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THE GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH
THE ZODIAC MESSAGES
"THOUGHT"
Some teachings given by Zodiac through the mediumship
of Miss Winifred Moyes in the first part of the twentieth
century
(The Extract from
"The Effect Of Thought" is after this Address)
-
"FATHER of Love, we commend ourselves to Thee
tonight knowing that Thou hast provided all that is
necessary, and that all that is asked from us is just
faith and trust and confidence - faith in the call
of the Spirit which we have heard; trust in Thy promises
which never fail; confidence in all the Love which
is centred on and around Thy children. Yes, confidence
in that mighty power of the Spirit which has been shown
many times, under conditions which may be adverse,
but which are swept aside; because it is Thy will that
those on earth who wish to gather in the Truth as it
stands - without adornment, without the misconceptions
to which the physical mind is so prone - that to those
who wait the Truth direct from Thee shall come.
-
"O Father, grant that we with willing and happy
hearts may meet together evening by evening; that the
love and sympathy of those on earth shall contact with
the love and sympathy which comes so freely from those
released from the body; and that the intermingling
of the two may not only make the understanding complete,
but the communion as perfect as can be.
-
"Render unto us tonight the gift of peace and
the gift of revelation; so that we may turn ever and
ever again to our task, with renewed assurance that
Thou hast called us, and are using us to call others.
Amen.
-
"GOOD evening! my children, and I hope tonight
that you feel as closely in touch with me as possible.
Of course you argue among yourselves that Zodiac, having
passed through so many experiences, having lived in
a time altogether different from your own, having -
as you put it - allied himself to Christ right down
the ages, that it is hardly to be expected that he
should not be influenced by the tremendous gap which
obviously lies between his view point and your own.
-
"Well, dear children, I have to go back again
and again on these little points because it is necessary
for many reasons hidden from you at this stage - it
is necessary that you should be able to come to me
even as a child to its trusted Mother and to feel that
there are no barriers in between us at all.
-
"Has it not occurred to you that The Master would
hardly have sent me into your midst if I had been so
ill-equipped to understand my children's point of view?
Has it not occurred to you as well that it would be
a tremendous waste of time and of effort to have linked
myself to you in this sweet way if I were not able
to say at the same time: 'There are no barriers, there
are no obstacles of the mind or body which are strong
enough to intervene between me and my children.'
-
"Now, little ones, I do not want you to make any
reservations. I am not only speaking to you here but
I am speaking with added emphasis to all those who,
week by week, read these records - records of communion
between those who are free and those who for a little
while are bound to physical life. I say, with no qualification
whatever, that I understand each point of view entirely;
and more than that, their lives - long before they
took on a body of flesh - their lives were laid out
before me down to the minutest detail, and there are
some in the happy days to come who will be able to
go back on the past and mentally put a finger on this
incident and on that and to recognise that, by the
grace of God, I was there and I was used by my Master
to divert that life into its right and finest channel.
-
"Children, there are some amongst the younger
ones who still think: 'Ah! yes! Zodiac is more in touch
with those who are farther on, those who have suffered
much, those who by self-discipline have brought the
physical will - for the most part - into harmony with
God.'
-
"Again, dear children, you are wrong. Those who
as yet are finding the road both long and steep - these
of necessity need my ever guiding, watchful care; and
so I ask them to take me into their thoughts in as
companionable a way as can be conceived, for only by
this close contact can I protect them, can I lift them
out of the passing clouds which the shadows bring along
in order to cast a shade on the brightness of the Love
the Father has for all His children.
-
"Well, little ones, tonight we are met together
for a variety of reasons and as we go on those reasons
will be shown to you, and I think you will agree that
in themselves they constitute a memorable evening.
Yes, the peace of God is here, His angels are protecting
you all, and around them is a rainbow of Light which
is coloured in a way I scarce can explain because,
dear children, the colours of your world are not a
true parallel of the colours which run through the
worlds of the Spirit - which indeed are part of their
composition, if I may use that word in a spiritual
sense. Think then to your selves 'All, all is well!'
- and the Voice of the Spirit shall be heard out of
the Silence proclaiming that which is of God, that
which belongs to the Life Everlasting - to all that
Eternity which cannot be fathomed by any mind except
that of its Creator.
-
"Tonight then, dear children, in quietness and
peace we will consider one or two points which so often
cause discussion among those who, necessarily, are
limited by the physical mind and still more so by the
viewpoint of the world.
-
"In the days of old there was much prophesying,
there was much fore-telling of events, and it was the
custom then (long since died out, alas!) for the people
- the masses to congregate together or to approach
the great teachers of their time and to ask in faith
for direction. And, dear children, the one chosen by
God to demonstrate His purpose - as far as might be
- always rose to the occasion, and guidance of a gigantic
character was not only forthcoming but was followed
without questioning by those who asked.
-
"Dear children, that is a point which many are
apt to overlook; indeed those fast rising doubts make
it difficult for them to see beyond the concrete, beyond
the present and to place their faith in any future
whatever. Yet I would ask you to consider this in a
spiritual way. Again and again there have been those
crises in the history of nations which indeed have
caused a thrill of fear to run through the hearts of
all. But when brought face to face with a catastrophe
which seems imminent then humanity as a whole discovers
that also it is Spirit. Yes, that in that intricate
physical organism there is, mysteriously hidden, something
within which can not only seek its God but which is
driven to do so by its necessity.
-
"Oh, dear children, if only these half-awakened
children could realise the power which is within their
reach they would be able to alter entirely the trend
of thought, and thereby the history of the world. Yes!
it is a gigantic truth. Over and over again you have
seen, even within your own short experience, that prayer
- concentrated prayer - is a mighty force, that it
has had the power to stem the tide of evil, that it
has had the power to lighten the weight of physical
affliction, that it has had the power to regenerate
the Spirit of God within the individual, even if it
be but for a short period that the awakening lasts.
-
"My children, those of you who love your country,
those of you who with bigger view can extend that love
to humanity - I appeal to you all to forever spread
this truth: That concentrated, earnest prayer is unlimited
in its power and effect.
-
"On all sides you hear rumours of war; nay, I
speak not only of those battles between man and man
but I refer to war in its wider aspect - to all those
contentious questions which are being raised everywhere,
in every country and which, for the most part, are
ignored as something too unpleasant, too uncomfortable
to be heeded.
-
"Children, tonight I make a pronouncement which
is rather serious in its inner meaning: I tell you
all that these disturbances of thought, this hatred
one for the other, those many desires for power, for
influence, for the prize of controlling others - that
all these emotions are stirred into active being by
those who are determined that evil shall overcome good.
-
"Of course, dear children, that is impossible,
as you know. All that the strongest evil can do is
to delay the working out of the great good which God
intends, and which God has laid down shall be the gift
of man. Yes! dear children, we have got to face this
matter both frankly and sanely, and I want you by your
thoughts to try and steady others. When you hear of
a world war, when there are those who whisper sinister
things as to the 'punishment' which must overtake both
the sinful and the followers of Christ who now inhabit
this little plane - when this talk goes round argue
not against it but rather tell them the remedy, the
remedy which is prayer.
-
"Children, right through the ages there have been
scourges, there have been destructions to life and
property which have been grievous to witness - and
it must be so. It must be so for this great spiritual
reason - that when things go well, when the conditions
of physical life improve beyond a certain measure,
then instead of the heart and mind of the individual
being raised to God in thanks, the heart and mind of
the individual turns to the things of the earth and
binds and rebinds itself to the chains of the flesh
and all that it represents.
-
"So sad is history in one sense, so sad to think
that man - a child of God - that man could be so blind.
Yet, dear children, again and again that journey of
obstruction is shortened by one of those so-called
catastrophes which, by the very nature of its horror,
brings man back to his soul's quest, insofar as it
awakens within the voice of conscience, the voice which
says: 'Take care!'
-
"Tonight, dear children, I want to leave in your
minds no sense of uneasiness as to what lies in front
of your little world, but rather to show you, as far
as I am able, that it is within the capacity of each
and everyone not only to save themselves but also to
save the generations which are to come.
-
"Thought, dear children, has such building power;
thought when rightly directed - by which I mean directed
to Light and not to darkness - that power of thought
is not only used to help the ones concerned but even
as a harvest is stored to be called upon in time of
need.
-
"Oh, my children, let not your vision be darkened
by anything which is of the earth, but also let not
the earth stand between you and the great hunger of
the Spirit within; that hunger, that longing, that
striving, that intense desire is indeed of God - and
indeed must be forthcoming if humanity is to make any
great stride towards the wonderful goal which lies
in front - the goal which must be reached by every
one.
-
"Tonight then, dear children, I ask you to be
on your guard still more closely over the thoughts
which find a holding in the physical mind. This is
of the utmost importance for it means that one day
when you need that bulwark of spiritual thought - one
day a brick here and there will be missing, and through
the apertures the darts which cause so much pain to
the heart and mind - through the apertures those darts
will be sent, and while we can heal the wounds, yet
because that bulwark was of your own building we cannot
prevent them from striking the physical heart and mind.
-
"Yes, the power of thought is a subject to which
there is no end; it is a subject which has had a certain
amount of attention upon earth, but in proportion to
its value it has been neglected indeed.
-
"Children - I speak to you all - one day you will
have to recognise that thoughts are things; one day
you will have to contemplate how those thoughts - which
were of you and yet not of you - how these were used
to divert your heart's desire from finding its rightful
resting place in your arms.
-
"The Spirit discriminates, it is true; but the
physical mind, so careless, so unused to be on its
guard - the physical mind has the power, not to wreck
the plan but indeed to mar some of its beautiful outlines,
some of that exquisite design to which the Spirit gave
the greatest prayer and thought.
-
"Children, I divide the Spirit from the physical
mind, and if you could see things as they are you would
know that you were not dual but that in each one there
is a trinity, separate yet making a complete whole
- body, soul and Spirit.
-
"The physical mind, as it were, has its eyes focussed
on the present - on the bright, big colours, unable
to get any true vision of detail in its real sense.
The physical mind - blunted by the body, immersed in
interests which for the most part are of a transitory
character - the physical mind functions on its own,
because freewill cannot be interfered with and as yet
the Spirit is buried beneath the things of the world.
-
"That, dear children, is a rough outline of those
who as yet have not found their God, and of course
it varies in degree, but in the main, that is how the
physical - the body is represented.
-
"And then you come to the soul; and to use an
illustration in rather a free way, the soul is like
a garment upon which much has to be drawn and worked.
Yes, worked in with a minuteness of detail which is
beyond your understanding. Now, dear children, I used
the word 'drawn' and it is something like this: The
events of your physical life, the incidents and the
experiences which the Spirit intends that it will go
through - these are, as it were, drawn in faint outline
on that which represents the soul. Yet, as you will
perceive, it is but an outline merely, and the going
over even of that outline has to be done while the
physical experiences take place in their sequence.
-
"Here we bring in that subject of 'fate', we bring
in that gigantic hypothesis that as life on earth is
planned it is no use resisting the tide which takes
you on.
-
"That, dear children, I will explain, but first
of all think of it like this: On the one side there
is the physical mind - limited, in some cases literally
crippled by the obstructions which it has gathered
to itself. On the other you have the Spirit - that
which is all pure, that which is of God Himself; and
between the physical and the spiritual the struggle
goes on. On the one hand the Spirit is striving that
that outline shall be traced in with the precision
which it intended, that the weaving in of this and
of that shall be in harmony, that the bright colours
shall blend with those which are less bright, that
even the darkest shall contribute their beauty to that
which will remain for all time. Yes, fighting and struggling
it does what many will never understand until the mind
of the body is laid aside. Over and over again the
situation, as it were, is saved; some devastating,
destructive work is averted and, moreover, the Spirit
sends back the physical mind over the same ground again
and again until that part of the tracery is true to
the great design.
-
"Children, you see the 'trinity' - and I would
not have you think that the soul is represented by
a garment merely, although that word 'garment' expresses
both the physical body and the soul body as nearly
as is possible.
-
"Now, dear children, listen to me! Those who are
seeking to find The Master, those who have found Him
and yet at times drift a little away - these unconsciously
have handed over the domination of their destinies
to the Spirit, while the physical mind has lost what
it once held so rigidly.
-
"You see what I am trying to teach: that apart
from anything else the wish to find Christ immediately
reverses the balance of power, and though the physical
mind may err on this and on that, although its treacheries
may be many, yet because that deep decision of the
physical will has been made so the Spirit is able to
make good that which otherwise might have marred -
might have hindered the beauty which was in the process
of execution.
-
"Children, I want you to get this clear in your
mind. Sooner or later that garment which the soul body
represents has to be finished according to the Spirit's
desire, and I ask you to think it over and to reason
it out within yourselves: Isn't it wiser to try more
and more to help the Spirit by your thoughts? Isn't
it only practical to so hold the reins of the physical
mind that the tracing of the outline can be done once
and for all with no retracing to make that which is
ugly straight and neat?
-
"By 'thought' you can not only complete the outline
of the design but you can fill it in in a way no words
can describe. Children, I would tell you that there
have been those who have done even better than the
Spirit set out to accomplish during the earthly stages.
To you this sounds impossible, I know. Have I not said
that the Spirit is ambitious indeed? Yes, but you forgot
one great important fact: That ambitious for advancement
though the individual Spirit may be, the Eternal Father
is more ambitious still; and so it has happened that
there have been those who on gaining release from the
body have seen with thankfulness indeed that not only
was their life worked through to design, not only was
the harmony maintained, but, by the grace of God, they
did better even than the Spirit's quest when it entered
on its physical experiences.
-
"Children, I come back to this: That when some
of you long to lay aside the little cabin of the flesh
- which holds you so fast, which is so irksome, so
cumbersome in use - that when you are free that soul-body,
which is a direct result of the physical experience,
must be worn by you until by processes of refinement
again that soul body is discarded for something which
is so closely allied to the Spirit that there is no
distinction except in the degree of representing Christ.
-
"Oh! children, if only those in authority would
speak, if only those who have the care of the masses
could find within themselves the spiritual strength
to tell them what they are doing and what lies in front.
Yes, it is easy for some to talk of great catastrophes
overcoming this little world, but to go back to hard
bed-rock fact, the greatest catastrophe of all is going
on in the individual life, in the individual soul,
while the Spirit is tortured indeed.
-
"Only by getting down to the individual, only
by breaking up those obstacles which obscure his vision,
only by teaching him how to hold on to God can catastrophes
in bulk be averted.
-
"You see, my little ones, that indeed the greatest
tragedy is as it concerns the children who stray. Let
not any think that judgement comes in here, but oh!
the pity, oh! the waste, oh! the unnecessary suffering
which man is piling up for himself when the way into
happiness and peace lies open to him.
-
"Children, a great responsibility lies on those
who refuse to penetrate into Truth, a great responsibility
lies on all who have it in their power, in their capacity
to teach and train the untutored minds of the majority.
Yet, dear children, let not your hearts be sad, for
again and again when the need has come there has been
found those who could lead, those who could do God's
work and save His people. These crises come as an inevitable
result of careless thought and careless living. Therefore
we come back to our starting point: I entreat you all
to give full value, full importance to those thoughts
which flit through the physical mind, sometimes remaining,
building up character or destroying that foundation
which already has been commenced.
-
"My children, I seem to you very serious tonight,
and so I am, but not in the way you think. The seriousness
of it all is that there is so much reckless waste of
opportunity, so much unnecessary toil, so much that
could be dispensed with in the way of grief, of pain
and of mental suffering. Human nature cannot be hurried
but it can be steadied, and the only steadying process
which is possible is by the prayers and thoughts of
those who know their God. Yes, think it over and try
and put yourselves into that attitude of mind when
the Father can not only use those thoughts to strengthen
and purify yourself, but in an unlimited measure can
use them to drag out of the mire, out of the darkness
of misunderstanding those who are linked to you by
the closest tie there could be - those who are your
brothers and sisters, those whom God calls His children
although as yet they know Him not.
-
"And now, my children, I will leave you, yet keep
in mind ever during this short time we are together
the importance of thought - the power it has to contribute
or to take away."
©GWCSA
"THE EFFECT OF THOUGHT"
(Extract from Instruction given by Zodiac on April
30, 1922)
-
..."The first point tonight which I will deal
with is that of the effect of thought. Thought, as
you know, is the background and basis of all action.
That is why the physical mind needs to be strictly
looked after. But carry this on to a further stage
- that of creating the garment of the soul, which it
does in a literal sense, as well as in a figurative
sense. You must try to visualise thought as something
quite definite - not as an intellectual quality only.
Thought has form and colour and individuality, so much
so that once the physical body is discarded it is -
for the want of a better word - materialised into the
next body in which the Spirit carries on its evolution.
-
"There you see what an important part thought
plays. I have said that in form, in colour and in individuality
thought is materialised; therefore the next citadel
of the Spirit is being built by you and by us every
minute and every day of our existence. Beauty of any
kind, action, conception of merely physical ideas are
at once shown in the new body. On the other hand, the
thoughts of self and the darkness of the physical mind
is also portrayed in all its sadness.
-
"I wish I could show you, as I see it, one of
those spiritual bodies which have just been adopted
by the newcomer. They present a curious appearance.
It is as though, in some cases, a beautiful scheme
of things had gone wrong at a crucial point, thus marring
its perfection. That is often so, and when the stranger
sees what represents the marring he is grief-stricken
indeed. It is not a matter for over anxiety, however,
because once it is seen where the weak part lies, that
can soon be built up by the owner, because - remembering
all the other beauty produced - it means that he possesses
a strong will and has overcome much. That is rather
a hard thought for you to take in - I see that at once;
but you must remember that I am speaking of the covering
of the spirit and not the spirit itself. Just as you
would imagine, the bodies assumed after the earth body
can be quickly changed and changed again, but each
one bears and retains all the characteristics which
you associate with those you love.
-
"You must remember that the physical body you
know so well was not created by physical birth alone
- its individuality was perpetrated long before that
- and that body is discarded when finished with, just
as the previous bodies have been discarded and as future
ones will be also. It is seldom that perfection is
reached with any particular body. As a rule the occupier
progresses to a certain extent and then, before all
the resources of that body are completely exhausted,
another is assumed. There are no gaps or waiting spaces
here. It is as though you on earth, when a coat was
getting worn, provided another before the old one fell
to pieces.
-
"Another point is this: How often it is forgotten
on your side that action is subservient to thought.
The physical mind and the practical side of human nature
assumes an importance altogether beyond its merit.
The world judges by action and not by thought, and
so you on your side take this view almost entirely.
Here everything is reversed. Action is recognised as
only the outward and visible sign of thought and like
all physical things is soon merged and forgotten in
the past. The life of the thought behind the action,
however, is much longer, but that life is not for ever,
otherwise it would be a very hopeless thing altogether.
The life of that thought only lasts so long as is necessary
for it to be either worked out by the Spirit or merged
into the Spirit, when it no longer has a separate existence.
Until either one or other of these things happen that
thought is as definite and as separate as human beings
are definite and separate from each other. There is
no vagueness at all about them; as I said before, they
have their own individuality. Thought, then, is one
of the most beautiful or most dangerous things to indulge
in, and it literally means that what each one sows
has to be reaped in time with sorrow or with joy -
the choice remains open to all.
-
"Although I have spoken rather seriously on the
question of thought, I do not want to create a wrong
impression in your minds. There are many thoughts of
a trivial and entirely physical nature that really
do not emanate from the person concerned at all - they
are the reflections from others either in your world
or in the world just outside the earth plane. They,
as it were have no roots at all; and it is only when
those thoughts are welcomed and voluntarily taken in
by the individual that they become attached or personal.
The mere fact that some thoughts are unwelcome, or
are distasteful shows that they are not your own thoughts
at all, and never can become your own thoughts, unless
you are very much off your guard.
-
"I tell you this because so many people are troubled
by thoughts which are not of a spiritual character
at all - almost the reverse it would seem. They are
troubled by them and search through their own characters
to find out what is in it that has attracted them -
they cause sorrow often and distress always. These
thoughts are but tests which have to be endured in
order to prove the metal of those so attacked. If the
pure were never assailed by thoughts not wholly pure,
they would be untried and, therefore, not in a position
to claim their purity entirely as their own. It is
the same with everything of a like nature; the mere
fact of possessing a quality in an advanced stage means
that that quality has to be tested and re-tested over
and over again, in order to grow still stronger. And
it is only by using the antithesis of that quality
that the test can be satisfactorily carried out.
-
"I want you all to think over this and apply it
generally. It is exactly the same with bad temper -
or rather I should say - good temper, and with patience,
especially with patience. Could you see what patience
looks like here you would think that nothing less than
equal beauty could come close to it. But how is patience
gained? The answer is obvious to you all - it is gained
by much vexation and much trying of that patience by
others. In colour it is lavender - that I mention because
at the beginning I told you that thought, besides other
things, had colour..."
©GWCSA
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