THE TRUE ROSICRUCIAN

& HOLY GRAIL TRADITIONS

COURSE 5
THE REBIRTH OF HUMANITY
AND THE EARTH:
THE INNER MYSTERIES OF EASTER
COPYRIGHT 2018 BY THE VESICA INSTITUTE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WWW.VESICA.ORG

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
COURSE 5
THE REBIRTH OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH:
THE INNER MYSTERIES OF EASTER

INTRODUCTORY QUOTE: ON CHRIST AND SOPHIA 3

THE SPRING FESTIVAL 4

THE EASTER FESTIVAL 7

THE LATEST OCTAVE OF THE EASTER MYSTERY 11

THE SEVEN STAGES OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION 13

OTHER ESOTERIC ASPECTS OF THE EASTER FESTIVAL 16

ENERGIES OF THE SOLAR LOGOS, ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL,

AND CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ 20

PERSONAL RESURRECTION: RE-CONNECTING TO OUR

INTERNAL SPIRITUAL FIRE 21

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“It is not the Christ that we miss, but the Knowledge of Christ, the Isis
of Christ; the Sophia of Christ we miss...

What has caused the misfortune of civilized humanity in the new age
is not the loss of the Christ, who stands before us today in a higher
glory than Osiris stood before the Egyptians...

No, what we have lost is the knowledge, the sight of Jesus Christ. We
must find it again by means of the power of Jesus Christ which is in
us. The Christ will appear in the Twentieth Century in his spiritual
form, not because something external will enter but because human
beings will find that power represented by the Holy Sophia.”
Rudolf Steiner, Christmas Eve 1920.

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 THE SPRING FESTIVAL

Thanks to Adrian Anderson’s book Living a Spiritual Year, and to Steiner’s original source
material, for many of the insights of this and the following section.

* When the Sun increases its influence on the Earth in Spring, the Earth reacts by exhaling
its etheric and astral forces which then rise above the Earth’s surface. This exhalation is
necessary for the Sun forces to fully penetrate into the Earth, leading ancient peoples to celebrate
festivals with the theme “Marriage of the Sun and Earth.” Spiritually this marriage is related to
the “Divine Marriage” between the Beings of the Solar Logos and the Earthly Sophia which
occurred during the Mystery of Golgotha, when Christ descended into the Earth and unified with
the Sophia.

* Ancient peoples knew that this exhalation of the Earth’s ether in Spring meant that
elemental beings, which had been involved in processes beneath the Earth’s surface,
became active and ascended above the Earth’s surface to interact with the growth of plants
and Earth’s natural processes. In Spring the Water elementals become particularly active with
growing plants and around bodies of moving water in moonlight.

* The World Spirit (an expression for the highest of the Sun Beings) creates in Summer the
plant life which acts as a mirror through which this being may perceive himself; the
growing plants act as external sense organs for this Being. This is one manifestation of an
important spiritual principle; that higher Beings create manifestations in the phenomenal world
which they then use as sense organs. Recall the mention in the previous seminar regarding how
the Moon and Earth were two “Eyes” for higher spiritual hierarchies. Another example of this
principle is the Archai using the foundations of the human physical body (warmth spheres) as
sense organs in order to become self-aware during the ancient cycle of evolution which the
Rosicrucians term “Old Saturn” (see Steiner’s An Outline of Esoteric Science.)

* The Spring Equinox is a vital moment in the cycle of the Year. As mentioned, in the Spring
the Earth forces open deeply to the forces of the Cosmos. This is the reason why ancient peoples
used the time of the Spring Equinox as the marker moment for determining the Precession of the
Equinox cycle and the ruling Zodiacal forces of an Age. (Understanding the Precession of the
Equinox is absolutely fundamental to the Western Spiritual Tradition, and we will assume that all
readers are familiar with it; if not, be sure to study it!) At the time of the Spring Equinox, one
can look up to the Sun and feel its forces combine with the cosmic forces which stand
behind it; the forces of the Zodiacal constellation which stands behind the Sun at the time
of the Spring Equinox have fundamental effects on the Earth.
(Perceptive readers may have realized that the Spring Equinox Zodiacal forces are polar
opposites in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth as opposed to those we are familiar with in
the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth. Just as the Spring Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere
occurs at the opposite time of the Year as the Spring Equinox in the North, so too the Zodiacal

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forces which stream onto the Earth at those times are complementary. In the North, we have
been absorbing the energies of Pisces and are moving to the forces of Aquarius; in the South, we
have been absorbing the energies of Virgo and are moving to the forces of Leo. This is a vital
meditation topic for anyone working with understanding the cosmic influences on Earthly Life,
and the New Star Wisdom of the Holy Grail. The only text I know which explores this is the
essential, but unfortunately out-of-print, book Living a Spiritual Year to which much of this
discussion is indebted.)

* The dynamic relationships (changing geometric positions in the Heavens) between Sun,
Earth, and Moon affect the processes within the Earth’s Life Processes, its Etheric Body.
After the Spring Equinox, the Sun rises above the Moon in the sky and its activity predominates
over the Moon forces. This is also true for moonlight, which contains Etheric life forces of both
Moon and Sun as well as reflecting physical sunlight. The qualitative forces radiated to the
Earth with Moonlight change dramatically after the Spring Equinox, being infused with a new
potency of Sun Forces ( i.e., a potent alchemical combination of Lunar and Solar Forces). This is
a key to the dating of Easter as the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the Spring Equinox.

* The Sun forces also create activities within the human being. The Light from the Sun
created the Human Eye as an organ to perceive it. In primeval times, human beings in
ethereal form experienced at sunrise an inner experience of the Sun’s forces increasing; at a
particular time in history the human physical eye developed to the point that it could perceive the
Light from the Sun’s physical body at Sunrise, a profound moment in human development.

* What we think of today as “Spring Cleaning” in earlier times involved ritual purification and
bathing. This was understood to be connected to countering the forces of detrimental
spiritual beings.

* Luciferic and Ahrimanic forces can affect elemental beings in Springtime. As Elemental
Beings of Air and Fire ascend upward in Spring and Summer, their consciousness diminishes and
they are susceptible to Luciferic influences. As new physical matter appears in the physical
world with the growth processes of Spring, Ahrimanic forces use their connection to physical
manifestation to potentially influence Elementals of Water and Earth. For instance, the “evil
trolls” of European mythology are Earth Elementals dominated by Ahrimanic influences.

* The increased activity of Lucifer and Ahriman affecting Elementals is particularly strong
in the Spring before the time of the Spring Equinox; after the Spring Equinox there are
more Solar forces present to hold them in check. The time between the beginning of the
Earth’s outbreath and the Spring Equinox is when these beings become more active. This is also
a time when certain Old Moon forces connected to the Eighth sphere are accessed by the
opposing spiritual forces, within the interior spheres of the Earth (there are nine sub-spheres
within the Earth, an initiation teaching made somewhat public in Dante’s Inferno).

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* The influence of the hindering powers on the Elemental Beings also affects Human Beings;
for instance the Ahrimanic Earth Elementals generate dark materialistic thinking in
humans (Ahriman strives to prevent humans from awakening spiritually), and Luciferic
Elementals create self-centered dreaminess. This is one reason for the “Spring Cleaning”
rituals, to help rid oneself of the dark influences of the hindering powers present in Spring. A
deeper aspect of the “Spring Cleaning” is that the cleansing spiritually enlivens the individual,
helping them to become fully conscious of their true Spiritual nature and potential in life.

* The Judaic holiday of Passover was celebrated on the first full moon after the Spring
Equinox; in Christianity the Spring festival of Easter is celebrated at almost the same time,
the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (the addition of the Sun-
Day requirement is linked to the coming of Christ, the Solar Logos). Within the Hebraic
mystery teaching, it was understood that Passover was a time of year when particular heavenly
forces (related to “Manna from Heaven”) became available, with the shift in the energies of
moonlight after the Spring Equinox we have already mentioned (when these Moon emanations
contain Solar Life Ether in high potency). The Jewish Temple ritual of slaying a young lamb (so
that the “blood of the lamb” represented the sacrifices necessary for the cycle of the year to occur
through the actions of conscious spiritual Beings) is manifested esoterically in modern times
with the Christian identification of Christ as the “Lamb of God” and the Crucifixion of Christ
with the sacrificial shedding of the “Blood of the Lamb”.

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 THE EASTER FESTIVAL

* The Life Forces from the Sun (Solar Ether) infuse the Earth’s Etheric forces at this time; this is
also mirrored in the relationship between the Christ and the human being. The Life Forces from
the Being of the Sun, the Solar Logos, permeate the Life body of the Human Being.

* In the Spring Festival, we need to be conscious of the Life Ether (highest of the Four
Ethers) which we must take into our Etheric Life bodies; otherwise an Ahrimanic
hardening and coarsening process can occur in its place. The physical substance which makes
up our physical body must be directed by the Life Ether, with the assistance of the Tone Ether
which connects us to the cosmic forces of the “Music of the Spheres”, the Cosmic archetypal
geometry and harmonic relationships which are the source of the physical body. The beneficial
Earth Elementals work with the Solar Life Ether while the Ahrimanically influenced Earth
Elementals are connected to the Ahrimanic, Eighth Sphere forces (holdovers from the Old Moon
Manvantara).

* The dating of Easter as the first Sunday (the Sun) after the first full Moon (the Moon)
after the Spring Equinox (the Earth) demonstrates the vital interrelationships between the
Sun, Moon, and Earth which create the spiritual forces of the Easter/Spring Festival. This
is a very rich topic indeed! Just a few indications of directions for further inquiry:

- Note that in the vital 1-3-7-12 Kabbalistic coding system of the human subtle bodies, the
3 Harmonic of the Astral Body is based on the forces of Sun, Moon and Earth. Their anchor
points are specifically Brain, Heart, and Liver (see the appendix to Founding a Science of the
Spirit by Steiner) and generally Head, Heart, and Hara (as well as Thought, Speech and Action
for the Buddhists and Head, Heart, and Hands for the Sufis.)

- These Sun, Moon and Earth forces work through real spiritual beings. The forces of the
Ego, Astral Body, and Etheric Body manifest through the seed-sounds I-O-A (ee-oh-ah); the I-O-
A is a foundation for the Kabbalistic name given to the great Elohim being of the Moon
popularly known as Je-Ho-Vah. I-A-O is linked to the Solar Logos, the Christ. The Earth forces
of Isis-Sophia are related to the Asherah Divine Feminine Being associated with Jehovah in the
early Jewish religion (before being replaced in a patriarchal revolution by abstract
understandings of the Shekhinah.) Many spiritual mysteries of the Western Tradition can be
understood in this context; please always bear in mind that there are real spiritual beings active
here, not simply the philosophical abstractions/metaphors/symbolism which is common in
modern interpretations.

- For deeper considerations of the Easter dating formula and its cosmic origins, see Steiner’s
The Easter Festival in the Evolution of the Mysteries.

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* The “Easter Rabbit” is an expression of the fertility of Spring as seen in the rapid breeding of
Rabbits. The Rabbit is also an animal expression of particular Christ forces: the Rabbit
eats only vegetation and does not kill any animal, and it will sacrifice itself by exposing
itself to predators in an effort to help another Rabbit get away. The “Eggs” brought by the
Easter Rabbit are not only the physical eggs which carry new life, but also the principle of the
Egg-shaped geometry (path curves) which are complementary to the Torus and to the Vortex
geometry by which life forces move.

* In ancient times, the human race was at a stage of development when we were less susceptible
to the Ahrimanic forces which rose to the surface of the Earth with the growing plant life in
Spring. Since the beginning of the modern Consciousness Soul Age in the early 1400’s,
humanity has become increasingly vulnerable to these Ahrimanic forces; if human beings
do not exert their spiritual forces as a counter-balance, the result can be a kind of spiritual
intoxication which eradicates an awareness of the spiritual world from humanity.
In ancient times, Initiates were directed to “know thyself” as a counterbalance to these
influences; in modern times we need to do the same, but to a more intense degree. We must
develop a spiritually awakened, conscious experience of the Spiritual forces present in nature and
in ourselves. Part of this process is of course beautiful, inspiring, and highly enjoyable.
However to directly perceive the detrimental beings active in and around us in a concrete,
realistic, and grounded manner demands real spiritual courage. To put it bluntly, most
modern spiritual seekers have not yet summoned forth this level of courage, but we must do so
for the preservation of ourselves and our world. The ability to bear the unpleasant side of
spiritual reality often separates those who attain modern Christian Spiritual Initiation from those
who do not.

* The complementary mystery to that of having the courage to directly perceive the
detrimental beings around us is that of lovingly perceiving the beneficent elemental beings
around us. We have mentioned previously that the human activity of Thinking (in the sense of
spiritualized “Living Thinking”) actually ties the Creation of the World to the point of
materialization back to its divine source; this is accomplished through the forces of human
consciousness when we directly perceive the spirit in matter and matter’s original source. With
this deeper understanding, we can then comprehend the importance of our perceiving the
presence and activity of the beneficent elemental beings: through doing so we actually reconnect
them to Divine Forces, which protects them from the influences of detrimental beings.
Elemental beings which are ignored and abused by humanity can fall prey to these
detrimental forces, becoming Ahrimanic elementals. These elementals not only suffer from
this, they are actually lost to the evolutionary process for a period of time. The deeper
significance of this is, that instead of participating in the transmutation of the Earth into the new
Etheric world known as the “New Jerusalem”, they remain chained to matter and to the Eighth
Sphere. This is essentially a matter of their losing their connection to their Earthly Sophia and
falling prey to the Ahrimanic forces; this is one aspect of the picture given in the Book of
Revelation, that of the woman clothed with the Sun carrying a Child, which is threatened by the

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Ahrimanic Dragon. It is vital that modern Initiates clearly understand the difference between
the Ahrimanic and Sophianic aspects of material existence.

* The forces which can help us attain the courage to directly perceive the hindering
spiritual Beings are the Solar forces associated with the Lion and with the Leo forces of
Summer. This is a Christ force. In its feminine expression, it is Sekhmet the Lioness Goddess
in the Egyptian Mysteries (BioGeometry students will know that this being is associated with the
spiritual carrier wave, “Negative Green.”)

* Just as the Christ sacrificed himself between the Luciferic and Ahrimanic thieves at the
Crucifixion, so the Christ manifests his forces to aid humanity in holding the balance
between the strengthened Luciferic and Ahrimanic influences in the Spring. The Christ
actively works with the process of the Earth and human beings absorbing the Solar Life Ether,
which balances the increased activity of the detrimental elementals which strive to corrupt our
thinking, feeling, and willing. This Christ activity of infusing the Solar Life Ether into the
human Etheric Life Body is also related to the activity of the Archangel Raphael, the Archangel
who rules over the Spring and brings the Mercury forces of Healing.

* Knowledge of the Archangel Raphael and his healing mission is deeply rooted in the Western
Esoteric tradition: the original Book of Enoch notes that he is “set over all human diseases and
wounds.” Raphael is the Archangel who administers the healing forces of the Christ in
Springtime; his forces and guidance are very available in the Spring. The Life Ether which
he administers in Spring has a primary color resonance in the Violet Range, and is linked to
esoteric teachings regarding the “Violet Flame” and the “Violet Ray.” Note that in the Greek
esoteric work on the Archangels which we have explored, the Archangel Raphael is experienced
in Violet Flame or Light.
(A note on one set of primary color correspondences for the Four Ethers:
Warmth Ether: Red
Light Ether: Yellow
Chemical Ether: Blue
Life Ether: Violet
Note that the “Orgone energy” discovered by Wilhelm Reich glowed blue in a vacuum; it is
related to Chemical Ether, as recognized by Trevor James Constable in his books The Cosmic
Pulse of Life and The Loom of the Future. The identity of Orgone with Chemical Ether is also
shown by the use of water to generate its energy, as with the “Cloudbuster” device; Water is the
physical element linked to the Chemical Ether. For more details on this important topic, see the
Vesica Online Course The Universal Vibrational Spectrum, which is one part of the Vibrational
Testing and Healing series.)

* The Sacrifice of Christ in “Dying for our Sins” is related to the essential structure and balance
of the Cosmos. Human beings must be allowed to make mistakes, to choose between Good
and Evil, for there to be real freedom and for us to reach our extremely elevated spiritual
potential: to become the Tenth Spiritual Hierarchy, the Spirits of Love and Freedom. This

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is related to the Mystery of the Tree of Life and the description of the expulsion from Paradise in
Genesis; the description of Lucifer working with mankind for us to “become as Gods, knowing
of Good and Evil” is an Imaginative picture based on spiritual reality.
Although it is essential that humanity have the freedom to make mistakes, this does not
change the reality that every force in the world has an effect on the entire cosmos. Every
thought, feeling, and action on the part of every human being creates a force in the world which
affects the whole. This avalanche of Karmic consequences would not only cripple humanity,
it would cause tremendous damage in the cosmos if another force did not arise to
compensate for it.

This force must have several attributes:

- It must be in Resonance with Humanity, as does the Being being known as the
“Representative of Humanity”. This force/Being would then carry as well the archetype of
both Love and Freedom.

- It must be of a very high spiritual nature, above the level of the Spiritual Hierarchies. It
would need to be a direct emanation from the Godhead, part of what esoteric Christianity refers
to as the Trinity.

- It must be linked both to the nodal point of our Solar System (the Sun) and to the center
of the sphere in which we live (the Earth).

This force is held within a single being, the Solar Logos / Christos. The Christ Being
literally “took on the sins of the world” to balance their effects and to transmute the evil forces
into good through an inner alchemical process which entails tremendous suffering for the being
involved. (Individuals who know BioGeometry should meditate on the relationship between this
phenomenon and the transmutation of toxic energies through the Higher Harmonic of Gold.)

One of the highest of human initiates, known in different time periods as Manu, Malek-
Zadek (Melchizadek), Mani, and Parsival, follows the example of the Solar Logos in order
to anchor the “Manichean Stream” which has the task of transmuting evil into good. This
is the heart of the Holy Grail Initiation which is based around the question “Brother (or Sister),
what ails thee?”

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 THE LATEST OCTAVE OF THE EASTER MYSTERY

“This black sphere [of materialistic thinking, brought to the spiritual world with the dying
souls of the nineteenth century], was taken by the Christ, in accordance with the Manichean
principle, into his being, in order to transform it. It caused, for the angelic being in which the
Christ has revealed Himself since the Mystery of Golgotha, ‘the death of suffocation’. This
sacrifice of Christ in the nineteenth century is comparable to the sacrifice on the physical plane
in the Mystery of Golgotha, and can be termed the second crucifixion of Christ on the etheric
plane. This spiritual suffocation death that caused the annihilation of consciousness of an
angelic being is a recapitulation of the Mystery of Golgotha in the worlds immediately above our
own, in order to make possible an enlivening of the formerly hidden Christ consciousness in
human souls on the Earth. This enlivening will become Clairvoyant sight in humanity in the
twentieth century... the dying of Christ’s consciousness in the angelic sphere in the nineteenth
century will lead to the resurrection of direct Christ consciousness in the earthly sphere.”
Rudolf Steiner, in a passage omitted from the English translation of Rudolf Steiner’s
February 8, 1913 lecture. Printed in Jesaiah Ben-Aharon’s New Experience of the
Supersensible, p. 211 fn.173; emphasis added.

The reality that our thoughts have a significant effect on the world means that they
generate a particular energetic field around them which has a specific quality. Our thoughts are
like “magnets” and attract other cosmic energies to them according to their own nature,
through resonance. (This is connected to Ahriman’s link with magnetism and to the human
etheric body, in relation to the negative aspect of this phenomenon of thought resonance. The
quality of thoughts can be measured in Vibrational Radiesthesia, as is taught in the Vesica Online
Series Vibrational Testing and Healing).

Materialistic thoughts create a dark, heavy energy within the actual Life body of the
Human Being. Upon death, the Etheric body breaks up and this dark energy remains around the
Earth; the tremendous number of human beings who die with this dark energy from materialistic
thoughts thus leads to a tremendous concentration of this dark energy. This accumulation of
dark energy creates what can be clairvoyantly perceived as a “black sphere” around the
Earth. (This is connected to the topic of the Eighth Sphere.)
This black sphere was taken on as a sacrifice by the Christ in the nineteenth century. Just
as Christ manifested through a human being, the Master Jesus/Zoroaster to go through the
Crucifixion, so Christ manifested through a particular Angelic Being at the Etheric/Astral level.
This Angelic Being suffered “death” – an extinction of consciousness – through the very painful
process of being “suffocated” by this black sphere of materialistic energies. This was essentially
a second Mystery of Golgotha.

Just as the Death of Christ at the Crucifixion led to a resurrection at a higher level, so did
this Death by suffocation lead to a Resurrection. This new Resurrection, this new Easter Event,

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saw the Death of Christ’s Consciousness in the Angelic world so that it is now Resurrected on
the Earthly world among human beings. Just as the first Mystery of Golgotha led to the birth
of the Christ solar energies in the Etheric of the Earth and in Human Beings, so this Second
Mystery of Golgotha manifests today in Human Beings as the literal capacity for the birth
of the “Christ Consciousness” inside. This Consciousness of Christ, the Consciousness forces
of the Sun (now added to the Life Forces of the Sun given to humanity 2000 years ago) manifests
in human beings as the birth of a fully conscious capacity to directly perceive spiritual realities.

When one understands the reality of this new Easter Resurrection, of Christ’s
consciousness now manifesting in human beings as Clairvoyance, many things become clear,
among them:

1) This is a key aspect of what is referred to today as the “New Age”, seen now in its larger
spiritual context.

2) This Christ-birth in human consciousness is what the Rosicrucians call “The New
Clairvoyance”, and one reason why they emphasize so strongly that we must strive to
develop this NEW clairvoyance rather than fall back into atavistic faculties of
Clairvoyance.
We are dealing here with the important Rosicrucian principle that our thoughts are as
important as our actions, that thoughts have a reality to them and a practical effect on the world.
This principle is popular in metaphysical circles today, but is often interpreted in a superficial
and naive way; an example is the idea that a few folks sitting around can with their thought and
intention create grandiose effects (clear all the negative energies in the Middle East permanently
in a few minutes, prevent a war that is already in motion , etc.)
That common misconception is an aspect of Luciferic inflation, combining an unrealistic
evaluation of one’s true present level of esoteric development with a general lack of
understanding of deeper spiritual realities behind major world events. Esoterically, these
impulses are a combination of Luciferic and Ahrimanic influences on individuals: Lucifer
inspires the sense of self-inflation along with an attraction to a fantasy spirituality rather
than a grounded one, while Ahriman benefits from having his background manipulation of
world events overlooked by spiritual seekers.
This last point is an especially important one: it must be recognized that Ahriman can
only be held in check by a clear conscious recognition of his existence and activities, so the
belief that he does not exist and/or the ignoring of his influence is something he works hard to
foster (only if that fails do the later stratagems such as sensationalisation and encouraging fear
usually come into play).
There is a subconscious fear of Ahriman (and a deeply rooted desire for ease and
pleasurable experience rather than the effort required by mature spiritual development)
that leads a huge proportion of modern Western spiritual seekers to take naive and/or
inflated Luciferic paths, which effectively “lifts” them out of Ahriman’s way on the Earth.

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 THE SEVEN STAGES OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION
1. The Washing of the Feet.
2. The Scourging.
3. The Crowning with Thorns.
4. Carrying the Cross and the Crucifixion.
5. a. The Mystic Death:
b. The Descent into Hell.
6. The Laying in the Grave.
7. The Resurrection.

Christ is known to the Rosicrucians as the “Representative of Humanity”, a high

spiritual being who embodies the potential and destiny inherent in each human being.
Every major aspect of the words, actions, and experiences of the Christ during the 3 years of his
physical embodiment within the sheaths of Jesus of Nazareth (from the Baptism in the Jordan by
John when he descended into incarnation with the Dove of the Holy Spirit, to the Crucifixion) is
a Mystery Drama, acting out on the world stage the spiritual experiences each human being can
and must undergo in order to manifest their full spiritual potential.

The Stages of the Passion of Christ are the Seven Stages of Christian Initiation.
When undertaken as a conscious Initiation process, we have the potential at each stage to
experience both inner and outer signs.
The “inner sign” is within the etheric/emotional levels: we then feel both
energetically and emotionally the experience of that stage. For instance, one may feel
energetically the pain of the Crucifixion, with its attendant emotions; in extreme cases this can
actually manifest physically, as is seen in those Saints who develop the Stigmata.
The “outer sign” is astral in nature, the perception of an inner picture of oneself in
that experience; for instance oneself Lying in the Grave.
Each of these stages is a deep Mystery unto itself. We will briefly outline each below:

1. The Washing of the Feet

This is the first stage of Initiation, in which we make an internal commitment to be of
service to others. Just as Christ knelt to wash the feet of the Disciples, so we abandon arrogance
and pretension to embrace humility in serving those we encounter in life. The great cosmic
principle related to this stage is that “The Higher bends to serve that which is Lower.” For
instance, Parents serve their children, Spiritual Hierarchies serve humanity, etc.

2. The Scourging
This stage is about having the strength to withstand the stresses and painful blows of
earthly existence with steadfastness and courage. At a deeper level, we develop the ability to
stay clear and focused in the midst of attack, without falling into either Ahrimanic reactivity

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(anger, fear, depression) or Luciferic avoidance (false forms of “ascension” which substitute
pleasant illusions for engagement with unpleasant realities.)

3. The Crowning With Thorns

This stage encompasses the experience of being ridiculed, outcast, and persecuted for
one’s spiritual beliefs and actions. We develop a calm dignity and equanimity regarding being
misunderstood and mocked by friends, family, and/or society; no external pressure can divert us
from our spiritual direction.

4. Carrying the Cross and Crucifixion

This stage develops our ability to withstand illness and problems related to the physical
body, even unto the point of physical death. This is done by living out of the dynamic forces of
our soul and spirit, rather than reliance on the physical world. This is the stage at which some
Christian masters develop the stigmata through a deep inner resonance with the suffering of
Christ on the cross.

5. a. The Mystic Death

The veil that shields the spiritual world from our view is torn away, revealing spiritual
realities. This is the tearing of the “Veil of Isis” which covered her face in the Egyptian
mysteries of Sais, and the tearing of the veil which covered the “Holy of Holies” in the Jerusalem
Temple at the time of Christ’s death on the Cross.

b. The Descent into Hell

This is the “harrowing of Hell” referred to in early Christian writings. The interior of the
Earth contains 9 sub-spheres connected to detrimental spiritual beings: these 9 sub-spheres have
only rarely been discussed publicly, for example in Dante’s depiction of 9 sub-spheres in his
Inferno. These 9 sub-spheres are dark reflections of the spiritual forces arrayed in 9 spheres
above the Earth, that of the 9 Spiritual Hierarchies; essentially each of these sub-spheres holds
the specific detrimental counter-impulses which prevent resonance with the consciousness of
each Spiritual Hierarchy. For instance the highest hierarchy, the Seraphim, are Spirits of Love;
the 9th sub-sphere holds archetypal forces of Hate and separation. We will deal with the 9 sub-
spheres and their counter-forces in the 9 beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount in a future
seminar: see Valentin Tomberg’s Anthroposophical Studies of the New Testament for more
details.
Christ is a member of the Trinity, standing above and beyond the level of the 9
Hierarchies. In his Descent to the Mother, Sophia, in the center of the Earth after crucifixion,
Christ passes through each of the 9 dark sub-spheres. In effect the Christ creates a clear channel
through the 9 sub-spheres to the Mother in the sphere of Gold in the center of the Earth (see the
text At the Birth of a New Agriculture, the section on “Esoteric Conversations” for a reference
to the Golden Sphere. Also those trained in BioGeometry know that there is the Gold Spiritual
Energy {Higher Harmonic of Gold] in the center of every sphere.) Humanity can today traverse
this channel to reach the Mother; conscious union with the Christ provides protection against the
forces in these sub-spheres.

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 The union with the Mother in the center of the Earth is the goal and the cosmic
achievement of the Descent into Hell. From this time forward the Earthly forces of the Sophia
(which incorporates Moon forces through the guidance of the “Jehovah” forces) and the Sun
forces of the Christ (Solar Logos) have been alchemically “married” and unified. This was
recognized by the Druid Priests of Britain (who carried a tradition of deep initiation into
the Earth Ether forces) who directly perceived the forces of Christ active in the Etheric life
energy of the Earth after the Resurrection (although they did not fully understand the
nature of the event until after the arrival in Britain of Joseph of Arimathea, the Grail
Bearer.) Accordingly, Christ was hailed as the “Lord of the Elements” due to the Solar Ether
forces now permeating Nature.
With the Descent, we must discern between the forces of Ahriman and those of Sophia.

6. The Laying in the Grave

This has two major aspects. The first is the Dark Night of the Soul, when we feel that we
are dead in our Earthly life and must access our deepest spiritual core in order to reach the next
stage of Resurrection. This may also manifest in an experience similar to what G.I. Gurdjieff
referred to as the “Terror of the Situation”, in which we profoundly experience the spiritual
darkness and problems which empirically exist on the Earth today. For Rosicrucians, this
includes experiencing deep in one’s own soul life the reality that humanity today, and the earthly
manifestation of the Rosicrucian tradition, is indeed “Lying in the Grave.” This overall
experience is in reality a direct soul contact with the living forces of the Sophia, and an inner
commitment of solidarity to the forces of the Divine Mother.
The second aspect is experiencing the Earth as our body; we feel that the entire external
material world is a part of us. This is our fractal experience of what Christ accomplished in
uniting his being with the Earth: This is my blood you drink (the wine), This is my body you eat
(the bread). At this stage we can perceive the Living Being of the Christ in the Etheric Life Body
of the Earth; it is essential in attaining the “new Etheric clairvoyance.”

7. The Resurrection
This is a deeply profound topic. All that will be mentioned here is that each human being
can work towards this goal, which is a true spiritual fulfillment and rebirth. Resurrection leads
to Pentecost and the Ascension, which we will deal with in the last course of this series. We will
discern then the vital difference between Christic Ascension and the Luciferic “Ascension”
which is so popular in modern times.

A modern Rosicrucian should deeply study these seven stages of Christian Initiation
along with the seven stages of Rosicrucian Initiation described in the previous seminar. For
more insights into these topics, see Steiner’s The Christian Mystery, particularly the section on
“Paths of Initiation.”

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 OTHER ESOTERIC ASPECTS OF THE
EASTER FESTIVAL

Sophianic Descent Contrasted with Ahrimanic Descent

The Descent of Christ to the Sophia in the Center of the Earth, which entails passing
through the Ahrimanic forces of the 9 sub-earthly spheres, brings up the important topic of the
two different types of “Descent”. The Descent into the Earth forces can either be of a
Sophianic nature, or an Ahrimanic nature. Understanding the difference requires a deep
understanding of the essential cosmic nature of these two different beings.

What can be said here is that the Sophia forces are those of the Soul of the World, the
principle of soul and spirit active in taking on physical incarnation. The Ahrimanic forces are
masters of dense matter itself, divorced from connection with soul and spirit. The Sophia forces
are those that allow spiritual beings to fruitfully incarnate in the physical plane with their soul
and spirit nature intact and benefited by the sojourn on Earth; the Ahrimanic forces are those
which set up matter as a kingdom separate unto itself, which threatens to pull humanity down
with materialism into a sub-human, bestial state. The Ahrimanic forces have multiple functions
here which serve the ultimate aims of the Godhead and Spiritual Hierarchies, but which
nonetheless require human beings to be conscious of their influences and actively strive to resist
them. In fact this is one of the great secrets behind the presence of the Ahrimanic powers:
that humanity needs their influences to push against in order to become free, empowered
and fully self-aware. Just as lifting physical weights makes the physical body stronger through
progressive resistance, so pushing against these detrimental spiritual forces makes humanity
spiritually strong.

The image from St. John’s Book of Revelation of the Dragon threatening the Woman
clothed with the Sun and her child is a representation of the Ahrimanic forces threatening the
Sophia and the Christ/humanity as her child (recalling that Christ is the Representative of
Humanity and of the same essence as ourselves.) This threatening takes many forms. One of the
most insidious has been the confusion of the Sophianic and Ahrimanic nature of the Earth by
fundamentalist religions. In reality, the Christ alchemically merged with the Sophia and the
Earth during the Mystery of Golgotha, becoming the Spirit of the Earth; accordingly it is self-
evident that true Christianity has deep reverence for the Earth and all life upon it. However the
Ahrimanic forces were successful in playing upon the ignorance, fear, neuroses, and
arrogance of fundamentalist “Christian” leaders so that they associated the Earth,
physicality, and sensuality with evil and darkness rather than with the Sophia and the
Christ. There are many manifestations of this terrible distortion: the holocaust of the mass
murder of Sophia’s female initiates in Europe (“witches”), the fear and hatred of Earth-centered
spirituality and “Paganism” by fundamentalists, sexual repression, the “Madonna-Whore”
dichotomy, etc.

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 One of the many things we can learn from ancient Egypt is how they represented the
Sophia-Ahriman dichotomy. Horus is the Son of Isis (Sophia) and is a Christ figure. Set (later
Satan, the “adversary”) is the Ahrimanic figure. When an Egyptian Pharaoh was being
prepared to rule, he was shown being empowered by both Horus and Set; the difference
between the two was clearly shown, but it was understood that both forces had to be
understood and worked with by the Initiate. The Uas scepter used to work with Ahrimanic
forces had the head of Set at the top of the scepter, so that the Initiate never forgot the spiritual
being which stood behind the Ahrimanic forces which could be accessed and used for the benefit
of the people.
Similarly, we find in the New Testament description of the three temptations in the
Wilderness, that the only one that Christ cannot completely dismiss is that which comes from
Ahriman: “Turn these stones into bread.” Christ knows that Ahriman has a place in the world,
but must never be mistaken for the spiritual forces of the Godhead, saying “Humanity lives not
by Bread alone, but by every word of God.”

In terms of Easter, Christ’s descent into the Earth clearly distinguished between the
Sophianic and Ahrimanic aspects. The Christ unified with the living Sophia in the center of
the Earth and took on the Earth as his physical body; he also forged a path through the
Ahrimanic forces of the Earth (nine sub-spheres) which all Initiates today can follow to
reach the Sophia. Ahriman’s influence on humanity was held in check, particularly through the
teaching of the 9 Divine Spiritual counter-forces to the 9 sub-earthly spheres: this was given in
the 9 Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount. Just as we can contrast the Christ’s Sophianic
“Descent” to the Ahrimanic “Descent” of materialism and/or black magic, so we can contrast
Christian Ascension to Luciferic Ascension; we will address this latter topic in the last seminar in
this series.

The Tree of Life and the Picture of the Crucifixion

As we have noted in the previous seminars of this series, the Tree of Life teaching in the
Jewish Kabbalah (which was given as a preparation for the coming of the Messiah, the Christ)
holds the principle of a Middle Pillar of perfect balance flanked by two smaller Pillars to the Left
and Right: these are often termed the Pillar of Mercy and the Pillar of Severity. These two
flanking pillars hold the principle of complementary opposites, each unbalanced by themselves.
The Middle Pillar holds the perfect balance of these complementary polarities. We find this
Middle Pillar concept expressed in a slightly different form in other traditions: for example, the
“Divine Hermaphrodite” of balanced masculine and feminine in European Alchemy, the Vesica
formed between two perfectly overlapping circles in Sacred Geometry, the Middle Way of
Buddhism, the Mystical Heart between Head and Will in Sufism and Rosicrucianism.
Bearing in mind that every major aspect of the physical life of Christ was a Passion Play
representing cosmic realities and the path every human being must walk, we can find this Tree of
Life principle of the Three Pillars at the Crucifixion. Christ is crucified between two thieves,
giving a perfect representation of three pillars with Christ as the Middle Pillar. The two
thieves are respectively overshadowed by Lucifer and Ahriman. The Thief overshadowed by

17
Lucifer is always shown with his head inclined toward the Christ in paintings, while the
Ahrimanic Thief is shown turned away from the Christ. In the New Testament we find that the
Luciferic Thief tells the Ahrimanic Thief that they both have sinned and deserve their
punishment, whereas the Christ is blameless and should not have this fate. The Luciferic Thief
then asks Christ to take him along to his Father’s Kingdom, and the Christ replies that he will be
in his Father’s Kingdom that night.
The Ahrimanic Thief on the other hand reviles and rebukes the Christ. This episode is a
historical revelation of the deeper nature of the Luciferic and Ahrimanic principles as the two
side Pillars on the Tree of Life with the Christ principle as the perfect balance of the Middle
Pillar. There are of course other critically important aspects of the picture of the Crucifixion.
These include the Mary initiates of Sophia at the foot of the Cross holding open the gateway for
the Christ to descend into the Earth to Sophia at his death; the Scorpio-Eagle Initiate John, who
is the only male disciple advanced enough to observe the cosmic nature of the Crucifixion and
who will later write the Book of Revelation and found Rosicrucianism; and the skull of Adam at
the foot of the Cross (Golgotha = the place of the skull) which shows Christ as the “New Adam”
who brings rebirth to all of humanity.

Sun, Moon and Earth in Relation to Christ, Jehovah and Sophia

This has been mentioned in the earlier section on the Easter festival, however it is worth
emphasizing the point. We discussed then that the dating of Easter Sunday brings together a
cosmic geometry of Sun, Moon, and Earth (with the Spring Equinox, the Full Moon, and Sun-
day). These three cosmic bodies create profound spiritual effects, and are directly associated
with the spiritual beings Christ, Jehovah, and the Sophia who are fundamental to the Western
Spiritual Tradition.
The Jewish religion formed around the cult of Jehovah (actually a name composed of
Kabbalistic sounds, ee-oh-ah, IOA, all vowels), the Elohim who accompanied the Moon as it
took up its station around the Earth. We have previously discussed the nature of Jehovah as a
Moon Being, a true teaching which is often distorted in Theosophical and other esoteric
teachings. In the beginning of Judaism, Jehovah was understood to have a Divine Feminine
consort (see Patai’s study of the historical evidence in his book The Hebrew Goddess);
however over time this consort was removed from the teachings and replaced with the
concept of the Shekhinah, a feminine power similar to the Hindu Shakti principle (note the
Kabbalistic word similarity in the beginning of both names.) Over time, the Shekhinah
became more and more abstract, until it at times ceased to have any feminine identification
whatsoever in rigidified patriarchal Judaism (see Gershom Scholem’s book On the Mystical
Shape of the Godhead for an academic discussion of scriptural references to the Shekhinah; note
that Scholem himself denies any relationship between the Shekhinah and the Shakti principle!).

The Divine Feminine power is related to the Earth and to Sophia. What complicates
matters is that there are usually no tidy spatial boundaries to spiritual realities, and this power is
also related to the entire Cosmos (the Cosmic Sophia rather than the Earthly Sophia) and to the
Moon, to name only two aspects. The Moon relationship is profound, both for obvious reasons

18
linking the Moon and feminine energies and for deeper esoteric reasons. One of these esoteric
linkages is related to the Eighth Sphere topic dealt with in our previous seminar. The stage of
Planetary evolution which preceded the current Earth stage is known to the Rosicrucians as “Old
Moon”; the forces of this “Old Moon” stage are transmuted into the physical matter of the Earth
in the current stage of evolution. This process of converting “Old Moon” forces into the
physical Earth is a cosmic mystery intimately related to an interaction between the Sophia
being and the Jehovah being, which is hinted at in the Jehovah-Asherah esotericism of
ancient Judaism. The “Eighth Sphere” we will recall, by contrast is the seizing of Old Moon
forces by the Ahrimanic and Luciferic powers to create their own sphere of power in the
Cosmos.
The Hebrew religion focused on being a “chosen people” which would develop new
spiritual faculties and provide the basis for the incarnation of the Messiah. This is the physical
incarnation of the Solar Logos, the Christ. It is the radiance of the Solar Logos which is reflected
by the silver-principle of the Full Moon, administered by Jehovah, the Lunar Elohim and
overseer of the creation of the physical Earth (as described in Genesis; the Elohim are the
“Spirits of Form”). The “Divine Marriage” of Christ and Sophia, Sun and Earth was
prepared for and came to fruition with the Mystery of Golgotha, resulting in the alchemical
combination of Christ and Sophia uniting with the Etheric Life Energies of the Earth.
These are just a few indications which may be helpful in meditating upon the deeper
interconnections between the external teachings of Judaism and Christianity and the deeper
esoteric Initiation knowledge related to Easter.

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 ENERGIES OF THE SOLAR LOGOS,
ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL,
& CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ

The Mystery of Golgotha and the sacrifice of the Solar Logos on the Earth had many
effects on the energy of the Earth and of Humanity. One important aspect of this is that a part of
the pure Life Forces of the Christ, which are connected to the pure Light Forces of the Sun,
flowed into the Earth’s Etheric body – and from there into every human Etheric body on the
Earth. The Pauline saying of “Not I, but Christ in Me” is a living experience of this reality (as
well as of other aspects, such as the identity of our own “I AM” presence with the I AM of the
Christ).
At Easter we can remind ourselves of this fact and turn our consciousness to these Solar
Light/Solar Logos forces flowing within the human Life Body. These are energies of Golden
Light within ourselves. This Golden Light is also an energetic signature of the Archangel
Michael, who serves as the “Countenance of Christ.” (Those knowledgeable in Biogeometry
should ponder the relationship of this Golden Light with the “Higher Harmonic of Gold” energy
within the BG3; it is the energy which comes with resonant connection to the Plane of Divine
Wisdom).
Those needing healing and other types of spiritual help should also turn their awareness
to finding the Raphael healing energies in the human body. One aspect of this is an invisible
aspect of Green, which is the color of central balance in the spectrum. (Students of Biogeometry
should consider the relationship of this invisible Green to “Negative Green”, which is related to
the solar forces of Life and Death: the aspects of the Green Ray which can penetrate physical
matter.)
Another aspect is Violet, which some refer to as the “Violet Ray” related to St. Germaine.
Knowing St. Germaine to be an incarnation of the individuality known at other times as Lazarus/
St. John the Divine and as Christian Rosenkreutz indicates that we should be aware that this
Violet layer is connected with the Masters of Esoteric Christianity/Rosicrucianism. Violet was
also an energetic frequency used by the great French Radiesthesiasts of the last century as a
healing wave.
(Note that the next vibrational layer beyond the Violet is the Ultraviolet, connected to the
background of the Astral plane and the energy of angelic beings [the “Dark Purple Light” which
one finds in the Third Eye inner space]. One aspect of this is that the Astral is the first non-
physical plane and that Angelic beings are also non-physical. Violet is the high frequency
associated with human beings of high attainment, as Violet is the highest visible color frequency,
i.e. the highest color frequency which manifests into physical reality just as these spiritual
masters incarnate into physical bodies. Ultraviolet is the first frequency beyond the visible
spectrum, hence its connection to the first spiritual plane, the Astral, and its Angelic beings.
Again Biogeometry students should ponder the relationship of the Ultraviolet to the BG3’s
Higher Harmonic of Ultraviolet.)

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 PERSONAL RESURRECTION:
RE-CONNECTING TO OUR INTERNAL
SPIRITUAL FIRE
(With thanks to Dr. Samuel Sagan, founder of the Clairvision School,
for the concept of the “SPARC”)

One of the most empowering and joyous aspects of the Easter Festival is the realization
that every human being has the opportunity to experience Resurrection within themselves. A
very simple and effective approach to this resurrection experience is to focus our attention
on those parts of self which are dynamic, inspired, and empowered. It is a well known
esoteric fact that the things we give our attention to gain in strength for us, a principle which we
can use to our tremendous benefit.
Each of us has had moments in the past when we experienced highly empowered states of
being, times when our habitual patterns and blockages fell away to show us the amazing
potential of our selves and our earthly lives. We can connect to those states at will, increasing
the intensity of the experience and prolonging their duration. This practice is well
understood in any number of different “self-help” or “process” approaches, one of the most
effective being Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). NLP includes methods of anchoring
these highly empowered states and experiencing them at will. What we will now explore are
some esoteric aspects of these kinds of practices.

Two Effects of Incarnating into Earthly Density

Every human being has experienced the effects of density, dullness, and even depression
associated with the heaviness of physical incarnation. There are many effects from the density of
earthly incarnation. We will address two:

1. We take the “draft of forgetfulness” when we incarnate, closing off our perception of spiritual
realities and our memory of our own karmic history. This can lead to deep existential despair
and confusion, in which we neither know where we are nor who we are in a deeper sense.

2. We lose our connection to the spiritual tasks we committed to perform in the current
incarnation, as well as the resolutions we made to make karmic recompense for previous
mistakes. In other words, we do not know what we are here on Earth for. This problem has
become epidemic in the modern world, due to the lack of effort we tend to make to overcome the
Ahrimanic heaviness and materialistic consciousness of modern times. The reality of this is
that massive numbers of human beings are failing to do the work they incarnated to do,
causing terrible consequences for modern civilization. This is sometimes referred to as
“Failing to fulfill one’s Soul Contract.”

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 It is an often-overlooked esoteric fact that we must have the unpleasant realization
that something is terribly wrong before awakening the depth of inner forces needed to
make constructive change. This is the same principle as we find in everyday life; we must face
and fully own our problems before we can really change our life conditions and habits. This
unpleasant realization is related to what G.I. Gurdjieff described as the experiencing the “Terror
of the Situation”, which is a vital part of “Waking Up.” The human process we are describing
reveals that it is only through fully experiencing the unpleasant realities in and/or around us that
we can wake up sufficiently, summon up enough internal spiritual forces, to make profound
changes in our essential way of being with ourselves and being in the world.

We need to also recognize those tendencies within ourselves which keep us separated
from fully internalizing these unpleasant realizations. Most of us have an innate love of ease
which avoids unpleasant realizations (and the huge demands on our energy required to
break out of our “comfort zone”) like the plague! Esoterically we find that this love of ease
is actively resonating with particular detrimental spiritual beings which are affecting us, but that
level of perception is not required to recognize this tendency in ourselves and to take action to
overcome it. We can easily observe two primary aspects that we must deconstruct in order to
overcome this hindering addiction to ease:

1. Emotional: We find that we have deeply ingrained emotional patterns which hinder
our forward movement, which restrict our ability to resonate fully with our higher self.
These emotional patterns can be overcome by equanimity and a non-reactive observation of
these patterns; this process is well explicated in Buddhism, which holds a highly advanced
science of clarifying consciousness. This is demonstrated in the Buddhist approach to
addictions, which does not struggle against the addiction but allows us to observe our reactive
emotional states which support the addiction, as well as the destructive effects of the addiction;
this simple attentiveness allows the addiction to be overcome through higher consciousness.

2. Mental: This is where the Rosicrucian principle of “Living Thinking” shows itself to
absolutely essential. If we examine evil actions in the world, very often we find that the
individuals performing these evil actions actually believe that they are serving good in what
they are doing. The hindering spiritual powers work through creating false understandings,
false definitions, false principles. There is a reason why Ahriman is called the “Lord of Lies”
and Rosicrucianism is founded on the principle of Truth (an extension of the Egyptian mysteries
of Ma’at, the feather of Truth which one’s heart is weighed against in the Hall of Judgement.)
Soldiers march to war and kill innocents convinced that they are Warriors in a divine cause,
serving their people, freedom, justice, the righting of wrongs, etc. The only remedy for this is for
their mental body to be able to see through the false definitions they have internalized, the false
frames of reference they use to process reality. This is what the mental body is for. Given the
terrible distortion of reality we find in modern education and the mass media, this is easier said
than done. As is well known, “The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions.” It is not that
modern people lack good intentions, it is that they lack the discerning power of thought which
illuminates the correct path to help themselves and others. This power of thought can be

22
awakened and sharpened by the input of external teachers, but it can only ripen through the
complete independence of the individual from any external guidance – coming to rely
completely on one’s own discerning thinking as a tool to make deeper realities self-evident, to
provide an innate moral compass.
An important aspect of this topic is our metaphysical beliefs and orientations. It is
common today for many of us to have deeply internalized metaphysical beliefs and orientations
which convince us that our love of ease is good, that we need not go through the inner suffering
which accompanies painful realizations about ourselves and the world.
This is often justified by noting that we avoid stress and fear, which are obviously
undesirable, by not allowing our soul life to experience these unpleasant realities; this is
usually accompanied by sweeping notions that everything happens the way that it should.
These internalized metaphysical beliefs keep us away from the internal alchemical process
by which these painful internal experiences become a surplus of vital energy, which then
allows us to take powerful action regarding helping ourselves and helping others.
Esoterically, these false beliefs separate us from the fullness of our internal soul life,
which is in Resonance with the Sophia. Remembering that Sophia’s name means “Wisdom”, we
can now understand the deeper significance of Rudolf Steiner’s statement that “Wisdom is
crystallized pain.” Our path to union with the Sophia, the Soul of the World, Spiritual Wisdom,
is through the acceptance of (i.e., non-resistance towards) the pain which accompanies difficult
internal realizations.
One key is to discern between eradicating stress and fear by Luciferic avoidance vs.
overcoming stress and fear through counter-balancing it with Michaelic spiritual enthusiasm
and courage. This latter, Christic, path is fulfilled when we are this enthusiasm and courage
become so powerful that they do not simply “balance out” the stress and fear, but actually greatly
exceed them energetically inside ourselves. Then what we experience is only the dynamism of
the positive states, not the darkness of the negative states.
This is a deep topic which leads in time to an important esoteric distinction between
the RESURRECTION principle of Easter and the principle of DEATHLESSNESS sought
by some dark occult schools. (See Tomberg’s comments on the difference in Meditations on
the Tarot; also the analysis of the Rennes Les Chateau mystery in The Tree of Life and the Holy
Grail.) Christ experienced the fullness of earthly suffering and death, then resurrected as the
Phoenix to a higher state. Similarly, we can take on the fullness of the experience of the negative
forces of the hindering powers, then resurrect ourselves into a new life which needs not fear
those powers because we have developed such a powerful radiance of the positive forces that we
have overcome them. The “Good Friday” experience is to feel the fullness of these difficult
Earthly challenges: the Easter Sunday experience is to feel the resurrected radiance of the pure
Christ/Solar Life Ether forces inside us.

Regaining Karmic Self-Knowledge as a Process of Resurrection

We can access our innate memory of our karmic history through the process of self-
examination; there was a reason why the phrase “Know Thyself” hung over the entrance to some
ancient schools of Initiation. We can begin simply by observing our current structure of

23
consciousness, particularly emotional aspects. What do we find particularly interesting and
exciting in the world of ideas and possibilities which surround us? Another person may pass the
same thing by, it is virtually invisible to their consciousness; they have no resonance with it. We
on the other hand are drawn to it, in our imagination it is vibrantly full of life and color. When
we can hold a crystal-clear awareness of our emotional orientation to this thing, we can then
relax our consciousness into the core of our internal reaction and in time perceive the karmic
background of our orientation to it. This may be a memory of a past life, of experiences in the
spiritual world between death and rebirth, or both. It may also reveal certain individuals (human
or spiritual beings) or spiritual realities/traditions to which we have karmic connections.
We must constantly bear in mind that we require complete equanimity and clarity
to be able to accurately see deeper spiritual realities. As Dr. Samuel Sagan expressed it,
“Our Ability to See is limited by our Ability to Not React.” Otherwise we can fall prey to
detrimental spiritual forces. Ahriman seeks to restrict us to purely physical perception and to see
all spiritual experience as illusion. Lucifer seeks to stir up our emotions and excitement,
exchanging fantasy (particularly regarding our past incarnations) for accurate perception of
spiritual realities. The principles of discernment described in the previous seminar are vital to
avoid problems such as “Luciferic Inflation”.
The process just described can also be undertaken regarding those things which we have
a negative reaction to, or avoidance of. Together these reactions of sympathy and antipathy are
vital trails to follow in remembering ourselves. These reactions of sympathy and antipathy can
also be extended to examining our reactions to people. As mentioned in the last Course in this
series, when we feel that we have a deeper understanding of (and empathy towards)
someone we have just met than is usual, this is often an indication of a karmic connection.
This can be either a particular sympathy towards the person, or an unusual level of antipathy
towards them. Following this trail can lead to interesting internal realizations, but again we must
have real equanimity in our meditative consciousness for this to unfold properly.

Reconnection to One's Spiritual Tasks as a Process of Resurrection

We resurrect from our state of “Lying in the Grave” -- our unconscious stagnation
in materialism -- when we consciously recall who we are, what this place is, and what we are
here for. In our last Course we clarified the experience of the “Seven Heavenly Halls” through
which we pass in Initiation, or between Death and Rebirth. Just as we pass from stage 6 in
Esoteric Christian Initiation (Lying in the Grave) to stage 7 (Resurrection) in our human fractal
experience of the Seven Stages of Christ’s Passion, so we have the possibility of consciously
recalling our original purpose(s) for incarnating in this lifetime which we resolved upon between
our last Death and Rebirth before moving into our present incarnation. Rosicrucian Initiates
have the additional possibility of remembering the experiences of the higher worlds which gave
rise to our committing to particular spiritual tasks for this lifetime.
Critical to this latter process is remembering the experiences we had, and the intensely
empowered internal state we enjoyed, in passing back through the Sun sphere on the way to
reincarnate. At that time we were literally living within the Spiritual Sun, with every part of
our being in resonance with the radiant spiritual forces of the Solar Logos. It is a state of

24
fullness and empowerment beyond any description in human language, it must be
experienced directly.
We can begin to reconnect to those forces when we nurture the seeds of this empowered
internal state in our current awareness. We have all experienced moments of inspiration when
we glimpsed the amazing possibilities of human life, when the normal barriers to our awareness
and our potential seemed to drop away. We can recall and resonate with this state at five levels
of our being:

Physical Body
Experiencing the pleasure of physicality and the potential of the human form to feel and
express joy, passion, and beauty.

Etheric Body
Feeling the internal “Dynamo” of tremendous life energy, the “winds in our sails” of
vibrant energy.

Emotional Body
A fully awakened soul life, feeling the fullness of earthly life in all the realms of creation.
The husk of our normal reactive and deadened emotional life falls away, leaving us in exquisite
direct contact with the soul life of everything around us.

Mental Body
A sharpness of mind which realizes the full possibilities which surround us and how we
can accomplish whatever we choose, become whoever we want, through intelligent analysis and
planning. A clear plan taking one small practical step at a time can lead to even the greatest
goals.

Ego
A direct experience of our spiritual core, providing an inexhaustible source of inner
alchemical fire. This is in reality a Resonant Connection with Divine Source: our Ego is one
spark from the Ocean of Fire which is the Godhead.

In practical terms, the empowerment we are speaking of is attained on a path which

winds through our desire nature. Although usually spoken of negatively in spiritual circles
– for example, the desire nature is maya/illusion, it is the kama which binds us to lower
spiritual realms and reincarnation, etc. – the desire nature is in reality also a divine gift.
The killing of desire can result in the killing of life itself. Without desire, nothing can be
accomplished in the manifest world. What is needed is to purify and transmute desire, not to kill
it! The more desire the better, but a desire which is a flame of enthusiasm for spiritually real
goals and not just mindless, self-destructive materialistic hedonism.
We should be clear that just as a simplistic asceticism (as seen in the impulse to “kill
desire” rather than harness it in a pure alchemical form) is self-defeating, so the urge to

25
pure hedonistic short-term gratification is destructive. However there are many subtleties
here which we must discern over time in order to find our way. For example, it is common in
some spiritual traditions/circles to see human sexuality as an impure form of desire which should
be repressed or restricted. In reality the sexual forces must be completely experienced, owned,
and integrated in order to attain our goal. If we do not accomplish this in our current lifetime, we
will return to Earth to try to get it right next time. Those who avoid sexuality in a vain quest for
purity and enlightenment merely find in the end that they have left out a vital part of human
development.

It is painfully common to find spiritual teachers and gurus who claim to have “overcome
sexuality” being exposed for sexual misconduct with students. If sexuality has not been fully
experienced and integrated into the core personality structure, it leaves a weak area which
prevents the individual from attaining higher Initiation (even though they may appear to be
high masters with great attainment in certain areas, including the ability to manifest “miraculous”
phenomena; recall our earlier discussion regarding how human Initiates can be highly advanced
in many ways while aspects of their personality remain in a retarded adolescent stage.)

It is true that the forces of sexuality can be transmuted into higher forces of consciousness,
but this normally only occurs after the forces of sexuality have been thoroughly explored
and integrated over multiple lifetimes.

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