Via Christa Degrees

This passage in the Letter to Philippians describes the Way of Christ: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."—Philipians 2:5-8.

“Every law that Jesus taught is a part of the Way of the Christ, the Via Christa.”—Edna Lister

In reality, every law that Jesus taught is part of the Way of the Christ, the Via Christa. The Way is symbolically divided into 33 Degrees that encompass how you learn to become and to be Christlike in soul. The Via Christa Degrees are initiations by temptations on every law, from Neophyte to Christos; they test your selflessness, devotional attitudes and soul expressions toward God and man.

Via Christa Degree Initiations

Edna Lister on the Via Christa Degrees

You need not search after you have found the Via Christa, so stop prowling the world of the Antichrist.—Edna Lister, Divine Love, August 26, 1934.

The divine spark possesses you; you cannot avoid your destiny.—Edna Lister, November 28, 1938.

Follow the footsteps of Jesus, hour by hour, and all shall come to pass as decreed and declared unto us by the Father.—Edna Lister, January 19, 1939.

The Master does not paint an easy path, which will bring you into Power for a few mouthed phrases. The path is the rugged way of all ascending creator gods, and no man may have unearned ease.—Edna Lister, February 14, 1939.

The Via Christa is hard, for it has no room for self.—Edna Lister, November 6, 1940.

“Walking the Path of Destiny is doing the Master’s work.”—Edna Lister

Many of the Elect who begin walking the Way of Christ turn back when they meet hard initiations, yet you must live the Via Christa with all your heart, body, soul, mind and life to succeed.—Edna Lister, March 1941.

The path of earning and advance is the same for prince or pauper, creator or creature climbing for the first time.—Edna Lister, April 1, 1941.

We are all traveling to the Source. To follow the same path is not necessary, though we must all learn the same lessons in one earth life or another.—Edna Lister, October 21, 1941.

Walking the Path of Destiny is doing the Master’s work.—Edna Lister, December 25, 1941.

Let no man or writing of man tell you that the Via Christa is an easy Way. It is a mighty struggle. The Way of return is not one of glamour, but a constant vigilant battle to overcome the self. The subconscious digs in its claws in at the end, the last pulling over the hill, for it has no desire to let go. The final soul polishing is the hard part.—Edna Lister, July 9, 1945.

In following the Master, you cleanse the self traces from each center in your body. Those remaining traces of self in the cells cause all crystallization and weakness. Each cell has its own memory, so you must cleanse each.—Edna Lister, July 17, 1945.

Adherence to outer schools of truth can only detour you from your Path, for it delays the time of your obedience to the supreme laws.—Edna Lister, July 19, 1945.

Everyone is free to do what he does because he is on his place on the Path.—Edna Lister, July 22, 1945.

“You cannot erase your weaknesses unless you ascend. ”

Your smallest weakness is the weakest link in your chain of life, the greatest obstacle on your path. Your greatest virtue is less than your weakest point. You may have worked for years for your accomplishments, but your smallest fault can hurl you to the bottom. You cannot erase your weaknesses unless you ascend. No willpower you exert hides your past, for in ascension is the place of revelation.—Edna Lister, July 23, 1945.

Seek the Master in all things, lest you overlook his answer and so cut off or delay your own good.—Edna Lister, July 31, 1945.

The midway point is the most dangerous part of your path. You are not at the bottom or at the top.—Edna Lister, August 11, 1945.

The Via Christa is the way of soul expression and selflessness.—Edna Lister, September 10, 1946.

God is everywhere evenly present and available, so all have an equal chance to become in His eyes. Inequality rests in each soul’s present degree of development.—Edna Lister, February 10, 1947.

A virgin soul stands on the Path, looks into the Light and sees the immensity of the magnificent climb ahead. She recognizes it as her goal, views her past with abhorrence and horror over the way she has come, while acknowledging the need of life lessons for experience. She turns to the Light in full consciousness of the task ahead, and with deliberate intent and choice, takes her first step upward.—Edna Lister, July 30, 1947.

You are not on anyone else’s path.—Edna Lister, October 30, 1947.

Countless others will be drawn to you. They will bring their mops and brooms to help you clean up.—Edna Lister, November 13, 1947.

No soul can follow his true Path of Destiny until he recalls and redeems all his misused soul substance.—Edna Lister, January 8, 1948.

“Are you following the world’s path, or the Master’s?”

People first scoff at truth; others hear about it, think about it, talk about it and force everyone else to be it. Finally, you ask, "What am I doing wrong?" This fully illumines your path to law. After you have found the Path of Light, you cannot deny your responsibility.—Edna Lister, July 30, 1948.

The Path of Ascension and self-healing is a struggle to pull the soul from the quicksands of self.—Edna Lister, September 22, 1952.

You must always know whether you are following the world’s path, or the Master’s.—Edna Lister, June 3, 1953.

Hebrews 8 outlines every step to accomplish the goal on the Path of Destiny.—Edna Lister, Your Life’s Goal, May 30, 1954.

The Master gives you a cross as you begin to walk your Path. You choose whether you will be crucified on it, or climb it as your ladder of Ascension.—Edna Lister, I Surrender, July 4, 1954.

The ten Commandments are thirty steps on the Via Christa.—Edna Lister, The Fourth Face, Ascending, November 9, 1954.

As you begin to walk the Master’s Path, he gives you a Mantle of Messiahship. You forfeit it if you lose your vision or repudiate the Christ.—Edna Lister, July 4, 1955.

You must apply awareness, recognition, acceptance, surrender, and obedience as states of being to walk the Via Christa.—Edna Lister, Aspiration, June 17, 1956.

Their greed pushes some people down the path.—Edna Lister, November 5, 1956.

As you step onto the Via Christa, Light clothes you. The more self-negativity you see, the more you ask for Light, the more Light dissolves the little self. Light will show you the way.—Edna Lister, January 24, 1957.

No one of earth can call you unimportant when you follow the Light. Yet so many people too often refuse to follow their soul Light.—Edna Lister, February 11, 1957.

Never let anything kick you off the Path. When struck, say, "God, slap the other side." Edna Lister, February 28, 1957.

The thirty-three Via Christa Degrees are initiations by temptations on every law, from Neophyte to Christos.—Edna Lister, June 6, 1957.

When you use if/then statements about others, you obstruct their progress on the Path. Instead, ponder how the Father will direct them to freedom in His inimitable way under His perfect timing.—Edna Lister, November 21, 1957.

The Light of your Oversoul star illumines the path you choose to declare, according to the pattern of protection your words create.—Edna Lister, November 9, 1958.

Never ask of anyone what you have not done first for yourself, for therein lies the efficacy of our Path for the world. To become perfection is our motto.—Edna Lister, November 11, 1958.

The Via Christa is the Way of Christ. The thirty-three Via Christa Degrees are the attitudes of ascending creator gods, part of one hundred forty-four steps as you make the rounds twelve times on the first Wheel of Ezekiel to conquer on the Seven Degrees.—Edna Lister, The Pioneering Mystic, May 5, 1959.

The White Brotherhood degrees control self. The Neophyte Degree initiation is Rebirth, and conversion. The Disciple undergoes Baptism by Water, using control over emotions. Adept Degree initiations deal with healing and Baptism by Fire, by attempting to control outer events.

The Mystic Brotherhood degrees conquer self. The Mystic Degree initiation is Transfiguration from self to soul. The Master Degree is the first Crucifixion of personal will. The Priest requires full Resurrection of self. The Christos Degree makes full Ascension.—Edna Lister, Transfiguration, Resurrection and Ascension, May 19, 1959.

“The Gospel of John describes the Way or the Path of Christ.”

Tying your earth to heaven is stepping onto the Path of Destiny, an initiation called "crossing the burning sands of the desert." It may take years to complete, since many frequently quit when only halfway through. They turn back to the easier initiations on the line of fate.—Edna Miriam, What Is Symbolism? October 6, 1959.

"I hear, and when I accept, I AM predestined to step from my fate line to my Path of Destiny." One who hears but refuses to ascend, regresses to his fate line.—Edna Lister, I AM the Truth, October 11, 1959.

The instant you accept God as the Source of Love, you step onto your Path of Destiny. Everything else is preparation for your real work of soul ascension as a conqueror.—Edna Lister, I AM the Truth, October 11, 1959.

Lincoln was a just and holy man, who never deviated from his Star of Destiny, who never gave in to fears or doubts, but walked his Path of Destiny always. His Gettysburg Address is a beautiful, sacred proclamation.—Edna Lister, January 22, 1961.

To forget self is to walk the Path of Destiny. You choose your way after you ascend under a sacrifice of self. To deny destiny with a tinge of self, you fall back into the abyss of fate.—Edna Lister, January 29, 1961.

You cannot walk the Path of Ascension while carrying a pin point’s worth of intolerance or blame.—Edna Lister, January 4, 1962.

“If you allow self to rule even briefly, the way grows harder, steeper.”

Rocky is the Way of Christ for the soul returning to God, full of pitfalls, quicksand and abysses. If you allow self to rule even briefly, the way grows harder, steeper until conquering is almost a nightmare, for you must fill every detrimental pitfall. Like being lost in the forest, one finds and loses the Path, falls into the ditches until desire to ascend becomes the soul’s burning motivation. Face it, there is no easy way.—Edna Lister, March 27, 1962.

The Via Christa is the Way of Ascension to immortality. On the lower pole it is the Path of Death, the only gateway out of the world.—Edna Lister, Fourteen Stations of the Cross, April 17, 1962.

You are on the Path of Choice, choosing not once for all time but once every hour.—Edna Lister, March 25, 1963.

Israel crossing the Jordan River symbolizes crossing your fate line to the Path of Destiny.—Edna Lister, The Crown of Thorns, July 7, 1963.

The Gospel of John describes the Way or the Path of Christ.—Edna Lister, August 15, 1963.

The world follows you in ascension. Some object, revile you and fight, but it matters not. They can only ascend.—Edna Lister, March 22, 1964.

When you walk the fate line, you tune in the world’s disharmonies. When you step onto your Path of Destiny, you reach your own particular vibration. June 17, 1965.

When you finish the fate line, you step onto the Path of Destiny. The initiations are Rebirth, Baptism by Water, Baptism by Fire, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Death, and Ascension, crossing the final abyss to sacrifice the last of self.—Edna Lister, July 31, 1965.

Everyone must tread his own Path. Each is now in his own ultimate beautiful place in God’s service.—Edna Lister, February 12, 1966.

God has not promised that the Path will be easy, but has promised love, joy and that the crooked will be made straight. Power would do this for every soul on earth. Many stumble off the path because self’s eye is always on appearance, so they step into the pitfalls of self-pity.—Edna Lister, October 20, 1966.

“Many stumble off the path because self’s eye is always on appearance.”

The Master always lights two steps ahead of you, so you may know what to do next on the "straight and narrow" way, through "the eye of the needle." His Path shows you the way, you walk therein, then others walk in your footsteps, which is the basis of your responsibility to walk in the Light. If you walk in darkness, others follow you there, too.—Edna Lister, November 3, 1966.

You are supposed to be an ambassador of Light, enfolded on your Path of Destiny, but God blocks your Path until you cleanse subconscious taints.—Edna Lister, How to Collect Your Divine Inheritance, November 6, 1966.

We live within time and space, under fate and the world, which is the source of all delay and heartache, doing things at the wrong time, the wrong way, in the wrong place. Under fate, the right time and space never seem to meet for us. When you move onto your Path of Destiny, you move into Christed consciousness where time and space are one, and call it a miracle.—Edna Lister, Do You Follow Your Path of Destiny? December 4, 1966.

A substance initiation greets you on every level of ascension: Each of the 33 Degrees has a lesser substance degree, and each of the 144 steps has a substance step. These degrees and steps are dedicated to the redemption and cleansing of soul substance. You can take exams repeatedly for each. Tempters, who are initiators, may suggest, "This is a good place to rest, no hurry about obeying laws. Stay here, on this level." When you become complacent, you may succumb to the temptation to rest rather than climbing higher into the Light.—Edna Lister, May 22, 1967.

Everyone has gone off the path sometime. It doesn’t take much to send you to the bottom, just a little breeze to snuff the small flame within. Stay on the main highway. Work out your salvation where you are.—Edna Lister, June 22, 1967.

Moving from the fate line to the Path of Destiny is a road filled with ditches. Some try to go back to their fate line and straddle the ditch until they fall.—Edna Lister, December 14, 1967.

Each follows his Path of Destiny, recharged repeatedly by complete Power, Substance, and Life of the Living God.—Edna Lister, May 23, 1968.

A law applied on the Path of Destiny can set aside the physical level.—Edna Lister, Light on the Path, July 6, 1969.

You may not dangle one foot of line of fate and the other on the Path of Destiny, or think you can live by the laws of life you lived by ten years ago. This is how you get stuck on dead center.—Edna Lister, August 7, 1969.

You straddle the abyss between the line of fate and the Path of Destiny when you give credence to negative reports and words. React instantly to reach out, grab, declare it good and say, "Let there be Light."—Edna Lister, October 30, 1969.

“You can follow the fate line or step onto the Path of Destiny.”

You can follow the fate line or step onto the Path of Destiny. When you follow the Only Begotten Son and step onto the Path of Destiny, you must put on our whole armor of God described in Ephesians 6:10-24.—Edna Lister, The Path of Destiny, June 13, 1971.

You are supposed to be an ambassador of that Light and enfolded on your Path of Destiny.—Edna Lister, The Path of Destiny, June 13, 1971.

The Sermon on the Mount, John 1 and Ephesians 6:10-20 outlines the Path of Destiny.—Edna Lister, The Path of Destiny, June 13, 1971.

Edna Lister on the Via Christa Degrees

In the first ten degrees, the creature, who has only a credulous belief in the law, kills without cause. In the second ten degrees, the son of man, who knows law, needs a cause to show his anger. At the third ten degrees, the son of God, who comprehends law, knows that anger is dangerous. The creator, who is becoming law under the final three degrees, knows that the first misstep softens morale and the moral stance, making the second mistake easier. Weakened moral fiber inevitably leads to the point where all that remains are selfish desires.—Edna Lister, The First Days, June 17, 1951.

The Great Pyramid represents the 33 Via Christa Degrees, the soul’s pilgrimage from darkness to Light.—Edna Lister, Seven Degrees in the Great Pyramid, November 30, 1954.

Three sets of 33 Degrees descended from Solomon’s wisdom. The 33rd Degree includes the Ten Commandments repeated three times: outer physical, mental and spiritual. We take three degrees as independent initiations: The 31st is the degree of the Priest, the 32nd Christos Degree; the 33rd degree is the initiation into the Order of Melchizedek, which includes perfect balance of Love and Wisdom expressed as Holy Breath.—Edna Lister, The Ten Commandments, November 4, 1958.

The first twenty-seven Via Christa Degrees are lesser degrees, divided into three groups of nine each, called the great Trinities of Degrees. The first thirty degrees prepare you to complete one thousand burnt offerings [1 Kings 3:4], or living a thousand days as absolute perfection to open all spiritual soul faculties. In all the examinations, you face the three temptations, which are always in some virtue you lack, or negative action you are doing.

The three Christos Degrees include the final three of the 33 Degrees. The 31st Degree covers Resurrection and contains five degrees. The 32nd Degree contains seven lesser Degrees. You must complete one thousand burnt offerings to complete these degree initiations. The 33nd Degree of Ascension includes seven great initiations, polishing all degrees from Neophyte to Christos. Each degree has nine lesser degrees, totaling sixty-three (7 great degrees x 9 lesser degrees = 63). The 33rd Degree is indescribable illumination and comprehension. You are now polishing all degrees in this life and the final test is the ascension of life sparks in the outer physical body sheath.—Edna Lister, The 33 Degrees of Soul Conquering, October 13, 1959.

The Via Christa, the Way of Christ, holds 33 Degrees. At the first thirty steps, you repeat the Ten Commandments on three levels. You take the final three degrees out of the body on the sun at night.—Edna Lister, God’s Magna Carta, October 29, 1961.

“The 33 Degrees have descended from Solomon’s wisdom.”

Initiations are for the purpose of conquering self. Everyone who believes in and loves the Lord Jesus Christ is working on at least the 30th of the 33 Degrees. You are always working on the final three degrees, which constantly bring ever more initiations on all the emotions.—Edna Lister, What Is the Spoken Word? November 23, 1965.

There are three sets of 33 Degrees. Each set of the 33 Degrees has 144 steps. The first set encompasses the physical aspects of the Zodiacal signs under the twelve divisions. The second set of initiations is emotional in nature, and includes all Baptisms by Water. The third set of initiations is for soul polishing by Baptisms by Fire.—Edna Lister, The First Seven Magnitudes, November 8, 1966.

You are immortal in the substance of which you are formed. Jesus was immortal, acted immortally and gave the laws to express immortality. The cells of the body are immortal substance but have no immunity from low vibrations of the world. People who search for knowledge are unconsciously hunting beauty of soul, immortality of soul. There is always an initiation on every level; each degree of the 33 Degrees has a "substance degree," which is a point where you must redeem some unwisely invested soul substance. Each of 144 steps has a "substance step."

You can take exams repeatedly for each degree and step. Tempters (initiators) may suggest that this is a good place to rest, no hurry about obeying laws, just stay on that level. When you grow complacent, you may succumb to the temptation rather than climbing higher into the Light.—Edna Lister, Practical Methods for Creating Beauty, May 23, 1967.

The Degrees of the Via Christa Way are the same essentially the same in nature as those in all other mysteries, though perhaps with different names.—Edna Lister, Yetzirah Paths of Quabalah: The Fiery Furnace, March 19, 1970.

New Testament on the Via Christa

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I AM, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.—John 14:2-6.

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.—Matthew 7:12-14.

And when [Jesus] was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.—Mark 10:17-25.

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.—1 Thessalonians 5:16-22.