96 ROSICRUCIANCOSMO-CONCEPTION
As prop er food feeds the b ody in a mat erial sens e, so the
activity of the spirit in the dense body, which results inright
action, promotes the growth of the Conscious Soul. As the
forces from t he su n play in t he vital body and nouris h it, that
it may act on the dense body, so thememory of actions done
in the dense body—the desires, feelings and emotions of the
desire body and the thoughts and ideas in the mind—cause
the growth of the Intellectual Soul. In like manner the
highest desires and emotions of the desire body form the
Emotional Soul.
This threefold soul in turn enhances the consciousness
of the threefold spirit.
The Emotional Soul, which is the extract of the desire
body, adds to the efficiency of the Human Spirit, which is
the spiritual counterpart of the desire body.
The Intellectual Soul gives added power to the Life
Spirit, because the Intellectual Soul is extracted from the
vital body, which is the material counterpart of the Life
Spirit.
The Conscious Soul increases the consciousness of the
Divine Spirit because it (the Conscious Soul) is the extract
of the dense body, which latter is the counterpart of the
Divine Spirit.
DEATH AND PURGATORYSo man builds and sows until the moment of death
arrives. Then the seed time and the periods of growth and
ripening are past. The harvest time has come, when the
skeleton specter of Death arrives with his scythe and hour-
glass. That is a good symbol. The skeleton symbolizes the