Heindel, born Carl Louis von Grasshof in Aarhus, Denmark (1865-1919) was a Danish-American Christian occultist, astrologer and mystic. He moved to California in 1903 and in 1905 came close to death due to heart trouble. He went through a protracted out of body experience which inspired him to further his occult studies and spiritual development, resulting in a round of lecture tours on his recovery. In 1907 he travelled to Berlin to hear Rudolf Steiner speak and during this time was visited by an Elder Brother of the Rosicrucian Order whose instructions influenced his future teachings and led to the publication of his major work The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (1909). Published posthumously in 1922 with a foreword by his widow, this book contains Heindel's last writings setting out some of his deepest thoughts based on years of research.