[PAGE 413]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                       PROVING EXISTENCE OF VITAL BODY
                              QUESTION NO. 131

   IT SEEMS PERFECTLY LOGICAL TO ME THAT THERE MUST BE A FINER BODY SUCH  AS
YOU CALL THE VITAL BODY,  BUT IS THERE ANY WAY THAT ONE MAY PROVE THIS TO  A
FRIEND WHO IS VERY SKEPTICAL AND ARGUMENTATIVE?

   ANSWER:  "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still,"
says an old proverb,  and it is true.  So long as your friend is till in the
argumentative stage and not inclined to examine the proofs with an open mind
it is a waste of time to try to change his opinion.   We would suggest  that
you stop arguing; he may then become anxious and want to find out some more.
When he does,  there are a number of ways to prove the existence and reality
of the vital body.  We can mention a few.

   In the first place,  there is the camera.   Perhaps you can find in  your
town  among the spiritualists one able to take spirit  photographs.   Though
there  are  tricks well know to photographers whereby such pictures  may  be
produced,  it is nevertheless a fact that under conditions where  there  was
absolutely no fraud,  photographs have been taken of people who have  passed
into the beyond.  They have been able to clothe themselves in ether, the ma-
terial  whereof the vital body is constructed,  and which is visible to  the
eye  of  the lens.  The writer himself was once caught by the camera when he


[PAGE 414]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

traveled in his vital body from Los Angeles to San Pedro to see a friend off
on a steamer.  It so happened that he came between his friend and the camera
of another friend who was just taking a snap shot of the ship, and the like-
ness was so good that it was recognized by a number of people.

   Then  we  have the phenomenon of dogs following certain  persons  by  the
scent obtained from clothing they have worn.   This clothing is  impregnated
by the ether from the vital body, which latter protrudes about an inch and a
half  beyond the periphery of the dense body.   Hence also at every step  we
take the earth is penetrated by this invisible, radiating fluid.  But it has
been found that blood hounds following the fleeing criminal were baffled and
lost the scent because the fugitive had put on skates and made his way  over
the ice.  This raised him above the ground so that the vital body protruding
below his feet did not impregnate the ice and therefore there was not  scent
whereby the bloodhounds could trace him.  Similar results have been obtained
by a person walking on stilts from the place of his crime.

   Then there is the case of the magnetic healer who draws from his  patient
the diseased parts of the vital body which are then replaced by fresh ethers
that allow the life forces to course through the diseased physical organ and
thereby effect a cure.   If the magnetic healer is not careful to throw  off
the black-jelly like,  miasmatic,  etheric fluid which he has drawn into his
own body,  he  in turn will become ill, and if there were not such invisible


[PAGE 415]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

fluid as we speak of,  the phenomena of the patient's recovery and the  mag-
netic healer's illness could not take place.

   Finally, we may say that if you can find the conditions and care to go to
the  trouble,  there is one way and one condition under which a  very  large
number of people are able to see the vital body for themselves.  This is not
easily  accomplished in southern countries where the dead bodies are  buried
quickly after demise.   Select a time as close of the full Moon as possible.
Then  watch  the  papers for funeral notice and go to the  cemetery  in  the
evening  following  the funeral of someone who has died  within  twenty-four
hours.  You will then probably see above the newly made grave, flickering in
the moonlight,  the filmy form of the vital body which remains there and de-
cays sychronously with the body in the grave.   This may be seen at any time
by the seer, but it is only dense enough to be visible to ordinary people on
the  first  night after the funeral.   If you do not see it at  first,  walk
around the grave and look steadfastly at it from different angles.  Then you
probably get the most convincing ocular proof for your friend.


[PAGE 416]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                        HAPPINESS IN THE HIGHER LIFE
                              QUESTION NO. 132.

   WHY IS IT THAT IN YOUR WRITINGS THERE IS ALWAYS A NOTE OF SOMBERNESS, AL-
WAYS THE DARK THREAD, SO LITTLE JOY AND HAPPINESS?  IS THERE NO HAPPINESS TO
BE FOUND IN THE HIGHER LIFE?  CONTENTMENT, SATISFACTION, PEACE--YES,  BUT IS
THERE NO JOY?

   ANSWER:  "O wad some power the giftie gie us,
             To see ourselv's as others see us."
So  sang Robert Burns,  and he was certainly correct i his presumption  that
none of us can see ourselves as we are.  The writer was not aware that there
is  a dark thread and a somberness over all his writings,  but  perhaps  the
point  is well taken,  though it would be wrong to draw the conclusion  that
there is no joy and happiness in the higher life.   There is an  unspeakable
joy and a happiness that cannot be told,  in the privilege of being  allowed
to  help the thousands that come to us for aid and advice or spiritual  com-
fort.

   However,  while we realize the necessity and ultimate benefit which  will
result from the present great surgical operation the world is undergoing, we
would have to be a superhuman not to be bowed down with sorrow at the  sight
of all those hundreds of thousands, nay, millions,  who are suffering daily.
Three  and  one-half  years  of  work  with  the  wounded,  dying,  and  so-


[PAGE 417]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

called dead,  have failed to make us more callous than upon the first  night
when we were nearly frantic at the sight of the cruel carnage.   We endeavor
not to carry the experiences of the night into the day, as it would unfit us
for the work we have to do here,  but it is perhaps too much to expect  that
it would not stamp our waking life in some way.

   This may be a very good point for those students to consider who are  in-
ordinately  desirous of consciousness in the spiritual worlds.   To them  we
would  say that we envy them and would gladly exchange places with them  and
be rid of the sorrowful sights which duty and love of our fellow men  compel
us to witness nightly, though, of course, wild horses could not drag us away
from the suffering soldiers or their bereaved relatives.   We would not give
up the privilege of helping for anything, but we do wish we were unconscious
of our work when we return to the body.   Then we should be much happier and
probably agree to infuse happiness into our writings.

   Our personality would always best be kept in the background,  but if stu-
dents will take this to heart perhaps the answer to this question may  serve
a good purpose.


[PAGE 418]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                             THE WEDDING GARMENT
                              QUESTION NO. 133.

   WHAT  WILL  BE THE CONDITION OF THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PREPARED  THE  WEDDING
GARMENT WHEN CHRIST COMES?   WILL THEY STILL LIVE ON EARTH AND GO ON  EVOLV-
ING?

   ANSWER:  That is very difficult to say.  A great number of those who were
left  behind  in Atlantis because they had not evolved lungs so  they  could
live in our atmosphere,  have not been able to catch up with us yet.   There
is quite a grave doubt if people who have not evolved the wedding garment to
the point where they have some real growth will be able to live in that Age.
They may have to live at a later time and apart from us.

                             THE ELDER BROTHERS
                              QUESTION NO. 134.

   PLEASE  GIVE  A CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF THE ELDER BROTHERS AND SAY  IF  THEY
FUNCTION ON THIS PLANE IN A MATERIAL BODY, ALSO OF THE LAY BROTHERS, ETC.

   ANSWER:   As far as the Elder Brothers are concerned they have a material
body just as you and I, and they  live  in a house which you might think the


[PAGE 419]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

house of some well-to-do but not ostentatious people.  They seem to hold of-
fices  of  distinction in the community where they live,  but it is  only  a
blind that they have these positions so as to give a reason for their  pres-
ence and not create any question as to what they are or who they are or that
there is anything out of the ordinary about them.  Outside of that house and
in that house and through that house there is what may be called the Temple.
It  is etheric and is different from our ordinary buildings.   It  might  be
likened to the auric atmosphere that is around our Pro-Eccelsia at Headquar-
ters,  which is etheric and is much larger than the building.  Manson's word
picture  of the spiritual church he built gives an idea of  what  structures
are.  They are around buildings and churches where people are very spiritual
and of course they differ in color.   This Rosicrucian Temple is superlative
and not to be compared to anything else,  but it surrounds and permeates the
house  in  which the Elder Brothers live.   The house is so  permeated  with
spirituality that most people wouldn't feel very comfortable there.  And the
Lay Brothers, have they a material body?  Certainly.  The editor is not very
ethereal and may serve as an illustration of the average.


[PAGE 420]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY


                    PRAYER, CONCENTRATION AND MEDITATION
                              QUESTION NO. 135.

   WHAT IS PRAYER?  IS IT EQUIVALENT TO CONCENTRATION AND MEDITATION,  OR IS
IT ONLY A PETITION TO GOD?

   ANSWER:  Unfortunately, as it is commonly practiced it is too often a pe-
tition to God to interfere on behalf of the supplicant and enable him to at-
tain  a selfish object.   It is certainly a disgrace that people  engage  in
violating the commandment of God,  "Thou shalt not kill,"  and pray for vic-
tory over their enemies.   If we measure the majority of prayers offered  up
today  by the standard set by Christ in the Lord'  Prayer they certainly  do
not deserve the name prayer.   They are blasphemies,  and it were a thousand
times better were they never uttered.

   The Lord's Prayer having been given us as a pattern,  we shall do well to
analyze  it if we would arrive at an adequate conclusion.   If we do so,  we
shall  find  that three of the seven prayers of which it consists  are  con-
cerned  with  adoration of the Divine"  "Hallowed by Thy Name,  Thy  Kingdom
come, Thy Will be Done."  Then comes the petition for the daily bread neces-
sary to keep our organism alive, and the remaining three prayers are for de-
liverance from evil and forgiveness for our shortcomings.   From these facts
it is evident that every worthy prayer must contain an overwhelming  measure
of adoration, praise, and recognition of  our  unworthiness, together with a


[PAGE 421]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

firm resolution to strive to be more pleasing to our Father in Heaven.   The
main object, therefore, of prayer is to get into as close communication with
God as possible, in order that the Divine Life and Light may flow into,  il-
lumine, and enable us to grow in His image and His likeness.

   This  is  a view diametrically opposite from the common idea  of  prayer,
which  takes the view that as God is our Father we may go to Him  in  prayer
and  He  is bound to give us our heart's desire.   If we do not get  it  the
first time,  we need only keep praying, and because of our very importunity,
our wish will be granted.   Such a view is repellent to the enlightened mys-
tic, and if we bring the matter down to a practical basis it is evident that
a  wise father having a son able to provide for himself would naturally  re-
sent it if this son should appear before him several times a day with impor-
tunate request for this,  that,  and the other thing,  which he could easily
obtain by going to work and earning.  Prayer, no matter how earnest and sin-
cere,  can never take the place of work.  If we work for a good purpose with
out whole heart,  soul, and body, and at the same time pray God to bless our
work,  there is no doubt but that the petition will be granted  every  time.
However, unless we put our shoulder to the wheel we have no right to call on
the Deity for assistance.

   As  said previously,  the burden of our prayers should be praise  to  God
"from  whom  all  blessings flow," for our desire  bodies  are  formed  from


[PAGE 422]                                           ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

materials of all seven regions of the Desire World in proportion to our  re-
quirements  as  determined  by the nature of our  thoughts.   Every  thought
clothes itself in desire stuff congrous to its nature.   This applies to the
thoughts formed and expressed in prayer.  If selfish,  they attract to them-
selves an envelope composed of the substance of the lower regions of the De-
sire World,  but if they are noble, unselfish, and altruistic,  they vibrate
to the higher pitch of the regions of soul-light, soul-life, and soul-power.
They clothe themselves in this material,  giving added life and light to our
spiritual nature.  Even when we pray for others it is detrimental to ask for
anything material or worldly.  It is permissable to ask for health,  but not
for  economic prosperity.   "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His  Righ-
teousness" is the commandment.  When we comply with that command we may rest
assured that "all these things" will also be given.  Therefore, when we pray
for  a friend let us put our whole heart and soul into the petition that  he
may permanently seek the Way, the Truth, and the Life, for having once found
that greatest of all treasures no real necessity will ever be denied.

   Nor is this theory,  at all.  Thousands of people,  the writer  included,
have found that "Our Father in Heaven" will take care of our material  needs
when we endeavor to live the spiritual life.  However, in the final analysis
it  is not the spoken prayer that helps.   There are people who can  lead  a
congregation in a  prayer  that  is perfection both in language and poetical


[PAGE 423]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

They may even conform their prayers to the principles laid down by the  Lord
as  enunciated  in our opening paragraphs,  and yet that prayer  may  be  an
abomination  because  it lacks the one essential  requirement.   Unless  our
whole life is a prayer we cannot be pleasing to God no matter how  beautiful
our petitions may be.   On the other hand, if we strive from day to day  and
from  year to year to live according to His will,  then even though we  our-
selves  know that we fall far short of our ideal,  and even though we,  like
the  publican in the Temple,  are of halting speech and can only  smite  our
breast  saying,  "God be merciful to me a sinner,"  we shall find  that  the
Spirit itself, knowing our needs, makes intercession for us with unutterable
groanings,  and that our modest supplication before the Throne of Grace will
avail more than all the flowery speeches we could possibly make.

   You also ask:  Is prayer equivalent to concentration and meditation?

   Concentration  consists of focusing thought upon a single point,  as  the
Sun's rays are focused by means of a glass.   When diffused over the surface
of the whole earth it gives but a moderate warmth,  but even a few Sun  rays
focused  through an ordinary reading glass will set inflammable material  on
which it is focused afire.   Similarly, though flitting through the brain as
water  runs through a sieve,  is of no value,  but when concentrated upon  a
certain  object  it  increases  in  intensity  and  will achieve the purpose


[PAGE 424]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

involved for good or ill.  Members of a certain order have practiced concen-
tration on their enemies for centuries,  and it was found that misfortune or
death always overtook the object of their disfavor.   We hear among  certain
groups  today of "malicious magnetism" applied by concentration of  thought.
ON  the other hand,  concentration of though power may also be used to  heal
and help,  nor are examples wanting to substantiate this statement.   We may
therefore  say that concentration is the direct application of though  power
to the attainment of a certain definite object which may be good or evil ac-
cording to the character of the person who practices it and the purpose  for
which he desires to use it.

   Prayer  is  similar  to  concentration  in  certain  points  but  differs
radically  in other respects.   While the efficiency of prayer depends  upon
the  intensity of concentration,  which renders prayer far more  efficacious
than cold concentration can ever be.   Furthermore,  it is exceedingly  dif-
ficult for the great majority of people to concentrate their thoughts cooly,
calmly,  and without the slightest emotion,  and exclude all other consider-
ations  from their consciousness.   The devotional attitude is  more  easily
cultivated, for the mind is then centered on Deity.

   Meditation  is  the  method  of gathering by spiritual power knowledge of


[PAGE 425]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

things with which we are not ordinarily familiar.

   There is in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION.  a chapter which deals very
thoroughly  with  the method of acquiring firsthand  knowledge,  elucidating
these points at length,  and we would advise a thorough study of this  chap-
ter.

                               THE SILVER CORD
                              QUESTION NO. 136.


   IF THE SILVER CORD IS ATTACHED TO THE SEED ATOM IN THE HEART OAT ONE  END
AND  THE CENTRAL VORTEX IN THE DESIRE BODY AT THE OTHER,  WHAT ORGAN IN  THE
PHYSICAL BODY DOES THAT CENTRAL VOTRAX CORRESPOND WITH--HEART,  HEAD,  FORE-
HEAD, OR WHAT?

   ANSWER:   That end of the silver cord which is anchored to the seed  atom
in the heart remains there immovable until death, but the other end, and the
point  where  the two halves of the cord meet,  as shown on page 97  in  the
COSMO,  are movable.  During the day time that central vortex where the sil-
ver cord is anchored it he desire body is placed directly in the LIVER,  and
you will find in the COSMO some very illuminating material if you will  look
for "liver" in the index.  The point  where  the  two  halves  of the silver


[PAGE 426]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

cord  meet  is placed in the solar plexus during the day  time.   That,  you
know,  is a very,  very vital spot,  and the seed atom of the vital body  is
just at the meeting point of these two halves of the silver cord.  When that
is in the solar plexus the fluid which comes from the Sun through the spleen
passes  the  seed atom of the vital body,  and is there refracted  into  the
rose-colored fluid that we speak of in our literature.  Thus the three great
centers in one body connected with the silver cord are:   the central vortex
in   the  liver--the  principle  point  in  the  desire  body;   the   solar
plexus--which is the stronghold of the vital body;  and the heart,  which is
the center of the dense body.


                     THE THREE PARTS OF THE SILVER CORD
                              QUESTION NO. 137.

   WILL YOU PLEASE DESCRIBE THE SILVER CORD AND EXPLAIN ITS FUNCTION IN BOTH
MAN AND ANIMAL?

   ANSWER:   To answer this question fully we must refer to  earlier  evolu-
tionary conditions.

   Three Periods of evolution have preceded our present Earth Period.   Dur-
ing the Saturn Period we were mineral-like,  in the Sun Period we had a con-
stitution  like  the plants,  and in the Moon Period we  developed  vehicles
similar to the present animals.  We say "similar," for  the  constitution of


[PAGE 427]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

the  world was so different that identical construction would have  been  an
impossibility.  Fancy now, an immense globe circling in space as a satellite
about its sun.   It is the body of a Great Spirit, Jehovah.  As we have soft
flesh  and hard bones,  so also the central part of the body of  Jehovah  is
denser  than the outside,  which is misty and cloud-like.   Though His  con-
sciousness pervades the whole, Jehovah appears principally in the cloud, and
with Him are His angels, and other Creative Hierarchies.

   From  the great firmament of cloud depends millions of cords,  each  with
its foetal sac,  hovering close to the dense central part,  and as the vital
stream  of the human mother circulates through the umbilical  cord  carrying
nourishment to the embryo during antenatal life for the purpose of  evolving
a  vehicle when the period of gestation has been completed,  so  the  divine
life  of Jehovah brooded over us in the cloud and coursed through the  whole
human family during this embryonic stage of its evolution,  and we were then
as incapable of initiative as the foetus.

   Since  then  the Manna (Manas,  Mens, Mensch,  or Man)  has  fallen  from
heaven,  from the bosom of the Father, and is now tied by the silver cord to
the  concrete body during his waking hours, and even in sleep it  forms  the
connecting link between the higher and lower vehicles.   This connection  is
broken only at death.


[PAGE 428]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

   The cord is quite complex in its construction.   One end is rooted in the
seed atom in the heart; that part is made of ether.  A second part,  made of
desire-stuff,  grows from the great vortex of the desire body located in the
liver,  and when these two parts of the silver cord join in the seed atom of
the vital body located in the solar plexus,  this junction of the three seed
atoms marks the quickening of the foetus.

   But there is still another part of the silver cord, which is made of mind
stuff and grows from the seed atom of the mind located at a point which  may
roughly  be  described as the frontal sinus where the human Spirit  has  its
seat.   It  passes between the pituitary body and the pineal  gland,  thence
downwards,  connecting with the thyroid and thymus glands,  the spleen,  and
the  adrenals,  and finally joins the second part of the silver cord in  the
seed  atom of the desire body in the great vortex of that vehicle  which  is
located  in the liver.   The path along which this part of the  silver  cord
will  grow  is indicated in the archetype,  but  it  requires  approximately
twenty-one years to complete the junction.   The union of the first and  the
second parts of the silver cord marks the PHYSICAL QUICKENING which  depends
on  the complete destruction of the nucleated blood corpuscles carrying  the
life of the PHYSICAL MOTHER,  and the emancipation from her interference  by
gastifcation  of  the blood which is thenceforth the direct vehicle  of  the
Ego.   The junction of the second and third parts of the silver cord marks a
MENTAL QUICKENING and a consequent emancipation from mother Nature,  who has


[PAGE 429]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

then  completed the gestatory process necessary to start the foundation  and
framework for the temple of the Spirit,  which may subsequently build as  it
chooses, limited only by its past actions.

   During the daytime when we are awake in the physical world, the threefold
silver cord is coiled in a spiral within the dense body,  principally  about
the  solar  plexus (epigastrium),  but at night when the Ego  withdraws  and
leaves the dense and vital bodies on the bed to recuperate after the  labors
of the day, the silver cord protrudes from the skull.  The evoid desire body
floats  above,  or near the sleeping form,  resembling  a  captive  balloon.
There,  so far as the child and the undeveloped persons are  concerned,  the
Ego remains,  ruminating over the occurrences of the day, until impacts from
the physical world, such as the ring of an alarm clock, a call, or the like,
vibrates the silver cord and draws the attention of the Ego to its discarded
vehicle and causes it to enter.

   NO OCCULT DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE UNTIL THE THIRD PART OF THE SILVER CORD
HAS  BEEN DEVELOPED,  but after that event the Ego may leave its dense  body
and roam the wide world, either consciously after proper training and imita-
tion,  or  unconsciously,  with the help of others,  or accidentally,  as  a
sleepwalker  leaves his bed and returns unaware of where he went or what  he
did.   In either case the third part of the silver cord,  which is  made  of
ductile, elastic mind stuff, serves as a link with the lower vehicles.   The
quality  of  the consciousness of the Ego when thus away from its dense body


[PAGE 430]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

depends  upon  whether  it has formed a soul body of  Light  and  Reflecting
Ether,  which  is the vehicle of sense perception and  memory,  sufficiently
stable to take along.  If it has, the process of initiation will have taught
it how to proceed, and the Ego will have a complete consciousness while away
from  the body and a dependable memory of what occurred on  the  soul-flight
when it returns; if not, both consciousness and memory are bound to be lack-
ing or faulty to a degree.

   Having  acquainted  ourselves with the construction and function  of  the
silver cord as a link between the Ego and its vehicles,  we shall next study
its make-up and use in connection with the animal and its Group Spirit.   It
has been taught in the COSMO that habits,  tastes,  likes,  and dislikes  of
each  species are due to the fact that they are actuated by a  common  Group
Spirit.  All squirrels hoard a store of nuts for a winter period of hiberna-
tion,  all  lions crave flesh,  horses without exception ear hay,  but  ones
man's meat is another's poison.  If we know the habits of one animal we know
the  habits of all belonging to the same family,  but it would be futile  to
investigate the elder Edison to ascertain the source of Thomas A.'s  genius.
A treatise on the habits of a horse will apply to all horses,  but the biog-
raphy  of one man differs entirely from that of every other human being  be-
cause each acts under the dictates of an individual indwelling Spirit.   The
animals of a  certain group are directed by a common intelligence, the Group


[PAGE 431]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Spirit,  by means of the silver cord.   Each animals has its own  individual
silver cord,  so far as the two parts are concerned which connect the dense,
vital,  and desire bodies, but the third part which is connected to the cen-
tral  vortex of the desire body,  located in the liver,  is the cord of  the
Group Spirit.   By means of this elastic bond its governs the animals of its
tribe,  without regard to where in the world they may be,  with equal facil-
ity.  Distance is nonexistent from the viewpoint of the inner worlds, and as
the  animals  have no mind of their own,  they obey the suggestions  of  the
Group Spirit unquestioningly.

   In this respect children are an anomaly, for they also have the two parts
of  the silver cord developed.   However,  they have a mind from  which  the
third  part is growing.   Thus the Ego has no direct communication with  its
vehicles,  and therefore the human offspring,  which has the greatest possi-
bility,  is  at the same time the most helpless of all creatures  on  earth,
amenable principally tot he authority of its physical guardians.

   But though man is now individualized,  and emancipated from direct inter-
ference  with  his action by the leading strings of the cord  by  which  the
Group Spirit FORCES,  (there is no other word which will convey the meaning)
the  animal to do its bidding,  he is not yet fit to rule himself  any  more
than the child,  over which we hold authority till it is of age,  is fit  to
take charge of its own affairs,  and RACE SPIRITS still continue to rule the


[PAGE 432]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

nations.   Each nation, except America, has its own Race Spirit which broods
in  the form of a cloud over the land in which its people live,  as did  the
God of the Israelites, and in him "they live and move and have their being."
They  are his peculiar people,  and he is jealous God.   WITH EVERY  BREATHY
THEY INHALE THIS SPIRIT,  and if taken away they long for their native coun-
try,  because wherever they are taken THE AIR IS DIFFERENT and  carries  the
vibration of another Archangelic Hierarch.

   As times flies and we advance, we shall also be emancipated from the Race
Spirit  which  has lived in our breath since the time  Jehovah  Elohim  blew
NEPHESH--the vital air--into our nostrils.  These Spirits work in the desire
body and the Human Spirit, fostering selfishness and egoism.   When we learn
to build the glorious wedding garment, called the soul body,  which is woven
by   loving   self-forgetting   service,   and  the   mystic   marriage   is
consummated--when  the  Christ is immaculately born  within--Universal  Love
will  emancipate us forever from Universal Law,  and we shall be perfect  as
our Father in Heaven is perfect.

         "From ev'ry pow'r that holds the world in chains,
         Man liberates himself, when SELF-control he gains."


[PAGE 433]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                       EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO

                              QUESTION NO. 138.

   WHY IS IT WRONG FOR A PROBATIONER TO USE ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO?

   ANSWER:   This questions applies not only to Probationers,  but to  every
one  who endeavors to live the higher life.   Therefore we answer it in  the
ECHOS  so that all students may know that it is not merely  sentiment  which
dictates  our  ideas that we should not use any intoxicants or  drugs  which
muddle the brain.   That organ is the greatest and most important instrument
whereby we are doing our work in the physical world and unless it is in good
condition we cannot expect to make progress.

   Flesh  and alcohol have a tendency to make man ferocious and to turn  his
spiritual  sight  away  from the higher worlds and  focus  vision  upon  the
present material plane.  Therefore, the Bible tells us that at the beginning
of the Rainbow Age, the age where we live in an atmosphere of clear and pure
air,  so different from the misty atmospheric conditions of Atlantis  spoken
of in the second chapter of Genesis,  Noah first brewed the wine.   Material
development  has taken place in consequence of the present focusing  of  our
energies upon the material world,  which resulted from partaking of meat and
wine.  Christ's first miracle changed  water into wine.  He had received the


[PAGE 434]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

universal spirit at the Baptism,  and had no need of artificial  stimulants.
He changed water to wine to give others less advanced.

   But no wine bibbers can inherit the Kingdom of God.   The esoteric reason
is  this:   while the lower ethers vibrate to the seed atoms  in  the  SOLAR
PLEXUS  and  the HEART,  and thus keep the physical body alive,  the  higher
ether,  vibrate the PITUITARY BODY and PINEAL GLAND.  By imbibing this false
rebellious  spirit that is fermented outside the body and is different  from
the spirit that is fermented inside, by sugar,  these organs are temporarily
dazed  and  cannot vibrate to higher worlds.  If he takes too much  of  this
spirit of alcohol, the organs named may be slightly awakened so that he sees
the  lowest realm of the Desire World and all the evil things therein;  that
happens in the disease known as delirium tremens.  To sum up,  as the evolu-
tion of the soul depends upon the acquisition of the two higher ethers  from
which the beautiful wedding garment is made, and as these ethers are attuned
to the organs named in the same manner that the lower ethers are attuned  to
the seed atom in the heart and the seed atom in the solar plexus,  you  will
readily  understand the deadly effects to the spiritual man of  alcohol  and
drugs.  To elucidate I quote an incident of life.

   There is an old saying:  "Once a Mason, always a Mason."  That means that
when anyone has received an initiation in the Masonic order,  and by  virtue
of  that  becomes  a  Mason,  he  cannot  resign, for he cannot give up that


[PAGE 435]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

knowledge  and the secrets which he has learned any more than a  person  who
goes  to  college can give back his learning received at  that  institution.
Therefore,  "once a Mason always a Mason," and likewise once a pupil,  a lay
brother,  of a mystery school, always a pupil and a lay brother of that same
mystery school.  But though that holds good and life after life we come back
connected with the same order that we have been affiliated with in  previous
lives, we may in any one life so conduct ourselves that it is impossible for
us to realize this in our physical brains.   I will,  as said,  cite for the
benefit of all students a case which is very much to the point.

   When  I was taken into the Temple of the Rosicrucian Order in Germany,  I
was surprised to see a man whom I had met on the Pacific Coast.  That is,  I
had seen him a few times; we had never spoken.  He seemed at that time to be
in a station in the society where we were connected much above mine,  and  I
had never had personal acquaintance with him.  However,  he greeted me there
warmly, and seemed to understand all about his connection with said society,
about  our  meeting there,  etc.,  and I looked forward upon  my  return  to
America to getting much information from this brother when I should be  for-
tunate enough to greet him there in the West.

   When  I arrived at the city where he was,  I was told by  mutual  friends
that  he had been expecting me and was anxiously looking forward to  meeting
me.  When I did meet the gentleman, I at  once  went up to him and shook him


[PAGE 436]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

by  the  hand.   He also seemed to recognize me and called me by  name.   It
seemed  that there was every indication that he knew all that  had  happened
while  we  were both out of the body, because he had told me in  the  Temple
that  he  remembered everything that happened to him when out of  the  body.
This of course I believe, for he was of a much higher degree that the first,
into which I had just been admitted.

   On the day of our physical meeting,  after a few moment's conversation  I
said something which caused his to stare at me blankly.   I had referred  to
some  incident of our meeting in the Temple,  and he showed plainly that  he
knew  nothing whatever about it.   I had, however,  said so much that I  was
forced to say more, or appear foolish; so I told him he had professed to re-
member  everything.   This he denied,  and at the end of  the  interview  he
begged  me very earnestly to endeavor to find out why it was that he  was  a
lay brother of the Rosicrucian Order, yet could not remember that which took
place during his absence from the body.   He was as I knew at various Temple
services.  He took part, and yet in his physical brain he was absolutely ig-
norant  of what took place.   The mystery was solved a little later  when  I
learned  from him,  out of the body, the fact that he smoked cigarettes  and
used drugs which clouded his brain to such an extent that it had become  im-
possible for him to carrying anything through  of  his  psychic experiences.


[PAGE 437]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

When  I told him that,  while in the body,  he made a valiant effort to  rid
himself of this habit which he acknowledged.   However,  after some time  of
abstinence,  he found he could not do without the drugs and cigarettes,  and
therefore,  he has been up to the present time shut out from any  conscious-
ness of the higher life.   This is a very pitiful case,  and no doubt  there
are more.   They illustrate how careful we should be to be clean in our hab-
its,  to regard this body of ours as the Temple of God, and refrain from de-
filing  it as we would refrain from defiling a House of God built  of  stone
and mortar,  which is not one millionth part as holy as the body where  with
we have been endowed.

                              WHAT IS IDOLATRY?

                              QUESTION NO. 139.


   IT  HAS BEEN STATED THAT WHEN THE "SON OF MAN"  IS MENTIONED IN  THE  NEW
TESTAMENT THE SUN SPIRIT IS INTENDED.   SUN WORSHIPERS HAVE BEEN  CONSIDERED
IDOLATORS.  WOULD WE OF THE WHITE RACE BE CONSIDERED AS SUCH?

   ANSWER:   Everybody is an idolator who is not up to the present standard.
At  the  time  when  the Sun by precession left the constellation Taurus and


[PAGE 438]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

went  into Aries,  the command went forth,  "Don't worship the golden  calf,
that is idolatry."   Later when the Christian era came there was a new  cov-
enant  and they were not to practice Judaism with its burnt  offerings,  be-
cause the Christ had come and was a sacrifice once for all.   To perform the
ancient sacrifice was idolatry.   There is no other name under heaven  given
whereby we must be saved but by the the name of Jesus Christ.   Later,  when
Christ  has given everything into the Father's hands,  there will be  a  new
standard and it will be idolatry to revert to our present ideals.

                                THE LOST WORD

                              QUESTION NO. 140

   IN OCCULT LITERATURE WE FIND MENTION OF THE TEMPLE OF LHASSA, THIBET.  OF
WHAT BROTHERHOOD OR ORDER IS THIS TEMPLE, AND IS IT TRUE, AS REPORTED,  THAT
IT IS GUARDED?

   ANSWER:  According to all reports, and so far as the writer himself knows
form contact with the members of that community in the invisible world,  the
spiritual  attainment of some of the brothers comprising this order is of  a
very high grade.  They are doing a noble work with their people in the East,


[PAGE 439]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

but like any other institution in the physical world,  which is perceived by
the senses and open to visitors, however great the restrictions, it is not a
mystery school.  The mystery schools are all etheric and are only visited by
initiates who have learned to leave their physical bodies behind.

   With  respect to the part of the question which asks,  "Is it  true  that
there the Lost Word is known and carefully guarded,"  we may say that in all
probability it is.   However, it is also known and carefully guarded in many
other places in the world outside the mystery schools, and to make this mat-
ter thoroughly clear it is necessary that we should understand what  consti-
tutes the different grades of spiritual gift and power possessed by  various
classes of humanity and marking their stage in evolution.

   There are,  in the first place, the INVOLUNTARY CLAIRVOYANTS, who have at
times the power to perceive things and events in the invisible world.   When
the power is on,  they see whatever comes before their vision regardless  of
whether  they like it or not,  and they are unable to shut off these  sights
and scenes.  The next higher class is the voluntary clairvoyant, who is abel
to see whenever he wishes, anything he desires, and he also has the power to
shut off the view at any moment he chooses and return to his normal physical
consciousness.   Next above him in the scale of attainment stands  the  INI-
TIATE, who has learned  by  an act of will to leave his physical body and to


[PAGE 440]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

enter as a free Spirit into the invisible world.  There he functions as nor-
mally and as he does in this realm of nature.   He sees and hears everything
he wishes to,  but more than that, he has been initiated into the  mysteries
of the invisible world.  He not only sees and hears but HE KNOWS what things
are and what they mean.

   The voluntary clairvoyant who is able simply to see and hear is very much
subject  to  illusion  regarding the things that  come  before  his  vision.
Elementals,  which have the power to clothe themselves in the mobile  desire
stuff, take a particular delight in deceiving and even frightening clairvoy-
ants  of both the voluntary and involuntary class.   They may  ensoul  them-
selves in the shell of departed friends of these people and are  responsible
for a great deal of nonsense and misinformation given out at  spiritualistic
meetings.  For these entities to deceive the initiate is impossible, because
he has been taught in the mystery schools concerning such matters.

   Higher  still in the scale of spiritual attainment stands the ADEPT,  who
not only is able to SEE and to KNOW, but also has a POWER over the things in
the invisible world.  He is a graduate of the mystery school and has learned
to use the Creative Word,  the word of power,  which was lost by humanity in
its  descent into matter.   There may be one or more of these Adepts at  the
Temple of Lhassa in Thibet, as well as in other places of the world.  If so,
these people naturally have the  word  of power and they carefully guard it,


[PAGE 440]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

for it is a dangerous secret,  a two-edged sword,  which would certainly  be
suicidal  in the hands of one not evolved to the point where he is  spiritu-
ally fitted to have it.

                           CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME

                              QUESTION NO. 141.

   IF  WE LOVINGLY WORK WITH PLANTS AND ANIMALS TO AID IN THEIR  DEVELOPMENT
AND EVOLUTION, WILL WE HAVE "BREAD TO SHEW" IN THE TEMPLE, OR IS THAT GAINED
ONLY BY SERVICE TO HUMANITY?

   ANSWER:  No, every kind act to another creature and every thought of love
which  we send out to other beings, no matter to what kingdom  they  belong,
reacts upon us in such a manner that it becomes a factor in our soul growth.
However,  it should be noted that if we bestow kindness and give our love to
plants and to animals, while withholding it from our human brothers and sis-
ters, we are making a grave mistake, for true charity begins at home.   What
would  we think of a man who neglected his own family and bestowed his  love
and care upon the family of some one else?  Surely,  we would not lack words
to characterize such conduct, and the same argument may be applied to anyone


[PAGE 442]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

who devotes his love to animals or to a garden full of flowers,  but who ne-
glects to do the same for the children of his neighborhood.

   We remember a case in point:  There was a very wealthy man among our Pro-
bationers  a  few years ago,  who was always complaining  of  his  spiritual
progress being so slow.   He moved in society and took part in all their so-
cial functions at the same time he was aspiring to follow the meek and lowly
Christ.   When we showed him his inconsistency he excused himself  with  the
plea that he would have to do this on account of his wife's desire.   He had
married her and could not break up the relationship,  which would be the re-
sult if he refused to accompany her to social functions.   We asked him what
then  he was doing to promote soul growth,  what interest he was  taking  in
those  not  so well situated as he.  Was he giving anything to  charity,  or
better still,  was he doing something in a personal way to help those not so
well placed and who needed his aid?  He admitted that he was not,  but then,
evidently  ashamed at being unable to show that he was doing  something  for
others  and  trying to EARN the right to work in a higher  sphere,  he  said
apologetically:   "Sometimes I see a dog that is hungry.   It  has  happened
once or twice that I have fed it,  and I am very fond of my dog here and be-
stow quite a lot of time upon its training."

   Now  you  will readily understand that whatever love this  man  may  have
shown  toward  his own dog and the expenditure of perhaps a  few  cents  for
scraps to feed a hungry dog once or twice  while  neglecting the opportunity


[PAGE 443]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

to  feed the hungry souls of his human brothers and sisters is not going  to
give  this man soul growth,  and of course like so many others who  discover
that there is no royal road, he dropped his interest in the matter.  It will
not  promote soul growth to pay for missionaries to go to China and  convert
the heathen there while your own immediate family is in darkness.   It would
not help you if you fed all the dogs and cats in your town and cared for all
the gardens which are there neglected, while omitting to look after your hu-
man children.   If you have done all that you can to let your own  immediate
family see the light, then it is good to send missionaries to China also, if
you  have the means.   If you have done all you can to bring love  into  the
lives of the children in your own home and in your own town, then it is good
to  care for the cats and dogs and gardens.   We can never do too much,  but
much or little,  we should make sure first that we expend our efforts in the
proper and legitimate sphere.


[PAGE 444]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                       DETERMINING THE TIME OF EASTER

                              QUESTION NO. 142

   I  AM A MASON AND WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT DETERMINES THE TIME  OF  EASTER
EACH YEAR.   ALSO, WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
AT EASTER AND THE RESURRECTION OF HIRAM ABIFF IN THE MASONIC RITUAL?

   ANSWER:   The Masonic legend says that in the beginning  Jehovah  created
Eve,  and the Lucifer Spirit,  Samael,  united with her and from this  union
Cain was born.  Then Samael left Eve and she became virtually a widow.  Cain
was thus the son of a widow, and from him descended all the draftsman of the
world,  including Hiram Abiff, the grand master workman on Solomon's temple,
who is therefore also called "son of a widow," as are all Freemasons to this
day.   After Samael had left Eve,  Jehovah created Adam,  and he united with
Eve,  with the result that Abel was born.   Thus Cain was  semi-divine,  in-
spired by his own inherent creative genius which is seen in his sons to this
day  in  statecraft  and  all industrial inventions which  go  to  make  the
civilized world,  while Abel was the child of two human beings.   He id  not
know how to create but tended docilely the flock already created for him  by
the author of his being, Jehovah.


[PAGE 445]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

   Jehovah slighted the sacrifice of Cain,  who had made two blades of grass
grow where formally there was one.  He would rather have a docile automation
like Abel who could be depended upon to obey implicitly His commands than an
original thinker like Cain.  So there was enmity between Cain and Abel, with
the result that the latter was slain.  Then SETH was born, and from his have
descended all those who follow blindly the dictates of their creator and are
known as the PRIESTCRAFT and their followers.   Among them was Solomon,  the
king.   To him Jehovah revealed the design for his Temple,  but Solomon  was
unable  to  execute the design and therefore was compelled to  engage  HIRAM
ABIFF, A CUNNING CRAFTSMAN, A SON OF CAIN, AND THEREFORE THE SON OF A WIDOW.

   High  mystic  Mason  recognize the fact that from  the  cosmic  viewpoint
Hiream  Abiff  is symbolized by the Sun.  While the Sun (Hiram)  is  in  the
northern signs,  Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo,  he is among
faithful friends and followers, but when in the course of the year he enters
the southern signs,  Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, he is assaulted by the
three  conspirators as recorded in the Masonic legend and finally  slain  at
the  winter solstice to be again resurrected as he climbs towards the  equa-
tor,  which he crosses at the vernal equinox.   The Masonic  legend  relates
that the Queen of Sheba journeyed from afar to see the wise Solomon of  whom
she had heard so much.   She was also shown the beautiful temple and  wanted
to  see  the  cunning  craftsman, the master builder and his workmen who had


[PAGE 446]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

wrought such a marvel.

   But there had always been enmity between the sons of Cain and the sons of
Seth.   Even when they have co-operated they have never trusted  each  other
fully, and Solomon feared that his beautiful fiance might become enamored of
Hiram Abiff.  Therefore he endeavored to call the workmen himself,  but none
responded.  They "knew the voice of their shepherd," Hiram Abiff (the Sun in
Aries,  the sign of the Lamb).  They were trained to obey his call and would
heed  no their voice.   Therefore,  Solomon was finally forced to  send  for
Hiram Abiff and request that he call his artisans,  and the moment he lifted
his hammer (Aries,  which is the sign of his authority and exalation),  they
came  in a multitude that could not be numbered,  each one eager to  do  his
will.

   In the spring the Sun (Hiram) enters Aries,  the sign of his  exaltation.
This sign is shaped like the hammer which Hiram raised,  and all the workmen
on  the temple (the universe) rush to do his bidding and carry on  his  work
when  he ascends to the throne of his dignity and authority in the  northern
heavens.   He is their shepherd because at the vernal equinox he enters  Ar-
ies,  the sign of the ram or lamb.   Him they hear but these  nature  forces
take command from no other than the Sun in Aries, the Eastern Sun.

   This  is the cosmic interpretation,  but according to the law of  analogy
Hiram,  the  son  of  Cain,  must  also  be  raised  to  a  higher degree of


[PAGE 447]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

initiation.   Only the Sun Spirit about to soar into the heavens  could  ac-
complish  this feat.   Hence HIRAM WAS REBORN AS LAZARUS AND RAISED  BUT  HE
STRONG GRIP OF THE LION'S PAW.  He had been a leader of the craftsmen during
the regime of Jehovah and His creature Solomon.   By this initiation he  was
raised  up  for the purpose of being a leader in the Kingdom of  Christ  and
helping  the same people on into a higher phase of their evolution.   There-
fore,  he became a CHRISTIAN charged to explain the mysteries of the  CROSS,
and  a symbol of this mystery the ROSE was added thereto,  and this  mission
was embodied in his symbolic name, Christian Rosenkruez.

   The rose is called the emblem of mystery in general,  but most people are
not aware that this addition of the rose to the cross was the origin of that
symbolic significance.   The rose is the emblem of the mystery of the  cross
because  it explains the path of chastity,  the transmutation of blood  from
passion  to love.   Lazarus therefore became Christian Rose Cross,  and  THE
ROSICRUCIANS  ARE  THE SPECIAL MESSENGERS OF CHRIST TO THE SONS OF  CAIN  as
Jesus is to the sons of Abel.

   The Pharisees knew a great deal of the occult origin of these two classes
of  humanity,  and therefore the Lazarus miracle was to  them  the  crowning
crime of the Christ.  They became seriously alarmed then that their national
religion  would  be superseded by another if any more such signs  were  per-
formed, for they sensed that it was an initiation  of  a  higher nature than


[PAGE 448]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

they knew of and that it boded an entrance into a higher cycle.   Before the
Christ  all the religions were race religions suited to the people  to  whom
they  were given and suitable only for those people.   All  these  religions
were JEHOVAH RELIGIONS.   As the FATHER was the highest Initiate of the Sat-
urn Period,  so CHRIST, THE SON, was the highest Initiate of the Sun Period,
and JEHOVAH,  the Holy Spirit,  was the highest Initiate of the Moon Period.
From Jehovah came the race religions which endeavor to prepare mankind along
the path of evolution by means of law.   These race religions are to be  su-
perseded  by the universal religion of the Sun Spirit,  Christ,  which  will
unite  all men into one brotherhood.   The change from one to the other  and
the  fact that the religion of the lunar God Jehovah must precede the  reli-
gion of the Sun Spirit,  Christ, is symbolized by the manner in which Easter
is determined.

   The  rule  in present use for determining the time of Easter is  that  IT
FALLS  ON THE FIRST SUNDAY FOLLOWING THE PASCHAL FULL MOON.   This  was  the
original  time adopted by the earliest Christians who had knowledge  of  and
regard  for the occult significance,  but very soon ignorant people  started
schisms  and  fixed  it  at different  times.   This  occasioned  no  little
contraversey.   In the second century a dispute arose on this point  between
the  Eastern and Western Churches.  Easter Christians celebrated  Easter  on
the  14th  day  of  the  first  Jewish  month  or Moon, considering it to be


[PAGE 449]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

equivalent  to the Jewish Passover.   The Western Christians kept it on  the
Sunday AFTER the 14th day, holding that it was the commemoration of the Res-
urrection of Jesus.   The Council of Nice 325 A.D.  decided in favor of  the
Western use,  branding the Eastern practice with the name of heresy.   This,
however,  only settled the point that Easter was to be held not on a certain
day of the month or moon,  but ON A SUNDAY.   The proper astronomical  cycle
for  calculating the occurrence of the Easter Moon was not  yet  determined,
but  they finally deferred to the ancient method of fixing the  festival  by
the Moon, and so the ancient original custom was finally revived.

   Thus Easter is now held upon the same day as required by the occult  tra-
dition  to symbolize properly the cosmic significance of the event,  and  in
this respect both the Sun and the Moon are necessary factors,  since  Easter
is not merely a solar festival.   The Sun must go not only past the equator,
as it does on the 21st of March, but the full Moon after the vernal  equinox
must also be passed.  Then the following Sunday is Easter, the day of Resur-
rection.   The light of the vernal Sun must be reflected by a full Moon  be-
fore that day can dawn on earth,  and there is as said a deep meaning behind
that method of determining Easter, viz.,  that HUMANITY WAS NOT SUFFICIENTLY
EVOLVED TO HAVE THE RELIGION OF THE SUN, THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION OF UNIVERSAL
BROTHERHOOD, UNTIL THEY HAD BEEN FULLY PREPARED THROUGH THE RELIGIONS OF THE
MOON  WHICH  SEGREGATED  AND  SEPARATED  HUMANITY  INTO GROUPS, NATIONS, AND


[PAGE 450]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

RACES.   This is symbolized by the annual rise of the Sun Spirit  at  Easter
being deferred until the Jehovistic Moon has thrown back and fully reflected
the light of the Easter Sun.

   All the founders of race religions, Hermes,  Buddha,  Moses,  etc.,  were
initiates in the Jehovistic mysteries.   They were Sons of Seth.   At  their
initiation  they became ensouled by their particular Race Spirit,  and  this
Spirit,  speaking  through the mouth of such an initiate gave  LAWS  to  his
people, as for instance, the Decalogue of Moses, the laws of Manu, the noble
truths of Buddha, etc.  These laws manifested sin because the people did not
and could not keep them at their stage of evolution.  So they made a certain
debt of destiny in consequence.   This destiny the human initiate founder of
the religion had to take upon himself and so had to be born again and  again
to help his people.  Thus Buddha was born as Shankaracharya and had a number
of  other rebirths.   Moses was reborn as Elijah and John the  Baptist,  but
Christ,  on the other hand,  did not need to take birth in the first  place.
He  did it of His own free will to help humanity,  to abrogate the law  that
brings sin, and emancipate humanity from the law of sin and death.

   The Race religions of the lunar God, Jehovah, conveyed the will of God to
mankind in an indirect manner through seers and prophets who were but imper-
fect instruments, as the lunar rays reflect the light of the Sun.


[PAGE 451]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

   The  mission of these religions was to prepare mankind for the  universal
religion of the Sun Spirit,  Christ,  who manifested among us without an in-
termediary as the light which comes direct from the Sun,  and "we behold His
glory  as the ALONE BEGOTTEN of the Father,"  when He taught the  gospel  of
love.   The Christian religion gives no laws,  but preaches love as the ful-
fillment of the law.   Therefore no debts of destiny are generated under it,
and Christ,  who was under no necessity to be born in the first place,  will
not  be drawn to rebirth under the Law of Causation as were the founders  of
the lunar race religions,  who must bear from time to time the sins of their
followers.   When  He appears it will be in a body made of  the  two  higher
ethers:   the light and reflecting ethers, the golden wedding garment called
SOMA  PSUCHICON or soul body by Paul, who is very emphatic in his  assertion
that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  He asserts that we
shall be changed and be like Christ, and if we cannot enter the kingdom in a
fleshy body it would be absurd to suppose that the King of Glory would  wear
such a coarse, cubersome garment.

   The priestcraft from which Jehovah drew His representatives, the prophets
and  founders of religions and spiritual temple builders,  are the  Sons  of
Seth.   The  Sons of Cain still feel in their breasts the divine  nature  of
their ancestor.  They repudiate the indirect method of salvation by faith of
the church and insist upon finding the light of wisdom themselves by  direct
methods of WORK, perfecting themselves in the arts  and  crafts and building


[PAGE 452]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

the temple of material civilization by industry and statecraft according  to
the  plan of God,  the Grand Architect of the Universe,  Christ  being  "the
Chief Corner Stone" and each mystic Mason a "living stone."

   In  time,  however,  these two great streams of the Sons of Seth and  the
sons  of  Cain must unite in order to reach the portals of  the  kingdom  of
Christ.   Before His time there was no way in which such an amalgation could
take place;  but when Christ, the great Sun Spirit, came, Solomon was reborn
as Jesus,  into his lower vehicles the Christ Spirit entered at the Baptism;
and  Hiram Abiff was reborn as Lazarus.  When Lazarus was raised up  by  the
strong grip of the Lion of Judah's paw,  Hiram and Solomon,  the former  an-
tagonists, sank their differences as prompted by Christ Spirit, and both are
working now for the establishment of the Kingdom of Christ.  It was this the
Pharisees  in  some way sensed or surmised and hence their fears  that  this
Jesus would initiate many people and subvert them from the race religion  to
which they (the Pharisees) were wedded.


[PAGE 453]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                   REASONS FOR THE TRIALS OF THE ASPIRANT

                              QUESTION NO. 143.

   SINCE  I HAVE COMMENCED TO STUDY THE ROSICRUCIAN TEACHINGS AND AM  TRYING
TO  LIVE  A BETTER LIFE,  IT SEEMS AS IF TROUBLE PILES UPON ME IN  A  MANNER
WHICH  I  HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE,  AND IT SEEMS AS IF THOSE  WHO  ARE
CLOSEST TO ME BY RELATION ARE THE ONES WHO PARTICULARLY TRY ME.  SOMETIMES I
FEEL AS IF I WERE GROWING,  AT OTHER TIMES IT SEEMS THAT LIFE IS A  FAILURE.
WHAT IS THE REAL STATUS, AND WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THESE TRIALS?

   ANSWER:   When a ship is drifting down a river with the tide, the engines
go  around without seeming effort,  and it makes great  headway.   Likewise,
when an automobile goes down hill the engine is able to carry the load with-
out  effort and good progress is made.   But when a ship must stem the  tide
and force its way against the current, or when an auto must climb a hill, it
means  considerable  expenditure of effort,  and progress is not  so  rapid.
There are obstacles to be overcome.  Every little rock is felt, etc.

   It is likewise with the Spirit.   So long as we drift with the stream  of
life and go with the tide of humanity, everything seems to run smoothly, and
no trouble is encountered.   However,  the moment we leave the current,  and
strive to take the path toward the higher life, we encounter the friction of
the general run of humanity, and of course the very ones  who are closest to


[PAGE 454]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

us  will  naturally be the ones against whom the friction is  the  greatest.
Thus  these seem to be the opposition, and to retard our progress  on  every
possible  occasion.   They seem to strive in every manner  to  obstruct  our
path,  and  we feel it the more keenly because we think that those  who  are
closest, nearest, and dearest to us should be the ones to appreciate our ef-
forts, and to support us therein.  It is not so, however.  We should not ex-
pect that from them.   They are going with the tide.   We are going  against
it, and the friction is as absolutely necessary as the friction of the water
against the ship that is stemming the current up the river.

   When  you have walked but he sea shore you have noticed how  rounded  and
smooth,  yes even polished,  the stones on the beach have become by the con-
stant tituration--by friction against the other stones.   For ages and  ages
all the rough corners have been worn off,  and they have that beautiful sur-
face  that  is so peculiar to stones along the beach.   We may  liken  these
stones to humanity in general.  By the friction against one another for ages
and  ages,  the worst corners will be worn off,  and at last we will  become
rounded out,  smooth, polished, and beautiful as the beach stones are.   But
take a diamond in the rough.   It is not allowed to attain its polish by the
ordinary slow process,  like the beach stone.  The lapidary takes it in hand
and grinds it,  and there is a screeching noise every time the stone is  put
to the wheel.


[PAGE 455]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

   However,  every  time a screech of pain comes from it there  is  a  rough
piece  of the surface worn off,  and a brilliant polished part  appears  in-
stead.   Likewise,  it is with the Ego who aspires to  higher  things.   God
there is the lapidary,  who polishes the stone,  and it is not pleasant when
the  rough  portion  is being taken off of us,  when we  are  being  pressed
against the grindstone of sorrow and calamity.  Nevertheless, from out of it
all  we shall come shining and brilliant as diamonds.   Let not your  heart,
therefore,  be troubled,  for the sorrows and tribulations which  now  beset
your path are but the grinding against the stone by the lapidary.   You  may
be sure that whatever is the present feeling, the outcome will be all right,
for God is LOVE.   Although He applies the severest measures at the  present
time, in the future it will bring you out polished and resplendent.


[PAGE 456]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

                          FINDING THE WOMAN WITHIN

                              QUESTION NO. 144.

   IN PART FOUR OF TANNHAUSER YOU STATE, "THE MAN MUST FIND THE WOMAN WITHIN
HIMSELF."   ALSO, THAT WE MUST CONFRONT THE DWELLER ON THE THRESHOLD.   WILL
YOU KINDLY MAKE THESE TWO POINTS CLEAR?

   ANSWER:   As a matter of fact the Spirit is neither male nor female,  but
during the present state of manifestation it became necessary to devote  one
half of the creative force to the development of the brain, wherewith we may
CREATE  mental  images  which we then reproduce in concrete  matter  of  the
physical world.   This, therefore, necessitated developing a physical organ-
ism with two sexes--one expressive of ONE QUALITY OF THE SPIRIT,  WILL,  AND
THEREFORE MALE; THE OTHER EXPRESSIVE OF IMAGINATION, WHICH IS FEMALE.

   As  each Spirit is born alternately in a male and a female body,  it  ex-
presses also alternately the twin faculties of the Spirit--will and imagina-
tion.   One  of these qualities predominates in each life,  and  accordingly
makes the manifestation of the masculine or feminine.  But as the Spirit re-
turns day after day,  or life after life,  to the Great School,  it  becomes
more  and more soulful and consequently more capable of expressing  the  two
qualities of the Spirit simultaneously and in an even measure.   Thus by de-
grees the man finds the finer feminine qualities in himself,  and  the woman


[PAGE 457]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

finds  the noblest traits of the man.  When that point has come where  there
is a perfect balance, the mystic marriage takes place.

   You  know it is said that in heaven there is neither marriage nor  giving
in  marriage,  because there the Spirit is untrammeled by the fetter of  the
flesh.   There sex plays no part.  There the dual soul qualities are usable,
and consequently the marriage of one to another is unnecessary.   Each there
creates  the archetype of his or her coming body without the  assistance  of
anyone else,  save the divine Hierarchies, and thus provides for the  future
embodiment.   It is only when we leave the realm of soul, and enter into the
realm  of sex that the cooperation of someone else is needed for the  forma-
tion  of a concrete physical vehicle to fit into the archetype which was  in
the  first  place made by the Spirit itself in heaven.   Now the  sooner  we
learn  to see in ourselves A WHOLE CREATIVE UNIT,  the more we preserve  our
own creative force, and send it upward for spiritual purposes, the sooner we
shall find the man or woman WITHIN OURSELVES.  The mystic marriage will then
have been performed,  and this links the two poles and leaves us with a con-
sciousness which is creative in all realms of nature.

   At  the same time,  let it be understood that while we are here  in  this
physical  world,  and have lessons to learn here,  we must have  instruments
wherein to learn.   We ourselves have by the sacrifice of others attained to
this  privilege.   They have helped to give us a body,  and we should  never
shirk the responsibility of giving someone else the opportunity of obtaining


[PAGE 458]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

a  body through our services,  provided we are in proper health,  and  other
circumstances  are right.   Also we should feel that we can give the  Spirit
which comes to us the proper environment in which to grow.

   About  the  Dweller  on the Threshold:   It was said that  it  is  always
manifested as being of opposite sex,  because all of our temptations and the
evil we do,  everything that is reprehensible, comes from the HIDDEN SIDE in
us,  and  in  each life this hidden side takes shape  as  of  opposite  sex.
Through  the opposite sex we are tempted to commit the sin which drove  man-
kind out of the state of purity called symbolically, the Garden of Eden.  It
dwells upon the threshold of higher realms, and each one who dares seek  en-
trance must first vanquish this demon.


[PAGE 459]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                  THE THEOSOPHICAL TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS

                              QUESTION NO. 145.

   IT IS CLAIMED BY SOME THEOSOPHISTS THAT THEIR TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS IS
THE  ONLY  GENUINE  ORDER AND THAT THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP  IS  A  BRANCH
THEREOF.   PLEASE  TELL US WHAT IS THE TRUE STATUS OF THAT ORDER,  AND  WHAT
CONNECTION IT HAS WITH THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP.

   ANSWER:   It is an unfortunate fact lamented by all leaders of  societies
that  misinformed members make extravagant statements which have no  founda-
tion  whatever in facts.   It has always been the policy of The  Rosicrucian
Fellowship  to  live in peace with all other religious societies,  to  speak
well of them and their leaders on all occasions, and we would never think of
violating our ideal of FELLOWSHIP by an attack on anyone.

   The  leaders of The Theosophical Society follow similar  principles.   We
have never seen them as aggressors against any other organization.   We know
positively that they are friendly to The Rosicrucian Fellowship,  and  would
not for a moment countenance such an arrogant assertion as that their Temple
of the Rosy Cross is the only genuine order.   They know better.   As to the
statement  that The Rosicrucian Fellowship is only a branch of their  order,
it is sufficient to say that The Rosicrucian Fellowship was started years in


[PAGE 460]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

advance  of the T.S.  Order of the Rosy Cross.   Such misstatements as  men-
tioned come from narrow,  irresponsible people and they are not believed  by
the  great body of Theosophists,  who are broad minded and well informed  on
this  very  subject  by  the study of our own  text  book,  THE  ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION.

   We  have  sold many thousands of copies of this work to  members  of  The
Theosophical  Society.   Large lodges like those of London and Chicago  have
bought  five  hundred copies at a time;  others like Boston  and  Washington
bought  several  hundred copies at a time and repeated their  order  several
times.   At one time the Theosophical Book Concern negotiated for the  whole
edition  then on the press,  but as we needed most of it right away to  fill
large  orders  from jobbers in New York and London the  deal  fell  through.
Thousands  of  copies have been sold direct from our Headquarters  to  indi-
vidual Theosophists,  and letters redolent with praise have been sent in  by
many hundreds of Theosophical Society members.   Lodge leaders have  written
enthusiastically  to Mr.  Heindel of the great value of the book as  a  text
book  in  their classes,  and reviewers in many of their  publications  have
praised  it in the highest terms.   The last review we have seen is  by  Mr.
Wedgwood in the official organ of The Theosophical Society, THE THEOSOPHIST,
February, 1915.  Mr. Wedgwood there reviews another book and for the sake of
comparison mentions a number of writers, among others, "Max Heindel,  author


[PAGE 461]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

of a fascinating and really able book, THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION."

   He comes to the conclusion that,  "Heindel's is probably the most able of
these books.  It sets forth a fairly rational and coherent scheme, and while
certain  of  his points seem to invite doubt,  others call  forth  from  the
intuition a flash of ready recognition which is unmistakable.   Clearly  the
book represents a definite occult tradition.  It touches upon many interest-
ing  points  which  so  far have not been considered  by  Mrs.  Besant,  Mr.
Leadbeater, or Mr. Sinnett."

   THE THEOSOPHIST is, as said, the official organ of The Theosophical Soci-
ety and is edited by Mrs.  Besant.  Thus two of the highest officials of The
Theosophical  Society  and founder of the Theosophical Temple  of  the  Rosy
Cross  have officially endorsed THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION as  a  book
which  "clearly  represents a definite occult tradition."   They  are  great
souls who do not feel the need to bolster up a foolish pride and vanity by a
supercilious sneer at another organization, as some who are not worthy to be
called their followers,  do.  They have, moreover,  minds which can discover
merit  in others and generosity to acknowledge the fact.   This is also  the
case  with the great body of the membership of The Theosophical Society,  or
they would neither have bought THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION nor acknowl-
edged its merits,  and the small minority who make the claim that the  Theo-
sophical Temple of the Rosy Cross is the only genuine  order  and  that  The


[PAGE 462]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

Rosicrucian Fellowship is a branch--Well!  They will learn.

   Regarding the origin of the Theosophical Temple of the Rosy Cross, we are
informed by the Secretary of the American Section of The Theosophical  Soci-
ety,  Mr.  A.  P.  Warrington, in the May issue, 1913,  of THE AMERICAN THE-
OSOPHIST:

   "The founders and supreme heads are Heracles, Helios,  and Lomia,  (names
probably taken for mystic purposes by Mrs.  Besant,  Mrs.  Russak,  and  Mr.
Wedgwood.--Editor).  The following has been issued by the heads:

   "'In The Theosophical Society there are many who find the fittest expres-
sion for their highest emotions in stately and rhythmical ceremonials...very
many  such  Egos  are  groping  about  unsatisfied  in  numerous  fields  of
research...for these Egos the line of ceremonial is the way of least  resis-
tance...Up to the present time,  however,  there has been little opportunity
of The Theosophical Society for the study of ceremonials and the  mysteries.
It  is therefore the desire of the founders of the new order  to  synthesize
the scattered teachings in The Theosophical Society literature as well as in
other available literature...To nourish into new life the smoldering fire on
the altar of spiritual aspiration...'

   "'While  recognizing that there is but one true Occultism they will  seek
to find it in its Western Manifestation in order to enrich, not to supplant,
its Eastern aspects.


[PAGE 463]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

   "'In choosing the name TEMPLE OF THE ROSY CROSS, the founders had in mind
various  ancient  organizations;  one was the famous Order  of  the  Knights
Templars,  which  was  formed  to protect pilgrims  traveling  in  the  Holy
Land...In  like  manner the present Templars of the Rosy Cross  desire  that
they  may prove worthy to gather around the Bodhisatva when he comes  again,
and defend the mysteries with a sword of the spirit.'"

   This  is a straightforward and obviously honest statement  that,  feeling
the need of ceremonial as an incentive to spiritual aspiration,  they  orga-
nized  The Theosophical Society Order of the Rosy Cross in the hope that  it
might make them more fit servants in their Master's vineyard,  and who would
not bid them Godspeed?   They do not claim to have received occult  instruc-
tion to start such a temple from the Brothers of the Rosy Cross.   In  fact,
they  confess  they  do not know if there is such a  temple,  at  least  Mr.
Wedgwood does--and Mrs.  Besant prints it in the same review where he speaks
of THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION.   He wonders what is the source of such
books and asks the question:

   "Are  there schools of Western occultism still existing on  the  physical
plane?   The  repository,  perhaps,  of the alchemy of the Rosy  Cross,  and
wherein  the lesser mysteries still are celebrated?   Or do these  teachings
emanate  from superphysical lodges of teachers out of incarnation who  still
cherish the doctrine of medieval monastic occultism,  blended  as  it  often


[PAGE 464]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

was,  with a stronger tincture of orthodox Christianity?  It would be inter-
esting and well to know."

   Max Heindel states there is such a temple and his contention is supported
by  the fact that he has written THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION which  has
found ready endorsement from many thousands of thinkers in The  Theosophical
Society and out.  Most of them are gifted with intuition, like Mr. Wedgwood,
and  some with spiritual vision.   To doubt his modest claim to be the  mes-
senger  of  The Rosicrucian Order in the face of the fact that he  has  this
book, involves the greater difficulty of believing him its originator, for a
monumental scheme of unfoldment of the world and man,  such as this book re-
veals,  was never hatched in a human brain.   Hence there is but one tenable
conclusion:   that Max Heindel tells the truth when he says he  visited  the
Temple of the Rosy Cross, that he was there initiated into the mysteries and
given the teachings contained in THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION,  which he
was enjoined to publish and promulgate.

   It may also be said in support of this claim and as evidence of his  sin-
cerity and unselfishness,  that he did not use this great knowledge for per-
sonal gain by putting as high a price on this book as possible.  He had been
cautioned by the Brothers of the Rosy Cross not to sell the "Pearl of Knowl-
edge"  entrusted to him, and he went to the other extreme and made the price
of the book so low ($1.00), that he lost money on the first two editions.  A


[PAGE 465]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

valuable  seventy-two page index was added in the third edition,  also  much
new matter,  and the price of this handsome six-hundred page book was raised
to one dollar and fifty cents,  netting a small surplus which is all  turned
into  the work.   Mr.  Heindel does not get a penny from any of  his  books.
Surely  he must be sincere in his assertion that he is the messenger of  the
Order of Rosicrucians, and that The Rosicrucian Fellowship was founded to be
the herald of the Aquarian Age, now drawing near.

   Thus, to sum up:

   The  Theosophical  Temple of the Rosy Cross is an Order founded  by  Mrs.
Besant and her coworkers to aid aspirants to the higher life by  ceremonial,
invented by themselves.

   The Rosicrucian Fellowship is the Herald of the Aquarian Age,  promulgat-
ing  the  Western  Wisdom Religion formulated by the Brothers  of  the  Rose
Cross,  and published by their messenger,  Max Heindel,  in THE  ROSICRUCIAN
COSMO-CONCEPTION.

   We  are sorry to say there can be no connection between  The  Rosicrucian
Fellowship and the Theosophical Temple of the Rosy Cross, or any other Theo-
sophical Society Order.   We have a high opinion of their membership,  and a
sincere regard for many with whom we are personally acquainted,  but we have
espoused  the  Western Wisdom Religion.  We thoroughly  believe  in  Western
methods for Western people, and are therefore forced by the laws of logic to


[PAGE 466]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

take the position that our Theosophical friends,  however sincere,  are mis-
taken in their efforts to promulgate among the people of the West a religion
divinely given to the people of the East.

   We did indeed rejoice when we first heard that a Temple of the Rosy Cross
had  been founded by the leaders of the Theosophical Society,  for  we  took
this  to be an indication that they had seen the true Christ Light,  in  the
West,  and were preparing to emulate the "Wise Men of the East" who traveled
westward  following the Christ Star to Bethlehem.   However,  we were  sadly
disappointed  to note their statement of motive in studying the Western  oc-
cultism, Rosicrucianism, etc., as contemplated, in this new temple:  "in or-
der to enrich, not to supplant, its eastern aspects."

   Thus the aim of The Theosophical Society and their subsidiary Orders  are
diametrically opposed to The Rosicrucian Fellowship, as East is to West, and
however sincere our personal regard for individual members,  we cannot  work
with them as a society.

   It does not follow that we are obligated to attack them, however, or that
we would retaliate when a misguided member of The Theosophical Society makes
statements  which we consider derogatory to the dignity of our  Association.
Let us be careful,  rather,  not to bring up subjects which may provoke such
remarks.  Let us quietly but persistently continue to promulgate the Western
Wisdom Religion and emphasize the fact that it is the WESTERN METHOD FOR THE


[PAGE 467]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

WESTERN PEOPLE.   So shall we further the work of the Elder Brothers  better
than by idle arguments which waste our time and convince no one, for convic-
tion comes from within.

NOTE:   Since the foregoing was written, The Theosophical Temple of the Rose
Cross  has been disbanded,  and the building at their American  Headquarters
turned into a Catholic church where the former Templars are now  worshiping.
Had their "Temple of the Rose Cross"  been originated by the Elder  Brothers
who  are the Hierarchies of the Western Wisdom School it would have  endured
for centuries instead of a year or two.


                       LETTING DEFECTIVE CHILDREN DIE

                              QUESTION NO. 146.

   FROM THE OCCULT POINT OF VIEW IS IT RIGHT OR WRONG TO LET A DEFECTIVE IN-
FANT DIE, AS WAS DONE IN THE BOLINGER CASE?  PLEASE LET US HAVE YOUR VIEW ON
THE MATTER.

   ANSWER:   When we consider the defectives as a class,  it is first neces-
sary  to realize that the Spirit is not defective.   It has had  innumerable
past lives during which it has sown certain seeds and reaped appropriate ex-
periences therefrom.  Experiences which could not be reaped in one life have


[PAGE 468]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

been held over until the next life or later lives,  and have there  attained
their fruition.   None of us, however, are capable of expressing in one body
all  of  the attainments that we have acquired in our many  previous  lives,
therefore we have many seeming anomalies brought to light in the  investiga-
tion  of  psychical researchers who have found that ignorant people  in  the
peasant class in this life, have been able under the spell of hypnosis or in
trance  to speak Greek and Hebrew, also to discourse learnedly  on  abstruse
subjects.  Thus it is evident that the Spirit may be likened to a diamond in
the rough which is being gradually ground upon the grindstone of experience.
In  each life a new facet permits the light to enter and adds that light  to
the light already obtained through facets ground in many previous lives.  By
this process we shall eventually attain to the perfect light which makes  us
divine.

   Because of our limited perception,  we call certain actions evil and cer-
tain other actions good,  whereas from the larger point of view it is simply
a  question  of  experience.   Some characters or facets  of  the  spiritual
diamond seem to be fairly perfect in this life.   At least they do not  seem
out  of the ordinary to be sufficiently marked,  and therefore we call  them
perfect.   Others are different from the rest and we therefore in our  igno-
rance call them defective.   Similarly with bodies.  Although as a matter of
fact none of us possess a perfect body,  nevertheless, we take an average as


[PAGE 469]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

a  standard and anything that does not come up to that mark we  call  defec-
tive.   We allow those who are not mentally very different from the  general
run of us, to go about unmolested, but imprison those who seem to have a de-
cidedly different turn of mind.   We pay no attention to the ordinary defor-
mities of body,  but designate those which are materially different from our
standard  as defective.   Some think that they have a right to destroy  any-
thing or anybody that is not up to the standard which they think ought to be
normal.

   As a matter of fact,  the normal body is the result of a certain mode  of
life in previous existences which was then standard.   But the so-called de-
fective minds and defective bodies are the results of the efforts of Spirits
to be free to move along what we would call unconventional lines of  thought
or action.  Therefore genius and idiocy have always been twin brothers,  and
any  doctor who attempts to cut short the life of one he may think a  defec-
tive  is just as liable to deprive the world of a great genius as he  is  to
rid it of a poor creature that would be a burden to himself and others  dur-
ing his miserable existence.  Thus, even from that point of view it would be
absolutely  contrary to the interest of society to allow any one  to  decide
arbitrarily  whether a child should live or die.   it is the duty  of  every
doctor to do all in his or her power to prolong life in the body so that the
Spirit may gain the experience it has come  for.  If  that life is to be cut


[PAGE 470]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

off nature will take care to do that herself.

   Investigation of the Bolinger case shows that that Ego had lived its pre-
vious life as a nun,  and was burned at the stake.   The result was that  it
lost  the fruit of that life,  and under the law of infant mortality it  was
therefore necessary for the new body to die soon after birth.   Thus no  op-
eration  could have saved the life in this instance,  but that does  not  do
away with the fact that the doctor was negligent of duty in not  endeavoring
to preserve the life.   It would not do to speak in a public magazine of the
causes in that previous existence which led to the tragedy which  terminated
it and had a bearing upon the present birth as a so-called defective.   Suf-
ficient  to say that the Spirit has now gone into the First Heaven and  will
there receive the moral training which will restore to it the fruits of  ex-
perience garnered during that past unhappy life.   Thus when it is reborn in
the course of a few years it will probably have a perfectly normal body.


[PAGE 471]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                          THE NATURE OF PSYCHOMETRY

                              QUESTION NO. 147.

   WILL YOU KINDLY EXPLAIN JUST WHAT IS MEANT BY PSYCHOMETRY?

   ANSWER:  It is well known to all scientists that the history of the earth
during  the  ages may be ready by anyone trained in  the  art.   Prehistoric
animals  and  plants may be reconstructed from their  fossil  remains.   The
cataclysmic effects of great volcanic eruptions may be traced.  The paths of
glaciers  melted many millennia ago are as plain as if they were now  moving
towards  the sea.   The erosion by water of rocks now found in  dry  deserts
tells its tale of changing topographical and climatic conditions as plainly,
or more so, than if the record were written on the pages of a book.

   But  to  those who see with the SPIRIT EYE there is accessible  a  deeper
record which coincides with and completes the chain of facts revealed by ge-
ology.  The marks left on the rocks, by the grinding glacier and the rushing
river,  are as scars of strife on the soldier's body,  from which a keen ob-
server may draw conclusions concerning the conflict,  which caused them  ac-
cording  to  the pitch of his imagination.   These deductions  may  fit  the
facts, but it is more than probable that errors will creep in.  At any rate,
if the soldier can be  persuaded to tell the tale of  how  he  received  the


[PAGE 472]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

scars  we shall certainly secure a more complete and authentic account  than
if we rely entirely on deduction.

   Similarly,  if nature can be made to supply the story of past events,  we
shall  have a true tale of the things that have taken place in past  periods
with their varied flora and fauna.

   That  this  is possible to one possessing the so-called second  sight  is
common knowledge among millions of people.   By assuming a passive attitude,
and taking a piece of lava thrown from a volcano in eruption, they see as on
a film the cataclysm witnessed by that fragment from the fiery furnace.   By
taking a letter and pressing it to their foreheads they may see the  writer,
the room in which he wrote, and other details.  But mark this,  WITHOUT THAT
LETTER  OR  LAVA THE PSYCHOMETRIST CAN SEE NOTHING,  and sometimes  he  sees
things  he would rather not.   nor has he the power to shut out such  sights
and scenes.  Therefore, this faculty is of doubtful value, to say the least.

   Another class has cultivated the faculty of reading the Memory of  Nature
at  will by scientific exercises and an appropriate life calculated to  aug-
ment the etheric aura surrounding each being or object.   They hold the mas-
ter key to nature's mysteries.

   Much  has  been  given out in the Rosicrucian  Teachings  concerning  the
Memory of Nature, and a great deal of our information has been obtained from
that source by the latter  method of POSITIVE INVESTIGATION.  We hardly need


[PAGE 473]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

warn our readers of the danger of attempting to awaken the passive phase  of
this faculty.

                          RESULTS OF BURNING SPICES

                              QUESTION NO. 148.


   WILL  IT RAISE THE VIBRATIONS OF A ROOM TO BURN SPICES,  AND IF  SO  WHAT
KIND OF SPICES SHOULD BE USED?

   ANSWER:   When disembodied Spirits wish to influence those who are  still
enmeshed in the mortal coil,  it is necessary for them to have a vehicle  of
sufficient  density  to  impinge upon the brain centers,  or  under  certain
circumstances upon the coordinating mechanism of the cerebellum.  Given such
a  vehicle these Spirits can and do impress their victims  physically,  mor-
ally, or mentally, according to their disposition.

   It is a self-evident truth that one does not gather grapes of thorns, and
because  a Spirit has no dense body is not a sign that it is  a  philanthro-
pist.   There are more weeds in the physical world than flowers,  and  there
are  more  evil (because undeveloped) Spirits in the  invisible  world  than
there are good and noble ones.

   When one burns incense in a room, the smoke and the odor which we see and


[PAGE 474]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

sense  is  material of such density that it may be made use  of  by  certain
classes  of Spirits which are attuned to the vibratory rate of that  incense
which  is  being  burned.   When a  reputable  occultist,  who  has  evolved
spiritual  sight  and is able to see the various entities in  the  invisible
world,  has compounded an incense which he finds offers a vehicle  only  for
Spirits of a helpful nature who incline to raise the vibrations of those who
breathe  the incense and the Spirits with it,  then it may be an aid  during
periods of prayer to raise the consciousness of the devotees to a union with
the Divine.

   On the other hand,  if the incense has been compounded by some one  igno-
rant of occultism, perhaps by one who has a selfish motive in view,  then it
is  a vehicle for Spirits of a similar nature who clothe themselves  in  the
smoke and odor,  enter the bodies of those who are present where the incense
is  being burned and incite them to acts of debauchery and sensualism.   The
Chinese punk sticks are a good example of this variety.  It is also possible
that  when  this practice has been indulged in for some time  the  obsessing
Spirits may obtain such control over their victims that they incite them  to
frenzy,  causing them to exhibit the symptoms of epilepsy,  frothing at  the
mouth,  etc.,  or they may interfere with the bodily movements in  a  manner
similar to that exhibited in the so-called St. Vitus dance.  Therefore,  the
practice of burning incense is very dangerous,  and ought to be  strenuously
discouraged.


[PAGE 475]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                          RESPONSIBILITY OF RULERS

                              QUESTION NO. 149.

   IN A RECENT LESSON WE WERE TOLD THAT THE RACE SPIRIT INFLUENCED DIFFERENT
PERSONS TO TAKE A PART IN GREAT WORLD MOVEMENTS.  IF THE PART WAS UNJUST, IS
THE PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR IT?  WOULD HE SUFFER FOR IT?

   ANSWER:   The statement was made in the Students'  Lesson for  September,
"Our  Invisible Government,"  that the divine hierarchs who guide  evolution
from the invisible worlds always find an Ego who is strong,  either for good
or evil, and use that one when progress demands the fall of an old nation or
the raising of a new.  However, it would be impossible to induce a Spirit of
a  brutal and tyrannical nature to play a self-sacrificing and  noble  part.
He  cannot  change  his character overnight any more than  the  leopard  can
change his spots,  and vice versa,  a Spirit of a noble nature will not con-
sent to play the part of a tyrant or autocrat.

   Each one will act in harmony with his basic nature, and therefore the di-
vine  hierarchs always choose some one who is of a character fitted  to  the
part they want him to play in the coming crises, and place him in such a po-
sition that he has the power to carry out his designs,  whether for good  or
ill.  On that account he  becomes  at  least partly responsible for his acts


[PAGE 476]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

and the consequences thereof.  If he does well, and by his acts of nobility,
justice, and altruism aid a nation to rise, guiding it through the rocks and
shoals of its infancy,  as did George Washington,  for instance,  then great
honor  and glory will naturally be his in some future life where he will  be
given dominion over others whom he may help.  On the other hand, if he plays
the part of a Nero in breaking up a great empire, doing as it is said of one
of the kings of israel,  "evil with both hands greedily,"  naturally  sorrow
and suffering will result.   He probably cannot be made to feel all the pain
which he inflicted any more than a George Washington can receive all the joy
which has come to the millions who have benefited through his wisdom and al-
truism,  but each will certainly receive as much as it is possible  to  give
him,  or at any rate as much as is required to make one a good man  and  the
other a better.


                      THE PURPOSE OF PHYSICAL EXISTENCE

                              QUESTION NO. 150.

   I  SEE  QUITE  CLEARLY HOW WE CAN LEARN  GREAT  LESSONS  CONCERNING  THIS
PHYSICAL EXPRESSION OF LIFE, BUT DO NOT SEE WHY THE PHYSICAL WORLD IS NECES-
SARY TO TEACH US ETHICS OR MORALS.   IF IT WERE POSSIBLE TO LEARN ETHICS AND
MORALS IN THE HIGHER WORLDS,  JUST WHY IS A PHYSICAL WORLD,  OR WHAT WE CALL


[PAGE 477]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

THE PHYSICAL EXPRESSION, NECESSARY?

   ANSWER:   Yes,  and no.   All other worlds are not by any means physical,
even  to those who inhabit them.   It is perfectly true that one  feels  the
handclasp of a friend in the invisible worlds just as we do here,  but  that
is because we think resistance into the hand of the other party and our own.
We do this quite unconsciously,  of course, but the effect is the same.   It
lends  a  resistance to our hands,  and our hand stops where  it  meets  the
other's,  just  as it would be stopped by the solid flesh and bone  here  in
this world.  However, did we not, when we clap our friend on the back in the
first  joy of greeting,  think this resistance,  our hand would go  straight
through  his body,  and we can at any time we wish interpolate our own  body
into  his or any one else's without inconvenience to ourselves or  to  them.
Here in the physical world such a thing is of course impossible.   Here  ev-
erything  is rigid and solid,  comparatively speaking,  but it is this  very
quality  that imparts value to the physical world as a school in  right  and
accurate  thinking,  for that is what it is,  as has been explained  in  THE
ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION.

   The  illustration  was there given of how an inventor may  mould  in  his
mind,  from mind stuff, an engine or a machine which he has designed to do a
certain work.   The machine which he thus visualized has wheels that revolve
perfectly and the whole thing works smoothly, but when he  comes  to put his


[PAGE 478]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

ideas down on paper so that workmen may execute his design,  it is  probable
he  will find alternations are necessary in this plan,  and later  when  the
wheels have physical form in iron and steel, it is quite likely that some of
them will rub against each other and cannot be put into the places where  he
has  designed  in his mind stuff because those places are  already  occupied
with other wheels.  Then it is necessary for him to remodel his idea in such
a manner as his physical machine shows him to be necessary,  until he has it
running perfectly.   Thus his thought and idea is corrected by the  mistakes
as shown in the physical world.

   Had there been no physical world he would have had no means of correcting
his inaccurate conception of what that machine should be, and it is very im-
portant that he should learn to think accurately and correctly.   By and  by
when we are sufficiently evolved we shall not stand laboriously and  fashion
things  with our hands,  but we shall conceive the idea of what we  want  to
create in our minds and then we shall speak the word that will bring it into
being.   Nor  will these creations be mere machines.   They will  be  living
things.   Therefore,  if we do not learn to think correctly, we shall create
monstrosities that will have to be destroyed because of the evil nature they
would develop in whatever Spirit inhabits them.

   That brings us to your question about ethics and morals.  it is said that
"handsome is that handsome does,"  and also that "beauty is only skin deep."
At  the  same  time  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the face is an expression


[PAGE 479]                                             QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

of the soul.   We all speak about someone as having a good face,  and others
as having an evil expression, showing the power of thought to mold the flesh
in accordance with the morals and ethics of the person.   Therefore,  we are
learning morals and ethics here,  and must learn them in order to understand
how  to use them to mold the form and features of the things that  we  shall
create.   In order to become thoroughly efficient tools, however, our morals
and ethics must be intensified a thousand fold, just as we have already seen
is the case with thought.  Thought is all-powerful in its own subtle realms,
but  is  hampered  when working in the resistant material  of  the  physical
world.   Similarly morals and ethics are also handicapped.   They are,  how-
ever, being developed by exercise as the muscle grows, and there could be no
exercise  if they were not used in a world where there is resistance.   That
is a slow process but it makes for efficiency.

   If you remember the law of infant mortality, you will also recollect that
the little children,  who die because an accident or other unfortunate  cir-
cumstance  prevented them from living their purgatory,  are  taken  straight
into the First Heaven and there taught by compassionate ones the moral  les-
sons that they should have learned in their previous purgatory.  Let us sup-
pose  that one of the lessons an Ego had to learn was sympathy,  because  it
had  been  cruel  and  hard  in  its previous life.  Perhaps it had tortured


[PAGE 480]                                            ROSICRUCIAN PHILOSOPHY

animals  physically or human beings mentally and found great pleasure in  so
doing.   Such a little child would then be taken to purgatory at a time when
an  Ego of similar propensities was living its purgatory and expiating  acts
of cruelty.   The child's body would then probably be interpolated into  the
desire  body  of  the  other one and it would feel  what  he  or  she  would
feel--the  suffering  of the tortured animals on account of  their  physical
pain  and the sufferings of his human victims in mental anguish.   Thus  the
child would pick up very quickly the lessons that had to be learned,  and be
made  ready for rebirth in a short time.   Thus both the invisible  and  the
visible worlds play their part in teaching us ethics and morals,  and  there
is no doubt that both are indispensable,  or the wise beings who guide us on
the path of evolution would find other means of more efficiency to teach  us
the needed lessons.


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