The herald., 1896-12-21
THE THEOSOPHISTS.
II. A. Gibson at Blavatsky Hall, West
Fifth Street.

H.. A. Gibson was the speaker at the
morning meeting at Blavatsky hall, 525
West Fifth street. He prefaced his lee
ture by few words on the Christmas
festival. Ages ago the Egyptians and
many other nations celebrated this sea-
son of the year as national festival of
great pomp and impressive ceremony. 1t
is what we term the winter solstice. at
which time the days begin to lenghten
and the night to shorten, as illustrative
of the fact of the ultimate supremacy
Of good over evil light over darkness.
joy over sorrow, etc. This gave the peo-
pie a very deep and hopeful thought.
few centuries ago the Romish church
with her accustomed shreWdness, see
ing some OF her people engaging in the
.heathen' festival. forthwith instituted
one similar in her Christian calendar
adapted TO the religion she represented.
Professionalism, after protesting, latterly
adopted it and we have our Christmas
We have left out the deeper significance
and have time of general merry max
ing Careful comparison with older re-
ljgions reveals the fact that the CHRIST
fan faith is a patchwork system cut out
of more ancient forms and ceremonies
and discarding it's beautiful symbols
and allegories is materialized as at pres
emf. Christ and Jesus are generic terms
-"born of a virgin" Is found in all re-
lig:ons These world wide terms ana
allegories apply not to one man or faltn
or class. but refer to the evolution ana
perfectabiity of every soul i'll us jour-
ney through form.
AT HEADQUARTERS. SOUTH MAIN.
Lecture on Evolution of the Soul.
delivered by Miss G. Nelson last
night.
She said in part that among the
MANY mysteries which enshroud our
lives on all sides and present them
selves to the enquiring mind to pc
solved is: How did this universe, with
all its various manifestations, come into
existence, and above all why does IL
exist? Let us not say that these ques-
tions can never be answered, for we
have no reason to believe that there is
any limitation to the capability or the
human mind in its course of evolution.
We have at the close of the nineteenth
century accomplished wonders in the
mechanical realm by great inventions
and discoveries of machinery which
will without doubt bring about new
social order as the performance of mo-
chanical actions and mere drudgery VIII
not be needed so much while the mind
will be forced on to greater activity,
thereby becoming more able to pierce
deeper into the inner laws of nature.
We are gradually advancing, step by
step, and the theory of evolution which
has of late years taken such firm
hold on the minds Of people is great
step above the theory of creation, which
tied us down to the idea of a personal
Creator whom we invested with great
power and virtue. such as being all Just,
wise and good, but whom nevertheless
created very wicked beings and gave
Of fn a
and pain, while others to JOY and bliss.
Evolution gives room for no such per-
sonality; as all is a gradual attainment,
the present direct outcome of the past,
as there can be no effort without cause.
Now theosophy differs slightly with
the generally accepted idea of evolution.
1t does not hold that everything Is due
to blind force and matter but it holds
that there is third principle involved,
namely, consciousness. or spirit; that
mysterious life essence that expresses
itself throughout all Kingdoms of ma
ture, gradually unfolding and gaining
power to express itself in more and more
perfect forms until the human form is
attained. Here the evolution of the
reasoning power commences, and the
philosopher who expressed that the
soul Is latent in the mineral, asleep IN
the vegetable and dreaming in the an
imal, while it awakens in the hui
man, uttered great truth. Everything
in nature is singing the one song of ever
becoming. The soul is a cradle in
the infinite bosom of mother nature
until reaching the state of men, where it
is to a great extent given over to its
own responsibility to develop the spark
of reasoning power, which at first
burns very low, while its desires and
passions ever impel it to action, which
produces reaction of pain or pleasure,
teaching it that certain things are 10
be avoided, certain things to be obey
ed. Thus memory and judgment
develop But let us not forget that
it is not only eternal objects that
lead us on but something internal. the
God within the spiritual ray which, like
the sun, shines on all, which ever i'm
pels us to seek for something higher
than ourselves to form ideals which
ever delude our grasp No sooner is
one reached before another looms up in
the far away horizon. We thus ever toll
onward, purifying, strengthening AMI
refining our character that by expert
ence becomes more and more complex.
The soul must obey the eternal law of
rest and activity, or expansion and con-
traction. During life it expands to its
utmost. while at death it retires into it's
own realm to make the fruit of the har.
vest just gathered into a power of its
own, preparing for new season of ac-
tivity.
We may carry our idea much further
of the evolution of the soul, but enough
is already said to give a hint that pos
sibly the saying may be true that the
whole universe came into existence and
exists for the purpose of education