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223 royal or kingly souls. The royalty herein referred to is spiritual royalty. Now and then men like Buddha, Shankaracharya, Christ, Zoroaster and others have appeared on earth as spiritual leaders and rulers of mankind. In point of spiritual development and elevation of moral character they stand at such an enormous height above the level of ordinary humanity as to lead mankind into the belief that they are special incarnation of divinity. This popular belief, however, is not endorsed by Isis, whose way of accounting for the appearance of such men is in harmony with the teachings of occult science. She explains to Horus that "souls destined to reign upon the earth descend thither for two causes. There are those who in former lives have lived blameless, and who merit apotheosis; for such as these royalty is a preparation for the divine state. Again there are holy souls, who for some slight infringement of the interior and divine Law receive in royalty a penance whereby the suffering and shame of incarnation are mitigated. The condition of these in taking a body resembles not that of others; they are as blessed as when they were free." If this reply of Isis is properly understood and accepted by the generality of people, sectarian strife, discord and bigotry will almost cease to exist.

There are differences, it would appear, among these royal souls, due to the nature of the angels and genii who assist them. The reader must not suppose that these powers are elementals; they are the guardians of the souls, whose teaching and guidance the souls follow, as declared by Isis. It is this guardian angel of the soul which is the Kwan-yin of the Buddhists and the Chitkala of the Hindus.

"How are souls born male or female?" asks Horus; and Isis answers thus:—"There are not among them either males or females; this distinction exists only between bodies, and not between incorporeal beings. But some are more energetic, some are gentler, aod this belongs to the air in which all things are formed. For an airy body envelopes the soul......". It is hardly necessary to state that the air referred to is the