a crown in Heaven," we say of
some self-sacrificing and loving soul, and the phrase suggests to
most of us the power of earthly kings and queens with all their
splendor of jewels and retainers; but there is an inner meaning which
the splendor and the crowns of earth's kings and queens symbolizes.

Spiritual union with the perfect complement of our interior nature is
in itself the crown of regal power, of which earthly rulers are
symbolical. The spiritual body through this union becomes radiant;
luminous; and shines with such splendor that it dazzles the eyes of
the beholder. What constitutes the beauty and the value of
gems--diamonds; rubies; sapphires; emeralds; topaz; pearls?

It is the radiations of light which they throw off; it is their
luminosity--their transparency. It is, indeed, true, that the power
which we see exemplified in the rulers of the earth has a
corresponding meaning in a spiritual sense; as, in fact, have all
things which we cognize with our physical eyes. The Hindus tell us
that all things are either the "nita" or the "ita" message. Either
they tell us "this is the way to the heights;" or "this is not the
way."

The crown of orange blossoms which has supplanted the ancient crown of
gold and silver and tinsel, worn with such unconsciousness of its
esoteric message, symbolizes one of the most beautiful truths relating
to the spiritual marriage--counterpartal union.

Even as this union confers a beautiful radiance upon the spiritual
body, the body also becomes sweet-scented like a flower. Weeds, we
remember, have no scent or they may be obnoxious in their odor. Weeds
are unregenerate flowers.

Certain chemical combinations produce nauseous gases. The human body
is a laboratory in which chemical changes are constantly going on. The
changes produced by sex-functioning are greater than anything which
the experimental chemist has ever discovered in nature.

It is a fact well known to the pathologist that an unwilling wife,
however faithful she may be, if forced into the sexual act, may
present her husband with a well-defined case of genital disease; nor
is this at all strange when we consider the now well-recognized fact
that anger, fear, revenge, avarice, and all the destructive
thought-forces produce poisons in the secretions of the body.

In Rosicrucian literature, we have the story of "the Chymical Marriage
of Christian Rosy Cross," which is, when read with the key to its
esoteric meaning, a