I hold that when a person dies
His soul returns again to earth;
Arrayed in some new flesh-disguise,
Another mother gives him birth.
     John Masefield  (1878-1967)
          A Creed

As we come to understand the nature of reincarnation and the age of man, we are obliged to realize that there must be a seemingly never-ending assemblage of diverse beings, both seen and unseen, that surround us. Our assumption is correct.

The Law of all accomplishment is DESIRE. We will always, eventually, become exactly that which we desire. This is the Law of all development in the Universe. Neither God nor Fate controls what we will become. We alone by our thoughts, desires, and actions create this matrix of our future.

One of the most common complaints heard from the human animal is, "I want what's coming to me!" Under the Law of the Universe no one can ever receive ANYTHING ELSE. Every thought we think, every desire we create, and every action we implement sets into motion the functioning of the Law to bring us that which we have formed.

Nothing comes to us that has not already been compounded by us, either earlier in the present life or in a previous existence. For this reason, Initiates say that complaining is the emotion of the ignorant. After all, whatever comes to us is what we alone have previously constituted for ourselves. If we don't like it, we have no one to blame except ourselves.

Creation of the future is accomplished not only passively, unconsciously, as a reaction to an action, but also consciously, knowingly, we can direct our future lives. Each life we live is governed by our order from the past.

A person who does not believe in reincarnation may think he did not put in an order. But he did. His every thought was an order small or large. Every unfulfilled desire in this life is carried on to the next and the next and so forth. Every action of every day of his life on Earth is part of the order that will place him in his next incarnation.

One of the real advantages of understanding reincarnation is that it allows us to plan ahead consciously instead of being the plaything of our many indiscriminate thoughts and actions. No successful man or woman thinks only of the work of the day, but always plans tasks which may take several days and also has long-range goals. The rationale is the same in planning one life to the next.

Death Changes Nothing

Death is no more than the "sleep" between lives, just as a night's sleep is the rest between days. The effect is the same except for the factor of time. Each night we forget the affairs of the preceding day and let our body regenerate so that we may be ready to take up our work where we left it. So it is with our lives. When our "day" is done and we are "called home," we but sleep until it is time to reawaken (reincarnate).

During our Earthly repose, our mind has an opportunity to clear by freeing itself from the trials of the day. Frequently, when we awaken, we find that problems which seemed insurmountable the day before now have reasonable answers. For this reason many influential men never make an important decision until they have "slept on it."

So it is with the Soul World sleep. During this time we have an opportunity to think and plan our next incarnation. We cannot change our Karma in the Soul World any more than the business executive can close a big deal while musing in bed. He can, however, plan what he will accomplish when he gets to work and in this way be ready to act when he arrives at the office.

We may do the same in the Soul World. We can plan what we wish to do when we return to Earth and finally "arrive at the office." We use the word, "finally," of course, as we are not ready to "be about our Father's business" the moment we incarnate. The physical body on Earth is made of flesh, born helpless, and requires time to mature into adulthood. According to ancient teaching, the reincarnated Soul does not begin to function on its own until puberty. This makes more understandable the statement by the Nazarene to His mother when He was twelve, "I must be about my Father's business." By this time He had reached puberty and His previous development allowed Him at this time to become aware of His mission. He wasted no time, but left home as soon as possible for the Order of the Essenes where He went through the special training for His appointed task. Most of us do not have such an exalted work ahead of us as the Nazarene, but we all have a task and an opportunity that is available to us as we too reach the time of life when we are first able to recreate our own kind.

Parents who have had teenage children know that, no matter how the children are brought up to puberty, at this time they can change entirely. Why? Before puberty their Soul with its eternal personality was held in abeyance, and they were, in truth, their parents' children in that they looked to the parents for
guidance. But after puberty that guidance comes from their own past programming.

As young people enter adolescence, entirely new feelings begin to course through their being. They cannot remember their past lives and accomplishments, but these are at this time released into their subconscious. Bit by bit these surface for better or worse. Teenagers are no longer children; they have arrived at the office and are ready for the work of their new lives. They are, so to speak, off on the "Father's business."

How else is it that kind, sweet mothers rear sons who are rapists and human butchers? Or that a man like Abraham Lincoln could develop from such a meager upbringing?

We, as parents, bring into the world Souls that are ready for and deserve the environment we provide. But when they reach puberty, our children are ready to go on their way as individual Souls to fulfill their personal destiny. It, therefore, is folly to attempt to stand in their way if they desire to leave the family circle. On the other hand, some parents and children are so well adapted to one another that a grown child has no desire to leave. He is happy to entwine his future with that of his parents. In these circumstances, a family may draw Soul after Soul, generation after generation, dedicated to a noble purpose, as a family of dentists or lawyers or pediatricians.

In other words, desire creates. You are what you have previously desired. You will be what you now think, desire, and do. Neither God nor the Law can be successfully mocked. Think not that you can sow tares and reap wheat.

Those Who Can Function On Two Planes

Another consideration about reincarnation includes Souls who are aware on two planes. In the following paragraphs Papus wrote of his contemporaries. He said,

"There have been cases of Earthly beings entering into real communication with the Spiritual World. We may mention in this connection the case of Trithemus, and especially that of Swedenborg.

"Swedenborg has shown by visions from a distance on Earth that his perceptive faculties of the invisible world were real. Thus, he announced the burning of a town which was taking place at a great distance away, at the exact moment when the fire occurred, and recorded many other instances of a similar nature.(1)
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(1) This is mentioned by Papus not so much to prove reincarnation as to give validity to Swedenborg as an informant.
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"The Rev. Charles Byse, who has written a remarkable book, Swedenborg, tells us very rightly:

" ‘The Swedish Seer was able to live during thirty-seven consecutive years in continuous communication with the inhabitants of the Beyond. He saw and heard them just as they see and hear one another. They visited him and he visited them in their homes. In short, he lived in both worlds simultaneously - in the world of matter and in the world of Spirit.

" ‘Without passing through death, he was able to explore (so to speak) the invisible world of which we know so little and which interests us so much. He often related in detail what he saw during those novel travels.'(2)
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(2) There is no reason this should not be possible. All that was required was a burning desire on Swedenborg's part to bring this about. The only other requirement for such an accomplishment is that the desire be pure, designed for the ennobling of mankind and not its enslavement. Beings who live in the Soul World are not fooled by a deceptive heart, as they have the ability to read all hearts.

For further information about this subject see also Dr. Paschal Beverly Randolph's After Death: The Immortality of Man, available from the Philosophical Publishing Company, P. O. Box 220, Quakertown, PA l895l-0220. 1-800-300-5168
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"This is the best description we can give of the man, who, like the great Initiates of the Ancient Mysteries, lived on two planes.

"Now, all accounts given by seers agree in saying that spirits converse by means of pictures, and that by calling up and precipitating such visual symbols they endeavor to communicate with the inhabitants of the Earth.

"Dreams and revelations occur through the visualization of pictures, and everything that pertains to the invisible world is closely connected with that production of pictures. This leads to a very interesting fact, that primitive races, in the same way as children, remain in almost permanent communication with the invisible world. They write principally by means of pictures.

"The ideographic language of the ancient Egyptians (a colony of Atlantis) and the ancient Chinese is an indication of this rapport with the invisible. The pictures in this ideographic language - the first hieroglyphics - were really copies of terrestrial subjects, but the principle of the writing was drawn entirely from man's communications with the invisible.

"Swedenborg was unquestionably in communication with invisible beings. What was the nature of these invisible entities? Did they belong to the higher Soul World plane or to the spiritual plane?(3)
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(3) The spiritual plane which Papus cites is the invisible plane that closely surrounds the Earth. It is the plane where those who have a strong desire not to leave the Earth congregate. Such beings are indeed a conglomeration: the misers, the womanizers, the atheists, the lovers of Earthly pleasures, and others who are bound, by desire, more to the earth than to the Soul World. On the other hand, here also are the devoted deceased husband awaiting his beloved wife so that they may enter the Soul World together. Here, the loving child, taken too soon, awaiting to be reunited with his parents.

This is not universally so, of course, because the Law of Desire reigns. If a husband wishes to wait, he may. But if his desire is to "be on his way," that desire will prevail. An Earthly husband or wife may want to hold a loved one earthbound, but unless the desire is mutual, it may not be fulfilled. As in physical life, if there is a tug of war between two wills, one on this side and one on the other, the stronger prevails.

What finally happens to those spirits who are earthbound because of their love of its pleasures? Do they ever go to the Soul World? Yes, they do. In fact, they must. Unless they actually destroy their Soul (something not that easy), they must eventually reincarnate, and, for this, except in very rare instances, a period in the Soul World is essential.

The longer disembodied spirits spend in the Earth's atmosphere, the weaker the Earthly desires become, as they have no regular manner of reinforcing their desires by further activity. We say "regular manner" because these beings delight in working with mediums and other gullible people who will let them enter their bodies for a while to once again be able to experience Earthly feelings.
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"This would be an interesting question to solve, but we cannot attempt the task in this chapter.

"Once a disincarnated being has reached the next plane, it is certainly obliged to make use of new faculties for communicating its thoughts. These new faculties, however, do not involve the forgetfulness of what has been acquired in its physical incarnation, and the disincarnated being retains the memory of the last languages it spoke on Earth. This memory, however, gradually fades, and communication by speech is learned anew with every succeeding incarnation.

"It seldom happens that a Spiritual Being who is reincarnated on Earth does not have an opportunity - through apparently accidental circumstances - of speaking, beside his present language, the language of the country of his last former incarnation. This is an interesting point to note.(4)"
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(4) Some churches encourage what is called "speaking in tongues." Perhaps these old languages are being called up from the subconscious. Papus believed that these languages were lost as the Soul neared its time to reincarnate. The more recent thought is that they are gradually removed from the conscious mind but retained in the subconscious mind--in the same manner in which a program in the RAM memory of a computer is saved on the hard disk.
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If We Have Lived Before, Why Don't We Remember?

Papus continued, "If there is one serious objection that has been raised by logic (which is the source of so many erroneous ideas) against the doctrine of reincarnation, it is that which arises from the loss, at the beginning of each lifetime, of the memory of former incarnations.

"We have said, and we repeat, that this oblivion is an unavoidable necessity for preventing suicide. Before it returns to the physical plane, the Soul is allowed to see the future trials it must undergo, and it returns only after it has voluntarily accepted these trials. Now, the fortified Soul can withstand this preview, but if this being were to know, after it is incarnated, all the suffering that is in store for it, the mind would give way (the mind being far more susceptible to such weaknesses than the Soul), courage would be lost, and willful suicide would likely be the outcome of its clear vision.

"If a mother had a magic mirror that could infallibly reveal the future to her, she would certainly break it after a week's trial on seeing all the troubles in store for her children. The same would apply to the Soul that had not drunk the waters of Lethe before returning to earth. It would be necessary to withdraw from man the power to commit suicide were he really to be allowed to retain the memory of his former incarnations. Because this would deprive him of a portion of his free will, the Law is very loath to do this. And so the ‘Way of Forgetfulness' was chosen instead.

"It is possible to retain a dim memory or to have a special intuition of a former existence, but to possess a clear vision of what one has been or exactly what sort of a person one was is a very rare occurrence, and is contrary to the Laws of Nature.

"We were acquainted with one of the municipal counselors of a large town in the southwest of France. He was an atheist and free-thinker, but he would never cross - not even in a carriage - a forest in the neighborhood of the town. He would say, ‘I feel that I was murdered there.' Although people pointed out to him the incompatibility of this sensation with his atheism and his idea that nothing exists after death, he would answer, ‘Of course, it is absurd; but I have this feeling, and it is stronger than all my arguments.'(5)
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(5) We humans often pretend, even to ourselves, that we believe one thing or another, but many of our actions belie our pretensions. Our educated(?) mind may tell us one thing, but our intuition, in which we don't believe, tells us another. More often than not, as in this case, we follow the intuition or at least later wish we had.

The truly wise man listens to the "voice" of his intuition and then monitors it by the power of his conscious mind. In this way he has the best of both abilities and can accomplish great deeds for all humanity if he so desires.
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"Some people on becoming acquainted with this mystery of reincarnation, immediately begin to wonder what sort of a person he or she was, and it invariably happens that this individual was formerly a notable man who occupied an exalted position in the world!

"In so-called psychic or spiritualist gatherings one seldom meets reincarnated murderers, drunkards, or former tradesmen or servants (which are nevertheless respectable callings). They are invariably Napoleon, Frederick the Great, Louis XIV, a noble princess, or some celebrated Pharaoh, reincarnated in the flesh of some otherwise worthy and sensible people who contrive to imagine they were the celebrities they picture to themselves. One can but wonder what happened to the millions of ordinary people who must reincarnate each year.(6)
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(6) Papus was rather sarcastic about those who believed them-selves to be the reincarnation of such famous personages.
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"Even if these historical characters had heavy Karma, it would be already a sufficient punishment to pay it off for these exalted individuals to have come back to Earth under such conditions!"

Such is a human trait, however, and not the worst of sins. This tendency is so human that even the disciples of Pythagoras, when they learned about the mystery of reincarnation, imagined that in their former incarnations they had been great tyrants or celebrated kings. When they asked the Master who he was at the period when they thought they were ruling, Pythagoras would answer with a smile: "While you were so powerful and men were trembling under your authority, I was a cock!"

This great lesson in philosophy, by which Pythagoras showed those who were floundering about in fruitless investigations regarding the evolution of spirits what he thought about the evolution of bodies, had only one flaw: It was completely misunderstood by classical philosophers. This jest of Pythagoras was transformed into a philosophical doctrine, and thereby the terms "metempsychosis" and "reincarnation" became confused - the
reincarnation of the body elements along with that of the Soul itself.

It would have been better if Pythagoras had replied, "A keeper of swine" or an equally lowly position. But he said what he said, and confusion about reincarnation has reigned ever after. Of course, the real cause of the confusion was not Pythagoras but the ignorance of philosophers and writers that followed this great Master. In the last analysis, who is to say that this is not all for the best? Under these circumstances, the rewards and understanding that come from the proper knowledge of reincarnation are restricted to those who are willing to seek the answer. Did not the Nazarene teach that only those who are willing to seek shall be able to find?

Do Animals Have Souls?

Everything in existence reincarnates upward. From the mineral world to the vegetable world. From the vegetable to the lowest form of animal life. On up the scale of animal life to the stage of the body of man. Man, with free will, has the power of retrogressing personally, but not of going back in the scale of evolution. Man can destroy his Soul, but he cannot put it into the body of a lower animal. The Law of Nature is ever forward. Those who will not keep up do not go back; they merely become extinct - such as the dinosaurs.

Man is no exception to the rule. If he refuses to advance after every opportunity is offered him, he, too, as an individual, will become extinct. Not the race, only the individual. Man has reached the point in his evolution at which he may be considered a law onto himself. That is, if only one man is good or worthy of being saved from extinction, he will be saved, even though the remainder of the race may destroy its evolutionary substance.

This is not a new Law. It has existed since man first became a two-fold creature, with a physical body, of the Earth, and with a Soul, an extension or spark from the Godhead Itself. One of the earliest written examples of its functioning is the story of Noah and his family. God and Nature preserved the good but removed those who would not advance and keep up with human evolution.

This Law came into action again at the time of Lot and his family as well. Here the action of the Law was even more explicit. An entire city would be saved if only ten good men or women could be found, the thought being that even in a large city ten truly good individuals could eventually turn it around. But the city was destroyed except for Lot and his family. And when his wife looked back, she, too, was destroyed.

To look back is to desire the evil that has been left. To do so is to still be "in the city" in one's heart. Therefore, when the city was destroyed, so also were all those who were still connected to it in their hearts. Interestingly, Lot's wife was turned to a pillar of salt. Salt in Arcane literature is the symbol for DESIRE. Therefore, according to this symbolism, her desire for what had been actually was her undoing.

The New Renaissance

The world is now in a timeframe similar to the periods of Noah and Lot. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the present time is more like that of the Atlanteans just before their homeland sank into the ocean. Evil is as rampant as it can be, but still some modicum of order survives.

The call has gone out, as it did to Noah and Lot. The time is short. The search is on. The Angels are looking far and wide for "ten good men." Those with eyes to see can observe the weeding out that is going on around them everywhere. In ever increasing numbers Nature and God are now culling out those who will not fit into the reworking of humanity.

A fire is now raging throughout the land. Rather than burning homes, it is burning bodies and Souls. This fire is called AIDS. It will have other names as it cleans the world and makes way for the New Renaissance.

Does this sound like a muddle-headed prophet of old? Did the words of Noah or Lot sound any more reasonable to the people of their day? Make no mistake. The scythe of the Avenging Angels has been doing its work for several years now and will cut deeper each year until the wheat is gathered into one bundle to be preserved and the chaff into another--to be burnt.

We call the period of peace that will follow this cleansing the New Renaissance. Persons interested in learning more about this coming period and what they can do now to bring themselves into harmony with it should read the first book of this series, A Guide for the New Renaissance.(7)
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(7) A Guide for the New Renaissance is available from the Randolph Press, P. O. Box 77, Quakertown, PA 18951-0077. 1-800-300-5168
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More Examples of Reincarnation

About the relationship between the mind and the intuition, Papus explained,

"The great harm of half-science, especially if it is accompanied by what is called a classical education, is that it tends to divert the best of minds and causes them to become mentally or morally unbalanced, as the case may be.

"We may have the intuition of having lived at a certain period in certain surroundings. It may be revealed to us through the agency of the Soul World that we were a great lady of the period of Abelard, the great philosopher, so grossly misunderstood by ignorant contemporaries, but we are not certain as to exactly who we were on Earth.

"In this connection we may quote a typical story which admirably illustrates the mentality of these fashionable reincarnated folk. A man of the world, of noble birth, clever, and capable of occupying an honorable position in high society, had allowed his head to become turned by the doctrine of reincarnation. After hesitating between several notable people whom his spirit might have animated formerly, he chose Henry IV. He thereupon calmly declared in all his social conversations that he was Henry IV reincarnated.

"A witty man-of-the-world being present during one of these conversations, interposed with equal coolness the question, ‘Then why don't you kiss me?' The first man stared at him in bewilderment, whereupon the wit explained, ‘Well, if you are Henry IV, I am the lovely Gabrielle.'

"From the logical standpoint this was a neat reply, as there was no more reason why one man should not be the lovely Gabrielle than that the other man should be Henry IV, admitting the fact, which is still in dispute, that it is possible to change sexes in the course of reincarnations.(8)
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(8) Modern thought on the subject of changing sex from one reincarnation to another is that, as mentioned before, desire will triumph. That is, if the desire is sufficiently strong, the change of sex from one incarnation to another can be accomplished.
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"Vanity is the great stumbling block of many partisans of the doctrine of reincarnation, and pride often plays a part that is as harmful as it is far-reaching.

"If we retain the notable people in history for our own reincarnations, we must admit that the adepts of this doctrine, on the other hand, retain assassins, great criminals, and often those who have been greatly calumniated, for the reincarnations of their enemies. Thus, after a certain ‘friend' called
Cagliostro a shady individual, the great honor was conferred upon me, by this person, of considering me as Cagliostro reincarnated.

"Dr. Marc Haven published about 1880 under the title of Cagliostro, the Unknown Master, a valuable work, in which full justice was done to this great man whom the Jesuits so grossly calumniated. Cagliostro will become a likable man, so that I will no longer be able to act the part of his reincarnation, and my enemies will have to seek some rogue to replace him as the former sheath for my wicked spirit.

"It is unfortunate to see intelligent men accuse those whom they do not understand or do not like, of practising black magic, or of being reincarnated rogues. One school of the Secret Science is always inclined to accuse its rival schools of practising black magic, which is as absurd as to determine the former reincarnation of a man. In the first place, it is a proof of ignorance, and, second, it is an affront to Divine Law. But, as it is human, we must remember the words of Christ, realizing that we are all children upon earth, and repeat again: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' (9)
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(9) It is an unfortunate human trait to attempt to elevate ourselves by deprecating others. The thought seems to be, "If I make them lower, I will appear to be higher." In fact, just the opposite is true, not only in the eyes of our fellowman, but in the eyes and heart of God. Iago did not elevate himself by betraying Othello. Judas became despised by all, even those he served, in his attempt to destroy the Nazarene. Thus it shall always be. Even the most brutish of humans finds little good in those who look only for others' faults. Such people soon become pariahs shunned by all.
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"Indeed, it is well that these doctrines, which will prove to be the source of great spiritual harvests in the future, should penetrate, even in a mutilated form, into circles where they never could have penetrated in a normal way through scientific academies, schools, or periodicals.

"The doctrine of reincarnation has become widely known to the general public in France through the influence of the Spiritualists, and it has penetrated into fashionable society through Theosophy.(10)
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(10) This is still true today. The recent book and television special, Out on a Limb, by a famous movie actress will probably have more effect on stimulating an interest in reincarnation than a hundred other books or a thousand dry scientific articles on the subject.
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"However mutilated the form of this doctrine as interpreted in two such opposite camps - represented, on the one hand, by the man of fashion, living in his luxurious surroundings, studying the life of Buddha, the Vedas, Manas, and the Linga Sharira; and his hall porter, on the other hand, asking the table whether the ‘spirit' of his nephew Adolphe, recently deceased, is happy - we must admit that it will have a beneficial effect and that we have no right to scoff at the secret ways employed by the Heavenly Powers to bring about the evolution of souls on Earth.(11) -----------------------------------------------------------
(11) What a marvelous statement! The Law that God does indeed move in strange ways His miracles to perform cannot be forgotten.
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"The cartomancienne (one who tells fortunes by playing cards) has superseded the confessor with many Parisian ladies (who are clever and refined), and it is no matter of astonishment that the mendicant friar of former days should be replaced by the planchette (a type of ouija board), or that Bossuet's prayers should give place to the teachings of the relentless Karma of the Buddhists.

"The Spirit of God breathes according to His Will.... Spiritual gold differs from material gold in that it can be lavished upon the poor as well as the rich without changing their status. The germ of the idea grows and multiplies as it passes through a larger number of brains. The heap of gold diminishes and grows thinner as it passes through a larger number of hands.

"It is the law of the two J.C.s--Julius Caesar, for the heap of gold, and Jesus Christ, for the liberating Idea. The doctrine of reincarnation is one of the golden keys to the spiritual world."
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