"Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see,
and hearing they might not understand."
This book is made up from personal notes and stenographic
reports of lectures delivered in New York City during the seasons
of 1900-1901-1902, with the addition of some new matter in the
form of amplifications. The compilation is made at the request of
my students and is published primarily for their benefit. The
material is left in the form in which it was delivered.
The book may not appeal to the orthodox religionist nor to the
materialist; but may prove interesting, if not enlightening, to
the agnostic and to the investigator of either psychic phenomena,
or the phenomena of mental therapeutics.
The modern teachings of the Science of Mind have not appealed
to many thinkers because of the vagueness of thought and
expression of the majority of those who attempt to present them;
and also because of the lack of a working hypothesis I needed to
explain the law under which both psychic and mental phenomena
occur. This book is an attempt toward supplying the latter
deficiency by stating laws under which Mind evolves and
operates.
The author does not claim any original research or discoveries
along these lines, having had the matter herein contained given to
him in the course of his study, under trained minds who had
verified these facts for themselves and who required him to do the
same.
The Occult forces of nature and their modes of manifestation
have been known for ages to certain secret orders which have not
deemed it wise heretofore to give their knowledge to the world.
This age, however, seems, in their judgment, propitious for the
wider spread of such knowledge both because many independent
investigators are discovering for themselves something about these
forces and, in their ignorance, are perverting the use of them -
as witness hypnotism - and because the advanced men of the race
have reached a point where they are desirous of this knowledge,
and every mental demand brings its supply.
"THE HISTORY AND POWER OF MIND" was selected for a title
because the history of mind is the history of man; and these
lectures first trace mind's, or psychic man's, origin and
development, and then describe the power of mind and its modes of
manifestation.
It may not be amiss to state in conclusion that the book is
not written for the purpose of propagandism. Something of the
operation of Nature's Laws is described in these lectures, and the
acceptance or rejection of the statements made will not change the
Laws nor affect the author.
R. I.
New York City, October 1st, 1902.
RETROSPECTION
AND FORECAST
The taking over of our books by Dodd, Mead & Company gives
me an opportunity to revise this volume and to correct many verbal
errors, some of them serious, which crept into, or were overlooked
in former editions. In the two decades which have elapsed since
first these teachings were given to the World my studies have
continued and have been broadened; but I find nothing of a basic
nature to revise in this book. Of course much could be added, but
such knowledge as is permissible to be given out will be issued
later in a separate volume.*
*The philosophic series now consist of the following books:
"The History and Power of Mind," "Occult Philosophy," "Fragments
of Truth" and "The Greater Mysteries."
I have received many hundreds of letters during the period
stated, asking for elucidation on various points covered by the
text. Most of these could have been self-answered if the writers
had studied the text more carefully, or had read the two
supplemental books * belonging to the series. But the constant
recurrence of the same questions in so many letters has made it
advisable to offer a few explanations which may prevent
uncertainty in the minds of present or future readers.
Much perplexity has arisen over the subject of the "Period of
Evolution," briefly sketched in Chapter 1, and more lightly
touched upon elsewhere. This has been particularly true of readers
who have studied the semi-esoteric teachings of modern Theosophy,
of Astrology and of Oriental literature. The esoteric facts are
these: Occultism commences to compute Periods of Evolution from
the beginning of the next Solar Cycle after the stream of
involution had brought the last of the human Egos or Minds from a
previous planet to this Earth.
Now, as modern Astronomy correctly states, it takes the Sun
something over twenty-five thousand years to complete its circuit
through the Zodiacal signs, and this period of time is called a
solar cycle. In occult or semi-occult literature a solar cycle is
designated as an "Age of the Earth," a "Period of Mundane
Evolution," or "Race Period." There are seven such Sun Cycles or
Periods of activity in which man may evolve on this planet. These
Sun Cycles are divided into twelve sub-cycles or periods, each
consisting of about two thousand years, or the length of time it
takes for the Sun to pass from one sign of the Zodiac to
another.
In Oriental literature these are called " Sub-Race Periods,"
and they are also known, among Occultists, as a "Nation's Age,"
for it is during such a period that a Nation is born, matures,
grows old and dies. It is interesting to verify this fact in
history, especially in contemporaneous history, for the leading
Nations of Europe are now ending their two thousand year
cycle.
This, in a measure, answers the questions so often asked,
"Have we finished the Sun Cycle of Pisces and are we in the
Aquarian Age?" To both questions the Occultist would answer, No.
We are now concluding the Age of Pisces and hence the disturbances
in every line of human endeavor.
At the end of each Sub-Cycle and peculiarly at the end of each
Solar Cycle, a re-adjustment in men's affairs and in the Earth
takes place. Those are the days of Judgment for that Period or
Cycle, and it was in reference to the end of the Piscean Age that
the Nazarene Occultist gave the prophecy concerning the "end of
the World," as the King James version has it, or the "Consummation
of the Age," as the revised version of the New Testament puts
it.
Connecting the two thousand year cycles are minor cycles,
overlapping in an evolutionary sense the cycles they connect, as a
link in a chain. And it is in these connecting, smaller cycles
that the re-adjustments take place.
The writers of the letters referred to repeatedly asked, How
can you continue to assert that there is an exact Law of Justice,
as you do throughout the book, when all around us we see so much
injustice?"
The answer is plain - as a man usually pays as he goes, but
monthly or yearly settles all outstanding accounts, so evolving
man usually sows and reaps in the same life, but outstanding,
evolutionary debts are settled in full during the minor Cycles
which connect the major ones.
For a concrete example we will take the thirty years
commencing with 1895 and lasting through 1925. That Period
constitutes an overlapping Cycle of Compensation. During that time
all World, National, Community and Individual wrongs must be
righted. It is the harvest time for men's thoughts and acts.
Necessarily undeveloped man has not sown wisely and hence the
chaos into which we are rapidly whirling. But all evil must be
swept away before man can commence a new Cycle of Evolution. It is
a sub-conscious reminiscence of the beginning of a new Major Cycle
that has led man to dream of Arcadias and to prophesy millenniums,
for only the good endures.
Prior to 1900 and before the Custodians of Occult knowledge
gave permission to reveal, in these lectures, esoteric truths, the
World had never heard of the colors of thought vibration, of
Cosmic Forces and their colors, of the vibratory color of man's
aura and its connection with Cosmic Forces, nor of the practical
use of such knowledge.
When the World first heard of these matters it was
incredulous, and even students were in doubt, but time, which
proves all things, has justified the claims of the Occultist and
has shown that all mental phenomena of the modern cults are
founded upon the vibratory theories of mind and matter herein set
forth. And now, on every side, among thinking people and among
those who pretend to think, these heretofore esoteric matters are
discussed as common knowledge and too often are carried to absurd
extremes by those who least understand them.
A careful study of this book, and particularly of Chapters VI,
X and XI, will open new avenues of knowledge and show the way to
spiritual development in the true and Occult sense - meaning the
development in man of the attributes of the Spirit of God, which
are Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence. As man raises his
vibrations and draws the higher Cosmic Forces into his mind and
body, his knowledge, force and consciousness expand and he grows
more godlike, until at length, in the fruition of time, he becomes
a god.
Too much stress cannot be laid upon this subject, for, after
all, our evolutionary aim is to become something better than we
are. One should not deprecate, in any manner, man's attempt to
better his social, financial or intellectual condition, but man
should know that these are all but means to an end - soul
growth.
The struggle engendered by man in carrying out his material
ambitions gives him courage, perseverance, patience and strength,
also experience which ripens into knowledge. Thus is character
built, the nature of which is dependent upon the means used by
him. One who recognizes that his vocation is but a method of
growth ceases to feel any burden in his work and enjoys the
conflict and the conquest equally. To such a one there is no
gradation of labor nor degradation in service.
By this is not meant that all labor is equal commercially, but
is equally noble if used as a means to an end, and, as such, is
well done - and in the New Era, after 1925, only the drones - if
any are left - will be without honor.
Most earnestly is it recommended to each reader to peruse -
not cursorily read - Chapter VIII dealing with psychic phenomena.
The World War, with its necessary attendant famine and plagues,
has swept out of physical manifestation millions of egos, many of
whom carried with them hatred of those left behind. Hatred begets
a desire for revenge, a primitive but powerful instinct. The
medium, to gratify this impulse of excarnated egos, is necessarily
limited to psychic instrumentalities, and herein lie the
intensified dangers enumerated in the Chapter in question.
It is not at all surprising that a psychic wave is sweeping
around the Earth at the present time and that tons of books are
being weekly turned off the press to supply information and
misinformation concerning the future state of man.
Priesthood has ever held out hope to the bereaved ones left
behind; but braver souls, feeling doubt corroding their creeds,
have sought from age to age to prove for themselves the
persistency of the personality after physical death. So general is
this impulse at the present time that modern necromancy has become
a parlor pastime, when it is not an effort of love to reach a dear
but unwilling pioneer upon the subjective side of life.
Every Occultist willingly concedes that mind is the master of
matter and persists after the material form has disappeared. It is
also conceded that in many instances the communicating excarnated
ego is the one whose identity is claimed. But this does not change
the sad fact that more often the identity cannot be established
and that impersonation is practiced to the detriment of the
investigator. There is no certainty in psychic inquiry unless the
investigator is himself an independent clairvoyant, and then there
is but little safety for him unless he has learned to permanently
remain positive or to protect himself with Cosmic Forces.
Many inquirers have erroneously concluded that, since all
disease has its origin in a mental cause, only mind can cure; and
therefore refuse all material aid in sickness. This is not
necessarily a logical nor a wise conclusion. The mental cause may
have ceased to operate after the physical manifestation, and in
such a case proper material remedies would bring about chemical
and physical changes for the better. If the mental cause still
persists, then both mind and medicine must be used. It is always
safer at this stage of our development to use mental and Cosmic
Forces as well as the natural remedies which a kindly Providence
has provided. This is not meant as recommendatory of mineral
drugs, poisons and serums, such as are too frequently used by some
practitioners of the present day. But, by natural remedies, are
meant the various drugless systems, diet, hygiene and herbs.
Nature has provided in most localities herbal remedies for the
diseases most likely to be generated in those localities, and it
is man's privilege to study nature and to learn to work with her
in preserving the physical body so that, in and through it, he may
more highly evolve.
It stands to reason that if a man can preserve his body, as an
efficient instrument, for a longer period than is the present
average age of men, he has thereby the greater advantage in the
evolutionary race.
For ages an Occult School of medicine has existed in which the
few accepted students are taught the vibratory rate and chemical
action of grasses, roots, herbs and trees, and particularly the
oils and quintessences derived therefrom.
But by far the greatest number of inquiries received in all
these years pertained to Chapter XII. So many quaint, queer and
pathetic letters were written about the Law of Opulence that
sometimes one wondered if the other parts of the book were often
read. The teachings were intended to supply the demands that
earnest hearts had made along Spiritual, mental and material
lines. It was natural to suppose that the great majority of
readers would prefer to have rather than to be; but one was
scarcely prepared to find that eighty per cent of all inquiries
were concerning material possessions. This was compensated for, in
a measure, by those letters which told of the conquest of
self.
Many students, by study and experimentation, gained a
comprehension of the Law of Attraction and used it successfully
along all lines. Many more persons, however, told of failure, but
the letters written clearly revealed the reason - the writers had
failed to understand either the text or themselves. So many
persons had daydreamed, thinking that they were creating and
concentrating. Others who had never earned more than one or two
hundred dollars a month, and were working eight hours a day for
that amount, were disappointed because their mental work of
fifteen minutes a day for a few months had not brought independent
wealth.
The majority of the letters showed that vanity had been the
obstruction to success. Persons who had never before heard of the
power of mind, upon reading the book, determined that henceforth
they would cease to work physically and would use mind
exclusively. They concluded that they were able to dispense with
all centers through which to work - all occupations - and, not
having the requisite knowledge and experience with the Law, and
lacking in their power of concentration, naturally they
failed.
The attention of readers is again called to the fact that most
of us belong to the class designated as "Physico-mental workers,"
and that it takes time, effort and experience to remove ourselves
from this class.
The Law of Attraction is the source from which we receive; but
we must do more than sit at our desks and demand money, travel,
good times and nothing to do. We will find that all who have
succeeded have had an occupation, a center, in the beginning,
which grew enormously under the application of the Law of
Demand.
To acquire wealth, be it soul wealth or material wealth, one
must possess desire, determination and the power of concentration.
And it is according to the degree in which one possesses these
three attributes of mind that one succeeds. It is so important to
realize this fact that a repetition of it, in a slightly different
form, may be excused, for it embodies the general principles which
bring success.
To use the Law of Attraction successfully, therefore, one
should:
First. Desire intently to possess a thing or
quality.
Second. Determine, or will to possess it.
Third. Concentrate all mental and physical effort to
acquire possession. This is mental efficiency.
Never yield to disappointment, for that is a counter force to
the Creative. Never stop working to attain your object, but keep
persistently at it until success crowns your efforts. By so doing
you create a condition which cannot be ignored by men or by Law;
for a pathway of invisible, magnetic cords stronger than steel is
created between you and your object - if you choose to make it so
by your power of Concentration.
Never give up working because results do not come when you
desire or expect them. Discouragement, disappointment, anger,
impatience and doubt in your power to succeed are the only things
that can delay or prevent the consummation of your hopes and
desires.
R. I.
Los Angeles, California,
February, 1920.
THE HISTORY AND POWER OF MIND
LECTURE
ONE
OCCULTISM, ITS PAST, PRESENT AND
FUTURE
To many persons the subjects discussed in these lectures may
appear preposterous, and therefore those of you who have not
studied along metaphysical lines are requested to hold yourselves
agnostically until this entire course shall be finished. You do
not know whether Occultism is true or not; you are now ready to
examine the subject and, after having heard the entire exposition,
you will be in a position to judge whether it offers a logical,
working hypothesis, and whether it is worthy to receive more of
your time and consideration. If it is true it can be demonstrated,
for truth is always demonstrable. You can prove by demonstration
each of the fundamental statements that will be made, as you can
prove a proposition in mathematics. When I say truth is
demonstrable, do not understand me to mean that it is capable of
being demonstrated immediately upon hearing it. Everything must
unfold. You cannot raise your body on a horizontal bar the first
time you try because your muscles are not strong enough; but after
your muscles have become strengthened by practice you may be
capable of raising your body to any position you desire. So it is
with a person who has never used his mind in scientific reasoning
or in concentration. He should not flatter himself that he can
immediately accomplish what a person who has practiced for many
years can do. If you use your mind along the lines indicated in
these lectures you will find that there will be a continuous
growth for you, and that the time will come when you can do
anything that you desire. A very large promise, you may say, but
if it is true I assure you it is demonstrable.
Our first subject is "Occultism, Its Past, Present and
Future." This is an introductory lecture, giving something of the
history of Occultism and of the Occultists in order that we may
know the source from which our information is derived.
The Century Dictionary gives the definition of Occultism as:
"The doctrine, practice or rites of things occult or mysterious;
the Occult Sciences or their study; mysticism; esotericism." In
the Middle Ages Occult Science or Occultism embraced primarily
what is now known as the physical sciences. It was understood to
mean those things which were unknown, but which by experimentation
might become known. Chemistry, as a branch of Alchemy, was
regarded as one of the Occult Sciences because it was largely
unknown, but through investigation and experimentation it
constantly became better known. But Occultism also had a secondary
meaning which was coupled with the first, namely, mysticism,
esotericism.
In ancient days people thought it not unwise to attempt the
discovery of the unknown through experimentation with the
subjective as well as the objective side of nature, and the two
meanings, that which pertained to the objective, which was unknown
but could be ascertained, and that which pertained to the
subjective, which was unknown but could be ascertained, were both
included in the term Occultism.
Materialism as it grew in strength called the unknown (which
was becoming known on the objective or visible side of life)
"Science," but stamped the belief in or the investigation of the
subjective side of life as "superstition." And most people became
very much afraid of that word, and became afraid of being known as
superstitious even more than to be known as ignorant; and such
persons preferred to remain ignorant of the Occult. In time the
word Occultism grew to mean that which pertained to the subjective
- that which pertained to esotericism, and at present it is
defined as esotericism.
As you go back in history you will find that esotericism has
everywhere played a large part in moulding the thoughts of men.
There were always the esoteric and the exoteric religions and
sciences. There always has been and there will be for ages yet to
come one religion for the masses and another for the students.
There have been for a long time, and for some time yet to come
there will be two sciences - one for the materialist, diluted for
the masses, and another for the students of Occultism. You will
find traces of this duality in any religion at any period in
history. The Nazarene, the inspired leader of the Christians,
after having taught the multitude in parables and having withdrawn
to one side, was questioned by His disciples: "Why speakest thou
to them in parables?" He answered: "Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is
not given." And afterward He unfolded to His disciples the
esoteric side of His teachings, thus giving them truths that were
not for the masses. And in all religions, whether it be the
Egyptian, Buddhism, or that precursor of the Christian religion -
Judaism, there are truths which are revealed only to the student.
In Judaism there was the Jehovic teaching for the masses, the
Cabalistic for the most secret students, and between these two was
a third, the Talmudic, which partook of the nature of both. So the
truth reached all grades of society according to the comprehension
of each - a plan that was adopted later by the Church of Rome with
very great success.
Of course many religionists, especially those calling
themselves Christians, will deny that there is any esotericism in
their faith. But those who are acquainted with the history of the
early Christian Church and the writings of the Fathers, and those
who are familiar with the philosophy of The Logos, and the
mysticism of Paul as shown in his Epistles, will never attempt to
deny it to the educated.
But however violent the denial of esotericism may be by the
religionist, it will not exceed in violence the denial of the term
"science" to anything pertaining to the occult by the majority of
the modern physicists; yet scorn, laughter or denial will not blot
from the pages of either sacred or profane history the fact that
Magic was and is practiced among all people. The existence of
magic necessitates the knowledge of certain laws and forces which
are as yet unknown to the materialist, though modern science,
having gone almost to the limit of the visible, is now beginning
to knock at the door of the Occult Sciences and to pry into the
invisible. It is already studying the ether, ions, electrical
invisibles, atoms and radiant matter. It is only a few weeks since
Flammarion, in one of his articles, said that he was a student of
Occultism, and that henceforth all progressive men of science
would have to study along that line.
According to the teachings of esotericism Occultism is the
science of Divine Unfoldment. The student of Occultism regards
Deity as the All; and is taught that there is not nor cannot be
any manifestation outside of Deity. Whether we look at a blade of
grass, or a drop of water, or upon our planet with its teeming
myriads of men and animals, or look away into space at system
after system of worlds, all is Deity in various states of
manifestation. The Occultist is primarily an evolutionist and says
that all evolution is carried on during vast periods of time,
which he calls Cosmic Days; that Deity idealizes a picture of what
It will accomplish during a Cosmic Day, and then the whole impulse
of evolution - which is Divine Energy or Impulse - is onward and
upward, striving ever to reach that idealization.
Everything in the universe is an unfoldment of Deity Itself,
and Occultism is the science of that Unfoldment. It teaches the
laws under which that Unfoldment takes place, not only upon the
objective plane of life but also upon the subjective plane. The
Occultist finds that where he merely studies the modern sciences
he is only studying the sciences of effects, for there is not one
of the modern sciences that teaches the cause of phenomena. Take
the subject where modern science has perhaps made as much progress
as in any other line - embryology. We find there is a germ; it has
a form of life; a method of accretion; it reaches a certain point
of development; then ask a scientific man what it is going to be,
a fish, a bird, a reptile or a man, and he cannot answer. Up to
this point the formation of a germ of each kind is identical with
the others. But after this point has been reached there is new
accretion, a new form is assumed, and the germ may become a bird,
a fish, a reptile or a man; but the form that it takes was
indelibly stamped upon it from the beginning. How was it stamped?
What determines the diverging point, what determines the form of
consciousness, the form of expression? In the science of
embryology there is no satisfactory answer to be had because here,
as you see, is the study of effects. The cause is not looked for,
is not found.
The student of Occultism says, I want to know when the ideal
which determined all its future growth was stamped upon that germ.
I want to know why, when it reached that point, it became a man
instead of a bird; why it drew to itself certain elements and
threw off others. I want to know the laws that govern the
subjective side of life; I want the veil to be torn away, that I
may see the cause of form, and not only its effects. This is why
he attempts to study first upon the objective side of life and
then upon the subjective, or to study them contemporaneously.
As materialistic as was the Nineteenth Century, we find that a
few men once more began to turn their thoughts toward the realm of
the unknown and unseen in order to discover, if possible, the
"why" of existence. And certain scientific men thought it not
unreasonable nor undignified to investigate the Occult or to
organize The Society for Psychical Research for the purpose of
investigating these occult subjects. We have seen the great cult
of Spiritualism spreading through the world and have witnessed the
revival of Palmistry and of Astrology and other quasi Occult
Sciences. Then following these, the crowning effort of all, we
find that a great psychic wave swept over the world and man began
to realize that he was Mind and as such was neither bound by time
nor by space, but could send his thoughts in any given direction
and could communicate without words with distant minds; and that
mind could compel matter to obey it. With the awakening of the
world the Occult Sciences have again challenged the attention of
the most progressive men of the race.
But man grows tired of externals and life after life as he
evolves he studies deeper and deeper into Nature's laws. We do not
always accomplish the same amount of study in each life because we
think we have not the time for study. We believe we have so much
else to do that is of much more importance to us. Then there is
the external world with its duties and pleasures and our attention
is so deeply engaged with these things that we have no time left
for more serious subjects. But in each life we take up as much of
the study of these sciences as we have the time and inclination
for, and gradually after many ages have passed we become earnest
and devoted students.
A knowledge of Occult Law may be gained in two ways, by
original research and by teachers. There are courageous souls who
choose to progress along the lines of personal experimentation
instead of taking the easier and perhaps the better way of gaining
a knowledge of its principles through the aid of teachers. These
strong souls often make terrible mistakes and unnecessary
sacrifices, for, after leaving the objective plane, they come upon
the hidden or subjective side where there are forces and agencies
that turn to naught man's thought and efforts unless both be
properly directed. But even when knowledge has been gained through
teachers it does not put an end to experimentation; because the
teacher explains the law and leaves the pupil to make his own
verification after having been taught how it should be done. The
knowledge comes, however, as all real knowledge must, by
experimentation and by experience.
Who are the teachers? They may be grouped into three great
classes, Masters, Adepts and Students. The Masters of Occultism
are those who, in a prior period of Cosmic evolution, passed
upward through the human stage until they reached the Divine, and
became Gods. When a new Cosmic Day commences, and new planets are
formed, and men are brought into existence for the purpose of
unfolding more and more of the Deity within themselves and
enlarging their consciousness as individualized parts of nature,
the Masters are they who lead and teach the evolving race. The
Adepts are those advanced men of our race who are students of the
Masters, while at the same time they are teachers of their less
developed brothers. They are men who have perfected themselves
along certain lines, but have not reached perfection along all
lines. The Students are they who are studying under these Adepts;
they are persons who desire to know the truth, and have devoted
themselves to the study of these particular sciences. They hold
the same relation to the Adepts as the Adepts hold to the
Masters.
There are different grades of Masters because they who
finished their evolution upon their system of worlds earlier in
the great Cosmic Day are stronger than they who finished later.
And so there are grades of Adepts and of Students. We find that
there are everywhere grades of intelligence. In other words, that
which Huxley speaks of as a scientific necessity is true, and
there are intelligences in this Universe as superior to man as man
is superior to a black beetle. Take, for instance, a Patagonian or
an Australian Bushman, and contrast him with an Emerson. What a
vast gulf separates these two intelligences! Yet both are
proceeding upward in their evolutionary career; the one, of
course, being in advance of the other.
And it does not require much scientific imagination to
conceive that there is an infinite gradation of intelligence
because we see such a diversity everywhere. Then it is only
logical to suppose that what is true upon the lower plane of our
daily experience is also true throughout nature.
The Masters and Adepts are the custodians of the Occult
Sciences, which are perfected sciences, it is claimed, because
they cover all departments of nature, both physical and
metaphysical, the objective and the subjective.
Now, all the facts and principles of these sciences must be
verified by each person as he progresses along his evolutionary
path. I may tell you something that may seem absurd to you; or you
may say "that sounds reasonable," and therefore you believe it. I
may tell you something else, and you say, "I believe that is true
because both the intuitive and rational portions of my nature
endorse it." But you do not know whether it is true or not. In the
first case you have a disbelief, in the next two cases a belief;
but before you have a knowledge, you must verify the truth of my
assertion. And so it is that every student of Occultism must
verify each statement of his teacher in order that he may make it
a part of his own being - that he may know that it is true;
otherwise it would be only a belief, and beliefs do not amount to
much, because there are almost as many beliefs and theories as
there are individuals.
In this Cosmic Day Occultism commenced when the Masters came
upon this planet to teach mankind. The evolution on this planet is
divided into a certain number of periods, and we are at the
present time in what the Occultists know as the fifth period. In
the first and second periods very little was accomplished by man.
He was, as it were, in a new world with new sensations and new
experiences, and his life was entirely objective, and largely
animal. His theater of activity was that continent known to
tradition as "The Land of the Gods ... .. Mount Muru," "The
Imperishable Isles," or what we would prosaically call the
"Continent of the North Pole."
During the third period of evolution, man lived upon the
continent known as Lemuria - a continent lying in the Pacific
Ocean, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. Its Northern portion was much
in the present location of Australia, the Philippines, and the
Islands of the Southern Pacific; all of which constitute the
remnants of that continent now sunken beneath the seas. That
periods occur in which there is a sinking of certain continents,
and a rising of others, is as well known to Physicists as to
Occultists. In Lemuria man passed from his lowest state of animal
existence into what we may call a more rational or human state.
His development during this time is substantially shown in the
history of primitive man. Some of the egos, outstripping the
others, succeeded in reaching adeptship along certain lines, but
the great mass of the people lived sensuous and sensual lives.
There was very little spirituality manifested by the race during
this period, and the perversion of natural laws and forces became
marked toward its close.
The most notable event which occurred on that continent,
immediately prior to the cataclysm which swept it beneath the
waters, was the establishment of colonies in India. The colonists
consisted of Masters, the Adepts and the cream of the race. It was
these colonists who built the rock temples of Elephanta and the
other great temples of India - those temples in which mysticism
seems to have had its earlier home; and where, upon their walls,
are painted the strange old symbols, in colors, that indicate the
history and the growth of man.
Those were the souls who gave to India its riches in
literature and philosophy, and established the mighty empires
which even tradition has forgotten. But it was the degenerate
descendants of these colonists who spread Northward and Westward,
and populated first Asia, and later, Europe.
After the continent of Lemuria had passed away, then came the
fourth period, with man's field of activity in Atlantis. Atlantis
extended from the West Indies to the coast of Central and Northern
Africa, as we know from the investigations of the British
Government, which spent many years, and large sums of money, in
detemining the extent of the sunken continent; and it was here
that civilization proceeded with tremendous strides. All the
accumulated knowledge of the other periods was stored in the minds
of those who had been the Lemurians, and were then incarnating as
Atlanteans. As they acquired greater and greater knowledge, they
not only reached a point in mechanical development almost as great
as our own, but they also took up the study of Occultism, which
became common among the people.
By that time the great Masters had retired from physical
contact with men, and the Adepts had taken their places as direct
teachers of the people. They moved among men, and were the kings
and rulers, the law-givers and inventors; in fact, they were the
inspirers of the race up to the time it reached its highest point
of development in that period.
Then the continent became divided into five great kingdoms,
and in each of these there were lodges of Adepts. At the height of
Atlantis' glory, once more the people turned to sensual
abandonment, and the Adepts withdrew into Retreats with their
pupils, for the people refused to listen to them, or to be aided
by them any longer. In the course of time, materialism swept over
that continent, as it has swept over Europe and America; and
Occultism was forgotten by the masses, and remembered only by the
few; and then, gradually, that which was pure Occultism became
perverted, and men began to use their powers criminally. Those who
remembered or practiced Occultism, put into operation mental and
certain other forces which enslaved all those who had forgotten
how to use their own forces, or who were not developed to the same
point as themselves. And thus Atlantis became a continent where a
few immensely wealthy, powerful and strong egos ruled the majority
of the people, and made them their slaves.
But the misuse of Occult forces brought its reaction, as it
always does, and, as Plato tells us, Atlantis suddenly became
submerged. You remember that when he went to Egypt he was informed
that the last remnants of Atlantis had disappeared about five
thousand years prior to his visit; and also that the priests had
records of the old continent, as well as of their own country,
which extended back thousands of years. These records were kept by
the Occultists who were priests in the time of Plato, and are
still kept in triplicate; one copy has been placed in each of the
three great repositories situated on separate continents.
Before Atlantis went down those of the inhabitants who had
preserved their purity and who were trying to lead upright lives,
were taken by the Adepts out of the country. Those living in the
Western Empires were colonized in Central and South America. In
Central America that rare civilization which preceded our own was
founded, and was the duplicate in every respect of the one
formerly established in India. The degenerate descendants from the
Central American civilization emigrated to North and South America
and populated them. The degeneracy of these aboriginal Americans
was due to the fact that at this time in that Fourth Period the
undeveloped souls of the Atlanteans were incarnating in those
bodies; for it was with the Atlanteans as it had been with the
Lemurians, the strongest souls came first and became the pioneers.
They bore the heaviest burdens and thus prepared the way for the
less developed souls who had not the strength to do the work that
their elder brothers had done. And it should not be forgotten that
the history of the Lemurians and the Atlanteans is but the history
of ourselves. Our strongest and bravest souls came forward to
start the Fifth Period onward in its evolution, as even a cursory
reading of general history will disclose, and they have reappeared
from time to time to manifest their energies in the several lines
of human achievement, in order to teach, help and direct the
course of events.
From the Eastern Empires of Atlantis the advanced souls went
into Africa and laid the foundation of what is known now as the
Egyptian Empire. And this brings us to the Fifth Period, in which
Occultism was again taught popularly and openly among the people.
A study of Egyptian history reveals that during its entire period
there were Occultists-Magicians they were called - who could
produce great phenomena. They were teachers of the people and were
the priests and law-givers; they were the friends of kings and
were consulted whenever there was sickness or national calamity.
These teachers were the Adepts who came in contact with the
people.
In the Fifth Period, which is the present one, the descendants
of the colony which remained in India, having reached the height
of its prosperity and development, passed Westward and founded the
Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. There again the Adepts moved
among men. In both sacred and profane history of those times we
find that the Magi were able to cure all manner of diseases and to
manipulate the laws of nature. Passing upward from Babylon and
Syria to the Mediterranean on the one side and through Egypt to
the Mediterranean on the other, we find that the great remnants of
the Third and Fourth Periods were merged and blended in the Fifth
Period in the Phoenician, the Grecian, the Carthaginian and the
Roman peoples.
This is not a statement of occult history in full; but is
merely the barest outline in order to show you how Occultism has
been presented in the past, and how it has been preserved for
us.
At the beginning of this Fifth Period we had a new burst of
occult knowledge and force, because all the knowledge acquired in
the preceding periods by the egos had been brought over in these
later incarnations, and in the early history of each of the
Nations mentioned Occultism was taught to the people once more.
The Adepts were friends of the people and were freely consulted by
them. But gradually as materialism advanced and sensuality became
the dominant trait of each of these peoples, the Adepts withdrew
again from personal contact with the world - as the great Masters
had withdrawn in previous periods of time.
In Greece materialism in its most artistic form began to stamp
itself upon the minds of the people, who turned from spiritual
teachings and caused the Adepts to withdraw entirely from the
world. And it came to pass that all magic or Occultism, for they
were identical in those days, was confined to what is known now as
temple magic and was practiced by the priests who were students of
the Adepts. In various Grecian temples mechanical or ceremonial
magic was taught; that is, a knowledge of mental forces united
with a knowledge of chemistry and alchemy, by the blending of
which great phenomena were produced. Some record of this great
knowledge is preserved even in the histories which you have.
Before Occultism in Greece passed away one final attempt was
made to counteract materialism, and the Eleusinian Mysteries were
founded. In these mysteries the development and evolution of the
human soul were taught in symbolic form and the wisest men of that
age thought it a privilege to be initiated into these Mysteries.
But even this proved unavailing to stem the tide of materialism
and therefore the priests ceased to publicly proclaim or exert
their occult powers. Occasionally some enthusiastic student came
forward and exhibited his knowledge of the Occult by the
performance of a few miracles and marvelous phenomena; but the
people as a whole were too materialistic to be taught anything
better or higher than their own gross beliefs and soon such
students had to retire from public work.
Then Christianity arose, and its doctrines were received by a
great many who, after a brief period of genuine revival of
spirituality, used them for political purposes. The different
orders of the priesthood became the Occult Bodies within the
Christian Church, and up to the Middle Ages the priests in the
Church possessed all the knowledge of Occultism that the world
had. And the Catholic Church is now the only one that has
preserved a trace of this ancient truth. It was during the Middle
Ages that the Occultists as a class withdrew from the Church of
Rome and formed secret bodies or societies, such as the
Rosicrucians, in various parts of the world.
At the present day almost all occult knowledge is possessed
and preserved by secret societies; and the members of these
societies or bodies only teach such individuals as have reached a
point in their evolution which has made them capable of receiving
the higher truths. In this way portions of this secret knowledge
are given to the world from time to time as the world becomes able
to receive them.
The culmination of what is known as the Dark Age, in this
period of evolution, came in the nineteenth century, for at that
time the world reached its lowest point in materialism, and from
now the tendency will continue to be upward toward Spirituality. A
few Occultists believe that the time has passed when there is a
necessity for guarding these secrets with such jealous care, and
believe that the world is ready to receive more of these truths
than formerly. Then, too, many persons are making discoveries
along these lines and are ignorantly misusing the forces they are
learning to use. So it has been decided to teach the people
something about these forces and how they can and should be used,
in the hope of averting, if possible, the fate of the Lemurians
and Atlanteans.
Almost every day you may see in the newspapers advertisements
in which the offer is made to instruct people concerning personal
magnetism and how to use it; how to be successful, how to become
popular and how to dominate other minds until they become
enslaved. The people are awakening and are beginning to feel a
great desire to know about these Occult forces; and if they do not
use them rightly they will surely use them wrongly.
At the present time various efforts are being made to give the
occult teachings to such persons as are fitted to receive them,
but they cannot yet be taught in full to the great mass of people;
but should only be given to those who desire to know the truth and
who wish to ally their forces with those of Nature for the good of
others and for benefit to themselves.
Now you are not going to be taught all there is about
Occultism in these lectures, but only that particular portion
which teaches what the great Universal Mind is; and after that
what you are, what your subjective and objective minds are and
what occult forces each of these minds reaches and controls. Then
you shall be taught how to use these forces for your own
upbuilding and for the hastening of your evolution. We shall
confine ourselves to mental lines, taking fragments of occult
history and bringing them together into a small mosaic which will
show you your relationship to the Universal Mind and how all
humanity is but a manifestation of that great Mind. We shall learn
how to build ourselves up along spiritual, mental and material
lines, because this knowledge can be used successfully along all
three. We all want to succeed in life materially, and most of us
want to grow in knowledge and power; and it is through the use of
these forces that we accomplish our heart's desire. The time is
fast approaching when man must learn to use his mental forces or
fail in the great evolutionary struggle - fail for this entire
period - not to take the battle up again until some other Cosmic
Day shall come. In the course of time all men who survive will
become Occultists.
