VPlea for Peace

md Disarmament
Kill East aiul West
mite religion with
science?
V A V
fow Sand
^reserves Flowers
An artistic adventure.
V A V
The Hidden
Redeemer
Anew viewpoint
on resurrection.
V A V
^aztcvUtiy:
Mysticism
Science
The Arts
V A V
Ttext
Cycles and
Vibrations
V A V
The Cosmic Age
ROSICRUCIAN
DIGEST
1959
JULY
35$ per copy
The ancients attributed directly to divine source everything which
to the human senses seemed perfectthe perfume of flowers, the sweet
smelling early morning air, the tang of the sea, the mysterious scent of
strange herbs. These pleasing odors were associated with the divine
being of the gods. Even the soul was thought to have a fragrance of its
own far superior to anything else which man could ever smell. In the
sacred temples, herbalists would mix secret potions and compound race
incenses which were thought to approach the divine fragrance of the soul.
It was believed that an inhalation of the scented fumes would lift the
soul to greater heights. It is known that rare incenses will aid in pro
ducing harmony of the senses, and for this reason, the Rosicrucians have
had especially prepared an incense that is soothing and most helpful for
meditation purposes.
min i mu m o r d er
Two Boxes of
12 Cubes Each
$1.15
This item available to Ster
ling members through the
London Rosicrucian Supply
Bureau, 25 Garrick St., Lon
don, W.C. 2, Eng. Price, one
box of 12 cubes, 5/- sterling.
Rosicrucian incense is of India Moss Rose scent. It is long-burning
half a brickette is sufficient for the average sanctum period.
R O S I C R U C I A N S U P P L Y BUREA U
(EACH MONTH THIS PAGE IS DEVOTED TO THE EXHIBITION OF STUDENT SUPPLIES.)
DR. H. SPENCER LEWIS
The first Imperator of AMORC in its present cycle, the person who laid the foundation for
the Rosicrucian Orders current world-wide activities. Dr. Lewis passed through transition
August 2, 1939. The anniversary of his transition is commemorated in Rosicrucian Park, San
Jose, with a special ceremony. For details see page 247.
What Strange
Cosmic Power
Influences Humans?
B y What Right does man presume that he is the
chosen being of the universe and that the earth alone
shapes his existence? In the infinite spaces above, tenanted
by vast and magnificent worlds, are Cosmic forces which in
fluence the life of every mortal. As iron filings respond to the
attraction of a magnet, so too your acts are the result of an
impelling influence upon your will. Just as the unseen Cosmic
rays give the earth form and substance, so too from the infinite
reaches, an invisible subtle energy affects the thought processes
of every human. Life itself bows to this strange universal force-
why, then, should YOU not understand and COMMAND IT?
You are like a pendulum either to be swung forward to happiness
and the fulfillment of your dreams, or backward into discour
agement and disillusionment. Why remain poised in a state of
anxiety, uncertainty, and anticipation? Learn to draw to your
self these Cosmic forces which will give your mind the creative
impetus that will assure the end in life you seek.
FOR YOU - THIS FREE BOOK
<f Not for the curious nor the skeptical, but for the modern
man and woman, the Rosicrucians, a progressive movement
of thinking persons, offer a free book, telling how you
may acquire the truth about these phenomenal Cosmic
powers, little understood today, and which make for
freedom and attainment in life. This is t he Day and
Age of Mast er y. Throw off the age-old custom of
let life be as it mayand learn to create it as
you wish it.
The ROSI CRUCI ANS
( AMORC)
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
USE THIS GIFT COUPON
Scr ibe S. P. C.
The Kosirrucians (AMOUC)
Kosicrucian Park, San Jose, California
Please send me without obligation the
free kook, which tells how I may obtain
the unusual facts about the Cosmic
forces which affect my life.
The Rosicrucians are I\OT a Religious Organization
ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST
COVERS THE WORLD
T 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
Vol . XXXVII JULY, 1959 No. 7
Dr. H. Spencer Lewis (Frontispiece) ............-........................................ .................... 241
Thought of the Mont h: Occult F antasia................. . ......... 244
In Memori am 247
Creat i ng in t he Cosmic ............. .................................... 248
The Hi gher Gl impse 251
Early Rosicrucian Mani f estoes ... .......................................................... 253
New Dimensions for Consciousness 256
Cat hedr al Cont act s: Appreciation of Quality ....... 260
The Hi dden Redeemer 262
Eyesight f or Your Job 267
Temple Echoes 268
Let t er Wr i t i ng, An A r t 270
A Plea f or Peace and Di sarmament .......................271
How Sand Preserves Flowers 274
Across the Gol den Horn (Illustration) ........... ............... ................................ ........ 277
Symbol of Folly (Illustration) ................................................................................... 278
Subscription to the Rosicrucian Digest, $3.00 (1/2- sterling) per year. Single copies
35 cents (2/6 sterling).
Entered as Second-Class Matter at the Post Office of San J ose, C alifornia, under Section
1103 of the U. S. Postal Act of Oct. 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
its officers unless stated to be official communications.
Published Mont hl y by the Supreme Counci l of
Rosicrucian Park THE ROSICRUCIAN ORDER A MORC San Jose, Cal i f or ni a
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 spiritual
laws. The purpose of the organization is to enable all to live in harmony with the creative, con
structive Cosmic forces for the attainment of health, happiness, and peace. The Order is inter
nationally known as "AMORC" (an abbreviation), and the A.M.O.R.C. in America and all other
lands constitutes the only form of Rosicrucian activities united in one body. The A.M.O.R.C. does
not sell its teachings. It gives them freely to affiliated members together with many other benefits.
For complete information about the benefits and advantages of Rosicrucian association, write a
letter to the address below, and ask for the free book. The Mastery of Rife. Address Scribe
S. P. C., Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, San Jose, California, U. S. A. (Cable Address: "AMORCO)
Copyright, 1959, by the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, Inc. All rights reserved.
n o r t h o d o x thinking has
often been a crusader for
progress. It has led the
human mind into chan
nels of inquiry, out of
which emerged revolu
tionary changes that have
advanced mankind. The
unorthodox thinker, by
lis new and often radical concepts,
shakes other men out of their lethargy.
The new views cast shadows on the tra
ditional ideas of men.
Man likes to feel secure in his mental
life. He wants to believe that he is right.
The ideas he has may not be original
with him. Most likely they are an in
heritance from the society of which he
is a partor school, church and family.
To intimate that they are false, to de
lineate the weakness of beliefs long ac
cepted. is a blow to the ego. The natural
reaction is to be indignant and to rise
in defense of the cherished concept. This
commonly results in the attempt to de
mean the integrity of the unorthodox
thinker. He is called a crackpot or per
haps a fool.
Frequently these imprecations are
hurled by those who could and should
know better. Often such unjustified
criticism is by educated persons. They,
for various reasons, pride, indolence, or
economic involvement, do not want to
admit their erroneous thinking and be
liefs. The public, at large which looks
The to this cultured class for the accepted
Rosicrucian knowledge of the day takes up tl.e
cudgels or ridicule and further harasses
Digest the unorthodox thinker.
July Just recently a news item appeared in
J959 the press in London, England which
confirms this intellectual persecution of
the progressive thinker, the one ahead
of his time. It concerned the shocking
treatment of Oliver Heaviside who died
in 1925 in a state of abject poverty.
Heaviside is now recognized as one of
the greatest physicists and electrical en
gineers the w'orld has known. His con
tribution to radio and to the knowdedge
of the transmission of high-frequency
waves, which also makes television pos
sible, has been tremendous. The elec
trical field or belt above the earth which
makes possible the transmission of high-
frequency waves around the earth has
now been named for him. It is called
the Heaviside layer.
Had Heavisides numerous other pos
tulations, though radical, been accepted
in his time, they would have advanced
our knowdedge of physical phenomena.
They were departures, however, from
the obsolete but comforting theories
which men wanted to believe. As a re
sult, Heaviside wras laughed at by a
populace which took its cue from the
verbal chastisement he received at the
time from staid academic circles. Deeply
hurt, he became a recluse in an attic-
starving, experimenting, and writing
his now famous equations on scraps of
wrapping paper and the backs of unpaid
bills. These remarkable papers were re
cently discovered beneath the floor in
his attic quarters. The Royal Society of
England, a learned body, has now as
signed a foremost scientist and mathe
matician to a deciphering of the hand
writing, much of which is almost in
distinct. These writings reveal the
genius of this unorthodox thinker.
There is, however, another side to un-
orthodox thinking. It is the negative
sidethe principal cause of public
derision and a sardonic attitude to
ward those who diverge from accepted
thought. This latter kind of unorthodox
thinking is not only unable to confirm
in fact what it expounds but even its
presentation is not soimd. After all, it
is one thing to be ridiculed because oth
ers do not wish to accept new ideas or
even to investigate their cogency. It is
still another to be ridiculed, because
what you say or do, when it is fairly
and intelligently examined, can be
proved to be groundless and absurd.
Metaphysics and mysticism in the
popular mind are thought at least to be
a kind of eccentric religious belief and
practice. Patently, such a generaliza
tion is mainly the consequence of the
ignorance of the majority of people as
to the nature of either of these subjects.
The average person carrying such a no
tion of these fields of thought has never
read an authoritative text or recognized
philosophical works explaining them.
He is not even aware that the subject of
metaphysics, in its essence, its pure
form, is not directly related to religion.
Metaphysics concerns the nature of first
causes and speculates on the subject of
ontology, the nature of being; episte
mology or the theory of knowledge;
psychology or the nature of mind. In
fact, metaphysics inspired the empirical
investigation of these realms of thought,
eventually evolving them into the
formal sciences which now embrace
them.
Mysticism has been erroneously as
sociated with the mysterious and weird.
Actually, the origin of the word has
naught to do with such. In brief it is
the method by which an individual
seeks an intimate union with the Abso
lute, God or the Divine, whichever term
the believer identifies 'with the Supreme
Mind or Being. Every individual who
prays, for example, regardless of his
religious belief or affiliation, is resorting
to mysticism, that is, an intimate com
munion with a divine representation or
source. There is no established formal
religion today which is devoid of the
element of mysticism. Therefore, to
speak of mysticism in a derogatory
sense is really to demean an essential
aspect of religions which are respected
and practiced by the masses of the
people.
The confusion about mysticism, meta
physics, and esoteric philosophy gen
erally in the public mind is the
consequence of inane, superstitious, and
irrational acts done in its name by a
conspicuous minority. It takes only
one bad apple in the barrel, etc., to
do untold harm to worthy but unortho
dox subjects and channels of thought.
A few examples of such incidents will
show the disservice which such people
do by their fantasia. An individual will
conceive that she is under the personal
direction of a disembodied spiritual or
Cosmic master. This master is an in
telligence which she thinks of as nearly
or quite God-like. This master is thought
to function more or less as the genie
in the tale of Aladdin and his magic
lamp. Whatever the believer desires,
she turns to this unseen ethereal master
to materialize or acquire at her bidding.
Psychologically, this provides such an
individual with a sense of vicarious self-
sufficiency. What she cannot do for
herself or will not do, she expects is be
ing done, or will be, by the master.
The individual is thus relieved of re
sponsibility in personally confronting
reality in life and exerting the effort of
mastering it. There is even the habit of
shifting the responsibility for ones own
mistakes and negligence to the masters
will. In other words, what transpires
that may be adverse is believed to be
because the master desired it to be so.
Conversely, what one experiences as
beneficial is also thought to be of this
masters will. Gradually the individual
allows the fantasies which her mind has
established to be the guide in her daily
life.
It is but one step from this thinking
to the abominable practice of automatic
writing. This type of writing is either
done with a planchette (Ouija board) or
with just a paper and pencil. The victim
begins writing what she imagines is the
personal dictation of the master. It al
ways seems quite involuntary. The
hand and arm in a series of movements
seems to write without personal direc
tion or effort. However, the phraseology
is exactly what is in the individuals
own subconscious mind. Actually what
the etherealized master dictates to the
[246 J
self-deceived person is what the latter
either fears, hopes for or expects.
Since these so-called messages arise
out of the victims own subconscious,
they have disarming effects which such
an inexperienced practitioner does not
realize. First, the messages do not in
any way seem related to her own mind.
The particular ideas that come forth in
their combination or arrangement may
seem new, startling, in effect. They
are apparently quite unfamiliar in their
expression to what the victim has been
conscious of in her objective thinking.
All of this makes the communication
seem just that much more convincing.
Believing that these communications
are unimpeachable and coming from a
higher source, the individual indulges
in them more and more frequently. The
harmful effect is in the individuals
willing compliance with these uncon
trolled dictations arising from her own
mind. For further example, as a result
of a fear of an impending catastrophe
about to befall the world, because of
present-day turbulence, the individual
resorting to these practices may receive
a message from the master to flee to
the hills for safety. She and certain oth
ers, to whom she communicates her
ideas and who think likewise, will take
their worldly belongings to a nearby
hilltop with provisions to await the
worlds destruction.
While waiting in the hills, they again
indulge in receiving the masters direc
tion. By this time perhaps the messages
may no longer need the mechanics of
writing. In other words, they just free
ly flow at random from the subconscious
which by habit has now established a
channel for them. The master, they
now believe, tells them that they have
been selected to be preserved among men
so as to begin a new civilization. But,
on the other hand, they are also ad
vised that, if they will do thus and so
in the form of a rite or ceremony, while
waiting in the hills, perhaps the world
may be saved. In their blind faith, they
adhere to what is actually their own
thoughts and perform the rites they
have visualized. No catastrophe befalls
the world! These unfortunate persons
then come to believe that the rites which
they have performed have, as the mas
ter told them, saved the world from
perhaps a tidal wave or a great inunda
tion.
The lack of reasoning in all this is
evidenced by the adherence to ones own
fears and anxieties as well as misbeliefs.
A little serious thought would show
that, if the world were to experience a
deluge, as it is said to have once ex
perienced and is recorded in the writ
ings of many ancient peoples, those flee
ing to the adjacent hills would certainly
not be sole survivors because, after all,
there are millions of persons in the
world whose natural habitat is already
at a very high altitude as in the Hima
layas, Andes, the Alps or other moun
tain chains. They, too, would be spared,
even without knowledge of the mas
ters direction.
Further, what kind of master or di
vine being would select a few to survive
and allow millions of innocents, as chil
dren, to be sacrificed? Still further, if
the world were to meet such a calamity,
the few food supplies, which the refu-

ees take in their cars when they go to

le hills under the direction of the
master, would be inadequate to sus
tain them for any length of time espe
cially when most of the world, at least
in their area, would be inundated.
The really unfortunate part of any
such incident as the one related is
that these persons speak to others of
their beliefs and practices and in the
phraseology or in the direct name of
metaphysics, mysticism, and esoteric
philosophy. As a consequence, their
unorthodox thinking is then grouped
by the persons to wnom they speak in
the category of other worthy and ad
vanced thinking but which is also un
orthodox. As a result, many intelligent
but divergent concepts are not analyzed
for their real truth and merit and suffer
by wrong association with such irra
tional and fantastic notions.
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
V A V
Deep in the woods of South and Central America are many ruins of temples
so well preserved that even the Indians there today use them for their religious
ceremonies. From Smoke Signals, March-April 1959
[24]
3fo Jfflemortam
jA - s we study the lives of great men, those who really contributed
to the advancement and welfare of mankind, we discover that
they had many parallel qualities. In particular, their personali
ties, of course, varied, as aid certain of their interests and prefer
ences. Those elements, however, that were the contributing factors
to their success are remarkably alike. They exhibited a tremendous
tolerance toward racial and religious differences in their fellow
men.
What these men strove to accomplish was always a satisfaction
to their all-inclusive selves; that is, what they did was an imper
sonal venture. Their pleasure in creating existed in what the
thing was able to provide rather than in any personal glory or
remuneration that might follow from it. This fact is born out
in the great sacrifices that such men willingly made to attain
their idealssacrifices of their health, common enjoyments, time
spent with their families, and even of their own wealth. Further,
such contributors to human welfare displayed a seemingly all-
embracing intelligence. Though their minds were focused prin
cipally upon some particular goal, yet, like a great light it made
everything upon which it shone stand out in vivid clarity; their
intelligence gave realism to all it touched.
Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, first Imperator of the present Rosicrucian
cycle, was such a man. He understood men; both their strength
and weak points were comprehensible to him. He never displayed
hate or animosity toward his enemies who sought to thwart his
activities. He looked upon them as being unfortunate victims of
emotions and passions which at times rob men of their judgment
and of their greater powers and virtues. He invested this spirit and
understanding in his development of AMORC, in accordance with
the trust placed in him.
Dr. H. Spencer Lewis passed through transition, which he
always thought of as a HIGHER INITIATION, on August 2, at
3:15 p.m., in the year 1939. His earthly remains are interred
beneath a triangle in a shrine in Rosicrucian Park. The Shrine,
however, had been built years before in commemoration of an
initiation which he had conducted for several hundred Rosicru-
cians in Luxor, Egypt.
In accordance with what has now become a tradition, each
year on the anniversary of his transition, a brief ceremony in his
memory is held in Rosicrucian Park by officers of AMORC, with
members attending. Rosicrucian members everywhere are asked
to personally participate in this ceremony if possible. Others who
cannot be present at a gathering are asked to try to enter into
one minute of silent tribute to Dr. Lewis memory on that occa
sion. Please record the following on your calendar for the event:
Sunday, August 2, 4:15 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
(3:15 p.m. Pacific Standard Time)
[247]
Creating in the Cosmic
(From The Mystic Triangle, September 1923)
By Dr . H. Spen c er Lewis, F. R. C.
Since thousands of readers of the Rosicrucian Digest have not read many of the
articles by Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, first Imperator of the present Rosicrucian cycle, we adopted
the editorial policy of publishing each month one of his outstanding articles, so that his
thoughts would continue to reside within the pages of this publication.
s h o r t time ago this pos
sibility was impossible!
This epitomizes the vari
ous expressions heard in
the West at the conclu
sion of the air-mail tests
between Coast and Coast.
This reference could ap
ply to everything in gen
eral or to one of many present-day
accomplishments.
First of all, we find in the chosen text
the element of time. Time and its dura
tion is relative. When we speak of
national affairs as they pertain to the
development of civilization or the needs
of civilization, a hundred years is a
short period. When we speak of the
immediate needs of individuals compos
ing a nation, even ten years is long.
Each minute of our lives is fraught
with potency in the possibility of
change, for all things change, ever; and
change is the only permanent condition
of all things. We have lost a true ap
preciation of existence by giving it a
periodicity that it does not have. We
think of life in the terms of past, pres-
The ent, and future. Relative though these
Rosicrucian Per^0(^s they maintain in our objec
tive consciousness a divinity of assumed
power to consign all action, all thinking
and being, into domains that are either
past our control, within our immediate
[ 248]
Digest
July
1959
but changing supervision, or not yet
within the extension of our influence.
By this process of thinking, with its at
tendant premise for all action, we main
tain various domains wherein obstacles
may be fostered and thrive or be evolved
from false conceptions and grow to
giant size.
How often do we find the domain of
the past literally inhabited by multi
tudes obstructing our present progress?
Are these creatures any less cruel in
their assassination of our hopes and de
sires than the Brobdingnagians of the
kingdom of the future, who rise in all
their amplitudinous, Cyclopean bodies
and shout the success-killing refrain:
It cant be done, for the time has not
yet come.?
Surrounding us always is that still
greater army of malcontents and pilfer
ers of successespresent obstacles. What
barriers they build in our pathsfor
midable, unassailable, immovable! It is
fate! It is Karma! It is the unfair de
cree of an unjust god! It is proof that
we are mere pawns moved about by a
cruel law of nature!
With such an attitude, we resign our
selves to the situation that confronts us,
trusting weakly that something may
happen, but ready to accept the worst
conclusions as a fiat of his satanic
majesty.
Should we spend half an hour in
proper thought we would find that the
obstacles of the present are the van
guards of the army of future obstacles,
moving up in place to take the trenches
vacated by the obstacles that have
moved on into the army of the past.
Hour by hour the obstacles of the
future move stealthily forward into our
immediate environment, attack our am
bitions, thwart our plans, frustrate our
actions, fall victims of periodicity. Crip
pled and weakened, they unite with the
obstacles of the past and make way for
those of the present and future. It is a
dizzy pageant!
As we analyze this parade of pusil
lanimity, sneaking from a real nowhere
into the now under cover of time, blaz
ing the air with its conquering roar
while it arranges for its early departure
in the morning, we think of our child
hood days when we excitedly antici
pated the coming of the circusthat
wonderful thing that was somewhere off
in the future but slowly moving to
ward us.
Then came the great parade with stir
ring music and flying Dannersvictors
from other places here, now, to conquer
us! The lions roared, the tigers snarled,
the snakes spit at us, the wild cats dared
us to move closer! We trembled with
the excitement of at last realizing our
anticipations of a great day under the
big tent. The hour came and we found
ourselves spellbound! It was all as we
had visualized! Then morning came,
and we saw the wild animals quiet in
their cages, the performers divested of
their superb and impressive garments,
the whole mass of conquerors denuded
of their formidableness, slipping quietly
out of our presence to become alloca
tions of the past.
We have wondered, in later life, just
why we anticipated so much and could
not realize sooner that we were thrilled
and awed more by our creative imagina
tions than by our realizations.
The future is the present in the
making, the past is the present realized,
says an ancient proverb. But it is false,
untrue, enslaving!
Both the seeming past and future are
of the now! All that ever will be and
ever was is nowin Cosmic termsin
fact. In objective realization all things
assume a relationship in the terms of
space and time, but such realization is
not a Cosmically creative factor; it does
not make things have such relationship
in Cosmic reality.
False Conceptions
From another standpoint, we know
that the objective consciousness cannot
be cognizant of two manifestations at
the same time. We cannot both see and
listen with comprehension. We may
concentrate upon a picture and at the
same time believe we are listening to
assages of music. We find, however,
y careful analysis that we are chang
ing the focal point of our attention al
ternately between the picture and the
music, and at no time are conscious of
both. The alternation is rapid, so rapid
that we believe we have missed little
in the comprehension of either the pic
ture or the music.
If we enlarge the periods of alternate
concentration, as well as the breaks be
tween these periods, that may be illus
trated by a long line divided into alter
nate white, black, and red segments
the red representing the periods of reali
zation of the music, the white, of picture
realization, and the black, the periods
when the focus of attention was shifted.
As we look at such a line we see an
excellent representation of our false
conception of the relation of things. By
this line we would believe that the
periods of music and of the picture pre
ceded each other or followed each other
in time and duration and were not co
incident.
And in like manner we give false
relationship to all the things of life, in
terms of time especially. We pause to
think of that which seems to be in the
future, and at once it is of the present;
and before we can fairly realize and
appreciate this magic transportation, we
discover that it is now in the past.
We prove to ourselves that the past
is not distinct from the present when,
in retrospection, we live over again
with all the joy, all the keen mental and
psychic realization, some incidents of a
yesterday. Should we, however, believe
that such transportation of events, from
one relative ana assumed position to an
other, is only true in the case of retro
spection? Is there any reason to assume
[ 249]
that introspection is not just as pregnant
with life and realism?
I return again to my text. A short
time ago the possible was impossible!
Reverse the order and say, the impos
sible today will be possible tomorrow or
a short time from now! The obstacles
that surround us today, like those that
surrounded us a year ago, will pass
away and that which seems impossible
will become possible.
The point I wish to call to your at
tention is the false interpretation of
facts. The obstacles of the future are
the obstacles of today as they are of the
E
ast, and likewise the possibilities of the
iture are possibilities of today in Cos
mic verity.
When newspapers were filled with
reports of the success of the air-mail
service, I was reading incidents from
the life of Abraham Lincoln. On one
occasion he had sent an important com
munication to a place seventy-five miles
distant. Time was an element of im
portance. Hills, rivers, and land had to
be crossed. The messenger traveled this
seventy-five miles in about twenty-six
hours. Lincoln remarked that it was a
notable achievement and looked forward
to the day when obstructions to speedy
communication would be overcome.
If it had been suggested that a rider
be sent over such greater hindrances
as the Sierra Nevadas and Rocky Moun
tains for a distance of seventy-five miles
in twenty-six hours, the suggestion
would have been decried as impossible.
And now the newspapers state that
communication has been sent this day
(1923) from Coast to Coast, across ail
mountains and land, against all ob
stacles and for a distance of several
thousand miles in about twenty-six
hoursthe same time consumed by the
rider of the horse in going a distance of
seventy-five miles. The obstacles have
been overcome!
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
Thinking, planning, and determina
tion have enabled man to rise above the
obstacles, literally and figuratively. Sci
ence comes to the rescue; determination
gives wings to rise far above all things;
and the impossible of yesterday is pos
sible today.
We overcome obstacles not by wait
ing until the obstacles of tomorrow
assert themselves in the present, but by
[ 250]
eliminating all sense of timeby decree
ing in the now that what is desired
shall be made manifest without a con
sciousness of predicting or commanding
it for either present or future.
When Lincoln concentrated upon that
which prevented rapid communication
in the hour of need and conceived that
quicker means must be found, he there
and then set into operation the powers
of mind which at once overcame the
obstacles to such results. When the
Wright brothers first visualized man
flying in the air in a large machine
heavier than air, they then and there
destroyed an army of obstacles.
Truly, both Lincoln and one of the
Wright brothers passed on without see
ing the result oi their mental action.
Cosmically, where all things are at
tained first, the solution of the problem
of rapid communication was solved at
the moment of conception; in the physi
cal world with its limitation of space
and time, the results of the conception
had to wait their time to become mani
fest.
By crediting the physical world with
such relative qualities as space, time,
duration, we force all objective mani
festation to take sequence. Our objec
tive consciousness can appreciate but
one thing at a time, hence all things
must be realized in sequence and each
must have duration in terms of time.
More than Faith
In the flash of a second I may con
ceive, and thereby Cosmically create,
a scientific achievement, but the even
tual objective realization of it will
require the overcoming of many prob
lems and the passing tnrough of many
stages of development for it to become
manifest. My objective comprehension
of the growth and final manifestation
of the conception requires time; my
mental, Cosmic, true realization of the
conception and its accomplishment is
instantaneous, and of the now, not the
future.
All through life those things which
array themselves before our objective
consciousness as obstacles in the path of
our desires are things which are placed
in sequence and in terms of relative
distance from the present. With this
belief as a premise for action or pro
cedure, we concentrate upon contesting
with the first obstacle; when that is
overcome we will prepare to meet the
next one or two. We have invented a
proverb to ease our conscience in such
an unjustifiable procedure and say, We
will cross no bridge until we come to it!
The problems of the future are prob
lems of now. They will be overcome in
the future by being overcome now. Re
fusing to admit that any obstacle can
stand in the way of progress of Cosmic
creation, we at once, now, destroy every
giant contester of success about to be
born for future activity. By visualizing
the thing desired, realizing it as an ac
complishment now existing in the Cos
mic, we may dismiss the gloomy
prospect of obstacles to arise in the
future, and then abide by the law of
the objective world and give this world
the time it demands to manifest that
which the Cosmic has completed.
It requires the utmost sureness of
vision, the most complete devotion to
idealization, and the readiness to co
operate with the Cosmic in the labors
of now to serve in the whole scheme of
things. In this way all men, made in
the image of God, having the divine
consciousness of God with the attending
attributes, are creators with God. In
the consciousness of God there is not
time but the ever-present, no duration
but the eternal now, no space but the
here, no comprehension but what is cre
ated by conception of it, no past but
that which was thought by the past to
be in the future, and no future but that
which is conceived in the now.
V A V
The Higher Glimpse
By S. L. Ber r y
ow is it that some of the
most penetrating, investi
gative minds in our pres
ent day go so far as to
respect and admire the
virtue of believing in God
but cannot find it in their
hearts to accept some
concept of Divine Being
for themselves?
One of the first lessons an aviator
learns in his training is the value of
oxygen when flying at an altitude of
above 10,000 feet. So great is the con
cern for impressing this point on the
mind that it is futile merely to tell the
individual to use oxygen and that if he
fails to do so he will be subject to self-
deceptionthat is, feel all is well even
as his danger increases. The fact has
to be demonstrated in a pressure cham
ber.
A volunteer is required to experience
the effects of flying at 20,000 feet with
out oxygen while his companions, using
oxygen, study him. The volunteer,
blissfully ignorant that he is slowly
dying, feels as sure of himself as he
did at ground level. Simple calculations
are done with a flourish. Asked to count
backwards from a hundred he does so
with an ease which, to him, seems smart
and rapid.
Only when he returns to normal, at
ground level, are his companions able to
convince him that his conduct was any
thing but satisfactory. Not only did he
slow down to a drunken level during
his backward count but he missed num
bers and, occasionally, he even began to
count forward. Only when he examines
the written examples of his own simple
arithmetic and sees for himself the now
obvious errors is he fully convinced
that the sudden lack of oxygen affects
the brain, reducing awareness to a
dangerous level for safe flying. The
lesson of such an impressive demonstra
tion becomes beyond dispute.
The circumstances of life put many
people in pressure chambers, at ground
level, with the stress and strain having
the effect of taking them high up into
the clouds with much suffering. They
may not believe in God, but the desper
ate struggle to survive is capable of pro
ducing some form of illumination to
bring them out of the clouds. The clarity
[ 251]
of inspired vision enables them to solve
their problems and, thus, put an end to
their distress. They have, in fact, been
rescued by a Higher Power than them
selves. The presence of God is no longer
a question of faith, belief, or self-decep
tion. The magnificent actuality has
been experienced.
The first higher glimpse of the pat
tern of truth becomes recognizable and
capable of growing an understanding.
The veil is lifted from symbolical Bib
lical stories to reveal deeper, more
significant meanings. The supreme
majesty of the system and order of the
Universe and the marvelous workings
of Divine Laws become concepts of
gratitude, upliftment, humility, awe,
and wonder. This experience is not
uncommon. The general pattern of it
has been repeated, in varying degrees,
in innumerable fives for thousands of
years; and yet it has eluded the en
lightened comprehension of some of the
wisest men of the present century.
Some philosophers and writers of
world renown have declared that with
all their probings into the mysteries of
the universe they have found nothing
to justify a belief in God.
A study of their works and fives usu
ally reveals a compassionate love for
mankind. Though not conscious of it
themselves, they have been reflecting
God as they evolved and developed. The
world is enriched with their wisdom.
It is sad, however, that with all their
expanded consciousness and precious
experience they have failed to recognize
even the first conscious glimpse of the
source of their own creative power, im
perfect though it may appear through
the lens of mortal eyes. The realization
to be evolved is that Gods presence
exists within.
While we strive to understand the
laws of cause and effect we may not be
able to discern clearly how this denial
of God functions in the Cosmic Plan.
It is possible to suggest, however, that
it may serve as a challenging stimulus
to evoke a deeper response in larger
numbers to look for more fight.
It is heartening to know that the
growing realization of Cosmic Con
sciousness no longer belongs to enlight
ened minorities, but to ever-increasing
numbers who seek earnestly and find.
On this inspiring evolutionary develop
ment rests the foundation and the won
derful prospect of uniting all mankind;
for it is impossible to realize even a
spark of Divinity within ourselves with
out recognizing the same Holy Presence
in others.
V A V
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
[ 252]
DEDICATED TO SERVICE
Among the early Essenes and Rosicrucians, SERV
ICE was symbolized by the wearing of an apron.
In your own home sanctum, the wearing of this
symbolic emblem will reflect your willingness to
work in the vineyard of the Orderpursuing its
principles and practice.
The aprons available through the Rosicrucian
Supply Bureau are hand-made, faced with a band
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having the traditional red rose in the center.
Price, postpaid, $2.75 (1/-/- sterling). Send your order and remittance to the
ROSICRUCIAN SUPPLY BUREAU, Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California.
&alLu czfyo^icn.iicicin <^A/[anLrztoz.
5. THEIR ENGLISH ORIGIN
By Joel Dish er , F. R. C., Department of Literary Research
T
h e Tribunal of His
tory, Theron S. E.
Dixon reminds us, is al
ways open. Its session is
one continuous term,
and therefore, its judg
ments are ever subject to
review. 1 During the past
few months, advantage has
been taken of this fact to
present certain matters for
review upon which the
judgments of the Tribunal seem open to
question. The intent has been to indi
cate that a carefully-worked-out plan
lay behind the Rosicrucian Manifestoes
issued in Germany in the early years
of the seventeenth century, and that
that plan aimed at ushering in a new
era for the world. The position taken
was that the Brotherhood of the Rosy
Cross, the philosophy of Francis Bacon,
and the plays of Shakespeare were unit
ed in a common purpose: World re
formation. (Cf. Rosicrucian Digest,
January 1959.)
It is perhaps natural that the farther
we move from these events, the less we
feel any responsibility to account for
them and the more we are inclined to
abide by judgments already rendered.
What is past, we argue, should be al
lowed to remain so; otherwise, the pres
ent will become too unsettled for com
fort. We use Emersons phrase to
justify ourselves: Who cares what the
fact was when we have made a con
stellation of it to hang in heaven for an
immortal sign? This is specious think
ing, especially in this case, since it
leaves a gerrymandered monstrosity
rather than an orderly constellation
hanging in our heaven for an immortal
sign. The past is the premise for the
present and, if that premise is falsified
or mistakenly conceived, whatever rests
upon it is worthless.
1Francis Bacon and Hig Shakespeare, Chicago, 1895
Previous articles have
pointed out that the pre
mise could have been more
soundly based by a more
nearly correct evaluation
of the facts. It may now
be suggested that the
Manifestoes, which ap
peared in Germany, were
themselves parts of a larg
er whole; and that in a
sense they fulfilled but the
middle phase of a plan the initial steps
of which had been taken in England
years before.
Writing of the French Renaissance in
England, Sir Sidney Lee makes this
illuminating observation, useful to our
purpose: Only from the year 1579,
when Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney
first gave earnest of their genius, did
the stream of great literature flow in
England continuously or with sustained
force. The impulse grew in strength for
thirty years and then declined. 2 These
thirty years, beginning with 1579, may
very well stand as marking off the ini
tial period not only as it concerned
literature, but also as it concerned every
aspect of life. Why the literary phase
should stand out so prominently may
be readily seen when one remembers
that without channels of communica
tion, ideas cannot be dispersed any more
easily than can water. The tentative,
experimental, and fugitive literary en
deavors of 1579 were building that
channel of communication. Both
Euphues and The Shepheardes Cal
endar make this clear, the dedication
of the Calendar declaring as its purpose
to restore, as to their rightful heritage,
such eood and natural English words as
have been long time out of use and al
most clean disherited.
In 1579, Francis Bacon was 18. Hav
ing left Trinity College, Cambridge,
2Slr Sidney Lee, The French Renaissance in Eng
land, Scribners, New York, 1910
[ 253]
L
about four years previously because of
dissatisfaction with its educational sys
tem, he had spent the intervening years
in Europe, mainly at the court of
France. There, his firsthand acquaint
ance with Continental culture had
filled him with enthusiasm and new
urpose. What Dante and his followers
ad been able to do in Italy, what The
Pleiade had accomplished for France,
and the Old Knights Templar for Ger
many, rekindled in him a vital spark
which his university experience had all
but extinguished. Abroad, he was in
almost constant association with men of
vision, men who aspired and achieved,
men whose aims and ideals he could
wholeheartedly accept. There he made
his acquaintance with mystic philoso
phy and conceived his lifes mission in
terms of it.
The untimely death of Sir Nicholas
Bacon, Elizabeths Lord Keeper, brought
Francis home again in 1579 to face a
set of very different circumstances. His
Continental interlude had been soul re
warding, however, since it had given his
life a direction and purpose of which he
never again lost sight. He returned to
England matured and stablea young
man, in the words of Sir Amias Paulet,
the English Ambassador who had him
in charge, of great hope, endowed with
many good and singular parts, such as
would make him useful to the State. At
the Queens order and expense, young
Bacon was almost immediately entered
as a law student at Grays Inn. There
he lost no time in sharing with others
his own enthusiasm for culture and re
form after the European pattern.
By Continental standards, England as
a nation was culturally backward and
uncouth. It had neither a sense of na
tional pride or purpose nor a speech
sufficiently settled to be a medium of
culture. Its manners were coarse and
its customs rough and brutal.
With a coterie of enthusiastic com-
anions drawn from university stu-
ents, young lawyers, relatives, and
acquaintances in the diplomatic service,
Bacon made plans for an assault on this
The stronghold of ignorance. The Order of
Rosicrucian Helmet was organized. Dramatic
pieces began to enliven special occa
sions. Books to refine, entertain, and
instruct came out in a language strug
gling to become English. Bacon even
[ 254]
Digest
July
1959
tentatively outlined a scheme, The
Most Masculine Birth of Time, by
which through a brotherhood of dedi
cated men culture might be transmitted
from age to age. Literature, especially
drama, was to provide the channel
through which ethical, moral, philo
sophic, and scientific ideas might be
disseminated.
Bacons election to Parliament in
1584 seems to have been as much un
sought by him as his earlier enrollment
at Grays Inn in 1579. Neither event
is to be easily explained out of context,
and neither appears to have been chosen
by him in furtherance of the mission
which in France he had accepted as his
own. A matter of eight years later when
he was 31, the conflict between career
and private enterprise was apparently
unresolved.
I wax now somewhat ancient, he
wrote to Elizabeths Lord Chancellor,
evidently seeking help or encourage
ment of some kind; one and thirty
years is a great deal of sand in the hour
glass. . . . I confess I have as vast con
templative ends as I have moderate civil
ends, for I have taken all knowledge to
be my province.
What these contemplative ends were
was not disclosedperhaps could not be
since there was, undoubtedly, a con
nection between them and the Rosicru
cian world reformation to be furthered
by Bacons philosophy and the Shake
speare plays. Herein lies the anomaly
and mysteryeven the tragedy of Fran
cis Baconthat moderate civil ends ran
short of fulfilling his vast contemplative
ones. Since complete understanding
and evaluation demand that they be
jointly considered, without knowledge
of the hidden motivation in the mans
life, its public aspects are too narrowly
and too harshly judged.
The possibility is present, certainly,
that conditions at home (there is no
evidence that sympathy then or later
was gained by the letter referred to)
were among the factors making neces
sary the issuing of the Manifestoes in
Germany. Just as possibly, the contre
temps of Bacons being falsely charged
in 1621 explains why no follow-up pro
gram developed in Germany, and why
in England a gathering together of
loose ends took place. A note of urgency
and finality becomes apparent.
The collected edition of Shakespeares
plays known as the First Folio was
printed in 1623; also Bacons De Aug
ments Scientiarum in like format. In
1625, Bacons original ten essays (now
grown to 58) were printed in a third
edition. The year following, The New
Atlantis, a fragment, came out, strange
ly similar in theme to The Tempest,
Shakespeares last play. That same year
Francis Bacon diedsome say by feign
ingbut not before his blueprint for
world reformation was in the hands of
the builders and his work as Imperator-
Architect complete.
William J. Long says, Bacon was
like one of the architects of the Middle
Ages, who drew his plans for a mighty
cathedral, perfect in every detail from
the deep foundation stone to the cross
on the highest spire, and who gave over
his plans to the builders, knowing that,
in his own lifetime, only one tiny chapel
would be completed; but knowing also
that the very beauty of his plans would
appeal to others, and that succeeding
ages would finish the work which he
dared to begin. 3
In spite of all vicissitudes, his confi
dence in the success of his vast contem
plative ends remained unshaken. He
wrote in his Will: My name and
memory I leave to mens charitable
speeches, and to foreign nations, and
the next ages.
*William J. Long, English Literature, Ginn & Co.,
Boston, 1909
(A final article will be devoted to
Bacons philosophy as a means of ful
fillment of the Manifestoes promises.)
V A V
LOAN YOUR DIGEST
The Rosicruciart Digest has thousands of subscribers who are not AMORC members.
From these come many letters expressing appreciation of various topics which have
proved of special help or enjoyment Have you as a member read an article in this
issue of the Digest, or in any other issue, which could be of benefit to someone else?
Has your reading helped you to understand yourself better, or to analyze some harassing
problems? Do you know a nonmember who might have similar interests or problems?
Loan your Digest to such a personin the same spirit as others in thoughtfulness
have shared magazines or books with you. (Be certain that your personal copy is
returned to you for further use. Keep the issue alive and active.)
CLEAN HANDS
Covetousness in men prompts them to prostitute the public for gain.
The taking of a bribe, or gratuity, should be punished with as severe penalties
as the defrauding of the state.
Let men have sufficient salaries, and exceed them at their peril.
It is a dishonour to government, that its officers should live of benevolence,
as it ought to be infamous for officers to dishonour the public, by being twice
paid for the same business.
But to be paid, and not to do business, is rank oppression.
By Wil l iam Penn, from Reflections and Maxims1811
[255 ]
U^>LniznLon j~o%(2oncLoun
By Louise A. Ver n o n , F. R. C.
T
h e most precious
commodity that life
offers is consciousness,
a treasure often dis
dained, its true pur
pose overlooked. Our
personal existence
may be described as a
series of responses to
the push of the outer
world and to the im
pulses released from
centers within. Ideal
ly, the energy neces
sary for such expression should be at
the disposal of consciousness. Under
pressure, however, vortices of unex
pressed energy form in two areas of the
self: the objective consciousness, under
immediate observation, and the sub
conscious, beyond our control. To the
extent that the interchange of energy
between these levels is free-moving and
harmonious, we develop; that is to say,
we conceive constructive possibilities
and act on them. The purpose of living
is discovered and with it, new dimen
sions of consciousness.
Through reacting positively to ex
perience, consciousness dilates, expand
ing the channel of communication be
tween the objective and the subcon
scious levels, and permits a new area
of awareness to be utilized without los
ing contact with the ordinary tools of
perceptionthe five senses and intui
tion. A process not visible to ordinary
eyes, the dilation of consciousness may
be encouraged through specialized prep
aration, such as that offered by the
Rosicrucian Order, AMORC; otherwise,
imbalance may result. For analogy, a
man can avoid a lawn sprinkler by
walking along the curb. He does so
with confidence; his feet contact the
concrete edge as he takes step after
step. Were the curb to be raised one
hundred feet into the air, however, a
new sense of balance would be required
before the man could walk with the
same confidence as he did when the
curb was only a few
inches above the street.
The individual would
have to relearn the
simple act of taking
step after step, yet the
relationship of his feet
to the curb would not
be changed.
Ordinary conscious
ness does not demand
this special confidence,
which is accompanied
by a keen sense of re
sponsibility for thoughts and actions.
The objective and the subjective self
the dual elements of objective con
sciousnesscontain a number of con
tradictory impulses, the normal result
of reactions and decisions in life situa
tions. Each particular response consti
tutes an I. Our personality contains
many Is, often mutually contradic
tory. Hence it is possible to resist doing
what we most want to do. One I in
charge of directing the energy neces
sary to carry out an impulse does not
know about another I that blocks the
impulse with even more energy, inertia
being a powerful force in itself. The
various Fs form hooks to personality
on which others hang their likes or dis
likes. An action considered forthright
by our friends is interpreted as selfish
by our enemies.
Contradictions can never be elimi
nated, only transcended. A co-ordinat
ing I, or awareness in another
dimension, is the means by which
contradictions are experienced in de
tachment. When this happens, the re
sulting unity in personality manifests
in vigorous creativity.
For those who live in the erratic
rhythm of unanalyzed emotions, the
sense of I penetrates the substance of
existence like a needle without thread.
An emotional shock in such cases is not
a tragedy if it permits a new awareness
and re-evaluation of life by means of
an I heretofore unrecognized. This
I
over-all I remains untouched by flood
waves of unconscious impulses and
emotions. It acts like a mirror. A mir
ror can reflect a crime, yet the sub
stance of the mirror remains un
changed. A mirror may be broken, but
whatever of it remains still reflects in
proportion to its size. The rest of a
scene outside its scope is not reflected
by it. It is true that the mirror itself
can be pulverized and the quality which
we call mirror lost, where no reflection
is possible, but this is another problem.
We are mirrors with the distinction
of being able to detect what is reflected
in us. When we take responsibility for
what we reflect, we are on the way
toward a new dimension. Where we are
hung determines the reflections. Dr.
Grantly Dick Read reflected three ex
periences in which women gave birth
without pain. He had the educational
equipment as an M.D. to act on his
reflection. The result was a revolution
ary concept that pain in normal child
birth is a learned response, not a phys
iological necessity. No matter what we
reflect, every experience has the in
gredients for growth and fulfillment.
Designing our Habits
We spend years acquiring habits
which should free us for creative con
sciousness, providing we do not dissi
pate emotional energy in carrying out
our daily physical needs. How many
of us use a steam shovel to dig up a
handful of dirt? Such energy should be
channeled for creative use.
We resist making the right kind of
efforts. A stream of water will not go
uphill, but through another kind of ef
fort it can be dammed and made into
a powerful force. Effort of a special
kind focuses objective and subcon
scious pulses of energy, each no strong
er than a drop of water, and raises con
sciousness to a level where it may per
form with tremendous power. Capacity,
incidentally, is measured by dissatis
faction.
If petty details of daily living touch
off excessive emotional response, it is
like a match touching off a dynamite
fuse. The consequent reactions are be
yond our control in a flash. Such ex
plosions from the subconscious level
warn us to utilize both levels of energy
constructively. Otherwise, ill-health,
neurotic tendencies, or anxietythe
penance we impose on ourselves to as
suage guiltmay result. Many people
endure the torment of imbalance be
tween their objective and subconscious
consciousness for years rather than be
gin the task of inner unfoldment, which
is like building a house by laving brick
after brick according to a plan. Emo
tions maneuver such people like pup
pets. Unplanned emotional experiences
upset the delicate balance of conscious
ness, whose performance level depends
on a harmonious flow of energy. Emo
tional response may be mistaken for the
creative act.
A danger peculiar to the search for
new dimensions in consciousness is in
flation of the ego, a narrow, personal
consciousness. Dilation of consciousness
is entirely different. Suppose an artist
wished to paint frescoes on a ceiling.
A scaffolding is necessary to raise the
painter close enough to the ceiling so
that he can work, yet when the paint
ing is done, the scaffolding is taken
away. It is not part of the design. If
the artist decorated the scaffolding in
stead of the ceiling, the situation would
be similar to inflating the ego rather
than dilating consciousness. The same
paintor effortwould be used, the de
tail work as carefully executed, but on
the wrong object. The mark of an in
flated consciousness is observable by
others as extraordinary bursts of irri
tation if motive is questioned, or by
inflammatory reactions triggered by in
significant mishaps. It is quite possible
for a person to be honored by strangers
and ridiculed by his intimates.
Technique is necessary to attain new
dimensions of consciousness. Just as
some people are talented in painting or
music, others have an artistic potenti
ality in regard to living. As an artist
imposes his inner visions on objects out
side himself, the artist of living works
on the substance of life, consciousness.
He selects one thought over another,
one action over another. Aware of his
contradictory tendencies and natural
laziness, he strives to overcome by
want-to power, not will power.
The process consists of evaluating
thoughts one by one, moment after mo
ment, admitting everything to con
sciousness that will come. We choose
those we want to become part of our-
[ 257]
i
i
selves. For a time it may be necessary
to be childish. Just go on through,
we tell an impulse to be irritable, and
allow ourselves time to calm down. We
question motives; we deliberate wheth
er this or that action is a result of a
forgotten suggestion now being acted
upon mechanically. We become con
scious of the two sides of a contradictory
impulse and redirect it by conscious
dedication to the highest principle we
can conceive.
Practice periods should be reasonable
in length, for such work is exhausting
and often brings as much perspiration
to the brow as the plowing of a field.
Knowing that we are responsible for
what we perceive adds to the unpleas
antness of negative eruptions in our
selves. A safety valve is to accuse others
of the things we are guilty of, but that
defense must be understood and over
come.
Artists take infinite pains with their
work, yet the beginning artist uses the
same technique as the finished artist.
There is nothing to unlearn if the right
E
reparation is made from the first. The
iture artist in directing consciousness
does the right thing in his own sphere,
in preference to acquiring bad habits
that have to be elimmated later.
Under the guidance of the co-ordinat
ing I, which is necessary before the
process can begin, a channel clears for
inspirational influx. Distracting emo
tional tendencies are properly dealt
with when they arise. The I who par
takes of all that happens has been
neither absorbed nor inflated. Through
consciously directing thought and ac
tion over a period of time, our inner
guiding self is able to be creative.
Tensions set up by the interplay of
inner and outer stimuli provide the
means by which to direct the flow of
energy between two levels of conscious
ness. Expanding consciousness reacts
rhythmically. Accomplishment should
not be confused with mere relief from
tension. True progress is marked, not
by removal of temptations but by quick
er consequences to our decisions. We
work with tensions, gaining new per
ception through consciously permitted
suffering.
Tension is a bridge. Just as a piano
wire, if taut, provides the bridge for a
( 258]
musical tone, so we, by inner tensions,
set up the conditions for the expressions
of higher consciousness. We do not have
to work at creating tensions; they are
inherent in every situation. The very
condition we cannot bear provides the
best possible tension for constructive re
sults. Keeping a point of calmness in
the midst of personal upheaval proves
that outward loss becomes inward gain.
However, a wire breaks if tightened too
much. If it is too slack, the tone will
not carry.
If in analyzing our conscious desires
we misinterpret them, we become the
unwitting vehicle for subconscious urges
that sabotage us relentlessly. If we con
sciously acknowledge their reality and
accept responsibility for the particular
manifestation we are experiencing, a
new dimension is discovered, effecting
a release and enabling us to cope with
the situation without a residue of bit
terness or resentment.
Capacity for response enlarges as we
rise from the sea of subconscious moti
vations. We are subject to more im
pressions. No matter what we experi
ence, we acquire an attitude, a change
of direction. Some experiences scrape
off the extraneous elements of our od-
jective personality, just as a tile floor
encrusted with dirt may be scraped un
til the original substance is revealed in
its original lustre.
When we become aware of new di
mensions in consciousness, most of us
do not experience floods of illumina
tion. It is like being in ones own room
at night. The furniture has sharp cor
ners, and we have left drawers half
open in our carelessness. If the light is
turned on, even for a second, we can
see the sharp edges and half-open draw
ers and avoid bruising ourselves, but
they still remain. We can disregard
what we see and continue to bang into
the furniture, or close the drawers,
memorize the position of the furniture,
and take responsibility, saving ourselves
from injuries.
The experience of attaining new di
mensions becomes increasingly imper
sonal. It is as though we stood in a long
line of people passing along stones for
the foundation of a cathedral. We must
not make the mistake of thinking that
we, rather than the stones, are to be
the foundation. Our function is to
pass stones as rhythmically as possible
so the next person will not be caught
off balance. Consciousness becomes cre
ative when it attains new dimensions,
and it is our function to let the mes
sage through, not try to become a part
of it. As in passing foundation stones,
if we held up each stone, exclaimed
over its beauty and talked about its
osition in the cathedral, there would
e much confusion in the line among
others less conscious.
The key to whether consciousness is
functioning with added dimensions is
whether or not it revitalizes as it pro
ceeds. A feeling of well-being, rapport,
and harmonious support by redirected
energy are signs of successful practice
in sorting out thoughts. When con
sciousness is consonant with inner
rhythm, the individual is reborn. Our
potential level of performance becomes
a gratifying reality. Lifes most precious
commodity is appreciated in terms of
the new dimensions attained by a con
sciousness which is now creative.
V A V
A POINT OF VIEW
I admire the American love for old furniture and old carpets but am sorry to
find chromium taking the place of wood in the home. Chromium is too cold for
the home and too hard for the soul. Something terribly akin I see between
platinum blondes and chromium homes and tin-can souls.
The American home developed from chimneyed cottages, was changed into
apartment flats, and is disappearing into the trailer. The trailer is the logical
development of the American home from the apartment flat, which has been
defined as the place where some members of the family wait for the return of
the car being occupied by other members of the family. So why not build a
slightly bigger car in which all the members can live all the time? The Amer
ican will soon be living in partitioned cracker barrels, if he doesnt look outl
Lin Yutang in With Love and Irony, from The Illustrated Weekly of India
V A V
PARIS RALLY OF ROSICRUCIANS
All members of AMORC are cordially invited to share in the inspirational and fra
ternal activities of the Rosicrucian Rally to be held in Paris, France, Sunday, September
20. Those of you who reside or will be traveling in the vicinity of Paris at that time
should communicate now with the AMORC Grand Lodge of France, 56 Rue Gambetta,
Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (Seine et Oise), France, for full particulars.
{259]
The Cathedral of the Soul is a Cosmic meeting place for all minds of the
most highly developed and spiritually advanced members and workers of the
Rosicrucian fraternity. It is the focal point of Cosmic radiations and thought
waves from which radiate vibrations of health, peace, happiness, and inner
awakening. Various periods of the day are set aside when many thousands
of minds are attuned with the Cathedral of the Soul, and others attuning with
the Cathedral at the time will receive the benefit of the vibrations. Those who
are not members of the organization may share in the unusual benefits as well
as those who are members. The book called Liber 777 describes the periods
for various contacts with the Cathedral. Copies will be sent to persons who
are not members if they address their requests for this book to Scribe S. P. C.,
care of AMORC Temple, San Jose, Califomia, enclosing five cents in postage
stamps. (Please state whether member or notthis is important.)
APPRECIATION OF QUALITY
By Cec il A. Pool e, Supreme Secretary
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
B
ht e world today is judged
primarily on the basis of
two standards. These
have become bywords in
a sense because they are
used involuntarily by al
most everybody in judg
ing events and the nature
___________ of material objects within
the human environment. This judg
ment is usually based upon an answer
to these two simple questionshow

ood? or how many? The technological

evelopment of modern civilization has,
unfortunately, emphasized the latter.
More and more, an individuals life,
his social environment and even the
political state of which he is a part, is
judged in terms of quantity. It is gen
[ 260]
erally conceded that the biggest city
of a country is the most important. Also
the largest manufacturer, the largest
building, the most automobiles, the most
televisions, the number of rooms in a
house, the number of copies of a news
paper or a magazine are a basis for
judgment to determine importance.
These are all random references that
are very common in the minds of indi
viduals judging values of the items to
which we have referred.
There was a time when quantity, or
the number of items existing, was sec
ondary to that of another factor, con
cerning which we hear less about today
than we shouldthe factor of quality.
There was a time when every object
that was manufactured, when every
thing that was done had primarily the
purpose of quality. To prove this, all
we need to do is to examine the work
manship of many objects of some years
back. The intricacies of their design,
the obvious perfection that entered into
the preparation of them, is clearly in
dicative of more attention having been
given to quality than to quantity.
It would seem that with the introduc
tion of mass-production the manufactur
er of individual items has emphasized
their quantitative value rather than the
qualitative value. The concept of mans
creative efforts insofar as it affects the
material world has changed. No longer
can we depend upon an object that we
buy to perform in accordance with the
manufacturers intent or the intent that
is made public. I have been appalled,
as I am sure many readers have, by the
failure of mechanical objects I have
P
urchased which do not perform as I
ad been led to believe they would. Not
only is it common under present con
ditions for many objects not to perform
as intended, but the seller or the man
ufacturer is often indignant if the buy
er questions the performance of a me
chanical object. In my experience with
a rather expensive object recently, the
seller became indignant when I raised a
question regarding its failure to per
form properly.
Unfortunately, this is not an extreme
illustration; also, it is indicative of an
extreme point of view in that we live in
an economy geared to production, where
quantity has become more important
tnan quality. Failure of mechanical
objects today is, I believe, fundamental
ly due to the application of this theory.
No manufacturer intends his objects to
be inadequate, but there is the influence
of the fundamental belief of those who
concentrate on volume as being more
important than anything else. This
practice leads to the development of a
quantitative philosophy of life.
In a civilization based upon a quanti
tative concept of standards, we must not
lose sight of the fact that there are some
values in the world that cannot be
measured except in a qualitative form.
The characteristics that make a civiliza
tion endure are probably to be found
in the moral and ethical principles in
jected into the individuals who compose
the civilization as well as in the spiritual
qualities of the individual. If these
principles are not a part of the educa
tional process of a civilization, if they
are not implanted in the minds of those
who compose the civilization, then the
extent to which our civilization may
grow in terms of quantitative produc
tion will have little meaning.
In other words, we can develop to
the point where we manufacture more
physical objects, more complex objects,
than has ever been done in the past, but
if the same civilization that produces
the great quantity of materials does not
also produce a race that maintains mor
al, ethical, and spiritual values, there
will be no eventual use for the quanti
tative production coming from our as
sembly lines.
The Cathedral of the Soul is an ex
ample of a concept that cannot be
analyzed as one of quantity. It is ex
clusively of qualitative value. It can
be of benefit only to the individual who
seeks perfection, even though he may
feel that it is unreachable. The true
value of the Cathedral of the Soul will
come by the creation within the indi
vidual of the realization of those values
which will qualify him for his place in
the universal scheme of things. It will
also qualify him to realize the dignity
of human existence and that while his
purpose may be to accomplish a certain
domination of his environment, when
the time comes for a summation, it can
not be made by counting the number of
objects, but rather the value which will
endure and which is strictly a matter
of quality.
FIRST DEGREE INITIATION
FRANCIS BACON LODGE, San Francisco, California
SUNDAY, JULY 12, 1959 1:00 p.m.
Visitors to the International Rosicrucian Convention at San Jose are invited to close
their wonderful week with this inspiring initiaton.
[261]
*Uh. cd-fiddzn
By A. A. Tal i af er r o , D. D., F. R. C.
A
mo n g the most power-
. ful of all mystical
symbols is the seed. The
concept of sowing or plant
ing is within the Rosicru-
cian instruction. This is
also one of the main tech
niques used by Jesus in
presenting the mysteries
of the Kingdom of Heaven
to those who would listen.
This concept is implied in
the blooming rose, and in
the vine and the branches.
The realization of the im
portance of seed was in
herent in the fertility rites
of primitive peoples. The
seed of Abraham, to be scattered over
the whole earth, obviously refers to
something that is going to happen to
the human race. Will the final fruit of
life come forth?
One of the most rewarding objects of
meditation is concentration upon the
seed idea: what it does, how it receives
life, and what happens so that the pur
pose of the seed may be fulfilled. With
out a kind of life which is its very
substance, the seed-body would not be
alive, or it would be in a process of
decay. The life within the seed is the
mysterious force which, when given
freedom by the breaking of the body of
the seed, is permitted to develop into
that which is potentially within the
seed. The human eye, as it conceives
the seed, can see its body, but cannot
the life within it. With the help see
is
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
of the seed-life analogy, the mind
able to transfer the material object les
son to a spiritual level of consciousness
and realize that the same principle
which works in the seed does so in all
life.
This is the manner in which St. Paul
reasons in Chapter 15 of his First
Epistle to the Corinthians when with
the seed he symbolizes the meaning and
purpose of the material body. He recalls
the many different kinds of bodies.
[ 262]
There is a body called a
seed which bears grain
perhaps wheat, or some
other grain. It is accord
ing to the will of God that
the body takes whatever
form it has. And just as
there are many kinds of
seeds, so also there are
many types of bodies.
There is one flesh of men,
another flesh of beasts, an
other of fish, and another
of birds. There are celes
tial bodies and terrestrial
bodies. The meaning and
purpose of each kind is in
herent in what the body
is and will be. Each body has its own
glory, or meaning. St. Paul even refers
to the sun as a body, and to the moon
and stars. If he were living today he
might use the same sort of analogy in
speaking of a tree which, when buried
in the ground, changes its body into
diamond, after going through a trans
formation process which includes the
creation of the substance known as coal.
We know that the body of a rock,
under pressure and by the mysterious
process of life, will grow into a different
rock. In higher living forms, the acorn
when planted in the ground manifests
the body of an oak tree. A caterpillar,
by changing into a chrysalis, produces
the body of a butterfly. The Easter egg,
by permitting its shell to be broken by
the growth of an inner life which can
not be contained within the limits of
the eggshell, produces the marvelous
miracle of a chicken.
In each of these cases certain steps
may be seen. The original body must
be created mysteriously out of a moth
erin other words, that which can pro
duce and, through a nourishing and
protecting process, bring into being its
offspring. This is the seed which in its
turn possesses within its very nature the
power to become what its parent was.
But the body of this seed must be brok-
en. In the case of the wheat seed, the
acorn, and various vegetable forms, the
seed must be buried in the ground and
the body be permitted to be corrupted.
It is actually broken, however, by the
bursting power of the life withinthe
life of the wheat or the oak tree which
is to be. This force is so strong that it
can break the ground and in so doing
provides a place for the life and security
of the new body. Similarly, the body
of the caterpillar, as limited in its way
as the egg, must also be broken by a
bursting process from within.
In each case, as we look out upon
the marvelous works of nature we ob
serve that what comes out of the seed
is as different from the seed itself as
can possibly be imagined. The butterfly
is in nowise like the caterpillar. Neither
is the chicken like the egg. The human
mind could not possibly conceive the
oak tree to be contained in the acorn.
And yet there is a relationship between
the two so close that the two must be
said to be one.
St. Paul goes on to reason that the
human body is also a seed. Contained
within the human body is the life of the
spiritual body, which causes the hu
man body to live, and gives it its power.
(The term spiritual body can be inter
changed with soul, psychic body, mind,
or whatever best conveys the meaning
to the individual who is contemplating
the mysteries of life.)
Thus the human body is a seed, but
it is a higher form of manifestation
than the examples already mentioned.
In its way it has the power of life, just
as have the other seeds. The human
body has the kind of life that gives it
freedom to move about and to manifest
its vitality in a very different way from
lower forms of life. In addition, the
intelligence of the life within gives the
mind power to reason and think in con
cepts and ideas. This makes the body
self-conscious and enables it to use its
life to create a concept of self and bring
The Rev. A. A. Taliaferro is Rector
of St. Michael and All Angels Epis
copal Church in Dallas, Texas. This
church, founded by him in 1945, has
S
own from a small group to a mem-
rship of over 2,000.
the power of its will to bear upon its
environment. It remembers and creates,
projecting into the future certain pre
scribed goals.
The Ultimate Breaking
Nevertheless, with all these so-called
higher faculties, the human being is still
a seed. It is necessary that this seed be
broken and go through a transformation
of apparent death in order that what
was contained within it may bloom into
the fulness of its own nature. St. Paul
alludes to the fact that at one time the
human race was asleep. This refers to
the state of consciousness in which the
race did not know itself and was not
aware of its potentialities.
Only in a higher state of conscious
ness is the race or the individual raised
from the death of unconsciousness to
a new kind of life. Jesus Christ is called
the first fruits of them that slept; he
represents a new state of life. The old
Adam dies, and a new Adam or the
Christ is made alive. According to St.
Pauls reasoning, every man in his own
order comes into the new state of con
sciousness; Jesus first, and afterward all
those who receive the Christ conscious
ness when it comes to them. This
change shall happen in the twinkling
of an eye, as in a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye the dead shall be
raised into life. This is the act of mor
tality becoming immortality. That
which is corruptible (the body) becomes
incorruptible, spiritual. This change is
of the moment when the individual goes
through transition from a limited, ma
terial, objective, physical life to an un
limited, nonmaterial, spiritual, meta
physical life.
This second type of life comes into
being because it is inherent in the first
type. Just as the seed, which is an
acorn, becomes an oak tree, so the seed
which is the human body, by being
buried in the ground and broken in its
return to the dust whence it came, be
comes a new type of spiritual manifes
tation.
Flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom of Heaven; in other words,
the individual by his physical conscious
ness cannot be aware of the new life.
But through understanding, the inner
consciousness within the body can be
ll 263]
come aware of itself and of what will
happen to it in the way of a release
when the body is broken. And this new
understanding brings a sense of mean
ing and purpose, which develops out of
the consciousness of the wholeness of
life. The sense of wholeness is a Cosmic
awareness. It is the resurrection into a
new life.
We see this dramatized in the rites
and ceremonies of the mystery schools,
when the story is told of the birth of a
god who comes into being out of the
mother (the race), and who is killed in
order that his true divine nature may
be permitted to grow in the soil of the
human race. In this analogy, the re
deemer-god is buried in human con
sciousness. In the case of the Egyptian
god Osiris, the body is dismembered and
scattered so that the blood which is its
life may be distributed symbolically
throughout the life of the race. By this
dismemberment the divine life of God
is communicated to, and becomes one
with, the human life of our material
body. In this manner the race receives
divinity, and the individual is impressed
unconsciously in the ceremonies of ini
tiation with the fact that he is a part
of the divine body of God.
A re-membering process takes place
when the body is restored to its original
state in the resurrection. The process
of re-membering, as opposed to dismem
bering, recaptures the original oneness.
It is different, however, in that it is the
life that shall be. This story is told over
and over again, and finally comes to its
fruition in the powerful drama of the
birth of Jesus as Christ. He is born
through the perfection of humanity and,
as the seed of God, is broken and buried
in humanity.
By his thoughts, his prayers, his as-
irations and teachings, his actions of
ealing and blessing and of creating,
through his desires and hopes, a perfect
state of union between man and God,
he communicates to the human race the
divine nature of the Father. He is
buried in humanity long enough to per
mit the work to be done which will
eventually bring the flowering of the
race to its fruition, in which it will be
made what by its own nature it could
not become. When he is raised into his
new life, in a glorified state, he takes
with him the humanity and flesh of the
[ 264]
race. His ascension is a symbol of the
growth of the tree of life into the heaven
which the material, physical nature of
man cannot see. However, he promises
by this act of ascension to take man
back to the original state of paradise
in the Garden of Eden whence he came.
By eating of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil, man be
came conscious of himself and found
that by the use of his personal con
sciousness he lost the awareness of his
oneness with the divine. He could not,
by his own efforts, rise again to his
original state; so it became necessary
for God to plant the seed of Christ in
man so that he could be raised bv the
Tree of the Cross back into the divine
state of the Garden of Eden. The Tree
of Life in the Garden of Eden is inac
cessible to the human race. It is guard
ed by the Seraphim until man has been
raised into that state where he can use
the divine life properly. He must be
fully conscious of the Tree of Knowl
edge before he can be worthy of the
Tree of Life.
This concept of the Cosmic as the
Tree of Lifethe Tree with its branches,
its leaves, its blossoms, and its fruit-
should create in the human mind the
idea of the expansion of consciousness.
The individual is a part of this won
derful tree of humanity, the life of
which is Cosmic Consciousness. Christ,
or Cosmic Consciousness, is buried in
human consciousness which serves Him
as a seed. Human consciousness must
then be broken, and each individual
must go through the experience of
breaking his will (all of his old tradi
tional ideas and modes of life) in order
to free the life which is buried within
him.
Divinity within Humanity
Christ is referred to as the Seed of
Abraham. Abraham is a symbol of the
father of the race. The word itself
means Father-of-all. He brings into
being a human tree which flowers final
ly in the person of Jesus the Christ,
who is the Rose of Sharona rocky and
desolate place. He is the Lily of the
Valley. One is impressed with the fact
that a rose or a lily, the most beautiful
of flowers, can bloom in exceedingly
barren and neglected places. The Valley
symbolizes the depths of human con
sciousnessthe unconscious, out of
which we have come. Even in the deep
est abyss of our unconscious, the flower
blooms. These symbols of Christ depict,
in concepts that the human mind can
visualize, ideas which are powerfully
active in the unconsciousness of the
race. We know, whether we under
stand it or not, that there is a hope and
a future for the race which is symbol
ized in the Person of Christ, which for
us is a higher form of consciousness.
Another form of this analogy is that
of the Cosmic itself. The universal
mind out of which all things come
which operates by absolute, perfect, and
invariable lawbrings its Self into be
ing out of itself. It does this by an an
drogynous process in which it gives
birth to its Self in its various forms.
The world as we know it is brought
into being in this manner over and over
again. A tree comes from a seed. The
tree brings forth branches out of its
trunk, leaves and blossoms out of its
branches, and out of its blossoms, fruit.
The fruit, which is the final step in the
reproduction process of the tree, is then
permitted to be corrupted allowing its
seed to fall back to the ground. Then
the seed turns again to roots, trunk,
branches, leaves, bud, blossom, and
fruit.
In the same manner the Cosmic or
Christ Consciousness of the universe,
which is ever creative, always respond
ing to its own necessity to be, brings
forth out of itself the kind of conscious
ness we refer to as animal-human con
sciousness. It does this by creating the
tree of life and burying it in its own
created universe, the material world.
The very roots of our consciousness
are in the material world; all the sub
stances of that world are contained
within the body. Out of the material
world a trunk is formed, which is the
mineral substance of the universe.
From this come the branches of the
tree with their leaves and fruit, the
symbol of the animal-human awareness,
with its ability to think and know in
its highest state. The planting of the
seed, which is the fruit of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, is the
death of the individual as he knows
himself in human form. The seed of
the individual life is then returned to
the Cosmic soil, and again by a process
of union with the Cosmic creative power
is raised into another form of life which
is a repetition of the original form.
This is the Cosmic mind of the Christ
himself by whom, according to Chris
tian philosophical teachings, all things
were made, which over and over again
implants itself in the soil of the uni
verse, the creation of his own being.
This process is referred to in Oriental
philosophy as reincarnation.
In the Western philosophical system,
psychologically interpreted, it may be
referred to as that which Dr. C. G. Jung
calls the collective unconscious, with the
individual unconscious and the aware
ness of the subconscious mind. The
Cosmic plants its seeds and raises its
children in order that they, the human
race, may in turn grow up and be the
Cosmic.
In consciousness the human race
should be aware of itself as the child
of the Father, and should be able to
use the powers which have been be
stowed upon it and which it has in
herited by virtue of its being a child of
God. The individual himself co-operates
with this process by realizing that in
his every thought and feeling is a seed.
The student of mystic truth cannot fail
to realize, if he is sincere, that he is
personally responsible for his own indi
vidual growth. He plants the seed of
thought and feeling by the power of
imagination, by permitting the ideas
and concepts created in the conscious
mind to drop into the unconscious. And
there, by the miraculous power of trans
formation, which is the power of life
itself, the seed is watered and grows in
to that which shall be.
The individual, therefore, brings forth
fruitsome to perfection, others to im
perfection, but all bear fruit. Jesus used
this analogy when he said, I am the
vine, ye are the branches, and The
tree which bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire.
The tree which brings forth good fruit
is watered and pruned and cared for
by the Cosmic in order that more won
derful fruit may come forth. The King
dom of Heaven is like a mustard seed,
which when it is planted in the ground
brings forth a tree so strong that the
fowls of the air can come and nestle in
it. If we have faith or spiritual aware
ness as small as the smallest grain of
[265 ]
mustard seed, if planted in the con
sciousness, it will grow and become
powerful enough to move mountains.
When the time came for the body of
Jesus to be broken, it was planted in
the ground. This is symbolized by the
placing of the broken body in the tomb
of Joseph of Arimathea; the breaking
of the tomb or the earth; and the dis
covering of the resurrected Lord by
Mary in the garden on Easter morning.
It is no mistake that the discovery of
Jesus took place in a garden. It is in a
garden that the rose blooms, and that
the final fruit of life is permitted to
come forth. In his resurrected state,
Jesus as Christ was in that state of
awareness and consciousness of being
which is promised to the race when we
can permit ourselves to go through the
same process.
We are told that we are members of
his body, that we are grafted onto him,
and that he dwells in us and we in him.
This is a direct reference to the fact
that in our human consciousness there
is Cosmic Consciousnessthat we are
grafted onto Cosmic Consciousness, and
are growing by its life, in Christ. There
fore we live and move and have our
being, manifesting, by the eternal trans
formation of one kind of life into anoth
er on all the levels of life, the wonderful
creative power of God.
V A V
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
<7 he Pesilanal * 7 ouch . . .
. . . through the spoken word
A large library of taped discourses and musical numbers which up to this time have
been reserved for use by Rosicrucian lodges, chapters, and pronaoi exclusively are now
being released for sale to Rosicrucian members.
In the quiet of your own home, through hi-fidelity tape recordings, you now can
hear addresses by Rosicrucian officers. The subjects on which they touch are closely
associated with your study program. The power of the spoken word is dramatically
realized in these clear renditions.
Listed below are just a few of the interesting subjects available. With any purchase,
or on request, you will receive a complete list of all tapes available at this time. All
tapes made at 7V6" per second, dual track.
Title
Finding Personal Peace
Sevenfold Wisdom of Hermes
Psychic Initiation
Requesting Cosmic Help
Planned and Purposeful Living
Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, the Man
Mystic in a Modern World
Temple Music
Beissels Ephrata Music (organ)
These tapes are available for sale through the Rosicr ucian Suppl y Bur eau, San Jose,
California, at the prices quoted above.
RENTALS
The above tapes are also available on a rental basis, in limited quantities. When
applying for a rental tape, give ample notice of the date that tape will be used, and
the address for its mailing. Applications are filled in the order received; therefore,
please list alternates as well as first choice.
Rental fees for each tape are $1.50 for two-week periods. AMORC pays postage to
applicant; applicant pays return postage and insurance.
When ordering, specify RENTAL. Send your rental fee with above information to
the Technica l Depa r t ment , AMORC, Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California.
Voice Length Price
Ralph M. Lewis 12 min. $3.50
Joel Disher 12 min. 3.50
Ralph M. Lewis 12 min. 3.50
Ralph M. Lewis 12 min. 3.50
Rodman R. Clayson 15 min. 3.50
Peter Falcone 16 min. 3.50
A. A. Taliaferro 30 min. 6.00
14 min. 3.50
son
C. A. Poole,
25 min. 6.00
>rink.) 17 min. 3.50
B
he U. S. Department of
Commerce lists 40,000
occupations, or ways of
earning a living. Which
one is yours? Whichever
it is, the chances are that
you have to use your eyes
and be able to see well
___________ while working at it. Each
job is a seeing job, says the Better
Vision Institute.
Eyesight specialists have for some
time realized the increasing specializa
tion of the work that eyes must do.
From time to time there have been
great improvements in spectacles to
meet these needs. Benjamin Franklin
invented bifocals; that is, he thought up
the idea of putting lenses with two dif
ferent sight ranges into one frame.
But Franklin did not invent or im
prove the lenses. That remained for
the lens specialists. These experts
learned how to make a flawless bifocal.
Then they began combining not two
but three different distance ranges in
one mounting.
For the most part, however, these
improvements were built around the
principle of good vision at different dis
tances, not around good vision for spe
cial purposes. The two things involve
some very different elements. Just
recently there has been a great forward
surge of interest in what are called oc
cupational or special-purpose glasses.
Real progress is being made in the
analysis of visual job needs and in de
signing lenses to meet those needs.
A bulky handbook for eyesight spe
cialists, recently published, analyzes the
vision requirements of 200 different
occupations, trades, and professions.
These studies were made by actual
observations and measurements of work
ers on the job. Among the details com
piled were such items as:
Distance of work from eyes; number
of distances involvedone or more; area
covered by working procedure; whether
work lies to right, left, or center; wheth
er eyes must look up, down, straight
ahead, or any two or three of these
directions; length of time during which
eyes are normally occupied; colors in
volved; size of work itemsas type for
a proofreader, steaks for a butcher.
In this volume, jobs are carefully
broken down into their components.
Thus, any man working in a print shop
may call himself a printer. But print
ers include the compositor, typesetter
(hand or machine), platemaker, stereo
typer, stoneman, pressman, make-ready
man, and others. Each one uses his
eyes differently from all the others. The
platemaker works six to eight inches
from his eyes, the pressman perhaps at
arms length.
Workers also use their eyes in differ
ent directions. An accountant looks
downward at his work and straight
ahead, 16 inches, but must also see the
ledger at the side, 26 inches away. Oth
er desk workers may need only the
16-inch range and are not inconveni
enced if the rest of the desk is not in
clear focus.
Visual requirements are different for
different jobs, but that does not mean
that each job has a special, right kind
of spectacles40,000 of them. A com
paratively few powers in the lenses
will cover all the distances that all the
jobs require. A comparatively few vari
ations in the size and position of bifocal
or trifocal segments will provide all the
differences that are needed for all the
different jobs. Thus the prescribing of
vocational spectacles is brought within
the limits of practicality. Satisfy your
visual needs for work and comfort.
V A V
f 267]
he Rosicrucian Egyptian.
Oriental Museum is con
tinuing to attract special
attention to itself.
Through its acquisition
of choice items, traveling
exhibits of contemporary
work, and unique perma
nent displays, it is gain
ing further respect and favor through
out the world among artists, museum
officials, and laymen. Its traveling ex
hibits continue to draw an ever-growing
number of appreciative viewers.
A recent diorama of unusual excel
lence is that of Diana Bovee Salyers
Egyptian Carpenters at Work. Here
in an authentic setting may be seen
five men at their various tasks. It is a
scene very human and very much alive.
The third in a series of Egyptian vi
gnettes, it depicts an everyday activity
which must have repeated itself over
and over again throughout Egypts long
history. A fourth scene completing the
series is to be added shortly.
V A V
May 12 marked the final convocation
in the Supreme Temple before the sum
mer recess. It opportunely commemorat
ed the first Rosicrucian Convocation of
this cycle in New York City on May
13, 1915. The Grand Master, Frater
Rodman R. Clayson, presided. In his
brief message he admonished students
to be expert rather than amateur Rosi-
crucians and defined the important dif
ferences.
* * *
One of those visiting the Supreme
The Temple for the first time on this occa-
Rosicrucian s^on was Frater R. K. Johnson, Chair
man of the Board of Southern Cross
Chapter, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Without doubt, Frater Johnson will
carry home with him many deep im-
[ 268]
Digest
July
1959
pressions received during his stay at
Rosicrucian Park. In all likelihood,
these will be shared with South African
members when Southern Cross Chapter
and Pretoria Pronaos hold their joint
rally on September 5 and 6.
V A V
Maybe this is stretching the macaroni
too far but heres a historical fillip that
is tasty. In the Eighteenth Century a
fop or showoff. like the Zootsuiter or
todays Teddy Boys, was called a maca
roni. Among the Revolutionary War
soldiers, the boys from Maryland got
this name because of their showy uni
forms. And that is why. dear reader,
Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his
cap and called it MACARONI!
V A V
A few weeks ago, the San Jose Cham
ber of Commerce gave a thought to the
theme Better Secretaries Mean Better
Business. Blossom Valley Chapter of
the National Secretaries Association
furnished the speaker. She was Soror
Ruth Farrer, secretary to our Impera-
tor, Frater Ralph M. Lewis. It was a
meeting largely attended, for Chamber
members brought their secretaries. Since
Soror Farrer spoke on The Secretarys
Place in Management, everybody
learned somethingeven executives who
may now be wondering just where they
fit in.
V A V
In April, this department printed
some comments on watches and person
al magnetism. Now Frater Clarence R.
Parry, whose business is to make
watches run, says: Audi alteram par
tem, or, this is my experience. One
man came to me saying that his watch
could not be made to keep correct time.
I told him the watch could be made
to run and do what it was supposed to
do IF he had lots of peaceful attributes
in his character. After much retiming
of the watch while he wore it, it did
operate correctly and he admitted it.
V A V
Almost two years ago information
reached this department of Frater An
drew Sopkos coming to California to
work in the field of music. We told
you at that time, remember? Now the
Sopko Youth Chorale under his direc
tion is appearing frequently in Los An
geles Coimty. The Chorale is made up
of forty children in age from 8V2 to 15.
At home in Paramount, California,
there is music, toomade by the Sopko
Duo, Frater Sopkos twin sons aged 6
months, plus or minus.
* * *
And from the East Coast of the Unit
ed States more musicFrater Roger E.
Masons. In a program of New Music
at Little Theatre, West 63rd Street, his
Quintet for Woodwinds, Cradle Song,
and Sonata for Piano were presented.
Frater Mason has a Masters Degree in
music composition from the University
of Wisconsin, and was in California
long enough to do the music for a Hol
lywood film. At that time he attended
Hermes Lodge.
V A V
Geologists tell us that Australia is
one of the oldest continents. It is level
and regular in outline, with a great
plateau covering half the continent, a
central basin, and coastal plains. Two
thirds of the island is in the temperate
zone and only the northern third in
the tropic.
Strange fauna and flora are native
here as well as most primitive man.
Settled since 1788, Australia became a
self-governing commonwealth in 1901.
It is divided into eight states and terri
tories comprising approximately three
million square miles containing over
nine million people. It produces the
worlds largest wheat crop, 27 per cent
of the worlds total of wool, and impor
tant quantities of minerals, including
uranium.
It also produces exceptionally fine
Rosicrucians, to be found principally in
South and West Australia, New South
Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. Its
most important holiday ordinarily is
Australia Day (January 26), but in
1959 it is likely to be All-Australia-
Rosicrucian-Rally Day (a 72-hour peri
od extending from Friday, October 30,
through Sunday, November 1Aus
tralias answer to the 1958 World IGY.)
At that time, Rosicrucians will converge
on Sydney, New South Wales, where
the momentous event will take place.
Frater Barry X. Brettoner, Rally
Chairman, would like to have advance
notice of your coming. Remember, its
not too early to be making plans
kangaroos, koalas, and platypuses cant
be commanded at a moments notice.
According to Frater Brettoners first an
nouncement, the Imperator, Ralph M.
Lewis, will be there. So, why dont you
come, too? Eight international airlines
will fly you in, a hundred Kookaburra
chorus will be part of the welcoming
committee, and a real three-day Rosi-
crucian corroboree will follow. (This
department expresses its gratitude and
acknowledges its indebtedness to Fratres
Wombat and Wallaby of the Great Aus
tralian Bight for the foregoing informa
tion.)
* * *
The May Newsletter of Auckland,
New Zealand, Chapter, AMORC, car
ried the happy announcement of a new
Temple. When the Imperator visits the
Chapter this year, he will find it located
in a fairly new building in the resi
dential section of the city. Its main hall
has 99 square feet of floor spacethree
times that of its old quarters. In addi
tion, 500 square feet more are divided
into office, kitchen, lobby, and cloak
room areas. From a building fund that
miraculously more than doubled itself
virtually overnight, the purchase was
made and the Chapter installed in time
for its New Years ceremony. Congratu
lations are due to all our enthusiastic
and energetic fratres and sorores in New
Zealand on this important step forward.
* * *
In May, according to its Social Pro
gram Schedule, Joseph Priestley Chap
ter, Leeds, visited Temple Newsam and
in June, Fountains Abbey. This month,
it is Filey and in August, Kirkstall Ab
bey. Such jaunts serve many ends and
must be particularly rewarding to Rosi
crucians. The past is always meaning
ful and to the thoughtful person
contributes to both the understanding
and the enjoyment of the present. Isnt
there some place of historic value or
[269]
quiet beauty which your Lodge, Chap
ter, or Pronaos could visit?
V A V
In closing, here are a few epigrams
to tide you over until the next Digest is
printed:
War is easy. Peace is the real
struggle. Frater J. Palo
To p]
with
ray for Peace is worthless
out works to promote it.
Frater A. W. Janousek
O foolish Man, whose very soul is
of love and harmony, why do
you dwell in a sphere of discord
and misery?
Frater J. Licata
V A V
I
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
^WzitLncj, cz/fn czQ'it
P er haps in our own new-age living, letter writing will once more take its place
as creative thought in self-expression. With this in mind, we wish to share the
following paragraphs of serious contemplation upon todays querulent family of
nations.
We, of Today, are coming into a World Unity wherein our sense of patriotism
must be transferred from that of a small, limited, separated portion of the Earth
called my Country to that larger vision ofthe world is My Country. We shall
become Universalists rather than remain Americans, Frenchmen, Britons, or any
of the other now present Nationalists.
That the foundations of the Old are being tom down, destroyed, changed,
eliminated, transmuted and altogether left behind Cosmic Progress and evolu
tionary on-goings, is evident to every observer of World trends.
We are coming into a World Consciousnessthe World as Oneindivisible
and inseparable, rather than that which now evidences many principalities, and
many Powers, fighting among themselves and for themselves individually rather
than collectively and for the Good of ALL.
Is not the U. N. organization an evidence of this trend toward planetary uni
fication? In fact, the One World is now so generally accepted by many that
any so-called patriotism must soon become that of Patriots for the Cause of
Right, all over the World; for, the World is our Country.
Laws must become of Universal importance and consciousness, and not for just
one Country, one Nation, or for any one place only upon this Globe.
Devotion to the welfare of ones Country must be accepted and acknowledged as
devotion to the cause of Good for All, for the World as a whole, and therefore
each and every Country, Nation, and Race on this Planet. Only in such devotion
and patriotism can the peoples of the World find themselves living together in
peace, harmony, neighborliness, happiness, and helpfulness to all and for all.
This the new way of Life now demands and must have if we are to survive and
go forward into greater evolutionary progress and accomplishment for the entire
humanity. And to such ends are the Nations of the World now thinking, fight
ing, and working, even though it may not always be evident that this is so.
Yes! Some will continue to maneuver for personal and national rights, boun
daries, balances of power, trade, and other dictatorial rights and measures. Yet,
inadvertently, and all unconsciously perhaps, the rights of Mankind as a whole
are under such consideration as can bring all of us into loyalty to, and patriotic
consideration of, the world is my country!
By Sue Ann Ger l ach, California, U. S. A.
[270]
A Plea for Peace and Disarmament
By Vener abl e Nar ada of Ceyl on
S
his chaotic, war-weary,
restless world appears to
be almost morally bank
rupt, although, no doubt,
it has nearly reached the
zenith of material prog
ress. The ingenuity of
modem man has created
___________marvels in every sphere
of life, except perhaps in the moral
sphere. Seldom, if ever, do we hear of
Saints of any faith today.
Scientists, on the contrary, have ad
vanced so amazingly in their respective
fields that their powerful weapon (sci
ence) has now become both a blessing
and a curse to mankind. Some have
conquered matter and space; others
have even gone to the extent of prosti
tuting science to cause irreparable loss
and indescribable suffering to millions
of men, women, and children. Ordinary
bombs that rained from the heavens
have now become obsolete. The after
effects of the atom-bomb are still linger
ing in our compassionate hearts. Id-
bombs and cobalt bombs are ready to
be brought into action at any in
auspicious moment. We doubt very
much whether we would be spared to
experience the disastrous effects of the
bomb named after the remaining letters
of the alphabet that scientists have yet
to discover.
Some materialistic-minded military
leaders, on the other hand, probably due
to their greed for power, possessions,
and pride of position are ruthlessly
sacrificing the most precious thing on
earthlifeat the altar of brute force
for the sake of national prestige or for
the sake of insignificant bits of useless
earth.
As a result of this deplorable situation
in world affairs today all are compelled
to suffer; the poor and the helpless suf
fer most. Brilliant sons perish in their
prime of manhood, while merchants
of death thrive on their profits derived
from the victory of death over life.
Peace Conferences, World Congresses
of Faiths, Quaker Conferences, Moral
Rearmaments, and Summit Talks are
conducted, motivated by high principles,
in peaceful halls, but, at the same time,
nations, great and small, are wasting
huge sums of money running into mil
lions and billions on their armament
race. They are suspicious and mortally
afraid of one another in spite of the
powerful U. N. organization.
The selfless and sincere sponsors and
leaders of these peaceful conferences are
certainly to be congratulated on their
laudable efforts to establish peace and
happiness among mankind. But one is
tempted to question whether such con
ferences, inspiring addresses, and per
suasive articles will produce any appre
ciable effect on the governments of
nations and the people who control the
lives of others and who aspire to rule
this world not by love and right but by
force and might.
One might even lament that the so-
called world religions have pitifully
failed to establish peace and goodwill
on earth. Perhaps it would be more
nearly correct to state that the avowed
followers have unfortunately failed to
translate into actual practice the re
ligious principles which they themselves
profess.
What about our present position to
day? From the present armament race
of the nations, rebellions, assassinations,
direct and indirect aggressions now be
ing witnessed, are we to infer that man
kind is on the threshold of another
world war to wipe out the human race
from earth?
Suppose, for instance, the two world
owersAmerica and Russia, in whose
ands rest the destinies of the greater
part of the world todaywere to create
a Paradise on earth, according to their
own ideologies, would there be perfect
peace and happiness on earth as long as
man is what he isambitious for power
and glory?
Rightly or wrongly we are given to
understand that even in Paradise itself
there was an unfortunate struggle for
power that culminated in eternal dam
nation for the vanquished. The quar
relsome person in question was not an
ordinary mortal but an archangel who
had no worldly ambitions. The conten-
[ 271]
tion was between an archangel and his
all-powerful, all-merciful Creator.
If such were the sorrowful case
among angels, in the transcendental
heaven, will sinful mortals below fare
better? Who then is to be blamed for
this deplorable state of affairs in this
deluded world?
None but man himself. Man makes
or unmakes the world. What man cre
ates, he can uncreate. Man creates his
own heaven and his own hell. He him
self is his creator; he himself is his
destroyer.
In this complex machinery of man,
there is an invisible powerful force
called mind, which, like electricity, may
serve as his most bitter foe or greatest
friend. Latent in his mind are a rub
bish-heap of evil and a storehouse of
virtue. In this rubbish-heap are found
three impurities that defile and ruin
him. One is lust or attachment or self
ishness which tends to accumulate and
create. The second is anger or aversion
which tends to divide and destroy. The
third is ignorance or stupidity which
tends to both create and destroy.
A boil cannot be cured by merely
cutting it out with a knife. The in
herent impure blood may produce more
boils. The root causes of it should be
investigated and removed to effect a
complete cure.
Until and unless these three universal
evil roots, latent in all in varying de
gree, which are solely responsible for
the ills of life, are either eradicated or
attenuated and their opposite virtues
nonattachment or unselfishness, loving
kindness and wisdomare fully de
veloped, no peace and real happiness
can ever be guaranteed.
It is left to the respective Govern
ments and public-spirited bodies to un
derstand causes and remedy defects and
also to provide the suitable environment
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
Venerable Narada is the supreme
dignitary of Buddhism in Ceylon. He
recently visited Rosicrucian Park on
one of his world missions. This ar
ticle was especially prepared by him
for the Rosicrucian Digest and trans
mitted directly from Colombo, Cey
lon.
and other necessary facilities for the
equally essential material and spiritual
progress of mankind. It is the para
mount duty of religions to cater mainly
to the moral and spiritual development
to make men ideal citizens.
A reform of the present situation of
the world is essential. For such a re
formation a radical change in the con
ditions of the environmentphysical,
economic, political, social, psychological,
educational, and religiousis para
mount.
It is gratifying to note that respective
Governments, both old and new, and
philanthropic bodies, such as the Asia
Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation,
Ford Foundation, etc., are honestly at
tempting to eradicate poverty, disease,
and ignorance that prevail among the
masses which comprise the majority of
mankind. These three pathetic condi
tions exist more so in Asia and Africa
than in materially advanced America,
Europe, and Australia.
For substantial peace in a civilized
world, justice and tolerance must pre
vail. It is cruel and disgraceful for the
powerful nations to bluff, bully, swin
dle and plunder the weaker nations.
When rulers become aggressive, unjust,
corrupt, and intolerant, it is but natural
for people to resent and revolt. The
inevitable consequences baffle descrip
tion.
Fortunately, in certain cases the op
pressed masses resort to passive resist
ance and nonviolent methods with
success. Unfortunately, in some cases
people are compelled to resort to vio
lence. History records that some free
doms were achieved through evolution
and some through revolution. For in
stance, as President Eisenhower re
marked, Canada gained freedom through
evolution, while the United States
gained hers through revolution.
But force, however, will be met with
force; bombs will be met with bombs;
vengeance with vengeance. Retaliation
is ever painful and will never lead to
peace. As the Buddha advisesHa
treds do not cease by hatreds but by
love. Though somewhat difficult in
this rebellious world, the Buddhas ex
hortation is to conquer anger by love,
evil by good, the greedy by generosity,
and the liar by truth.
[272]
The world is so constituted that the
majority of mankind, according to the
Buddha, are ill-disciplined. Since peo
ple are living in such a deluded world,
they, at times, may be compelled to
adopt a middle way.
Ancient books cite a beautiful and
illustrative story. A snake, having been
reared by an ascetic, was taught to prac
tice loving-kindness towards all. One
day while it was lying in a forest a
woman, mistaking it for a rope, took it
and tied her bundle of sticks which she
had collected. On returning home she
imtied the bundle. When the snake re
turned to the cell the ascetic questioned
it as to its delay.
Good master, while I was meditat
ing on loving-kindness in the forest a
woman who had come to collect sticks,
mistaking me for a rope, took me to tie
up her bundle. I was just released.
Pardon me for the delay.
Well, good snake, you have done
well in radiating your loving-kindness
to such an extent. Just to show that you
were a snake you should have at least
raised your hood and hissed a little,
commented the ascetic.
In the same way when we are living
in a world with people of diverse tem
peraments, at times the use of wise
discrimination is essential. Men and
nations may be compelled to hiss a lit
tle but without a sting.
At this critical period of world his
tory all peacemakers are deeply inter
ested in one important problem that
affects all mankindthe complete dis
armament of all nations, and abolition
of war forever.
With all the force he could command,
Aldous Huxley has dealt with this vital
question in his Ends and Means. As
Buddhists we endorse all his arguments.
He rightly observes, armaments create
fear, suspicions, resentment and hatred.
Wars and conquest are undoubtedly the
supreme enemies of civilization.
The enormous sums of money wasted
by Governments on armaments and
forces could better be utilized for the
welfare of humanity.
We are living in an age of Reason;
men are cultured and civilized. Guid
ed by compassion and wisdom, why
cannot men meet on a common plat
form and settle their disputes amicably
in a friendly atmosphere without re
sorting to brute force?
Does not the powerful U. N. O. offer
such a platform to settle the disputes
of all nations, without prejudice, favour
or fear?
Wars inevitably end in either a vic
tory or a defeat. Victory breeds ha
tred! The vanquished live in pain, says
the Buddha. One may conquer mil
lions and millions of people on the
battlefield. But he is the noblest victor
who conquers himself. Self-conquest is
far greater than the conquest of all oth
er folk. None can win back the victory
of such a person who is self-subdued
and ever lives in self-restraint.
Self-conquest means world conquest.
Directly and indirectly, self-conquest is
conducive to the welfare and happiness
of the whole world.
This heterogeneous, materialistic
world that has ignored all spiritual val
ues and is heading toward destruction
with the discovery of deadly weapons,
to annihilate men, women, and children
on earth, today more than ever expects
all Buddhists to practice loving-kindness
(Metta), Hindus, Jainas, and Zoroas-
trians their nonviolence (ahimsa), Jews
and Christians their neighbourliness,
and Muslims their brotherhood, so that
all may live in peace and happiness re
garding the whole world as their moth
erland and all men and women as their
brothers and sisters.
What both East and West can do now
is to blend the spiritual wisdom of the
East with the scientific knowledge of
the West to evolve a golden era so that
all peoples, irrespective of caste, creed,
colour or race, can live in perfect har
mony and peace as ideal citizens of one
world.
One Western poet sang
East is East, and West is West,
The twain shall never meet,
With all humility it may be said
East is East, West is West,
The twain will ever meet.
Not in space, but in love,
For all in peace to live.
V A V
( 273]
cJ-fooj <zSand 5 OVJXi
By Geneal Condon
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
S
ev er a l years ago I
preserved a spray
of wild roses which I
gave to a friend. She
placed it in a vase near
a Jacob Jordaens por
trait, where it picked
up the colors and car
ried out the theme of
the painting. For more
than a year she en
joyed its being there.
Then one day a
friend arrived to help
prepare the house for
a party. Observing the
roses in the vase, she
promptly took it to the
kitchen to fill it with
fresh water. Sometime
later, the hostess dis
covered the water and
exclaimed: Who on
earth put water on
those flowers!
Why, I did, an
swered the friend; I thought they
should have it.
My dear, explained the hostess,
Those flowers have been there more
than a year without it. The friend
turned a little pale. This was spooky.
The belief that there is something
supernatural about this process is in
dicated by some of the requests I re
ceive for this magic sand. Of course,
the scientific explanation of preserva
tion is simplefirst, anchorage; then
complete dehydration. Naturally there
is an acquired technique involved but,
as in any other handicraft or art, the
tools are of the utmost importance to a
superior finished product. In this case,
the tools are the various desiccants used
in the process.
Many materials have been tried.
Powdered borax, com meal, or a com
bination of both. Starch, talc, sugar,
salt, finely ground sawdust, powdered
silica gel, and sand are some of them.
I have experimented with all of these
and discarded them.
Sand is the only medi
um possessing the
weight necessary for
perfect results. My
preference now is the
Great Salt Lake or
oolitic variety. To un
derstand this, the most
important components
of the flower are con
sidered and their rela
tionship and reaction
to the sand observed.
A microscopic ex
amination of ordinary
quartz sand and the
oolitic sand from Great
Salt Lake reveals
marked physical dif
ferences. The first is
formed by a process of
disintegration or wear
ing down. It is there
fore solid in substance
and has no extraordi
nary absorbing qualities. Under intense
magnification it appears sharp and
jagged. On the other hand, oolitic sand
is built up. The only form of life cap
able of living in Great Salt Lake is the
brine shrimp; it abounds there in count
less trillions.
The shrimp deposit their eggs and
claylike pellets of excrement. As these
are washed upon shore, they are coated
with a limestone deposit very much in
the same way that an oyster produces
a pearl. On shore they become sand.
Under the same microscopic test they
are revealed as smooth and usually
round.
This sand has tremendous weight but
the grains are nevertheless compara
tively soft and absorbent. The approxi
mate comparative weight is revealed by
the fact that a can holding one pound
of ground coffee will weigh around four
pounds when filled with this magic
sand. Its superiority as a desiccating
medium is quickly revealed when we
[ 274]
determine just what effect it has on the
following characteristic features to be
preserved in a flowercontour, color,
and texture.
Contour
Obviously, contour is the primary
consideration in a preserved specimen.
The third-dimensional look must be
maintained. Formerly, weight alone
was considered the only requirement.
The result was a pressed flower and
foliage of sorts, flat and totally without
^race. It was evident that a more flex
ible and plastic material was required
to maintain the natural depth of the
contour. Something had to be found
that would perform the same ironing
action on the surfaces, and also be
equalized under, around, through, and
over the flower. Sand proved to have
the easy-flowing qualities plus the nec
essary weight to fill these requirements.
Color
As to color, the time element is of
vast importance when employing des
iccants other than sand. Too long a
submersion tends to submit the subject
to a burning action which, in turn, pulls
the color out and fades the bloom. This
is especially true when using borax
alone, or in any other combination of
materials. Yet what is one to do if the
water content of a flower under treat
ment is extraordinary as is sometimes
the case. Either the true color must go
or we uncover a half-dried flower which
will wrinkle and flop when it is exposed
to the open air.
On the other hand, time is of no con
Editors Note: Geneal Condon has
gained nation-wide recognition for
her perfect preservation of more than
100 varieties of garden and wild flow
ers. Her accomplishments were pre
sented in the National Geographic
Magazine, September 1958and re
cently she won a gold medal certifi
cate in a New York International
Flower Show. Mrs. Condon, writing
from Salt Lake City, states that the
oolitic sand from the shores of the
Great Salt Lake has given her results
considerably beyond those from other
sands or any of the so-called dryers,
such as borax, com meal, etc.
sequence when treating a flower with
oolitic sand. My proof is that on sev
eral occasions I have accidently over
looked a container for as long as ten
months. When I discovered this over
sight and uncovered the flower, I found
the color still clear and true, even a
little more intense if anything. I have
in mind a stalk of blue delphinium pro
cessed in July, but accidently misplaced
and discovered the following June. Yet
the bluea difficult color to preserve in
anythingwas perfect. This is another
reason why sand became my choice.
One interesting but as yet unknown
factor is just what chemical action the
oolitic sand has on the color chromes
of a flower. I have already pointed out
that borax produces a burning effect,
hence a fading effect, on the color of
flowers. So does salt. But this particular
sand brings out a true and clearer color
than even the silica variety. Lilacs pre
served the first year I started my ex
periments, although satisfactory in
form, appeared a muddy gray. Zinnias
lacked intensity in color. A very-
marked improvement appeared the fol
lowing year when I switched to the
sand of Great Salt Lake. Another in
teresting speculation is, why does the
color seem to be brighter each year
when I re-use and re-clean the same
sand? This happens year after year.
Texture
Even a cursory glance at a flower
finished with this pet sand of mine, and
another done with any of the other
mentioned ingredients, will reveal its
superiority. A convincing comment was
made by my daughter during the early
days of my experimentations before I
started using this sand. She was look
ing at some roses preserved with light,
fluffy borax and a corn meal mixture.
But Mom, they look wrinkled, was
her observance.
There was the crux of the thing.
There had not been sufficient weight to
produce an ironing action on the petals.
This is so necessary to maintain the
smooth texture found in the fresh flow
er. So, I switched to sand. While the
ordinary kinds gave me smooth petal
surfaces, they also scarred and pock
marked the surfaces. The sharp, jagged
edges and points had left their imprints,
and in some cases they had even pierced
[ 275]
the fibers. But the oolitic sand did no
such thing. It could not. The smooth
round or oval grains left the texture
nature-true in smoothness.
In this consideration of texture, an
other observation and comparison comes
to mind, the over-all flexibility of the
flower. While the general nature of a
preserved flower is rigidity to a certain
extent if the contour is to be main
tained, yet it does not always follow
that it must be crisp . Indeed, the ideal
condition is a perfect balance between
both contour and flexibility. Here again
the Salt Lake sand proves superior to
other mediums. Exposure to intense
heat produces brittle flowers. The slight
ly burning action of borax does the
same thing. Flowers dry more quickly
in borax but are also more perishable.
The soft, hollow centers of the oolitic
sand absorb the moisture so gently and
gradually that the flower often emerges
with the softness that is natural to its
blooming state. Such examples as the
cactus, Godetia, Rose of Sharon, and
maidenhair fern will confirm this.
I usually spend half of each summer
in preserving quantities of obedient
varieties, and the rest of the time in try
ing to tame at least one temperamental
rebel that refuses to submit to any
method.
The bachelor-button is one. It took
me three months to subdue it. This
flower, while in the sand, insisted on
changing its blue color to white. Final
ly, I hit on the thought of sneaking up
on it and preserving it before it knew
what had happened. I covered it with
sand and hurried the process in the
oven. Two hours at a temperature of
150 degrees did the trick.
Another prima donna of the flower
world is the cactus. I find I must break
all rules with this unruly one. But it
is well worth it in the end. It is one of
those only-a-day varieties. But what
a life it lives in that one day! One
variety opens in the morning a clean,
clear lemon yellow. But as the day
progresses it changes color almost hour
ly so that during the course of a day
I can obtain flowers of yellow, apricot,
peach, rust, and all the sunset shades
and from one blooming plant.
The hundreds of stamens of this
cactus teem with minute black bugs
rollicking and rolling in abandon. The
bloom does not mind that a bit. But
try touching the stamens with a human
finger and they immediately fold up in
resentment.
The trick here is to very suddenly
anchor the stamens first, and then pro
ceed to the petals. Also, for best results
the flower should not be allowed to dry
out completely in the sand. Three or
four days are sufficient. Under this
treatment the flower retains its shape
and the delicate petals remain tough
enough to clean safely without tearing.
Underdrying also causes them to retain
their satiny texture which would be
lost otherwise. They are beautiful!
In spite of all the methods of ap
proach, including the efforts, much re
mains to be done before one can claim
to have conquered the flower world. I
have experimented with more than one
hundred varietiesonly a small portion
of available material. It may be that
some day someone will come up with
an over-all formula that will do the
trick with one fell swoop, temperamen-
tals included. All I can say is that if
and when that happens we will not
learn nearly so much about flowers nor
have half as much fun. It will be too
easy.
The
Rosicrucian
Digest
July
1959
ROSICRUCIAN DIRECTORY j;
A complete directory of all chartered Rosicrucian Lodges, Chapters, and Pronaoi
throughout the world appears in this publication quarterly. See the May issue for a ,
complete listingthe next listing will be in August. i1
T !|
(International Jurisdiction of North, Central, and South America, British
Commonwealth and Empire, France, Switzerland, Sweden, and Africa.)
[ 276 J
ACROSS THE GOLDEN HORN
These small boats are water taxis. They conduct a thriving business across the famous waterway known as
the Golden Horn, Istanbul. Turkey. On the distant shore may be seen one of the renowned mosques of Istanbul
with its graceful minarets pointing skyward. Though just out of range in the photograph, there is a modern
bridge. The water taxis are still used to reach quickly various points on the opposite side.
(Photo by AMORC)
u
.

-
SYMBOL OF FOLLY
Above are the famous ruins of Terme di Caracalla, enormous baths in the suburbs of Rome,
used during the decline of the Roman Empire. The remains of the exquisite mosaics and tiles,
which once covered the floors and walls, suggest the lost splendor of the structure. The place
originally accommodated several thousand persons. In the era of decline it was the site
of lavish spectacles, orgies, and debauchery. (Photo by AMORC)
ID
5
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I The Mystical Life
II The God Concept
III Self and Soul
IV Love and Desire
V Living Fully
VI Light and
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VII DeathThe Law
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VIII Causality and Karma
IX Karma in Effect
X Entering the Silence
XI Meditation
XII Nature of Prayer
XIII AffirmationsTheir
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XIV The Lost Word
XV The Technique of
Initiation
XVI Occultism, Her-
meticism, and
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XVII Illusions of the
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XVIII Superstition
XIX Nature of Dreams
XX Prediction
XXI Mastership and
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XXII Spirituality
XXIII Cosmic Consciousness
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