The Rosicrucian Fellowship
Spring Equinox Service
Spring Equinox Service
Music;
The Third stanza of Rosicrucian Opening Hymn is sung by the audience.
(Tune: "Sweet Hour of Prayer.")
Let's strive to know that we may do what lifts, ennobles, is right and true.
With love to all and hate to none,lt's shun no duty that should be done.
For knowing how to act aright,and doing it from morn till night,
From day to day and year to year,we conquer self and sin and fear.
Reader unveils the Emblem and gives salutation: "My dear Sisters, and Brothers, may the roses
bloom upon your cross." (Answer from audience:"And upon yours, also.")
bloom upon your cross." (Answer from audience:"And upon yours, also.")
We are again at the time of Easter. Once more we have reached the final act in the cosmic drama involving the descent of the solar Christ Ray into the matter of our Earth, the mystic Birth celebrated at Christmas, and the Mystic Death and Liberation. The life impulse from the Cosmic Christ which entered the earth last fall came to mystic birth at Christmas, performed its wonderful magic of fecundation during the months between autumn and the present Easter time, and is now liberating itself from the cross of matter to rise again to the throne of the Father, leaving the Earth clothed in the verdant glory of Spring ready for the physical activities of the summer season. The Spiritual Ray sent out by the Cosmic Christ each fall to replenish the smoldering vitality of the Earth is about to ascend to the Father's Throne. At this time of the year a new life, an augmented energy sweeps with an irresistible force through the veins and arteries of all living things, inspiring them, instilling new hope, new ambition, and new life, impelling them to new activities whereby they learn New lessons in the school of experience. Consciously or unconsciously to the beneficiaries, this outwelling energy invigorates everything that has life. Even the plant responds by an increased circulation of sap, which results in additional growth of the leaves, flowers, and fruits whereby this class of life is at present expressing itself and evolving to a higher state of consciousness.
Wonderful as these outward physical manifestations are, and glorious though the transformation may be called which changes the Earth from a waste of snow and ice into a wonderful, blooming garden, it sinks into insignificance before the spiritual activities which run side by side therewith. The salient Features of the cosmic drama are identical in point of time with the material effects of the Sun in the four cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, for the most significant events occur at the equinoctial and solstitial points.
It is really and actually true that "in God we live and move and have our being." Outside Him we could have no existence; we live by and through His life; we move and act by and through His strength; it is His power which sustains our dwelling place, the Earth, and without Hie unflagging, unwavering efforts the universe itself would disintegrate. We are taught that man was made in the likeness of God, and we are given to understand that according to the law of analogy we have certain power latent within us which are similar to those we see so potently expressed in the labor of Diety in the universe. This gives us a particular interest in the annual cosmic drama involving the death and resurrection of the Sun. The life of the God Man, Christ Jesus, was molded in conformity with the solar story, and it foreshadows in a similar manner all that may happen to the Man God of whom this Christ Jesus prophesied when He said,"The works that I do shall ye do also; and greater works shall ye do; whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards."
Nature is a symbolic expression of God. She does nothing in vain or gratuitously. There is a purpose behind everything and every act. Therefore we should be alert and regard carefully the signs in the heavens, for they have a deep and important meaning concerning our own lives. The intelligent understanding of their purpose enables us to work much more efficiently with God in His wonderful efforts for the emancipation of our race from bondage to the laws of Nature, and for its liberation into a full measure of the stature of the sons of God crowned with glory, honors, and immortality, and free from the power of sin, sickness, and suffering which now curtail our lives by reason of our ignorance and nonconformity to the laws of God. The divine purpose demands this emancipation, but whether it is to be accomplished by the long and tedious process of evolution or by the immensely quicker pathway of Initation depends upon whether or not we are willing to lend our cooperation.
During the last six months we have been more thoroughly impregnated with the spiritual vibrations which predominate in winter. There came to us in the fall a new impulse toward the higher live; it culminated on Holy Night and has worked its magic in our natures according to the way in which we have embraced our opportunities. According to our diligence or dilatoriness in the past season, progression will be accelerated or retarded in the next, for there is no truer word than that which teaches us that we are just what we have made ourselves. The service we rendered or failed to render determines whether a new opportunity for greater service will give us added impulse heavenward ; and it cannot be said too often that it is useless to expect liberation from the cross of matter until we have used our opportunities here and thus earned a
larger sphere of usefulness. The "nails" which bound the Christ to the cross of Calvary will fetter you and me until the dynamic impulse of love flows out from us in waves and rhythmic swells like the tide of love which yearly enters the Earth and imbues it with renewed life.
During the winter months the Christ suffers agonies of torture, "groaning, travailing, and waiting for the day of liberation," which comes at the time we speak of in orthodox churches as the passion week. But we realize according to the mystic teaching that this week is just the culmination or crest wave of His suffering and that He is then rising out of His prison; that when the Sun crosses the equator, He hangs upon the cross, and cries: "Consummatum est!"_It has been accomplished. It is not a cry of agony. It is a cry of triumph, a shout of joy that the hour of liberation has come, and that once more He can soar away a little while, free from the fettering clod of our planet.
We should rejoice with Him in that great, glorious, triumphal hour, the hour of liberation when He exclaims: "It has been accomplished." Let us attune our hearts to this great cosmic event; let us rejoice with the Christ, our Saviour, that the term of His annual sacrifice has once more been completed; and let us feel thankful from the very bottom of our hearts that He is now about to be freed from the Earth's fetters; That the life wherewith He has now endued our planet is sufficient to carry us through the time until next Christmas.
Life is a school, and through learning its many lessons humanity is slowly evolving from a divine spark to Godhood. Had we learned life's lessons as they were given to us there would have been no necessity for the great sacrifice which was made and is annually being made by the Christ Spirit, who is the embodiment of love. Through selfishness, disobedience to law, and evil practices we were fast crystallizing not only our own bodies, but also the Earth on which we lived, to such a degree that as means for evolution both were fast becoming unusable. When nothing else could save us from the results of our own wrongdoing the compassionate Christ offered Himself and His great love power to break up the crystallized condition of man's bodies and the Earth, and He does not leave the Earth at Easter until He has given of Himself to the uttermost.
For those who have chosen to work knowingly and intelligently with cosmic law, Easter has a great significance. To them it means the annual liberation of the Christ Spirit from the cramping confines of the Earth and His joyful ascent into His true home world, there to remain for a season resting in the bosom of the Father. It is also the annual sign given the aspirant of the cosmic basis of his hopes and aspirations. And if the eyes are truly open, one beholds angelic hosts waiting, ready to accompany Him on His heavenward journey; if the ears are attuned to heavenly sounds one hears celestial choirs chanting His praise in glad hosannas to the risen Lord. When taken as a cosmic fact in connection with the law of analogy that connecte the macrocosm with the microcosm, it is symbolical that some day we shall all attain the cosmic consciousness and know positively for ourselves by our own experience that there is no death, but that which seems so is only a transition into a finer sphere.
With these ideals fixed firmly in our minds, Easter time becomes a season when it is in order to review our life during the preceding year and make new resolutions for the coming season to serve in furthering our soul growth. It is a season when the symbol of the ascending Sun should lead us to a keen realization of the fact that we are but pilgrims and strangers upon the Earth, that as Spirits our real home is in heaven, and that we ought to endeavor to learn the lessons in this life school as quickly as is consistent with proper service. Easter Day marks the resurrection and liberation of the Christ Spirit from the lower vibration of the Earth, and this liberation should remind us to look continually for the dawn of the new day which shall permanently free us from the meshes of matter, from the body of sin and death, together with all our brethren in bondage. No true aspirant could conceive of a liberation that did not include all who were similarly placed.
This is a gigantic task, the contemplation of it may well daunt the bravest heart, and were we alone it could not be accomplished; the divine hierarchies who have guided humanity upon the path of evolution from the beginning of our career are still active and working with us from their worlds, and with their help we shall eventually be able to accomplish this elevation of humanity as a whole and attain to an individual realization of glory, honor, and immortality. Having this great hope within ourselves, this great mission in the world, let us work as never before to make ourselves better men and women, so that by our example we may waken in others a desire to lead a life that brings liberation.
Wonderful as these outward physical manifestations are, and glorious though the transformation may be called which changes the Earth from a waste of snow and ice into a wonderful, blooming garden, it sinks into insignificance before the spiritual activities which run side by side therewith. The salient Features of the cosmic drama are identical in point of time with the material effects of the Sun in the four cardinal signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn, for the most significant events occur at the equinoctial and solstitial points.
It is really and actually true that "in God we live and move and have our being." Outside Him we could have no existence; we live by and through His life; we move and act by and through His strength; it is His power which sustains our dwelling place, the Earth, and without Hie unflagging, unwavering efforts the universe itself would disintegrate. We are taught that man was made in the likeness of God, and we are given to understand that according to the law of analogy we have certain power latent within us which are similar to those we see so potently expressed in the labor of Diety in the universe. This gives us a particular interest in the annual cosmic drama involving the death and resurrection of the Sun. The life of the God Man, Christ Jesus, was molded in conformity with the solar story, and it foreshadows in a similar manner all that may happen to the Man God of whom this Christ Jesus prophesied when He said,"The works that I do shall ye do also; and greater works shall ye do; whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards."
Nature is a symbolic expression of God. She does nothing in vain or gratuitously. There is a purpose behind everything and every act. Therefore we should be alert and regard carefully the signs in the heavens, for they have a deep and important meaning concerning our own lives. The intelligent understanding of their purpose enables us to work much more efficiently with God in His wonderful efforts for the emancipation of our race from bondage to the laws of Nature, and for its liberation into a full measure of the stature of the sons of God crowned with glory, honors, and immortality, and free from the power of sin, sickness, and suffering which now curtail our lives by reason of our ignorance and nonconformity to the laws of God. The divine purpose demands this emancipation, but whether it is to be accomplished by the long and tedious process of evolution or by the immensely quicker pathway of Initation depends upon whether or not we are willing to lend our cooperation.
During the last six months we have been more thoroughly impregnated with the spiritual vibrations which predominate in winter. There came to us in the fall a new impulse toward the higher live; it culminated on Holy Night and has worked its magic in our natures according to the way in which we have embraced our opportunities. According to our diligence or dilatoriness in the past season, progression will be accelerated or retarded in the next, for there is no truer word than that which teaches us that we are just what we have made ourselves. The service we rendered or failed to render determines whether a new opportunity for greater service will give us added impulse heavenward ; and it cannot be said too often that it is useless to expect liberation from the cross of matter until we have used our opportunities here and thus earned a
larger sphere of usefulness. The "nails" which bound the Christ to the cross of Calvary will fetter you and me until the dynamic impulse of love flows out from us in waves and rhythmic swells like the tide of love which yearly enters the Earth and imbues it with renewed life.
During the winter months the Christ suffers agonies of torture, "groaning, travailing, and waiting for the day of liberation," which comes at the time we speak of in orthodox churches as the passion week. But we realize according to the mystic teaching that this week is just the culmination or crest wave of His suffering and that He is then rising out of His prison; that when the Sun crosses the equator, He hangs upon the cross, and cries: "Consummatum est!"_It has been accomplished. It is not a cry of agony. It is a cry of triumph, a shout of joy that the hour of liberation has come, and that once more He can soar away a little while, free from the fettering clod of our planet.
We should rejoice with Him in that great, glorious, triumphal hour, the hour of liberation when He exclaims: "It has been accomplished." Let us attune our hearts to this great cosmic event; let us rejoice with the Christ, our Saviour, that the term of His annual sacrifice has once more been completed; and let us feel thankful from the very bottom of our hearts that He is now about to be freed from the Earth's fetters; That the life wherewith He has now endued our planet is sufficient to carry us through the time until next Christmas.
Life is a school, and through learning its many lessons humanity is slowly evolving from a divine spark to Godhood. Had we learned life's lessons as they were given to us there would have been no necessity for the great sacrifice which was made and is annually being made by the Christ Spirit, who is the embodiment of love. Through selfishness, disobedience to law, and evil practices we were fast crystallizing not only our own bodies, but also the Earth on which we lived, to such a degree that as means for evolution both were fast becoming unusable. When nothing else could save us from the results of our own wrongdoing the compassionate Christ offered Himself and His great love power to break up the crystallized condition of man's bodies and the Earth, and He does not leave the Earth at Easter until He has given of Himself to the uttermost.
For those who have chosen to work knowingly and intelligently with cosmic law, Easter has a great significance. To them it means the annual liberation of the Christ Spirit from the cramping confines of the Earth and His joyful ascent into His true home world, there to remain for a season resting in the bosom of the Father. It is also the annual sign given the aspirant of the cosmic basis of his hopes and aspirations. And if the eyes are truly open, one beholds angelic hosts waiting, ready to accompany Him on His heavenward journey; if the ears are attuned to heavenly sounds one hears celestial choirs chanting His praise in glad hosannas to the risen Lord. When taken as a cosmic fact in connection with the law of analogy that connecte the macrocosm with the microcosm, it is symbolical that some day we shall all attain the cosmic consciousness and know positively for ourselves by our own experience that there is no death, but that which seems so is only a transition into a finer sphere.
With these ideals fixed firmly in our minds, Easter time becomes a season when it is in order to review our life during the preceding year and make new resolutions for the coming season to serve in furthering our soul growth. It is a season when the symbol of the ascending Sun should lead us to a keen realization of the fact that we are but pilgrims and strangers upon the Earth, that as Spirits our real home is in heaven, and that we ought to endeavor to learn the lessons in this life school as quickly as is consistent with proper service. Easter Day marks the resurrection and liberation of the Christ Spirit from the lower vibration of the Earth, and this liberation should remind us to look continually for the dawn of the new day which shall permanently free us from the meshes of matter, from the body of sin and death, together with all our brethren in bondage. No true aspirant could conceive of a liberation that did not include all who were similarly placed.
This is a gigantic task, the contemplation of it may well daunt the bravest heart, and were we alone it could not be accomplished; the divine hierarchies who have guided humanity upon the path of evolution from the beginning of our career are still active and working with us from their worlds, and with their help we shall eventually be able to accomplish this elevation of humanity as a whole and attain to an individual realization of glory, honor, and immortality. Having this great hope within ourselves, this great mission in the world, let us work as never before to make ourselves better men and women, so that by our example we may waken in others a desire to lead a life that brings liberation.
We will now concentrate on Divine Love and Service.
Concentration (10 or more minutes)
Concentration (10 or more minutes)
Music
Closing Hymn
(Tune:"God Be With You Till We Meet Again.")
(Tune:"God Be With You Till We Meet Again.")
God be with you till we meet again;
In His love each day abide you,
Tha1t His wisdom's Light may guide you;
God be with you till we meet again.
Refrain:
Till we meet, till we meet,
Till we meet, the Rosy Cross to greet,
Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again
God be with you in your hour of joy;
With life's choicest gifts to bless you,
With no sorrow to oppress you,
Then may service give you added joy.
God be with you in your hour of pain,
When temptations surge around you,
With helpful thoughts we will surround you,
Till your darkness turns to light again.
God be with you till we meet again
At the Cross with Roses garnished;
May our lives be pure untarnished,
Till the Rosy Cross we greet again.
Reader veils the Emblem
Parting admonition
"And now, my dear Sisters and Brothers, as we part to re-enter the material world, may we go out with a firmer resolve to express in our daily lives the high spiritual ideals we have received here, so that day by day we may become more worthy men and women, more worthy to be used as self-conscious channels for the beneficial workings of our Elder Brothers in the service of humanity."
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Notes: The Rosicrucian Fellowship will be celebrating the "Spring Equinox Service" on March, March 19, 2009 at 6:30 PM Standard Time in ALL Time Zones Worldwide. Make no adjustment for Time in your area.
The above service was published by:
The Services was copied from Max Hiendel’s book named: The Rosicrucian Fellowship Solstice and Equinox Service, in a small booklet format. It can be purchased at the Rosicrucian Fellowship by going to their website: http://www.rosicrucian.com/, or by calling them at:
The Services was copied from Max Hiendel’s book named: The Rosicrucian Fellowship Solstice and Equinox Service, in a small booklet format. It can be purchased at the Rosicrucian Fellowship by going to their website: http://www.rosicrucian.com/, or by calling them at:
(760) 757-6600 between 10 AM – 12:00 PM and 1:00 – 3:00 PM PST. Monday thru Friday.
The Rosicrucian Fellowship teach courses in higher spiritual development in Philosophy, Mystical Christianity, and Astrology. Applications are available on their website and by mail at their business address:
The Rosicrucian Fellowship teach courses in higher spiritual development in Philosophy, Mystical Christianity, and Astrology. Applications are available on their website and by mail at their business address:
Rosicrucian Fellowship
2222 Mission Ave.P. O. Box 713
Oceanside, CA 92058-2229
A collection of Max Heindel’s works (he founded the Rosicrucian Fellowship) is available to view on the web or as a “free” download to your computer at: http://www.rosicrucian.com/ebooks/ebooks.htmhttp://www.rosicrucian.com/ebooks/MH_Books.exe
(all of Max Heindel's books - this is a direct link and this link does not appear on the above page)http://www.rosicrucian.com/ebooks/Cosmo-Conception.exe
(Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception by itself)http://www.rosicrucian.com/ebooks/mh_lts.zip
(Letters to Students by itself)http://www.rosicrucian.com/ebooks/rf_pamphlets.zip
(all the Rosicrucian Fellowship's pamhplets - this is a direct link and this link does not appear on the above page, but this link is on the pamphlet page at http://www.rosicrucian.com/zineen/pamentoc.htm)
