Freemasonry and Catholicism - Rosicrucian

1 Freemasonry ANDCATHOLICISMBYMAXHEINDELE leventh EditionAn Exposition of the Cosmic Facts UnderlyingThese Two Great Institutions As Determinedby Occult InvestigationTHE Rosicrucian FELLOWSHIPM ount Ecclesia2222 Mission AvenueOceanside, California, USA, 92058-2329 COPYRIGHT 2011 by THE Rosicrucian FELLOWSHIPAll rights including translation to copy or translate will be readilygiven upon written request.(ISBN 0-911274-04-9)(ISBN 978-0-911274-04-2) (760) 757-6600 Max Heindel, spiritual Initiate and messenger of the RosicrucianBrotherhood, was born in Denmark on July 23, 1865. He became a shippingengineer and eventually immigrated to the United States. By 1905 he hadbecome seriously interested in the study of metaphysics and spent the next fewyears consciously working and searching for spiritual Truths. When he wasvisiting Germany in 1907, the Elder Brother of the Rose Cross who became hisTeacher made contact with him on the inner planes.

2 He was instructed in theetheric Temple of the Rose Cross, receiving the occult Teachings that heeventually incorporated intoThe Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, published inNovember 1909. He foundedThe Rosicrucian Fellowship in August 1909, andspent his remaining years, until January 6, 1919, writing, lecturing, establishingFellowship Headquarters in Oceanside, California, and generally spreading theTeachings of Esoteric Christianity the pioneer spiritual Teachings which willprepare all humanity for the New Age of Aquarius, when all nations will join inUniversal SYMBOLISM Divine symbols which have been given to mankind from time totime speak to that forum of truth which is within our hearts, and wakenour consciousness to divine ideas entirely beyond words. Max Emblem of the Western Mystery School of the Rosicrucians is onesuch symbol: in its entirety it represents God in manifestation.

3 It expressesthe key to man s past evolution, his present constitution, his futuredevelopment, and the method of blue background represents God the Father; the golden starsymbolizes Christ born within the spiritual aspirant and radiating from thefive points the head and four limbs; the red roses indicate thepurification of the human desire nature on the cross of matter the bloodof the aspirant cleansed from passion. The white rose symbolizes purity ofheart and also the larynx with which, once purified, humanity will speakthe Creative Word. The white cross represents the physical body. Thegolden star represents the Golden Wedding Garment the ethericvehicle which the Spirit builds during lifetimes of purity and reading shows that the cross also indicates plant, animal andhuman life-waves. The lower limb is the plant nourished through the rootswith spiritual currents from the Earth; man, the upper limb, receivesspiritual influences from the Sun through the head; animals are sustainedby spiritual currents horizontally surrounding the lamp of wi sdom and t he heart show t he t wo streams of evol vi nghumanity: those following the path of intellect (occult) and thosefollowing the path of love (mystic).

4 There can be no contradiction inNature, therefore the heart and the mind must be capable of union of head and heart will signify the Perfected the foot of the page is thefleur-de-lis, the emblem of theTrinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit but as only the Father and HolySpirit were active at the time here represented, we find but two of thepetals colored with red, thus showing beings created we see as a stream flowing upwards, providedwith two bodies, the dense and the vital, but after a time the desire body isadded and is shown by the red appearing in the ascending each stream looks alike outwardly, they are vastlydifferent. The one on the left is known in our literature as the Sons ofCain. They are full of positive energy and are thecraftsmen of the world,thephree-messen, who carve their way through life, rather enjoying theobstacles which they know strengthen the character; they work throughthe intellect, as is shown by the lamp from the flame of which proceednine rays, showing the positive path chosen by the esoteric other stream develops the heart side of life, and the divine flameproceeding from it shows buteight rays, a negative path; those followingit desiring that they should have a leader; someone to follow, someone toworship.

5 They are thechurchmen of the world who obey the teachings oftheir stream of l i fe fl ows onward si de by si de ti ll a t i me comes whenthe wise and loving ones guiding the evolution decide that to hastenprogress it is necessary that the two unite, and plan that this shall beaccomplished by the building of a temple for the worshippers by thecraftsmen and that both streams would unite in a Mystical Molten can see the wonderful impulse by the chalice raised from each andfilled with the red wine of life. You will read the story of this in thebuilding of Sol omon s Temple. This plan was frustrated by the treacheryof the Sons of Seth those on the right. And after this each swung furtheraway from the other than seri ous condi ti on now i s shown i n whi ch some appear t o fal l awayentirely through materialism. But still the race lives on, the churchmanand the scientist, the mystic and the occultist, each pursuing their ownpath independent of the other, till a stage of such materialism is reachedthat the spiritual guiders see grave dangers ahead.

6 To prevent the plan ofevolution being defeated, a great destruction of the human bodies ispermitted which for a time looks as if it would wipe humanity off theearth. See the break in each stream. But this calamity has the desiredeffect: we now see again great force and each stream turned directlytoward the other, where they may shortly unite as one. At the foot of thepage we find another symbol, so small that you may have overlooked is a small black cross that represents the physical body. In theenlarged head of the cross is seen the heart. Heart and head have unitedand the result is shown in the spreading ray the resultant soul I Lucifer, the Rebel II The Masonic Legend .. 14 Part III The Queen of Sheba .. 23 Part IV Casting the Molten Sea .. 35 Part V The Mystery of 42 Part VI Spiritual 58 Part VII The Philosopher s Stone What Is It and How It Is Made.

7 67 Part VIII The Path of Initiation .. 81 Part IX Armageddon, the Great War, and the Coming Age .. 89 Illustrations follow the Index at the back of the book5 PART ILUCIFER, THE REBEL ANGELHE Rosicrucian Fellowship aims to educateand construct, to be charitable even to thosewith whom we differ, and never to vent the venom ofvituperation, spite, or malice even upon those whoseem deliberately determined to mislead. We revere theCatholic religion; it is as divine in its essence, asMystic Masonry both are rooted in hoary antiquity,both were born to further the aspiration of the strivingsoul, both have a message and a mission in the world,not apparent upon the surface today, because man-madeceremonial has hidden the kernel of divinity in each asa scale, and it is the purpose of this work to uncoverthat scale and show the Cosmic purpose of these twoGreat Organizations, which are so bitterly do not aim to reconcile them, however, for thoughthey are both designed to further the emancipation ofthe soul, their method is different, and the attributes ofthe soul fostered by one method will indeed be verydifferent from the quality of the soul nurtured in theother School.

8 Therefore the strife must continue untilthe battle for the souls of men has been lost and won,the issue is not, however, the persistence of theMasonic or Catholic institutions, but the outcome willdetermine the nature of the training humanity willTFREEMASONRY ANDCATHOLICISM6receive in the remaining Periods of our evolution. Weshall endeavor to show the cosmic root of both of theseinst it utio ns, the purpose of each and the training whicheach will inaugurate, if successful; also the nature ofthe soul quality which may be expected to result fromeach method. The writer is not a Mason, and thus he isfree to say what he knows without fear of violatingobligations, but he is a Mason at heart, and thereforefrankly opposed to opposition is not fanatical, or blind to themerits of the Catholic Religion, however. The Catholicis our brother as well as the Mason; we would not say adisparaging irreverent word against this faith, or thosewho live by it, and should we seem to do so, in anypassage, the wrong will be due to inadvertence, and thereader is requested to note that we distinguish sharplybetween the Catholic Hierarchy and the CatholicReligion, but also the former are our brothers, and wewould not throw stones either physically or morally, forwe know our own shortcomings too well to accuseothers.

9 Thus our opposition is not personal, butspiritual, and to be fought with the weapon of theSpirit Reason. We firmly believe it to be for theeverlasting good of mankind that the Masons shouldwin, and cannot therefore be sure to present theCatholic side in a perfectly unbiased manner, but weask our students for whom this is written, to believethat we shall try to be just. Of the Cosmic Facts we areLUCIFER,THEREBELANGEL7certain, but bias may creep into our conclusions,therefore each must use his reason to test what we haveto say; prove all things and hold fast that which isgood. The great law of analogy is everywhere the masterkey of all spiritual mysteries, and, although Masonryand Catholicism do not begin till we arrive at the EarthPeriod, they have their prototype in the earlier Periods,and we shall therefore briefly touch upon the the Saturn Period, the Earth-in-the-making wasdark;Heat, which is the first manifestation of the everinvisible fire, was the only element; embryonicmankind was mineral-like, the only lower kingdom ofevolving life.

10 Unity was everywhere observable, andthe Lords of Mind who were human then, were at oneamong the Western Wisdom Teaching we speak of thehighest Initiate of the Saturn Period asThe the Sun Period the root of a new element:Airwas evolved, and coalesced with the true fire, which,mark again, is always invisible, and which manifestedasheat in the Saturn Period. Then fire burst intoflames,and the dark world became a blazing ball of luminousfiremist at the word of power: Let there be light. Let the student ponder well the relation offire andflame; the former lies sleeping, invisible in everything,and is kindled into light in var io us ways: by a blo w of aFREEMASONRY ANDCATHOLICISM8hammer upon a stone, by friction of wood against woodand by chemical action, etc. This gives us a clue to theidentity and state ofThe Father, whom no man hasseen at any time, but who is revealed in The Light ofthe World , the Son, who is the highest Initiate of theSun Period.