Thus we see that ideas are embryonic thoughts, nuclei of spirit-substance from the Region of abstract Thought. Improperly conceived in a diseased mind they become vagaries and delusions, but when gestated in a sound mind and formed into rational thoughts they are the basis of all material, moral and mental progress, and the closer our touch with Chaos, the better will be our Cosmos, for in that realm of abstract realities truth is not obscured by matter, it is self-evident.

Pilate was asked "what is Truth," but no answer is recorded. We are incapable of cognizing truth in the abstract while we live in the phenomenal world, for the inherent nature of matter is illusion and delusion, and we are constantly making allowances and corrections whether we are conscious of the fact or not. The sunbeam which proceeds for 90 millions of miles in a straight line, is refracted or bent as soon as it strikes our dense atmosphere, and according to the angle of its refraction, it _appears_ to have one color or another. The straightest stick appears crooked when partly immersed in water, and the truths which are so self-evident in the Higher worlds are likewise obscured, refracted or twisted out of all semblance under the illusory conditions of this material world.

"The truth shall set you free," said Christ, and the more we turn our aspirations from material acquisitiveness and seek to lay up treasure above, the more we aim to rise, the oftener we "get in the spirit," the more readily we "shall know truth" and reach liberation from the fetter of flesh which binds us to a limited environment, and attain to a sphere of greater usefulness.

Study of philosophy and science has a tendency to further perception of truth, and as science has progressed it has gradually receded from its erstwhile crude materialism. The day is not far off when it will be more reverently religious than the church itself. Mathematics is said to be "dry," for it doesn't stir the emotions. When it is taught that "the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees," the dictum is at once accepted, because its truth is self-evident and no feeling is involved in the matter. But when a doctrine such as the Immaculate Conception is promulgated and our emotions are stirred, b.l.o.o.d.y war, or heated argument, may result, and still leave the matter in doubt. Pythagoras demanded that his pupils study mathematics, because he knew the elevating effect of raising their minds above the sphere of feeling, where it is subject to delusion, and elevating it towards the Region of abstract Thought which is the prime reality.

In this place we are dealing with worlds in particular, and will therefore defer comment upon the remainder of the first 5 verses of St. John's gospel:

"_And Life became Light in man,_ 5) _and Light shines in Darkness._"

We have now seen that the earth is composed of three worlds which interpenetrate one another so that it is perfectly true when Christ said that "heaven is within you" or, the translation should rather have been _among you_. We have also seen that of these three realms two are subdivided. It has also been explained that each division serves a great purpose in the unfoldment of various forms of life which dwell in each of these worlds, and we may note in conclusion, that the lower regions of the Desire World const.i.tute what the Catholic religion calls _Purgatory_, a place where the evil of a past life is trans.m.u.ted to good, usable by the spirit as conscience in later lives. The higher regions of the Desire World are the _first Heaven_ where all the good a man has done is a.s.similated by the spirit as _soul_ power. The Region of concrete Thought is the _second Heaven_, where, as already said, the spirit prepares its future environment on earth, and the Region of abstract Thought is the _third Heaven_, but as Paul said, it is scarcely lawful to speak about that.

Some will ask: is there then no h.e.l.l?-No! _The mercy of G.o.d_ tends as greatly towards the principle of GOOD as "_the inhumanity of man_" towards cruelty, so that he would consign his brother men to flames of h.e.l.l during eternity for the puerile mistakes committed during a few years, or perhaps for a slight difference in belief. The writer has heard of a minister who wished to impress his "flock" with the reality of an eternity of h.e.l.l flames, and to demonstrate the fallacy of a heretical notion entertained by some of his parishioners that when sinners come to h.e.l.l they burn to ashes and that is the end.

He took with him an alcohol lamp and some asbestos into the pulpit and told his audience that G.o.d would turn their souls into a substance resembling asbestos. He showed them that though the asbestos were heated red hot it did not decompose into ashes. Fortunately the day of the h.e.l.l preacher has gone by, and if we believe the Bible which says that "in G.o.d we live and move and have our being," we can readily understand that _a lost soul would be an impossibility_, for were one single soul lost, then logically a part of G.o.d Himself would be lost. No matter what our color, our race or our creed, we are all equally the children of G.o.d and in our various ways we shall obtain satisfaction. Let us therefore rather look to Christ and forget Creed.

_Creed or Christ?_

No man loves G.o.d who hates his kind, Who tramples on his Brother's heart and soul.

Who seeks to shackle, cloud or fog the mind By fears of h.e.l.l has not perceived our goal.

G.o.d-sent are all religions blest; And Christ, the Way, the Truth and Life, To give the heavy-laden rest, And peace from Sorrow, Sin and Strife.

At his request the Universal Spirit came _To all the churches_, not to one alone.

On Pentecostal morn a tongue of flame Round _each_ apostle as a halo shone.

Since then, as vultures ravenous with greed, We oft have battled for an empty name, And sought by Dogma, Edict, Creed, To send each other to the flame.

Is Christ then divided? Was Cephas or Paul Nailed to the deathly tree?

If not-then why these divisions at all?

Christ's love doth embrace you and me.

His pure sweet love is not confined By creeds which segregate and raise a wall; His love enfolds, embraces _Humankind_ No matter what ourselves or Him we call.

Then why not take Him at His word?

Why hold to creeds which tear apart?

But one thing matters, be it heard, That brother-love fill every heart.

There is but one thing that the world has need to know; There is but one balm for all our human woe There is but one way that leads to heaven above; That way is human sympathy and love.

CHAPTER IV. THE CONSt.i.tUTION OF MAN

Our chapter head, "the const.i.tution of man," may surprise a reader who has not previously studied the Mystery teachings, or he may imagine that we intend to give an anatomical dissertation, but such is not our intention.

We have spoken of the earth upon which we live as being composed of several invisible realms in addition to the world we perceive by means of our senses. We have also spoken of man as being correlated to these various divisions in nature, and a little thought upon the subject will quickly convince us that in order to function upon the various planes of existence described, it is necessary that a man should have a body composed of their substance, or at least have specialized for his own use, some of the material of each of these worlds.

We have said that finer matter, called desire stuff and mind stuff, permeates our atmosphere and the solid earth, even as blood percolates through all parts of our flesh. But that is not a sufficient explanation to account for all facts of life. If that were all, then minerals, which are interpenetrated by the world of thought and the world of desire, would have thoughts and desires as well as man. This is not the case, so something more than mere interpenetration must be requisite to acquire the faculties of thought and feeling.

We know that in order to function in this world, to live as a physical being among other like beings, we must have a physical body all our own, built of the chemical const.i.tuents of this visible world. When we lose it at death, it profits us nothing that the world is full of just the very chemicals needed to build such a body. We cannot then specialize them, and therefore we are invisible to all others. Similarly, if we did not possess a special body made of ether, we should be unable to grow and to propagate. That is the case with the mineral. Had we no separate individual desire body, we should be unable to feel desires and emotions, there would be no incentive to move from one place to another. We should then be stationary as plants, and did we not possess a mind, we should be incapable of thought, and act upon impulse and instinct as animals.

Some one may of course object to this last statement, and contend that animals do think. So far as our domesticated animals are concerned that is partially true, but it is not quite in the same way that we think and reason. The difference may perhaps best be understood if we take an ill.u.s.tration from the electrical field. When an electric current _of high voltage_ is pa.s.sed through a coiled copper wire, and another wire is placed in the center of the coils, that wire will become charged with electricity _of a lower voltage_. So also the animal, when brought within the sphere of human thoughts, evolves a mental activity of a lower order.

Paul, in his writings, also mentions _the natural body_ and the _spiritual body_ while the man himself is a spirit inhabiting those vehicles. We will briefly note the const.i.tution of the various bodies of man invisible to the physical sight but as objective to spiritual sight as the dense body to ordinary vision.

_The Vital Body._

That body of ours which is composed of ether is called the "_vital body_"

in Western Mystery Schools, for, as we have already seen, ether is the avenue of ingress for vital force from the sun and the field of agencies in nature which promote such vital activities as a.s.similation, growth and propagation.

This vehicle is an exact counterpart of our visible body, molecule for molecule, and organ for organ, with one exception, which we shall note later. But it is slightly larger, extending about one and one-half inches beyond the periphery of our dense vehicle.

The spleen is the entrance gate of forces which vitalize the body. In the etheric counterpart of that organ solar energy is trans.m.u.ted to vital fluid of a pale rose color. From thence it spreads all over the nervous system, and after having been used in the body it radiates in streams, much as bristles protrude from a porcupine.

The rays of the sun are transmitted either directly, or reflected by way of the planets and the moon. The rays directly from the sun give spiritual illumination, the rays received by way of the planets produce intelligence, morality, and soul growth, but the rays reflected by way of the moon make for physical growth, as seen in the case of plants which grow differently when planted in the light of the moon from what is the case when they are planted when the moon is dark. There is also a difference in plants sown when the moon is in barren and fruitful signs of the Zodiac.

The solar ray is absorbed by the human spirit which has its seat in the center of the forehead, the stellar ray is absorbed by the brain and spinal cord, and the lunar ray enters our system through the spleen.

The solar, stellar and lunar rays are three-colored, and in the lunar ray which supplies our vital force, the blue beam is the life of The Father, which causes germination, the yellow beam is the life of The Son, which is the active principle in nutrition and growth, and the red beam is the life of the Holy Spirit, which stimulates to action, dissipating the energy stored by the yellow force. This principle is particularly active in generation.

The various kingdoms absorb this life-force differently, according to their const.i.tution. Animals have only 28 pairs of spinal nerves. They are keyed to the lunar month of 28 days and therefore dependent upon a Groupspirit for an infusion of stellar rays necessary to produce consciousness. They are altogether incapable of absorbing the direct ray of the sun.

Man is in a transition stage, he has 31 pairs of spinal nerves which keys him to the solar month, but the nerves in the so-called cauda-equina-literally horse-tail-, at the end of our spinal cord, are still too undeveloped to act as avenues for the spiritual ray of the sun.

In proportion as we draw our creative force upward by spiritual thought we develop these nerves and awaken dormant faculties of the spirit. But it is dangerous to attempt that development except under guidance of a qualified teacher, and the reader is earnestly warned not to use any method published in books, or sold, for their practice usually leads to dementia.

The safe method is never sold for money or any earthly consideration however large or small; it is always freely given as a reward of merit.

"Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened", said the Christ. If our life is a prayer for illumination, the search will not be uncertain, nor the knock without response.

When solar energy has been trans.m.u.ted in the spleen it traverses the whole nervous system of the body glowing with a most beautiful color of a delicate rosy hue. It answers the same purpose as electricity in a telegraph system. We may string wires between cities, erect telegraph stations, install receivers and transmitters. We may even have operators ready at the keys, but until electric fluid is turned into our wires, the telegraph keys will refuse to click. So also in the body, the human spirit is operator, and from the central station of the brain, nerves ramify, go through the whole body to all the different muscles. When this vitalizing fluid of which we are speaking traverses the nervous system, the Ego may send his commands to the muscles and cause them to move but if the vital fluid for any reason does not flow into a certain part of the body such as an arm or a limb, then the spirit is powerless to move that part of the body and we say that it is paralyzed.

When we are in health, we specialize solar energy in such great quant.i.ties that we cannot use it all in the body and therefore it radiates through the pores of our skin in straight streams and serves a similar purpose as an exhaust fan. That machine drives the foul air out of a room or building and keeps the atmosphere within pure and sweet. The excessive vital force which radiates from the body drives out poisonous gases, deleterious microbes and effete matter thus tending to preserve a healthy condition.

It also prevents armies of disease germs, which swarm about in the atmosphere, from entering; upon the same principle that a fly cannot wing its way into a building through the exhaust fan. Thus it serves a most beneficent purpose even after it has been utilized in our body and is returning to the free state.

It is a curious and most astounding sight when one first observes how, from exposed parts of the body such as hands and face, there suddenly commences to flow a stream of stars, cubes, pyramids and a variety of other geometrical forms. The writer has more than once rubbed his eyes when he first perceived the phenomenon, for it seemed that he must be suffering from hallucinations. The forms observed are chemical atoms however, which have served their purpose in the body and are expelled through the pores.

When one has eaten a meal, vital fluid is consumed by the body in great quant.i.ties, for it is the cement whereby nature's forces build our food into the body. Therefore the radiations are weakest during the period of digestion. If the meal has been heavy, the outflow is very perceptibly diminished, and does not then cleanse our body as thoroughly as when the food has been digested, nor is it as potent in keeping out inimical germs.

Therefore one is most liable to catch cold or other disease by overeating, a fault which should be avoided by all who wish to keep in good health.

During ill health the vital body specializes but little solar energy.

Then, for a time, the visible body seems to feed upon the vital body as it were, so that the vehicle becomes more transparent and attenuated at the same rate as the visible body exhibits a state of emaciation. The cleansing odic radiations are almost entirely absent during sickness, therefore complications set in so easily.

Though science has not directly observed this vital body of man, it has upon several occasions postulated the existence of such a vehicle as necessary to account for facts in life and the radiations have been observed by a number of scientists at different times and under varying conditions. Blondlot and Charpentier have called them N-rays after the city of Nantes where the radiations were observed by these scientists, others have named them "The Odic fluid". Scientific investigators who have conducted researches into psychic phenomena have even photographed it when it has been extracted through the spleen by materializing spirits. Dr.

Hotz for instance obtained two photographs of a materialization through the German medium, Minna-Demmler. On one a cloud of ether is seen oozing out through the left side of the medium, shapeless and without form. The second picture, taken a few moments later, shows the materialized spirit standing at the medium's side. Other photographs obtained by scientists from the Italian medium Eusapio Palladino show a luminous cloud over-hanging her left side.