Chapter 23

CHAPTER I.

✦

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS.

THE first step in Occultism is the study of the invisi-
ble Worlds. These Worlds are invisible to the
majority of people because of the dormancy of the
finer and higher senses whereby they may be perceived, in
the same way that the Physical World about us is per-
ceived through the physical senses. The majority of peo-
ple are on a similar footing in regard to the super-physical
Worlds as the man who is born blind is to our world of
sense; although light and color are all about him, he is
unable to see them. To him they are non-existent and
incomprehensible, simply because he lacks the sense of sight
wherewith to perceive them. Objects he can feel; they
seem real ; but light and color ' are beyond his ken.

So with the greater part of humanity. They feel, and
see objects and hear sounds in the Physical World, but the
other realms, which the clairvoyant calls the higher Worlds,
are as incomprehensible to them as light and color are to
the blind man. Because the blind man cannot see color
and light, however, is no argument against their existence
and reality. Neither is it an argument, that because most
people cannot see the super-physical Worlds no one can do
so. If the blind man obtains his sight, he will see light
and color. If the higher senses of those blind to the super-
physical Worlds are awakened by proper methods, they

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 25

also will be able to behold the Worlds which are now hidden
from them.

While many people make the mistake of being incredu-
lous concerning the existence or reality of the super-sensu-
ous Worlds, there are also many who go to the other ex-
treme, and, having become convinced of the verity of invisi-
ble Worlds, think that when a person is clairvoyant all
truth is at once open to him ; that when one can "see," he
at once "knows all about" these higher Worlds.

This is a great mistake. We readily recognize the fal-
lacy of such a contention in matters of everyday life. We
do not think that a man who was born blind, but has ob-
tained his sight, at once "knows all about" the Physical
World. Nay, more; we know that even those of us who
have been able to see the things about us all our lives are
far from having a universal knowledge of them. We know
that it requires arduous study and years of application to
know about even that infinitesimal part of things that we
handle in our daily lives, and reversing the Hermetic
aphorism, "as above, so below," we gather at once that it
must be the same in the other Worlds. At the same time
it is -also true that there are much greater facilities for
acquiring knowledge in the super-physical Worlds than in
our present dense physical condition, but not so great as
to eliminate the necessity for close study and the possi-
bility of making a mistake in observation. In fact, all the
testimony of reliable and qualified observers prove that
much more care in observation is needed there than here.

Clairvoyants must first be trained before their observa-
tions are of any real value, and the more proficient they be-
come the more modest are they about telling of what they
pee; the more do they defer to the versions of others, know-
ing how much there is to learn and realizing how little the

26 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

single investigator can grasp of all the detail incident to
his investigations.

This also accounts for the varied versions, which super-
ficial people think is an argument against the existence of
the higher Worlds. They contend that if these Worlds
exist, investigators must necessarily bring back identical
descriptions. If we take an illustration from everyday
life, the fallacy of this becomes apparent.

Suppose a newspaper sends twenty reporters to a city
with orders to "write it up." Reporters are, or ought to
be, trained observers. It is their business to see every-
thing and they should be able to give as good descriptions
as can be expected from any source. Yet it is certain that
of the twenty reports, no two would be exactly alike. It is
much more likely that they would be totally different.
Although some of them might contain leading features in
common, others might be unique in quality and quantity of
description.

Is it an argument against the existence of the city that
these reports differ ? Certainly not ! It is easily accounted
for by the fact that each saw the city from his own par-
ticular point of view and instead of these varying reports
being confusing and detrimental, it is safe to say that a
perusal of them all would give a fuller, better understand-
ing and description of the city than if only one were read
and the others thrown in the waste-basket. Each report
would round out and complement the others.

The same is true regarding accounts made by investi-
gators of the higher Worlds. Each has his own peculiar
way of looking at things and can describe only what he
sees from his particular point of view. The account he
gives may differ from those of others, yet all be equally
truthful from each individual observer's viewpoint.

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 27

It is sometimes asked, Why investigate these Worlds?
Why is it not best to take one World at a time ; to be con-
tent for the present with the lessons to be learned in the
Physical World, and, if there are invisible Worlds why not
wait until we reach them before investigating ? "Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof !" Why borrow more ?

If we knew without doubt that at some time, sooner or
later, each one of us must be transported to a far country
where, under new and strange conditions, we must live for
many years, is it not reasonable to believe that if we had
an opportunity to learn of that country in advance of our
removal to it we would gladly do so? Knowledge would
render it much easier for us to accommodate ourselves to
new conditions.

There is only one certainty in life and that is — Death !
As we pass into the beyond and are confronted by new
conditions, knowledge of them is sure to be of the greatest
help.

But that is not all. To understand the Physical World,
which is the world of effects, it is necessary to understand
the super-physical World, which is the world of causes.
We see street cars in motion and we hear the clicking of
telegraph instruments, but the mysterious force which
causes the phenomena remains invisible to us. We say it
is electricity, but the name gives us no explanation. We
learn nothing of the force itself; we see and hear only its
effects.

If a dish of cold water be placed in an atmosphere of a
sufficiently low temperature ice crystals immediately begin
to form and we can see the process of their formation.
The lines along which the water crystallizes were in it all
the time as lines of force but they were invisible until the
water congealed. The beautiful "frost flowers'' on a win-

gg EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

dowpane are visible manifestations of currents of the higher
Worlds which operate upon us all the time, unrecognized by
most of us, but none the less potent.

The higher Worlds are thus the worlds of causes, of
forces; and we cannot really understand this lower World
unless we know the others and realize the forces and causes
of which all material things are but the effects.

As to the reality of these higher Worlds compared with
that of the Physical World, strange as it may seem, these
higher Worlds, which to the majority appear as mirages, or
even less substantial, are, in truth, much more real and
the objects in them more lasting and indestructible than
the objects in the Physical World. If we take an example
we shall readily see this. An architect does not start to
build a house by procuring the material and setting the
workmen to laying stone upon stone in a haphazard way,
without thought or plan. He "thinks the house out."
Gradually it takes form in his mind and finally there
stands a clear idea of the house that is to be — a thought-
form of a house.

This house is yet invisible to all but the architect. He
makes it objective on paper. He draws the plans and
from this objective image of the thought-form the work-
men construct the house of wood, iron, or stone, accurately
corresponding to the thought-form originated by the
architect.

Thus the thought-form becomes a material reality. The
materialist would assert that it is much more real, lasting
and substantial than the image in the architect's mind.
But let us see. The house could not have been constructed
without the thought-form. The material object can be de-
stroyed by dynamite, earthquake, fire, or decay, but the
thought-form will remain. It will exist as long as the

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 29

architect lives and from it any number of houses similar to
the one destroyed may be constructed. Not even the archi-
tect himself can destroy it. Even after his death this
thought-form can be recovered by those who are qualified to
read the memory of nature, which will be dealt with later.
Having thus seen the reasonableness of such Worlds
existing around and about us, and having satisfied ourselves
of their reality, their permanency, and of the utility of a
knowledge concerning them, we shall now examine them
severally and singly, commencing with the Physical World.

CHEMICAL REGION OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD.

In the Rosicrucian teaching the universe is divided into
seven different Worlds, or states of matter, as follows:

I—World of God.

2 — World of Virgin Spirits.

3— World of Divine Spirit.

4— World of Life Spirit.

5— World of Thought.

6 — Desire World.

7 — Physical World.

This division is not arbitrary but necessary, because the
substance of each of these Worlds is amenable to laws which
are practically inoperative in the others. For instance, in
the Physical World, matter is subject to gravity, contrac-
tion and expansion. In the Desire World there is neither
heat nor cold, and forms levitate as easily as they gravitate.
Distance and time are also governing factors of existence in
the Physical World, but are almost non-existent in the
Desire World.

The matter of these worlds also varies in density, the
Physical World being the densest of the seven.

Each World is subdivided into seven Regions or sub-

30 KOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

divisions of matter. In the Physical World the solids,
liquids and gases form the three denser subdivisions, the
remaining four being ethers of varying densities. In the
other Worlds similar subdivisions are necessary, because the
matter of which they are composed is not of uniform
density.

There are still two further distinctions to be made. The
three dense subdivisions of the Physical World — the solids,
liquids and gases — constitute what is termed the Chemical
Region. The substance in this Region is the basis of all
dense Form.

The Ether is also physical matter. It is not homogene-
ous, as material science alleges, but exists in four different
states. It is the medium of ingress for the quickening
spirit which imparts vitality to the Forms in the Chemical
Region. The four finer or etheric subdivisions of the
Physical World constitute what is known as the Etheric
Region.

In the World of Thought the three higher subdivisions
are the basis of abstract thought, hence they, collectively,
are called the Region of Abstract Thought. The four
denser subdivisions supply the mind-stuff in which we
embody and concrete our ideas and are therefore termed the
Region of Concrete Thought.

The careful consideration given by the occultist to the
characteristics of the Physical World might seem super-
fluous were it not that he regards all things from a view
point differing widely from that of the materialist. The
latter recognizes three states of matter — solids, liquids,
and gases. These are all chemical, because derived from
the chemical constituents of the Earth. From this chem-
ical matter all the forms of mineral, plant, animal, and
man have been built, hence they are as truly chemical as

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WOBLDS 31

the substances which are commonly so termed. Thus
whether we consider the mountain or the cloud that en-
velops its top, the juice of the .plant or the bloqd of the
animal, the spider's thread, the wing of the butterfly or
the bones of the elephant, the air we breathe or the water
we drink — all are composed of the same chemical sub-
stance.

What is it then which determines the conformation of
this basic substance into the multiplex variety of Forms
which we see about us? It is the One Universal Spirit, ex-
pressing Itself in the visible world as four great streams
of Life, at varying stages of development. This fourfold
spiritual impulse molds the chemical matter of the Earth
into the variegated forms of the four Kingdoms — mineral,
plant, animal, and man. When a form has served its
purpose as a vehicle of expression for the three higher
streams of life, the chemical forces disintegrate that form
so that the matter may be returned to its primordial state,
and thus made available for the building of new forms.
The spirit or life which molds the form into an expression
of itself is, therefore, as extraneous to the matter it uses
as a carpenter is apart from and personally independent
of the house he builds for his own occupancy.

As all the forms of mineral, plant, animal, and man are
chemical, they must logically be as dead and devoid of
feeling as chemical matter in its primitive state, and the
Rosicrucian asserts that they are.

Some scientists contend that there is feeling in all tissue,
living or dead, to whatever kingdom it belongs. They in-
clude even the substances ordinarily classed as mineral in
their category of objects having feeling, and to prove their
contentions they submit diagrams with curves of energy
obtained from tests. Another class of investigators teach

32 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

that there is no feeling even in the human body, except in
the brain, which is the seat of feeling. They say it is the
brain and not the finger which feels the pain when the
latter is injured. Thus is the house of Science divided
against itself on this as on most other points. The posi-
tion taken by each is partly right. It depends upon what
we mean by "feeling." If we mean simply response to
impacts, such as the rebound of a rubber ball that is
dropped to the ground, of course it is correct to attribute
feeling to mineral, plant, and animal tissue; but if we
mean pleasure and pain, love and hate, joy and sorrow, it
would be absurd to attribute them to the lower forms of
life, to detached tissue, to minerals in their native state,
or even to the brain, because such feelings are expressions
of the self-conscious immortal spirit, and the brain is only
the keyboard of the wonderful instrument upon which the
human spirit plays its symphony of life, just as the musi-
cian expresses himself upon his violin.

As there are people who are quite unable to understand
that there must be and are higher Worlds, so there are
some who, having become slightly acquainted with the
higher realms, acquire the habit of undervaluing this Phys-
ical World. Such an attitude is as incorrect as that of
the materialist. The great and wise Beings who carry
out the will and design of God placed us in this physical
environment to learn great and important lessons which
could not be learned under other conditions, and it is our
duty to use our knowledge of the higher Worlds in learn-
ing to the best of our ability the lessons which this mate-
rial world has to teach us.

In one sense the Physical World is a sort of model school
or experiment station to teach us to work correctly in the
others. It does this whether or not we know of the ex-

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 33

istence of those other worlds, thereby proving the great
wisdom of the originators of the plan. If we had knowl-
edge of none but the higher Worlds, we would make many
mistakes which would become apparent only when physical
conditions are brought to bear as a criterion. To illus-
trate: Let us imagine the case of an inventor working
out his idea of a machine. First he builds the machine in
thought, and in his mind he sees it complete and in oper-
ation, performing most beautifully the work it is designed
to do. He next makes a drawing of the design, and in
doing so perhaps finds that modification in his first con-
ception are necessary. When, from the drawings, he has
become satisfied that the plan is feasible, he proceeds to
build the actual machine from suitable material.

Now it is almost certain that still further modifications
will be found necessary before the machine will work as
intended. It may be found that it must be entirely re-
modeled, or even that it is altogether useless in its present
form, must be discarded and a new plan evolved. But
mark this, for here is the point : the new idea or plan will
be formulated for the purpose of eliminating the defects
in the useless machine. Had there been no material ma-
chine constructed, thereby making evident the faults of the
first idea, a second and correct idea would not have been
formed.

This applies equally to all conditions of life — social,
mercantile, and philanthropic. Many plans appear ex-
cellent to those conceiving them, and may even look well
on paper, but when brought down to the actual test of
utility they often fail. That, however, should not discour-
age us. It is true that "we learn more from our mistakes
than from our successes," and the proper light in which
to regard this Physical World is as a school of valuable

34 BOSICBUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

experience, in which we learn lessons of the utmost im-
portance.

THE ETHERIC REGION OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD.

As soon as we enter this realm of nature we are in the
invisible, intangible World, where our ordinary senses fail
us, hence this part of the Physical World is practically
unexplored by material science.

Air is invisible, yet modern science knows that it ex-
ists. By means of instruments its velocity as wind can be
measured; by compression it can be made visible as liquid
air. With ether, however, that is not so easy. Material
science finds that it is necessary to account in some way
for the transmission of electricity, with or without wires.
It is forced to postulate some substance of a finer kind
than it knows, and it calls that substance "ether." It does
not really know that ether exists, as the ingenuity of the
scientist has not, as yet, been able to devise a vessel in
which it is possible to confine this substance, which is alto-
gether too elusive for the comfort of the "wizard of the
laboratory." He cannot measure, weigh, nor analyze it
by any apparatus now at his disposal.

Truly, the achievements of modern science are marvel-
ous. The best way to learn the secrets of nature, however,
is not by inventing instruments, but by improving the in-
vestigator himself. Man has within himself faculties
which eliminate distance and compensate for lack of size
to a degree as much greater than the power of telescope
and microscope as theirs exceeds that of the naked eye.
These senses or faculties are the means of investigation
used by occultists. They are their "open sesame" in
searching for truth.

To the trained clairvoyant ether is as tangible as are
the solids, liquids, and gases of the Chemical Region to

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 35

ordinary beings. He sees that the vital forces which give
life to the mineral forms of plant, animal and man flow
into these forms, by means of the four states of ether.
The names and specific functions of these four ethers are
as follow:

(1) Chemical Ether. — This ether is both positive and
negative in its manifestation. The forces which cause as-
similation and excretion work through it. Assimilation
is the process whereby the different nutritive elements of
food are incorporated into the body of plant, animal and
man. This is carried on by forces with which we shall
become acquainted later. They work along the positive
pole of the chemical ether and attract the needed elements,
building them into the forms concerned. These forces
do not act blindly nor mechanically, but in a selective way
(well-known to scientists by its effects) thereby accom-
plishing their purpose, which is the growth and mainte-
nance of the body.

Excretion is carried on by forces of the same kind, but
working along the negative pole of the chemical ether.
By means of this pole they expel from the body the mate-
rials in the food which are unfit for use, or those which
have outlived their usefulness in the body and should be
expurgated from the system. This, like all other proc-
esses independent of man's volition, is also wise, selective,
and not merely mechanical in its operation, as seen, for
instance, in the case of the action of the kidneys, where
only the urine is filtered through when the organs are in
health; but it is known that when the organs are not in
health, the valuable albumen is allowed to escape with
the urine, the proper selection not being made because of
an abnormal condition.

(2) Life Ether. — As the chemical ether is the avenue

36 ROSICBUCIAN COSMO CONCEPTION

for the operation of the forces the object of which is the
maintenance of the individual form, so the life ether is
the avenue for the operation of the forces which have for
their object the maintenance of the species — the forces of
propagation.

Like the chemical ether, the life ether also has its posi-
tive and negative pole. The forces which work along the
positive pole are those which work in the female during
gestation. They enable her to do the positive, active work
of bringing forth a new being. On the other hand the
forces which work along the negative pole of the life ether
enable the male to produce semen.

In the work on the impregnated ovum of the animal
and man, or upon the seed of the plant, the forces working
along the positive pole of the life ether produce male
plants, animals and men; while the forces which express
themselves through the negative pole generate females.

(3) Light Ether. — This ether is both positive and nega-
tive, and the forces which play along its positive pole are
the forces which generate that blood heat in the higher
species of animal and in man, which makes them individ-
ual sources of heat. The forces which work along the
negative pole of the light ether are those which operate
through the senses, manifesting as the passive functions
of sight, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling. They
also build and nourish the eye.

In the cold-blooded animals the positive pole of the
light ether is the avenue of the forces which circulate the
blood, and the negative forces have the same functions
in regard to the eye as in the case of the higher animals
and man. Where eyes are lacking, the forces working in
the negative pole of the light ether are perhaps building

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 37

or nourishing other sense organs, as they do in all that
have sense organs.

In plants the forces which work along the positive pole
of the light ether cause the circulation of the juices of the
plant. Thus in winter, when the light ether is not charged
with sunlight as in summer, the sap ceases to flow until
the summer sun again invests the light ether with
its force. The forces which work along the negative pole
of the light ether deposit the chlorophyl, the green sub-
stance of the plant and also color the flowers. In fact, all
color, in all the kingdoms is deposited by means of the
negative pole of the light ether. Therefore animals have
the deepest color on the back and flowers are deepest col-
ored on the side turned towards the light. In the polar
regions of the earth, where the rays of the sun are weak,
all color is lighter and in some cases is so sparingly de-
posited that in winter it is withdrawn altogether and the
animals become white.

(4) Reflecting Ether. — It has heretofore been stated
that the idea of the house which has existed in the mind
can be recovered from the memory of nature, even after the
death of the architect. Everything that has ever hap-
pened has left behind it an ineffaceable picture in this
reflecting ether. As the giant ferns of the childhood of
the Earth have left their pictures in the coal beds, and
as the progress of the glacier of a bygone day may be
traced by means of the trail it has left upon the rocks
along its path, even so are the thoughts and acts of men
ineffaceably recorded by nature in this reflecting ether,
where the trained seer may read their story with an ac-
curacy commensurate with his ability.

The reflecting ether deserves its name for more than
one reason, for the pictures in it are but reflections of the

38 ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

memory of nature. The real memory of nature is found
in a much higher realm. In this reflecting ether no thor-
oughly trained clairvoyant cares to read, as the pictures
are blurred and vague compared to those found in the
higher realm. Those who read in the reflecting ether are
generally those who have no choice, who, in fact, do not
know in what they are reading. As a rule ordinary psy-
chometrists and mediums obtain their knowledge through
the reflecting ether. To some slight extent the pupil of
the occult school in the first stages of his training also
reads in the reflecting ether, but he is warned by his
teacher of the insufficiencies of this ether as a means of
acquiring accurate information, so that he does not easily
draw wrong conclusions.

This ether is also the medium through which thought
makes an impression upon the human brain. It is most
intimately connected with the fourth subdivision of the
World of Thought. This is the highest of the four sub-
divisions contained in the Region of Concrete Thought
and is the homeworld of the human mind. There a much
clearer version of the memory of nature is found than in
the reflecting ether.

THE DESIRE WORLD.

Like the Physical World, and every other realm of
nature, the Desire World has the seven subdivisions called
"Regions," but unlike the Physical World, it does not have
the great divisions corresponding to the Chemical and
Etheric Regions. Desire-stuff in the Desire World per-
sists through its seven subdivisions or regions as material
for the embodiment of desire. As the Chemical Region
is the realm of form and as the Etheric Region is the
home of the forces carrying on life activities in those

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 39

forms, enabling them to live, move and propagate, so the
forces in the Desire World, working in the quickened dense
body, impel it to move in this or that direction.

If there were only the activities of the Chemical and
Etheric Regions of the Physical World, there would be
forms having life, able to move, but with no incentive for
so doing. This incentive is supplied by the cosmic forces
active in the Desire World and without this activity play-
ing through every fibre of the vitalized body, urging
action in this direction or that, there would be no experi-
ence and no moral growth. The functions of the different
ethers would take care of the growth of the form, but
moral growth would be entirely lacking. Evolution would
be an impossibility, both as to form and life, for it is only
in response to the acquirements of spiritual growth that
forms evolve to higher states. Thus we at once see the
great importance of this realm of nature.

Desires, wishes, passions, and feelings express them-
selves in the matter of the different regions of the De-
sire World as form and feature express themselves in the
Chemical Region of the Physical World. They take forms
which last for a longer or shorter time, according to the
intensity of the desire, wish, or feeling embodied in them.
In the Desire World the distinction between the forces
and the matter is not so definite and apparent as in the
Physical World. One might almost say that here the
ideas of force and matter are identical or interchange-
able. It is not quite so, but we may say that to a certain
extent the Desire World consists of force-matter.

When speaking of the matter of the Desire World, it is
true that it is one degree less dense than the matter of
the Physical World, but we entertain an entirely wrong
idea if we imagine it is finer physical matter. That idea,

40 EOSICEUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

though held by many who have studied occult philosophies,
is entirely erroneous. The wrong impression is caused
principally by the difficulty of giving the full and accurate
description necessary for a thorough understanding of the
higher worlds. Unfortunately, our language is descriptive
of material things and therefore entirely inadequate to
describe the conditions of the super-physical realms, hence
all that is said about these realms must be taken tenta-
tively, as similes, rather than as accurate descriptions.

Though the mountain and the daisy, the man, the horse,
and a piece of iron, are composed of one ultimate atomic
substance, we do not say that the daisy is a finer form of
iron. Similarly it is impossible to explain in words the
change or difference in physical matter when it is broken
up into desire-stuff. If there were no difference it would
be amenable to the laws of the Physical World, which it
is not.

The law of matter of the Chemical Region is inertia —
the tendency to remain in statu quo. It takes a certain
amount of force to overcome this inertia and cause a body
which is at rest to move, or to stop a body in motion. Not
so with the matter of the Desire World. That matter itself
is almost living. It is in unceasing motion, fluid, taking
all imaginable and unimaginable forms with inconceivable
facility and rapidity, at the same time coruscating and
scintillating in a thousand ever-changing shades of color,
incomparable to anything we know in this physical state
of consciousness. Something very faintly resembling the
action and appearance of this matter will be seen in the
play of colors on an abalone shell when held in the sun-
light and moved to and fro.

That is what the Desire World is — ever-changing light
and color — in which the forces of animal and man inter-

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WOKLDS 41

mingle with the forces of innumerable Hierarchies of spirit-
ual beings which do not appear in our Physical World,
but are as active in the Desire World as we are here. Some
of them will be dealt with later and their connection with
man's evolution described.

The forces sent out by this vast and varied host of Be-
ings molds the ever-changing matter of the Desire World
into innumerable and differing forms of more or less
durability, according to the kinetic energy of the impulse
which gave them birth.

From this slight description it may be understood how
difficult it is for a neophyte who has just had his inner eyes
opened to find his balance in the World of Desire. The
trained clairvoyant soon ceases to wonder at the impossi-
ble descriptions sometimes brought through by mediums.
They may be perfectly honest, but the possibilities
of getting the parallax out of focus are legion, and of the
subtlest nature, and the real wonder is that they ever com-
municate anything correctly. All of us had to learn to
see, in the days of our infancy, as we may readily find by
watching a young babe. It will be found that the little
one will reach for objects on the other side of the room
o- the street, or for the Moon. He is entirely unable to
gauge distances. The blind man who has been made to
see will, at first, often close his eyes to walk from one
place to another, declaring, until he has learned to use
his eyes, that it is easier to walk by feeling than by sight.
So the one whose inner organs of perception have been
vivified must also be trained in the use of his newly ac-
quired faculty. At first the neophyte will try to apply to
the Desire World the knowledge derived from his experi-
ence in the Physical World, because he has not yet learnen
the laws of the world into which he is entering. This is

4:2 BOSICBUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

the source of a vast amount of trouble and perplexity.
Before he can understand, he must become as a little child,
which imbibed knowledge without reference to any pre-
vious experience.

To arrive at a correct understanding of the Desire
World it is necessary to realize that it is the world of feel-
ings, desires, and emotions. These are all under the domi-
nation of two great forces — Attraction and Eepulsion,
which act in a different way in the three denser Regions
of the Desire World from that in which they act in the
three finer or upper Regions, while the central Region
may be called neutral ground.

This central Region is the Region of feeling. Here
interest in or indifference to an object or an idea sways the
balance in favor of one of the two previously mentioned
forces, thereby relegating the object or idea to the three
higher or the three lower Regions of the Desire World,
or else they will expel it. We shall see presently how
this is accomplished.

In the finest and rarest substance of the three higher
Regions of the Desire World the force of Attraction alone
holds sway, but it is also present in some degree in the
denser matter of the three lower Regions, where it works
against the force of Repulsion, which is dominant there.
The disintegrating force of Repulsion would soon destroy
every form coming into these three lower Regions were it
not that it is thus counteracted. In the densest or lowest
Region, where it is strongest, it tears and shatters the
forms built there in a way dreadful to see, yet it is not a
vandalistic force. Nothing in nature is vandalistic. All
that appears so is but working towards good. So with
this force in its work in the lowest Region of the Desire

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 43

World. The forms here are demoniac creations, built by
the coarsest passions and desires of man and beast.

The tendency of every form in the Desire World is to
attract to itself all it can of a like nature and grow thereby.
If this tendency to attraction were to predominate in the
lowest Eegions, evil would grow like a weed. There would
be anarchy instead of order in the Cosmos. This is pre-
vented by the preponderating power of the force of Ee-
pulsion in this Region. When a coarse desire form is
being attracted to another of the same nature, there is
a disharmony in their vibrations, whereby one has a dis-
integrating effect upon the other. Thus, instead of unit-
ing and amalgamating evil with evil, they act with mutual
destructiveness and in that way the evil in the world is
kept within reasonable bounds. When we understand the
working of the twin forces in this respect we are in a posi-
tion to understand the occult maxim, "A lie is both mur-
der and suicide in the Desire World."

Anything happening in the Physical World is reflected
in all the other realms of nature and, as we have seen,
builds its appropriate form in the Desire World. When
a true account of the occurrence is given, another form is
built, exactly like the first. They are then drawn together
and coalesce, strengthening each other. If, however, an
untrue account is given, a form different from and antago-
nistic to the first, or true one, is created. As they deal with
the same occurrence, they are drawn together, but as their
vibrations are different they act upon each other with
mutual destructiveness. Therefore, evil and malicious lies
can kill anything that is good, if they are strong enough
and repeated often enough. But, conversely, seeking for
the good in evil will, in time, transmute the evil into good.
If the form that is built to minimize the evil is weak, it

44 KOSICBUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

will have no effect and will be destroyed by the evil form,
but if it is strong and frequently repeated it will have the
effect of disintegrating the evil and substituting the good.
That effect, be it distinctly understood, is not brought about
by lying, nor denying the evil, but by looking for the
good. The occult scientist practices very rigidly this
principle of looking for good in all things, because he
knows what a power it possesses in keeping down evil.

There is a story of Christ which illustrates this point.
Once when walking with His disciples they passed the
decaying and ill-smelling carcass of a dog. The disciples
turned in disgust, commenting upon the nauseating nature
of the sight; but Christ looked at the dead body and said
"Pearls are not whiter than its teeth." He was deter-
mined to find the good, because He knew the beneficial
effect which would result in the Desire World from giving
it expression.

The lowest Region of the Desire World is called "the
Region of Passion and Sensual Desire." The second sub-
division is best described by the name of "Region of Im-
pressionability." Here the effect of the twin forces of
Attraction and Repulsion is evenly balanced. This is a
neutral Region, hence all our impressions which are built
of the matter of this Region are neutral. Only when the
twin feelings, which we shall meet in the fourth Region,
are brought to bear, do the twin forces come into play.
The mere impression of anything, however, in and of itself,
is entirely separate from the feeling it engenders. The
impression is neutral and is an activity of the second Re-
gion of 'the Desire World, where pictures are formed by
the forces of sense-perception in the vital body of man.

In the third Region of the Desire World, the force of
Attraction — the integrating, upbuilding force — has already

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 45

gained the upper hand over the force of Repulsion, with its
destructive tendency. When we understand that the
mainspring in this force of Repulsion is self-assertion, a
pushing away of all others that it may have room, we
shall understand that it gives way most easily to a desire
for other things, so that the substance of the third Region
of the Desire World is principally dominated by the force
of Attraction towards other things, but in a selfish way,
and therefore this is the Region of Wishes.

The Region of Coarse Desires may be likened to the
solids in the Physical World; the Region of Impression-
ability to the fluids; and the fluctuating, evanescent nature
of the Region of Wishes will make that compare with the
gaseous portion of the Physical World. These three Re-
gions give the substance for the forms which make for
experience, soul-growth and evolution, purging the alto-
gether destructive and retaining the materials which may
be used for progress.

The fourth Region of the Desire World is the "Region
of Feeling." From it comes the feeling concerning the
already described forms and upon the feeling engendered
by them depends the life which they have for us and also
their effect 'upon us. Whether the objects and ideas pre-
sented are good or bad in themselves is not important at
this stage. It is our Feeling, whether of Interest or In-
difference that is the determining factor as to the fate of
the object or idea.

If the feeling with which we meet an impression of an
object or an idea is Interest, it has the same effect upon
that impression as sunlight and air have upon a plant.
That idea will grow and flourish in our lives. If, on the
other hand, we meet an impression or idea with Indiffer-
ence, it withers as does a plant when put in a dark cellar.

46 EOSICEUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

Thus from this central Region of the Desire World
comes the incentive to action, or the decision to refrain
therefrom (though the latter is also action in the eyes of
the occult scientist), for at the present stage of our de-
velopment the twin feelings, Interest and Indifference
furnish the incentive to action and are the springs that
move the world. At a later stage these feelings will cease
to have any weight. Then the determining factor will be
duty.

Interest starts the forces of Attraction or Repulsion.

Indifference simply withers the object or idea against
which it is directed, so far as our connection with it is
concerned.

If our interest in an object or an idea generates Re-
pulsion, that naturally causes us to expurgate from our
lives any connection with the object or idea which roused
it; but there is a great difference between the action of
the force of Repulsion and the mere feeling of Indiffer-
ence. Perhaps an illustration will make more clear the
operation of the twin Feelings and the twin Forces.

Three men are walking along a road. They see a sick
dog; it is covered with sores and is evidently suffering in-
tensely from pain and thirst. This much is evident to
all three men — their senses tell them that. Now Feeling
comes. Two of them take an "interest" in the animal, but
in the third there is a feeling of "indifference." He
passes on, leaving the dog to its fate. The others remain;
they are both interested, but each manifests it in a quite
different way. The interest of one man is sympathetic and
helpful, impelling him to care for the poor beast, to as-
suage pains and nurse it back to Health. In him the feel-
ing of interest has aroused the force of Attraction. The
other man's interest is of a different kind. He sees only

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 47

a loathsome sight which is revolting to him and wishes
to rid himself and the world of it as quickly as possible.
He advises killing the animal outright and burying it. In
him the feeling of interest generates the destructive force
of Kepulsion.

When the feeling of Interest arouses the force of At-
traction and it is directed toward low objects and desires,
these work themselves out in the lower Regions of the
Desire World, where the counteracting force of Repulsion
operates, as previously described. From the battle of the
twin forces — Attraction and Repulsion — results all the
pain and suffering incident to wrongdoing or misdirected
effort, whether intentional or otherwise.

Thus we may see how very important is the Feeling we
have concerning anything, for upon that depends the
nature of the atmosphere we create for ourselves. If we
love the good, we shall keep and nourish as guardian
angels all that is good about us; if the reverse, we shall
people our path with demons of our own breeding.

The names of the three upper Regions of the Desire
World are "Region of Soul-Life," "Region of Soul-Light,"
and "Region of Soul-Power." In these abide Art, Altru-
ism, Philanthropy, and all the activities of the higher
soul-life. When we think of these Regions as radiating
the qualities indicated by their names, into the forms of
the three lower Regions, we shall understand correctly the
higher and lower activities. Soul-power, however, may
for a time be used for evil purposes as well as for good,
but eventually the force of Repulsion destroys vice and
the force of Attraction builds virtue upon its shattered
ruins. All things, in the ultimate, work together for
GOOD.

The Physical and the Desire Worlds are not separated

48 EOSICBUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

from each other by space. They are "closer than hands
and feet." It is not necessary to move to get from one
to the other, nor from one Region to the next. Just as
solids, liquids, and gases are all together in our bodies,
inter-penetrating one another, so are the different Regions
of the Desire World within us also. We may again com-
pare the lines of force along which ice-crystals form in
water to the invisible causes originating in the Desire
World, which appear in the Physical World and give us
the incentive to action, in whatever direction it may be.

The Desire World, with its innumerable inhabitants,
permeates the Physical World, as the lines of force do the
water — invisible, but everywhere present and potent as the
cause of everything in the Physical World.

THE WORLD OF THOUGHT.

The World of Thought also consists of seven Regions
of varying qualities and densities, and, like the Physical
World, the World of Thought is divided into two main
divisions — the Region of Concrete Thought, comprising
the four densest Regions; and the Region of Abstract
Thought, comprising the three Regions of finest substance.
This World of Thought is the central one of the five
Worlds from which man obtains his vehicles. Here spirit
and body meet. It is also the highest of the three Worlds
in which man's evolution is being carried forward at the
present time, the two higher Worlds being practically in
abeyance as yet, so far as man is concerned.

We know that the materials of the Chemical Region are
used in building all physical forms. These forms are given
life and the power of motion by the forces at work in the
Etheric Region, and some of these living forms are stirred
into activity by means of the twin Feelings of the Desire

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 49

World. The Region of Concrete Thought furnishes the
mind-stuff in which ideas generated in the Region of Ab-
stract Thought clothe themselves as thought-forms, to act
as regulators and balance wheels upon the impulses en-
gendered in the Desire World by impacts from the phenom-
enal World.

Thus we see how the three Worlds, in which man is at
present evolving, complement one another, making a whole
that shows forth the Supreme Wisdom of the Great Archi-
tt-ct of the system to which we belong, and Whom we rev-
erence by the holy name of God.

Taking a more detailed view of the several divisions of
the Region of Concrete Thought we find that the arche-
types of physical form no matter to what kingdom they
may belong, are found in its lowest subdivision, or the
"Continental Region/' In this Continental Region are
also the archetypes of the continents and the isles of the
world, and corresponding to these archetypes are they
fashioned. Modifications in the crust of the Earth must
first be wrought in the Continental Region. Not until the
archetypal model has been changed can the Intelligences
which we (to hide our ignorance concerning them) call
the "Laws of 'Nature," bring about the physical conditions
which alter the physical features of the Earth according
to the modifications designed by the Hierarchies in charge
of evolution. They plan changes as an architect plans the
alteration of a building before the workmen give it con-
crete expression. In like manner are changes in the flora
and fauna due to metamorphoses in their respective arche-
types.

When we speak of the archetypes of all the different
forms iii the dense world it must not be thought that
these archetypes are merely models in the same sense

50 EOSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

in which we speak of an object constructed in miniature,
or in some material other than that appropriate for its
proper and final use. They are not merely likenesses nor
models of the forms we see about us, but are creative arche-
types; that is, they fashion the forms of the Physical
World in their own likeness or likenesses, for often many
work together to form one certain species, each archetype
giving part of itself to build the required form.

The second subdivision of the Region of Concrete
Thought is called the "Oceanic Region." It is best de-
scribed as flowing, pulsating vitality. All the forces that
work through the four ethers which constitute the Etheric
Region are there seen as archetypes. It is a stream of
flowing life, pulsating through all forms, as blood pulsates
through the body, the same life in all forms. Here the
trained clairvoyant sees how true it is that "all life is one."

The "Aerial Region" is the third division of the Re-
gion of Concrete Thought. Here we find the archetype of
desires, passions, wishes, feelings, and emotions such as we
experience in the Desire World. Here all the activities of
the Desire World appear as atmospheric conditions. Like
the kiss of the summer breeze come the feelings of pleas-
ure and joy to the clairvoyant sense; as the sighing of
the wind in the tree-tops seem the longings of the soul and
like flashes of lighting the passions of warring nations.
In this atmosphere of the Region of Concrete Thought are
also pictures of the emotions of man and beast.

The "Region of Archetypal Forces" is the fourth divi-
sion of the Region of Concrete Thought. It is the central
and most important Region in the five Worlds wherein
man's entire evolution is carried on. On the one side of
this Region are the three higher Regions of the World of
Thought, the World of Life Spirit and the World of Divine

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 5]

Spirit. On the other side of this Region of Archetypal
Forces are the three lower Regions of the World of
Thought, the Desire and the Physical Worlds. Thus this
Region becomes a sort of "crux," bounded on one side by
the Realms of Spirit, on the other by the Worlds of Form.
It is a focusing point, where Spirit reflects itself in
matter.

As the name implies, this Region is the home of the
Archetypal Forces which direct the activity of the arche-
types in the Region of Concrete Thought. From this
Region Spirit works on matter in a formative manner.
Diagram 1 shows the idea in a schematic way, the forms in
the lower World being reflections of the Spirit in the
higher Worlds. The fifth Region, which is the one nearest
to the focusing point on the Spirit side, reflects itself in
the third Region, which is nearest the focusing point on
the Form side. The sixth Region reflects itself in the
second and the seventh reflects itself in the first.

The whole of the Region of Abstract Thought is re-
flected in the World of Desire ; the World of Life Spirit in
the Etheric Region of the Physical World; and the World
of Divine Spirit in the Chemical Region of the Physical
World.

Diagram 2 will give a comprehensive idea of the seven
Worlds which are the sphere of our development, but we
must carefully keep in mind that these Worlds are not
placed one above another, as shown in the diagram. They
inter-penetrate — that is to say, that as in the case where
the relation of the Physical World and the Desire World
were compared, where we likened the Desire World to the
lines of force in freezing water and the water itself to the
Physical World, in the same way we may think of the
lines of force as being any of the seven Worlds, and the

\S>

** ^ . — v

3°a

tft-

Diagrara 1 — The Relative Permanency of the Visible and

Invisible Worlds.
(Illustrated by comparison with a stereopticon.)

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 53

water, as in our illustration, would correspond to the next
denser World in the scale. Another illustration may per-
haps make the subject clearer.

Let us use a spherical sponge > represent the dense earth
— the Chemical Region. Imagine that sand permeates
every part of the sponge and also forms a layer outside the
sponge. Let the sand represent the Etheric Region, which
in a similar manner permeates the dense earth and ex-
tends beyond its atmosphere.

Let us further imagine this sponge and sand immersed
in a spherical glass vessel filled with clear water, and a
little larger than the sponge and sand. We place the
sponge and sand in the center of the vessel as the yolk
is placed in the center of an egg. We have now a space
of clear water between the sand and the vessel. The water
as a whole will represent the Desire World, for just as the
water percolates between the grains of sand, through every
pore of the sponge, and forms that clear layer, so the
Desire World permeates both the dense Earth and the
ether and extends beyond both of these substances.

We know there is air in water, and if we think of the
air in the water (in our illustration), as representing
the World of Thought, we shall have a fair mental picture
of the way in which the World of Thought, being finer and
more subtle, inter-penetrates the two denser Worlds.

Finally, imagine that the vessel containing the sponge,
sand and water is placed in the center of a larger spherical
vessel then the air in the space between the two vessels
would represent that part of the World of Thought which
extends beyond the Desire World.

Each of the planets in our solar system has three such
inter-penetrating Worlds, and if we think of each of the
planets consisting of three Worlds as being individual

ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION

DIAGRAM 2.

WORLD
OF GOO

THE SEVEN WORLDS

Consisting of/\7 Regions.
.AiOrK

WORLD
OF
VIRGIN
SPIRITS

This World consists of 7 Regions and is the
abode of the Virgin Spirits when they have
been differentiated in God before the pilgrim-
age through matter.

Vehicles
of Man

WORLD OF
DIVINE SPIRIT

Consists of 7 Regions and is the abode of the
highest spiritual influence in man.

Divine ^
Spirit

WORLD OF
LIFE SPIRIT

Consists of 7 Regions and is the abode of the
second aspect of the threefold spirit in man.

Life
Spirit o

h
* REGION OF
3 ABSTRACT

X 'THOUGHT

7th Region contains the germinal idea of form
in mineral, plant, animal and man.
6th Region contains germinal idea of life in
plant, animal and man.
5th Region contains germinal idea of desire
and emotion in animal and man; abode of 3rd
aspect of spirit in man.

Human
Spirit

O
3 REGION OF
oc CONCRETE
1 THOUGHT

4th Region contains the archetypal forces and
the human mind.. It is the focusing point
through which the spirit mirrors itself in mat-
ter.
3rd Region archetypes of desire and emotion.
2nd Region archetypes of universal vitality.
1st Region archetypes of form.

Mind J
u

DESIRE
WORLD

7th Region Soul-Power f

Desire
Body

•z

5th Region Soul-Life. )

f Interest
4th Region Feeling!
(indifference.

3rd Region Wishes |
2nd Region Impressionability iRepulsion.
1st Region Passion and Low Desire!

-l

* ETHERIC
£ REGION

7th Region Reflecting ether, memory of nature.
6th Region Light ether, medium of sense per-
ception.
5th Region Life ether, medium for propagation.
4th Region Chemical ether, medium for assimi-
lation and excretion.

u
a.
Vital u
Body jc

^ CHEMICAL
£ REGION

3rd Region Gases.
2nd Region Liquids.
1st Region Solids.

Dense
Body

THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WORLDS 55

sponges, and of the fourth World, the World of Life Spirit,
as being the water in a large vessel where these threefold
separate sponges swim, we shall understand that as the
water in the vessel fills the space between the sponges and
percolates through them, so the World of Life Spirit per-
vades inter-planetary space and inter-penetrates the indi-
vidual planets. It forms a common bond between them,
so that as it is necessary to have a boat and be able to
control it, if we wish to sail from America to Africa, so it
is necessary to have a vehicle correlated to the World of
Life Spirit under our conscious control in order to be able
to travel from one planet to another.

In a manner similar to that in which the World of Life
Spirit correlates us to the other planets in our own solar
system does the World of Divine Spirit correlate us to the
other solar systems. We may regard the solar systems as
separate sponges, swimming in a World of Divine Spirit,
and thus it will be apparent that in order to travel from
one solar system to another it would be necessary to be
able to function consciously in the highest vehicle of man,
the Divine Spirit.