Compilation on the Elementals

 

 

The four elementals are on the involutionary arc and are not self-conscious

(RI 10) a. The individual tiny lives which we call the atoms or cells of the body.  These exist in three groups and compose respectively the four types of bodies:  dense physical, etheric, astral and mental.

b. The aggregate of these lives which constitute in themselves four types of elementals or separate coherent, though not self-conscious, existences.  These four lunar lords constitute what the Ageless Wisdom teaching calls "the four sides of the square."  They are the "lower quaternary," "the imprisoning cubes," or the cross upon which the inner spiritual Man is to be crucified.  These four elementals have an intelligence all their own, are upon the involutionary arc, are following the law of their own being when they tend to become powerful, and thereby fully express that which is in them.

c. A dominant controlling lunar lord who is that which we understand by the term the 'lower personality'; he (if the personal pronoun can be used) is the sumtotal of the physical, astral and mental elementals, and it [Page 10] is this power which at present forces the 'fiery energies' of the body to feed the lower three centres.  The etheric body has a unique and curious position, being simply the vehicle for prana or life and the centre which it uses exists in a category by itself.

 

The elemental is eventually  transmuted into a deva

(CF 67) 2. The Astral Plane.

 

The fiery essences of this plane are more difficult for us to comprehend, having not, as yet, the seeing eye upon that plane.  They are in themselves the warmth and heat of the emotional body, and of the body of feeling.  They are of a low order when upon the path of desire, and of a high order when upon the path of aspiration, for the elemental is then transmuted into the deva.

 

The goal for an etheric elemental is to become a violet deva on the evolutionary path

(CF 914) The violet devas are on the evolutionary path; the elementals are on the involutionary path, the goal for them being to pass into the deva kingdom of violet hue.

 

Elementals start out as involutionary entities, but later on move onto the path of return, and eventually become devas

(EH 609) When the time comes that the soul can assume conscious control within and over the form, and can eventually create a form which is adequate to its spiritual needs, it will be because the elementals which are the sumtotal of the personality elemental have reached a point in their development where they are ready to move on to the path of return. The work of the soul is never the purely selfish one of having a medium of expression in the three worlds, as might sometimes [Page 610] appear to the casual and superficial thinker.  That is entirely incidental from the angle of the soul; it is a needed activity, but it involves also the sacrificial work of salvaging substance and forwarding the evolution of matter.  As the Old Commentary expresses it:  "The Mother (substance-matter) is saved by the birth of her Son (the Christ within, the spiritual consciousness)."  This is true of the macrocosm as well as of the microcosm.

 

(DINA1 761)  "After the third initiation, the lower centres have no control whatsoever over the outer mechanism of response; from the standpoint of the highest occult training and when the disciple is in the Ashram itself, the centres are viewed as simply channels for energy."

 

(WM 438) "The signs which fall therefore into the four categories of earth, water, fire and air, concern primarily the man who lives below the diaphram, and who utilises the lower four centres"

 

(EA 23-24)"The zodiacal signs affect primarily the man who lives below the diaphram. This is the ordinary Average man. These signs thus condition four of the centres: base of spine, sacral, solar plexus and spleen. The inner group of solar systems, working in conjunction with the zodiacal signs, affect primarily those who live above the diaphram. They therefore, condition the heart, throat, ajna and head centres. Three of the energies work through the head centre but only after the third initiation."

 

Ten stands for perfected man, Twelve for perfection in the deva kingdom-this is why the twelve zodiacal signs, are released from elemental control by the 3rd initiation-These twelve signs after the 3rd initiation are related to higher deva energies.

There is another group of devas about which much may not as yet be communicated.  They have come in from another planetary scheme, and are specialists in their particular line.  They have attained, or passed through, the human kingdom, and are of equal rank with certain members of the Hierarchy, having chosen to stay and work in connection with the physical plane evolution.  They are not many in number, being only twelve.  Four work in the violet group, five in the green group, and two in the white, with a presiding officer of rank equal to a Chohan.  The number of the deva evolution is six, as that of man is now five, and as ten stands for perfected man, so twelve stands for perfection in the deva kingdom.  This group presides over the three earlier enumerated.  Certain subsidiary groups are found.

 

 

(OM 276)  At stated intervals the Master takes his pupils, and enables them to contact other evolutions, such as the great angels and devas, the lesser builders and the subhuman evolutions. This can be safely done by the pupil through the protective effect of the Masters aura. Later, when himself an initiate, the pupil will be taught how to protect himself and to make his own contacts.

 

(OM 178) Secondly, the average man, even if he knows the mantram, will probably fail in calling a deva, for it involves something more than just chanting the words and sounds.  This something is one of the secrets of initiation.  When a man is an initiate or an adept he needs not the protective rites, for it is a law in the occult world that only those of pure life and unselfish motive can successfully reach the deva evolution, whereas in connection with the elementary lives it works the other way.

 

 

By the fourteenth year the disciple has control of the physical, astral and mental elementals

Which are controlled by Mars which rules the 6th creative Hierarchy-Mars as esoteric ruler of the Scorpio represents the personality as a whole

(EH 463) I would ask you to remember that in all our present considerations we are dealing with the reactions and activities of the soul which is deliberately recalling its incarnated aspect because a life cycle has been concluded.  The term of that life cycle may be long or short, according to the purposes involved; it may cover only a very few short years, or a century.  Prior to the seventh year, the vitality of the physical elemental is largely the determining factor.  The soul is then focussed in the etheric body, but is not fully utilising all the centres; it has simply a gently pulsating control and a gentle impulsive activity—sufficient to preserve consciousness, to vitalise the various physical processes, and to initiate the demonstration of character and of disposition.  These become increasingly marked until the twenty-first year, when they stabilise into what we call the personality.  In the case of disciples, the grip of the soul upon the etheric centres will be more powerful from the very start of the physical existence.  By the time the fourteenth year is reached, the quality and the nature of the incarnated soul and its approximate age or experience are determined, the [Page 464] physical, astral and mental elementals are under control, and the soul, the indwelling spiritual man, already determines the life tendencies and choices.

 

Some elementals are of a malicious nature

(LOM 126) 5—Elementals and subhuman entities of a malicious nature who rush in on the slightest opportunity and where kindred vibration may be felt.

 

6—Some of the lower devas, harmless but mischievous who, from sheer freakishness and fun, enter another body in much the same way that a child loves to dress up.

 

(WM 215) Bringing these concepts down to practical expression in relation to the Rule under consideration, it can be noted that all these three activities are dealt with in this Rule.  The third eye opens as the result of conscious development, right alignment and the inflow of soul life.  Then its magnetic controlling force makes itself felt, controlling the lives of the lower bodies, driving forth the lower four elementals (of earth, water, fire, air) and forcing the lunar lords to abdicate.  The personality, which has hitherto been the master, no longer can control, and the soul comes into full domination in the three worlds.

 

(WM 389) 2. It must not be forgotten, however, that, on a lower scale of the evolutionary ladder, are other groups of lives, wrongly entitled devas, which work in obedience to the law, and are controlled by the higher entities.  There are, for instance, the denser forms of gaseous life, termed often salamanders, the elementals of the fire.  These are directly under the control of the Lord Agni, Lord of the mental plane, and, in this mental age, we have the element of fire entering into the mechanics of living as never before.  Eliminate the products which are controlled by heat and you will bring our civilisation to a stop; you will bring all means of transportation to an end and all modes of lighting; you would throw all manufactories into the discard.  Basically again, these fiery lives, are found in all that burns, and in the warmth that holds all life formation on earth and causes the flourishing of all living things.

 

 

 

 

(OM 189) ……..The first step towards the attainment of these mantrams is the acquirement of the faculty of occult meditation, for it is not the sounding of the words alone that bring about the desired end but the mental concentration that visualises the results to be attained.  This must be accompanied by the will that causes those results to be dominated by the one who chants the sounds.  These mantric forms are dangerous and useless apart from the concentrated mental equilibrium of the man, and his power to control and vitalise.

 

(EOH 512) ........When the few who are the true esoteric students of the world know the difference between etheric and astral forms, between mental clairaudience and clairvoyance and their astral counterparts, between the elementals of thought and the elementals of nature, then will the Christ and His church have a real esoteric group on the physical plane and the outer organisations receive the needed stimulation…………

 

(EOH 512) In all these bodies there are to be found esoteric groups who are the custodians of the inner teaching and whose uniformity in aspiration and in technique is one. These inner groups consist of occult students and of those who are in direct or occasional touch with the Masters and of those whose souls are in sufficient control so that the will of the Hierarchy may be communicated and gradually filter down to the channel of the physical brain. These groups which constitute the true inner esoteric group are many, but their membership is yet small, for the fact that a student may belong to any of the outer esoteric groups so-called is no indication of his true esoteric status. When the few who are the true esoteric students of the world know the difference between etheric and astral forms, between mental clairaudience and clairvoyance and their astral counterparts, between the elementals of thought and the elementals of nature, then will the Christ and His church have a real esoteric group on the physical plane and the outer organisations receive the needed stimulation. That is why it is necessary to work with the students at this time and train them in the nature of true occultism. When we understand better the significance of time in prevision, and of force in movement, and when we comprehend more fully the laws that control the subtler bodies, and through them therefore the laws that function on the planes whereon those bodies express [Page 513] themselves, then will there be more intelligent and more useful work offered in cooperation with the Occult Hierarchy.

 

After the first initiation the disciple is brought into contact with the astral devas and he learns to control the astral elementals

(HIS 84)  All people do not develop exactly along the same or parallel lines, and therefore no hard or fast rules can be laid down as to the exact procedure at each initiation, or as to just what centres are to be vivified, or what vision is to he accorded.  So much depends upon the ray of the disciple, or his development in any particular direction (people do not usually develop evenly), upon his individual karma, and also upon the exigencies of any special period.  This much can be suggested, however:  At the first initiation, that of the birth of the Christ, the heart centre is the one usually vivified, with the aim in view of the more effective controlling of the astral vehicle, and the rendering of greater service to humanity.  After this initiation the initiate is taught principally the facts of the astral plane; he has to stabilise his emotional vehicle and learn to work on the astral plane with the same facility and ease as he does on the physical plane; he is brought in contact with the astral devas; he learns to control the astral elementals; he must function with facility on the lower sub-planes, and the value and quality of his work on the physical plane becomes of increased worth.  He passes, at this initiation, out of the Hall of Learning into the Hall of Wisdom.  At this time, emphasis is consistently laid on his astral development, although his mental equipment grows steadily.

 

(HIS 217) Elementals.  The Spirits of the Elements; the creatures involved in the four kingdoms, or elements, Earth, Air,Fire, and Water.  Except a few of the higher kinds and their rulers they are forces of nature more than ethereal men and women.

 

(LOM 101) Macrocosmic evolution proceeds in like manner to the microcosmic.  The internal fires of the terrestrial globe, deep in the heart of our earth sphere, will merge with the sacred fire of the sun at the end of the greater cycle, and the solar system will then have reached its apotheosis.  Little by little as the aeons slip away and the lesser cycles run their course, fire will permeate the ethers and will be daily more recognisable and controlled till eventually [Page 101] cosmic and terrestrial fire will be at-one (the bodies of all material forms adapting themselves to the changing conditions) and the correspondence will be demonstrated.  When this is realised the phenomena of the earth—such as, for instance, seismic disturbance—can be studied with greater interest.  Later, when more is comprehended, the effects of such disturbances will be understood and likewise their reactions on the sons of men.  During the summer months—as that great cycle comes around in different quarters of the earth—the fire devas, the fire elementals and those obscure entities the "agnichaitans" of the internal furnaces, come into greater activity, relapsing as the sun moves further away, into a less active condition.  You have here a correspondence between the fiery aspects of the earth economy in their relationship to the sun similar to the watery aspects and their connection with the moon.  I give you quite an occult hint here.  I would like also to give you here a very brief though occult fragment that...may now he made public.  If pondered on, it carries the student to a high plane and stimulates vibration.

 

 

(LOM 130) c—This transition period is largely responsible for much of the danger.  The right type of body for the holding and the handling of the occult force has not yet been built, and in the interim the bodies now in use but spell disaster to the ambitious student.  When a man starts out to follow the path of occult meditation, it takes well-nigh fourteen years to rebuild the subtle bodies, and incidentally the physical.  All through that period it is not safe to tamper with the unknown for only the very strong refined physical body, the controlled stable and equalised emotional body and the properly striated mental body can enter into the subtler planes and literally work with Fohat, for that is what the occult does.  Therefore is the emphasis laid by all wise Teachers everywhere on the Path of Purification, which must precede the Path of Illumination.  They lay the emphasis on the building in of spiritual faculty before psychic faculty can be safely permitted; they demand service to the race every day throughout the scope of life before a man may be permitted to manipulate the forces of nature, to dominate the elementals, to co-operate with the devas, and to learn the forms and ceremonies, the mantrams and the key-words, that will bring those forces within the circle of manifestation.

 

(LOM 135) b—The Dark Brothers who occasionally employ these elemental forces to wreak their will and vengeance on all opponents.  Under their control work sometimes the elementals of the earth plane, the gnomes and the elemental essence as found in evil form, some of the brownies, and the fairy folk of colours brown, grey and sombre-hued.  They cannot control the devas of high development, nor the fairies of colours blue, green and yellow, though a few of the red fairies can be made to work under their direction.  The water elementals (though not the sprites or sylphs) move on occasion to their assistance, and in the control of these forces of involution they at times damage the furtherance of our work.

 

At this time their power is ofttimes mighty.  Why?  Because so much exists as yet in the Personalities of all men that respond to their vibration, and so it is easy for them to affect the bodies of men.  So few of the races, comparatively speaking, have as yet built in the higher vibration that responds to the key-note of the Brotherhood of Light, who move practically entirely on the two highest levels (or the atomic and sub-atomic subplane) of the mental, emotional and physical planes.  When moving on these subplanes the attacks of elementals on lower planes may be felt but effect no harm, hence the necessity of pure living and controlled pure emotions and elevated thought.

 

(LOM 145) Aspiration towards the Ego and the bringing in of that higher consciousness with the subsequent development of group consciousness very directly concern all who will read these letters.  It is the next step ahead for those upon the Probationary Path.  It is not achieved by simply giving thirty minutes a day to certain set forms of meditation.  It involves an hour by hour attempt, [Page 145] all day long and every day, to keep the consciousness as near to the high pitch attained in the morning meditation as possible.  It presumes a determination to consider oneself at all times as the Ego, and not as a differential Personality.  Later, as the Ego comes more and more into control, it will involve also the ability to look upon oneself as part of a group, with no interests and desires, no aims or wishes apart from the good of that group.  It necessitates a constant watchfulness every hour of the day to prevent the falling back into the lower vibration.  It entails a constant battle with the lower self that drags down; it is a ceaseless fight to preserve the higher vibration.  And—which is the point I am aiming to impress upon you—the aim should be the development of the habit of meditation all the day long, and the living in the higher consciousness till that consciousness is so stable that the lower mind, desire and the physical elementals, become so atrophied and starved through lack of nourishment that the threefold lower nature becomes simply the means whereby the Ego contacts the world for purposes of helping the race.

 

(LOM 154) 1—Forms used in work on the three bodies.

2—Forms on certain rays.

 

[Page 154]

3—Forms used in healing.

4—Mantrams.

5—Forms used in one of the three Departments:—

a—The Manu's Department.

b—The Department of the World Teacher or the Christ.

c—The Department of the Lord of Civilisation.

6—Forms for calling elementals.

7—Forms for contacting the devas.

8—Special forms connected with Fire.

 

(LOM 173) Forms used in calling devas and elementals.

 

In taking up the two points that you have enumerated six and seven, we shall be able to deal with them as one, for the mantrams and forms used in contacting the devas, angels or builders, and in calling the elementals or subhuman forms of existence, are practically the same, and should in these letters be counted as such.

 

As a preliminary step let us be quite clear wherein lies the distinction between these two groups.

 

The elementals are, in their essential essence, subhuman.  The fact that they can he contacted on the emotional plane is no guarantee that they are on the evolutionary [Page 174] path.  On the contrary, they are on the path of involution, on the downward arc.  They are to be found on all planes, and the etheric elemental forms—such as the brownies, gnomes and pixies—are well known.  They can be roughly divided into four groups:—

1. The elementals of earth.

2. The elementals of water.

3. The elementals of air.

4. The elementals of fire.

 

They are the essence of things, if you could but realise it.  They are the elemental things of the solar system in their four grades as we know them in this fourth cycle on the fourth or earth planet.

 

The devas are on the evolutionary path, on the upward way.  They are, as you know, the Builders of the system, working in graded and serried ranks.  Devas are to be found of the same rank as the Planetary Logoi, and the Rulers of the five planes of human evolution hold rank equal to that of a Master of the seventh Initiation.  Others are equal in development (along their own line) to a Master of the fifth Initiation, and they work consciously and willingly with the Masters of the Occult Hierarchy.  They can be found on all the lesser grades down to the little building devas who work practically unconsciously in their groups, building the many forms necessitated by the evolving life.

 

Earlier—prior to my dictating these letters to you—you received one communication along the line of the mantric invocation of the elementals and the devas.  The information given was correct, as far as it went, and you may if you wish incorporate it here.

 

"Force in evolution and force in involution are two different things.  That is a preliminary statement. [Page 175] In the one you have destruction, violence, blind elementary powers at work.  In involution it is the elementals who do most of the work, working blindly along as controlled by the Builders.  The work is constructive, cohesive, a gradual growing together, harmony out of discord, beauty out of chaos.  The lower kingdoms of the devas work, guided by the great Building Devas, and all move upward in ordered beauty from plane to plane, from system to system, universe to universe.  Therefore in studying occult lore you need to remember two things:—

 

a. You control elemental forces.

b. You co-operate with the devas.

 

In one you dominate, in the other case you endeavour to work with.  You control through the activity aspect, by the definite doing of certain things, by the preparation of certain ceremonies, for instance, through which certain forces can play.  It is a replica on a tiny miniature scale of what the third Logos did in world making.  Certain activities had certain results.  Later on, revelations can be made as to the rites and ceremonies through which you can get in touch with the various elementals, and control them.  The Ceremonial Ray—by coming into incarnation at this time, is making things much easier along this particular line.

 

Fire elementals, water sprites, and the lower elementals can all be harnessed by rites.  The rites are of three kinds:—

 

1. Protective rites, which concern your own protection.

2. Rites of appeal, which call and reveal the elementals.

3. Rites that control and direct them when summoned.

 

In working with the devas you use the wisdom or love aspect, the second aspect of the Logos, the building aspect.  Through love and longing you reach them and your first step (as you are on the path of evolution, as they are) is to get in touch with them, for together you must work in the future for the guidance of the elemental forces and the helping of humanity.  It is not safe for human beings, poor foolish things, to tamper with the forces of involution until they themselves are linked with the devas through purity of character and nobility of soul.

 

Through rites and ceremonies you can sense the devas and reach them, but not in the same manner nor for the same reason that you can the elementals.  The devas attend ceremonies freely and are not summoned; they come, as you do, to tap the power.  When your vibrations are pure enough the ceremonies serve as a common meeting-ground.

 

............I want to say in closing that when you have learned to use the activity aspect in work with the involutionary powers, and the wisdom aspect in co-operating with the devas, you will then unitedly pass on to use the first aspect, that of will or power."

 

Before proceeding further I seek to sound a note of warning as to the danger that lies in the calling and the contacting of these groups of builders, and more especially in the contacting of the elemental forces.  Why especially the latter?  Because these forces at all times find a response in one of the three lower bodies of men, these bodies (regarded as separated sheaths) being composed of these involutionary lives.  Therefore he who unwittingly lays [Page 177] himself open to direct contact with any elemental, runs a risk, and may bitterly rue the day.  But, as a man approaches adeptship and has achieved mastery over himself, and can consequently be trusted with the mastery of other forms of life, certain powers will be his.  These powers—based as they are on law—will put into his hands the rule over lesser lives, and will teach him that co-operation with the deva hosts which will be so essential towards the latter end of evolution.

 

Mantrams of power.

 

The mantrams that hold the secret of power are, as you know and have been told above, of different kinds, and are primarily four:

 

a. Of prime importance are the protective mantrams.

b. The mantrams that call the elementals and lesser devas, and bring them into the magnetic radius of the one who calls.

c. The mantrams that impose upon the elementals and lesser devas the will of the one who calls.

d. Mantrams that break the charm, if I may put it so, and place the elementals and devas again outside the magnetic radius of the caller.

 

These four groups of mantrams refer especially to the calling and contacting of the lesser grades and are not much used, except in rare cases by initiates and adepts, who, as a general rule, work through the instrumentality of the great guiding devas and builders.  The Dark Brotherhood work with the forces of involution and bend to their will the unwitting lesser forms of life.  The true procedure—as followed by the Brotherhood of Light—is to control these involutionary groups and low grade devas [Page 178] through their own superior ranks, the cohorts of the building devas with their Deva Lords.

 

This brings me to another group of mantrams used in connection with the devas themselves.

 

a. Rhythmic mantrams, that put the one who uses them in contact with the deva group he seeks.  These mantrams are, of course, forms of Ray Mantrams, for they call the devas on some one ray.  These mantrams again will vary if the man himself is on the same ray as the group he calls.  You ask why protective mantrams are not used first as in the case of calling elementals.  Principally for the following reason.  The mantrams calling elementals are more easily found and used than those calling the devas.  History is full of instances of where this has been done, and all over the world (even at this time) are people who hold the secret that will put them in touch with elementals of one kind or another.  Everyone in Atlantean days knew how to do this, and among savage peoples and by some individuals in civilised countries the art is still known and practised.  Secondly, the average man, even if he knows the mantram, will probably fail in calling a deva, for it involves something more than just chanting the words and sounds.  This something is one of the secrets of initiation.  When a man is an initiate or an adept he needs not the protective rites, for it is a law in the occult world that only those of pure life and unselfish motive can successfully reach the deva evolution, whereas in connection with the elementary lives it works the other way.

 

b. Mantrams that permit of intercourse with the devas once they have been called.  Speech, as we know it, is not understood by the devas, but impulses, forces, vibrations can be set up by the use of specific forms that lead to the desired result and obviate the need of speech.  [Page 179] These forms open the avenues of mutual comprehension.

 

c. Mantrams that influence groups, and others that influence specific devas.  I would like to point out here that as a rule devas are handled in groups and not as individuals until you contact devas of a very high order.

 

d. Mantrams that directly call the attention of one of the deva lords of a subplane, or the mighty Deva Lord of a plane.  They are known to very few and are only used by those who have taken high initiation.

 

(LOM 181) As may be imagined, the calling of either the devas or the elementals can only be safely undertaken by one who has the power to utilise them wisely when called, [Page 181] hence the mantrams we have enumerated above are only put into the hands of those who are on the side of the constructive forces of the system, or who can constructively control the destructive elements, bending them into line with the disintegrating forces that are themselves part of the great constructive scheme.  Should anyone—not thus capable—be able to contact the devas, and, through the use of mantrams gather them to him, he would find that the force they carry would descend on him as a destructive one, and serious consequences might result in one or other of his bodies.

 

Think this out, therefore, remembering that those dangers would lie along the line of over-stimulation, of sudden shattering, and of disintegration through fire or heat.  Should he gather involutionary lives around him the dangers would be different or rather would demonstrate in the opposite effect,—such as loss of vitality due to vampirism, a sucking out of the forces of one or another of his bodies, an abnormal building in of material into some one body (due to the action of such involutionary lives as the physical or desire elementals), and death through water, earth or fire, understood in an occult sense.

 

I have dealt here with the risks run by anyone who calls within his magnetic radius either of these two groups, without possessing the necessary knowledge to protect, to control and to use.  Why have I dealt with this subject at all?  Because these magic forms exist, and will be used and known when the student is ready, and the work requires it.  Some day the lesser forms will be gradually given out to those who have prepared themselves, and who unselfishly work for the helping of the race.  As I said earlier, these were known in Atlantean days.  They led to dire results at that time, for they were used by those of unclean life, for selfish ends and evil purpose.  They called [Page 182] the elemental hosts to perpetuate their vengeance on their enemies; they called the lesser devas, and utilised their powers to further their ambitions; they sought not to co-operate with the law, but to wield that law for physical plane schemes which originated in their desires.  The ruling Hierarchy deemed the danger too great, for the evolution of men and devas was threatened, so They withdrew gradually from the human consciousness the knowledge of the formulas and Words until such a time as the reason was developed somewhat, and the spiritual mind showed signs of awakening.  In this way the two great evolutions, and the latent third evolution (composed of involutionary lives) were separated and shut off from each other.  Temporarily the whole scale of vibration was slowed down for the original purpose had been a parallel development.  The secret of this apparent setting back of the plans of the Logos lies hid in the remnants of active cosmic Evil that had found their way into manifestation,—a remnant of the first or activity solar system, and the basis of this, the love system.  Evil is but the sediment of unfinished karma and has its root in ignorance.

 

This separation on a threefold scale of the evolving and the involving lives has continued up to date.  With the coming in of this seventh Ray of Ceremonial Magic, a tentative approximation of the two evolving groups is to be somewhat permitted, though not as yet with the involving group.  Remember this statement.  The deva and human evolution will, during the next five hundred years, become somewhat more conscious of each other, and be able therefore more freely to co-operate.  With this growing consciousness will be found a seeking after methods of communication.  When the need of communication for constructive ends is sincerely felt, then, under the judicious guidance of the Masters, will certain of the old mantrams [Page 183] be permitted circulation.  Their action, interaction and reaction will be closely studied and watched.  It is hoped that the benefit to both groups will be mutual.  The human evolution should give strength to the deva, and the deva, joy to the human.  Man should communicate to the devas the objective point of view, while they in turn will pour in on him their healing magnetism.  They are the custodians of prana, magnetism and vitality, just as man is the custodian of the fifth principle, or manas.  I have given several hints here and more is not possible.

 

Mantric forms connected with fire.

 

Perhaps it would be of value if I touched somewhat upon the part fire plays in evolution and on the various departments connected with fire that may be found within our solar system.  I especially emphasise it because in meditation the domain of fire is entered, and because of its prime importance.  The departments in which fire plays its part are five.  Let us therefore enumerate them.  I will deal first with fire in the Macrocosm, and later show its microcosmic correspondence.

 

l—The vital fire that animates the objective solar system.  For instance, as evidenced in the internal economy of our planet, and the central ball of fire, the sun.

 

2—That mysterious something called by H. P. B. Fohat, of which some of the manifestations are electricity, certain forms of light, and the magnetic fluid wherever encountered.

 

3—The fire of the mental plane.

 

[Page 184]

4—The fire elementals who, in their essence, are fire itself.

 

5—The vital spark we call the "divine flame," latent in each human being, which distinguishes our solar Logos from all other Logoi, and which is the sum of all His characteristics.  "Our God is a consuming Fire."

 

All these differentiations of fire are practically differentiations of one and the same thing; they are basically the same though in manifestation they are diverse.  They originated fundamentally from cosmic fire found on the cosmic mental levels.  In the Microcosm you find this fivefold differentiation again, and it is in the recognition of this correspondence that illumination comes, and the purpose of meditation is achieved.

 

1—The vital fires that keep the internal economy of the human being,—the microcosmic system—in full manifestation.  At the cessation of that inner burning, death ensues, and the physical objective system passes into obscuration.  So it is in the Macrocosm.  Just as the sun is the centre for our system, so the heart is the focal point for the microcosmic heat; similarly, as the earth is vitalised by the same heat and is, for our chain, the point of densest matter, and of greatest physical heat, so the lower generative organs are the secondary centre in the majority of cases for the internal fire.  The correspondence is accurate, mysterious and interesting.

 

2—The correspondence in the Microcosm to Fohat is found in the pranic currents that, through the etheric body, keep the dense physical vitalised and magnetised.  The resources of the pranic fluid are illimitable and little understood, and in their [Page 185] proper comprehension lies the secret of perfect health.   We will touch upon this later.

 

3—The correspondence to the fire of the mental plane is easily demonstrable.  For the work of the Lords of Flame in implanting the spark of mind has so developed and grown, that now the fire of intellect is to be seen burning in all civilised peoples.  All energies are turned to the feeding of that spark and the turning of it to the greatest profit.

 

4—The fire elementals are known in some measure in the microcosm by the thoughtforms conjured up and vitalised by the man whose thought power suffices to do so.  These thoughtforms, built by the man who can think strongly, are vitalised by his life or capacity to heat, and last as long as he has the power so to animate them.  This is not for long at this time as the real power of thought is little comprehended.  In the fifth great cycle, (the 5th round) which for this chain will see the culmination of the fifth principle of mind, this correspondence will be more understood.  At present the connection is necessarily obscure.

 

5—The vital spark latent in each human being which marks him out as of the same nature as the Solar Logos.

 

Here you have fire as it may be seen in the greater and the lesser systems.  I would here sum up for you the purpose of fire in the microcosm, and what must be aimed at.  You have the three fires:

 

l—The vital divine spark.

2—The spark of mind.

3—Kundalini, the twofold blending of the internal heat and of the pranic current.  The home of this [Page 186] force is the centre at the base of the spine and the spleen as a feeder of that heat.

 

(LOM 188) Other mantrams connected with fire can be further enumerated.  There are two groups that are contacted by the use of certain rhythmic sounds.

 

[Page 188]

The fire elementals and their various hosts in the bowels of the earth, on the surface of the earth, and in the air above the earth.

 

The devas of the mental plane, who are essentially the devas of fire.

 

With the mantrams affecting the elementals of fire there is nought to be said or imparted.  They are, in many ways, the most dangerous and the most powerful of the elementals who attend to the earth economy.  For one thing, they far outnumber all the other elementals, and are found on every plane from the highest to the lowest.  The elementals of water or earth are found only in certain localities or spheres in the solar system, whilst the next most numerous elementals are those of air.

 

Mantrams calling them, controlling and dismissing them, were in common use among the Atlanteans.  The dangers aroused, and the menace stalking the land through the indiscriminate use of elementals, so disturbed the accurate working of the logoic plans, and so displeased the Guides of the race that the knowledge was withdrawn.  The Atlantean root race passed away through disasters by water, by floods, by submergings; when you remember that water is the natural enemy of fire, and that the two groups of elementals have no point of at-one-ment at this stage, you may be able to understand an interesting point about the Atlantean cataclysms.

 

Mantrams calling the fire devas are equally well guarded, not only because of the dangers involved but because of the obstructions in time that are caused when these devas are heedlessly called and held by mantric charm from pursuing their necessary vocations.  Under these two groups of mantric forms will be found many lesser groups which work specifically with different bands of elementals and devas.

 

[Page 189]

We have here enumerated six groups of mantrams connected with fire.  There are still a few more which I might briefly enumerate.

 

Purificatory mantrams that awaken a fire that purifies, and burns on one of the three lower planes.  This is effected through the activity of elementals, controlled by fire devas, and under the direct guidance of an initiate or disciple for some specific purificatory end.  The end may be to cleanse some one of the bodies or to purify a locality, a house or a temple.

 

Mantrams that call down fire for the magnetisation of talismans, of stones and of sacred spots.

 

Mantrams that bring about healing through the occult use of flame.

 

The mantrams used:—

 

a—By the Manu, in manipulating that which is necessary in the moving of continents, and the submerging of lands.

 

b—By the Bodhisattva, in stimulating the inner flame in each human being.

 

c—By the Mahachohan, in His work with the intelligence, or the fifth principle.

 

(OM 189) All these mantric forms and many others exist......The first step towards the attainment of these mantrams is the acquirement of the faculty of occult meditation, for it is not the sounding of the words alone that bring about the desired end but the mental concentration that visualises the results to be attained.  This must be accompanied by the will that causes those results to be dominated by the one who chants the sounds.  These mantric forms are dangerous and useless apart from the concentrated mental equilibrium of the man, and his power to control and vitalise.

 

(CF) Introductory Questions

Division A.  The Nature of Manas or Mind

Division B.  Manas as a cosmic, systemic and human factor

Division C.  The Egoic Ray and solar fire

Division B.  Thought elementals and fire elementals

Division E.  Motion on the plane of mind

Division F.  The Law of Attraction

 

(CF 44) The fires of the mental plane also demonstrate in a twofold manner:

 

First, as the Fire of Mind, the basis of all expression and in one peculiar occult sense the sumtotal of existence.  It provides the relation between the life and the form, between spirit and matter, and is the basis of consciousness itself.

 

Second, as the Elementals of Fire, or the sumtotal of the active expression of thought, showing itself through the medium of those entities who, in their very essence, are fire itself.

 

These dualities of expression make the four necessary factors in the logoic quaternary,12 or the lower nature of the Logos viewing His manifestation from one esoteric angle; exoterically, they are the sumtotal of the logoic quaternary, plus the logoic fifth principle, cosmic mind.

 

(CF 52) The internal fires of the system, of the planet, and of man are threefold:

 

1. Interior fire at the centre of the sphere, those inner furnaces which produce warmth.  This is latent fire.

 

2. Radiatory fire.  This type of fire might be expressed in terms of physical plane electricity, of light rays, and of etheric energy.  This is active fire.

 

3. Essential fire, or the fire elementals who are themselves the essence of fire.  They are mainly divided into two groups:

 

a. Fire devas or evolutionary entities.

b. Fire elementals or involutionary entities.

 

Later we will elaborate on this when we consider the Fire of Mind and deal with the nature of the thought elementals.  All these elementals and devas are under the control of the fire Lord, Agni.  When considering Him and His kingdom the subject can be taken up at greater length.

 

We might here point out, however, that our first two statements concerning the internal fires, express the effect that the fire entities have upon their environment.  Heat and radiation are other terms which might be applied in this sense.  Each of these effects produces a [Page 53] different class of phenomena.  Latent fire causes the active growth of that in which it is embedded and causes that upward pushing which brings into manifestation all that is found in the kingdoms of nature.  Radiatory fire causes the continued growth of that which has progressed, under the influence of latent fire, to a point receptive of the radiatory.  Let us tabulate it thus:

 

(CF 65)  II. FIRE ELEMENTALS AND DEVAS

 

We might now briefly consider the subject of the fire elementals and devas, and then deal with the relation of the Personality Ray to this internal fire of the system in its threefold manifestation.

 

Agni is one of the seven Brothers each of whom rules over one of the seven planes and one or other of the seven centres in the body of the  Cosmic Lord of Fire called Fohat-Fohat is the basis of the internal fires of the solar system

Certain facts are known in connection with the fire spirits (if so they may be termed).  The fundamental fact that should here be emphasised is that AGNI, the Lord of Fire, rules over all the fire elementals and devas on the three planes of human evolution, the physical, the astral, and the mental, and rules over them not only on this planet, called the Earth, but on the three planes in all parts of the system.  He is one of the seven Brothers (to use an expression familiar to students of the Secret Doctrine) Who each embody one of the seven principles, or Who are in Themselves the seven centres in the body of the cosmic Lord of Fire, called by H. P. B. "Fohat."   He is that active fiery Intelligence, Who is the basis of the internal fires of the solar system.  On each plane one of these Brothers holds sway, and the three elder Brothers (for always the three will be seen, and later the seven, who eventually merge into the primary three) rule on the first, third and the fifth planes, or on the plane of adi, of atma22 and of manas.  It is urgent that we here remember that They are fire viewed [Page 66] in its third aspect, the fire of matter.  In Their totality these seven Lords form the essence of the cosmic Lord, called in the occult books, Fohat.

 

The seven Chohans are to the one or other of the Heavenly Men what the seven Lords of Fire are to the Solar Logos

This is so in the same sense as the seven Chohans, with Their affiliated groups of pupils, form the essence or centres in the body of one of the Heavenly Men, one of the planetary Logoi.  These seven again in Their turn form the essence of the Logos.

 

Each of the seven Lords of Fire are differentiated into numerous groups of fire entities, from the Deva-Lords of a plane down to the little salamanders of the internal furnaces.  We are not dealing with the fiery essences of the higher planes at this stage in our discussion.  We will only enumerate somewhat briefly some of the better known groups, as contacted in the three worlds.

 

1. Physical Plane.

Salamanders, those little fire elementals who can be seen dancing in every flame, tending the fires of the hearth and the home, and of the factory.  They are of the same group as the fire spirits who can be contacted deep in the fiery bowels of the planet.

 

Fire spirits, latent in all focal points of heat, who are themselves the essence of warmth, and can be contacted [Page 67] in the heat of the bodily frame, whether human or animal, and who are likewise the warmth terrestrial.

 

The Agnichaitans, a higher grade of fire spirit, who form a vortex of fire when viewed on a large scale, such as in volcanoes and large destructive burnings.  They are closely allied to a still more important group of devas, who form the fiery envelope of the sun.

 

The pranic elementals, those minute fiery essences who have the ability to permeate the texture of the human body, of a tree, or of all that may be found in the human, vegetable and animal kingdoms, and who blend with the fires of the microcosmic systems.

 

Certain of the deva kingdom who may be described as ensouling certain of the great light rays, and Who are in Themselves the essence of those rays.  Other forms of such elemental lives and of deva groups might be enumerated, but the above tabulation will suffice for our present purpose.

 

(CF 67) 2. The Astral Plane.

 

The fiery essences of this plane are more difficult for us to comprehend, having not, as yet, the seeing eye upon that plane.  They are in themselves the warmth and heat of the emotional body, and of the body of feeling.  They are of a low order when upon the path of desire, and of a high order when upon the path of aspiration, for the elemental is then transmuted into the deva.

 

The Agnisuryans

Their grades and ranks are many, but their names matter not save in one instance.  It may be of interest to know the appellation applied to the devas of fire whose part it is to tend the fires that will later destroy the causal body.  We need to remember that it is the upspringing of the latent fire of matter and its merging with two other fires that causes destruction.  These elementals and devas are called the Agnisuryans, and in [Page 68] their totality are the fiery essences of buddhi, hence their lowest manifestation is on the sixth plane, the astral.

 

Further information concerning these deva lives will be found further on in the Treatise, where they are dealt with at some length.

 

(CF 78) In days to come it will be realised that the health of man is dependent upon the health of all allied evolutions, and upon the co-operative action and full expression of the matter of the planet and of the planetary elemental who is himself a composite manifestation of the physical elementals of all manifested nature.

 

(CF 302)  b. Those on the involutionary arc, such as the totality of all elemental material forms within His sphere of influence.  All the involutionary lives, as earlier pointed out, form the vehicles for the spirit of the planet, or the planetary entity, who is the sumtotal of the elemental essences in process of involution.  He holds a position (in relation to a Heavenly Man) analogous to that held by the different elementals that go to the make-up of man's three bodies, physical, astral and mental, and he is—like all manifesting beings—threefold in his nature, but involutionary.  Therefore, man and devas (differentiating the devas from the lesser Builders) form the SOUL of a Heavenly Man.  Other lives form his BODY, and it is with body and soul that we are concerned in these two divisions of our thesis on FIRE.  One group manifests the fire of matter, the other group the fire of mind, for the devas are the personification of the active universal mind, even though man is considered manasic in a different sense.  Man bridges in essence; the devas bridge in matter.

 

(CF 472) All the lesser grades of devas, "The Army of the Voice," on each plane, the lesser builders and elementals in their myriads, work unconsciously, being guided and directed by words and sound.  In this way vibrations are set up in the essence of the planes by the conscious Builders.

 

(CF 474) The centre of attention of medical and scientific students will be focussed on the etheric body, and the dependence of the physical body upon the etheric body will be recognised.  This will change the attitude of the medical profession, and magnetic healing and vibratory stimulation will supersede the present methods of surgery and drug assimilation.  Man's vision being then normally etheric, will have the effect of forcing him to recognise that which is now called the "unseen world," or the superphysical.  Men in their etheric bodies will be noted, and communicated with, and the devas and elementals of the ethers will be studied and recognised.  When this is so, then the true use of ceremonial ritual as a protection and safeguard to man will assume its right place.

 

(CF 486) As time proceeds, man will gradually do four things:

 

1. Recover past knowledge and powers developed in Atlantean days.

2. Produce bodies resistant to the fire elementals of the lower kind which work in the mineral kingdom.

3. Comprehend the inner meaning of radioactivity, or the setting loose of the power inherent in all elements and all atoms of chemistry, and in all true minerals.

4. Reduce the formulas of the coming chemists and scientists to SOUND, and not simply formulate through experiment on paper.  In this last statement lies (for those who can perceive) the most illuminating hint that it has been possible as yet to impart on this matter.

 

It may seem that I have not communicated much information anent this conscious manipulation of the fires.  That lies in the inability of the student to read the esoteric background of the above communicated statements.  Conscious transmutation is possible only when a man has transmuted the elements in his own vehicles; then only can he be trusted with the secrets of divine alchemy. [Page 487] When through the latent internal fires of the matter of his own sheaths he has transmuted the chemical and mineral atoms of those sheaths,  (this happens at the 1st initiation) then can he safely—through affinity of substance—aid the work of mineral transmutation of the first order.  Only when (through the radiatory fires of the sheaths) he has transmuted the correspondence to the vegetable kingdom within his own organism can he alchemically do work of the second order.  (work of the second degree initiate)  Only when the fires of mind in himself dominate, can he work with the transmutative processes of the third order, or with the transference of life into the animal forms.  Only when the Self within, or the Ego in the causal body, is in control of his threefold personality can he occultly be permitted to be an alchemist of the fourth order, and work in connection with the transmutation of the animal monad into the human kingdom, (individualisation of the animal Monad) with all the vast knowledge that is included in that idea.

 

(CF 488) Third.  The white Magician develops the inherent energy of the sphere concerned (whether human, animal, vegetable or mineral) and produces results through the self-induced activities of the central life, subhuman, human or super-human.  The black Magician attains results through the agency of force external to the sphere involved, and produces transmutation through the agency of resolvents (if so I might term it) or through the method of the reduction of the form, rather than through radiation, as does the white Magician.

 

(CF 492) At all the different stages, the fire elementals perform their part, aided by the fire devas who are the controlling  agents.  This is so on all the planes which primarily concern us in the three worlds—different groups of devas coming into action according to the nature of the form concerned, and the plane on which the transmutation is to take place.  Electric fire passes from atom to atom according to law, and "fire by friction" responds, being the latent fire of the atom, or its negative aspect; the process is carried on through the medium of solar fire, and herein lies the secret of transmutation and its most mysterious angle.  Fire by friction, the negative electricity of substance, has been for some time the subject of the attention of exoteric science, and investigation of the nature of positive electricity has become possible through the discovery of radium.

 

(CF 493) The central factor of solar fire in the work of transmutation will come to be understood through the study of the fire devas and elementals, who are fire, and who are, in themselves (essentially and through active magnetic radiation), the external heat or vibration which produces:

 

The force which plays upon the spheroidal wall of the atom.

The response within the atom which produces radiation or the escape of volatile essence.

 

Speaking cosmically, and regarding the solar system as itself a cosmic atom, we would consider that:

 

The abstractions or entities who indwell the form are "electric fire."

The material substance which is enclosed within the ring-pass-not viewing it as a homogeneous whole, is "fire by friction."

The fire devas from the cosmic mental plane (of whom Agni and Indra are the embodiers along with one whose name is not to be given) are the external agencies who carry on cosmic transmutation.

 

(CF 494) Second.  Inability to create the necessary channel or "path" along which the escaping life may travel into its new form.  Many have succeeded in breaking the form so that the life has escaped but they have not known how to harness or guide it and all their labour has consequently been lost.

 

Third.  Inability to control the fire elementals who are the external fire which affects that central spark through the medium of its environment.  This inability is especially distinctive of the alchemists of the fifth root race who have been practically incapable of this control, having lost the Words, the formulas, and the sounds.  This is the consequence of undue success in Atlantean days, when the alchemists of the time, through colour and sound so entirely controlled the elementals that they utilised them for their own selfish ends and along lines of endeavours outside their legitimate province.  This knowledge of formulas and sounds can be comparatively [Page 495] easily acquired when man has developed the inner spiritual ear. (something that usually doesn’t take place until the 3rd initiation) When this is the case, the transmutative processes of the grosser kind (such as are involved in the manufacture of pure gold) will interest him not at all and only those subtler forms of activity which are connected with the transference of life from graded form to form will occupy his attention.

 

(CF 544) Our next subject concerns itself with the elementals of the mental plane, with the thought forms they animate, and with the consideration of them as force centres, capable of producing resultsconstructive, if rightly directed; destructive, if left blindly to follow their own course.  Before taking up this matter, however, I want to gather together some threads of thought in connection with the matter just dealt with.  If we have carefully followed the data given about the egoic manifestation on its own plane, and the fires of the causal body, we shall have noted the close resemblance between that egoic body, viewed as a force centre, and certain aspects of logoic manifestation.

 

(CF 550) [Page 550]

DIVISION D - THOUGHT ELEMENTALS AND FIRE ELEMENTALS

 

I. THOUGHT FORMS

 

1. Their function.

 

a. To respond to vibration.

b. To provide the vehicle for an idea.

c. To carry out specific purpose.

 

2: The Laws of Thought.

 

a. Three cosmic laws.

b. Seven systemic laws.

II. THOUGHT ELEMENTALS AND DEVAS

 

1. The Ruler of Fire . . . Agni.

a. Agni and the solar Logos.

b. Agni and the mental plane.

c. Agni and the three Fires.

 

2. The Fire Devas . . . the Greater Builders.

a. Introductory statements.

b. The functions of the devas.

c. The devas and the planes.

 

3. The Solar Angels . . . the Agnishvattas.

Introductory remarks.

a. On the fifth Principle.

b. On Individualisation.

c. On Incarnation.

d. On the Building of the Causal Body.

 

4. The Fire Elementals . . . the Lesser Builders.

 

a. Introductory.

b. Physical plane elementals.

c. Elementals of the ethers.

d. Elementals and the Microcosm.

 

[Page 551]

III. MAN, AS A CREATOR IN MENTAL MATTER

1. The creation of thought forms.

2. The process of thought form building.

 

IV. MAN AND THE FIRE SPIRITS

 

1. The Will aspect and creation.

 

a. The condition of the magician.

b. Construction of thought forms.

c. The occult significance of speech.

 

2. The nature of Magic.

 

a. Black magicians and white.

b. The source of black magic.

c. Conditions for white magic.

3. Fifteen rules for Magic.

 

a. Six rules for the mental plane.

b. Five rules for the astral plane.

c. Four rules for the physical plane.

 

Under this division we shall briefly give an outline of the study which we will undertake upon this vast and stupendous subject, for, as it definitely concerns the evolution of man and his power eventually to create, it will be wise for us to take up the matter in some detail.

 

This section is not intended to give interesting bits of information anent the devas; I only seek to deal with the matter in its practical application to man, and to give as much of the necessary knowledge as will enable a man to control and build his own system, to understand the method of creation and to comprehend somewhat the lesser lives and the paralleling deva evolution with which he may be concerned.

 

(CF 564) The Factor of the Lesser Builders.  Here a most interesting factor comes in upon which we shall enlarge later, when considering the elementals.  The specific purpose of a thought-form is connected very closely with the type of deva essence of which it is constructed, and (in connection with man on the mental plane), with the type of elemental which he can control, and send forth as the occupier, or vitalising agency of the thoughtform.  Roughly speaking, a solar Logos works only through the greater Builders, the Manasaputras in Their [Page 564] various grades on the two higher planes of the solar system.  He works through Them, and sends Them forth upon the mission of constructing, and vitalising the systemic thought-form, with a specific purpose in view.  The planetary Logoi work primarily through the Builders of the next three planes (atma-buddhi-manas), who construct and control the work of the planetary schemes.  Men work through the builders of the lower mental planes, and the astral plane, for the human thought-forms are kama-manasic; the physical plane builders are swept automatically into action by the force of the currents, and energies set up in subtler matter, by the great Builders.

 

(CF 616) The building devas are the Ah-hi, or Universal Mind.  They contain within their consciousness the plan logoic, [Page 616] and inherently possess the power to work it out in time and space, being the conscious forces of evolution.

 

They not only embody the Divine Thought but are that through which it manifests, and its actuating activity.  They are essentially motion.  The lesser builders are more particularly the material form which is actuated, and in their cohorts are the substance of matter (considering substance as that which lies back of matter).

 

(CF 642) n due course of time, as the human family becomes centred in the higher, and not in the lower nature, and as the force from the higher planes can more easily impose itself on the lower, the facts concerning these Lives and Builders, their methods of work, and the laws of their being will be known.  Knowledge at this time would be productive of two results.  It would first of all bring the human family into the power (as yet blind and destructive) of [Page 642] certain elementals, who are of a nature analogous to that of the physical body.  Hence destruction of the form would ensue, or paralysis and insanity on a large scale would eventuate.  Secondly, it would put power into the hands of certain of the Brothers of the Left Hand Path and of a number of unconscious magicians (of whom there are quite a number) who would use it only for selfish, evil and material ends.  Hence no more can be said anent dense physical substance and its embodiers.  The Agnichaitans of the third group are as yet a menace to man, and are only handled in group formation, and on a large scale by the head of the Manu's department through their own rulers-certain devas of a development equal to that of the sixth Initiation.

 

(CF 658) Agnisuryans—Astral Plane Devas.

 

We start here upon a consideration of those groups of devas who are the substance of the astral plane, the Agnisuryans.  They may be considered in the following manner, and by the employment of synonymous terms, some general idea of their function may be arrived at before we begin to differentiate them into groups and study their relation to:

 

1. The various entities who are the soul of the differing kingdoms, or groups, such as the animal kingdom, the human kingdom, and higher in the scale of consciousness than men—the planetary Logos.

2. Man himself.

3. The plane as a totality.

 

We might consider these devas:

 

First, as the substance of the astral plane in its seven grades.

 

Second, as that aspect of logoic manifestation which corresponds to the liquid subplane in the systemic physical plane.

 

Third, as the vehicle of the deva lord Varuna.

 

Fourth, as the animating lives of that involutionary matter of the astral plane which we call the elemental essence, and as the vitality energising the desire elementals of all that is sentient.  Viewed in this aspect in connection especially with man, they are the correspondence on the astral plane to the "devas of the shadows," for the desire bodies of all human beings are composed of matter of the second, third and fourth subplanes of the astral plane.  This is a point which should be closely considered, and the analogy between the etheric body, the vehicle of prana vitalising the dense physical, and [Page 659] man's astral body, and the method of its vitalisation will be found illuminating.

 

(CF 890) b. Physical Plane Elementals.

 

It should be remembered that the devas we have been considering are the originators of impulse, and the manipulators of energy in their own degree, and on their own plane.  In connection with them are to be found, therefore, the recipients of force, or the multitude of lives of an elemental nature which form the sumtotal of the matter of a plane.  These are swept on waves of energy, through the impulse of the Breath, and as the result of [Page 890] vibratory action, into all forms as we know them on the physical plane.  Therefore, in connection with manifestation on the physical plane the devas may be divided into three groups:

 

1. The transmitters of the will of God, the originators of activity in deva substance.  These are the greater builders in their various groups.

2. The manipulators of the initiated energy.  These are the myriads of workers with force who transmit the impulse in their turn to the elemental essence.  They are the builders of lesser degree, but are on the evolutionary arc as are the first group.

3. The recipients of force, the sumtotal of the living substance of a plane.  These lives are passive in the hands of the builders of greater degree.

 

The three groups to be considered are:

 

1. The elementals of densest matter.

2. The elementals of liquid matter.

3. The elementals of gaseous matter.

 

We must bear in mind as we study these three groups that we are not concerned with the transmitters, but with the manipulators and with the recipients of energy.

 

The Elementals of Densest Matter.  These are the workers and builders which are concerned with the tangible and objective part of all manifestation.  In their totality they literally form that which can be touched, seen, and contacted physically by man.  In considering these matters we must never dissociate the various groups in our minds in a too literal sense, for they all interpenetrate and blend, in the same manner as (CF 890) man's physical body is compounded of dense, liquid, gaseous, and etheric matter.  Diversity, producing a unity, is everywhere to be seen; this fact must constantly be borne [Page 891] in mind by the occult student when studying the subhuman forms of existence.  There is a distinct danger in all tabulations, for they tend to the forming of hard and fast divisions, whereas unity pervades all.

 

(CF 890) man's physical body is compounded of dense, liquid, gaseous, and etheric matter. 

 

Among the manipulating devas of the lowest level of the dense physical plane are to be found certain subterranean forms of existence, of which hints are to be found in the ancient and occult books.  There is to be found in the very bowels of the earth, an evolution of a peculiar nature, with a close resemblance to the human.  They have bodies of a peculiarly gross kind, which might be regarded as distinctly physical as we understand the term.  They dwell in settlements, or groups, under a form of government suited to their needs in the central caves several miles below the crust of the earth.  Their work is closely connected with the mineral kingdom, and the "agnichaitans" of the central fires are under their control.  Their bodies are constituted so as to stand much pressure, and they are not dependent upon as free a circulation of air as man is, nor do they resent the great heat to be found in the earth's interior.  Little can here be communicated anent these existences, for they are connected with the lesser vital portions of the physical body of the planetary Logos, finding their microcosmic correspondence in the feet and legs of a man.  They are one of the factors which make possible the revolutionary progressive activity of a planet. Allied with them are several other groups of low class entities, whose place in the scheme of things can only be described as having relation to the grosser planetary functions.  Little is gained by enlarging upon these lives and their work; it is not possible for man in any way to contact them, nor would it be desirable.  When they have pursued their evolutionary cycle, they will take their place in a later cycle in the ranks of certain deva bodies that are related to the animal kingdom.

 

[Page 892]

It is commonly supposed that all the fairies, gnomes, elves, and like nature spirits are to be found solely in etheric matter, but this is not so.  They are to be found in bodies of gaseous and liquid substance likewise, but the mistake has arisen for the reason that the basis of all that which can be objectively seen is the etheric structure, and these little busy lives frequently protect their dense physical activities through the agency of glamour, and cast a veil over their objective manifestation.  When etheric vision is present then they can be seen, for the glamour, as we understand it, is only a veil over that which is tangible.

 

Students must at this juncture remember that all dense physical forms, whether of a tree, an animal, a mineral, a drop of water, or a precious stone, are in themselves elemental lives constructed of living substance by the aid of living manipulators, acting under the direction of intelligent architects.  It will immediately become apparent why it is not possible in any way to tabulate in connection with this particular lowest group.  A beautiful diamond, a stately tree, or a fish in the water are but devas after all.  It is the recognition of this essential livingness which constitutes the basic fact in all occult investigation, and is the secret of all beneficent magic.  It is not my purpose, therefore, to deal more specifically

 

(CF 896) The Elementals and Lesser Devas of Liquid Matter.  A very interesting illustration of the interpenetration of all the living matter of creation can be seen in connection with the atmosphere surrounding our planet.  In it is to be found:

 

a. Moisture, or those living essences which are the liquid elementals.

b. Gaseous substance, or those lives which are linked to all fiery essences, being volatile and the result of heat.

c. Etheric matter, or the lowest orders of the devas of the ethers.

 

This major triplicity, when in conjunction, produces that which we breathe, and that in which we live and move and have our being.  To the thoughtful student the air is full of symbology, for it is a synthesis, and that which bridges the higher and the lower strata of manifestation.

 

We must centre our attention first upon those lives which constitute the sumtotal of all that is watery, and liquid throughout manifestation, and in dealing with this we must remember that we are concerned with the most occult of investigations, and with matters which are very closely connected with man's evolution.

 

The many groups of the water devas of the manipulatory class have been roughly grouped by mythological writers, under the terms undines, mermaids, and other [Page 897] expressions, but their diversity is great, and this will be necessarily apparent when it is remembered that the sumtotal of water upon the earth (oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and streams), far exceeds the dry portion, or land, and every drop of moisture is in itself a tiny life, fulfilling its function and running its cycle.  The mythic forms above referred to are but those myriad lives built into a form through which an evolutionary deva is seeking expression.

 

The extreme interest of this subject might be expressed under certain statements which will give the student some idea of the close attention which should, and eventually will be paid to this subject of the deva lives of watery manifestation.  As said above, the aggregate of these lives is greater than the aggregate of those lives which form the sum total of solid earth as we understand the term, even though they do not exceed the number of lives which form the gaseous portion of manifestation; this gaseous portion is found in the atmosphere, interpenetrating dense matter, and filling in a large degree the interior caverns of the planet.  The microcosmic resemblance to the great Life of the planet is seen in the fact that both forms are but outer sheaths or frameworks, sheltering an inner "vault"; both forms are hollow, both have their negative and positive extremities, their poles, so to speak, and internally much proceeds affecting the outer evolutions.

 

One of the most occult of the planets, Neptune, presides over the "devas of the waters"; their presiding deva Lord, Varuna, the Raja of the astral plane, being an emanation from that planet.  Students will find it of profound interest to study the close interaction therefore between:

 

1. The sixth plane, the astral plane, and the sixth subplane of the physical plane, the liquid subplane.

 

2. The sixth subplane of each plane in the solar system, and their relation to each other.

 

Herein will be found one reason why men of a relatively low type of physical body, and having an astral body with some sixth subplane matter in it are responsive to higher things and have a spiritual aspiration.  The influence emanating from the sixth subplane of the buddhic plane calls out a reciprocal response from the sixth subplane matter in other bodies, and the sixth principle of buddhi under the Law of Correspondences intensifies that vibration.

 

The name Neptune is one under which the planetary Logos of one of the major three schemes is known upon our planet.  Certain of His influences and energies affect paramountly the deva essence of this sixth subplane matter, reaching them via the Raja Lord Varuna.  This knowledge is of practical value astrologically, for it will enable men to understand the nature of their own physical bodies, and above all of their astral bodies.  It is an occult fact that the type of astral matter in a man's body decides the quality of the watery substance of his physical body.  There is, in occultism, no dissociating the physico-psychic natures, for the latter determines the former.  The planet Neptune therefore has a profound effect and a close connection under the Law of Correspondences with the sixth, or astral plane, which is the plane of the liquid portion of the logoic physical body, with the sixth subplane of the physical plane, or with the liquid portion of the human physical body and of the planetary physical body, also with the sixth type of energy or force, or the sixth ray.

 

The major scheme over which Neptune presides forms a systemic triangle of great interest for esoteric astrologers with the sixth scheme and one other.  This is symbolised in the three pronged trident which the god Neptune [Page 899] is always portrayed as holding, the prongs being literally the symbolic triangles connected with each other by three lines of force.

 

This planet has also a vital relation to the sixth logoic principle, or Buddhi, and therefore the sixth principle of man.  No man begins to co-ordinate the buddhic vehicles until he comes under Neptunian influence in some life or another.  When this is the case, his personality horoscope will show Neptunian influence dominating somewhere.

 

(CF 904) The Devas of the Gaseous Subplane. (elementals or lesser fire devas)  In dealing with the elementals, or lesser devas, under the manipulatory devas of this extensive group, we are dealing with the devas of fire, and with the fiery essences of substantial nature which can be seen manifesting in myriads of forms.  Certain of the subdivisions of this group are known to students, such as:

 

The Salamanders, or the fiery lives which can be seen by clairvoyants leaping in the flames of a furnace or of a volcano; this group can be subdivided into four groups according to color—red, orange, yellow, and violet—the last of which approximate very closely to the devas of the fourth ether.

The Agnichaitans; this is a term applied to the fiery lives, which are the sumtotal of the plane substance, as seen in the first part of our treatise, and also to the tiny essences which compose the fires of manifestation.  As the nature of physical plane electricity is understood and studied, and its true condition realised, the reality of the existence of these agnichaitans will stand revealed.

 

(CF 905) These agnichaitans of the third subplane come particularly under the influence of Saturnian energy.  They are the great fusers of substance, and it is in connection with them that the transmutation of metals becomes possible.  They have a relationship to the mineral kingdom analogous to that which the watery devas have to the vegetable and animal.  They are, as will be apparent, connected with the throat centre of a planetary Logos and of a solar Logos, and it is through their activity that the transmission of sound through the air becomes possible.  It might surprise students and inventors could they but realise that the present rapid growth of wireless communication everywhere is due to the swinging into contact with the human vibration of a group of fiery deva lives hitherto uncontacted.

 

Just as each plane has its seven subplanes, so likewise each subplane can be subdivided, thus making forty-nine fires on every plane, or the three hundred and forty-three fires of the solar system.  Herein can be found the clue to the mystery of the "fourth between the three" [Page 906] which has at times bewildered students of the occult records.  There are several ways of reading these figures, 3 4 3, but the only occult method which can be hinted at here, lies in the recognition of the three higher planes, the three lower planes, the fourth plane of meeting between them.  This fourth plane has occultly been called "the meeting place."  When it is remembered that the goal for these gaseous devas is the

 

On the third subplane, therefore, in its fifth division of deva essences, certain groups are now being contacted in this, the fifth rootrace; the result of this contact can be seen in the stimulation of responsive vibration, which is demonstrated already in the discovery of wireless intercourse and of radium.

 

(CF 910) c. The Elementals of the Ethers.

 

We will consider now the etheric levels of the physical plane or the four highest subplanes of the physical plane.  These etheric levels are but gradations of physical plane matter of a rarer and more refined kind, but physical nevertheless. They are termed in most textbooks:

1. The first ether, or atomic matter.

2. The second ether, or sub-atomic matter.

3. The third ether, or super-etheric matter.

4. The fourth ether, or simply etheric matter.

 

The fourth ether is the only one as yet recognised by scientists, and is the subject of their present investigations, little though they may realise it.

 

[Page 911]

There are many types of life to be contacted on the four etheric levels, but we can only concern ourselves at present with the deva life, remembering that the deva evolution is of equal importance to that of the human.  These devas are many in number, are of involutionary and evolutionary nature, and of all grades and types.  Ruling over them on the physical plane is the great deva Kshiti.  He is a deva of rank and power equal to a Chohan of a Ray; He presides over everything outside the human kingdom upon the physical plane, and He has for His council the four subordinate deva lords of the four etheric levels.  He, with these subordinate devas, presides over a subsidiary council of seven devas who handle all that concerns the deva evolution, and the work of the greater and the lesser builders.

 

The deva Ruler of the fourth, or lowest ether,  has delegated a member of His council (one of the members of the council of seven devas) to meet with certain of the Masters at this time for two specific purposes, first, to see whether the approximation of the two lines of evolution, human and deva, might be now tentatively permitted, and, secondly, to reveal some of the methods of healing and the causes of physical disability which are inherent in the etheric double.

 

Devas of all kinds and colours are found on the physical etheric levels, but the prevailing hue is violet, hence the term so often employed, the "devas of the shadows."  With the coming in of the ceremonial ray of violet, we have the amplification therefore of the violet vibration, always inherent on these levels, and the great opportunity therefore for contact between the two kingdoms.  It is in the development of etheric vision (which is a capacity of the physical human eye) and not in clairvoyance that this mutual apprehension will become possible.  With the coming in likewise of this ray will arrive those who belong thereon, with a natural gift of seeing etherically.  Children will frequently be born who will [Page 912] see etherically as easily as the average human being sees physically; as conditions of harmony gradually evolve out of the present world chaos, devas and human beings will meet as friends.

 

As the two planes, astral and physical, merge and blend, and continuity of consciousness is experienced upon the two, it will be difficult for human beings to differentiate at first between devas of the astral plane, and those of the physical.  At the beginning of this period of recognition, men will principally contact the violet devas, for those of the higher ranks amongst them are definitely making the attempt to contact the human.  These devas of the shadows are of a dark purple on the fourth etheric level, of a lighter purple, much the same colour as violet, on the third etheric level, a light violet on the second, whilst on the atomic subplane they are of a glorious translucent lavender.

 

Some of the groups of devas to be contacted on the physical plane are as follows:

 

Four groups of violet devas, associated with the etheric doubles of all that exists on the physical plane.  These four are in two divisions, those associated with the building of the etheric doubles, and those out of whose substance these doubles are built.

 

The guardian angels of the race are gathered from the white devas once they have reached the appropriate level of evolution, although it should be remembered that a guardian angel is not the same as a Solar Angel. The Solar Angel stays with the homosapien from the time of individualisation up to the 4th initiation.

The green devas of the vegetable kingdom.  These exist in two divisions also.  They are of high development, and will be contacted principally along the lines of magnetisation.  The greater devas of this order preside over the magnetic spots of the earth, guard the solitude of the forests, reserve intact spaces on the planet which are required to be kept inviolate; they defend them from molestation, and with the violet devas are at this time working definitely, though temporarily, under the Lord Maitreya.  The Raja Lord of the astral plane, Varuna [Page 913] and his brother Kshiti, have been called to the council chamber of the Hierarchy for specific consultation, and just as the Masters are endeavouring to prepare humanity for service when the World Teacher comes, so these Raja Lords are working along similar lines in connection with the devas.  They are arduous in Their work, intense in Their zeal, but much obstructed by The white devas of the air and water who preside over the atmosphere work with certain aspects of electrical phenomena, and control the seas, rivers, and streams.  From among them, at a certain stage in their evolution, are gathered the guardian angels of the race when in physical plane incarnation.  Each unit of the human family has his guardian deva.

 

Each group of devas has some specific method of development and some means whereby they evolve and attain a particular goal.

 

For the violet devas the path of attainment lies through feeling, and through educating the race in the perfecting of the physical body in its two departments.

 

For the green devas the path of service is seen in magnetisation, of which the human race knows nothing as yet.  Through this power they act as the protectors of the vegetable plant life, and of the sacred spots of the earth; in their work lies the safety of man's body, for from the vegetable kingdom for the remainder of this round comes the nourishment of that body.

 

For the white devas the path of service lies in the guarding of the individuals of the human family, in the care and segregation of types, in the control of the water and air elementals, and much that concerns the fish kingdom.

 

Thus in the service of humanity in some form or another lies attainment for these physical plane devas.  They have much to give and do for humanity, and in time [Page 914] it will be apparent to the human unit what he has to give towards the perfecting of the deva kingdom.  A great hastening of their evolution goes forward now coincident with that of the human family.

 

Twelve devas from another planetary scheme who have passed through the human kingdom

There is another group of devas about which much may not as yet be communicated.  They have come in from another planetary scheme, and are specialists in their particular line.  They have attained, or passed through, the human kingdom, and are of equal rank with certain members of the Hierarchy, having chosen to stay and work in connection with the physical plane evolution.  They are not many in number, being only twelve.  Four work in the violet group, five in the green group, and two in the white, with a presiding officer of rank equal to a Chohan.  The number of the deva evolution is six, as that of man is now five, and as ten stands for perfected man, so twelve stands for perfection in the deva kingdom.  This group presides over the three earlier enumerated.  Certain subsidiary groups are found.

 

Under group 1 are found all the elementals working with the etheric doubles of men, all the elementals forming the etheric bodies wherein is life, and all the elementals working with the etheric counterparts of so-called inanimate objects.  These are named in the order and the importance of their development. (CF 914) The violet devas are on the evolutionary path; the elementals are on the involutionary path, the goal for them being to pass into the deva kingdom of violet hue. The etheric elementals goal is to become violet devas on the evolutionary path

 

Under group 2 work the fairies of plant life, the elves who build and paint the flowers, the radiant little beings who inhabit the woods and the fields, the elementals who work with the fruits, vegetables, and with all that leads to the covering of the earth's surface with verdure.  Associated with them are the [Page 915] lesser devas of magnetisation, those attached to sacred spots, to talismans and to stones, and also a special group to be found around the habitations of the Masters wherever situated.

 

Under group 3 work the elementals of the air and the sea, the sylphs, the water fairies, and the devas who guard each human being. (white devas/guardian angels)

Here only general hints are given.  This list is not complete and does not include the grosser elementals, the brownies, and those that inhabit the dark spaces of the earth, the cities and the subterranean spots of the earth's crust.

 

The devas of the ethers carry on their foreheads a translucent symbol in the form of a crescent moon, and by this they may be distinguished from the astral devas by those able to see clairvoyantly.

 

As we consider the devas of the ethers, we find that they fall naturally—as far as manifestation is concerned—into two main groups.  Each group is represented on each of the four subplanes, and this grouping must be considered as but one method of differentiation out of the many possible.  These groups are, first, those devas who are the transmitters of prana to all forms of life; they are a group of intermediary devas, and may be regarded as the energy providers in their various differentiations; secondly, those devas who form the etheric bodies of every form in manifestation.  These constitute the bulk of the lesser devas.

 

(CF 931) The devas of the etheric doubles fall into two groups.  They are those who are the lesser builders, and who, under direction from the greater builders, form the etheric doubles of all that can be seen and all that is tangible on the dense physical plane.  They exist in vast hosts and are omnipresent; they gather and build the material needed to form the etheric double of everything, and they do this under certain laws and work under certain restrictions.  They are called in occult phraseology "the listening devas," for they are the ones who pick up that particular note and tone from the transmitters of [Page 931] the physical plane sound which is needed to gather the substance for any intended material form.  Again, they are spoken of as "having ears but seeing not."  They work in close co-operation with the elementals of the dense physical body.  This second group are spoken of as the "seeing elementals," for they exist in matter of the three lower subplanes and can therefore see on the objective plane in the occult sense which always implies an analogy between sight and knowledge.  The "listening builders" gather the material; the "seeing elementals" take that gathered material, and build it into any specific form.  They exist in many groups according to their point in evolution, and some of them might be tabulated as follows:

 

1. The builders of the human vehicle.

 

This is the highest group of lesser builders, who are highly specialised.  These will be dealt with somewhat in detail later.

 

2. The builders of the forms in the three kingdoms of nature in their two divisions.

 

First.  The builders of the mineral kingdom.  These are the workers occultly called "the elemental alchemists."  They are in many groups connected with the differing elements, metals, chemicals, and minerals, and with what are called active and radioactive substances.  They are the custodians of two secrets, that of the immetalisation of the Monad, and the secret of the transmutation of metals.

 

Second.  The builders of the vegetable kingdom.  They exist in many groups and are termed "the surface alchemists" and "the bridging units."  They build the doubles of every form of vegetable life, and just as the "alchemists" of the mineral kingdom are mostly concerned with the action of fire, these other alchemical workers are concerned with the liquid action of divine [Page 932] manifestation.  They work, therefore, in co-operation with the devas of the waters, or liquid substance, whilst the earlier mentioned group work with the gaseous devas.  A hint is here conveyed, but greater expansion of the statement is not possible, owing to the danger of the knowledge to be reached.  With them is hidden three secrets:  One is concerned with the earlier solar system, or the green solar system; another deals with the laws of bridging, or the interaction between the kingdoms of nature, and the third is connected with the history of the second round; this secret when revealed will make clear why man (under the law) should be a vegetarian and not carnivorous.  Scientists are learning already certain things connected with the second secret, and they may hope, as the knowledge of the significance of colour is extended, to glean hints as to the first.  The third secret will not be indicated more clearly till the sixth race is living upon earth.

 

Third.  The builders of all animal etheric forms.  These are a group closely allied with those who build the human form.  They came in force from a reservoir of energy which was kept in a quiescent condition until the physical condition of any particular scheme warranted their activity.  With them came in much that accounts for the present sad condition, for much of the fear, hatred, and destructive condition to be found among the animals is caused by their bodies being built, and the work of evolution carried on by the "imperfect gods" (The imperfect Gods are from one point of view the Non Sacred Planets, Sun, Moon, Mars, Pluto and the Earth-they rule the astral chakras)  (as H. P. B. expresses it) working in imperfect matter as yet imperfectly manipulated.  The secret of fear is hidden in the etheric body, and the particular type of substance out of which it may be built.

 

(CF:936) d. The Elementals and the Microcosm.

 

Man and the building devas.  Man, in the process of evolution, as he pursues the method of reincarnation, works with four types of builders and three major grades of building essence or deva substance.

 

He connects with the transmitting devas who are found in connection with the microcosm on the fourth subplane of the mental plane, and on the atomic subplanes of the astral and physical plane.  He connects next with the devas concerned with:

 

1. The mental unit.

2. The astral permanent atom.

3. The physical permanent atom.

 

He co-operates with the work of the building devas who form the etheric body, and influences the building devas of the  dense physical substances, so that the necessary physical vehicle for his objective manifestation becomes an actuality.

 

These are the four main groups of devas which come under the influence of any particular Ego.  They unitedly [Page 937] produce the lower man, and bring into manifestation the Personality, that reflection of the Ego and shadow of the Monad.  The three grades of building essence which are built into forms through the activity of the above four groups are here briefly recognised as the mental substance, built into the mental body, the astral substance, built into the astral vehicle and the matter of the physical body.  These seven groups form, in their totality, what we might call the Brahma aspect of the microcosm.

 

From another point of view, we may be considered as studying the action of the solar Angel, or Lord, upon the lunar angels, and the process whereby the solar Lord imposes a certain rhythm and vibration upon different aspects of lower manifestation.  Esoterically, this is all hidden in the words of a very ancient writing, which says:

"As the moon revolves, she reflects.  As she reflects, she causes response in that which failed to radiate.  These three, the Sun, the Moon, and the Mother, produce that which pursues a tiny cycle, and burns."

 

The first step of the Ego towards producing a "shadow" is expressed in the words "The Ego sounds his note."  He utters his voice, and (as in the logoic process) the lesser "army of the voice" responds immediately to it.  According to the tone and quality of the voice, so is the nature of the responsive agents.  According to the depth or height of the note, and according to its volume, so is the status or grade of building deva which replies to the call.  This egoic note produces, therefore, certain effects:

 

It sweeps into activity devas who proceed to transmit the sound.  They utter a word.

 

It reaches the listening devas of the second grade who take up the word and proceed to elaborate it into what might be called a mantric phrase.  The building process definitely begins in a sequential threefold manner.  The [Page 938] mental body begins to co-ordinate in three stages.  All the building stages overlap.  When, for instance, the co-ordination of the mental body is in its second stage, the first stage of astral concretion begins.  This is carried on for seven stages (three major and four minor) which overlap in an intricate fashion.  Again, when the second stage is reached, a vibration is produced which awakens response in etheric matter on the physical plane, and the builders of the etheric double commence their activity.  Again the process is repeated.  When the second stage of the work of these etheric devas is begun, conception takes place upon the physical plane.  This is a very important point to be remembered, for it brings the entire process of human birth definitely into line with established karmic law.  It shows the close connection between that which is subjective and that which is tangible and seen.  The building of the physical body proceeds like that of the three stages during the prenatal period:

 

a. The work of the building devas during the three and a half months prior to the realisation of life.  This period sees the third stage of the building of the etheric body entered upon.

b. The building work of the next three and a half months of the gestation period.

c. The final process of concretion carried on through the remaining two months.

Students will here find it interesting to trace out the correspondence in this method of producing evolutionary manifestation in a planetary scheme with its rounds and races, and in a solar system with its manvantaras and greater cycles.

 

In summing up this very cursory outline, the work of the etheric devas does not cease at the birth of the man, but is continued likewise in three stages, which find a close analogy in the life period of a solar system.

 

[Page 939]

First, their work is directed to the steady increase of the human physical vehicle, so that it may follow accurately the lines of growth of the two subtler bodies.  This is carried on till maturity is reached.  The next stage is that in which their work consists largely of repair work, and the preservation of the body during the years of full manhood so that it can measure up to the purpose of the subjective life.  This purpose necessarily varies according to the stage of development of the man.  Finally comes the stage when the work of building ceases.  The vitality in the etheric body waxes dim, and the processes of destruction begin.  The Ego begins to call in his forces.  The "sound" becomes faint and dim; there is less and less volume for the transmitters to pass on, and the initial vibration gets fainter and fainter.  The period of  obscuration comes in.  First the physical body waxes weak and useless; then the Ego withdraws from the centres, and functions for a few hours in the etheric double.  This in turn is devitalised, and so the process is carried on till one by one the sheaths are discarded and the egoic "shadow" is dissipated.

 

The work of the building devas.

 

Let us now consider the work of the building devas on the three planes, dealing with them in two groups:

 

a. Those who are connected with the permanent atoms.

b. Those who are responsible for the building process.

 

The devas of the permanent atoms.  This particular group of devas are the aggregate of the lives who form the mental unit and the two permanent atoms.  They, as we know, have their place within the causal periphery, and are focal points of egoic energy.  They are the very highest type of building devas, and form a group of lives which are closely allied to the solar Angels.  They exist in seven groups connected with three of the spirillae of [Page 940] the logoic physical permanent atom.  These three spirillae are to these seven groups of lives what the three major rays are to the seven groups of rays on the egoic subplanes of the mental plane.  This phrase will bear meditating upon, and may convey much information to the intuitional thinker.  There is a correspondence between the three permanent atomic triads, and the appearance of man in the third root race.  A curiously interesting sequence of the three lines of force can be seen in:

 

a. The triads of the involutionary group soul.

b. The appearance of triple natured man in the third root race.

c. The triads in the causal bodies of any self-conscious unit.

 

These building devas are the ones who take up the sound as the Ego sends it forth through certain of the transmitting deva agencies, and by the vibration which this sets up they drive into activity the surrounding deva essence in their two groups:

 

a. Those who build the form.

b. Those who are built into the form.

 

They only affect those of analogous vibration.  The stages of the building of any of the four forms through which lower man (the Quaternary) functions, follow exactly analogous stages to the building of the dense physical body, for instance, of a planet, or of a solar system.  This can be traced all the way from the nebulous and chaotic stages through the fiery to the solid, or to the relatively solid where a subtle body is concerned.  There is no need for us further to enlarge.  H. P. B. has outlined these stages in the Secret Doctrine,86 and they have been dealt with in an earlier part of this Treatise.

 

We have dealt at some length already with the work [Page 941] of the transmitting devas upon the three planes in the three worlds, and with that of the devas connected with those relatively permanent focal points—the permanent atoms within the causal periphery.  We can now consider the group of builders who, responding to the note of the transmitting agencies and to the initial vibration of the second group of builders concerned with the triple lower self, begin the work of aggregating and moulding the living substance necessary for egoic manifestation upon the lower planes.

 

We have seen that the first three stages of the egoic work are:

1. The sounding of the appropriate note, which note is indicative of man's place in evolution, and of the nature of his "psyche," or Ego.

2. The transmission of this note by the solar Angel, and the three groups of devas connected with the three permanent atoms.

3. The vibration set up within these atoms which is in line with the note sounded, and which becomes so strong as to make itself felt in the surrounding deva substance, thus awakening response.

 

These may be considered as the three primary stages, and we find demonstrated (in connection with the microcosm) the three factors of sound, colour and vibration, which, under the Law of Analogy, reflect the three aspects of the macrocosm.  Here too is found a resemblance to the work of the first three Sephiroths of the Kabbalah,—the primary stage of manifestation finding its dim reflection in the work of the Ego in the three worlds.

 

The second stage now takes place, in which the work of building proceeds until the microcosm, man, makes his appearance upon the physical plane.  This is succeeded by a third stage of evolution, in which the psychic nature of man is to demonstrate through the medium of the [Page 942] created forms.  Then the next two groups of Sephiroth are seen reproduced in man.  He is demonstrated to be nine from another angle but we are only concerned in this section with the builders of the form.

 

These groups of builders are four in number:

 

1. The builders of the mental body.

2. The builders of the astral body.

3. The builders of the etheric body.

4. The builders of the dense physical.

 

Each of these groups can be subdivided into four or seven or three, according to the plane concerned.  Students must remember that matter from the two lowest subplanes of the physical and of the astral planes are never built into the human body as now constituted; it is of too low a vibration, and too coarse a grade for even the lowest type of men on earth at this time.  It must be pointed out also that in the average man, the matter of some subplane will preponderate according to the depth of his nature and his place on the ladder of evolution.  The "builders" of the human body work under the direction of one of the Lords of Karma from the lowest group.  These Lords are to be found in three groups, and a Lord out of the third group has the work of superintending the builders of the human being on the three planes.  Under Him are to be found certain karmic agents, who again are divided into the following groups:

 

1. Three karmic agents responsible to the karmic Lords for the work on the three planes.

2. Five karmic Lords who work in close connection with the Manus of the various races, and who are responsible for the correct building of the varying race types.

3. Karmic agents responsible for the subrace types of the present time.

[Page 943]

4. Certain intermediary agents who represent (within these three groups) the seven Ray types.

5. Those agents of the good Law who are connected specifically with the work of the etheric centres, and their response to the different planetary centres.

6. The keepers of the records.

These various intelligences manipulate the building forces through the medium of streams of energy, which streams are set in motion when the Ego sounds his note.  It must be remembered that in more or less degree upon his own plane the Ego is aware of his karma, and of what must be done to promote growth during the coming incarnation.  He works, therefore, in connection with these Lords, but is only directly in touch with an agent of the sixth group and of the fourth.  Through these two the work proceeds as far as the Ego is individually concerned, and they set in motion for him (after he has sounded his note) the machinery of the Law.

 

The builders of the human personality again are divided into seven main groups; all devas, just as is the case with the human Monads, come under one or other of the seven Rays, and are responsive to one or other of the seven logoic streams of fiery energy.  According to a man's egoic Ray, so will be the type of deva substance influenced.

 

These builders work with certain elementals, but it is only upon the physical plane that any idea can be given as to their nature and work.  These elementals are the little entities who, adhering to the plan as embodied by the builders, blindly construct the fabric of the body, and form the sheaths through which the Ego is to express himself.  On the etheric planes they build the real "form" out of etheric substance, and produce the sheath of intricate lines of interlacing fiery strands, which is in [Page 944] reality an extension of the sutratma, or life thread.  As it is woven and interlaced it becomes vitalised with the life energy sent down from the Ego, just as Shiva, the Father, gives to the Son the real "bios" or life, while the Mother warms, builds, and nourishes the body.  The work of the etheric elementals reaches its primary consummation when the sutratma is connected with the three centres of the physical nature within the cranium—the pineal gland, the pituitary body, and the alta major centre.  Occultly, the most important connection is the entrance of the sutratma into the centre at the top of the head, that through which the life of the etheric body withdraws at the moment of death.  This is the vital point.  The "thread" of life there, by the time the seventh year is reached, has divided itself into three branches, reaching out to the three centres.  The realisation of this fact will eventually prove of much interest to scientists.  A good deal of imbecility, or of arrested development will be found to have its origin in the etheric connection with these three centres.  The etheric web is literally the fine network of fiery threads which spreads itself over the centre, and forms an area of fairly large dimensions.  It separates the two bodies, astral and physical.  A similar corresponding area will be found in the solar system.  Through it the cosmic forces must pass to the different planetary schemes.

 

The elemental groups of the dense physical plane who are swept into activity by the builders, are three in number:

 

a. The gaseous elementals.

b. The liquid elementals.

c. The strictly dense elementals.

 

One group concerns itself with the fiery channels, with the fires of the human body, and with the different gases to be found within the human periphery.  Another group [Page 945] is to be seen working in connection with the circulatory system, and with all the liquids, juices, and waters of the body; whilst the third is largely involved in the construction of the frame, through the right apportioning of the minerals and chemicals.  A hint in connection with medicine is here to be found; it is occultly true that just as the liquid devas and elementals are closely related to the vegetable kingdom, and both to the plane of the emotions, the logoic liquid body, so the ills of men which affect the circulatory system, the kidneys, the bladder, and the lubrication of the joints, will find a CURE in vegetable constituents and above all in the right adjustment of the emotional nature.

Several influences other than those mentioned have to be considered when the subject of the work of these builders of man's body is under discussion.  Not only are they affected by:

 

a. A man's note,

b. The colour poured forth by the transmitting agents,

c. The karmic agents,

 

but they come under:

 

d. Group karma and vibration which will sweep in another group of agencies and builders, and thus affect a man's bodies,

e. Racial karma, an extension of the above,

f. Forces playing upon the planet from another scheme, or through the formation of a systemic triangle,

g. A cosmic triangle of force of some specific kind which may bring in entities and energies of any particular scheme

 

(CF 1006) rovided the man on the physical plane can hold the purpose steady, and refuse to permit its distortion by the influences and vibrations emanating from the lower man, then the "devas of kama" can carry on their work. [Page 1006] I would remind students at this juncture that any thought form necessarily finds its way into greater streams of force or energy, emanating from advanced thinkers of every grade, from the planetary Logos downward, and according to its nature and motive so the work of evolution is assisted or retarded.  It is in this connection that the Nirmanakayas work, manipulating streams of thought energy, vitalising the forms created by men, and thus carrying on the work of construction or destruction.  They have to use that which exists; hence the necessity for clear thinking.  Having "purified" the waters, or safeguarded his desires, the thinker next proceeds (through the use of certain words which are imparted to him by the solar Angel) to protect himself from the devas of elemental nature with which he is purposing to work.  On the mental plane, the nature and vibration of the solar Angel proved sufficient protection, but he is now proposing to work with the most dangerous elementals and existences in the three worlds.2

 

These protective formulas are sounded forth by the thinker, in conjunction with the solar Angel, at the moment the thought form is ready to receive its astral sheath.  The mantram deals with the forces which impel activity in the Agnisuryans, and starts a stream of protective energy from one of the heart petals of the Egoic lotus.  This circulates through the throat centre of the man, and sets up a circulatory stream of energy around him which automatically repulses the devas who might (through their blind unintelligent work) menace his peace.  These two matters attended to—desire adjusted and the identity guarded—both the solar Angel and the worker in magic maintain an attitude of contemplation, [Page 1007] or that profound condition which succeeds that called meditation.

 

(EPII 290) a. BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE BODIES

 

In theosophical literature, there is much talk anent the various elementals or lunar lords which compose, constitute and control the lower nature.  These, in their triple totality, form the personality.  They are of man's own creation, and form the basis of the problem which he, as a soul, has always to face until the final liberation is achieved.  The mental elemental, the astral elemental and the physical elemental have a definite life of their own which is coloured by the rays upon which these various bodies or elementals have their being, until the man has reached a relatively high point in evolution.

 

 (EPII 304) I diverged briefly for a moment and took up the subject of the rays of the three bodies of the personality before completing the detail of the outline previously given on the ray of personality.  This I did with deliberation, as I was anxious to have clearly established the difference which will be found existing between the rays governing the elementals of the three lower bodies and that of the personality.  The life of these three elementals is founded primarily in the three lowest centres in the etheric body:

 

1. The sacral centre              the mental elemental life

                                  Transferred later to the throat centre.

2. The solar plexus centre   the astral elemental life.

                                  Transferred later to the heart centre.

3. The centre at the base of the spine               the physical elemental life.

                                  Transferred later to the head centre.

 

The life of the indwelling soul is focussed in the three higher centres.

 

(308) At each of these latter two stages, the rays of the lower nature become increasingly powerful.  Self-consciousness is developed, and then the personality becomes clearer and clearer, and the three elementals of the lower nature, the force of the so-called "three lunar Lords" (the triple energies of the integrated personality) come steadily under the control of the ray of the personality.  At this stage, therefore, four rays are active in the man, four streams of energy make him what he is and the ray of the soul is beginning, though very faintly, to make its presence felt, producing the conflict which all thinkers recognise.

 

(EA 186) 6. The Planetary Ruler of a Hierarchy.—In this particular case, this planet is Mars, ruling the sixth Creative Hierarchy, the lunar Lords (the elementals of the threefold personality) who have to be brought under the control of the solar Lord.

 

(EH 231) Desire became something more than simply response to animal physical urges and to the primitive instincts, but was directed to objects and objectives extraneous to the body, towards material possessions and towards that which (when seen and coveted) could be appropriated.  Just as the major sins of Lemurian times (if they could be called sins in any true sense, because of the low intelligence of the race) were through the misuse of sex, so the major sin of the Atlantean people was theft—widespread and general.  The seeds of aggression and of personal acquisitiveness began to show themselves, culminating in the great war (as related in The Secret Doctrine) between the Lords of the Shining Countenance and the Lords of the Dark Face.  To procure what they coveted and felt they needed, the most highly evolved of that race began to practice magic.  It is not possible for me to outline to you the nature and practices of Atlantean magic with its control of elementals and of forms of life which have now been driven back into retreat and are inaccessible to humanity; neither can I indicate to you the particular methods used to acquire what was desired, the Words of Power employed and the carefully planned rituals which were followed by those who sought to enrich themselves and to take what they wanted, no matter what the cost to others.

 

It takes fourteen years to rebuild the subtle bodies

(LOM 130) ………The right type of body for the holding and the handling of the occult force has not yet been built, and in the interim the bodies now in use but spell disaster to the ambitious student.  When a man starts out to follow the path of occult meditation, it takes well-nigh fourteen years to rebuild the subtle bodies, and incidentally the physical.  All through that period it is not safe to tamper with the unknown for only the very strong refined physical body, the controlled stable and equalised emotional body and the properly striated mental body can enter into the subtler planes and literally work with Fohat, for that is what the occult does. 

 

 

(EH 609) This law carries also the implications of that basic relation which makes the threefold form of the man an integral part of the macrocosmic whole.  All forms in all kingdoms are built by the lunar lords under an impulse emanating from the planetary Logos, working in cooperation with the Spirit of the Earth—the sumtotal of all the lunar lords and of the three types of energised substance which go to the creation of the physical, astral and mental bodies.  The relation of the planetary Logos to this Spirit of the Earth (the relation of an evolutionary Being to an involutionary entity) is a reflection (distorted and under the influence of glamour) in the three worlds of the relation of the soul to the personality elemental.  It is most useful for the healer to realise that in handling disease he is in reality handling involutionary lives and attempting to work with elementals.  The natural trend of these elemental lives, all of them upon the involutionary arc, is to block and to frustrate his efforts and the efforts of the soul, and this—for them—is their way of evolution; it is that which will eventually bring them on to the evolutionary are.

 

(EH 609) When the time comes that the soul can assume conscious control within and over the form, and can eventually create a form which is adequate to its spiritual needs, it will be because the elementals which are the sumtotal of the personality elemental have reached a point in their development where they are ready to move on to the path of return. The work of the soul is never the purely selfish one of having a medium of expression in the three worlds, as might sometimes [Page 610] appear to the casual and superficial thinker.  That is entirely incidental from the angle of the soul; it is a needed activity, but it involves also the sacrificial work of salvaging substance and forwarding the evolution of matter.  As the Old Commentary expresses it:  "The Mother (substance-matter) is saved by the birth of her Son (the Christ within, the spiritual consciousness)."  This is true of the macrocosm as well as of the microcosm.

 

(DINAI 761) ………..after the fourth initiation and the disappearance of the causal body, there is no form aspect or vehicle which can hold the disciple a prisoner or any way limited. After the third initiation, the lower centres have no control whatsoever over the outer mechanism of response; from [page 762] the standpoint of the highest occult training and when the disciple is in the Ashram itself, the centres are viewed as simply channels for energy. Until the time of the third initiation, they assume temporary importance in the training process because it is through them that the disciple learns the nature of energy, its distinction from force and the methods of distribution—the latter being one of the last stages in the training process.

 

(RI 8) V. The Basic Essential of Pure Character.  This is something more than just being good.  It deals with the matter aspect and has relation to the hold or control that the form has over the man.  We might express it this way and therefore give its more occult connotation.  If one or other of the three lower elementals (the physical, the astral and the mental) are the controlling factors in the life of the man, he is—by that very fact—put into a position of danger and should take steps to arrest that control prior to an attempt to enter into the formless realm.  The reason for this will be apparent.  Under the governing law of matter, the law of Economy, the elemental life will attract to itself similar lives and this will result in a dual danger.  These dangers are:

 

One:  the gathering into the form, through the dominant note sounded by the form elemental, of matter with a synchronous vibration.  This will tend to increase the magnitude of the task before the Ego and sweep into increasing dominance the lower man.  The "lunar lords" will become increasingly powerful and the solar Lord correspondingly less august.