PART I

THE FUNCTION OF DESIRE
THOSE who have given the matter study are fa- miliar with the havoc which an acute attack of fear or worry plays with the physical body. We know how these emotions derange digestion, interfere with the metabolic changes and with elimination of waste, and, in short, upset the whole system, with the result that in some cases the person is forced to take to his bed for a longer or shorter time depending upon the severity of the attack and the resistive power of the constitution. But there is an occult effect which is equally serious or more so that is usually not under- stood, and it may therefore be of considerable benefit to study the occult effect of poise and passion, anger and love, pessimism and optimism.
From the study of the Cosmo we learn that our desire body was generated in the Moon Period. If you wish to obtain a mental picture of the way things looked then, take an illustration of the foetus as shown in any book on anatomy. There are three principal parts : the placenta, which is filled with the maternal
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blood, tlie umbilical cord, which carries this vital stream, and tJie foetus, which is nourished from em- bryo to maturity thereby. Fancy now, in that far off time, the firmament as one immense placenta from which there depended billions of umbilical cords, each with its fatal appendage. Through the whole human family, then in the making, circulated the one universal essence of desire and emotion, gen- erating in all the impulses to action which are now manifest in every phase of the world's work. These umbilical cords and foetal appendages were molded from the moist desire stuff by the emotions of the lunar Angels, while the fiery desire currents which were endeavoring to stir the latent life in mankind, then in the making, were generated by the fiery mar- tial Lucifer Spirits. The color of that first slow vi- bration which they set in motion in that emotional desire stuff was red.
And while that tincture of trouble (for that is really what this ever-flowing, eternal restlessness is which even now drives us on without pause or peace) was circulating within us, the planet on which we dwelt also circled about a sun, not our present light- giver but a past embodiment of the substance which composes our present solar universe, and we in turn circled the globe on which we dwelt, from light to darkness, from heat to cold. We were thus worked upon from within and without in an endeavor to stir
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the sleeping consciousness. And there was a response, for though none of the partially separated spirits dwelling in an individual foetal sac would have been able to feel these impacts, although they were very strong, the cumulative feelings of billions of such spirits was sensed as a sound in the universe, a cosmic cry — the first note in the harmony of the spheres — played upon a single string. It was, nevertheless, expressive in an adequate measure of the latent long- ings and aspirations of the incipient human race of those far bygone days.
This desire nature has since evolved ; the fiery, mar- tial sub-stratum of passion and the aqueous lunar basis of emotion have become capable of numerous combinations. As thought furrows the brain into convolutions and the face into lines, so have the pas- sions, desires, and emotions marshaled the mobile de- sire stuff into curved lines and whorls, eddies, rapids, and whirlpools, resembling a mountain torrent at the time when it is at its greatest disturbance — it is sel- dom ever at even comparative rest. This desire stuff has, in successive periods of its evolution, become re- sponsive to one after another of the seven planetary vibrations emanating from the Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Each individual desire body has, during that time, been woven into a unique pattern, and as the shuttlecock of fate flies
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back and forth unceasingly upon the loom of destiny, this pattern is being enlarged upon, embellished, ana beautified, though we may not perceive it. As the weaver always does his work on the reverse side of his tapestry, so are we also weaving without fully understanding the ultimate design or seeing the sub- lime beauty thereof, because it is yet on the side away from us, the hidden side of nature.
But in order that we may better understand, let us take up some of these tangled threads of passion and emotion to see what effect they have on the pat- tern which God, the Master-Weaver, wishes us to make.
The ancient myths always shed a luminous light upon the problems of the soul, and we may profitably consider in this connection a certain part of the Ma- sonic legend. The masons are a society of builders, "tektons" in Greek- — the same society in fact to which Joseph and Jesus belonged, for the latter are called in the Greek bible, "tektons" — builders — not carpen- ters, as in the orthodox version. The masons un- der Solomon were the builders of that mystic temple designed by God, the Grand Archetekton or Master Builder, and built without sound of hammer, which Manson speaks about in that won- derful play, "The Servant in the House." He tells us there that "it is no dead pile of stone
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and timber, but it is a living thing. When you enter it you hear a sound, a sound as of a mighty anthem chanted, that is, if you have ears; and if you have eyes, you will presently see the temple itself, a mystery of looming shapes and shadows, leaping sheer from floor to dome. It is yet building and built upon ; sometimes the work goes on in utter darkness, some- times in blinding light." Every true mystic mason knows what this temple is and endeavors to build it. The ancient masonic legend tells us that when Hiram Abiff, the master mason in charge of the construction of Solomon's temple, a building of God made without sound of hammer, was preparing to make his master- piece, the "molten sea," he gathered materials from all over the earth and placed them in a fiery furnace, for he was a descendant of Cain, a son of fire, who in turn was a son of Lucifer, the spirit of fire. Hiram proposed to make an alloy of crystal clarity, capable of reflecting all the wisdom of the world. But, so runs the story, there were among the workmen certain, traitors — spies from the Sons of Seth — who, through Adam and Eve, were descendants of the lunar god Jehovah, wlw had an affinity for water and who hated fire. These traitors poured water into the mold in which the molten sea, the Philosopher's Stone, wa» to be cast. Upon the meeting of the fire with the water there was a great explosion. Hiram Abiff, the
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master mason, being unable to blend the warring ele- ments, saw with unspeakable sorrow the destructive eruption of his attempted masterpiece. While he was watching the battle of the spirits in the fire and water, Tubal-Cain, his ancestor, appeared and bade him jump into the seething mass. He was then conducted to the center of the earth where he met his first an- cestor, Cain, who gave him a new word and a new hammer which would enable him, when he had be- come skilled in the use thereof, to blend the antag- onistic elements and make from them the Philoso- pher's Stone, the highest possible human achieve- ment.
There is in this symbolical story more wisdom than could be given in volumes concerning human soul growth. If the student will read between the lines and meditate upon these various symbolical expres- sions, he will gain much more than can ever be said, for true wisdom is always generated interiorly and the mission of books is only to give a clue.
Since this ancient time the lunar Angels have taken charge principally of the moist, aqueous vital body composed of the four ethers and concerned in the propagation and nourishment of the species, while the Lucifer Spirits are singularly active in the dry and fiery desire vehicles. The function of the vital body is to build and sustain the dense body, while
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that of the desire body involves destruction of the tissues. Thus, there is a constant war going on be- tween the desire and vital bodies, and it is this war in heaven that causes our physical consciousness on earth. Through many lives we have worked in every age and clime, and from each life we have extracted a certain amount of experience, garnered and stored as vibratory power in the seed-atoms of our various vehicles. Thus, each of us is a builder, building the temple of the immortal spirit without sound of ham- mer; each one is a Hiram Abiff, gathering material for soul-growth and throwing it in the furnace of his life-experience, there to be worked upon by the fire of passion and desire. It is being slowly but surely melted, the dross is being purged in every pur- gatorial experience, and the quintessence of soul growth is being extracted through many lives. Every one of us is thus preparing for initiation, — preparing whether we know it or not — learning to blend the fiery passions with the softer, gentler emotions. The new hammer or gavel wherewith the master workman rules his subordinates is now a cross of sorrow, and the new word is self-control.
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PAET II
THE COLOR EFFECTS OF EMOTION IN ASSEMBLAGES OF PEOPLE — THE ISOLATING EFFECT OF WORRY
LET us now see how the desire body changes under the varying feelings, desires, passions, and emo- tions, so that we may learn to build wisely and well the mystic temple wherein we dwell.
When we study one of the so-called physical sciences, such as anatomy or architecture, which deals with tangible things, our task is facilitated by the fact that we have words which describe the things whereof we treat, but even then the mental picture conceived by a word differs with each individual. When we speak of a "bridge," one may make a mental picture of a million-dollar iron structure, another may think of a plank across a streamlet. The difficulty which we experience in conveying accurate impressions of our meaning increases apace when we attempt to convey ideas concerning nature's intangible forces, such as electricity. We measure the strength of the current in volts, the volume in amperes, and the resistance of the conductors in ohms, but, as a matter of actual fact,
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such terms are only inventions to cover up our igno- rance of the matter. We all know what a pound of coffee is, but the world's greatest scientist has no more accurate conception of what the volts, amperes, and ohms are of which he so learnedly discourses than the schoolboy who hears these terms for the first time.
What wonder then that super-physical subjects are described in vague and often misleading terms, for we have no words in any physical language which will accurately describe these subjects, and one is almost helpless and utterly at a loss for descriptive terms wherewith to express oneself regarding them. If it were possible to throw colored moving pictures of the desire body upon the screen and there show how this restless vehicle changes contour and color accord- ing to the emotions, even then it would not give an adequate understanding to any one who was not capable of seeing these things himself, for the vehicles of every single human being differ from the vehicles of all others in the way they respond to certain emo- tions. That which causes one to feel intense love, hate, anger, fear, or any other emotion may leave another entirely untouched.
The writer has a number of times watched crowds for the purpose of comparison in this respect, and has always found something startlingly new and dif- ferent from what had hitherto been observed. On
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one occasion a demagogue was endeavoring to incite a labor union to strike; he was very much excited himself, and though the basic color of deep orange was perceivable, it was for the time being almost obliterated by a scarlet color of the brightest hue; the contour of his desire body was like the body of a porcupine with its quills sticking out. There was a strong element of opposition in the place, and as he talked one could clearly distinguish the two factions by the colors of their respective auras. One set of men showed the scarlet of anger, but in the other set this color was inter-mingled with a grey, the color of fear. It was also remarkable that, although the grey men were in the majority, the others carried the day, for each timid one believed himself alone or at least with very few supporters, and was there- fore afraid to vote for or express his opinion. If one who was able to see this condition had been present and had gone to each one who manifested in his aura the signs of dissension, and had given him the assur- ance that he was one of a majority, the tide would have turned in the opposite direction. It is often so in human affairs, for at the present time the majority are unable to see beneath the surface of the physical body and thus to perceive the true state of the thoughts and feelings of others.
On another occasion a revival meeting was visited
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where many thousands were present to hear a speaker of national repute. At the beginning of the meeting it was evident from the state of the auras of the people that the great majority had come there with no other purpose than to have a good time and see some fun. The thoughts, feelings, and emotions con- nected with the ordinary life of each were plainly visible, but in a number a certain darkish blue color showed an attitude of worry ; it seemed that they had had some disappointment in life and were very un- easy. When the speaker appeared, a curious phe- nomenon took place: desire bodies are usually in a state of restless motion, but at that moment it seemed as if the whole vast audience must have held its breath in an attitude of expectancy, for the varied color- play in the individual desire bodies ceased and the basic orange hue was plainly perceptible for an in- stant; presently each commenced his emotional activ- ities as before, while the prelude was being played. Then commenced the singing of hymns, and this showed the value and effect of music, for as all united in singing identical words to the same tune, the same rhythmic vibrations which surged through all these desire bodies seemed to blend them and make them, for the time being, almost one. Quite a number were sitting in the scoff ers' seat, so to speak, refusing to sing and unite with the others. To the spiritual sight
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they appeared as men of steel, clothed in an armor of that color, and from each one, without exception, went out a vibration which said so much plainer than mere words could ever have done, " Leave me alone, you shall not touch me." Something from within had drawn them there, but they were mortally afraid of giving way, and therefore their whole aura ex- pressed this steel color of fear which is an armor of the soul against outside interference.
When the first song was ended, the unity of color and vibration lapsed almost immediately, each one taking anew his customary thought atmosphere; and had nothing more been done, each would have lapsed into his habitual inner life. But the evangelist, though not able to see this, knew from past experience that his audience was not yet ripe, and a succession of songs were therefore sung to the accompaniment of clapping hands, beating drums, and gesticulations from the leader, aided by a trained chorus. This brought the scattered souls again into a bond of har- mony; gradually people were overwhelmed with re- ligious fervor, and the unity necessary for the next effort was established. From the music, the leader's hand-clapping, and the stirring appeal of the songs, that vast audience had become as one, for the men of steel, the gray-tinted scoffers who thought themselves too wise to be fooled (when their emotion really was
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fear), were a negligible part in that vast congrega- tion. All were then attuned as the many strings upon one great instrument, and the evangelist who appeared before them was a master artist at playing upon their emotions. He moved them from laughter to tears, from sorrow to shame ; great waves of the corresponding colors seemed to go over the whole audience, as bewildering as they were magnificent. Then there were the customary calls to "stand up for Jesus ' ' ; the invitation to the ' ' mourners ' bench, ' ' etc., and each brought forth from all over the audi- ence a certain emotional response which was plainly shown in colors, golden and blue. Then there were more songs, more clapping and gesticulations which, for the time, furthered the unity and gave this audi- ence an experience resembling the feeling of universal brotherhood and the reality of the Fatherhood of God. The only ones upon whom the music had no effect were the men clad in the steel blue armor of fear. This color seems to be almost impervious to any other emotion; and even though the feelings ex- perienced by the great majority were relatively im- permanent, the people benefited in a measure by the revival, with the exception of these men of steel.
So far as the writer has been able to learn, the inner fear of yielding to emotion — fear being saturnine in effect and twin sister to worry — seems to require a
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shock that will take the person so affected out of his environment and set him down in a new place among new conditions before the old conditions can be over- come.
Worry is a condition where the desire currents do not sweep in long curved lines in any part of the desire body, but where the vehicle is full of eddies— nothing but eddies in extreme cases. The person so affected does not endeavor to take action in any line ; he sees calamities where there are none, and instead of generating currents which lead to action that may prevent the thing he fears, each thought of worry causes an eddy in the desire body, and he does nothing in consequence. This condition of worry in the desire body may be likened to water which is about to congeal under a lowering temperature; fear which expresses itself as skepticism, cynicism, and pessimism may be likened to that same water when it has frozen, for the desire bodies of such people are almost motionless, and nothing one can say or do seems to have the power to alter the condition. They have, to use a common expression which fits the condition excellently, "drawn into a shell," and that saturnine shell must be broken before it is possible to get at the man and help him out of his pitiable state.
These saturnine emotions of fear and worry are usually caused by the sufferers' apprehension of
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economic or social difficulties. " Perhaps this invest- ment which I have made may. depreciate or become a total loss; I may lose my position and find myself starving upon the street; everything I undertake seems to go wrong; my neighbors are slandering me and trying to undermine my social position; my hus- band (or wife) does not care for me any more; my children are neglecting me ; " and a thousand and one kindred suggestions present themselves to the mind. He should remember that every time one of these thoughts is indulged in, it helps to congeal the cur- rents in the desire body and build a steel blue shell in which the person who habitually fosters fear and worry will some time find himself shut off from the love, sympathy, and help of all the world. Therefore we ought to strive to be cheerful, even under adverse circumstances, or we may find ourselves in a serious condition here and hereafter.
"It is easy enough to be pleasant When life flows along like a song,
But the man worth while
Is the one who will smile When everything goes dead wrong."
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