PART IX

Armageddon, the Great War, and the Coming Age
THE chart printed in Part V shows that there was an Age when humanity lived in peace and hap- piness under the guardianship of a ruler who held the double office of King and Priest, being both tem- poral and spiritual head of the double sexed human race. He is called Melchisedec in the Bible terminol- ogy, and it is said that he was King of Salem, Salem meaning Peace. Since then humanity has been divided into tu>o sexes, male and female, and placed under the dual rulership of a King having dominion over their temporal affairs and aiming to advance them by industry and statecraft, and a Priest, head of the priestcraft, exercising a spiritual authority, in such a manner as they considered for the eternal good of their charges.
The statecraft employed by the sons of Cain holds up the male ideal, Hiram Abiff, the Master crafts- man, the Son of Fire, while the sons of Seth as priest- craft uphold the female ideal in the Virgin Mary, the lady of the sea.
Thu^ fire and water, male and female, Church and State, are opposed to each other, with the inevitable
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result that a great war has been waged ever since the separation, that sin, sorrow and death are ram- pant, and that humanity is praying for the day of redemption, when the two streams shall be united in the Kingdom of Heaven where there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, and where reigns Christ, the King of Peace, exercising the dtial office of King and Priest after the order of Melchisedec, for the good of all.
But this new order can not come into existence in a day. It requires ages of preparation, not only of the land itself, but of the people who are to inhabit it. And in order to gain an idea of what that land is like, and how the people are constituted, it will be helpful to consider the evolutionary career of hu- manity which has brought us and the land where we live to our present status; that will then give us the perspective to see what is in store for us in the future.
The Biblical and occult traditions agree with /science that there was a time when darkness brooded over the deep of space, where the material for the com- ing earth planet was being gathered together and set in motion by the Divine Hierarchs ; that this stage was followed by a period of luminosity, when the dark cloud of matter had become a fire mist; that this was followed by a period when the cold of space and the hea^t of the planet-in-the-making generated an atmosphere of steam close to the fiery core and mist further from the fiery center. When the mist
Armageddon and the Coming Age 91
had cooled suflSciently, it fell again as rain upon the fiery core, to be re-evaporated, and this continued in endless cycles, until by repeated boiling of the waters, an incrustation began to form around the fiery core. Upon the islands of crust in the ocean of fire we first learn of humanity dwelling in solid physical bodies, which were of course very dissimilar to those we have today. During the next stage the crust of the earth became suflSciently strong to cover the whole inner core, and humanity lived then in the basins of the earth, in the land of mist, which was so dense that breathing was accomplished by means of gill clefts similar to those of the fishes and still seen in the human embryo.
When the mists of Atlantis commenced to settle, jsome of our forbears had grown embryonic lungs and were forced to the highlands years before their com- peers. Therefore they wandered in the wilderness while the promised land as we know it today was emerging from the lighter fogs, and at the same time their growing lungs were fitting them to live under the present atmospheric conditions. Two more races were bom in the basins of the earth after the pioneers had left it. Then a succession of floods drove them all to the highlands. The last flood took place when the Sun by precession entered the watery sign Can- cer about ten thousand years ago, as told Plato by the Egyptian Priests. Thus we see that there is no sud- den change of constitution or environment for the whole human race when a new epoch is ushered in,
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but an overlaping of conditions which makes it pos- sible for the majority by gradual adjustment to enter the new conditions, though the change may seem sud- den to the individual when the preparatory work has been accomplished unconsciously. The metamorpho- sis of a frog from a denizen of the water to the airy element gives an analogy of the past emergence of humanity from the continent of Atlantis to the Rain- bow Age of Aryana. And the transformation of an earth worm to a butterfly soaring the skiep is an apt illustration of the coming change from our present state and condition to those of the New Galilee where the Kingdom of Christ will be established ; and what the change in the human constitution and environ- ment is to be, may be'seen by examining the past con- ditions as outlined in the Bible, which agrees with the occult traditions in the main points. Thip New Heaven and New Earth is now in the making. When the heavenly time marker, the Sun, came into Aries by precession, a new cycle commenced and the glad tidings were preached by Christ. He said by im- plication that the New Heaven and Earth were not ready then, when He told his disciples ** whither I go, you cannot now follow, but you shall follow after- wards; I go to prepare a place for you and will come again and receive you.*' Later, John saw in a vision the New Jerusalem descending from Heaven, and Paul ta«ght the Thessalonians hy the word of the Lord that those who are Christ's at His coming shall be caught up in the air to meet Him and be with Him
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for the Age. This is in line with the tendencies shown by past developments. The Lemurian lived very close to the fiery core of the earth. The Atlan- teans inhabited the basins somewhat further away from the center. The Aryans were driven by the flood to the hilltops where they are now living. And analogon/sly, the citizens of the coming Age will in- habit the air.
But we know that our dense body gravitates to- wards the center of the earth, therefore, a change must take place; also Paul tells u^ that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. But he also points out that we have a soma psuchicon (mistranslated natural body,) a soul body, and this is made of ether, which is lighter than air and there- fore capable of levitation. This is the Golden Wed- ding Garment, the Philosopher's Stone, or the Liv- ing Stone, spoken of in some of the ancient philoso- phies as the Diamond Soul, for it is luminous, lus- trous, and sparkling — a priceless gem. It was also called the Astral Body by the Mediaeval Alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to transverse the starry regions. But it is not to be confounded with the Desire Body which some of the modern pseudo-occultists mi^kenly call the Astral Body. This vehicle, the Soul Body, will eventually be evolved by humanity as a whole, but during the change from the Aryan epoch to the ethereal conditionp of the New Galilee, there will be pioneers who precede their brethren as the original
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Semites did in the change from Atlantis to Aryana. Christ mentioned this class in Matthew, 11th chap- ter, 12th verse, when He said: '*The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.'' That is not a correct translation. It ought to be, ' * The Kingdom of the Heavens has been invad- ed*' (the Greek is biaxetai,) **and invaders seize on her." Men and women already have learned through a holy, helpful life to lay aside the body of flesh and blood, either intermittently or permanently, and to walk the skies with winged feet, intent upon the busi- . ness of their Lord, clad in th-e ethereal wedding gar- ment of the new dispensation.
This change may have been accomplished through a life of simple helpfulness and prayer as practiced by devoted Christians, no matter with what church they are affiliated if they follow the path of the Sons of Seth. Others have attained by following the specific exercises given by the Rosicrucians. And thus the process of the unification of the two streams is already under way. But the war between the flesh and the spirit is still raging in the breast of most peo- ple as fiercely as it was in the days when Paul gave vent to hi^ pent up feelings, and told us how the flesh was warring against the spirit within himself, and how he did the wrong things which he would not do, and omitted the good deeds which he aspired so ar- dently to perform. Nor will the struggle ever cease for the Mystic Mason until he has learned to build the Temple made without hands, which is not com-
Armageddon and the Coming Age 95
pleted until he has come to the Eighteenth (1 plus 8) Degree, which is the Degree of the Ro^e Croix. This is the ultimate of the Thirty-third Degree, for three times three are nine, and one plus eight are nine. Nine being the highest degree in the Lesser Myster- ies, he who has passed this degree of the genuine Mys- tic Order is then, and then only, the widow's son of nine, or Nain, ready to be raised by the ptrong grip of the paw of the Lion of Judah, to the Kingdom of the Heavens, there to receive the *'well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter into the Joy of your Lord ' ' f or ' ' Him that overcometh will • I make a Pillar in the House of God, thence he shall no more go out.'' He is then immortal, loosed from the wheel of Birth and Death.
Summary
In conclusion,- it may be well to sum up the points which have been made in these articles on Freemas- onry and Catholicism, it being understood that the term ''Catholicism'* as here used does not refer to the Roman Catholic Church alone, ''Catholic" being taken in the sense of Universal, so that the term in- cludes all movements inaugurated by the Sons of Seth, the Priestcraft.
The origin of the temporal and spiritual streams of evolution are as follows:
Jehovah created Eve, a human being.
The Lucifer Spirit Samsel united with Eve and be- gat a semi-divine son, Cain. As he left Eve before
96 Freemasonry and Catholicism
the birth of the child, Cain was the son of a widow, and a Serpent of Wisdom.
Then Jehovah created Adam, a human being like Eve.
Adam and Eve united and begat a child, human like themselves, whose name was Abel. Jehovah, be- ing the Lunar God, is associated with water, hence there was enmity between Cain, the Son of Fire, and Abel, the Son of Water. So Cain slew Abel and Abel was replaced by Seth.
In time and through generations, the Sons of Cain became the craftsmen of the world, skilled in the use of fire and metal. Their ideal was male, Hiram AbifiP, the Master workman.
The Sons of Seth, on the other hand, became the churchmen, upholding the feminine ideal, the Virgin Mary, and ruling their people by the magic water placed at their temple doors.
Various attempts have been made to unite the two streams of humanity and emancipate them from their progenitors, Jehovah and the Lucifer Spirits.
With this end in view the symbolical Temple was built according to the instruction of Solomon, the Son of Seth and the Molten Sea was cast by Hiram Ahiff, the Son of Cain; but the main object was frustrated as we have seen, and the attempt at uni- fication proved abortive.
Moses, the divinely appointed leader of the old dispensation, afterward reborn as Elijah, guided humanity through its ages of infancy, and was finally
Armageddon and the Coming Age 97
embodied as John the Baptist, the herald of the new dispensation, the Christian Era. At the same point in time the other actors in the World Drama were also brought to birth that they might serve their brothers.
At the casting of the Molten Sea Hiram Abiff had been given the baptism of fire by Cain, which freed him from the Lucifer Spirits; he was also given a new Hammer and a new Word. When the new Era dawned* he was born as Lazarus, the widow's son of Nain, and raised by the ptrong grip of the lion's paw to the rank of Immortals as Christian Rosen- kreuz.
Solomon, the Son of Seth, was reborn as JesMS. The baptism of water administered by John as repre- sentative of Jehovah freed him also. He yielded his body at that moment to the descending Christ Spirit and ranged himself with the new leader.
Religion has been terribly tarnished in the course of time, its pristine purity has long since vanished under the regime of creed, and it is no longer Catholic, that is to say. Universal. Sects and ''isms" have branched out in one direction and another, but still Jesus from the invisible worlds enfolds in his love all the Sons of Seth who will call upon his name by faith, and he will 'eventually unite the scattered churches in the Kingdom of Christ.
Christian Rosenkreuz was given charge of the Sons of Cain who seek the light of knowledge at the sacred fires of the Mystic Shrine. As the creative
7
98 Frebmasonry and Catholicism
energy implanted by their divine ancestor Samsel cau/sed Cain to work and originate, so this same spiritual urge prompts his descendants to work out their own salvation through the fire of tribulation, and fashion for themselves the Golden Auric Wed- ding Garment, which is the "Open Sesame" to the Invisible World. And though the cleansing blood of Jesus is an absolute necesidty to millions of weaker brothers, there can scarcely be any question when we assert that the more men and women who engage in Mystic Masonry to consciously buUd this Temple of the Soul, the sooner we shall see the second advent of Christy and the stronger wUl be the race which He shall rule by the law of love.
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