[PAGE 1]                                   THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION









       T H E   R O S I C R U C I A N   C O S M O - C O N C E P T I O N





                                     OR





                            MYSTIC CHRISTIANITY









                        AN ELEMENTARY TREATISE UPON



                  MAN'S PAST EVOLUTION, PRESENT CONSTITUTION 



                          AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT





                                     BY



                                MAX HEINDEL

                                [1865-1919]



                          Its Message and Mission:



                                A SANE MIND

                                A SOFT HEART

                                A SOUND BODY









                         THE ROSICRUCIAN FELLOWSHIP

                         International Headquarters

                                Mt. Ecclesia

                                P.O. Box 713

                     Oceanside, California, U.S.A., 92054















[PAGE 4]                                       ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION





                              CREED OR CHRIST



No man loves God who hates his kind,

    Who tramples on his brother's heart and soul;

Who seeks to shackle, cloud, or fog the mind

    By fears of hell has not perceived our goal.



God-sent are all religions blest;

    And Christ, the Way, the Truth, the Life,

To give the heavy laden rest

    And peace from sorrow, sin, and strife.



Behold the Universal Spirit came

    To ALL the churches, not to one alone;

On Pentecostal morn a tongue of flame

    Round EACH apostle as a halo shone.



Since then, as vultures ravenous with greed,

    We oft have battled for an empty name,

And sought by dogma, edict, cult, or creed,

    To send each other to the quenchless flame.



Is Christ then twain?  Was Cephas, Paul,

    To save the world, nailed to the tree?

Then why divisions here at all?

    Christ's love enfolds both you and me.



His pure sweet love is not confined

    By creed which segregate and raise a wall.

His love enfolds, embraces human kind,

    No matter what ourselves or Him we call.



Then why not take Him at His word?

    Why hold to creeds which tear apart?

But one thing matters, be it heard

    That brother love fill every heart.



There's but one thing the world has need to know.

    There's but one balm for all our human woe:

There's but one way that leads to heaven above--

    That way is human sympathy and love.



                                  -Max Heindel.





[PAGE 5]                                                  A WORD TO THE WISE





                            A WORD TO THE WISE.





    The  founder  of the Christian Religion stated an occult maxim  when  He

said:   "Whosoever  shall not receive the kingdom of God as a  little  child

shall  not  enter  therein"  (Mark  X:15).   All  occultists  recognize  the

far-reaching importance of this teaching of Christ,  and endeavor to  "live"

it day by day.



    When  a new philosophy is presented to the world it is met in  different

ways by different people.



    One  person will grasp with avidity any new philosophical effort  in  an

endeavor to ascertain how far IT SUPPORTS HIS OWN IDEAS.  To such an one the

philosophy itself is of minor importance.   Its prime value will be its vin-

dication of HIS ideas.  If the work comes up to expectation in that respect,

he  will enthusiastically adopt it and cling to it with a  most  unreasoning

partisanship; if not, he will probably lay the book down in disgust and dis-

appointment, feeling as if the author had done him an injury.



    Another adopts an attitude of skepticism as soon as he discovers that it

contains something which HE has not previously read, heard, or originated in

his own thought.   He would probably resent as extremely unjustified the ac-

cusation  that his mental attitude is the acme of self-satisfaction and  in-

tolerance;  such is nevertheless the case; and thus he shuts his mind to any

truth which may possibly be hidden in that which he off-hand rejects.



    Both these classes stand in their own light.   "Set"  ideas render  them

impervious to rays of truth.  "A little child"  is  the very opposite of its







[PAGE 6]                                                  A WORD TO THE WISE



elders in that respect.   It is not imbued with an overwhelming sense of su-

perior  knowledge,  nor does it feel compelled to look wise or to  hide  its

nescience  of any subject by a smile or a sneer.   It is  frankly  ignorant,

unfettered  by preconceived opinions and therefore EMINENTLY TEACHABLE.   It

takes everything with that beautiful attitude of trust which we have  desig-

nated "child-like faith," wherein there is not the shadow of a doubt.  There

the child holds the teaching it receives until proven or disproven.



    In all occult schools the pupil is first taught to forget all else  when

a new teaching is being given,  to allow neither preference nor prejudice to

govern,  but  to keep the mind in a state of calm,  dignified  waiting.   As

skepticism  will  blind us to truth in the most effective  manner,  so  this

calm,  trustful attitude of the mind will allow the intuition,  or "teaching

from  within,"  to become aware of the truth contained in  the  proposition.

That is the only way to cultivate an absolutely certain perception of truth.



    The pupil is not required to believe off-hand that a given object  which

he has observed to be white, is really black,  when such a statement is made

to  him;  but  he must cultivate an attitude of mind  which  "believeth  all

things"  AS POSSIBLE.  That will allow him to put by for the time being even

what are generally considered "established facts,"  and investigate if  per-

chance there be another viewpoint hitherto unobserved by him whence the  ob-

ject referred to would appear black.  Indeed,  he would not allow himself to

look upon anything as "AN ESTABLISHED FACT,"  for he realizes thoroughly the

importance  of keeping his mind in the fluidal state of  ADAPTABILITY  which

characterizes  the little child.   He realizes in every fibre of  his  being

that "now we see through a glass,  darkly,"  and Ajax-like he is ever on the

alert, yearning for "Light, more Light."





[PAGE 7]                                                  A WORD TO THE WISE



    The  enormous advantage of such an attitude of mind  when  investigating

any given subject, object or idea must be apparent.  Statements which appear

positively  and unequivocally contradictory,  which have caused  an  immense

amount of feeling among the advocates of opposite sides, may nevertheless be

capable of perfect reconciliation,  as shown in one such instance  mentioned

in  the present work.   THE BOND OF CONCORD IS ONLY DISCOVERED BY  THE  OPEN

MIND,  however, and though the present work may be found to differ from oth-

ers,  the writer would bespeak an impartial hearing as the basis  of  SUBSE-

QUENT judgment.  If the book is "weighed and found wanting," the writer will

have no complaint.  He only fears a hasty judgment based upon lack of knowl-

edge of the system he advocates--a hearing wherein the judgment is "wanting"

in consequence of having been denied an impartial "weighing."  He would fur-

ther submit,  that the only opinion worthy of the one who expresses it  MUST

BE BASED UPON KNOWLEDGE.



    As  a further reason for care in judgment we suggest that to many it  is

exceedingly difficult to retract a hastily expressed opinion.   Therefore it

is urged that the reader withhold all expressions of either praise or  blame

until  study  of the work has reasonably satisfied him of its merit  or  de-

merit.



    THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION is not dogmatic, neither does it appeal

to any other authority than the reason of the student.  It is not controver-

sial,  but is sent forth in the hope that is may help to clear some  of  the

difficulties  which  have  beset the minds of students of  the  deeper  phi-

losophies  in  the past.   In order to avoid  serious  misunderstanding,  it

should be firmly impressed upon the mind of the student, however, that there







[PAGE 8]                                                  A WORD TO THE WISE



is no infallible revelation of this complicated subject,  which includes ev-

erything under the sun and above it also.



    An  infallible exposition would predicate omniscience upon the  part  of

the writer,  and even the Elder Brothers tell us that they are sometimes  at

fault  in  their judgment,  so a book which shall say the last word  on  the

World-Mystery  is out of the question,  and the writer of the  present  work

does  not  pretend to give aught but the most elementary  teachings  of  the

Rosicrucians.



    The Rosicrucian Brotherhood has the most far-reaching,  the most logical

conception of the World-Mystery of which the writer has gained any knowledge

during  the many years he has devoted exclusively to the study of this  sub-

ject.   So far as he has been able to investigate, their teachings have been

found in accordance with facts as he knows them.   Yet he is convinced  that

THE  ROSICRUCIAN  COSMO-CONCEPTION is far from being the last  word  on  the

subject;  that  as we advance greater vistas of truth will open  to  us  and

make clear many things which we now "see through a glass,  darkly."   At the

same time he firmly believes that all other philosophies of the future  will

follow the same main lines, for they appear to be absolutely true.



    In view of the foregoing it will be plain that this book is not  consid-

ered by the writer as the Alpha and Omega, the ultimate of occult knowledge,

and even though is entitled "THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION,"  the  writer

desires to strongly emphasize that is not to be understood as a "faith  once

for all delivered"  to the Rosicrucians by a founder of the Order or by  any

other  individual.   It is emphatically stated that THIS WORD EMBODIES  ONLY

THE  WRITER'S  UNDERSTANDING  OF THE ROSICRUCIAN  TEACHINGS  concerning  the

World-Mystery,  strengthened  by  his  personal  investigations of the inner







[PAGE 9]                                                  A WORD TO THE WISE



Worlds, the ante-natal and post-mortem states of man, etc.  The responsibil-

ity upon one who wittingly or unwittingly leads others astray is clearly re-

alized by the writer, and he wishes to guard as far as possible against that

contingency, and also to guard others against going wrong inadvertently.



    What  is said in this work is to be accepted or rejected by  the  reader

according to his own discretion.   All care has been used in trying to  make

plain  the teaching;  great pains have been taken to put it into words  that

shall  be easily understood.   For that reason only one term has  been  used

throughout  to convey each idea.   The same word will have the same  meaning

wherever  used.   When any word descriptive of an idea is  first  used,  the

clearest definition possible to the writer is given.  None but English terms

and  the simplest language have been used.  The writer has tried to give  as

exact  and definite descriptions of the subject under consideration as  pos-

sible;  to eliminate all ambiguity and to make everything clear.  How far he

has  succeeded must be left to the student to judge;  but having used  every

possible  means  to  convey the teaching, he feels  obliged  to  guard  also

against the possibility of this work being taken as a verbatim statement  of

the  Rosicrucian  teachings.   Neglect of this precaution might  give  undue

weight to this work in the minds of some students.   That would not be  fair

to  the  Brotherhood  nor  to  the reader.   It  would  tend  to  throw  the

responsibility  upon  the Brotherhood for the mistakes which must  occur  in

this as in all other human works.  Hence the above warning.







[PAGE 10]                                                 A WORD TO THE WISE



    During the four years which have elapsed since the foregoing  paragraphs

were written,  the writer has continued his investigations of the  invisible

worlds,  and  experienced the expansion of consciousness relative  to  these

realms of nature which comes by practice of the precepts taught in the West-

ern  Mystery  School.    Others  also  who  have  followed  the  method   of

soul-unfoldment  herein  described  as particularly suited  to  the  Western

peoples,  have  likewise been enabled to verify for themselves  many  things

here taught.  Thus the writer's understanding of what was given by the Elder

Brothers  has  received some corroboration and seems to have  been  substan-

tially correct,  therefore he feels it a duty to state this for the  encour-

agement of those who are still unable to see for themselves.



    If we said that the vital body is built of PRISMS instead of points,  it

would have been better,  for it is by refraction through these minute prisms

that  the colorless solar fluid changes to a rosy hue as observed  by  other

writers beside the author.



    Other new and important discoveries have also been made;  for  instance,

we know now that the Silver Cord is grown anew in each life,  that one  part

sprouts  from  the seed atom of the desire body in the great vortex  of  the

liver,  that the other part grows out of the seed atom of the dense body  in

the  heart,  that both parts meet in the seed atom of the vital body in  the

solar  plexus,  and that this union of the higher and lower vehicles  causes

the quickening.  Further development of the cord between the heart and solar

plexus during the first seven years has an important bearing on the  mystery

of childlife, likewise its fuller growth from the liver to the solar plexus,

which  takes  place during the second septenary period,  is  a  contributory

cause  of  adolescence.   Completion of the Silver Cord  marks  the  end  of

childlife,  and  from that time the solar energy which  enters  through  the

spleen  and is tinted by refraction through the prismatic seed atom  of  the

vital body located in the solar plexus,  commences to give a distinctive and

individual coloring to the aura which we observe in adults.







[PAGE 11]                                                   LIST OF CONTENTS



                             LIST OF CONTENTS.



                                  PART I.



           MAN'S PRESENT CONSTITUTION AND METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT.





A Word to the Wise ...................................................    5

The Four Kingdoms, diagram ...........................................   16

Introduction .........................................................   17



CHAPTER I.  The Visible and Invisible Worlds .........................   24

    Chemical Region of the Physical World ............................   29

    Etheric Region of the Physical World .............................   34

    The Desire World .................................................   38

    The World of Thought .............................................   48

    Diagram 1.  The Material World a Reverse Reflection

          of the Spiritual Worlds ....................................   52

    Diagram 2.  The Seven Worlds .....................................   54



CHAPTER II.  The Four Kingdoms .......................................   56

    Diagram 3.  The Vehicles of the Four Kingdoms ....................   73

    Diagram 4.  The Consciousness of the Four Kingdoms ...............   74



CHAPTER III.  Man and the Method of Evolution.

    Activities of Life; Memory and Soul-growth .......................   87

    The Constitution of the Seven-fold Man ...........................   88

    Diagram 5.  The Three-fold Spirit, the Three-fold Body and

          the Three-fold Soul ........................................   95

    Death and Purgatory ..............................................   96

    Diagram 5 1/2.  The Silver Cord ..................................   98

    The Borderland ...................................................  112

    The First Heaven .............archies .........................................  325

    The Saturn Period ................................................  327

    The Sun Period, the Moon Period ..................................  328

    The Earth Period .................................................  329

    Jehovah and His Mission ..........................................  333

    Involution, Evolution and Epigenesis .............................  336

    A Living Soul? ...................................................  344

    Adam's Rib .......................................................  346

    Guardian Angels ..................................................  347

    Mixing Blood in Marriage .........................................  352

    The Fall of Man ..................................................  360

    Diagram 13.  The Beginning and End of Sex ........................  364



                                 PART III.



                  MAN'S FUTURE DEVELOPMENT AND INITIATION.



    Diagram.  The Seven Days of Creation .............................  366



CHAPTER XV.  Christ and His Mission.

    The Evolution of Religion ........................................  367

    Jesus and Christ-Jesus ...........................................  374

    Diagram 14.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit .............  377

    Not Peace but a Sword ............................................  383

    The Star of Bethlehem ............................................  388

    The Heart an Anomaly .............................................  393

    The Mystery of Golgotha ..........................................  400

    The Cleansing Blood ..............................................  406

    Diagram, "As Above, so Below" ....................................  410



CHAPTER XVI.  Future Development and Initiation.

    The Seven Days of Creation .......................................  411

    Diagram 15.  The Symbolism of the Caduceus .......................  413

    Radiates, Mollusks, Articulates and Vertebrates ..................  416

    Spirals within Spirals ...........................................  420







[PAGE 14]                                                   LIST OF CONTENTS



    Alchemy and Soulgrowth ...........................................  421

    The Creative Word ................................................  425



CHAPTER XVII.  The Method of Acquiring First-Hand Knowledge.

    The First Steps ..................................................  430

    Western Methods for Western People ...............................  437

    The Science of Nutrition .........................................  441

    Table of Food Values .............................................  450

    The Law of Assimilation ..........................................  457

    Live and Let Live ................................................  460

    The Lord's Prayer ................................................  462

    Diagram 16.  The Lord's Prayer ...................................  464

    The Vow of Celibacy ..............................................  467

    The Pituitary Body and the Pineal Gland ..........................  473

    Diagram 17.  Path of the Unused Sex Currents .....................  475

    Esoteric Training ................................................  477

    How the Inner Vehicle is Built ...................................  480

    Concentration ....................................................  486

    Meditation .......................................................  489

    Observation ......................................................  492

    Discrimination ...................................................  493

    Contemplation ....................................................  494

    Adoration ........................................................  495



CHAPTER XVIII.  The Constitution of the Earth and Volcanic Eruptions .  498

    The Number of the Beast .......................................here comes a day when the form dies and goes  to

decay.   The life that came, whence we know not, has passed to the invisible

beyond,  and in sorrow we ask ourselves, Whence came it?   What was it here?

and Whither has it gone?



    Across  every threshold the skeleton form of Death throws  his  fearsome

shadow.   Old or young, well or ill, rich or poor, all,  all alike must pass

out into that shadow and throughout the ages has sounded the piteous cry for

a solution of the riddle of life--the riddle of death.



    So  far  as the vast majority of people are concerned  the  three  great

questions,  Whence have we come?   Why are we here?   Whither are we  going?

remain  unanswered  to  this  day.   It has unfortunately  come  to  be  the

popularly accepted opinion that nothing can be definitely known about  these

matters  of deepest interest to humanity.   Nothing could be more  erroneous

than such an idea.   Each and every one,  without exception,  may become ca-

pable of obtaining first-hand,  definite information upon this subject;  may

personally investigate the state of the human spirit,  both before birth and

after death.  There is no favoritism, nor are special gifts required.   Each

of us has inherently the faculty for knowing all of  these  matters;  but!--

Yes, there is a "but," and a "BUT" that must be written large.  These facul-

ties are present in all,  though latent in most people.  It requires persis-

tent  effort to awaken them and that seems to be a powerful  deterrent.   If

these faculties,  "awake and aware,"  could be had for a monetary  consider-

ation,  even if the price were high,  many people would pay it to gain  such

immense advantage over their  fellow-men,   but   few   indeed   are   those







[PAGE 20]                                   THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION



willing  to live the life that is required to awaken them.   That  awakening

comes only by patient, persistent effort.  It cannot be bought;  there is no

royal road to it.



    It  is conceded that practice is necessary to learn to play  the  piano,

and that it is useless to think of being a watchmaker without being  willing

to serve an apprenticeship.   Yet when the matter of the soul,  of death and

the beyond,  of the great causes of being, are the questions at issue,  many

think  they  know as much as anyone and have an equal right  to  express  an

opinion, though they may never have given the subject an hour's study.



    As  a matter of fact,  no one unless qualified by study of  the  subject

should expect serious consideration for an opinion.   In legal cases,  where

experts  are called to testify,  they are first examined as to their  compe-

tency.   The weight of their testimony will be nil, unless they are found to

be  thoroughly proficient in the branch of knowledge regarding  which  their

testimony is sought.



    If, however,  they are found to be qualified--by  study  and  practice--

to  express an expert opinion,  it is received with the utmost  respect  and

deference;  and  if the testimony of one expert is  corroborated  by  others

equally proficient,  the testimony of each additional man adds immensely  to

the weight of the previous evidence.



    The irrefutable testimony of one such man easily counterbalances that of

one or a dozen or a million men who know nothing of that whereof they speak,

for nothing, even though multiplied by a million, will still remain nothing.

This is as true of any other subject as of mathematics.



    As previously said,  we recognize these facts readily enough in material

affairs,  but when things beyond the world of sense, when the super-physical

world is under discussion; when the relations of God to man,  the inner-most







[PAGE 21]                                                       INTRODUCTION



mysteries of the immortal spark of divinity, loosely termed the soul, are to

be  probed,  then each clamors for as serious consideration of his  opinions

and ideas regarding spiritual matters as is given to the sage, who by a life

of patient and toilsome research has acquired wisdom in these higher things.



    Nay,  more;  many will not even content themselves with  claiming  EQUAL

consideration for their opinions,  but will even jeer and scoff at the words

of the sage,  seek to impugn his testimony as fraud,  and,  with the supreme

confidence  of deepest ignorance,  asseverate that as THEY know  nothing  of

such matters, it is absolutely impossible that anyone else can.



    The  man  who  realizes his ignorance has taken the  first  step  toward

knowledge.



    The path to first-hand knowledge is not easy.  Nothing worth having ever

comes without persistent effort.  It cannot be too often repeated that there

are no such things as special gifts of "luck."   All that anyone is or  has,

is the result of effort.   What one lacks in comparison with another is  la-

tent in himself and capable of development by proper methods.



    If the reader, having grasped this idea thoroughly, should ask,  what he

must do to obtain this first-hand knowledge,  the following story may  serve

to impress the idea, which is the central one in occultism:



    A young man came to a sage one day and asked,  "Sire,  what must I do to

become wise?"  The sage vouchsafed no answer.  The youth after repeating his

question a number of times, with a like result, at last left him,  to return

the  next  day with the same question.  Again no answer was  given  and  the

youth returned on the third day, still repeating  his  question,  "Sire what







[PAGE 22]                                   THE ROSICRUCIAN COSMO-CONCEPTION



must I do to become wise?"



    Finally the sage turned and went down to a near-by river. He entered the

water,  bidding the youth follow him.  Upon arriving at a  sufficient  depth

the  sage took the young man by the shoulders and held him under the  water,

despite his struggles to free himself.  At last,  however,  he released  him

and when the youth had regained his breath the sage questioned him:



    "Son, when you were under the water what did you most desire?"



    The youth answered without hesitation, "Air, air!  I wanted air!"



    "Would you not rather have had riches, pleasure, power or love,  my son?

Did you not think of any of these?"  queried the sage.



    "No,  sire!   I wanted air and though only of air," came the instant re-

sponse.



    "Then,"  said the sage,  "To become wise you must desire wisdom with  as

great intensity as you just now desired air.   You must struggle for it,  to

the exclusion of every other aim in life.  It must be your one and only  as-

piration, by day and by night.  If you seek wisdom with that fervor, my son,

you will surely become wise."



    That is the first and central requisite the aspirant to occult knowledge

must possess--an unswerving desire,  a burning thirst for knowledge;  a zeal

that  allows no obstacle to conquer it;  but the supreme motive for  seeking

this occult knowledge must be an ardent desire to benefit humanity, entirely

disregarding  self  in order to work for others.   Unless  prompted  by  the

motive, occult knowledge is dangerous.



    Without   possessing  these  qualifications--especially  the  latter--in

some measure,  any attempt to tread the arduous path of occultism would be a







[PAGE 23]                                                       INTRODUCTION



hazardous undertaking.   Another prerequisite to this first-hand  knowledge,

however,  is the study of occultism at second-hand.   Certain occult  powers

are necessary for the first-hand investigation of matters connected with the

pre-natal and post-mortem states of man,  but no one need despair of acquir-

ing information about this conditions because of undeveloped occult  powers.

As a man may know about Africa either by going there personally or by  read-

ing descriptions written by travelers who have been there,  so may he  visit

the superphysical realms if he will but qualify himself therefor,  or he may

learn  what  others who have so qualified themselves report as a  result  of

their investigations.



    Christ  said,  "The Truth shall make you free,"  but Truth is not  found

once and forever.   Truth is eternal,  and the quest for Truth must also  be

eternal.   Occultism knows of no "faith once for all delivered."   There are

certain  basic  truths which remain,  but which may be looked at  from  many

sides,  each giving a different view,  which complements the previous  ones;

therefore,  so far as we can see at present,  there is no  such  achievement

possible as arriving at the ultimate truth.



    Wherein  this work differs from some philosophical works the  variations

are caused by difference of viewpoint,  and all respect is paid