nature of wondrous beauty, not growing and decaying, or waxing
and waning, not fair in one point of view and foul in another, or in
the likeness of a face, or hands, or any other part of the bodily
frame, or in any form of speech or knowledge, nor existing in any
other being; but Beauty only, absolute, separate, simple,
everlasting, which without diminution and without increase, or
any change, is imparted to the ever growing and perishing beauties
of all other things. He only uses the beauties of earth as steps along
which he mounts upward for the sake of that other Beauty, going
from one to two, and from two to all fair forms, and from fair forms
to fair actions, and from fair actions to fair notions, until from fair
notions he arrives at the notion of absolute Beauty, and at last
knows what the essence of Beauty is.
Temple Section
A M O R C
The Rosicrucian Order
E L E V E N T H D E G R E E N U M B E R S E V E N T Y P A G E O N E
Beloved Members, Greetings!
We have been receiving letters from the members of this Degree not only making their occasional reports, but also expres sing their interest in the new subject we are studying, namely,
the doctrine of cosmic planes of consciousness. All of the
letters have stated that the members have been waiting for such information as this--although they had no reason to believe that there was such a doctrine--and the result now is that a number of questions are being asked.
If you will remember, we began an introduction to the history
of this doctrine in our last monograph. What we have today in the
way of a record of this history is merely a remnant of what ex isted at one time, and because of the destruction that took place we are not sure how widespread these writings really were in the
centuries preceding the birth of Christ. In Chaldea they were
credited to the great priestess who was their oracle, and it is from the writings of this oracle that we have some of the best
extracts of this doctrine. We are fortunate in having in our
files translations made by a Rosicrucian who has carefully studied the originals and given us a perfect translation which varies very little from other translations made by other eminent men such as
Michael Psellus. Secretly these writings are supposed to have
been inspired by Zoroaster, and the Greek versions were written in the form of hexameter poems.
I am going to give you at this time a few extracts from these poems and writings as interpreted by Proclus, who was born in
Constantinople, A.D. 412 (?). He claimed that his soul had lived
once before on Earth during the time of Pythagoras and that he had been a student of Pythagoras and that he had been familiar with
the Orphic and Hermetic writings. In fact, he was so sure that he
had been the hierophant of the Mystic Brotherhood in Egypt that he fasted on all of the Egyptian mystical holidays and opposed many of the Christian principles, and this led to his banishment by the
Christian authorities. His transition occurred in 485, and, al
though an old man, he was very active mentally and physically and of unusual magnetic attractiveness at the time of his transition. His special writings were devoted to interpretations of Plato according to the Orphic theology and his commentaries on the
Chaldean Oracles. He was given the title of "Priest of the Uni
verse," and is recognized as the world's greatest successor to Plato.
First I will quote from some of his hymns because of what he says about these hymns. After addressing his hymns to the God of all creatures, he goes on to present the hymns that were addressed to the gods of culture in the following words:
Temple Section
A M 0 R C
The Rosicrucian Order
ELEVENTH DEGREE
NUMBER SEVENTY
PAGE TWO
"Harken, Divinities, you who hold the reins of sacred wisdom; Who set men's souls on fire with flames indomitable,
Drawing them, through the cloudy depths far up to the Immortals, Purging us with mystic rites of indescribable hymns;
Harken, great saviours! from divine books
Grant me the innocent, blameless Light that dissipates the clouds,
So I may discover the truth about Man, and his immortal Divinity!
Neither let the Evil-working Spirit restrain me under the Lethean waters of Oblivion
Ever far from the Blessed; for my soul Would no longer continue to stray,
Nor suffer the cruel pains of imprisonment in the bands of life! Nay, Gods of high and illustrious wisdom,
Masters and Leaders, hear me, the hastener
Along the Upward Way 1--Initiate me into the orgiac mysteries And reveal them by the ceremonies of sacred words!
I think the foregoing words constituting the latter part of one of the great hymns prove it a marvelous classic, although it has never been made popular and has seldom found its way into the light of day except in the most restricted and secret of mystical
literature. I think the lines could be memorized and said often
as a prayer for any occasion and for all students.
DETAILED Now, if you will go back and examine, one at a time, A N A L Y S IS the thoughts expressed in each line of the above hymn,
you will note that in the first line the hymn is being
addressed to certain divinities. That word is an old word in mys
tical literature sometimes translated as "gods" and other times
translated as divine principles or secondary gods. It is inter
esting to note that the later Roman Catholic church translated this word into "angels" and in some Protestant writings the group of divinities was changed from angels to "Heavenly hosts” because this phrase had also been used in some mystical writings.
Note also that in that first line these divinities are sup posed to be holding the reins of sacred wisdom and not of any powers over life and death or anything of this kind such as the Supreme Being maintains.
The second and third lines show that the divinities set our consciousness on fire with the ambition to seek and to know truth and to acquire wisdom until this desire lifts us up from the lower
planes of consciousness to the higher planes of the im mortals .
The fourth line says that while this is being done we are purged and purified by mystic rites and hymns.