Today, during the birth of the New World, all the regions of matter as well as the invisible spheres are being violently agitated by the intensifying and long-prophesied planetary cleansing. With regard to this we would now like to consider the hidden side of the fallen world, which is to be viewed as a reflection of the material field of life.

Both these spheres of our Earthly nature-order - the material and the subtle - are inseparably bound together and, therefore, highly interdependent. It is also a fact that things are already fully active in the reflection sphere before being manifested in matter. This can be an advantage to physically incarnated mankind, but more often it creates great dangers. The advantage lies in the fact that those who have knowledge of a certain development in the reflection sphere are thereby warned about its corresponding material manifestation, and so may be galvanised to prepare for what must come to pass. The danger lies in the fact that human ignorance readily mis-perceives the reality and significance of such foreshadowing.

In general, one can say that there is an alarming lack of knowledge amongst humanity regarding the reflection sphere, and this allows for countless people to be perpetually victimised from hidden quarters. To fathom the values, forces and phenomena existing on yonder side of the veil between dimensions, humanity possesses - or thinks it possesses - religion, based on theology; occult knowledge, based on the intellect; and spiritualism, based on lower psychism.

The theologian, as metaphysical savant, speaks and writes about matters of which he knows and can know nothing. Should he possess greater knowledge, it will not be by reason of his university education. The theological field is full of worn-out platitudes borrowed from dogmas and misconstrued doctrines of salvation, this being the reason why ministers of the Church remain uninformed regarding the hidden dangers that beset them.

The person in search of occult facts amasses a vast amount of encyclopaedic knowledge, in accordance with his personal interests. In reality, this makes him totally deficient in true, living Wisdom and therefore unreceptive to the Higher Life.

By means of lower psychism, a great part of humanity enters into an extremely negative contact with the regions of the reflection sphere. The word 'negative' here refers to the fact that in appraising and evaluating the phenomena, the naive psychic or spiritualist is dependent upon a third party who is not what he pretends to be.

However, it is necessary to give a wider meaning to the idea of spiritualism. For us, the term includes not only asking questions of spirits, or communicating with spirit-entities by means of instruments or mediums, but also the tremendous grip which the inhabitants of the invisible regions have on practically all of humanity living on this side of the veil. This grip is so strong and so subtle that almost no one can evade it. Upon closer examination, humanity proves to be so blinded to the hidden side of life, both intellectually as well as mystically, that esoteric ideas and goals such as Liberation and the truly spiritual life are hardly more than unreachable beau ideals. However, as soon as the serious aspirant begins to investigate these things, he will be seized with horror upon discovering how pervasively the cancer of the forces of darkness has spread and infected this world.

The sincere and intelligent seeker of Truth perceives and experiences the reality of Paul's words in Ephesians 6, verse 12: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." The stark occult reality is that the psychic atmosphere in which humanity has to live is a malignant morass through which it has to drag itself, day in and day out.

Historically upon Earth, many divine helpers, both in the regions of matter and of spirit, have complained about the horrible stench of an etheric nature which emanates from whole groups of people, making it almost unbearable to approach them. The nature spirits are also repelled by mankind's etheric and astral emanations. When one of the biblical authors speaks about dunghills, in which human beings wallow like swine, and about the idols they worship, he is alluding to a very real truth grasped through higher Knowledge. Since there is a certain amount of humour to be found in everything, we find it even in this wretched situation on Earth.

For example, one sees people trying to appear very mystical and pretending to be very exalted, while one would literally hesitate to go near them due to the atmosphere of corruption which has polluted their consciousness.

Countless people are partially or totally animated by the forces of corruption, and the greatest danger to any human being is the assumption that he is immune to this influence. Indeed, we would do well to understand that all the highly intelligent and conscious forces of selfishness in the reflection sphere constantly connect themselves with and adapt themselves to each individual, after having made a thorough study of his state of being beforehand.

These forces often approach man in the guise of very exalted entities, as masters, as apparitions of Jesus and other holy spirits. If one does not happen to possess a religious, occult or spiritualistic turn of mind, then they suggest self-authority, a historical, materialistic or other scientific hobby of the fallen world. But they manage to ensnare him somehow, be it only in his primary instincts, such as self-maintenance, greed and worldliness. Everyone is stirred up against everyone else, potentially positive situations are thwarted and ruined, insight is obstructed and relationships become confused. Each is forced to distrust the other and to seek for the fault outside himself. This has been the unfortunate lot of man for ages and ages as he walked the treadmill in the nature of death, and it is no different today. Indeed, things are worse than ever, for escalating evil activity is now being unleashed upon the world and humanity; an activity which, in the history of the w! orld, has always been the prelude to tremendous world upheavals. We would like now to trace some of the causes and explanations for this activity.

As we have said, before things are revealed in dense matter they already exist in the more rarefied substances of our planet. A total spiritual, cosmic and cultural revolution, which affects all the relationships of consciousness, soul and matter, is now descending from above, as it were. The author of the Book of Revelations was not being merely poetic when he said: "And I saw the Holy City of God coming down from Heaven". John of Patmos was alluding to a process of world-revolution which intervenes from time to time in Earthly affairs, revealing itself at a given moment in the material world, having descended through the more subtle planetary spheres.

Just as a storm-wind drives before it everything that cannot withstand its violence, and just as the darkness must flee before the Light, so the light-giving force of the Christ-Hierarchy is driving the entire inferno before it today on Earth. All the inhabitants of hell have risen from their lairs and, in the grip of a terrible panic and a natural instinct for self-preservation, they are trying to escape with their lives.

One might wonder whether there will be anything left for these Earth-bound entities to repossess when the Light appears. One might say naively, "Of course not! At the time of the Second Coming the Christ will come in Power and we shall all be saved!". However, upon deeper consideration, one realises that those infernal powers can indeed retrieve a great deal, which explains the heavy assault of evil today upon humanity living on this side of the veil. That is the reason why mankind is not fighting solely against "flesh and blood" but also against "principalities and powers, against the rulers of the present darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places". A great wave of abnormality is sweeping over mankind, leaving nothing and no one untouched. We feel that it is most necessary at this time to give an objective explanation of all these dramatic phenomena for those who are interested in order that more people may come to truly see, understand and so prepar! e themselves intelligently.

Evil is the antipole of what mankind calls 'good'. Many human beings, judged by society's standards, are considered to be good, very good, humane, cultured and loving. However, such goodness might indeed be very good if only it had no antipole. All truly wise individuals have ever absolutely denied the Goodness of 'good', due to its black shadow, because of the dualistic nature of things. "Good is the smallest part of evil" - Hermes Trismegistus. Yet the vast majority of human beings, even today in our modern and cultivated society, have no comprehension whatsoever of this reality. The following statement of fact, therefore, will constitute a major revelation for most people: the good of this world maintains evil, as evil does goodness.

Consequently, if humanity does not change, does not break through to a totally different spiritual attitude far above all commonplace and dualistic ideas of goodness, and if it does not achieve a structural and fundamental rebirth within the Ark of Christ which is created and maintained by the Christ-Hierarchy in a new sphere of existence separated from this world, then this hell-realm of duality will continue to exist as long as man perseveres in his exploitation of his biological and primitive 'goodness'. If man does not totally revolutionise himself spiritually, then he will remain, like all the others, bound to the lower worlds despite all his solemn declarations of goodness, love and friendship. For man has his shadow, and he maintains that shadow just as he maintains his very own fallen self.

"There is none good; no, not one". These words were once spoken by Jesus the Piscean Christ, and they are among the most profound and true ever uttered. Do not think that the unfolding of the now imminent divine events can be held back, however. Everything has its own given time, and the coming years will be of historic significance for the whole world. Therefore, each one of us ought to ask himself: "When these things manifest themselves, in what state will they find me? Shall I still be experimenting with this everyday goodness, or shall I be engaged in breaking through to a new and truly spiritual disposition?"

"The wicked of the Earth shall weep when they shall see the Son of God come down upon the clouds of heaven, in power. Take heed you, O take heed, for you know not the hour nor the day when comes the Son of God. Let not your hearts be overcharged with sensuous things, nor with the cares of life, lest that day come and find you unprepared. Keep watch at every season of the year; and pray that you may meet the Lord with joy and not with grief." - Jesus.

Everyone should bear in mind that the enemy lies in wait for all human beings today, because every individual who remains firmly bound to the dualistic world is 'life-insurance' for the powers of darkness. Just as the body of an animal is a source of life for innumerable parasites, so man also is no exception to this law of the fallen world. Every genuine spiritual work is being hindered in all possible ways today by the forces of darkness. If it is not being greatly hindered, attacked and even hated by the masses, then it is not a truly spiritual work. A war of breath-taking proportions is now being waged against all and anything which might advance the Divine Plan for Earth and mankind; a war compared to which the struggle against flesh and blood is as nothing.

Our age, the age of revolution, demands that man begin to see and to accept reality. Never has there been a more fitting time to quote the words of John the Baptist: "Make straight the paths of the Lord", for the hour has come!

When the reader has recognised the truth of the facts presented previously and realises the dramatic situation into which mankind is being led today; when he has clearly understood that this struggle has become a personal matter for each and every individual in the world, he will then be able to reflect sanely and fruitfully upon the work which the Christ-Hierarchy has undertaken as a consequence of these developments.

If a human being wishes to escape the grasp of Earth-bound entities and make his way towards the New Life, to which all of mankind is today invited, it becomes his task, first of all, to drastically reorientate himself, and then to accept the consequences with all his soul, heart and mind.

In the first place, the candidate should understand that the interpretation given by the Universal Doctrine to the concepts 'heaven' and 'heavenly hierarchy' is quite different from the usual one. People attach the label 'heaven' to a certain region of the reflection sphere of this material world where incorporeal spirits have their abode and who, when they were still here among us, led worthy, good or even pious lives (in the eyes of society), and who were directed to the 'heavenly' region by virtue of the high quality of their moral state of being. In the same way, people speak of 'hell', meaning the region of the hereafter to which the evil, morally deficient person departs when he dies, in accordance with his state of being while on this side of the veil.

In the material world good and evil are mingled in the blood-consciousness, and both of these forces are active in all of us. On yonder side, however, when the material body and the material blood have fallen away, good and evil are existentially separated, although they still maintain one another as antipoles. Nevertheless, whether we exist in the body on this side, or out of the body on yonder side, we are, and we remain, of this fallen dualistic nature order; we remain bound to the ever-rotating wheel of birth and death.

Whether a person be pious, mystical or very humane, or has an occult tendency; whether he has profound philosophical insight, or is evil, anti-social or criminal - his normal, natural death can never be the basis for an eternal state of being. The heaven and hell of the reflection sphere are transition stages leading to a new journey into matter, a new birth into the denser regions of the fallen realm.

Let us be cautious, however, for the Universal Doctrine makes it clear that there is no progress, no evolution, no true spiritual development in these turnings of the wheel. After a shorter or longer period of purification, all, without exception, will enter their 'heavenly' home, but this will only be an entrance with a beginning and an irrevocable end.

Here, as well as in the hereafter, one can cultivate goodness to the highest degree, or explore the depths of evil within our twofold life-sphere, but only to a certain limit which cannot be surpassed. One ultimately remains bound to this nature order with its rising, glimmering, fading and dying.

The hereafter is just one great delusion, one formidable hoax for all. Every group on this side of the veil finds in the hereafter its own particular heaven to which all will be admitted in accordance with the Law of Attraction (like attracts like). There is a Catholic and a Protestant heaven; there is an abode for theosophically orientated souls and one for students of occultism, for astrologers and for all the various sects, including those of the New Age movement. In short, everyone finds what he is looking for. Whatever one is in one's psychological being here in the physical world will be found there in the reflection sphere also.

Some of the higher heavens of the reflection sphere are really very comfortable, friendly and agreeable, not at all unpleasant. Those to whom one was deeply attached to here will be found again over there. Those who made life difficult for us here and from whom we could not, for one reason or another, free ourselves in this physical world, will be unable to bother us in the hereafter due to their different state of being.

To our knowledge, very few spiritual groups in the world today, are fully aware of these situations in the hereafter, hence their zealous efforts to win souls. When, for example, a priest succeeds in converting a primitive native to Catholicism, that is, in binding him sacramentally, or when he succeeds in administering extreme unction to a person who had never led a truly religious life, this usually means the winning of a soul for the Roman Catholic 'heavenly' domain; and presently, when the soul in question returns to Earth, it means the birth of a child in a Roman Catholic family. A thousand deceased natives, bound sacramentally, thus result in a thousand children being born within a nation or race where the Roman Catholic hierarchy considers such a binding to be necessary. Uncomprehending outsiders, who cannot help smiling at the sight of missionaries playing 'Christian Church' with natives who are by nature animistic, would no doubt cease to smile if they knew that the C! hurch, in this manner, is engaged in extending its dualistic power.

The Christian and Moslem heavenly domains are the largest on yonder side. While on this side of the veil, those who work for these powers are consciously or unconsciously intent on making, or keeping, the heavenly regions of the other groups as small as possible by various methods. The aims are clear, namely, to bring the whole world, here as well as in the hereafter, within the radius of influence of their particular church hierarchy.

This spiritual imperialism may, to a certain extent, be a matter of total indifference to the esoteric student. Manifestations of a fallen mental, astral or material nature are always temporary; they come and go. The real point of moment, however, is that at given periods in history a certain number of matured souls arrive at the threshold of a new and right decision, unintimidated by any temporal manifestations whatsoever. We shall presently define this choice more precisely.

It would be a great pity if the reader entered his theosophical, humanistic or New Age heaven without having any idea of these problems and why mankind now stands witness upon the eve of a world revolution. Before we discuss this further, it is necessary to point out some possible mystifications. The student of the Universal Doctrine, the sacred Science of Transfiguration or Rebirth, must not only reckon with possible disastrous influences from the spheres of hell but is also affected by countless suggestions from various individual heavens in the reflection sphere where innumerable, unconnected larger or smaller groups are hard at work, each in accordance with its state of being.

A motley group of various religious persuasions exists there, all kinds of humanistic communities, scores of occult groups which readily proclaim themselves as 'schools' and which work with such a multiplicity of ideas and symbols that they make one's head spin. Some of them bear the designation Christian, some Buddhist, others New Age, etc., etc. In short, in the heavenly world of the hereafter we find a colourful array of activity reflecting every religious and esoteric movement in the history of mankind.

There are numerous intellectual societies which have, so to speak, specialised, such as healing groups, groups aiming at social, political and economic influence, and even groups which practise various forms of dualistic science, their aim being the advancement of man and society in their fallen, Earthly relationships. This situation with its many and varied consequences, is so misleading and creates so much misunderstanding, suffering and sorrow, that it is possibly more detrimental to the true divine Work on behalf of mankind than the combined efforts of all the orders of hell! We are warned against an evil person and fully on our guard; we can therefore act promptly and positively. But this is not so easy when we are confronted with a really 'good' person who is so very gentle and has such kind intentions. Safeguarding ourselves against such influences can bring with it, at the least, some quite peculiar difficulties.

There is, for example, a group in the hereafter which seeks to save the world with Christian Science. A distinguished Egyptian group is waiting for the resurrection of all the great historical figures who were mummified in the course of the centuries, in order that they may take over the leadership of mankind. There are, of course, also a great number of ET-enthusiasts who are planning, with great attention to detail, for the evacuation of 'the chosen ones' from the Earth at the time of cataclysm by way of spaceships. Many groups in the reflection sphere claim to be in direct contact with Christ and are involved in such divergent and irreconcilable activities that, facing it soberly, one cannot help having one's doubts about many things, with the exception of their really good and humanistic intentions. And we should not forget that all such organised groups in the reflection sphere are represented by and influence their counterparts in the material world.

One must understand clearly the dangers inherent in these things. When a human being enters the hereafter, he remains inwardly the same. Dying does not make him wise, even though - on the basis of a certain cultivated goodness, social integrity and spiritual striving - he may enter the so-called heavenly region and, on account of his way of life on this side of the veil, display a bright and shining auric-field, a cold light.

A student of the sacred Science of Transfiguration is very much on his guard against both the powers of evil and of dualistic good. The former can harm him, the latter can and will thoroughly confuse him, delay him on his path, and fill him with indecision on account of the wildly whirling multiplicity of dualistic ideas.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that the devil can appear as an angel of light. Try to understand this in a new sense, because these words do not mean what you probably think they do. An Earth-bound spirit sometimes tries to appear better and more radiant than he actually is, but such an attempt is so poor, so foolish and primitive that it is immediately recognisable, and no one who is knowledgeable in such matters will be taken in by it. There are, however, innumerable very well-meaning inhabitants of the dualistic regions of heaven who really radiate affability but who wish to maintain and animate the most stupid, primitive and reprehensible things, thereby unconsciously serving the spirit of the fallen world, the 'spirit of the abyss'. A person is most dangerous and most devilish when he is convinced that inwardly he is really good and is doing good. Then you cannot reason with him, for is he not good? Is he not serving God, possibly at the sacrifice of h! is life? Beware of these 'ministers of light'. Be particularly careful when they talk frequently about Christ and holy spirits, about all sorts of Jesus or Mary figures and Masters, and when they sign their names in Love and Light and Peace. These latter divine qualities have no need to announce themselves in words.

The pupil of the sacred Science of Transfiguration wishes to have nothing to do with the self-styled 'esoteric' schools and orders of the light-region of yonder side, although these may also occasionally accomplish some useful work.

The prophesied world revolution has now begun, and just as the spheres of hell have been startled by the radiation of the incoming Light of the Aquarian Christ and, in their struggle for self-maintenance, have pounced in fear and desperation upon mankind, so also the dualistic spheres of heaven are in a state of highly nervous agitation. The inhabitants of the various heavens have also pounced upon mankind in a frenzy of proselytising, and anyone who is to some extent susceptible to these influences, will feel himself driven to act in accordance with them.

It is perhaps somewhat disenchanting to write in this way about the favoured abode of trillions, i.e., the imitation heaven-worlds. Death, however, changes only the body and the state of consciousness, whereas the character, the mind, the outlook on life and everything connected with it, remain entirely the same. Therefore, just as thousands of humane, virtuous, religious and very intelligent people on this side of the veil endeavour to achieve a better world, it is likewise so in the reflection sphere also, the only difference being that the inhabitants of the hereafter possess many means by which they can influence those who are living on this side of the veil with their very diverse suggestions. Thus the circle is closed and the wheel of birth and death, the grinding wheel of duality, is kept in motion.

Now, just beyond but separate from the reflection sphere of this Earthly field of life, another Heavenly World and another Heavenly Hierarchy are today affecting our complicated, miserable and tragic existence, both in the dualistic heaven and on the dualistic Earth, in a historical revolution periodically recurring during the course of hundreds of thousands of years. That is why all the powers of heaven and Earth are now in agitation. Once again a cosmic and revolutionary process has set in, a process of which the seer of Patmos testified: "And I saw a new heaven, and the old had passed away".

All those affable and so radiant spirits who are indeed doing the best they can in accordance with their state of being, are today highly nervous. Just as people, in the course of the years, have attempted to improve the world in numerous humanistic ways, so in heaven and on Earth they are again trying, on account of the wild turbulence of ideas and desires, to assault the world and mankind anew with a flood of experiments. Spiritual movements, schools, institutes and so forth are presently springing up everywhere like mushrooms. One or more are started practically every week in every country, only to disappear again, usually after a very short existence.

Throughout history, scores of different groups in the hereafter have made attempts to work via true holy fellowships in order to influence a consciously active spiritual public. But all these proposals have been knowingly rejected in plain, unequivocal terms. However, today amongst the unavoidable hubbub of a world in upheaval, many - most! - so-called spiritual groups are not rejecting such 'help' which is offered them from the reflection sphere, and it may now become clear that the forces of ignorance can reach their greatest effectiveness through all the bungling 'good' intentions of the light-spirits of heaven!

The Christ-Hierarchy serves the divine Heaven and Earth as "fishers of men". By applying the sacred Science of Transfiguration, candidates for glory are today making their way toward the original Kingdom; that is, to the true Heaven. Every sincere aspirant will soon be able to behold the New Heaven and the New Earth descending from divine spheres, if he perseveres in the process of transfiguration and is victorious.

The Universal Philosophy explains the laws, the logic and the rational-moral values of this process. That is why we see evil as a dualistic phenomenon and good as its antipole, keeping one another alive and in balance. It is also the reason why we adopt the right of splendid isolation toward the good as well as the evil spirits, toward the inhabitants of the spheres of hell and those of the innumerable heavens. The bonafide workers in the Field of Christ aim to fish mature souls out of the wildly agitated sea of dualistic life/death and to lead them, straight through the most lovely dualistic spheres of heaven, to the original Kingdom, by means of the Royal Art of Transfiguration.

submitted by: Sandy Salmons