In our earlier orientations we spoke about how every human being who seeks renewal of life must undergo a unique process of transformation.

The foundation of this process is the central principle in the human being: the rose of the heart. This principle is of a totally different nature than the nature we know so well, which swings between the poles of life and death. It belongs to another order, the divine nature.

Anyone who begins the path of renewal comes into contact with this other vibration, the vibration of the imperishable, divine life. It is a higher nature we need make space for, in ourselves and in our lives.

As J. van Rijckenborgh explains:

On one side stands the nature of life, on the other the nature of death. The candidate who chooses life departs from the nature of death. Between these two there opens a third state, neither one nor the other. This third state is the way itself. The path is not simply there, waiting. It must be awakened. It must be made.

The moment you decide to walk the way that bridges the two extremes, death and life, you begin to form this third nature in yourself. It is your own way, and on this path no one else can walk for you. It begins when you begin.

True Knowledge and the New Soul

In our time there is an abundance of information about human development. We understand a lot about how the personality works, and the internet offers endless streams of so-called spiritual teachings.

But we must not forget: true seeking is not about the personality knowing many things. True knowledge is to live in accordance with the light of insight.

We must be clear: the Gnostic path is not about the development of the ego-self, but about the awakening of the new soul. Only the new soul can restore the link with the Spirit.

Catharose de Petri writes:

When a seeker has found the key that opens the liberating path of the soul, but does not yet know how to use it, confusion arises at once. For this reason spirit, soul, and body must be led toward unity, through transmutation of matter and through transfiguration of the soul. It is about the Other in the human being. The Other must grow, and the ego, the “John-being,” must decrease. Not the physical person is destroyed, but the old self makes way for the soul, who alone can connect with the Spirit.

The Invitation of the Alchemical Wedding

In the story of The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreuz, the seeker receives a mysterious invitation.

One evening before Easter, as he sat at his table, a radiant figure appeared and laid a letter before him. It was the long-awaited invitation to a wedding.

And though Christian Rosenkreuz had longed for it with all his heart, when he finally received it he was overcome with trembling. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, for he knew his own imperfection. “I found in myself nothing but ignorance and blindness. I saw that my outer life and even my brotherly love were not as pure as I had imagined.”

The invitation to the wedding between spirit and soul is written in every human heart. When it reaches us, it can shake our lives to the core. To receive it is to be called to the real life.

Choosing the Path

When Christian Rosenkreuz accepts the invitation and sets out, he soon comes to a crossroads. Which way should he choose? He sits down, shaxres his bread with a white dove, only to see a raven snatch it away. He instinctively chases after the raven, to protect the dove.

And in that moment, without knowing it, he steps onto the right path. For once the true decision is made in the heart, one cannot turn back. A new consciousness has been born.

To accept the invitation of the light means to see that we ourselves have always placed our ego at the center, rather than God’s plan. To accept the invitation is to choose: to walk toward the new soul-spirit nature, instead of continuing in the old, familiar nature. It is a fundamental change.

Clearing the Way

The human being who has recognized the Gnostic path feels a deep and strong longing for freedom and renewal. They may not yet understand it in detail, but they are drawn to it.

True freedom is found only in harmony with the eternal laws of the divine creation. These laws lie hidden in the seed of every human being, as the plan of the plant lies hidden in the seed. To open to the light is to cooperate with this great plan.

This light is called the Christ force: the love-power of the divine nature, breaking into this world of time to seek and redeem what was lost.

As the Gospel says:

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

“Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

When we walk the path of renewal in practice, united with the light, we receive a new judgment, a new insight, an expanded consciousness. We begin to live with awareness.

Walking the Path

In the radiant field of universal truth there is finally only one choice left: to walk our way in the light and power of Gnosis, and to let that One liberating life shine through our daily practice.

We may wish for a full overview of the path from beginning to end, but it cannot be given that way. The path unfolds step by step, in a continual process of purification and attunement. It is not enough to understand it intellectually. The point is to become conscious of it inwardly, to live it.

This is the great task of a spiritual school: to bring the message of the living healing that lies in Gnosis, to all who are ready to rise from the natural soul to the spirit-soul.

As Johann Valentin Andreae’s Alchemical Wedding reminds us, this invitation is addressed to all who long for the living knowledge of liberation, and who are willing to dedicate themselves to it.