Tell us something about Heindel-Steiner connection

The Max Heindel - Rudolf Steiner

Connection, Controversy and Resolution

Written by one Student

Compiled from several sources

The Steiner and Heindel issue is long standing. In his early student years, Heindel studied nearly everything but was frustrated by the Theosophical oriented approach to public esotericism. He met a dead end. A friend, Dr Alma Von Brandis, sent him to Germany to visit Steiner and hear him speak. Heindel recognized a great teacher and seer. He sat in on several lectures and had one or two interviews with Steiner.

According to Charles Weber, autor of a scholastic research about “Heindel-Steiner connection”, he could learn about occult truth from Steiner until he knew enough to be able to be given the rest by the Elder Brothers. So Steiner's teachings was in between what Max knew from the Blavatsky teachings and what he received from the Elder Brothers. It was a step that the Elder Brothers knew Max needed so that he could go on further.

He affirms that Steiner's teachings are "corroborated," that is, are confirmed, "along main lines" with those given by the Elder Brother. In fact, this passage implies that the dedication would have been retained if Heindel could be assured the reader would not hold Steiner responsible for the book's verbatim contents. This is a curious word to use (the original word was "authoritative") for it suggests a fully articulated predecessor.

As Max Heindel himself wrote in his dedication of the first edition of the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception he received much valuable information from Steiner, but the more far-reaching body of Teachings contained in the Cosmo must originate from the Elder Brother, both because Heindel states this and because the Cosmo's has information not otherwise available in the public domain or available without supersensible perception of an advanced degree.

Dedication on the first edition

Dedicated to my esteemed teacher and value friend Dr. Rudolf Steiner , and to my more than friend Dr. Alma Von Brandis, in gratefull recognition on the the inestimable influence for soul-growth they have exercised in my life.

Heindel retracted the first edition’s dedication statement in the second edition of the Cosmo, printed in 1910.

In RE: Dedication

From the beginning of November, 1907, to the end of March, 1908, the writer devoted his time to the investigation of the teachings of Dr. Steiner, who was absent from Berlin nearly all that time. In the last of about six personal interviews with Dr. S. the writer mentioned that he had commenced a book along occult lines; a compendium of the teachings of the East and West.

Dr. S. then urged that if any of the teachings promulgated by him were used he ought to be mentioned as authority and source of information. In consequence the writer agreed to dedicate the work to Dr. Steiner.

During January, February and March, 1908, the Elder Brother, whom the writer now knows and reveres as Teacher, came at times, clothed in his vital body and enlightened the writer on various points. In April and May, after unwittingly passing a test, the writer was invited to journey to the estate on which is found the Temple of the Rosy Cross.

There he met the Elder Brother in his dense body; there he was given the far-reaching, synthetic philosophy embodied in the present work—which in the opinion of many old students in England, on the Continent, and in America, embodies everything that has been taught in public or esoterically in the past, besides much more that has never before been printed.

Therefore the unfinished manuscript for the book mentioned to Dr. Steiner was destroyed, but as the later and more complete teaching given by the Elder Brother corroborated the teachings of Dr. S. along main lines, it was thought better to dedicate the book to Dr. S. than seem a plagiarist. Of that there would have been small danger, however, for the plagiarist invariably gives less than the authority from whom he steals, and it will be found that in any case where previous works are compared with the present, this book will in all cases give more information.

The dedication has therefore been a mistake; it has led many people who merely glance at the book to infer that it embodies the teachings of Dr. S. and that he is responsible for the statements made herein. This inference is obviously unfair to Dr. S. and a careful perusal of pages 8 and 9 will show that it was never intended to convey such an idea. The writer does not see how to convey the true idea in a dedicatory sentence, hence has decided to withdraw the same with an apology to Dr. S. for any annoyance he may be caused by the hasty conclusions concerning his responsibility for the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.

-Max Heinde

Comments on Heindel’s Withdrawal Statement

( from Charles Weber 's Essay "Heindel-Steiner Connection")

The above explanation for Heindel’s retraction conveys a spirit of generosity. He affirms that Steiner’s teachings are “corroborated,” that is, are confirmed, “along main lines” with those given by the Elder Brother. In fact, this passage implies that the dedication would have been retained if Heindel could be assured the reader would not hold Steiner responsible for the book’s verbatim (p. 9) contents. This is a curious word to use (the original word was “authoritative”) for it suggests a fully articulated predecessor.

If some Rosicrucian Fellowship students have previously harbored reservations about the appropriateness or relevance of Steiner’s writings, surely now those doubts may be dismissed, for Heindel, not to mention the Elder Brother, implicitly sanctions their value. The reason for his dedication remains in effect—much valuable information had been received and continues to resonate, “along main lines,” with the Brother’s transmission. But in deference to Steiner, to prevent Cosmo readers from assuming that the book is an authoritative statement of Steiner’s teachings, Heindel withdrew the dedication.

This honorable gesture leaves Steiner’s integrity and the importance of his teachings intact and suggests that Cosmo readers will find compatible material in Steiner’s work. Such an exposure would certainly expand and vitalize the Fellowship’s Western Wisdom resources and free them from the misbegotten need of having to defend Heindel at the expense of denigrating a spiritual compatriate whom Heindel calls his “friend.”

-C.W.

CHRONOLOGY

1903

Heindel goes to Los Angeles, CA. to find work.

Dec. Attending lectures by Leadbeater in Los Angeles, CA.

Membership of the Theosophical Society; becomes a

vegetarian; friendship with Augusta Foss born Jan. 27, 1865 in

Mansfield OH.

1904/5

Vice-president of the Theosophical Society in Los Angeles.

1905

Summer Serious ill; a good lady-friend, Alma von Brandis, goes to

Europe. Heindel withdraws as a member of the Theosophical

Society after illness.

1906

April Own lecture tour to the North, lecturing Christain mysticism

and astrology.

1907

Autumn Alma von Brandis and Heindel go to Germany to hear Steiner.

1908

April Split with Alma von Brandis;

April/May Heindel stands test by a Brother of the Order of the Rose Cross;

first initiation. Writes The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.

1908

Summer Return to America, New York City; rewriting manuscript of the Cosmo

Sept. Heindel goes to Buffalo, NY, and finishes manuscript Cosmo.

Nov. Foundation of the first Rosicrucian Centre in Buffalo, NY.

1909

Summer On his way through Seattle, WA.

Aug. 8 Launching of ‘The Rosicrucian Fellowship’ at 3:00 pm.

Heindel and William M. Patterson go to Chicago to have

the Cosmo and Christianity Lectures printed.

Nov. To Yakima, WA, lecturing and starting a Centre.

Nevertheless, he felt that what Steiner was doing was not appropriate for America where pragmatism and clear linear thinking is predominant. In frustration, he felt that he did not find what he was looking for there (a Western oriented spirituality that was accessible to the general public). In this disappointing condition, he states he was visited by an Adept from the actual Rosicrucian Order itself during one night in Germany. He passed a test of trust and was then told to visit a certain location in Eastern Germany where the Rosicrucian Temple was located (within and around a conventional house).

He underwent six months or so of intense spiritual and seership training which produced the ability to enter and explore the spiritual worlds directly both in body and out of body. During this time he was taught the contents of the Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception by his Teacher. He was asked to return to America with a text of this teaching and translate it into English. It had to published before 1910. Inthe first edition, he dedicated the book to Steiner out of respect for the work he was doing in Europe and for the inspiration he received. This was a mistake because it was totally misunderstood.

The problem was: the teaching found in Heindel's book (much of the early material was "presented" to him by his Teacher) sounded and read very similar to the basic works and lectures by Steiner. Thus people thought he stole the material. Unfortunately this is utterly false. Heindel was only in Europe a short time with Steiner's lectures and he was not interested in Anthroposophy, as such. . And the dedication to Steiner in the first publication lead people to think Heindel took materials and just put them into a simpler form. People can think what the want but these claims are untrue. In later works, Heindel shows that he was a seer and possessed occult knowledge not found in Steiner or any other source. In the second edition, he retracted this dedication and explained his relationship to the Order, his initiation, and his first dedication to Steiner. (He was going to write a an East/West text on esotericism and told Steiner. Steiner asked that if anything was to be used from his materials, that proper acknowledgement be used. Heindel agreed.)

Jeff Auen, a writer and teacher of Anthroposophy, wrote his opinion, from parallel studies, that at certain times in lives of both men, they had the same Teacher. This Teacher used certain phrases and methods of explaining occult facts that influenced both men's style and content early on. Both went on to write from their own experience and research and the Teacher receded to the background.

Steiners text about Heindel: (GA 203 Dornach 28 März 1921)

"In his books he then called himself Max Heindel, but here he had another name, calling himself Grashof. This man had here taken up all that he could from lectures and books. Out of that he had made, some what mystical, a book, Rosicrucian Cosmo Conception and then in a second edition he also had taken up all that can be read in the lecture cycles.and.what.else he had copied. Then he had told his people over there in America that he had taken up the first stage here, but that to reach the second. stage, he had gone to a Master.in.Hungary.'

'From him he stated that he had got what he only had copiedfrom the cycles and especially from all the lectures that he cunningly (?) had found and of which his writing were a pure case of plagiarism! Some of you will know that also the very comical thing happened, that this thing was translated back into German, with the remark that it admittedly was possible to have something similar also in Europe, but that it was better to get it in the form in which it could arise under the free sun of America.'"

Heindel text about the teachings of other societies

Echoes from Mount Ecclesia, September, 1914.

It is a frequent occurrence to receive letters from students saying that such and such a society teaches so and so in regard to a certain matter, and asking if that is true, or how we reconcile that with our teaching, or why our teachings are different. I wish to say once and for all that it is impossible to answer such questions, because it is not the policy of the Rosicrucian Fellowship to decry our disparage the teachings of other societues. It takes all out time to spread out own teachings, and if out literature is studied the reason for these teachings will always be found. There is no statement made by the Rosicrucian Fellowship that is not backed up by reason and logic, and this we are always willing to reiterate, amplify and in every possible way to give students satisfaction, but we positively cannot undertake to either explain or contovert the teachings of other societies.

Max Heindel was a new name taken by Carl Louis F. Von Grasshoff who was born early Sunday morning July 23, 1865, in Aarhus, Denmark of the family of Von Grasshoffs. His father was Francois L. von Grasshoff who first saw the light of day in 1838 in Berlin, Germany. He migrated, when quite a young man, to Denmark, where he married a Danish woman, Anna Sorine Withen, the daughter of the clogmaker Chresten Petersen Bregnetfeld and his wife, Mette Kirstine Petersen. He probably came to Denmark with the Prussian army during the Dano-German war in 1864. As we all know, when a powerful personal change occurs in one's spiritual life one does not identify with the past personality and wishes a change.

Heindel was not an initiate or even awakened in his inner soul when he met Steiner. I also do not think Steiner took the effort to check out each visitor clairvoyantly. If he did he would have seen a average man. It was only after his disappointment with the direction of Steiner methods and teachings and when was about to leave Germany that he began his initiatory work and in 6 months was fully clairvoyant and able to function free from the body and pass the lesser and Greater Guardians. It was after this time that Steiner spoke of him and if one reads this reference carefully you will see that he is referring to the man who "took our teachings" (past tense contact) and not in the present context as one who has met another face to face in the spiritual worlds.

Heindel-Steiner connection according Jeff Auen

This text is mainly based on Jeff Auen writings posted in several E-groups lists in Yahoo, like spiritualscience and rosicruciansophia

I don't suppose anything more could be said about this Heindel/Steiner controversy without direct confirmation from the principals or substantial research. (which is available for those interested.

My defense of Heindel is based on the examination of 95% of his written works and comparing it with over 1500 lectures and all the books written by Steiner in English.

It is also based personal spiritual research; although fragmentary by nature its fully convincing in the details of which we are talking. In short, I have had direct spiritual contact with certain individuals affiliated with the impulse surrounding this organization. I will not fall into trap, that because Steiner says its, it must be accurate and he is beyond personal opinion (which we know is not the case). We need not get into the controversial racial and anti semitic materials found in some of RS writings. The point is: he did opinionate about some things that do not make sense or are simply ridiculous to common sense.

As we have rehashed many times before, both AP and other esoteric movements from this era are often outdated, filled with cultural bias, unfinished personal business of the teachers, and are in need of substantial revision. There are faults and errors committed in all men and women, no matter what their status. Perfection is a rare state and may have never been fully expressed on earth except through Christ Jesus. And, yes, I question everything I read that falls within the stamp of "spiritual authority" or "expert", especially is there are apparent contradictions within it.

That AP initiatives has succeeded in the world is admirable but as Steiner mentioned, his vision of the AP influence was to be much greater yet it fallen far short. (50 Goethenaums by the mid 50's). I do not see the "opposing powers" being the only instrument that has blunted this work.

All we can do is find our own truth and see if it is supported by others. And then get out into the world and do something with it!

Many use both sources and find Heindel's work greatly clarifies Steiner work and that Steiner greatly enriches Heindel's. And its not because he borrowed anything from Steiner but because he initially respected Steiner but chose a path Steiner rejected. The similarities are due to a common source to both men (Rosicrucian influences and teachers). Due diligence in the later works of Heindel (when he had no contact with AP or Steiner) shows totally original material not be found elsewhere in any occult sources since e.g an indication of total population of the human species both in and out of incarnation; the specifics of clairvoyance when viewing a mineral, plant, animal and human being and how the vision shifts; the nature of etheric vortexes and "atoms"; how advanced souls are able to extend their lives past the norm and retain youth; how to cleanse the etheric body and healing methods; the specifics of suicide deaths; how the astral centers appear and rotate in seers vs. involuntary psychics with diagrams; the nature of etheric and astral barriers surrounding mystery centers; how specific initiation events unfold between the esoteric student and Teacher as distinct from Eastern methods; and so on. If one is truly using research methods to prove or disprove an assertion, then one must assume the burden of doing the research and making a reasoned judgment. And as I mentioned long ago, in the preface to the second edition of the Cosmo Conception, Heindel clarifies why he dedicated the first edition to Steiner and then withdrew this dedication in the second edition. It confused rather than clarified his relationship to Steiner.

For one, in the second edition of the Cosmo Conception, Heindel retracted the dedication to Steiner and explained clearly what his relationship was to Steiner and his error in first dedicating it to him. He personally met Steiner in several interviews and attended about 8 lectures during the Fall and Spring of 1907 to 1908. As you can see below Heindel respected and acknowledged Steiner for his work and contribution to Western esotericism. One can either take him for his word or not. Heindel was in Germany to write his own version of Isis Unveiled, so to speak, and take up where Blavatsky failed and where Steiner did not want to go - create a comprehensible and readable public dissemination of the basics in esotercism. His relationship or should I say non relationship is cleared stated below. In addition, the most important issue is not the similarly between the Cosmo Conception and some of Heindel works and Occult Science and At the Gates of Spiritual Science, et.al. Why? I am convinced that both Steiner and Heindel at this time had the same Teacher and they both drew from His analogies and examples as well as his superior knowledge of cosmology. In the later works of Heindel, when he able to more fully develop his own clairvoyant abilities and inner world journeys and research, one will find esoteric information not available in form or content in any Steiner works like descriptions of the silver cord and its connection to the liver and inner bodies; the nature of the chemical ether as a prismatic spinning force field at the atomic level; the number of human beings in our life wave both on earth and out of incarnation; the specific nature of the evolutionary status of Christ, Jehovah and the Father of our Solar System, etc.

If Heindel did draw from Steiner why did he ignore the whole story and the most important finding in Christian esotericism- the two Jesus Children and the nature of Ahriman? This was common knowledge at his time but he chose not to mention it. I have my reasons why but that's another issue.

The best sources that show his abilities and status are Occult Principles of Health and Healing and the two volume set of Questions and Answers where Heindel answered students inquires clearly and precisely. In addition, in Letters to Students you will find a information to students about the spiritual life and initiation that has never been published in Steiner's work (or at least as far as I know). Heindel was not infallible nor was Steiner. Their cultural bias and conditioning speak through their respective teachings, at times and glaringlyso.

As for Steiner's reference in the Fifth Gospel of "that American" promulgating Rosicrucian like teachings in California (Heindel) – this is his opinion and not based on occult fact or connection. They apparently did not and could not come into contact in the spiritual worlds for various reasons. The reasons for this are complex and personal which is only alluded to by Heindel when asked about his initial meeting with his Rosicrucian Teacher in Germany. The Teacher stated clearly that another individual was the first choice for the Rosicrucian Order to promote a truly public form of Rosicrucianism and that this individual "failed his test." Not more is said of this but the reference is clearly, Steiner. Steiner actually mentions his rejection of this role in the Fifth Gospel, as well. What we do not know is the reason for his rejection. He may not have known that his "considerations" were a "test" as well from this Teacher. I suspect that the emergence of Anthroposophy as a unique but highly specialized form of esoteric teaching and education model was the fundamental reason. Steiner did not want to limit his work to one particular Order or group and formed an allegiance to Anthroposophia. Just my opinion.

If one actually goes to the Fellowship grounds and Goethenaum and meditates and sensitizes oneself to certain locations on each property, one will gain insight for themselves of the genuine nature of both Heindel and Steiner and the Teachers working with them. Although having the deepest respect for Steiner, he clearly and obviously had his human sides like all of us and being human means not being perfect.

I repeat what I said before in defense. of Heindel:

* He was in the process of writing an revision of popular.occultism when visiting Steiner.

* He did attend lectures and received materials and was going to use some of them.

* He had several meetings with Steiner and told him of his intention.

* Steiner remarked, if you use my materials, give me credit

* Heindel dedicated the first edition of the Cosmo out of respect and the avoidance of source confusion.

* He pulled the dedication in second version explaining that he gained access to the same sources that Steiner drew from direct initiatory experience.

After these meetings, Heindel became another man. He had a profound spiritual encounter and entry into the spiritual worlds along Rosicrucian lines. Putting the Cosmo aside which seems to be the only work most APs have looked at, I again recommend his later works which clearly are based on his own experience and research and do not come across like a encyclopedia of Western occultism. In addition if Heindel was a fake, how could he initiate others into Rosicrucian wisdom along genuine lines. I point out the biography of SR Parchment an immigrant from the Caribbean islands who was Heindel student. In his first book, he describes in detail some of his early clairvoyant experiences and training along Rosicrucian lines and his contact and interaction with Heindel as his teacher in the inner worlds. Parchment was harshly criticized, at times, for falling prey to early stage clairvoyance experiences and mentioned Heindel teaching methods both as a physical teacher and inner world guide. By the way, Parchment left the Fellowship in the 20's and went to New York to create his own organization that try to unite Rosicrucian and Anthroposophic. streams!

If one again reads these quotes from RS, he is speaking as a reporter and commentator not an occultist who has actually met and encountered Heindel in the spiritual worlds directly. His comments about people he has actually met spiritually are always different and reverential. He clearly did not care to make such contact with Heindel. His comments are based on past meetings and the Cosmo work solely.

As for his comments about the stylistic differences between his work and the Cosmo, only time will tell. Just as Hegel is "Latin" to most American college students, perhaps so would Walt Whitman and Haiku be to turn of the century middle Europeans. It is clear that RS objected to any and every form of spiritual communication other than his own for "purist" reasons.I

The Rosicrucian Fellowship was not begun as educational or medical institution. It was started as a place for like minded individuals to study and grow spiritually and disseminate teachings along Rosicrucian lines. It was also created to institute a form of advanced healing practice which seems simple on the surface but is very effective occultly. If you you spend 1 hour in the healing chapel there, turn on your sensitivity you will discover what they are doing. This type of healing is neither better or worse than methods used by AP practitioners. It is designed primarily to advance certain soul capacities for healing, energy gathering and projection to patients either in body or out.

They apparently did not and could not come into contact in the spiritual worlds for various reasons. The reasons for this are complex and personal which is only alluded to by Heindel when asked about his initial meeting with his Rosicrucian Teacher in Germany. The Teacher stated clearly that another individual was the first choice for the Rosicrucian Order to promote a truly public form of Rosicrucianism and that this individual "failed his test." Not more is said of this but the reference is clearly, Steiner. Steiner actually mentions his rejection of this role in the Fifth Gospel, as well. What we do not know is the reason for his rejection. He may not have known that his "considerations" were a "test" as well from this Teacher. I suspect that the emergence of Anthroposophy as a unique but highly specialized form of esoteric teaching and education model was the fundamental reason. Steiner did not want to limit his work to one particular Order or group and formed an allegiance to Anthroposophia. Just my opinion.

Max Heindel and the Rosicrucian Fellowship

by early Rosicrucian Fellowship's students and friends

Max Heindel As I Knew Him
by
Art Taylor

My mother was astrological secretary with Augusta and Max Heindel, beginning with early 1914. The Fellowship was small in numbers but was a happy and harmonious family. Mother came up to Los Angeles frequently on weekends and very shortly brought me a Cosmo to read. I was impressed with its clear and rational presentation of occult truths, and when Max Heindel came to speak at the Los Angeles Center, I went to hear him. When we met, each of us knew instantly that we were old friends from previous lives.

Being invited to come down to Oceanside, I boarded the Santa Fe train the next weekend, and upon alighting saw a tiny little village of about two blocks and a scattering of a few homes. I walked the two miles of gravel road to the Fellowship grounds, and found that Headquarters consisted of an administration building (housing all activities), a small chapel, and about three cottages.

Subsequently making frequent weekend trips to Oceanside, I became well acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Heindel, and whenever there was an accumulation of work in setting up and reading the horoscopes of applicants for help, I assisted Mrs. Heindel and my mother. Usually after the Sunday morning service, Max Heindel and I sat on a bench near the spot where the Rose Cross Emblem is now. We chatted about many subjects of mutual interest: astronomy, astrology, the Philosophy, and the sciences, always including refreshing little human reminiscences and a joke or two. Those were delightful times.

One Sunday morning, as we left the Chapel, a visitor walked along with us, mentioning how much he liked the accordion. Mr. Heindel said: "Well, accordion is the common name, but the classical name is 'come to me, go from me." We laughed heartily, and I have recalled the incident countless times. One day while helping Mrs. Heindel with the horoscopes I called her "Aunt Gussie." She liked it and suggested that I always call her that. I said I would be happy to, but added that then Mr. Heindel would need to be "Uncle Max," so henceforth they were, and became a cherished uncle and aunt.

On one trip to Oceanside, the regular service and the Moon Meeting coincided, and I was asked to speak at the regular service, while "Uncle Max" conducted the Moon Meeting. There was a vacant chair left in the front row, and presently the Brother was there.

I had been teaching the Los Angeles Philosophy Class for some time, particularly the Scheme of Evolution. One day, as I sat down at the piano for practice, I saw that the entire scheme, as so beautifully portrayed in the Cosmo was on the keyboard--the significance of the five Hierarchies that gave us some help and then passed into liberation, and also the seven that were to further their involution and evolution in regular progression, to minute detail. On the next trip to Oceanside, I described what I had done. "Uncle Max" was impressed and suggested that I write it all out, with an explanatory diagram. I did so and he published it in the March, 1917,
issue of Rays from the Rose Cross.

I felt that I knew Max Heindel better than most other people, and there is a reason for this. When an author is read and studied, the salient features of his nature are quite apparent, but the other facets of his composite being are not. They are more or less hidden behind the work he concentrates upon. In intimate, personal association, the other sides reveal themselves. We were able to discuss the reverent, devotional aspirations, the comprehension of the cultures, music, art, the sciences, and in addition, the human, so essential to balanced development.

Max Heindel was a living example of the precepts of the Rosicrucian Fellowship Teachings: "A sane mind, a soft heart, a sound body," and the counterpart: "Be ye wise as the serpent, strong as the lion, harmless as the dove." He knew that the Elder Brothers frowned upon organization in general, and sought carefully to avoid any more than was necessary for carrying on administration. Also, he was keenly aware that our real progress along the path of illumination
was from within--"the temple without sound of hammer." He decried any form of regimentation, and frequently emphasized that we should not too suddenly strive to become so enlightened that we would lose the value of experience of the particular horoscope we had chosen for that very purpose.

He tried, valiantly, to stress the reverent, devotional nature of the mystic, the occult side of intellectual comprehension, and to balance them with sufficient of the wholesome, human influences for rational unfoldment. It was a privilege to have worked with him.

--Rays from the Rose Cross Magazine, February, 1965, p. 64, 83

Ella Wheeler Wilcox by AUDREY GLOVER

Many Rosicrucian students will remember Ella Wheeler Wilcox as the poet of whom Max Heindel wrote in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, "Ella Wheeler Wilcox, with the true compassion of all far advanced souls, champions this occult maxim ( There is One Life - the Life of God ) in the following beautiful words," and them quotes her poem, "The Voice of the Voiceless." But probably few know thatshe met Max Heindel and conversed with him, as she relates in her autobiography, "The Worlds and I", published shortly before her death in 1919.

That Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an advanced soul is evidenced in her voluminous poetry. Her words of faith, hope, love, compassion, and spiritual wisdom must have helped and cheered millions of people, for she was well known over this country and in England for many years. Her life motto, she tells us, was Service. Her family was for the most part scornful of all things religious, yet she writes,

"From the hour I could think, I always thought with reverence and love of God, the Great Creator of this wonderful universe. Faith was born in my soul, and as a little child my believe in prayer and in my guardian angels haloed my world."

She was often hurt by the irreverence shown in her family and goes on to say,

"In after years I understood why this was. Being an old soul myself, reincarnated many more times than any other member of my family, I knew the truth of spiritual things not revealed to them. I could not formulate what I knew, but what I felt myself the spiritual parent of my elders; and I longed to help them to clearer sight."

Ella Wheeler was born in 1855 on a farm in Wisconsin, the youngest of four children. Her childhood and youth were meager in physical comforts, and in mental, emotional, and spiritual satisfactions. She started writing poetry at a very early age, and was well known as a poet in her own state by the time she graduated from high school. When about 28 years of age , she married Robert Wilcox. They had one child , a son, who died shortly after birth.Not long after their marriage, they both became interested in Theosophy and accepted its teachings. Thoughout life, they were always interested in psychic and spiritual matters . Early in their married life, they promised each other that whoever went first to the realms beyond would return and communicate with the other, if possible, and they had little doubt but that it was possible.

Robert Wilcox died in 1916, after over thirty years of close and loving companionship with his wife. She was overcome with grief, which became ever more intense as week after week went without any message from him.She visited famous mediums all over the country, and also a number of "Wise Ones" of various religious and philosophies, without finding what she sought. A stay at a Theosophical retreat helped her to become calmer, and good friends there warned her against blind dependence on spiritualism. She tells it thus,

"Opposed to spiritualism, which degenerates into fortune telling, and, which delays the souls of those gone on by continual appeals to return for trivial purposes, they yet approved of my investigations into the occult, knowing my purpose was not be misured or abused. They even accompanied me in some of my investigations and helped me to discriminate between mere mind reading, chatter of elementals from borderland, and messages from higher planes."

It was at this time that she went to California, as she heard that the spiritual vibrations were stronger there. She went to see Max Heindel, still seeking help in her sorrow, still unable to understand why she had had no word from her Robert. This is how she tells of this meeting.

"In talking with Max Heindel, the leader of the Rosicrucian Philosophy in California, he made very clear to me the effect of intense grief. Mr. Heindel assured me that I would come in touch with the spirit of my husband when I learned to control my sorrow. I replied that it seemed strange to me that an omnipotent God could not send a flash of his light into a suffering soul to bring its conviction when most needed. Did you ever stand beside a clear pool of water, asked Mr. Heindel, and see the trees and skies repeated therein? And did you ever cast a stone into that pool and see it clouded and turmoiled, so it gave no reflection? Yet the skies and trees were waiting above to be reflected when the waters grew calm. So God and your husband's spirit wait to show themselves to you when the turbulence of sorrow is quieted".

The truth of his words was proved to her several months later.She returned to her home in the East, and spent hours daily in prayer and meditation. She composed a little mantra which she said over and over,

"I am the living witness: The dead live: And they speak through us and to us: And I am the voice that gives this glorious truth to the suffering world: I am ready , God: I am ready , Christ: I am ready, Robert. "

Little by little she came to understand God's purpose in allowing this suffering,

"Holding in store for me the greatest gift the Lords of Karma have to bestow to those on earth, God wanted me to cast away, one by one, every prop on which I leaned, and to break every tie which bound me to material things, or held me closely to earthly affections."

Eventually , she made unmistakable contact with her husband, and had soulsatisfying conversations with him. Afterward she made valiant efforts to give out occult truths to a suffering world[World War I was still in progress] , but she met for the most part with scorn and disbelief. People , she said, were like the country woman who, when she saw a giraffe for the first time, turned away saying , "There ain't no such animal!" Faced with incontroversible proofs of continuing life after death, they would still deny it! She wrote,

"As we think, act, and live here today , we built the structures of our homes in spirit realms after we leave earth, and we build karma for future lives, thousands of years to come, on this earth or other planets.Life will assume new dignity, and labor new interest for us, when we come to the knowledge that death is but a continuation of life and labor , in higher planes".

Now, forty years after her death (1), occult students are still trying to give these truths to a suffering world.Some gains have been made, but the progress seems so slow!

Let us close with Ella Wheller Wilcox's closing words in her book,

"From this mighty storehouse(of God, and the hierarchies of Spiritual Beings) we may gather wisdow and knowledge, and receive light and power, as we pass through this preparatory room of earth, which is only one of the innumerable mansions in our Father's house. Think on these things".

(1) Editor Note: This article was published in Rays From The Rose Cross, the Rosicrucian Fellowship Magazine in July, 1959.

My Little Tribute To Our Beloved Max Heindel

Corinne Heline (Atlanta, Georgia, August 18, 1882 - 1975) was an American author, Christian mystic and occultist born to the aristocracy of the Old South. Her monumental work, 'The New Age Bible Interpretation', in seven volumes was followed by many other works interpreting the 'ancient wisdom'. She is worldwide known among students of esotericism and occultism, and also in New Age circles, as a pioneer, opening the way to vast new fields of investigation related to the coming Aquarian age.Heline founded the "New Age Bible and Philosophy Center" at Santa Monica, California, which took the motto "Devoted to studies designed to aid the modern seeker to a spiritual reorientation in the Light of the Ancient Wisdom.".

Dear friends, my heart is singing today for being able to be with you on this occasion and give my little tribute to our beloved Max Heindel. I would like to tell you about the first day that I met this remarkable man, and in order to do this I shall have to touch briefly upon my own personal life.

I trust you will pardon me for this. Perhaps you already know from my voice that I was born and reared in the deep South. I was an only child, and my early years were filled with adoration for my lovely mother. She was always my beautiful fairy princess. However, she was very frail, and my childhood days were filled with the fear that some day I would have to give her up. So I made up my mind in those early days that if she was taken from me, I would take my own life and go with her.

You see, I knew nothing in those days of Rebirth and the Law of Causation. I was born looking for light, for answers to questions I could not formulate. I did not really know just what I was searching for. Consequently I had no idea where to find it. And as you all know the South is deeply orthodox and conservative. But one thing I did know, and that was that somewhere there must be a more adequate answer to problems of life and death than orthodoxy gave, and I was determined to find that answer.

In the meantime my mother grew ever more delicate, and I was persistently filled with a fear of losing her. A few months before her final illness, a dear friend called me on the phone and said she had found a wonderful new book that she was sure was exactly what I was looking for. That very afternoon I went to her home, and you may surmise that the book was the Cosmo.

When I saw the picture of the Rose Cross and read that by our own personal lives we were to learn how to transmute the red roses into the white, I knew that at last I had found my own. That night, before I went to sleep, my order was in the mailbox on its way to Oceanside for that priceless book. I counted the days until it arrived, and just about the time it did come the doctor said that my mother had to undergo a very serious operation.

So I lived every day with this book. I slept with it under my pillow, for in some strange way it seemed to hold the only solace for me that the entire world could give. After my mother's operation the doctor said there was no hope, that she had only a few months to live. I still held to my blessed book. Then suddenly one day a strange new thought came to me. Should I take my life and go with my mother as I had always planned, or should I go to Oceanside and give my life to the work of Max Heindel?

The question held the answer. My mind was made up, and ten days after my mother left me, I was on the train, the Cosmo under my arm, on the way to California and Max Heindel. He seemed to me to be the only succor for my grief that the world could give. Oh, I wish I could describe him fittingly to you that first day I saw him here at Mt. Ecclesia!

He came to meet me with both hands outstretched, and his sweet face was illumined with tenderness, sympathy, and compassion. Now, understand, I had had no personal contact with him. I knew him only through his book, and you may imagine something of my surprise and amazement when he took my hands in his and said so tenderly, "My child, I have been with you often both day and night during this terrible ordeal through which you have just passed. I knew that when it was over you would come to me. Now you belong always to my work!"

That, dear friends, was a momentous day in my life. That was the day I dedicated myself completely to the spiritual life and to the Rosicrucian Philosophy. For five wonderful years I was privileged to know this wise man and to study and be trained under his guidance and supervision. I've always considered those five years as being the most beautiful and the most spiritually fruitful of my entire life.

I wish I were able to describe this wonderful man to you in the way that I came to know him. When I think of his many admirable characteristics, perhaps the quality I loved most deeply about him was his exquisitely beautiful humility. While he was always eager to be of help and serve wherever possible, he was always firm in keeping the personality of Max Heindel in the background.

As I often studied his complete dedication to the simple life, I thought many times of the words of our dear Lord, the Christ: "Of myself I am nothing. It is the Father who doeth the works." I think, dear friends, that Max Heindel demonstrated the most perfect blending of the mystical and the practical that I have ever known. He was so simple and so humble. The most menial, the most simple services he performed so graciously and so gladly. He would go down to the barn and milk the cow if necessary, for you know in those days we had both a barn and a cow here at Mt. Ecclesia.

He would hive the bees, for we had bees too. He would climb the telephone poles and mend a broken wire; he would plant trees in the grounds, dig and hoe in the garden, and gather vegetables; he would do all the simple things with the same earnestness and enthusiasm with which he would go to the office, classroom or lecture hall, there to give forth so freely of his great wisdom, or perhaps to meet with the Teacher who guided him in this great work.

On Saturday evenings it was generally his custom to hold a question and answer session in the library. There was a long table that extended the entire length of the room, and the students would gather about that table with Mr. Heindel standing at the head to answer the questions. Each student was permitted to ask one question, and it had to be in writing. Then Mr. Heindel would collect the questions and answer them one by one. In noticing him carefully, I found that he always seemed to know intuitively to whom each question belonged, and hence he always addressed that individual from whom the question had come. In the many times that I attended these memorable sessions, he never once made a mistake in the identity of the questioner. He was always so careful and painstaking, and would never leave a question until he was sure that the individual who asked it had been completely satisfied with the answer.

It was during these wonderfully enlightening sessions that I gained my first understanding of the important place that color and music will occupy in preparing the world for the incoming New Age.

Mr. Heindel would announce that an hour was to be devoted in these sessions of questions and answers. However, more often than not that hour extended into two or two and one-half or even three hours. They were such stimulating periods that time seemed to fly by on wings of enchantment.

Dear friends, I wish I were able to tell you what Mt. Ecclesia meant to Mr. Heindel as I knew him. How he loved this place! He knew the high destiny that was in store for the work it was founded to do. In his day there was a bench underneath the illumined Rose Cross that stands in the grounds.

There it was his custom each evening before retiring to sit for some minutes or perhaps an hour in prayer and meditation, broadcasting love and blessing in benediction over this holy ground and on all those who were living here and serving the work so faithfully. I wish I might describe to you the illumination on his dear face as he would look with such deep reverence and devotion at that illumined Rose Cross which meant so much to him.

He never tired of telling us of the wonderful things in store for Mt. Ecclesia. He would talk often of the Panacea, the formula for which the Brothers of the Rose Cross are custodians, and which worthy disciples will some day be permitted to use in the healing and solace of multitudes who will come from all over the world to this sacred shrine. He would tell us of his dream of a beautiful Grecian theatre envisioned to be built in the canyon below the Chapel and in which performances would be given of plays with a spiritual message and occult truths such as the great dramas of Shakespeare and other inspired classics.

He also saw the time when Mt. Ecclesia would have its own splendid orchestra composed of permanent students, and that it would also perform in the theatre works of master composers, particularly those of Beethoven and Wagner whom he knew to be high musical Initiates. He said also that some time there would be classes in initiatory music taught here.

Mr. Heindel liked to talk of the Elder Brothers and how they, in their study of the Memory of Nature, had been able to look down through the ages and see the condition that the world is in today. It was for this reason, as you know, that they gave the Rosicrucian Philosophy to the world when they did. Dear friends, the soul of the world today is sick, is filled with sorrow, filled with searching and questions.

There is no answer in the world for these questions. What the world is truly seeking is a more spiritualized science and a more scientific religion. The Rosicrucian Philosophy holds the answer to both of these quests.

This Philosophy is but a continuation of the great work which our Lord, the Christ, brought to Earth and gave to the immortal Twelve. It contains the priceless gift which the Christ brought, namely, the Christ Initiations which hold the very heart of the religion of the incoming Aquarian Age. Mr. Heindel well understood this.

He well knew the great destiny that awaits this work. Therefore he never let disappointment or difficulties deter him. He always kept his eyes fixed on the stars. Dear friends, ours is a very special privilege to be the custodians here of this Great Work, and of this dedicated place which was set aside by the Great Ones as a particular training ground for those who can pass the severe tests that will make them worthy to be numbered among the pioneers of the incoming New Age.

So my dear friends, let us follow in the footsteps of Max Heindel. Let us be so united in peace, harmony and love that we may do our part in carrying out the mission to which our beloved leader devoted and eventually sacrificed his very life. So let us together lift our eyes to the stars as he did. Let us face this world with new light and new power and new hope, because it is only in this way that we shall be faithful to our quest and see the glorious destiny of this Great Work fulfilled. It is truly the religion that will be the very heart and very keystone of the new Aquarian Age. May God bless you, each and every one, as you go forward in your quest for the Light Eternal.

Manly P. Hall

Manly Palmer Hall (March 18, 1901 - August 29, 1990) was a Canadian-born author and mystic. He is perhaps most famous for his work The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, which is widely regarded as his magnum opus. He has been widely recognized as a leading scholar in the fields of religion, mythology, mysticism, and the occult.

We live a code of criticism and condemnation with small appreciation of the works of others. Sects and creeds build up walls about themselves, and only heroic souls in whom spiritual perceptions are truly awake can rise above these imaginary limitations. Think back over the books that you have read and recall how seldom it is that any writer speaks well of another. Each man, firm in his own opinions, gives scant courtesy to the opinions of others. There are many teachers in this world who instruct with words, but only a few who instruct with the noble example of generous deeds.

The true purposes of mysticism are to perpetuate, interpret and apply the idealism of the race. Men turn to religion for guidance, encouragement and solace. We want religion to stand back of us when we try to live honest lives. We want to know that there exists somewhere in the world a body of united people who are upholdingspiritual values in a world of crumbling material manifestations. We are all seeking inspiration. We want ideals. We want a worthy purpose to unite us in action. We desire to establish in this vale of tears a spiritual structure which shall be elevated above the humdrum. We want to go out into life recognizing our spiritual institutions as oases in a desert of materialism.

Civilization is in the throes of a great reconstruction period. As never before in recorded history men are seeking solutions to imminent and eminent problems. Church and State alike are reaching out to grasp something that is secure, something they may cling to when the world they have known passes into oblivion.

During the period of the great Wrold War metaphysics lost a great opportunity to make a permanent contribution to the race by allowing itself to be broken up by internal disruptions and controversies. Organizations which should have been dedicated to the unselfish service of mankind instead wasted their energy in vain wranglings over personal issues of little if any importance.

Our present crisis is far greater than the World War. The whole civilized world is struggling against selfishness and corruption. A new and great opportunity is at hand for the application of spiritual solutions to material problems. It is the duty of all spiritually enlightened individuals to forget all differences, sacrifice all personal ambitions, and rededicate themselves to the great ideals which brought their various orders and societies into existence.

During the great boom period immediately preceding the present economic crisis even mystical organizations were infected by the bacilli of wealth, personal ambition and exploitation. Personalities eclipsed principles and individuals and organizations departed from those simple truths which are the essentials of intelligent living. Then came the collapse. Material values dropped like plummets to an unfathomable depth. Ambitions were scattered to the winds and the race was confronted with problems which can only be solved through a restatement of spiritual values and a rededication of men and organizations to principles of enlightenment and truth.

Both H.P Blavatsky and Max Heindel gave their lives in a beautiful service to the spiritual needs of the race. Both went to early graves, broken by responsibility and persecution. Each has left as a legacy to unborn generations a metaphysical literature which shall survive the visissitudes of time.

- excerpts from Manly P. Hall's introduction to Max Heindel's booklet Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine , little essay on H.P. Blavatsky and "The Secret Doctrine" published in 1933

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