Following the descent into form and material substance come those formative years when the pressures, both clamorous and silent, make their impression upon the clean white consciousness of the individual.  Beginning with the first fond gawking of parents and kin, there is a gradual buildup of environmental factors which serve to create patterns and concepts upon the tender screen of the embryonic mind.

These molding factors continue to exert their multifarious influence upon the plastic personality of man.  That selfhood, then, which is first identified wholly with God-Good, is affected and shaped by myriad experience patterns.  Thus does example, for woe or for weal, sculpt the mind and being of man.

Experience is not, however, the sole way to expand consciousness.  For each moment spent with God or one of his cosmic band serves to exalt and broaden individual consciousness, conveying illumination on the instant—in the twinkling of an eye! <2>

The empirical proof of human imperfection is epitomized in the past/present lives of mass humanity.  Life in bondage and life in peril decries the meaning of existence.  Religion and hope for salvation arise in the human heart and burgeon from the human tree!  (“And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.” <3>) The alchemy of change was needed in Jesus’ day and is still needed, because all too frequently the mold is imperfect and the product cannot excel its matrix.

I have declared that the mowlde, too, contaminates; and thus I direct your attention to the untransmuted accumulation of human filth and misery which, like trash, litters the sidewalks of the human consciousness, reeking forth from the literary stalls of the world.  The crusty mowlde masquerades as legitimate culture while undermining the decency of lusty souls.

Freedom of the press was not intended to give license to the corrupters of youthful minds; neither was it intended to be used to confuse and disorganize the populace, flooding their brains with jingoistic propaganda and prejudicial discriminations.  Rather, the power of Light was intended to emanate from a free press and exalt everyone into a rightful sense of cosmic destiny.

America, my beloved country!  How precious are the footsteps of your heroes sung and unsung; but every mother’s heart can take a just pride in offering with the “consent of the governed” the fruit of her life—sons and daughters of excellence who from the heart of this beloved nation serve the cause of freedom across the earth.

Because each dire effect of the mold and the mowlde must be counteracted, I am releasing these remarks pertaining to personal freedom through the correct use of alchemy.  I do not say that more will not be spoken on the subject to parallel and conclude the course, but herein is my specific advice to those who would use alchemy to further their own personal advancement in the divine plan fulfilled and thus change their present circumstances for the better.

Those who are familiar with the process of refining precious metals are aware of the intense heat needed to liquify many metals.  Heat is also necessary to release impurities and foreign material from the pure metal.  Separation of the dross occurs in two ways:  (1) a portion is vaporized and passes into the very atmosphere of the room wherein the refining furnace is operating, and (2) much of this unwanted substance is brought to the surface and skimmed off by the alert refiner.

Apropos of this, few parents exist who are equipped with the type of instruction which would enable their children to know from the beginning the tenets of their full freedom.  I do not say that the world is not full of aspiration and good intentions, but the highways so paved do not seem to lead to the best places.  Thus it happens that the children of the world become wiser in each succeeding generation in the arts and artifices of war and in the many customs of world society without ever becoming too stirred about the regenerate and peaceful society of saints!

In the main, few are born and come to years with a right understanding of the universal purpose.  And of necessity, personal destinies, which often run crosscurrent to the universal flow, are periodically thwarted and broken.

The pages of history are full of the downfall of tyrants and the overthrow of monsters of misdirected purpose.  Failures and successes in many fields draw recognition while the average man moves into the burial ground of mediocrity.  Nothing is further from the plan of God and nature than these counterfeits of the golden mean.

How ill-equipped is the concept of a destiny which can be shaped by human misconceptions.  How noble are they who acknowledge an Intellect, a Mind, a Spiritual Overseer, and a Creator whose forethought, greater even than that of his emissaries, is revealed as a mountain of universal purpose to be scaled by the brave who do not hesitate or fear to trust the wisdom of those early climbers of the rugged summit peaks. 

Those linked to the lifeline of these spiritual pioneers are given greater guidance, for the elder brothers of the race lovingly extend to them the freedom of the ages as a gift of faith.  This gift is extended to all who, by accepting that faith, can likewise summon the will to pursue it and the perseverance to let it fashion them in a mold made purer still and in an accumulation of that purity whose reality is the treasure of heaven!

Beloved friends of freedom, you stand now at the gateway to higher alchemical truths, which I am releasing in the seventh lesson; but it is needful for you to contemplate your life in a manner wholly in keeping with the Spirit of Universal Alchemy.  No longer act from the vanity of desiring recognition, but from the valor of necessary achievement and because service is needed and worthy in itself.  God needs a vehicle through which to manifest in the world of form, and you lend your hands and feet to him!

You must understand the mystery of oneness whereby a thread of contact between each life and its Source serves to connect all who live to one great central switchboard.  Here the interaction of thought and feeling is guarded lest it hurt any part of life in the holy mountain of God.

Consider all the beauty of life which can be.  Perceive this as pure gold.  All causes of unhappiness, every vibration of discord, fear, doubt, suspicion, condemnation, criticism, judgment, self-righteousness, and all negative traits are part of either the human mold or the mowlde which must be purged as dross before purity can so regenerate a lifestream as to enable the individual to partake of the waters of Life freely. <4>

It is not enough that men come to drink when the invitation from higher sources has gone forth.  They must make new skins to retain the new wine of infinite goodness and purpose. <5> This is spiritual alchemy; and wise are they who first master it in themselves before attempting to govern the elements in others or in nature, for thus is karma justified by wisdom and rendered benign.  Sin does not come to the door of such a practitioner, for his motives, purpose, and methods are pure, and his acts are also just.

Gracious alchemists, the very fact that you are studying this course should denote your interest in improving.  In the very word improving is a spiritual lesson to be mastered.

The words impression and proving combine here to denote that life brings its impressions to the heart of your consciousness to prove the worth of each impression.  Every idle thought is thereby brought to judgment before the magnificence that is the higher glory of God, the upper light in the vaulted chamber of heaven.

The mind of Christ is synonymous with the mind of Light and characterizes one whose attunement is specifically directed to the Higher Intelligence.  The inflow of impressions from the world at large should be directed by the student for comparison and proof to the pure patterns of the purposes of heaven.

When these are improved upon by the alchemical fire, they become part of each man’s forte of useful objects and ideas—permanent matrices for good, drawing unto the consciousness of man more of their kind.  Thus is the kingdom of Selfhood expanded on wings of heavenly wisdom proved day after day by the speech uttered from the hills of spiritual watchfulness.

The sincere alchemist knows that the vast Intelligence that created all that is, expands mighty wings of light over the all of the cosmos.  As above in the Macrocosm, so below in the microcosm, in the miniaturized world of appearance, is this Intelligence individualized!  The watchful care of God ever manifests to his wondrous purposes as a Guardian Presence who seeks not the defilement, but the glorious fulfillment of each person in whom dwells the flame of almighty, ever-present life.

So-called physical death does not represent the end of being.  It merely divides eternal life into compartments of identity and experience whereby expansion and opportunity can be utilized to the fullest and each outworn mold discarded. Forgotten fragments can be pieced together by the seeker and woven strand by strand into a tapestry of such beauty as to thrill the beholder with a sense of gratitude for the perfection and glory present in each day of eternity!

I am aware of human discouragement caused by identifying with elements of disintegration in society.  I know full well the deceits practiced in the name of religion.  But my concern is not so much with these matters as it is with those lives that do emerge from the crucible of experience with a wonderful garment patined with pure gold.

Your life need never be vacant, for Life watches you and Life is intelligent and considerate.  Life is tangible and real.  Life is earnest and tender.  Life is dramatic and moving toward glory.

The high road, as distinguished from the low road, is the way of the alchemist, whose heart is in the shining glory all the day and all the way that his pilgrim feet walk the dusty ways of man—transmuting, transmuting, and transmuting that dust into purest radiance!

I AM the life, I AM the truth, and I AM the way,

Saint Germain

1. mowlde: Middle English for mold.

2. I Cor. 15:52.

3. Mark 8:22-26.

4. Rev. 22:17.

5. Matt. 9:16, 17.

[Taken from the book version Saint Germain on Alchemy]