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The Rosicrucian Heritage No. 1 2006

A c n isdo

o

Mod rn orld

Ancient Wisdom

for a

Modern World

Since the dawn of civilisation humanity has sought answers to the great mystery of existence. What is life? Where doesit originate? What is its true nature? Is there a transcendent purpose to life? Is there a conscious state of existence afterdeath? Have we lived before and will we live again? And why is there still such gross inequality in the world, even inthis age of rapid technological advancement?

These substantive questions have occupied the minds of the worlds greatest spiritual and moral thinkers for millenniaand in various ways they were able to answer someof these questions. Few, however, reached the ultimate goal ofcomplete and satisfying answers toallquestions of life; but those who did, attained a state of masteryover their lives

and achieved happiness and fulfilment which few have even dreamed of. They were ordinary men and women thoughwith the difference that they had inner vision, a profound understanding of life in all its forms and ultimately completemastery over their personal destinies.

You may be surprised to know that accurate answers to all questions you can formulate are already within your reach,for they are a part of your greater being which in turn is part of the universal stream of life. The Rosicrucian OrderAMORCteaches how to tap into an infinite source of inspiration and wisdom to reach those elusive answers and tosolve the most vexing of problems. If you wish to know more about how you can receive and one day master thisknowledge, please write or call us at the address below, specifically requesting our free introductory book entitledThe Mastery of Life.

Scribe MSRH, Rosicrucian Park, State Housing Estate, P.M.B. 1220, Calabar, Nigeria

Tel: 087-230340 -- Fax: 087-235497 -- E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.amorc.org

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The Rosicrucian Heritage -- No: 1, 2006

1

COVER SPREAD

African Wilderness

CONTENTS

ROSICRUCIANORDER, AMORC

State Housing Estate, PMB 1220,

NIGERIA

Published biannually by theROSICRUCIANORDER, AMORC

(Europe, the Middle East and Africa)REGIONALADMINISTRATION

State Housing Estate, PMB 1220,Calabar, Cross River State,

NIGERIA

Tel: 087-230340; 235495;235670

01-4961402 (Lagos State) Fax: 087-235497 Email: [email protected] Web: www.amorc.org.uk

e s m e n s b t

r n t e o f c p si

f t e o sa n r f e

u l s d a f

o m n t o

l t i e

H e i o y i h a

re e n m t o t e

r o t t p b e ad ri rs.

h f d u a u

by h i o h o t e i

o .

Statements made in this publication

are not the official expressions

of the organisation or its officers

unless declared to be official

communications.

All material in the Rosicrucian

Heritage is copyright and may not be

reproduced in any form without the

prior consent of the publishers andindividual contributors.

Changes of address must reach us

by the first of the month preceeding

publication.

Issued free to members as an

incidence of membership

Issued free to members as an

incidence of membership

:enne h . Idi

Director:Kenneth U. Idiodi

Volume 13 - No: 1

2 Six Traditional Rosicrucian Laws

6 Sanctum Musings: Gratitude as a Principle - by Kenneth U. Idiodi, FRC

8 The History of Incense - by Ralph M. Lewis, FRC

11 The Stream of Life -by Rabindranath Tagore

12 The Breath - by Margaret Hargas, SRC

14 Mind to Hermes- by Paul Goodall, FRC

15 Lessons of Life- Anonymous

16 The Cloud People- by Bill Anderson, FRC

18 Concept of God - by Joseph Campbell

19 Scientific Mysticism: Part 3 -byWilliam Hand, FRC

22 Conversation- by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, SRC

23 Goodbye to Old Age- by Beatrice Russell, SRC

24 Life and its Mystery -by H. Spencer Lewis, FRC

26 Praying Hands- by Affectator

27 Prayer -by Sven Johansson, FRC

31 The Arrival of Love- by St. Symeon

32 The Moon and its Astrological Influence on Man Part 2- by Chief A. S. Ezeudembah, FRC

35 Starry Contemplation - by Victor Hugo

36 Can You Read This? - by Nobilis

ISSN 1118-0242ISSN 1118-0242

Design and Layout:aDesign and Layout:Paul Goodall

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HESE ARE THE SIX TRADITIONALlaws of the Rosicrucians. By these sixarticles, the Rosicrucian brethren boundthemselves, one to another, to keep their

agreement, their mystical contract.They appeared in print for the first time in

1614 within the text of a book that bore the title:The Fama Fraternitatis of the Meritorious Order of theRosy Cross and these laws were addressed to the

learned in general and the Governors of Europe.The Latin words Fama Fraternitatis are translated,simply and directly, as the fame (or reputation)of the fraternity (or brotherhood). In a broaderand beer sense, the word famameans legend,the mystical story that surrounds and protectsthe truth within. Fraternitatis can also mean anassociation or an assembly, just as the term ecclesia(assembly) used by the Greeks, and subsequentlyby the Romans, came to mean a church. The bestdefinition of the title Fama Fraternitatisis probably,

the Legend of the Order.This book, first published in 1614 in Kassel,

Germany, fulfilled that title in that it recited themythical origin of our Order. It told about thelife and works of the founder C.R.C., ChristianRosenkreutz, as well as the creation of the Orderand of the six laws that were their articles ofassociation.

First LawThe First Law is the most important, for it states their

purpose: That none of them should profess any otherthing, than to cure the sick and that gratis. To take thisfirst law literally would be to imply that the Orderwas an early 17th century medical association. Thisclearly was not the case, although then as now, thehealing of disease and the comforting of the sick isamong the highest of human professions.

We are given the insights necessary tointerpret this first law by an examination of anotherbook that was published as a companion text to theFama. This book, entitled the Universal Reformation,

was a fairly literal translation excerpted from alarger work previously published by an Italian

First Law: That none of them should profess any other thing, than to curethe sick and that gratis.

Second Law: None of the posterity should be constrained to wear one certainkind of habit but therein to follow the custom of the country.

Third Law: That every year upon the day C. they should meet together atthe house Sancti Spiritus, or write the cause of his absence.

Fourth Law: Every Brother should look about for a worthy person, who aer hisdecease might succeed him.

Fih Law: The word R.C. should be their seal, mark and character.Sixth Law: The Fraternity should remain secret one hundred years.

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humanist, Traiano Boccalini. Many historiansof the Rosicrucian movement have consideredthe Universal Reformation to be unrelated to themovement since it was essentially an amusing satireof an aempt by Apollo to improve the conditionsof the age through the assistance of the wise menof both ancient and contemporary times. In thissatire, the condition of humanity is symbolised asbeing a disease ridden old man. In an aempt toheal this sick man, this corrupt humanity, Apollocalls together seven wise men to a meeting onMount Parnassus and there they debate thecause of mankinds infirmitiesand possible cures.

Though most historiansconsider the Universal Reformationto be coincidental with the Fama

but not really germane to a studyof the Order, many consider itto be absolutely essential to anunderstanding of what the Orderintended to accomplish. By thebeginning of the 17 thcentury, thelearned of Europe (to whomthe Fama was addressed) werewaiting for a great and generalreformation that would be far moreradical than that accomplished by

Martin Luther and the majorityof Protestant Europe. This wasto be a reformation that not onlycontinued the moral improvementof mankind as advocated by theProtestant reformers, but was toextend past the religious elementinto the realms of art, science,literature and education. The excesses thatLuther had found in the Universal Church andhad aacked so vehemently were paralleled in

all other avenues of human endeavour. Science,in particular, was hampered by the oppressiveauthority of Aristotle; astronomy had beenretarded by the 1,600 year old authority ofClaudius Ptolemy. The Copernican theory of asun-centred universe was under aack by bothCatholic and Protestant forces that used certainBiblical passages in an aempt to maintain anearth-centred view of time and space.

Being, as it was, in the vanguard of thisanticipated reformation, the Rosicrucian Order

gained considerable publicity and prominence.It became the lens that focused the hopes and

dreams of an oppressed society into a movementthat nurtured the legitimate aspirations of muchof Europe.

Since the vast majority of people livedin such distressing conditions their lot wassometimes represented by the symbol of adiseased old man, and it was incumbent oneveryone to become a doctor of the heart anda physician of the soul. The universal panaceafor such a diseased condition as mankind existedin, was the ancient and, unfortunately, lile usedChristian concept of caritas, that special charity

and concern which allows forfreedom of religion, freedom ofexpression and freedom of theindividual mind to soar to thelimits of its particular abilities.

So, all of us are obligedto honour this first and mostimportant of the laws of the Orderto heal whatever sickness weencounter, whether it resides in aloved one, a friend or permeatessociety as a whole. We are obligedto do so gratis, free of charge,and we should seek no personaladvantage for being of assistanceto those around us in our society.

Moreover, the Latin word gratisis closely related to another Latinwordgratia, meaning grace. Inthe Christian tradition, grace isa gi from God given freely to

those who are worthy of receivingit. If we open ourselves to it, theDivine spirit will operate through

us. This energy, which we might style as the Godof our Heart, uses our human condition as a lensby which the Cosmic Mind can focus on correcting

the infirmities of humanity.Each of us can make an impact on the world

and the Master within will guide us along that path.We should all act as a physician and start with thosenearest and dearest to us. But first we must act asit is suggested in the Universal Reformation; cleanseour own soul from all fallacies, hidden vice, hatredand counterfeit love. Physician, heal thyself ... andthen heal others.

Because of its primacy and its relevance tothe 21stcentury, I have dwelt considerably more on

the first law than I will on the others. Now, let usbriefly touch on the other five.

First edition of the

Fama Fraternitatis(1614).

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Second LawThe Second Law states: None of the posterity shouldbe constrained to wear one certain kind of habit buttherein to follow the custom of the country. On thesimplest level, we conduct ourselves, as do allmembers of whatever society we live in, to dothe work as outlined in the First Law within thecontext of our particular and individual society.Our works manifest within the cultural context ofthe society in which we live. We do not walk aboutin saffron robes, nor do we shave our heads, nordo we profess to eat only ritualistically cleansedfood. We are ordinary people on the outside, driveordinary cars and hold down ordinary jobs. But onthe inside, we are very different from the averageman and woman, for we have a different directionin life, a transcendent purpose and goal.

Third LawThe Third Law says: That every year upon the day C,they should meet together at the house Sancti Spiritus,or write the cause of his absence. This term, theday C has been variously interpreted as the dayof Corpus Christi, the day that the body of Christwas taken intact into heaven according to Christiantradition. It has also been interpreted as ChristmasDay. Neither is correct, for the day C goes backto pre-Christian Rome, where the calendar was

divided into two sets of dates calledfasand nefas.The first refers to what is permied, and the secondto what is not. On a nefas day certain businessactivities were not permied and these holy dayswere indicated by the use of the leer C.

More directly, the Latin leer C concealsthe Greek leer for C, which looks very much

like our English leer X. This X, composed of twocrossed lines, represents a celestial crossing point.It symbolises the crossing in space of the Sunsapparent pathway in the sky called the eclipticand that of the celestial equator, the imaginaryextension into space of our worlds own equator.The Sun moving northward on the ecliptic crossesthe celestial equator on the first day of the northernhemispheric spring, namely, the spring or vernal

equinox. This is the day C., the day on whichthe Rosicrucian Order celebrates the New Year.

Rosicrucians do so at the house called Sancti Spiritus,the house of the Holy Spirit. The Latin words SanctiSpiritus([of the]Holy Spirit) are qualified by their

endings, which place them grammatically in whatis called the genitive case, indicating ownership orpossession. Just as Rosicrucians say their SupremeTemple is owned or possessed by the RosicrucianOrder, so the grammatical endings indicate thatthe Holy Spirit is possessed by something orsomeone. God alone possesses the Holy Spiritand its residence, and this house is the Earth uponwhich we dwell.

Fourth Law

The Fourth Law states: Every Brother should lookabout for a worthy person, who aer his decease mightsucceed him. On its basic level and in its time, thislaw referred to the transmission of ideas and thework by a one to one arrangement of Master andstudent. In its broader, modern-day connotationone could say that the dissemination of the Orders

ideals by whatever means, would satisfythis law. Were it to have remained a one toone relationship through the centuries, theOrder could not possibly have become the

international organisation it is today.

Fih LawThe Fih Law: The word R.C. should be their seal,mark and character. The leers R.C., not the wordRosicrucian, seals Rosicrucians work, markstheir efforts and characterises their aspirations. Aleading Rosicrucian at the time of the Fama, MichaelMaier, wrote a commentary (Themis Aurea, 1618)on the laws and stated that the leers R.C. refer toboth Caesar and to Pegasus the flying horse. Julius

Caesar, in the year 45 BCE, revised the calendarof Rome and gave us what is known as the Julian

Each of us can make an impact on the worldand the Master within will guide us along

that path.

The celestial sphere with the Earth at its centre showing the

ecliptic and the celestial equator.

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Calendar which, with modifications (notably theGregorian modification), is still in use today.

The reference to Pegasus is one of thosetrivial bits of history that gives us insight into thethinking of the people of that time. Behind theecliptic, i.e. the Suns apparent path through the skyduring the year, are placed twelve constellationscollectively called the Zodiac. One of these, Pisces(the two fish), contains the vernal or spring equinoxin our epoch of time. Between the two fish or theconstellation of Pisces and slightly above them, isthe constellation of Pegasus.

In the Greek myth concerning Pegasus, itis said that the winged horse flew down near theEarth and one of his hooves struck the groundon a mountaintop and from this a spring eruptedto water the land. The mountain that Pegasus

struck was called Mount Parnassus, the very placewhere Apollo held his meeting of the wise men asrecounted in the Universal Reformation. In the sky,if one were to consult a chart of the heavens, onewould find that one of Pegasus front hooves standsjust above the point where the vernal equinoxoccurred in 1614, the date of the publication of theFama. The spring of water that erupted stands forthe springtime rains. Michael Maier alludes to thatpoint of time that heralds the reappearance of theRosicrucian Order.

Maier has therefore given us the Macrocosmicco-ordinates. Yet, according to the axiom as above,so below, we must still seek a further explanationon the Microcosmic level. Remember that bythe early 17thcentury, Europe had developed forcenturies within the confines of a very strict andauthoritarian Christian tradition. The Church hadbeen dominant for well over a thousand yearsand the new phenomenon which we today callProtestantism, was ill-defined. The Rosicrucianmovement occurred at the time of this Protestant

phenomenon but was not truly a part of it. To use amodern label, we might style the movement moreas a Gnostic type of Christianity than Protestantismor Catholicism.

We usually read the leers R.C. from leto right as in the Latin tradition. However, if wereverse the leers and read from right to le, as wascommon to the Greeks, and use the Greek leersfor R.C., we have Chi for the leer C and Rho for R.The Greek leers, when taken together, form thetraditional Greek monogram for Christ. In a veiled

form, the writers of the Famawere expressing theirinherent Christian background.

This Christianity was not what we wouldstyle as either Catholic or Protestant but nearer toan early Gnostic type such as that expressed byOrigen or Eusebius, both of whom recognised theChristian phenomenon as being of an antiquitythat predated the appearance of Jesus and both ofwhom had their writings condemned as hereticala few centuries aer their time. This Gnostic type

of Christianity placed Christ not on a cross as aseparate being but squarely within each individual.Today, Rosicrucians use a broader term thattranscends any dogma by referring to the Godof our Hearts or to the Master Within. Labels,whilst interesting, are not as important as the truththey represent. To a greater or lesser degree, each ofus has an element of the divine resident within usat all times, no maer what our belief system is.

Sixth Law

The Sixth Law states: The Fraternity should remainsecret one hundred years. Whilst it sounds preystraightforward, actually it is not. The Ordershould remain not secret but secreted, held like atreasury in our hearts, protected as something ofgreat value, not for one hundred years, but forever.The reference to 100 is a play on words, for theGerman word Grohundertor Great Hundredactually means 120. This was the period of timethat Christian Rosenkreutz remained hidden in theRosicrucian Vault until the year 1604.

These then are the laws of the brethren of theRosy Cross, then as now.

Title page of the

1556 edition of

Themis Aureaby

Michael Maier.

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Gratitude as a Principle

by Kenneth U. Idiodi, FRC

As a year comes to an end giving way to another, mostpeople in various cultures and countries in our world arein a thanksgiving mood. Indeed some countries set aside

a particular day for thanksgiving. The idea is for us toacknowledge the benefits and privileges that we have enjoyedduring the preceding year.

HETHER IN THE PRIVACY OF OURhomes at an individual and family level

or in the churches, mosques and templesat the collective or group level of expression,

we are full of gratitude to a Supreme Intelligence

or God to whom we owe thanks for our livesand for the many blessings and opportunitiesfor growth and success. It does not maer whichday a country has chosen or one an individualhas accepted but the idea that certain dates orperiods should be devoted to thanksgiving or theexpression of gratitude in the year implies that manacknowledges his dependence upon a superiorpower, force or intelligence. Man neither givesnor takes life in the literal sense. Life is a force thatmanifests in his body and gives him the power of

being as well as the aribute of individuality. Manslife on earth should be a constant reminder of the

fact that his existence is owed to this all-pervadingforce, intelligence, power or factor called God or theequivalent in any language, religion and culture.

We should be grateful to God that we areable to express ourselves in a complex environment,

which serves both as a challenge and as anopportunity to utilise our talents and skills toachieve greater heights of service to our fellowhuman beings.

Too oen our thankfulness is in terms ofmaterial gains and acquisitions. If we have beenfortunate in the accumulation of material thingsin the year, our thankful expression is great. If wehave suffered physically from illness or by materialloss in business, then we have a less enthusiasticapproach in our thankfulness. However we should

realise, as we reflect upon our experiences, thateverything is relative.

SanctumMusings

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Those who have lile should be thankfulfor the aainment of even a few of the blessings oflife, be they material or non-material. Those whohave much should be thankful for their possessionsand ask for guidance to realise and exercise theresponsibility for their proper use. Thankfulnessshould not be seen as a one-day affair. We shouldnot feel restricted by some custom or regulationto just set aside some day, week or month for thispurpose. Our thankfulness for the many blessings,opportunities and privileges of life should be an on-going affair if we recognise gratitude as a principleand cultivate an aitude of thankfulness every dayof our lives. If we start our day with a prayer ofgratitude and end the day aer our sobre reflectionswith a similar prayer, we soon realise that wewake up the next day cosmically empowered to

accomplish more in service and self-mastery.As aptly stated by the Stoic philosopher,

Epictetus (c.55-c.135 CE), Any one thing in thecreation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence to anhumble and grateful mind. Indeed, in our sanctummusings, let us conclude with a thanksgivingmessage written by the first Imperator of ourOrder, Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, more than seventyyears ago:

My Thanksgiving message to you is to believein that eternal justice through which that which is

real abides and that which is in the nature of pretencevanishes. Always through earnest desire has come suchachievement as the world has known.

Every loyal obedience to the inner call of duty,every aempt at speaking bravely the thing that is withinones own heart, every aempt to uer kindness and goodwill brings us into connection with the whole history ofthe upward movement of the world. One who thus faceslife has no fear of puing forth to the full all the powerthat is within him.

The great mistakes of the world have never comethrough too much effort, through too great ideals. Theworld cannot be moved by mere wilfulness, and thatwhich belongs to our wilfulness, to our mistakes, wemay leave to that kindly oblivion which covers all thingsin the end.

What remains is the love of truth, the sincere

desire and the generous ardour. We must acquit ourselveslike men, be the odds against us or with us, and workout for those who shall come aer us a beer world thanwe enjoy.

It seems to be true that men have found lesscomfort in spiritual things as their lives have been moresoly couched in comforts. Contact with the sorrows ofthe world, the human touch with evolving mankind, andthe struggles, strifes and challenges met only fire andstrengthen the one who is truly actuated by noble ideals.Truth, justice, and love conquer always.

How grateful are we, O gloriousGod, for Thy bounties and Thy

eternal life which abideth everywherefor all beings and to the glory of all

peoples. We adore Thee! We worshipThee! Thy being riseth with us as Thygreat symbol of light riseth daily on thehorizon and bringeth all men to theirknees at sunset. We give thanks toThee eternally and forever and ever!

Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton)

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OST OF OUR CUSTOMS AND HABITShave their origin in our physiological andpsychological nature. This is especiallytrue in regard to that which either

gratifies us or which we experience as unpleasant.The sentient experiences of early humans werethe fundamental guide in their day to day living.Though we can well presume that primitive manhad no concept of the nature of good and itsopposite, yet those sensations that were pleasingto the senses were the preferred state and thosecontrary, were avoided. Thus the selection offood, for example, was guided by the nature of itssucculence and sweetness; and that which pleasedthe sense of smell was likewise categorised as

having a special agreement.With the advance of polytheism and

anthropomorphism, humanlike qualities wereaributed to the gods that were conceived in theseancient times. Whatever substances and materialswere found gratifying to humankind, the godslikewise desired the same and were thought to beirritated by that which was found offensive. It wasthen necessary to continually placate the gods if apropitious relationship was to be maintained.

Special foods, herbs, barks and plants having

an agreeable odour were offered to the gods insacrificial rites. Such a practice was the beginning of

magic and primitive religion. If certain areas wereconsecrated to the worship of the gods, such as thenatural elements, the sky, earth, and stars, whichwere glorified as supernatural beings, fragrant

flowers were strewn upon the ground or placedon altars. This, it was thought, made the godsconducive to the appeal of the worshipers.

The earliest of these odoriferous substancesused in this manner were frankincense and certaingum resins extracted from trees and plants. Theancient Jewish historian, Josephus, relates thatin the Hebrew rites thirteen ingredients and sweetsmelling spices were used. According to Pliny,the Roman naturalist (23-79 CE), the majority offragrant substances were the product of trees in

Arabia that were held sacred.The original purpose of material pleasing to

the sense of smell, as said, was generally for use inmagical and religious rites. The bodies of the deadwere scented with aromatic oils and decked withflowers. The oils were mixed with other ingredientsto compose a form of perfume. The ancient Persiansbelieved the evildoer was punished in the aerlifeby being sent to a region of evil odours. In otherwords, what was offensive to the living was thoughtto be more so aer death, as a retribution for evil

committed during life. This equates with theconcept of the evil-smelling odours and fumes said

by Ralph M. Lewis, FRC

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It was also believed that the soul of thedead ascended to heaven by the smoke ofthe incense burnt on its behalf.

to exist as a form of punishment in the Christianconcept of Hell.

Visions of ParadiseConversely, the idea that paradise has a pleasantodour is found in the Jewish, Christian, andGnostic writings. The abode of the gods must bea region, it was believed, pleasing to the sense ofsmell. The pleasurable state in the aerlife wastherefore a reward.

Aside from their primary purpose as anoffering to the gods, aromatic materials were usedfor practical, symbolic, and mystical purposes.Scented woods were used in cremation to neutralisethe strong odour of the burning body or of burntsacrifices, especially in hot climates. Where this isdone today, as for example in India and Sri Lanka,

the scent is usually the same in all cremation ritesbecause of the customary use of similar materials.The odour is strong and, once experienced, alwayssuggests the nearby burning of a human body. Infact, the scent has a cloying sweetness.

A further symbolic concept concerned thesmoke ascending from the burning of aromaticplants and resins; it was thought to bear thewords of prayer to the gods, who were pleasedby the odour. Moreover, it was also believedthat the soul of the dead ascended to heaven

by the smoke of incense burnt on its behalf. Itis psychologically interesting to note that earlyhumans sought some tangible bond betweentheir finite material substance and the infinite,or the invisible region where they believed thegods dwelt. The smoke at first was not symbolic,but thought to be an actual medium for thetransmission of the prayer.

In early Jewish thought, incense was alsoconnected with prayer. In Psalms 141:2, we find:

Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; andthe liing up my hands as the evening sacrifice. InRevelations 8:3, we read: Incense rises with thesmoke ... And another angel came and stood at the altar,having a golden censer; and there was given unto himmuch incense that he should offer it with the prayersof all saints upon the golden altar which was before the

throne. Again in Revelations 8:4: And the smoke ofthe incense, which came with the prayers of the saints,

ascended up before God out of the angels hand. In

Christian thought, incense has likewise beenregarded as symbolic of prayer. It also typifies thepreaching of the faith.

Incense in EgyptIn Egypt, incense offerings were made to the godRa that he would draw the soul up to the heavenon the smoke of the incense. Probably the earliestreference to the use of incense for any religiouspurpose appeared in the notice of a king of the

Eleventh Dynasty, Sankhkara Mentuhotep

III (c.2004-1992 BCE). He sent an expeditionfor aromatics across the desert to the RedSea, to the Incense Land of Punt. Thisland was situated in the region of modern

Somalia.On the walls of temples of the kings, on the

west side of the Nile opposite modern Luxor, canbe seen representations of kings offering incense.He holds a censer in one hand and in the other throwslile balls of incense upon it, praying to the god to acceptit and give him a long life. At funerary rites, incense

was used to purify the deceased; fine grains weretwice offered to the mouth, eyes and hands, one for

Pharaoh Ramesses III offers incense and libation to Ptah

while the god stands in his shrine.

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the North and one for the South.Fragrance was thought by the Egyptians

to have a divine quality. The goddess Isis hada wonderful odour, it was believed, which shecould transfer to others. This odour had beneficialqualities and perhaps was assumed to have healingvalue as well. Osiris was believed to be able totransfer his odour to those whom he loved.

Apparently, the importation of the ingredientof incense and its compounding was quite athriving industry in ancient Egypt. It is related thatimmense quantities of incense were used. Duringthe rulership of Pharaoh Rameses III it was reportedthat, 1,938,766 pieces of incense were used during thethirty-one years of his reign. Seemingly, all of thegods were delighted with the odours which wereoffered to them. Even the statues of the gods were

censed with fragrant substances.

Incense in Other CulturesPhilo, the Jewish philosopher, relates that the fouringredients of the Hebrew incense representedthe four elements, that is, air, earth, fire and water,and therefore the universe. Herodotus, Greekhistorian (485-423 BCE), says that in Babylonia1,000 talents of frankincense were offered on thegreat altar of Bel, the god of Heaven and Earth,at his annual feast. Herodotus also referred to a

land where incense was placed upon bricks. Thisprobably refers to Babylon, as most of the greatstructures in that city were made of mud brick andbound with bitumen, an asphalt-like substance,which bubbled up naturally in that petroleum-rich land. The incense was burned as a ritual,accompanied by incantations, prayers, and thepredictions of oracles. Somewhatsimilar household ceremonies wereheld, with incense burned on bricksas an offering to Baal, the sun, moon,

stars and so on.The ancient Hindus used

sandalwood as a principal ingredientof their incense. They used it both intheir temples and their homes in theperformance of sacred rites. The firewas fed with the consecrated wood,sandalwood and other aromaticwoods. Such is common practicetoday in India for cremation. Itsodour can be detected out in the

Ganges River when floating by theburning ghats (steps) at the rivers

edge where the funeral pyres are built. In the Hinduliterary work, the Ramayana, the poet describesa solemn entrance into his grandfathers capital:the city was adorned with garlands, and exhaled theodours of frankincense and sweet smelling perfume.However, such were not indigenous to India butwere brought principally from Arabia.

Among the Tibetans, the ritualistic use ofincense was like that of the Roman Catholic Church.In a monastery in old Tibet we have witnessedmonks censing their high altars while chanting,similar to the practice in Catholic churches. Theincense and censer were also used in Tibet inconnection with the initiation of a monk and inthe daily rites of the monasteries, which the authorhas observed. Early Buddhism was opposed toexternal rites and ceremonies. In fact, the later

external development of ceremonies by one schoolof Buddhism brought about a schism resulting ina different presentation of Buddhist teachings.Therefore, incense was apparently unknown tothe practice of early Buddhism but in later timesit became generally used in certain ceremonies.Perfumes and flowers are also placed before theimage of Buddha.

The philosopher Pliny stated that the peopleof Greece only knew the smell of cedar and citrus,...as it rose in columns of smoke from the sacrifices.

Later, it was more extensively used in variedrituals. It is related that Alexander the Great,while making sacrifices to the gods, once flungso much of the incense in the fire that his fellowcompanion, Leonidas, cried out: You may useincense in this manner when you conquer the countrieswhere it grows! Alexander, aer conquering much

Burning incense in front of a Hindu temple.

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of Arabia, where incense was produced, sent agreat quantity of the ingredients to Leonidas,and jovially admonished him to be more liberalin the future when paying honour to the gods;Alexander was convinced that the gods amplyrepaid his generous gi to them.

The Phoenicians, aer the bale of Arabela,followed Alexander in his march to India, solelyfor the purpose of trade. They loaded their boats ofburden with the gum of the myrrh which it yieldedin such abundance as to scent the whole region withthe fragrance.

Though many religious offerings of theRomans were sacrifices of living things, one ofthe most important of the bloodless sacrificeswas incense. It eventually became an essentialfunction of every rite, and was burned on high

altars or in braziers.Though incense is used extensively today

in the rituals of the Catholic Church, one of theearly Church fathers, Tertullian (c.155-230 BCE),inveighed against it. He declared: Not a pennyworth of incense do I offer. And Athenagoras, aChristian philosopher of the second century, saidthat God did not require the sweet smell of flowersand incense. However, incense is now used by theRoman Catholic Church at the solemn mass beforethe introit(the first variable part of the mass) and

also at blessings, processionals, burial rites andso on. Its also used ritually in many churchesof the Anglican Communion, the symbolic ritetypifying prayer.

Symbolism of IncenseAside from its practical uses as a means ofdispelling offensive odours or for religious

rites, incense perpetuates a mystical andesoteric symbolism. To the mystical adherent,the symbolism becomes an objective form ofhis subjective idealism and sentiment. Theburning, the scent, the smoke have no importin themselves; they simply portray the spirit ofthe thoughts and emotions of the user.

The glow of the fire symbolically depictsthe zeal and devotion of the adherent to hiscause. The fragrance, the agreeable scent,is symbolic of the harmony of transcendent

pleasure. Finally, the smoke represents theascension of the consciousness, the projectionof the finite nature of man to the infinity ofthe Cosmic.

Incense burning in China hasnt changed for centuries.

by Rabindranath Tagore

The same stream of lifethat runs through the world

runs through my veinsnight and day in rhythmic measure.It is the same life that shoots in joy

through the dust of the earthinto numberless waves of flowers.

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ACH OF US IS AWARE THAT THEfunction of breathing is vital to the bodyand to the sustaining of life. It is the source

of precious energy, the life essence we useto sustain ourselves and grow within our physicaland psychic environments. Breathing providesthe cells with oxygen and permits the cells wasteproduct, carbon dioxide, to be eliminated. In fact,the lungs actually expel twenty-five percent of allbodily waste which is a very high percentage whenyou consider that we do not usually think of thelungs as an excretory organ. Breathing also affectsour immune function, mental clarity, vitality andenergy levels.

Defining BreathingThe breath, for obvious reasons, has long beenassociated in the human mind as the life essencewhich is drawn into us with our first breath anddeparting from us when we die. Indeed, the classicsof Oriental medicine describe the vital life force,or universal energy, as being taken into the bodywith the breath, followed by the lungs extractingthis vital substance from the air, thus making itavailable for use by the body.

The ancient Chinese were not the onlycivilisation to associate the breath with the vital life

force. From the ancient Greece we have the wordpneuma, meaning both spirit and breath. InEnglish we borrow this word intact and define it

as the vital life force.From Latin comes the word spiritus. This one

word was used to express breathing, the breath oflife, soul, mind, spirit and (the association here isquite interesting) courage. From spiritus we havethe words inspire, aspire and expire; words notonly relating to physical processes but also to theheart and soul of man.

The ancient Egyptians, predating both theGreek and Roman civilisations, referred to thebreath as sahu. This word was variously used to

denote the breath, the soul or the higher self. Sawas the term for the divine fluid, the substancewhich gives life to man.

The Vedic tradition of ancient India,flourishing at roughly the same time as theEgyptian culture, refers to atma, meaning both thebreath and the soul. This ancient word, related tothe ancient Greek word atmos (breath), survivesvirtually intact in the modern German language asthe verb atmen, meaning to breathe.

Also from the Sanskrit comes the wordprana,

meaning both the breath and the life force whichis common to all living things. Pranayama is a

by Margaret Hargas, SRCBreathBreath

TheThe

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system of breathing techniques used in many of theyoga disciplines. The practice of pranayama is alsoused to awaken kundalini, the divine fire and thefeminine aspect of the divine principle. Kundaliniis usually represented as a coiled snake, residingat the base of the human spine.

Rhythm of BreathingOf course, breathing techniques are used in manydisciplines for healing work and even for projectionof the psychic body. It is therefore interesting to notethat there is a mechanism in the skeletal system ofthe body which is called the cranial-sacral pump.Cranial, of course, refers to the bones that makeup the skull, and sacral refers to the sacrum, thetriangular bone at the base of the spinal column.The word sacrum, incidentally, comes from the

Latin sacer, sacred, which is an intriguing crossreference to the seat of the kundalini energy. Thispump mechanism creates the circulation of thecerebral spinal fluid which bathes the nervoussystem structures with nourishment, carries awaywaste and provides a cushion for these preciousorgans.

It is none other than the steady rhythmof inhalation and exhalation that causes thepumping of thecerebral spinal fluid

to occur. The subtlemotion of the breathrocks the sacrumand the temples ofthe skull gently and minutely, causing the flowto occur. The temples are actually two sides ofthe same bone which passes through the entirewidth of the skull.

The Huna tradition, which is preserved inthe Polynesian culture and familiar to us as thedoctrine of the Kahuna, the legendary masters

of the elements, uses the breath to accomplishmiracles and to move creation. The drawing in ofthe breath and thus the vital life force, is known tothem as mana.

The word mana means also to sacrifice,empower, revere, love and desire greatly. It alsorefers to authority, skill and capability. It is the rootfor the words truth, worship, ideas, meditation,confidence and time. It is mana which openscommunication between, and then integrates, theemotions, the intellect and the higher self. It is,

then, through the breath that the expression of lifeis begun, sustained, and refined.

Breathing More EfficientlyApproaching breathing from a more practical andphysical point of view, we find that our breathinghabits are generally less than efficient. Usually, thephysical act of breathing is taken completely forgranted. It is assumed that by virtue of the actionof the intake and exhalation of air the breathingis correct. Unfortunately, with time, tension, poorpostural habits and restrictive clothing, we lose thenatural breathing paerns that are spontaneousduring early childhood.

The breath should be taken in and let outefficiently. To do this we must use the entire lung.The lungs are fairly large and fill the chest all theway from the collarbones down to the boom ofthe rib cage.

If you place your hands over your chest and

breathe normally, you should feel the rise and fallof the chest. Usually, however, only the upper chestand shoulders move with the breathing. Insteadyou should feel the expansion and contractionover the entire chest, along the sides, and over aportion of the back. The fuller the expansion ofthe lungs, the correspondingly greater the amountof vital oxygen is taken in and the greater theamount of debris is removed from the lungs with

the exhalation. Thedeep, prolonged

inhalation of a yawnis the automaticresponse of thebody to the build-

up of carbon dioxide waste in the bloodstream,caused by shallow breathing.

Breathing also affects our visual acuity, asanyone holding the breath until he or she sees spotscan testify! It is also related to our emotional well-being. Our emotional state has an impact on ourbreathing rate and volume. Imagine for a moment

the quick, ragged breathing of anger. Obviouslyemotion affects breathing. Conversely, if you mimicthis or any other emotions breathing paern, youcan begin to create the physical and psychologicalchanges that occur with that emotion.

Breathing in a natural unrestricted manneris an important and easy means to improvemany facets of the physical, psychological andspiritual makeup of the human being. It is ourchoice to use this understanding to our fullestcapacity to improve our health, increase our

mental clarity, and structure our physical andemotional well-being.

The breath has long been associated inthe human mind as the life essence whichis drawn into us with our first breath.

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by Paul Goodall, FRC

HE EXTRACT BEING PRESENTEDbelow is from the eleventh libellus(treatise)

of the Corpus Hermeticum. It is part ofa discourse given to Hermes by Nous

(Mind). The underlying thrust of this body ofwriting concerns essentially identifying oneselfwith the experience of the ancient student, HermesTrismegistos, of whom these writings are namedaer, and thereby acquiring a certain gnosis or

experiential knowledge of the spirit.The goal of the Rosicrucian student in

aaining mastery of self aligns with this hermeticprocess and is embodied in the term know thyselfinscribed above the portal of the temple at Delphi inancient Greece. The selection below encapsulates,in part, essentially what is at the heart of theRosicrucian teachings; the practice of knowing God.To comprehend God fully, one must ultimatelybecome one with the Creator. This transformationof ones inner self or soul personality does not occur

overnight and will require several periods or liveson Earth in order to achieve illumination.

The important consideration for theRosicrucian student today, as in the past, is tounderstand thepotentialeach one of us has to aainthis mastery of life. Through the wisdom of Hermeswe understand that nousis the mind of God andthe mind of man is part of that. Consider also thateverything that exists is a thought within the mindof God. On the path of spiritual knowledge we arereborn to an inner conviction and understanding

of our relationship to God, and by the energy ofnouswe can come to that vision of original man inhis pristine state.

The natural world has long been regardedthroughout history as a Book(the Book of Nature)by which one could approach and apprehendGod. The extract below is an example of this andadopts the method of assumption by the power ofthe imagination to identity with the Cosmic. Theancients believed that like aracted like, and thisdefines the method given. To make it perfectly

clear to those who are embarking on the initiatorypath, this is not an instruction to become a veritable

Even so it is, my son, when a man is born again,it is no longer a body of three dimensions that he

perceives, but the incorporeal.(Hermes to Tat in LibellusXIII, Treatise on Rebirth)

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god among men. It is a method to be exercised inorder to approach God and bring one closer to theRosicrucian ideal of the mastery of self.

If then, you do not make yourself equal toGod, you cannot apprehend God; for like is knownby like. Leap clear of all that is corporeal [by usingyour imagination], and make yourself grow to alike expanse with that greatness which is beyond allmeasure; rise above all time, and become eternal; thenyou will apprehend God. Think that for you too nothingis impossible; deem that you too are immortal, andthat you are able to grasp all things in your thought,to know every cra and every science; find your homein the haunts of every living creature; make yourselfhigher than all heights, and lower than all depths;bring together in yourself all opposites of quality,heat and cold, dryness and fluidity; think that you are

everywhere at once, on land, at sea, in heaven; thinkthat you are not yet begoen, that you are in the womb,that you are young, that you are old, that you havedied, that you are in the world beyond the grave; graspin your thought all this at once, all times and places,all substances and qualities and magnitudes together;then you can apprehend God. But if you shut up yoursoul in your body [or fail to use your imagination],and abase yourself, and say I know nothing, I can donothing; I am afraid of earth and sea, I cannot mountto heaven; I know not what I was, nor what I shall be,

then, what have you to do with God? Your thought cangrasp nothing beautiful and good, if you cleave to thebody, and are evil.

For it is the height of evil not to know God; but tobe capable of knowing God, and to wish and hope to knowhim, is the road which leads straight to the Good; and it isan easy road to travel. Everywhere God will come to meetyou, everywhere he will appear to you, at places and timesat which you look not for it, in your waking hours andin your sleep, when you are journeying by water and byland, in the night-time and in the day-time, when you

are speaking and when you are silent; for there is nothingin which God is not. And do you say God is invisible?Speak not so. Who is more manifest than God? For thisvery purpose has he made all things, that through allthings you may see him. This is Gods goodness, thathe manifests himself through all things. Nothing isinvisible, not even an incorporeal thing; nous is seen inits thinking, and God in his working.

So far, thrice greatest one, I have shown you thetruth. Think out all else in like manner for yourself, andyou will not be misled.

(Libellus Xlii. 20b-22b. A discourse of Mind toHermes).

HERE ONCE WAS A MAN WHOdesired that his four sons would learnnot to judge things too quickly. So hedevised a scheme in which each was

sent on a quest to go and observe a pear tree thatwas a great distance away. The first son was sentin the winter, the second in the spring, the third insummer, and the youngest son in the autumn.

When they had all completed their task andreturned, he called them together to describe what

they had seen. The first son said that the tree wasugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said thiswas not so, since it was covered with green budsand full of promise. The third son disagreed; he saidit was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweetand looked so beautiful, it was the most gracefulthing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed withall of them; he said it was ripe and drooping withfruit, full of life and fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons thatthey were all right, because they had each seen

but only one season in the trees life. He told themthat you cannot judge a tree or a person by onlyone season, and that the essence of who they areand the pleasure, joy and love that come from thatlife, can only be measured at the end, when all theseasons are up.

If you give up when its winter, you willmiss the promise of your spring, the beauty of yoursummer, fulfilment of your autumn. Dont let thepain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest anddont judge life by one difficult season. Persevere

through the difficult patches and beer times aresure to come some time or later.

Lessons of LifeAnonymous

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N THE SOUTH OF PRESENT-DAYMexico lies the state of Oaxaca. It is arugged landscape featuring the mountains

of the Sierra Madre with its forests anddeep valleys, long stretches of beach

bordering the Pacific Ocean and great expansesof savannah covered with scrub and cacti. It washome to some fieen native peoples and to two ofthe great pre-Columbian cultures: the Mixtecs andthe Zapotecs.

The Zapotecs were a people who consideredthemselves to be autochthonous or indigenous tothis land, as did the people of ancient Athens tothe site of their city. As far as we can tell from theirancient language they may well be right, unlike theAztecs and Incas who were relative newcomers.

Their histories related the story of their migrationto where the Spaniards found them. However, as

far as archaeological evidence is concerned, theZapotecs have always lived where they do today.

The Shape of the CosmosThe Zapotec language has been divided into the

Sierra, Isthmus and Valley dialects. When theSpaniards arrived in the 16th century, the ValleyZapotecs called themselves peni-zaa while theIsthmus Zapotecs referred to themselves as binni-za: the Cloud People, zaa or za referring to theancestral clouds.

When the Spaniards encountered and thenconquered these people, they discovered an aspectof Zapotec religious belief that they found difficultto understand or translate into their own worldview. This was the belief in an all-pervading essence.

This vital life force was called pe (pronouncedpeh-eh)orbi: the sacred wind, air, breath or spirit

The countries now known as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize,

Honduras and El Salvador, comprise the region knownas Mesoamerica. This was once a great centre of worldcivilisation, on a par with Egypt, Mesopotamia and China.

by Bill Anderson, FRC

Monte Alban

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that filled living things and madethem live and move.

The great natural forces ofwind, clouds, lightning, fire andearthquakes commanded respectbecause they too hadpe. The cloudswere regarded as beings from whichthe Zapotecs had descended, andto which their deified ancestorsthe penigolazaa or binnigolaza (oldpeople of the clouds) would returnaer death.

Although the Spaniardsbelieved the Zapotecs worshipped amultitude of gods, this was not true.The modern view of Zapotec religionis that all of what were referred to

as deities are only manifestations oremanations of one great wholeness,one god manifesting in differentforms. An analogy to this would bethe teachings of the temple of Ra atHeliopolis in ancient Egypt where itwas taught that all gods were emanations of Ra.What the Spaniards thought were Zapotec godswere either natural forces or deified ancestors.

The deified royal ancestors lived in theclouds and acted as intermediaries to the lightning,

other supernaturals and the supreme god. Theybelieved in a supreme being without beginning orend, who was so infinite and incorporeal that no

images were ever made of him.An important aspect of Zapotecreligion was ancestor worship,and images of venerated deceasedrulers or coquwere assumed by theSpaniards to be Zapotec gods.

There was another wordthat the Spaniards came across:pito, the great and sacred life forcewithin each living thing. When theZapotecs addressed the Great Spirit,of which lightning was a visiblemanifestation, they called it pitococo, the Great Spirit or inner lifewithin the lightning.

Their temples were calledyohopeor yoobi, houses of pe, the

life force. Each was a two-roomedstructure built on a pyramidalplatform and manned by full-timepriests. There was an outer pronaoswith columns and an inner naos orsacred room where no layperson

ever went. The high priest or uija-to meaninggreat seer (the same title incidentally as the highpriest of Ra) went to meditate and to communewith the Great Spirit in this innermost room ofthe temple. He was treated with great respect by

the hereditary Zapotec lords as he was closelyconnected with the supernatural. Ordinary priestswere called copa pito or guardians of the GreatSpirit. Direct contact with the laity was throughthe bigaaorpixana, trainee priests.

They believed that the universe was dividedinto four great world quarters, each associatedwith a particular colour, and a fih for the centre;a world axis also featured in their belief. They hada fourfold division of the 260-day ritual calendarcalled the piye, its sound suggesting that it too

had pe, since its ritual or sacred time was aliveand moved. Each quarter of the sacred year wastermed a coco(lightning) orpito(great breath orspirit) consisting of 65 days each and divided into5 units of 13 days called cocii. The day (ch) had itsown number or name as well as its own fortune,benevolent or malevolent.

The White MountainThe Zapotecs also had sacred mountains, cavesand certain sacred cities such as Mitla, although

the great ceremonial centre at Monte Albn seemsto have been their most holy city.

The face that combines lightening

and earthquake, Xoo-Coco.

Zapotec Calendar.

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The city of Oaxaca lies almostexactly in the centre of the state, ina valley luxuriant with subtropicalvegetation. Four miles or six kilometreswest of the state capital, at the confluenceof three valleys, a small 1,300 foot (400metre) mountain rises above the floor ofthe Oaxaca valley. Here was built a cityand ceremonial centre now known byits Spanish name of Monte Albn: theWhite Mountain. At its greatest extent, itcovered some 15 square miles or 40 squarekilometres. The top of the mountain waslevelled to create a platform for pyramids,temples and palaces. The ruins areincredibly impressive and majestic. Thecity was founded around 800 BCE, but

the golden age of Zapotec civilisation was between200 and 700 CE when it became involved with thegreat regional power of Teotihuacan, near MexicoCity, the greatest city ever built in pre-ColumbianMexico. We think Monte Albns original name wasya to pecheor Hill of one Jaguar, which was probablythe name of the founder of the city. It is also believedthat three rival cities joined together to create thisnew complex at the apex of the mountain whichcommanded sweeping views over all three armsof the valley, and guarded the whole of the central

valley of Oaxaca.

The Zapotecs were a stone-age societywho built beautiful cities. From the little weknow of their religious beliefs, they had a highlysophisticated world-view demonstrating that theirmental capacity, creativity and ingenuity was asgreat as our best today and, as we can see, theywere able to postulate paradigms that we still usetoday in the 21stcentury.

And this often makes me wonder if arevision of our concepts of so-called primitivepeoples from ancient times is not long overdue.

Zapotec Language Groups.

Ithink our search is somewhat encumbered by ourconcept of God. God as a final term is a personality

in our tradition, so that breaking past that personalityinto the transpersonal, whether within ones self or inconceiving of the form beyond forms although one canteven say form is blocked by our orthodox training. Thisis so drummed into us that the word God refers to apersonality. Now, there have been very important mysticswho have broken past that. For instance, there is MeisterEckhart, whose line I like to quote: The ultimate leave-taking is the leaving of God for God.

by Joseph Campbell

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by William Hand, FRC

Part 3

In this article we continue our exploration of aspects of mysticismfrom a scientific perspective by taking a look at String Theory and

its awesome implications for both science and mysticism.

N PARTS 1 AND 2 OF THIS SERIES Iexplained that science was concerned

with observing the world around us andthen developing ideas and theories that

would explain how things worked. The theorieswould then be tested experimentally to see if theyprovided valid and robust explanations. However,

String Theory cannot be tested experimentally, atleast not for a very long time. The theory belongs to

a branch of science called Theoretical Physics. It ishighly mathematical but also elegant and beautifulwith underlying principles that are both simple andyet profound in their implications. Although StringTheory cannot be verified directly by observationand experiment, the predictions of the theory canand are being verified and there has been no finding

to date that invalidates the theory. This is extremelyencouraging and is very good science. My aim in

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writing this article is to introduce the theory ina non-mathematical way and then later to go onto see how it fits in with common experiences inmysticism.

The Incredible Shrinking ManThis is the title of a film that I first saw in my youth.It is a science fiction story about a man who takesa substance that enables him to shrink down toincreasingly smaller sizes. The film shows himdoing bale with spiders, which of course werevery large compared to him, and then he shrinkseven more into the world of microbes and bacteria.This really set my imagination going and I beganto think of the meaning of infinity.

At university I studied pure mathematicsand was formally introduced to the idea of infinity.

Mathematically there are many different kinds ofinfinities, but, mostly, when we ponder over infinitywe oen think of the vastness of outer space andhow it goes on and on forever. However, the filminspired me to think the other way; what wouldhappen if I kept on geing smaller and smallerand when would it end? Mathematically the verysmall infinity and the very large infinity (Iuse those terms loosely) are identical. So can weconceive a model of the world where we can look atsmaller and smaller pieces of it ad infinitum? I found

this much harder to imagine and comprehend thanthinking of the infinite vastness of outer space.String Theory, though, offers a surprising answer.

String TheoryThe thinking behind String Theory was born in1970 but it had to wait until 1984 for it to becomeaccepted into mainstream physics. The main reasonfor acceptance was that it offered the excitingpossibility of uniting Quantum Physics, ParticlePhysics and Gravity in one grand unified theory of

everything. The possibility is still there, but as yetunrealised. However, the intricate and complicatedmathematics provide us with powerful tools forexploring the sub-atomic material universe andbeyond. It is this aspect that I would like to discusshere.

The basic tenet of String Theory is thateverything that exists comes about due to thevibrations of one-dimensional things and theirinteractions with each other. The things are calledstrings and theoretically are either open-ended or

closed loops. If you can think of a piece of coon asa string then that is a good analogy. However, the

strings are meant to be one-dimensional, i.e. theyhave no width just length, that is admiedly veryhard for us to visualise living in a three dimensionalworld. Another point is that the strings cannot bedivided, there is nothing smaller; that is it theend of the line.

So you cannot reach infinity by shrinkingsmaller and smaller; what will happen accordingto String Theory is that at some stage you willbecome pure vibration in a one-dimensional world!The theory says all that is owes its existence tothe energies generated by the vibrating strings atall frequencies. Certain combinations of vibrationswill lead to electrons while others will generatequarks, and yet more will be responsible for ourthought paerns and emotions. Some physicistsuse a musical analogy to explain that essentially all

that exists is really vibration singing in harmony.What a wonderful concurrence with mysticalthought over the centuries!

Other DimensionsStrings are theoretically extremely small in size, sosmall as to be totally unobservable; even photonsof light are much larger. Trying to see the stringswould be analogous to aempting to feel individualatoms with the tips of your fingers. However,the actions of the strings, i.e. their vibrations and

interactions, do produce physical particles andforces that we can detect, thus lending weight tothe theory. But strings also have another amazingproperty. It was discovered that in order for themathematical theory to hang together, the stringshad to vibrate in other dimensionsas well as in oureveryday three-dimensional world. Physicists arenot yet agreed on how many other dimensions arenecessary, but it is at least seven. Before we considerthe implications of this let us first gain a common

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But what is it like in the other dimensionsin which the strings vibrate?

understanding of what we mean by dimensions.First I would like to recommend that the

interested reader spend some time in readingFlatland, a novel by Edwin Abbot, and the modernsequel Flaerlandby Ian Stewart which both explainthe meaning of dimension in an amusing, yetthought provoking, way. But to continue: let us tryto imagine ourselves in a one-dimensional world,the world of strings. What would it be like? Wewould have length but no width or height. If wewere alive we might have two eyes, one at each endof the line. But what would our life be like? Otherinhabitants of the one-dimensional universe wouldbe strung out in a line with every onestaring into the same eye of their adjacentliving colleague forever. Nobody would beable to move from that position, since to

change position would mean moving intoanother dimension that does not exist (or at leastthe inhabitants of the one-dimensional world mightperceive that no other dimensions exist).

If we add another dimension for ourimaginary creatures to live in, then they can havelength and width but no depth. They can movearound each other and change position but notjump over each other. Another rather amusingconsequence is that their digestive and wastedisposal system would be totally different from

ours in that they could only have unconnectedopenings to their bodies. If they had two or moreopenings connected to each other like we do,mouth, anus, ears and nostrils, then they would besplit into two or more pieces. So it is having a thirddimension that has allowed our bodies to developas they have done.

But what is it like in the other dimensionsin which the strings vibrate? Nobody actuallyknows but scientists are now quite certain they arethere. It is not surprising that we know lile about

them since as far as our relatively large bodies areconcerned we exist in three dimensions and thatis it. At present there are two theories of what thehidden dimensions may be like. One theory is thatthe dimensions are extremely small and all curledup around each other into mathematical shapescalled Calabi-Yaushapes that look like small balls.The mathematical properties of these spheres helpto explain many predictions of String Theory.

The other theoretical concept is that thedimensions are very large and that our three-

dimensional universe is a subset of the otherdimensions that are called branes. This is perhaps

easier to visualise. For example, lets return toour imaginary two dimensional universe calledFlatland and imagine a balloon existing in our threedimensional world. Of course we all know whata balloon looks like, but how would it appear toour Flatland creatures? Well, it would look like aflat disc; if the balloon was moving down towardsthem the disc would merely appear to get biggerand then smaller as the balloon moves up and away.Naturally the concepts of down towards and upand away would be unfamiliar to the Flatlandcreatures since all they would perceive would bea disc geing larger or smaller. Furthermore, they

would only be able to view this disc edge on andwould probably use difference in reflected lightintensity to infer its shape.

This illustration makes it easier to considerthat everyday objects so familiar to us could inactuality be very different since we are not awareof the other dimensions in which they exist. Iintroduced this concept of actuality and realityin Part 1 when we discussed Quantum Physics andso you can at least gain now an intuitive idea of

some of the relationships between String Theoryand Quantum Physics without resorting to verycomplicated mathematics.

Implications of String TheoryNow we have a beer understanding of dimensionlet us go back to the strings in String Theory. Weknow that they are so small as to be unobservableand are one-dimensional. Remember also that theyare vibrating at all conceivable frequencies. Thesevibrations make up all the primary constituents of

our three-dimensional world through their manyand varied interactions. However, they also vibratein other unseen dimensions be they be very largeor very small. If we consider all of the strings inthe universe we can see that they behave in thesame way that System Theory predicts, which Iintroduced in Part 2 of this series. This means thatthe vibrations of the strings provide the energyand the interactions provide the information. Thestrings are thus a systemcomprising informationand energy.

We also learned in Part 2 that information isnever lost but is stored in the system. We can thus

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postulate that the storehouse of the informationlies in the unseen dimensions. How can we cometo this startling conclusion? Let us try a thoughtexperiment. Suppose we take a real world objectlike a pebble and suppose that we smash this pebbleinto its component parts of electrons, quarks andother tiny particles. What would happen? Clearlythey would disassociate due to the physical bondsbeing broken and the pebble would be no more.However, the strings would still be vibratingand in the unseen dimensions they would still bevibrating together to form the image of a pebble inthose dimensions. In other words the informationto make a real world pebble would still be there,but in the unseen dimensions. Is this a psychic pebble?If this is true then the implication is that the hiddendimensions have a major role to play in our lives.

With that somewhat controversial thought I wouldlike to conclude this article.

In Part 4 we will begin to look at specificmystical topics and explore how the findings ofmodern science, particularly Quantum Physics,Systems Theory and String Theory, can enhanceour understanding and inner experiences.

BibliographyFlatland A romance of many dimensions,by Edwin A.

Abbot (1884). ISBN 0-486-27263-X.

Flaerland Like Flatland only more so,by Ian Stewart

(2001). ISBN 0-333-78312-3.

Rosicrucian Beacon, September and December 2004

issues.

The Elegant Universe,by Brian Greene (1999). ISBN 0-

099-28992-X.

The Universe in a nutshell,by Stephen Hawking (2001).ISBN 0-593-04815-6.

God and I in space aloneand nobody else in view

And where are all the people,Oh Lord, I said,the earth below

and the sky overheadand the dead that I once knew?

That was a dream, God smiledand said: The dream that seemed to

be true; there were no peopleliving or dead; there was no earth

and sky overhead,there was only myself in you.

Why do I feel no fear? I asked,Meeting you here in this way.For I have sinned, I know full well

and is there heaven and is there hell,and is this Judgement Day?

Nay those were but dreams, the great God said,dreams that have ceased to be.

There are no such things as fear and sin;there is no you for you have never been.

There is nothing at all but me.

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, SRC

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T ALL BEGAN WHEN I READ ANaccount of rejuvenation with the use of a

certain hormone. I was 71 years old atthe time. Thats very good, I mused, but

shouldnt I be able to rejuvenate myself by thepower of thought? I had already successfully curedmyself of arthritis, although a specialist had toldme I was a hopeless case.

High blood pressure, too, I had conqueredand various smaller ailments. I believed this powerlimitless, and if I could control my thoughts, keepto a simple diet, and use common sense regardingthe needs of the body, I would discover perfect

health with a long life. My method consisted ofknowing fully what I wanted to do, whether it wasto cure some ailment or to travel to a certain partof the world.

I would then sele down to visualizingmyself as cured or as arriving in the desiredcountry. This would be followed by twoaffirmations which were: Do not allow anyshadow of doubt to enter my mind, and affirmtwice daily while visualizing the subject that mythoughts will draw this thing to me.

This idea of rejuvenation, however, certainlyappeared a tough proposition and as difficultas anything I had undertaken. Having lived justover my three score years and ten, I found myface marked with countless lines. My neck waseven worse. I wore glasses for reading, typing,and sewing and had done so for thirty years withregular trips to the opticians for stronger glasses.

Well, I said to myself in the mirror,youll be accomplishing a miracle if you succeedeven a tiny bit in altering what you are looking at

now. Every day before starting my rejuvenationtreatment I took several deep breaths, holding

each about ten seconds, and released them slowly.I could feel power coursing all through my bodylike an electric current.

I decided first to get my full sight back soI could read, write, and type without glasses. Ifound more than one book containing simple eyeexercises to tone up the muscles around the eyes,and various hints as to diet. I combined these with

my thought procedure.I had been doing these exercises two or three

times a day for four months when I happened tofind myself without glasses walking in the localwood close to where I was living. I had intendedto read the newspaper and thought this would be agood moment for a test. I sat down, held the paperin front of me, and found to my joyful astonishmentthat I could read. The finer print was not possible,but the main part of the paper was clear and I readit easily. I continued the exercises with greater

persistence, and now a year and a half later, I canthread a needle, read fine print, and type by dayor night. I have put my glasses away and neveruse them.

At the same time, I continued giving ordersto my body to refuse all ideas of old age. I found, forexample, that I could stop symptoms of high bloodpressure such as palpitation and nervous tension byaltering the rate of my breathing. Instead of takingquick short breaths, I changed to long slow ones.This practised three times a day and oen at night

completely cured the symptoms.I began to feel more youthful. My limbs

became suppler, my skin tighter all over my body,and I walked with a swinging stride, forming thehabit of keeping my back straight and my headhigh. Whenever I thought of it during the day, Iwould say to myself, I am young, and as the yearsgo on I shall get younger instead of older.

There are other qualities that reinforce thethought process such as being happy, patient andoptimistic. If you can successfully combine all

these, you too will work wonders. I am happy tosay goodbye to old age.

by Beatrice Russell, SRC

GoodGoodbye to Old Age

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by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, FRC

Dr. Lewis muses upon, and voiceshis admiration and wonderment,

surrounding the human condition andthe mystery of life.

Life andits Mystery

FTEN WHEN IN CONVERSATIONwith persons who are strangers to our

organisation we notice a sort of cynicalexpression come upon their faces when we say thatthe Rosicrucian Order is principally interested instudying the mysteries of life. Occasionally thesepeople will frankly state that such purposes seemrather unimportant and immaterial because theypersonally have not found that life contains anygreat mysteries, except perhaps the mystery of birthand of death. It has also been argued by those whohave no real interest in the serious purposes of lifethat we merely live a game of chance and that the

only mysteries found are those which we makeout of nothing.

The two greatest mysteries in life, of course,are those that constitute the beginning and the so-called end of our earthly existence. The mysteryof cell conception, growth and development intoa living form is not only a biological enigma but acosmological and universal one. The separation ofconsciousness and soul from the body at transitionis an astounding mystery when one comes face toface with it. But between these two great mysteries

are thousands of others that should occupy theaention of our minds with the same degree of

intensity, devotion and universal comprehensionas do these two great puzzles of life.

While scientists have tried to find the causeof so-called death and millions have devoted theirtime to ways and means of preventing the untimelyor seemingly unnecessary separation of soul andbody, comparatively few have given much thought

to the other mysteries that are so closely relatedto the active, living, vital hours of our lives thatrepresent the span between birth and transition.

ThoughtThe mystery of thought is one which, by analysis,startlingly evasive and complex. I cannot curb thesense of admiration and wonderment that comesto me while I am dictating these words and ponderover the idea that a thought can be instantly formedin my mind, and before I have a chance to analyse

it my lips have spoken it and produced soundswhich enable a secretary to write on a page of papercertain strokes which represent the sounds shehas heard. I do not have to pause and deliberatelyform my words and think of them separately andindependently, nor does she have to stop andanalyse the sounds she hears and think long abouttheir nature and the form in which they should beexpressed with marks by her pencil.

The whole process seems to be instantaneous.The moment a thought comes to my mind the

words have spoken it, and I seem to listen to myselfstating the things that my mind contains before I

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have a chance to realise that they are in my mind.It is a marvellous process and truly beyond humancomprehension.

And then I want to reach for my pen. Nosooner does the thought begin to form in my mindthan my hand reaches out and grasps the pen. Thethought directs the mind and the mind directsan energy; an energy that flows properly andintelligently into certain muscles and causes themto act and my heavy arm is moved through spaceand my fingers formed and shaped into a certainposition to grasp the pen and then move the pentoward me again. To build a piece of machineryto do what my arm and hand do, would requirethousands of pieces of delicate apparatus, wheels,springs, levers, rods and many jointed pieces ofmechanism of a very delicate nature. It would also

require a superior energy that would be able toexert itself instantly and with full force, if necessary,and all of these things must be done intelligently.

It follows that the energy would have tobe directed with some mechanical intelligencebeyond mans ability to create. The most marvellousinvention in the world would be a mechanical armacting on impulse or thought urge, as does my arm.Yet we possess that and many other forms of abilitythat we use hourly and daily without consideringthe means by which they are performed.

Inner NatureThe mystery of seeing and, through the sightimpressions, understanding and realising, is anothergreat mystery that is appreciated onlyby those who live in eternal darkness.The ability to hear and interpretsounds, the sense of smell and touch,are too great for mere laboratoryexplanations. The mysteries of love and of anger,hate, envy, jealousy, and other emotions are ones

which have puzzled psychologists, psychoanalysts,and others even when our organs themselves donot inspire consideration.

The mystery of the mind and its controlof the body are astonishing. The fact that I canmerely create the thought of rising from my chairand instantly have the mind create and directthroughout my system an invisible energy that willli my heavy body upward is a mystery that themystic and the student of lifes great secrets willalways look upon as worthy of his utmost aention

and consideration.Restless, we are ever seeking for mysteries and

unsolved manifestations of invisible intelligence.We create and invent devices that will take usto the boom of the sea where we may discoversomething about the unknown depths of the greatbodies of water. We devise and create machines thatwill take us to great heights so that we may exploremysteries of the Cosmic.

The Outer WorldWe invent other devices that will carry us intothe rarefied air that we may aempt to discoverthe mystery of the suns radiations, the cosmicvibrations, and the invisible rays that produce somany strange effects upon our earth. We delveinto the bowels of the earth and spend hours, daysand months in winding passages to find the key tothe mystery of the earths wealth and its mineral

composition.While thousands of minds are greatly

concerned with the mystery of the planets and thestrange conditions surrounding them, such menand the majority of us take lightly the great fieldsfor exploration that lie within our beings.

To explore the human mind, to visit inwardlythe human soul, and to make the utmost of theopportunities which might be revealed by astudy of mans own nature seem to be set aside asunimportant and unworthy of the great aention

that is given to other maers. More aention, morediscussion, and more concern are felt in scientificcircles about the rings that accompany the planetSaturn in its movements through the space of

the universe than are given to the here-and-nowproblems of our own inner existence.

It is only when we turn the searchlight ofinquiry inward and aempt to know ourselves asthe great mystery of all mysteries that we come tounderstand God and the rest of the universe and atthe same time become a true worker for the greatergood of the Cosmic.

To know ones self is to know ones heritageand ones power. This is why we, as Rosicrucians,feel that the subjects of our studies are worthyof all the time and devotion we give to themand that they will lead us to greater power and

greater glory than the secondary studies andinvestigations of astral mysteries.

It is only when we turn the searchlight of inquiryinward that we come to understand God and theuniverse and become a true worker for good.

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EVERAL CENTURIES AGO IN Aprosperous German town there lived a

family with eighteen children. To keepfood on the table for this large family,

the father and head of the household who was anunimportant goldsmith, worked eighteen hoursa day at his trade and any other paying chore hecould find in the neighbourhood.

Despite the fact that life looked rather bleak,two of the older boys had a dream. They wantedto pursue their talent for art, but they knew thattheir father would never be financially able to sendboth of them to study as apprentices in town. Aer

many long discussions at night in their crowdedbed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. Theywould toss a coin and whichever one lost would godown into the nearby mines and with his earningsand support his brother whilst he was taught hisprofession. When that brother had completed hisstudies aer four years, he would support the otherin his learning with sales of his artwork.

So they tossed a coin one Sunday morningafter church. The eldest won the toss and wassent at the age of fieen to work and learn from

a well-known painter in the city. Meanwhile, theyounger brother went down into the dangerousmines and for the next four years financed hisbrothers studies.

Having served his apprenticeship the youngartist returned home and the family held a festivedinner to celebrate the completion of his training.Aer a long and memorable meal, punctuatedwith music and laughter, the older boy rose fromhis honoured position at the head of the table todrink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of

sacrifice that had enabled him to fulfil his ambition.His closing words were: And now, blessed brother

of mine, it is your turn. You will now go to pursue yourdream, and I will take care of you.

All heads turned in eager expectation to theother end of the table where the younger brothersat. Tears were streaming down his face. Shakinghis lowered head from side to side he sobbed andrepeated over and over No, no, no.

He wiped the tears from his cheeks as herose and glancing down the long table at the faceshe loved, he held his hands close to his right cheekand soly said: No, brother, I cannot pursue my dream.It is too late for me. Look what four years in the mineshave done to my hands. The bones in every finger havebeen smashed at least once, and lately I have beensuffering from arthritis so badly in my right handthat I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast,much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with

a pen or a brush. For me it is too late.More than 450 years have now passed. The

older boys hundreds of masterful portraits, penand silver-point sketches, watercolours, charcoals,woodcuts and copper engravings hang in everygreat museum in the world. Like most people,you are probably familiar with one in particular ofthese works. You may even have a reproduction ofit hanging in your home or office.

To pay homage to all that he had sacrificed,this famous artist had painstakingly drawn his

brothers abused hands with palms together andthin fingers stretched skyward. He called hispowerful drawing quite simply Hands, but theentire world almost immediately opened theirhearts to this great masterpiece and renamed histribute of love The Praying Hands.

PostscriptThis is a very touching story that would be mademore poignant if it had any basis in historical fact.The actual title of this picture is Hands of an Apostle

(1508) and is a highly finished preliminary study foran altarpiece commissioned by a wealthy Frankfurtmerchant and executed by Albrecht Drer, a well-known Northern Renaissance artist. Perhaps hemay have used his brothers hands as a basis forthis picture but there is no evidence to supportthis in the way that the story relates. However,the above story does make a marvellous parableand whatever its veracity, it serves at least as anillustration of the need we have of others and atbest of an individuals sacrifice for another without

material reward; a principle that lies at the heart ofthe Rosicrucian teachings.

by Affectator

ayingnds

PrayingHands

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HE WORD PRAYER IS COMMONLYenough used, but how many understandwhat it really means, what it really entailsand what universal laws come into play

when we enter into true prayer? We all have ourthoughts about prayer and think we know whatwe mean by it. But lets face it, for many, prayeris undoubtedly little more than a miming ofprocedures and formulas that have been taught bypeers and perceived role models. To be sure, suchformulas have their place and definitely can lead

to true states of prayer; but in the majority of cases,they are mere empty incantations, devoid of truefeeling and sincerity. As such therefore, they canhave no efficacy at all.

Most people, if they were perfectly honestwith themselves, would no doubt admit that theydo believe, in their most private moments, thatthere is something out there that exceeds thehighest concept of good and sanctity that they canconceive. For the majority, this concept takes mentalform and is referred to simply as God. Not a

god, but the God. And by definition therefore,this God must be the God of the Jews, the God ofall Muslims, the God of

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