to be developed, the masculine body admirably serves the
purpose, while if sympathy and compassion need stimulation the feminine
form is wonderfully effective for that kind of progress. It requires
little reasoning to see that the soul would not continue to incarnate in
one sex indefinitely. It must develop all its inner qualities. Both
intellect and compassion must reach perfect expression. Such a
consummation can, of course, be best attained by alternating sex
experiences. But here again there is wide latitude in the operation of
the law. The rule seems to be that ordinarily there are not less than
three nor more than seven successive incarnations in one sex, and then
the ego begins to express itself through a body of the other sex. By
that rule it would commonly be for a period of from a few hundred years
to some thousands of years, that the ego expresses itself through one
sex before it changes to the other. One case is mentioned by the occult
investigators in which for about thirty thousand years a certain ego had
expressed itself only through the masculine form. At least no trace of a
feminine incarnation could be found during that time.

The necessity for rebirth becomes clearer and clearer as we study the
nature of the human being and the inherent divine qualities he is
unfolding. Reincarnation is the method of evolution at the human level.
Only by physical plane experience can man's potential powers be aroused
and so tremendous is the evolutionary work to be done that only a mere
fragment of it can be accomplished in an ordinary lifetime. The absolute
necessity of many rebirths is obvious.

CHAPTER XII.

WHY WE DO NOT REMEMBER

The loss of memory between incarnations and the failure to now recall
any of our experiences previous to the present physical plane life has
sometimes been cited as a negative kind of evidence against the
hypothesis of rebirth. The point could not be made, however, by one who
has studied the matter because close scrutiny will show that the loss of
memory is a necessary part of reincarnation. The fact that we do not
remember is in perfect harmony with the principles of evolution. Indeed,
the close student of the subject would be very much surprised if we
could normally remember, because he does not get far until he sees, not
only why we do not remember past incarnations but why we should not
remember them.

The very nature of the evolutionary work to be done by reincarnation