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The Christ In His Several Aspects
Cosmic — Planetary — Historical — Mystical

The unutterable knowledge of the Mysteries concerning Christ, the true God, is secret. — Origen

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

The Word of God, showing the greatness of the knowledge of the Father that it is comprehended and known in its full extent and primarily by Him only, but in a secondary sense by those who have their reason enlightened by Him who is Word and God, says, No one knoweth the Son, etc. (Matt. 11:27) for no one can know him who is uncreated, and begotten before every created nature in its full extent, so well as the Father who begot him; nor can anyone know the Father so well as the animate Word, who is His Wisdom and Truth.
— Origen

As we approach the several aspects of the Christ Mystery, we seem to hear again the angelic voice that spoke to Joshua: ''Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy." The Christ Mystery is so sublime and so far-reaching in its import that it transcends any human definition. So profound are its meanings that they can never be plumbed or expressed by mere words; they can be sensed only in the silence of spiritual contemplation.

All great religions give recognition to the triune nature of the Godhead. In Christianity it consists of Father, Son and Holy Ghost. To this Trinity Rosicrucians assign the following attributes: power to the Father; the Word to the Son, the Cosmic Christ; motion to the Holy Ghost. In connection with his vision on the Isle of Patmos, John and Revelator declares: "I saw heaven opened . . . his eyes were as a flame of fire . . . and his name is called The Word of God." (Rev. 19:11-13) In the opening verses of his Gospel, John describes the Word in phrases that carry living creative potency scarcely suspected by the average reader or hearer of his words: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. "

St. Paul expresses the same thought in Colossians 1:15-19, wherein he speaks of Christ as being "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. "

In Revelation 21:6 John also repeats the Christ's statement that He was at the very beginning of manifestation: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. " In the Old Testament Isaiah makes a similar statement that is applicable only to the Christ. In Chapter 44, Verse 6 we read: "Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts. I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."

Origen calls Christ "the vapor of the power of God, and pure efflux of the glory of the Almighty, the effulgence of eternal light, and unspotted mirror of the energy of God. "

In The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, Max Heindel states that: "In the first chapter of John this Great Being is called God. From this Supreme Being emanates The Word, the Creative Fiat 'without whom was not anything made,' and this Word is the alone-begotten Son, born of His Father (the Supreme Being) before all worlds-but positively not Christ. " Here Max Heindel is making a distinction between the Cosmic Christ and the Christ in His planetary and historical aspects. "Grand and glorious as is Christ," he continues, "towering high above mere human nature, He is not this Exalted Being. Truly, 'the Word was made flesh,' but not in the limited sense of the flesh of one body, but the flesh of all that is, in this and millions of other solar systems."

The Word is a signature of tremendous power. It is composed of four letters, two feminine and two masculine. All creation is composed of four basic elements, namely, Fire, Air, Earth and Water. The twelve creative Hierarchies which surround this universe and are engaged in the continuous process of creation, work through these four elements. Fire and Air are masculine or positive elements; Water and Earth are negative or feminine. The Hierarchies of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, working through the Earth element, are centered in the Word, the Son aspect or the feminine potency of God. The Hierarchies of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, working through the Fire element, are centered in the power or masculine aspect of God. So it is that spirit works upon matter to create. The Hierarchies of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius are centered in motion or the third aspect of God. Pythagoras states: "That which ceases to move ceases to live."

This motion means divine harmony or tone. The combined tones of the twelve zodiacal Hierarchies produce the music of the spheres. Thus, all things are created by the Word (tone or music). "By the word of the Lord, were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth," declares the psalmist. Every created thing possesses its own individual keynote. The human archetype, the pattern of the physical body, is formed by the divine Hierarchies in high spiritual realms; and each human archetype has its own individual keynote which sounds as long as physical expression continues. In the present state of human development only those who have attained initiate consciousness hear this musical keynote. As man develops spiritual hearing he will be able to listen to his own soul-song.

The three Hierarchies of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, working through the elements of Water, are teaching mankind the law of equilibrium. This law expresses the secret of perfect balance, and is known in its fullness by earth's Masters only. Not having attained balance, mankind in general, while he can observe its operation in nature, is not able to see its workings within himself. The most perfect example of balance is best seen, perhaps, in the incoming and outgoing tides of the sea. When man eventually manifests perfect polarity within himself he will overcome disease, old age and death.

Rosicrucian students are admonished to take into meditation the opening verses of St. John's Gospel, which will help them to realize that the Word is the focusing center through which the twelve creative Hierarchies pour their creative forces.

There is a specific power in every name, so no person should bear a name with which he is not physically congenial. Each time one's name is sounded its forces register upon his personality, harmoniously or inharmoniously. The noun name has four letters: I'm" and "e" that are feminine; 'In" and "a" that are masculine. Amen is composed of the same four letters transposed. The chanting in early Christian churches was really an invocation calling down the protection and blessing of the stellar forces. Disciples were commanded to heal in the name of the Lord Christ; and the word Amen was used to surround servitors with divine protection. Hence, the Word is the divine creative center for disseminating the love and light of the Cosmic Christ.

In the complete Christ cycle, which is elucidated elsewhere, we note the work of the Holy Trinity in connection with the Christ activity during the three summer months while the Sun is passing through the zodiacal signs of Gemini, Cancer and Leo. This work is incorporated in the Church calendar as the Feast of Trinity Sunday. We have observed how the activities of the Seraphim (Hierarchy of Gemini) are stepped down to earth during the month of June under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. During the month of July the transmutation forces of the Cherubim (Hierarchy of Cancer) are stepped down under the guidance of the Lord Christ. During the month of August the love power of the Lord of Light (Hierarchy of Leo) is stepped down to earth through the powers of the Father. The three work together in such harmony and unity that they are literally three in one or one in three. As man awakens to the higher life he gradually spiritualizes his will, acquires wisdom, and sublimates the life force within his own being.

The Father channels the will principle; the Christ, the wisdom principle; the Holy Spirit, the activity principle. The last literally infuses forms with life. He works with the life principle which is present in all creation; and is the guardian of the sacred force, the creative principle of God. Therefore, every living thing is under his guardianship. God creates and Christ formulates, while Holy Spirit activates form.

Hence, we see how the one unforgivable sin is the sin against Holy Spirit. This sin is the misuse of the creative life force as it manifests in the individual. Yet it is not God who metes out punishment for its commission. Instead, the individual brings upon himself pain, sorrow, disease and death as the reaction to his failure to observe the sacredness of the creative fire within himself. Such dire consequences will continue to plague man until he learns to live true to the divine nature of the Holy Spirit by conserving the life force within his own body.

As we approach the Aquarian Age the work of the Holy Spirit will become more apparent and better understood. One of his paramount activities is to enlighten humanity regarding the purpose and mission of the Lord relative to the earth planet and all creatures living upon it. It was to the Holy Spirit that the Christ referred when He said, "If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you he will shew you things to come."

When man reaches that high development where he is prepared to receive the four Christ Initiations, brought to earth by the Lord Christ Himself, he will be able to see these three divine beings engaged in their cosmic activities. This state, however, belongs to a far-off evolutionary day. Even Christ's Disciples received only the first of these Christed Initiations on the Day of Pentecost. Meditation upon this glorious prospect will inspire an aspirant to dedicate himself anew to loving, selfless service, and will shorten the time before he can join that company of consecrated souls to whom these Initiations are given in advance of the race as a whole.

The subject of the Cosmic Christ is so profound that to grasp even faintly the nature of this exalted Being it is not only helpful but necessary to consider it from various points of view. Here with is an extended quotation of most illuminating elucidation by Max Hiendel:

It is from visible sun that every particle of physical energy comes. And it is from the spiritual invisible sun that all of the spiritual energy comes. Man could not stand the direct spiritual impulse that comes from the sun and, therefore, it had to be sent by way of the Moon. That is the origin of race religions. Later when man could take spiritual impulse more directly, Christ, the present Earth Spirit, came to prepare this. The difference between the Christ of the Earth and the Cosmic Christ is best seen by an illustration. Imagine a lamp in the center of a hollow sphere of polished metal. The lamp will send rays from itself to all points of the sphere, and will reflect lamps in all different places. So the Cosmic Christ, — the highest initiate of the Sun period, — sends out rays. He is the spiritual sun. The sun is threefold. We see the outside, — the physical sun. Behind that, or hiding in that, is the spiritual sun whence comes the impulse of the Cosmic Christ Spirit. Outside the other two is something we call Vulcan, that can be seen only as a half globe. In occultism we say that is the body of the Father. When we had risen so far that the Christ Spirit could be entertained on earth, then a ray of the Cosmic Christ came here and incarnated in the body of our Elder Brother Jesus. After the sacrifice on Golgotha he drew himself into the earth, and became its Indwelling Planetary Spirit.

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