Chapter III

THE SORROW OF THE SEEKING SOUL (Cont.)

IN The Star of Bethlehem, a Mystic Fact, we en-
deavored to give students a glimpse of a certain
phase of Initiation. Most of us walk about upon
earth and see only a seemingly dead mass, but one of
the first facts revealed in our consciousness by Initia-
tion is the living reality of the Earth Spirit. As the
surface of our body is dead compared to the organs
within, so the outer envelope of the earth, being en
crusted, gives no idea of the wonderful activity with
in. Upon the path of Initiation nine different layers
are revealed, and in the center of this rolling sphere
we meet the Spirit of the earth face to face. It is
actually true that it is " groaning and travailing" in
the earth for the sake of all, working and anxiously
waiting for our manifestation as Sons of God so that,
as the seeking soul which aspires to liberation is re-
leased from its dense body, the Earth Spirit also may
be liberated from its body of death in which it is now
confined for us.

20 MYSTERIES OF THE GREAT OPERAS

The words of the Earth Spirit to Faust, as given
by Goethe, offer splendid material for meditation,
for they represent mystically what the candidate feels
when he first realizes the actual reality of the Earth
Spirit as a living presence, ever actively laboring for
our uplift.

1 'In the currents of life, in the action of storm

I float and wave with billowy motion ;

Birth and the grave, a limitless ocean ;

A constant weaving, with change still rife,

A restless heaving, a glowing life,

Time's whizzing loom I've unceasingly trod;

Thus weave I the living garment of God."

Of course, the Earth Spirit is not to be thought of
as a larger man, or as having physical form other than
the earth itself. The vital body of Jesus, in which the
Christ Spirit was focused prior to its actual ingress
into the earth, has the ordinary human form; it is
preserved and is shown to the candidate at a certain
point in his progression. Some day in the far future
it will again house the benevolent Christ Spirit upon
His return from the center of the earth, when we shall
have become etheric, and when He is ready to ascend
to higher spheres, leaving us to be taught of the
Father, whose religion will be higher than the Chris-
tian religion.

THE SORROWS OF THE SEEKING SOUL 21

The esoteric truth that when a spirit enters by a
certain door, it must also return the same way, is
taught by Goethe in connection with the initial ap-
pearance of Mephistopheles to Faust. Faust is not
upon the regular path of Initiation. He has not earned
admission nor the help of the Elder Brothers; he is
seeking at the wrong door because of his impatience.
Therefore he is spurned by the Earth Spirit and when
having seemingly attained, is plunged from the pin-
nacle of joy to the pit of despair where he realizes
that he has in reality failed.

"I, God's own image, from this toil of clay

Already free, who hailed

The mirror of eternal truth unveiled,

'Mid light effulgent and celestial day,

I, whose unfettered soul

With penetrative glance aspired to flow

Through nature 's veins, and still creating know

The life of gods . . . how am I punished now,

One thunder word has hurled me from the goal !

Spirit, I dare not lift me to thy sphere ;

What though my power compelled thee to Appear,

My art was futile to detain thee here.

Fiercely didst thrust me from the realm of

thought,

Back on humanity 's uncertain fate !
Who 11 teach me now 1 What ought I to forego ?

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He thinks the sources of information are exhausted
and that he may never attain to the real knowledge.
And fearing the dull monotony of a plodding, ordi-
nary existence, he grasps a phial of poison and is
about to drink, when songs without, proclaim the
risen Christ for it is Easter morning. At the thought,
new hope stirs his soul. He is also further disturbed
in his purpose by the knocking of Wagner, his friend.

Walking with the latter, Faust voices the cry of
agony wrung from every aspiring soul in the awful
struggle between the higher and lower natures. So
long as we live worldly lives without higher aspira-
tions, there is peace in our breasts. But once we have
sensed the call of the Spirit, our equipoise is gone, and
the more ardently we pursue the quest of the Grail,
the fiercer is this inner struggle. Paul thought of
himself as a wretched man because lower desires in
the flesh combated the higher spiritual aspirations.
Faust's words are of similar import:

1 * Two souls, alaa, are housed within my breast,
And struggle there for undivided reign;
One to the earth with passionate desire
And closely clinging organs still adheres,
Above the mists the other does aspire
With sacred ardor unto purer spheres. "

But he does not realize that there is no royal road
to attainment, that each one must walk the path to

SORROWS OF THE SEEEKING SOUL 23

peace alone. He thinks that spirits can give him
soul power ready for use :

' ' Oh, are there spirits in the air,

Who float 'twixt heaven and earth dominion wield-
ing?

Stoop hither from your golden atmosphere ;

Lead me to scenes, new life and fuller yielding.

A magic mantle did I but possess,

Abroad to waft me as on viewless wings,

I'd prize it far beyond most costly dress,

Nor change it for the robe of kings. ' '

Because of this looking to others he is doomed to
disappointment. ' ' If thou art Christ help thyself, ' ' is
the universal rule, and self-reliance is the cardinal
virtue which aspirants are required to cultivate in the
Western Mystery School. No one is allowed to lean
on Masters, nor to blindly follow Leaders. The Broth-
ers of the Rose Cross aim to emancipate the souls that
come to them ; to educate, to strengthen, and to make
them coworkers. Philanthropists do not grow on every
bush, and whoever looks to a teacher to do more than
point the way, will meet disappointment. No matter
what their claims, no matter whether they come in
the flesh, or as spirits, no matter how spiritual they
seem, teachers positively cannot do for us the good
deeds requisite to soul growth, assimilate them, nor
give us the resulting soul power ready to use, any
more than they can impart to us physical strength by

24 MYSTERIES OF THE GREAT OPERAS

eating our food. True, Faust the seeking soul, at-
tracts a spirit ready to serve him, but it is a spirit of
an undesirable nature, Lucifer. When Faust asks
his name, he replies :

1 l The Spirit of Negation ; the power that still
Works for good though scheming ill."

People or spirits who offer to gratify our desires
usually have an end in view.

Now we come to a point involving an important
cosmic law which underlies various spiritualistic phen-
omena and also supports the unique teaching of the
Kosicrucian Fellowship (and the Bible), that Christ
will not return in a dense body but in a vital body. It
also shows why He must return. Students will there-
fore do well to read very carefully :

Attracted by the mental attitude of Faust, Lucifer
follows him into his study. On the floor just inside
the door is a five pointed star with the two horns
nearest the door/ In the ordinary process of nature
the human spirit enters its dense body during ante-
natal life and withdraws at death by way of the head.
Invisible Helpers who have learned to transmute their
sex force to soul power in the pituitary body, also
leave and enter the dense body by way of the head ;
therefore, the pentagram with one point upward, sym-
bolizes the aspiring soul who works in harmony with
nature.

The black magician, who has neither soul nor soul

SORROWS OF THE SEEEKING SOUL 25

power, also uses the sex force. He leaves and enters
his body by way of the feet, the silver cord protrud-
ing from the sex organ. Therefore, the pentagram
with two points upward is the symbol of black magic.
Lucifer had no trouble in entering Faust's study, but
when he wishes to leave after speaking with Faust, the
single point bars his way. He requests Faust to re-
move the sign and the latter queries :

Faust : The pentagram your peace does mar,
To me you, son of hell, make clear,
How entered you, if this your exit bar?
Where is the snare,
Why through the window not withdraw?

Lucifer : For ghosts, devils, 'tis a law,

Where we stole in, there we must forth ;

we're free
The first to choose, but to the second, slaves

are we.

Before A. D. 33 Jehovah guided our planet in its
orbit and mankind on the path of evolution from
without. On Golgotha, Christ entered the earth which
He now guides from within , and will until a suffi-
cient number of our humanity have evolved the soul
power necessary to float the earth and guide our
younger brothers. This requires ability to live in vital
bodies, capable of levitation. The vital body of Jesus
through which Christ entered the earth is His only
avenue of return to the sun. Hence the Second Ad-
vent will be in Jesus' vital body.

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