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A SHORT OCCULT HISTORY OF THE WORLD
by Rev Mario Schoenmaker

World Incarnations

The fact that you are reading this book implies several things. It implies, first of all, that you were born, that you physically exist, even though you may not remember that event. It implies that you have the faculties and the education to be able to read, even if you don't fully understand what these faculties are and how they work and how they are trained. This fact is the first principle to be grasped when one studies occultism. The present implies, contains and is built on the past. When we look at a person of forty, we know that they were once a one year old infant and that they have passed through all the stages in between. We know this, even though we may have only met them yesterday. They had had a past which has made them what they are now. And this principle applies to all things - from humans, animals, plants and minerals, to stars and suns and universes.

In occultism, of course, we go back further than birth into this present life. Occultism includes in the 'past' the events of previous incarnations. In this sense, occultism looks at the unseen or spiritual forces which cause physical phenomena. It does this, not to document the events of the past, but to discover the reason why things are as they are in the present and to predict the results or the purpose of seemingly random events. An occult view of history, therefore, looks not only at the development of all the things that make up our world, but also at the reason they began to exist in the first place. People as we now know did not appear until quite recently (cosmically speaking!) and yet we have a long history. Our present form and expression could not have appeared if it had not been prepared by previous incarnations. In our brief study of the occult history of the world, we shall look at how we developed to be what we now are.

The Spiritual Hierarchy

The origin of world and human history can be traced back, through clairvoyant investigation, to spirit and to different spiritual forces or beings. In general terms these spiritual forces can be thought of collectively as God. They are united in their purposes, although they have different expressions and powers. Christian tradition, like that of many other religions, identifies a range of spiritual beings who "work together for good". The hierarchy of nine in Christian tradition are known as the Angels, Archangels, Archai, Mights, Powers, Thrones, Dominions, Cherubim and Seraphim. There are also spiritual beings who work against good, known in the Bible as the Serpent, the Devil, and Lucifer. As we shall see, all these spiritual forces or beings have played a part in human evolution and, as a result, are themselves evolving.

The World Reincarnates

The Greek word 'cosmos' is translated in the New Testament as 'world', but its meaning and connotation extends far beyond the physical planet of Earth. One needs to think of the world in an esoteric sense as a physical planet with an etheric, astral and spiritual atmosphere emanating from it. The spiritual forces flow from the World Soul.

What applies to the world also applies to you as a physical being. Your physical body is vitalised by the etheric body, which is turn is directed by the astral body, and within this dynamic configuration your soul is to be found. Thus we find that the so-called Hermetic principle 'as above, so below' is an essential part of occult law. What happens in the universe, the macrocosm, finds its reflection within us, the microcosm.

Reincarnation is an accepted part of occultism and you, no doubt, are aware of its personal application, but have you thought of the cosmic application? If we accept the relationship between the macrocosm and the microcosm, we must realise that just as individual human souls reincarnate, so must the World Soul.

So the initial idea to be grasped when studying the evolution of the world is the idea that just as we die and reincarnate in a new physical body so the world also dies and reincarnates. For our purpose, when we refer to the world we mean not just the Earth but the whole solar system of which it is but a small part. Each world incarnation, like a human body, dies. Its life forces then reincarnate in a new solar system. Our Earth and all the life upon it and around it will eventually be devoured by fire and die. It is already in the process of dying. But the spiritual forces behind the substances that make up our Earth will then reincarnate and a new period of evolution, not only for mankind, but for all levels of the spiritual hierarchy will begin.

For reasons which will be explained later, the occultist sees the history or evolution of this world over seven incarnations. Although there are no doubt many more, we shall limit our study to these seven incarnations for they are especially relevant to human evolution. Our present solar system has had previous incarnations and will have future incarnations. In occult tradition these are known as:

1. Old Saturn

2. Old Sun

3. Old Moon

4. Earth (the present time)

5. New Jupiter

6. New Venus

7. New Vulcan

Involution is the process which brings spirit down into matter by crystallising it. This is the process that has been occurring from the beginning of time until now. As we shall see, through the intervention of the Gods and the incarnation of Christ, the process has now turned around and become evolution: matter is being transformed back into spirit. This is something that is happening in our own time and also the reason why an occult view of history is so important at the present ...

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