Now, in the first place, there is no reference in the Occult Teaching to any miraculous features connected with the physical birth of Jesus.  It is not expressly denied, it is true, but the Teachings contain no reference to the matter, and all the references to the subject of Jesus’ parentage speak of Joseph as being His father, and Mary His mother.  In other words, the family is treated as being composed of father, mother and child just as is the case with any family.  The Occult Teachings go into great detail concerning the Spiritual Sonship of Jesus, as we shall see presently, but there is no mention of any miraculous physical conception and birth.

We can readily understand why the Virgin Birth legend would not appeal to the Occultists, if we will but consider the doctrines of the latter.  The Occultists pay but little attention to the physical body, except as a Temple of the Spirit, and a habitation of the soul.  The physical body, to the Occultist, is a mere material shell, constantly changing its constituent cells, serving to house the soul of the individual, and which when cast off and discarded is no more than any other bit of disintegrating material.  They know of the existence of the soul separate from the body, both after the death of the latter and even during its life, in the case of Astral Travel, etc.  And in many other ways it becomes natural for the Occultist to regard his body, and the bodies of others, as mere “shells,” to be treated well, used properly, and then willingly discarded or exchanged for another.

In view of the above facts, you may readily see that any theory or doctrine which made the Absolute—­God—­overshadow a human woman’s body and cause her to physically conceive a child, would appear crude, barbarous, unnecessary and in defiance of the natural laws established by the Cause of Causes.  The Occultist sees in the conception of every child, the work of the Divine Will—­every conception and birth a miracle.  But he sees Natural Law underlying each, and he believes that the Divine Will always operates under Natural Laws—­the seeming miracles and exceptions thereto, resulting from the mastery and operation of some law not generally known.  But the Occultist knows of no law that will operate to produce conception by other than the physiological process.

In short, the Occultist does not regard the physical body of Jesus as Jesus Himself—­he knows that the Real Jesus is something much greater than His body, and, consequently, he sees no more necessity for a miraculous conception of His body than he would for a miraculous creation of His robe.  The body of Jesus was only material substance—­the Real Jesus was Spirit.  The Occultists do not regard Joseph as the father of the Real Jesus—­no human being can produce or create a soul.  And so, the Occultist sees no reason for accepting the old pagan doctrine of the physical Virgin Birth which has crept into Christianity from outside sources.  To the Occultist, there is a real Virgin Birth of an entirely different nature, as we shall see presently.