Soul Illumination

In the literature of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis you will find the words Soul Illumination used again and again. A comprehension of this phrase is paramount to a complete understanding of the Great Work.

When our animal nature managed to corrupt the angelic part of us eons ago, our angelic part (our Soul) was displaced from the Center it had established when it first entered the animal body. Since it is only from this Center (home, throne, inner sanctum, sanctum sanctorum, call it what you will) that the angelic part (Soul) is able to establish conscious contact with the Creator, the second part of the Great Work is the effort to entice and assist the remnant of our Soul (called the Divine Spark by the Initiate Masters) to come forth and rebuild its Soul Center and thus gain Soul Illumination and immortality.

Perhaps we can clarify this concept if we think of the original combination of angel and animal as a nation ruled by an Initiate king-as were many of the finest civilizations of ancient days. This Initiate king was our angelic being and the nation he ruled was our animal or lower self. This king was like a Solomon in that he was just, compassionate and merciful. In all that he did he always attempted to follow the Divine Law because he knew it was the Law of his being and that of all his subjects.

Under this fair and gentle governor, the nation prospered and grew in wisdom and strength. However, as was so common then and now, there were those who did not like his rule because they wanted to do those things not allowed by the Divine Law, and this just king would not allow it, and as long as the king stayed on his throne and followed the Divine Law there was little they could do because here he was invincible.

One day a double agent who pretended to befriend the king, but who in reality was allied with those who would overthrow him (our passions)(dark self), suggested to him that he get to know his people better by moving among them and learning their ways. To the king this sounded like a good and worthy idea.

So, dressed in common clothes, he set out to live as the common people did. Once the good king was away from his throne (Soul Center) and among the common people (susceptible to human passions), the renegade forces were able to stage a coup and even attempted to assassinate the good king. This they were not able to do, but they were able to wrest his throne from him and force him to flee into a hidden exile where they could not find him to destroy him. This is where he still resides in most individuals. The carnal forces of the body were not able to destroy him (except in a few cases) but the only way he has to help guide his people is by a few weak communications (from our conscience) that he is able to get past the dictators who now control this nation (our physical body).

Now that the renegade forces(fears) have control of the nation, there is little or no justice, and the common citizens of the nation live lives of quiet desperation and great suffering. At first the citizens of the nation listened to the siren call of the rebels, but they soon realized what they had lost and now long for the wisdom of their exiled king, but do not know how to help him back to power. The rebels (our animal passions)(fears) promise much, but deliver little except short-term pleasures followed by long-term pain and suffering. They, like the emperors of ancient Rome, offer circuses rather than the Bread of Life.

The deposed king has not forgotten the people, however. Even though in his exile he is weak and treated very shabbily, he is always trying to help his nation. He sends various emissaries to help enlist the nation's aid in restoring him to his rightful place, but in almost every instance the rebels are able to convince the people that these men are only false prophets, and that the king is really dead, and that only they, the carnal passions, have any reality.

This is the situation that most individuals find themselves in today. Our just king (our Soul) has been exiled also and is now in hiding; more than that, he is in a piteous state, since we give him little support. He must now live in filth and is clothed in rags. In order for us to reinstate our just and fair king on his throne, we must do several things.

First, we must do all we can to convince him that we want him back on his throne. After all, it was we who listened to the rebels in the first place and allowed them to displace him. One of the best ways we have of convincing him of our sincerity is by rejecting the siren voice of the rebels and attempting to once again follow the ways of the Divine Law that our faithful king(angelic self)taught us long ago. As time goes on and we are able to make amends for the grave mistreatment we gave our king, we will be able to help him invest himself with the raiment of a true monarch. Most certainly we cannot enthrone a king in dirty rags (our past Karmic indebtedness) and expect him to be accepted as the great and noble ruler he is. Once we have assured him by our desires and efforts that we want him to reign again, we must first remove his disreputable raiment (transmute our ignoble passions), clothe him anew in suitable attire (replace our previous thoughts and actions with those of a more exalted nature) and then help him rebuild his throne (the seat of the Soul) by those methods taught in the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis.(or others)Only when all this is accomplished will he able to return and be recrowned by the Creator Himself (Soul Illumination).

This procedure (developing the Divine Spark into the Soul in its Center) is the crux of what the Nazarene called the "Mysteries."( Thoth,Hermes, etc) It is a process he taught to his disciples, but not to most of the public, because he knew if he did, it would be like "casting pearls before swine." This same procedure has been taught in all authentic Arcane Schools from the very beginning of the dual man. In pursuing this process, the student must always be guided by one who has already accomplished the Great Work for himself.

As in all such matters on Earth, there are many charlatans who would lead the gullible astray by pretending to be able to guide seekers along the Path of the Great Work, but these are only the "blind leading the blind." The simplest way to tell the true teacher from the false is the manner of his (or her) own life. Ask yourself: Does he live according to the Divine Law and does he insist that his students do so as well? Only those with such knowledge, dedication and purity of heart and Soul can guide the serious seeker after truth through the process of true Soul Illumination.

While the concept expressed in the last few pages may seem strange to those raised in the paradigm of our most popular religions, it is not difficult to comprehend once an individual has an understanding of the nature of the Divine Law and is willing to undertake the effort to accomplish the Great Work. From this it is but a short step to understanding what the Initiate Masters call Soul Illumination.

Soul Illumination is the state produced when the Divine Spark (the remnant of the angelic part of us) has completed its Center and has been animated by the "fire" (Illumination) of the Creator. (Alchemical process of Transmutation)Once this takes place, human mortality has put on immortality and our angelic being within is in control once again. One of the most fascinating and revealing passages in the New Testament describes the mass Soul Illumination of all the apostles during Pentecost:

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

-Acts 2:1-4

In all literature available to the public there is no more accurate and beautiful description of Soul Illumination than this. The Holy Ghost is the Illumined Soul, that is, the Soul in its Center that has been activated by the "fire" of the Creator from above. The Biblical "cloven tongues of fire" are what the Illuminating force looked like to the Biblical writers. They had no better words to describe it, and in fact we cannot do very much better today.

On a more mundane plane, we may think of the event of Soul Illumination as the throwing of the power switch to turn on the lights of a newly constructed sports stadium. Before the lights can be lit and the park illuminated, a great deal of planning, effort and money must be expended. Only after all this hard work and expense can the switch be thrown. So it is with our own Soul Illumination. The real work must go before; the actual Soul Illumination is just the culmination of this process. The Nazarene had carefully prepared his apostles for the day of Pentecost. They had been taught and had learned to obey the Divine Law, had completed the early steps of the Great Work and needed only a final effort by their embryonic Soul to ready themselves for the Illuminating fire of the Creator.

While Soul Illumination is a major milestone in the potential spiritual development of man, it is not an end in itself, but rather the developing of a new insight. If the student of the Great Work is faithful in his efforts, the Divine Spark may be able to build and Illuminate the Center for the Soul before all the individual's earthly debts are paid. Once the student has reached Soul Illumination, it should be much easier for him to pay what indebtedness remains since now, with his new Soul sight, he will be better able to understand the Divine Law and is more likely to live in harmony with it.

In arcane literature, Soul Illumination may be presented under many other names, such as Philosophical Initiation, Soul Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness or God Consciousness. While these terms may each have a slightly different meaning to the Initiate, the non-Initiate may consider them to mean approximately the same thing, the only real difference among them being in degree, not in their nature.

Soul Illumination is the goal of most students of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, but it is only the recognition for work already done. The true student of the Great Work soon realizes that the real satisfaction is in the efforts made in the Great Work itself. Once Soul Illumination is reached, renewed efforts must be made to use these new forces to bring about greater and greater benefit to the student and mankind. To the dedicated student, the Great Work is "more fun than fun." Only in this way and only with this attitude may he fulfill his manifest destiny.

Summary

We have come to an end of our definitions. Each describes a separate entity and yet each entity is dependent on the others for its fullest benefits to mankind. Everything we do falls under some component of the Divine Law. It is simply the Law that governs in all things in both Heaven and Earth. Like the proverbial Ol' Man River, it just keeps rolling along and cares little what we think of it. If we learn to live in harmony with it, we will prosper; if we do not, we will be "spanked" by the reaction of our own attempted disobedience.

If we are wise, we will seek out those who can teach us about the Divine Law and who are thereby able to help us to pursue the Path of the Great Work. This Great Work is our reason for being," and each of us must come to it eventually or lose our immortal Soul and thereby vanish into the black holes of existence "from whose bourn no traveler returns."

The Great Work, if followed with dedication and persistence, along with daily successful efforts at transmutation, will eventually lead to Soul Illumination, a state of consciousness in which the truth of immortality is made self-evident, a state in which the Soul is in direct contact with its Creator and all else that is good in His Creation. This is not a promise of future Health and Happiness, it is an assurance of both-here and now.

re-printed from Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis