CHAPTER 1

STRANGE VISITOR

Most people will have experienced that queer sensation when you feel there is someone in the room, and you are equally certain that its sole occupant is yourself.

I am not an abnormally sensitive type so when I became conscious of the idea of another presence while working in my study I just gave myself a metaphorical kick and went on sorting the pile of notes from which I hoped to evolve another book. My last one was in print and I had recovered from that exciting interlude which follows such an event; sheer necessity compelled me to get down to the business of preparing the next one.

I had long had a pressing desire to write about what I believed to be the origins of mankind, more nearly approaching reality than the symbology of Genesis or the half-truths which Science, inspired by Darwin, has built around the theory of natural selection. Certainly they couldn't both be right. To this end I had read widely and thought deeply over many years, going to considerable lengths to get authentic information and fresh inspiration from every possible source, not excluding those hidden in myth and legend, inscription and papyrus. From these I discovered an amazing similarity of ideas and legends evinced by peoples who dwelt in widely separated parts of the globe and between whom there was then no known means of communication. On mountain and in cavern, on monolith and on pottery, are to be found the same symbols pointing to a high degree of civilisation and culture though not the same kind as our own - so far into the backness of history that the mind can scarcely reckon the centuries, periods when Science would affirm that man was in his stone age, with poor mind development.

Where and how did man start, and how to reconcile his sad history of struggle and defeat with any idea of Spiritual Goodness? These were thoughts that had dominated my mind. There seemed to be some key that was missing in the sequence of events, if that could be found it might be possible to unlock further doors to our understanding.

I think I gave a little sigh of exasperation, when almost immediately I felt again that sensation of not being alone. I felt I was being watched. If you gaze intently enough at a person, however deeply he may be engrossed, sooner or later he will look up. Loath to break the continuity of my thoughts I raised my head and looked over at the door.

With my mind still adrift on a sea of conjecture I gazed uncertainly at what must surely be a figment of my imagination; one of those figures of ancient times, whose activities I had been studying so intently, must have come into subjective vision. For standing in the shadows of that corner of the room was the figure of a man. It was a dull afternoon and my reading lamp was on so that at first I could not make out the exact appearance of my visitor. But gradually my eyes adjusted their focus and my scattered wits came tumbling out of the past to grapple with this novel situation.

To my astonishment the figure gave a deep, almost oriental bow, and I perceived a smile on the features of this strange being. Although he wore a small beard the man was, I should say, about middle-aged, with features finely cut and revealing the subtle wisdom of the seer. His eyes were dark and of a luminosity that did more than reflect the light of my lamp, they had a magnetic quality that held my gaze. He was dressed in a belted robe of some indeterminate material that was rich and skilfully cut. But the outstanding quality of this man was the radiant power that emanated from him; banishing my first sense of fear, and compelling trust in him.

Having bowed his dignified greeting the stranger moved forward and instinctively I rose to my feet. “I give you good day,” he said, and I was immediately struck by the melodious quality of his voice, one which inspired confidence. It seemed to indicate a power that was not of this world. “I ask your pardon,” he went on, “for this unceremonious entrance but I beg just a moment of your time.”

I suppose I must, in the embarrassment of the moment, have indicated a chair, for the stranger glided towards it and sat down, with only the rustle of his garments to indicate the movement. As his features came within the aureole of the reading lamp I too sat down, but hurriedly and in some trepidation. For it was becoming evident that my visitor was no flesh and blood mortal but either a figment of my imagination or a manifestation from some other world.

The stranger seemed to sense my confusion for he put out a hand which I grasped and found to be naturally warm and firm. Accompanying the gesture he smiled, in so intimate and friendly a fashion that my growing fears fled in confusion. In some queer way it seemed that I knew this man, though of course it couldn't be so - or could it? I wondered. But before I could follow up that thought my visitor dropped his gaze to my desk, with its untidy clutter of papers and notes. “Forgive my impertinence,” he observed, “ but you are writing another book?”

I wondered how he knew I was a writer. I replied, deprecatingly, that it had scarcely got as far as that yet, that in fact there seemed to be insuperable difficulties which I could not yet see my way to overcome. I explained the nature of the task I had set myself and added, “ I believe so implicitly in the goodness of God and in the benign purpose of Creation and I want to show that man's history has a benign meaning and purpose, rather than being a dreary record of soulless evolution. I believe that the answer lies in prehistoric history but there seems to be a missing key which I cannot trace.”

My visitor nodded his head gravely and thought for a moment before he spoke. “I was aware of your predicament and have ventured to call upon you with the object of helping you in your task.”

My eyes opened in astonishment as my gaze roamed over his unworldly appearance. Hastily he went on. “I have some knowledge of the period of history to which you refer and I have access to records that will be beyond your reach. It would give me great pleasure to assist you in linking those periods into a coherent order that will I hope impress your readers with a new understanding of what human existence is all about.”

I could hold back my inquisitiveness no longer. “Pardon me,” I asked, “but would you mind telling me who you are?”

Most cleverly he parried my question. Perhaps it was a trick of the eyes but without seeming discourteous he made me satisfied with only a partial answer. “My name is Zerros,” he observed, “ and I have been taking a considerable interest in your work. I belong to an organisation which aims at presenting to the world just those aspects of life which lie behind the subjects on which you are engaged.”

“ And I am trespassing on their preserves?” I suggested.

“ On the contrary. We have been looking for a channel by which we might give our work concrete form and in you we find just what we were looking for. We could be of much mutual assistance should you feel inclined to co-operate with us.”

My eyes must have goggled with the excitement I felt at this remark. It was all so extraordinary, so incredible, that I could hardly take in the implications. “What sort of society is this?” I asked, more for the sake of gaining time than for any other reason.

But he who named himself Zerros refused to be drawn at this juncture. “If I gave you that information it would mean little to you and might confuse the issue, let it suffice that your subject and ours are identical. You will have guessed that I, strange in appearance and garb to you, am not now a physical being. Nevertheless I assure you that I am in close touch with events in your world and my sole desire is to be of assistance to you and those who think like you.” A momentary pause and he went on. “ I see in your mind that you have advanced ideas on the spiritual realities that underlie the troubled existence of present day humanity. You realise that there are states of being on planes of experience other than your own and that it is only by a comprehensive survey of all possible planes of experience that you can hope to solve the enigma of human existence.”

I nodded, my mind racing too fast for coherent speech.

“Let me assure you that my visit has a very real purpose, in fact you would not believe me if I told you how long this contact with you has been under consideration by myself and my colleagues, nor of the vast amount of work that has been put into the preparations. Your world has, reached a point in mind development where it is ready for new ideas and a new rate of understanding. Such knowledge will eventually change the whole course of human existence, and demonstrate a new way of life, quite at variance with the old?”

“And how do you propose to help me in this? Will you dictate the book?”

Zerros looked at me very closely before replying. “I must ask for your trust and confidence,” he said at length, “for I am going to present to you a possibility that you may find it very difficult to accept. Your complete faith in me and my power to carry out what I propose will be essential if we are to succeed. Pray listen very carefully to what I am going to say.”

There was silence while Zerros seemed to be marshalling his thoughts. “ You are aware, I think, of how the events of the terrestrial world are recorded automatically by their impact on what I might term the plastic ethers surrounding your Earth, rather in the way your recording machines work.” As I nodded agreement he continued. “Every event which has taken place on your Earth, every vibrant thought, has been imprinted on its ethers. You cannot tap those records for you are too closely veiled in human flesh to be able to tune in to such attenuated vibrations. But on the plane where I work we can use them and to a considerable extent view, and even reconstruct, that which has transpired in the long eras of earthly history.”

I gasped in wonderment. I knew that it was possible for some acutely sensitive people to glimpse fragments of these records of the past, but to read whole histories, to rebuild pictures .... ! “ Do you mean to tell me that you can see events like the Battle of Hastings, or the burning of Rome or .... or .... the story of Adam and Eve?”

Zerros smiled understandingly. “Certain aspects, yes. Yes even that strange symbology of Adam and Eve, but not in the literal form your interpreters have conceived. But not only can we see the past, we can to some extent unroll the scroll of the future and produce a synthesis of tendencies which will give some idea of how events will work out, though that will depend on the level of events which is under review. You see, as you rise in outlook, as your thoughts are lifted from the mundane to the spiritual, what you call 'time' merges into the eternal, or if you prefer to name it timelessness. The lower you get, the nearer to the mundane, the more does free will enter into the picture. At the top of the scale free will must have merged into the Will of God and ceases to affect the issue, there divine law is free from interference, and a clearer picture can be obtained. On that supernal level prophecy is an exact science, but the more free will encroaches the more is prophecy distorted.”

From my studies I was well aware that time is not what we claim it to be, it is rather a prison of the mind, constricting our viewpoint and providing a bar to understanding. But I must confess that I was not prepared for such a sweeping assertion. “ Surely,” I protested, “you cannot just go along the pathway of time and know how whole nations, for example, are going to rise or fall?”

“ You must realise,” said Zerros, searching for words in which to convey reasoning based upon values unfamiliar to me, “time belongs to your physical universe, to your sense perception, it is an extension into the material from the ethereal realms where it begins to merge into timelessness. You can measure any object but you cannot measure Spirit. If you study astronomy you will find your time melting away into something else for which you have to invent strange terms to convey your meaning, such as 'light-years.' “

“Have I got to explain that to my readers?” I asked anxiously. Zerros laughed, merrily, like a schoolboy. “I do not propose to tax your credulity, nor theirs, to that extent. It will not matter what conception they have of time. I was but emphasising my ability to transcend what is, after all, but a physical law. And I do not intend to dictate your book for you, I have more impressive proposals to offer than to make you a mere amanuensis.” He glanced keenly at me as he went on, and he put the question in the utmost seriousness. “Are you prepared to embark with me on an adventure the like of which has never before been offered to any human being?”

“I am all for adventure,” I replied, “ especially, if it is going to help me write this book. But I should like some more information first.”

Zerros now spoke with a depth of meaning in his voice not lost on me. “Suppose, instead of my describing to you, however graphically, the tremendous saga of earthly history from its very inception, I were to enable you to visit, as it were, the very scenes where those events of cosmic importance took place, in short, to witness the events in retrospect. How would you like to accompany me into the depths of space and time, and witness, say, the very birth of this planet?”

“B .. b .. but that is not possible,” I protested, feeling I was letting go of my sanity. I am accustomed to travelling through aeons of time in imagination, but to go in person, to see .... to bring back .... no, no, that was unthinkable. I looked at my visitor doubtfully, it was as if he had asked me to go and live like a fish in the sea!

Zerros divined my perplexity but made no effort to expand the idea which had shocked my sensibilities. He just sat there looking at me with his kindly expression, I could feel the power radiating from him to me, calming, soothing, yet making no attempt to influence my decision. Yet curiously I could not help thinking that the decision had already been made by me, perhaps on some other plane of experience. While my rational mind discarded the whole idea as fantastic and not to be taken seriously, something irresistible within me compelled acceptance. I began to know that I must do what he asked. There was no hypnosis about it, I felt that here was the theme of my life, the reason for my existence. I had come to Earth to do this thing.

Almost unawares I heard his voice, speaking gently and persuasively, impelling confidence. “Let me assure you that you will be in reasonable safety, though I will not deny that there may be risks to your physical body, which must obviously be left behind. But rest assured that every eventuality has been most -carefully considered by experts and the risks reduced to vanishing point.”

I will not weary my readers with the discussions that followed.

Zerros told me much, both of his own life and work and of the history of this planet. In the end I agreed to the proposal, not because my rational objections were overcome but because of that inner urge that would not let me say no. Finally Zerros asked me if there were any questions I would like to ask concerning my book.

I thought for a while, there were so many. Then suddenly my mind fastened upon the one question of all that was troubling me. “How is the biblical story of Adam and Eve to be reconciled with what we know of the theory of evolution?”

Zerros answered without hesitation. “They were not of course individuals, few today would accept that all the evils of the world could be traced to the first man and the first woman. Your Genesis contains a mystical and poetical interpretation of something that could not be expressed in terms of Human understanding. We might say that Adam stands for the Adamic Race, the first true men of Earth. But it also stands for the masculine element in creative intelligence, for you must realise that in pure Spirit there can be no differentiation of sex, that could only come about through the process of manifestation. For every Adam there is an Eve and in the realm of pure Spirit they are one in their homogeneous being. It was during the descent into experience that the sexes became separated, and many were the stresses that were engendered by that bifurcation, rendered necessary by the exercise of self-will. But I will not labour that point now, it is my hope that you will come to a realisation of the truth through what you will observe for yourself.”

Loath to leave this absorbing subject I said: “I suppose the Earth was always intended to evolve as well as mankind?”

“ You must try and rid yourself of the idea that the Earth, as you know it, was originally part of the divine Plan. Immense effort has been expended in trying to explain why God should have prepared an environment for His children which offers little beyond frustration, suffering and prodigious labour even to exist. It could not have been His desire that millions should have to scratch a bare living amid conditions that were biased against success. - But a fallen race of spiritual beings rendered it essential. You can only find a meaning to life by regarding Human existence as a long, long saga of rehabilitation from a cosmic fall, the dimensions of which are beyond your understanding. There is a creative Plan, sublime and merciful, perfect beyond your imagination, and it is my purpose to try and unfold for you the fringe of that Plan so that you may comprehend the utter Goodness of Him who designed it.”

After some further discussion concerning future visits Zerros stood up, as if to indicate that he must depart. “My friend, I cannot promise to make clear to you the fullness of Truth, no Human mind could achieve that, there is much we shall have to leave unsolved. But what has been ordained by the Supernal One must triumph in the end, it could not be otherwise. Now I must be gone. May the blessing of the Eternal One hold you in His Infinite Love until we meet again.”

I do not know by what process Zerros managed to disappear from my vision; one moment he was there, radiating love and confidence, then he was not. Perhaps that was because his delightful personality lingered long after he ceased to be visible. Before leaving he had given me certain instructions I must follow. Now I went over these in an attempt to quieten the emotional thrill that filled my being. I dared not even think about what was to be. That I, a nobody, was to experience what must be the strangest adventures that could fall to the lot of man.

CHAPTER 2

JOURNEY INTO SPACE

On the day appointed for Zerros' next visit I was atwitter with an excitement I could scarcely control. I had not the strength of mind to confess to my family what had transpired on the momentous occasion when I first learned what Zerros had in mind. I am sure they would have feared for my sanity or dismissed the whole thing as the result of a pleasant afternoon nap. Whatever the reason, however, they all had outdoor appointments on that afternoon. Subsequently I enlightened them and though they stoutly maintained their loyalty, what I told them must surely have strained their credulity to the utmost.

To quieten my nervous excitement I busied myself with the notes for my book, so that it was once more a shock when a voice broke in upon my vagrant thoughts. “Greetings my friend, I beg you to relax.”

I started violently. Perhaps half of me had derided the idea that I should see Zerros again, that I was a fool to expect anyone, that it was all a hallucination. Yet here he was, imperturbable as ever, standing as before just inside the door. In a moment I was on my feet, wildly excited, tremendously pleased because my intuition was right. But though I indicated a chair Zerros made no attempt to leave his place by the door. “You are in a great state of mental excitement,” he observed reproachfully, “please realise that to an ethereal body such as mine the emotional vibrations of a Human being are somewhat trying.” He smiled engagingly as he added, “To me you take on the nature of a furiously boiling kettle. It is difficult to approach you.”

Instantly I controlled my excitement and made my apologies.

Zerros made a slight gesture of his hand as if to dismiss so unimportant a matter and with a gracious acknowledgment came forward and took my hands in his own. Immediately I felt a flow of power entering into me, quelling my nervous excitement and leaving me with a sense of serenity and peace.

“ That is better,” said Zerros, letting my hands go. When we were both seated he continued. “We could hope for no good results while your mind was in such a state of agitation, though it was quite understandable. But you will realise that what we have ahead of us will require the subjection of the normal physical emotions so that you may be free to leave your body for undimensional travel. And now my friend, are you still of the same mind concerning the proposals I made to you on my first visit?” He looked keenly at me as he spoke and I sensed that my decision would mean a great deal to him.

“ Yes indeed,” I replied without hesitation, “ it is my dearest wish to learn the secrets of Man's origin and this tremendous adventure you offer me excites my imagination. I realise fully the honour you are doing me and my only hope is that I may do justice to it.”

Zerros gave a little sigh of satisfaction and then we had some further conversation concerning the methods to be adopted, after which he announced his readiness to commence.

Can you imagine my feelings; almost did I panic. My trepidation must have showed itself. Here was I, an obscure writer, about to make an experiment that would have caused banner headlines in all the newspapers of the world - if they could believe in it! At Zerros' request I locked the door and drew the curtains. Then I sat in my chair and closed my eyes, striving to relax. But in this I failed. Naturally every conceivable detracting thought raced through my mind, as if my subconscious were afraid and unwilling to permit the experiment. With all my will I strove to banish them until .... I felt cooling fingers smoothing my brow .... quietening my thoughts .... bringing peace .... thinning out consciousness ....

It seemed that a voice had been speaking to me for ages and ages, soft yet clear and insistent. It was telling me to wake up, to open my eyes. Was it really time to get up, had I overslept? I opened my eyes - and realised that I must still be dreaming. I shook my head in an attempt to bring back consciousness. Then I became aware of an unaccustomed stillness and an absence of feeling, I seemed to be volatile and free from all restrictions, yet never had I felt more awake. I looked about me for some object that would restore my sense of integrity. Then suddenly memory rushed in with a great revelation, I found myself alone, poised in the high untrespassed sanctity of space, terribly alone, frighteningly alone!

There was nothing to touch, nowhere to set my feet - had I any feet? I wasn't seeing very clearly, there was no scenery about me, all was emptiness and darkness, no, not really dark, not quite empty. For all around me were stars, like no other stars I had ever seen, they were brilliant with a strange light, tremblingly alive in a way I cannot find words to describe. The way they twinkled made it seem as if they were talking to me. Then an actual voice broke in upon my thoughts. I could see no one nor hear with my ears, yet the words formed in my mind as if I were reading. It was the voice of Zerros.

It was a tremendous relief to know he was there. His thoughts continued to pour into my mind, soothing, strengthening, telling me to get used to this strange method of contact, to look about me and let the reality of what I saw sink into my consciousness. I did so and at once confidence returned and I began to be more at-one with this tremendous expanse of what seemed to be emptiness but which was taking on, more and more, an aspect of reality. The sense of isolation vanished and I felt more at home. Soon my first feeling of lightness and freedom came back, my sensations were like no dream that I ever had, there was reality and power present everywhere which entirely made up for any lack of scenery. All that I saw seemed to be imbued with wonderful harmony, as if nothing could ever go wrong with it.

I was poised in a darkness that in some queer way was transparent, most friendly and giving no hint of any possible hidden menace. As I gazed I felt my vision expanding further and further; above me, the starry array seemed to have endless depth and substance. I glanced below me and saw with mixed amazement and relief, the familiar globe of Earth where my physical body still rested.

Away to my right was the Sun, shining as I had never seen it before, no longer searing the eyes with its terrible intensity but glowing with a golden radiance that was lovely to look upon. I could have gazed at that beauty for hours on end! To my left was the Moon, a silver well of reflected glory, no longer cold and dead but thrillingly alive. I became aware that I had a body, but so disinterested was my mind that I could not determine whether it held any resemblance to the physical. I was capable of feeling yet had no sensation of heat or cold. But what did that matter when my mind was so vitally, gloriously alive. I felt splendid, brilliant, free, yet immensely humble amidst great influences which I could sense but not perceive. Around me were worlds, worlds, and I felt somehow that I was part of them, every moment I felt my life melting into theirs, becoming part of the great symphony of Life that was manifested before me. No longer were the stars inaccessible and unknown fragments of matter, with a meaning only for those who studied them through the obscuring haze that surrounds the Earth; in some curious way they seemed to have a soul of their own, and it was this soul, this universal livingness, which made the link between them and me.

All those heavenly bodies appeared to have a life of their own. Oh! if only the Earthly astronomers could have stood here with me and seen the reality behind the mere shadow they beheld through their telescopes! Here in this living, glorious expanse of stars they seemed like a friendly concourse of people, winking messages to each other like a mighty fleet at sea.

Thoughts came to me again from Zerros, though he was still invisible. “This is perfect Creation, not as you know it on Earth but perfect with the Creator's perfection. Even now you can only see the outer husk of the inner reality, for the realities of Creation cannot be seen, they have to be absorbed and entered into, as you are trying to do now. Thus gradually, as you grow to it, you begin to become at-one with Creation and are able to appreciate its glories and its wondrous purpose. The Earth is surrounded by such a flocculence of dark thoughts that its atmosphere has become opaque and the minds of men so dense and circumscribed that it is impossible to see the universe as it really is. Now I would like to show you an even rarer aspect of what you are looking at, and to do that I shall have to divest you of some of the veils that still limit your perception. Please close your eyes.”

As I did so I felt once more the smoothing control of Zerros' influence, together with the impact of a will far more powerful than I had believed to be possible; I felt as though I were slipping out of a clinging garment. Then stillness, a stillness beyond even silence, an absolute quietude of mind. At last an order to open my eyes. And oh! what wonder! Can you imagine a man who has been blind since birth suddenly receiving his sight and beholding some lovely Earthly scene? For a while I could not take in what I saw. What I had beheld before bore no resemblance to this renascent glory of light and colour. No longer was I looking at a myriad pin-points of light, each travelling upon an ordered course; in an instant the whole system of stars had expanded outwards, as it were, each one developing graduated rings of iridescent colours, spread out into a tremendous area of surrounding space until the whole of it seemed to be filled with rhythmically changing shades of colour. It reminded me a little of the aureole of a street lamp in a fog, only infinitely grander.

“What has happened?” I cried in amazement.

It seemed to my heightened senses that Zerros chuckled. He began to explain. But oh how can I find words in which to express all that he said. It seemed that he had also unveiled my consciousness so that I could now comprehend his wordless thoughts in a way impossible to Human speech. Breathlessly I drank in all he implied, assimilating it all with a sense of the goodness of God which pervaded the whole concept. I gathered that the concentric rings of light were really planes of being, each shade representing a higher octave of being, with the hard core of what we call the physical universe as the lowest level. Each star stands alone in Human sight but with each uncovering of spiritual vision it expands and opens out towards an ultimate unity, harmoniously into a wonderful whole, as the physical and geographical aspects fade into unreality. Then the spiritual origin of the whole absorbs all into an unbelievable wonder that is the manifestation of the Creator. But how can I express such a Unity in mere words?

As I pondered over these revelations that invested the whole scene with a wondrous holiness Zerros caught my thoughts and swung them up into a condition of ecstasy. Like shafts of revealing light word pictures began to form in my mind. “You are beginning to sense the real meaning of the Cosmic Christ, something man has yet to comprehend, Him whom you call the Saviour of mankind. Yet He is so much more than that, for He is an expression of the glorious Creator about whom you have only the vaguest notion. How could you limit Him who said: 'Before the world was, I AM!' and 'Except through Me none may enter the Kingdom of Heaven!' Think of those words and what they must mean! Try and visualise your Beloved as Spirit, undimensional and absolutely unlimited, almighty with the Might of His Father, who created all this! Oh how you Human beings have shut out this Supernal Glory, this wonderful livingness which was meant to hold your lives within steady growth towards a divine fulfilment! You have enclosed this Splendour, and so much more besides, within the narrow walls of creedalism, you have enshrined this Magnificence within the tiny manifestation of His Incarnation. Wondrous though that divine sacrifice was, sad as was its necessity, you see your Christ only as a Man, not as a Spirit, with all that that implies. Behold a reflection of His Reality, a glimpse of how this Glorious Spirit holds the wide universe within His Love, holding to His Heart the lives and loves, yes, even the hates, of the Father's erring children in all these endless ranges of living space, that they might not be lost for ever.

“You can see now that the Earth you know is but one phase of an existence which is rising again, after a cataclysmic fall, into the eternal life where it has its real being; it does not belong to time. For Life, real Life, is unending, it can only experience death as an illusion within the mists of time. The very word wars against eternal Life, which is something all possess and from which they cannot be divorced. Death is a lie into whose embrace a whole fallen race has drifted; soon, like the phoenix, it will rise again from the ashes of its dead past. Human life is but one scene from a drama already written and produced, complete with its happy ending; how could it be otherwise with a Great Dramatist who cannot fail! You could have no life on Earth without the Livingness of this Son of God, manifesting into the density of the lowest form of existence, reaching with the Everlasting Arms of Love into the darkest pit, that not one soul might be lost. What a Divine Tragedy is being enacted here, almost outside your awareness. Note how each star catches a reflection of the Creator's Life and rays it forth in living incandescence upon its own individual note, see how these cosmic rays are flung from star to star, each giving of itself and taking back that which it lacks, that the whole may be in harmonious sympathy.

“Can you realise now that the universe is one whole conception of the Creator, each part interwoven with the rest, no one heavenly body having any existence separate from the others? Cosmic rays are eternally flowing from one star to another, entering each other's atmosphere, there to be transmuted into chemical form. How could one single star escape the influence of Omnipotent Mind or alter the course designed for it by a Mind which is Omniscient?”

Zerros once more directed my attention to the Sun. I gazed at it with a sense of adoration, it was so tremblingly beautiful, sounding a note of triumph and joy. It seemed to know all the secrets of the universe, unheeding the petty chaos which disturbed the rhythm of one small unit that had fallen by the way, as if it knew that the fallen one must soon be lifted again to make the divine symphony in tune once more. It was not graded in rings like the other stars but radiated a special golden glow that seemed to penetrate throughout the heavens. No wonder the ancients sensed this divine aspect and worshipped this life-giving globe. Now I knew that it gave me far more than life, for it radiated Goodness, in which no dark thought could live. Try for yourself and visualise some dark thought as having meaning within that burning Light; it is impossible!

As I watched, entranced by all that I witnessed, I began to 'hear' the sound of music, like no other music I have ever heard. It had more of rhythm than melody and it flowed over that living silence like the lapping tide, stealing into the mind as if it had been eternally there but was only now making its presence felt, like the creative Thought of God echoing through the vaults of space. Zerros made me realise that where the last faint notes of audible response begin to fade there steal the first strains of the heavenly symphony. “It is upon these soundless waves that consciousness of your reality and your oneness with the Christ of Love is born into your understanding. Never can you absorb His real meaning with your intellect alone.”

Slowly the rhythm gathered strength as it began to fill my mind, reverberating through the universe like the thrumming of some giant power station, incalculable power held in leash, until little by little I felt myself in sympathy with it, melting into its vibrations as one's feet might carry one into a lilting dance. At last I knew what at-one-ment could mean, this is what I really am, all I long to be, no individual but a part of all this. I knew I could achieve no real happiness away from this divine unity. I felt an overwhelming need to give myself into the absorbing embrace of that alluring sound, to drown myself in its ecstasy. But instead I felt a slight chill, and I knew instinctively that an unbridgeable gulf remained between me and that wonder of Unity, I was not yet fit for that divine reunion. Someday - but not yet. With a deep sense of loss I turned away, and the whole kaleidoscope seemed to slip and I found myself regarding the galaxies as I had first seen them. But now I had some inkling of what lay beyond them, which I knew to be only an external manifestation of the never-ending wonder that was hidden within them.

But I had gained something from my experience; in recompense for any loss my vision was keener than before, so that I could now become aware of objective life around me. I perceived moving shafts of light that emanated from beings which themselves seemed to be all of light, whose spiritual power was being rayed down to some point on Earth. These, I thought, must be spiritual beings of a high order, doing the Creator's Will. And there were other beings of a lesser brilliance to be seen, but at this point my concentration began to falter, I began to tremble and to lose consciousness of my surroundings. Zerros quickly noted my condition and took charge, intimating that it was time for me to return. I was just able to catch his words as they formed themselves in my mind. “You have witnessed what few human beings have ever witnessed before, you have had a glimpse of God's emissaries at work, you have seen the wheels of destiny turning. And you have drawn near, for one moment, to that ineffable mystery which is the Love of God. You have not been shown all this without a reason.” With a last longing glance at that vast concourse of living, meaningful points of light I closed my eyes and let myself go .....

I opened my eyes to the familiar scenes in my study, the walls seeming menacingly close after the infinite expanse of space I had so lately experienced. Of Zerros there was no visible sign. As my faculties came back into consciousness I began to wonder whether I had not been dreaming or whether the whole experience were not the product of an over-exercised imagination. Yet the memory was so deeply impressed upon my mind that I could not accept such a rational explanation. Determined not to lose one iota of the epoch-making experiment I seized my pen and made notes of the salient points in my adventure, a record that was to extend to many pages beyond my wildest dreams.

CHAPTER 3

THE BIRTH OF A WORLD

On his next visit to my study Zerros enquired after my health with an air of solicitation, but there was a twinkle in his eye which indicated previous knowledge of my well-being, that I had suffered no physical ill effects from that tremendous change in consciousness.

When I had assured him I had never felt better in my life he said: “Then if you would like to do so we will make another little journey through time and space when I will fulfil my promise to show you a picturisation of the birth of your planet, and how it was invested by the Spirit of the Cosmic Christ from the moment it took form.” So calmly did he make his announcement that I scarcely comprehended at first the implication of what he said. But I was becoming accustomed to his incredible powers though to this day I do not know whether he showed me an actual record of those primal events or a visual image culled from his tremendous store of knowledge .

“The birth of a world is well known to your astronomers,” he observed, “beginning with the formation of a nebula from essential gasses, then a shaping into form through rotation, until the mass cools into the form of a planet. If we can regard this light-energy or gas as the manifestation of Creative Thought, and remembering that matter and energy are continually changing into one another throughout the universe, then we begin to get a glimpse of the divine creative process. As the energy slows down into matter it takes on a chemical and electrical form, which eventually makes organic life possible as a vehicle for cosmic intelligence to manifest. All matter is atomic in construction and each atom is electrical in nature, another way of expressing divine life.”

“It has not occurred to your theologians,” he went on, “to connect the Cosmic Christ with astronomical processes in order to lift them nearer to reality. Yet there could be no Solar System without the Christ, who, clothed in His Father's Power, created it in the divine pattern. Remember He is not only the Christ of the Christians, that would be a limitation, but the Christ of every living soul, whether they are aware of it or not. No one can deny the Christ in truth any more than he can deny ever having had a mother! For every soul is born through the maternal aspect of the Spirit of Christ, in the same way that a beam of pure light is broken into the spectrum through a prism. Pure Spirit emanates from God, is received by the Christ and through Him is given identity in the myriads of souls which are born into experience. Christ is the Divine Prism for humanity. If that thought troubles your intellect do not worry, just let it sink in.”

After some further discussion Zerros stood and made a moving dedication of our proposed journey into eternity, asking a blessing on its purpose. As I sit in my study trying to put on paper what I recall of that supremely beautiful cosmic experience, witnessing in retrospect the birth of our planet, I find it almost impossible to find words in which to frame it. Yet I know I must try, for even I can see the importance of that wonderful baptismal ceremony. For it cradles the whole significance of the life we humans are called upon to lead and provides a key to the seeming injustices with which almost every aspect of our existence is invested. I can now see our Earth, not as a habitat for a blindly evolving race, devoid of meaning or purpose, but a feature of a wonderful plan of rehabilitation for a fallen race of beings, spiritual in nature and origin, with nothing forgotten, nothing without purpose. I see our workaday world as shot through and through with divine Life, with wonderful redemptive powers, both educative and rectifying. The destiny of man is that he must rise again, however long he delays that consummation through the exercise of his free will.

In an attitude of deep humility and wonder I prepared myself for this transcendent experience. Once more I was told to relax, lifting my thoughts to the highest level possible to me. Again I felt that swaying sensation and a gradual lightening of the body, then consciousness left me .....

Once again I found myself poised in space, bereft of support, but this time I was more prepared, recollection came to me quickly and the feeling of instability soon left me. I soon located the Sun, a dear familiar sight, then I looked for the Earth I had just left; it was no longer there, nor was the Moon!

Zerros dissipated my alarm by reminding me that we had come to witness the birth of the Earth so that it could not yet have any concrete form. It was a sombre thought, I must have slipped back beyond reckoning, I was timeless!

Now Zerros drew my attention to where something was happening. Before my wondering eyes a mist was beginning to gather, it seemed that some superior Power was drawing essential forces from all quarters of the universe. How shall I explain it? It was as if someone were plucking blooms of rare beauty from this planet and that, to make a posy of surpassing beauty. Swirling atoms of iridescent energy began to glow with nascent life, which invested them with meaning and purpose. I could imagine that myriads of angels were' at work upon a pre-conceived plan of creative purpose. Gradually the mass took form, first an ovoid and later a complete globe of incandescent fire.

Once again the mind of Zerros influenced my own. “Within that glowing mass are all the elements necessary for the purpose of the Earth right through to its finality. Within its potential are the substances that will, under creative aegis, form organic life, cause primeval forests to become beds of coal for twentieth century grates, and the metals for your machine age. The diamonds that glitter on the bosoms of your matrons found inception here, nothing was omitted, even to the rectifying qualities of the soil which enable it to transmute the putrefying organic matter you consign to it, into rightful chemical constituents. Because the inhabitants designate were a fallen and perverted race you must not blame the Creator if that perversion entered into the very fabric of the Earth and affected manifestation of its chemical nature, so that its natural life became' red in tooth and claw,' and poisonous plants and minerals found place in the environment in which man was to find himself again. It all represents a wonderful example of a Love that will not let you go. Your Christian creed and worship rest upon an idea of hope, but here is exemplified a certainty, the Everlasting Arms that will not be denied. Because Creation is perfect, and God cannot fail!”

That lovely thought so filled my being that I felt uplifted as if by the finale of some great symphony. How could one fail to worship a Being who could not be prevailed upon to abandon the children He had created, however great their sin, however persistent their denial of Him. Now I felt better able to comprehend what was taking place.

As the glowing mass took shape I became aware of sound, not a melody but like the working together in perfect harmony of great cosmic forces. It was tremendous in its potential yet soft and subdued as the whisper of spring. It seemed as if all the elements that were to be, the wind, the waves, flashing sunlight and dancing branches, had recognised their potential birth into expression and were glorifying their Creator. Surely it was the “Sons of the Morning shouting for joy!”

Then began an event of such cosmic grandeur and importance that I scarcely dare to report it, the Incarnation of the Earth by the Spirit of the Cosmic Christ! St. Augustine must have had a glimpse of this Baptism when he declared that Christianity must have existed since the world began. Surely he was thinking of the wider aspect of Christianity based on the Infinite, secure in the certainty of a Plan made by a Perfect Creator to whom failure was impossible

Uplifted by the powerful spirit of Zerros I now began to 'see' with heightened senses, obscure meanings became illumined so that I understood their import. From the depths of the universe there began to gather an Influence - I can think of no better word for it. Can you imagine a great Love becoming objective and weaving itself into a Personality? Benign yet immensely powerful, gentle yet irresistible, with all the Power of Creation behind Him, so Bright as to consume all thought of darkness, yet understanding and forgiving all? Just as the Cosmic Son of God incarnated as the Son of Man, so this wondrous Spirit took shape as a Personality, gathering to Himself divine attributes from the vast reservoir of Spirit, clothing Himself with the Power of His Father, the Creator of All. As a soul enters and takes possession of a human embryo, so did this Oversoul embrace and hold the newborn world, indemnifying all the fallen souls which were to seek rehabilitation within its growth. Now I knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that the destiny of the Earth and of humanity was sealed from that moment. The Everlasting Arms were about it and would sink with it into whatever degradation befell its inhabitants, so that they could never fall beyond redemption. It was an awesome thought but a glorious one. In the language of Spirit mankind was already saved in eternity, only within the mists of time could defiant man continue to hide himself from the searing light of Truth, which must eventually bum its way through to the errant soul and free the spirit within. All was being done in Love and perfect Justice.

More and more did this radiant Personality assume a reality that was almost a Form, until I could imagine I could discern features within an aureole that would have blinded Human eyes. Mysteriously beautiful, radiating love and compassion, of such purity of Being that I felt an inrush of its influence which I knew would never leave me. I was profoundly moved that the waywardness of man should have motivated that prescience of compassion; how the sins of humanity must rend that Loveliness and besmirch that beautiful Countenance! Day by day we crucify Him again and again, He who is all-Love!

Presently it seemed to me that the Cosmic Christ, this great Reality of the Saviour we pretend to serve, took the infant world in His Arms of Love and blessed it, and as He did so He made upon it the sign of its destiny and purpose, the ancient symbol of the Cross within the Circle, emblematic of redemption, sacrifice and wholeness. Man was now to rise upon the wings of pain, because that was the only way in which he would respond.

Love! What a shameful personal interpretation have we not created out of that divine emotion, a selfless Power beyond anything we have known, the greatest Power in the World. No wonder as we clutch at its shadow we find it a fleeting passion which bums and sears in its swift passage, leaving cold ashes in its wake. For here was the pristine Reality, generating more power than it consumed. As I watched, its power filled the renascent globe until the glowing nebula seemed to swell and throb with a new life, individual and purposeful, absorbing the Will of the Personality that held it, breathing in His Goodness. Our world had become ensouled. And at long last I knew what Love meant!…..

I have no memory of how that incredible experience ended. Later, thinking over the events I had witnessed, I began to realise the full meaning of those statements we have puzzled over, “ Before the world was, I AM!” and “ The Kingdom of Heaven is within you!” Yes, indeed, born in us, living in us, buried within us. How could such dynamic truths be confined to single creeds? Every living soul, incarnate or discarnate, must surely be heir to that wondrous Love that will not be denied. None can escape it, however long they dally on the shores of time, afraid to enter into the eternity where they have their real being. As man defies it or drags it down into perversion it blazes up into a Consuming Fire that bums him, but as he suffers, a new understanding is born and the Fire dies down once more into the gentle warmth that means growth. Now I could see what a great lie death was, for how could that crowning glory of Creation, Man, die, when nothing else in the wide universe could meet anything but chemical change? Death belongs only to the mists of time and space.

If only Man could be aroused to a sense of his own reality and the unreality of his environment, the world would leap in response and the calumny with which the Sacred Name has been loaded would vanish with the dawn.

I long so much for words in which to clothe my impressions of that glorious spiritual Being which I beheld, so essential to our being, so far beyond our limited conception of the Christ, yet so very close to the eternal part of our being. But there are no words. I can only hope that my halting description may awaken some response in the reader's heart, where the truth of it all rests. This dearly Beloved, this intimate Spirit of Love who drew to Himself all that was precious in me, showed Himself to be so much more than any of us have ever dreamed, for there is not that within the Christian portrayal which could begin to compare with that, oh so lovely Intelligence and Givingness which I was privileged to glimpse for one unforgettable moment. Yet it was the same Spirit which manifested in Jesus, which hung upon the Cross, which is invested in us and in our world. And I feel that the message I brought back is that we should lift our eyes from the Cross of suffering to the Cross of Victory, already achieved, waiting only for a Perfect Moment to be shown to us.

As I sat in my study, with bowed head, the force of this revelation crowded in upon me until the burden of it was intolerable. How we have clamped down upon this lovely Being the limitations of one aspect only of His universal activity, He who is eternal and would have us be eternal too! For one ghastly moment I felt the whole burden of Man's sin and ignorance upon my shoulders until I saw again, in retrospect, the glowing mass of that new-born world, with that lovely Personality. Then it seemed to me that the warm glow of that forgiving Love stole out and wrapped itself about me, soothing away my misinterpretation, lifting the weight from my shoulders .... Then I realised that all was indeed good, that all suffering and frustration were to be distilled into a wonderful resurgence as man was born again into the life that he should have lived.

It was some days before I was able to collect my thoughts of this experience, much less put them into words. I know that I have failed lamentably to picture for you what really transpired. I can only plead that word forms do not exist in which to convey the subtlety of that beauty which had overwhelmed me with its grace. I looked round my study walls and began to realise the oneness of all creation and the Unity that held all mankind in one manifestation of the Creator. A picture without edges, a mass of humanity, myriads of beings, all forming one great Idea of God, yet each being an identity by itself which could never be lost and which could have no separate existence apart from the whole! What a thought! What a revelation! It explained so much, resolved so many problems, filling the whole picture with meaning and purpose. I began to see our identity as something given to us that we might be educated in the art of learning to love God, yet something to be surrendered to Him for our progress. For who could plan better for us than He who knows all, who controls all? But the Christ cannot invade the sanctity of the soul, wrapped closely in the garment of free will, lest He delay rather than speed its progress. He can but send forth the rays of His Father's enlivening Love, that in time must bum through the defences and awaken the soul within. And if the ineffable glory of the Christ of Love could be so overwhelming, what awe-ful Might and Majesty must there not be in the Father of us all!

CHAPTER 4

THE GARDEN BEAUTIFUL

For the succeeding chapters I shall have to ask the reader's indulgence for there may be much to conflict with established ideas, much that will be difficult to accept. But this is not a history book, rather is it a picturisation of the meaning of Human existence, with an underlying message of love and understanding to illumine its reality.

We are told that the Kingdom is within us, thus understanding can only come from within, not from any external explanation. I cannot have faith for you, I cannot love for you, I cannot understand for you, I cannot teach you; these you have to do for yourself from the illimitable sources within you. These you can trust and that trust can broaden and grow into a faith that cannot be broken. Every human soul longs to be loved, yet there is no Love so fine and so satisfying as the Love of the Father. I submit that Love, in its finest aspect, provides the key to all progress, unlocking every door at the proper moment. It is the greatest power in the world!

In preparation for our next flight in time and space Zerros gave me further enlightenment on the origin and development of mankind. There were, he explained, two aspects of evolution to be considered, the evolution of the Human body, together with the growth and evolution of the Earth itself, and the far more important aspect of the evolution of the soul of Man.

“ It will be a help,” he observed, “if we try and grasp the essential difference between God unmanifest and God manifest. It is sometimes asserted that God, being Perfect, cannot know imperfection and therefore cannot know of man's sufferings. That is a purely intellectual argument, it is not true. God is Perfect and Eternal, that is to say He exists in timelessness and spacelessness, He is in no way limited. But Divine Intelligence permeates everywhere. No created thing could exist for an instant were it not held in being by the manifested Will of the Creator. At any point in the whole universe you can touch Him and be aware of His Love and Influence. In His pristine Glory He is Unmanifest, Perfect, Complete. But if there is to be experience, if His Creation is to learn of His Love, it must be subject to experience, it must be a little less than perfect. For you cannot paint a picture with only white paint, there must be colour, contrast. So the pure white beam of Perfection passes through the Prism of manifestation into its myriad colours and shades. That is the nearest we can get to comprehension of the mystery of Creation, for the finite mind cannot contain the Infinite.

“Do not think of God as an individual, for that it is a limitation, but rather as an Origin, the superlative of all you hold precious. You speak of man as an entity, but his spirit is universal, he shares it with all creation, where there can be no subdivision. Is that too hard for you to grasp? Remember that Spirit is fluid, like the atmosphere, you cannot subdivide it, it is the raw material of Creation. It is the life in an atom, in an animal or a stone, as in the Human soul.

“ Let us say that the Intelligence of God caused atoms of His Intelligence to individuate as souls, each growing in His Love and gathering to itself more and more of what Spirit is! Bound to Him by the bonds of Love these souls developed and grew in consciousness, utterly giving themselves to their Father. If a man truly loves a maid he longs to surrender his whole life to hers, making them one. It becomes an agony if they have to separate. So, as you grow in understanding, will it become an agony to separate yourself from the Will and Love of God, you will long to melt within the Glory of His Being in a Divine Consummation, still holding your identity but giving it eternally into His keeping. That is the real Kingdom.

“ At first the newly established soul is in a state of innocence, lacking experience, lacking the ability to generate Love or to accept it, just as a babe has to learn to love its mother through the mother's love for it. Through its experiences the soul grows in individuality, which is an eternal quality, not to be confused with the transient nature of personality. It would be folly to suggest that a Human soul commences its life at Human birth, it could never face the intolerable conditions of human existence which too often meet it, it would flee the body in horror at what it beheld, so antipathetic to what it knew of the reality of Love. First must it acquire wisdom and be armoured against the harshness of Earthly life. So as it descends in experience it dons garments that shield it from gross contact, and has to 'drink of the waters of Lethe,' before it can incarnate into the world of men, thus leaving behind the memory of the glories it once knew, which could only provide a drag on its progress. But never is it bereft of the Love of the Father which sustains it, even though that Love be denied.

“ God could not desire a race of robots, dancing to His tune, so He gave His children the Divine gift of Free Will, through which they might climb upwards to reality. But Man can never possess absolute free will, there are limitations, there are thorny hedges of suffering to prevent him from straying too far. Suffering brings him to a halt, stuns the senses and allows his spiritual nature to assert itself and eventually gain control.

“ One more factor I must stress for your understanding. There are two aspects of man, masculine and feminine, and each individual expresses a bias to one side or the other, irrespective of sex. A man may be feminine in outlook and vice versa. There is not that sort of bias in the soul, which is sexless but .can assimilate masculine or feminine characteristics. The further the soul descends towards Human incarnation the more does it express itself the one way or other. Throughout its experience the soul is animated by these twin influences, the magnetic pull of desire, the feminine characteristic, or the masculine lure of ambition, the creative attraction of power, which when misused can wreck such devastation. You can see how much you have to learn.

“ Between these two poles of ambition and desire man grows in experience and develops character and what he learns is carried over into his soul life as individuality. All this time he is adding to his spiritual strength, which enables him to turn his selfish ambition into givingness, his desire for self into higher channels. For as he learns of his own reality so the Power of Love enters into and illumines his being. That is much more important than the evolution of his brain. There should not be conflict between man and woman for they are one at heart, two halves of a perfect whole, not equal but complementary, one gives what the other lacks. Separate they are meaningless, together they are creative.

“ In its pristine state the soul is androgynous, male and female in one, but in its descent into incarnation it comes to a point where it meets the mystery which you call original sin. It is a long, long story, impossible to deal with here, but there was a rebellion in Heaven, desire beckoned to ambition and together they trod a path among forces they were not ready to control, thus they were thrust out of the Eden of perfect living in the sight of God, and they entered the mists from which mankind is still being rescued. Incarnation became a painful process, spiritual freedom gave place to the restrictions of Human existence, memory of the perfect life had to be erased, and a veil drawn between the two. As I shall try to show you, the soul found it more and more difficult to incarnate as a whole entity, and inevitably came the bifurcation of the sexes, with man and woman as separate identities. This was naturally a terrible experience to the soul, which had hitherto known only perfection and wholeness, and you may feel that it is unfair for the souls of the present to suffer for the sins of ancient days. Yet remember that humanity is really one entity, it has no real life apart from that which emanates from God, in Him it finds reality, apart from Him its life is transitory and synthetic. No one soul can race ahead into Heaven by itself; first it has to find that part of itself which has been living a separate existence, and oh the joy of that reunion! But Heaven is not an Elysium for honeymoon couples, it is not enough to love one another nor even to love their Father. Before they can appreciate the true depth of their mutual love they have to learn of their unity with all other souls, for in the purity of Spirit there is no space between one soul and another! They are all One in God! That may seem difficult of understanding but try and remember this truth during your forthcoming experiences and it will assume shape and reality.

“ Your two great Christian Commandments, to love God and each other, are not ideals but dynamic necessities for your advancement. Only when you have mastered them, as you grow from time into eternity, will you be ready for your reunion in fullest measure with that which you have lost in the mists of endeavour.” As Zerros spoke it seemed as if a great light was being shed upon my understanding, the scattered pieces of a jigsaw puzzle were being assembled to show a picture of a magnitude that amazed me, so wonderfully alive that I felt drawn into it.

“There must be no misunderstanding about what I have said,” Zerros went on. “Soul unity has no relation to sex as you know it. To realise that you have a soul partner implies no disloyalty to the one with whom you may be linked in Human experience, for Love, in its highest expression, is like Spirit, it has no direction, no possessiveness, no limitation, no jealousy, it is universal. Before you are ready for this divine reunion there must be no living soul outside your love; only then can you taste fully of the joy of your re-marriage with that from which you have been separated through the ages.

“ During its incubation period the nascent Earth was plastic in nature and inhabited by angelic beings who prepared it for its destiny. There was no water in its fiery constituency, but the elements of water were combined with other elements to form an ethereal plane far above what would now be its surface, somewhere in your stratosphere. This ethereal belt formed an environment for equally ethereal beings who incarnated there from the realms of Spirit, lovely souls which were descending into experience.

“We may term this almost perfect race the Adamic Race, offspring of Spirit with matter. They possessed powers of which you do not dream today, for they were very close to the Creator of all. But as the cooling Earth enabled organic life to exist there came to its actual surface, first the Animal Kingdom and then a race of indigenous inhabitants in dense material bodies, little more intelligent than the animals amid whom they roamed. These were they who had expressed self-will in the realms of Spirit, defying the Love of God, and thus been cast out of His sight which they could no longer endure. It was an act of mercy that they were enabled to seek relief from the terrible results of their disobedience by this alternative of physical incarnation.

“ Thus there were two races incarnate, the shining ones in the Edenic realm above the Earth who were descending in experience, and the darker souls who were seeking an upward path, back to the uplands of Spirit where they belonged. And the shining ones took upon themselves the task of visiting the indigenous inhabitants of the misty lands below to minister to them and aid them in their rehabilitation.'

Much, much more Zerros told me which I cannot stay to record here. But it was to this ethereal world in the stratosphere that I was next translated by the spiritual powers of Zerros, to witness the lives of a strange people of unbelievable beauty dwelling in a state of Edenic bliss, the first true men of Earth.

It was indeed a setting of wondrous beauty. Imagine a scene of pastel-shaded loveliness, the colours, the infinite shades, the brilliant flowers with a livingness of their own, with a clearness of atmosphere that enhanced a perspective of such grandeur that the mauve-tinted hills, however distant, seemed to be outlined with a detail that was unreal. I can scarcely find words to describe its elfin appeal, this Garden of Eden, so much more real than any human fancy could depict.

Everywhere was Nature exemplified in its purest, most exotic beauty, undefiled by the hand of man and his perversions. Nowhere did I see signs of cultivation though fruit trees of many unfamiliar kinds abounded. The colours and scents that pleasured the senses were beyond any that we know, and the animals we saw were obviously unafraid as they stepped their dainty way through the trees. The birds combined brilliant plumage with tuneful song in a way which we rarely witness.

Then the people; how shall I describe them? Zerros was now perfectly visible to me but neither of us had any contact with the inhabitants of this Garden Beautiful by way of communication. They had no knowledge of our presence. They were all seemingly of one sex, a curious admixture of feminine grace and manliness. Their clothes appeared to be shaped to their bodies in some clever way, as if they were part of them, and shone as if lit by some inner light. The colours were lovely but self-colours, there was no sign of embroidery, nor was there any need. All were fair of skin and walked with an effortless grace that was lovely to see. I saw no children and asked Zerros about this.

“Why should there be children?” he queried. “Why enclose a soul within an ineffectual body when there is no need? These Adamic people are born as adults with their brain faculties complete, needing only education and experience. I see over there some sort of ceremony about to take place, I think it will explain what I mean.”

Taking me by the hand Zerros enabled the pair of us to travel over the intervening space and at speed. We drew near to where, in a grove of trees, an altar stood, and about which a crowd of people were gathered. Beside the circular altar stood a man of unusual height and appearance, he seemed to be a priest for he was giving an invocation as we approached. Then he turned and faced the congregation, of whom each pressed forward to lay same small offering an the altar. Some gave fruit, same produced small objects they had picked up, it seemed that the nature of the object was immaterial. When all had contributed the priest turned to the altar and after a prayer, raised his arms and immediately a ray of intense light shot downward and in a moment the objects were reduced to nothing.

Zerros explained that this was the origin of sacrifice, a demonstration and a reminder to the people that all came from God. It was a way of keeping in touch with Him. The consuming of the gifts in the Flame of Spirit signalised the rising of the Spirit out of mortal matter, the flame of immaculate desire lighting the soul into the Presence of God. We left the priest explaining the symbolism to his people.

Once again we travelled across country as my companion expanded further upon the subject of birth in this pristine land, observing that we were now to witness such an event. This time we alighted at the entrance to a great building of symbolic beauty of design. I stood entranced, every facet of it seemed to have a message, though I could not interpret any known meaning. It stood at the foot of a great mountain, stretching so high into the sky that it seemed to have no summit. There was something mysterious about it, it seemed so aloof yet it was vibrant with importance. It did not surprise me when Zerros explained that this was the Holy Mountain of which mythology speaks so often. Far same moments I stood gazing up at those sombre heights, shrouded in mystery. But the mountain remained loftily aloof, it had no message for me.

At his bidding I followed Zerros through the great doorway, with its delicately scrolled designs and motifs; there were no doors fitted. Up the steps and into the dim sanctity of a hall so vast that I could scarcely discern the carven roof, supported on pillars that spread out like great branches at the apex. The lighting puzzled me, for there were no windows, yet the whole was lit as if by sunshine. I never succeeded in discovering how it was done; Zerros could be quite inscrutable when he chose.

At the far end of the hall were grouped same two hundred people, almost lost in this vastness. Something was obviously about to happen, for all were gazing expectantly towards a doorway at the end of the hall which was covered by a rich velvet curtain. Presently there was a stir and as the curtains swung noiselessly aside a procession entered the hall, to take up position by a small slab of greenish stone. First came the principle actor in this drama of prehuman birth, the parent-to-be, arrayed in spotless white and wearing a rapt trancelike expression that spoke of the strenuous nature of his preparation and his dedication to its fulfilment.

At this point Zerros murmured, “You should emphasise in your narrative that these people were androgynous in nature, they still retained their masculine and feminine characteristics in one form. They were created male and female, dual in nature. Here was no marriage or mating, with all its difficulties and disillusion, these beings could love each other without restraint, without any intervention of sex.”

The subdued chatter ceased, hushed by a sensitive awareness of what was to come. Then in front of the curtain a golden haze began to appear, to resolve itself into Human shape. Gradually a shining Being took Human form, so radiant as to be almost blinding to the eyes. He radiated an inner power that streamed from him and affected us all, I could feel its benign influence from where I stood.

Zerros explained that this being had come from a higher realm to take part in the ritual, which was designed to keep ever before the minds of the people their unity with spiritual realities they might otherwise forget.

Now the whole tempo of the proceedings was speeded up. As I watched I noted a curious haze beginning to gather about the visitor's head, evidence of the tremendous power he was drawing upon. No doubt this light accounted for the haloes depicted above the heads of saints in medieval pictures. By way of welcoming the celestial visitor the people began to chant in unison, it was not a song in words but rather of ritualistic intonation, subtle inflexions that rose and fell like the murmur of the ocean. There was unutterable longing in their voices and some flung out their arms in a gesture of supplication. The song died, and the watchers stood perfectly still, quiet and alert.

The Teacher began to speak. With such a voice that any actor would long to possess. Perfectly modulated, it had a quality of perfection that enhanced the words he said and gave them added impart. Though I could not understand the words I could well guess at their meaning. He spoke lovingly and understandingly to the people, as if they were very dear to him. It seemed that this race of lovely people was incarnating on a mission of great importance which even they could not as yet comprehend, for they were being prepared to descend into an even deeper phase of existence where they were to help the indigenous inhabitants to rise out of the pit into which they had fallen. The two races were to meet and fuse on the surface of the cooling Earth below them, thence to rise together into the Light once more, a magnificent epic of redemption which a benign Creator had planned before ever the Earth was born.

After a pause the Teacher spoke of the importance of the ritual about to be observed. Then one who was to stand sponsor stepped forward and made a salutation, while the parent-to-be was by now almost in a state of trance. I will not attempt to describe the ceremony for its ritual meaning was lost upon me. But presently the rapt parent became enveloped in a golden haze which gradually deepened and slowly gathered into form about his solar plexus. At length it could be seen that this was assuming a Human form which finally separated itself from the parent.

The celestial visitor now took charge and guided the form to a recumbent position on the low altar. The singing had now re-commenced and it appeared to take the form of a species of midwifery, with the onlookers contributing power through which this divine birth might be concluded. At last, with a final paean of sound, the birth was completed. There, on the altar, lay a perfect specimen of manhood, newly-born and adult in size, but needing much care and attention before he could take up his new life. Gently the sponsor bent and lifted the supine body, offering it to the celestial one, who blessed it. Then the figure was covered with a cloak and carried from the hall.

As we left the hall I asked Zerros why this method of birth was denied to modern Man. He shook his head gravely. “That is another matter, which I will try and make to clear to you on another occasion.” So saying he took hold of my hand and once again propelled the two of us swiftly across country. We landed this time at the entrance to a building quite different from the first. It was more utilitarian and the decorations were much simpler than those we had already seen. Here again we found many people being instructed by a celestial visitor. He was instructing them in the meanings of ritual dancing, with two neophytes to demonstrate the movements.

At the conclusion of the talk the whole gathering moved out into the open, a sort of amphitheatre set against a background of trees. There was something familiar about the happy gathering with their animated movements and subdued laughter, much as we would expect from a dancing class in our own age. But at the appearance of the teacher all noise ceased. He raised his hand and as at a signal, a thrumming of drums began, seeming to come from within the belt of trees. Louder and louder it got until its rhythm communicated itself to the dancers and immediately they swung into step and formed themselves into rings and other forms. How graceful they were, there was none of the jerky posturing that so often characterises our own dancers. Their whole bodies seemed to respond to the rhythm, and the delight on their faces showed the extent of the pleasure it gave them.

There were many movements to the dance and I felt sure that each had some symbolic meaning; there were moments when the unison was broken into pathos, moments when the swaying bodies swept apart and met again in a passionate demonstration of reunion. No longer was this a concourse of individuals but a moving panorama of contemporary life, a great unity of agreement in expressing the symbol of divine Unity. It was impossible to watch this dramatic scene and not be moved by its message, never equalled in any ballet we have known.

As these lovely creatures danced and weaved and swayed to their emotions the light about their heads grew in intensity until it wove a concurrent pattern above them, crystallising the symbology of the dance into visible form. That woven fabric of light postulated no mere chimera of the imagination but was clearly the weaving of dynamic magnetic forces into meaningful expression. In that divine ecstasy I felt drawn into at-one-ment with the dancers till I was part of them and they of me, my whole consciousness momentarily expanded until I felt that I belonged to all creation, and all creation had part with me. It took that dance to bring this transcendent truth home to me.

Finally the dancers resolved themselves into a set piece and came to a palpitating rest upon a cessation of the thrumming. And the design of the set piece was the ancient pattern of the cross within the circle, the symbol of sacrifice redeemed which is the hall mark of our Earth. But here it did not seem to breathe of sadness, suffering and revolt, but rather of a garland of flowers epitomizing immense love and forgiveness, scintillating because of the quivering of the bodies, until at last they were stilled, and the light coalesced into ethereal form, somewhat like the domes and minarets of some vast temple of exquisite design. It seemed that Beauty itself was crowning the dancers with applause.

Everywhere I went in this strange and beautiful land there was this educative inspiration, presenting mystical realities in simple, symbolic terms. Thus was taught the first lesson between light and shade, so soon alas to deepen into good and evil, eternally at war. Here indeed was a testing of spirit, the building of an inner conviction of realties that would steer this people through the testing times ahead when they would be called upon to take part in the struggle of human minds against the Great Mind of the Universe. Maybe the hints of a chosen people that grace the pages of the Bible had their genesis in what I had just seen.

Many were the talks I had then and later with Zerros upon this difficult subject, the origin of sin. How I wish I had the skill to interpret all he told me. “You must not think,” he said, “that the Creator could possibly have designed a Creation that could fail, nor that He purposely planned the gradual evolution of intelligent form through endless ages of suffering and strife. That is a by- product of the gift of free will without which your progress would be that of robots. Divine prescience must have foreseen the fall of spiritual man and his continued fall through defiance of Goodness. And the history of man is that of divine forgiveness and regeneration, forever forestalling man's divergence and bringing him back, through suffering, to the way of divine destiny. Mankind rises on the wings of pain because that is the only way man will rise.

“The soul of man changes as he advances and gains an accretion of what Spirit is, that which could never be changed or destroyed. Death has no meaning in the ultimate idea of Creation, it is an aspect of the fallen nature of Man and the world in which he lives. To this Adamic race death never comes unheralded, they do not see it as an enemy waiting to catch them by the heels, as you do. When the allotted span draws to a close the fortunate one knows he has accomplished what he set out to do, and is the subject of congratulation. There is no regret, no sadness, just the gentle laying down of the garment no longer needed, and then the departure into a joyous freedom. The body merely disintegrates. “

Not once but many times did Zerros and I return to this wondrous realm, and widely we roamed. I have not space to tell of all we saw and it is difficult to put into words events that have no corollary in human experience. It is difficult too for us, who have to labour so hard merely to exist, to comprehend an environment in which labour has no imposition to make. But, as Zerros explained, man has become a fighting machine with militant instincts to enable him to fight his way out of the impasse into which he has fallen. As he rises in consciousness he will lose those predatory instincts and be amenable to gentler issues.

It was an incredible thought that this whole environment was to descend, in total, on to the hard surface of Mother Earth, there to play its destined part in redeeming and unifying the whole. Incredible too that all this creative assembly, as in the wide universe, was held in being only by the Creator's Will, without which it would rush into instant dissolution, back into primal energy. Here in the fineness of life there were no sexual differentiations, yet these souls too were to be subject to bifurcation ere they could be allowed to descend into the dense, harsh conditions of Earth proper, a sacrifice that was essential in order to provide the urge that would ensure their ultimate return to their pristine condition. How sad a thought that was, that the love of man for woman had to be expressed as such an incoherent and untamable form of emotion, belonging more to the animal than the spirit. How much do we not owe to these great souls who came to the rescue of fallen man, only alas, to fall victim to the viciousness inherent in the indigenous race of the primitive world.

Even as I looked at the lovely scenes for the last time I could not imagine its inhabitants becoming besmirched with the inky stains of evil, yet even then perhaps a tiny cloud of misunderstanding may have been passing across their thoughts, herald of a turning inward to their personal being, away from their outward receptiveness of spiritual influences. A shadow that would presently touch a thousand hearts with its cold fingers and draw a veil of forgetfulness over minds which as yet remembered only Love.

CHAPTER 5

THE PRIMAL FALL

Zerros sat in my study and began to talk. He spoke of the mystery of the Primal Fall of Man, that initial fall from Grace of spiritual beings, but he stressed that in no circumstances could he enable me to witness any reconstruction of that epoch-making occurrence.

“ There is a great mystery here which you can only have in parable form,” he explained. “Were I to try and show you the reality you would find yourself floundering in a sea of conjecture concerning that which is infinite and not finite. I could give you little idea of the environment, the purpose and the nature of those pristine beings. As I have tried to show you, evil is a great lie, manifested by a turning away from the Light towards a darkness that exists only in mind, not in reality. Were there no minds in creative existence there could be no evil! Thus to God evil is a lie, illusory and unreal; to man it is finite and real as long as his mind accepts it. And in his manifested life it can be terribly harmful and degrading. But such is the depth of man's fall that the road back from the darkness into the Light is long and arduous, for where there is darkness the path cannot clearly be seen.

“ In order that there might be experience there had to be shadow, against which the' Light might be perceived, the imperfection that would show Perfection as it really is. For in Perfection there can be no experience. You could not perceive your sunlight were there no shadows, no daylight unless there were specks of dust in your atmosphere. Let us then say that in the dim past, before time was, this pristine race expressed too strongly their creative urge and sought too eagerly to obtain knowledge which they were not able to control. Thus through aeons of time they became introspective rather than expansive. Until there came a time when self-will overshadowed their inherent innocence and they fell out of the sight of God. That is the parable, you must be content with that. But the dreary history of Man is not that of an experiment that failed, never think that. As a bird in flight stoops to drink of the waters so did man stoop too swiftly to drink of the waters of experience. You are all part of one whole; without the inclusion of the least reputable of Human beings Heaven would be incomplete. Can you accept that?”

I thought for a while before I answered. Then I asked: “ But why could we not have been told all this before?”

“ Nothing has ever been denied or hidden from you. The Sun is always shining though at times in your winter you feel that it has gone from you for ever, you see only clouds. The Truth has always been available to Man but for his own good, when he was in the Dark Ages of his experience, it was obscured in myth and symbol that he might not use it to his own destruction. Your books of Genesis and Revelation are examples; when you are ready to comprehend their meanings you will find understanding of them.

“ But now Man's spiritual nature is in the ascendant through the terrible sufferings of the past fifty years. A great deal has been happening behind the scenes of his renascence. Think how the so-called backward countries of your world have increased in intelligent understanding through the last decade or so, it is out of all knowledge of what they were. You will say that it is because of the triumphs of Science, yes indeed, but who allowed that scientific knowledge to percolate through into the world? You know that cosmic rays are constantly pouring forth into your world. Does not Revelation say: “I will pour forth My Spirit upon all flesh?” And you know what the promised result would be? Intense disturbance, great fear and insecurity, and seeming great loss, but in reality great gain. That is your situation today. The Light is penetrating into the darkness in Men's minds and driving it out into expression so that it might be transmuted and destroyed. It had to be. God is indeed intervening in the affairs of men, fulfilling the work begun by His manifestation in the Son of Man two thousand years ago.

“ Yet the conflicts in your world are as nothing to those in the realms contiguous to it, those dark realms where you send your evil doers in terrible procession. You are sadly mistaken if you imagine that death puts paid to a life of selfish and evil deeds. Yet the soul of the most intransigent rogue is as precious to the Father as any other. And most of your upheavals are but reflections of greater ones occurring in the unseen realms of darkness where the Light has such terrible effects.”

“ But it all seems so unjust,” I burst out, “ so many innocent people having to suffer with the guilty!”

Zerros thought for a moment before he replied. “I know there are some who think that those who suffer are paying for the misdeeds of a former life. To some extent that is true but you would be greatly mistaken if you were complacent about it. The whole concept is incomprehensible as long as you regard the person as an individual, existing alone. Only when you ponder over the universality of mankind, regarding yourself as well as all others, as having no separate existence, no possibility of living by yourself, can you begin to find justice in what seems to be so unjust.

If you sin you drag the whole of Humanity down with you, if you achieve a spiritual triumph you uplift the whole of Humanity by that extent. God cannot save you by yourself, He can only save the whole of Humanity, with not one missing. And suffering is inseparable from redemption. Moreover there is a law of compensation by which those who give themselves into the arms of remedial suffering achieve a greatness not obtainable by any other comparable means. There can be no injustice in Perfection, and the Father IS Perfection!

“ Do not lose heart, all is in perfect order, you can only delay the ultimate consummation in time, not in eternity. And God's patience is surely not endless. So you must not regard yourselves as pawns in a titanic game, or the victims of a blind evolutionary process. The end is sure and benign in the eyes of the Heavenly Father who could not possibly connive at chaos without meaning. Try and forget the present and take the long view I have tried to show you, the rescue of the whole of Humanity rather than a select few. Many many thousands are working behind the scenes in the world of spirit around you, working against the defiance of Mankind exercised through its free will, but with all the power of Omnipotence behind them. Take comfort from that thought. It is this long slow climb back to nobility of mind that has puzzled your anthropologists and made it difficult for them to see beyond the physical.

“ Those who took part in that spiritual rebellion were so driven out of the 'Sight of God' that they could no longer live in terms of Spirit and were thrown back upon their own inadequate resources. They fell into darkness and were given this supreme mercy of forgetfulness in Human incarnation, albeit the only bodies which could sustain them were of necessity crude and unintelligent. These were the indigenous inhabitants of the Earth, brute man, whom your Genesis describes poetically as the 'Daughters of Men,' while to the lovely beings in the Garden Beautiful who descended to their aid, it gives the name of 'Sons of God.' Thus there were two races upon the Earth at the same time, one ascending out of the pit of darkness on a redemptive are, and the other descending upon the evolutionary are, a spiritual are, and offering themselves for the task of helping their fallen brethren. Both races belonged to the spiritual conception which you call Man.

“ The fallen race, which postulated a fallen world, were not evolved from the Animal Kingdom, as some assert. The four kingdoms are linked in spiritual reality but not in physical expression, they did not evolve out of each other on the Earth. To evolve a Human being through association with an animal would be a poisonous mating and against Natural Law, as I shall try to show you in due course.”

Once again the time had come for Zerros to depart, always a moment of sadness to me. For I had come to love this great soul who was doing so much to illumine my understanding of spiritual matters. There was a bond between us that made it easy for him to express meanings to me that might otherwise have been obscure. With that smile of intimate sincerity that endeared him to me he began to fade away from my sight, back to that wonderful realm where he had his real being.

CHAPTER 6

THE FALL OF MAN

On a subsequent occasion Zerros continued his discourse.

“ That which your ancient records refer to as the Fall of Man was quite different from the Primal Fall. The latter took place in eternity, in spiritual realms, the Fall of Man was a continuation of that process and took place in 'time,' in other words within the dimensional world of time and space, when the defiant ones were not in the pristine nakedness of Spirit but clothed in dense bodies. Thus the harm done to them by their continued defection was not so deep or severe as that which hurled their spiritual being from the sight and guidance of the Spirit of God.

“You will recall the symbolism of your Biblical teaching, how the sons of God looked upon the daughters of men that they were fair. And how they intermarried. It means that the Adamic Race descended to the surface of the Earth through incarnation and for many centuries aided the fallen race. But as time went on they became infected with some of what you call 'original sin,' that dark stain which had perverted the souls of the sinful race, although while incarnate they were not conscious of it. Yet it seeped through their physical minds and infected all with whom they came in contact. It had to be, this wonderful sacrifice made by the Adamic Race implied that they must face and endure this infection, for it was the only way in which free will could be transcended and guided in the right direction. Where evil is impregnated within the soul the only way in which it can be got rid of is by some process of externalisation so that it may be recognised and overcome. Where you have poison in a limb you have to draw it out so that it may be destroyed.

“ But not only did the Adamic Race descend upon the Earth, as the aeons of time went on, but their whole environment fell with them. The Garden Beautiful literally melted from the stratosphere and rained down upon the cooling surface of the Earth. You must understand that in the early stages both the fallen race and the Adamic Race held bodies that in your understanding would be termed ethereal in nature, for the world was still far too hot and humid to permit of oxygen breathing processes. It was during this period that the perverted Animal Kingdom began its slow laborious processes of evolution from primeval slime. The chemicals which, in their finest expression, formed the material from which the Garden Beautiful was constructed, were those which you associate with water, hydrogen and oxygen, plus other ethers which you do not yet know. As the Garden form broke up these two chemicals were precipitated upon the heated Earth in the form of water, and this formed the primeval mists of which your records speak, the water meeting the molten soil and rising in hissing streams into the air. In a similar way your oxygenated atmosphere took form. It was much much later that the bodies of the indigenous inhabitants crystallised into Human flesh, yet they were already in existence upon this globe which was to form their terrestrial habitat through so many centuries of broken history.

“ In the early stages of physical existence the Earth was still subject to violent adjustment of its surface as the crust cooled, so that there were many and frequent earthquakes with resultant floods and subsidences. It was not strange that with all this chaotic expression of natural events together with the inherent perversion in the people the Adamic Race had come to help, they too should be overcome by this novel and difficult experience. So it was that the Garden Beautiful ceased to be expressed in form, yet its pattern, or reality, still exists, up there in the stratosphere, on a spiritual wavelength, waiting like the Sleeping Princess for the awakening kiss of the Prince of Peace, when once more it shall awaken to its real destiny and be the habitation of a rescued race of people.

“The first point of focus upon which the two races met and fused upon the Earth proper was the vast continent which existed under the collective names of Lemuria and Atlantis.” The very mention of these fabled continents aroused by instant attention, for I have always been interested in the famous story.

“As the two races crystallised into Human form more as you know it,” Zerros went on, “ there was an interchange of character, degenerative to the Adamic people, and evolutionary to the indigenous people. The fallen race killed animals for their food and subsisted entirely upon flesh and roots. The Adamic beings for a long time subsisted on the fruits of the earth and their special capacity to draw in etheric sustenance from the clear atmosphere. But in time this capacity faded and as intermarriage increased they too had recourse to animal foods and thus coarsened the fabric of their bodies, causing a further indrawing of the perversion of the fallen people through the poisoning of the bloodstream.

“ It is interesting to compare the symbology of your story in Genesis with what actually happened. You have seen how the procreative system was established in the Garden Beautiful, with all its beauty of expression. Compare this with your symbolic fable of the birth of Eve through Adam's side. But as crystallisation of the physical body set in, this method could no longer hold good and childbirth took much the same form as you know, through labour and danger.

“No longer were newcomers born as adults but perforce had to take infant form, in the initial stages being born as twins. I have told you of the parturition of the sexes on Human incarnation, well this is the point at which it became necessary. It must have been an agonising experience for the souls concerned, to be split in twain, as it were, only half of their corporate being. Yet it had to be, not only because of the system of birth into flesh but to inculcate that divine urge for reunion that was to form the life-line back into pristine state. The birth of twins meant that the separation was not wholly complete and the two halves, the masculine and the feminine principle of the whole being, were enabled to remain in contiguous existence for a varying period. But as life coarsened and the experience deepened, this merciful provision had to be withdrawn and single births became the general rule. When you reckon on the impure and difficult nature of human existence, with its proximity of good and evil, the one rubbing shoulders with the other, you can see how impossible it would have been for the complete soul, naked in all its glorious innocence, to hold and retain a physical body, with all its inherent impurities and its often terrible environment. It would have fled the body in horror. But in its bifurcation it was bereft of much of its spiritual memory of what it really was, and thus was armoured against this harsh experience.

“So each must seek the other through the endless arches of the years, unwittingly providing the urge for reunion which is that urge to regain the heights that is the ultimate destiny of all. When each severed half of one soul has learned the great lesson of Creation, to love the Creator and the Creation, which includes every living soul, then they will be ready for that divine consummation at the glory and wonder of which you can only guess. But you must not think that this divine drama of affinities was in the nature of a punishment, for Perfect Love cannot punish. It was imposed by necessity, not in the divine Plan at all. Spiritually bereft, man longs for his lost soul-mate, part of himself, but having 'drunk of the waters of Lethe,' he remembers not the real facts and so seeks union with the woman of his choice, and too often with any woman.

“You must not assume that there is any disloyalty in a man and a maid falling in love and marrying; it does not mean that they are soul-mates reunited, though that sometimes happens. For the reunion of the soul is something far far above what you call sex. And even though soul-mates may meet in incarnation during their search for Truth, they can never taste of the reality of their reunion until they have achieved that breadth of understanding wherein they could not love each other did they not love all others as themselves! Ponder that thought for it means much; if you lift the whole conception into the supreme Love of God, you will not find it so difficult to grasp. Heaven is not a Paradise for honeymoon couples! There, all is Unity, all is Perfection, all is Love! In such a conception you could not visualise a possessive love, any sort of division or separateness, any contrast. Yet in it there could be nothing static, all is a melting glory, ever fresh, ever new. But then that is something a finite mind could not possibly encompass. That is for the future.”

For a while there was silence as I pondered over the endless avenues of conjecture that opened out from this presentation of so difficult a concept. Tactfully Zerros too remained silent, his thoughts invading my mind with an illumination to light up the dark comers.

At length he spoke again. “Since that time man has never ceased to war against himself, against his environment and most of all against his neighbour. Civilisations rose and fell, often it seemed as if nothing had been accomplished, yet retrospectively it is clear that each time all that was valuable was carried forward, if not in this world then in the contiguous spiritual realms, where lived those who had tasted of human existence and profited by its lessons. Nothing is ever lost under divine planning.

“As the process of incarnation of sin-tainted souls went on, so was the evil flocculence, accumulated in those darkened realms, allowed to manifest through them, and thus was the infection gradually lessened. Through the Human body, through its processes of gestation, through its manner of excretion, was this evil accumulation given exit into the bosom of Mother-Earth, there to undergo the rectifying process into its constituent elements, a process with which you must be familiar.

“ Within the recesses of every Human soul the Light of Love burnt on, none was ever bereft. Stagnation was obviated by the divine urge that wrestled with every fainting heart, till the restless soul reached out again and again, to overcome, to conquer, to achieve that which seemed ever beyond its reach. Such was the Mercy of God.

“ Many many times has the Fall of Man been repeated in the ages that lie between. But the key to progress in this world of overcoming is to strive, to, fall, to rise again. It is better to put a foot wrong than never to put it anywhere at all. Man must fall in this difficult world, the point is that he rise again and profit through experience. Man rises on the wings of pain!

“ But do not despair my friend, man has come a long way since those primeval days, rising out of all consciousness of what he was. And if it seems to you that the darkness is deeper than ever before, remember that with God all things work together for good. The dreadful tale of your own era is but the final working out into manifestation of the remaining evil that forms the anchor holding you back from a true knowledge of the glories that await you. Already that evil is being recognised for what it is, an inhibition of the mind, and being recognised it is already losing much of its strength for no longer do the majority believe in it, they are learning that it is something that can be destroyed and dissipated. With each passing day evil means less and less in the final analysis, and with that consummation there will remain only the need for eager minds to learn the truth of their own reality. Then .... the Kingdom comes!”

Such a dazzling prospect must have left me in a dream of conjecture, for when I came to myself Zerros had gone, and only the aureole of his presence remained to comfort me in my loneliness.

CHAPTER 7

THE CRUST HARDENS

So far my visitor from other realms had shown me how intelligent life had descended into a near-physical existence on the Earth. Now he was promising me that I should see something of this primeval life.

The Earth has never been without intelligent life in charge of its progress. Always there was the throng of angelic and elemental beings weaving divine purpose into its cooling fabric, while ever and anon members of the Adamic Race would flash downward to make some imprint of their own lovely world upon its surface.

Over measureless periods of time the Mineral, Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms responded to the Divine touch, expressing something of their own beauty even through the distortion engendered by contact with the dark environment in which eager but fallen souls were waiting their chance to seek easement through incarnation into this new world. When we consider our dual descent from these widely differing races of beings, the darkened souls of the indigenous inhabitants and the splendid beauty of the Adamic Race, we can recognise the origin of the dual characteristics in ourselves, our basic lower self, the natural man, and the higher self, the nobility that too rarely shines out through adversity. There is constant struggle between the two, the one belongs to the Earth and seeks union with it, the other belongs to Spirit and ever strives for reunion with Spirit. The one lives by instinct, the other through inspiration. Between the two poles man lives and learns and progresses, suffering endless tension, yet in the main tending always upward.

As the Earth's crust hardened it became more objective and at this point Zerros was able to take me once more to see a world in the making. Changes that must have been slow, and mutations that must have covered endless generations, were swift and kaleidoscopic to us through our numerous visits over great periods of evolution. And I was able to see how, through endless cycles of birth, life and death, the evil miasma inherent in the lower Astral realms was being manifested into physical form and passed harmlessly into the soil, there to be transmuted. And it was borne in upon me that the compassionate Love of the Cosmic Christ was woven into every atom of this assembly, enshrining all in divine purpose. It became clear to me that such a sorry manifestation of living space could never have been the intention of Perfect Love but was rendered necessary by the defection of Spiritual Man. Though there was much beauty and wonder in this new-born world there was nothing to compare with the pristine beauty and ethereal charm of the Garden Beautiful. Yet because the Living Christ invested it I knew that in terms of eternity, if not in time, the days of its shame were numbered and its redemption certain.

“All is ordained in Love,” observed Zerros as he summed up his description of this primal epoch. “How could it be otherwise when a God of Love, to whom nothing is unknown and who forgets nothing, is the reality behind it all? To postulate that this grand vista of divine redemption is the process of a blind evolution is only to epitomize the narrow viewpoint of the purely intellectual outlook, based upon material values. Your able scientists demand proof, but here the proof lies in another dimension. And when you consider how the very nature and density of matter has changed since those far off days, how could any proof remain through the aeons of change and crystallisation of every constituent in your world?

“This rescue of a fallen race is a gargantuan one, beyond all knowledge. The whole Earth is invested with the Love of God, and as long as Man recognises it and strives to live in its light so long does he achieve peace of mind and sure progress. But where he opposes it with his free will Love ceases to be a warmth and becomes a Consuming Fire which burns him and causes suffering, not merely to the individual but to Humanity as a whole. But in the end nothing can stand against the all-powerful Love of God, so stupendous a Power that if it were not veiled it would burn up the planet upon the instant.

“Even when Man gains some small knowledge of these immense cosmic forces and turns them to ignoble use, thus perverting their natural characteristics, Love steps in, passing through the Prism of the Cosmic Christ, to overturn and rebuild. Small wonder that suffering ensues. Can you not see how God only seems to be careless of His Creation? It is only your lack of understanding of what is being done; the Plan is so much vaster than you can conceive, it is not tied to incidentals. Evil is eternally being righted, the world itself is being lifted in vibration, little by little, so that with each generation it is more than it was.”

Many times Zerros and I wandered through these uneasy swamps and in spite of the embryonic nature of all that we saw we could not help sensing the 'goodness' that seemed to pervade it all. The breath of Divine understanding and goodly purpose seemed to integrate and leaven the plastic soil in a way that could never be in our own day. In the splendour of a dawn, in the soft glow of a sunset, or in the ethereal beauty of the growing vegetation even in the rumble of an earthquake or the crash of a storm, one could sense a Presence, a radiant manifestation of Life, hidden only by the façade of matter. It has all gone now, for the crust has hardened and the senses of Man have become veiled beyond the vibrations at which such divinity could be perceived. The very atmosphere has condensed until its opacity distorts Human vision to the realities that lie beyond it. Only in some unfrequented spot, some high mountain top or the seabed momentarily uncovered by the falling tide, can that elusive sensation of extreme purity be regained, when you know what it is to hold all creation in your arms, and to feel the Arms of the Creator about you.

Back in my study I questioned Zerros about the relationship of the Human body to the Anthropoid Apes, upon the evidences of which so much reliance is placed by those who postulate a blind evolution.

Zerros sat for a while in deep thought. “That takes us into rather deep water,” he observed. “Your researchers hold that man consists of a body, brain and growing intelligence, derived purely from mutational evolution. And they admit that there are great gaps in their theses which they are unable to bridge; they look to find these in the future. But there is no missing link in the physical sense, they will never find it on that level. The fusion of Human and Animal flesh is against Spiritual Law, such unions could only produce a perverted species which could not be ensouled. Never did Man assume form of an animal nature through procreation.

“You will recollect that we left the erring beings who fell from Grace, confined within the density of the Lower Astral plane which surrounds your Earth, waiting for a chance to incarnate. You will understand that these beings still retained a memory of the great creative powers they had once possessed, terrible powers if used wrongly. For they had once wielded forces beside which your atomic fission is but a toy. So their very intelligence had to be veiled while they were incarnate.

“The manner of Creation, wherever it is met, can be seen to be in the form of patterns. The galaxies, the stars, every manifestation of life on your planet, presents itself in patterns. The seeding of a tree, Human generation through heredity, all is done by patterns. And these divine patterns have their real blue-prints in a dimension beyond your ken. An ape is born, like all else, from its own pattern, which may change according to environment but always remains a pattern, and it was from this undimensional pattern that the original form of Man was created, because it was the most suited to the purpose. When the form had reached a suitable stage the darkened souls were permitted to incarnate in these bodies. They were not brute animal forms but to your present understanding they were almost ethereal, quite unsubstantial, and it was only through aeons of time that they followed the trend of the Earth and became solid flesh. But of necessity they were of a very low degree of what you would recognise as intelligence.

“As these creatures progressed and became more and more fleshly, the inherent urges that filled their soul being began to manifest, urges made all the more rending by the sex separation I have already described. Prompted by the tremendous desire-force in them some of the males sought union with the anthropoids, which only now, long after the Humans, were reaching a state of physical evolution. And because there was an affinity between the two, in the pattern, monstrous creatures were born of the union. These could not be ensouled and soon died out. Thus there are evidences of ape-men, the remains of which have been discovered and have led to false conclusions. Has it not struck you how few of these there are? The bodies of the primitive men and women were not yet of such a coarseness that their remains could endure so long and so none have been found.

“It is of great importance that you should try and realise the truth of what I am trying to impart. For there is no concept so destructive to the idea of benign Godhead than this terrible thought that a God of Love has experimented with Humanity, dragging Man up through endless centuries of suffering, privation and frustration, amid a Nature which is hostile and destructive.

“I fear that you may find it difficult to make all this sound convincing in your narrative. The difficulty arises because tradition looks for concrete beginnings to Human evolution, whereas the beginning, if you can use such a word in relation to the infinite, rests upon spiritual factors. There was a mergence of the spiritual into the physical, not only of Man but of his whole environment, the descent of an infinite concept into a finite. At no point could you say that the spiritual ended and the material began. But at least you can say this, that in the cold, rational theories of evolution there can be no sort of meaning at all, while in the real story of the Earth meaning shines out with the promise, nay the certainty, of a glorious fulfilment. It is for this reason that you have to live, at present, largely by faith.”

I promised Zerros that I would ponder the whole subject before committing myself to paper. I realised then, as I still do, that Truth must be allowed to speak for itself, we cannot hope to defend it by theoretical argument. But I am convinced that there is something within us that will respond to truths which cannot be couched in words.

Time and time again, during our visits through time and space, and also as a cardinal point in his discourses, Zerros reiterated the need to recall the universality of Man which he held to be the key to understanding. “As long,” he said, “ as you hold that Man is an isolated individual, responsible only for his own integrity and capable of achieving the ultimate aim of his existence by his own efforts, so long must you flounder in a muddy sea of conjecture. But once you can instill into your consciousness that Mankind is a homogenous whole then many problems are resolved. It is natural that man should cling unduly to his personality, that he should identify himself too much with his physical being, but neither of these is immortal. The personality can change in a single lifetime, through an operation or through some deep emotional experience. Your personality is not what it was when you were a child. The fruits of experience are found in the personality, but the goodness of those fruits, or otherwise, is absorbed by what you could better term the individuality, a much more permanent attribute of the spirit. The personality may not long survive the dissolution of the body, but the individuality of the spirit goes on and on.

“This idea of unity in diversity is the principle of Creation, for after all, if God created all there is, every diverse manifestation of that creation can be traced back to the one Source. A grain of sand is but a concourse of atoms, vibrant with the Creator's Life, manifested for a purpose, the same Life which is your life! But you must not think that thereby you will someday lose your identity and be swallowed up in the primal Essence. There can be no ending of the essential 'you', for there are no such limitations in eternal Life. But as you progress you will learn so to surrender your free will to the Will of God through the utter longing of your whole being to be part of Him, that any idea of separation would be anathema to you. That is the best I can do to present the infinite in finite terms. But it is very important to try and encompass the idea with your understanding.”

I should like to describe what we saw of these early men, though that too is difficult. In the still slightly ethereal environment in which they found themselves they seemed solid enough, but they bore little resemblance to the more backward races we know today. They were enormous in stature and hirsute in appearance, and they wore a puzzled, vacant stare as if they found their surroundings difficult to comprehend. They lived mainly on fruits and roots, not yet having learned to hunt animals for food.

They were as far separated from any idea of divine creation as an empty shell is from a living crustacean. Clearly the greater part of their intelligence was in a state of torpor, they wandered about like lost souls. It was hard to believe that these poor creatures had once been glorious spiritual beings with incredible powers of creation. Such was the extent of their fall and such was the mercy of their Creator that they were given this comparatively easy way out of the pit into which they had fallen.

Once more Zerros emphasised how in their fall from high estate, they had brought with them the terrible odour of perversion which had its baleful effect upon any environment in which they found themselves. But their lack of intelligence prevented them from manifesting it except unconsciously, through the natural functions of their crude bodies, with the co-operation of the elemental beings in the soil upon which they had their being, absorbing, transmuting, rectifying the chemical perversion which had been wrongly assembled.

So, with infinite slowness, through endless generations during which these souls incarnated again and again, the upward climb began, as they were in some measure freed from the clinging miasma of their erstwhile sin. The urges engendered by the bifurcation of their souls strengthened the need to overcome their harsh environment, filling them with spiritual vitality as they became accustomed to their surroundings. The males fought and conquered a nature biased against them, while the females brought forth young in labour and pain. Together they learned the rudiments of family responsibility through the proddings of instinct. And between the two sexes there flashed the first gleams of human passion, the same pristine love they had once known but dragged down to the level on which they were now forced to live.

“While all this was happening,” Zerros explained, “the Adamic Race was already beginning its errand of mercy, descending into incarnate life, but not yet of it, manifesting in forms not visible to the fallen race. With their superior intelligence they were able to lift the thoughts of the fallen ones and inspire them with something above the purely material. These were not yet capable of faith, but they could respond to its opposite, superstition, the other side of the penny, as it were. So gradually they became aware of a power outside of themselves, a factor enhanced by the terrestrial upheavals which still shook the cooling crust of Earth. And so began the system of worship, which has never been entirely lost through the ages. Naturally its early form was crude and inspired by fear, taking the form of propitiation. In time it crystallised into organised religion; the visiting entities, which later on became actually visible to them, were given names and attributes, and thus was born the pantheon of gods which illumine the mists of mythology, whose antics, pictured by contemporary minds, have so often amused later generations.

“Presently a desire to capture and possess such contacts, which made a great appeal to the dim understanding of these people, led them to erect stone cairns and monoliths at the places where these visitors were accustomed to manifest. In this way, it was felt, the entity could be worshipped whether actually visible or not. These were gradually enlarged and decorated, and given shelter from the elements, and thus the idea of church or temple grew.

“And all this time the process of passing through the defilement which was the cause of their situation, went on, entering the soil and being dissipated there. Who is to say whether they might not have attained their goal without further aid, but evidently divine prescience knew that the process could be speeded by the introduction of a fresh and undefiled race of beings, providing a new test of their spiritual strength, far greater than their struggles against natural forces, and without which they might have lost hope and stagnated into inertia. For they were destined to meet and merge with the Adamic Race which was already incarnating into Human bodies, though infinitely superior to those inhabited by the indigenous people of the Earth. Already the Garden Beautiful was melting its environment on to the surface proper, perhaps because its pristine elegance had also been invaded by the perversion that was evident in the hardened crust below.”

It was becoming clear to me that there must be something very wonderful about Man, for the Creator could so easily have destroyed this rebellious section of Spiritual Man and allowed the remainder to grow in His purpose and design unhindered by this defection. There must be something in man which even He could not destroy, because it was part of Himself. And because He was Love itself He could only go on loving that which had sought relief in the illusory fastnesses of its own mentality. There could be no reality in the material life these people encountered, because it was so much less than 'good,' so out of touch with Divine creative beauty. So was born in me the conviction that Man is a spiritual being in reality, the only part of him that really matters, that really is immortal, that never began and could never end. And the sense life he leads is so ineffectual because it has no real meaning beyond being a stepping stone to a life beyond his imagination. And as he rises to this understanding so must his environment rise too, for it has fallen into materiality only to match his own fallen nature, held in that state only by the merciful Will of a Creator who cannot fail and whose Love will not let him go.

I cannot resist a sigh of peace and happiness at this revelation of the purpose of the Earth's destiny. How petty and transient all its material problems become when one views the prospect from this wide perspective! How Infinite the Love of the Father, while the measureless descent of the fallen race can be made the yardstick of the extent to which Man, and his environment, can and must rise. Above all the terrible thought of Divine injustice which clogs the understanding of so many seekers after Truth, was utterly annihilated. I began to see the Creator in a new light, one that was almost frightening in its immeasurable intensity.

All this and much more Zerros explained to me, emphasising the main features by actual visits to these primeval scenes. One vivid experience I call to mind. We were standing on a rocky headland looking out over a vast forest of strange, fernlike trees, immensely high. There is something rather peculiar and terrifying about primeval life. One is so close to raw nature and primitive instincts, and we found a very definite aroma of - what shall I call it? - evil intelligence? - in the atmosphere. It might have been the dark undergrowth with its hints of forbidden things, but I had an unmistakable feeling that in this seemingly peaceful scene evil lurked, I was sure of it. Zerros told me that it was because I was sensitive to the perverted creative forces which had to be employed to produce a living space in which perverted Humanity might seek its release.

Suddenly we were startled by a low vibrant murmur. It seemed to come from the air as if a great fleet of menacing bombers was approaching. We looked up expectantly as the sound increased. The harsh vibrations grew to a rhythmic roar and a moment later, over the tops of the trees, came an enormous aerial reptile; I simply could not call it a bird. As it threshed its horrid way towards us I could see it was colossal in size. It had a scaly body which shone with a sickening sort of oily iridescence, its feet hung down terminating in huge talons, while its yawning beak displayed rows of vicious teeth. Clearly a carnivorous beast.

The monstrous head yawed this way and that, as if seeking for prey; there was nothing of animal grace in any of its movements. For one ghastly moment it seemed as if our eyes met, its baleful gaze, cold and hateful, caught and held my fascinated stare. There was something utterly cruel and malignant behind those soulless eyes, it was evil incarnate, and the beast carried with it the stench of putrefaction. The thing passed above us and threshed its ponderous way onwards towards the horizon, uttering tremendous croaks that echoed over the forest. I turned and faced Zerros, horror in my eyes.

His face held a look of infinite compassion as he answered my unspoken query. “That creature was not deliberately created by God. But because of the wholesale perversion of the Earthly environment by the sinful souls imprisoned in its astral surround, every attempt to create In terms of perfection was of necessity frustrated. The evil flocculence had to be got rid of through physical means, that was the only way. That is why the early animal life and vegetation was monstrous in size and a denial of the Goodness of God. It had its purpose and fulfilled it, by passing much of this evil vibration through into the rectifying processes of the earth. As these animals lived and died they deposited in the soil their excrement and in the end, their bodies. The very chemicals of the soil were planned by Omniscient Mind for just this purpose, that they might purify and reconstitute all the poisonous matter consigned to their operations. In this the tiny bacterial life played its part. Do you not see that even in your day when you putrefying matter to the soil in the form of manure, in a short time it is rendered wholesome and fit to speed the growth of your food. Do not judge these animals for they also served their God.”

CHAPTER 8

LEMURIA

Many attempts have been made to establish the locality and proofs of the existence of this fabled continent, said to have been situated in the Pacific, but with little impact on scientific beliefs and geological evidences. The fact is that Lemuria, more than any other part of the Earth's crust, had an existence more in the ethereal than in the physical. Zerros had tried to explain to me how the Garden Beautiful literally melted into a physical condition, a whole realm descending into material constituency.

I am fully aware how difficult many must find this to accept, especially if they have any idea of geological formations and prehistoric events. We must just accept that unacceptability as evidence of how far we are from any real understanding of our true nature and that of the seemingly solid world in which we live. Our knowledge of the atomic theory has done much to explode our medieval notions of the nature of matter, but tradition and inhibited ideas die hard.

In Lemuria we have to deal with an admixture of races, where the ascending race was making rapid progress along material lines, and the descent to their rescue of the Adamic Race which was already coming under the dark spell of a people whose intellect was growing sufficiently to enable some memory of their past to invade their consciousness, bringing with it age-old desires for experiment, for conquest, for some expression of the great powers they once possessed. The task of the Adamic ones was to lift this consciousness as far above the mundane as possible so as to prevent the returning knowledge from being put to evil uses. This they did educationally and by the example they demonstrated to the inferior race. To these the shining ones from a spiritual world must have seemed