Chapter X

THE COMING AGE
WHEN WE speak of the "Coming Age/' of the "New Heaven and the New Earth" mentioned in the Bible, and also of the "Aquarian Age," the differences may not be quite clear in the minds of our students. Confusion of terms is one of the most fertile seed grounds of fallacy, and the Rosicrucian teachings aim to avoid it by a particularly definite nomenclature. Sometimes an extra effort seems neces- sary to disperse the haze engendered by current cloudy conceptions of others as sincere as the present writer, but not so fortunate in having access to the incomparable Western Wisdom Teachings.
It has been taught in our literature that four great epochs of unfoldment preceded the present order of things; that the density of the earth, its atmospheric conditions, and the laws of nature prevailing in one epoch were as different from those of the other epochs as was the corresponding physiological constitution of mankind in one epoch different from those in Hie others.
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The bodies of ADM (the name means red earth), the humanity of fiery Lemuria, were formed of the "dust of the ground," the red, hot, volcanic mud, and were just suited to their environment. Flesh and blood would have shriveled up in the terrible heat of that day, and though suited to present conditions, Paul tells us that they cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. It is therefore manifest that before a new order of things can be inaugurated, the physiological constitution of mankind must be radically changed, to say nothing of the spiritual attitude. Aeons will be required to regenerate the whole human race and fit them to live in ethereal bodies.
On the other hand, neither does a new environment come into existence in a moment, but land and people are evolved together from the smallest and most primi- tive beginnings. "When the mists of Atlantis com- menced to settle, some of our forbears had grown embryonic lungs and were forced to the highlands ages before their compeers. They wandered in "the wilderness" while "the promised land" was emerg- ing from the lighter fogs, and at the same time their growing lungs were fitting them to live under present atmospheric conditions.
Two more races were born in the basins of the earth before a succession of floods drove them to the high- lands ; the last flood took place at the time when the sun entered the watery sign Cancer, about ten thou- sand years ago as told Plato by the Egyptian priests.
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Thus we see there is no sudden change of constitution or environment for the whole human race when a new epoch is ushered in, but an overlapping of conditions which makes it possible for most of the race by- gradual adjustment to enter the new condition, though the change may seem sudden to the individual when the preparatory change has been accomplished uncon- sciously. The metamorphosis of a tadpole from a denizen of the watery element to one of the airy gives an analogy of the past, and the transformation of the earthworm to a butterfly soaring in the air is an apt simile of the coming age. When the heavenly time marker came into Aries by precession, a new cycle commenced, and the "glad tidings" were preached by Christ. He said by implication that the new heaven and earth were not ready then when He told His disciples : Whither I go you cannot now fol- low, but you shall follow afterwards. 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 taught the Thes- salonians "by the word of the Lord" that those who are Christs at His coming shall be caught up in the air to meet Him and be with Him for the age.
But during this change there are pioneers who enter the kingdom of God before their brethren. Christ, in Matt. 11:12, said that "the kingdom of heaven suf- fereth violence, and the violent take it by force." This is not a correct translation. It ought to be : Tho
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kingdom of the heavens has been invaded (biaxetai}, and invaders seize on her. Men and women have al- ready learned through holy, helpful lives to lay aside the body of flesh and blood, either intermittently or permanently, and to walk the skies with winged feet, intent upon the business of their Lord, clad in the ethereal "wedding garment" of the new dispensation. This change may be accomplished through a life of simple helpfulness and prayer as practiced by devoted Christians, no matter with what church they affiliate, as well as by the specific exercises given in the Rosi- crucian Fellowship. The latter will prove barren of results, unless accompanied by constant acts of love for love will be the keynote of the coming age as Law is of the present order. The intense expression of the former quality increases the phosphorescent luminos- ity and density of the ethers in our vital bodies, the fiery streams sever the tie to the mortal coil, and the man, once born of water upon his emergence from Atlantis, is now born of the spirit into the kingdom of God. The dynamic force of his love has opened a way to the land of love, and indescribable is the re- joicing among those already there when new invaders arrive, for each new arrival hastens the coming of the Lord and the definite establishment of the Kingdom. Among the religiously inclined there is a definite unceasing cry: How long, 0 Lord; how long? And despite the emphatic statement of Christ that the day and hour are unknown, even to Himself, prophets con-
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tinue to gain credence when they predict His coming on a certain day, though each is discomfited when the day passes without development. The question has also been mooted among our students, and the present