Rosicrucian Digest, January 1959

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ROSICRUCIAN1959JANUARY

35 pe r copy DIGEST

The Universef Thought

An ultimate reality.

V A V

Collisions andRainbowsNatures dram aticmaneuvers.

V A V

Love Yourself A neglected quality.

V A V

Mysticism Science The A rts

V A V

TfextGiving Goda Chance

V A V

he Cosmic Age


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. . . a M a r f o o *

Made ol sterling silver with beautiful ennmel finish andan embossed design consist-ing of the sphinx and pyra-mids. The Rosicrucian in-signia is very impressively setoff. The man s type has thatdesired quality of massiveness. Th e woman's type isof the same design, but morecfainty. Prices include mail-ing to you. Available also ingold. I rices on request.

FOR MEN $8.80(3/3/sterling)

FOR WOM EN $8.20(2/19/sterling)

I E( JEN I )S say the anc ien t phil osop her D io g en es used

_lll __ i a lante rn in his search lor an hone st man . You canemploy a more simple and dignified means of at t ract ing to

yourself those who think as you dothose whose ideals are

the same as your own. W i th ou t und ue d i splay, the simple

Rosicrucian fraternal insignia ring wil l announce to al l who

may know i ts s ignificance, that you are a R osi c ru cia n and

that their acq ua in tan ce is welcom e. I his fraternal ring is

an " O pe n Ses am e in every ci ty or land. It proclaims you

as one of worthy ideals and a hrater or a Soror in spirit,

regardless of your creed or nat ional i ty. Like a magic w an d i t

dissolves formalities and helps to establish warm friendships.

As a piece of jewelry i t is handsome, s turdy, and economical .

You will he proud to wear it . for it will symbolize your

Rosicrucian membership.

ROSICRUCIAN SUPPLY BUREAUSAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U .S .A .

(Federa l Exc i se Tax

I s I n c l u d e d ) (Each month this page is devoted to the exhibition ol student supplies.)


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MYSTICAL SYMBOLISMPart of a fallen pediment from the propylaeum or arch at the entrance to Eleusis, famed mystery school of

ancien t Greece The sheaf of grain shown inscribed at the left depicted fecunditythat is, the fruitfu lness ofman in body, mind, and spirit. Some thirty thousand candidates annu ally witnessed or participated m the in iti-ation rites performed here. (Photo by AMORC)


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Your Intuitive ImpressionsA r e y o u e v e r a h o s t t o

s t r a n g e i d e a s ? Do amazingthoughts suddenly enter your

mind in the still of night? Have you everexperienced a curtain seeming to rise inyour mind and then, for the flash of a sec-ondon the stage of your consciousness is portrayed a dramatic event? Perhapsat such times you see yourself in a strange role surrounded by unknown personalities.Who has not awakened some morningwith a partial recollection of a provokingdream which clings to the mind through-out the day? There are also times when weare inclined by an inexplicable feeling to

cast off our obligations and to journey toa distant city or to visit a friend. Onlysheer will prevents us from submitting tothese urges. What do these intuitive im-

pressions, these impelling strange feelings

mean? Should we interpret these impres-sions as originating in an intelligenceoutside of usor are they merely organic,the innate functioning of our own mental

processes? Do not labor under superstitionnor disregard what truly may be Cosmic Guidance. Learn the facts about these com-mon experiences.

^Accept This Free BookEvery inclination of self, which you sense, has a

purpose. Nature is not extravagant. Every facultyyou possess was in tended to be exercised to be used for the mastery of life. There are no myster-ies in lifeexcept those which prejudice, fear andignorance keep men from understanding. Let theRosicrucians (not a religion), a world wide fra-ternity of men and women, reveal astoundingand useful facts about yon. Write for the free fasci-nating book, "The Mastery of Life. It tells howyou may share in this age old helpful knowl-edge. Address S c r i b e : S. P. C.


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ROSICRUCIAN DIGESTCOVERS THE WORLDT H E O F F I C I A L M A G A Z I N E O F T H E W O R L D - W I D E R O S I C R U C I A N O R D E R

XXXV II JA NU AR Y, 1959 No. 1

Mystical Symbolism (Frontispiece) ... ....... ........... ........... 1Thought of the Month: Liberalism .. ...... ...... . .... ..... . ... __ 4The Endless 7Calendar Sticks 8What Are the Knights Templars? 11Collisions and Rainbows 15W as It Radio or Telepathy? 18Cathedral Contacts: The Passing of Time . ...... . .. 19Winter . . . Herald of Rebirth 21Early Rosicrucian Manifestoes 24The Universe of Thought ......................... ..... .......... ..... 26Temple Echoes 30Food Effects 33Love Yourself .3 4Shadow of the Past (Illustration) 37Harvest in a Graveyard (Illustration)... ................... 38

Subscription to the Rosicrucian Digest, $3.00 (1/2/- sterling) per year. Single copies35 cents (2/6 sterling).

Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office of San Jose, California, under Section 1103 of the U. S. Postal Ac t of Oc t. 3, 1917.

Changes of address must reach us by the first of the month preceding date of issue.Statements made in this publication are not the official expression of the organization or

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Published Monthly by the Supreme Council of

Rosicrucian Park T HE R O S I C R U C IA N O R DE R A M O R C San Jose, California

EDITOR: Frances Vejtasa

The Purpose of the Rosicrucian Order The Rosicrucian Order, existing in all civilized lands, is a nonsectarian fraternal body of men

and women devoted to the investigation, study, and practical application of natural and spirituallaws. The purpo se of the organiza tion is to enable all to live in harm ony with the creative, con-structive Cosmic forces for the attainm ent of health, happ iness, and peace. The Ord er is inter-nationally known as "AMORC (an abbreviation), and the A.M.O.R.C. in America and all otherlands constitutes the only form of Rosicrucian a ctivities united in one body. The A.M.O.R.C. doesnot sell i ts teachings. I t gives them freely to affil iated mem bers togethe r with many o ther benefits .For complete information about the benefits and advantages of Rosicrucian association, write aletter to the addre ss below, and ask for the free book, The M astery of Life. Address ScribeS. P. C., Rosicruc ian Ord er, AMORC, San Jose, California, U. S. A. (Cable Addre ss: AM ORCO")

Copyright, 1958, by the Supreme Grand Lo dge of AM ORC, Inc. Al l rights reserved.


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customs, and laws may at times compelthe individual to submit to acts whichdo not conform to his own convictions.But where a conclusion or judgment is

personal, there is no inner modificationor change until the falsity of ones ownthoughts is proved.

There are certain preparations whicheach of us has to make to adjust to therealities of our day. The most impor-tant of these is liberalism. What is theliberal mind? It is the mind tha t isreceptive, the mind that neither buildsup nor retains any blockades to the re-ception of new knowledge. Such block-ades are biases or prejudices which ex-clude the individual from giving fairconsideration to all different or oppos-ing ideas. The liberal mind is one thathas not established an unwarranted al-legiance to inherited and untried idealsand concepts. The liberal mind derivesits strength of conviction from the per-sonal comparison and analysis made ofall that is proclaimed as knowledge.

To isolate our thoughts from all con-tra or opposing views does not conferany particular virtue on them. Foranalogy, a strong healthy child is notone which must be kept in an incubator.Positive thought and action should bethe result of testing it with contra opin-

ions. The liberal mind wants the con-viction that it is right as a result of afair comparison with the thoughts ofothers.

The truly liberal mind is a tolerantone. It does not seek the supremacy ofits own ideas by the condemnation and suppression of all others. In otherwords, liberalism and intolerance arenot compatible. A thought is only ex-

pansive, and outstanding , when it hasfirst been measured by other thoughts.An idea is great only because it is

proved to be superior to others. Intol-erance removes the opportunity for thegreatness of our concepts or those ofothers.

Liberal thought is often associatedwith progress. We must, however, askourselves, An d what is progress? It alldepends upon the direction an indi-vidual or society wants to move andwhich direction he thinks is best. Prog-ress is related to certain ideals whichwe have, to an end to which we aspire.Progress is a question of values. Forexample, do you think the increasing

technical complexities of today and theincreasing population growth of citiesconstitute an advance for society? Ifyou do, then you are making progress provided you move in the direction ofsuch an ideal. On the other hand, doyou think of simpler living and the pursuit of tranquility , more idealismgenerally and less materialism, as con-stituting progress? If you do, then your

progress moves in the opposite direc-tion. The liberal mind is called progressive, not by reason of any directionwhich it takes but rather because it ismore flexible.

The liberal mind permits changewhich, in turn, allows the opportunityfor the selection of that which seemsto be an improvement. In what mencall progress, there must first have beenflexibility of mind, that liberalism ofthought which allows for choice.

All life is a gamble. The only assur-ance we have is tha t certain phenomenawill occur and recur; we know this to

be the consequence of what we callcosmic and natural laws. There is noassurance that any of our decisions areright except as they may be related tosuch natural laws. Consequently, allof our decisions, our choices, containwithin them elements of risk. To have

the freedom of liberalism one musthave courage. He must have the neces-sary fortitude to depart from dogmaticways whenever it appears to him thatchange seems best. In making suchchange there is an element of risk.

The liberal mind must look upontradition realistically. It must not thinkof tradition as being a kind of sacredcow. Tradition is a collection of cus-toms, behaviors, interwoven with a pat-tern of thought. Often such thought is

just theoretical or even obsolete. Tradi-tion is most often venerated because ithas provided security to people in some past era. Even as a body of experiences,tradition has a right to survive only ifit is expedient today. Sentiment for anobsolete past can only enslave the fu-ture. Let us remember that most tradi-tions were bom out of circumstancesthat lie in the past. We of today shouldview them critically from the perspec-tive of advanced time.

Do those traditions serve us today? Isthe foundation upon which they standstill secure for us to build on? If not,

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The Rosicrucian Digest January1959

the tradition should be immediately dis-carded. Some of our greatest interna-tional difficulties, such as extreme na-tionalism, are the result of sentimentaland patriotic adherence to outmodedtraditions. Some twenty five hundredyears ago, Gautama Buddha said the

following about tradition: Accept notwhat you hear by report, accept nottradition: do not hastily conclude thatit must be so. Do not accept a state-ment on the ground that it is found inour books, nor on the supposition thatthis is acceptable, nor because it is thesaying of your teacher.

T h e N e g a t i v e a n d U n j u s t

There is also a negative side of liber-alism. Liberalism is that freedom which,if it is not tempered by judgment, canlikewise be ruinous. A necessary dis-

tinction must be made between freedomon the one hand and licentiousness onthe other. To be free in ones thoughtand action does not mean to disregardthe right of others to do the same. To be liberal does not mean the license toattack or tear down all opposing anddifferent thoughts and practices. Thefreedom of liberality provides the opportunity for one to prove his ownconcepts but not by the means of de-stroying what others think to be right.The individual who seeks to pervertand desecrate all that others hold sacredis not liberal. Liberality may at times be revolutionary. It may revolve orcause a custom to turn about complete-ly. However, this will not happen untilsomething reasonably superior can besubstituted. The true liberal is one whosupplants; he does not retrogress.

The word liberalism has recently been closely associated with politicalactivities. Liberals at times have hadhurled at them the invective of beingnonpatriotic or traitors. Usually this has

been done because they upheld bookson various ideologies, appearing in pub-lic and university libraries, which themass mind would not accept or couldnot understand. As we have said, thetrue liberal advocates supremacy bymerit, not by suppressing all opposition.It is dangerous to depend upon a publicor mass mind which upholds a politicalsystem only for the reason that it isignorant of all others. The support andloyalty of such persons is actually un-[ 6 ]

tried. Goodness, for example, has itsquality only because it has been shownto exceed in virtue that which is calledevil. The burning of books, or the con-demning of plays and publications,often shows fear of contra views. Fur-thermore, it depicts lack of assurance

in ones own beliefs and fear of expos-ing them to competitive thought.Churches and fraternal orders that

prohibit the ir members from readingand investigating other material aredangerous examples of illiberalism.They prove themselves to be inflexiblein their mentality and lacking the re-quisites necessary for progress.

Many injustices today are committedunder the guise of liberalism. One of these is the so called freedom of the

f )ress. Very few of the press are sincerey free in the sense of being liberal, ifthe freedom of which they boast intheory is to be construed as impartial

presentation of the news of the day.The press is supposed to be motivated

by the desire to inform the public with-out bias or prejudice. The fact is that,when the press is censured by a courtof law, it protests that it is the eyes andears of the public.

How much influence actually doesthe public ordinarily exercise upon the press? The freedom of the press m prac-tice is the expounding of the views ofits publishers and of its editors. Thenews is commonly slanted. The pressis used as a medium to try to mould

{mblic opinion to satisfy its own poitical, religious, and economic views.Large blocs of todays press actuallywrite downthat is, hold back or evencompletely suppressmatters which arenot considered to its interest. The pressfrequently exhibits the political and re-ligious biases and prejudices of thosewho direct it. Small cultural groups, forexample, who may seek publicity, andrightfully, but who may not conform to the illiberal concepts of a public ma- jority, are given little or no publicity.The press, then, is not their eyes, earsand tongues, as it vaunts. The press alltoo often panders to public bias and

prejudice, for not to do so would affectits circulation and financial income. Letus stop thinking that the press as awhole is truly liberal.

A nation is not necessarily liberal because it grants privileges to its citi-


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zens. A truly liberal nation is also aliberal world neighbor. Such a nationwill not resort to throttling the tradeand markets of another by tariffs inorder to prosper. A liberal nation willnot impose military, political, or eco-nomic pressure on other peoples tomaintain its national or internationaladvantages. The real liberal govern-ment anywhere in the world will notallow its people to stigmatize other racesand creeds as being inferior to its own.

Such illiberalism does not exist only behind the Iron Curtain. It is on thisside of the curtain as well. We havesuch examples of illiberalism in Spainand Colombia today. It also exists onthe part of certain groups in NorthAmerica. These groups have bannedintellectuals from coming to the shoresof the United States because their viewsare challenging and liberal. Outstand-ing foreign philosophers have beentermed Communists because they havedared to oppose outmoded moral andsocial views and practices. Intelligentinquiring minds that would invoke an

investigation into illiberal practiceshave been termed dangerous radicals and are not permitted to enter thecountry. The groups who oppose theseliberal minds are psychologically afraidof their own convictions. They are afraidthat their own concepts will not standthe light, the test, of a new knowledge.

T h e F i n a l T e s t

Rosicrucians are liberal because theyknow that no man or group of men hasthe divine right to exercise a controlover the human mind. The Rosicrucianis liberal because he knows that truthis not absolute. Truth expands andchanges with the evolving consciousnessof man. The Rosicrucian is liberal be-cause he knows that no god is falsewho brings spiritual consolation to its believer. The final test of liberalthought and action is a pragmatic one;that is, what does it contribute to oursocial well being? Does it bring that sat-isfaction to the greater selves of man-kind that constitutes peace profound?

V A V

S n

By O. J. R a n k i n of France P v ^ r i l h e first link of an endless| O j 1 I 1 chain bracelet is a mys

I tei7 Once jine(l to theI H I I adjoining free link, there

are no first or last links.Even the man who made^he bracelet cannot findthem. Their identity islost in the Oneness of

the Whole bracelet.Man is like a link in an endless

chain. God Himself cannot find thefirst or last link, for He is the WholeChain, including beginning and end,eternally linked with Oneness.

Eckhart (1260? ? 1327) taught thatthe Godhead is absolute essence, un-

knowable not only by man but also byItself.

Separateness is as inconceivable as a beginning or end. There is only One-ness, which is more than Unity.

As links in an endless chain we canonly know ourselves by knowing theWhole. We cannot know God withoutknowing ourselves, and we cannotknow ourselves without knowing God.And we see God only through the eyesof God.

We are always becoming until webecome . To Know Thyself means firstto Think Thyself, then Learn Thyself,then Know. It is indeed true that all is within.

m


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&

B y J o s e p h i n e M . O p s a h l

Pu n t e d calendars and al-manacs with their gay il-lustrations are so common

today it is hard to realizethat our seasons and holidayswere not always presented inthis interesting manner. Ar-cheologists state that all man-ner of devices have beenused. During the MiddleAges, notched wooden stickswere popular in Europe, fromEngland eastward to Bulgariaand Russia.

In Sweden, Norway, andFinland, the calendar sticks(primstavs) were probablymore elaborate than thosefound in other parts of Eu-rope. The name primstav is a compound formed fromthe Latin prima , meaning first (referring to the firstfull moon after the Springequinox by which we deter-mine Easter), and the Nor-wegian word stav for stick.

Made of a inch thick

strip of birch, a primstav re-sembles our yardstick, onlyit has a handle. Measuringapproximately 20 inches inlength, i ts width taperedfrom 1 13/16 inches near its3% inch long handle to1 9/16 inches at the end. Oneside, used during the sum-mer, began with the dateApril 14. The reverse of thestick, with its mitten symbol,was sometimes called themitten calendar; it beganOctober 14 and continued forthe balance of the year.

Each side of the stick had twenty sixevenly spaced notches along its loweredge. And each of these weekly divisionshad seven lesser divisions for the days.From these day markings, at irregularintervals, extended strange symbols up-ward into the unnotched middle partof the stick. These symbols represented [ 8 ]

the holidays of the Scandi-navian year.

Calendar sticks show threelayers of cultural develop-mentPagan, Catholic, andProtestant.

The custom of dividing theyear into these two seasonsgoes back into the dim agesof paganism. These datescame three weeks after theSpring and Fall equinox, dueto temperature lags in the far

N o rth e rn c lim ate . Pagan N ors em en ob se rv ed th reegreat sacrifice celebrations:October 14, the beginning ofWinter; January 4, midwin-ter (known as Jul), the fore-runner of Christmas; andApril 14, the beginning ofSummer.

As soon as Christianity wasestablished in Norway, 1030A.D., its influence spreadthroughout the land. Thechurch introduced the Juliancalendar as well as all its

Saints Days and other spe-cial holidays. New laws weremade for the strict observ-ance of these days. Somewere to be full holidays; oth-ers only half, with work orcertain types of work being

permitted until noon; andstill others were fast days.Anyone working on Massdays was to be heavily fined.

As it was hard for thesenewly converted Christiansto remember all these things,a special law required the

local priest to send out wooden crosses before each holy day to remind the people tha t it was coming. The crosswas carried by the head of a householdto his neighbor and by him to anotherneighbor. This cross was a foreshadow-ing of the calendar stick.

In later years, those who had calen-dar sticks and could read them were

A S u m m e r \ i g h t a D a y ( A p r i l 1 4 )

B O l d S u m m e r N i g h t s Day ( A p r i l 2 5 )

C C u ck o o M ass ( M ay 1 )

D C r o ss M ass ( M ay 3 )


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supposed to take them alone to church.They then told their friends the number of days remaining until the nextholy day, and what activities were ap- propriate for that day.

When the Catholic era ended by roy-al decree in 1537, the new Protestantreligion had no new calendar to offer.As the Saints Days were hallowed byyears of observance, the principal onessurvived. They lost the ir original sig-nificance, however, with time, remain-ing chiefly as high spots in the farmerseconomic year.

As summer was short in that North-ern area, it was an extremely busyseason. There was little time for cele-

brations, although they observed a few.Among them, of course, was April 14,known as Summer Nights Day, which

marked the beginning of Summer. Itssign was a birch tree. On this day itwas important to thoroughly scrub allmilking pails and pans. Also, those whotook care of cattle must not eat meat,for fear it would attract wolves and

bears who would devour the cattle. Andif it snowed on this day, there would

be nine more snowstorms before sum-mer really came.

As April 25 was the opening day ofsummer when the Julian or old stylecalendar was in use, it continued to beobserved as a holiday. It was known asOld Summer Nights Day. On this day,farmers fastened bells on their cowsand began making butter and cheese.The priests asked God to bless the cropsand sprinkled the fields with holy wateras they solemnly walked around them.This day was marked with the feather

pen of Saint Mark, the Evangelist.The May 1 celebration seems to be

based on pagan rather than Christiancustoms. Its sign was a tree with acuckoo. It was considered a good day to

plant crops, and also, by listening tothe cuckoo, a girl could learn about her

prospects of marriage. Marked with thesign of a cross, May 3 was known asCross Mass. On this day, farmersmended their fences and gates, gavecattle their last feeding in the bam, andcut the wool on their sheep.

There were four festivals in July, allmore or less concerned with the weath-er. Being a day for rain, farmers wereadvised not to touch their fields onJuly 20, for no good would come of it.

On July 22, they were to offer prayersagainst a harmful excess of rain. Andit was said that if the crops were weton July 25, there would be a wet fall.From the weather on the 29th, however,they might predict what the balanceof their summer would be like.

The winter side of the primstav, hav-ing the mitten symbol, started the Win-ter Night, October 14. Actually the signmight be due to a confusion of theword vetr (winter) with that for vettir (mitten). Although it was Saint Calixtus Day, he did not seem to have any bearing on the celebration, for it was primarily a pagan fall festival with bonfires, dancing, and feasting on thenewly gathered har\rest. If the weatherwas good on this day, people would en- joy a good winter. And if it were de-

sired, servants had the privilege ofchanging to other masters on Winter Night.

Since November 1 was All SaintsMass, its sign was a church for all thesaints. Farmers were warned that theymight expect rain and that these rainsmight continue until Christmas. No-vember 30 was dedicated to Saint An-drew, the fisherman, and its sign was afish hook with a cross. It was the timeto catch the Christmas fish.

The festivities on December 25, how-ever, predated those held in honor of

the Christ Child, for they went back tothe old pagan winter solstice merry-makings. Consequently, the sign forthis solstice was a drinking horn.

The weather between Christmas Dayand January 6 was important to watch;it foretold what might be expected dur-ing the next twelve months. Just astoday, predictions were made on Jan-ua ry 1 for the year to follow. The signwas a cross with a three armed candle-stick, possibly representing the Trinity.

On January 6 (the English Twelfth Night) were ended the Christmas ac-tivitieswith the young people goingaround in costumes, singing songs aboutthe three magi. January 13 had thesign of a broken line, and marked themiddle of winter. Snow on this daymeant that there would be twenty moresnowstorms before the finish of winter.

Perhaps one of the most importantof the Winter festivals was that ofCandlemas, held February 2. Its namecame from the dedication of new can-

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dies in all churches. Great processionsof clergy and lay members, carryingcandles, took part in the big event.And since this event came at the sever-est part of winter, farmers checkedtheir food supplies for their cattle onthis day. If half or more remained, itwas thought that they had ample tocarry them for the balance of the seasonuntil new crops were available.

Bears, like our ground hogs, weresupposed to turn over in their lairs onthis day and come out to investigatethe weather. If it was bitterly cold, the

predictions were that the remainingwinter weather would be of short du-ration.

The primstav, or calendar stick, tellsof a way of life where exact dates wereof little importance. Being primarilyinterested in the condition of their

crops, Norwegian farmers of even the

16th and 17th centuries were apt torefer to a day as the Sunday after CrossMass in the year of the big flood ratherthan the date of May 3. They mightalso link a particular day they werereferring to with the nearest Hay Cut-ting or Harvesting Time, or even to thenearest Saints Day.These queer stick calendars are a

part of our heritage from the past. Be-ing among the treasured possessions ofScandinavian immigrants, many were

brought to this country with theirchests, Bibles, hymnals, and spinningwheels. Today some may still be foundin the homes of descendants of those

pioneers and in American museums.You may see several fine ones at theWisconsin Historical Societys Museumat Madison and at the NorwegianAmerican Historical Museum at De-

corah, Iowa.

V A V

A MYSTIC FESTIVAL

San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Francis Bacon Lodge will present its annual Festivalon Saturday, January 17, 1959, at 1957 Chestnut Street, San Francisco, Californiatelephone WEst 1 4778. Registration will commence at 10:30 a.m. The NinthDegree Initiation will be conferred, and there will be an open forum, a speciallecture, and two Convocations. The Imperator, Ralph M. Lewis, will be the prin-cipal speaker. The Grand Regional Administrator, Arthur C. Piepenbrink, will alsospeak. Registration fees are nominal and dinner is optional. For further details,write to the Lodge Master, Edward J. Rettberg, in care of the Lodge.


ROSICRUCIAN DIRECTORY

A complete directory of all chartered Rosicrucian Lodges, Chapters, and Pronaoithroughout the world appears in this publication quarterly . See the October issue for acomplete listingthe next listing will be in February.

(International Jurisdiction of North, Central, and South America, BritishCommonwealth and Empire, France, Switzerland, Sweden, and Africa.)

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doubtedly, many innocent pilgrims losttheir lives because of the reputationestablished by the conduct of some oftheir number. The non Christian peopleof the Near and Middle East could notdistinguish between those pil grims hav-ing a noble purpose, on the one hand,and those whose objectives were per-verse on the other.

Being aware of this situation, PopeUrban II, in 1095, at Claremont, France,exhorted the people to begin the firstgreat Crusade. He called upon theknights and the feudal barons to ceasetheir warfare against each other and tosuccor the Christians who were livingin the East. Enter upon the road tothe Holy Sepulcher; wrest the landfrom the wicked race and subject it tovourselves. It is related that when thePope had finished, the vast crowds lis-

tening exclaimed almost as one: I t isthe Will of God! This phrase subse-quently became the rallying cry of themotley masses that comprised the Cru-sade armies. They were convinced thatthey were under the direct will of Godand that brutality, murder, rape, and pillaging in the Eastern Lands wereall justified by their mission.

It was impossible for these thousandsto take sufficient food with them forthe journey, for the journey lasted sev-eral months and was made under try-ing conditions. Consequently, they wereobliged to live off the land they invaded.Many innocent peoples of the East, nonChristians, wrere killed, their cattleseized, and their homes ransacked to

provide sustenance for the Crusaderswho moved in upon them like a swarmof devouring locusts. The retaliation wasswift, of course, and severe. Great num-

bers of Crusaders were slaughtered bythe Hungarians who rose to protectthemselves against the depredation ofthe hordes in their passage throughtheir country.

The spirit of avarice took advantageof the circumstances. Many of the Cru-saders sought passage by sea to Pales-tine and to Syria, to avoid the longer

journey made entirely by land. Wealthymerchants of the prosperous cities ofVenice and Genoa contrived to give theCrusaders free passage to Syria andPalestine. However, from these pilgrimsthey exacted the obligation of exclusivetrading concessions in any city that the[ 1 2 ]

Crusaders might succeed in conquering.This would then permit these Westernmerchants to have trading centers inthese Eastern cities and to obtain theexcellent products of their craftsmen.The jewelry, pottery, silks, spices, fur-niture, and needlework of the East ex-celled anything produced in WesternEurope at the time.

M o n k s a n d S o l d ie r s

Out of the Crusades there came intoexistence many curious religious andmilitary orders. Two of the most important of these were the Hospitalersand the Templars. These orders com-

bined two dominant interests of the age,the monk and the soldier. During thefirst Crusade there was formed fromout of the monastic association the or-der known as the Hospitalers. Their

objective was to succor the poor andsick among the pilgrims journeying tothe East. Later, the Order admittedknights as well as monks, and subse-quently became a military order. Themonks wore a cross on their robes andswords were suspended from theirgirdles.

They would fight when required,though devoting themselves principallyto succoring the afflicted pilgrims. Theyreceived generous gifts of land in thecountries of the West. They also builtand controlled fortified monasteries inthe Holy Land. In the thirteenth cen-tury when Syria principally was evac-uated by the Christians, they movedtheir headquarters to die Island ofRhodes and later to Malta. The Orderstill exists, its emblem being the MalteseCross.

The other prominent order was calledthe Knights Templars, or Poor Knightsof Christ and of the Temple of Solo-mon. This Order was not founded forany therapeutic aid. It was, from itsinception, a military order. Its founderswere a Burgundian knight namedHugues de Payens, and Godeffroi deSaint Omer, a knight from France. Inthe early part of the twelfth century,they undertook the protection of pil-grims flocking to Jerusalem. Theyreally sought to be an armed escort forsuch groups. They were subsequently

joined by six other knights. This number formed themselves into a religiouscommunity. They took a solemn oath


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to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, in whichthey vowed they would guard publicroads and forsake worldly chivalry;their oath included the pledge to livein chastity, abstinence, and poverty.

The function of the Templars cap-tured the imagination, not only of thelowly freemen but of those high insec ular authority and w ithin theChurch. Baldwin I, King of Jerusalem,handed over a part of his royal palaceto this Order of warrior monks. The

palace was adjacent to the Mosque ofAl Aksa, the so called Temple of Solo-mon. Because of this location they ac-quired the name Knights Templars (Knights of the Temple). They wore nouniforms nor any distinctive habit atfirst, but dressed in their customaryclothing. Eventually they wore whiterobes with the double red crosses uponthem. Their first act which drew uni-versal attention to them was their seek-ing to redeem excommunicated knights.Many knights had been tempted toviolate their high calling of chivalrywhile on expeditions to the Holy Landand had been excommunicated by theChurch. These the Templars sought toredeem and have enter their Order.They likewise undertook to prevent

rogues, murderers, perjurers, and ad-venturers from exploiting the HolyLand.

There was one act at an early datewhich brought them into conflict withthe ecclesiastics. They sought to grantfreedom to their number from excom-munication by parish priests and

bishops.The executive head of the Order was

called the Master of the Temple atJerusalem. Later, he was Grand Mas-ter of the Order in Cyprus. The au-

thority of this Grand Master was con-siderable; however, it was not absolute.He was required to consult the majorityof the Templars on such matters as,for example, waging war. Over manyyears the Templars waged war againstthe infidels. The so called infidelswere principally the Saracens, the Mos-lems who, in themselves, were a devout

people but fierce in the support of theirfaith. Often the Templars, though dis-

playing great valor, were slaughteredin these campaigns, as in the battle ofOctober 18, 1244.The Templars, as an Order, grew

extremely wealthy. Their wealth con-sisted mostly of great estates bequeathedto them, and the gifts received fromroyalty. This wealth and the power fol-lowing from it, had its effect uponthem. There was at times such an au-thoritative display by the Templars asconstituted arrogance. Nevertheless,they continued by various means toalign themselves, as individuals in par-ticular, with the ruling families ofEurope. One Grand Master was god-father to a daughter of Louis IX. An-other was godfather to a child of PhilipIV. Their influence was felt withinthe circles of the prelacy, for the Tem-

plars were summoned to participate inthe exclusive Church councils such asthe Lateran Council of 1215.

P o w e r a n d B e t r a y a l

A curious function, quite distinctfrom their avowed purpose but whichwas indicative of their power, was thatthe Templars became the great finan-ciers and bankers of the time. It is re-lated that their Paris Temple was thecenter of the world money market. Inthis bank, Popes and kings, alike, de-

posited the ir money. The 7emplars suc-cessfully entered into foreign exchange

of monies with the East. This was per-haps the first of such enterprises forEurope. They charged no interest onloans, for usury was prohibited by theChurch and the crown as being im-moral. Rental fees above the usualcharges for rent on mortgages consti-tuted, however, a kind of interest whichwas tolerated.

History relates that the Templarsreached the acme of their power just

before the ir ruin. In effect, they had become a church within a church. A

quarrel eventually resulted with PopeBoniface VIII. On August 10, 1303,the King sided with the head of theTemplars against the Pope. This KingPhilip eventually betrayed the Temf )lars. He had suffered great financialoss and so was unable to recoup hisresources. He conceived that the sup

ression of the Knights Templars woulde of advantage to him. He planned to

unite all the Orders under his authority.It was first necessary, he believed, todiscredit the Templars. This he soughtto accomplish by claiming that the Or-der was heretical and immoral.

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The King sent spies into the Orderwho perjured themselves, it is related,to falsely reveal the rites, oaths, andceremonies as being of a nature defilingChristianity. The public at large knewthe Templars had secret rites, but theyactually did not know their true nature.There were unfounded rumors that therites and ceremonies were salacious and blasphemous. Consequently, the state-ments of the spies and perjurers of KingPhilip seemed to confirm these tales.

The Pope was not inclined to believeand act upon the accounts brought tohis attention through the machinationsof Philip. The King then cunningly

brought his fabricated complaints be-fore the Inquisition which at that time

Srevailed in France. This Inquisitionad the power to act without consultingthe Pope. As a result, the Grand In-quisitor demanded the arrest of theTemplars. On the 14th of September,1307, Philip directed that the membersof the Templars be seized.

On June 6, 1306, Jacques de Molay,Grand Master of the Templars, fromCyprus, was consulting Pope ClementV about the prospects of another Cru-sade. He took the occasion to refer tothe charges that had been made againstthe Templars, and then departedf. Allduring the time of the incriminationsagainst them, the Templars had madeno defense. Six months later, Jacques

de Molay, with sixty of his brethren,was seized in Paris and forced to con-fess. They were first tortured by theroyal officials. Subsequently, the latterturned them over to the Church In-quisitors for further torture.

Most of these Templars were oldmen, and died from the inhuman cruel-ty inflicted upon them by these repre-sentatives of the Church. The confes-sions wrung from them were false; theyhad been made to confess acts of irrev-erence and heresy. The Grand Masterwas obliged to write a letter in which

he admitted acts against the Church.The Pope eventually sanctioned theacts of the Inquisitors, and ordered thearrest of the Templars throughout Chris-tendom. Perhaps he was dubious of theinjustices, for he later established a newInquisition to reconsider the chargesagainst the Templars. Believing thatthey were to receive a fair trial, tneTemplars withdrew their former con-[ 1 4 ]

fessions which had been made undercompulsion. They were, however, great-ly deceived! The retraction of their con-fessions was punishable by death bylire, a punishment which many wereobliged to suffer.

On the 14th of March, 1314, Jacquesde Molay, Grand Master, and anotherwere brought to a scaffold erected infront of Notre Dame. They were thensupposed to further confess before theassembled papal legates and people. In-stead, they withdrew their confessionsand sought to make a defense of theTemplars to the vast crowds watchingthe proceedings. They proclaimed theinnocence of the Order. 7Tiey were im-mediately ordered burnt. They werethus executed in that manner with theapproval of the Roman Church.

P r e s e r v i n g t h e K n o w l e d g e

What had the Templars accomplished? Many attributed to them thestemming of the spread of Islamic pow-er into Europe. This they may navehelped to accomplish, but it is a mootquestion as to whether the spread ofIslamic culture into Europe would have

been detrimental to it. Generally, it isconceded by historians that civilizationwould have been advanced by centuriesif the wisdom in the possession of theIslams had been allowed to spread inEurope at that early time. It took sev-

eral centuries for knowledge in Europeto equal and surpass this knowledge.The Islamic people were the preserversof the early knowledge of the Greeksand of the Egyptians.

Perhaps the greatest achievement ofthe Templars was the encouraging ofvirtue among the valorous and thestrong. Many of the knights had ac-quired much learning in the Easterncountries during the Crusades. Theydiscovered that in the East there wasa civilization of a higher order thanin the cruder society of the Christian

West.Many Templars were secretly initiated into the mystery schools of theEast, wherein the wisdom of the pastwas revealed to them. Though a Chris-tian Order, the Templars were inde-

pendent enough of the Church so as notto be dominated by it in their thinking.Many became Templars because withinthe sphere of influence and the protec-


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tion of the Order, they could study andpursue knowledge that they dared not,as individuals, study outside of sucha circle. The liberal minded were givena kind of asylum within the Order ofthe Knights Templars. It was thesestudies, these intellectual pursuits andmystical rituals, that perhaps gavecredence to the rumors that the Tem-

plars were heretics.

Rosicrucian traditional history re-lates that many knights had crossed the threshold of the Order and thatthose in esoteric schools affiliated withit. A number of the knights dared to

inquire into realms of knowledge whichlay outside the restricted bounds of in-quiry of the Church.

(From The Rosicrucian Forum, April 1955)

V A V

Collisions and Rainbows By G a s t o n B u r r i d g e

s a child I was greatlyintrigued by the Sundayschool story of the rain-

bow God sent as a prom-ise that there would nev-er be another flood. Itoccurred to me that, if arainbow was sent as sucha promise, it must have

reen something new to those Earth peoples who had just experienced atragic flood, but had survived it. Afterthat, I always found rainbows interest-ing tilings to watch, especially the double ones which frequently arched mysouthern Michigan country. Were theya double promise? Once in a great whilea triple rainbow came, and that wasreally top billing!

What has always led me to look atthe other side of any proposition, Ido not knowbut there always is one.When I find the other side, I frequentlycome upon engaging possibilities. Thus,I have grown to be quite a skepticonewho is never satisfied with that which

shows on top. Is it necessarily the gen-

uine, I want to know? Is it all it seems?Is it, possibly, but a sort of camouflageto trap our ignorance, to let our eyesslip by more easily, to make our mindsgrow dusty with complacence?

And so I do not hesitate to ask thequestion now: Was there a time, not solong ago, cosmically speaking, say onlyten or twelve thousand years ago, whenthe Earth did not have rainbows? AndI expect to find something of an answer.

First of all, what conditions must be present if we are to witness no rainbows in our skies? Only two: either theEarth receives no rain at all, or all therain comes at night.

What makes a rainbow? The sunshining through raindropsthe dropsof water acting as tiny prisms, breakingthe suns light into its bands of color,then projecting those colors against ascreen of clouds.

From all the fossils we have everfound, we must conclude that our Earthhas known water, hence rain, for mil-lions of years. If geology teaches us

anything, it teaches the story of water [ 1 5 ]


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The Rosier ucian Digest January 1959

hot water, cold water, wind andwave driven water, water as ice, wateras steam, water as the cradle of multi-tudinous types of life. Water is, andalways has been, an intimate part ofthe Earth, related as much to Earth asto the rainbows flung over it. Thus, weare forced to conclude that water is noJohnny come lately to our planet.

If water, then, is a part of Earth,and we still suppose a time when wehad no rainbows, then rain must havecome when there was no direct sun-light. Hence it must have fallen onlyat night! This is not too difficult toimagine, for a great deal of our presentrain falls at night. Rain and coolnessgo hand in hand; coolness and nightare friends.

But since rain frequently falls in

the daytime as well, what conditionmust have been present on Earth at thattime which prevented daytime rains?Would it not be that the planets orbitnearer the sun would make for a gen-erally warmer climate? The Ear th near-er the sun would equal a warmer cli-mate from all we know now. A warmerclimate would equal more water vaporsucked into the atmosphere by the sunfrom our oceans. But the added heatmight well keep the water vapor suspended much longer, allowing it tocondense only during the coolness ofnight hours. Hence rain would comeonly at nightand no rainbows.

"But, you will ask, "what could pos-sibly have changed the orbit of ourEarth around the sun?

Collision can be the only answercollision between Earth and other spaceobjects of large size.

Nonsense, you counter. That justdoesnt happen in the smoothly run-ning, well oiled movements of celestialmechanics.

Oh, no? Well, it does! Right herein our own country we once had a

whiff of what can happen. In Arizona, between Flagstaff and Winslow, is atremendous hole a mile across and 600feet deep which was drilled by a merepenny from heaven. It is known asArizonas Meteorite Crater. Thousandsof persons have seen it.

This cavity in the desert of the South-wests high plateau country is im-

portant enough tha t many research

expeditions have visited it in the pastseventy years. Scores of scientific pa-

pers have been written about it. Dr.H. H. Nininger, one of the world au-thorities on meteorites, and. director ofAmerican Meteorite Museum, Sedona,Arizona, has authored a whole book onthis hole. Its title is Arizona's Meteorite Crater.

There seems little agreement amongscientists regarding the probable era inwhich the meteorite or aerolite whichdug this huge crater fell, but we aresafe in saying it was between 2,000 and

E d i t o r s N o t e : The Rosicrucian Sci-ence Museum at San Jose has ameteorite specimen found in CanyonDiablo, Arizona. It is thought to bea fragment of the huge meteorite

which caused the giant sized crater,and probably fell in prehistoric times.

50,000 years ago. Nor is there closeagreement as to this meteorites prob-able size. Harold T. Wilkins, in his

book, Mysteries of Ancient South America, says that the meteorites likelyweight was ten million tons! Dr. T. R.Moulton, a recognized authority onsuch matters, believed this meteoritedid not weigh over three million tons.However, it does seem agreed that hadone been standing as far away as twen-

ty miles from the site at the time ofthe impact, he would have been blownflat to the ground by the concussionand likely killed. Chir own H bombscan do little better.

But let us come closer to presenttimes. The year is 1908only fiftyyears ago. An appalling disaster re-sulted from such an outer space visitorslanding in Siberia. Hundreds of milesof forest were burned to a cinder. Manythousand additional acres of timberwere laid flat; huge trees snapped likematch sticks. The impact burst and

blaze from this meteorite lit up the fulldaylight sky like a Gargantuan flash

Closer still to the present, on August30, 1931, three great aerolites poundedthe sultry Brazilian air, laying wastehundreds of miles of wet, steamingforest lands. We have an eye witnessaccount of what it was like to have

been near such an event. Lonely Padre[ 1 6 ]


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Fidelio wrote a complete resume to theVatican in Rome.

According to Padre Fidelio, the me-teorites fell somewhere in the forestnear the river Curua, deep in Brazilshinterland. These were huge things.The heat produced was intense. Mammouth flames shot up as masses of com-pressed air rushed in front of thesefalling meteorites. The air could not getout of their way fast enough! Vastareas of the dripping jungle were al-most instantly in flames. All life there-in was soon incinerated. The sun turnedblood red. An immense cloud of rougecolored dust soon filled the air. Next, arain of fine cinders covered everything.Roars, shrieks, and loud whistlesstrained the eardrums. Three intenseexplosions followed one another; eachshook the earth as an earthquake.

And these were only three penniesfrom heaven! One can begin to get anidea of what a quarter from the sameplace might be like.

Perhaps you will shrug off theseevents as past history, as happening faraway, as of little consequence. Pennies from heaven. So what? Just pennies!

But no longer ago than October 25 to30, 1937, only twenty one years ago,our Earth stood in very grave dangerof collision with a small planet! Nopenny this time. At least a half dollar.

This small planet was astray in oursolar system. We missed a direct col-lision by only five and one half hours.You didnt know it, but there was ex-citement in every astronomical observa-tory in the world. Slide rules were flip-ping, and pencils wearing off the irsharp points at a fast rate.

This small planet was headed straight

at Earth. Had it struck, the interna-tional situation would probably havebeen altered at once. It is not impos-sible the Elarths axis could have beenchanged, and thus also world climate.Every seaport city could have beensmashed out of existence by vast tidalwaves. Wherever the Earth and planetactually met, untold damage wouldhave ensued for at least a thousandmile radius. Should the collision havetaken place over a seismic zone, no onecan say with certainty what resultsmight have followed.Every major race of men appears to

have traditions of a flood sweeping inupon their early ancestors and destroy-ing much of their accumulated civiliza-tion. Many of these same traditionsspeak of a beautiful rainbow appearingimmediately after the inundation. Thuswe are led to believe that whatevercombination of circumstances producedthe flood, the rainbows afterward mustalso have been formed by the same con-ditions.

If our Earth once orbited closer tothe sun, say approximately at the dis-tance of Venus (Earths twin), it seemsquite likely there would have been suf-ficient daytime temperature to preventany rain falling then. In such an orbit,the rains probably would come in theearly hours before dawn.

If the Earth orbited the sun with itsaxis at a nearly perpendicular positionrelative to its orbit, this could well in-dicate a much more tropical, and lessseasonal, climate in the polar regions.Such a position could also explain the

present day discoveries of prehistoricanimals in the Siberian tundra.

It would appear that whatever hap- pened to freeze these prehistoric mon-sters in their very tracks, happenedsuddenly extremely suddenly for

some of them have been found with food in their mouths , unswallowed, aswell as with some of the same foodin their stomachs undigested. They ob-viously had no warning of impendingdisaster.

About the only event we can thinkof which would make such a radicalchange occur so quickly would be theEarth sustaining a collision of sufficientmagnitude to push it out of orbit andchange its axial position. It is not im

Eossible that the Earth wandered a bitefore setting into its present orbit.As we have stated, celestial collisions

are not extraordinary to Earth. As amatter of fact, Kelly and Dachille showin their book Target : Earth that theEarths complete history has been a vastseries of collisions with all sizes of othercelestial objects.

The Earth is spinning on its axis atabout 1,000 miles per hour. At thesame time, it is whirling about the sunat close to 19 miles per second. Oursun with its entire solar system, ofwhich Earth is a minute part, appears

[ 1 7 ]


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to be traveling toward the bright starVega at the rate of about 12 miles persecond. These three movements, takentogether, add up to a tremendousamount of momentum.

The effect of an impact from anygiven sized object depends, of course,on how that object strikes tiie Earth inrelation to the directions both are trav-eling. If an object strikes the Earthsquarely, proceeding from the opposite direction, the effect is disastrous. Shouldthe same object strike us by overtakingus, its impact would be greatly lessened.Tangent strikes would range betweenthe two extremes. But even a nearmiss could have perilous after effects.

There seems little question that asizable impact on the Earths surfacewould set seismic reactions into mo-tion which might perhaps lead to moun-

tain building. The cooling of the Earthsinterior brings strains to its more orless rigid surface. When these pres-sures become too great, they flare upand we have an earthquake. Seismolo-gists have invented gauges which tellthe kinds and amounts of strains thatcertain areas of the planets crust haveattained, and how fast those tensionsare growing. From their studies of thesefigures they are learning how to pre-dict earthquakes from these causes.

Could it have been collision whichreally sank Atlantis? Did collision raisethe Andes, the Rocky Mountains, theHimalayas? Did collision split manscivilization in two parts, or even more,and give him the rainbows? No onecan say. But there are some interestingsigns to think about. Perhaps one daywe will be able to reach this trails end.

V A V


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The Cathedral of the Soul is a Cosmic meeting place for all minds of themost highly developed and spiritually advanced members and workers of theRosicrucian fraternity. It is the focal point of Cosmic radiations and thoughtwaves from which radiate vibrations of health, peace, happiness, and innerawakening. Various periods of the day are set aside when many thousandsof minds are attuned with the Cathedral of the Soul, and others attuning withthe Cathedral at the time will receive the benefit of the vibrations. Those whoare not members of the organization may share in the unusual benefits as wellas those who are members. The book called Liber 777 describes the periodsfor various contacts with the Cathedral. Copies will be sent to persons whoare not members if they address their requests for this book to Scribe S. P. C.,care of AMORC Temple, San Jose, California, enclosing three cents in postagestamps. (Please state whether member or notthis is important.)

SL ________

THE PASSING OF TIME By C e c i l A. P o o l e , Supreme Secretary

h e measurement of timekeeps us conscious of its passing. An all too fa-miliar experience is tohave our attention di-rected to time and imag-ine that it passes muchmore slowly than whenwe are otherwise occu- pied or when time is secondary in our

thinking. When we are busy, time doesnot seem to exist, at least while we arewaiting for something to end in orderthat something else may begin. Weexperience the slowness of time whilewaiting for a designated hour as, forexample, when we are obliged to waitin an office for someone to see us or weto see them. Time and its measurementimpresses upon man the fact that if he

permits it, he may become its slave.The measurement whether it is donein seconds or centuries causes man to

place emphasis upon times passing andmakes him conscious of its existence.

In accordance with the calendar ofthe Western world, we are at this sea-son entering a new year. Actually, weknow that this time measurement isuite artificial. We fully realize in this

ay of technological advancement thatthe calendar as it exists is a very crudeform of measurement, upon which mancannot depend even as to its divisionsits twelve divisions are not equal, andeach year itself varies in length.

Human beings in spite of their claimto independence, intelligence and fore-sight, are actually in some mannerslaves to habit. We hesitate to change

[ 1 9 ]


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The Rosicruciati Digest January1959

rocedures or activities to which weave become accustomed over a definite

or indefinite period of experience. Thereare those who probably have nevergiven thought to the imperfections ofthe calendarmay even think it is per-fect, and that no other measurement

could possibly be devised. Whether ornot we can come to an agreement as tothe type of calendar in terms of days,weeks, and years is more or less a me-chanical problem that might at sometime be improved by mutual agreementamong various peoples.

What is more important to us thanthe physical measurements that are setup is the consciousness of time andmans realization of its proper place inhis life, experience, and his environ-ment. Today we are faced with manyinterpretations of time. If we accept

the traditional ideas, many of which mthe Western world are traceable to re-ligious principles or at least religiousdocuments, we remember the phrasesof such a nature as time shall be nomore or since the beginning of time.

If we study literally the traditionsand stories concerning creation, the pur-

pose and eventual end of the world, itwould seem that from the orthodoxstandpoint time is an element that wascreated with the world and will perishwith it. Yet, in modern thought timehas become a relative concept. We

know, for example, that the basis uponwhich we judge time will have to bealtered as mans exploration of spaceis earned into the future. If we livedon a planet having a different period ofrotation so that our days, for example,would be twenty hours long instead oftwenty four, and our revolutions aroundthe sun much longer than one year aswe know it, our whole concept of timewould change.

And yet, it is theoretically possiblethat we as conscious entities, or entitiesvery similar to us, might possibly existupon such a planet. In such a case, theintelligent entity would adjust to a newtime concept, and it would show quiteconclusively that time was not a univer-sal function or fact, but ra ther primarilya realization in the mind of the entitythat interpreted the passing of time.

It is in the fields of tradition andmodem science tha t we find a relativelyclose correlation between certain funda-

mental traditions and religious beliefsand the modem concepts of science. Asalready pointed out, the concept of theChristian Bible is that time had a be-ginning and will have an end. Thisconcept limits time to the physicalworld just as any other phase of the

physical environment is so limited. Now that science can also show usthe possibilities that time is purely rela-tive, this, too, causes us to realize thattime is not a fixed standard of universal

being. Rather, it is a function applicableonly to the physical and material con-ditions of this particular planet. There-fore, as has been stated by mystics and

philosophers in the past, and as has been taught by the Rosicrucian Order,time is substantially no more than aconcept within human consciousness. Itis, in fact, a convenient concept of

measurement of the duration of ourconsciousness with reference to any particular manifestation or event.

If we exaggerate the importance ofthe measurement of time, give too muchattention to its passing, which is merelya concept, we are enlarging upon thesignificance of time and subordinatingour consciousness rather than allowingit to function in its realization of ex-

panding knowledge and experience. Weshould be compiling the resulting datainto wisdom rather than be concentrat-ing on the seconds, minutes, hours, or

even months and years that pass.It is customary to observe the begin-ning of a new unit of time such as thenew year, but it should be realized thatthis is not truly a new beginning. It isnot a different period. The new yearis simply an observance of the fact thatman's measurement of time is based merely upon a repetitive system usingthe same intervals over and over again.It does not make any difference whatthe year is; in fact, it does not makeany difference what the time is. Whatis important is what we do and how weuse tne time that is available to us re-gardless of the year number or the hournumber that may be assigned to that

particular un it of time.Time, then, is a physical measure-

ment of a material entity. The valuesmen seek should be those which tran-scend material standards and reach intoan area that will contain values of a

permanent and enduring nature.[ 2 0 ]


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Winter . . .

Herald of Rebirth By D r . H. S p e n c e r L e w i s , F. R. C.(From The Mystical Triangle, February 1926)

Since thousands of readers of the Rosicrucian Digest have not read many of thearticles by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, first Imperator of the present Rosicrucian cycle, we adoptedthe editorial policy of publishing each month one of his outstanding articles, so that his thoughtswould continue to reside within the pages of this publication.

h i s is a wonderful periodof the year. We are al-ways reminded of the

beginning of life whenwinter is at hand. Nat-urally, we compare thewinter months with the

close of life, not becauseit suggests death, but be-cause it suggests change and transition.

It is not my purpose to direct yourthought toward that event in life, nordo I intend to make you feel very seri-ous or sad, but I do want to bring toyour mind that the outstanding fea-ture of life is change. In fact, wereit not for the law of change, and ifthings did not continually change, lifewould not only be void of events, butthere would be no life and, moreover,

no interest in living. We must accus-tom ourselves to change. The muchtalked about theory of evolution is basedupon this observed fact of Nature.

True, many scientists, having learnedsuch facts from observation, have setthem into long and complicated im-aginings, and evolved a theory and

process of life that is without founda-tion, in many of its elements or second-ary principles at least. But there is nodoubt that evolution is a fundamentallaw of nature and we see it everywhere.

The old philosophers used to say thatthere is only one thing that is definiteor unchangeable about matter, and thatis its changeableness. In other words,life and that which composes it and ofwhich it is composed, as well as theelements manifesting it, all are con-

stantly in a changeable state. One ofthe old philosophers lightly stated thatyou could not put your finger on any-thing in the material world and say itis this or that because before you couldspeak the words it would have changedto something else.

Does not that remind you of yourown experiences in life? Can you notsee that each day, if not each hour, has

brought some change in the nature ofyour problems and pleasures, in yoursorrows and interests? And think for

one moment what living would be likeif these changes suddenly stopped andif each day and hour were exactly thesame?so much so that you could notreadily and easily note what is taking

place?These great changes are taking place

in nature and, in fact, in the workingof the Cosmic and its laws on earth.What may be constantly going on abovethis plane or on a higher plane thanthis one we do not know. But we doknow that from the lowest form of cell

[ 2 1 ]


24/44


life up to the highest expression of suchcell life, which is man, changes are oc-curring every year, every cycle, everygreat period of time. Man, in order toevolve and become what nature andGod intended him to be, must attune

himself with this process of constantchange. He must become a part of thegreat parade of onward marchers whichconstitute the army of evolution through-out nature. The moment any man orwoman ceases to be of that onwardmovement, he does not stand still. Hesimply retrogrades, because nature andall of mankind pass on and leave himstanding, as it were, or moving back-ward until in a very short time he findshimself among the primitive ones,among the undeveloped, the unprogres-sive, the ignorant, and the sufferers.

I have just said that it is necessaryfor us to attune with the onward pro-gression. The question is, how shall wedo this? Can we just voluntarily pro-claim ourselves a part of the progres-sion? Can we simply stand up in themidst of all that surrounds us and say,I, too, am moving forward? No, some-thing more than this is necessary.

First of all, we must become funda-mentally sound in our understandingand in our reasoning. We cannot reason

properly if we do not understand prop-erly, and we cannot understand proper-ly unless our reason has been trainedto function in the right and logicalmanner.

You have heard much in the last fewyears about the establishment of world

peace and harmony, but you must un -derstand that peace and harmony andcooperation among different peoples ofdifferent tongues and minds can nevertruly come about until all mankindthink and understand alikenot untilthen can they all agree on certain neces-sary fundamentals. We know, then, thatthe first necessary step in the develop-ment of man to the highest standard ofcooperative thinking and acting is toeducate him in those fundamental laws,

principles, and facts about nature andhimself, whereby he is able to compre-hend, understand, and think properly.

This is what the Rosicrucian Orderhas been doing for hundreds of years.In our own times this organization has

been leading the thoughts, directing thethinking, and promulgating the teach-

ings which lead to a comprehensive un-derstanding of nature, of God, and ofmans relation to both of these Divine principles and powers. Incidentally, theteachings have also educated man inregard to many of the other laws and

principles of this material world, whichenable him to live better, more happilyand healthfully, and be more success-ful in his various spheres. This is thefirst step toward bringing man into theline with the onward march of nature.

We do not have to go back to thewriting of the Ancients nor do we haveto refer to the writings and records ofthose of the Middle Ages to discoverthat the Rosicrucians and many othersimilar organizations have had a great

bearing upon the advancement of manand especially upon the freedom that it

has brought about from those enslavingconditions of ignorance and superstition.We read of the changed mental atti-

tude on the part of thousands, and wehear from their own lips the testimonyof how they have conquered, how theirvision has been broadened, their outlookmade keen, and how they have gainedgreater perspective and wiped awaytheir discouragement; also how powerto do and to dare has come to themthrough knowledge, hope, and through

Life, Light, and Love. 'ITiis constitutesthe reward that comes for efforts putforward and for the ideals we hold inour hearts.

We hope that none of our readers be-lieves today, as did many in the MiddleAges, that the learned men of scienceand adepts of mysticism can reveal tothe inquiring mind some simple processwhere by snapping of the fingers or bythe use of some magical word the greatlaws of nature will hold back their

powers or will exert themselves undulyto produce a miracle. We know todaythat the power to do comes from the

power of understanding, and that suchis the natural result of knowledge. Weknow, furthermore, that knowledge that

begets such understanding is not ac-quired quickly or easily.

Furthermore, we know that if theknowledge we seek is for the purposeof developing faculties and functionswithin us, we must proceed slowly inorder to give time to the faculties withinour being to develop coordinately andsystematically along with our compre-

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hension. A musician or a student ofmusic takes a single lesson at a timeand practices it well so that the facultyexercised through his fingers, throughhis eyes in reading, his ears in hearing,develops along with his comprehension

of the laws and principles involved.And the same is true of the studentwho studies nature and the laws of hisown being. He must proceed slowlyenough to allow each one of the dor-mant faculties within him to be awak-ened and developed. It must grow slow-ly and carefully, and to such strengthand power as will be lasting and de-

pendable.There is a springtime of life coming

to each one of usnot necessarily atthe time when we cast off this physical

body and when the soul within us risesto go to other planes or perhaps to re-turn again and occupy another body.But there is that springtime of awak-ening and rebirth when we suddenlyrealize that we are on the mountaintopof Illumination and face to face withthe ineffable Light of understanding

and realization of our true selves, ourtrue being, our divinity and power.Such rebirth and such springtime of lifemay come at any moment to those whoare seeking it.

It is as though we were journeyingalong the mountain between hills thatcut off our vision and suddenly, at aturn, we find ourselves upon a great

plateau of broad vision ana beauty. Itmay not be the highest plateau of thatmountain, it may not be of the heightthat we have looked forward to in ourdreams and visions, but at least we areout in the great sunlight of Illumina-tion, we are out in the great perspec-tive of nature. We are out in the open,

perhaps alone with only God and ourinner selves, but it is springtime thereand all of the winter of the past is left

behind. We know how lovely it is tolive, how wonderful are Light and Life and Love.

These are my thoughts at this winter-time. I pass them on for your reflectionso that you too may find in them aninspiration.

V A V

LE SANCTUAIRE INTERIEUR (French Edition of Sanctuary of Self)This magnificent work by the Imperator of AMORC is now available in French. For

those of you who have friends who read French, this book will prove an excellent giftitem. Here is a frank psychological and mystical analysis of drives that motivate human

behavior; a consideration of the means of discovering new vision that makes for accom- plishment.

Copies of this book may be ordered directly from the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC,56 Rue Gambetta, Villeneuve Saint Georges (Seine et Oise), France. Beautifully boundin pale green book cloth, and stamped in gold. Price postpaid, only $4.20.

WE THANK YOU

The thousands of Christmas and Holiday greetings which have arrived at RosicrucianPark by card, letter, cable, calendar, and other means have brought joy to the officersand staff assistants of the Supreme Grand Lodge. We wish to thank the thousands ofRosicrucians and the many DIGEST readers for their kind seasonal remembrances.

Personal acknowledgments of the wonderful greetings sent to us would be a pleasure, but natura lly not a possibility. Thus, we take this means of thanking each of you. Mayyou have a very happy and successful New Year!

THE ROSICRUCIAN STAFF

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Sa%[\j ^ y o iu i 'iu c L a n 2. THE FAMA FRATERNITATIS

By Jo e l D i s h e r , F. R . C., Department of Literary Research


I n his preface to The Real History of the Rosicrucians (London,George Redway, 1887),A. E. Waite wrote:Beneath the broadtide of human historythere flow the stealthyundercurrents of thesecret societies, whichfrequently determine

in the depths thechanges that take placeon the surface. Theobservation was a dis-cerning one. It grewout of the authors cumulative experi-ence in examining into the affairs ofEuropeparticularly of Germanyex-isting in the first quarter of the Seven-teenth Century.

Secret societies were known to haveexisted in all ages. Their pretensions to

particular knowledge and almost mag-ical power were equally recognized.That they constituted stealthy under-currents which determined surfacechanges, however, was a startling as-sertion. Patiently, Mr. Waite continuedto bring forth evidence, puzzling, con-fusing, and contradictory. Attempts toevaluate it have been many, both rashand cautious. No complete agreementcan be said to have been reached; theso called Rosicrucian Manifestoes con-tinue, however, to invite consideration.

In the November issue of the Rosicrucian Digest , the first of those mani-festoes, The Universal Reformation ofthe Whole Wide World was discussed.

Many considered it to be nothing morethan a brilliant and witty satire uponthe existing state of affairs. The exactdate of its first publication is unknown.In 1615 an edition of the Tama Fra- ternitatis was printed at Frankfurtam Main, which contained also theConfessio Fratemitatis and the Uni-versal Reformation.

By that time, then,one may assume thatthe three pamphletswere accepted as partsof one wh ole. M r.Waite was of the opin-ion that the Rosicru-cian connection withthe Universal Refor-mation could not beestablished. Perhaps

his caution and skep-ticism were justified.The evidence of its as-sociation with the oth-ers, as well as its being

a valuable preliminary salvo towardtheir proposed ends, is nonetheless un-deniable. Not being able to accept orreject it completely, Mr. Waite pre-sented it along with the others incorroboration of those subsurface un-dercurrents at work in Germany in theyears under discussion.

When things fall into juxtaposition,some kind of connection is taken forgranted. It may be assumed that coin-cidence is responsible in those caseswhere only one or two elements cansupport the assumption of deeper pur-

pose. Coincidence is almost whollyruled out, however, when many smallerand highly varied elements are seen to

join toward one agreeable whole.Psychologically, the Universal Re-

formation was admirably designed tostate the problem and to provokethought to a solution. The Tama, wheth-er by accident or design, was an equallyadmirable follow up. It gave notice of

the Rosicrucians as a fraternity with aworkable plan for universal reforma-tion. The Fama was in two parts. Thefirst told the story of the Brotherhoodsorigin. The second described the redis-covery and opening of the tomb of thefounder C.R.C.

The Fama wras published as historya straightforward story of what had

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been accomplished by a small groupworking secretly for the betterment ofmankind. After successful testing insecret, it was offered to the world foruniversal application. It was the revela-tion of what could be accomplished bymeans of a plan. What the Rosicrucians had individually proved to be beneficial for themselves was offered toall who found merit in its purpose andwho desired to be more fully instructed.The declared purpose was threefold:1) to purify religion and stimulate re-form within the Church; 2) to promotelearning and advance science; 3) tolessen human misery.

It was a proposal both ambitious and preposterous in the face of the situationdescribed in the Universal Reforma-

tion as impossible of cure.The Fama told the story of the found-ers life, of his gathering a few helpersto initiate his plan, of his demise and

burial, and of the rediscovery and open-ing of his tomb. It also announced thatthe Rosicrucians had a plan whichwould be as useful to the world as ithad been to them. That plan was to beset forth in the Confessio Fratemitatis.The bold assurance of the Fama mightwell account for its immediate populari-ty. Even the skeptical could not help

being thrilled by the possibility of sucha brotherhoods existence. The fact thatspecific information was withheld onlyheightened the general expectancy andadded to the mystery and the suspense.

At the same time, the avowed purpose of the Brotherhood and the simplerules by which it had regulated its pri-vate activity were sufficient index to itscharacter. Its rules of operation, six innumber, were simple and direct: 1)nothing was to be professed other thanto heal the sick without fee; 2) no par-ticular distinctive garb would set themapart; 3) every year they would meeton a designated day; 4) everyone wouldcarefully search out his successor; 5)the initials C.R. would be their seal;6) their fraternity would remain secretone hundred years.

The time allotted to secrecy having been fulfilled, and the occasion at hand being propitious, the Rosicrucians gavenotice of their existence in the Fama Fratemitatis.

The Latin Fama of the title is aptand significant. It immediately recalls

the goddess of antiquity of that name.She was a gentle winged creature, fleetof foot, never sleeping, always listen-ing. She carried a trumpet to give no-tice of all that she saw or heardatfirst in whispers, and then louder andlouder until the whole world was in-formed. The Rosicrucians were butemulating her example.

Curiously enough, Fama appearedalso on the frontispiece of Sir WalterRaleighs History of the World, thework he wrote in the Tower of London,while awaiting his execution. His writ-ing was contemporary with the Fama, and emphasized the danger of voicingideas contrary to those acceptable toAuthority. Raleigh commented on pre-vailing circumstances, but he did so

covertly.His plea was that he was writingthe worlds history from creation toRoman times. This, he wrote, was be-cause whosoever shall follow truth toonear the heels, it may haply strike outhis teeth. Raleigh was not successful,however, in masking his intent, that ofwriting of matters transpiring in hisown day, for King James condemnedhis book and had it suppressed. TheFama was successful, because of itsenigmatic character, assumed as a ne-

cessary precaution.For one thing, the story of C.R. as ayoung man paralled at several pointsthe experience of Francis Bacon, andthe places visited in C.R.s journey werethose where the young Bacon hadtouched in his travels. Arabia, Egypt,Fez, and Spain were, therefore, usedwith possibly the double intent of iden-tifying the Fama with Bacons philo-sophic plan and of indicating as wellthat Rosicrucian philosophy was basedupon the teaching of the Ancients.

Curiously enough, forty years afterthe Famas appearance in Germany,John Heydon brought out in Englanda book called Rosie-Crucian Infallible

Axiomata , which was an Englished ver-sion of the Fama. This is the sameHeydon, be it remembered, who in his

Holy Guide of 1662 included FrancisBacons New Atlantis (1627) under thetitle Voyage to the Land of the Rosie- Crucians.

After a lapse of more than threehundred years, the Rosicrucian Mani

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T he Rosicruc ian Digest January1959

focus. Internal evidence and externalcircumstance make apparent at leastone fact: that the Brotherhood of theRosy Cross, the philosophy of FrancisBacon, and the plays of Shakespearewere united in a common purpose:world reformation.

In Francis Bacons phrase, reforma-tion meant restoring man to his right-ful place in nature; in Shakespeares,To hold, as twere, the mirror up to

nature. In the Fama, it meant thatman might thereby understand hisown nobleness and worth, and why heis called Microcosmus, and how farhis knowledge extendeth in Nature.

The question is whether these corre-spondences could have been coinciden-tal. It is not an academic question, be-cause the significance and purposewhich one may discover in life itselfdepends upon die answer.

V A V

The Universe of Thought By A r m a s M . S a l m u

thought is like a spring

breeze savoring the flavorof the countryside, carry-ing sweetness or stenchas it moves along, depos-iting its essence where itwill. And like a spring breeze turning quicklyinto a storm, thought can

lecome surprisingly violent. It is theseed of growth or destruction. No otherseed is sown with greater profusion.

Albert Einsteins unified field theoryis mans twentieth century thought ofthoughts, but it certainly is not the ul-timate anymore than were Galileosand Newtons thoughts of the universe. Nothing which is forthcoming in thefield of thought can be the ultimate.The first thought in itself is ultimatereality, for it is the harbinger of every-thing that is, has been, and will be. Thefirst thought (and its progeny) is theflux that fuses matter with the qualityof the universe we define as life; it[ 2 6 ]

unifies and integrates the essence of

the universe with that part of it whichis the human animal.Thought is infinite and it is the cen-

ter of the universe. No dialectics candetract from the validity of that state-ment. Consider that Socrates is dead buthis thoughts live on. The crucifixion ofJesus did not destroy his thought whichis even more alive than it was whenhe lived. These are examples of in-finite thought reflected by conspicuous-ly great men. What of the thoughts ofswineherds and money lenders? Whocan say that even mediocre thoughtsare not infinite, for the modem worldis most certainly plagued with medi-ocrity in every area of human endeavor.Therefore, if the decay of the flesh doesnot destroy thought, does the decay ofmatter destroy thought? Certainly not.Thought is indestructible.

The human animal merely reflectsthought as a dirty cracked mirror re-flects a distorted unage. Destruction of


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a mirror will not destroy the objectwhich was reflected. How man usesthought is what makes his effort to fightextinction the great human tragedy.Man uses thought for an end while theend in itself ought to be thought. Like

the phenomenon of nuclear fission,thought is utilized but the essence ofboth of them remains a mystery to manas do toys to children.

A precocious child may even under-stand the mechanical operation of a toy,but, similar to man and his adventurewith hydro nuclear forces, the childdoes not understand what makes thetoy a pleasant adventure. Childs playhas no predetermined objective of whichthe player is aware. While the childplays with a toy, man plays with prog-ress. What is mans objective in prog-ressin nuclear fissionin anything?Is it the chain reaction? the controlledreaction and utilization of the prodi-giously monstrous force for the benefitof man and his pleasure?

Modern man with his atomic reactoris not unlike the child with a toy. Themen who created the knowledge ofnuclear fission are not capable of seeinginto the future to explore the coursewhich the product of nuclear fissionwill take. Neither can a child fumblingexcitedly with a dynamite cap see thedestruction he holds in his hands. Here,though, a more mature intellect can in-tervene to save the child from injuryor death and the child benefits fromsuperior guidance and care. But whowill guide man while he fumbles ex-citedly with the monstrous hydro nu-clear force which is capable of mutatinglife into extinction in several genera-tions or of destroying it in a matter ofseconds? Thought is the only guide onwhich man can rely.

Where is this great thought which

guides manthe thought in the centerof the universe, the unequivocal thoughtof thoughts which spans all eternity orinfinity? Obviously, the thought, theinfinite one, pervades the universe be-cause as these words appear on thispage they are conceived of thought andas these words are read they reflect thethought to the reader just as a mirrorreflects an image to the observer. Butthis is only one thought among an in-finite number. What is the parentthought whose progeny is infinitely di-

verse in identity and vast in number,the parent of the thought pervadingthis page or any page or any mind?What is good thought and which is theevil one? Who is the judge of its quali-ty, its cause and effect?

Each mind is its own judge and eachmind renders its own peculiar verdictand then condemns or acquits accordingto the ideals inculcated in the judgesmind. Even though each mind is itsown judge, it nevertheless is dependentupon precedence set forth by previousthought patterns developed through alifetime based upon the thought experi-ences of predecessors. Thus, any judg-ment today is not unique in itself, butis a polyglot of centuries, perhaps eonsof thought.

Always, ideas have been judged ac-cording to values of good and evil. Butis the idea of good pure? Has it beencompletely isolated by dialectics? Whatof evil? Is any reality purely and unequivocably good or evil?

Good and evil are merely facets ofthought. They are never pure realitiesin themselves. No reality is entirelygood or evil. We may say a criminal isevil, but he is not entirely evil be-cause he might love his mother and beloyal and devoted to the ideals of themob. Love or loyalty is commonly ac-cepted as a good reality. But all love orloyalty is not good, because some, wholove or demonstrate loyalty, might befelons or perverts who are commonlyregarded as evil by large segments ofsociety.

Thought, which then is in some re-spects good and in other respects evil,is the product of some unknown factorand all its progeny are the thoughts ofall thinking people today.

O n e G o d A m o n g G o d s

The most that men can boast honest-ly is that an omnipotent power per-vades the universe and men have desig-nated the unknown as God. But strange-ly, the unknown, when it is unraveledand becomes known, ceases to be God.Man has destroyed many gods withknowledge, since he fled before thePleistocene glaciation. The wind is godno more, neither is the moon glowingin the night sky, nor the rumble whichcomes from a volcano. Many gods have perished in the minds of men, but

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thought is still with him and throughit man has always killed the so ca

Documents

Rosicrucian Digest, January 1959