[PAGE 332]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                          BIBLICAL PROOF OF REBIRTH

                              QUESTION NO. 104.

   CAN  YOU PROVE FROM THE BIBLE THAT THE EGO IS BORN AND REBORN TILL IT  IS
FIT TO BE IN GOD'S PRESENCE?

   ANSWER:   There are some people who believe that the Bible is  absolutely
true,  word for word,  from cover to cover.   Moreover,  in controversy they
seem to argue as though it had originally been written in English and  every
word meant just what is said and nothing else.

   As a matter of fact, the Bible has been translated, transcribed,  edited,
and re-edited so many times that interpolations have,  of course,  crept in.
Some have been inserted unintentionally, due to the fact that a copyist will


[PAGE 333]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

make a slip with the pen occasionally.  There have also been cases where in-
terpolations were put in to support a certain doctrine in which the  copyist
believed  and which was not clearly enunciated.   Among scholars it is  well
recognized  that  only a general outline of the original  teachings  remains
with us today.

   In  all  religions an exoteric side was always given  to  the  multitude.
this  contained the more elementary teachings, but a deeper place was  given
to  those  who had fitted themselves by their lives  for  understanding  the
deeper  mysteries.   We  may take the counsel of Christ  to  His  disciples:
"Unto  you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of  the  heavens
but  unto these in parables,"  as an indication that there is a similar  ar-
rangement in the Christian religion.

   Among these mysteries was the doctrine of rebirth,  which you will see He
must have taught from the following conversation.   He asked them:   "Who do
men say that I ,  the son of man, am?"   They answered and said:   "Some say
that you are John the Baptist, some Elijah,  and some that you are Jeremiah,
or  one of the prophets."   These personages had all died and  their  bodies
must have decayed in the grave.  Yet we find people believing that Jesus was
one of them reborn.   If this principle of rebirth had been wrong,  it would
have  been  His duty as a teacher to have set His disciples  right,  and  He
would probably have said:  "What nonsense!  How can I be one of those?  They


[PAGE 334]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

have been gone for centuries."  Instead He asks, "Who do you say that I am?"

   In  the case of Elijah He taught this doctrine outright,  for he said  to
His disciples concerning John the Baptist:   "This is Elijah if you will re-
ceive  it."   There is no equivocation,  but a straight  forward  statement:
"This is Elijah."  This statement was reiterated later on when they left the
Mount of Transfiguration, for on that occasion Christ said to His disciples:
"Elijah has come and they have done to him as they listed."   Then they knew
that He spoke of John the Baptist.

                               ---------------

                      NATURE OF JESUS' BODY AFTER DEATH

                              QUESTION NO. 105.

   IF,  AS YOU SAY,  JESUS' BODY WAS SCATTERED TO THE FOUR WINDS AT THE TIME
OF THE BURIAL, HOW THEN DID THOMAS TOUCH JESUS AFTER DEATH?  HOW DID HE SAY:
"HANDLE ME AND SEE, FOR A SPIRIT HAS NOT FLESH AND BONES AS YE SEE ME HAVE"?
LATER ON IT IS SAID THAT HE ATE FISH AND HONEY.  IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A SPIRIT
WITHOUT A FLESHY BODY TO EAT AND TO BE TOUCHED?

   ANSWER:  This question is one that occurs very often.  We might refer you
to the back files where it has been answered, but as so many new people come


[PAGE 335]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

in  constantly,  it seems that perhaps it is better to take it up anew.   As
the writer never refers to back numbers himself,  he will each time take  up
these matters from a different angel which may give new points even to those
who  have  had them answered before,  and thus the reiteration will  not  be
without benefit.

   Our latest investigations indicate that where a man spiritualizes his ve-
hicles,  the constitution of the vital body, made of ether,  is most materi-
ally  changed.   In the ordinary man there is always a preponderance of  the
two  lower ethers--the chemical and life ethers--which have to do  with  the
upbuilding and propagation of the physical body,  and a minimum of the light
and the reflecting ethers, which are concerned with sense perception and the
higher  spiritual qualities.   After death the body of the ordinary  man  is
laid in the grave and the vital body hovers about two feet above the  mound,
gradually  disintegrating.   The dense  body  disintegrates  simultaneously.
However,  when we say it decays,  we really mean that it becomes  much  more
alive  than it was while man inhabited it,  for each little molecule is  now
taken charge of by a separate, individual life.  It begins to associate with
its neighbors;  the unity of an individual life is superseded by a community
of many lives.

   Therefore  we  speak of such decaying corpses as alive with  worms.   the
denser and the more gross this vehicle is,  the longer time it will  require
for  disintegration,  because  the vital body hovering above has a tenacious


[PAGE 336]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

magnetic  hold  that  keeps the dense molecules in check.   The  two  higher
ethers vibrate at a much more rapid rate than the lower,  and where a man by
spiritual thoughts has massed around him a great volume of this ether, which
then composes his vital body,  the vibrations of the dense body also  become
more intense.   Consequently, when the man leaves his body at death there is
little  or nothing of the vital body left behind to keep the  components  of
the  physical body in check.   The disintegration is therefore  very  rapid.
This  we  cannot  easily  prove because very  few  people  are  sufficiently
spiritual to make the difference noticeable, but you will recall that in the
Bible  it  is said of certain characters that they were  translated.   Also,
that  the body of Moses was so vibrant that it shone,  and his body was  not
found, etc.

   These were cases where the body was rapidly returned to the elements, and
when  the Christ's body was laid in the grave its disintegration took  place
almost instantaneously.

   However,  so long as the archetype of the physical body persists,  it en-
deavors to draw to itself physical materials which it then shapes  according
to  the  form  of the vital body.  Thus it is difficult  for  the  invisible
Helper who passes out of his body to refrain from materializing.  The moment
his will to keep away from himself all physical impediments is relaxed,  ma-
terials  from  the surrounding atmosphere attach themselves to him  as  iron
filings are drawn to a magnet,  and he becomes visible and tangible to what-


[PAGE 337]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

ever extent he desires.  Thus he is enabled to do actual physical work wher-
ever  it is necessary,  no matter if he be thousands of miles away from  his
body.   On the other hand, what really brings about death is the collapse of
the archetype of the dense body.   Therefore the Spirits who pass away  from
this  earth life are unable to materialize save through a medium where  they
extract her living vital body,  drape themselves therewith and thus  attract
the physical substances necessary to make themselves visible to the sitters.

   There is a third class,  namely, the initiated Invisible Helpers who have
passed  out of this life.   They have learned to attract or  repel  physical
matter by their wills,  as stated previously, and therefore they are able to
materialize despite the fact that their archetype has collapsed.

   The Christ naturally was at the head of this class and consequently  able
to pass through a wall in His vital body,  for as the ether  interpenetrates
every physical molecule, so also the vital body, made of ether, may likewise
pass through physical obstructions.  Once in the room with His disciples, He
attracted  to Himself by an exercise of will sufficient physical  matter  to
clothe Himself in a dense body.   Then it was possible for His disciples  to
touch and handle Him as stated in the Gospels.

   Respecting  the  eating of the fish and honey,  there is  a  mystic  sig-
nificance to this which will be  taken  up in the Astral Ray department at a


[PAGE 338]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

later date.  You will note that fish is very, very prominent in all the Gos-
pels.   The  disciples were fishermen and had miraculous drafts  of  fishes.
Parables were told of them and people were fed with loaves and fishes.   The
story of Jonah and the whale and all other such narratives have an  esoteric
and  astrological significance that will be brought out in the  articles  of
which  we  speak,  so we will not go into that part of the question  at  the
present time.   We will just answer the last part of your question:   "Is it
possible for a Spirit without a fleshly body to eat and drink?"  In the low-
est  regions of the Desire World which interpenetrate the Etheric Region  of
the Physical World there are classes of Spirits of whom we hear a great deal
in  spiritualistic literature.   They live in houses,  they eat  and  drink.
They have,  in fact,  all relations of life exactly as we have them here and
continue very much the same manner of existence as they did when among us in
the visible world.   It is also possible for a materialized Spirit or for an
initiate who materializes to eat and drink,  but it would then be  necessary
to  dispose of the materials taken into the body in a different method  than
by the ordinary process of assimilation.


[PAGE 339]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                             THE BIRTH OF JESUS

                              QUESTION NO. 106.

   HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THE STATEMENT OF THE BIBLE THAT JOSEPH KNEW NOT MARY
UNTIL SHE HAD BROUGHT FORTH HER FIRST-BORN, JESUS, WHO WAS THUS CONCEIVED OF
THE HOLY SPIRIT,  WITH THE ROSICRUCIAN TEACHING THAT JESUS WAS THE SON OF  A
HUMAN FATHER, JOSEPH, AND MARY, HIS MOTHER?

   ANSWER:   If  you look at the genealogies of Jesus given in  Matthew  and
Luke, you will find that the parentage is traced through Joseph to Adam; not
one  word  is spoken about mary.   As we indicated in a previous  answer,  a
copyist  may have interpolated the passage to prove the materialistic  sense
of the Immaculate Conception.

   If  you take the esoteric doctrine of the Immaculate Conception  no  such
judging is necessary.   Jehovah,  the Holy Spirit, the leader of the Angels,
is everywhere in the Bible shown as the given of children.   His  messengers
came to Sarah to announce the birth of Isaac to her;  to Hannah to  announce
the birth of Samuel; to Mary to announce the advent of Jesus, whose vehicles
were later given to the Christ.  The power of the Holy Spirit fructifies the
human ovum as well as the kernel of grain in the earth, and the original sin
occurred when Adam knew his wife contrary to the approbation of Jehovah.


[PAGE 340]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

   That  transgression brought the stain of sin upon a scared function,  but
when a holy life has made pure the desires, a man becomes filled with a holy
spirit  and it is possible to perform the generative function  without  pas-
sion.  Hence the conception is immaculate.  The child born under such condi-
tions is naturally superior, because the conception then is a sacred rite of
self-sacrifice and not an act of self-gratification.


[PAGE 341]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS


                                SECTION VIII

                           QUESTIONS DEALING WITH

                                  ASTROLOGY


[PAGE 342]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY




                                 DIAGRAM 5 


|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  >--->THE DIVINE SPIRIT>----->---->----->---->--->THE DENSE BODY>----->   |
| /|\                                                                   |   |
|  |      >-->THE LIFE SPIRIT>-->---->---->---->THE VITAL BODY>-->     \|/  |
| /|\    /|\                                                     |      |   |
|  |      |      >->THE HUMAN SPIRIT>-->THE DESIRE BODY>-->      |      |   |
|  |      |      |                                        |     \|/    \|/  |
|  |     /|\    /|\                                      \|/     |      |   |
|  |      |      |                                        |      |      |   |
| /|\     |      |             |-------------|            |      |     \|/  |
|  |      |      |             |    MIND:    |            |     \|/     |   |
|  |     /|\    /|\            | the link or |           \|/     |      |   |
|  |      |      |             |    focus    |            |      |      |   |
|  |      |      |             |-------------|            |      |     \|/  |
| /|\     |      |                                        |     \|/     |   |
|  |     /|\    /|\                                      \|/     |      |   |
|  |      |      |                                        |      |      |   |
|  |      |      <----<----<THE EMOTIONAL SOUL<-<----<----<     \|/     |   |
|  |      |                                                      |      |   |
| /|\     <-----<----<----<THE INTELLECTUAL SOUL<-<----<----<----<     \|/  |
|  |                                                                    |   |
|  <---<----<----<-----<--<  THE CONSCIOUS SOUL---<----<----<----<----<-<   |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|


              Diagram 5 shows the Tenfold Constitution of Man 


   Man is a threefold Spirit, possessing a Mind by means of which he governs a 
threefold Body, which he emanated from  himself  to  gather  experience.  This 
threefold body he transmutes into a threefold Soul, upon  which  he  nourishes 
himslef from impotence to omnipotence. 

The Divine Spirit >|emanates|> The Dense Body  >|extracting|>   Conscious Soul
The Life Spirit   >|  from  |> The Vital Body  >|   as     |>Intellectual Soul
The Human Spirit  >| itself |> The Desire Body >| pabulum  |>   Emotional Soul


   The mirror of Mind also contributes increasingly to spiritual growth as the 
thoughts  which it transmits to and from  the  Spirit  polish  it  to  greater 
brightness, sharpening and intensifying its focus more and more  to  a  single 
point, perfectly flexible and under the control of the Spirit. 




[PAGE 343]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                  ASTROLOGICAL ORIGIN OF CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
                              QUESTION NO. 107.


   IN  THE  ASTROLOGICAL  READINGS YOU FREQUENTLY REFER TO  JUPITER  AS  THE
PLANET OF LAW,  ORDER,  AND ETHICS, AND ALSO TO SATURN AS THE PLANET OF SYS-
TEM, JUSTICE, AND VIRTUE.

   MAY  I  ASK WITH JUST WHAT PLANETS AND SIGNS THE SENTIMENT  OF  CONSCIEN-
TIOUSNESS  IS MOST INTIMATELY ASSOCIATED,  WHETHER THERE IS ANY ONE OR  MORE
PREEMINENT IN THAT SENTIMENT?  CONSCIENTIOUSNESS IS OF COURSE AT THE ROOT OF
LAW, ETHICS, JUSTICE, VIRTUE, ETC.

   ANSWER:   According  to the Rosicrucian Teachings,  when the  Spirit  has
passed out of the physical life at death,  it sees the panorama of its  past
live  passing before it in reverse order.   At that time the pictures  which
make  up this life story are etched into the finer vehicles,  which the  Ego
takes  with it into the invisible worlds.  It is the reaction from the  pic-
tures where the Spirit has done some wrong,  which causes the suffering that
constitues  its purgatorial experience.   This eradicates the pictures  from
the  life panorama,  but leaves an aroma--that which we call  conscience--to
warn  the  Spirit  in its next life not to do the  things  which  previously
caused the purgatorial suffering.  Conscientiousness is the positive quality
of  the  negative conscience.   Conscience prompts us NOT DO DO  the  things
which  are wrong;  conscienctiousness prompts US TO DO the things  that  are
right.

   Mythologically,  Saturn is the reaper with his seythe and hourglass,  the
angel of death,  who ushers us from active life into the purgatorial  exist-
ence where we reap what we have sown.  Therefore, in that sense Saturn is at
the root of conscience.  He always warns us, saying "don't,  don't,  don't,"
and if by listening to his voice in the past we have him in a position where
in this life he aspects the other planets well, notably Jupiter,  the planet
of law, order, ethics, and also the Sun, which gives us our loftiest ideals,
then we have the conscientious man or woman,  who always fulfills every duty
in  life,  no matter how arduous the task and what perseverance and  persis-
tence is required, or what self-sacrifice is involved.   Thus conscientious-
ness  is  not given by one planet alone but requires a  combination  of  the
highest  virtues  in several of the planets to bring it to its  highest  and
most  noble expression.   Of course there are many people who are  conscien-
tious because of minor benefic configurations (astrologically speaking), but
the highest phase requires the cooperation of the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn.


[PAGE 345]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                         PLANETS AFFECTED BY PLANETS
                             QUESTIONS NO. 108.

   ARE PLANETS UNDER THE DOMINATION OF PLANETS AND THE SIGNS?   IF SO PLEASE
EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY?

   ANSWER:   There are,  as we know four different kingdoms now upon  earth:
the mineral, vegetable or plant, animal, and human kingdoms.  The Spirits in
these  four life waves are evolving under the guidance and with the help  of
the other invisible hierarchies.

   The  Lords of Mind make their densest body of mind stuff from the  Region
of  Concrete  Thought.   They are adapts in working with this  material  and
therefore they influence humanity, who have a mind.

   The Archangels make their densest body of desire stuff.   They are adapts
in  the manipulation of this substance,  and therefore they  are  especially
fitted  to aid less evolved beings who have vehicles made of that  material.
Hence they work with animal and man, who possess desire bodies.

   The Angels make their densest body of ether,  so they are well versed  in
the working of this grade of matter and eminently fitted to help others  who
are not so expert.   Hence they exercise an influence for good over  plants,
animals, and men, who have vital bodies made of ether.

   Human  beings  make  their  densest  body  of  the  chemical  and mineral



[PAGE 346]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

constituents of the earth, and ages of accumulated experience have fitted us
to a certain degree to work with beings who have mineral bodies, such as the
plants, animals, and human beings.

   It should be remembered,  however,  that our evolution upon the earth  is
only  half finished and that we have not yet attained fifty per cent of  the
proficiency in this work which will be ours when that part of our  evolution
is completed.  IN the hoary past, before our eyes were opened we say interi-
orly, the creative energy was turned inwards for the purpose of building or-
gans,  as now our genius is used outwardly for building  airships,  bridges,
houses,  boats,  etc.   We use the dead mineral bodies of animals  for  shoe
leather,  billiard balls,  food,  and clothing, but as we can work only with
these  seemingly  dead things our manipulation involves the process  of  de-
struction.   We  destroy the integrity of the mineral to extract  the  gold,
silver, copper, or whatever other part seems precious to us.  We destroy the
trees in the forest to make doors, houses, etc.  We kill the animals to make
them into food, clothing, toys, and trinkets.

   Not so with the Angels or the other creative hierarchies.  They deal with
life in a constructive manner.

   The Archangels inhabit the Sun,  and the Angels are located on the  moons
of the solar system.   It is well known that planets love the Sun,  for they
are in the second period of their evolution,  the Sun Period.   As they  now
constitued,  however, they cannot endure the intense vibrations of the Arch-
angels,  which  are dry and parching us the desire bodies wherein they live.


[PAGE 347]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

The plants need, in addition to the light of the Sun, the water ruled by the
Moon,  and  it is the gentle ray of that orb which carries  the  fertilizing
agent and gives the growth to all that lives.  Therefore,  seed planted when
the Moon is increasing in light,  that is to say,  from the new Moon to  the
full, grow a larger top than if planted when the Moon is dark, or decreasing
in light, from the full to the new.  Contrariwise, seeds sown while the Moon
is decreasing in light will grow more under-ground than on top.

   There are also certain signs that are more favorable than others to plant
growth because they have certain affinities with the lunar vibrations.   The
watery signs,  Scorpio and Pisces,  are fruitful signs for that reason,  and
seeds planted while the Moon,  the queen of the water,  goes through one  of
these  signs will produce better results than when the Moon is in the  fiery
signs,  Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius.  These are Sun signs and therefore cal-
culated to burn up the vital spark in the seed.   Much more might be said on
this subject but the foregoing will probably give the information required.


[PAGE 348]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                     INFLUENCE OF THE PLEIADES AND ORION
                              QUESTION NO. 109.

   I FIND IN THE BIBLE IN THE BOOK OF JOB THE WORDS:   "CANST THOU BIND  THE
SWEET INFLUENCE OF THE PLEIADES OR LOOSE THE BANDS OF ORION?"   IS THERE ANY
INFLUENCE OF THESE STARS UPON MEN?

   ANSWER:   Yes,  there is no doubt that all the stars in the universe have
an  influence upon men,  and some astrologers also make the positions  of  a
number of fixed stars when they cast a horoscope.  To our minds that is only
a  waste of time and work,  for the average human mind is now put to a  suf-
ficiently  severe  test  to balance the interacting  influences  of  houses,
signs, and aspecting planets in such a manner as to read accurately the full
message  of  the  stars as shown by these elementary  factors.   It  may  be
stated,  however,  with  respect to the Pleiades that it  is  one  of  three
nebulous spots in the zodiac which has been found to exert an evil influence
upon  the  eyes under certain horoscopic configurations of the Sun  or  Moon
with Saturn, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune.


[PAGE 349]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                        THE TIME OF THE AQUARIAN AGE
                              QUESTION NO. 100.

   MANY PEOPLE REALIZE THESE DAYS THAT WE ARE ENTERING, OR ABOUT TO ENTER, A
NEW AGE.   SOME UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS THE AQUARIAN AGE, AND TO A CERTAIN EX-
TEND WHAT IT STANDS FOR.   HOWEVER,  I HAVE NOT AS YET HEARD AN INTELLIGIBLE
EXPLANATION OF JUST WHEN OUR EARTH OR SOLAR SYSTEM WOULD ENTER THIS AGE, AND
WHETHER  THE AQUARIAN AGE COINCIDES WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE SUN THROUGH  THE
CONSTELLATION  AQUARIUS OR THROUGH THE ZODIACAL DIVISION BY THAT NAME.

   ANSWER:  In this paragraph our correspondent takes up a number of points,
and on the principle that "the last shall be first," we shall first consider
the last part of his interrogation, where he makes a distinction between the
constellation Aquarius and the zodiacal division by that name.  This, in it-
self, is a great difficulty to many people, who do not know how to differen-
tiate  between  the zodiacal constellations and the  so-called  intellectual
zodiac.  The explanation is as follows:

   A certain group of stars in the heavens is called Aries;  another  group,
located  close to them,  is called Taurus; a third group of fixed  stars  is
called Gemini,  and so on.  These twelve constellations, or groups of stars,
as seen in the heavens,  always  remain  in  the same relative position, and


[PAGE 350]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

they are therefore unchangeable.

   Through all the centuries of which we have record,  these stars have  re-
mained in the same group and in about the same relative position, one to an-
other.   Through these constellations the Sun circles from year to year with
unvarying  precision,  but owing to the fact that the axis of the earth  in-
clines toward the Sun and has a wobbling motion,  similar to that of a spin-
ning top which has almost spend its force,  the motion of the Sun appears to
be uneven.  Each year, when it enters the constellation Aries,  crossing the
earth's equator, it is a little earlier than the year before.   IT PRECEDES.
Thus the point where the Sun crosses the equator at the vernal equinox moves
backwards from year to year at the rate of one degree in seventy-two  years,
and  the  whole  twelve  signs in twenty-five  thousand  eight  hundred  and
fifty-six years.  This latter period is called a Great Sidereal year.

   It  has been observed that no matter where in the zodiac the Sun  crosses
the equator,  a certain physical effect takes place.   The flowers begin  to
sprout out of the earth, the birds begin to mate,  the mute earth awakens to
new life,  new hope, and new song.  Also the spiritual effects following the
Sun's  entrance into the Northern hemisphere at the vernal equinox has  been
observed to remain unchanged.   Therefore the first thirty degrees from that
point, where the Sun crosses the equator,  are called Aries, the next thirty


[PAGE 351]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

degrees are called Taurus,  the third thirty degrees are called Gemini,  and
so on through the twelve signs.

   This intellectual division of the circle of the zodiac coincides with the
constellations  in the heavens only once in twenty-five thousand eight  hun-
dred and fifty-six years.   During all the rest of the time the intellectual
zodiac moves backwards,  as explained,  on account of the precession of  the
equinox.   The last time when the starting point in the intellectual  zodiac
agreed  with the zodiacal constellations was about 500 A.D.   A  year  after
these  points  were in exact agreement, the Sun crossed  the  equator  about
fifty seconds of space in the constellation Pisces.   The year following  it
was  one  minute and forty seconds of space into Pisces,  and  it  has  been
creeping backwards ever since, until at the present time the Sun crosses the
equator in about ten degrees of the constellation Pisces.   It will thus  be
about 700 years before it actually crosses the celestial equator in the con-
stellation Aquarius.

   The Aquarian Age may be said to start at the time when the Sun enters, by
precession,  the  30th degree of the constellation Aquarius,  and  it  lasts
2,100 years,  while the Sun moves backwards through the thirty degrees until
it comes to the first degree of Aquarius.   There is,  however,  no definite
and sharp cut-off such as we make when we say we enter the year 1915,  which
begins  at  twelve o'clock on the night of the 31st of December,  1914,  and
lasts until the 31st of December, 1915 at  12  o'clock  midnight.  That is a


[PAGE 352]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

mathematical division of time.  The various epochs of human existence depend
upon  vital  influences  in life,  and are conditions of  mind  rather  than
divisions of time, though the two are linked.

   Therefore,  astrologers recognize what is called an "orb  of  influence."
To understand this, we must realize that every human being is something more
than that which we see;  that he has surrounding him an aura,  an  invisible
atmosphere,  a something which radiates from him and which partakes  of  his
distinct  and personal nature.   We very often feel the effect of this  aura
though  we do not understand the reason why.   Suppose that someone has  his
whole mind concentrated upon his work so that he neither hears not sees what
happens about him.  Gradually he becomes aware that someone else has entered
the room--is,  in fact,  standing behind him--and he turns around to find  a
friend there.  He had not heard the friend enter on account of absorption in
his work,  but he FELT him, because the aura of the friend intermingled with
his own auric atmosphere.   Thus,  though there was no physical contact,  he
knew that someone was close by.

   The  constellations  are groups of great Spirits who have  immured  them-
selves in these starry bodies, for the sake of less advanced intelligence to
again the experience of evolution.   Each of the fixed stars in a constella-
tion also has its invisible bodies, which extend from one to the other,  in-
termingle, and overlap.  Therefore, when the Sun reached the tenth degree of
Pisces,  it  touched  the  fringe  of  the  influence  of  the constellation


[PAGE 353]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Aquarius, though we are still in the Piscean Age.

   That this influence is making itself felt, a glance of retrospection will
soon show.   We readily recognize the Piscean influence during the last  two
thousand  years.   The dark ages, the superstition and intellectual  bondage
then prevalent,  are not entirely routed,  but since the middle of the  last
century,  when  the Aquarian influence first began to make itself  felt,  an
irresistable intellectual impulse has been instilled into our everyday life.
Science  has made such strides as never before.   Invention has  electrified
the world and is now conquering the air, etc.   This scientific intellectual
influence  will  make itself felt more and more during the  centuries  which
will  pass before we definitely enter the constellation Aquarius by  preces-
sion of the equinox.   As the narrow,  conservative Piscean influence dimin-
ishes, so will the broadening, inquiring Aquarian influence increase.

   Regarding  what the Aquarian Age stands for spiritually,  we may  realize
that Aquarius is the only figure in the zodiac representing the full stature
of a man.  All the principal characters of the Old Testament were shepherds,
having reference to "Aries,"  the sheep, ram or lamb.   In the New Testament
they are fishermen, referring to Pisces, the sign of the fishes, but the Son
of  Man is the subject of prophecy:   of something yet to come.   He  is  to
usher  in  a  glorious  age, and therefore we may look for developments of a


[PAGE 354]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

startling nature to take place in the nearest centuries before us.

   Moreover,  each of the foregoing ages has had its teachers.   Osiris  and
Mithras were worshiped in Egypt and Persia,  while the Sun was going through
Taurus, the sign of the Bull.  The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the
Christian world,  by Moses,  while the Sun was going through the sign Aries.
There  was a great controversy concerning the symbol of Christ,  on  account
whereof the Bishop's mitre is still make in the form of a fish, to symbolize
the  fact that the phase of the Christian religion then inaugurated  was  to
hold sway during the Piscean or Fish Age,  in which we now are.   Later  the
ideal  of  the Son of Man,  or Superman,  will furnish inspiration  for  the
Aquarian Age, which is now being ushered in.

   The Aquarian Age is not to be confounded with the kingdom of Christ,  who
is  to come again.   Neither is the Aquarian Age to be confounded  with  the
Sixth (Galilean) Epoch,  for to quote the words of Christ,  "Of that day and
hour (when He comes),  knows no man; neither the angels in heaven,  nor  the
Son,  but only the Father."  It is absolutely preposterous and a mark of ig-
norance for anyone to predict that the coming of Christ will take place at a
certain,  specified time.   Perhaps it is even presumptuous to guess at  the
approximate time when the Second Advent will take place,  but the writer has
the idea that, as the precessional cycles, so far as they are connected with


[PAGE 355]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

the evolution of man,  seem to commence with the Sun's entrance into  Capri-
corn,  there may be a development at that time.  If that is correct, the Ad-
vent cannot take place for at least three thousand years.


                      THE ACTUALITY OF THE AQUARIAN AGE
                              QUESTION NO. 111.

   A  CORRESPONDENT SENDS US A NEWSPAPER CLIPPING IN WHICH SOMEONE ASKS  THE
EDITOR WHAT IS REALLY THE AQUARIAN AGE, AND THE QUESTION IS ANSWERED AS FOL-
LOWS:   "THERE IS NO AQUARIAN AGE;  THIS FAKE WAS STARTED BY A  PROFESSIONAL
FAKERS BY TEACHING THAT THE SOLAR SYSTEM ENTERED AQUARIUS RECENTLY.  NOT ONE
TELLS WHEN, AND THEY WRITE ASKING ME THE REAL DATE.  THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS GO-
ING  DIRECTLY AWAY FROM AQUARIUS WITH THE SPEED OF TWELVE AND A  HALF  MILES
PER SECOND.   THE SOLAR SYSTEM NEVER HAS BEEN AND NEVER CAN BE ANYWHERE NEAR
AQUARIUS.   YET PAMPHLETS AND MONTHLY MAGAZINES ARE CONSTANTLY  ISSUING  AR-
TICLES  SAYING THE SAME OLD THING,  THAT THE SOLAR SYSTEM HAS  JUST  ENTERED
AQUARIUS  AND GREAT CHANGES ARE COMING TO THIS HUMAN RACE,  ALL OF WHICH  IS
TOTALLY FALSE."

   ANSWER:   Our correspondent wants our ideas on the matter,  as we believe
in and advocate the view that the Aquarian Age is at hand.  We are therefore


[PAGE 356]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

also among the class of publishers denounced by this editor as "fakers," but
have  no  hesitation in complying with the request of our  correspondent  to
shed  more light on the subject of the Aquarian Age on that score.   WE  are
not disturbed by the attack when we consider the source.

   The question is one which depends upon the point of view,  in one of  its
phases.   It is true,  as he says,  that the solar system has never been  in
Aquarius and never will be.   It is in fact moving away from the  constella-
tion Aquarius.   It is also true that the Sun has never "risen,"  and  never
will "rise," yet we do not denounce the man who makes use of that expression
as a faker.  We understand that from the point of view of an observor on the
earth  it  APPEARS as if the Sun rises,  and the occultist  means  something
similar  when he says that we are going into Aquarius by the  precession  of
the equinox.  We do not stop to say that by the rotation of the earth on its
axis the Sun came in view at seven o'clock.  We simply say that the Sun rose
at  seven o'clock.   For similar reasons we do not say that "because of  the
precession of the equinox it now appears as if the Sun, when viewed from the
earth, is nearing the constellation Aquarius at the time when it crosses the
equator at the vernal equinox."  If we did, all astronomers would agree with
us concerning the phenomenon seen in the heavens, though they would disagree
with us in our contention  that  this  has  an influence upon the affairs of


[PAGE 357]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

humanity.   Instead  of using this long explanation we simply say  that  the
"sun  is  going  into  Aquarius,"  and people will  just  have  to  keep  on
criticising  until they have learned to understand what we mean by this  ex-
pression, just the same as they understand what is meant when we say the Sun
rises.

   In  the  meantime students of occult philosophies  ought  to  familiarize
themselves  with the astronomical facts so that they may be able to give  an
intelligent  reason for their beliefs.   It cannot be denied that when  stu-
dents  who have studied the higher philosophy and thereby acquired a  knowl-
edge of super-physical facts are close at hand,  such as given by  astronomy
and physiology, they do not impress the hearers very well.  When we speak so
learnedly about man's finer vehicles we ought also to know at least the main
facts  concerning  the mechanical motions of the heavens as  understood  and
known by astronomers.   In order therefore that students who have not famil-
iarized themselves with these things may gain an insight into the matter  we
will elucidate briefly.   For a more thorough explanation the student is re-
ferred to our SIMPLIFIED SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY.   The subject is there  death
with in the Philosophic Encyclopedia under the heading "The Intellectual Zo-
diac," and elsewhere.

   When the earth moves in its annual orbit  around  the  Sun it seems, when


[PAGE 358]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

viewed from the earth,  that the Sun travels through the heavens in a narrow
belt consisting of twelve constellations or groups of stars which have  been
given certain names:   Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc.  If the axis of the earth
were  as stationary as the axle of a wheel the Sun would always be found  at
the  same place in the constellation where it was on the same day  the  year
before,  but the axis of the earth has a wobbling motion somehwat resembling
that of a spinning top, whose momentum is about spent.  This changes the ap-
parent position of the Sun as viewed from the earth in such a manner that it
appears  to reach any given position a little too early.   IT PRECEDES,  and
therefore astronomers speak of the "precession of the equinox."   That is to
say,  the Sun appears to cross the equator at the vernal equinox each year a
short  distance BEFORE it reaches the point where it crossed  the  preceding
year.   Thus if one year it crossed in the first degree of Aries,  the  next
year it would cross slightly within the limits of the constellation  Pisces.
The  following year it would still be farther away in Pisces from the  first
point of Aries and so on.  This backward motion, however, is so slow that it
takes  nearly twenty-six thousand years to go backwards through  the  twelve
signs,  or twenty-one hundred years to go through one sign, or seventy years
to move through one degree.

   Astronomers usually speak of "degrees of right ascension,"  by which they
divide the circle of the heavens into the usual number of  three hundred and


[PAGE 359]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

sixty degrees,  starting with the point where the Sun crosses the equator at
the next preceding vernal equinox.   But they also call the first thirty de-
grees from the point Aries,  the second thirty degrees,  Taurus,  etc.,  the
same  as the astrologer.   Thus there is the NATURAL ZODIAC composed of  the
twelve constellations or actual groups of stars in the heavens which  change
so  little that it is imperceptible in one lifetime or even in several  hun-
dred years,  and the INTELLECTUAL ZODIAC which starts from the point of  the
vernal equinox for any given year.

   Seeing  that the Sun by precession travels BACKWARDS among the  signs  of
the zodiac,  it will be understood that there must come a time when the ver-
nal  equinox occurs in the first point of Aries;  and thus during that  year
the  intellectual  and natural zodiac agree.   This occurred the  last  time
about the year 500 A.D.,  and as the Sun has been traveling backwards at its
accustomed rate of one degree in about seventy years,  it is evident that at
the  present time the vernal equinox occurs in about ten degrees of  Pisces.
Thus,  IT WILL BE ABOUT A. D. 2,600, OR SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS, BEFORE IT ACTU-
ALLY ENTERS THE CONSTELLATION AQUARIUS.   Or, to be in line with  scientific
facts,  let us say,  before it APPEARS from the earth as if the Sun  crosses
the  equator in the constellation Aquarius.   During the twenty-one  hundred
years from the time,  it will appear as if the Sun were in the constellation
Aquarius every year at the time when it crosses the vernal equinox.  Thus it
may be said that the Aquarian Age comprises the twenty-one


[PAGE 360]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

hundred years counting from about A. D., 2,600, during which the Sun by pre-
cession  appears  to be in the constellation Aquarius at the  time  when  it
crosses the equator and vernal equinox.

   Has the reader ever sat quietly absorbed in a book or perhaps in  writing
or some other task, and then suddenly become aware that someone was standing
behind his or her back,  the approach of whom had been undetected because of
absorption in the book or other matters?  If so,  though the person did  not
speak or move,  the presence was felt more and more keenly until it made you
turn.  Surely this experience is so common that everyone is personally aware
of the fact,  but what is the explanation?   I is simply this:   besides the
physical body which we all see, man has certain vehicles which are invisible
to ordinary vision.  THESE SUBTLE SHEATHS EXTEND BEYOND THE PHYSICAL BODY so
that when we stand close to another person the ethereal bodies  intermingle,
and at times when we are very quiet and passive these subtle influences  are
more  readily felt that at other times,  though they exist and are  powerful
factors in our lives at all times.

   "As above,  so below,"  and vice versa.  This is the law of analogy,  the
master  key to the mysteries.   Man is the microcosm and the stars  are  the
macrocosm.   Therefore we may conclude that these great stars which move  in
the  heavens and are the bodies of Spirits have subtle vehicles  similar  to
the auric atmosphere of our earth.  Hence the proximity of  the  Sun  to the


[PAGE 361]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

constellation Aquarius at the time of the vernal equinox transmits these in-
fluences  to the earth along with the solar rays,  and as the spring is  the
particular  time when everything on earth is impregnated with life,  we  may
also  judge  that the Aquarian Ray thus transmitted will  make  itself  felt
among  the  people of the earth no matter whether they believe  it  or  not.
Thus  if we can find out what the influence of Aquarius is we shall be  able
to answer the question,  "What is the Aquarian Age?"  from another point  of
view, and astrology gives us this information based on experience and obser-
vation.

   Aquarius  has  an intellectual influence which  is  original,  inventive,
physic,  scientific,  altruistic,  and religious.  If we apply the  Biblical
standard,  "By their fruits ye shall know them,"  to this problem,  we would
expect to see that the Aquarian Age would be ushered in by original  endeav-
ors along all lines connected with science, religion, mysticism,  and altru-
ism,  and we can no look back upon a period of about seventy years in  which
the  Sun by precession has traveled one degree in the orb towards  Aquarius.
During  that  time we find that there has been a very marked change  in  all
lines of thought and endeavor from that which history records throughout the
past  two millennia.   Almost all the inventions which make our  life  today
what it is have been made during that time.   The telegraph,  the telephone,
the use of electricity, the conquest of air and steam, the gas engine, which
is  superseding  steam,  and  other  inventions  too numerous to mention are


[PAGE 362]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

marking the Aquarian progress in the physical world.

   We also note the rapid rate at which all the movements of liberal thought
in religious matters are superseding the old creed bound conditions and  the
increasing  number of those who have developed the spiritual sight  and  are
investigating the trend of evolution in the higher phase.  Note the rapidity
with which the science of astrology is gaining ground,  and in this  respect
we  may mention that one firm which deals in astrological  ephemerides  used
only for astrological calculations is reported to sell about half a  million
a year.

   All  these things show,  or give an inkling of,  what may be expected  to
happen during the Aquarian Age.  When such great strides have been made dur-
ing seventy years while the Sun is just beginning to transmit the  influence
from the outskirts of Aquarius, what then may be expected when it enters the
sign  itself?   Both the possibilities and the probabilities are far  beyond
the range of the wildest imagination,  and this applies both to the physical
and  the psychical side of life.   It is the opinion of the writer  that  at
least  the majority of mankind,  if not by all,  so that the sting of  death
will  be removed at least partly by the companionship that will  exist  with
our  friends and relatives who have passed out of the body.   We shall  them
continue to see them a while and have time to get used to the fact that they


[PAGE 363]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

are going to higher realms.  We shall not grieve at all for the little chil-
dren  who die and retain their vital bodies,  for they will probably  remain
with their parents until it is time for them to take a new embodiment.  This
often occurs in the same family.   In those cases there would be  absolutely
no sense of loss.

   When this point in evolution is reached mankind will also be so much more
enlightened that it will avoid many of the pitfalls which cause trouble  to-
day, and it therefore favors a much happier existence than has been the rule
up to the present stage.   The added intellect will help us solve the social
problems in such a manner that it will be equitable to all,  and the use  of
continually  improving machinery will emancipate mankind from physical  toil
to  a  great extent and leave more room for intellectual and  spiritual  im-
provement.


[PAGE 364]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                      THE BEGINNING OF THE AQUARIAN AGE
                              QUESTION NO. 112.

   WHY  DO  SOME  ASTROLOGERS GIVE THE YEAR 1912 AS  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE
AQUARIAN AGE?

   ANSWER:   We have seen that statement made, but no reason is given.   You
don't need astrology for that calculation,  for ordinary astronomy will give
it very clearly.  The vernal equinox at the present time is in 10 degrees of
the  CONSTELLATION PISCES,  and that of course is called by astronomers  the
first degree of Aries.   They have the system we use in astrology of differ-
entiating between the two zodiacs.   They always start with the first  point
of Aries,  which they call 0 degrees of longitude, at the same time when the
Sun passes over the equator every year.   They know and measure  precession,
at the rate of about fifty seconds of space ever year.  When we go back that
fifty  seconds  of  space every year it amounts to one degree  in  about  72
years, and one sign in about 2,100 years, so that is the same measurement we
are using astrology.

   The  Sun is at the present time crossing the equator in about 10  degrees
of the constellation Pisces as already said, and as it precedes at the  rate
of 50 seconds a year or one degree in 72 years,  you can easily figure  when
the Sun will by precession enter the constellation Aquarius:  about the year
2638.  Why anybody should say that the Aquarian  Age begins in 1912 we don't


[PAGE 365]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

know.   This much may be said,  however,  that every one of us has  an  aura
which interpenetrates the physical body and extends about 16 inches from its
periphery.  It grows larger as we become more spiritual, but that is the av-
erage.   This accounts for the fact that sometimes we FEEL a person standing
behind us.   His aura and ours blend, and thereby we sense the presence  and
feel his vibration.   It is the same with the Sun, Moon, earth,  and all the
other planets.   Each has its particular aura.  Thus as the Sun moved toward
the  constellation  Aquarius,  its aura went before  it  and  contacted  the
Aquarian  vibration,  so that the influence began to be felt by us in  about
the middle of the last century.

   If  we  will  consider the fact that Spirit is  the  sign  of  invention,
originality,  and independence, changing the world to brighter and more lib-
eral ideas, and them remember that since 1850 the religious and social ideas
of the world have undergone a very complete revolution, and that science and
invention have taken a wonderful turn,  this seems to work out.   Just think
of  the  things that have come into the world since that  time.   Steamships
were  then beginning to be used, then the telegraph and telephone,  wireless
telegraphy,  automobiles,  airships,  electrical appliances,  and everything
that  has revolutionized life in the past 60 or 70 years.   The whole  world
has been transformed with that Aquarian influence and this is being more and
more  felt  every  year.  Therefore  it  may  be  said that we ARE IN ORB OF


[PAGE 366]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

AQUARIUS,  but the AQUARIAN AGE has not actually started.   When Christ came
the Sun by precession was in Seven degrees of Aries.  It still had Seven de-
grees to go to Pisces, but it was in orb.  In 498 A.D.  the Sun crossed in 0
degrees of Aries,  and from that it has been preceding into the sign  Pisces
and then the Piscean Age began.

   It  is usual for a great teacher to come in each age,  and we may  expect
him to come through the Rosicrucian Fellowship, because the Rosicrucian Fel-
lowship is the herald of the Aquarian Age as John the Baptist was the herald
of the Piscean Age.

                            PLANETARY HOUR TABLES
                              QUESTION NO. 113.

   IS IT RIGHT TO USE THE GUIDANCE OF THE PLANETARY HOUR TABLES FOR THE PUR-
POSE OF PECUNIARY GAIN, OR TO GAIN THE ADVANTAGE OVER ANOTHER PERSON?

   ANSWER:  It is certainly very wrong to use any means to get the advantage
over another person,  it doesn't matter what the reason is.  If on the other
hand, we want to help somebody--let us say that a person is sick and we want
to pour out our vitality and give him all that we can spare--then we can  do
that best in the hours of Mars, the planet of dynamic energy.  If we want to


[PAGE 367]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

help  somebody obtain a position,  and we use the hour of the Sun to go  and
ask for a position for him, the Sun signifying an employer, then we are more
likely to be successful than at another time.  We are using it legitimately,
also, if we have to go and face somebody that may harm us.  If we can find a
good hour it is all right.

   The  editor was in Germany in 1908, and over there in peace times  every-
body had to register.   Those who were strangers had to register at the  po-
lice  station and go in person to show their papers and give a good  account
of themselves.   The police secured a good description of them,  asked about
their  religion,  whether married or single, and how long they  intended  to
stay.   These and many more questions had to be answered,  and if one  moved
around the corner to another place,  the process had to be repeated.   These
officers were very brusque and it was not very pleasant to face them.  So we
thought  we would go in the hour of the Sun when the Sun was well  aspected,
and  everything  was as harmonious as possible.   We were treated  very  po-
litely,  and everything went beautifully.  However,  later we  moved.   That
time  we  couldn't find an auspicious hour of the Sun,  so went  in  another
hour.   They were so brusque that we were relived, pleased,  and thankful to
get out of the station with a whole skin.   So planetary hours do have  some
effect, if that experience counts.


[PAGE 368]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                            ASTROLOGICAL SYMBOLS
                              QUESTION NO. 114.


   WOULD YOU TELL US WHAT WAS THE ORIGIN OF THE SYMBOLS,  AND THE SHAPES  OF
THESE SYMBOLS REPRESENTING THE DIFFERENT SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC, ALSO THE PLAN-
ETS?   WHY ARE SOME QUITE EASY TO DECIPHER,  WHILE OTHERS ARE JUST  THE  RE-
VERSE?

   ANSWER:   There  seem to be about three factors in the  symbols  for  the
planets.  There is a circle which means spirit, the half circle which we may
take  as a symbol of the soul,  and the cross which we take as a  symbol  of
matter.   If we apply that key, we have in the Sun  symbol  a  circle  which
stands  as a symbol of Spirit.   Then we have  Mars  which  is  composed  of
the  circle and the CROSS ABOVE.   The Spirit is under the cross,  which  we
make  take to mean that the Spirit is in bondage to matter and to the  body.
Thus we find the martial people very material.   They usually do not believe
in anything supernatural, as they call it--only what they can see, and might
is right with them.  The higher, finer, and nobler feeling are held in abey-
ance;  there is mainly the physical side expressed.  Everything is for self.
Mars  always asks:   "What can I get for MYSELF and how much pleasure can  I
get?   What  is the best I can do for MYSELF and how can  I  oust  everybody
else?"

   Venus is just the reverse.  Mars  will  fight,  but  Venus doesn't fight.


[PAGE 369]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Her symbol  has  the  Spirit  above the cross of matter.  The Spirit has the
balance  of power and therefore she is the planet of love.   She says,  "How
much can I do for somebody else?   I want to help somebody.   I want to  at-
tract everybody to myself that I may do them some good."

   Next we have the symbol of Saturn.  There  is  the  soul,  or instinctual
mind.  symbolized by the half circle, under the dominance of matter,  repre-
sented by a cross.  Therefore the Saturn people are materialistic in the ex-
treme.   They are very selfish also in every way.  They grasp everything for
self.  The heart and better nature are put underneath.

   When you take the  opposite  combination,  you  have  Jupiter,  the  soul
ABOVE the cross of matter.   The Jupiter person is the jovial,  good-natured
fellow, saying, "Well, how are you?  Is there any way I can assist you?"  He
is  always trying to be philanthropic and help somebody.   Thus we  see  how
well the planetary symbolism expresses nature.

   We  also have the half circle by itself, the  Moon,  but  that  is  just
the soul.   The lunar people are emotional,  but they haven't much backbone.
Finally,  we have the planetary symbol composed of all three factors.   This
is  the  planet  of  mind,  Mercury,  uniting  all  the attributes of  body,
soul,  and Spirit.   It is the pivot.  Mercury enhances the good of both the
reason and the reasoning mind,  but is of no value except as colored by  the
other planets.

   If  we combine the planets symbolism is also seen.  The  Moon  with  Mars


[PAGE 370]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

makes  the person still more foolhardy and harebrained than he would  other-
wise be.  The Moon together with Venus, makes that person more emotional and
devotional than otherwise.   If Mercury is with Mars,  it gives a keener in-
telligence and reasoning power;  with Saturn it gives him deeper thought and
a grasping and selfish mind.  Jupiter with Mercury enhances the good of both
the  reason  and benevolence and they work together for  philanthropic  pur-
poses.   So with all the planets,  because they are composed of  these  con-
stituent parts of the symbols.

                            EGYPTIAN ASTROLOGERS
                              QUESTION NO. 115.

   WHY DID THE ANCIENT PRIESTS OF EGYPT STUDY ASTROLOGY SO THOROUGHLY?

   ANSWER:   Why,  the whole fate of humanity is bound up by the stars.   It
doesn't  matter whether we go to our own Bible or the textbook of any  other
religion.   Everywhere  we  shall  find that the  stars  are  given  a  more
prominent  place.   In our own Bible we know that they are called the  Seven
Spirits  before the Throne.   They are the Seven Star Angels as  known  par-
ticularly  to the Catholic Church, the Seven Planetary Spirits that have had


[PAGE 371]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

to  do  with  our evolution every since humanity began  to  evolve  on  this
planet.   Therefore,  naturally the course of the stars and their configura-
tions are time markers in the history of humanity.

   We hear Pythagoras speak of the music of the spheres.   Most people think
that a poetical expression.   It is not;  it is a fact.   Anywhere we go  we
shall  find there is a sound distinct from the sounds of other places.   The
rustle of the trees when the wind is blowing, the babbling brooks,  all have
peculiar  sounds.   No two brooks will give the same sound.   Musicians  who
have a trained ear can hear the difference.  If we go into a city there is a
conglomerate  noise,  but all that noise blends into the tone of  the  city.
The composite of all the sounds all over the world,  the rustle of the winds
in  the  trees,  and all the noises are heard in space as a  certain  single
tone--the tone of the earth.

   These  stellar orbs travel around,  as is well known to astrologers,  but
not in a circle.  They don't stay in one order, but come into different con-
figurations  with one another.   The same is true of the Seven tones in  the
octave,  which are the replica of the Seven Planetary Spirits.  Just as they
can be brought into different connections and make different chords, so also
these  different tones of the worlds that are moving through space  make  up
the harmony of the spheres,  and according to the change in these vibrations
humanity is evolving.  There is a different vibration every single moment of


[PAGE 372]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

time,  and as a new being comes into existence, these varying vibrations act
upon him and make him different from all others.  Therefore he has a certain
fate.

   It is the same in the microcosm and the macrocosm,  the little world  and
the big world.   We all have to with the stars.   Everyone is bound up  with
the stars,  without them there is nothing done or made.  That is why the an-
cient priest of Egypt who knew, took up that phase of religion.  That is why
they  studied astrology so thoroughly,  and the day will come when  a  great
many  more people will study it.   The science of astrology will be  revived
when we grow wiser.

                            ASTROLOGY A RELIGION
                              QUESTION NO. 116.

   IN SOME OF YOUR LITERATURE YOU SAY, "TO US, ASTROLOGY IS A PHASE OF RELI-
GION."   PLEASE  TELL US WHEREIN ASTROLOGY CO-ORDINATES WITH  THE  CHRISTIAN
TEACHINGS.

   ANSWER:   The preceding question ought to answer this.  The Seven Spirits
before the Throne are the Planetary Spirits of the marching orbs.  We cannot
separate them from religion.   Even in the earliest times we find everywhere
the  stars are a part of religion and without them there could be  no  reli-
gion.


[PAGE 373]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                             HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES
                              QUESTION NO. 117.

   CAN  YOU EXPLAIN THE PRECISE WAY IN WHICH ASTROLOGICAL  INFLUENCES  ACTS?
IT  SEEMS EXTRAORDINARY THAT BECAUSE A MAN'S HOROSCOPE CONTAINS NO  EVIDENCE
OF A VIOLENT DEATH HE CAN HAVE SUCH MIRACULOUS ESCAPES.  FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE
PRESENT  EUROPEAN  WAR THERE ARE SCORES OF INSTANCES OF MEN  EXPOSING  THEM-
SELVES MOST RECKLESSLY IN THE MIDST OF A PERFECT HAIL OF BULLETS AND  COMING
THOUGH UNSCATHED.  THERE WAS A FRENCH GENERAL, SO FAT THAT HE COULD SCARECLY
WALK,  WHO  WOULD PERCH  HIMSELF ON A CAMP STOOL OUTSIDE THE TRENCH  AND  BE
POTTED  AT FOR QUITE LONG PERIODS.   HE WAS NEVER HURT.   AGAIN,  A  BRITISH
AVIATOR DESCENDED QUITE LOW OVER THE GERMAN TRENCHES,  AND COMPETENT OBSERV-
ERS SAY THAT ALTHOUGH FOR TEN MINUTES THOUSANDS OF SHELLS WERE FIRED AT HIM,
HE  WAS UNTOUCHED.   IN WHAT MYSTERIOUS WAY IS SUCH PROTECTION AS  THIS  AF-
FORDED BY STELLAR INFLUENCES?

   ANSWER:   Astrologers who have investigated the horoscopes of a number of
victims of accidents like those of the "Eastland"  and the "General  Slocum"
always have been able to find serious afflictions in the victim's horoscope,
and one of the European astrologers, we believe it was "Sepharial"  recently
compared the horoscope of forty people slain on the battle field in the same
engagement.  The result  showed  severe afflictions in every case, and it is


[PAGE 374]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

equally  certain that anyone who has a miraculous escape must be under  good
directions at the time.

   A study of the nativities reveals that fact that while certain people are
immune from accidents all their lives,  other people are subject to them  at
every  turn.   A  third class will have many hairbreadth  escapes  from  the
cradle to the grave.   In THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION we cite the  case
of a man belonging to the class which is always meeting with accidents.   He
was  not by any means a reckless or careless man.   On one occasion  he  was
hurt while climbing into a buggy.   On the occasion cited in THE ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION  he was riding on a street car and could not be blamed  for
the  misfortune which overtook him.   However,  both of these accidents  and
others  were foreshown very clearly in his horoscope.   It was further  seen
that  this was the result of an inexorable fate,  for the writer had  warned
him  and  predicted the exact date of the railroad accident  months  before.
The poor man was anxious to escape and had stayed at home on the day preced-
ing the accident under the impression that that was the fateful day.  After-
wards  it  was found that he had become confused on the date  and  therefore
fell a victim.

   On  another  occasion the writer predicted an accident for a man  of  the
class who always escapes.   If memory serves us right this man had Leo  ris-
ing,  and the Sun, which ruled the Ascendant, in the eighth house, square to
Saturn.  Jupiter was trine to the  Sun  or  the Ascendant, or both.  Thus it


[PAGE 375]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

was  evident that this man would come within a hair's breadth of losing  his
life many times, but would always escape.  However, in the year 1906 or 1907
there  was  an eclipse of the Sun within one or two degrees of  his  radical
Sun,  also some minor afflictions.   This we believed might be the  terminus
vitae,  but it was not.   One the day when the direction fell he stumbled in
the middle of the street and a heavy touring car bore down upon him.  It was
stopped about one inch from his body, so that the benefic ray of Jupiter had
again  overridden the sinister Saturn.   So far as known to the writer,  the
man still lives and has probably escaped death a number of times since then.

   There must be a similar configurations in the cases of those mentioned by
our friend.   Such persons bear a charmed life, and there is no other expla-
nation that will give a satisfactory solution to the problem except that the
stellar rays are potent powers in our lives.

   Nor  should this surprise us when we consider that the stars are  living,
pulsating bodies of great Intelligences which are the ministers of God.   If
a  puny wireless plant made with human hands can send wireless  waves  thou-
sands of miles into space and there move a lever, light a lamp, or operate a
telegraph key,  according to the will of the sender, why should it be impos-
sible  for  the dynamic energy of such great Spirits to send abroad  in  the
universe  rays of force or potency capable of  operating  many  millions  of


[PAGE 376]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

miles away from them?   Whether we realize it or whether we believe it,  the
fact remains, nevertheless, and all the skeptic needs to do to find evidence
is to watch the movements of the Moon and Mars.

   These two planets play a very considerable part at the present time,  for
people  have allowed themselves to yield to their impulses for the last  two
years.  It is true that we strengthen our characters by ruling our stars and
fortifying ourselves against their impelling influences.   It is also a fact
that the more readily we yield to them at one time, the more potent we shall
feel their influences the next.

                        NEPTUNE THE OCTAVE OF MERCURY
                              QUESTION NO. 118.

   WHY DO YOU CALL NEPTUNE THE HIGHER OCTAVE OF MERCURY?

   ANSWER:   Mercury is usually associated with reason and intelligence;  to
him is ascribed ruler over the nervous system, which is the medium of trans-
mission between the embodied Spirit and the world without.  Thus, as Neptune
signifies  the  sub and superhuman intelligences who live and  move  in  the
spiritual realms of the universe, but who work with and upon us,  so Mercury
indicates the human intelligence focused upon the terrestrial physical world


[PAGE 377]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

wherein we live from birth to death.  Therefore, it may be said that Neptune
is the octave of Mercury, but there is a deeper sense.

   Reference  to a textbook of anatomy or physiology will show that  length-
wise fissures in the spinal cord divide it into three parts, which enclose a
hollow  tube.   Each of these columns is ruled by one of the Hierarchies  in
closest touch with us, the lunar, martial or mercurial,  predominating,  ac-
cording  to the stage in evolution of the individual.   In the spinal  canal
the  rays of Neptune kindle the SPINAL SPIRIT FIRE whereby the human  spirit
is enabled to pierce the veil of flesh and contact the worlds beyond.   This
vision is colored according to the column of the cord most actively excited.

   In  the childhood days of mankind the creative force which is now  turned
outwards to build ships,  houses, railways, telephones,  etc.,  was used in-
wardly  to  build the organs of our body,  and as the  surrounding  physical
world is photographed upon the table of a camera obscura,  so the  spiritual
world  is reflected in the spinal canal.   There man beheld first the  lunar
God,  Jehovah,  whose Angels were then his tutors.   Later,  Angels who  had
fallen  behind the standard of their compeers,  and whose  evolutionary  re-
quirements were therefore different,  forced entrance to the spinal cord  of
man.   The  spiritual inner vision of mankind faded when  "their  eyes  were
opened and they saw they were naked."


[PAGE 378]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

   Then they lost touch with the higher self.  They saw only the person, and
the docile creature of Jehovah was soon transformed to a savage and a  brute
under  the impulse of Lucifer Spirits, the hierarchy of Mars.   However,  by
their  promptings  man has also learned to conquer  material  obstacles,  to
build  outwardly and become architect of the world.   To counteract the  un-
mitigated selfishness bred by the martial Angels and to make mankind humane,
our Elder Brothers from Mercury,  human like ourselves,  whose high state of
evolution  required the higher vibration generated and prevailing  in  close
proximity  to the Sun,  were required to invest the spinal cord  of  mankind
also.   Through  their labors civilization has taken on  a  different  form.
Mankind  is  again beginning to look inwards,  and when the  mercurial  rays
meets  the ray of Neptune in the spinal canal,  man finds again  his  higher
self--the Christ is born WITHIN.

   Thus there is a connection between the Moon, Mercury, and Neptune.  Those
who come in touch with Neptune through the Moon may become irresponsible me-
diums, victims of obsession, etc., but where Mercury is the fate, reason and
understanding guide the aspiring Spirit.  An afflicted Mercury may sometimes
tempt seekers to enter by the wrong door, and mental trouble may result.  If
aware of the danger,  however, continual care and persistence usually unlock
the  door of the temple,  for the good forces are in the ascendancy now  and
grow stronger as time passes.


[PAGE 379]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                    EFFECT OF VENUS IN THE TWELFTH HOUSE
                              QUESTION NO. 119.

   I NOTICED IN THE MAGAZINE FOR APRIL JUST TO HAND YOU WELCOME QUIERIES RE-
LATING TO DISCREPANCIES IN ASTROLOGICAL DELINEATIONS, SO I SHOULD BE PLEASED
IF YOU WOULD POINT OUT THE LINE OF THOUGHT TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING  STATEMENTS
AGREE.

   IN THE HOROSCOPE FOR DORIS A., IN THE FEBRUARY RAYS, YOU SAY SHE IS GOING
TO  HAVE AN EASY LIFE,  FOR THERE IS NOT A SINGLE BAD ASPECT IN THE  FIGURE.
NOW,  VENUS IS IN THE TWELFTH HOUSE,  AND IN THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS IT  IS
STATED,  SPEAKING OF VENUS IN THE HOUSE OF SORROW,  PRESUMABLY THE  TWELFTH,
"THERE THE SMILE OF LOVE IS DROWNED IN TEARS."

   ANSWER:  When you judge the effect of planets in any horoscope you should
remember in the first place that no single aspect or position is  sufficient
to  cause any important effects in the life,  but that the general tenor  of
the horoscope must always be taken into consideration.  In the next place it
is  important to remember that aspects between the planets have  a  stronger
effect  than mere house or sign position.   If the general indications of  a
horoscope show a good and easy life, Venus placed in the twelfth house  will
not alone be able to change the validity of this judgment.   If she were af-
flicted  by a square or opposition of Saturn,  the case would be  different,
and the general judgment must be modified to conform to this fact.  However,


[PAGE 380]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

if she were to receive a trine from the Sun or Jupiter, the mere fact of her
placement  in the twelfth house would be almost NIL in comparison  with  the
effect of such powerful aspects.   So if you will just keep these points  in
mind  and remember that the influences of an unaspected planet is  weak,  no
matter where it is placed in the horoscope, and that no single aspect is de-
cisive  at any time,  you will have no difficulty in reconciling our  state-
ments.

                     USE OF ASTROLOGY TRAINING CHILDREN
                              QUESTION NO. 120.

   IN TRAINING CHILDREN IT IS ADVISED THAT PARENTS GET AN ASTROLOGICAL READ-
ING  OF THE CHILD'S POTENTIALITIES SO AS TO INHIBIT  DETRIMENTAL  TENDENCIES
AND STRENGTHEN THE BENEFICENT.   DOES THIS PAY?  IS IT NOT NECESSARY AND UL-
TIMATELY  BENEFICIAL  FOR THE CHILD TO PASS THROUGH  THE  SO-CALLED  ADVERSE
MOODS AND EXPERIENCES?   WILL NOT THE SPIRITUAL NATURE BE STRONGER WHEN THEY
ARE  OVERCOME?   IS  NOT ACQUIRED VIRTUE BETTER  THAN  INNOCENCE  OR  PURITY
THROUGH EVASION?

   ANSWER:   No, we do not advise parents to get an astrological reading for
their children.   We advise them to study astrology for themselves so as  to
be able to  study  and read their children's horoscopes.  We do this because


[PAGE 381]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

although strange astrologers,  professional or otherwise,  may be much  more
competent to read the children's horoscopes than the parents,  they lack the
keen vital interest and the sympathy which will intuitively guide the parent
to  a much better understanding of what is contained in that  little  figure
than ever an outsider can.

   The  parent will have a much keener appreciation of what is shown in  the
child's  horoscope when he had to dig it out for himself and seems it  there
in symbolical form, than when it is simply put down for him ready to read on
a  typewritten  page,  for he or she will then be  much  better  fitted  and
qualified  by a deeper insight to help the child foster the good  tendencies
and avoid the pitfalls shown by the bad.

   Now  our correspondent asks does this pay.  Is the child not going to  be
much better off by just simply wading through the mire and blundering  along
than by avoiding the pitfalls that are shown?   Surely not.   What would  we
think of a captain of a ship who set out on a voyage without either chart or
compass because he though it would be far better to learn by experience than
to avoid the rocks and shoals already charted by others?  We should call him
a  foolhardy man,  and be surprised if he did not put his ship on the  rocks
and smash it to pieces.   If very one refused to take the experience of oth-
ers  as  contained in books and the general knowledge now available  in  the
world, how limited  would  be  the  experience of each!  All the world would


[PAGE 382]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

commit the same blunders over and over again.

   We  find  the same thing in our colleges as compared  with  the  manually
trained mechanics.  The boy who goes into a shop and learns only by practice
what work is done there may become fairly proficient in his trade during the
time  another spends in a technical school,  but once the technical  student
has graduated and entered the ship,  he not only quickly catches up with the
man who has learned only by experience,  but soon passes him and goes to the
top.  Such is the universal experience in all parts and departments of life,
that  by  adding the practical experience of others contained in  books  and
taught  in  school to our experience we acquire a vast amount  of  knowledge
that could not be obtained in any other way.

   It  is the same in the school of life with respect to ethics and  morals.
If  someone who is interested in us knows just at what point we fall  short,
is able to supply the needed training or encourage us to train ourselves  in
that  particular  branch of morals and ethics, or is ready to help  and  re-
strain us when we would rush headlong into a pit, he may help us acquire the
same faculties and qualities in a different way then would be the case if we
were  left  to our own devices and forced to learn by experience.   Thus  we
shall  be able to advance upon the path of evolution much better than if  we
had to learn through our own sin and suffering.


[PAGE 383]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

   If  we see in the horoscope of a little child a tendency toward  drunken-
ness, and we take it during its years of childhood when the nature is sympa-
thetic  and  sensitive,  to places where others are making beasts  of  them-
selves, to homes where children are being beaten by a drunken father, and to
any other place where an object lesson that will appeal to the sympathies of
the child may be had,  the changes are that we may instill in such a  little
on  a horror for a drink that will last throughout life and keep it  on  the
straight path so far as that vice is concerned.   Then the child has learned
the  lesson  equally  as well by the sorrows of theirs as if it  had  to  go
through the mire itself, and the object has been attained.

   Besides,  the parent or guardian who has done the child such a  wonderful
service will have laid up for himself a treasure in heaven that is  precious
beyond all that words can express.  Therefore we shall continue to urge par-
ents  and  guardians to study the science of astrology and apply it  in  the
training of children.   By our simplified system it is easy to do the  math-
ematical part, nor is the reading difficult when love points the way.


[PAGE 384]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                          THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT
                              QUESTION NO. 121.

   IN  DRAWING A HOROSCOPE DOES ONE TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION  THE  CONDITIONS
AND  ENVIRONMENT WHICH AFFECT THE LIFE OF A CERTAIN PERSON OR ARE THE  RULES
LAID DOWN IN ASTROLOGICAL BOOKS CORRECT AS APPLIED TO ANY PERSON, AND AT ANY
TIME OF HIS OR HER LIFE?

   ANSWER:  No, the readings are not correct as applied to any time of life.
We must always say that such and such aspects and configurations in a  horo-
scope  give such and such TENDENCIES.   Just as a plant has to have time  to
grow  and unfold its various little leaves and flowers,  so also  the  human
plant must grow,  and things that are latent at birth will be gradually  un-
folded in the course of life.  That is to say, as far as his or her environ-
ment permits.

   Aspects  means something different to people placed in different  circum-
stances.  To name a historical case, if memory serves correctly, a child was
born at the very same minute in the lower part of the city as George III was
born in the palace at Windsor.   These two children grew up and each entered
an  independent career on the same day., that is,  one became a monarch  and
the other went into business.   They married on the same day,  had the  same
number of children (but that could be only coincident,  because children are
dependent upon the other party's horoscope also),  and they also died on the


[PAGE 385]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

same day.   Thus the main events of their lifes were similar,  yet they were
different because of being placed in different environments.   One was  ask-
ing,  the other an ironmonger.   If you will read the article in THE MESSAGE
OF THE STARS, "The Measure of Amenability to Planetary Vibrations," you will
see  that  humanity learns to respond to one after another of  the  planets.
Many of us are beginning to respond to Uranus,  but very few people  respond
to the vibrations of Neptune.

                    WHY MERCURY IS COLORLESS AND NEUTRAL
                              QUESTION NO. 122.

   YOU  SAY THAT MERCURY IS COLORLESS AND NEUTRAL IN ITS  INFLUENCE.   WOULD
NOT THAT INDICATE THAT THE HUMANITY OF MERCURY IS AT A VERY LOW STAGE OF DE-
VELOPMENT,  AND IF SO HOW CAN THEY HAVE AN INFLUENCE UPON THE MIND OF HUMAN-
ITY IN SUCH A MANNER THAT IT PROMOTES REASON?

   ANSWER:   During the first three and a half Revolutions of the Earth  Pe-
riod the influence of Mars had been paramount to galvanize humanity into ac-
tion, but since the middle of the Atlantean Epoch  when  mind had been given


[PAGE 386]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

to  all,  EVOLUTION and EPIGENISIS (the exercise of man's own original  cre-
ative  talent) are gradually bringing us Godward.   While the  influence  of
Mars was paramount as said, the mercurial influence was almost nil,  for the
planet  Mercury had been in obscuration,  undergoing one of  the  periodical
planetary  rests from which it began to emerge during the  Atlantean  Epoch,
when the Lords of Mercury were called upon by Jehovah to aid Him in counter-
balancing  the influence of the Lucifer Spirits upon humanity.   Since  that
time  the influence of Mercury has been constantly increasing,  but it  will
probably take many millennia before its full influence is felt.   There  are
no sudden processes in nature and it takes a long time for a planet to go to
rest or come out from a period of obscuration.  It must not be forgotten ei-
ther that we are not mentally qualified to take full advantage of the Mercu-
rial  vibrations  as they exist at the present time,  for  the  humanity  of
Mercury is far beyond our stage of development,  though they as well as  all
the other planets are following different lines of evolution form that which
is going on upon the earth.

   With respect to the color of Mercury,  we may say that when one is in the
physical body and focuses his sight upon the World of Concrete Thought,  the
first color he sees is blue-black or indigo,  something like the intensified
color of the blue core of a gas flame.  At times it appears darker than oth-
ers,  though probably that may be due to conditions in the observer,  but it
seems entirely vacuous.  The feeling and sensation is  something  similar to


[PAGE 387]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

that which one has after being out in very bright sunlight when one suddenly
enters the house.   The sight has to be adjusted to conditions there and un-
til  that time all appears black or dark.   Then gradually one  perceives  a
white light in and through everything.

   The  whole Region of Concrete Thought is basically a dazzling,  brilliant
white,  or  perhaps colorless,  and in that the different things  take  unto
themselves a color which stands out all the more sharply and brilliantly be-
cause of the absolutely colorless ligth which pervades the whole region.  It
is  probably because of that absolutely crystal clearness that there is  not
space perception possible.   The mind is formed of this colorless mind stuff
and  because  it is perfectly neutral it is able to show  others  things  in
their true colors.

   Perhaps  the  whole matter can be best explained by the  illustration  of
field glass.  If we take one that is of poor quality, we shall find that the
glass is not quite clear and that it shows a number of colors in the lenses.
Thus the objects upon which this glass it focused are seen but indistinctly,
their colors not being shown up true,  but when we obtain a first class  in-
strument it is,  as we say,  CHROMATIC.   It will not show any colors in the
glass,  and  therefore it can properly transmit the true colors  of  objects
upon which it is focused.   Being perfectly clear and absolutely neutral  it
may be focused upon distant objects.  The mercurial rays are singularly well
adapted  to express the mental faculty for the similar reason that they  are
colorless themselves.


[PAGE 388]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                               PREMATURE BIRTH
                              QUESTION NO. 123.

   WILL  YOU KINDLY EXPLAIN IN THE ASTRAL RAY THIS APPARENT  DISCREPANCY  OF
STATEMENT:   IN THE CURRENT NUMBER OF RAYS,  PAGE 110,  LAST LINES OF  FIRST
PARAGRAPH,  IT IS STATED, ". . .AND THAT WHEN WE SEEM TO DELAY OR ACCELERATE
BIRTH  WE REALLY ARE AIDING NATURE TO TAKES ITS PREDETERMINED COURSE.  .  ."
WHEREAS IN YOUR ARTICLE ON THE TRIPLETS LAST YEAR IT WAS WRITTEN:  ". .  .IT
WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY WRONG IF A PHYSICIAN HURRIED SOMEONE ACROSS THE  THRESH-
OLD  WHEN HE WAS ABOUT TO DIE.  .  .IT IS IN NO WAY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT  THE
PHYSICIAN DOES WHEN HE HURRIES THE BIRTH OF A CHILD.  .  .THEN WE MAY SEE  A
REASON FOR THE FACT THAT CERTAIN PEOPLE DO NOT SEEM TO FIT INTO THEIR  ENVI-
RONMENT.   THEY WERE HURRIED INTO THE WORLD UNDER A PLANETARY VIBRATION THAT
WAS NOT AT ALL INTENDED FOR THEM."   I HAD FIXED FIRMLY IN MY MIND THE ADMO-
NITION  CONTAIN IN THE "TRIPLET"  ARTICLE, BUT THESE LATER REMARKS  SEEM  TO
MODIFY IT.

   THERE  ARE  ALSO TWO OTHER POINTS ON WHICH I AM SEEKING LIGHT.   IN  THIS
SAME ARTICLE IN THE FEBRUARY NUMBER IT IS SAID:   ".  .  .IT IS BETTER TO BE
BORN WHEN THE MOON IS INCREASING IN LIGHT.  .  .THE GROWING MOON ALWAYS  IN-
CREASES VITALITY AND FURTHERS OUR AFFAIRS."  BUT IN SEVERAL PAST READING  IT
HAS BEEN POINTED OUT THAT THE CONJUNCTION OF THE MOON WITH  THE  SUN  IS ONE


[PAGE 389]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

OF THE BEST ANGURIES FOR HEALTH AND GENERAL PROSPERITY.   HOW DO YOU  RECON-
CILE THESE STATEMENTS?

   IN A RECENT VOCATIONAL READING,  WRITING OF THE SQUARE OF SATURN AND MER-
CURY,  IT IS SAID:  "THIS MAKES YOU CRITICAL AND SARCASTIC,  PARTICULARLY TO
THOSE YOU WORK WITH."   SATURN IS, HOWEVER, THE PLANET OF DIPLOMACY,  AND IN
FORMER READINGS IT WAS STATED:   ".  . .WHILE IF MERCURY IS IN THE SATURNINE
SIGNS CAPRICORN AND AQUARIUS, OR SATURN IS IN THE MERCURIAL SIGNS GEMINI AND
VIRGO,  OR SATURN AND MERCURY ARE CONFIGURATED, IT GIVES THE PERSON CAUTION,
TACT, AND DIPLOMACY."

   ANSWER:  The article on the tardy triplets appeared in the February, 1916
issue, and for the benefit of those who have not read it we may say that the
lady  who gave birth to these triplets had no regular obsterician in  atten-
dance, but was look after by her aunt WHO ALLOWED nature to take its course.
The first of the triplets was born September 22nd 1915, at 1:50 A.M..  Trip-
let No. 2 was born September 24th, 1915, at 1:15 A.M., and triplet No. 3 was
born ten minutes later.  Thus there was an interval of forty eight hours be-
tween the birth of the first and the last one.

   This is an abnormal case which comes near being in the same category as a
Seven months' birth, and we have never seen the horoscope of a Seven month's
child that fitted.   Neither have we seen a Seven months'  child who  fitted
into his environment.  There is always something wrong in the life when  the


[PAGE 390]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

period of gestation has been interfered with and the person has received his
planetary baptism at a time when the stellar configuration were unsuited  to
his case and condition.  Therefore, we said and think that it is criminal to
bring a child to birth under such conditions.  In the case of these triplets
the mother did not have labor pains from the time the first one was born un-
til the second one was nearly ready to enter the world.  Had an obstetrician
brought them to birth in spite of this,  two days before the appointed time,
he would,  in our opinion,  have caused trouble for the two last ones.   Al-
though we did not express it in the article on the triplets,  it has  always
been  our  opinion  that just on that account the lady was  left  without  a
professional  attendant  and given a nurse who would not take  drastic  mea-
sures.

   We  think that it is sometimes possible for an astrologer to give  advice
which may interfere with the ripe destiny of someone else,  and we may  cite
in  illustration  of this the case mentioned in the COSMO where  the  editor
warned  a  man of an accident on a railway which would happen on  a  certain
day.   The man went on the railway, however,  and was hurt according to  the
prediction.   He thought that the twenty-eighth was the twenty-ninth, and we
believe  to counteract the prediction of the editor the Lords of Destiny  or
their  agents made the man forget.   Thus we believe that they interfere  in
all  things which are not to be altered by human interference,  and on  that
account  we  think  the mother of the triplets was provided with someone who


[PAGE 391]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

would allow nature to take its course.  Special cases are taken care of in a
special manner, there probably being a reason for the untimely birth, but we
have never had the time or the opportunity to investigate that.

   With respect to the point brought up in the second paragraph,  it is per-
fectly  true that we have said all these things,  and there is no reason  to
modify any of them.   The conjunction of the Sun and the Moon is one of  the
best auguries for health and general success.  At a conjunction the Moon be-
gins to increase in light and continues to do so until the time of the  full
Moon.   Truly, it is better to be born while the Moon is increasing in light
than front the full Moon to the next conjunction when the light of the  Moon
is on the wane.

   With respect to the matter mentioned in the last paragraph,  the  student
should realize that the virtues conveyed by a planet are brought out by  its
favorable aspects, the sextile or trine, in particular, while the vices of a
planet are expressed by the square or opposition,  which are unfavorable as-
pects.   If now we set some of the virtues of Saturn down as tact and diplo-
macy, we could not expect to find them under a square of Saturn and Mercury,
but  we would look for the vices of Saturn and conclude that a  person  with
that configuration must be cynical, critical, and sarcastic.  We do not rec-
ollect where the reading is in which we said that if Mercury is in the  sat-
urnine sign Capricorn or Aquarius, or Saturn in the mercurial sign Gemini or


[PAGE 392]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

Virgo,  or Saturn and Mercury are configurated, it gives the person caution,
tact,  and diplomacy.  However, that is true if they are configurated BY FA-
VORABLE  ASPECTS.   Then the virtues of Saturn are brought out,  but if  the
configuration is by adverse aspects, as the square and opposition, it brings
out the vices.   We may have been speaking of a good aspect in that case and
had forgotten to mention also the modifying effect of a bad aspect.   If  so
we trust that the foregoing will make it clear.

   In conclusion we may say that we are very glad to have the students bring
up any points where they think there is a discrepancy,  or where we have not
made  ourselves  clear.   In that way we shall get the most benefit  out  of
these studies.

                          THE BEST TIME TO BE BORN
                              QUESTION NO. 124

   ACCORDING TO ASTROLOGY, WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO BE BORN?

   ANSWER:  In the light of occult investigation of some of the modern meth-
ods it appears that birth is an event we are powerless to control.   When we
seem  to  do  so  in  a  slight  degree  we  are really agents of destiny to


[PAGE 393]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

accelerate  or delay it till the proper moment has arrived.   This  view  is
also  justified  by the author's experience in horary astrology.   The  phi-
losophy  of  horary astrology is that at the time one is impelled to  ask  a
question concerning an important matter the heavens contain also the answer,
and  a  figure set for that time will contain the solution to  the  problem.
But it should be particularly noted that the time to set the figure is  when
the inquirer asks the question of the astrologer,  when this is done in per-
son.  When it is done by mail the astrologer sets the figure for the time he
reads the question in the letter.

   On  a number of occasions we have received letters  containing  questions
which  bore marks of having been delayed by flood or fire,  but  the  figure
cast for the moment of reading gave the answer, showing that the death had a
part  in the plan.   Nor should it surprise us that the great  Intelligences
which are the ministers of destiny, foresee and make allowance for   contin-
gencies beyond the grasp of the human mind.   When the Infinite Mind bestows
equal care when designing the anatomy of a fly, a mouse,  or a lion,  may we
not  conclude that a similar attention to the minutiae prevails in  all  de-
partments of life?  When we seem to delay or accelerate birth are we not re-
ally aiding nature to takes it predetermined course,  as said in the opening
sentence of this article?

   Nevertheless, people often ask the astrologer when is the best time to be
born.  Young astrologers also frequently want  to  know--not  that they have


[PAGE 394]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

any ideal of controlling birth, but so that on seeing a horoscope,  or being
told a person's time of birth,  they may make a quick mental calculation  to
determine whether he has a so-called good or bad horoscope.  Such a judgment
would of course be founded only on the position of the Sun by sign,  and ap-
proximate  house,  hence general in the extreme.   It may be said,  however,
that other planetary positions being equal, it is better to be born when the
Moon is increasing in light,  for the new to the full,  that when she is de-
creasing,  from the full to the new, for the growing Moon also increases vi-
tality and furthers our affairs.

   It is fortunate to be born in April or August when the life-giving Sun is
in its exaltation sign Aries, or Leo, its home, for then we enter the sea of
life on the erest wave of vitality and are backed in the battle of existence
by an abundant fund of energy.

   It is also good to be born in May and July when the life-light of the Sun
is focused through the exaltation sign and home of the Moon, Taurus and Can-
cer,  especially, as said, when the lesser light is increasing.   Those con-
figurations also furnish an abundance of vitality which is such a great  as-
set in physical life.

   With respect to the time of day most favorable for birth,  it may be said
that children born about sunrise or during the forenoon from 8 to 12,  while
the Sun is transversing the houses of friends and social prestige,  are  the
"luckiest," for they are helped on every hand.  Children  born  between noon


[PAGE 395]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

and midnight are less "lucky."  When the Sun comes to the nadir,  the "luck"
turns again,  for although the children are born in the early morning  while
the daystar is ascending toward the eastern horizon will have to carve their
own way in the world, opportunities will be given them in abundance.

   We  may therefore sum up our conclusions by saying that it is best to  be
born at sunrise, or in the forenoon, preferably in April or August, when the
Moon is increasing in light.

   Finally,  it should always be born in mind that there is no "luck" in the
commonly accepted sense, but that what we have or lack in any respect is due
to  our own actions in the past and that in the future we may have  what  we
now lack by proper application.

                        THE BALANCE OF JOY AND SORROW
                              QUESTION NO. 125.

   IS SORROW NECESSARY IN THE GREAT SCHEME OF THINGS?   IS IT NOT A PART  OF
GOD'S PLAN FOR US TO BE JOYFUL?

   ANSWER:   When Tannhauser,  driven by his unholy passion for  the  noble,
pure ,  and virtuous Elizabeth, wandered into the mountain and was attracted
to  the  cave  of  Venus  as steel to a magnet, he was not only allowed, but


[PAGE 396]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

encouraged to gratify his sensual desires to the fullest extent.  Naturally,
he was soon satiated with passion and he prayed to be released fro the  god-
dess Venus and to be allowed to return to the earth.   In the course of  his
plea  he utters the truism that at the present stage of development man  re-
quires both joy and sorrow for his proper development.   IN the  philosophic
mind  this  sentiment evokes instant assent, for although we are  all  human
enough  to crave joy and dread sorrow, we cannot upon proper though fail  to
realize the fact that a life of constant joy without the slightest sorrow to
mar it would be absolutely insipid and colorless.  It is the proper blend of
light and shadow that gives beauty to a picture or landscape,  and a similar
arrangement  of sorrow and joy is required to lend zest to life and make  it
worth-while.

   From the astrological standpoint the light and the shadow of life is fur-
nished by the position and aspects of Jupiter and Saturn at birth,  together
with their progression and transits in respect to the horoscope of any  per-
son.   The joy and laughter come from Jupiter, the planet of benevolence and
optimism, who bestows upon us the favors of the gods in the measure which we
have deserved their bounties.  On the other hand, Saturn, the planet of pes-
simism and obstruction, is the dispenser of disfavors which we have incurred
by actions inharmonious with the law, and as we are still ignorant of how to
work in harmony with God's  great  plan  of the universe, it is small wonder


[PAGE 397]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

that  the switch of Saturn is needed to whip us into live when we  have  de-
parted from the path of virtue.   However, it is a most significant sign  of
our  Father's  love that Jupiter travels three times around  the  horoscope,
making aspects and bringing opportunities for good,  to every revolution  of
Saturn,  which brings to us the experiences which are called evil  by  those
who lack understanding.

   What a wonderful blessing astrology is, giving us an insight into the in-
finite plan of evolution,  whereby we are all slowly being educated from ig-
norance to omniscence!  Saturn is one of the main factors in this process of
enlightenment.  To those who do not know astrology it may seem as if sorrows
come  upon them for no reason that they can discover,  and they  very  often
envy those who are more fortunate seemingly than themselves.  However,  once
they have learned to look for light through astrology the whole viewpoint of
life is changed.  It then becomes evident that we are there not for pleasure
but  for experience,  and no matter how sad or how disastrous these  experi-
ences  may be the true student of astrology welcomes them and seeks to  find
out  the  reason  from the astrological viewpoint,  and the  lessons  to  be
learned.   Furthermore,  he derives the comfort from his knowledge that  the
aspects  which produce disastrous effects are only passing and that  in  due
season,  which he can definitely calculate, the whiplash of Saturn will dis-
appear and the benefic ray of Jupiter will again dispel the saturnine  gloom
and heal the hurt.  This knowledge naturally gives him courage to bear up in


[PAGE 398]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

the  days of trial and keeps him in a hopeful attitude of mind looking  for-
ward to the time when the tribulation will be over.

   When  we live in ignorance of God's great plan and have no conception  of
the  cuclic ministrations of sorrow and job brought into our lives  for  our
good  by Saturn and Jupiter,  we are pat to become too elated and  overjoyed
when  Jupiter showers the good gifts of the gods--health,  wealth,  friends,
success,  and prosperity--upon us.  We are also prone to become unduly down-
cast when under the scourge of Saturn we are deprived of all that makes life
worth living.   However,  when the book of life has been opened up to us  by
the sacred science of astrology and we recognize therein the benevolent pur-
pose of God and His ministers toward us, we gradually learn to keep out bal-
ance  so that when the joys of Jupiter come our way we are not  too  joyous,
but receive them in a chastened spirit and learn to consider ourselves stew-
ards of all good things that are thus given into our hands.   We learn  that
we are to use them, but for our own selfish interests and purposes,  but for
the  good  of all,  and that some day an accounting will be required  of  us
where we must show how we have used the stores of our Lord.

   On the other hand,  the whiplash of Saturn will not be long or often  ap-
plied  to one who uses self-examination to see wherein he is  falling  short
and  to  find the fault that is causing him  tribulation  whereunder  he  is


[PAGE 399]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

suffering.   That lesson will certainly be found by the sincere  seeker  and
when  it  has been discovered the joy at having found a  valuable  pearl  of
knowledge will far overbalance the pain involved in learning the lesson.  In
the  course  of years there will be evolved that most valuable  of  all  the
Ego's possession, equipose, which lifts the man who has it above the surging
sea of emotions into the realm of eternal peace that passes all  understand-
ing.   When he has arrived at that point in his development neither  Saturn,
Jupiter,  nor any other Planetary Spirits will have the power to  move  him,
for he has then learned to rule his stars and regulate his fate according to
his own divine will.

                             PLANETARY POLARITY
                              QUESTION NO. 126.

   SPEAKING  OF  PLANETARY  POLARITY  FOR MARRIAGE,  MOON  AND  VENUS  BEING
SIGNIFICATORS  IN A MAN'S HOROSCOPE AND SUN AND MARS IN A WOMAN'S,  YOU  SAY
THAT IF THESE PLANETS ARE HARMONIOUSLY CONFIGURATED, ETC., HARMONY WILL PRE-
VAIL.   DOES THE CONFIGURATION REFERRED TO MEAN THE CONFIGURATION OF MOON TO
VENUS AND OF MARS TO SUN IN THE RESPECTIVE HOROSCOPES,  OR IF MOON AND VENUS
IN ONE HOROSCOPE TO SUN AND MARS IN THE OTHER?  HOW WOULD IT BE IF THE MAN'S
SUN ANTAGONIZED  HIS  OWN  MOON  BUT  HARMONIZED WITH THE PROSPECTIVE MATE'S


[PAGE 400]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

MOON?  IN THE CASE THE ASC IS NOT KNOWN, WHAT IS THE BEST BASIS FOR ESTIMAT-
ING CAPABILITY?  IS IT THE HARMONY OR OTHERWISE OF THE TWO MOON SIGNS?

   ANSWER:  It really means both to have harmony.  A person with Mars square
to  Venus  will not be very successful in love affairs,  but if  Mars  in  a
woman's horoscope be in the place of Venus in a man's horoscope,  then it is
a  case  of  love  at first sight.  However,  that  love  is  of  the  earth
earthy--it is the lower phase of love.  The Sun of one person on the other's
Moon brings a very spiritually harmonious condition.   It is also true  that
even the opposition of the two luminaries from one horoscope to another will
bring harmony,  because they are opposite.  It doesn't act that way with the
squares,  but the opposition we have found to produce harmony.   The Sun and
Moon square always renders a man vacillating.   He never knows his own mind.
He  is torn between two ideas all the time.   Nevertheless,  he may be  very
harmonious with somebody else of the other sex,  if his Moon is in the place
of the woman's Sun, or trine.  That would certainly bring spiritual harmony.


[PAGE 401]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                          THE PURPOSE OF TEMPTATION
                              QUESTION NO. 127

   WOULD IT ALWAYS BE RUNNING A GREAT RISK TO PUT TEMPTATION IN THE WAY OF A
PERSON WHOSE HOROSCOPE SHOWS EITHER MERCURY OR NEPTUNE AFFLICTED BY  SATURN,
REGARDLESS OF COUNTERBALANCING TESTIMONIES?

   ANSWER:   That is just what we are here for, to have temptation.  Did you
ever  realize that temptation is one of the greatest blessings that we  pos-
sibly can have,  because if we stand firm for the good then we have won  and
we have acquired a definite virtue.  If we do not, we will suffer the conse-
quences and will learn by the pain that will come to us.

   There is in the Bible an instance in point.  In one place we are told how
King David was TEMPTED BY SATAN TO GO AND NUMBER THE PEOPLE, and when he did
so  certain terrible things happened to him; a number of the people died  of
pestilence.   In another place we read that GOD TEMPTED DAVID TO GO AND NUM-
BER THE PEOPLE, and then God said:  "I am going to punish you.   You will be
defeated by your own enemies, or you will have pestilences, or you will have
death going through your camp,"  and David said:   "Rather let me fall  into
the hands of God."   Then many thousands of the children of Israel were  cut
off by the angel of death.   These two accounts are identical.   One  states
that  Satan  tempted,  and  the  other  says  God  tempted  David.   At  the


[PAGE 402]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

first  it seems very,  very strange that God should have tempted  David,  or
commanded  David to be a certain thing and then punish him for  having  done
what he was told.  However, when we look at it a little closer we can see it
is  simply a case of the teacher tempting his pupil to do something that  is
wrong  or  setting a trap for him in order to see whether he has  learned  a
certain lesson.

   An  examination before a school board is held to see if the pupil  under-
stands.   If he doesn't, the teacher wants to find it out so he may know how
to teach him later on.  Satan in the Bible does not mean a monster that goes
around with horns and tail, but it means an ADVERSARY.  Christ called Peter,
Satan,  when Peter said:   "Oh, no Lord, you shall not go up to Jerusalem to
suffer."   He was an ADVERSARY.  At the examination the teacher as an adver-
sary of the pupil.  God said to David, "Go and number your men because there
is going to be a fight with the Moabites,"  and He expected David would say,
"What is the use of numbering the people of Israel, men do not count.  It is
you,  Lord, that counts.  It is you we trust, not our own strength."   If he
had  learned to do that then he would have learned his lesson.   Instead  of
that he went and numbered Israel and perhaps he felt, "Well, I guess we will
be  able to wipe out these Moabites,  and I don't think we need the Lord  so
much  anyway."   The Lord had to show both him and the Israelites that  they
weren't fit to trust in themselves--that they did need the Lord--and in  one
night  he  cut  off  many  thousands and reduced them to a handful.  Then He


[PAGE 403]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

said,  "Now,  I will go out and fight for you, and you will know it is I who
gave you the victory."   Thus temptation is for good, to test whether we are
strong  enough  in  character and whether we have learned  our  lesson.   So
whether a person puts a glass of liquor before you or tempts you some  other
way doesn't matter.   If one is weak enough so that he can be tempted he has
a lesson to learn in that respect.


[PAGE 404]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY





                              DIAGRAM 14A
  
                                    |
                                    |
               GOD                  |
     /--------\    /--------\       |      NEGATIVE             POSITIVE
     |        <<*>>          |      |                    *
     \--------/ |  \--------/       |                    |                   
                |                   |                    |            
        |-*     |   *-|             |         |----------|--------|   
Saturn  |       |     |   Vulcan    |         | Group 1  | Group 2|   
Period  |-------|-----|-| Period    |         |----------|--------|-|G.3
          |-----|-----| |           |           |--------|--------| |
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |G.4
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |
Venus   |-|-----|-------|  Sun      |     G.3 |-|--------|----------|G.5
Period  | |-----|-----|   Period    |         | |--------|--------|  
        |       |     |             |     G.4 |          |        |     
        |       |     |             |         |          |        |
Moon    |-------|-----|-| Jupiter   |     G.5 |----------|--------|-| G.6
Period    |-----|-----| | Period    |           |--------|--------| |
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |
          |     |       |           |           |        |          |
        |-|-----|-------|           |     G.6 |-|--------|----------|G.7
Earth   | |-----|-----|   Period    |         | |--------|--------|
        |       |     |             |         |          |        |
Mercury |       |     |    Mars     |         |          |        |
 Half   |--     |   --|    Half     |     G.7 |----------|--      |
                |                   |                    |        |
                |                   |                 ---|--------|
                                    |
                                    |
                                     
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
   GROUP NO.       |   1   |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
COMBINING CAPACITY | R2O   | R O   | R2O3  | R O2  | R H3  | R H2  | R H   |
                   |       |       |       | R M4  | R2O5  | R O3  | R2O7  |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
ATOMIC WEIGHT      | LI.7  | GL.9  | B.10.9| C.12  | N.14  | O.16  | FL.19 |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|
DENSITY            |  Na   |  Mg   |  Al   |  Si   |  S    |   P   |  Ce   |
                   | 0.97  | 1.75  | 2.49  | 2.65  | 2.06  | 1.84  | 1.38  |
-------------------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|-------|

                          AS ABOVE, SO BELOW


    The world, the man, and the atom are governed by the same law. Our dense 
earth is now in its 4th stage of consolidation. The mind, the  desire  body, 
and the vital body are less solid than our 4th vehicle, the dense  body.  In 
the atomic weight of the chemical elements there is a  similar  arrangement. 
The 4th group marks the acme of density.







[PAGE 405]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS


                                 SECTION IX

                           QUESTIONS DEALING WITH

                           MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS



[PAGE 406]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                 MOTHER LOVE AS A FACTOR IN MATERIALIZATION
                              QUESTION NO. 128.

   IS  IT POSSIBLE FOR A MOTHER WHO HAS PASSED INTO THE INVISIBLE  WORLD  TO
HELP HER CHILDREN DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY?  DOES SHE MAKE HANDS OF FLESH WITH
WHICH TO WORK, OR IN WHAT WAY DOES SHE AID THEM?

   ANSWER:   The Society for Physical Research has investigated a number  of
cases  where it has been shown that the mother has materialized in order  to
save her small children from disaster or accidents.   There is no doubt that
many  young  mothers are earth-bound for a long time by the love  they  bear
their small and helpless children.   WE feel certain that if they were  able
they would often manifest to give them help and comfort, but,  the seed atom
having  been  ruptured at the time of death,  they are not able to  draw  to
themselves even the most attenuated gaseous matter that would make them vis-
ible,  except in a very few cases where the need is so great that it  begets
in the mother a desire of such dynamic intensity that for a moment or two it
compels  the physical atoms to marshal themselves into her body and  enables
her to do that which she desires.  Thus she performs a magical feat, without
knowing  how she has done it,  and of course she cannot repeat it unless  it
happens under similar circumstances.

   In  this  respect  the  people  who have passed into the invisible worlds


[PAGE 407]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

differ  radically from the Invisible Helpers who leave their body  at  will.
The  silver cord is intact in their case,  and this gives them a  continuous
connection with the physical seed atom.   Its magnetism is therefore exerted
and it requires a subconscious effort on the part of the Invisible Helper to
keep  the physical particles from flowing into the etheric vehicle in  which
he travels.   On the other hand, when he desires to aid anyone who may be in
distress,  or  to perform a certain work, he materializes a hand or  an  arm
with the greatest of ease simply by consciously allowing the physical  atoms
in  his closest environment to flow into the etheric matrix.   When  he  has
performed the desired task,  another effort of thought scatters the  strange
atoms and dematerializes the hand or arm.  Thus, for instance,  when working
inside  the body of a patient to manipulate a diseased organ or  stanch  the
blood in an artery,  fingers are made temporarily from the flesh of the  pa-
tient without causing him the least discomfort, and are as readily dissolved
when the work is done.


[PAGE 408]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                    ATLANTEANS WHO HAD NOT EVOLVED LUNGS
                              QUESTION NO. 129.

   WHAT  BECOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD NOT EVOLVED LUNGS AT THE TIME  OF  THE
FLOOD?  WERE THEY GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD LATER?

   ANSWER:   This refers to the people in the Atlantean Epoch when the mists
were  beginning  to  condense.   At that time humanity  lived  down  in  the
mist-filled basins of the earth.   They were the Niebelung,  or children  of
the mist,  and they breathed by gill clefts.   We find this in the Memory of
Nature,  and we find it also in the prenatal development of the child in the
stage when it breathe by gill clefts.  In order to come up here on the high-
lands  to live in the purified atmosphere we have today,  it  was  necessary
they should build lungs,  otherwise they would be asphyxiated.   Some worked
with the law of evolution and built the lungs, others did not.

   During the time when we went through these various periods there was  the
growth of the threefold body.  This work was carried on until we came to the
Atlantean Epoch,  which was the time of involution.   At that time we didn't
see  outwardly  as we see now,  but we saw inwardly.   All our  forces  were
turned  inward  and we built organs at that time.   That was  our  means  of
evolution.   Now  we are turning that creative force  outward  and  building
ships, houses, and such things, and  we  are  growing  on in that direction.


[PAGE 409]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

However,  at  that time we had to build the organs,  and those who  did  not
build the organs were left behind.

   Now comes the question as to what became of them.  Why, they have to wait
until they can catch up.  They will get a chance to build later on, for they
are among the lower races.  Whether they will catch up and be fit to go into
the  next epoch when we build the vital body we don't know.   We are  trans-
forming the world by epigenesis.   We are going along the line of  evolution
and  being lifted out of matter and we are spiritualizing these bodies  into
soul.   By the services we are doing,  voluntary service,  we are building a
soul  body,  and those who have not evolved it will be left behind.   As  we
read in the Bible, those who have not the golden wedding garment cannot come
in to the feast.   Thus these people were left behind,  and some of them are
the  Spirits  spoken of by Peter that were left behind and  to  whom  Christ
preached during the time between the bodily death of Jesus and what is known
as the Resurrection.   Whether they will catch up is a question.    We don't
know, but it is to be hoped they will.


[PAGE 410]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                      THE CAUSE AND CURE OF SLEEPWALKING
                              QUESTION NO. 130

   PLEASE  TELL WHAT SLEEPWALKING REALLY IS AND IF THERE IS ANY WAY TO  HELP
THOSE WHO ARE SUBJECT TO THAT CONDITION.

   ANSWER:  ROSICRUCIAN CHRISTIANITY LECTURE NO. 4 deals with dreams, sleep,
hypnotism,  mediumship,  and insanity.  That is to say,  the abnormal condi-
tions of consciousness,  and in that Lecture a very thorough explanation has
been  given of these various conditions with the exception of  sleepwalking,
which however,  resembles dreams in a great measure.  We cannot give so full
an  explanation  here,  but suffice it to say that during  the  daytime  the
physical  body which we call man is surrounded by an auric  atmosphere  com-
posed of his finer vehicles just as the yolk of an egg is surrounded by  the
white.  These finer vehicles interpenetrate the physical body so that in the
evening it, so to say, collapses and the finer vehicles draw out of it leav-
ing it helpless,  sleeping upon the bed.   When this COMPLETE separation has
taken place the sleep is dreamless.

   However,  sometimes  the  Ego becomes so intent upon the  things  in  the
physical  world  that it is with great difficulty that it  can  tear  itself
loose  from  the  physical  vehicle.  It may then be half in and half out of


[PAGE 411]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

the  body.   Thus  the normal connection between the Ego and  the  brain  is
wrenched but not fully ruptured.  Under these circumstances the Ego sees the
things  of  the physical world,  and this accounts for those  fantastic  and
foolish dreams which we sometimes have.  Under such a condition the body may
toss  about on the bed,   It may even speak and gestieulate,  and from  that
condition  it is only a step to sleepwalking where the Ego compels  the  ve-
hicle to leave the bed and wander about,  sometimes aimlessly,  but at other
times with a definite purpose in view.

   If  we remember that when the Ego is outside its physical vehicle  during
the hours when the latter is left sleeping on the bed, the Spirit moves with
the  same facility through the window or the wall that is goes  through  the
open door.   When we realize that it cannot be burned by fire nor drowned by
water  or fall from a house top, we can readily realize that,  being  uncon-
scious of the fact that its physical vehicle is with it,  it may attempt  to
go out of a window.  Should the window be open,  the physical body naturally
drops  to the ground and is hurt more or less according to the  distance  of
its fall.   We can all walk a very narrow plank is lifted up only a few feet
a sense of fear comes over us.  We would probably fall off a very wide plank
were  it placed hundreds of feet from the earth,  but when the body  is  ma-
nipulated by the Spirit from  without it is itself unconscious and therefore


[PAGE 412]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

fearless.  Consequently, it walks with impunity whereever it can get a foot-
hold,  and the only danger is that the sleeper may awake--that the  Ego  may
draw  into its vehicle and assume the normal position.   Then the fear  will
almost  inevitably cause him to fall from whatever perilous position he  may
be in, and in consequence there is an injury of more or less seriousness.

   As  to the remedy for this trouble we would suggest the practice of  con-
scious relaxation of the body.   It is the desire body which keeps a grip on
the dense vehicle,  and during relaxation this desire body is taught to  let
go  and leave the dense body inert so that if an arm or a limb is lifted  it
drops immediately to the bed.  This practice will in time stop sleepwalking,
but in the meantime if wet towels are placed on the floor,  they will  prob-
ably have the effect of awakening the person the moment he steps out of bed.
The  higher vehicles of a nature somewhat akin to electricity,  and we  know
that water has a wonderful drawing effect with respect to the electric  cur-
rent.   Similarly,  when the feet of the body contact the wet towels on  the
floor,  the finer vehicles are drawn into the central position with  respect
to  the body and consciousness is restored.   Thus the body is awakened  and
the danger of sleepwalking is averted for the time being.


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