nize all persons as God's children and our children, and that the business of our life is to help, instruct, and lead all men up to a knowledge of the truth. You know of course that you have not the knowledge or ability to do that; then the one desire of the heart must be to get the knowledge, and in order to get it you must use all you have, be willing to do little things, look back in your own experiences and see how in some cases one word or sentence opened up to your mind volumes, and really was the means of changing your whole course of life. You do not know what word would have the same effect on others, but the Master does; therefore all you can do is to place yourself under his guidance, and follow carefully the impulses of the inner consciousness; and wherever you go keep that one desire active, to know and do something that will serve to open the spiritual consciousness of some one, and start him or her on the way to knowledge. Do not be anxious, but be willing to trust the guiding intelligence in all things; keep ever alive the active desire to be used by the Spirit to help others. If, for instance, you go into a meeting where there is a prospect of an opportunity being given to speak, then place yourself wholly in the hands of the Spirit to be lead and used; desire earnestly wisdom, that if the Master has anything for you to say, you may speak just the words that will prove effectual. Be passively willing to speak, or be silent, as the Spirit wills; and after you have done the best you know how, then leave it; have no anxiety about the result; having done the best you knew how, you have done all you could. Keep it ever before you as a motto, never to be anxious, but submit gracefully to the inevitable; do all you can and then be satisfied. And if the old "Accuser" would make you condemn yourself for not doing, or for doing, something that you ought, or ought not, to do, then reason upon it intelligently; and if your reason says you did the best you knew how or could under the circumstances, then in all confidence say to the Master as a child would to the father: "I did the best I knew, you take care of it, I can't"; and then give it no further place in your mind. Again in all your efforts to obtain knowledge keep the eyes of your mind on the people; you want knowledge, not for self but for them, the knowledge they need. Thus, whether you read books, hear lectures or sermons, or sit in quiet contemplation, the one object must be ever paramount, to know WHY the present disorder of humanity exists and how to remedy the difficulty. This mental condition maintained, you will attract to you the "spirits of just men made perfect" who are ever ready to aid and illuminate all who have a will to co-work with them and the Creator. This will put the mind into perfect harmony with the Soul of the Universe so that the descending currents of creative life will flow freely through you to all things for which it was intended, without obstruction or false coloring. This attitude of mind in view of divine law might be compared to a hollow tube lying lengthwise in a rapid stream; the waters would flow through it so that the water in it would be always new and fresh. While the mind that is seeking knowledge for self, is as though one end of the tube was closed; the water fills it, and no more can enter as the tube is obstructed with sediment and mud; and the mind of such is necessarily narrow and darkened. While the majority of men whose minds are out of divine order and who yet are honest and desire the truth, are as though the tube turned across the stream, the waters rush against it and disturb its rest and only fills it with sediment from both ends of the tube. We can at most be as a tube, to receive and pass on the waters of life to those that are to be the light of the world. It must be borne in mind that every one has a charge of God to this great work of leading men to "their high calling (as illustrated in the life and teachings) of Christ Jesus our Lord," and every one must work as though it all depended on his or her own personal effort; for it does, so far as our participation is concerned, and if we do not participate we will have no part in this spiritual illumination. This work is the "harvesting" of "the first ripe fruit of the earth" and all that have part in this "the first resurrection" to spiritual life will be sons of God bearing in their own individuality his LIKENESS. Therefore let none think they are going to be led along like a child by some other mind into this high ultimate; for they will not. Many, no doubt, will read these thoughts and many others on similar subjects, and memorize the words and re-express them over and over with as much enthusiasm as though it were from the soul, whilst really it is only the parrot expression of another's words, and they themselves will die without any realization of having any part in the matter. This first ripe fruit of the earth is to be the saviour of the world; each must realize this, first singly, then after, collectively as a member of the body that the one Spirit to which each will be allied, will in and of itself organize. Then there will be no hangers on, but all will be live active parts of the common whole and all dead branches will be cut off. During the last twenty years many persons have heard the call of God for "saviours (see Obadiah verse 21), and the call comes to each as an individual: "You are called to be the saviour of the world ;" and in their ignorance of divine laws and methods, there arose in our midst many saying I am Christ and deceive many"— and themselves included (see Matthew XXIV. 24). And the numbers of such is suprisingly great; could you look into the secret place of all hearts, it would be found that nearly two percent of all Americans have active within them this thought, and each has his or her own peculiar plan for accomplishing this ultimate; some through politics, others through business-methods, others by some social reform, others by colonization and re-organization, and others by religious reforms. All these have some truth and are doing a necessary work; but their selfishness causes them to proclaim, or at least assert their selfhood and exalt it above all others; thus they judge and condem themselves by their own law as unworthy of the high calling. But they who are wise enough, remember that "God has no respect to (the) person" of any man, that universal law, in fact, knows but one man, and that one is composed of the aggregate body of all men: therefore we should work as those work who think all depends on them, yet ever bearing in mind that we are a part of a great body that will arise to bless and illuminate the world. We must each remember that all that any one can do for us is to suggest thoughts for our consideration and that our part of the work is to prove their truth and utility, or reject them as worthless to ourselves, leaving our mind unincumbered, to go on in its own natural lines unlimited by others. True it is that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God;" and equally true is the word of the same book "Cursed is man that trusteth in man or maketh flesh his arm.” No, we cannot trust in man in any way; all reliance must be in the Supreme; no spirit or mortal has a right to coerce your will; and if either should make arbitrary demands in any way upon you, it in itself is sufficient evidence to condemn him as evil. All high and holy spirits are, as high and noble men, non-obtrusive, and only come when invited; it is the Divine law that all persons have an equal right to their existence and to acting out their nat ure without coercion, so far as it does not intrude on another; and no one can coerce another's will without sooner or later suffering the consequence of his sin against a God-given right. No law that man can make can change Divine law; then each should by virtue of this law live by the dictates of his own conscience, and bend to no man's law, when it makes void the law of God. It was for this that they crucified Jesus, and we need not expect to slip along without accusation if we obey God rather than man. But persons from habit have adopted certain things as right or wrong, and as long as we believe them to be so, conscience will condem us if we transgress our accepted law. Therefore it will be found necessary for us to wipe the slate clean of all preconceived ideas, and weigh well by reason and divine equity, and decide from the law of USE in view of God's object and purpose in man's creation; for all that facilitates God's object is good, and all that opposes that, is evil, and there is, and can be, no other evil. Peace be unto you. H. E. BUTLER. The above constitutes Number 15 of the series of "Practical Instruction" the first appearing in August, 1887, from which time one has been given in each issue. Back numbers of any or all of the series can be had for 15 cents each. The bound Volume I. of THE ESOTERIC contains the first eleven of the series, and offers a desirable form of securing them; it embraces 466 pages of choice occult literature, the above inclusive, and will be sent post paid on receipt of $2.00. RAYS OF LIGHT. "The Waters know their own and draw The brook that springs in yonder hights; Unto the soul of pure delights." Law, -law, all is law. All is order. Believe it; let your whole being accept it so entirely, so literally that the idea will permeate your life cɔmpletely. Then will peace come to you. Then will Nature's apparent inharmonies become notes of grandest melody and praise. Knowing that Divine Order reigns without, and seeks always admittance to the within, will cause you to hold yourself receptive to Truth, and to accept in true attitude the promptings of the Universal Intelligence. We are over-anxious. We are perpetually instructed by Nature in the vital secrets of life and are as often forgetful of her valuable lessons. Through anxiety we retrograde. Patience! Oh the patience of a Christ! Desire it ever and practice it in your daily walk! "I check my speed, I make delays, Have a purpose in living. Better never to have entered your present sphere of existence if you aimlessly drift. Don't say "I am unable to find an object in life. Your every act may be made to subserve a purpose and a use, when once you get into the Divine relationship. You are in the very centre of great opportunities. Do not seek them; they are crowding upon you already. Simply stop and think, and the true light will fill your soul with new and strange emotions, and the purposeless existence will blossom into its harmonious sphere of usefulness. Does life seem mysterious? Do you long for comprehension of things ever-present but unfathomable? Relinquish all this. In simplicity and trust forget it, and leave the inexplicable to the One who as the Author of All is alike unknowable, unfathomable. The very desire to fathom the unfathomable retards your progress. Direct your thoughts first of all to the Kingdom within. In childlike faith daily seek to "know thyself;" when this end is attained you will meet no more inconsistencies. The mysterious will become plain ; the crooked be made straight, as the inner life comes en rapport with the outer. Above all, depend upon no man for guidance. I would not have you reject truth-if truth you believe it to be-from whomso-ever it may come; but at the last, your redemption must come from and through your own inner resources and powers. Keep this before you constantly and look to Divinity alone for strength and light. It will not be withheld you. M. A. E. TWELVE MANNER OF GENII. THE GENIUS OF ✩ (LIBRA), WHICH applies to all persons born between Sept. 22nd and Oct. 22nd. This Genius is the Collector of the knowledges of past experience, the Perceptive Faculty of the Soul. The dominant function in the body of these persons is the reins, where are the stored energies of sex-life; therefore, the phenomenal mental condition of these persons, few understand them, neither do they understand themselves, and never will, until they study the science of Life in all the body of humanity, which is revealed by Solar Biology, not Astrology however; a life-time might be spent in that study, and not to anything like an orderly conclusion of the laws governing life, because astrologists work from appearances, while the realities are many times exactly the reverse. Persons of this nativity by living a regenerate life and desiring knowledge and using that knowledge in teaching or writing it, will find that it flows to them as from a fountain. come Being the psychic collectors of thoughts, they can, by cultivation and practice, acquire the ability to argue on either side of any subject, for or against, as may be required; for inspiration is ever at their command in whatever line the will determines. Their Genius being controlled by Virgo, the intuitional power by which decisions are made as to right and wrong, and not having developed that in themselves, they are often deceived and misled: and because they possess the power of perception they discover the deceiver and then go to another extreme; thus they are often jostled from one extreme to another through life; and if their minds are turned toward spiritual and occult matters, for which they have a natural turn, then they meet first the power of Virgo and the Roman Church (this, however, is almost wholly from a spiritual or invisible standpoint) which tries to bind them as adherents to its laws and principles; and as the Roman Church is adverse to progress, they are often jostled by that power so that they run to many extremes; for they can seldom be held in adherence to the doctrines of that Church because of their ability to perceive the errors. Another reason is their natural dependence for guidance on the function of Virgo; therefore if they learn from another, they memorize verbatim because they feel the need of a head and guide. They are honest and truthful, but their natural guide, Virgo, being (as a body of people classified as the Roman Church) under control of the baser sex-principle, is extremly selfish and deceptive; this is the cause of the body of humanity being in disorder and combat. The Genius of is the orderly action, "law and order," the organizer of rules and methods (judging from past experiences), to govern the body. In order to make attainments they must study carefully the difference between intuition and psychic perception, which appear so near alike that there is no language sufficiently discriminating to describe it. This knowledge can only be obtained by studying the nature of that peculiar faculty in those born in Virgo, and contrasting it with those born in Libra. It is absolutely necessary that these persons should enter into covenant relations with their highest ideal of God, and desire earnestly to know what is the absolute truth. The Practical Instructions in this number of THE ESOTERIC are well adapted to aid the mind of such; there is a constant feeling of dependence on the part of these persons; in fact, they are altogether too dependent on being taught by others, and disinclined to reason or muse on metaphysical subjects; they want to come to a hasty conclusion, and if they do not perceive the bearings of the words, will want explanation immediately. They are apt to follow the words literally. The leading difference between their perception and intuition will be ob served by them to be that the intuitional knowledge, which they need so much comes by sitting quietly and musing on the right and wrong, and the conclusions will spring up in their own mind; while the ordinary habit of their perceptive powers comes in their active mentality. Remember, your true master and guide speaks to the soul in the passive mental; and the psychic speaks in the active mental, and is not altogether reliable, because it perceives thoughts that are stored in the spheres wherein are all qualities of every nature and on every conceivable subject, pro and con; and your sympathetic alliance will govern as to what sphere you collect the knowledge from; and the intuitions must be carefully counseled and your relations to the Master's guidance is your only security. Those born in this function need alliance to some body of people to whom they could be invaluable in collecting the knowledge they need; for they are, in their fully developed state," the Oracle" of the God-ordained body. Their sphere of service varies from psychic subjects to literature, speaking, accounts, drafting contracts, etc. The animals used in symbolic prophecy to express their quality are the horse and the ass |
