“A Sane Mind, A Soft Heart, A Sound Body”NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1999—$5.00

MEDITATION, PRAYER, AND DAILY RHYTHMSTHE HARVEST OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

THE HIGHER STAGES OF THE PASSION—CROSS-BEARINGEVOLUTION AS SHOWN IN THE ZODIAC

A CHRISTIAN ESOTERIC MAGAZINE

Above: mosaic of the three wise men, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna. Steffan poem translated by Rex Raab, from The Power for Resurrection’s Flight, Adonis Press, Ghent, NY 12075Front cover: The Annunciation, Botticelli (1446-1510), Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Planet Art. Back cover: Crystal formations, Paramount Professional Photos

Three kings, appointed to be guides of men, will always help you to achieve your goalin cosmic worlds, from plane to higher plane, and ever deeper regions of the soul. And should you only glimpse them from afar, know this: The earth will turn into a star.

A golden star, just like the little child, to whom they bore their birthday offerings, so that the relics and all sacred things kept in the temples might stay undefiled. Who rescues them? The God, who on the earth came to know death. They recognized His birth.

You bring the Christ gold, frankincense, andmyrrh, for Him to use as spiritual gifts. You bow your head and will no longer err. You fold both hands upon your breast and lift your heart to heaven. You sink on bended knee, and whom you lead will walk erect and free.

If after death he wander into hell, he still would reach his sure angelic goal; and were he forced to live in chaos as well, he yet would bring forth Heaven from his own soul.For Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar, true, and good, and beautiful, dwell deep in you.

—Albert Steffen

THREE KINGS

This Issue...Feature

Word Made Flesh...Kathleen Raine......................................................................2

EditorialBehold, I Make All Things New...........................................................................3

Mystic LightMeditation, Prayer, and Daily Rhythms...Friedrich Rittelmeyer..........................4The Harvest of Human Experience...C. W............................................................9Symbology of Christmas...Katherine Hillwood Poor.........................................14The Higher Stages of the Passion—Cross-Bearing...Valentin Tomberg.............17

From Max Heindel’ s WritingsThe Mystic Message of Christmas......................................................................20

Readers’ QuestionsA Shortcut to Heaven?........................................................................................22Mother Love and Materialization; Post-mortem Fate of Vivisectors.................23

Western W isdom Bible StudyMiscellaneous Interpretations—Part Three...Max Heindel.................................24

AstrologyHoroscope Interpretation—Part 3...Karl Kleinstick............................................27Around the Planetary Peace Table...Marguerite A. Wing...................................31Evolution as Shown in the Zodiac...Max Heindel..............................................35

Religion and ArtThe Ring of the Niebelung—Part 4: Rebirth and the Lethal Drink &

The Twilight of the Gods...Max Heindel.......................................................39

Religion and the Public RealmReligion, Science, and the Environment...Group Authorship.............................45

News PerspectivesGlobalization—Bane or Blessing?...AProbationer.............................................52

Book ReviewsBearing the Marks of the Lord Jesus...Carl Swan..............................................54

Nutrition and HealthThe True Cause of Contagion...Max Heindel.......................................................56

HealingThe Healing Christ..............................................................................................59

For ChildrenFellowship—ALegend...Coursin Black.............................................................60

MiscellaneousThree Kings (Poem)...Albert Steffen..........................................Inside front coverAt Sunrise (Poem)...Irene Stanley.......................................................................15Our Blessing (Poem)...Ella Wheeler Wilcox ......................................................55

“A Sane Mind,A Soft Heart,

A Sound Body”©1999 The Rosicrucian Fellowship

A Christian Esoteric Magazine

Established byMax Heindel

June 1913

Volume 91, No.6

November/December—1999USPS 471080—ISSN 0744-432X

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Word whose breath is the world-circling atmosphere,Word that utters the world that turns the wind,Word that articulates the bird that speeds upon the air,

Word that blazes out the trumpet of the sun,Whose silence is the violin-music of the stars,Whose melody is the dawn, and harmony the night,

Word traced in water of lakes, and light on water,Light on still water, moving water, waterfallAnd water colors of cloud, of dew, of spectral rain,

Word inscribed on stone, mountain range upon range of stone,Word that is fire of the sun and fire withinOrder of atoms, crystalline symmetry,

Grammar of five-fold rose and six-fold lily,Spiral of leaves on a bough, helix of shells,Rotation of twining plants on axes of darkness and light,

Instinctive wisdom of fish and lion and ram,Rhythm of generation in flagellate and fern,Flash of fin, beat of wing, heartbeat, beat of the dance,

Hieroglyph in whose exact precision is definedFeather and insect-wing, refraction of multiple eyes,Eyes of the creatures, oh myriadfold vision of the world,

Statement of mystery, how shall we nameA spirit clothes in world, a world make man?

—Kathleen Raine

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FeatureT

he Offering of the W

ise Men from

the East, D

ieB

ibel in Bildern, Julius S

chnorr von Carolsfeld (1789-1853)

Raine’s poem

from S

elected Poem

s, Lindisfarne B

ooks, Hudson, N

Y, 12534. Used by perm

ission

Word Made Flesh

AS THIS YEAR, this century, and thismillennium conclude with the nationalfestival of Thanksgiving and the worldfestival of the Christian Nativity, wereluctantly must admit that all three

segments of time have been notable for the sufferingbrought about by man’s inhumanity to man—be ittwo thousand years of “Christian” warring; twentiethcentury pogroms in Stalinist Russia, Hitler’sGermany, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, and tribal Africa, ormost recently, in Kosovo-Serbia; and domestically,in the random acts of often gratuitous violence, suchas those that have stunned the school communities ofLittleton, Colorado, and Jonesboro, Tennessee.

None of these or other acts of mayhem andbrutality should have taken place, but they did. Manshould not slay and maim and offend his brother, buthe does.

The Lord of love gave his life to atone and providean antidote for humanity’s self-inflicted pain andcruelty. The Virgin Mary was told by the seer Simeonthat a sword would pierce her own soul, the sword ofsuffering sustained by our apparent powerlessness toprevent acts of anger and fratricide.

We wonder at these atrocities, these acts of indi-vidual and collective rage, or worse, the calculated,heartless canceling of holy human lives. How canimpulses so radically opposed as love and hate behoused in the same soul? How can a father take thelife of another father’s son, or a mother’s son snuffout the life of another mother? No answer sufficesthe enormity of these actions. We but know they hap-pen. If we do not wield the sword, nor are its directvictim, the effects yet wound us. We are implicatedin both the causes and consequences of each person’sinhumanity. Remote as some outer events may seem,we all participate in the formation of the violent mindwhose acts rip the fragile fabric of our world society.

What can we do to staunch the flow of bile andblood, to defuse the explosive charges of anger thatfracture the bonds of human relatedness?

A line from Aeschylus’Agamemnon is not amisshere: “He who learns must suffer. And even in oursleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop uponthe heart, and in our own despair, against our will,comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God.”

We know what the Elder Brothers of the RoseCross do. They bare their hearts to the hurt and harmin the world and take it on, sop it up, suffer it intoharmlessness, love it to death. This is nothing shortof incredible. These are hearts that beat not for theirprivate selves but for the world. They bless the worldwhile wounding themselves for love.

The Rosicrucian path is the path of knowledge—knowledge which, when truly taken to heart, inspiresacts of potent sacrifice, intimate and anonymousinstances of world redemption.

Do we seek wisdom? Here is where it takes us. Arewe ready? Let us start with what we can, but let usstart, now—and not stop.

This is birth time. Christ’s life is baptizing a newyear, a new century, a new millennium, buildingtoward the New Jerusalem—the new, the abiding,the real inner Peace. Our passions must go to thecross and know the real Passion. Our knowledgemust be grounded, incarnated, and nailed tointentional acts.

Would you know? Christ edifies. Do you lamentworld conditions? With deeds plant seeds for itstransformation and renewal. Would you have thingschange for the better? Be better. Do better. Do you wantto stop humans shedding each other’s blood? Purifyyour own through heart-centered, Christ-infusedthinking, proved in service. The world’s regenerationtakes place in the heart and mind of each person.Now we prepare for Christ’s birth in our souls. ❐

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Behold, I Make All Things New

EDITORIAL

MANY PEOPLE WISH for ananswer to the question: How ismeditation related to prayer? Notvery long ago there appeared anarticle by the Marburg theolo-

gian, Friedrich Heiler, in which we were asked tochoose whether we want meditation or prayer. Ifwe were to choose the former we should sink backinto Buddhism. Only prayer was really Christian.In this way of thinking the greatest Christians ofthe Middle Ages would be expelled from Christian-ity, for they have really meditated upon the deathand resurrection of Christ in a way quite similar tothat here recommended. And they owe their won-derful religious strength to the power of their med-itation.

Naturally, it is not our opinion that anyone whois accustomed to say his prayers morning andevening should now give up prayer and put medi-tation in its place. But if an inquiry were held intothe subject, one would learn that the number ofpeople who no longer pray is terribly great. Theygo through life, have now and then by chancechildish and usually superstitious thoughts aboutthe higher world, and never notice what they miss.The frightful carelessness and demoralization whichhas seized upon the inner lives of men is, as a rule,not realized in religious circles. A course, like this,of instruction in meditation, must include a discus-sion with those who expect everything fromprayer. However, even to look at those who still

pray is not encouraging. One can, indeed, neverfully know. And occasionally an impression showsus that there is greater reality than one had thought.But how many who pray still do so out of realinward need, and not from custom or superstitiousfear? How many pray from joy, without any inter-mingled fear of what would chance if they did not?

By far the greater number must confess that theysimply do not know how to set about praying right-ly. Prayer with them is dull and ineffectual. Theycontinue willingly enough to pray, but they some-times ask themselves if there is any sense in pray-ing, and if it were not better to give it up entirely.The contact which they have with the divine worldis weak. And sometimes it seems to them that theyare scarcely honest with themselves.

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Meditation, Prayer and

Daily Rhythms

MYSTIC LIGHT

This is the second in a series of articles taken from FriedrichRittelmeyer’s Meditation, Guidance of the Inner Life, pub-lished by Floris Books, Edinburgh. Reprinted with permission.

Detail, oil on canvas, Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), Musée du Louvre, Paris

The Supper at EmmausChrist Jesus prays to the Father before the breaking of bread.

A university professor of theology, who wasstrictly orthodox, once said to me, almost in tears,that he had always wished to be able to pray as hismother had prayed—but he left me in no doubt thathe felt himself very far from that goal. And whenpeople pray together, as in saying grace or inchurch, it does not require much sensitiveness offeeling to notice how much of it is done mechani-cally while the thoughts are entirely elsewhere. Ifone could hold an investigation into the prayer ofmen of our time, one would see how rapid is itsdecline. Quite apart from the egoism and all, thesuperstition which creep into men’s prayers, thepowers of the soul out ofwhich alone men canpray still exist only in aterrifyingly small amount.

When it is told ofChrist that He lifted Hiseyes to heaven, Helooked up to His Father,it must have been as if asoul’s pure mirror wasturned towards the heav-en of stars, which mir-rored itself brightly in itwith great peace. The Gospels give us this impres-sion very strongly, for example in the high-priest-ly prayer (John 17). When we turn our soulstowards heaven, they are like mirrors which havebecome dull and blind, where, perhaps, a feeblereflection shows; but no starry heaven.

Thirty years ago, as a young theologian, I triedto find out what occurs in the souls of men whenthe word “God” is spoken. The result gave suffi -cient cause for thought. Only a quite common-placeturning to the world above could be observed—anunilluminated longing and feeling for it. In the the-ology of today, which knows only a God who ismysterious and afar off, this fact is becomingapparent.

In this need of today, the need of an age whichhas learned to look outward and down, and there-by forgotten how to look upwards and within, it isin many respects only meditation which can bringhelp. First of all, we shall learn again by medita-tion how to represent to ourselves that which is

spiritual. We shall learn it slowly, but in a quitehonest way. In every meditation, we practice tak-ing something spiritual into our soul and ponder-ing it. That will, as a matter of course, be benefi-cial to prayer also. For is it such a bad form ofprayer to do nothing for once, but look steadfastly atthe divine? Instead of asking, which we often do,heedlessly, we learn to be silent and look. Thus weare on the way to worship, which our race has lost.

It always seems to me that the first three peti-tions of the Lord’s Prayer are meant to lead usupon such a way, and that we ought first of all toseek really to behold and to perceive that of which

they speak: the divinename, the divine king-dom the divine will. Inthe instruction of candi-dates for confirmationand in preaching, one isfond of calling prayer theconverse of the soul withGod. But that which wewould not permit our-selves to do when talkingto anyone of high posi-tion, we do in this case;

we do not wait until we are spoken to, we bringforward our own wishes and requests, we go fullyinto everything. And when we have said our say,we go hurriedly away without asking if the otherhas not also something to say. Many prayers wouldat once be answered if we could only once reallylook at God.

Meditation leads to a much purer kind of prayerthan that which is usual. It allows God to speak. Itteaches us to hear, and so it leads to the “hearing ofprayer,” which is quite a different thing from theprompt granting of our desires. It teaches us tobecome aware of the Divine Being, and from itreally to receive the divine will for our life That isa more worthy way of having intercourse withGod, and a much more effectual way than when wethink that He must be immediately at our service todo our will. Of course, direct help comes from ourasking in all times of need. And he who knowshow to ask aright will sometimes feel absolutelyafraid when he sees how near help was, and how

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Meditation leads to amuch purer kind of

prayer than that which isusual. It allows God tospeak. It teaches us tohear, and so it leads tothe “hearing of prayer .”

he is surrounded by the heavenly servants of Christat every moment in which he understands how tocall them. But more important than that we our-selves should be helped, is this, that we shouldgrow into the divine will. And meditation is of ser-vice to us in this.

But the last and greatest help is that it changes uswholly into petition. That is not saying too much.The more we learn to meditate, so much the moredoes our soul assume an attitude of petitioning andexpectation. The highest meditation is the highestpetitioning. Without understanding this one cannotmeditate on a safe and high level. We learn to openourselves more and more. We learn with a longingwhich we did not know before, which is itself aprayer, to look towards the divine world; we learnto change ourselves inwardly into prayer, not thatwe may attain the fulfillment of any particularwishes, but that we may ourselves become the ves-sels of divine “fulfillment.’’ It seems to me as ifChrist had desired this of His disciples.

When we read His farewell talk, it occurs to usagain and again how strangely and impressivelyHe speaks of asking in His name. The picture ofthe disciples as He wished them to be is one ofmen who shall do outwardly much greater deeds,who shall show forth “greater works” in the worldthan He Himself, who shall lead their lives inmighty accomplishment of divine acts—but at thesame time inwardly they are much more mighty intheir continual petitioning. Their whole inner lifeis intended to be a perpetual asking from above,petitioning from above, receiving from above. Onehas the impression that Christ has imagined thisinward power of receiving from above as being sogreat that we can scarcely divine it. To do mightyworks outwardly, inwardly to receive the spirit—this is the mark of the true disciple.

The saying, “Ask in My Name,” which occursso often and so urgently in the farewell talk, andwhich is usually so little and so externally prac-ticed, is translated in the Act of Consecration ofMan*: “May Christ live in our praying.”

The meditation which we are here describing

leads to this, that first of all Christ can really bepresent with us; and then that Christ begins reallyto live in us. And if He begins to live in us, then noother thing can happen than that He also begins topray in us. For this is His true life within. And thenwe understand in a new and clear and living waywhat it means to pray in Christ’s name. It is thehighest happiness of man to experience somethingof this praying of Christ within us—it is a divinehappiness. The Act of Consecration of Man bringsus to those heights when it leads us after the tran-substantiation to pray Our Father. Quite of itself itmakes it easy for us to let Christ pray within us.With the words which He Himself once spoke, andwhich, at their request, He gave to the disciples asa prayer, He begins His most intimate life withinus, and thus passes into us.

But we must reply to those who come to us withthe complaint that they have made many attemptsto meditate and yet have made no progress. In theirimpatience people always expect much more rapid

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*The Act of the Consecration of Man is the CommunionService of the Christian Community, a movement for therenewal of religious life through a living experience of Christ.

Watercolor, James J. Tissot (1836-1902)

Jesus Going up into a Mountain to Pray

progress than is at all possible. We cannot fly up onto the mountains, we can only go slowly step bystep. In my case it happened that after a year ofstraining to meditate I detected scarcely anyprogress. Then when I came to Dr. Steiner heimmediately began to speak of progress; and whenI began to express a different opinion he said: “Youhave made great progress, but you are not yet con-scious of it.” And so I have accustomed myself notto be always measuring my progress, but to thinkof the plants, and I have always reminded others,who were dissatisfied with themselves, of theplants.

One cannot be always digging in a flower-pot tosee if the seed has grown ; that would be the surestway to kill the plant. One must see that it has light,air and water, and then be able to wait. Even whena plant is already visible in a flower-pot, it oftenlooks for a long time as if it were making noprogress. A growing child also often seems for along time not to be growing, although it is well-fedevery day. Then suddenly a month comes in whichit shoots up. It is exactly the same in the inner life.We must have for our inner life, if it is to prosper,the same mood of trust which we bring to the plantand the growing child. If we are dissatisfied, wemust see to the air and water, but must not touchthe growing seed. It will surely grow of itself if ithas the right food.

For a long time the first and only thing thatcomes is the feeling that one is upon a good way.But sometimes not even that comes. Perhaps akind of hungry feeling comes if we leave off ourinward working at ourselves. There is somethingremarkable about this hunger of the soul. Usuallyit comes on, if we regularly cultivate our inner life,exactly at the hour when we have accustomed our-selves to meditate. Like an awakener, it recalls tous our duty. People who are obliged to travel much,and who are thereby thrown out of the regularity oftheir lives again and again, suffer very much fromthis lack of rhythm. The feeling is as if one werecompletely thrown into confusion. In this we canalready discover something of the meaning of thatwhich spiritual science calls the etheric body or thevital body. This lowest part of the being of our soullives strongly in time and rhythm.

Therefore rhythm is so beneficial in meditationas well as in ritual. But besides this benefit, rhythmmeans also a strengthening of one’s power; onelearns this little by little. In the revolving stream oftime, life ever brings back to us that which we lastwrought inwardly, and we can then begin there,where we left off. Every right meditation, everydeeply experienced Act of Consecration of Man,every Lord’s Prayer strongly prayed, brings itsown blessing when we turn to it the next time. Itthen seems as if friendly hobgoblins had built upthe house a little further in the time between.

Still worse off than those who do not feel thatthey are making progress are those who cannotsucceed in meditating at all. One often hears sadcomplaints that someone has for years tried vainlyto meditate. The cultus [forms of worship, herereferring to the liturgy of Holy Communion —Ed.]may be for many people a way by which they mayalso come to meditate. By the pictures and wordswhich one calls to remembrance again in one’sdaily work, the service will awaken and train in theright way the mood of reverent, loving self-immer-sion. Of course the cultus is not simply meant forsuch people as do not or cannot meditate. Eachword which is derogatory to the cultus is keenlyfelt, by those who know what a ritual really is, tobe a sin against a solemn divine reality. In theChristian cultus Christ is present and is dealingwith men. All selfish wishes are dumb in the pres-ence of the sublime act which is being performed.But it is the characteristic and truly Christian markof the cultus, that it comes down to those also whoare not able to meditate actively themselves. Ithelps those,as it helps others also in another way.Let each one see what most helps him forward, andthat is best for him. And then there can be no dis-pute.

But it can also be said that the honest attempt tomeditate, repeated unweariedly, already leads oneforward, even when one must ever admit one’spowerlessness and lack of skill. I must admit that Iknow of exercises which I have attempted a thou-sand times throughout a whole decade, and yethave never been able to complete. Just this calm,consecutive endeavor, even when it does not suc-ceed, may have high spiritual and moral value. But

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in many cases it happens that one has no idea ofwhat actually occurs. For example, many peoplecomplain that they cannot attain to a living feelingof tranquillity. That is really because for the firsttime they discover how poor and weak their feel-ings generally are. In their life up to now in whichone feeling has trod upon the heels of another—and the feelings have always been reflected by theoutward world, and so have seemed greater thanthey were—they did not become conscious of thefact.

And it is the same when a man complains that hecannot hold fast a spiritual content. It is an advancewhen he begins to notice how feebly until now histhoughts have flickered like a will-o’-the-wisp.Michael Bauer, to whom I owe many very helpfulinspirations to meditation, once told me of anacquaintance who said to him: “As soon as I sitdown to meditate, it is as if I had upset a bee-hiveand all the bees had flown out; my thoughts flutterabout like that.” The bee-hive had always beenthere, and the bees also, but not the man who sawthem: he had first awakened in meditation.

But if we wish to proceed in building up the con-tent of our meditations, it would be well if in thebackground we kept a firm hold upon the two greatfundamental meditations for day and night: I amLove! and, I am Peace! He to whom Christ is notyet a living reality may think of God or of the idealman. From these fundamental meditations let usnow go on to become more at home in the “I”which is speaking.

It would indeed be of very great significance ifwe could come to feel directly this “I” which isspeaking. That would be the very greatest gain fora man’s life. One may prepare oneself for it by try-ing to feel other “I’s.” For example, read a fewlines of Goethe, put the book aside and ask your-self, what kind of a man, what kind of an “I” hasthere revealed itself to me? So one would look intoa being whose spirit was light and free and open tothe world. One can always find refreshing food insuch an “I” without distinguishing any particularperceptions or feelings. As a contrast, one maythen read a page of Nietzsche and look closely atthis spirit or rather this “I.” One then looks into anunusually distinguished, finely developed “I”

which scorns liberty. Such experiments are seldommade by men to-day; but they open up great depthsof human spiritual history.

After such preparation, it may be a unique expe-rience to look at the “I” which speaks in John’sGospel. Its purity is that of pure light. It has a sureforce which contains in itself no violence, a free-dom which radiates sincerity yet contains nolicense, and endless power of giving, in which isno weakness. When a man’s senses are awake tothis, he knows of nothing higher than simply togaze into this “I” and take a “sun-bath” in it. It isstill more, it is a baptism of purification, a Lord’sSupper which ever endures. In this, one can holdfast to history. One understands so well the evan-gelist John, who also desires simply to gaze intothis light and who, after he had heard this word “I”in Christ’s mouth, does not like to use it for him-self—he calls himself only “the disciple whom theLord loved.” (Continued) ❐

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

“This is my whole desire, that my heart may be united toThee.”—Thomas à Kempis, My Imitation of Christ

NO HOLIDAY thatcalls itself “Thanks-giving” can be purelysecular—not if on thisday one gives thanks.

For thankfulness has an object. Itmay be only implicit. It may beunrecognized. But it is there. And allobjects, save One, mediate that One,Who is immediate God. We maythank our fellows, the earth, theweather, our health, or our good for-tune. These are all contingent causesor benefits. There is the uncausedFirst Cause, pure Beneficence, theAlpha of our life. In thankfulness wepoint toward our identity with Christas Omega. And adoration, the sacredheart of thankfulness, is key to attain-ing that identity.

Not all American holidays are holy days. One ofthem commemorates the end of a war; two honorAmerican presidents; another pays tribute to achampion of civil rights; yet another celebrates theAmerican worker. Thanksgiving, although arisingout of unique historical circumstances, shares acommon impulse with most societies that are bothagrarian and theistic.

To take one example, the Israelites instituted theFeast of the Tabernacles to commemorate and givethanks for their fall harvest. Also called the Festivalof Booths, or Succoth, during this week-long cele-bration many Jews journeyed to Jerusalem from allregions of the Mediterranean, bringing portions oftheir finest crops to give to the Temple priests. Herewas a material giving. What Jehovah gave, they inpart returned. The festival’s name derives from thebooths (succoth) or huts made from tree branches,which put the Israelites in mind of their God-

protected, forty-year sojourn in the Sinai desert. AsJehovah told Moses, the people “shall live in boothsfor seven days...that your generation may know thatI made the people of Israel live in booths when Ibrought them out of the land of Egypt” (Lev. 23:42-43).

The Pilgrims initiated America’s day of annualThanksgiving in 1621. They knew to Whom theirthanks were due. They were steeped in religiouspiety. However, Thanksgiving did not become anational festival until the untiring efforts of SarahHale, a descendent of the Pilgrim Fathers, persuad-ed Abraham Lincoln to issue a proclamation for theobservance of Thanksgiving Day to acknowledgethis Republic’s many blessings.

As the ancient Israelites were pilgrims journeyingtoward their land of promise, so present daystudents of spiritual science are also pilgrimsjourneying toward a spiritual destination, who havefrequent occasion to give thanks. In the modern

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The Harvest of Human Experience

MYSTIC LIGHT

Watercolor, Estella Louisa M. Canziani (1887-1964), Leicester Galleries, London, England

PentecostThe fruit of death in Christ is abundant life, the harvest of Golgotha, wherebythe (Holy) Spirit was poured out upon the disciples at Pentecost and is sowedto the Earth’s evolution. Above, flames of inspiration transfigure each disciple.

equivalent to Succoth, the huts or booths areour physical bodies, the fruit or harvest of ourprevious lives’deeds. For the modern pilgrim,the festival of booths is more fluid, more con-tinuous—it is a daily, ideally, a moment-to-moment observance.

Human beings assume physical bodies inorder to germinate, nurture, and harvest knowl-edge, aptitudes, and powers that only existencein earthly bodies can give. When the allottedtime for this project is completed, the life’sharvest is gleaned. There is nothing grim aboutthe reaper with his figurative scythe, thesaturnian reaper who cuts the silver cord. Heis the hierophant dispatching the whole life’sharvest, when we offer up and are the harvestof our entire sojourn in the physical world.

Any residual tendency of the spiritualaspirant to devalue earthly experience uponhis initial entry into nonphysical worlds willbe quickly and compellingly corrected. Herealizes that without experience in visible real-ity he is totally powerless in that other invisiblereality—for both the vision of the higherworlds and the ability to function in them arepredicated on first having mastered life in thevisible worlds. To see in the invisible worldsone must first be able to correctly see in thevisible world. For humans the physical worldis the seed ground of the supraphysical worlds.

Unless a grain of wheat fall to the earth and die, itcannot be reborn. Whereas, he who at all cost wouldsave his (physical) life will lose much of its spiritu-al benefit. Dying makes the earth fertile for rebirth,for newness in spirit. Pentecost was made possibleby the Crucifixion. The gifts of the Holy Spirit show-eredupon the Apostles was the harvest of a cosmicsacrifice, the reaping of unmerited suffering forhumanity’s sins in a holocaust of divine self-giving.

By the time the silver cord breaks, the basis for anew embodiment, a new life’s planting, has alreadybeen gathered. It will be processed, ordered, elabo-rated, and spiritually reconstituted in heaven worlds.The harvesting provides the soul food for spiritualmetabolism ensuing between death and a newearthly embodiment. Thus the wealth of this life’sexperiences shall be the inheritance we bequeath to

our future incarnate being.The assay of what is reaped takes place during

the panoramic retrospection immediately follow-ing death.This conscious inventory determineswhat soul-yield is transmitted to the Desire andThought Worlds, which in turn determines thequality and vigor of the spiritual seeds for theego’s newearthly instruments.

To live esoterically is to transcend, at first inthinking, and eventually in full spirit-consciousness,the restrictions of time and space. The Rosicrucianstudent practices the activities of soul-planting andsoul-harvesting on a daily basis. He plants towardhis future being during waking life in the physicalbody through the intentional deeds of right thinking,right feeling, and right willing. Each night he men-tally gathers and stores in the granary of memorytheresults of the day’s activities. Much as a quality con-

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Fresco, 1816, Luigi Ademollo, Room of the Ark, (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

Transportation of the Ark of the Covenant Led by the High Priest of the Temple, who carries a censer billow-ing clouds of aromatic incense, the solemn pageant processes intoJerusalem with the Ark, which contains the two tablets of the Law.

trol technician on an assembly line, he focuses onthe passage of the day’s events with an observantinner eye, separating out the defective from thegood grain and burning it in the fire of conscience.

A seasoned farmer’s general rule of the greenthumb is to plant at the new moon and harvest whenthe moon is full. So too does the aspirant who farmsthe soul’s fields. This practice was first institutedwith the new and full moon observances in theancient Tabernacle in the Wilderness. The previousfortnight’s deeds done while in the body were thenbrought to the Holy Place, and a spiritual extractwas made from the daily loaves of processedexperiences. This extract was symbolized by thesmoke of incense, the quintessence of the shew-bread, both of which were thanksgiving offeringsto the Lord, Who is the God that is encountered inthe candidate’s Holy of Holies, expressed by thewords, “I and the Father are one.”

As the aroma of the shewbread is the only harvestthe human spirit takes with it into the heavenworlds, it is clear that much of our earthly experi-ence is not spiritually nourishing. An interestingexperiment could be devised to measure all thesubstances (solid, fluid, and gas) taken into andeliminated from the human dense body. The sumof each would be found to be nearly equivalent.That is, most of our ingested daily bread becomesash; very little is retained by the body. The abilityof saints to live on virtually nothing but the “word”of God, on etheric food, prefigures the time whenwe shall breathe our food, which nutritious breathwill be processed by the pituitary gland.

We are planted in this world, rooted in the soil ofphysical experience so that the flower and fruit ofspiritual faculties can here be developed. And onlyhere can this take place. Not in heaven. Godcannot give it. Rather do we give it to macrocos-mic God and to the God in our individual being.

We remain bound to the world until the world nolonger binds us, until we have developed withinourselves everything that can here be gained. Wecan only be useful collaborators in other worlds byacquiring the requisite faculties in this physicalworld. Our previous lives and experiences aregleanings whose fruits nourish and fortify ourpresent endeavors, making possible not mere

perpetuation, but a qualitative improvement, thespiritualizing of consciousness.

Such is the human view. But what of God and thehost of heavenly Beings? Our thanksgiving is foodfor the gods, their ambrosia. Our experience isnutriment for creative Hierarchies who have rayedsubstance of their very being into humanity. So arewe constituted. We are condensations of cosmicforces,we are crystallized starlight. Our energiesoriginate in heavenly impulses. What we do withthese energies, our broadcasting of these forces inthe fields of human endeavor, has a cosmic impact,promoting the evolution of all those Beings whoare participating in the “the human experiment.”

This human-suprahuman symbiosis explains theoccult fact that while the sun-centered Copernicanconception of the Cosmos is correct from a materialstandpoint, the earth-centered Ptolemaic universeis true for those worlds above the physical plane.Humanity’s growth in spiritual consciousnessadvances the evolution of cosmic powers.

While plants grow by virtue of etheric forces,they can only regenerate by being blessed, in afigurative laying on of hands, by the approach ofDesire World forces, which initiate the floweringand fruiting process and the resultant seed forma-tion. So it is with humans. We live not by physicalbread alone, nor, as homo sapiens,by the bread ofthought or manas. Our spiritual regenerationrequires life spirit; specifically, the Christ lifedescribed in the Prologue of the Gospel of John as thelife of the Word, which is the light of the world.

If we humans make harvest of the visible sun forour material livelihood, for our spiritual well-beingwe make harvest of the Christ Impulse. And thatImpulse has inoculated the entire substance of thisplanet. Over eons of time, since the Fall of maninto generation, the field of the earth had becomeincreasingly insupportable for contacting theworlds of Spirit. But through the revivifying bloodof the crucified Christ Jesus, the earth spherehas once again been made fertile for attaining tospiritual experience in full waking consciousness.

Many Gospel parables are based on organicmetaphors that vividly and powerfully describehuman reliance on the Christ life. He said, “I amthe vine.” He also said, “I am the bread of life.”

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These two sayings identify the world eucharist, bywhich the body and the spirit of mankind and itsearth are continuously rejuvenated. The parallelbetween a farmer working the earth and Christcultivating the receptive soul is developed by theEnglish poet John Masefield toward the end of hislong poem “The Everlasting Mercy”:

O patient eyes that watch the goal,O ploughman of the sinner’s soul.O Jesus, drive the coulter deepTo plough my living man from sleep....And as I drove the clods apartChrist would be ploughing in my heart,Through rest-harrow and bitter roots,Through all my bad life’s rotten fruits....And we will walk the weeded field,And tell the golden harvest’s yield,The corn that makes the holy breadBy which the soul of man is fed,The holy bread, the food unpriced,Thy everlasting mercy, Christ.

Biblical Paradise is pictured as a self-sustaininggarden in which Adam and Eve had the pleasantassignment of effortlessly gathering its fruits. Thisdescribes a passive, if idyllic, existence. Living inuninterrupted etheric consciousness, Edenichumanity was not conscious of death and was incontinuous communion with the gods. Goaded towillful and self-centered behavior through theinfusion of Luciferic influences, early manharvested an impermissible fruit, resulting in a for-tunate fall to material consciousness—a covertblessing, providing the opportunity to know free-dom through knowledge of good and evil, and tochoose one’s destiny in fully awake consciousness.

Disease and death express the fact that theoriginal supersensible world of early humanityreached a point beyond which it could not progressby itself. Universal death would have overtaken it,had it not received a fresh life-impulse. From theremnants of a dying, rigid world there sprouted theseeds of a new one. The decaying portion of theold world adheres to the new life blossoming fromit, even as new life in the physical body isimmediately offset by anti-life processes. Thusdoes evolution slowly progress.

The crucifixion is a figure for the collision oflife-giving etheric forces and form-destroyingdesire impulses, whose interaction creates con-sciousness. The human physical body is gatheredfrom remnants of the old world, but with thissheath the germ of a new being is matured, whichwill live in the future.

Man’s task is precisely to gather the fruits of themortal for the immortal, or, to use the ApostlePaul’s language, from the terrestrial we extract aquintessence for the celestial. The corruptible isthe ground for cultivating the incorruptible. Here isthe metaphor for spiritual alchemy, for Christianself-transformation. We have in us the elements ofa decaying world, but we can break their power bynew immortal elements coming to life in us.

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Orthodox icon of unknown provenance

Christ as Sower of the Word

Indeed, we may thank the mortal, the dying worldfor the powers it impels us to unfold, just as wemay thank our personal pain and suffering, whichmature into a harvest of wisdom. Yes, suffering isa consequence of past misdeeds and nondoing. Butit is also a cause that will have fruitful effects. Itgives occasion to insight and ennoblement. It isa purifier, a focuser, an updriver, a spur towardsGodwardness. Illness itself may be viewed as theefflorescence of dying portions of the past. Bitterfruit, perhaps. But also the means by whichspiritual wholeness is restored and transfigured.

Among the many agrarian parables in theGospels, the parable of the sower is especially rel-evant to the line we are pursuing. In this extendedmetaphor we may naturally be inclined to identifyourselves with the good ground that yielded fruit.But few if any of us are not at times so preoccupiedwith worldly concerns that the ever-soundingcreative word cannot take root in our consciousness.Likewise, whenever we take an irrationallyentrenched position on a matter, or are prejudicedby the outward aspect of a person or issue, the seedof creative understanding and a new opportunityfor soul growth falls on the rocky soil of a hardheart or a closed mind. In a rush of momentaryenthusiasm, we may embrace a spiritual truth, onlyto leave it deprived of further attention, and so itwithers and perishes. The truths about the kingdomof heaven may be choked out by the vigorousweeds of materialistic thinking, or be consumed bythe birds that represent scoffing skepticism, orscattered by vagrant gusts of mere curiosity.

The parable of the enemy that sows the taresrefers to those spirits who seek to harness humanthinking to their own purposes, and are constantlyflashing thoughts before our mind’s eye to divertand deter our rightful progress. Generally, the lessawake and aware we are, the more we leave unpro-tected the ground of consciousness to receive thesetares. That is the significance of the enemy sowingat night, or at those times when we are not vigilantand spiritually informed.

At the final harvest of Earth evolution, what St.Matthew describes as “the end of the world”(13:39), and elsewhere is called the LastJudgment, the lambs will be separated from thegoats, the wheat will be separated from the tares.The children of the Kingdom, by having sought

and used opportunities for development in thephysical realm (the “field” of the world), shall passon to the Earth’s next planetary embodiment,Jupiter, in their etheric bodies. The children of “thewicked one” (Matt. 13:38), the goats and tares,will occupy a lunar satellite of Jupiter as laggardswho will still to be able to join their more evolvedbrethren, if they change their ways and make thenecessary advances.

As for those egos now ripe for the good news ofesoteric Christian teachings, we may cite the viewof the religion’s Founder Who, two thousand yearsago, saw multitudes seeking but not knowing whatthey sought. To His disciples he said, “The harvesttruly is plenteous, but the laborers are few” (Matt.9:37). So it is today. Those ripe for the knowledgeof the science of spirit are numerous, but theyare not hearing the right word. RosicrucianChristianity has that word. Max Heindel hassomething to tell us on this point: “If we hoard thespiritual blessings we have received, evil is at ourdoor. So...let us bring forth in the physical world ofaction the fruits of the spirit sown in our souls.”(Teachings of an Initiate, p. 102)

The act of thanksgiving is always appropriate inand of itself. It vivifies and elevates the heart,directs it toward the Source of all being, and mustcall down continuous favor from the supersensibleworlds, because, as a form of self-emptying, it isan irresistible invitation for spiritual beings to fillthat emptiness with divine influences.Thanksgiving cultivates the soil of our soul, makingit fertile for new creative impulses emanating fromthese spiritual beings.

Thanksgiving is ever appropriate; it cuts throughthe tendency to self-satisfaction; it bursts the bubbleof self-esteem which promotes the mortal personand demeans the one God from Whom all blessingsflow. Thanksgiving clears a path to the Giver of life.More than commemorating the ongoing harvest ofexperience as wisdom and soul growth, thanks-giving invokes this harvest by deepening thecommunion between the original Giver and thethanks-giver, bringing the sons and daughters ofGod into increasing attunement with the inner Christand, through Him, our heavenly Father. ❐

—C.W.

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DEEP IN THE HEART of humanityexists the mystic yearning implantedwithin it at the first Christmastidewhen the Light of Man made defi-nite place for Itself within and upon

this dense earth planet. The word Christmas is derived from the Latin

medieval term Christe Masse, the Mass of Christ. The story of the Christ birth is for the Occident

what the birth of Krishna is for the Orient. Whetherliterally, mystically, or symbolically understood, orall these ways in one, it brings to man fundamen-tal truth which, as his Spirit faculties unfold andfunction to perceive and accept such truth, raiseshis entire being to a height not reached hitherto.

“No man cometh to the Father save by Me,” car-ries a transcendent meaning to the spiritual aspi-rant. Parsifal inquires, “Who is the Grail?” and thereply indicates high spiritual perception:

“If thou hast by him been bidden, From thee the truth will not be hidden. The land to Him no path leads through, And search but severs from Him wider When He Himself is not the Guider.”

A true interpretation of the Christmas legendnecessitates first of all an understanding—howeverdim it may be at first—that the birth of the ChristChild in the manger in the stable among the ani-mals, symbolizes the first faint upspringing of theChrist consciousness in animal man. The tinyindwelling flame which is the Christ flame hasbeen hitherto dormant in the human constitution. Itnow receives sufficient stimulus to enable it togrow and enlarge until eventually the Spirit makesitself a potent factor in the life of the individual

and the first step toward the Father by way of theChrist is taken.

The Ego-self has taken note of its expressingvehicle, the personal man, and has vivified it, sothat among the “animals” of the lower nature ofman, in the manger or feeding place of the animalfaculties, is born the wee babe of the Christic self.Always the manger or cradle of the Christ Child isa place of sanctuary.

A great solar manifestation comes into fruitionat Christmas. Groups of forces composing thismanifestation have been personalized down throughthe ages. The Biblical story properly interpreted

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Symbology of Christmas

MYSTIC LIGHT

William Blake (1757-1827), Illustration for Milton’s “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,”Nativity Ode 6, 1809, 25.5 x 19.3 cm, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester

The Night of PeaceBlake envisions the Nativity as both intimate and local andcosmic. A birth sanctuary is created by angel wings (energies)On high shines the guiding star as jubilant angels make music.

contains a near approximation of the actual truth. The entire story of Christmas is a universal sym-

bol. It is found in all accounts of Avataric births inall races and nations. Krishna, Mithra, Horus,Orpheus, Hermes, as well as many heroes, gods,and saviors, were born in “mangers,” wrapped inswaddling clothes, visited by Wise Men bearinggifts, worshiped by shepherds, and shone as Starsof Redeeming Light for their peoples and nations.

December twenty-fifth is the date of birth of thephysical light bringer in nature, the sun. Jesus, rep-resentative of the Universal Christ, Light of theWorld, is the spiritual light bringer to mankind,and His birthdate should properly be the solar dateof the sun’s birth. December twenty-fifth, as thebirthday of Jesus, was first celebrated some 200years after the actual event.

Many myths since dim antiquity concern themystic Christ birth. Whether born in a cave, a sta-ble, or elsewhere in a literal sense, the birth hastwo great symbolic meanings: (1) The birth ofLove—Goodwill to men. The giving of a new lawto mankind. “Love ye one another.” “Love is thefulfilling of the Law.” (2) The birth of the Christicconsciousness in the Spirit of man—of all menwho aspire to the heights of spiritual truth. No trueargument can controvert this universal truth.

In its Cosmic sense, the birth signifies thedescent of the Divine Light, Spirit penetrating andpermeating matter. In the human sense it refers tothe descent of the Son of God (spiritual Light) intomatter, descent of the Spirit into the physical body.

Like all great spiritual teachings this one con-cerning the origin and celebration of Christmas hasbeen perverted and commercialized through greedand selfishness.

Christmas Eve, December 24-25, is consideredthe Holy Night of the whole year because spiritualinfluences are strongest on this midnight. In theMysteries, the candidate through spiritual visionsaw the mystic Star of Bethlehem that shone onHoly Night, which guided him onward andupward. In his heart echoed the deathless andprophetic song—“On earth peace, Goodwilltoward men.” “Rejoice, ye children of earth, forunto you is born this day a King”—the Seraphssang on that long ago Holy Night.

The beautiful custom in Britain of the Yule logwas kept in ancient times. It first became a publicceremony in 1577. Yule is a Germanic word meaningChristmas. Large candles were lighted on ChristmasEve and a large oak log was laid upon the fire toilluminate the house. It was thought that the remainsof the Yule log would protect the house against fireand lightning if kept throughout the year.

The Christmas tree is itself a universal symbol.It originated in Egypt in the worship of theGoddess Isis at a period long antedating theChristian era. A palm tree with twelve short shoots,to represent the twelve months of the year, wasused in Egypt at the time of the winter solstice. Innorthern climes, instead of a palm, a fir tree wasused. The origin of exchanging gifts occurred inearly medieval days. In some countries the customof foretelling the future from cakes is celebrated onChristmas Eve.

Gifts were brought to the birth of Jesus who wasborn in a manger—precious gifts of gold, frankin-cense, and myrrh. Spiritual power, love-wisdom,and intelligence were poured upon the newbornchild, the Christic Light atom in the human heart;the babe in its mother’s arms, the great earth moth-er which carries, nurtures, and preserves the tinylife vehicle. These gifts (qualities) were showeredby the glorious Magi of the Cosmic realms, whobless and enrich each individual spiritual birth.These powers, en rapport with and irradiated bythe silver light of the splendid Christic Star, pour

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At Sunrise

Soul of mine, the sun is rising,Glorifying sky and sea.Hear the wild birds improvisingMadrigals from roof and tree.Sun of Glory, rise in me.

Rise in me, illuminating All I meet upon the way.Rise in all men, radiatingLight and love and peace, I pray.Rise in all mankind today.

—Irene Stanley

into weak and suffering humanity theirstimulating light and strength withoutwhich man’s evolutionary course wouldbe far more difficult and prolonged.

The Magi—High Initiates—weredrawn to the Holy Place by their innerperception and knowledge of the Cosmicevent pending, the birth of a world Savior.The three Wise Men represent those ofhigher earthly prominence broughttogether in their common purpose fromthe primary races of the earth. Their giftssignify the various elements entering intothe process of manifestation. They are ledby the glorious Star to the World Savior,to Jesus, the body form which was to be avehicle for the Universal Christ Power.

He of India brought gold, mentioned insymbology as the emblem of the Spirit.We read of the alchemists of old trying totransmute base metal into gold, which isthe occult way of saying that they wantedto purify the dense body, to refine it andextract the spiritual essence. He of Egyptbrought frankincense or incense. It is aphysical substance of a very light nature,often used in religious services. It servesas an embodiment for the ministeringunseen forces, and thus symbolizes the physical body. He of Greecebrought myrrh. It is the extract of a rare aromatic plant. It symbolizesthat which man, theSpirit, extracts through experience in the physicalworld—the soul.

Mary, the mother, was the center of light, the crucible wherein thetransmutation of the elements took place and gave the human touchneeded to impress the ages yet to be.

The shepherds who saw the Star typify the appearance of DivineFire as it came to those of the earth plane—the lowly of earth, buthighly sensitized as to Spirit faculty, high in spiritual attainment.Their discernment enabled them to see the glory in the heavens andto feel the impulsion of the wondrous Star.

In one sense it was a material star. In a higher sense it was theflame of forces concentrated to bring into material manifestation aphysical presentment of the Logos, a World Savior.

The earth was hushed. The air was hushed for it was concentratedon Bethlehem (birth) at that moment. Silence and solitude developthe discerning eye, the hearing ear, the sensitive Spirit.

Shall we not at Christmastide center our thought upon these truths?

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Meditate upon the true interpre-tation of the sublime Christmaslegend, enlarging our knowl-edge and understanding, andcenter our effort upon anexpanding power to serve?Celebrate Christmas by render-ing to the Central Sun Glory thelove and homage which is Hisright, and say with theShepherds, “For we have seenhis Star in the East, and havecome to worship him”? Hestands, pointing the Way,revealing the Truth, giving theLife; He, the Star of Light lead-ing the Way to the Father. “Forwhere I go, ye shall also go.” ❐

—Katharine Hillwood Poor

Tempera on panel, 1485-1488, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence

Adoration of the Magi

IN THE PRECEDING Chapter [three pre-vious Raysarticles], we studied Foot-wash-ing, Scourging, and Crowning with Thornsas principles of the Christian Rosicrucianmethod, as karmic necessities, and as events

of the spiritual history of the future. The subjectwas treated from the point of view (of course, itmight be treated from many points of view) of theadjustment of relationship between above andbelow, right and left, frontal and dorsal. Now, inorder to apply this method of study to the furtherstages of the Passion, it is necessary to understandthe inner connection between the first three andthe fourth.* For the Cross-bearing results fromthe simultaneous experience of Foot-washing,Scourging, and Crowning with Thorns.

As the Crosscomprises all those Space-relation-ships of which we were speaking in connectionwith the first three stages of the Passion, so arethose three stages comprehended in the stage ofCross-bearing. For the “Cross” which is to be car-ried is nothing other than the man himself. It is hewho has formed within himself a cruciform systemof currents: the currents of Foot-washing,Scourging, and Crowning with Thorns. And thisgives the man a new experience, which is at thesame time a further test. For up to this stage in hisevolution, he had always felt himself enlightened,strengthened, carried by the Spirit.

Now a fundamental change takes place. He nowexperiences within himself a higher, spiritual maninterpenetrating him in the form of the currents ofthe Cross. But this higher, spiritual man does not

carry him as he had felt himself carried by theSpirit before. On the contrary, he feels that it is hewho must carry the higher man within him. Theordinary lower man experiences within himself thehigher, spiritual “brother,” and throughout thewhole course of his spiritual destiny he hears thevoice of the command: Thou shalt be thy brother’skeeper (guardian).

But this command means that the man must feelhimself the sheath and bearer of the other. His

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The Higher Stages of

the Passion—Cross-Bearing

MYSTIC LIGHT

Oil on wood panel, Marco Palmezzano, Pinacoteca, Vatican Museums

Christ Bearing the CrossIn its fullest sense, this phase of the Passion represents thehuman personality bearing both “the Radiant Cross of thehigher man, and the dark Cross of the bodily organization.”

*Used by permission of Anthroposophic Press, Hudson NY 12534

experience is that he must surrender all the fruits ofhis toilsome work in acquiring knowledge onEarth and of his earthly deeds to the other who,however, does not give the fruits of his spiritualexperience and his spiritual capacity to the lowerman, but places it at the service of humanity. Healso experiences that the higher man within himperpetually lays bare his inadequacies and imper-fections. He experiences, in fact, that this man inthe form of the Cross of Light causes the lowerman to appear to his own consciousness as theearthly Cross of Darkness. The bodily organismnow appears to be a wooden, dead organism,which seems in the highest degree ill-adapted forthe reception of the Spirit.

Thus, the human, personal consciousness standsbetween two Crosses: the Radiant Cross of thehigher man, and the dark Cross of the bodily orga-nization, both of which must be carried. In thissituation, an inner resentment arises in Man, afeeling of protest, which cannot fail to set in. Thisresentment may come to a point in either of twodirections: in the direction of the higher man or inthe direction of the human organism. Prompted byresentment, the personal consciousness may say toitself: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” And an urgemay make itself felt in the personal consciousnessto cast off the Cross of the higher man within, thatis, to “kill his brother.”

On the other hand, the personal consciousnessmay acquire a deep aversion to itself, regardingitself as a Philistine in body, temperament andcharacter. A self-hatred may spring up in the man,which may lead to murder, as surely as indignationagainst the higher man. For the temptation arises tocast off the Cross of earthly personality, whichthen appears eminently unprofitable, commonplaceand cowardly.

Until we have had experience of these trials, weshall never understand in its full significance whatwent on in the depths, for instance, of the souls ofthe two great suicides of the nineteenth century—in the souls of Friedrich Nietzsche and of OttoWeininger. For Friedrich Nietzsche committedspiritual suicide by “killing” the higher, Christianman within him—that is, by casting off the shiningCross. And Otto Weininger could not endure

himself as an earthly being—and laid the darkCross down by actually committing self-murder.

These tragic figures are cited here not merely toshow the earnestness of the Cross-bearing Trial, butalso because an understanding of these catastro-phes as a definite test which was not withstood isthe chief service which we are bound to render tothose who experience them. But the test which wasnotwithstood by these men consisted essentially indeveloping the relationship to the bright Cross andthe dark Cross, which is indicated in the words:“Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

These “simple” words contain, in truth, a furtherfundamental principle of the Christian Rosicrucianmethod of Initiation. This method entails theunavoidable demand to strive to practically solvethe problem “love of humanity—love of self.”This must be striven for such that man protects thehigher man—which lives for humanity—in asloving a manner as he cares for the lower man.This means that he carries the bright Cross not outof duty, but out of love, and that he strives to lightenthe dark Cross through patient and unforced educa-tive work, such as is possible only out of love.Manmust not be loveless towards his own psycho-physical organism, and, on the other hand, he mustnot feel his relationship with the higher man, whois oriented towards humanity, as a mere duty.

But the path leading to a balance between thesetwo poles is the personal consciousness whichstands between the two Crosses, learning to sharethe higher man’s love of humanity so that hisneighbor becomes as dear to him as his own being,and affirming his own being—that is, his earthlypersonality—because that is the only way in whichhe can manifest his love to his neighbor.

The neighbor—that is, he who stands nearest—is thus the school in which, on the one hand, helearns love of man, and on the other, preserves hisown self-love for new reasons. For love is not aquantity; learning it at one point makes it possibleto vibrate in unison with the radiation of the higherman within towards the universal; and, on the otherhand, no one will be cold to his own being when hehas received his neighbor unconditionally into thewarmth of his heart.

Thus Man has to develop, waken, and maintain

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three kinds of love at the same time: the spiritualman’s universal love of humanity; the love of one’sneighbor; and the love of one’s own earthlypersonality. When a man makes a reality of this—that is, when he fills spirit, soul and body withlove—there remains no room within him forhatred; however imperfect his love may be, yet hisbeing has no room for hate.

As the Crowning with Thorns was the victoryover Shame and Fear, so the Carrying of the Crossis the definite victory over Hatred in the form ofresentment against what is higher, and aversion towhat is commonplace. When hate has been over-come in the spirit of the principle, “ Love thyneighbor as thyself,” then a cooperation in lovebetween body, soul and spirit will have beenachieved. A harmony of the three parts of thehuman being sets in—and this harmony is both thefruit of passing the Cross-bearing trial, and also thefulfillment of a fundamental demand of ChristianRosicrucian occultism. For the method of thisoccultism dependson the principle of harmonybetween spirit, soul and body.

Other spiritual currents set up either the spirit ofasceticism—that is, the denial of the Body—or theprinciple of the supremacy of the earthly personal-ity—that is, the denial of the Spirit. Yet the per-sonality must follow the Spirit if it is not to beentirely consigned to what is transitory.

The purity striven after on the path of Christiantraining does not consist in subjecting human nature,but in ennobling it. The more freely earnestness andcourage flow into the human nature, the more clearlycan it be learned that actually all human facultiesmay offer service to the great work of Goodness.And the freedom of the human being on this pathconsists in his learning to love his spiritualduty.

These experiences of Cross-bearing, which aman may meet on the paths of spiritual trainingand destiny, confront mankind during that epoch ofthe future in which “white” humanity will stand inopposition to Ahrimanic humanity. By that time,however, this opposition by white humanity willbe characterized not only by fidelity to truth, butby a realization of responsibility to the other partof mankind. That section of mankind which hasfallen a prey to darkness will be borne by them as

their Cross. At the same time, each individual will be

inwardly penetrated by the cruciform rays of thespiritual man borne by all. For that “white” sectionof humanity will take upon itself, then, the task ofthe Angel—performing for Ahrimanic mankind aservice similar to that which the Guardian Angelperforms for Man today. On the other hand, it willbear within itself the higher man—taking the placeof the Guardian Angel. But the higher man will sorepresent the Guardian Angel that he will not over-shadow Man, but will be actually present withinhim as an incorporated being.

And as the result of this incorporation, the higherman will, to a certain extent, be given over to thepersonal man. He will entrust himself to the latterso that the latter will be his “keeper.” For mankindwill always have to experience Cross-bearing inthe history of the world, and thereby will learn toovercome hatred and to establish the harmony ofbody, soul and spirit. (Continued) ❐

—Valentin Tomberg

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Created by A

riel Agem

ian exclusively for the Confraternity of the P

recious Blood

CHRISTMAS BELLS! Have youever felt their magic in childhooddays before doubt crept into yourheart and shattered the ideals incul-cated by the church? The same bell

rang for church on Sundays and for prayer meetingat mid-week, but there was a different ring atChristmas, something unusually festive, some-thing which we now attribute to childish imagina-tion. We miss this something, however much wemay congratulate ourselves upon emancipationfrom what we are pleased to term “the mummeriesof the church.”

Wordsworth, in his “Ode to Immortality,” voicedthe keen feeling of regret due to loss of childishideals; nothing the world has to give can take theirplace, and however we may be blessed with mate-rial wealth we are truly poor when the “glamour”of youth has gone and intellectual conceptions sti-fle such so-called “superstitions.”

Paul exhorted us to be always ready with a rea-son for our faith, and there is a mystic reason formany practices of the church which have beenhanded down from hoary antiquity. The soundingof the bell when the candle is lit upon the altar wasinaugurated by spiritually illumined seers to teachthe cosmic unity of light and sound. The metaltongue of the bell brings Christ’s mystic messageto mankind as clearly today as when He first enun-ciated the graceful invitation: “Come unto me, allye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will giveyou rest.” Thus the bell is a symbol of Christ, “TheWord,” when it calls us from work to worshipbefore the illuminated altar where He meets us as“The Light of the World.”

Also the particularly festive feeling awakenedby the Christmas bells is produced by cosmic caus-es active at this time of the year, and the presentseason is holy in very truth as we shall presentlysee. Those who study the stars know the signs ofthe zodiac as a cosmic sounding board, each signvibrant with a particular quality; and as the march-ing orbs travel in kaleidoscopic procession fromsign to sign in ever varying combination, the chordsof cosmic harmony known to mystics as the “songof the spheres” sound a never ending anthem ofprayer and praise to the Creator. This is not a fan-ciful idea but an actual fact patent to the seer, andcapable of demonstration to thinkers by its effects.

The harmony of the spheres is not a monotone;

20 RAYS 99

The Mystic Message ofChristmas

FROM MAX HEINDEL’S WRITINGS

Oil on canvas (16 ft. x 12 ft.), Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848-1936), Brooklyn Museum

Christmas Bells

it varies from day to day and from month to monthas sun and planets pass from sign to sign in theirorbits. There are also yearly epochal variations dueto precession of the equinoxes. Thus there is infi-nite variety in the song of the spheres, as indeedthere must be, for this constant change of spiritualvibration is the basis of spiritual and physical evo-lution. Were it to cease even an instant, Cosmoswould be resolved to Chaos.

For demonstration, observe the nature and qual-ity of the love life poured through the Christ-star,the sun, when it transits the belligerent sign ofAries, the Ram, in spring. Sex love is the keynoteof nature; all its energies are applied in generation;then the passional propensities run riot. Comparethis with the effect of the sun during Decemberwhen it is focused through the benevolentSagittarius, ruled by the planet Jupiter. Its ray isthen conducive to religion and philanthropy; theair is vibrant with generosity, and the love life ofthe Christ-star finds its highest expression throughthis congenial sign. Outwardly reigns the gloom ofwinter, for the visible symbol of “The Light of theWorld” has been obscured; but on the darkest nightof the year Christmas chimes evoke a ready responseto the Christmas feeling which makes the wholeworld akin, children of our Father in Heaven.

May the mystic music of the Christmas chimesawaken the tenderest chord in your heart, and maythe keynote of joy be uppermost in your being dur-ing the coming year—this is the Christmas wish ofthe workers on Mt. Ecclesia. ❐

RAYS 99 21

Stained glass (detail), ca. 1521. Master of St Severin, Lower Rhine, Germany

Scenes from the Nativity

Letters To StudentsBy Max Heindel

This book contains the direct personalcommunications of Max Heindel with

students of the Rosicrucian Fellowship fromChristmas 1910 to January 1919. These ninety-seven letters, written in the intimate, earnesttone of a teacher and friend, make inspiringand instructive reading.

Contents include:

Christ and His Second Coming

Heart Development and Initiation

Spiritual Teachers—True and False

The Christ Spirit and the Spiritual Panacea

Incr easing the Life of the Ar chetype

Unnatural Means of Attainment

“Lost Souls” and Stragglers

The Vital Body of Jesus

Please order on page 64

237 Pages. Paper

Published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship

QUESTION: SOME WRITERS seem toteach that it is possible to gostraight from the physical world tothe higher spiritual world withouthaving to pass through the lower

region of the Desire World, thus escaping all thenoisome sights which are peculiar to that region.You, on the other hand, always speak as if it is nec-essary to pass through every realm of Nature insuccession

Answer: We are well aware that some peoplemake statements as above relative to the transitionfrom the physical to the higher spiritual realms byway of what they learnedly call “the atomic sub-planes,” and for guidance as to who is right we canonly refer you to the Law of Analogy— “As aboveso below”—which is the master-key to all myster-ies, spiritual or physical, for the law is one, inwhatever realm of Nature we investigate. Youknow that it is impossible for a diver to get to thebottom of the sea without starting at the surfaceand descending through the intervening water; it isalso evident that it is impossible for an airplane toascend above the clouds without first passingthrough the intervening space of air between theearth and the clouds.

The soul after death also gradually ascendsthrough the various spiritual realms to the ThirdHeaven and at the time of rebirth it graduallydescends through the Region of Concrete Thought,the Desire World and the Ether to physical rebirth.These are facts known to many who have investi-gated and beyond dispute or argument to the occultscientist as much as it is beyond argument to the

material scientist that the earth moves on its axis,and anyone who contends otherwise is simply mis-taken.

Nor does the writer say this solely upon the basisof his own experience, for he is acquainted withhundreds of others who possess the ability of func-tioning outside the body in the various spiritualrealms. He has never expressly discussed thisphase of super-physical experience with any ofthem, but their repeated reference to things whichhappened to different ones when passing throughthe lower realms of the Desire World and the Ethermake him feel certain that none of his acquain-tances have ever mounted to the higher realms ofthe Desire World or the Region of ConcreteThought without first passing through the Etherand the lower strata of the Desire World, thePurgatorial Region.

Furthermore, even if there were such a short-cutas that mentioned from the physical world to thehigher spiritual realms do you think that one ofGod’s helpers would ever make use of it for thesake of escaping the noisome sights seen and thesuffering to be found there? Most assuredly not!The Christ never turned in disgust from a leper oranyone else in sorrow and in affliction. He alwayssought them out in order that He might heal andhelp them.

What good do you think there is, and what workdo you think an Invisible Helper can do in the FirstHeaven and the Region of Concrete Thought,where there is no sorrow, suffering and misery, butwhere all is happiness and joy? There he is notneeded by any means. His work lies in the very

22 RAYS 99

A Shortcut to Heaven?Mother Love as a Factor in Materialization

Post-Mortem Fate of Vivisectors

READERS’ QUESTIONS

regions which these writers profess to be able toskip and if there were such a short-cut as men-tioned no true Invisible Helper would ever want tomake use of it. But as a matter of fact there is nosuch byway to Heaven.

MOTHER LOVE AS A FACTOR IN MATERIALIZATION

Question: Is it possible for a mother who haspassed into the invisible world to help her childrendirectly or indirectly? Does she make hands offlesh with which to work, or in what way does sheaid them?

Answer: The Society for Psychical Researchhas investigated a number of cases where it hasbeen shown that the mother has materialized inorder to save her small children from disaster oraccidents. There is no doubt that many youngmothers are earth-bound for a long time by thelove they bear their small and helpless children.We feel certain that if they were able they wouldoften manifest to give them help and comfort, butthe seed atom having been ruptured at the time ofdeath, they are not able to draw to themselves eventhe most attenuated gaseous matter that wouldmake them visible, except in a very few caseswhere the need is so great that it begets in themother a desire of such dynamic intensity that fora moment or two it compels the physical atoms tomarshal themselves into her body and enables herto do that which she desires.

Thus she performs a magical feat, withoutknowing how she has done it, and of course shecannot repeat it unless it happens under similar cir-cumstances.

In this respect the people who have passed intothe invisible worlds differ radically from theInvisible Helpers who leave their body at will. Thesilver cord is intact in their case, and this givesthem a continuous connection with the physicalseed atom. Its magnetism is therefore exerted andit requires a subconscious effort on the part of theInvisible Helper to keep the physical particlesfrom flowing into the etheric vehicle in which hetravels.

On the other hand, when he desires to aid any-one who may be in distress or to perform a certainwork, he materializes a hand or an arm with the

greatest of ease simply by allowing the physicalatoms in his closest environment to flow into theetheric matrix.

When he has performed the desired task, anoth-er effort of thought scatters the strange atoms anddematerializes the hand or arm. Thus, for instance,when working inside the body of a patient tomanipulate a diseased organ or stanch the blood inan artery, fingers are made temporarily from theflesh of the patient without causing him the leastdiscomfort, and are as readily dissolved when thework is done.

POST-MORTEM FATE OF VIVISECTORS

Question: Does a surgeon feel in Purgatory allthe pains his patients have felt in the operations hehas performed. This would seem unfair in cases ofconstructive surgery.

Answer: Certainly not. The sufferings inPurgatory are the results of moral delinquencies,and the resentment of those who are injured there-by. A surgeon who performs a constructive opera-tion is doing a service which merits the gratitude ofthe person operated upon and the picture of suchan operation in the panorama of life will react uponhim in the First Heaven with the gratitude of theperson he helped. It will make him more ambitiousto serve his fellow men.

On the other hand, those unscrupulous surgeonswho persuade people to have operations performedfor the love of experimentation, or who take themout of charitable institutions for that purpose willcertainly be as severely dealt with as they deserve.

As for the vivisectionist’s purgatory, we haveseen some cases compared with which the ortho-dox hell with its devil and pitchfork is a place ofmild amusement. Yet there are no exterior agentsof outraged nature to punish such an one—only theagonies of the tortured animal contained in his lifepanorama reacting on him with threefold intensity(because the purgatorial existence is only one thirdthe duration of the physical life).

Those people do not realize in the slightestdegree what they are storing up for themselves, orthe torture chambers would soon be emptied andthere would be one less horror in the world.world. ❐

RAYS 99 23

THE CHRISTIAN FEASTS

THE FEASTS OFTHE YEAR have avery deep occult significance. Fromthe material point of view, the planetsare but so many masses of matterrevolving in their orbits in obedience

to so-called blind laws, but to the occultist theyappear as Great Spirits, moving about in space aswe move in the world.

When a man is seen gesticulating, we attach acertain significance to his gestures. If he shakes hishead, we know that he is negativing a certainproposition, but if he nods, we infer that he agrees.If he beckons, having the palms of his handsturned toward him, we know that he is motioningfor someone to come to him, but if he turns thepalms outward, we understand that he is warningsomeone to stay away. In the case of the universe,we usually do not think that there is any signifi-cance to the altered position of the planets, but tothe occultist there is the very deepest meaning inall the varied phenomena of the heavens. Theycorrespond to the gestures of man.

Krishnameans anointed, and anyone who had aspecial mission to perform was so anointed inolden times. When, in the winter time, the Sun isbelow the equator at the nadir point of its travel,the spiritual impulses are the greatest in the world.For our material welfare, however, it is necessarythat the Sun should come again into the northernhemisphere, and so we speak of the time when thesun starts upon its journey northward as Christmas,the birthday of the Savior, anointed to save us from

the famine and cold which would ensue if he wereto stay at the nadir point always.

As the Sun passes toward the equator, it goesthrough the sign Aquarius, the water-man. At thattime the Earth is deluged with rain, symbolizingthe baptism of the Savior. Then comes the passageof the Sun through the sign Pisces, the fishes, inthe month of March. The stores of the past yearhave been all consumed, and the food of man isscant, hence we have the long fast of Lent, wherethe eating of fish symbolizes this feature of the

24 RAYS 99

Miscellaneous Interpretations

Part 3

WESTERN WISDOM BIBLE STUDIES

Tempera and oil on wood panel, Nicola Filotesio (c. 1480-1559), Picture Gallery, Vatican

The Assumption of the VirginThe Feast of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15,when the Sun is in its dignity in the zodiacal sign of Leo.

solar journey. Then comes thePassover, when the Sun passes over theequator. This is the time of Easter,when the Sun is at his eastern node,and this crossing of the equator issymbolized by the crossification orcrucifixion, so called, of the Savior.

The Sun then goes into the sign ofAries, the Ram, and becomes the Lambof God, which is given for the salva-tion of the world at the time when theplants begin to sprout. In order that thesacrifice may be of benefit to man,however, he (the Sun) must ascend intothe heavens where his rays will havepower to ripen the grape and the corn,and so we have the feast of Whit-Sunday and the Ascension of theSavior to the Throne of the Father,which is at the summer solstice inJune. There the Sun remains for threedays, when the saying “Thence he shallreturn” takes effect as the Sun com-mences his passage towards the western node.

Thence he passes into the sign Leo, the Lion ofJudah, and we have the feast of the Assumption, onAugust 15, in Leo. Next he traverses the signVirgo, the Virgin, the nativity of the virgin, whoseems, as it were, to be born from the Sun.

The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles occurred at thetime when the Sun was crossing the equator on itspassage into the winter months, and this feast wasaccompanied by the weighing in of the corn andthe harvest of the wine, which were the gifts of thesolar God to his human worshipers. Thus all thefeasts of the year are connected with the motionsof the stars through space.

MELCHIZEDEKWe are told that Melchizedek was king of Salem

and also a high priest. We are told that his priest-hood was far above that of Aaron, for it wasunchangeable, while that of Aaron and the Leviteswas subject to frequent change.

During the times of which we have record in his-tory, there has been a division of the temporal andthe ecclesiastical powers. Moses was the temporal

ruler and leader of the Jewish people, while Aaronwas the priest who looked after their spiritual wel-fare. Down the ages this division of the church andthe state has ever been apparent, at times causinggreat strife and bloodshed, for their interests seemever to be diametrically opposite. However, at thetime of this Melchizedek, king of Salem, whichinterpreted means “peace,” there was no such division,the two offices were combined in one individual.

The story of Melchizedek, a being without earthlypedigree, refers, of course, to the time in earlyAtlantis when humanity had not yet been dividedinto warring nations, but were one vast, peacefulbrotherhood, and the leaders of the people wereDivine Beings, who were both kings and priests.The later division of the church and state has beenone of the most fruitful sources of enmity and waramong humanity, for each of these powers hasstriven for supremacy over the other. In realitythere should be no prejudice, for no one who is notas spiritual as a priest should be is fit to rule as aking; and no one who is not as wise and just as aking should be is fit to have the spiritual guidanceof humanity as have the priests.

RAYS 99 25

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

Abraham Meets Melchizedek

Artists have represented Abraham’s meeting with the Atlantean Hierarch as aprefiguring of the Adoration of the Magi and a sign of the Christian Eucharist.

When these qualities are combined in one leaderagain, the reign of universal peace and brotherhoodwill become a fact. The Christ has been heralded assuch a leader, capable of uniting church and state asking and priest after the order of Melchizedek. HisSecond Coming inaugurates the millennium, theage of peace and joy, where the symbolical NewJerusalem, the city of peace (for Jerusalemmeans“there shall be peace,”) reigns over the nations ofthe Earth, united into one universal brotherhood.

THE APOSTLES’ CREED ANDTHE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY

The Apostles’ Creed was not composed untilcenturies after they had passed away, and then itwas taken to embody what they had believed.Neither they nor the Bible teach the resurrection ofthe body. That phrase is not to be found in theGood Book at all. In King James’version we readthat “though after my skin worms destroy thisbody, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:26).This passage is the chief reliance of those whoendeavor to establish that absurd doctrine.However, the translators appointed by King Jameswere poor Hebrew scholars, and most of them diedbefore the translation was completed. In the RevisedVersion you will find another interpretation as fol-lows: “And after my skin, even this body, isdestroyed; then without my flesh shall I see God.”

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom ofGod; therefore what in the world would be the useof having a body such as we have now? Further-more, this body must be perpetuated at the presenttime, and we hear that in the resurrection thereshall neither be marrying nor giving in marriage,another argument that shows that a vehicle of a dif-ferent kind from the flesh will be used. Besides, itis a well-known, well-established scientific factthat the atoms in our bodies are constantly comingand going. Now, if there is to be a resurrection ofthe body, which set of atoms is to be that whichshall come forth in this resurrection? Or, if everyatom that ever was in our body from birth to deathis to be in that resurrection body, would it not be anenormous conglomeration, for we should thenhave immense bodies composed of layers; in fact,it would be a scientific conundrum. Now, as Paul

says, the seed is put in the ground each time togather a new body (I Cor. 15).

“Go ye into all the world and preach thegospel to every creature.”

The meaning of the Christ’s words obviouslyrests upon the interpretation of the word “world.”If by that word we understand the whole Earth, itmay be right to send missionaries to foreign coun-tries; but the Bible tells us that the disciples towhom the command was given returned after hav-ing accomplished their mission, showing that wordof command could not have been meant to includethe whole Earth. In this connection the word “world”should rather have been given the interpretation“polity,” which will also be found in some of ourdictionaries as another meaning for the word.

At the time of Christ people did not know thewhole world. We find even to this day the west-ernmost cape of Spain called Finisterre—the endof the Earth. Therefore this term at the time whenChrist spoke His command could not have includ-ed the whole Earth as we know it today. The state-ment is, therefore, not contrary to Bible teachings.It is wrong to send missionaries out to the peoplewe call “heathen,” for their development is as yetsuch that they cannot understand a religion whichpreaches love to one’s neighbor, a religion whicheven we have not yet learned to practice.

Besides, if the great Recording Angels who havecharge of man’s evolution are capable of judgingour needs, and placing each one in the environ-ment where he will find the influences most con-ducive to progression, we must also believe thatthey have given to each nation the religion mostsalutary to its unfoldment.

Therefore, when a man has been placed in acountry where the Christian religion is taught, thatreligion holds the ideal for which he should strive.But to try to force it upon other people who havebeen placed in a different sphere is to set our judg-ment up as greater than the judgment of God andHis ministers, the Recording Angels. It is safest torest in the religion of our country, to study andpractice that, leaving to other nations the privilege ofdoing the same in respect to their own religions. ❐

—Max Heindel

26 RAYS 99

IN LEARNING ASTROLOGY, we firstapply ourselves to learning the general prin-ciples thereof; we learn the general idea ofsigns, houses, planets, aspects, qualities,dignities, etc. Then we concentrate our

attention more specifically on each one of thesefactors and each part of each factor, until we havea good basic knowledge of what each part signi-fies. This is the involutionary part of astrology, inwhich the student has gone from the whole to theparts. He started with a general understanding ofastrology as a whole, and then, one by one, singledout each separate factor for careful examination.

After having gone through the involutionarystage, the astrology student next earnestly beginsto apply his knowledge to individual horoscopes.He tries to recombine the several separate factorsin the horoscope according to the various place-ments and configurations found there, to arrive ata composite picture of the whole. This is the evo-lutionary part of astrology, in which the whole isbuilt up out of the parts. Each piece is fitted togetherwith the others, one at a time, as in a puzzle, untilthe complete picture appears.

But, as is so often said, the whole is more thanthe sum of the parts (though in astrology, thewhole is built up out of a synthesisof the parts). Inaddition to involution and evolution, there is athird factor in the development of man—Epigenesis. This is the capacity to initiate some-thing that did not exist previously as potential. It isthe power to introduce new forces and new trendsthat are an outgrowth of past causes. It is the powerthat man has to change his future no matter what

the past may have been or the present may be. It isthe power that can eventually raise man to thestature of the gods and free him from being thepuppet of fate. It is creativity in the true sense.Epigenesis implies free will, and as discussed inthe last Ray’s article [September/October], this isexactly what the astrologer should be aiming toawaken in people. The will is generally strength-ened as a direct function of evolutionary progress,

RAYS 99 27

HoroscopeInterpretation

Part 3

ASTROLOGY

Liber Diviorum Operum, Hildegarde von Bingen (1098-1179), Biblioteca Lucca, Florence

In one of her last visions, the medieval German mystic,Hildegarde von Bingen, perceives in spirit the “Wheel of theWorld” surrounded by the twelve creative hierarchies (fourgroups of three animal heads in cardinal directions)—allconstituting the cosmic body of the Son, colored red in theoriginal. The Father encompasses and unifies the totality.

for greater self-mastery brings more power tochoose as the Spirit wills and not as the lower selfdesires. The astrologer who follows the natural lawof evolution in his horoscope interpretation stimu-lates people’s consciousness accordingly and, thus,makes it possible for them to exercise moreEpigenesis.

The more self-knowledge a person has and themore knowledge he has of the choices that he mustface, the more self-control he will be able to exer-cise, the more intelligently he will be able tochoose, and the more possibility he will have tomake entirely fresh choices that were not indicatedpreviously. Astrologers, take note! To help a per-son understand himself and to help him be an indi-vidual is to help him be more creative and morefree. Such is the mission of the true astrologer.

To do a horoscope interpretation that movesfrom the whole to the parts creates a backgroundimpression of being “taken apart.” This does notcreate a great deal of discomfort for many peoplebecause that is similar to the line of involutionwhich they have followed in the past, and of whichthey are therefore most conscious. For the samereason, this method seems to many astrologers tobe more comfortable and easier to use.

To do an interpretation from the parts to thewhole creates a background impression of being“put together,” which for several reasons can besomewhat uncomfortable for both the astrologerand the person he is helping. First, it is relativelyunfamiliar to our consciousness, and therefore,requires a more creative effort on the part of boththe astrologer and the person—effort that we areoften reluctant to make. Second, we are so used tohaving our lives divided into separate parcels thatit is sometimes a bit disquieting to feel the insula-tion being removed. But this second method is theone most productive of the kind of results that thespiritually-minded astrologer wants to produce.

It is understandable why the method of inter-preting horoscopes from the parts to the whole(henceforth called the “evolutionary method”) hasfallen into some disfavor as of late, aside from theabove reason. Just as it is not possible to have evo-lution without preceding involution, so also it isnot possible to use the evolutionary method of

chart interpretation with much success until thenecessary involutionary work has been done. Agood basic grasp of signs, planets, houses, aspects,elements, qualities, horoscope calculations, etc.,must be in place before any serious attempt atinterpretation can be made.

Aha! Now there is the sticking point. In the pastthere has not been enough clear understanding ofthe difference between the several astrological fac-tors and their several parts. A whole cannot be builtup of the parts until those parts are first entirelyseparated from each other so that they may berecombined according to the proper design.

So often, definitions are given that list differentqualities without making clear any real qualitativedifferences. When the astrologer tries to put suchdefinitions together in interpreting a horoscope, hefirst has to wrestle with a cumbersome list of qual-ities; if he manages that, he ends up with such aconfusion of contradictions and unrelated state-ments that only the most persevering and imagina-tive of people can make a success of it.

A builder who constructs buildings from scratchhas a limitless choice of designs, while the onewho uses prefabricated materials is extremely lim-ited in what he can do because certain parts arealready attached to certain other ones in specificways, and he is therefore limited by the design ofthe one who devised the prefabrication.

So much of what has been handed down by tra-ditional astrology is prefabrication, designed onthe concepts of group consciousness, in whicheveryone fits into a similar mold. Certain astrolog-ical concepts have been attached to certain otherones in definite patterns which may have been per-fectly valid and applicable in the past, but whichare less and less suitable as we move toward theAquarian Age. The development of the individualdemands the development of individual patterns.The old prefabrications must be disassembled sothat in getting down to the basic building blocks,we will be free to build up any individual wholewhich the pattern of the horoscope calls for.Examples of prefabricated notions in astrology canbe found in the blur among signs, houses, andplanets, in which, for instance, such notions as “thefirst house equals Aries equals Mars.” While these

28 RAYS 99

three factors may have a definite relationship toone another, they signify entirely different view-points.

In previous articles of this series, we havetried to make distinctions that would avoid suchconfusions as the above. However, we real-ize that these efforts are at best fee-ble and not at all entirely adequateor complete. We hope that otherastrologers of a spiritual bentwill be able to improveupon them in their ownapplications of the princi-ples given here.

To get a clearer pictureof how to interpret thechart, let us considermore closely how a build-ing is constructed, and thendraw the proper analogy to ahoroscope interpretation.

First, the architect ascertainsthe need for a building and thendraws up blueprints of an appro-priate nature. He next contractsvarious phases of the work to dif-ferent craftsmen. Each craftsmancontributes his skill to the con-struction of the building, addingto what the previous one has done and preparingthe way for what the next one will do. Finally, thebuilding is finished and ready for occupancy.

First, the astrologer ascertains the need of onewho comes to him for an interpretation, requestinga written statement of his reasons. Then, he drawsup appropriate plans; which is to say, he calculatesthe horoscope. Next, he calls on the craftsmen;meaning that he calls on his knowledge of the sev-eral astrological factors and fits them togetheraccording to the pattern of the horoscope. Eachfactor builds upon the previous one and preparesthe way for the one to follow. Finally, the interpre-tation is complete and ready for the person to takeand act upon.

Now let us be more specific. Assuming the cal-culations done, the method of building the partsinto a whole is as follows: the planets are first con-

sidered separately, as they are the motivatingforces in the horoscope. Each planet will tell whatfacet of character is being considered, such asinner strength of character (Sun), mode of thought(Mercury), mode of feeling (Venus), etc. The sign

position of each planet will tell in whatmanner each facet of character (plan-

et) basically is being influenced.The house position of each

planet will show in whatarea of life the particularfacet of character (planet)that is being influenced(sign) will be mostactive. Along with eachparticular planet, con-sider if there are anyplanets in the sign that it

rules and what house orhouses that sign covers.

This will show what addi-tional forces are affected by the

first planet, and in what addi-tional areas it tends to operatestrongly.

After each planet (or, moreaccurately, each sign-planet-house combination) thus hasbeen considered separately,

aspects showing how these different factors inter-relate with each other can be taken into account.

Lastly, major patterns such as element emphasisand quality emphasis can be considered as show-ing general trends. Thus, the whole patternemerges in the end.

There is a saying that we are three people: theperson we think we are, the person other peoplethink we are, and the person we really are. Thesethree are indicated respectively by the Moon, theAscendent, and the Sun, and it seems best to startwith these three in a horoscope interpretation. Letus make a tentative list of the order in which toconsider the planets, realizing that modificationsmay be necessary in certain cases.

1. Sun—Sense of purpose and inner strengthof character.

2. Moon—Self-concept.

RAYS 99 29

From Viatorium, Michael Maier, Oppenheim, 1618

Signs and words designating the creativeenergies sourcing “Wonderful Nature”include the twelve zodiacal hierarchies,the seven planetary spirits, and the fouretheric elements (earth, air, fire, and water).

3. Ascendent—How others see us; outwardappearances and actions.

4. Mercury—Mode of thought.5. Venus—Mode of feeling.6. Mars—Mode of initiative.7. Midheaven—Conduct in positions of author-

ity; opportunities for spiritual advancement.8. Jupiter—Spirit of helpfulness and being

helped; philosophical attitudes. 9. Saturn—Mode of consideration and thought-

fullness toward and from others. 10. Uranus—Mode of intuition, inspired idea-

tion, impartiality, and perception of the emotional states of others.

11. Neptune—Mode of heightened awareness, inspired understanding, communication with superphysical reality, and perception of the thought of others.

12. Pluto—Mode of co-operation with others as an individual for a common interest.

13. Part of Fortune—(optional) awareness of how to handle opportunities for material

advancement. It will probably be necessary to abandon any set

order when dealing with the aspects, as considera-tion of one aspect will often lead naturally to thenext. After the aspects and general patterns havebeen examined, a general summary may be inorder, depending on the situation.

The astrologer should tell the person for whomhe is interpreting about his evolutionary method ofchart interpretation in order to avoid prematureobjections. A part by itself may often seem veryawkward until it has been connected to all theother parts, just as the pieces of a puzzle by them-selves, or in partial combination, tend to be so. Thewhole picture is built up one piece at a time, andfinal judgment is reserved until the picture iscomplete. The astrologer is able to say only onething at a time, and although he may saysomething that seems a little out of place, it maynot be so when the additional information is addedto complete the picture. ❐

—Karl Kleinstick

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This CD is useful for readers who want all of the original English texts of the RosicrucianFellowship’s esoteric Christian teachings. It is helpful also for those who read the translations of MaxHeindel’s works and desire the original English texts for comparative reference.

Invaluable in preparing lectures and conducting topical research. Contains the Complete Index ofBookswhich alphabetically catalogues hundreds of subjects by book and page number.

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THE COMPLETE WORKS OF MAX HEINDEL ON COMPACT DISK—WITH ASTRO-CLOCK SCREEN SA VER

www.rosicrucian.comCOMPLETE WEBSITE ARCHIVE

COLLECTED WORKS OF MAX HEINDEL

THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP

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Version 1.00Copyright 1998

English

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The screen saver displays an“astro clock” which gives acontinuously updated horo-scope for your (or any other)location. Major Aspects aremarked out in colored lines.

THUNDER ROLLED along the hori-zon for one final drumbeat. Lightningtore the heavens asunder and lit thesolemn faces of the Planetary Lordsgathered about the peace table.

Just then Mars came running in, with his helmetaskew and his scarlet mantle ballooning behindhim. In one quick move he unbuckled his mightysword and sent it clattering into a far corner. Thenhe sat down near Mercury, the silver winged, andsaid loudly, “Wars are erupting like brushfire indry weather, smoke gathers over the fields of bat-tle, and peace conclaves are called! What we needis more action, not so much talk!”

Saturn, entering on the stroke of the cosmichour, as became the Keeper of Time, bent a graveglance upon the impetuous Lord of Mars.

“Cease this rash frivolity,” he commanded. It’stime you attended the School of Wisdom, brother.Since when has action minus thought ever broughtgood? Talk in itself may be childish, but talk witha dedicated purpose moves worlds.”

Lady Moon drew a wisp of cloud veil across herslim shoulders and said with mild patience, “Waitas I do, Young Lord, for the Old Ones to speak.Have you not caused enough damage with yourundisciplined action? When all have contributed,then I, the Intermediary, shall do my part to fructifythe seeds of peace among the men of the earth.”

When the Lady Moon had ceased speaking, thekingly Sun arose, in a whirl of golden clouddraperies, and majestically advanced from histhrone to the table. In royal tones he spoke:

“We meet to give our gifts to the planet Earth, so

that peace shall become a reality in the hearts ofher people. The Evil Powers have led them into thedepths of selfishness and cruelty, but now greatsorrow and suffering are bringing them to a realiza-tion of the folly of war. Peace shall come to earth.”

He paused and drew from his hand a great ringof a single ruby, so radiant that it spilled glorioussunfire in all directions.

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Around the Planetary Peace Table

ASTROLOGY

William Blake (1757-1827), Illustration for Milton’s “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,”Nativity Ode 1, 1809, 25.5 x 19.3 cm, Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester

The Descent of PeaceThe birth of the Prince of Peace in a physical body has con-sequences not only for Earth but also for the harmoniouseffect of planetary energies as they impinge on the Earth.

“This ring I give to symbolize the healing oursuffering Earth must have before life can replacethe death that follows selfishness. I bring her con-fidence in the power of good, prosperity, and suc-cess in right living. Take my life-giving gift, OSorrowful Star. Weep no more. Arise.”

Then they heard a deep sigh as of one ceasingfrom bitter weeping, faintly borne upon the dawnwind, and they knew Earth was aware of the giv-ing of the First Gift.

Now stately Jupiter came forward, his flowingrobes shining with the blue of heaven. He placedupon the table a huge tin-covered tome, heavilyinlaid with gleaming turquoise and amethyst andfilled the far corners of the heavenly hall withsonorous tones of noble kindliness as he spoke:

“I bring my gift for peace on Earth in this sym-bol of truth and wisdom found only in realmsabove the material. May our torn and bleeding sis-ter planet use well my gift and build wiser in yearsto come, for no peace is permanent unless erectedupon the truths of Spirit.” He faced the outer spacewhich lay beyond and held out his mighty arms.“O Earth sister, here is my gift. Learn to walk hap-pily in the ways of the higher self.”

Then through the darkness beyond came a faintglow, pulsing brighter and ever brighter, glad newsthat the Earth took new heart as she received theSecond Gift.

Next came Saturn, with indigo garments con-trasting strangely with the smooth chaste white ofthe onyx covered leaden box held between hisknotted hands. Placing the box upon the table, hesaid slowly:

“I bring you new foundations made from thestern lessons of experience—endurance, patience,and chastity. Build well with my gift, for I, theGreat Reaper, will require full payment at somefuture day. My gift I offer freely, yet you cannotpartake of its treasures unless you learn to obey thelaws of the universe. I sift you and weigh you, Opeople of Earth. Learn, and my gift will prove rich.Resist, and it shall bring only pain.”

Slowly the bent figure moved to his seat. Therewas a dead silence. Then from Earth came a groan,for the Third Gift was as myrrh of the Magi giving.

From her chair of yellow roses now stepped the

gracious Venus. Tiny cupids smilingly carried herlustrous golden train. Flowers sprang up at the,touch of her fairy feet. Bluebirds flew about her.Her beautiful eyes shone softly as she glided nearthe table. She held an exquisite vase of gleamingcopper, richly studded with agates, emeralds,opals, and diamonds, which she placed with theother gifts as she spoke in tones sweet and gentle.

“Here is my gift. Take it to your heart and cher-ish it, O Sad Planet, for with it comes harmony andaffection—magnetic powers that will dissolve thegerms of hate and make your hearts new. Here, OSister, is love!”

And now, as the far light grew, a sudden softmusic began within the changing vibrations of theEarth’s aura. It was a sign of the receiving of theFourth Gift.

Then Mars arose slowly, bent forward andpicked up his sword. His beetling brows wrinkledwith intense thought. Then his proud face cleared.He strode forward, holding out the shining sword,as his voice rang like a bugle call.

“Take my sword, brothers. I need it no longer,since peace comes to reign. With it I pledge myorganizing genius, my unconquerable courage, andmy boundless energy. I give this sword of steel tobe forged into things that bless instead of curse.Long ago, O Sister Earth, I would have given thishad you called it forth. Now, with a brave spirit anddauntless strength, strive forward in eternal progress.”

He ceased as all the Planetary Lords broke intospontaneous applause, nodding their heads in deepapproval. Down the distant wind came a mightychoral of human voices, as though men were unitedin singing a thanksgiving. The rosy light was nowshot through with sparkles of diamond blue; thetense heavy atmosphere was lifting.

Then came Uranus with a mantle of rainbowblue tipped in crystal points of light so blindinglybright that none could bear to look long upon it.He, carried in his mighty arms a chest of chal-cedony and opal—brilliant and strangely fascinat-ing as it gleamed through his Aquarian aura. He setit down amid the gifts on the table and unclaspedthe lock. Instantly out shot a magnificent rainbowwhich hung in the air like a shimmering miracle ofGod.

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“This is my gift,”said he. “The rain-bow of hope for thegrace of brother-hood which has nowcome to the Earth.In this prism ofcolor lies thesource-root of everycountry’s flag basedon liberty, truth, andjustice. I give mygift in the newawakening of allpeoples to unity andequality, making aworld governmentpossible. With mylightning I purgedyou, O SorrowfulStar. Now through my vision let me raise you up tothat peace in Christ that passeth all understand-ing.”

The challenging words faded, but the rainbowgrew in brightness, bent to stretch over immeasur-able space, and came to rest upon the distant Earth.Then could be heard the ineffably sweet tones ofthe astral chimes ringing in the giving of the SixthGift.

Now Neptune moved forward with magicalgrace, his robes of iridescence and silver meltingand breaking like waves of foam, his crown blaz-ing with light. In his hands he bore a shining tri-dent of platinum, set with aquamarines and coralsof mystic beauty.

“Lo! my gift is this, great Lords,” came the lur-ing music of his voice. “Arealization of divinity—an ideal of men to become gods. I bring initiationfor those who thus seek the way of divine aware-ness. In the offering of this gift, I lift you up, OSister Earth, so that you may know the wonders ofdivinity.”

Upon this, there came a great symphonic musicout of the mysterious void so vast, so overwhelm-ing, as to sweep through the Hall in waves ofunearthly beauty that made every heart tremble forthe joy that it envisioned. The stars were singing

their great cosmic upswelling to the Father-MotherSpirit.

And this was the giving of the mystic Seventh Gift.Up strode the dark Lord Pluto, in dusky red gar-

ments cunningly woven in black with mysteriousdesigns. From his somber brow a polished lode-stone emanated terrifying sparks of fire; a jewel ofgleaming malachite and red jasper looked out fromhis breast like a huge eye. He held his cuppedhands closed, then slowly opened them as he whis-pered the words:

“See I give the seed which all must plant. Hereinlies the mystery of birth, death, and regeneration. Igive it, though I know Earth man is yet unable torealize the fullness of its message. I must give it sothat man may be taught the mysteries of transmu-tation and thus be prepared to use the secrets yet tobe revealed to him. Take this seed, O men of Earth,and in its planting pray to see life in truth—lifetransmuted from base to realms divine. Carefullytend the seed Pluto gives you!”

Now came a sound as of a giant seed breakingthrough the crust of ground with its new-sproutingpower, and from that far spot gleamed a tiny goldray. This was the giving of the Eighth Gift.

Into the pregnant silence now stepped Mercury,with his staff of climbing wisdom, winged shoes,

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Tapestry, 1909. Morris & Co. weavers. Based on painting of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1896), Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, England

Love Leading the Pilgrim

and silver cap. Light as flashing quicksilver werehis brilliant words that made such a contrast to thegloomy Lord of Death.

“I bear a gift as invisible as air!” he proclaimed.“I shall give to the people of our Sister Planet apair of wings to lift their minds, to give them amemory of all they have seen and an image to cre-ate what they will become. By means of my giftmen shall use thought and reason and never againgive credence to the madness of war. Earth Star, Igive you these wings.”

He flung wide his arms, and a pair of wings,resembling a violet and golden butterfly, flashingwith crystals, seemed to fly down to rest amongthe other gifts.

From the Earth came a clear murmur of approval.And this was the giving of the Ninth Gift.

Finally came the Lady Moon, in flowing robesof green and silver, flecked with pale moonstonesand opalescent pearls. Her fair face glowed with aninner radiance as she floated light as a moonbeam

to the pile of noble gifts given by the Planetary Lords.With one sweep of her bright arms, she

embraced these symbolic offerings, and cried,“Now, at last I may give my gift! Through mymagic touch the children of Earth shall receiveyour gifts and nurture them to full maturity in theirhearts. Angels shall attend them until they come tojoin the ranks of the gods. Peace flows in the musicof my moonlight—wisdom, peace, love, andbrotherhood. Here are your gifts, O Sister Earth.”

She rose to a magnificent height, with stars inher compassionate eyes and trailing moon cloudsfar behind her, gathered all the glory of the heav-ens to her tender bosom where rested the treasureof a lordly host, and then descended with the speedof light into the dimness until she was naught buta spark in the outer spaces.

There ensued a long and vibrant hush. Thenspoke a Voice from the infinite heights above:“Peace on earth, good will to men.” ❐

—Marguerite A. Wing

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Astro-Diagnosis —A Guide to Healing

by Max Heindel and Augusta Foss Heindel

A treatise on medical astrology and the diagnosisof disease from the natal horoscope.

Astro-diagnosis is the science and art of obtaining scientificknowledge regarding disease and its causes and the means ofovercoming it as shown by the planets.

Ninth Edition. 446 pages. Indexed. Paper. Order on page 64. Published by The Rosicrucian Fellowship.

● A recognized classic in its field, this volume is essential to students of the stellar sciencewho are engaged in healing or nursing, whether they are attached to the orthodox med-ical school or to the nature-cure school.

● Based on thirty years of intensive research, study, and practical experience by theauthors. Special section: How the Rosicrucians Heal the Sick.

● Complete delineations of 94 example horoscopes from the authors’ files.

IT IS CHARACTERISTIC of the region ofConcrete thought, that the Archetypes whichare there—those of the past, the present, andalso the Archetypes that are forming forwork in future ages—will speak to the

investigator, when he compels by his will power.And they will then tell him of all they are, or willbe, their whole being; their innermost nature is laidbare before him. Also the scroll which we call “thememory of nature,” may be thus interrogated byone who is sufficiently qualified, and anything inthe universe, past or present, may thus be made toyield up its secrets to the investigator who thenobtains a wonderful light upon any subject heundertakes to investigate.

This the writer has often experienced; he has feltillumined through and through; his whole being hasvibrated at the joy of being filled with an intimateknowledge of the most secret and intricate subjects,which have become to him, at such times, as clear asnoon day. And he has felt on such occasions that itwould be possible for him with this information, soeasily obtained, to bring to the world a new and won-derful light, which should dispel all doubt of anyonewho came within its radiance, just as he had himselfbeen convinced and charmed by the volume of thelight he had obtained.

But alas and alack, the illumination gained whenlooking at these wonderful archetypes, the joy feltand the hope engendered, were not greater than thebitter disappointment experienced upon returning tothe body and finding that that which had been learnedcould not be transmitted to the physical world as ithad been perceived; for in yonder spiritual realmthere is neither beginning nor end to any subject that

we may investigate. Here we begin to tell a storyword for word from beginning to end; there thewhole idea is impressed upon us at once in its entire-ty, and the difficulty in getting things back fromthence lies in finding where to begin and how to end.

It is easier to read in the sidereal light, generallyused by mediums and such people, for there eventsare seen consecutively. But these ethereal recordsgradually fade and are usually lost, even to the mostimportant events, in a few thousand years, while thegreat records in the Region of Concrete Thought, onthe very borderland between matter and spirit, are ofmuch longer duration; in fact they cover the wholeEarth Period.

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Evolution as Shown in the Zodiac

ASTROLOGY

Frontispiece (relief-etched, hand colored), Europe: A Prophecy, William Blake (1757-1827)

The Ancient of DaysJehovah, both Angel and an Elohim (Lords of Form), helpedshape primordial physical matter into myriad cosmic forms.

British M

useum, London

It is a matter of common understanding amongmystics that the evolutionary career of mankind isindissolubly bound up with the divine hierarchieswho rule the planets and the signs of the Zodiac, andthat the passage of the Sun and the planets throughthe twelve signs of the Zodiac marks man’s progressin time and in space. Therefore it is not to be won-dered at that in the course of his investigation into thespiritual development of mankind, the writer has alsoencountered much that deals with the Zodiac, whichis the boundary of our evolutionary sphere at the pre-sent time.

So much has been perceived in the memory ofnature that sheds light upon obscure passages of theBible, and notes have been made from time to timeof different points, but how to collect and collatethese dissociated writings into a united whole hasbeen a great problem for a long time. Even now, thewriter knows and feels that what he has to bring forthis only a very, very weak attempt to set before thestudents that great body of facts which have come tohim through the memory of nature. He feels, how-ever, that this will give a new and more profoundmeaning to the old symbols, and that by passing onwhat has been found he puts himself in line to per-ceive more light.

Concerning the future evolution of planets, theRosicrucian Cosmo-Conceptionteaches, on page256, that “when the beings upon a planet haveevolved to a sufficient degree, the planet becomes aSun—the fixed center of a Solar System. When thebeings there have evolved to a still greater degree,and consequently it has reached its maximum of bril-liancy, it breaks up into a Zodiac, becoming, so tospeak, the womb of a new Solar System.

“Thus the great hosts of Divine beings who, untilthen, were confined upon that Sun, gain freedom ofaction upon a great number of stars, whence they canaffect in different ways the system which grows upwithin their sphere of influence. The planets, or man-bearing worlds, within the Zodiac are constantlybeing worked upon by these forces, but in variousways according to the stage they have reached inevolution.

“Our Sun could not have become a sun until it sentout from itself all the beings who were not suffi -ciently evolved to endure the high rate of vibrationand the great luminosity of the beings who werequalified for that evolution. All the beings upon the

different planets would have been consumed hadthey remained in the Sun.

“This visible Sun, however, though it is the placeof evolution for beings vastly above man, is not byany means the Father of the other planets, as materi-al science supposes. On the contrary it is itself anemanation from thecentral Sun, which is the invisi-ble source of all that is in our solar system. Our visi-ble Sun is but the mirror in which are reflected therays of energy from the spiritual Sun; the real Sun isan invisible as the real Man.”

From this teaching it is apparent that the great spir-itual hierarchies which are now guiding our evolu-tion, have had their training for this path in previousschemes of manifestation, also that what they arenow doing, we shall some day do for others. Alreadythe foremost among our race are treading the path ofinitiation and have thereby advanced into otherstages far beyond the general status of presenthumanity. It has been learned that those who havegone through the Mercurial School of the lesserMysteries and have graduated from the School of theGreater Mysteries are now preparing human evolu-tion in the Jupiter Period. They have entered theplanet Jupiter by way of one of its moons, whichserves as a stepping stone.

Others there are, unfortunately, who have gone theother way. We read in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conceptionthat even as the whole population of theearth was at one time expelled from the present Sunbecause of their inability to keep up with the vibra-tions of the beings thereon, thus hindering them andbeing hindered themselves, so also it became neces-sary in the Lemurian Epoch to expel a number of thestragglers upon earth. Thus the Moon was cast outinto space to revolve as a satellite around our presentplanet. Those unfortunates are gradually degenerat-ing and the time will come when they will all go tothe planet Saturn, which is the door to Chaos. Thencethey will be expelled to interplanetary space to awaitthe time when, in a new system, there will be a favor-able condition for their further evolution.

The Gate of Life and DeathThus the Zodiac and the planets are as a book in

which we may read the history of humanity duringpast ages, and it also gives a key to our future. In thefamous Zodiac in the Temple of Denderah Cancer isnot pictured as we have it in modern days. There it isa beetle, a scarab. [A picture of the Denderah Zodiac

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will appear in the next issue of the Rays.—Ed.] Thiswas the emblem of the soul, and Cancer was alwaysknown in ancient times, as well as among modernmystics, as the sphere of the soul, thegate of Lifeinthe Zodiac, whence the spirits coming into rebirthenter our sublunary conditions. It is therefore aptlyruled by the Moon, which is the planet of fecunda-tion, and it is noteworthy that we find Capricorn,which is its opposite, ruled by Saturn the planet ofDeathand Chaos, who is mystically depicted as thereaper with his scythe and hour glass in hand.

These two opposite signs are therefore turningpoints in the soul’s career. Cancer and Capricornmark the highest ascent of the Sun into the NorthernHemisphere and its lowest descent into the South.Observation shows us that during the summer, whenthe Sun is in the sphere of Cancer and allied signs,fecundation and growth are the order of the day. Butwhen the Sun is in the south, in Capricorn, we havewinter, when nature is dead. The fruits of the summerare then consumed and assimilated by us. As the cir-cle dance of the Sun among the twelve signs deter-mines the seasons of the year when direct—causingthe germination of myriads of seeds cast in the earth,also the mating of the fauna, which then makes theworld alive with the sights and sounds of manifestedlife, and at another time, leaves the world dumb, dulland drear in winter’s gloom, under the sway ofSaturn—so by the slower backward movement,known as the precession of the equinox,does it pro-duce the great changes which we know as Evolution.In fact, this precessional measure of the sun marksthe birth and death of races, nations, and their reli-gions, for the pictorial Zodiac is a symbolical pre-sentation of our past, present and future develop-ment.

CapricornCapricorn, the goat, is not a goat at all as we know

that animal, but part fish and part goat. Its Saturninerulership, and the fact that it receives the Sun at thedawn of each New Year, naturally by analogy associ-ates it with the beginning of precessional epochs. Itrepresents the stage in evolution, covering transitionfrom fish, through amphibia to the mammalian form.The belligerency of the goat, is well known, and anapt symbol of the struggle for existence, in which theweak perish unless able to outdistance their foes. Thisphase of the matter is sometimes expressed in thesymbol, when drawn as part fish and part antelope.

Jacob, in the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy,pronounces blessings upon his children, who sym-bolize the twelve signs; there he speaks of Napthalias a “hind” let loose. This a very apt symbol ofCapricorn, for when the Sun is there at each wintersolstice, it is starting a race through the circle oftwelve signs, which it must complete in a giventime—a year.

SagittariusWhen the sun leaves Capricorn, by precession, it

enters the sign Sagittarius, and this is pictured in thesymbolical Zodiac as a Centaur, part horse and partman. Thus it shows aptly the fact that we haveevolved through the animal stage into the human.

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Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), Dreyfache Leben, 1682, Amsterdam, British Library, London

Threefold LifeThe created world (cosmos) is positioned between Chaos(darkness) below and Divinity (supernal light) above. Three-fold God is symbolized by the omniscient, omnipresent eye(Father), creative light (Son) and the dove of the Holy Spirit.

The centaur is in the act of drawing his bow, showingthat there is something for which the human spirit, onpilgrimage through matter, is seeking; that it aspiresto something that lies beyond it, as a lofty ideal, forthe bow points upward to the stars.

ScorpioThe next step in human unfoldment is not so much

along the physical lines as along the mental, itsnature is shown by the Sun’s passage through thesign Scorpio, which is pictorially represented as aserpent or scorpion, emblems of cunning and subtil-ity. It is plain from this symbol that the first facultyof the mind evolved by infant humanity was cunning,and we still see that that is a characteristic traitamong the lower races, the lower classes and thelower natures even among our present-day humanity.

LibraBut when the Sun enters the sign Libra, “the

Scales,” by precession, the balance of reason giveshim a new start upon the evolutionary path. Underthe care of divine instructors man had at that timeadvanced to the point where because of this new fac-ulty, reason, he could be made fully responsible tonature’s laws, and thus reap what he sows, that hemay learn the lesson of life by actual experience, beable to reason out the connection between cause andeffect, and in time learn to govern himself upon thepath of progress.

VirgoThus, under the guidance of the spiritual hierar-

chies focused through the signs of Capricorn,Sagittarius, Scorpio, and Libra, were man’s physical,moral, and mental attributes acquired, and he wasequipped to commence the spiritual side of his evo-lution. The germ of this progress is hidden in thecelestial virgin, the sign Virgo, which is the vehicleof the immaculate conception, the heavenly motherof Christ; not of one Christ only, but of many. This isone of the most sublime signs of the Zodiac and oneof the most mystic, so fraught with hidden meaningthat its full import can not be fully understood savewhen viewed by the internal light of spiritual illumi-nation. Yearly, at the Winter solstice, the immaculateMadonna is ascendent at midnight, when the newborn Sun commences to rise to the task of growingthe grain and grape, to save humanity from the coldand famine, which would inevitably result were he toremain in the southern declination. The Sun is there-fore an apt symbol of the Savior, born to feed his

flock on the spiritual bread of life. But as we musthave eyes attuned to light to see the Sun, so must theChrist be born within. As Angelus Silesius says:

Though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehembe born

And not within thyself thy soul will be forlorn The Cross on Golgotha thou lookest to in vain Unless within thyself it be set up again.

Therefore, by the precessional passage of the Sunthrough the sign Virgo, the germinal impulse, wasgiven towards the birth of the Christ within. The“mystic marriage” of the lower self to the higher,“the immaculate conception,” and the “divine moth-erhood” which nourishes deep in its bosom, unseenby a scoffing world, “the new born Christ,” is anactual experience of a growing number of people.And without the celestial prototype, fructified by thesolar precession, this would be an impossibility.Neither has this ideal been realized in such fullnessduring the past ages as today. The reason of this willappear when we take up the joint consideration ofopposite signs of the Zodiac.

LeoA great future is in store for this offspring of the

celestial virgin. Listen to the wonderful prophesy ofIsaiah: “for unto us a child is born, unto us a Son isgiven, and the government shall be upon his shoul-ders and his name shall be called Wonderful,Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father,the Prince of Peace, of the increase of His govern-ment and peace there shall be no end.”

Humanity is to rise to a wonderful spiritual heightand this is symbolized by the Sun’s precessional pas-sage through the royal sign Leo, pictorially repre-sented by the king of beasts, the lion. This is an aptallusion to the king of creation, who will thenembody the three great virtues of the Master Man—Strength, Wisdom, and Beauty.

It is wonderful to see the various phases of the reli-gions given to the great Aryo-Semitic race, from thetime they were “called out” in the later third of theAtlantean Epoch, to the end of the Aquarian Age,when a new race will have been definitely born. Thisaspect of the Zodiac will form the subject of our nextarticle. It will shed light on many of the most obscurepassages of the Bible, as only study of this cosmicscience can. ❐

—Max Heindel

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To make this point [of guidance by previouslives’ experience] clear we may perhaps liken thisrecord, graven upon our subtler vehicles, to aphonograph record, which playing, will cause abattery of tuning forks placed near it to vibrate aseach note is struck. From the outward point ofview there seems to be no reason why a certainindentation on a phonographic record should cor-respond to a certain one on the tuning fork, andwhen the needle falls into that indentation, a defi-nite sound should be produced which sets the tun-ing fork vibrating. But whether we understand it ornot, demonstration shows that there is a tie of tonebetween that little indentation and the tuning fork.And this does not depend upon a knowledge ofhow the impress came to be imprinted on therecord, or what caused the tuning fork to respondto that vibration. It is there, whether we know allthe facts about it, or not.

Similarly, when we have had a certain experi-ence in life, be it joyful or the reverse, it is con-densed in the postmortem experience, leaving animpress upon the soul to warn, if the experience ispurgatorial; to urge, if heavenly. And in a later life,when an experience comes up similar to the onewhich caused the impress, the vibration is sensedby the soul; it awakens the tone of pain or pleasure,as the case may be, in the record of the past life, farmore speedily and accurately than if the experi-ence itself were called up before our mind’s eye.For we might not, even at the present time, be able

to see the experience in its true light while we arehampered by the veil of flesh, but the fruit of theexperience, gathered in heaven or hell, tells usunerringly whether to emulate our past, or shun it.

Moreover, supposing we did really know ourpast lives—that by our present endeavors to livewell and worthily we had acquired that faculty.Supposing that we had lived lives of debauchery,cruelty, crime, and selfishness! If people nowdespised us accordingly, we would then hold thatthey ought not to judge us by the past—that they

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The Ring of the NiebelungREBIRTH AND THE LETHAL DRINK

&THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

SPIRITUAL SCIENCE AND ART

This is the last of four consecutive articles which have repro-duced the complete text of Max Heindel’s study of RichardWagner’s four-part opera The Ring of the Niebelung.

Watercolor, 1910, from Rackham’s Color Illustrations for Wagner’s Ring, Arthur Rackham

Erda, the all-knowing earth goddess, appears to admonishWotan to relinquish the ring. Disappearing just as suddenly,she warns Wotan that the race of the gods is doomed.

Dover P

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were wrong in ostracizing us. We would contendthat our present life of worthy endeavor should bemade the basis of judgment, to the exclusion offormer conditions, and in this we should be per-fectly right. But then, for the same reason, whyshould we claim honor in the present life, adula-tion or admiration, because in the past life we werekings and queens? Even if it were true that we hadheld such positions, why should we lay ourselvesopen to the ridicule of skeptics by telling such sto-ries? So, whether we have memory of our pastlives or not, it is better to concentrate our effortsupon the highest possibilities of today.

There is no doubt, that one who is able to searchthe Memory of Nature, and who does so for thesake of investigation in connection with theprogress and evolution of man, will, at some timeor other, come into touch with glimpses of his orher own past. But a true servant who really feelshimself to be a laborer in the vineyard of Christwill never allow himself to swerve from the path ofservice and follow the trail of curiosity. TheDisciple who receives instructions from the ElderBrothers is warned at the first Initiation never touse his power to gratify curiosity, and on all sub-sequent visits to the Temple this idea is dinned intohis ears. The distinctions between the legitimateand illegitimate use of spiritual powers are so fineand so subtle, that, as one grows, the restrictionswhereby one seems beset, multiply to such anextent, that, were the tale told to others, ninety outof a hundred would say: “But what is the use thenof having spiritual sight or of being able to leavethe body? When. you are so restricted, it seemsthat the possibility of trespassing is multiplied tosuch an extent, that there is scarcely any use ofhaving these faculties.” Nevertheless, they are ofgreat value, and the responsibility is only the nat-ural result of added growth.

An animal takes freely anything that it wishes. Itcommits no sin and is not held responsible for itsaction because it knows no better. But as soon asthe idea of “mine” and “thine” has been imprintedupon our consciousness, then also the responsibil-ity comes. As our knowledge grows, so does ourresponsibility; and the finer the soul qualities, thefiner the distinctions between right and wrong.

This we observe in our daily lives, that the stan-dards of the permissible or non-permissible varyaccording to the quality of each individual.

And when we aspire to that power whereby wemay know the past, we shall find that we are nomore justified in using this power for aggrandize-ment than we would be justified in using it toobtain worldly wealth or power. So the life, or thelives, we have led are hidden from us for a pur-pose, until we know how to unlock the door; andwhen we have the key we shall probably not wantto use it. For that reason, then, Siegfried is giventhe lethal drink the moment he enters the court ofGunther, and straightway he forgets about his pastlife with Mime, the dwarf, who claimed him as ason. He forgets how he forged the magic sword,“the courage of despair,” which stood him in suchgood stead in the fight with Fafner, the spirit of

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Watercolor, 1910, from Rackham’s Color Illustrations for Wagner’s Ring, Arthur Rackham

The “lethal” drink Gutrune gives to Siegfried immediatelyupon entering Gunther’s court, causing him to forget hissolemn marriage to Brunhilde (Truth), symbolizes the loss ofmemory of one’s past lives upon entering a new embodiment.

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passion and desire. He forgets that he had thus wonthe Ring of the Niebelung, the emblem of egoism,whereby he gained knowledge of his true spiritualidentity and slew Mime, the personality, whowrongfully claimed to be his progenitor. He for-gets how, as a free Spirit undaunted by fear, hebroke the spear of Wotan, the warder of creed, andfollowed the bird of intuition to the abode of thesleeping spirit of truth. He forgets his marriage toher and the vow of unselfishness, implied when hegave her the ring.

But each and every one of these importantevents has left its impress upon his soul, and nowit is to be tested: whether that impress has beendeep or superficial. Temptation comes to us, lifeafter life, until the treasure laid up in heaven hasbeen tested and tried by temptation on Earth—whether or not it will withstand the moth of cor-ruption. After the Baptism, when the Spirit ofChrist had descended into the fleshy body of Jesus,it was taken into the wilderness of temptation toprove its weakness or its strength. And, similarly,after each heavenly experience we must expect tobe brought back to Earth, that it may be learnedwhether we shall stand or fall in the furnace ofaffliction.

THE TWILIGHT OF THE GODS

When Siegfried reaches the court of Gunther,Gertrune, the fair sister of the king, hands him themagic cup of forgetfulness. Forthwith, he losesmemory of the past and of Brunhilde, the spirit oftruth, and stands a naked soul ready to fight thebattle of life. But he is armed with the sublimatedessence of former experience. The sword ofNothung, the courage of despair, wherewith hefought greed and creed, symbolized by Fafner thedragon and Wotan the god, is still with him; alsoTarncap, or the helmet of illusion, which is an aptsymbol of what we in modern times call hypnoticpower, for whoever put this magic cap on his headappeared to others in whatever shape he desired;and he has Brunhilde’s horse Grane, discernment,whereby he, himself, might always perceive truthand distinguish it from error and illusion. He stillhas powers which he may use for good or evilaccording to choice.

As we have said previously, our idea of what

truth is changes as we progress. We are graduallyclimbing the mountain trail of evolution, and as wedo phases of truth appear which we never beforeperceived; and what is right at one stage, is wrongat another. Though, whenever we are in the fleshwe see through the veil of illusion symbolized byLoge’s flame which encircles the rock of Brunhilde,her swift charger Grane, discernment, is also withus; and if we only give him free rein, the materialbrain mind, which is charged with the lethal drinkof forgetfulness, can never gain the ascendancyover the Spirit.

The early Atlantean Epoch, when mankind livedas guileless “Children of the Mist” (Niebelung) inthe foggy basins of the Earth, is represented in theRhinegold. The later Atlantean time is an age ofsavagery, where mankind has forsworn love, asAlberich did, and forms “the Ring” of egoism,where it devotes its energies to material acquisi-tions symbolized by “the hoard” of the Niebelung,

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Watercolor, 1910, from Rackham’s Color Illustrations for Wagner’s Ring, Arthur Rackham

When Siegfried marries Brunhilde (truth) he acquires thefaculty of discrimination, symbolized by her horse Grange.

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over which giants, gods, and men fight with savagebrutality and low cunning, as set forth in the “TheValkuerie.”

The early Aryan Epoch marks the birth of theidealist, symbolized as the “Walsungs” (Siegmund,Sieglinda, and Siegfried), a new race which aspireswith a sacred ardor to new and higher things—valorous knights who had the courage of their con-victions and were ever ready to fight for truth asthey saw it, and to give their lives as forfeit to upholdtheir heartfelt convictions. Thus the age of realisticsavagery gave place to an era of idealistic chivalry.

We are now in the latter part of the Aryan Epoch.The truth seekers of the past have again left thefire-girt rock of Brunhilde. We have again assumedthe veil of flesh and partaken of the lethal drink,and we are today actually playing the last part ofthe great epic drama, “The Twilight of the Gods,”which is identical in its import with our ChristianApocalypse. “The gospel of the Kingdom”has beenpreached to us, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life”has been opened to us, as it was to Siegfried; andwe are on trial now, as he was at Gunther’s court,to see if we will live as “married to truth,” orwhether we will drag her from her retreat and pros-titute her, as Siegfried did.

In order to gain the hand of Gutrune, he wrestedthe emblem of egoism, the Ring of the Niebelung,

from Brunhilde’s hand and put it on his fingeragain; he bound her and carried her to Gunther tobe his wife; he prostituted her, and himself com-mitted adultery with Gutrune—for having oncemarried truth, it is spiritual adultery to seek thehonors of the world.

Heaven and Earth are outraged at this colossalbetrayal of truth. The great World-Ash, the tree oflife and being, shakes at its root, where Urd, Skuld,and Verdande, the past, present, and future, spinthe thread of fate. It grows dark on Earth; Hagen’sspear finds the only vulnerable point in Siegfried’sbody—his life is the forfeit, and as the highestideal of the age has failed, there is no use in per-petuating the existing order of things. Therefore,Heimdal, the heavenly watchman, sounds histrumpet, and the gods ride in solemn processionover the rainbow bridge for the last time, to meetthe giants in final battle involving the destructionof heaven and Earth.

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The Three NornsAt the root of the great World-Ash, Urd, Skuld, and Verdande,the past, present, and future, spin the thread of fate. Belowthem the Midgaard serpent, like the Ouroboros, bites its tail.

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Watercolor, 1910, from Rackham’s Color Illustrations for Wagner’s Ring, Arthur Rackham

Waltraute implores her Valkerie sister to return the ego-feed-ing ring to the Rhinemaidens to cleanse it of its curse and liftthe doom hanging on the gods. Brunhilde refuses, valuingthe token of Siegfried’s love more than the pomp of Valhalla.

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This is a very significant point: At the openingof the drama we find the Niebelungen “at the bot-tom of the river.” Alberich later forges “the Ring”in fire, which can only burn in the clear atmos-phere such as we have in the Aryan age. Duringthis age the gods also hold their sacred councils atthe rainbow-bridge, which is the reflection of theheavenly fire. When Noah brought the originalSemites through “the Flood,” he kindled the firstfire. “The bow” was then set in the cloud to remainfor the age and during that time it was covenantedthat the alternating cycles, summer and winter, dayand night, et cetera, should not cease.

In the Apocalypse (4:3), John is offered instruc-tion concerning “things which must be hereafter,”by One having a rainbow around Him; and later(10:16), a mighty Angel with a rainbow on its headsolemnly proclaims the end of time. Thus it isplain from the northern myth and the Christianteaching, that the epoch began when the bow wasset in the cloud; when the bow is removed theepoch will end and a new condition of things phys-ical and spiritual, will be ushered in.

The other phenomenon attending this time oftrouble is set forth in the ancient myth. Loge, thespirit of illusion, has three children: the MidgaardSerpent which encircles the Earth, biting its owntail, is the ocean which refracts and distorts everyobject immersed therein. Men fear the treacherouselement; their cheeks have always paled at thethought of what it may do when unleashed. Thewolf Fenris, the atmosphere, is also a child of illu-sion (optical), and the dread roar of the tempestmay strike fear into the stoutest heart. Hel, death,is the third of Loge’s children, and the “queen ofterrors.” Before man entered concrete existence, asdescribed in the beginning of the great myth and inGenesis, his consciousness was focused in the spir-itual worlds where the illusive elements, Loge(fire), Fenris (air), and the Serpent (water), arenonexistent; hence, death also was an unknownquantity. But during the present epoch when theconstitution of the human body is subject to theaction of the elements, death also holds sway.

At the sound of the trumpet of Heimdal, all thefactors of destruction press forward to the plainVigrid, the counterpart of Armageddon, where the

gods of creed and their sworn supporters haveassembled to make a last stand. The sons ofMuspel (physical fire), press forward from thesouth, demolishing the rainbow bridge. The FrostGiants advance from the north. With an awful roar,Fenris, the tempest-driven atmosphere, rushesupon the Earth. So terrific is its velocity that thefriction generates fire, hence it is said that its lowerjaw is upon the Earth, its upper reaches the Sun,and fire streams from its nostrils. It swallowsWotan, the god in charge of the age of air, when thebow was in the cloud. The Midgaard Serpent orwatery element is vanquished by Thor, the god ofthunder and lightning, but when the electrical dis-charges have finally disposed of the element,water, there can be no thunder and lightning, hencethe northern myth informs us that Thor dies of thefumes from the Serpent. In our Christian Apocalypsewe also hear of thunders and lightnings, and aretold that finally “there shall be no more sea.”

But as the Phoenix arises rejuvenated and beau-tiful from its ashes, so also a New Earth, fairer andmore ethereal, was seen by the ancient prophetessto arise from the great conflagration where “the

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Watercolor, 1910, from Rackham’s Color Illustrations for Wagner’s Ring, Arthur Rackham

Air god Wotan rallies to do battle with fire breathing Fenris.

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elements melt with fervent heat”—“Gimle,” shecalled it. Nor was it without population, for whilethe great conflagration was in progress a man anda woman called Lif and Liftharaser (lif means life)were saved and from them springs a new racewhich lives in peace and close to God.

A hall I see, More brilliant than the sun, Roofed with gold. On the summit of Gimle, There shall liveA virtuous race, And enjoy blessednessTo eternity. Thither cometh the Mighty One, all-Father, To the council of the gods, In His strength from above. He who thinketh for all, Issueth judgments; He causeth strife to cease, And establisheth peace To endure forever.

Thus the ancient northern myth teaches, butfrom a different angle, the same truths as found ingreater fullness in the Christian Scriptures fromGenesis to the Apocalypse, and it is important thatwe should realize the truth of these tales. Thereare, alas, too many in the class described by Peteras saying:

“Where is the promise of His coming? For sincethe fathers fell asleep, all things continue as theywere in the beginning.”

There are few who realize the import of thestatement in the second chapter of Genesis, that “amist went up from the ground and watered the earthbefore it rained,” and that thus the children of themist must have been physiologically different fromthe man of today who breathes air since “the Flood,”when the mist condensed and became the sea.

But just as sure as these changes happened in thepast, so there is now another change impending. True,it may not come in our time—“that hour knowethno man, neither the Angels, neither the Son,” andrepeatedly the warning of Noah is held up beforeus in this connection. In that day they ate anddrank, married and were given in marriage, but sud-

denlythe waters engulfed them and all who had notevolved the physiological requisites, lungs, neces-sary to live in the new condition perished. The Arkcarried the pioneers safely through the catastrophe.

To make the next change safely, a Wedding Gar-ment is required, and it is of utmost importance thatwe should work upon it. The same soma psuchiconor “soul body” which Paul mentions (1 Cor. 15:44)is an etheric vehicle of paramount importance; forwhen the present elements have been dissolved inthe impending change, how shall we survive if wecan function only in a dense body as now?

The Germano-Anglo-Saxon race will of coursebe succeeded by two more before the Sixth Epochis definitely ushered in, but today, and from ourstock, there is being prepared the seed for the NewAge. It is exactly the mission of the RosicrucianOrder, working through the Rosicrucian Fellowship,to promulgate a scientific method of developmentsuited particularly to the Western people wherebythis Wedding Garment may be wrought, so that wemay hasten the day of the Lord. ❐

—Max Heindel

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Watercolor, 1910, from Rackham’s Color Illustrations for Wagner’s Ring, Arthur Rackham

Realizing the need to purge the world of the ring’s curse,Brunhilde, astride Grange, mounts Siegfried’s funeral pyre.

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The integration of art, science, and religion is one of theobjectives of Western Wisdom Teachings. Efforts in thisdirection are being made from other quarters as well—underduress. As the beauty and integrity of our planet are beingseverely compromised by human ignorance, negligence andgreed, scientists and religious leaders are working togetherto alert and educate the general public about their imperiledenvironmental and to rally all concerned citizens to takeremedial action. We are reprinting three documents, in theorder of their public presentation, that express this concernfor an endangered planet: (1) An appeal by concerned sci-entists to “the religious community” to help resolve the envi-ronmental crisis; (2) a joint declaration by scientists andreligious leaders to the U.S. Congress and; (3) a petition by“senior religious leaders” delivered to Congress.

OPEN LETTER TO THE RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY

FROM CONCERNED SCIENTISTS , January 1990

The Earth is the birthplace of our species and,as far as we know, our only home. When ournumbers were small and our technology

feeble, we were powerless to influence the envi-ronment of our world. But today, suddenly, almostwithout anyone’s noticing, our numbers havebecome immense and our technology has achievedvast, even awesome, powers. Intentionally or inad-vertently, we are now able to make devastatingchanges in the global environment, an environ-ment to which we and all other beings with whichwe share the Earth are meticulously and exquisite-ly adapted.

We are now threatened by self-inflicted, swiftly-moving environmental alterations about whoselong-term biological and ecological consequenceswe are still painfully ignorant: depletion of the pro-tective ozone layer; a global warming unprece-

dented in the last 150 millennia; the obliteration ofan acre of forest every second; the rapid-fireextinction of species; and the prospect of a globalnuclear war which would put at risk most of thepopulation of the Earth. There may well be othersuch dangers of which we are still unaware.Individually and cumulatively, they represent atrap being set for the human species, a trap we aresetting for ourselves. However principled and lofty(or naive and shortsighted) the justifications mayhave been for the activities that brought forth thesedangers, separately and taken together they nowimperil our species and many others. We are closeto committing—many would argue we are alreadycommitting—what in religious language is some-times called Crimes against Creation.

By their very nature these assaults on the

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Religion, Scienceand

the Environment

RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC REALM

Oil on canvas, 1849, Asher Durand. New York Public Library

Kindred SpiritsDurand depicts early America as a natural Eden.

environment were not caused by any one politicalgroup or any one generation. Intrinsically, they aretransnational, transgenerational and transideologi-cal. So are all conceivable solutions. To escape these

traps requires a perspective that embraces the peo-ples of the planet and all the generations yet tocome.

Problems of such magnitude, and solutionsdemanding so broad a perspective, must be recog-nized from the outset as having a religious as wellas a scientific dimension. Mindful of our commonresponsibility, we scientists, many of us longengaged in combating the environmental crisis,urgently appeal to the world religious communityto commit, in word and deed, and as boldly as isrequired, to preserve the environment of the Earth.

Some of the short-term mitigations of thesedangers, such as greater energy efficiency, rapidbanning of chlorofluorocarbons, or modest reduc-tions in nuclear arsenals, are comparatively easyand at some level are already underway. But other,more far-reaching, long-term, and effectiveapproaches will encounter widespread inertia,denial and resistance. In this category are conver-sion from fossil fuels to a nonpolluting energyeconomy, a continuing swift reversal of the nucleararms race, and a voluntary halt to world populationgrowth without which many other approaches topreserve the environment will be nullified.

As with issues of peace, human rights, andsocial justice, religious institutions can be a strongforce here, too, in encouraging national and inter-national initiatives in both the private and publicsectors, and in the diverse worlds of commerce,

education, culture and mass communications. The environmental crisis requires radical

changes not only in public policy, but also in indi-vidual behavior. The historical record makes clearthat religious teaching, example and leadership areable to influence personal conduct and commit-ment powerfully.

As scientists, many of us have had profoundexperiences of awe and reverence before the uni-verse. We understand that what is regarded assacred is more likely to be treated with care andrespect. Our planetary home should be so regard-ed. Efforts to safeguard and cherish the environ-ment need to be infused with a vision of the sacred.At the same time, a much wider and deeper under-standing of science and technology is needed. Ifwe do not understand the problem, it is unlikely wewill be able to fix it. Thus, there is a vital role forboth religion and science.

We know that the well-being of our planetaryenvironment is already a source of profound con-cern in your councils and congregations. We hopethis appeal will encourage a spirit of commoncause and joint action to help preserve the Earth.[Here followsthe names of signers]

DECLARA TION OF “ THE M ISSION TO WASHINGT ON”—A JOINT APPEAL BY RELIGION AND SCIENCE FOR

THE ENVIRONMENT, Washington D.C. May 12, 1992

We are people of faith and of science who,for centuries, often have traveled differ-ent roads. In a time of environmental

crisis, we find these roads converging. As thismeeting symbolizes, our two ancient, sometimesantagonistic, traditions now reach out to oneanother in a common endeavor to preserve thehome we share.

We humans are endowed with self-awareness,intelligence and compassion. At our best, we cher-ish and seek to protect all life and the treasures ofthe natural world. But we are now tampering withthe climate. We are thinning the ozone layer andcreating holes in it. We are poisoning the air, theland and the water. We are destroying the forests,grasslands and other ecosystems. We are causingthe extinction of species at a pace not seen since

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“For humans to cause species to becomeextinct and destroy the biological diversityof God’s creation, to degrade the integrityof the Earth by causing changes in its cli-mate, stripping the earth of its naturalforests, or destroying the wetlands...to con-taminate the earth’s waters, its land, itsair, and its life with poisonous substances—these are sins.”

Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I

the end of the age of the dinosaurs. As a result,many scientific projections suggest a legacy forour children and grandchildren of compromisedimmune systems, increased infectious disease andcancer rates, destroyed plants and consequent dis-ruption of the food chain, agriculture damagedfrom drought and ultraviolet light, accelerateddestruction of forests and species, and vastlyincreased numbers of environmental refugees.

Many perils may be still undiscovered. The bur-dens, as usual, will fall most cruelly upon theshoulders of the poorest among us, especially uponchildren. But no one will be unaffected. At thesame time, the human community grows by aquarter of a million people every day, mostly in thepoorest nations and communities. That this crisiswas brought about in part through inadvertencedoes not excuse us. Many nations are responsible.The magnitude of this crisis means that it cannotbe resolved unless many nations work together. Wemust now join forces to that end.

Our own country is the leading polluter onEarth, generating more greenhouse gases, espe-cially CO2 , than any other country. Not by wordalone but by binding action, our nation has aninescapable moral duty to lead the way to genuinelyeffective solutions. We signers of this declaration—-leaders in religion and science—-call upon ourgovernment to change national policy so that theUnited States will begin to ease, not continue toincrease, the burdens on our biosphere and theireffect upon the planet’s people.

We believe that science and religion, workingtogether, have an essential contribution to maketoward any significant mitigation and resolution ofthe world environmental crisis. What good are themost fervent moral imperatives if we do not under-stand the dangers and how to avoid them? Whatgood is all the data in the world without a steadfastmoral compass? Many of the consequences of ourpresent assault on the environment, even if haltedtoday, will take decades and centuries to playthemselves out. How will our children and grand-children judge our stewardship of the Earth? Whatwill they think of us? Do we not have a solemnobligation to leave them a better world and toinsure the integrity of nature itself? Insofar as our

peril arises from a neglect of moral values, humanpride, arrogance, inattention, greed, improvidence,and a penchant for the short-term over the long,religion has an essential role to play. Insofar as ourperil arises from our ignorance of the intricateinterconnectedness of nature, science has an essen-tial role to play.

Dif ferences of perspective remain among us. Wedo not have to agree on how the natural world wasmade to be willing to work together to preserve it.On that paramount objective we affirm a deepsense of common cause.

Commitment to environmental integrity and jus-tice, across a broad spectrum and at the highestlevel of leadership, continues to grow in the UnitedStates religious community as an issue of utmostpriority—-significantly as a result of fruitful con-versations with the scientific community. We

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© 1986 Robert Lentz

St. Francis of AssisiIn treating the human body, the Hippocratic Oath enjoinsdoctors to do no harm. This prescription applies as well tothe body of our Lord Christ—the Earth, reverence for whichmight well designate St. Francis as ecology’s patron saint.

believe that the dimensions of this crisis are stillnot sufficiently taken to heart by our leaders, insti-tutions and industries. We accept our responsibilityto help make known to the millions we serve andteach the nature and consequences of the environ-mental crisis, and what is required to overcome it.

We believe that our current economic behaviorand policies emphasize short-term individualmaterial goals at the expense of the common goodand of future generations. When we consider thelong-term as well as the short-term costs, it seemsclear that addressing this problem now rather thanlater makes economic as well as moral sense. Weimpoverish our own children and grandchildren byinsisting that they deal with dangers that we couldhave averted at far less cost in resources andhuman suffering.

We reaffirm here, in the strongest possibleterms, the indivisibility of social justice and thepreservation of the environment. We also affirmand support the indigenous peoples in the protec-tion and integrity of their cultures and lands. Webelieve the wealthy nations of the North, whichhave historically exploited the natural and humanresources of the Southern nations, have a moralobligation to make available additional financialresources and appropriate technology to strengthentheir capacity for their own development. Webelieve the poor and vulnerable workers in ourown land should not be asked to bear dispropor-tionate burdens. And we must end the dumping oftoxic waste materials disproportionately in com-munities of low income and of people of color. Werecognize that there is a vital connection betweenpeacemaking and protecting our environment.Collectively, the nations of the world spend onetrillion dollars a year on military programs. If evena modest portion of this money were spent on envi-ronmental programs and sustainable economicdevelopment we could take a major step towardenvironmental security.

We commit ourselves to work together for aUnited States that will lead the world in the effi -cient use of fossil fuels, in devising and utilizingrenewable sources of energy, in phasing out all sig-nificant ozone-depleting chemicals, in haltingdeforestation and slowing the decline in species

diversity, in planting forests and restoring otherhabitats, and in realizing worldwide social justice.We believe there is a need for concerted efforts tostabilize world population by humane, responsibleand voluntary means consistent with our differing

values. For these, and other reasons, we believethat special attention must be paid to education andto enhancing the roles and the status of women.

Despite the seriousness of this crisis, we arehopeful. We humans, in spite of our faults, can beintelligent, resourceful, compassionate, prudentand imaginative. We have access to great reser-voirs of moral and spiritual courage. Deep withinus stirs a commitment to the health, safety andfuture of our children. Understanding that theworld does not belong to any one nation or gener-ation, and sharing a spirit of utmost urgency, wededicate ourselves to undertake bold action tocherish and protect the environment of our plane-tary home. [Signers’names omitted]

CARE FOR GOD’S EARTH REQUIRES JUSTICE FOR

THE POOR, A STATEMENT BY SENIOR RELIGIOUS

LEADERS, February 5, 1997,Washington, D.C.

Americans are more clearly than ever committedto protection of the environment. For most, it is amoral issue which draws upon deep values andrises above partisan politics.

Over the past several years, major Americanfaith groups, across a remarkably broad spectrum,have worked to establish a distinctively religiousvoice and comprehensive program. Scholars haveprepared authoritative theological analyses. Programmanuals have been sent to over 100,000 congrega-tions. Regional trainings have been convened forseveral thousand clergy and lay leaders. Moral per-spectives on public policy have been circulatedthrough extensive legislative networks to federal,state, and local governments.

This is not, however, yet another campaign on yet

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“Care of the earth—our mandate from theCreator—is the responsibility of us all.”

—Lutheran Bishop Herbert W. Chilstrom

another issue. We engage this challenge not somuch as “environmentalists” but rather as peopleof faith seeking to better understand what it mustmean to be religious, now and henceforth, as stew-ards of God’s handiwork amidst a crisis in creation.

We come to the nation’s capital, following theState of the Union address, to affirm that care forcreation is now an irreversible priority for theAmerican religious community. But we also wishto emphasize one perspective of fundamentalimportance to people of faith, and of particularurgency in this moment and political climate.

Some have called it “environmental justice”. Itsprings from hundreds of years of teaching andstruggle for social and economic freedom andopportunity, calling us now to the new challenge ofdistributing equitably the benefits and burdens ofenvironmental protection.

This is an ancient, religious concern. Scriptureteaches that justice among God’s people and pro-tection of God’s land are indivisible. Great biblicalstories are played out intimately within the naturalworld. They begin in a garden. God’s promisedland is what awaits the faithful, freed from slavery.After the flood, the rainbow of redemption isGod’s “covenant, which is between me and youand every living creature” (Gen 9:15). How wetreat one another, then, affects all life and habitat.Where “there is no fidelity, no mercy...the landmourns and everything that dwells in it languishes”(Hos 4:3). For Jews, these themes are reinforced inthe Talmud and later legal codes. For Christians,they live in the example and teachings of JesusChrist, where a measure of our love of God’s giftof life is our care for the oppressed and needy, “theleast of these.”

The biblical vision of the relation betweenhuman justice and ecological sustainability is vividin present-day global conditions. God’s creation isafflicted by unmoderated greed and unmet need.Over-consumption of natural resources by thewealthiest nations is the single greatest cause ofglobal environmental degradation. Widespreadpoverty among developing nations, in turn, leadsto the destruction of habitat and extinction ofspecies. Economic justice, therefore, is central tothe our approach to such global environmental

issues as sustainable development, climate change,biodiversity, deforestation, and pollution of landand water.

Here at home, in the very communities we serve,we see first-hand how low-income and vulnerablepopulations bear a disproportionate burden ofenvironmental destruction. The health, homes,children, and communities of the poor are morelikely to be poisoned environmentally. In turn,those who dwell in polluted conditions are likely,as a result, to suffer still greater economic burden.An overwhelming majority of studies concludesthat race even more than income is a critical factorin this cycle. The cycle is exacerbated by a politi-cal process which too often deprives communitiesof the right to know the sources and help shape theremedies of their afflictions—particularly when setagainst powerful, well-financed special interests.When solutions are devised, they often come last

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California redwoods have become iconically associated with theenvironmental movement and the need to preserve wildernessareas. The grandeur of these venerable trees and the threat totheir extinction by logging has helped focus attention on ourimperiled natural habitat and already produced eco-martyrs.

Photo courtesy of S

ave-the-Redw

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rancisco, CA

94104, (415) 362-2352

and least to the poor—those whom we believe havea preferential claim on compassionate initiative.

As we speak, people in our congregations are inthe midst of the immediate struggles for environ-

mental justice. Harlem’s Church of the Intercession,where John Audubon lies to rest, works to reducebus emissions causing high rates of pediatric asth-ma. Minneapolis’Jewish Community Action isengaged in efforts to reclaim polluted urban landfor job creation. West Dallas’New Waverly BaptistChurch seeks adequate health services and finan-cial settlements for congregants suffering from ill-ness and disability caused by a nearby lead smelt-ing plant. Parishioners in the diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana have initiated an effort toprevent coastal erosion because loss of wetlandsmeans loss of jobs and a way of life. The InterfaithNetwork for Earth Concerns in Portland, Oregon ishelping provide citizen input to protect low-income neighborhoods from the effects of urbansprawl.

Air pollution, which contributes to thousands ofdeaths from lung disease, has greatest impact incongested, low-income urban areas. Three out ofevery five African-and Hispanic-Americans live incommunities with dangerous abandoned toxicwaste sites. One hundred thousand workers dieannually from exposure to poisonous chemicals.Poor children suffer serious neurological damageand death from lead poisoning at twice the rate of

others. These circumstances spring from degrada-tions of God’s creation, falling hardest upon thepoorest of God’s children, and this is not justice.

We understand that their causes are complex. Wevalue the deep commitment of officials in thisAdministration, and a growing number of mem-bers of Congress from both parties, to the cause ofenvironmental protection. The nation will long bein debt to those who, in these years, stood firm andfast for America’s common ground. We will con-tinue to affirm, against any renewed challenge, themoral consensus of the American people in favorof strong and effective environmental protection.

But the recent bipartisan retreat in the struggleagainst poverty compels us to question whetherstandards of justice with courage of commitmentwill guide environmental policy over the next fouryears. Perspectives which led to this retreat mustbe challenged, in government and outside, if pro-grams to protect the environment are to be equi-table and effective. We fear that the poor and thevulnerable, already suffering from current socialand economic policy, will also be denied the fullbenefits of environmental protection.

Since “God will champion the cause of the poor,the rights of the needy,” (Ps 140:13) opportunitiesto do God’s will lie before us here. We must pro-tect our children’s health. Stop toxic poisoning ofpoor communities. Save lives by cleaning our airand water. Renew urban environments. Assurecommunities the right to know the hazards whichthreaten their families, jobs, and neighborhoods. Andguarantee racial justice within all such initiatives.

For these, as with all other national policies, themeasure of present and future moral stature at thevery highest levels of leadership must be coura-geous action to protect the most vulnerable in theAmerican community.

In this cause, we will seek to work closely withother sectors of society. Issues which link environ-mental protection and economic justice are comingbefore the new Administration and Congress. Wewill watch them closely, and, as they move towardpolicy, share our viewpoints through the leadershipand networks of our respective faith groups. Weencourage national environmental organizations togive greater priority to protecting afflicted people

50 RAYS 99

“If we are ever able to stop destroying ourenvironment, it will be because person byperson we decide, by God’s grace, to turnaside from greed and materialism. It willbe because we learn that joy and fulfill-ment come through right relationshipwith God, neighbor and earth, not an everescalating demand for more and morematerial consumption. Nowhere is thatmore possible than in local congregationsthat combine prayer and action, worshipand analysis, deep personal love for theCreator and for the Creator’s garden.”

—Baptist Professor Ronald Sider

as they choose how and where to defendendangered ecosystems and other species.The environmental movement could growin vision, analysis, and endurance from adeeper engagement with historic strugglesfor social justice. We reach out to seniorexecutives of key industries whose corpo-rate decisions so widely affect the public’shealth. Lives are at stake here. And we sup-port communities directly afflicted bypoverty and pollution in their efforts todefend their interests, define their needs,and participate from the outset in program-matic remedies. In these communities liereservoirs of wisdom, culture, and theunique knowledge which comes fromdirect experience. Because the cause of environmental justiceembraces the whole of God’s creation, itwould seem the perfect arena for all towork together for the common good. Butonly on a level playing field, where dispro-portionate power does not lie with specialinterests.

For our part, we are extending pastefforts further forward through a three-year, $4 million campaign to allow individ-ual partner groups to shape distinctiveresponses to ongoing issues of environ-mental sustainability and economic justice.This effort will help us enhance existingprograms by integrating environmental ini-tiatives directly into them.

The ultimate goal of this work, finally, is therenewal of religious imagination and devotion. So,when traditional liturgies resonate afresh withpraise of divine handicraft...when a theologianwrites of a sacramental universe, and a parishpriest reads that work and is stirred to his best ser-mon of the year...when endangered species andhabitats are included in the prayers of the people...when clergy bring youth gangs to community gar-dens to broker peace agreements...when a childsuddenly remembers a religious school lesson dur-ing a walk in the woods: all these are occasionswhen care for creation brings life to faith, anddraws all of us closer to God. ❐

The foregoing and other related documents are availablethrough the National Religious Partnership for theEnvironment, a group founded in 1993 on the premise that“caring for Creation is a fundamentally religious imperativethat transcends denominational differences and partisan pol-itics.” As NRPE’s director, Paul Gorman, states, “Ancientfaith traditions are engaging in a new world historical chal-lenge here, in a way which is both strengthening the cause ofenvironmental sustainability and justice and renewing reli-gious life itself.” Howard Ris, executive director of the Unionof Concerned Scientists, who helped assemble thePartnership’s science advisory panel, says of what may bethe largest interfaith organization ever formed: “We coulddisagree comfortably on how the earth’s creatures were cre-ated, but we reallyneeded to work together to save what wasleft.” For more information, contact NRPE at 1047Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10025; (800) 200-8850; orwww.nrpe.org.

RAYS 99 51

Animal MagicProtecting the environment includes caring for our younger brothers.

© M

ichael Woodw

ard Creations/ H

oward R

obinson, 203 938-9115, e-mail:tim

goodmw

c@aol.com

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, it was theworst of times,” English novelist CharlesDickens wrote in his classic A Tale of TwoCities about 18th century France. And anobserver of the current scene has noted that

“glitz meets gloom.”1

Why? Because of globalization. It has “expandedtrade and created great wealth, but this has a dan-gerous downside as well.”2 What is this downside?

“There is downward mobility.”3 “These arevolatile things.”4 ‘One million longtime work-ers...lose their jobs each year.”5 And for those whokeep their jobs, “real income...has been shrinkingsteadily for some time.”6 “Americans will needextra help to survive global markets.”7 And it’s nobetter in Europe.8

Why is all this going on? In some parts of theThird World “workers earn as little as 12 cents anhour.”9 In one country, just 6 cents.10 Meanwhile,First World wages are “among the highest of allhuman history.”11 Hence “we are not playing on alevel playing field.”12

And this situation is not being allowed to con-tinue. We are moving toward the new age ofAquarius. That sign’s symbol is the Water Bearer,balancing a pitcher on his head.13 Moreover,Uranus, ruler of Aquarius, is esoteric lord ofLibra,14 the sign of the scales, balance.

And much of recent history has been a balancingact. Colonialism—a small part of the world con-trolling the rest—has had its day, as has most ofslavery, and less than fair treatment of minorities.The present globalization is simply an outgrowthof all that, a regeneration.

Pluto is the planet of profound regeneration,and it has been closer to Earth than Neptune, aphenomenon which occurs rarely and for only rel-atively brief periods.15 The last instance of thisoccurrence was between September 30, 1736 andJuly 21, 1747.16 And what was transpiring then?The global balance between the superpowers ofthe day, France and Britain, shifted in favor of thelatter. Also during this time three famous men wereborn: Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and JohnHancock, founding architects of America, thecountry that was destined to play the leading rolein ushering in the New Age—of which the presenttrend toward economic globalization is a harbinger.

Often it is only in retrospect that one can see“God’s hand at work in particular situations.”17

albeit in the long run, much good will accrue fromall this. How can one be sure? Globalization, bygradually eradicating the present-day still hugedifferences between the rich nations and the poor,the haves and the have nots, will remove a major,if not the major, cause of war. “Prosperity needspeace.”18 “Excessive fortunes are a menace.”19

52 RAYS 99

Globalization—Bane or Blessing?

NEWS PERSPECTIVES

$

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arth 2000, Nasa

They create instability. Rich individuals are enviedby the impoverished, wealthy nations by the poor.

There’s much truth in the statement that “eachwar is a reprise of the last one.”20World War II, forinstance, was initiated by certain powers whoregarded themselves poor, primarily owing to thebelief of having been cheated by the treaties fol-lowing World War I. What border has for decadesbeen the most unstable? That between the U.S. andMexico.21 If the people to its south had the sameincome as those on the other side, would they seekto cross the American border illegally, and at greatrisk? As for the Arab-Israeli “border trouble,” theGNP of the latter is several times that of the for-mer.

Current trends in Europe are an example of eco-nomic union leading to political union and possi-bly more. Let it be recalled that after the AmericanRevolution there was no one United States; therewere several quarreling disunited colonies. Until,that is, Virginia and Maryland settled their eco-nomic differences, inspired the other colonies todo the same, and that produced the United States.

A few decades later, thirty-nine separate Germanentities started the Zollverein, an economic unionof sorts, which led to a United Germany in 1871.Just as surely as a new economic order leads to anew political one, a new social one will follow.22

And in the New Age it will also be different spir-itually, thereby promoting prosperity, for in thelong run the roots of lasting prosperity and allother blessings are always and only spiritual. ❐

—A Probationer

1. The Christian Science Monitor, February 15, 1996, page 87.2. U. S. News & World Report, February 19, 1996, page 92.3. Newsweek, March 18, 1996, page 44.4. Former Senator Bill Bradley, The Christian Science Monitor,

February 27, 1996, page 3.5. U. S. News & World Report, March 18, 1996, page 71.6. The Christian Science Monitor, March 4, 1996, page 31.7. U. S. News & World Report, February 26, 1996, page 31.8. Newsweek, February 26, 1996, page 509. The Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 1996, page 16.

10. Life, June 1996, page 3811. World, March 30, 1996, page 24.12. The Christian Science Monitor, February 27, 1996, page 3.13. And the Age of Aquarius began to dawn last century. The

Rosicrucian Philosophy in Questions and Answers, Volume II,Max Heindel, pages 110, 353.

14. Astrology, the Divine Science, Marcia Moore and Mark Douglas,page 703.

15. The Astrology of Transcendence, Philop Sedgwich, pages 151-2.

16. The Sun is Also a Star, Dane Rudhyar, pages 192-3.17. World, March 12, 1996, page 30.18. The Christian Science Monitor, May 24, 1996, page 5.19. U. S. News & World Report, March 18, 1996, page 12.20. Sojourners, March-April 1996, page 14.21. The Christian Science Monitor, February 13, 1996, page 11.22. National Review, April18, 1996, page 46.

RAYS 99 53

Our Blessing

Sitting today in the sunshine, That touched me with fingers of love, I thought of the manifold blessings God scatters on Earth, from above; And they seemed, as I numbered them over, Far more than we merit, or need, And all that we lack is the Angels To make Earth a heaven indeed.

The winter brings long, pleasant evenings,The spring brings a promise of f lowers That summer breathes into fruition, And autumn brings glad golden hours. The woodlands re-echo with music, The moonbeams ensilver the sea; There is sunlight and beauty about us, And the world is as fair as can be.

But mortals are always complaining, Each one thinks his own a sad lot; And forgetting the good things about him Goes mourning for those he has not. Instead of the star-spangled heavens, We look on the dust at our feet; We drain out the cup that is bitter,Forgetting the one that is sweet.

We mourn o’er the thorn in the f lower,Forgetting its odor and bloom; We pass by a garden of blossoms To weep o’er the dust of the tomb There are blessings unnumbered about us, Like the leaves or the forest they grow; And the fault is our own—not the Giver’sThat we have not an Eden below.

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox

BOTH THE OCCULT and mystic pathsof Christian initiation converge atGethsemane, where the candidate “issaturated with sorrow which flowersinto compassion.” There the union of

the mind and the heart ready the candidate for thedevelopment of the stigmata, “a necessary prepara-tion for the mystic death and resurrection” (AMI, p.114). Underlying the mystic facts of this phenomenonis the dissolution of the interlocking grip between theetheric and physical bodies, whichare most closelybound together in the palms of the hands, the archesof the feet, and the head.

While the occultist concentrates his efforts uponsevering the connection at these points, producing thestigmata invisibly, the Christian mystic lacks knowl-edge of how to perform the act without producing anexterior manifestation.

“But whether the stigmata are visible or invisible,the effect is the same. The spiritual currents generatedin the vital body of such a person are so powerful thatthe body is scourged by them, as it were, particularlyin the region of the head, where they produce a feel-ing akin to that of the crown of thorns” (AMI, p. 119).

There are no recorded instances of the stigmatabefore the crucified Jesus appeared to St. Francis inthe form of a six-winged seraph and told him, “I havegiven you the stigmata, which are the emblems of myPassion, so that you may be my standard-bearer.” Forthe next seven centuries, at least four hundred indi-viduals, nearly all Roman Catholic, most of themfemale and Italian, were reported to have borne thestigmata, in various forms. One of the few documentedstigmatists who was not a Roman Catholic was ElsaNilsson Gjessing, a Lutheran from Minnesota. Two

other stigmatists who lived during the sametimewere Therese Neumann (1898-1962), a Bavarianlay-woman, and Padre Pio (1887-1968) an ItalianCapuchin priest.

The apostle Paul wrote “I bear in my body themarks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal 6:17). He also said, “Idie daily.” Figuratively, that is. Therese Neumanndied about twenty-six times a year for forty years—physically. No, the silver cord was not ruptured. Butat the ninth hour (3 PM Israel time) on PassionFriday, when Jesus gave up the ghost (vital body andhigher vehicles), her heart stopped beating and herlungs were motionless for about forty minutes. Asmany times she was reborn like a baby, yawning forair and squirming.

Scarcely less remarkable, she ate no food nor drank

54 RAYS 99

Bearing the Marks

of the Lord Jesus

BOOK REVIEWS

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), from the Church of San Francesco, Pisa, now in the Louvre

St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata

any water over these forty years, during which timeshe actually gained weight! Moreover, the loss ofblood from the eyes (the agony in Gethsemane),hands and feet (nail wounds), head, (crown ofthorns), back (scourging marks) and shoulder (wherecross was borne), amounting to as much as a liter, andweight losses of up to 15 pounds during HolyThursday through Passion Friday, would be regainedin two days.

How did medical science explain this living on thinair (inedia)? It didn’t and couldn’t, although it wasnot for lack of trying. For a period of 15 days, a teamof two physicians and four nurses monitoredNeumann’s every move, measured her weight lossesand gains. Her survival, indeed, robusthealth,remained a mystery. But not to her. For she dailyreceived the consecrated host. This was her suste-nance, the life-giving body of her Lord.

Neumann experienced the Passion over seven hun-dred times, on most Fridays during forty years. Shewas transported in vision to the immediate site ofChrist Jesus’ordeal, beginning in Gethsemane andconcluding on the Cross, which events were laternarrated while in a state of childlike prepossession.

In addition, Neumann performed a calculated tenyears of victim-soul suffering, in which she took onthe tribulations of individuals and groups of people—their illnesses, temptations, or estrangement from God.She most frequently expiated for souls in purgatory.

Three books make for fascinating reading onNeumann’s visions and life: A Light Shone in theDarkness (Doreen Rossman, Queenship PublishingCo., 1997) is the most recent and comprehensivetreatment and contains the best pictures; ThereseNeumann, Mystic and Stigmatist (Adalbert Vogl, TanBooks, 1987) gives the most biographical informa-tion; Visions of Therese Neumann, (JohannesSteiner,Alba House, 1976), which readers may find the mostinteresting, since they recount Neumann’s visionsdetailing much of Christ Jesus’ministry.

Padre Pio, in many ways led a more instructive andapproachable life. While Neumann was a simplepeasant woman, Pio was a deeply sensitive soulwhose interior life invites comparison with the greatmystics of the church, such as John of the Cross andTeresa of Avila. Pio bore the stigmata in his hands forfifty years. He had numerous objective encounterswith the devil, as attested to by his fellow friars wit-nessing loud noises, offensive smells, and disordered

and damaged objects in Pio’s room.Pio’s classic biography, Padre Pio, the True Story

(Bernard Ruffin Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Div.,1991), details many supernormal phenomenon con-firmed by the fact-gathering bodies appointed by theHoly See. Most notably were his ability to see thefuture, to “read hearts,” to bilocate (his etheric pres-ence experienced apart from his physical body), tolevitate, and to heal “incurables.” However, Pio didnot believe that the relief of suffering was alwaysGod’s will, or that all Christians should have health,material property, or even spiritual consolation.

Most of us have difficulty enough contending withthe trials of rather routine living. The exemplary andChrist-infused lives of Padre Pio and ThereseNeumann show us an extreme form of service thatchallenges our comprehension and commands ourwonder. One cannot read of the lives of these twosouls, however singular in some respects, withoutbeing fortified by the power of their faith and inspiredby their heroic humility and absolute commitment toparticipate—body, mind and spirit—in the sufferingof the Lord Jesus Christ. By so doing, they madebelievers out of the most recalcitrant atheists andrekindled the devotion of thousands of lapsedChristians. ❐

—Carl Swan

RAYS 99 55

Stigmatist Therese Neumann suffers a Passion ecstasy(approx. 1955), one of about seven hundred Passions inwhich she manifested the wounds and agony of Christ Jesus.

Father N

aber

THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE ofa supercilious nature who arealways ready to crack a joke at theexpense of Christian Science andkindred methods of divine healing

which teach its followers to cultivate a fearlessattitude of mind under all conditions. But as amatter of actual fact, an enormous percentageof our sickness is actually due and traceable tofeelings of fear upon the part of the patient.

Travelers who have visited uninhabitedislands report that the birds and beasts found there,were unafraid of them at first, but they soonlearned the predatory nature of man, and fledbefore him in fear of their lives. Thus the ruthlessnature of man has in ages past, spread fear all overthe earth. We have conquered, tamed and exploit-ed both bird and beast, and what we could not con-quer we have slain, until every breathing thinghides in fear of us. That is to say, among the largeranimals none is so large that it does not fear andflee from him. But when we turn in the direction ofthe little things, then the case is different, and manwho thinks he reigns supreme on earth because hehas put all the larger creation in a state of fear, trem-blesin turn before the minute things in the worldand the smaller they are, the more he fears them.

The microscope has told us that such a smallcreature as the house fly carries about on the fur ofits legs thousands of parasites which we fancy areinimical to our health, and therefore fear promptsus to spend millions of dollars on fly paper, flyscreens, fly traps and other devices to rid ourselvesof this pest, but our efforts are largely in vain.

Though such vast sums are expended yearly toexterminate the fly, it is so prolific that it breedsquicker than we can slay it.

But we fear its cousin, the mosquito, even more.The microscope has told us that this little insect isone of the chief messengers of the Angel of Death,therefore we fight it in fear of our lives, but itthrives in spite of the vast sums yearly expendedupon its extermination. Then there is the milk wedrink. Under ordinary conditions it is said thatthere are one hundred thousand germs to the cubiccentimeter, but under the best and most sanitaryconditions this army of destroyers can be broughtdown to ten thousand. So in fear and trembling wepasteurize this fluid before we dare to give it to thechildren of tender age.

Every drop of water we drink swarms with germlife, says the microscope, and even the coin andcur-rency wherewith we purchase the necessities of lifeare vehicIes of death, for they are infectedwithgerms to an almost unbelievable extent. Once westarted to launder them, but it was found that thebankers could not so easily detect counterfeits

56 RAYS 99

The True Cause of Contagion

NUTRITION AND HEALTH

Oil on canvas, c. 1847, Edward Hicks (1770-1849), Private Collection

The Peaceable KingdomIn Eden and the New City of Peace the sheep lies down with the wolf.

after they had been washed, so we abandoned theprocess. We either fear the counterfeiters morethan the germs or we love money more than health.

Is not this whole attitude ridiculous and unwor-thy of our high and noble estate, as human beings,as children of God? It is well known to science thatan attitude of fear breaks down the power of resis-tance of the body, and thereby lays it liable to dis-eases which would not otherwise be able to get afoothold. From the occult point of view it is per-fectly plain why this is so. The dense body whichwe see with our eyes, is interpenetrated by a vehi-cle made of ether and the energy from the Sunwhich pervades all space is constantly pouring intoour body through the spleen which is a specializedorgan for the attraction and assimilation of thisuniversal ether. In the solar plexus it is convertedinto a rose colored fluid which permeates the ner-vous system This may be compared to electricityin the wires of an electric or telegraphic system.By means of this vital fluid the muscles are movedand the organs perform their vital functions so thatthe body may express itself in perfect health. Thebetter the health the larger the quantity of this solarfluid which we are able to absorb. But we can onlyutilize a certain part of it, while the surplus is radi-ated from the body in straight lines.

You have seen the paper ribbons which are fas-tened to the front of electric fans in candy storesand fruit stands. When the fan is set going thesestreamers float outward from the fan. The stream-ers which flow from the whole periphery of thehuman body also radiate in straight lines when weare in perfect health. This condition is thereforeaptly described as radiant health. We speak of sucha person as radiating life and vigor. Under suchconditions no disease germs can ever get afoothold in his body. They can not enter from with-out because of these invisible streamers of forceany more than a fly can enter an opening in abuilding covered by an exhaust fan. And thosemicroorganisms which enter the body with thefood are also quickly expelled, for the vitalprocesses in the body are selective, as shown bythe kidneys, for instance, which excrete the wastematter while retaining vital substances necessaryfor the economy of the body.

But the moment we allow thoughts of fear, ofworry, of anger, the body endeavors, as it were, toclose the gates against an outside foe, fancied orreal. Then also the spleen closes up and ceases tospecialize the vital fluid in sufficient quantities forthe necessities of the body, and we shall then see aphenomenon which is analogous to the effect oflowering the voltage or cutting in more resistancein the electric fan. In that case the paper streamerswill begin to hang down. They will no longer waveover the candy or fruit to protect it and keep theflies away. Similarly in the human body, when thethought of fear forces the partial closure of thespleen, the solar fluid does not go through the bodywith the same speed as before. It does not thenradiate from the periphery in straight lines, butthese lines become crumpled and thus they alloweasy access to the little deleterious organismswhich may then feed unobstructed upon our tis-sues and cause disease.

Whether the consistent Christian Scientists,mental scientists, or others who believe in divinehealing know this law or not, they act according toits dictates when they affirm that they are childrenof God and that they have no reason to fear, forGod is their Father and will protect them so long asthey do not deliberately disregard the ordinarylaws of life. Medical science knows that the so-called disease germs are not dangerous unlessthere is soil predisposed to their culture, and it isnoteworthy that the New York board of health hasnow abolished fumigation for all diseases exceptsmall-pox. Thus typhoid, pneumonia, diphtheriaand other diseases which were formerly thought tobe of so contagious a nature that they must beguarded against by fumigation, are now regardedas either less dangerous or else it has been discov-ered that the process of fumigation is not efficient.

The actual fact and the truth in the matter is thatcontagion comes from within. So long as we live acommon sense life, feeding our bodies upon thepure foods which come from the vegetable king-dom, taking a sufficient amount of exercise, andkeeping mentally active, we may rest secure in thepromise that the Lord is our refuge. There shall noevil befall us so long as we thus show our faith byour works. On the other hand, if we belie our faith

RAYS 99 57

in God by disregard of His laws, our expectationsof health are vain.

Last year a doctor who was imbued with fear ofcontagion in an abnormal degree visited MountEcclesia. On the night of his arrival a mosquitolighted upon his nose, he brushed it away in greathorror and asked anxiously: “Are they malarious?”He was always looking for pathological conditionsand soon went away dissatisfied with our ideas,especially the idea that fear attracts and trust inGod repels pathological germs. This was to himridiculous in the extreme. We had with us at thattime one of our student friends who was sufferingfrom tuberculosis, but by means of a rational dietand the pure air of Mount Ecclesia he was gainingfast—had, in fact, gained ten pounds when thisdoctor took it upon himself to tell our poor friendthat it was an outrage that he would stay on MountEcclesia, or come into the dining room, that he wasa menace to everyone at headquarters, etc. Thepoor young man became so disturbed that in spite

of all we could say to him he had no rest, and heleft shortly afterwards.

There is no doubt in our mind that had we beenallowed to keep him we would have eventuallycured the disease by the help of the Elder Brothersand our physical methods. As it was he died shortlyafter, and we feel he was killed by the inconsider-ate fear of this doctor. And he is only one of thou-sands who are killed by others or who commit sui-cide by taking a dose of fear, for fear will kill justas surely as any mineral poison. It is perhaps evenmore deadly.

Shortly afterwards Mrs. Heindel and the writermoved into the cottage where the young man hadlived with his mother, despite the protests of allconcerned on Mount Ecclesia. We have livedhere almost a year, and have as yet developed nosymptoms of disease, for we trust in God and liveaccordingly, and so long as we maintain that atti-tude nothing can harm us. ❐

—Max Heindel

58 RAYS 99

Some of the most valuable truths about theorigin, functions and proper care of man’s

vehicles to be found on the printed page.

Max Heindel, a trained clairvoyant, dili-gently investigated the real causes of

physical and mental disorders in the super-physical worlds.

Reveals that man is a complex being, pos-sessing a Dense Body, used to fetch and

carry; a Vital Body, specializing energy fromthe Sun; a Desire Body, the emotional nature;and a Mind, the link between the threefoldSpirit and threefold Body.

Postulates that disease is a manifestation ofignorance, and points the way to perma-

nent health by giving fundamental facts nec-essary for intelligent, constructive living.

“A treasure chest of valuableinformation.”

“An indispensable addition to thelibraries of all those who are concernedwith the true art of healing.”

New Eighth Edition. 244 pages. Indexed.Paper. Published by The RosicrucianFellowship.

Occult Principles of Health and Healingby Max Heindel

Please orderon page 64

AS SUCH A LARGE PART of theGospels and the Acts of the Apostlesis devoted to the healing of the sick,we may rightly ask, How is it thatthe Lord was so concerned with the

infirm, and why should He perform healing mira-cles to prove His divine mission? Could it not havebeen that He was giving by example a pattern forHis future followers to emulate? Surely, the proce-dure of Christ Jesus, if we have eyes to see, provesthat all true healing comes essentially from a divineSource, and that every human individual, being aspark of the Divine Flame, has the capability ofbecoming a channel for the divine healing Power.

Imagine such a scene as related in Matthew14:35: “And when the men of that place hadknowledge of Him, they sent out into all the coun-try round about, and brought unto Him all thatwere diseased; and besought that they might touchthe hem of His garment: and as many as Hetouched were made perfectly whole.”

They literally swamped Him with patients wher-ever He went, as in this scene: “And they comeunto Him, bringing one sick with the palsy. Andwhen they could not come nigh unto Him for thepress, they uncovered the roof where He was: andwhen they had broken it up, they let down the bedwherein the sick of the palsy lay.” (Mark 2:3-4)

Who were the people whom Christ helped pri-marily? Lepers; the deaf, mute, blind, and para-lyzed; lunatics; epileptics; gouty, dropsicalpatients; and those with atrophied limbs. Evidentlyall these cases were such definite karmic condi-tions that no physical means alone could bringresults. Something more powerful was needed tobreak the iron Law of Consequence which heldthese people in its grip. No less a remedy wasrequired than the healing Power from the source of

life as manifested through the Christ. ❐

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

November...............................5—12—19—25December.........................2—9—17—23—29

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

RAYS 99 59

The Healing Christ

HEALING“In the V

illages the Sick W

ere Brought to H

im,” W

atercolor, James J. Tissot (1836-1902)

THREE BEGGARS WENT DOWN toSamaria, the one deaf, another blind, thethird a cripple. And as they went one said,“Surely I am a sinner—being deaf.”

And the second said, “I am blind, surely I am a sin-ner also.” And the third likewise owned his sins, say-ing, “Therefore I am a cripple.”

Then they were minded how they always went thethree together and said each to the other:

“I can hear, for I have thee and thee for ears.”And the next said, “I can see, for I have thee and

thee for eyes.”And the last said, “Surely you twain are my feet.”Then all three praised God and rejoiced.And as they drew near to Samaria they met one

whose mouth was covered and in his hand was aclapper, for he was a leper. He stood far off and bet-ted an alms of them, but they said, “We beggars, wehave nought; we go down to Samaria seeking alms,for the Samaritans are ready givers.”

Then the leper cried aloud and said, “Though youhave nought yet you are greatly blessed, being three.But I am a sinner and must dwell comradeless.”

When the three friends heard that they said one toanother, “We are likewise sinners but we go in com-pany.” Then their heart smote them with compassionfor the lonely one and with one consent they calledto him: “We be all sinners and afflicted of the Lord.Come now and be of our fellowship.”

The leper rejoiced exceedingly hearing this andsaid: “Then let us go to Bethlehem for this night in adream one showed me that Messiah is born there.”

The road to Bethlehem was stony and steep andthe night fell, but the blind man knew the way.

It was night when they reached the stable door atBethlehem and they feared to knock. Now within,Joseph slept but Mary kept watch by the child; sheheard the noise of feet and of men whispering, so she

arose and opened the wicket.A dazzling ray of light streamed out into the dark-

ness, and through the wicket Mary inquired who theywere and why they had come, and they answered:“We be all sinners and justly afflicted by the Lord,but we hear that Messiah is born and therefore havewe come.”

The Virgin asked, “What gift have you brought,for none can enter here except he bring an offering.”The beggars cast down their eyes and answered noth-ing for their hands were empty.

Mary asked them saying, “Who is the fourth manwho standeth somewhat apart?”

Then the three feared greatly and fell upon theirknees crying, “We are sinners indeed for we joinedthis one unto us and he is a leper; and moreover he isa Samaritan.

Then Mary threw the door open wide and theycame in and beheld the Saviour: The blind receivedhis sight, the deaf heard, the lame man leaped uponhis feet. And they looked expecting that the lepershould be cleansed. But he was gone. Then they per-ceived that it had been an angel of the Lord. ❐

—Blanche Cromartie

60 RAYS 99

Fellowship—ALegend

FOR CHILDREN

Fresco, 78-5/8 x 72-3/4 in., Giotto (1266-1337), Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy

The Nativity

Planet A

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