Rosicrucian Digest, March 1958

8/11/2019 Rosicrucian Digest, March 1958

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ROSICRUCIAN1958

MARCH30c per copy DIGEST

Back to Godand HealthMan and nature in

conflict.

V A V

Our AnimalHeritageH um anitys position

in evolution.

V A V

Can MachinesThink?

The giant bra inchallenges m an.

V A V

Mysticism Science The Arts

V A V

T t e x t

Our Heavenand Hell

V A V

( ^ o v e n :

Space Exploration


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A N E M B L E M

H a n d s o m e T i e C l a s pThe design preserves the beauty and dignity of the cruxansata and the triangle Rosicrucian emblems in use forhundreds of years. This distinctive, modern, attractivelydesigned tie clasp is 2*4 inches long 10-K. gold-filled

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SYMBOL OF TWO FAITHS

St. Sophia, the world famous basilica in Istanbu l, has its origin as a Ch ristian edifice. It was o riginally constructed byConstantine, first Christian emperor of Rome, m the year 337 Subsequently. St. Sophia went through a numbe r of vicissi-tudes and transitions. It was destroyed by hie, then rebuilt by Em peror Justinian. Later it came under the aegis of theTin ks and was convex ted into a mosque. After the time of Mehmed. four minarets we re added to it.

(Photo by AMORC)


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The Mechanism of Mind

WHY YOU ARE AS YOU ARE-

and U//iat Ifou. (2an tPo Ifout

DID you ever stop to think w h y you dothe things you do? Have you often

when alonecensured yourself for impulsiveurges, for things said or done that did nottruly represent y o u r rea l th o u g h ts , andwhich placed you at a disadvantage? Mostpersons are c r e a t u r e s o f s e n s a t i o ntheyreact to instinctive, impelling influences whichsurge up within them and which they do notunderstandor k n o w h o w t o c o n t r o l . Justas simple living things involuntarily withdraw from irritations, so likewise thousandsof men and women are content to be motivated by their undirected thoughts whichhaphazardly rise up in their consciousness.T o d ay y o u m u s t s e ll y o u r s e l f to others

bring forth your best abilities, manifest your

personality, if you wish to hold a position,make friends, or impress others with yourcapabilities. You must learn how to drawupon your latent talents and powers, not be

bent like a reed in the wind. There are simple,natural laws and principles whichif you understand themmake all this possible.

For centuries the Rosicrucians (not a religious organization), a worldwide movement of men and women devoted to the study of life and its hidden processes, haveshown thousands how to probe these mysteries of self.Renowned philosophers and scientists have been Rosicrucianstoday men and women in every walk of lifeowe their confidence and ability to solve personal problems to the Rosicrucian private, sen s ib le method ofself-development. Use the coupon below for a copy ofthe book, " The M as t e ry o f L i f e , which will be sentto you without obligation, and will tell you of the Rosicrucians a n d w h a t t h e y c a n d o fo r y o u .

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ROSICRUCIAN DIGESTC O VERS THE W O RLD

TH E O F FI C I A L M A G A Z I N E O F TH E W O R LD - W I D E R O S I C R U C I A N O R D ER

XXXVI M A RC H, 1958 No. 3

Symbo l of Two Faiths (Frontispiece)...................... ............................................... 81

Thought of the Month: Does Science Mean M issiles? ..... .................................. 84

Tha t Inner W a rning............................................................................................................ 86

Can Machines Think? ............................................................................................ 88

Evolution, a Threefold Process 91

Can You Explain This? ............................. ............... 93

Back to God and Hea lth..................................................................................... 94

O ur Animal Heritage ....................................................................... 97

Horatio Nelson: Seaman and M ystic..................... ..................................... 102

Quest ....................................................................... ..................................... 103

Temple Echoes .............. 105

The Unicorn ........... 107

C hild of Two W orlds...................................-............................................................... 108

Man into O rbit

Cathedral Contacts: The Challenge of Comprehension. I 14

Peaceful Pursuit (Illustration)......... ................................................................................. 117

Place of Prophecy (Illustration) .........- ............................................................... 118

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Rosicrucian Park THE RO SIC RUC IA N O RDER A M O RC San Jose, California

ED ITO R: Frances Vejtasa

The Purpose of the Rosicrucian OrderThe Rosicrucian Order, existing in all civilized lands, is a nonsectarian fraternal body of men

and women devoted to the investigation, study, and practical application of natural and spirituallaws. The purpo se of the organization is to enable all to live in harmo ny w ith the creative, con-structive Cosmic forces for the attainm ent of health, happiness, and peace. The Ord er is inter-nationally known as "AMORC" (an abbreviation), and the A.M.O.R.C. in America and all otherlands constitutes th e only form of Rosicrucian activities united in one body. The A.M.O.R.C. doesnot sell its teachings. It gives them freely to affiliated members togeth er with m any oth er benefits.For complete information about the benefits and advantages of Rosicrucian association, write aletter to the address below, and ask for the free book. The Mastery of Life. Address ScribeS. P. C., Rosicru cian Order, AMORC, San Jose , California, U. S. A. (Cable Addr ess: "AMORCO )

Copyright, 1958, by the Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, Inc. All rights reserved.


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TheRosicrucianDigest

March

1958

IlliS fTHE

THOUGHT OF THE MONTHDOES SCIENCE MEAN MISSILES?

.......... '^ ^ S e r a K j

h e r e are two principalmotivations for scientificachievement. First, there*

is the love of inquiryasincere desire to knowthe cause underlying natural phenomena. Second.there is the challenge ofnecessity, Ihe pressure of

society to overcome obstacles to its ends.Thus, the second motive is primarilyutilitarian.

The first motive, the sheer desire forknowledge, laid the foundation for science. Early society, having no knowledge of science or its methods, couldnot utilize it for its ends. When, however, it was realized that science was aninstrument for the acquisition and employment of useful knowledge, thensocial pressure was brought to hear upon it. This social stimulation of sciencehas usually been greatest in times ofemergency, as plagues and famines.W ar and the need for the defense ofsociety has provided science with themost support in terms of huge financialappropriations and extensive government. facilities.

Pure or theoretical science has had

little popular appeal. Theoretical science deals in terms and concepts whichdo not touch the immediate life andaffairs of the average individual. Theobjectives of theoretical science are tooabstract to be readily appreciated by thelayman. It is only when the laws andprinciples discovered by pure scienceare related to some practical problemsomething quite tangible and closelyrelated to personal livesthat popularinterest is aroused.

National emergencies, such as waror armament racesconvert much oftheoretical science into spectacular dem

onstrations of applied science. A-bombsand H-bombs, radar, atomically powered submarines, satellites, guided missiles. these are dramatic portrayals ofscience. Their connection with eventsand the exigencies of the time are readily understood by most people in theworld. To most people these things aresynonymous with science.

The event of the Soviet earth satellite. the first outer-space body launchedby man. did more than challenge theimagination of the mass mind in theWestern world. It produced a tremen

dous psychological impact on this mind.There was inculcated a sense of fear.The fear stemmed from the realizationof being in a secondary position, for thetime at least, in the race for technological superiority.

As a consequence, in the UnitedStales in particular, the same populacethat once referred to theoretical scientists as eggheads and often portrayed them in films and novels assuffering from mental aberration, now'demanded that they come to its aid. Acertain hysterical and nonradonalthinking has gone into the crash program of intensifying scientific researchand accomplishment. The demand madeupon the government by the generalpublic is for the intensifying of thescientific effort related to rockets andguided missiles and whatever* sciencesare allied to them.

This emotional motivation of the cultivation of science has, of course, causeda review of the educational system

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which engenders scientists. News ar ticles by those delineating the faults inthe American educational system stressthe need for expanding studies in phys-ics and chemistry in the secondaryschools. The reason for the special em

phasis upon physics and chemistry isthat mucn publicity by government bureaus and specialists in armed forcesstresses the relationship of the missilesprogram to these sciences.

In this panic for survival, science isbeing primarily identified with but twofields of science, physics and chemistry,and their dependent mathematics. It isnot that the general public is unawarethat there are more branches of science.Rather, fear has subordinated publicinterest in other sciences. These otherbranches of scientific knowledge are in

the unfortunate position of having nopublicity, no dramatization of their contribution to hum an welfare. By many

people they are thought of as intellectual achievement onlyagain an egghead enterprise. The spectacle of warhas not spotlighted these other sciencesin an aura of necessity and utility.

M e a s u r e m e n t s o f S u p r e m a c y

In our concentrated effort to accelerate science in the branches of physicsand chemistry and win the missile race,we may lose industrial and cultural

supremacy. What of geology, for example? There are few spectaculararticles at present before the publicconcerning this science. Yet its valueto the oil industry and to mining isbasically essential. Then, there are thesciences of zoology, anthropology, andarchaeology. It might be contended thatarchaeology is a compound science,since it embodies elements of physics,chemistry and geology, as well as history and languages. Then, we have

political science and psychology. Mustthese suffer because of a frantic desire

to win the missile race? Is our wholecivilization to be gauged by whether weachieve supremacy in the propelling ofintercontinental ballistic missiles orwhether we reach the moon first?

It is not so many years ago that inAmerica the man in the street lookedupon an astronomer as a stargazer. Thestudy of nebulae, remote galaxies, thespeed of tight, the theory of relativityand cosmology were mere intellectual

adventures. Such subjects to most menseemed to deviate from the necessaryactivities of their lives. Astronomy at its

best, in a utilita rian sense, meant tothe public a providing of informationthat aided navigation and made possiblea standard by which time could be determined. The young man who pursuedastronomy as a career was thought ofas a soul lost in the academic woods.Astronomy was more or less held to beinnocuous but contributing tittle practical good to the general welfare androgress of mankind. Today astronomyas gained public favor. It is now dra

matically related to the crash programas a requisite of the rocket and missilerace.

In the emphasis now being given toscience, there are other subjects of study

and importance which, it would appear,will be sacrificed. What of journalism,sociology, history, and philosophy? Eachof these subjects, though not directlyassisting us to win a missile duel, arenevertheless essential in various waysto averting war.History reveals humanincentives and the deeds that followfrom them. It discloses faults in socialbehavior that are inclined to repeatthemselves. From these an observantstudent of history can determine trendsthat should be extirpated to avoid undesired recurrences.

History is the past, but the past isthat in which humans have participatedand constitutes experience. If men arenot to profit by experience, then allformal study should be abandoned because such constitutes our accumulatedlearning. In other words, it is experience. History is not a dead subject because the tines of human conduct arecontinuous. They pass down throughthe centuries. Hum an nature changesslowly. As a result, under similar conditions men will often act the same.The perspective of time allows us to

judge whether these acts of yesterdaywere beneficial to society or not. If wedecide they were not, and currentevents parallel a period in history, thenthe informed person is forewarned.

It is amazing how many young people consider projects and happenings ofwhich they read as exclusively contemporary, as being new and modem. Theresult is that they waste valuable timeand effort in trying to analyze and ad-

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TheRosicructanDigestMarch1958

just to them. The student of historyrecognizes many of the happenings asold circumstances in modem dress only.He knows whether things or eventshave any intrinsic value if they haveoccurred in the past.

This world is confronted with theclash of two diametrically opposed political ideologies. To a great extent thevirtues and vices in both of these systems are centuries old. They have beentried before. Civilizations have risenand fallen upon some of these theories.The theoretical presentation in the pastof such political systems was somewhatdifferent, it must be admitted. The objectives, however, were not. Neither,in a general way, were the methodsused to attain them much different fromthose of today. A study of political sci

ence and sociology acquaints one with

the beginnings of society and thesepsychological origins of the state.

Philosophy, too, has its part to play.It enters into a study and analysis offree will, the nature of freedom, ethicsand morality, all of which are part of

the content of society and essential tothe welfare of man. Withou t suchknowledge, a state that is only victorious in the science of warfare can betechnically superior and yet be culturally and idealistically barbarian. Weshould expound the virtues of knowledge generally, for no knowledge is inconsequential to an advanced society.Though, to use a trite phrase, firstthings come first, it is incumbent uponus to be certain that our selection offirsts in science do not become so limited in their scope as to become a

detriment.

V A V

U n n z i ^Wca%nuxBy Jo h n T a y l o r , F. R. C., Nyasaland, Central Africa

h e r e is no coincidenceabout intuitive impressions. T hr ou gh ou t themany years I have spentas a professional ele

phant-hunter in Africa Inave learned to rely absolutely upon certaininne r wa rn ings when

danger is lying in wait for me. Itnever fails.

Perhaps I should explain that mywork is principally the shooting backof marauding elephant and buffalo,

and, of course, the killing of man-eatinglion. The two former cause devastationwhen they come raiding the nativesfood crops, resulting in partial, if notactual, starvation of natives in somedistricts. Since Man is of greater importance in the general scheme-of-things than any animal, that perhapsmay serve to explain how a philosophercan justify the greater part of a lifetime as a hunter. And also why the

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Guardian should be willing at all timesto warn him of imminent danger.There is no sixth sense or special

gift about the receiving of such warnings. Eveiybody can receive them. Nospecial exercisesphysical, breathing,or otherwiseare necessary. What isnecessary is to develop ones receptivity.And the easiest way to do this is to accept and act upon such warnings always. There must be no hesitation:most certainly there must be no attempt to balance them against your extremely finite powers of objective

reasoning.Perhaps an example or two showinghow it works might be of interest andserve to help others to acquire thesame instinct.

I was once hunting a bad man-killing rogue of an elephant. But as Ineeded meat for my men, I trekkedsome three or four miles away fromwhere I had every reason to believehe was, in order that he would not hear


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the report of my rifle. I was passinga thicket of very dense bush to wherethere was more open country in whichI expected to find what I wanted. Ihad no reason to fear anything, andwas carrying the light rifle I hopedsoon to need, when without any warning I suddenly felt uneasy.

As I advanced I felt more and morecertain that there was danger close andthat inner warning became more andmore urgent. I took over my heavyelephant rifle from my gmibearer as Inow knew that danger was imminent.And when I felt an irresistible urge tokeep my eyes towards my left-front, Iknew that that was the danger zone.And so it was. I had taken but anotherten or a dozen steps when the man-killer charged with an ear-splitting

trumpet from about fifteen yards away.Had I not had that inner premonitionof danger he would have found me withonly a light rifle loaded with totallyunsuitable bullets. He would certainlyhave killed me.

There was another occasion when Iwas hunting three man-eating lionsthat had killed a number of natives.It was very difficult country in whichto hunt lion because the grass was longand not yet dry enough to burn. Ihad tried everything my long experience with man-eaters had taught me

but had failed to contact the brutes.Finally I decided to use myself as bait.To do this I sat down at the foot of atree about twenty yards from the grassin a small clearing with a path runningthrough it along which I knew theman-eaters sometimes came.

It was a dark night. I had an electric

shooting lamp (only permissible forman-eaters and similar animals) butdid not switch it on. I was reserving ituntil the man-eaters came. I had absolute positive unswerving faith in myGuardian warning me in plenty oftime to switch on that lamp. By nowI had had so many of these experiencesthat no flicker of doubt entered myconsciousness.

And sure enough, after I had beensitting there for about two hours, mythoughts far away, and making no attempt to hear or see anything (its improbable that I would have done soanyway) I suddenly knew the threelions had arrived. I could not see them

but guessed they were still within thefringe of the grass and eying me, pros

pecting their chances. I felt an urge to

look to my left; and presently saw adarker shadow than the surroundingshadows moving slowly towards me. Itwas followed by another similar shadow.

I switched on my shooting lamp andthere were the three man-eaters. I hadlittle difficulty in disposing of them nowthat I had enticed them into the open.

One could continue relating such experiences indefinitely, but I think thetwo I have given should be sufficient forthe purpose.

To some it may appear rather primitive thinking to spealc of a Guardian,but I frank ly admit I have always derived great comfort from the thoughtthat the benevolent Guardian was always with me to prevent my stumblinginto danger. But natu rally you musttrust him and not argue with him: heknows best.

1958 ROSICRUCIAN CONVENTION

It is indeed heart-warming to realize that in a few months time, hundreds of Rosi-

crucians will gather on the grounds of Rosicrucian Park for a week of memorableactivities and personal contacts with the Supreme and Grand Lodge officers and staff.

From July 6 through July 11, AMORC members will turn away from a world inturmoil, set aside their cares, and in a spirit of fraternal association, contribute to thesearch for values of an enduring nature.

Personal acknowledgments have been sent to the fratres and sorores who have so farinformed us that they are planning to attend the 1958 Convention; however, we wishto repeat our appreciation of thei r thoughtfulness and cooperation. Others who arepla nning to be present and who have not already notified us are requested to kindlywrite to: THE CONVENTION SECRETARY, Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, California.

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l i n k ?

By W a l t e r J. A l b e r s h e im , Sc .D., F. R. C.

TheRosicrucianDigestMarch1958

Ph i l o s o p h e r s andpoets like to di

vide the steady flowof history into sym

bolic epochs or Ages.Thus the preculturalt ime, when savagestoiled and fought withcrude flint tools, was theStone Age. The metalworkers of ancient civilizations brought on the Bronze Age;

and not long before the birth of Jesus,the Iron Age began.The pace became faster in the 18th

century with the onset of the Industrialor Machine Age. The 19th century hasbeen called the Age of Electricity; andour present time, the Atomic Age, indicates newly discovered sources of machine power. However, the quality ofmachine performance is more significant than mere power. After all, eventhe ancients had mighty battering ramsand managed to lift and align the gigantic building blocks of the pyramids.

The characteristic feature of modernmachines is that of refinement, theirseeming cleverness and independence.Doors open as you approach them;elevators start gently, and stop smoothly at the exact floor level. Sorters pickrotten eggs from among fresh ones.Entire oil refineries are run withoutintervention of human hands, watchedrather than directed by an inspector atthe master control panel.

Therefore, if the present time mustbe given a new name, it could be theAge of Automation. Automation is be

ing achieved by ingenious operatingmachines under the guidance of electronic computers.

The public takes the operating partof the machines for granted. It is usedto the cleverness of television and ofairplanes, but the great computing machines have aroused its imagination andawe. The press tells us that these giant

brains can multiply 10-digit numbers in a few millionths of a second.

In an hour, theysolve problems that

would take a humanscientist a Kfetime.

Many people worrythat these new inventions may cause unem

ployment. Just as spinning and harvest ingmachines at first broughtmisery to manual labor

ers, so automatic computers may throw

a lot of bookkeepers and other whitecollar workers out of their jobs.

G i an t B ra i nn

These fears are probably exaggerated.History shows that, in the long run,mechanical progress creates more jobsthan it destroys and saves more livesthan it ruins. However, as students ofphilosophical principles we are not concerned with the economical effects ofautomation. But we are very muchconcerned with the question: Is thename Giant Brain justified? And, if

sodo these giant brains really think?There are two methods to investigate

such fundamental questions: the deductive and the inductive. With thedeductive method, one would beginby defining the concept of Thinking.Next, one would classify the activitiesof automatic machines and inquirewhether such agree with the concept ofthinking.

Since definitions are a tricky business, we shall use the less formal inductive method. We shall first describe theactivities of some typical sophisticated

machines. Next, we shall observe hu man thinking in ourselves and othersand try to outline its essential features.Finally, we shall decide whether theseessential features are present in themachines.

As an illustration of complex automatic machinery, let us take the radarwarning system that guards the NorthAmerican continent against surprise attacks. Most of you know tha t a radar

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scans the skies with powerful radiobeams like a traveler at night playinga flashlight beam across a dark road.Any object illuminated by the beamsthrows a reflection or echo back atthe radar.

When alerted by an apparent echo,the radar sends out repeat signals tomake sure that the observed flash wasnot caused by lightning or other disturbances. If echoes persist near theremembered direction of the first echo,the radar concludes that there is a realtarget, and it concentrateson watchingits course. If the target moves towardthe United States and is not recognizedas a friendly plane, the radar decidesthat it is dangerous and alarmsmilitary

personnel and associated equipment sothat the enemy may be headed off or

forced down.As a second example, consider, Shannons Mouse. Claude Shannon, amathematical wizard of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, designed a mouselike contraption that can be propelledinto a maze. The maze has branches,blind alleys, and sharp bends that canbe modified at will.

Every time the mouse bumps againstthe maze walls, its computer memoryregisters an order to avoid this moveon further trips; and in a short whilethe mouse learns to thread its way

through the maze without errors. Thememory can fade away slowly and itcan be erased by new experiences sothat the mouse can unlearnand readjustitself when the maze pattern is changed.

The italicized key words in thesedescriptions indicate activities associated with brain work. The automaticmachines observe, remember, compare,conclude, decide, take action, and learn.There seems to be no doubt that theseare brainlike functions. To make theparallel more striking, one might addthat a faulty machine can get the jit

ters, fall into a rut and churn aroundin circles just like a neurotic personobsessed by a fixed idea.

The public therefore seems justifiedin dubbing these machines GiantBrains. Of course, they are giants onlyin size and in speed of operation. As faras complexity and diversity of functions are concerned, they are dwarfedby the human brain with its billions ofinterconnected nerve cells.

M a n o r A u t om a t o n

Now compare how a human operatorwould perform the functions of theradar warning system. Under normalcircumstances a mere man cannotmatch the automatic machine in speed,

accuracy, nor in reliability. A soldierbecomes bored, distracted, and negligentby protracted, uneventful guard duty.

But let part of the mechanism bedamaged, or let the radar echoes beobscured by atmospheric or man-madenoise, and the machine may becomeuseless. A man, however, may adapthimself to altered conditions and maymanage to trace target tracks underneath the disturbance. If the operatorcomes to believe that an enemy attackis impending, his attention is arousedand his performance improves.

The human operator therefore doesnot seem to be the slave of inflexibleprogram routine but capable of changing his behavior according to circumstances and to his own motivation.From our own inner experience we allfeel that at least part of our actionsare not just automatic responses tostimuli but that we are conscious of ourmotives and free to act in accordancewith our will, emotions, judgment andconscience.

If we can trust this subjective con

viction, if we are really masters of ourown thoughts, then we men are notmachines, notautomatons. By the sametoken, the brain wrork of machines isnot thinking, because their clevernessis built into them by their designer.The purposefulness of the machines isnot their own, but the purpose of theirusers; their memory, observations, conclusions, decisions, and even their learning are the blind execution of a built-infixed program.

But are we not indulging in flatterywhen we picture ourselves as self-

possessed beings, controlled by free willand conscious judgment? Freud andother psychologists have shown howmany of our actions and opinions arebased on subconscious urges. Lets faceit! When school buildings are dynamited to prevent the entrance of coloredchildren, then it is hard to regard suchan act as born of conscious thought. Itseems more charitable to believe thatit was triggered off by an ingrained

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pa ttern of subconscious hates and fearsthat stamps its perpetrators as unthinking automatons.

The Behaviorist school of philosophyclaims that all our acts are reflexes toexternal or internal stimuli. Accordingto this school, Will and Emotion are

mere words. When our adrenal glandserupt, when we get red in the face andhot under the collar, when we speakand act violently, then all this does nothappen because we are angry. Ouranger is itself the group of symptomsand actions, not the cause of them.

Mans adaptability and cleverness aresaid to have been acquired by evolutionary selection and by survival ofthe fittestby an automatic learningprocess of the species. According toBehaviorist beliefs, man himself is nothing but a very intricate machine; andhis thoughts are automatic reflexes. If,therefore, a machine constructed bymen performs logical operations similarto those performed by our brain cells,the Behaviorist would call it vanityand prejudice to deny such a machinethe attribute of thought.

Fortunately, other philosophies arein better agreement with our innermostconvictions. The Vitalists, for instance,believe that the att ributes of living beings are not explainable in materialterms alone. They hold that one of such

fundamental attributes is consciousness,the essence of thought.

Since philosophers disagree, le t us tryto judge for ourselves. Our inner feeling may proclaim that consciousness isa basic part of our lives, and that nological process, no matter how clever,deserves the name of thought, as longas it is devoid of consciousness. However, since our problem deals withthinking, our feelings should be backedby logical thought. How, then, can werefute the idea that the whole Worldis one gigantic Machine and that living

beings are machinelike subentities, programmed by evolutionary selection?

One counter-argument is that themere struggle for survival could nothave produced abstract ideas and idealswithout physical survival value, suchas the craving for harmony, beauty,and philosophical knowledge. It may beclaimed that science, morality, and self-sacrifice have survival value for the

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race and community if not for the individual. However, since self-sacrificingheroes and martyrs usually die youngand childless, idealistic tendenciesshould have been quickly bred out,rather than fostered by mechanical evolution.

Many thinkers claim that, in orderto bring forth such nonmaterial valuesas art, science, and ethics, evolutionmust have been programmed by aMind Force. If one admits the existence of a Mind that plans and consciously directs evolution, one ascribesto that mind the conscious thoughtwhich our inner feeling attributes toourselves.

For the answer to our question, itdoes not matter whether thinking is aprivilege of Man or of a Higher In telligence. If Thought is defined as a

conscious, volitional process, then nomachine can think. But it turns outthat our question puts not the manmade machines on trial, but Man himself.

Automatic computing machines arenot meant to think, but merely to dobrain work. As long as a computational or logical problem is regular,repetitive, and can be programmed,computing machines can solve it muchfaster and more reliably than Man.They relieve man of mental drudgery,just as earlier machines relieved him

of physical labor.But if human beings want to be more

than machines, then let our thinking beim-machinelikebe creative. Let usrise above the automatic reactions instilled by the urge for survivalabove

personal and herd instincts, above jealousies, fears and hates. Let us declareour independence of all machinelikethought molds, whether political, social,or religious. Let us glory in the im

practical, superpersonal ideals of beauty, love, and truth. Since analysis leadsto the possibility that we ourselves may

have been designed and programmedby a Higher Mind, let us aspire to cooperate with It and share Its thoughts.

If we thus govern our lives, we shallrest secure in the conviction that machines may outsee, outhear, outsteer,and outcalculate us; but as to our ownreal thoughts, the thoughts that giveLife value, such thoughts no machinecan think.


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Evolution, a Threefold ProcessA m o r i f e r Eg y p t o , M. D., F. R. C.

a n in his cycle of evolution descends from the

Heights to the Palace, tothe School, to the Prison;there he evolves and then

proceeds to re turn fromthe Prison to the School,to the Palace and thento the Heights, or ulti

mate perfection.Before we can gain any comprehen

sion of the Heights, we must gainknowledge of the three intervening ca

pacities. In the human body the abdomen represents the Prison; the chestrepresents the School; and the skull

represents the Palace. The entrance tothese three great cavitiesabdomen,chest, and skullis through the face,the positive pole of the body, wherewe have the mouth, the nostrils, andthe eyes in exact order perpendicularlyin relation to the positions of the threecavities. These cavities have also theiroutlets in the negative pole of the body(the perineum). The limbs and the

jaws are appendages to the cavities forexpressing and receiving certain refined functions of the Palace.

These three cavities are in order frommajor capacity to minor: the skull isthe smallest, consisting entirely of bone,and within it has the most active andelevated function; the chest is mediumin size, partly muscular, cartilaginousand bony, and with less active function;the abdomen is the largest, being mostly muscular, with the slowest andgrossest function.

In the abdomen we have the organs

dealing with the two elements (earthand water) and their productsthat is,

food in whatever form it presents itself. There the food undergoes devolution into its minor elements and finervibratory condition, and is carried finally through the blood vessels into thechest (the School), where it comes intocontact with the third element (air) bythe processes known as breathing andcirculation, and is subjected to thishigher type of vibration. It has evolvedand has thus been schooled into a higher type of consciousness.

In the process of breathing or unifying the elements of air and water, wehave freedom of choice within certainlimits. We cannot for any length oftime totally stop our breathing norhyperventilate ourselves. Even whenwe are not conscious of our breathing,it goes on in spite of us, transmutingthe higher energy into our bodies andkeeping us alive. When we direct ourbreathing process consciously, we adda little more of this higher vibration toour vitality which we may use for extrawork and for emergencies.

Then these vivified and transmutedelements (earth, water, and air) aretransferred into the nerves to the thirdchamber (the Palace), the brain. Thusthey come into contact with the fourthelement (fire) through the various vibrations of light and sound and touch,bu t mostly through the organ of sight(the eyes). Here consciousness, thought,and perception occur, which are intensely rapid and immense as comparedto the functions of the other two cavi-

[ 9 1 }


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ties. So we see that Life in whateverform we perceive it is nothing morethan a senes of activities or changes,striving to realize and become con-scious of its perfection.

Life is, and always has been, in allways perfect. The many differentmanifestations which it takes, whetherin mineral, plant, animal or man, areonly to show its perfection, because itcannot manifest otherwise. Thus wefind that life eternally tries to preserveitself; to perpetuate itself; to manifestitself in a beautiful form in diverse anddevious aspects. A rose wants to surviveand produce more roses. An animalwants to remain an animal and repro-duce its kind. A man desires to evolveand continue to produce what he feelswithin himself to be the characteristics

of Perfect Man. Why? So tha t Lifewall ultimately master all realms andrealize its complete everlastingness, andconquer everything which may opposeit, for Life is eternal in its inmostcharacteristics. By Life here is meantof course Perfectionthose higher andnobler ideals of which the great seers,masters, avatars, mystics, adepts, andalchemists of all ages have tried to tellhumanity in so many different ways.

E n v i ro n m e n t a n d M e m o r y

In the circumstances in which the

human race and all forms of life arenow found, the functions or attributesof life (growih, repair, reproduction)must have a proper and adequate en-vironmental condition. This environ-mental condition when analyzed wouldconsist of nothing more nor less thanthe four elements (earth, water, air,and fire). These must be in a suitableconditionthat is, the food must beedible, the water purified, the air oxy-genated, and the temperature adequate

in order that life and its activities cansuccessfully function and the organism

live happily, harmoniously, and satis-factorily.

The great work and study of studentsof the fife sciences (biology and itsmany divisions, including psychology)is to try to tabulate those vibratoryconditions of the four elements whichwill sustain life in the different speciesof living things in the world in the

present. Many interesting and practical

[ 9 2 ]

facts regarding the relationship of theproper quantity and quality of the fourelements to the different organisms, in-cluding man, of course, have beenrealized.

But our environment (the four ele-

ments), with the multiplicity of tilingsarising therefrom, is in a continuousstate of change, and that is why livingorganisms are actually aware of theirenvironment and why they must havea memory. If the environment werestable and not changeable, there wouldbe no need for life to have awarenessor memory. Because the organism isactually only conscious and aware ofchange, then consciousness and mem-ory have to exist in order to register,compare, and analyze these changes.This also explains why wre as living

beings must always be changing inside,so that we can sense the change out-side ourselves. If any function of lifeis used actively, purposefully andstrongly, it wall grow and become moreefficient. If it is not used, it will atrophyand disappear.

Thus we see the necessity of theperfect life force within us, and withinevery living organism, to adapt itselfto these continuous changes. Certaininner vibrations must meet the neces-sary changing vibrations outside. It hasdawned on the evolving mind of hu-

manity that the life force must be con-structive. From the Prison of ourenvironment we have entered the Schoolof adaptation, and from there haveprogressed to the Palace of construc-tive evolution.

Evolution, the great law in Nature,when applied to Man (the Grand Sym-bol of the universe), is a golden key tohis unfoldment. We are here witness-ing a certain subtle law workingthroughout all Nature, trying to im-prove, to refine, to perfect the existing

species, or, let us say, the differentmanifestations of life. This is evolution,occurring consciously. For what cause?What are the possibilities? Are we tobe merely silent spectators of thesewonderful transmutations or are we toassist and to speed up this great andsilent force, thus feeling its splendor,magnificence, and exhilaration, and itsgreat revelation throughout our entirebeing?


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T he He igh t s

The whole aim and object of humanlife is for initiation and illumination ofthe personality. For it is through individual personality that the mighty Creative Force, which men call God,reaches the highest expression and be

comes most fully manifest in every ageand in every sphere throughout the entire universe. Thus we find tha t thegoal of the journey, the intent of the

plan, is to rationalize the contents ofthe subconscious mind; to attain to aconscious realization of the operativelaw and order; to acquire the ability toutilize and manifest outwardly the lawand order of the universe manifestedinwardly.

Nature spells progression: from thePrison of the abdomen (environment)through the School of the chest (adapta

tion) to the Palace of the skull (con-

structivity). There is no limitation tomans silent constructive thoughts, because they are the product of and originate from the Divine spark, the GreatCosmic Mind in and around us. Whenwe are conscious of the privilege of being alive and working with this great

creative force, using our will power atlast constructively, we are in consciousness beginning to leave the Palace andto enter into a true understanding ofDivinity.

As our minds evolve sufficiently tobring us into closer contact with thisCosmic Mind, we become convinced ofthe unreality of the phenomenal worldand the reality of that which is behindit. The transition finally to a new reality, a world of noumena, and to astate of absolute consciousness, is unionwith divinity. The Palace has become

the HEIGHTS.

V A V

The following experiences are sufficientlybrief and similar to be grouped together.

h r e e workmates and Iwere returning from abuilding job with ourtruck loaded with gear.On a sudden impulse Ilooked back to see a boxin flames only a fewinches away from thepetrol tank. We quickly

jettisoned it and went on, but we hadno explanation of how it happened, fornone of us was smoking. I had no explanation for my sudden impulse tolook back, either.

J. M., Wallerawang, N.S.W.,Australia

* * *

In 1943 I dreamed that the kitchenwas in flames. I tried momentarily torouse myself but sank back into thesame dream. Then I heard the doorbell,steps in the hall, and my name beingcalled. With great effort, I woke myself to find no one in the house andthe kitchen in order.

When I returned to the bedroom,

though, I noticed a strong odor of escaping gas. My husband, who had leftearlier, had lighted the heater but onlythe center section was burning. Mynightmarish dream saved me fromsuffocation.

E.T.P., Rochester, New York

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By D r . H. Sp e n c e r L e w is , F. R. C.(From The Mystic Triangle, June 1926)

Since thousands of readers of the Rosicrucian Digest have not read many of thearticles by our late Imperator, Dr. H. Spencer Lewis, we adopted the editorial policy of

publishing each month one of his outstanding articles, so that his thoughts would continue toreside within the pages of this publication.

h i s title implies that wehave wandered or strayedfrom the natural andmoral path that leads tohealth. In many waysthis is true. For years thiscountry and its peoplewere swayed by the dog

mas and creeds propounded by those who would lead us into thechannels and the customs that wouldtake us away from our natural birthright of attunement with God and withall of the natural forces that give uslife and health. But we who know thetrend of human affairs rejoice that manhas found freedom of thought and thedetermination to find God and healthwithin his own consciousness and within his own simple existence.

We must pay homage to the variousmovements sponsored by foresighted

men and women, broad-visionedchurches and organizations, which havefostered a study of the natural lawspertaining to mans life and heal th andwrhich have slowly and permanentlybroken down the faith and trus t thatmen, women, and children had placedin injurious drugs and questionableproprietary remedies. I do not meanby this to cast any reflection upon thevarious standard and reputable and efficient s)rstems of medical practice endorsed and recommended by the mosteminent schools and scientists of this

country.The Rosicrucian Order has been de

voted to the teaching and promulgationof those natural laws wrhich enable menand women to maintain their natural

birthrights, develop their inherited powers and faculties, and attain success andhappiness through mastership overthose things which are commonly calledthe obstacles of life. The Order does

not represent a movement devoted tothe ailing, and does not recommend anyone system of therapeutics as superiorto any other. With studied carefulnessit promotes the idea that illness of anykind is a result of violation of somenatural law and that the patient is notthe one to diagnose his situation and

attempt to cure matters, but that heshould consult an eminent authority ora specialist or a qualified practitionerand secure medical or therapeutic helpas he may require.

The Order teaches certain fundamental principles in regard to the natureof life, its maintenance and its enjoyment, as have been known to the organization for many centuries andwhich have been partly responsible forthe reputation that the Rosicrucians possess certain secret knowledge regardingthe natural laws not commonly appre

ciated by the multitudes. Man has aright to perfect life and may possessit through certain simple rules.

The Rosicrucian ontology, or scienceof being, begins with the fundamentalproposition which we find so ably expressed in the Christian Bible: that inthe beginning God created man out ofthe dust of the earth and breathed intohis nostrils the breath of fife and manbecame a living soul. No matter howwTe may analyze this statementandwe find it expressed in practically thesame words by all of the ancient schools

and cults and in all the sacred writingsof the Orientwe come to a few definite facts that science of today provesand individuals everywhere are discovering to be absolutely true.

First of all, man is a dual creature.He has a physical body and a spiritualbody called the soul. In the process ofcreating and evolving this most wonderful of all Gods creations, there came

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a time when these two bodies wereunited by the process of breathing orby the intake oi the breath of life. Ourown experiences have shown us thatjust as we become conscious of ourexistence as an animated being by theuniting of these two bodies, so the oth

er great change calleddeath

ortransi-

tion is a separation of the two and inthe interval between birth and deaththese two bodies must co-ordinate, cooperate, and function in unison andharmony in order that there may behealth as well as life.

Few men or women will believe thathealth or disease or physical pain andsuffering are a result of some condition of the spiritual body. The mostcasual observation of the operation ofnatural laws and the divine laws of theuniverse makes it plain that disease and

ill-health, suffering and pain are thingsof the flesh and of the physical bodyand not of the spiritual body. For thisreason we are justified in confining ourstudy of health and disease to a studyof the physical body of man and itsrelation to the natural forces and itsweakness and power.

Reverting again to the fundamentalproposition of the Rosicrucian ontologywe find that the physical body wasformed of the dust of the earth. Butwe change those words to the modern

scientific terms and say that the physical body of man is composed of thematerial elements of the earth; or wemay go even further and say that mansphysical body is being formed hourlyfrom the living, vitalizing, physicalelements of the earth upon which we

five. It is true tha t there would be nolife without the soul or the divine essence, and that this divine essenceexists not only in the organized bodycalled man but also in all of the elements of which the body of man iscomposed. There is the divine essencein tne water, in the minerals of theearth, in all vegetation, in everythingthat exists.

We know today that there is no suchthing as dead matter, that all matter isliving. It is alive with the essence ordivinity, with that vital force known

by many names, undiscoverable exceptin its manifestations, and most assuredly emanating from the greatest of allconstructive sources of creation. Butliving matter, unorganized in the imageof God, does not constitute the livingbody of man. It is only when the elements of the earth pass through thatwonderful transmutation process established bv God that they become organized ana associated in a way that theyhave the highest form of physical ex

pression on earththe body of man, sowonderfully and fearfully made.

Complex as is this physical body inits organization, in all its parts, in itsbeauty of synchronous action, co-ordination, sympathetic co-operation, andpower to move itself, it is neverthelesscomposed of and being re-composed ofthe simple things of the earth accordingto a divine law.

Man was not created in the imageof God with any intention that heshould take upon himself the right tochange the fundamental laws of natureor to modify them or negate them.Man has found that when he goes too

far in his privilege of exercising hismind and his ability to choose and ignores some of the necessities of fife,some of the demands of nature, the decrees of God, that he weakens his physical constitution by the violation ofnatura l laws and breaks his attunementwith nature and goes farther away fromGod each time.

Without question, man has evolved

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a custom and habit of living not originally decreed in the scheme of thingsand in many ways decried by natureand abhorred by the divine principles.He takes himself away from the opencountry, from his contact with the natural forces of the earth, from the sun

light, the earths magnetism, the freshvegetation, the pure water, and the

proper Cosmic vibrations, and confinesnimself for hours in small enclosures,in foul air, in darkness, and in the

breeding places of disease, germs, andill-health.

Man sets aside the right of the bodyto have free expression, unimpairedfreedom of movement and proper ease,by tighten ing about his body variouslimiting and binding articles of clothing. He brings pressure upon the vessels and nerves of his body, binds his

feet, throws the body out of balance inwalking or standing, and does manythings to the mechanical operation ofhis body that are contrary to the lawsof natu re. He ignores the demands forrest and sleep; he negates the demandsof the functioning organs and arbitrarily adapts periods and times for themwhich are not consistent with the perfect scheme outlined by nature; and inthousands of ways he takes it uponhimself to force his physical growthand his physical development intohabits and customs not harmoniouswith the decrees of nature.

Nature has provided him with thousands of elements that should enter intothe re-composition of his body fromday to day and yet man arbitrarily

selects but a few of these as his choiceand abstains from the rest. In all histhinking and doing he is hourly violating some law of nature for which hemust pay the penalty in the form of

ain and suffering, disease, and ill-ealth.

It is only in a normal healthy bodythat the soul of man can function andexist harmoniously. If man would findGod, happiness, success, and prosperity,he must maintain the physical body ofhis existence and its normal standingso that everything may manifest thedivine, the vital essence that gives himlife, that gives him health and giveshim power to do. As he breaks downhis physical organization he lessens theability of the soul, the essence and mindin him to function in all their majestyand power. There is no question aboutthe fundamental principle involvedget back to nature! Get back to naturesway of living! Get back to earth! Getinto the sunshine, enjoy the vegetationthat nature has provided, and all thethings that give tne elements necessaryto the body, take in all the fresh airthat contains the vital force of life, ex

pand your consciousness, give greaterfreedom to your divinity to express itself. Thus you will become healthy,wonderful in your inherited privilegesand blessings. You will become what

God and nature intended man to be:the living image of the great Cosmicpowers with all the creative forces sustaining the ability to accomplish andattain.

V A V


IN APPRECIATION

I use this occasion to express my appreciation for the many well wishes and greetings

received from members throughout the world on the occasion of my birthday, February

14. I reg ret tha t it is not possible to acknowledge all of the kind thoughts personally,

and am asking you to kindly accept my sincere thanks.

RALPH M. LEWISImperator

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Our Animal HeritageBy Dr . A l e x a n d e r F. Sk u t c h of Costa Rica

e a r l y a century haspassed since the publica-tion of Charles DarwinsThe Origin of Specieslaid the foundations ofour present understand-ing of the evolution oforganic forms and func-tions. Today practically

all serious biologists believe that themore complex organisms arose through

gradual modification, in the course ofgeologic ages, from simpler, primitiveforms; and no alternative explanationof their origin presents a serious chal-lenge to this view. But despite the firmestablishment of the evolutionary the-ory, there has been a widespread emo-tional reluctance to accept its fullconsequences; it is felt that man issomehow degraded by his derivationfrom simpler or, as we often say, low-er forms of life.

Even Alfred Russel Wallace, co-author with Darwin of the theory thatevolution proceeds through the naturalselection of slight individual variations,believed in his later years that certainfeatures of mankind, including ourmoral sense and more or less hairlessskin, could be explained only by as-suming that human evolution has beendirected by a superior intelligence, notoperative in the evolution of other formsof life. A recent book that attainedgreat popularity, Human Destiny byLecomte du Noiiy, made the curiousdistinction betw ee n Adaptation, ofwhich the criterion is usefulness, andEvolution, with its criterion of liberty.On this view, the line of organismswhich culminated in man can alone besaid to have evolved; the others simply

became adapted to their environment.The assumption that a special prin-

ciple has been at work in the evolutionof mankind is fatal to serious, honestthought upon the problems of evolu-tion. Either an evolutionary theory must

be adequate to account for the originand present condition of all livingthings, or it is to be regarded with thegreatest suspicion.

This does not mean that our presentknowledge of evolution permits us totrace in detail the origination of allthe features which the living world pre-sents. Probably every biologist of wideexperience is familiar with many struc-tures and habits, in plants no less thanin animals, for which he can hardlybegin to accoimt. As a rule, he attrib-utes liis perplexity to the bewilderingcomplexity of the forces at work andthe immensity of the periods throughwhich they have acted. He does notdivide organisms into two or moreclasses, some as having evolved accord-ing to one set of principles and someaccording to radically distinct princi-ples; this would throw his thinking intoconfusion.

The underlying reason for this per-

sistent attempt to remove man fromthe general evolutionary scheme is re-vealed by the statement of Max Ottothat The hopelessness about himselfinto which contemporary man hasfallen is reinforced by the belief in hisanimal ancestry. Naturally, we resistany view which intensifies our hope-lessness about ourselves. Although theevidence that man has descended fromnonhuman ancestors is too strong to beresisted, some thinkers have supposedthat to believe that we have been liftedabove our animal forebears by the op-

eration of a special principle, or theguidance of a superhuman intelligence,should diminish the shame and despairengendered in certain minds by knowl-edge of our origin.

Far from causing us to despair aboutourselves, the evolutionary view, evenin its standard form, should be moreheartening than the older, Biblicalview whicn it has been slowly supplant-ing in the Western mind. To Believe

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that I have arisen from a simpler formof life, however low and brutal it mighthave been, makes me far more hopefulabout the ultimate possibilities of myself and my kind than to believe thatwe fell from the higher state of uncorrupted innocence in which God created

our first ancestors. And there is certainly no necessary connection betweenhopelessness about ourselves and theview that mankind is closely allied toother forms of life.

L i f e S hare s i t s T ra i t s

In many years devoted to observation of animals in their natural state,I have seen far more to make me proudof that close relationship to them whichthe evolutionary theory posits than tomake me ashamed of this affinity. Ithas become evident to me that manyof the most admirable traits which Ishare with other men I share also with

birds, quadrupeds, and even lowerforms of life; and the recognition thatthese attributes are not restricted tomankind, but are far more widely diffused through the realm of life, helpsbolster an optimism which is often difficult to preserve in these troubledtimes. Let us briefly enumerate someof the valuable traits which we sharewith other animals.

Perseverance. Whatever our aim in

life, whatever goal we set for ourselves,we are most unlikely to attain it without the capacity to persist in the faceof the many obstacles which inevitablyarise to block our advance. All greataccomplishments have been achievedthrough perseverance. But this is nota purely human trait. We witness itin the spider which again and againreconstructs its broken web; in the pairof birds who after the loss of eggs oryoung start afresh to rear a family,repeating this perhaps half a dozentimes before they succeedand, in re

markable degree, in the migratory birdwho despite fatigue must fly on and onover a vast expanse of open water, until at last it gains the sheltering land.

Perseverance is one of the most fundamental properties of life, withoutwhich it would never have becomewhat it is. Man seems more prone thanmost other creatures to become discouraged by failure. Organic persever

[ 9 8 ]

ance is the root of the moral virtue offortitude.

Courage. Many animals take risks inthe pursuit of food, but they could nothabitually place their lives in jeopardyto satisfy their hunger without endangering the existence of their kind. It is

in the defense of their young that animals display the most amazing disregard of personal safety. Who can withhold admiration from the birdling,scarcely bigger than his thumb, who

pecks or bites the hand extended totouch her nestlings? Many mammals,too, confront larger and more powerful animals which threaten their young;and even tiny nest-building fishes dartat intruders which jeopardize their offspring.

The tendency of parent animals tosacrifice their lives in behalf of theiryoung is certainly held in check by nat ural selection; for considering the tremendous odds that confront most ofthem, the species in which devoted

parents frequently surrender their livesto save their helpless offspring wouldsoon become extinct. Were it not forthis restraining factor, we would witness even more frequent and more astounding instances of supreme valor.

Parental devotion. Courage in the defense of home and young is only oneof the forms which parental devotion

takes. It reveals itself even more consistently in the day-to-day task of keeping the eggs warm, in the often exhausting labor of providing food forthe young in foul as in fair weather.The watcher of birds often sees thempass to their nestlings the morselswhich they bear in their mouths, whenthey show plainly that they themselvesare hungry.

Friendship and love. Animals are capable of strong attachments, usually toothers of their own kind, but often toindividuals of other species. Naturalists

have recorded many instances of thelatter sort, and often it is impossibleto point out any material advantagewhich the animal gains from this closecompanionship. In man y non-migra-tory birds, especially in the tropics, themated male and female keep close company through that large portion of theyear when they do not breed and theirsexual impulses are dormant. In these


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procures food, migrates, wins a mate,builds a nest, and attends its young,form an integrated wholeoften referred to as its pattern of behavior.Every normal animal preserves thispa ttern as far as it can, even in themost adverse circumstances. Some

times it succumbs to its inability tomodify its method of procedure aswould a hum an being. But the animalwho dies rather than change its wayshas something in common with theman who forfeits his life rather thanabandon his moral or religious principles.

We humans need moral rules precisely because we are not innately endowed with modes of conduct adequateto guide us through life with some satisfaction to ourselves and those of ourkind who surround us. A moral code

is the human substitute for the animalspa ttern of behavior; hence, to deviatefrom the latter is analogous to beingunfaithful to the former.

P r e - h u m a n A f f in i t y

It is evident that in animals we find,in more or less developed form, a large

proportion of those traits and facultiesupon which we humans most pride ourselves. We inherited at least tneir rudiments from our pre-human ancestors;we became what we are through thefurther elaboration of our animal heritage. Believing that the whole dignityof man rests in his possession of someof these qualities, we often indignantlydeny their origin, fearing that to recognize it would somehow degrade us.

We use all our ingenuity to argueaway the obvious similarity betweenthe human trait and the corresponding

behavior in the animal. Thus it iscommonly said that a womans devotion to her child is an expression ofmaternal love, whereas the animalsattachment to her offspring is parentalinstinct. "Where we perform an actfrom a sense of duty, an animal carrying out a corresponding act is said tofollow its innate pattern of behavior.

In view of our profound ignoranceof the precise relation between our ownmental and bodily states on the onehand, and of the psychic life of animalson the other hand, these distinctions restupon a precarious foundation. Wherethere is close external similarity be

[ 1 0 0 ]

tween a human activity and an animals activity, it is perverse to denythe affinity of the former to the latter.

Primitive clans were proud to tracetheir descent from their totem animal.But in modem times there has been a

persistent conspiracy to vilify the ani

mals. We seem thereby to justify ourmerciless exploitation of them, andthereby to somehow exalt mankind. Butthis attempt rests upon confused thinking. If man is higher than the animals,then the higher the animals are thehigher man must be. We do not demonstrate that a mountain is lofty byshowing that it is higher than an anthill; but if we can prove that it exceedsChimborazo or Kilimanjaro, we havemade it a high moimtain indeed. Similarly, the more that is fine and admirable that we detect in the animals,

the more reason we, who believe ourselves to be higher than they, have forrespecting ourselves.

When I behold the vast array offorms which the animal kingdom has

produced, the great beauty of many ofthem, and the immense diversity ofthe faculties which they display, I seeno reason to be ashamed of my inclusion in a division of the living worldthat exhibits such marvelous capacityfor development in manifold directions.Such a survey enhances rather thandiminishes my estimate of my own po

tentialities and those of my kind.Each of us is what he is at theresent moment, and how he came toe what he is neither adds nor sub

tracts a hairs breadth from his physical, intellectual, or moral stature. Butknowledge of how one reached his present state influences his estimate of hisprospects; and to know that one hasarisen from a group of animals so productive of splendid forms and greataccomplishments as the vertebrates, ismore conducive to a hopeful outlookthan to believe that the human stockhas fallen from a higher estate, or hasremained at its present level for innumerable generations.

It is profoundly unfortunate that thegreat majority of people who have someacquaintance with animals know onlycaptive individual or domesticatedkinds, for this gives them far too lowan opinion of animal life and makesthem ashamed or resentful of their evo


23/44

lutionary origin. They forget that thecommon domesticated animals have forthousands of years been selected forqualities useful to man, such as thecapacity to produce flesh or milk oreggs, to bear or haul loads, or to chaseand worry other creatures, with little

regard for all their other qualities. Notintelligence but docility, not spirit butabjectness, not grace but fleshiness, arerequired of the great majority of do-mestic animals.

All those beautiful and intricate pat-terns of behavior, which so well fit thefree animal to live in equilibrium withits environment, with a minimum offriction with surrounding animals,have been distorted or destroyed bygenerations of a life which inhibitsthe ir expression. The wonder is, notthat creatures which for so many gen-erations have been knocked about andthwarted should so often disgust us,but that we should still find so muchthat is amiable and attractive in them.But to know animal life at its best andform a fair estimate of it, one must paycareful attention to free animals intheir natural habitats, preferably whileremaining oneself unseen.

would be wrong to deny that evenf] animals exhibit, among many thataxe admirable, certain disagreeabletraits. They are capable of selfishness

and rage, and sometimes they bullyweaker individuals of their own or oth-er species. But what most distresses thesensitive observer of nature is the cal-lous way in which the carnivorouskinds kill, tear, and devour their vic-tims, which may be animals somewhatclosely allied to themselves, and areoften the helpless yoimg.

Still, we cannot on this ground refuseto acknowledge our brotherhood to themwithout at the same time rejecting thesimilar claim of our fellow men, who

with far less excuse slaughter and de-vour countless animals of the most di-verse kinds, tender young no less thanthe old and crippled, which form themainstay of the diet of many wildcarnivores. For humans, sprung froma vegetarian or omnivorous stock, areneither by structure nor function re-stricted to a carnivorous diet and couldlive well without slaughtering their fel-low beings; whereas predatory animals

would in most instances perish if de-prived of the prey to which they havebecome specialized by a long evolution.

Even in giving full weight to the dis-agreeable traits which some animalsexhibit, we have far less reason tobe ashamed of our place in the ani-mal kingdom than of our failure tomake full use of our human capacityfor foresight and moral choice. It isour ability to look into the futuretoassess competing motives and comparealternative courses of conduct chosenaccording to an ethical standard ratherthan in blind obedience to the appetitesor affectionsthat sets us in action,that most sharply distinguishes us fromour fellow animals.

We have greater need of this facultythan any animal, for we have not that

innate pattern of behavior by whichto act in a way that in ordinary condi-tions would conduce to the best interestof our kind. In the hum an being thishas been tested and perfected by a longracial experience. Our moral faculty,too, has its roots in our animal heritage,bu t it has been high ly elaboratedthrough a long evolution peculiar to ourbranch of the vertebrate stock. We arepu t to shame not by our close affinityto the animals, but our far closer rela-tionship to man who fails to make fulluse of his peculiarly human endow-

ment.Our human reason, even in its most

developed form, and our highest moralideals are of value only in so far asthey modify and direct those motivesand affections which come to us fromour animal ancestors; for without themwe should have no incentive to act. Weowe to our animal forebears our stay-ing power, our courage, our capacityfor love, friendship, and devotion, ourswift response to beauty. Our reason

did not create these things, our moralitygrew out of rather than produced them.When we awake to the full significanceof our animal heritage, far from beingashamed of it and wishing to deny it,in the manner of too many timid think-ers of the present day, we shall acclaimit as, under the guidance of our divinefaculty of moral choice, one of thegreatest sources of our strength.

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cdfoxat io dVztson:cSzam an a n d st

ByM a b e l A t k i n s o n of Westmorland, England

h e n the American fishing-schooner H arm ony hauled in her nets andset course for Boston inJuly 1782, her Master, Nathaniel Carver of Plymouth, Massachusetts, little guessed that he wasabout to write a chapter

of world history. Neither did he realizethat his subsequent conduct was to provoke to action a latent streak of mysticism in one who was to become a

world-famous seamanHoratio Nelson,British Naval hero.T hi s m ys tic projection had first

evinced itself when Nelson was servingas a midshipman in His Britannic Majestys ship, Seahorse. He had becometemporarily paralyzed after a bout ofmalaria in the waters of West Indies.Depression followed, and he wrote:

I felt impressed with a feeling that Ishould never rise in my profession. My mindwas staggered with a view of the difficultiesI had to surmount and the little interest I

possessed.

Then came the miracle! To quoteRobert Southey (British classical historian) from his Life of Nelson:

Long afterwards Nelson loved to speak ofthe feelings of that moment: and from thattime he often said, a radiant orb was sus

pended in his minds eye, which urged himonward to renown. The state of mind inwhich these feelings began is what themystics mean by their season of darknessand desertion. . . . He knew to what the

previous sta te of dejection was to be at tributed; that an enfeebled body and a minddepressed had cast this shade over his soul;bu t he alw ays seemed wi lling to believethat the sunshine which succeeded bore withit a prophetic glory, and that the light whichled him on was Light from Heaven.

Now, off Boston Harbour that Ju ly14, 1782, Nelson again felt within his

breast some Inn er Urge that the Cosmoswas over his every action, and when

Harmony was captured and orderedalongside his own ship for the PrizeCrew to take over command of her, hedid a most remarkable thing.

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Normally, as Captain of the ship taking the Prize, he would himself haveclaimed a large part of her value inPrize Money and turned her Masterand crew over to be held as his prisoners-of-warthis in accord with International Law.

Instead, Nelsona mere Captain, ill-paid, helping to support an aged fatherand younger brothers and sistersflunghis prospect of immediate wealth asideand called to him the good NathanielCarver, bidding him take Albemarle's

wheel and pilot him into BostonHarbour.

This his prisoner didas was alsowithin the correct procedure of Warand Nelson descended to his cabin.When both ships were safely at then-anchorage, he came on deck, calledMaster Carver to him, and handed hima Certificate in which was stated theservice he had rendered.

With a friendly smile, Nelson said:I return your schooner, and with herthis certificate of your good conduct!adding that the certificate would protect Carver from being taken prisonerby any other British ship throughoutthe War. It was duly framed, and hungin the home of the recipient at Bostonover many decades.

Then came karma! Nelsons InnerUrge, pre-conscious of some future necessity, had proved correct. In mid-September, the dreaded maritime

The author is the great-greatgranddaughter of the British Navalhero, Floratio Nelson. In a let tershe statesit seems to me that the

present is a good time in which totell the world something of the mystical debt which Nelson owed to theAmerican, Master Nathaniel Carver.I rejoice that after nearly 150 yearsI am able to express some appreciation of same.


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scourge, scurvy, broke out aboard hisship, and he decided to make for the

Naval Hospital at Quebec to land hissick; he himself was already in theearly stages of the often-fatal malady.

Out of the coastal mist a voice hailedAlbemarle, and Nelson ordered his

Master to lay-to and sight who washailing. The other ship came sweepingupflying the Flag of America as

bravely as before. It proved to be noneother than his ex-prize, the Harmonyfrom Boston.

Again, Master Carver came aboardbut this time as a saviour, not prisoner,for he had at his own risk put out withpresents of four sheep, several crates offowls, and fresh greensenough to haltthe dread scurvy and provide fresh foodfor the sufferers until they reached thehospitaland this in the midst of the

most-lamentable War in history.That incident was never forgotten,and though Nelsonwith the utmostdifficultypersuaded the poor fisherman to take payment for his produce,he never forgot the debt of kindnesshe owed to his one-time prisoner. FromBoston Bay to Cape Trafalgar, thatmemory sailed with Nelsonfrom triumph to triumph. It fanned the Flameof Prophecy in his breast until he spokewith the very tongue of a prophethimself.

But a few weeks before Trafalgar it

self, one of our ships, a swift frigate,spoke an American ship which, a littleto the west of the Azores, had fallen inwith an armed ship, apparently a privateer, dismasted and deserted by tiercrew, which had been run on board ofby another ship, set fire to, and partlyburned up.

A logbook and a few seamens jacketswere found in her cabin and broughtto Nelson with the report. With himin his cabin were Captain Hardy, theRev. J. Scott, Chaplain, and MasterThomas Atkinson, navigator, who told

the story.The logbook closed with the words:Two large vessels in the W.N.W.which indicated that the ship had beenan English privateer cruising off theWestern islands. But inside the logbookwas a scrap of dirty paper with figureson it, whicn Nelson observed as having

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From the files of

QUEST

Rare Informat ion on Natures Realm

Compiled by Ro b er t W a t s o n

The Cagey Chipmunk

What happens to the mound of earth thats h o u l d b e outside the chipmunks burrow?The chipmunk digs into the ground thesame way as most burrowing animals, byscratching the earth into a pile behind him.However, when he has finished his underground home, he burrows out of the groundin a different place. This ex it hole is smalland well hidden in the grass. The anim althen runs over to the original hole, pu s h e sthe FRESH EARTH BACK- into it, STAMPS itd o w n , and scatters any l e f t -o v e r s .

Water Conservation

Some light on the camels unusual abilityto conserve water . . . e c o n o m y is the secretof the camels waterless endurance feats.Even when the animal has had his fill ofwater, kidney excretion is n e g l ig i b l e , andbody waste a l m o s t d r y . The camel n e v e r pa n t s and is cooled by perspiring only afterbody tem perature has reached 104 Fa hren heit. Although his blood will not give upwater readily, the camel can tolerate dehydration to an extent that would kill mostother animals.

The Vampire Bats

Vampire bats are quite common in parts ofCentral and South America. However, theyare v e r y s m a l l , about 4 inches long. Manycreatures, besides man, receive their attentions. A clean incision in the vic tims skin,made with sharp front teeth, enables thissmall creature to lap up the blood, as akitten laps milk. They d o n o t suck bloodthey d o n o t have hypnotic powerstheydo n o t cause suffering.

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been written by a Frenchman. Silencefollowed in the cabin.

Nelson swung his chair around andfaced the stem-gallery windows. Completely ignoring those standing abouthim, he stared one-eyed out to sea,

projecting himself far beyond the con

iines of the swaying ships stem-gallery.It almost seemed to Atkinson as thoughthe Admiral had reached out beyondthem all to the actual scene of the disaster and ahead of it!

Finally, Nelson spokealmost as ifto himself:

I can explain the whole. The jacketsare of French manufacture, and provethat the privateer was in possession ofthe enemy. She had been chased andtaken by the two ships that were seenin the W.N.W. The Prize-Master, going on board in a hurry, forgot to takewith him his reckoning; there is nonein the logbook, and the dirty papercontained her work for the number ofdays since the privateer last left Corvo,with an unaccounted-for run, which Itake to have been the chase, in his endeavours to find out her situation by

back reckonings.By some mismanagement, I con

clude she was run on board of by oneof the enemys ships and dismasted. Notliking delay (for I am satisfied that thetwo ships were the advanced ones ofthe French squadron), and fancying we

were close at their heels, they set fireto the vessel and abandoned her in ahurry.

His projection proved entirely correct, and he followed up the trail successfully, to the amazement of his auditors in the cabin, who followed hisevery word in a strange silence.

This mystical second sightas hissubordinates called itevinced itselftime and again, even ashore at MertonPlace, one Monday morning, the 2ndof September, 1805, at 5:00 a.m., aswalking in his garden he heard a carriage drive up to the front porch. Init sat Captain The Hon. Henry Blackwood, enroute to London and the Admiral ty. Nelson exclaimed: I am sure

you bring me news of the French andSpanish fleets! I think I shall yet haveto beat them. Depend on it, Blackwood,I shall yet give Monsieur Villeneuve adrubbing!

Again, prophetic insight prevailed!And on his way to Londonafter Black

wood, to the AdmiraltyNelson calledat his upholsterers, asking them to havethe necessary inscription duly engravedupon a coffin presented to him as asouvenir of the Nile battleremarkinggrimly that it wras highly probablethat he might want it on his return.

Further, on the eve of battle itself,Nelson observed some young midshipmen talking together on the quarterdeck and said: Tomorrow will be afortunate day for you young gentlemen(meaning as to prize-money and promotion after the action), but I shall not

live to see it.Late in the forenoon of Monday,

October 21, as the two opposing fleetssailed into action, Captain Blackwoodtook the hand of his Admiral, wishedhim success and said he hoped to return aboard Victory from his own shipafter the battle and find him in possession of twenty prizes.

Nelson smiled quietly and replied:God bless you, Blackwood; I shallnever speak to you again.

Four hours later, Blackwood rushedback aboard to see his dving friendto find him already speechless and unconscious; his last prophecy had beenfulfilled.

If final comment were necessary, itmay be found in the cold words of Vic-torys log, written by Master ThomasAtkinson:

Partial firing continued until four-thirtyp.m., when, a victory hav ing been reportedto the Right Honourable Lord Nelson. K.B.and Commander-in-Chief, he then died ofhis wound.

Like the greater mystic and prophetMoses, Nelson had passed to HigherService in sight of victory. Off CapeTrafalgar there went out the Lightwhich had burned so steadily by landand sea from Boston Bay.

VV A

Men are united by the fact of religious experiencenot by their collectiveinterpretation of it. V a l i d i v a r

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These include those of the Lnperator,the Grand Master for Great Britain,Frater Rayxnund Andrea, and one onDr. H. Spencer LewisThe Mangiven by Frater Peter P. Falcone ofSan Jose, who accompanied the Im

perator to England.

The Francis Bacon Chapter ofAMORC in London which has issuedthe booklet has done so, it says, notonly as a souvenir of this very inspiringand auspicious occasion to those members fortunate enough to be in attendance, butfor the first timeto createa new service to those members who,for their own various reasons, were notable to be in attendance.

The booklet may be obtained fromThe Francis Bacon Chapter, Institute ofJournalists, 2-4 Tudor Street, or fromthe Rosicrucian Administrative Office,25 Garrick Street, London W.C. 2. Theprice postpaid is 2/6 or 35c in U. S.currency.

* * *


Byron Chapter of AMORC in Not-tingnam, England, in November entertained several members of the PastMasters Association. In Nottingham atthe invitation of the Chapter Master,Frater Gullick, the visiting Associationmembers participated later in the Chapter convocation. The chapters represented were Francis Bacon, London;John Dalton, Manchester; Birmingham,in Birmingham; St. Andrew, Glasgow;and the Brighton Pronaos.

V A VQuite unexpectedly the Imperator of

the Order and the Grand Master ofItaly met recently in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil. As reported earlier, Frater Lewisflew to South America on official business for the Order. Baron GiuseppeCassara, Jr. was in Rio on a legal matter. Both had met previously duringthe summer at conclaves in London,Paris, and Rome; but the meeting inRio was unofficial and quite without

previous arrangement.

V A VThe Abingdon Press of New York

City and of Nashville, Tennessee, publishes a series of books for boys andgirls called Makers of America. Members of the Junior Order of Torchbear-ers, especially those in the UnitedStates, will be particularly interested in

Roger Williams, Defender of Freedom,

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one of the books in tha t series. It waswritten by Soror Cecile Pepin Edwardsand tells the story of what one individual can accomplish with a worthygoal and a strong determination. It wasbecause of that goal and determinationthat our members in Providence, Rhode

Island, thought Roger Williams namethe most appropriate for their chapter.V A V

Dania, Florida, has its own LutherBurbank in Frater Roy Clemer whosehope is to achieve a miniature RoyalPomciana. Normally a large tree, theRoyal Poinciana (Delonix regia) is anative of the island of Madagascar although it is widely grown in warmregions. It was named for M. de Poinci,a governor of the French West Indies.Its immense racemes of scarlet andorange flowers very naturally led to its

being called the Peacock Flower.

But Frater Clemer wanted to developa dwarf species. One day he picked upsome seed pods and set to work. He

fdanted, potted, trimmed, and repotted,osing some 500 seedlings in the process.

At last he has a blooming baby, a littlemore than three years old. Ifand headmits it to be a big ifthe specimencan be self-pollinated, his hope for anew dwarf species may be realized.

A veteran of World War I, an expolio victim, Frater Clemer feels satisfied that working with Nature is the

best hobby and greatest cure availableto him.V A V

Although bom in Flekkefjord, Norway, Frater Gilbert Fidjeland foundhimself in Alaska for twenty-five years.Mostly he worked as a mining mechanic, but he had other jobs, too, oftenskiing as much as forty miles in a day.Seven years ago, he was working on arailroad construction job and sufferedan injury to his spine, legs, and rightarm. Th at brought him to Seattle forhospitalization and his present life in a

wheel chair.As he told Marjorie Jones, who wrote

his story for The Seattle Times lastNovember, Doctors and nurses andscience can do only so much for a man;then you must fight for yourself. Firstyou must adjust your mind to yourcondition ana then get interested insomething.


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One interest Frater Gilbert developedwas typing, another was philosophyand above all music. His success inmusic is attested by the fact that henow plays the accordion and is in demand at the Norse Home where helives. Perhaps an even greater success

is indicated by the fact that he is calledby everybody Mr. Sunshine.V A V

Last month, this department reporteda rally of Alden Lodge of AMORC inCaracas, Venezuela, at which SupremeSecretary, Cecil A. Poole from San Jose,and Grand Councilor for Latin-Ameri-ca, Carlos Nunez of Mexico City, were

present. Like the newspaper account ofMark Twains death which he said washighly exaggerated, our report wasslightly inaccurate. Frater Poole was inCaracas at the time mentioned, it istrue, and so was Gr

Documents

Rosicrucian Digest, March 1958