Answers to questions most frequently asked…
1. What is Soulcraft, anyway?
A “different” course of study premised on the theorem that Man first discovers the universe; then he discovers God; then he discovers himself; then he discovers society as sentient material for human betterment. –William Dudley Pelley
If philosophy is a collection of basic fundamentals by which human beings live, then Soulcraft can be called a practical philosophy.
It offers both spiritual ballast and tangible guidelines for the mortal experience.
It is described by many students as a brand-new perspective on the engrossing mysteries of birth, life, death, and the realities of Spirit.
Others have described it as an uncovering and a recovering of ancient truths, long-lost, or forgotten, or perverted, up the centuries.
Actually, Truth being eternal, there is no question of time involved. Besides, what concerns you is getting sensible answers to your questions right now about life’s purposes, or about the problems that are continually being heaped upon you, or about your own relationships with family, friends, community and the Omniverse. This, Soulcraft has done for thousands over the years.
The Soulcraft philosophy developed out of a long series of messages received from planes high above the mortal during a period of thirty years by one man, William Dudley Pelley. By the time the messages ceased, Mr. Pelley had written several million words in books and articles expounding this remarkable teaching.
From the appearance of the first article, entitled “My Seven Minutes in Eternity” in the American Magazine of March, 1929, until the last issue of Mr. Pelley’s own magazine in June, 1962, a veritable fountain of consolation, instruction and inspiration poured out of his typewriter, providing thousands with their first glimpse into the Eternal Verities, broadening their understanding of Life’s purposes and enhancing their spiritual concepts.
2. Why haven’t I heard of Soulcraft before, if it’s been around so long?
When Mr. Pelley began his metaphysical work in the late 1920s, there was no public forum to which he could bring his particular offering for the enhancement of the human spirit. At that time there were no magazines dealing with ESP except those published by strictly scientific investigators, or by schools of thought already established, such as the Spiritualists, the Theosophists, or various cultist groups.
Mr. Pelley could not restrict the material he was getting only to “scientific investigation,” nor was he a Spiritualist, a Theosophist, or a cultist. He found it necessary to establish his own magazine, publish his own books, and forthwith depend on direct mail advertising, enriched by word-of-mouth. This remained his way of life until his passing to the Other Side in June of 1965.
In these later days, many new doors have opened. Investigation of ESP in all its myriad forms has become not only “respectable” but “in.” Magazines and forums are developing around the globe which no longer specialize, but seek scientific and spiritual truth in whatever form and wherever it may be found without regard to organized or dogmatic preaching.
So now, Soulcraft is coming into its own. It is being recognized for what it is, a fresh approach to ancient truths, an their application both to the individual and to society, combining the timelessness of the East with th energy and purpose of the West.
If this seems paradoxical or incomprehensible to you, simply rest assured you have a treat in store, presenting to you in sparkling, lucid language, a fountain of spiritual nourishment at which any seeker may freely drink and find himself or herself refreshed and strengthened.
3. Who was this man, Pelley?
William Dudley Pelley was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1890, the son of a Methodist preacher.
He was educated in Massachusetts public schools initially, and then by prodigious reading throughout the rest of his life. (An autodidact)
He was trained in the writing profession during the first thirty years of his life, as a printer and reporter for several of the great New England newspapers, then as writer and editor for papers of his own. Before he was thirty, his name appeared on the covers of the best known magazines of the day, among them Redbook, American, Ladies Home Journal and that most aspired-to pinnacle of all writers in the 1920s and 1930s, The Saturday Evening Post.
He had traveled across half the world, learning the United States like the palm of his hand and, indeed, was standing on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia when the Red Revolution swept in flames across Russia.
He had achieved outstanding success in almost all forms of writing, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scenario writing for several years in Hollywood, when on a memorable spring night in a bungalow in California, he underwent a completely unexpected and uninvited out-of-the-body experience which turned out to be the watershed of his life.
All his many diversified previous activities were seen to be simply training for his real career.
Rapidly, his hitherto dormant extrasensory abilities came to magnificent flower. He soon found himself taking messages by clairaudience (hearing them spoken within his inner ear) from high, high sources, not on a personal and individual wavelength, but describing a vast panorama of the universe and its workings, not just in physical manifestation but mentally and spiritually as well.
He began to grasp the eternality of consciousness, the purpose and need for mortal enhousement over and over again on an ever-ascending spiral, the reasons for problems in human relationships, for wars, for suffering as we humans see it, and the one-ness of what may most aptly be called Wholly Spirit.
He perceived it to be for the purpose of acquainting his fellow human beings with the processes of celestial mechanics as he began to understand them, that he had had his writing ability honed and sharpened to so keen and effective an edge.
This was to be his real life work.
When he passed over to the Other Side in June, 1965, he left behind him over two dozen volumes of invaluable teaching, easily read, profoundly moving and personally applicable to every mortal being who walks this confused and turbulent earth, caught in the birth pangs of the Aquarian Age.
4. What constitutes the Soulcraft Library and must it be read in any certain order?
There is no prescribed order in which the Soulcraft books must be read. Any one of them may be read by itself with pleasure and spiritual profit.
If you will turn back to the inside cover of this booklet, you will find a listing of the books now available in the Soulcraft library.
The essence of the Soulcraft message is to be found in the great compendium of direct messages from the one who calls himself the Elder Brother, which Mr. Pelley recorded and which are known collectively as The Golden Scripts. Set down in poetic, Biblical prose, in symbology, psalm and parable, this 908-page single book has become synonymous with the Bible to many persons to whom the Elder Brother speaks with personal and indelible application. “Each man hath a vision possible on his Damascus Road….”
There is a set of twelve volumes, each containing 13 lectures (making a total of 156), which is called The Soulcraft Scripts. Each of these lectures is made up of a direct message received by Mr. Pelley from mentor minds on the Other Side of Life, together with his own comments and interpretations, with an appropriate Master Message added. Each of these Scripts may be read by itself with much to be gained, although it is true that more will be gained by reading the later after the earlier.
The nine volumes beginning with Behold Life and following in sequence to Beyond Grandeur delineate in straight and lucid prose the tenets of the Soulcraft philosophy in an ever-expanding and deepening process. Any one of these books may be read separately, however, giving a clear understanding of a part of the whole picture.
The rest of the Soulcraft books stand independently.
One of the best introductions to Soulcraft is Seven Minutes in Eternity, the reprint of the article in the American Magazine which began the whole thing, together with an Aftermath written by Mr. Pelley in the 1950s, and two articles added after his passing by his daughter and son-in-law.
Why I Believe the Dead Are Alive is the fascinating account of Mr. Pelley’s own awakening and development in the world of psychics, metaphysics and extrasensory perception, told informally with humor and candor.
As Thou Lovest is a biography of Jesus, told as seen through the eyes of Simon, called Peter. In this book, you will understand the humanity of Jesus as well as the divinity of human beings, as all together are living and growing parts of Wholly Spirit.
5. What is “No More Hunger”? How does it relate to Soulcraft? Please explain.
The scope of Mr. Pelley’s concern for all facets of the human predicament has already been mentioned.
No More Hunger is a book written by him in the early 1930s. It was not sufficient for him to attack the money-changers in the temple—it was also necessary to provide a constructive alternative to the dog-eat-dog, jungle atmosphere of today’s marketplace.
Based on the spiritual tenets of Soulcraft, No More Hunger was written in 1934 to present a social blueprint for a constructive and more rational society in which every solitary citizen would be a participant, and all citizens would work out their material, cultural and spiritual well-being within a framework of cooperation.
More than that, an environment could be created wherein all human relationships would be elevated to a new plateau of performance underscoring compassion, peace and justice.
In the whole process of living together, the quality of every human being would be emphasized and developed.
Mr. Pelley called this new social concept a Christian Commonwealth.
While mass hunger, joblessness, even war, serve a purpose in the whole Life Scheme, the moment any of these scourges can be eliminated, they become sheer encumbrances on evolving spirit.
Mr. Pelley envisioned humankind performing in an entirely renovated social environment as spiritual enlightenment engendered a new sense of justice and compassion in human thinking and ways of relating to each other.
The spiritually awakened would be the way-showers for the transition.
The practical mechanics of a Cooperative Commonwealth are to incorporate the entire producing and working capability of the nation into a National Intentional Community so that every citizen, including every new-born child, as a shareholder has a political voice and an economic stake in its operation.
Certainly, if the principle of incorporation is American and proper for the few to “enrich” their lives, the same principle must be acceptable, and workable, to enrich the lives of the total citizenry.
In the intervening decades since Mr. Pelley first expounded the Idea, technology has advanced to the Age of the Computer, and human beings have advanced into the Age of Anxiety so that the proposals of No More Hunger have become imperative if the nation is to survive.
Again, Mr. Pelley had demonstrated that he had been born, not before his time, but as a forerunner, a way-shower, a true prophet.
6. Is it true Mr. Pelley was imprisoned for a period of time?
Yes, Mr. Pelley was convicted of breaking the “law” and did spend seven and a half years of a 15-year sentence in prison. Unfortunately, most people are unaware that his trial and conviction in 1942 had no relation to so-called conventional crimes of hurt or injury to either persons or property. Learned men of both constitutional law and political history are fully aware that Mr. Pelley was the victim of tyranny in government and the vengeance it could wreak on its opposition.
Mr. Pelley was the nation’s outstanding political prisoner of this century!
Simultaneously with his expounding of a philosophy which would liberate the mind and spirit of humankind, Mr. Pelley sought to liberate humankind from the oppressive and restraining aspects of our whole economic-social-political system. In short, a philosophy could b vital and dynamic only to the extent that its basic tenets were the pillars upon which all human relationships were built and projected.
Every human being is important and each life has an inherent right to the fullest opportunity to express and perform, thus commensurately expanding its individual personality and consciousness.
At the same time, he strongly opposed Zionism, Stalinist Communism and the international banking network. It was not this opposition, however, that primarily distressed these groups. For centuries, researchers and reformers have been unmasking injustices and focusing attention on those in high office who are guilty of the abuse of power, but it is a historical fact that those who control the pursestrings are difficult to remove.
What was different and dangerous to the exploiters, the greedy and the corrupt, was Mr. Pelley’s proposal of a workable system in which greed, exploitation and corruption simply could gain no foothold. It was his proposal of a “Cooperative Commonwealth” that was at issue.
The outbreak of World War II provided the environment for the Administration to allege the political “crime” of sedition to silence him. Government spokesmen were frank to say, “This case must be an example. Opponents of this administration take warning!”
In an atmosphere of war hysteria, it was a simple matter to circumvent the constitutional rights of the accused an obtain an arbitrary conviction and a sentence of fifteen years.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court in other sedition cases clearly established that the elements necessary to prove sedition were not present in Mr. Pelley’s trial.
Thus, when Mr. Pelley, and others, were indicted in the so-called Mass Sedition Case, the case was dismissed by the Chief Justice of the Washington Federal Court with the admonition that “it would be a travesty of justice to permit the case to continue.” In view of the fact that the same evidence had been used against Mr. Pelley in Washington as had been used in Indianapolis, he was to all intents and purposes exonerated, but neither the appeals court nor the Supreme Court would grant a re-hearing on Mr. Pelley’s original conviction. There were powerful forces who did not want him free.
It is almost routine for prisoners not guilty of hideous crimes and whose prison record is without blemish to be freed on parole after one-third of their sentences have been served. Not so for Mr. Pelley.
His behavior was exemplary. Throughout his entire incarceration, he was respected by jailers and praised by those who dealt with him daily. He led a Great Books program for the more literate of his fellow inmates. He reorganized a registry system for incoming inmates that saved grateful U.S. marshals many hours of useless waiting. He wrote speeches for the warden. He put together an illustrated book of the U.S. Reformatory at Terre Haute, Indiana which was put on display in the Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. Both Federal prosecutors who had officiated at his trial in Indianapolis recommended him for parole at the end of five years’ time. But still he could not be released, even on parole.
At last, the late Senator Langer of North Dakota threatened the federal Parole Board with a full investigation and introduced a resolution to that effect on the floor of the U.S. Senate. That brought results and Mr. Pelley was released on Valentine’s Day, 1950.
7. Since Mr. Pelley is no longer here, who is responsible for the promotion of his work?
Mr. Pelley’s daughter and son-in-law, Adelaide and Melford Pearson, are the legal guardians of Mr. Pelley’s interests and his writings.
In 1970 a crisis in Soulcraft affairs was precipitated by the sudden and unexpected death of Mr. Pelley’s widow, (Adelaide’s step-mother) which eventually required the dissolution of Soulcraft Fellowship, Inc. At that time, the Pearsons reactivated a corporation, long dormant, which Mr. Pelley himself had founded in 1940. They are today publishing the Soulcraft books under the name of Fellowship Press, Inc., P.O. Box 192, Noblesville, Indiana 46060.
In 1961, the Pearsons started a separate printing and publishing corporation for the primary purpose of promoting the ideas of the book called No More Hunger.
Mr. Pelley himself was not in a position to conduct any political battles that might result.
So Aquila was born.
Side by side, it has worked with Soulcraft through the ensuing years, doing its own research and publishing in the area of social reform and printing the Soulcraft material.
At this moment, (the autumn of 1986), Aquila Press, Inc., P.O. Box 252, Noblesville, Indiana, offers two basic books for sale: No More Hunger ($3.50) in an updated edition, supervised by Mr. Pelley some years before his death, and Challenge to Crisis, ($4.00), a companion book to No More Hunger, written by Melford Pearson, describing the America we think we live in, the America we do live in, and the America we could live in under the guidelines presented in No More Hunger.
8. What is the business and promotional nature of Fellowship Press and Aquila Press?
Both Fellowship Press and Aquila Press conduct the promotion of their business almost entirely by direct mail solicitation with occasional advertisements in magazines or metaphysical publications. Because these books are not for everyone, the finest form of advertising for them is word-of-mouth. “Let me tell you what I’ve just discovered….”
Fellowship Press sponsors no groups or organizations. This for two reasons: One, sponsoring groups is a whole separate administrative endeavor, one which Fellowship does not wish to pursue at this time. Two, Mr. Pelley himself wished to avoid any possibility of Soulcraft’s being formed into a church or cult. Such structuring, he knew, would shortly crystallize the Soulcraft ideas into inflexible dogma in which spiritual growth and investigation would wither and die.
Following this guideline, Fellowship takes the responsibility only to make available the best of the Soulcraft books, to sell them at reasonable prices to all who wish to read them, and to permit each person to make his own interpretation of the Soulcraft ideas as expressed by Mr. Pelley.
With written permission given, Fellowship permits quoting from the Soulcraft books of a reasonable amount to illustrate a point, providing, of course, full credit is given.
-ooo-
It is a bright and enlivening prospect that there is at last a genuine renascence of Spirit occurring. The effects of it are felt around the globe as we move forward into the Aquarian Age.
The Soulcraft Library is a part of that rebirth of the Ancient Wisdom.
Profound but simple to follow, it may prove the be something you’ve been looking for all your life!
“Where is the oak that hath not its acorn? Where is the acorn that containeth not its oak?
All things, I tell you, transpire in time, all promises mature, all expectations realize; there is no defeat for the watchers in eternity!” –THE GOLDEN SCRIPTS, Chapter 219, Verses 40, 41.