The Soul does not depart from nor return to God: the state of being is always within God: the state of expression is called existence, and seems to be a departure from the state of the Soul.

There is never any change in the quality of the Soul; nothing can be added to or taken from that which is absolute; whatever the expressions are they are expressions whose sources are all within the Soul; i. e., the impetus, the power, the light and knowledge are there. Expression differs from being as matter differs from Soul.

God is manifested in the universe in Dual attributes: Father-Mother. God through expression manifests duality in all forms of the universe, and in revealed attributes.

The name that in the Orient was known as the Mahadai, the God-Goddess, has everywhere appeared in modified form expressing the twofold nature of the Deity; bat no one among the seers and prophets ever made the mistake of supposing that this twofold expression was other than one God in the Infinite, any more than that the threefold expression as worshiped in Isis, Osiris and Horus; in Brahma, Vishnu and Siva; and in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, had other meaning than the threefold expression of the one Infinite, Eternal, Omniscient, and Omnipresent God.

The Soul represents in the finite what the Deity does in the Infinite: the nature of the Soul is dual, and the approach toward expression of the Soul is dual The first stage of expression is found symbolized in the "Cherubim and Seraphim," pictured as heads with wings of light and countenances illumined with celestial glory, but no material form.

The first state toward expression from the absolute that is like God, is that of duality, as portrayed in the Cherub and Seraph, and is by a process that we name Involution, which corresponds to and is the antithesis of Evolution, in matter. The states of involution previous to mortal birth, or genesis, are not states to be remembered or expressed, because they can not be known until the return process which is after the expression in human or outward form; but there are Angels of succeeding lower degrees, beginning with the Archangels of the system, and then Angela of the planet on which the Soul is to find expression, who take charge of this involution, as there are those who take charge of each life when involved. Thus by degrees the Soul approaches expression in the outward form: not suddenly from the Celestial to mortal life, not suddenly from the Soul to the body, but through stages of descent.

The typical Garden of Eden was made the first expression in human life, i. e.: the typical contact of the Son! with matter. Adam being the man of earth, and Eve being life; Eve the serpent, the sense surrounding, the human environment.

The twofold or divided state in matter is simply the incident of expression: as matter causes the divided expression of that which is dual in essence, one in Soul, so when the Soul seeks expression in matter that expression must always be divided; there is not division in the Soul, in the absolute, but division in the expression of the Soul for the time that the expression takes place; these expressions are always man and woman, and the sexes are not interchangeable.

The state of human expression is called an Embodiment, of which there are successions. Embodiments begin with the lowest planetary life (adapted to human expression) and with the stage that is lowest on the planet which the Soul approaches. Thus each Soul begins at the beginning of expression. No one ever graduated as a master mason first; there is the degree of "entered apprentice," the "fellow craftsman" then the "master mason:" each Soul enters, as an apprentice in the earthly expression, the lowermost human state. This is the typical life of every Soul that is ever expressed on earth, and all must pass through the same states; upon each planet of a system, all possible phases of that planet's experiences; bo there is no injustice, no partiality, no different experience; that which one Soul requires to express in any one planet all Souls most express who approach that planet for embodiment

The dual life finds expression in man and woman on earth, and is always man and woman; the feminine expressing the feminine, the masculine expressing the masculine; there is interchange and blending of experiences by one union on earth, and by the final reunion as the Angel; they make the journey of the Soul in its dual expressions through the earthly life, passing through similar states at the same time, but not together.

There are three general degrees of expression, each of which includes many embodiments. The typical Physical expression being the first stage; the typical Intellectual expression being the second stage; the typical Moral or Spiritual expression being the third .stage. Interblending in the various conditions of human life as the unfold-ment goes on, these stages are all modified to the culmination which must be comparatively separate; i. e., the mere culmination of physical life never occurs if there is great intellectual attainment, and the culmination of the mere intellectual attainment never occurs after there is any great nnfoldment of the spirit, because when pursuing physical attainment no other aim in life is of any value to the one seeking expression in that manner. To a physical life typified in Hercules, who was indeed the representative of man's physical attainment, nothing could be great but physical power and strength. Man would be considered unfortunate in that state of expression if seeking for moral propositions in the place of a strong right arm: so when nations, as well as individuals, are in the stage of physical culmination little else is thought of; but when, sometimes, as in certain states it is true, the physical is merged into the intellectual there is a plain echo of the physical state in the higher sports, like the ancient tournaments and amusements.