The Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception
by Max Heindel
(Part 8)
VIII. The Work of
Evolution
Ariadne's Thread
Having become acquainted with the
Worlds, the Globes and the Revolutions which constitute the path of
evolution during the seven Periods, we are now in a position to consider
the work which is done in each Period, as well as the methods employed to
accomplish it.
The "Ariadne's thread" which will guide us through the maze of Globes,
Worlds, Revolutions and Periods will be found when it is remembered and kept
steadily in mind that the virgin spirits which constitute the evolving life
wave became entirely unconscious when they commenced their
evolutionary pilgrimage through the five Worlds of substance denser than the
World of Virgin Spirits. The purpose of evolution is to make them fully
conscious and able to master the matter of all the Worlds, therefore the
conditions embodied in Globes, Worlds, Revolutions and Periods are ordered with
that end in view.
During the Saturn, Sun and Moon Periods and the past half of the present
Earth Period, the virgin spirits have unconsciously built their different
vehicles under the direction of exalted Beings who guided their progress,
and have gradually awakened until they have attained the present state of
waking consciousness. This period is called "Involution".
From the present time to the end of the Vulcan Period, the virgin
spirits, who are now our humanity, will perfect their vehicles and expand
their consciousness in the five Worlds by their own efforts and genius.
This period is called "Evolution."
The above is the key to the understanding of what follows.
A thorough comprehension of the scheme of planetary evolution which has
been outlines in the preceding pages is of immense value to the student.
Although some believers in the laws of Consequence and Rebirth seem to think
that the possession of such knowledge is quite non-essential and of little
use, it is nevertheless of very great importance to the earnest student of
these two laws. It trains the mind in abstract thought and elevates it
above the sordid things of concrete existence, helping the imagination to
soar beyond the hampering toils of self-interest. As stated in our study of
the Desire World, Interest is the mainspring to action, yet at our present
stage of progress, Interest is generally aroused by selfishness. It is
sometimes of a very subtle nature, but it spurs to action of various kinds.
All action inspired by Interest generates certain effects which act on us,
and in consequence we are bound by action having to do with the concrete
Worlds. But, if our minds are occupied with such subjects as mathematics or
study of the planetary phases of evolution, we are in the Region of purely
Abstract Thought, beyond the influence of Feeling, and the mind is directed
upward towards the spiritual realism and liberation. When we are extracting
cube root, or multiplying figures, or thinking of Periods, Revolutions,
etc., we have no Feeling about it. We do not quarrel about twice two being
four. If our feelings were involved we should perhaps try to make it five
and quarrel with the one who, for personal reasons, said it was but three,
but in mathematics Truth is most clearly apparent and Feeling is eliminated.
Therefore, to the average man, desiring to live in the feelings, mathematics is
dry and uninteresting. Pythagoras taught his pupils to live in the World of
Eternal Spirit and he demanded that those who desired instruction from him
should first study mathematics. A mind capable of understanding mathematics
is above the average and is capable of rising into the World of Spirit, because
it is not fettered in the World of Feeling and Desire. The more we accustom
ourselves to think in terms of the Spiritual Worlds, the better we shall be
able to rise above the illusions which surround us in this concrete
existence, where the twin feelings, Interest and Indifference, obscure the
Truth and bias us, as the reflection of the light rays through the Earth's
atmosphere gives us incorrect ideas of the position of the luminary
emitting them.
Therefore the student who wishes to know Truth; to enter and investigate
the realms of Spirit; to free himself from the toils of the flesh, as rapidly
as is consistent with safety and proper growth, is earnestly advised to study
what follows as thoroughly as possible; to assimilate it and draw mental
conceptions of these Worlds, Globes and Periods. If he wishes to
progress in this way, the study of mathematics and of Hinton's "The Fourth
Dimension" are also admirable exercises in abstract thought. This work of
Hinton's (though basically incorrect, because the four-dimensional Desire
World cannot be actually found by three-dimensional methods), has opened the
eyes of several persons who have studied it, and made them clairvoyant.
Moreover, remembering that logic is the best teacher in any world, it is
certain that the individual who succeeds in entering into the superphysical
World by means of such studies in abstract thought, will not become confused
but will be able to give a good account of himself under all circumstances.
A stupendous scheme is here unfolded, and as more and more detail is
filled in, its complexity becomes almost inconceivable. Anyone capable of
comprehending it will be well rewarded for taking the utmost pains to do so.
Therefore, the student should read slowly, repeat often, think deeply and
much.
This work, particularly this section, cannot be read in a casual manner.
Every sentence has weight and bearing upon what follows, and presupposes a
knowledge of what precedes it. If this work is not studied thoroughly and
systematically, it will grown more and more incomprehensible and confusing
with every page. On the other hand, if it is studied and well thought out as
the student proceeds, it will be found that each page is illuminated by the
increased knowledge gained by study of what went before.
No work of this kind, dealing with the deepest phases of the Great World
Mystery that the human mind, at its present stage of development, is capable of
grasping, can be written in such a manner that it will be light reading. Yet
the deepest phases now comprehensible to use are but the A B C of the scheme
as it will be revealed to us when our minds have become capable of
understanding more, in later stages of our development as Supermen.
The Saturn Period
The Globes of the Saturn Period consisted of much rarer and finer substances
than our Earth, as will be evident from a study of
Diagram 7 and
Diagram 8, which the student is advised to keep close at hand for frequent
reference while studying this subject. The densest Globe of that Period was
located in the same portion of the World of Thought occupied by the rarest of
Globes of the present Period — the Region of Concrete Thought. These Globes had
no consistency such as we can sense. "Warmth" is the only word that
approximates the idea of the ancient Saturn Period. It was dark; and if a
person could have entered into the space it occupied, he would have seen
nothing. All about him would have been darkness, but he would have felt its
warmth.
To the materialist it will, of course, seem insanity to call such a
condition a "Globe", and to assert that it was the field of evolution of Form
and Life. Yet, when we consider the Nebular Theory, we can realize that the
nebula must have been dark before it glowed with light, and that it must
have been hot before it could become fiery. This heat must have been
brought about by motion, and motion is life.
We may say that the virgin spirits who were to evolve consciousness and
form were embedded in this Globe, or perhaps better, that the whole Globe
was composed of virgin spirits, as a raspberry is made of a great number of
small raspberries. They were incorporated in the Globe, as the life
ensouling the mineral is in our Earth. Therefore it is said among esoteric
scientists that in the Saturn Period man went through the mineral stage.
Outside this "warmth-Globe" — in its atmosphere, we might say — were the
great creative Hierarchies, who were to help the evolving virgin spirits to
develop form and consciousness. There were many Hierarchies, but for the
present we shall concern ourselves with the principal ones only — those which
did the most important work of the Saturn Period.
In the Rosicrucian terminology these are called "Lords of the Flame,"
because of the brilliant luminosity of their bodies and their great spiritual
powers. They are called "Thrones" in the Bible, and worked on man of their own
free will. They were so far advanced that this evolutionary manifestation
could give them no new experiences, and therefore no added wisdom, and the same
may be said of two still higher order of Hierarchies, to be named later. The
rest of the creative Hierarchies, in order to complete their own evolutions,
were compelled to work on, in and with man.
These Lords of the Flame were outside the dark Saturn Globe and their
bodies emitted a strong light. They, so to say, projected their pictures
upon the surface of that ancient Saturn Globe, which was so impressionable
that it reflected, in a multiple or echo-like manner, everything that came in
contact with it, giving back the images manifolded. (This is told in the Greek
myth wherein it is said that Saturn destroyed his children.)
However, by repeated efforts during the first Revolution, the Lords of
the Flame succeeded in implanting in the evolving life the germ which has
developed our present dense body. This germ was somewhat developed during
the remainder of the first six Revolutions, being given the capacity for
developing the senses organs, particularly the ear. Therefore, the ear is the
most highly developed organ we possess. It is the instrument which carries
with the greatest accuracy the impressions of outside conditions to the
consciousness. It is less subject to the illusions of the Physical World than
the other sense organs.
The consciousness of the evolving life of that Period was like that of the
mineral of today — a state of unconsciousness similar to that attained by
mediums in the deepest trance — yet during the first six Revolutions, the
evolving life worked on the germ of the dense body under the direction and with
the help of the different creative Hierarchies. In the middle of the seventh
Revolution the Lords of the Flame, Who had been inactive since They gave the
germ of the dense body in the first Revolution, again become active, this time
to awaken the highest spiritual principle. They aroused the initial activity
of the divine spirit in man.
Thus, man owes his highest and lowest vehicles — the divine spirit and the
dense body, to the evolution of the Saturn Period. These, the Lords of the
Flame of their own free will helped him to manifest, not being under the
slightest compulsion to do so.
The work of the various creative Hierarchies is not started on Globe A, at
the commencement of a Period or a Revolution. It commences in the middle of
one Revolution, growing in strength and reaching its highest efficiency in
the middle of the Cosmic Night — which is between Revolutions, as well as
between Periods. Then it gradually declines, as the life wave sweeps on to
the middle of the next Revolution.
Thus the work of the Lords of the Flame in awakening the germinal
consciousness, was most active and efficient during the rest Period between the
Saturn and Sun Periods.
We reiterate that a Cosmic Night is not to be regarded as a time of
inactivity. It is not inert existence, as we saw in the case of the
individual passing from death to a new birth. So with the great death of
all the Globes of a Period. It is a cessation of active manifestation, that
a proportionately keener subjective activity may be unfolded.
Perhaps the best idea of the nature of this subjective activity may be
gained by observing what happens when a ripe fruit is buried in the ground.
Fermentation and decay of the flesh sets in, but out of that chaos comes the
new plant, sprouting forth into the air and sunshine. So, when a Period is
past, all is resolved into conglomerate chaos, apparently incapable of being
reduced to order. At the proper time, however, the Globes of a new period
are formed and made ready for occupancy as man-bearing Worlds. Hither the
evolving life is transferred from five dark Globes which it traverses during
the Cosmic Night, to commence the activities of a new creative day in an
altered environment, prepared and externalized during the activities of the
Cosmic Night. As the forces of fermentation in the fruit stimulate the seed
and fertilize the soil in which it grows, so the Lords of the Flame
stimulated the germ of divine spirit, particularly during the Cosmic Night
between the Saturn and Sun Periods, continuing their activities until the
middle of the first Revolution of the Sun Period.
Recapitulation
Before the activity in any Period can be started, there is a recapitulation
of all that has been gone through before. Owing to the spiral path of
evolution, this activity takes place each time on a higher scale that the
stage in progression which it rehearses. The necessity will become apparent
when the actual work in recapitulation is described.
The first Revolution of any Period is a recapitulation of the work upon
the dense body in the Saturn Period, and is spoken of among Rosicrucians as
the "Saturn Revolution."
The Second Period is the Sun Period, and therefore the second Revolution of
any Period subsequent to the Sun Period would be the "Sun Revolution."
The third Period is the Moon Period, therefore the third Revolution of
any subsequent Period will be a recapitulation of the work done in the Moon
Period, and is called the "Moon Revolution."
Not until after the recapitulatory Revolutions does the proper work of a
Period begin. For instance, in the present Earth Period, we have passed
through three and one-half Revolutions. That means that in the first, or
Saturn Revolution of the Earth Period, the work done in the Saturn Period was
repeated, but on an advanced scale. In the second, or Sun Revolution, the work
of the Sun Period was gone through again. In the third, or Moon Revolution,
the work of the Moon Period was repeated; and it was only in the fourth — the
present Revolution — that the real work of the Earth Period commenced.
In the last of the seven Periods — the Vulcan Period — only the last
Revolution will be concerned with real Vulcan work. In the preceding six
Revolutions the work of the preceding six Periods will have been
recapitulated.
Moreover (and this will particularly help the student to remember), a
Saturn Revolution in any Period has always to do with the development of
some new feature of the dense body, because that was started in a first
Revolution; and any seventh, or Vulcan Revolution, has for its
particular work some activity in connection with the divine spirit, because
that was started in a seventh Revolution. In the same way, we shall see
that there is a connection between the different Revolutions and all the
vehicles of man.
The Sun Period
Conditions during the Sun Period differed radically from those of the
Saturn Period. Instead of the "warmth-Globes" of the latter, the Sun
Period Globes were glowing light-balls, of the consistency of gas. These
great gasballs contained all that had been evolved in the Saturn Period, and
similarly, in the atmosphere were the creative Hierarchies.
Instead of the echo-like, reflecting quality of the Saturn Period, these
Globes, to some extent, had the quality of absorbing and working over sight or
sound projected against their surfaces. They, as it were, "sensed"
things. The Earth does not seem to do this, and a materialist would scoff at
the idea, yet the esotericist knows that the Earth feels everything on and in
it. This lighter Globe was much more sensitive that the Earth, because it
was not limited and bound in such hard and fast conditions of materiality as is
our present habitat.
The life, of course, was different, because no forms such as we know
could have existed there. But life can express itself in forms of fiery gas as
well as — in fact better than — in forms of hard chemical matter such as the
present dense forms of mineral, plant, animal and man.
Asthe evolving life appeared upon Globe A in the first or Saturn Revolution
of the Sun Period, it was still in charge of the Lords of the Flame who, in
the middle of the last Revolution of the Saturn Period, awakened in man the
germ of the divine spirit.
They had previously given the germ of the dense body and, in the first
half of the Saturn Revolution of the Sun Period, were concerned with certain
improvements to be made upon it.
In the Sun Period the formation of the vital body was to be commenced,
with all thereby implied of capability for assimilation, growth,
propagation, glands, etc.
The Lords of the Flame incorporated in the germ of the dense body only
the capability of evolving sense organs. At the time now under
consideration it became necessary to change the germ in such a way as to
allow of interpenetration by a vital body, also capability of evolving glands
and an alimentary canal. This was done by the joint action of the Lords of
the Flame, who gave the original germ, and the Lords of Wisdom, who took
charge of material evolution in the Sun Period.
The Lords of Wisdom, who were not so highly evolved as the Lords of the
Flame, worked to complete their own evolution; therefore they received the
assistance of an order of exalted Beings who, like the Lords of the Flame,
acted of their own free will. In esoteric parlance they are called the
Cherubim. These exalted Beings did not, however, become active in the work
until it was necessary to awaken the germ of the second spiritual principle of
our man-in-the-making, as the Lords of Wisdom were quite capable of doing the
work connected with the vital body which was to be added to the constitution of
man in the Sun Period, but not of awakening the second spiritual principle.
When the Lords of the Flame and the Lords of Wisdom had, in the Saturn
Revolution of the Sun Period, conjointly reconstructed the germinal dense
body, the Lords of Wisdom, in the second Revolution, started the proper work of
the Sun Period, by radiating from their own bodies the germ of the vital body,
making it capable of inter-penetrating the dense body and giving to the germ
the capability of furthering growth and propagation and of exciting the sense
centers of the dense body and causing it to move. In short, they gave,
germinally, to the vital body all the faculties which it is now unfolding to
become a perfect and pliable instrument for the use of the spirit.
This work occupied the second, third, fourth and fifth Revolutions of the
Sun Period. In the sixth Revolution the Cherubim entered and awakened the
germ of the second aspect of the threefold spirit in man — the life spirit. In
the seventh and last Revolution the newly awakened germ of the life spirit
was linked to the germinal divine spirit, and this was still further worked
upon.
We remember that in the Saturn Period our consciousness was similar to
the trace condition. By the activity of the Sun Period this was modified
until it became like the consciousness of dreamless sleep.
Evolution in the Sun Period added to the constitution of the evolving
embryonic man, the next highest and the next lowest of his present vehicles.
As the result of the Saturn Period he possessed a germinal dense body and
divine spirit. At the end of the Sun Period he possessed a germinal dense
body, vital body, divine spirit and life spirit, i.e., a twofold spirit and a
twofold body.
We also note that, as the first, or Saturn Revolution, of any Period is
concerned with work in the dense body (because that was started in a first
Revolution), so the second, or Sun Revolution, of any Period is concerned
with improvements on the vital body, because it was started in a second
Revolution. In like manner, the sixth Revolution of any Period is dedicated to
some work on the life spirit, and any seventh Revolution is particularly
concerned with matters connected with the divine spirit.
In the Saturn Period man-in-the-making went through a mineral stage of
existence. That is to say, he had a dense body only in the sense as had the
mineral. His consciousness was also similar to that of the present mineral.
In the same way, and for analogous reasons, it may be said that in the
Sun Period man went through the plant existence. He had a dense body and a
vital body, as plants have, and his consciousness, like theirs, was that of
dreamless sleep. The student will fully grasp this analogy by referring to
diagram 4 in the section on the four kingdoms,
where the vehicles of consciousness possessed by mineral, plant, animal and
man are schematically shown, with the particular consciousness resulting
from their possession in each case.
When the Sun Period was past there came another Cosmic Night of
assimilation, together with the subjective activity necessary before the
opening of the Moon Period. This was equal in length to the preceding Period
of objective manifestation.
The Moon Period
As the chief characteristic feature of the dark Saturn Globes was
described by the term "warmth," and that of the Sun Period Globes as "light"
or glowing heat, so the chief characteristic feature of the Globes of the
Moon Period may be best described by the term "moisture." There was no air
such as we know. In the center was the hot fiery core. Next to that, and
consequent upon contact with the cold of outside space, there was dense
moisture. By contact with the fiery central core the dense moisture was
changed into hot steam, which rushed outward to cool, and sink again toward
the center. Therefore the esoteric scientist calls the Globes of the Moon Period
"water" and describes the atmosphere of that time as "fire-fog." That was the
scene of the next forward step of the evolving life.
The Moon Period work was that of acquiring the germ of a desire body and
starting the germinal activity of the third aspect of the threefold spirit in
man — the human spirit — the Ego.
In the middle of the seventh Revolution of the Sun Period, the Lords of
Wisdom took charge of the germinal life spirit given by the Cherubim in the
sixth Revolution of the Sun Period. They did this for the purpose of linking
it to the divine spirit. Their greatest activity in this work was reached in
the Cosmic Night intervening between the Sun and Moon Periods. In the first
dawn of the Moon Period, as the life wave started upon its new pilgrimage, the
Lords of Wisdom reappeared, bearing with them the germinal vehicles of the
evolving man. In the first or Saturn Revolution of the Moon Period, they
cooperated with the "Lords of Individuality," who had special charge of the
material evolution of the Moon Period. Together they reconstructed the germ of
the dense body, brought over from the Sun Period. This germ had unfolded
embryonic sense organs, digestive organs, glands, etc., and was
inter-penetrated by a budding vital body which diffused a certain degree of
life into the embryonic dense body. Of course, it was not solid and visible as
it is now, yet in a crude sort of way it was somewhat organized and is
perfectly distinguishable to the trained clairvoyant sight of the competent
investigator who searches the memory of nature for scenes in that far-off past.
In the Moon Period it was necessary to reconstruct the dense body to make it
capable of being inter-penetrated by a desire body, and also capable of
evolving a nervous system, muscle, cartilage and a rudimentary skeleton.
This reconstruction was the work of the Saturn Revolution of the Moon
Period.
In the second, or Sun Revolution, the vital body was also modified to
render it capable of being inter-penetrated by a desire body, also of
accommodating itself to the nervous system, muscle, skeleton, etc. The Lords
of Wisdom, who were the originators of the vital body, also helped the Lords of
Individuality with this work.
In the third Revolution the proper Moon work commenced. The Lords of
Individuality radiated from themselves the substance which they helped the
unconscious, evolving man to appropriate and build into a germinal desire
body. They also helped him to incorporate this germinal desire body in the
compound vital body and dense body which he already possessed. This work
was carried on all through the third and fourth Revolutions of the Moon
Period.
As with the Lords of Wisdom, so with the Lords of Individuality; though
exalted far above man, they worked on and in him to complete their own
evolution. While they were capable of dealing with the lower vehicle, they
were powerless in regard to the higher. They could not give the spiritual
impulse necessary to the awakening of the third aspect of the threefold spirit
in man. Therefore another class of Beings who were beyond the necessity of
evolving in such an evolution as we are passing through — who also worked of
their own free will, as did the Lords of the Flame and the Cherubim — came in
during the fifth Revolution of the Moon Period, to help man. They are
called "Seraphim." They awakened the germ of the third aspect of the
spirit — the human spirit.
In the sixth Revolution of the Moon Period the Cherubim reappeared and
co-operated with the Lords of Individuality to link the newly acquired germ of
the human spirit to life spirit.
In the seventh Revolution of the Moon Period the Lords of the Flame again
came to the aid of man, helping the Lords of Individuality to link the human
spirit to the divine spirit. Thus the separate Ego — the threefold
spirit — came into existence.
Before the beginning of the Saturn Period the virgin spirits who are now
man, were in the World of Virgin Spirits, and were "All-conscious" as God in
who (not from whom), they were differentiated. They were not "self"
conscious however. The attainment of that faculty is partly the object of
evolution which plunges the virgin spirits into a sea of matter of gradually
increasing density which eventually shuts it from the All-consciousness.
Thus, in the Saturn Period the virgin spirits were immersed in the World of
Divine Spirit and encased in the tiniest film of that substance which they
partially penetrated by the help of the Lords of Flame.
In the Sun Period the virgin spirit was plunged into the denser World of
Life Spirit and more effectively blinded to the All-consciousness by a second
veil of the substance of the World of Life Spirit. Still, by the help of the
Cherubim it partially penetrated this second veil also. The feeling of the
Oneness of All was not lost either, for the World of Life Spirit is still a
universal World common to and inter-penetrating all the planets of a Solar
System.
In the Moon Period, however, the virgin spirits take a further dip into
the still denser matter of the Region of Abstract Thought and here the most
opaque of its veils, the human spirit, is added. Henceforth the
All-consciousness of the virgin spirit is lost. It can no longer penetrate
its veils, look outwards and perceive others, so it is
forced to turn its consciousness inwards and there it finds its
self, as the Ego, separated and apart from all others.
Thus the virgin spirit is encased in a threefold veil, and as its
outermost veil, the human spirit, effectively blinds it to the oneness of
Life, it becomes the Ego by entertaining the illusion of separateness
contracted during involution. Evolution will gradually dissolve the illusion,
bring back the All-consciousness, and Self-consciousness will have been
added.
Thus we see that at the close of the Moon Period man possessed a threefold
body in varying stages of development; and also the germ of the threefold
spirit. He had dense, vital, and desire bodies, and divine, life and human
spirit. All he lacked was the link to connect them.
It has been stated that man passed through the mineral stage in the Saturn
Period; through the plant stage in the Sun Period, and his pilgrimage through
the conditions of the Moon Period corresponds to the phase of animal existence,
for the same reason that the two other similes are applicable — he had the
dense, vital, and desire bodies, as have our present animals, and his
consciousness was an internal picture-consciousness, such as the lower animals
have today. This resembles the dream consciousness of man, save that it is
perfectly rational, being directed by the group-spirit of the animals. The
student is again referred to Diagram 4 in the section on the four kingdoms, where this is shown.
These Moon beings were not so purely germinal as in the previous Periods.
To the trained clairvoyant they appear suspended by strings in the atmosphere
of the fire-fog, as the embryo hangs from the placenta by the umbilical cord.
Currents (common to all of them), which provided some sort of nourishment
flowed in and out from the atmosphere, through those cords. These currents
were thus, to some extent, similar in their function to the blood of the
present day. The name "blood" as applied to these currents, however, is
used merely to suggest an analogy, because the Being of the Moon Period
possessed nothing like our present red blood, which is one of the very
latest acquisitions of man.
Towards the end of the Moon Period there was a division of the Globe which was the field of our and other evolutions, which, for the sake of
greater simplicity, we have not heretofore mentioned, but with which we shall
presently become acquainted.
Part of that great Globe was crystallized by man on account of his
inability to keep the part which he inhabited in the high state of vibration
maintained by the other beings there, and as this part became more inert the
centrifugal force of the revolving Globe sent it spinning into space, where it
began to circle around the glowing fiery central portion.
The spiritual reason for the throwing off of such crystallizations is
that the highest beings on such a Globe require for their evolution the
exceedingly rapid vibrations of fire. They are hampered by condensation,
although such a condition is necessary to the evolution of other and less
advanced beings required lower rates of vibration. Therefore, when part of
any Globe has been consolidated by a group of evolving beings to the detriment
of others, that part is thrown off to exactly the proper distance from the
central mass, so that it circles as a satellite around its primary. The heat
vibrations which strike it are of the rate and strength suitable to the
peculiar needs of the beings evolving upon that satellite. Of course the
law of gravitation accounts quite satisfactorily for the phenomenon from a
physical viewpoint. But there is always a deeper cause, that yields
a more complete explanation and which we will find if we consider the
spiritual side of things. As a physical action is but the visible
manifestation of the invisible thought which must precede it, so is the
throwing off of a planet from a central Sun simply the visible and
unavoidable effect of invisible spiritual conditions.
The smaller planet which was thrown off in the Moon Period, condensed
with comparative rapidity and remained the field of our evolution until the
end of that Period. It was a moon to the parent planet, circling around it as
our Moon circles around the Earth, but it did not show phases as our Moon does.
It revolved in such a manner that one-half was always light and the other
always dark, as is the case with Venus. One of its poles was pointed directly
towards the large fiery Globe, as one of the poles of Venus points directly
towards the Sun.
On this satellite of the Moon Period there were currents which encircled
it, as the group-spirit currents encircle the Earth. The Moon beings
followed those currents instinctively from the light to the dark side of this
old Moon. At certain times of the year, when they were on the light side, a
sort of propagation took place. We have the atavistic residue of those moon
travels for propagation in the migrations of the birds of passage which, to
the present day, follow the group-spirit currents around the Earth at certain
seasons of the year, for identical purposes. Even the (honey)moon trips of
human beings show that man himself has not yet outgrown the migratory impulse
in connection with mating.
The Moon beings at this last stage were also capable of giving utterance to
sounds, or cries. These were Cosmic sounds — not expressions of individual
joy or sorrow, for as yet there was no individual. The development of the
individual came later — in the Earth Period.
At the end of the Moon Period once more came the interval of rest, the
Cosmic Night. The divided parts were dissolved and merged in the general
Chaos which preceded the reorganization of the Globe for the Earth Period.
The Lords of Wisdom had now evolved so far, that they were capable of
taking charge as the highest creative Hierarchy. They were given special
charge of the divine spirit in man during the Earth Period.
The Lords of Individuality were also sufficiently advanced to work upon
the spirit in man and the life spirit was therefore put under their charge.
Another creative Hierarchy had special care of the three germs of the
dense, vital, and desire bodies as they were evolving. They were the ones
who, under the direction of the higher orders, actually did the principal
work on these bodies, using the evolving life as a kind of instrument. This
Hierarchy is called the "Lords of Form." They were now evolved so far that
they were given charge of the third aspect of the spirit in man — the human
spirit — in the coming Earth Period.
There were twelve great Creative Hierarchies active in the work of
evolution at the commencement of the Saturn Period. Two of these
Hierarchies did some work to help at the very beginning. No information has
been given as to what they did, nor anything about them, except that they
helped of their own free will, and then withdrew from limited existence into
liberation.
Three more of the Creative Hierarchies followed them at the beginning of
the Earth Period, the Lords of the Flame, the Cherubim and the Seraphim,
leaving seven Hierarchies in active service when the Earth Period began.
(Diagram 9 will give a clear idea of the
twelve Creative Hierarchies and their status).
Diagram 9
The Twelve Great
Creative Hierarchies
|
Zodiacal Sign |
Name |
Status |
|
1. Aries |
Nameless |
The first and second orders are said to have
passed beyond the ken of anyone on Earth. It is known that they gave some assistance at the beginning of our evolution. |
| 2. Taurus |
Nameless |
| The three following orders worked of their own free will to help man during the three periods which preceded the Earth Period. They have also passed to liberation: |
| 3. Gemini |
Seraphim |
who, in the Moon Period, aroused in man-in-the making the germ of the human spirit — the Ego. |
| 4. Cancer |
Cherubim |
who, in the Sun Period, aroused the germ of the life spirit. |
| 5. Leo |
Lords of Flame |
who, in the Saturn Period, aroused the germ of the divine spirit and gave the germ of the dense body. |
| The following Seven Creative Hierarchies are active in the Earth Period: |
| 6. Virgo |
Lords of Wisdom |
who, in the Sun Period, started the vital body. |
| 7. Libra |
Lords of Individuality |
who, in the Moon Period, started the desire body. |
| 8. Scorpio |
Lords of Form |
who have special charge of human evolution in the Earth Period. |
| 9. Sagittarius |
Lords of Mind |
the humanity of the Saturn Period. |
| 10. Capricorn |
Archangels |
the humanity of the Sun Period. |
| 11. Aquarius |
Angels |
the humanity of the Moon Period. |
| 12. Pisces |
The Virgin Spirits |
who are the humanity of the present Earth Period. |
The Lords of Mind became experts at building bodies of "mind-stuff" as we
are becoming experts at building bodies of chemical matter, and for a
similar reason: The Region of Concrete Thought was the densest condition of
matter reached during the Saturn Period where they were human and the
Chemical Region is the densest state to be contacted by our humanity.
In the Earth Period the Lords of Mind reached the Creator-stage, and
radiated from themselves into our being the nucleus of material from which we
are now seeking to build an organized mind. They are called "Powers of
Darkness" by Paul because they came from the dark Saturn Period, and are
considered evil on account of the separative tendency appertaining to the
plane of Reason as contrasted with the unifying forces of the World of Life
Spirit; the realm of Love. The Lords of Mind work with humanity; but not
with the three lower Kingdoms.
The Archangels became experts at building a body of desire-stuff: the
densest matter of the Sun Period. Therefore they are able to teach and
guide such less evolved beings as man and animal how to mold and use a
desire-body.
The Angels are thoroughly experienced in building a vital body for in the
Moon period when they were human the ether was the densest condition of matter.
On account of this ability they are properly the teachers of man, animal and
plant with regard to the vital functions: propagation, nutrition, etc.
Reference: The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, by Max Heindel (1865-1919)
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