amorc - the american rosae crucis, april 1920

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P U B L I S H E D B Y

T H E D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L I C A T I O N

S U P R E M E G R A N D L O D G E

A n c i e n t a n d M y s t i c a l o r d e r r o s a e C r u c i s

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TH E American Rosae Crucis is published with the sanct ion of the

Department of Publication of the American Ministraro of the

Order. It is edited by the Depart men t of Research. It is the

only official publication of the Order in America and manuscripts

submitted by members must conform to the principles of the Order.

Single copies are thirty-five cents. Back num bers, while the y last, f ifty

cents each. Yearly subscript ions are NO T accepted. Address al l com

municat ions for the magazine and it s affa irs t o : Departme nt of Pub lica

tion, Amorc Building, 1255 Market Street, San Francisco, California.

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

A P R I L1 9 2 0

Pa g e

Jesus a Normal M an .......................... 3

R ev e la t io ns o f t he Pa s t Y ea r ......... 9

Tho usa nd Y ea rs o f Y es t erda y s . . . . . . 13

Jott ings for Members ............................ . . . 15

God Breathed the Breath of Life. .. . 17

Ques t ions and A n s w e r s ......................... .. 20

I

L o d g e N o t e s .................................................. . . 21

Copyrighted by A. M .O . R.C.. 1920. Ex-Cathedra, February 25, 1920



Reincarnation of a MagazineThe Ameri can Rosae Crncis appears again, re-born.

For a little over two years it has remained in

the chamber of silence and now comes to life

again in a s l ightly changed body, with the same

soul and spir i t with which i t shed i ts l ight and

fulfilled its mission so successfully for a short

period of two years.

It may be with us again for an even shorter

period. N ot l ike other magazines , with a d ifferent purpose in mind, a different mission to fulfill ,

it wil l re tire a gain as soon as its wor k is acco m

plished.

But, it has a great wo rk to do just no w; else it

would not have been cal led from the chamber of

s i lence where i t was voluntar i ly p laced a t the

close of the year 1917. G re at events have tra n

spired, not without i ts help , but with the help

of its former issues, while it was sleeping, await

ing the call of resurrect ion. Mo st s tupenduous

events are even now transpir ing throughout

America and more are to occupy the a t tent ion

and in terest of man with the help of the l iv ing

words which wil l speak out f rom the pages of

this sentinel of man’s conscious evolution.

As the in t imate spokesman of our Rosicru-

cian brotherhood, as the f laming torch of greater

light to the seeker who travels along the paths

of shadow y bel iefs and lur id theories, th is publi

cation will serve as a Key to the Hidden

Ch a m b e r .

M ay the God o f ou r Hear t s b rea the His

Love and I l luminating Spir i t in to the essence

of th is re-born child of our impersonal endeav

ors and bathe each reader in the Golden Glory

of the Rosy Cross.

The Department o f Publication ,A. M. O. R. C.



Volume 3, IMo. i

f^nteriecm v

April iq2o

Jesus of NIazareth as a Normal Man and the

Normal Man of To-day

B)) Simplicitas—Priest and Mystic

fs p T, T W OU LD appear that vve have lostH L y very much by a neglect of consid

eration of the humanity of Jesus.Which neglect is consequent to alarge degree upon the very greatemphasis of his divinity. As it hasresulted in an almost entire over

looking of the fact that his divinity andhumanity are both relatively and thus equallybrought to attainment by normality.

As, indeed, properly understood, it will beseen that both the humanity and the divinityof man will be brought to attainment in normality also.

It will of course be understood that theNormal is not necessarily the usual. This maybe illustrated from the confession of the physician who by the study of pathological conditions is easily brought to the conclusion, forinstance, that there is no such thing as aperfectly normal human throat. And, thosewho particularly study and manipulate thehuman spine, that they have never seen a perfectly norm al spine. Thu s vve can see tha t asthe word normality is used it is more thanthe usual, and has somehow attached to it thethought of ideality. The normal man is therefore the man in the full possession of all thepowers of man without the underdevelopmentof any.

Understanding therefore that Jesus of Nazareth was ideally normal as a man, and thatthe possible man of to-day is the ideally normalman let us consider both of them analeticallyand synthetically in their acts and experiencescommonly known as miraculous.

Let us approa ch this study simply. Tha t is.by the avoidance of the conflicting opinionsand conclusions of scholarship that so easilyimpose themselves upon our attention, giving

heed most of all to the prerogative of apprehending what is true for ourselves. We shallbe very much tempted to consider the expressions of scholastic authorities who may befound to be in harmony and thus in full support of our own apprehensions of the facts tobe considered, but we have promised ourselvesthat we will be fair in rejecting those thatcoincide with our thought equally with thosethat oppose it. And certainly for the purposeof this study we are to consider facts and notopinions.

In the instance of recorded facts we shailaccept the most obvious understanding of the

words themselves, and, in the matter of scriptural record accept the American Revised Version as il reads, as the best translation in English and the final result of the most exactingcriticism of the original text by the world’sscholarship. This means without rejection of any disputed passages that a nice discrimination may be able to discover, and withoutstrained interpretation or prejudiced avoidanceof anything that we may find.

Such a study will be therefore a balancingof the recorded facts of attainment within theexperience and possibility of the man of to-day,without anticipation o r prejudgment as to conclusion.

( )ur effort is most reverent. For certainly

we must understand that Truth is falsely considered as sacred, if by being considered sacredit is to be for us beyond the pale of the mostcareful and thorough individual investigation.Truth exists for the very purpose of beingunderstood and incorporated in act and experience on the part of the sincere seeker.

This study is not intended as an attack uponerror or truth as it relates to the essentialdivinity of Jesus, the man of Nazareth, as

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theologically and mystically understood. It isan earnest and honest attempt to arrive at afair estimate of the divinity and normality ofman in the light of the facts re co rd ed ; andin human experience it ought to be both theologically and mystically understood. The divinity and normality of Jesus of Nazareth isestimated as it is in common thought by reasonof the fact that he, first of all men, attainednormality, and, most fully of all that havelived, answered to the evident thought anddesign of God in the creation of man.

Exalted as is the divinity of Jesus and, ob-versely, debased as is the divinity of man inour usual thinking, nevertheless fairly to consider either one or both of them together, wemust understand that divinity is one and thesame in both, if indeed it is in different degreebetween man and men. and man and Jesusthe man. To do other than this would be unfair to what we may find divinity to be. to beso illogical as to postulate a conclusion beforewe begin investigation and denominate thewhole proceeding unfair.

The divinity of Jesus of Nazareth,—his normality as a man.—is supported mainly by thoserecorded acts which are commonly known asmiracles, and those recorded experiences commonly acknowledg ed as miraculous. The divinity and normality of the man of to-day willbe supported in the same way if the facts canbe found.

Other evidences of divinity may of course bediscovered and considered, that may or maynot lead to a modifying of the conclusion atwhich we hope to arrive, such as that attaching to the Wisdom of Teaching, etc.. but the

scope and purpose of this present paper is toconsider the matter solely as it relates to themiraculous in act and experience.

It is therefore necessary before proceedingfurther, to the understanding of both Jesus andthe man of to-day that we know what is meantby miracle. Reduced to its simpliest terms itpresents three phases:

(1) A demonstration of spirit power overand within matter.

(2 ) An administration of spirit law in thedirecting of spirit power.

(3 ) Both of these phases combined in asingle act. incidentally evidencing attainmenton the part of the personal administrator of

the law and the demonstrator of the power.Several general observations are at once ap

parent.(a ) A general demonstra tion of spirit power

as it is manifest in all being is not to be considered a miracle. Neith er the general administration of spirit law in natural and physical expres sion. It is only a miracle when thedemonstration and adminstration is personallycontrolled in particular instances.

(b ) A miracle is not contrary to law butbecause of law.

(c ) And necessarily also a miracle is characterized by the ease of its accomplishment.

(d ) Any miracle is therefore not necessarilywithout precedent nor is it impossible of repetition.

(e) A miracle is wonderful to those whopersonally know and direct the law, and anamazement to those who see it and do notunderstand either spirit power or law.

The reason for amazement is fundamentallydue to the materialistic habit of human thought.It would not be considered a miracle if mattershould become spirit or disappear. Or if spiritas we commonly think of it should be controlled by matter. But that spirit should become materialized, or visualized, or that spiritshould control matter without visualization isbv loose thinking understood as in violation

of all precedent, and amazing.God therefore, while existing and functioningspiritually is not working a miracle in the sensethat being a Spirit he manifests from Himselfas spirit. Excep t in partic ular instances, andthen in these instances only as they appear tous, not as they are instances in relation toHim.

The consideration of miracle in relation toGod and as both relate to Jesus of Nazareth,inclines to the conclusion that the manner bywhich Jesus came into human life and the manner of his being raised from the dead are bothmiraculous acts on the part of God as we areable to under stand them. And indeed the scriptures so declare.

Jesus evidently and manifestly came intohuman life under singularly propitious conditions. Those who apprecia te cosmic conditionsas indicated in astronomical and astrologicalsignifications will understand that one answering to Him must have been born at about thetime of his birth. The condition of the world,the mystical attendants at his birth, and thevisit of the Wise men all add their testimonyto this conclusion.

Those who appreciate the Hebrew scriptures,evidencing an age-long and general expectancyof such an one, the foretelling of their prophetsparticularly will accept the gospel and epistle-atory corroboration of his miraculous birth andresurrection, since history seems to have failedto record another of his characteristics sufficiently remarkable to be considered as a competitor for consideration in relation to him.

And. for the purpose of this paper as wehave stated, we are to accept the account ofthe American Revised Version of his miraculous birth and resurrection . This bible expressly states that Jesus was born of Goduniquely and that it was God that raised himfrom the dead. Ou r interest just now, is with



the facts known as miraculous which are recorded as intervening between his extraordinarybirth and resurrection, and which he himself

personally direc ted. It is the miraculous fromthe point of view of Jesus as a man that weare now concerne d. And it will be seen thatthis does not destroy the idea of his normality,or that he was the ideal of normality for us.

However, entirely apart from the conditionsof his birth which make him to differ in thisfrom men. in some such way as may be seen,although in a lesser degree as we as mendiffer from each other by the individual antecedents and accompanying conditions of our several births, is the great fact that Jesus realizeda divine consciousness, ordered his life in conformity to this realization, exercized himselfin the plenitude of its privilege and ability,and thus attained his normality. As indeed

we as individual men may also do.Scripture records that he was a human babvand child,—that he grew in wisdom and staturedaily,—that he early grasped wisdom sufficientlyto dispute with the doctors in the temple.—early realized his mission, replying to the reproof of his mother “Wist ye not that I mustbe about my Father’s business.” and at thethreshold of the age considered as the attainment of manhood of the times in which helived, expressed his responsibility to God bythe remark to his mother, “Mine hour is notvet come.” Again and again later he declared.“ I am not come to do mine own will but t hewill of Him that sent me. and how am Istraightened 'till it is accomplished?"

It is but reasonable to suppose that if weas individual men realize and attain our divinepossibilities relatively as he did. we shall beas miraculous in our lives as he was in his,and in harmony with the antecedents and conditions of our births as it was with him.

It is of absorbing interest now to proceedto the careful consideration of what the American Revised Version of the Christian’s Scripture has to say concerning the privilege, prerogative and possibility of man.

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him?And the son of man that thou visitest him?For thou hast made him but little lower thanGod. and crowned him with glory and honor.Thou makest him to have dominion over the

works of thy hands; thou hast put all thingsund er his fe et : All sheep and oxen. Yea, andthe beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens,and the fish of the sea, whatsoever passeththrough the paths of the seas.” ( Psalm 8:4-8.)

Accepting these words as a poetic utterancemust not be urged sufficiently to set upon oneside the facts which they poetically declare.We are bound to accept them in the light ofthe more scientific statement of these same

facts bound up with others regarding man, andrecorded in the book of Genesis.

“And God said, let us make man in our

image, after our likeness: and let them havedominion over the fish of the sea, and overthe birds of the heavens, and over the cattle,and over all the earth, and over every creepingthing that creepeth upon the earth. And Godcreated man in his own image, in the imageof God created he him; male and femalecreated he them. And God blessed th em : andGod said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,and replenish the earth, and Subdue it: andhave dominion over the fish of the sea. andover the birds of the heavens, and over everyliving thing that moveth upon the ea rth.”.(Genesis 26-28.)

Accepting these words as they stand it isevident that man has not realized and attained

his privilege, prerogative and possibility in theimage of God,—in being but little lower thanGod,—if it may be maintained that we haveapproxi mated that of dominion. Save in theoutstanding instance of the man Jesus of Nazareth. As it is evident that the realization andattainment of Jesus of Nazareth is within theplan and purpose and design of God in givingman his being and his divine image as man.

Passing temporally over the many recordedinstances of miracle in the Old Testamentportion of the Scriptures, save to note thatthey are evidence what others did before Jesusaccomplished his marvelous or similar works,we may consider the possibility and normalityof man as expressed in the teachings of Jesusthe Master.

When he sent forth his disciples he expresslyinstructed them to the attainment of privilegeand power which the earlier scriptures had enforced. and with which enforcement they werevery probably more or less familiar.

“And he called unto him his twelve disciplesand gave them authority over unclean spirits,to cast them out. and to heal all manner ofdisease and all manner of sickness.” (Ma thew10:1. ) “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleansethe lepers, cast out demons, freely ye havereceived, freely give.” (Mat hew 10:8.)

Luke 10:1, 9 and 17 records the sendingforth of the seventy and the result. Theywere expressly to heal the sick. And they returned with joy saying. “Lord, even the devils

are subject unto us in thy name.”And his parting statement to his disciples

as recorded in Mark 16:18 was “And thesesigns shall accompany them that believe; inmy name shall they cast out demons; they shallspeak with new tongues, they shall take upserpents, and if they shall drink any deadlything it shall in no wise hurt them, they shalllay hands on the sick and they shall recover.”

The disciples did as he did. And with the



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same ease. With the same understan ding oftheir mission. And when they had reachedthe point of failure in the case of the epileptic

boy, Jesus did not admit that their failurewas impossible of being overcome by them.Upon another occasion Jesus seemed to refuseto admit that he possessed a power that exceeded the possibility of the disciples. In oneinstance he made the statement, “Verily, verily.I sav unto you, He that believeth on me theworks that T do shall he do also: and gr eaterworks than these shall he do because I gounto the Father .” (John 14:12.) And again."If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed,nothing shall be impossible to you."

Never in any instance did he declare thatanything that he did was beyond the powerand privilege of his disciples.

It is almost staggering to our prejudicedand limiting understanding that this should bea condition of normality for man, but such itis in the light of scripture record and theteaching of Jesus the Master.

Without at this time pausing to particularizethe many instances in which the apostles didalso the same works, demonstrating the samepower, administering the same spirit law, withthe same ease, and the same endorsement oftheir attainment we hasten to the conclusion,which cannot be reasonably avoided withoutentangling interpretation that SUCH WORKSOUGHT TO RF. DONE TO-DAY.

We shall he aided to a better understandingof the recorded miracles of Jesus if we observethe threefold division into which they seem

most naturally to fall.1. Miracles of nature.

2. Miracles of Mystic Demonstrati on.3. Miracles of Healing.

1. I he Miracles of Natu re are :

(a) The stilling of the storm.(h) Walk ing upon the water.(c) Tur nin g the water into wine.(d) Feeding the multitudes.(e) The destruction of the fig tree.( f) The raising of the dead.(g ) Poison rendered inert. (This is

not an act of Jesus as recorded but it isin the statement he made to his disciples.And in the interest of the complete list itwould seem it ought to be noted.)

In the scripture of Psalm 8. Genesis 1. John14, and Mathew 17, already quoted, these mayall of them be considered within the possibilityof man.

And without particularizing we may say theywere all done by man before the time of Jesus as recorded in the Old Testament miracles,and by the disciples and apostles as recordedin the New Testament at or after the timeof Jesus.

(a ) The stilling of the storm seems as acontrol of the natural elements to be duplicatedby the storm in Har vest of Samuel. (1 Samuel.

12:16-18.)(b ) It will be remembered that Peter didwalk upon the water at the time of Jesus’ doingso, and that Jesus did not reprove him for attempting to do as he did. but only for thefailure of faith resulting in only a temporarysuccess. And in the matt er of overcomi ng theforce known commonly as gravitation thecausing of the iron to swim may be cited.(2 King's 6:6.)

(c) The turni ng of the water into winemay be duplicated in the turning of the waterinto blood. (Ex odu s 7:14-25.) Or the sweetening of the water by Moses (Exodus 15:25)and Elisha (2 Kings 2:19-22.)

(d ) The feeding of the multitude is duplicated in kind by Elisha’s feeding a hundredmen. (2 Kings 4:42-44.) And Elisha and thepot of oil. (2 Kings 4:1-7 .)

( e ) The destruction of the fig tree by thewithering of Jereboam’s hand (1 Kings 13:3-6)and more than duplicated in the instance ofAnanias and Sapphira. (Acts 5:5-10.)

(f ) The dead were raised by Elisha (2Kings 4:18-37) and Peter (Acts 9:40) and byPaul (Acts 20:9-12).

(g ) Poison was rendered inert in the caseof Elisha (2 Kings 4:42-44) and Paul with

the serpent (Acts 28:5).Any or all of these are to be considered in

the light of what we have already seen inScripture within the possibility and the experience of man, as possible of accomplishment

to-day.

2. The instances of mystical demonstrationthat are recorded of Jesus are mainly as follows :

(a ) The evidence of the dove as a signand the voice at his baptism by John.

(b) The spectacular and cosmic incidents of his Transfiguration.

(c ) The many instances of his marvelous insight into material things, as in theshekel in the fish’s mouth and the wonderful draught of fishes recorded in John21 :6.

To these should be added his wonderfulinsight into the minds of men. It wassaid of him, “He knew what was in man."The instance of the woman of Samaria isone of the most remarkable.

(d) His clairvoyance. Nathaniel asrecorded in John 1:48, His statement“Lazarus is dead" (John 11:14) togetherwith the whole circumstance. And thecase of the man with the asses foal (Mathew 17:2) being perhaps the most striking.

(e ) His psychic projection. The recorded occasions are almost entirely limited



T H E A M E R I C A N R O S A E C R U C I S

to the period afte r his resurrection. Thisis a very interesting- fact for the discriminating student of mysticism. However,

the law governing this in the case of Jesus,will not be discussed here. But it .musthe understood that projection is easilypossible before the experience of physicaldeath.

These are duplicated among the other instances recorded as miracles in earlier or laterscripture as follows:

(a ) The incident and demonstration atPentecost, which exceeded very markedlythose accompanying the Baptism of Jesus.

(b ) The transfiguration of Moses.(Exodus 34:29-35.)

(c ) The case of Ananias and Sapphira.also of Pete r in (Acts 10). And there aremany others.

(d) Evidences will be readily foundscattered over the record of the history ofthe early church.

(e) This faculty which in the case ofJesus was exercised almost entirely afterliis resurrection is not noted very definitelyin the record of the early Church. However, for the purpose of this paper andstudy it is enough to say that this is avery common experience with those of alimited body of psychically developed menand women.

It is evident whatever may be said of thepresent day experiences of mystical demonstration that those recorded in connection withJesus of Nazareth were clearly duplicated by

others than he according to the authority ofthe same scripture which speaks of his exerciseof the faculty thus demonstrated, and thesesame demonstrations may very reasonably belooked for to-day.

3. It seems well that we conside r the Heal -ing Miracles of Jesus of Nazareth separately.Por the reason that healing demonstrations aremost numerous. And most appealing. Alsobecause, being so numerous, it is better to attempt to understand them by a general classification than by a consideration of the manyparticul ar instances. And because we can mostreadily follow the course of our study and thepurpose and intent of this paper by groupingthem in the mass. The massed group being in

clusive of the miracles of Jesus, of those beforeand after him found in other scriptural records,and those of to-day by present-day mystics andsemi-mystics.

(a) Heali ng by psychological suggestion.The past two decades have brought these tothe front of popular attention and into a betterunderstandi ng. The many present-day instancesof healing which are known to be accomplishedbv this method, have made many of the scrip

tural instances very much more clear and understandable.

Christian Science has attained such hold upon

public attention that it must be reckoned with.Many who think deeply, and many more whothink but superficially if they really think atall. are very illogical, as they list all the resultsof Christian Science under the head of Psychological suggestion. These seem almost to overlook the fact that if the cure is accomplishedit is unfair to deny it by contemptuously denominating the method of accomplishment.Science has made the statement that ChristianScience never has accomplished a cure thatwould stand the test of a thorough scientificinvestiga tion. It does not seem to have occurred to them that by their understandingof proof they are perilously near to the sophistryof demanding what they determine shall be con

sidered failure before investigating. Mea nwhile Christian Science will do good even ifits field of possibility is thus limited, and willdo harm, both because the good it does isdone "not wisely" and because of a dogmatically imposed substratum of error of thought.

The Emmanuel Movement clearly makes thedistinction between functional and the structural,—the psychological and the actual in disease, and treats only the functional and thepsychological.

Mental Science and New Thought have muchof mystical truth but are seriously entangledboth in their understanding and applicationof it.

(b ) There are many recorded instances of

structural and organic healing on the part ofJesus and others. The only way to deny theseis to discredit the scripture which so unequiv-ocably so states them. And also by others thanJesus in Old and New Testament. Suchmiracles ought to be possible to-day. Are possible to-day. And are actually accomplished.

An almost endless argument may easily beindulged in if we desire argument, but wedesire fact. And so much do we desire it thatwe do not expect to discover it by much useof opinion. Tha t Scripture record as a factin itself attests these facts is sufficient for thepurpose of this paper.

fc) Healin g at a distance. More than asingle instance is given of this method of heal

ing by Jesus. Christi an Science essays to dothe same apparently without knowing the law.although knowing of it. (I n fairness in thisconnection the statement ought to be madethat there is an esoteric section of ChristianScience, the members of which are presumablyfurther advanced in the knowledge of the lawsinvolved, and consciously or semi-consciouslyused.)

The Mystic of to-dav knows the law and



of the atoms. Wh at is known to the scientistsas the law of gravitation is known as something else by the mystic, and being thus known

is used in manifestations that are apparentlythe opposite of material effects. Mysticaldemonstration as light and fire are frequent.Illumination or transfiguration is occurring.Insight into the minds of others without speechor seeing or even the necessity of being physically present is an everyday occurrence. Clairvoyance is becoming with many a commonfaculty. Ther e are many that know the dateand mann er of their decease. Tho ugh t is beingprojected with a far greater immediacy thanthe telegraph. While projection of consciousness to see and be seen across continents andarou nd the world frequently is done. Heal ingwithout drugs or surgery or manipulation,merely by the easy application of law directing

spirit power, so easily that it may be continued for a day without fatigue. Heal ing ata distance is accomplished. And the dead areraised. All this is affirmed by those of thisschool of advanced age enlightenment in truthand soberness.

It is divinely human, or ideal normality.We have seen that this is the heritage of

man, the experience of Jesus anticipated orduplicated by others and within the possibilityof the man of to-day.

There will always be a large number who cannot understand to whom no statement or signwill be sufficient. The re will be those ready

to say of any demonstration: “It might havehappened anyhow” ; of healing: “that thosewho were healed only thought that they weresick, it was a case of pseudo-sickness andtherefore pseudo healing” ; of the control ofmatter: “it really isn’t so, it only seems to beso ; or it stands to reason that it isn’t so” ; or,“it is a trick.” Tha t clairvoyance is but “imagination and self-deception.” Mind reading isreally “but a guess.” And certainly that thosewho were raised to life after breathing andpulse has ceased, “Well, they were not dead.”They will say ! L et them say !!

And. as a last resort the superstitious willdeclare out of their bewilderment and fear, evenwhere manifestly good is accomplished, “It is

demonology .” So it zuas with Jesus!It will be seen that the very best of proof isto be taught the law and personally direct itsadministration and demonstration of spirit powerover the material. This privilege belongs toall mankind, without restriction as to wealth,social or present-day educational standards, requiring however most of all. humility, patienceand that faith that works by love.

To all sincerely enquiring souls we say.“Come and see.”

( l*o lie Cont in ue d’)

Revelations of tke Past YearBy tke Imperator

HE Rosaecrucian Year which ended

last month gave the world more

light on fundamental laws of naturethan any other year of the past

decade. Leavi ng aside any marv el

ous achievements of science, andconsidering only the simple little

truths—most of which have no commercialvalue and in their abstract form are of nopractical value to the world of applied science—this past year will pass into history as theyear of illumination and revelation scientific.

And we as Rosaecrucians are especially proud

of the fact—if we may ever feel proud at all—that not one of the seemingly astounding andrevolutionary principles revealed through experimentation or accident in the greatest laboratories of science has contradicted the verydefinite, concrete and thoroughly demonstrablelaws and principles which we have been teaching in our Temple lectures to the brothers andsisters of our Orde r for many years. In factthe most surprising revelations made by science

during the past _year. those which have startednational and international scientific bodies intolong and serious discussions and have filled thescientific and lay journals with long articles,are not revelations to our members at all, butrather belated discoveries or acknowledgmentsof the existence of laws and principles whichwe have held fundamental for many years andwithout the exact knowledge of which we couldnot have performed or manifested the many,many operations of nature’s activities in somany departments.

Perhaps the outstanding discovery of science,

so far as our own viewpoint is concerned, isthat embodied by science in its very carefully

and conservatively worded admission that “thereis a positive electron” entering into the constitution of atoms. Slowly, with great reluctance,and ever mindful of the fact that such admission would completely contradict and revolutionize all its former and persistent statements,science has made step after step toward whatit probably thought would be an unnoticed



change in its terms regarding the nature ofelectrons. We have smiled as we read monthafter month of the new findings regarding electrons; we have noted with increasing satisfaction, the transition of the word ‘‘ion” to electron ; we have analyzed the transformation goingon in the minds of those who dare to publishwhat they find or who are empowered to present the finding of others in the scientific publications, and have seen such statements as“negative electrons grouping around a positiveion" change to “negative electrons groupingaround a positive neucleus” and then thischanged again to read “a certain definite number of negative electrons forming by some lawaround a number of positive corpuscles"; butat last the truth came and we read that sciencehad found that negative electrons obeyed somelaw, in number and form, and grouped themselves in various symbols around positive elec

trons, etc. In fact one scientific mind ventured the opinion that the symbols thus formedin the composition of atoms resembled the geometrical designs found in the shapes of snowflakes ! And perhaps all but Rosaecrucians weresurprised or—skeptical.

More than one scientific writer has referredto the fact that there appears to be some lawof numbers and geometrical form controllingor determining the principles involved in thegrouping of electrons to constitute atoms.Surely we may say that science is rapidly becoming alchemistic in its thinking.

But. let us examine a few of the hiore or lessfamous findings of science during the past year.

Most popular of all is the discovery made

by Prof. Einstein, that light rays are notstraight rays. To appreciate what this Swissmathematician meant, we must recall that ithas always been believed that there were suchthings as straight lines of light and so-calledsight lines both of which were so straight thatthey ever formed a tangent to any line thathas even the slightest curve to it.

Prof. Alfred Einstein says that the lines oflight coming to us from the stars or the planetsare not straight, but bent out of straightness bythe magnetic attract ion of the sun. The realprinciple which science says that Prof. Einsteinlias discovered is that light rays, or in otherwords, light vibrations in a radiating stream,have weight, have a tangible existence, and can

lie weighed, pulled, bent, deflected and causedto otherwise push or strike against things aswould a stream of water . Tt is this principlewhich startles the scientific world, not the factthat the light waves from a star are affectedby the s un’s magne tism : and yet this principle,this nature of light vibrations, has been knownto and utilized by Rosaecrucians for so manyvears that we cannot conceive of light wavesbeing of any other nature than tangible and

easily affected bv magnetic attraction and having weight and impact. We would like to sayto Prof. Einstein and to Prof. Eddington andalso to Prof. Crommelin of England who havebeen so pleased or surprised with Einstein’sdiscovery, that there is no such thing as astraight line anywhere in the universe: that alllines are curved, that there is no straight sight-line, for such straight lines would go off intospace indefinitely and that space itself wouldhave to be indefinite. If nature a bhors avacuum, so nature abhors any tendency towarda strai ght line as greatly as art detests it. Andabout to the same degree that man is able tocreate or maintain a condition of vacuum isman able to make a straight line.

And. is not space indefinite? The par agraph above would indicate that Rosaecruciansbelieve that space—cosmic space—has a limitation. This is what the Rosaecruc ians of oldbelieved and taught, even as far back as thedays of our first great teachers in the days ofthe Egyp tians. Yet, only late in the fall of1919 did the scientific world have its attentioncalled to this fact. Sir Joseph Thompson announced that the findings of the Royal Societyand the Royal Astronomical Society of England "were the greatest since Newton enunciated the principle of gravi tatio n.” Other sproclaimed these findings the most portentousscientific discovery in the history of the world.And what were these findings? They cameabout through official observations of the eclipseof the sun in May of 1919 and a considerationof Einstein’s theory along with some reasoningon the part of Dr. Andrew Crommelin of the

Royal Observat ory at Greenwich, who sai d:“The consequences of our findings and of thediscovery would be that space would no longerbe looked upon as extending indefinitelv in alldirections and that if investigators cotdd go farenough they would re-enter the same ground.Euclidian straight lines cannot exist in Einstein’s space: they are all curved and. if theytravel far enough, return to the starting point.”In other words the findings of the two Societies. or at least of their representatives, includedthe idea of the limitations of the space of theuniverse.

Referring to Newton's explanation of themanifestation which he called gravitation,even that is no longer safe in the hands

of interfering science, for behold, one Prof.T. J. T. See. eminen t astronomer, announcedthat the force called gravitation is as mucha push toward the earth as a pull. He savsthat the force is a magnetic one, and likeall magnetic forces must consist of two polarities, negative and positive, and that thesemagnetic waves emanate from the sun towardthe earth and from the earth toward the sun."When the interpenetrating electro-dynamic



waves interlace,—like two giant corkscrews,—the two bodies will tend to be drawn together(i. e., gravitation)—a property we see in allbodies or masses of matter. This accounts fortheir being drawn together, the sun and theearth; they are only held apart by the actionof other forces, tending to offset it.” To Rosae-crucians this explanation is typical of how closeto the truth the scientific mind can come without having the facts revealed. The man ofscience, the man representing certain schoolsor systems of science and having always thecriticism of his associates in mind, cannot completely submit himself to the dictates of truthwhen illumination dawns upon his consciousness. He must ever temper fact with theory,truth with belief, new light with old light.

What will Prof. See and others of his classsay when they learn that there is another fundamental element or force entering into theagency called gravitation,—that which we maycall centrifugal force, for a convenient name?In our s u m m a r y next year of this year’s discoveries on the part of science, will we be ableto say that science has found this fact too? Letus hope so.

Late last year the world was intensely surprised with the announcement made by SirErnest Rutherford of the University of Manchester that he had solved the riddle of transmutation of matter, the secret sought by theancient alchemists. Those of us who knew thatSir Ernest had been working and experimenting with radio activity for a number of yearswere not surprised at his announcement made inthe Paris Mat in. The more intimate he became

with the fundamental principles of radio activity. the more he must have become convinced ofthe possibility of transmutation: for a mineralin the process of radio activity is a mineral inprocess of devolution and evolution. Th at heshould have found the law whereby man maydirect the activities of such minerals toward achange of its physical nature is not surprising.

Long before science accepted a hypotheticaloutline of the periodic table of all elements.Rosaecrucians had a table in which the 144 ele

ments formed by electrons were arranged according to their period of vibrations. It wastruly a periodic table in a more accurate sensethan that still used by science with its seven

definite and one indefinite divisions and its manyabsent elements. Thu s the alchemis ts’, or Rosac-crucians’. table of elements showed that the difference between one element and another wasa difference of one definite period or key ofvibrations on the keyboard of many octaves. Itshowed also that one element became another inthe process of evolution or devolution throughthe addition or subtracton of one period ofvibrations. The alchemists and the modern

Rosaecrucians utilized this knowledge, usedfire and other natural means to bring about theaddition or subtraction, and thereby brought

about what is popularly known as transmutation. Tha t some mystics of old, like many ofthe scientific minds of today, were filled withthe desire for personal gain, or urged in theirexperiments by the selfish wish to gain gold,may have made them seek only to change basermetals into gold or white gold (pl atin um). Butthis was not the ambition of the more sincere,religious and inspired mystics or alchemists anymore than it is of the present day Rosaecruciansor men of science, who realize that not onlywould selfishness defeat their possible successes,but the manufacture of gold upon any largebasis would be but to lower the standard andthereby frustrate the very purpose in mind.

And, just about the first of this year sciencewas interested again in the published announcements of Professor Frederick Soddy, of thePhysical Chemistry Department of Oxford.Professor Soddy, too, has made himself famousthrough his deep study and analysis of thephysical elements and especially of the radioactive minerals. He says: “The re was nothing extravagant in the dreams of the alchemistswho sought to transmute baser metals into gold.The elements can be transmuted into one another, or could be if the atoms in them couldbe varied slightly. To get gold from mercuryexpel from the atom of mercury one beta- particle which will make thallium, then extractone alphaparticle from the thallium and it willbecome gold; or to get gold from lead expelfrom one atom of lead one alphaparticle which

will turn the lead into mercury, then proceed asabove with mercury.”

What is one to think of such statements fromthe brightest mind of the physical laboratories?When, in this very magazine in the year 1016.we announced that a demonstration in transmutation had been made in the laboratories ofour Supreme Temple we were criticized by thescientific world of this country for daring tosav such impossible things . Yet, now that thescientific world has admitted the possibility oftransmutation we may dare to continue to teachits principles in our Temple lectures as part ofthe work of various degrees dealing with nature’s forces and elements.

More important, however, than the trans

mutation of base elements into refined mineralsor metals, is the transmutation of base naturesand base minds into refined and pure expressions. The work is jus t as difficult and far morebeneficial to humanity than the interference withnature’s own methods of evolution in the physical world. Such transmutat ion can comeabout, however, only through man discoveringGod and attuning himself with God and permitting the radiating essence of God to infuse



his being and drive away, neutralize, transmute,the baser man into the divine man. The L ightof God, the revelations of God’s laws and principles and the conscious devotion to God’s pur

poses. these and these alone, can save man fromthe disintegration that follows when man livesand breathes in an atmosphere and materialenvironment, in a world of thought and action,that is unattuned with the Infinite Light.

This is so well expressed in an editorial ofthe San Jose (Calif.) Mercury-Herald of Sunday. December 7. 1919. that I cannot refrainfrom publishing the following extracts:

“Perhaps the truer method of leading onefrom the byways of error into spiritual paths isto emphasize the presence of the power within.Ever yone is conscious of its existence. Eve ryone knows it is there . P>ut not everyone isaware of its potentialities. The idea that it ismere emotion is to confuse God with the re

current vibrat ions of our common nature . Thiscan only be corrected or avoided by the conviction that not only is God the most real ofall influences but that He dwells within everysoul, and that that soul must find Him beforecommunion with Him is possible. A mere mechanical acceptance of certain doctrinal exactions such as mark the average professor ofreligion is of no value as a regenarative, norcan it of itself conceivably effect a transformation of the daily life. Bu t when communica tionwith God is established the entire nature beginsa process of change which is sure to continuewithout abatement throu ghou t eternity. Tt ispermanent while mere impression is as evanescent as the fidgetings of the natural world

which expresses itself alternately in sunshineand storm.

“Nor is there, a royal road to true religion.Concentration upon spiritual things, the cultivationof a desire to possess them, a daily lifeunder the captaincy of self-control, completerestraint of the passions, even as Saul ofTarsus long before he became convertedfought with his—these are the sign-marks ofthe soul seeking the Truth. To one who f aithfully knocks the door shall be opened, to onewho asks fo r bread no stone will be given. Ttis not easy. Not hin g of permanence in thephysical world is easy. How much more so ofthe spiritual world which is linked with eternity. Neverthel ess we are all equally equipped

for the spiritual development. No other cando for us the things that God in His wisdomhas decreed we shall do for ourselves. Nomatter ho\v favorable our heredity, or advantageous our environment or association,finallv we must work out our own salvation.It is a persona l individual responsibility.Thomas a Kempis makes this clear in hisw'onderful little book. “The Imitation ofChrist.” You may differ with the theology of

the author, but you cannot question the underlying essentials, nor read it without feelingthat salvation is not the simple momentaryexperience of an emotion-swept soul but the

finding of those spiritual springs that well upwithin every heart appealing for recognitionand companionship, and for the opportunity ofcleansing and refreshing the entire nature.

“The very moment that this new-found lightfloods with radiance the chambers of the soul,life’s outlook becomes clothed with unimaginedhues, the countenance becomes the reflector ofthe new experience, and thenceforward theworld and its allurements, its vices and itsdegradat ions, lose their hold. Tha t is whatPaul meant when he said ’To me to live isChr ist. ’ It is w'hat changed him from a reviling agitator to a great spiritual leader prepared to sacrifice everything he possessed, evenhis life, for the verities of God’s revelation.

It is what buttressed the life of Christ againstthe temptations of the flesh, and as a mere ladmade Him the master of all wisdom, so muchso, according to the Scriptures, that the philosophers and theologians were glad to sit atHis feet and learn. Religion, true religion,answers all human problems, illuminating themind, healing the body, and guiding the footsteps. Compared with it nothing else is worthwhile, for it not only fills the voids of mortallife but prepares the soul for the continuous,never-ending pilgrimage.

“ It is the pearl of grea t price. And what isbest of all, it is not to be sought for geographically as one might seek for something ina far-off land—it is within the sold of all life,

it will respond to and answer the call of everycondition or station. It is for the poor as wellas the rich, it is for every man and withinevery man, but none can have it without earnest seeking and constant overcoming.”

And. this is what our Order has maintainedin all its preachments: even more,—our Orderhas held open wide the door for those whowould come and find God in all of nature’slaws, and live a life conforming with nature’shighest principles.—live a life of and with God.

In the fields of religion and psychic researchas well as in the purely physical world greatadvances have been made and we are happyin the thought that this year, the year 1920,

will bring greater illumination to the mindsand souls of men than ever before. We areon the threshold of a great awakening, weare just sensing the first tinges of light atdawn, and we can but mentally visualize thegrandeur of the high noon.

Meanwhile vve say again that science has notbeen able, in all its scientific discoveries andrevelations to contradict a single fundamentalprinciple taught by our Order in the various



degrees pertaining to the composition of matter, the cosmogony of the universe, the natureof the vital force of life, the cause of elementalmanifestations and the origin of all things.While year after year the textbooks and reference books in every department of sciencehave had to be altered, revised, changed andoften discarded as obsolete in principles andlaws, our Temple lectures have remained unaffected by the rapid changes and revolutionaryfindings and all that we have had to do in thepast hundred years or more has been to gradually add to our store of facts as we have madenew and important discoveries in our ownlaboratories, decades, and even centuries ahead

of the findings of science. Wha t a wonderful

testimonial this is to the principles uponwhich our Order was founded, that naught

but the demonstrable truth should be acceptedor taught and that the voice of God. thewhisperings of nature herself, should be ourteacher and director in the sanctum of our

researches.

And, most wonderful of all is the fact thatthe Order is open to the seeker for truth re

gardless of race, creed or color and that itrepresents more truly than any other move

ment in the world, the classroom and the

sacred temple of the brotherhood of man.

“A Thousand Tears of Yesterdays”

A n Excellent Nev? Book for O ur M embers

T LAST our Order has a book of its

own which it can freely and sincerely recommend to strangers as

giving an outline of the principleswhich our Order holds dear andwhich point out to mankind the

place he occupies in the universe

and the work God intended man to do.

This new book, titled. A Thousand Yearsof Yesterdays, is from the pen of our Im-perator. H. Spencer Lewis, and is publishedby the College Press of San Francisco, California. The publishers, realizing that the mission of such a book would be fulfilled only bvwide distribution and sale, have put it out in astrong, attractive and economical binding andhave placed the very low price of sixty centsupon it. This was made possible by the factthat the art work for the cover was donatedby one of our brothers and the author refusedany payment in the form of royalties orotherwise.

It is well printed, bound with soft flexiblecovers and contains an introduction by theReverend George R. Chambers which reviews

the essentia! points covered by the strangestory of mystic revelations. Brothe r Chambers,writing as a priest of the Episcopal Church,says in part of the Introduction:

‘Tt is not generally known that for thousands of years there are those who have taughtthe unity of truth. This body of students reveals in the pres ent volume that which mayhe accepted as a more popular expression of

their teachings, and as the pioneer of otherswhich will be forthco ming. It is present ed asevidence that science is a matter of inspiration and revelation, as is religion.

“Interesting as is this story it is not intend ed for light reading. It is to stir thedepths of most profound thought and urge tothe most thorough investigation. Let the merelycurious beware of disappointment. Here the

sincere soul will rejoice.”The book has been reviewed by a numberand highly endorsed as one of the strangeststories ever written since Zanoni was given tothe public by Bulwer Lytton for the same purpose. In fact, those who have read the storysay that it will ever remain as a classic in occultliterature.

One of the best, because discriminating, comments made regarding it is: “To me it manifests its cosmic origin in the marvel of its planand movement and the literary delicacy inunfolding the subjects.”

The story is of the struggle that a prominent business man passes through in trying tosatisfy a strange desire that came to him onthe eve of his birthday to see into the past fora pure ly personal and selfish reason. But beforehe is able to have this desire satisfied in anydegree he passes through a series of revelations that embrace all the principal doctrine*and teachings of our Order. Not only is thesubject of reincarnation dealt with in a newand most convincing manner, but other subjectsof wide interest at the present time are presented from the Rosaeeruci an viewpoint. These



include: the origin of life, the nature of thematerial germ of life in the body of man, theprinciples of heredity and transmitted traits ofcharacter, the nature of the soul and its func

tion in man, the function of the soul betweenincarnations, prayer and its nature and efficacy,memory and its attributes and function, reasoning, the power of suggestion and the use ofwill power, cosmic consciousness and the abilityto project it into the past and the future, concentration. suggestion, auto-suggestion, themeaning of the Rose and the Cross, and manyother intensely interesting subjects.

The plot of the story is so fascinating thatone cannot drop the hook until the mystery ofeach chapter is revealed, and one is thereforecarried onward and onward through the storyand at the same time backward and backwardthrough a thousand years of time covering anumber of cities and places. The descriptionsand pictures of times and places show that themind telling the story must have had an intimate association with these places, and one ofthe scenes in ancient France is worthy of careful study by those who would know of the intimate life of the nobility of France in the tenthcentury.

The book does not reveal the secrets of ourteachings, but to those who are in our Orderit will serve to give an excellent idea of thefundamental principles of our teachings and at

the same time give them a wonderful philosophyof life. To ou r own members it will revealbetween the lines the solution of many problemswhich arise from time to time in the study of

our Temple lectures.Either as a book for our members to preserve for reference in regard to the workingof many laws, or as a book to hand to thosewho would borrow a book to serve as an introduction to our Order, this Thousand Yearsof Yesterdays canno t be equaled. We fullyexpect that the first edition will soon be exhausted and a second edition will be necessaryto meet the demand indicated by the approvalgiven to it by reviewers and critics.

Those who are not members will send theirremittances, including ten cents for postage,direct to the College Press, Market and NinthStreets. San Francisco , Calif. The book willbe on sale, however, by the Librarian or Secretary of each Lodge, and time will be saved bypurchasing the books through them.

Every member should buy two copies at least—one for personal use and preservation andone to loan to prospective members from timeto time. This is an excellent way to assist insecuring new members, for there is a referenceto our Order in the close of the book whichthe publishers placed there in their desire toco-operate with the author in spreading morelight.

AMORC COLLEGEOF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The attention of our members is called to the opening of A m o r c C o l l e g e o f

t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s o f A m e r i c a . This college has been fully chartered and incor

porated by law to provide complete collegiate and academic courses of instruction in

those subjects of greatest practical benefit to mankind. It is empowered to teach direct

and indirectly, personally and by a special plan of correspondence, and to confer upon

its gradu ates certain honors and degrees. Many courses are now ready. These

embrace such subjects as cannot be fully and competently taught in our Temple

lectures or which are extended to cover a professional degree such as Doctor of

Philosophy, Doctor of Arc ane Chemistry, Doctor of Chemistry and Physics, Doctor

of Psychology, etc. Members of our Orde r who wish to perfect themselves in a collegecourse based upon our own principles (not found in any other college course) should

write for the Curriculum of the College in which all courses are outlined in detail. The

College is not a commercial institu tion in any sense and except in a few cases its

courses are limited to our members. Speak to the Maste r of your Lodge or write to:

A m o r c C o l l e g e , College Building, 1255 Market Street. San Francisco, California.

Pave Pour teen



Jottings for Members

GAIN* we must disagree with Four

nier d’Albee. Some little time agohe wrote a hook called, frankly.

The Electron Theory. We criticized

his contradictions and serious errorsregarding electrons in one of ourpublications—the G. Cromaat. And

now he has produced another book titled,Ttc'o New Worlds. In this new book he dealswith the intensely interesting and little writtenabout, infra world, the world that exists on thepoint of a needle, the microscopical world.

Our members might read this book with considerable interest and we would have been gladto endorse it. for such a book is needed sinceeven hte dictionaries and encyclopaedias do notcontain an adequate definition of the term infra world, let alone a description of its almost unlimited and unexplored regions. But a casualglance, even, through this new book by d’Albeeis disappointing and our members would hesitate to read it when they came to such a statement as this: a drop of water hanging on theend of a leaf may contain thousands of smallanimals which eat and fight and love and dieand whose span of life, to judge from theirintense activity, is probably filled with as manyevents as our own. Boi l that drop and all lif e

ends!Would any of our members who have ad

vanced beyond even the second degree believethat by boiling a drop of water the life that itcontained is destroy ed? Suppose we increaseor multiply that drop by hundreds and have alarger amount of water, and suppose that wedo boil tha t water. Wh at becomes of thewate r? It is changed, transmute d if you please,into steam, a vapor. Has such change affectedanything other than the physical, the materialsize and attributes of the wat er? Could theelements of the infra world be affected by anything affectin g only the physical world? Theinfra world is wonderful because it is beyond,outside of, the gre ater physical world. Wer e

life and activity in the infra world affected bythe continued changes in the physical worldabove it, all life on this planet might be destroyed in one stroke of change. No, we cannotaccept the statements of d’Albee or any othereminent scientist when they disagree with ourfundamental teachings. Within the past yearwe have had too many scientific discoveriesproving that our teachings have been right formany years despite the former ridicule and derision that science directed toward them.

So many of our Lodges are now in or aboutto enter the very mystical work of the SeventhDegree wherein the adepts begin to utilize nature’s forces and have them obey their commands, as it would seem: and reports indicatethat many members in this Seventh Degreesoon find that they were unfair to themselvesand to the teachings of the Order in havingslighted the principles and laws taught in theSecond, Third and Fourth Degrees. Thereforemany, a great many, have found it advisable,without suggestion, to review the work of theseearlier degrees whenever the earlier degreesheld sessions. May we suggest now to thosein the early degrees to take this little warning,note the presence of higher degree members inyour midst, and profit by the opportunity youno w have.

* * *

Recently another circular has come into thehands of the Department of Research at headquarters in which an individual, moving fromcity to city giving twenty lessons in occultismfor twenty dollars, claims that “there is a royalroad to occult powe r.” The absurdit y of theclaim is offset by the serious fact that his lectures are attended by great throngs who believe,and frankly say they believe, it is possible tohave nature’s secrets revealed briefly andquickly. The circular tells prospective studentsthat he will demonstrate a real “short cut” andupon inquiry we find that in places where hehas been the only short cut demonstrated hasbeen his own hurried departure from the cityat the close of the twen tiet h lesson. Still, hedoes not defraud: for the experience should beworth a great deal more than twenty dollars toeach over-ambitious student of occultism.

* * *

And that reminds us that even our Order isnot free from imitation or clandestine representation. Some self-constituted avat ars ofdivine wisdom have organized a secret societywith a name so similar to the true name ofour Ord er that many will probably be misledfor a time. It is always so easy to copy andimitate a successful thing and so difficult toorig ina te; and when it pertains to anythingoccult or mystical the word Rosicrucian or thewords Rosae Crucis represent a standard ofquality and conscientious endeavor that is priceless to the imitator.

* * *

No considerable surprise was manifested inthe various Lodges by the removal of the Im-



perator’s headquarters to the West nor of thelater removal of the offices of the SupremeSecretary and Archivist to the same place inthe West. Individually some members ex

pressed surprise, but this was because they hadnot followed the trend of events preceding thechange, nor had they carefully read the variouspublications of Cromaat as issued. It was announced for many months in advance that theImperator was preparing to get away from thebusy and annoying activities of the materialadministration of the Order and the West wasalways spoken of as the ultimate goal of theSupreme Officers for many reasons. In facton the Imperator’s return trip from the Westin the spring of 1918 he publicly stated at manyLodges in several States that he would someday return to an ancient Temple site in theWest and his plans in connection therewith,explained to many in detail, are all but com

pleted. * * *

Another hope, ambition and desire of theSupreme Lodge is being rapidly fulfilled. Itwas that some day the highest degree membersof the Supreme Lodge might be scattered invarious lands to urge and pursue the work ofthe Order. Today, several years after the plansfor such wo rk wrere made, more than half ofthe highest degree members are in distantpoints—distant from their original place ofassembly in New York. From Sweden andDenmark, Germany and Belgium, France, England and South America come letters of encouragement and reports of untiring endeavorsto increase the work we have pledged to do.

Another is soon to go to India and undoubtedly in other Lodges there are those who willgo abroad soon and will want to assist there.We shall be glad to hear from these and toaid them in their work in whatever countrythey may elect to live.

* * *

It may interest our members generally toknow that the Supreme Secretary and Archivistand the Supreme Herald (who is also Masterof our National Lodge) were married on Sat

urday, February 21st, in the Egyptian Templeof the California Grand Lodge. The solemn,beautiful Rosaecrucian ritual was used and the

various officers taking part were of the Cali

fornia Grand Lodge, assisted by the SupremeColombe, the Imperator. the Supreme HighPriestess and members of the Supreme Councilfor the Nort h American Jurisdiction. At theclose of the R. C. ceremony the Rev. HenrvFrank performed the required religious andlegal ceremony. They will live in San Fra ncisco for a time until the Temple and executive residences are built in the vicinity of theancient R. C. Temple further south in California.

* * *

Every member should feel absolutely obligated this year to assist in bringing as manyseekers for light to the outer portals of ourOrd er as possible. Neve r in the history of ourcountry was there such a widespread demandfor mystical light and never in the history ofthe world was as much light being shed on themystical and occult as now. Thou sands areseeking now, seriously and intently, where onlya few sought before. The public libraries andreading rooms, the book tables at book storesand the mail-order departments of publishinghouses testify to the fact that the demand forinformation—facts and theories—relating to theoccult and the psychical, and even the religious, has increased a thousandfold in the pastthree years. Now is the heyday of the aquariandesires and we should not fail in our obligations to aid those who need a suggestion, aword of direction. There are a number of

helps which members can quietly, secretly orconservatively give the seeker. They are: TheLittle Brown Casket (a small book of excellent help), the new book A Thousand Yearsof Yesterdays (mentioned elsewhere in thisissue), back numbers or present issues of thismagazine, and other pieces of literature. Askyour Lodge Secretary for copies of these orsend to the Supreme Secretary for them (address 1297 Market Street, San Francisco,

California).

NO TI CE TO M EM BE RS :—The new new Rosaecrucian year, 3273, will be bom at a few

minutes before ten on the evening of Mar ch 20th, 1920, in Europe. In America the equiva

lent time will be early Sunday morning, March 21st for Eastern sections of the continent,

and about one hour before sunrise for Western States, on Sunday morning.

Page Sixteen



"God Breathed the Breath of Life”B>) Samuel Le^is—Member of Department of Research

“And the Lord God (Elohim) formed manof the dust of the ground, and breathed intohis nostrils the breath of life; and man became a livin g soul.” Genesis, 11-7. Thi s isthe passage that is quoted as containing theFirst Law of the R. C. Ontology. And if thislaw is true it will hold good on all planes ofnature. There fore, Brot hers and Sisters, let uslook into certain aspects of this law; not inits deeper, esoteric sense, but at the words themselves and the thoughts contained therein.

Epecially let us regard the two words“breath” and “soul” and investigate them infields not touched upon in the lectures. Remember, however, this is only an introductionso that some Brother or Sister may lookdeeper into the lore of mankind and pick thegolden grains of wheat from the chaff.

Bear in mind first of all the above is atranslation, not necessarily “the” translationfrom the Hebrew. Certain words are usedmeaning certain things. The Jewish people hadthree words for soul: n e f e s i i , n e s h e m a h andr u a c h and all of them meant “breath,” albeitin different aspects. The la tter is generallytranslated “Spirit” but meant “a rush of wind”or a “bre ath. ” It is transla ted into the Greek

“pneuma” and Latin “spiritus,” which hadnearly the same meaning, but there is noreal English equivalent. This is refer red to inthe Pentecost episode in the New Testament,and elsewhere which will be referred to below.Ruach and pneuma refer to the Breath of Life,nefesh and the Greek psuche refer to thesoul.

According to Jewish doctrines, man isformed by a union of two natures: the flesh,which he shares with all the animals, andthe “spirit” (ruach) which renders him a Childof God. The forme r is rooted in the earthand is earthward bent; the latter is a “Breathof God” and strives to unfold the divine inman until he attains the divine image. Beside

the quotation in Genesis cited, we find:Job, xxxiii, 4: The spirit of God hath made

me, and the breath of the Almighty hath givenme life.

Isaiah, iii, 22: Cease ye from man, whosebreath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to beaccounted of ?

Ecclesiastes, xii, 7: Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shallreturn unto God who gave it.

But this doctrine (the First Law of our

Ontology) is not found among the Hebrewsalone. It was certainly taug ht by the Hindus(Atman meant both “soul” and “breath”) andby the Egyptians. It is found in the folk lore ofthe aborigines of Siberia, among the Polynesians, among practically all the Indians ofthe Americas, regardless of the many differences between them; in Africa alone the doctrine is not widespread.

In Australia they say Pund-jel, the Creatormade a clay man on two pieces of bark. . . .

He then lay down on them, blew his breathhard into their mouths, their noses and theirnavels; and presently they stirred, spoke androse up as full-grown.

The Maori story runs: The God Tiki orTane took red riverside clay, kneaded it withhis own blood into a likeness or image ofhimself, with eyes, legs, arms and all complete, in fact an exact copy of the deity; andhaving perfected the model, he animated it bybreathing into its mouth and nostrils, whereupon the clay effigy at once came to life andsneezed. . . . So like himself was the manwhom the Maori Creator fashioned that hecalled him Tiki-ahua, that is, Tiki's likeness.

The Eskimos of Point Barrow sa y: “There

was no man until a certain spirit named A SELU who resided at Point Barrow made a clayman, set him upon the shore to dry; breathedinto him, and gave him life.

But the most remarkable is that of theNatchez Indians which Du Pretz gives in hisHistory of Louisiana: “The Guardian of theTemple (sic) having stated that God formedman with his own hands, I asked him if heknew how that was done. He replied thataccording to their ancient Word (capitalized)God had kneaded clay like that of which theymade pot ter y; that He had made of it a littleman, and that after having examined it andfound it well formed, he had breathed on hiswork; that as soon as this little man had

received life, he had thought, acted, walkedand found himself a grown man.” Wha t is remarkable is that there is not only record of aWord (or the Word) among the NatchezIndians but they had the “Mysteries.” Sciencehas come to the conclusion that the NatchezIndians are of exactly the same race as theMayans of Yucatan. The writ er believes thatthis is further evidence in favor of the existence of Atlantis, for we find the “Word,” the“Mysteries,” and the same creation story



among other things with the Egyptians andHebrews on one hand and the hlood-brothersof the inhabitants of Yucatan on the other.

Orthodox Christianity has lost a good dealof the meaning for the reason that instead ofthe Greek words being translated into thesame English as their Hebrew equivalents, theyare translated into words that color the various theologies. For example “pneuma,” theGreek equivalent of “ruach,” is generally translated “Spirit,” yet up to a few years ago,“pneuma” was also translated in many places“Holy Ghost.” also the Orthodox have now-changed this for the most part to “ Holy Spirit.”Hut what is remarkable, in the Gospel of Johniii., 8. it is tran slat ed “wind .” Wh y “Win d”here? Elsewhere in the New Testa ment otherwords are used to mean wind, and in no othercase is pneuma given this translation. It always, however, meant air, or a breath of air.

Among the Greeks themselves it never meantsoul or spirit: it did, however, mean “breathof life.”

In Greek the word “psuche” meant bothbre ath and soul. Tt is so found in all Greekdictionaries and had this meaning throughoutGreek literature. Rut in the New Testament itis translated generally life or soul, sometimesmind. Now “psuche” never meant “life.” therebeing two other Greek word s for that. Tt isderived from the verb “psucho,” 1 breathe.

What is worse, the adjective “psuchikos”meaning pertaining to the soul or psuche, appears six times in the New Te stam ent. Tt isnever so translated nor is it translated psychic, or spiritual, or “of the breath” all of which

might be correct, but four times is translated “natural” (which should be phusikos inGreek) and twice sensual. This last is theworst, but is certainly consistent with thosewho are trying to find the Kingdom ofHeaven without. Everyw here is the tendencyto contrast psuche and psuchikos with pneuma,but in T Thessalonians, v. 23. both pneumaand psuche are contrasted to soma, the body, and Jesus always used psuche as the soul incontrast with the body.

The writer found practically nothing about"spirit” and “soul” in the various religiouscommentaries. The Catholics candidly referthe investigato r to Jewish literature. TheProtestants, who have so much to say about

the soul in public, seem unable to tell whatit is but admit it originally had something todo with the breath. On the word “spirit”there is practically no material, except “HolySpirit” or “Spirit of God." and then all thatis given is the Jewish conception of “ruach”often without reference to that word.

It is surprising that in Swedish, “rok” means

smoke; and in Finnish “rokheus” means soul.

Pa ye Eighteen

and in Dutch we find “rtiiken” meaning wind,both these words resembling “ruach.”

Almost everywhere among the Indo-Ger-manic peoples we find the root “an,” to

“breathe” and everywhere this root is used wefind the word for “soul" or “spirit” havingthis root. Beginning with the Teutons we find

(Spirit) (P*reath)Swedish ande andaDanish aand aandeIcelandic anda anda

Tn Dutch “adem” means both breath andspirit. The Teut on words for soul are of thesame root as our word and reference to thiswill be made below.

In the Gaelic languages we find the wordsfor soul and breath all have the root "an ’ butthe word spirit comes from the same root asours, namely, the Latin “spiro.” For instance:

Wels h ysbryd spiritanadl breathenaid soul

Irish spiorad . spiritanalaim to breatheanam soul of life

Gaelic spiorad spiritanalaich to breatheanail soul

Manx spyrryd spiritennal breathannym soul

Cornish anaj breath

enef soul

In these languages the idea of spirit is alwaysconnected with the breeze or wind, while the

soul was the divine spark.The same is certainly true of the Latin.

Spiritus meant breath, breeze, air or breath oflife from spiro, to breathe or blow. Even animus at first meant a “blowing” but came to meanthe soul. Stric tly speaking there is no moreground for using “spirit” the way it is commonly used, making it not only the derivative(as it is) of spiritus but also the translations,than there is in using our word “second,” whichcomes from the Latin root “to follow” andmore specifically from the gerund of that wordwhich meant “favorable” and had nothing to dowith “two.”

The root “-an” is found in the Greek anemos which meant a breath or breeze and is also

found in Sanscrit. This same root has passedinto the Polynesian languages and one couldelaborate on this phase also and find many interestin g things. In Hebrew “a nph” meant tobreathe and in Egyptian “ankli” meant life.

By a peculiar law the Hebrew anph isequivalent to the Egyptian nef, which meantbreath, equivalent to the Hebrew nephesh,“breath or soul.” This comes from an Accadian



source but is also found among the Celts. Forinstance, in Cornish ncf meant heaven and enef. soul. Thes e roots point to a time and placewhere these peoples were connected and thatpoints again to the lost continent of Atlantis.Tt is inter esting to note that the Greek andSanskrit words for cloud, nephos and rtabhas. come from this root.

The root nef subsists. N e fas means breathand nefar soul. In Arabic nefs or unfits, soul,and ncifas, breath. The same root has beenadopted in practically all countries to whichMohammadism has spread.

Now in our law there is another very interesting word in this connection and that is theword “dust." Both this word and its Sanskritequivalent have the root “do." Now let us follow this root among the Indo-Germanic peoples

and we find some very interest ing things. Forinstance there is the German dust and dunst, steam; Greek thumos meant steam or smoke,also desire and particular ly the “desire body” :and with this is connected the Latin fu mu s, Slavonic dymit and Sanskrit dim, all havingthe same or closely allied meanings. In Norwegian we have duft, meaning breath.

Now when we come to the Slavonic and Baltic branches of the Aryans we find the totalabsence of the root “an” but the universalpresence of this root “du" and with meaningsas follows;

SerbianPolish

BohemianLithuanian

(Soul)duh. dusaduszam, duch

duse, duchdusia, dvasia

(Breath)dah, dihanjedech

dechatsidusimas

The root for our word “soul" is unknown. Itcan be traced through the Teutonic languagesbut docs not appear among the other branches

of the Indo-Euro peans. But in Finnish theyhave “siclu," meaning soul: in Hungarian wehave “szel” meaning wind, and in Turkish

“soluk,” meaning breath . It is possible thatthe root of our word may be traced in thisdirec tion ; it points back to “breat h." Amongthe Hungarians lelek means soul and lelekzet breath.

This same process could be continued elsewhere but these few examples show that certainly the proto-Aryans connected the soul, orspark of life, and the breath. Th e Hebrews,Egyptians, and o thers also. Did these ideasspring from a common source? Did they comefrom Atlantis? They are not prevalent amongthe peoples of Africa, except in the North(which peoples are claimed to come elsewherethan from Atlantis), nor among the Melanesians, Japanese and other peoples in Indonesia

and vicinity, which peoples were not, for themost part. Atlanteans.

If a law be true, it will be found true in alldepartments of nature. The breath and soul are connected and philology and mythologygive evidence in support of the idea. Traceany word back to its source, study the historyof roots, study vibrations not only from thestandpoint of physics but also from the standpoint of physiology and philology and you willfind there one of the most beautiful Occultfields. Whe n a pass-word is given, investigateit. studv it and its uses. Behind the mere pronunciation of Cro-maat and Amen are manybeautiful fields; the harvest has not beengathered and he who bends himself to tracing

ancient roots and the study of mantra (eventhis word) will be rewarded.

Especially will all this apply to the lost wordcontained in the Fourth Degree.

STOTCLS 7°. California Grand Lodge.

A N IN V IT A T IO N T O ST RA N GE RS

If you are a stra nge r to our Order, or if t his magazi ne comes into your hands

through any one of its channels of distribution and recommendation, and your soul

and mind seem to respond to the message it contains, you may consider this an

invitation to the Outer Chamber where the Guardian will give you more Light. If

you feel the urge— write a letter expres sing your most sincere desires and wishes

and mail it to Magus Veritas, Amorc Building, 1255 Market Street, San Francisco,

Calif. A reply may come th roug h an unexpe cted channel.



Questions and Answers

(Members of the Department of Researcli

will be glad to answer questions here eachmonth pertaining directly or indirectly to our

teaching s. Quest ions should be writt en on one

side of the sheet and the member’s name signed

as well as name of Lodge. Addr ess such ques

tions to: Research Departme nt, care of A m e r -

c a x R o s a e C r u c i s , 1297 Market Street, San

Francisco, Calif.).

\V. E. R.—“ Wha t is the correct or truespeed of light?”

The speed of light waves is 186,333 milesper second. It is not 186,300 as often given byscience, and there is no fraction in the number,for obvious reasons, as so often given in scien

tific publications of recent date.

H. J. W.—“Can you give me the number ofvibrations for the various colors of the spectrum ?”

You have asked a considerable question in afew words and we fear you may tire of numbers before we are through. The number ofvibrations for white light, traveling at the speedof 186,333 miles per second, is 500 millions ofmillions per second, or in other words.—

1.000.000.000.000. x 500,

which means 1 million million, multiplied by500. Bre aking this white light up into its *pec-trutn colors we find the number of vibrationsfor each color to be as follows:

Extreme Red...................

458 m. of m.Red ...................................... 477 m. of m.Interm ediate R ed 495 m. of m.Orange ............................... 596 in. of m.Intermediate O r 517 m. of m.Yellow 535 m. of m.Intermediate Yl. . . . . . . . 555 m. of m.Green ................................. 577 m. of m.Intermediate G................... 600 m. of m.Blue 622 m. of m.Int erm ediate B1 644 m. of m.Indigo 658 m. of m.Inte rmedia te 1 672 m. of m.Violet ................................. 699 m. of m.Extreme Violet ............... 727 m. of m.

Remember that the m. of tn. after each number above means millions of millions. Thus,the number of vibrations of blue is 622 millionsof millions vibrat ions per second. You willfind this is slightly different in number fromthe figures given on the chart in the C. issue ofCromaat. That is because the “Key board"published there has a slightly different pitch.The relationship of each color is the same,however.

D. T.—“Will it ever be possible to send aprojectile to the moon?”

Most certainly no t! Leaving aside science’s

pet obstacles called friction, pressure and lackof power to carry the projectile the distancebelieved to exist between the earth and themoon, there are other conditions and things tobe considered of which science knows little asyet. For inst ance : what of the magnetic forcesand elements existing between this earth andthe moon ? The earth has a negative polarityand anything like a projectile, created of earthlythings, would also have a negative polarity andwould, therefore, be affected by magnetic conditions. The moon as an independent mass,would have to have a different polarity thanthe earth in order that moon and earth wouldremain separated and not be brought togetherby their unity of quality, and that force whichkeeps them apart would prevent any projectile

from this earth-mass from reaching anothermass of a different magnetic nature. Also,where is the moon? Do you believe it is whereit appears to be? Do you think it is locatedwhere the telescope indicates it is? Eventhough a projectile was shot into space to apoint indicated by the telescope as being thelocation of the moon, the projectile would probably be just 90 degrees of an arc from suchpoint. Me asu rin g the curve of rise and fallback to earth again of the size of a projectilenecessary to travel so many miles into space asscience believes exists between the moon andearth, indicates that if the projectile was sentinto space from any point on the land surfaceof the earth, it would drop back again on land,

not into water—and we do not like to think ofwhat would happen in such an event.

H. R.—“What is considered to he the oldestland on the surface of the earth?”

Undoubtedly the western and middle westernpart of the United States. Tradi tion alwayspointed to the lost continent of Atlantis asprobably being the oldest land, but this is nowknown to be incorrect. There are many proofsthat the land between the Mississippi and thePacific Coast is the oldest land on earth andno doubt a lost continent below the surface ofthe Pacific Ocean should be added as part of it.One of the oldest sections of this area is inand around Monterey. California.

V. Y.—“What is meant bv natural magic?”

Such strange and unusual applications ofnature’s laws, at the will of man. through theprivilege of God, as man has been able to manifest at times by his knowledge of nature andnature’s principles without the aid of trickeryor fraud. The term was long used by thosewho believed that the mystics performed miracles of magic. In its place we use such terms,



today, as demonstrations of natural laws, manifestations of na tur e’s principles. The wordmagic would be misleading now.

R. T.—"What is the difference between‘psychic body' and ‘astral body’?”

There may be a difference in the nature ornumber of attributes given to each of thesetwo bodies by the two different philosophiesusing these terms, but essentially they are thesame bodies. The term "psychi c body" is usedby our Order.

Lodge Notes

One of the most interesting problems thathas confrontedany one of our Lodges in process ofestablishment was that which botheredthe officers of the Lodge in Mexico City, Mexico. And, we must admit that we at headquar ters were puzzled, too. The problem wasthis: since the Lodge was to be located withinthe city of Mexico City, it was within the Federal jurisdiction of Mexico, which is but asmall territory. Would that mean tha t theLodge jurisdiction of that Lodge would beconfined also to that small territory instead ofto a larger one as with other Grand Lodges?The matter is not yet settled and we hope toexplain the solution in our next issue, as thestory magazines say.

* * *

The New York Grand Lodge is most certainlyworking overtime if one is to judge from re

cent reports. It must be remembered that thisLodge has its own Egyptian Temple and can,therefore, meet every night in that Temple ifit wishes. But, is that privilege any warr antfor such a program as this: Monday nights,8th Degree lectures'; Tuesday nights, 3rd Degree lectures; Wednesday nights, 2nd Degreelectures; Thursday nights, 8th and 9th combined for special demonstrations and lectures;Friday nights, 6th Degree lectures; Saturdaynights, 1st Degree lectures; Sundays, sacredconvocations or council meetings? This sortof program has been in operation for sometime and is likely to continue indefinitely, fornew members are being initiated at frequent intervals. We are glad to publish this schedule

for the sake of members of other Lodges whomay visit New York and wish to attend theirregula r degree some evening. Remember,there are pleasant rest rooms there and theTemple is open all day for silent meditation andcommunion. Some of the Supreme Officersvisit there each night of the week.

# * *

It may not be too late to record the factthat when the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts

in Boston held its anniversary recently, therewere many pleasant and enthusiastic testimonials to the Master there by the officers andmembers, most of whom have been affiliatedwith the Lodge since its inception. The growthand good work of this Lodge proves that aSister-Master is capable of conducting a Lodgein that jurisdiction with as much efficiency asany Brother-Master

t- * *

The Master of Karnak Lodge in Pittsburgh,Penn., is about to journey Westward with hiswife for recreation and study. Lodges in Chicago and California are destined to have avery pleasant visitor.

* * *

Speaking of the Chicago Lodge reminds usof the fact that the Grand Lodge there is especially favored by its location in that city, for

members journeying Eastward and Westwardgenerally stop off for a day or two in Chicago,and the Grand Lodge or its Officers continuallyprofit by this and enjoy many visiting members.The Chicago Lodge is growing rapidly, havinghad a number of initiations within the pastyear. The Secretary reports the utmost inPeace, Harmony and Enthusiasm.

* * *

1he Spanish Lodge in San Juan, PuertoRico, reports that while it has not increasedin numbers, it has advanced in the work to adegree where the members are not only enthusiastic but bound in ties that are now inseparable. Many of us would like to drop into thatLodge Way down there and witness one of ourceremonies in Spanish, with one of our familiarlectures also in Spanish. Visiting the Lodgepsychically does not appease the desire to hearand feel objectively the strange ceremonies thatmust take place in that gathering.

* * *

Delta Lodge in Philadelphia is advancingwell in the work and the Secretary reports thatsince some changes were made there for thesake of more perfect co-operation in the operation of our laws, there is greater satisfactionon the part of the members and a more impressive demonstrat ion of the principles wehold so dear.

* *

The Grand Lodge of Florida, in Tampa, reports that the work of the 8th Degree is progressi ng wonderfully well. They have hadeighteen or more lectures in the 8th Degreeand are keeping up the practice of the 7thDegree experiments with excellent results. Someof the Brothers and Sisters there have beenmeeting at times for the purpose of unitedprojections i nto cities and places far distantwith unus ual results. We would like to see



more of this work in other Lodges as soon asthey reach the 8th Degree.

* * *

The Supreme Secretary recently visited the

(irand Lodge of New Jersey and his report isinspiring. He says that each member of eachdegree is as enthusiastic as the new initiate.The Master there is working hard and diligently to reach out even beyond the work andteachings laid down in our rituals and lectures,because there is so much to accomplish in soshort a time as one incarnation.

* * *

The Master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio reports that some members of that jurisdictionare about to go a-visiting invarious States,but desire to keep up their regular studies.It seems that the places selected to visit bythese members happen to be where we haveno Lodge s in opera tion at the presen t time.

This is regrettable, for us and the members.There are many small cities or towns wherevve have no Lodges or even groups of membersmeeting in regular form for lectures at thistime, and this should be changed as soon aspossible. It behooves every member to informus of the fact that he has found a place wherethere should be a Lodge and none exists.However, the visiting, or rather traveling members, will not be left without some instructionwhile absent from their Lodges. The OhioGrand Lodge has done too good work for usto permit one of its members to be left unaidedat such times as this.

* * *

The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of

Iowa recently visited the officers of the GrandLodge of Nebraska and addressed them in aspecial meeting in Omaha. These two Statesare co-operating for the purpose of spreadingas much light as possible in that part of thecountry. This kind of co-operation is inspiring and commendable. We send our very bestwishesto the new officers in Omah a and hopethat theiropportunities for greatgood willreward them with the satisfaction of havingserved their fellow man well.

* * *

From ’way up in Regina. Sask., Canada,has come to headquarters a beautiful hand-painted holiday card in Egypt ian design. Itsaid, simply, Greetings from Regina, and was

free from marks of personality, but we havean idea that the artistic hand of the Masterthere had much, very much, to do with itscreation. Once in a while when the weatheris unusually warm here in California in thewinter months we like to think of our severalLodges and groups up in Canada. It is cooling when one is over-warm from strenuousactivities. We would like to receive some post

card views of the cities in which our members in Canada live. Will we receive them,now? We need only hint in this very indirec tway to receive them. We deligh t in this subtlemanner of requesting things of this nature.It proves to us how wonderful are the lawsof psychology, especially those dealing withsuggestion.

* * *

The members who left some of our Lodgesin Pennsylvania several years ago to live inthe wilds of Wyoming with an ideal Rosae-crucian community, report that they have established a Lodge in or near the little settlement called Weston. The y are delighted withthe growth and success of their material plansthere as well as with the fine opportunities tostudy and put into practice many of our laws.

* * *

The Ammon Lodge No. 14 at Worcester.Mass., reports interesting progress.

* * *

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh, reports increased interest in the workof the higher degrees. This winter was thefourth anniversary of that Lodge’s inception.

* * *

Paragon Lodge No. 2 in Wilmerding. Penn.,is very enthusiastic about the work of its present degrees. Some of its members are conducting individual experiments which we havecontacted at times very successfully.

* * *

Every now and then we find the higher degree members of our Orientas Lodge No. 5 inMcKeesport. Penn., succeeding unusually well

in their individual experiments. The Masterreports that some members are holding privatemeetings for the purpose of developing aurasin accordance with the teachings of the 7thDegree. This is the kind of work that willbring fine rewards later on.

* * *

Members of the El Amarna group in Guerne-ville, California, have been visiting the GrandLodge of California in San Francisco. Theyare proceeding with their own work withincreasing enthusiasm.

* * *

We have been very pleased with the reportsfrom the Secretary of the Ren Ben group inYork. Penn. Confronted with many trials in

organizing last year, they are now succeedingwithout delays of any kind.* * *

Sister Smith as Master of the Maat groupin Eatonville, Washington, is doing excellentwork and we are pleased to have her heartyco-operation. She and the good Sister-M asterof the Grand Lodge in Boston should meetsome day and have a very interesting session.



Their comments regarding feminine directorship would interest us, if we would be allowedto listen.

sfc *R

The officers working in St. Louis, Mo., areplanning a conservative campaign for newmembers. Let us all help. Send inquiries toheadquarters in California.

* * *

Readers or seekers living in and around Indianapolis, Ind., will be directed to the activeworkers in that city. The work there is especially interesting to us at the present time.

# * *

The Master of the Edfu Lodge up in Nanaimo, Canada, has sent a long list of questions regarding new scientific points in connection with the lectures of the 1st and 2nd

Degrees. We will have our Research Depa rtment answer some of them soon, but inthemeantime the members would do well to readthe G. Cromaat. However, we like the grea tinterest being shown there in the subject oftheir inquiry.

* * *

After some little delays the Grand Lodge ofWisconsin, in Madison, is proceeding againwith increased interest.

* * *

We are awaiting interesting reports from theA ten Lodge in Lethbr idge, Canada. We wantto hear f rom the member s as well as the officers. Let us have some news for this column.Tell usaboutthe snows, at least. We have

forgot ten all about them sinceleaving NewYork and coming to sunny California.

lie ste *

And, there is the Ktirna group in MedicineHat. Alta., Canada. The name sounds asthough the city might have an interesting storyattached to its history and we would like toknow about it and say something of it in thiscolumn. Can some of the members leave ourwork alone long enough to send us the story?We knowthat the degreelectures younow haveare intenselyinteresting, butthink of us andothers who would like to know where the name“Medicine Hat” came from.

* * *

Brother Shaub down in Tennessee is notbeing forgotten in his good work there. HisLodge will some day have a story to tell. Weknow because of certain signs and “symptoms.”

* * *

Strange about the members in the groupthat was to grow so big in Berkeley. California.They got into the habit of crossing the bay tocome to the special lectures or regular demonstrations at the Grand Lodge of California inSan Francisco, and now they are slighting theirown possibilit ies in Berkeley. Come, come.

Berkeley is big enough to equal the San Francisco Lodge. We will help yon make it so.

* * *

The Master of the group in Detroit. Michigan. has an office for prospective membersand committee meetings in the Chamber ofCommerce Building. Those who do not knowhis address and wish it can be informed fromheadquarters.

* * *

A sister is also Master of one of our Lodgesin Inuegui. Chile. We expect to have a report from her in our next issue, for there isgreat work being done there and we are alwaysanxious to know how our sister Masters aredoing.

* * *

And, to those groups and Lodges which wehave not mentioned in this column at this time,we say: Send us your reports. Your formalreports to the Supreme Secretary do not contain the interesting side-lights we would liketo have for this column. It is not our intention to publish here a directory of all ourLodges, but we would like to say personal andimpersonal things about each one. So. sendus your reports addressed to the magazine.

How to Use T ou r College Library

Coupons

Many of our members who joined the Col

lege Library system in 1917 have couponsremaining attached to their membership cards.Each coupon was to entitle them to either acopy of Cromaat or any other magazine weissued. Only seven issues of Cromaat, fromA. to G., were produced: therefore no membershould have more than five coupons attached tohis membership card in the College Library.Those who have more than five have failed tosecure one or more copies of Cromaat and theyshould look over their numbers and see whichare missing and ask their Lodge Librarian orSecr etary for them. We will prompt ly sendpackages of Cromaats to all Lodge Librarianswho write us for back issues, from A. to G.inclusive. Those who have the full set of Cro

maats and still have five coupons left may haveissues of the new American Rosae Crucis foreach coupon until the coupons are exhausted.We will not continue the Library system afterthat because of the great amount of work ithas meant for the Lodge Librarians and forthe few workers at headquarters who are sorushed with other matters that some relief fromgrowing details must be planned.

Those who hold unpaid membership cardsin the College Library will have to pay twenty-five cents with each coupon for either a copy



of Cromaat or a copy of the new AmericanRosae Crucis. Thi s is a saving of ten centson the copies of the American Rosae Crucisand we regret that by this system those whohave no membership cards in the CollegeLibrary will be paying thirty-five cents for theircopies of this magazine while the others arepayin g what seems to be twenty-five cents. Butthe difference is like a year’s subscription to amagazine paid in advance and the buying ofseparate issues. As soon as all Lib rary couponsare exhausted, which will be within five months,all will pay the same price.

Please note that we will not accept yearlysubscriptions to the American Rosae Crucispaid in advance, because we are not sure thatwe will continue this magazine a whole year,or even that we will continue it as a monthlyfor more than a few months. Tt is being issued,or rather re-issued, at this time for a special

purpose and when that purpose is fulfilled wewill withdraw the magazine again as we did atthe close of 1917.

To those who may be interested let us savthat as a financial investment, the AmericanRosae Crucis was never a paying propositionnor could it ever be. Even aside from the factthat we sold many issues at less than cost ofproduction, plus postage and wrapping, wealso gave away hundreds of each issue andwe have had the additional cost of carryingthese back numbers from East to West, storageand handling, loss in transit through the mails,etc. Unless the new issues now being sold atthirty-five cents each are purchased by practically every member and propaganda copies also

paid for by the Lodges or individuals, we willsoon discontinue its publication because the costof production each month, at the very highprices now obtaining, will exhaust the meansat our disposal for such work. The Or der isnot interested in commercial features of anvkind and to make a magazine support itselfrequires too much attention to financial mattersto harmonize with the other great work we aredevoted to. Theref ore we must have the utmostsupport from our members to warrant the continuation of this magazine beyond a few months.

Books and Magazines for OurMembers

There are still a number of old issues ofT h e A m e r i c a n R o s a e C r u c i s on hand at headquarters, and while we are not at all anxiousto dispose of them, their value being greateras each month and year goes by. still we willbe glad to sell these back numbers to members

who wish to complete their sets or who wishthem for propag anda purposes. The price ofeach is fifty cents. They include the twelvenumbers for 1916 and the nine numbers for1917 (there having been no issues for March.April and May of 1917).

Especially good for propaganda purposes isthe January 1916 issue containing the historyof the early establishment of our Order in thedays of old and explaining the principles uponwhich the Order was founded; and there areother good articles in the same issue.

We wish to call the attention of our members to the private publication, Cromaat. Thismonthly monograph was published for a whileto give our members such secret reading aswould help them in thei r studies at home. Wehave many of these on hand, and as with theother magazines, we are not anxious to be ridof them, for new members will want them from

time to time. But, we find often in cor respo ndence, that members have not read such issuesof Cromaat as the C. Cromaat in which aComplete System of Natural Harmonics is explained with unusual charts and diagrams; alsothe B. Cromaat in which all the rules of theOrder, the definitions of the various terms andphrases, the principles of the teachings, thesecret work of the Order and many other valuable things are explained and illustrated.

There were seven issues of Cromaat. fromA. to G., issued. Thes e are not sold to members, but loaned to them, and the procedureis to join the College Library by payingtwenty-five cents each month. This gives eachmember either a copy of Cromaat for each

monthly coupon or a copy of T h e A m e r i c a n R o s a e C r u c i s . Since T h e A m e r i c a n R o s a e

C r u c i s sells for thirty-five cents per copy, thosebelonging to the Library save ten cents as longas they have coupons: after that they too mustpay the full thirty-five cents per copy becauseof the almost double price we must pay nowfor the cost of production of the magazine.

Elsewhere we explain about the CollegeLibrary and how to use the coupons.

We have no other books for sale, for we arenot in the book business. We are taking ordersfor the book, A Thousand Years of Yesterdays,at 70 cents by mail, solely because the book is

written by our Imperator and because at this

low price it will assist in propa gand a. But. if

our members desire to buy other occult or mystical books, old or new. or wish to know aboutold and rare books of an occult nature, weadvise them to write to Mr. Oscar Richter, whoconducts an antiquarian book business at 361West 23rd Street, New York City. He is amember of our Order and one whom ourmembers can rely upon for the procuring of

any book at any price.

amorc - the american rosae crucis, april 1920

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