The Gnostic Mysteries of The Pistis Sophia 4099

THE GNOSTIC MYSTERIES
OF
PISTIS SOPHIA
THE GNOSTIC MYSTERIES
OF
PISTIS SOPHIA
REFLECTIONS ON
BOOK I OF PISTIS SOPHIA
BY
JAN VAN RIJCKENBORGH
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
CATHAROSE DE PETRI
2006
ROZEKRUIS PERS ^ HAARLEM ^ NETHERLANDS

International School of the Golden Rosycross
Lectorium Rosicrucianum
Headquarters
Bakenessergracht 11-15, Haarlem, Netherlands
www.lectoriumrosicrucianum.org
isbn-10 : 90 6732 331 4

isbn-13: 978 90 6732 331 4
ß 2006 Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem, Netherlands

Contents
Introduction 7
Preface 9
1 The unknown mysteries 16

2 Five psychological processes 23
3 The fundamental disquiet 29
4 The pupil at the crossroad 34
5 The revelation-consciousness 40
6 The magnetic storm 45
7 A new heaven and a new earth 52
8 Contact with the Spiritual School 57
9 The fiery triangle 63
10 The Master of the Stone 74
11 The archons of the aeons 79
12 The birth of John 84
13 The power of the little Iao“, the Good 92
14 The power of the great Sabaoth 97
15 The five helpers 102
16 The wonder of the original atom 108
17 Blood, fire, and smoke 113
18 It is you who will save the whole world 118
19 The Lord knows us all by name 129
20 The east and the west window 135
21 The light-vesture of renewal 141
22 Conquer the law of gravitation 147
23 The archons, authorities, and angels fear
most exceedingly 152
24 The zodiacça twelvefold prison 163
25 The dethronement of the four Lords of Fate 170
26 The joyful message of the modern Spiritual School 178
27 The mysteries of the Thirteenth Aeon 185
28 The creation of the Thirteenth Aeon 190
29 The end of horoscopes 201
30 Ensoulment for deathçensoulment for life 208
31 A new sun and a new moon 222
32 The sadness of Pistis Sophia 230
33 The influence of Authades 239
34 The magnetic conflict 243
35 The lion-faced power 249
36 Yaldabaoth: fire and darkness 254
37 The thirteenfold repentance 260
38 First repentance: the Song of Humanity 275
39 Second repentance: the Song of Consciousness 285
40 Third repentance: the Song of Humility 293
41 Fourth repentance: the Song of Demolition 305
42 Fifth repentance: the Song of Resignation 315
43 The mystery of the fifth repentance 324
44 The sixth repentance: the Song of Trust 334
45 The mystery of the three light-powers 339
46 Seventh repentance: the Song of Decision 352
47 Eighth repentance: the Song of Oppression 364
48 Ninth repentance: the Song of the Breakthrough 375
49 The wall of the twelve aeons 380
50 The fundamental cause of sickness and death 384
51 The radiation of Christ 387
52 James, the person who possesses Gnosis 396
Introduction
The gnostic manuscript Pistis Sophia, purportedly written by the

famous gnostic Valentine, born in Alexandria during the second
century AD, was discovered by the London physician A Askew
during the second half of the 18 th century. In 1785, after his death,
the manuscript, the Codex Askewianus, was purchased by the Brit-
ish Museum in London, where it has been kept ever since.
The Dutch translation of Book 1 of the Pistis Sophia was published,

along with extensive explanations given by Jan van Rijckenborgh
during the 1960 ’s, at a time in which the question of the origin,
essence and purpose of the Gnosis was vivified in many people.
This book provides a direct answer, in the light of the Gnosis, to

the question of true human destiny, and shows a way by which
this destinyçthe living soul-stateçcan be reached.
The Pistis Sophia speaks about two rivers, referring to two electro-
magnetic waves.One stream is called the stream of knowledge, the
Pistis; the other is called the stream of wisdom, the Sophia. One
stream is wholly associated with human knowledge relative to
every juncture in time, so that humanity can always discover this
emanation and can react to it, yes, must react to it. The other
stream keeps totally aloof from this world, yet radiates into this
world, so that the individual, the God-seeking human being, final-
ly fleeing the Pistis of nature, might be able to ultimately find the
Sophia, the wisdom, yes, might become the Sophia itself.
We have reached a point in time, in which many gnostically-sensi-

tive people are, with varying degrees of inner yearning and inner
7
hunger, more or less consciously looking for liberation. They are
seeking to perhaps discover and approach the source of their feel-
ings and the aim of their longing. In this era, the true meaning of
the often-obscure words of the Pistis Sophia can be recognised in
the gnostic light of the explanations given by Jan van Rijckenborgh.
Thus we see that the two emanations, the Pistis and the Sophia,
originate from the nature of the spirit. The Pistis awakens and
drives the emotions of the masses in the broadest sense of the
word, and, to this end, interacts very strongly with the human in-
tellect. The Sophia, the second emanation, addresses the chosen
ones in order to save them from the nature of death and to raise
them into the regions of the Divine Pleroma, of which Paul,
amongst others, speaks in his letter to the Ephesians (3:19), the in-
habitants of the border at that time.
The intention of the Sophia is to become the new soul-state, the

new soul-consciousness, and to awaken the new thinking of the
soul in the chosen ones.
The translations of the texts used in this book, which precede each
chapter, are by G R S Mead (Pistis Sophia, a Gnostic Miscellany,
London, 1955). The translations of the texts quoted by J van Rijck-
enborgh in his commentaries in the various chapters sometimes
deviate from Mead’s translations. The reason for this is the fact
that for the Dutch edition, the author also consulted other English
translations: by George Horner (Pistis Sophia, London, 1924), and
by Violet MacDermot, published in the context of the Nag Ham-
madi publications as part of The Coptic Gnostic Library, Nag Ham-
madi Studies IX, Leiden, 1978, as well as the German translation by
Carl Schmidt, edited by Walter Till (Koptisch-Gnostische Schriften, I,
Die Pistis Sophia, Berlin, 1962). The translation from Dutch into Eng-
lish has tried to do justice to this.
Rozekruis Pers
8
Preface
Due to the passing away of the author ç Jan van Rijckenborgh

(1896-1968) ç this book could not, unfortunately, be finished at
the time.
In his book, the author explains how, just like the Pistis Sophia, a
human being is enabled to penetrate the veil of the Thirteenth
Aeon. He presents a complete exposition of the new light-power,
which is like a call, a new assignment in life, a new task. This task
must, however, be fulfilled, so that not death, but the one true life,
will be gained.
Many readers may wonder: ‘What actually are the mysteries of

the Thirteenth Aeon?’ The answer is: The mysteries of the Thir-
teenth Aeon are the Mysteries of the Chain of the Universal Broth-
erhood of the Christ. Or, as Jacob Boehme says: ‘It is Christ who
has affected the heart of fallen nature!’
The Thirteenth Aeon, or the Universal Powerfield, causes the fifth

basic element of the primordial substance, the fire ether or electri-
cal ether, combined with the four other ethers, to break out unto
divine light-power. The Thirteenth Aeon exists forever. From that
realm, from that powerfield, no power will be taken away. The
spirit-soul human being lives through, and is of, this Thirteenth
Aeon. To all who receive Jesus Christ, He will give the power and
the strength to live a life that leads towards thisThirteenth Aeon.
9
How does a human being live a life that leads towards this Thir-
teenth Aeon? The candidate in the gnostic mysteries is confronted
with thirteen soul reversals, which he must struggle through in
order to be able to accomplish true soul rebirth. These soul rever-
sals take shape in the thirteen songs of repentance of the Pistis
Sophia.
1. In the first song, the Pistis Sophia discovers dialectics and hu-
manity’s judgement. She sings the Song of Humanity.
2. In the second song, she achieves the self-discovery of her

nature-state. She sings the Song of Consciousness.
3. On this basis, she sings the Song of Humility with regard to the
one true Light.
4. Then follows the Song of Demolition : the ego is being led to

the grave.
5. The Song of Resignation is the next stage: the Pistis Sophia is in

full self-surrender.
6. On this basis, the Song of Trust is sung. The Light is suppli-

cated for, in true faith.
7. In the seventh song of repentance, the Pistis Sophia sings the

Song of Decision. It is either the rise or the fall.
8. Subsequently, the persecution takes place. The aeons of

nature fiercely attack the Pistis Sophia and she sings the
Song of the Persecution.
9. After having sung the Song of the Break-through, she positively

shakes off her enemy.
10
10. Next, the Pistis Sophia sings the Song of the Answered Prayer.
She sees the Light of Lights for the first time.
11. The power of her innermost faith is subjected to a final test.

She sings the Song of the Testing of the Faith.
12. In the twelfth place, she experiences the great tribulation that
may be compared with the temptation in the desert. She
sings the Song of the greatTribulation.
13. In the thirteenth song of repentance, the Pistis Sophia finally

sings the Song of Victory: the soul has arisen; it sees and en-
counters the Spirit, her Pymander.
In this way, on this basis, the reader can, to a certain extent, reflect
on the divine Wisdom and on the divine Power, which must find
acceptance in prepared human beings. Wisdom and Power are the
first requirements for being truly able to walk the path of soul lib-
eration and bring it to a good end.
Dear reader, the fact that you may use the Universal Teachings,
which have been preserved through the ages, to this end, should
prove to you that you will never be left to your own devices in this
endeavour. The Chain of the Universal Brotherhood of the Christ
always accompanies you to help you, whenever it is useful and
necessary.
This book,The Gnostic Mysteries of the Pistis Sophia, is making the

divine call to the world and humanity resound again. It is an em-
phatic call to understand the great mystery of the Kingdom of
God. And those who understand this call, will be enabled to
enter the path of return to the original Field of Life. To this end,
every human being needs the Sophia, that is: the sublime, divine
Wisdom to show the way lying ahead.
11
Right through all the spheres of the aeons
goes the Pistis Sophia,
after she has purified the sanctuary
of her body on Golgotha.
No power of evil can prevent her

from opening her will unto the Spirit.
Then she enters, singing the songs of victory,
into the eternal feast of love.
2 April 1990 Catharose de Petri
12
It came to pass, when Jesus had risen from the dead, that he passed
eleven years discoursing with his disciples, and instructing them
only up to the regions of the First Commandment and up to the
regions of the First Mystery, that within the Veil, within the First
Commandment, which is the four-and-twentieth mystery without
and belowçthose [four-and-twenty] which are in the second space
of the First Mystery which is before all mysteries,çthe Father in the
form of a dove.
And Jesus said to his disciples: ‘‘I am come forth out of that First
Mystery, which is the last mystery, that is the four-and-twentieth
mystery.’’ And his disciples have not known nor understood that
anything existeth within that mystery; but they thought of that
mystery, that it is the head of the universe and the head of all exis-
tence; and they thought it is the completion of all completions,
because Jesus had said to them concerning that mystery, that it sur-
roundeth the First Commandment and the five Impressions and the
great Light and the five Helpers and the whole Treasury of the
Light.
And moreover Jesus had not told his disciples the total expansion
of all the regions of the great Invisible and of the three triple-
powers and of the four-and-twenty invisibles, and all their regions
and their aeons and their orders, how they are extended ç those
which are the emanations of the great Invisibleçand their ungen-
erated and their self-generated and their generated and their light-
13
givers and their unpaired and their rulers and their authorities and
their lords and their archangels and their angels and their decans
and their servitors and all the houses of their spheres and all the
orders of every one of them.
And Jesus had not told his disciples the total expansion of the ema-
nations of the Treasury, nor their orders, how they are extended; nor
had he told them their saviours, according to the order of every one,
how they are; nor had he told them what guard is at every [gate] of
the Treasury of the Light; nor had he told them the region of the
Twin-saviour, who is the, Child of the Child; nor had he told them
the regions of the three Amens, in what regions they are expanded;
nor had he told them into what region the five Trees are expanded;
nor as to the seven Amens, that is the seven Voices, what is their
region, how they are expanded.
And Jesus had not told his disciples of what type are the five
Helpers, nor into what region they are brought; nor had he told
them how the great Light hath expanded itself, nor into what
region it hath been brought; nor had he told them of the five Im-
pressions, nor as to the First Commandment, into what region
they have been brought. But he had discoursed with them generally,
teaching that they exist, but he had not told them their expansion
and the order of their regions, how they are. For this cause they have
not known that there were also other regions within that mystery.
14
And he had not told his disciples: ‘‘I have gone forth out of such
and such regions until I entered into that mystery, and until I went
forth out of it’’; but, in teaching them, he said to them: ‘‘I am come
forth from that mystery.’’ For this cause then they thought of that
mystery, that it is the completion of completions, and that it is the
head of the universe and that it is the total Fulness. For Jesus had
said to his disciples: ‘‘That mystery surroundeth that universe of
which I have spoken unto you from the day when I met with you
even unto this day.’’ For this cause then the disciples thought there
is nothing within that mystery.
Pistis Sophia, chapter 1
15
1
The unknown mysteries
By means of the commentaries in this book, we want to place you

before the most ancient and the most authentic gospel that we pos-
sess, namely the Pistis Sophia. We want to make it clear to you that
the actual miracle that has touched us finds its basis in the Univer-
sal Teachings of all times.
Pistis Sophia is the character of the thinker who, finding no so-
lution in dialectics, strives for liberating wisdom. She is repre-
sented as a woman who seeks for initiation and who, defeated as
to the Pistis, i.e. thinking with the intellectual faculties, may now
receive this through and from the Sophia, the divine wisdom.
The Pistis Sophia is a pre-eminentlygnostic gospel, that is to say,
the entire manifested wisdom of all times has been concentrated in
it and expressed in a new language. But expressed in such a way
that no unauthorized person can understand it, and therefore no
one will be able to tamper with the contents. We quote from the
first chapter:
It came to pass, when Jesus had risen from the dead, that he passed
eleven years discoursing with his disciples, and instructing them
only up to the regions of the First Commandment and up to the
regions of the First Mystery, that within the Veil, within the First
Commandment, which is the four-and-twentieth mystery without
and belowçthose [four-and-twenty] which are in the second space
of the First Mystery which is before all mysteries,çthe Father in the
form of a dove.
16
And Jesus said to his disciples: ‘‘I am come forth out of that First
Mystery, which is the last mystery, that is the four-and-twentieth
mystery.’’ And his disciples have not known nor understood that
anything existeth within that mystery; but they thought of that
mystery, that it is the head of the universe and the head of all exis-
tence; and they thought it is the completion of all completions....
Whoever wants to understand the meaning of these words must

commence his investigation at his own level of existence. Our dia-
lectical field of life is a field that can be scientifically examined in
twelve aspects, in twelve states. From the twelvefold zodiac of dia-
lectics, the twelvefold manifestation of nature is developed. Each
of these twelve aspects has a reflection, a projection, a reflection
domain, a reflection sphere.
Thus we can say that there are twenty-four aspects of nature in
our field of life, twelve in the material sphere and twelve in the re-
flection sphere. And anyone who wishes can study these twenty-
four aspects mystically or by occult methods. Our wheel of life ro-
tates therein.
They are the twenty-four mysteries, which we can fully com-
prehend. They are the twenty-four mysteries of dialectics, of illu-
sion. It should be clear to you that the Pistis Sophia says that Jesus
has not mentioned a word about these twenty-four mysteries and
that he himself has not come from these twenty-four.
When the nature-born human being goes his way through his
own mysteries, he will come to a border, to the limits of his uni-
verse, of his electromagnetic universe. Then he stands, in the
words of the Pistis Sophia, before a commandment through which
the most formidable magician cannot penetrate, because he
stands before an impenetrable magic circle. Then he comes to his
first true mystery, which is insoluble; the soul world remains
closed to him.
And Jesus taught his disciples about the region of the first com-
mandment and the first true mystery ç before which a human
being of this nature stands as before a wall. In order to specify
17
Chapter 1
this really clearly, the Pistis Sophia repeats that Jesus spoke about the
first commandment, which is the twenty-fourth mystery from
within outwards, at the point where the dialectical field of nature
ends and a new field of life begins. It is a field lying outside of the
reflection sphere.
If you have ever thought that the modern philosophy of the
Rosycross is a figment of the brain of a modern human being,
you are being corrected here by the language of 2,000 years ago,
which was the synthesis of the wisdom of the 100,000 years before
that. There, at the borders of finite striving, the primitive human
being imagines his supreme God, because he has populated
every domain of his attainable world with his idols, which he ex-
ploits. But to the God behind the border he pays stupid meaning-
less reverence.
Jesus, however, instructs his pupils in the unknowable mys-
teries, because these unknowable mysteries form the one reality:
liberation. I am come forth out of that First Mystery [within the veil], he
says. The domain of Christ is also a field with twenty-four aspects,
twelve positive magnetic regions with their twelve reflections.
From the reflection of one of these regions, the Father radiates
in the form of a dove. In the Gnosis, the dove is one of the great
symbols of the Holy Seven-Spirit, of the sevenfold microcosm, of
the sevenfold universe, like the seven Amens or the seven thunder-
claps. The Pistis Sophia often mentions the seven vowels, which to-
gether form the name of the one God.
When the nature-born human being stands at the limits of his
own ability, at the border of the first commandment, before the
truly unknowable, then from out of the unknowable radiates the
Holy Seven-Spirit. It is the calling of the holy name of God by this
name itself. And so further on in the Pistis Sophia (Chapter 143) it
says:
‘‘There is no mystery which is more excellent than these mysteries

on which ye question, in that it will lead your souls into the Light of
lights... Nothing more excellent is there, therefore, than these mys-
18
teries on which ye question, save only the mystery of the seven

Voices and their nine-and forty powers and their ciphers.’’
See, from the borders of our field of existence come seven rays and
they establish foci here. In a new moment of crisis in world history,
once again the voice resounds, the secret of the seven vowels and
their forty-nine powers.
On numerous occasions we have informed you in great detail
about the sevenfold World Brotherhood with its forty-nine, seven
times seven, aspects*. You, who want to go the Path of the Rose,
exert yourselves; surrender yourselves to the Holy Work. Re-
newed souls must be led to the Light of Lights!
* See for example: Dei Gloria Intacta, Chapter I, Orientation, part VII; and Chapter VIII,
The Saturn Initiation of the First Sevencircle, part IV; Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem,The Nether-
lands 1962.
19
Chapter 1
It came to pass then, when the disciples were sitting together on the
Mount of Olives, speaking of these words and rejoicing in great joy,
and exulting exceedingly and saying one to another: ‘‘Blessed are
we before all men who are on the earth, because the Saviour hath
revealed this unto us, and we have received the Fulness and the
total completion’’, çthey said this to one another, while Jesus sat a
little removed from them.
And it came to pass then, on the fifteenth day of the moon in the
month Tybi, which is the day on which the moon is full, on that
day then, when the sun had come forth in his going, that there
came forth behind him a great light-power shining most exceed-
ingly, and there was no measure to the light conjoined with it. For
it came out of the Light of lights, and it came out of the last mystery,
which is the four-and-twentieth mystery, from within without, ç
those which are in the orders of the second space of the First
Mystery. And that light-power came down over Jesus and sur-
rounded him entirely, while he was seated removed from his disci-
ples, and he had shone most exceedingly, and there was no measure
for the light which was on him.
And the disciples had not seen Jesus because of the great light in
which he was, or which was about him; for their eyes were
darkened because of the great light in which he was. But they saw
only the light, which shot forth many light-rays. And the light-rays
were not like one another, but the light was of divers kind, and it
20
was of divers type, from below upwards, one [ray] more excellent
than the other ..., in one great immeasurable glory of light; it
stretched from under the earth right up to heaven. ç And when
the disciples saw that light, they fell into great fear and great agita-
tion.
It came to pass then, when that light-power had come down over
Jesus, that it gradually surrounded him entirely. Then Jesus
ascended or soared into the height, shining most exceedingly in
an immeasurable light. And the disciples gazed after him and
none of them spake, until he had reached unto heaven; but they all
kept in deep silence. This then came to pass on the fifteenth day of
the moon, on the day on which it is full in the month Tybi.
It came to pass then, when Jesus had reached the heaven, after three
hours, that all the powers of the heaven fell into agitation, and all
were set in motion one against the other, they and all their aeons
and all their regions and all their orders, and the whole earth was
agitated and all they who dwell thereon. And all men who are in
the world fell into agitation, and also the disciples, and all
thought: Peradventure the world will be rolled up.
21
Chapter 1
And all the powers in the heavens ceased not from their agitation,
they and the whole world, and all were moved one against the other,
from the third hour of the fifteenth day of the moon of Tybi until the
ninth hour of the morrow. And all the angels and their archangels
and all the powers of the height, all sang praises to the interiors of
the interiors, so that the whole world heard their voices, without
their ceasing till the ninth hour of the morrow.
Pistis Sophia, chapters 2 and 3
22
Five psychological processes
With the aid of the language of the Pistis Sophia, we explained to

you how the Universal Doctrine of all times specifies the modern
doctrine of wisdom and gives it the lustre of antiquity. We ex-
plained to you, by means of the Pistis Sophia, how Jesus the Lord
says he is an emissary from a field of life which is not part of the
twenty-four fields of dialectics.
Our dialectical field of life is bounded by its electromagnetic
conditions. It numbers twelve aspects and twelve reflexes or reflec-
tions, which are to the twelve aspects as negative is to positive. It is
given to nature-born man to investigate all these twenty-four
spaces. But when he has explored all these spaces, when he
begins to comprehend all these twenty-four nature mysteries, he
finally stands before an irrevocable barrier. Then he faces the true
First Mystery, the truly Unknowable, the Unreachable. This is the
reason why he calls this unreachable ‘God’, the absolute Unsee-
able. And this is the reason why he pays the unseeable a dumb,
unintelligent respect. He then commences to lose himself in his
own mysteries and surrenders himself to imprisonment in the
twenty-four nature fields, where, caught as in a giant spider’s
web, he erects and worships his idols.
The Pistis Sophia emphasizes from the outset that Jesus Christ
has not come from this world order, but that he is a representative
from the Unknowable for all who are of this nature.
But to what purpose? What sense is there in this? When we
stand before the truly divine mystery as before a wall and may
only wander round in our own twenty-four fields, making a
23
Chapter 2
parody of reality therein, what sense has it for Jesus to testify of the
divine reality itself and to explain the Father to us?
What else would the sense of it be than that nature-born man
having put aside his delusions after the regeneration of his micro-
cosm, crosses the threshold of the Unknowable on his way to-
wards his true Fatherland, to the Immovable Kingdom, to the King-
dom not of this world ? For that reason, Jesus the Lord has come.
For that reason, the Brotherhood of Christ descends to us.
The gospels as you know them contain only the very first be-
ginning of the Christ manifestation. Where your gospels end, the
Pistis Sophia begins to tell and to explain, to those who are open for
it, about Christ and his mission. For this reason it commences after
the resurrection. We are placed before Jesus speaking to his disci-
ples. He says to them:
‘When I was with you, in the ordinary life before my resurrec-
tion, I never spoke to you about the twenty-four mysteries of
nature, because I have come forth from that which, to all nature-
born men, is truly the first divine Mystery. I have come forth out
of the First Mystery which lies on the boundary of the twenty-
fourth mystery of nature. In my first revelation I have spoken
about the original life only in general terms.’
When we go on reading the Pistis Sophia, we see underneath
the veiled images, several tremendous psychological processes,
which are recognized by pupils who are up to that stage.
The first process is the following: it relates to an aspect of the
modern Spiritual School which should be very familiar and well-
known to you. In the name of the Universal Brotherhood, which is
of the Other Kingdom, we speak to you of the two nature orders:
the Divine Order and the dialectical nature order. That is the first
work Jesus did.
He has appeared amongst us as one who appeals, in a very ele-
mentary way, to our spirit spark atom with a new, hardly notice-
able magnetic radiation. He gives us suggestions of the original
life; he places these before us philosophically, without going into
detail. There is no other possibility, for one can know the original
24
life only when one is part of it.

Yet that original life speaks strongly to us; it testifies in us, in a
very powerful way. It builds in us a powerful certainty, on the basis
of the original atom. Then we can hear a person say, ‘I don’t under-
stand it, but I know it’s true and I can no longer go on without it.’
At the same time a second psychological process develops,
after the first contact. The nature in which you live is unmasked
for you as a nature of death to which your own nature is identical.
Nothing is left undone to make this second process penetrate into
you as forcefully as possible.
The important thing now is whether these two psychological
processes permeate your being and become part of you. When
that happens fully, a third process naturally follows. With all that
is in you, you begin to long more and more for the enchantment of
the Immovable Kingdom. You begin to experience life in the
nature of death more and more as a stranger and to say farewell
to it.
If that third process does not follow, your spirit spark atom is
still hidden away in its bud too much; then you cannot perceive
this nature as the nature of death; you still live in delusion. Conse-
quently, you do not have faith; you do not hope for the new life as
with an inextinguishable fire and you cannot love the School of
the Rosycross.
On the contrary, the School is contradicted. This is quite under-
standable, because we would be speaking to you constantly about
things and matters which you would not want. We would be plac-
ing before you a picture of the world which you could not accept as
such. If we placed the consequences before you with urgency and
emphasis, you would become very indignant. That would be a
psychological process that is not intended by the School but
which is nevertheless quite explicable.
The tragedy is that such people, instead of leaving the School,
hang on to the School with tooth and nail.Yet they are in fact being
burned. The cause is that in essence they cannot live without the
School and need this burning process.
25
Chapter 2
However, thank God, there are hundreds of pupils in the

School who do know these three processes and who are growing
in them. They know themselves to be standing in one or another
stage of this:
1. confrontation with the new life as a mystery;
2. unmasking of dialectical life;
3. faith in the new life, hoping and identifying with it, loving
the School and its work and an ever increasing estrangement
from dialectical life.
But when a pupil has arrived at that stage, the School of the Christ
Hierophants does not stop its work; it goes on. A fourth process is
revealed. The School says to you: ‘Now the glory and the majesty
of the new life will be revealed to you. In future we will not speak
to you about it in abstract terms, but in a very concrete way. You
will be confronted with it in a very positive way for you must start
a journey. It is time!’ And your first reaction is one of happiness
and joy:
It came to pass then, when the disciples were sitting together on the
Mount of Olives, speaking of these words and rejoicing in great joy,
and exulting exceedingly and saying one to another: ‘‘Blessed are
we before all men who are on earth, because the Saviour hath
revealed this unto us, and we have received the Fulness [the
Pleroma] and the total completion.’’
We have observed this joy many times in pupils, and you will
probably know it yourself.
This fourth process of gratitude and joy is followed by a fifth,
which is seemingly in such complete contradiction to the fourth
that the candidate in the disillusionment of it thinks all is lost,
that all is permanently taken from him. Bitterness and fear gnaw
at his being.
It will be clear to you that if the candidate is to be lifted up from
the certainty of his faith to be led to a first-hand observation, all
26
this must be accompanied by a new electromagnetic radiative fac-

ulty. A new magnetic field begins to touch the candidate, and this
has very remarkable consequences.
rounded him entirely, while he was seated removed from his disci-
ples. ...
than the other ..., in one great immeasurable glory of light; it
tion.
an immeasurable light. ...
hours, that all the powers of the heaven fell into agitation, ... they
and all their aeons and all their regions and all their orders, and
the whole earth was agitated and all they who dwell thereon. And
all men who are in the world fell into agitation, and also the disci-
ples, and all thought: Peradventure the world will be rolled up.
27
Chapter 2
... and all were moved one against the other, from the third hour of
the fifteenth day of the moon of Tybi until the ninth hour of the
morrow.
When the time is ripe for the candidate, that is to say, when his
love for the true life, as a result of the fire of faith and hope, is
truly great enough and his estrangement of dialectical nature
makes such an impact possible, in short, when the fifteenth day
of the moon in the month of Tybi has come, the microcosm is
touched and completely surrounded by a great electromagnetic
power.
This touch is so intense, so strange, so totally extraordinary
that in the first instance great confusion or despair arises. The ra-
diation field of the sevenfold World Brotherhood, when it first
reaches us with its impact, causes confusion and agitation, and
great fear and anxiety take hold of us. We feel ourselves closer to
destruction than to liberation.
Is it not understandable that the light is experienced as dark-
ness at first? Do not all accounts testify of the same experience?
This experience arises from the fact that the ego of nature is
paralysed as it were, put out of action, by the violence of the new
magnetic touch, while a new consciousness, a new I, is not yet
present.
And from this experience of the defeated soul, from the joy of
this annunciation, out of this fifth psychological experience, the
further process of the actual renewing liberation develops.
28
The fundamental disquiet
In our previous chapter we wrote about the way in which the Uni-
versal Brotherhood works with the pupil. Your attention was not
directed to a pupil who had already attained some progress on
the path of genesis, in other words, some kind of exceptional
person. It appeared that none of us has any reason for pessimism,
for feelings of inferiority or delusions of unworthiness, motivating
us to say, ‘These things do not apply to me.’ No, each and every
one of us can grasp the hand that is being held out by the Brother-
hood. Nobody needs to feel excluded from this. The help of the
Brotherhood is meant for all.
You need only reflect upon the image of Christian Rosycross in
the pit of the nature of death, when the cord of salvation is lowered
down into that pit. That cord is not directed personally; it is not
meant for any particular individual, with the exception of others.
All who grasp that cord and hang onto it are pulled out of the pit.
All who are gathered in the forecourt of the Spiritual School of
the modern Rosycross and are willing to make the effort to visit a
focus of the School are able to know fully, as long as they are will-
ing to reflect intelligently, how the path must be walked by them-
selves from the first step until liberation. If you examine yourself
in the scheme of this process, you will be able to know completely
at which point you have arrived or where your development is
stagnating at present.
The first phase of the path concerns the very elementary mag-
netic radiation force and influence, which is sent from the Univer-
sal Brotherhood to every person. Everyone who possesses an
29
Chapter 3
original atom not only has the ability to reactçhe is forced to react.
It is the cord which is let down into the pit and which can be ex-
perienced. This cord is also referred to as a Call.
We, the Spiritual School, do not call you; we only talk to you
about the call. We try to explain to you what the call is. The call
which comes to you is a force that rages through the world, a
power that appeals to our spirit spark atom. In and through that
power, suggestions of the original life are given to us; a wondrous
philosophy is brought to us.
Everyone who possesses a spirit spark atom will thus experi-
ence a very exceptional emotion. If you are locked up in the dark-
ness and you still have memory of the light, when you still carry
with you a rudimentary light principle and you hear a call that
speaks to you about the light and about the Kingdom of Light,
would you then not react? Wouldn’t you then feel a gripping inter-
est? Then you would pay heed, not so much to what is said about
the light, but you would know only that the light is being dis-
cussed. Even the word, the sound ‘light,’ takes you off your dialec-
tical balance.
This spontaneous reaction naturally brings with it a danger,
and many of us have stagnated seriously in the course of our life
through the development of that danger.
In order to place this clearly before you, let us take an overall
view of the situation. There is a magnetic radiation from the Uni-
versal Brotherhood. This radiation is nameless and soundless. It
has the task to disquiet you by means of the affected original
atom, so that you cannot accept the nature of death, and you
begin to seek.
Now the voices of your fellow human beings are raised; they
speak and testify of light and you are immediately inclined to
join them, even though they might speak the greatest nonsense.
The fact that they speak from the same stirrings of the heart as
you experience causes you to accept them as brothers and sisters.
It is obvious that in this way a very significant retardation can
occur, for many clever servants of this nature know only too well
30
that as long as one talks a great deal about the light to light seekers,
blinds them with organisations, churches and sects, and surrounds
them with a legion of speculations and important-sounding
words, countless numbers of unsuspecting seekers will remain
caught in that refined net.
There is no mortal being in heaven or earth who can pull the
original atom, the rose of roses, out of your heart sanctuary. But
what is possible is to play on the reaction of the rosebud, which,
by means of its natural state of being, longs to return to the eternal
sunlight, and then to sidetrack it into illusion. Just as flowers can
grow in greenhouses by means of artificial sunlight, so we can sur-
round the rosebud with the falsely gilded light of metaphysical
speculations. In this way it is possible to give false gratification to
millions of rosebud carriers for many incarnations.
On this side of the veil, it is done by creating sidetracks to
yonder side, where heaven and Christ the Lord are supposed to
be. Once taken in by this delusion and having arrived on yonder
side, reincarnation is absolutely certain, because it is a biological
process of the microcosm. For this reason the whole refined
magic, the entire age-old magic culture of dialectics, pounces on
every child of the rose that seeks the Universal Light for its tender
bud.
And this nature-magic makes use of everyone and everything
for the attainment of its goals. It can do that; it can also make use of
this School and of transfiguristic words of Jesus the Lord and the
other great ones. You can be captured by this nature-magic at the
same moment as you reflect on the one reality.
When the modern Spiritual School of the Rosycross has
brought to you contentment, an inner tranquillity, the state in
which you find yourself at the moment, then your rose tree has
arrived in the greenhouse of nature-magic’s nursery. For it is out
of the question that a spirit-spark entity can find rest and peace in
the nature of death. If that is the case, then something is definitely
wrong. How can a child of the light possess rest and peace when it
has not come home to the light?
31
Chapter 3
We do not mean that fear, worry and anxiety or a continuous

discontentment would have to be present in such a person, for a
child of the invisible Light can be very joyful and well-balanced
in the certainty that he is on the way to the Father’s House. But
easy-going placidity and the readily obtainable peace of the com-
promise with this nature are quite out of the question. A child of
the light has the experience of Jesus: he finds no hollow for his foot
and no stone on which to lay his head. It is fundamentally impos-
sible to find that.
For this reason, if you are a pupil of the Spiritual School of the
Rosycross, you should ask yourself: ‘What is the School doing in
me? Is it still disquieting me? Is it still generating in me that gasp-
ing for spiritual breath, or is there no longer any emotion? Does
the doctrine brought to me go in one ear and out the other? Am I
still standing in the process or have I meanwhile been put out of
action by my Satançmy higher selfçmy auric being?’
We should ask ourselves this because we should know that we
are in danger at every hour. Those of us who do not realise this
and say, ‘Come, come, don’t be so dramatic,’ do not possess the
signature of elementary pupilship.
When the son of the rose enters the world, he will find no rec-
ognition; he will find nothing that he can call his own; he will find
no hollow for his foot and no stone to lay his head on; in short, he
is an utter stranger. If he begins to seek liberation in order to find
his divine natural destination again, it will be attempted to hold
him back in the realms of his alienation, by pacifying him with
false sounds and flashes of false light. That is the danger!
Through all the ages a conspiracy has been set up against all
who wish to bring the rose tree to flower. That conspiracy is con-
stantly presenting a danger; that danger is acute every hour. We
are not suggesting to you a belief in devils and we are not trying to
make you frightened, but we want to drive you to an experience of
elementary self-knowledge.
If you, as a true seeker of light, still feel disquieted; if you know
yourself to be the object of a struggle and if you are consequently
32
standing in the turmoil of such a great activity that it makes you

quiver; if you have in you something of the tension of the Psalmist
who, at one moment, rejoices and the next moment, feels threat-
ened to the deepest depths of his soul; if you feel the walls press-
ing in on you, then you are standing in the mercy of the living pu-
pilship.
If there is nothing but tranquillity in you, if you are sitting down

without any living activity in you, then the crystallising influence
has gained power over you. It has taken the soil away from your
rose tree. If you still have the inclination, you should try and find
the cause. If we have been able, reader, by this book and by all our
literature and addresses, to force you into that old disquiet; if we
have succeeded in that, we are very grateful, for then we have
wrestled you away from the strangle hold of your particular
enemy.
Every person with a rosebud is hit in the heart by the elemen-
tary radiation power of the Gnosis, and a great disquiet arises.
And now servants from the Gnosis go out; they speak of the
light; they testify of it. They do not wish to still your disquiet, but
they want to give it direction. That is the signature: the placing of
the person concerned in the right direction on a path, because
behind that disquiet is the realisation of your alienship, for you
do not belong here.
If that disquiet were to be taken away from you, the dynamic
energy that is needed to make progress on the path of liberation
would of course immediately be destroyed.
So may it be that we have given you something back or have
awakened in you some of that necessary tension, of that funda-
mental disquiet which must characterise the sons and daughters
of the Gnosis.
33
Chapter 4
The pupil at the crossroad
Every person with a rosebud in the heart sanctuary is affected by

the elementary radiation power of the Gnosis. That is the light-
power sent out by the sevenfold World Brotherhood. Whoever is
affected by that light, without exception, experiences an intense
disquiet, because the light-power, which is taken into the system
by means of the original atom, is in all respects opposed to our
dialectical nature. You could compare it to breathing in an alien at-
mosphere with the whole system being forced to assimilate the in-
haled substance.
At the same time servants of the Gnosis go out to humanity.
They speak of the light which affects all carriers of the rosebud.
They testify of it. It is not their purpose to silence the developing
unrest, for that unrest proves there is a reaction; no, the workers of
the Gnosis give direction to it. They explain the purpose of this
reaction and place the pupil ‘straight’ on the path he must go. We
have often compared this unrest to being charged by an entirely
new dynamic energy, which has to be utilized.
This unrest is a driving force. For this reason a pupil of the
School of the Rosycross should try to determine whether he
knows or has known this unrest, this holy disquiet. If he does
know it, it means he has been taken up into the process that the
pupil and the School undergo.
If a pupil does not feel this holy disquiet, he is in fact no longer
a pupil. Then a crystallizing influence has gained control over him.
Then the rose tree has been deprived of its soil. Several times we
34
have discussed the causes of this crystallization, this dreamless

sleep of the original atom. They are related to the fact that the
person concerned has tied himself completely to the forces of
nature.
Now we want to discuss the next phase of the holy touch.
When a person is affected in the heart by the radiations of the
sevenfold World Brotherhood and so experiences the holy dis-
quiet, and when consequently direction or purpose is given to
that unrest by the workers who come from the Brotherhood, two
possibilities are evident.
The first is: the development of a mighty longing for participa-
tion in the reality of the new life (desire for salvation).
The second is: the development of resistance, aversion, animos-
ity and finally a downright rejection of the path.
Thus every pupil is led to a crossroad, after which a definite
choice must follow: either an immeasurable longing for the new
life, with the driving force generated by the holy disquiet provid-
ing sufficient energy to enable the goal to be reached or the rejec-
tion of the path with the consequent neutralization.
The powerfield of the School is sufficiently strong to create
these reactions. You should try to find out whether you under-
stand properly in its deepest essence this choice, which every
pupil who has arrived at the crossroad must make.
This is not a choice that you have to make after some intellec-
tual consideration or that you might be prepared to make in an
emotional state. No, this is an unavoidable psychological reaction,
a situation in which you cannot do otherwise. Not in the sense of
self-compulsion or compulsion exerted by others, but as the man-
ifestation of an inner reality that cannot be rejected, a manifesta-
tion in which illusion, exaltation, or suggestion are completely out
of the question. We might say a kind of self-selection, in which the
inner reality is revealed with such complete certainty that every
possible mistake is excluded.
One could regard it as a point of consideration whether every
pupil in the forecourt of the Spiritual School really belongs there.
35
Chapter 4
One might become worried about that. However, in a living

school like the School of the Rosycross, every inhabitant of the
forecourt is driven to that aforementioned crossroad. And then
the pupil will declare himself.
The Universal Doctrine says that truth and reality will be ex-
posed to the light of day in every candidate. ‘Truth must free
itself!’ Let us now determine how this self-declaration is brought
about.
In what way does the longing for the new life, the desire for salva-
tion, arise?
1. You are affected by the elementary radiations of the seven-
fold World Brotherhood. This is the hand extended to you
by the Brotherhood.
2. If you possess a spirit spark atom and the course of your life
gives rise to it, the holy disquiet will come over you.
3. The workers of the Brotherhood give direction and purpose
to that unrest, so that you begin to understand your state of
being in dialectics, your state of alienship. You begin to un-
derstand that there was an original life and that your present
microcosmic manifestation is a caricature compared to the
original. When you begin to realize this clearly, the course
of your life will determine whether longing arises in you as
a result of this inner experience. A certain amount of insight
develops, and an indestructible longing for the new life
should follow.
What kind of life determines that longing? A life of experience.

True insight must awaken from experience, recorded in the
blood. Philosophy, faith based on authority, acceptance of
dogmas, or adapting oneself because of family circumstances
cannot bring about the necessary psychological state. Only ex-
perience can awaken that longing. A pupil needs to find the philo-
sophy of the School confirmed by experience.
It is possible, of course, that a formidable amount of experience
36
is already stored in your subconscious and in your blood as a

result of an immeasurable past, so that a certain experience-con-
sciousness could be present at the commencement of pupilship.
Whether this is so or not, an experience-consciousness in regard
to the Universal Doctrine must be present in order to awaken that
necessary longing, so that the situation described in Psalm 42 de-
velops:
As a hart longs for flowing streams,

so longs my soul for thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
When that longing is present, it is not a situation resulting from a

decision or advice, but from a psychological state which fills the
whole being, into every fibre. That is an inner urge, a situation in
which there is no ability to do otherwise.
You will find this situation typified inTheAlchemicalWedding of
Christian Rosycross. The candidate is faced with the choice of a
number of ways and at a certain moment he spontaneously, as if
driven by an inner urge, enters one of the ways that lead to the
inner temple.
Many of you will know the experience, the feeling, that your
life is being led, that you are going along a certain course. This is
so. But not in the sense that powers outside of you are directing
the course of your life. The inner state which governs your life,
the state of your blood which dominates you inwardly, determines
your experience. Whoever possesses that longing invokes the
magnetic forces of the new life, and these will unconditionally
reach their goal on the basis mentioned.
Let us now study how rejection of the path and neutralization de-
velop, and how the person, having arrived at the crossroad, goes
the other way.
In this examination we follow the same method. A person is
37
Chapter 4
affected by the elementary light of the Brotherhood, and disquiet

develops. He is oriented and put straight on the path by the work-
ers of the School, with the one exclusive advice: ‘He, the Other One,
must increase. The I of nature must perish. Make straight this path for
your God!’And so this person also arrives at the crossroad, but he
does not choose the path of longing; he goes the other way.
Why? Because his experience-consciousness is still oriented in
other directions. This person cannot yet go the path to liberation by
virtue of the same inner compulsion that enables the other person
to do precisely the opposite. Both have a spirit spark atom, both
are touched by the elementary magnetic field of the Gnosis, both
are called by the Spiritual School, but each chooses a different way
because of the inner urge that arises from the experience-con-
sciousness.
Knowing this, one should never be dismayed when a pupil
leaves the School, has to leave the School, for the School drives its
pupils to such a self-declaration, to that self-selection. One could
deplore such a course of events, but it is obvious that the time will
come when the correct choice will be made, when the inner state
of the person concerned is ripe for it.
When we examine the choices of such people in each case, we
always discover a great variety of motives: ‘I cannot go the path,
because I have to look after my old father, who takes all my time.’A
father complex is pushing the longing aside.ç‘I am leaving because
I cannot make my old mother eat vegetarian food. She wants me to
do the same things as she does, and if I were to refuse to eat meat, I
would cause her distress.’ç‘My wife won’t let me,’ or ‘My husband
is against it.’ç‘Bringing up my children takes all my time.’
Another category lies in the area of disappointed self-glorifica-
tion, and these people turn against the School as a result of the
unmasking. A third category is formed by people who still
expect a lot from life and first want to satisfy their ambitions.
There are also those who, although they have had more than
enough of this nature of death, hold themselves back in self-re-
proach and engage ever more in retrospection on their life’s
38
course, overwhelmed by an awareness of guilt. In all these cases

the wrong path is taken.
There is a special group of those who, driven toward the cross-
road, cannot make a choice and try to remain neutral, expressing
neither longing nor rejection. We discover in these people a
coming crystallization, a petrification. They become cold.
Thus we can see that wonderful living necessity in the Spirit-
ual School that every dweller in the forecourt must declare himself,
no matter how. That is one of the aims of the School. On the basis
of this inner psychological state, every candidate reveals himself,
and so we see two streams: one stream in which the liberating
yearning ensures an ascension into the new field of life; and one
stream which begins to turn and at a given moment leads back to
the point of entry.
You will understand with us that Ibsen’s ‘all or nothing’ and
Jesus the Lord’s ‘If you cannot leave all you have, you cannot be
my disciple’ is not a mode of life that you can decide to adopt at
a given moment by the application of your will. It is a mode of life
which grows out of experience. It is a cup we must empty to the
last drop. This cup cannot pass us by. When at a certain moment
the experience-consciousness is placed before decisions, its
nature, its quality, will determine what decision will follow.
The decision is then a foregone conclusion. We are all led by
the sum of the experience qualities in our blood and, thanks and
praise be to God, we are never forsaken by the Universal Brother-
hood. It affects us with its rays and drives us to the crossroad. We
have already been led back to the point of entry numerous times,
but one day we will break through to the heights of longing and
we will see the new dawn arise.
39
Chapter 5
The revelation-consciousness
By means of the Pistis Sophia we have initiated you into the mys-
tery of the new human genesis, and together we have studied the
first phases of the path from different angles. It has been firmly
fixed on our consciousness that the elementary basis for the new
human genesis is the possession of a spirit spark atom or rosebud.
This principle is situated at the top of the right heart ventricle.
Every person who possesses this principle, still possesses it, be-
comes aware of this through an elementary state of beingça state
of being which characterizes the entire personality, all the beha-
viour of such a person, almost right from early youth. This state
we call ‘disquiet.’ We speak of a holy disquiet, i.e. this state should
bring salvation, healing.
This state can be explained from an impressionability for a cer-
tain group of electromagnetic influences which cannot be ex-
plained from nature and which are taken in by the spirit spark
atom and diffused throughout the entire system. These electro-
magnetic radiations are sent out by the Universal Brotherhood,
which consciously maintains such a magnetic radiation field.
It is a certainty that every spirit-spark entity will and must react
to it and is disquieted by it. This is the sober reality in regard to
God’s call, which is supposed to go out to everyone according to
mystical-poetic opinion. This is also the sober reality in regard to
the personal reaction of God to the individual behaviour of every
person.
The childish mystic says, ‘God sees and hears everything.’
There is a certain truth in that, for every magnetic field closely
40
reacts to the behaviour of the bodies affected by its influence. The

action of a person in touch with a certain magnetic field deter-
mines the way that magnetic field will work.
We can thus establish that the radiation of a certain magnetic
field, cast down like a net into the great sea of humanity, strikes
every owner of a rosebud, who is thrown into disquiet and is not
left alone, by day or by night. Such a person is confronted with the
new life, in the sense of the mystery.
The mystery surrounds such a person, and he cannot escape
from it. And so he becomes a seekerçone who poses questions
about life; one who seeks for the causes of existence; one who
experiences himself to be a stranger on earth; one who is a born
romantic, seeking the other, the Other One, the wondrous.
When the human field of life has been prepared in this way, ser-
vants go out from the Universal Brotherhood. They establish
schools. Or they attract pupils in some other way. And they
speak about that holy disquiet. They explain the purpose of it.
They testify of the Gnosis, of God’s call, of that magnetic field.
And when there are seekers who want to listen and who can
listen, they continue and speak about the original life and
unmask dialectics. They explain the seeker’s present state of being.
Their purpose is obvious. They try to lead their pupils to a very
close, harmonious and personal relationship to that field of mag-
netic tension. One can call this harmonious relationship ‘faith’:
faith in the new life, hope for the union with it, love of the School
and its work. Consequently there is an ever-deepening alienation
from dialectical life. There is an immeasurable, all embracing long-
ing.
But it is also possible, as we have discussed before, that a rejec-
tion, a fundamental fear of this union will arise, because the person
has not yet become deadlocked in matter and because there is an
insufficient amount of experiential consciousness to enable a fare-
well to this nature.
However, when that immeasurable longing begins to increase
in a human soul and the full current of the gnostic magnetic field
41
Chapter 5
is entering the candidate via the original atom, an entirely new sit-
uation arises. The radiance, the glory, and the majesty of the new
life are now being revealed to the candidate, and they fill him with
immense gratitude, gladness, and boundless enthusiasm.
You should understand, though, that we are referring to revela-
tion and not to fulfilment or attainment. This is merely a higher stage
of the knowledge arising from faith, and this higher stage is called
‘revelation.’ This revelation endows a personal knowledge in
regard to the true nature of the Gnosis.
However, we would first like to switch to another subject. When

some occult brotherhood wants to exert a hierarchical influence of
a practical nature on humanity, this always occurs with a magnetic
field as a basis and we should understand, therefore, that there are
many magnetic fields in our sphere of existence.
A large number of nets are cast into the human sea to catch
souls. You need only call to mind the Tibetan influences that go
out over the world, or some churches that also maintain such a
field by their magic system. We can say with certainty, therefore,
that a large number of influences are being exerted on us and also
that many magnetic influences completely parody the magnetic
field of the Universal Brotherhood.
Is this not a cause for alarm? Could we not be misled ? No, de-
ception is completely out of the question for a serious seeker be-
cause, according to universal magnetic laws, every magnetic field
is forced at a certain point to reveal itself as to its true nature. If this
revelation were to reveal something that is completely in conflict
with the fundamental nature of the candidate, he can always with-
draw from the influence of that magnetic field and neutralize his
initial interest. For this reason, revelation is not only an expansion
of consciousness but also a test, a means of control.
A revelation proves to us the truth and the true nature in regard
to the essential force of the magnetic field concerned. There is no
human being who is unconsciously being victimized. All that is
said about this is for the largest part nonsense. When a spirit-
42
spark entity truly seeks liberation, he can fully test spirits as to

whether they are of the Gnosis. He can apply his means of control.
Every magnetic field is forced to reveal itself if this is wanted. If
this does not occur, this means the revelation is not wished for,
and the person concerned will feel extraordinarily comfortable in
the elementary radiation of some influence. He is allowing himself
to be led into confusion by the messengers who come forth from
that magnetic field. A characteristic of such messengers is that
they require their followers to believe in handed-down teachings
and decrees, which are represented as being divine and beyond
question. The teachings form a barrier, as it were, against serious
investigation.
In order to satisfy the leanings towards knowledge, a science is
invented. Students are required to learn the dogmas by heart in
Greek and Latin. Thus a study of Greek and Latin is a necessity.
They need to delve into other ancient languages and to find out
what many other authors have said about the scriptures and the
creed. But ‘revelation’ remains far beyond their grasp, for their re-
velation consists of words and intellectual knowledge, gathered
by themselves.
May we ask you, reader: is your conviction based on the con-
tents of your bookcase or on the intellectual contents of your
brain? If so, this is your own fault, for you have allowed yourself
to be victimized by the influence of some magnetic field of ordi-
nary nature. You were prevented from attaining revelation.
Let us now return to the beginning. Whoever is filled with that

immeasurable longing through faith in the Gnosis, by means of
the previously described process, is conducted to ‘revelation.’ Be-
cause of his harmonious relationship to the Gnosis, such a candi-
date penetrates through to the point at which the nucleus of the
magnetic field begins to manifest itself, unfold itself, to declare
itself to him.
In the Revelation of John this is represented as a confrontation
of the candidate by Him who is the first and the last, the true orig-
43
Chapter 5
inal man. He, the candidate, is not that new man yet, not by a long
shot! But he is shown to him, very personally. Can you see the dif-
ference between revelation and knowledge now?
You should observe, however, that such a revelation is not one
single event, but this process provides an unceasing series of such
revelations. It can happen that suddenly something so mighty, so
glorious begins to unfold before you that you stammer, ‘What a
revelation!’ And then you are speechless with gratitude. And like
the disciples on the Mount of Olives in the Pistis Sophia, you feel
yourself to be blessed beyond all men.
Indeed, this revelation-consciousness is the Jupiter-conscious-
ness, which some mention as being ours in a far distant future. But
you can attain it in the present, if only you will go the Path as de-
scribed to you!
For this reason, if we were all to possess this consciousness, this
revelation consciousness, we would speak, see, and experience si-
multaneously. Mystically expressed, we would stand at the eternal
Father heart-of all things.
And this revelation consciousness is still only one phase, one
end-phase on the way of the Johannine man, and so is still a purely
dialectical state. This consciousness of unfolding is now to
become the basis for the last and all-decisive choice.
44
The magnetic storm
The magnetic storm
The aim of the School of the Rosycross is to lead its pupils into the
mystery of the new human genesis, and we have shown you this
mystery as an actual happening in the living present, a happening
in which all of you, without exception, can take part if you so
desire.
There are people who want to approach this mystery as a doc-
trinal problem; they want to make a ‘study’ of it. They want to ex-
amine its aspects, in about the same manner as someone standing
before a shop window, drawn by the artistry of a skilled window
dresser.
But the Gnosis does not allow itself to be displayed! It unveils
itself only to those who approach it from out of a living psychic
need. The Gnosis will never become a science that can be taught
at some university or other. It is for people with a burning heart. It
is for pupils of a Spiritual School, for those who approach the aims
of the Great Work out of a true desire for salvation. Only in that
state will they be accepted as pupils.
You will know that the elementary basis of the new human
genesis is the possession of a spirit spark atom or rosebud, situated
at the top of the right heart ventricle.
You will become aware of the presence of this principle by a
state of being we could typify as ‘disquiet’. This state can be ex-
plained from a susceptibility to a certain group of electromagnetic
influences, which are transmitted by what we call ‘the Universal
Brotherhood.’ These influences come from a magnetic field
which cannot be explained from this dialectical nature. They
45
Chapter 6
cannot be picked up by the ordinary consciousness or the serpent

fire or any endocrine gland. These influences can be perceived,
picked up, and assimilated exclusively by the aforementioned orig-
inal atom.
This atom is a very alien principle compared to the rest of the
atomic structure of the ordinary personality. It is entirely different
in construction; it does not belong to any group of atoms of pri-
mordial substance in our ordinary field of life. It lies in our field of
life like a rosebud folded under its green petals, lost in the heart
sanctuary, until the elementary radiation of the Gnosis comes to
awaken it.
It is a certainty that every spirit-spark entity will react to this
radiation at a given moment. And the first reaction is disquiet, be-
cause the rose of the heart, the sevenfold principle of the true
divine man, pines for the Fatherland. As soon as the rosebud
begins to show a sensitivity to the radiations that affect it, a glow
begins to develop, a reflection which stirs the entire personality,
especially the upper circulatory system and so affects all the ordi-
nary centres of consciousness. In this way a child of man is called.
It is a magnetic pulling that has moved various poets, thinkers,
and romanticists of all ages. It is this magnetic calling that drove
the simple, the uncomplicated ones of all ages to conquer the diffi-
dence of their simplicity and to approach confidently the light of
the mysteries. It appeared, time and again, that it is precisely this
simplicity that is the shortest way to the goal, ‘the childship of
God’. Together we have examined the purpose of this disquiet,
and what would this be other than to drive a child of man to ‘seek’?
‘Seek and you will find’ is a primordial law. When a human
soul is driven by this disquiet, he will one day find. To those who
lie enmeshed in time, it may very well seem endless, and the wheel
may turn numerous times, but the seeker, he will find!
That initial contact of the Gnosis with the soul predisposed to
finding is so beautiful and simple, and at the same time so irresist-
ible, that one could laugh; a laugh of surprise, a laugh of respect, a
silent laugh of uttermost gratitude. There is no human soul who
46
The magnetic storm
can be passed over, for this is a radiation fulness that glides over
the world and that must reach every atom-entity, even if he lives
in the jungle or in a back room on the third floor, lost in a metro-
polis.
This radiation fulness does not generate the fire of crisis. It is
just a never ceasing, silent calling. It works according to magnetic
laws, to which the primal atomic crystal must answer. In this way a
human soul is prepared towards a certain ripeness.
And then, at a given hour, such a person will find the Spiritual
School, where the workers speak about the nature of this seeking,
the cause of it, and about the source of the new magnetic radia-
tions. Then recognition comes, and there is great joy. The seeker
has found something.
But it is only a milestone on the path, and the workers now try
to impel the stranger to a very intimate, harmonious, and private
relationship with the magnetic field of tension. Reacting by itself
can give rise to a very caricatural behaviour, but reacting after a
submergence in understanding we call faith. Faith in the new life
is starting to love that life. Thus the candidate is filled with an
almost endless longing.
This state is wonderful and measurelessly beautiful. For try to
see this: when the Gnosis calls us and we leave everything behind
in a mighty longing to find it, there is not only an approach by the
Gnosis towards us, but also a rushing forth by us towards it. And,
oh Divine Glory! That must lead to a meeting, a bodily meeting, a
clear and unmistakable finding.
Now do not imagine some venerable master or adept. This
meeting takes place in the form of an outpouring of power. This
is a Pentecost of divine fire, a further milestone on the path, and
in our terminology this meeting is called a ‘revelation’.
This firsthhand link brings to the candidate a very personal
knowledge in regard to the true nature of the Gnosis. In this reve-
lation-consciousness he possesses a means of control. He is, as the
Pistis Sophia says, ‘Blessed before all men on the earth.’
Revelation is knowing without intellectual preparation. Reve-
47
Chapter 6
lation is knowing into the very deepest essence of things, while

ordinary knowledge is capable of staying merely on the surface
of things. It is the Jupiter-consciousness of which some have
spoken. As soon as this consciousness of unfoldment begins to
dawn in the candidate, he is placed before a last and decisive
choice on the Johannine Path. This decisive choice must be taken
in what we call the fifth phase. It is a phase that is described in the
Pistis Sophia as follows.
rounded Him entirely, while he was seated removed from his disci-
ples. ...
than the other, ..., in one great immeasurable glory of light; it
tion.
an immeasurable light. ...
48
The magnetic storm
hours, that all the powers of the heaven fell into agitation, ... they
and all their aeons and all their regions and all their orders, and
the whole earth was agitated and all they who dwell thereon. And
all men who are in the world fell into agitation, and also the disci-
ples, and all thought: Peradventure the world will be rolled up.
... and all were moved one against the other, from the third hour of
the fifteeenth day of the moon of Tybi until the ninth hour of the
morrow.
When the candidate can enter into the phase of revelation as just
discussed, and so when there is a personal knowledge, a personal
tasting, when bowing down before authority and dogma has
been replaced by first hand comprehension, and the call has there-
fore been understood, and a personal responsibility for making a
choice can be accepted, a magnetic storm is induced in the entire
microcosmic system of the pupil.
That magnetic storm is the one described in the above extract
from the Pistis Sophia. You can also read about it in the Book of
Revelations, inThe Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross, in the
Gospels in the story about the ship on the sea of Tiberias, in Chris-
tianopolis by JohannValentin Andreae, and in many other writings.
This magnetic storm is so overwhelming, so intense, so
strange, and so totally extraordinary that a great upheaval, a hope-
lessness, arises in the first instance. The pupil thinks himself to be
closer to destruction than redemption.
It is out of this consternation that the ensuing process of actual
renovating liberation developsçprovided the candidate is willing
to accept the requirements of this magnetic storm. The experience
of death, of which all who must struggle through it testify, is
brought about by the fact that the I of nature is, as it were, para-
lysed, thrown out of action by the violence of the new magnetic
contact, while the new consciousness-centre has not yet become
active. In other words, this experience proves that the candidate, in
his approach to the focal point of the new magnetic field, has now
reached a crisis. He has come to a wall, as it were.
49
Chapter 6
It is a wall with a gate, however. It is indeed possible to open

that gate, but one has to possess the key, the faculty. That faculty
is not contained in the results of some culture of the personality or
in the discretion of some master or other. You need no master or
adept to be able to open this locked gate. You need the new con-
sciousness, an entirely new I, as the basis for a new personality.
The choice you need to make is this: you must decide whether
you are prepared to give up the old I, the old consciousness-focus,
which is unsuitable for continuing into the new magnetic field; in
short, whether you are prepared to go the path of completion or
not.
The revelation of the Gnosis is the introduction to such a deci-
sion. Whoever refuses to accept the consequences of the path at
this point, no matter for what reason, be it through egocentricity
or fear, such a person can really no longer turn back. And if the
mercy of the ‘draught of forgetfulness’ is not granted to him, he
will be delivered to the caricature of the true Gnosis, which carica-
ture is called occultism in this world.
So much knowledge of the Gnosis has been gathered in the
phase of revelation that the person concerned begins to imitate
it, to try to practice it in a field of life that is unsuitable for it. This
is the same as nature-religion tries to do. And the one and exclu-
sive consequence of this is an ever greater upheaval of world and
humanity and an increasingly powerful and dynamic egocentri-
city, a cultivation of the dialectical I-ness. Whether it is called
black or white, Christian or heathen, it is all the same.
For these reasons you can all realize the extreme importance of
this coming hour of decision. Will you choose the path of true re-
demption, as Buddha and Christ taught it: the path of a complete
dissociation from the I of nature, so that you will lose life to find
another life; or will you choose the path of illusion, the illusion of
‘King I’?
If you choose the latter, the path of personality cultivation, the
original atom will close up again and you will lose your link with
the new magnetic field.
50
The magnetic storm
But if, standing before the gate of life, you wish to go the way of
self-dissolution, you will be able to continue your path to life.
Then calmness will follow the storm: the calmness of the people
of God.
51
Chapter 7
A new heaven and a new earth
Before continuing our discussion on the Pistis Sophia, it is necess-

ary to give you an explanation of a magnetic field and its nature.
We so often speak about the magnetic field of the new life and that
of the ordinary nature, and in the Spiritual School our attention is
fixed so often on many kinds of magnetic influences, and the
whole Universal Doctrine needs to be understood in connection
with magnetic forces and can be explained from them so com-
pletely, that it is a vital requirement for every pupil to understand
and to visualise what we are speaking about when we are referring
to magnetic fields.
Particularly in times like these, when all kinds of events can be
explained only from magnetic influences, it really is a vital neces-
sity that the pupil understands the connection of events.
As an introduction we would like to call your attention to a
saying written on the bronze plate in the sepulchre of Christian
Rosycross: ‘There is no empty space.’
This saying has a multiplicity of meanings; so many that one
could easily say an infinite number. And in general one could say
of these descriptions that what we call space, or infinite space, is
the field of an equally infinite number of developments, develop-
ments that interpenetrate, surround, and fill each other and that
are distinguishable from each other by a difference in magnetic
laws.
Each development has its own magnetic system, its own mag-
netic law, and hence is absolutely separated from every other de-
velopment, although existing in the same space. We see a sun and
52
other conspicuous heavenly bodies. We experience their influ-

ences noticeably. We know we belong to their system. There is
an order in which all these things fit and in which all factors coop-
erate with each other virtually infallibly, and we know that all this
is held together by an all-embracing natural law.
Everything rotates and revolves and describes spirals accord-
ing to the norms of one fundamental magnetic law. Our world
image, our image of space, the impressions we get of the universe,
our own nature and state, the situation and figuration of our mi-
crocosm, all these things are brought about by, and can be ex-
plained out of, the same fundamental magnetic law.
One cannot say of our omni-revelation that it is an illusion in
the sense that it does not exist. But when we speak of ‘dialectics’
and Jacob Boehme speaks of the ‘nature of death’ as being the
whole visible space, as being all that stretches out between and
around the stars, then we mean and he means that this omni-reve-
lation is undivine, not united with the Divine Nature, not to be ex-
plained from it.
If we nevertheless did interpret it as divine or considered any
part of it so, this would be an illusion. When transfigurists spoke
of the Immovable Kingdom, the Kingdom not of this world,
people always asked mockingly where that Kingdom, that field of
life, might be then. People called it a figment of the imagination,
absolute nonsense, delirium, etc. They never understood what
transfigurists were talking about. Many pupils probably have the
same problem. What answer would you give if someone asked
you that question, eyes sparkling with ridicule?
People can imagine an event such as described in Matthew 24:
an earth and a heaven that pass away in a catastrophe. Astrono-
mers know of stars that vanish and new ones that appear. But
when something disappears in our universe, something else takes
its place. The universe remains, albeit in a different order. The sun
could be extinguished and thus bring the end to our solar system,
but the universe exists.
Telescopes can see immeasurable distances into space, and new
53
Chapter 7
telescopes explore spaces where no human eye has been able to

penetrate. And there is a dispute about the problem whether the
universe is finite or infinite. It has been discovered that light rays
bend and return to their point of origin. It is known that some
stars are moving apart at enormous speeds, while others are ap-
proaching each other. People talk about expanding and contract-
ing universes. But all these things are based on our world picture,
on our vision of the universe, on our fundamental magnetic law of
our fallen nature order.
For this reason it is no surprise that the nature-religious person
seeks the Kingdom of God in the reflection sphere, or on some
other star or planet to which one could travel in a space ship.
‘Well, if the divine kingdom is not here and not in the reflection
sphere, it must be somewhere outside of it,’ or so a primitive
pupil of the School might think.
No, even if you were to travel through the entire universe, you
would not find the Kingdom of God, because this Kingdom can be
seen and entered only by means of a different magnetic law or
order.
A magnetic law originates in a radiant idea that moves root-
substantial space. And subservient to and because of that idea, a
universe forms in a diversity of shapes and forces.
When we observe the nature of death, we know that the idea
lying at the root of this universe is undivine and can never become
divine. For that idea is not good, and therefore its manifestation is
not good. If the idea of our universe were divine, an undivine ex-
pression in our universe would not be possible.
For this reason you must realize that there is another idea, an-
other Gnosis, and therefore another magnetic field, hence another
universe, nearer than hands and feet, existing and moving every-
where where the nature of death is not. Not outside and not inside,
not above or below, but omnipresent and nevertheless further than
the furthest object in space.
Suppose we are together in the same space, and we all have
ideas, views of life, and hence modes of life which are all com-
54
pletely different. There is therefore a difference in nature, in vibra-

tion, in magnetic state. Our idea and its results cloud around us,
and so each of us lives in his own world, in his own order, while
we all exist in the same space at the same time.
We want the awareness to penetrate into you that besides the
fundamental law lying at the basis of our dialectical order and of
the universe belonging to it, other fundamental magnetic laws
exist in the same space at the same time.
The pure original idea of God determines an absolute order
and forms a universe. Could that universe not be corrupted and
decay? This is impossible, for the radiation fulness of the idea of
God is irresistible and always the same. For this reason the divine
universe existed, exists and will always exist.
We are from that universe; we fell from it into another universe
by another stimulating idea, and our existence has adapted to it.
Thus the Gnosis cannot possibly exist in the nature of death as a
manifesting fulness.
But as soon as a fallen human being were to participate again in
the original magnetic field, that original universe would show
itself to him again. For the participation in another magnetic field
signifies a different consciousness, a different personality, and a
different microcosm.
We say to you therefore that there is another earth and another
sun, another solar system, another universe. That original universe
is not being created again; it always was; it cannot disappear. It is
the same yesterday and today.
If you study the Holy Scriptures in this connection, you will
read of two different matters. Firstly a cosmic disaster in the
nature of death, in the dialectical universe, the rising and falling
of things; secondly the candidate who begins to see the original,
real, divine universe again, by means of the new consciousness.
These two matters are often confused, and they are understood
to mean that a heaven passes away because of a catastrophe, and
a new one comes after that catastrophe.
However that which passes away and comes back renewed is
55
Chapter 7
the changing and the turning of dialectics. We see this turning in

the microcosm and the macrocosm and the whole universe of the
nature of death. But when we read in Revelations 21, ‘I saw a new
heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away,’ this means that the pupil sees the universe of illusion
pass away through transfiguration, and he ascends into the uni-
verse of God.
The Spiritual School and the World Brotherhood want to impel
you to the same experience in the present. Which way are we to go
then?
Well, you have already been able to read clearly how you may
become a Pistis Sophia. The original universe exists, as we saw, out
of an idea. It has a fundamental nucleus, a sun, and hence a radia-
tion field, a magnetic radiation. And in that great magnetic field
of the divine sun, seven spheres can be distinguished, seven rays,
or, as the Holy Scriptures say, seven angels. And because magnetic
fields penetrate each other, it is clear that our nature of death and
the nature of the Gnosis are very close to each other. We can
become aware of the outer sphere of the divine radiation field by
means of the spirit spark atom.
One of the seven angels places a seal on our forehead and
wants to conquer the top of the dialectical consciousness for the
Gnosis. In our microcosm, therefore, we experience the light of the
Divine Sun, which calls and draws us. And as we begin to react to the
call, we begin to approach the nucleus of the Divine Sun from the
outer court, continuing from the outermost to the innermost until
finally, continuing on this way, we have entered so far into the inner-
most nucleus, through these magnetic forces of the original King-
dom, that an existential change must take place.
As soon as that change commences, we see the new heaven
and the new earth as if a curtain were pulled aside. We no longer
need the light of the sun and the moon.
We hope to be able to describe this process to you from the
outside inward, so that we can understand correctly what Pistis
Sophia experienced on her way to the Divine Sophia.
56
Contact with the Spiritual School
We have tried to make you familiar with the idea of more than one
universe being enclosed in one spatial image. It is not correct to
suppose therefore that some other universe might perhaps be so
far removed from us that we could not detect it even with the
strongest astronomical telescopes. More than one universe exists
in the same space, if we were to describe it three-dimensionally.
As dialectical people we have a world image and we belong to a
universe. All that our strongest telescopes can discern and all that
lies beyond their reach, the entire unfathomable space, belongs to
the universe of death. That is to say, it belongs to a state in which
the laws of dialectics, which we know, control everything. That is a
state of rising, shining, and fading; a state characterized by life and
death, by incessant change with all the accompanying causes and
consequences.
The universe to which we belong is maintained by a certain
electromagnetic law and by the operation of a differentiated grav-
itational law that operates within a certain group of possibilities.
By these laws, the whole of it is held together; all the things in it
belong together, are dependent on each other, and influence each
other.
The earth is thus influenced by the solar system and by the
zodiac. Itself a unit, it is incorporated into increasingly larger
units, until we can view the whole universe as one unit.
And this universal unit is based on one idea. The whole of it is
the activity of that idea. An idea is and generates a vibration that
moves root substance and demonstrates an activity and a manifes-
57
Chapter 8
tation. The activity is the magnetic field; the manifestation of it is

the revealed universe.
The fundamental idea causes hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and
carbon to form and be released in various compounds, and atoms
are forced to split and to join and combine in certain ways into ele-
ments.
We have told you that the idea underlying our universe is re-
cognizably and demonstrably undivine. This can be recognized
and demonstrated by the activity and the manifestation of the
idea. Consequently we can deduce from this that there must be an-
other universe which is based on another Idea: a divine Idea. This
Idea therefore has another activity and another manifestation, an-
other etheric configuration and hence a totally different nature in
principle and in result.
This other universe needs no other space but simply another
idea and hence another magnetic field. Two different magnetic
fields can express their totally different manifestations in one and
the same space without one manifestation being able to perceive
the other. At most the two magnetic fields can disturb each other
when, in some way, their creatures have something to do with each
other.
It is known to us that a number of the creatures of our universe
initially belonged to the divine universe. This does not refer to
their present manifestation, for that is completely of this nature,
but there was another manifestation, of which only one single ru-
diment remains. It is a primordial atom with a latent magnetic
system in the aural being. This magnetic system has fallen asleep
as it were, while another magnetic system is now in force in the
aural being.
It is clear that when we possess an original atom, a rose in the
heart, which once flowered in wondrous beauty in that other uni-
verse, we will consequently have a certain susceptability to the
divine magnetic field. Our microcosmic field can therefore be dis-
turbed by the divine cosmic field, and it is clear that as we individ-
ually and collectively belong to the dialectical universe, we pass on
58
that disturbance to the entire dialectical cosmos. We are partly of

the divine nature and partly of the nature of death. Thus there is no
alternative but that both magnetic fields disturb each other.
The Bible expresses this mystically, for example in the remarks,
‘God does not forsake the work of his hands.’ç‘He sends his Son
to save what is lost.’ç‘He is wrathful at the sins of his children.’
Every pupil will understand that when he possesses a rosebud in
the heart and so is a lost son of the Gnosis, he will undergo influ-
ences from the outermost radiation field of the divine universe.
When a person not only simply undergoes this effect, but con-
sciously experiences and recognizes it, he stands bodily and abso-
lutely in the outer courtyard of the Gnosis. This outer radiation
field of the Gnosis is unmistakably magnetic, but not to the
degree that it could be catastrophic. That would not achieve any
success, because at most the primordial atom, as the original prin-
ciple, could be attracted and torn out of the sunken system. And
that is certainly not the intention. The intention is that the sunken
system voluntarily surrenders itself in transfiguration. The sunken
system in its entirety must become a divine system again and
return to the divine universe. For this reason the outer radiation
field can be compared to a touch, a call, a silent beckoning, with-
out any force or compelling magnetic attraction.
A weak radiating is caused in the heart by this touch, and this
appeals to the dialectical consciousness which reacts to this with a
state of disquiet, as we have discussed repeatedly. By this continu-
ous impulsion of the dialectical being, the dialectical conscious-
ness is invited, so to speak, to follow the suggestions, the voice, of
the original atom.
The dialectical consciousness does not know that of course. It
has no idea that there is any such thing as an original atom. It is so
used to experimenting and speculating in its imperfect undivine
world, and it is such a fortune hunter, driven by circumstances, that
it thinks it is acting completelyout of its own initiative. It is complete-
ly egocentric and yet the ego is in fact being led. No doubt it is clear
to you that no rosebud carrier escapes this gnostic impulsion.
59
Chapter 8
Under the power of this influence, that whole sequence of

events develops which you know so well, because you yourself
have experienced it or still do. You know those mad whirls of the
dialectical ego in its interests directed this way: reading piles of
booksçattending many meetingsçattending seancesçhaving
discussions and joining movements and societies ç pondering
until we go around the bend and always drifting between hope
and fear ç or resisting that inner calling voice with everything
that is in us ç and playing the firmly convinced person ç and
acting as if we are initiated and called! In short this is all the well-
known carrying-on of tens of thousands of people.
You may know the example of the well from which the lid is
removed. The sun shines into it and this causes the insects to wrig-
gle and flutter and scurry about in a great whirl.You know all this!
This seeking and fluttering can last a long time, a life-long
time! Until a great inner exhaustion comes. The cause of this is
that the aural being or higher self is at the end of its tether. In all
this experimentation of the personality during this period, the
higher self tries to retain the initiative and leads the lower self
everywhere to satisfy its hunger. It is a case of stones for bread,
but as long as the ego bites, there is a certain satisfaction.
But now, after a longer or shorter time, there comes a moment
when the ego has finished biting and the magnetic system of the
aural being or higher self is no longer capable of giving satisfac-
tion. Then the higher self has become weary; there is a weakening
of the light in the dialectical firmament and hence a recognizable
magnetic disturbance. Not only the primordial atom radiates a
new light, but a corresponding light field in the aural being is
seized and vivified by the gnostic magnetic field.
From this moment on a magnetic ray bores into the head-sanc-
tuary at a place in the midbrain, and as soon as this point is seized,
the adrenal glands receive a vigorous impulse; from the midbrain
(the midbrain controls the kidneys and the adrenal glands) a new
energy flows into the body, and the ego begins to react positively
to the call of the Gnosis for the first time.
60
At this moment this person has become ripe for the second
field of radiation of the Gnosis, seen from the outside inwards.
And in that second field the pupil for the first time comes into con-
tact with the Spiritual School.
The person concerned has probably already known the Spirit-
ual School in his first period, and may have entered it, but then he
knew it simply as he would know any other given movement or
society. Only in the second period will he know it from within
and in a totally different way. Then he will love and serve it so ar-
dently and incessantly that he will never let go of it. The pupil then
already experiences the foretaste of the ‘Homecoming.’
We hope profoundly that you can already speak of this experi-
ence.
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Chapter 8
But the disciples sat together in fear and were in exceedingly great
agitation and were afraid because of the great earthquake which
took place, and they wept together, saying: ‘‘What will then be? Per-
adventure the Saviour will destroy all regions?’’ Thus saying, they
wept together.
While they then said this and wept together, then, on the ninth hour
of the morrow, the heavens opened, and they saw Jesus descend,
shining most exceedingly, and there was no measure for his light
in which he was. For he shone more [radiantly] than at the hour
when he had ascended to the heavens, so that men in the world
cannot describe the light which was on him; and it shot forth
light-rays in great abundance, and there was no measure for its rays,
and its light was not alike together, but it was of divers kind and of
divers type, some [rays] being more excellent than others ...; and the
whole light consisted together. It was of threefold kind, and the one
[kind] was more excellent than the other ... The second, that in the
midst, was more excellent than the first which was below, and the
third, which was above them all, was more excellent than the two
which were below. And the first glory, which was placed below them
all, was like to the light which had come over Jesus before he had
ascended into the heavens, and was like only itself in its light. And
the three light-modes were of divers light-kinds, and they were of
divers type, one being more excellent than the other. ...
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The fiery triangle
The fiery triangle
When the candidate in the transfiguristic mysteries is confronted

for the first time with the glory and the majesty of the new field of
lifeçi.e. the magnetic radiations of the 6 th cosmic domainçhe
undergoes the violence of a magnetic storm, in which he thinks he
is close to destruction and has reached his end. We have often dis-
cussed this perturbation with you, and we know its causes.
As soon as the approaching pupil begins to become more or
less familiar with this touch, he begins to discern the structure of
the new magnetic field. Its light is immeasurable and it sends out
its rays in abundance. These rays are not all the same but differ in
nature and vibration, nevertheless belonging together completely
and arising from the same source.
These radiations can be distinguished in three groups, and the
Pistis Sophia mentions these three distinctions, but at the same
time emphatically makes clear to us that they come from one and
the same majesty.
[The light] was of threefold kind, and the one [kind] was more excel-
lent {splendid} than the other ... The second, that in the midst, was
more excellent than the first which was below, and the third, which
was above them all, was more excellent {unsurpassed} than the
two which were below.
Splendid ç excellent ç unsurpassed: three superlatives that in

effect do not surpass each other, but can be distinguished.
This threefold light is called the light-vesture of Jesus the Lord.
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Chapter 9
If we change the mystical mode of expression for the scientific

one, we would say: This threefold light is the nature and the es-
sence of the gnostic electromagnetic field. The pupil who dies in
Jesus the Lord receives this light-vesture. It is a light-vesture that
can be symbolised by a triangle. It is the trigonum igneum of the
classical Rosicrucians, the fiery triangle mentioned in the Confessio
Fraternitatis.
Let us first of all answer the question why the light-vesture con-
sists of three groups, three aspects. You should know that a mag-
netic field is formed in the first place by a positive and a negative
pole, as a result of which a third aspect appears. The third aspect is
the result of the light that is kindled by the meeting of the positive
and the negative.
The excellent and the unsurpassed meet, and the result is the
splendid. The ancient wisdom called it fire, flame, and light; and
the Biblical terminology calls it Father-Son-Spirit. You will know
that the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is known as light. Think of the day
of Pentecost and the descent of the Holy Spirit. The descent com-
pletes the vesture.
This triangle of forces is called a ‘vesture,’ a robe. This light-ves-
ture is a vehicle, a body. The Bible sometimes calls this body a wed-
ding garment, the golden wedding garment, because of its extra-
ordinary brilliance, because of the fact that the possession of this
vesture gives access to liberating life.
This wedding garment is the electromagnetic vesture, the elec-
tromagnetic principle out of which the gnostic human being lives.
We cannot call this garment the soul vehicle yet, for it is the ves-
tureçthe principleçthe triangleçby means of which the total
rebirth is carried out. This wedding garment is therefore necessary
for every candidate.
As a vesture, as a body, this new electromagnetic principle has
different attributes. It has a consciousness aspect and a desire
aspect. Whoever has this vesture has an entirely new mentality, a
new I, a new desire-being, and a totally new fourfold body.
The sum total of human thinking, willing, feeling, and desiring
64
The fiery triangle
forms the consciousness. And this sum total is the electromagnetic

principle out of which and by which a person lives. This electro-
magnetic principle is head and heart together, and the form aspect
of the human personality is created and exists out of this principle.
This principle controls and attracts, adds together and splits the
four ethers. It brings them into a certain state of vibration, and
therefore this principle makes the human personality what it is in
its form aspect:
the four ethers build the form;
the light-vesture bestows it with power;
the trigonum igneum is the architect.
We hope it is clear to you that the primary task for every pupil
consists in attempting to obtain this new light-vesture.
This new light-vesture is not a reality until the descent of the
Holy Spirit can take place. A person who does not possess the
first two sides of the new triangle is able to exclaim in prayer,
‘Holy Spirit come over us,’ but that will then be the greatest non-
sense! That is, if such a person means the spirit of absolute renewal.
Every person has a light-vesture; every person stands in a tri-
angle, and every person builds on a square of ether activity. We all
start with a consciousness-light, a mentality, an impulsion of will,
and a desire. These things cause us to be. We all have a triangle of
lifeçbut does it form the vesture that is called the golden wed-
ding garment, the overwhelming light of Pistis Sophia?
We as creatures of nature all possess a dialectical vesture
woven out of the electromagnetic field of non-divinity. We
cannot meet the Bridegroom with that vesture. With that electro-
magnetic principle we cannot take part in the life that is not of this
world.
For that reason we need to start living out of a new electromag-
netic principle, practically, bodily, and in an organically demon-
strable way. All universal teachings, every sacred scripture, and
the accounts of every brother and sister fully bear witness to this.
All Rosicrucians speak of this.
You must be kindled by the spirit of God: Ex Deo nascimur. You
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Chapter 9
must perish in Jesus the Lord: In Jesu morimur. And you must be
reborn through the Holy Spirit: Per Spiritum Sanctum Reviviscimus.
There you have the trigonum igneum, the fiery triangle. Posses-
sing this fiery triangle must be your first and primary deed. This is
what is involved in true pupilship.
How do we weave the golden wedding garment? Being
kindled by the spirit of God refers to the opening up and flower-
ing of the rose in the heart sanctuary. The unfolding of the rose
enables us to recognise our fallen state, our state of suffering and
grief; and to behold the path and its liberating aspects. And the
Spiritual School is there to assist us in this completely. The full
wealth of the knowledge of salvation is poured out over us.
If you know, hear, and experience all this, when all this is con-
tinually repeated for you, then it is clear that you are being invited,
after the assimilation, to begin a process. You are being invited to
bring that process into practice yourself ç note well, yourself.
Whoever does not do so merely remains bogged down in
dogma, in philosophy, and sees this as the main aim. For such a
person the rose will begin to fade, lose its beauty and its fragrance,
for what matters is not what you know, but what you do.
The School of the Rosycross stands wholly in the sign of draw-
ing the first side of the fiery triangle. And it attains its goal in a
pupil only when he is prepared to begin the process. This is draw-
ing the second side of the triangle. When the pupil does so in
earnest, the School is ready to help the pupil in this also.
The second side of the triangle is drawn by perishing in Jesus
the Lord, by living in the powers which touch the rose, by working
with them, by breaking up, and by fulfilling them conscientiously.
If the candidate continues in this work, he thus goes the way of the
cross with his rose, and attaches it to the cross in deed and in truth;
and if, beside the positive pole, he also erects the negative pole of
the new field of life, of the new electromagnetic faculties, and if the
way of the Rosycross is thus completed, then it is clear that the
Comforter will começthe Holy Spirit who proves the realisation,
the descent.
66
The fiery triangle
Then comes the day of Pentecost, the third side of the fiery tri-
angle. Then, after the crucifixion, the candidate enters the realisa-
tion. Then a light is kindled for which the old light must make way.
And there also the Spiritual School will accompany the candidate
with the higher aspects of the Living Body. Then the wedding gar-
ment is woven. Then there is a new consciousness, a new thinking-
willing-desiring. Then the personality in its form aspects can be
further transfigured on the basis of a new square.
But, you will say, the triangle and the square must surely be en-
closed by a circle, by a higher self.
We can make this clear to you by means of the Pistis Sophia.
When one has heard this subject discussed often, there is always
the danger of stopping short at the words or testimony and of
enveloping and covering oneself with a lot of dogma, without an
inner breakthrough taking place. It is therefore a good idea to let
you see the breakthrough in a different way and to show you the
complete uselessness of a dogma if it is not related to a break-
through of light.
Every atom has a nucleus with a ninefold aspect, which can be
divided into three groups of three aspects. The first triplicity is the
positively charged particle of the nucleus. The second triplicity is
the negative, and the third is the so called neutral particle.
When an atom is split, i.e. broken up by means of great energy,
great energy is released, as we know. Nuclear scientists have prac-
tised this splitting of atoms in a fairly clumsy way so far, for only a
part of the atomic energy is released because the atom is not split
in a completely ninefold way, as the energy applied is not ade-
quate.
If they succeed in breaking up the atom into its nine compo-
nents, the days of mankind will be numbered. An unimaginable
catastrophe will take place, for the ninefold vivification of the
atom will cause a chain reaction; it will start up an enormous fire
in the entire cosmos, with all the consequences thereof.
That great light, of which the Pistis Sophia speaks, refers to such
a ninefold, three times threefold, atomic unleashing, but in this
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Chapter 9
case it is the rosebud, the original atom and the aural being.
When a person goes the Johannine way of self-sacrifice, in the
absolute sense, he invokes great energy, the energy-source of the
Gnosis. At a given moment this energy will ignite the original
atom to a chain reaction. That is to say, this chain reaction will
bring all the atoms of the personality into conformity with the
nature of the original atom. When a person has achieved that un-
leashing, he has attached the rose to the cross, i.e. a flowering, red,
fiery rose. Only then is he a Rosicrucian.
You will now understand how much a Rosicrucian differs from
an ordinary dialectical person. The atomic differences are incom-
parable. Only the Rosicrucian can be the true bearer of the soul
vehicle.
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The fiery triangle
And it came to pass then, when the disciples saw this, that they
feared exceedingly, and were in agitation. Then Jesus, the compas-
sionate and tender-hearted, when he saw his disciples, that they
were in great agitation, spake with them, saying: ‘‘Take courage. It
is I, be not afraid.’’
It came to pass then, when the disciples had heard this word, that
they said: ‘‘Lord, if it be thou, withdraw thy light-glory into
thyself that we may be able to stand; otherwise our eyes are
darkened, and we are agitated, and the whole world also is in agita-
tion because of the great light which is about thee.’’
Then Jesus drew to himself the glory of his light; and when this was
done, all the disciples took courage, stepped forward to Jesus, fell
down all together, adored him, rejoicing in great joy, and said unto
him: ‘‘Rabbi, whither hast thou gone, or what was thy ministry on
which thou hast gone, or wherefor rather were all these confusions
and all the earth-quakings which have taken place?’’
Then Jesus, the compassionate, said unto them: ‘‘Rejoice and exult
from this hour on, for I have gone to the regions out of which I had
come forth. From this day on then will I discourse with you in
openness, from the beginning of the Truth unto its completion;
and I will discourse with you face to face without similitude. From
this hour on will I not hide anything from you of the [mystery] of the
height and of that of the region of Truth. For authority hath been
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Chapter 9
given me through the Ineffable and through the First Mystery of all
mysteries to speak with you, from the Beginning right up to the
Fulness, both from within without and from without within.
Hearken, therefore, that I may tell you all things.
‘‘It came to pass, when I sat a little removed from you on the Mount
of Olives, that I thought on the order of the ministry for the sake of
which I was sent, that it was completed, and that the last mystery,
that is the four-and-twentieth mystery from within without, ç
those which are in the second space of the First Mystery, in the
orders of that space,çhad not yet sent me my Vesture. It came to
pass then, when I had known that the order of the ministry for the
sake of which I had come, was completed, and that that mystery
had not yet sent me my Vesture, which I had left behind in it, until
its time was completed,çthinking then this, I sat on the Mount of
Olives a little removed from you.
‘‘It came to pass, when the sun rose in the east, thereafter then
through the First Mystery, which existed from the beginning, on
account of which the universe hath arisen, out of which also I am
myself now come, not in the time before my crucifixion, but now,ç
it came to pass, through the command of that mystery, that there
should be sent me my Light-vesture, which it had given me from the
beginning, and which I had left behind in the last mystery, that is the
four-and-twentieth mystery from within without,çthose which are
in the orders of the second space of the First Mystery. That Vesture
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The fiery triangle
then I left behind in the last mystery, until the time should be com-
pleted to put it on, and I should begin to discourse with the race of
men and reveal unto them all from the beginning of the Truth to its
completion, and discourse with them from the interiors of the inte-
riors to the exteriors of the exteriors and from the exteriors of the
exteriors to the interiors of the interiors. Rejoice then and exult and
rejoice more and more greatly, for to you it is given that I speak first
with you from the beginning of the Truth to its completion.
For this cause have I chosen you verily from the beginning through
the First Mystery. Rejoice then and exult, for when I set out for the
world, I brought from the beginning with me twelve powers, as I
have told you from the beginning, which I have taken from the
twelve saviours of the Treasury of the Light, according to the
command of the First Mystery. These then I cast into the womb of
your mothers, when I came into the world, that is those which are in
your bodies today. For these powers have been given unto you
before the whole world, because ye are they who will save the
whole world, and that ye may be able to endure the threat of the
rulers of the world and the pains of the world and its dangers and
all its persecutions, which the rulers of the height will bring upon
you. For many times have I said unto you that I have brought the
power in you out of the twelve saviours who are in the Treasury of
the Light. For which cause I have said unto you indeed from the be-
ginning that ye are not of the world. I also am not of it. For all men
who are in the world have gotten their souls out of [the power of] the
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Chapter 9
rulers of the aeons. But the power which is in you is from me; your
souls belong to the height. I have brought twelve powers of the
twelve saviours of the Treasury of the Light, taking them out of
the portion of my power which I did first receive. And when I had
set forth for the world, I came into the midst of the rulers of the
sphere and had the form of Gabriel the angel of the aeons; and the
rulers of the aeons did not know me, but they thought that I was the
angel Gabriel.
‘‘It came to pass then, when I had come into the midst of the rulers
of the aeons, that I looked down on the world of mankind, by
command of the First Mystery. I found Elizabeth, the mother of
John the Baptizer, before she had conceived him, and I sowed into
her a power which I had received from the little Iao“, the Good, who
is in the Midst, that he might be able to make proclamation before
me and make ready my way, and baptize with the water of the for-
giveness of sins. That power then is in the body of John.
Moreover in place of the soul of the rulers which he was appointed

to receive, I found the soul of the prophet Elias in the aeons of the
sphere; and I took him thence, and took his soul and brought it to
the Virgin of Light, and she gave it over to her receivers; they
brought it to the sphere of the rulers and cast it into the womb of
Elizabeth. So the power of the little Iao“, who is in the Midst, and the
soul of the prophet Elias, they were bound into the body of John the
Baptizer. For this cause then were ye in doubt aforetime, when I said
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The fiery triangle
unto you: ‘John said: I am not the Christ,’ and ye said unto me: ‘It
standeth written in the scripture: When the Christ shall come, Elias
cometh before him and maketh ready his way.’ But when ye said
this unto me, I said unto you: ‘Elias verily is come and hath made
ready all things, as it standeth written, and they have done unto him
as they would.’And when I knew that ye had not understood that I
had discoursed with you concerning the soul of Elias which is
bound into John the Baptizer, I answered you in the discourse in
openness face to face: ‘If ye like to accept John the Baptizer: he is
Elias, of whom I have said that he will come.’ ’’
Pistis Sophia, chapters 5, 6 and 7
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Chapter 10
10
The Master of the Stone
In our last chapter we discussed that the trigonum igneum refers to

the flaming radiant garment of the new soul, a garment of which
the Pistis Sophia says that its light is of three kinds: splendidçex-
cellentçunsurpassed. If there is to be any true liberation, any true
transfiguration, the candidate must first of all have this new soul
robe at his disposal.
This new robe can be woven on the basis of the original atom,
the rose of the heart. Whoever commences to weave this new robe
can only then be rightfully called a brother or sister of the Rosy-
cross. The Bible and the Universal Teachings give this robe differ-
ent names, such as the golden wedding garment, the garment
without a seam, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. It is also some-
times called, as it is by us, the fiery triangle, the Phoenix, or the six-
winged dragon.
All great world teachers and bonafide spiritual schools have
demonstrated the necessity of possessing the threefold garment
and have taught the weaving of it. As a final proof you need
think only of the soul-renewing accent of the Gospel.
The dialectical personality has a mortal soul, a robe, and a con-
sciousness which are in accordance with it. The garment of the
mortal soul consists of, among other things:
the serpent-fire,
the mind,
the will,
feeling and desiring,
74
the nerve fluid,

the blood, and the physical atoms.
The sum of these we call the consciousness, the I, the electromag-

netic life principle of the human being. This soul-state must be to-
tally changed and renewed by a completely different electromag-
netic principle. When this happens, when the pupil accomplishes
this state, he weaves a new garment, which he puts on. The trans-
figuristic miracle takes place completely inside this garment and
by means of this garment.
Let us follow this process in detail. They who wish to be co-

builders in the process of renewal must understand that first of all
they must draw the triangle. It all depends on their skills as archi-
tects and masons.
They draw the first side of the triangle by the unfolding and
flowering of the rose in the heart sanctuary. This is being ‘kindled
by the Spirit of God.’
We have told you that because of the flowering of the rose, you
begin to recognise your state of being as a fallen entity. When the
rose of the heart works, you begin to see the path and its liberating
aspects. When you are seeking because of the urge of the rose, the
spiritual school draws you into that process of perturbation and
orientation. The spiritual school pours over you a treasure of the
knowledge of salvation.
When you have thus drawn the first side of the triangle, the im-
portant thing is whether you are also prepared spontaneously to
accept from within all the consequences presented to you during
the first process, namely to live, to work, to break up, and to lose
yourself daily, without hesitation, in the forces that touch the
rose. Whoever does this draws the second side of the fiery triangle.
This is ‘dying in Jesus.’
Positive forces touch you via the rose and you react to this, as
always happens when a great light-power touches a being. Your
first reaction will be to orient yourself, to observe, to contemplate.
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Chapter 10
But you will understand that although this reaction is necessary, it

will certainly not suffice. If you tarried in this first reaction, you
would be simply an observer, an objective watcher. No harmony
with the light-power arises, and your nucleus of ordinary nature
remains unaffected. You are not becoming a changed person!
But if after the first reaction you open yourself completely to
the Gnosis, putting into actual practice ‘Not my will but your
will be done,’ you will become a receptive person who gives him-
self away to the positive touch of the Gnosis. In other words, be-
sides the positive pole, an ideal negative pole begins to form.
You know what begins to happen now, what must happen.
When a positively charged pole and a negatively charged one
touch each other, a spark, a flame, a fire is caused. And that fire is
the third side of the triangle, the victorious aspect. This fire be-
comes ever more intense as the pupil methodically presses on
with his self-dissolution. Then suddenly, as in the twinkling of an
eye, the Holy Spirit is there, in a roaring blaze, like a hurricane
blast, in an intense tumult: the threefold light-vesture is ready.
The rebirth out of the Holy Spirit can now commence. The fiery
triangle has been drawn in very clear characters.
The candidate now begins to draw the square. That is to say, by
virtue of the new soul-state, by virtue of the new electromagnetic
principles, which now operate in his system as consciousness and
therefore as manageable faculties, he can convert and process the
ether forces in a totally new way. In short, he can now eat the holy
foods, the twelve shewbreads, the four threefold ethers.
Tremendous renewing changes commence, and the soul con-
structs a new material body, the old one continuing to be used
only as long as necessary. Thus we can see the rising up of a build-
ing on the basis of the square through the triangle of renewal.
In our explanation however, we have not been complete, for
you will know that besides the square and triangle, there is a
circle. This circle symbolizes the auric being, the higher self. The
higher self of the ordinary person preserves the dialectical idea
of lives experienced, as well as the idea of the present life, built
76
up from the karma of innumerable ages. The higher self includes

our electromagnetic firmament which results in the existence of
the dialectical light-vesture. That firmament is like a stellar constel-
lation; it contains twelve primary magnetic points and many sec-
ondary ones.
When the holy process, the process of the fiery triangle, is com-
menced in the pupil by the pupil, and particularly when this pro-
cess is persevered in, we see a remarkable change occur in the
auric being. Twelve new primary magnetic points are vivified in
it. Whoever opens the rose in the heart lays the foundation for
this. And it is clear that when these twelve new magnetic forces
can begin to operate, new possibilities for building on and by the
triangle are abundantly provided. In this way the building must be
commenced and persevered in until the final victory.
Whoever achieves this victory becomes for the first time a
master builder, a Master of the Stone. Such a person can serve the
world and humanity in perfection. The signature of such a person
is described in the Pistis Sophia as follows:
‘‘Rejoice then and exult, for when I set out for the world, I brought
from the beginning with me twelve powers, as I have told you from
the beginning, which I have taken from the twelve saviours of the
Treasury of the Light, according to the command of the First
Mystery.’’
Whoever is a Master of the Stone in this way can serve others with
it also. If someone has money, he can share it. If someone has
bread, he can feed others. If someone has love, he can radiate it. If
the circle in which the twelve saviours radiate and sparkle encloses
the fiery triangle together with the holy square, this twelvefold
power can also be shared with others.
This means that although your lipika does not yet possess
these lights, they are nevertheless present in the living body. You
can and may commence your work of construction with it. Who-
ever among you diligently perseveres with his building, so that
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Chapter 10
finally a nobility for the liberating life becomes possible, will re-
ceive as a gift of mercy from the Brotherhood the twelve saviours
in his own auric firmament. And from that moment on such a
pupil, in the total microcosmic sense, ‘is no longer of this world.’
78
The archons of the aeons
11
We have discussed in detail the marvellous change occurring in

the aural being when the pupil begins to develop the holy process
of the fiery triangle. This change signifies the manifestation of
twelve magnetic points, as a result of which the microcosm con-
cerned receives a new zodiac and hence can develop a new mag-
netic system.
All those who are true, all those who are dedicated to the one
universal Christ-lightçthe twelve Saviours of the Treasury of Light, as
the Pistis Sophia says ç will receive these twelve forces. Whoever
enters this state of being will experience as a living reality the words:
‘‘For all men who are in the world have gotten their souls out of [the
power of] the rulers {archons} of the aeons. But the power which is
in you is from me; your souls belong to the height.’’
Who are they, the archons of the aeons? They are the ruling and
leading powers in the universe of death. This is not just all that
dwells in the reflection sphere, but think especially of the great
powers that control the solar system, the zodiacal systems and
even greater formations in the universe of death.
After the Fall, when Adamic humanity was driven from the
original universe, a completely new ç a dialectical ç universe
was created for its benefit, a universe that would have had to
adapt itself completely, as far as the nature-laws and nature-forces
are concerned, to the totally changed nature of Adamic humanity.
This humanity was separated into innumerable groups and for-
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Chapter 11
mations and tied to one of the equally innumerable groups of

stars. And each group received a leader, a race-god, a Lord. These
gods, these rulers, are referred to in the Pistis Sophia as the archons
of the aeons.
It will be clear to you that these race gods in no way have the
task nor the capability of leading the entities subject to them back
to the original life. They have the drive to cultivate their systems, to
lead them to their own goal in the all-manifestation, and thus to
make their work acceptable to the Gnosis.
The fact that such a goal can never be reached is the doom of
the archons. The fact that all the entities dependent on them will
one day withdraw from their control through transfiguration is
their sorrow. Hence when we speak about the archons of the
aeons, you should certainly not think that these powers are the
very image of evil and blackness, that all the vices of the gutters
of civilization are theirs. No, in many respects they represent the
greatest virtues of the dialectically attainable; they expound the
most beautiful aspects imaginable of an essentially undivine
world order. In some respects we could call them top Ephesians,
the summit of the border dwellers.
However they react to that state in quite a different way than
Adamic humanity does. When an Adamic person has climbed to
the state of an Ephesian, he will begin to long for his original
home, and leave his state of imprisonment. The archons cannot
possess that longing because they are cosmocrators, the creators
of the complicated system of the nature of death. They will have
to continue their activities until the last fallen entity has been re-
leased from their clutches by free choice, and their universe can be
ended.
You should note well, therefore, that very high cultural devel-
opments can be instigated by the archons and all entities who
have received their souls from them; that brotherhood and philan-
thropy, goodness, truth, and justice can be ascribed to them, and
that they maintain a Devachan, an uppermost heaven of almost
unthinkable beauty and happiness, while all this nevertheless has
80
nothing to do with real liberation.

They who wish to place their feet on the path of transfiguration
and who try to renew their souls by and out of the twelve original
Saviours of the Treasury of Light, need to realize these things fully
so that mistakes are excluded. They need to turn exclusively to the
essential liberating aspects of the pure Universal Doctrine and of
the Christian revelations of salvation. For this reason anything
specifically Semitic and Mosaic must be eradicated from their
thinking.
We are not saying anything against the Semitic people as such,
because many Jews were and are transfigurists. Take for example
the ten lost tribes of Israel. And even in our days the holy sect of
the Baal-Shem is still renowned.
You will find proof of our opinion in Deuteronomy 32. This
chapter is commonly known asThe Song of Moses. Verses 8 and 9
say:
When the Most High apportioned the nations, when he divided

humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to
the number of the gods: For the Lord’s own portion was his
people, Jacob his allotted share.
The Lord here is not ‘the Absolute’, but the god of the covenant of
Israel: Jehovah. It is clear that all these Semites, under such super-
human leadership, occupied themselves with testimonies of grati-
tude:
For I [Moses] will proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness
to our God ! (Deut. 32:3).
The Lord alone guided him [Jacob], no foreign god was with him
(Deut. 32:12).
This expression is typically dialectical. In the original, the Abso-

lute is absolute, but in dialectics even an archon can become great-
er through the obedience of his children. And he becomes ex-
tremely wrathful if they resist his will.
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Moses was therefore a hierophant of the Jehovistic mysteries,

the Semitic mysteries, just as every leading archon has his mys-
teries. No doubt he was a great man according to dialectical mea-
sures, but very apparently and emphatically an entity with an
archon soul, who entirely accepts and heeds the divine word
when his god says to him (Deut.32 :39):
See now that I, even I, am he;

there is no god besides me.
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
and no one can deliver from my hand.
You know that the Semitic root race was divided into twelve
tribes. This is his ‘allotted share,’ the lot of Jacob. What has been
done on account of this ‘allotted share’ we all know. When the no-
madic tribes of the old Semites invaded Canaan, they massacred
all the peoples living there and took their possessions. By the com-
mandment of their god, no one was to survive. If there were a few
humanists among the Semites who let some people live, this was
scored against them very heavily by their god.
And later, when the Semitic people arrived in their stolen land,
where they had destroyed a beautiful and sublime culture (the
Egyptian), they went on with their orgies of murder. The worst of
these was the tribe of Dan, which was not satisfied with its bound-
aries and occupied an adjoining state, massacred its people, and
took possession of it in the name of Jehovah (see Judges 18:27).*
‘Dan’ means judge or justice; well, the dialectical nature of this jus-
tice will not escape our attention.
There is no need to object to this, for all people in this world
have received their souls from the power of the aeons. And right
up to this hour you will find proof that the leading figures of this
* The Danites having taken what Micah had made, and the priest who belonged to him,
came to Laish, to a people quiet and unsuspecting, put them to the sword, and burned
down the city.
82
planet are the most humble and faithful servants of the aeons. ‘An
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’çthe ancient Mosaic law,
received from the hand of his god, is also today still the leading
motive of the masses and of the individual, even though Jehovah
is no longer mentioned and Christ is on their lips. Even a child can
understand that this Christ is a false Christ.
All of us who are the descendants of the old root races and in
whom all the suggestions of the grey past stir and boil out of the
subconscious and out of the direct radiation of our lipika of the
archons, all of us must understand that there is only one solution
for us: throwing ourselves into the process of liberation, so that
one day it can be said of us also: The power which is in you is from
me, Jesus the Lord, and your souls belong to the Absolute Kingdom.
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12
The birth of John
We read in chapter 7 of the Pistis Sophia :
‘‘It came to pass then, when I had come into the midst of the rulers
of the aeons, that I looked down on the world of mankind, by
command of the First Mystery. I found Elizabeth, the mother of
John the Baptizer, before she had conceived him, and I sowed into
her a power which I had received from the little Iao“, the Good, who
is from the Midst, that he might be able to make proclamation
before me and make ready my way, and baptize with the water of
the forgiveness of sins. That power then is in the body of John.
‘‘Moreover in place of the soul of the rulers which he was appointed

sphere; and I took him thence, and took his soul and brought it to
the Virgin of Light, and she gave it over to her receivers*, they
brought it to the sphere of the rulers and cast it into the womb of
Elizabeth. So the power of the little Iao“, who is in the Midst, and the
soul of the prophet Elias, they were bound into the body of John the
Baptizer.’’
In this way the author of the Pistis Sophia tries to explain to the
pupils of the Spiritual School a few more or less incomprehensible
* The Greek word Paralemptor, which stands here in the Coptic text of the Pistis Sophia,
literally means ‘‘receiver.’’ Thereby are indicated the ‘‘guardians at the gates,’’ those
beings who receive the saved souls at their admission into the Pleroma and who accom-
pany them into the domain of eternal life.
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The birth of John
announcements in the Gospel. As most of us will not find the

commentary of the Pistis Sophia on the mystery of John the Baptist
very illuminating, it is good to analyse this commentary in detail.
We do not want to view the figure of John the Baptist as an
historical personality, but as the type of person who can indeed
be called the harbinger of Jesus, in the sense that before the
Christ-radiation can take shape in any person and this person can
consequently be called a Jesus-person, he must first be a Johannine
person. He must be taken up in a preliminary process.
This is why John precedes Jesus in the Gospel and why John the
Baptist is a figure of all time. He manifests himself immediately
when any pupil of the Spiritual School commences the path
under the same conditions and in the same power as the Johan-
nine type. Hence a given person cannot just decide to be a Johan-
nine type; at most he can decide to become a Johannine type.
There are different stages of genesis and therefore also different

types and sub-types:
1 the type of the ordinary dialectical person, which type can
be distinguished in various gradations;
2 the Johannine type, the type which populates the ordinary
visible Spiritual School;
3 the Jesus type, the type of the new, liberated human being;
4 the Christ type, the type of the divine human being.
From the announcements in the Gospel and those of the Pistis

Sophia, it appears that also a miraculous birth can be connected
with the Johannine type. We mean this birth not in the sense of
the natural birth of a child, but the entrance into a non-dialectical
state of being. There are three births, three stages of miraculous re-
surrection:
1 the birth of John, called by the Rosicrucians ‘kindled by the
Spirit of God’;
2 the birth of Jesus, called by the Rosicrucians ‘perishing in
Jesus the Lord’;
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Chapter 12
3 the birth of Christ, called by the Rosicrucians ‘reborn

through the Holy Spirit.’
The first birth is the condition for transfiguration.

The second birth is the process to transfiguration.
The third birth posits the fact of transfiguration.
We give you this outline for the sake of completeness, but the point
of direct, primary importance for us is whether we have indeed
entered the process of that first birthçthe Johannine birth. And
we repeat: this concerns a miraculous birth. One cannot decide
to be a John today. One can decide to enter the way, and on this
way, provided the conditions are fulfilled, the factors to this birth
must be granted to us. This is why it is a miraculous birth. This
birth must appear out of a state of being, out of a very concrete
mode of life in which selflessness takes the central place.
In order to make this first miraculous birth radiate clearly
before your consciousness and hence to place the Johannine type
before you in clear definition, it is necessary to begin with some
repetition: the repetition of matters and problems that should be
very familiar to you from reading and listening. We begin with the
question: ‘Who is to be regarded as a successful pupil of the Spirit-
ual School ?’And we mean successful in the liberating sense.
The answer is: ‘A pupil who has come to the discovery through
experience, out of suffering and sorrow, that our nature-order
cannot possibly be the divine order.’
Consequently such a pupil will regard every attempt at the im-
provement of the world on the horizontal plane as superfluous
and absolutely useless. He therefore does not just accept this
world, but begins to seek from within for the Other. At least he
constantly wants to do this seeking from a disquiet that has conse-
quently entered his blood.
If such a pupil were to have knowledge of the why and where-
fore of things, he would also be prepared to accept and apply
sweeping consequences for the sake of his higher objectives. In
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The birth of John
the literature of the School such a person is called the Elizabeth-

Zechariah person. When a person is like this, and many pupils in
the Spiritual School are, then the conditions for the first miracu-
lous birth are present. And this birth arises in the following way:
‘‘I found Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer, before she had
conceived him...’’
The person who is typified by this disquiet in the blood as men-

tioned above sends out a certain magnetic vibration. It is a radia-
tion that makes contact with a source of powers that the Pistis
Sophia calls the power of the little Iao“ , the Good, who is in the Midst.
What sort of power is this? It is the power that, as Jacob
Boehme says, has seized the nature of death in its heart. It is the
fundamental, calling power of the gnostic Body of the Universal
Chain, active in the world of dialectics. It is a power that does not
originate directly from the new field of life, but is nevertheless con-
nected with it and takes shape completely in the dialectical field of
nature.
Yet it is obviously separated from it and can be active exclu-
sively in people of the type described above. This field of power
is therefore within reach for every dialectical person, without him
or her having to enter an unnatural state of being.
This field of power, which ‘is in the midst’and so stands central
in the nature of death, relates to the Gnosis as the Spiritual School
relates to the new field of life. And this field is called that of ‘the
little Iao“, the Good,’ to express the fact that although it is active in
dialectics, it is nevertheless completely under the control of orig-
inal divine forces.
The power of this field is sown in the type of person described
above as an answer to his soul distress and is connected with the
original atom, with the heart. When this work has been accom-
plished, the second phase begins:
‘‘Moreover in place of the soul of the rulers which he was appointed
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sphere...’’
By the soul of the prophet Elias, the Pistis Sophia means the blood
inheritance that has been gathered by all those liberated in the
light and that is present in the nature of death. All who have
gone the path and have freed themselves from dialectics have left
the blood inheritance of their victory behind in the nature of
death. All those who go the path and develop themselves into the
type described above receive this inheritance at a certain moment.
They gain participation in it, at the same time as they receive the
power that is in the midst.
Every person receives a blood inheritance whether he wants it
or not. If he has a strong tie to family or nation or race, and he does
not radically disconnect himself from these, he will be forced
willy-nilly to accept the inheritance of that whole group, which is
of course karmically very heavily charged. Then he does not live,
but is being lived, out of and by the blood.
But when he advances in the type as described, and by his state
of being feels himself linked with the heart to the power that is in
our midst, he simultaneously receives a blood inheritance in ac-
cordance with it; he receives a blood treasure, the blood treasure
of the victors, the powers of the living fellowship of brothers and
sisters who have preceded us on the path.
This inheritance becomes greater from century to century; it
has become an immeasurable possession. This blood treasure
was cast into the womb of Elizabeth. And thus the power of the
little Iao“, who is in the midst, and the soul of the prophet Elias
were both bound into the body of John the Baptist, so that John
would be able to be the harbinger, to prepare the way and to bap-
tize with the water of the forgiveness of sins, free of karma by
means of a different soul structure.
This is how the first miraculous birth comes into being. As we saw,
it has three factors:
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The birth of John
the correct pre-state of being, the ‘Zechariah-Elizabeth’ state;

being struck by the radiation power of a magnetic field concen-
trated in nature;
and the capability of receiving the blood inheritance of the gnostic
forefathers, and of living out of it.
Whoever has these three factors can be a harbinger, can explore a

straight path in this nature, and borne thus, can break loose from
the aural burden of guilt and prepare himself for the second mir-
aculous birth, for the meeting with Jesus the Lord.
So we discover what is necessary for true pupilship. We can all
reach this pupilship when our type meets the logical requirement.
What possibly still holds us back is no doubt the fact that we
are still trying to serve two masters, and so must carry the burden
of a blood inheritance that is to be explained completely from the
lower nature and the horizontal line.
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And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said: ‘‘It came to
pass then thereafter, that at the command of the First Mystery I
looked down on the world of mankind and found Mary, who is
called ‘my mother’ according to the body of matter. I spake with
her in the type of Gabriel, and when she had turned herself to the
height towards me, I cast thence into her the first power which I had
received from Barbeloçthat is the body which I have borne in the
height. And instead of the soul I cast into her the power which I
have received from the great Sabao-th, the Good, who is in the
region of the Right.
‘‘A nd the twelve powers of the twelve saviours of the Treasury of

the Light which I had received from the twelve ministers of the
Midst, I cast into the sphere of the rulers. And the decans of the
rulers and their servitors thought that they were souls of the
rulers; and the servitors brought them, they bound them into the
body of your mothers. And when your time was completed, ye
were born in the world without souls of the rulers in you. And ye
have received your portion out of the power which the last Helper
hath breathed into the Mixture, that [power] which is blended with
all the invisibles and all rulers and all aeons,çin a word, which is
blended with the world of destruction which is the Mixture. This
[power], which from the beginning I brought out of myself, I have
cast into the First Commandment, and the First Commandment cast
a portion thereof into the great Light, and the great Light cast a
portion of that which it had received, into the five Helpers, and the
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The birth of John
last Helper took a portion of that which it received, and cast it into
the Mixture. And [this portion] is in all who are in the Mixture, as I
have just said unto you.’’
This then Jesus said to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Jesus
continued again in the discourse with his disciples [and said]:
‘‘Rejoice and exult and add joy to your joy, for the times are com-
pleted for me to put on my Vesture, which hath been prepared for
me from the beginning, which I left behind in the last mystery until
the time of its completion. Now the time of its completion is the
time when I shall be commanded through the First Mystery to dis-
course with you from the beginning of the Truth to the completion
thereof, and from the interiors of the interiors [to the exteriors of the
exteriors], for the world will be saved through you. Rejoice then and
exult, for ye are blessed before all men who are on the earth. It is ye
who will save the whole world.’’
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Chapter 13
13
The power of the little Iao“ , the Good
When we reflect for a moment on the structure of the well-known

gospel of Christ, we know that it begins by referring to a priestly
family: Zachariah and Elizabeth. It is announced to Elizabeth that
the prophet John will be born to her. A little while later a similar
announcement is made to another family, a family in the making:
Joseph and Mary, who were betrothed. The announcement was to
the effect that Mary, without the cooperation of her partner,
would bear Jesus the Lord in a miraculous way.
John is bornçJesus is born. John does his work and disappears
as soon as Jesus the Lord commences his work. And this exchange
of characters on the evangelical stage takes place by means of a
baptism in the water of the Jordan. Then the gospel story continues
in the well-known way.
You will know that the modern Rosycross constantly empha-
sizes that the evangelical narrative should not be viewed as a his-
torical event in the normal sense, but as an event always taking
place very much in the present.
This sounds absurd and absolutely impossible for those who
do not understand the message of the gospel, for those who have
completely externalized all of life, for those who make themselves
dependent on gods and idols; in short, for those who are a captive
within the normal, nature-religious way of thinking.
However those who know the Universal Doctrine and those
who profess pupilship in a Spiritual School know and experience
the truth of this exegesis. We have spoken to you about this with
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The power of the little Iao“, the Good
the help of an explanation of the Pistis Sophia. We saw that there

are three miraculous births:
the birth of John,
the birth of Jesus,
the birth of Christ.
In order to be part of the first miraculous birth, it is necessary to be a

certain type of person: the type of person who has come to a dead-
lock in this nature of death through bitter experience, through death
and distress, and now, out of a state of unrest in the blood, begins to
seek because of the futility of all dialectical attempts at attainment.
This person, who can be called the Zachariah-Elizabeth
person, is touched, by virtue of this state, by the radiant power of
the little Iao“, the Good, who is in the midst. It is an electromagnetic
radiation, the fundamental gnostic power, which has seized our
nature of death in its heart.
This power is the divine answer to the soul distress of the afore-
mentioned type of human being. And everyone who, in the pres-
ent or in the future, lives in this soul distress will receive an answer.
As a result of this answer, the person slowly begins to open up to a
new vision; everything becomes different. In all ordinary work,
the Spiritual School works with this first ray of the intervention
of the Brotherhood. It is the power of Iao“, who is in the midst. All
who have entered the Spiritual School will have noticed it when
they first became acquainted with the School, its work, and its
teachings. It was as if a veil were pulled away from their eyes and
hundreds of things, yes, everything in life, is suddenly seen differ-
ently.
But none of us who know or have known this period may sup-
pose that this is an absolute state of being in the sense of an ulti-
mate aim. For this is merely a prenatal stage, the announcement of
a possible birth. Therefore, after the expansion of the sensory fac-
ulty of the consciousness, there must be enthusiasm and determi-
nation to put one’s hand to the plough on the basis of the new
vision, the new touch.
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Chapter 13
If you have that longing, if this longing is growing, you will be

enabled to commence the deed, the deed of freemasonry, by a
second power. This second radiation power is called the birth of
John or the rebirth of Elias. That is to say, the young candidate is
connected to the blood power of all who have been liberated. He
receives this blood inheritance, which is a sidereal radiation. He is
connected in the blood, as it were, with all the brothers and sisters
who have preceded him on the path.
It is a treasure of the blood, the blood treasure of the victors, the
power of a living fellowship. And this power enables you to begin
working on yourself, to persevere on the path, as a true pupil. Are
not all ordinary human faculties, human aspects, and human
shortcomings and expressions also possessions of the blood ?
What you do not possess in the blood can never become reality.
For this reason this new birth in the blood, the receiving of this
blood inheritance, is the condition to everything. When your
type begins to fulfil the requirement, this blood inheritance also
becomes yours.
The Pistis Sophia continues with its explanation of the Universal
Doctrine and says:
And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said:

‘‘It came to pass then thereafter, that at the command of the First
Mystery I looked down on the world of mankind and found
Mary, who is called ‘my mother’ according to the body of matter. I
spake with her in the type of Gabriel, and when she had turned
herself to the height towards me, I cast thence into her the first
power which I had received from Barbeloçthat is the body which
I have borne in the height. And instead of the soul I cast into her the
power which I have received from the great Sabaoth, the Good,
who is in the region of the Right.’’
As we have seen, two rays of the new electromagnetic field are

active in the pupil we are describing to you. There is the ray that
quenches the seeker and enables him to see the fatherland as from
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The power of the little Iao“, the Good
afar, and there is the ray of the blood-inheritance, which mobilizes

the pupil, which urges the pupil to act, which typifies him as a Jo-
hannine figure. When the pupil is thus occupied, his being grows
into a new type that the gospel indicates as a Joseph-Mary.
Working on ourselves, inspired by the first two rays of the im-
perishable truth, is of course self-freemasonry. You are clearing
your way through obstacles: This is John, the preparer of the path.
The result of this is typically Joseph, the carpenterçthe freema-
son.
And by this change, the pupil’s being is naturally led to a crisis,
to an end, to a limit, to a point where all dialectical possibilities
come to an end. This state is called Mary. The microcosm enters
that state through the consistent labour of Joseph the carpenter.
This is why it is said that Joseph and Mary are bound together,
are two in one, as it were.
But are you able to say whether your preparatory carpenter’s
work is worthy of the Mary state? Do we not constantly experi-
ence doubt and the feeling of having hardly begun? This is why
we are told that Joseph and Mary are only betrothed. They are des-
tined to unity, but the reality is still far away.
And yet, in that state of knowing oneself to be far away, but
working diligently through the urge of the blood, there comes,
like a miracle, the touch of a third gnostic radiation power,
namely that of Barbelo. Literally translated Barbelo means ‘son of
severance.’ And you will probably realize that now the reversal
will commence in this power of Barbelo, the reversal from a
nature being to one who belongs to the spirit order of Jesus Christ.
But this reversal requires a severance. You probably thought
that the severance of John and Joseph was sufficient to enable you
to sail home with flying colours. But this making straight of the
paths in the first phase is on a purely horizontal plane. Borne by
the first two rays of the Gnosis, you do it according to your will,
your opinion, your taste, as far as your insight enables you to do
this, as far as your blood-faculty stretches, and as far as your ability
to work in the liberating sense clears your path.
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Chapter 13
We ask you: ‘Do you have perfect insight? Is your blood fac-
ulty complete? Is your ability to work in the liberating sense
100%?’
You will surely answer with a wholehearted, ‘No!’ Then ob-
viously there is a gap in the course of development. This would
cause you to become stranded in the desert.
And this is what the third ray, the ray of Barbelo, provides for. It
crushes and breaks up methodically and completely everything
you might possibly not want, everything in which your reason
falls hopelessly short, everything you cannot accomplish with
your own energy.
This radiation power seizes you with the will of the Father, and
so a situation can arise, where a pupil, with whom everything
went so well in the beginning, now finds himself in a hopeless
mess. For there can be an intense resistance when the pupil is con-
fronted with the drive for self-maintenance, and an immeasurable
fear. Where we do not break as brave, determined heroes with up-
lifted heads, we are broken.
As devoted pupils of the Johannine phase, we naturally want
to prepare our dear Paschal lamb, and full of devotion and concen-
tration, we sit in our little house. But then, as with Christian Rosy-
cross, the storm of the third ray, the ray of Barbelo, strikes, and it
buffets our whole house to pieces.
And now the important thing is that we cease our spontaneous
natural resistance and say, like Mary, ‘Let it be to me according to
Your word.’ We should behave ourselves in such a way that in and
by our mode of life we pray: ‘Not my will, but your will be done.’
Then we receive in our soul the power of the great Sabaoth, the
Good, who is on the right side.
This is the regulating, balancing, fourth ray of the Gnosis,
which enables us to go the path of severance with joy, i.e. a way
that according to nature we cannot want to go, that we cannot
see, cannot understand, but that we now go without resistance,
as a death in order to be born eternally living!
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The power of the great Sabaoth
14
We have discussed in detail that there are three miraculous births.

The candidate must mount three steps if he wants to leave behind
dialectical life and his dialectical I. These steps or births consist of:
the birth of John, the birth of Jesus, and the birth of Christ.
Each of these births is made possible for the pupil by the activ-
ity of four light rays, four power radiations of the electromagnetic
field of renewal. We have explained to you how the four rays de-
velop and become active in the birth of John. And we saw how in
the Pistis Sophia the first ray in the birth of John is called the ray of
the little Iao“. It is the divine answer to the soul distress of the begin-
ning pupil, and as a result of this the seeker suddenly gains insight,
understanding, perspective in regard to the path of liberation. The
seeker sees the way before him.
When, as a result of this unveiling, a mighty longing is aroused
to go the way of liberation to its endçand that longing will come
when the unveiling of dialectics and the bitterness of disillusion-
ment for the person concerned have become complete ç then a
susceptibility for the second radiation of the Gnosis will develop
in accordance with the quality and the capacity of that longing for
liberation.
By this means the candidate is linked with the blood field, with
the blood inheritance, of all the brothers and sisters who went
before him on the path. This blood tie enables the approaching
pupil to gather enough courage, power, and dynamism to be able
to put his hand to the plough. In this power the young pupil can
truly perform actions.
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Chapter 14
But you will understand that a dialectical person who

experiences his own being and his world as severed from God
and hence observes innumerable mistakes in life, mistakes because
of illusion and mistakes of a fundamental nature, will, when he
begins the holy work, be able to carry on his work only up to a
certain limit. We can, in earnestness and in striving, neutralize
many of our mistakes in life; we can make straight many paths
for our God, but ultimately we cannot neutralize the mistake that
we ourselves are. The I cannot kill the I.
We do speak of I-lessness as the absolute necessity in the holy
mysteries of transfigurism, but we cannot completely neutralize
the I. We can at most approach a limit. There always remains a
radius of action in which the I is obliged to act, to be conscious,
to think, and to feel. Just think of ordinary, everyday life from
which we cannot dissociate ourselves completely.
For this reason the task of I-lessness in that first phase is to pro-
ceed to a certain limit, and standing at that limit, having broken
through to that limit, the candidate experiences the touch of a
third power of gnostic radiations, which in the Pistis Sophia is
called the power of Barbelo, the Son of Severance. This radiation
power seizes you with the will of the Father and methodically and
completely breaks and grinds up everything you might want it to
and hence also everything you yourself could not. In this third ra-
diation the nature I is broken up to its essence. This is why the Holy
Scriptures say that John was beheaded.
The radiation power of Barbelo is radical and absolute. The
pupil must be prepared to accept this grinding in the actual mani-
festation of, ‘Lord, not my will but Thy will be done.’
Whoever is indeed prepared to give himself totally to this with
the last particle of his old I receives a susceptibility to a fourth ra-
diant faculty of the Gnosis, and this is called ‘the power of the
great Sabaoth.’ It is a radiation that regulates life and gives it bal-
ance, and it enables the candidate to go the path of severance in
great joy, through the gates of a very special death.
Thus the pupil enters a second miraculous birth: the birth of
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Jesus. This birth is also borne by four rays of the Gnosis.

We have previously spoken to you of the twelve new magnetic
points in the auric being. These points together make the new
light-vesture possible. In order to understand the whole mystery
of rebirth better than ever before, we need to draw your attention
once again to these twelve new magnetic points.
You know how the magnetic firmament in the auric being de-
termines the quality of the entire state of our soul and our life, be-
cause all the magnetic lines of force that emanate from the auric
being correspond to points in the head and heart sanctuaries.
The whole microcosm thus forms a magnetic unit, an unbreakable
system, and the possession of a spirit spark atom at the top of the
right heart ventricle does not by itself cause any change in this.
In the Spiritual School of the Rosycross, your attention is
drawn to spirit-spark entities and life spark entities. To these two
groups we need to add a third group. This does make the overview
of the all-manifestation much more complicated, but it is necess-
ary to draw your attention to it, in order to explain events in the
lives of some people and also their behaviour, especially because
these events and this behaviour will occur more frequently than
ever before in the near future.
You know that the life spark entity is fundamentally nothing
but a nature being, an animal of a higher order. The spirit-spark
entity possesses a microcosm that originates in the primordial
past of humanity, in the original seven root races. This microcosm
therefore bears a certain signature. Besides the actively function-
ing magnetic firmament, such a microcosm also has in the auric
being a latent magnetic firmament, an extinguished dark system,
and in the heart of its sphere the microcosm has an original atom.
When this microcosm has a living personality in manifestation,
this atom corresponds to the right heart ventricle of that personal-
ity.
This atom in the centre of the microcosmic sphere is always ex-
tremely sensitive to impressions from the field of life in which the
microcosm existed before its fall. But these impressions can have
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no resonance in the microcosm and hence in the personality, when

the twelve latent primary magnetic nuclei in the sixth ring of the
auric being have not also become sensitive. When the twelve orig-
inal magnetic nuclei are still deeply immersed in latency, the re-
flective function of the original atom cannot cause any activity of
a truly liberating nature in the personality and hence in the whole
being. At most, the reflective function of the original atom causes
a certain intellectual and mystical interest in the person concerned,
but this person will certainly not go the path of the birth of John,
nor will he know the preceding Zechariah-Elizabeth state.
This type of person cannot go beyond his I-being, and his
blood is totally unsusceptible to the regenerating activity. He
does not know the sacrifice of his whole nature. He cannot bring
that sacrifice. He is prepared at most to sacrifice and to obey when
he is certain he will receive in return something important to his
own self. When his sacrifice is not rewarded in the desired sense,
when it cannot be rewarded, there will be great pain, as will be
clear. Not the pain of the person who has become bogged down
in this world, but the pain of the disappointed I.
Because of the negative reflective function of the original
atom, this type of person will be able to penetrate to the ranks of
the Spiritual School; he will be able to understand the Universal
Teachings to a certain extent, to feel the allurement of it somewhat,
but not in the least to commence self-activity in the powerfield of
the four rays, because the magnetic system of the person does not
allow it and completely excludes all entrances to blood and being.
If one sees such pupils making the greatest errors in their lives
and if one experiences influences and behaviour from them that
hamper the work, then for such people we can only apply the well-
known prayer: ‘Lord forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
They are capable only of purely dialectical reactions to what the
Spiritual School posits and requires. These pupils have to wait until
new magnetic possibilities are manifested in their being, no matter
how much one would like to help them and assist them in all things,
because they are also fallen children of God.
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The Spiritual School has to wait until the distress, because of

the resistance that the I experiences, changes, after much suffering
and experience, into the suffering of remorse, and their haughty
and very insolent behaviour ç which is the signature of such
types ç changes into humbleness and humility, into humbling
before God and men. For such humbling will be the proof that
the twelve guardians of the Treasury of the Light can make some
of the light glimmer in the twelve latent magnetic nuclei of the
auric being. From that moment on, a group of new magnetic
lines of force will begin to stir the corresponding points in the
head and the heart.
A new magnetic condition will take effect. And in this reversal
of the entire being, the rays of the Gnosis that touch the heart atom
will be able to commence and carry through their glorious work.
The seed then no longer finds stony ground, but a prepared soil in
which it can grow until the victory. This is why the Spiritual
School tries to gather in its powerfield especially those spirit-
spark entities who can be freemasons by virtue of their auric con-
ditions.
We had to explain this to you before we could go on with our
discussion of the gospel of the Pistis Sophia. For whoever amongst
us possesses this glorious and liberating signature is able to make
his original atom flower forth like a rose that can truly be called the
rose of roses. Just as Jesus Christ has his twelve disciples, so the
candidate has the Christ in his heart. In a wide circle around this
rose of roses are twelve servants, twelve disciples in the twelve
new magnetic auric forces of the sixth ring, that carry on the
work of the rose to completion.
Whoever possesses this auric apostolic circle possesses a circle
that can and wants to do nothing other than to completely serve
Christ, who is called the Rose of Roses.
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15
The five helpers
We have dealt with the microcosmic structure of the entity pos-

sessing an original atom, the entity who can walk the path of lib-
erating life. We would like to continue this explanation with the
help of chapter 8 of the Pistis Sophia, from which we quote the fol-
lowing:
‘‘A nd when your time was completed, ye were born in the world
without souls of the rulers in you. And ye have received your
portion out of the power which the last Helper hath breathed into
the Mixture, that [power] which is blended with all the invisibles
and all rulers and all aeons,çin a word, which is blended with the
world of destruction which is the Mixture. This [power], which
from the beginning I brought out of myself, I have cast into the
First Commandment, and the First Commandment cast a portion
thereof into the great Light, and the great Light cast a portion of
that which it had received, into the five Helpers, and the last
Helper took a portion of that which it received, and cast it into the
Mixture. And [this portion] is in all who are in the Mixture, as I have
just said unto you.’’
This then Jesus said to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Jesus
continued again in the discourse with his disciples [and said]:
pleted. ...’’
If we are to understand what the foregoing means, it may be well

to remind you of the following:
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The five helpers
Besides possessing a functioning magnetic firmament, the

auric being of an entity possessing an original atom also pos-
sesses a latent, dormant magnetic system. As long as that latent
system is inactive, the impression faculty of the original atom in
the heart is incapable of enabling the candidate to be active in a
liberating way.
Such a person will, to a certain extent, be interested in the liber-
ating life on account of the impression faculty of his original atom
and may, perhaps, wish to enter the Spiritual School, but he (or she)
will preserve his own I completely and his blood will continue to
be closed off. He will remain inaccessible.
Such a person may get to know various facets of the School’s
philosophy, he may do his best to broadcast the School’s philo-
sophy, and, accepting a mode of life by rules, he may believe him-
self to be getting along wonderfully, but he will not be a true pupil.
For a true pupil is a human being who sacrifices his self, his own I,
and whoever wants to make this sacrifice must be enabled to do so
by the dormant magnetic system of the auric being. And this is
because the magnetic radiations and force lines the auric being
transmits meet in the head-sanctuary and the heart sanctuary
and in their unity constitute the I and sustain the I. It will be clear
that if all those force lines are still being transmitted by the ordi-
nary, natural magnetic system, not a single impression of the
Gnosis can work to break up the personality. At most they can
lead to flirtation with the School and its philosophy.
An active original atom must therefore always go together
with an equally active part of the previously latent, dormant orig-
inal magnetic system. This consists of twelve primary auric mag-
netic points. If these twelve forces become active to any extent,
twelve magnetic force lines manifest themselves in the head and
heart centres. Then a door is opened within the system of death,
so to speak, and the power of the rose not only enters there, but
can also start its work.
When the rose of the heart is enabled to radiate forth in this
way, Jesus the Lord has been born within us and has then chosen
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his twelve disciples as an auric apostolic circle. This circle will do

the liberating work of the inner Christ to its fulfilment. We may
therefore conclude that every pupil who is able to impel his inner
Christ to birth to establish his apostolic circle will achieve success.
All seekers possess this inner Christ. He is the original atom or
the rose. But as long as this rose remains a bud, hidden in its veils, it
will be unable to flower. As long as this rosebud is known to you
as your possession merely theoretically or philosophically, you do
not really know the inner Christ at all. As the Holy Scriptures say,
‘He is amongst you, but you know Him not.’
The human being who wishes to know the rose, to perceive its
fragrance, and to enter the rose garden must first of all walk John’s
path of preparation. The sorrows experienced on account of the
obstacles the I encounters in the nature of death must, after much
suffering and experience, change into the sorrow of repentance,
the humility before God and humanity. Such humility will be evi-
dence that the twelve saviours of the Treasury of the Light have
ignited the twelve primary auric magnetic points of liberation,
and around that one Lord of the Grail, the twelve disciples will
then be sitting down to the Lord’s Holy Supper.
But there is more. It is said that when Jesus the Lord was born
that a star shone above the stable of his birth: a scintillating five-
pointed star. It stopped above the cave of his birth and, guided by
that marvellous starlight, the wise men from the east came to pay
homage to the child.
Is it not extraordinary that many sacred legends tell of such a
five-pointed star? The glorified soul body, as the new vesture of
the pupil, is also represented by a five-pointed star. The five-
pointed star is the symbol of the original human being. And the
five points of this pentagram correspond with the head, the hands,
and the feet, i.e. with the five signs of absolute pupilship. If we con-
nect these points with lines, we see the image of the five-pointed
star, the five signs of the Son of Man. ‘The star that stopped above
the stable.’ Five signs: See in them the five helpers of whom the
Pistis Sophia speaks.
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The five helpers
This fivefold unity is a mystery in itself. Think here of the seed

atoms. They are atomic principles that continue to exist after death
and are placed in a new body again when a new incarnation takes
place. There are seven seed atoms, and in dialectics they are seven
chains by which the microcosm is chained to the wheel of birth
and death. These seed atoms are scattered through the personality.
But these seed atoms have nothing to do with the wondrous
star of Bethlehem. All the seven seed atoms of the original heaven-
ly form are enclosed in the original atom of the heart. The rose of
the heart, which constitutes the inner Christ, is a seven-petalled
rose. When that seven-petalled rose flowers forth, when the inner
Christ is born, the five-pointed star also rises, and it can be said
of the pupil who is able to celebrate that feast of regeneration:
‘We have seen his star in the East,’ that is to say at the moment
of birth.
If you wish to unveil that mystery, you will have to use the fol-
lowing method. Imagine the original atom as seven atoms con-
strained under one spell. When the feast of regeneration we
spoke of takes place by the cross descending into a human being
and the re-creation or transfiguration begins, the sevenfold atom
bursts asunder as it were on account of the gnostic fire touching it.
The sevenfold atom is split asunder; it falls apart into seven atoms.
A great sevenfold light is emitted. The candidate is enveloped in a
flame as it were on account of this atomic explosion, and the seven
principles of that flame form a figure: the seal of the true and orig-
inal human being.
But these are still only principles and not a total realization.
One of the seven principles remains behind in the heart at the
top of the right heart ventricle, as the centre of the new atomic
image. A second principle expands, fills the entire microcosm,
and forms the pentagram, the light-vesture. And the five others
are within that light-vesture and correspond with the hands, the
feet, and the head. These five could be called planets, and the first
two the sun and the moon. Accordingly, a completely new solar
system is formed within the new auric zodiac. When it is said
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Chapter 15
that the rose reveals itself and its fragrance is perceived, this refers
to this microcosmic fission of the original atom.
And the Pistis Sophia calls the five atoms within the light-ves-
ture the five helpers, for the five helpers of the two other rose
petals, the light-vesture and its nucleus in the heart, which give
forth a positive and a negative radiation, increasingly control the
whole dialectical system. These five helpers carry out the process
of transfiguration.
When such a stellar system stops above a pupil, its light is seen
from afar, and the wise men and the forces of the Brotherhood
hasten there to pay homage to what has been newly born and to
sacrifice to it gold, frankincense, and myrrh: the gold of the spirit,
the frankincense of the gnostic link, and the myrrh of purification.
Such a human being has become a true Rosicrucian. And it may
rightly be said to such a human being: ‘Rejoice and exult for your
times are completed.’
The mystery of the flowering rose has now been set before you.
Devoid of the superfluous frills, this mystery tells us that the orig-
inal atom in its dialectical state of captivity is only a seven-petalled
rose in the bud, and if unopened, incapable of any liberating work.
It is a principle that could enable the fallen god-man to walk the
path of liberation. It is a potential power of Christ. To this type of
human being, it could be said: ‘I say unto you, you are gods.’ But
this god must free himself.
If we are such types of human beings, it could not be said of us,
‘You are gods in a nascent state.’ That would be an intense lie, a
great, tremendous deception. We are not incipient gods. That
would indicate a slow development, an evolution, a slow climb up-
wards. The Spiritual School denies that. Throughout the ages
fallen humanity has been deceived and held captive by this be-
trayal. Essentially, this is what distinguishes the Spiritual School
from the modern theosophical way of thinking.
There is no evolution of the true human being without a revo-
lution of the old human being. The old human being has to dis-
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The five helpers
solve; the true human being must be born. He lies captive within
the rosebud, and this can break open only by means of the intense
fire of the gnostic sun. The old nature must clear the way for him
by self-neutralisation, in order that the rays of the new sun may
reach the rosebud. The rosebud will increase if you decrease. This
is the secret of the liberating fire.
You can rejoice because you possess a rosebud, for this is the
basis of the Great Work. But you could make the mistake of stop-
ping there and saying, ‘I am a spirit-spark entity. I am a child of
God. I am a Rosicrucian.’ And relying on that, begin a journey of
pretence, conceitedly and complacently.
You are rightfully a Rosicrucian, a son of God, and you will
truly possess a rose garden, only when the great light is ignited
by the great fire and the five helpers may be seen to be shining
from you. Then you will have been taken up entirely into the
rose, and you will again have become the winged being of
former days. Then you will possess the wings and the power of
the sons of God.
Then one will have become seven,
seven will have become two,
two will have become five,
and five will have become one again.
May those who are capable understand this!
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Chapter 16
16
The wonder of the original atom
The School of the Rosycross has been speaking about the spirit
spark atom for a long time, and as you have probably realized,
speaking continually about the same subject has a danger,
namely the danger of making the subject seem banal, superficial.
This danger is present particularly when it concerns subjects of
such a tremendous depth and such eminent significance that a dia-
lectical person can observe only some external aspects. And an
external aspect is soon familiar; it quickly makes us lose interest
and often takes from us the energy for closer examination.
But the person who keeps his attention fixed on the spirit spark
atom with undying fervour and with all of his seeking soul makes
wondrous discoveries, so wondrous and so boundless in results
that a deep gratitude rises up in him that the Rosycross makes
use of every opportunity to draw his attention to the original
atom situated at the top of the right heart ventricle. The unchang-
ing message that the Spiritual School directs to its pupils is, ‘Broth-
er, sister, in all things and before all things, pay attention to your
original atom. For that atom is the key to your true existence. It is
the mystery of all mysteries, the beginning and the ending of all
new geneses.’
Firstly we will give you an utterly sober account of a person who

took up the urgent invitation and kept his devoted, seeking atten-
tion unwaveringly fixed on the spirit spark atom. See here the
result of his investigation:
‘Following the advice I had been given with wise intent, I
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started to keep my attention unchangingly fixed on the spirit spark

atom, and I succeeded in making this subject of my unfading inter-
est a presence with me in all my daily activities. Even when activ-
ities on the horizontal plane completely occupied my mind, I
nevertheless knew that this object of my concentration was pres-
ent and active in a certain part of my brain.
Finally my situation was such that I had difficulty in preventing
this subject from obsessing me, but eventually this gem of my de-
votion became a possession of my blood, just as our characteris-
tics, the idiosyncrasies of our type, are in our blood and continu-
ally exert their influences.
In this way the mystery of the original atom circulated in my
veins as a characteristic so that all the centres of my personality
in turn were affected by it, day and night. It became part of my
thinking, willing, feeling, and acting. I dreamt of this mystery of
the heart.
And just as an extremely sensitive precision instrument regis-
ters impressions that escape the senses, my being was thus being
prepared for the gazing into an immense miracle. Firstly I knew
that the original atom in its virginal dialectical state is also called
the rosebud. Our microcosm, our small world, has a soul, an en-
souled personality, a small world soul. And didn’t Plato in his Pla-
tonic mysteries speak about the world soul that is crucified ?
Indeed how correct!
The cross of our personality stands erected in the nature of
death, in a microcosm that is broken away from the Logos. I experi-
ence everything that the School of the Rosycross has taught me
about dialectics. I am hanging on the cross in the breath of death.
But at the same time there is a tremendous joy that there is a rose-
bud, full of the promises of a new youth.
The atom is a wondrous phenomenon. What is an atom? It is
everythingçit is a universe. It contains forces that defy the bravest
imagination. When a small number of atoms of a certain kind are
broken up with tremendous energy, explosions are caused that
wipe away everything for miles around.
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Chapter 16
The energy released by a split atom can be channelled and ap-

plied according to certain techniques. But the atom of the rosebud
cannot be split by any known or yet unknown dialectical energy.
The energy in it, the mystery of it, cannot be released in such a
way. The rosebud can grow and flower only in a completely differ-
ent field of existence. Joy would have to make way for sadness, if
some scientific genius were capable of splitting the rosebud atom,
because the released energy would bring only devastation.
An atom is a world, a world order, a microcosm. I understand
very clearly that indications such as large and small are only spa-
tiotemporal concepts. The spaces inside the rosebud atom are as
wide as eternity. The aspects and meanings and possibilities in it
are as manifold as grains of sand by the sea.
The rosebud is a world order, a world soul, an omni-manifesta-
tion that cannot express itself here. It is an omni-manifestation
that is not of this world, a gigantic kingdom, but not of this
nature. The rosebud contains a stilled life that would be able to
blossom with exuberant majesty. But the fragrance of that royal
glow of life cannot be perceived here.
I carry with me a new world, thrice divine. I carry the house of
the Father, in which are many mansions; but no one can be in and
of two worlds at the same time. What the occultist regards as par-
ticipating in two worlds is just participating in two spheres of one
and the same world. If I want to participate in that stilled, sleeping
world, in the kingdom that is not of this world, in the kingdom that
I nevertheless carry in me, and of which it is said, ‘See, the king-
dom of God is within you,’ then I must leave my world.
What is my world ? My world stands and falls with the ensoul-
ed life in it. And this ensoulment I am myself. I must leave myself.
The I must annihilate the I. From the same moment another I will
stand in another ensouled life, in another world order. Nothing of
me will enter this other kingdom, for it has no need of me. There
is no fallen I in my I; my I fits wondrously well in the world where I
exist. I am no fallen man as is said in nature-religious delusion. I
was born in this nature of death, and death is my signature, my life.
110
Just by my existence alone, I already spread death and decay

around me. I live from death.
No, the fallen self, the sunken self, lies in the rosebud, in which I
am not, in which I have no share, but which I carry with me. And
that fallen I can be liberated and live only when I am no more.
Oh, foolish power of ignorance that made me try to enter the
kingdom of God! The new kingdom is for and of the other me,
dwelling, sleeping in the rosebud. Would I be able to love the
other one so much that I could give up myself for it?
To be able to love someone, he must be known to you. And so
it must be possible to know the nature, the characteristics, the as-
pects of the wondrous atom, to prove them as it were, to experi-
ence them, so that the sacrifice of self-immolation can be made
for the other one in this tie of love. For isn’t that why I carry the
rosebud with me, so that self-sacrificing love will awaken it? Isn’t
that the meaning of all holy myths? Isn’t that the purpose of all
holy scriptures?
Am I now the victim of emotional ecstasy? Is there a Freudian
complex acting in me, full of religious, self-chastising eroticism?
Can I test my discovery against the modern science of atoms?
I can! Natural science teaches and shows that by the fission of
one atom, we can get an atom or atoms of an entirely different
nature and value. The ending of the oneçconsciouslyçin the
great fire of self-emptying gives life to the other.
Now I know what the flowering rose bush has to tell us in the
language of symbols. The flowering rose bush does not want to
beautify the old mouldered shed and make it appear what it is
not. The rose bush around the cross of nature, the rose bush of
the crucified world soul, shows us the person who, looking into
the rosebud, takes one life to its death in order to keep another
life. The life that devotes itself to its death is not useless; it is valu-
able multifariously. It enables the rosebud to unfold. It is the sweet
death, the self-termination of the Gnostics.
As in a mirror of the heart, I see the beloved of which so many
initiates have spoken. The world of the holy Other One is revealed
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Chapter 16
to me as eyes that stare at me. I see that the rosebud has seven
petals. I see that the wonder atom consists of seven atoms and
that this sevenfold constellation will open up like an expanding
universe upon the mighty word: ‘Let there be Light.’ I see that
this sevenfold, stilled manifestation is surrounded in a wide circle
by an equally latent zodiacça magnetic, fiery circle.
And I hear the Holy Scriptures call this sleeping, as yet dark
zodiac, the Throne, the divine Throne. I hear the sevenfold atom,
the seven-petalled rose, being called the seven Lords before the
Throne, and I see that this divine microcosm, which is enclosed
within me and surrounds me on all sides, has seven fields of activ-
ity. I see that there are seven rays and that seven potentialities and
seven labours of rebirth have to be completed. I see how candle-
stick after candlestick is lit and begins to glow with an ineffably
glorious light.
And now I understand the beginning of the Apocalypse for the
first time. It is the invocation of the person who goes to awaken his
Belovedçthe invocation of the person who begins his enduristic
work and thus speaks mantramistically:
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace
from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the
seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the
faithful witness, the first-born of the dead.
And immediately I entered into rapture on this day, which I dedi-

cate to the Belovedçthe rapture ... unto fulfilment!’
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Blood, fire, and smoke
17
The beginning of chapter 143 of the Pistis Sophia says:
Thereafter his disciples said unto him: ‘‘Rabbi, reveal unto us the
mystery of the Light of thy father, since we heard thee say: ‘There
is still a fire-baptism and there is still a baptism of the holy spirit of
the Light ...’’’
These words are in keeping with those of John the Baptist who
says: ‘I baptize you with water, but he who is coming after me
will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.’
This principle of dual baptism was present at all times and
can be found in all Holy Scriptures. Suppose we see in the dis-
tance a pillar of smoke curling up into the air. We would then
know that a fire is burning there, for there is no smoke without
a fire. The smoke is proof of the fire, but it is not the fire itself.
And it is clear that he who approaches the smoke will also be
able to find the fire. Approaching the smoke, seeing and experi-
encing it, constitutes the baptism of water. Water is the symbol
of each and every physical manifestation, and the baptism of
smoke points to the manifestation of the Gnosis in the world of
time.
What we can taste and understand and digest of the holy fire of
the spirit in the world of time is only the shadow of the fire: the
smoke. The fire itself, however, stays hidden to all material experi-
ence. Witnessing the fire itself becomes possible only when a
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Chapter 17
person has broken through all material experience and its delu-
sion. For that reason what we are at best permitted to apprehend
of the holy fire is the baptism of smoke, the shadow of the fire. But
this apprehension is so glorious, so divine, that it can make us
speechless with gratitude, because the baptism of smoke is the
one way to salvation.
That is precisely the meaning of the prelude of the Gospel of
John. John precedes Jesus. Therefore whoever follows John
through the desert of life and makes straight his paths right up to
the Jordan will meet Jesus.You must not only understand this; you
must prove this by your living deeds. And without this proof there
can be no question of the baptism of fire.
Having stated all this as an introduction, we need to under-
stand that there are many misconceptions concerning this dual
baptism. These misconceptions are of a religious or occult nature.
We need to examine these misconceptions thoroughly to their
deepest depths, because they have been prevalent for so many
hundreds of centuries among humanity that every human entity
in the dialectical plane has undergone and absorbed their influ-
ences. There is not a single human being who can say that he or
she is free of misconceptions. A person could of course say this,
but he could not maintain this upon closer examination. We have
all been drinking from this poisoned cup, and consequently we are
heavily damaged.
You must see the request of the disciples in the Pistis Sophia in
this light. It is a cry from the heart: ‘Lord, unveil the mysteries of
the light to us!’
What is the unveiling of mysteries? Can we do that for you?
No, you must do this for yourself!
And here we enter the area of the misconceptions where the
best people in the world have often tripped up. For example,
people say: ‘The baptism of water relates to the material side of
things, to earthly mysteries and initiations, and knowledge of the
mysteries.’
There are many who possess great knowledge of the mysteries.
114
However, it is very much a question whether this knowledge has

made anyone happier for even one hour. All those initiations a
seeker can undergo, hoping to be enriched, have they brought
him liberation and happiness?
No light can be expected in this world of death. If you had
everything, if you had all knowledge, but not the love that sur-
passes all understanding, you would have nothing. What we call
knowledge and intellect and initiation constitute a very degenera-
tive faculty of the nature of death.
We would like to make it clear to you that with respect to the
divine mysteries, no knowledge whatever is necessary. For in rea-
lity it is not you that needs to be initiated. You have to disappear
from this world; you must die; your I must be destroyed enduristi-
cally. You do not need to collect anything. Why should you in-
crease the burden that you are for your microcosm? You must be
emptied.
InThe Cloud upon the Sanctuary, Karl von Eckhartshausen says
that you should not simply penetrate from the external to the in-
ternal. ‘For,’ he says, ‘in the external the symbols of the internal are
preserved, and hence the truth, the essence of the internal, is
hidden in external ceremonial magic.’
This is the weak point in his book. It is out of the question! To
put it like that is a crime against the Gnosis.
The classical Rosicrucians honestly and openly offered their
treasures to the wise and learned of this nature. They said: ‘Here
is our treasure. Live with it and immerse yourselves in it!’
But the wise did not accept it. What did the Rosicrucians do
then? Did they establish a church, or a school with ceremonial
magic, in which the flock was nourished, with the Brothers them-
selves acting as priests or adepts?
No, they erected the house Sancti Spiritus. They lighted the per-
fect fire, so that its smoke would embrace the world as a respira-
tion-field.
Ceremonial magic is a smoke screen; it is dialectical cunning:
being in the respiration-field of the Gnosis without dying in it and
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Chapter 17
continuing to inhale the oxygen of corruption.

Is there no help for a poor lost soul ? Can he not be taken by the
hand and led out?
The Lectorium Rosicrucianum does the same as Christian
Rosycross and his brothers: It offers its treasures to the worldç
everything it possesses: blood, fire, and smoke. It does not walk
along with the world; it does not imitate its methods and propa-
gate its opinions. The Lectorium Rosicrucianum cannot link itself
with this world. But our treasures are also the treasures of the
whole world and all of humanity. The full riches of the Gnosis are
for you and of you.
The house Sancti Spiritus is everywhere. But the seeker and the
pupil must leave behind his old state of being, for in your old state
you cannot be put in possession of your inheritance. For that
reason the first real link must also be the last one. And you must
make that link yourself. There is no priest and no initiate and no
spiritual leader who can help you with that.
The Spiritual School concentrates the smoke of the fire and im-
parts it to your blood. In the last days there will be blood and fire
and smoke. The beckoning plume of smoke is the goal of the path
that is being shown to you, and now you have to struggle through
the desert with John the Baptist, going through the endura with
your own self and then, with a shout of joy, finding the one fire
and immersing yourself in it.
If your blood is receptive for it, there is a cry of the heart in you,
praying: ‘Reveal the mysteries of the fire to us!’ And whoever
emits this cry with the whole dynamics of his yearning soul im-
mediately gains possession of his inheritance. And on that eternal
certainty, he then goes the path.
This is the great and fundamental difference between occult-
ism and religion on the one side and transfigurism on the other:
In dialectics a path is presented with initiation as the final goal.
This is pure speculation, for how much can happen before the
goal is reached: errors, deceptions, and so on.
In transfigurism the link with the goal is established first and then
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the path follows. This is the absolutely certain and unshakeable

process of rebirth.
Mystical and occult movements therefore prove to be only mir-
rored reflections of the one truth.
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18
It is you who will save the whole world
In the previous chapter we were able to explain to you that the

original atom of the heart, the rose of liberation, is, as it were, a
condensed new microcosm, a microcosm imprisoned in our pres-
ent microcosm. It is an inactive, totally latent divine being encom-
passed by a system of electromagnetic forces that are undivine.
It could be said that the original atom has left behind in the Im-
movable Kingdom its life-giving capacity, the radiation field of the
divine Gnosis. This is why the Pistis Sophia speaks of a light-vesture
that has been left behind. As soon as a dialectical person is pre-
pared to go the path of self-surrender, and the dialectical micro-
cosm has decreased from a dynamically living being to a merely
existing being, and the person is opening himself fully to a radia-
tion power meant exclusively for the other Kingdom within him,
then the original light-force, the original light-vesture, will be
given back to the original atom.
The original atom is split as it were, broken open by the fierce
fire of the Holy Spirit. The original rose is opened. He who was the
first and will be the last has become alive again.
When the original rose starts to unfold, it proves to be extreme-
ly complicated in composition. There is a central principle that
keeps burning in the heart as a new sunlight. This is the new
Aurora of which Jacob Boehme speaks. A second principle rotates
around the first one as a rhythm-determining force. Five other
principles are situated at a distance from the second one. They
are five characteristics that together form a five-pointed star: the
sign of the Son of Man. This five-pointed star could be seen as a
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system of lines of force by means of which the new human being,

after having become fully grown, starts to manifest himself fully.
This is what is meant by the star of Bethlehem, which the wise
men saw.
It is clear that the radiation of this star forms a magnetic field
by means of which the reborn person starts breathing in the
Gnosis. For this reason we also see twelve new magnetic points
in a wide circle in that new magnetic field. They form a new mag-
netic system that derives nothing from the old auric being. The
twelve great, new light principles form the new microcosmic
zodiac. The new human being has been born of the divine radia-
tion field. Jesus the Lord has descended into the course of time, so
to speak. He is called Jesus Christ because this Saviour derives his
salvation from the Gnosis itself. He possesses twelve disciples,
twelve magnetic powers, twelve great faculties, from which and
by which He begins to live.
This is briefly a description of the birth of the new system. We
should visualize that this new microcosm exists next to and out-
side, within and around the old one. The new heavenly body
exists, and in the beginning the old one continues to exist also.
One could speak of a double star: one world fading away and the
other manifesting itself in an ever-increasing glow of light.
In our explanation about the true nature of the microcosm, we

have made it clear that in the rotations of the wheel of birth and
death, the auric being, the higher self of the microcosm, is in a cer-
tain sense immortal. The auric being, this karmic self, spans all
lives, and a new personality is born over and over again within
this auric being. This personality has not known any earlier life
and neither will it know a new life. What is called reincarnation
therefore only relates to the fact that the auric being, always exist-
ing in dialectics, loses a personality and at the appointed time can
provide itself again with a new personality.
We must now go a little further in our consideration by under-
standing that the auric being, the higher self of the microcosm,
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although always living in dialectics and being immortal, will be

totally dissolved after the birth of the new microcosm.
In the Gospel we can read about this in the very veiled story of
the temptation in the desert. The old higher self tries to obtain
control of the newly awakened one who was dead and is alive
again. But the old higher self does not succeed in this. This being
the reason why it is said of Jesus the Lord after his victory that:
‘The angels of God ministered to Him.’ This is to say: The mag-
netic forces of the old lipika cannot sustain the newly born one
and for this reason cannot dominate him, but rather a new lipika,
a new auric being, a new zodiac, serves him. Then a new field of
development opens for the new human being. For this reason the
Pistis Sophia says:This then Jesus said to his disciples on the Mount of
Olives. And He added:
pleted for me to put on my Vesture, which hath been prepared for
me from the beginning, which I left behind in the last mystery until
the time of its completion. Now the time of its completion is the
time when I shall be commanded through the First Mystery to dis-
course with you from the beginning of the Truth to the completion
thereof, and from the interiors of the interiors [to the exteriors of the
exteriors], for the world will be saved through you. Rejoice then and
exult, for ye are blessed before all men who are on the earth. It is ye
who will save the whole world.’’
He who has awakened as a new human being is blessed before all

people who are on the earth, for such a person can save the whole
world. We shall now examine what is meant by these words as far
as we are able to fathom them.
To begin with, let us take a simple example to aid us in this. Let
us imagine that a piece of wood, which, as we know, is lighter than
water, is stuck at the bottom of a lake because of some unnatural
cause. At a given moment when the unnatural cause is taken away,
we see the piece of wood come to the surface immediately. In other
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words, after removing the unnatural situation, the natural balance

is restored.
The same applies to the new human being. This new human
being lies immersed in his deathly sleep at the bottom of dialectics,
but awakened and reborn by the self-surrender of the dialectical
human being, he rises from the grave of nature to go to his Father-
land to find his natural balance again. Therefore the reborn human
being starts out on a journey to his Father’s house, and this jour-
ney means the salvation of the world and of fallen humanity.
To understand this we must take stock of the constellation of
dialectical nature. Why is the human being as he is? He, the dialec-
tical personality, with all his faults and his self maintenance, bur-
dened with his whole psychic tendencies and practices? He is like
this because of his auric being, his karmic being, loaded with the
burden of countless ages.
This auric being, with everything below and above it, could be
indicated as being our ‘private reflection sphere,’ which is linked to
the astral field of dialectics, and by which and from which we live.
We, and all personality beings who have preceded us in our micro-
cosm, are the reflexes, the reaction foci, of that reflection sphere
being in us. The so called higher self is the true dialectical self; it
is the aeon, the archon, that dominates us.
And now by means of your self-surrender, by means of your
negating your private reflection sphere, the new microcosm rises
up in you. The true microcosm wakes up equipped with a wholly
different light-vesture. Now you can imagine what is going to
happen. You, who were previously just a reflex and a slave of
your satanic, dialectical higher self, you who have now surren-
dered to the Other One and dissolved into Him, dissolved in the
new I, you arise from your nature of death. This nature cannot
retain its hold on you any longer. You go up to your Fatherland.
The satanic higher self, robbed of its foci, collapses and disappears,
as all delusion does, like an empty cocoon disintegrating in the
wind.
And what happens to the one microcosm also happens to the
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cosmos. Our cosmos is the field of life of countless microcosms;

just as there is a reflection sphere and a satanic higher self of the
microcosm, so there is also, as you know, a reflection sphere and a
satanic higher self of the cosmos. And just as the reborn micro-
cosm breaks through the old microcosm and annihilates it, so too
the reborn one, the transfigured one, will break through the
cosmic reflection sphere and pass by the very complicated higher
self of our cosmos and so contribute to its annihilation.
Imagine that a group of people goes this way together and that
the nature of death is not able to keep its hold on such a group.
Then such a group will rob the nature of death of a great deal of
its power, paralyse it as it were. In this way they will be making it
easier to go the path of liberation for all who come after them. This
is why every new soul who walks the way to the Fatherland with
unfaltering steps helps to pave the way for all fallen human beings.
It is for this reason that the Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘Rejoice then and exult, for ye are blessed before all [fallen] men
who are on the earth. It is ye who will save the whole world.’’
This is real humanism; this is real love of one’s fellow human

beings. You should see the pupils’ efforts on the path in a wider
context. By means of their endeavours, by means of their efforts
for freedom, they free others. They give others the opportunity
to achieve freedom. The mercy bestowed on them, accepted, and
utilized by them becomes a mercy for everyone else.
The human being so often afflicted by the brutal I-centrality,
the gross egotism of the human animal, the human being who
projects himself into the front rows in the struggle for existence,
is able to immerse himself in that great, glorious, divine miracle:
a freedom that at the same time explores this freedom for every-
one else.
This is religion, science, and art together. This is democracy.
This is the Sancta Democratio: One for all and all for one.
For this reason there is joy in heaven for one sinner who re-
122
pents, who turns to the light. For this reason the Pistis Sophia de-
scribes in the next chapters the candidate’s path of joy through the
reflection sphere of the cosmos, where the powers of hell are de-
feated.
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It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished saying these words to
his disciples, that he continued again in the discourse, and said unto
them: ‘‘Lo, I have then put on my Vesture, and all authority hath
been given me through the First Mystery. Yet a little while and I
will tell you the mystery of the universe and the fulness of the
universe; and I will hide nothing from you from this hour on, but
in fulness will I perfect you in all fulness and in all perfection and
in all mysteries, which are the perfection of all perfections and the
fulness of all fulnesses and the gnosis of all gnoses,çthose which
are in my Vesture. I will tell you all mysteries from the exteriors of
the exteriors to the interiors of the interiors. But hearken that I may
tell you all things which have befallen me.
‘‘It came to pass then, when the sun had risen in the east, that a great
light-power came down, in which was my Vesture, which I had left
behind in the four-and-twentieth mystery, as I have said unto you.
And I found a mystery in my Vesture, written in five words of those
from the height: zama zama o‹ zza rachama o‹ dzai,çwhose solution is
this:
‘‘ ‘O Mystery, which is without in the world, for whose sake the

universe hath arisen, ç this is the total outgoing and the total
ascent, which hath emanated all emanations and all that is therein
and for whose sake all mysteries and all their regions have arisen,
çcome hither unto us, for we are thy fellow-members. We are all
with thyself; we are one and the same. Thou art the First Mystery,
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which existed from the beginning in the Ineffable before it came

forth; and the name thereof are we all. Now, therefore, are we all
come to meet thee at the last limit, which also is the last mystery
from within; itself is a portion of us. Now, there-fore, have we sent
thee thy Vesture, which hath belonged to thee from the beginning,
which thou hast left behind in the last limit, which also is the last
mystery from within, until its time should be completed, according
to the commandment of the First Mystery. Lo, its time is completed;
put it on [thee].
‘‘ ‘Come unto us, for we all draw nigh to thee to clothe thee with the
First Mystery and all his glory, by commandment of himself, in that
the First Mystery hath given us it, consisting of two vestures, to
clothe thee therewith, besides the one which we have sent thee, for
thou art worthy of them, since thou art prior to us, and existeth
before us. For this cause, therefore, bath the First Mystery sent thee
through us the mystery of all his glory, consisting of two vestures.
‘‘ ‘In the first is the whole glory of all the names of all mysteries and
all emanations of the orders of the spaces of the Ineffable.
‘‘ ‘A nd in the second vesture is the whole glory of the name of all

mysteries and all emanations which are in the orders of the two
spaces of the First Mystery.
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‘‘ ‘A nd in this [third] vesture, which we have just sent thee, is the

glory of the name of the mystery of the Revealer, which is the First
Commandment, and of the mystery of the five Impressions, and of
the mystery of the great Envoy of the Ineffable, who is the great
Light, and of the mystery of the five Leaders, who are the five
Helpers. There is further in this vesture the glory of the name of
the mystery of all orders of the emanations of the Treasury of the
Light and of their saviours, and [of the mystery] of the orders of the
orders, which are the seven Amens and the seven Voices and the
five Trees and the three Amens and the Twin-saviour, that is the
Child of the Child, and of the mystery of the nine guards of the
three gates of the Treasury of the Light. There is further therein the
whole glory of the name [of all those] which are in the Right, and of
all those which are in the Midst. And further there is therein the
whole glory of the name of the great Invisible, which is the great
Forefather, and the mystery of the three triple-powers and the
mystery of their whole region and the mystery of all their invisibles
and of all those who are in the thirteenth aeon, and the name of the
twelve aeons and of all their rulers and all their archangels and all
their angels and of all those who are in the twelve aeons, and the
whole mystery of the name of all those who are in the Fate and in
all the heavens, and the whole mystery of the name of all those who
are in the sphere, and of its firmaments and of all who are in them,
and of all their regions.
126
‘‘ ‘Lo, therefore, we have sent thee this vesture, which no one knew
from the First Commandment downwards, for the glory of its light
was hidden in it, and the spheres and all regions from the First Com-
mandment downwards [have not known it]. Haste thee, therefore,
clothe thyself with this vesture and come unto us. For we draw
nigh unto thee, to clothe thee by command of the First Mystery
with thy two ventures [other] which existed for thee from the begin-
ning with the First Mystery until the time appointed by the Ineffa-
ble is completed. Come, therefore, to us quickly, that we may put
them on thee, until thou hast fulfilled the total ministry of the per-
fection of the First Mystery which is appointed by the Ineffable.
Come, therefore, to us quickly, in order that we may clothe thee with
them, according to the command of the First Mystery. For yet a little
while, a very little while, and thou shalt come unto us and leave the
world. Come, therefore, quickly, that thou mayest receive thy whole
glory, that is the glory of the First Mystery.’
‘‘It came to pass then, when I saw the mystery of all these words in
the vesture which was sent me, that straightway I clothed myself
therewith, and I shone most exceedingly and soared into the height.
‘‘I came before the [first] gate of the firmament, shining most ex-
ceedingly, and there was no measure for the light which was about
me, and the gates of the firmament were shaken one over against
another and all opened at once.
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‘‘A nd all rulers and all authorities and all angels therein were
thrown all together into agitation because of the great light which
was on me. And they gazed at the radiant vesture of light with
which I was clad, and they saw the mystery which contains their
names, I and they feared most exceedingly. And all their bonds
with which they were bound, were unloosed and every one left
his order, and they all fell down before me, adored and said: ‘How
hath the lord of the universe passed through us without our
knowing?’ And they all sang praises together to the interiors of
the interiors; but me they saw not, but they saw only the light.
And they were in great fear and were exceedingly agitated and
sang praises to the interiors of the interiors.’’
Pistis Sophia, chapters 9 -11
128
The Lord knows us all by name
19
When a seeker turns to the Spiritual School of the Rosycross on

the basis of his dialectical experience and in the consciousness of
the true nature of dialectics, when he begins to discover the truth
and the inevitability of the transfiguristic mystery, and when he
feels a deep inner need to enter the Spiritual School as a pupil,
we could describe such a pupil as a pupil of the first degree.
Such a pupil is a very serious person, but he still is placing his
dialectical I in the centre of all his activities. The rose of the heart
still lies hidden in its bud, and the auric magnetic firmament is
still fully intact; the higher self is still totally the ruling factor of
his life.
And now, at the School’s suggestion and led especially by self-
insight and philosophical understanding, he starts to practise self-
surrender. He sets foot on the enduristic path for the first time and
tries to persevere on this path. He tries to be a reasonably good
pupil. From this time onwards he is born as John the Baptist, a
pupil of the second degree.
Although the ordinary I is decreasing, it is still there, as well as
a wholly complete dialectical higher self. And the rose of the heart,
the embryonic new microcosm, has not opened in a positive way
to the slightest extent, although the pupil knows that the rose is
there. But the pupil perseveres; he walks the enduristic path stead-
fastly and determinedly. He makes the paths straight for his Lord;
he decreases as to his dialectical being. He changes his behaviour,
his entire life of deeds. He begins with the work of self-freema-
sonry, not with the tenseness of self-constraint, scarcely being
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Chapter 19
able to exercise self-control, but with great inner spontaneity, with

true faith and love.
And then, at a certain moment, we see that the outer petals of
the rose of the heart begin to open, allowing the first rays of the
dawn to enter the heart sanctuary. Such a pupil we call a pupil of
the third degree. The Bible calls this point the birth of Jesus, who
sees the light of day a few months after John. But in this phase too
the ordinary I and the ordinary dialectical higher self are still there;
the magnetic system of ordinary nature is still intact in the normal
way. The rose is still only in the first stage of opening.
The process then continues; the path of John is accomplished
with joy. Self-surrender is carried on to the biological minimum.
The nadir has been reached. In this whole process the rose starts
to open up more and more. The new microcosm breaks open and
shows its mystery. And this is the moment when John hands over
the initiative to the newly born Jesus. It is no longer the I but the
Other One, the soul, who guides the whole being. Such a pupil is
called a pupil of the fourth degree. This is not a matter of a degree
granted to the pupil by another person. This is wholly a matter of a
fourth step on the path of self-freemasonry.
Having arrived at this point there is still one reservation.
Although the rose has become the luminous, radiating ruler in
life, the dialectical higher self, the magnetic system of ordinary
nature, the all-dominating attachment to the nature of death, is
still totally intact. Whoever still wears this garment is conse-
quently immutably bound to the essence of death. For this
reason, the pupil of the fourth degree is not yet truly free. The
most important barrier must still be overcome: The higher self
must be conquered.
This is a wondrous, great, and awesome process, a process with
very many aspects. Up to this moment the higher self has been
only a negative adversary and in many ways a collaborator, for
pupils of the fourth degree can still be bound with dialectical
chains. One can imagine a kind of self-surrender with great mys-
tical beauty and piety, although without any actual activity of
130
really breaking through matter. The fact that you can imagine this
mystical practice is proof that all this is possible in ordinary nature.
It is a practice in which the ordinary higher self remains lord and
master, as a consequence of which the mystical results are radiated
electromagnetically into ordinary nature, thereby strengthening
and maintaining the ordinary nature.
Hence if the self-freemason wants to reach the fifth degree, he
must neutralize the higher self. Whoever decides to do this will
experience that the negative struggle changes into a very positive
one. Then it is no longer a matter of cooperation, of regulation:
The candidate is placed before his most natural enemy, the
enemy of the beginning. He must free himself from the garment
of electromagnetic forces of ordinary nature. These forces have
kept him prisoner from the beginning.
This enemy is not a devil or reflection sphere entity, but an
ordinary auric magnetic firmament in which the karma of all the
ages lies hidden and with which, of course, various entities can
link up, but purely as incidental circumstances. For whoever can
be clothed in the new light-vesture cannot be reached by any
entity of the reflection sphere. In this way the pupil of the fourth
degree must go the path of liberation, the path which is for exam-
ple called ‘the temptation in the wilderness.’
History shows how such a pupil of the fourth degree breaks
through his own reflection sphere and how this reflection sphere
is dissolved. And therefore it will be clear to you that when some-
one travels in this way through his own auric being of ordinary
nature, his eyes fixed on the goal and clothed ever more in the
new light-vesture of the rose of the heart, he travels through the
cosmic reflection sphere at the same time. For whoever dissolves
his own ordinary microcosmic firmament also frees himself from
the cosmic and macrocosmic firmament of ordinary nature.
The nature of death in its entirety can no longer hold on to
such a pupil. Such a pupil is in the world but no longer of the
world. To these pupils of the fourth degree, the Pistis Sophia says:
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Chapter 19
‘‘Rejoice then and exult, for ye are blessed before all men who are on
the earth. It is ye who will save the whole world.’’
A macrocosmic firmament encompasses the whole of fallen man-

kind with its electromagnetic forces. This macrocosm makes use
of the microcosmic firmament that is individually around you, so
as to make your prison very concrete. But now you break the mi-
crocosmic armour: You dissolve that electromagnetic system. It is
clear that you then also weaken the macrocosmic firmament.
When a group of people goes the path together, it will scientifi-
cally paralyse the powers, the aeons of nature, and so rescue the
whole world and fallen humanity.
In this way we remove every delusion, every bit of sentimental-
ity and every bit of self-deception from the process before which
we are placed in the modern Spiritual School. We lift that process
into the sober reality, into the serenity and silence of the one truth.
What matters is not what the pupil says or dreams of, but what he
really does. The question is: Which gravitational system dominates
his system?
The task of this School is to drag its pupils through the clutches
of nature. Every pupil must begin with his first task: to proceed
from the first to the fourth degree of self-freemasonry, and then
to explore the path from the fourth to the fifth degree.
If there were to be a group of brothers and sisters of the fourth
degree, who possess the vesture of the golden rose, and we were
to proceed with such a group of brothers and sisters, then what
would happen to this privileged group is what the Pistis Sophia de-
scribes in the eleventh chapter:
‘‘I came before the[first] gate of the firmament, shining most exceed-
ingly, and there was no measure for the light which was about me,
132
and the gates of the firmament were shaken one over against
names, and they feared most exceedingly. And all their bonds with
which they were bound, were unloosed and every one left his
order, and they all fell down before me, adored and said: ‘How
We are told that the brother or sister of the fourth degree who has
received the vesture of the rose and is beginning to walk the path
of the fifth degree effects the collapse of the dialectical firmament
with its values and order. The whole magnetic system is broken
down, and its cohesion and system are totally lost. This alludes to
the release from the pull of dialectical gravitation. All the bonds
fall away, and every dialectical magnetic force leaves its order.
‘Seeing the mystery with one’s own name’ is a known concept
in the Universal Teachings. A name in its original sense is an indi-
cation of one’s true state of being. We all have a name, a state of
being, and for this reason the Bible says: ‘The Lord knows us all by
name,’ which is clear.
When we have a name, a state of being of a lower nature than
the divine mystery, we can see the mystery, the unfathomable, for
example as a manifestation of light, but we do not perceive the
reality. And so we will understand that whoever begins the jour-
ney to heaven in the vesture of the rose, as a brother or sister of the
Rosycross, can no longer be hindered by earthly powers and forces
of the reflection sphere, nor can he or she even be seen.
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Chapter 19
For this reason it is said:
‘‘... but me they saw not,but they saw only the light. And they were in
great fear and were exceedingly agitated. ...’’
And the whole multitude of light-entities within the wheel of birth

and death speaks:
‘How hath the lord of the universe passed through us without our
knowing?’
How? This is clear. What is hidden from the wise and learned of
this world is revealed to the children of God.
May you make this revelation into an absolute reality for your-
selves and so help others to approach this one reality.
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The east and the west window
20
In the previous chapter we discussed the path of the five degrees

of self-freemasonry, the five aspects of building on the one corner-
stone of the radiation-fullness of the Universal Brotherhood, the
five steps that lead us from the first beginning to total liberation.
The first degree relates to the serious pupil who enters the
School on the basis of an inner discovery of the truth and the im-
perativeness of the transfiguristic mystery: the path of rebirth.
The second degree concerns the fact that the pupil definitely
begins to walk the path of the endura, the path of self-surrender.
The third degree focuses attention on the primary conse-
quence of practising the endura; the rose of the heart opens in
the first rays of the morning-light of the Gnosis.
When this sun of the spirit begins to rise and its radiation-full-
ness increases in power, a new serpent fire, a new I, a wedding ves-
ture, a soul-state, develops structurally and organically. At that
moment Jesus the Lord has been born in the candidate, and he
has become a brother of the fourth degree.
And when the fourth degree has been realized, the pupil has
received the power and the ability to commence his journey
home. He travels through the reflection sphere and through the
auric being of his microcosm and dissolves this. At the same time
he travels through the cosmic reflection sphere where he breaks all
the chains of dialectics and destroys them. He weakens in a practical
way the forces of dialectics, and as a result it becomes easier for all
who follow him to go the same way. And so he has become a brother
of the fifth degree: The alchemical wedding has been celebrated.
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Chapter 20
It has become clear to us that it lies directly within actual reach

of us all to become a brother or sister of the fourth degree by
means of self-freemasonry. And when we have been elevated to
this state of being and we really possess inwardly the ‘name’ of
these reborn children of God, we can consider the words of the
Pistis Sophia as being spoken to us:
‘‘Rejoice then and exult, for ye are blessed before all men who are on
the earth. It is ye who will save the whole world.’’
He who clears a path through a jungle full of dangers makes it

easier for the next person to accomplish the same journey. And
when a whole group of many people does this work, they create
a smooth way for the ones who come later. This is the glorious
work to which we are all called: to be there for all, to stand there
for all, to work for all.
What a great and divine moment it would be if we could greet
each other as brothers and sisters of the fourth degree and could
talk to each other about the glorious light-vesture, the golden wed-
ding vesture that has become ours! You can all weave this vesture
in a short time. The cornerstone on which you must build is pres-
ent; the building materials are abundantly supplied to you by the
powerfield, and you have all the tools in your own being. Why
then wouldn’t you construct your building to be able to celebrate
the alchemical wedding?
If you will really do this, the tenth chapter of the Pistis Sophia
will open before you like a vast landscape after climbing a moun-
tain:
‘‘It came to pass then, when the sun had risen in the east, that a great
light-power came down, in which was my Vesture, which I had left
behind in the four-and-twentieth mystery, as I have said unto you.
And I found a mystery in my Vesture, written in five words of those
from the height: zama zama o‹ zza rachama o‹ zai,çwhose solution is
this:
136
‘‘‘O Mystery, which is without in the world, for whose sake the
universe hath arisen, ç this is the total outgoing and the total
ascent, which hath emanated all emanations and all that is therein
and for whose sake all mysteries and all their regions have arisen,
çcome hither unto us, for we are thy fellow members. We are all
with thyself; we are one and the same. Thou art the First Mystery,
which existed from the beginning in the Ineffable before it came
forth; and the name thereof are we all. Now, therefore, are we all
come to meet thee at the last limit, which also is the last mystery
from within; itself is a portion of us.’ ’’
The rising of the sun in the east indicates, as you will understand,
the third degree. As long as we are still of the first or second
degree, we stand in the aurora, the rising aurora; we stand in the
dawning light of the approaching day. But when the sun rises in
the east, the great light-power comes to us and awakens the rose
from its sleep of aeons.
In the Universal Teachings the east is always the beginning of
things just like the west window is the finish of things. It is through
the west window that things leave us and that the past tries to
cling on to us. And when the gnostic sun then rises in the east,
we are confronted with the secret of the manifestation of God,
which actually is also ‘the past.’ For when the gnostic light-
power comes down to strike our heart sanctuary, we discover
that our light-vesture that we once left behind is in it. This is very
profound, and you should consider this for a while, so that you
will be able to understand the depth of this part of the Pistis
Sophia clearly.
Every microcosm has an east and a west window. At the one
window we see the sun rising; at the other one we see the sun set-
ting. And at a certain stage of pupilship, it happens that in the mi-
crocosm there is an outgoing magnetic stream through which all
forces and values, with which the pupil has finished, are removed
and destroyed. When we go the path of nature dissolution and say
farewell to dialectical things, everything leaves us by way of the
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outgoing magnetic stream through the west window. But in our

struggle of life, the old things keep turning up again, sometimes
in very modern guises. As long as our I-lessness is not complete,
the things of the dialectical past will keep looming up before the
west window, often in the sham forms of renewal, because the
ordinary I dreams up these sham forms for itself in its meditative
thinking.
Therefore, when you consider the person of John Dee in the
book The Angel of the West Window by Gustav Meyrink, you will
know why the angel of fate appears before the west window and
leads him to the abyss. Never let this past enter, for whoever does
so follows his dialectical fate that promises gold but brings endless
sorrow.
There is also an incoming magnetic stream in the microcosm
that is called the east. And we can ask: Does fate not enter this
eastern gate? Naturally, for what you are, what you attract, enters
into you. You are in balance with it; you are in harmony with it,
and that cannot change your state of being, your ‘name.’ But
everything that knocks at the west gate can no longer enter by
way of the east when you have lifted your state of being beyond
it. The vibration of the light in the east determines the vibration of
the whole microcosm.
And when you, as a serious pupil, keep your eye fixed towards
the dawn and confirm it with all your actions in life, it will begin
to become light in the east. The vibration of the microcosm will
rise, and the east as well as the west magnetic streams will have
to attune to it. The outgoing one sweeps the unholy forces to the
outside and the incoming one evokes the ancient past of God’s
children. And so it can happen that we receive the light-vesture
that we once left behind.
Do understand this wondrous mystery. Try to grasp it with
your whole being, for the mystery of salvation is laid open to you
in this. The light-vesture is not just a new electromagnetic radia-
tion field as we usually imagine. The light-vesture is endlessly
more than that.
138
Suppose you build a house in dialectics, and you leave it at a

given moment. You no longer take care of it. Very soon dust and
spiderwebs and dampness and the ravages of time will ruin the
house. Everything in dialectical nature is transitory and subject
to death. And even everything you meticulously take care of and
give your most scrupulous attention to irrevocably falls to pieces
in the end. But in the original world nothing can fall to pieces.
Everything that exists in God’s great halls is and remains unto all
eternity.
For this reason the light-vesture that was once left behind by
the fallen child of God is not just an electromagnetic field that is
thrown around him again like a mantle. No, the light-vesture is the
original existence. It is a system of vehicles, a totally organized
system that, in a process, unifies with the opening original atom.
The Other One in you is at the same time in the twenty-fourth
mystery of the original life-field. The Other One is enclosed in
your original atom. But the Other One is also in the original life.
Something of that original life lies immersed in your heart, in your
microcosm, but the essential, the greatest portion is in all eternity
in the light-vesture that must descend from the east.
Do you now understand what freemasonry is? Self-freema-
sonry is principally demolition, demolition of the animal, dialecti-
cal self, of its system of vehicles and its auric being. Self-freema-
sonry is a continual emptying of the nature of death through the
west window until the dawn of a new day. Self-freemasonry is a
night vigil, as Psalm 119:147-148 says:
I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in thy words. My eyes are
awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate upon thy
promise.
The New Man is in all eternity. He descends with the new light-
vesture into our microcosm, because something of him is kept im-
prisoned by us in our microcosm. And transfiguration is actually
nothing other than the fading away of a phantom of the night in
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the light of the dawn. When the rose begins to radiate, the whole
microcosm of the nature of death systematically collapses. And
everything that was and is truly living goes onward in Him who
was and is in all eternity. For this reason we see the apocalyptic
new man appear at the same time as the light-vesture does. And
he says:
‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one; I died, and
behold I am alive for evermore.’
This is the greatness of the gnostic revelation of salvation, namely,

that in our light-vesture of the beginning, linked with our golden
wedding vesture of the soul, we find a mystery: the mystery of the
fulness, of the reality, and of the total manifestation. Everything
we want to build is. Everything we look for in our nightwatches is.
If only we break down the walls that separate us from the light
of dawn, the immense wonder of the eastern sun will open up
before us.
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The light-vesture of renewal
21
All who walk the way of the rose and the cross long to be clothed
with the light-vesture of renewal. They are poor in spirit and long
for the spirit. To those who belong to a living group of candidates,
the mystery is revealed: the mystery that the light-vesture of re-
newal consists not only of light and power, of electromagnetic
force, but that this vesture is a manifestation of pure spiritual po-
tency which will surround and encompass the dialectical micro-
cosm. In the fields of the divine Gnosis, every manifestation is in-
destructible and lives on in eternity. The system of manifestation
to which the divine selfçenclosed in the heartçonce belonged
lives in all eternity and is unshakeable. The rose of the heart is a
spark of an incessantly burning fire. The spark has been dispersed
and extinguished, but because of its origin, can immediately be
kindled again into a fiery glow.
And that is what is happening when a person seeks for ‘the
light-vesture that his rose-bud would receive.’ For that reason the
Brotherhood, with its foreshadowing radiation, has first of all
tended and protected you, as a grower looks after the flower
buds in his greenhouses. You have experienced the consolation
of the powerfield. You have been nourished, so that you might be
delivered from your isolation. And to every brother and sister of
the fourth degree, the voice speaks:
We all approach you at the last limit, that is: at the last mystery,
which itself is a part of us. We are completely one with you; we are
one and the same.
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At this stage you have accepted the light-vesture sent to you, and
the journey home through all the spheres of dialectics could be
fulfilled by you. We would like to speak to you about this light-
vesture, this mystery of original existence, guided by the tenth
chapter of the Pistis Sophia.
In this chapter we are told wondrous things about it. We dis-
cover namely that there are another three vestures beside the wed-
ding-vesture known to us. The light-vesture that has been sent to
the brother or sister is the vesture that belonged to him from the
beginning and that he had left behind at the last limit, that is, at the
last mystery from within. The vesture that he wore last is therefore
given back to him first with the message:
‘‘‘Lo, its time is completed; put it on [thee].
‘‘‘Come unto us, for we all draw nigh to thee to clothe thee with the
First Mystery and all his glory, by commandment of himself, in that
the First Mystery hath given us it, consisting of two vestures, to
clothe thee therewith, besides the one which we have sent thee, for
thou art worthy of them. ...
‘‘‘In the first is the whole glory of all the names of all mysteries and
all emanations of the orders of the spaces of the Ineffable.
‘‘‘A nd in the second vesture is the whole glory of the name of all
mysteries and all emanations which are in the orders of the two
spaces of the First Mystery.
‘‘‘A nd in this [third] vesture, which we have just sent thee, is the
glory of the name of the mystery of the Revealer, which is the First
Commandment, and of the mystery of the five Impressions, and of
the mystery of the great Envoy of the Ineffable, who is the great
Light, and of the mystery of the five Leaders, who are the five
Helpers. There is further in this vesture the glory of the name of
the mystery of all orders of the emanations of the Treasury of the
142
Light and of their saviours ...’ ’’
And the Pistis Sophia continues in the tenth chapter by giving a

breathtaking account of everything existing in the third light-ves-
ture. And this explanation finishes with:
‘‘‘Lo, therefore, we have sent thee this vesture, which no one knew
from the First Commandment downwards, for the glory of its light
was hidden in it, and the spheres and all regions from the First Com-
mandment downwards [have not known it]. Haste thee, therefore,
clothe thyself with this vesture and come unto us. For we draw
nigh unto thee, to clothe thee by command of the First Mystery
with thy two vestures [other] which existed for thee from the begin-
ning with the First Mystery until the time appointed by the Ineffa-
ble is completed. Come, therefore, to us quickly, that we may put
them on thee, until thou has fulfilled the total ministry of the per-
fection of the First Mystery which is appointed by the Ineffable. ...
For yet a little while, a very little while, and thou shalt come unto us
and leave the world. Come, therefore, quickly, that thou mayest
receive thy whole glory, that is the glory of the First Mystery.’ ’’
When we hear, consider, and study all this, the whole Universal
Doctrine is revealed to us concisely, in a nutshell as it were.
When the Wholly Glorious One reveals himself to the brother or
sister of the fourth degree and the third light-vesture, the vesture of
Pymander, the vesture of the manifesting spirit, is sent to him or
her, this manifestation signifies the glory and the majesty of the
perfect Gnosis and of all power in heaven and on earth.
The great journey upwards to the Fatherland leads through all the
regions of the nature of death in a process, not only through our
field of life, but also through all the regions of the whole universe
of dialectics.
In this universe there are countless systems from the most gross
to the most refined. There are myriads of beings and life-waves
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whose nature, power, and variation are astounding. It is one great,

fathomless, and immense ocean of manifestations, all within the
framework of ungodliness and the fundamental and structural
fallen state. It is the experimental ocean of life. It is the gigantic
workshop of the sorcerer’s apprentices who have been left to
themselves. Some parts are in a state of torpidity; other regions
show vigorous and dynamic construction. In still other regions
we see the turmoil and confusion of folly. But everywhere we see
finiteness and the feverish activity connected with rising, shining,
and fading. Everyone and everything are bowed down under the
almost everlasting doom of having to make every possible effort
and having to use every possible means to survive and to make
the best of it. Compared with this ocean of highest activity and
multiplicity, our own microcosmic reflection sphere and even
that of our cosmos pale into insignificance.
If the nature of death were to consist only of our field of life
with its two spheres, liberation from it would be relatively easy.
But we exist in a universe of death, and for that reason the journey
home is an extremely mighty process of immense grandeur, an
outwards spiralling development completely devoid of conflict as
we know it in our world order, a development devoid of struggle
in our own self. Instead it is a mighty concentration of forces with-
out any personal aggression, in which the ungodly must make
way for the divine. Do not regard this as a journey of the soul
through a cesspool of the most abominable evil and terrible
crimes, but as a journey through a multifaceted exercise in aimless-
ness, in illusory goodness, and in self-glorification: in universal
seeking.
And just as in our field-of-life a sevenfold universal Brother-
hood is active to make possible the light-vesture for those who
are liberated, so too we find, throughout the whole universe of
death, the great saviours in their various fields of work. And all
those who have been liberated strengthen the ranks, and by
means of their light-vesture, the powerful cloak around them,
they contribute to the annihilation of all delusion.
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Viewed by human criteria there is in many respects great glory

in the visible universe, but the brothers and sisters of the fourth
degree see through this glory and discover its delusion. For the
third vesture that these brothers and sisters wear is a vesture of
original divine majesty, which no one in the spaces below the
First Mystery knows. There is not a single entity in the universe
of death who is able to possess this vesture. In the third vesture
there is the glory of the name of the prophet, the glory of the five
ideas, the mystery of the five leaders, and the light treasure of sal-
vation: an immense power!
When the brothers and sisters of the fourth degree begin their
journey home, they are equipped:
1. with the full power of wisdom, that is to say:
2. the ability to know the perfect Gnosis,
3. the power of the knowledge to see truly and to unmask,
4. the perfect power of self-liberation,
5. and the perfect power of inviolability.
The intellectual ability of the ordinary human being depends on a
method by which numerous facts and phenomena are stored in
the memory, and on the basis of these externally known facts and
phenomena, we act speculatively.
The power of knowledge given by the third light-vesture, how-
ever, is a continually vibrating, luminous, total reality. Anything
seen in it is immediately known to its utmost depths. Wherever
the attention might be focused, its real essence is immediately per-
ceived in all its dimensions.
Any speculative action, necessary because of our dialectical
method of knowledge, always creates karma. Thus it continually
causes new ties and makes the chains heavier. But whoever
‘knows’ in the gnostic sense frees himself from all ties that are
present and is able to free others.
Whoever lives in the glory of the prophet lives in the glory of
the Fatherland, to which he is headed. Whoever knows the glory
of the five ideas and of the five leaders lives in the splendour of the
five Dhyani-Buddhas, the forces that the authors of the Old Testa-
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Chapter 21
ment have called the five patriarchs. In his highest consciousness,

such a human being is one with the Absolute, with the All-Father.
He is in the highest sense a participant in God’s people.
Thus, in full kingship, adorned with the third light-vesture, the
brothers and sisters go to the Fatherland, continuously radiating
and working. They are not yet in the Fatherland, but they are of
the Fatherland and one with Him. They increase the light treasure
of the saviours.
And so they ascend in the vesture of the saving, home-bring-
ing spirit to the original Mystery, where the two other vestures
await them. They enter reality itself. They are first of all adorned
with the second vesture that connects them with the aspect of rea-
lity. And after that they receive the first vesture, which is the dee-
pest essence of the divine reality itself. God’s children have come
home.
While they mature in the Holy Spirit, the divine mystery
having been explained to them by the Son, they are received in
the arms of the Father.
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Conquer the law of gravitation
22
We have outlined extensively how the brother and sister of the

fourth and the fifth degree, who are going on their journey
home, are equipped. They possess the third light-vesture, which
enables them to travel through all the regions of dialectical gravity
without experiencing any resistance whatsoever. Gravity is a mag-
netic field that attracts and imprisons you if your individual mag-
netic field is attuned to it.
The focus of our dialectical reality is of course our I or con-
sciousness, the total resilient force of the serpent fire. This con-
sciousness is wholly one with the cosmic magnetic field in which
we live. We are held down in our field of life by it; we are attracted
by it. Through it we experience all the gravitational forces known
to us. In that state of being, in which the I fully rules our life, we
can do nothing but yield completely to the laws of gravity of dia-
lectical nature.
When we observe this we notice at the same time that powers
and values that are totally alien to dialectical nature are rejected by
the action of the dialectical magnetic field, and on no account are
they able to enter a dialectical life system.
You will know that every magnetic field has two forces: an at-
tracting force and a repelling one. The attracting cosmic field is
holding on to us and is keeping us imprisoned. At the same time
we are fed by it, for whatever enters the cosmic magnetic field is
also shared by us. It is also clear that whatever is rejected by the
cosmic magnetic field is also rejected by our individual magnetic
field and is kept away from us.
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We are totally of the earth; we are earthly. We are existentially

in total harmony with nature. The nature of the cosmic field in
which we live is dialectical. This means that the life manifested
around us is finite and that it can never maintain itself perma-
nently. Consequently our life is also dialectical. We are held captive
by a disharmonious magnetic field; we undergo its gravitational
laws, and we are one with them. We are existentially disharmo-
nious as well; otherwise the dialectical force of gravity would
not be able to hold on to us.
By simple reasoning and comparison it can be proved that the
human I, the centre of our existence, is in deepest essence always
unhappy. The I is always faced with the unattainable; it always
lacks the essential, and it is always fundamentally disharmonious.
For that reason the human being is always a fighter. Because of our
state we are always restless and nervous. For that reason we always
choose violence to reach our goals. It is in our nature to be ex-
tremely violent in all our actions. Some use their strength: that is
masculine! Some use their mouths: that is feminine! Others keep
silent, but they try to reach their goals by extremely refined meth-
ods of various kinds. Everywhere in our world there is conflict.
There is conflict in our hearts, conflict in our thinking and willing,
conflict in our feelings. It is the signature of humanity.
This is why you can be certain that everything you do in the
name of the spirit with your I, supposedly to serve the spirit, will
always bring conflict and confusion and will never bring success.
The last deciding factor is always lacking. And so all striving of the
I will prove to be a house of cards that will fall apart at the slightest
breath. In addition it is certain that everything you do with the I in
the name of the Gnosis will reinforce the dialectical magnetic field.
By trying to serve the Gnosis, we are in reality serving the god of
this world.
Have you discovered how we can deceive each other and our-
selves on the matter of self-surrender? Superficially, people forgive
each other. They smile at being treated dishonestly, but deep down
they never forgive. A burning pain remains that drives to revenge.
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The superficial demonstration of love and forgiveness was not

self-surrender or I-lessness, but a certain form of extremely serious
self maintenance.
Two people who have a bond of mutual sympathy can also re-
inforce their I by paying compliments and making gestures of
friendship.
Is a person standing on the path of the rose and the cross acting
like this deliberately? Is he being a hypocrite? Not at all! He is just
being foolish. Of people like this it was once said: ‘Father forgive
them for they know not what they do.’
The pupil is unable to know what he is doing as long as the
magnetic nuclear principle of his being is held fast by the cosmic
magnetic field. Self-surrender is not so hard to achieve, but it is
difficult to understand what self-surrender is. As long as the
pupil does not know this, every thought, every emotion, every
action, every expression of the will contribute to self maintenance.
As soon as a pupil knows what self-surrender is, as soon as a
part of this dawn begins to shine before the pupil, it means that he
or she has entered the gravitational force of an unearthly magnetic
field. This immediately causes a cleavage of consciousness. A
second type of activity begins to work in the consciousness,
beside the ordinary type of activity, and immediately an inner
struggle of a totally different kind begins in the pupil.
Because of our ordinary dialectical state, we are disharmo-
nious. Hence there is conflict and self maintenance. Self-surrender
in that condition is nothing other than a certain mode of life of the I
and so is not liberating. When the first signs of ‘the dawn’of the path
of liberation begin to appear, a new struggle is born beside the ordi-
nary disharmonious struggle. This new experience is a growing
soul-consciousness, a new consciousness centre, growing in the ra-
diation power of the Gnosis through the activityof the original atom.
This new experience exists totally outside of the I. It cannot
manifest itself to the human being. It cannot speak to the human
being as a dialectical creature, for it is an activity that is main-
tained from and by another magnetic field.
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If this new experience were to speak to the I, if it were to say

‘my brother’ or ‘my sister’, it would be a reflection sphere influence
of the same magnetic status as the I. No, this wonder is another
magnetic development in the middle of and making use of a dia-
lectical body and igniting another consciousness in that body like
a torch.
The secret of self-surrender is not to resist this process, not to
fight it, but to accept it. We can accomplish this totally within the
framework of the ordinary dialectical law of gravitation. This is fol-
lowing Jesus in us.
The pupil can decide upon a mode of life directed towards not
hindering the development of this other consciousness. This
mode of life does maintain the I up to a biological minimum, but
he has no choice, for that other consciousness will certainly not be
able to take over the dialectical household.
The spark of this new consciousness can be ignited in the pupil
when he listens to the living word of the Rosycross. When that
spark begins to glow, it must grow into a blazing fire. It is clear
that there are two possibilities: Either the dialectical fire again ex-
tinguishes the spark, or the new fire grows alongside and in the
ordinary personality, in the new mode of life. The old fire is sys-
tematically extinguished.
Whoever enters this process enters the new race. This new type
of human being receives the third light-vesture as testified by the
Pistis Sophia. This is the spirit who liberates us from dialectical
gravitation. When the new magnetic powerfield has sufficiently
assumed possession of the dialectic microcosm, and the new I
has been born, then this consciousness nucleus, born through the
pilgrimage of Jesus in usçthe way of the rose within the human
being ç will receive the original existence. Thus the Other One
will rise up from the grave of dialectical nature and ascend to
heaven, for the grave cannot hold such a Man. The journey back
to the Fatherland has commenced.
Look, we are standing at the opened grave of dialectical nature.
Are we standing there full of sorrow, full of despair? Or do we hear
150
the voice that speaks to us: ‘See, I will send you the Comforter who
will testify of me’? For we too are being given the opportunity of
rising from the grave.
As proof of our victory the Pentecostal fire will ignite. The
Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is the radiant power of the Universal
Brotherhood, the magnetic radiation of the New Covenant.
Understand this mystery of the magnetic transformation: the
alchemical wedding of Christian Rosycross.
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23
The archons, authorities, and angels fear most exceedingly
We quote here the eleventh chapter of the Pistis Sophia :
‘‘I came before the [first] gate of the firmament, shining most ex-
ceedingly, and there was no measure for the light which was about
me, and the gates of the firmament were shaken one over against
names, and they feared most exceedingly. And all their bonds
with which they were bound, were unloosed and every one left
his order, and they all fell down before me, adored and said: ‘How
they sang praises to the interiors of the interiors.’’
We have discussed extensively the three light-vestures and espe-

cially the third light-vesture, which is equivalent to the encounter
152
with Pymander and which the candidate receives when he has

made the binding link with the Gnosis, so that the radiation field
is fixed in the blood and the consciousness. As soon as this foun-
dation has been laid, the gnostic electromagnetic field gains more
and more power over the candidate, and consequently he will
begin a process of rising beyond dialectics and also begin a pro-
cess of transfiguration. The moment that this process of rising
beyond dialectics can commence corresponds with the receiving
of the third light-vesture. In the termonology of the Bible, better
known to us, we could call this the descent of the Holy Spirit.
The journey home, the ascension, the rebirth, is made possible
by the Holy Spirit. This possibility is called a ‘mystery’ in the Pistis
Sophia, and the candidate who is ennobled to make the journey
home must be able to read this mystery. He must be able to com-
prehend this possibility in a rational and moral way. Then he dis-
covers why the Holy Spirit is also called the Comforter. Whoever
receives this power discovers its soul-comforting qualities. He
experiences the fact that the outcome is certain, and that all con-
flict can cease, and that not a single incident can happen unless
expressly wished.
Whoever knows this dons the light-vesture immediately and
commences the journey with a clear consciousness. He journeys
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And he arrives at the gates of the firmament, illuminated by the
immeasurable light surrounding him. You will understand that
the gates of the firmament refer to both the magnetic firmament
of the auric being and the magnetic firmament of our dialectical
cosmos.
Our field of life has a magnetic firmament that is in total har-
mony with our individual microcosmic firmament. When we go
through the gate of our own magnetic system, we simultaneously
unlock the gate of the reflection-sphere. Matthew 16:19 also indi-
cates this dualism. Whatever you unlock within yourself is also
unlocked there.
When we break the power of the microcosmic lipika, the power
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of the cosmic lipika is also broken. Then the gates of the firmament
all begin to move and open at the same time. And all the archons
and all the authorities and all the angels therein become agitated
through the great light.
The candidate also reads the message in the mystery of his new
light-vesture:
‘‘Rejoice and exult for it is you who will save the whole world.’’
You will now understand how this salvation takes place. It is not
that you as a personality escape through a breach in your own nat-
ural lipika like a chick leaving its egg. Opening the gate of heaven
means that one attacks the fundamental basis of one’s own natural
lipika and hence also the lipika of the world. Attacking in this way
means destroying.
This is the liberating aspect of this work, the aspect liberating
the world and mankind. If we destroy the grip of the dialectical
aeons on our own system, it is perhaps difficult to understand
that this is a step towards the liberation of humanity. But when
we see that this self-freemasonry at the same time means an
attack on the dialectical world system, we can understand the
effect fully.
Therefore in deepest essence we cannot do anything for others
in a really liberating sense, if we are not at the same time working
on self-liberation. For this reason any help and comfort within
nature given to others is never liberating. This does not mean
such help must stop, but all your work should be directed primar-
ily towards self-liberation. For he who is free can free others and in
a very personal way.
The candidate, who commences his homeward journey and so
possesses a light-vesture of the Holy Spirit, emits a powerful light.
He has created a new radiation field. This light causes agitation in
all the powers and forces in the natural lipika in a very natural way:
‘‘A nd they gazed at the radiant vesture of light with which I was
154
clad, and they saw the mystery which contains their names, and
they feared most exceedingly.’’
Imagine the situation for yourself:You as a dialectical personality

are one with your auric firmament. A new light-element comes to
you, by way of your rose of the heart, and transforms your whole
personality. And when this new light gains sufficient strength and
radiant power, it is clear that all the forces of the firmament
become impotent. These forces can no longer sustain you. Their
radiation flows are rejected, and their activities are reflected back.
One could say a short circuit develops. The lights of the lipika are
extinguished. To express it in the terminology of the Pistis Sophia :
The archons, authorities, and angels fear most exceedingly.
This refers to the three groups, the three classes of magnetic
points, found in the magnetic firmament. The word archon is de-
rived from the concept ‘watchful’ or ‘vigilant.’ The archons are
the watchers, the magnetic monitors, the true warders of the mi-
crocosmic prison. In accordance with their conclusions, powers
and forces are applied. All these monitoring lipika forces see the
new radiant light-vesture. They fear greatly, for they see this mys-
tery with their own names, that is to say, they experience this mys-
tery with their own qualities.
A name is a quality or the indication of an inner state of being.
If someone sees a mystery with his own name and consequently
begins to fear, it is obvious that his inner quality is far inferior to
the new power and fails hopelessly in comparison.
Whoever fears is susceptible to panic. Fear, anxiety, and panic
are inseparable. If an army panics it breaks up into disorder, and its
power is finished. Hence it is clear when we read:
‘‘A nd all their bonds with which they were bound, were unloosed
and every one left his order.’’
When the candidate can no longer accept his own magnetic

system and the aforementioned short circuit develops, the mag-
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netic points are also disconnected from their bases in the cosmic
magnetic field.
At this moment not a single dialectical influence including not
a single reflection sphere power can influence him to the slightest
degree any longer. For it is clear that all dialectical influences from
this or yonder side rely on the archons, the authorities, and the
angels of the magnetic field of the nature of death. If the candidate
were to reach this point of his homeward journey and all the dia-
lectical forces were to conspire together to influence him in one
mighty concentration, he would hardly notice this influence.
Only in this way can the candidate be liberated from the reflection
sphere. As long as this is not the case, he has to be on his guard.
All the magnetic points in the auric system are grouped ac-
cording to their siderial order. All the astronomical values and cur-
rents within the zodiacal macrocosm play a role in it. All these
sidereal orders possess their archons, their authorities, and their
angels. All the inhabitants of the physical plane and the reflection
sphere, from the most exalted to the most degenerate, are divided
in groups in accordance with these sidereal orders. The candidate
who ascends to the gate of heaven, as described above, breaks all
the sidereal chains, structurally and fundamentally.
‘‘...and they all fell down before me, adored and said: ‘How hath the
lord of the universe passed through us without our knowing?’ ’’
This worshipping, as you will understand, is the consequence of

fear. A person in danger becomes very pious. A wonderful sit-
uation is outlined for us here in the Pistis Sophia, typified by this
question of the archons: ‘How has the lord of the universe passed
through us without our knowing?’ The archons are asking them-
selves: ‘How is it possible that someone possesses something
that we do not?’
In the dialectical universe one of the most supremely glorious
and highest states of being is the Neptunian state. It is the delusion
of divinity in the nature of death. We all have a Neptunian mag-
156
netic point in our auric firmament. In the allegory of the Pistis

Sophia, this Neptunian magnetic point is personified by the ar-
chons, saying: ‘How is it possible that the lord of the universe
has passed through us without our knowing? For all that is beneath
us is in our power and is under our control. It can at the most devel-
op to our state-of-being. How is it possible?’
‘‘A nd they were in great fear and were exceedingly agitated and
This is the wondrous miracle! To us, pathetic mortals, to us, insig-

nificant creatures among tremendous and exalted powers of the
dialectical universe, which have cultivated themselves for unima-
ginable ages up to the point they have now reached in the nature
of death, to us, insignificant human beings, it is given to break
away from this spell with such great glory that everything that is
exalted in the dialectical sense dwindles into nothingness. There is
great wonder at our light-vesture. This is the wondrous miracle:
from nothing, from the ground upward, the liberated human
being awakens and commences his journey to his eternal home.
There is another aspect we should not forget. We should not
interpret the concept ‘fear’ only in the sense of being afraid, but
also as awe, as a form of reverence. The Bible, for example, uses
the expression ‘God fearing’ in this sense. And so we understand
the final words of the 11th chapter of the Pistis Sophia :
‘‘A nd they were in great fear and were exceedingly agitated and
When all who populate the universe of death right to the utmost
ends of dialectical space break out in these songs of praise, we see
that the process of gnostic liberation:
firstly breaks down the grip of one’s own natural lipika,
secondly annihilates the influences of the whole universe of
death,
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thirdly that this liberation fills the prison-warders with dismay

in the sense of fear,
fourthly that they subsequently fall into the deepest reverence,
fifthly that they finally sing the praises of their former prisoner.
Thus robbed of their power in this new psychological sit-
uation, they also free the way to the Immovable Kingdom for
themselves.
So we see clearly that the transfiguristic path in all its aspects
means salvation and deliverance for all. When you walk the path,
rejoice and exult, for it is you who will help to save the world.
158
‘‘A nd I left that region behind me and ascended to the first sphere,
shining most exceedingly, forty-and-nine-times more brightly than
I had shone in the firmament. It came to pass then, when I had
reached the gate of the first sphere, that its gates were shaken and
opened of themselves at once.
‘‘I entered into the houses of the sphere, shining most exceedingly,
and there was no measure to the light that was about me. And all
the rulers and all those who are in that sphere, fell into agitation one
against another. And they saw the great light that was about me,
and they gazed upon my vesture and saw thereon the mystery of
their name. And they fell into still greater agitation, and were in
great fear, saying: ‘How hath the lord of the universe passed
through us without our knowing?’ And all their bonds were
unloosed and their regions and their orders; and every one left his
order, and they fell down all together, adored before, me, or before
my vesture, and all sang praises together to the interiors of the inte-
riors, being in great fear and great agitation.
‘‘A nd I left that region behind me and came to the gate of the
second sphere, which is the Fate. Then were all its gates thrown
into agitation and opened of themselves. And I entered into the
houses of the Fate, shining most exceedingly, and there was no
measure for the light that was about me, for I shone in the Fate
forty-and-nine times more than in the [first] sphere.
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‘‘A nd all the rulers and all those who are in the Fate, were thrown
into agitation and fell on one another and were in exceeding great
fear on seeing the great light that was about me. And they gazed on
my vesture of light and saw the mystery of their name on my
vesture and fell into still greater agitation; and they were in great
fear, saying: ‘How hath the lord of the universe passed through us
without our knowing?’ And all the bonds of their regions and of
their orders and of their houses were unloosed; they all came at
once, fell down, adored before me and sang praises all together to
the interiors of the interiors, being in great fear and great agitation.
‘‘A nd I left that region behind me and ascended to the great aeons
of the rulers and came before their veils and their gates, shining
most exceedingly, and there was no measure for the light which
was about me. It came to pass then, when I arrived at the twelve
aeons, that their veils and their gates were shaken one over against
the other. Their veils drew themselves apart of their own accord,
and their gates opened one over against the other. And I entered
into the aeons, shining most exceedingly, and there was no
measure for the light that was about me, forty-and-nine times
more than the light with which I shone in the houses of the Fate.
‘‘A nd all the angels of the aeons and their archangels and their
rulers and their gods and their lords and their authorities and their
tyrants and their powers and their light-sparks and their light-
givers and their unpaired and their invisibles and their forefathers
160
and their triple-powers saw me, shining most exceedingly, and.

there was no measure for the light which was about me. And they
were thrown into agitation the one over against the other and great
fear fell upon them, when they saw the great light that was about
me. And in their great agitation and their great fear they withdrew
as far as the region of the great invisible Forefather, and of the three
great triple-powers. And because of the great fear of their agitation,
the great Forefather, he and the three triple-powers, kept on running
hither and thither in his region, and they could not close all their
regions because of the great fear in which they were. And they
agitated all their aeons together and all their spheres and all their
orders, fearing and being greatly agitated because of the great
light which was about me çnot of the former quality that it was
about me when I was on the earth of mankind, when the light-
vesture came over me, ç for the world could not bear the light
such as it was in its truth, else would the world at once be destroyed
and all upon it,ç but the light which was about me in the twelve
aeons was eight-thousand-and-seven-hundred-myriad times greater
than that which was about me in the world among you.
‘‘It came to pass then, when all those who are in the twelve aeons
saw the great light which was about me, that they were all thrown
into agitation one over against the other, and ran hither and thither
in the aeons. And all aeons and all heavens and their whole
ordering were agitated one over against the other on account of
the great fear which was on them, for they knew not the mystery
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which had taken place. And Adamas, the great Tyrant, and all the
tyrants in all the aeons began to fight in vain against the light, and
they knew not against whom they fought, because they saw
nothing, but the overmastering light.
‘‘It came to pass then, when they fought against the light, that they
were weakened all together one with another, were dashed down in
the aeons and became as the inhabitants of the earth, dead and
without breath of life.
‘‘A nd I took from all a third of their power, that they should no more
be active in their evil doings, and that, if the men who are in the
world, invoke them in their mysteries ç those which the angels
who transgressed have brought down, that is their sorceries,çin
order that, therefore, if they invoke them in their evil doings, they
may not be able to accomplish them.
‘‘A nd the Fate and the sphere over which they rule, I have changed
and brought it to pass that they spend six months turned to the left
and accomplish their influences, and that six months they face to
the right and accomplish their influences. For by command of the
First Commandment and by command of the First Mystery Iao“,
the Overseer of the Light, had set them facing the left at every
time and accomplishing their influences and their deeds.
162
The zodiac ç a twelvefold prison
24
All who make themselves worthy of receiving the third light-ves-

tureçthe light-vesture of the Holy Spiritçwill rise beyond dia-
lectics. They will travel to the Father’s House, the Immovable King-
dom. As we saw, this is a complicated and many-sided process. It is
not only a process of an individual microcosmic nature, but also
one of universal significance, for it is not only a matter of rising
above one’s own natural lipika, but at the same time it is a matter
of attacking the whole universe of death and annihilating the total
manifestation of dialectics.
The Pistis Sophia gives us an extensive description of this. First,
the candidate, adorned with his mantle of the Holy Spirit, rises
beyond the reflection sphere of his own field of life, beyond
yonder side of what we call the terrestrial globe. The last chapter
gave you a description of this when discussing the 11th chapter of
the Pistis Sophia.
All the archons, authorities, and angels of the reflection sphere
become very agitated as soon as they see the light-column of the
Holy Spirit rise up and break through from below. They can imag-
ine that a mightier light than theirs can come to them from above,
since they know that great hierarchies of the solar macrocosm, the
zodiac, and beyond exist above them, but that such a tremendous
light-power, mightier than theirs, can ascend from regions that are
totally in their power and that they control fully is beyond their
comprehension. For this reason they fear greatly and leave their
order.
We should understand this situation psychologically in this
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way. The more powerful electromagnetic radiations of the Gnosis

disrupt the reflection sphere radiations, in the same way as this
first phase of the homeward journey has disrupted the magnetic
system of one’s own auric being and knocked it out of its order.
When the candidate has come this far in his process of devel-
opment, he is free of the reflection sphere, but certainly not of the
whole universe of death. The passage through these regions is also
described in the Pistis Sophia.
Chapter 12 says:
‘‘A nd I left that region behind me and ascended to the first sphere,
shining most exceedingly, forty-and-nine-times more brightly than
I had shone in the firmament. It came to pass then, when I had
reached the gate of the first sphere, that its gates were shaken and
opened of themselves at once.
‘‘I entered into the houses of the sphere ... And all the rulers and all
those who are in that sphere, fell into agitation...’’
This refers to the solar field. The Pistis Sophia calls this field the
‘first sphere.’ It is the field of the solar system of which the earth
is a part. In order to be able to rise beyond this field, the light of the
third light-vesture must have become forty-nine times more
powerful than during the journey through the reflection sphere.
And we see that matters develop in the same way here. Again
the amazement and the exclamation: ‘How hath the lord of the uni-
verse passed through us without our knowing?’
This again is very understandable, for from the point of view of
the inhabitants of the first sphere, one can expect mightier powers
from the zodiac, but not from a body subordinate to the solar
macrocosm. Just as we in our world can determine on a scientific
basis the properties of atoms and elements and measure the forces
operating in our field of nature, so a well-trained scientist would
certainly be most surprised and bewildered to find a mortal
person whose physical fragility, weaknesses, and strengths have
164
been determined and scientifically formulated able to defy all the

laws of statics, dynamics, gravitation, heat, and radiation. The
learned professor concerned would be totally pushed ‘out of his
order,’ that is to say, inwardly and psychologically.
The Bible gives numerous examples of such a state of bewil-
derment and amazement when people, born into the new race,
show fundamental invincibility without purposely wanting it or
showing it. An example is what the Gospel tells us about the
experiences of Paul.
What is fundamentally weak dialectically, what is insignificant,
becomes strong and majestic, because a gnostic power vibrates
and radiates throughout the whole universe of death and this
power surpasses all dialectical control and scientific understand-
ing. In this gnostic power, if we are able to connect with it, every
child of God can escape all dialectical understanding and control.
And it is for this reason that all the archons of the solar macro-
cosm, when they observe what they see as a scientific abnormality
that seems to mock their knowledge and faculties, have no choice
but to pay respect and give praise, although they fear greatly and
are dismayed:
‘‘... they fell down all together, adored before me, or before my
vesture, and all sang praises together to the interiors of the inte-
riors, being in great fear and great agitation.’’
After this, chapter thirteen discusses the second sphere, which is

named the sphere of fate. It stretches between the solar macrocosm
and the zodiac. It is the sphere in which every dialectical fate is cre-
ated and on which the whole solar system, and hence every micro-
cosm, depends. The candidate enters this second sphere, again
forty-nine times more powerful in light-power.
‘‘A nd I left that region behind me and came to the gate of the
second sphere, which is the Fate. Then were all its gates thrown
into agitation and opened of themselves. And I entered into the
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houses of the Fate, shining most exceedingly, and there was no

measure for the light that was about me, for I shone in the Fate
forty-and-nine times more than in the [first] sphere.’’
The fact that here again the number 49 returns is connected with
the sevenfold structure of the divine universe, as a result of which
the candidate unleashes more and more seven times sevenfold
gnostic power as the process continues.
In the second sphere we see the same story again. All the ar-
chons become very agitated and fall over each other in fear and
say: ‘How hath the lord of the universe passed through us without our
knowing?’And all the bonds are unloosed.
As soon as the candidate can leave this region behind, it is the
turn of the twelve aeons. Once again the light-vesture of the broth-
er travelling on his journey through these foreign realms is forty-
nine times more majestic. The Pistis Sophia says about this in the
fourteenth chapter:
‘‘A nd I left that region behind me and ascended to the great aeons
of the rulers and came before their veils and their gates ... and there
was no measure for the light that was about me, forty-and-nine
times more than the light with which I shone in the houses of the
Fate.
‘‘A nd all the angels of the aeons and their archangels and their
rulers and their gods and their lords and their authorities and their
tyrants and their powers and their light-sparks and their light-
givers and their unpaired and their invisibles and their forefathers
and their triple-powers ... were thrown into agitation the one over
against the other and great fear fell upon them, when they saw the
great light that was about me. ... And because of the great fear of
their agitation, the great Forefather, he and the three triple-powers,
kept on running hither and thither in his region, and they could not
close all their regions because of the great fear in which they were ...
the great light which was about meçnot of the former quality that
166
it was about me when I was on the earth of mankind, ... for the world
could not bear the light such as it was in its truth, else would the
world at once be destroyed and all upon it,çbut the light which
was about me in the twelve aeons was eight-thousand-and-seven-
hundred-myriad times greater than that which was about me in the
world among you.’’
We will notice that the situation now changes somewhat. In all the
lower regions of the nature of death, there was amazement and
fear on account of the fact that the development took place from
below upwards, but finally the mystery ends up in the so-called
higher regions. When you think of nature-religious contempla-
tion, you will understand that all suffering, sorrow, and misery
are submitted to what people call God. ‘The Lord will heal and
fix everything,’ so it is said.
But according to the image that the Pistis Sophia outlines for us,
there is now no higher authority. Now the higher gods themselves
are bewildered and lose control of the situation. Finally they come
with their last argument: they become angry.
‘‘A nd Adamas, the great Tyrant, and all the tyrants in all the aeons
began to fight in vain against the light. ...’’
You will understand that this last dialectical argument is and must
be the end. During the soul journey to the Father, the arrival at the
so-called Twelfth Aeon proves to be the last and most deciding
phase of the ascent out of dialectics.
In order to fathom this, we need to have some understanding
of the significance of the zodiac. The twelve macrocosmic powers
of the zodiac, which rule our dialectical universe in a more direct
sense, enclose our part of the dialectical universe. They rule it.
They form the highest dialectical authorities from which our
twelvefold personality results. They form:
firstly: the dialectical I-consciousness,
secondly: the dialectical instinct of possession,
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Chapter 24
thirdly: the dialectical idea of brotherhood,

fourthly: the dialectical idea of the fatherland [actualising the
kingdom of God on earth],
fifthly: the dialectical ideal of strength, courage, and heroism,
sixthly: the dialectical idea of fertility,
seventhly: the dialectical idea of true harmony of life,
eighthly: the dialectical idea of the development that is ex-
pressed in occultism,
ninthly: the dream of dialectical deification,
tenthly: the first step to fulfilling this delusion in the mental
sense,
eleventhly: the second step in the ethical sense,
twelfthly: the third step in the sense of physical manifestation,
which step must mean nothing but endless sorrow.
This whole twelvefold chain forms the great prison in the nature
of death. These are the twelve gods from whom emanate: twelve
ideas, twelve delusions, twelve attempts.
The Pistis Sophia calls this chain, in its unity, the great Fore-
father, with his three great triple powers. This system namely has
a fundamental force, a controlling force, and a continuously acti-
vating force: the trinity of the nature of delusion. It is clear that
every candidate who wants to fulfil his homeward journey has to
shake off the chain of delusion right up to the twelfth hour.
Twelve gods rule everything that exists and lives within the
zodiac. These twelve gods have their reflections in our lipika and
hence in our magnetic system and in our personality. It is logical
that it is not enough for any pupil on the path merely to break up
his own zodiac in his auric being. He has to rise beyond the whole
universe of death, so that the Garden of the Gods will no longer be
able to victimize him.
For this reason the Rosycross places you before another Fore-
father with his three triple powers. For a fundamental force ema-
nates from the Gnosis, and he who stands on this stands as if on a
rock. There is a gnostic controlling force, and he who walks his path
168
by means of this force can never deviate. And there is a gnostic

activating force. Whoever is armed with this force possesses Sieg-
fried’s sword and a light-vesture that will escape all dangers.
The sword of Siegfried has a light capability 8700 myriad
times stronger than at the beginning of the pilgrimage, that is to
say, it breaks through all of matter and is inextricably connected
with the Divine Universe.
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Chapter 25
25
The dethronement of the four Lords of Fate
In the last chapter we wrote about the twelve macrocosmic powers

that rule and surround our dialectical universe. Popularly speaking
we know these powers as the zodiac. These twelve powers form
the highest authority within the sphere of influence of the dialec-
tical god.
First of all we can see these twelve powers in relation to our
personality, for these twelve streams are represented in our brain
by twelve magnetic points. They vivify the twelve pairs of cranial
nerves.
Next we can see these twelve powers in the magnetic firma-
ment of our auric being. In the auric being we can distinguish
twelve groups of magnetic points, which correspond with the
twelve points in the brain.
Thirdly we can discover twelve corresponding powers around
our more immediate field of life: the physical plane and the reflec-
tion sphere, i.e. the firmament of our planet. We possess and ex-
perience these twelve powers together with the rest of mankind.
And fourthly there is the twelvefold zodiac around our solar
system. These four walls could be called the four Lords of Fate:
^ one in the personality,
^ one in the auric being,
^ one in our field of life,
^ and one around the solar system.
It becomes clear that there are four phases of ascent beyond dialec-
tics when a pupil really wants to go the path.
170
The first phase is the most important and decisive. The first
Lord of Fate has a twelvefold grip on our brain, and this deter-
mines the nature, the state, and the existence of the I. The human
being is ‘siderially born,’ that is to say, his life is determined by the
twelvefold principle, the twelve groups of magnetic lines of force
of our more immediate macrocosm.
Perhaps you have heard of the second sidereal birth, which we
also call the mystical rebirth. This mystical rebirth relates to this
first phase of the ascent beyond dialectics. It dethrones the first
Lord of Fate and breaks the twelvefold magnetic hold on our
brain. It brings a new twelvefold structure of lines of force in its
place.
However before this is achieved, a lot has to happen in a per-
son’s life. When we discuss the progress of a candidate in this fun-
damental process with our pupils and the public, there is the great
danger that our audience will stop at intellectual consideration. It
may begin to think it possesses something that in reality is noth-
ing.
For this reason we want to focus our attention again on the be-
ginning of the process of salvation in the Gospel. The seeking
person is first outlined as the double-figure of Zechariah-Elizabeth
old and tired of life and without any worthwhile achievements.
However this seeking stage is a gift of grace of the Holy Spirit. It
proves the activity of the rose of the heart, the original atom.
It is possible that the first Lord of Fate has such a grip on the
human being that he lives his ordinary dialectical life and treats
seeking as a pastime. You will understand that in this way life re-
mains without any liberating result. Zechariah-Elizabeth had al-
ready passed beyond this stage. Their seeking and yearning was
a cry from the heart, a desire for salvation, an immense longing
for a new, different life.
When the candidate knows this state, the second evangelical
process begins: the birth of John. John is to make straight the
paths for his God. Whoever does this and goes this path immedi-
ately comes into conflict with his brain-god and its vassal, the I-
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Chapter 25
consciousness. Whoever goes the path of John from out of the

rose of the heart will inevitably go the path of self-dissolution.
There is no other choice.
It follows logically that this path of self-dissolution must have
twelve stages, twelve aspects.
The first phase is that you confront your naturally very strong
I-centred personality that in its own opinion knows everything,
sees everything, already does everything, understands everything
in advance, and is irresistible in everything, and that you reject
and ignore it. In the power and the light of the rose, you are abso-
lutely able to reject and ignore your own I. We call this state: hu-
milityçmeeknessçmodestyçstillness. It is the end of self-assu-
redness.
When the candidate has passed this first phase and has made
straight the first path, then the second phase starts and so on, until
all phases have been passed. The walking of these twelve paths
means a direct assault on the I and its brain-god.
Whoever wants to walk this twelvefold path must be born into
it first, like a John the Baptist, born by a force extended by the Holy
Spirit. He must be born out of the Zechariah-Elizabeth stage, the
stage of the seeker who has emptied the cup of this state to the last
drop and hence knows the longing for liberation.
Whoever practises the self-dissolution purely experimentally
as a method, as a system, will never succeed. He will meet with
such difficulties that he will withdraw hastily from the wilderness
and return to his old life.
When these twelve phases of John are completed, the nadir at
the Jordan arrives, the moment of the birth of Jesus within the
person. This is the point of time when the twelvefold brain-god,
the first Lord of Fate, is dethroned. From this moment on, the star
of Bethlehem is seen emanating from such a person. From that
moment on, the personality of such a human being is raised
beyond dialectics, and he is born into the new race, the people of
God.
Twelve new magnetic points, twelve new aspects, need to be
172
fixed in the brain. For this reason it is said that Jesus the Lord
chooses twelve disciples, whom he teaches and helps and impels
to perfection. And this whole process in the personality is named
‘the way of the cross.’ This means that participating in the new
race, merging into it, and coming to fulness in it is a way from
Bethlehem to Golgotha.
When the ‘consummatum est’ can resound, the new child of
the new race has matured, has become ripe to act, has become
ripe for brotherhood. Then death has been conquered, and trans-
figuration has commenced to an important extent. For this reason
it is said that, after Golgotha, Jesus the Lord departed and preceded
the disciples to another stage in the process of ascent.
Now you can understand that when the brain-god in the can-
didate is dethroned and the twelvefold magnetic spell of the
nature-aeons is broken in the head-sanctuary, a fundamental con-
flict breaks out simultaneously with the three other Lords of Fate,
namely: the Lord of Fate in the auric being, the Lord of Fate in our
field of life, and the Lord of Fate of the solar system, in other words,
with the microcosm, the cosmos, and the macrocosm. The ascent
beyond the microcosm, the cosmos, and the macrocosm also be-
comes necessary. This fourfold ascent is outlined in the Pistis
Sophia.
Chapter 15 of the Pistis Sophia sketches some very remarkable
facts about this fourfold journey. For he who has undergone the
second sidereal birth, the mystical rebirth, and so has dethroned
the first Lord of Fate, the brain-god, does not have to worry in
the least about the other three dialectical powers.
When the new light has been kindled, Adamas and all the ty-
rants will begin to fight against the light, but they will no longer
be able reach the personality. The power, as far as it is directed at
the personality, is destroyed.
For the magnetic powers of the auric being, the cosmos, and
the macrocosm are thrust out of their orbits. And the fate and the
sphere that they ruled before, namely the brain-god and the per-
sonality, can no longer be affected by these magnetic lines of
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Chapter 25
force. They are periodically turned to the left and to the right; they
show directions deviating entirely from the personality. And the
released energies are absorbed by everything that is akin to
them. For this reason it is said that their glance is always turned
to the left. All this is at the command of the Lord of the divine
light, Jeu.
The counsel of God, the Gnosis, wrenches the personality, in
which the precious jewel, the original atom, lies hidden, out of
the old microcosm. And clothed in the third vesture, the light-ves-
ture, a new microcosm is built. He who has ears to hear, let him
hear!
174
‘‘It came to pass then, when I came into their region, that they
mutinied and fought against the light. And I took the third of their
power, in order that they should not be able to accomplish their evil
deeds. And the Fate and the sphere, over which they rule, I have
changed, and set them facing the left six months and accomplish-
ing their influences, and I have set them turned another six months
to the right and accomplishing their influences.’’
When then he had said this to his disciples, he said unto them:
‘‘Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.’’
It came to pass then, when Mary had heard the Saviour say these
words, that she gazed fixedly into the air for the space of an hour.
She said: ‘‘My Lord, give commandment unto me to speak in
openness.’’
And Jesus, the compassionate, answered and said unto Mary:

‘‘Mary, thou blessed one, whom I will perfect in all mysteries of
those of the height, discourse in openness, thou, whose heart is
raised to the kingdom of heaven more than all thy brethren.’’
Then said Mary to the Saviour: ‘‘My Lord, the word which thou
hast spoken unto us: ‘Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,’ thou
sayest in order that we may understand the word which thou hast
spoken. Hearken, therefore, my Lord, that I may discourse in
openness.
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‘‘The word which thou hast spoken: ‘I have taken a third from the
power of the rulers of all the aeons, and changed their Fate and their
sphere over which they rule, in order that, if the race of men invoke
them in the mysteriesçthose which the angels who transgressed
have taught them for the accomplishing of their evil and lawless
deeds in the mystery of their sorcery,’ ç in order then that they
may no more from this hour accomplish their lawless deeds,
because thou hast taken their power from them and from their
horoscope-casters and their consulters and from those who
declare to the men in the world all things which shall come to pass,
in order that they should no more from this hour know how to
declare unto them any thing at all which will come to pass (for
thou hast changed their spheres, and hast made them spend six
months turned to the left and accomplishing their influences, and
another six months facing the right and accomplishing their influ-
ences),çconcerning this word then, my Lord, the power which was
in the prophet Isaiah, hath spoken thus and proclaimed aforetime in
a spiritual similitude, discoursing on the ‘Vision about Egypt’:
‘Where then, O Egypt, where are thy consulters and horoscope-
casters and those who cry out of the earth and those who cry out
of their belly? Let them then declare unto thee from now on the
deeds which the lord Sabaoth will do!’
‘‘The power then which was in the prophet Isaiah, prophesied

before thou didst come, that thou wouldst take away the power of
the rulers of the aeons and wouldst change their sphere and their
176
Fate, in order that they might know nothing from now on. For this
cause it hath said also: ‘Ye shall then know not of what the lord
Sabaoth will do ’; that is, none of the rulers will know what thou
wilt do from now on, ç for they are ‘Egypt,’ because they are
matter. The power then which was in Isaiah, prophesied concerning
thee aforetime, saying: ‘From now on ye shall then know not what
the lord Sabaoth will do.’ Because of the light-power which thou
didst receive from Sabaoth, the Good, who is in the region of the
Right, and which is in thy material body to-day, for this cause
then, my Lord Jesus, thou hast said unto us: ‘Who hath ears to
hear, let him hear,’ ç in order that thou mightest know whose
heart is ardently raised to the kingdom of heaven.’’
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26
The joyful message of the modern Spiritual School
You will have been able to determine from our previous commen-
tary that the twelve zodiacal aeons exercise a threefold power:
in the first place on our planet,
secondly on every microcosm by way of the auric being’s mag-
netic firmament,
thirdly on the twelve magnetic points in the brain of the per-
sonality.
When a candidate has freed himself from the grip of the aeons,
when he has dethroned the twelvefold brain-god and has realized
a new twelvefold magnetic circle in the head-sanctuary, then the
twelve aeons are in fact deprived of a third of their power in rela-
tion to that one individual who has gone the path. Not a single
dialectical force is able to exercise power any longer over that one
individual who has gone the path. Hence being ‘liberated in
Christ,’ ‘being born in God,’ and more of such mystical sayings in
the Bible obtain a very profound and exceptional meaning.
Whoever is able to fulfil this first phase of the path, the phase of
self-dissolution in the grace of the rose, and is able to break up the
magnetic system of ordinary nature to which he is bound is imme-
diately liberated. And although existentially still completely a
nature being and so still in the world and within the system of
the twelve aeons, such a person will no longer find any hindrance
on account of this second sidereal birth. He has become a child of
God. He has been freed of all ties forever.
Some outsiders call the philosophy of the modern Spiritual
School a sombre, black, and melancholic doctrine; but we ask
178
you, can you think of even one message that is more joyful than
the one of the Spiritual School ?
Of course one can understand such an opinion of outsiders,
because it must sound sombre and hopeless when the modern
Spiritual School says: ‘Expect nothing from this nature! Dissoci-
ate yourself from it! Spend absolutely no energy on it!’ To people
who still expect everything from the I and this world-order, it must
sound depressing when we teach radical self-dissolution.
But for those who see the escape and the ascension from this
vale of tears and who have fixed their hearts on the original Father-
land, it is an immense joy to be able to establish that the path
begins with a radical, absolute liberation. It is absolutely out of
the question that such liberation could be expected only at the
end of the interminable course of development in the Gnosis. We
would like to permeate you with this joy and pour it into you.
We base ourselves on the certainty that whoever acquires the
second sidereal birth in the Gnosis by the grace of the rose and
through the dissolution of the I liquidates for himself the magnetic
system of the aeons to which he was attached. He has taken a third
part of the power of the aeons, precisely that part by which he was
victimized.
You need to have ears to hear why the Pistis Sophia speaks to us
about these things. When you as an individual go the path, you
deprive the aeons of a third part of their power that they have
over you personally. We know this now. As an individual you are
then liberated, and that would be the end of the matter.
But the tyranny of the aeons rages on over all your fellow
human beings, and all the archons of the aeons, their angels and
powers of all the spheres continue their activities according to the
system of dialectical nature. What influence could you as an indi-
vidual have over these powers? You are at most as one calling in
the wilderness.
But when we go that path of liberation together and when we
bring all those who are liberated together as a world community
and when we serve all seekers and help them to join us, then, as
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Chapter 26
you know, we vivify the well-known new magnetic field. Then a

very perceptible, non-dialectical influence manifests itself in the
whole of dialectical nature, and this influence temporarily pa-
ralyses all perfidious, dialectical influences. For this reason the
Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘‘I have taken a third from the power of the rulers of all the aeons,
and changed their Fate and their sphere over which they rule, in
order that, if the race of men invoke them in the mysteriesçthose
which the angels who transgressed have taught them for the accom-
plishing of their evil and lawless deeds in the mystery of their
sorcery,’çin order then that they may no more from this hour ac-
complish their lawless deeds, because thou hast taken their power
from them and from their horoscope-casters and their consulters
and from those who declare to the men in the world all things
which shall come to pass, in order that they should no more from
this hour know how to declare unto them any thing at all which
will come to pass (for thou hast changed their spheres ...).’’
The magnetic field of the collective of the new race, when it has
become sufficiently strong, will pull the magnetic radiations of
the ordinary field of nature out of their paths. It will change them
to the left and to the right: six months to the left and six months to
the right. The magnetic vibrations from ordinary dialectical
sources are no longer able to reach their objects directly through
the influence of the new magnetic field, and a deflection develops
either to the left or to the right. This deflection causes the influence
to return to its source without the object being reached. At the
moment of return, a discharge occurs, and the same influence
that first followed the deflection to the left is now reflected back
and follows a deflection to the right, etc.
Imagine that through occult-scientific training someone has
developed certain I-central extrasensory cultural abilities. Then it
is clear that such training has made his endocrine system sensitive
to certain electromagnetic lines of force that emanate from the ar-
180
chons and their mysteries. The endocrine glands are preeminently

electromagnetically sensitive and their hormones are electromag-
netically charged particles that keep the organs and cell groups,
the blood and the nerve-fluid in a certain state.
Therefore it is clear that when the new magnetic field has
become sufficiently strong to be able to deflect the electromag-
netic impulses from their paths, an occultist would at a given
moment gradually begin to lose his occult abilities, because the
electromagnetic radiations that must sustain these abilities are no
longer present. And it is this glorious event that the Pistis Sophia is
referring to.
There are countless official and non-official mysteries. In the
reflection sphere and outside of it, there are magnetic power con-
glomerates that maintain all sorts of groups and occult schools.
These power-sources have a hold on millions of people in various
ways. At the same time innumerable people are sighing for libera-
tion from this hold and searchingly raise their heads for a solution.
Countless people are calling on their gods in and through their
mysteries for help and a way out, because they do not know any
better. And it is in this way that the electromagnetic interaction
takes place with awesome accuracy and inexorable consequences.
Through the development of the new magnetic field, these
source radiations are deflected from their paths, in a purely scien-
tific process. Many mysteries suddenly collapse. Understandably,
they lose their full power, and all who deserve it can be helped by
the redeeming power of the Universal Brotherhood.
If you have ears to hear, you will understand that your libera-
tion can mean the liberation of all. Do you now understand why in
these last days all the powers of the abyss are so furious and seize
so many people in order to deter any of us, who are even slightly
susceptible, from actualising this development?
Is it not foolish to lend an ear to such influences, which invari-
ably tie in with our I?
Is it not joyful that neither heights nor depths can separate us
from the love of God that manifests in the Brotherhood of the
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Chapter 26
Christ Hierophants? These are the forces of love that want to touch
you in and through the rose of the heart!
This development outlined to you appears many times in every

day of manifestation, when the time is ripe for the gathering of
the harvest from the fields. And it is for this reason that the Pistis
Sophia quotes from the past, so that all pupils can draw courage
and strength from this historical series of irresistible victories:
‘Where then, O Egypt, where are thy consulters and horoscope-

casters and those who cry out of the earth ...?’
For this reason it also says: ‘Ye shall then know not of what the
lord Sabaoth will do.’
The time is coming and is partly with us already when none of
the participants in the earthly mysteries are able to know and un-
derstand what the modern Spiritual School is developing. The dia-
lectical faculty of being able to understand is increasingly being
closed up by a scientific process, and so, and that is the remarkable
glory, the great adversary and his cohorts, through the lack of the
faculty of recognition, will no longer be able to fight against the
Lord of Hosts. And a great silence will come: the peace of the
people of God.
Therefore, whoever has ears to hear, let him hear, and with us
enter the hosts of the new race. You will all see and experienceçif
your heart looks out yearningly for the Kingdom of Heaven.
182
It came to pass then, when Mary had finished saying these words,
that he said: ‘‘Well said, Mary, for thou art blessed before all women
on the earth, because thou shalt he the fulness of all fulnesses and
the perfection of all perfections.’’
Now when Mary had heard the Saviour speak these words, she
exulted greatly, and she came before Jesus, fell down before him,
adored his feet and said unto him: ‘‘My Lord, hearken unto me,
that I may question thee on this word, before that thou discoursest
with us about the regions whither thou didst go.’’
Jesus answered and said unto Mary: ‘‘Discourse in openness and

fear not; all things on which thou questionest, I will reveal unto
thee.’’
She said: ‘‘My Lord, will all the men who know the mystery of the
magic of all the rulers of all the aeons of the Fate and of those of the
sphere, in the way in which the angels who transgressed have
taught them, if they invoke them in their mysteries, that is in their
evil magic, to the hindering of good deeds,çwill they accomplish
them henceforth from now on or not?’’.
Jesus answered and said unto Mary: ‘‘They will not accomplish
them as they accomplished them from the beginning, because I
have taken away a third of their power; but they will raise a loan
from those who know the mysteries of the magic of the thirteenth
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Chapter 26
aeon. And if they invoke the mysteries of the magic of those who
are in the thirteenth aeon, they will accomplish them well and
surely, because I have not taken away power from that region, ac-
cording to the command of the First Mystery.’’
184
The mysteries of the Thirteenth Aeon
27
In the previous chapters we revealed to you one of the most re-

markable and important of the transfiguristic mysteries. As a
result of these explanations, we can clearly see the essence and
the consequences of the second sidereal birth before us.
Whoever is able to fulfil the first phase of the real path, the
phase of self-dissolution, in the grace of the rose, in longing for
liberation, and self-surrender, has broken the magnetic system of
ordinary nature, which rules and directs him, in the head-sanctu-
ary. Such a person is liberated. He is no longer of the nature of
death, although still in the nature of death. He has, with regard to
himself, taken away a third part of the power of the aeons, and they
can no longer exercise any influence on him.
Hence we can establish with certainty and confirm with joy
and gratitude that the real path of the transfiguristic mysteries
does not end with, but begins with the absolute salvation of the
candidate. Everything that manifests itself after this beginning is
an undisturbed, mighty development, a peaceful, fascinating, and
glorious return to the Immovable Kingdom. When the Bible
speaks jubilantly: ‘You have been called to freedom,’ the attention
is focused on this course of liberation to which all who prepare
themselves for the new race are called.
And when we see that in this course of liberation by the trans-
figuristic mysteries, an insignificant individual is removed from
the mighty, gigantic grip of the whole universe of death, this is
like a miracle. In order to explain such a remarkably glorious
event more clearly, chapter 20 of the Pistis Sophia says:
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Chapter 27
[Mary] said: ‘‘My Lord, will all the men who know the mystery of
the magic of all the rulers of all the aeons of the Fate and of those of
the sphere, in the way in which the angels who transgressed have
taught them, if they invoke them in their mysteries, that is in their
evil magic, to the hindering of good deeds,çwill they accomplish
them henceforth from now on or not?’’
Jesus answered and said unto Mary: ‘‘They will not accomplish
them as they accomplished them from the beginning, because I
have taken away a third of their power; but they will raise a loan
from those who know the mysteries of the magic of the thirteenth
aeon. And if they invoke the mysteries of the magic of those who
are in the thirteenth aeon, they will accomplish them well and
surely, because I have not taken away power from that region, ac-
cording to the command of the First Mystery.’’
It is good to clearly place before our consciousness the whole pic-

ture of a now rapidly approaching development, which has partly
already commenced:
1. We know now that a pupil who enters the second sidereal

birth severs the ordinary magnetic system in the brain and
thus frees himself from all dialectical attachments. When
many walk this way, a situation develops that we have dis-
cussed many times.
2. A large group of liberated human beings is still standing on
the horizontal plane of the dialectical field of life but has
been born in the magnetic sphere of the Christ Hierophants.
3. As a group they develop a new magnetic field.
4. They spread that field around the ordinary field of life and
henceforth a whole series of magnetic disturbances develops
in relation to ordinary life.
5. These disturbances disturb all the mysteries of the magic of
all archons of the aeons.
6. These disturbances become more and more dynamic until
186
not even one of the magic mysteries can be accomplished in

any respect.
This state of affairs will obviously have extremely dramatic conse-

quences, and they are so revolutionary that all social, political, and
economic intricacies will sink into nothing compared to them.
We will realize this when we ask ourselves behind which
groups and movements in this world the magnetic powers of the
archons and the aeons are standing. After some consideration our
answer will be: behind all groups and movements.
Behind all mystical and religious groups, large as well as small,
are reflection sphere extensions, which the Pistis Sophia calls the
‘archons of the sphere.’ And behind them are the various hierar-
chies in their succession. All these powers rule and direct the mys-
tical and religious masses, with the intention, well-known to you,
of imitating the Kingdom of Christ or some other manifestation of
salvation and thus mystically safeguarding the realm of delusion.
Behind all ethical and humanistic groups are exactly the same
powers with the same intentions. Behind all the countries of the
earth, behind all the interest groups in these countries, behind all
more international groupings such as the countries united in the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Arab League, Israel,
behind the countries in the Russian sphere of influence, even
though they call themselves historical-materialistic,* behind all
these groups, countries, and communities are reflection sphere ex-
tensions with various degrees of cunning in some direction, but
essentially one and the same in their maintenance of dialectics.
Thus we see a nearly endless range of mysteries, but directed
from above as if by one hand, even though the apparently so dif-
ferent groups and interests fight each other violently. For conflict
and bloodshed are the methods of dialectical unity.
Through the development of the new magnetic field a third
* These indications are based on the political situation in the 1960 ’s when this book was
written (note by the publisher).
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Chapter 27
part of the power is taken away from all these large and small in-
visible archons with the one and only consequence: a gradual and
total collapse of the whole present-day social order in all its mani-
festations. No matter what attempts are made, it will no longer be
possible to inject new life into this disintegrating state of affairs.
And when the inspiring influences no longer have access, the
struggle, the violent conflict, the continual exertions will cease. A
general despondency, a stunned silence will develop. Lethargy
will come over mankind. And even the demonic forces with their
orgies will cease, because the black forces will be bound.
And so, humanity, like survivors thrown on a beach after a
shipwreck, will stare at the wreckage of life and society. And in
the silence of amazement and horror, a silence quieter than a
grave, the development of the Sons of God will manifest itself
very clearly to everyone. All those who have truly searched for
Christ and his kingdom but were misled, to which blood and
birth had driven them, will then borrow power from the mysteries
of the Thirteenth Aeon and none of the old powers will be able to
prevent them.
What are the mysteries of the Thirteenth Aeon? The mysteries
of the Thirteenth Aeon are the mysteries of the Universal Brother-
hood, which are situated in the heart of the nature of death, or as
Jacob Boehme says: ‘It is Christ who has seized the heart of fallen
nature.’ The Thirteenth Aeon is the universal power-field that
always remains present in the fifth basic element of root-substance.
Now we will also fully discover what an unheard-of and unusual
development the holy work will take in this rapidly approaching
hour of world history.
The Spiritual School invokes these mysteries of the Thirteenth
Aeon with a deep inner longing, but the fulfilment of these mys-
teries progresses in a very slow and halting manner. As long as the
second sidereal birth has not yet been fulfilled, all who look out
longingly are impeded by all the other mysteries. For this reason
the mysteries of fulfilment are still only a weak glow in this nature.
When the impeding factors cease to exist through the develop-
188
ment outlined to you, the divine mysteries will begin to shine with
extraordinary power. Countless numbers of people will be able to
actualise and fulfil rapidly those things at which they could pre-
viously only aim their heart. In the great silence of the collapse of
dialectics, this glory will encourage an enormous number of
misled people to further contact. And in humility and without hin-
drance, they also will be able to go with us on the path of the new
mysteries. Then the words will be fulfilled that the strong have re-
ceived mercy for the weak.
Everything must still be done to strengthen the new magnetic
field sufficiently, so that all those who yearn because they are poor
in spirit will be able to receive a fair chance at liberation. For this
reason people are sought, who will give themselves fully in order
to celebrate their own breakthrough to the second sidereal birth.
Work as long as it is day in order to prepare the possibilities for
the weak and misled, so that their time will also come soon. And
let us lift up our spirits on these well-known words: ‘‘Rejoice then
and exult, for it is you who will save the world.’’
Throughout the whole universe of death in all the regions of
dialectical manifestation, the mysteries of the Thirteenth Aeon
are established and active. The whole new field of life and the
new race exist by the grace of these exceptional mysteries. We in-
clude in this what we call the vacuum of Shamballa. This is a great
and divinely glorious system of help to everyone who is inside or
outside of the body and who turns to the Universal Brotherhood.
The seven mysteries revealed to us will, in the right connec-
tion, be able to promote the Great Work in its fulfilment; that is
to say, we possess a sevenfold key to the Thirteenth Aeon. It is
out of the question that we would need to wait for more gifts and
help from the Holy Spirit. Everything we need has been given to
us. And the most important of the activities to be accomplished is
taking away the third part of the power of the aeons of nature.
This development will weaken the grip of the nature aeons on
all seekers so much that, with infinitely less effort than now, those
longing for liberation will be able to be saved from the sea of life.
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Chapter 28
28
The creation of the Thirteenth Aeon
We have dwelt extensively on the nineteenth and twentieth chap-

ters of the Pistis Sophia, which deal with the powerlessness and dis-
integration of the magic mysteries of the archons and aeons of
nature and with the majesty of the mysteries of the Thirteenth
Aeon. It is necessary to return to this so that we can all gain a
clear understanding of the true essence of the cosmic and atmo-
spheric revolution, which occurs from time to time in world his-
tory.
The Pistis Sophia conveys this in narrative fashion by telling
how Jesus the Lord, after his resurrection, travels through all the
spheres and domains of the universe of death from the lowest
ones upwards, armed with the glorious light of the original mys-
tery, and deprives all the archons and aeons (the power-principles
and power-concentrations of the nature of death) of one third of
their power. The effect of this is that the grip of the archons and
aeons on the magnetic system in the brain decreases at an ever-in-
creasing rate and eventually ends completely.
Since the dawn of our Fall, all of us, as microcosms, have an
enormously long past behind us. The history of this past is re-
corded in the magnetic system of our auric being, and the sum of
this past will always speak by way of the magnetic system of our
brain. We are tied to this past, which is billions of years old and
which our microcosm itself has helped to build and maintain.
And it is totally clear that all the archons and aeons of dialectical
nature make their voices heard in us from time to time. Many of
them dominate our whole being right now.
190
Our biological-intellectual being, i.e. our natural state, is

wholly dependent on them. Right at this moment they are deter-
mining our cultural state in this life, and our intellectual relation-
ship to it. This cultural state includes art, science, and religion as
well as our relationships with society and all their nuances of a
political, social, and economic nature.
The state of our entire character, all our biological instincts and
needs, our expressions of will, and our individual behaviour are
also directed and decided by them. Hence we must conclude not
only that ‘we are of nature’ but also that ‘we are of the aeons of
nature.’ In the situation of the present it is actually the aeons that
decide our nature.
Therefore once again the question: ‘What and who are these
archons and aeons as the gnostic philosophy calls them?’
They are power-principles and power-concentrations; they are
certain electromagnetic tensions and relationships that appear and
work in our nature of death. We can give you the following exam-
ple:
You find yourself on a totally uninhabited and inhospitable
island. There is no housing, no clothing, no fire. You are simply a
biological being with a biological consciousness. You are for the
first time conscious of being there. The world in which you find
yourself is hard, cold, hostile, and immensely cruel, and so self-
preservation, the struggle for existence, begins. You cannot do
without it; it is the basic law of nature.
In such a situation the intellectual consciousness slowly devel-
ops on the basis of these fundamental biological laws. It starts with
a memory in which the negative consequences of the struggle for
survival are recorded. The purpose is to start up mental processes
on the basis of these memory-experiences, in order to be able to
convert the negative results of the struggle for survival into posi-
tive ones.
Every human being devotes himself to positive results in the
nature of death, and that is in the first place, as you will under-
stand, an activity of the brain. We mentally make a plan, a plan
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Chapter 28
for self-maintenance. When this mental conception has been com-

pleted and we continually develop it mentally, it will grow in our
respiration field and at a given moment begin to obsess us. We are
then possessed by our plan.
We have then created an archon, a nature-god. According to a
particular formula the rays of the electromagnetic field of nature
are partly transformed into a personal electromagnetic principle,
which inhabits the microcosm. The individual nature-god is born!
As soon as others become involved in the plan for self-preser-
vation, we will form a large nature-god together. Then a large
transformed electromagnetic field develops with much more
power than the individual archons, and with the aid of it, the plan
can be partly realized. Our archon, our nature-god, is highly
praised for the success of the plan, and we continually add to and
develop our plan in three ways:
Worship for the archon develops;
religious art arises to support worship;
a science develops because the initial results were only partial.
For these reasons the activities to perfect the plan must con-
tinue. This shows how art, science, and religion stem from the pri-
mary, biological self-preservation of the human being.
We can face this discovery in two ways: as a believer or as an
unbeliever. These two viewpoints however relate only to differ-
ences in taste. You like one archon and someone else likes another
one. You believe only in yours and not in his.
Let us now look at the behaviour of the archons. Because of the
immensely dynamic mental nourishment they receive, they grow
unbelievably fast. There is a scientific law: Equal joins equal, even
though equals fight among themselves. The electromagnetic con-
ceptions that we have outlined to you will, when their vibration
rates are similar, merge on a higher level. The power principles
merge into power concentrations, that is to say, the archons join
together to form aeons. The aeons are clouds of archons of a like
vibration rate. If we regard the archon as a nature-god of small
stature in the planetary sense, then it will be clear that the aeon is
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a nature-god of universal or intercosmic proportions.

Thus you can imagine how from below, from the biological in-
stincts, passions, and needs of dialectical mankind, provided this
process can continue long enough, the whole universe will ulti-
mately be populated by powerful forces that dominate our whole
nature by means of a counter-nature.
A counter-nature? Yes, for all the archons and the aeons are
proof of the immense state of deprivation and the fundamental
state of human misery.
But does humanity have any other choice? Does not everyone
help to maintain these archons and aeons?
We need to consider a solution, a liberation from this problem.
There are two solutions: a negative one and a positive one.
In this dialectical nature there are seven groups of fundamental
electromagnetic rays, which rotate with a certain regularity and
which make their influences felt. Through the arousal of the ar-
chons and aeons, these rays and their influences are disturbed
and deflected from their paths. The electromagnetic transforma-
tions brought about by humanity thus bring our dialectical field
of life into disharmony. This disharmony demonstrates itself un-
ceasingly as you know, and this means dialectical life is made
more difficult. Our gods, which we have made ourselves, bring
us a kind of dubious help, which is not unobjectionable.
You can imagine that, since the plans of mankind are always in
a state of partial fulfilment, the culture of archons and aeons pro-
ceeds, must proceed. By this continued course of culture, the dis-
harmony with the basic magnetic field of nature must also in-
crease.
This goes on until a crisis, a limit, is reached. The fundamental
magnetic field of dialectics is integrated with the whole universe,
and since this is more powerful than the whole combined cloud of
aeons, there is not a merging of the universal forces into the aeonic
ones when a crisis point approaches but exactly the opposite: a
great cleansing. Something like this takes place periodically in the
universe. The radiations and actions of the aeons made by human-
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ity threaten the basic field of nature by continious culture. The

consequence is that the power of the aeons is decreased.
One consequence results in another. When the third part of
their power is taken away from the aeons, this means, among
other things, that the earthly magnetic system is disconnected
from its archons and aeons. They can no longer use their power
to influence us, and we can no longer use them for our goals.
You may think, ‘That’s wonderful!’ But have you anything to
replace it with? When the work of the aeons is destroyed, human-
ity will return to the original beginning of dialectics, to the biolo-
gical point of commencement. The harmony of the fundamental
forces in the dialectical universe will then be restored, and human-
ity will be as before. Artificial culture will have been taken away
from us. The naked biological human being remains. Civilization
is destroyed.
You will understand that this return will be an immensely dra-
matic event. In this way humanity proceeds to a limit and then re-
turns to the beginning. We make gods, and while we make and
serve them, we are occupied in preparing their death.
If we want to escape this fateful course which we have under-
taken already so many, many times as microcosms, then we need
to turn to the other way, the way of the Thirteenth Aeon. The Thir-
teenth Aeon is the only one from whom no power is taken away
during the times of crisis and the inescapable moments of change
in world history, the Pistis Sophia says. Hence thisThirteenth Aeon
and those who belong to its system can proceed with their culture.
The Pistis Sophia speaks of ‘spheres.’ These spheres of archons
and aeons are definitely nature-forces, but they do not arise from
the fundamental nature of the dialectical universe, although they
are created and activated by means of the laws of the dialectical
universe.
We should see the archons and aeons as electromagnetic trans-
formers made by humanity. They compel all the fundamental
magnetic currents of dialectical nature to be transformed, chan-
nelled, and transmuted by them.
194
In this way a completely natural and periodic electromagnetic

conflict is created in the dialectical universe. As soon as the power
of the archons and aeons begins to transgress a certain limit, an
intercosmic revolution develops in order to restore the upset uni-
versal balance pertaining to all galaxies.
One of the consequences of such a conflict is the fact that the
archons and aeons are deprived of a third of their power, as the
Pistis Sophia calls it. What this means is that the connections be-
tween humanity and the archons and aeons are broken. A mag-
netic vibration totally alien to humanity and of a totally different
wavelength and charge breaks up the thousands-of-years-old con-
nections between the magnetic systems of the brain and the auric
being on the one hand and those of the nature-gods on the other.
The result is that humanity is set totally adrift from its mental
creations, and consequently the ascending direction of culture
changes to a descending one. The work of the aeons, i.e. the culture
of humanity, is destroyed, and humanity regresses to its original
point of departure. Bound up with this is a total loss of memory,
because the entire network of magnetic centres in the auric being
and the personality is erased, so that the human being finally re-
verts to the primeval human being of the past.
This continues to a certain nadir, which we could call the bio-
logical minimum. The entire universe of death will have been
cleansed of archons and aeons, and at a given moment a new
course of culture will commence. The wheel once again begins to
turn upwards to the top only to turn downwards once more. How
many times have we as microcosms already made this journey?
We now want to bring to your attention the Thirteenth Aeon. A

certain part of humanity is responsible for the creation and the de-
velopment of thisThirteenth Aeon. In order to understand this, we
can use the following example as a hypothesis:
A certain human being has become fed up with his journey of
tears and anguish through the multiplicity of experience, through
suffering and sorrow. He has discovered that all exertion in this
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Chapter 28
nature is in vain. He has discovered that all that is to come has al-
ready been in ages past. He has thoroughly and fully experienced
and determined the true nature of dialectics.
Now he suspects, rightfully, that all this surely cannot be the
purpose of human existence. He thinks there must be a fault at
the foundation of the universe he knows. He begins to devise a
plan. He forms a mental conception of the liberation from this ob-
vious nature of death. It is a plan that takes into account that in
order to fulfil the plan, there must be the preparedness to make
every possible sacrifice, including the sacrifice of one’s own self.
What does this person do? He makes an archon! This is not an
archon for maintaining nature but one for escaping nature, for
rising above nature.
Then he discovers that there are people who are just like him.
They also seek for the meaning of life. And so he invites them to
become participants in his plan of liberation. They enter into his
plan; they make his archon bigger.
It is inevitable that at a given moment all such archon-forma-
tions, wherever in the world they are developing, join together to
form one aeon. The Thirteenth Aeon bas been created, although
still of a very awkward and earthly nature.
What happens now? There is of course a physical interaction
between the new aeon and all the members of its fellowship. The
magnetic forces transmuted by the plan drive the participants to
culture, to actions, and hence to results.
But these results are not satisfactory yet. What is the reason for
this? The reason is that the transmuted electromagnetic forces
have been extracted from the ordinary dialectical field of nature
and cannot lead to results other than those that are characteristic
of the dialectical field of nature.
However the fellowship of the plan of liberation does not lose
courage but goes on. Without altering the basic tenets of its philo-
sophy, it makes certain corrections to its thinking, and from out of
its experience, it deepens its philosophy. Inevitably there will come
a time that the fellowship discovers that if it is to have any success,
196
the electromagnetic forces of the nature of death cannot be used as

the working hypothesis. Consequently while its members are
gazing up into the wide expanses of the universe, there arises in
the fellowship a mighty longing for a different basic life force.
The first desire for salvation has been born out of insight! And
from this first desire for salvation is born the first direct contact,
albeit very elementary, with the Gnosis, with the true Divine
Nature, which does not have its origin in the nature of death.
From this moment on the Thirteenth Aeon absorbs not only the
forces of ordinary nature but also the forces of original nature.
We could say: The Johannine aeon is born.
A remarkable change starts to occur in the bodies of those who
belong to the new fellowship. The magnetic systems of the auric
being, the head, and the heart begin to adapt to the new situation.
It is a situation in which certain paths are made straight, bodily,
structurally, and fundamentally.
The development continues, sometimes with fits and starts.
Obvious progress is being made. The fellowship is exhilarated
by a new joy. However, I-centrality is still playing tricks on the fel-
lowship. A great deal of affliction, experience, and reflection is
necessary before desire for salvation is followed by self-surrender,
by a new group unity from which the I is totally excluded.
The fellowship struggles on, and so the Thirteenth Aeon is at-
tuned ever more finely to the divine magnetic circle. It is begin-
ning to lose its earthly qualities to an ever greater extent. In confor-
mity with this culture, the Thirteenth Aeon exercises increasing
influence on all those who have been attracted by its sphere.
And so we can see clearly before us that at a certain moment
there is a Thirteenth Aeon, numerous archons, and a very large fel-
lowship of those who are in the world, but when it comes to the
point, are no longer of this world. Their electromagnetic quality
and nature have reached the stage in which there is hardly any-
thing earthly left.
We shall also see very clearly that when the moments of crisis
develop in ordinary nature, as discussed previously, and all the
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aeons and archons are deprived of a third of their power, the Thir-
teenth Aeon has nothing of which it can be deprived, because it
does not transmute any dialectical magnetic forces. It does not
violate ordinary nature in any way. And so it is left totally undis-
turbed, as are all those who belong to its sphere. And so, when in
the ordinary course of natural events, a culture starts its descend-
ing curve, the cultural path of those who belong to the Thirteenth
Aeon will continue upwards from power to power and from glory
to glory.
For the rest of humanity, the wheel turns downwards back to
the beginning, and when a new day of manifestation dawns and
humanity again struggles towards its cultural development, the
situation in the world manifestation has become slightly different.
For in the previous day of manifestation, there was a large group
belonging to the Thirteenth Aeon, a group of liberated ones, a
group of those redeemed from the earth. This group does not for-
sake humanity, for it does not aim at its own salvation. They have
already reached that! There is no self-maintenance there. This
group is directed to those who are still of and in the nature of
death. It sends to them messengers and prophets and enlightened
ones to call them. When those who are called turn, through their
experience, to the Johannine path, they need only link their fellow-
ship with the universal fellowship as a new link to a chain.
Thus the universal fellowship of the Thirteenth Aeon becomes
ever more radiant and glorious, ever more powerful and magnifi-
cent, and the ascent of the sanctified is made ever easier. This is
why the Pistis Sophia can say:
‘‘A nd if they invoke the mysteries of the magic of those who are in
the thirteenth aeon, they will accomplish them well and surely,
because I have not taken away power from that region. ...’’
May you comprehend the idea of this process of salvation as

highly reasonable and walk this joyful way with us.
198
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished saying these words,
that Mary continued again and said: ‘‘My Lord, will not then the
horoscope-casters and consulters from now on declare unto men
what will come to pass for them?’’
And Jesus answered and said unto Mary: ‘‘If the horoscope-casters
find the Fate and the sphere turned towards the left, according to
their first extension, their words will come to pass, and they will
say what is to take place. But if they chance on the Fate or the
sphere turned to the right, they are bound to say nothing true, for
I have changed their influences and their squares and their triangles
and their octagons; seeing that their influences from the beginning
onwards were continuously turned to the left and their squares and
their triangles and their octagons. But now I have made them
spend six months turned to the left and six months turned to
the right. He who then shall find their reckoning from the time
when I changed them, setting them so as to spend six months
facing towards their left and six months facing their right paths,
çhe who then shall observe them in this wise, will know their in-
fluences surely and will declare all things which they will do. In like
manner also the consulters, if they invoke the names of the rulers
and chance on them facing the left, will tell [men] with accuracy all
things concerning which they shall ask their decans. On the con-
trary, if the consulters invoke their names when they face to the
right, they will not give ear unto them, because they are facing in
another form compared with their former position in which Iao“
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had established them; seeing that other are their names when they
are turned to the left and other their names when they are turned to
the right. And if they invoke them when they are turned to the
right, they will not tell them the truth, but they will confound
them with confusion and threaten them with threatening. Those
then who do not know their path, when they are turned to the
right, and their triangles and their squares and all their figures,
will find nothing true, but will be confounded in great confusion
and will find themselves in great delusion, because I have now
changed the works which they effected aforetime in their squares,
when turned to the left, and in their triangles and in their
octagons, in which they were busied continuously turned to the
left; and I have made them spend six months forming all their con-
figurations turned to the right, in order that they may be con-
founded in confusion in their whole range. And moreover I have
made them spend six months turned to the left and accomplishing
the works of their influences and all their configurations, in order
that the rulers who are in the aeons and in their spheres and in
their heavens and in all their regions, may be confounded in confu-
sion and deluded in delusion, so that they may not understand
their own paths.’’
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The end of horoscopes
29
Humanity is the creator of the archons and aeons, and it also con-
tinuously maintains them. As a result the archons and aeons
achieve such monstrous proportions and increase in might to
such an extent that the ordinary natural dialectical electromag-
netic relationships in the universe are disturbed.
When this disturbance reaches a crisis point, the tensions are
broken at the point where the heat is the fiercest. We could say
that the magnetic network short-circuits at the most vital point,
the point where the human being is connected with his archons
and aeons. The magnetic system in the brain is torn loose, as it
were, from all the rest.
This place corresponds to the pineal fire-circle, which, as you
know, could be called the crown of the consciousness. As a result
the human being is immediately disconnected from the cultural
achievements that have been built up individually and collectively
and that have been vivified in and by the archons and aeons. Sys-
tematically a degenerative process will commence that will lead to
a nadir. This process is the most typical of all dialectical phenom-
ena: rising, shining, and fading.
You know that the Pistis Sophia outlines for us the beginning of
this breaking-up, and so we can understand the question that is
asked of Jesus in the twenty-first chapter:
‘‘My Lord, will not then the horoscope-casters and consulters from
now on declare unto men what will come to pass for them ?’’
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Chapter 29
Jesus’ answer is:
‘‘If the horoscope-casters find the Fate and the sphere turned
towards the left, according to their first extension, their words will
come to pass, and they will say what is to take place. But if they
chance on the Fate or the sphere turned to the right, they are
bound to say nothing true, for I have changed their influences and
their squares and their triangles and their octagons; seeing that
their influences from the beginning onwards were continuously
turned to the left and their squares and their triangles and their
octagons. But now I have made them spend six months turned to
the left and six months turned to the right.’’
Try to imagine the situation. In the normal dialectical state, the in-
tercosmic archons and aeons, which primarily emanate from the
twenty-four invisibles, are firstly connected to the cosmos, sec-
ondly to the auric being of the microcosm, and thirdly to the mag-
netic system in the brain.
But now the disconnection starts as soon as a person begins to
walk the liberating path and the archons and aeons are deprived of
a third of their power. Their influence is no longer compelling as
far as the personality is concerned. The pupil is disconnected, the
ties with his creations are broken, and consequently he has entered
a highly remarkable situation. As long as they retain any vitality,
the archontal influences are still circulating in the cosmos and in
the auric being, but they can no longer sweep him along, if this is
absolutely against his wishes. He has entered a state of neutrality. It
is no longer possible to forecast what will happen, and whatever
he decides is now entirely his own choice.
Obviously this has enormous advantages for every human
being, for this shows how great a possibility for salvation is situ-
ated in this revolution for the whole of mankind. The only ques-
tion remaining for everyone is: ‘Where will I turn my gaze: to the
left or the right?’
This state of neutrality will therefore create a certain amount of
202
freedom of action for every human being. For those who have al-
ready made the first steps on the path of liberation and who are
connected to the Thirteenth Aeon, this will mean that far less re-
sistance needs to be overcome, and so much faster progress can be
made on the path. For the seeker this will mean the possibility for
clearer insight and quicker and more positive contact with the
helpers. However, for those who are already unbalanced rationally,
morally, and socially, all normal restraints will have been removed,
and they will lapse into bestiality more dynamically and on a
greater scale than ever before. Hence in that time, of which our
time is just a foretaste, the shadows will be very deep; light and
dark will be contrasting very sharply.
As you perhaps know, the constellation of the magnetic system
in the brain can be photographed, as it were; it can be calculated.
The ordinary forces of nature and the influences of the aeons and
archons come to us by means of ordinary magnetic lines of force.
And so when we calculate the state of being of the brain-system,
we can actually determine the present relationships of the lines of
force and their angles of incidence. We can see and determine the
squares, the triangles, the octagons, and other aspects, and from
these we can draw our conclusions. As stargazer and soothsayer
we can more or less read into the future.
However, when the connection between the magnetic system
in the brain and the rest is broken, the ordinary horoscope be-
comes negative. It is no longer determinable. Should we come
across someone who is facing left, this means that without com-
pulsion he is co-operating with the ordinary influences, and
everything can be foreseen at the phase where co-operation
occurs. However if this person is facing right, i.e. to the liberating
life, this is the end of every type of compulsive or impelling horo-
scopic influence.
However there is still another possibility, which makes the sit-
uation somewhat more complicated. When the magnetic system
in the brain is disconnected from the archons and aeons, this does
not mean that this magnetic system has disappeared. On the con-
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trary it still exists and must do so, because its disappearance or its
withering away would cause physical death. However it exists
only in so far as is strictly necessary for the ordinary requirements
of life. On this basis weak suggestions can still enter of course, and
we can react to the left or the right, or reject them, as said pre-
viously.
We need to take note of the presence of another activity. The
changes in the brain to which we referred, i.e. the changes in the
pineal fire-circle, cause a structural change in the magnetic
system in the brain. This change or reversal, however, is not static
but alters periodically. We could compare it to the periodic switch-
ing on and off of a light.
By this we mean that in this new situation of the pineal fire-
circle, there is a period of susceptibility to archontal influences in
the ordinary way as before, albeit negatively. During this time the
person concerned will have complete autonomy. There will also be
a period of complete reversal of the magnetic system in which as-
cendant becomes descendant and bottom becomes top. This is
why the Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘He who then shall find their reckoning from the time when I
changed them, setting them so as to spend six months facing
towards their left and six months facing their right paths, ç he
who then shall observe them in this wise, will know their influ-
ences surely and will declare all things which they will do.’’
You will understand that these reversals in the brain must be

caused by extremely strange periodic magnetic events in the
cosmos and the macrocosm. This in turn will be the cause of
even stranger events, which will, more than anything else, speak
a very clear language to public opinion. To understand this we
draw your attention to the following:
‘‘In like manner also the consulters, if they invoke the names of the
rulers and chance on them facing the left, will tell [men] with
204
accuracy all things concerning which they shall ask their decans.
On the contrary, if the consulters invoke their names when they
face to the right, they will not give ear unto them, because they are
facing in another form compared with their former position in
which Iao“ had established them; seeing that other are their names
when they are turned to the left and other their names when they
are turned to the right. And if they invoke them when they are
turned to the right, they will not tell them the truth, but will
confound them with confusion and threaten them with threatening
... And moreover I have made them spend six months turned to the
left ..., in order that the rulers who are in the aeons and in their
spheres and in their heavens and in all their regions, may be con-
founded in confusion and deluded in delusion, so that they may
not understand their own paths.’’
But the group connected to the Thirteenth Aeon will continue its
peaceful way, and their numbers will grow rapidly, because many
seekers, freed from their resistances, will find the one path and
close ranks with God’s people on earth.
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Chapter 29
It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished saying these words,
while Philip sat and wrote all the words that Jesus spake,çthereafter
then it came to pass that Philip came forward, fell down and adored
the feet of Jesus, saying ‘‘My Lord and Saviour, grant me authority
to discourse before thee and to question thee on this word, before
thou discoursest with us concerning the regions whither thou didst
go because of thy ministry.’’
And the compassionate Saviour answered and said unto Philip:

‘‘Authority is given thee to bring forward the word which thou
willest.’’
And Philip answered and said unto Jesus: ‘‘My Lord, on account of
what mystery hast thou changed the binding of the rulers and their
aeons and their Fate and their sphere and all their regions, and made
them confounded in confusion on their path and deluded in their
course? Hast thou then done this unto them for the salvation of the
world or hast thou not?’’
And Jesus answered and said unto Philip and to all the disciples
together: ‘‘I have changed their path for the salvation of all souls.
Amen, amen, I say unto you: If I had not changed their path, a
host of souls would have been destroyed, and they would have
spent a long time, if the rulers of the aeons and the rulers of the
Fate and of the sphere and of all their regions and all their heavens
and all their aeons had not been brought to naught; and the souls
206
would have continued a long time here outside, and the completion
of the number of perfect souls would have been delayed, which
[souls] shall be counted in the Inheritance of the Height through
the mysteries and shall be in the Treasury of the Light. For this
cause then I have changed their path, that they might be deluded
and fall into agitation and yield up the power which is in the
matter of their world and which they fashion into souls, in order
that those who shall be saved, might be quickly purified and
raised on high, they and the whole power, and that those who
shall not be saved, might be quickly destroyed.’’
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30
Ensoulment for death ç ensoulment for life
Beginning with the twenty-second chapter, the Pistis Sophia

gives students of the Universal Teachings a highly important
and interesting explanation about the true nature of dialectics.
Although its aspects are abundantly dealt with in the literature
of the School of the Golden Rosycross, the explanation of the
Pistis Sophia about this subject is so instructive that we have no
intention of leaving out this section in our discussion. In addi-
tion our attention is drawn to many characteristics of dialectics
that fully deserve clear illumination. One of the disciples asks in
chapter 22:
‘‘My Lord, on account of what mystery hast thou changed the

binding of the rulers and their aeons and their Fate and their
sphere and all their regions, and made them confounded in confu-
sion on their path and deluded them in their course? Hast thou then
done this unto them for the salvation of the world or hast thou
not?’’
And the answer is (chapter 23):
‘‘I have changed their path for the salvation of all souls. Amen,
amen, I say unto you: If I had not changed their path, a host of
souls would have been destroyed, and they would have spent a
long time, if the rulers of the aeons and the rulers of the Fate and
of the sphere and of all their regions and all their heavens and all
their aeons had not been brought to naught; and the souls would
208
have continued a long time here outside, and the completion of the
number of perfect souls would have been delayed, which [souls]
shall be counted in the Inheritance of the Height through the mys-
teries and shall be in the Treasury of the Light. For this cause then I
have changed their path, that they might be deluded and fall into
agitation and yield up the power which is in the matter of their
world and which they fashion into souls, in order that those who
shall be saved, might be quickly purified and raised on high, they
and the whole power, and that those who shall not be saved, might
be quickly destroyed.’’
You know that the magnetic fields of the archons and their aeons
are formed by the thoughts of mankind and that once they are
charged up by the fulness of radiations, they will compel human-
ity to lead a certain mode of life. At a given moment they will
come into fundamental conflict with the intercosmic electromag-
netic radiations of the dialectical order.
This conflict causes a disturbance of the archons and the aeons.
Their paths are reversed, and humanity is wrested from their grip.
Numerous events occur, which during the past years we have con-
sidered under the expression ‘the cosmic and atmospheric revolu-
tion.’
Highly interesting and instructive problems come to the fore
when we view the development of these phenomena in the order
of the nature of death. For example we discover that the nature of
death is in essence dialectical and therefore encloses within itself a
circular course of all aspects of life, but that humanity, by virtue of
its origin, instinctively and fundamentally puts up resistance
against this course of events and tries to nullify dialectics by
means of culture and to convert it into eternity.
As we know, the archons and aeons are the cultural and the
mental creations of humanity. These creations are therefore imme-
diately in conflict with the inherent magnetic fields of dialectics
and totally different from them.
We should take careful note of the fact that the great majority
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Chapter 30
of human aeons are active in trying to bring eternity into time. A

definite stop is put to all such striving.
We must realize why this is so. If we do realize this and choose
this realization as the foundation of all our thinking and striving,
we immediately face life in a totally different way than other
people. To possess or not to possess this insight is what makes
the great and radical difference between transfigurism and all
other religious and magnetic systems.
Dialectical nature is a time-spatial order. This order contains
and encompasses the microcosm, the cosmos, and the macrocosm.
Everything in this order is fundamentally time-spatial, i.e. every-
thing has a beginning and an end. Any eternal development, any
‘infinite existence’ is totally out of the question in this time-spatial
order. The Pistis Sophia says that Iao“, the Good, has instituted this
and keeps it so.
Why? The answer is obvious: ‘This is not a punishment but a
glorious blessing.’
Part of humanity is existentially submerged in a macrocosm, in
a time-spatial order, that is not its home by virtue of humanity’s
true nature. If this part of humanity were able to convert its state
into a timeless one, this would be an intense punishment, a hell,
instead of a blessing. This is why Iao“, the Good, i.e. the natural
law of the All-manifestation, prevents such striving from ever
being successful.
It is easy to understand the cultural strivings of humanity, ex-
tending into the reflection sphere and to all the realms of the solar
system, the zodiac, and the galaxies. Every mortal who has fallen
into ignorance and has forgotten his origin tries to preserve him-
self and to overcome death.
But despite everything, this mortal human being is loved and
given help, and so this striving is broken up and reversed at a cer-
tain time. This time-spatial order has onlyone purpose: keeping its
temporary occupants time-spatial, so that ultimately they may
regain the realization of their origin and return to their true
Home in Timeless Eternity. And so we will readily understand
210
the Pistis Sophia saying in regard to the aeons: ‘‘I have changed their
path for the salvation of all souls.’’
Just imagine that the cultural striving of the aeons would con-
tinue indefinitely, no matter how good and noble the intentions
may be. It would mean the doom of the time-spatial order.
What would this doom be like? It would mean a continuously
greater petrifaction and a continuously increasing crystallization
of all living phenomena. The manifested fallen human entities
would destroy absolutely their own possibilities of manifestation.
The celestial bodies would be extinguished, the suns would
become dark, and only a partial life would be possible temporarily
in the reflection sphere. But at the extinguishing of the last glim-
mer of fire in the solar systems, the microcosms of humanity
would no longer be able to maintain themselves in the reflection
sphere, and would sink down into an order situated below the
time-spatial one.
It is a natural law of our order that as soon as we try to make
anything lasting in this order, crystallization and petrifaction will
result. For this reason the mineral kingdom as we know it is not the
beginning of life but a symptom of the end of life.
We can imagine what an unimaginably long period of time
would be wasted and what a multitude of souls would be lost, if
such a disaster of continued culture were to occur. What a delay
would occur in the process of salvation of the Universal Brother-
hood!
For is not every fallen entity a prodigal son who is called back ?
Is not everyone an heir to the True Life? And is not everyone who
has fallen, but possesses the Kingdom within, an inhabitant of the
Treasury of the Light?
Therefore it is glorious, it is more than blissful that the paths of
the aeons are changed when the time comes! This reversal does
not achieve the return but restores the free possibility of the
return. It returns the lustre to the well-known words from the pro-
logue of the Gospel of John: ‘But to all who received him, ... he
gave power to become children of God.’
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He gives power. What power is that? It is the power mentioned

in the part of the Pistis Sophia quoted below:
‘‘For this cause then I have changed their path, that they might be
deluded and fall into agitation and yield up the power which is in
the matter of their world and which they fashion into souls. ...’’
This is a remarkable fragment. It means to say that every fallen

entity has a ‘power,’ a great magic faculty, a power of self-autono-
my, a power of self-actualisation, a magic faculty that you can find
in every phenomenon of life in the nature of death, a magic faculty
that is granted to every fallen entity to give it the opportunity to
return in purity to transfiguration.
Most people, however, no longer possess this magic faculty
unconditionally and freely, because they have used it to create
and maintain their archons and aeons. Once these magnetic
fields have become active, they extract and draw out this faculty
from man.
Humanity’s magic power concentrated in these fields vivifies
the culture of the aeons and all their striving. All possible means
are utilized in the religious and occult areas in order to bring about
and maintain this plunder of magic power.
Perhaps now we can understand the process of sanctification,
the process of the return, and the power on which this return is
based. As a normal human being of nature, we no longer have
any free disposal over magic power. We are deprived of this
power because of our cultural inventions. The Gospel of John
says in fact: All who accept him he gives back the power to
become children of God again.
Whoever wants to go the path and makes a final decision will
be wrested from the aeons’ magnetic grip on the brain. As a result
Samson is given back his power in the sanctuary of the heart. Thus
the candidate is saved so that he may go upwards quickly, purified
and with all his power.
Perhaps you would like to know how the Gnosis gives back
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your power after you have been freed from the grip of the aeons.
To comprehend this we once again draw your attention to the

nature of the Thirteenth Aeon.
Whoever has a share in building the Thirteenth Aeon and has
dedicated himself with his entire being in desire for salvation and
self-surrender to the Brotherhood of the Treasury of the Light has,
as is self-evident, entrusted his magic potential, his magic faculty,
to the Thirteenth Aeon. This aeon does not use this power to try
to convert the time-spatial into the timeless, into the everlasting,
by means of culture, but uses it to draw you up into the new field
of life, to draw you up swiftly in a purified state with and by means
of your power.
You possess this power. It is an inalienable possession. The
magic interaction, the magic relationship that you have with the
ordinary nature aeons is carried on with this power, and with
your power they fashion your soul for death! If you use this same
power to enter into relationship with the Thirteenth Aeon, then
with your power your soul is fashioned for life. The fashioning of
souls for death has completely degenerated and denatured your
microcosm. The fashioning of your soul for life will completely
transfigure your microcosm again. This is the great secret of lib-
eration.
It is a case of two magic laws of which only one can be active at
a time. What do you, as a microcosm, do with your power? If you
entrust your power to the Gnosis, the law of liberation will
become active on your behalf. There is no question of depending
on a possible arbitrary choice on the part of the Brotherhood, but
you will be totally and absolutely capable of self-actualisation.
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It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished saying these words
unto his disciples, that Mary, the fair in her discourse and the
blessed one, came forward, fell at the feet of Jesus and said: ‘‘My
Lord, suffer me that I speak before thee, and be not wroth with me,
if oft I give thee trouble questioning thee.’’
The Saviour, full of compassion, answered and said unto Mary:

‘‘Speak the word which thou willest, and I will reveal it to thee in
all openness.’’
Mary answered and said unto Jesus: ‘‘My Lord, in what way will
the souls have delayed themselves here outside, and in what type
will they be quickly purified ?’’
And Jesus answered and said unto Mary: ‘‘Well said, Mary; thou
questionest finely with thy excellent question, and thou throwest
light on all things with surety and precision. Now, therefore, from
now on will I hide nothing from you, but I will reveal unto you all
things with surety and openness. Hearken then, Mary, and give ear,
all ye disciples: Before I made proclamation to all the rulers of the
aeons and to all the rulers of the Fate and of the sphere, they were all
bound in their bonds and in their spheres and in their seals, as Iao“ ,
the Overseer of the Light, had bound them from the beginning; and
every one of them remained in his order, and every one journeyed
according to his course, as Iao“, the Overseer of the Light, had estab-
lished them. And when the time of the number of Melchisedec, the
214
great Receiver of the Light, came, he was wont to come into the
midst of the aeons and of all the rulers who are bound in the
sphere and in the Fate, and he carried away the purification of the
light from all the rulers of the aeons and from all the rulers of the
Fate and from those of the sphereçfor he carried away then that
which brings them into agitation ç and he set in motion the
hastener who is over them, and made them turn their circles
swiftly, and he [sc. the hastener] carried away their power which
was in them and the breath of their mouth and the tears [lit. waters]
of their eyes and the sweat of their bodies.
‘‘A nd Melchisedec, the Receiver of the Light, purifieth those powers

and carrieth their light into the Treasury of the Light, while the ser-
vitors of all the rulers gather together all matter from them all; and
the servitors of all the rulers of the Fate and the servitors of the
sphere which is below the aeons, take it and fashion it into souls of
men and cattle and reptiles and wild-beasts and birds, and send
them down into the world of mankind. And further the receivers
of the sun and the receivers of the moon, if they look above and
see the configurations of the paths of the aeons and the configura-
tions of the Fate and those of the sphere, then they take from them
the light-power; and the receivers of the sun get it ready and deposit
it, until they hand it over to the receivers of Melchisedec, the Light-
purifier. And their material refuse they bring to the sphere which is
below the aeons, and fashion it into [souls of] men, and fashion it
also into souls of reptiles and of cattle and of wild-beasts and of
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birds, according to the circle of the rulers of that sphere and accord-
ing to all the configurations of its revolution, and they cast them
into this world of mankind, and they become souls in this region,
as I have just said unto you.
‘‘This then they accomplished continuously before their power was

diminished in them and they waned and became exhausted, or
powerless. It came to pass then, when they became powerless, that
their power began to cease in them, so that they became exhausted
in their power, and their light, which was in their region, ceased and
their kingdom was destroyed, and the universe became quickly
raised up.
‘‘It came to pass then, when they had perceived this at the time, and
when the number of the cipher of Melchisedec, the Receiver [of the
Light], happened, then had he to come out again and enter into the
midst of the rulers of all the aeons and into the midst of all the rulers
of the Fate and of those of the sphere; and he threw them into agita-
tion, and made them quickly abandon their circles. And forthwith
they were constrained, and cast forth the power out of themselves,
out of the breath of their mouth and the tears of their eyes and the
sweat of their bodies.
‘‘A nd Melchisedec, the Receiver of the Light, purifieth them, as he

doth continually; he carrieth their light into the Treasury of the
Light. And all the rulers of the aeons and the rulers of the Fate and
216
those of the sphere turn to the matter of their refuse; they devour it
and do not let it go and become souls in the world. They devour
then their matter, so that they may not become powerless and ex-
hausted and their power cease in them and their kingdom become
destroyed, but in order that they may delay and linger a long time
until the completion of the number of the perfect souls who shall be
in the Treasury of the Light.
‘‘It came to pass then, when the rulers of the aeons and those of the
Fate and those of the sphere continued to carry out this type, ç
turning on themselves, devouring the refuse of their matter, and
not allowing souls to be born into the world of mankind, in order
that they might delay in being rulers, and that the powers which are
in their powers, that is the souls, might spend a long time here
outside,çthey then persisted doing this continually for two circles.
‘‘It came to pass then, when I wished to ascend for the ministry for
the sake of which I was called by command of the First Mystery, that
I came up into the midst of the tyrants of the rulers of the twelve
aeons, with my light-vesture about me, shining most exceedingly,
and there was no measure for the light which was about me.
‘‘It came to pass then, when those tyrants saw the great light which
was about me, that the great Adamas, the Tyrant, and all the tyrants
of the twelve aeons, all together began to fight against the light of
my vesture, desiring to hold it fast among them, in order to delay in
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their rulership. This then they did, not knowing against whom they
fought.
‘‘When then they mutinied and fought against the light, thereon by
command of the First Mystery I changed the paths and the courses
of their aeons and the paths of their Fate and of their sphere. I made
them face six months towards the triangles on the left and towards
the squares and towards those in their aspect and towards their
octagons, just as they had formerly been. But their manner of
turning, or facing, I changed. to another order, and made them
other six months face towards the works of their influences in the
squares on the right and in their triangles and in those in their
aspect and in their octagons. And I made them to be confounded
in great confusion and deluded in great delusion ç the rulers of
the aeons and all the rulers of the Fate and those of the sphere; and
I set them in great agitation, and thence on they were no longer able
to turn towards the refuse of their matter to devour it, in order that
their regions may continue to delay and they [themselves] may
spend a long time as rulers.
‘‘But when I had taken away a third of their power, I changed their
spheres, so that they spend a time facing to the left and another time
facing to the right. I have changed their whole path and their whole
course, and I have made the path of their course to hurry, so that
they may be quickly purified and raised up quickly. And I have
shortened their circles, and made their path more speedy, and it
218
will be exceedingly hurried. And they were thrown into confusion

in their path, and from then on were no more able to devour the
matter of the refuse of the purification of their light. And
moreover I have shortened their times and their periods, so that
the perfect number of souls who shall receive the mysteries and be
in the Treasury of the Light, shall be quickly completed. For had I
not changed their courses, and had I not shortened their periods,
they would not have let any soul come into the world, because of
the matter of their refuse I which they devoured, and they would
have destroyed many souls. For this cause I said unto you aforetime:
‘I have shortened the times because of my elect; otherwise no soul
would have been able to be saved.’And I have shortened the times
and the periods because of the perfect number of the souls who
shall receive the mysteries, that is to say, the ‘ elect ’; and had I not
shortened their periods, no material soul would have been saved,
but they would have perished in the fire which is in the flesh of the
rulers. This then is the word on which thou dost question me with
precision.’’
‘‘It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished speaking these
words unto his disciples, that they fell down all together, adored
him and said to him: ‘‘Blessed are we before all men, for unto us
thou hast revealed these great exploits.’’
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And Jesus continued again in his discourse and said unto his disci-
ples: ‘‘Hearken concerning the things which befell me among the
rulers of the twelve aeons and all their rulers and their lords and
their authorities and their angels and their archangels. When then
they had seen the vesture of light which was about me, they and
their unpaired, then every one of them saw the mystery of his
name, that it was on my vesture of light, which was about me.
They fell down all together, adored the vesture of light which was
about me, and cried out all together, saying: ‘How hath the lord of
the universe passed through us without our knowing it?’And they
all sang praises together to the interiors of the interiors. And all
their triple-powers and their great forefathers and their ungener-
ated and their self-generated and their generated and their gods
and their light-sparks and their light-bearers ç in one word all
their great onesçsaw the tyrants of their region, that their power
was diminished in them. And they were in weakness and them-
selves fell into great and immeasurable fear. And they gazed on
the mystery of their name on my vesture, and they had set out to
come and adore the mystery of their name which was on my
vesture, and they could not because of the great light which was
about me; but they adored a little removed from me, and they
adored the light of my vesture and all cried out together, singing
praises to the interiors of the interiors.
220
‘‘It came to pass then, when this befell among the tyrants who are
below these rulers, that they all lost power and fell down to the
ground in their aeons and became as the dead world-dwellers
with no breath in them, as they became in the hour when I took
from them their power.
‘‘It came to pass then thereafter, when I left those aeons, that every
one of all those who were in the twelve aeons, was bound to their
order all together, and they accomplished their works as I have es-
tablished them, so that they spend six months turned to the left and
accomplishing their works in their squares and their triangles and
in those which are in their aspect, and that further they spend
another six months facing to the right and towards their triangles
and their squares and those which are in their aspect. Thus then will
those who are in the Fate and in the sphere travel.’’
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31
A new sun and a new moon
The microcosm needs a soul, because a microcosm without a soul

is a living-dead organism. A soul-less microcosm is like a plan that
has not been carried out.
The microcosm that is familiar to us, and to which the human
soul-state belongs, does not contain an immortal soul-state be-
cause the original soul-life principle belonging to the microcosmic
organism cannot be vivified. This soul-life principle continually
exists in a living-dead state. It is like a rosebud that stays hidden
under its covering petals. There is as yet no life-giving sun that
can make it develop. The life-giving sun is present, but for the rose-
bud it is hidden in darkness. The light shines in the darkness, but
the darkness cannot see it.
The cause of this is a total disorganisation of the microcosm. It
has become crystallized. It is like a nearly extinguished fire, and
accordingly the original soul has died and disappeared. Only a ru-
diment has remained, like a seed, but this seed cannot be put in
fertile soil to be able to germinate.
In accordance with this situation, a provisional measure has
been instituted in the nature of death, namely the manifestation
of a mortal soul-state. This manifestation does not in the least re-
semble the original one, because it arises completely from the ma-
terials of the nature of death. It also exists and is maintained in a
quite different way than the original one, but this is nevertheless a
wonderful mercy and a help to all fallen and disorganised micro-
cosms.
We are referring to the earthly birth process of living souls. In
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this way the microcosm is given a kind of ensoulment, albeit a

mortal one, far removed from the original ensoulment.
The Pistis Sophia says that the mortal soul-state arises from the
cosmic sphere of the aeons. You could visualize the cosmic sphere
as a great and mighty sphere enclosing all life and movement
known to us.
This sphere is divided into twelve aspects, twelve spheres of
power, twelve rays. These twelve aeonic rays or waves are ab-
sorbed by the magnetic system of the auric being, which in turn
projects them into the magnetic system in the brain. When this
magnetic system has absorbed these influences, they are then ab-
sorbed by the system of the endocrine glands. This system is
threefold: One part is organically linked to the serpent-fire, one
part to the nervous system, and one part to the blood system.
You can now easily imagine how the aeonic electromagnetic
rays are concentrated in the entire human system and how all hor-
mones arise from aeonic rays.
These hormones and their forces also build human seed.
Human seed is the basic principle of provisional life. It has to be
distinguished clearly from the seed grain of Christ: the rose of
the heart. Human seed contains aeonic soul-power that is attuned
and conforms to the state of being of the microcosm concerned
and its karmic burden. When male seed unites with the female,
this is the union of a positively charged principle with a negatively
charged one, resulting in a fiery process. The fiery principle thus
generated develops from out of the serpent-fire, the nervous
system, and the blood into a living soul.
A microcosm that has lost its ensoulment and harmonises the
most with this product receives and embraces it, and so a mortal
soul is born some time later. As you will understand, this process
is prone to many complications, which do indeed occur frequently.
When the mortal soul has reached maturity and has been com-
pletely absorbed in the complicated convolutions of the nature of
death, when it has experienced suffering and sorrow, and when it
has tasted all the vicissitudes of dialectical life, impulses are given
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Chapter 31
to it by means of the original principle of life, the rose of the heart.

These impulses do not come from the ordinary aeonic macrocos-
mic sphere but from the nature of life, which also sends out its ra-
diations. If you think about the words, ‘The light shines in the
darkness,’ you will understand this. You should see the rose as a
sensitive point able to reflect the rays of the Gnosis to some extent.
When the mortal soul begins to react, it hears, ‘O soul, cease
your futile attempts to maintain yourself in the nature of death
and turn to the one and only task for which you were created,
namely to vivify and liberate the immortal soul to ensoul your mi-
crocosm. Begin with this Johannine work ! Become the harbinger
of the saviour of your microcosmic, sinful little world. If you, soul,
will undertake this work, then your consciousness will merge and
be absorbed into the new, immortal consciousness. Then for you
also, if you understand this, there will be no more death.’
Whoever begins to undertake this great work of liberation, this
work of rebirth, will immediately be linked to the macrocosmic
sphere of the nature of life, while still also linked to the aeonic
sphere. This is, of course, a highly undesirable situation. This is
why the Pistis Sophia says in Chapter 25 that Melchizedek ç the
Paralemptor, the great Receiver of the Light*çwill separate from
dialectical nature all who are occupied with the great process of
purification and hand them over to the great Treasury of the Light:
‘‘...he [Melchisedec] carried away the purification of the light from

all the rulers of the aeons and from all the rulers of the Fate and
from those of the sphere ç for he carried away then that which
brings them into agitation ç and he set in motion the hastener
who is over them, and made them turn their circles swiftly, and he
[sc. the hastener] carried away their power which was in them and
the breath of their mouth and the tears of their eyes [lit. waters] and
the sweat of their bodies.’’
* See the footnote at the beginning of chapter 12.
224
It is clear that alongside the ordinary dialectical process of preser-

vation, there is a process of liberation, in and above the nature of
death and that has nothing to do with the nature of death. This
nature continues gathering its materials for the vivification of
mortal souls. And when a mortal soul begins to listen to the
Voice of the Liberators, it is lifted out.
The Pistis Sophia continues in Chapter 25:
‘‘A nd further the receivers of the sun and the receivers of the moon,
if they look above and see the configurations of the paths of the
aeons and the configurations of the Fate and those of the sphere,
then they take from them the light-power; and the receivers of the
sun get it ready and deposit it, until they hand it over to the receivers
of Melchisedek, the Light-purifier. And their material refuse they
bring to the sphere which is below the aeons, and fashion it into the
[souls of] men ... according to the circle of the rulers of that sphere. ...’’
You may have discovered, and science has explained, that the sun
and the moon are great, intense purifiers and vivifiers in the ordi-
nary field of nature. The sun is the great principle of life in our
field of nature. In many senses we would not be able to live and
our microcosms would not be able to maintain themselves, if
there were no solar power.
You know that the School of the Golden Rosycross often
speaks about electromagnetic radiations. The radiations that are
more electric by nature come from the sun, and they support and
vivify the rest of the general magnetic radiations. The electric
solar power radiations make the other radiations of the aeons
palpable and active, and in this process the moon is in a certain
sense a precision instrument.
The sun is the more fundamental force, and the moon is the
regulating force, which gives the final result. There is not a single
zodiacal or galactic influence that must not first be vivified by the
moon to be able to be positively active. This dual activity of the
sun and the moon, as the vivifier and manifester, explains why in
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Chapter 31
antiquity the sun was seen as male and the moon as female and
why there was a sun god and a moon goddess.
As it is in the nature of death, so it is in the nature of life. As
there are a sun and a moon in the nature of death totally active in
all the processes of nature, so there are a sun and a moon in the
nature of life, acting as two foci. Many holy scriptures, myths,
and legends mention a sun behind the sun (Vulcanus) and a
moon behind the moon. They speak of an invisible sun and
moon, active in an unknown universe invisible to dialectical eyes.
As there is a Universal Brotherhood in the nature of death, a
Brotherhood that cannot be explained from the nature of death, a
Brotherhood that works to liberate fallen microcosms, so there is
necessarily a sun behind the sun and a moon behind the moon at
the service of this Brotherhood. And so there are active in our
solar system a field of solar power and one of lunar power,
which cannot be associated with the sun and moon known to us
and of which the positions, phases, and activities cannot be calcu-
lated in the ordinary way. It is to these force fields that the Pistis
Sophia is referring. As soon as the pupil begins the great and glor-
ious work of rebirth, according to the methods and principles of
the fivefold universal Gnosis, he comes into contact with the invi-
sible field of solar power and that of lunar power. This sun be-
comes a vivifier to him, and this moon brings the new life gradu-
ally to manifestation.
When this sun rises for the candidate on the path, it will never
set. And when this moon shines for him, he will be led through all
resistances and limitations, because of the manifesting activities of
this force.
In the nature of death, the human being is under the control of
the sun and moon of this nature; this is a scientific fact. When the
process of cornerstone freemasonry causes a new light-force to
become manifest in the microcosm, the Paralemptors, the receivers
of the sun and the moon of the mysteries, will attract this micro-
cosm into their system. The light-force will then be taken away
from the nature of death and transferred to the guardians of Mel-
226
chizedek. Thousands and thousands of years ago, these guardians

were already called the Brothers of the Sun, and the Sons of
Wisdom and of the Fiery Mist.
The eternal day has dawned for those for whom this new sun
rises. They no longer need the sun and moon of dialectical nature,
for eternity has revealed itself to them in time.
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‘‘It came to pass then thereafter that I ascended to the veils of the
thirteenth aeon. It came to pass then, when I had arrived at their
veils, that they drew apart of their own accord and opened them-
selves for me. I entered in into the thirteenth aeon and found Pistis
Sophia below the thirteenth aeon all alone and no one of them with
her. And she sat in that region grieving and mourning, because she
had not been admitted into the thirteenth aeon, her higher region.
And she was moreover grieving because of the torments which
Self-willed, who is one of the three triple-powers, had inflicted on
her. But this,çwhen I shall come to speak with you respecting their
expansion, I will tell you the mystery, how this befell her.
‘‘It came to pass then, when Pistis Sophia saw me shining most ex-
ceedingly and with no measure for the light which was about me,
that she was in great agitation and gazed at the light of my vesture.
She saw the mystery of her name on my vesture and the whole
glory of its mystery, for formerly she was in the region of the
height, in the thirteenth aeon,çbut she was wont to sing praises
to the higher light, which she had seen in the veil of the Treasury
of the Light.
228
‘‘It came to pass then, when she persisted in singing praises to the
higher light, that all the rulers who are with the two great triple-
powers, and her invisible who is paired with her, and the other
two-and-twenty invisible emanations gazed [at the light],çin as
much as Pistis Sophia and her pair, they and the other two-and-
twenty emanations make up four-and-twenty emanations, which
the great invisible Forefather and the two great triple-powers have
emanated.’’
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Chapter 32
32
The sadness of Pistis Sophia
In chapter 29 of the Pistis Sophia the story of Pistis Sophia herself

begins. Pistis Sophia indicates the soul that thirsts for wisdom and
liberation and that has discovered that the nature of death cannot
possibly be the divine nature. It is the soul that has experienced
that dialectics is an illusion without end and that rejects our
nature-order with its twelve aeons. At the beginning of chapter
29, we find this pilgrim in a state of great sadness, behind the
veils of the Thirteenth Aeon.
An aeon is a wondrous creation of cosmic proportions, created
by mortal souls. Let us return to this briefly. Twelve great astral
magnetic currents control the macrocosm. Each of these currents
influences and controls a part of every microcosm and the mortal
soul present in it. These twelve magnetic currents guide the pro-
cesses of birth, life, and death, plus the subsequent processes of
dissolution and construction of every mortal soul.
In addition these twelve magnetic currents are responsible for
the creation of three triple forces in the mortal soul, namely the
will, the mind, and the desires.
These three forces together determine the consciousnessçthe
I. They each have three faculties: the ability to attract, to repel, and
to neutralise. The cooperation of these three abilities makes possi-
ble a countless number of soul-activities, and the actions that arise
from them cause the state of life of the individual human being in
his ascents and descents through life. With these three faculties the
mortal soul can perform tremendous creative acts, such as the
creation of mental images.
230
In the soul’s great struggle to live, to stay alive, and to survive

the struggle for existence, in that breathtaking defence against im-
measurable threats and seized by a thousand and one fears, the
soul populates its biosphere with numerous mental images of all
kinds.
All these innumerable mental images of all these innumerable
human souls can he divided ultimately into twelve classes or
groups. Some aspect in each of these mental fabrications corre-
sponds primarily to one of the twelve great astral currents. Hence
you can imagine that the general laws of vibration cause all
human mental images to collect together to form twelve extremely
powerful forces, created and maintained by humanity. They are fed
on the one hand by the twelve macrocosmic currents and on the
other by the uninterrupted flow of human mental activity.
This exchange between the twelve astral forces and mortal
souls causes the formation of twelve anomalies, twelve gigantic
monstrosities. These have been formed according to natural laws,
and they increasingly pollute and delude the dialectical universe.
These twelve monstrosities, with all their effects and side effects,
eventually begin to rule the entire dialectical system and cause it
to deviate from its course. For this reason a great cleansing is re-
peatedly necessary, followed by a new day of manifestation. The
microcosms keep having to be freed from the grip of the twelve
monstrosities, which the microcosms themselves have formed. If
such a cleansing did not take place, the salvation of the micro-
cosms would stagnate permanently and the whole macrocosm
would congeal, as is rightly stated in Dante’s Inferno.
In the Pistis Sophia, the twelve monstrosities are called the
‘twelve aeons,’ and the archons of the aeons draw attention to the
many activities that emanate from them. All worship of gods and
the whole range of religious and occult activities are connected
with this. If you have participated or are still participating in this,
then your god too is connected with this and you also are bound,
with all the corresponding consequences and pains!
The Thirteenth Aeon is the result of the absolute ‘no’ that the
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seeking and struggling soul says to this world. When the experi-
ence of life has broken you up, when you have beaten your head
against a brick wall, and when you have been ground down by
the incessant turning of the cycle of life, then your will, mind,
and desires will send out magnetic impulses, and so you and
others like you will create a neutral cosmic field that is not of this
world, but nor is it of a new world. This field could be compared to
a gate through which light is streaming and from which a powerful
magnetic attraction is issuing. Behind this gate is the nature of life.
If you approach this gate, and the veils are pulled aside so you
can see the light and experience the magnetic attraction, you are
like Pistis Sophia at this stage:
‘‘A nd she sat in that region grieving and mourning, because she
had not been admitted into the thirteenth aeon, her higher region.’’
She could not yet enter because of the suffering that Authades,*
one of the three triple-powers, had caused her. The cause of her
suffering and her stagnation was within herself.
Authades is the human will, the threefold will of the mortal
soul. The will is the magical instrument of the soul, and hence
the results, the consequences of the will, are always extremely
binding. A person can desire things and think about them, but as
soon as he uses his will to get them, his desires and thoughts
become concrete physical phenomena that bind him to the world
in which they are created.
Pistis Sophia, who has continued her pilgrimage up to the
gates of the Thirteenth Aeon, experiences the binding force
caused by Authades. For the three triple-powers are fed, by virtue
of their birth, continuously by the magnetic systems of the auric
being and the brain. Hence Pistis Sophia is sitting, grieving, and
mourning by the gates of the Thirteenth Aeon, and no one is
with her.
* Literally: the self-willed
232
But she is wrong. At a certain moment she sees the light-vesture

of the hierophantic Brotherhood approaching her. The whole po-
tential of liberating forces is coming to her. She gets up from her
sad state and becomes agitated, for now that the Brotherhood is
touching her in her magnetic brain system, she sees from within
that although her development is blocked, she does belong to the
Thirteenth Aeon.
She sees the mystery of her name and the whole glory of the
name, for by virtue of the Other One in her, she once belonged to
the Rose Garden. And by virtue of her being a pilgrim, she was
wont to sing praises to the whole glory of that original light and
to express her gratitude. And now that the blessing of the primary
magnetic link is being poured out over her, she continues her
songs of praise and is full of joy and ecstasy. Electromagnetically
she is lifted up beyond the grasp of Authades. This has extremely
remarkable consequences, for at a given moment not only Pistis
Sophia and the invisible one who is paired with her, but also the
other twenty-two invisible emanations gaze at the light of the
Gnosis.
Our attention here is drawn to the twelve pairs of cranial
nerves and the forces that flow through them and to the resulting
expressions of life. The twelve aeons, the twelve monstrosities,
manifest themselves in the twelve pairs of cranial nerves by
means of the magnetic brain system. And the fact that all
twenty-four invisible emanations are looking at the light pouring
out of the gate of the mysteries shows that these disciples of the
magnetic brain system are being torn from the grasp of the
twelve monstrosities and, by a new magnetic influence, are being
directed at a new fluid of life, the elixir of the new life.
Why is the Pistis Sophia speaking about the twenty-four crea-
tions of the twenty-four creative powers? The three triple faculties
of mind, will, and desire make use of the nerve fluid to manifest
themselves and exert their influence. Our nerve fluid is our mag-
netic fluid, our breath of life, our life-spirit. Just as our blood builds
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and maintains the form, so the nerve fluid gives the form content,
meaning, and purpose.
If our life has become bogged down in the form, the blood
must be attacked first so that the crystallisation can be broken up
and the liberated life given new content.
The Spiritual School of the Golden Rosycross goes a path with
its pupils that attacks the blood and renews their lives so that every
candidate will one day possess twenty-four new creations.
234
It came to pass then, when Jesus had said this unto his disciples, that
Mary came forward and said: ‘‘My Lord, I have heard thee say
aforetime: ‘Pistis Sophia is herself one of the four-and-twenty ema-
nations,çhow then is she not in their region ? But thou hast said: ‘I
found her below the thirteenth aeon.’ ’’
The story of Pistis Sophia

And Jesus answered and said unto his disciples: ‘‘It came to pass,
when Pistis Sophia was in the thirteenth aeon, in the region of all
her brethren the invisibles, that is the four-and-twenty emanations
of the great Invisible,çit came to pass then by command of the First
Mystery that Pistis Sophia gazed into the height. She saw the light
of the veil of the Treasury of the Light, and she longed to reach to
that region, and she could not reach to that region. But she ceased
to perform the mystery of the thirteenth aeon, and sang praises to
the light of the height, which she had seen in the light of the veil of
the Treasury of the Light.
‘‘It came to pass then, when she sang praises to the region of the
height, that all the rulers in the twelve aeons, who are below, hated
her, because she had ceased from their mysteries, and because she
had desired to go into the height and be above them all. For this
cause then they were enraged against her and hated her, [as did]
the great triple-powered Self-willed, that is the third triple-power,
who is in the thirteenth aeon, he who had become disobedient, in
as much as he had not emanated the whole purification of his
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power in him, and had not given the purification of his light at the
time when the rulers gave their purification, in that he desired to
rule over the whole thirteenth aeon and those who are below it.
‘‘It came to pass then, when the rulers of the twelve aeons were
enraged against Pistis Sophia, who is above them, and hated her
exceedingly, that the great triple-powered Self-willed, of whom I
have just now told you, joined himself to the rulers of the twelve
aeons, and also was enraged against Pistis Sophia and hated her ex-
ceedingly, because she had thought to go to the light which is
higher than her. And he emanated out of himself a great lion-faced
power, and out of his matter in him he emanated a host of other
very violent material emanations, and sent them into the regions
below, to the parts of the chaos, in order that they might there lie
in wait for Pistis Sophia and take away her power out of her,
because she thought to go to the height which is above them all,
and moreover she had ceased to perform their mystery, and
lamented continuously and sought after the light which she had
seen. And the rulers who abide, or persist, in performing the
mystery, hated her, and all the guards who are at the gates of the
aeons, hated her also.
236
‘‘It came to pass then thereafter by command of the First Command-

ment that the great triple-powered Self-willed, who is one of the
three triple-powers, pursued Sophia in the thirteenth aeon, in
order that she should look towards the parts below, so that she
might see in that region his lion-faced light-power and long after
it and go to that region, so that her light might be taken from her.
‘‘It came to pass then thereafter that she looked below and saw his
light-power in the parts below; and she knew not that it is that of
the triple-powered Self-willed, but she thought that it came out of
the light which she had seen from the beginning in the height,
which came out of the veil of the Treasury of the Light. And she
thought to herself: I will go into that region without my pair and
take the light and thereout fashion for myself light-aeons, so that I
may go to the Light of lights, which is in the Height of heights.
‘‘This then thinking, she went forth from her own region, the thir-
teenth aeon, and went down to the twelve aeons. The rulers of the
aeons pursued her and were enraged .against her, because she had
thought of grandeur. And she went forth also from the twelve
aeons, and came into the regions of the chaos and drew nigh to
that lion-faced light-power to devour it. But all the material emana-
tions of Self-willed surrounded her, and the great lion-faced light-
power devoured all the light-powers in Sophia and cleaned out her
light and devoured it, and her matter was thrust into the chaos; it
became a lion-faced ruler in the chaos, of which one half is fire and
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the other darkness, ç that is Yaldabaoth, of whom I have spoken

unto you many times. When then this befell, Sophia became very
greatly exhausted, and that lion-faced light-power set to work to
take away from Sophia all her light-powers, and all the material
powers of Self-willed surrounded Sophia at the same time and
pressed her sore.
238
The influence of Authades
33
Pistis Sophia is the person, the candidate, the pupil, who is striving
for the new, liberating life. We see Pistis Sophia facing the gates of
the Thirteenth Aeon. She has already passed through the veils of
this gate and so is already connected with the new stream of life.
‘‘I entered in into the thirteenth aeon and found Pistis Sophia below
the thirteenth aeon all alone and no one of them with her. And she
sat in that region grieving and mourning, because she had not
been admitted into the thirteenth aeon, her higher region. And
she was moreover grieving because of the torments which Self-
willed, who is one of the three triple-powers, had inflicted on her.
But this,çwhen I shall come to speak with you respecting their ex-
pansion, I will tell you the mystery, how this befell her.’’
We have shown you that Authades is the dialectical human will. It

is the threefold, highly magical will of the mortal soul. Now one
could ask a question like: ‘How is it possible that someone who
has entered the Thirteenth Aeon and who has therefore been taken
up into the field of renewal is nevertheless left all alone and has no
access to her higher region?’ The author of these scriptures has fore-
seen this question, for he lets Mary express these thoughts:
‘‘My Lord, I have heard thee say aforetime: ‘Pistis Sophia is herself
one of the four-and-twenty emanations,’çhow then is she not in
their region? But thou hast said: ‘I found her below the thirteenth
aeon’.’’
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We will try to clarify the answer to this question in our commen-

taries on chapters 30 and 31 of the Pistis Sophia.
First you should identify yourself completely with Pistis
Sophia. In addition you should realise that the whole plan of lib-
eration of the Gnosis relies on a new magnetic link that is made
with the candidate on the path. In your natural state you need the
twelve astral forces of the nature of death. You live out of them;
your form was existentially moulded out of them.
Obviously if you wish to be liberated from this, you cannot use
any means of the nature of death to try to achieve this. If you wish
to be liberated from dialectical force, you cannot apply a dialectical
force to get rid of this dialectical force.
Hence as soon as a person makes the decision to go the path of
liberation, the saving, liberating power has to be there so that he can
utilize this for himself immediately.This saving power, this most holy,
healing, helping force, is indeed present in its full capacity for his
benefit. We call this force ‘the Holy Spirit,’ or ‘the power of the Broth-
erhood,’ ‘the power of the Gnosis,’ or in short, ‘the Gnosis.’
This force is currently available to you right at this moment.
However, it is clear that in order to be able to utilise this force,
you will have to behave in accordance with the natural laws of
this force. You cannot touch high-tension electric wires with your
bare hands. There are certain conditions that have to be fulfilled.
The School of the Golden Rosycross is a magnetic instrument,
built up over many years, by means of which the Holy Spirit, the
force of the Gnosis, manifests itself in many ways. You could com-
pare it to a transformer.
Firstly the School of the Rosycross is a force field. This means
that gnostic influence is exerted on the pupil externally. The aim is
that the teachings are put into practice with the help of this force. If
the pupil does not react to this force, the teachings are of no use
whatever.
The third manifestation of the Living Body of the School of the
Rosycross is the profession of the pupilship when the pupil reacts
to the force concerned as required. Hence the School instructs,
240
radiates light-force, and links its pupils magically with light-force.

This process is one of self-freemasonry in which every pupil can
participate in self-authority, provided he or she keeps to the high
order of the School.
If the candidate were to react in the right way to the gnostic
force and also keep to the high order of the mysteries, he would
be taken up into the midst of the brothers and sisters of the Thir-
teenth Aeon. Then he would not only be connected with it, but he
would be admitted into it.
If the candidate works on this threefold basis of the School,
then this is his working basis and these are the gifts of grace given
to him. Admitted into the freemason’s workshop, he can do his
work and go his path with a power that is not of this world.
Hence the thirtieth chapter of the Pistis Sophia is not talking
about a human being who is immeasurably far above you, but it
is talking about you.
What should the candidate do in the freemason’s workshop?
The Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘It came to pass, when Pistis Sophia was in the thirteenth aeon, in
the region of all her brethren the invisibles, that is the four-and-
twenty emanations of the great Invisible, ç it came to pass then
by command of the First Mystery that Pistis Sophia gazed into the
height. She saw the light of the veil of the Treasury of the Light. ...’’
You have been admitted into this magical workshop in order to

turn to the original life at the call of the Gnosis, to aim at the orig-
inal treasure of light.
Pistis Sophia also desired to reach this realm wholly according
to plan, method, and order. But we should understand clearly that
‘she’ could not reach this area ! For who was ‘she’?
She was a dialectical being, a mortal soul, born and bred in the
nature of death.
And so she had to accomplish the mystery of the Thirteenth
Aeon, the fivefold Universal Gnosis: insight, desire for liberation,
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self-surrender, new mode of life, and ascent into renewal. This is

what she had to accomplish.
But she stopped trying to achieve the mystery of the Thir-
teenth Aeon, and she stopped at merely praising the light of
heaven, which she had seen in the light of the veil of the Treasury
of the Light.
This is what often happens to a candidate. He stops doing the
work for which he was admitted into the workshop. What sort of
an attitude does he adopt? The attitude of simply watching. He
loves the teaching of the School and the services, but he stays the
same person he has always been. He retains the same unmitigated
egocentricity and the same driving force behind his egocentric ef-
forts.
However, his presence in the workshop requires from the can-
didate that he become a doer of the word and not remain a listener
to the word. The Brotherhood does not leave such people alone.
The Thirteenth Aeon cannot tolerate this situation for two rea-
sons. The Order of the Thirteenth Aeon dictates that it should in-
tervene, if possible at the same moment as the deviating intention
takes form. The two reasons are:
firstly in the interests of the situation in the workshop,
and secondly, and above all, also in the interests of the candi-
date himself. Whoever stands positively in the process that is
being achieved in the gnostic power will be sufficiently protected,
strengthened, and impelled by the threefold force. But whoever
praises this light in all melodies, but in essence does not serve
this light in the least and does not accept the consequences in
any respect, will head towards a very steep, slippery slope that
leads to a catastrophe. This catastrophe is described in the Pistis
Sophia. We will discuss this in the next chapter.
242
The magnetic conflict
34
The whole of the nature of death, including the human being, is

kept in motion and is maintained by an intercosmic astral force.
This force lies at the basis of the entire dialectical universe.
If there is to be liberation, real, positive, demonstrable transfig-
uration, and if the Christian revelation of salvation is not to remain
a fairy tale, then clearly the first small step on the path of renewal
must begin with a different astral force. If we want renewal, then
obviously a renewing force has to be present.
The Bible calls this force of renewal the Holy Spirit. We have
shown you that the Holy Spirit is present and active in the
modern Spiritual School in three ways. What many religious
groups teach, basing themselves on confusing texts, namely the
means of grace of the Holy Spirit, which many in this world are
seeking assiduously and passionately, has been born and is a fact
within the Spiritual School. Once again the ark, the celestial ship, is
fully ready, soundly constructed by the hammers of the free
builders. The three capacities of this construction consist of:
^ a revelation of salvation
^ a force-field revelation
^ and a revelation of magic renewal.
By means of these three revelations, the School opens up a fivefold
path, the path of the fivefold universal Gnosis.
The revelation of salvation is no outer text, no book or spoken
word. The revelation of salvation opens up for the person when he
has been beaten by the nature of death and begins to seek. Then
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Chapter 34
this person can be struck by a new astral radiation, which causes a

new and totally different insight to ripen. The classical Rosicru-
cians called this first touch: ‘kindled by the Spirit of God.’
Whoever has experienced this touch right down into the blood
will then open up for the force-field revelation. This enables him to
walk the way of desire for liberation and self-surrender, the way of
‘dying in Jesus the Lord.’
This is obviously accompanied by an alteration of lifestyle, of
the aim of life, of the approach to life, in other words, a total refor-
mation of life. And whoever demonstrates this will enter promptly
into the third revelation of the Gnosis: that of renewalçthe proce-
dure of the rebirth through the Holy Spirit.
This concerns a stream of three mighty electromagnetic waves
that do not originate in the nature of death. We speak of the Thir-
teenth Aeon or Mystery School when a group of people exists
who react to these three rays in an intelligent and organised way.
Such a group sails on the three waves like a ship to a liberating
destination. We can image that there are many ships that have
sailed off at earlier times and so have come closer to their destina-
tion. But all these celestial ships form one chain, one living higher
unit. They are all bound to one order; they are aimed at one goal,
and from within they obey the one law. This is the glorious mystery
of the Thirteenth Aeon.
Now there is a pupil, a Pistis Sophia, who has entrusted herself
to the triple stream of the gnostic revelation. We find this pupil at
the entrance behind the veils. The link has been made; the pilgrim
has come aboard. Like all the others she is directed to the destina-
tion of the voyage, and as a member of the crew, she is obliged to
behave accordingly and to help in the work. Pistis Sophia, as a par-
ticipant in the Thirteenth Aeon, has to turn her gaze to the one
goal so that she can see the veil of the treasure of light.
But now an incident develops. Pistis Sophia stopped accom-
plishing the mystery of the Thirteenth Aeon. She only praised
the light and did nothing to actualise it. She aimed at other things
and used the Thirteenth Aeon for her own purpose. She was there-
244
fore trying to change the direction of the ship.

You will understand that this is out of the question. A sever-
ance followed accordingly. The union of the three primary rays
was broken. She was left alone and no one was with her. She sat
there grieving sadly, because she had not been taken up into the
higher region.
You should really understand this properly. In principle the
new field of life is your higher region. With the Mystery School,
the new ship of the Thirteenth Aeon, you can voyage across this
new field, provided you are willing to keep to the ship’s course, the
work schedule, and the code of honour.
If you are not willing to do this, then this is your own business.
Nobody will force you. But it would be totally unreasonable of
you to force your follow passengers to change the ship’s course
and leave the threefold gnostic stream. We repeat: In principle
and by virtue of your innermost being, the new field of life is
your higher region, as it is ours. However, if you wish to reach
this field, this has to happen in one journey and one direction and
with complete coordination of all the available possibilities. Some
people do not want to do this, and we have no option but to judge
this as very unintelligent.
Pistis Sophia was someone like that. She abandoned her obedi-
ence to the work, and so she was left behind. There was no other
possibility.
The Pistis Sophia says: ‘‘And she sat in that region grieving and
mourning. ...’’ It is important to understand the nature of this
grief. It arises from the fact that she was obstructed in her negative
striving. She was frustrated in carrying out her objectives, which
were highly dangerous for the whole Mystery School.You will un-
doubtedly perceive that from a gnostic point of view, we can feel
no respect whatever for this type of grieving. In such grieving
there is absolutely no possibility of receiving help. Is it not logical
that the Gnosis takes no notice whatever of such grief? How much
grief have we not all suffered because our egocentric motives
failed to deliver the desired results? Have you ever received the
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help of the Brotherhood in such perfidious attempts?

What is grief? Grief in this situation is an emotion, a state of
vibration of the blood and the nerve fluid, and a reaction to a dis-
appointment. When a person is in this state, it is reinforced by the
activity of the hormones. The person himself reinforces this by
completely submitting himself in his thoughts to this disappoint-
ment and by remaining there and fighting the supposed cause.
We would be very happy if you could understand that in such
situations the Spiritual School sticks very rigidly to its principles
even tough there might be every reason to feel pity. The loneliness
into which Pistis Sophia is plunged is easy to explain. In that lone-
liness lies the only possibility for help. For at a certain moment, a
different type of grief arises.
You know that Authades is the threefold magical will of the
mortal soul. Authades is the cause of the bad situation Pistis
Sophia has put herself in.
A seed contains three elements, three forces, three aspects. It
has a life principle, a life purpose, and a life force that is subservient
to and in accordance with this purpose. Think about a grain of
wheat. It contains a life principle and also a purpose, namely ger-
minating and growing into a stalk of wheat and bringing forth
fruit according to its own kind. The life purpose of a grain of
wheat can never be altered; a different kind of plant can never
grow out of a grain of wheat. Serving that purpose is the life
force, the dynamic means present in the grain to allow it to mani-
fest itself.
All living phenomena contain these three elements. The mortal
soul has a life principle, a life purpose, and a life force. The principle
we call consciousness with all its ramifications, the purpose is ex-
pressed in the desires and their ramifications, and the life force is
expressed in the will and its ramifications.
Just as a grain of wheat is subject to a law, so is the mortal soul.
It will never be able to become immortal. Hence it is clear that the
will is the great, creative, self-proving aspect of the human being.
Whatever lives in the consciousness and is fostered by desire is
246
made manifest by the will. The human being is bound to the

nature-aeons by virtue of his nature and in fact originates from
there, and so it is self-evident that when Pistis Sophia enters the
Thirteenth Aeon or Mystery School, a great fundamental diffi-
culty arises, a difficulty that every pupil will experience, namely
the great struggle with Authades, the pupil’s own will.
Your will is composed according to the recipe of the nature of
death. When you begin to surrender your will to the Gnosis in its
threefold manifestation-radiations and hence take your place in a
different triangle, a great conflict with the magnetic laws of the
nature of death will arise.
Just as biologists are trying to modify the characteristics of cer-
tain plants with the intention of controlling life according to their
wishes, so the Spiritual School is working in the same way. It is in
fact a laboratory for biologists, a laboratory in which transfiguris-
tic, biological magic is being practised.
But you will understand what transfiguristic biology is trying
to achieve. There are two seed atoms in the microcosm: the seed
atom of the mortal soul, which is repeatedly revivified, and the
original atom, the rose. The Spiritual School tries to make the
mortal soul atom negative and the immortal atom positive.
This work can succeed only when the mortal soul, in very un-
natural conditions obviously, entrusts itself to the three streams of
the Holy Spirit. Then the mortal soul-atom undergoes the endura,
the immortal atom emanates whereby the entire being is transfig-
ured. This is the alchemy of the Spiritual School.
If you wish to enter into this alchemy, you will have no option
but to accept the conflict with Authades, the threefold magic will
of the nature of death. The will has to decline. As the prologue of
the Gospel according to John makes clear: The will of the flesh, the
will of man, the will of the thinking, mortal soul has to decline.
‘‘It came to pass then, when she [Pistis Sophia] sang praises to the
region of the height, that all the rulers in the twelve aeons, who
are below, hated her, because she had ceased from their mysteries,
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Chapter 34
and because she had desired to go into the height and be above
them all.’’
Her magnetic conflict begins, first as a situation outside of the

soul, but soon it becomes an inner conflict. ‘‘For this cause then
they were enraged against her and hated her. ...’’
Try to see this clearly: The pupil enters the Spiritual School
with his ordinary will. When the conflict begins to develop in
the soul, this can avenge itself within the School. When the soul
finds itself in conflict, it first tries to walk the road of least resis-
tance, and so it tries to release the unholy soul-tensions, which
are always dialectical, in the School, by virtue of natural, biological
laws.
Consequently Authades allies himself to the aeons of the
nature of death. The conflict approaches a climax. The will
begins to get enraged against the gnostic impulse, which is also
active in Pistis Sophia. The will begins to resist the code of
honour of the Mystery School, and so it starts to create the great
lion-faced power out of itself.
When the soul, driven into this inevitable conflict, begins to
show the lion-faced power, the Spiritual School redoubles its cau-
tion. For it is out of this power that the resisting soul begins to
motivate its resistance. It idealises it and gives it a high moral
tenor. Then we hear things like: ‘The School is wrong, and I am
good. The School is going under, and I have the truth!’ Surely
you know the guise of death, the cloak of righteousness with
which people so gladly cover themselves?
Pistis Sophia has to suffer and struggle through the conse-
quence of all this to the end. The guardians at the gates do not let
her enter until she has raised herself out of this perfidious delu-
sion.
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The lion-faced power
35
When a person becomes a pupil of the Spiritual School, nothing

essential has changed in him. The seeking and striving element
may be important, but such a situation simply proves that a
person like this is in a state of distress and is looking for a solution.
Hence when people enter the Spiritual School, they do so on the
basis of their whole dialectical state of being.
The moment you enter the School, you will be confronted by
the radiation field of the School, which is very much opposed to
you. The three triple-powers within you will be attacked immedi-
ately in a very impersonal way. Your thinking, your desires, and
your will are seized.
You know that your will is by far the most magical faculty in
the human being. The will is a fire; the will is the power and the
fortress of the I-consciousness. The will is the self-preserving
high priest of the human I; it is the bodyguard of the I. This
Authades wants to convert and bend towards its own aims the
goal for which your soul is longing and which is set out for you
in the Spiritual School.
And so conflict breaks out immediately. Two opposite forces
face each other irreconcilably. Every person who finds his will
thwarted, or cannot reach his goals by means of his will, will
have a strong feeling of discouragement. But this feeling is just an
egocentric protestation. And if the I is dominant, it will be impos-
sible to convey the values of the soul and the possibilities of soul
liberation.
However, whoever has experienced the light and recognized
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the truth is a marked human being. He will become a lonely, tragic

figure as he begins to discover that he is living in a no-man’s land.
He finds no home in the world, notwithstanding the fact that this
world is clinging to him by means of his own will. If you have
truly sought the Spiritual School from within, then surely this
seeking arose from a great distress, from the fact that you could
no longer find anything for yourself in the world of dialectics?
This situation in itself is already proof that you have entered into
conflict with the magnetic radiation field of ordinary nature.
And so a totally new situation arises: The pupil experiences
hostility from the direction of nature, and he experiences neutra-
lisation from the direction of the magnetic force field of the
School. In such a situation a person can do nothing other than
turn to the light in deep humility and complete understanding of
the situation and plead for help, just as Pistis Sophia began to sing
her songs of repentance driven by intense desperation.
However, in most cases this is not what happens. The human
being, especially one with a strong will, causes his own downfall
by his powerful will. Your will can actually go out of control; that
is to say: It can begin to dominate you. People can actually be pos-
sessed by their own will power. And the will, which has the entire
power of the ego behind it, has a great degree of pride. In addition
the will is very magical and creative.
Pistis Sophia has been rejected by the Thirteenth Aeon and is
sitting there full of distress. In front of her she sees loneliness as a
gaping chasm, and behind her there is hostility. And now
Authades rises up with all his passion. He too is angry with Pistis
Sophia, because she had wanted to rise up to a light that is higher
than him. And from within himself he created a great lion-faced
power, which means: the power of imitation.
By means of this magical power, you can imitate everything
that leads to your liberation, everything that is of the spirit. This
is why Pistis Sophia began to imitate the field of the spirit around
her by means of false images. These phantoms of the imagination,
vivified by the magical will, take form and take up residence in the
250
lower realms, the realms of Chaos, to attack her there and deprive
her of her power. The soul, driven by the I, thus tries to restore bal-
ance and to console itself with the images of the will.
If you do not want to go the path and yet you mourn longingly
for the path, although you fail to accomplish the mystery of the
pathçthen, in this impossible situation, you will be thrown into
the hard facts of reality, just like Pistis Sophia. This is nothing other
than the primary law of necessity, which is being applied to her
and which Pistis Sophia herself has invoked.
And the Pistis Sophia goes on to say:
‘‘It came to pass then thereafter by command of the First Com-

mandment that the great triple-powered Self-willed, who is one of
the three triple-powers, pursued Sophia in the thirteenth aeon, in
order that she should look towards the parts below, so that she
might see in that region his lion-faced light-power and long after
it and go to that region, so that her light might be taken from her.’’
Does this mean that in the situation into which Pistis Sophia had
brought herself, there was anything left to deprive her of? What
light-power is meant here?
Anybody who has had contact with the Gnosis and has been
irradiated by the light of the Sun of the Spirit retains some of this.
His blood and his being take some of this with him, even when he
is rejected. And it is exactly this situation, this state and power that
are alien to nature, that incites the aeons to animosity. And so there
has to be a reconciliation either with the Gnosis, according to the
law of the fivefold Universal Gnosis, or with the nature of death, in
which case the last spark of gnostic light disappears from the
human being and his blood is sealed.
The vacuum into which the Thirteenth Aeon brings Pistis
Sophia, this loneliness, has the purpose in fact of giving her the in-
sight that self-surrender is the only key to the path of liberation.
Authades, with his powers and authorities, holds up the false
light to her, so that she might surrender herself to them in hurt
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pride. A person who is possessed by will power loses his faculty

of discernment and of self-assessment. In this way Pistis Sophia is
victimised by the lion-faced power.
In the world around us, we can see how innumerable seekers
are victimised by this power, for this power manifests itself in nu-
merous creations. These creations are organised and maintained
by those who once upon a time failed before the gates of the Thir-
teenth Aeon because of self-maintenance.
Before we follow Pistis Sophia on her journey along this deviation

to its nadir, we first want to read the remarkable words of chapter
31. Pistis Sophia looks down tempted by her will power. She sees
there the false light-power and thinks it is the light of the Gnosis
and that she has beheld the beginning of the Thirteenth Aeon.
Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘A nd she thought to herself: I will go into that region without my

pair and take the light. ...’’
Who is her pair? Who is the companion linked to her? This com-
panion in you is the rose of the heart, which is spreading its fra-
grance within you day-by-day and hour-by-hour. The Gnosis
speaks to you by means of this rose, and in this way the Gnosis
accompanies you on all your ways.
In your vacuum there is a companion with you, even after the
Thirteenth Aeon has called a halt. In your loneliness and on your
downward course, your companion is with you and stands above
your downcast form, prepared at any moment to be of service to
you. Pistis Sophia knows this companion, she knows him and she
knows Authades. She has to choose between the two. And she
chooses the descent into that region without her companion.
There are indeed regions where your pair cannot go with you.
There are borders that your companion cannot cross. The rosebud
shuts all its petals, and a great silence ensues.
Whoever has drunk from the grail, like Pistis Sophia, very con-
252
sciously turns his back on his companion if he goes the way de-
scribed here. Let us hope and pray that you will not carry out
this deliberate desertion.
The gnostic gospel of the Pistis Sophia has been given to us so that
every seeker can learn from it. The way of Pistis Sophia is a natural
course. But this course need not necessarily be a definite and cer-
tain course for you. You can at any moment turn to the true light
and be given entrance, if you fulfill the conditions.
Unfortunately we have to observe here that the way described
to us here by the Pistis Sophia corresponds to our everyday reality
so completely that it almost seems as if this ancient manuscript
were written today.
People come to the School of the Golden Rosycross full of am-
bition and true longing. And everything would be fine if the
School would only adapt itself to their egocentric aims. But the
human being needs to adapt himself to the holy law and fulfill it.
If he does not do so, conflict breaks out, and the result is that he
will wrap himself in the false light. These people are deprived of
all the true light-power that was still in them, and their companion
shrivels back to a rudiment. They have been broken by their own
will power and their self-assured egocentricity.
If you recognise within you some of Pistis Sophia in her down-
ward course, then realise this and throw off your pride. Throw off
the robe of the false light and enter the sacred halls of the Holy
Spirit in deep humility. Then the songs of victory will resound
and there will be laughter full of gratitude for all who have van-
quished themselves.
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36
Yaldabaoth: fire and darkness
In chapter 31 of the Pistis Sophia we read:
‘‘It came to pass then thereafter that she looked below and saw his
light-power in the parts below; and she knew not that it is that of
the triple-powered Self-willed, but she thought that it came out of
the light which she had seen from the beginning in the height,
which came out of the veil of the Treasury of the Light. And she
thought to herself: I will go into that region without my pair and
take the light and thereout fashion for myself light-aeons, so that I
may go to the Light of lights, which is in the Height of heights.
‘‘This then thinking, she went forth from her own region, the thir-
teenth aeon, and went down to the twelve aeons. The rulers of the
aeons pursued her and were enraged against her, because she had
thought of grandeur. And she went forth also from the twelve
aeons, and came into the regions of the chaos and drew nigh to
that lion-faced light-power to devour it. But all the material emana-
tions of Self-willed surrounded her, and the great lion-faced light-
power devoured all the light-powers in Sophia and cleaned out her
light and devoured it, and her matter was thrust into the chaos; it
became a lion-faced ruler in the chaos, of which one half is fire and
the other darkness, ç that is Yaldabaoth, of whom I have spoken
unto you many times. When then this befell, Sophia became very
greatly exhausted, and that lion-faced light-power set to work to
take away from Sophia all her light-powers, and all the material
powers of Self-willed surrounded Sophia at the same time and
pressed her sore.’’
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Yaldabaoth : fire and darkness
This chapter allows you to see the reflection of your whole state of
life, and so it will allow you to purify or enlighten your state of
consciousness. In the name Pistis Sophia, the word Sophia can
stand for divine wisdom, and Pistis for intellect or human
wisdom. The divine wisdom, the Sophia, is the pure, divine, and
original star-force. This star-force or astral force must be distin-
guished clearly from the astral force of the dialectical universe,
for the divine astral force is twofold: spiritual and material. The
astral force of this universe is chaotic and material. In the universe
of death everything is built up out of matter; everything manifests
itself by means of root-substance unleashed in a chaotic way.
The material of the universe can be reduced to the smallest in-
divisible particles, and we call this root-substance. The universe is
moved by chaos. In the root-substantial forces we see continuous
movement, continuous change: a division of forces and a combi-
nation of forces, as a result of which forms arise, only to be de-
stroyed again. Hence we can say that chaos is the cause of the dia-
lectics of death.
These dialectics have their origin in the properties of root-sub-
stance, and the property of this root-substance is the duality of
good and evil, of light and darkness. Hence, whatever comes
forth from this substance can and will never be divine. In addition,
everything that arises from the root-substance of death is always
bound to limits and to time. For this reason the dialectical universe
is a time-spatial universe in which everything rises and then, once
again, dissipates, a universe in which things always revert to their
opposites.
Death is a universal principle in a time-spatial universe. Who-
ever enters the time-spatial universe enters death. The time-spatial
universe contains forces, and the first we would like to mention are
the twelve aeons.
These twelve forces manifest themselves firstly as a trinity and
secondly as a quarternity: three times four and four times three.
This contains the number or principle of seven, and so conse-
quently we can say that the forces that manifest themselves in the
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time-spatial universe form a septenary, a union of seven forces.

The leading principle of this septenary is called Yaldabaoth in the
gnostic philosophy. This leading principle of the lower astral force
is literally the son of darkness or the child of chaos.
The human head-sanctuary contains a seven-branched candle-
stick that is formed by the seven cranial cavities. These seven cra-
nial cavities contain the flaming astral fire of the great sevenfold
force of the dialectical universe. The central leading principle of
the seven-armed candlestick in the human being is Yaldabaoth.
This is theYaldabaoth of which one half is fire and the other dark-
ness. This is the dynamic magical principle that drives our being
through the darkness.
Yaldabaoth is the focus of the fundamental principle of the
human being; it is his ‘I.’ And this ‘I’ is an imitation of the original
‘I.’ Yaldabaoth is an imitation of Anthropos, the first human being.
Anthropos came forth from the First Logos,Yaldabaoth from the
Second Logos.
The creatures of the Second Logos, that is, present-day human-
ity, the representations of the original Anthropos, have to go the
way of the Rosycross to take their whole system back to its
origin, to the First Logos, so that Anthropos can rise up from the
death of Yaldabaoth.
The human being has a mind, an intellect, and this intellect
arises from and is maintained by the seven-armed candlestick in
the human being whose central principle is Yaldabaoth. In other
words the human being is not a Pistis Sophia, but a Yaldabaoth
Sophia. His intellect and his intelligence arise from and are main-
tained by lower astral forces, the material force of the nature of
death.
A Pistis Sophia is someone whose intellect and intelligence are
illuminated by the divine wisdom, the original Logos. Such a
change can take place by renewing one or more of the lights of
the seven-armed candlestick. The central principle, Yaldabaoth,
has to make way for a new central principle.
Hence a Pistis Sophia is a pupil in whom the holy work of salva-
256
tion has commenced. It is for this purpose that Pistis Sophia had
come to the Thirteenth Aeon. This is why she was allowed to go
behind the veil of the Great Mystery: the Pistis touched her on the
basis of the rose.
But she also took Authades into the Thirteenth Aeon,
Authades being her earthly will. There was no choice here, be-
cause she did not yet have a new will. Consequently she had to
be left alone; she had to remain in loneliness, so that the passions
of the old will could subside.
Such a process can take a long time, because the will is a great
magical force. The human being conjures up and creates every-
thing with the imagination of the will. Pistis Sophiaçthe human
being who has seen the new light, has eaten the bread of the new
life, and has drunk from the Grailçtries in such a situation to im-
agine the new life by means of the old will. Such a human being
plays the role of one who has ‘arrived.’ He is not being hypocriti-
cal; he is just deluded, for Yaldabaoth is still playing along in the
game of life by means of a number of aspects in the seven-armed
candlestick.
That which Pistis Sophia wants to grasp with her old will, the
Thirteenth Aeon is keeping out of reach, and so Authades begins
to imagine the unattainable in a region where he belongs.
Hence it comes to pass that Pistis Sophia looks below in the
region of Authades and does not look up into the Thirteenth
Aeon. She has now become only Sophia; she has lost the Pistis.
With the ordinary, purely intellectual reasoning, which is far
removed from Pistis and led by Authades, she sees a plentiful
supply of light-powers in her own region and so her delusion
is: ‘I do not need the Thirteenth Aeon. That which is wrongfully
withheld from me is given to me here in abundance. I have been
treated wrongly. My grandeur is not being recognised here.’ She
does not see through the play that Authades is performing for
her:
... ‘‘she thought that it came out of the light which she had seen from
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the beginning in the height, which came out of the veil of the
Treasury of the Light.’’
And so she goes down into the region of delusion. This means
that she leaves the Thirteenth Aeon. She leaves her pair, the rose
of the heart, behind. She wishes to take the light that is being so
freely offered to her. ‘I will fashion light-aeons for myself and so
enter the new field of life in my own triumphal chariot.’
This Sophia does not want to go back to the world. She aims at
the Gnosis and wants to enter liberation, but she does not wish to
give up her old will. Her self-surrender is culture of the personality.
The lights of Authades surround her.
Thus Pistis Sophia leaves the field of grace and, as Sophia, des-
cends into destruction. She returns into the ordinary field of life,
which is obviously very hostile to her. She no longer belongs there
either.
She then descends down even further into the forces of chaos.
Authades beckons her to go ever lower until the psychological
moment when Pistis has totally deviated and the gnostic field of
grace has left her. She has returned to her own pathetic self:
Sophia.
At this moment she is surrounded by the material emanations
of Yaldabaoth, for the earthly magical will is capable of making
only creatures of the nature of Yaldabaoth, and so all the light-
power of liberation in her is devoured. All the light of renewal ra-
diating in the seven-armed candlestick has left. And her matter
has been thrust into the chaos. Nothing is left to her but Yalda-
baoth, the son of darkness, the lower astral force, the child of the
chaos. Anthropos is further removed from her than ever, and
Sophia is very weak.
However, she does possess one certainty: Pistis has died, but
also delusion. For the first time she has come to know well her
own Authades. She has become as nothing. She is sitting on the
ruins like Job. Nothing is left to her, but for the first time something
glimmers: insight like an open gate.
258
Through this gate she sees the veils of the Thirteenth Aeon far
in the distance, and she sees the descent, the fatal leap, she has
made. At this moment a new phase of life begins in the story of
Sophia, and this phase begins with that famous song of repent-
ance: ‘‘And Pistis Sophia cried out most exceedingly ...: ‘Oh Light of
Lights ...’ ’’
This remorse, this about-face on the basis of insight, immedi-
ately turns Sophia back into Pistis Sophia and her pair, her com-
panion, rushes towards her.
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37
The thirteenfold repentance
You may know that there are seven star-force systems and that the
star-force system of ordinary nature is the seventh aspect of these.
The personality of the human being has been formed and is main-
tained by the star-force system of dialectics. His intellect, his
Sophia, as well as his will are completely in accordance with this.
The nerve fluid, the serpent fire, the hormones, and the blood are
also based on the same.
Every cell in the body contains the star-force principle of ordi-
nary nature. This star-force comes to humanity in twelve currents.
These are called the twelve aeons in the Pistis Sophia, and there are
numerous subdivisions of the aeons. These are called archons. The
twelve currents are introduced into the head-sanctuary via the
magnetic brain system and are absorbed in the head by seven
foci, the seven-armed candlestick. The leading force in this candle-
stick isYaldabaoth. This seven-armed candlestick is the nucleus of
the consciousness. It is the ‘I,’ the intelligence. Twelve pairs of cra-
nial nerves emanate from this nucleus in the head-sanctuary.
These control the entire system for the nucleus of the intelligence,
Yaldabaoth.
If a person does not feel at home in this world, he will turn to a
Spiritual School. He longs for the unknown purpose of human ex-
istence. A person who thinks along those lines catches in the heart
something of the radiations of the Gnosis. These influences enter
by means of the rose of the heart. They affect the blood and push
this person gently into the direction of a Spiritual School. What he
sees and experiences there corresponds to the suggestions that
260
wander through his blood. This makes him feel grateful, and he
praises the light.
However, this does not change the fact that this person is ex-
actly the same person as before, except for his link to the Spiritual
School. The Pistis and the Sophia still belong completely to the
world of dialectics. Therefore, if this new link is to become a suc-
cess, both the Pistis and the Sophia in the human being will have to
be replaced by the star-force of the Gnosis, which is equivalent to a
new Pistis and a new Sophia.
In this way a new candlestick begins to burn, and a new nerve-
fluid is produced by means of the twelve pairs of nerve channels.
A totally new, fivefold soul power begins to flow, and the great
change, the transfiguration, is only a question of time.
It is expected of a human being who enters a Spiritual School
that he surrender to this necessary process of rebirth. However, the
old nature is very strong and resists this. For this reason the begin-
ner often encounters a time full of suffering and anguish, because
he first tries to use his ordinary Sophia nature. He uses his
Authades to achieve his goals, to assimilate the teachings, to do
the work, and to react.
However, unification with the Gnosis is not possible in this
way. The consequence is that there is alienation. Pistis Sophia is
left alone by the Gnosis. However, the dialectical Sophia under-
stands that a new light-force had been poured out over her. Now
that she is being left alone, she tries to imitate this light-power. She
tries to imagine what is present in the Thirteenth Aeon. The magi-
cal faculty of the will projects this imitation around her.
The human being not only knows the Gnosis and believes in
the Gnosis; he is also an artist. He creates for himself what he de-
sires, and so it becomes light around him. He does not understand
that this is the false light of Authades. He fully indulges himself as
an artist, a magician. He is a real sorcerer’s apprentice. The light
whirls around him. He has entered transfiguration, or so he thinks.
Pistis Sophia now looks below and no longer upwards, but she
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does not yet know the way. The rose-heart has closed again, and
without this companion the human being descends into disaster.
This is the disaster of the imprisonment in whatever the human
being has created for himself. He will remain a prisoner, until he
realises that he has made a mistake. However, this realisation is ac-
companied by the discovery of being right in the middle of great
trouble. This discovery gives the human being a new experience,
but he is farther removed than ever from the House of the Father.
Every human being has to go this way of bitter experience, but
the gnostic gospel of the Pistis Sophia wants to warn him. A human
being could be at the beginning of such an experience or in the
middle or right at the end, and only intense remorse remains to
all those who know this experience and so realise they are far
away from the Father’s House. This means there is an absolute
and real insight into what has really happened, so that on the
basis of this insight, new liberating actions can arise. The great
work of re-creation cannot be done on the basis of the dialectical
Sophia, because a new foundation has to be laid after the purifica-
tion and after the imperative grip of Authades, in other words,
after the grip of illusion.
A tremendous process lies between the first and the second
fundamental entry into the light of the Thirteenth Aeon. It is the
process of making the pupil ready, and this process can be ex-
tremely dramatic. It can take place within the Spiritual School or
outside of it, but always the key to the second entry is remorse.
Remorse is an action. It means working through sadness, doing
something with it, carrying out something with it, creating some-
thing with it. This is the deep meaning of remorse. Remorse is an
action arising out of a state of the blood. It is not an egocentric
striving. Remorse is the inexorable self-discovery about an irre-
vocable fact. Sadness can paralyse a human being. Sadness can
cause all the five soul fluids to lapse into a certain state. The
human being stands eye to eye with an inexorable situation that
confronts him. The naked truth stands before him and is within
him, and now the human being will have to act on the basis of
262
this truth. He must gird himself with this truth. This is remorse.
Remorse is turning the whole being towards the Gnosis from
out of the very depths of the blood; it means possessing the
blood-certainty of self-knowledge. A process of thirteen stages
develops on the basis of this remorse, as it is described to us in
great detail in the Pistis Sophia.
For Pistis Sophia now begins to sing her thirteen songs of
repentance. She sings six songs without any success, or at least
this is how it appears to her consciousness. Only after the seventh
song does she experience any inner enlightenment. The gospel
says she is then brought to a more spacious region. The eighth
song brings no change, but after the ninth song, her prayer is
heard. The Gnosis responds to her remorse and sends Jesus to
her, although she is still in the dialectical region. This new link is
therefore not indestructible, not immune to the attacks of the
nature archons.
But then after singing the thirteenth song, she is raised up into
the Thirteenth Aeon. The second entry is celebrated. There is an
aureole of light around her head. Her time is completed. The thir-
teen songs of remorse have completely transmuted the whole
magnetic brain system, the whole seven-armed candlestick, and
the twelve pairs of nerve streams.
For the first time the star-force of the Gnosis can enter the head-
sanctuary directly. Now the human being has truly been born of
God and has become a true Pistis Sophia.
The way that a pupil is following on the path of the Rosycross is
the same as the one Pistis Sophia is following. May the way of the
pupil soon show that the times are complete by means of the pro-
cess of the thirteen phases of remorse.
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‘‘A nd Pistis Sophia cried out most exceedingly, she cried to the Light
of lights which she had seen from the beginning, in which she had
had faith, and uttered this repentance, saying thus:
‘‘1. ‘O Light of lights, in whom I have had faith from the beginning,
hearken now then, O Light, unto my repentance. Save me, O Light,
for evil thoughts have entered into me.
‘‘2. ‘I gazed, O Light, into the lower parts and saw there a light,
thinking: I will go to that region, in order that I may take that light.
And I went and found myself in the darkness which is in the chaos
below, and I could no more speed thence and go to my region, for I
was sore pressed by all the emanations of Self-willed, and the lion-
faced power took away my light in me.
‘‘3. ‘A nd I cried for help, but my voice hath not reached out of the
darkness. And I looked unto the height, that the Light, in which I
had had faith, might help me.
‘‘4. ‘A nd when I looked unto the height, I saw all the rulers of the
aeons, how in their numbers they looked down on me and rejoiced
over me, though I had done them no ill; but they hated me without a
cause. And when the emanations of Self-willed saw the rulers of the
aeons rejoicing over me, they knew that the rulers of the aeons
would not come to my aid; and those emanations which sore
pressed me with violence, took courage, and the light which I had
264
not taken from them, they have taken from me.
‘‘5. ‘Now, therefore, O Light of Truth, thou knowest that I have

done this in my innocence, thinking that the lion-faced light-
power belonged to thee; and the sin which I have done is open
before thee.
‘‘6. ‘Suffer me no more to lack, O Lord, for I have had faith in thy
light from the beginning; O Lord, O Light of the powers, suffer me
no more to lack my light.
‘‘7. ‘For because of thy inducement and for the sake of thy light am
I fallen into this oppression, and shame hath covered me.
‘‘8. ‘A nd because of the illusion of thy light, I am become a stranger

to my brethren, the invisibles, and to the great emanations of
Barbelo.
‘‘9. ‘This hath befallen me, O Light, because I have been zealous for
thy abodeçand the wrath of Self-willed is come upon meçof him
who had not hearkened unto thy command to emanate from the
emanation of his powerçbecause I was in his aeon without per-
forming his mystery.
‘‘10. ‘A nd all the rulers of the aeons mocked me.
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‘‘11. ‘A nd I was in that region, mourning and seeking after the light
which I had seen in the height.
‘‘12. ‘A nd the guards of the gates of the aeons searched for me, and
all who remain in their mystery mocked me.
‘‘13. ‘But I looked up unto the height towards thee and had faith in
thee. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, I am sore pressed in the
darkness of chaos. If now thou wilt come to save me,çgreat is thy
mercy,çthen hear me in truth and save me.
‘‘14. ‘Save me out of the matter of this darkness, that I may not be
submerged therein, that I may be saved from the emanations of
god Self-willed which press me sore, and from their evil doings.
‘‘15. ‘Let not this darkness submerge me, and let not this lion-faced
power entirely devour the whole of my power, and let not this
chaos shroud my power.
‘‘16. ‘Hear me, O Light, for thy grace is precious, and look down
upon me according to the great mercy of thy Light.
‘‘17. ‘Turn not thy face from me, for I am exceedingly tormented.
‘‘18. ‘Haste thee, hearken unto me and save my power.
266
‘‘19. ‘Save me because of the rulers who hate me, for thou knowest
my sore oppression and my torment and the torment of my power
which they have taken from me. They who have set me in all this
evil are before thee; deal with them according to thy good pleasure.
‘‘20. ‘My power looked forth from the midst of the chaos and from
the midst of the darkness, and I waited for my pair, that he should
come and fight for me, and he came not, and I looked that he should
come and lend me power, and I found him not.
‘‘21. ‘A nd when I sought the light, they gave me darkness; and when
I sought my power, they gave me matter.
‘‘22. ‘Now, therefore, O Light of lights, may the darkness and the
matter which the emanations of Self-willed have brought upon
me, be unto them for a snare, and may they be ensnared therein,
and recompense them and may they be made to stumble and not
come into the region of their Self-willed.
‘‘23. ‘May they remain in the darkness and not behold the light;
may they behold the chaos for ever, and let them not look unto the
height.
‘‘24. ‘Bring upon them their revenge, and may thy judgment lay
hold upon them.
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‘‘25. ‘Let them not henceforth come into their region to their god
Self-willed, and let not his emanations henceforth come into their
regions; for their god is impious and self-willed, and he thought
that he had done this evil of himself, not knowing that, had I not
been brought low according to thy command, he would not have
had any authority over me.
‘‘26. ‘But when thou hadst by thy command brought me low, they
pursued me the more, and their emanations added pain to my
humiliation.
‘‘27. ‘A nd they have taken light-power from me and fallen again to

pressing me sore, in order to take away all the light in me. Because
of this in which they have set me, let them not ascend to the thir-
teenth aeon, the region of Righteousness.
‘‘28. ‘But let them not be reckoned in the lot of those who purify them-
selves and the light, and let them not be reckoned with those who will
quickly repent, that they may quickly receive mysteries in the Light.
‘‘29. ‘For they have taken my light from me, and my power hath
begun to cease in me and I am destitute of my light.
‘‘30. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, which is in thee and is with me, I sing
praises to thy name, O Light, in glory.
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‘‘31. ‘May my song of praise please thee, O Light, as an excellent

mystery, which leadeth to the gates of the Light, which they who
shall repent will utter, and the light of which will purify them.
‘‘32. ‘Now, therefore, let all matters rejoice; seek ye all the Light, that
the power of the stars which is in you, may live.
‘‘33. ‘For the Light hath heard the matters, nor will it leave any
without having purified them.
‘‘34. ‘Let the souls and the matters praise the Lord of all aeons, and
[let] the matters and all that is in them [praise him].
‘‘35. ‘For God shall save their soul from all matters, and a city shall
be prepared in the Light, and all the souls who are saved, will dwell
in that city and will inherit it.
‘‘36. ‘A nd the soul of them who shall receive mysteries will abide in
that region, and they who have received mysteries in its name will
abide therein.’ ’’
It came to pass then, when Jesus had spoken these words unto his
disciples, that he said unto them: ‘‘This is the song of praise which
Pistis Sophia uttered in her first repentance, repenting of her sin,
and reciting all which had befallen her. Now, therefore: ‘Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear.’ ’’
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Mary again came forward and said: ‘‘My Lord, my indweller of light
hath ears, and I hear with my light-power, and thy spirit which is with
me, hath sobered me. Hearken then that I may speak concerning the
repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, speaking of her sin and
all that befell her. Thy light-power hath prophesied thereof aforetime
through the prophet David in the sixty-eighth Psalm:
‘‘1. ‘Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul.
‘‘2. ‘I sank, or am submerged, in the slime of the abyss, and power

was not. I have gone down into the depths of the sea; a tempest
hath submerged me.
‘‘3. ‘I have kept on crying; my throat is gone, my eyes faded,

waiting patiently for God.
‘‘4. ‘They who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of
my head; mighty are my foes, who violently pursued me. They
required of me that which I took not from them.
‘‘5. ‘God, thou hast known my foolishness, and my faults are not
hid from thee.
‘‘6. ‘Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord, Lord of powers, be
ashamed for my sake; let not those who seek thee be ashamed for
my sake, O Lord, God of Israel, God of powers.
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‘‘7. ‘For for thy sake have I endured shame; shame hath covered my
face.
‘‘8. ‘I am become a stranger to my brethren, a stranger unto the

sons of my mother.
‘‘9. ‘For the zeal of thy house hath consumed me; the revilings of
them that revile thee have fallen upon me.
‘‘10. ‘I bowed my soul with fasting, and it was turned to my

reproach.
‘‘11. ‘I put on sackcloth; I became unto them a bye-word.
‘‘12. ‘They who sit at the gates, chattered at me; and they who drink
wine, harped about me.
‘‘13. ‘But I prayed with my soul unto thee, O Lord; the time of thy
well-liking is [now], O God. In the fulness of thy grace give ear unto
my salvation in truth.
‘‘14. ‘Save me out of this slime, that I sink not therein; let me be
saved from them that hate me, and from the deep of waters.
‘‘15. ‘Let not a water-flood submerge me, let not the deep swallow
me, let not a well close its mouth above me.
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‘‘16. ‘Hear me, O Lord, for thy grace is good; according to the
fulness of thy compassion look down upon me.
‘‘17. ‘Turn not thy face away from thy servant, for I am oppressed.
‘‘18. ‘Hear me quickly, give heed to my soul and deliver it.
‘‘19. ‘Save me because of my foes, for thou knowest my disgrace, my

shame and my dishonour; all my oppressors are before thee.
‘‘20. ‘My heart awaiteth disgrace and misery; I waited for him who
should sorrow with me, but I could not come at him, and for him
who should comfort me, and I found him not.
‘‘21. ‘They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me
vinegar to drink.
‘‘22. ‘Let their table be unto them for a trap and for a snare and for a
retribution and for a stumbling-block.
‘‘23. ‘Mayest thou bend their backs at all time.
‘‘24. ‘Pour out thy anger upon them, and let the wrath of thy anger
lay hold upon them.
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‘‘25. ‘Let their encampment be desolate, let there be no dweller in

their habitations.
‘‘26. ‘For they persecuted him whom thou hast smitten, and added
to the smart of their woundings.
‘‘27. ‘They added iniquity to their iniquities; let them not come into
thy righteousness.
‘‘28. ‘Let them be wiped out of the book of the living, and let them
not be written in among the righteous.
‘‘29. ‘I am a poor wretch who is heart-broken too; it is the salvation

of thy face which hath taken me unto itself.
‘‘30. ‘I will praise the name of God in the ode, and exalt it in the
song of thanksgiving.
‘‘31. ‘This shall please God better than a young bull which putteth
forth horns and hoofs.
‘‘32. ‘May the wretched see and make merry; seek ye God, that
your souls may live.
‘‘33. ‘For God hath heard the wretched and despiseth not the pris-
oners.
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‘‘34. ‘Let heaven and earth praise the Lord, the sea and all that is
therein.
‘‘35. ‘For God will save Zion, and the cities of Judaea will be built up,
and they will dwell there and inherit it.
‘‘36. ‘The seed of his servants shall possess it, and they who love his
name shall dwell therein.’ ’’
It came to pass then, when Mary had finished speaking these words
unto Jesus in the midst of the disciples, that she said unto him: ‘‘My
Lord, this is the solution of the mystery of the repentance of Pistis
Sophia.’’
It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Mary speak these words,
that he said unto her: ‘‘Well said, Mary, blessed one, the fulness, or
all-blessed fulness, thou who shalt be sung of as blessed in all gen-
erations.’’
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First repentance : the Song of Humanity
38
First repentance: the Song of Humanity
In our discussions we have followed the way of Pistis Sophia up to

the moment when she begins singing her thirteen repentances.
Although she had been taken up into the Thirteenth Aeon, she
left it because she did not want to give up her egocentricity and
tried to capture her place by using the astral force of the nature of
death, which maintained her natural life.
We have discussed her dramatic fall from various angles. The
suffering, which she herself has caused, wounds her soul deeply,
and so eventually she discovers the causes and gains real insight
into her situation enabling her to reach a state of intense remorse.
Remorse in the gnostic sense is a fivefold inner activity of the
soul. Remorse in this sense is a reversal of the soul’s entire being,
and this is accompanied by deep self-knowledge. The thirteenfold
process develops from this deep self-knowledge. And this process
is described to us in great detail.
We have seen that this self-knowledge has to be complete and
must arise from experience. This experience has to prove itself in a
certain state of the personality, so that the thirteen repentances
find a really fertile soil in the psyche of Pistis Sophia. This is not a
series of thirteen prayers in the sense of: ‘Oh Lord, help me. I’m in
big trouble’, but the candidate completely understands his distress
and his suffering by means of his self-knowledge.
On this basis he sees his impotence, and he understands that
everything is the result of erroneous actions. He sees this in the
complete perspective of reality, both as to the causes as well as
the logical consequences. Humbly and in complete self-surrender,
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he places himself as one who is naked before the Gnosis, and in

this state a thirteenfold process develops.
The Pistis Sophia first of all examines this process of total rever-
sal due to self-knowledge, from the psychological point of view. It
explains how the pupil comes to a solution psychologically and
returns to the liberated life in the Thirteenth Aeon. Only after
this does it describe the experience structurally and transfiguristi-
cally by and through this rebirth of the soul.
We will follow the same method, and so we place you first of all
before the first repentance, the Song of Humanity. The Pistis Sophia
compares this repentance to Psalm 69. When we look at the begin-
ning of this psalm, we see that it is sung upon Shoshannim, which
means: ‘in the focus of the violet Brotherhood’, that is, a temple
into which the seventh ray shines.
In the first repentance the candidate realises that a crisis has de-
veloped in him, and this crisis has brought him to a state in which
he is balancing on the edge of a complete collapse. Furthermore he
realises that his present state is hopeless, does not give him a single
chance of life, and is, in short, untenable. He has made all sorts of
efforts on the horizontal plane to raise himself up from his fallen
state, but they have proved to be pointless.
A deadly fatigue has taken over the candidate. He experiences
himself being surrounded by an immeasurable hatred, and he is
not capable of knowing the cause of this. His personified haters
attack him and deprive him of his values. He does not know
these values; he does not even know that he possesses them. He
can only infer the possible possession of values from the attacks
themselves, because somebody who hates must have a reason for
this. Similarly, someone who attacks must have a reason. When
somebody who is at the end of his tether, who has lost everything,
and who is sinking down into a morass is attacked, then the ques-
tion must be asked: ‘Why?’
And then the realisation dawns on the candidate, as an answer
to this question, that he has committed immeasurable follies and is
very guilt-laden. One might expect that having earned this self-
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knowledge, he would begin to cry negatively for help in the blind

urge for self-maintenance. But there is no question of that! His wor-
ries and fears are in the first place for others, for those who have
taken him as an example. Having first entered the Thirteenth
Aeon, only then to be thrown down into the bottomless mire and
being tempted and attacked by the archons, this is truly not a
cheerful picture of Pistis Sophia. And so it is understandable that
others, seeing her state, are drawn away from continuing the path.
Hence shame and a fear for others are present. However, shame
and fear are dangerous because of their negative effects. They
cause paralysis of any kind of self-activity. Therefore the candidate
has to look more deeply. He thinks: ‘I am in a hopeless situation; I
have made a mess of everything, and my example is one of revul-
sion. Because I have reacted totally wrongly to the radiations in the
Thirteenth Aeon, I have fallen. This fall and everything that came
after this fall has a purpose. I am experiencing a course of death
because of the path, because of the Gnosis. The shame that I ex-
perience and spread around me exists because of my pupilship.
And so, what needs to be etched deeply into me is my realisation
of isolation. All my brothers and sisters have left me. I am in total
isolation. For whoever wants to maintain the I on the Path will sub-
merge into the total loneliness of isolation.’
What conclusion can we draw from this? The conclusion must
be that this course of experience is meant by the Gnosis to kill the I
of nature, to kill egocentricity. And in additionçhow marvellous
ç all these haters of lower nature, who attack the candidate in
blind rage, are actually achieving the same task. Hence the last
remnant of self-maintenance is being attacked from two sides:
from the side of the Gnosis by denial and from the side of the
nature of death by blind rage.
This ego-soul, which is totally isolated, bogged down, and at-
tacked, first of all sinks into a deep sadness. This is psychologically
completely correct, because there is absolutely no reason for joy.
The candidate speaks of his sadness; he testifies of it; he sings of
it; he acts out of it. He becomes known as a pessimist, as a great
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sufferer, as a melancholic person. People begin to discuss him.

They suspect that he has committed great sins. And this makes
his self-isolation even deeper, and the I does not even find any con-
solation in the exploitation of his sadness.
And so from this void of self-isolation and after the discovery
that this so-called repentance in sadness is just another form of
self-exploitation and hence self-maintenance, the candidate
begins to call on the Gnosis in a totally new way. He does not
invoke any right. He does not ask for anything based on any state
or value, but he invokes the gnostic goodwill towards the saving of
fallen microcosms.
He does so in the complete self-confession: ‘I am being totally
submerged in the bottomless mire. I am the victim of my haters.
The matter of the nature of death has imprisoned me completely.’
And because the candidate knows that he is an image-bearer
called to fulfil a mission, he asks for help to save him from his
course of death.
He places himself before the universal divine love and asks:
‘Look at me, Lord; do not hide your countenance from me, be-
cause I am very afraid.’ The I is uttering its cry of death: ‘I am
afraid.’
When this cry of death has faded away, a silence ensues. The
silence of resignation takes hold of the candidate. He accepts his
situation in the sense of: ‘Not my will but your will be done.’
His life now becomes one great prayer for liberation in the silence
of his soul-state.
However, the soul is still occupied with itself. It places itself
before the Gnosis, alternating shame with indignity, and makes
its confession. The soul has become mortally weak. It has waited
for sympathy and this did not come. It sought consolation, but this
did not come. And it complains about the great number of bitter
experiences that it has gone through.
However, while in this state of deep misery, it begins to forget
itself: ‘What is the misery of one’s own self compared to the im-
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measurable forces of dialectics, which are crushing innumerable

multitudes?’
And so the soul now begins to place itself in seven aspects
against the nature of death. Not as one complaining and suffering
and perishing, no longer as one who is being attacked, but as one
who is fighting. The soul takes its place in the forecourt of the
fighting church and places its shoulders under the great work of
the Brotherhood on earth.
And so the soul discovers that in the complete surrender to the
service for others, it not only forgets itself, but also becomes ex-
tremely grateful. In fact, the soul begins to glow with a great joy
because of the fact that it is achieving something; it is being useful
in its fallen state. Whoever realises this and whoever experiences
that something can be done in the service of God and humanity
with nothing, and precisely with this, will receive a new breath of
life so as to be able to persevere. And the pure longing purifies the
heart.
And so the soul discovers once again that it is standing in the
process because of self-freemasonry. It discovers that it is a factor
in the divine manifestation. And so, for the first time, it really
knows something about the path. It fully realises how from the
bottom up, from the void of self-emptying, the way leads upwards
to liberation.
And so finally there is the unshakable certainty in this deeply
tried soul, which it expresses in rejoicing and the song of praise:
‘We will come home! We and the other souls! We have received the
inheritance!’
So ends the first repentance of Pistis Sophia.
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Jesus continued again in the discourse and said: ‘‘Pistis Sophia

again continued and still sang praises in a second repentance,
saying thus:
‘‘1. ‘Light of lights, in whom I have had faith, leave me not in the
darkness until the end of my time.
‘‘2. ‘Help me and save me through thy mysteries; incline thine ear
unto me and save me.
‘‘3. ‘May the power of thy light save me and carry me to the higher
aeons; for thou wilt save me and lead me into the height of thy
aeons.
‘‘4. ‘Save me, O Light, from the hand of this lion-faced power and
from the hands of the emanations of god Self-willed.
‘‘5. ‘For it is thou, O Light, in whose light I have had faith and in
whose light I have trusted from the beginning.
‘‘6. ‘A nd I have had faith in it from the time when it emanated me,
and thou thyself didst make me to emanate; and I have had faith in
thy light from the beginning.
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‘‘7. ‘A nd when I had faith in thee, the rulers of the aeons mocked at
me, saying: She hath ceased in her mystery. Thou art my saviour
and thou art my deliverer and thou art my mystery, O Light.
‘‘8. ‘My mouth was filled with glorifying, that I may tell of the
mystery of thy grandeur at all times.
‘‘9. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, leave me not in the chaos for the com-
pletion of my whole time; forsake me not, O Light.
‘‘10. ‘For all the emanations of Self-willed have taken from me my

whole light-power and have surrounded me. They desired to take
away my whole light from me utterly and have set a watch on my
power,
‘‘11. ‘Saying one to another together: The Light hath forsaken her,
let us seize her and take away the whole light in her.
‘‘12. ‘Therefore then, O Light, cease not from me; turn thee, O Light,
and save me from the hands of the merciless.
‘‘13. ‘May they who would take away my power, fall down and
become powerless. May they who would take away my light-
power from me, be enwrapped in darkness and sink into powerless-
ness.’
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‘‘This then is the second repentance which Pistis Sophia hath

uttered, singing praises to the Light.’’
It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished speaking these words
unto his disciples, that he said unto them: ‘‘Do ye understand in
what manner I discourse with you ?’’
And Peter started forward and said unto Jesus: ‘‘My Lord, we will
not endure this woman, for she taketh the opportunity from us and
hath let none of us speak, but she discourseth many times.’’
And Jesus answered and said unto his disciples: ‘‘Let him in whom
the power of his spirit shall seethe, so that he understandeth what I
say, come forward and speak. But now, Peter, I see thy power in thee,
that it understandeth the solution of the mystery of the repentance
which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. Now, therefore, Peter, speak the
thought of her repentance in the midst of thy brethren.’’
And Peter answered and said unto Jesus: ‘‘‘O Lord, give ear that I
may speak the thought of her repentance, of which aforetime thy
power prophesied through the prophet David, uttering her repent-
ance in the seventieth Psalm:
‘‘1. ‘O God, my God, I have trusted in thee, let me no more be put

to shame for ever.
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‘‘2. ‘Save me in thy righteousness and set me free; incline thine ear
unto me and save me.
‘‘3. ‘Be unto me a strong God and a firm place to save me; for thou
art my strength and my refuge.
‘‘4. ‘My God, save me from the hand of the sinner and from the
hand of the transgressor and from the impious [one].
‘‘5. ‘For thou art my endurance, O Lord, thou art my hope from my
youth up.
‘‘6. ‘I have trusted myself to thee from my mother’s womb; thou

hast brought me out of my mother’s womb. My remembrance is
ever in thee.
‘‘7. ‘I have become as the crazy for many; thou art my help and my
strength, thou art my deliverer, O Lord.
‘‘8. ‘My mouth was filled with glorifying, that I may praise the
glory of thy splendour the whole day long.
‘‘9. ‘Cast me not away in the time of age; if my soul fades, forsake
me not.
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‘‘10. ‘For mine enemies have spoken evil against me and they who
lay in wait for my soul, have taken counsel against my soul,
‘‘11. ‘Saying together: God hath forsaken him; pursue and seize
him, for there is no saviour.
‘‘12. ‘God, give heed to my help.
‘‘13. ‘Let them be ashamed and destroyed who calumniate my soul.

Let them be enwrapped in shame and disgrace who seek evil
against me.’
‘‘This then is the solution of the second repentance which Pistis

Sophia hath uttered.’’
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Second repentance: the Song of Consciousness
39
We have observed that the thirteen repentances, which Pistis

Sophia sings before the Thirteenth Aeon, refer to the thirteen in-
itiations of the soul, the thirteen changes of the ordinary soul-
state, before the image bearer can be considered suitable for com-
mencing the great work of re-creation.
No matter how much you may long, no matter how dedicated
you are to the great goal, you are fundamentally unsuitable to
commence the great work of change, because the entire state of
your consciousness is attuned in its function to dialectical life.
Your soul therefore has to be made suitable not only for react-
ing to different magnetic radiations, but at the same time for de-
flecting the dialectical radiations, for making itself unsusceptible
to them, and for shielding itself from them in an organic sense.
This preparatory process has thirteen aspects, and these aspects
are both dramatic and joyful. In order to achieve a glorious
ascent, the soul must first struggle through a very deep passage.
No candidate can be spared this thirteenfold process. Everything
that we have discussed in the life of Pistis Sophia is an aspect in the
life of every candidate on the path of transfiguration.
Briefly this process was as follows: a person feels attracted to
the Rosycross for some serious reason. There is an inner longing
to go the path. He makes a link with the Rosycross and enters into
the magnetic field of the Lectorium Rosicrucianum. His soul will
have to adapt itself to this new magnetic field, and so this human
being will have to lay down his old nature, functionally, organi-
cally, and electromagnetically.
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He is not suitable in his ordinary state of being for commenc-

ing the great work, and therefore he is left alone to carry out the
preparatory work. During his whole life, this person has allowed
himself to be led by his dialectical consciousness, his dialectical
will and mind, and by the astral fluid of the nature of death.
Inside the new magnetic field, this control by Authades is at-
tacked in its fundamental state, and therefore the candidate enters
into opposition. He resists the coming changes. Two magnetic
fields are colliding. The new one cannot yet enter; it cannot yet
have any effect, and the old field, meeting resistance, works with
redoubled energy.
The highly magical will of the old nature tries to give the can-
didate what he longs for: gnostic fulfilment and touch. And so this
person enters the experience of delusion and he experiences all the
consequences. He has to discover that all the buildings put up by
Authades are houses of cards that tumble down completely. When
a person has used his will power very forcefully and with the
magic of his will has built dream castles, then he has to undergo a
deep disappointment when these castles vanish into thin air. And
so, in this way, the candidate experiences that he can attain abso-
lutely nothing in the gnostic sense with his dialectical will.
This gives him the experience of a very strong psychological
reaction. Philosophical comprehension alone is not enough;
there has to be a deep inner knowledge to enable the process to
be achieved. And so the candidate, who has experienced the dis-
appointment of the impotence of his will, slumps down in his dis-
illusionment. He deeply experiences his own erroneous beha-
viour. And because he is serious in his striving, he begins to
carry out the one and only correct action: he shows remorse. He
does not harden his heart, and he does not hang on to his pride
with determination. He has discovered that he has absolutely no
ability and no talent to go the path, although a great longing lives
within him.
This is a very disillusioning discovery, especially for people
with a strong personality, people who have attained everything
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in ordinary life by applying their will and their energy or by apply-

ing certain tactics. It is very painful for such a person to experi-
ence: ‘Here I am; I am nothing. I am just an impotent, pitiful
wretch. All I have is a pure longing for the new life.’
However, it is this state that is the psychological basis for the
thirteen repentances. This person feels remorse, not because he
has done anything wrong, because he can do nothing else, but
he is remorseful about his fundamental unsuitability. He perceives
his state completely. He is therefore not feeling remorse for a
wrongful act, but he is experiencing the remorse of self-discovery.
It is however possible for such remorse to be negative. It is pos-
sible to crystallise in this remorse, with lowered head and glance
turned to the earth: a downcast person who thought he could take
heaven by storm.
But after such a negative period, the longing can surface once
again, and then this person can begin to invoke the light, but in a
totally different way than before. He begins to sing his first repent-
ance, a song consisting of thirty-six verses. He sings the Song of
Humanity.
First he describes his own situation, his distress, his deep fall.
He describes his enemies, those who attack and surround him on
all sides. He is ashamed of the example he gives. He tells of his
own impotence and his isolation. He is engaged strongly with
his own fate and its consequences. But, as this first repentance is
the Song of Humanity, he looks around in his self-complaint and
for the first time he sees everyone’s immeasurable woe; he sees the
world writhing in agony. He sees how everyone is submerged in
ignorance and rushing towards death at full speed. And now he
discovers that in this race he has one advantage over the rest of
humanity. He knows his own state; he is experiencing the realisa-
tion of impotence; his belief in the supremacy of the will has run
its course.
Everyone else is still wandering along the journey of destruc-
tion, but he has come to a psychological standstill. He now knows
that he can do something for others. And so the first repentance
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ends in gladness. Humanity is served by his experience and by the

belief that behind all this there is a deep meaning. And so the
words: ‘Let all praise Him, for the Gnosis will save everyone.’
And so ends the Song of Humanity, the first repentance.
A remarkable change has occurred in the candidate, as you will
understand. Never again, under any circumstances, will he force
his will. Self-aggrandisement has become alien to him. He knows
too much about himself and his possibilities. He has been broken
open for the suffering of the world.
In this state he commences the second repentance. This song con-

sists of thirteen verses. It is the Song of Consciousness, which is
interpreted in the Pistis Sophia by Peter, just as Mary interpreted
the Song of Humanity. In the Song of Consciousness, the candi-
date experiences the following.
1. His consciousness begins to testify of an unshakable faith in

God.
2. His consciousness gives evidence that there is gnostic justice
to which every candidate can ascend.
3. His consciousness knows that there is a gnostic force that can
touch him in his natural state and that he can live, work, and
act from and by this force in the nature of death. His con-
sciousness is experiencing this force and stands in the cer-
tainty of it.
4. His consciousness knows that it is this force that can liberate
him from the nature of death.
5. The candidate makes the wonderful discovery that this glor-
ious faculty has lived in him from the beginning of his youth,
but that it has been suppressed by the ordinary natural state.
6. This liberating element was present even before he was born.
Is it not existentially connected to the nucleus principle of his
microcosm, the rose of the heart?
7. Therefore you, oh heart of the rose, are my refuge.
8. Let my mouth be filled daily with your praise. Let me
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become more and more conscious of your glory.

9. The humble prayer follows: I know that although I am an
image bearer, I am a finite being, a mortal creature whose vi-
tality perishes and who will diminish in his usefulness to
you. Do not reject me when my abilities diminish.
10. I am clearly conscious of having to use every second, because
all the powers of dialectics are doing everything they can to
keep me imprisoned by virtue of my nature and my birth.
They conspire constantly about the method they can use to
reinforce my shackles.
11. Whoever does not have God, does not possess God, does
not know God. The person who possesses the Gnosis is con-
stantly judged and addressed from such a state of ignorance.
And so the ignorant say: ‘He is amongst us. He is a man born
of blood. He eats and drinks and sleeps as we do. He just acts
differently. He speaks of a New Life. He testifies of a Gnosis
that is not ours and that we do not know. Nor does he know
God. This God does not exist; his state of life is a figment of
his imagination. And even if this Gnosis did exist, then it has
obviously abandoned its servant. Persecute him! Seize him!
There is no saviour, and he is causing unrest.’
12. And so the Song of Consciousness ends in a culminating
longing: Oh Gnosis, wondrous grace, stay near me!
13. Bring them to shame! Save me, for your name’s sake!
This is not a cry of fear, as in the first song, but a testimony of the
hope of life. This Song of Consciousness proves that the candidate
who can sing this song, from within, has delivered to the Gnosis
his whole twelvefold nervous system, which has its source in the
consciousness.
May we all soon gratefully sing this Song of Consciousness,
the song of the breakthrough, this second repentance.
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The Saviour answered and said unto Peter: ‘‘Finely, Peter; this is the
solution of her repentance. Blessed are ye before all men on the
earth, because I have revealed unto you these mysteries. Amen,
amen, I say unto you: I will perfect you in all fulness from the mys-
teries of the interior to the mysteries of the exterior and fill you with
the spirit, so that ye shall be called ‘spiritual, perfected in all
fulness.’ And, amen, amen, I say unto you: I will give unto you all
the mysteries of all the regions of my Father and of all the regions of
the First Mystery, so that he whom ye shall admit on earth, shall be
admitted into the Light of the height; and he whom ye shall expel
on earth, shall be expelled from the kingdom of my Father in the
heaven. But hearken, therefore, and give ear attentively to all the re-
pentances which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. She continued again
and uttered the third repentance, saying:
‘‘1. ‘O Light of powers, give heed and save me.
‘‘2. ‘May they who would take away my light, lack and be in the
darkness. May they who would take away my power, turn into
chaos and be put to shame.
‘‘3. ‘May they turn quickly to darkness, who press me sore and
say: We have become lords over her.
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‘‘4. ‘May rather all those who seek the Light, rejoice and exult, and
they who desire thy mystery, say ever: May the mystery be exalted.
‘‘5. ‘Save me then now, O Light, for I lacked my light, which they
have taken away, and I needed my power, which they have taken
from me. Thou then, O Light, thou art my saviour, and thou art
my deliverer, O Light. Save me quickly out of this chaos.’ ’’
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished speaking these words
unto his disciples, saying: ‘‘This is the third repentance of Pistis
Sophia,’’ that he said unto them: ‘‘Let him in whom a sensitive
spirit hath arisen, come forward and speak the thought of the
repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered.’’
It came to pass then, before Jesus had finished speaking, that

Martha came forward, fell down at his feet, kissed them, cried
aloud and wept with lamentation and in humbleness, saying:
‘‘My Lord, have mercy upon me and have compassion with me,
and let me speak the solution of the repentance which Pistis
Sophia hath uttered.’’
And Jesus gave his hand unto Martha and said unto her: ‘‘Blessed is
every one who humbleth himself, for on him they shall have mercy.
Now, therefore, Martha, art thou blessed. But proclaim then the
solution of the thought of the repentance of Pistis Sophia.’’
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And Martha answered and said unto Jesus in the midst of the disci-
ples: ‘‘Concerning the repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered,
O my Lord Jesus, of it thy light-power in David prophesied afore-
time in the sixty-ninth Psalm, saying:
‘‘1. ‘O Lord God, give heed to my help.
‘‘2. ‘Let them be put to shame and confounded who seek after my
soul.
‘‘3. ‘May they turn straightway and be put to shame, who say unto
me: Ha, ha.
‘‘4. ‘May all who seek thee, be joyful and exult because of thee, and
they who love thy salvation, say ever: May God be exalted.
‘‘5. ‘But I am wretched, I am poor; O Lord, help me. Thou art my

helper and defence; O Lord, delay not.’
‘‘This then is the solution of the third repentance which Pistis

Sophia hath uttered, singing praises to the height.’’
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Third repentance: the Song of Humility
40
We called Pistis Sophia’s first repentance the Song of Humanity

and the second one the Song of Consciousness.
In the Song of Humanity, Pistis Sophia, as a seeking being, re-
alises the true situation of the whole of dialectical humanity. She
beholds the good and evil of the world and humanity. In the be-
ginning, she gives herself a central position in this, and she is
ashamed of her behaviour, but in the end, love of humanity and
the salvation of the world win, and she asks for help for suffering
humanity, and in self-forgetfulness she accepts her own task in the
service of humanity. And finally she feels gratitude and joy, be-
cause, despite her own anguish, she can become a servant.
In this way the soul has commenced its pilgrimage from the
bottom up and has taken the first step on the path. This first step
means being of service to others, forgetting about oneself com-
pletely, and being totally aware of the suffering of the world and
humanity.
The second repentance, the Song of Consciousness, joins
seamlessly onto this phase, because it is the song of the break-
through. This breakthrough seizes the soul from within, so that it
can enter the rose garden.
Pistis Sophia makes the wonderful discovery that the rose of
the heart has been present in her microcosm for the whole of her
life, yes, it was present even before her birth. Hence she wants to
testify of this daily and carry the Rosycross as a servant. However,
this is accompanied by another reality, namely the fact that this
service is accompanied by great dangers, because of the very
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finite and fragile dialectical human vitality, the short life span, and
the constant series of hostilities and attacks, geared to turn every-
thing against the Gnosis.
This is why Pistis Sophia utters this one all-embracing prayer:
‘Oh Gnosis, wondrous grace, be not far from me. Shame those
who threaten me. Save me for your name’s sake.’
The awareness of self-knowledge vibrates through the candi-
date, and so he places the entire seven-armed candlestick of his con-
sciousness into the merciful field of the Gnosis.There is forgetfulness
of self and surrender to the rose of the heart; there is the giving of
service, and at the same time there is the just suspicion that the task
that has been accepted will not be fully accomplished because of op-
position. Hence there is a great realisation of impotence.
We might think that the nadir of the soul pilgrimage has now
been reached, but this is far from the truth. The process of soul
purification has hardly begun.
And so Pistis Sophia sings her third repentance, the Song of Hu-
mility. Humility refers to a state of wisdom, to a certain state of the
cerebrospinal nervous system, in particular the mental state and its
organ.
When a person is humble, he can also be long-suffering and
mild. In the second repentance there was a breakthrough of the
consciousness, and so after that, the positive centre of the con-
sciousness is attacked by the Gnosis. This centre of consciousness
is connected with the cerebrospinal nervous system, which can be
totally governed by the mentality and the will.
The first evidence of such a breakthrough is always humility. To
be able to penetrate to the significance of this state, we need to
turn our attention to the activity of the magnetic brain system by
means of which the human being is under the control of the
twelve aeons of the ordinary state of nature. For it is in this mag-
netic brain system, that we find the main organs of the cerebro-
spinal nervous system, the abode of the will and the mind. It is
here that Authades is seated on his throne.
It is possible for the candidate to be gnostically sensitive with
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the rest of his soul organs, and he may be very interested in the
things of the Spiritual School and, on this basis, enter a gnostic
Spiritual School; but no matter how important this basis is, if the
breakthrough of the consciousness has not been achieved, the can-
didate is in an extremely painful state of dividedness.
He is serving two masters, God and Mammon, not in the sense
of hypocrisy, because this is not what the Sermon on the Mount is
referring to, but because of the fact that the greatest part and the
most important part of the consciousness belongs entirely to dia-
lectical nature and is ruled by it.
For this reason, the candidate, having been linked to the Gnosis
via the rose of the heart and hence via the magnetic system of the
heart, needs to force himself to go the path. He has no alternative
but to place his ‘I’ behind this. However, in order not to lapse into
personality culture, the candidate must sing his Song of Humanity
in such a way that he can forget his own suffering and his own
state in the service of humanity. Only in the service of humanity
can the candidate forget his own suffering.
In the powerfield of a gnostic Spiritual School, the candidate is
placed entirely before his own responsibility, and he must observe
his own inner desperation and experience it like a consuming fire.
The first medicine for this state of being is service to humanity in
complete self-sacrifice.
Whoever can achieve this self-sacrifice with complete self-for-
getfulness will come to the consciousness breakthrough. Then for
the first time, the gnostic radiation enters the magnetic brain
system and the cerebrospinal nervous system is attacked. For the
first time, the gnostic fire can touch the positive pole of the ner-
vous system. The consciousness breakthrough has been achieved.
The Gnosis attacks the mentality and the will in their deepest es-
sence, and for the first time in his life, the candidate sees his own
inner state and everything connected to it in an entirely different
way. He has been enabled to do this by the gnostic light that has
penetrated the cerebrospinal nervous system. Only then has the
second repentance been sung.
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We could now expect the candidate to experience dawn after

such a dark night. But what happens? With his night conscious-
ness the candidate has experienced the reality of the nature of
death, and with his day consciousness in the light of the new
dawn, he beholds the upheaval that has been wreaked by the
storms of life. Such an experience does not cause joy.
The entire intellectual faculty is confronted for the first time by
the most intense, cutting reality, which stands cruelly and inexor-
ably before the candidate. It is here that the third repentance
begins. The entire sensory perception is changed by the gnostic
touch.
It would be quite understandable if the candidate were to be
attacked by a great fear, because seeing this truth is like seeing a
watcher on the threshold, an avenging justice, one of the Gorgons.
We could imagine such a candidate contemplating flight. How-
ever, this reaction would be very negative, and then the third
repentance could not be sung.
But Pistis Sophia does sing the third repentance and this has
taken courage, a courage based on wisdom: humility. The
humble person confronted with this harsh reality is without fear.
To the contrary, in humility he places himself without conceit,
without pride, without self-preservation and the struggle to sur-
vive, before the gnostic light that brought him self-discovery.
Hence such a person is not only humble but at the same time
mild and long-suffering. He has an immeasurable patience and
does not tear his fellow human beings apart by cutting criticism.
He is a servant who serves with compassionate love, and in this
way he or she sings the third repentance, the Song of Humility.
This song has five verses.
First of all the candidate vibrates with a prayer for liberation from
such a bitter reality;
in the second aspect he discovers the cause and the intention of the
hostility towards God;
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in the third aspect there is the awareness that all the evil of the
aeons must be neutralised;
in the fourth aspect the prayer rises up for all who suffer and seek
liberation;
and in the fifth aspect the candidate confesses his own state of
being: I am wretched and spiritually destitute; come to me quickly.
Only you are my saviour and my deliverer.
And so, on the basis of a hitherto never-beheld reality, the humbled

pilgrim confesses his faith in God. He sees the reality in all its
horror, but above all there is the courage to continue.
We hope that this tribulation will soon come to you, so that hu-
mility will be yours.
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It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Martha speak these
words, that he said unto her: ‘‘Well said, Martha, and finely.’’
And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said unto his disci-
ples: ‘‘Pistis Sophia again continued in the fourth repentance,
reciting it before she was oppressed a second time, in order that
the lion-faced power and all the material emanations with it,
which Self-willed had sent into the chaos, might not take away her
total light in her. She uttered then this repentance as follows:
‘‘1. ‘O Light, in whom I have trusted, give ear to my repentance,

and let my voice reach unto thy dwelling-place.
‘‘2. ‘Turn not away thy light-image from me, but have heed unto
me, if they oppress me; and save me quickly at the time when I
shall cry unto thee.
‘‘3. ‘For my time is vanished like a breath and I am become matter.
‘‘4. ‘They have taken my light from me, and my power is dried up. I
have forgotten my mystery which heretofore I was wont to accom-
plish.
‘‘5. ‘Because of the voice of the fear and the power of Self-willed
my power is vanished.
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‘‘6. ‘I am become as a demon apart, who dwelleth in matter and

light is not in him, and I am become as a counterfeiting spirit,
which is in a material body and light-power is not in it.
‘‘7. ‘A nd I am become as a decan who is alone in the air.
‘‘8. ‘The emanations of Self-willed have sore oppressed me, and

my pair hath said unto himself:
‘‘9. ‘Instead of with light which was in her, they have filled her with
chaos. I have devoured the sweat of my own matter and the anguish
of the tears from the matter of my eyes, so that they who oppress me
may not take the rest.
‘‘10. ‘All this hath befallen me, O Light, by thy commandment and
thy command, and it is thy commandment that I am here.
‘‘11. ‘Thy commandment hath brought me down, and I am descend-

ed as a power of the chaos, and my power is numbed in me.
‘‘12. ‘But thou, O Lord, art Light eternal, and dost visit them who
are for ever oppressed.
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‘‘13. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, arise and seek my power and the soul
in me. Thy commandment is accomplished, which thou didst
decree for me in my afflictions. My time is come, that thou
shouldst seek my power and my soul, and this is the time which
thou didst decree to seek me.
‘‘14. ‘For thy saviours have sought the power which is in my soul,
because the number is completed, and in order that also its matter
may be saved.
‘‘15. ‘A nd then at that time shall all the rulers of the material aeons
be in fear of thy light, and all the emanations of the thirteenth
material aeon shall be in fear of the mystery of thy light, so that
the others may put on the purification of their light.
‘‘16. ‘For the Lord will seek the power of your soul. He hath revealed
his mystery,
‘‘17. ‘So that he may regard the repentance of them who are in the
regions below; and he hath not disregarded their repentance.
‘‘18. ‘This is then that mystery which is become the type in respect
of the race which shall be born; and the race which shall be born
will sing praises to the height.
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‘‘19. ‘For the Light hath looked down from the height of its light. It
will look down on the total matter,ç
‘‘20. ‘To hear the sighing of those in chains, to loose the power of the
souls whose power is bound.
‘‘21. ‘So that it may lay its name in the soul and its mystery in the
power.’ ’’
It came to pass while Jesus spake these words unto his disciples,
saying unto them: ‘‘This is the fourth repentance which Pistis
Sophia hath uttered; now, therefore, let him who understandeth, un-
derstand,’’ ç it came to pass then, when Jesus had spoken these
words, that John came forward, adored the breast of Jesus and said
unto him: ‘‘My Lord, give commandment to me also, and grant me
to speak the solution of the fourth repentance which Pistis Sophia
hath uttered.’’
Jesus said unto John: ‘‘I give thee commandment, and I grant thee
to speak the solution of the repentance which Pistis Sophia hath
uttered.’’
John answered and said: ‘‘My Lord and Saviour, concerning this
repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, thy light-power
which was in David, hath prophesied aforetime in the one
hundred-and-first Psalm:
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‘‘1. ‘Lord, give ear unto my supplication, and Iet my voice reach
unto thee.
‘‘2. ‘Turn not away thy face from me; incline thine ear unto me in
the day when I am oppressed; quickly give ear to me on the day
when I shall cry unto thee.
‘‘3. ‘For my days are vanished as smoke, and my bones are parched
as stone.
‘‘4. ‘I am scorched as the grass, and my heart is dried up; for I have
forgotten to eat my bread.
‘‘5. ‘From the voice of my groaning my bones cleaved to my flesh.
‘‘6. ‘I am become as a pelican in the desert; I am become as a

screech-owl in the house.
‘‘7. ‘I have passed the night watching; I am become as a sparrow

alone on the roof.
‘‘8. ‘My enemies have reviled me all the day long, and they who
honour me, have injured me.
‘‘9. ‘For I have eaten ashes instead of my bread and mixed my drink
with tears,
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‘‘10. ‘Because of thy wrath and thy rage; for thou hast lifted me up
and cast me down.
‘‘11. ‘My days have declined as a shadow, and I am dried up as the

grass.
‘‘12. ‘But thou, O Lord, thou endurest for ever, and thy remem-
brance unto the generation of generation[s].
‘‘13. ‘Arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time is come to have
mercy upon her; the proper time is come.
‘‘14. ‘Thy servants have longed for her stones, and will take pity on
her land.
‘‘15. ‘A nd the nations will have fear of the name of the Lord, and the
kings of the earth have fear of thy sovereignty.
‘‘16. ‘For the Lord will build up Zion and reveal himself in his sover-
eignty.
‘‘17. ‘He hath regarded the prayer of the humble and hath not
despised their supplication.
‘‘18. ‘This shall be recorded for another generation, and the people
who shall be created will praise the Lord.
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‘‘19. ‘Because he hath looked down on his holy height; the Lord
hath looked down from the heaven on the earth,
‘‘20. ‘To hear the sighing of those in chains, to loose the sons of
those who are slain,
‘‘21. ‘To proclaim the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in
Jerusalem.’
‘‘This, my Lord, is the solution of the mystery of the repentance

which Pistis Sophia hath uttered.’’
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Fourth repentance : the Song of Demolition
41
Fourth repentance: the Song of Demolition
Pistis Sophia is ready to sing her fourth repentance. Firstly we

heard the Song of Humanity, secondly the Song of Consciousness,
and thirdly the Song of Humility. Now we hear the Song of Demo-
lition.
It is very painful for the candidate to have to listen to this song,
but it is necessary on the path. It relates to a division of the soul
that arises because two voices speak in the soul-consciousness.
Two forces are acting: the Gnosis and nature. It is a psychological
situation, and every serious candidate knows this situation.
The candidate is going the path, and he is prepared to serve
humanity. He demonstrates this by the sacrifice of himself, in
which he begins to forget his own self and his own unhappiness.
In this wonderful servitude he forgets his own difficulties. But
these nevertheless remain, and their presence is evidence of the
fact that the eons of nature are still ruling the soul, and from time
to time Authades sings the highest note. Every candidate therefore
knows periods of relapse.
However, the Gnosis also speaks in the soul, and from time to
time it too makes its power felt. In the same way, the soul of Chris-
tian Rosycross at the beginning of the path lives between hope and
fear. He walks amongst depressions of the soul as on a journey
along the feet of high mountains, periodically allowing him
breath-taking views.
The soul perseveres in humility, but if the candidate is in such
need of humility, there must be something not quite in order with
the state of his psyche. He is making progress, but the fact that he
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has to have such courage to travel through this darkness of the soul
is evidence that Authades still represents a great power in the
centre of his soul. This is why there are such tremendous ups and
downs, such alternations between optimism and pessimism, such
a sequence of opposite emotions, which are not caused by nega-
tive influences, but because of self-knowledge and experience.
However, if the soul wishes to break through to the light-birth,
to the total fulfilment by the Gnosis, and if the soul wishes to
become one with the Christ-radiation, then the total demolition
of the soul-state of nature with all its well-known and unknown
behaviour is strictly necessary. It is this state of demolition, this
nadir of the soul, that is described to us in the fourth repentance.
The soul must be led to the complete non-being of nature, and it
must demonstrate this non-being, not in theory, but in practice,
just as this gnostic gospel is about to show us.
The soul needs to lose everything in order to gain everything.
The important thing is: where does the candidate lay his emphasis,
what is he prepared to lose, and what does he wish to gain?
In the first three repentances the soul is struggling with its clea-
vage, and two opposing forces are motivating it. Now Pistis
Sophia is trying to allow the Gnosis to become the leading factor
in this state. And so she aims constantly at the path with leads to
victory. This victory surpasses the stage of grim-faced determina-
tion. Nevertheless the situation is not ideal.
Of course the fact that a victory has been attained is in itself
very good, but obviously the fact that there is something within
the self that has to be defeated is, in itself, very significant. This
victory shows the cleavage of the soul, and so we can say that
those who laugh the loudest and thus try to hide their difficulties
are those who are most seized by grief and are trying hopelessly to
fight this with the weapons of laughter. What is necessary to finish
this alternation of success and relapse is the total demolition of the
soul-force of nature. The soul of nature must be brought to its total
non-being, and this state must be clearly demonstrated.
In the fourth repentance Pistis Sophia shows that she has made
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a great self-discovery. She sees that whoever lives in this fight of

the cleavage of the self has only empty victories. Pistis Sophia is
able to forget herself in service to others. She loves humanity, and
the Gnosis has been able to create a breakthrough in her. This
mode of life is the gain she has made after singing the first three
repentances. She lives totally in humility, which means to say that
she perseveres without any egocentricity.
But now she observes that whoever is fighting this battle has
lost from the start and so cannot enter the liberating life.You know
the words, ‘Whoever fights with the sword, shall die by the sword.’
Whoever tries to repress the raging forces that prevail in the depth
of the soul and initially succeeds in this, will ultimately find that
everything repressed will come back with redoubled force. The
long-repressed forces will increase in strength and will come
back with such power that they seem to be irresistible. The more
fiercely we oppose the irresistible force within, the more fiercely
we will be attacked in return. Any kind of fighting against our
own self is in deepest essence totally pointless.
The pupil on the path is fighting against his own natural state.
In this struggle he becomes weaker and weaker, because he is work-
ing with dialectical means. After all, fighting is a dialectical
method. By means of combat he is trying to deny the reality of
his nature-birth and hence reality itself.
This can be done for a certain length of time, but there is a limit.
All the laws of nature prove that nature will always reassert itself.
What appeared to be valuable in the first three songs of repentance
and initially brought success now turns out to be useless, because
nature, which had been so long resisted, now reasserts itself. The
humility that Pistis Sophia now possesses enables her to accept
the truth and the reality, the reality of the words of Christ: ‘Who-
ever fights with the sword, shall die by the sword.’ At a certain
moment Pistis Sophia leaves the arena of combat and stops resist-
ing the rights of nature.
It is important that you understand this psychological sit-
uation very well. It is certainly not the case that Pistis Sophia wel-
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comes nature with joy and enthusiasm and makes herself subser-
vient to it. This would be impossible. As a seeker for divine
wisdom and detachment, Pistis Sophia has a divided soul. There
are two souls in her centre: one living from the fundamental
divine radiation and the other living from the dialectical magnetic
field.
The soul that lives out of the fundamental radiation ceases its
fight against its companion of nature, but this companion still
goes on existing. Discovering that fighting just makes the nature-
soul stronger, the soul ceases its fight and even turns the other
cheek when it is struck on one cheek. And so, psychologically
and consciously, the soul enters the state of eminent impotence.
In this way the soul terminates the opposites and wins without a
fight.
It works amongst people as well. If one person wishes to start a
fight with another, but the latter does not wish to enter into it, then
such a psychological fortress can never be captured. The comba-
tant is disarmed, and the differences are resolved. All that remains
is the mutually unassailable psychological values. When the soul
applies the mode of life of the Sermon on the Mount, it becomes
unassailable. If the soul fights, it loses, because this is a dialectical
way of doing things.
How can the soul surmount the state of nature and awaken in
the Light of Lights? How can the nature-state perish without a
fight? Will the heart of the rose not be mutilated, and will the
soul fluids not be damaged and sullied, and does the soul have to
accept all these troubles?
The great secret lies in the termination of the opposites. Nature
strikes the soul because it fights against nature. If the candidate
can apply the principle of non-action completely spontaneously
from within, without trying to make a point to others, and dissoci-
ate himself mentally, he will terminate the contrast between nature
and the longing of the soul. Immediately rest and peace come, and
the candidate on the path becomes unassailable. If the candidate
will not allow himself to be tempted into combat and so con-
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sciously terminates the opposites, he will immediately become

free from dialectics, because dialectics is always motivated by op-
posites.
The only thing left then is the casting-off of appearances.
Through the intense conflict between the two soul values the can-
didate has conquered apparent values, and in the beginning he in-
dulges these apparent successes, just as a child talks to its dolls and
vivifies them in its fantasies. And just as a child outgrows these
fantasies and exchanges them for reality, the candidate needs to
outgrow his fantasies. He needs to demolish the opposites and
the false values and to sing the Song of Demolition with a loud,
clear voice. Whoever cannot understand this way and keeps to
the old, well-known methods will see his days go up like smoke,
and his bones will roar like a fire. Such a person will fall from one
tribulation of nature into the other, and the gnostic touch will
keep away.
But whoever can release the reality of the true candidature in
the way described above will acknowledge that the candidate on
the path is a prisoner, who can face the window in his prison by
terminating the opposites for the first time in his life; and through
this window he will be able to send the first pure longing of the
soul to the Light of Lights.
We hope that you will be able to understand the Song of De-
molition and that you will be able to sing it, because then you will
become ripe to participate in the new magnetic field, the new life-
field in its Seven-power. By this we mean that the fundamental ra-
diation that is formed and fed in the soul through pupilship will
begin to split into the reforming, transfiguring Seven-power.
Combat is the essence of dialectics. In the dialectical field of life,
you will always hear of wars and rumours of wars, great and small.
The candidate within you, the soul element, must free itself from
combat, both inwardly and outwardly. Then the candidate, the soul
element, will grow, because it has overcome the grip of opposites
by the heat of the fire and of the Holy Spirit, and it will break forth
into the Seven-power with tremendous consequences.
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It came to pass then, when John had finished speaking these words
to Jesus in the midst of his disciples, that he said unto him: ‘‘Well
said, John, the Virgin, who shalt rule in the kingdom of the Light.’’
And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said unto his disci-
ples: ‘‘It came to pass again thus: The emanations of Self-willed
again oppressed Pistis Sophia in the chaos and desired to take
from her her whole light; and not yet was her commandment ac-
complished, to lead her out of the chaos, and not yet had the
command reached me through the First Mystery, to save her out of
the chaos. It came to pass then, when all the material emanations of
Self-willed oppressed her, that she cried out and uttered the fifth
repentance, saying:
‘‘1. ‘Light of my salvation, I sing praise unto thee in the region of

the height and again in the chaos.
‘‘2. ‘I sing praise unto thee in my hymn with which I sang praise in
the height and with which I sang praise unto thee when I was in the
chaos. Let it come into thy presence, and give heed, O Light, to my
repentance.
‘‘3. ‘For my power is filled up with darkness, and my light hath

gone down into the chaos.
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‘‘4. ‘I am myself become as the rulers of the chaos, who are gone
into the darknesses below; I am become as a material body, which
hath no one in the height who will save it.
‘‘5. ‘I am become also as matters from which their power hath been
taken, when they are cast down into the chaos, ç [matters] which
thou hast not saved, and they are condemned utterly by thy com-
mandment.
‘‘6. ‘Now, therefore, have they put me into the darkness below,çin
darknesses and matters which are dead and in them [is] no power.
‘‘7. ‘Thou hast brought thy commandment upon me and all things
which thou hast decreed.
‘‘8. ‘A nd thy spirit hath withdrawn and abandoned me. And

moreover by thy commandment the emanations of my aeon have
not helped me and have hated me and separated themselves from
me, and yet am I not utterly destroyed.
‘‘9. ‘A nd my light is diminished in me, and I have cried up to the

light with all the light in me, and I have stretched forth my hands
unto thee.
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‘‘10. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, wilt thou not accomplish thy com-
mandment in the chaos, and will not the deliverers, who come ac-
cording to thy commandment, arise in the darkness and come and
be disciples for thee?
‘‘11. ‘Will they not utter the mystery of thy name in the chaos?
‘‘12. ‘Or will they not rather utter thy name in a matter of the chaos,
in which thou wilt not [thyself] purify?
‘‘13. ‘But I have sung praises unto thee, O Light, and my repentance
will reach unto thee in the height.
‘‘14. ‘Let thy light come upon me,
‘‘15. ‘For they have taken my light, and I am in pain on account of the
Light from the time when I was emanated. And when I had looked
into the height to the Light, then I looked down below at the light-
power in the chaos; I rose up and went down.
‘‘16. ‘Thy commandment came upon me, and the terrors, which
thou didst decree for me, have brought me into delusion.
‘‘17. ‘A nd they have surrounded me, in numbers as water, they have

laid hold on me together all my time.
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‘‘18. ‘A nd by thy commandment thou hast not suffered my fellow-

emanations to help me, nor hast thou suffered my pair to save me
out of my afflictions.’
‘‘This then is the fifth repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered in
the chaos, when all the material emanations of Self-willed had con-
tinued and oppressed her.’’
When then Jesus had spoken these words unto his disciples, he said
unto them: ‘‘Who hath ears to hear, Iet him hear; and let him whose
spirit seetheth up in him, come forward and speak the solution of
the thought of the fifth repentance of Pistis Sophia.’’
And when Jesus had finished saying these words, Philip started
forward, held up and laid down the book in his hand,çfor he is
the scribe of all the discourses which Jesus spake, and of all of that
which he did,çPhilip then came forward and said unto him: ‘‘My
Lord, surely then it is not on me alone that thou hast enjoined to
take care for the world and write down all the discourses which
we shall speak and [all we shall] do? And thou hast not suffered me
to come forward to speak the solution of the mysteries of the
repentance of Pistis Sophia. For my spirit hath ofttimes seethed in
me and been unloosed and constrained me to come forward and
speak the solution of the repentance of Pistis Sophia; and I could
not come forward because I am the scribe of all the discourses.’’
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It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Philip, that he said unto
him: ‘‘Hearken, Philip, blessed one, that I may discourse with thee;
for it is thou and Thomas and Matthew on whom it is enjoined by
the First Mystery to write all the discourses which I shall speak and
[all which I shall] do, and all things which ye shall see. But as for thee,
the number of the discourses which thou hast to write, is so far not
yet completed. When it is then completed, thou art to come
forward and proclaim what pleaseth thee. Now, therefore, ye three
have to write down all the discourses which I shall speak and [all
things which I shall] do and which ye shall see, in order that ye
may bear witness to all things of the kingdom of heaven.’’
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Fifth repentance: the Song of Resignation
42
The fourth repentance, the Song of Demolition, refers to the cessa-

tion of all conflict and the ending of the pupil’s own antitheses.
In regard to this repentance, the Pistis Sophia refers to Psalm 102
in which the atmosphere of the Song of Demolition is expressed
very lucidly. The fundamental and direct cessation of all conflict is
very radical, and it can take a long time within this process before
the pupil can sing this repentance. Nevertheless, in this fourth
repentance the only solution lies in truly transcending the I-con-
sciousness and subsequently entering into the soul-conscious-
ness.
If the state or vibration of the soul that is the pupil within you
fights against the dialectical soul-state within you, then it will
always lose, because this is entering into the great conflict of dia-
lectics, into the continuous process of the interchange of oppo-
sites. This strengthens the ordinary I-consciousness because this
grows through conflict, and so if the developing soul-state in the
pupil allows itself to be dragged into this conflict, it will lose.
If a person wants to go the way of the Gnosis, the growing new
principle of life within has to enter the absolute state of peace de-
spite its alienation in a hostile land. As long as it maintains the
state of peace, no harm can come to it.
When Pistis Sophia sings the fourth repentance, we could sup-
pose that she is immediately lifted into the light, but this is by no
means so. For Jesus says, ‘... not yet had the command reached me
through the First Mystery, to save her out of the chaos.’
Why not? Because in the first instance there has to be: reality.
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The facts have to speak for themselves. There must be a question of

possession. The situation that emanates from the Song of Demolition
has to be proven. And so a fifth repentance must follow the fourth.
We would like to call the fifth repentance the Song of Resigna-
tion. This period of the fifth repentance has to be properly recog-
nised psychologically by the pupil, because all sorts of unforeseen
situations will occur.
The help of the gnostic light-radiations, which are there to
touch the pupil in order to fulfil him and to impel him, are always
close at hand, as is the help of the serving Brotherhood which
comes to explain the path to him, in addition to the School,
which admits the pupil into a magnetic field in which he can live
and grow.
However, a person can also imitate the Song of Demolition
with his I-consciousness; it is possible to act out the role of the
demolished human being in the gnostic sense.
This does not mean that such a person is living a lie, because
the longing I, that is the person longing for rest and balance, prac-
tises all kinds of tactics. When the pupil hears that he must cease
all conflict in the development of the process, then the I, against its
own nature, will begin to act out non-conflict and self-surrender,
self-sacrifice. Then non-violence becomes the military tactics of
nature. Some people have become very advanced in these military
tactics. The I then dresses itself in the white veils of peace and imi-
tates pupilship. The stage of life shows this in innumerable scenes,
and the dramatic arts help to show this. The I can imitate anything.
The self-conscious, thinking, intelligent human being can try to
obtain and to experience a reality by an attitude of culture, but
this is absolutely impossible.
And so when a human being sings the gnostic Song of Demo-
lition, it has to be shown whether this is an experience in the gnos-
tic sense, or whether this is an imitation. The hallmark of genuine-
ness can be achieved only in the heat of everyday life, in other
words, through experience. When a human being is faced with a
crisis in life, in actual danger, when things directly threaten the I,
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then all theatricality and the whole surface layer of culture will col-
lapse, although even then there are individuals who can still hang
on to their role. Such people end up being swallowed by death.
Pistis Sophia enters a crisis during the fifth song of repentance:
her state of being has to be proven. This is why the Song of Demo-
lition has to be followed by the Song of Resignation. This is not a
song of heroism, because heroism, when driven into a corner, is a
state of being possessed. It is a state of unreality; it is an untrue
state. No, Pistis Sophia is resigned to her fate. Afflicted by her suf-
fering, she does not say, ‘I feel no pain’, like a heroine in a novel.
She is the pure figure of resignation in total reality.
‘‘The emanations of Self-willed [Authades] again oppressed Pistis

Sophia in the chaos and desired to take from her her whole light;
and not yet was her commandment accomplished, to lead her out
of the chaos, and not yet had the command reached me through the
First Mystery, to save her out of the chaos. It came to pass then,
when all the material emanations of Self-willed [Authades] op-
pressed her, that she cried out and uttered the fifth repentance. ...’’
This song comes out like the scream of a battered person. What
does she scream about? Her suffering and sorrow. What does she
profess? In the flood of bitter experience that washes over her, and
marked by the stigma of anguish that she has not tried to deny, she
gives testimony of her resignation with the overwhelmingly beau-
tiful words:
‘‘ ‘Light of my salvation, I sing praise unto thee in the region of the

height and again in the chaos.
Tremendously sublime and beautiful, this is resignation. This is

soul-consciousness and soul-greatness.
It is on this sign, on this proven reality, that the fifth repentance
rests. While the creatures of Authades continue to oppress her, she
keeps singing this fifth repentance.
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Chapter 42
But now the Pistis Sophia, before continuing the description of the
repentances, interrupts with an interlude in chapter 42. It describes
a so-called disagreement in the circle of disciples.
Jesus had said: ‘‘Who hath ears to hear, let him hear; and let him
whose spirit seetheth up in him, come forward and speak the solu-
tion of the thought of the fifth repentance of Pistis Sophia.’’
Philip is indignant about this and says that he cannot write and
speak at the same time, for he had been instructed to record all that
was said, and so he had no opportunity to speak. Jesus’ answer is:
‘‘...it is thou and Thomas and Matthew on whom it is enjoined by the

First Mystery to write all the discourses which I shall speak and [all
which I shall] do, and all things which ye shall see. But as for thee, the
number of the discourses which thou hast to write, is so far not yet
completed. When it is then completed, thou art to come forward
and proclaim what pleaseth thee. Now, therefore, ye three have to
write down all the discourses which I shall speak and [all things
which I shall] do and which ye shall see, in order that ye may bear
witness to all things of the kingdom of heaven.’’
This apparently strange interlude has a very deep meaning. The

three disciples together personify the Seven-Force of the magnetic
field of a fully-grown transfiguristic Spiritual School:
Philip symbolizes the sidereal radiation,
Matthew the fundamental radiation,
and Thomas the four etheric radiations.
There are three witnesses in heaven and three witnesses on earth:
the Spirit, the water, and the bloodçthe touch, the fulfilment, and
the realisation: ‘I shall write my spirit in your hearts.’ The water of
life must be poured out and will form a river on which you must
travel. The blood is the lifeblood of renewal. Whoever allows these
processes to carry out their work in the complete resignation of
the fifth repentance will wake up to life out of all danger.
You will therefore understand that after the Song of Resigna-
tion, a totally different development begins to appear before
318
Pistis Sophia. For in this state she has given proof that, after the
fourth repentance, her I is not rising up once again in order to
maintain herself in some form. Although full of suffering, she re-
mains loyal to the path and its laws.
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Chapter 42
When then Jesus had said this, he said unto his disciples: ‘‘Who
hath ears to hear, let him hear.’’
Mary started forward again, stepped into the midst, placed herself
by Philip and said unto Jesus: ‘‘My Lord, my in-dweller of light hath
ears, and I am ready to hear with my power, and I have understood
the word which thou hast spoken. Now, therefore, my Lord, hearken
that I may discourse in openness, thou who hast said unto us: ‘Who
bath ears to hear, let him hear.’
‘‘Concerning the word which thou hast spoken unto Philip:’It is

thou and Thomas and Matthew on whom it hath been enjoinedç
to you three by the First Mystery, to write all the discourses of the
kingdom of the Light and thereto to bear witness’; hearken, there-
fore, that I may proclaim the solution of this word. This is what thy
light-power prophesied aforetime through Moses: ‘By two or three
witnesses shall every matter be established.’ The three witnesses
are Philip and Thomas and Matthew.’’
It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard this word, that he said:
‘‘Well said, Mary, this is the solution of the word. Now, therefore, do
thou, Philip, come forward and proclaim the solution of the fifth
repentance of Pistis Sophia, and thereafter take thy seat and write
all the discourses which I shall speak, until the number of thy
portion which thou hast to write of the words of the kingdom of
the Light is completed. Then shalt thou come forward and speak
320
what thy spirit shall understand. But do thou then now proclaim the
solution of the fifth repentance of Pistis Sophia.’’
And Philip answered and said unto Jesus: ‘‘My Lord, hearken that I
may speak the solution of her repentance. For thy power hath
prophesied aforetime concerning it through David in the eighty-
seventh Psalm,* saying:
‘‘1. ‘Lord, God of my salvation, by day and by night have I cried

unto thee.
‘‘2. ‘Let my weeping come before thee; incline thine ear to my sup-
plication, O Lord.
‘‘3. ‘For my soul is full of evil, my life hath drawn nigh to the world
below.
‘‘4. ‘I am counted among them who have gone down into the pit; I
am become as a man who bath no helper.
‘‘5. ‘The free among the dead are as the slain who are thrown away
and sleep in tombs, whom thou no more rememberest, and they are
destroyed through thy hands.
* The text that follows is actually from Psalm 88.
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Chapter 42
‘‘6. ‘They have set me in a pit below, in darkness and shadow of

death.
‘‘7. ‘Thy wrath hath settled down upon me and all thy cares have
come upon me. (Selah.)
‘‘8. ‘Thou hast put away mine acquaintances far from me; they
have made me an abomination for them. They have abandoned
me, and I cannot go forth.
‘‘9. ‘My eye hath become dim in my misery; I have cried unto thee,
O Lord, the whole day and have stretched forth my hands unto thee.
‘‘10. ‘Wilt thou not surely work thy wonders on the dead ? Will not
surely the physicians arise and confess thee?
‘‘11. ‘Will they not surely proclaim thy name in the tombs,
‘‘12. ‘A nd thy righteousness in a land which thou hast forgotten?
‘‘13. ‘But I have cried unto thee, O Lord, and my prayer shall reach
thee early in the morning.
‘‘14. ‘Turn not thy face away from me.
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‘‘15. ‘For I am miserable, I am in sorrow from my youth up. And

when I had exalted myself, I humbled myself and arose.
‘‘16. ‘Thy angers are come upon me and thy terrors have brought
me into delusion.
‘‘17. ‘They have surrounded me as water; they have seized upon me

the whole day long.
‘‘18. ‘My fellows hast thou kept far from me and my acquaintances
from my misery.’
‘‘This is then the solution of the mystery of the fifth repentance

which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, when she was oppressed in the
chaos.’’
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Chapter 43
43
The mystery of the fifth repentance
We would like to draw your attention to the 43 rd chapter of the

Pistis Sophia, which, after the seemingly strange story about the
three witnesses, contains a commentary on the fifth repentance,
which we have called the Song of Resignation.
When a pupil is able to sing the fifth repentance, this is the con-
sequence of the feelings that Philip expresses. The three characters
of Matthew, Philip, and Thomas refer to the magnetic field of a
fully-fledged transfiguristic spiritual school.
Matthew symbolises the fundamental radiation, Philip the
sidereal radiation, and Thomas the four ether radiations. They are
the three witnesses who are one and who represent and radiate the
Sevenspirit of the Gnosis with their whole personality. This sym-
bolism may be difficult to understand, but the gnostic way of
thinking does not see the three disciples in their historical signifi-
cance, but as a reference to the aspects of the gnostic intervention.
To gnostics, the twelve disciples symbolise the twelve aspects
of the gnostic intervention, and these aspects can be functionally
and scientifically determined. The names of the disciples have not
been chosen at random, but through the derivation of their mean-
ings, they can be linked to the functions they represent. The ambi-
ence in which these names occur in the Bible is also related to
these meanings.
In this context Matthew represents ‘the beginning’; Philip ‘the
continuation’ that encompasses everything and therefore writes it
down, as it were; and Thomas represents ‘the actualisation’;çhe
wants to make things concrete. Hence:
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Matthew is the fundamental radiationçthe beginning,

Philip is the astral radiationçthe fulfilment of the soul,
Thomas is the holy foodsçthe actualising forces.
At the end of the 42 nd chapter, Philip is protesting against the fact

that, because of his function, he is never given the opportunity of
giving an ‘explanation’ of the meaning of the repentances of Pistis
Sophia.
How are we to understand this? We usually understand an ‘ex-
planation’ to mean an illumination of something that is dark to us;
an explanation serves to help us understand. However, an explana-
tion in the gnostic sense can be an illumination, a clarification in
the literal sense.
This is why many people have been attracted to this gnostic
gospel, because they experience its effect as clarifying, as illumi-
nating, as illustrating, within their own being. By delving into this
gnostic gospelçin the right wayçwe can release forces that are
full of grace and can act in a supporting and helping fashion. We
should therefore understand the words of Philip to mean that he
wants to help the pilgrim and wants to fill him with his light.
Pistis Sophia is linked to the light. The sidereal light lives in her
soul, and because of the principle of non-conflict of the fourth
repentance, the sidereal soul principle of the Gnosis cannot act in
a substituting capacity; it cannot help by substituting.
And so we can observe how Pistis Sophia’s being sinks down
in impotence and is victimised by her earthly soul force, while this
same human being in fact has access to a new liberating soul
potential, which unfortunately cannot intervene in a liberating ca-
pacity. It must stand and watch this suffering continue. This is why
Philip wants to intervene; he wants to help in order to raise the
soul into the light.
So here is indeed a psychological conflict, a psychological
problem: theoretically and potentially there is the ability to lift
oneself up into the new field of life, while at the same time, the
time for this has not yet arrived because the candidate has not
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Chapter 43
fully completed the struggle on his earthly path. Premature raising

up would irrevocably avenge itself later.On the other hand it is not
good to stem the urge for life renewal, which lives exuberantly in
the soul. This is why the Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘Now, therefore, do thou, Philip, come forward and proclaim the

solution of the fifth repentance of Pistis Sophia, and thereafter
take thy seat and write all the discourses which I shall speak, until
the number of thy portion which thou hast to write of the words of
the kingdom of the Light is completed. Then shalt thou come
forward and speak what thy spirit shall understand.’’
The sidereal light is permitted to give one impetus to Pistis Sophia.

One illumination is allowed, and this is what brings resignation, as
you will understand.
We have noticed that after every repentance there was an ex-
planation, there was an illumination, especially for the candidate
who was ready for it. And so we see that Pistis Sophia is never
left alone, even in her sunken state. Every phase is followed by an
adaptive reaction, and this whole pilgrimage fits completely in the
process that the pupil must go. The links are forged onto the chain
until the required number is complete.
When we read Philip’s explanation carefully, the first question
that arises is: on what ground does the resignation of Pistis Sophia
in the fifth repentance rest?
This ground is the complete insight into her own state. This is
not simply in regard to her sunken state but also insight connected
with the causes of this, as well as insight into her relationship to
the Gnosis at that moment.
It is also possible for a human being to have a kind of resigna-
tion based on fatalism or defeatism. However that is not meant
here. And so the fifth repentance is compared to Psalm 87. Pistis
Sophia knows that she is once again linked to the light of libera-
tion, and she now commences her fifth repentance:
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‘‘‘For my soul is full of evil, my life hath drawn nigh to the world
below.’’
She is overwhelmed, as it were, by the forces of the world of the

dead; she is totally defeated; she is like a person without any
strength. Her egocentricity has drawn its last breath, so to speak,
and her earthly remains have been lowered into the deepest grave.
When the new sidereal force begins to grow in a human soul,
there is no alternative but for the dialectical sidereal force to de-
crease in the same measure. And so the dying spasms of nature
are the evidence of the coming of a new state of life.One decreases
and the other increases.
The dramatic side of this situation is that the aspect that is de-
creasing rules the entire personality, because the personality is
nature-born and allows itself to be ruled to the last second by ordi-
nary nature. This is why the Pistis Sophia describes this sensation
as of being in a grave, while the new life force is becoming stronger
and coming closer than ever before.
The wall has become thinner, and even this thin wall has to col-
lapse. Everything that stands between the pupil and the universal
light has to be demolished. And this can be accomplished only by
complete isolation, by total loneliness. And this is why Psalm 88
says:
‘‘‘Thou hast put away mine acquaintances far from me; they have
made me an abomination for them. They have abandoned me, and
I cannot go forth. My eye hath become dim in my misery.’
Perhaps you have already experienced something of this state of

isolation of the personality. When someone against better know-
ledge clamps onto remnants of his I-being, then the self-mainte-
nance becomes much more complicated, much more offensive,
much more unbearable. When somebody who is known to be a
serious candidate commits deeds of great self-maintenance, like
any common type of earthbound human being, then this is very
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Chapter 43
hurtful and repulsive to everyone. This causes his isolation, and all
his acquaintances withdraw from his presence.
The facts prove that it is very difficult for the candidate at this
stage of the path to achieve insight, and the Philip-intervention
provides this insight, because the new astral activity illuminates
the state of the imprisoned earthly soul in the pupil.
The fifth repentance teaches that, on the basis of insight, the
candidate has to achieve resignation, because resignation can
later on be followed by the sixth repentance, the Song of Trust.
As long as the insight into his own state is lacking in a person,
there can be no resignation, and his conduct will show this totally.
For example Pistis Sophia could think that, as she is longing so
fervently for the light and is totally directed to this, she is no longer
capable of making errors in the greater guidelines. For this reason
she is seeking a totally erroneous explanation for her fall. She
could think for example that it is the intention of the light to estab-
lish the kingdom in hell:
‘‘‘Wilt thou not surely work thy wonders on the dead ? Will not
surely the [shades] arise and [praise] thee? Will they not surely
proclaim thy name in the tombs, And thy righteousness in a land
which thou hast forgotten ?’
She is asking this in a presuming manner, and she adds:
‘‘‘Turn not thy face away from me.

...For I am miserable, I am in sorrow from my youth up.
‘‘‘My fellows hast thou kept far from me and my acquaintances
from my mysery.’’’
Here Philip has sketched the delusion to the last detail. Whoever
can break through this delusion and can see that it is exactly this
last remnant of self-maintenance, this last trace of selfishness,
which most hinders and isolates the pupil, has come to his nadir.
He can sing the Song of Resignation.
328
The new astral activity, Philip in the pupil, must make this clear
to him. Then morning is near, at the moment when the night is
darkest.
This is the meaning of the fifth repentance, which Pistis Sophia
sang when she was oppressed in Chaos.
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Chapter 43
It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Philip speak these words,
that he said: ‘‘Well said, Philip, well-beloved. Now, therefore, come,
take thy seat and write thy portion of all the discourses which I shall
speak, and [of all things which I shall] do, and of all that thou shalt
see.’’And forthwith Philip sat down and wrote.
It came to pass thereafter that Jesus continued again in the discourse

and said unto his disciples: ‘‘Then did Pistis Sophia cry to the Light. It
forgave her sin, in that she had left her region and gone down into the
darkness. She uttered the sixth repentance, saying thus:
‘‘1. ‘I have sung praises unto thee, O Light, in the darkness below.
‘‘2. ‘Hearken unto my repentance, and may thy light give heed to
the voice of my supplication.
‘‘3. ‘O Light, if thou thinkest on my sin, I shall not be able to stand

before thee, and thou wilt abandon me,
‘‘4. ‘For thou, O Light, art my saviour; because of the light of thy
name I have had faith in thee, O Light.
‘‘5. ‘A nd my power hath had faith in thy mystery; and moreover

my power hath trusted in the Light when it was among those of
the height; and it hath trusted in it when it was in the chaos below.
330
‘‘6. ‘Let all the powers in me trust in the Light when I am in the
darkness below, and may they again trust in the Light if they come
into the region of the height.
‘‘7. ‘For it is [the Light] which hath compassion on us and delivereth

us; and a great saving mystery is in it.
‘‘8. ‘A nd it will save all powers out of the chaos because of my

transgression. For I have left my region and am come down into
the chaos.’
‘‘Now, therefore, whose mind is exalted, let him understand.’’
unto his disciples, that he said unto them: ‘‘Understand ye in what
manner I discourse with you ?’’
Andrew came forward and said: ‘‘My Lord, concerning the

solution of. the sixth repentance of Pistis Sophia, thy light-power
prophesied aforetime through David in the one-hundred-and-
twenty-ninth Psalm, saying:
‘‘1. ‘Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord.
‘‘2. ‘Hearken unto my voice; let thine ears give heed to the voice of
my supplication.
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Chapter 43
‘‘3. ‘O Lord, if thou heedest my iniquities, who will be able to pass

[the test]?
‘‘4. ‘For pardon is in thy hands; for the sake of thy name have I
waited for thee, O Lord.
‘‘5. ‘My soul hath waited for thy word.
‘‘6. ‘My soul hath hoped in the Lord from the morning until the
evening. Let Israel hope in the Lord from the morning until the
evening.
‘‘7. ‘For grace standeth by the Lord and with him is great redemption.
‘‘8. ‘A nd he will deliver Israel from all his iniquities.’‘‘
Jesus said unto him: ‘‘Well said, Andrew, blessed one. This is the
solution of her repentance. Amen, amen, I say unto you: I will
perfect you in all mysteries of the Light and all gnoses from the in-
teriors of the interiors to the exteriors of the exteriors, from the In-
effable down to the darkness of darknesses, from the Light of lights
down to the ... of matter, from all the gods down to the demons,
from all the lords down to the decans, from all the authorities down
to the servitors, from the creation of men down to [that] of the wild-
beasts, of the cattle and of the reptiles, in order that ye may be called
perfect, perfected in all fulness. Amen, Amen, I say unto you: In the
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region where I shall be in the kingdom of my Father, ye will also be

with me. And when the perfect number is completed, so that the
Mixture shall be dissolved, I will give commandment that they
bring all tyrant gods, who have not given up the purification of
their light, and will give commandment to the wise fire, over
which the perfect pass, to eat into those tyrants, until they give up
the last purification of their light.’’
unto his disciples, that he said unto them: ‘‘Understand ye in what
manner I speak with you?’’
Mary said: ‘‘Yea, Lord, I have understood the word which thou hast
spoken. Concerning then the word which thou hast said: At the dis-
solution of the whole Mixture thou shalt take . thy seat on a light-
power and thy disciples, that is ourselves, shall sit on the right of
thee, and thou shalt judge the tyrant gods, who have not given up
the purification of their light, and the wise fire will bite into them,
until theygive up the last light in them,çconcerning this word then
thy light-power prophesied aforetime through David, in the eighty-
first Psalm, saying:
‘‘‘God shall sit in the assemblyof the gods and try the gods.’ ’’
Jesus said unto her: ‘‘Well said, Mary.’’

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44
The sixth repentance: the Song ofTrust
Pistis Sophia has sung her fifth repentance, the Song of Resigna-
tion, and we learned that the candidate, represented by Pistis
Sophia, in the described psychological state in which she is
living, wants to expel from her being the last remnant of self-main-
tenance and egocentricity, as a result of which she resigns herself
to her state and for the first time enters a state of truly tranquil,
balanced, and joyful trust.
For this reason she sings the sixth repentance, the Song of Trust,
after the Song of Resignation. She has mounted six steps, and she
is standing on the sixth step as someone who trusts the saving
light completely.
Let us cast our minds back to the aspects already discussed.
Who is Pistis Sophia? You, candidate on the path of soul liberation,
are she, or at least you could be.
But let us have a close look at the process on the path. It began
with a storm of enthusiasm. As a seeker, after much experience,
the person had found the Rosycross. He had recognised the liber-
ating teachings, and with a giant leap he ran towards the Thir-
teenth Aeon of the mysteries of salvation. He hid behind the veils
of the forecourt and begged to be let in. However the Thirteenth
Aeon ignored him completely and left him alone.
In this state of isolation in a totally alien environment, Authades,
Self-willed, came to the candidate. Authades can be seen as the sum
total of all the forces of the I-being, and it is self-evident that this con-
centration of forces directs itself to the candidate as the I, in an ex-
travagance of enthusiasm, first aims at the Gnosis.
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The sixth repentance : the Song of Trust
The Gnosis does not answer, so the ordinary I begins to act and
speak again. The candidate is a striving human being; he is a true
seeker for the light. And not receiving the light of the Gnosis, he
has to be satisfied with his own light, with the light of Authades,
which is false compared to the Gnosis. A reaction has been caused:
first the rapid run towards the Thirteenth Aeon of the gnostic mys-
teries and then a fall back into the old situation. The candidate is
thrown back into his old state of being. This is a most just situation.
The Gnosis has not ignored him, but the Gnosis could not yet
reveal itself because the candidate was not yet open for this, was
not yet eligible.
None of us may suppose that we could conquer the gnostic life
by means of some tactic or other. Dialectical people try this, be-
cause we are used to this in the struggle for existence, and we
have been successful in the past with tactics. Of course these suc-
cesses have been temporary, but this is a part of dialectical nature
that is bound to the rotation of time.
It is clear that Pistis Sophia, having been cast back to reality after
that first jump, does not feel happy at all. Instead of the gnostic light,
she finds the false glitter of the ordinary world and her own self.
And so the songs of repentance begin. These are lamentations
because the candidate understands completely how and why she
has arrived in the situation and she is aware of her own deficiency.
This is not always the case in candidates who begin the path of the
Rosycross. Their songs will often contain protests and criticism, a
sense of injury and resentment.
But let us suppose that a candidate has surmounted the first
difficulties and is beginning to sing his repentances. Then he
enters a process in which he is made ready for the eventual en-
trance behind the veils of the Sanctum Sanctorum. This process
will lead first of all to a zero point, to a state of non-being, so that
a new being can be built up on that basis.
This process commences with songs of repentance, with loud
lamentations, and continues through to resignation and trust,
after which the process soon begins to turn into songs of praise,
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Chapter 44
as you will discover when we continue our discussion.

When the candidate begins to understand that, first of all, the
feelings of criticism and all lower emotions have to be washed out
of his blood, then this is a step in the right direction.Only after this
realisation can the journey towards the zero point begin. And for
most candidates this means an even deeper fall. If there is no real
light, the candidate tries to console himself with false light, with
the false show of nature. This travesty has to be erased completely.
The candidate has to divest himself of this until he reaches the zero
point. This is the preparation for building. If we want to build a tall
house, rising up into the clouds, we first have to descend deep into
the earth, to dig until we find a solid basis. The candidate realises
this and begins the journey to the zero point. You must try to un-
derstand the problems connected with this. There is a problem that
has appeared in all the five repentances and which also appears in
the sixth repentance. Pistis Sophia talks about the forces of
Authades and of Chaos, which constantly attack her, but she also
speaks about other forces that are within herself. For example, in
the fifth and the sixth verse of the sixth repentance, she says:
‘‘ ‘A nd my power hath had faith in thy mystery; and moreover my

power hath trusted in the Light when it was among those of the
height; and it hath trusted in it when it was in the chaos below.
‘‘ ‘Let all the powers in me trust in the Light when I am in the
darkness below...
It is clear that there are two groups of forces: the group of

Authades, the forces of the I; and a group of other forces that are
also within her but that are being overruled, restricted, and fet-
tered by the forces of Authades and the Chaos.
Where does this mysterious group of forces come from? And
to what do they relate? It is necessary for the candidate to know
this, for when he begins to recognise these forces within himself
he will be able to sing the liberating sixth repentance in the pro-
gress of his own inner process.
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The sixth repentance : the Song of Trust
There are two extremely important points of contact within

your own being: the heart sanctuary, in which the rose of the
heart resides; and the head sanctuary with its window, the seat of
the golden wonder-flower. It is through this window that the gnos-
tic light has to enter, and through this same window, the light of
the soul has to emanate. It is through this window that the defini-
tive initiating link arises between the candidate and the Thirteenth
Aeon. It is through that window that the truly liberating light-force
enters and the transfigured soul being steps out into the world.
However, in the beginning there is no question of the golden
light-force of liberation being present in the Pistis Sophia. The
window is still shut, and she herself needs to open this from the
inside. To achieve this she has to silence all the raging within the
head-sanctuary that is ruled by the I. She will be able and she must
be able to do this with the rose-force of the primordial atom in the
heart.
The journey to the zero point of the I-nature, the endura, is there-
fore the total self-surrender of a ruling group of forces and character-
istics in the personality by means of the application of a totally differ-
ent group of forces. This is the crucifixion within the self.
Awakening from the heart of birth, these forces have to be mo-
bilised. They have to travel throughout your entire being, through-
out your whole state of life, preaching the gospel of renewal every-
where, healing sick organs until the place of the skull, Golgotha, is
reached. There the healing force has to draw its last breath amidst
the dying murderers within your entire being.
Whoever goes this way of the Rosycross until the last sob and is
prepared to sacrifice the last remnants of his egocentricity, who-
ever walks this via dolorosa and thus colours the white rose with the
red blood of his self-borne cross, opens the window of the soul,
rises again from the grave, and the Song of the Resurrection, the
Song of the Golden Flower, is sung as a song of joy.
Whoever commences this journey in the power of the rose of
the heartça force that is released through the fundamental radia-
tion and the light of the sidereal birthçwill feel this force con-
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Chapter 44
stantly being increased in strength within himself and, therefore,

will be able to arrive at resignation and complete trust through
this certainty, and with full conviction will be able to sing:
‘‘ ‘My soul hath waited for thy word.

‘‘ ‘My soul hath hoped in the Lord from the morning until the
evening. ...
‘‘ ‘For grace standeth by the Lord and with him is great redemption.
If you want to understand these things properly, you must realise

that the human being is a mixture of light and darkness. The light-
force within you enables you to understand and realise many
things of the Gnosis, and it generates in you a longing for libera-
tion. By means of this light-force, you have attracted many things
around you, and you have built things that are dear to you and by
means of which you maintain yourself in this world.
But in this way you will not make any progress whatsoever on
the way of liberation. At most you will have the cherishing of your
light-force, and with this you will build up a gnostic delusion.
From time to time this delusion will be shattered, and you will be
thrown with great force into the reality of the darkness.
How can we say this with such certainty? Because the darkness
within you is one with the personality. This personality, its struc-
ture and its consciousness, is built entirely from the darkness and
is to be explained therefrom. The light-force has no dwelling place
within you; it has no basis, no organ. It has no form. In your state of
being, it is just a substance, a latent faculty.
This is why you must go the way of the cross with this light-
force, with this light faculty, in this light substance. Then all the
darkness within you will be absorbed and Authades will perish.
Then you yourself will perish, to become the Other One.
May all of us go this way of the cross down to the nadir of the
repentances, in order that we will rise again from this nadir in the
hour of decision.
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The mystery of the three light-powers
45
As we have discussed previously, there are two points of contact in

the personality: the seat of the white rose or the primordial atom in
the heart sanctuary; and the frontal cavity in the head, the empty
space where one day the golden rose should bloom. In her repen-
tances Pistis Sophia constantly refers to her ‘light-power’, and in
the sixth repentance she says:
‘‘ ‘A nd my power hath had faith in thy mystery; and moreover my

power hath trusted in the Light when it was among those of the
height; and it hath trusted in it when it was in the chaos below.
Where does such light-power come from? Is it a remnant of better

days gone by?
In ignorance one could assume that a person having light-
power in the sense of the Gnosis could not possibly be the victim
of the false light of Authades and Chaos. Then this gnostic gospel
would confuse you, because of course we take account of two
light-forces, and we see these as being opposed to each other.
But, apparently, the Pistis Sophia testifies of three light-powers:
the light of the Gnosis,
her own light,
and the light of Authades, the servant of the nature aeons.
The commentary that Pistis Sophia gives on the sixth repentance
makes us seek the complete solution to the problem of the various
light-powers. For Jesus the Lord says in his commentary on the
sixth repentance:
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Chapter 45
‘‘A nd when the perfect number is completed, so that the Mixture

shall be dissolved, I will give commandment that they bring all
tyrant gods, who have not given up the purification of their light,
and will give commandment to the wise fire, over which the perfect
pass, to eat into those tyrants, until they give up the last purification
of their light.’’
In other words, as Psalm 82 says, it will happen thus: ‘God has

taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he
holds judgement.’
And so it appears that even the tyrant gods, the nature aeons,
have access to light-powers that are so good and pure and so excel-
lent that they are taken away to strengthen the true kingdom of light.
The ancient gnostics divided humanity into three types:
pneumatics,
psychics,
hylics.
Pneumatics are those who, from inner conscious recognition, rush

straight towards the Christ-light as soon as it appears to their con-
sciousness, and they embrace it immediately. This is the type of
person in whom the golden rose is blossoming or at least is in the
process of doing so. This is the type of person with the open
window through which the gnostic fulness can fill the vacant
space.
Psychics are people of whom it can be said that they can only have
faith in the light. Just like all the faithful we know so well from the
Bible, they see the light of liberation only in the distance. The soul
window in these people is still tightly shut, and hence the manifes-
tation of the light and its activity has to be constantly explained to
them. The language of the heavens has to be translated for them so
that it becomes somewhat comprehensible. And then they believe
in it from within.
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They can do so because the rose of the heart is active in them. By

means of this active white rose, the gnostic rays can touch these
people and actualise a state in which faith,çreal pure faith in the
Gnosis,çbecomes possible.
Hylics are people who are totally unsusceptible. They are real
nature-people, totally attuned to dialectical nature. They do not
live out of the light but out of the power that is released by the
chain reaction of the processes of life. If these people do possess
a rose-heart, then it is not active in them. The Gnosis never appears
to such people, and so we can leave them out of our discussion.
They are excluded from any kind of gnostic intervention, and in
any case, they would not want such intervention.
All those people who feel attracted to the path of transfiguration

belong to the psychic type. These people have a rose heart from the
time of their birth.The cause of this situation is hidden in the mists of
the past, in the microcosm, i.e. the auric being in which all the for-
tunes of successive personalities in the microcosm are recorded.
This includes predisposition to the gnostic light. This particu-
lar aspect of the past flows in through the blood of birth via the
plexus sacralis and affects the heart via the medulla oblongata.
The right heart ventricle especially is affected, and this influence
makes the primordial atom sensitive to the gnostic rays.
The person concerned is not conscious of this however. He is
only aware of certain proclivities, and he is a certain type of
person. This person has all kinds of religious and occult interests,
or his interests are humanitarian. This person has within him an
interest in humanity and its problems.
This interest is reinforced by the person’s own experiences and
development. This person really wants to help and to fight. He
wants to join the battle of life for world and humanity. There is a
certain amount of love for humanity, and this is expressed accord-
ing to the state of inner development of the person concerned.
In this way the epic of service for humanity is written by mil-
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Chapter 45
lions of people, and the love and sacrifice for humanity continue
to this hour. There are many people of this type who aim towards
the Gnosis, and their willingness to sacrifice and their love in this
respect are great.
But in all this goodness and beauty, the dialectical nature-I re-
mains at the centre. The love is from God, from the Gnosis, but it
arouses and charges the ordinary dialectical human being. The
love of God, the touch from the divine order, breaks into this
person, seizes him, and impels him; in order words, it thrusts the
dialectical person into a multiplicity of experiences.
However the Kingdom of God cannot be realised within the
realm of nature, and so the love, when it is realised in the material
plane, undergoes a certain change. People do see this, but the long-
ing of the primordial atom drives people to perform acts on the
basis of this love, since they are sensitive to these radiations.
And so at a certain moment this type of human being is con-
fronted by an enormous conflict.On the one hand there is the flow
of love of humanity and its practical application. On the other
there is hard-boiled egocentricity.
God is love; God touches the human being in the heart and
God is light. This light is received and applied by the I through
the nature-state and in the nature-state.
This light is absorbed not only by humanity but also by the
nature aeons, by the nature forces and by the cosmic formations
of nature. The nature aeons adorn themselves with it just as the
human being does. The aeons of nature deprive humanity of this
light-power as they do Pistis Sophia.
All of them, in both spheres of dialectical life, wear their light-
vesture. Just like humanity, the whole universe is filled with the
polar light-powers of the Gnosis.
This continues until the highest heat-sphere vomits what can
no longer be digested. The nature aeons give back what they
cannot absorb. All the light-powers that a person has received
from the time of his birth and has tried to apply are stolen from
him by the nature aeons. And by means of their own radiations,
342
they radiate this power back to humanity. And so great confusion

arises. People lose track and regard the light as their enemy, and
their enemy as the light.
It is inevitable that the tension mounts so much that an explo-
sion must follow. The stolen light is then taken back, a purification
occurs and the naked reality remains in the dialectical cosmos.
And the afflicted person has gone through a hard experience and
received a scar in the soul. The situation in fact is this:
The polar light-touch has made a complete rotation: it has de-
scended into time and is then taken back into eternity and re-
turned to its own kingdom without reaching many people.
For the sake of the sensitive rose-heart in many people, God’s
offer comes again, and the wheel resumes its turning. The result
depends on humanity and whether it again demonstrates love
behind which lurks a hard-boiled egocentricity. Much of the light
that is collected in this manner is stolen again. Authades and his
cohorts steal the light-power from people by day and by night.
We hope you can now understand why there are light-powers
of gnostic origin both in the psychic human being and in the
cosmos. It is the gnostic world soul, which incessantly sacrifices
itself and which is incessantly crucified.
The important question is: what does the candidate on this path
do with this light-power? He has an active rose-heart and is therefore
touched by the Gnosis just like many millions of other people. And
the heart of the candidate is filled with love for humanity.
But this in itself is not a solution because the natural state cannot
put on the spiritual state, or at least only temporarily, in an illusion. In
reality the candidate has to do nothing other than follow the Christ.
He must take his Rosycross up to Golgotha, to the opening of the
soul window, so that on Easter morning the golden rose will dwell
within him, alive. He goes the path of transfiguration and fulfils the
goal for which the light has offered itself to him.
In this way the candidate, together with the others, completes
the number, the number of the saved. As soon as this number has
been completed and the new gnostic kingdom has become strong
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Chapter 45
enough, all the stolen light is given back to those who are saved,
and so the new kingdom, as a giant of light, will shoot up like a
flame of fire.
Truly God stands in the divine council. In the midst of the gods,
he holds judgement.
344
Jesus continued again in the discourse and said unto his disciples:
‘‘It came to pass, when Pistis Sophia had finished uttering the sixth
repentance for the forgiveness of her transgression, that she turned
again to the height, to see if her sins were forgiven her, and to see
whether they would lead her up out of the chaos. But by command-
ment of the First Mystery not yet was she hearkened to, so that her
sin should be forgiven and she should be led up out of the chaos.
When then she had turned to the height to see whether her repent-
ance were accepted from her, she saw all the rulers of the twelve
aeons mocking at her and rejoicing over her because her repent-
ance was not accepted from her. When then she saw that they
mocked at her, she grieved exceedingly and lifted up her voice to
the height in her seventh repentance, saying:
‘‘1. ‘O Light, I have lifted up my power unto thee, my Light.
‘‘2. ‘On thee have I had faith. Let me not be scorned; let not the
rulers of the twelve aeons, who hate me, rejoice over me.
‘‘3. ‘For all who have faith in thee shall not be put to shame. Let
them who have taken away my power, remain in darkness; and let
them not get from it any profit, but let it be taken away from them.
‘‘4. ‘O Light, show me thy ways, and I shall be saved in them; and
show me thy paths, whereby I shall be saved out of the chaos.
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‘‘5. ‘A nd guide me in thy light, and let me know, O Light, that thou
art my saviour. On thee will I trust the whole of my time.
‘‘6. ‘Give heed that thou save me, O Light, for thy mercy endureth
for ever.
‘‘7. ‘As to my transgression, which I have committed from the be-

ginning in my ignorance, put it not to my account, O Light, but
rather save me through thy great mystery of the forgiveness of sins
because of thy goodness, O Light.
‘‘8. ‘For good and sincere is the Light. For this cause will it grant me
my way, to be saved out of my transgression;
‘‘9. ‘A nd for my powers, which are diminished through the fear of

the material emanations of Self-willed, will it draw near after its
commandment, and will teach my powers, which are diminished
because of the merciless, its gnosis.
‘‘10. ‘For all gnoses of the Light are saving means and are mysteries
for all who seek the regions of its Inheritance and its mysteries.
‘‘11. ‘For the sake of the mystery of thy name, O Light, forgive my
transgression, for it is great.
346
‘‘12. ‘To every one who trusteth in the Light it will give the mystery
which suiteth him;
‘‘13. ‘A nd his soul will abide in the regions of the Light and his
power will inherit the Treasury of the Light.
‘‘14. ‘The Light giveth power to them who have faith in it; and the
name of its mystery belongeth to those who trust in it. And it will
show them the region of the Inheritance, which is in the Treasury of
the Light.
‘‘15. ‘But I have ever had faith in the Light, for it will save my feet
from the bonds of the darkness.
‘‘16. ‘Give heed unto me, O Light, and save me, for they have taken
away my name from me in the chaos.
‘‘17. ‘Because of all the emanations my afflictions and my oppres-

sion have become exceedingly manifold. Save me out of my trans-
gression and this darkness.
‘‘18. ‘A nd look upon the grief of my oppression and forgive my

transgression.
‘‘19. ‘Give heed to the rulers of the twelve aeons, who have hated me
through jealousy.
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Chapter 45
‘‘20. ‘Watch over my power and save me, and let me not remain in
this darkness, for I have had faith in thee.
‘‘21. ‘A nd they have made of me a great fool for having had faith in
thee, O Light.
‘‘22. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, save my powers from the emanations

of Self-willed, by whom I am oppressed.’
‘‘Now, therefore, who is sober, let him be sober.’’
When then Jesus had spoken this unto his disciples,Thomas came
forward and said: ‘‘My Lord, I am sober, I am plentifully sober, and
my spirit is ready in me, and I rejoice exceedingly that thou hast
revealed these words unto us. But indeed I have borne with my
brethren until now, so that I should not anger them; nay rather I
have borne with every one that he should come before thee and
speak the solution of the repentance of Pistis Sophia. Now, there-
fore, my Lord, concerning the solution of the seventh repentance
of Pistis Sophia thy light-power hath prophesied through the
prophet David in the twenty-fourth Psalm, thus:
‘‘1. ‘O Lord, unto thee have I lifted up my soul, O my God.
‘‘2. ‘I have abandoned myself unto thee; let me not be put to shame
and let not mine enemies mock at me.
348
‘‘3. ‘For all who wait upon thee shall not be put to shame; let them
be put to shame who do iniquity without a cause.
‘‘4. ‘O Lord, show me thy ways and teach me thy paths.
‘‘5. ‘Lead me in the way of thy truth and teach me, for thou art my
God and my saviour; on thee will I wait all the day long.
‘‘6. ‘Call to remembrance thy mercies, O Lord, and the favours of

thy grace, for they are from eternity.
‘‘7. ‘Remember not the sins of my youth and those of my ignor-

ance. Remember me according to the fulness of thy mercy because
of thy goodness, O Lord.
‘‘8. ‘The Lord is gracious and sincere; therefore will he instruct

sinners in the way.
‘‘9. ‘He will guide the tender-hearted in the judgment and will
teach the tender-hearted his ways.
‘‘10. ‘All the ways of the Lord are grace and truth for them who seek
his righteousness and his testimonies.
‘‘11. ‘For thy name’s sake, O Lord, forgive me my sin, [for] it is ex-
ceedingly great.
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Chapter 45
‘‘12. ‘Who is the man who feareth the Lord ? For him will he establish
laws in the way which he hath chosen.
‘‘13. ‘His soul will abide in good things and his seed will inherit the
land.
‘‘14. ‘The Lord is the strength of them who fear him; and the name of
the Lord belongeth to them who fear him, to make known unto
them his covenant.
‘‘15. ‘Mine eyes are raised ever unto the Lord, for he will draw my
feet out of the snare.
‘‘16. ‘Look down upon me and be gracious unto me, for I am an

only-begotten; I am wretched.
‘‘17. ‘The afflictions of my heart have in-creased; bring me out of

my necessities.
‘‘18. ‘Look upon my abasement and my woe, and forgive me all my

sins.
‘‘19. ‘Look upon mine enemies, how they have increased them-
selves and hated me with unjust hatred.
350
‘‘20. ‘Preserve my soul and save me; let me not be put to shame, for I
have hoped on thee.
‘‘21. ‘The simple and sincere have joined themselves to me, for I
have waited on thee, O Lord.
‘‘22. ‘O God, deliver Israel from all his afflictions.’ ’’
And when Jesus had heard the words of Thomas, he said unto him:
‘‘Well said, Thomas, and finely. This is the solution of the seventh
repentance of Pistis Sophia. Amen, amen, I say unto you: All gen-
erations of the world shall bless you on earth, because I have
revealed this unto you and ye have received of my spirit and have
become understanding and spiritual, understanding what I say.
And hereafter will I fill you full with the whole light and the
whole power of the spirit, so that ye may understand from now on
all which shall be said unto you and which ye shall see. Yet a little
while and I will speak with you concerning the height without
within and within without.’’
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Chapter 46
46
Seventh repentance: the Song of Decision
We have now arrived at the seventh repentance, the Song of Deci-

sion.
To be able to understand the Gospel of the Pistis Sophia, we will
have to comprehend the nature of this decision completely. The
person who walks the path of transfiguration is a mixture of gnos-
tic light-force and darkness. The personality is a union of atoms
that are being held together by atomic power; and to be able to
apply and possess this power, the atoms have to be split. The per-
sonality therefore is an extremely complicated union of collaborat-
ing processes.
There is in the human being a principle of atomic fission. This
is a great fire with intense heat that splits the atoms. The forces re-
leased in this way attract masses of other atoms, or other atoms are
obtained by fission, with the purpose of creating and maintaining
a personality and preserving a microcosm, by means of the idea
that drives this system of processes.
The idea, the forces, and the processes that enable all of this we
call dialectics and darkness. They are the forces and developments
originating from and manifesting themselves in the seventh
cosmic domain. The human state of being, the human conscious-
ness, the forces, and the forms are all completely connected to this
dark nature, the nature of death. The human being, as a creation
and end product of dark nature, suffers great pain and anguish in
this nature.
This is why the human being utters intense lamentations and
expresses a mighty longing for liberation, because there is not a
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Seventh repentance : the Song of Decision
moment of certainty in his state of being. As soon as a human

being is born, his death is being prepared. And after his death,
what remains of the personality dissipates after a certain time
and disappears into absolute nothingness. The dark existence in
this nature leads to nothing. The human being utters lamentations,
because anguish is identical with this nature.
In this situation the human being is seized by the first emana-
tion flowing from the Pleroma: the emanation of Pistis. It is direct-
ed at your thoughts, at your intelligence, and at your conscious-
ness. It says to you: ‘You are suffering in anguish; you are dark-
ness; you are born for nothing. Why are you here, and what is
the purpose of your life?’
The result is that human suffering increases, for when our at-
tention is drawn to the hopelessness of a situation we are in, we
experience this suffering more intensely than ever.
Then our dark nature looks for help and healing for our intense
suffering, or at least some relief from it, and after a lot of experi-
mentation and trials, the human being comes to the path of libera-
tion that offers the prospect of a new state of life.
What does this person do? Equipped with various powers and
faculties, he becomes a pupil of a spiritual school. Even the idea of
liberation alone already provides consolation, but in actual fact it
is a false consolation, because it is delusion. The entire nature of
darkness perishes within itself and because of itself. The self is
part of this dark nature and originates there completely.
There are two aspects in this dark nature: good and evil. Be-
cause the human being as yet possesses nothing else, he applies
his potential for goodness, which originates in the dark nature.
Out of this goodness he offers his time and his capacities and his
possessions.
Such sacrifice does give some consolation and joy, but it does
not eliminate the essential anguish. It does not bring the human
being any closer to true liberation.
Why is this? Because everything that originates in the nature of
death and is raised from the nature of death one day returns to the
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nature of death. This drives many people to desperation. They

think and say: ‘I have given everything I have; what else can I
do?’ Their offerings, however, are not accepted by the Gnosis.
Heaven remains inaccessible, and the human being is continually
brought back to a state of suffering.
Is this application of goodness not good enough? To the con-
trary, it could not be better. But the Thirteenth Aeon constantly
casts the human being back into his dark reality. ‘Tell me if I have
done something wrong!’ screams Pistis Sophia. But no one both-
ers to answer.
She can hear only the high-pitched, derisive laughter of the
nature aeons who are making merry at her expense. She has be-
lieved, thanked, and praised the Lord; she has served him day
and night. She has placed her life, her health, and her possessions
in his service, and yet none of these offerings are accepted. Heaven
remains silent.
Repentance after repentance rises up, but what is there to
repent for? In fact Pistis Sophia is not to blame, although she is pre-
pared to accept blame. With admirable integrity she has expressed
the entire potential of her goodness, and there is nothing else she
can be or do according to her nature.
Everything she tries above and beyond this is delusion and re-
turns to its origins. And these origins are dialectics, darkness, and
anguish.
Pistis Sophia also speaks of her light-power, but this is her big
mistake, because this light-power is present but does not belong to
her. It is just made available to her.
If there is light-power in a human being, then he needs to rea-
lise this very thoroughly. This light-power is the submerged pri-
mordial atom in the centre of the microcosm, corresponding with
and affecting the human heart.
The well-known influence of the original gnostic light-power
arises through induction. This influence generates faith in the
teachings of liberation. And it is from this faith and this insight
that the human being speaks and works and sacrifices. But this
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speaking, working, and sacrificing are not manifestations of light-

power. He has never worked with this light-power, and he has
never walked the path towards this possibility.
The induction at most activates the potential for goodness.
This is a good path of experience. Like Pistis Sophia, the human
being uses the light-power present to believe, thank, praise, and
work. The human being has certainly borne a cross, but it is the
cross of nature and not yet the cross of liberation, and he has not
yet gone the way of the Rosycross. And yet this is what matters.
There is a secret connected to this. This is the primary secret of
initiation of the Rosycross. The formula of this secret is: ‘Even if
you gave everything and not your life, then know that you have
given nothing.’ It is not your potential for goodness that is re-
quired, but your life, your I-soul.
This non-being must come forth from a mode of life that is in
accordance with this. Then Christ is born in you. Then the light no
longer acts inductively, but it enters personally. Then the new soul-
state is born. And it is only this new reborn soul that can say:
‘Now, therefore, Oh Light, save my powers from the emanations of

Self-willed [Authades], by whom I am oppressed.’
Then the candidate has passed through the decision, and he can
begin a new cycle of genesis:
fleeing from the darkness,
destroying the darkness,
being reborn in the light, winning eternal life.
Many people approach the gnostic light with their potential for
goodness, and because this goodness is mixed and united with
evil, we achieve that very exhausting situation of wanting to do
good and carrying out evil.
In ordinary life this mixed situation always crops up. Whoever
realises the uselessness of approaching the Gnosis with the I-state
and the dual force of good and evil connected to this, and notices
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that the light-power of goodness is constantly being absorbed by

evil, and who realises that the gnostic light means something to-
tally different and has expressed his repentances for this, will
come to a nadir in which there is nothing else to do but to practise
self-surrender to the Gnosis.
This is a mode of life according to the formula of the Gnosis.
This is a state of being that is non-being. This is the mode of life
of the retrograde movement.*
‘Whoever wants to keep his life shall lose it.’ But whoever is
willing to lose his life in self-surrender to the Gnosis and the light
of the three mysteries will overcome deathçand will live. ‘Who-
ever is willing to lose his life for my sake shall keep it.’ And so,
whoever passes through the gate of the gnostic mysteries with
the non-self can for the first time truly be called a candidate.
It is up to the human being to make the decision.
* See J. van Rijckenborgh,The Egyptian Arch-Gnosis, Part III, chapter 19.
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Jesus continued again in the discourse and said unto his disciples:
‘‘It came to pass then, when Pistis Sophia had uttered the seventh
repentance in the chaos, that the commandment through the First
Mystery had not come to me to save her and lead her up out of
the chaos. Nevertheless of myself out of compassion without com-
mandment I led her into a somewhat spacious region in the chaos.
And when the material emanations of Self-willed had noticed that
she had been led into a somewhat spacious region in the chaos,
they ceased a little to oppress her, for they thought that she would
be led up out of the chaos altogether. When this then took place,
Pistis Sophia did not know that I was her helper; nor did she know
me at all, but she continued and persisted withal singing praises to
the Light of .the Treasury, which she had seen aforetime and on
which she had had faith, and she thought that it [sc. the Light] also
was her helper and it was the same to which she had sung praises,
thinking it was the Light in truth. But as indeed she had had faith in
the Light which belongeth to the Treasury in truth, therefore will
she be led up out of the chaos and her repentance will be accepted
from her. But the commandment of the First Mystery was not yet
accomplished to accept her repentance from her. But hearken now
in order that I may tell you all things which befell Pistis Sophia.
‘‘It came to pass, when I had led her unto a somewhat spacious
region in the chaos, that the emanations of Self-willed ceased
entirely to oppress her, thinking that she would be led up out of
the chaos altogether. It came to pass then, when the emanations of
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Self-willed had noticed that Pistis Sophia had not been led up out
the chaos, that they turned about again all together, oppressing her
vehemently. Because of this then she uttered the eighth repentance,
because they had not ceased to oppress her, and had turned about
to oppress her to the utmost. She uttered this repentance, saying
thus:
‘‘1. ‘On thee, O Light, have I hoped ... Leave me not in the chaos;
deliver me and save me according to thy gnosis.
‘‘2. ‘Give heed unto me and save me. Be unto me a saviour, O Light,
and save me and lead me unto thy light.
‘‘3. ‘For thou art my saviour and wilt lead me unto thee. And
because of the mystery of thy name lead me and give me thy
mystery.
‘‘4. ‘A nd thou wilt save me from this lion-faced power, which they
have laid as a snare for me, for thou art my saviour.
‘‘5. ‘A nd in thy hands will I lay the purification of my light; thou

hast saved.me, O Light, according to thy gnosis.
‘‘6. ‘Thou art become wroth with them who keep watch over me
and will not be able to lay hold of me utterly. But I have had faith
in the Light.
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‘‘7. ‘I will rejoice and will sing praises that thou hast had mercy
upon me and hast heeded and saved me from the oppression in
which I was. And thou wilt set free my power out of the chaos.
‘‘8. ‘A nd thou hast not left me in the hand of the lion-faced power;
but thou hast led me into a region which is not oppressed.’ ’’
When then Jesus had said this unto his disciples, he answered again
and said unto them: ‘‘It came to pass then, when the lion-faced
power had noticed that Pistis Sophia had not been led up altogether
out of the chaos, that it came again with all the other material ema-
nations of Self-willed, and they oppressed Pistis Sophia again. It
came to pass then, when they oppressed her, that she cried out in
the same repentance, saying:
‘‘9. ‘Have mercy upon me, O Light, for they have oppressed me
again. Because of thy commandment, the light in me is distracted
and my power and my understanding.
‘‘10. ‘My power hath begun to wane whiles I am in these afflictions,

and the number of my time whiles I am in the chaos. My light is
diminished, for they have taken away my power from me, and all
the powers in me are tossed about.
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‘‘11. ‘I am become powerless in the presence of all the rulers of the

aeons, who hate me, and in the presence of the four-and-twenty
emanations, in whose region I was. And my brother, my pair, was
afraid to help me, because of that in which they have set me.
‘‘12. ‘A nd all the rulers of the height have counted me as matter in

which is no light. I am become as a material power which hath
fallen out of the rulers,
‘‘13. ‘A nd all who are in the aeons said: She hath become chaos. And
thereafter all the pitiless powers encompassed me together and
proposed to take away the whole light in me.
‘‘14. ‘But I have trusted in thee, O Light, and said: Thou art my
saviour.
‘‘15. ‘A nd my commandment, which thou hast decreed for me, is in

thy hands. Save me out of the hands of the emanations of Self-
willed, which oppress me and persecute me.
‘‘16. ‘Send thy light over me, for I am as naught before thee, and save
me according to thy compassion.
‘‘17. ‘Let me not be despised, for I have sung praises unto thee, O
Light. Let chaos cover the emanations of Self-willed, let them be
led down into the darkness.
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‘‘18. ‘Let the mouth of them be shut up, who would devour me with
guile, who say: Let us take the whole light in her,çalthough I have
done them no ill.’ ’’
And when Jesus had spoken this, Matthew came forward and said:
‘‘My Lord, thy spirit hath stirred me and thy light hath made me
sober to proclaim this eighth repentance of Pistis Sophia. For thy
power hath prophesied thereof afore time through David in the thir-
tieth Psalm, saying:
‘‘1. ‘On thee, O Lord, have I hoped. Let me never be put to shame;
save me according to thy righteousness.
‘‘2. ‘Incline thine ear unto me, save me quickly. Be thou unto me a
protecting God and a house of refuge to save me.
‘‘3. ‘For thou art my support and my refuge; for thy name’s sake
thou wilt guide me and feed me.
‘‘4. ‘A nd thou wilt draw me out of this snare, which they have laid
privily for me; for thou art my protection.
‘‘5. ‘Into thy hands I will render my spirit; thou hast redeemed me,
O Lord, God of Truth.
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‘‘6. ‘Thou hast hated them who hold to vain emptiness; but I have
trusted.
‘‘7. ‘A nd I shall rejoice because of my Lord and make merry over

thy grace. For thou hast looked down upon my humbleness and
saved my soul out of my necessities.
‘‘8. ‘A nd thou hast not shut me up in the hands of my foes; thou

hast set my feet on a broad space.
‘‘9. ‘Be gracious unto me, O Lord, for I am afflicted; my eye is dis-
tracted in the wrath and my soul and my body.
‘‘10. ‘For my years have wasted away in sadness and my life is

wasted in sighing. My power is enfeebled in misery and my
bones are distracted.
‘‘11. ‘I am become a mockery for all my foes and my neighbours. I

am become a fright for my acquaintances, and they who saw me, are
fled away from me.
‘‘12. ‘I am forgotten in their heart as a corpse, and I have become as a

ruined vessel.
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‘‘13. ‘For I have heard the scorn of many who encompass me round
about. Massing themselves together against me, they took counsel
to take away my soul from me.
‘‘14. ‘But I have trusted in thee, O Lord. I said: Thou art my God.
‘‘15. ‘My lots are in thy hands. Save me from the hand of my foes
and free me from my persecutors.
‘‘16. ‘Reveal thy face over thy slave, and free me according to thy
grace, O Lord.
‘‘17. ‘Let me not be put to shame, for I have cried unto thee. Let the
impious be put to shame and turn towards hell.
‘‘18. ‘Let the crafty lips be struck dumb, which allege iniquity
against the righteous in pride and scorn.’ ’’
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47
Eighth repentance: the Song of Oppression
We have given you a description of Pistis Sophia during the sing-

ing of her seventh repentance, the Song of Decision.
During the lamentation of this repentance, the nadir of her dia-
lectical state develops, in which she discovers that her goodness,
her dialectical light-power, is a field of vibration that belongs com-
pletely to the nature of death and therefore does not contain any
element of liberation whatsoever. There will always be an interac-
tion, a balance, between the human being and the nature aeons, in
which the human being tries to reach liberation through the appli-
cation of his potential for good.
However, Pistis Sophia also experiences the light-force of the
Gnosis, the light of the rose; but this light and this rose do not
belong to the dialectical system of life, and hence the gnostic
light will always withdraw whenever a person wants to grasp this
light and apply it with the state of the ego of ordinary nature. No
matter what heroic attempts the pupil on the path might make in
this respect, he will not succeed in retaining gnostic power with a
dialectical faculty.
Whoever discovers and experiences this and feels the pain of it
will ultimately enter into self-surrender in the hour of decision if
he truly longs for gnostic pupilship. Then such a person will be
able to put non-being into practice and will be able to open him-
self to the gnostic light process.
To the positive and dynamic type of person, it is a moment of
desperation when he has to go through the gate of non-being. The
positive, self-conscious human being is always engaged in activity, in
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Eighth repentance : the Song of Oppression
taking control, in leading the process. He wants to determine for him-

self the phases and the tempo. If this sort of person goes the path, he
is always engaged in experimenting with his own light-power.
Having to admit that he possesses nothing with which he can
grasp the Gnosis and direct it in order to allow him into the Thir-
teenth Aeon goes against the grain of this person. It attacks his
dignity, his human delusion. Hence the hour of decision is a time
of humiliation for the ego, because the ego is completely power-
less in the nature of liberation in all respects.
And therefore many who have seriously started the path turn
back here. They start to deny the Gnosis and the possibility of
transfiguration, or they choose the occult path. They try to attain
what is possible within the framework of ordinary nature, and so
they become servants of the nature aeons.
Pistis Sophia however does enter the gates of non-being. She
gives up all self-maintenance, right into the farthest corners of her
goodness. She surrenders herself and enters the period of humility.
She has the courage to accept not-doing with the prayer: ‘Remember
me according to the fulness of thy mercy because of thy goodness,
oh Lord.’ In this way, she has in her nature-state carried out the great-
est deed that she can possibly bring to the Gnosis.
She is now standing in the borderland between two worlds, be-
tween the seventh and the sixth cosmic planes. And there the can-
didate stands, with his arms reaching out, and says: ‘May piety
and sincerity protect me, for I wait on thee, O Lord.’
Piety is the directedness of the nature-born being towards the
Gnosis in complete non-being and not-doing. In addition, the
piety of Pistis Sophia is sincere. No tactics or false piety are pres-
ent. This piety is born out of matured, fully perceived, and com-
pletely understood experience. She is completely sincere in this.
Whoever approaches the Gnosis in this way can be sure that
the process of salvation commences immediately. This is why the
Pistis Sophia says:
‘‘It came to pass then, when Pistis Sophia had uttered the seventh
repentance in the chaos, that the commandment through the First
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Mystery had not come to me to save her and lead her up out of the
chaos. Nevertheless of myself out of compassion without com-
mandment I led her into a somewhat spacious region in the chaos.
And when the material emanations of Self-willed [Authades] had
noticed that she had been led into a somewhat spacious region in
the chaos, they ceased a little to oppress her, for they thought that
she would be led up out of the chaos altogether. When this then
took place, Pistis Sophia did not know that I was her helper; nor
did she know me at all, but she continued and persisted withal
singing praises to the Light of the Treasury, which she had seen
aforetime and on which she had had faith, and she thought that it
[sc. the Light] also was her helper and it was the same to which she
had sung praises, thinking it was the Light in truth. But as indeed
she had had faith in the Light which belongeth to the Treasury in
truth, therefore will she be led up out of the chaos and her repent-
ance will be accepted from her.’’
It is clear that a pupil who has opened himself up to the touch of

the process of salvation of the Gnosis, by means of his non-being,
will experience that this process has indeed started. But he also has
to realise that this is only the beginning of the new path. Before his
salvation can be permanent, a whole number of things has to
happen and many dangers still have to be overcome. Before these
dangers become critical and present themselves, every candidate
has in the beginning a sense of relief, because he was brought into
a somewhat more spacious region.
Because the gnostic radiations now begin to vibrate right
through his being, the pupil can understand the teachings better
than ever before, and everything that he thought he understood
begins to show now a totally new aspect. Everything now looks
different and is given new clothes, as it where. However a new con-
sciousness, a new cognitive faculty in the gnostic sense, is not yet
present for his consciousness and his cognitive faculty are still of
the old nature. This is why the Pistis Sophia says: ‘‘... nor did she know
me at all...’’
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At most it can be said that she saw something of the true treas-
ure of light with her dialectical sensory faculties, as in a flash, and
so she can do nothing else than praise the Light of Heaven with her
non-consciousness. You can see how correctly the situation of the
candidate at this stage of the path is described in the Pistis Sophia.
And so it is easy to determine what happens next. The candi-
date is in a state of non-being and has entered fully into the pro-
cess, but he does not yet know his helper, because he does not yet
have a new consciousness. The old nature still has him in its grasp,
and so the inevitable moment comes when the nature aeons
resume their persecution.
In the beginning of the new phase, the emanations of Authades
stop their persecution of Pistis Sophia for a little while, and this
explains the situation of relief that she feels. But this freedom and
rest are very temporary because:
‘‘It came to pass then, when the emanations of Self-willed

[Authades] had noticed that Pistis Sophia had not been led up out
of the chaos, that they turned about again all together, oppressing
her vehemently.’’
The oppression is resumed. And so in the eighth repentance of

Pistis Sophia, we hear the Song of Oppression. Difficulties, pro-
blems, and afflictions develop as a result of which Pistis Sophia
experiences moments in which she thinks she is further than ever
from the process of salvation.
However, the candidate should remember during this process
that it is better to be oppressed than to be held back, even if this
oppression is not without serious dangers. It is important to un-
derstand properly the structure and the aspects of this oppression,
because the lion-faced power comes into play here again.
Imagine a pupil entering the nadir of the seventh repentance,
that important decision, and truly entering self-surrender in the
sense of the Gnosis. He experiences that time of relief in a more
spacious region in which everything appears to be very beautiful,
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Chapter 47
and he becomes enthusiastic, but he does not yet know his helper
and he does not yet have the new faculties, and so he is really still
very awkward. In this state of gnostic awkwardness, in which the
seed has been sown but has not yet matured, the lion-faced power
comes to the pupil.
The lion is the symbol of the Christ, of the gnostic redeemer, but
the pupil does not yet know this Helper. Hence it is natural that the
great imitator, who imitates the Gnosis in dialectics as a grotesque
shadow of the light, once again turns to the pupil. The emanations
of Authades attack him, and then the great imitator speaks.
The Rosycross brings the message of great joy to the pupil and
links him to the wisdom teachings of Christ and lifts him up into
the Living Body for his redemption. When the pupil is so fully im-
mersed in difficulties and his troubles are innumerable, he may
perhaps remember this with some bitterness.
The lion-faced power immediately takes hold of this first
thought of the pupil and tries to disquiet him and to point out
the deception that the Gnosis is supposed to have perpetrated.
‘You have been promised joy, but you meet nothing but trouble.
Turn back to your old safe field of life,’ says the lion-faced power.
He latches on to every type of human being, to everyone’s past, to
everyone’s weaknesses, and he tries to drag the person back into
his old life. First the emanations of Authades attack the pupil, and
then the lion-faced power speaks its sweet, well-chosen words.
This is the oppression that the Bible mentions so many times.
Take for example the people of Israel who fled from Egypt, the land
of darkness, and were persecuted by the armies of the Pharaoh.
And think of Jesus and the temptations in the desert.
Many a pupil is victimised at this stage. The pupil constantly
starts this process again, and each time he is dragged back into
the old land. In this way the pupil becomes exhausted, and he
may become so weak that it becomes ever more difficult to cross
the threshold permanently.
And so, may every pupil heed this warning and recognise the
lion-faced power who will oppress everyone in this phase.
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And when Jesus had heard these words, he said: ‘‘Finely [said],
Matthew. Now, therefore, amen, I say unto you: When the perfect
number is completed and the universe is raised hence, I will take
my seat in the Treasury of the Light, and ye yourselves will sit on
twelve light-powers, until we have restored all the orders of the
twelve saviours to the region of the inheritances of every one of
them.’’
And when he had said this, he said: ‘‘Understand ye what I say?’’
Mary came forward and said: ‘‘O Lord, concerning this matter thou
hast said to us aforetime in similitude: ‘Ye have awaited with me in
the trials, and I will bequeath unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath
bequeathed it unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my
kingdom; and ye shall sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve
tribes of Israel.’ ’’
He said unto her: ‘‘Well said, Mary.’’
Jesus continued again and said unto his disciples: ‘‘It came to pass
then thereafter, when the emanations of Self-willed oppressed
Pistis Sophia in the chaos, that she uttered the ninth repentance,
saying:
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Chapter 47
‘‘1. ‘O Light, smite down them who have taken away my power
from me, and take away the power from them who have taken
away mine from me.
‘‘2. ‘For I am thy power and thy light. Come and save me.
‘‘3. ‘Let great darkness cover my oppressors. Say unto my power: I

am he who will save thee.
‘‘4. ‘Let all those who would take away my light from me utterly,
lack their power. Let them face about unto the chaos and become
powerless, who would take away my light from me utterly.
‘‘5. ‘Let their power be as dust, and let Iao“, thy angel, smite them.
‘‘6. ‘A nd if they would go into the height, let darkness seize upon
them and let them slip down and turn to the chaos. And let thy
angel Iao“ pursue them and cast them down into the darkness below.
‘‘7. ‘For they have set a lion-faced power as a trap for me, although I
have done them no ill, from which its light will be taken; and they
have oppressed the power in me, which they will not be able to take
away.
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‘‘8. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, take away the purification from the
lion-faced power without its knowing it, ç the thought which
Self-willed hath thought, to take away my light; take away his own
and let the light be taken away from the lion-faced power, which set
the trap for me.
‘‘9. ‘But my power will exult in the Light and rejoice that he will
save it.
‘‘10. ‘A nd all the portions of my power shall say:There is no saviour

but thee. For thou wilt save me out of the hand of the lion-faced
power, which hath taken away my power from me, and thou
savest me out of the hands of them who have taken away my
power and my light from me.
‘‘11. ‘For they have risen up against me, lying against me and saying
that I know the mystery of the Light which is in the height, [the
Light] in which I have had faith. And they have constrained me,
[saying:] Tell unto us the mystery of the Light in the height,çthat
which I know not.
‘‘12. ‘A nd they have requited me with all this ill because I have had
faith in the Light of the height; and they have made my power light-
less.
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‘‘13. ‘But when they constrained me, I sat in the darkness, my soul
bowed down in mourning.
‘‘14. ‘A nd do thou, O Lightçfor that reason sing I praise to theeç

save me. I know that thou wilt save me because I fulfilled thy will
ever since I was in my aeon. I fulfilled thy will, as the invisibles who
are in my region, and as my pair. And I mourned, looking unceas-
ingly and searching for the Light.
‘‘15. ‘Now, therefore, have all the emanations of Self-willed sur-

rounded me and rejoiced over me and sore oppressed me without
my knowing [them]. And they have fled away and ceased from me
but have had no pity upon me.
‘‘16. ‘They have returned again and made trial of me and they have
oppressed me in great oppression and ground their teeth against
me, desiring to take away my light from me utterly.
‘‘17. ‘How long, therefore, O Light, dost thou suffer them, that they
oppress me? Save my power from their evil thoughts and save me
from the hand of the lion-faced power; for I alone of the invisibles
am in this region.
‘‘18. ‘I will sing praises unto thee, O Light, in the midst of all who are
gathered together against me, and I will cry unto thee in the midst
of all who oppress me.
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‘‘19. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, let not them who hate me and desire
to take away my power from me, rejoice over meç who hate me
and flash their eyes against me, though I have not done anything
unto them.
‘‘20. ‘For indeed they have fawned upon me with sweet words,
asking me concerning the mysteries of the Light which I know
not, and have craftily spoken against me and been enraged
against me, because I have had faith in the Light in the height.
‘‘21. ‘They have opened their chops against me and said: Well
indeed, we will take from her her light.
‘‘22. ‘Now, therefore, O Light, thou hast known their guile; suffer
them not and let not thy help be far from me.
‘‘23. ‘Quickly, O Light, vindicate and avenge me,
‘‘24. ‘A nd give judgment on me according to thy goodness. Now,

therefore, O Light of lights, let them not take away my light from
me,
‘‘25. ‘A nd let them not say in their heart: Our power is glutted with
her light. And let them not say: We have consumed her power.
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‘‘26. ‘But rather let darkness come upon them, and let those who
long to take away my light from me, become powerless, and let
them be clothed with chaos and darkness, who say there: We will
take away her light and her power.
‘‘27. ‘Now, therefore, save me that I may rejoice, for I long for the
thirteenth aeon, the region of Righteousness, and I shall say ever-
more: May the light of thy angel Iao“ shine more and more.
‘‘28. ‘A nd my tongue will sing praises to thee in thy gnosis my

whole time in the thirteenth aeon.’ ’’
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Ninth repentance : the Song of the Breakthrough
48
Ninth repentance: the Song of the Breakthrough
During the period of the seventh repentance, Pistis Sophia has ar-
rived at the state of non-being, as a result of which the gnostic radia-
tions can begin the process of sanctification in her. She has entered
the way of the Rosycross. When a person has entered this process
through non-being or selflessness, he feels a great enlightenment.
However this beginning does not signify the possession of the
new soul-consciousness and its faculties. The beginning has been
realized, but the king’s chamber, the window of the soul, has not
yet been opened. Without this new consciousness in the absolute
sense of the word, the candidate is not yet able to perceive the
helping forces and the new field of life, the cosmos of the sixth
cosmic domain. He is still in the stage of faith and has had only
experiences of faith.
The Bible says of this stage, ‘Faith is the firm ground,’ but then
adds immediately, ‘of things hoped for and the proof of things not
seen.’ Faith is the best possible basis for a link with the unseen, and
this is not without dangers.
When the pupil has reached the stage of non-being and is in
the stage of faith, the stage of the first gnostic touch, many dialec-
tical forces can and will latch on to the pupil’s awkward state be-
cause of his inability to see, and because of his lack of new con-
sciousness. In this stage of faith, the pupil aims at a goal that he
cannot yet perceive and that he can experience at best in his
astral body as a link, as a firm ground, which means he is linked
to the gnostic-astral streams of power.
When the pupil is in this state, the lion-faced power, the great
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imitator, tries to lead the pupil away from the path. The result is a
new series of painful experiences, a new series of internal and ex-
ternal resistances and sometimes even bodily problems, because
the commencing gnostic processes have started changing the po-
larization of the atoms. This means that the repeated grip of the
nature forces causes disturbances.
All this means a total oppression. This is why the Pistis Sophia
says that when the forces of Authades discover that after the sev-
enth repentance Pistis Sophia is not completely led out of the
chaos, they begin to laugh at her and attack her once more. And
the lion-faced power begins to interfere.
In this difficult stage many pupils of spiritual schools of all
times have failed. Their faith is tested in the way described, and
often they cannot withstand this test because they make the error
of attributing their difficulties to the spiritual school, as suggested
by the lion-faced power.
The astral stream of the Gnosis, active in the blood via the
portal vein of the liver, meets the astral force of the lion-faced
power, resulting in a strong fermentation. Heat is created and a
flame shoots upwards from the top of the triangle.
At this moment a tremendous emotion rises up in the pupil. He
feels a hot jealousy, a wave of criticism, a mental incapacity, and a
dulling of sensory perception in regard to what faith has given
him. The fire begins to roar fiercely, and when it has burned itself
out, the ex-pupil is usually totally exhausted. Sometimes it takes
years before he can muster the strength to start again. Right into
his bones he feels regret mixed with hatred and all sorts of subcon-
scious feelings.
Every pupil has to pass through the gate of the seventh repent-
ance and its dangers, and so it is a good idea to point this out to
pupils. Everyone who goes this path can expect this oppression as
described, and what counts is whether, and how, he or she can
escape his or her oppressors. This is why the period of the seventh
and eighth repentances is one of the most important and signifi-
cant parts of the Gospel of the Pistis Sophia.
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Hence it is of extreme importance to determine how Pistis Sophia

faces her oppressors, and it is very useful to follow the text of the
eighth repentance in detail, for this can teach us a great deal.
The oppression begins: Pistis Sophia is persecuted to the max-
imum, and the forces of Authades break into the liver. She knows
she is standing at the beginning of the gnostic process of purifica-
tion, and she experiences this with her entire astral being. The pro-
cess of purification and sanctification has commenced, and now
comes the crisis of the oppression with all its incidents.
However the process of fermentation as described above does
not develop in Pistis Sophia. This would have meant the danger of
all her new light-force being destroyed again. During this trial she
keeps her eyes firmly fixed on the one goal:
‘Give heed unto me and save me. Be unto me a saviour, O Light, and
save me and lead me unto thy light ... And because of the mystery of
thy name lead me and give me thy mystery.’
She expects the attack of the lion-faced power, but:

‘... thou wilt save me from this lion-faced power, which they have
laid as a snare for me. ... And in thy hands will I lay the purification
of my light; thou hast saved me, O Light, according to thy gnosis.’
She asks that the part within her that was purified by the Gnosis be
saved, and we understand now that this purified part in Pistis
Sophia is saved because of her unwavering focus on the Gnosis.
She has unqualified faith while she is being oppressed.
‘A nd thou hast not left me in the hand of the lion-faced power; but
thou hast led me into a region which is not oppressed.’
This is what gnostic magic is! With all her longing for liberation
and with all her intelligence, Pistis Sophia projects her future lib-
eration onto the screen of things to come. gnostic magic has
stages of development, and the magic of faith is capable of bring-
ing to certainty things that are unseen.
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However, when a pupil applies gnostic magic in the stage of

faith, he simultaneously invokes the forces of counter-nature, as
he is essentially still too earthbound. For this reason the text of
the eighth repentance is momentarily interrupted to fully draw at-
tention to this. The lion-faced power and all the creatures of
Authades attack Pistis Sophia. She has called them herself. And
so she says:
‘Have mercy upon me, O Light, for they have oppressed me again.
Because of thy commandment, the light in me is distracted and my
power and my understanding. My power hath begun to wane
whiles I am in these afflictions. ... My light is diminished, for they
have taken away my power from me. ... I am become powerless in
the presence of all the rulers of the aeons, who hate me ...’
It is precisely by saying this to the Gnosis, in unwavering directed-

ness, that she is made invincible. The magic result of continuous
directedness is made fully evident here. She does not respond to
hatred with hatred. She does not fight. She stands alone in the
storm, with unceasing directedness and with the certainty of a
high, new morality, expressed in the words:
‘[They] say: Let us take the whole light in her, ç although I have
done them no ill.’... ‘My lots are in thy hands, [O Lord].’
Thus Pistis Sophia proceeds through the dark gate of oppression.

She withstands all trials, and so the kingdom can be opened up to
her soon.
However, the tribulation of oppression is not ended here, be-
cause the Gnosis wants still more from her before all the trials of
this stage can belong to the past. It is not only necessary to show
an unceasing directedness. In addition the pupil needs to develop
a continual self-activity. He not only needs to see the light and to
keep his eyes fixed on it whatever happens, but he is also obliged
to approach this light. There has to be movement; there has to be
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continuous exertion, as if there were no resistances or tribulations.

Gnostic magic is not only the projection of the message of sal-
vation beyond the veiled future whereby one can hold off attack-
ers, remaining beyond their reach through continuous directed-
ness to the plan of salvation. Gnostic magic must also lead to the
victory, to liberation from the attacks. The pupil must be able to go
on! He is not allowed to wait passively until one day the resis-
tances might be gone. He must break through, and so self-activity
is required. It is an activity of non-conflict, on the basis of the
knowledge of faith and with the help of the power of faith and
service.
Whoever does so, whoever dares to do this, will discover how
all resistances will be forced to give way until finally there are no
hindrances at all that are stronger than the power of the pupil.
When you reach this knowledge, which has arisen from ex-
perience, you will also understand the ninth repentance, the Song
of the Breakthrough, and the glorious victory that ensues.
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49
The wall of the twelve aeons
The ninth repentance shows that Pistis Sophia perseveres in the way
as described previously, but that the tribulations and attacks are in-
creasing in strength and the darkness is intensifying around her.This
is what happens to all who with yearning and with all their heart long
for the morning light: the darkness becomes ever more oppressive.
However, because of the knowledge that the ‘goddess of dawn’
must appear, there is no question of a feeling of panic or collapsing
into melancholia. This would be very foolish! Who would expect
‘light’ from dialectics? If a person has been beaten by life, he cer-
tainly will not do so, for if he is focused properly, he will expect the
dawn from the Gnosis and in the realm of the Gnosis.
However this person cannot deny the darkness because he is
experiencing it only too well. He lives completely in the hope
that the dawn will reach him in time and that he won’t perish in
the darkness prematurely:
‘The dawn has arrived.

The dawn is there for me!
The dawn is there for all who are building on the light.
May I be strong enough to go the path !’
And so the theme of the ninth repentance is the hope that Pistis
Sophia may have enough strength to break through the last
shreds of darkness. While she is singing this song, the attacks in-
crease, for the last draughts from the cup are the most bitter, but her
focus on the path remains unshakable to the end.
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O Light, in whom I have had faith from the beginning, for whose
sake I have endured these great pains, help me!
This is the cry of anguish from the totally exhausted pupil who has
walked his path of breakthrough to the last step. In that hour her
repentance is accepted. And then the light is sent to her in a differ-
ent way than before: ‘When I [Jesus] came into the chaos to help
her she saw me.’
At that moment the candidate can see. Day breaks on the horizon
of life of Pistis Sophia: the breakthrough has been accomplished!
We would now first of all like to cast some light on the thirteen
states, equivalent to the thirteen repentances of Pistis Sophia,
through which the nature-born human being has to struggle.
Just as a twelvefold zodiac surrounds our cosmos and repre-
sents itself in that cosmos, so does every microcosm have twelve
aspects. There are twelve states, twelve aspects, twelve organic de-
velopments in the nature-born human being. Hence there are
twelve obstacles, twelve fundamental psychic resistances to the
liberating life and the field of resurrection. Clearly every pupil
who wishes to enter the new-life state will have to destroy all
these obstacles consecutively.
The twelve aspects of the total dialectical state form twelve
forces with which every candidate has to reckon. In the Pistis
Sophia they are called the twelve aeons. They are the twelve
nature-forces that lie at the cause of man’s natural state and that
enable his existence and his life. These twelve forces naturally
form a wall, a lipika-wall. The human being lives in an enclosed
space; he lives between the walls of the twelve aeons.
People are all very individualised; they are very egocentric and
locked up inside their I-being. They all live a very separate exis-
tence, and so it is clear that the twelvefold wall surrounding them
is of the same kind.
Every aeonic wall has cohesion. It forms an entirety, and the
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synthesis of that entirety and the principle on which that twelve-

fold wall is built and on which it functions is called the thirteenth
aspect, the Thirteenth Aeon. We can say that the Thirteenth Aeon
is the key to the whole and the secret of the wall. Whoever can
leave the veils of the Thirteenth Aeon behind has escaped from
his prison walls, his own nature, and his own life-field.
In the first instance this concept seems nonsensical. This is like
a fish out of water, a plant with its roots in the air, or like a house
that floats in the air yet has weight. Nevertheless it is possible enter
behind the veils of our own thirteenth aeon, and it is quite easy to
understand how this is possible. Imagine a stone. This is a dead
piece of mineral, but it has a property of absorption. When the
sun shines on the stone for a while, the heat radiations of the sun
will warm the stone up. They could even make the stone very hot,
and later the stone will begin to radiate the heat that it has received
from the sun earlier on.
Now imagine the human being imprisoned within the twelve-
fold aeonic wall in the microcosm and compare this microcosm to
a stone. The microcosm and everything in it also has the property
of absorption. The microcosm absorbs not only the light-power of
the cosmic and macrocosmic system to which it is related but also
other light-powers. In principle this is all the light-radiations of the
entire universe, innumerable in kind. People are not aware of this
because they do not form a receptive field and so do not retain
these light-powers. Hence these alien cosmic radiations pass
through them. These radiations come and go without people
being aware of them.
However there are also light-radiations that do not have dialec-
tical origins but that are very deliberately and emphatically aimed
at our nature. For example think of the radiations of the Gnosis
and its Light-Realm of the sixth cosmic domain. These light-
powers come into our nature, although they are not of this nature.
This explains a wondrous activity within the microcosm. Imag-
ine a human being, born in nature and therefore imprisoned
inside his enclosure, his twelvefold wall, which surrounds him as
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a ring. Just like all his fellow human beings, this person has a hard
lot. He is forced to be a self-preserver because he is living in an
order of death, an order in which the struggle for existence is
necessary and in which everything has two sides. In short, it is a
world in which everything is dialectical.
Inevitably this person will become dissatisfied with his lot,
even if it has been kind to him for a certain length of time, and he
will begin to seek. He is looking for expansion, although he him-
self may not really know what he is seeking. Without wanting to,
this person will initiate his natural faculty of absorption. He de-
sires something his twelvefold aeonic wall cannot provide.
This person and his system form a perfect object for the light-
power that is not of this world but that is aimed at this world. And
now the same thing happens as to the stone: a new light shines on
this person; a new sun radiates heat to him. Energy is given to this
person, a heat that has not originated from his own nature. It is
outside the scope of his will, his consciousness, his aeonic wall.
Nevertheless this person, by virtue of his natural capacity of ab-
sorption, is charged with an alien light-power, gnostic light-
power, just as the stone absorbs heat from the sun’s rays.
The purpose of dialectics is to form an order in which human
beings naturally begin to seek and try to come to expansion be-
cause of their imperfection and that of the world around them.
Thus every human being is charged with alien light-power, and
this explains how Pistis Sophia can speak of a light-power that
she has received from God. This also explains why it is said that
the aeons appear to possess the light-power of the true light.
Through his seeking, the human being attracts magnetic gnos-
tic light-power into his microcosm, a light-power that does not ori-
ginate from his nature-born state.
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50
The fundamental cause of sickness and death
You can imagine how the continual threats from the lion-faced
power confront Pistis Sophia with terrifying moments. You can
understand the cause of the lion-faced power’s existence. A dialec-
tical microcosm that is charged with gnostic light-power will
retain that power for a long time and, just like a hot stone, will radi-
ate heat for quite a while. This heat has not originated from within
the microcosm but from the Gnosis, which has temporarily con-
centrated some of its light in the microcosm. According to natural
law the microcosm will lose all its gained energy and, unless a ra-
dical change takes place, will return to its previous state.
When a pupil of the Spiritual School regularly, from an inner
personal need, stays in the foci of the Brotherhood, both his per-
sonality and his aeonic walls are clearly charged with gnostic
light-power. Such a pupil possesses light-power, and his auric
being possesses the lion-faced power. This light-power stays in
this person because he keeps recharging, and so he can work and
live out of this power and testify of it.
But this is no solution because just as a stone that is constantly
being reheated remains the same stone, this person remains the
nature-born human being who is of and in the nature of death,
despite the fact that he stays in the gnostic light-power so often.
Nothing has really changed in this person. His experiences are
just the consequence of his natural capacity to absorb, activated
by his feelings of dissatisfaction.
Because of the law governing the loss of energy, a person has to
keep recharging. The fact that gnostic light-power keeps coming
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The fundamental cause of sickness and death
into him and working in him proves that he is constantly being

called by the gnostic light because of his seeking. The fact that
the person constantly keeps cooling down again, just like the
stone, and so continually has to be reheated proves that he is
daily exploiting the Gnosis, and so is daily crucifying it, while it
sacrifices itself to him daily.
There is another aspect that you should consider closely. The
fact is that this natural capacity to absorb is subject to a process
of wear. When a stone is heated up daily and cools down again,
it loses mass and in the course of time begins to pulverise. The in-
cessant differences in heat cause cracking and pulverisation until
there is only dust. In the end the stone disappears; it dies. It is
doomed.
And that is the fundamental cause of sickness and death. Al-
ready as a child the human being begins to seek, driven by the pas-
sion of the dialectical human race. Accordingly he is already called
as a child by the divine light because of his natural capacity to
absorb, and if he reacts like the stone, the processes of wear, de-
struction, and death begin immediately.
Yet the light of the Gnosis does not come to the human being to
kill him or to make him revolve in the wheel of rising, shining, and
fading. Although natural law ensures that the processes of absorp-
tion and radiation kill him, both in and outside of the Spiritual
School, the Gnosis says that it comes to everyone to save him
and to help him vanquish death.
We have explained how it is possible for a person to penetrate

behind the veil of the Thirteenth Aeon, like Pistis Sophia. If the
natural capacity to absorb is working, the whole magnetic field
which is situated outside of the auric being will be forced to re-
ceive light-power of a different kind and to concentrate it in the
microcosm. The human being has then broken through the basic
principle of his twelvefold wall, and he begins to breathe a differ-
ent light-power.
We saw that this new light-power is then like a call, a new task.
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This task must be fulfilled, so it is not death but life that is

achieved. This is why Pistis Sophia is sent back to fulfil her task,
which has thirteen aspects. This necessitates thirteen repentances
and involves thirteen fundamental changes. This whole process
then leads to a resurrection or a fall.
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The radiation of Christ
51
In previous chapters we discussed how a striving person can pen-

etrate behind the veils of the Thirteenth Aeon. Through the activ-
ity of the natural human capacity to absorb, the microcosmic mag-
netic field is forced to attract a different kind of light-power and to
concentrate this in the whole system. This light-power then tries to
provide for the special requirements of this person. It works as a
call to a new life, to a different life, namely the destiny and the ful-
filment to which this new light-power is identical.
However, because the whole being of this person has been
born and bred out of the light-power of ordinary nature and the
cause of his existence lies in this, it is clear that if he wants to
belong to and live in the new light-powerfield, his whole system
will have to be attuned to this new light-power. Every part, every
organ of his system will have to be changed. In the School of the
Rosycross we call this change ‘transfiguration’.
Hence Pistis Sophia, after experiencing the new light-power, is
sent back to achieve the necessary process of transfiguration, the
process in which the whole being is totally changed. This process
has thirteen aspects, thirteen stages, which are essential for the re-
newal to become a fact.
If the pupil is completely conscious of the path and thirsts for
the great liberation in the new light-field, he is just like Pistis
Sophia and, after constantly experiencing the new light-power of
Christ, he is referred back to his great task: to break through and
destroy the surrounding magnetic chain of ordinary nature in
order to celebrate the rebirth in the field of resurrection.
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Chapter 51
The author of the Pistis Sophia, after the custom of his day, per-
sonified the various light-forces and nature-forces and gave them
names and character. Even in our days many people still use lan-
guage in this ancient way of representation. This may sound very
romantic and mystical and satisfy many emotions, but at present
this is dangerous because the two planes of our nature-orderçthe
physical plane and the reflection sphereçare merging into one.
The veils are very thin. If representations of the light-powers of
the universe are made too vivid, they could easily connect people
with disembodied entities of the reflection sphere. This is why
representations have to be stripped more and more of personified
mysticism. In the present state of the human being, all personifica-
tions are linked to the human I and so direct themselves to the I. In
this way they maintain the I and hence the light-power of birth, and
the human being is thereby entangled in all kinds of delusions. He
thus builds a whole pantheon of shades and is inevitably victim-
ised.
It is better to think along the lines of the elements of the univer-
sal light-power system, of the cosmic radiation laws, and to famil-
iarise ourselves with the simple system of fundamental light-radia-
tions out of which every creature lives. It is not the creatures and
hence the personifications that come first but the light-powers.
Eternal creatures have universal light-powers behind them too.
Hence before all else the pupil must focus on the activities of the
light and base himself upon these, for then he will be safe and will
always live in accordance with his state of being. He will then natu-
rally come into contact with groups of beings that correspond, to
his own state of being.
The fight that has to be fought, the work that has to be done, is
not against ‘flesh and blood’ but against radiations that are dishar-
monious to the path. This is why Paul says, ‘We are not contending
against flesh and blood, but against the ... wickedness in the
heavenly places’ (Eph. 6:12). This enemy is always radiation and
hence formless, and definitely not personified. The evil lies in the
nature of the radiation that is contrary to the radiation plan of re-
388
newal. It is evil not in the sense of wicked or perverted but in the

sense of disturbing.
The pupil on the path who longs for a new state of life, like Pistis
Sophia, will come into contact with a different field of radiation
because of his natural capacity to absorb. From that moment on
the old field of radiation will become disturbing in regard to the
new field. This is what the person should keep in mind; this is
where he should concentrate his activities. He must become non-
violent towards flesh and blood, towards all manifestations of and
in the old nature. This non-violence will be the best way to fight
the disturbing radiations that lie at the basis of the old nature and
emanate from it.
The Universal Teachings say there are seven great fundamental
radiation fields, corresponding to the seven cosmic planes. These
planes, or fields, interpenetrate and influence each other from the
top downwards as follows: the seventh or lowest field influences
itself but cannot exert any influence on the sixth; the sixth cannot
influence the fifth but can influence the seventh; the fifth field can
manifest itself in the sixth and seventh but not in the fourth, and so
on. Hence absolute perfection must be obtained in and from the
first cosmic plane, which is itself and in addition can manifest
itself in the six other radiation fields.
The seventh cosmic plane is the most isolated field of all the
seven planes as it is completely imprisoned within itself and
bound to its laws. Yet it can live only out of the sixth field. Light
powers from the sixth plane and from the other planes have to
come into the seventh plane to enable humanity to exist and to
enable all the light-powers of the seventh plane to live.
What is happening therefore? The aeons of the seventh plane,
the nature-forces of the seventh plane, receive light-powers from
the sixth plane to make life, creatures, possible in the seventh
plane. If we represent this in a personified, romantic, and mytho-
logical way, we say that the light-powers of the seventh plane con-
stantly steal light-power from the sixth plane. They have to do this
to exist.
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They do this by means of their creations and their creatures, by

the creations of Authades and those of the lion-faced power. What
is the cause? Because human beings do not feel at home in this ex-
istence, and many people feel a great longing, together they gen-
erate an enormous flow of light-powers from the sixth plane into
ours, and the natural capacity for absorption ensures this flow.
However, because the human being is in and of the seventh
plane, because he is among the creatures of the seventh plane, the
new light-power is transmuted to the vibration and nature of the
seventh plane. It is made equal to the magnetic field of the seventh
plane and so becomes the raw material of the seventh plane. The
light-power of the sixth plane therefore does not come directly to
the longing human being but is stolen from him because it is trans-
formed. This is a natural and self-evident process.
The Son of the higher light-powers, mythologically personified
as Jesus Christ, constantly lives and continuously sacrifices him-
self. He is continuously being crucified and so dies for us every
second in order to provide the entire cosmic plane with life-force
and radiation power. The whole of humanity is the Judas-aspect in
this.
However, they who go the path of transfiguration must become
familiar with a second aspect. For the incessantly self-sacrificing
light-power of the sixth plane has the purpose not only of enabling
humanity to exist in the seventh plane of existence but also of pro-
viding a liberating element, namely the lifting-up from the seventh
plane into the sixth plane. If the human being, and the pupil in parti-
cular, succeeds in keeping the light-power that he receives from the
sixth plane in a pure state and does not reduce it to his field of exis-
tence but, to the contrary, makes the powers of his field of existence
servants of this other light, he will inevitably begin to conform to the
nature and vibration of the sixth plane.
The person who is able to do this can become a creature of the
sixth plane. He is born again. He becomes twice-born. He is resur-
rected in a totally new field of life. Transfiguration is a logical con-
sequence.
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If a pupil retains the light-powers of Christ in a new way and

does not apply them in a banal way, he is resurrected with Christ,
just as the unconscious human being who lives in the old manner
betrays, crucifies, and kills the Christ within himself, without any
liberating aspect. Every human being receives the universal light-
power and is thus kindled by the spirit of God; every human being
dies in Jesus the Lord; but not every one will be reborn by the Holy
Spirit through this death of Christ, although everyone in fact can
do this.
What matters is that the human being becomes conscious that
he possesses light-power and that, as a true Pistis Sophia, he must
utilise this light-power in a new way. Everyone possesses this
power. Everyone is enabled to become a child of God again, i.e.
to enter the sixth cosmic plane as a new creature.
A totally new natural scientific activity is required from this
type of person. He is required to use a power, which he has been
receiving during his whole life, in a new manner and to let it serve
new goals.
Surely you can do this? Well, do it then, candidates on the path!
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It came to pass, when Jesus had finished saying these words unto
his disciples, that he said unto them: ‘‘Who is sober among you,
let him proclaim their solution.’’
James came forward, kissed the breast of Jesus and said: ‘‘My Lord,
thy spirit hath sobered me, and I am ready to proclaim their
solution. Concerning them indeed thy power hath prophesied
aforetime through David in the thirty-fourth Psalm, saying thus
concerning the ninth repentance of Pistis Sophia:
‘‘1. ‘Give sentence, O Lord, on them who do me injustice, and fight

against them who fight against me.
‘‘2. ‘Lay hand on weapon and shield and stand up to help me.
‘‘3. ‘Draw forth a sword and conceal it [sie] from my oppressors.

Say unto my soul: I am thy salvation.
‘‘4. ‘Let them be put to shame and abashed who strive after my
soul; let them fall back and be put to shame who imagine evil
against me.
‘‘5. ‘Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the
Lord pursue after them.
392
‘‘6. ‘Let their way be darkness and slippery, and let the angel of the
Lord oppress them.
‘‘7. ‘For without cause have they hid a snare for me for their own
spoiling, and they have mocked at my soul in vain.
‘‘8. ‘Let a snare come upon them which they know not, and let the
net which they have hid for me, catch them, and let them fall into
this snare.
‘‘9. ‘But my soul will exult in the Lord and rejoice in its salvation.
‘‘10. ‘All my bones shall say: O Lord, who can be like unto thee?ç
thou who settest free the wretched from the hand of him who is
stronger than him; and thou savest a wretched and poor [one]
from the hands of them who spoil him.
‘‘11. ‘Unjust witnesses came forward and have asked me that which
I knew not.
‘‘12. ‘They have requited me evil for good and childlessness for my
soul.
‘‘13. ‘But when they molested me, I clothed me in a sack and

humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer will return into my
breast.
393
Chapter 51
‘‘14. ‘I was pleasing unto thee, as unto my neighbour and as unto my

brother; and I humbled myself as one in mourning and as one who
is sad.
‘‘15. ‘They have rejoiced over me, and they are put to shame.
Scourges have gathered themselves together against me and I
knew not; they were cut off and were troubled.
‘‘16. ‘They have brought me to trial and mocked me with mocking;

they have ground their teeth against me.
‘‘17. ‘O Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? Restore again my soul
from their evil works and save my only one from the hands of the
lions.
‘‘18. ‘I will confess to thee, O Lord, in the great assembly, and I will
sing praises to thee in the midst of a countless people.
‘‘19. ‘Let not them who unjustly treat me as a foe, rejoice over me,
who hate me without a cause and wink with their eyes.
‘‘20. ‘For indeed they discourse with me with words of peace,

though they plot wrath with craft.
‘‘21. ‘They opened their chops wide against me and said: Well
indeed, our eyes have filled our sight with him.
394
‘‘22. ‘Thou hast seen, O Lord. Keep not silence, O Lord, withdraw
not thyself from me.
‘‘23. ‘Arise, O Lord, and give heed to my vindication, give heed to

my vengeance, my God and my Lord.
‘‘24. ‘Judge me, O Lord, according to thy justice; let them not rejoice
over me, my God.
‘‘25. ‘A nd let them not say: Well done, our soul. Let them not say:
We have consumed him.
‘‘26. ‘Let them be put to shame and be scorned, who rejoice at my

mischance. Let them be clothed with shame and disgrace who
speak boastingly against me.
‘‘27. ‘Let them who desire my justification, exult and rejoice and let
them who desire the peace of his slave, say: May the Lord be great
and arise.
My tongue will exult over thy justification and over thy honour all
the day long.’ ’’
395
Chapter 52
52
James, the person who possesses Gnosis
In this chapter we want to immerse ourselves in chapter 51 of the

gospel of the Pistis Sophia. Before doing so it is necessary to sum-
marise the discussion in the previous chapters.
We should ask ourselves, ‘What is the essence of the Gnosis?
What is the essence of its aim and its methodology?’ The essence
of the Gnosis is that on the one hand it bases itself on the fact that
the all-manifestation actualises itself by a multiplicity of light-ra-
diations and on the other hand on the fact that the human being
is a light-sensitive being.
When we hear of ‘light’ in the Gnosis and the Bible our atten-
tion is drawn to a multiplicity of electromagnetic and radioactive
radiations, streams, and fields, which, as the modern person
knows, are omnipresent and out of which all human beings and
all living things maintain themselves. This is why the gnostic
does not restrict himself to the contemplative, reflective, and con-
stantly seeking thoughts about the origin of all phenomena and
developments, but he restricts himself to the present-day, absolute
now of the light in all its diversity.
To him the light is the Son of the unknowable Godhead, the
declarer, the revealer, and, in addition, love itself, which sacrifices
itself and offers itself up for captivity, to which the whole Christ
epic refers. Hence the gnostic does not confine himself to a histor-
ical appearance; he does not become agitated when people discuss
it and wonder how this historical appearance might have happened.
The Son of the eternal Logos has long ago returned to the gnostic.
Poor indeed is the person to whom the Son must speak from a
396
printed scripture, and poverty-stricken is the person who possesses

only the contents of his bookshelves and lives from them.
The life of a human being with all its ups and downs depends
on the light-powers that at this moment are influencing him. His
difficulties do not arise primarily from his relationship to his
fellow human beings, to society, and to life but are solely the
result of an influence that a certain group of electromagnetic,
radioactive radiations, streams, and fields exert on him. This is
what decides all his ways and all his adventures.
If he were linked to light on a higher plane, the gnostic dis-
covers, all his present limitations would disappear and he would
rise above the field in which all dialectical phenomena originate.
He would enter a new world, as it were. He would enter a new field
as though through a door. To the gnostic the entrance through this
door is the finding of Christ. Seeking this door, this gate of the
new light, should never be merely mystical striving and talking,
for with all this nature-mystical behaviour, the person remains
the same human being as he has always been. Seeking the one
door in the sense of wanting to ascend into a different, non-dialec-
tical reality means being focused daily on, being dynamically de-
voted to, and practically going a path that must be walked.
The aim and the methodology of the Gnosis are very clear in
this. The essence of the Gnosis is the Light, we declare. The Light is
the Son of the eternal Godhead; the Light is the mediator to a new
Covenant; the Light is for us the Saviour.
As the human being is a light-sensitive being and his natural
capacity to absorb (thirteenfold in nature) reveals to him the pre-
sence of the light, it is obvious that when he feels unhappy in the
light-field of the nature of death and does not feel at home and is
being lashed by the scourges of the time-spatial field, he will enter
a state of new yearning because of the realisation of this poverty
and because of the misery of this inexorable reality.
This yearning is a prayer, a wail from the soul for new and dif-
ferent light, the seeking for the one door to a higher light-field.
Through his natural capacity for absorption, this person will ex-
397
Chapter 52
perience the call, the extended hand from this higher light-field.
Even before he is conscious of this yearning, the light will already
have called him.
However, being called by a higher light-field, because of the
fact that the person concerned attracted this light by his natural
capacity of absorption, does not mean he is already living in this
higher light-field. The human being has to go on a journey for this.
This journey consists of turning away from the old nature and
turning towards the new nature. It is a process of transmutation.
This transmutation is the primary manifestation and realisation of
the sanctifying, healing spirit, the resurrecting spirit of the new
light-field. Standing on this path is the absolute requirement. And
the fact that one is standing on this path must be evident and must
be proven again every day by a daily dying of the old nature and
being reborn daily in the new nature.
Whoever does not do this, whoever does not try, does not per-
severe, does not belong in a gnostic Spiritual School. Such a
person has ended up there by chance or because of his family.
Such a person does not yet know the yearning, the wail of the
soul, and so has not yet been called. The light has not marked
him, and he is not predestined.
Whoever seeks the light will find the light, and he must walk in
and with this light so that it will change him. Being focused on the
Gnosis, with all the consequences and experiences that follow,
turns the person concerned into a true Pistis Sophia, from whom
all egocentricity, every delusion, and every reflection sphere hal-
lucination are being burnt out. For the Gnosis, with its consistent
and strict focus on the light, desires exclusive obedience to and
ascent into the light and places every human being and every crea-
tion into the background.
The Gnosis does not desire worship and adoration of gods and
human beings. It does not wish to place a single entity between
the light and the individual seeking the light, even if many entities
undoubtedly deserve your adoration and gratitude. However, this
adoration and gratitude should be shown by going the path. The
398
light is here and you are here: No one places himself between you
and the light. And servants who are of the light and in the light do
not stand in the foreground nor do they demand anything from
the candidate. They simply radiate the light to the extent they
have been able to release this in themselves, and thus they can
serve their fellow human beings with the light, so that between
them and the light there could be nothing that would prevent
them going the path.
They explore the easy way for those who yearn. But none of
them would say to his fellow human beings: ‘Look at me!’ The
light shines for everyone in a strictly impersonal way. Whoever
seeks this light and responds to it, in deed and truth, releases it in
himself, and this means: a dying as to dialectics.
Based on this knowledge, let us turn to chapter 51 of the Pistis
Sophia. The beginning of this chapter speaks of James, who has
interpreted the meaning of the ninth repentance of Pistis Sophia.
In the gnostic sense, James is the person who understands every-
thing we have discussed, not in the intellectual sense, which
would mean mere philosophical comprehension, but in the gnos-
tic sense. He is the person who has changed his place; he is stand-
ing in a different place. He has chosen a different chance for life
and has stepped out of the light-field of dialectics as the basis for
life. He has said farewell to this basis for life and has taken up a new
one. The person who in this way understands all questions of life,
and who, in all circumstances, makes the one right choice between
the two light-fields that manifest themselves to him, and solves
them on the new basis, will experience the benefit, the healing
result, at every moment, right down into his physical body.
Therefore, stop your ordinary mystical or intellectual compre-
hension. This is pointless to the Gnosis! Become a James in this
respect. Then you will be the first to enter the Kingdom of
Heaven, before all invisibles and all gods and archons who are in
the Thirteenth Aeonçthis is the microcosmic gate of liberationç
and in the Twelfth Aeonçthis is the nadir of self-sacrifice of the
professing of the gnostic pupilship.
399
Chapter 52
Whoever can understand this, not in the mystical-intellectual

sense but by the gnostic deed, has opened for himself a gate to
the new realm of light. At the same time he has released the great
self-sacrifice by means of which many others will also be able to
receive the mysteries of liberation.
400

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THE GNOSTIC MYSTERIES

JAN VAN RIJCKENBORGH

ROZEKRUIS PERS ^ HAARLEM ^ NETHERLANDS

isbn-10 : 90 6732 331 4

ß 2006 Rozekruis Pers, Haarlem, Netherlands

1 The unknown mysteries 16

The gnostic manuscript Pistis Sophia, purportedly written by the

The Dutch translation of Book 1 of the Pistis Sophia was published,

This book provides a direct answer, in the light of the Gnosis, to

We have reached a point in time, in which many gnostically-sensi-

The intention of the Sophia is to become the new soul-state, the

Due to the passing away of the author ç Jan van Rijckenborgh

Many readers may wonder: ‘What actually are the mysteries of

The Thirteenth Aeon, or the Universal Powerfield, causes the fifth

2. In the second song, she achieves the self-discovery of her

4. Then follows the Song of Demolition : the ego is being led to

5. The Song of Resignation is the next stage: the Pistis Sophia is in

6. On this basis, the Song of Trust is sung. The Light is suppli-

7. In the seventh song of repentance, the Pistis Sophia sings the

8. Subsequently, the persecution takes place. The aeons of

9. After having sung the Song of the Break-through, she positively

11. The power of her innermost faith is subjected to a final test.

13. In the thirteenth song of repentance, the Pistis Sophia finally

This book,The Gnostic Mysteries of the Pistis Sophia, is making the

No power of evil can prevent her

2 April 1990 Catharose de Petri

Pistis Sophia, chapter 1

The unknown mysteries

By means of the commentaries in this book, we want to place you

Whoever wants to understand the meaning of these words must

‘‘There is no mystery which is more excellent than these mysteries

teries on which ye question, save only the mystery of the seven

Pistis Sophia, chapters 2 and 3

Five psychological processes

With the aid of the language of the Pistis Sophia, we explained to

life only when one is part of it.

However, thank God, there are hundreds of pupils in the

this must be accompanied by a new electromagnetic radiative fac-

The fundamental disquiet

We do not mean that fear, worry and anxiety or a continuous

standing in the turmoil of such a great activity that it makes you

If there is nothing but tranquillity in you, if you are sitting down

The pupil at the crossroad

Every person with a rosebud in the heart sanctuary is affected by

have discussed the causes of this crystallization, this dreamless

One might become worried about that. However, in a living

What kind of life determines that longing? A life of experience.

is already stored in your subconscious and in your blood as a

As a hart longs for flowing streams,

When that longing is present, it is not a situation resulting from a

affected by the elementary light of the Brotherhood, and disquiet

course, overwhelmed by an awareness of guilt. In all these cases

reacts to the behaviour of the bodies affected by its influence. The

However, we would first like to switch to another subject. When

spark entity truly seeks liberation, he can fully test spirits as to

Let us now return to the beginning. Whoever is filled with that

The magnetic storm

cannot be picked up by the ordinary consciousness or the serpent

lation is knowing into the very deepest essence of things, while

It is a wall with a gate, however. It is indeed possible to open

A new heaven and a new earth

Before continuing our discussion on the Pistis Sophia, it is necess-