A Rosicrucian Speaks

Joseph J. Weed

Fiery World I

1945

On August 6th of this year, 1945, a vividly dramatic and world shaking event ushered in a new era in the development of this planet. The exploding of an atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima will, in days to come, be heralded as the first application of nuclear energy, the first large scale release of atomic force for a specific purpose. But only a few will recognize that it marks also the greatest spiritual event in the memory of man.

The history of man's development shows us that his progress culturally and scientifically has proceeded band in hand with his ability to use and apply energy. All instruments, even the most crude flint axes and hammers, represent a more efficient application of human energy. These early tools and their use gave man his first opportunity to really relax and think. But it wasn't until solar energy was tapped through the use of fire and water power that the general standard of all human life took its first big step upward. In more recent times, however, the doors to the use of latent solar energy in many of its forms, oil, coal, natural gas, etc. have opened ever wider and wider. This has resulted in scientific progress at a pace that soon outstripped all other human developments. What the human race needs now is the leisure to assimilate all of the knowledge bestowed upon it in the last century and to develop cultural and ethical standards to parallel this knowledge. The liberation of nuclear energy and its proper application will permit this.

It is quite probable that the prayers of people the world over, prayers for freedom, for relief from tyranny and oppression, for release from fear, tension and want, called forth from the Deity a corresponding response. A wave of liberating energy is upon us and this has not only effectively freed men the world over but it has filtered down into matter itself and has released the energy locked in the nucleus of the atom, the very soul force of the atom itself. This has been for matter an actual initiation of the greatest significance, and parallels with accuracy those initiations which finally release the soul of man from its material prison. In this way man, who presided at the initiation, has begun to fulfill his chosen destiny in a very special way. All progress on every plane and particularly in the three Kingdoms below man and subject to him, has been greatly speeded up. This will become increasingly evident in the next twenty to fifty years.

It will soon be realized that different types of atoms release different types of energies. When these are classified and properly applied, destitution will lie abolished; all, every human being alive, will have a comfortable living assured to him; all disease, or at least all the present forms of disease, will be eliminated; all need to work or fight for a livelihood, for the bare necessities of life, will be ended and men will at last have the time to follow spiritual objectives and mental and cultural pursuits.

This will not be won without a struggle. All change is ever opposed by reactionary forces, and the powers entrenched against these utopia-like developments are the greatest in the world. There are many who view any change as disaster and some who would prefer to return to the conditions of the 'twenties and early 'thirties if such were possible. Powerful individuals and even more powerful groups will see in atomic power the end of their own dominion and will fight to the bitter end to keep it in the hands of a selfish few and out of the hands of the general public to which it rightfully belongs. There will be many assaults on your thinking and your reason launched in an attempt to win your support for selfish individual causes. Beware of them. Remember, atomic power is a Divine gift to humanity as a whole and all should benefit from it.

To our five senses the material world presents itself in four different garments. First as solids, animal, vegetable and mineral, the things of earth; then as water which also pervades the three worlds, animal, vegetable and mineral; then as air which can likewise be observed as present in all aspects of matter; and lastly as fire.

Up until the present time fire has manifested such a rapid rate of change that our senses have apprehended but little of it and we have learned very little about it. Roughly, we know that any oxidation process is a manifestation of fire and that oxygen is referred to as the fiery element. The erosion of a stone mountain, the rusting of metals, the burning of wood, and certain changes in animal matter are all forms of oxidation. We are prone to regard only very rapid oxidation where flame and heat are manifested, as fire. But all of these processes are fiery ones even though some are of a relatively low order.

In the last fifty years, developments in electricity and electronics have opened the eyes of the public to a new and higher manifestation of fire. Flame is a manifestation of electronic energy released because of a chemical reaction. Electricity is a manifestation of electronic energy released because of a magnetic reaction. In both cases, however, the energy released is that of the electrons which whirl about the nucleus of the atom. These electrons are much smaller than the nucleus. Roughly it would take almost 2000 electrons to equal the weight of one proton which is what the particles in the nucleus are called. And the difference between the energy content of the electron and the proton is even greater. Thus the liberation of nuclear energy gives to the world a force which is different both in quantity and quality from any other. The very soul of the atom is freed and in the process a type of energy is released which up 'til now has been observed only in the sun itself. This is a new manifestation of fire.

According to the volume "Fiery World", a book in, the "Agni Yoga" series, the visible or sensible manifestations of fire are the lowest. Since we now can observe and begin to understand electrical manifestations and to know that they are higher manifestations of fire, it is not so difficult for us to accept the idea that there are higher grades of the fiery element as yet unobserved by us. The release of nuclear energy is additional evidence which helps us to a better understanding of how this may be possible.

While the basic elements, earth, water and air are quite obviously present in all things, mineral, vegetable, animal and human, the element of fire is considered by most people to be different and present only under special circumstances. Yet fire interpenetrates and pervades all things and is more vitally present than any of the other three. Fire is everywhere in various guises and in different degrees. It is the cohesive force and the energizing power. All creative action is fiery action. Fire heals and destroys. Fire is present on the physical, etheric, emotional and mental planes; and of course on the soul plane too where it manifests so beautifully as the power of love.

We know of the psychic or subtle world. It is not too difficult to make contact with and consciously enter the subtle world. The Cosmic or Fiery world exists in the same manner as the subtle world but its state is much finer. The Fiery World is as far beyond the subtle world as the subtle world is beyond and different from the physical. But the Fiery World is far larger and far more important and far more significant than either the physical or subtle worlds. The physical world is and exists right here on earth and on other material spheres similar to this planet. The subtle world exists in the envelop which surrounds our earth and similar planets. But the Fiery World interpenetrates all the worlds and all the space between.

Strive toward the Fiery World. Welcome the obstacles in your lives that create the fiery tensions, for these permit you to approach the Fiery World. Friction in the physical world creates heat and a low form of fiery manifestation. The friction caused by a clash of personalities in your home or business creates heat too. If this fiery manifestation is absorbed silently and not dissipated in useless argument and complaints it enables one to approach close to the Fiery World.

Welcome the opportunities of approach to the Fiery World. Your aspirations and your prayers bring you these privileges. Do not waste them. Do not discard them. Cherish each obstacle as a Heaven sent gift. Permit your own fiery nature to expand and grow strong under the nourishment of resistance and opposition. Do not struggle outwardly, do not waste these precious gifts, but take them into your hearts and absorbing them there, grow ever stronger and stronger in the world of spirit and Cosmic Fire.

Joseph J. Weed

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A Rosicrucian Speaks
Joseph J. Weed