The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians

First published in 2012 by Weiser Books

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

665 Third Street, Suite 400

San Francisco, CA 94107

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright © 2012 Red Wheel/Weiser. First edition published by Advanced Publishing Company, Chicago, IL, 1918.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.

Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-534-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request

Cover design by Jim Warner

Cover illustration by Jeff Hoke

Interior Design by Frame25 Productions

Typeset in Garamond Premier Pro and Angsana New

Printed in the United States of America

TS

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1992 (R1997).

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

Contents

Introduction by Clint Marsh

PART I
The Rosicrucians and Their Secret Doctrine

The Legendary Rosicrucians • Truth and Error Regarding Them • Counterfeit Rosicrucian Orders • Who Are the Rosicrucians? • “The Brothers of the Rosy Cross” •” The Early History of the Rosicrucians • The Legend of Christian Rosenkreutz, and the Truth Behind It • “Look to the East, Whence Comes All Light” • Lifting the Veil of Secrecy • Why the Esoteric Teaching Always Is Secret • The Higher Alchemy • Contrasting Methods of Orient and Occident • “The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians” • An Age-old Wisdom Teaching • Found in Egypt, Indian, Persia, Chaldea, Medea, China, Assyria, Ancient Greece, and in the Ancient Hebrew Secret Teaching • The Basis of Great Oriental Philosophies • The Secret Doctrine of Atlantis, Its Real Source and Origin • Pythagoras • Gautama, the Buddha • “The Seven Aphorisms of Creation” • The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians • The Explanation of the Symbol of the Rosy Cross

PART II
The Eternal Parent

The Sleep of the Cosmic Night • Before the Rekindling of the Flame of Spirit • Before the Advent of Time • Before the Beginning of Change • The Infinite Unmanifest • The Symbol of Infinite Space • That Which Was Before the Universe Was • The Cosmic Days and Nights • “The Days and Nights of Brahm” • The Essence of the Flame of the Spirit • “The Dark Flame” • Duration Without Time • Pure Duration • Formless Existence • Absolute Motion Identical With Absolute Rest • Existence Without Qualities • Superconscious Existence, Not Unconscious Existence • The One-All Without a Second • The Immeasurable Infinite • The Fathomless Abyss

PART III
The Soul of the World

The Germ Within the Cosmic Egg • The Formless Takes on Form • The Flame Is Rekindled • The Beginning of Time • The Commencement of Action • The Manifestation of the Pairs of Opposites • The Birth of the World Soul • The Dawn of the New Cosmic Day • The Appearance of The Demiurge • The Presence of the Anima Mundi • The Manifestation of the World Spirit • The Production of the Logos • The First Born of the Infinite Unmanifest • The Cosmic Egg • The First Cause • The “Golden Egg of the Kalahansa” • The Symbol of the Egg, in the Secret Doctrine • The Teaching Concerning the Logos • The Doctrine Respecting the Demiurge • The Universal Will • Plastic Nature • The Will-to-Live • The First Manifestation • The Garments of the World Soul • The Thrill of Life in the World Soul

PART IV
The Universal Androgyne

The Birth of Sex • The Neuter Becomes Bi-Sexual • The Cosmic Hermaphrodite • The Universal Androgyne • Bi-Sexuality in the Universal Manifestation • The Inner Teachings • The Ancient Mysteries • Phallicism, the Shadow of the Truth • The Symbol of Universal Bi-Sexuality • The Cross and the Circle • The Phallic Cross • The Swastica • The Rose Cross • The Male Universal Principle • The Female Universal Principle • Sex Manifest on All Planes of Existence • The Positive and the Negative Poles of Being • Sex Activity in Electricity and Magnetism • Sex, the Secret of Chemical Affinity • How Love Makes the World Go Round • How the One Becomes Two, and the Two Becomes the Many

PART V
The One and the Many

How the One Becomes the Many • How Unity Becomes Diversity • How the Identical Becomes Variety • No Separation Possible to Unity • The Manifold Reflection of the One Reality • The Falling Raindrops • The Jars of Water • The Ocean of Being and Its Bubbles • Absolute Being is One • Relative Being Is Apparently Many • Monism • Involution and Evolution • The World Soul and Its Material Garments • The Descent into Matter • The Ascent from Matter • The Spiral Stairway of Being • Sub-Mineral Forms • Mineral Forms • Plant Forms • Animal Forms • Human Forms • Superhuman Forms • God-like Forms • How the One Apparently Becomes Many, and Yet Remains One in Reality • The Paradox of Being

PART VI
The Universal Flame of Life

The Sparks of the Flame of Life • The Rosicrucian Symbol of the Flaming Fire • The Fire of Spirit • The Essence of the Spiritual Flame of Life • Life Is Universal • There is Nothing Without Life in the Universe • The Universe Is Not Half-dead, but All-Alive • The Living Universe • Life in the Ether • Life in All Matter • The Universe a Living Dynamism • Life in the Atoms • Life in the Chemical Elements • Life in the Mineral World • Life in the Plant World • Life in the Animal World • Life in the Human World • Life in the Superhuman World • Life in the Divine World • Living Crystals • Scientific Proof of Life in the Inorganic World • Marvelous Reports of Modern Science • Metallic Vegetation • How Modern Science Confirms the Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians

PART VII
The Planes of Consciousness

The Seven Planes of Consciousness • Life the Essence of Spirit • Consciousness the Essence of Life • Everything Is Conscious • Nothing Is Unconscious • The Plane of Elemental Consciousness • Mental Action in the Atoms and Electrons • How the Occultist Works “Magic” by Knowledge of the Elemental Consciousness • The Plane of Mineral Consciousness • The Presence of Consciousness in the Crystals • The Secret of Cohesion and Mineral Organization • The Plane of Plant Consciousness • How Plants Manifest Intelligent Action • Plants Exhibit Consciousness Pertaining to Nutrition, Nervous Organization, and Thought Processes • Intelligence in Plants • Wonderful Reports of Modern Science • Rosicrucian Secret Doctrine Corroborated by Modern Science • The Plane of Animal Consciousness • The Evolution of Mind in the Animal World • A Fascinating Story

PART VIII
The Three Higher Planes of Consciousness

The Plane of Human Consciousness • The Dawn of Self-Consciousness • The “I Am I” • The Inward Mental Gaze • Simple Consciousness versus Self-Consciousness • The Psychology of Self-Consciousness • The Mystery of the Sense of Selfhood • How Man Pays the Price of SelfConsciousness • The Mastery of Mind • The Plane of the Consciousness of the Demi-Gods • The Light from Above • Mystic Experiences • Illumination • Cosmic Consciousness • At One with the Universe • Testimony of the Poets, Mystics, and Seers • Recognition of the Oversoul • The Phenomenon of Cosmic Consciousness • Beings Who Function Habitually on the Plane of the Demi-Gods • Legendary Beings of the Ancients • The Planes of the Consciousness of the Gods • Transcendental Knowledge • Exalted Beings “Like Unto the Gods” • The Secret of the Archangels • The Truth of the Symbols • The Riddle of the Symbol

PART IX
The Sevenfold Soul of Man

The Soul Is One in Essence, Yet Wrapped in a Sevenfold Veil • Veils Which Conceal, but Yet Reveal • The Elemental Soul • The Pattern of Form • The Etheric Double • The So-called Astral Body • The “Ghost” • The Mineral Soul • The Spirit of the Chemical Processes in the Laboratory of the Body • The Plant Soul • The Spirit of the Vegetable Processes of Growth in the Body • The Animal Soul • The Spirit of the Animal Functions of the Body • The Truth About the Animal Passions and the Physical Processes • The Human Soul • The Spirit of Intellectual Activity and Reasoning Processes • A Plane of Great Trials and Struggles • The Soul of the Demi-Gods • The Spirit of the Altruistic Emotions and Activities, and of Cosmic Consciousness • The Higher Planes of the Soul • The Soul of the Gods • The Spirit of the Divine Faculties of the Soul • Summary of the Spiritual Evolution from Element to Godhood

PART X
Metempsychosis

The Occult Doctrine of Metempsychosis, Reincarnation, or Transmigration of Souls • The Most Ancient of the World's Beliefs Concern the Soul • The Teachings of the Ancient Egyptians, Chaldeans, Persians, Hindus, and Greeks, and of Many Other Ancient Peoples • The Teaching of the Great Philosophers of All Times • How One Knows for Himself the Truth of Metempsychosis • Hidden Memories Awakened • Past Events Brought into the Field of Consciousness • Infant Prodigies, and Their Explanation • Remarkable Instances of Memories of the Past Life • The Law of Attraction determines Rebirth • The Life After Death, and Its Incidents and Phenomena • The Astral World • The Mystery of the Soul Sleep • The Astral Planes and Sub-planes • Life on the Astral Planes • How a Soul Is Reborn on Earth • The Current of Rebirth • The Power of Desire in Determining the Character of Rebirth

PART XI
The Soul's Progress

The Chain of the Seven Planets • The Spiral Stairway of Spiritual Progress • The Ascending Tide of Life • The Spiritual Wakes • The Seven Rounds • The Seven Races in Each Round • The Fourth Round on Earth • The First Race • The Second Race • The Third Race • Life in Lemuria • The Destruction of Lemuria • The Fourth Race • Life in Atlantis • The Doom of Atlantis • The Atlantean Survivors • The Dawn of the Fifth Race • The Racial Cataclysms • The History of Modern Man • The Rise and Fall of the Egyptians, the Persians, the Chaldeans, the Grecians, the Romans, and Other Great Nations • History Repeats Itself • The Races of the Future • A Fascinating Tale from the Pages of the Secret Doctrine, Describing the Travel of the Souls from Planet to Planet, in Successive Rounds; and the Story of the Seven Races in Which the Soul Incarnates in Each Round on Earth • The Key to Many Historical Mysteries

PART XII
The Aura and the Auric Colors

The Human Aura or Psychic Atmosphere • The Astral Colors of the Aura • What the Aura Really Is • The Characteristics of the Aura • Table of the Auric Colors • The Blacks, the Greens, the Grays, the Reds, the Browns, the Oranges, the Yellows, the Blues • The Infra Reds and the Ultra Violets • The Manifestation of the Auric Colors by the Individual • The Effect of Emotion Upon the Auric Colors • The Auric Colors, and How They Reveal the Mental and Emotional States • How the Clairvoyant Reads the Character of the Person by Means of the Auric Colors • The Three Primary Auric Colors • Key to the Auric Colors • Important Teachings Concerning the Effects of Colors Upon Mind and Body • The Therapeutic Scales of Colors • The Protective Aura • The Color Secret of Personal Magnetism • Personal Atmosphere, Mental Influence, etc.

PART XIII
The Seven Cosmic Principles

The Principle of Correspondence • “As Above, So Below” • “From One, Know All” • The Rosicrucian Law of Analogy • The Principle of Law and Order • The Universe Is Governed by Law • There Is no Chance • Nothing Happens Without Cause • What Chance Really Is • Causation versus Fatalism • The Principle of Vibration • Everything Vibrates • Vibration, the Secret of Differences • The Science of Vibration • The Principle of Rhythm • Everything Beats Time • The Universal Swing of the Pendulum • The Rise and Fall of the Universal Tides • The Principle of Cycles • Everything Moves In Circles • Circles and Spirals Constitute the Road to Progress • The Principle of Polarity • Everything Has Its Opposite • The Pairs of Opposites • The Antinomies • Facts of Polarity • Mental Alchemy • Balance and Poise • The Principle of Sex • Sex In Everything • The Masculine Principle • The Feminine Principle • Mental Sex • Sex, the Secret of Mental Influence, Suggestion, Hypnotism, etc • Sex on the Spiritual Plane • A Startling Presentation of an Important Occult Truth

Bibliography of William Walker Atkinson & His Alter Egos

Bonus Material

Introduction

Veil after veil will lift—but there must be Veil upon veil behind.

—Edwin Arnold, The Light of Asia

I'm about to tell you a secret. Well, I'd like to tell it to you, but there is a catch. Once I've told you, your life will be different, and the way you read this book will have changed. If you don't want to know the secret, then I suggest you simply skip this introduction and dive straight into the main text of Magus Incognito's The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians.

But it really is an exquisite secret.

Still here? All right then, I'll tell you. The secret is that some parts of this book are absolute inventions. Precisely which parts are fanciful and convenient illusions is a larger mystery, and one which I am unqualified to solve, but I will point out a few chimeras that I do know of for certain and pray you'll forgive me for it. My reason for doing so is not to show how clever I am, and it's not to prove the rest of this book wrong. Quite the opposite: it's simply to show you that in some instances, invention is exactly what we need. And notice that I'm not claiming these inventions are falsehoods, or even lies. On the contrary, the parts of this book that are not strictly true contribute to the entire book's overall truth.

The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians is many things: It is a story. It is an account of history, and, in a way, it is a scientific textbook. It is also a manual for life, and a call to action. Its message is powerful enough to make kings and bishops tremble, and the meek and disenfranchised stand up and attempt great deeds. And that is precisely why I hope you take it to be true, as others wiser than you or I have for centuries. In taking up study of the Rosicrucian teachings, you will find yourself in a chain of initiates stretching back before the beginnings of recorded history. Let me introduce you to one now.

Magus Incognito is the name, and for as enigmatic a moniker as the good mage dons, his real business in this slim volume is the pulling back of the veil covering ancient mysteries. How ancient? Suffice it to say that one of the founding fathers of Western esotericism, Pythagoras himself, is thought to have wrestled with some of the same mystical riddles put forth in The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians. A lineage of great thinkers and writers has taken up the task of lifting the curtain on this same stage and, like any good story, it is one which rewards repeated telling, and which only grows more relevant to each new generation who hears it.

A stage play is an apt metaphor for the Rosicrucian cosmology, for it is a grand drama that, similarly to life itself, can be revisited at any time, revealing new truths and posing more questions each time. There are stage sets and dramatic lighting effects and characters both onstage and off. There is a script, but it's a revision written by the assistant director. We mortals are actors and audience alike. Some of us read the script a bit too faithfully to be believed, while others ad lib with so much conviction that we redirect the plot, taking everyone in new and unexpected directions. The play is still in production. There are endless casting calls and grueling daily rehearsals.

And where is Magus Incognito during all this? He is in the wings, an accommodating stage manager for the actors, and in the house, a chatty usher for the audience, offering a better seat and a copy of the program to those who have questions. His story is as fantastic as the most outlandish science fiction, and it offers a new century's readers a timeless myriad of connections between occult concepts as varied as alchemy, reincarnation, the astral plane, auras, Eastern and Western mysticism, and the spiritual evolution of mankind along a tour of seven esoteric versions of planets in our own solar system. Despite all this spectacle, people are drawn to read the story, even to take up individual parts in the play, not so much because of the strange and marvelous backdrops but because of the transformations promised on both a personal and universal scale.

Who is this man, this self-proclaimed initiator into mystery? It is again to the printed program itself that we can look for answers. The first edition of The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians appeared in 1915, advertised in the back pages of books and pamphlets from the Advanced Thought Publishing Company of Chicago, Illinois. The house's other titles that year included instruction in clairvoyance and crystal gazing by one Swami Bhakta Vishita and astral travel tips by the equally exotic Swami Panchadasi.