CHAPTER I.

Carter 0f

AND THE

ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP

OUR MESSAGE AND MISSION

A Sane Mind

A Soft Heart

A Sound Body

Before entering upon an explanation of
the teachings of the Eosicrucians, it may be
well to say a word about them and about the
place they hold in the evolution of humanity.

For reasons to be given later these teach-
ings advocate the dualistic view; they hold
that man is a spirit enfolding all the powers
of God as the seed enfolds the plant, and
that these powers are being slowly unfolded
by a series of existences in a gradually im-
proving earthy body; also that this process
of development has been performed under
the guidance of exalted beings who are yet
ordering our steps, though in a decreasing

5

6 THE EOSICBUCIAN MYSTERIES

measure, as we gradually acquire intellect
and will. These exalted Beings, though un-
seen to the physical eyes, are nevertheless
potent factors in all affairs of life, and give
to the various groups of humanity lessons
which will most efficiently promote the
growth of their spiritual powers. In fact,
the earth may be likened to a vast training
school in which there are pupils of varying
age and ability as we find it in one of our
own schools. There are the savages, living
and worshipping under most primitive con-
ditions, seeing in stick or stone a God. Then,
as man progresses onwards and upwards in
the scale of civilization, we find a higher and
higher conception of Deity, which has flow-
ered here in our Western World in the beau-
tiful Christian religion that now furnishes
our spiritual inspiration and incentive to
improve.

These various religions have been given
to each group of humanity by the exalted
beings whom we know in the Christian reli-
gion as the Eecording Angels, whose won-
derful prevision enable them to view the
trend of even so unstable a quantity as the
human mind, and thus they are enabled to
determine what steps are necessary to lead

THE OBDEE OF EOSICEUCIANS 7

our enf oldment along the lines congruous to
the highest universal good.

When we study the history of the ancient
nations we shall find that at about six hun-
dred years B. C. a great spiritual wave had
its inception on the Eastern shores of the
Pacific Ocean where the great Confucian Ke-
ligion accelerated the progress of the Chi-
nese nation, then also the Eeligion of the
Buddha commenced to win its millions of
adherents in India, and still further West
we have the lofty philosophy of Pythagoras.
Each system was suited to the needs of the
particular people to whom it was sent. Then
came the period of the Sceptics, in Greece,
and later, traveling westward the same spir-
itual wave is manifested as the Christian
religion of the so-called "Dark Ages" when
the dogma of a dominant church compelled
belief from the whole of Western Europe.

It is a law in the universe tEat a wave of
spiritual awakening is always followed by
a period of doubting materialism, each
phase is necessary in order that the spirit
may receive equal development of heart and
intellect without being carried too far in
either direction. The Great Beings afore-
mentioned, Who care for our progress, al-

8 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

ways take steps to safeguard humanity
against that danger, and when they fore-
saw the wave of materialism which com-
menced in the sixteenth century with the
birth of our modern Science, they took
steps to protect the West as they had for-
merly safeguarded the East against the
Sceptics who were held in check by the Mys-
tery schools.

In the thirteenth century there appeared
in central Europe a great spiritual teacher
whose symbolical name was

Christian Eosenkreuz.
or

Christian Rose Cross.

who founded the mysterious Order of the
Rosy Cross, concerning which so many spec-
ulations have been made and so little has
become known to the world at large, for it
is the Mystery school of the West and is
only open to those who have attained the
stage of spiritual unfoldment necessary to
be initiated in its secrets concerning the
Science of Life and Being.

If we are so far developed that we are
able to leave our dense physical body and
take a soul flight into interplanetary space
we shall find that the ultimate physical atom

THE OKDEB OF BOSICKUCIANS 9

is spherical in shape like our earth; it is a
ball. When we take a number of balls of
even size and group them around one, it will
take just twelve balls to hide a thirteenth
within. Thus the twelve visible and the one
hidden are numbers revealing a cosmic re-
lationship and as all Mystery Orders are
based upon cosmic lines, they are composed
of twelve members gathered around a thir-
teenth who is the invisible head.

There are seven colors in the spectrum:
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and
violet. But between the violet and the red
there are still another five colors which are
invisible to the physical eye but reveal
themselves to the spiritual sight. In every
Mystery Order there are also seven brothers
who at times go out into the world and there
perform whatever work may be necessary to
advance the people among whom they serve,
but five are never seen outside the temple.
They work with and teach those alone who
have passed through certain stages of spir-
itual unfoldment and are able to visit the
temple in their spiritual bodies; a feat
taught in the first initiation which usually
takes place outside the temple as it is not

10 THE -EOSICKUCIAN MYSTEKIES

convenient for all to visit that place physic-
ally.

Let not the reader imagine that this initi-
ation makes the pupil a Eosicrucian, it does
not, any more than admission to a High
School makes a boy a member of the faculty.
Nor does he become a Eosicrucian even af-
ter having passed through all the nine de-
grees of this or any other Mystery School.
The Eosicrucians are Hierophants of the
lesser Mysteries, and beyond them there are
still schools wherein Greater Mysteries are
taught. Those who have advanced through
the lesser Mysteries and have become pupils
of the Greater Mysteries are called Adepts,
but even they have not reached the exalted
standpoint of the twelve Brothers of the Eo-
sicrucian Order or the Hierophants of any
other lesser Mystery School any more than
the freshman at college has attained to the
knowledge and position of a teacher in the
High school from which he has just gradu-
ated.

A later work will deal with initiation, but
we may say here that the door of a genuine
Mystery School is not unlocked by a golden
key, but is only opened as a reward for meri-
torious service to humanity and any one

THE OEDEE OP EOSICBTJCIANS 11

who advertises himself as a Eosicrucian or
makes a charge for tuition, by either of
those acts shows himself to be a charlatan.
The true pupil of any Mystery School is far
too modest to advertise the fact, he will
scorn all titles or honors from men, he will
have no regard for riches save the riches of
love given to him by those whom it becomes
his privilege to help and teach.

In the centuries that have gone by since
the Eosicrucian Order was first formed they
have worked quietly and secretly, aiming to
mould the thought of Western Europe
through the works of Paracelsus, Boehme,
Bacon, Shakespeare, Fludd and others. Each
night at midnight when the physical activ-
ities of the day are at their lowest ebb, and
the spiritual impulse at its highest flood
tide, they have sent out from their temple
soul-stirring vibrations to counteract mater-
ialism and to further the development of
soul powers. To their activities we owe the
gradual spiritualization of our once so ma-
terialistic science.

With the commencement of the twentieth
century a further step was taken. It was real-
ized that something must be done to make

12 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

religion scientific as well as to make
science religious, in order that they may ul-
timately blend ; for at the present time heart
and intellect are divorced. The heart in-
stinctively feels the truth of religious teach-
ings concerning such wonderful mysteries
as the Immaculate Conception (the Mystery
birth), the Crucifixion, (The Mystic Death),
the cleansing blood and the atonement and
other doctrines of the Church, all of
which the intellect refuses to believe as they
are incapable of demonstration, and seem-
ingly at war with natural law. Material
advancement may be furthered when in-
tellect is dominant and the longings of the
heart unsatisfied, but soul growth will be
retarded until the heart also receives satis-
faction.

In order to furnish to the world a teaching
which shall satisfy head and heart alike the
Eosicrucian Fellowship was started — not to
proselyte, but rather to make the Christian
Eeligion a living factor in the land by en-
couraging people to remain with their
churches while giving them the explanations
which creeds may have obscured. To such
as have already severed their connections
with the church it offers a temporary an-

THE OBDER OF BOSICBUCIANS 13

chorage until they have become aroused
anew to the beauty of the Christian teach-
ing.

People of various denominations enter ed-
ucational institutions such as Harvard or
Yale, and study Mythology, Psychology and
Comparative Eeligion there, without preju-
dice to their religious affiliation. Students
may enroll with the Eosicrucian Fellowship
on the very same basis. Anyone is eligible
who is not a Hypnotist, Professional Me-
dium, Palmist or Astrologer.

These higher teachings are never given
for a monetary consideration. Peter in old-
en days, severely rebuked Simon, the Sor-
cerer who wanted to buy spiritual power
that he might prostitute it for material gain,
and the Elder Brothers also refuse to open
the door to those who prostitute the spirit-
ual sciences by casting horoscopes, reading
palms or giving clairvoyant readings pro-
fessionally, for money. The Eosicrucian
Fellowship advocates the study of Palmistry
and Astrology by all its members, and fur-
n^^^ simple teachings^ji textbooks at
merely nominal cost'lsotnat all may acquire
ability, instead of remaining the dupes of

14 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

professionals who are often mere pretend-
ers.

During the past few years since we first
commenced to disseminate the Eosicrucian
teachings, they have spread like wild-fire
over the civilized world. They are studied
with avidity from the Cape of Good Hope to
the Arctic Circle and beyond, they have
found responce in the hearts of all classes
of people. Among the snow-clad huts of
Alaskan miners and in Government Houses
where a tropical wind unfurls the British
Lion. In the capitals of Turkish Autocracy
and American Democracy alike, our adher-
ents may be found in Government Institu-
tions as well as in the humblest walks of life,
all in lively correspondence and close touch
with our movement and working for promul-
gation of the deeper truths concerning Life
the offices of spiritual and medical adviser
and Being which are helping them.

Application for enrollment as Student
may be made to General Secretary Eosicru-
cian Fellowship, <dttip&Mp£ei, Ocean
California. We exact neither Initiation fee
nor dues. Our expences are met by freewill
offerings from Students.

THE OKDEE OF ROSICRUCIANS 15

When a student of the Bosicrucian teach-
ings has become so imbued with the verity
thereof, that he is prepared to sever his con-
nections with all other occult or religious or-
d e r s— THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES
AND FRATERNAL ORDERS ARE EX-
CEPTED— he may assume the Obligation
which admits him to the degree of Proba-
tioner.

We do not mean to insinuate by the fore-
going clause that all other schools of occult-
ism are of no account — far from it — many
roads lead to Rome, but we shall attain with
much less effort if we follow one of them
than if we zigzag from path to path. Our
time and energy are limited in the first
place, and are still further curtailed by fam-
ily and social duties not to be neglected for
self-development. It is to husband the
minim of energy which we may legitimately
expend upon ourselves, and to avoid waste
of the scanty moments at our disposal, that
resignation from all other Orders is insisted
upon by the leaders.

The world is an aggregate of opportuni-
ties, but to take advantage of any one of
them we must possess efficiency in a certain
line of endeavor. Development of our spir-

16 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

itual powers will enable us to help or harm
our weaker brothers. It is only justifiable
when efficiency in Service of Humanity is
the object.

The Eosicrucian method of attainment
differs from other systems in one especial
particular: It aims, even at the very start,
to emancipate the pupil from dependence up-
on others, to make him SELF-RELIANT
in the very highest degree, so that he may
be able to stand alone under all circumstan-
ces and cope with all conditions. Only one
who is thus strongly poised can help the
weak.

When a number of people meet in a class
or circle for self -development along NEGA-
TIVE lines, results are usually achieved in
a short time on the principle that it is easier
to drift with the tide than to breast the cur-
rent. The medium is not master of his ac-
tions, however, but the slave of a spirit con-
trol. Hence such gatherings must be shun-
ned by Probationers.

Even classes which meet in positive atti-
tude of mind are not advised by the Elder
Brothers, because the latent powers of all
members are massed and visions of the inner
worlds obtained by anyone there, are partly

THE OKDEB OF EOSICKUCIANS 17

due to the faculties of others. The heat of
coal in the center of a fire is enhanced by
surrounding coals, and the clairvoyant pro-
duced in a circle, be it ever so positive, is a
hot-house plant, too dependent himself to be
trusted with the care of others.

Therefore each Probationer in the Eosi-
crucian Fellowship performs his exercises
in the seclusion and privacy of his room.
Results may be obtained more slowly by this
system, but when they appear, they will be
manifest as powers cultivated by himself,
useable independently of all others. Be-
sides, the Eosicrucian methods build charac-
ter at the same time as they develop spirit-
ual faculties and thus safeguard the pupil
against yielding to temptation to prostitute
divine powers for worldly prestige.

The term of probation depends upon the
diligence of the aspirant, but is at least a
year. At the end of that period he may
send a written request for individual in-
struction by the Elder Brothers. This will
be given if possible, and the Probationer
will then be advanced to Discipleship.

A FUETHEE STEP.
Having thus inaugurated a new School of

18 THE EOSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

Thought we are now contemplating a fur-
ther step.

It is a trite saying that "man is of few
days and full of trouble, " but among all vi-
cissitudes of life none affect us more than
loss of health. We may lose fortune or
friends with comparative equanimity, but
when health fails and death threatens, the
strongest falter, and realizing human im-
potence we are more ready to turn to divine
power for succor than at other times.

Therefore the office of spiritual adviser
has always been closely associated with
healing. Among savages the priest was al-
so 'medicine-man,' in ancient Greece Aescul-
apius was particularly sought by those in
need of healing. Christ healed the sick and
the early Church followed in His steps. Cer-
tain Catholic Orders have continued the en-
deavor to assuage pain during the Cen-
turies which have intervened between that
day and the present. In times of sickness
the 'good father' came as a representative
of our Father in Heaven, and what he lack-
ed in skill was made up by love and sympa-
thy— If he was indeed a true and holy priest
— and by the faith engendered in the patient
by the priestly office. His care of the pa-

THE ORDER OF BOSICRUCIANS 19

tient did not commence at the sickbed nor
was it terminated at recovery. The grati-
tude of the patient towards the physician,
and the tie closer than ever possible where
are divorced.

It is not denied that the double office gave
the incumbents a most dangerous power
over the people, and that that power was
at times abused. It is also patent that the
art of medicine has reached a stage of effi-
ciency which could not have been attained
save by devotion to that one particular end
and aim. The safeguards of sanitary laws,
the extinction of insect carriers of disease
and the consequent immunity are monu-
mental testimonies to the value of modern
scientific methods. Thus it may seem as if
all were well and no need of further effort,
but in reality, until humanity as a whole en-
joys perfect health, there is no issue more
important than the question: How may we
attain and maintain health?

In addition to the regular School of Sur-
gery and Medicine which depends exclusive-
ly upon physical means for the cure of dis-
ease, other systems have sprung up which
depend entirely on mental healing. It is the
custom of organizations which advocate

20 THE EOSICBUCIAN MYSTEKIES

'mind cure,' * nature cure,' and other like
methods, to hold experience meetings, and
publish journals with testimonials from
thousands of grateful supporters who have
benefited by their ' treatments,' and if physi-
cians of the regular school did likewise there
would be no lack of similar testimonials to
their efficiency.

The opinion of thousands is of great
value, but it does not prove anything, for
thousands may hold an opposite view, occa-
sionally a single man may be right and the
rest of the world wrong, as when Gallileo
maintained that the earth moves. Today
the whole world has been converted to the
opinion for which he suffered torture,
and we assert that, as man is a composite
being, cures are successful in proportion as
they remedy defects on the physical, moral
and mental planes of Being. We also main-
tain that results may be obtained more easi-
ly at certain times when stellar rays are
propitious to healing of a particular dis-
ease, or by treatment with remedies pre-
viously prepared under auspicious condi-
tions.

It is well known to modern physicians that
the condition of the blood — and therefore of

THE OBDEB OP EOSICBUCIANS 21

the whole body — changes in sympathy with
the state of the mind, and the more they use
suggestion as an adjunct to medicine, the
more successful they are. Few perhaps would
credit the further fact that both our mental
and physical condition is influenced by plan-
etary rays which change as the planets
move, and yet — in these days since the prin-
ciple of radio-activity has been established
we know that every body projects into space
numberless little particles. Wireless tele-
graphy has taught us etheric waves travel
swiftly and surely through trackless space
and operate a key according to our will.
We also know that the rays of the sun affect
us differently in the morning when they
strike us horizontally and at noon when they
are perpendicular. If the light rays from
the swift moving sun produce physical and
mental changes, may not the persistent ray
of slower planets also have an effect? If
they have, they are factors in health not to
be overlooked by a thoroughly scientific
healer.

Disease is a manifestation of Ignorance,
the only sin, and Healing is a demonstration
of applied knowledge which is the only sal-

22 THE BOSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

vation. Christ is an embodiment of the Wis-
dom principle, and in proportion as the
Christ is formed in us, we attain to health.
Therefore the healer must be spiritual, and
endeavor to imbue his patient with high
ideals so that he may eventually learn to
conform to God's Laws which govern the uni-
verse and thus attain permanent health in
future lives as well as now.

But faith without works is dead. If we
persist in living under unsanitary condi-
tions faith will not save us from typhoid,
and when we apply preventatives of proper
kind or remedies in sickness, we are really
showing our faith by works.

Like other Mystery Orders the Eosicru-
cians have also aimed to help humanity in
the attainment of bodily health and it has
been written in various works that the mem-
bers of the Order took a vow to heal others
free of charge. Like all other previous so-
called 'revelations' this statement is some-
what garbled. The laybrothers take a vow
to minister to all according to the best of
their ability free of charge. That vow in-
cluded healing of course, for such men as

THE OKDEB OF ROSICKUCIANS 23

Paracelsus, who had ability in that direction
and by the combined method of physical
remedies applied under favorable stars and
spiritual counsel, he was successful in all
cases. Others were not suited to be healers
but labored in other directions, but all were
alike in one particular: they never charged
for their services, and they labored in secret
without flourish of trumpet or sound of
drum.

Having been found "faithful in a few
things," the Elder Brother who has been the
inspiration of our work, has imparted to
us a formula by which a spiritual healing
panacea may be made, to alleviate suffering
and cure disease — free of charge of course.

To perform this service for humanity it
will be necessary to educate qualified helpers
in the use of the spiritual panacea, medical
Astrology and Hygiene. They will then car-
ry help and healing abroad. A considerable
number of physicians are already affiliated
with the Eosicrucian Fellowship and it may
be that a number of them will feel a call to
practice the spiritual method in combination
with their medical profession.

24 THE EOSICKUCIAN MYSTEKIES

MOUNT ECCLESIA.

At this writing we have just bought forty
acres in the town of Oceanside, 83 miles south
of Los Angeles. It is one of the sightliest
spots of beautiful Southern California, situ-
ated upon the promontory of a high table
land, and overlooking the surrounding coun-
try in a radius of forty or more miles. Santa
Ana Mountains shelter it from the cold North
Wind. Eastwards we see the lovely San Luis
Eey Valley with its historic old Mission and
the river like a silver band winding its way
towards the Ocean. Farther East the San
Jacinto Mountain rears its snow-capped
peak. The promontory of La Jolla with its
wonderful caves hides from view the pro-
gressive city of San Diego in the very South-
westerly corner of Uncle Sam's spacious
realm. Towards the setting sun is Santa
Catalina Island, with its remarkable subma-
rine Gardens, glistening like a jewel upon
the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, while a gor-
geous sunset, a carnival of color, inspires
love and devotion to the Master Artist Who
designed all this beautiful World.

Surf -bathing is in vogue the year round,
the climate is frostless, fresh fruits and veg-

THE OKDER OF BOSICRUCIANS 25

etables are plentiful in all seasons. The
balmy air is in itself an elixir of life, excess-
ive heat is unknown. Conditions are alto-
gether conducive to attainment of health and
healing power, as in no other place we have
ever seen in our world- wide travels.

We named this beauty-spot of nature:
"Mount Ecclesia."

Ecclesia — is a Greek word translated
"church" or "congregation" in the Bible.
It is derived from "ekkaleoo" — I call out —
and really means an assembly of the called.

As soon as funds become available we will
erect suitable buildings for Headquarters, the
School of Healing, Dormitory, Sanitarium
and last, but not least, a place of worship,
an Ecclesia — where the Spiritual Panacea
may be prepared.

There also Healing Services may bring
succor of the highest potency to afflicted
ones, who seek this avenue to obtain relief
from the Great Physician: Our Father in
Heaven. He is the Great Healer Who per-
forms all cures, no matter who is His instru-
ment, or what that messenger calls himself.
Even Christ testified: "I can of mine own

26 THE EOSICBUCIAN MYSTEBIES

self do nothing, " and gave the Glory to the
Father. So shall we also content ourselves
to fervently praise God for the privilege of
being one of the channels for His Healing
Power.

Meantime we will seek out prospective
helpers in the work who can give their time
and talents, and it is our intention to build
a small cottage in a corner of the grounds
for temporary occupancy. This work will
probably be completed before the end of the
present year, and so, after January 1, 1912,
all communications of whatever nature
should be addressed to

THE EOSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP

Mount Ecclesia
OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA.

CHAPTEE H.

of ICtfe

TEE PROBLEM OF LIFE.

Among all the vicissitudes of life, which
vary in each individual's experience, there
is one event which sooner or later comes
to everyone — Death ! No matter what our
station in life, whether the life lived has
been a laudable one or the reverse, whether
great achievements have marked our path
among men ; whether health or sickness have
been our lot, whether we have been famous
and surrounded by a host of admiring friends
or have wandered unknown through the years
of our life, at some time there comes a mo-
ment when we stand alone before the portal
of death and are forced to take the leap into
the dark.

The thought of this leap and of what lies
beyond must inevitably force itself upon
27

28 THE BOSICBUCIAN MYSTERIES

every thinking person. In the years of
youth and health, when the bark of our life
sails upon seas of prosperity, when all ap-
pears beautiful and bright, we may put the
thought behind us, but there will surely
come a time in the life of every thinking per-
son when the problem of life and death for-
ces itself upon his consciousness and re-
fuses to be set aside. Neither will it help
him to accept the ready made solution of
anyone else without thought and in blind be-
lief, for this is a basic problem which every
one must solve for himself or herself in or-
der to obtain satisfaction.

Upon the Eastern edge of the Desert of
Sahara there stands the world-famous
Sphinx with its inscrutable face turned to-
ward the East, ever greeting the sun as its
rising rays herald the newborn day. It was
said in the Greek myth that it was the wont
of this monster to ask a riddle of each trav-
eler. She devoured those who could not an-
swer, but when Oedipus solved the riddle she
destroyed herself.

The riddle which she asked of men was
the riddle of life and death, a query which
is as relevant today as ever, and which each
one must answer or be devoured in the jaws

THE PKOBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 29

of death. But when once a person has found
the solution to the problem, it will appear
that in reality there is no death, that what
appears so, is but a change from one state
of existence to another. Thus, for the man
who finds the true solution to the riddle of
life, the sphinx of death has ceased to ex-
ist, and he can lift his voice in the trium-
phant cry "Oh death where is thy sting, oh
grave where is thy victory."

Various theories of life have been advocat-
ed to solve this problem of life. We may
divide them into two classes, namely the
monistic theory, which holds that all the
facts of life can be explained by reference
to this visible world wherein we live, and the
dualistic theory, which refers part of the
phenomenon of life to another world which
is now invisible to us.

Eaphael in his famous painting "the
School of Athens" has most aptly pictured
to us the attitude of these two schools of
thought. We see upon that marvelous
painting a Greek Court such as those where-
in philosophers were once wont to congre-
gate. Upon the various steps which lead in-
to the building a large number of men are
engaged in deep conversation, but in the

30 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

center at the top of the steps stand two
figures, supposedly of Plato and Aristotle,
one pointing upwards, the other towards the
earth, each looking the otter in the face,
mutely, but with deeply concentrated will.
Each seeking to convince the other that his
attitude is right for each bears the convic-
tion in his heart. One holds that he is of
the earth earthy, that he has come from the
dust and that thereto he will return, the
other firmly advocates the position that
there is a higher something which has al-
ways existed and will continue regardless of
whether the body wherein it now dwells
holds together or not.

The question who is right is still an open
one with the majority of mankind. Mil-
lions of tons of paper and printer *s ink have
been used in futile attempts to settle it by
argument, but it will always remain open to
all who have not solved the riddle them-
selves, for it is a basic problem, a part of the
life experience of every human being to
settle that question, and therefore no one
can give us the solution ready made for our
acceptance. All that can be done by those
who have really solved the problem, is to
show to others the line along which they

THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 31

have found the solution, and thus direct the
inquirer how he also may arrive at a con-
clusion.

That is the aim of this little book ; not to
offer a solution to the problem of life to be
taken blindly, on faith in the author's abil-
ity of investigation. The teachings herein
set forth are those handed down by the
Great Western Mystery School of the Bosi-
crucian Order and are the result of the con-
current testimony of a long line of trained
Seers given to the author and supplemented
by his own independent investigation of the
realms traversed by the spirit in its cyclic
path from the invisible world to this plane
of existence and back again.

Nevertheless, the student is warned that
the writer may have misunderstood some of
the teachings and that despite the greatest
care he may have taken a wrong view of
that which he believes to have seen in the in-
visible world where the possibilities of mak-
ing a mistake are legion. Here in the world
which we view about us the forms are staple
and do not easily change, but in the world
around us which is perceptible only by the
spiritual sight, we may say that there is in re-
ality no form, but that all is life. At least the

32 THE EOSICBUCIAN MYSTERIES

forms are so changeable that the metamor-
phosis recounted in fairy stories is discounted
there to an amazing degree, and therefore we
have the surprising revelations of mediums
and other untrained clairvoyants who,
though they may be perfectly honest, are de-
ceived by illusions of form which is evanes-
cent, because they are incapable of viewing
the life that is the permanent basis of that
form.

We must learn to see in this world. The
new-born babe has no conception of distance
and will reach for things far, far beyond its
grasp until it has learned to gauge its ca-
pacity. A blind man who acquires the fac-
ulty of sight, or has it restored by an opera-
tion, will at first be inclined to close his eyes
when moving from place to place, and de-
clare that it is easier to walk by feeling than
by sight, that is because he has not learned
to use his newly acquired faculty. Similar-
ly the man whose spiritual vision has been
newly opened requires to be trained, in fact
he is in much greater need thereof than the
babe and the blind man already mentioned.
Denied that training he would be like a new-
born babe placed in a nursery where the
walls are lined with mirrors of different

THE PKOBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 33

convex and concave curvatures, which
would distort its own shape and the forms
of its attendants. If allowed to grow up in
such surroundings and unable to see the real
shapes of itself and its nurses it would nat-
urally believe that it saw many different and
distorted shapes where in reality the mirrors
were responsible for the illusion. Were the
persons concerned in such an experiment
and the child taken out of the illusory sur-
roundings, it would be incapable of rec-
ognizing them until the matter had been
properly explained. There are similar
dangers of illusion to those who have de-
veloped spiritual sight, until they have been
trained to discount the refraction and to
view the life which is permanent and staple,
disregarding the form which is evanescent
and changeable. The danger of getting
things out of focus always remains however
and is so subtle that the writer feels an im-
perative duty to warn his readers to take all
statements concerning the unseen world
with the proverbial grain of salt, for he has
no intention to deceive. He is therefore in-
clined rather to magnify than to minimize
his limitations and would advise the stu-
dent to accept nothing from the author's pen

34 THE BOSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

without reasoning it out for himself. Thus,
if he is deceived, he will be self -deceived and
the author is blameless.

Three Theories of Life.

Only three noteworthy theories have been
offered as solutions to the riddle of exist-
ence and in order that the reader may be
able to make the important choice between
them, we will state briefly what they are and
give some of the arguments which lead us
to advocate the doctrine of Rebirth as the
method which favors soul-growth and the ul-
timate attainment of perfection, thus offer-
ing the best solution to the problem of life.

1) THE MATERIALISTIC THEORY teaches that
life is but a short journey from the cradle to
the grave, that there is no higher intelli-
gence in the universe than man; that his
mind is produced by certain correlations of
matter and that therefore death and disolu-
tion of the body terminate existence.

There was a day when the arguments of
Materialistic philosophers seemed convin-
cing, but as science advances it discovers
more and more that there is a spiritual side
to the universe. That life and consciousness
may exist without being able to give us a
sign, has been amply proven in the cases

THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 35

where a person who was entranced and
thought dead for days has suddenly awaken-
ed and told all that had taken place around
the body. Such eminent scientists as Sir
Oliver Lodge, Camille Flammarion, Lambro-
so and other men of highest intelligence and
scientific training, have unequivocally stated
as the result of their investigations, that the
intelligence which we call man survives
death of the body and lives on in our midst
as independently of whether we see them or
not as light and color exist all about the
blind man regardless of the fact that he
does not perceive them. These scientists
have reached their conclusion after years of
careful investigation. They have found that
the so-called dead can, and under certain cir-
cumstances do, communicate with us in such
a manner that mistake is out of the question.
We maintain that their testimony is worth
more than the argument of materialism to
the contrary, for it is based upon years of
careful investigation, it is in harmony with
such well established laws as the law of con-
servation of matter and the law of conserva-
tion of energy. Mind is a form of energy,
and immune from destruction as claimed by
the materialist. Therefore we disbar the

36 THE KOSICEUCIAN MYSTERIES

materialistic theory as unsound, because out
of harmony with the laws of nature and with
well established facts.

2) THE THEORY of THEOLOGY claims that
just prior to each birth a soul is created by
God and enters into the world where it lives
for a time varying from a few minutes to a
few score of years; that at the end of this
short span of life it returns through the por-
tal of death to the invisible beyond, where
it remains forever in a condition of happi-
ness or misery according to the deeds done
in the body during the few years it lived here.

Plato insisted upon the necessity of a
clear definition of terms as a basis of argu-
ment and we contend that that is as
necessary in discussing the problem of life
from the Bible point of view as in argu-
ments from the platonic standpoint. Accord-
ing to the Bible man is a composite being
consisting of body, souf and spirit. The two
latter are usually taken to be synonymous,
but we insist that they are not interchange-
able and present the following to support
our dictum.

All things are in a state of vibration. Vi-
brations from objects in our surroundings
are constantly impinging upon us and carry

THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 37

to our senses a cognition of the external
world. The vibrations in the ether act upon
our eyes so that we see, and vibrations in the
air transmit sounds to the ear.

We also breathe the air and ether which is
thus charged with pictures of our surround-
ings and the sounds in our environment, so
that by means of the breath we receive at
each moment of our life, internally an ac-
curate picture of our external surroundings.

That is a scientific proposition. Science
does not explain what becomes of these vi-
brations however, but according to the Eosi-
crucian Mystery teaching they are trans-
mitted to the blood, and then etched upon a
little atom in the heart as automatically as
a moving picture is imprinted upon the sen-
sitized film, and a record of sounds is en-
graven upon the phonographic disc. This
breath-record starts with the first breath of
the newborn babe and ends only with the
last gasp of the dying man, and "soul" is a
product of the breath. Genesis also shows
the connection between breath and soul in the
words: "And the Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul" (The same word: nephesh, is

38 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

translated breath and soul in the above quo-
tation.)

In the post mortem existence the breath-
record is disposed of. The good acts of life
produce feelings of pleasure and the inten-
sity of attraction incorporates them into the
spirit as soul-power. Thus the breath-rec-
ords of our good acts are the soul which is
saved, for by the union with the spirit they
become immortal. As they accumulate life
after life, we become more soulful and they
are thus also the basis of soulgrowth.

The record of our evil acts is also de-
rived from our breath in the moments when
they were committed. The pain and suffer-
ing they bring cause the spirit to expel the
breath-record from its being in Purgatory.
As that cannot exist independently of the
life-giving spirit, the breath-record of our
sins disintegrates upon expurgation, and
thus we see that "the soul that sinneth, it
shall die." The memory of the suffering
incidental to expurgation however, remains
with the spirit as conscience, to deter from
repetition of the same evil in later lives.

Thus both our good and evil acts are re-
corded through the agency of the breath,
which is therefore the basis of the soul, but

THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 39

while the breath-record of good acts amal-
gamates with the spirit and lives on forever
as an immortal soul, the breath-record of evil
deeds is disintegrated ; it is the soul that sin-
neth and dies.

While the Bible teaches that immortality
of the soul is conditional upon well-doing, it
makes no distinction in respect of the spirit.
The statement is clear and emphatic that
when . . " The silver cord be loosed . .then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was
and the spirit shall return to God who gave
it."

Thus the Bible teaches that the body is
made of dust and returns thereto, that a
part of the soul generated in the breath is
perishable, but that the spirit survives bod-
ily death and persists forever. Therefore a
"lost soul" in the common acceptance of
that term is not a Bible teaching, for the
spirit is uncreate and eternal as God Him-
self, and therefore the orthodox theory can-
not be true.

3) THE THEORY OF EEBIRTHS which teach-
es that each spirit is an integral part of God,
that it enfolds all divine possibilities as the
acorn enfolds the oak; that by means of
many existences in an earthy body of grad-

40 THE EOSICEUCIAN MYSTERIES

ually improving texture its latent powers
are being slowly unfolded and become avail-
able as dynamic energy; that none can be
lost but that all will ultimately attain to per-
fection and reunion with God, each bringing
with it the accumulated experience which is
the fruitage of its pilgrimage through mat-
ter.
Or, as we may poetically express it:

WE ABE ETERNAL.

On whistling stormcloud ; on Zephyrus wing,

The Spirit-choir loud the World-anthems
sing

Hark! Lis't to their voice "we have passed
through death's door

There's no Death; rejoice! life lives ever-
more. "

We are, have always been, will ever be.

We are a portion of Eternity

Older than Creation, a part of One Great

Whole,
Is each Individual and immortal Soul.

THE PBOBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 41

On Time's whirring loom our garments

we've wrought

Eternally weave we on network of Thought,
Our kin and our country, by Mind brought

to birth,
Were patterned in heaven ere molded on

earth.

We have shone in the Jewel and danced on

the Wave,

We have sparkled in Fire defying the grave ;
Through shapes everchanging, in size, kind

and name
Our individual essence still is the same.

And when we have reached to the highest of
all,

The gradations of growth our minds shall
recall

So that link by link we may join them to-
gether

And trace step by step the way we reached
thither.

Thus in time we shall know, if only we do
What lifts, ennobles, is right and true.
With kindness to all; with malice to none,
That in and through us God's will may be
done.

42 THE KOSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

We venture to make the assertion that
there is but one sin: Ignorance and but one
salvation: Applied Knowledge. Even the
wisest among us know but little of what may
be learned, however, and no one has attained
to perfection, or can attain in one single
short life, but we note that everywhere in na-
ture slow persistent unfoldment makes for
higher and higher development of every
thing and we call this process evolution.

One of the chief characteristics of evolu-
tion lies in the fact that it manifests in alter-
nating periods of activity and rest. The
busy summer, when all things upon earth are
exerting themselves to bring forth, is follow-
ed by the rest and inactivity of winter. The
busy day alternates with the quiet of night.
The ebb of the ocean is succeeded by the
flood-tide. Thus, as all other things move in
cycles, the life that expresses itself here up-
on earth for a few years is not to be though/
of as ended when death has been reached,
but as surely as the sun rises in the morningr
after having set at night, will the life that
was ended by the death of one body be taken
up again in a new vehicle and in a different
environment.

THE PROBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 43

This earth may in fact be likened to a
school to which we return life after life to
learn new lessons, as our children go to
school day after day to increase their knowl-
edge. The child sleeps through the night
which intervenes between two days at school
and the spirit also has its rest from active
life between death and a new birth. There
are also different classes in this world-
school which correspond to the various
grades from kindergarten to college. In the
lower classes we find spirits who have gone
to the school of life but a few times, they
are savages now, but in time they will be-
come wiser and better than we are, and we
ourselves shall progress in future lives to
spiritual heights of which we cannot even con-
ceive at the present. If we apply ourselves to
learn the lessons of life, we shall of
course advance much faster in the school of
life than if we dilly-dally and idle our time
away. This, on the same principle which gov-
erns in one of our own institutions of learn-
ing.

We are not here then, by the caprice of
God. He has not placed one in clover and
another in a desert nor has He given one a
healthy body so that he may live at ease

44 THE EOSICKUCIAN MYSTERIES

from pain and sickness, while He placed an-
other in poor circumstances with never a
rest from pain. But what we are, we are, on
account of our own diligence or negligence,
and what we shall be in the future depends
upon what we will to be and not upon Divine
caprice or upon inexorable fate. No matter
what the circumstances, it lies with us to
master them, or to be mastered, as we will.
Sir Edwin Arnold puts the teaching most
beautifully in his "Light of Asia."

"The Books say well, my Brothers! each

man's life

The outcome of his former living is;
The bygone wrongs bring forth sorrows and

woes

The bygone right breeds bliss.

********

Each has such lordship as the loftiest ones
Nay for with powers around, above, below
As with all flesh and whatsoever lives

Act maketh joy or woe.

********

Who toiled, a slave may come anew a prince
For gentle worthiness and merit won
Who ruled, a king may wander earth in rags
For things done or undone."

THE PEOBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 45

Or, as an unknown poet says:

"One ship sails East and another sails West
With the self same winds that blow.
"Tis the set of the sail, and not the gale,
Which determines the way they go.

As the winds of the sea are the ways of fate

As we voyage along through life.

'Tis the act of the soul, which determines

the goal
And not the calm or the strife."

When we wish to engage someone to un-
dertake a certain mission we choose some one
whom we think particularly fitted to fulfill
the requirements and we must suppose that
a Divine Being would use at least as much
common sense, and not choose anyone to go
bis errand who was not fitted therefor. So
when we read in the Bible that Samson was
foreordained to be the slayer of the Philip
tines and that Jeremiah was predestined to
be a prophet, it is but logical to suppose that
they must have been particularly suited to
such occupation. John the Baptist also, was
born to be a herald of the coming Savior and
to preach the kingdom of God which is to
take the place of the kingdom of men.

46 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

Had these people had no previous train-
ing, how could they have developed such a
fitness to fulfill their various missions, and
if they had been fitted, how else could they
have received their training if not in earlier
lives ?

'.The Jews believed in the Doctrine of lie-
birth or they would not have asked John the
Baptist if he were Elijah, as recorded in the
fiist chapter of John. The Apostles of
Christ also held the belief as we may see
from the incident recorded in the sixteenth
chapter of Mathew where the Christ asked
them the question: "Whom do men say that
I the Son of Man am?" The Apostles re-
plied: "Some say that Thou art John the
Baptist ; some, Elias ; and others Jeremias or
one of the Prophets." Upon this occasion
the Christ tacitly assented to the teaching
of Eebirth because He did not correct the dis-
ciples as would have been His plain duty in
His capacity as teacher, when the pupils en-
tertained a mistaken idea.

But to Nicodemus He said unequivocally:
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God" and in the eleventh
chapter of Mathew, the fourteenth verse, He
said, speaking of John the Baptist: "this

THE PKOBLEM or LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 47

is Elijah/' in the seventeenth chapter of
Mathew, the twelfth verse, He said: "Elijah
has come already and they knew him not,
but have done to him whatsoever they listed,
then the disciples understood
that he spoke to them of John the Baptist."

Thus we maintain that the Doctrine of Re-
birth offers the only solution to the problem
of life which is in harmony with the laws of
nature, which answers the ethical require-
ments of the case and permits us to love God
without blinding our reason to the inequali-
ties of life and the varying circumstances
which give to a few the ease and comfort, the
health and wealth, which are denied to the
many.

The theory of Heredity advanced by Ma-
terialists applies only to the form, for as a
carpenter uses material from a certain pile
of lumber to build a house in which he after-
wards lives, so does the spirit take the sub-
stance wherewith to build its house from the
parents. The carpenter cannot build a house
of hard wood from Spruce lumber and the
spirit also must build a body which is like
those from which the material was taken, but
the theory of Heredity does not apply upon
the moral plane, for it is a notorious fact,
that in the rogues galleries of America and

48 THE ROSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

Europe there is no case where both father
and son are represented. Thus the sons of
criminals, though they have the tendencies
to crime, keep out of the clutches of the law.
Neither will Heredity hold good upon the
plane of the intellect, for many cases may
be cited where a genius and an idiot spring
from the same stock. The great Cuvier,
whose brain was of about the same weight,
as Daniel Webster's, and whose intellect was
as great, had five children who all died of
paresis, the brother of Alexander the Great
was an idiot, and thus we hold that another
solution must be found to account for the
facts of life.

The law of Eebirth coupled with its com-
panion law, the law of Causation does that.
When we die after one life, we return to
earth later, under circumstances determined
by the manner in which we lived before. The
gambler is drawn to pool parlors and race
tracks to associate with others of like taste,
the musician is attracted to the concert halls
and music studios, by congenial spirits, and
the returning Ego also carries with it its
likes and dislikes which cause it to seek par-
ents among the class to which it belongs.

THE PKOBLEM OP LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 49

But then someone will point to cases where
we find people of entirely opposite tastes liv-
ing lives of torture, because grouped in the
same family, and forced by circumstances to
stay there contrary to their wills. But that
does not vitiate the law in the slightest, in
each life we contract certain obligations
which cannot then be fulfilled. Perhaps we
have ran away from a duty such as the care
of an invalid relative and have met death
without coming to a realization of our mis-
take. That relative upon the other hand may
have suffered severely from our neglect, and
have stored up a bitterness against us before
death terminates the suffering. Death and
the subsequent removal to another environ-
ment does not pay our debts from this life,
any more than the removal from the city
where we now live to another place will pay
the debts we have contracted prior to our re-
moval. It is therefore quite possible that
the two who have injured each other as de-
scribed, may find themselves members of
the same family. Then, whether they re-
member the past grudge or not, the old en-
mity will assert itself and cause them to
hate anew until the consequent discomfort
forces them to tolerate each other, and per-

50 THE EOSICKUCIAN MYSTEKIES

haps later they may learn to love where they
hated.

The question also arises in the mind of in-
quirers : If we have been here before why do
we not remember f And the answer is, that
while most people are not aware of how their
previous existences were spent, there are
others who have a very distinct recollection
of previous lives. A friend of the writer's
for instance, when living in France, one day
started to read to her son about a certain
city where they were then going upon a bi-
cycle tour, and the boy exclaimed: you do
not need to tell me about that mother. I
know that city, I lived there and was killed !
He then commenced to describe the city and
also a certain bridge. Later he took his
mother to that bridge and showed her the
spot where he had met death centuries be-
fore. Another friend travelling in Ireland
saw a scene which she recognized and she al-
so described to the party the scene around
the bend of the road which she had never
seen in this life, so it must have been a mem-
ory from a previous life. Numerous other
instances could be given where such minor
flashes of memory reveal to us glimpses from
a past life. The verified case in which a lit-

THE PKOBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 51

tie three year old girl in Santa Barbara de-
scribed her life and death has been given in
the Eosicrucian Cosmo Conception. It is per-
haps the most conclusive evidence as it
hinges on the veracity of a child too young
to have learned deception.

This theory of life does not rest upon spec-
ulation however, it is one of the first facts of
life demonstrated to the pupil of a Mystery
school. He is taught to watch a child in the
act of dying, also, to watch it in the invisible
world from day to day, until it comes to a
new birth a year or two later. Then he
knows with absolute certainty that we return
to earth to reap in a future life what we now
sow.

The reason for taking a child to watch in
preference to an adult, is, that the child is re-
born very quickly, for its short life on earth
has borne but few fruits and these are soon
assimilated, while the adult who has lived a
long life, and had much experience remains in
the invisible worlds for centuries, so that the
pupil could not watch him from death to re-
birth. The cause of infant mortality will be
explained later, here we merely desire to em-
phasize the fact that it is within the range
of possibilities of every one without excep-

52 THE BOSICRUCIAN MYSTERIES

tion to become able to know at first hand
that which is here taught.

The average interval between two earth-
lives is about a thousand years. It is de-
termined by the movement of the sun known
to astronomers as precession of the equinox,
by which the sun moves through one of the
signs of the Zodiac in about 2100 years. Dur-
ing that time the conditions upon earth have
changed so much that the spirit will find en-
tirely new experiences here, and therefore it
returns.

The Great Leaders of evolution always ob-
tain the maximum benefit from each condi-
tion designed by them, and as the experien-
ces in the same social conditions are very
different in the case of a man from what
they are for a woman, the human spirit takes
birth twice during the 2100 years measured
by the precession of the equinox as already
explained, it is born once as a man and an-
other time as a woman. Such is the rule, but
it is subject to whatever modifications may
be necessary to facilitate reaping what the
spirit has sown, as required under the law of
Causation which works hand in hand with the
law of Rebirth. Thus, at times a spirit may
be brought to birth long ere the thousand

THE PKOBLEM OF LIFE AND ITS SOLUTION 53

years have expired, in order to fulfill a cer-
tain mission, or it may be detained in the in-
visible worlds after the time when it should
have come to birth according to the strict re-
quirements of a blind law. The laws of na-
ture are not that however. They are Great
Intelligences who always subordinate minor
considerations to higher ends, and under their
beneficent guidance we are constantly pro-
gressing from life to life under conditions ex-
actly suited to each individual, until in time
we shall attain to a higher evolution and be-
come Supermen.

Oliver Wendell Holmes has so beautifully
voiced that aspiration and its consummation
in the lines:

" Build thee more stately mansions Oh! my
soul,

As the swift seasons roll,

Leave thy low- vaulted past;

Let each new temple, nobler than the last,

Shut thee from heaven with a dome more
vast.

Till at length thou art free,

Leaving thy outgrown shell by life's unrest-
ing sea."