The Rosicrucian cosmo-conception; or, Christian occult science, an elementary treatise upon man's past evolution, present constitution and future development

Front matter

J

Class

CGEQilGHX BEPOSOi

Chapter I. The Visible and Invisible Worlds 24 Chemical Region of the Physical World 29

Etheric Region of the Physical World 34

The Desire World 38

The World of Thought 48

Diagram 1. The Material World a Reverse Reflection

of the Spiritual Worlds 52

Diagram 2. The Seven Worlds 54

Chapter II. The Four Kingdoms 56

Diagram 3. The Vehicles of the Four Kingdoms 73

Diagram 4. The Consciousness of the Four Kingdoms . . 74

Chapter III. Man and the Method of Evolution. Activities of Life ; Memory and Soul-growth 87

The Constitution of the Seven-fold Man 88

Diagram 5. The Three-fold Spirit, the Three-fold Body

and the Three-fold Soul 95

Death and Purgatory 96

Diagram SVo. The Silver Cord 98

The Borderland 112

The First Heaven 113

The Second Heaven 121

The Third Heaven 129

Preparations for Rebirth 133

Birth of the Dense Body 139

Birth of the Vital Body and Growth 141

Birth of the Desire Body and Puberty 14^

Birth of the Mind and Majority 142

The Blood; the Vehicle of the Ego 143

Chapter TV. Rebirth and the Law of Consequence 147

Wine as a Factor in Evolution 165

A Remarkable Story 172 l^ CONTENTS.

Chapter XII. Evolution on the Earth. The Polarian Epoch 261

The Hyperborean Epoch 262

The Moon ; the Eighth Sphere 264

The Lemurian Epoch 265

CONTENTS. 13

Birth of the Individual 266

Separation of the Sexes 267

Influence of Mars 268

The Races and Their Leaders 270

Influence of Mercury 273

The Lemurian Race 275

The Fall of Man 282

The Lucifer Spirits 286

The Atlantean Epoch 291

The Aryan Epoch 304

The Sixteen Paths to Destruction 306

Chapter XIV. Occult Analysis of Genesis. Limitations of the Bible 317

In the Beginning 321

The Nebular Theory 322

The Creative Hierarchies 325

The Sun Period, the Moon Period 328

Jehovah and His Mission 333

Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis 336

A Living Soull 344

Adam 's Rib 346

Guardian Angels 347

Mixing Blood in Marriage 352

The Fall of Man 360

Diagram 13. The Beginning and End of Sex 364

Chapter XV. Christ and His Mission. The Evolution of Religion 367

Jesus and Christ-.Jesus 374

Diagram 14. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spfrit 37'''

Not Peace but a Sword 383

The Star of Bethlehem 388

The Heart an Anomaly 393

The Mystery of Golgotha 400

The Cleansing Blood 406

Chapter XVI. Future Development and Initiation. The Seven Days of Creation 411

Diagram 15. The Symbolism of the Caduces 413

Radiates, Mollusks, Articulates and Vertebrates 416

Spirals within Spirals .' . 420

14 CONTENTS.

Alchemy and Soulgrowth 421

The Creative Word 425

Chapter XVII. The Method of Acquiring First-Hand Knowledge. The First Steps 430

Western Methods for Western People 437

The Science of Nutrition 441

Table of Food-Values 450

The Law of Assimilation 451

Live and Let Live 460

The Lord's Prayer 462

The Vow of Celibacy 467

The Pituitary Body and the Pineal Gland 473

Diagram 17. Path of the Unused Sex Currents 475

Esoteric Training 477

How the Inner Vehicle is Built 480

Concentration 486

Meditation 489

Observation 492

Discrimination 493

Contemplation 494

Adoration 495

Introduction

THE Western world is undoubtedly the vanguard of the human race, and, for reasons given in the following pages, it is held by the Rosicrucian that neither Judaism nor "popular Christianity," but true Esoteric Christianity is to be its world-religion.

Buddha, great, grand and sublime, may be the "Light of Asia," but Christ will yet be acknowledged the "Light of the World." As the sun outshines the brightest star in the heavens, dispels every vestige of darkness and gives life and light to all beings, so, in a not too distant future, will the true religion of Christ supersede and obliterate all other religions, to the eternal benefit of mankind.

In our civilization the chasm that stretches between mind and heart yawns deep and wide and, as the mind flies on from discovery to discovery in the realms of science, the gulf becomes ever deeper and wider and the heart is left further and further behind. The mind loudly demands and will be satisfied with nothing less than a materially demonstrable explanation of man and his fellow-creatures that make up the phenomenal world. The heart feels instinctively that there is something greater, and it yearns for that which it feels is a higher truth than can be grasped by the mind alone. The human soul would fain soar upon ethereal pinions of intuition ; would fain lave in the eternal fount of spiritual light and love; but modern scientific views have shorn its wings and it sits fettered and mute, "unsatisfied longings gnawing at its tendrils as the vulture at Prometheus' liver.

Is this necessary? Is there no common ground upon which head and heart may meet, each assisting the other, each by the help of the other becoming more effective in the search for universal truth, and each receiving equal satisfaction?

As surely as the pre-existing light created the eye whereby the light is seen; as surely as the primordial desire for growth created the digestive and assimilative system for the attainment of that end; as surely as thought existed before the brain and built and still is building the brain f»r its expression; as surely as the mind is now forging ahead and wringing her secrets from nature by the very force of its audacity, just so surely will the heart find a way to burst its bonds and gratify its longings. At present it is shackled by the dominant brain. Some day it will gather strength to burst its prison bars and become a power greater than the mind.

It is equally certain that there can be no contradiction in nature, therefore the heart and the mind must be capable of uniting. To indicate this common ground is precisely the purpose of this book. To show where and how the mind, helped by the intuition of the heart, can probe more deeply into the mysteries of being than either could do alone ; where the heart, by union with the mind, can be kept from going astray; where each can have full scope for action, neither doing violence to the other and where both mind and heart can be satisfied.

Only when that co-operation is attained and perfected will man attain the higher, truer understanding of himself and of the world of which he is a part; only that can give him a broad mind and a great heart.

INTKODUCTION 19

At every birth what appears to be a new life comes among us. We see the little form as it lives and grows, becoming a factor in our lives for days, months, or years. At last there comes a day when the form dies and goes to decay. The life that came, whence we know not, has passed to the invisible beyond, and in sorrow we ask ourselves, Whence came it? Why was it here? and Whither has it gone?

Across every threshold the skeleton form of Death throws his fearsome shadow. Old or young, well or ill, rich or poor, all, all alike must pass out into that shadow and throughout the ages has sounded the piteous cry for a solution of the riddle of life — the riddle of death.

So far as the vast majority of people are concerned the three great questions, Whence have we come? Why are we here? Whither are we going? remain unanswered to this day. It has unfortunately come to be the popularly accepted opinion that nothing can be definitely known about these matters of deepest interest to humanity. Nothing could be more erroneous than such an idea. Each and every one, without exception, may become capable of obtaining first-hand, definite information upon this subject ; may personally investigate the state of the human spirit, both before birth and after death. There is no favoritism, nor are special gifts required. Each of us has inherently the faculty for knowing all of these matters ; but !— Yes, there is a "but," and a "BUT" that must be written large. These faculties are present in all, though latent in most people. It requires persistent effort to awaken them and that seems to be a powerful deterrent. If these faculties, "awake and aware," could be had for a monetary consideration, even if the price were high, many people would pay it to gain such immense advantage over their fellow-men, but few indeed are those willing to live the life that is required to awaken them. That awakening comes only by patient, persistent effort. It cannot be bought ; there is no royal road to it.

It is conceded that practice is necessary to learn to play the piano, and that it is useless to think of being a watchmaker without being willing to serve an apprenticeship. Yet when the matter of the soul, of death and the beyond, of the great causes of being, are the questions at issue, many think they know as much as anyone and have an equal right to express an opinion, though they may never have given the subject an hour's study.

As a matter of fact, no one unless qualified by study of the subject should expect serious consideration for an opinion. In legal cases, where experts are called to testify, they are first examined as to their competency. The weight of their testimony will be nil, unless they are found to be thoroughly proficient in the branch of knowledge regarding which their testimony is sought.

If, however, they are found to be qualified — ^by study and practice — to express an expert opinion, it is received with the utmost respect and deference; and if the testimony of one expert is corroborated by others equally proficient, the testimony of each additional man adds immensely to the weight of the previous evidence.

The irrefutable testimony of one such man easily counterbalances that of one or a dozen or a million men who know nothing of that whereof they speak, for nothing, even though multiplied by a million, will still remain nothing. This is as true of any other subject as of mathematics.

As previously said, we recognize these facts readily enough in material affairs, but when things beyond the world of sense, when the super-physical world is under

INTRODUCTION 21

discussion; when the relations of God to man, the innermost mysteries of the immortal spark of divinity, loosely termed the soul^ are to be probed, then each clamors for as serious consideration of his opinions and ideas regarding spiritual matters as is given to the sage, who by a life of patient and toilsome research has acquired wisdom in these higher things.

Nay, more ; many will not even content themselves with claiming eqval consideration for their opinions, but will even jeer and scoff at the words of the sage, seek to impugn his testimony as fraud, and, with the supreme confidence of deepest ignorance, asseverate that as they know nothing of such matters, it is absolutely impossible that anyone else can.

The man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward knowledge.

The path to first-hand knowledge is not easy. N"othing worth having ever comes without persistent effort. It cannot be too often repeated that there are no such things as special gifts or "luck." All that anyone is or has, is the result of effort. What one lacks in comparison with another is latent in himself and capable of development by proper methods.

If the reader, having grasped this idea thoroughly, should ask, what he must do to obtain this first-hand knowledge, the following story may serve to impress the idea, which is the central one in occultism:

A young man came to a sage one day and asked, "Sire, what must I do to become wise?'' The sage vouchsafed no answer. The youth after repeating his question a number of times, with a like result, at last left him, to return the next day with the same question. Again no answer was given and the youth returned on the third day, still repeat-

^^ EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEiPTlON

ing his question, "Sire, what must I do to become wise?'^

Finally the sage turned and went down to a near-by river. He entered the water, bidding the youth follow him. Upon arriving at a sufficient depth the sage took the young man by the shoulders and held him under the water, despite his struggles to free himself. At last, however, he released him and when the youth had regained his breath the sage questioned him:

"Son, when you were under the water what did you ^w)st desire?"

"The youth answered without hesitation, "Air, air! I wanted air !"

•"Would you not rather have had riches, pleasure, power or love, my son? Did you not think of any of these?" queried the sage. .

"No, sire ! I wanted air and thought only of air," came the instant response.

"Then," said the sage, "to become wise you must desire wisdom with as great intensity as you just now desired air. You must struggle for it, to the exclusion of every other aim in life. It must be your one and only aspiration, by day and by night. . If you seek wisdom with that fervor, my son, you will surely become wise."

That is the first and central requisite the aspirant to occult knowledge must possess — an unswerving desire, a burning thirst for knowledge ; a zeal that allows no obstacle to conquer it; but the supreme motive for seeking this occult knowledge must be an ardent desire to benefit humanity, entirely disregarding self in order to work for others. Unless prompted by that motive, occult knowledge is dangerous.

Without possessing these qualifications — especially the latter — in some measure, any attempt to tread the arduous

INTRODUCTION 23

path of occultism would be a hazardous undertaking. Another prerequisite to this first-hand knowledge, however, is the study of occultism at second-hand. Certain occult powers are necessary for the first-hand investigation of matters connected with the pre-natal and post-mortem states of man, but no one need despair of acquiring information about these conditions because of undeveloped occult powers. As a man may know about Africa either by going there personally or by reading descriptions written by travelers who have been there, so may he visit the superphysical realms if he will but qualify himself therefor, or he may learn what others who have so qualified themselves report as a result of their investigations.

Christ said, "The Truth shall make you free," but Truth is not found once and forever. Truth is eternal, and the quest for Truth must also be eternal. Occultism knows of no "faith once for all delivered." There are certain basic truths which remain, but which may be looked at from many sides, each giving a different view, which complements the previous ones; therefore, so far as we can see at present, there is no such achievement possible as arriving at the ultimate truth.

Wherein this work differs from some philosophical works the variations are caused by difference of viewpoint, and all respect is paid to the conclusions reached and the ideas set forth by other investigators. It is the earnest hope of the writer that the study of the following pages may help to make the student's ideas fuller and more rounded than they were before.

CHAPTER I. The Visible and Invisible Worlds

THE first step in Qccultism is the study of the invisible Worlds. These Worlds are invisible to the majority of people because of the dormancy of the finer and higher senses whereby they may be perceived, in the same way that the Physical World about us is perceived through the physical senses. The majority of people are on a similar footing in regard to the super-physical Worlds as the man who is born blind is to our world of sense; although light and color are all about him, he is unable to see them. To him they are non-existent and incomprehensible, simply because he lacks the sense of sight wherewith to perceive them. Objects he can feel; they seem real; but light and color are beyond his ken.

So with the greater part of humanity. They feel, and see objects and hear sounds in the Physical World, but the other realms, which the clairvoyant calls the higher Worlds, are as incomprehensible to them as light and color are to the blind man. Because the blind man cannot see color and light, however, is no argument against their existence and reality. Neither is it an argument, that because most people cannot see the super-physical Worlds no one can do so. If the blind man obtains his sight, he will see light and color. If the higher senses of those blind to the superphysical Worlds are awakened by proper methods, they also will be able to behold the Worlds which are now hidden from them.

While many people make the mistake of being incredulous concerning the existence or reality of the super-sensuous Worlds, there are also many who go to the other extreme, and, having become convinced of the verity of invisible Worlds, think that when a person is clairvoyant all truth is at once open to him ; that when one can ^^see," he at once "knows all about^' these higher Worlds.

This is a great mistake. We readily recognize the fallacy of such a contention in matters of everyday life. We do not think that a man w^ho was born blind, but has obtained his sight, at once "knows all about" the Physical World. Na}^, more; we know that even those of us who have been able to see the things about us all our lives are far from having a universal knowledge of them. We know that it requires arduous study and years of application to know about even that infinitesimal part of things that we handle in our daily lives, and reversing the Hermetic aphorism, "as above, so below,'' we gather at once that it must be the same in the other Worlds. At the same time it is also true that there are much greater facilities for acquiring knowledge in the super-physical Worlds than in our present dense physical condition, but not so great as to eliminate the necessity for close study and the possibility of making a mistake in observation. In fact, all the testimony of reliable and qualified obsen^ers prove that much more care in observation is needed there than here.

Clairvoyants must first be trained before their observations are of any real value, and the more proficient they become the more modest are they about telling of what they see ; the more do they defer to the versions of others, knowing how much there is to learn and realizing how little the single investigator can grasp of all the detail incident to his investigations.

This also accounts for the varied versions, which superficial people think is an argument against the existence of the higher Worlds. They contend that if these Worlds exist, investigators must necessarily bring back identical descriptions. If we take an illustration from everyday life, the fallacy of this becomes apparent.

Suppose a newspaper sends twenty reporters to a city with orders to "write it up." Eeporters are, or ought to be, trained observers. It is their business to see everything and they should be able to give as good descriptions as can be expected from any source. Yet it is certain that of the twenty reports, no two would be exactly alike. It is much more likely that they would be totally different. Although some of them might contain leading features in common, others might be unique in quality and quantity of description.

Is it an argument against the existence of the city that these reports differ ? Certainly not ! It is easily accounted for by the fact that each saw the city from his own particular point of view and instead of these varying reports being confusing and detrimental, it is safe to say that a perusal of them all would give a fuller, better understanding and description of the city than if only one were read and the others thrown in the waste-basket. Each report would round out and complement the others.

The same is true regarding accounts made by investigators of the higher Worlds. Each has his own peculiar way of looking at things and can describe only what he sees from his particular point of view. The account he gives may differ from those of others, yet all be equally truthful from each individual observer's viewpoint.

It is sometimes asked, Why investigate these Worlds? Why is it not best to take one World at a time ; to be content for the present with the lessons to be learned in the Physical World, and, if there are invisible Worlds why not wait until we reach them before investigating ? "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof !" Why borrow more ?

If we knew without doubt that at some time, sooner or later, each one of us must be transported to a far country where, under new and strange conditions, we must live for many years, is it not reasonable to believe that if we had an opportunity to learn of that country in advance of our removal to it we would gladly do so? Knowledge would render it much easier for us to accommodate ourselves to new conditions.

There is only one certainty in life and that is — Death! As we pass into the beyond and are confronted by new conditions, knowledge of them is sure to be of the greatest help.

But that is not all. To understand the Physical World, which is the world of effects, it is necessary to understand the super-physical World, which is the world of causes. We see street cars in motion and we hear the clicking of telegraph instruments, but the mysterious force which causes the phenomena remains invisible to us. We say it is electricity, but the name gives us no explanation. We learn nothing of the force itself; we see and hear only its effects.

If a dish of cold water be placed in an atmosphere of a sufficiently low temperature ice crystals immediately begin to form and we can see the process of their formation. The lines along which the water crystallizes were in it all the time as lines of force but they were invisible until the water congealed. The beautiful "frost flowers" on a win-

2S EOSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTlON

dowpane are visible manifestations of currents of the higher Worlds which operate upon us all the time, unrecognized bymost of us, but none the less potent.

The higher Worlds are thus the worlds of causes, of forces; and we cannot really understand this lower World unless we know the others and realize the forces and causes of which all material things are but the effects.

As to the reality of these higher Worlds compared with that of the Physical World, strange as it may seem, these higher Worlds, which to the majority appear as mirages, or even less substantial, are^ in truth, much more real and the objects in them more lasting and indestructible than the objects in the Physical World. If we take an example we shall readily see this. An architect does not start to build a house by procuring the material and setting the workmen to laying stone upon stone in a haphazard way, without thought or plan. He "thinks the house out." Gradually it takes form in his mind and finally there stands a clear idea of the house that is to be — a thought-form of a house.

This house is yet invisible to all but the architect. He makes it objective on paper. He draws the plans and from this objective image of the thought-form the workmen construct the house of wood, iron, or stone, accurately corresponding to the thought-form originated by the architect.

Thus the thought-form becomes a material reality. The materialist would assert that it is much more real, lasting and substantial than the image in the architect's mind. But let us see. The house could not have been constructed without the thought-form. The material object can be destroyed by dynamite, earthquake, fire, or decay, but the thought-form will remain. It will exist as long as the architect lives and from it any number of houses similar to the one destroyed may be constructed. Not even the architect himself can destroy it. Even after his death this thought-form can be recovered by those who are qualified to read the memory of nature, which will be dealt with later. Having thus seen the reasonableness of such Worlds existing around and about us, and having satisfied ourselves of their reality, their permanency, and of the utility of a knowledge concerning them, we shall now examine them severally and singly, commencing with the Physical World.

Chemical Eegion of the Physical World.

In the Eosicrucian teaching the universe is divided into seven different Worlds, or states of matter, as follows:

7— World of God

6 — World of Virgin Spirits

5 — World of Divine Spirit

4— World of Life Spirit.

3— World of Thought

2 — Desire World

1 — Physical World.

This division is not arbitrary but necessary, because the substance of each of these Worlds is amenable to laws which are practically inoperative in the others. For instance, in the Physical World, matter is subject to gravity, contraction and expansion. In the Desire World there is neither heat nor cold, and forms levitate as easily as they gravitate. Distance and time are also governing factors of existence in the Physical W^orld, but are almost non-existent in the Desire World.

The matter of these worlds also varies in density, the Physical W^orld being the densest of the seven.

Each World is subdivided into seven Regions or sub-

3D KOSICKUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

divisions of matter. In the Ph3'sical World the solids, liquids and gases form the three denser subdivisions, the remaining four being ethers of varying densities. In the other Worlds similar subdivisions are necessary, because the matter of which they are composed is not of uniform density.

There are still two further distinctions to be made. The three dense subdivisions of the Physical World — the solids, liquids and gases — constitute what is termed the Chemical Eegion. The substance in this Eegion is the basis of all dense Form.

The Ether is also physical matter. It is not homogeneous, as material science alleges, but exists in four different states. It is the medium of ingress for the quickening spirit which imparts vitality to the Forms in the Chemidal Eegion. The four finer or etheric subdivisions of the Physical World constitute what is known as the Etheric Eegion.

In the World of Thought the three higher subdivisions are the basis of abstract thought, hence they, collectively, are called the Eegion of Abstract Thought. The four denser subdivisions supply the mind-stuff in which we embody and concrete our ideas and are therefore termed the Eegion of Concrete Thought.

The careful consideration given by the occultist to the characteristics of the Physical World might seem superfluous were it not that he regards all things from a view point differing widely from that of the materialist. The latter recognizes three states of matter — solids, liquids, and gases. These are all chemical, because derived from the chemical constituents of the Earth. From this chemical matter all the forms of mineral, plant, animal, and man have been built, hence they are as truly chemical as

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WOELDS 31

the substances which are commonly so termed. Thus whether we consider the mountain or the cloud that envelops its top, the juice of the plant or the blood of the animal, the spider's thread, the wing of the butterfly or the bones of the elephant, the air we breathe or the water we drink — all are composed of the same chemical substance.

What is it then which determines the conformation of this basic substance into the multiplex variety of Forms which we see about us ? It is the One Universal Spirit, expressing Itself in the visible world as four great streams of Life, at varying stages of development. This fourfold spiritual impulse molds the chemical matter of the Earth into the variegated forms of the four Kingdoms — mineral, plant, animal, and man. When a forn has served its purpose as a vehicle of expression for the three higher streams of life, the chemical forces disintegrate that form so that the matter may be returned to its primordial state, and thus made available for the building of new forms. The spirit or life which molds the form into an expression of itself is, therefore, as extraneous to the matter it uses as a carpenter is apart from and personally independent of the house he builds for his own occupancy.

As all the forms of mineral, plant, animal, and man are chemical, they must logically be as dead and devoid of feeling as chemical matter in its primitive state, and the Rosicrucian asserts that they are.

Some scientists contend that there is feeling in all tissue, living or dead, to whatever kingdom it belongs. They include even the substances ordinarily classed as mineral in their category of objects having feeling, and to prove their contentions they submit diagrams with curves of energy obtained from tests. Another class of investigators teach that there is no feeling even in the human body, except in the brain^ which is the seat of feeling. They say it is the brain and not the finger which feels the pain when the latter is injured. Thus is the house of Science divided against itself on this as on most other points. The position taken by each is partly right. It depends upon what we mean by "feeling." If we mean simply response to impacts, such as the rebound of a rubber ball that is dropped to the ground, of course it is correct to attribute feeling to mineral, plant, and animal tissue; but if we mean pleasure and pain, love and hate, joy and sorrow, it would be absurd to attribute them to the lower forms of life, to detached tissue, to minerals in their native state, or even to the brain, because such feelings are expressions of the self-conscious immortal spirit, and the brain is only the keyboard of the wonderful instrument upon which the human spirit plays its symphony of life, just as the musician expresses himself upon his violin.