present. It is thaf which makes the difference
between man and man; between the dunce and the sage.
There is, however, also a record m nature of our past
lives in their minutest detail. The trained clairvoyant
who is able to read in the memory of nature can follow the
past lives of a man backwards, as, for instance, the film
of a moving picture is unrolled in reverse order. He will
see the man's present life first, his birth, his previous so-
journ in the invisible world, next the death of the previous
life, which will then unroll itself in reverse order through
old age, manhood, youth, childhood and infancy, back to
that birth, and so on through the various lives.
144 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 71.
When the spirit, coming down to rebirth, has drawn to
itself its mind stuff and sinks into the Desire World, is it
not then in Purgatory again ?
Answer: The difficulty of the inquirer is that he has
not fully comprehended what constitutes Purgatory. Pur-
gatory is in the lower regions of the Desire World, but
these regions are not Purgatory to those who have nothing
to be purged from. The low desires of man are formed of
the desire stuff from this region, and as they cannot be
gratified, the man suffers. Besides, there the force of re-
pulsion is supreme, and w r hen the Ego is passing outward
to the Heaven World it has in its desire body pictures of
the evil acts it has committed. These pictures are formed
also of coarse desire stuff, because they were generated by
the passions of the man at the time he committed the evil
act which they depict, and the centrifugal force of repul-
sion seeks to expel them from his makeup. It is the
process of tearing them out that causes the pain he feels.
When, on the other hand, the Ego passes through this
region on its way to rebirth, the centripetal force of attrac-
tion brings new desire matter into its makeup. Then it is
not Purgatory at all ; neither is it Purgatory for the Invis-
ible Helpers who go among the spirits in prison endeavor-
ing to aid them in learning the lessons that shall make
them better men and women. It is only where evil has to
be expurgated by a spirit that it feels this region as being
purgative.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 145
QUESTION No. 72.
How can you believe in the theory of reincarnation that
we come back here in the body of an animal? Is it not
much more beautiful to believe in the Christian doctrine
that we go to heaven with God and the angels?
Answer: The writer has never advocated the views at-
tributed to him by the inquirer, who, evidently, has not
studied the question at all. There is a doctrine among
some of the most ignorant tribes in the East teaching the
theory of transmigration, that the human spirit may incar-
nate in the bodies of animals, but that is very different
from the doctrine of leincarnation, which holds that man
is an evolving being progressing through the school of life
by means of repeated embodiments in bodies of gradually
improving texture. The Christ said to his disciples, "Be
ye therefore perfect, as the Father in heaven is perfect."
That was a definite command, and the Christ would never
have given it if it were unattainable; but we all know
that we cannot reach that goal in one short life. Given
time and the opportunities afforded by repeated embodi-
ments and changed environments, however, we shall some
time accomplish the work of perfecting ourselves.
There is no authority in any of the sacred writings of
the East, even, for such a belief as transmigration. The
only semblance to such an idea is found in the Kathopani-
shad, Chapter 5, Verse 9, which says that some of the
souls, according to their deeds, return to the womb to be
reborn, but others go into the motionless. Meaning, in
the opinion of some, that they may reincarnate down even
as low as the mineral kingdom. The Sanskrit word used
146 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
in that place is sthanu, which also means a pillar, and read
thus it gives the same idea as the passage in Revelation
which says : "To him that overcometh, I will make a pillar
in the house of my God, thence he shall no more go out."
When humanity has reached perfection, there will come a
time when they will no more be tied to the wheel of births
and deaths, but will remain in the Invisible Worlds to
work thence for the upliftment of other beings.
Besides, transmigration is an impossibility in nature,
because there is in every human body an indwelling indi-
vidual spirit, while each tribe of animals is ruled by a com-
mon, or group spirit, of which these animals all form a
part, and no self-conscious Ego can enter into a body ruled
by another.
The inquirer asks whether it is not much more beautiful
to believe in a heaven with God and the angels? Perhaps
it is, but we are not concerned so much with that which
may be pleasing to our passing fancy as with finding the
Truth, and although this doctrine of reincarnation is some-
times derided by wiseacres as impossible and a heathen
doctrine, it is really not a question of whether it is heathen
or not either. When we deal with a mathematical prob-
lem, we do not care who first solved it ; all we are concerned
with is, has it been properly solved? Likewise with this
doctrine, no matter who taught it first, it is the only one
that will solve all the problems of life in a rational manner,
whereas, the theory that a man who perhaps never cared
about music and did not know the first thing about har-
mony, immediately after he has died develops an insatiable
passion for music and will remain content to toot in a
trumpet or strum on a harp for all eternity, is rather more
ridiculous.
SECTION IV
Questions concerning
THE
BIBLE TEACHINGS
QUESTION Xo. 73.
Why is it that every sect interprets the Bible differently
and that each one gets an apparent vindication for its ideas
from that book?
Answer: That question, if asked by a skeptic, affords
him a great deal of satisfaction, for he sees in it a vindica-
tion for his idea that all sects are wrong in their beliefs and
that the Bible is a conglomerate mass of nonsense, while
in fact the case is very much the other way. We do not
contend for the Divinity of this Book or hold that it is the
Word of God from cover to cover; we recognize the fact
that it is a poor translation of the originals and that there
are many interpolations which have been inserted at dif-
ferent times to support various ideas, but, nevertheless, the
very fact that so much truth has been massed into such
a small compass is a source of constant wonder to the
occultist, who knows what that Book really is and has the
key to its meaning.
There is one fact that the skeptic fails to see. His idea
is that if a certain interpretation is true, all other inter-
pretations must necessarily be false. That idea is most
emphatically wrong. Truth is many sided and eternal ;
the quest for truth must also be all embracing and never
ending. We may liken truth to a mountain, and the vari-
ous interpretations of that truth to different paths leading
149
150 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
up to the summit. Many people are traveling along all
of these paths and every one thinks his path is the only one
while he is at the bottom ; he sees only a small part of the
mountain and may therefore be justified in crying to his
brothers, "You are wrong; come over in my path; this is
the onl}v one that leads to the top." But as all these
people progress* upward, they shall see that the paths con-
verge at the top and that they are all one in the ultimate.
It may be said most emphatically that no system of
thought which has ever been able to attract and hold thd
attention of a large number of people for a considerable
time has been without its truth ; and whether we perceive
it or not, there is in every sect the kernel of divine teaching
which is gradually bringing them upward toward the top
of the mountain, and therefore we should practice the
utmost toleration for every belief.
QUESTION No. 74.
What is meant by the second aspect of the Triune God?
Answer: God is one, just as the light is one, but, as the
light passing through the atmosphere is refracted into three
primary colors red, yellow and blue so also God, when
he manifests or reflects himself in nature, is threefold in
his manifestation. There is first the Creative principle,
next there is the Preservative principle, and in the third
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 151
place there is the principle of Destruction of the forms
which have been created, preserved for a time while useful,
then to be destroyed in order that the material from which
they were constructed may be used in the building of new
forms.
These three principles of God have been called by dif-
ferent names in different religions, and much ink and
many goosequills have been used in latter years to defend
or decry the idea of a Trinity, though that ought to be
manifest to anyone who will look about him in nature with
a thoughtful mind. In the Western World, we have been
used to calling the Second Aspect of the Triune God, the
unified preserving principle, Christ; and it is very appro-
priate in a certain sense, because the Christ came as the
teacher of Love and Universal Brotherhood which was to
supersede nations that war against one another, and He
Himself said that there was a still higher stage when the
kingdom He was to establish should be delivered to the
Father and all should be one in Him.
QUESTION No. 75.
Are the Recording Angels individual Beings?
Answer: Yes, they are mighty Individualities, the am-
bassadors of the Great Planetary Angels, and as such they
152 ROSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
are concerned in the birth of man, helping him in the se-
lection of his environment and allotting to each life the
right destiny which is ready to be worked out into effects.
They guide the stellar influences so that they affect each
one in such a way as to facilitate the liquidation of his past
indebtedness to others, helping him, also, to reap the benefit
of whatever good he has done in past lives.
In this the Recording Angels are helped by a mighty
host of agents and the nature spirits, which are not indi-
vidualized yet, but work under the direction of these Great
Beings unconsciously, much as the animals are guided by
group spirits.
QUESTION No. 76.
Do the Angels and Archangels watch over us individually
as well as collectively and know just what our lives are?
Answer: The Lords of Mind, which Paul calls the
"Powers of Darkness" because they were the humanity of
the dark Saturn period when the universe was just coming
out of chaos, work only with man.
The Archangels, who were human in the fiery Sun
Period where the universe was of the consistency of "desire
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 153
stuff," work now as the helpers of the group spirits of the
animals and as race spirits for humanity, because these
classes of beings have a desire body.
The Angels, who were ihe humanity of the Moon Period,
work with both man, animal and plant, for in the Moon
Period the universe was of the consistency of "ether" and
the vital bodies of the three kingdoms named is formed of
that material. The Angels are, therefore, properly helpers
in the vital functions such as assimilation, growth and
propagation, and in their work with humanity they are
family spirits. They cause the increase in the family, in
man's cattle and in the yield of his fields.
Man, himself, who is a little lower than the Angels,
works with the minerals, which are found in the chemical
region of the Physical World, composed of the gases, liquids
and solids. He is to the minerals what the Higher Beings
are to us. He is gradually waking them to life by mold-
ing them into houses, bridges, railways, etc.
In a future incarnation of the earth, when these min-
erals have become plant-like, man will have learned to work
with life and will then be in a similar position with regard!
to them as the Angels occupy now with regard to us. Thus
there is endless progression, the higher always helping the
less evolved, until all shall have reached perfection.
Answering the question more specifically, we may say
that the Archangels work with the nations and the races
of the earth, while the Angels are concerned particularly
with the families and the individuals in the family. The
"Guardian Angel," however, is not exactly an entity from
a higher evolution, but is rather the personified embodi-
ment of our good deeds in all our past lives, which, though
unseen by us, is still with us always, impelling us toward
right action and the doing of more good.
154 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 77.
Have Angels wings as shown in pictures?
Answer: No; none of them have such bird wings as
they are shown to have in pictures, but there are some
classes of Beings in the Spirit World which have wing-like
appendages. These, however, are not for the purpose of
flying or moving through space, but are currents of out-
welling force that may be hurled in one direction or an-
other, as we use our arms and limbs. Thus an Archangel
who is impelling the armies of two nations to battle may
send out a current .of spiritual force in one direction, numb-
ing the soldiers of one army with fear, and may send an-
other force to imbue the opposing army with added cour-
age, thus influencing the battle in a manner little dreamed
of by the contestants.
QUESTION No. 78.
Do the Rosicrucians accept the Bible as the "Word of
God" from cover to covert
'Answer: Certainly not, and more particularly not in the
extremely narrow interpretation of some people who think
that the book we now have with us is the only genuine one
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERG
ever given to humanity. At most, it could only be one of
the books of God, for there are many other sacred writings
which have a claim to recognition and cannot be ruled out
of court by a few wiseacres such as those who have
delegated the so-called apocryphal books to the literary
scrap heap.
In the first place, it should be remembered that the Old
Testament was written in Hebrew at various times and by
numerous writers, and that no collection of these writings
was made prior to Ezra. Of these Hebrew writings, there
is not now a single scrap in existence. Even as long ago
as 280 B. C. the Hebrew language had been abandoned, so
far as scriptural writing was concerned, and the Sep-
tuagint, or Greek Translation, was in general use. That
was the only Bible in existence at the time of the birth of
Christ. Later some of the Hebrew writings have been col-
lected and collated by the Masoretes, a sect which existed
about 700 A. D. This is the best and most accurate text.
The English translation, most in use today, is the King
James Version, but His Majesty was not so much after
accuracy in translation as after peace, and the act which
authorized the translation of the Bible prohibited the
translators from translating any passages in such a way
that it would interfere with existing beliefs. This was
done to avoid any uprising or dissension in his kingdom,
and of the forty-seven translators, only three were Hebrew
scholars and two of them died before the Psalms had been
translated. A number of the books were thrown aside as
apocryphal, and altogether words were wrenched out of
their original meaning to conform to the superstition of
the age. Martin Luther, in Germany, translated from the
Latin text which had itself been translated from the Greek
and thus the chances of conveying wrong meanings. have
156 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
been enhanced in many and various ways. Add to this that
in the old style Hebrew vowel points are omitted and there
is no division into words, so that by inserting vowel points
in different ways, words and sentences of entirely different
meanings may be obtained from almost any sentence. In
view of these facts it is evident that the chances of our
getting an accurate version of what was originally written
were small indeed.
Moreover, it was not intended by the original writers to
make the Bible an open "Book of God," as can well be seen
by the following quotation from the Zohar : "Woe to the
man who sees in the Thorah (the law the Bible) only
simple recitals and ordinary words, because if in truth it
contained only these, we would even today be able to com-
pose a Thorah more worthy of admiration. But it is not
so ; each word in the Thorah contains an elevated meaning
and a sublime mystery . . . The recitals of the Thorah
are the vestments of the Thorah . . . Woe to him who
tanes this vestment of the Thorah for the Thorah itself
. . . The simple take notice of the garments and re-
citals of the Thorah alone ; they know no other thing, they
see not that which is concealed under the vestment; the
more instructed men do not pay attention to the vestment,
but to that which it envelops" . . .
In other words, they pay no attention to the letter, but
take only the spirit. And, as in a field sown with potatoes
there are not only these vegetables, but also the soil in which
they are hidden, so in the Bible the pearls of occult truth
are hidden in what are often hideous garments. The occult-
ist who has fitted himself to possess these pearls has re-
ceived the key, and sees them plainly. To others they
remain obscure until they also have worked for that key.
Thus, while the story of the wanderings of the children of
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 157
Israel and the dealings of a certain God with them are
partially true, the/o is also a spiritual significance that is
far more important than that material history. Even
though the Gospels contained the great outlines of the life
of an individual called Jesus, they are formulae of initia-
tion showing the experiences which everyone must event-
ually pass through on the way to the truth and the life.
This path was foreseen by the various persons who wrote
the Bible and who were thus prophets and seers, but only
in so far as that was possible at their time and age. A
new era will require a new Bible, a new word.
QUESTION No 79.
What is the viewpoint of the Rosicrucians concerning the
creation of the world in seven days?
Answer: There are two creation stories in the Bible.
One commences with the first verse of the opening chapter
and ends with the third verse of the second chapter of
Genesis. Another account commences with the fourth
verse.
These two creation stories seem to be greatly at variance
in several particular?. The first account states that in the
beginning the earth r/as covered with water; the
158 KOSICRTJCIAN PHILOSOPHY
avers that it was dry. The first informs us that man was
created last ; the second version says he was the first crea-
ture, etc. These discrepancies seem to be irreconcilable, and
afford the skeptic great satisfaction when he recounts them
with a smile of supercilious pity for the poor ignorant fools
who believe such silly nonsense. Yet the two accounts are
not really incongruous, they are complementary and in
harmony with scientific facts. The first account deals with
the genesis of form, the second chapter with the evolution
of consciousness. The human form as at present constituted
is the chef-d'oeuvre of evolution, built upon the basis of -
all lower forms which have gone before. The Life which
is man, the thinker, is without beginning or end, eternal as
God Himself, and that Life was here before all forms, as
told by the second creation story.
Eegarding the time in which this creation of form is
said to have taken place, the Rosicrucians do not teach or
believe that it was accomplished in seven days of twenty-
four hours each, but in our scheme of manifestation seven
great transformations of the earth are necessary to facilitate
the full evolution of self-consciousness and soul power by
the evolving spirits. Thiee and one-half of these periods
have been spent in obtaining vehicles; the remainder will
be required for the evolution of consciousness.
The opening verse of the Bible states that in the begin-
ning the earth was dark and without definite form. That
was in the Saturn Period, when the incipient firemist was
forming from the root substance of space.
The third verse informs us that God said "Let there be
Light," a passage which has been jeered at as showing the
ignorance of the authors and the inconsistency of the ac-
count with scientific facts ; for, says the scoffer. "When the
sun and moon were not created till the fourth day, how
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 159
could there be light previous to that time ? We are not
dealing with the world as it is today, a solid mass. That,
of course, would be dark without an outside source of light,
but at that time the earth was a world in the making, and
according to the nebular theory there must first be the stage
of dark heat to which we have given the name Saturn
Period. Later the mist is ignited and luminous; the light
is within and is not dependent upon an exterior sun and
moon. This second stage in the development of our planet
is called the Sun Period.
Next we are told that God said, "Let there be 'an ex-
pansion' in the waters to divide the water from the w^ter."
The word here rendered "expansion" is translated "fir-
mament" in the authorized version, but we use the Maso-
retic text, which was translated by translators of knowledge,
who were unrestricted by a royal edict such as that which
hampered King James's translators. The use of the term
"expansion" harmonizes the Bible with the nebular theory,
for, when a firemist appears in space moisture is generated
by the contact of this heated mass with the surrounding
space, which is cold. This moisture becomes heated and
expands into st earn which rushes outward from the fiery
core, is there cooled, and condensed, and gravitates back to
the source of heat. Thus the expansion in the waters
divided the water from the water, the dense moisture re-
maining nearest the fiery core and the steam outside. This
stage in the consolidation of the earth is called the Moon
Period.
The continual boiling of the water surrounding the fiery
core finally caused an incrustation and dry land appeared.
We are told that "God called the dry land Earth."
During the first part of the present Period the earth was
160 EOSICRUCTAN PHILOSOPHY
as dark as in the Saturn Period. Only mineral substances
existed them. This stage is called the Polarian Epoch.
The fiery Sun Period finds its replica in the Hyperborean
Epoch, which is described in verses 11-19 as the time when
plants were generated, and the earth became a planet
lighted from without by sun and moon. This ends the work
described as having been performed on the fourth great day
in the development of our earth.
In the Lemurian Epoch we have a recapitulation of con-
ditions during the Moon Period, a fiery core and an
atmosphere of fire fog, also the genesis of the lower grades
of animals, described in the Bible story as the work of the
fifth day.
In the Atlantean Epoch the vertebrate mammals and man
were formed, as described under the heading of the sixth
day, and when man became a reasoning being in the
present Aryan Epoch, the Gods rested to let him work out
his own salvation under the twin laws of Kebirth and
Causation.
QUESTION No. 80.
The Bible teaches the immortality of the soul in an
authoritative manner. The Rosicrucian Philosophy teaches
the same professedly by appealing to reason. Are there no
positive proofs of immortality?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 161
Answer: The inquirer is mistaken when he says that the
Bible teaches the immortality of the soul. There is not a
single mention of the word immortality or heaven in the
sense of a possession of man in the Old Testament. There
at is explicitly stated that "Heaven, even the heavens are
the Lord's, but the earth has he given to the children of
men"; Psalms 115, 16th verse. It is explicitly taught
that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die." If the soul were
immortal that would be an impossibility. In the New
Testament the word "immortal" or "immortality" is only
used six times. It is designated as something to be striven
for, or something which is an attribute of God.
So far as the spirit is concerned, howe?er, the case is
different, and even where that is the theme, the word im-
mortal is not used. Immortality is implied in the same
way that the doctrine of rebirth is implied in so many
passages, but even the doctrine of rebirth has the advantage
of the doctrine of immortality of the human spirit, for the
doctrine of rebirth was taught definitely at least once in
Matthew 11 :47, where the Christ said of John the Baptist,
"This is Elijah." In this teaching the doctrine of im-
mortality was again implied, for if the spirit Elijah was
reborn as John the Baptist he must have survived bodily
death. The teaching of immortality was at that time one
of the mystery teachings, and even to this day it can hardly
be received until a man has entered the path of initiation
and there sees for himself the continuity of life.
It may be stated, however, in answer to the question,
that everything hinges upon what is meant by "positive
proof" and what the qualifications of the person are who
asks for the proof to judge of these proofs? We cannot
prove a problem in trigonometry to an infant, but if the
infant is given time to grow and is properly taught the
162 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
preliminaries, it will be easy to prove the problem. Neither
ran we prove the existence of color and light to a man who
was born blind ; they are facts which he cannot appreciate,
because lacking in the requisite faculty. But if he acquires
the faculty of sight by an operation, it will be unneces-
sary to prove these facts to him, he will then see their
verity. For similar reasons no one can appreciate proofs
of the immortality of the spirit until he has fitted himself
to see the spirit; then it will be easy for him to obtain
positive proof of the immortality of spirit, its existence
prior to birth and persistence after death. Until he has
thus qualified himself, he must be satisfied with reasonable
inferences such as may be obtained in many ways.
QUESTION No. 81.
Is there any authority in the Bible for the theory of re-
birth?
Answer: Yes, there is plenty of authoritj*, although it
is only taught directly in one place. The Jewish priests
believed in the theory of rebirth, or they would not have
sent to ask John the Baptist "Art thou Elijah?" as it is
recorded in the first Chapter of John in tho twenty-first
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 163
verse; and in the Gospel of Matthew, we have the words
of Christ concerning John the Baptist which are unambig-
uous and unequivocal. He said, "This is Elijah." Also on
the later occasion, at the time when they had been upon
the Mount of Transfiguration, the Christ said, "Elijah has
come and they have done to him as they listed," and we
are told that the disciples "knew He was speaking of John"
who had then been beheaded by Herod.
In Matthew, the 16th chapter, 14th verse, He is asking
His disciples "Who do the people say I am?" and the
answer which they give Him is "Some say that you are John
the Baptist, others say that you are Elijah, and again others
say that you are Jeremiah or one of the Prophets." It is
noteworthy that the Christ did not contradict them at all,
for He was a teacher, and if they had entertained a wrong
idea concerning the doctrine of rebirth, it would have been
His undoubted duty to set them right. But He did not do
that. He moreover taught it directly, as per the above
passage.
There are also cases mentioned in the Bible, where a
person has been chosen for a certain work before his birth.
An Angel foretold the coming of Samson and his mis-
sion to slay the Philistines. The Lord said to the prophet
Jeremiah, "Before thou earnest out of the womb, I sancti-
fied thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
John and Jesus had their missions allotted to them before
they were born. A person is chosen for a mission because
of a special fitness. Proficiency presupposes practice and
practice prior to birth must have been in a previous life.
Thus the doctrine of rebirth is also taught by implication in
the cases cited.
164 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 82.
According to the Bible only man was given a soul. Why
do you then say that the animals have a group spirit?
Answer: In the first chapter of Genesis, verse 20, we
are told that God said : "Let the water bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that has life." The word
used in Hebrew is nephesh, which means "breath." That
word is also used in the second chapter, verse 7, where it is
said that "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life
(nephesh), and man became a 'nephesh chayim,' a breath-
ing creature." Not a living soul, as there translated. The
translation of King James has been modified by people who
had a little more regard for the truth than for preconceived
ideas ; they have consented to put the word "soul" in the
margin as an alternative reading of the word in chapter 1,
verse 20, where the creation of the animals is recorded, so
that even in the Bibles of today, it is admitted that animals
have a soul.
This translation is not correct, however; nephesh means
breath and not soul; the Hebrew word for soul is
neshamah. Soul is not synonymous with spirit, which is
called Ruach, so that Genesis does not mention the spirit of
either man or animal, for spirit has no genesis, IT is. The
forms of animal and man which are sustained by breath
had a beginning and that is what Genesis records. That
idea is perfectly in line with the words of Solomon in
Ecclesiastes 3:19, where we are told that (so far as the
body formed of the dust is concerned) man has no pre-
eminence above the beast, for as one dieth so dieth the
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 165
other; they have all one breath (nephesh) and as one dieth
so dieth the other. All go unto one place (namely, the
Desire World).
If the inquirer accepts only the English word and version
of the Bible, as if that book had been written directly in
our language, it would seem fair to ask: If man obtained
his soul as described in the Bible, where did .woman receive
her soul ; or is she without a soul ?
QUESTION Xo. 83.
Is it true that Eve was taken out of Adam's side?
Answer: Among the forty-seven translators of King
James's Bible only three understood Hebrew and two of
them died before the Psalms had been translated. Besides,
in the Hebrew language, particularly the old style writing,
the vowel points are never put in, and thus a wprd may be
given different meanings, according to the way these points
are entered. In the case of the story of Adam's rib, the
word translated "rib" when pointed in one way reads tsad,
which really means rib, but pointed another way it reads
tscla,"whieh.- means side. The occult teaching concerning
the development of the earth and man states that there was
166 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
a time when man was like the God or Elohim who created
him, in one particular sex. He was both male and female,
a hermaphrodite, capable of generating another being from
himself. Later it became necessary to his further evolution
that a brain should be evolved, and whereas he had pre-
viously sent out from himself the double creative force,
positive and negative, half of that was then retained for
the purpose of building a brain, a larynx, and a nervous
system, as organs of thought and a keyboard whereby the
spirit might manipulate its organism and express itself
vocally. Some of the spirits retain the positive creative
force and send out only the negative, or female force, while
others retain the female or negative force and send out
the positive. Thus it may be said that God took away from
them one side of their being, but not the rib. This reading
of the word has as good a claim to recognition as the
translation rib, and also has the further merit that it helps
to explain an otherwise unexplainable fact.
QUESTION No. 84.
// God made man in His image and likeness, supposedly
perfect, why were the different epochs prior to the Fall of
Adam and Eve necessary 1 ?
Answer: The inquirer is laboring under a misapprehen-
sion. The Bible says that God saw his work, and that it
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 167
was "good" but not perfect. Had it been perfect, there
would have been nothing further to do, and evolution would
have been superfluous. The human race did not become
definitely human until the latter pait of the Lemurian
Epoch when the spirit commenced to draw into the
bodies. The humanity of that time, Adam and Eve,
were very different from our present day humanity. They
were also products of evolution, for there is no instantaneous
creation. These beings had progressed through stages of
plant-like and animal-like development from the mineral
kingdom wherein they started, and it was not a single pair,
as is usually understood by orthodox religionists, but a
humanity that was both male and female at the time
mentioned in the Bible. It is said that male and female
created He them ; moreover, it was not the first time that
man had been upon the earth, or that the earth had been
peopled, as can be seen from- Genesis 1 :28, where they were
commanded to go out and RE-plenish the earth, showing
that the earth had been the abode of certain other beings
previous to the advent of those which are called Adam and
Eve. Josephus says that Adam means "red earth" and
the Hebrew "Admali" from which Adam is derived, means
"firm ground"; that describes the state very well. Adm
(as it is given in the Hebrew text), did not come upon the
earth until it had solidified and become firm, yet he came
before the earth had become properly cooled as it is now,
and so the earth was really in a red and fiery state at that
time. He had been here before. During the earlier Epochs
before the Lemurian, the spirits hovered over the fiery
earth and helped to form and mold it as it is now. The
human spirits were at that time learning lessons with which
we have no present concern. We were unconscious at that
time, but did the work just as well as, for instance, our
168 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
digestive organs perform the chemical operations necessary
to digestion and assimilation although we are unaware of
these processes in our conscious mind. It must be plain,
however, that as the work of children in the kindergarten
and grammar school is the all important foundation for the
later teachings of high school and college, so were the
earlier epochs the foundation stones for our present condi-
tions. They were as necessary as it is to learn the alphabet
before we attempt to read.
QUESTION No. 85.
What was the sin or fall in Eden?
Answer: When the earth came out of chaos, it was at
first in the dark red stage known as the Polarian Epoch.
There humanity first evolved a dense body, not at all like
our present vehicle, of course. When the condition of the
earth became fiery, as in the Hyperborean Epoch, the vital
l>ody was added and man became plant-like, that is to say,
he had the same vehicles as our plants have today, and also
a similar consciousness, or, rather, unconsciousness, to that
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 169
which we have in dreamless sleep when the dense and vital
bodies are left upon the bed.
At that time, in the Hyperborean Epoch, the body of man
was as an enormous gas bag, floating outside the fiery earth,
and it threw off plant-like spores, which then grew and
were used by other incoming entities. At that time man
was double sexed, a hermaphrodite.
In the Lemurian Epoch, when the earth had somewhat
cooled and islands of crust had begun to form amid boiling
seas, then also man's body had somewhat solidified and had
become more like the body we see today. It was ape-
like, a short trunk with enormous arms and limbs, the heels
projecting backward and almost no head at least the upper
part of the head was nearly entirely wanting. Man lived
in the atmosphere of steam which occultists call fire-fog,
and had no lungs, but breathed by means of tubes. He
had a bladder-like organ inside, which he inflated with
heated air to help him leap enormous chasms when volcanic
eruptions destroyed the land upon which he was living.
From the back of his head there projected an organ which
has now been drawn into the head and is called by
anatomists the pineal gland, or the third eye, although it
was never an eye, but a localized organ of feeling. The
body was then devoid of feeling, but when man came too
close to a volcanic crater, the heat was registered by this
organ to warn him away before his body was destroyed.
At that time the body had already so far solidified that
it was impossible . for man to continue to propagate by
spores, and it was necessary that he should evolve an organ
of thought, a brain. The creative force which we now use
to build railways, steamships, etc., in the outer world, was
then used inwardly for the building of organs. Like all
forces it was positive and negative. One pole was turned
170 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
upward to build the brain, leaving the other pole available
for the creation of another body. Thus man was no longer
a complete creative unit. Each possessed only half the
creative force, and it was therefore necessary for him to seek
his complement outside himself.
But at that time, "their eyes had not been opened," and
the human beings of that age were unconscious of each other
in the Physical World, though well aware and awake in the
Spiritual World. Therefore, under the guidance of the
Angels, who were particularly fitted to help them in respect
to propagation, they were herded together in great temples
at certain times of the year when the lines of force running
between the planets were propitious, and there the creative
act was performed as a religious sacrifice. And when this
primal man Adam came into the intimate sexual contact
with the woman, the spirit for the moment pierced the
flesh and "Adam knew (01 became aware of) his wife;"' he
sensed her physically. It is this which the Bible has
recorded, using that chaste expression all through its
leaves, for we are told that "Elkanah knew his wife Hannah,
and she bore Samuel." Even in the New Testament where
the angel comes to Mary telling her that she is to be the
mother of the Savior, she answers, "How shall that be pos-
sible seeing I know not a man?"
Sin is action contrary to law, and while humanity prop-
agated under the guidance of the Angels, who understood
the cosmic lines of force, parturition was painless, as it is
now among wild animals, which propagate only at the
proper time of the year under the guidance of the group
spirit. But when man, acting on the advice of certain
spirits half-way between humanity and the Angels, under-
took to create at any and all times of the year, regardless of
cosmic lines of force, that sin, or "eating of the tree of
QUESTIONS AND ANSYYEKS 171
"knowledge," caused the painful parturition which the Angel
proclaimed to Eve. He did not curse her, but simply stated
what would be the result of the ignorant and indiscriminate
use of the creative function.
QUESTION No. 86.
Is the Tree of Life spoken of in the Bible the same as the
philosopher's stone of the alchemists?
Answer: Yes and no. To understand the matter it is
necessary to go back in the history of mankind. There was
a time when humanity was double sexed and capable of
generating a body without the help of another. But when
it became necessary to build the brain in order that the
spirit might be able to create by thought as well as in the
Physical World, one-half the sex force was retained to build
an organ of thought. Then it became necessary for each to
seek the cooperation of another who expressed the opposite
pole of the creative force which he had available himself for
sex purposes. Having no brain, and as "their eyes had not
been opened," they were of course unconscious in the
Physical World and unable to guide themselves. Therefore,
the Angels herded them together at certain times of the
172 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
year when the planetary forces were propitious to perform
the generative act as a religious sacrifice, whereby they
gave up part of their bodies for the generation of a vehicle
for another spirit. In that close embrace, the spirit first
pierced the veil of the flesh and Adam "knew" his wife.
Later on, when the consciousness of humanity had become
focused a little more upon the Physical World and a few
among them had begun dimly to perceive the bodies of
which we now are so thoroughly conscious, these pioneers
began to preach the gospel of the body, telling the others
that they possessed a physical body, for the majority were
then unconscious of that instrument as we now are of
having a stomach when in good health.
Then it was noticed that those bodies died, and the ques-
tion arose among the pioneers as to how such a body could
be replaced. The solution was given to man by a certain
class of spirits who were stragglers from the evolution of the
Angels, demi-gods, as we might say. These Lucifer Spirits,
or light givers, enlightened nascent humanity regarding
their powers of generating a body at any time. But these
bodies were not perfect then- they are not perfect today
and of course generation without reference to the planetary
conditions has produced even inferior bodies to what would
have been otherwise generated, in addition to the painful
parturition prophesied by the Angel.
Since then the generative function has been exercised un-
restrictedly by the ignorant human race. But by the fact of
death it has been possible for the Angels to teach humanity
between death and a new birth how to build a gradually im-
proving body. Had man learned in that far past how to
renew his vital body, as he was taught to generate a dense
vehicle at his own pleasure, then death would indeed have
been an impossibility and man would have become immortal
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 173
as the Gods. But he would then have immortalized his im-
perfections and made progress an impossibility. It is the
renewal of this vital body which is expressed in the Bible
as "eating of the Tree of Life." At the time of his en-
lightenment concerning generation man was a spiritual
being whose eyes were not yet blinded by the material
world, and he might have learned the secret of vitalizing
his body at will, thus frustrating evolution. Thus we see
-that death, when it comes naturally, is not a curse but our
greatest and best friend, for it frees us from an instrument
from which we can learn no more; it takes us out of an
environment which we have outgrown, that we may learn
-to build a better body in an environment of wider scope
in which we can make more progress toward the goal of
perfection.
In this pilgrimage there comes at last a time when man
is fitted to have the powers of life. The body which he has
made for himself becomes pure and is of service for a
much longer time than heretofore. Then he begins to seek
after the philosopher's stone, the elixir vitas, or whatever
name he may choose t6~~employ. 'The alchemists aimed to
manufacture this pure and holy vehicle, but not by a
chemical process in a laboratory, as supposed by the
ignorant multitude. Nomenclature which gave color to that
idea was made necessary because they lived in an age when
a dominant and apostate church would have brought them
to death had the truth been known. When they spoke of
transmuting base metals to gold, they spoke the truth not
only from the material standpoint but also from the
spiritual, for gold has ever been the symbol of spirit and
these alchemists aimed to spiritualize their bodies, which
are of baser texture.
Everywhere the pure and beautiful symbol of transpar-
174 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
ency has been given to designate the power of purity. In
the Old Testament we hear of the Temple of Solomon that
was "built without sound of hammer." The most beautiful
ornament there was the molten sea. Hiram Abiff, the
master-workman, as his final achievement, succeeded in
smelting all the metals of the earth into an alloy as
transparent as glass. In the New Testament we are told
the last about a beautiful city having in its midst a sea of
glass. In the East, the initiate aims to become the diamond-
soul, pure and transparent. In the West the Philosopher's
Stone is the symbol of the purified soul extracted from the
bodies which have been transmuted and spiritualized. The
soul that sinneth, it shall die, but the pure soul is im-
mortalized by the elixir vitas, the "Tree of Life," into a
vital body that will last milleniums as a vehicle for the
spirit.
QUESTION No. 87.
The Lord had respect unto Abel and his bloody offering,
but unto Cain and his sweet and clean offering, He had not
respect. Why ?
Answer: The inquirer is under a misapprehension. The
offering of Abel was not a bloody offering. It is nowhere
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 175
stated that Abel killed an animal. The legend of the occult
free masons, which we will give in part, tells the story :
Once upon a time, the Elohim created Eve; he united
with her and she bore Cain; he left her before the birth of
Cain and Cain was thus "the son of the widow." Then
the Elohim Jehova created Adam who united with Eve
and she bore Abel. In time Cain and Abel brought their
offerings to Jehovah. Abel brought of his flocks created
by God while Cain brought the work of his own hands, the
grain. And Jehovah received the gift which Abel had
found ready to his hand, made by nature, but he despised
the sacrifice which was the outcome of the creative ability
of Cain. Then Cain slew Abel and was cursed. Adam
again united with Eve, and she bore Seth.
From Cain and Seth came two classes of people. The
descendants of Cain were Tubal-Cain and Hiram Abiff,
cunning master workmen, who knew how to fashion things
with their hands, having within themselves the divine
ability of creation, of making two blades of grass grow
where there was only one before, and from them come all
those who work with their hands and strive to conquer the
earth and its resources.
From Seth descended the kings and the priests, who re-
ceived their wisdom ready made from the Gods, and take
things as they find them. Among them was Solomon, the
wisest of men, but he had not worked for his wisdom him-
self, he received it as a gift of God. These two classes are
still found upon earth today and are battling for suprem-
acy. One is the progressive temporal Powers, the other the
conservative Priest-craft.
The reason, then, why Jehovah accepted the offering of
Abel was because he had taken things as they were found
created; he was a son of man, and did not aspire to divine
176 KOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
creatorship. But Cain was of a divine nature; Tie had with-
in him the creative instinct; and that was not to the liking
of the God.
QUESTION No. 88.
What is the esoteric significance of the Ark of the
Covenant?
Answer: We read in the earliest chapters of the Bible
about the Fall in Eden, when man took the creative force
into his own hands, used it ignorantly and thus sinned
against the laws of nature. Propagation is a faculty of the
vital body which is the shadow of the life spirit, the
second aspect of the threefold spirit in man.
Cherubim are described as having been put on guard with
a flaming sword when man was driven out from Eden, lest
he eat of the Tree of Life and become immortal, for they
are the great creative hierarchy which had charge over the
earth in the Sun Period, when the vital body germinated
and the life spirit was awakened.
Then commenced the long pilgrimage through the wilder-
ness of matter, and the ark of the covenant was the symbol
of man in this migratory phase of his existence. During
the pilgrimage in the wilderness, the staves which were
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 177
used to carry the ark were always left in their places to
show that it had no abiding place, but when it came to the
temple made without sound of hammer, the Temple of
Solomon,, its pilgrimage was ended, and the staves were
removed.
In its character as a symbol of man the ark contained
the Book of the Laiv^given to teach man right action.
There was the rod of Aaron which budded, a wand of power,
symbolizing the spiritual force latent in every man. This
rod was a replica of the spear of Parsifal, which was an
instrument of harm in the hands of Klingsor, the Black
Magician, and likewise in the hands of the Roman soldier,
but the pure and spiritual Parsifal used it to heal the
wounds of Amfortas. The rod of Aaron had been used
among the Egyptians to cause distress and sorrow, and was
then hidden within the ark, symbolical of the fact that man
had at one time possessed and misused the spiritual power
now hidden within.
There was the pot of manna. This was not a food for
the body as materialistically explained. The word manna
is almost universal. In the Sanskrit we have "manas," the
thinker. In German, the English, the Scandinavian
languages, and in many others, we have the same word
"man" to designate the thinker. The placing of the pot of
manna within the ark commemorates the time when the
Ego drew into the form it had built and became an in-
dwelling individual spirit.
That was the "fall" into material conditions, neces-
sitating the generation of dense bodies. When man ar-
rogated to himself the power to generate at any time, he
was exiled from the Etheric Region lest he possess himself
of the secret of vitalizing the imperfect bodies he generates
and render evolution impossible.
178 ROSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
It is stated in the first part of our answer, the Cherubim
were the authors of our vital powers, so they must guard
them until man is qualified to have control himself. There-
fore they are said to have heen placed at the garden of
Eden with a Flaming Sword, and it is of the greatest
significance that upon the doors to the Temple of Solomon
there stood the Cherubim, holding in their hands no longer
the Flaming Sword, but an open flower. The flower is the
generative organ of the plant, which accomplishes the act
of generation in a pure, passionless manner, and when man
has learned how to become pure and passionless so that
each and every form is immaculately conceived, he can
enter into the temple of God as the ark entered the Temple
of Solomon, and he may remain there, as signified by the
removal of the staves, and as prophetically told in Revela-
tion where the spirit said: "To him that overcometh, I
will make a pillar in the House of my God; thence he shall
no more go out."
QUESTION No. 89.
Is there an occult significance in the various Christian
feasts of the year?
Answer: Yes, the feasts of the year have the very deep-
est occult significance. From the material point of view,
the planets are but so many masses of matter going about
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 179
in their orbits in obedience to so-called blind laws, but to
the occultists they appear as Great Spirits, moving about
in space as we move in the world.
When a man is seen gesticulating, we attach a certain
significance to his gestures. If he shakes his head, we
know that he is negativing a certain proposition, but if he
nodds, we infer that he agrees. If he beckons, having the
palms of his hands turned toward him, we know that he
is motioning for someone to come to him, but if he turns
the palms outward, we understand that he is warning some-
one to stay away. In the case of the universe, we usually
do not think that there is any significance to the altered
position of the planets, but to the occultist there is the
very deepest meaning in all the varied phenomena of the
heavens. They correspond to the gestures of man.
Krisma means anointed, and anyone who had a special
mission to perform was so anointed in olden times. When,
in the winter time, the sun is below the equator at the
nadir point of its travel, the spiritual impulses are the
greatest in the world. For our material welfare, however,
it is necessary that the sun should come again into the
northern hemisphere, and so we speak of the time when
the sun starts upon its journey northward as Christmas,
the birthday of the Savior, anointed to save us from the
famine and cold which would ensue if he were to stay at
the nadir point always.
As the sun passes toward the equator, it goes through the
sign Aquarius, the water-man, at that time the earth is
deluged with rain, symbolizing the baptism of the Savior.
Then comes the passage of the sun through the sign Pisces,
the fishes, in the month of March. The stores of the past
year have been all consumed, and the food of man is scant,
hence we have the long fast of Lent, where the eating of
180 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
fish symbolizes this feature of the solar journey. Then
comes the Passover, when the sun passed over the equator.
This is the time of Easter, when the sun is at his eastern
node, and this crossing of the equator is symbolized by the
crossification or crucifixion, so called, of the Savior; the sun
then goes into the sign of Aries, the Ram, and becomes the
Lamb of God, which is given for the salvation of the world
at the time when the plants begin to sprout. In order that
the sacrifice may be of benefit to man, however, he (the
sun) must ascend into the heavens where his rays will have
power to ripen the grape and the corn, and so we have the
feast of Whit-Sunday and the Ascension of the Savior to
the Throne of the Father, which is at the summer solstice
in June. There the sun remains for three days, when the
saying "Thence he shall return" takes effect as the sun com-
mences his passage toward the western node. At the time
when he enters the sign Virgo, the Virgin, we have the feast
of the Assumption and later on, when he leaves the sign
Virgo, the nativity of the virgin, who seems, as it were, to
be born from the sun.
The Jewish feast of Tabernacles occurred at the time
when the sun was crossing the equator on its passage into
the winter months, and this feast was accompanied by the
weighing in of the corn and the harvest of the wine, which
were the gifts of the solar God to his human worshipers.
Thus all the feasts of the year are connected with the
motions of the stars through space.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 181
QUESTION No. 90.
I understood you to say that the Christ has been incar-
nated only once in Jesus; was he not previously incarnated
in Gautama Buddha and still earlier in Krishna?
Answer: No. Jesus Himself was a spirit belonging to
our human evolution, and so was Gautama Buddha. The
writer has no information concerning Krishna, but is in-
clined to believe that he was also a spirit belonging to the
human race, because the Indian stories concerning him tell
of how he entered heaven and what took place there. The
Christ spirit which entered the body of Jesus when Jesus
himself vacated it, was a ray from the cosmic Christ. We
may follow Jesus back in his previous incarnations, and we
can trace his growth to the present day. The Christ spirit,
on the contrary,. is not to be found among our human spirits
at all.
We may say that before the coming of Christ, He worked
upon the earth from the outside, much as the group spirit
works with the animals from without, guiding and helping
them, until they become sufficiently individualized to be
trie abode of an individual spirit. There was no indwell-
ing spirit in the earth prior to the coming of Christ, but
at the time when the sacrifice upon Golgotha had been con-
summated and the Christ spirit was liberated from the body
of Jesus, it drew into the earth and is now the indwelling
Earth Spirit, which Paul says "is groaning and travailing,
waiting for the day of liberation," for, contrary to the ac-
cepted opinion, the sacrifice upon Golgotha was not com-
pleted with the death of the body of Jesus; in fact, that
event may be said to be only the beginning; the sacrifice
182 ROSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
will continue until such time as we shall have evolved the
altruism and love that will liberate the Earth Spirit from
the cramping conditions of material existence, when the
necessity for guiding us shall have passed away.
QUESTION No. 91.
We are told that "God so loved tlie world that He gave
His only begotten Son, that wliosoever believeih in Him
should not die but have everlasting life/' How can we
reconcile that idea with tltc words of Christ, "1 came not to
bring peace but a sword"'?
Answer: It is said that the "law and the prophets were
until Christ," and there are four steps whereby man lifts
himself to God. At first, when lie awakens to a conscious-
ness in the Physical World and is in the savage state, he
finds himself surrounded by other men, who by the very
stress of circumstances are forced to fight for life, men
among whom "might is right" ; here he learns to rely upon
his own strength to save him from the onslaughts of wild
animals and other men. But he perceives around him the
nature powers, and of them he is afraid, for he knows their
ability to kill and his own impotence to cope with them. He
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 183
therefore begins to worship, seeking to propitiate the God
he fears by bloody sacrifices.
Then comes the time when he begins to look to God as
the giver of things, who will reward him here and now for
obedience to his law and punish him instantly for disobedi-
ence. A mighty ally against his enemies but a powerful
enemy, and therefore much to be feared also. And so, he
worships and sacrifices animals through fear and avarice.
Then comes the stage when he is taught to worship a God
of Love and to sacrifice himself from day to day, through
his whole life, for a reward in a future state which he is to
believe in by faith and which is not even clearly outlined.
Finally man will reach a stage when he will recognize
his divinity and do right because it is right without thought
of fear or bribe.
The Jews had reached the second of these stages and
were under the law. The Christian religion is gradually
working through the third stage, though not yet freed from
the second. All of us are yet under laws made by God and
by man in order to curb our desire bodies by fear, but to
advance us spiritually from now on we must sensitize our
vital body which is amenable to love while not at all cog-
nizant of law which governs the desire nature.
In order to prepare this coming state the priests, who
were more advanced than the ordinary people, kept separate
and apart from them. We hear in the East that only a cer-
tain caste, the Brahmins, were allowed to enter the temples
and perform the temple services. Among the Jews, only the
Levites were allowed to approach the holy place, and among
other nations it was the same. The priests were always a
distinct class, who were not allowed to marry among the
ordinary people. They were separate and apart in every
respect.
184 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
That was because the leaders of humanity could only use
the strain where there existed a certain laxity between the
vital body and the dense body. And so they bred these
priests and herded them around the temples, regulating
their life, sexually and otherwise, in every respect. But at
the time when Christ was liberated from the body of Jesus
and diffused His Being throughout the whole earth, the veil
was rent, as a symbol of the fact, that the need for any
special condition had passed away. From that time on the
ether has been changing in the earth. An increasingly
higher rate of vibration allows for the expression of altru-
istic qualities. It was the starting of that enormous vibra-
tion which caused the darkness said to have attended the
crucifixion. That was not darkness at all, but an intense
light which blinded people for the time being until the
vibrations slowed down by immersion in the dense, physical
earth. A few hours later the radiant Christ Spirit had
drawn into the earth sufficiently to restore normal condi-
tions. But gradually that power from within is gaining
the ascendency, and the etheric vibrations are being ac-
celerated, increasing altruism and spiritual growth. Thus
the conditions are now such that no special or privileged
class need exist, but each and every one may aspire to enter
the path of initiation.
Old conditions die hard, however; under the regime of
Jehovah, the Spirit of the Moon, humanity had been broken
up into nations, and in order that He might guide them it
was necessary that He should at times use one nation to
punish another, for humanity was not then amenable to
love it would only obey under the lash of fear. Before the
great Universal Brotherhood of Love can be inaugurated
it is necessary to break up these nations on the same princi-
ple that if we have a number of buildings, composed of
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 185
bricks and we wish to build them into one grand structure,
it is necessary first to break them to pieces so that the indi-
vidual bricks will be available for use in the larger build-
ing. Therefore the Christ said, "I come not to bring peace,
but a sword/'
We must outgrow patriotism and learn to say as that
great soul, Thomas Paine, "The world is my country, and
to do good is my religion/' Until that time, the wars must
go on and the more the better, for thereby the sooner will
the horror become sufficiently appalling to compel peace.
On the holy night when the Christ child was born, the
angels sang a song, "Peace on Earth and Good Will among
Men." Later the child grew up and said, "I come not to
bring peace, but a sword," and the Christian religion has
been the bloodiest of all religions of humanity. It has car-
ried desolation and sorrow with it wherever it has gone, but
out of all that travail there will yet come the day when
the song of the Angels will become a fact and the words
of the Christ uttered at other times concerning love to one's
neighbor will be lived. When the sword has done its work
it will be beaten into plow shares, and there will be no more
war, for there will be no more nations.
186 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 92.
What is meant by everlasting salvation and damnation?
Answer: The orthodox religions say that those who have
done well in this life are saved, that is to say, they will go
to a heaven not very clearly defined, and those who fail to
reach this salvation are plunged into a hell of which not
very much is known save that it is a place of misery. The
good and the bad stay in their respective places, once they
have been judged; there is no redemption for the lost
souls, and no danger of a fall for those once saved.
Such an interpretation is radically wrong, if the Greek
dictionary is taken as authority, for obviously the meaning
hinges upon the word translated "everlasting" That word
is aionian, and in the dictionary it is translated to mean
"an age, an indefinite period, a lifetime/' etc. What, then,
is the true meaning of the passage quoted we may ask our-
selves, and in order to find that" meaning it will be necessary
to take a comprehensive view of life.
In the beginning of manifestation, God, a great flame,
differentiates a vast number of incipient flames or sparks
within Himself, not from Himself, for it is an actual fact
that "in Him we live and move and have our being." Noth-
ing can exist outside God. So within Himself, God dif-
ferentiates these countless souls. Each of them is poten-
tially divine, each enfolds all His powers as the seed en-
folds the plant, but as the seed must be buried in the ground
to bring forth the plant, so it is necessary that these divine
sparks should be immersed in material vehicles in order
that they may learn lessons that can be mastered only in
such a separative existence as there is in the world.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 187
The world may be regarded as a training school for the
evolving spirits. Some of them started early and applied
themselves diligently to the task before them ; consequently
they progressed rapidly. Others started later and are lag-
gards. They are therefore left behind in the race; but all
will ultimately attain the goal of perfection. In conse-
quence of the foregoing fact there are a number of classes
of these pilgrim spirits, and before one set, or class, of
spirits can be moved up another step in evolution it is
necessary that they should have attained a certain standard
of proficiency. They are saved from a lower condition
which they have outgrown. Once this measure of efficiency
has been acquired, they are promoted into another race,
another epoch. But among a large number there are al-
ways laggards, and these are condemned to stay in the class
where they were until they have arrived at the stage of
growth required for advancement. The plan is similar to
the method in which children in a school are promoted into
the next higher class at the yearly examinations if they
have attained a certain standard of knowledge ; if not, they
are condemned to stay behind not forever, but only until
another year's examination proves that they have qualified.
The foregoing is not a distorted or a wrong representa-
tion of the meaning of the word aionian. It has been used
other places in the Bible in a manner which bears out our
contention. For instance, in Paul's letter to Philemon,
where he returns to him the slave Onesimus with the words,
"Perhaps it was well that you should lose him for a time
that he might be given back to you forever." The word
"forever" is the same word aionian which is translated
everlasting in connection with damnation and salvation,
and it will be readily seen that in this case it can only
188 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
mean a part of a lifetime, for neither Paul or Philemon,
as such, would live forever.
. .;
QUESTION No. 93.
What is the teaching of the Rosicrucians concerning the
Immaculate Conception?
Answer: The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception
is, perhaps, one of the most sublime mysteries of the Chris^
tian religion, and perhaps for that reason it has suffered
more fr(^m being dragged down into materiality than any
of the other mysteries. It has suffered alike from the in-
terpretation of its clumsy supporters and the sneers of
the skeptics. When, for instance, we see in churches a pic-
ture of God as an old man sitting up in the skies witn a
blow-pipe in his mouth in the act of blowing the infant
Jesus into the side of Mary, it is more than ridiculous, it is
pathetic !
The popular, but erroneous, idea is that about 2000 years
ago an individual named Jesus Christ was born of a mother
without the cooperation of an earthly father, and this inci-
dent is regarded as unique in the history of the world. In
reality, it is not unparalleled; the immaculate conception
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 189
has taken place many times in the history of the world and
will become universal in the future.
The anticipated history of man is written in the stars-^-
man being the little world as the stars are great worlds.
There the ideal, the prototype of the Immaculate Concep-
tion is dramatically presented from year to year. The sun
is the life giver of the world; it is the light of the world
also. And as the more advanced beings who are saviors
of mankind appear when the greatest spiritual darkness is
upon earth, so the sun is born anew at the winter solstice
and starts its journey toward the equator on the darkest
night of the year, the night between the 24th and the 25th
of December. At that time, the zodiacal sign Virgo rises
upon the eastern horizon in all northern latitudes, which
are the most populous parts of the earth.
Thus, the light of the world is each year immaculately
conceived by the celestial virgin mother and starts upon his
journey northward to give his life for humanity as he ripens
the corn and the grape. By analogy the spiritual teachers
are born at times when spiritual darkness is greatest, and
they give to man the bread of life which feeds the soul.
Men do not gather grapes of thorns, but like always be-
gets like; an entity that is vile must be born of a mother
who is vile, and before a savior can be born a pure virgin
mother must be found. But when we say "virgin," we do
not mean virgin in a physical sense. We all possess physical
virginity in the early years of our lives, but virginity of
the spirit is a quality of soul acquired by lives of pure
thought and lofty aspirations. It is not dependent upon
the state of the body. A true virgin may bear several chil-
dren and remain "virgin."
Whether a child is conceived in sin or immaculately con-
ceived is thus dependent upon its own inherent soul qual-
190 KOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
ity, for if the Ego to be born is pure and chaste it will
naturally be born to a mother who is also of the same pure
and beautiful nature. And the physical act, which in the
case of most people is dictated by passion and desire for
sensual gratification, is performed by the pure and the
chaste of soul in a spirit of prayer as a sacrifice. Thus the
child is begotten without the sin of passion ; it is immacu-
lately conceived.
Such a one is never an accidental child. His coming
has been heralded and looked forward to with anticipation
of pleasure and joy, and there are many cases at the present
day where people come very close to an imitation of the
Immaculate Conception; cases where both the parents are
pure and chaste ; where they perform the generative act in
the spirit of pure love ; where the mother is unmolested dur-
ing the gestatory period and the child is born in almost as
pure a manner as foreshadowed in the symbolical immacu-
late conceptions. In time, when humanity grows more and
more altruistic, passion will be superseded by pure love,
and all men will be immaculately begotten.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS
QUESTION No. 94.
Was not the Star of Bethlehem a comet?
Answer: No; the Star of Bethlehem shines at midnight
of every night as it shone upon the night which is recorded
in the Bible, and may be seen by anyone among the wise
men of today, though hidden from all others.
The key to the mystery is this :
The Gospels are not simply stories of the life of an indi-
vidual ; they depict dramatically and in symbol the inci-
dents in the path of attainment; they are formulae of initia-
tion.
In the summertime, when the whole earth is exerting it-
self to bring forth the bread of life for all who live upon it,
the sun is high in the heavens, sending forth its life giving
rays toward our planet. Then all the physical activities
are to the fore and man is engrossed in material occupa-
tions necessary to his existence. But when in winter the
sun is below the equator and nature slumbers, spiritual in-
fluences sent forth from the sun are most potent. When
the physical darkness increases the spiritual light burns
more brightly and culminates in the birth of saviors on
the darkest night in the year, between the twenty-fourth
and the twenty-fifth of December, at the time the sun starts
on its journey northward to save humanity from the cold
and famine which would result if it remained in the south-
ern latitudes.
On that particular night of the year the spiritual vibra-
tions are strongest. It is the Holy Night of the year par
excellence. On that night it is easiest for the neophyte to
come into conscious touch with spiritual vibrations. There-
192 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
fore it was customary to take neophytes into the temples jn
yon Holy Night. There they were entranced under the
guidance of wise men and taught to leave their bodies con-
sciously by an act of will. The earth then became trans-
parent to their gaze and they saw behind it the sun at mid-
night the Hazing star. Not, of course, the physical sun,
but the spiritual sun which is the true Christ-star, for the
cosmic Christ is the highest Initiate among the luminous
sun spirits, the Archangels.
QUESTION No. 95.
. What were the gifts of the wise men?
Answer: The Bible tells us that they were gold, myrrh
and frankincense.
Gold has always been regarded as the emblem of spirit
in the old legends and symbology. In the story of the Ring
of the Niebelung, dramatized by Wagner, we hear how the
Rhine maidens played in their watery element on the bot-
tom of the river Rhine. The water was lighted by the
flame of the gold. This legend takes us back to the time
when these children of the mist were living in the beautiful
conditions of early Atlantis, where they were one vast
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 393
brotherhood, innocent and childlike, and the Universal
Spirit had not yet drawn into the separate bodies.
The gold resting upor. the rock at the bottom of the
water was the symbol of the Universal Spirit illuminating
all mankind. Later it is stolen and welded into a ring by
Alberich, the Niebelung, who forswears love to possess this
gold. Then it becomes the symbol of the separate Ego in
the present loveless age of selfishness. The man who has
become wise and sees the evils of selfishness offers gold to
the Christ as a symbol of his desire for the return to the
Universal spirit of Love.
The second gift, myrrh, is an aromatic plant growing in
Arabia which is very rare and scarce. It is the symbol of
the soul. We are told in legends of saints who have been
so holy that they emitted an aroma. This is thought to be
a pious fable, but it is an actual fact that a man may be-
come so holy that he emits a most beautiful perfume.
The third gift, frankincense, is a symbol of the dense
body, which has been etherealized by a holy life, for frank-
incense is a physical vapor. The minister of the interior,
of Servia, one of the conspirators who planned the regicide
in that country less than a decade ago, has since written
his memoirs. It appears, according to him, that when
they burned incense at the time they invited people to join
them in their conspiracy, they invariably succeeded in win-
ning over the one whom they sought. He did not know
why, he simply mentioned it as a curious coincidence. But
to the occultist the matter is plain.
No spirit can work in any world without a vehicle made
of the material of 'that world. To function in the Physical
World, to fetch and carry, we must have a dense body and
a vital body; both are made of various grades of physical
matter, solids, liquids, gas and ether. We may obtain such
194 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
vehicles in the ordinary way, by going through the womb to
birth, or we may extract ether from the body of a medium
and temporarily use that to materialize, or we may use
the fumes of incense. In the Catholic Church, where cer-
tain spirits are invoked, incense furnishes the vehicle
whereby they may operate upon the assembled congrega-
tion as the discarnate spirits did to favor the Servian
regicides.
Thus we see that the gifts of the wise men are spirit,
soul and body, devoted to the service of humanity. To
give oneself is to imitate Christ, to follow in His steps.
QUESTION Ko. 96.
Was not Jesus a Jew? If so, what did he mean by say-
ing " Before Abraham was, I am"? For even if lie rein-
carnated, Abraham was the father of the Jewish race.
Answer: In olden times, and even up to the present
day, patriotism is looked upon as one of the prime virtues,
but from the occult standpoint there is of course but the
One Spirit, and the races are but an evanescent phase of
the scheme of evolution; in fact, a very dangerous phase,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 195
for while in the Periods and great Epochs of evolution
there is an abundance of time, and it is possible for the
leaders to biing most of the spirits in line for promotion,
the races and nations are born and die in such a compara-
tively short time, there is great danger that the spirits may
become enmeshed in the race bodies and not follow the bulk
of humanity in their progress.
This is just what happened to the Jews. They were so
intensely patriotic that no Jew thought of himself as an
individual at all. Primarily, and when using the highest
terms, he would speak of himself as "Abraham's seed/'
Secondarily, he thought of himself as belonging to a cer-
tain tribe, and lastly, perhaps, he was Solomon Levi or
Moses Cohen.
The Christ combatted this idea of identity with the race
when he said, "Before Abraham was, I am." The Ego
existed before Abraham ; Abraham was an incarnation of
an Ego, a spirit. He, and the Jewish race descended from
him, were simply bodies, but the Egos which inhabited
them existed before the race bodies. Thus the Christ ad-
vised his hearers to look from the evanescent to the eternal.
In another place He said, "Unless a man leave father
and mother, he cannot follow Me." Father and mother are
also race bodies. We have no right to leave dependent rela-
tives to follow the higher life ; we must fulfil all our duties
here before we selfishly take up the study of the higher
life, but we are not to identify ourselves with the race, the
nation, or the family into which we are born. Every one
of us is an individual spirit, which existed before the bodies
we call races and will exist after they have ceased to be.
Failing to keep that fact in mind, we may crystallize and
stay with the race instead of progressing. That is just
what the Jews have done. Their intense patriotism has
196 EOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
caused them as spirits to reincarnate in the Jewish race
bodies for milleniums.
The leaders of humanity had sought in various ways to
get them to amalgamate with others, that they might pro-
gress, but always in vain, and Christ was sent to them for
the same reason that Booker T. Washington has been sent
to the negroes. Though a more advanced soul than his
race brethren, he was incarnated in a black body to enable
him to help the negroes in the most efficient manner. Had
he been embodied in a white skin, there would always have
been a seeming patronage. Similar reasons decreed the
birth of Christ as a Jew. It was hoped that they would
receive His teachings because coming from one of their
own race. But instead of honoring their traditions and
looking up to Abraham in a reverential attitude of mind,
He cast down their ideals, He spoke of a new heaven and
a new earth, He asserted the priority of the individual to
the race, and, therefore, they would have none of Him
"they chose Barrabas."
QUESTION Xo. 97.
Jesus was baptized at thirty, receiving the "Christ
Spirit/' Please explain this baptism.
Answer: The earth has not always been as it is now.
Science tells us that there was a time when it was blended
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 197
firemist. The Bible goes back even further and speaks of
a time before that mist, when the earth became glowing
and luminous as fire; a time when darkness reigned.
There have been in all four epochs or stages in this de-
velopment of the earth. First there was this dark stage,
which is called in the Rosicrucian terminology the "Po-
larian" Epoch. Then the substance which now forms the
earth was a dark mass, hot and gaseous. -In the second
stage, called the Hyperborean Epoch, this dark mass was
ignited. We are told "God said: 'Let there be light/ and
there was light." Then came the stage when the heat of
this firemist in contact with cold space generated moisture,
and this moisture was densest near the fiery core, where
it was heated to steam that rushed outward from the cen-
ter "God divided the waters from the waters," that is, the
dense water nearest the core from the light steam outside.
Finally there came an incrustation, such as always takes
place where water is boiled over and over again, and thus
the crust over the earth, the dry land, was formed.
When that crust had been completed, there was no
water upon the surface of the earth, but as the Bible says,
"A mist went up from tae surface," and no herb had yet
grown upon the face of the earth. At that time, however,
vegetation began to appear and nascent humanity lived
there. But they \vere not a humanity constituted as we are
today. Their form was very much different and they were
not nearly as evolved as we are at the present time. In
fact, body and spirit were not perfectly together; the spirits
hovered partly outside and therefore "man's eyes had not
yet been opened."
Old folk stories such as we hoar of in Germany and dif-
ferent places in the Old World, speak of them as the Niebel-
unp-en. "Xiebcl" moan- mi>t and "ungen" is children.
198 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
They were the "children of the mist/' for the clear atmos-
phere of today did not then exist; the sun appeared like
an arc lamp in the street on a very foggy day, on account
of the density of the mist which rose from the earth.
While humanity lived in that state, they were not as far
advanced mentally as we are now. They could not see
things outside themselves, but they had an inner percep-
tion. They saw the soul qualities of all who lived around
them and they perceived themselves as spiritual rather than
material. At that time there were no nations at all, but
humanity was one vast brotherhood. All were partially
outside their bodies and therefore in touch with the Uni-
versal Spirit, which has now been obscured in the separate-
ness of egotism which cause? each man to feel himself dis-
tinct and apart from all the rest of humanity; where
brotherhood is forgotten and selfishness rules.
When any one has progressed so far that he appreciates
the blessings of brotherhood, where he endeavors to abolish
egotism and cultivate altruism, he may go through the rite
of baptism. He enters the water as a symbol of his return
to the ideal conditions of brotherhood which existed when
all humanity lived, so to speak, in water. Therefore, we
see Jesus, the herald of Universal Brotherhood, at the be-
ginning of his minis-try entering the waters of the Jordan
and being baptized there. When he rose from the waters,
the Universal Spirit rested upon Him as a dove, and from
that time on he was not simply Jesus, but Christ Jesus,
the potential Savior^of the world imbued with the Univer-
sal Spirit, which shall eventually take away all the evils of
selfishness and restore mankind to the blessings of brother-
hood which will be realized when the Universal Spirit has
become immanent in all mankind.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWER 199
QUESTION No. 98.
I f ~- your teaching you state that we stay for a time, aver-
aging about one-third of the length of the earth life, in
Purgatory in order that our sins may be expiated prior to
going to heaven. How then do you reconcile this teaching
with the words of the Christ to the dying thief: "Today
thou shalt be luith me in Paradise" ?
Answer: The New Testament was written in Greek, a
language in which no punctuation marks are used. The
punctuation marks in our Bible have been inserted by our
later Bible translators, and punctuation often very radi-
cally changes the meaning of a sentence, as the following
story will illustrate:
In a prayer meeting some one handed in a request which
the pastor read thus : "A sailor going to sea, his mother-in-
law desires the prayers of the congregation for his safe
return to wife and child/"' The request was not punctu-
ated at all, but would imply that the young man's mother-
in-law was very solicitous to have him return safely to his
wife and child and therefore desired the prayers of the
congregation. Had the pastor read it without the comma,
it would have implied that the sailor, going to see his
mother-in-law, desired the prayers of the congregation for
his safe return to wife and child, and one would naturally
think that the lady in question must be a Tartar when
it was necessary for the young man to ask the prayers of
the congregation before facing her. In this case, if the
words of Christ are read thus : "Verily I say unto thee
today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise,' 7 they would
imply that the thief would be with the Christ at some
200 ECSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
future time not defined. But where the comma is placed
before the word today, as in the Bible, it gives the idea
ordinarily held by people.
That this idea is absolutely wrong can be seen by the
remark of the Christ just after His resurrection, when He
said to the woman: "Touch me not, for I have not yet
ascended to my Father." If He promised the Thief that
'lie should be with Him in Paradise on the day of the cruci-
fixion and three days later declared that Ha had not yet
been there, the Christ would have been guilty of a contra-
diction which, of course, is an impossibility. Placing of
the comma as suggested fully reconciles the meaning of
the two passages, and besides Jude tells us that in the inter-
val He worked with the spirits in Purgatory.
QUESTION Xo. 99.
What is the esoteric meaning of the two thieves and the
cross ?
Answer: Contrary to the ordinarily accepted opinion,
the four Gospels are not at all the biography of Jesus, the
Christ; they are Formulae of initiation of four different
Mystery Schools, and in order to veil their esoteric mean-
AND ANSWERS 201
ing, the life and ministry of the Christ is also intermingled.
That could be easily done as all initiates, being cosmic
characters, have similar experiences. It is truly said that
unto the multitude the Christ spoke in parables, but the
hidden meaning was given to His disciples in private.
Paul also gave the milk to the weak and the meat to the
strong ones. It was never intended at any time to give
the hidden symbols to ordinary people, or to make the
Bible "an open book of God," as people nowadays believe.
When reading in the memory of nature, we find that at
the time of the crucifixion, there were not only two, but a
number, who were crucified. The people of that time meted
out capital punishment for the slightest offenses and there
were always plenty to suffer these barbar ous deaths. Thus,
those who wanted to veil the hidden meaning of the gos-
pels were at no loss to find something wherewith to fill
out the tale and obscure the points which are really vital
in the crucifixion. The part of the story relating to the
thieves is, therefore, a true incident, without having any-
thing to do with the esoteric meaning at all.
202 BC8ICEUCTAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 100.
What is the meaning of the cross? Is it simply an in-
strument of torture as usually taught in the orthodox
religion ?
Anstver: Like all other symbols, the meanings of the
cross are many. Plato gave one of these meanings when
he said, "The Worldsoul is crucified," that is to say: We
have four kingdoms in the world the mineral, the plant,
the animal and the man.
The mineral kingdom ensouls all chemical substance of
whatever kind, so that th^ cross, of whatever material it is
made, is first a symbol of that kingdom.
The upright lower limb of the cross is a symbol of the
plant kingdom because the currents of the group spirits
which give life to the plants come from the center of the
earth where these group ppirits are located and reach out
toward the periphery of our planet and into space.
The upper limb of the cross is the symbol of man, be-
cause the life currents of the human kingdom pass down-
ward from the sun through the vertical spine. Thus man
is the inverted plant, for as the plant takes its food through
the root, passing it upward, so does the man take his nour-
ishment by way of the hpad, passing it downward. The
plant is chaste, pure and passionless, and stretches its cre-
ative organ, the flower, chastely and unashamed toward the
sun, a thing of beauty and delight. Man turns his passion
filled generative organ toward the earth. Man inhales the
life giving oxygen and exhales the poisonous carbon dioxide.
The plant takes the poison exhaled by man, building its
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 203
body therefrom, and returning to us the elixir of life, the
cleansed oxygen.
Between the plant and the human kingdom stands the
animal with the horizontal spine, and in the horizontal
spine the life currents of the animal group spirit play as-
they circle around our globe. Therefore the horizontal limb
of the cross is the symbol of the animal kingdom.
In esotericism the cross was never looked upon as an in-
strument of torture, and it was not until the sixth century
that the crucified Christ was shown in pictures. Previous
to that time the symbol of the Christ was a cross and a
lamb resting at its foot, to convey the idea that at the
time when the Christ was born the sun at the vernal equi-
nox crossed the equator in the sign Aries, the Lamb. The
symbols of the different religions have always been made
in that way. At the time when the sun by precession
crossed the vernal equinox in the sign Taurus, the Bull, a
religion was founded in Egypt where they worshiped the
Bull Apis in the same sense that we worship the Lamb of
God. At a much earlier date, we hear of the Norse God
Thor driving his twin goats across the sky. That was at
the time when the vernal equinox was in the sign Gemini,
the Twins. At the time of the birth of Christ, the vernal
equinox was in about i degrees of Aries, the Lamb, there-
fore our Savior was called the Lamb of God. There was
a dispute in the earlier centuries regarding the propriety
of having the lamb as a symbol of our Savior. Some
claimed that the vernal equinox at His birth was really in
the sign Pisces, the Fishes, and that the symbol of our
Savior should have been a fish. It is in memory of that
dispute that the bishop's mitre still takes the form of the
hoad of a fish.
204 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION Xo. 101.
Could not tlie mission of Christ liave been accomplished
without such a drastic method as the crucifixion?
Answer: It could, of course, have been accomplished
without the specific method of crucifixion, hut it was an
absolute necessity that the blood should flow. There are
various grades of teachers and they require different condi-
tions for the accomplishment of their task. Some teachers,
like Moses and the Buddha, come to a nation and help it
to a certain point, they themselves growing thereby; and
both of the teachers mentioned attained to the point in their
own development where their bodies became luminous. We
hear how the face of Moses shone so that it became neces-
sary for him to use a veil. The Buddha became luminous
at the time of his death. The Christ attained the stage of
luminosity at the time of His transfiguration, and it is
very significant that the most important part of His work,
His suffering and death, took place after the event of the
transfiguration. And while it became necessary for Moses,
Elijah, Buddha and other previous teachers to be born in
a physical body again and again, in order to bear the sins
of their people, the Christ has only appeared once in a
physical body and will not need again to take upon Him-
self such an instrument. For when the spirit leaves the
body in the natural way it takes along certain impurities
as it slowly withdraws from the congealing blood. Even
in such a pure body as the body of Jesus, there were impuri-
ties, and the violent death which caused the Wood to run
liberated the Ego of Christ from the blood with a quick
wrench, leaving behind whatever impurity there may have
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 205
been, so that the Christ emerged from the body of Jesus
unsullied and without the tie of destiny usually attendant
on life in the dense body.
On the same principle it is a fact that although at the
present time we have wars that are to be regretted from
the mere human standpoint, it is nevertheless a fact which
is patent to the occultist that these wars have cleansed the
blood of the race considerably, so that gradually humanity
is becoming less and less passionate and more and more
Spiritual.
The animals of today, though behind us in evo-
lution, are on a higher spiral and while we now are suffer-
ing under the law of consequence, because of having to
overcome our passions in our own strength, the animals
are being helped and held in check by their group spirits.
And when they reach the human stage in the Jupiter
Period, they will be a higher humanity, free from the pas-
sions which have made this world such a sorrowful place.
Thus nature always transmutes whatever evil we may
commit into a higher good.
Answering the question, we may therefore say that in
the case of Christ the violent death was necessary because
it enabled the Christ spirit to withdraw from the body of
Jesus without retaining any of the impurities attached to
that merely human vehicle.'
206 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION- No. 102.
According to the Rosicrucian teaching, when will Christ
come again ?
Answer: The Bible says truly that the "day and the
hour knoweth no man," and the people who have been
trying to fix a certain date or a certain year for the Second
Coming have entirely misunderstood the object of the
Christ's mission on earth. His teaching was given to hu-
manity in order that the law, "An eya for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth" might be abolished that the law of fear
(of God) might be swallowed up by the law of love. "The
law and the prophets were until Christ," it is said, but we
know that even today law is, and is necessary. Therefore,
it is evident that law was not abolished at the physical
coming of Christ. It is the coming of Christ into "the
within," the inner nature of man, that is to abolish law.
Paul speaks of this advent as the "Christ being formed in
ye," and until the Christ has been formed in us we are not
ready for the Second Coming. Angelus Silesius says:
"Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born,
And not within thyself, thy soul will be forlorn.
The cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain,
Unless within thyself it be set up again."
The Second Coming of Christ depends upon how soon
a sufficient number of people have become Christ-like and
attuned to the Christ principle, so that, as tuning forks of
the same pitch sing together when one is struck, they will
be able to respond to the Christ vibrations that will be set
up at the return of the Savior. Therefore, this event is not
to be calculated. Every time we endeavor to imitate Christ
and fulfil His teachings, we are hastening His Coming; so
let us thus strive.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 207 '
QUESTION Xo. 103.
What is meant l>y the saying that Christ was made a high
priest forever after the order of Melchisedec?
Answer: We are told that this Melchisedec was king of
Salem and also a high priest. We are told that his priest-
hood was far above tha't of Aaron, for it was unchangeable,
while that of Aaron and the Levites was subject to frequent
change.
During the times of which we have records in history,
there has always been a division of the temporal and the
ecclesiastical powers. Moses was the temporal ruler and
leader of the Jewish people, while Aaron was the priest
who looked after their spiritual welfare, and down the
ages this division of the church and the state has ever been
apparent, at times causing great strife and bloodshed, for
their interests seem ever to be diametrically opposite. But
at the time of this Melchisedec, king of Salem, which inter-
preted means "peace" there was no such division, the two
offices were combined in one individual. The story of Mel-
chisedec, a Being without earthly pedigree, refers, of course,
to the time in early Atlantis when humanity had not yet
been divided into warring nations, but were one vast,
peaceful brotherhood, and the leaders of the people were
Divine Beings, who were both kings and priests.
The later division of church and state has been one of
the most fruitful sources of enmity and war among human-
ity, for each of these powers has striven for supremacy over
the other, while in reality there should be no prejudice, for
no one who is not as spiritual as a priest should be is fit to
rule as a king, and no one who is not as wise and just as
208 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
a king should be is fit to have the spiritual guidance of
humanity as {he priests have. When these qualities are
combined in one leader again, the reign of universal peace
and brotherhood will become a fact. The Christ has been
heralded as such a leader, capable of uniting church and
state as king and priest after the order of Melchisedec.
His Second Coming inaugurates the millennium, the age
of peace and joy, where the symbolical New Jerusalem, the
city of peace (for Jer-u-salem means "there shall be
peace"), reigns over the nations of the earth, united into
one universal brotherhood. There shall be Peace on Earth
and Goodwill among Men.
QUESTION No. 104.
What did Christ mean when He said, "All who came be-
fore Me were thieves and robbers"?
Answer: We read in the Bible about two great cities,
strangely similar yet directly opposite. - One is the city of
Babylon, the birthplace of confusion, where men ceased to
be brothers and separated from one another. It lies upon
seven hills by a river and is ruled over by a king, Lucifer
the "day star" the light giver. His fall from heaven is
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 209
lamented exceedingly in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah,
and later on we hear of the fall of that great city, which
has become an abomination, is called a harlot, having
caused war, trouble and desolation among all the people, of
the earth.
Then, in supreme antithesis, we are told of another city
called the Ne\v Jerusalem, which occupies the honored
position as bride. In that city there is not a flowing river
but a sea of glass. It also lies upon seven hills, is ruled
over by another light giver who is called "the light of the
world/' and it is a city of peace w T here the gates are never
closed although the precious Tree of Life is within. This
city is not a city of this w r orld, but a city which has come
down from heaven.
To understand this symbology, it is necessary to go back
into the far distant past when man-in-the-making had not
yet attained the development he has today. When he first
came upon this earth the dense body was built in the
Polarian Epoch, and was vitalized by the interpenetration
of a vital body in the Hyperborean Epoch. At that time
man was like the Angels, male-female, a complete creative
unit, able to create from himself by projecting his whole
creative force which is love.
Later it became necessary for man lo evolve a brain, and
in order to accomplish that object one-half of his creative
force was turned inward in order to build the necessary
organs. From that time on, man must seek the coopera-
tion of some one having the other half of the sex force
available for propagation, Now he loves selfishly to obtain
the cooperation of another in propagation; the other half
of the creative force wherewith he built his brain and
larynx he also uses selfishly to think, because he cfesires to
obtain knowledge.
10 ROSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Previously man had projected his whole creative force
without reserve, unselfishly. Since the division of the sex
force man has eventually become selfish and therefore by
attraction a prey to others of like nature.
The Angels were the humanity of the Moon Period and
have since attained to their present high development, but
as in every great company there are stragglers, so also in
the case of the Angels there were some who did not attain
a class of beings which were behind the Angels but above
humanit} r . They were in a sad state, for they could not
follow the present development of the Angels and neither
could they sink as low into matter as man. They could
not, as the Angels, dispense with a brain, yet they were
incapable of building one for themselves, so when humanity
evolved the brain and spinal cord they saw an opportunity
in woman, who expresses the negative pole of the creative
force, imagination, the faculty which enables her to build a
body in the womb. In order to gain access to her con-
sciousness this intelligence took advantages of a perplexity
then disturbing the woman on account of her exercise of
the imaginative faculty.
At that time the eyes of humanity had not yet been
opened; they were spiritual beings, not quite conscious of
the possession of a physical body. The woman was the
first to dimly observe that she and others possessed such
an instrument, and die had observed that at certain times
some of her friends whom she had previously perceived as
having this physical appendage, had lost it, so she was
troubled. From the Angels she could obtain no informa-
tion, but this intelligence which appeared within herself
in the serpentine spinal cord, enlightened her, and "the
serpent Said unto the woman, 'Hath God said, ye shall not
eat of every Tree in the Garden ?' " to which she answered
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEEG 211
S
that they had been forbidden "to eat of the Tree of Knowl-
edge" under penalty of death. But the serpent said: "Ye
shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil." The woman secured the co-
operation of the man according to the instructions of Luci-
fer, the light giver, and since then their eyes have been
opened, they have known good and evil. But prior to that
time man had been unconscious of the possession of his
body; it had fallen away from him at times, as the leaf
falls from the tree, without inconveniencing or disturbing
him, for his consciousness had been focused in the Spiritual
World at all times. But the Lucifer spirits desired a power
over him, a foothold in his brain and spinal cord. They
incited him to break away from the yoke of the Angels and
take the creative function in his own hands. By the oft
repeated and ignorant abuse of that faculty the conscious-
ness of man was withdrawn from the Spiritual Worlds and
focused in the Physical World. Then came death in all
its present terrible aspect, for man now regards this earth
life as the only real life. When that ends, he enters an
existence of which he knows nothing and which he conse-
quently fears.
Thus, on account of listening to Lucifer, the fake light
giver, man has become subject to sorrow, pain and death.
He has been robbed of his innocence and peace. The Christ
came into the world to save humanity from sin, sorrow ani
death. Therefore He called Himself the true light, and tho
others, who had come before, He characterized as thieves
and robbers, for they had robbed man of the spiritual sight
though they had enlightened him in the physical sense.
212 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 105.
What did the Christ mean when lie said, "Whosoever
shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child shall
not enter therein"?
Answer: In the world around us we see the kingdom
of men, where every one is endeavoring to maintain his
own position and depends upon his own ideas and his own
self-assertion to hold that position against all comers.
When anything new is presented to him, his mental atti-
tude is usually tinged with skepticism. He fears to be
deceived.
The attitude of a little child with regard to what it sees
or hears is exactly the reverse of the position of its elders.
The little child has no overwhelming sense of its own su-
perior knowledge, but is frankly ignorant and therefore
eminently teachable, and it was to this trait that the Savior
referred in the passage quoted.
When we enter the higher life, we must first forget
everything that we knew in the world. We must com-
mence to look at things in an entirely different way, and
when a new teaching is brought before us we must endeavor
to receive it regardless of other facts previously observed.
This in order that we may be perfectly unbiased. Of
course, we are not supposed to believe offhand that "black*
is white," but if some one seriously asserts that an object
which we have hitherto regarded as black is really white,
our mind should be sufficiently open to prevent us from
passing judgment at once and saying, "Why, I know that
that object is black." We should be willing to reexamine
the object to see if there may not be a point of view whence
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 213
that thing which we have thought black appears to be white.
Only when we have made thorough examination and have
found that the thing is really black from whatever point
of view may we return to our previous opinion.
There is nothing so remarkable about a child as the flex-
ible attitude of its mind which renders it so teachable, and
the pupil who endeavors to live the higher life should al-
ways aim to keep his mind in that fluid ic state, for as soon
as our ideas have become set and incapable of being
changed, our progress ceases. That was the great truth
which the Christ was endeavoring to present to his hearers
v/hen he made the remark which has occasioned the ques-
tion.
QUESTION Ko. 106.
Did not Jesus eat fish? Why then are the Eosicrucians
vegetarians?
Answer: After the Resurrection the Christ at one time
appeared among His disciples while they were in a locked
room. They did not recognize Him at once and did not
believe that His was a material body. But the vehicle in
which He appeared was the vital body of Jesus, and it was
214 BOS1CRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
possible for Him,, as for anyone else capable of functioning
in that vehicle, to draw matter of the chemical region
around Himself and build a perfectly tangible, dense body
in a moment. In order to convince them that He was as
usual, He asked for something to eat and was given a
piece of a honeycomb and some fish. It is stated that he
ate, but not that he ate the fish, and one who had been
brought up among strict vegetarians like the Essenes
would not have eaten the fish any more than he would
have eaten flesh if it had been set before him.
It is also related of the Buddha that he died after gorging
himself upon boar's flesh, which is highly amusing to asy-
one aware of the fact that he taught his disciples the
simple and harmless life to sustain the body upon the
purest and best foods as they come directly from the ground
and was moved to the greatest pity at the sight of suffer-
ing on the part of man or beast. The esoteric student
understands that in olden times the boar was a symbol of
the esoteric knowledge. One may give of his knowledge;
the more we give the more we have at least the same
amount of knowledge always remains. This truth was
taught in a symbol of tie Xorse mythology : In Valhall
the warriors who had fought the good fight were seated
around tables feasting upon the flesh of a boar, which was
so constituted that as often as they cut a part of its flesh
away the flesh grew out at once, so that there was always
plenty, no matter how much was taken or how many ate.
The Buddha in his earth life had gorged himself upon this
sacred knowledge, and when he died he was full thereof.
Nevertheless, the inquirer has a wrong idea. The Rosi-
crucians do not teach that everyone should be a vegetarian
at once. In fact they teach that the vegetarian diet gen-
erates an abundance of energy, much more than flesh foods.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 215
This energy is not only physical but spiritual, so that if
a man leads a sedentary life and is of a material disposi-
tion, engaged, perhaps, in sordid business transactions or
in other lines of strictly material endeavor, this spiritual
energy can find no vent and is apt to cause systemic dis-
turbances. Only those who live an active, outdoor life,
where the abundance of energy generated by the vegetarian
food can be thrown off, or who transmute that energy into
spiritual endeavor, can thrive on the vegetarian diet. Be-
sides, we recognize that the heredity of many generations
has made man partly carniverous, so that in the case of
most people the change from a mixed diet to vegetables
should be gradual. The diet which suits one man is not
fitted for another, vide the old proverb that "one man's
meat is another man's poison," and no hard and fast rules
can be laid down which will apply equally to all people.
Therefore, everything that we eat as well as everything else
connected with our personality should be determined by
ourselves individually.
The Bible says truly that it is not that which goeth into
the mouth that defileth us. If we crave and support our-
selves upon loathsome food, it is the craving tliat is the sin
and not the food itself. If a man is in a place where he
cannot obtain the pure foods which he desires and craves,
he ought to take the food which is obtainable, even flesh
food, without loathing, just as thankfully as he takes the
pure food. It will not defile him because of his attitude.
of mind,
216 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 107.
// Christ fed the multitude with fish, why is it wrong for
us to use them, or even flesh, as food?
Answer: It is the nature of a beast of prey to eat any
animal that comes in its path, and its organs are such that
it must have that kind of a diet to exist, but everything is
in a stage of becoming; it is always changing to something
higher. Man, in his earlier stages of unfoldment, was also
like the beasts of prey in certain respects; however, he is
to become God-like and thus lie must cease to destroy at
some time in order that lie may commence to create. The
Jews were still in a position where their animal natures
were so much to the fore that they had exceedingly small
ideas of altruism. They clung closely to the law, "An eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," and were not at all
merciful in any respect. We have gone a little further
along the path of evolution, and altruism is coming to the
fore more and more.
\Ve have been taught that there is no life in the universe
but the life of God. That "in Him we live and move and
have our being." That His life animates everything that
is and therefore we naturally understand that as soon as
we take life we are destroying the form built by God for
His manifestation. The lower animals are evolving spirits
and have sensibilities. It is their desire for experience
that causes them to build their various forms, and when we
take their forms away from them we deprive them of their
opportunity for gaining experience. We hinder their evo-
lution instead of helping them. It is excusable in the
cannibal, who knows no better, when he eats his fellow
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 21?
men. We now regard cannibalism with horror, and the
day will also come when we shall feel a like disgust at the
thought of making our stomachs the burying ground of
the carcasses of murdered animals.
It is natural that we sliould desire the very best of food,
but every animal body has in it the poisons of decay. The
venous blood is filled with carbon dioxide and other noxious
products on their way to the kidneys or the pores of the
skin to be expelled as urine or perspiration. These loath-
some substances are in every part of the flesh and when
we eat such food we are filling our own bodies with toxic
poisons. Much sickness is due to our use of flesh foods.
When we cry to the Bible as authority for flesh eating
we should also be willing to follow its injunctions and stop
eating pork, which is the most horrible food of all. It is
a notable fact that the orthodox Jews who abstain from the
foods interdicted in the Bible are immune from consump-
tion and cancer.
In a great many places where the Bible speaks of "meat,"
it is very plain that flesh food is not meant. The chapter
in Genesis where man's food is first allotted to him says
that he should eat of every tree and herb bearing seed, "and
to you.it shall be for meat." The most evolved people at all
times have abstained from flesh foods. We see, for instance,
Daniel, who was a holy man and a wise man, beg that he
might not be forced to eat meat, but that he and his com-
panions be given pulse. The children of Israel in the
wilderness are spoken of as "lusting after flesh," and their
God is angry with them in consequence.
There is an esoteric meaning to the feeding of the mul-
titude where fish was used as food, but looking to the purely
material aspect we may sum up the points made in our
answer by reiterating that we shall some time outgrow
218 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
flesh and fish eating as we have risen above cannibalism.
Whatever license may have been given in the barbaric past
will disappear in the altruistic future, when more refined
sensibilities shall have awakened us to a fuller sense of
the horrors involved in the gratification of a carnivorous
taste.
For a very full presentation of the question, "Does the
Bible justify Flesh Eating," we would refer the inquirer
to a little pamphlet by that name issued by the Unity
Society of Kansas City, Missouri, which gives the pro and
the con with great impartiality, and shows that it was
only as a concession to the before mentioned lust for flesh
that the practice was tolerated at all.
QUESTION Xo. 108.
Please explain why the fatted calf was not killed for the
righteous son instead of the prodigal. Was that not giving
a reward for wrong doing ?
Answer: The story of the prodigal son was a parable
whereby the Christ intended to teach a lesson and not an
actual fact. It is a story which tells of the spirit's pil-
grimage through matter. There are different classes of
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
spirits. Some, but not all, have gone into the school of
experience, the world. They have descended from their
high estate in the World of God gradually deeper and
deeper into the sea of matter which blinds them. At last
they find themselves immeshed in the dense matter of the
Physical World. That is the turning point where they
wake up; where the unconscious path of involution ends;
where self-consciousness is attained plus a consciousness of
the world without. But the spirit within is not content
to remain in this world. Re-awakened to a sense of its
inherent divinity it feels drawn anew to the highest spheres,
and says "I will arise and go to my Father."
Then comes the toil of stripping off the various vehicles
in which it has become immeshed and of raising itself once
more to the conscious communion with God. While en-
gaged in this arduous task "the Father meets it a long way
off''; the still small voice from within begins to speak and
tell of the heavenly glories and, at last, when either the
evolution of humanity has been completed or the single
spirit has taken the short cut of initiation, there is a re-
union with God and the other brothers who have not yet
gone out into the school of experience. Naturally there is
more rejoicing over the return of one who has fought the
good fight and has come back to his heavenly home, than
over the one who has not yet sought to improve his oppor-
tunity.
220 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 109.
Why did the Lord commend the unjust steward as re-
lated in the sixtcentli chapter of St. Luke?
Answer: The inquirer should read the chapter care-
full}^. We are told ot ? an unfaithful steward who was
brought before his master, the latter being suspicious that
his accounts were not quite right. This unfaithful steward
made a bargain with the debtors of his master to secure
himself against tne day of discharge from his position. It
is said in verse 8 that "the lord commended the unjust
steward." When he rendered his accounts he must have
fixed them so skilfully that his master was deceived, for
the "lord" of the man his master was the one who com-
mended him, as will be seen from the fact that the word
"lord" is spelled with a small letter, whereas the capital
letter is always used where the Christ is signified.
QUESTION No. 110.
Please explain what is meant ~by sinning against the Holy
Ghost.
'Answer: Speaking generally, the Holy Spirit is the cre-
ative power of God. For confirmation, remember the pas-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 221
sage in the creed "Conceived by the Holy Spirit/' which
Gabriel said to Mary should come upon her. By that all
that is has been brought into being, and it is a ray from
that attribute of God which is used by men for perpetuation
of the race. When that is abused, that is to say, when it
is used for sense gratification, whether in solitary or asso-
ciated vice, with or without the legal marriage, that is the
sin against the Holy Spirit. That sin, we are told, is not
forgiven; it must be expiated. Humanity as a whole is
now suffering for that sin. The debilitated bodies, the
sickness that we see around us, has been caused by cen-
turies of abuse, and until we learn to subdue our passions
there can be no true health among the human race. We
have been born of parents who thought that it was right to
gratify their passions at any and all times. In consequence
we suffer now, and by our attitude toward the sex question
most of us are at the present time conferring the same
maladies upon our children. Thus the sins of the fathers
are being visited upon the children from generation to
generation, and will continue to bring sorrow and suffering
until we shall understand that every child has a right to be
well born and to receive the proper physical conditions
during the period of antenatal life,
222 BQSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 111.
Is the Christian creed based upon divine authority?
Answer: There are three forms of the Christian creed.
One of them is known as the Apostle's Creed, although not
composed by the apostles, but supposed to embody their
beliefs. Another creed was formulated and adopted at the
Council of Nice and is called the Nicean Creed. The
Atlianasian Creed was of still later date. They have no
more divine authority than any other contention of men
concerning the Bible.
The Bible itself gives a creed, however, in the passage
which states that tJiere is no other name given except the
name of Christ Jesus whereby men may be saved, and this
is in harmony with the occult teaching, for Jehovah was the
author of all the old Race Religions where the fear of God
was pitted against the desires of the flesh and a law was
imposed upon man to curb desire. Race Religions act
educationally upon the desire nature by the means stated,
but will in time be superseded by the Religion of Christ.
This religion of brotherhood and love will cast out the fear
engendered by the law of Jehovah. It will endeavor to do
away with nations, with their laws, with struggle and
strife, by working upon the vital body so that humanity
shall be actuated entirely by love instead of by Jaw. This is
not the ultimate, however. When the kingdom shall have
been fully established, He is to give it over to the Father.
The Religion of the Father will be something higher even
than the Religion of the Son.
QUESTIONS AND AXSWEES 223
QUESTION No. 112.
How do you reconcile the law of cause and effect with
the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins?
Answer: The inability to believe in the forgiveness of
sins has caused many to believe exclusively in the law of
cause and effect, as taught in eastern countries under the
name Karma. There are also many who think that, be-
cause eastern religions teach that law and the law of rebirth
more clearly than the western religion, Christianity, these
eastern religions are better and more scientific than the
western religion, which teaches, as popularly interpreted,
that the Christ died for our sins and that in consequence
belief in Him will bring us forgiveness.
As a matter of fact, however, the Christian teaching
also enunciates the doctrine that "as we sow so shall we
also reap," and thus it teaches both the law of cause and
effect and the forgiveness of sins. Both, of these laws are
vitally operative in the unfoldment of humanity, and there
are good reasons why the earlier eastern religions have
only one part of the complete teaching which is found in
the Christian religion.
In those early days when the religions of the East were
given to humanity, mankind were still more spiritual in
nature than the material beings of the present day Western
World. They knew that we live many lives in different
shapes and forms here upon this earth. In the East today
they are yet thoroughly imbued with that idea, and as a
consequence they are exceedingly indolent. They are more
concerned with thoughts of Nirvana the invisible world
224: 50SICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
where they may rest in peace and joy, than with taking
advantage of their present material resources for advance-
ment. As a consequence, their country is arid and waste,
their crops are small and often destroyed hy a scorching
sun and devastating flood. They suffer famine, they die
\)j millions, hut although they teach the law of cause and
effect, they seem to he unaware that their miserable condi-
tions are brought about by indolence and indifference to
material things. For naturally, when they have not worked
here they have nothing to assimilate in the heaven life
between death and a new birth, and as an organ or limb
that is disused gradually atrophies, so a country that is not
developed by the spirits incarnated therein gradually atro-
phies and becomes useless as a habitation for mankind.
It was necessary to the evolution of humanity to enter this
material world and develop all its resources.
Therefore, the Great Leaders have taken various means
to cause us to temporarily forget the spiritual si da of our
nature. In the West, where the pioneers of the human
race are fcund, they commanded marriage outside the f am-
ity. They gave to the West a religion that did not defi-
nitely teach the doctrine of rebirth and the law of cause
and effect as means of advancement. They also originated
the use of alcohol, with its paralyzing effect upon the spir-
itual sensibilities of man By these means we have in the
West temporarily forgotten that there is more than this
one life on earth, and in consequence we apply ourselves
with the utmost diligence to making the fullest possible
use of what we believe to be our only opportunity here.
Therefore, we have developed the West into a veritable
garden; we have made for- ourselves, between incarnations,
a land that is exceedingly fertile and rich in the minerals
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 225
which we need in our various industries, and thus we are
conquering the visible material world.
It is evident, however, that the religious side of man's
nature must not be entirely neglected, and as Christ, the
great ideal of the Christian religion, had been set before us
for imitation, and we could not possibly hope to become
Christ-like in one life, which is all that we now have any
knowledge of, there must be given us a compensatory doc-
trine, or we should cease to strive in despair, knowing that
it would be futile. Therefore the Western World was
taught the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins through the
righteousness of Christ Jesus.
It is equally certain, however, that no doctrine which is
not a truth in nature could have any uplifting power, and,
therefore, there must also be a sound basis behind the doc-
trine of the forgiveness of sins, which seems to vitiate the
law of causation ; it is this :
When we look about us in the material world, we observe
the different phenomena of nature, we meet other people
and have various transactions with them, and all these
sights, sounds and scene? are observed by means of our
sense organs. Yet not all, for we are usually exceedingly
unobservant of details. It is exasperatingly true when it
is said that "we have eyes that see not and ears that hear
not." We lose a great deal of experience on that account.
Besides, our memory is woefully lacking ; while we are able
to recall a little, most of our experiences are lost to us
because we forget them. Our conscious memory is weak,
There is another memory, however. As the ether and the
air carry to the photographic plate in a camera the impres-
sion of the landscape without, omitting not the slightest
detail, so also does the air and the ether which carries im-
226 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
pressions from the outside to our sense organs carry into
the lungs, and thence to the blood, an actual picture and a
record of everything with which we come in contact. Those
pictures are stored in the irnnute seed atom resting in the
left ventricle of the heart, and that little atom may be
'considered the Book of the Kecording Angels, where all our
'deeds are inscribed. Thence it is mirrored in the Reflect-
ing Ether of our vital body.
In the ordinary course of life, man passes into Purga-
tory at death and expiates the sins inscribed upon that
atom. Later he assimilates all the good stored there in the
First Heaven, working upon his future environment in the
Second Heaven. But a devout person realizes each day
his shortcomings and failings. He examines the events of
this life daily and prays from a devout heart to be forgiven
for sins he has committed. Then the pictures which have
recorded the sins of omission and commission fade, and
are wiped out of his life's record from day to day. For
it is not the aim of God or nature to "yet even" as it would
seem under the law of causation, which decrees an exact
retribution for every transgression, as well as a reward or
compensation for every good act. It is the aim of God that
we should learn by experience here to do justly and well.
When we have realized that we have done wrong and de-
termine to do better, we have learned the lesson, and there
is no necessity for punishing us.
Thus the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins is an actual
fact in nature. If we repent, pray and reform, the sins
we have repented of, prayed for and reformed from are
forgiven and wiped out of our life's record. Otherwise,
they are eradicated by correspond ins: pains in Purgatory
after death. Thus the doctrine of Karma, or the law of
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 227
-cause and effect as taught in the East, does not fully meet
human- needs, but the Christian teaching, which embodies
both the law of causation and the doctrine of- the forgiver
ness of sins, gives a more complete teaching concerning
the method employed by the Great Leaders to instruct us.
QUESTION No. 113.
By what power did Peter raise Dorcas from the dead?
Answer: Peter did not raise Dorcas from the dead,
neither did the Christ raise Lazarus or anyone else, nor
did he so claim. He said "He is not dead, he sleepeth."
In order that this matter may be understood, we will
explain what takes place at death and wherein death is
different from the state of trance, for the persons men-
tioned were entranced at the time the supposed miracles
took place.
During the waking state, when the Ego is functioning
consciously in the Physical World, its various vehicles
are concentric they occupy the same space but at night,
when the body is laid down to sleep, a separation takes
place. The Ego, clothed in the mind and desire body,
extricates itself from the dense body and the vital body,
228 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
which are left upon the bed. The higher vehicles hover
above or near. They are connected to the denser vehicles
by the silver cord, a thin glistening thread which takes the
shape of two figure sixes, one end being attached to the
seed atom in the heart and the other to the center vortex of
the desire body.
At the moment of death, this thread is ruptured at the
seed atom in the heart and the forces of this atom pass
along the pneumogastric nerve, through the third ven-
tricle of the brain, and thence outward through the suture
between the occipital and parietal bones of the skull, along
the silver cord and into the higher vehicles. Simultane-
ously with this rupture, the vital body is also disengaged
and joins the higher vehicles which are hovering above
the dead body. There it remains for about three and
one-half days. Then the higher vehicles disengage them-
selves from the vital body, which disintegrates synchro-
nously with the dense body, in ordinary cases.
At the time of this last separation, the silver cord also
breaks in the middle, and the Ego is freed Lorn contact
with the material world.
During sleep the Ego also withdraws from the dense
body, but the vital body remains with the dense body and
the silver cord is left intact.
It sometimes happens that the Ego does not enter the
body in the morning to waken it as usual, but remains
outside for a time varying from one to an indefinite num-
ber of days. Then we say that the body is in a natural
trance. But the silver cord is not ruptured in either of
the two places mentioned. Where these ruptures have
once taken place no restoration is possible. The Christ
and the apostle were clairvoyants ; they saw that no rup-
ture had taken place in the cases mentioned, hence the say-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 229
ing, "He is not dead, he sleepeth." They also possessed
the power to force the Ego into its body and restore the
normal condition. Thus so-called miracles were per-
formed by them.
QUESTION Xo. 114.
Do you believe in conversion?
Answer: Certainty, but there are conversions and con-
versions. There is the conversion which takes place in a
revival meeting to the beating of drums, the clapping of
hands, the singing of gospel hymns and the insistent call-'
ing of the revivalist to "come before it is too late." All
these aids to conversion produce an intense hypnotic in-
fluence, which works upon the emotional nature of many
people in such a way that these "sinners," so called, can
no longer remain in their seats, but are forced in the most
literal sense to obey the command and come forward to
"the mourner's bench." That kind of a conversion is
usually of very little worth. Bevivalists find that it is
extremely easy to convert people in that manner. The ex-
asperatingly difficult problem is, as one of them expressed
it, "to make it stick," for when the victim of the hypnotic
23Q EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
reviyali$t .leaves the meeting, the influence gradually wears
off, aoid sooner or later he relapses into his original atti-
tude. And . thpjigh these., "backsliders" may feel no pang
at all when backsliding, the next revival meeting draws
them to the mourners' bench again as surely as a magnet
draws a needle. They are converted repeatedly and back-
slide regularly every time there is a revival meeting, to
the disgust of the revivalist and the amusement of the
community, who are unaware that it is a simple case of
mild hypnotism.
There is another conversion, however, always accompa-
nied by planetary influences, and according to the
strength of these influences the conversion, or change in
the life, will be more or less radical. It then shows that
the soul has reached a certain point in its pilgrimage
where it feels attraction to the higher life. The imme-
diate cause of conversion may be a sermon, a lecture or a
book, a verse in the Bible, or something in nature, but
that is only the physical cause of something which was
already a fact spiritually. From that moment the man or
the woman will commence to take a new view of life, will
lay aside the old vices, will follow new lines of thought
and endeavor. It may change his whole attitude toward
life and also his environment. In fact, very often a jour-
ney has brought him out of the usual environment for the
time being, to give the proper condition for sowing of
the new seed,
QUESTIONS AND AX S WEES 231
QUESTION No. 115.
there any value in confession and absolution?
Answer: If the inquirer means confession and absolu-
t'on in the sense in which it is practiced in the Catholic
Church, it may be stated that the priest, certainly, has no
power to forgive the sins of the penitent, and the prac-
tice of confession ~by the order of a church at the best is
usually but an outward show of penitence, putting one
in mind of the prayer of the Pharise.e who went into the
temple that he might be seen of men.
If, on the other hand, confession is made in the spirit of
the scribe, which is the spirit of true penitence, then
there is a certain value, for as a little child who has com-
mitted a wrong feels conscience smitten and sorry, so may
we feel extremely penitent for our sins of omission and
commission.
It is a fact often noticed by kind parents that peni-
tence in silence is sometimes insufficient to the child which
feels the need of going to the parent and confessing its sin.
When the forgiveness of the parent has been obtained its
conscience is at rest. So also with the child of God. We
sin and we are sorry for our sins ; we determine not to
commit this or that wrong again ; but if we can confess
to someone in whom we ha\e faith, and get their sym-
pathy and assurance that this wrong will next be held
against us, we shall feel easier in conscience. That was
the principle underlying the command of the Bible "Con--
fess your- sins to one another." The one to whom we
confess will, of course, be a person for whom we have
a profound respect and love, and he or she will stand
932 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
toward us at that moment as the representative of God'
or our own higher nature, and we shall thus feel very
touch relieved at having received his sympathy. But we
shall feel also that the pact we have made with ourselves
not to commit the sin in question again has been strength-
ened by having him as a witness. If confession is made
thus, and absolution so obtained, then it has undoubtedly
a verv beneficial effect.
QUESTION No. 116.
Is there any value in the Latin ritual used by the Catho-
lic Church? Would it not be better if it were translated
so that people could understand? And are not the extem-
poraneous sermons and prayers used in the Protestant
churches much to be preferred to the ritual and stereo-
typed masses of the Catholics?
Answer: At the present time all humanity has evolved
so far that they are above law in some respects. Most
people obey the law "Thou shalt not steal," for instance.
Law is a curb on the desire nature, but where occult or
rather spiritual advancement is contemplated, the spirit-
ualization of the vital body must also be accomplished.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 233
i
And that is attained by means of art and religion, in
oft-repeated impacts, for the keynote of the vital body is
repetition, as we can see by looking at the plants which
have only a dense body and a vital body. There stem
and leaf follow each other in upward succession; the
plant keeps on growing them alternately. It was the vital
body that built the vertebrae of the human spine one after
another by constant repetition. And memory, for in-
stance, which is one of the faculties of the vital body, is
strengthened and developed by constant iteration and
reiteration.
"When the Protestants left the Catholic Church they
truly left many of the abuses behind, but they also left
almost everything of value. They abandoned the ritual
which everyone may know and understand regardless of
poor enunciation upon the part of the preacher. Know-
ing the ritual, the laity could send their thoughts in the
same direction as the thought of the priest who was
reading, and thus an enormous volume of identical spirit-
ual thought was massed together and projected upon the
community for good or evil. Nowadays the congregation
in a Protestant church listens to the extemporaneous
prayer or sermon of their minister, who usually does not
think so much of the spiritual work before him as he
does of how he may turn out the most euphonious phrases
to tickle the ears of his congregation. They forget what
he has said before they leave the church. Those who go
to a Catholic church understanding the ritual are still
today able to unite their thoughts in spiritual conclave
and keep within memory that which has been gone
through. Thus they are every time adding a little to 'the
spiritualization of their vital bodies, while the Protestant
church members have been affected only in their emo-
34 KOSICHUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
tional natures, and that effect is soon thrown out. The
Bible tells us to pray without ceasing, and many have
scoffed saying that if God is omniscient He knows whereof
we have need without our prayer, and if He is not, He
can most likely not be omnipotent, and therefore our
prayers are not granted, so that it is useless to pray. But
that command was indited from a knowledge of the
nature of the vital body, which needs that repetition in
order that it may be spiritualized.
So much for the ritual. As to the use of the Latin
language, it is stated in the first chapter of John that
in the beginning was the word . . . and without it was
nothing made that was made. Word is sound. If we
take sand or plant spores and place them upon a brass or
a glass plate, then take a violin bow and draw it across
the edges, we shall produce a sound, and that sound will
cause the spores or sand to arrange itself in geometrical
figures, similar to the crystals of which all things are
composed. Erery sound produces a different formation.
Thus, if a certain sound produces a certain effect which
we wish 'to produce, we cannot change the sound without
also changing the effect. If we emit a certain sound and
say "Deum," then translate Deum and say God, the sound
is very different, and as sound produces certain effects
upon our invisible bodies, the effects that were produced
by the original Latin ritual have been lost to the Protestant
churches which changed it into English or dropped it
altogether.
It is often a wonder to people how the Catholic Church
retains its power over its people, and it may be said that
were they to abandon the Latin ritual there would not be
one of their followers left in ten years. Moreover, their
truly occult rituals have 1 not been transposed into English,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 235
and even among the Kosicrucians, Latin rituals, though
not those used in the Catholic Church, are in vogue at the
services.
QUESTION No. 117.
What is the actual merit in martyrdom? Did the mar-
tyrs really become saints'?
Answer: Man lifts himself to a union with God through
four great steps or stages. First he prays to or sacri-
fices to a God whom he fears and, therefore, seeks to
propitiate, so that his God will not harm him. Next he
learns to look upon this God as a mighty ally against his
enemies and as a giver of all good things to him, that is,
provided he obeys the God and sacrifices to him of the
material things which he possesses. In the third step he is
taught to sacrifice himself by living a life of righteous-
ness, and expects to be rewarded in a future state called
heaven, where he is to live in eternal happiness as a com-
pensation for whatever he may have endured during earth
life. The martyrs were at the stage where they held this
belief, and were thoroughly imbued with the verity and
glory of heaven. Therefore, it was to them an easy mat-
236 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
ter to sacrifice their lives and then attain to the future
glory at once.
In reality, if martyrdom can unlock a heaven with eter-
nal bliss, that is a most easy method of obtaining the re-
ward. It may take courage to die, but after all it takes
infinitely more courage to live. We are very apt to think
that when a man has given his life he has given to the
very utmost, and we often hear people say of a man who
has committed suicide that "he lias paid it all" As a mat-
ter of fact, suicide is usually an expression of the greatest
possible cowardice, and martyrdom is far less to be ad-
mired than the lives of people who day by day endeavor
to follow the spiritual teachings of the Bible and live a
noble life. Of course, it is readily admitted that tne
martyrs are to be admired for stanchly adhering to their
faith in the face of death and torture. Undoubtedly they
will have greater opportunities for spiritual growth in
later lives than they were deprived of when burned at
the stake or otherwise exterminated. And we may also
surely say that they were saints and holy people in the
sense that their faith was even more to them than life,
but we strenuously hold that the edict of a church is in-
capable of making a sinner a saint.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 237
QUESTION No. 118.
In one of your lectures you said in effect that it was a
mistake to send missionaries to foreign countries; that the
religions practiced by the so-called heathens are right for
them at the present time, but that these missionaries have
done little harm as yet. How then do you explain the
command of Christ to his apostles, "Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature 1 ?"
Answer: The meaning of the Christ's words obviously
rest upon the interpretation of the word "world." .If by
that word we understand the whole earth, it may be right
to send missionaries to foreign countries; but the Bible
tells us that the disciples to whom the command was given
returned after having accomplished their mission, show-
ing that the word of command could not have been meant
to include, the whole earth. In this connection the word
"world" should rather have been given the interpretation
"polity," which will also be found in some of our dic-
tionaries as another meaning for the word. At the time
of Christ people did not know the whole world. We find
even to this day the westernmost cape of Spain called Cape
Fimsterre the end of the earth. Therefore this term at
the time when Christ spoke his command could not have
included the whole earth as we know it today. The
statement is, therefore, not contrary to Bible teachings.
It is wrong to send missionaries out to the people we
call "heathen," for their development is as yet such that
they cannot understand a religion which preaches love
to one's neighbor, a religion which even we have not yet
learned to practice. Besides, if the great Recording
238 KOSICRTJCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Angels who have charge of men's evolution are capable of
judging our needs, and placing each one in the environ-
ment where he will iind the influences most conducive to
progression, we must also believe that they have given to
each nation the religion most salutary to its unfoldment.
Therefore, when a man has been placed in a country where,
the Christian religion is taught, that religion holds the
ideal which he should strive for, but to try to force it upon
other people who have been placed in a different sphere is
to set our judgment up as greater than the judgment of
God and His ministers, the Eecording Angels. However,
as said, the Christian missionaries have done little harm
to the people they have visited, but they might have done
more good at home. We do not need to go away from home
to find heathen who need instruction in the Bible. Pro-
fessor Wilbur L. Cross of Yale mentions, for instance,
that in a class of forty students not one could place Judas
Iscariot; that he had a Jewish student who had never
heard of Moses and that in answer to a question concern-
ing the nature of the Pilgrim's Progress, the best answer
was that it is the basis of New England history. If the
missionaries were brought into contact with these heathen,
perhaps they might do some good.
More harm, however, is done when the East sends its
missionaries over here to convert us to Hindooism and
kindred religions, for often these Hindoos teach breathing
exercises which cause insanity or consumption, because our
western bodies are not at all fitted for such practices. It
is safest to rest in the religion of our country, to study
and practice that, leaving to other nations the privilege of
doing the same in respect to their own religions.
SECTION V
Questions concerning
SPIRITUALISTIC PHENOMENA
QUESTION No. 119.
Is mediumship injurious to health?
Answer: That depends: Where a person becomes the
medium for a disembodied spirit which enters the body, as
in the case of the trance mediums, where it takes pos-
session of this body and uses it as the owner might do,
there is little if any harm done, provided the spirit control
does not abuse his privilege. In fact, there are some
cases where spirit controls have a better idea of caring
for a body than the- owner himself, and may sometimes
improve the health. But spirits of a high ethical nature do
not usually control a medium, it is rather earthbound and
low spirits such as Indians and others of a like nature
who obtain a control over mediumistic persons, and when
in possession of the body they may use it to gratify their
low passions for drink and sex. Thus they cause a dis-
turbance to the system and a deterioration of the in-
strument.
In the case of the materializing medium, we may say
that the influence is always injurious. The materializing
spirit entrances the victim and then draws the ether of
the vital body out through the spleen, for the difference
between the materializing medium and the ordinary per-
son is the fact that the connection between the vital body
and the dense body is exceedingly lax, so that it is possible
to withdraw this vital body to a very great extent. The
vital body is the vehicle whereby the solar currents which
HI
24:2 EOS1CRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
give us vitality are specialized. Deprived of the vitalizing
principle, the body of the medium at the time of a ma-
terialization sometimes shrinks to almost one-half its usual
size; the flesh becomes flabby and the spark of life burns
very low. When the seance is over and the vital body re-
placed, the medium is awakened and in normal conscious-
ness. He then experiences a feeling of the most terrible
exhaustion and sometimes, unfortunately, resorts to drink
to revive the vital forces. In that case, of course, the
health will very soon suffer and the medium will become
a total wreck. At any rate, mediumship should be avoided,
for apart from this danger to the instrument there are
other and far more serious considerations in connection
with the more subtle bodies, and particularly in connec-
tion with the after-death state.
QUESTION No. 120.
Where mediums make so-called soul trips, what is it that
leaves the physical body, and can it leave in the waking
state to gather data?
Answer: A medium is a negative or involuntary clair-
voyant and under the control of a spirit from the Desire
World. He or she corresponds to the victim of a hypnotist
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 343
in the Physical World. In the case of the hypnotist, he
is seen by his victim in the waking state, while the me-
dium does not see the spirit which hypnotizes her until
she has been driven out of her body. She is then clothed
in her desire body and therefore usually unable to bring her
experiences back.
All her experiences take- place while the physical body is
in a trance. It is the Ego clothed in the mind and desire
body which leaves the physical body behind, and the
same separation takes place then as in ordinary dreamless
sleep, with the difference, however, that the physical body
is not left tenantless upon the bed, but the spirit control
usually enters the physical body of the medium, taking
possession and using it according to pleasure, often to the
great detriment of the medium. For when such a spirit
control has been a drunkard or libertine during earth
life, it will often use the medium's body to gratify its
craving for liquor or its base, sensual instincts. We can-
not too seriously impress upon people that this physical
body is our most valuable instrument, and that it is very
wrong for anyone to abandon it to the tender mercies of
either a hypnotist or a spirit control. In the case of
mediums, there is a still graver danger, for sometimes it
is not an ordinary human Ego which is the control, but
an elemental that cannot ordinarily function in the Phys-
ical World. When the medium at death enters the Desire
World, the elemental has obtained such a power over the
desire body of the medium that it may rob the owner of
his vehicle. The desire body is the vehicle whence comes
the spring to action, and therefore when an Ego is deprived
of that vehicle there is nothing to cause it to reincarnate.
The elemental may keep this body even for millions of
years, and so, while the rest of humanity is progressing,
244: EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
the unfortunate Ego, deprived of its desire body, is left
inert and will be far behind all its fellows, perhaps, be-
fore it is released from the bondage of this entity. There-
fore, mediumship is the gravest danger to the soul the
writer knows of or is able to conceive, except the practice
of black magic.
QUESTION No. 121.
I have taken many soul flights, and on one of these jour-
neys my guide took me through gates into a crystal city
and on into a temple filled with ethereal people, saying,
"This is God's Holy City." Will you kindly tell me where
this is, why there are gates and walls around the city, and
why everything looked like crystal?
Answer: It is one of the peculiarities of desire stuff,
which is the matter of the Desire World, that it is exceed-
ingly plastic and readily molded by thought. In the twink-
ling of an eye it takes the most different shapes according
to the thought that ensouls it, and where many people
upon earth think along similar lines all their thoughts
mass themselves and form one grand whole.
Thus, in the lower regions of the Desire World, the
thoughts of people who believe in a fiery, furnace-like Hell
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS -74,5
make of the desire stuff there such a place of torture. There
we may see devils with horns, hoofs and tails, prodding the
unhappy sinners with pitchforks, and often when people
pass out at death, after having lived in that belief, they
are in a sad state of fear on beholding this place which
they have helped to create. There is also in the higher
regions of the Desire Woilcl a city such as you describe, a
New Jerusalem with pearly gates, with a sea of glass and
its great white throne upon which is seated a thought
form of God, created by these people and appearing like
an old man. It is probable that you visited this place,
which is a permanent feature of the Desire World, and
will remain so as long as people continue to think of the
New Jerusalem in that way, for these forms have no
life apart from the sustained thoughts of mankind, and
when in time humanity shall have outgrown that faith,
the city created by their thoughts will cease to exist. Its
crystal-like appearance is due to the exceeding brilliance
of the desire stuff of which it is built. The old alchemists
called the Desire World "astral/' "starry/' on that
account.
246 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 122.
Are not the desire bodies left ~by progressing Egos used
by elemental* to deceive friends and relatives of the de-
ceased person? How can they be detected and recognized?
Answer: When the spirit has passed out at death, and
after a stay in Purgatoiy of shorter or longer duration
enters the First Heaven, it still has with it the desire
body used during the earth life, but when it enters the
Second Heaven that desire body is left behind in a like
manner as the vital and dense bodies were left at death
and shortly after. But, while the dense body iroes to de-
cav and di c intsgrates, becomes inert and useless at once
when the spirit has left it, it is very different with the
desire body. The material of which that body is com-
posed is so much more vitalized by the Universal Spirit
that it will retain the ability to move about a long time
after the spirit. The empty shell is drawn by magnetic
attraction to those with whom it associated during earth
life and a memory of that past life very often enables it to
pose successfully as a deceased relative. This is particu-
larly the case when the shell is used by an elemental entity.
These empty shells ensouled by elementals account very
satisfactorily for most of the phenomena encountered at
spiritualistic seances. The pranks of these elementals in
spilling water down the necks of the sitters, throwing
chairs, tables and the like about, are specimens of what
may be done by such empty shells when in the possession
of elementals.
As to how they may be detected or recognized by us, it
will be vident that whi'e our deceased friends and rela-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
tives during earth life possessed common sense, there is
nothing to be gained from the inane nonsensical communi-
cations of these empty shells, for the spirit which was in
reality our friend has passed away, leaving the house
empty. Therefore we may judge them by words and
acts as we judge people here.
QUESTION Xo. 123.
Can elementals assume the shape of animals or reptiles,
and what can l)e done to stop them?
Answer: In this material world all the forms are stable
and do not easily change. The Desire World is widely
different in that respect. The fairy tales, like the meta-
morphosis of Cinderella's mice, etc., are actual facts in the
Desire World, for the forms change at the will of the en-
souled life with a lightning-like rapidity, which is very
bewildering to one who enters that world as a neophyte. It
is, therefore, necessary for the clairvoyant to be trained,
in order to escape being glamored by the form, which is
always changing and may assume any shape at any mo-
ment. When we are able to see the ensouling life, it does
not matter what form it takes upon itself for the time
248 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
being, we are not deceived. Like all others in the Desire
World, elementals have this faculty of changing their
shape, and it is due to that fact that so many strange tales
or visions seen are thought true by untrained clairvoyants.
Nothing can be done to stop elementals from changing
their shape, but we may shoo them away from us as we
chase a serenading feline from below our bedroom
window.
QUESTION Xo. 124.
How can one avoid becoming obsessed?
Answer: Obsession is a state where a discarnate spirit
has taken permanent possession of the body of someone
after dispossessing the owner. But sometimes people who
have formed a habit of drunkenness or some other low
vice seek to excuse themselves by claiming to be obsessed.
Wherever a person makes that statement concerning him-
self, one may nearly always be sure that it is nothing but
an excuse, for a thief who has stolen something here in
the material world does not go about and tell people of
his theft, neither does an obsessing entity go around pro-
claiming the fact. It is very certain that such an entity
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 49
does not care what is thought about the man whose body
he has stolen, so that there is no reason why he should
tell and risk being exorcised.
There is an infallible means of knowing whether a per-
son is really obsessed., namely, by diagnosis of the eye.
"The eye is the window of the soul/' and only the true
owner is capable of contracting and expanding the iris, or
pupil of the eye, so that if we take a person who claims
to be obsessed or whom we think is obsessed, to a room
which is darkened, we shall find that the pupil of his eye
will not expand if he is obsessed. Neither will the pupil
contract when we bring him into the sunlight, nor expand
if we ask him to look at an object at a distance or con-
tract when he is asked to read small type. In short, the
pupil of the eye will respond neither to light nor to dis-
tance when a person is obsessed, but there is also a certain
disease called locomotor ataxia, where the iris will not
respond to distance but is responsive to light.
No one who maintains a positive attitude of mind can
ever become obsessed, for so long as we assert our individu-
ality that is strong enough to keep all outsiders away. But
in spiritualistic seances where the sitters are negative there
is always a great danger. The best way to avoid becoming
obsessed would be to maintain this positive attitude, and
anyone who is at all negatively inclined should avoid going
to spiritualistic seances, crystal gazing and other methods
of evoking spirits. That is bad practice anyway, for those
who have gone beyond have their w r ork to do there and
should not be brought back here.
250 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 125.
What is psychometry?
Answer: Science teaches us that every particle of mat-
ter in the Physical World is interpenetrated by ether, so
that the chemical atoms of every substance, no matter how
dense, do not touch one another, but each little atom vi-
brates in a field of this all-prevailing ether. The vibra-
tions of this ether emitted by every object carry to our
eyes a picture of the things about us. This picture is not
lost. The picture? vjf all things which we have consciously
observed still exist in the ether of our vital body, and it
only depends upon our ability to call them back whether
we remember them or not.
There is also in tlio ether pervading every object a pic-
ture of the whole surroundings of that object. On the
walls of our rooms are inscribed all the scenes, every in-
cident tVat ever happened in that room, and even though
we strip them of lath and plaster, it may be impossible
to get rid of all the pictures inscribed there. If we
take a piece of plaster from such a room and bring it to
a person who has cultivated etheric sight, it is possible
for that person to see the ether in that piece of plaster, and
to tell about the scenes which happened where that plas-
ter came from. If we show him a piece of stone taken from
the pyramids of Egypt, he will see those pyramids just as
well as if we had brought him a photograph, for it is the
ether from an object such as the pyramid that makes the
impression upon the photographer's sensitive plate, and the
only difference between that impression and the impression
we receive through the eye is that we are able to fix it on
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 251
the photographic plate, and may take a look at the photo-
graph at any time, while we are not yet able to clearly
visualize the scenes of our past under ordinary circum-
stances. But the psychometrist who can read the ether has
a wonderful picture gallery at his disposal.
QUESTION No. 126.
Is it true that at spiritualistic seances persons are some-
times transported bodily from one place to another by in-
visible hands; that flowers are brought into the room
through closed luindoivs and doors, and if so, how can that
be done?
Answer: Yes, it is perfectly true that such phenomena
as you have mentioned take place at times under condi-
tions where no fraud is at all possible. As to the move-
ment of objects, that may be accomplished by the spirits
in charge of the seance in various ways. Hands may be
materialized which are either visible or invisible, and they
may lift objects or persons from one place to another, or
else these objects may be lifted by the suspension of the
law of gravity so far as that object is concerned. As to
the passage of flowers through a wall, a closed window
252 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
or other material object, we should remember that these
objects are not really as solid as we usually think. Science
recognizes the fact that no two atoms in any substance
touch one another, but each atom swings and vibrates at a
varying rate of speed in the sea of ether which permeates
all matter. It is well known also that all substances may
be reduced to gas. Iron, stone, water, or whatever other
substance we name is capable of being thus reduced. Eealiz-
ing this, it is only a step further to the idea that as these
substances are reduced to a gaseous state and as readily
resolved back into their original state, so a flower may
be resolved into ether, passed between the atoms in a wall
and then resolved back into its existence as a flower.
That is in fact what happens.
But the inquirer may say, "Ye?, but if you take a silver
dollar, melt it in a crucible, or retoit and change it into a
gas, it will not take the shape of a silver dollar when it is
resolved back into the metallic state but will become simply
a lump of metal." That is true where the operation is
performed by an ordinary man, who is incapable of sepa-
rating the dense mateiial from its etheric counterpart dur-
ing the process of melting, but the spiritual entities who
perform the feats spoken of are capable of thus detaching
the ether part of the flower from the dense material. And
it is that etheric part wi.-ich retains its shape and forms
the matrix or mold which gives form to the material of
the flower when liberated in the room after having been
passed through the wall.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 253
QUESTION No. 127.
Will you kindly explain the use of the planchette? And
state if it is advisable to try to produce the phenomena
among amateurs.
Answer: The planchette is a small board placed upon
wheels with a device for holding a pencil in a vertical
position, so that when the medium's hand is placed upon
the hoard and moved about by the spirits the pencil will
write their messages on a sheet of paper. Like all other
spiritualistic phenomena, planchette writing is produced
by a disembodied spirit through a negative medium.
When an entity has passed out of earth life and entered
the Invisible Beyond, an evolution of a different nature
from ours awaits him in Purgatory and the various
heavens. It is a retrogression when he tries to communi-
cate with us here under ordinary circumstances. There-
fore, all spiritualistic phenomena which bring the disem-
bodied spirit into contact with the Physical World are to
be deprecated as having a bad effect upon the spirits con-
cerned. The communicating entities are also dangerous
to the negative sitters in a circle, who abandon their will
powers and their bodies to a certain extent.
Of course in planchette writing the whole body may not
be in trance, although it sometimes is; but at least an
arm is abandoned to the control of a discarnate spirit
whom the sitter does not see, and who may or may not
be what it represents. If a tramp came to our door and
tried to persuade us to abandon our house and allow him
to take possession for a little while, we would indignantly
refuse, but when a tramp from the Desire World asks us
254 EOSICKUGIAN PHILOSOPHY
to let him have possession of our most valuable house, our
body, many at once comply, flattered in the bel;ef that
"a dear Angel" has visited them. But "dear Angels" and
philanthropists do not grow on every bush in the Desire,
World any more than here. It cannot be too often reit-
erated that there is no transforming power in death; that
an ignorant Indian does not suddenly become all wise by
the mere fact of having passed out at death. As it is
necessary to study in order to gain knowledge in this
world, so must the departed spirits apply themselves if
desiring to learn about conditions in that world, and until
they have had the requisite amount of experience, the de-
parted are no more fit to guide us from there than they
were while here. The safest plan is to leave all negative
phenomena alone, concentrating all our energies on living
the life, and doing exercises which foster in us the faculty
of entering that world at will, either traveling in our finer
vehicles or clairvoyantly observing it while still within
our dense body. That is progress; when we have that
ability we can see the disembodied entities face to face
and judge for ourselves whether it is advisable to listen
to their counsel or not. Until we can do that we are
at a disadvantage, and caution should teach us to keep
on the safe side.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 255
QUESTION Xo. 128.
Is a vampire the same as a werewolf?
Answer: Xo, a vampire is a person who absorbs the
vitality of another, while that which is called a werewolf
in mediaeval times was the vital body of a low order of
black magician. He would give a gruesome shape to his
vital body, and partly stud it with dense matter in order
to inflict harm upon other people. The old folk stories
said that it was no use to strike such a thing, blows would
not hurt it. But if it were stabbed with a knife or another
sharp instrument, it would commence to disgorge the
blood of its victims, run away yelping to its home., and
there the black magician who had manifested as a wolf
could be found suffering from a wound in the precise
place where the wolf had been hurt. This is on account
of a curious circumstance known to occultists as repercus-
sion, and the same phenomena may be seen where spirits
materialize at a seance. The ether in which these spirits
materialize has been taken from the body of the medium,
and if a piece is cut out of the robe of such a spirit, a
piece will be found missing from the garment of the
medium at the close of the seance. This fact has been
used by skeptical investigators ignorant of the law of
repercussion to stamp mediums as frauds, when in fact they
have been perfectly honest, though incapable of explain-
ing away the seemingly damning evidence.
256 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 129.
What is the difference between a trance medium, a ma-
terializing medium, the trained clairvoyant and the ordi-
nary person ?
Answer: Roughly speaking, we may say that humanity
today is divided into two classes those in whom the con-
nection hetween the vital body and the dense body is very
close, and another class where the connection is more loose.
The former class is the ordinary person who is engaged
in material pursuits and is altogether out of touch with
the Spiritual Worlds. The latter class is the so-called sensi-
tives, and is again divided into two classes. One class is
actuated by the will from ivithin and is positive. From
this class comes the trained clairvoyant and the Invisible
Helper. The other class is negative and is amenable to the
will of others. From this class mediums are recruited.
When the connection hetween the vital body and the
dense body of a man is somewhat lax, he will be sensi-
tive to spiritual vibrations, arid if positive lie will by
his own will develop his spiritual faculties, live a spiritual
life and in time receive the teaching necessary to become
a trained clairvoyant and a master of his faculty at any and
all times, free to exercise it or not, as he pleases.
If a person has this slight laxity between the vital and
dense bodies, and is of a negative temperament, he is
liable to become the prey of discarnate spirits, as a medium.
Where the connection between the vital and dense body
is very lax, so that it may be withdrawn, and the man
is positive, he may become an Invisible Helper, capable of
taking the two higher ethers away from his dense body
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 25%
at will and using them as a vehicle for sense perception
and memory. He can +hen function consciously in the
Spiritual World and bring back a recollection of every-
thing he has done there, so that, for instance, when he
leaves his body at night he takes up the life in the In-
visible World in a fully conscious manner, as we do here
when we wake up in the morning after sleep and perform
our various duties in the visible world.
When a person has this lax connection between the
vital body and the dense body and is of a negative tempera-
ment, the spirits which are earth bound and seek to mani-
fest here may withdraw his vital body by way of the spleen
and temporarily use the ether of which it is composed
to materialize spirit forms, returning the ether to the
medium after the seance is over.
QUESTION No. 130.
If mediumship is so dangerous, why do not the me~
diums cease to allow themselves to be controlled?
Answer: In the first place, of course, the great majority
of the mediums do not realize that there is danger. They
are particularly unaware of the enormous danger which
threatens them after death. The desire body may then be
258 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
appropriated by the spirit control. If they were to try
to stop the influence of the spirit control while still here
in the body they would find that that entity has an
exceedingly strong hold upon them, a control it is very
difficult to break, and they ought to realize that naturally
when death brings them into the same world with these
spirit controls the danger will be still greater.
The writer has known certain cases where mediums
have balked and tried to escape from the toils of the
spirit control, but have failed to break the strong hold of
that entity. They were helpless. Mediums have come to
the writer for help and told him that they were almost
irresistibly compelled by their spirit controls to commit
suicide and murder; that they had begged and pleaded
with the spirit controls to leave them alone, but without
avail. Cases are known also where spirit controls have
mercilessly dragged their victims out of bed in the middle
of night against their will and forced thorn to listen to
their importunities. Only seldom does one hear that they
show mercy. Though the writer has known mediums who
have been ill from such treatment, he has only known of
one case where the sickness of the medium induced the
spirit controls to listen to his plea and leave him alone
for a few months while he recuperated.
Thus it will be seen that mediumship, once entered
into, is not usualty a matter of choice with the mediums;
they lose the power to shut out spirit controls. While they
do the bidding of their taskmasters and are docile, they
may not feel the bit; but let one of them try to balk, and
he or she will soon feel that the spirit control has both
bit and spur, and is merciless in his use of them.
SECTION VI
Questions concerning
CLAIRVOYANCE.
260
QUESTION No. 131.
What is the difference between a Clairvoyant, an Ini-
tiate and an Adept?
Answer: What a man sees depends upon the sensitive-
ness of his eye. Some people can distinguish objects at a
distance which makes them invisible to other people.
Artists perceive shades of color which ordinary people
cannot distinguish and some people are color blind; there
are even those who cannot see at all they are blind.
The people who can see the farthest or distinguish the
most delicate shades of color are more clairvoyant, or
clearsighted, than the rest.
The majority among us are able to see most things in
our environment, but we know very little about the things
we see just because we see them. We had to be initiated
into the use of the telephone, the bicycle, automobile, piano,
etc.
But, though we may know how to use these instruments
under ordinary circumstances, we are not so thoroughly
familiar with their construction that we are able to build
or repair them when they have become disabled. Before
we become qualified for that work we must take a course
of special training, and if we apply ourselves with our
whole heart, we may become adepts in our special line.
If we apply this illustration to the problem before us,
we may understand that a clairvoyant is a man whose
sense of sight has become so extended that he perceives
261
262 ROSICRUCIAN FHILOSOPHY
another world, which is invisible to most of us, and that
he is able to see everything there.
But he does not ''know all about" the things he sees
there by the mere fact of perception any more than we
know all about the things we see in this world. He must
apply himself to gain that knowledge. Then, by degrees,
he will become an Initiate, who understands the things he
sees, and may be able to manipulate some of them under
ordinary circumstances, as we are able to play upon a
piano or ride a bicycle when we have learned these arts.
It will require further training to enable the Initiate
to exercise power over the things and the forces in the
invisible world as an A dept.
Thus the Clairvoyant is one who sees the invisible world ;
the Initiate both sees the invisible world and understands
what he sees, while the Adept sees, knows and has power
over things and forces there.
QUESTION No. 132.
Why is it that trained clairvoyants do not offer to lend
themselves to some simple l)ut conclusive tests conducted l)y
men of science which would convince everybody of the
reality of faculties transcending the ordinary senses?
Answer: In the first place, trained clairvoyants have
no axes to grind ; they are not concerned in the smallest
QUESTIONS AXD ANSWERS 263
degree whether people believe or not; while it might make
a great deal of difference to the people themselves were
they to believe, it makes no difference whatever to the
trained clairvoyant. He never seeks for money, or any
other consideration that the world could offer him if con-
.vinced; he has no wish for worldly power, he never flaunts
his faculty or boasts of it, but always speaks of it with ex-
ceeding modesty when he does so at all. If he does deeds
that are meritorious, perhaps, in helping his fellow men,
he does not care to have these facts known. He usually
does not let "his left hand know what his right hand does."
A blind man does not see the colors and the light, al-
though they are everywhere about him, and if he should
come to us and ask us to submit to tests which would prove
to him beyond a doubt that we perceive light and color,
we should wonder what tests could possibly convince him
of those facts. So does the trained clairvoyant wonder
what tests would convince everybody. There has been no
test devised yet that would not be open to some other ex-
planation in the minds of some people, and the unfortu-
nate clairvoyant who should lend himself to such tests
would have to keep on and on forever, and yet generations
of skeptics would denounce him as a fraud. He would be
required to submit to the tests of every single one of the
scientists, and scientists do rot even believe their own
eyes. If their reason says a thing is impossible they refuse
to believe, though shown. Scientists are forced to be con-
tent to experiment under the laws of nature, when con-
ducting their researches in chemistry, etc., of which they
know something, but arrogate to themselves the right io
prescribe conditions when testing superphvsical matters
of which they are confessedly ignorant. When mecliurrs
264: KOSICRUCIAX PHILOSOPHY
demand a darkened room for their experiments, the scien-
tists usually say, "Ah, yes, that at once shows that they
are frauds ; they want the room darkened so that they can
play their tricks undetected." The mediums usually do
not know why the room should be darkened and therefore
cannot explain, but a law underlies the demand of the
medium.
It is this : Light rays set the ether into violent vibration
and make it difficult for the communicating entities to
work with it in that condition, to mold it into a body, a
vocal organ, a hand, or other material manifestation. The
darker the room the less the ether vibrates, and the easier
it is for these entities to use it as required for the spiritual-
istic phenomena.
There are numerous other laws affecting superphysical
phenomena, of which science has no conception, and this
ignorance at once disqualifies the scientists for prescribing
conditions. The way is always open for them, however, TO
know at first hand. They say to us, procure a number
of lenses, ground in a certain way, place them in a tube
in a certain manner, point that tube with your lenses in
a certain direction in the sky and you will see eight moons
revolving around Saturn. If we comply with their directions,
we shall see that what they tell us is to be found there.
If we refuse to provide the necessary instrument we can-
not see the moons of Saturn. We say to them : live the
life and perform the exercises, so that you may evolve in
yourselves that faculty of which we speak. Then you will
see that we have spoken the truth, and yon will be com-
pelled to assert the things we assert. If they are unwill-
ing to comply with our directions, they may remain as
unconvinced of the existence of super-physical realms as
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 265
the man who will not procure a telescope may doubt the
existence of the Saturnian moons, for all that the trained
clairvoyants care.
QUESTION Xo. 133.
// clairvoyance is such an accurate means of investiga-
tion, such a high spiritual faculty, why do we usually set it
in possession of people of little education and coarse breed-
ing; who have seemingly very little spirituality and who
often tell lies?
Answer: There was a time in the far, far past when the
human body was a very much less complicated organism
than it is today, before the cerebro-spinal nervous system
had been evolved to give man voluntary control over his
body. At that time the sympathetic or involuntary nervous
system took care of the purely animal functions, much as
it does today. Then man was a much more spiritual being
than he is now, and his means of perception of the Spiritual
Worlds were organs which are now temporarily in disuse.
We have a number of organs in our bodies in various stages
of completion, some of which are atrophying because they
have served their uses. The muscles which move the ears
266 ROSICKUCIAN" PHILOSOPHY
in animals, for instance, are also present in man, but they
are no longer needed and, therefore, most of us. have lost
the use of them. Other organs are in a state of develop-
in ert, such as, for instance, the heart, which is an involun-
tary muscle, hut is being invested with cross-stripes like
the voluntary muscles and will, at a future time, be capable
of regulation at any desired speed.
Another class of organs are simply in a state of dor-
mancy, and among these is the pituitary body and the
pineal gland. If they were not to be used in the future,
they would surely atrophy, as do all other organs when
they have ceased to be useful. In the far past these organs
were connected with the sympathetic system and invested
man with involuntary clairvoyance, and because of their
connection with the cerebro-spinal system they will in the
future enable mankind to effect a contact with the Spiritual
Worlds at will.
It is easier to roll a stone down hill than to roll it up
hill ; retrogression is more readily accomplished than pro-
gression, and when people seek for development in a nega-
tive condition they readily renew the negative activity of
the pituitary body and the pineal gland, and become nega-
tive clairvoyants. But as any faculty which is exercised
by means of the involuntary nervous system cannot be
exercised by the powei of the will, this faculty is, of course,
sporadic in mediums. At times, when the power is on,
they can contact the Spiritual Worlds in a limited way.
At other times, when the power is off, they are unable to
see. Therefore, they often simulate in order to earn a
needed fee.
The man who consciously evolves his spiritual faculty
controls the vibration of the two little organs named by
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 267
will power and has no "off" days. The power to see is
his at any and all times. Thus, in his hands, clairvoyance
is an accurate means of investigation, but it should be
understood that as it is necessary to investigate in this
world before we know, so it is also in that world. Many
people are foolishly skeptical concerning the existence of
superphysical worlds and senses, but people who think
that when a man "sees" in the invisible worlds he at once
knows everything about them are equally foolish. A blind
man who has acquired the faculty of sight by an opera-
tion affords an illustration of the fact that we must learn
to see here in the Physical World, for at first he very often
shuts his eyes, declaring that it is easier to walk by feeling
than by sight, because he has not yet learned to gauge dis-
tances. The infant which reaches for the moon or for
something on the other side of the room also demonstrates
this fact. As above, so below ; before a man has been
trained, the mere fact of clairvoyance is not of much use
to him, and the idea that because he sees, he necessarily
knoivs everything, is gratuitous. We who have seen here
all our lives do not know all about everything in this world ;
neither do the people who "see" know all about the other
world. Besides, the forms here are stable and do not
easily change, while the matter of sight and knowledge
is complicated in the Inner Worlds by the plasticity of the
forms there, for they often change in the twinkling of an
eye in response to the thoughts of entities who function
there.
To evolve voluntary clairvoyance is an arduous task, and
this faculty, therefore, is possessed by few, while negative
clairvoyance, unfortunately, has been developed by many
who had no high ideals to prevent prostitution of their
faculty for gold.
268 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 134.
What do you mean by initiation,, and why are oniy men
Initiates?
Answer: The ordinary idea of initiation is that of ad-
mittance into a secret order, usually in consideration of
an i?iitiation fee, but occult initiation is very different.
When a person has endeavored to live the higher life for
some time, has purified his vehicles by mental, moral and
physical endeavors, he emits a light in the invisible world
and accumulates a power within. In time a point of cul-
mination is reached where this power must be given vent.
Then there appears in his life a teacher who shows him
the power he has cultivated, often unconsciously to him-
self, and its use. This demonstration is called initiation.
It may take place in a temple or not ; it may or may not
be accompanied by a ceremony, as the circumstances de-
mand. Let it be clearly understood that no ceremony can
give to the candidate the powers which initiation teaches
him to use, any more than pulling the trigger of a pistol
which is not loaded can cause an explosion. The initiatory
ceremony would be worthless save as a culmination to the
life of discipjeship.
Thus it is evident that Initiation is the inevitable result
\
of merit. It is never sold for money, though there is no
lack of unscrupulous charlatans who offer to initiate any-
one into the occult arts of which they know nothing them-
selves ; nor are gullible fools wanting, or dishonest persons
who hope to gain a sinister power over their fellow-man
by purchase. If Simon, the sorcerer, merited the scathing
rebuke of Peter when he attempted to buy a spiritual power
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 269
for gold, we wonder what condemnation is adequate to meet
the case of those who advertise them as commercial wares,
particularly when, in the nature of things, they are unable
to deliver the goods offered for sale. The inquirer is under
a misapprehension when he believes that only men are
Initiates, at least so far as the Lesser Mysteries are con-
cerned. There are women Initiates and sometimes even
Initiates of the Greater Mysteries take upon themselves a
feminine body for the sake of a special work which they
desire to accomplish. It is true, however, that those who
have advanced so far that they have a choice regarding sex
usually prefer a male body, and the reason is not far to
seek. Woman has a positive vital body but a negative
dense body and is, therefore, somewhat at a disadvantage in
the world as at present constituted. Striving for the higher
ideals and living the higher life, we spiritualize the vital
body and transmute it into soul which is always positive
a power useable regardless of sex and when the Initiate
wears a masculine body also, he is thoroughly positive
in the Physical World and has a better chance for ad-
vancement than when using a feminine vehicle.
270 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 135.
Is it not the duty of one who is informed on subjects
concerned with the higher life to give information and
to the less informed ?
Answer: Certainly,, knowledge is the one thing which
we may give to others and still retain ourselves. In fact,
when we help others by disseminating our knowledge we
are helping ourselves and increasing our own store. For
no one really knows a thing until he has told and ex-
plained it to someone else, and we should understand that
whatever knowledge we may obtain is not our exclusive
property, but is to be used for the universal good. If we
selfishly hoard it and refuse to enlighten others, it will
act upon us in the same way as if we continued to eat
physical food without getting rid of the ashes. There
would come a time when we could hold no more and we
would become sick. So with people who obtain knowledge
concerning things of the higher life. When they hoard
it up instead of using it for the benefit of others, they
are very apt to become recluses, and may become insane.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 271
QUESTION No. 136.
What qualifications are necessary to become an Invisible
Helper? Must the whole life be given over to spiritual
endeavor?
Answer: No, not at all; in fact, no one is justified in
giving his whole life to spiritual endeavor unless he has
first fulfilled whatever material obligations he may have
to others. The duties in the family are means of being
visible helpers, and the man or woman who shirks duty
here can surely not be depended upon to fulfil the duties
of an Invisible Helper on the other side.
Therefore, a patient continuance in the performance
of all our earthly duties to the very best of our ability is
the first and most essential qualification of the aspirant.
As a further qualification, we may mention self control.
While we are living and working in our dense bodies, the
desire body is in a measure held in check by imprisonment
in dense, physical matter. If we lose our temper here,
the result may be dangerous to ourselves and to those
around us, but it is not a circumstance to the peril at-
tendant upon loss of temper in the other world, for our
desire body, as we know, can wreck our physical body in
a fit of temper so that it may sometimes be sick for weeks
as a result of a few minutes' loss of temper. But when
outside the dense body, if its force were directed against
anyone else, it could instantly kill an army.
Knowledge is also requisite to the aspirant. Unless we
have studied conditions after death and are familiar with
the scheme of evolution, have a comprehensive idea of
the constitution of man and similar subjects, it is impos-
272 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
sible for us to instruct those who are less informed, and
to set us the tasks of an Invisible Helper and instructor
would be analogous to sending an ignorant boor to teach
school.
Last, but not least, the Invisible Helper must be imbued
with an all embracing love of humanity. We cannot be
callous to the sufferings of our fellow creatures here and
at the same time be filled with love and a desire to help
in the other world, any more than a man who does not
know a note in earth life can become a proficient musician
by the mere fact of dying, or acquire such a passion for
music that he is anxious to spend eternity tooting in a
horn or playing on a harp. Therefore, we reiterate that
to become an Invisible Helper there, we must first qualify
by helping here.
QUESTION No. 137.
What purpose has the person in going out of his body?
Answer: At the present stage of our evolution, the
greater. part of humanity are tied to their bodies during
earth life. They are placed in a small and narrow en-
vironment because certain lessons may be learned there
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 273
which can best be mastered by practically shutting out
every other place and condition from view. But there
comes a time when man has grown sufficiently in knowl-
edge to make it desirable that he should have a wider
scope for his activities. Then the body becomes a clog
and a fetter which it is expedient to leave at times, and
accordingly he is taught by the Elder Brothers to extricate
himself at will. They themselves have been helped in the
past by more advanced beings from other planets until
they have now become capable of teaching the less evolved
among humanity.
The purpose in going out is to gain a wider knowledge.
But that knowledge in itself is only a means to an end,
namely, to help others progress. Therefore, those who are
capable of leaving their bodies are known as Invisible
Helpers. Their work is to help both living and dead,
according to ability.
274 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 138.
Is it absolutely necessary to live a life of asceticism in
order to become spiritual and endowed with psychic powers?
Answer: That depends upon what the inquirer means
by asceticism. Some people in the East creep into a barrel
of spikes and roll themselves about in order to mortify
the flesh, or lash and maim themselves in various ways
to attain a realization of spiritual powers. That, as-
suredly, is not right. They may and do at times become
clairvoyant, but that course is as reprehensible and its
results as transitory as the effects obtained by crystal
gazing, the drug habit and similar methods.
We should realize that this physical body is our most
valuable instrument, and that it is our duty to give it all
reasonable care under conditions which are conducive to
its health and well-being. No power obtained by maltreat-
ing our body is of the highest kind, and therefore is
neither lasting nor fully efficient.
But some people mean b}^ asceticism, "living a clean
and pure life." They want spiritual power without
sacrifice of animal propensities ; they desire to soar in the
clouds at will, while at other times they claim liberty to
wallow in the mire. They want to continue feeding on
coarse food, to gorge themselves on meat, alcohol and to-
bacco, to indulge their passions and sensual desires in
every direction, and at the same time they want to have
spiritual powers.
That cannot be done. Our bodies are our tools. A good
workman appreciates the value of good tools and keeps
them in the very best condition sharp and clean. When
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES 275
our senses have been dulled by alcohol and tobacco, when
the system is forced to exert all its energy to digest or
eliminate coarse food, is it to be expected that the man
should be a sensitive? We cannot serve God and mam-
mon; ours is the choice. If we want spiritual powers we
must pay the price of clean lives ; we must give our bodies
pure food and conform to the rules of the simple life; we
must abstain from everything that dulls the senses alco-
hol, tobacco, and similar abuses. If that is called "a life
of asceticism," then asceticism is absolutely necessary.
QUESTION No. 139.
Are all children clairvoyant tip to a certain age?
Answer: Yes, all are clairvoyant at least during the first
year of their life. It depends upon the spirituality of the
child to a great extent, also upon its environment, how
long it will keep the faculty, for most children communi-
cate all they see to their elders and the faculty of clair-
voyance is affected by their attitude. Often children are
lidiculed, and nothing so hurts their sensitive little na-
tures. They soon learn to shut out the scenes which en-
gender the ridicule of their elders, or at least they will
learn to keep such experiences to themselves. When
276 BOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
listened to, they often reveal wonderful things, and at
times it is possible to trace a previous life by information
from a little child. This happens particular!}', of course,
if the child died as a child in its previous life, for then
it would only have been in the Invisible World from one
to twenty years, so that it is possible to verify its informa-
tion. Children who, in their previous life, died as chil-
dren, are much more apt to remember the past and to be
clairvoyant than other children, because the desire body
and vital body are not born at the same time as the
physical birth of the child, but at seven and fourteen years
of age, respectively, and what has not been quickened can-
not die, so that if a child passes out before birth of the
vital body or of the desire body, it will not go into the
Second and Third Heavens, but will stay in the Desire
World and will be reborn with the same desire body and
mind that it possessed in its previous life, and therefore
it will be very much more apt to remember what hap-
pened then. The writer came across such an instance
a few years ago in Southern California.
One day in Santa Barbara, a man by the name of Kob-
erts was walking along the street when a little child ran
up to him, put her arms around his knees and called him
"Papa." Mr. Roberts thought someone was trying to
foist a child upon him and indignantly freed himself.
The mother of the child was also indignant at its action
and took it away. But the child kept crying, "It is my
papa, it is my papa." On account of circumstances which
will appear later, the incident preyed upon Mr. Roberts'
mind, and he went to a gentleman whom we will call
"X". Together they sought the house where the little
child lived with its parents, and after some parleying were
allowed to question it. As soon as the little girl saw Mr.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 277
Koberts she ran to him again and called him "Papa."
Then, in answer to intermittent questioning during the
afternoon, the child told the story, which we give here
connectedly.
Once upon a time she lived with Mr. Roberts as her
father and another mama in a little house by a brook
where flowers grew (here she ran out and fetched some
pussy willows). There was a gang plank across the brook
which she was forbidden to cross, lest she fall in the water.
One day Mr. Roberts left her mama and herself never to
return. After some time her mama laid down and moved
no more. "She became so still, and she died." Then, said
the child, "I died too; but I didn't die, I came here !"
Next, Mr. Roberts told his story. "About eighteen years
previously he had lived with his father, a brewer, in Eng-
land. He fell in love with their servant girl, but the
father refused permission to marry. The young people
ran off to London, were married, went to Australia, where
he cleared a little farm in the bush, and built a house by
a brook where pussy willows grew. There was a gang
plank over the brook. A little child was born to them,
and when that child was about two years of age, Mr.
Roberts went one day to a clearing about a mile from the
cabin and while there an officer of the law approached him
with a gun and arrested him for a bank robbery committed
on the night he left London.
"He protested his innocence, begged leave to visit wife
and child to take care of them, but the officer feared a
trap to <ret him into the hands of confederates, and drove
Mr. Roberts to the coast at the point of the gun. He was
taken to England, tried for the robbery and found not
guilty. Not until then did the authorities listen to his
constant ravings about a wife and child who must surely
278 BOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
have starved in the wilds of Australia. A telegram was
sent, a search party organized and in due time the answer
came. They found the skeletons of the deserted ones, and
Mr. Eoberts departed for America, a heart-broken man."
The child was then shown a number of pictures, in a
casual way, among them being two photographs of Mr.
Roberts and his wife. Mr. Roberts' appearance had al-
tered very much since that photograph was taken. Never-
theless, when the child came upon the picture, she joy-
ously shouted, "Oh, there is Papa !" She also recognized
the picture of her mother in the previous life. The little
child was only about three years of age at the time when
Mr. Roberts found her, and could not possibly have made
up such a story. Later the case was investigated by one
of the foremost newspapers in Southern California, the
Los Angeles Times, and the facts found to be as here
related.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 379
QUESTION Xo. 140.
What is the difference between white and black magic^
and what is the effect of the practice of black magic upon
the soul?
Answer: Magic is a process whereby we may accom-
plish certain results not achieved by means of laws ordi-
narily known. Some men have investigated laws of nature
unknown to most people, and have become adepts in
manipulating the finer forces. They use their power to
help their fellow man, where that can be done in harmony
with the laws of his growth. Others, having studied the
laws and become capable of manipulating the hidden
forces of the universe, use their knowledge for selfish ends
to gain power over their fellow creatures. The first named
class are White Magicians, the latter are Black. Both of
them use and manipulate the same forces, the difference
being the motive which prompts them. The White
Magician is prompted altogether by love and benevolence.
Although he is not actuated by thoughts of reward, a soul
growth wonderful to contemplate results from his use of
magic. He has put his talents out to usury and is gaining
interest a hundredfold. The Black Magician, on the other
hand, is in a sad state, for it is said that the "soul that
sinneth, it shall die," and all we do contrary to the laws of
God inevitably results in a deterioration of the soul quali-
ties.
The Black Magician by his knowledge and art may,
sometimes for several live?, maintain his position in evo-
lution, but eventually there comes a time when the soul
disintegrates and the Ego reverts into what we may call
savagery.
280 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Black magic in its minor forms, such as hypnotism, for
instance, sometimes causes congenital idiocy in a future
life. The hypnotist deprives his victims of the free use of
their bodies. Under the law of consequence he is then
tied to a body with a malformed brain, which prevents
his expression. We must not infer, however, that every
case of congenital idiocy is due to such malpractice on
the part of the Ego in a past life ; there are also other
causes which may bring congenital idiocy as a result.
QUESTION No. 141.
You speak of the western and the eastern schools of
occultism. Is not the western school the better, and if so,
why ?
Answer: There are a number of different races upon
earth at present. The Hindoos are the first race in the
present Aryan Epoch, and the Anglo-Saxon is the fifth.
'Naturally the latest teaching is given to the most ad-
vanced people. Therefore the western religion, Chris-
tianity, is far superior to the Hindooism and Buddhism
of the East. The mystery teachings of the East are not
as advanced as in the West either. In the East, great
stress is laid upon subjection of the body in order to cul-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 281
tlvate the spiritual faculties. They place the body in
certain positions while undertaking arduous breathing ex-
ercises and ether physical exercises not necessary by the
western method. In fact, the western body is not at all
responsive to those methods. Besides, the pupil in the
East is under the absolute control of his teacher, whom he
calls "Master/ 7 and whose commands he must obey to the
most minute detail, without asking why. In the West,
we follow the teachings of the Christ, who said to his dis-
ciples, "Henceforth, I call you friends, for the servant
knoweth not what his master doeth, but I have taught you
all things which I have learned of my Father." (John
15:15.) Therefore, the teacher in the West is on terms
of the most intimate friendship with his pupil and always
ready to answer his questions so far as compatible with
his stage of development.
There are, of course, some very advanced people in the
East, people who are far advanced in the teachings of
their school, but a corresponding stage is usually reached
by the western method in a shorter time and with less
effort.
282 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 142.
What is the difference between etheric sight, clairvoyance
and the sight pertaining to the World of Thought?
Answer: When we look at a man with etheric sight, we
first see his outside clothing, then the lining inside, his
underclothing, his skin, ribs and the various organs of his
hody along the line of our vision; then the spinal column,
the back of the ribs, the flesh, the skin and the clothing on
his back. In other words, we see through him. By the
etheric sight a man can see through books, papers, letters,
walls, or anything else for a short distance. In fact, this
faculty may be called X-ray sight. Only one substance
is proof against its penetrative faculty. Glass is as opaque
to etheric sight as a stone wall to ordinary physical sight
for the same rea c on, perhaps, that glass is such a splendid
insulator for electricity.
When we look at a person or a thing with ordinary
clairvoyant sight, we see their desire bodies and the coun-
terparts of their other vehicles inside and out every par-
ticle at the same time. It is rather difficult to read a
book or even a letter with etheric sight, because we must
look through other pages which blur the one we wish to
read. When we use ordinary clairvoyance it seems as if
the book or letter is spread out so that we can read any
page or part without having to look through any other
part. But when we look at an object with the sight per-
taining to the four lower regions of the World of Thought,
and the writer has personal knowledge of no higher realms,
we find that instead of forms there are hollow spaces or
molds, which speak to us and tell us about themselves.
The necessity of investigation is eliminated from that
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 283
world. There we .know at once everything about whatever
becomes an object of our attention. There is, however,
a curious drawback to the knowledge gained in that man-
ner it dawns upon us all at once. The sum of this knowl-
edge is a whole, and has neither beginning nor end. It
is therefore usually a herculean task to unfold it into an
orderly, sequential concept which may be comprehensively
stated to ourselves and others.
QUESTION No. 143.
Is it safe for a person in a greatly debilitated nervous
condition to take occult training given by the Rosicrucians,
or is it necessary for such a person-to first recover? Is
health regained by occult training?
Answer: The only exercises given publicly by Eosi-
crucians are the morning and evening exercises. The
evening exercise consists of a retrospect of events of the
day in reverse order. During this review the aspirant
aims to cultivate a feeling of the most sincere contrition
for anything he may have done amiss, and also to feel in-
tensely glad when he has been able to better his previous
conduct in any act during the past day. The morning ex-
ercise consists in concentration upon a high ideal, the
Christ, for instance.
If a person of a nervous temperament will endeavor to
284 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
calmly and quietly perform these exercises, he will expe-
rience a very beneficial effect, particularly if he will strive
to relax every muscle of the body during the exercises.
The attitude of a cat watching a mouse hole affords
an excellent illustration of relaxation. It sits in a per-
fectly easy position; calmly and quietly it waits for the
appearance of the mouse. No energy is dissipated by fret-
fulness or anxiety. It quietly peisists in the faith that
sooner or later opportunity will come. All its strength is
reserved for the supreme moment when it springs to secure
its prey. If the pupil will completely relax his muscles,
calmly and quietly review the day's happenings in the
evening exercise and concentrate upon a high ideal in the
morning exercise, the nervousness will gradually disappear,
and one day the opportunity will come; the spiritual sight
will unfold.
QUESTION No. 144.
A sound "body being necessary for spiritual unfoldment,
what does the Rosicrucian teaching hold out to one not
at present in the best physical condition? Will perfect
health be one result of the study of this philosophy, and if
the teaching is practiced, will it tend to keep a person in
good health?
'Answer: The inquirer starts with a misconception,
namely, that a sound body is necessary to true spiritual
unfoldment, and, probably, also forgets the distinction
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 285
between "sound" and "sensitive." Many people of low
development have a most sound and healthy physical body,
but are not at all sensitive with respect to spiritual vibra-
tions. An illustration will elucidate : The writer has had
an alarm clock, a low-priced time-piece, for a number of
years. It has been packed at times in a trunk handled
by baggagemen, porters, etc., in an exceedingly careless
manner, and yet when taken out of the trunk, after all
the shaking up and ill-usage, it will still go and keep time
after a fashion, that is to say, if one does not mind a few
moments' variation one way or the other. Such a time-
piece is strong and sound but not accurate.
On the other hand, a chronometer used on board ships
is an exceedingly delicate time-piece. It rests upon bal-
ances which always keep it in a horizontal position and
compensate for the slightest motion of the ship, so that
the chronometer may keep perfect time, for thousands of
lives are at times dependent upon the extreme accuracy
of that instrument. A captain launched upon the trackless
ocean knows how far east or west he is from Greenwich,
England, by means of this accurate time-piece the
chronometer. "When he calculates the difference be-
tween noon of the place where he finds himself
and the time shown by the chronometer he has
a correct gauge of his location, a gauge to which
he trusts the lives of all his passengers and the millions of
dollars' worth of property in his care. A comparison of
the sensitive chronometer and the rough and ready alarm
clock illustrates the difference between "sensitive" and
"sound."
When we understand the higher philosophies, when we
live the life that is taught by them, our body becomes
extremely sensitive and must be given more care than is
286 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
necessary to the body of an Indian or a Xegro in the wilds
of Africa. They have no delicately organized nervous
system like the white race. Those who are interested along
the lines of spiritual development are particularly high-
strung, therefore, as we progress it becomes necessary to
take more and more care of this instrument. But we also
learn the laws of its nature and how to conform to them.
If we apply our knowledge it is possible for us to have a
sensitive instrument and keep it in comparative health.
There are cases, however, when a sickness is necessary
to bring about certain changes in the body which are pre-
cursors of a higher step in spiritual unfoldment, and
under such conditions, of course, sickness is a blessing and
not a curse. In general, however, it may be said that the
study of the highest philosophy will always tend to better
one's health, because "knowledge is power" and the more
we know the better we are able to cope with all conditions,
provided, of course, we bring our knowledge into practice
and live the life that we are not merely hearers of the
word, but doers also, for no teaching is of any benefit to us
unless it is carried into our lives and lived from day to day.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 287
QUESTION No. 145.
In what way will it help us in Hie life aftar death if we
have cultivated clairvoyance in the present life?
Answer: In a number of ways. In the first place, many
people have a great fear of death; the very mention of the
word death sends the cold shivers down their backs, and
they always avoid the subject. Fear of death generates
thought forms of a hideous nature and when a person
leaves the body at death to enter the Invisible World, he
sees those dread forms surround him as so many fiend^s,
and they sometimes drive him almost insane. They are his
progeny, however, and he cannot rid himself of them until
he learns that they have no power over him and fearlessly
bids them begone. Then they vanish as dew before the
sun.
The man who has cultivated clairvoyance during earth
life is sometimes also tormented on his first entrance into
the Invisible World by various elemental entities which
take upon themselves most hideous forms. They recog-
nize in the neophyte a possible future master and seek to
sway him from his purpose by intimidation, but as he is
usually helped by a teacher and is taught that these beings
have no power over him, he very quickly overcomes fear.
When later he leaves his body at death ami enters the
Invisible World, he is already familiar with many of the
sights and scenes there ; above all he has no fear to hamper
him.
288 BOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION oSTo. 146.
Would the .contemplation of the God within, if persist-
ently carried on, aid one in spiritual growth and bring
one to adeptship?
Answer: We are living at the present time in the
workaday Western World, where it is our duty to fill what-
ever niche is ours. Each of us has a work to do, and if
we shirk it for the sake of a morbid introspection, we shall
not only not grow, but we shall degenerate spiritually.
Some people, unfortunately, think themselves justified
in leaving their earthly duties when they imagine spiritual
progress calls them, but until we have fulfilled every duty
here, there can be no true spiritual advancement; what-
ever may seem so will in the end turn out to be dust and
ashes.
The far Eastern countries illustrate, by horrible exam-
ple, the evil results of neglect of material duties for the
indiscriminate pursuit of what they imagine to be spiritual
power. There people emaciate and deform the body by
such practices as holding an arm above the head until it
withers. That is not true spirituality which does not pro-
mote the good of the whole world. It is sometimes said,
that "every herring must hang by its own gill and every
tub must stand upon its own bottom." But it is also true
that what does not tend to lift all will never lift anyone.
A deepseated and heartfelt desire to further the common
good is the only valid justification for expending the effort
incident to cultivation of spiritual power. Stories have
been told of mothers attending mothers' meetings to dis-
cuss how best to care for home and children, meanwhile
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 289
leaving their children in a most untidy house without care.
These stories are not merely exaggerations and jokes; they
contain more truth than poetry. And the people who prate
of spirituality, who desire to contemplate the angel within,
to the neglect of their families and other obvious duties-,
are on a par with such mothers. The sooner we awake to
a realization of the fact that no present duty, however
humble, may be neglected with impunity for spiritual work,
however exalted, the better for ourselves and all concerned.
We would advise the inquirer to read Longfellow's poem,
the "Blessed Vision," which is very much in point: A
monk is kneeling upon his floor of stone, when a beautiful
vision of the Christ appears to him just as the noonday
bell summons him to the gate where the poor are waiting
for alms which it is his duty to give to them each day.
There arises in the monk's mind the question, shall he
stay and commune with the Blessed Visitor, or shall he
leave Him for the sake of a parcel of hungry beggars?
But a voice within him says,
"Do your duty, that is best,
Leaving to the Lord the rest."
He follows the behest of that voice, leaving the Vision in
his cell wondering if it will be there when he returns.
>Yet he feels it is right to do his duty to others regardless
of loss to himself, and when, after having dealt alms to
the poor, he returns to his cell, the Vision greets him
with the words : "Hadst thou stayed, I must have fled."
290 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 1-iT.
Has it not been recorded that certain individuals have
developed spiritual power,, clairvoyance, sixth sense, or
whatever iue wish to call it, by living a clean life in har-
mony with nature's laws, and do not the teachings of
modern occultists with so many terms of technicality have
a tendency to create confusion rather than bring the desired
results?
Answer: The path of development in all cases depends
upon the temperament of the aspirant. There are two
paths, the mystic and the intellectual. The Mystic is usually
devoid of intellectual knowledge; he follows the dictates of
his heart and strives to do the will of God as he feels it,
lifting himself upward without being conscious of any
definite goal, and in the end attains to knowledge. In
the middle ages people were not as intellectual as we are
nowadays, and those who felt the call of a higher life,
usually followed the mystic path. But, during the last
few hundred years, since the advent of modern science, a
more intellectual humanity has peopled the earth; the
head has completely overruled the heart, materialism has
dominated all spiritual impulse and the majority of think-
ing people do not believe anything they cannot touch, taste
or handle. Therefore, it is necessary that appeal should be
made to their intellect in order that the heart may be
allowed to believe what the intellect has sanctioned. As
a response to this demand modern systems of occultism
aim to correlate scientific facts to spiritual verities. The
materialistic attitude of mind is, of course, particularly
adopted in the West, and the Eosicrucian Order was
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 291
founded in the 13th century to prepare an antidote for the
poison of materialism which could be administered in doses
to suit the exigencies of the case. Paraselsus, Com enius,
Helmont, Bacon and others gave in a more veiled manner
the teachings now being definitely promulgated to dem-
onstrate that science, art and religion are a trinity in unity
which cannot be separated without distorting our view.
True Religion embodies both science and art, for it
teaches a beautiful life in harmony with the laws of nature.
True Science is artistic and religious in the highest sense,
for it teaches us to reverence and conform to the laws gov-
erning our well-being and explains why the religious life is
conducive to health and beauty.
True Art is as educational as science and as uplifting
in its influence as religion. In architecture we have a
most sublime presentation of cosmic lines of force in the'
universe. It fills the spiritual beholder with a powerful
devotion and adoration born of an awe-inspiring concep-
tion of the overwhelming grandeur and majesty of Deity.
Sculpture and painting, music and literature inspire US'
with a sense of the transcendent loveliness of God, the im-
mutable source and goal of all this beautiful world.
Nothing short of such an all-embracing teaching will
answer the needs of a large and growing class, therefore
the technico-devotional religion is absolutely necessary at
the present time.
292 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 148.
Is it possible to cultivate clairvoyance by the use of drugs f
by crystal gazing or breathing exercises, and do these
methods not bring results quicker than the methods you
advocate?
Answer: Yes; it is possible to cultivate a certain kind
of clairvoyance by any of the methods mentioned,, but when
a man cultivates the sixth sense by such means he is not
master of his faculty; the power of producing clairvoy-
ance is vested in the crystal and not in the man. He is
in a similar position to one who learns horsemanship at a
riding-academy where the horses are trained to allow them-
selves to be ridden. The pupils acquire no ability to deal
with intractable animals, but simply ride by permission of
their mount.
If a man learns to break a wild horse he can break others,
and rides by virtue of his own power to master his horse,
and when a man has used will power instead of drugs or
a crystal to subdue his body and cultivate clairvoyance, he
has acquired a soul quality which enables him to exercise
his faculty in all future lives. But the crystal gazer and
the drug fiend have lost their power at death, and must
wait till they can obtain drugs or crystals in the new life
to train the new body, and thus a great lo-s of time and
effort results from the use of such methods. When we
take into consideration the fact that drugs and breathing
exercises have a dreadfully destructive effect upon the body,
it will be seen that these methods are altogether undesir-
able. Many a man is today in the insane asylum or in the
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEES 393
grave of the consumptive on account of breathing exercises,
and the effects of drugs are well knkown.
Besides, there are various kinds of clairvoyants. There
are some who have a faculty of such a nature that the
clairvoyant may be likened to a prisoner \\ho sits in his
cell behind bars. The window in his cell opens upon a cer-
tain view; he cannot escape seeing whatever comes into the
range of his vision, for he cannot turn away. There is
also a shutter before his window which he cannot control
either. Thus at all times when that shutter is open he must
see whatever passes outside his window whether the sight
pleases him or not. A faculty of that nature is an unmit-
igated curse, for sometimes the most dreadful scenes are
enacted before the vision of such a clairvoyant. The writer
remembers the case of a certain gentleman, who possessed
that kind of a faculty. Lecturing before a certain society
at the time of the War in the Philippines, a battle scene
presented itself before his gaze. An encounter was taking
place at that moment between Filipinos and our sol-
diers. He saw horses ripped open and falling with entrails
on the ground, our men being hewn to pieces by the bolos of
the natives, etc. Unable to shut off the vision, he turned
deathly pale, but exercise of will-power enabled him to
finish his lecture without attracting attention from the gen-
eral audience.
There are other clairvoyants who have only a partial
control of their sight and who cannot count on the power
at any time. To this class belongs the ordinary medium
who prostitutes the faculty for a fee. At times, when the
power is on, she may give exceedingly good readings and
tell the truth, but at other times, when the power is off,
there may be a temptation to secure the fees needed for
294 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
office rent and personal expenses by simulating. The only
safe way to cultivate the faculty of clairvoyance is by
means of exercises given by the mystery schools, but these
exercises and lessons in the development of the higher fac-
ulties are never sold for gold or any material consideration.
They are always given without money as a reward of
merit. The man who possesses this faculty, cultivated by
their method, has no off days, but he will never consent to
use it to gratify anyone's curiosity, for tests or other friv-
olous purpose. He directs all his energy to aid in uplifting
humanity.
QUESTION No. 149.
What time in the morning is best for concentration?
Answer: The object of the exercises, both morning and
evening, is to bring the pupil into conscious touch with
the invisible worlds, and there is no time so good as the
morningj for during the night the spirit withdraws from
the dense body and enters the invisible world, leaving the
body asleep upon the bed ; and it is the return of the spirit
in the morning which causes the body to awake and focuses
our consciousness upon the material world through the sense
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 295
organs. Wordsworth says in his beautiful "Ode to Im-
mortality'' :
"Birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life star,
Has elsewhere had its setting and cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness nor yet in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come from God who is
our home.
"Heaven lies about us in our infancy,
The shades of prison house begin to close
Around the growing boy ;
But still he sees the light and whence it flows
He feels it in his joy.
"The youth who daily further from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's priest,
And by the vision splendid is on his way attended.
At last the man perceives it fade away
And melt into the light of common day."
During the life of a person, the Inner Worlds are closest
to him in childhood's years, as Wordsworth says, for that is
life's morning, and so it is with us ; w r hen we waken in the
morning we are in closer touch with the Spirit Worlds than
at any other time of day, and then it is easiest to return to
them. Therefore, the pupil should commence his exercises
the very moment he wakens, without allowing his mind to
rest upon anything else. He should be particular to relax
his body perfectly so that no muscle is tense and fix his
mind upon a high ideal or upon the first five verses of the
Gospel according to St. John, either sentence by sentence,
296 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
or as a whole. That will put him in touch with cosmic
vibrations. He should still the senses so that he can hear
nothing and see nothing in his room. When he succeeds
the scenes of the Desire World will present themselves to
his inner vision. First spasmodically, later more and more
clearly, as practice makes him perfect.
For most persons, however, the evening exercise is of
the greater importance and will probably bring results
quicker, because that works upon the life we lead and
ennobles us in a way that the morning exercise cannot.
QUESTION No. 150.
It is difficult for me to review the events of the day in
reverse order wlien doing my evening exercises. Is this
absolutely necessary, and if so, w\
Answer: In the evening exercise the pupil reviews and
judges his life for that day. He is then doing the work
ordinarily reserved to Purgatory and the First Heaven.
There the life is lived backward from effects to causes in
order that we may see how and wliy suffering results from
our mistakes. Eeviewing our daily life, in reverse order,
from effects to causes, we note that our troubles and trials
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 297
have all been caused by previous acts during the past day
or some other day of our life.
It is our task to find that cause and to analyze the
reason which leads up to every development, so that we may
know in future how to take advantage of opportunities for
soul growth and avoid evil. Thus if we follow up the day's
experience in reverse order we profit by the experiences
gained right away instead of waiting until we have passed
out of this life and are forced to reap the fruits of our
deeds in Purgatory and the First Heaven.
QUESTION No. 151.
What value are breathing exercises in developing body
and mind?
Answer: The value of breathing exercises depends upon
the knowledge of the person who gives them. Breathing
exercises given in books and by so-called teachers, who
advertise courses in psychic development, are exceedingly
dangerous and many a person is in the insane asylum
today on account of having attempted to use them, or,
perhaps, sleeps under the sod in the grave of a consump-
tive.
298 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Every human being is an individual and needs indi-
vidual exercises. The appropriate exercises can only he
given by a person who is clairvoyant and also able to
watch the growth of ceitain etheric organs in the physical
body of his pupil. He must also know what this growth
should be in each individual case. Anyone who has the
ability to thus give this individual exercise also knows
how to check undesirable developments. But such a
teacher does not advertise psychic developments for so
much per lesson. Such exercises are never sold for money,
but are always given for merit. '
The reason is evident.. One who has the faculty of
clairvoyance at command has an enormous power; if mis-
used it can work more harm than any earthly weapon. It
could cause a panic in the markets of the world, bring
about wars and enmities among people anywhere and
everywhere, and thus the possessor would become a scourge
to society unless he were also of such a mind that he would
never use his faculty save for good. The powers behind
evolution, the Elder Brothers of humanity who have de-
veloped these powers and are capable of teaching them,
take exceeding good .care that no one shall attain to tins
power until they have given proofs of unselfishness and
bave been bound by vows and restrictions. Therefore it
may be said that no one should undertake breathing exer-
cises unless prescribed by the proper teacher, and neither
is it necessary to run about the world seeking such n
teacher. The aspirant ought rather to strive to do good
and use the faculties which he now possesses in the environ-
ment where he is, for that is the only proper stepping
stone towards a higher power. When he has sufficiently
fitted himself, the teacher will appear in his life and ho
will not for a moment be in doubt of the genuineness of
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 299
the teaching that will then be given. In this respect we
may quote a little poem that is exceedingly beautiful :
"Don't waste your time in longing
For bright, impossible things;
Don't sit supinely waiting
For the sprouting of angel wings.
Don't scorn to be a rushlight,
Everyone can not be a star;
But brighten some of the darkness
By shining just where you are.
"There's need of the tiniest candle
As well as the garish sun,
And the humblest deed is ennobled
When it is worthily done ;
You may never be called on to brighten
Darkened regions afar,
So fill day by day your mission
By shining just where you are."
300 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 152.
Is not the Invisible World of which you speak very
unreal and shadowy in comparison to this world in which
we now live?
Answer: God is the Prime Eeality. The Desire World
and the World of Thought are one and two steps nearer
to that central source of energy and hence they are more
real. By "real" the inquirer presumahly means that in
this world the forms are stable and do not easily change,
whereas in the Invisible Worlds they are more than plastic
and change with the rapidity of thought, but the life
within is the reality and not the form. Stability is not a
mark of reality. Everything in the world which is now
crystallized and stable has first existed in a plastic con-
dition in the Invisible World. Everything which has been
made by the hand of man was first a thought form in the
mind of its maker.
When an architect desires to build a house, he first
thinks it out. He seeks to form an idea as clearly as
possible of what the house is to be. Could the 'Workmen
see the thought form in the mind of the architect, they
would be able to work from that without plans, but the
architect's idea is hidden from them by the veil of flesh
and, therefore, it is necessary for the architect to put his
idea on paper and make a plan. This is the first stage of
crystallization ; afterward the workmen build the house in
iron, wood and stone.
According to the ideas of most people this house is much
more real than the thought form in the mind of the archi-
tect, but in reality that is not so. The concrete house
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 3Q1
may be destroyed in a moment by earthquake, by dyna-
mite, or in other ways, but the idea in the architect's mind
will last as long as he lives and from that idea a new
house, or a dozen, may be built at any time, yes, even after
the death of the architect the house will still exist as a
model in the ether, and any clairvoyant capable of con-
tacting the Invisible Worlds and reading in the memory
of nature is capable of seeing it there at any time, though
millions of years may elapse. Thus the Invisible World
is the source and everlasting record of all that is or was
here, hence it is the prime reality.
SECTION VII
Questions concerning
ASTROLOGY
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QUESTION No. 153.
Is it possible that astrology and palmistry can be true,
inasmuch as we could avert coming disaster by being fore-
ivarned in that manner? And would this not interfere
with our destiny?
Answer: The destiny which we generate under the law
of causation by our own acts may be divided into three
kinds. In the first place, there is the destiny which from
the very nature of the case we cannot expiate in the pres-
ent life; for instance, when a man commits murder,
whether he suffers the penalty for it here or not, the prison
life usually does not have the effect of making him more
mellow and kind. Sometimes it does the reverse ; it makes
him bitter and turns his hand against all. Before nature
will be satisfied, he must learn that he may not deprive
a fellow being of his form ; he must learn to serve. Thus
the case is not satisfied until he has had the opportunity
at a future time to render service of importance to his pre-
vious victim.
A second kind of destiny we reap from day to day ; it is,
we might say, as a cash transaction, we pay as we go. If we
overeat, we have indigestion; if we go out without suffi-
cient clothing, we take cold, etc.
A third kind is called "ripe" or "mature" destiny. It
is the result of our actions in past lives or in our early
years, which has matured into effect so far that it is em-
305
306 EOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
bodied in the pictures shown a spirit as the panorama of
its coming life when starting toward rebirth. Once the
spirit has chosen a certain life with the "ripe" destiny al-
lotted for liquidation by the Recording Angels, it is bound
by its choice. The tendencies to act in a manner conducive
to adjustment of this mature destiny are inherent in the
body and inscribed in the stars, for the stellar influences
are the source of man's activity, and therefore this mature
destiny may be seen from the horoscope at birth, standing
out with exceeding clearness, so that it is very plain and
patent to the spiritually minded astrologer or palmist.
He can also see the other kinds of destiny and may some-
times mistake one kind for the other and hence be wrong
in his view as to whether an event can be avoided or not.
If it is "ripe" destiny, it will be impossible to avoid it
despite all warnings, as perhaps the following instance may
serve to show:
In 1906 the writer gave some lessons in astrology to Mr.
L., a well known lecturer, in Los Angeles, using the gen-
tleman's own horoscope for purposes of instruction, as that
enables the pupil to check the truth of the interpretations
of the symbols so far as the past is concerned, and lends
more interest than \vhen using the horoscope of a stranger.
It was found that Mr. L. had had a number of accidents ;
these were figured to the day when they happened. An
impending accident, due to occur at the time of the new
moon, July 21, 1906, was also noted. Mr. L. was, there-
fore, warned to stay in the house on that day and the
seventh day after, the latter date being regarded as the
more dangerous. He was told that there would be danger
of an accident to the lower part of the head, the neck,
breast and arms, in consequence of a short journey by
bicycle, buggy or electric car.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 3Q7
Mr. L. was much impressed and promised to stay at home
on the dates named. The writer went North and from
there wrote reminding Mr. L. of his danger just before the
time it was due. He received a letter assuring him that
Mr. L. would be careful.
The next communication regarding the matter came
from a mutual friend and stated that Mr. L. had gone to
Sierra Madre to lecture on the twenty-eighth of July and
had been hurt in the places mentioned in the prediction
by a collision with a locomotive. The writer wondered why
his instructions had been so disregarded, and the answer
came three months later when Mr. L. thanked him for the
information which had been very valuable to him, as he
said, in proving the truth of astrology. The reason for
the accident was that he had forgotten the date. He wrote
"I thought the 28th was the 29th/'
This case, in the estimation of the writer, shows that
mature destiny cannot be interfered with and that we ma}' -
safely do anything we can to avoid impending danger with-
out fear of interfering with the law of causation. There
are invisible agencies around us to counteract any move
upon our part which would interfere, and in the opinion
of the writer they were responsible for Mr. L.'s confusion
of dates.
308 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 154.
Is it wrong to use palmistry, astrology or phrenology as
a means of livelihood?
Answer: What is right or wrong depends upon the
viewpoint of the individual. Less than fifty years ago it
was thought right to kill a refractory negro. His master
could do so with impunity as he may nowadays kill a hog
or a horse. Today we would consider that murder. Some
people today look upon astrology as merely a matter of
calculation and upon palmistry and phrenology as material
sciences, without any spiritual significance. Who thus
views these sciences would be blameless if he used them as
a means of livelihood, while anyone who had obtained an
idea of the spiritual side of these sciences would, in the
estimation of the writer, be prostituting his knowledge.
Besides, no one who thus belittles these spiritual sciences
can ever give the highest and best advice to his clients,
for the glimmer of gold will always obscure the judgment.
Such has been the experience of the writer and many others
who hold the same views. The inquirer, at any rate, would
do wrong to use his knowledge of these spiritual sciences
for a livelihood, for his question shows that he must have
misgivings; and then he is already judged from within if
he prostitutes his talent.
There is a reward that is much more than gold. If
we use our knowledge to heal and to help we shall never
lack means of living and we shall be laying up treasure in
heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt. Greater and
better opportunities for service will be ours if we devote our
talents to unselfish service.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 3Q9
QUESTION No. 155.
Are Mars, Jupiter and other planets inhabited; if so,
are those people superior to the people on the earth; do
the souls from the earth ever reincarnate on other planets
and vice versa?
Answer: All the planets in the solar system are inhab-
ited and are fields of evolution for different classes of
spirits at various stages of development. The planets
nearest to the sun support the beings which are most
evolved. Jupiter forms an exception to this rule; it is
peopled by a humanity slightly higher than that of the
earth.
The principle is this : The highest vibrations exist in
the central sun, which at one time contained all the beings
now dwelling upon the different planets. But not all were
able to sustain the terrific vibrations of that central fire-
mist; therefore, a crystallization took place at the poles;
gradually the crystallized matter gravitated toward the
equator and was expelled, with the spirits dwelling thereon.
That first emanation became Uranus. Later on other
classes of spirits have crystallized a part of the sun and been
expelled to move in orbits at varying distances from the
central source, according to the rate of vibration necessary
for the unfoldment of the spirits upon them, forming
eventually the solar system as we know it now.
Each class of spirits stays in its environment, being
under the direct tutelage and guidance of one of the
Planetary Spirits whose body is the planet where they
dwell. As the spirits have been incarnated on different
planets because they are at widely different stages of spir-
310 KOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
itual unfoldment, they do not usually incarnate upon the
other planets, save that at times some from the inner planets
are sent as teachers to the outer spheres. This, at least,
was the case when our humanity needed teachers, embodied
and visible. Then some of the beings from Venus and
Mercury were brought to the earth to guide nascent hu-
manity. They were known as messengers of the Gods and
these Lords from Venus were the first kings and rulers
over the human race. Later on the most precocious among
human beings were turned over to the Lords of Mercury
who initiated them into the mysteries and these, in turn,
became the rulers over their brethren. They were then truly
kings by t'lt.e grace of God, ruling the people for their up-
liftment and good, regardless of power and self aggrandize-
ment.
QUESTION No. 156.
Does not the nebular theory account for the existence of
the universe in a much more ".cientific manner than the
creation stories of the Bible?
Answer: The nebular theory was rejected by Herbert
Spencer because, like the Bible, it postulates a First Cause.
Viewed briefly, the theory is this, that at one time there
appeared in space a firemist, spontaneously. Within that
firemist, currents started, also spontaneously, and that under
QUESTIONS AI\D ANSWERS 311
the impact of these currents, the firemist took a spherical
shape, revolving with intense rapidity. The centrifugal
force caused it to throw off p. ring which disintegrated,
the fragments coalesced and became a planet revolving in
an orbit around tlie central mass. Thus different planets
were brought into existence one after another. They cooled
gradually, and at last the solar system was complete. Upon
one of these planets at least, there appeared, spontaneously,
Life, or protoplasm, which gradually evolved through the
different classes of Radiates, Mollusks, Articulates and
Vertebrates, finally flowering in man, who is the highest
Intelligence in the Cosmos, lord of all he surveys.
This the scientist says, with a wise mien, and may also
add: "Don't you see how simple and reasonable this is?
If not, let me show you by a demonstration." He may
then take a basin full of water and pour a little oil upon the
surface, the water to represent space and the oil the fire-
mist. He may then take a needle and commence to stir
the oil in imitation of the currents generated in the fire-
mist, and under his stirring the oil will take a spherical
shape. Gradually the sphere will bulge at the equator,
a ring will be thrown off and shapo itself into a planet
which will revolve around its primary and the scientist will
then triumphantly say: "There, don't you see how natnr.nl
it is, not the slightest need for your God !''
We only woncler that the men who have a mind capable
of conceiving this splendid demonstration can at the same
time be so dull that they do not see thai: they, themselves,
take the place of God, who thought out and brought into
being the universe as the scientists conceived their demon-
stration, and carried it into execution. God by his power
preserves our universe and moves the planets as the scientist
moves his oil-planet, and were God to cease his activity for
312 EOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
a single moment, cosmos would instantly resolve itself
into a conglomerate chaos as the oil-sun and planet cease
to be the moment the scientist discontinues his operation.
Therefore, so far from refuting the assertion of the Bible
that God is the Creator and sustainer of the cosmos, the
nebular theory demonstrates the necessity for divine inter-
ference most thoroughly, and when properly understood,
there is no essential difference between the scientific and
religious conception.
QUESTION No. 157.
"\Yhat are comets?
Answer: Contemplating the wisdom of the Great Cre-
ative Hierarchies as compared with our own, we would nat-
urally feel inclined to think that they are above mistakes;
hut upon second thought it appears reasonable that as they
are yet evolving, though learning lessons far beyond us,
they must at times make mistakes. They are active in the
Macrocosm, the "Great World/' the Body of God, as we
are working in the Microcosm, the "Little World," com-
posed of our different vehicles, and just as we make mis-
takes in handling our affairs and in learning the lessons we
are learning, so also the Great Creative Hierarchies at times
fail in their labors.
We know that when bringing a child to birth there may
AiND AiNfcJWEltfci
be a miscarriage. The foetus is then expelled from the
system and at once commences to decay. There is a sim-
ilar risk when a world is in the making, namely, that it
crystallizes or sets before it has completed the period of
gestation in the Desire World. Then it has not been prop-
erly molded, and may be likened to plaster of Paris mixed
by a sculptor to form a beautiful statue, but set before it
was molded a shapeless, useless mass. When this hap-
pens in the making of the world, we have what is known
as a comet, and the elliptic orbit which it travels is tho
path of a current in the Desire World. We have something
similar to the comets in the appearance of the Ego before
it enters the womb of the mother. Then that is also such
a bell-shaped thing with a n ucleus at the top and a great
deal of material flowing behind it similar to the tail of the
comet. And these bell shaped reincarnating Egos also
traverse elliptic orbits around the earth, until it is neces-
sary for them to enter the womb of the future mother.
314 ROSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 158.
Does the movement of a planet through space create a
noise?
Answer: Pythagoras' spoke of the lurmony of the
spheres, and he did not HFC that expression simply as a
poetical allusion. There is such a harmony. We are told
by John that in the beginning was tha wo v d . . . and
without it was nothing made that was made. That was
the creative fiat which first started the world into being.
The familiar experiment of placing sand upon a glass plate
and creating geometrical figures by bowing the edge with
a violin bow, illustrates the creative ability of sound. And
we hear of celestial music, for from the point of the Heaven
World, everything is first created in terms of sound, which
then molds concrete matter into the multitudinous forms
which we see around us.
In the occultist's sphere of vision, the whole solar sys-
tem is one vast musical instrument, spoken of in the Greek
Mythology as "the seven-stringed lyre of Apollo, the radiant
Sun God." As there are twelve semi-tones in the chro-
matic scale, so we have in the heavens, twelve signs of the
zodiac, and as we have the seven white keys or whole tones
on the keyboard of the piano, we have seven planets. The
signs of the zodiac may be said to be the sounding-board
of the cosmic harp and the seven planets are the strings;
they emit different sounds as they pass through the various
signs, and therefore they influence mankind in diverse
manner. Should the harmony fail for one single moment,
should there be the slightest discord in that heavenly band,
this whole universe as such must crumble. For music
C^O'^bTIOXS AND ANSWERS S13
can destroy as well as build. This has been well proven
by great musicians. For instance, the grandson of the
immortal Felix Mendelssohn has for several years been ex-
perimenting with the power of sound in that direction. He
has come to the conclusion that once we find the keynote
of a building, bridge or other structure, we may raze that
structure to the ground by sounding that note sufficiently
loud and long. An illustration in point occurs to the.
writer :
"A few years ago a band of musicians were rehearsing
near an old ruin outside the city of Heidelberg, Germany.
At one point in their exercises they came to an extremely
high pitched and long continued note, and as they sounded
it the massive wall of the nearby ruin tumbled to the
ground with a tremendous crash. They had struck the
keynote of that wall and it fell." In view of these facts,
our supercilious smiles of bygone days when listening to
the story of Joshua and the walls of Jericho are no longer
in place. The sound of the ram's horn undoubtedly struck
the keynote of those walls which had been much sensitized
by the rhythmic tramp of his army in preparation for this
final climax. The rhythmic tramp of many feet will de-
stroy any bridge, and therefore soldiers are instructed to
break step when crossing a bridge. So that we may say
in answer to the question that every planet gives out a cer-
tain keynote which is the sum total of all the noises upon
it, blended and harmonized by the indwelling Planetary
Spirit. That sound can be heard by the spirit ear. As
Goethe says :
"The sun intones his ancient song
Mid rival chant of brother spheres ;
His prescribed course he speeds along
In thunderous way, throughout the years."
316 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
This, from the first part of Faust, the prologue in heaven.
And also in the second part of Faust, spirits of air greet
the rising sun with the words :
"Sound unto the spirit ear proclaims the new born day
is here ;
Rocky gates are creaking, rattling,
Phoebus' wheels are rolling, singing
What sound intense the light is bringing/ 3
QUESTION Xo. 159.
What is the esoteric significance of the use of the names
of the twelve sons of Jacob in connection with the twelve
signs of the zodiac, and are these used in connection with
the earth's zodiac or the sun's zodiac, or both ?
Answer: There is only one zodiac, the twelve constella-
tions which we call Aries, Taurus, etc. These are the stars,
located in a narrow belt about eight degrees each side of
the ecliptic, or the sun's path, as viewed from the earth.
The twelve sons and one daughter of Jacob are identified
with the twelve constellations, because Josephus mentions
that the Israelites wandering in the wilderness carried em-
blems of these twelve groups of stars on their banner. In
the 49th chapter of Genesis and the 33rd chapter of Deu-
teronomy, Jacob pronounces blessings upon his twelve sons
in such a manner that it is impossible to one who knows
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 317
astronomy not to see a resemblance between the descrip-
tion of these sons and the twelve signs of the zodiac.
Also, if we regard the manner of pitching the camp of
the Israelites grouping the twelve tribes around the taber-
nacle where the seven branched candlestick was we see
again a reference to the astronomical disposition of the
twelve signs of the zodiac outside of the seven planets,
which are the lights of the solar system, the House of
God.
The spiritual reason of the analogy between Jacob, his
wives, their children and the cosmos, may be found in the
hermetic axiom, as above, so below. Jacob, with his four
wives, symbolize the sun and the four phases of the moon,
which are the givers of life to all that live upon earth;
the twelve sons and one daughter symbolize the Creative
Hierarchies, which have been active in the evolution of our
solar system and have brought not only humanity but also
all the various other kingdoms to their present stage of
evolutionary attainment, and are working with them now
in order to still further develop them into spiritual beings.
It was they who made man in their likeness. Even to this
day humanity is stamped with the characteristics of the
twelve celestial signs. Therefore the original Semites, who
were to be the progenitors of a new race, were divided into
twelve classes by their leader, each class representing one
of the constellations.
318 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION Xo. 160.
Can you give t an idea of the difference between helio-
centric and geocentric astrology? Is the geocentric con-
cerned only with the affairs of this earth, the material life,
and the heliocentric with the soul or the spiritual side?
The sun, being the spiritual planet and the ruler of our
solar system, would lead to this conclusion, inasmuch as
ive use the sun's zodiac in heliocentric astrology and the
earth's zodiac in geocentric. Can predictions in this life
ever be made by the sun's zodiac, or is the latter simply
concerned with the spiritual side of a persons nature?
Answer: One of the objections raised to the ancient
system of astrology is that it regards the earth as the centre
of the solar system in the same manner as the ancients
did, and that since Copernicus showed us that the planets
move around the sun, many people regard astrology as "an
exploded science," a palpably proven fallacy, and in order
to overcome this objection, certain astrologers in modern
times have invented what is called "Heliocentric Astrol-
ogy," which regards the sun as the centre of our solar sys-
tem and the planets as moving about it.
It is perfectly true that, scientifically speaking, the geo-
centric system of astrology, which regards the earth as a
centre, is incorrect. And it is wrong when we say that the
sun is in Cancer when it is really the earth traveling in its
orbit that has come to the sign Capricorn and, therefore,
it appears to us here upon the earth as if the sun were in
Cancer. But that is not the crux ; it really does not matter
which of the two bodies has moved, the astrologer judges
by the positions of the planets relative to the earth. And
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 319
it Is much more convenient to regard the planets as mov-
ing round the earth as the center than it is to use the
opposite system, for in the geocentric system we note the
relationships of the planets as they appear from our earth
and note the effects upon various people at the time when
such planetary influences were felt, and so, by experience,
we have come to our present system of judgment, which
is, therefore, as true today as it ever was. "The proof of
the pudding is in the eating," says the homely old proverb.
The proof of astrology is in the truth of its predictions,
and no one who has honestly studied this science and has
tried to test it for himself can fail to find this truth.
Predictions sometimes fail because the astrologer mis-
interprets, but even allowing for the fallibility of the as-
trologer, there is, nevertheless, such a mass of predictions
which come true that it is quite beyond explanation as a
coincidence.
The geocentric system is correct and takes in all sides
of man's nature, not only the material manifestation but
also the spiritual side. The heliocentric system, on the
other hand, has been trumped up by people who aim to
conform to science and have no concern with the spiritual
side of nature, therefore that is the least satisfactory. Bo-
sides, while those who have used the geocentric astrology"
for many centuries have recorded their observations of the
effects of the planets from that standpoint, there is very
little of such empirical knowledge from the standpoint of
the heliocentric system, which we would advise the inquirer
to leave alone.
o20 KOSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 161.
How is it possible to get on good terms with Saturn?
The inquirer has been under his influence all his life. Sick-
ness, poverty, loss of inheritance and accidents are bad
enough, but can Saturn also cause us trouble spiritually;
can he put barriers up for our unfoldment when our spirit
is struggling for the good, and are we liberated, from his
influence ivhen we pass out at death ?
Answer: Materialistic astrologists speak of Uranus,
Saturn and Mars as evil, while Venus and Jupiter are
called good. In God's kingdom there is nothing evil. That
which appears so is only good in the making. Neither
must it be imagined that the influences from any of the
planets operate to harrass men. We have come into this
world in order to get certain experiences necessary to our
spiritual unfoldment, and when we seek to understand
the stellar influences we shall find that they are potent
factors in helping us to gain just that experience. Saturn
is the chastener. When we have gone astray from the path
of righteousness, wilfully or unwittingly, we are not allowed
to continue in evil, for Saturn comes to stop us. Perhaps
we have gained an inheritance; we misuse and squander it
in every direction. In doing so, we usually abuse our
body as well. Then comes an aspect to Saturn, a sickness
ensues and we are laid low. We are forced to diet and to
give our system a rest, and as a result we arise from our
sick-bed a new man or a new woman. But the question is,
have we learned our lesson ? During our repose upon the
sick-bed, we have had time to think over the life we have
been leading. Have we analyzed our life, so that we under-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 321
stand the causes that brought us low? If so, we have
profited. For then we shall know how to do better and
avoid the pitfalls that caused our sickness in the future.
Or, our inheritance being altogether squandered, we stand
with empty pockets upon the street. Perhaps we can turn
nowhere for help ; we are then forced to think and to break
a way for ourselves. Our talents w r ere useless while we were
squandering our money. In poverty they are turned to
account, we are forced to use them in doing our share of
the world's work. We have lost our inheritance, but the
world has gained a worker, and if we have learned our
lesson in that way, then the influence of Saturn has been
a blessing in disguise.
And so it is with everything in the horoscope that may
appear evil. Besides, the more spiritual we grow the less
will these so-called evil planets or evil aspects affect us
adversely. They are transmuted to good. Saturn will
not give disaster to the spiritual man, but persistence; not
sickness, but strength ; and thus, by conforming to the laws
of nature, l)y living our lives in harmony with the stars,
we rule them and change our lives as we desire.
The greater part of humanity drifts with the tide and
acts according to the tendencies implanted by the stellar
influences. Therefore, the astrologer can predict what
they will do with wonderful accuracy. But the more a
man or woman lives the spiritual life the more he becomes
a factor to be taken into consideration, and the predic-
tions of the astrologer will fail as far as he is concerned
in a measure corresponding to his attainment.
The stars are our helpers in evolution. They are not
dead bodies of matter but the living, throbbing and
vibrating bodies of great spiritual intelligences called in
the Christian religion the Seven Spirits before the throne.
322 KOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
As we change, their influence upon us changes, but we do
not escape from that influence by the mere incident of
death. When the morning of a new life dawns for us, we
shall arise with a new horoscope, and if we have aimed to
grow spiritually, to learn the lessons that the Star Angels
have aimed to teach us in the past life, we shall have new
aspects and new positions of the planets to help us further
along the path of evolution. On the other hand, if we have
"kicked against the pricks" in a previous life, we shall find
that the screws will have been put on a little harder, that
we will have been placed under influences a little stronger,
so that in the end we must learn the lessons. And the
quicker we do so, the better for us.
QUESTION Xo. 162.
How may we pray to or address Saturn when he is the
ruling star causing us trouble and sorrow?
Answer: To understand what prayer is, let us use the
illustration of an electric power house with wires to the
different houses in the city. In each house there is a switch
and when we turn that, the power which was hitherto out-
side in the wires and in the power house, enters our dwell-
ing, illuminates it or runs motors, according to the laws
of its manifestation. We may say that God primarilv and
the Seven Planetary Spirits secondarily correspond to the
power house which is wired to everyone of us, and prayer
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 323
may be said to be the switch whereby we put ourselves in
touch with the divine light and life, allowing it to flow
into us and illuminate us for our spiritual uplifting.
It is a law that electricity will flow readily along copper
or other metals, but is barred by glass, and before we can
get the electricity into our houses we must have a switch
made in conformity with this law, a copper switch. If we
used a glass switch we would obtain no electricity; the
glass switch would be a most effective w r ay of altogether
barring the electric fluid from our dwelling. In similar
manner, if our prayers (which correspond to the switch)
are in conformity with the laws of God, the divine purpose
can manifest through us and our prayers are answered,
but if we pray contrary to the will of God, naturally,
such a prayer would operate in a similar manner to a glass
switch in an electric circuit.
As a great nation sends its ambassador and plenipoten-
tiaries to other nations, so there are also ambassadors from
each one of the great Star Angels present upon our earth.
Their names are as follows :
Ithuriel is the ambassador from Uranus.
Cassiel is the ambassador from Saturn.
Zachariel is the ambassador from Jupiter.
Samael is the ambassador from Mars.
Anael is the ambassador from Venus.
Eaphael is the ambassador from Mercury.
Michael is the ambassador from the Sun.
Gabriel is the ambassador from the Moon.
The moon is our satellite and is not in the same position
as those of the other planets. The ambassadors from those
planets are Archangels, while Gabriel is an Angel.
Ordinarily humanity prays to God. These prayers are at
324: KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
the present time mostly selfish and ignorant. The prayers
of such people cannot receive attention from the ambassa-
dors who have charge over the different departments of life,
but are generally attended to, as far as may be, by the In-
visible Helpers who work for the upliftment of their
brethren. The occult astrologer, however, who knows what
he wants and is able to work in harmony with the stellar
forces, addresses the ambassadors of the Star Angels directly
and obtains his desire more easily in that way. He studies
the planetary hours when those stars have rule and at that
time proffers his request which is usually for someone else,
or for spiritual illumination concerning certain matters
to be used for the common good.
SECTION VIII
Questions concerning
ANIMALS
QUESTION Xo. 163.
Why do animals, which are a lower evolution, have an in-
stinct which seems so much more reliable than the reason
of human beings?
Answer: The answer to that question has to do with
the descent of the Ego into matter, but in the first place,
we must differentiate between the separate animal spirits
and the group spirit, which is their guardian. The sep-
arate animal spirits are as yet not se //-conscious, hence they
act without question according to the suggestions of the
group spirit. The latter is an entity belonging to a dif-
ferent evolution, and it functions in the Invisible Worlds
where things are much more apparent than they are here.
It follows, therefore, that what we call instinct is really
the suggestions of the group spirit in the Invisible World
which guides the animals.
The human spirits, on the other hand, have descended
directly into the Physical World and are, consequently,
blinded to a certain extent by the denser matter of this
plane of existence. An illustration may perhaps serve to
elucidate the reason of the fact that although the spirit is
exceedingly wise in the higher worlds, the increased mate-
riality which it attains on account of its descent necessarily
obscures that wisdom.
The hand is the most valuable instrument of man and
327
328 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
its dexterity is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the
case of a musician. A master musician may produce from
his beloved instrument the most soul stirring melody by
the caressing touch of his well trained and sensitive fingers,
but let him put on a pair of gloves and at once the delicate
touch has vanished; if he adds a second pair of gloves over
'the first pair and these are thicker and of heavier material,
he will probably be unable to produce even a melody, and
should he finally put a pair of mitts over the gloves, he
would be unable to play at all, but would produce discord
should he make the attempt. The various gloves on the
hand of a musician find their counterpart in the different
vehicles which the spirit puts on in its descent into matter.
The mitt corresponds to the physical body.
Anyone seeing the musician attempt to play with the
mitt on his hand, and who had not heard him play before
he put on gloves, might suppose him incapable of playing,
but the inference would be wrong. The human Ego is
in a similar position, its spiritual powers have been ob-
scured by the vehicles in which it is at present incased, but
there will come a time when it has learned how to use
these vehicles properly and then its spiritual power will
shine forth in a splendor at present unimaginable.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 329
QUESTION Xo. 164.
Can you throw some light on what our attitude toward
the lower forms of life should be?
Have we the right to kill anything harmless, since every
living tiling is in a sense our brother?
How about the venomous insects and reptiles?
Answer: There is only One Life in the Universe, which
is God's life. "In Him we live, and move and have our
being." And not only we, but all that lives is thus a mani-
festation of God. We are in time to become creators, as
He is a Creator. But so long as we brutally destroy the
forms of other beings we are hindering ourselves. The in-
quirer is right when he says that the lower animals are
our brothers, but, sad to say, instead of caring for them
and inspiring them with confidence and love, we have man-
aged to make ourselves feared by every animal upon the face
of the earth by the ruthless destruction we have spread
among them, and it seems but a just* retribution that we,
ourselves, should be in -constant fear of microscopic life in
the form of bacilli, which cannot be killed by gun or knife.
As for the destructive insects and reptiles, they may in
many cases be said to be an embodiment of our own evil
thoughts and produced by our own unclean habits. Science
has shown us how by proper sanitation we may get rid of
them, at least in a very great measure, without the neces-
sity of killing them. The larger reptiles, such as snakes,
are not as dangerous as they are often thought to be. In
the temples in India, where certain classes of people have
cultivated an attitude of absolute harmlessness by refusing
to kill even the smallest thing, one ma} r see as a daily
;j3() KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
occurrence venomous snakes crawling among the people
congregated there, never doing them the slightest harm,
and if we would cultivate a harmless attitude toward the
lower creatures they would soon learn to trust us as they
now fear us. Stories are on record of sailors who have
come to desert islands where man's foot had never before
trodden, and have found the birds there perfectly devoid of
fear until a number had been killed by the invading ruf-
fians. Then they have learned to fly away at the approach
of man.
We have also made human beings into beasts of prey
thieves and robbers we call them who waylay their fellow-
men, deprive them of their goods and often harm them bod-
ily, even to committing murder, and all as a result of our
harsh treatment which is dictated by fear. If we had
love we would have no fear, "for perfect love casteth out all
fear"; and if we had no fear, nothing could harm us, for
the fearless and trusting attitude is a safer protection than
pistol and lock. Therefore, we should cultivate that atti-
tude of love for everything that lives and breathes; we
should cease killing the lower animals by the million for
food, and for sport, which is the worst form of cruelty. An
attitude cf love toward our fellow men would generate in
them similar emotions and locksmiths and gunmakers would
very soon be useless. We complain of the enormous taxes
necessary to support a strong police force, the machinery
of the courts, great jails and penitentiaries, but all of these
institutions would disappear as if by magic if we would
replace fear l>y love. The Bible pictures to us a time when
the lion and the ox, the little child and the venomous rep-
tile shall all play together in peace. That may indeed be-
come a fact, for the beasts of prey have not always been
carnivorous. In the far, far past man has had his share
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 331
in their development, and in the future it will be his task
to change these conditions.
QUESTION Xo. 1G5.
Are not venomous and destructive reptiles created ly the
evil thoughts of men, so far as the form is concerned? And,
therefore, is it not an act of love to kill them and thus
liberate the divine spark within so that it may occupy a
higher form?
Answer: None of the animal forms which we see about
us have been created by man. All these forms, from the
highest to the lowest, are the emanations of group spirits,
which are spiritual entities belonging to another evolution
than the human kingdom, But man is a creator by means
of his thoughts, and the evil thoughts, the thoughts of
fear and hatred, do take form and in the course of cen-
turies they crystallize into what we know as bacilli. The
bacilli of infectious diseases are particularly the embodi-
ments of fear and hate, and therefore they are also van-
quished by the opposite force, courage. As a tuning fork
will commence to vibrate when we strike another tuning
fork of the same pitch, so also will these microscopic germs.
If we enter the presence of a person infected with a ccn-
332 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
tagious disease in fear and trembling, we most assuredly
draw to ourselves the death dealing poisonous microbes.
If on the other hand, we approach that person in a perfectly
fearless attitude, we shall escape the infection, particularly
if we are prompted by love. But love does not prompt
us to kill in the usual sense of the word. It is true that if
we could deal directly with the life of evil and poisonous
things and help them into a higher form, we might be do-
ing good; but in the first place we are not capable of judg-
ing when that present form has outlived its usefulness,
and, therefore, we cannot presume to take the responsibility
of depriving the informing life of its instrument in loving
kindness. The only time when we may sometimes prop-
erly kill for love is in case an animal has been maimed
beyond chance of recovery, and we kill it to end its
sufferings.
QUESTION No. 166.
What is a group spirit, where is it, and what does it look
like?
Answer: As a man has a body composed cf many cells,
each with an individual consciousness, so is a group spirit
an entity functioning in the Spiritual Worlds and possess-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 33-
ing a spiritual body composed of many separate animal
spirits. The group spirit itself cannot function in the
Physical World, but it evolves by sending the different
animal spirits into a form of body which it creates, and
which then forms a species or tribe of animals, and the
group spirit guides all these animal bodies by means of
suggestions which we call instinct. When the body of an
animal dies, the animal spirit has unconsciously derived a
certain experience from functioning in that vehicle, and
after a time it is reabsorbed into the spiritual bod} r of the
group spirit, where it remains for some time while the group
spirit assimilates the experience gathered by that separate
animal spirit. Thus in time the group spirit grows and
evolves. So do the animal spirits which are its wards.
They will become human in a future incarnation of the
earth, and then the group spirit will look after them as
race or a national spirit until they have become perfectly
capable of taking care of themselves individually. The
group spirits of the animals are in the Desire World and
circle the surface of the earth. The group spirits of the
plants are in that part of the Begion of Concrete Thought
which occupies the center of the earth, and the group
spirits of the minerals have not yet properly entered the
atmosphere of our earth. They are in the Region of Ab-
stract Thought.
The group spirits of the animals are very often seen in
the Desire World having human bodies and animal heads.
The illustrations upon the Egyptian temples represent in
a crude way the appearance of these group spirits. The
trained investigator finds no difficulty in conversing with
them and often he has cause to marvel at their erudition.
334 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 167.
Are animals amenable to tlie law of causation?.
Answer: No, not in the sense of being 'morally respon-
sible. Of course, if an animal jumps out a window from
a high building, that as a cause will produce lesions accord-
ing to the nature of the fall it sustains, just as when a
human being jumps out of the window. But in the case
of the animal there is only the physical effect shown by the
hurt it suffers, while the man who deliberately commits
such an act not only sustains certain lesions, but he is also
morally responsible for the instrument which he possesses,
and the law of causation brings to him an adequate moral
retribution of such a nature that he will learn to take care
of his instrument and not seek to destroy it by such acts
in the future.
The reason why the animal has no moral responsibility
is that it has no reasoning power, but ordinarily acts by
direction of the group spirit which we call instinct, and it
may be that instinct has instilled a fear into the animal
which causes it to commit an act resulting in injury to
its body. Before anyone can be morally responsible to the
law of causation, he must have a certain free will and choice,
also the power of reasoning properly, and, therefore, we
reiterate that as animals are devoid of these attributes,
they are not at all amenable morally to the law of causation.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 335
QUESTION No. 168.
Do animals live after death?
Answer: That which lives is the spirit, which has neither
beginning nor end, IT is. But what you mean is, most likely,
does it persist in the shape of an animal? To that ques-
tion we may say yes, it persists for a longer or a shorter
time, according to the stage of its evolution, in a desire
body made of the material of the Desire World. Even the
beetle that crawls over the sidewalk and i? stepped upon
may be seen by the clairvoyant to walk a few feet away
and then gradually fade to nothingness. It persists only
for a few moments in its shape before the spirit returns
to the central source of the group spirit. In the case of
a horse, a cow, or any of the higher animals, there is a
correspondingly longer time and more consciousness in the
Desire World than in the case of these lower forms. As
an illustration we may mention a case which attracted con-
siderable attention a few years ago when Eider Haggard,
the English novelist, published a remarkable dream. He
had a dog to whom he was very much attached, and one
night he dreamed that the dog came to him showing signs
of embarrassment and distress, beckoning him to come
along. Eider Haggard in his dream followed the dog
which led the way some distance to a brook. There among
some bulrushes, it showed Eider Haggard itself lying dead,
looking up at him in mute and piteous appeal for an
explanation.
When Eider Haggard woke the following morning, he
remembered the dream most vividly, but took no notice of
it until later in the day when it was discovered that the
336 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
dog was missing. After a search had been made in the
immediate neighborhood, Rider Haggard finally betook him-
self to the spot seen in his dream. There he found among
the bulrushes the body of his dog in the very position he
had seen it in his dream.- Explanations, of course, could
not be given; it was a puzzling experience and that was
all. But to the occultist it is very plain that the intelli-
gent dog, having met death and finding itself in the De-
sire World at night, goes to its master, who was at that
time also outside his body, and brings him to the place
of the accident in order to obtain his help and explanation.
QUESTION No. 169.
When a pet dog or cat dies, does the entire group spirit
to which it belongs die at the same time? Also what be-
comes of the animal soul, and does the human love and
care it has received help it on its upward journey?
Answer: The question shows that the inquirer has not
the proper idea of what a group spirit is. As our body is
composed of innumerable cells, each cell having its own
little cell life, but all the cells subjected to our own central
intelligence, so the group spirit of a species of animals is a
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 337
spiritual entity belonging to a different evolution and hav-
ing a spiritual body composed of many evolving animal
spirits. These animal spirits it sends into incarnation from
time to time into the animal bodies of its tribe, one spirit
to each body, and at death they return to the group spirit,
having gained a higher grade of consciousness than when
they were born. This helps the group spirit to evolve,
and in return it governs the spirits of the separate animals
in its tribe. Like all other spirits, a group spirit cannot
die. It is the guardian of the animal spirits, and as they
evolve the spiritual body of the group spirit undergoes
a metamorphosis. When the separate animal spirits have
evolved sufficiently, they become individualized human be-
ings, but continue in charge of the same group spirit, as
we see nations or races under the domination of a race
spirit. They do not become their own masters until they
have evolved even beyond the point of having family or
national ties. That was why Christ said that "unless a
man leave father and mother he cannot follow me," for
father and mother are bodies they are ties and clogs.
The spirits have no father and no mother, but are all one
in the ultimate.
As to what becomes of the animal soul at death, we may
say that after passing out of this body it soon returns to
the group spirit, and the love and care which we have
given it naturally further it greatly in its evolution, for
while the wild animals act entirely under the dictates of
the group spirit by that which we cfill instinct, the do-
mestic animals show a capability of thought, entirely be-
yond their normal evolution at the present time. They
have received that ability from us on the same principle
that when we take a wire highly charged with electricity
and place another wire which is not charged close to it, the
338 EOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
uncharged wire will become charged with electricity of a
lower voltage. In a similar manner the animal which comes
in contact with human beings is not itself capable of think-
ing, but learns to do so in a measure by this contact. And
we may safely infer that those animals which have become
domesticated will in time become the teachers of their less
advanced brothers.
QUESTION No. 170.
What substance does a person or animal throw off where-
by they can be traced, as, for example, criminals are traced
by bloodhounds?
Answer: When a clairvoyant looks at other persons with
etheric sight for the first time, he is usually astonished at
beholding showers of stars, pyramids, double pyramids and
all other geometrical forms issuing from their hands and
faces, and he wonders greatly what they are. Later on,
he learns that they are the crystals of which his body is
composed and which are thus being excreted by the skin.
Most of the excretions remain in the clothing, and furnish
bloodhounds or dogs with the necessary starting point for
their search. As these atoms decay, they emit an effluvia
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 339
similar to that of all decaying bodies. This effluvia we sense
ourselves where soiled clothing is left unlaundered for some
time. The dogs, having a keener scent than human beings,,
distinguish between the effluvia from one person and an-
other, and as the atoms left by a person fleeing from jus-
tice are strewn along the path he has taken, it is easy for
the bloodhound to distinguish these from the atoms of
other people or animals for a short time after the fugitive
has passed.
SECTION IX
MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS
Physical World
World of Thought
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OTHSTTOX No. 171.
What is the origin of life?
Answer: When that question is asked a scientist, he
will commence to tell us about protoplasm, protyle or some-
thing else of a like nature, but that is fen* 1 }. No matter
how small, insignificant and simple that form may be, it
is still a form, and from the occultist's point of view, the
question is poorly put, for the spirit is, WAS and WILL
ALWAYS BE. As Sir Edwin Arnold says in his beautiful
poem, "The Song Celestial" :
"Never the spirit was born, the spirit shall cease to
never :
Never was time it was not end and beginning are
dreams,
Birthless and deathless remaineth the spirit forever;
Death has not touched it at all uead though the house
of it seems.
"Nay. hut as one layeth his worn out robe away,
And taking another sayeth, "This will I wear today';
So putteth by the spirit lightly its garment of flesh
And passeth on to inherit a residence afresh."
It is life that builds the forms and uses them for a time
in orrlcT that it may progress thereby. When their useful-
EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
ness has ceased the life passes on, leaving the forms behind,
and then they are dead. Thus the question should rather
be "How did the dead originate?" for life is it has neither
origin nor termination.
QUESTION Xo. 172.
What is matter? Is it not unreal?
Ansiver: There are various theories of matter. If we ask
the materialist he, of course, maintains that matter is the
one reality ; that all and everything is matter and that noth-
ing can exist except that. The Christian Scientist is of the
very opposite opinion. He holds that matter is nonexistent
a delusion; that everything that is, is spirit, and so those
two classes of people are the very antitheses of one another.
But the truth is between.
When God desires to manifest, He emanates within Him-
self the thought forms of such a universe as He desires to
create, and these archetypal ideas arc spirit when first ema-
nated in that central source. But under the influence of
time and space, they slowly crystallize and become that
which we know as matter. This is a similar process to that
which we may observe in the case of a snail. The juices
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 345
of its soft and flexible body gradually crystallize into the
hard and flinty shell which is incapable of moving save
as propelled by the snail. Thus, as the house of tne snail
is crystallized snail, so matter is crystallized spirit. And as
the house of the snail remains stationary when not moved
by the snail, so matter is immobile save when moved
by the spirit. But in the course of time ihe snail's house
goes to decay. The matter of which it was formed is broketi*
up into minute particles and becomes available for the
building of other flexible forms it may become the body
of a snail again. So, also, the crystalized spirit matter
is reetherialized and becomes spirit again. Matter evolves
as well as spirit, for it becomes more ethereal, more flex-
ible, and more amenable to the impacts of spirit when it is
built into different forms time after time.
Thus we may say with the Christian Scientist that all is
spirit, that which appears as matter being in reality spirit
in a state of crystallization, and we may also agree with
the materialist that all is matter, for spirit which has not
yet crystallized into matter will eventually do so. It is
a mistake to consider anything in God's Universe as un-
real ; both matter and spirit are real. They are the positive
and negative poles of God.
346 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 173.
You said in a previous lecture that the earth is the body
of a spirit which gives its life for the dwellers upon the
surface. Why does it give flowers and fruit to some and
earthquake and famine to others?
Answer: During the interval between death and a new
birth, the discarnate spirits who have reached the Second
Heaven where the archetypes of everything are, build their
future environment in which they reap what they have
sown. If they have been diligent in past lives, if they have
tilled the soil and made two blades of grass to grow where
there wa p only one, they will build for themselves a still
more fertile land which will yield greater fruits for less
labor. If they have spent their time thinking of Nirvana,
a heavenly place of rest and indolence, and have loved
more to enter into metaphysical discussion than to look
after material things, they will continue to do so in the
Second Heaven, and in consequence their land will be arid
when they come back to earth life. They will then ex-
perience famine, flood and earthquake, so that they may
realize the necessity of providing for material conditions.
Thus they will in time learn their lesson and strive to con-
quer this world as we have done in the West, for, of course,
the inquirer has reference to the people of the East who
suffer from flood and famine. They are our younger
brethren, behind us in evolution, and must follow in our
footsteps. They must learn to forget, for a time, the
spiritual worlds in order to attain the development which
only the material world can give them. Thus, there is a
ideep purpose in the famine which is at present their lot
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
and there is a purpose as deep in our prosperity. Their
famine will eventually drive them into more material con-
ditions, but we, having a land of plenty with all the good
things of this world, where ingenious inventions make
life easier on every hand, will eventually say to ourselves,
when we have been satisfied with these material blessings,
"What is the good of it all ? Give us, rather, the spiritual
things/' and we will then enter a spiritual development
much higher than that of the East.
QUESTION N"o. 174.
What is meant ~by the sentence "Man, know thyself?"
Answer: This sentence was found aoove the entrance to
a Greek mystery temple as an indication of the fact that it
is obligatory upon man to thoroughly understand the
mystery of his own nature, which is much deeper than is
apparent on the surface. This, on the principle of the
hermetic axiom, "as above, so below." When he under-
stands himself and knows himself, he will be able .by
analogy to know about God. For it is truly said that
"Man was made in the image of God."
But to know himself, it is not only necessary
348 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
should "understand that which he sees, the physical body,
but also the invisible bodies which are the causes of his
thoughts, feelings and emotions. This was the teaching
given in the mystery temples.
There is still another and a far deeper meaning to that
sentence. When we ask ourselves the causes of all the
sorrow and the misery in the world, we must revert to the
earliest epochs of the earth's existence to solve our problem.
In the two first Epochs, the Polarian and the Hyper-
borean, man was a complete creative unit, capable of send-
ing forth from himself the forces which generated a
body for another being. But in the Lemurian Epoch,
when it became necessary to build a brain and a larynx,
the sex force was divided and one half retained in order
to accomplish that object. Only the other half remained
available for generation. Then man ceased to know him-
self, but "Adam knew his wife," and as a result she bore
him children.
The spirit inherently feels its own divine creative
nature and secretly rebels against the necessity of seek-
ing the cooperation of another to generate. As a result,
sorrow, trouble and pain have come into the world, and
will exist so long as the present method of procreation
makes it necessary for two to cooperate to perpetuate the
species. And it was the glorious goal that is set before
humanity in the future the coalition of the two poles of
the creative force which will again make man an individual
creator complete in himself that was adumbrated in the
mystery word "Man, know thyself."
The Apostle John, in his First Epistle, the 3rd chapter,
8th verse, tells us the way of attainment where he says that
"He that commiteth sin is of the devil. . . . For this pur-
pose was the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 349
the works of the devil. . . . Whosever is born of God does
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him."
Where the animal propensities are catered to and an
abnormal use is made of the sex force, a man is apt to
become an idiot, but the thoughts of a spiritual man are
pure, chaste and full of wisdom.
At the present time, cooperation of the sexes is neces-
sary to procreation of vehicles for Egos who are coming
to rebirth, but the time will come when man will cease
to create in that manner. He will know himself. Con-
centrated thought as the seed will remain within himself,
but he will manifest it by means of the larynx as a
Creative Word, a word that will form things in the Phys-
ical World. Then it will no longer be necessary for man-
kind to seek the cooperation of one another in providing
new vehicles. This he was taught in the mystery schools,
which are way stations upon the path of attainment, and
therefore the saying "Man, know thyself" was inscribed
upon the Delphian oracle.
QUESTION No. 175.
What is the Holy Grail?
Answer: The story of the Holy Grail is one of the
myths used by the great leaders of humanity to convey to
us spiritual truths in symbols which would at that timo
have been incomprehensible to our infant intellect.
350 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
The Grail story is found, variously told, in all the earlier
races as far back as we can trace religious teaching, and
libraries have been written about this wonderful mystic
panacea for all ills.
In medieval times many versions of this legend were
recited by minstrels, minnesingers, troubadours or master-
singers. Most beautiful, perhaps, was the simple version
of Wolfram von Eschenbach, which was taken in hand by
the master artist of the nineteenth century, Eichard Wag-
ner, in his famous music drama "Parsifal."
The story relates that on the night when our Savior ate
the last supper with His disciples, He drank from a cer-
tain cup or chalice, and later on, when the lifeblood
flowed from His wounded side, Joseph of Arithmathea
caught the life blood of our dying Savior in yon chalice.
He also took the spear wherewith that wound had been
inflicted. These relics he carried with him for many
years, and such was the wonderful life giving power of the
Savior's blood that it sustained him throughout all his
privations, in prison, and on his wanderings. At last, the
relics were taken up into heaven for a time in the care of
Angels, but one night there appeared a mystic messenger
sent from God to the holy Titurel with command that he
build a castle high in the air, upon a mountain top, and
there gather around himself a band of knights, who must
he chaste and pure. These Grail Knights were permitted
to behold the sacred relics at stated times and thus they
became inspired with desire and power to go into the
world to do mighty spiritual deeds. In time Titurel gave
the wardership of the Grail to his son Amfortas and in
his reign as King of the Grail, a sad calamity befell the
Grail Knights.
There lived in ff a heathen vale" below the castle a black
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 351
knight by the name of Klingsoi who desired to become a
Knight of the Grail. He was not chaste, so in order to
meet the condition he mutilated himself in such a manner
that it became impossible for him to gratify desire. But
when he applied to the holy Titurel, the latter saw his heart
and refused him admittance. Then Klingsor swore that
if he might not serve the Grail, the Grail should serve
him. He peopled the garden of his magic castle with il-
lusory phantasmic flower maidens who waylaid the Knights
of the Grail on their passage to and from the castle, se-
duced them and thus disqualified them for further service
as Grail Knights.
Fearing that all the Knights of the Grail would be-
come prisoners of Klingsor, Amfortas decided to fight the
black magician. He took with him the holy spear to ac-
complish his object. But Klingsor evoked Kundry, who is
a creature of two existences. At one time she is the faith-
ful and willing servitor of the Grail, at another time the
unwilling tool of Klingsor. When serving the Grail, she
is humble, obedient and simply clad. Under the spell of
Klingsor, she becomes beautiful in the extreme, a woman
of seducing charms, and these she is forced to use as
Klingsor bids her, for he has power over her by virtue of
the fact that he is not susceptible to her charms on account
of his act of mutilation.
Kundry meets Amfortas, who falls before her charms.
While 1 ying in her arms the spear falls from his hand and
is snatched by the waiting Klingsor, who inflicts a wound
that cannot heal, and for many years the King suffers
tortures, particularly when he unveils the Holy Grail for
the benefit of his knights. Then the spear wound com-
mences to bleed anew, causing him the most excruciating
pain.
352 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Roughly speaking, and giving one of the several valid
interpretations which appertain to the Grail mystery, as
to other symbols, Kundry is the negative dense body which
at one time is under the control of the higher nature
symbolized by the Grail Knights, and another time ruled
by the lower desire nature symbolized by Klingsor, which
tempts the spirit to forsake its higher ideals, and causes
suffering when temptation is yielded to. In Parsifal, the
pure and guileless one, we see the man who overcomes and
therefore succeeds to the wardership of the Grail.
On Good Friday morning, 1857, Eichard Wagner sat
at the Villa Wesendonck by the Zurich Sea, and as he
looked about him the sun was shining, all nature was
smiling and from the millions of seeds buried in the
ground around him, innumerable plants and flowers were
sprouting. The thought struck Wagner, "What is the
connection between the death of the Savior at this time of
the year and this manifold sprouting life," and in that
thought he came very near to the key to the mystery of
the Grail, for the Grail was a Mystery School, one of many
which existed in the Middle Ages. The stories of King
Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table are not fables,
they are facts. Therewas such a Mystery in Wales as late
as the time of Queen Elizabeth. And these Mystery
Schools exist to the very present day, though not as pub-
licly known as they were in the more spiritual mediaeval
times. The Mystery of King Arthur dealt more with the
material and temporal side of life than the Mystery of the
Grail, which was altogether pure and spiritual. And there
the pupil was taught, not in words, but the feeling was
given to him, a teaching from within, which we may ex-
press as follows:
"You see all around you the various kingdoms in the
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 353
world. There is man, animal, plant and mineral. The
life which is in each of these kingdoms is the one universal
life of God, which manifests through all these various
forms. When the forms decay it becomes necessary to
provide other forms in their places, hence the generative
activity which serves this purpose. In the plant king-
dom,, which is beneath you, that activity is pure, chaste
and immaculate. There is no passion connected with it
in any respect.
In the kingdoms of the Gods, which are beyond }mi, it
is also carried on as a process of regeneration wilich is
pure and holy. But in the kingdoms which stand between
the plant and the gods, conditions are the reverse of chaste.
Man and animal are passionate. Man is, in fact, the
inverted plant. The plant is unashamed and stretches its
creative organ, the flower, towards the sun, a thing of
beauty and delight, pure, chaste and passionless. Man
turns his creative organ toward the earth ; he hides it with
shame because it is filled with passion. In time man is to
become a god, he is to use his creative ability for the ben-
efit of others and not for sense gratification. And so in
time man must become plant-like on a higher scale. There-
fore, you see this symbol : The pod of the plant which
holds the seed is the grail cup, and the spear which brings
that seed forth from the flower is the ray of the sun.
You, also, must learn to take the solar force, which is
the builder of all forms, and use it in your creative organ
without passion, so that that which you create shall be
immaculately conceived and not as now begotten in sin.
The juice of the plant flows through its green stem and
leaves uncolored, pure and chaste. Your blood is red and
filled with passion, but in the regeneration that blood must
be cleansed by the spiritual force which will come to you
354: KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
from the spiritual sun, as the forces from the physical
sun bring forth the juice of the plant. And having become
thus regenerated, you will die as a man to be resurrected
a God.
QUESTION No. 176.
What was the connection between the pyramid builders
of Egypt and the pyramid builders of Central America?
Which is the older civilization?
Answer: Anthropological researches have shown that
the Negro races have a long, narrow head, narrow eye
sockets and flat hair. The Mongolian races, the Indians,
etc., have round heads, round eye sockets and their hair
is round. The head of the white races is oval, so are the
eye sockets and the hair, showing that we have upon earth
three kinds of people and these are the remnants of the
Lemurian Races which lived in the Third Epoch of the
earth's development. The Mongolians, Indians, etc., are
the remnants of the Atlantean peoples and tlie white races
are the present Aryans. Upon examination, it will be
found that the Egyptians belonged to our present Aryan
races, while the Aztecs show the peculiarities of skull, orbit
and hair distinctive of the Atlantean people. Therefore
that civilization is older than the Egyptian.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 355
Not much has been written concerning the pyramids
of Central America, but Piazzi Smith and Eichard Proc-
tor, both professional astronomers, have written consid-
erable concerning the pyramids of Egypt, and have en-
deavored to find out what their use was. From the meas-
urements of the pyramids, Piazzi Smith deduces the theory
that they were built by divine architects, a theory which
Professor Proctor ridicules, although he finds the measure-
ments support the theories of Professor Smith, but he
attributes it to coincidence. When the base of the pyramid
measures as many hundreds of inches as there are days in
a year; when the diagonals of the base show the same num-
ber of inches as there are years in the great sidereal world
year, it merely happened so, in the estimation of Professor
Proctor. These coincidences are so numerous, however,
that to an unbiased mind they appear to be an embodiment
of a definite design. Professor Proctor, being an unwill-
ing witness for the theory that the Pyramid was designed
for astrological purposes, gives augmented value to his
testimony when he admits that of all the theories advanced
concerning the use of the pyramids, the theory that they
were built for astrological purposes, is the only one that
can withstand the weight of the contrary evidence. There-
fore, though he characterizes it as a wild theory, it is the
only tenable one, according to evidence.
As a matter of fact, the pyramids were temples of initia-
tion, built by the Hierophants of the lesser mysteries, and
as initiation of candidates is founded upon the passage of
the heavenly bodies, the stars, through the twelve signs
of the zodiac, so naturally, these temples of initiation
embodied all the cosmic measurements. Only the pyramid
of Cheops among the Egyptian group was thus used. The
other? were simply imitations built at later times by some
356 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
of the Pharaohs. The lesser mysteries have existed in dif-
ferent parts of the world and at various times. In India,
in Egypt, in Greece, and also in Central America. There-
fore, the connection between the pyramid builders of one
part of the world and another is that they were all the
Hierophants of the lesser mysteries and that their temples
were used for purposes of initiations.
QUESTION Xo. 177.
What is the essential difference between the teachings
of the Rosicrucian Philosophy and the orthodox church?
Answer: There are many, but perhaps the principal one
is the teaching of orthodoxy that at each birth a newly
created soul enters material existence fresh from the hand
of God, that it lives here in a material body for a longer
or shorter span of time and then passes out by death into
the invisible beyond, there to remain for all eternity in a
state of happiness or misery according to what it did while
here in the body.
The Eosicrucian teaching is that each soul is an integral
part of God, which is seeking to gain experience by re-
peated existences in gradually improving material bodies
and that, therefore, it passes into and out of material ex-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 357
istences many times; that each time it gathers a littb more
experience than it previously possessed and in time is nour-
ished from nescience to omniscience from impotence to
omnipotence by means of these experiences.
Our sense of justice revolts against a teaching which
sends one soul into a home of culture and a noble family
where it has the advantage of wealth, where moral teach-
ings are implanted in the growing child, but sends another
into the slums, its father a thief and the mother, psrhaps,
immoral, and where its teachings consist in lying, stealing,
etc. If here only once, all should have the same chance
if they are to be judged by the same laws, and we know
that no two people have the same experiencss in life. We
know that where one meets many temptations, another
lives comparatively untouched by the storms of life.
Therefore, when one soul is placed in a moral environ-
ment and another in immoral surroundings, it is not right
to send the one to a heaven of enjoyment and eternal bliss
for doing the right he could not help doing, nor is it just to
send the other to a hell for stealing and robbing when the
environment and the conditions into which he was thrown
were such that he could not help himself.
Therefore, the Rosicrucian teaching holds that we come
into whatever place is best fitted for us by our previous
experiences in former lives, and that we get just what we
deserve in all cases; that all experiences which come to
us are just what we need to give us the appropriate im-
petus for our next step in unfoldment.
358 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 178.
Kindly state the essentials wherein the Rosicrucian Phi'
lowphy differs from Theosophy.
Answer: We are not as much concerned in seeking out
differences as in finding agreements. It may be said, how-
ever, that the Rosicrucian Philosophy is the Western teach-
ing given to the Western people at this time for their ad-
vancement. If we take Theosophy as meaning Thco Sophia
(Divine Wisdom), then, of course, the Rosicrucian Phi-
losophy is only a part of that Divine Wisdom, like all
other religious systems. But if we take theosophy to mean
the philosophy promulgated by the Theosophical Society,
or Societies, for there are several brands, then we may say
that the Rosicrucian teaching is much more compre-
hensive and complete. Besides, in teaching their philos-
ophy the Rosicrucians are diametrically opposed to the
method of the Theosophical Society, which has for its
objects :
First, The formation of a nucleus of the Universal
Brotherhood,
Second, The study of comparative religion, and
Third, The investigation of the unexplained laws in
nature and the powers latent in man.
The Brothers of the Rosy Cross contend that the ma-
jority of advanced p?ople are in sympathy with the idea
of Universal Brotherhood, and that we need not be theoso-
phists to Iiave that idea at heart. Countless other societies
have altruistic ideas along the lines of brotherhood. Many
scientists are studying comparative religion and doing it
exceedingly well. It is not necessary to be a theosophist
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 359
in order to follow that object, but it is necessary to be an
occultist in order to follow out the third object of the
Theosophical Society, namely, the study of the unex-
plained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.
Therefore, the Rosicmeians recommend that all thoughts
be centered upon living such a life and practicing such
exercises as will develop the latent powers in each pupil
so that he may see and know the invisible worlds whence
come the causes we see manifested here. When this object
is attained, and not till then, is he capable of investigating
the unexplainel laws of nature. He is then also in a much
better position than the scientists or anyone else to study
comparative religion, for he sees the central source from
whence all religions sprang, each being adapted to the peo-
ple to whom given. He also sees how they fit into the
grand scheme of evolution, and when he has become capable
of reaching the consciousness of the inner worlds the unity
of life is so apparent that he does not need to trouble him-
self about the first object of the Theosophical Society, the
universality of the One Life which makes brotherhood a
fact in nature, beyond necessity of statement.
To reach that last step, we must have the true view of
the matter. We may preach to a stove that its duty is to
heat and warm us, but unless we comply with the laws of
its nature and put fuel into it, our preaching will be of
no avail. On similar principle, unless we reach the step
of exaltation where our hearts are filled with the divine
love, we may preach and put forth teachings concerning
Universal Brotherhood, but it will do no good. If we
fill the stove with fuel, it will heat us, and if we fill our
hearts with love they will radiate that quality without state-
ment of objects such as the first one mentioned.
Therefore, the principal difference between the Theo-
3GO ROSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
sophical Society and the R 03 i crucian fellowship is a com-
plete reversion of method. For, whereas the Theosophical
Society aims to form a nucleus of the Universal Brother-
hood by the study of comparative religion and only take
up the development of the hidden side' of man's nature
last- and many even decry development of the hidden
powers the Eosicrucian teaching urges the pupil first of
all to live the life, to concentrate all the powers of his being
to so walk that he may be fitted for possession of the soul-
powers absolutely essential to the investigations he con-
tamplates.
QUESTION No. 179.
Is the White Lodge of the Theosophical Society the same
as the Temple of the Rosicrucians?
Answer: N"o, the Theosophical Society is simply an
exoteric organization for the dissemination of a certain phi-
losophy, mostly derived from the Eastern Religions, while
the Rosicrucian Fellowship aims to promulgate the teach-
ings of the Western Mystery School, the Order of Rosi-
crucians, which is secret and not accessible to anyone except
upon direct invitation.
As to the relation of the Order of Rosicrucians and kin-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 361
died Mystery Orders to the White Lodge, we may say that
there are in different places of the earth a number of these
schools of the lesser mysteries, each of them composed of
twelve brethren, and also a thirteenth member. The latter
is the link between the different schools, and all these heads
or thirteenth members compose what is ordinarily known
as the White Lodge, namely, a supreme conclave of the
Eldest among our Brothers, who are now in full charge of
human evolution and plan the steps we are to follow in
order to advance.
QUESTION Xo. 180.
What do you understand l>y the term Master, and is the
Rosicrucian Fellowship movement inspired by them 9
Answer: In the far East the pupil who aspires to the
higher life seeks a "Master" and is bound hand and foot,
figuratively speaking, to that Master. He must blindly
follow the instructions of his Master, without the least
hesitancy or exhibition of curiosity concerning the purpose
of whatever directions are given him. He must 'render
the Master personal service of whatever kind required and
at whatever cost or inconvenience to himself, and thus, in
short, he becomes virtually the slave of an often very ex-
acting taskmaster.
That seems to be a very barbaric method, but it is doubt-
362 ROSICRTK'IAN PHILOSOPHY
less the only way to overcome the indolence of the Oriental,
and as they are a backward class of Egos they are accus-
tomed to servility and subserviency, so that it works no
hardship to their finer feelings. But here in the West such
a method would be altogether degrading, for we have ad-
vanced to such a stage of individuality that we can onljf
progress by action from within, and if we make any prom-
ises or take any vows \ve ought not to obligate ourselves to
anyone else, but make our promises and vows to ourselves ;
for if we cannot keep our vows to ourselves, we certainly
cannot keep promises made to others.
Furthermore, we may break a promise given to someone
else and deceive him into believing that we have kept our
faith, but we cannot deceive ourselves. If we break a
promise made to ourselves we know it at once, and there-
fore the pupil in the West is instructed to make his prom-
ise to himself, for that is stronger than any vow to an out-
sider. The teacher in the West is the closest fri?nd and
adviser of the pupil, for he follows the example of the
Christ, who said to his disciples: "This is my command-
ment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Ye
are my friends if ye do what I command you (and) hence-
forth 1 call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth ; but T have called you friends, for all
things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you." John, chapter 15, 'verses 12, 14, 15.
The Eosicrucian Fellowship is not backed by these
teachers or inspired by them ; they gave certain teachings
to the writer on the condition that he should spread them
to the be~t of his ability, and: announced their readiness to
help others who would qualify for that instruction. Stu-
dents of these teachings have banded together for the ben-
efit of associated study, but there is no hard and fast organ-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 363
ization, nor is it intended to form one, but to let people
obtain this teaching anywhere they please. We prefer that
they should remain in their churches.
QUESTION No. 181.
// one wlw believes in the teachings advanced by the
Rosicrucians earnestly maintains that they are true, is he
not in danger of becoming dogmatic and intolerant of the
opinions of others 1 ? And what should be his attitude to-
wards those who refuse to accept these teachings?
Answer: It is of utmost importance that we should
recognke the fact that, at least in our present limited
existence, we cannot possibly arrive at truth in the ulti-
mate. Therefore, that which seems to us "truth, and the
whole truth" is most likely after all only a part of the
truth. As we evolve and become capable of understand-
ing more and more, our conceptions of life, the world, and
God, change. Therefore, we ought at all times to have
the open mind so that we may receive new truth, and al-
though we should never be lukewarm but always earnest
for that which we believe to be the truth, we should never
forget the fact that there are still greater truths which
we have not yet learned. Then we are open minded and
cannot become creed bound or hide bound.
ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Some people grow so extremely enthusiastic when they
have found something which appeals to them as truth,
that they at once commence a veritable crusade to compel
others to share it with them. That is a great mistake.
If we go into a church and commence asking questions
which raise doubts in the minds of the members and
make them uneasy concerning their faith, we may easily
cause a sad state of disturbance. If that which we
have to give appeals to them and becomes an anchor
to them, so that they may rest in the new and higher faith,
well and good. But if it so happens that that which we
have to give is beyond them, is unacceptable, we maj lead
them into an extremely unhappy frame of mind and they
may turn to materialism, atheism or some other dreadful,
skeptical attitude. Their life, in that case, will lie at our
door. \\e should always make it a rule in the world to
be very quiet about what we believe or do not believe, though
never neglectful to say a little word where an opportunity
is given, and if that word brings an inquiry we should
answer it fearlessly. Thus we may gradually lead the in-
quirer on. He will not be thus led unless he is seeking,
and when we find out that he desires the information, we
should give him all he wants and give it freely. Bit we
reiterate that it is a serious responsibility to tJintst our
opinion upon ears that are unwilling or not ready.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 365
QUESTION Xo. 182.
How is it that not many who study the highest phi-
losophy interest themselves in bettering industrial condi-
tions, such as the abolition of wage slavery, which is as de-
grading and brutal as Negro slavery?
Answer: All occultists recognize the crying needs of
the day, and none long more ardently for the day of lib-
eration, the day when brotherly love shall be a fact, when
the nations shall beat their swords into plow share and
their spears into pruning hooks, as prophesied by Isaiah,
but they go about making these conditions in a different
way. Socialistic Labor Unions and such like organizations
are seelnng to better conditions, but the occultist maintains
that their methods are inefficient, and frustrate lasting
realization of their object, for there can be no doubt that
it is men who make conditions and not conditions that make
the men. If, therefore, we seek to better humanity and
raise their standard of right and wrong, if we seek to ele-
vate their ideals, then when men have become better, as a
natural consequence, conditions will be better.
Under the present conditions, when a labor union, by
strike or through the employer's fear of a strike, have suc-
ceeded in gaining a better condition, the employer at once
commences to plot how he may checkmate them and frus-
trate their object. He bands together with other em-
ployers for mutual protection and these organizations are
always at war with the labor unions. The better conditions
which are obtained by one are continually changed by the
other. When, however, the employer as well as the em-
ployed have been Christianized and have learned to do unto
366 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
others as they would have others do unto them, there will
be no necessity for labor unions, for the employers will
look out for the welfare of their employes and anticipate
their wants. This state of affairs, the occultist believes,
can be brought about by thi-nking about it, because all
things and all conditions have first been thoughts in the
minds of men. Therefore, he earnestly prays that the
minds of men may be opened to the fact of universal
brotherhood, that they may take into their hearts the love
of God and become united in seeking to do the right in-
stead of separately planning how to oppress and intimidate
others.
QUESTION No. 183.
Can anyone study occultism, live the higher life and "be
a millionaire?
Answer: Christ said to the rich young man, "Go, get
rid of all thou hast," but the young man, being very much
taken up with the good things of this life, went away
sadly, and the Christ remarked concerning the difficulty
besetting the rich man's entrance into heaven. He did not
say that it is impossible, but he knew what a snare and a
temptation there is in riches. Nevertheless, a man may
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 367
be a millionaire and still striving to live the higher life.
Riches are a clog and a fetter, but it would be absolutely
wrong to infer that riches prevent occult development.
All depends upon what view a man takes of his riches.
If he uses them for the purpose of self-aggrandizement and
to oppress his fellowmen, of course there can be no spir-
itual growth, but where a man regards himself as the
steward of his possessions, and where he aims to build fac-
tories having model conditions and model tenement houses,
etc., where he works strenuously himself to see that his
philanthropic ideas are being carried out, and that his
fellowmen are receiving good conditions and every chance
for self improvement, wealth is an enormous power for
good. When a man works thus unselfishly for the welfare
of others he will not have much chance to think of self-
improvement, and his spiritual growth will be unconscious
rather than otherwise. Nevertheless, he will progress enor-
mously, and his opportunities to do better and greater
work will increase as the years pass by in this life and also
in future lives. That was really the meaning of the parable
of the talents. Those who used their talents were made
rulers over a number of cities in order to give them ade-
quate employment in the evolutionary scheme. On the
other hand, if a man owns a factory and becomes so im-
bued with a desire for occult development that he selfishly
sells out his factory and throws his workmen out of em-
ployment in order that he may develop his own powers
and live the higher life, such a man is shirking his duty
and will undoubtedly receive a rebuke at the hands of the
Master, for he has buried his talent and in a new life he
will find himself deprived of the opportunity which he has
neglected.
368 KOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 184.
Do you believe in capital punishment? Is it not better
and more merciful than imprisonment for life?
Answer: Among the savages might is right, the
stronger always overpowers the weaker. We pride ourselves
that in our civilization we have come to a higher stage, and
that we practice altruism in all departments of our polity.
Nevertheless, although we do not go out with a club and
promiscuously murder our fancied adversaries, except in
war, we do murder in a refined way by what we call law.
There was a time when the thief was hanged by law. Now-
adays we designate such punishment barbaric, but capital
punishment is still a blot upon our civilization. Besides,
we are much more refined in our cruelty than the people
in older civilizations, for they hanged or beheaded the so-
called criminal in short order, while we keep him incar-
cerated for years, subject him to the torture of long jury
trials, set the day for his execution a long way ahead and
allow him in the meantime to suffer death by anticipation
during all the intervening time.
We profess that our object is not retaliation, but plead
that it is necessary to safeguard society and to deter others
from committing like crimes, but capital punishment pro-
motes murder. When a man has homicidal tendencies, he
should be properly restrained so that he may not hurt his
fellowmen. To kill him, however, does not restrain him;
death liberates him in the Desire World, and as the Desire
World is all about us he is at perfect liberty to go among
people and instil into them thoughts of hatred and ven-
geance against society. Therefore, murder is multiplied.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 369
Besides,, homicidal mania is aided by the press. The glar-
ing headlines which recite the ghastly minutiae of the crime
incite others to go and act likewise. If the press would
only be silent about murders and suicides we should have a
great deal less crime in the land, and it is very gratifying
to see that there are at least some newspapers, for instance
a Christian Science publication, which refuses to print any-
thing that is not good.
As to the part of the question which says, "Is death
not better than imprisonment for life?" we may say "Per-
haps, under the present conditions of prison regime, it is."
But that branch of our institutions also calls for reform
and we have much to do and undo in our treatment of thosi
whom we call criminals. They are our brothers, just as
much as flTe~~so-called respectable members of society who
have not yet committed the unpardonable crime of being
found out. It is true that we have made prison life some-
what better and less barbaric than it used to be. It is
also true that we have probation and suspended sentences
nowadays, but we are far from treating these weaker
brothers properly yet. If we could understand thoroughly
fhat they are our brothers and treat them as we would
treat a weak brother who was the son of our own mother,
we should be doing nearer right, for who amongst us if
his own brother committed a wrong would send him to
prison with scorn or call him "jail bird" when he had
served his sentence, or ostracise him for life because of a
weakness? When a person is sick with typhoid fever we
do not get angry with him and send him to the hospital
for a month ; we send him there until cured, we take good
care of him, and aim to aid him in recovering his health,
and we rejoice with him when he is well. A criminal is
weak and mentally sick. He should not be sent to prison
370 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
for a term, but should be sent to an institution where he
could be properly taught and helped to overcome his weak-
ness. Not until we treat our weaker brothers with such
loving care may we say that we have risen above the bar-
barian maxim of demanding an eye for an eye. How can
we dare to pray "forgive us our transgressions as we for-
give those who trespass against us," while we treat these
poor brothers as we do even now?
QUESTION No. 185.
What is the viewpoint of the Rosicrucians on woman
suffrage ?
Answer: The spirit is neither male nor female, but
manifests alternately as man and woman, so that looking
at woman suffrage from the larger standpoint, it would be
to the advantage of the men of the present day to grant
women that which is really their right a full and com-
plete equality in every particular. The double social stand-
ard which obtains at the present time, whereby a man may
commit the social sin without being ostracized, should be
done away with. Woman's work should be paid as much
as man's work, and in every case the lines which are laid
down so admirably in Edward Bellamy's novel, "Looking
Backward," should be followed.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 371
The advisability of this equitable social arrangement
will be evident if we look at life from the viewpoint that
this earth life is but one in many, and that we are born
as men and women alternately ; but there are other reasons
why woman should be given the franchise. In man the
dense body is positive and man's positive forces are there-
fore particularly focused upon the Chemical Region of
the Physical World. He is most particularly interested
in that which he can weigh, measure, analyze and work
with in his daily life; his development is particularly along
the material lines, shaping the earth and everything upon
it to suit his fancy, but taking little or no interest in the
spiritual side of things.
Woman, on the other hand, has the positive vital body
and as a result is intuitively in touch with the spiritual
vibrations of the universe. She is more idealistic and
imaginative, taking a great interest in all the things which
make for the moral upliftment of the race, and as it is only
by the moral and the spiritual growth that humanity can
advance at this time, she is really the prime factor in
evolution. It would be of an enormous benefit to the race
if she were given an equal right with man in every par-
ticular. For not until then can we hope to see reforms
brought about that will really unite humanity. We see
that by analogy if we will look into the home, where woman
is really the central pillar around which both husband and
children cluster. According to her ability she makes the
home what it is, she is the cementing influence and the
peacemaker. The father may pass out by death or other-
wise, the children may leave, while the mother remains, the
home is there; but when the mother is taken away by death,
the home is at once broken up.
Some have argued, "Yes, but when she is taken away by
372 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
politics the home will be broken up just as much." But
of that there need be no fear. During the transition stage
while women have to fight for their rights, and, possibly, a
short time afterward, until they have adjusted themselves,
there may in some cases be a neglect of the home, but in
the places where it has already been tried no homes have
been broken up and much good has been achieved, for
women can always be counted upon to stand for any im-
provement which makes for morality. While laws are
only makeshifts to bring humanity to a higher plane where
each one will be a law unto himself, doing right without
coercion, it is nevertheless necessary that such reforms
should be brought about at the present time by legislation.
QUESTION No. 186.
// occultists abstain from flesh eating because it requires
a tragedy in its preparation,, and they do not wish to be
a party to talcing life, either directly or by proxy, is it not
also taking life when we eat eggs or fruit, vegetables, etc. ?
Answer: The case mentioned by the inquirer is very
different from taking life by killing an animal. In fact,
while it is necessary to kill an animal in order to obtain
its flesh, and we are, therefore, doing it harm, we are
actually helping a tree when we take the fruit away from
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 373
it, as will be readily seen when we understand the process
of germination.
The process is the same with animals as with human
beings, and in fact with all kingdoms. When an animal
is to be born, the group spirit, helped by nature spirits and
angels, fashions the vital body of the coming animal, which
is then deposited in the womb of the mother and the seed
atoms are deposited in the semen of the male; then gesta-
tion takes place and an animal is born. Without the pres-
ence of the seed atom and the matrix vital body no dense
animal body can be formed. Similar conditions govern
fecundation in the case of an egg, or of a plant seed. They
are like the female ova they are so many opportunities.
If an egg is put into an incubator or under a hen, the
group spirit sends forth the requisite life, accepting the
opportunity for embodiment. If a seed is dropped in the
soil, that is al?o fertilized when the proper conditions have
been made for its development, but not before. When an
egg is crushed, cooked or in other ways disqualified for its
primal designation, or where a seed is stored for years per-
haps, there is no life, and consequently we do no wrong
when we use these products for food. It is even beneficial
to plants when the ripe fruits are removed, because then
they cease to take sap from the tree unnecessarily.
374 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTION No. 187.
7s that terrible entity which Glyndon saw in Bulwer Lyt-
ioris "Zanoni" the same as Mr. Plyde in Robert L. Steven-
son s story ?
Answer: isTo. There is a similarity in certain respects,
but in other points there is a very great difference. The
dreadful entity seen by Glyndon is spoken of in occultism
as the "Dweller on the Threshold." When the neophyte
enters into the Desire World consciously, having left his
physical body behind in sleep, he must pass an entity such
as that described by Glyndon. This is the embodiment of
all the evil deeds of his past which, having not yet been
expiated, await eradication in future lives. He must recog-
nize and acknowledge that entity as part of himself. He
must promise himself to liquidate, as soon as possible, all
the debts represented by yon terrible shape.
This entity is not even apparent to the ordinary man
during the times between death and a new birth, though
ever present. It is a demon, and is offset by another shape
which represents all the good a man has done in the past,
and may be called his guardian angel, but these twin forms,
as said, are invisible to the ordinary man at all times,
though ever potent in his life.
It sometimes happens, however, that an individual passes
out at death with a desire nature so extremely strong that
after he has expiated the deeds it contained in Purgator}',
and has entered the Second Heaven, this shell holds to-
gether and lasts until the man is reborn. It is then drawn
to him by magnetic attraction and he possesses, as it were,
a double desire body. The desire body of the old life may
QUESTIONS AXD ANS\YERS 375
then at times make itself felt and cause him to lead a
double life, substantially as lelated by Bobert Louis Steven-
son, impelling him to do deeds which he loathes, because
the suffering engendered in expurgating them is acting as
conscience and causing him to repel the evil. Fortunately,
however, such cases are extremely rare at this present date.
QUESTION No. 188.
If we amputate the arm of a man, saiv off the limb of a
tree and blast away a portion of a cliff, will the invisible
counterpart of these different objects also be severed?
Answer: In the case of the arm which is amputated, the
etheric counterpart will still remain with the vital body,
although there is a certain magnetic tie between that and
the physical arm which is buried. A case is on record of
a man who, having had his arm amputated, complained
bitterly of pains as if something were piercing the flesh of
his aim. This pain continued for several weeks, when the
arm was at last exhumed and it was found that in boxing
a nail had been driven through the flesh in the place where
the man felt pain. When the nail was removed the pain
ceased. Persons who have had arms or limbs amputatec.
37U ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
sometimes complain of pain in the member for a few years
after the operation. Then the pain ceases because the
etheric arm has decayed synchronously with the limb in the
grave.
The vital bod}'' of the plant is only composed of the two
densest ethers the chemical ether and the life ether
which enable the plant to grow and propagate, but it lacks
the two higher ethers the light ether and reflecting ether
hence it has no sensation or memory of what passes
around it. Therefore, amputation of a limb will not be
felt by the plant, and in the case of the cliff which is
blasted, only the chemical ether is present, so that the crys-
tals will have no feelings at all. Still, it would be wrong
to infer that there is no feeling in either of these cases,
for though the plants and the minerals have no individual
means of feeling, they are enveloped and interpenetrated
by the ethers and the Desire World of the planet, and the
Planetary spirit feels everything, on the same principle
that our finger, having no individual desire body, cannot
feel, but we, the indwelling spirits inhabiting the body,
feel any hurt done to the finger.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 377
QUESTION No. 189.
Do you know of a place, a home or retreat where one
may go to Hue this beautiful, simple and harmless life you
arc advocating?
Answer: No, we do not know of any home, and if a
home were founded for that purpose, we should feel very
sorry for its inmates. If we have a high temper and go
into the mountains to live as recluses where there are no
people to rile our sensibilities, it is small credit to us that
we do not hecome impatient with others. If we find it dif-
ficult to overcome our vices or faults in the city, and go
into the wilds where those temptations do not exist, small
is our credit for not yielding. We have been placed in cities
and among our fellows in order that we should accustom
and accommodate ourselves to them, and learn to keep our
tempers despite any riling learn to shun temptations
where they exist. One may be in the mountains and his
heart in the city, or he may immure himself in a monas-
tery and yet be longing for the pleasures of the world. It
is best to stay in the place where we are found and there
develop the spiritual qualities that shall make us better men
and women. There is work to be done in the world, and if
we fly from the world, how shall we do it? We have a
responsibility to our fellowmen. Unless we discharge that
responsibility we are shirking our duty, and fate will bring
us back in such an environment that we cannot escape.
Therefore, it is better to aim to learn all the lessons that
are at our hands instead of running away from them.
f isf ttf
QUESTIONS CONCERNING LIFE ON EARTH
1. If we were pure spirits and part of an all-knowing
God, why was it necessary for us to take this long
pilgrimage of sin and sorrow through matter?
2. If God made man a little lower than the Angels,
how will man ultimately become their superior in the
spiritual world?
3. Why should it he necessary for us to come into this
physical existence? Could we not have learned the
same lessons without being imprisoned and limited
by the dense conditions of the material world?
4. If this earth life is so important, and really the basis
of all our soul growth, the latter resulting from the
experiences we gain here, why is our earth life so
short in comparison with the life in the inner worlds,
approximating a thousand years between two earth
lives?
5. How long will it be before we can do without these
physical bodies and function altogether in the spir-
itual worlds again ?
6. Does the spirit enter the body at the time of con-
ception or at the time of birth?
7. What was the purpose in the division of the sexes?
8. Is the soul of a woman masculine and the soul of
a man feminine?
379
380 BOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
9. Do we keep the same temperament through all our
lives?
10. Is the desire body subject to sickness, and does it
need nutrition and replenishment?
11. How is it that we atone for all sin in Purgatory
and then at rebirth must again suffer through the
law of cause and effect for sins of a former life?
12. Is conscience the voice of God or of our Guardian
Angel ?
13. What is genius?
14. Is a soul that is born as a woman always a woman
in its after lives, and how long is the interval be-
tween two earth lives?
15. When a man pays his debts, cares' for his family and
lives a moral life here, will he not be all right here-
after?
16. It is sometimes contended by people that we have a
right to think what we will and are not responsible
for our thoughts. Is that so from an occult point
of view ?
17. If a person is constantly bothered by evil thoughts
which keep coming into his mind although he is
always fighting them, is there any way in which he
can cleanse his mind so that he will think only good
and pure thoughts?
18. If woman proceeded from man as per tht rib story,
will she in the final return to unity be reabsorbed,
losing her individuality in the masculine divinity ?
19. Why has woman been cursed by inequality, assumed
inferiority and injustice since the beginning of hu-
man existence upon this plane ?
20. Why was the suffering Marguerite so extreme and
out of proportion to that of Faust, even to imprison-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 381
merit and the death penalty, while his life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness was unmolested?
Marriage.
21. Is there any place, either in the Old or Xew Testa-
ment, wherein men were told to marry and then live
as brother and sister at any time or under any con-
dition? And if not in the Bible, why do you
teach it ?
22. Is there a soul mate belonging to every soul through-
out all eternity ? If so would it not be better to re-
main unmarried a thousand years than to marry the
wrong mate?
23. Is it wrong for first, second or third cousins to
marry, and if so, why?
24. Would it be wise for two people of the same tem-
perament to marry if they were both born under the
same sign of the Zodiac, in August, for instance ?
25. Please give the view of the occultist regarding the
white races intermarrying with the inferior Mon-
golians and Negroes, also in regard to their progeny.
26. Why is the Negro commonly said to be marked with
the curse of Cain, if he is the descendant of Ham,
according to Biblical ethnology ? How can that race
be any older than the sons of Shem or Japheth ? Is
not the most intellectual, successful and enduring
race that history records, namely the Jews, the one
that has kept itself most free from a mixture?
Children.
27. Has the Rosicrucian Philosophy any specific teach-
ino- concerning the training of children?
382 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
28. Why are children born in a family where they are
not welcome?
29. Where children do not come to a man and wife who
deeply long for them, is there not some way to in-
duce some soul in the unseen world to accept their
invitation to reincarnate? Where the conditions in
the home are most favorable, it would seem that
among the many souls awaiting incarnation one
would find the conditions right?
30. How do you explain the fact that a child so often
inherits the bad characteristics of the parents?
31. Does not the child inherit the blood and nervous sys-
tem from its parents? If so, will it not inherit dis-
ease and nervous disorders also?
Sleep and Dreams.
32. Can a person be influenced in natural sleep as he can
in hypnotic sleep, or is there a difference?
33. What are dreams, have they all a significance, and
how can we invite or induce dreams ?
34. What is sleep and what causes the body to go to
sleep ?
Health and Disease.
35. Do the Eosicrucians believe in materia medica or
do they follow Christ's method of healing?
36. Do you think it wrong to take medicine to remove
pain, since all is the result of our own doings, if one
is not hopelessly ill or dying?
37. In case of sickness, what form of healing do you
advise, physician's or practitioner's, as in the Chris-
tian Science belief?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 383
38. What is your opinion in regard to fasting as a means
of curing disease ?
39. Do you consider it wrong to try to cure a bad habit,
such as, for instance, drunkenness, by hypnotism?
40. Are there any methods of eradicating the calcareous
matter which comes into our bodies by wrong meth-
ods of diet?
41. Is not Nature guilty of frequent physical malforma-
tion in the plant and animal world, as well as the
human race, and can there be a perfectly whole and
sane intelligence with a forceful will in a diseased
or malformed body?
42. Do you believe in vaccination ?
43. If, as you state, the Ego dwells in the blood, is not
the practice of blood transfusion from a healthy to
a diseased person dangerous? Does it affect or in-
fluence the Ego in any way, and if so, how ?
44. What are the causes of insanity ?
45. When an insane person dies, will he still be insane
in the Desire World ?
QUESTIONS CONCERNING LIFE AFTER DEATH
46. What is the use of knowing about the after death
state, what happens in the Invisible World, and all
these things? Is it not far better to take one world
at a time? Sufficient unto the day is the trouble
thereof, why borrow more?
47. Is there any time set to the limit of earth life be-
fore we are born ?
48. Is it possible to shorten the time between death and
a new birth so as to hasten one's evolution, and if so,
how?
384 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
49. Are there seasons and times, ages and epochs in the
other world ?
50. Does a person who has been buried alive become con-
scious of his condition, and how does the spirit get
back to the body when it lies in the grave?
51. Why do children die?
52. What is the cause of the vast number of deaths which
occur in infancy and childhood?
53. Does the cremation of the dense body after death
affect the spirit in any way?
54. If a person has lost his memory through nervous
shock or fever, does that affect his vital body and
prevent him from getting the record of his life in
the three days immediately following death ?
55. If a disembodied spirit can pass through a wall, can
it also pass through a mountain and the earth, and
can it see what is inside?
56. Do we meet our loved ones after death, even if they
have held a different belief from our own, or, per-
haps, been atheists?
57. Do we recognize loved ones who have passed out
through the gate of death ?
58. Does the man who commits suicide stay longer in
Purgatory than the people who die naturally?
59. Does a good man have to go through Purgatory and
be conscious of all the evil that is there before he
can get into the First, Second and Third Heavens,
and if so, isn't that an undeserved punishment?
60. What is the condition of the victim of a murder and
the victim of an accident subsequent to death?
61. Where is heaven?
62. It is said that there is no sorrow in heaven, but if
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 385
our loved ones are met there and then pass on, does
not the parting from them involve a sense of dis-
satisfaction?
63. Please explain how to concentrate in order to help
those in the other world. Do you mean sitting in
the silence and sending out loving, helpful thoughts
to them?
64. Do those who have passed out of earth life keep
watch and ward over us who are left behind? For
instance, do mothers look after their little children
or even the larger ones ?
QUESTIONS CONCERNING REBIRTH
65. Why, with a few exceptions, are we reincarnated
without having the slightest knowledge of any pre-
vious existence, and thus suffer blindly in this life
for transgressions of which we are entirely ignorant,
committed in some former life? Does it not seem as
though we could get better and quicker spiritual ad-
vancement if we knew how and why we had erred
before, and what acts we must correct before we can
progress ?
66. Are all the human beings that people the earth at
the present time souls .that have gone through earth
life before, or are new souls being created all the
time ?
67. How do we know beyond a doubt that rebirth is a
fact ? Is it not possible that those who so state may
be suffering from hallucination?
68. Do the souls that have passed into Purgatory and
through the First, Second and Third Heavens come
back here and reincarnate on this earth, or do they
go to other spheres ?
13
386 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
69. Do we come in contact with the friends of one life
when we are born again into a new life?
70. Is the experience gained in each incarnation re-
corded separately and added to the previous ones, so
that in the ultimate the spirit is entirely conscious
of the complete sum of its experiences, or is that
experience more or less unconsciousty absorbed by
the next succeeding incarnation, so that only a gen-
eral effect is obtained ?
71. When the spirit coming down to rebirth has drawn
to itself its mind stuff and sinks into the Desire
World, will it not then be in Purgatory again ?
72. How can you believe in the theory of reincarnation
that we come back here in the body of an animal?
Is it not much more beautiful to believe in the Chris-
tian doctrine that we go to heaven with God and
the Angels?
QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE BIBLE TEACHINGS
73. Why is it that every sect interprets the Bible dif-
ferently and that each one gets an apparent vindi-
cation for its idea from that book ?
74. What is meant by the second aspect of the Triune
God?
75. Are the Recording Angels individual beings?
76. Do the Angels and Archangels watch over us in-
dividually as well as collectively and know just what
our lives are?
77. Have Angels wings as shown in pictures?
78. Do the Rosicrucians accept the Bible as the Word
of God from cover to cover?
79. What is the viewpoint of the Rosicrucians concern-
ins; the creation of the world in seven days?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 387
80. The Bible teaches the immortality of the soul in an
authoritative manner. The Rosicrucian teaches the
same professedly by appealing to reason. Are there
no positive proofs of immortality ?
81. Is there any authority in the Bible for the theory of
rebirth ?
82. According to the Bible only man was given a soul.
Why, then, do you say that the animals have a group
spirit ?
83. Is it true that Eve was taken out of Adam's side?
84. If God made man in his image and likeness and sup-
posedly perfect, why were the different epochs prior
to the fall of Adam and Eve necessary?
85. What was the sin or fall in Eden?
86. Is the Tree of Life spoken of in the Bible the,, same
as the Philosopher's Stone of the Alchemist ?
87. The Lord had respect unto Abel and his bloody of-
fering, but unto Cain and his sweet and clean offer-
ing He had not respect. Why?
88. What is the esoteric significance of the Ark of the
Covenant ?
89. Is there an occult significance in the various Chris-
tian feasts of the year?
90. I understood you to say that the Christ had been in-
carnated only once, in Jesus. Was he not previously
incarnated in Buddha and still earlier in Krisna?
91. W^e are told that God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him shall not die but have everlasting life. How
do you reconcile that idea with the words of Christ,
"I came not to bring peace, but a sword."
92. What is meant by everlasting salvation and damna-
tion?
388 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
93. What is the teaching of the Kosicrucians concerning
the Immaculate Conception?
94. Was not the Star of Bethlehem a comet?
95. What were the gifts of the Wise Men?
96. Was not Jesus a Jew, and if so, what did he mean
by saying "Before Abraham was I am," for even if
He reincarnated, Abraham was the father of the
Jewish race?
97. Jesus was baptized at thirty, receiving the Christ
spirit. Please explain this baptism.
98. In your teaching you state that we stay for a time
averaging one-third of the length of the earth life
in Purgatory, in order that our sins may be ex-
piated prior to going to heaven. How, then, do you
reconcile this teaching with the words of the Christ
to the dying thief, "Today thou shalt be with Me
in Paradise."
99. What is the esoteric meaning of the two thieves on
the cross?
100. What is the meaning of the cross, is it simply the
instrument of torture as usually taught in the ortho-
dox religion ?
101. Could not the mission of Christ have been accom-
plished without such a drastic method as crucifixion ?
102. According to the Rosicrucian teaching, when will
Christ come again ?
103. What is meant by the saying that Christ was made a
High Priest forever after the order of Melchisedec?
104. What did Christ mean when he said, "All who came
before Me were thieves and robbers" ?
105. What did Christ mean when He said "Whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child,
shall not enter therein" ?
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 389
106. Did not Jesus eat fish? Why, then, are the Rosi-
crucians vegetarians ?
107. If Christ fed the multitude with fish, why is it
wrong for us to use them as food ?
108. Please explain why the fatted calf was not killed for
the righteous son instead of for the prodigal. Was
that not giving a reward for wrong doing?
109. Why did the Lord commend the unjust steward, as
related in the sixteenth chapter of Luke?
110. What is meant by sinning against the Holy Ghost?
111. Is the Christian Creed authoritative?
112. How do you reconcile the law of cause and effect
with the doctrine of the forgiveness of sins ?
113. By what power did Peter raise Dorcas from the
dead ?
114. Do you believe in conversion?
115. Is there any value in confession and absolution?
HG.^Is there an) 7 value in the Latin ritual used by the
Catholic Church ? Would it not be better if it were
translated so that people could understand it, and
are not the extemporaneous prayers used in the Prot-
estant Churches much to be preferred to the ritual
and stereotyped masses of the Catholics?
117. What is the actual merit in martyrdom; did the
martyrs really become saints?
118. In one of your lectures, you said in effect that it was
a mistake to send missionaries to foreign countries ;
that the religions practiced by the so-called heathen
are right for them at the present time, but that the
missionaries have done little harm as yet. How,
then, do you reconcile the command of the Christ,
"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to
every creature."
390 EOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
QUESTIONS CONCERNING SPIRITUALISTIC PHENOMENA
119. Is mediumship injurious to health?
120. Where mediums make so-called soul trips, what is
it that leaves the physical body, and can it leave in
the waking state to gather data ?
121. I have taken many soul flights, and on one of these
journeys my guide took me through gates into a
crystal city and on into a temple filled with ethereal
people, saying, "This is God's Holy City." Will
you kindly tell me where this is and why there are
gates and walls around the city, and why everything
looked like crystal ?
122. Are not the desire bodies left by those who have
progressed beyond the Desire World used by ele-
ment als to deceive friends and relatives of the de-
ceased person? How can they be detected and rec-
ognized by them?
123. Can elementals assume the shape of animals or rep-
tiles, and what can be done to stop them from
doing it?
124. How can one avoid becoming obsessed ?
125. What is psychometry?
126. Is it true that at spiritualistic seances persons are
sometimes transported bodily from one place to an-
other by invisible hands, flowers are brought into the
room through closed windows and doors, and if so,
how can that be done ?
127, "\yiii y OU kindly explain the use of the planchette,
and state if it is advisable to try to produce the
phenomena among amateurs?
128. Is a vampire the same as a werewolf?
129. What is the difference between a trance medium,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 391
materializing medium,, the trained clairvoyant and
the ordinary person ?
130. If mediumship is so dangerous, why do not the me-
diums cease to allow themselves to be controlled?
QUESTIONS CONCERNING CLALB 7OYANCE
131. What is the difference between a clairvoyant, an
Initiate and an Adept?
132. Why is it that trained clairvoyants do not offer to
lend themselves to some simple but conclusive tests
conducted by men o,f science which would convince
everybody of the reality of faculties transcending
the physical senses ?
133. If clairvoyance is such an accurate means of inves-
tigation, such a high spiritual faculty, why do we
usually see it in possession of people of little educa-
tion and coarse breeding, who have seemingly very
little spirituality and who often tell lies?
134. What do you mean by initiation, and why are only
men Initiates?
135. Is it not the duty of one who is informed on sub-
jects concerned with the higher life to give informa-
tion and help to the less informed ?
^.36. What qualifications are necessary to become an In-
visible Helper? Must the whole life be given over
to spiritual endeavor?
137. What purpose has the person in going out of his
body ?
138. Is it absolutely necessary to live a life of aceticism
in order to become spiritual and endowed with psy-
chic powers?
139. Are all children clairvoyant up to a certain age?
140. What is the difference between white and black
392 ROSICBUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
magic, and what is the effect of the practice of black
magic upon the soul?
141. You speak of the western and eastern schools of oc-
cultism. Is not the western school the better, and
if cio, why?
1-12. What is the difference between etheric sight, clair-
voyance, and the sight pertaining to the World of
Thought ?
143. Is it safe for a person in a greatly debilitated nervous
condition to take occult training given by the Rosi-
crucians, or is it necessary for such a person to first
recover? Is health regained by occult training?
144. A sound body being necessary for spiritual unfolcl-
ment, what does the Rosicrucian teaching hold out
to one not at present in the best physical condition?
Will perfect health be one result of the study of this
philosophy, and if the teaching is practiced, will it
tend to keep a person in good health?
145. In "what way will it help us in the life after death
if we have cultivated clairvoyance in the present
life?
146. Would the contemplation of the God within, if per-
sistently carried on, aid one in spiritual growth and
bring one to adeptship?
147. Has it not been recorded that certain individuals
have developed spiritual power, clairvoyance, sixth
sense, or whatever we wish to call it, by living a
clean life in harmony with nature's laws, and does
not the teachings of modern occultists with so many
terms of technicality have a tendency to create con-
fusion rather than bring the desired results ?
148. Is it possible to cultivate clairvoyance by the use
of drugs, by crystal gazing or breathing exercises,
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 393
and do these methods not bring results quicker than
the methods you advocate?
149. What time in the morning is best for concentration?
150. It is difficult for me to review the events of the iy
in reverse order when doing my evening exercises.
Is this absolutely necessary, and if so, why?
151. What value are breathing exercises in developing
body and mind?
152. Is not the Invisible World of which you speak very
unreal and shadowy in comparison to this world in
which we now live?
QUESTIONS CONCERNING ASTROLOGY
153. Is it possible that astrology and palmistry can be
true, inasmuch as we could avert coming disaster by
being forewarned in that manner? And would it
not interfere with our destiny?
154. Is it wrong to use palmistry, astrology or phrenol-
ogy as a means of livelihood?
155. Are Mars, Jupiter and other planets inhabited; if
so. are those people superior to the people on earth;
do the souls from the earth ever .reincarnate on other
planets and vice versa?
156. Does not the nebular theory account for the exist-
ence of the universe in a much more scientific man-
ner than the creation stories of the Bible?
157. What are comets?
158. Does the movement of a planet through space create
a noise?
159. What is the esoteric significance of the use of the
names of the twelve sons of Jacob in connection with
the twelve signs of the zodiac, and are these used
394 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
in connection with the earth's zodiac or the sun's
zodiac, or both?
160. Can you give an idea of the difference between helio-
centric and geocentric astrology ? Is the geocentric
concerned only with the affairs of this earth, the
material life, and the heliocentric with the soul or
the spiritual side ? The sun, being the spiritual
planet and the ruler of our solar system, would lead
to this conclusion. Inasmuch as we use the sun's
1 zodiac in heliocentric astrology and the earth's zodiac
in geocentric. Can predictions in this life ever be
made by the sun's zodiac, or is the latter simply
concerned with the spiritual side of a person's
nature ?
161. How is it possible to get on good terms with Saturn?
The inquirer has been under his influence all his life.
Sickness, poverty, loss of inheritance, and accidents
are bad enough, but can Saturn also cause us trouble
spiritually; can he put barriers up for our unfokl-
ment when our spirit is struggling for the good, and
are we liberated from his influence when we pass
out at death ?
162. How may we .pray to or address Saturn when he is
the ruling star causing us trouble and sorrow ?
QUESTIONS CONCERNING ANIMALS
163. Why do animals, which are a lower evolution, have
an instinct which seems so much more reliable than
the reason of human beings?
164. Can you throw some light on what our attitude to-
ward the lower forms of life should be? Have we
the right to kill anything harmless, since every liv-
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 395
ing thing is in a sense our brother ? How about the
venomous insects and reptiles ?
165. Are not venomous and destructive reptiles created by
the evil thoughts of men, so far as the form is con-
cerned? And, therefore, is it not an act of love to
kill them and thus liberate the divine spark within
so that it may occupy a higher form ?
166. What is a group spirit, where is it, and what does it
look like?
167. Are animals amenable to the law of causation?
168. Do animals live after death?
169. When a pet dog or cat dies, does the entire group
spirit to which it belongs die at the same time?
Also what becomes of the animal soul, and does the
human love and care it has received help it on its
upward journey?
170. What substance does a person or animal throw off
whereby they can be traced, as, for example, crim-
inals are traced by bloodhounds?
MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS
171. What is the origin of life?
172. What is matter? Is it not unreal?
173. You said in a previous lecture that the earth is the
body of a spirit which gives its life for the dwellers
upon the surface. Why does it give flowers and fruit
to some and earthquake and famine to others?
174. What is meant by the sentence, "Man, know thy-
self?
175. What is the Holy Grail?
176. What was the connection between the pyramid build-
ers of Egypt and the pyramid builders of Central
America? Which is the older civilization?
396 BOSICHUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
177. What is the essential difference between the teach-
ings of the Rosicrucian Philosophy and the orthodox
church ?
178. Kindly state the essentials wherein the Rosicrucinn
Philosophy differs from Theosophy.
179. Is the White Lodge of the Theosophical Society the
same as the Temple of the Rosicrucians ?
180. What do you understand by the term Master, and is
the Rosicrucian Fellowship a movement inspired by
them ?
181. If one who believes in the teachings advanced by the
Rosicrucians earnestly maintains that they are true,
is he not in danger of becoming dogmatic and in-
tolerant of the opinions of others? And what should
be his attitude toward those who refuse to accept
these teachings?
182. How is it that not many who have studied the highest
philosophy interest themselves in bettering industrial
conditions, such as the abolition of wage slavery,
which is as degrading and brutal as Negro slavery?
183. Can anyone study occultism, live the higher life and
be a millionaire?
184. Do you believe in capital punishment? Is it not bet-
ter and more merciful than imprisonment for life?
185. W T hat is the viewpoint of the Rosicrucians on woman
suffrage ?
186. If occultists abstain from flesh eating because it re-
quires a tragedy in its preparation, and they do not
wish to be. a party to taking life, either directly or by
proxy, is it not also taking life when we eat eggs or
fruit, vegetables, etc. ?
387. Is that terrible entity which Glyndon saw in Bulwer
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 397
Lytton's "Zanoni" the same as Mr. Hyde in Eobert
L. Stevenson's story?
188. If we amputate the arm of a man, saw off the limb of
a tree and blast away a portion of a cliff, will the in-
visible counterpart of these different objects also bo
severed ?
189. Do you know of a place, a home or retreat where one
may go to live this beautiful, simple and harmless
life you are advocating?
Question
ANGELS. No.
Man a little lower than angels -r-. 2
Have Angels wings ? 77
The work of the Angels in evolution 81
ARCHANGELS.
Do the Archangels and Angels work with us individually? 76
ANIMALS.
Are animals amenable to the law of Causation? 167
Why hybrids cannot propagate 23
Why all oxen thrive on grass, but one man's meat is
another 's poison 35
How it benefits an animal to be killed 101
Why not use fish as food? Christ fed them to people. . . . 107
Elementals in animal shapes 123
Why is animal instinct more reliable than reason? 163
Is it right to kill venomous insects and reptiles? 164
May we kill animals to help them advance? 165
Do animals live after death ? 168
What is a group-spirit ? 166
Does our love help animals in evolution? 169
What is the efluvia whereby bloodhounds trace a man?. . 170
ASTROLOGY.
What is the connection between Pyramid-builders of
Egypt and Central America? 176
Comets and miscarriages 157
399
400 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
No.
Can Astrology predict the result of a marriage? 24
Astrological conditions favorable to conception of child. 27
Astrology as a factor in healing 35
Astrology the only means of determining time in the
Beyond 49
Astrology reveals ripe or mature destiny 65
Astrology and the feasts of the year 93
Was the Star of Bethlehem a Comet? 94
Why the Cross and the Lamb are the proper symbol of
Christ 100
Astrology and interference with Destiny 153
Is it wrong to use Astrology for a livelihood? 154
Do souls from the other planets incarnate here and vice
versa ? 155
The Harmony of the Spheres 158
Why are the names of the tribes of Israel connected with
the signs of the Zodiac 1 159
What is the difference between Heliocentric and Geocen-
tric Astrology? 160
Which are the good and evil planets? 161
Prayer; the Star-Angels and their Ambassadors 162
ARCHETYPES.
How the archetype in heaven determines length of life. . 47
How archetype causes suffering of suicide in Purgatory. 58-
ACCIDENT.
Accidents as factor in infant mortality 52
Post-mortem condition following death by accident 60
Accident as a factor in evolution 165
AUTOPSY.
In its effects upon the spirit 53
ADEPT.
Difference between Clairvoyant; Initiate and Adept 131
Will contemplation of the God within lead to Adeptship?. 146
"Masters" and "Teachers" 180
BABYLON.
The antithesis of tho New Jerusalem 194
BIRTH.
Successive births of our various bodies 27, 52
QUESTIONS AND ANSWEKS 401
Question
No.
Danger of insanity when coming to birth .-. . . 44
Is the length of life determined before birth? 47
What draws an Ego to a certain family 1 51
Must a returning spirit go through Purgatory? 71
Sin against the Holy Spirit and prenatal conditions 110
Are souls from other planets born here and vice versa. . . . 155
Miscarriages and Comets 157
BLOOD.
Why woman has periodical flow 8
Blood; Endogamy and the age of the Patriarchs 23
Individual blood and the thymus gland 31
Transfusion of blood as affecting the Ego 43
Why the Christ 's blood must flow 101
BRAIN AND LARYNX.
Their connection and their cost 7
BROTHERHOOD.
Among ' ' Niebelungen ' ' of early Atlantis 97
How brotherhood will decrease taxation and increase pros-
perity 164
Brotherhood and capital punishment 184
BIBLE TEXTS AND TEACHINGS.
Old Testament:
In Him we live and move and have our Being 92, 164
The Creation 79, 156
Archangels and Angels as factors in evolution 76
A mist went up from the ground 97
God made man in his image 84
Man became a living soul 82
God brought the animals to Adam and he named them. . . 3
Adam's rib 18, 23
The tree of Knowledge; the tree of Life and the Serpent. 86
The Cherubim and the Flaming Sword 88
Adam knew his wife 85
Cain and Abel 87
The longevity of the Patriarchs 23
Noah, the Flood and the Rainbow 26
Melchisedec ; King of Salem 103
Jacob ; his wives and sons 159
402 EOSICEUCTAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
No.
Moses and the Bed Sea 26
The Ark of the Covenant; Aaron's Eod and the hidden
Manna 88
Joshua and the Walls of Jericho 158
They shall beat their swords to ploughshares 182
Jeremiah called to be a prophet prior to birth 81
Neiv Testament:
In the Beginning was the Word 1, 27
God so loved the World that He gave his only begotten
Son 91
Mary said: How shall I conceive seeing I know not a
man . 85, 93
Gabriel foretold the birth of Jesus 81
The Star of Bethlehem 94
The gifts of the Wise Men 95
I come not to bring Peace; but a Sword 91
Before Abraham was I am 96
This is Elijah Elijah has come and they have done to
him as they listed 81
Your father and mine 22
W'hosoever looks at a woman with lust has committed
adultery 16
All who came before me were thieves and robbers 104
Unless you receive the Kingdom as a little child you can-
not enter 105
Go sell all thou hast and follow me 183
Take up thy cross and follow me 100
Go preach the gospel to every creature 118
Feeding the multitude with fish 107
Eaising the dead 113
Thy faith has made rhee whole 35
A prophet is not without honor save in his own country. . 35
They chose Barrabas 26
The two thieves 99
Thou shalt be with me in Paradise 98
A High Priest after the order of Melchisedec 103
The whole Creation is groaning and travailing in pain ... 90
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 403
Question
CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES. No.
The Trinity -.-.- 75
The Creation 79, 156
The Fall 83, 85
The Immaculate Conception 93
The Atonement 90, 91
Everlasting Salvation and Damnation 92
Sin against the Holy Spirit 110
Conversion 114
Confession and Absolution 115
Forgiveness of Sins 112
The Second Advent 103
Fall of Babylon and the New Jerusalem 104
CHRISTIAN FEASTS.
Christmas, Easter, Lent, etc 89
The value of the Latin Eitual 116
The value of Martyrdom 117
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT 184
Criminals made by other peoples ' thoughts 16
CONSCIENCE.
Is it the voice of God or the Guardian Angel 12
CONFESSION
And Absolution 115
CONVERSION
And hypnotism 114
CREATION: CREATORS.
How we become creators 1
How we create in the blood " 43
The Bible on Creation 79
The Masonic legend of creation of man 87
The Creation story and the nebular theory 156
Man know thyself 174
CONCEPTION.
The seed-atom as factor in conception 6
Use of Astrology in conception 27
The Ego as a factor in conception 29
Immaculate Conception 93
Mystery of the Grail and immaculate conception 175
404 BOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
\
Question
CREMATION. iS'o.
Persons buried alive 50
How premature cremation affects the Spirit 53
CROSS.
The two thieves on the cross 98, 99
The cross symbolical of the four Kingdoms 100
The Cross and the Lamb as symbol of Christ 100
CHILDREN.
Concerning the education of children 27
Why are children born where unwelcome? 28
Why are some marriages barren 1 29
Effect of thymus gland in children 31
Method of influencing refractory child 32
Effect of vaccination and antitoxin 42
Why do children die? 51, 52
Receiving the Kingdom of God as a little child 105
Prenatal conditions ar.d sin against the Holy Spirit 110
Immaculate conception of children 93
Clairvoyant children 139
CLAIRVOYANCE (see also Initiation).
How will clairvoyance help us after death? 145
The effect of marriage upon clairvoyance 23
Not sufficient to fix time of past events 49
Clairvoyant investigations verified 67
Trained and negative Clairvoyants compared 129, 133
Ordinary clairvoyants cannot penetrate earth 55
Difference between Clairvoyant, Initiate and Adept 131
Why do not trained Clairvoyants submit to tests? 132
How can coarse people be clairvoyant? 133
Why must trained Clairvoyants be unselfish? 151
What is the difference between Etheric sight; color vision
and tonal sight? 142
Are all infants clairvoyant ? 139
Danger of crystal gazing, drugs and breathing exercises. 148
DEATH.
The Science of Death 53
Does insanity persist after death? 45
How does knowledge of post-mortem conditions help us?. 46
Are there seasons and times in the Beyond? 49
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 4Q5
Question
No.
Do lamentations seriously affect the dying? 51
What is the cause of the appalling infant mortality?. ... 52
Do \ve meet our loved ones after death? 50
Do we recognize our friends after death? 57
What is the effect of suicide on the spirit ? 58
What is the .effect of death by accident or murder? GO
What is the effect of capital punishment ? 184
Where are the dead ? 64
By what power did Christ raise the dead? 113
Does the desire body die when the spirit leaves it? 122
What is the post-mortem state of innocent children? 139
Do elementals affect the dead ? 345
DESIRE WORLD.
Are people sick, hungry or naked in the Desire World?. . 10
Does insanity exist in Desire World ? 45
Are there days and nights, seasons and times in Desire
World? 49
DESIRE BODY.
Compared with physical body 5
Is the desire body subject to sickness, hunger and cold?. . 10
How our desire body colors our view and deceives us. ... 16
Position of the desire body in the dream-state 32
How desire body of suicide causes suffering 58
Desire body does not die when child dies 139
Mr. Hyde and a ' ' double desire body " 187
DISEASE AND ITS CURE.
Disease as a factor in spiritual progress 161
Insanity produced by crystal-gazing and breathing exer-
cises 148
Is the desire body subject to disease? 10
How nursery rhymes combats disease in children 27
How to treat diseas? during sleep 32
The vital body of drowning person 34
Why individuality must be considered in healing 35
Interference with destiny when treating disease 36
Disease a result of mental conditions 37
Fasting as a cure for disease 38
Hypnotism as a cure for disease 39
4CG ROSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
No.
Sclerosis or hardening of the arteries 40
Vaccination and antitoxin 42
Congenital insanity and its cause 44
DREAMS.
Chaotic and prophetic 33
DRUNKARD.
In Purgatory 11
Should be pointed out as example to children 27
Treatment during s'.eep 32
Hypnotism as a cure for drink 39
DWELLER ox THE THRESHOLD.
A demon contrast to the Guardian Angel 65, 187
EARTH.
Impervious to ordinary clairvoyance 55
Heaven ; a part of our planet 61
Christ the indwelling Earth Spirit 90
EGO.
Influence of the Ego on food and medicine 35
When does the Ego enter the womb of mother? 6
Ego compared to a gem polished in school of experience. 9
Our duty of providing bodies for incoming Egos 21
Ego may refuse prospective parents 29
The Ego and the thymus gland 31
The Ego and its creative activity in the blood 43
Ego in danger of insanity when entering womb 44
How Ego is hampered by its various bodies 363
ELEMENTALS.
As factors in spiritualistic seances 122
Elementals in shape of reptiles 123
Elementals meeting coward at death 145
EMBALMING
And its effects upon the spirit 53
EPIGENESIS.
Our original creative activity in heaven 1
Egos original creations in the blood 43
EXERCISES.
How they qualify us for Invisible Helpers 46
How they shorten intervals from death to birth 48
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 407
Question
No.
Their effect on health; relaxation explained K3, 144
Why are the clay's happenings to be reviewed in reverse
order ? 150
The best time to cxercis- 149
Danger of breathing exercises 148, 151
EVOLUTION.
Spirals of evolution 2
Is it possible to shorten evoUition? 48
Our next step in evolution 76
If God made man perfect why is evolution necessary?. ... 84
Prodigal Son and evolution 108
Evolution and atrophy of organs 133
Evolution of the East and West compared 112, 173
How war furthers evolution 101
FAITH. '
And scepticism compared as to effects 35
FALL IN EDEN.
What was the Fall? 83
Cherubim ; with flaming Sword and open Flower 88
Man know thyself and Salvation 174
FERTILIZATION
Of ovum : method of 29
FOOD.
Food as a factor in ageing the body 40
Fasting as a cure for disease 38
How overeating makes us liable to disease 42
How it benefits animals to be killed 101
Why not eat fish? Christ gave it to people 107
Why was the fatted calf not killed for the elder son?. .. 108
Do we not take life when eating eggs, fruit? 186
Why is one man 's mtat another 's poison ? 35
Pork, Cancer and Consumption 107
FORCE.
The coming force ; what will it be? 3
Our relation to the intelligent nature-forces '. 41
How vital force prevents and- combats disease 42
FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
How forgiveness is obtained 46
408 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
No.
How forgiveness shortens the interval from death to birth 48
Foregiveness complementary to the Law of Consequence. 112
FORM.
Origin of 3, 171
GENESIS.
Is the Seven-day Creation story true 79
GENIUS.
What is Genius ? 13, 70
Why is a Genius not appreciated till dead? 14
GOSPELS.
As formula} of Initiation 78
GRAIL (sec Holy Grail).
GROUP-SPIRIT.
How it prevents cross-breeding 23
Group-spirit and similarity of tastes in animals *. . . 35
Group-spirit compared to man; the " living soul" 82
What is a Group-spirit? 166
Does Group-spirit die when animal dies? 1G9
GUAREIAN ANGEL.
Is conscience the voice of God or the Guardian Angel?. . 12
Deceased mothers as Guardian Angels 64
Guardian Angel the antithesis of Dweller on Threshold. 65, 76
HJEMOLYSIS.
International marriages and haemolysis 23, 43
Blood-transfusion will produce haemolysis in the future. .. 43
HAPPINESS.
Will honesty and fair dealing here bring happiness here-
after? 15
HEALTH.
Of child affected by nursery rhymes 27
How a heavy meal endangers health 42
HEAVEN.
How we build our environment in Heaven 173, 112, 4
Between Hell and Heaven 15
Where is Heaven? 61
When loved ones are reborn is there not sorrow in Heaven? 62
Thoughtforms of Holy City in Heaven 121
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 409
Question
HEREDITY. No.
Heredity and genius 13
Heredity and bad characteristics of parents 30
HOLY GRAIL.
The story of 175
HOLY SPIRIT.
The sin against 110
HYPNOTISM.
Hypnotism and sleep compared 32
Hypnotism as a cure for bad habits and disease 39
Hypnotism and conversion at revivals 114
IMMORTALITY.
Are there positive proofs of Immortality? 80
INCARNATION.
Length of interval between incarnations 4
What determines the length of interval between incarna-
tions? 14
What are the reasons for change of sex? 19
INDIVIDUALITY.
Can we lose our individuality? 18
Dependence of individuality upon marriage 23
The thymus gland and individuality 31
Individuality as a factor in treating disease 35
Individuality as affected by a misshapen body 41
Individual crystals in blood 43
INITIATES AND INITIATION (see Clairvoyance).
How initiation shortens time between death and rebirth. 48
Initiation necessary to penetrate into the earth 55
The gospels as formulae of initiation 78
The Ark in Solomon's Temple as symbol of high Initiate. 88
Initiation as factor in the Second Coming 103
Prodigal Son and initiation 108
Clairvoyant, Initiate and Adept compared 131
What is initiation and why are only men initiates 134
Why Initiates have charmed lives 164
Man know thyself 174
Mystery of the Holy Grail and initiation 175
INSANITY.
Cause of congenital and other classes of insanity 44
410 KOSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
No.
Does insanity persist after death? 45
Insanity and consumption from crystal-gazing and breath-
ing exercises 148
INSTINCT.
Why is instinct more reliable than reason? 163
INVIS.IULE HELPERS.
Steps towards becoming Invisible Helpei 46
Difference between medium and Invisible Helper 329
Helping others as duty 135
Qualifications of aspirants 136
Purpose in leaving the body 137
How clairvoyance helps us in post-mortem state 145
Why Invisible Helper must be unselfish 151
Dweller on the Threshold 65, 187
Have we a right to leave the world to study? 181'
INVISIBLE WORLD.
The relative reality of visible and invisible Worlds 152
JEWS.
The lost tribes. Why they were exiled and international
marriage 26, 43
Why Christ was born a Jew 96
LAW OF CAUSATION.
L. o. C. and expiation of sin in Purgatory 11
Are we responsible for our thoughts ? 16
L. o. C. and sex 19
L. o. C. and forgiveness of sin in Faust 20
L. o. C. complemented by doctrine of Forgiveness of sins. 112
L. o. C.; Freewill and medicine 36
L. o. C. drawing an Ego to a certain family 51
l!. o. C.; lamentations at deathbed and infant mortality.. 51
L. o. C.; war and accident as factors in infant mortality. . 52
How L. o. C. reunites friends and enemies of past lives. . 69
L. o. C. as barrier to premature spiritual development. . . . 146
Can we interfere with L. o. C. by knowledge of Astrology? 153
L. o. C. and destiny written in the stars 161
L. o. C. and Dweller on the Threshold 65, 187
LAW OF EEBIRTH (see also Eebirth).
L. o. R. and precession of the equinox 14
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 41 1
Question
No.
Are new souls constantly created or have we all been
reborn ? C6
L. o. R. reunites old friends and foes C9
Is L. o. R. mentioned in the Bible ? 81
LARYNX.
Cost of the brain and the larynx 7
Larynx; the creative organ of the future 174
LEVITATION.
At spiritualistic seances 126
LIFE.
Origin of Life 171
Relative length of life in heaven and on earth 4
Panorama of past life and suffering in Purgatory 11
What determines the length of our life? 47
Do we meet friends of past lives when reborn? 69
The Tree of Life 86, 104
Necessity for clean life in acquiring Spiritual Sight 138
Do we not take life when eating eggs and fruit 186
LUCIFER.
The light-bringer .86, 104
All who came before me were thieves; I am the True
Light 104
MAGIC.
White and black 140, 175
MALE.
Will the male reabsorb the female? 18
Reasons for change of sex 19
MAN.
The cross a symbol of man 100
Man know thyself 174
Man is the inverted plant 100, 175
Why one man 's meat is another 's poison 23
MARRIAGE.
Race suicide and marriage 21, 28
Soul-mates and marriage , 22
Marriage of first and second cousins 23
Marriage congenial or the reverse shown by stars 24
Intermarriage of negroes, whites and mongols 25
412 KOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
No.
Clandestine marriages of Jews and the flood 26
Why some marriages are barren 29
MARTYRDOM.
The value of martyrdom 117
MASONIC LEGEND.
Cain and Abel 87
MATERIALIZATION.
Accomplished through mother-love 64
Vital body used in materialization 119
Materialization of flowers 126
MATTER.
Christian Science and Materialism compared 172
MEDIUMSHIP.
Difference between a trance Medium, a materializing
Medium and a trained clairvoyant 129
Why mediums simulate 133
Planc'hette-writing 127
Crysral-^azing 148
What leaves the body during soul-flights 120
Materialization and Icvitation 126
Dangers of mediumship 130
How mediumship injures the health 119
MEMORY.
Subconscious memory and loss of memory 54
MEMORY OF NATURE.
Astrology only means of fixing time of prehistoric events. 49
How past lives are read in Memory of Nature 70
Memory of Nature and pscychometry 125
MENSTRUATION.
And tears effects of the positive vital body 8
MIND.
How to cleanse the mind of evil thoughts 17
Mind as a factor in health 37
The subconscious mind and memory 54
MISSIONARY.
The evil of the missionary spirit 181
Go preach the gospel to every creature 118
Missionary efforts of occultists and Labor Unions 182
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 413
Question
MURDER. No.
Effects on murderer and victim in Purgatory 60
Music.
The Harmony of the Spheres 158
Influence of nursery rhymes on health 27
Music and heredity 13
Music and the semicircular canals of the ear 14
MYSTERIES.
What the lesser and greater mysteries teach 55
Eastern and Western methods contrasted 141, 180
Mystery of the Holy Grail 175
NATURE FORCES.
Are intelligent beings. How they work 41
NEBULAR THEORY.
Compared with the Creation recorded in the Bible. . ..76, 156
NEW JERUSALEM.
And Babylon compared 104
NIEBELUNGEN.
Noah, Moses and the Niebelungen 26
Niebelungs hoard and gifts of Wise Men 95
Early Atlantis and Brotherhood of Niebelungen 97
ORIGINAL SEMITES.
Marriage among Original Semites and present day mar-
riage compared 21
The Original Semites and the present Jews 26
OBSESSION.
How to diagnose it 124
PANORAMA OF LIFE.
P. o. L. as basis of suffering in Purgatory 11
P. o. L. as factor in producing infant mortality 51, 52
P. o. L. and the subconscious mind 54
PHYSICAL WORLD.
Its mission in Nature 3
PHYSICAL BODY.
Our most valuable instrument 5
Heredity and the physical body 30
Effect on the spirit of deformed body 41
How loss of the physical body causes suffering to suicide. 58
How physical body looked in Lemurian Epoch 85
414 ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
PILGRIMAGE THROUGH MATTER. Xo.
Necessity of pilgrimage 1, 3
Ark of the Covenant and pilgrimage SS
Parable of Prodigal Son and pilgrimage 108
PLANETS (see Astrology).
Location of Heaven and Purgatory 61
Are Mars, Jupiter and the other planets inhabited? 155
Good and evil planets 161
The Star Angels and their Ambassadors 162
The Pyramid and the planets 176
PLANT.
Man is the inverted plant 100, 175
POWERS OF DARKNESS.
And their mission in evolution 2, 76
PRAYER.
For the dead 63
Prayers astrologically directed 162
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOX.
And the Law of Rebirth 14
PSYCHOMETRY 125
PURGATORY.
Not a place of punishment 59
Panorama of Life and suffering in Purgatory 11
The drunkard and tortures of Tantalus 11
Victims of murder ami accident in Purgatory 60
How suicide suffers in Purgatory 58
Purgation compared to process of forming solar system. . 59
Everlasti ng damnation 92
How shortened or eliminated by Forgiveness of Sins. .46, 48
Purgatory and conscience 12
RACE SPIRITS.
As a factor in marriage and blood-transfusion . ... 43
How Race Spirits rule the nations 23
REBIRTH (see also Law of Rebirth).
And the precession of the equinox 14
How to shorten interval between earth-lives 48
Why are we ignorant of past lives 65
How may we prove the doctrine of Rebirth 67
Must a spirit coming to rebirth pass through Purgatory. 71
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 415
Question
No.
The doctrines of "Rebirth" and Transmigration com-
pared 72
Is the Bible authority for the doctrine of Rebirth? 81
What facilitates the memory of past lives? 139
Do souls from other planets come to birth here and vice
versa ? 1 55
The ethical necessity for rebirth 177
RECORDING ANGELS.
What is the book of the Recording Angels? 54, 12
Are the Recording Angels individual beings? 75
Recording Angels give to each nation an appropriate
religion 118
RELIGION.
Religious of fear, of avarice, of love and of duty 91
Religion, Science and Art a trinity 147
Why Missionaries should be kept at home 118
Christian Science and Materialism contrasted 172
Rosicrucian Philosophy and Orthodoxy contrasted 177
Rosicrucian Philosophy and Theosophy contrasted 178
RIB.
What is the rib taken from Adam 's side? 18, 83
RITUAL.
Compared with extemporaneous sermons 116
ROSICRUCIANS.
Is the Rosicrucian Fellowship movement inspired by Mas-
ters? 180
Rosicrucian teachings compared with Orthodoxy 177
Rosicrucian teachings compared with Theosophy 178
SALVATION.
Everlasting salvation and damnation 92
SEED-ATOM.
Seed-atom the key to vibration of body 6
Seed-atom as factor in conception 27
Seed-atom the book of Recording Angels 12
Seed-atom and the subconscious mind 54
Seed atom affecting suicide 58
Seed-atom will be retained by man in Future , 174
416 EOSICEUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
SELF-MASTERY. No.
Our goal and how attained 9
SEX.
Is the soul sexed 8
The reason for the division of the sexes 7, 174
Past methods of procreation 85
Sex and the Tree of Knowledge 86, 104
Sex and sin against the Holy Spirit 110
Immaculate Conception 93
Abolition of sex in 1'uture 174
Mystery of the Holy Grail and sex 175
SLEEP.
Compared to the hypnotic state 33
The cause of sleep 34
SILVER CORD.
In Trance and in Death 113
SOLAR SYSTEM.
Jacob, his wives and sons symbolize Zodiac and Solar
System 159
Purgation accomplished by the same law which governs
formation of a Solar System 59
SOUL.
And sex 8
Soul-mates and marriage 22
Have all souls been reborn or are new ones created every
birth? 66
Adam became a living soul 82
Soiil; one of the gifts of Wise Men 95
Effect of black magic on soul 140, 148
SOUND (see also Word and Music}.
Sound as builder and destroyer 158
SPIRIT.
Does spirit enter boJly at conception? 6
What is the relation of spirit and matter 172
STEAM.
And electricity as factors in evolution 3
TEARS.
And the positive vit-al body of woman 8
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 417
Question
TEMPERAMENT. No.
How it changes 9
Temperament, marriage and the Zodiac 24
TEMPTATION.
Benefit of temptation 12
THOUGHT.
Creative power of thought 3, 152
Are we responsible for our thoughts? 16
How the mind may be cleansed of evil thoughts 17
Have evil thoughts created venomous reptiles? 165
THYMUS GLAND.
and individuality 31, 43
TRANCE.
And Death compared 113
TRANSMIGRATION.
Compared with the doctrine of Rebirth 72
TRINITY.
Explained by light and color 74
Trinity of Religion, Science and Art 147
VAMPIRE AND WEREWOLF 128
VRIL.
The coming force 3
VITAL BODY.
Compared with physical body 5
v. b. negative in man, positive in woman 8
Condition of v. b. in hypnotic sleep 32, 39
v. b. during resuscitation of drowning person 34
Condition of v. b. after heavy meal 42
v. b. leaves dense body after death 52
How premature cremation affects the v. b 53
The tree of Life and the v. b SO
The v. b. exuded in materialization 119
v. b. of " sensitives" compared with v. b. of ordinary
people 129
If an arm is amputated is v. b. also severed? 188
WAR.
As a factor in infant mortality 52
The benefit of bloody wars 101
418 KOSICKUCIAN PHILOSOPHY
Question
WEALTH. No.
A help to advancement or a hindrance? 183
WHITE LODGE.
Its relation to the Kosicrucian Order 179
WOMAN SUFFRAGE 185
WORD.
The lost Word .-. 8
Th Latin Kitual and the lost Word 116
How to find the lost word 174
Joshua and the walls of Jericho 158
Is the Bible the Word of God? 78
AS ABOVE, SO BELOW.
The world, the man and the atom are governed by the same
law. Our dense earth is now in its 4TH stage of consolidation.
The mind, the desire body and the vital body are less solid than
our 4TH vehicle, the dense body. In the atomic weight of the
chemical elements there is a similar arrangement. The 4TH
group marks the acme of density.
CONSTITUTION OF THE EARTH
**&&^&
DIAGRAM 2,
THE SEVEN WORLDS
WORLD
Consisting ^\7 Regions.
OF GOD
^2^
WORLD
This World consists of 7 Regions and is the
OF
abode of the Virgin Spirits when they have
VIRGIN
SPIRITS
been differentiated in God before the pilgrim-
age through matter.
Vehicles
of Man
WORLD OF
Consists of 7 Regions and is the abode of the
Divine "^
DIVINE SPIRIT
highest spiritual influence in man.
Spirit
WORLD OF
Consists of 7 Regions and is the abode of the
Life
LIFE SPIRIT
second aspect of the threefold spirit in man.
Spirit o
7th Region contains the germinal idea of form
u
h
in mineral, plant, animal and man.
I REGION OF
6th Region contains germinal idea of life in
Human I
3 ABSTRACT
THOUGHT
plant, animal and man.
5th Region contains germinal idea of desire
and emotion in animal and man; abode of 3rd
Spirit
J
h
aspect of spirit in man.
O
4th Region contains the archetypal forces and
3 REGION OF
tt CONCRETE
the human mind.. It is the focusing point
through which the spirit mirrors itself in mat-
ter.
z
Mind J
9 THOUGHT
3rd Region archetypes of desire and emotion.
M
>
2nd Region archetypes of universal vitality.
r
1st Region archetypes of form.
j
7th Region Soul-Power 1
>
6th Region Soul-Light I Attraction
5th Region Soul-Life. J
DESIRE
flnterest
Desire
WORLD
4th Regfon Feeling!
(.Indifference.
Body
3rd Region Wishes \
2nd Region Impressionability VRepulsion.
3
1st Region Passion and Low DesireJ
Q
7th Region Reflecting ether, memory of nature.
IT
l*j
-J
6th Region Light ether, medium of sense per-
a
ETHERIC
ception.
Vital u
g REGION
5th Region Life ether, medium for propagation.
Body r
4th Region Chemical ether, medium for assimi-
^
lation and excretion.
^ CHEMICAL
3rd Region Gases.
Dense
REGION
2nd Region Liquids.
Body
I
1st Region Solids.
a
j
DIAGRAM 15
THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION
AND
THE FOUR GREAT INITIATIONS
ORDINARY HUMANITY PURSUES THE SPIRAL PATH
THE SNITIATE GOES THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW WAY THAT LEADS
TO
SATURN -PERIOD
(SATURDAY)
VIOLET
VENUS-PERIOD
(FRIDAY)
RED
MOON -PERIOD
(MONDAY)
BLUE
EARTH -
MERCURY -HALF
(WEDNESDAY)-YELLOW
VULCAN-PERIOD
THEWEEK
(EMBRACING WITHE DAYS)
WHITE
(INCLUDING ALLTHECOIORS)
SUN- PERIOD
(SUNDAY)
INDIGO
JUPITER- PERIOD
(THURSDAY)
ORANGE
- PERIOD
MARS -HALF
(TUESDAY) GREEN
THE WAYOF INITIATION
THERE WAS NO INITIATION PRIOR TO THE END OF THE
MARS HALF OF THE EART H PERIOD . THE LESSER MYS-
TERIES EMBRACE HUMAN EVOLTION IN THE MERCURY
HALF OF THE EARTH-PERIOD
There was a time, even as late as Greece, when Religon, Art
and Science were taught unitedly in the Mystery-temples. But it
was necessary to the better development of each that they
should separate for a time.
Religion held sole sway in the so-called "dark ages." Dur-
ing that time it bound both Science and Art hand and foot.
Then came the period of the Benaissance and Art came to the
fore in all its branches. Beligion was strong as yet, however,
and Art was only too often prostituted in the service of Eeligion.
Last came the wave of modern Science, and with iron hand it
has subjugated Eeligion.
It was a detriment to the world when Eeligion shackled
Science. Ignorance and Superstition caused untold woe, never-
theless man cherished a lofty spiritual ideal then; he hoped for
a higher and better life. It is infinitely more disastrous that
Science is killing Eeligion, for now even Hope, the only gift
of the gods left in Pandora 's box, may vanish before Materialism
and Agnosticism.
Such a state cannot continue. Eeaction must set in. If
it does not, Anarchy will rend the Cosmos. To avert a calamity
Religion, Science and Art must reunite in a higher expression
of the Good, the True and the Beautiful than obtained before
the separation.
Coming events cast their shadows before, and when the Great
Leaders of human itv saw the tendency towards ultra-materialism
which is now rampant in the Western World, they took certain
steps to counteract and transmute it at the auspicious time.
The did not wish to kill the budding Science as the latter has
strangled Beligion, for they saw the ultimate good which will
result when an advanced Science has again become the co-worker
of Eeligion.
A spiritual Eeligion. however, cannot blend with a materialistic
Science any more than oil can mix with water. Therefore steps
were taken to spiritualize Science and make Eeligion scientific.
In the thirteenth century a high spiritual teacher, having the
symbolical name Christian Eosenkreuz Christian: Eose: Cross
appeared in Europe to commence that work. He founded the
mysterious Order of Eosicrucians with the object of throwing
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
occult light upon the misunderstood Christian Eeligion and to
explain the mystery of Life and Being from the scientific
standpoint in harmony with Eeligion.
In the past centuries the Kosicrucians have worked in secret,
but now the time has come for giving out a definite, logical and
ssquential teaching concerning the origin, evolution arid future
development of the world and man, showing both the spiritual
and the sr-^ntific aspect; a teaching which makes no statements
that are not supported by reason and logic. Such is the teaching
promulgated by the Rosicrucian Fellowship. It satisfies the mind
by giving clear explanations and neither begs nor evades ques-
tions. Jt holds out a reasonable solution to all mysteries But.
and this is a very important "But," The Eosicrucian Christianity
does not regard the intellectual understanding of God and the
Universe as an end in itself. Far from it. The greater the
intellect, the greater the danger of its misuse. Therefore the
scientific teaching is only given in order th t man may believe
find start to li*)*! the religious life which j .me can bring true
Fellowship.
Seventh Edition
600 pp. cloth Price $2.00, postfree.
This remarkable book by Max Heindel marks an entirely
new departure in mystic literature.
For the first time in the history of the Western Wisdom
Teaching concerning Life and Being which the Rosicrucians
have guarded for centuries, is here given by an authorized
messenger, for it is held that the world is ready to receive
this advanced science of the soul, the religious philosophy of
the Aquarian Age, now at hand. The existing scul-hunger
and the satisfying nature of the Rosicrucian teachings are
equally well attested by the phenomenal sale of this great
book, and many thousands of letters received by the author
from grateful students located all over the world, who testify
that they there found what they have long sought elsewhere
in vain.
We give herewith some headings of chapters and sub-
divisions as a slight indication of what is contained in this
mine of mystic light and knowledge.
Part I.
The Visible and Invisible Worlds, The Four Kingdoms, Man
and the Method of Evolution. Spirit, Soul and Body;
Thought, Memory and Soul-growth. The conscious, subcon-
scious and superconscious mind. The science of death, the
beneficence of purgatory, life in heaven. Re-birth and the
Law of Consequence.
Part II.
The Scheme of Evolution. The Path of Evolution. The
Work of Evolution. Genesis and Evolution of Our Solar
System. Chaos the seed-ground of Cosmos, Birth of the
Planets, Planetary Spirits. Evolution of the Earth. The
Moon, the eighth sphere of retrogression. Occult Analysis
of Genesis. The Nebular Theory.
Part III.
Christ and His Mission. The Star of Bethlehem, the Mys-
tery of Golgotha and the cleansing blood. Future Devel-
opment and Initiation. Alchemy and Soul-growth. The
Method of Acquiring First-hand Knowledge. Western
Methods for Western People. Esoteric Training. Christian
Rosenkreuz and the Order of Rosicrucians. The Rosicru-
cian Initiation.
AN ELEMENTARY EXPOSITION
BY MAX HEINDEL
200 pp. cloth. $1.50 postfree.
ts ts % Po0k for
who is seeking a solution to the Great Mystery called Life,.
but lacks leisure to wade through volumes of metaphysical
speculations. The lucid and logical explanations carry con-
viction they bear
THE STAMP OF TRUTH
Nevertheless, the language is so simple, clear and devoid of
technicalities that a child can understand its message. It
is there fore specially suited to beginners, but advanced
students will find
THE MYSTERY OF LIGHT
COLOR AND CONSCIOUSNESS,
and similar subjects of vital interest.
ANCIENT TRUTHS IN MODERN DRESS
Price lOc Each, Postfree
No. 1. The Riddle of Life and Death.
No. 2. Where Are the Dead?
No. 3. Spiritual Sight and the Spiritual Worlds.
No. 4. Sleep, Dreams, Trance, Hypnotism, Mediumship
and Insanity.
No. 5. Death and Life in Purgatory.
No. 6. Life and Activity in Heaven.
No. 7. Birth a Fourfold Event.
No. 8. The Science of Nutrition, Health and Protracted
Youth.
No. 9. The Astronomical Allegories of the Bible.
No. 10. Astrology; Its Scope and Limitations.
No. 11. Spiritual Sight and Insight.
No. 12. Parsifal.
No. 13. The Angels as Factors in Evolution.
No. 14. Lucifer, Tempter or Benefactor?
No. 15. The Mystery of Golgotha and the Cleansing
Blood.
No. 16. The Star of Bethlehem; A Mystic Fact.
No. 17. The Mystery of the Holy Grail.
No. 18. The Lord's Prayer.
No. 19. The Coming Force; Vril or What?
No. 20. Fellowship and the Coming Race.
These lectures are particularly suitable for beginners.
Read consecutively, they give a comprehensive outline of our
philosophy.
THEY FIT THE POCKET
?nd allow a busy man to utilize time on cars en route to or
from business.
GIVE ONE TO A FRIEND
It is an inexpensive and a helpful gift.
By MAX HEINDEL
An Esoteric Exposition of the Cosmic Facts underly-
ing these two Great Institutions, as de-
termined by Occult Investigation
Describes the influence of each of these institu-
tions upon the evolution of mankind and the ultimate
destiny of each.
The building of King Solomon's Temple has al-
ways remained a theme of great interest ; but add to
this the story of the Queen of Sheba and the real
builder of the Temple, Hiram Abiff, so seldom read
of in current literature, and truly one is confronted
by a story of exquisite and transcendent interest.
To have read this book is to have delved deep into
the past and to have gained a glimpse into the mys-
teries that have puzzled philosophers in ages gone by.
Only a Mystic and a trained Seer who has the divine
gift of reading the Akashic Kecords of the past could
give such a lucid description of this great subject.
THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERY MASON'S
LIBRARY
Bound in cloth. 98 pages. Price $1.00
of
HOW MADE AND UNMADE
The Occult Effect of
Our Emotions
Prayer
A Magic Invocation
The Scientific Method
of Spiritual Unf oldment
BY MAX HEINDEL
180 pp- Cloth Bound
Two Dollars Postfree
These four books in one volume are the
collected fruits of a Mystic's investigations
showing the unseen forces which shape our
destiny.
This valuable information is given for the
first time in book form.
i\\t
BY MAX HEINDEL
Faust, Parsifal, the Ring of the Niebe-
lung, Tannhauser, Lohengrin
oOo
The Secret Teachings concealed in the Great Myths
as embodied in the major operas are here interpreted.
The Evolutionary Plan and Methods of Spiritual Uii-
foldment are shown to lie hidden in the imagery of
Folk Tales. The treatment of this subject adapts the
book to the use of the Musician and Student of Folk-
lore as well as to the Occultist.
oOo
Bound in Cloth with the usual three colored
gold covers used on all Hosicrucian
'Fellowship Bocks.
$2.00 Postfrea
0f (Elmstmas
BY MAX HEIXDEL
Five dissertations in one volume, upon this most
interesting Subject of CHRISTMAS from the Mys-
tical Viewpoint, Showing the Occult Significance of
this Great Event.
-OQO-
Spiritual Light The New Element and The N.ew
Substance.
The Annual Sacrifice of Christ.
The Mystic Midnight Sun.
The Mission of Christ.
The Festival of the Fairies.
Very Attractively Bound in Heavy Paper.
50 p a g eSt $1.00 Postfree.
RAYS FROM THE ROSE CROSS
A Monthly Magazine of
MYSTIC LIGHT
Subscription $2.00 per year
General Contents
The Mystic Light Department is devoted to articles on
Occultism, Mystic Masonry, Esoteric Christianity
and similar Spiritual Subjects.
The Question Department is designed to give further
light upon the various subjects dealt with in the
different departments.
The Astral Ray Department gives Cosmic Light on
Life's Problems. So far as space permits horo-
scopes of subscribers' children are read each month.
These readings show the hidden faults and talents
to help the parents bring out the best in their
charges.
Vocational Readings for young men and women are
given to show them the sphere in the world's work
for which they are best fitted.
Studies in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception. Our
Origin, Evolution and Ultimate Destiny are relig-
iously, reasonably and scientifically explained in
this department.
Chtidrens' Department. Letters and Lessons for the
Children.
Nutrition and Health. In this department articles on
diet teach how to build bodies wisely and well.
The Rosy-Cross Healing Circle. Its meetings and their
results.
OJlfrist
BY ANXET C. RICH
30 Cents Postfree.
The idea that India is the main repository of
occult knowledge is held by many who have for-
saken the Christian Religion to embrace Hindu-
ism. "Christ or Budda?" shows most clearly
that
TUB WESTERN WISDOM TEACHINGS
throw a light upon the problems of life which is
much more intense, far-reaching and soul sat-
isfying in every respect. A partial list of con-
tents will indicate its scope.
Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis.
Trance.
Dreamless sleep.
The waking State.
Dreams.
The Mystery of Blood
The Mystery of Sex.
The Mystery of Death.
The Christ of the East.
The Christ of the West.
of
AN OCCULT STORY
BY PRENTISS TUCKER
This is a fascinating story of a young mystVs
experiences during the Great War, both np-m the seen
and the unseen planes. The author possesses great
aptitude for portraying conditions upon the super-
physical planes so that the layman can form a con-
crete conception regarding them.
168 Pages Cloth Bound $1.50 postfree.
A few chapter headings are appended to give a
better idea of the contents :
A Visit to the Invisible Planes.
A Sergeant's Experience after "Passing Out."
A Soul Flight.
Back to Earth A Pretty Nurse.
Helping a Slain Soldier to Comfort His Mother.
An Experience With Nature Spirits.
A Crisis in Love.
A Study of Auras.
irimtttftc
By MAX HEINDEL
Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged
WITH MAX HEINDEL *S PORTRAIT
198 pp. Bound in Cloth. $1.25 Post paid
A complete textbook on the art of erecting a hor-
oscope, making the process simple and easy for begin-
ners. It also includes a
Philosophic Encyclopedia
and
Tables of Planetary Hours
The Philosophic Encyclopedia fills a long felt want
of both beginners and advanced students for infor-
mation concerning the underlying reasons for astro-
logical dicta. It is a mine of knowledge arranged in
such a manner as to be instantly accessible.
The Tables of Planetary Hours enable one to select
the most favorable time for beginning new enter-
prises.
The unparalleled merits of this book have been
amply attested by many thousands of enthusiastic
students who have bought the first three editions.
No astrological student can afford to be without it.
of tftlp>
BY MAX HEINDEL AND AUGUSTA Foss HEINDEL
Third Edition
700 pp. Cloth. $2.50 Post Paid.
This book is set in a most attractive style, printed
on fine paper, with extra durable binding, the cover
stamped in gold and colors like other Rosicmcian text-
books. The contents are unique, including a number
of articles on the philosophy of Astrology.
The contents are arranged according to a very sim-
ple, definite system and with marginal symbols which
will enable the student to turn instantly to the para-
graph containing the information wanted.
There are many non-technical articles dealing with
the philosophical aspect of Astrology which will appeal
to all occult students regardless of whether they under-
stand casting a horoscope or not.
The general reading of the natal horoscope is thor-
oughly elucidated in all phases.
A very simple method of progressing the horo-
scope and predicting events is given.
Last, but not least is the Medical Astrology and
guide to Diagnosis of Disease, covering about 200 pages
and illustrated by 36 horoscopes, each indicating sever-
al diseases.
The system there explained is based upon the ex-
perience of the authors, gained during an extensive
practice of many years, during which time they have
successfully diagnosed disease in many thousands of
horoscopes, foretold crises and indicated preventive or
remedial measures.
I860 TO DATE, PRICE, 25c EACH YEAR
The increasing difficulty experienced by Astrolo-
gers in obtaining Ephemerides has induced us to
enter the field and produce
A Better Ephemeris
AT HALF THE PRICE Now CHARGED BY OTHERS
A glance at this publication will at once show the
Astrologer a number of advantages in our arrange-
ment. The times and places of New Moons, Full
Moons and Eclipses are plainly marked, also the
Moon's Node. Tables of Logarithms are given for 24
hours.
The type is as large as used in this book, the print
is clear and beautiful. It will save eye strain.
SIMPLIFIED
Latitudes 25 to 60 Degrees, Inclusive
Volume 1. Volume 2. Volume 3.
25-36 degrees 37-48 degrees 49-60 degrees
WITH LONGITUDES and LATITUDES
of about
FIFTEEN HUNDRED CITIES OF THE WORLD
These Tables of Houses are printed in size and style
uniform with our Simplified Scientific Ephemeris;
large type, clear print and fine paper.
A 12-page list (double column) gives the latitudes
and longitudes of most cities of fair size in Europe,
Asia, Africa, Australia and South America, also Amer-
ican cities of ten thousand and over.
By our original simplified system we have construct-
ed these Tables so that with them a figure is calculated
for South latitude by the same method and with the
same ease as a figure is cast for North latitude.
These Tables cover the two most densely populated
belts of the World, including the greater part of the
United States and continental Europe, South America,
South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
50 cents each Post Paid
The set of Ephemerides for 60 years, bound
in cloth, 3 volumes, $17.75 postfree. (From 1860
to 1922.
-oOo-
This is a condensed record form, particularly
adapted to rapid and accurate work. It saves
its small cost many fold in time conservation and
avoidance of uncertainty.
15c Per Dozen
-oOo-
Printed on good bond paper, letter sixe 8^x11
inches, with or without index for aspects, as
ordered lOc per dozen; 35c for 50, or 65c per
100.
BY MAX HEIXDEL
15 Cents Postfree
The title indicates sufficiently the scope of
the book.
It is direct and to the point like all the writ-
ings of this author.
-oOo-
BY MAX HEINDEL
Many good Astrologers are lost to the world
because people gifted with the intuitional ability
to read a horoscope are usually poor mathema-
ticians. When our Simplified Calculation Forms
are used in conjunction with Simplified Scien-
tific Astrology, there is no mental strain ; the
student has only to fill in the figures in blank
spaces provided, and before he realizes it the
horoscope is cast. 15c each, 4 for 50e.
-IN-
CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM AND ASTROLOGY
Christian Mysticism : A correspondence course of
twelve lessons upon the Rosicrucian Philosophy, using
the Cosmo-Conception by Max Heindel, as a textbook.
This philosophy gives a logical analysis of the origin,
evolution, and future development of the world and
man, showing both the spiritual and scientific aspects.
It is entirely Christian, aiming to make religion a
living factor in the world and to lead to Christ those
who cannot reach Him by faith alone.
This course is open to all who are interested.
Astrology : We want to help you to help others,
and for that reason we have instituted a correspond-
ence course in Astrology. Astrology is to us a phase
of religion, a Divine Science. We teach it to others on
condition that they will not prostitute it for gain.
Anyone who is not engaged in fortune telling or
similar methods of commercializing spiritual knowl-
edge may be admitted to this course.
Correspondence course lessons are furnished in
French, German, Spanish, Holland Dutch, and Ital-
ian. The letters written individually to the students,
however, are in English, since we have no professional
interpreter.
SECRETARY-
Rosicrucian Fellowship Oceanside, California.
Foreign Publications
Foreign languages are essential to the Invisible
Helper. He who aspires to lead a life of service and
compassion, in the invisible worlds, is of greater use
if he can comfort those speaking other languages be-
sides his own. It behooves us, then to cultivate the
linguistic faculty. The following books in foreign
languages are useful to the Anglo-Saxon student as
well as to those native to the language
We can supply the following of our publications in
Spanish.
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, our textbook,
indispensable to those interested in the teachings of
the Great Fraternity. 3 Volumes. Price $3.00.
The Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and An-
swers, which contains information, not obtainable else-
where in our literature. 3 Volumes. Price $3.00.
The Twenty Lectures, for titles of which see
English section. Complete set $3.00. Single
copies 20c each.
At the present time we only offer the Simplified
Scientific Astrology in this language, price 75 c. We
expect soon to be able to place 011 the market the
French edition of the ^ Cosmo-Conception." Watch
for announcements.
Rosicrucian Fellowship - - Oceanside, California.
Translations of the following of Mr. Heindel's
books are now obtainable in this language and may
be purchased from The Rosicrucian Fellowship,
Oc :i anside, California.
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, our textbook
is valuable to all students of the occult. Printed on
heavy eggshell paper, in good type. Price $3.00.
The Rosicrucian Mysteries, "The book for the busy
man." Price $2.00.
Simplified Scientific Astrology, giving a short yet
accurate method of .casting a horoscope, and contain-
ing an astrological cyclopedia. Price $2.00.
The Message of the Stars, the best organized and
most useable treatise upon the judgment of the radical
chart, diagnosis of disease, and progressing the horo-
scope, on the market. Price $3.50.
Rosicrucian Fellowship Oceanside, California.
Manual for the Rosicrucian Aspirant, is a com-
pilation from Mr. Heindel's writings taken from The
Cosmo-Conception, the Rosicrucian Mysteries and
similar works. Price $1.50
The pamphlet, Why I am a Rosicrucian by the
founder of the Rosicrucian Fellowship may be pro-
cured for the price of ten cents.
Jwtch
The Cosmo-Conception has recently been translated
into Dutch. Printed on heavy paper, in large print,
it sells for $3.00.
The pamphlets, "How the Rosicrucians Heal the
Sick," explaining the method of spiritual healing, and
"Fundamentals of Natural Dietetics," showing how
to keep young and well by a scientific method of diet,
sell for 10 cents each.
(Earning
The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception has been trans-
lated into French, Italian, and Swedish, and is only
awaiting publication. We hope soon to have these
editions in our possession.
Questions and Answers in German.
Translations are under way in Russian and Portu-
guese.
Rosicrucian Fellowship - - Oceanside, California.
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