The Enochian Order of Rosicrucian Adepts Int. was established in 1995, as the outgrowth from several Hermetic Orders. The political infighting that is rampant, and the downright fraud perpetrated by unnamed organizations brought about  it's establishment

        Frater A.A.A. : Dr. Michael C. Golding after spending a number of years in association with the upper echelons of several Hermetic Orders, made the decision that( There has to be a better way!)

         In 1995 he and an associate Frater N.A. Established the Order, saw to it's charter as an established legal entity. Required that all members of the Inner Order be recognized by an established ordaining association. Set about the daunting task of combining several of the  formats of the Hermetic and Enochian Magical Systems, in an effort to provide an atmosphere within the Order that fosters personal research, and individual growth.

         For those of the Magickal Community that wish a structured format for personal growth, and the freedom to conduct their own research into the various systems and Cosmologies, The Enochian Order of Rosicrucian Adepts Int. provides this freedom within a chartered, ordaining organization who's chartering authority is accepted worldwide. Ordination awarded by this order does give the awardee the legal footing to establish their own organization.

          If you are prepared to learn about yourself, and to make the committment to follow a path (any path), The Enochian Order of Rosicrucian Adepts Int. is prepared to be of help.

           The Order provides a structured grade system reminiscent of that found in the Golden Dawn, with specialization in the areas of Hermetics, Wicca, Eastern Mysticism, Qabballah, and an outlet for the more practiced students into the intricacies of the Enochian System.

            The Order is chartered with Universal Ministries, and ordination within the order is available for those who wish to teach.

Below are several articles written by FraterAAA of the Inner Order that set down some of the philosophical assumptions that the Order lives by.

Feel free to query him about them and ask questions.As the only stupid question is the one you fail to ask, that comes around and bites you in the small of the back. 

        First, we must speak of the Soul. If it were possible for a duad to exist in which there was a distinction without a difference we should say such a combination was a perfect "Soul and Spirit". But since such a duad is not in existence, we must try to express both the distinction and the difference in other ways. In regard to Soul and Spirit, the one is not perceptible without the presence of the other.

    The terms Soul and Spirit have become interblended in hopeless confusion, and it seems almost impossible to unravel the tangled skeins of the various definitions. We will try to present a clear, comprehensive outline of the two and show them as they really are when viewed in the light of spiritual illumination.      .                                            ...

    The Soul is not the Spirit, but it is that by which the Spirit is known. It is by the Soul that we understand the nature and power of the Spirit When we come to define the Soul; we are compelled to use illustrations. The spiritual Self is an atom of divinity, a scintillating atomic point evolved from the Divine Soul. Now, while this is quite true as regards the Self, when we desire to define the soul we must consider them as the cause and effect of spiritual evolution,

     The Soul is formless and intangible, and constitutes the attributes of the Divine Spirit. We can only conceive and know of the Sold by learning the powers or attributes of the Spirit When we have learned them, we shall possess a clear conception of the Soul and its real nature. In order to better understand let us illustrate. Take a ray of light! What do we know concerning it? Nothing, except by its action upon something else this action we term the attributes of light. In themselves the attributes of light are formless, but they may easily be rendered visible, either by their colors when refracted by the prism, or by their effects when concentrated upon_ material objects. Here we have what may be correctly termed the soul of a ray of light.                               

    Another example as illustrative and expressive of the idea is the organism of man. Man possesses five external senses: seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, and smelling In realty, he has seven senses which may be used externally, but the two higher senses are still in embryo so far as present mankind is concerned. The sixth or coming race will evolve the sixth sense- the seventh race, the seventh sense; and then mankind will be physically perfect. But these two higher senses do not interfere with our illustration, so we will only consider man as he is and-be content with five senses.

     All our knowledge at present concerning external phenomena must come through the medium ship of one or more of these five senses. The organs through which the functions

of the senses become manifest are visible, but the senses themselves are invisible and formless. We know them only as attributes of the body; while the mind, which is perfectly and absolutely dependent upon the senses for information, represents the spiritual Self in its relation to the Soul.

     The reader will observe from what is stated, the Soul itself is formless and intangible, and can only be defined as the attribute of Spirit. The one cannot exist without the other. There is the same difference between these two as there is between a ray of light and its action. The same distinction also holds as exists between the body and its physical senses.

Without the one we cannot know the other, and vice versa.

     A very large percentage of the readers of mystical literature imagine the human Soul is some land of a spiritual organism—similar in many respects to the body—and the means whereby the Divine Spirit manifests itself. But this idea is radically erroneous. The spiritual body is the result or outcome of the Soul's action, but is not the Soul itself. It is an attribute of the Soul, just as the Soul is an attribute of the Divine Self.

    Having attempted to define the Soul as distinct and yet inseparable from the Spirit, we will give some ideas about its attributes. In this connection it will greatly aid us if we first point out the differences between the Soul and the body, and also the correspondences between the two.

    The physical body is evolved by a reflex action of the interior Soul during the process of its evolving. The medium between the two is the astral form. It is from the latter the body receives its form and force. The spiritual organism protects itself from the external plane by evolving astral raiment. This raiment, or astral body, crystallizes a more or less distorted reflection of the spiritual form around itself. Thus it produces what is known as the human form divine, upon the external plane. This physical organism is constituted and evolved so as to render the most perfect expression (in unison) of the physical senses. No one sense is in excess in a perfectly sound human organism, while the lower animals generally have some extreme expression of one particular sense.

     This human body, through the- medium ship of the brain, which is the sounding board of the senses, communicates with the external world of the various elements. The result is form, sound, color, flavor, and odor. Our senses constitute the only source of our external consciousness. The intellectual state is based and dependent (while on earth) upon the continuance of the physical senses.

     The sum total of human knowledge along some special lines, when tabulated and classified, is thus reduced to a system and called science. We are now able to see and appreciate the relation of the physical senses to the physical body, and grasp their importance to the still remoter mind that utilizes the knowledge gained.

     The attributes of the Spirit, which we term the Soul, bear a correspondence to the physical senses of the body. That is, the Soul bears exactly the same relation to the Spirit as the physical senses to the human brain. Thus we have the senses that are Spiritual. The former are simply a reflection of the latter. The senses of the body and the senses of the Soul are the sides of the same attribute, one is the internal and the other is the external.

     The intelligence, the mind, is back of the senses and utilizes and tabulates the impressions it received of die outer world. This world is one place the mind is itself powerless to penetrate. The mind is something above and beyond the senses, even though it is absolutely dependent upon them. It is the same with the Soul, and the Spirit.

    All knowledge from without or within the universe of external is received by means of the Soul but at the back of this Soul there rests the eternal scintillating atom of Deity,

above and beyond any human conception. There it rests in its serenity and peace, tabulating and utilizing all the knowledge and experience, which the Soul in its various cycles is continually receiving and sending to it

    "As it is below, so it is above,” This law should ever be remembered.  It is mans universal but infallible guide, and anything conflicting with it can be rejected as completely erroneous.

   The seven senses below correspond to the seven senses above, and the results obtained in each case are the same but upon two different planes. These results may be expressed by the word "perception."  Absolute perception implies absolute consciousness.  Unlimited absolute perception, therefore, is the goal toward which the universe of manifested being is headed.

    It is the climax of evolution. Progressive life is eternal Thus we have a demonstration of the immortality of the Spirit and consequently the immortality of the Soul.

   We have now arrived at the method of the Souls unfoldment. Of this we can only speak in general terms. There are certain fundamental laws applicable to all. But, to be successful, something more is requisite. It is necessary for each Soul to follow a system especially adapted to its special state. Each person must find out for himself the special development required of him, unless he can come into contact with others capable of reading his Soul's requirements correctly and thus give him the necessary information.

   There is a trinity of laws to be observed:

1        Physical harmony in one's surroundings

         2: Spiritual Purity and complete isolation from Impure currents of though

.

         3. Evolve the states from within and the without will take care of itself

.

   These are the methods, of the soul's unfoldment. Purity is the great touchstone, and as Jesus has truly observed,

    "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” How many can follow out such a code? Not one in a million!  The answer comes across the spiritual spaces of ether, and the saddening thought that such is indeed the truth compels us to offer a few words of friendly advice

  To be pure in body, a pure diet must be eaten. The highest form of food possible to man must constitute his physical sustenance. The products, of the earth are plenty; they are simple but sufficient and not artificial.        -

  If we cannot be perfect, then let us be the next thing to it. One should be as perfect as one's surroundings render possible Learn to say "I will" and "I will not," and when you’ve said it see your assertion is sacredly maintained.

Let us remember the material life of man is only one second of his greater existence. It is one of the most unprofitable things in the world to be selfish. Selfishness is the road to the deepest hells of the Soul world.

Lastly, if these things are followed with an earnest loving spirit, rest assured the blossoms of the Soul will expand into full-grown flowers. For the labor and self-denial expended, we shall reap the spiritual rewards, which will repay us ten thousand fold: Remember the words of the wise Proclus:

        "Know the Divinity which is within you that you may know the Divine One, of which your Soul is a ray"        

        The triumph of the human Soul over the forces of matter is termed adept ship. We do not refer to the attaining of immortality as the result of their humanity. This immortality is not completely assured until we have passed the sixth state of the soul world.

         We refer to those rare human beings, so organized as to be able to evolve, the sixth and seventh states. They attain to the powers and blessings of their immortality while yet outwardly upon the human plane of existence

        The literary world has been flooded with descriptions and explanations of adept ship. Definitions have been given of the various degrees and grades of this exalted state. But so far the vague generalities of such expounders of any state higher than they themselves possess have- failed completely No human being can describe adept ship except the adept himself, or one who is his accepted neophyte. He is the future successor to the adept, who has passed the third initiation, and is in perfect magnetic rapport with the Master. He will succeed to the Masters place when that Master ascends to a higher sphere of spiritual life and powers

       In to order to present the subject as clearly as possibly we will consider first, the various grades of adept ship; second, the nature and functions of adept ship; and third, how Adept-ship is attainable by a neophyte.

        Since the Grand Master is not an inhabitant of this earth, but has His throne and His Kingdom in the Spiritual, it is necessary that there be someone on earth to guide mankind, and show it the way through the straits of life. There is no angel, no spirit on earth, to lead men; to man alone this task has fallen.                                                 

  Therefore, it is not surprising many false paths are entered upon and it is of great importance that man should recognize his shepherd and know who he is, lest a wolf be taken for a shepherd and mislead man by donning sheep's clothing, while concealing the devil within him. For each of the two paths the narrow one through life and the broad one in the astral plane has its own shepherd, and each of these shepherds reveals and shows us his way. But it is so hard to distinguish who is the shepherd, that it is almost impossible to tell the true Master from the false one.                                

        In the first place, there are three distinct grades of this exalted state of adept-ship (Master), each grade containing within itself three separate states of degrees of life and power. In the whole there are nine states of wisdom. These three principle grades may be designated as the Natural, the Spiritual, and the Celestial states of the Soul's progressive

evolutions.

  The first (the most external) relates to the world of physical phenomena, and deals exclusively with the elemental spheres of the planet and the Astro-magnetic currents, which control them.

  The powers of the adept of this grade extend from the elemental zones of matter in the world of effects, up to the astromagnetic spheres in the realm of cause. "Beyond this astral world they become powerless. Hence their highest achievements are within the realms of external magical phenomena.                                         

      The second grade constitutes the interior or Spiritual state of the first grade, relates to the realm of the Spirit and deals exclusively with the spiritual and ethereal forces of the planet.  The adepts of this grade are the translated Souls of those who have graduated through the various degrees of the first. As such, they fulfill the duties of Master or Teacher to, those who are still studying in the outer degrees of Spiritual life.

        Their power extends from the magnetic zones of the astral world up to the astral world and up to the ethereal and Spiritual spheres of disembodied humanity. Beyond these states of Spiritual life, they cannot penetrate; hence their highest achievements are within Spheres of disembodied existence.

        Yet occupying as they do the interior degree of life, they are able to combat the hells, on the one hand, and to sustain the Heavens, on the other. These Spiritual adepts cannot descend to earth and manifest their power externally, without the aid of a properly trained instrument whose odylic sphere they may temporarily occupy. Their chief means of communication with the external world are the adepts of the first grade, through whom they transmit such portions of Spiritual truth, as the world needs.

        The third grade constitutes the internal of Celestial state of the second, and is the highest degree of Spiritual life the embodied human mind can comprehend. It relates to the higher states of the purified Souls. It is above and beyond what we know as human. Of its Deific powers and potentialities we cannot speak. They are beyond the grasp of all external material life.                                                           

       At this point, it is of the utmost importance the reader should clearly grasp the relation of these three grades to each other, in order to form a correct, idea of the nature and functions of adept-ship.                 _

       The first grade and the three degrees included within it embrace all the possibilities of humanity under the external conditions of the present cycle. The various astral spaces, which mark off the limits of these human possibilities constitute the boundary line of Nature drawn by the finger of Deity between the two worlds of human life (the Natural

and Spiritual). When the external life mission of an adept of the first grade is fulfilled, a process analogous to physical dissolution occurs and the physical atoms, which constitute the organism, are liberated and the exalted Soul enters upon a higher state of evolution and life. Thus it becomes the Spiritual man or an adept of the second grade. The second

Grade is thus a continuation of the first, but upon a higher and more interior plane. The scene of the Soul's activity is transferred from the Astral and magnetic spheres to the realm of Spirit.

  This state holds the grand key of life and death, wherein all the greater mysteries of external life are concealed. It also stands midway between the man and the Deity, and thus is the equipoise between the human and the Divine.

      There are seven states from the best grade of the human being on the external planes of Matter up to the highest grade, or the perfect man. Also in the realm of Spiritual humanity there are seven states from the perfect man up to the Deity. The vast importance of this grade of life, or Spiritual adept ship, is shown by the fact it lies upon the boundaries of the sixth and seventh state of this grade the two halves of the Divine Soul become permanently and eternally united. The twin souls, male and female, then constitute the completion of the Divine Self.                                     

      The Deity has given man shepherds to lead him and show him the way in study and work. But the shepherds cannot of themselves gain such leadership and guidance, but only when inspired by the Deity. Man must be guided in a divine, and not in a human manner. Therefore the purified souls have ordained and appointed man's shepherds, and taught and instructed them as to what to teach and tell the people, in order that their will be obeyed.

     One of the greatest gifts that the Deity bestows upon us is to provide us always with men/women who lead us and teach us and guide us in things eternal.

     This is the true task of the pious teachers on earth, who take their instruction from the Master and who speak and lead. But not only are they deeply enlightened and speak important words, a marvel to all men; they also possess a mighty power on earth, which has been bestowed on them.

     In discussing the nature and function of adept ship, we can deal only with the first grade, or adept ship of the external degree. It is impossible for the student to fully comprehend the powers of the second until he himself has attained the first.

 Therefore, to avoid misconception, let it be distinctly understood the whole of what follows pertains exclusively to that state of adept ship whose members live, move, and have their being and launch forth their powers, either upon the external planes of physical life, or else within the spheres of the Astral world immediately interior to it.

    Since the adept is the perfect man, it is evidently necessary to understand what is the nature of his perfection. In the Occult sense of the term, man is a composite being who possesses a seven-fold constitution, and possessing seven cyclic states of existence, or the progressive states of evolution upon the physical plane. The perfect man, therefore, is he who evolves in full his composite being and attains unto the seven states while still existing in the external physical world.

   While on the other hand, the ordinary human being is compelled to attain perfection within the purgatorial states of purification of the Soul world. Ignorance and selfishness, or else the jarring discords produced by the combination of the two, force the great majority of mankind out of the central line of progressive evolution.

   At the present time mankind has evolved but five physical senses. The perfect composite man, however, possesses not only seven physical senses, but also seven Soul senses, related to each other as follows:

 PHYSICAL SENSES                         SOULSENSES

 1. Touch                            1. The power to psychometrize.

 2. Taste                             2. The power to absorb and enjoy the finer essence of life

                                           wave.                              

 3. Smell                             3. The power to distinguish the spiritual aromas of nature.

 4. Sight                             4. The lucid state called clairvoyance.

 5 Hearing                         5. The ability to perceive the ethereal vibrations termed

                                            Clairaudience.

  6. Intuition                         6. The capacity to receive true inspiration.

  7.Thought Transference     7. The power to converse with spiritual intelligence at will.

     When the human Soul has attained unto these seven states, his divine right to rule follows as a natural sequence. The powers of the will increase as the attributes of the Soul expand. Therefore it is perfectly useless to preach so much about cultivating the will, since this is accomplished by evolving the Soul qualities or senses.

     The magical powers of the adept which enable him to partially control, the elements and to produce various kinds of physical phenomena at will, are not the outcome of any terrific will force.

     They are the mild expressions of a firm but gentle Soul in the process of evolving forms in the Spiritual imagery of thought. There is nothing "tremendous," nothing of "fearful intensity," about it, for the slightest tremor of the purified Soul when consciously placed in rapport with the Astral light will produce surprising results. The higher the plane from which the embodied adept projects his thought desire the more extensive and potential the phenomena will be in the sublunary world of effects.

    Such then, is adept ship. Such are the glorious possibilities attainable by the human race when the Spiritual attributes of their being are allowed to grow and expand in the atmosphere of a pure and unselfish life. It is a state, which may well be regarded as the climax of our Earth's possibilities upon her outward plane. A victory the human race may justly feel proud of would be the grand triumph of the Soul over the forces of matter.

    Man, too, can be presumptuous or not; therein he is like the devil when the devil was still an angel. And what befell the devil may also befall the men who are like him. Therefore we should be like the angels and not like the devil, for to this.end we were born and sent into the world.

     To what end does man live on earth, if not to become versed in the works of Spirit and to learn how all things have their source in Spirit.

     We will explain, as far as permissible, "the modus operandi" by which adept ship is actually attained. But it will be necessary to consider who may and who may not possess the necessary qualifications, since the adept is, of a truth, like the poet, "born and not made." The adept is born a kind of his kind. He is a Spiritual and mental giant of his race, and cannot be made without possessing these qualities in a very highly developed state from his birth.

     External life is too short and the antagonistic forces to be overcome are too great, during the present cycle, for the adept to come out of the rudimentary forces and embryonic Soul qualities of the average mortal. It has been stated by one who claims the honor of adept ship: "The adept is the rare efflorescence of an age."

    This is, however, only figuratively correct as in truth there are several such adepts in each race during the course of a single generation. Each family of mankind ultimately produces me adept of its line, and then becomes exhausted for that cycle.

    In the centuries past, the alchemists were the adepts. They approached the Soul-Spirit via the way. of essences and were the true masters of their generations.

    There are four essences in the universe upon which Agrippa and all the learned through .the centuries have agreed. These are Fire, Water, Earth and Air. However, there is a fifth essence, or quintessence, which permeates everything above in the stars and below upon earth. It is. The world Soul-Spirit which animates all bodies. It is heavy earth and never free or visible. Yet it is omnipresent, and he who can free this fifth element from the matter it inhabits shall hold in his hand the creative power with which God has endowed the world of matter.

    The ancient goddesses of growth and vegetation, like Isis, were nothing more to the alchemist than the emblems of the quintessence, the generative power that resides in the philosophers' stone.

    The hermetic world plan depicts a dualism. Above are the Heavenly Trinity, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Hebrew Jew Jehovah. Surrounded by angels, they send forth rays of divine light. Below is the world of matter. The starry heaven encircles the hermetic work, which is "half above and half below."- Its center is the philosophic stone, a triangle       inscribed by the double sign of mercury and gold.

   The three signs of the alchemist procedure flank the symbol: a triangle, air (signifying the volatile mercury), a reversed triangle, water (the fixed mercury). In the third sign, the two qualities of mercury are superimposed, forming a six-branched star, which symbolizes the  "fixed volatile. Seven concentric circles surround the sign.     ,

    The innermost contains the recommendation to use four degrees of fire for the work. Then follow the trinities of mercury, sulphur, and salt. The philosophers' mercury is not corporeal, but Spiritual; the corporeal mercury meaning the sublimated metal; and the vulgar, mercury.

    One circle signifies time, which divides into the solar year, the year of the stars, and that of the winds. They refer to the influences of sun, stars, and atmosphere upon the hermetic work the outmost circle, finally, shows these influences must be directed.

     Favorable constellations have to be awaited: here are the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and the five signs of the planets (sun and moon having special places). The sphere of the fixed stars encircles five hermetic emblems: the raven the swan, the hermetic dragon, the pelican which feeds its children with its own blood, and the phoenix which resuscitates in the flame

    The world below is dualistic, divided into light and darkness, day and night. Man and woman are chained to the world above. They are the two principles of procreation, with which God has endowed the world of matter. Here below everything is divided into two, male and female. In God alone both principles are united, as He is the cause of everything.

   Various meanings are superimposed on these two figures. The male is the Sun, gold, the fiery dry essence. He is the Soul or the generative principle. With him is the lion of the zodiac. Presiding over the month when the heat is strongest. He is Jupiter and Apollo, and fire and air are his elements because they are dry and warm. The fiery phoenix is his emblem, and the lion is the symbol of gold. Lion and man hold the sun, which is the philosophers' gold as well as the heavenly star, and the emblem of generation.

    Woman is the moon, silver, the moist and cool essence; she is the spirit, bearing fruit, conceiving, giving birth and nourishing. In her hand she holds the grape whose many fruits are her true symbol. She is connected with evaporation, rain, and earthly moist exhalation, for her elements are earth and water. From her breast flows the Milky Way, the seed which penetrates everything in this world of bodies, and which the wise men also called the world spirit or world soul. In her left hand she holds the moon in its two extreme phases. The eagle symbolizes her fugitiveness.

     Other alchemical allegories of the sixth stage represent the Holy Virgin, immaculate, like Diana, standing upon the half- moon.                                   -

     Not all of these rare men of the royal line may attain to adept ship, since they often exhaust their forces in other directions for the good of humanity. But such Souls alone possess the possibilities or the primary conditions.

    When, therefore, these primary conditions exist, the first course to be pursued is to devote as much time as possible to the study of Spiritual subjects and to master each and every branch of Occultism. Simultaneously with this study the body must be trained in regard to matters of diet, and sexual relations.  In other words, the human   Soul must be wholly evolved up out of the animal Soul. The sphere of undeveloped good in man's constitution must be developed.

    The animal forces and appetites, instead of being conquered and chained like a wild beast as taught by Oriental mystics, must be gradually developed and transformed or evolved into the human.                     

   The problem of good and evil must be solved in each individual case. And right here consists the vital point of failure or success, defeat or triumph. As we have labored over and over again to impress upon the reader, man is a composite being and perfection consists in harmonious evolution. It ought by this time to be self-evident to any candid mind that those fearful practices in the East of asceticism, celibacy, and self-mutilations simply starve and chain the animal into subjection. They do not develop it into a useful obedient and most highly important factor of the perfect mans seven-fold nature

   Did the alchemist have valid knowledge about the process? That is not difficult to believe, for alchemy's principles were not scientific. The principles of alchemy were correct and did not belong to science, but to a philosophic wisdom, which directed it from its inception toward Mysticism. Alchemy’s chief values were of a psychic nature; the Hermetic was the brother of the mystic and Master.

    The experiments of the adepts resulted in an impressive series of chemical discoveries. If alchemy failed to discover what it had been seeking, it certainly stumbled upon things it had not anticipated.                                  .

    It may be worthwhile to mention some of these true alchemic adepts:

       1. Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) is credited with the preparation of caustic potash.   He was the first to describe the chemical composition of cinnabar, ceruse, and minima.

       2. Raymond Lully  (1235-1315) prepared bicarbonate of potassium

       3. Basil Valentine (fifteenth century) discovered sulphuric ether and hydrochloric acid.                 

       4. Theophrastus Paracelsus  (1493-1541) was the first to describe zinc. He also introduced the use of chemical compounds.

     5. Jean Bapliste Van Helmont (1577-1644) recognized the existence of gas.

     6. Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604-1668) discovered sodium sulphate (Glauber salt) which he believed to be the philosophers' stone.

     7. Brandt (1692) of Hamburg, discovered phosphorus.

     8. Giambattista della Porta (1541-1615) prepared tin oxide.

     9. Johann Friedrich Boetticher  (1682-1719) was the first European who made porcelain.

    10. Blaise Vigenere (1523-1596) discovered Benzoic acid.

    These few examples suffice to illustrate that the alchemists’ research, though lacking scientific direction, produced a benefit to humanity at large, not merely for the chosen.

    The ascetic, whether ignorant or selfish, who starts out to attain magical powers for himself, and who enters upon a cold, rigid use of the will to crush and annihilate his animal passions, may succeed. But he will find out too late that his powers over the elements and forces of Nature have been purchased at the awful expense of the destruction of the feminine portion of his own Soul by gradual absorption into himself of the being upon whose development in harmony with his own depends his immortality.

     Did this happen to some of the alchemists? I think not, for they realized the essences of the universe. They understood how souls must unite. One must realize that union with the twin Soul constitutes the Divine Self. One cannot deny there is aught in the universe beyond his state except false Nirvana to which he is drifting. This is practically a condition of annihilation. But often one fondly pictures Nirvana in as vague and pleasing terms as possible, as "absorption into the Infinite." Then he denies point blank (since they no longer exist for him) the angelic and celestial states, and devotes himself to a systematic dissemination of the dogmas of Karma and reincarnation. These in their essence are the most subtle and enervating forms of fatality conceivable by the human mind, since they sap the Soul of all true inspiration toward the higher self and perfect life.

     As there may be many roads, which will ultimately lead us to the same mountaintop, so there are many systems of Occult training. The end in view of every system is the same. It is to first evolve conscious lucidity; the rest will then follow.

     When once the aspirant becomes an accepted neophyte, whether he personally sees Him or internally realizes the Master makes no difference. Future progress depends upon

his strict obedience to the commands received, unselfish motives, and a pure life. The alchemists were able to do this and so may you.

     From nothing, nothing can be produced; it is therefore only the blind and unreasoning that follow such an illogical creed as the one thus summarized;

                  From nothing we came, and whatever our station,

                  To nothing we owe an immense obligation.

                 Whatever we do, or whatever we learn,

                  In time we shall into nothing return.

     To the cold, heartless supporter of this annihilating system of nothingness-one who flaunts his superficially learned authority under the name of Agnosticism-we reply with the realized consciousness of a deathless, progressive immortality:

                  From an infinite source midst realms of light,

                  An offspring from Nature, my soul stood its flight,

                  To gain amid matter, with it’s trial and pain,

                  The knowledge to carry it homeward again.

     The immutable laws of nature may be traced backward into the eras of sun formation, or carried forward beyond the present into the equally dim vistas of the eternal future. Those who can see and realize for themselves them planes of both cause and effect will understand. To be able to do this we must attain the soul-state of equilibrium where both realms unite. Then there is neither cause nor effect, but both are one

The Celestial State

     This state contains the mystery of those inconceivable laws by the operation of which the Self becomes an acting entity. It suffices to say that this state of celestial life wherein the purely embryonic center in the divine arc of progressive being is located. This is the point where the diffusive intelligence of the infinite spirit becomes differentiated and atomic. The Divine Self of the human Soul is absolutely atomic. It is as eternal and immortal as the infinite. Though atomic, it is only so as a purely spiritual conception, a point of radiant light, totally free from matter, and incapable of uniting itself except by means of reflection.

     The twin souls, male and female, or heavenly Isis and Osiris, are the two halves. They are the masculine and feminine attributes of the Divine Self. They have alternate cycles of activity and repose. During then cycle of their fruitful activity, the two respond with intense vibrations to the divine song of creation. This creates an influx of the formless, motionless spirit into the celestial sensorium, and the whole sphere become radiant with the scintillations of spiritual harmony. Obeying the creative impulse, these streams of spiritual force flow along to the convergent poles from the various centers of the sphere. Each force from the male is met and balanced by that of the female. The contact produces, by the exact equilibrium of the masculine and feminine natures, the living external spark of immortal life.

     In the process of time, these pure twin souls, unconsciously obeying the internal impulse, become attracted towards matter. Up till now, they were pure and innocent, knowing neither good nor evil. Thus The Divine Self, which is incapable of decent into matter, projects the two souls into the vortex of cosmic evolution, where they become separated and ultimately incarnated within the minerals of a planet. This is the lowest point in the arc. In this state, these souls constitute the hidden fire and spirit of matter and are it’s latent force.

The Mineral State

     The souls have arrived at the mineral state, and we now must ascertain the origin of it’s motor of life. We know within the mineral lies concealed the potencies of an immortal being.

     Chemical force is death-balanced, still, and motionless. Spiral motion is the motion type of life. It is the true motion of life. It is a spiritual screw; it penetrates the universe of matter. The spiral varies in magnitude from the infinite to the infinitesimal. The lesser forces are but an infinite fraction less than the greater forces. The spiral may be almost infinite in its sweep of curve, and will require almost an eternity to reach its culminating point. Or with the greater the diversity in power, the curve will become less, until we have the infinitesimally small spiral, which will culminate almost instantly. Between these two extremes we have every phenomenon of life, from that of the tiniest insect to the great cosmic life of the Astral Universe.

The Vegetable State

     Motion is the life of matter, but we must now seek for a still higher form, the immediate product of matter. Having asserted that the spiral is the motion of life, we will be substantiated in our assertion by the vegetable kingdom. As external evidence, then let us call to our aid the phyllotaxy of plants. On the stem of plants the leaves are placed so a line wound around the stem, and touching the petiole of each life, would be a spiral. Where the leaves are in two rows, the space between two opposite leaves is just half a circle or half the circumference, and so on. The facts are demonstrated by botanical science, and not only confirm our assertion, but also show that vital force is subject to measurement.

     In order to understand how the vegetable evolves from the mineral, the spiral motion of life must be held in view. Also the various changes of atomic polarity must be clearly understood. For instance, the atoms of oxygen and hydrogen by combination produce a substance (water), which is the direct polar opposite of their original flammable states. From this change of polarity we have clouds, oceans, and rivers. Now when the vapor from these waters is drawn upward by the heat of the sun, a small fraction becomes decomposed into a gaseous state. Although decomposed, the atoms are actually the same after combining into the substance known as water as they were when uncombined. They have only a different angle of motion. Before, they rotated in a circle; they now ascend and revolve in a spiral. In this ascension they attract or are attracted by the atoms of carbonic acid gas. Instantly a violent rotation among the atoms is produced and they combine. Another transformation has taken place; a new thing has been produced as a molecule or germ of physical life.

     Under the control of a central atom of fire, the predominating forces of oxygen and carbon unite, and this union produces another change in polarity. They become attracted to earth. The water or moisture receives them, and a species of vegetable slime is the natural result. When this vegetable product has served its purpose and decays, its liberated atoms arise in a spiral motion. In turn, they become attracted to, or themselves attract, some of the atoms in the air with which they have a natural affinity.

The same process of polarization is repeated, with some slightly different vibration, and a still higher germ of life is evolved. The lowest form of the lichen may result. From the liberated atoms of this life, spring forth still higher and higher types of the same family until the climax is attained. Then, by a higher and more ethereal attraction, the polarized units bring forth the next higher form of life. Thus, as the ages roll on, from this original form issues species, classes, and families of vegetation. From these evolve, through the medium of water, a still higher round in the gamut of being, animal life and finally Man.

Incarnation and Reincarnation

      Probably no truth has been more completely inverted by the ignorant and concealed by the learned than reincarnation. In every age it has been thought necessary by the priest hood to overawe the uneducated masses by some species of pious jugglery. The popular theory of reincarnation, as understood and taught today, is a typical example of truth perverted. Bt reincarnation we mean the rebirth of the human soul in various human forms and personalities, in different ages, upon the same planet.

     In every bundle of theological chaff there is, undoubtedly, a grain of genuine truth. We must bear in mind that the doctrine of human reincarnation is not a doctrine of Occultism. It is a theological doctrine of Oriental sacerdotal systems, formulated by the priesthood either to conceal the real truth, or to account for what they themselves could not understand. Up to a point, its teachings are those of truth itself, but beyond this point the doctrine of rebirth becomes one of the greatest delusions with which the mystical student must deal.

     To those who are upon the plane of appearances, it possesses an almost irresistible attraction, since it appears to account, in a most rational and philosophical manner, for the wide differences manifested in the mental, social, and moral conditions of humanity. Upon the external material plane, it seems to settle the question of good and evil. I seem to harmonize all our inequalities with what seem to be divine justice. All these delusive appearances however are but empty shadows of the phenomenal world. They can only deceive those who are upon the external plane and who have obtained their knowledge of Occultism from the writings of others, accepting such teachings without verifying them themselves.

     There are two method of verification: one, the actual experiences of the soul: and the other, the response of the soul to the thoughts and ideas we derive from an authors work. But, unfortunately, this latter kind of verification is subject to serious drawbacks. A mediumistic nature will respond to error because of the more potent thought of the writer. If we are oversensitive, we may be superficial enough to respond to an erroneous idea through pure emotional sentiment.

     These drawbacks have been seized by the Inversive Brethren to enable them to fasten this reawakening of the Karma and reincarnation delusion upon the sensitive minds and mediumistic natures of the human race. The most finely spun ideals of the “higher life” have been, and are continuing to be, presented by a host of sentimental, spiritually sick mystical writers to explain ”the glorious mysteries” of nature and the “secret doctrine” of all religious philosophies. Yet they themselves, in real truth, know very little, apart from the mediumistic ideas, which are projected towards them by the Inversive Magic. The whole is merely a metaphysical delusion cast over their mentalities by means of a magnetic glamour.

            It seems very strange that these followers of “the path” which leads to physical reincarnation can be so blind as to imagine that this earth is the only place within the infinite Universe whereon divine justice may be satisfied, and due punishment meted out to the evil doer. The life beyond is far more real, far more earnest, and much more conscious than this life on earth. Surely, then, the soul can work out its redemption better there than here. Surely the soul ought to have the privilege granted of being conscious of what it is suffering for. This is not the case according to the fallacies of esoteric Buddhism. Alas! The spiritually blind are blind indeed.

     In the descent of life into external conditions, we must not omit the fact that in its descent the monad has passed through every state in the soul world. It passed through the four realms of the Astral Kingdom, and lastly, it reappeared upon the external plane at the lowest possible point. From this point we see it enter successively the mineral, vegetable and animal life of the planet. In obedience to the higher and more interior laws of its especial round, the divine attributes are ever seeking to unfold their involved potentialities.

     No sooner is one form dispensed with, or its capabilities exhausted, than a new and still higher form is brought into being---each in its turn becoming more complex in its structure and diversified in its function. Thus we see the atom of life commencing at the mineral in the external material world. The grand spiral of evolutionary life is carried forward slowly, imperceptibly, but always progressively. There is no form to simple, no organism to complete, for the inconceivably marvelous adaptability of the human soul in its divine struggle for progressive life.

     Yet, throughout the entire cycle of necessity, the character of its genius, the degree of its spiritual emanation, and the state of life to which it originally belonged, are perfectly preserved. These states correspond, in a general sense, to the four ancient elements Fire, Earth, Air, and Water.

      Yet, as a matter of purification alone, each atom must pass through all these stages on its upward journey. Before the human monad can possibly attain climax of its material evolution, it must also pass through certain phases of existence upon each planet, and its microcosmic nature in the embodied man bears a mathematical correspondence to these phases. Thus, between the mineral and man there is a perfect scale of life. No one form is parallel with another in the grand chain of cosmic being. Even the insects count, as the links, as progressive states in the Great Chain of Being.  

       In the whole of this great chain are seven worlds through which the soul migrates. No matter at what point or planet the Soul commences its toilsome cosmic journey, the seventh planet is always the end of its material orbit, and this is the sphere wherein it attains the human form divine. In no case does the soul monad commence as a mineral and attain the animal or human upon the same planet. It becomes latent on each alternate orb.

     For example, he mineral atoms of this earth will undergo a purely impersonal cycle upon Venus, which is the their next sphere, and then become incarnate within the vegetable upon the new planet. The mineral atoms of the planet Mars when they reach this planet, are purely impersonal beings and do not incarnate here as objective forms. They pass there cycle in the Astral spaces and then enter material conditions again upon Venus.

     Thus the soul monad has 4 objective states, and three subjective. The objective states are one, three, five, and seven, or the mineral, vegetable, animal and man. The three subjective states are two, four, and six, or the negative states of its embryonic being. After the soul attains the objective human form it the seventh state, the next is beyond material matter.” Once and only once” saith the law. After this, Nature shuts the door behind her. Eternal progression is the anthem of all creative life.

     When we apply these basic laws to external material life, we can gauge the Soul’s past history with accuracy, which is truly marvelous. Thus, for instance, the truly martial individual belongs to a state of life known in Occult phraseology as Fiery. Those peculiar and especial attributed were rounded out upon the planet Mars. The fiery characteristics of an atom belonging to a state of life corresponding to the fiery triplicity were evolved through various organic forms during its cycle of incarnation upon the planet Mars.

     On the other hand, a Saturnine individual during this sojourn upon the Martial plane was only a little attracted to the Martial forms of existence. In fact, the soul monad, as that stage of its journey, passed through a kind of impersonal coma instead of an active evolutionary life. This happened because there was but only little affinity between itself and the planet. Consequently, the planet did not have sufficient attractive power to project the impersonal soul into the more outward forms of organic being.

     The same may be said of each planetary characteristic. Their latent or active expression in the embodied individual reveals to the initiated mind the whole of the Soul’s past history. A careful study of this will do much to explain the true and deeper mysteries of Astrology. The positions of the planets at a person’s birth do not make him what he is; they only harmonize with his Soul’s conditions.

     During the process of the souls Involution, the human monad is not carnated in any form. The Soul descends into earthly conditions down the subjective arc of the spiral and reascends upon the objective. Rebirth commences when the objective mineral state is reached. The process of the monad’s descent through the various realms is a gradual polarization of its Deific powers. This is caused by its contact with the gradually externalizing conditions of the downward arc of the cycle. At each step, the Soul becomes more and more involved within the material.

     The sphere of reincarnation-embracing the birth of an external form, its transient life and death, and the Soul’s rebirth in a higher and more perfect form of life-is all between the mineral and the Man. Between these two planes, the Soul must pass through countless forms and planes. It is an absolute truth that man lives on many planets before he reaches this one. Myriad worlds swarm in space where the Soul, in its rudimentary states, performs various pilgrimages, until its cyclic progress enables it to reach our magnificently organized planet. Here its glorious function is to confer consciousness upon man. At this point, and this point alone, does it become a part of man. At every   other step of the wild cosmic journey, it is but an embryonic being, a fleeting, temporary shape, an impersonal creature, from which a part of the imprisoned soul shines forth. It is a rudimental form with rudimental functions, ever living, dying, and sustaining a brief spiritual existence only to be born again. Thus it sustains the successive round of births

   At present we are concerned with the Occult side of the problems, and with the laws which are far removed from the realms of mere opinion and constitute eternal realities. The manifestations of these laws can be realized and verified by each individual Soul for itself.

   Simply and briefly stated, immortality means life or continued life. Mortality means death or the extinction of life, and therefore is the antithesis of life and immortality. These are the generally accepted sense in which the words are now used. Mortality and immortality in their external relation towards each other stand as the polar opposites, and as such they are the alpha and omega of cyclic existence. They represent "the evening and the morning" of every phase of infinite creation, upon the outer planes of manifested being. Life and death form the grand spiral axis of time, and the resultants to the human mind are seen in the world of phenomena.

  For the sake of convenience we will consider each problem by itself. Then, as a stimulant towards mental reflection, we will leave their relationship to each other to be thought out by the reader.

  Mortality, as stated, means death and extinction upon the material plane. But when viewed from the higher and more interior standpoint, death simply means a change of form and function. There can be no absolute extinction in the strict sense of the term. Atoms are immortal, eternal, and indestructible. But a universe or an organism which is composed of an infinite number of atoms may be dissolved, destroyed and forever lost. It is lost as an organic whole, but not lost as regards its separate atomic parts.

   The mental being which bound these atoms together loses its force during the process of change or death, thus death is simply change of polarity. In order to see this, it must be understood the Moons, Planets, Suns, and systems have their own special individuality exactly like men. On the contrary, an atom has no individuality, so far as its external form is concerned, but it possesses a cosmic individuality. This is an attraction and repulsion of its own, by virtue of its  differentiation from the universal atom. It is the complex expression of the myriad atoms which compose the organism or the universe which produce individuality. This individuality gives expression to a form suitable to Nature, and constitutes the personal or external appearance of a material object. These facts must be borne in mind, or the real meaning of this material will be misunderstood.

   As a general principle of phenomenal expression. Nature embodies, within some external form, every idea, thought, and motive which mankind evolves. The only limit to her possibilities in this direction is the mental and magnetic condition of the race. In fact, every organic form which we see around us is Nature's expression of various thoughts and ideas. These thoughts and ideas are representative of Spiritual qualities which react upon the Astral light. These Spiritual qualities emanate from the Mind or mental being,

either human or divine.

   As illustrations of the process, of death and change, let usselect two cases, one from the vegetable world, and one from the animal kingdom a tree and a tigress. The tree dies, decay sets in, and soon it appears to be gone forever. But this disappearance is only an illusion, for the tree not only exists but exerts a very powerful influence upon the material plane.

   The tree, so far as its phenomenal outcome is concerned, has only been a means by which the progressive cycle of evolution works upward from the mineral state. It is composed of millions of atoms of life undergoing their various cyclic rounds within the

vegetable circuit, and as a natural consequence of this internal spiritual activity the tree possesses a Karmic sphere within the Astral spaces of its life wave. The Astral tree, if we may so call this Karmic counterpart, is far more beautiful in its wonderful details, and more perfect in its symmetry and geometrical proportions than the material physical organism of earth. When the material tree no longer exists as a living earthly organism, the arboreal image within Nature's wonderful laboratory becomes the means of reflecting

the outlines of a still more perfect vegetable organism upon the outward planes of matter. These outlines of Astral skeletons of future trees possess the attractive force which draws within them the living germs of the young seedlings growing upon the earth.

    The greatest perfection of one tree becomes impressed within the Astral light and also the means of developing a more perfect organism of its kind in the next generation.The Tree no longer exists as a tree. But there has been no death; only an ideal of the tree

becomes, externalized in its offspring.

   The trained psychic, and those also who naturally possess some spiritual lucidity, can see this ethereal vegetation within.the Astral world. Therefore, proofs may be quickly obtained of the two planes of existence should they ever be required.The internal plane is more alive than the external. The physical tree disappears, but it does not die as we suppose. When physical  death  transpires  it  undergoes  an  evolutionary change; the sphere of its activities becomes translated, removed from the external to the internal. This is in strict obedience to the higher laws of its internal nature. Thus we see the tree, having served its purpose on earth, vanishes from external sight, while its ethereal counterpart performs another cycle upon a higher plane of being.

   When each has fulfilled its great purpose, the various evolving atoms which constituted its life form, obeying the interior laws of their cyclic round, seek their reincarnation.

They separate and the cycle is complete. The individual tree no longer exists as a tree. But there has been no death; only a change of form. The atomic forces of the tree reappear upon a higher plane in a million other varying forms throughout

every department of nature.

    Since ancient times philosophy has striven to separate the good from the evil, and the pure from the impure. This is the same as saying all things die and that only the Soul lives eternal. The Soul endures while the body decays, and you may recall that correspondingly a seed must rot away if it is to bear fruit. But what does it mean to rot? It means only this that the body decays while its essence, the good, the bowl, subsists.  Once we have understood this, we possess  the knowledge which contains all virtues.             

   Decay is the beginning of all birth. It transforms shape and essence which are the forces and virtues of nature. Just as the transformation of all foods in the stomach prepares them and makes them into a digested pulp, so it happens outside the stomach. Decay is the midwife of very great natural things. It causes many things to change so that a noble fruit may be born. It is the reversal, the death and destruction of the original essence of all natural things. It brings about the birth and rebirth of forms a thousand times improved. And this is the highest and greatest mysterium of the Spirit, the deepest mystery and miracle that has been revealed to mortal man.

    Having considered death and decay in regard to the tree, let us now examine the animal kingdom or the case ot a tigress.  We have already stated Nature ever staves to externalize ideas and thoughts in some form or other. This statement must always

be borne in mind. The tigress presents us with a fine illustration of this law-of transformation upon the outward planes of existence.

    What the tigress is when endowed with physical life we all should know. Her chief qualities are selfishness and destructiveness, She is, in fact, a complete expression of cruelty. When death transpires, the astral tigress like the astral tree, becomes in

drawn within the karmic sphere of its astral world. There it is to perform the higher evolutions of its special round until the life atoms, which constitute it, become "rounded out." Then it is ready to externalize in some higher form.

  "Thus the tigress, like the tree, is one of nature's countless mediums for the expression  of mental force. By the interior laws of its constitution, it forms a central vortex or focus for the materialization of the purely selfish and destructive elements of humanity. When death removes the physical tigress, the ethereal tigress becomes the sphere of action until the tigerish qualities have run their full cycle.

    But we cannot say there has been any real extinction, or death hath come upon the tigress, anymore than we can say the heat of the sunbeam is destroyed because the solar ray is no longer brought to a focus. The eye of the newest psychic initiate can distinctly see the ferocity of the animal in the inhumanity of the man.

     Mortality or death, then, can only exist and be a truth in reference to the individual material forms. It has no existence when brought face-to-face with the spiritual qualities and mental force, which actually created these forms. Changes of sphere and changes of action are the only realities of death. -

    Ever onward, ever upward, forever and ever more! Eternal progression is the anthem of evolution and the cycles of action are but intervals of time as measured out to the life

forces by the pendulum of creation.

    The second portion of our subject "Immortality" is the polar opposite of death and mortality. Individual forms and characteristics are the only things which change and die. This death as we have shown, is not an extinction of the life atoms in the literal sense of the term, but simply a change of sphere and function.

     Death is the grand terminus of one cycle of existence, and the commencement of another. Mortality is the harbinger of a still higher state of life. Consequently it is the forerunner of immortality. There are exceptions to the general rule, though

they are very few.

   There are two distinct phases of immortal life: conscious immortality, and unconscious immortality. One relates to mind, the other to matter; one to intelligence, the other to

substance.            

    There is only one grade of external life which can be said to inherit immortality in the occult sense of the term. This is the eternal conscious life or immortal individuality. Not as we know and recognize individuals, but, rather an individuality consisting of Soul qualities. This is a purely Spiritual state which can only be partially expressed by the word Identity.

    All the states below the human plane are only so many radiating lines which converge to a point, and are brought to a focus within the human organism. Therefore, every quality and force upon the planet or within the system of which the organism forms a part must find expression within this womb of Nature. If this were not so, man would not constitute a microcosm or universe in miniature.                    

    In the grades below the human state, we do not find complete organisms. They are mere temporary shapes of matter continually dying out of existence to give place to something more nearly perfect. The forces they were evolved to express are exhausted,

they evolve to a higher cycle. They are not souls in the true sense, but refracted attributes of Souls. They are qualities and functions in the process of evolution. They are isolated parts and characteristics of a whole; organs, but not organisms.                                      ,   . .

  Commencing at the very lowest point of animated existence we discover only the most rudimentary expression ot the simplest function of organic life or a desire to live. As we ascend higher, the organs become multiplied, and the desire to live is increased. This gradual scale expands right up to man, where we find a miniature universe,

absolute and complete within itself.                                       ,

     The central deific atom, controlling this universe, has traveled all the way up from the crude fire rocks of cosmic evolution. It has conquered every state through which it ascended upon its progressive toilsome journey. At each state it evolved from within itself a complete attribute corresponding to that state. It polarized and bound the atoms of life and annexed them as a portion of its spiritual empire, thereby forming the means for their progression. Until, at last, the deific atom sits upon the spiritual throne as land of the microcosm capable of thinking, creating, and evolving from within itself.

    It is therefore an occult truth to declare: As. things below man are mortal, and all above immortall Man, alone, contains within himself the forces of life and death, of mortality and immortality. Man, then, contains "the promise and potency of life" and constitutes, upon the spiritual plane, what protoplasm does upon die physical It has the possibilities of infinite progression. -                                           -

     To attain unto immortality it is necessary, as we have shown, for the central life atom to conquer every state below the human; to become externalized upon earth as an individual human being; and to undergo the trials and become subjected to the responsibilities of a conscious, reasoning, individual human being in the struggle for life.

The nature and quality of the soul, combined with the polarity of the organism, will launch the individual into the exact conditions and circumstances which are best adapted to arouse all the latent qualities.

     It is not a previous karma which determines an individuals condition in life, but the nature and quality of the Soul conflicting or harmonizing with the external conditions. This turmoil of life, this ceaseless human warfare, is just as necessary for the Soul's final development as are the earlier struggles through the lower states of the Great Chain of Being. Man possesses the possibilities of such immortal life in such a potent degree as to nearly always succeed. There are, however, a few solitary exceptions.

     When man has passed through the travail of human life, he then meets the struggle of his karma in the realm of Spirit. Here he may even sink forever, because he does not actually possess immortality; but only the promise of possibility of it. Not until the four realms of the astral world are passed and man enters the sixth state of the Soul world,

where he becomes reunited with his Soul mate, his missing half, can he attain the exalted state. Until this union is complete there is, and can be, no actual Immortality! Previous to this he is but a part of himself, and has control only of half of his spiritual nature.

    It is the union of the two which forms the absolute One. "And they twain shall be one flesh," saith the old Jewish Scripture. "As it is above, so it is below."

    It is seen that it is the reunion of the twin Soul& in the realm of Spirit which confers upon man the state of angelhood. He is human no longer and he is then Divine. As a Deific being he possesses the attributes of eternal progressionand immortal life.

 Virgil, richest of the ancients in Philosophy^ says thusly:

      "And first the Heaven, Earth, and liquid plain,

       The Moon's bright globe and stars Titanian

       A spirit fed within, spread through the whole     

       And with the huge heap mix'd infused a soul:

       Hence man and beasts, and birds derive their strain

       And monsters floating in the marbled main;

       These seeds haw fiery vigor, and a birth

       of Heavenly race, but clogged with heavy earth."

     What do these verses mean other than the world should have not only a Spirit-Soul but also should partake of the Divine Mind. The original virtue and vigor of all inferior things depends upon the Soul of the world! Plato, the Pythagoreans, Orpheus, Trismegistus, Aristotle, Theophrastus, Avicenna, Algazel, Plotinus, and all the Peripatetics confess and confirm this truth.

  There are four essences in the universe on which all the learned through the centuries have agreed. These are Fire, Water, Earth, and, Air! There is, however, a fifth essence, or quintessence, which permeates everything above in the stars and below upon earth. It is the world Soul-Spirit which animates all bodies. It is "clogged with heavy earth" and never free or visible. Yet it is omnipresent, and he who can free this fifth element from the matter it inhabits shall hold in his hand the creative power with which God has been endowed upon the world of matter. The ancient goddesses of growth and vegetation, like Isis, were nothing more to the Alchemist than the emblems of the quintessence, the generative power which resides in the Philosophers' Stone.

    Thus we have a transcendental field as the only real from which the material universe emerges in a series. The properties of this material world reveal the Supreme Chain of Being. The basic polarities of consciousness or Spirit and matter or Soul energy make up life, as it appears as a material form or species.

    In a sense, life is the direct reflection of the transcendent Supreme; hence, biological thinking is privileged. The cycles of life are perceived in body (material), psyche (Self), Soul, and Spirit. The lesser of these is the reincarnation of the impersonal Soul in many

men. But in others, a larger epoch evolves over the vast periods of astral time as the "cycle of necessity," and Spirit pervades all of their being.

   When this has occurred, the Soul is no longer conscious of the body, and cannot tell whether it is man or a living being or anything real at all; for then the contemplation of such things would seem unworthy. It has no leisure for them; but when, after having sought the Astral Spirit, it finds itself in its presence, it goes to meet It and contemplates It instead of itself. What itself is when It gazes, it has no leisure to see.

    When in this state, the Soul would not exchange its present condition for anything, not for the very heaven of heavens. There is nothing better, nothing more blessed than this. For it can mount no higher; all other things are below it, however exalted they be.

  It is then it judges rightly and knows it has what it truly desired, and there is nothing

higher. It is now the Macrocosm. There is no deception; where could one find anything truer than Truth? What it says, that it is, and it speaks afterwards, and speaks in silence, and is happy, and is not deceived in its happiness.

     Its happiness is no titillation of the bodily senses; it is the Soul which has become again what it was formerly, when it was thrice  blessed.

     All the things which once pleased it power, wealth, beauty, science it declares it despises. It could not say this if it had not met with something better than these. It fears no evil while it is with the Astral Spirit, or even while it sees Him; though all else perish around it, it is content, if it can only be with Him, so happy is it.

    The Soul is so exalted that it thinks Ugly even of that spiritual intuition which it formerly treasured. For spiritual perception involves movement, and the Soul now does not wish to move. It does not call the object of its vision Spirit, although it has itself been transformed into Spirit before the vision and lifted up into the abode of Spirits.

   When the Soul arrives at the intuition of the Astral One, it leaves the mode of spiritual perception. Even so, as a recent traveler and entering into the palace, it admires at first the various beauties which adorn it. But when the Astral-Master appears, he alone is the

object of attention. By continually contemplating the object before him, the evolved Soul sees It no more. The vision is confounded with the object seen, and that which was Him becomes to the state of seeing.

    The Astral Spirit has two powers. By one of them it has a spiritual perception of what is within Itself, the other is the receptive intuition by which It perceives what is above, The former is the vision of the thin latter,  Spirit, the latter, Spirit in Love. For when the Spirit is inebriated with the nectar, it falls in Love, in simple contentment and satisfaction. It is better for the evolved Soul to be so intoxicated than to be too proud for such is the Spiritual intoxication of Love.

   As it is above, so it is below!                '

Governance in the Aquarian Era

     The pattern of political mythology for the Aquarian era is already well established, and it mirrors the symbolism of the Aquarius-Leo axis. With Leo, the sign of kings, placed on the horoscope angle that relates to human beings perceived as a mass, it follows that the basic theme of this mythology is that the people themselves, the human family, are the rulers in this age. The various forms of collectivism -- Marxist and Maoist communism, fascism, socialism in its many flavours, majoritarianism (e.g. American democracy) -- are all variations on this theme. All contain some version of the idea that the people rule themselves.

     The midheaven generally determines the image taken on by the rulers in a given age. As was mentioned earlier, in the Piscean age it was normal for the ruling class to take on the image of Jovian superiority, of the God-given right to rule. In the Aquarian era the image of the rulers is similarly being influenced by the powers of the sign. Aquarius is traditionally the sign of voluntary service, as opposed to the "karmic" or predestined service of Virgo. It represents the person who freely relinquishes their individual pursuits in order to serve the community. In each of the various political systems mentioned above, those who rule are careful to cultivate the image that they are the servants of the people, that the actions they take are dictated by the people and are in the people's best interests.

     The reality, as opposed to the image, is often far different. Governance per se comes under the sign of Capricorn, and Capricorn's theme -- insofar as it relates to governance -is power and control, not service. No matter what the outward form, government attracts those who seek power; if they serve anyone, it is not the community as a whole, but those who help them to maintain their power. And those who gain power seek to hide it in places where their use of it cannot be controlled, and they cannot be held accountable for the consequences of its use.

     At the present time the Aquarian power is at best a light overlay on these ages-old patterns of government; even the most "Aquarian" of the current forms of government were invented at a time when the mutable cross and its Big Daddy mentality were still in control; a great deal of conflict -- preferably verbal, not physical -- is still necessary before a system harmonious with the era develops. However, the situation is still changing rapidly, and there are factors growing in the Western societies that may eventually serve to make government operate in accordance with the pattern of the era. As with the world of computer networks, the key to the change lies with the increasing speed of communication, and with the voluntary associations that arise from it.

     In prior eras, the fastest forms of communication were either under the control of governments, or so expensive that only governments and a few wealthy individuals could afford them. This enabled governments to keep a degree of control over events, particularly in the area of international relations. The relatively long period of time before distant events could have a local effect allowed the governors to plan and prepare to control the effects to their best advantage.

     With the elimination of the time factor in communications, many events affecting global conditions are effectively out of the control of any government. For instance, with the major portion of the world economy's money now in the form of computer data, private concerns routinely "ship" money from one country to another in instants, to make use of advantageous local conditions. The amount of capital available in a country for investment can vary drastically in a short period of time, so short that governments cannot act in time to control it. And the governments cannot introduce delays into the process without also creating potentially fatal delays in the delivery of vital goods and services. The economy is in fact global, and cannot be controlled by organizations limited by artificial territorial boundaries. The speed with which transactions take place -- and their sheer volume -- makes it unlikely that a hypothetical world government would do any better, given the rigidity of hierarchical chains of command.

     The movement of goods has also gone beyond control; if a product is desired in a given area, it will get there regardless of the wishes of the supposed territorial rulers. The arms and drug trades show this clearly. Efforts to interdict the flow or enact extreme punitive measures against those who engage in it simply raises the price without significantly reducing the quantity, and ensures that the most ruthless types of human beings will become involved in the business. The borders needing to be controlled are so large, and the means of transportation so efficient, that effective interdiction is impossible.

     So in the world of commerce, we are approaching a situation where the world economic entity is becoming governed only by the natural interactions of its own components, along the lines of the Aquarian symbolism. If the pattern expressed in that symbolism holds true, then the economy will eventually become better "regulated" by its natural tendencies than it has been through the intervention of various governments.

     In the American political context, "special interests" has become synonymous with minorities who openly or secretly use monetary power to influence the decisions of legislators and executives. While such groups are indeed special interest groups, they are far from being the only such groups active today. Every group of people who seek to influence government to what they perceive to be their own benefit is a special interest group, regardless of their methods. Under this definition, political SIGs are ubiquitous. Environmentalists, pro- and antiabortionists, human-rights, civil-rights, and animal-rights organizations, down to the people looking for a new street light for their street; all are special interest groups.

     Every level of government is being subjected to the pressures of these groups, and many of them are successful in getting their points taken into consideration in legislation. The problem is that the success is based on factors having nothing to do with the merits and demerits of their causes, or of the number of people who share a view. Success seems to be primarily a function of funding and the amount of noise they can make. Small and relatively poor groups cannot make themselves heard by their supposed representatives. The free, unrestrained and unforced participation present in the computer SIGs is not yet a part of the political process.

     In a sane individual many relatively uninfluential parts of the mind, combining their influence, can together cause a veto of a course of action proposed by a stronger portion. When a few parts of the mind do manage to take up an excessive portion of the person's awareness, time, and resources, suppressing the weaker (but still important) parts, we say that person has a mental illness. Even in these instances, the uninfluential parts of the mind are not truly suppressed; they simply begin to express themselves in ways that are not normal to them, often in ways that have the effect of sabotaging the intent of the part of the mind that is trying to suppress them.

     The situation in western government today -- particularly American government -- is a correspondence to this sort of unbalance in the individual. The flaw expressed in all of the forms of government mentioned above lies in the assumption that it is possible for individuals or groups within a social aggregation to accurately determine the needs of the whole and regulate the interactions of other individuals and groups to serve those needs. From our examination of the pattern of the fixed cross it should be clear that this is not possible in reality; the development of an inclusive whole out of the interaction of smaller individualities is always accompanied by the development of abilities and functionality that the component individuals are not capable of duplicating -- or even perceiving, in many instances. The continual active participation of all the smaller individualities is necessary if the larger entity is to remain stable.

     The fallacy that responsive and perceptive government is possible opens the way for individuals and relatively small groups to usurp the role that is properly the place of a higher order entity, and to force their own particular prejudices and preferences on the population as a whole. The laws created by such governments inevitably fail to reflect the conditions in their societies; they unduly restrict the activities of certain portions of the society, and give undue emphasis to other portions. The maintenance of such an unbalanced state through the government's claimed right to use force delays the adjustments that would take place naturally if the society had a truly organic structure. But the adjustments can not be delayed forever; eventually the imbalance goes beyond the point where the use of government coercion can maintain it, at which point the balancing takes place in a catastrophic manner, as it does in the analogous example of the mentally ill individual. The process of governance becomes a movement from crisis to crisis, with sections of the population superficially benefiting from special attention in the interim periods, and everyone suffering as the unavoidable adjustment takes place.

     The biological and quasi-biological entities that make up most of the universe rarely exhibit the crisis-symptomatology of human governments. In most cases, adjustments occur automatically as they are necessary, and are thereby limited in severity. When major crises do occur in a biological entity, they are normally signs of death, of a complete breakdown of the interaction of its parts. Constant minor adjustments or homeostasis, not crisis adjustment, is the norm in the universe.

     Making governance follow a homeostatic pattern requires that we severely limit the ability of governments to interfere in the activities of individuals, and the way they interact to produce a society. In particular, absolute limits must be placed on government's right to use force or coercion against its citizens; its ability to control the distribution of wealth and the allocation of resources (which both are based on the use of force) must also be curtailed.

     If a nation is the sort of higher-order entity that grows out of the interactions of individuals, then all of the individuals involved must be given the opportunity to participate in the decisions of its government. Our so-called "representative" democracy does not do this; in fact, every election acts to automatically exclude a portion of the populace -- those who did not vote for the winner -- from participation in the process of governance. In practice, other factors make the situation even worse. The parties in power, having established a balance between themselves, have set restrictions on the election process such that no third group can gain sufficient power to upset their arrangement. Voters are prevented from having creative alternatives to "business as usual"; a substantial portion of the population dislikes all the candidates, and does not vote. There is not a single elected representative in the federal government who was voted for by a majority of the adults -- note "adults", not "registered voters" -- he allegedly represents. In some cases, the number is as low as ten percent, or even less.

     We might solve this problem by instituting "no-losers" elections for at least one of the houses of congress. That is, anyone can run for a congressional seat, and everyone who runs gets a congressional seat -- with one vote in congress for every person who voted for them. A better alternative would be to allow any group of people, regardless of their place of residence, to join together and appoint their own representative to congress. The majority of people might continue to appoint representatives based on local interests, but groups that are in the minority in any particular geographic area would gain a representation they would not otherwise have.

     In order to ensure that laws are representative, this change in structure would require a corresponding change in the quorum requirements of congress and in the number of votes necessary to pass legislation. Congress could not be considered to be in session unless representatives for a large portion of the population -- say, eighty percent -- were in attendance. Passage of laws would require favourable votes of equal a similar percentage of the total votes of those present. This would make it much more difficult to pass laws, but would ensure that laws that did pass were acceptable to the views of a large majority of the population -- something which is not the case at present. Such a system would make the process of governance more accurately reflect the homeostatic internal activities of naturally occurring entities. Also, with the inevitable delays involved in passing laws acceptable to such large majorities, the natural homeostasis of the national entity would have time to produce appropriate adjustments to changes without inappropriate intervention.

     Another aspect of the fixed cross pattern -- individualized "components" interacting to create larger individualized wholes - is the fact that despite their participation in the group interactions, each "component" remains almost totally free to act according to its own nature. This comes from the influence of Aquarius' ruler Uranus. For a society to come into a truly Aquarian pattern of governance, it must ensure that the individuals who make up that society retain the greatest possible freedom to express their nature and goals.

     This could be done by placing restrictions on the circumstances under which laws could be applied. Each person must be acknowledged to have a complete right to dispose of their self and their property as they see fit. No civil or criminal penalties could be applied against an individual if the individual's acts did not in themselves cause involuntary damage to another individual or that individual's property, and did not interfere with the other person's equal right to act according to their own nature.

     Individual freedom should be balanced by individual responsibility. Acts which cause damage to others must be paid for by the person performing the acts. Avoidance of responsibility through claims of insanity, social deprivation, or other special status should not be allowed. More important, the principle of sovereign immunity must be firmly rejected; neither individuals nor groups can be allowed to shield themselves behind the mask of government power, nor within the diffusive cover of a bureaucracy or corporation.

     A third necessary component is the elimination of secrecy, in line with the exaltation of the planet Mercury in Aquarius. Earlier sections have shown that free exchange of information is necessary to the existence of group-created entities, and it is as necessary for healthy societies as for any other such entity.

     The ability to restrict access to information about its activities enables governments to prosecute policies that -- were they known -- would be judged to not be in the interests of the populace, and to engage in acts which the government itself would consider criminal if performed by a private individual. Past experience shows that secrecy in the name of "national security" is often instead secrecy in the interests of no one but the governors and those who support them. Elimination of secrecy helps to prevent abuses of government power by subjecting them to public scrutiny.

     The increasing use of computers in government may eventually help to eliminate secrecy from government activities. The American government has grown so huge that it would be impossible for it to accomplish its arrogated tasks without using computers; the resources for doing the same tasks manually are beyond even a government's ability to steal. They are simply not available. Computers are essentially unsecured means of record-keeping; any form of computer security that a human being can invent another human being can circumvent, much more easily than with paper records of the same volume of information. Computers are meant to make the job of managing information easier, and the degree of security necessary to reliably protect the information they contain would destroy their utility. Today's young "hackers", who break into computers for the fun of it, may one day find themselves acting to more serious purpose by making public secrets pried from government computers.

In order to save space, I will not go into the many other social and political manifestations that demonstrate that the Aquarian era has established itself. Instead we will go on and look at how this era's energies relate to the process of initiation and participation in the Great Work.