Rosicrucian Digest, December 1950

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DIGEST



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A T T R A C T IV E S E A L S( I n C o l o r s )

<J T hese Rosicr ucian Seals are

about the size of a twenty- five*

cent piece. T hey are beautifully

printed in red and embossed

in gold. Each Seal is gumme d

and therefore easily attached to

packages or letters. The symbol

and name of the Order are artis>

tically presented. T he seals are

economically priced at

Onl y 6 0 £For Package of 100

And By This SignShall They Be Known

\ V / 1- I I I IN K in t er ms ol p ict ur es. O ur id eas ar e not composed ol

mere angles, straight l ines, or cubes, hut arc the complete mental

lor ms of t hings w e hav e hear d , seen, t ast ed, fe l t, or smel led . A t hing

need not alw ay s be seen in its ent irety to sugg est its complete nature

\ o u.s. On e s now f lake r a n conv oy )J>e idea o) a storm, a Hag can signily

the nature it represents, and the appea ra nce of one unilorm ed policeoff icer denotes the forces ol law an d order. O ne l it t le sign or sy mbol,

simple, even inco nspicuo us, can by ass ociat ion br ing to the lore ol

human consciousness a v a s t and d et a i led ment a l p ict ur e of t hat w hich

it represents. A hands om e, yet sm all Se al often can arouse more

curiosity by the imaginat ive picture it creates in the mind than a long

let t er or per suasiv e ar gument .

Pr ov oke t hought ab out , and int er est in , t he Rosicr ucian Or d er b y

aff ix ing to your gi l l pa< kages, and envelopes containing your Cireet ing

( cirds, one or more ol the at t r act iv e R osicr ucian Seals . N e a l a n d

color ful , they dra w the eye and focus the atte ntion on the name and

sy mbol of the Orde r, and they ma y re sult in a direct inquiry about

A M O R ( . L ln ha nc e th e app e a r a nc e of a ll y o ur m a il w it h the se sea ls ,

a n d a l t he s a m e li m e f ur t he r th e na m e a n d p ur po s e of A M O R C .

W r it e lo r a pa c k ag e to da y . S e n d y o ur or de r a n d r e mit ta nc e to:

R O S IC R U C IA N S U PP L Y B U R E A US A N J O S E , C A L I F O R N I A . U . S. A .



I H E progress of mind, mor alit y , and culture owes a debt to the descent of tradi-

tion. W r itt e n upon the scroll of tr aditio n are the experiences of those who have

tasted life . . . there in bold characters are revealed their trials, tribulations, mistakes,

and lessons learned.

T his s croll of tr aditio n is y outh's gre atest heritag e . . . upon it, w ith freshness and

vig or, y outh undertak es to impress deeds of his own. Each life is, in a sense, a blank

tablet upon which the Self writes its own history for posterity.

I he simple ex pression of the g iving of w hat one has— or of himself — so as to bring

happiness to another, is the spirit of Christmas. Such an age- old act has the place of

honor on this scroll.

In accordance with this sacred tradition, we, the Staff and

Officers of the Rosicrucian Order , A M O R C , ex tend to all our

members and friends

HHtemj Christmas



l£?v,

ROSICRUCIAN DIGESTC O V E R S T H E W O R L D

Vol. X X V III D E C EM B ER , 1950

Buddhist Sage (Frontispiece)

Thought of the Month: Euthanasia

Is Peace Hopeless?

A Seed

Applied Christianity: Lesson One

Temple Echoes

Following the Path of Light

Sanctum Musings: The Christmas Star

As Science Sees It

Cathedral Contacts : The Gre ate st G i f t

Gustav Meyr ink— The Mystic of Lake StarnbergSearching the Unknown

The Reader's Notebook

Ice Flowers

Refuge from the W orld (Illustration)

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Statements made in this publication are not the official expression of

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Published Monthly by the Supreme Council of

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ROSICRU CIAN PARK SAN JOSE, CALIFO RNIA

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Co p yr ig ht , 195 1, b y t he S u p re m e G ra nd L o dg e o f A M O R C . A l l r ig ht s re se rve d.

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T H E

THOUGHT OF THE MONTHEUTHANASIA

By T H E I M P E R A T O R

.....

e r i o d i c a l l y , the problemof euthanasia or, as it ispopularly termed, mercy

deaths, rises to the foreof public attention. It isboth a problem and apractice that dates farback into antiquity, forits basis is as old as so

ciety itself. T he destruction of thelives of those who were incompetent,as the ver y aged, Ihe feeble- minded,the weak and crippled, to early societyseemed necessitated by two factors.T he first of these was economic. Shortage of food supplies, as a result of

drought or prolonged war, appeared tomake compassion, for those unable toshare in the labors of society, an ex pensive lux ury . T hey would become extramouths to feed and. in addition, they

would require care bv those who wereneeded to perform the labor of the community . Strabo, ancient historian, relates that the very old men of one ofthe Hellenic cities met together at agiven time, garbed as if to banquet,and then in unison drank the hemlock(the famous narcotic poison). T his

was done when they realized they wereincapable of doing anything useful fortheir fatherland.

The other factor which resulted inthis compulsory death of the aged andinfirm was what we might term eugenics. Howev er, eugenics is a wordof comparatively recent origin given toa “study of methods which improve or

Rn],crucian im Pair racial qualit ies /’ A mong theearly civilizations, notably that ofGreece, the state was made the supreme ideal. T he highest vir tues could

only be achieved by attaining good citi

T ln

Digest

December

1950

zenship. Serv ing the perfect stale resuited in the sum mum bonum for theindiv idual. Obviously, this was one of

the incentives that, directly or indirectly. led to the great strides in cultureduring that era. Since the individual

was made so conscious of his contr ibution to the state, that factor was madeto adumbrate all other considerations.He must achieve a healthy mind andbody at all sacrifice. One who wasmentally deficient, aged or decrepit,became a liabili ty to (lie state. T herefore. he must be removed for the benefit of the whole of society.

Even in that early period, before

A ristotle s simple biological researches,there was an awareness that the breeding of the diseased and feeble- mindedmembers of society produced an inferior race. W ith the ov erw helming subordination of the individual to the collective welfare, the moral deterrent totaking the life of the “useless” individual was very slight. T here was greatercompunction against continuing a lifethat might deter the advancement ofthe stale. T here was not. as one mig htimagine today, a trenchant disregard

for life or a gross lack of moral sense.In fact, such conduct only the more indicates that morality, as an innate impulse, is conditional by social forms andthe ideals that follow from them. Religion and custom change from time totime the direction in which the individual moves to attain what is conceived as the highest good. Life wasno cheaper to the Greeks than to ourmodern society. T here was, however,a different conception than is perhapsgenerally held today, as to the dutyand purpose of that life. Ma n owed



his life to the state, first, because it isonly through the perfect state that hisDivine immanent qualities could beexpressed.

During the latter period of Athens,

when colonization had become impr acticable, statesmen and political thinkersdesired to keep the population stationary . Fathers then had the discretionary right to expose their children atbirth. Girls and weak boys frequently

were the victims. T hey either died ofsuch exposure or were adopted by others and enslaved. Potter says, in hisnotable work, T he A n t iq u i tie s of Greece, “daughters especially were thustreated (exposed), as requiring morecharges to educate and settle them in

the world than sons.”Newborn infants were often takenbefore the elders (officials) by the father for careful ex amination. If they

were found unf it , as weak or abnor mal,they were then ordered to be cast intoa chasm near Mount Tayg etus. Eve nPlato, in his Republic, advises, “thechildren of inferior parents and anymaimed offspring of others, they (theguardians) w ill secretly put out of the

wTay as is f it ti ng .” As indicative that such acts were not

prompted by sadistic motives or barbarian brutality, a ceremony of dignityand religious rite usually accompaniedthem. T he child w hich was to be exposed was usually washed with wine aspart of a rite of lustration, thenswathed in its best finery before beingabandoned to its fate. T he psychological significance must not be lost sightof in order to understand a behavior

w hich seems abhorrent to us. T he ful llife of the individual is not to be foundin a mere personal surviv al. T o theGreeks that meant nothing more thanan anim al ex istence. T he united effort of the people created a condition

w hich per mitted the ex pansion of theindiv idual self. In other words, thestate, as a created entity, provided forthe extension of the personal consciousness of the indiv idual. One, therefore,must be willing to sacrifice his limitedbeing, the individual self, if need be,that others might enjoy the fullness oflife that is derived through the healthystate.

The aged and infirm themselves, if

capable of understanding the situation,

usually concurred in this. T hey had,in their opinion, derived the enjoymentof life only through the collective advantages of the state, the result of sacrifices made by others. So, in turn,

they must forfeit their individual livesto preserve the welfar e of society. It

was a compensation w hic h the y or theparents of the inferior infants were psychologically adjusted to make. Oneoften endures pain in a treatment sothat subsequently a remedy might behad. T hus, too, these aged and inf ir mof ancient Greece endured opposing theinstinct of preserving individual existence so that the greater self, the state,might survive.

Modern eugenics, as a science, also

realizes the dangers accruing from themarriage and reproduction of mentalincompetents. In the breeding of an imals we are afforded an excellent example of the improving of stock bynatural selection of the more perfectspecimens. T he most perfect huma ntypes, intellectually and physically, ifmated, would unquestionably raise thelevel of society, at least in a culturalsense. Eugenics , of course, does notadvocate outright euthanasia for incurables or defectives. It does ex pound

the need of segregation and sterilizationto prevent impa irin g the race. Segregation becomes each year an increasingexpense to society for the reason thatprevention of the marriage and propagation of deficients is not under anyunivers al control. As a result, publicinstitutions for the unfortunates are onthe increase.

Principally the current question ofeuthanasia, or mercy deaths, concernsthe taking of the life of those who aresuffering excruciating pain or who arebut animated unintelligent entities, asidiots or imbeciles. In the matte r ofthose who are incurable and who suffer severely, the problem is one of expediency against morality. The afflicted person, knowing that there is in hislife no hope for relief from his torment,

w ould in most instances , as actual caseshave shown, prefer a painless death.It is solely and w'holly unjust to callsuch a victim, who seeks that death, acoward. A fte r all, he may have endured, with bravery, more sufferingthan most men would ever be called

upon to experience, before he has come



The Rosicrucian Digest December

1950

to that decision. W ha t is accomplishedby the individual’s continuation of avirtual living hell? T he sufferer mayhave the same esteem for life as anyoneelse—providing that life can affordsome degree of nor mal function. Ifall one’s faculties are inhibited by intense pain or complete and permanentparalysis, of what value is that lifeeither to the victim or to humanity?

A M o r a l I s su e

T oday ’s proscr iption of euthanasia isprincipally founded upon the moralissue. It completely disregards the consent of the sufferer, his willingness toabandon his own life, or the fact thathe ma y be a liability to society. T hemoral principle arises from religiousdogma. It is generally held that life,though a natural phenomenon manifesting according to natural laws, is ofDiv ine decree. Further, man is endowed with soul or with a Divine quality so named. T he position is takenthat this soul or Divine quality is nothis possession but is, in a sense, a trust. Man is imbued with this spiritual content so as to fulfill a purpose or mission

w hich transcends his ow n desires.Generally speaking, religion further

contends that suffering during mortalexistence is a consequence of one or two

reasons:a. A violation of natural or Di

vine laws by which the individual must learn, through pain ormisfortune, his dereliction.

b. T hat huma n s uffer ing is thedirect imposition of the Divine

w il l either as a penalty or forsome reason that the mortalmay never know.

Religion advocates relief from mortalturmoil in numerous ways, principallyin the individual’s seeking salvation,

that is, in embracing Divine fiats asinterpreted by his particular sect.Therefore, it proclaims that ultimatehappiness and freedom from sufferingcan come to man only through union

w ith the deity here or in a hereafter .Under these circumstances and as a

result of this line of reasoning, the moralprecept is that man has not the rightto destroy a Divine manifestation—totake life— or to interfere w ith the Divine intent, the purpose of the soul.Nevertheless, organized mankind or

society, even civilized nations, are not

consistent with the avowed moral precepts. Nations w ill sacrifice the livesof millions of men in war, as individuals, to preserve principles which tothem have a greater value than lifeitself. In the mai n, rel igion supportssociety in war where, for instance, theconflict has any religious grounds

whats oever.

Still another conspicuous example ofsociety’s condoning the taking of life,in opposition to the moral principle,is the enforcement of capital punishment by many nations. T here is apsychological factor underlying theseexamples wrhich accounts for them. Instinctively man places a tremendousvalue upon life, which has no religiousor moral connotations. As a liv ingorganism, he has been constituted tof ig ht to preserve life. On the otherhand, as an intelligent being, as a human, he has developed intellectual desires or values which are often broughtinto conflict with those urges of selfsurviv al. As a consequence, man w illoften willingly sacrifice life for theseintellectual values, such as freedom,

justice, and the like. Mo ral and religious support has been given by custom to these intellectual values. A s aresult, in most societies, though there

is a reluctance that life be sacrificedfor such values, there is as yet no massprohibition of war.

T h e Q u e s t i o n o f M o t i v e s

Where ex treme indiv idual suff er ingis concerned, for which there is no relief, opinion is still against the practiceof euthanasia aside from the moral ob

jection. T he average indiv idual hasnot been conditioned by custom or personal experience, as in war, to realizeany necessity to take the life of the

sufferer . In these instances, the average citizen holds the value of life itself as greater than the particular valueit may have to the afflicted person. Obviously, such reasoning is not sound.Either there is no justification for thetaking of human life by man or thereare exceptions which have rectitude. Ifthe latter is true, as in the case of war,capital punis hment, and self- defense,then euthanasia or mercy deaths arelikewise justifiable.

Certainly from the wholly expedientand logical point of view, it might be



argued that society, in bringing aboutthe death of the defectives and thoseincurables suffering great pain, wouldbe acting in defense of self. For afterall, society has a collective self. It is

its consciousness of the welfare of thepeople as a whole. Further , if the individual self is the integrated consciousness of one’s whole being and his relation to other beings, then psychologically an idiot or one in continuous greatpain has the self inhibited. Such anindividual self, from the materialisticpoint of view, ceases to function undersuch circumstances. By euthanasia ,then, the suffering ceases without aneffect upon self. Further, the indiv idual is no longer in conflict with or a

liability to the social self, the collectiveconsciousness of the state.

Those who would reason in this dispassionate vein, as do some scientistsand others, likewise readily admit thedangers which might accrue from legalized euthanasia. Upon w hom is torest the authority of decision as to thetaking of life on such a broad scale?

Criminals and other interests would,through political corruption, decimatethousands of persons a nnual ly underthe pretext of justifiable homicide. Infanticide might reach great proportions

on the wholly dubious grounds that thechildren were incurable defectives.Such legislature might encourage sadistic tendencies, even in the therapeuticsciences, where they are now often heldin check only by society’s evaluation oflife.

W hat I am about to say , in conclusion, ma y be misconstrued. I am, however, of the opinion that, where an individual takes the life of another, motivated wholly by love and with theconsent of the other to, for example,

relieve him of excruciating and permanent pain, no moral stigma shouldbe attached to his act, nor w ill Cosmicpenalty be exacted of him. Such actsadmittedly cannot be encouraged, forit would be difficult to determine thetrue motive behind each act and whether it was actually justified in the abovesense.

V A V

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What to Eat—and When

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Y ou r moods, te mpera me nt, an d thoughts can and do affect digestion. “M ind over

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The author of this book, Stanley K. Clark, M.D., C.M., F.R.C., was for several years

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specialist in stomach and intes tinal disorders. Dr . Clar k’s insig ht into mys ticism makes

his advice doubly helpful to you.

W ha t to E at — an d W he n is compact, free from unnecessary technical terminology.

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The Rosicrucian Digest December 1950

Is Peace Hopeless? By D r . H. S p e n c e r L e w is , F.R.C.

(From the Rosicrucian Digest, December, 1935)

Since thousands of readers of the Rosicrucian Digest have not read many of theearlier articles of our late Imperator, Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, we adopted the editorialpolicy of publishing each month one of his outstanding articles, so that his thoughts

w ould continue to reside w it hi n the page s of this publ ic at ion.

c c o r d i n g to religion’s traditions, nineteen hundredand thirty- five years ago[1950]—more or less according to various calendars—the great Peacemaker was bom. Themost beautiful ideal Heheld before the world

was tha t of univ er sal peace.On the 4th day of December [ in

1915]—Henry Ford sailed from New Y or k w ith a special charter ed boat anda number of delegates and a great hopethat they would be able to plead withEur opean powers for peace. It was the

w or ld’s most modern and most fancif ulpeace expedition, but it failed in itsmission just as did Jesus the Christ inHis desire to establish and maintainpeace on earth.

W e are prone to think that muc h ofthe cause of war, and certainly mostof the horrifying and horrible possibilities of war, are a result of civilization.

W e often feel that w ith the development of nationalism, national interests,modem economic systems, the advancement of machinery and science,

war far e has actua lly become a child ofcivilization and that, as our modem interests, ideas, and individualistic conceptions of life evolve and become morecomplex, war will become more andmore certain.

But the truth of the matter is that w hen Jesus the Christ came to thissad old world as a Saviour of men anda messenger of peace, warfare was sorife and the world filled with suchdestruction of life that Jesus in Hisministry felt it necessaiy to place greatemphasis upon peace and upon the necessity of loving our neighbors as welove ourselves. If we study the preachments of Jesus and analyze them, wemust come to the conclusion that Jesus

was saddened by the lack of brother liness, the hatred, enmity, jealousy, andother destructive emotions expressed byma n toward mankind. If we studyand trace the history of the world back

war d from the time of His bir th, wefind that from the dawn of creationman has battled in ignorance not onlyagainst the elements of nature and thegood impulses w ithin his ow n con

sciousness, but also he has battledagainst his brother, placing a low priceupon life and giving little considerationto the human ties that should havebound all of mankind into one gloriousnation.

T hat Jesus fa iled to bring about universal peace is only a further proof thatthe animalis tic tendencies of uncultured and cultured human nature arestill inclined toward war and warfare.

W e should not be surprised, therefore,that Henry Ford, with all of his ideals



and hopes, should have met with failure in his peace expedition on December 4, 1915.

T i m e f o r 3 1 e d i t a t i on

This month throughout the Christian world the bir th of Jesus the Christ, thegreat Peacemaker and Saviour of man,is celebrated on the 25th. It is a timeand occasion for joyous celebration andfor serious meditation and reflection as

well. W ha t if Jesus had never been born?

Shall we assume that if He had notbeen born, and no divine messenger ofso- called C hr is ti a n philosophy hadcome to man personally to preach, thebeautiful points of the Christian creed

w ould nev er have been revealed toman? Shall we assume that if Jesushad not been born the world wouldhave continued evolving in its religious, philosophical thought in linesand paths having their foundation inso- called paganism, heathenism, andthe Jewis h relig ion? Or w ould thedecalogue or Ten Commandments

which Moses gave to the world haveeventually served, evolving civilizationas a sufficient foundation for a properguide in life? Is it not true— or are we

sadly mistaken in believing—that justas the birth of Jesus marks a turningpoint, a pivot in the popular calendar,so His birth, His life, His ministry,mark a turning point in the evolutionof civilization?

It may be true that man has adoptedin only a limited way the ideals taughtby Jesus, and it may be true that thefollowers of Christ and the Christianreligion represent only a small portionof the population of the world; but isit not equally true that Christianity as

a religious, moral, and ethical code, asa human philosophy, as a workableguide in our daily lives, is closely associated with the highest advancementof civilization in most of the progressive countries of the world? T rue,Christian nations, while chanting orsinging the Christian songs and adoringJesus the Christ as their Saviour andleader, still indulge in war and still violate even the fundamental principlesof brother ly love. But can we successfully and logically separate the great

est advancement and achievements in

civilization among the most progressivenations, from the growth and development, the understanding and acceptance of Christian philosophy?

It is true that in the Orient and other

places where the Christian religion hasnever been well- established, or been adominating influence, civilization hasadvanced also. It is doubtful if theChristian religion and its doctrinescould have become a dominating influence in those countries because of thenature and tendencies of the people.T heir own religions, gradually evolvingto higher and broader standards, haveprobably served them better. But in the

Western world and among the mostprogressive nations, pristine Christianism

or the fundamental principles of Christianity have unquestionably proved tobe the necessary saving and inspiringphilosophy to further the individualand nat ional evolution. On the otherhand, the beautiful thoughts and nobledoctrines of the Jewish faith as laiddown by their patriarchs and unfoldedby their learned Rabbis has aided another large portion of the world toattain g reat heights in culture andspirituality.

G oo d W i l l

A ll of these thing s should be giventhought during the Christmas and holiday season, for while we are rejoicingin the opportunity which the holidaysafford for the expression of mutualgood- will, we s hould be tha nk ful thatthe Cosmic has made possible the inspiring revelations from the consciousness of God to the heart and mind ofman through the messengers who haveserved man in the past.

As we al l come to lear n of our D i

vine heritage and come to fully understand what is meant by the Fatherhoodof God and the Brotherhood of Man,

we w il l come to think alike more oftenand to be in greater agreement andharmony in our thinking and actingand the inevitable result will be univers al peace. But unt il we do understand alike, think alike, and act alike,until we do harmonize in understanding, all of the essential factors of human existence on earth, there is nohope for that universal peace for which

we pray . T he spirit of intoler ance



The Rosicrucian Digest December 1 950

must be laid aside. T he importance ofnational and political discussions mustbe brought to an end through lookingupon these things as secondary to thefact that we are children of Light in

the Kingdom of God with one greatSupreme Father and with universal de

sires, ambitions, and requirements thatare identical. W e w ill love each otherthe more when we understand eachother better and through such understanding and love will the Kingdom

of God on earth be brought intorealization.

V A V

c S e e c I

B y T h e a B r i t o n , F . R . C .

s e e d is a m e m o r y a n d a

m a g n e t , e n clo s e d w i t h i n

a c a s i n g f o r p r o t e c t i o n .

T he seed of an oak isa memory of a previousoak, not just a tree as wesee it, but of each cell

w hich composed it: ofthe arrangement of all

those cells, a knowledge of their con

tents, how these were formed and piledone upon another; of the timing forthe building of the root, the trunk,stems, branches, to keep always theright balance of form; when to startbuilding buds for Spring, when to startunfolding these buds, and all the restof the processes which go to the makingof an oak tree in all its glory. A ll ofthat belongs to the memory, the instinct,of the seed.

The magnet is the power to attractand assimilate all the elements neces

sary for all this building . Ev en so, itis the memory which controls the actual assimilation—so much of this element, so much of that, mingled in acertain way to make a leaf cell, and in

just a lit tle dif ferent w ay to make atr unk cell or a bark cell. Also, if somematerials are not available in sufficient

Suantities (say water in a dry season),len it is memory which decides to cutdown the size of the leaves or thelength of a branch, and still keep thegeneral balance of the tree. T he pat

tern of the whole tree is the chief end

and everything else must be adjustedinto this pattern.

Thus, if two elements are requiredfor use in a combination of 3 to 1, andthere is plenty and to spare of the ‘3’element, then the proportion of 3 to 1must be kept and the rest of the ‘3’element repulsed; otherwise, the balance of the combination would be lost.

This memory belongs to the consciousness of the tree, but the continuityof the consciousness—that is, the memory part—is the most essential factor.

W it ho ut it there would be nothing toprevent the oak seed from growinginto a poppy, or a daisy seed growinginto a beetroot.

Of course the present consciousnessin an oak tree packs into each seed thechief characteristics of the present oak,to be used as a magnetic force for thesurrounding elements when that seed

starts building on its own—just as atraveling carpenter packs into his bagthe tools he w ill need on his nex t job.Even so, these characteristics must beguided by memory; otherwise, theycould not deal satisfactorily with theelements they attract . T he whole secretof building elements is the proportionof each that has to be put into anycombination, and that of course depends on memory.

Therefore the chief content of anyseed is memory; in fact, a seed ismemory made tangible.



By R a l p h M . L e w i s, F . R . C .

LESSON ONE

So m e persons need

only a word, an occasion, or an incident ofsome kind as an excuseto escape from the caresand responsibilities oftheir every day life. T his

period of the year affords these persons thisopportunity of escape. In the prev alentholiday atmosphere with its tinsel andsham, artificiality sustained by commercial enterprise, multitudes indulge infr ivolity . However, the occasion lias afa r deeper significance, as well. In thisseason of the year, great numbers ofpersons are paying homage to the nativ ity of Jesus. In fact, there are someseven hundred million persons in the

wor ld today who profess to be Christians. T hey acclaim Christmas as a

sacred day. Agnostics and skeptics gene ra lly de

cline to accept the traditional accountsrelative to the immaculate conceptionof Jesus. Also millions of persons areinclined to discredit the exegetical records which relate the divine origin ofJesus. Nevertheless, fr om the historicalviewpoint and from the strictly rationalpoint of view, these same skeptics cannot deny the symbolic importance ofJesus. T o vast multitudes he stands assy mbolic of a spiritual ideal. In this

sense, he is in the same category as thecross, the Bible, or as any other hagiogr aphy, or sacred work. Ev en if Jesusas a person, or the traditions which surround him, could not be substantiatedby any evidential matter, the story ofJesus represents a kind of thought and a

w ay of lif e for vast numbers of people.Even if he were wholly flesh and blood,a mortal, in the physical sense of the

word, he mus t then be accepted as atleast the greatest, if not the most enlightened spiritual leader known to

man.

W ha t are the char acteristics of a true leader?

W ha t are the qualif ications that cause oneman to be accepted byhi s fe l lo w s as the i rleader? S ome one has

said that a leader is notone who drives massesof people before him, nor is he necessarily one who marches ahead of themand commands them to obey his will.Such action amounts to force, and history has often disclosed that men areever eager to escape from force. A realleader is one who by his thoughts andby his acts inspires others to followmm. It can be said that a leader isone whom a follower has chosen as hispreference, because of the qualificationsand the character manifested by theleader.

W e shall assume, then, that Jesusremains a leader to ma ny people in thispsychological sense; in other words, themagnitude of his life remains an incentive for others to follow. W hy , then, isthere such a disparity between the traditional life of Jesus and the lives ofmillions of persons who profess to beChristians? In this Wester n world,Chris tianity is eulogized. Innumerableliterary works, great masterpieces ofart, music, and architecture have been

inspired by the life and sayings ofJesus. A g ain, it must be asked, in thelight of these circumstances, why arenot the multitudes in the Western worldmotivated in their personal lives by theprecepts ex pounded by Jesus?

T he principal ans wer to these questions may be found in the very natureand function of religion itself. W e allknow that religion may mean manythings to many persons; in fact, if we

were to poll a number of persons as totheir understanding of religion we

w ould perhaps find as ma ny dif ferent




explanations as there were persons.Collectively, however, religion may bedefined as it applies to mankind generally. A mong many definitions there isone which, to me, seems to embracemore fully the nature and function of

relig ion as it applies to all men. T hisdefinition is: “Religion is the endeavorto secure the conservation of the socially recognized values.” To begin tounderstand this, it is first necessary torealize that religion is not wholly intuitive; it is not just the result of emotion,nor is it in any sense purely intellectual. Rather, it is a combination ofthese.

S u b j e c t i v e M o t i v a t i o n

The religious impulse begins with

the individual’s reflection upon his ownintense emotional moods. W he n menbegin to contemplate their sentiments,their own fears, their humility, thenthey are on the threshold of simplerelig ious ex perience. T he deeper andthe more complex these feelings of man,the further removed they seem to befr om his org anic processes. T hey seemquite distinct and apart from the physical, objective part of himself . T his isparticularly so when the moods whichman experiences appear to be notprompted by, nor the result of, any

physical cause or any circumstances ofhis envir onment. It is then that theyappear to be detached from the physical

world. Such ex periences suggest to ahuman being some kinship between thefeelings he has and what he conceivesto be supernatural forces.

In man’s environment, in his objective wrorld, there are conditions and behavior which he confronts and whichhe finds to be somewhat sympathetic tothese profo und feelings deep w ithinhimself . In other words, in our social

life, our relations with fellow men,there are happenings that are gratifying to us in the sense that they satisfythe mysterious impulses within us thatare related to our feelings of well- being.

As a result, the customs, the beliefs, w hic h create this grat if ication, becometo us social values which we want toconserve. Since there seems to be arelationship between them and our inner beings, it is thought that thesecustoms must have been ordained bythe supernatural to which man feels

he has a direct atta chment. T he purpose of religion, then, came to be theproper defining and conserving of thesevalues which man has thought to befor the benefit of humanity.

Religion thus began as a subjective motivation; it began as an inexplicablefeeling, as various impulses which seemto be struggling for expression withinthe ver y breast of man. A t least, themind tries to understand and to formulate into some kind of concept thesesensations it experiences. T he objectif ication of religion is the attempt to define the purpose and the ends behindthe impulses felt within. W he n relig ionloses contact at any time with the innerexperiences, with the subjective motivation, and becomes wholly extenial,

then it is nothing more than a spiritlessfor mality. For analogy , no man canreally accept a thing as being beautifulto him unless he has first experiencedthe nature of that thing. The very wordbeautiful has no content apart from thepleasurable sensations of the beautifultiling which have been aroused withinman.

Great spiritual leaders, as avatarsand foimders of religions, have hadmystical states of consciousness whichresulted in their becoming highly illuminated, that is, possessing transcen

dental knowledge. No one else, noother human, can have the same moraland intellectual evaluation of life andof human and Cosmic relations, unlesshe, too, has experienced the same afflatus as these leaders. For fur ther analogy, before two men can compareopinions with respect to some landscape,they must at least have the same vantage point from which to observe thatlandscape. If one lives in a v alley andthe other on a mountaintop, and ifeach has seen the landscape only fromhis respective position, neither is hardlyin a position to make a fair comparison.So, too, until man elevates his consciousness to a prox imity to the greatspiritual leaders, he is not in a positionto compare his evaluation of the moralor spiritual life with theirs.

Spiritual leaders, great masters in thereligious sense, intend their messagesonly as a procedure for men to follow,and from which certain results are tobe achieved. T he lessons contained

w it hin the ir discourses almost alway s



require a personal application on thepart of the devotee if ne is to expect theattainment which they have held out asa final reward. Unfortunately, however, most religionists look upon the

very words of these spiritual leadersas material keys which in some magical w ay w il l unlock ex ternal powers in theimmediate outer wor ld. As a result,they fa il to discover w ithi n themselvesthe ecstasy, that sublime happiness expounded by the great teacners and

w hic h the ir messages were intended todevelop within the individual.

A r e S p i r i t u a l I n t e r m e d i a r i e s

N e r e t H a r jg?

Down through the centuries, somemen have set themselves apart from

their fellows and have offered themselves as intermediaries between those who have failed in the ir pers onal as pirations and the divine source itself. Trie

world knows these inte rmediaries asshamans, as magicians, and as variouskinds of priests. These intermediariesassume to interpret the messages andthe principles expounded by the greatluminaries and the founders of the religions. As a consequence, the intermediaries formalize by various means thespiritual gleanings of these great teach

ers into restrictive dogma—into word-bound concepts. Fur ther , these intermediaries, by professing to have somespecial e ndowment and by setting themselves aside from the rest of men, havecome to give their decrees a kind offalse authority . As a result of this practice, there have sprung up systematicreligious instructions known as theology. Fr om these theologies, fr om theselittle spheres of personal interpretation,are bom sects, with their variations ofreligious creeds.

Those without inner satisfaction,those still remaining restless in spirit,even though they may have affiliated

w ith a sect, ev entually become cr iticalof these ex ternalities of relig ion. T heyfind, or imagine they do, deficienciesin the creeds to which they have subscribed, or within the ritual or ceremonies of the sect. T hey come to huntfor flaws in the human equation ofspiritual truths. T hey act like a mantrying to remove an imperfection froma gem by grinding it and grinding ituntil he has finally ground it into dust.

In other words, by theological dialec

tics, by continuous, exhaustive argument about some variation of a creed,they remove themselves and their finepoints of distinction further and furtherfrom the masses of other believers and

thinker s. Fin al ly , they come to thepoint of believing that the very isolation of their new belief is, in itself, aproof of truth.

A lt houg h sincer e in w hat they soughtto accomplish, numerous theologieshave actually come to lock the massmind within little circles of sectarianism, confining it within the limits ofdogmatic interpretation. Unw itting ly ,perhaps, if we wish to be generous inour view, theology has prevented millions of persons from developing indi

vidually, through inner experience, thereligious impulses which, after all, arethe basic element of relig ion. T oday,as a consequence, there are multitudesof persons who, because of their personal dissatisfaction, or rather, lack ofpeace within, have come to considerChristianity as unrelated to practicalliv ing. It is true that they a nd othersmay be nominal followers of some sect.There is, however, nothing so retardingto real religion as the masses of thesemere nominal followers. Such massesof persons become nothing more thanmerely numerical, financial or politicalfactors, with respect to the creed with

w hic h they are aff iliated.

These nominal followers lack spiritual insight and, for that reason, theycause the vehicle of their faith, theirchurch or sect, to degenerate into nothing more than just a physical organization. It is true that they support itsname and support its tradition, but theyare unable to infuse their faith withany transcendental qualities that makeit tr uly spiritual. It ev entually becomes

arrested, if not entire ly atrophied. Suchfollowers, having lost the spirit of religion, are thus unable as individualsto confirm its doctrines by means ofpersonal application in their own lives.The doctrines are left without thatefficacy that comes from w ithin. T his,in turn, seems to further convince thesepeople that Christianity has no practicalvalue, but is merely a sentimentalheritage.

A tr ue Chris tianity , w or thy of thename, begins with the very utterances,

the sayings attributed directly to Jesus.




A tr ue Chris tianity consists of re iterating the basic revelations, the il lumination of the Christ consciousness. Itconsiders such revelations as universaltruths as being universally applied tothe minds of a ll men in accordance

w ith the lev el of the ir consciousness. A tr ue Chris tianity w ould need laydown various definitions of the teachings of Jesus for the guidance of itsfollowers. However, it would not affirmany one of these definitions as beingthe absolute truth which all men mustaccept alike without regard for theirpersonal, inner development. Each man

w ould be per mitted to elect, or select,that version of the teachings of Jesusin which, to him, light seemed to dwell

— in other words, w hich w ould be in

accord with his understanding.Furthermore, a practical Christianity

w ould consist of making the doctrines w hich it ex pounded effective in thepersonal lives of all of its devotees inthe affairs of home, business, and ofsociety ge nerally. A fte r all, there canbe no greater tribute to any religionthan to say that it provides for everyphase of human existence, not only insome hereafter, but also here in aneveryday world.

S o u r c e s o t C h r i s t i a n T e a ch i n g s

W ha t are the pristine teachings ofJesus? Fr om wha t sources have theydescended? W ha t are the very words

w hic h lead to inner response, to spir itual satisfaction, which unlock the religious impulse ? T he common sourceof information with respect to the life,character, and teachings of Jesus arethe three gospels, Matthew , Mark , andLuke. These gospels are know n as theSvnoptic Gospels; they are a synopsisof all that is contained w ithin the NewTestament in connection with the life

and teachings of Jesus. In f act, M atthew and Mark constitute a gatheringinto a continuity of all that Jesus saidand did. W e mig ht say that they are afor m of ancient reporting. T he writersof these gospels intended to reduce toformnl writing all that had come tothem bv w ord of mouth— or, at least,as much as could be revealed.

It is conceded that the Gospel ofMark, the oldest of the gospels, was

writte n perhaps about 43 A .D. If thisis historically correct, that would be but

a few years after the crucifixion ofJesus. It consists principally of a narration of the life of Jesus, what he didand where he was. V ery little of hisdiscourses are contained therein. T heGospels of Matthew and Luke includepractically all of the context of Markinsofar as the life of Jesus is concerned;in addition, they also incorporate histeachings and sayings.

A s one analy zes Matthew , he perceives that generally it appeals to theGentiles. T he Gentiles, as y ou know,

were of Jew is h or ig in; the y subscribedin part to the Jewish traditions but

were not orthodox insofar as the observance of all of the rabbinical requirements. Matthew was, in fact, a Gentile;as a consequence, he emphasizes the

Messianic aspect of the teachings ofJesus. T his was particular ly appealingto those of Jewish origin since the Jewshad been looking for the fulfillment ofan Old Testament prophecy which described the coming of another kingfor their salvation.

It is interesting to note that Jesus’pilgrimage, the manner in which heentered into Jerusalem, appeared as thefulfillment of the prophecy of the coming of such a king. It almost parallelsthe descr iption that w e read in Zecha-

riah, Chapter Nine, which gives a prediction of a king entering Jerusalem. Jesus must have known these prophecies, as he was well versed in therabbinical teachings . T he question maybe asked: Wa s his entr y into Jerusalemin just this manner intended then tocreate a sympathetic effect on the Gentiles and to arouse interest on the partof the Jews in his pilgrimage?

The New Testament is quite incomplete with regard to the life and teachings of Jesus. As a matte r of fact, all

of the recorded incidents about Jesus,the various days and periods of hisactivities that appear in the Bible, donot exceed a total of fif ty days. Wer eall the intervals between these days anabsolute mystery, unknown to anyoneelse? T he answer is No. Much ofJesus’ life and his principles could notbe divulged by Mark, Matthew, orLuke . Further , much that was divulged

was later ex punge d from the Bible byhigh ecclesiastical councils.

(To be Continued)




But like many Rosicrucians, FraterCurd’s interests are broad—one ofthem being hand- press printing . He

was k ind enoug h to send to Ros icr ucianPark his first achievement on his little

Kelsey 6x9 press. It carries the note:“T his booklet is handset and handprinted in twelve- point Caslon OldStyle by John Curd at CroixcroftPress.”

Here is evidence that the true craftsman still is to be found. Frater Curd

writes: “ I have alway s had a dr iv ingdesire to illustrate and publish as manybooks as my life will permit of all thepast great treatises on mysticism. Something like a Limited Editions Club sothat the now living can glean from the

past the cumulative knowledge of mankind.” V A V

The August issue of The South Carolina Magazine contained an interestingstory of an interesting person— SororEdna Reed W hale y of Columbia. T hedaughter of a Tulane University professor and a Kentucky educator, Soror

Whale y 's lif e has been rich with ma nycultural and practical matters. T o bethe wife of a county court judge andthe mother of five children might be

said to be the field of her greatestachievement; still one must not forgether creditable work in portraiture, norher successful organization of the Columbia Art Association which grewinto the Columbia Museum of A rt—and the Quill, a society of writers.Uniquely enough, one might also callSoror W haley the restorer of presidentssince it was her privilege recently torestore, at the request of the University of South Carolina, the paintings oftwo presidents, Thomas Jefferson andJames Madison, which she successfullyidentified as the long- lost work of G ilbert Stuart. Soror W haley has long

been a member of the Rosicrucian Order, and some years ago, it may benoted, her son, Dr. Atherton Whaley(also a member), was on the faculty ofRose-Croix University.

V A V Frater John Morrison of Maryland

admits that elephants and their psychology are a chief interes t of his. Hemakes some comments apropos the“Can You Explain This?” item of the

A ugust Digest that prove it. A mongother things , he writes: “T he pads ofan elephant’s foot are remarkable fortheir sensitivity. One mig ht say theypossess supersensitivity through theconstant necessity to depend uponthem since the placement of their eyes

precludes their seeing too well wherethey are stepping—especially in theheavy undergrowth of the jungle. This‘consciousness’ in the pads of the foot,then, would explain not only why acircus elephant can step carefully overthe body of its trainer without lookingat him but also why, in the regionsmentioned, the elephant avoids thehard and sharp limestone formations.It is equally possible that the lime deposits themselves irr itate the feet. A llin all, people who see elephants only occasionally are likely to be deceived ifthey believe them to be clumsy, slow-moving, and slow- thinking animals .”

V A V

Hanayama’s W ay of Deliver ancegoes back to J apan. Soror Le na Ga rcia, who with her daughter ColombeGladys and her husband Captain Garcia is living in Japan, has just askedto have a copy of the book sent to her.Soror Garcia writes of their busy days

— Fr ater Garcia w it h his mili ta ry duties, Soror Gladys with high school

work in T okyo, and her ow n activ ityas Grey Lady with volunteer Red Cross

work.

V A V

A V IT A L C O N T R IB U T IO N

The International Academic Union, as a part of its highly specialized work,is compiling a catalog of L at in manuscripts on A lchemy. T his organization isone of the 100 inter national nongov er nmental organizations w hich are beinghelped w ith grants from Unesco. Unesco’s interest in the project of catalogingmanuscripts dealing with Alchemy is that it constitutes “a vital contributionto the history of science, since alchemy has been called the “ prelude t o chemistry .”



The Rosicrucian Digest December 1 9 5 0

civilization was taking form. Duringthose thousand years, European culture

was in a very poor condition; Europe was no long er the center of a civ ilization. Dur ing that period, the great culture that mankind had, was the Arabic

world. T he A rabic or Is lamic civ ilization was like a patch or a block between the old and the new Europeancultures.

The old European culture, the civilization of Greece and Rome, the so-called Greco- Latin civilizat ion had itsmystic teachings from the still olderand previous Egyptian culture, to

w hich wer e added later some of themysteries from other places of the NearEast: from Syria, Persia, and otherplaces. T he Greek tradition consisted

of the Eleusinian mysteries, the Orphicmysteries, the Pythagorean Order andsome other schools of the mysteries . A llof these had their branches in Romelater, and not so long ago archaeologists found near Rome, on the wayfrom Rome to Naples, a subterraneantemple of the Pythagoric Order, which

was closely studied by Fr ate r Mal-linger, Chancellor of the FUDOSI.

To those mystical schools of ancientRome were added some Oriental cultsin later times, as the cult of Mithra,

from the fire religion of the Persians;the cult of Astarte, from Asia Minor;the Eg y ptian mysteries of Isis andOsiris, and several others. Most ofthese had their inner initiatic circles.Other branches of the Great Brotherhood developed still later on, duringthe Latin empire, as the Therapeuti,the Essenes and in the very latest centuries of that culture, already withinChristian times, were introduced theGnostics and last ly the Neo- Platonists.These two last ones had their main centers in Alexandria, the magnificent cityfounded by Alexander the Great inEgypt, but their world of conceptionsbelonged to the Roman civilization andnot to the Egyptian one, which was already finished by that time.

C h a o *

W he n the barbaric tribes fr om theNorth, the uncultured peoples fromcentral and northern Europe, invadedthe Roman empire and swept and destroyed all the established standards ofcivilization, all that esoteric knowledge

began to wane, and finally disappeared w hen the first Chr is tia n emperors fostered an early fanaticism, and tryingto get political support from the earlychurches began a steady and long persecution that eventually wiped outeverything that was not accepted bythe first theologians. It is w ell knownthat the esoteric message of Christianity, the inner occult circle of the newmovement, was lost during the earlycenturies afte r Christ. In fact, theGnostics belonged to that inner circle

which possessed the secret tradition,and when the action of the earlychurch began to be more political andless mystical that inner circle was re

jected by the new priests and theolog ians, and its lig ht was spent. A ll other

schools which kept the esoteric knowledge were persecuted, disbanded, exterminated.

A t tha t time a k ind of fr enzy ormadness ran through most of Europe.

A ll wanted to do aw ay w ith habits andcustoms, with accepted and traditionalideas. A ll was g radually destroyed.People began to dress in another fashion. Houses were built according tonew styles. Ideas changed. Ev erything was considered from anotherangle, and all those factors produced a

kind of chaos which engulfed the oldculture, the old knowledge, the oldstandards. A ll the more or less civ ilized land was divided in two great portions: the Western empire, with Romeas its capital; and the Eastern empire

w it h its capita l in B y zantium, w hich isour present Constantinople. T he Eastern empire, the Byzantine empire,lived more or less isolated during manycenturies; all became stagnant there,

w ithout any new lif e, dy ing slow ly formany , ma ny years. Its history is aseparate chapter from the history ofEurope because that empire had no intercourse with the rest of the world,and took and gave almost nothing during all that time.

But in the Western half, things weregoing on, and gradually the Dark Agesdescended upon that land. It was insome way a kind of Obscure Night

w hich later tur ned into the daw n ofour present civilization.

It was during this confused period, when Europeans had lost their old cul



ture and had not yet established a newone, that Arabia began to awake forthe first time. T he A rabs were a very

S

rimitiv e and ignor ant people. Mo-ammed was bom and began to preach

his teachings . T he people were stirred,and in a short period, all the Arabiannations found themselves well ahead on

the road to a very high civilization andto the most prominent position as apolitical and milita ry power. T heyconquered first all Asia Minor, Syria,Palestine, Iraq, Persia, Egypt, all thecoast of north Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia,Eastern Africa, and centuries later extended over Afghanistan, Baluchistan,T urkestan, India. It was a larger empire than the Romans ever had in their

hands.Those uncultured nomads of the desert were taken by the life wave of theCosmic, and unexpectedly were raisedto astonishing heights of civilizationand knowledge. T hey invented architectural styles that were more delicate,ornate, and beautiful than anything the

world had seen before. T heir carpets,their dresses, their ceramics, their

weapons, the ir pag eantr y , were ful l ofnew beauty never dreamed before.Their poets wrote the most beautifulpoems. We know some of those names:Omar Khayyam, Ferdusi, Hafiz. Theirscientists surpassed all those previouslyknown. T hey excelled in medicine,astronomy, music, history, chemistry.T heir mathematicians went furtherthan anyone before. T hey inventedthe numerical system we are using today, which was fundamental for thedevelopment of the higher mathematics. T hey discovered, or rather invented algebra. Our present- day ma thematics owe more to the Arabs thanto any other people. Commerce and

trade found new ways and systems.Large maritime enterprises were undertaken and the Arab merchants covered almost the whole earth.

i n v a s i o n o f E u r o p e

The Arabs, conquerors in Asia, conquerors in Africa, were a serious danger for Europe. W e have already seenthat Europe at that time was in a chaotic state. A fte r conquering all thenorth coast of Africa, across the Mediterranean from Europe, the Arabs fi

na lly took one more step and invaded

Europe. T hey conquered almost the whole of Spain, and parts of Italy . But w hen they crossed the Pyrenees mo untains into France, they were defeatedin a battle by the French and that

single battle, won by Charles Martel inPoitiers, stopped forever the Arabianadvance in Europe.

T he A rabic cycle in S pain wras mostimportant. T hat Semitic culture wasin full activity in the Spanish peninsula. T he Caliphs, the Emirs , andlater the T aifa k ingdoms achieved aver y high culture. A nd there, aseverywhere in the Arabic world, theIslamic religion was the foundation oftheir civilization.

In dark Europe all religious or

mystic manuscripts that were not orthodox were destroyed; the Arabs, althoughthey also destroyed part of that ancientlore at the beginning, preserved itafterw ards. T he mys tical schools ofIslamism began to spread their light.T he Sufis began to teach and WTite.Some of their more important mysticsare: Saadi, more or less wel l- known;

A1 Ghaza li , who was Spanis h and perhaps the greatest of their mystics; A1Biruni, who was also a great astronomer and astrologer; Geber, the greatalchemist; Avicenna, Rahzis, Averroes,and many others well known in thephilosophical, alchemical, or mysticalfields.

A r a b i a n M y s t i c a l S c h o o l s

V er y early the Arabs started theirmilitary Orders, called Ribats, w'hich

were the forer unners of the Eur opeanOrders, military and mystic at thesame time, as the K nights of the T emple, the Knights of Malta, the Knightsof St. John of Jerusalem, and others.During the ninth and tenth centuries,

the Arabs had in Spain several secretschools and mystical monasteries forthe esoteric mysteries. One of those

was in the mo unt ain of A benmas ar ra,and another was in the Mochehid ofElv ira, near the city of Cordova. It is

well know n, and quoted in the historiesof that time, that in these monasteriesthe disciples studied philosophy and theoccult sciences. A t the time of theearly Caliphs we know that in Spainseveral secret mystical societies were inactivity, but their work was concealed;

(Continued on Page 423)




THE CHRISTMAS STAR

By R o d m a n R . C l a y s o n , Grand Masterh e stars belong to Christ- starts again moving tow ard the north.

To pagan people the sun seemed to turnback in answer to prayers; this was an

mas, for they are definitely a part of it, just asare the Christmas trees,the holly wreaths, andthe Christmas carols. Italways seems that somemagic pervades the heavens during the Christmas

season, adding new beauty that is missing a t other times. A s we search thenight sky, watching the stars that arefamiliar and yet conspicuously remote,our thoughts wander back to the firstChristmas of long ago. T he reasonsunderlying the association of stars withChristmas have their origin in man’sheritage of religion, mythology, history,and science. T here is also a re lationto the sun, which is our daytime star.

In many countries today there prevails a legend that the sun was conceived on the first day of spring, March21. In certain religions this is knownnas Annunciation Day , or the announcement of the incarnation of Jesus. Nine

months later, according to the legend,the sun was bom at the time of the

w inter solstice at Chris tmas time.

Ma ny centuries ago Chris tian peoplecelebrated the nativity on the sixth dayof January, according to the calendar

w hich we now use. A pag an festiv alto the sun was also held at the time ofthe winter solstice which occurs aboutthe 22nd of December. T his is the time

w hen the sun reaches the point farthestsouth, in its apparent journey, and

occasion for a celebration. So the leaders of the Church in early days movedthe date of the nativity to the approximate date of the winter solstice so thatthere wrould be thanksgiving and re

joicing for the tw o separate occasionson the new ly es tablished date. T hiseventually became December 25, which

we celebrate as Christmas.

Unfortunately there is no record ofthe day, month, and year of the birthof the Maste r Jesus. It is believed bymany that His birth took place in thespring of the year . T his belief is basedon the Biblical story where it is saidthat the shepherds were in the field

w atching the ir flocks by nig ht. It wasonly at that particular time of the year,

wrhen the new lambs wer e being born,that the shepherds of Judea kept nighttime vigil over their sheep.

An A g e -O l d Q u e st i o n

To determine what astronomical occurrence could account for the Star ofBethlehem, scientists have searchedthrough their records for evidence ofsome unusua l happening. Astr onomershave endeavored to determine just whatit was that appeared as a star to the

Wis e Me n of the Eas t. It mus t be ver yfrankly admitted that a definite answeris not possible. Some believe that thestar the Wise Men saw was a visionthat appeare d to them alone. But it



must be remembered that many phenomena which were once looked uponas miracles have since been ex plainedin scientific terms.

In the light of modem astronomical

knowledge we may attempt to determine whether anything may have appeared in the heavens at the time ofthe first Christmas which might havebeen interpreted as the famous Star.

A t fi rs t it mig ht seem a ver y simplematter merely to reconstruct the skypicture or stars of thesky as they were atthe time of the nativity, and so determine

w hat conspicuous ob ject mig ht hav e been

seen. T his, inde e d, would not be too di fficult but for the absence of one essentialfact: the lack of agreement today as to theprecise year that thebirth of the Master occurred. It is not me ntioned in the Scriptures, and there is disagreement among historians.

The Roman abbot,Dionysius, who introduced the use of B. C.and A.D. in reckoningdates, placed the yearof nativity at 4 B.C.T his was accepted forseveral hundred years,although we now feelthat it is incorrect. Inthe New T estament wefind that the birth of the L ord occurred dur

ing the reign of Herod.The historian, Josephus, established thedate of the death of Herod as 4 B.C.

Ever since that eventful occasion w hen the Wis e Men came from theEast to Bethlehem, and said, “We haveseen His star in the East, and havecome to worship Him,” questioningman has puzzled over an explanationfor the Star of Bethlehem. Science hasevolved hypothetical answers to theage-old question, but admits in the samebreath that perhaps there is no ex

planation.

Josephus mentioned that there was aluna r eclipse before Her od died. A stronomers, figuring back, now advisethat there was an eclipse of the moonat that time, and it could have been

seen at Jericho in the year 4 B.C. inthe month of Marc h. A n eclipse of themoon, as we know, is not an infrequentor unusual occurrence, yet the eclipseof the full moon would have made thestars of the night appear much brighter,thus intensifying the light of any par

t icular outstandingcelestial object whichmay have been in thesky at that time.

It is safe to assumethat the Magi were

more tha n casua Hyacquainted w ith thestars. T his being so,the regular motion ofthe planets and thestars would not haveseemed extraordinary"to them, while on theother hand they wouldundoubtedly have taken note of anythingunusual appearing inthe heavens.

Chinese records tellus that a new star ornova appeared in theheavens in 4 B.C. Thisis not an unusual occurrence, for not onlyare new stars now appearing from time totime, but they havealways done so for theappreciation of those

w ho mak e a study ofthe nig ht sky. Just

w hy a new star ornova suddenly releases a great store ofenergy is one of the mysteries which astronomers are endeavoring to solve today. The famous astronomer of theseventeenth century, Johannes Kepler,suggested that the Christmas Star mayhave been a nova which burst fordi ingreat brilliance, only to fade after theoccasion and remain a faint star everafter.

In the year 7 B.C. there was anunusual conjunction, or passing of one

by the other, of the planets Jupiter

B y L e s t e r L . L i b b y , M . S . , F . R . C .

Dir ector , AMO B C Tech n ical Dep t .

• A r e c e nt l y - d is c o v e r e d ic e - f i l le dbasin in Northern Quebec, believed to be of meteoric origin, istwo an d on e- h alf m iles in diameter an d m ay wel l be th e lar gestsu ch cr ater kn own to m an . Can adian geologis ts est im ate i ts ageto be between 3000 and 5000

y e a r s ; th e y ar e p la n n in g e x pe dit ion s to in vest igate i t th or ou gh ly .

• S cien t is ts a t th e M ayo Cl in ic haverecently perfected an electronicdevice wh ich au tom atica l ly cont r o l s t h e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f a naesthetics to patients. Becauseelectr ica l p oten t ia ls f r om th e p at ien t’s br a in var y w ith the dep thof anaesthesia, use is made ofth ese p oten t ia ls to con tr ol aser vom ech an ism wh ich r egu latesth e am ou n t of an aesth et ic bein gdelivered to the patient.

• S p ecial p hotog r ap h ic p lates carried 100 miles aloft in a recent

V- 2 r oc k e t f li g h t s ho w tha t co s micr ay act iv i ty is th r ee t im es as p r ofuse as it is at the 20-mile altitudecom m on ly r each ed by u s in g f r eeballoons.



and Saturn; in fact, Jupiter and Saturn were in conj unction three times in that y ear— in Ma y , September, and December. T his ex traordinary ev ent occursonce every 854 years. T his unusualoccurrence must have struck awe in thehearts of the astrologers of the East

who spent the ir lives follow ing themovements of the heavenly bodies

which, in those days, seemed unpr edictable and mysterious.

T h e W i s e M e n K n e w

It is said that at that time there wasa prophecy, known throughout the East,that a Messiah was to come to save the

world. If the Wis e Men had thoughtthe unusual conjunctions of Jupiter andSaturn in the year 7 B.C. of sufficient

importance, it may have started themon their way from Persia to Bethlehem,

w hich is a distance of about 1,000 miles .The first conjunction occurred in themonth of May; therefore, while traveling they would have seen the secondconjunction in September, and it is justpossible that they would have arrivedat Bethlehem to see the third conjunction which, according to our calendar,occurred on December 15.

It is not hard to imagine that theirregular meanderings of Jupiter and

Saturn fired the imaginations of the Wis e Me n, especially early in the y ear6 B.C. when Mars joined with Jupiterand Saturn to form a triangle in thenig ht sky. T his may also have beentaken as the Sign that caused the WiseMen to set out from the East to seekthe promised Mess iah K ing. It is saidthat in September of the year 6 B.C.the triangular formation of Jupiter,Saturn, and Mars, could be seenthroughout the entire nig ht. T he Mag icould have seen this formation duesouth of Jerusalem pointing the wayto Bethlehem and Judea.

The Wise Men, belonging as theydid to the old caste of Persian Magi,unfortunately had been taught by generations of soothsayers to utter theirstatements ambiguously . T hey did notstate clearly whether the star was shining in the East or the West. T hey sawit while they were still in the East before they journeyed west to Jerusalem.Perhaps everybody remembers the following statement from the Bible:

“. . . lo, the star, which they saw in theEast, went before them, till it cameand stood over where the young child

was.” It is impossible for a planet orstar to stand still. T he Mag i may havemeant that the star traveled faster thanthey, and that it arrived at Bethlehembefore they did, so that they saw it(according to an old legend) reflectedin the water of a well when they entered the town. In those days a conspicuous conjunction was frequentlybelieved to herald the birth of royalty.

Could a meteor or a comet have beenthe Christmas Star? If a meteor hadbeen seen at this time it is not likelythat it would have been recognized as asign of special significance, for meteorsare transient and of very short dura

tion. Histor y tells us that the Christmas Star blazed in the sky for severalnights, and that perhaps it was meantto guide the Magi in their quest.

A comet mig ht have had some bearing upon the matter. A str onomicalrecords show the appearance of a cometin the year 4 B.C., and this was no lessthan Hailey’s Comet which passed our

w ay in 1910. T his comet is seen regular ly every 76 years. In 1910 Haile y ’sComet was visible in our night sky forabout nine weeks during the months

of Ma y and June. It was a tremendously bright object with an extremely longtail arching its pathway across theheavens. A comet of such brillia nceand proportion occurred in the year 4B.C., and might have had some significance as the Christmas Star.

W e have, then, these many poss ibilities: the nova; the conjunction of theplanets Jupiter and Saturn; the triangulation of Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars;and the comet. A nd there are otherpossibilities that are less plausible. Perhaps it is just as well that we cannotdefinitely say, but certainly this doesnot detract from the beauty of thethought, nor does it dim the inspirationbrought to men’s hearts by the storyof the Christmas Star seen by the Magilong ago.

There has been, and perhaps always w il l be, much discuss ion from time totime concerning the Star of the East.T hat a br ight object was in the heavensat the date of the nativity is not questioned. Nevertheless, it is a curious



coincidence that one of the greatest ofastronomical events—the conjunctionof two planets three times in the same

year— occurr ed jus t before the bir th ofthe most outstanding man in history.

W he ther or not it was a star that the Wis e Men saw or some other celestialobject is not of too great importance tous, although it is obvious that an appearance of some brilliant celestial ob

ject started the Wis e Me n on their journey, and has had a tremendous effect

upon the development, culture, andcivilization of man.

A nd so at the Christmas season weare reminded of the Master Jesus andHis work which was heralded so long

ago by the bright shining object in thenight sky as seen by the Wise Men inthe East. Per haps the spirit of the season will take root in the hearts of menand women and manifest in every actand thought during each day of the

year.

F O L L O W IN G T H E P A T H O F L IG H T(Continued from Page 419)

one of these was the school of theMoridin, moridin meaning adepts. The

leader of this school in 1144 was Aben-casi, famous mystic master of the time. A nothe r pr omine nt mystic was Aben-barrachan, who also was the head ofanother of the mystery schools and

was the teacher of Mohidi n A benar abi,one of the greatest of Islamic mystics,undoubtedly connected with the traditional teachings of the Great Brotherhood.

The Persian mystical Order of the“Brothers of Purity” was introduced inMadrid in the year 1004 by Maslama.

A nother my stical school was active inGranada in the twelfth century, underthe leadership of Abenshlo- el- Darir,most famous adept, who was at thesame time a distinguished alchemistand a celebrated mathematician; he

was well know n for his great psy chicdevelopment, and his school was attended not only by Arabs and Moors,but also by Jews and Christians, whotraveled from Toledo and Baeza to receive his teachings . As can be seen bythe few quotations we have made, the

A rabs had in Spain not jus t one litt leschool somewhere, but rather a largemovement with several schools and different branches all over that country,including for mal monasteries. Besides,the Arabs had preserved many of the

writing s of the anc ient mys tics tha thad been destroyed in Europe. A llalong their passage through Syria,Palestine, Asia Minor, and Egypt, theyhad preserved many precious manuscripts, not only mystical, but alsophilosophical, scientific, and literary,

w hich at that time no long er existed

in Europe. A ll these w ent to Spain

w ith the teachings ; and scholars frommany parts of Europe, including

France, Austria, and Germany, wentto Spain to translate into Latin or otherlanguages, some of the books of antiquity preserved by the A rabs. On theother hand, we cannot so easily forgetthat it was one of the great Arabicleaders, Omar the Conqueror, whoburned the celebrated library at Alexandria, where we lost a great treasureof the highest learning.

**G o l d e n A g e 99 o f I s r a e l

But the Arabic culture in Spain had

something else to offer: it was the so-called Je wis h “golden age.” Let usconsider this important development.

The Arab rulers were not outstanding for their tolerance. On the contrary, at the beginning and towards theend of their cultural period, there werepersecutions and fanaticism, religiousintolerance, and destruction. A ll of this

was directed mos tly ag ains t the Chr istian peoples, and this in turn was dueto Christian intransigency and to political wars. But towar d other sects

and creeds which did not antagonizeMohammedan ways and ideas, the

A rabs were more toler ant.

It was in this way that the Jewishpeople, scattered throughout the Arabicempire, were free to pursue their Jewish cultural aims to a considerable degree. In Spain, Jewish culture achieved,under Arabic rule, one of the most important periods of Hebrew culture. Science, letters, philosophy, and mysticismattained a peak in Jewish history, andhistorians call this time the “golden

age” of Israel.



Some of the greatest names amongthe Jewish people, outside of Biblicaltimes, belong to the Spanish Golden

Age. A uthors as outstanding as Jehudah Halevy, the two Benezras; philosophers

like Moses Ben Maimon, the most distinguished commentator of the classicalHebrew writings, and Solomon Ben-gabirol, also called A vicebron, belongto this time and place. Of greatest importance to us is Moses from Cordoba,

w ho wrote the Zohar , w hich is thefoundation of all Cabalistic writings.Jews introduced in Spain, and subsequently in the rest of Europe, the Cabalistic tradition and Cabalistic magic,and a rich Biblical lore which is a treasure for the mystic student.

So we see that during the Dark Ages

and early Middle Ages, there was anextraordinary mystical activity in

A rabic Spain. T he rest of Eur ope wasmore or less isolated from Spain, andhad few contacts. But gr adually , allthis light spread to the rest of Europe.

W e owe to the A rabs the early know ledge of the Neo- Platonicians, w hich isnothing else than the teachings of theEg y ptian Brotherhood. W e owe to the

A rabs the introduction of alche my intoEurope, and it was under this form ofteachings that the early European Rosi

crucians taught the truths they possessed. W e owe to the Spanish Jewsall our knowledge of the Cabala andof Magic, all closely connected withearly Rosicr ucian movements. Fro mthe Arabic mystery schools in Spaincame those great mystics as RaymondLully, Arnaldus de Villanova, and allthe schools of the Illuminati whichflourished in Toledo and other placesuntil they were persecuted, later on,by the Inquisition, under the Spanish

Catholic kings. Such great French mystics as Flamel and his predecessors owetheir light to the Hebrew tradition ofSpain. A nd even in much later timesMartinez de Pasqually, founder of the

Martinist Order, proceeded from thissame fountain of sacred knowledge.

It was, then, through Spain andthrough the Arabic world that the lightin Europe was restored after the Dark

Ages. It is tr ue that besides this channel, the French emperor Charlemagnesent a mission to the Near East (which

was also A rabic ) in order to br ing thehidden light, and it is also true thatthis eminent ruler started a secretschool in France, to which he himselfdid not belong, but this French infiltra

tion was not comparable in extent tothe Arabic contribution through Spain.This contribution to esoteric knowledgein Europe also worked, in a lesser degree, through Italy, mostly throughSicily, and this was the origin of theearly Italian schools, one of which wasthe Pythagoric, together with the Rosicrucian. To these schools belonged earlygreat mystics like Petrus Abanus, andlater on Picus de Mirandola and manyothers.

A ll this histor ical period we havebeen considering is not very well knownfrom our point of view, and we needmore research in this field. St ill the

works of this per iod that we can readtoday are as enlightening to us as they

were to the A rabic, J ew ish, or E uropeanmystic scholars ten centuries ago.

A rabic Spain was one of the important landmarks along the path followed by the tradition of Light fromEast to West, in accordance with themysterious ways of Cosmic.

T H R E E IN I T IA T IO N S

The Rosicrucian Digest December 1 9 5 0

The Benjamin Franklin Lodge, 1303 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia 32, Pennsy lvania, w ill confer upon all eligible A MO RC members the follow ing initiations onthe specified dates:

On Sunday, December 10, 1950, at 3 p. m.— Second Degree.

On Sunday, Ja nuary 28, 1951, at 3 p. m.— First Degree.

On S unday, February 18, 1951, at 3 p. m.—N inth Degree.



T he “Cathedr al of the Soul” is a Cosmic meet ing place for all minds of themost highly developed and spiritually advanced members and workers of theRosicrucian fr ater nity . It is the focal point of Cosmic radiations and thought

wav es f rom w hic h radiate v ibr ations of heal th, peace, happines s, and inn erawak ening. V arious periods of the day are set aside when ma ny thousandsof minds are attuned wi th the Cathedral of the S oul, and others att uning w iththe Cathedral at the time w ill receive the benefit of the vibrations. T hose whoare not members of the organization may share in the unusual benefits as wellas those who are members . T he book called Liber 777 describes the periodsfor v arious contacts w ith the Cathedral. Copies w ill be sent to persons w hoare not members if they address their requests for this book to Friar S.P.C.,care of A MO RC T emple, S an Jose, California, enclosing three cents in postagestamps. (Please state whether member or not—this is important.)

THE GREATEST GIFT

t t h i s season when givingis accepted as a tradition,

we pause to consider w hat it is that constitutes a gift . A simple orelementary concept of agift is s o m e t h i n g f o r n o t h i n g . T o receivesomething of value for

w hich no value or ex penditure of energy is given is to have added to ourmaterial possessions something that isfree—we hope even free of obligation

— and therefore of no me ntal or material eff ort to obtain. Eve ry one likesto receive a gift . T he tr uth of this factis borne out by the gift appeal that isso common today in various forms ofadvertising and entertainment. Peopleliterally by the thousands enter contests in which a minimum expenditureof energy and money is required, with

the hope or even the expectation of receiving in return something of muchgreater value.

It is because of this concept that giftsand the tradition of giving is tied upclosely with our materialistic concepts.On every side of us during this seasonof the year, we find every incentiveand convenience that w ill assist us ingiv ing. T he actual spirit of giv ing isfrequently subordinated to the processof giv ing. T he true Christmas spirit

was based upon the principle tha t it isbetter to give than to receive. T odayit is questionable whether most peoplereally believe this principle, or whether it is not actually true that the reverse is prevalent in the minds ofmany.

T his acceptance of the idea of its being a privilege to receive is not limited

to children only but is also common



among adults. T here is a degree ofdanger in this concept because it takesaway the intangible considerations ofthe gift. I believe that every individualremembers something of very little orno material value that he had receivedas a gift and has kept in remembranceof the giver, or the thoughtfulness under

w hich it was given, rather than for theintrinsic value of the gift itself. Somesimple item of no practical use mayconvey the spirit of humanity or brotherly love and the ideal relationshipsthat should exist between men far moreeffectively than will the most elaborate or most expensive gift. If we accept with some reservations the prevalent concept of a gift as being something for nothing, there are still many

things which we have been privilegedto receive that may not add greatly toour material wealth, but which havecome to us through little effort andactually as gifts with no obligationsattached.

V a l n e s

Our common concept of value isdual. T he value can be the methodor means by which a thing is obtained,or it can be in the intrinsic value ofthe thing itself. Something for which

we have worked har d takes on value in

memory of our effort, desire, and w illingness to give of ourselves to obtainit. It is usually conceded that that

w hich comes to us throug h ef fort carries more value than that which is given us without any obligation or effort.It is true that this intangible value thatis added to the intrinsic value of anobject is only a value which we ourselves can appreciate. It is importantthat we consider occasionally that,after all, in those intangible values arethe real values.

It is conceivably possible that anyonecan become the possessor of preciousstones or valuable metals. T he int r insic value of these things is the sameregardless of the process by which theycome into an individual’s possession.The intangible values which any such

T he ite m ma y possess is added to the in-Rosicrucian tr ns c va ue throug h the history of its

acquisition, and the meaning behind5 » t le acquisition adds something to these

December mater ial things that no one else can1950 possibly find in them.

In this sense we might look uponthe greatest gift of all for man—theg ift of being. T his is the very essenceof life itself. It is a gift in the sensethat we receive life and existence without giving of any of our own valuesor even making any sacrifice or expending any energy, insofar as we asindividuals are concerned. T he gift ofbeing and of life carries with it potentialities and attributes which we canconstantly develop and put to use inattempting to acquire those things

which add to the enjoy ment of all othermaterial and immater ial tilings. W ithout life there would be no object in giving or receiving. T here w ould be norecipient to receive, no values to be exchanged. Lif e is the fundame ntal and

greatest gift that anyone has ever received. Ev en peace of mind and immortality, two tilings most desired bymen, become secondary in relation tothe gift of being since they are the results of the first, of the continuity oflife itself.

V i ew p o i n t s

Earliest man necessarily gave mostof his attention to the acquisition ofthose things received either through effort or as gifts from someone else that

w ould mak e him comfortable. Food,protection from the elements, comfort,

wer e his prima ry objectives fr om day-today living . He may have had littletime to think constructively beyond thelevel of phys ical comfort. T oday, however, man has built for himself a morecomplex envir onment. He lives in a

wor ld where ev er ything tha t he is toobtain is based upon the elementaryfact of his utilization of the life forcefor his pleasure and benefit, and forextending these pleasures and benefitsto other human beings like himself.

A t this Christmas Season it w il l be

to the advantage of each individual torenew in his own consciousness theawareness of the fact that the greatestgift he has ever received and will everpossess is the gift of being, and to usethis time given in an attempt to exemplif y the concepts of peace and good

w il l so tha t he can renew in his ow nconsciousness the useful potentialitiesof his own development and of his owngr owth. In this manner he can promote the establishment of his ownpeace of mind and gain in his con-



sciousness the concept of immortalitygoing on forever into the greater and

wide r fields of ex perience, contentment, happiness , and satisfaction. Asthe individual becomes conscious of

these possibilities, he can then practice

the spirit of the season by attemptingto give to others this same concept oflife everlasting and the right of manto be able to advance in wisdom andexperience toward the mind of the

Creator.

{ f j i i i t a u < ^ \ /{ s . u % L n k

T HE MTSTIC OF LAKE STAKHBERG

By C h e r d y l W . R e t t i c h 'H a i d y l

A n author ized tr ans la tio n, f rom the Germa n, by A lb er t Bolze

h e w o r k o f the AncientM y s t i c a l Or der R os ae

Crucis has been resumedin Ger many. T he firstlocal lodge was opened inMunic h. It is called theGustav Meyrink Lodge.In this name, homage isbeing paid to a mystic

who as one of G erma ny ’s most successful novelists saw a mission in his literary contributions dealing with thespiritual rebirth of man.

Me y rink ’s profound knowledge, whichhe acquired as a Rosicrucian, was ad

vantageously expressed in numerous ofhis world- renowned novels. The Golem,The Green Face, The Angel at the

Wes ter n W indow , and The White Dominican are a few of his valuablestorehouses of mys tical wisdom. Bythese works, ma ny materialistic- mindedreaders were shaken out of their lethargy into happiness. As a poet, Mey r ink ’sstyle is vivid and enthralling, and sohighly suggestive of the hidden mysteries of life as to awaken in the readera consciousness of the magical facultiesingrained in the soul of man.

Gustav Meyrink was one of the Illuminati who have a lodge in Milan.His earthly career came to an end onDecember 4, 1932, at his home, theHaus zur letzten Laterne. T his idyllicvilla, with its magnificent view of thelake and the Bavarian mountains, wasunfortunately destroyed as a result ofthe war.

Quite recently, we had an opportunity to visit the widow of GustavMey rink at her present home in S tam-berg. Mrs. Mena Mey rink is an un

usually warm- hearted and kind lady,

whose mental v itality stands in strongcontrast to her age of seventy- eight

years. She calls herself “ the happiest w oman on ea rth” and lives only m thememory and remembrance of her husband, with whom she led a happy married life last ing several decades. T heexquisite harmony of this marriage wasaptly expressed by Gustav Meyrink

w hen he said: “M y wife is a mystic ofthe heart, while I am a mystic of thespirit.” Can anyone find a better expression for a perfect harmony of themasculine and the feminine polarities?

W he n Mrs. Me y r ink tells of the daysgone- by, her words become a song of

f rateful love to her transfigured hus-and. Her speech is so v ibr ant thateven the furniture and the other objectsseem to become imbued w ith life. T hebig, high- backed ar mchair in w hich theoet died, the bench he sat on whene wrote, the large manuscript rack,

w hich he made hims elf, the ex tensivelibrary, with shelves of treasured booksreaching to the ceiling, are silent yeteloquent witnesses of the life and the

work of this great master.Mrs. Meyrink kept reverting to his

last hours on this earth. On December3, a Friday, he told her that he wassoon going to “pass into the lig ht.” Herequested to be put into his armchair,since he did not want to die in bed. Hemade his relatives promise not to givehim any narcotics whatsoever, althoughhe was suffer ing bad pains. He promised his wife that, if such should bepossible, he would help her from theother side. On Saturday , at 7 a.m., themaster’s life withdrew from its earthlyshell. He spent his fina l hours in Y og in

posture, breathing consciously, his face




turned toward the East. Shortly beforetransition his eyes grew larger andlarger, and his face became smaller andsmaller . His eyes expressed an indescribable harmony ana benevolence.

S p i r i t u a l C om p e n s a t i o n Four days after her husband’s death,

Mrs. Meyrink’s pain and sorrow wassuddenly transmuted into an overflowing sense of beatitude, an intoxicatingfeeling of happiness, which has stayed

w ith her unto this ver y day . T hus didGustav Meyrink keep his promise tohelp his mate f rom the other side. W iththe falling of winter’s first snowflakes,his mortal body was buried accordingto Buddhist rites.

Mrs. Meyrink also gives a very vividaccount of Gustav Meyrink’s transformation from a worldly materialist to aspiritual mystic. Mey rink was a bankerbefore his writing talent was discoveredby the poet Ludw ig T homa. He operated a bank of his own in Prague.However, since his commercial ability

was not ver y great, his business soonfailed. T his fa ilure and a disagreeablephysical impediment ripened in himthe resolve to leave this life voluntar ily. Mey rink was on the verge ofputting his plan into execution, when adramat ic incident occurred. A lre ady on

the table before him, was the farewellletter he had just finished writing tohis mother; beside it was a loaded revolver. Just as he was about to lif t the

gun, he heard a noise behind his back.Startled, he turned around and noticedthat a periodical had dropped throughthe slit in the door, provided for letters.He then glanced at the title standingout in large black letters: The Life

after Death. Mec hanica lly he reachedfor the booklet and began to read.Hours later he arose, an inwardlychanged man.

W ha t he had read, had made such animpression that he could hardly waitfor the continuation of the article, inan issue two weeks later. A ll thoughtsof suicide had disappeared. GustavMeyrink had passed through a spiritualrebir th. Fr om that moment on, he experienced the tr uth of: “W he n theChela calls, the G uru appears.” His

development as a mystic rose, strangeto say, in a steeply ascending curve andculminated in his literary works.

Meyrink’s novels are written in masterful language and belong to the mostfascinating works of the world’s literature. Ev en though only a small partof the m any hundred thousands of hisreaders can grasp the deep symbolismcontained in his books, they are nevertheless a signpost to those who are onthe threshold of spiritual awakening.T hey deft ly suggest to their readers the

eternal truths of the Cosmic, givingthem an impetus to delve into the hidden and suppressed powers of theirsouls.

Imperativ e f am ily duties make it necessary for me at this time to leave San Joseand go to Ve nezuela. T his implies that I w ill be away f rom the Latin- A mericanDivis ion of A MO RC f or some time. A nd I w ant to express now my deep appreciationto our beloved Imperator, Supreme Secretary, and all of the other officers and personnelfor their magnificent cooperation and interest, which has been the most valuable helpin m y most pleasant duties here for s everal years.

On the other hand, as a Member of the Supreme Council of A MO RC , I w ill continue serv ing the Order and all members , to the best of my abilities, during my absence.

Ma y I add here a word of cordial gra titude for a ll the kindness tha t in a social

and personal way both Soror Calcano and myself have received from everyone we knowin San Jose and around Rosicrucian Park.

W it h Peace Pr of ound to alL,J. A. Calcano CalcahoMember of the Board of DirectorsOf the Supreme Grand Lodge of A MO RC

FIRST TEMPLE DEGREE INITIATIONT he Nefer titi Lodge of Chicago, at 2539 N. Kedzie Av enue in Logan S quare, wi ll

give the First Degree Initiatio n to all eligible members of A MO RC , on Sunday afternoon, January 7, at 3:00 p. m.



<zSzaticrLinq D L m nlznocvn

B y I o l a F o r d P a r k e r , F. R. C.

o n g before man learnedto record his acts andthoughts and dreams;long before he inventedthe alphabet or picturesymbols or learned toimpress stone and papyrus with his ideas, hemust have had an inwar d

onging to be near his Creator. Hemust even then have been seeking forsome common ground where he couldmeet this Unknown Force to appeaseHim, petition Him, question Him.

A ncie nt records give many accountsof wise men retiring to remote sacredspots for communion with their God.The Christian Bible abounds with suchstories: Moses, in the deserts of Midian;the Master Jesus, withdrawing to amountain or to a garden, for the purpose of receiving personal inspiration.

The Greeks sought deep, mysterious

caverns where, they believed, theirgods remained hidden. W he n questions were called, the echoes comingback were not just rebounding sound

waves, these believers declared, nortricks of the wind, but the voice of thegods calling back the answers.

Sometime in the remote past, manbegan to build holy places—first onlycrude altars which he sanctified withofferings and prayers. T he first temple ma y have been just a s imple pro

tection to keep an altar from the dustand the sun and the rain. As timepassed, altars became housed in buildings, from simple tabernacles to elaborate cathedrals. W it h the building ofthe first temples, worship became confined more and more, until today, inour Western world at least, the templesand churches are considered to be theonly ideal places for contacting God.

For centuries men have debated thequestion; conflicts and persecutions

have arisen. Orthodox believers em

phasize formal, public, group worshipin buildings constructed for religiousgatherings; a minority prefers private

worship at home or out- of- doors. Ev entoday, the first group is sincerely perturbed by those who believe they cancome closer to God out- of-doors thanin a building dedicated and kept sacredfor such purpose. In the time of theMaster Jesus the Samaritans considered a certain mountain the holy place

of wrorship; whereas, the Jews considered the temple at Jerusalem the properplace. When asked, the Master Jesusanswered, “the hour cometh when yeshall neither in this mountain, nor yetat Jerusalem worship the Father . . .the true worshipers shall worship theFather in spirit and in truth.”

This is the opinion of those who refuse the dictation of custom and common practice. T o wor ship in s pirit andin truth is equally possible in publicor private. Some ma y need templesin which to find God, and others, learning about Him there, may go out tomeet Him everywhere—on the hills, inthe forests, or in their own back yards.

As the mystic unfolds , he comes tounderstand that the presence and powerof God within him is the same as inevery vibrating atom of the universe.Holy spots are not holy because theDivine Essence is more concentratedthere, but because angles of light, aurasof living things, or minerals, set up

harmonious crosscurrents which causehim to vibrate synchronously with theCosmic itself.

The mystic finds God in the templebecause he takes Him there in hisheart. T he places to wor ship an infinite God cannot be limited! T he Godof our Heart is the God of all creationand His presence cannot be concentrated within the walls of a building.

W e should ever go where He speaksmost clearly. Each should le am the

whereabouts of his ow n temple.



The Rosicrucian Digest December 1 950

The Reader’s

NotebookBy

J o e l D i s h e r , F.R.C.

Literary Research

Department

Opinions expressed are the wr ite r’s own. In no wa y are they to be understood as A M O R C ’s endo rs eme nt or rec omme nda tion of books quote d or me ntio ne d; nor do the y

constitute an official judgment.

intrusion of any visitor from another world, whether k indly or malev ole nt;and that he would have shown exactlythe same natural ease and courtesy,

w ith an ex act awareness of how oneshould behave, to an angel, a demon, ahuman ghost, or an elemental.”

Whethe r Mr. W il liams would havecalled himself a mystic may be doubted;

yet it is certain that he concerned hi mself with that mystic vision of love

w hich moves me n forward. Certain,too, that his books grew out of his ownspiritual questing and integrity; toquote Mr . Eliot again: “T he deeperthings are there just because they De

longed to the world he lived in, and hecould not have kept them out.”

Mr. Williams’ novels begin on seemingly innocent and ordinary levels ofobjectivity, and then, before one knowsit, slide off onto oblique inner levels

where the reader suddenly finds himself in the bright blue yonder. It is likebeginning on solid pavement and infamiliar surroundings only to be in notime aware of walking on nothing atall or as a fly straight up a perpendicular wall of utter unfamiliarity . T headjustment is somehow made, however,and the reader continues in a dream

wor ld where topsy - turv y thing s canbe accepted w ithout blink ing . “Reading,” quoth Bacon, “maketh a fullman.”

T he Greater T rumps (Pellegrini &Cudahy, New York. 1950. $3), whichthe dust jacket describes as “the story

e a d i n g i s o f t e n m a n ythings: pleasant escape,instructive pastime, reallabor. It is scarcely ever

jus t one of these aloneand may sometimes beall three. In addition, itcan be a bit harassing attimes if one’s interest is

too all- inclusive. T here is nothing,however, quite like savoring a book’s

many moods, living its excitements, following its ideas in creative fantasy.This last is decidedly a trap into whichit is often pleasant to fall.

T oday ’s novels seem especially conducive to that sort of thing—the novelsof Charles Will iam s , especially. As anovelist, Charles Williams specializesin a kind of double dealing. K now n inthe United States only since 1948, Mr.

W il liams has had enthusiastic Englis hreaders for almost fifteen years. Amodest man, meeting easily his fellowmen whatever their opinions, he seemedunusual only in the fact that the natural and supematural were equally realand acceptable to him. T . S. Eliot, thepoet, who was his friend, once wrote:“Williams seemed equally at easeamong every sort and condition of men,naturally and unconsciously, withoutenvy or contempt, without subservienceor condescension. I have alw ays believed that he would have been equallyat ease in every kind of supernaturalcompany; that he would never havebeen surprised or disconcerted by the



of two young lovers who sought to findthrough magic cards powers which belong to God alone,” very well illustratesthis.

A ma n inherits by the w il l of a de

ceased friend a pack of playing cards.But these are a particular kind of cards

— the Tarots, whose or ig in, his tor y, andmeaning have intrigued and baffledmen for centuries. A re they just thequaint ancestors of our ordinary playing cards, or are they the long- lostleaves of the Egy ptian T hoth’s Mag icBook? Were they designed for games,or were they meant to carry esotericand magic secrets in an Ismaeliticfashion?

Mr. Williams wants to speculate as

countless others before him have done;but he wants to do it in novel form.Suppose, he seems to say, we considerthese painted pasteboards to have beenmore than pictorial notations, like thephilosophical machines of the Middle

Ages. Suppose not only univ er sal secrets but magic powers lay in the cardsthemselv es. Suppose, too, that the cards

were only ha lf the secret— the otherhalf being actual puppets, fastened toa circular chessboard, which move bya force w ithin themselves, mak ing a

microcosmic world.Now the two—the cards and the puppets on their chessboard— are a powerful unity . T he wise w ho first possessedthe cards and knew their secret manipulated the natural forces of the universethrough the cards and channeled thoseforces in any direction for good or ill.The Tarot cards are no longer paintedpasteboards symbolic of universal forces;they are now like robots in which thoseforces actually inhere.

Somehow, this unified power becomesdivided: the cards—the original ones—slip independently out in the world andleave the wise with only half theirsecret wis dom. T hey hav e the puppets

w hich stil l w hir l in the ir little world,but the meaning is gone out of them,and the power to control them as well.

W ha t w ould happen if the tw o couldbe brought together again?

One involuntarily shrinks from thethought of misguided man ’s w illf ul ormalicious tinkering with nature’s machinery . He remembers the impers onality of the law ’s operation and foreseesthe inevitable disaster of playing god

w ith mor ta l weaknes s and limita tion.Perhaps he even recognizes himself tobe the Fool of the Tarot T rumps, whorushes into the dance of life withouthearing the music or knowing the

rhythm.Since the card in the Tarot pack

called the Fool has ever been a puzzle,it may be that Mr. Williams intendedsome such illust ration. T he Fool isnumbere d zero. As in mathematics,zero has value only in juxtaposition

w ith other numerals, so in the T arotthe Fool can gain experience only bybeing brought into contact with othercounters in the dance. If ex perience isthe purpose of life, even the Fool maycatch something of the over- all har

mony and learn a few measures as he jostles thr oug h li fe from partne r topartner.

There is no doubt that the Fool isthe key to Tarot symbolism as he isthe nub of the mys tery in Mr . W illia ms ’ novel. In the puppet world, thedance is perpetual, but the Fool apparently stands motionless and bemusedin the center— that is, to al l beholdersexcept one. Sy bil Coningsby saw himnot as a stationary point nor yet asa clumsy participant in the dance, but

rather as one who found his way easilyamong the dancers and kept perfecttime to the measure.

It is just such subjective responses tosituations made by both characters andreaders of The Greater Trumps thatmake it such a rewarding if somewhatdisturbing ex perience. It matches one’sresponse to the T ar ot cards themselves.One studies them, arranges them invarious sequences, assigns them to theobjective world, the psychic world, thephenomenal world, or relates them tothe dot, the triangle, and the squareand waits for the subjective self torender them meaningful and plain.

This is so, too, in life. As Maeterlinck wrote in Wisdom and Destiny : The w ater w hich flows from the pitcher offate is colorless and without flavor—itis only when it reaches the lips that itbecomes red like wine or tastes sweetor bitter. A nd Rosicrucian teachingsagain and again remind us that thingshave only that character we assign tothem and are only as we realize themto be. A s is the indiv idual response, sois the event to that person.



T here is much in any of Mr. W illiams’ novels that w ill escape thereader, and it is likely that the planesof consciousness w ill t ilt diffe rently foreveryone; nonetheless, it is extremelygood occasionally to have our mental

equilibrium checked for its stableness.If air pilots need such tests before being

allowed freedom in the upper strata ofthe atmosphere, much more do studentsof mysticism need to be certain of theirequipment before entering the vastydeeps of their own inner realms. T he Greater T rumps offers an excellent op

portunity for a trial flight, with positive assurance of a happy landing.

V A V

^ a m o u i .

C om p o s e r

December 8, 1865. T avastehus, Fi n

land. Jean Sibelius. Neither a classicaleducation nor a course of law couldoverride a youthful preference and talent for music. Study abroad brought noforeign influence into his work and imm a t u r i t y is a bs e n tfrom the beginning.

W he the r vocal, ins trumental, or symphonic,all is unalterably Finnish, springing fromdeep northern rootsand being individual

ized in his own ex-

P r o p h e t

penence.

A l c h e m i s t

Other December Birthdays

December 17, 1493.Einsiedeln, Switzerland. T heophra stusBombastus von Hohenhe im. God andnature were two ruling passions of hislife: the one he worshipped, the otherhe ex plored. A thir d passion inev itablygrew from the other two— man himselfand the healing of his ills. “Paracelsus,”

as he called himself had one great faultas Browning wrote: “He lived too muchadvanced before his brother men.”

Ludwig van Beethoven

T ycho Brahe

Thomas Carlyle

Samuel Compton

Jean Henri FabreHenry IV of Prance

Johannes Kepler

M a x M u l l e r

Gilbert Stuart

December 23,18 05. Sharon, V ermont.

Joseph Smith, Jr . See mingly fulf illinga prophecy of his mother that a prophet

would come into her fami ly , Joseph atfourteen saw visions. In 1830, Moroni,son of Mormon, directed his attention

to Angelic tablets hidden at Cumorah Hilland with their translation the foundation of“the most remarkabler e l ig io n o f m o de r ntimes,” as it has beencalled, was laid.

P h i l a n t h r o p i s t

December 25, 1821.Ox ford, Massachusetts.Clar a B arton. A schoolteacher who later became a government

clerk. She res igned her post and wentinto hospital work at the outbreak ofthe Civil W ar . A fterw ards, she organized and financed a systematicsearch for missing soldiers. In 1881she founded the A merica n Red Cross.

Relief work, therefore, was the patternof her life. She was the author ofseveral books.

T hen . . T here can and should be a peacetime use for all the factories built for w arRosicrucian rDigest production. None of them need be idle and there need be no idleness any where

December afte r the war. W e have not enough industry to serve A mer ica’s needs or the

1950 w or ld’s needs. H e n r y F o r d



N A T U R E ' S L E S S O N I N C R Y S T A L S

By W e r n e r D o r i n g , D . L i tt ., P h .D .

H

e w h o has livedo r l i v es w her e

w intertime means severe frosts has someacquaintance with iceflowers — those transparent, crystal l ized

forms of water, or vap or , w h i c h d is p l a yt he m s e l v e s o n w i ndows when the airinside is damp and

w ar mer than outside.In daily life, they receive different appreciation. Some people,es pe cia lly children,feel joyful while looking at them and following their filigreepatterns with eyes or

linger s. On the otherhand, they may be regarded as obstructionsto vision by those whoare riding in an automobile or in a train.

Few references to crystals appear inpre- Christian literature, the generalreason being that civilization throve insubtropical surr oundings . In the epicsof the early Middle Ages, mention ofice flowers is made only in a literarysense. T hey were observed and ad

mired when seen on stones or wood,but the high point for these fine, coolembroideries came after glass had beeninvented and had come into generaluse as windowpanes. A ltho ugh peoplethen began to observe this phenomenonmore closely, no records were publisheduntil recent times.

People, generally, have been satisfied w ith the statements in tex tbooks onphysics a2id have regarded these crystals as only an interesting sport ofnature. Howeve r, about fif ty years ago,

the Swedish dramatist and researcher,

A ug us t S t r in d be r g ,speculated about thesepeculiar ice forms, and

was spurred on to systematic experimentsbecause of their res em blan c e to p lan t

leaves. He burned certain leaves to ashes,dissolved them, hadthe solution evaporatedand afterwards frozen,or he used pure v ine-acid in a similar manner. A s a result, he noted forcns similar inshape to the leaves inq ues t i o n . In o ther

wor ds, the plants wereresurrected in a particular style. A de

scription of his testsand ideas was published by him but foundlittle market.

In 1930, a Germanphys ician, work ing in

dependently of August Strindberg, became interested in these ice crystals,observing that they changed their appearance in accordance with physicalor chemical conditions around them.He found that higher degrees of heatseemed to cause particularly fantastic

ice- blossoms a nd tha t the addition ofsmall amounts of other elements to theair caused transformations. Cont inuinghis experiments, he was astonished tofind that the fragrance of roses andcarnations affected the ice crystals, thatthe steam from cooking potatoes orbeans made them change their originalforms, and that even the odor of liquorand the smoke of cigarettes had a slighteffect on them.

Inspired by these experiences andtests, Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer went a

step far ther. Fr om copper chloride



(C u2 Cl2), w hich shows a certain construction in crystallization, he foundthat even this regular chemical patternassumed another form when saturated

w ith an ex tract from flowers or treeleaves. Some of these for ms showed a

distinct resemblance to the originals innature; whereas, others were not soclear. W hile ex perimenting with thesap of two different fir trees, heachieved two different crystallizationpatterns; this caused his medicallytrained mind to sense the reason.

D i s e a s es a n d C o l o r

Convinced that one of the two trees was knot ty and cr ippled, he continuedhis experiments, not with trees andvarious flora, but with human blood.He moistened the copper chloride witha drop of that life- giving f luid, and theresult was well worth the many hoursspent, for he found that certain diseasesof the human body print their stampon the crystals of the blood. He tr iumpha ntly brought forth the crystallo-gram of tuberculosis, which shows theoutline of an indented cross, similar tothe so-called Maltese Cross. W it h thedevelopment of this system and the cooperation of other physicians, the crys-tal lic stamp of ma ny illnesses has beenascertained. Some diagnosticians in

various countries have already acceptedthis method, which is successful innine ty percent of the cases. Even cancer can be identified on the glass plate.

W hi le engaged in general research work, scientists discovered a relatedphenomenon. T hey noticed that whena glass plate containing nickel oxide

was exposed to ultrav iolet rays, it would fluoresce w it h a dar k black- redlight. It was further discovered thatblood samples showed different shades.In fact, all colors could be made visible,in the course of the experiments, fromlight yellow to deep violet. When placedin order, these colors resembled thespectrum, ranging from the lightestpastel shades throug h purple- red toolive green, and down to turquoise blueand dark mauve. By comparison it was

T he learned that blood samples tak en fr omRosicrucian Persons hav ing the same disease, whenp.. treated on a glass plate, or in an eprou-Uigest vette as above described, had the sameDecember color. T he fluorescent color of the blood1950 of a healthy person lies between lig ht

and dark green; blood of diseased persons is differently colored, and the moreglaring colors predominate.

These facts are not, of course, sufficient to declare the findings of extraordinar y value. Medical science has

long since developed more precisemethods for the detection of maladies,among them being percussion, chemical tests, X- rays, electro- encephalo-graphs, various reactions, and microscopic ex aminat ion. Do these fur nis hall the clues? T he answ er is in thenegative, partly because the peak oftheir effectiveness has been reached andpartly bcause physical laws hinder further extension. A lthoug h medical science has been able to see most disease-causing bacteria, there is not the samesuccess when the originator is a virus.There is little certainty yet as to whatcauses measles, cancer, yellow fever,psittacosis, and others. W hil e bloodtreated with ultraviolet rays does notlift the veil entirely, it does open thedoor for comparing and cataloging disease marks at least.

From another standpoint, these observations and discoveries seem to havea higher value. In fact, they ma y beregarded as manifestations of greaterimportance than our scientific andtechnical acquisitions of the past centu

ries. Is it not as if Nat ure has lifte d thecurtain to permit a glance into theeternal construction of the Cosmic?

M y A b s o r b i n g S t u d y

A bout tw o years before the las t warI had, during my spare time, collectednearly six hundred photographs of

water cry stals on window panes andelsewhere. T his was done in variouscountries of the Northern hemisphereand involved many hours of examination. It wras not their medical poss ibilities that inspired me but the thought

of piercing the mysteries of the Cosmic where it swung the lit tle door open andinvited me to enter.

M y thoughts in the matter ran asfollows: Wood, straw, and paper cannotcrystallize through their own capabilities; other substances such as stones,for instance, do not possess the abilityto return to a noncrystallic condition,but liquids do. T here is one liquid

w hic h dominates this globe. In a k indof circular movement, it leaves us and



returns to us. It fall s fr om the sky, wets our ground, fills our riv ers, combines with our ocean waves and thenfinds its way up again as mist. W emay meet again the same drop of it we

have used just now. W e m ay havedrunk it once before in a former incarnation. It ma y be green or blue, as inthe Tyrolean lakes; it may be cool andfresh, as in the springs of the RockyMountains; it may be hot or salty ormarshy. It has formed part of thetiniest organism as well as the biggestequatorial thunderstor m. It may haveassisted in building up the colossal icemasses of the Arctic and in the floodingof the Y angtsek iang. It may havehelped to build your body and mine.Its life is one of rotation. W e all k nowit. Chemistry has established the factthat it consists of two parts of hydrogenand one part of ox ygen. Eve n a very

y oung student knows its for mula : H 20.But from what does it draw its abilities,its power, for ex ample, to re- create ina crystal the leaf of a vine or a birch,after it has left the leaf in the form ofsap and has been frozen?

Unfor tunately , m y collection of photographs of water crystals is no longerin my possession. I had to leave it,

w ith all my other belongings, whenthe peaceful little place where I lived

was practica lly annihilate d by bombs,shells, and grenades during the latterpart of W orld W ar I I. I am no longerin a position to show these beautifulice ornaments, but my conclusions, thatall the wonderful powers of water cannot be explained alone by the presenceof hydrogen and oxygen, have not beenshattered.

However, such speculations undoubtedly must quit the physical field andenter the spiritual. Fr om that viewpoint, there seems to be no other explanation except the creative theorythat water, while constantly rotating,absorbs special powers of molding andshaping which, under certain conditions, are freed and accept a suitableform, like that of an ice crys tal. T histheory may not seem so absurd when

we consider the matter of air. Phy sically, air is composed mainly of oxygenand nitrogen, whose qualities we know.But does that ex plain radio? Can theknown elements of air produce the mar

vels of radio? Hardly. We learn that air

allows certain waves to travel throughit. Physically, the appearance and properties of air and water are no longerproblems but, from the metaphysicaloutlook, these elements still are

mysteries.S en s i t i v i t y o f P r i m i t i v e P e o p l e

Travellers have reported—and I have witness ed the fact my self — that certain A fr ican Negro tribes are more af raidof cameras than of guns. T he reasonfor this fear is the opinion that theirpicture in the hands of another is a lasting threat; that whatever harm is inflicted on the photog raph w ill reachtheir body or soul. As one old tribesorcerer ex plained: “M an y tiny arrows

whistle between the picture and theorig inal.” Since the cry stal lization of

water seems to disclose the w onde rfulproperties which lie in that liquid, isthere not reason to believe, as do theNegro tribes, that there is a similarfaculty in the air? T he very fact thatvapor passes through the air before itbecomes an ice flower is proof. Sinceexact science has now accepted the cosmic ray as a reality, there can be littledoubt that every material sends out akind of radiation.

T his helps us to a better under stand

ing of many heretofore inexplicablematters. One ma y even conclude thatserious illnesses so disturb one’s personaloscillations as to create an inharmonious ex pression in the color— and probably also in the sound—of the bloodstream and so disturb the cosmic order.From this point of view, absent healing,the use of the pendulum, and similarphenomena, should not be regarded asimpossible of results.

Such perceptions may explain theeternal desire of humanity to remain

in harmony with the vibrations of theCosmic—the goal of all true religion.T hey prove that all materials , even so-called inorganic ones, “liv e.” Eachstone has its own peculiar pattern ofcrystals as is indicated when it isbrought into contact with certainliquids—pref erably acids— and snowflakes, in the beauty of their construction, speak a language still not understood by us. Some facts seem to showthat such knowledge was possessed byma nk ind aeons ago. T hat it was lost—

perhaps after some great global change



in the ratio of land and water—throughthe wrong conception that materialismcreates greater happiness, may be thebasis for the legena of the sinning of“the first men” not so many thousandsof years ago.

M y s t i c i sm a n d S u r v i v a l

Hindu and Greek philosophers remember, subconsciously, such higherhuman knowledge. T his is indicated bytheir doctrine of “rhythmic and lastingvibrations as soul of the A ll ,” f or it cannot be unders tood otherwise. T he response which their words have foundamong peoples has been small. L ike

wise, the so- called alchemists of theMiddle Ages in Europe earned nothingbut derision, although their doctrine,

resulting from reminiscences, that allearthly materials are but sources ofrays, is now being slowly recognizedby science. Ex plorers and missionaries,especially medically trained men, havefound, during the last fifty years, thatthe so- called superstitions of v arioustribes have, in many cases, an astonishing background of genuine and unexpected wisdom.

For a long time it seemed that physicsand metaphysics or, to put it differently, that exact science and mysticism

would alw ay s be hosti le to each other.However, the deeper science delves, themore it goes from the “natural” to the“supernatural,” and the more it becomes the ally of the spiritual search

ers. World- renowned scientists speakof reality in terms of a “chemical symphony,” and declare that “the laws ofmusic rather than material principlesought to govern, and that i n this patternof universal music there exists the coherent reality of life and spirit, indescribable in lesser terms of materialthought.” How be autiful the words ofa famous atom specialist when he said,not long ago: “W ha t we have learnedabout the atom has taught us to understand the universe ana ourselves andlends support to our great heritage ofreligious truth. We begin to understandthe mysterious life force which preserves the coherence and integral quality of the vastly complex human body,and we sense in the unity and coher

ence of the universe the vision of itsinfinite creator!”

Since the so- called supernatural liesbeyond the comprehension of most men,it is often a fertile field for impostersand swindlers. Genuine mysticism,however, has nothing to do with deception; rather, it is an attempt to understand the mathematics of the Cosmicin order to bring about the ultimatehappiness of mankind. A mong otherthings, the small and fragile ice floweron the windowpane, often melted invexation by a quick warm breath, holdsone of the greatest secrets for man tounravel. It w ill give it up, gr adually,as we approach the problem openly andsincerely.

V A V

3

£33

The $Rosicrucian Digest 3December 1950 A

ATTRACTIVE CHRISTMAS CARDS

S E N D custom- designed Christmas folders. Give y our holiday gr eetings a personal

touch—have them represent your understanding of the truly mystical spirit ofChristmas. W e have designed a folder- card, rich in color, handsome, and inspiring

in phrases. T he folder, w it h env elope to matc h, is printed in sever al colors. It

also has an inconspicuous sy mbol of the Order. T his artistic f older is ver y appro

priate for your nonmember f riends as well, and w ill evoke their comment. T he

folders are economically price d at $1.60 per dozen, $2.95 for two dozen. W e pay

shipping charges. Order now and avoid last- minute Christmas congestion of the

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R O S IC R U C IA N S U P P L Y R U R E A U

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REFUGE FROM THE WORLD

W it hin this s imple but ex quis ite edif ice, located adjace nt to a maj es tic temple inBang kok, Siam , the Buddhist devotee seeks peace through meditatio n. Pr actic ing hisancient esoteric technique, he aspires to one of the stages of Nirvana, for which hisrelig io- philosophy is noted.

(Photo by AMORC Camera Expedition)



RAINY DAY READINGFall and Winter

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N U M E R O L O G Y

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Have you ever given serious thought to the above question? Are you just chaff to be blown about? This courseis a rationa l, common-s ense presentat ion of facts you cannotdeny. (39 discourses)

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Is the earth, after all, a cell with life on its surface, whe n al l othe r cel ls hav e lif e in their cent er s? Is the ear tha great ball, inside w hic h ma n liv es ? Here are st ar tlin gfacts about our earth not ge nerally known. (IS discourses)

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Lo ns Be a c h:* A bd ie l L odg e, 2455 A t la n t ic A ve. N or v a i W . W a r d, Ma ste r , 438 E as t 1 5th S t.

Lo s Ange le s:*Herme s L odge, 148 N. Gr ame rcy P lace, Tel.GL ads tone 1230. A lbe rt Moore. Mast er, 4242 Costel lo Ave. , Sherman Oaks.Oakland :*O aklan d L odge, 263 T we l f th S t. S elm a Car ash,Master, 1405 Grand Ave. , Piedmont.I ’ a s a d e n a :

A k hn ato n C ha pt e r . C r ow n H ot e l, 677 E. C ol or ad oBlvd. (4th Floo r). Eloise C. A nders on, Master,T el. Cle ve land 7-4353.Sa c ra m e nt o :Clem en t B . L eBr u n Ch ap ter . I . O . O . F. B ldg. . 9 th& “K " Sts. Jose ph N. K ove ll , Master, 2661 Castro

W ay .

San Diego:San Diego Chapter. 2691 "B " St. Nelia L. Conrad. Master, 2535 Jef fers on St.

San Francisco:*Francis Bacon Lodge, 1957 Chestnut St. . Tel.

W E s t 1- 4778. V in cent M atk ov lc h, J r .. Ma s te r .167 Ethel Ave. . Mil l V alley.

C O L O R A D ODe nve r :Denver Chanter . 206 Cooper Bldg. Daniel O.Ferris. Master, Box 1536.

D IS T R IC T O F C O L U M It IA

W a s hi ng to n :T homas .Jefferson Chapte r 1322 Ver mont Ave.Em ber t A. L e L ach eu r . M aster , 3408 L iv in gstonSt.. N. W.Geo. W ash in g ton Car ver Ch an ter . f . O . O . F. H al f .9th & "T " Sts. Huber t E. Po tter . Master, 1321‘•R " St .. N. W .

F L O R I D A

M i a m i :Miami C hapter, Bis cay ne Te mple, 120 N. W . 15th

A ve . Mr s . R . E . T ho r nt on, Ma s te r, B ox 724,South Miami.

I L L I N O I SChicago :*Nefer t i t i L odge. 2539 N. K edz ie Ave. . T el . Everglade 4-S627. Georg e Fenzk e, Master , 1219 A ltge ldS t.

IN D I A N A

I ndia na po l i s :Indianapolis Chapter, 311 Ober Bldg. . 38 N.Pe nnsy lva nia St. Rut h M. Bo yll , Master. 2216M adison Ave.So ut h Be nd:M ay B a n k s S t a cy C h a pt e r , K n i g h t s o f P y t h i a sHall . 519 S. St. Jos eph St. Ha ro ld H. Hos ford,M aster . Gr an ger , I n d.

M A R Y L A N DB a l t i m o r e : *John O'Donnell Lodge. SOI W. Redwood Sf.M r s . Clar a C. M ayer , M aster . T el . Caton svi l le9192.

M A S S A C H U S E T T S Boston :*J oh an n es K elp iu s L odge , 284 M ar lbor o S t . Au gu stI I . R . J oh n son , M aster , 27 Bar r et t Cou r t , L yn n ,Mass.

M I C H I G A N

Detro it :*T h ebes Lodge, tilt! H a n c o c k A v e . , W . A n d r e w J .Heck. Master, 6680 Pelham Road, Dearborn.L a n s i n g :Le onardo da Vinci Chapter. 603 S. W as hing ton.R. E. Van Hoosear. Master, 818 N. Jenison.

M I N N E S O T A

Mi nne a po l i s :Essen e Ch an ter . S p an ish Room . Radisson H otel .45 S. 7th St. Mrs. Robe rt Ste enberg , Master.428 Penn Ave. . S.

M I S S O U R IK a n s a s C i t v :K a n s a s C i tv C h a pt e r , 1 W . L i n w o o d . F r e d D e n ison, Master. 3428 V irg inia St.

St . Lo ui s:*T lm tm ose L odge. Geor ge W ash in g ton H otel , 600N . K i n g s h i g h w a y B l v d . F r a n k A r a n d , J r . , Ma ster, 7S17 Weaver, Maplewood. Mo.

N EW J E R S E Y N e w a r k :I I . Spencer Lewis Chapter. 443-5 Broad St.Charles C. Weiss. Master, 535 Pennington St. ,El iz abeth N. J.

N E W Y O R K

B u f f a l o :Ra ma Chapter, 225 Delaw are A ve. . Rm. 9. Dr.Marie Zittel . Master. 96 Buffalo St. , Hamburg,N. Y.

N e w Y o r k C i t y : *New Y or k C ity L od^e 250 W . 57 th S t . W al ter F .Sc hidlo, Mas ier , 7826 - 90th A ve.. Wo odhav en,N. Y.Book er T. Wa shing ton Chanter . 69 W . 125th St.Cliff ord D. P ant on, Ma ste r. 205 W . 140th St.R o c h e s t e r :Roch ester Ch ap ter , H otel S en eca. M at i ldaSchweizer. Master, 426 E, Main St.

O H I OC i n c i n n a t i :Cincinnati Chapter. 204 I lazen Bldg. . 9tl i & MainSts. Mrs. Lil l ia n Kueck , Master, 8243 Da ly Road.C o l u m b u s :H el ios Ch ap ter , 697 S . H ig h S t . W al te r J . K oh-berger. Master. Galena. O.

(D ir ector y Con t in u ed on Next Page)



D a y t o n :Elbe rt Hubb ard Chapter. Ranh Ha ll, 56 E. 1thSt . Mary T urner. Master , 436 Holt St .

Toledo:M i ch ael F ar aday Ch ap t er , R o i Davi s B ldg. , R m.304. 905 Jefferson A m Jo hn C. Davis, Master.2222 Lawrence Ave.

O K L A 1I O M A

O k l a h o m a C i t y : A me nh ot e p C ha nt e r . R m . 318. Y .W .C .A . B ld g .,

320 N. W . 1st St. Zur a B. Spra nkle , Master . 123N. W . 16th St.

O K K l i d .N

Po r t la n d : *Port land Rose Lodge, 2712 S. E. Salmon. GroverC. Poe, Master, River view A pts. . O reg on Oitv.Ore.

P E N N S Y L V A N I A

Philadelphia :*B en jami n F r an k l i n Lo dg e. \3v>3 W . G i r ar d A va.B . F r an k R o mi n ger . M ast er . 6 1 5 M aylo r s R unRd.. Havertown, Penn.

Pi t t s b ur g h :*F i r s t Pen n sylvan i a Lo dge. 6 1 5 W . Di amo n d S t . .N. S. Dr. Har ry S t . Jo hn Midgley , Master. 3319F o r bes S t .

R H O D E IS L A M )Pr o v i d en ce:R o ge r W i l l i am s Ch ap t er . Ho t e l S her at on - B i i t -more. .1. A. Da udelin. Mas ter. 63 Fle tche r St..Central Falls. R. I .

T E X A SHouston:Hous ton Chapter . 1320 Rus k Ave. Ma rtin M.Burk e, Master, 2611 Ba ldw in.

W A S H IN G T O N Seatt le :*

Michael Maier Lodge , Hotel W intonia , 1431 MinorSt. E. M. Shana fe lt, Ma ster . 2002 E. 63rd St.

T a c om a :T akhoma C hapter, I .O.O .F. T emple. 508 6th Ave.Chester A. Howard, Master, 82o S. Cedar St .

W IS C O N S IN M i lwa ukee:K ar n a k Ch apt er . Ho t e l R ep ubli can . A lo i s F . Eck-mann. Master, 2923 W. Highland Blvd.

L O D G E S a nd C H A P T E R S t hr o ug h out the W o r l dThe addresses of oi l ier Gra nd Lodges, or the names and addresses o f their represe ntat ives ,

given upon request .i ll be

A U S T R A L IA

A de la id e . S o ut h A us t r a li a : A de la ide C ha pt er . 17 W a y m o nt h St . R . K . W i l

l iams. Master, 33 Wood St . , Millswood.B r i s b a n e, Queen s la n d :

Brisbane Chapter, New Church Hall. Ann St .T heodore K atra kis , Master, 40 West bourne St . .Hig h gate H ill S . 1 .

M elb o ur n e. V i ct o r ia :Har mony C hanter. 25 Russell St . Jos eph Se tak.M ast er . 37 B elgr av i a A ve. , B o x Hi l l N .Sy dney, N. S. W .:Sy dney Chanter, I .O.O .F. Hall. 100 ClarenceSt. Re ina Mill ican, Master, 73 Gar dyne St . . Flat5, Bronte.

B R A Z I L

S ao Paulo :S ao Paulo Ch ap t er , M aso n ic T emp le, R u a T aba-t ingue ra 165. L auro de A lme ida Soares. Master.c.r B an co de B r as i l S - A , R ua A lvar es Pen t eadoNo. 112.

C A N A D A

Montreal, Que.:M o unt R o y al Ch ap ter , V i ct o r i a Hal l . W es t mo un t .Fr ank L. Peck, Master, 3520 McT avish St . , Apt .

35.To r o n t o , On t . :T oronto Chapter . Moose Ha ll, 12 Queen St., E.

W il f r e d E. W ate r s on . Ma ste r , 2031 Duf f e r in St . V an co uv er , B .C .: *

V an cou v er L od g e. 878 H o r n bv St . P a ul S che nk el,Master. 441 Seymour St.. No. 33.\ ietoria, B .C.:*

V ic to r 'a L o dg e . 725 C o ur tn e y S t. Per cy P e ar s o n,Master. Glen Lake P. O.

W in ds o r , O n t. : W in ds o r C ha pt e r . 808 M ar io n A ve . W il li a m C.Blake, Master , 1216 A rg vle Rr| .

W in ni pe g . M a n. :Ch ar les Dan a Dean Chap ter , R o y al T emp lar Hal l .360 Y oung St . Har old W ang . Master. 272 Dullar dB lvd.

C H I L E

S a n t i a g o :Santiag o Chapter. C. Sangues a La River a. Mas

ter. Oontraloria Oral, de la Republica.C l B A C a m a g u e y :Camaguey Ch ap t er . I n dep en den ci a Y R aul Lan wr .Em i l i o T o r r e l la F lo r at . M aster . Pablo Lo mbi da44.I I a va na:Hav ana Chapter. Mason *c Te mple. J ose de laLuz Cabrallero, Santa Emilia 416. altos. SantosSuarez . H. G. Meireles. Maste r. Calle C. No. 6.

A lt os E nt r e 30 v 32 R o t o la S ie r r a.D E N M A R K A N D N O RW A Y

C o p en ha gen : *T h e A M O R C G r a n d L o d g e ol D e n m a r k a n d N o r

w ay . A r t hu r S un ds tr up , G r . Ma s te r , V es te r V old -gade 104.

* ( I n i t i a t i o n s ar e p er fo r med. )

E G Y P T C a i r o :

A me nh ot e p G r a nd L o dg e . S a li m C. S aad, G r a ndM a s te r , 1 K a s r - E l - N il S t.

E N G L A N DT h e A M O R C G r a n d L o d g e o f G r e a t B r i t a i n .

R aymun d A n dr ea. G r an d M ast er , 34 B ayswat er A v e. , W e s tb ur y P a r k . B r is to l 6.L o n d o n :F r an ci s B aco n Ch ap t er . Hal l o f I n st i t ut e o fJ o ur n al i s t s . 2 & I T udor St . . Bla ck friar s. E. C. 1.Ellen J . Gonin, Master. T he Gables. Short lands,K e n t .M a n c h e s t e r :Jo hn Dalton Chapter. H. D. Gra y, Master. 2Fr ods ham St., Rus holme, M anches ter 1-1.

F R A N C K Mile. Jeanne Guesdon, Sec.. 56 Rue Gambetta,

V il le ne uv e S a in te G eo r g es (S a ine & Oise) .G E R M A N Y

A M O R C , (1 3b) Mu enc he n- Pas in g , P o s tl a g e r nd ,Bavaria (U. S. Zone).

H O L L A N D A m s te r da m :*De R o z ekr ui ser s Or de. G r o o t- Lo ge der Neder lan -den. J . Coops, G r. Master . H unzest raa t 141.

I N D O N E S I A H a n d l i n g, J a v a : *Mrs. M. C. Zeydel. Gr. Master- General, DjalanSulandjana. nr 1 .

I T A L Y R o m e :I t a l i an G r an d Lo dtr e o f A M O R C. ( Dir ect i nq ui r i es r egar di n g ( h e act i v i t i es o f t h i s Lo dgeto A . M. O, R. C., Ros icruc ian Par k. San Jos e,Cal i fo r n i a . )

M E X I C OMex ico. I) F .:*Uuetzalco atl L odge, Calle de Colum bia 24. Sr.G er man R acko w A r r o yo . M ast er . Co l . S t a . M ar i ade la Ribera Naranjo 61M o nt er r ey , N . L .Monterrey Chapter. Calle Doblado 622. Norte. Sr.Eduar do Gonzales. Master . H idalg o 2625 l’ te.

N E T H E R L A N D S W E ST I N D IE S A r ub a : A r ub a Cha nt e r . G ay B. A br ams , Ma s te r . 15 G ul f W eg , Sa n Ni co la s .

C u r a c a o :Curacao Chapter. K lipstr aa t 27. Steohen Vialva-la Roche, Master, Morr is E. Curiel & Sons.

N E W Z E A L A N D A uc k la n d : A uc k la nd C ha nt e r . V ic to r ia A r ca de . R m . 317. F.

H. V incent. Master, 102 Gre at S. Rd.. Manurew a.

P U E R T O R I C OSan Juan Chapter, 1655 Progreso St . . Stop 24.Santurce. Pedro E. Quinones Otero. Master,

A na r ta do 5251, P ue r ta de T ie r r a 27.S W E D E N

M a l m o :Gr and Lodge '•Rose nkors et .” A lbin Roimer, Gr.Master. Box 30, Skalderviken, Sweden.

V E N E Z U E L A C a r a c a s :

A ld e n C ha pt e r , V ela z que z a M is e r ia 19. A do lf oBlanco A ., Master . A partado de Correos 305.

Lat in- A merican Div is io n A r m a nd o F o nt De I.a J a r a , F . R . C ., De pu ty G r a nd Ma s te r

Dir ect i n q uir i es r e ga r di n g t h is d i v i s i on t o t he Lat i n - A mer i ean Di v i s i o n , R o s i cr uci an P ar k . S an J o se.Cali fornia, U. S. A.



11MW**

C A N M A N ev er k no w w h a t lies

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A C C E P T THIS FREE M ANU SCRIPT

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THE SECRET DOCT RINES OF JESUS By H. Spencer Lewis, Ph.D.The secret teachings of the Master Jesus for many ag es pr ivate ly preservedin unknow n archives, are herein brought to l ight W hat are these teachingsand w hy had man deleted them from the context of the Bible? The answe r

Rosicrucian Digest, December 1950

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