Max Heindel (1865–1919)

This book has been my first significant reading in the "Rosicrucian" instructions of Max Heindel, an erstwhile Theosophist who lectured, published, and organized in the US in the early decades of the 20th century. When I first acquired the volume, I supposed that it would be some sort of fanciful history regarding the two institutions that have occasioned the most absurd aspirations and paranoia in the modern West. Or perhaps it would have something to do with comparative liturgy, from an show more esoteric perspective, like one might get from C.W. Leadbeater. But no, it treats "The Cosmic Facts Underlying These Two Great Institutions As Determined by Occult Investigation"!

What that means is that it presents an anthropogony and spiritual typology in which there are two complementary, yet antagonistic, human alignments, each represented in the sphere of Western polity by one of these "Great Institutions." Freemasonry is made up of the "Sons of Cain," who are governmental, rational, magical, and masculine, operating under the Martial presidency of Lucifer and his angels. Catholicism is the vehicle of the "Sons of Seth," who are ecclesiastical, contemplative, mystical, and feminine, operating under the Lunar presidency of Jehovah and his angels. All of this is worked into a baroque Theosophical dispensationalism, summed in a gloriously crazy chart of "Evolution Under Human and Superhuman Rulers" between pages 56 and 57. That chart shows humanity developing from a hermaphroditic vegetative state, through the sexual division idealized in the masculine Hiram Abiff and feminine Virgin Mary, to a future post-sexual New Jerusalem.

While Heindel disclaims any formal Masonic initiation on his own part, he professes a greater sympathy with the Masonic alignment than the Catholic one. Much of the book is given over to his recounting of a myth that he attributes to Masonic lore, a variant on biblical narratives in which Eve was prior to Adam, and mother to Cain by Lucifer. Cain was thus "the widow's son" because of Lucifer's desertion of Eve. King Solomon and Hiram Abiff are presented as the chief agents of Jehovah and Lucifer, respectively, in a story regarding Solomon's sexual jealousy for the Queen of Sheba. Solomon is reincarnated as Jesus of Nazareth, but has to vacate that body for the career of the Christ who takes over at his Jordan baptism. And Lazarus is the reincarnated Hiram Abiff, raised by Christ. (Got all that?)

Along the way, Heindel also discusses certain notions of practical occultism, particularly a reading of alchemy focused on psychology and diet. At one point, he indicates that Rosicrucian adepts can take on new bodies, somewhat like Time Lords regenerate in Doctor Who (63-65).

I cannot credit this book with much value in terms of fact, sentiment, or potential to inspire, but it was sufficiently novel and entertaining that I cannot say I will never read further in the works of its author. show less

According to the introduction by Manly P. Hall, Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine was the earliest of Max Heindel's writings on mysticism, composed as a pair of lectures for the Theosophical Society in Los Angeles, and its posthumous publication in 1933 made it the last of his works to see print (11). Other than the useful data on the provenance of the text, Hall's introduction presents both Heindel and Blavatsky as moral exemplars, and exhorts neo-Rosicrucians and Theosophists to regenerate show more and maintain the putative holiness of their legacies.

The introduction is followed by an unattributed twelve-page hagiography of Heindel, emphasizing the challenges of his ill-health, just as he stressed Blavatsky's in his treatment of her. His final words are said to have been addressed to his wife: "I am all right dear" (29).

The first of the two lectures, here given as Chapters I-III, was on the history of the composition of The Secret Doctrine. Heindel admits to drawing freely on the relevant portions of Oclott's Old Diary Leaves, and since I had read that material, there was little here that came as news to me. Heindel insists on HPB's lack of material resources and native incapacity for literary production as evidence for her praeternatural inspiration, much as Mohammed is said to have been illiterate. He also compares her to Martin Luther as a "staunch and unflinching ... reformer" (38).

The second lecture is two further chapters: one on the content of "Cosmogenesis," the first volume of The Secret Doctrine, and the other on "Anthropogenesis," the second. I will admit to having attempted study of the original work, and Heindel's glosses seem accurate as far as they go. They do include substantial quotation from the "Stanzas of Dzyan," which are the alleged archaic nucleus of HPB's Doctrine. Evidently I lack the "perseverance and intuition" (57) which Heindel sets out as requirements for successful readers of The Secret Doctrine, because I have found it less illuminating than other conspicuous works of its author, such as Isis Unveiled and The Voice of the Silence. Taking Heindel's summaries as given, I cannot see why these metaphysical yarns should incline their students to any particular forms of practice or purity of contemplation.

Appended to this short book are a few pages of "Aphorisms" by Heindel. These are in fact pithy quotations from larger works, and evidently not written as aphorisms. They are all, as far as I can tell, from Heindel's later period of Christian neo-Rosicrucian teaching, and do not relate to the Theosophical material of the main text.

Blavatsky and the Secret Doctrine is perhaps a useful curiosity for someone researching Heindel or his Rosicrucian Fellowship. As an occultist's retrospective study of Blavatsky and the development of her teachings in The Secret Doctrine, it is inferior to the equally idiosyncratic but much later Book of Dzyan by Tim Maroney. show less

'The Rosicrucian Mysteries' functions as a kind of primer for the Rosicrucian Fellowship and, by extension, the mystery teachings of the western occult tradition. Its author, Max Heindel, became the early 20th century messenger of Rosicrucianism; it is now the first decade of the twenty-first century, and this communication is approximately one hundred years old. Mr Heindel makes a reference in the introductory chapter to his having been 'chosen' as the modern bearer of these teachings by an show more order of non-physical beings intent on revealing the material to a modern civilization. With the arrival of the twentieth century, Heindel writes, it was realized that something must be done to make religion scientific and science religious. The body of his writings - to which this current volume forms an approachable introduction - appears not only to impart a great deal of information on the esoteric Christian tradition, but also form an early attempt to synthesize science and religion, whose two paths had by then already diverged.

Speaking to us from the 1900's however, Heindel's scientific terms are somewhat dated, and so his references to innovations like the dynamite bomb, the x-ray machine and the modern telescope cause his material to come across as an antique curiosity at times. Social mores, when referred to, are based on 19th century conceptions. And a passage suggesting that racial characteristics will correspond to degrees of spiritual maturity can neither be overlooked nor accepted by a contemporary audience, regardless of the spirit in which it was intended. In this sense, it may be more worthwhile nowadays to turn to any number of contemporary writers who have sought to spin the implications of quantum theory into mysticism. So at times, one must read as a kind of esoteric archaeologist, and it profits one to be already familiar with the basic concepts. But it must be remembered that this work is an 'elementary exposition,' and was very likely written to attract the attention of large numbers of people. Those craving more meat would eventually turn to more complex volumes and eventually graduate to Heindel's magnum opus, The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception.

Though dated in tone, this book still resonates with a subtle power. There are hints that great treasure and deep inner communion can be found by the sincere seeker. If read quietly, without mental clamor, the underlying precepts continue to speak for themselves. show less

The antisemitism was off-putting.