The Desire World

When spiritual sight is developed so that it becomes possible to behold

the Desire World, many wonders confront the newcomer, for conditions are

so widely different from what they are here, that a description must sound

quite as incredible as a fairy tale to anyone who has not himself seen

them. Many cannot even believe that such a world exists, and that other

people can see that which is invisible to them, yet some people are blin

to the beauties of this world which we see. A man who was born blind, may

say to us: I know that this world exists, I can hear, I can smell, I can

taste and above all I can feel but when you speak of light and of color,

they are nonexistent to me. You say that you see these things, I cannot

believe it for I cannot see myself. You say that light and color are all

about me, but none of the senses at my command reveal them to me and I do

not believe that the sense you call sight exists. I think you suffer

from hallucinations. We might sympathize very sincerely with the poor man

who is thus afflicted, but his scepticism, reasonings and objections and

sneers notwithstanding we would be obliged to maintain that we perceive

light and color.



The man whose spiritual sight has been awakened is in a similar position

with respect to those who do not perceive the Desire World of which he

speaks. If the blind man acquires the faculty of sight by an operation,

his eyes are opened and he will be compelled to assert the existence of

light and color which he formerly denied, and when spiritual sight is

acquired by anyone, he also perceives for himself the facts related by

others. Neither is it an argument against the existence of spiritual

realms that seers are at variance in their descriptions of conditions in

the invisible world. We need but to look into books on travel, and compare

stories brought home by explorers of China, India or Africa and we shall

find them differing widely and often contradictory, because each traveler

saw things from his own standpoint, under other conditions than those met

by his brother authors, and we maintain that the man who has read most

widely these varying tales concerning a certain Country and wrestled with

the contradictions of narrators, will have a more comprehensive idea of

the country or people of whom he has read, than the man who has only read

one story assented to by all the authors. Similarly, the varying stories

of visitors to the Desire World are of value, because giving a fuller

view, and more rounded, than if all had seen things from the same angle.



In this world matter and force are widely different. The chief

characteristic of matter here is inertia: the tendency to remain at rest

until acted upon by a force which sets it in motion. In the Desire World,

on the contrary, force and matter are almost indistinguishable one from

the other. We might almost describe desire-stuff as force-matter, for it

is in incessant motion, responsive to the slightest feeling of a vast

multitude of beings which populate this wonderful world in nature. We

often speak of the "teeming millions" of China and India, even of our vast

cities, London, New York, Paris or Chicago, we consider them overcrowded

in the extreme, yet even the densest population of any spot upon earth is

sparsely inhabited compared with the crowded conditions of the Desire

World. No inconvenience is felt by any of the denizens of that realm,

however, for, while in this world two things cannot occupy the same space

at the same time, it is different there. A number of people and things may

exist in the same place at the same time and be engaged in most diverse

activities, regardless of what others are doing, such is the wonderful

elasticity of desire stuff. As an illustration we may mention a case where

the writer while attending religious service, plainly perceived at the

altar certain beings interested in furthering that service and working to

achieve that end. At the same time there drifted through the room and the

altar, a table at which four persons were engaged in playing cards. They

were as oblivious to the existence of the beings engaged in furthering our

religious service, as though these did not exist.



The Desire World is the abode of those who have died, for some time

subsequent to that event, and we may mention in the above connection that

the so-called "dead" very often stay for a long while among their still

living friends. Unseen by their relatives they go about the familiar

rooms. At first they are often unaware of the condition mentioned: "that

two persons may be in the same place at the same time," and when they seat

themselves in a chair or at the table, a living relative may take the

supposedly vacant seat. The man we mistakenly call dead will at first

hurry out of his seat to escape being sat upon, but he soon learns that

being sat upon does not hurt him in his altered condition, and that he may

remain in his chair regardless of the fact that his living relative is

also sitting there.



In the lower regions of the Desire World the whole body of each being may

be seen, but in the highest regions only the head seems to remain.

Raphael, who like many other people in the middle ages was gifted with a

so-called second sight, pictured that condition for us in his Sistine

Madonna, now in the Dresden Art Gallery, where Madonna and the

Christ-child are represented as floating in a golden atmosphere and

surrounded by a host of genie-heads: conditions which the occult

investigator knows to be in harmony with actual facts.



Among the entities who are, so to speak, "native" to that realm of

nature, none are perhaps better known to the Christian world than the

Archangels. These exalted Beings were human at a time in the earth's

history when we were yet plant-like. Since then we have advanced two

steps: through the animal and to the human stage of development. The

present Archangels have also made two steps in progression; one, in which

they were similar to what the angels are now, and another step which made

them what we call Archangels.



Their densest body, though differing from ours in shape, and made of

desire stuff, is used by them as a vehicle of consciousness in the same

manner that we use our body. They are expert manipulators of forces in the

Desire World, and these forces, as we shall see, move all the world to

action. Therefore the Archangels work with humanity industrially and

politically as arbitrators of the destiny of peoples and nations. The

Angels may be said to be family-spirits whose mission is to unite a few

spirits as members of a family, and cement them with ties of blood and

love of kin, while the Archangels may be called race and national spirits,

as they unite whole nations by patriotism or love of home and country.

They are responsible for the rise and fall of nations, they give war or

peace, victory or defeat as it serves the best interests of the people

they rule. This we may see, for instance, from the book of Daniel, where

the Archangel Michael (not to be confounded with the Michael, who is

ambassador from the sun to the earth), is called the prince of the

children of Israel. Another Archangel tells Daniel, (in the tenth chapter)

that he intends to fight the prince of Persia by means of the Greeks.



There are varying grades of intelligence among human beings, some are

qualified to hold high and lofty positions entirely beyond the ability of

others. So it is also among higher beings, not all Archangels are fitted

to govern a nation and rule the destiny of a race, people or tribe, some

are not fitted to rule human beings at all, but as the animals also have a

desire nature these lower grades of Archangels govern the animals as

group-spirits and evolve to higher capacity thereby.



The work of the race spirits is readily observable in the people it

governs. The lower in the scale of evolution the people, the more they

show a certain racial likeness. That is due to the work of the race

spirit. One national spirit is responsible for the swarthy complexion

common to Italians, for instance, while another causes the Scandinavians

to be blond. In the more advanced types of humanity there is a wider

divergence from the common type, due to the individualized Ego, which thus

expresses in form and feature its own particular idiosyncrasies. Among the

lower types of humanity such as Mongolians, native African Negroes and

South Sea Islanders, the resemblance of individuals in each tribe makes it

almost impossible for civilized Westerners to distinguish between them.

Among animals, where the separate spirit is not individualized and

self-conscious, the resemblance is not only much more marked physically

but extends even to traits and characteristics. We may write the biography

of a man, for the experiences of each varies from that of others and his

acts are different, but we cannot write the biography of an animal for

members of each tribe all act alike under similar circumstances. If we

desire to know the facts about Edward VII, it would profit us nothing to

study the life of the Prince-Consort, his father, or of George V, his son,

as both would be entirely different from Edward. In order to find out what

manner of man he was, we must study his own individual life. If, on the

other hand, we wish to know the characteristics of beavers, we may observe

any individual of the tribe, and when we have studied its idiosyncrasies,

we shall know the traits of the whole tribe of beavers. What we call

"instinct," is in reality the dictates of group-spirits which govern

separate individuals of its tribe telepathically, as it were.



The ancient Egyptians knew of these animal group spirits and sketched many

of them, in a crude way, upon their temples and tombs. Such figures with a

human body and an animal head actually live in the desire world. They may

be spoken to, and will be found much more intelligent than the average

human being.



That statement brings up another peculiarity of conditions in the Desire

World in respect of language. Here in this World human speech is so

diversified that there are countries where people who live only a few

miles apart speak a dialect so different that they understand each other

with great difficulty, and each nation has its own language that varies

altogether from the speech of other peoples.



In the lower Regions of the Desire World, there is the same diversity of

tongues as on earth, and the so-called "dead" of one nation find it

impossible to converse with those who lived in another country. Hence

linguistic accomplishments are of great value to the "Invisible Helpers",

of whom we shall hear later, as their sphere of usefulness is enormously

extended by that ability.



Even apart from difference of language our mode of speech is exceedingly

productive of misunderstandings. The same words often convey most opposite

ideas to different minds. If we speak of a "body of water", one person may

think we mean a lake of small dimensions, the thoughts of another may be

directed to the great American Lakes and a third person's thoughts may be

turned towards the Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. If we speak of a "light",

one may think of a gas-light, another of an electric Arc-lamp, or if we

say "red", one person may think we mean a delicate shade of pink and

another gets the idea of crimson. The misunderstandings of what words mean

goes even farther, as illustrated in the following.



The writer once opened a reading room in a large city where he lectured,

and invited his audience to make use thereof. Among those who availed

themselves of the opportunity was a gentleman who had for many years been

a veritable "metaphysical tramp," roaming from lecture to lecture, hearing

the teachings of everybody and practicing nothing. Like the Athenians on

Mars' Hill, he was always looking for something "new," particularly in the

line of phenomena, and his mind was in that seething chaotic state which

is one of the most prominent symptoms of "mental indigestion."



Having attended a number of our lectures he knew from the program that:

"The lecturer does not give readings, or cast horoscopes for pay." But

seeing on the door of the newly opened reading room, the legend: "Free

Reading Room," his erratic mind at once jumped to the conclusion that

although we were opposed to telling fortunes for pay, we were now going to

give free readings of the future in the Free Reading Room. He was much

disappointed that we did not intend to tell fortunes, either gratis or for

a consideration, and we changed our sign to "Free Library" in order to

obviate a repetition of the error.



In the higher Regions of the Desire World the confusion of tongues gives

place to a universal mode of expression which absolutely prevents

misunderstandings of our meaning. There each of our thoughts takes a

definite form and color perceptible to all, and this thought-symbol emits

a certain tone, which is not a word, but it conveys our meaning to the one

we address no matter what language he spoke on earth.



To arrive at an understanding of how such a universal language becomes

possible and is at once comprehended by all, without preparation, we may

take as an illustration the manner in which a musician reads music. A

German or a Polish composer may write an opera. Each has his own peculiar

terminology and expresses it in his own language. When that opera is to be

played by an Italian band master, or by a Spanish or American musician, it

need not be translated, the notes and symbols upon the page are a

universally understood language of symbols which is intelligible to

musicians of no matter what nationality. Similarly with figures, the

German counts: ein, zwei, drei; the Frenchman says: un, deux, trois, and

in English we use the words: one, two, three, but the figures: 1, 2, 3,

though differently spoken, are intelligible to all and mean the same.

There is no possibility of misunderstanding in the cases of either music

or figures. Thus it is also with the universal language peculiar to the

higher Regions of the Desire World and the still more subtile realms in

nature, it is intelligible to all, an exact mode of expression.



Returning to our description of the entities commonly met with in the

lower Desire World, we may note that other systems of religion than the

Egyptian, already mentioned, have spoken of various classes of beings

native to these realms. The Zoroastrian Religion, for instance, mentions

Seven Ameshaspends and the Izzards as having dominion over certain days

in the month and certain months in the year. The Christian religion speaks

of Seven Spirits before the Throne, which are the same beings the Persians

called Ameshaspends. Each of them rules over two months in the year while

the seventh: Michael, the highest, is their leader, for he is ambassador

from the sun to the earth, the others are ambassadors from the planets.

The Catholic religion with its abundant occult information takes most

notice of these "star-angels" and knows considerable about their

influence upon the affairs of the earth.



The Ameshaspends, however, do not inhabit the lower Regions of the Desire

World but influence the Izzards. According to the old Persian legend these

beings are divisible into one group of twenty-eight classes, and another

group of three classes. Each of these classes has dominion over, or takes

the lead of all the other classes on one certain day of the month. They

regulate the weather conditions on that day and work with animal and man

in particular. At least the twenty-eight classes do that, the other group

of three classes has nothing to do with animals, because they have only

twenty-eight pair of spinal nerves, while human beings have thirty-one.

Thus animals are attuned to the lunar month of twenty-eight days, while

man is correlated to the solar month of thirty or thirty-one days. The

ancient Persians were astronomers but not physiologists, they had no means

of knowing the different nervous constitution of animal and man, but they

saw clairvoyantly these superphysical beings, they noted and recorded

their work with animal and men and our own anatomical investigations may

show us the reason for these divisions of the classes of Izzards recorded

in that ancient system of philosophy.



Still another class of beings should be mentioned: those who have entered

the Desire World through the gate of death and are now hidden from our

physical vision. These so-called "dead" are in fact much more alive than

any of us, who are tied to a dense body and subject to all its

limitations, who are forced to slowly drag this clog along with us at the

rate of a few miles an hour, who must expend such an enormous amount of

energy upon propelling that vehicle that we are easily and quickly tired,

even when in the best of health and who are often confined to a bed,

sometimes for years, by the indisposition of this heavy mortal coil. But

when that is once shed and the freed spirit can again function in its

spiritual body, sickness is an unknown condition and distance is

annihilated, or at least practically so, for though it was necessary for

the Savior to liken the freed spirit to the wind which blows where it

listeth, that simile gives but a poor description of what actually takes

place in soul flights. Time is nonexistent there, as we shall presently

explain, so the writer has never been able to time himself, but has on

several occasions timed others when he was in the physical body and they

speeding through space upon a certain errand. Distances such as from the

Pacific Coast to Europe, the delivery of a short message there and the

return to the body has been accomplished in slightly less than one minute.

Therefore our assertion, that those whom we call dead are in reality much

more alive than we, is well founded in facts.



We spoke of the dense body in which we now live, as a "clog" and a

"fetter." It must not be inferred, however, that we sympathize with the

attitude of certain people who, when they have learned with what ease

soul-flights are accomplished, go about bemoaning the fact that they are

now imprisoned. They are constantly thinking of, and longing for, the day

when they shall be able to leave this mortal coil behind and fly away in

their spiritual body. Such an attitude of mind is decidedly mistaken, the

great and wise beings who are invisible leaders of our evolution have not

placed us here to no purpose. Valuable lessons are to be learned in this

visible world wherein we dwell, that cannot be learned in any other realm

of nature, and the very conditions of density and inertia whereof such

people complain, are factors which make it possible to acquire the

knowledge this world is designed to give. This fact was so amply

illustrated in a recent experience of the writer:--A friend had been

studying occultism for a number of years but had not studied astrology.



Last year she became aroused to the importance of this branch of study as

a key to self knowledge and a means of understanding the natures of

others, also of developing the compassion for their errors, so necessary

in the cultivation of love of one's neighbor. Love of our neighbor the

Savior enjoined upon us as the Supreme Commandment which is the

fulfillment of all laws, and as Astrology teaches us to bear and

forbear, it helps as nothing else can in the development of the supreme

virtue. She therefore joined one of the classes started in Los Angeles by

the writer, but a sudden illness quickly ended in death and thus

terminated her study of the subject in the physical body, ere it was well

begun.



Upon one of many occasions when she visited the writer subsequent to her

release from the body, she deplored the fact that it seemed so difficult

to make headway in her study of astrology. The writer advised continued

attendance at the classes, and suggested that she could surely get someone

"on the other side" to help her study.



At this she exclaimed impatiently: "Oh yes! of course I attend the

classes, I have done so right along; I have also found a friend who helps

me here. But you cannot imagine how difficult it is to concentrate here

upon mathematical calculations and the judgment of a horoscope or in fact

upon any subject here, where every little thought-current takes you miles

away from your study. I used to think it difficult to concentrate when I

had a physical body, but it is not a circumstance to the obstacles which

face the student here."



The physical body was an anchor to her, and it is that to all of us. Being

dense, it is also to a great extent impervious to disturbing influences

from which the more subtle spiritual bodies do not shield us. It enables

us to bring our ideas to a logical conclusion with far less effort at

concentration than is necessary in that realm where all is in such

incessant and turbulent motion. Thus we are gradually developing the

faculty of holding our thoughts to a center by existence in this world,

and we should value our opportunities here, rather than deplore the

limitations which help in one direction more than they fetter in another.

In fact, we should never deplore any condition, each has its lesson. If we

try to learn what that lesson is and to assimilate the experience which

may be extracted therefrom, we are wiser than those who waste time in vain

regrets.



We said there is no time in the Desire World, and the reader will readily

understand that such must be the case from the fact, already mentioned,

that nothing there is opaque.



In this world the rotation of the opaque earth upon its axis is

responsible for the alternating conditions of day and night. We call it

Day--when the spot where we live is turned towards the sun and its rays

illumine our environment, but when our home is turned away from the sun

and its rays obstructed by the opaque earth we term the resulting

darkness: Night. The passage of the earth in its orbit around the sun

produces the seasons and the year, which are our divisions of time. But in

the Desire World where all is light there is but one long day. The spirit

is not there fettered by a heavy physical body, so it does not need sleep

and existence is unbroken. Spiritual substances are not subject to

contraction and expansion such as arise here from heat and cold, hence

summer and winter are also non-existent. Thus there is nothing to

differentiate one moment from another in respect of the conditions of

light and darkness, summer and winter, which mark time for us. Therefore,

while the so-called "dead" may have a very accurate memory of time as

regards the life they lived here in the body, they are usually unable to

tell anything about the chronological relation of events which have

happened to them in the Desire World, and it is a very common thing to

find that they do not even know how many years have elapsed since they

passed out from this plane of existence. Only students of the Stellar

Science are able to calculate the passage of time after their demise.



When the occult investigator wishes to study an event in the past history

of man, he may most readily call up the picture from the memory of

nature, but if he desires to fix the time of the incident, he will be

obliged to count backwards by the motion of the heavenly bodies. For that

purpose he generally uses the measure provided by the sun's precession:

Each year the sun crosses the earth's equator about the twenty-first of

March. Then day and night are of even length, therefore this is called the

Vernal equinox. But on account of a certain wabbling motion of the earth's

axis, the sun does not cross over at the same place in the Zodiac, it

reaches the equator a little too early, it precedes, year by year it

moves backwards a little. At the time of the birth of Christ, for

instance, the Vernal Equinox was in about seven degrees of the Zodiacal

sign Aries. During the two thousand years which intervene between that

event and the present time, the sun has moved backwards about

twenty-seven degrees, so that it is now in about ten degrees of the sign

Pisces. It moves around the whole circle of the Zodiac in about 25,868

years. The occult investigator may therefore count back the number of

signs, or whole circles, which the sun has preceded between the present

day and the time of the event he is investigating. Thus he has by the use

of the heavenly time keepers a very approximately correct measure of time

even though he is in the Desire World and that is another reason for

studying the Stellar Science.