Theos-Talk Archives (July 2003 Message tt00184)

Monday, July 14, 2003

Astral Entities, Devas, Daemons, Elementals, etc...


Dear Friends:

Inquiries received concerning these subject have been received.
Here is a partial list culled from Theosophical sources. 

Also included are references for further individual research.

The “astral entities” as a total subject would include an
enormous panorama of names, titles, covering beings that use or
only partially use the “astral region.”

The Principle we name in Theosophy “astral” is both cosmic and
universal as well as human. The physical world may be considered
as a consolidation or a crystallization of the forces of the
“astral” world and its entities. The elctro-magnetic links
between astral and physical are of great importance.

Best wishes,

Dallas

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DEMONS, EVIL SPIRITS, ELEMENTARIES, ETC.

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ASTRAL ENTITIES


“Astral Entities Space full of them. Nearly all persons
more or less affected by them, though unseen. Study of them and
their actions, the work of many great minds of the past.  

Elementals--the individualized nature's forces. Glos 111-2

Elementaries--the shells of the dead.	Glos 112

Effort of the student to prevent psychic influences. Dangers
resulting from attending spiritualistic seances, Real souls of
the dead not in the astral light.  

Its denizens are largely the result of thought on the part of
human beings. Four kinds of "nature's spirits," called by the
Rosicrucians those of earth, water, air and fire [see Glos 111-2
]. This refers to the intelligences behind all things, and the
true science of the spirit of the different conditions of nature.
Those four "elements" of the ancients were not really elements as
the term is now understood, but states of matter--physical,
liquid, gaseous, and etheric or fiery. The laws governing these
states are the expression of the intelligences behind the astral
entities. Ether part of the astral light.  

Materializations, spirit rappings, independent voice, mediumship,
obsession, possession all explained in Theosophical literature.”
(see ISIS i xxxvi)	SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION, p. 17-18


"...intelligent beings are in most cases elementals, of which
there are some of very high grade but all of which are below the
human as to soul and conscience...The door once open to them,
others of any sort may just as well come in...many of them
[experiences of the questioner] may be the production of the
power of the person's own astral body, which has had some
education retained in itself in some other life and now only kept
back by Karma and environment. Such is the case with many
mediums who do strange things using their own astral senses and
members without at the same time knowing that such is the method,
just as a man might walk quite well in his sleep...the elemental
world acting with the inner principles of living men and with the
strong shells of gross persons and the astral bodies of those in
the astral world who are not wholly dead but live in the passions
and astral bodies, is able to "mold matter" in many strange ways
and to bring about phenomena of a remarkable character..."	
THEOSOPHICAL FORUM, Answers by WQJ, 86-7


DÆMON (Gr.) In the original Hermetic works and ancient classics
it has a meaning identical with that of “god”, “angel” or
“genius”. The Dæmon of Socrates is the incorruptible part of the
man, or rather the real inner man which we call Nous or the
rational divine Ego. At all events the Dæmon (or Daimon of the
great Sage was surely not the demon of the Christian Hell or of
Christian orthodox theology. The name was given by ancient
peoples, and especially the philosophers of the Alexandrian
school, to all kinds of spirits, whether good or bad, human or
otherwise. The appellation is often synonymous with that of gods
or angels. But some philosophers tried, with good reason, to make
a just distinction between the many classes.
THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY p. 94


DEMONS. According to the Kabbalah, the demons dwell in the world
of Assiah, the world of matter and of the “shells”’ of the dead.
They are the Klippoth. There are Seven Hells, whose demon
dwellers represent the vices personified. Their prince is Samael,
his female companion is Isheth Zenunim—the woman of prostitution:
united in aspect, they are named “The Beast”, Chiva. [w.w.w.]
THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY p. 98


ELEMENTALS


"ELEMENTALS.	Spirits of the Elements. The creatures evolved
in the four Kingdoms or Elements--earth, air, fire, and water.
They are called [by many names]...Except a few of the higher
kind, and their rulers, they are rather forces of nature than
ethereal men and women. These forces, as the servile agents of
the Occultists, may produce various effects; but if employed by
the "Elementaries"--in which case they enslave the mediums--they
will deceive the credulous. All the lower beings generated on
the 5th, 6th, and 7th planes of our terrestrial atmosphere, are
called Elementals...[names]..." THEOS GLOS. 111-112



ELEMENTARIES


"ELEMENTARIES.	Properly, the disembodied souls of the depraved;
these souls having at some time prior to death separated from
themselves their divine spirits, and so lost their chance for
immortality; but at the present stage of learning it has been
thought best to apply the term to the spooks or phantoms of
disembodied persons, in general, to those whose temporary
habitation is the Kama Loka....Once divorced from their higher
triads and their bodies, these souls remain in their kama-rupic
envelopes, and are irresistibly drawn to the earth amid elements
congenial to their gross natures. Their stay in the Kama Loka
varies as to its duration; but ends invariably in
disintegration, dissolving like a column of mist, atom by atom,
in the surrounding elements."	THEOS GLOS p. 112


"Hundreds of classes of beings communicate from the astral plane
with the living through mediums and otherwise. Of this subject
the West does not know...Many degrees of elementals communicate.
These are all of no use to us, but harmful. Many of them are
used by black magicians who live in the astral world in their
kama rupas. They use the elementals, they live thus on the
living by absorption, and this is the great danger of all such
things. Some of them may be friendly, but unless you have the
means and sight of your own to tell which, no direction would be
of any use. Even while friendly they are injurious, for they
must use a part of you or some one for the work, and they thus
set up the likelihood of another not friendly using you the same
way..."	FORUM ANSWERS 98-99



KAMA-RUPA (not Elementals)


"KAMARUPA (Sk.). “...in esoteric philosophy, it is the
subjective form created through the mental and physical desires
and thoughts in connection with things of matter, by all sentient
beings, a form which survives the death of their bodies. After
that death three of the 7 "principles"-- or...planes of senses
and consciousness on which the human instincts and ideation act
in turn--viz., the body, its astral prototype and physical
vitality,--being of no further use, remain on earth; the three
higher principles, grouped into one, merge into the state of
Devachan, in which state the Higher Ego will remain until the
hour for a new incarnation arrives; and the eidolon of the
ex-Personality is left alone in its new abode. Here the pale
copy of the man that was, vegetates for a period of time, the
duration of which is variable and according to the elements of
materiality which is left in it , and which is determined by the
past life of the defunct. Bereft as it is of its higher mind,
spirit and physical senses, if left alone to its own senseless
devices, it will gradually fade out and disintegrate. But if
forcibly drawn back into the terrestrial sphere whether by the
passionate desires and appeals of the surviving friends or by
regular necromantic practices--one of the most pernicious of
which is mediumship--the "spook" may prevail for a period greatly
exceeding the span of those who are so anxious for its company.
In India these eidolons are called Pisachas, and are much
dreaded..."	GLOS 172



=====================


CONSIDERATIONS OF OUR PERSONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
LIVING IN OUR OWN SELF-MADE PSYCHIC NATURE


"The whole world is animated and lit, down to its most material
shapes, by a world within it. This inner world is called Astral
by some people...though it only means starry; but the
stars...are luminous bodies which give light of themselves. This
quality is characteristic of the life which lies within matter;
for those who see it, need no lamp to see it by. The word
star...is derived from..."stir-an," to steer, to stir, to move,
and undeniably it is the inner life which is master of the outer,
just as a man's brain guides the movements of his lips...

The whole of "Light on the Path" is written in an astral cipher
and can therefore only be deciphered by one who reads astrally,
and its teaching is chiefly directed towards the cultivation and
development of the astral life. Until the first step is taken in
this development, the swift knowledge, which is called intuition
with certainty, is impossible to man..."	
LIGHT ON THE PATH, pp. 33-34


"The senses spoken of in these four statements are the astral, or
inner senses...To see with the astral sense of sight is a form of
activity which it is difficult for us to understand
immediately...This arises from the fact that we move and live and
have our being in matter. Our knowledge of it has become
intuitive. With our astral life, it is very much otherwise.”
L on P, p. 35-6


"...our astral life...For long ages past, man has paid very
little attention to it--so little, that he has practically lost
the use of his senses...most often he denies it, and in being a
materialist becomes that strange thing, a being which cannot see
its own light, a thing of life which will not live, and astral
animal which has eyes, and ears, and speech, and power, yet will
use none of these gifts. This is the case, and the habit of
ignorance has become so confirmed, that now none will see with
the eyes not only unseeing, but without tears--the moisture of
life."	L on P 36-37


"To suffer either pleasure or pain, causes a vivid vibration
which is, to the consciousness of man, life...this sensibility
does not lessen when the disciple enters upon his training; it
increases. It is the first test of his strength; for he must
suffer, must enjoy or endure, more keenly than other men, while
yet he has taken on him a duty which does not exist for other
men, that of not allowing his suffering to shake him from his
fixed purpose...he has taken the first step to take himself
steadily in hand and put the bit into his own mouth; no one else
can do it for him."
L on P. p, 39

"The first four aphorisms of "light on the path" refer entirely
to astral development...The keenest enjoyment, the bitterest
pain, the anguish of loss and despair, are brought to bear on the
trembling soul, which has not yet found the light in the
darkness...until these shocks can be endured without loss of
equilibrium the astral senses must remain sealed."	
L on P, p. 40  


"The "medium," or "spiritualist," who rushes into the psychic
world without preparation, is a lawbreaker, a breaker of the laws
of super-nature. Those who break Nature's laws lose their
physical health; those who break the laws of the inner life,
lose their psychic health. "Mediums" become mad, suicides,
miserable creatures, devoid of moral sense; and often end as
unbelievers, doubters even of that which their own eyes have
seen. The disciple is compelled to become his own master before
he adventures on this perilous path, and attempts to face those
beings who live and work in the astral world, and whom we call
masters, because of their great knowledge and their ability to
control not only themselves but the forces around them."
L on P 40-1


"The condition of the soul when it lives for the life of
sensation as distinguished from that of knowledge, is vibratory
or oscillating, as distinguished from fixed...In sensation no
permanent home can be found, because change is the law of this
vibratory existence...an intolerable sadness is the very first
experience of the neophyte in Occultism. A sense of blankness
falls upon him which makes the world a waste and life a vain
exertion. This follows his first serious contemplation of the
abstract. In gazing, or even in attempting to gaze, on the
ineffable mystery of his own higher nature, he himself causes the
initial trial to fall on him. The oscillation between pleasure
and pain ceases for--perhaps an instant of time; but that is
enough to have cut him loose from his fast moorings in the world
of sensation. He has experienced, however briefly, the greater
life..." L ON P, p. 42-3


"The most intense forms of suffering fall on such a nature [ one
near the door of knowledge ], till at last it arouses from its
stupor of consciousness, and by the force of its internal
vitality steps over the threshold into a place of peace. Then
the vibration of life loses its power of tyranny. The sensitive
nature must suffer still; but the soul has freed itself and
stands aloof, guiding the life towards its greatness...When one
of these subjects of Time decides to enter the path of
Occultism...the oscillation in which he lives is for an instant
stilled; and he has to survive the shock of facing what seems at
first sight as the abyss of nothingness. Not till he has learned
to dwell in this abyss, and has found its peace, is it possible
for his eyes to have become incapable of tears."	L on P,
p. 43-4


"The first 4 rules of Light on the Path are...curious though the
statement may seem, the most important in the whole book save one
only. [ p. 81 "The sacrifice or surrender of the heart of man,
and its emotions, is the first of the rules."] ...they contain
the vital law, the very creative essence of the astral man. And
it is only in the astral (or self-illumined) consciousness that
the rules which follow them have any living meaning. once attain
to the use of the astral senses and it becomes a matter of course
that one commences to use them... 

The 4 rules stand written in the great chamber of every actual
lodge of a living Brotherhood.  

1. Kill out ambition.
2.	Kill out desire for life.
3. Kill out desire of comfort.
4.	Work as those work who are ambitious.  	
Respect life as those do who desire it. Be happy as those are
who live for happiness. Seek in the heart the source of evil and
expunge it...”	L on P 1-2 


The man can chose between virtue and vice, but not until be is a
man...thus with the disciple, he must first become a disciple
before he can even see the paths to choose between. This effort
of creating himself a disciple, the rebirth, he must do for
himself without any teacher. Until the 4 rules are learned no
teacher can be of any use to him..." L ON P 46


"To have acquired the astral senses of sight and hearing; or in
other words to have attained perception and opened the doors of
the soul, are gigantic tasks and may take the sacrifice of many
successive incarnations. And yet, when the will has reached its
strength, the whole miracle may be worked in a second of time.
Then is the disciple the servant of Time no longer."
L on P 60


"The man who is strong, who has resolved to find the unknown
path, takes with the utmost care every step. He utters no idle
word, he does no unconsidered action, he neglects no duty or
office however homely or however difficult. But while his eyes
and hands and feet are thus fulfilling their tasks, new eyes and
hands and feet are being born within him. For his passionate and
unceasing desire is to go that way on which the subtile organs
only can guide him. The physical world he has learned, and known
how to use; gradually his power is passing on, and he recognizes
the psychic world. But he has to learn this world and know how
to use it, and he dare not lose hold of the life he is familiar
with till he has taken hold of that with which he is unfamiliar.


When he has acquired such power with his psychic organs as the
infant has with his physical organs when it first opens its
lungs, then is the hour for the great adventure...The man does
but need the psychic body to be formed in all parts, as is an
infant's; he does but need the profound and unshakable
conviction which impels the infant, that the new life is
desirable. Once those conditions gained and he may let himself
live in the new atmosphere and look up to the new sun. But then
he must remember to check his new experience by the old. He is
breathing still, though differently; he draws air into his
lungs, and takes life from the sun. He has been born into the
psychic world, and depends now on the psychic air and light. His
goal is not here; this is but a subtle repetition of physical
life; he has to pass through it according to similar laws. He
must study, learn, grow and conquer; never forgetting the while
that his goal is that place where there is no air not any sun or
moon...The man, having learned his lesson fully, casts off the
psychic life; having learned his lesson fully, casts off the
contemplative life, or life of adoration.

All are cast aside at last, and he enters the great temple where
any memory of self or sensation is left outside as the shoes are
cast from the feet of the worshiper. That temple is the place of
his own pure divinity, the central flame which, however obscured,
has animated him through all these struggles.  

And having found the sublime home he is sure as the heavens
themselves. He remains still, filled with all knowledge and
power. The outer man, the adoring, the acting, the living
personification, goes its own way hand in hand with Nature, and
shows all the superb strength of the savage growth of the earth,
lit by that instinct with contains knowledge. For in the inmost
sanctuary, in the actual temple, the man has found the subtile
essence of Nature herself. No longer can there be any
differences between them or any half-measures.

In that inmost sanctuary all is to be found: God and His
creatures, the fiends who prey on them, those among men who have
been loved, those who have been hated. Difference between them
exists no longer. Then the soul of man...goes forth into the
world in which its actions are needed, and causes these actions
to take place without apprehension, alarm, fear, regret, or joy.

This state is possible to man while yet he lives in the physical;
for men have attained it while living. It alone can make actions
in the physical divine and true.

Life among objects of sense must forever be an outer shape to the
sublime soul,--it can only become powerful life, the life of
accomplishment, when it is animated by the crowned and
indifferent god that sits in the sanctuary.

The obtaining of this condition is so supremely desirable,
because from the moment it is entered there is no more trouble,
no more anxiety, no more doubt or hesitation."
Through the Gates of Gold, p. 73-77


"Seated and hidden in the heart of the world and in the heart of
man is the light which can illuminate all life, the future and
the past. Shall we not search for it ?..."	
Gates of Gold, p. 84


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SOURCES AND REFERENCES ON ELEMENTALS AND ELEMENTARIES

	
H P B

ELEMENTALS	:	H P B Articles Vol. II p. 127, 164
H P B Articles: Vol. II pp. 41, 127-9, 132-7, 140-45, 150-53,
161-177

ELEMENTARIES:	MODERN PANARION, p. 146, 152
H P B Articles: Vol. II pp. 138-150, 168-70, 351-3

SKANDHAS	H P B Art. Vol. II, pp. 206, 253, 265

MONADS	H P B Art. I pp. 32-3, 493-5, II 180, 265, 277, 281


see also SECRET DOCTRINE INDEX,  
ISIS UNVEILED INDEX
TRANSACTIONS of the BLAVATSKY LODGE (ULT) 
OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY 

----------------------------------


W Q J

ELEMENTALS:	W Q J Articles [ see Index p. 635 Vol. II ]


ELEMENTARIES:	W Q J Articles Vol. I 387, 484.

SKANDHAS	W Q J Art. I 136, 140

MONADS	W Q J Art [see Index, Vol. II p. 643-4]

--------------------------------------------

MAHATMA LETTERS (Barker Edn.)

ELEMENTALS:
	
pp. 97, (guardians of mineral and vegetable kingdoms)
41, (THE PRIMEVAL ENERGY / FORCE
87, Dhyan Chohans commingle, Karma, help development
from animals to man   
[ DTB: our HIGHER SELF ( ATMA) is such a D.
Chohan. ]
94-5, ( 3 elemental kingdoms, nature forces, force
passes from globe to globe )
98, ( new evolution and progress of the more
developed)
107,	(7 classes of invisible entities -- on astral and
other planes)
108-9, ( more on progress)
122, (confusion about these two types among
spiritualists)


ELEMENTARIES:	
M L pp. 41, 43, 104-5, 110, 112, 122, 275, 323, 432, 


MONADS:
M L pp. 63, 69, 104 (individual), 109, 114 (immortal), 119, 134,
176, 347 (dual), 106 reincarnate),147 (spiritual), 172

SKANDHAS:
M L pp. 110, 111-12, 200 (limited being), 172 (5 lower listed),
145

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THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY  
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