Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl[1]
Predictions and Prophecies.
[Weissagungen und Prophezeiungen.]
Question: What about predictions, prophecies, divination and the like?
Answer: The only thing that can be said with certainty is that one cannot rely on them; for one can only know with certainty what one experiences oneself. Yet there is no doubt that the human mind has an inherent ability, though seldom developed, to see clearly into the future, and that through inspiration in waking and dreaming we can gain glimpses of future events. Prophecies relating to future world events, insofar as they are not based on scientific foundations and logical conclusions, usually have very little value and the dates contained therein are particularly worthless, because the soul, when it sees something in its higher state, during this state above time and space, and consequently has no standard for it. “Fortune telling” basically means “telling something true.” In order to say something true, one must first of all “perceive” something; but most divinations are based on daydreams, fantasies, imaginations and are often outright lies. There is often some real intuition involved; but what good is a prediction if you don’t know if it will come true? Most divinations are based on thought or rather emotional transference. What one wishes in the bottom of one’s soul to happen or fears that it might happen, is reflected in the mind of the soothsayer and one receives it back as a prophecy clothed in words. It is often the case that one imagines that the prophecy must come true and one helps and does everything possible so that it can also come true.
Nevertheless, there are numerous examples of prophecies which have actually come true and some of them are known from history. These include, for example, the well-known fact that during the time of the French Revolution (1788) at a dinner party consisting of academics, writers, councilors and noble ladies, a Mr. Cazotte explained to most of those present their manner of death in detail, as well as the execution of the King and the Queen (October 16, 1793), the Duchess of Grammont, the Lord of Nicolai, Bailly, Malesherbe, etc., with their attendant circumstances, all of which came to pass. Cagliostro also saw ahead, the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, at a time when royalty was in full bloom and no one thought of the possibility of an overthrow.
The modern spiritualistic, occult and mystical literature abounds with reports of fulfilled prophecies of death and other events, and it has often happened to me that in my half-sleep some, often quite insignificant event which will occur the next day, with all the ancillary circumstances, has been predicted to me. Such insignificant events include the unexpected meeting of an acquaintance, the arrival of a letter, a conversation with a stranger, etc. But events of great importance also cast their shadows. So, for example, the great earthquake of Messina was foreseen and prophesied by various people a few days beforehand.
If one asks how it is possible to foresee apparently random encounters on the street or other events, the answer is to be found in the fact that there is no accident without a cause, and that everything that happens to someone, and every event, no matter how insignificant, has its specific cause. The spiritual abilities of the human soul are still too little known to say that the spirit cannot look into the future just as well as into the past. Suppose that the clear-sighted eye of eternity sees everything, as in a panorama, which appears to the earthly eye as a passing shadow play of successive images.
The daily newspapers report the following:
“A lady from Roman society, who had been suffering from a nervous disorder for several months, had already died on December 2nd B.C. J. foretold the catastrophe which would shatter Messina and devastate Calabria. The lady, who belongs to one of the most respected noble families, had Dr. Sarti be fetched in a hurry after a night spent in frighteningly excited conditions. The doctor tried his best to calm the patient down, but was only successful when he promised to give the king a letter she had just written. In this letter she implored the king to come to the aid of the city of Messina, which was threatened by a terrible elementary event. “I see how earth and sea unite for the purpose of destroying the beautiful city. The terrible event happened on the 18th or 28th day.” The doctor, who was firmly convinced that he was dealing with the hallucination of a hysterical woman, put the letter in his pocket and explained to the lady on his visit the next day that he had duly ordered it. The patient then became calmer and agreed to eat and drink something and to take the prescribed medicine.
On the night of December 7th she had another terrible hysterical attack. She rolled in convulsions, screamed and kept asking if the king had allowed Messina to be evacuated. The nights of December 17th and 27th took a no less exciting course, and on the 27th the nervous crisis reached such a worrying climax that those around thought the patient was lost. Peace did not set in until December 28, and the patient fell into a deep sleep. The accident had happened.” (Neues Wiener Journal.)
Prayer.
Question: What is the purpose and benefit of prayer?
Answer: The awakening and elevation of that spiritual self-consciousness which is the revelation of the Godhead in man.
If you go into a Christian church and hear the prayers that are held there very often, many a thinking person will be amazed at what is required of God or what is advised to him, and the question arises:
What petty notions these people must have of the God of the universe if they think that he allows himself to be persuaded and influenced by them; for even if there were a personal, foreign God with human qualities, he would probably know himself what he has to do and need not consult the clergy or have his actions dictated to him by the believers. A whole list of wishes is often presented to the deity to be fulfilled, while the petitioners sit back and do not think about helping themselves. After all, it is much more convenient to expect someone else to fulfill one’s duties than to fulfill these duties oneself. In this case, “praying” is an expression of selfishness and might more properly be called “begging.”
We don’t want to talk about such naive things as, for example, that in one and the same place the gardener asks for rain and the potter for sunshine, or that two hostile armies each ask the same god to give them victory. In the end, such an external god would no longer know whose wish he should fulfil. But if the warrior’s self-awareness and self-confidence is raised through prayer, this circumstance alone can be sufficient to bestow the strength and perseverance necessary for victory.
There it says, for example, in the prayer book; “O Lord! Feed the poor, feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, keep watch over those who sleep, and demonstrate your wonders in every place.” Addressed to an external foreign god, such a prayer has no meaning, but rather is a foolish presumption; but there is a hidden meaning and a secret power in it; because it contains the suggestion for the devout to do what he asks of God and thus to be a willing tool of the divine spirit indwelling him. In other words, he prays to his own higher Self, approaches it by raising his soul to it, and thereby demands spiritual strength from it, and by his desires extending not only to his own good but to the good of all, his love for the big picture is awakened and egoism is subdued. The animal can also ask and beg. The power of prayer, which springs from religious feeling, is the only thing that distinguishes man from the animal and elevates him above his own nature. Lessing says: “A single thankful look to heaven is the most perfect prayer”; but gratitude is nothing if it is not felt within the soul.
Month stones and amulets.
The belief in the influence of the stars and in the effectiveness of amulets has its scientific basis, which is obvious to anyone who has recognized the nature of astrology. This reason is that like acts on like and unites with like. Just as a cherry stone planted in the ground attracts from its surroundings what it needs in order to grow and become a cherry tree, or like the magnet attracts iron, so too certain precious stones attract the influences of the stars related to them. But these influences are everywhere and the closer we get to the luminous center from which they emanate, the stronger their effect has on us. The “sun,” for instance, is everywhere, inside us and outside us; we feel its life-giving influence within us and see the luminous body, the source of life in the sky. The situation is similar with the planets and the stars, which form the twelve signs of the zodiac. The inner man is formed from the influences of the heavenly bodies, and in each one there reigns that power which corresponds to the heavenly sign which was predominant at the hour of his birth, when he took his first breath; because with the first breath the life of nature moved into him. If the influence of Mars ♂︎ is particularly strong at this time and place where he was born, “Mars” will also be dominant in him, he will have an energetic and perhaps passionate temperament. If he is born under the influence of Jupiter ♃, this imparts to him a sense of the sublime. It is similar with the other planets and with the signs of the zodiac. A human, e.g., who is born under the influence of Scorpio ♏︎ is different in character from another born under Sagittarius ♐︎ or Aquarius ♒︎.
From the knowledge of this law of nature arises the custom of wearing so-called “stones of the month”; i.e., certain gems, the nature of which corresponds to the influence of a particular celestial body under which the man in question was born. As a rule, every sensitive person also feels this influence and his real “monthly stone” is the one which he likes most of all the precious stones.
The following table gives the times of the reign of each sign of the zodiac and the names of the signs corresponding to them:
Even among the metals, plants and animals, each star has its representatives. Says e.g., Theophrastus Paracelsus: “Melissa” is not only on earth but also in heaven. Every physical form is the outward, visible expression of its underlying invisible astral organization from which it receives its vibrations and qualities.
Note
[1] Theosophical Correspondence. Predictions and prophecies; Prayer; Month stones and amulets. [Theosophische Korrespondenz. Weissagungen und Prophezeiungen; Das Gebet; Monatssteine und Amulette. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Neue Lotusblüten 2, no. 3-4 (March-April 1909), 113-124]