The adventures of the human Spirit as it prepares to come into physical existence are threefold. The first adventure is conception, the second the experiences of the prenatal epoch, and the third is the birth into physical embodiment. All three of these celestial adventures are taken under guidance and direction of Zodiacal Hierarchies.
When the Ego has fully assimilated the experiences of its last Earth incarnation, it has reached the highest of the three heavens in which human consciousness is active at this time. The Third Heaven is a world of pure spirit, and the Ego which has risen out of the worlds of form exists there in human spirit only, for the "seeds" or "germinal ideas" are there only in latency. It is there that the Four Celestial Guardians who have charge of the cosmic records, Taurus-Scorpio and Leo-Aquarius, accord the Earth-directed Ego permission to view the spiritual outline of the life to come and the principal events thereof by which it may work out another part of its destiny and liquidate karmic debts accumulated during previous Earth sojourns.
Note that what the Ego sees at this time is only the outline of the coming incarnation; it must by its own initiative supply all details. This panoramic preview of the approaching earth life, with the decisions the Ego forms concerning it, makes an indelible impression upon the consciousness which can never be quite forgotten and accounts for the, vague and haunting familiarity which ofttimes accompanies many of our high moments and vivid experiences in life. Sensitives, even those not able to see, often feel that they have lived through certain incidents, somewhere, sometime.
During the repose in spirit, the Ego is bathed in supernal light and transcendent harmony. It lives and moves and has its being in ineffable bliss. What oxygen is to the atmosphere of the Earth plane, the essence of Love is to the higher heavenly realms. Hence, the Ego always chooses rightly and wisely. In the light of this knowledge no life burden is ever too hard. St. Paul has said that "we are never given more than we can bear." If sometimes it appears otherwise to us here, that is due to our limited mortal vision. We have lost the clear and perfect perspective possessed by the Spirit "up there."
An individual carries about with him continually in his aura a scintillant outline of his chosen life brought down from the heaven world. Sensitives, if they do not "see," often "feel" these influences and are thus able to predict with apparently uncanny exactness certain experiences they are to meet.
Let it be always remembered, however, that the manner in which an individual meets these destined experiences and the train of causes thus set into motion belong entirely to his own freedom of choice. He can work in accordance with Cosmic Law and go far toward liquidating the causation of past mistakes, or he can set his will in direct opposition to the workings of that Law and thus add to his karmic toll, nullifying the labor and frustrating the purpose of an entire human incarnation.
These inner-plane truths should be given to children in simple form in their kindergarten days, and must before a new race of men and women can accomplish the high destiny awaiting them.
To the accompaniment of the music of the spheres, the returning Spirit begins its descent toward the Earth plane. In the realms of thought and desire, it attracts nuclei of mental and emotional substance in exact attunement to the keynote of its own mental and desire-body seed atoms. These seed atoms vibrate according to rhythms established in the previous incarnation by the use made of these particular substances.
A life given over to low, sensual desires or to materialistic thinking cannot set the atomic rate of seed atoms sufficiently high to attract clean and pure desire stuff or inspirational and altruistic thought material.
Like attracts like on all planes of being. "Man is truly a slave to his past but the master of his future."
The moment of birth occurs at the time when the Sun, Moon, and planets are in just the right position to reflect certain aspects of the forces poured out by the Twelve Zodiacal Hierarchies in precisely that measure which the incoming Ego has earned. These forces are stamped upon the vital body when the new-born infant draws its first breath, usually at the first cry, and so directly condition the body and indirectly the environment and affairs for the coming Earth pilgrimage.
The incarnational cycle of man is thus surrounded and permeated with the blessings of the Starry Guardians from its inception until the Ego's ultimate absorption or at-one-ment in and with Divinity. The powers of Heaven and Earth unite in assisting the reincarnating Spirit to build new vehicles when it makes its preparation for another life cycle upon the Earth plane. According to Madame Blavatsky, the twelve great Zodiacal or Creative Hierarchies project their shadows to help the human Spirit fashion his bodies.
From the fiery Aries is projected the initial impulses of life. The origin of all life is a seed. Spiritually or metaphysically, the " seed of life " is the " germinal Idea " — the impalpable, formless Idea. It is to this spiritual, luminous seed of life that Paracelsus refers when he says: "The fruits of water are born from the seed of Aries." And again, he describes this seed as being "outwardly cold and moist, and inwardly hot and dry." Aries, the throne and dominion of spiritual being, contains a miniature pattern of the head — a perfect image, the intricacies of the ear and eye, and all the ramifications of the cranial nerves, all functioning accurately and perfectly centered in spirit, operating through channels of spirit.
From Taurus comes the first projection of form patterns, the beginnings of life limited in space. The Taurean projection bears the spiritual impress of the throat and larynx; it radiates the image of the throat center, a seat of the creative power which is destined to become the Rose of Light in the larynx. Christ Jesus demonstrated the perfection of this ideal when He declared "My words are spirit and they are life."
The Hierarchy of Gemini unites the forces of life with form so that spirit becomes indwelling. Gemini gives the pattern of dual forces, the arms and vital centers of breath, the lungs. The impress of Gemini is on all dual body organs.
The two feminine Hierarchies, Cancer and Virgo, are powerful spiritual centers through which intuition and wisdom manifest. They project the image of the stomach and intestines, which assimilate the "bread of life" type of the divine Wisdom or Truth, the manna which comes down from heaven.
Leo is the astral focus of the brilliant Lords of Flame who radiate from their own light-bodies the nucleus or germ of man's physical or outer body. The Christ Spirit is keyed to Leo, which is also the fundamental keynote of the human archetype. When the human race comes into the knowledge of its divine heritage it will realize that it inhabits, literally, a body of light.
The Lords of Libra give the pattern for the kidneys and adrenals in the physical body; Scorpio, the image of the generative organs. Spiritually considered, Libra shadows forth the likeness of the new Adam while Scorpio points to the glorious attainment that follows upon regeneration.
Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces together image the co-ordinated activities of the lower limbs and pedal extremities. When the spiritual centers are awakened in the feet and knees, man " shall walk and not be weary, he shall run and not be faint. " Physiologically, Sagittarius projects the image of the thighs, symbol of support. Spiritually, Sagittarius pictures that great mystery which we know as mind — a radiation from the Lords of Mind which, when developed, becomes a stepping-stone leading to the gods. Capricorn and Aquarius bear the impress of the perfected desire and etheric bodies; Pisces, the glorious consummation that is to be: man made in the image and likeness of God — a consummation to be reached here on the Earth plane.
God, or Cosmic Law, geometrizes. All the building processes of nature follow symmetrical lines. Rhythm and motion are attributes of the Third or Activity Principle of the Trinity.
Every form is built in a matrix of color and emits a continuous tone which is its spiritual keynote, its heart throb of life. All the universe operates in consonance with the music of the spheres and every physical body is fashioned according to this celestial harmony. In the heaven world the archetype of the physical body is attuned to the keynote of the Ego that is to inhabit that body. It is in the head and heart that this soul song has its two modes of expression — the one in a major key, the other in a minor — by means of which the Ego, more literally than any musician yet knows, sings its way through life. Humanity as a whole is likewise dual. There are two evolutionary classes, the "practicals" and the "mystics." The former vibrate to the head or "major" tone and the latter to the heart or "minor" key.
Every atom of the body is formed in accordance with the Spirit's initial archetypal rhythm. The several interpenetrating bodies or principles of man constitute a septenary, each sounding a note of the octave; thus we find that man contains within himself the music of the spheres.
Perfect health means perfect harmony between the notes of all bodies. In consequence of this, music will become an increasingly important factor in the healing of disease as the sense of hearing becomes keener and able to intercept a wider range of tones than is possible with our contemporary equipment. At the present time perfect health is comparatively unknown because the rhythms of the several bodies are not in harmony and are so easily "jangled out of tune."
Materialistic thinking, emotional excesses of any nature, over-eating, criticism, and gossip are among the many things that disturb the harmonies and react as disease. Periods of silence, constructive affirmations, entering into one's inner nature and there contacting the divine, all serve to restore the tone and rhythm of the several bodies and their harmony as a composite unit. To maintain wholeness and harmony and health — all are synonymous — it is necessary often to "be still and know that I am God. " We must arrive at the state of development where we can say with Paul, regardless of whatsoever transpires around us, that "none of these things move me." Writes Paracelsus: "As often as a transmutation of color takes place, so often occurs a transmutation of virtues also. There is a latent knowledge of colors just as there are latent colors, and a latent cognition of virtues just as there are latent virtues. "
Initiation signifies new growth, expansion of faculties and progress beyond the old status. Life is the great Initiator, and the various steps or degrees experienced by the prenatal Ego are a series of Initiations in preparation for physical existence. These degrees are outlined in that great cosmic picture book of destiny, the twelve constellations of the heavens, which in the ultimate may be described as the building processes of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth.
In prenatal life weight increases largely by growth and division of cells. Weight after birth increases in size rather than in the number of cells in the body. Centers for the principal bones of the body appear by the end of the second month of fetal life.
The germ cells (female ova, male sperma) are easily distinguished under the microscope. The ova are larger and less active than the sperma. Both are complete living organisms and together become avenues for the incoming of an immortal Spirit. The ovum is the largest body cell. Ova form in little pockets or follicles of the ovaries. One of the follicles containing a single ovum matures each lunar month between puberty and menopause. This ovum has its means of escape through the ruptured wall of the ovary and enters the Fallopian tube. Only one spermium enters the body of the matured ovum, leaving its tail outside. When the fertilization of the ovum has taken place, it begins to divide into two cells, then four, and so on until in nine months one fertilized ovum has grown five million per cent.
The cells of the tiny embryo are termed soma or body cells. Of these are formed the organs of the body.
The first weeks of the tiny embryological development are a sealed book for materia medica. It is only by means of extended spiritual faculties that this work of the incoming Spirit may be followed. The Carnegie Laboratory of Embryology has assembled only fourteen specimens of the third week.
From an unidentified newspaper clipping we quote the following article by Gobind Behari Lat. It bears a New York date line, Dec. 17, 1942, and is titled: Discoveries about Embryos May Aid in Control of Sex. "Dramatic discoveries about one to two-week old human embryos that may greatly aid in development of means for controlling the sex of the unborn child came to light today.
"The possibility that future scientists might use combined methods of eugenic selection and chemical treatments, to be given in the earliest embryonic period of life to produce either boys, or girls, is suggested in two independent scientific investigations just published.
"One discovery is that for the first time, a human embryo only seven and a half days old has been scientifically detected and thoroughly studied. Another embryo nine and a half days old was similarly observed."
The earliest known human embryos have been found and investigated by Drs. A. T. Hertig and J. C. Rock of Boston, it is revealed in the annual year book of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, published today. "The 11 and 12-day-old human embryos are so small that the whole body can pass, lengthwise, easily through the letter 'O' as printed here."
From studies on such early human embryos scientists will learn much about how the physical and mental development of man occurs and how it can be influenced in the earliest stages of pre-birth growth.
"Concerning the possibility of scientific 'predetermination of sex' in human offspring, Drs. John W. Gowen and Ronald H. Nelson of the Iowa Agricultural Station, Ames, Iowa, are reported to have succeeded in breeding fruit flies in such a way that a special strain of male insects are developed. These male insects always produced male progeny, irrespective of the female partners.
"Other scientists have succeeded in producing 100 per cent females in such insects. Thus, for the first time men of science have found a key principle for development at will of animals of male or female sex alone.
"The application to human beings of this technique offers great complications. In principle, however, it means it might be possible to develop special families capable of producing either only boys or only girls."
The above quoted article holds much of interest for the thoughtful student. However, material science alone will never be successful in regulating the sex of incoming Egos. This power rests with the guardianship of Celestial Hierarchies, the recording Angels who assist human Egos to re-embodiment. The matter of sex is entirely a karmic one and cannot be frustrated or altered by the experiments of material science, as such.
The first stage to be investigated by physical science is the globular mass of cells called the morula (little mulberry). The embryo is a cluster of minute cells. The second is the blastula stage Aen the embryo takes on a hollow U-shaped form. By certain infoldings three layers are gradually formed. Each germ-layer gives rise to certain specified organs and systems. For example, from the estoderm are formed the skin and entire nervous system, sense organs, pineal and pituitary glands, and adrenals; from the endoderms come the alimentary canal, thyroid and thymus glands, larynx, trachea, and lungs; and from the mesoderm, the voluntary muscles and sexual glands. Also from the mesoderm develops a particular type of connective tissue from which are derived heart, blood and lymph vessels, the skeleton and the involuntary muscles. In a few weeks the embryo develops structures which the evolutionary process has required many millions of years to bring forth.
By the third week the embryo has become a minute plant-like structure with a line across it. By the fourth week the line opens into the plant at both ends. One opening becomes the mouth. The cavity within the embryo will divide and become the thoracic and abdominal cavities. Then a series of lines appear and divide the plant-like structure into segments.
One of the most revolutionary steps in human evolution was the development of the vertebral column. Three different types were developed before the present one was perfected. All three types appear in the embryo. The bony vertebrae, skull and limb bones first appear as cartilage. Arches and bronchial clefts, which belonged to an earlier stage of human development, first appear in the human embryo by the end of the third week. The way these develop into the intricacy of the human throat is one of embryology's most fascinating phases.
From one of the arches 'which in the shark become the jaws' the human fetus develops the lower jaw and two of the three small bones of the inner ear. The second and the third of the gill-arches become thyroid cartilages; the fourth, the epiglottis; the fifth, the wind-pipe cartilage. As the human embryo will develop lungs for breathing, it has no need for gills so the gill-clefts do not break through. After the sixth week no outer trace is visible, but around one end of the first cleft the fetal ear begins to form. From the remaining gill-clefts are formed the Eustachian tube (the passage from the mouth to the lymphatic cavity). The lobe, or soft lower part of the ear, appears in the sixth month and is found in animals below the apes. At the eighth month the rim of the fetal ear begins to fold in, thus shutting out sounds of the inner world.
The second bronchial arch, from which fish embryos develop gill-covers and muscles, is supplied by the seventh cranial nerve. It later becomes the face nerve supplying the ears, nose, mouth, and eyes.
Six branches of the aorta supply these fish-like arches of the human fetus. The third pair becomes part of the two internal carotid arteries. The left branch of the fourth pair forms the bend of the aorta. Of the sixth pair, one becomes the stem of the pulmonary artery to the aorta, thus allowing the right ventricle of the heart to pump impure blood into the aorta and on into the placenta. At birth it closes and the blood from the pulmonary artery must then pass into the lungs. This closing of a gill-arch artery used for placental circulation occurs when the new born infant utters the first cry, for tho Ego is then prepared to use oxygenated air from its own lungs instead of from the mother's blood.
The four-months-old fetus is attached by the umbilical cord to the then fully formed placenta which consists largely of connective tissue and blood vessels that interlace with blood vessels in the uterus. The fetus derives nourishment through the umbilical cord.
After birth the umbilical cord is tied and severed. This cuts off the infant's,oxygen intake and carbon outlet. Then a miracle happens — a blood clot forms between the navel and the liver in what was the umbilical vein which stops the circulation in that direction and prevents the infant from bleeding to death. As a result of that clot, two blood vessels cease to function and disappear. Another clot forms in the vessel which connected the aorta with the pulmonary artery and it also goes out of circulation.
Another necessary change occurs before the infant is tempered to use lungs and oxygen. Through prenatal development there is an opening between the right and left auricles and the foramen ovale, but with the closing of the vessel from the pulmonary artery to the aorta the blood is forced into the lungs, then into the pulmonary veins and after that into the left auricle. Pressure in the left auricle closes the foramen ovale between the two auricles. The clots and closure of certain blood vessels and the foramen ovale change entirely the new-born's circulation. The infant now gets oxygen through the lungs by its own breathing, effort. After the first breath the lungs are never free of oxygen so long as life lasts.
If the opening between the left and right auricles is not completed, then the arterial and venous blood mingle and a "blue baby" is the result.
The lungs are like complex sponges, composed of minute pockets of air cells, all opening into funnels, these in turn into tubes, and the tubes into the right and left bronchi which pass into the trachea or wind-pipe.
The human nervous system is the most intricate and complex of all living mechanisms. It is the principal seat of past evolution and future development. In the first month a depression or trough appears on the surface of the outer germ layer. The upper edges gradually come together forming the neural tube. In the third month this tube expands at one end into three sacs or vesicles. The first of these three then divide into five vesicles. The walls of these hollow sacs will develop into the brain and the sacs themselves will form the ventricles of the brain. The remainder of this neural tube will become the spinal column or cord. In the fourth month this is as long as the vertebral column; after this the column grows faster than the cord. At birth the cord reaches only to the third lumbar vertebra, and from that vertebra to the end of the column the cord is represented by the long terminal filament.
At birth all cells of the nervous system are present. The new-born will develop no new brain cells, but certain structural changes will take place in the nerves which are in control of the motor mechanism.
By the eighth week the embryo develops into male or female. The beginnings of both the male and female organs are present up to this time; but from now on, through processes of change, growth, and atrophy, the embryo becomes either male or female. Most plants and lower animals are hermaphrodites (Hermes-Aphrodite) — that is, double sexed.
Although sex glands or gonads show no structural difference at the sixth week as to future sex, yet microscopic examination shows definite demarcations. In a female the cells are large and rounded; in a male small and long, ending in a fine filament or tail.
The work of the kidneys is to preserve constancy in the blood stream and to remove impurities from the body. Three types of kidney are evolved. All three appear in prenatal life. The first renal organs to be evolved become appendages of the sex glands; the second or Wolfian body becomes part of the seminiferous duct in the male, but in the female remains as the parovarium, a vestige in the broad ligament between the uterus and pelvic wall. Finally true kidneys develop.
The alimentary canal first appears as a closed tube which later opens at each end, the upper part becoming the mouth cavity. Below this opening four crevices appear as fish-like gill-clefts, and below these a single sac-like structure which divides into right and left lungs. From the region of crevices, an outgrowth of the alimentary canal develops into thyroid and thymus glands. From the upper end of embryonic canals develops the pituitary. The stomach is merely an enlargement of the canal. Below the stomach two outgrowths of the canal develop into liver and pancreas.
The embryo at the bronchial cleft stage has a tubular heart of four chambers. When the lungs begin to develop, the first chamber becomes part of the auricle, the fourth chamber part of the ventricle. These divide into right and left. The right passes venous blood to the placenta, the left receives blood and sends it to the body. Many interesting variations occur in both heart and blood vessel structure which show great changes since man's body developed from a water-breathing into an air-breathing creature.
Sometimes a heart is found with vestiges of valves belonging to animals no higher than the frog, such undevelopment showing a lack of alertness on the part of the Ego in body building.
During the first three months of the prenatal journey the incoming Ego is cared for or sponsored by hosts of angelic presences. It literally lives, moves, and has its being in their brooding love and protecting care. During the fourth month certain spiritual channels are opened so that an individual "signature" may be impressed upon the developing matrix or form. The Ego contacts its own keynote sign, and its particular power is focused upon the embryo. During the fifth and sixth months the forces of Love and Wisdom become the keynote of development. The seventh month is a crucial and subtle time for the incarnating Spirit. It involves a microscopic contest, as it were between spirit and flesh for positions of supremacy. The reincarnating Ego at this time contacts desire forces from the past and their impress marks the body in the making. Apropos of this fact the following statement is of interest. It was made at a meeting held in New York City for the Institute of Human Relations. Intolerance was characterized as a health and medical problem by Sister Mary de Lourdes of St. Joseph's College at West Hartford, Connecticut. She said: "If parents would save their children from the evils of prejudice they should understand the warning of psychologists that from the seventh month on the prejudices of adults begin to tell on their children."
With the eighth month the Spirit passes under the rod of mortality. "All that is quickened of flesh must die." "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven." The ninth month ushers in the birth. time upon the physical plane.
The first three months after the Spirit enters into this outer physical world (corresponding to the last three signs of the zodiacal cycle, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces) the new-born babe is still in close contact with its Celestial Guardians. Blessed indeed are the eyes that see these tender and loving ministrations! The Poet Wordsworth gave utterance to a profound truth when he said, "Heaven lies about us in our infancy."
There is a continuous evolution during the prenatal period, synchronizing form, color, and tone. There is a chromatic scale of color as well as of sound. During the first three months the Ego responds dominantly to the blue tones; during the next interval of three months or "moons" to the yellow color notes; and the seventh, eighth, and ninth months to the birth color of red. After birth the tone or shade resulting from the' blending of these primary color notes reveals the Ego's status in evolutionary development in an aura of gleaming color. Paracelsus declares: "If I have manna in my constitution I can attract manna from the heavens. There is no compound in nature which is not a little sun and a little moon, a son of the heavenly sun and a daughter of the celestial moon. All things upon the earth have their star (center of attractive force). The influence of the stars is from supercelestial conjunctions and unions of stars in the firmament with the stars of things below."
God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. — I Cor. 15:38.
All things have seed and in seed all things are contained, for nature first fabricates the form and afterwards she produces and manifests the essence of the thing.
It is known to all that if a seed be cast into the
earth and concealed there, the latent nature of the
seed at the proper time manifests it above the
earth and anyone may clearly see what manner of
seed has lain in that place. It is the same with the
seed of the heart of man. Out of that seed nature
produces a body and anyone can see what kind of
a heart has been there. Nothing can be hidden in
man which is not outwardly marked on him.
— Paracelsus
We have said that all things originate primarily from a seed. The body of man is no exception. The birth of man is a fourfold event and so also is the transition called death. In order to understand something of these processes of life and death one must study the workings of certain powerful centers of force, the seed atoms. These particular atoms contain the sublimated essence of the experiences of all the Ego's past existences. Their stored-up forces are permanent and indestructible because they are part of the spiritual nature, and into them have been incorporated fruits garnered throughout the vast cycle of Earth lives.
The physical seed atom is located in the heart; it survives death. This it is that the Psalmist refers to when he sings: "Thy heart shall live forever."
The seed atom is man's Book of Destiny, the arbiter of his fate, both during his physical embodiment and also during the interim spent in higher or superphysical planes.
As man possesses certain vehicles necessary for his evolutionary development — namely, physical, etheric, desire, and mental bodies — similarly, the Earth also possesses vehicles or envelopes of a like nature. It is of this earth-body material that the Ego builds its own flner or invisible sheaths. The Spirit of man is bound to the cosmic wheel of birth and death (the larger life) and so must pass in alternating cycles through these various planes, learning by many and varied experiences therein.
In order to function on any plane of existence it is necessary to use a body composed of the material of that plane, and a body can only be built through the medium of a seed atom of the same nature as the needed material. Therefore we say that both birth and death are fourfold events in the experience of every Spirit.
The primordial, indestructible seed atoms of the four vehicles making up man's composite being were given by certain groups of celestial Hierarchies who guide the destiny of this Solar System. They are germinal patterns (Ideas) in the likeness of which the bodies are formed. The seed atom of the physical body was given by the Lords of Flame or Leo; the seed atom of the vital body, by the Lords of Wisdom or Virgo; the seed atom of the desire body by the Lords of Individuality or Libra; and that of the mental sheath by the Lords of Mind or Sagittarius.
The formative and combining processes are under the Lords of Form or Scorpio. Their work is to amalgamate the essences of Fire, Earth, and Air, and blend these with their own spiritual Water. In man, Air symbolizes the mental powers; consequently, the better mind one moulds in the course of a life, the wider and freer is the scope allowed in building for the next life, and the purer and the finer will be the mental substance with which he builds. The finer the quality of the mind essence, the more amenable it is to the control of Spirit, and the more receptive it is to the impulses from the inner realms. " Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" is the admonition given by one who knew the importance of properly attuning the various seed atoms by clean living.
Fire represents the desire nature of man. The subjugation and purification of desire determines the guage of the desire seed atom located in the liver. The importance of the liver and its future development will be dealt with at length subsequently.
The inmost core of every man's physical body is a spark of celestial fire which comes from the Hierarchy of Luminous Flame, the Lords of Leo, who gave to man the germ (seed atom) of the dense body, the temple of his indwelling Spirit. The rhythm of every other atom of the body is set to the tune of this one, which in turn sounds the keynote of the Spirit. An undeveloped Ego emits a low, unsteady note, the atoms of the body moving discordantly. One who is spiritually awakened emits a note in a higher key and the body atoms rotate in harmonious motion producing bodies of a finer texture and subtler organization. Being more highly sensitized and capable of more delicate adjustments, it is the more easily disturbed by discordant conditions within or without; hence, for such it becomes not only important but necessary carefully to practice poise, balance, and self-control at all times in order to maintain bodily health and mental efficiency.
After the Ego's experiences in the inner worlds between Earth lives are concluded and the Spirit prepares to return to the Earth plane, the seed atoms set the gauge of the quantity and quality of material to be used in the formation of their respective new bodies. When the previous life has been devoted to material or worldly pursuits the material attracted to the physical body will be comparatively gross and heavy with little of the finer substances of the Desire World and Etheric Region built into their corresponding vehicles. The low vibratory rate of the bodies of such an Ego makes it difficult for the mind to rend the veil or to contact inner-plane truths.
The more spiritually developed the Ego, the finer the material it attracts to itself for building future bodies, and the greater the force which is concentrated within it. Hence, the early manifestation of genius and the development of the so-called child prodigy.
The seed atom of the mind is located in the head; it vibrates to a spiritual blue. The desire body atom is centered in the liver; it harmonizes with the red ray. The etheric seed atom is in the solar plexus and correlates to yellow. The physical seed atom is located in the heart; it may reflect any one of all the colors, the one it radiates being in accordance with the evolutionary development of the Spirit. Each seed atom sounds or "hums" the tone of its own body.
It is to be noted, speaking accurately, that the seed atoms are imbedded, not in the physical organs to which they are severally assigned, but in their etheric counterparts. For instance, the seed atom of the physical body is contained in its etheric double. These etheric or vital organs act as an entrance gate for the inflow of mind, desire, etheric, and physical forces. When the vital body is shed the seed atoms of both the physical and vital bodies are carried by the desire body.
One of the most important performances of the Ego during the period of prenatal development is that of fashioning the silver cord. This cord is one of the Ego's principal means of linking its lower to its higher vehicles. It is the "cable tow" of the Masons.
In man's present state of evolution this cord is tripartite. This cord's structure is complex. One end is —
— rooted in the heart and is made of etheric substance. An other end, composed of desire stuff, is rooted in the liver. When these two ends meet in the seed atom of the vital body at the solar plexus, a fetus quickens, A third part, made of mind stuff, rises in the seed atom of mind located in the frontal sinus, seat of the Human Spirit. This part passes between the pituitary and pineal glands downward, connecting with the thyroid and thymus, the spleen and adrenals before uniting with the second part of the cord in the liver. The part connecting the physical and etheric bodies is built during the prenatal interval, the Spirit working under the direction of angelic hosts. The second part connecting the etheric and desire bodies is built during childhood. The third part connecting the desire and mental sheaths is completed at about the age of twenty-one. The Masonic Cable Tow is also tripartite and must be tied in three places.
The most important steps connected with higher spiritual development can take place only after the mental section of the cord has been established. Later in the processes of high Initiateship (the Christed consciousness) a fourth part of the cord will be developed, giving a more direct or closer connection between head and heart.
The silver cord, being one of the most important and intricate possessions of the Spirit, is outlined in the archetype and is an exact replica of this spirit pattern. Ecclesiastes 4:12: "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him: and a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
As previously stated, the Spirit of man is linked with the physical body by means of the silver cord. The mental portion of this cord is capable of indefinite extension. This enables the Ego, when functioning apart from the physical body as an Invisible Helper, to travel to the ends of the Earth on errands of love and mercy and yet retain the "life line" with its physical vehicle. The "threefold cord" is not easily broken; when it is severed it means death to the physical body. This key is contained in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus which pertains to an awakening of the higher consciousness, a spiritnal Illumination, and not to the resuscitation of a dead body.
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes: for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. " (Isaiah 54:2-3).
These verses of Isaiah are intensely interesting when interpreted in relation to the development of man himself rather than in connection with external events. " Tent" in biblical symbology refers to the mind, and "city" to a state of consciousness.
The uniting of the first and second parts of the magnetic life line, or etheric cord, occurs about the fourth month of gestation when the Ego first becomes indwelling. When man reaches his majority at twenty-one, as before stated, the mental portion has been developed and linked to the other two which are formed of etheric and desire substance. The cord is then threefold in its constitution, linking the physical, desire, and mental bodies. A fourth part, formed of pure spirit, has been developed through regeneration by a few advanced souls who have reached Illumination,
The final severing of this cord marks the time of the separation of the physical from the higher bodies in death. The great king of wisdom, Solomon, describes this operation in his mystic chant of dissolution as given in the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiates: "The almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets: Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken . . . Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was; and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it."
It is to the majestic science of Astrology that we must turn for answers to many of the seemingly insoluble mysteries of life, and in a study of the Prenatal Epoch we shall find a satisfactory solution to most of these problems.
The Prenatal Epoch is based upon the hypothesis that the degree held by the Moon at conception is the degree (or its opposite) of the Ascendant at birth, while the degree ascending at conception (or its opposite) will be that of the Moon at birth.
The Epoch thesis is an interesting argument in favor of rebirth and the laws governing the prenatal adventures of the Spirit as they are outlined in this work. Many birth charts which are heavy with afflictions show Epoch charts in which great soul attainment in the past is evident.
The birth Sun in Aries gives the Epoch Sun in Cancer which sometimes produces the strangely incongruous blending of the mystic Moon and the dynamic Mars. In the "old soul" this blending produces the perfect polarity of Fire and Water which pertains to Initiation.
The Sun in Taurus at birth gives an Epoch Sun in Leo, whichs adds the persistence of Earth to the inspiration of Fire and embellishes the life with both love and beauty.
The birth Sun in Gemini gives the Epoch Sun of Virgo. Both these signs are set to the mercurial rhythms, and Mercury is the Winged Messenger of the Gods. Earth and Air tend to lift ever upward upon the spiral of spirit.
The Aquarian nativity has a Taurean Epoch Sun. The beauty ray of Taurus is united with the idealism of Uranus which tends toward the production of New Age art and the inspiration of New Age messengers.
The Piscean birth gives a Gemini Epoch. The Piscean nativity is distinctly Neptunian, with spiritual unfoldment coming naturally as the Ego works during the prenatal epoch, first under the forces of Mercury alone and later under the mercurial forces merged with those of its higher octave, Neptune.
Generally, in relation to the child, the Moon represents the mother, the Sun the father, and the Ascendant the child itself. Their placement relative to one another defines the Ego's development, besides picturing its past relationship with the Egos who are now to be father and mother.
Nature does not welcome birth of babies as kindly in the afternoon as before noon. She is particularly rough on the little ones between 3 P.M. and 6 P.M. Don't ask us why. No reason is known, only guesses. But the facts are indisputable. They rest on 'a statistical study, reported from the Division of Maternity, Infancy and Child Hygiene, of the New York Department of Health, by J. Yerushalmy. The facts are:
"One: There are more births between midnight and noon than between noon and midnight.
"Two: There are more stillbirths in the afternoon than the 'morning' hours.
"Three: There are more deaths of babies under one month among those born in the afternoon than in the earlier hours.
"Four: Both these death rates are highest among the 3 to 6 P.M. births.
"Five: There are more 'operative' deliveries of babies in the afternoon than in the morning hours.
"These are not chance figures of one time or one place, or even of one nation. Except the operative deliveries, they were reported first in 1929, in a study of births in New York state by J. V. de Porte, M.D.
"Almost precisely the same conditions showed up in England in a study reported two years ago by A. Bradford Hill. Finally, Dr. Yarushalmy repeated these studies again in New York State in 1936, and then in the last two years went more deeply into the figures without shaking their validity.
"As to why nature prefers the morning for babies there are many guesses. There is temperature, barometric pressure, light, and endocrine gland activity during early hours. The one best summation is that man is a creature of his environment and something in the environment favors babies coming in the early hours."
The newspaper article quoted above is of special significance to our study because it offers scientific evidence of the truth of the statement that there are certain subtle astrological influences released during the day which affect man physically, mentally, and morally. The writer speaks more truly, perhaps, than he knows when he adds, "Man is a creature of his environment and something in the environment favors babies coming in the early morning hours. "
Without analyzing the case too closely, the fact is at once seen that the hours from midnight to noon are those when the Sun is ascending, having passed the nadir, or the lowest point of its diurnal. course. The stillbirths and deaths of babies born in the afternoon point to the influence of the eighth house, called the House of Death, where the solar energies are weak; note that the death rates are highest from 3 to 6 P.M., which almost certainly includes the eighth house and part of the seventh. The operative deliveries also indicate the lowered vital forces, due to the descending Sun.
The Moon also bears a potent and deeply mystical relationship to the human Ego both during the Epoch interval at birth, and in the growth cycle after birth. An Ego brought to birth in the full tide of the Moon's glory is destined to know the full realization of earthly honor, prestige, and glory. The Ego ushered in by the dim or invisible light of the New Moon will have the opportunity of climbing far upon the pathway of spiritual power which enables him to pass within the portal of Illumination. That Ego which takes human embodiment during the dark phases of the Moon will know much of pain and sorrow, having elected in this life to begin the liquidation of a heavy debt of tears.
The twenty-eight phases of the Moon, fourteen from the Full to the New and fourteen from the New to the Full, affect significantly the body-in-the-making as well as the life and affairs of the human family generally. The loss of this Moon knowledge is shown symbolically in the Osiris legend, in that the body of Osiris was divided into fourteen parts and scattered over the world to be searched for in sorrow by Isis, the soul.
— Corinne Heline
