Lectionary Readings for Wednesday, April 8th, 2020

Weekday Sabbath, Full Moon

Book of Divinity Chapter 3, Chapter 4

Chapter 3

1. God said: Behold, I come to reveal what was done in heaven, that thou, O man, mayest
understand the cause of things being done on earth.

2. These Divan laws were made in heaven, and by the Lords of that day, through their
angels, given to mortals, whereby mortals became a manifestation of heavenly things.

3. Here, then, followeth, to wit:

4. If a man be not too weak he shall confess to all the Lords with repentance. On the other
hand, if he be too weak to utter words, than shall the priest confess him by holding the
right hand whilst he saith the holy words. And whilst this is being done, the ashars shall
provide a sufficient number of spirits to receive the newborn, and bring him to the place
in heaven that hath been previously selected for him.

5. The third Divan law also decreed as followeth: If the es’yan be a Zarathustrian, and his
kin in heaven be drujas, he shall not be taken to the heaven where they are; nor shall
his kin be permitted to see him for thirty days. But after thirty days in his own
place in heaven, his kin, if drujas, may be permitted to see him, but only under guard.

6. The fourth Divan law: If the es’yan be a Zarathustrian, and his kin in heaven belong to
the organic heavens, then he shall be taken to them, and his abiding place shall be with
them for a season.

7. The fifth Divan law: If the es’yan be a Zarathustrian, his spirit shall not be suffered to
remain longer than three days and three nights about his mortal kindred. And then he
shall be taken to his place in heaven, and given into the keeping of the asaphs, who shall
explain all things to him.

8. God said: Whilst the mortal priest is reciting prayers after death, in the morning,
at noon, and at sunset, the ashars shall assemble in the same house, along with
the newborn spirit, and join in the singing and praying, for it will pacify the spirit and
restore him to know what hath taken place. And this shall be called the sixth Divan law.

9. God said: And the same law shall apply in the case of a Zarathustrian woman as with
a man. In the case of a Zarathustrian child, that died in infancy, the Div decreed:

10. The seventh Divan law: The child of a Zarathustrian being too young to speak, shall
not make confession, even through the priest. The mortal priest shall say: O Thou Master
Light! Behold, my child is dead! Receive Thou its little, tender spirit! Take it to Thy
heavenly place of delight! And the ashars shall take the young es’yan to a place suited to
it, and deliver it to the asaphs; and the asaphs shall examine it, and, if it require fetal, they
shall provide it in heaven, if possible. But if it be too young, then the asaphs, with a
sufficient guard, shall take it back to its mortal mother, or to its mortal father, or to its
brother, or its sister, or other near kin, or to whomsoever the asaphs find most advisable.
And the spirit child shall be put to bed every night with its fetal mother, or fetal father,
that its spirit may draw sustenance sufficient to grow into everlasting life. But the asaphs
who have it in charge shall bring it away in the morning to its place in heaven. But in no
case shall a Zarathustrian spirit child be left to fetal with a contentious mortal woman, nor
with a drunken mortal man.

11. God propounded: If a Zarathustrian be dead, and his spirit many years in a place
of heavenly delight, and then his mortal wife die, and she be not a Zarathustrian?

12. The members of the Diva all spake. Then God decreed the eighth Divan law, which
was: The spirit of such a woman shall not be suffered to go to the place of her husband.
For thirty days she shall be kept in a place suitable for her. After that she may visit her
husband under guard; but until she accept the Ormazdian law, she shall not dwell with the
husband, in heaven, nor with her children, in heaven. And if she have mortal children, she
shall not be permitted to see them, save under guard.

13. The ninth Divan law was the same, wherein a Zarathustrian woman whose husband
was not a Zarathustrian; for he was bound by the same law, and thus kept separate in
heaven until he accepted the Ormazdian law.

14. God propounded: If a Zarathustrian have a wife who is not a Zarathustrian, and
she have an untimely birth, whether by accident or abortion, what then of the spirit
of that child? On this, all the members of Diva spake, and after that, God decreed:

15. Such spirit shall not be brought to heaven for a season, but shall be fetaled on
its natural mother or father, day and night, until the full nine months are completed,
and then it shall be delivered with due ceremonies by the ashars. After that it shall
be fetaled the same as in the seventh Divan law. And this was the tenth Divan law.

16. The eleventh Divan law: If a Zarathustrian attain to maturity before he die, his
spirit shall be es’yan two years. And during this time he shall be attended by not less
than two asaphs when he goeth away from his heavenly home; and the asaphs shall
teach him the mode of travel, the manner of knowing localities, both on the earth and
in the first resurrection. And they shall teach him the varieties and kinds of food
suited to the highest best education of a spirit. But when he traveleth with his
companions of his own heavenly group, then the asaphs of the group shall go along
with him and them. And, during the two years, he shall be provided from the stores in
heaven with food and clothes, and he shall not labor to provide himself with anything.

17. The twelfth Divan law was in reference to the same spirit, which was: At the end
of two years the asaphs shall deliver him, and such of his group as are prepared, into
the department of first instruction, and his name shall be entered in the library
of that department of heaven as ENTERED APPRENTICE, IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION. Here
his first lessons shall be as to making clothes and providing food for himself and
others. And he shall be entitled to participate, if he so desire, in the recreations of
the entered apprentices, such as music, dancing, marching, painting, or other arts.

18. The thirteenth Divan law was in reference to the same spirit, which was: Not less than
two years shall he serve as entered apprentice, and longer if his proficiency be not
sufficient for advancement. But when he is advanced, he shall no longer be called entered
apprentice, but a CRAFTSMAN. And he shall be taken to a place suitable, where his labor
will contribute to the heavenly kingdoms. And his recreations shall entitle him to
instruction in both corporeal and es’sean knowledge, and their correspondence. As a
craftsman he shall serve seven years.

19. The fourteenth Divan law was in reference to the same spirit, which was: The
craftsman’s examination being completed, he shall then return to labor in the nurseries in
heaven, becoming assistant to the asaphs. And during this period he shall report himself
at the roll call. And his teachers shall take him with them down to mortals and teach
him how to see and hear corporeal things. And they shall also explain to him fetalism
and the obsession of mortals by drujas, that he may understand the cause of lying,
and of stealing, and of tattling, and of conspiracies, and of murders amongst mortals.

20. The fifteenth Divan law was of the same spirit, which was: After he hath served three
years as nurse-assistant to the asaphs, he shall be promoted to the hospitals in heaven, as
assistant to the physicians. And they shall teach him the restoration of spirits in chaos,
and crazy spirits, and deformed spirits, and of sick spirits, and of spirits afflicted with foul
smells, that cannot clean themselves, especially of the spirits of women who produced
abortion on themselves, or suffered it to be done unto them, and of monomaniacs, and all
manner of diseased spirits. And the physicians shall take him with them when they go
down to mortals to remove fetals, and he shall learn how they are severed, safely to both.
And they shall take him to the battle-fields, where mortals slay one another, whose spirits
are in chaos, or are still fighting, and he shall assist in bringing them away from the
corporeal place, and also learn how to restore them, and where to deliver them when
restored. And if there be knots in any region near at hand, the physician shall take him to
the knot, and show him how they are untied, and how they are mastered and delivered.
And if there be any hell near at hand, the physicians shall take him thither and teach him
how hell is delivered and its people restored. For ten years shall he serve as assistant to
the physicians.

21. The sixteenth Divan law was of the same spirit, which was: Having fulfilled the part
of assistant physician, he shall be promoted to the full rank of NURSE. And in that
department he shall serve ten years, which completeth his emancipation in that order, and
thereafter any and all the nurseries of the lower heavens shall be free and open to him,
and he shall go to whatsoever one he desireth, save when specially commanded for a
certain work by his Lord, or by the God of his division.

22, The seventeenth Divan law was of the same spirit, which was: Having passed a
satisfactory examination by his Lord, or his Lord’s attendants, he shall be promoted to the
full rank of PHYSICIAN. And in that department in heaven he shall serve fifty years. And
then his emancipation in that order shall be complete. And all the hospitals in the
lower heavens shall be open to him, and he shall choose whichever of them he desireth as
his place of labor, unless specially required by his Lord, or by the God of his division.

23. The eighteenth Divan law was of the same spirit, which was: He shall now pass an
examination by his Lord or his Lord’s deputy, and if he prove himself in a knowledge of
the structure of both the corporeal and spiritual man, he shall be registered as ENTERED
FACTOR, and he shall serve twelve years in forming and making fabrics for raiment, and
for other useful and ornamental purposes.

24. The nineteenth Divan law was like unto the eighteenth, save that his labor shall be
gathering and transporting food for other twelve years. And the twentieth Divan law was
like unto the nineteenth, save that his labor shall be the wielding of large bodies, and of
carrying the same long distances.

25. The twenty-first Divan law of the same spirit, was: He shall now enter the CREATIF as
an apprentice. Thirty years shall he serve in the CREATIF, learning how to create. And the
twenty-second Divan law was like unto the twenty-first, save that he shall dwell in Uz
and serve twelve years in learning Uz.

26. The twenty-third Divan law of the same spirit was: He shall now enter college, and
serve according to his talents, from five to forty years, learning measuring, and distances,
rotations, velocities, magnets, corporeal and es’sean; currents of vortices; roadways in
vortices, and how to measure vortices by their spiral force; how to find the center and the
periphery of vortices. And if he serve the full term of forty years, he shall have the
freedom of the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third commandments; and all such places shall be forever open for him. And if he choose to go into any of them he shall do so, unless especially ordered to some other emergent
place by his Lord, or the God of his division.

27. The twenty-fourth Divan law of the same spirit was: He shall now enter architecture
as an apprentice, and learn the building of heavenly mansions and cities; and he shall
serve eight years, and be promoted to build judgment seats and thrones, and serve sixteen
years more.

28. The twenty-fifth Divan law of the same spirit was: He shall now be eligible to
the SCHOOL OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS, and learn the relative power of attraction and
propulsion belonging to them; and his education here shall embrace practice and
experiment; and he shall serve seventy years for the full course. After which, if he be
proficient in creating light and darkness, he shall be emancipated from the twenty-fourth
and twenty-fifth Divan laws, and all such places shall be open and free to him forever.

29. The twenty-sixth Divan law of the same spirit was: He shall now serve twenty-four
years in building and propelling heavenly boats, and small ships. And the twenty-sixth
Divan law was of like kind, which was: That he shall now travel fifty years in
atmospherea, and on the earth, and on the oceans of the earth.

30. This completeth the primary education in the first resurrection.

Chapter 4

1. God said: For the spirit of a Zarathustrian who hath completed his primary education,
what then? On which all the members spake. After that Div decreed:

2. He shall serve two hundred years as an apprenticed loo’is. He shall become proficient
in the knowledge of procreation of mortals. Learning to prophesy what the off-spring will
be, according to the parentage; to become wise in discerning how the es of a living mortal
governeth the flesh, to good or evil; how the es of a mortal controlleth the sex and
ultimate size and health and strength of the offspring.

3. To learn which, the loo’is shall take him to thousands of mortals, and he shall make a
record of what he hath under observation; and when such mortals have offspring born
unto them, he shall make a record thereof; and he shall observe the character of the birth,
and the foundation of the child, together with what conditions surrounded the mother of
the child. And he shall follow that child till it hath grown up, and also married, and
begotten a child, or children, and so on to the sixth generation. This is the twenty-eighth
Divan law.

4. Div decreed: After he hath served two hundred years he shall be examined by his Lord,
or his Lord’s deputy, and if proficient in prophesying to the sixth generation, he shall be
entered as an ashar on a list of four twelves for every moon’s change. But the forty-eight
ashars shall not be ashars to more than one hundred and ninety-two mortals, unless
otherwise specially allotted by the Lord or God in dominion.

5. For four generations, of one hundred and thirty-three years, shall he serve as an ashar.
And he shall learn to have dominion over his mortal protégés night and day, not
suffering them, however, to know his presence. To accomplish which, he shall begin with
his protégés in their first infancy; remaining with them whilst they sleep, talking to the
spirit of the mortal, teaching and persuading. This was the twenty-ninth Divan law.

6. Div decreed: Having served as ashar, the full term of ashar, he shall be entitled to
examination by his Lord or deputy. But herein beginneth a new examination; which is,
that the examination pertaineth to his protégés, as to what kind of fruit he hath sent to
heaven, the grade of his es’yans being the standard. This was the thirtieth Divan law.

7. Div decreed: Having passed the examination as ashar, he shall now be promoted
as asaph, where he shall serve sixty-six years. Here again his examination shall be
not of himself but of the harvest of his department. This was the thirty-first Divan law.

8. Div decreed: His examination being complete, he shall now receive emancipation for
all preceding departments and decrees; and he shall have his choice in all places he hath
passed, unless otherwise specially detailed by his Lord or God of his division. This was
the thirty-second Divan law.

9. Div decreed: He shall now be entitled to enter the CHAPTER OF THE PRIMARY SOUL. His
first lessons shall be in colors and sounds both of corpor and es. First, beginning with
gray of not more than three combinations; and when he hath mastered these, he shall have
four, then five, then ten, then a hundred, and so on, until, when any combination of colors
is placed before him, he can instantly perceive every color, shade, tint, and the velocity of
light, and its force (actinic) emanating. And he shall pursue this study until he can create
in es the counterpart of anything in corpor, or create in corpor the counterpart of anything
in es. And of sounds he shall proceed in the same way; first, learning a combination of
three, so that when his teacher produceth any three sounds together, he can hear them and
determine the exact velocity of wave. Then he shall begin with four sounds (notes), then
five, then ten, then a hundred, and even a thousand, the which, even though made in the
same instant, he shall detect every one, and the velocity and force of each. This was the
thirty-third Divan law.

10. Div decreed: He shall now begin the practice of combining and creating color by
sounds, and sounds by colors, both in corpor and es. His teachers shall make explosions
with light, and explosions without light, and by his eye and ear only shall he be able to
determine with what elements the explosions were made. This was the thirty-fourth
Divan law.

11. Div decreed: He shall go far away from the explosions, and when the waves come
to him, even though he heareth not the explosion, he shall be able to determine, by
the waves, of what substance the explosion was made, and whether in light or darkness.
And, if in light, what colors were manifested. This was the thirty-fifth Divan law.

12. Div decreed: He shall now receive instruction in the sounds of conversation. First, his
teacher shall cause him to hear two people conversing at the same time, missing nothing
that is said; then three, then four, then five, then ten, then a hundred, and then a
thousand, but no greater number in this department. This was the thirty-sixth Divan law.

13. Div decreed: He shall now analyze the waves of voice, wherein he cannot hear the
sounds thereof. His teacher shall station him in a certain place and cause him to read the
waves of light and sound that come to him, so that he knoweth not only the words
spoken, but the kind of person speaking or singing. This was the thirty-seventh Divan
law.

14. Div decreed: His teacher shall now cause him to read the waves of light and sound
emanating from two persons talking at the same time, whom he cannot hear, and he shall
understand not only the words spoken, but the kind of persons speaking. Then, he shall
read the waves in the same way for three persons, then four, then eight, then a hundred,
and even a thousand. This was the thirty-eighth Divan law.

15. Div decreed: Then he shall be taken to a distance from a battle-field, where mortals
are in deadly conflict, but he shall not be sufficiently near to hear the sounds; but when
the waves come to him, he shall read them and know the number of the men in battle, the
kind of weapons in use, and the cause of contention. This was the thirty-ninth Divan law.

16. Div decreed: He shall now be promoted to be a messenger between Lords, and
between Lords and Gods. This was the fortieth Divan law.

17. Div decreed: For one hundred years he shall serve as MESSENGER, and at the end of
that time his Lords and Gods shall render his record, and promote him to be marshal. And
hereupon the emancipation of all the preceding decrees and departments shall be open to
him, to choose whatsoever he will, save on such time and occasion as specially required
by his Lord or God. This was the forty-first Divan law.

18. Div decreed: For two hundred years he shall serve as marshal, and under as many as
forty Lords and Gods, and in as many as twenty heavenly kingdoms. This was the fortysecond Divan law.

19. Div decreed: He shall now be promoted Lord, and have dominion over a city or nation
of mortals, and over the spirits belonging to that city or nation. This was the forty-third
Divan law.