• Extracts from the Teachings of the Rev. John Todd Ferrier. Booklet published by The Order of the Cross.

 

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The Order of the Cross

 

 

EXTRACTS

FROM THE TEACHINGS

OF THE

REV. JOHN TODD FERRIER

 

 

 

 

The Cross is the most sacred sign in the universe, and is a

symbolic expression of the sublimest Mystery of Being.

The Divine Renaissance, Vol. I, p. 13

 

 

 

 

(p. 1)

INTRODUCTION

 

            John Todd Ferrier’s numerous addresses and writings constitute the Teachings of the Order of the Cross, published in over 40 books and booklets. The scope of these Teachings is vast, including such themes as the nature of the human Soul, the reality of Angelic ministry, the path of a Soul’s growth through many incarnations, the Fall which intercepted that growth, and the eventual return of the Earth and all Souls to a state of harmony, peace and joy. The latter process is the true Redemption, embracing: “Purity in diet, humaneness towards all the creatures, compassion for all who have known misfortune, justice for the oppressed, truer and nobler thoughts concerning social questions, more reverence for womanhood and parenthood, greater desire to reach out unto the realization of loftier manhood and womanhood, and so to live and to serve for the blessing of all.” (Life’s Mysteries Unveiled, p.122)

 

            These extracts give an indication of the distinctive nature of the Order’s Teachings as these interpret our spiritual constitution and our relationship to the Eternal World.

 

            More quotations and information about the books published by the Order of the Cross may be found on the Order’s website: www.orderofthecross.org

 

 

 

(p. 2)

CONTENTS

 

What the World Needs (p. 3)

The Herald of the Cross, XI, pp 4-6

 

Divine Realities (p. 5)

Divine Renaissance, Vol. 1, pp 5-7

 

The Storm on Galilee (p. 8)

The Logia, pp 126-129

 

The Story of the Tempest (p. 12)

The Master, pp 239-242

 

Christmas – The Birth Stories (p. 14)

The Master, pp 55-58

 

The Manger and its Meaning (p. 16)

The Master, pp 135-137

 

Easter – A Soul Festival (p. 18)

The Herald of the Cross, XIV, pp 57-58

 

The Real Meaning of Easter (p. 19)

The Herald of the Cross, IX, pp 35-37

 

Contact addresses for the Order of the Cross can be found on the

inside of the back cover [at the end of this file].

 

 

 

(p. 3)

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS

 

            What does the World of to-day need? First, an elevated vision of Life; then the effect of that vision upon every department of human experience, from the highest artistic sphere down to what may seem to be the most material within the realms of commerce. What is it that the Children of Men need that has been lacking in Christianity, or rather, in such a view of Christianity as has been presented to them? It is the living fact that they are parts of the universal Life, responsible Souls full of Divine energy to enable them to be contributory parts of the Cosmic Whole – individually, communally, nationally, and racially. How comes it to pass that the vision of the World is so low, when the religious Message that has come to it has been so high?

 

            That question will be answered presently. But in the meantime it may be affirmed that what the World now needs is such a vision of Life as will exalt it in every realm and sphere. Life itself must be shown to be something sacred; a gift that has to be cherished; that must be thought of in relation to the Divine Centre of all things, and also in its relation to all other lives. Life is a great and sacred gift. Alas! that it should be otherwise regarded! For though, theoretically, it is accounted sacred, in practice its sacredness is ignored; for the ways of men and women are a contradiction of the theory.

 

            The World is needing a Renaissance. It requires a new Vision of Life that will touch Art in its various branches – Fine Art; Formative Art; Music; Dramatic Art; and that will also illumine Science and exalt it into the Realm to which it should truly belong. Science claims to know, and through its knowledge, to enlighten; yet it works on in a negative way that denies knowledge of the Reality, in its very eagerness to trust and exalt the merely phenomenal. Science needs the illumination that comes from within, an enlightenment that cannot be possessed from without. And though it is absolutely necessary to emphasize this fact, we do also appreciate all the service of the great minds and hearts who seek to bring fuller interpretation of the things which come within the vision of the objective realms.

 

            Alas! that Science should reject belief in the things which come within the subjective vision, and belong wholly to the spiritual realms. For it is there only that true knowledge can be found. The secrets lying behind the phenomena observable upon the objective realm, belong to the subjective world of Divine vision and illumined understanding.

 

(p. 4)

            The World is needing such intonation within its very heart as will exalt its Music and make its compositions Divine, even when brought down to the simplest airs for the daily round – for the hours of human joy, as well as for the hours of reverent worship. And these latter should be hours of joy too; for Life should be full of hours of delight.

 

            The World needs Art to be purified of all things that do not represent Divine Ideas, whether Celestial, Planetary, or Human. The Renaissance that is to be – and it is coming – must touch Music and Sculpture, Painting and Design, every branch of Science and all Drama, and even the wonderful art of Government, till all of them reveal GOD as present in HIS World. For herein all will reveal the highest Good, the truest Beauty, the most exquisite in Form, the perfect in Colour, the rich, sonorous interpenetrating rhythms which intonate the Eternal even within the spheres of Human experience.

 

            That is what the World needs. It is full of Beliefs; the religious institutions have seen to that. One oft-times wishes that the religious history of the past eighteen centuries could be blotted out; that there were no binding traditions to overcome; that there obtained no sectarian narrowness to be healed; nor prevailed self-righteous exclusiveness of spirit; nor were heard the great but empty claims to be catholic.

 

            A catholic Soul is open to the Universe. To be truly catholic is to be like GOD. When a Human Soul is truly catholic it is open to receive the influx of the living Breaths from the Eternal World. It is capable of open vision, of Divine perception, of perfect understanding, and of enduring the Divine involution wherein it becomes GOD incarnate. Its traditions are Divine. It knows nothing of exclusiveness. It manifests the Spirit of GOD.

 

            That is what the World needs. It is not a new Religion; it is Christianity as it was. Many of the traditions of the past must be swept out of its consciousness, and the misinterpretations of the Life of the Master and His Message, which have prevailed for ages and misled the whole religious World, corrected.

 

            Oh, that I could blot them all out, and the World begin anew! But in order to accomplish that, we have much to do within and through the vehicles of historical Christianity.

 

 

 

(p. 5)

DIVINE REALITIES

 

OF THINGS UNSEEN

 

            Amidst the motion of the multitude of things that are seen, it is not easy to dwell in the consciousness of Divine Realities as the objects of the objective world pass before us making their claim, arresting and holding the vision, and drawing forth into activity the powers of the inner Being, even to the absorption of all their energy.

 

            It is no Iight task that a Human Soul finds set before it, to turn inward and hear other voices calling, and see other visions passing, and to enter into rapport with all that those visions speak of, and unto which the voices call.

 

            So tremendous have been the demands made by the pageantry of the outer life, that the children of GOD have almost lost the power to visualize and understand the glorious procession of Divine Events ever in motion in the Unseen. For when these events conglomerate, they make up such Divine Pageantry as arrest and hold, enamour and rejoice the Soul who truly seeks to touch the Inner Realms.

 

            The Comedies, Dramas, and Tragedies, by means of which the objective passing-show expresses itself unto everyone, unto most have made life in the objective world so absorbing, that men and women have come to feel as if these things were in themselves life in toto. Whilst thus absorbed they dream but little, if at all, of the great spiritual realities associated with all that is really vital and abiding; verities also which are for those who can see and hear them, understand and interpret them.

 

            These great Truths are expressed in and through Divine Comedies wherein the laughter of the Gods is heard, and joy supreme fills all who witness; and also in and through Dramas whose spectacular exceeds in greatness and glory any earthly show, and whose scenes and acts and motion set forth to the beholder blessed, Divine Enactments.

 

            In these latter there is the procession of Divine unveilings of the Mystery of Life individual and cosmic. And worlds, which though seeming to be solitary members in the great universe, have their embodiment,

(p. 6)

and their motion, and their ministry, as individual members of a vast multitude named the Congregation of the Gods, each member contributing to the accomplishment of the Divine Purpose.

 

VISIONS GLORIOUS

 

            On our way through this Unseen Universe of Being, we meet with Souls perfected after their order and the degree of their realization in embodiment; Angels in varying degrees of glorious embodiment of spiritual attribute and omnipotent endowment; Archangels, the great Angelic Patriarchs, the Archfathers and High Priests of Celestial mediation; and so enter the Realms of the Gods, sharing something of the Divine glory which they embody and radiate, and in their motive-ministries express.

 

            For, on our way thither to the Royal Seat of the Eternal Mystery, we are shown of these Realms and the glory of them, and learn as we ascend from World to World, from Sphere to Sphere, from Kingdom to Kingdom and from Realm to Realm, of the exceeding Majesty of HIM Who is the FATHER-MOTHER. We glimpse all the way on our journey HIS Sacred Motion and Revealing, acquiring, as we ascend, ever increasing vision through apprehension and comprehension of HIS Sublime Mystery, even until we stand in the midst of the innumerable throng of Divine potencies and potentates, powers embodied expressing the Mystery of the FATHER-MOTHER, and feel our own Divine Heart throbbing, pulsing in its sacred motion in glorious unison with the Divine.

 

WHERE SECRETS ARE KNOWN

 

            Into these Realms we would pass in consciousness. We would again behold and know the Divine Secrets expressed in creative acts and exquisite embodiment. We would again understand anew Life’s Divine Comedy, witnessing the inner significance of things, and sharing again the laughter of the Heavens. We would understand anew the real Drama of the Soul, and know the meaning of its everchanging scenes and acts, its motion and its emotion, and have the full assurance that these marvellous things are not simply kaleidoscopic, the results of chance-motion and commotion.

 

(p. 7)

            Once more would we grasp, unto the holding of for evermore, the Eternal Truth of man’s divinity, and of the sublimity of his constitution and the motion of his Being, and all the attributes of GOD with which he has been endowed. Thus would we understand the realities of the Unseen Universe expressed microcosmically within man, in his constitution, in his fashion, in the motion of the elements within him, and in his attributes. In this way alone can the Unseen Universe become a glorious multiple Realm of Being, seen, felt, understood even unto great comprehension of its Divine Mystery. For the way to the realization of the Divine universal is through the Divine individual. Until a Soul becomes one in and with and for the macrocosmic Mystery, it has to learn through the realm of the microcosmic embodiment.

 

            Thus the process of a Soul’s venture into the Unseen Universe, wherein it gathers knowledge of the Divine Mystery unto that degree wherein the knowledge passes into realization of that Mystery, is through the expansion and deepening and altitudic motion of the microcosmic expression of the Mystery within it. And this latter is accomplished through the atoning and unifying of all its elements, substances, attributes and motion, till these are one with the Divine Mystery in HIS most sacred Purpose.

 

 

 

(p. 8)

THE STORM ON GALILEE

 

            When the blessed Master found an hour of quiet with His immediate friends, He spake thus unto them concerning the experiences through which the Soul passes when it is beset with conditions which try it:

 

“The Soul is like a ship upon the open Sea, when all its attributes are out of true harmony; it is tossed about upon the tempestuous waves, and is in danger of becoming overwhelmed.

 

The mind (1) of the Soul, which should be always calm and clear like pellucid waters, is then filled with disturbing elements, so that it cannot reflect unto the Soul the Heavens of its Lord.

 

Even the powers of the mind itself are so troubled that they fill it with the fear of a great dread, and make it cry out like those who are in dire distress.

 

For, as I have said unto you, the mind of the Soul is the Sea of Galilee; (2) and the sacred little ship upon it is the Soul, the sacred Ark within which the Divine Presence abides.”

 

In order that they might the better remember and understand the significance of the things of which He had spoken, He told them the allegory of the Stilling of the Storm on the Sea of Galilee.

 

“A great Teacher (3) who was sent from the heavenly Father-Mother entered into a little ship with His disciples, and launched into the Deep.

 

When in the midst of the Deep, a storm arose, and it grew more and yet more tempestuous, until it was so great as to almost overwhelm the boat; and fear laid hold of the disciples. (4)

 

But the Teacher was asleep in the hinder part of the ship. (5)

 

Then the disciples came to Him in great distress, and called unto Him to save them. (6)

 

(p. 9)

NOTES

 

(1) The mind of the Soul is the spiritual mind or higher reason sometimes called the understanding. It is the mind through which all spiritual knowledges are gathered on the way during the process of the Soul’s evolution.

 

(2) The Sea of Galilee is the mind of the Soul when it has attained a high degree of Life in its experiences. It is the Lake into which flow the streams from the uplands or mountains of Galilee, the spiritual states into which the Soul consciously enters.

 

(3) Who is the Great Teacher but the Lord of all Being! And where is His dwelling-place but within the little Ark of the Soul? And is not the little Ark upon the great Deep, the Soul itself upon the Sea of Life’s Mystery? For the Christ of God is with us. Potentially in all Souls, He is consciously present within those who may be said to be fishers upon the Sea of Galilee, Souls who launch out into the deep, and who become conscious at times of the contrary winds or breaths blowing from the Astral realms, and the storm-spirits seeking to overwhelm them.

 

(4) Souls who have not yet reached the advanced stage in their evolution when they also will launch out into the Deep, and who therefore have never known such experiences as are recorded here, could not possibly understand the profound meanings implied. The tumultuous seas, the fearful raging of the elemental spirits when besetting a Soul, the tossing to and fro of the sacred Ark of its Being upon the storm-swept waters, fill the Soul with dread unspeakable.

 

(5) The Lord and His Christ in the Ark of the Soul, apparently asleep because forgotten.

 

(6) The awakening within them of the memory of His Presence, the coming back into the consciousness of His power. None but He could stay the power of the elementals, and bring the little Ark of the Soul safely out of the tempest.

 

(p.10)

And when the Teacher was awakened He asked them, saying, ‘Why were ye so fearful? How was it that your spiritual vision was so easily obscured?’

 

‘O ye whose faith is not little, wherefore do ye doubt?’ (7)

 

And the Teacher arose and spake unto the storm-tossed waters, saying unto them: ‘Peace! Let there be stillness.’

 

And there was the Great Silence in which the winds and the waves grew calm.” (8)

 

(p. 11)

NOTES

 

(7) Spiritual perception and realization are the quintessence of Faith. It is to perceive heavenly things and enter into the realization of them. Faith is the substantial of the things hoped for, and also the evidence through realization of the Unseen.

 

(8) The Great Silence is through Soul upliftment. To the voice of the Eternal One within us, the winds (the elemental spirits) and the waves (the disturbed conditions of the waters or knowledges of the Soul) are obedient. The spirits are subject to the Christs. At the coming forth into manifestation of the Presence within, all tumult is quelled, and life’s sea is changed from tempestuous conditions into one of infinite calm.

 

 

 

(p. 12)

ON THE SEA OF GALILEE

 

THE STORY OF THE TEMPEST

 

            The true character of the Teachings given by the Master, and the depth of their inner significance, will become even more wonderful when the inner meaning of another incident is understood. It is an incident recorded in the synoptic Gospels. In these Records it is written of as if it had been an event upon the outer planes, an experience of a material kind. Its sublime and profound meanings are therefore lost to the Soul. In its present form it is only an outward history, having no direct bearing upon the innermost life. Yet it was an allegory of the Soul, the story of a profound spiritual event in the history of the Soul. We refer to the miracle of The Stilling of the Tempest.

 

            It was an allegory told by the blessed Master to the inner group, setting forth the experience of the Soul in its path across the Deep as it moved from the shores of the outward or sense-life, to those of the divine life. It embodied what has been, and what is now, the experience of every one who seeks to leave the outward life for the inward, the material for the spiritual, the sense realizations for those which are of the Soul. For ever since the elemental kingdoms of this world became changed in their nature, the Soul has found her path most trying and difficult. Since her fall into matter she has had such a history of trouble and sorrow as was never anticipated, and such as few could form any conception of. Her path has been one beset with hardships, full of contrariety in the influences to which she has been subject. Her difficulties have not been simply such as were necessary for the development and strengthening of life, but also such as might be expected to arise out of wrong conditions and contrary powers. Of these contrary conditions and powers we have already spoken, and we shall yet have further words to say concerning them. For, to thoroughly understand the conflicts into which the Soul has now to enter, it is absolutely necessary to understand the conditions through which the conflicts are brought about, and to witness the influence which they exercise over the whole of life.

 

            The allegory of “The Stilling of the Tempest” was a picture of the powers of the elemental kingdom, and the fear which these powers awakened within the Soul as they played upon her frail life, and especially as she

(p. 13)

crossed the Deep from the shore of the world-life to that of the spiritual heavens. It pictured the setting out of the Soul; the sleep of the divine consciousness within her; the arising of the new and overwhelming conditions, and the great fear awakened within the Soul through them; the arousing of the sleeping LORD, or the divine consciousness within her; the LORD’s command to the elements, and the stilling of the tempestuous winds and seas; and, at last, the restoration of the vision of the Soul.

 

            These profound experiences are embodied in the story, so that there is a wealth of history in it little imagined by the general reader, a history transcending in meaning that of any merely outward and physical events. And it, therefore, has a value exceeding in importance any experience with the elements such as the story found in the synoptic Gospels would imply, since it deals with the inner history of the life of man rather than the outward. For it is a spiritual history and not material. It is the embodiment of universal experience on this Planet rather than a mere personal narrative. And its value is enhanced greatly when the Soul can behold in it not only her own experience, but also, in part, that of the Master after the passing away of the Christhood. For the states He entered into during the days of the Sin-offering, are portrayed in it. He truly became like unto His brethren; passed through the like experiences; was tried as they have been and still are; traversed the storm-swept waters of life in all the lives of the Sin-offering; knew the meaning of the sleep of the LORD within the Soul, the overwhelming fear begotten of the powers of the elements, the sad consciousness of the loss of the awakened and realized Christhood, and what it meant to feel so utterly forsaken as to cry out in agony of Soul, “Carest Thou not that we perish?”

 

WHAT THE ALLEGORY REVEALS

 

            The allegory was one spoken by the Master to the inner group of disciples for the purpose of helping them to understand the meaning of the terrible conflicts which were and still are so obviously a part of the experience into which every earnest disciple enters. It

was told by Him in order to deepen their trust in the Divine Love, to impress them with the ever-blessed truth that never fails to accomplish for the Soul absolute conquest over the elemental kingdoms. For the Master knew what lay ahead of them after the passing of the Christhood. He had beheld in the Gethsemane vision the fearful conditions which would

(p. 14)

arise as the result of the materialization of the Teachings. He foresaw the arising of the conditions which turned the whole spirit of Christianity into one that sought and delighted in mental and even physical conflict. He knew how the inner life would be overwhelmed by the tempests generated from such a spirit; how the sea of experience, across which the little ship of the Soul must needs pass, would be turned into tumultuous waters; how the storm-spirits, the elemental influences, would be let loose as the result of the intellectual conflicts and ecclesiastical claims and oppression, to hold revelry upon these waters; how great would be the sufferings of the members of the inner group of disciples, as well as all earnest Souls. Hence the aim of the allegory.

 

            And what a picture of the thoughtfulness of the Divine Love we have in this allegory told by the Master! What tender care is revealed in this vision of coming events, wherein the Soul’s difficulties are anticipated. How great is the love revealed in the forward look on their behalf, the endeavour to prepare them for the coming hardships, and to guard them against the influences of that evil day. With what sorrow did He foresee the changes that would take place in the conditions amid which they, and indeed all earnest truth-seekers, would find themselves; and with what tender solicitude did He yearn over them and endeavour to prepare their minds to meet the turbulent conditions without allowing these to effect any permanent change in themselves. What pathos there was in the message as He gave it to them in the allegory of the storm-swept sea, and the trying experiences of the little ship and all aboard her. To understand the depth of feeling with which it was spoken by the Master, one must have been present to hear it.

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS

THE BIRTH-STORIES

 

            The Teachings contained in the Birth-stories were at once both beautiful and profound. They were allegories, in part concerning the Christhood of the Master and the Divine Manifestation through Him; in part concerning the Sin-offering; and in part concerning the history of those Souls who formed the inner group of disciples, and others of the same order, as well as the manner in which the Christ-state was born within every one who sought it. The stories were records of facts; but the facts were

(p. 15)

of Soul-histories and events. They were allegories of realities; the realities, however, were not in the objective world. They belonged to the realm of true history; but the history was empirical. They were wonderful cryptographs. Here we can give only an indication of their meaning.

 

            The Annunciation was a beautiful Soul experience, and had naught to do with the Motherhood of the body of the Master. It concerned the birth of Christhood within the Soul. For the Christ-life is “the holy thing begotten within” Maria the Soul, from the Holy Breath. And it is that holy state which bringeth with it Light for all Souls. Unto every one in whom such an event is taking place, the Angel of the Lord appears and affirms the nature of the event.

 

            The appearing of the Angel of the Lord unto Mary and Joseph was a blessed fact. But Mary and Joseph were not the personal names of the earthly parents of the Master. They represented spiritual and divine states. Though in a very special sense these terms spake of the Master’s inner experiences, yet they represented the experiences through which all Souls pass on their way to the realization of the perfect Divine Life, the two representing, as their names imply, the feminine and masculine modes of the Soul. In relation to the Master they revealed the high estate of realization to which He had reached in having become Maria loseph – a Soul with Divine consciousness, and one overshadowed by the Adonai. The Virgin Mary was the Divine Soul (virgin meaning a pure Soul) in and through whom the Christhood was to be made manifest.

 

            The going up into Bethlehem and the birth there, had an exceedingly beautiful meaning. For the term Bethlehem, meant the outer or little House of the Lord. It was known to the ancient Hebrews as containing that meaning, and was made use of by them to express the Jesus-life. It was “a little city,” “the least of all” the glorious Soul-states associated with the Christhood, yet it was that one out of which the Christ should appear. For without the Jesus-life, Christhood could not be born and realized. And in order to make manifest the fulness of the glorious Divine Christhood, the Master had to know, by beautiful experience, the life of the Bethlehem.

 

            The Angel of the Lord appearing unto the Shepherds upon the plains (planes) of Bethlehem, and the Song of the Heavenly Hosts heard

(p. 16)

by the Shepherds, contained profound experiences relating to the Christ-Soul and the Christhood Order. On the one hand it was the embodiment of experiences which are actually passed through by every Soul on the way to Christhood, and during its dwelling on the planes of Bethlehem or spheres of the Jesus-life; whilst, on the other hand, it was an echo of what took place within the ancient Order of the Christhood long ages prior to the Advent, when that sublime Manifestation was foretold.

 

            The Magians, and His Star appearing unto them to inform and lead them to the place of the Christ, was an allegory of beautiful spiritual import, and signified the state arrived at by the Soul, and the degree of the Christhood to which it had attained. For the Star was the sign of Divine Christhood; and the three Magians represented the three Divine Principles within the Soul bowing in reverent worship before the Divine, and the consecration of their special gifts unto the Christhood service.

 

 

 

THE MANGER AND ITS MEANING

 

            The Magians found the Christ-child in a manger outside the Inn in the little city of Bethlehem. It was truly a lowly place in which to be born and cradled. But the Master was not born and cradled there in any mere literal sense. Yet there is a meaning in it of deep import for all who are seeking to find the Christ. He is not born out of and amidst conditions whose use is to minister unto the sense-life. He is not born where luxury and sense-gratification are sought, but in the pure and lowly life. He is not born where earthly ambitions prevail, but in the meek mind and gentle heart. He is not born where the proud oppressive spirit rules, nor where the life of the helpless creatures is hurt and taken from them. He is born rather where mercy and truth meet each other, and righteousness imparts the kiss of Divine Peace.

 

            The life of that one in whom the Christ-child is born must be a friend of the creatures. It could not be otherwise. The ox in the stall, the ass in the stable, the sheep in the byre, the dove in its cote, and all creatures in their several degrees of unfoldment, are related to such a life by indissoluble ties, even that of the Oneness of all true life, and by the fact that the gentle creatures have been the venues through which the

(p. 17)

Soul has passed upwards in its true evolution before the Divine Love. To be born in the stable or byre, and cradled in a manger, therefore, means very much more than to be born amid lowly conditions. For the Soul truly was cradled amongst the creatures. And when the Christ-child is about to be born within the Soul, the life awakens to the consciousness of its relationship to all the creatures, its duty unto them, and the service it must perform in making manifest the Divine Love then awakening within the Soul.

 

            Of course all this implies the Redeemed Life for the individual. It presupposes a very genuine sympathy with all the creatures, a sympathy so rich and full in manifestation that it could not hurt the creatures for its own pleasure, nor cause them to be wounded, afflicted and killed on any pretext whatsoever. It shows how the Soul will look upon the creatures when once the Christ-child is born within; how it will spread over them the mantle of true pity, and protect them; how it will recognize them to be, not only the venues by means of which souls came up on to the Human Kingdom, but members of the Father’s Household. It teaches us how impossible it will be for those who are born into the Jesus-Life to have the creatures killed for food, clothing, and purposes of pleasure or healing. It reveals that beautiful state of love which could not consent to the creatures suffering so unjustly. Unto such men and women the Abattoirs will be as hells in all their conditions. The cruel sport indulged in with such zest by so many men and women whose power and joy of life are manifested in the destruction of vast numbers of the beautiful creatures whose place in the economy of the world so few seem to understand or even think of, will be to such Souls the most ignoble of pastimes, the most heartless of pursuits, the work of all who unconsciously are the emissaries of evil. The Physiological Laboratories where those creatures which have had the misfortune to fall into the hands of the Scientists who there pursue their nefarious traffic in the lives of the helpless ones, and make them to pass through the very ‘fires of gehenna” – scientific inquisitors who are bereft of pity as they try to wring from the fearfully afflicted lives the secrets of their being – they will be led, through their consciousness of the Oneness of all Life, to see in the light of the Christ-spirit, the Christ-love, the Christ-compassion, to be the very apotheosis of ignorance and wickedness.

 

            What a profound meaning is to be found in the picture of the birth of the Christ-child within the refuge for the creatures, and His cradling in the Manger! Great is the depth of meaning that may be found in

(p. 18)

this story which makes the birth of the Master and His cradling to have taken place amongst them! When we know its inner spiritual significance, the literal story is changed into a veritable treasure-house full of invaluable riches. In the Advent the creatures were concerned as well as the Human Races. In the birth of the Christ-child and the full Manifestation of Christhood lay the hope of the groaning Creation. Unto this end was the story told; unto this end is it now interpreted.

 

 

 

EASTER

A SOUL FESTIVAL

 

            You will all know that Easter-tide is the supposed anniversary of the coming forth of the Master known as Jesus, from the Sepulchre, and the proclamation by the Angels to His sorrowing friends that He had indeed arisen from the dead.

 

            But the real Easter is something very different from, and infinitely more exalting for every one than the arising out of an earthly tomb. It is the arising of the Soul above all earthly limitations, and the ascension into the Atmosphere of the Heavens of the whole Being. For the true Resurrection is the bursting forth into beautiful bloom of all the desires and feelings of our Heart and the noble thoughts of our Mind: just as the plants do when Spring-time comes round after the dark and cold of Winter.

 

            The great lesson of Easter-time is thus acquired and understood when we recognize it to imply the renewing, reviving, and re-empowering of all our wonderful Soul Gifts from the FATHER-MOTHER. For thus it becomes in us that when we arise and realize these Blessings, the LORD hath risen indeed for us, through HIS arising within our Mind, Heart, Soul and Spirit.

 

            May the Light and Joy of the true Resurrection Morn fill you; and may you indeed hear the Angelic Voices telling you the Glad Tidings of your own risen Childhood unto the FATHER-MOTHER.

 

 

 

(p. 19)

THE REAL MEANING OF EASTER

 

            The Winter is over and gone away, and the voice of Spring is heard in the land. It is the time of the Earth’s Easter. The resurrection morn has broken, and out of the graves of matter arise and spring forth into manifestation the most wonderful forms of life. There is no voice nor language articulated; yet these speak to all who can understand, of the Eternal Mystery. For trees and flowers are living symbols of purpose, thought, energy, service, education and illumination. Those only who still sleep though the morn has broken, could fail to behold the witness of Spring to the Eternal Love and Wisdom, and hear the message poured forth from the flowers and trees.

 

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            The real Easter is like the sacred Rod, the Law, and the Divine Manna, hidden in the Ark. It is undiscovered, though believed in. The revelation, the power, and the glory of Easter, though unveiled to Divine Initiates, remain hidden from the vision of the multitude. The event is a Holiday; but it cannot be said that it is the celebration of a Holy Day. Doubtless the Church rejoices in the ceremonial of Holy Week, but it is mostly a mournful performance instead of a triumphant processional. A true Holy Day is a real Holiday – a day of relaxation amid the Breaths, of Soul recognition in the heart of exquisite manifestations, of Divine exhilaration whilst listening to Divine Voices in Nature or Sanctuary, and joy abounding through the inspiration begotten of the revelation.

 

            Easter Day is the hour of the Soul’s great awakening, when it comes into a vital consciousness of its Divine Childhood, and there takes place the arising out of the grave of spiritual darkness and impotence, and the coming forth into the Light of Christhood and the resurrected Life of Jesus.

 

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            Easter contains the secret of the Son of GOD realized by the Initiate. It is a Day of Wonders. Its Signs are miraculous and prophetic. The trees in the Garden of GOD bloom and make manifest the splendour of the ETERNAL. They reveal the Works of the Divine Love and unveil the glory of the Divine Wisdom. In such a Soul-Spring, there is unmasked the secret of Divine Potency in the Being. GOD is found walking amid

(p. 20)

the Garden, and the Initiate gains the right to the Tree of Life. To partake of that Tree is to become as the Gods. It is to learn unto the understanding of the Eternal Mystery.

 

            Herein is the real meaning of Easter. It is the prophecy of full ascension of Being into realms of the Gods, and entrance into the Divine Kingdom. Such an ascension signifies that the Being has attained the consciousness of Divine Indwelling, and walks with GOD in the Garden.

 

 

 

(p. 21)

            Contact information:

 

 

UK       The Order of the Cross

            10 De Vere Gardens

            LONDON

            W8 5AE

                        Tel: 020 7937 7012.

 

USA    Literature Secretary

            PO Box 2472

            La Grange

            Illinois 60525

            USA

                        Tel: 1-800-611 1361

 

Australia and New Zealand

            G. McMillan

            1/42 Terrara Road

            VERMONT 3133

            Victoria

            Australia

                        Tel: (03) 9874 4676

 

 ___________________________________________________

 

 

                                   E-mail: ordcross@ivu.org

                                   Website: www.orderofthecross.org

 

 

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