FIFTH
LESSON.
THE REUNITED SOUL.
INCLUDING
PARENTAL SOULS,
AND KINDRED SOULS.
Not alone is any Soul pushed out of
the Celestial
Heavens, out of the whiteness of the throne of God, to seek expression
in material life. Even as the mother bird gently pushes her young from
the parent nest that they may learn to fly, but ever hovers near and
hovers
beneath, spreading her wings to catch them if they fall, so the
Infinite
Mother Love watcheth the fledglings of the skies.
Not alone do Souls approach the earth.
In all
manifestations of nature there are association and groupings; atoms
arranged
in duads, triads, quadrads and quintads; the flora and fauna in species
and families. So groups of Souls pass from the Celestial State toward a
solar system for expression. Archangels and Angels, of degrees adapted
to the states of expression intended, accompanying them.
In groups of one hundred and
forty-four thousand
come Souls under charge of an Archangel. This is a Kabalistic and
Messianic
number, is referred to in the vision of the Apocalypse in the New
Testament;
it here refers to such Souls as approach the earth (or any planet) at
any
given time for expression. Other groups, of Souls each numbering one
hundred
and forty-four thousand approach the earth, until all are embodied that
the planet can ever perfect in its expression. This largest group is
divided
into smaller ones, the two smallest numbering one hundred and
forty-four
Souls, and twelve Souls, respectively. The group of twelve is called a
Family of Kindred Souls, and is in charge of a Parental Soul; i.e., a
Soul
having passed through the degrees of earthly expression and being,
therefore
one of its angels.
The number twelve is the mystical
number, the
sacred number of the ancients. The larger number, one hundred and
fortv-four,
twelve times twelve, expresses also a mystical meaning, and has
relation
to the Twelve Angels, who, grouped in the angelic state, have charge of
the twelve groups of Souls. One hundred and forty-four thousand
constitute
all that come in a certain period of time and begin, approximately,
their
lives together on the earth. One of these groups are those who first
approach
the earth and form what is called the " primal nation," the beginning.
These take their primary lessons and pass on through the different
steps
of this life, taking the same steps at the same time, though scattered
far and wide upon the earth.
The indications of the relations of
the groups
is made manifest in the first nations of the earth, where tribes and
nationalities
held sway according to their physical states, and there the indications
are very strong. The tribal rules of the primal nations, the absolute
sway
of the patriarchal form of government prove that the idea of the
parental
Soul was recognized, that the one who has charge of the tribe is
considered
the superior. Sometimes this parental rule is represented by both
man and woman. This patriarchal rule, and the harmony of the tribe and
family, existing among primal nations, is like the innocence of
childhood,
and is soon disturbed by the material selfishness that follows.
There are periods of peace in the
primal conditions
of the nations of the earth; after that there are discord, striving,
and
warfare; the groups of Souls then have become dispersed into different
nationalities; the members of the same nation are no longer kindred,
they
quarrel in the same household. The typical Cain and Abel of Scripture
are
the typical aliens in the same household, not being kindred in Soul,
expressing
different stages of growth in connection with earth. These aliens are
to
be found in almost every household in any society or community. But for
these illustrations, and the true causes, of them, there never could
have
been wars among the nations, and families of earth. Souls become
separated,
they are no longer nations, of the life of the Soul, but nations of the
body.
The foregoing explains why the ties of
relationship
and the ties of consanguinity in the lower orders of human life are
much
stronger than they are in the intervening states, between the lower and
higher orders, because the ties of consanguinity are the physical
expression
of what is termed affection. The first beginnings of strife are after
the
dispersion of the primal household or nation, and before the higher or
spiritual recognition begins. The kindred Souls have become dispersed
and
only gradually, with occasional glimpses and vivid flashes, do they
come
together in the same household or nation. They do notusually meet until
in later embodiments when there are great crises or culminating periods
on the earth.
Illustrations of these groups of
kindred Souls,
and their recognition, are upon the earth now in great numbers, and are
to be found in every period of human history. When you see, in
different
portions of the earth, lives spring up suddenly, with natures that
resemble
one another, similar in thought, alike in purpose, having corresponding
sympathy, you may know they are kindred Souls, and yet they may have
never
met in their earthly forms. There are those who appear and act together
in emergencies. Take, for instance, bodies of reform ers or groups of
people
who are intent on carrying forward art or science; musical, artistic,
scientific,
patriotic lives, who are as brothers and sisters, yet do not belong to
the same earthly parents.
It has been observed by thoughtful
minds very
frequently, that poets and painters exist in certain countries and ages
in groups. What constellations clustered around a certain period of
time
in Italy; the Preraphaelite period, leading up to the wonderful age of
art when there seemed to be poured out a new spirit upon the earth, an
age created by the group of geniuses that clustered around imperial
Rome.
Then followed the Renaissance. In poetry also there was the Grecian
age;
afterward was the Dantean age, and later the Elizabethan age of poetry
and literature; all these ages are so named because of the
constellations
of minds that seemed born for the same epoch, and created the art, or
literature,
of their period. Who other than a group of kindred Souls could have
thrilled
Germany with such light as finally clustered around Goethe and Schiller
in the small court at Weimar?
When any great movement is in the
world, like
temperance, like the abolition of slavery, like anything that enlists
the
attention of philanthropists, there spring to the surface workers in
that
movement, seemingly already prepared though they dwell in different
lands.
Around the Reformation there clustered a certain galaxy of minds that
seemed
to have been made ready for the occasion and the work; were one in the
fraternity of the Soul.
In the matters of scientific discovery
or invention
it usually occurs that more than one mind, perhaps several, make the
discovery
or invention at the same time, and there is scarcely any nation that
does
not claim for her favorite scientific mind the honor of each discovery,
proving that many think in the same direction at the same time. Each is
as much the author of the discovery as any other, but the friends of
each
frequently have accused the others of plagiarism in ideas; in most
cases
this refutes itself, since none could know of the experiments leadingto
the discovery of the others. In the time of a great intellectual epoch,
like the period of the Platonists, there are those who are ready to
rally
around and receive the central thought. The teacher, like Socrates or
Plato,
represents the center of the group. The household or children of any
particular
light rally around their center as there are others who gather around
other
centers, of art, science, philosophy, or religion; all in these groups
are more closely united than those who are simply united by the ties of
consanguinity, each recognizes that theirs is a larger
brotherhood.
These fraternities are observable in
advanced
states of human society not in the lower states, as said before,
because
of the selfishness in external things that intervenes. In the higher
states,
when great themes or purposes enlist humanity, you will observe that
there
is a spontaneous fraternity formed among certain people for working out
great moral purposes. This is why there are groups of reformers, groups
of men of science, groups of artists. What greater evidence of these
groups
of Souls could be offered than that afforded in the high state of art
revealed
in the geniuses who gathered around the period of time when Raphael was
upon the earth? What greater evidence than when the poets of England
followed
one another in quick succession, and when they passed on left the earth
almost bare and barren of poesy until a new generation of poets came
into
the world? What greater evidence than in the patriots, heroes, and
statesmen,
who rise with wonderful power of pen, or sword, or voice to fight for
country?
what greater evidence than Italy; than Hungary; than Europe to-day,
where
not only individual groups, but constellations of groups, seem to rally
around the great movements that are upon earth?
Even in ordinary states of earth-life,
how easy
it is among the multitude of people, if formality is withdrawn, to
discover
the attractions of each: artist seeks artist, poet seeks poet, the
musician
seeks his fellow harmonist, the convivial seeks one of his kind, men of
trade and commerce confer together, and the butterflies, who hover near
the gaudy blossoms of fashion and pleasure, are found at the shrine of
their worship.
Frequently people in different
stations in life
associate mysteriously together. Sometimes a prince of royal blood
finds
his chosen companion in a peasant. The court, society, and all the
world
are scandalized, but the prince, in some subtle way, recognizes the
fact
that there is more spiritual sympathy and kinship between the peasant
and
himself than between himself and a whole line of his royal kinsmen.
This
kind of illustration extends in many ways into lines of thought that
are most fascinating; sometimes in reading a book one will recognize a
kindred Soul in the author, although unknown in person.
If one were on the plane of Carlyle,
but had never
seen him, and if in perusing his works his sentiments would impress one
more than any other writer, this would prove a kinship. If one
understands
another person and sympathizes with each aspiration, it is always
evidence
that they belong to the same family of Souls. One often meets with
strangers,
so far as any previous personal acquaintance is concerned or any
outward
recognition, yet after five minutes in the presence of such an one,
each
feels that there has been an acquaintance of years. One frequently
enters
into conversation with another and in a short time the two become
intimate
friends; while with others one may live in the next house, or even in
the
same dwelling, and each never know the other. A clasp of
the
hand in an hour of need or sorrow; a look of encouragement from kindly,
although strange, eyes; a tone of the voice that sounds like the voice
of one long lost and well beloved; these are the occasions that
sometimes
reveal a kindred Soul.
This is the solution of those ideal
friendships
that history has recorded: they are typical illustrations of the
fraternity
of the Soul. Damon and Pythias is the ideal brotherhood which, beyond
all
ties of consanguinity, made these two one in the consciousness of the
Soul.
This tie is that which frequently binds men together in business or in
literature, or science, and they are as one man, they are
brothers.
This longing for the kinship of the
Soul explains
often the great loneliness that is felt in the world. How many people
have
felt that they were aliens, almost outcasts from human life! Many
people feel that there is, perhaps, not one upon the earth who can
enter
into their feelings or understand them. The most God-like mind, even
the
Christ, was heralded in the ancient record as the one who trod "the
wine
press alone;" so far in advance of mankind as not to he recognized.
This
loneliness which many feel, which sometimes results from friends and
relatives
having passed out of mortal life, or from being alienated by
conviction,
sentiment, exaltation, from other friends and relatives, is explained
in
this higher kinship of Souls. Thus when one meets with a mind who is
sympathetic,
who understands every thought, who in conversation seems to understand
what truth it is that one is striving to express, who continually
exclaims:
"I understand this, it is plain;" the thoughts of each flow together:
such
as these are Soul kindred, unknown to each other by name or
nationality;
they may each be of a different country, speaking another language; but
when that language is translated by the spirit, when each thought is
understood
as coming from within the Soul, it expresses the kinship; such as these
are of the household of Souls. When You find your friend, your brother,
your sister, though not reared in the same family, who has a different
name and parentage, yet to whom in your very heart and Soul you feel
nearer
than to those who have ties of consanguinity, you have found one of
your
Soul kindred. For such friendship the whole world has often been
forsaken,
as history many times has revealed.
We have known those who were orphans
in the midst
of their parents, and a whole house full of brothers and sisters, so
far
as the earthly tie was concerned. The story of Cinderella is not a
fable:
rejected by earthly kindred, the Fairy is the Soul who works wonders
out
of meanest material things and brings each Cinderella to her own
inheritance
where her Prince is sure to be found.
We have known those who had wealth of
kindred
in Soul who had no human relatives. To those who feel the orphaned
state
which seems full of desolation and wandering weariness; that which
sometimes
takes possession of lives at birth; that which causes them to feel as
aliens
upon the earth; that which comes to each one, oftentimes in crowded
cities,
or even in the midst of friends, of family and of the household, that
there
is no one who understands, no one who can appreciate the feelings and
thoughts
that are within, we will say: do not believe it; there are those who do
understand, those who appreciate; and the time will come when you will
meet, when you will recognize one another, when the longing for the
brother
or the sister will be fulfilled; when the Soul-tie is
accomplished.
These periods of recognition come only
at some
great height: when the Soul has had expressions of sorrow, when the
heart
has had its tears, and the days of weariness have been full of trials,
they have quickened the perceptions and made the Soul rush through and
claim its own. This recognition does not come to those who have not
need
of it: to those in the outward conditions of life, who are satisfied
with
worldly things and treasures; nor is it always true that they come to
those
who are dissatisfied. Sometimes there are members of the same family
who
are Soul-kindred. Two brothers will be more attached to one another
than
to the others, two sisters will seem to be nearer and closer to each
other
than to the other members of the family. Sometimes the adopted child is
the heart-child of the mother, is nearer to her in spirit than those of
her own flesh and blood. She puts it aside in outward conviction, or it
is veiled from her consciousness by the soft light of tender pity, but
in spirit she knows it. Even those who have no children oftentimes may
recognize in the ones about them those who are children in a dearer and
nearer sense than if they were their own in mortal tie. So what is
denied
in material life the spirit always provides.
Sometimes, like a prophecy of the divine family, the whole household
are
kin. This is the ideal household on earth; there is no jarring or
discord;
all are pervaded by deep spiritual love.
There are those who say, concerning
these teachings
of embodiments: "They divide the mother from her child." We answer the
tie that is real can not be divided either by mortal birth or death.
Can any one tell us what tie it is that binds the mother to her child
unless
it is the Soul-tie? There is no Soul-tie, and sometimes no human love,
accompanying some states of physical parentage. Can any other teaching
explain why the harsh parent sometimes casts aside the child,
disinheriting
from love, estates, home or crown? No teachings ran separate
the
mother from her child; the world and its selfishness divide, but the
Soul
reunites, and the true parent and the real kindred find every tie
perfect
in the kingdom of the Soul.
All Souls having expression at one
time upon earth,
being in groups, those in the groups of any twelve Souls (twenty-four
embodied
human lives) express themselves in similar states at the same time. The
twelve groups composing the one hundred and forty-four are also, as
groups,
passing through similar experiences. But there are divergences among
the
one hundred and forty-four thousand, some groups passing through an
experience
or series, of experiences a little in advance or in slightly diverging
lines from the others; but when the culminating period is reached all
groups
belonging to one Dispensation will have had similar experiences.
As all Souls in these groups of
twelve, and one
hundred and forty-four, and, at last, in the whole one hundred and
forty-four
thousand, have similar expressions and experiences within one of the
cyclic
periods of the earth, their ripening (or perfection in expression on
earth)
forms one of the smaller Messianic periods, or Dispensations, hereafter
to be explained.
The foregoing will explain why in
great crises,
like that of the Reformation, there were those who were ready, those
who
rallied to the cause of the Reformation. All who thus answered were
kindred
in Soul, belonging to the same or kindred group, had reached the same
altitude
of perception, through expression and experience, at the same time. If
upon the earth to-day the highest subject that enchains the human
thought
could be presented simultaneously to the whole world, as one might fire
something from a cannon's mouth without warning, there would be one
hundred
and forty-four thousand ready to receive it. Soul-groups of twelve and
one hundred and forty-four would receive the new truth together, and
the
ones who are ready are in those numbers.
All religious societies, brotherhoods,
and sacred
recluses who have united for an exalted purpose are illustrations of
this
idea. Associations, or communities like the Shakers, Quakers, and some
of those smaller bodies who have retired from the world to establish
the
millennium, are prophecies: the ideal of Socialism, (not its degenerate
namesake,) the ideal human brotherhood, of which Fourier might have
been
the prophet, and Shelley the poet.
Kindred Souls, as said before, do not
recognize
each other, except in momentary glimpses and prophecies, until a
certain
line of embodiments are being completed, or in culminations of genius.
They recognize each other in great crises of nations, and, finally, in
periods of great spiritual change, like the birth of a new religion.
Every
Dispensation appears simultaneously to those who are ready among all
nations.
The truth which is the heralder of the New Dispensation is not given to
you alone in this far western land, but to all the nations where human
lives are found ready to receive it: the light from beyond death, and
the
truth which is now being expressed to you, finds also its expression in
almost every language beneath the sun.
We have thus made known who are
kindred Souls;
they come under charge of the same Angels, and their Angels under
charge
of the same Archangel. They traverse together the degrees of human
life,
and reach those states that will be referred to throughout these
lessons
as the "first fruits," in each Dispensation, that are gathered by the
Messiahs.
We now, with reverent steps, approach
the most
sacred shrine of the Soul in the expression here: the reunion, or
recognition,
on earth of the Soul, divided in expression by material existence. This
is the culmination of all embodiments, the Crown and Kingdom of all
experience.
As the monogamic marriage is the
highest state
of human society, so is it a prophecy of the Soul marriage, this divine
reunion. This ideal state is revealed in all poetry, in the highest
literature,
and is that which constitutes the dream of the world. In every human
life
that is lifted above the clod, there is the one ideal state: the
thought
of each that there is, somewhere, another all its own, its possession.
Once each one seems to remember having had this Soul companion, this
other
self, in some long past period of human expression; or was it an
ante-natal
dream, a glimpse of the heretofore and the hereafter in the skies?
The Soul, in its twofold expression,
having passed
through all forms of embodiment, meets. This is the perfected
Soul,
in its conquest over matter. What is meant by this is, that when the
expression
of life is spiritually perfect, when the exaltation is complete and the
earth has no more temptation, the Soul having expressed in every form,
then the life is complete, then the dual life appears.
Once only, in the entire series of
embodiments,
do these divided expressions of the Soul meet, before this final
expression.
In such cases the meeting is called "a happy marriage," a union of
those
"Made for each other," a "marriage made in heaven." This meeting is
when
one half the cycles of earthly experience have been passed. It is a
prophecy
of the final recognition and leaves its impress or reminiscence. Such
instances
of marriage, form the typical state of human happiness; it may not be
accompanied
with great exaltation in any other ways; but in the perfectly happy
marriage,
where there is never any jar nor discord, nor divergence, there is
spiritual,
as well as mental and moral interchange and interblending. This is not
because the two portions of the Soul are interchangeable or may be
expressed,
the masculine portion in other than the masculine, and the feminine in
other than the feminine form, but because, in this meeting, there is a
mutual exchange of experiences, which forevermore is borne on until
this
final experience when all the lines are complete in the Angel. This is
why the most exalted men are tender and loving as a woman, not that
they
are "weak and effeminate," but that they are tender, kind, and
feminine;
because, having come in contact with the feminine portion of their
Souls
in expression in the one half cycle, they have received the baptism of
this feminine life. The same is true with women who express, as did
"George
Eliot," the intellect of a man, but with all the sensitive nature of a
woman; as did many Grecian women in philosophy, or poetry, or strength
of physical endurance, express the qualities that are supposed to be
masculine,
but always coupled with refinement and delicacy.
In this, as in all other states of
human expression,
there are the false and the true heights; the fictitious and the real
attainments;
so in this Soul relation there are the most fatal earthly mistakes
before
the real height is reached. In many states where the life otherwise is,
apparently, ideal, as in the intellectual height of Greece, marriage
seems
to be disgraced and disregarded; in the revolutionary period in France,
when woman's power seemed to be the greatest, there was the least
sanctity
in the home life.
Frequently minds who are illumined
somewhat on
the subject of the Soul-life start from their anchorage as though they
expected to become angels at once. Let no one suppose that by going out
with intellectual, spiritual, or other than angel light, this angelic
state
is to be found. No man seeks or finds that which is greater than his
attainment.
The false and feverish states in social life are as easily solved in
this
system as the many other complex problems of human life, as you will
perceive
ere the close of the lesson. When we portray the real it is the truly
ideal,
the divine; not a present possession with many, but a prophecy for
all.
The different stages of human
experience convey
indications of approaches to the angelic or perfected state. Human
society
offers many beautiful and many painful illustrations of the true and
the
false heights in this direction.
In human states there are many who
expect to attain
this perfect angelic life while merged in the imperfection of the
senses;
there are those who expect to convert, or pervert, the accepted states
of human society into something that will lead them to the triumph of
the
ideal height where their selfishness will never permit them to ascend.
Human beings are not angels until the angel, by growth in expression,
is
fully revealed, and then the perfection is manifested in that perfect
state.
Many social reformers, as they are named, suppose the ideal state is to
be reached by the making or unmaking of human laws, but most of the
unhappy
conditions and relations in human life (indeed we may say all) are the
results of the states of individuals, which no human ordinance can
affect.
One must not confound this ideal and final state with degrees of
expression
less than perfect
Many suppose that they have to begin
at the apex
to build the structure of perfect life on earth, instead of growing to
the height by attaining self-abnegation by growth. So it has been
supposed
that institutions are in the way of human happiness, but human
states are in the way of perfect happiness. Let no one
suppose
that he or she can find this Soul-state by going out and searching for
the immortal matehood. When one grows to the height of a perfect
marriage
there is no power in heaven or earth that can keep it from one. Until
one
grows to that height, there is no power in heaven or earth that can
bring
it to that one. Therefore the lesson to be learned is that every human
state of society is as perfect as the individuals that compose it.
Fulfillment
of all the duties in life, fidelity to each relation, constitute the
highest
law in human progress.
There are often lives that are
trembling toward
completion, having longings, aspirations, prayers and hopes which
certainly
do not belong to the physical, but are the approximation of a nearer
relation,
an inner unfoldment. You have, perhaps, known gifted people, similarly
endowed, who were merely kindred, but who have entered into a nearer
relationship
that has proven disastrous to both. Many of these instances might be
cited
in those intellectual marriages, so nearly do they resemble the real,
so
nearly are the ties of intellect and aesthetic taste like the ideal,
that
it is often the fatal mistake of genius to suppose that in another
genius
is to be found also the other portion of the Soul. Where, sometimes,
such
association has been but a blessed state of mutual helpfulness, there
are
other lives where it has been shipwreck and disaster, not from any
immorality
in either, not from any fault that could be named, but from the
mistaken
idea that that kinship is Soul-marriage.
There is always a restless period
accompanying
any reform. These agitations afford most singular illustrations of what
we are now teaching: that wherever the changes of such revolution
affect
the intellectual, political and religious states, they affect marriage.
Under imperial decrees there are marriages formed or abrogated, set
aside
or increased; in periods of speculation as in France or in this
country,
marriage becomes a commodity, a matter of barter and sale. In periods
of
revolution all marriage is lightly set aside and lightly entered
because
every depth of human life is being stirred. This is why many reformers,
springing toward the ideal, as in the German "Storm and Stress" period,
or in the French Revolution, or in the earlier Grecian history, or as
in
more recent times, have expected the perfect marriage on earth before
there
were perfect men and women.
The highest law of Christian lands is
the marriage
law, as the highest state of Christian society is the marriage state,
the
bulwark of all social and moral ideals. The mistake is in supposing
that
the ordinance makes perfection; it is the state in each individual that
makes the perfect or imperfect marriage. By laws man merely regulates
the
differences that must arise in states that are inferior to perfection,
but the Divine law is in itself the ordinance of Heaven. That which
made
the typical man and woman in Eden, before and after the fall, cling
together,
makes marriage sacred in the light of Heaven, as truth unto the present
state. No one can depart or fall from that truth and win the highest,
because
the highest must grow up from within. As marriage is the highest state
of civilization, so its abuse by perversion, by force, by unjust laws,
must constitute the deepest source of human misery. There must come a
state
to the whole world, as there has come to individuals and groups of
Souls,
when all dross will be put aside and the Soul will be one in this
state.
Each will become the angel again.
The Souls embodied here do not pass
back through
the Eden state, but through the experiences of darkness and light,
sorrow
and joy, tribulation and conquest, reach perfection; and this
perfection
can not be reached until all earthly things are vanquished. Foregleams
of this ideal state, prophecies of this divine fulfillment have been
given
in the perfect lives of past dispensations, and in the expressions of
Genius,
whose Soul-dreams become the reality of the perfect human
paradise.
This Soul-marriage is the theme of
many writings;
many songs and many philosophies; of music, poesy, painting, sculpture;
so does it pervade and imbue literature and art., and different forms
of
philosophy, that it has become accepted generally in human thought that
this perfect Soul-union must belong to the perfect human state, when
that
state becomes divine.
The Deities of antiquity reveal this
Soul possession
as the final recognition on earth. Osiris and Isis were a prophecy;
also
Jove and Maia, and the enthralling divinities that clustered around
Olympus
and Parnassus. Great scholars, teachers and geniuses, as Cadmus, the
builder
of the city of Thebes, and the inventor of sixteen letters of the Greek
alphabet; he it was who searched in vain for his sister, his spouse.
Plato
pictured the ideal of his Soul in the divine "Una." Dante, at Florence
and Verona, exiled, bereft and lone, revealed in his sublime vision
Beatrice,
who from out her Paradise taught him the words and works of his divine
poem, gave him the syllables in which to breathe it to the world, and
across
the only stream which divided them, which was human life and his
earthly
state, gave him the White Rose of Immortal Love.
Schiller's "Mystery of Reminiscence"
is the surpassing
poem of this Soul recognition:
"Who and what gave the wish to woo
thee,
Still lip to lip to cleave for aye unto
thee,
What made me long thy very breath to
drink,
Thy soul in mine to sink?
"As from the conqueror's unresisted
glaive
Flies without strife, subdued, the ready
slave,
So, when to life's unguarded fort I
see
Thy gaze draw near and near
triumphantly,
Yields not my soul to thee?
*
*
* *
*
* *
"Were once our beings blent and
intertwining,
And for that glory still my heart is
pining;
Knew we the light of some refulgent
sun
When once our souls were one?
"'Round us in waters of delight
forever
Ravishingly flowed the heavenly nectar
river;
We were the masters of the seal of
things
And where truth in her ever-living springs
Quivered our glancing wings.
*
*
* *
*
* *
"Weep for the godlike life we lost
afar,
That thou and I its scattered fragments
are,
And still the unconquered yearning we
retain,
Sigh to renew the long and vanished
reign,
And grow divine again."
We have only quoted a portion of this
beautiful
poem, also wonderfully rendered into your own tongue by one of your own
poets--Longfellow. Shelley's rare but imperfectly understood ideal, as
revealed in the Soul-poem "Epipsychidion," portrays this possible
recognition
as seen in the highest realm of poesy, which is also the realm of
inspiration.
The most sacred Soul-love is also the
most enchanting
to mankind. Dante, painting the divine image of Beatrice upon canvas as
well as in verse: who would not give more to see that picture that he
held
sacred, than to read the poem given to the world? Who would not rather
have seen the sonnet that Raphael wrote to his beloved, his wife, than
to see all the beautiful images, the dear Madonnas that he painted? And
who, knowing that Plato worshiped his divine ideal called "Una," would
not rather know what mystic tie of human recognition was included in
that
Una than solve all the problems of his "Kosmos"?
What this revelation and recognition
means, when
it is attained, let those lives who have given perfect truth to the
world
attest; what this revelation means let every heart longing and
thirsting
for perfect love realize in the promise divine; what it is when
attained
let each wandering waif in existence bear in the voice of prophecy from
within.
You who are alone, lonely and
desolate; you who
think yourselves companionless and unknown; you who long for the
highest
companionship, remember: that there is no dream, however beautiful and
perfect, that can, by any possibility, equal the perfection of the Soul
that knows and claims its own; that there is no ideal, however pictured
by painter or poet that can possibly illustrate the Soul possession.
But
it is by no self-seeking; when all external self is vanquished, then,
as
a revelation, comes this divine state, and the nearer you approach it
the
more humble and less expectant do you become, for you feel the
presence,
at such time, of the divine and perfect life. Sometimes it has been
revealed
in the typical marriage of earth, which is also the ideal and, in its
highest
estate, is the prophecy of this divine marriage.
When all vanquishment of earth and
self have been
made this final recognition comes into human life; it is not necessary
that when the recognition takes place there shall be any exalted
external
position, or anything that people will recognize as greatness in art,
science,
or learning. Sometimes it is in the lowliest walks; sometimes it is in
the cloister
or convent when across the sacred barriers of vestal vows and celibate
lives the flashing light of the revelation comes, not to break down the
barriers, but to send the light of Soul-love far from the body within
the
Soul. In the angelic condition there is no turbulence nor turmoil.
All lives tend to this ideal. This
perfect, transcendent
state is that which was pictured by Swedenborg when he said: "Those who
are truly married on earth are in heaven one Angel." When Jesus
was
asked about marriage in heaven, He said: "They are neither married nor
given in marriage, but are as the Angels." This is the meaning of the
state
of "the Angels." No spirits are angels, but when the Soul has
been
expressed in all possible states of mortal life, the recognition then
takes
place and the Angel is there. The two are one Angel. This is the
revelation
that comes from the angelic state to earth. Disembodied spirits do not
know it, but Souls. The light of this truth gleams fair and bright
above
all earthly conditions, and this is that which comes as the crown of
all
expression and experience on earth.
So step by step the progress to
attainment of
power and glory must be won in equal portion, and that achievement,
that
attainment, that final recognition betokens the Angel. It is the final
step which is always indicated by no self-seeking, but by the
vanquishment
of all earthliness; by that which makes humanity perfect and complete,
a life of self-abnegation and self-forgetfulness; and he who would go
to
find the Angel because he thinks himself ready is blinded by
selfishness.
Lives that are dissatisfied and restless will do well to attend to the
duties of the hour and know that when the Angel appeareth there is no
more
self-seeking. Sometimes in dungeon cells wherein the self-forgetful
life
has been immured; sometimes in lowly paths of duty; sometimes in such
self-denial
as expelled Dante from his native home, and gave him the key to the
gates
of paradise; whenever and wherever found it is the one life of
fulfillment,
the crown of existence.
The dual life merged in one becomes
the Angel;
not by the pathway traversed in the involution, but by the pathway of
overcoming,
of vanquishing the material expression until there can be revealed
through
the mortal form the angelic Soul. This height has been attained by such
as have led and guided the world, which slowly follows after them.
The dual lives flow together in
outward expression,
and that is the perfected life, the expression of the perfect Soul; the
final embodiment on earth is that perfected Soul expression, and not
until
this expression is attained by every conquest can the recognition take
place, and not until that recognition has the Soul finished the earthly
expressions, then the Angel is made known.
When the Angel is completed in
expression, when
such as these pass from mortal forms, they are not in spirit
states,
but as one Angel enter the angelic state, which is beyond the spiritual
state, the perfection of all spiritual states; they will no more be
embodied
in mortal form, but will have charge of the Souls that come after them.
These Angels are Parental Souls, or Guides; not in the sense
that
the word parent is used generically, here it is used to express the
degree
of difference between the perfected Soul, i. e., the Soul that has
perfected
its expression in the 'earthly state, and the states of the Souls who
are
still in the progress of perfecting the expression. So those who enter
and pass through the earthly state and who have been gathered into the
angelic kingdom constitute the Parental Souls of those who are to
follow
in the next cycle or dispensation; are their guardian Angels. When any
one is told of a Guardian Angel this term must always mean the Parental
Soul of a group of twelve Souls, (twenty-four human embodiments) who
are
kindred Souls.
These Angels have possession of all
experience
and wisdom of earth, and thus have the power to aid others who are
following
on in the pathway and pilgrimage of earthly life. Those in the spheres
of Angels, being beyond the spheres of ministering spirits and departed
friends, keep watch and guard by appointment over those spiritual
states
connected with the earth, each Angel appointing ministering spirits
according
to the need or state of mortals. There are many degrees of Angel life
which
will hereafter be referred to.
These completed, or angelic Souls,
remain in the
state of angelic ministry unto earth until succeeded by another harvest
of Souls, who become in turn guardian Angels of those on earth; so that
all who ripened under the past dispensation remain as guardian Angels
of
the Souls that they have in charge for the present dispensation.
There are other angelic states; and in
each of
these states, there are degrees; but that which is to borne in mind in
this lesson is, that none are either left to grope their way in
darkness
nor are they unduly aided, but are assisted by all the light and
knowledge
in the universe, by the Parental Soul, adapted to the needs of
each.
In great periods, like those of
spiritual dispensations,
more lives culminate than at any other time. So when Christ passed into
and out of the earthly ministration His Angels accompanied Him, and the
"first fruits" of His kingdom were completed Souls who were ready to
become
angels when He appeared.
Unto those to whom this ideal thought,
this perfect
revelation can come, this recognition of kindred Souls, this knowledge
of the Parental Soul and its guidance, this Soul-marriage, there is
complete
fulfillment of all prophecy. The states of mortal life, chastening,
purifying,
uplifting, unfolding, lead, step by step, to the condition of
fulfillment,
to the condition of perfect recognition, and under that love, under
that
fulfillment, the Angel is won. Then all lines of life are revealed,
there
is no more imperfection, each portion of the Soul sees within the other
that which has been passed, there is all reminiscence with its perfect
grace; and all divinest prophecy.
The points to be remembered in the
lesson just
given are:
THE SOULS
ACCOMPANYING
EACH OTHER TO AND PASSING THROUGH EARTHLY EXPERIENCES AT THE SAME TIME
ARE IN GROUPS.
THOSE IN THE
SMALLEST GROUPS,
OF TWELVE SOULS, ARE CALLED A FAMILY
OF SOULS, AND ARE SOUL KINDRED.
THE LARGER
GROUPS OF ONE
HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR SOULS ARE SOCIETIES
OF KINDRED GROUPS.
THE ONE
HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR
THOUSAND SOULS ARE MESSIANIC
GROUPS AND ARE THE "FIRST FRUITS" OF EACH DISPENSATION.
PARENTAL SOULS
ARE ANGELS HAVING CHARGE OF GROUPS.
THE SOUL
REUNITED OR RECOGNIZED ON EARTH BECOMES THE ANGEL.
This
angel state is the result of the conquest over every form of earthly
imperfection,
the perfect man, the perfect woman, the two perfect expressions of one
Soul.
ALL SOULS
ARE IN GROUPS.
ALL SOULS
HAVE KINDRED,
ALL SOULS
ULTIMATELY RECOGNIZE THEIR KINDRED.
ALL ARE IN CHARGE
OF A PARENTAL SOUL:
AN ANGEL.
ALL WILL
ULTIMATELY ARRIVE
AT SOUL RECOGNITION AND REUNION IN THE SOUL-MARRIAGE:
THE ANGEL.
PSYCHOSOPHY PART ONE
.THE
SOUL: ITS
NATURE, RELATIONS, AND EXPRESSIONS IN HUMAN EMBODIMENTS.
.LESSON
VI
