White Eagle Lodge

views updated May 23 2018

White Eagle Lodge

British Spiritualist organization founded in 1934, arising from the mediumship of Grace Cooke (d. 1979), assisted by her husband Ivan Cooke, and presenting the teachings channeled from her Native American spirit guide, "White Eagle." These teachings present "a way of life which is gentle and in harmony with the laws of life," involving the belief that "God, the eternal spirit, is both Father and Mother, and that the Sonthe Cosmic Christis also the light which shines in every human heart."

Cooke worked for many years as a medium primarily with the Stead Borderland Library in London. Then in 1930 she was contacted by a member of the Polaire Brotherhood in France, who informed her that Arthur Conan Doyle, an author and Spiritualist, had chosen her as the medium through which he wished to speak from the other side. She was also given a six-pointed star as a symbol for new work.

The lodge teaches that there is a unity that runs through all forms of life, visible and invisible, including the fairy and angelic kingdoms. White Eagle spoke of five Cosmic Laws: (1) reincarnation the soul may return to earth many times until it has mastered all the lessons it must learn; (2) cause and effectthe belief in the law of karma (i.e., "as you sow, so you will reap");(3) opportunityevery experience in life is an opportunity for an individual to become more Godlike and everyone is placed in exactly the right conditions needed "to learn lessons and give service"; (4) correspondencethe belief that "as above, so below." The microcosm is part of the macrocosm. We are cells of the cosmos, just as our bodies, in turn, are made up of cells, with the same laws applying at all levels; (5) equilibrium and balancethe law connected to karma, described as "the law of compensation." It claims that no action can continue indefinitely, but will travel just as far before a reaction pulls things back to normal. Human joy and sorrow follow this law (i.e., extremes

of emotion will eventually cause a reaction that pulls the soul back to normal).

The physical body is considered the outer garment of the soul, which includes subtler bodies of emotions and thoughts, and the spirit that is the heart of the soul and is known as the "Christ Spirit," or real self. Spiritual healing involves concentrating divine power on the soul of the sick person to dissolve the disharmony causing the sickness. In "absent healing," six healers sit as a group, sending out "rays of spiritual light." In lone healing, 36 healers combine meditative healing from their own homes. In contact healing, there is a laying on of hands at special lodge services. The lodge also propagates "spiritual communion," a pure form of meditation.

Membership in the lodge is in three stagesordinary membership, progressing to "outer brother," and eventually to "inner brother." The lodge publishes a bimonthly magazine, Stella Polaris, which includes White Eagle teachings, answers to readers' questions and general articles on healing and meditation.

The lodge is headquartered at New Lands, Rake, Liss, Hampshire, GU33 7HY, England, and has a major center at 9 St. Mary Abbot's Pl., Kensington, London, W8 6L5, England. There are also branches throughout the British Isles. The movement spread to the United States in the 1950s and is headquartered at St. John's Retreat Center, P.O. Box 930, Montgomery, TX 77356. Website: http://www.saintjohns.org/.

Sources:

Cooke, Grace, ed. The Illuminated Ones. Liss, England: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1966.

Cooke, Ivan, ed. The Return of Arthur Conan Doyle. Liss, England: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1956.

Lind, Ingrid. The White Eagle Inheritance. Wellingborough, England: Turnstone Press, 1984.

The Story of the White Eagle Lodge. Liss, England: White Eagle Publishing Trust, 1986.

White Eagle Lodge

views updated May 14 2018

White Eagle Lodge. Spiritualist movement whose teachings are based on communications from White Eagle, a Native American, who spoke through Grace Cooke. The movement teaches that God the eternal spirit is both Father and Mother, and that the divine Son, or Cosmic Christ, dwells in every living thing, giving unity and harmony to the Cosmos.