Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00327)

Mar 10 2003

 

Re Conditions on MARS -- WATER ?

 

 

Dear Friend:

 

 

This may appear long, and it is, but there is a great deal on the subject of other planets and of Mars, in the SECRET DOCTRINE 

 

Occultism states that physical conditions are subordinate to the local humanity’s condition and rate of progress as a whole.

 

Mars is said to be in a state “hibernation” at this time.

 

Please find some quotations below your message

 

Best wishes,

 

Dallas

 

 

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: L.R. Andrews [mailto:liberty722980@yahoo.com] 
Sent: Friday, April 09, 2004 2:34 PM
To: study@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-study] Mars

 

Dear friends,

 

In view of the recent discovery of traces of water on Mars by the space "rovers," what might a student of Theosophy say about the existence of life "as we know it" on that planet, and the possibility that we earthlings might be descendants of Martians of eons ago? I am trying to share Theosophy vis-a-vis this topic with a friend who may not otherwise be open to theosophical truths.

 

Thanks for any comments,

 

L.R.

 

 

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LIFE on OTHER PLANETS

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

 

“Life as we know it” – as a possibility on other planets was dealt with in the SECRET DOCTRINE . Here are a few among many quotations offering information from esotericism as contrasted with the current speculations and evidence then available.

 

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

 

 

The SECRET DOCTRINE offers:

 

 

 

“But neither Mars nor Mercury belongs to our chain, they are, alongwith the other planets, septenary Units in the great host of ‘chains’ of our system, and all are as visible as their upper globes areinvisible.” 

S D I 164

 

 

". . . . . It is quite correct that Mars is in a state of obscuration at present, and Mercury just beginning to get out of it. You might add that Venus is in her last Round. . . . . . . . . . . If neither Mercury nor Venus have satellites, it is because of the reasons . . . (vide footnote supra, where those reasons are given), and also because Mars has two satellites to which he has no right. . . . . 

 

Phobos, the supposed INNER satellite, is no satellite at all. As remarked long ago by Laplace and now by Faye (see Comptes Rendus, Tome XC., p. 569), Phobos keeps a too short periodic time, and therefore there 'must exist some defect in the mother idea of the theory' as Faye justly observes. 

 

. . . . Again, both (Mars and Mercury) are septenary chains, as independentof the Earth's sidereal lords and superiors as you are independent of the 'principles' of Daumling (Tom Thumb)—which were perhaps his six brothers, with or without night-caps…”

S D I 165

 

 

 

MARS, MERCURY AND VENUS

 

“Therefore, leaving the mystic parables of the Zohar, we will return to the hard facts of materialistic science; first, however, citing a fewfrom the long list of great thinkers who have believed in the plurality ofinhabited worlds in general, and in worlds that preceded our own. These are, the great mathematicians Leibnitz and Bernouilli, Isaac Newton himself, as can be read in his "Optics"; Buffon, the naturalist; Condillac, the sceptic; Bailly, Lavater, Bernardin de St. Pierre, and, as a contrast to the two last named — suspected at least of mysticism — Diderot and most of the writers of the Encyclopædia. Following these come Kant, the founder of modern philosophy; the poet philosophers, Goethe, Krause, Schelling; and many astronomers, from Bode, Fergusson and Herschell to Lalande and Laplace, with their many disciples in more recent years. 

A brilliant list of honoured names indeed; but the facts of physical astronomy speak even more strongly in favour of the presence of life, even organised life, on other planets. Thus in four meteorites which fell respectivelyat Alais in France, the Cape of Good Hope, in Hungary, and again in France, there was found, on analysis, graphite, a form of carbon known to be invariably associated with organic life on this earth of ours. And that the presence of this carbon is not due to any action occurring within our atmosphere is shown by the fact that carbon has been found in the very centre of a meteorite; while in one which fell at Argueil, in the south of France, in 1857, there was found water and turf, the latter being always formed by the decomposition of vegetable substances. 

And further, examining the astronomical conditions of the other planets, itis easy to show that several are far better adapted for the development oflife and intelligence — even under the conditions with which men are acquainted — than is our earth. For instance, on the planet Jupiter the seasons, instead of varying between wide limits as do ours, change by almost imperceptible degrees, and last twelve times as long as ours. Owing to the inclination of its axis the seasons on Jupiter are due almost entirely to the eccentricity of its orbit, and hence change slowly and regularly. We shall be told, that no life is possible on Jupiter, as it is in an incandescent state. But not all astronomers agree with this. For instance what we say, is said by M. Flammarion: and he ought to know. 

On the other hand Venus would be less adapted for human life such as existson earth, since its seasons are more extreme and its changes of temperature more sudden; though it is curious that the duration of the day is nearly the same on the four inner planets, Mercury, Venus, the Earth and Mars. 

On Mercury, the Sun's heat and light are seven times what they are on the Earth, and astronomy teaches that it is enveloped in a very dense atmosphere. And as we see that life appears more active on earth in proportion to thelight and heat of the sun, it would seem more than probable that its intensity is far, far greater on Mercury than here. 

Venus, like Mercury, has a very dense atmosphere, as also has Mars and the snows which cover their poles, the clouds which hide their surface, the geographical configuration of their seas and continents, the variations of seasons and climates, are all closely analogous — at least to the eye of the physical astronomer. 

But such facts and the considerations to which they give rise, have reference only to the possibility of the existence on these planets of human life as known on earth. That some forms of life such as we know are possible on these planets, has been long since abundantly demonstrated, and it seems perfectly useless to go into detailed questions of the physiology, etc., etc., of these hypothetical inhabitants, since after all the reader can arrive only at an imaginary extension of his familiar surroundings. It is better to rest content with the three conclusions which M. C. Flammarion, whom we have so largely quoted formulates as rigorous and exact deductions from the known facts and laws of science. 

I. The various forces which were active in the beginning of evolution gave birth to a great variety of beings on the several worlds; both in the organic and inorganic kingdoms. 

II. The animated beings were constituted from the first according to forms and organisms in correlation with the physiological state of each inhabitedglobe. 

III. The humanities of other worlds differ from us, as much in their inner organization as in their external physical type. 

Finally the reader who may be disposed to question the validity of these conclusions as being opposed to the Bible, may be referred to an Appendix in M. Flammarion's work dealing in detail with this question; since in a work like the present it seems unnecessary to point out the logical absurdity ofthose churchmen, who deny the plurality of worlds on such grounds. 

In this connection we may well recall those days when the burning zeal of the Primitive Church opposed the doctrine of the earth's rotundity, on the ground that the nations at the Antipodes would be outside the pale of salvation; and again how long it took for a nascent science to break down the idea of a solid firmament, in whose grooves the stars moved for the special edification of terrestrial humanity. 

The theory of the earth's rotation was met by a like opposition — even to the martyrdom of its discoverers — because, besides depriving our orb of its dignified central position in space, this theory produced an appalling confusion of ideas as to the Ascension — the terms "up" and "down" being proved to be merely relative, thus complicating not a little the question of the precise locality of heaven. * 

According to the best modern calculations, there are no less than 500,000,000 of stars of various magnitudes, within the range of the best telescopes.As to the distances between them, they are incalculable. Is, then, our microscopical Earth — a "grain of sand on an infinite sea-shore" — the only centre of intelligent life? Our own Sun, itself 1,300 timeslarger than our planet, sinks into insignificance beside that giant Sun — Sirius, — and the latter in its turn is dwarfed by other luminaries in infinite Space. The self-centred conception of Jehovah as thespecial guardian of a small and obscure semi-nomadic tribe, is tolerable beside that which confines sentient existence to our microscopical globe. 

The primary reasons were without doubt: (1) Astronomical ignorance on the part of the early Christians, coupled with an exaggerated appreciation of man's own importance — a crude form of selfishness; and (2) the dreadthat, if the hypothesis of millions of other inhabited globes was accepted, the crushing rejoinder would ensue — "Was there then a Revelationto each world?" involving the idea of the Son of God eternally "going the rounds" as it were. Happily it is now unnecessary to waste time and energy in proving the possibility of the existence of such worlds. All intelligentpersons admit it. That which now remains to be demonstrated is, that if itis once proven that there are inhabited worlds besides our own with humanities entirely different from each other as from our own — as maintained in the Occult 

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* In that learned and witty work, "God and his Book," by the redoubtable "Saladin" of Agnostic repute, the amusing calculation that, if Christ had ascended with the rapidity of a cannon ball, he would not have reached even Sirius yet, reminds one vividly of the past. It raises, perhaps, a not ill-founded suspicion that even our age of scientific enlightenment may be as grossly absurd in its materialistic negations, as the men of the middle ages were absurd and materialistic in their religious affirmations. 

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709


SCIENCE AND OCCULTISM MAY YET AGREE. 


Sciences — then the evolution of the preceding races is half proved. For where is that physicist or geologist who is prepared to maintain thatthe Earth has not changed scores of times, in the millions of years which have elapsed in the course of its existence; and changing its "skin," as itis called in Occultism, that the Earth has not had each time her special humanities adapted to such atmospheric and climatic conditions as were entailed. And if so, why should not our preceding four and entirely different mankinds have existed and thrived before our Adamic (Fifth Root) Race? 

Before closing our debates, however, we have to examine the so-called organic evolution more closely. Let us search well and see whether it is quite impossible to make our Occult data and chronology agree up to a certain point with those of Science. “ S D II 706 -9

 

 

 

OCCULT RELATION OF MARS TO EARTH, etc.

 

“It was asked: "What planets, of those known to ordinary science, besides Mercury, belong to our system of worlds?" Now if by "System of Worlds" our terrestrial chain or "string" was intended in the mind of the querist, instead of the "Solar System of Worlds," as it should have been, then ofcourse the answer was likely to be misunderstood. For the reply was: "Mars, etc., and four other planets of which astronomy knows nothing. Neither A,B, nor YZ are known nor can they be seen through physical means however perfected." This is plain: (a) Astronomy as yet knows nothing in reality of the planets, neither the ancient ones, nor those discovered in modern times.(b) No companion planets from A to Z, i.e., no upper globes of any chain in the Solar System, can be seen.* As to Mars, Mercury, and "the four other planets," they bear 

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* With the exception of course of all the planets which come fourth in number, as our earth, the moon, etc., etc. Copies of all the letters ever received or sent, with the exception of a few private ones—"in which there was no teaching" the Master says—are with the writer. As it was her duty, in the beginning, to answer and explain certain points not touched upon, it is more than likely that notwithstanding the many annotations onthese copies, the writer, in her ignorance of English and her fear of saying too much, may have bungled the information given. She takes the whole blame for it upon herself in any and every case. But it is impossible for herto allow students to remain any longer under erroneous impressions, or to believe that the fault lies with the esoteric system. 

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164


THE SECRET DOCTRINE. 


a relation to Earth of which no master or high Occultist will ever speak, much less explain the nature.* 

Let it now be distinctly stated, then, that the theory broached is impossible, with or without the additional evidence furnished by modern Astronomy. Physical Science can supply corroborative, though still very uncertain, evidence, but only as regards heavenly bodies on the same plane of materialityas our objective Universe. Mars and Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, like everyhitherto discovered planet (or those still to be discovered), are all, perse, the representatives on our plane of such chains. 

 

As distinctly stated in one of the numerous letters of Mr. Sinnett's "Teacher," "there are other and innumerable Manvantaric chains of globes which bear intelligent Beings both in and outside our solar system." 

 

But neither Mars nor Mercury belong to our chain. They are, along with the other planets, septenary Units in the great host of "chains" of our system,and all are as visible as their upper globes are invisible. 

 

If it is still argued that certain expressions in the Teacher's letters were liable to mislead, the answer comes:—Amen; so it was. The author of "Esoteric Buddhism" understood it well when he wrote that such are "the traditional modes of teaching . . . by provoking the perplexity" . . . theydo, or do not relieve—as the case may be. 

 

At all events, if it is urged that this might have been explained earlier, and the true nature of the planets given out as they now are, the answer comes that: "it was not found expedient to do so at the time, as it would have opened the way to a series of additional questions which could never be answered on account of their esoteric nature, and thus would only become embarrassing." It had been declared from the first and has been repeatedly asserted since that (1st) no Theosophist, not even as an accepted chela—let alone lay students—could expect to have the secret teachingsexplained to him thoroughly and completely, before he had irretrievably pledged himself to the Brotherhood and passed through at least one initiation, because no figures and numbers could be given to the public, for figures and numbers are the key to the esoteric system. (2.) That 

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* In this same letter the impossibility is distinctly stated:— . .. "Try to understand that you are putting me questions pertaining to the highest initiation; that I can give you (only) a general view, but that I dare not nor will I enter upon details . . ." wrote one of the Teachers to the author of "Esoteric Buddhism." 

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165


AN AUTHORITATIVE LETTER.


what was revealed was merely the esoteric lining of that which is containedin almost all the exoteric Scriptures of the world-religions—pre-eminently in the Brahmanas, and the Upanishads of the Vedas and even in the Puranas. It was a small portion of what is divulged far more fully now in the present volumes; and even this is very incomplete and fragmentary. 

 

When the present work was commenced, the writer, feeling sure that the speculation about Mars and Mercury was a mistake, applied to the Teachers by letter for explanation and an authoritative version. Both came in due time, and verbatim extracts from these are now given. 

 

". . . . . It is quite correct that Mars is in a state of obscuration at present, and Mercury just beginning to get out of it. You might add that Venus is in her last Round. . . . . . . . . . . If neither Mercury nor Venus have satellites, it is because of the reasons . . . (vide footnote supra, where those reasons are given), and also because Mars has two satellites to which he has no right. . . . . Phobos, the supposed INNER satellite, is no satellite at all. As remarked long ago by Laplace and now by Faye (see Comptes Rendus, Tome XC., p. 569), Phobos keeps a too short periodic time, and therefore there 'must exist some defect in the mother idea of the theory' as Faye justly observes. . . . . Again, both (Mars and Mercury) are septenary chains, as independent of the Earth's sidereal lords and superiors as you are independent of the 'principles' of Daumling (Tom Thumb)—which were perhaps his six brothers, with or without night-caps. . . . . . . . . . 'Gratification of curiosity is the end of knowledge for some men,' was saidby Bacon, who was as right in postulating this truism, as those who were familiar with it before him were right in hedging off WISDOM from Knowledge, and tracing limits to that which is to be given out at one time. . . . Remember:—

 

'. . . . . . . . . . . knowledge dwells 
In heads replete with thoughts of other men,
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own. . . .' 

 

You can never impress it too profoundly on the minds of those to whom you impart some of the esoteric teachings. . ." 

 

Again, here are more extracts from another letter written by the same authority. This time it is in answer to some objections laid before the Teachers. They are based upon extremely scientific, and as futile, reasonings aboutthe advisability of trying to reconcile the Esoteric theories with the speculations of Modern Science, and were written by a young Theosophist as a warning against the "Secret Doctrine" and in reference to the same subject. He had declared that if there were such companion Earths "they must be onlya wee bit less material than our globe." How then was it that they could not be seen? The answer was:—

 

". . . . Were psychic and spiritual teachings more fully understood, it would become next to impossible to even imagine such an incongruity. Unless less trouble is taken to reconcile the irreconcileable—that is to say, the metaphysical and spiritual sciences with physical or natural philosophy, 'natural' being a synonym to them (men of science) of that matter whichfalls under the perception of their corporeal senses—no progress can be really achieved. Our Globe, as taught from the first, is at the bottom of the arc of descent, where the matter of our perceptions exhibits itself in its grossest form. .

 

COADUNITION and CONSUBSTANTIALITY

 

. . . . . Hence it only stands to reason that the globes which overshadow our Earth must be on different and superior planes. In short, as Globes, they are in CO-ADUNITION but not IN CONSUBSTANTIALITY WITH OUR EARTH and thuspertain to quite another state of consciousness. 

 

Our planet (like all those we see) is adapted to the peculiar state of its human stock, that state which enables us to see with our naked eye the sidereal bodies which are co-essential with our terrene plane and substance, just as their respective inhabitants, the Jovians, Martians and others can perceive our little world: because our planes of consciousness, differing as they do in degree but being the same in kind, are on the same layer of differentiated matter. . . . . 

 

What I wrote was 'The minor Pralaya concerns only our little STRINGS OF GLOBES.' (We called chains 'Strings' in those days of lip-confusion.) . . . 'To such a string our Earth belongs.' This ought to have shown plainly that the other planets were also 'strings' or CHAINS. . . If he (meaning the objector) would perceive even the dim silhouette of one of such 'planets' on the higher planes, he has to first throw off even the thin clouds of the astral matter that stands between him and the next plane. . . . ." 

 

It becomes patent why we could not perceive, even with the help of the bestearthly telescopes, that which is outside our world of matter. Those alone, whom we call adepts, who know how to direct their mental vision and to transfer their consciousness—physical and psychic both—to other planes of being, are able to speak with authority on such subjects. And they tell us plainly:—

 

"Lead the life necessary for the acquisition of such knowledge and powers, and Wisdom will come to you naturally. Whenever your are able to attune your consciousness to any of the seven chords of 'Universal Consciousness,' those chords that run along the sounding-board of Kosmos, vibrating from one Eternity to another; when you have studied thoroughly 'the music of the Spheres,' then only will you become quite free to share your knowledge with those with whom it is safe to do so. Meanwhile, be prudent. Do not give out the great Truths that are the inheritance of the future Races, to our present generation. Do not attempt to unveil the secret of being and non-being tothose unable to see the hidden meaning of Apollo's HEPTACHORD—the lyre of the radiant god, in each of the seven strings of which dwelleth theSpirit, Soul and Astral body of the Kosmos, whose shell only has now fallen into the hands of Modern Science. . . . . . 

 

Be prudent, we say, prudent and wise, and above all take care what those who learn from you believe in; lest by deceiving themselves they deceive others . . . . . for such is the fate of every truth with which men are, as yet, unfamiliar. . . . Let rather the planetary chains and other super- and sub-cosmic mysteries remain a dreamland for those who can neither see, nor yet believe that others can. . . ." 

 

It is to be regretted that few of us have followed the wise advice; and that many a priceless pearl, many a jewel of wisdom, has been cast to an enemyunable to understand its value and who has turned round and rent us. 

" 'Let us imagine,' wrote the same Master to his two 'lay chelas,' as he called the author of 'Esoteric Buddhism' and another gentleman, his co-student for some time—'let us imagine THAT OUR EARTH IS ONE OF A GROUP OFSEVEN PLANETS OR MAN-BEARING WORLDS. . . . . . (The SEVEN planets are the sacred planets of antiquity, and are all septenary.) Now the life-impulse reaches A, or rather that which is destined to become A, and which so far isbut cosmic dust (a "laya centre") . . etc.' " 

 

 

In these early letters, in which the terms had to be invented and words coined, the "Rings" very often became "Rounds," and the "Rounds" life-cycles, and vice versa. To a correspondent who called a "Round" a "World-Ring," theTeacher wrote: "I believe this will lead to a further confusion. A Round we are agreed to call the passage of a monad from Globe A to Globe G or Z. .. The 'World-Ring' is correct. . . Advise Mr. . . . strongly, to agree upon a nomenclature before going any further. . . " S D I163-8

 

 

 

PLANETARY INTELLIGENCES

 

"Every world has its parent star and sister planet. Thus Earth is the adopted child and younger brother of Venus, but its inhabitants are of their ownkind. . . . All sentient complete beings (full septenary men or higher beings) are furnished, in their beginnings, with forms and organisms in full harmony with the nature and state of the sphere they inhabit."* 

 

"The Spheres of Being, or centres of life, which are isolated nuclei breeding their men and their animals, are numberless; not one has any resemblanceto its sister-companion or to any other in its own special progeny." †

"All have a double physical and spiritual nature." 

 

"The nucleoles are eternal and everlasting; the nuclei periodical and finite. The nucleoles form part of the absolute. They are the embrasures of thatblack impenetrable fortress, which is for ever concealed from human or even Dhyanic sight. The nuclei are the light of eternity escaping therefrom." 

 

"It is that LIGHT which condenses into the forms of the 'Lords of Being' — the first and the highest of which are, collectively, JIVATMA, orPratyagatma (said figuratively to issue from Paramatma. It is the Logos ofthe Greek philosophers — appearing at the beginning of every new Manvantara). From these downwards —formed from the ever-consolidating waves of that light, which becomes on the objective plane gross matter — proceed the numerous hierarchies of the Creative Forces, some formless, others having their 

 

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* This is a flat contradiction of Swedenborg, who saw, in "the first Earth of the astral world," inhabitants dressed as are the peasants in Europe; and on the Fourth Earth women clad as are the shepherdesses in a bal masque. Even the famous astronomer Huygens laboured under the mistaken idea that other worlds and planets have the same identical beings as those who live on our Earth, possessing the same figures, senses, brain-power, arts, sciences, dwellings and even to the same fabric for their wearing apparel! (Theoriedu Monde). For the clearer comprehension of the statement that the Earth "is the progeny of the Moon," see Book I., stanza VI. 


† This is a modern gloss. It is added to the old Commentaries for the clearer comprehension of those disciples who study esoteric Cosmogony after having passed through Western learning. The earlier Glosses are too redundant with adjectives and figures of speech to be easily assimilated. 

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34


THE SECRET DOCTRINE.

own distinctive form, others, again, the lowest (Elementals), having no form of their own, but assuming every form according to the surrounding conditions." 

 

"Thus there is but one Absolute Upadhi (basis) in the spiritual sense, from, on, and in which, are built for Manvantaric purposes the countless basic centres on which proceed the Universal, cyclic, and individual Evolutions during the active period." 

 

"The informing Intelligences, which animate these various centres of Being,are referred to indiscriminately by men beyond the Great Range* as the Manus, the Rishis, the Pitris †, the Prajapati, and so on; and as Dhyani Buddhas, the Chohans, Melhas (fire-gods), Bodhisattvas, ‡ and others, on this side. The truly ignorant call them gods; the learned profane,the one God; and the wise, the Initiates, honour in them only the Manvantaric manifestations of THAT which neither our Creators (the Dhyan Chohans) nor their creatures can ever discuss or know anything about. The ABSOLUTE isnot to be defined, and no mortal or immortal has ever seen or comprehendedit during the periods of Existence. The mutable cannot know the Immutable,nor can that which lives perceive Absolute Life." 

 

Therefore, man cannot know higher beings than his own "progenitors." "Nor shall he worship them, "but he ought to learn how he came into the world.”    

S D II 33-4

 

 

FIFTH ELEMENT – INTERSTELLAR ETHER -- TO BE DISCOVEREDSOON

 

 

“As stated in Book I, the humanities developed coordinately, and onparallel lines with the four Elements, every new Race being physiologically adapted to meet the additional element. Our Fifth Race is rapidly approaching the Fifth Element — call it interstellar ether, if you will — which has more to do, however, with psychology than with physics.We men have learned to live in every climate, whether frigid or tropical, but the first two Races had nought to do with climate, nor were they subservient to any temperature or change therein. And thus, we are taught, men lived down to the close of the Third Root-Race, when eternal spring reigned over the whole globe, such as is now enjoyed by the inhabitants of Jupiter; a "world," says M. Flammarion, "which is not subject like our own to the vicissitudes of seasons nor to abrupt alternations of temperature, but which is enriched with all the treasures of eternal spring." ("Pluralite des Mondes," p. 69.) Those astronomers who maintain that Jupiter is in a molten condition, in our sense of the term, are invited to settle their dispute with this learned French Astronomer.* It must, however, be always borne in mindthat the "eternal spring" referred to is only a condition cognised as suchby the Jovians. It is not "spring" as we know it. In this reservation is to be found the reconciliation between the two theories here cited. Both embrace partial truths. 

 

It is thus a universal tradition that mankind has evolved gradually into its present shape from an almost transparent condition of texture, and neither by miracle nor by sexual intercourse. Moreover, this is in full accord with the ancient philosophies; from those of Egypt and India with their Divine Dynasties down to that of Plato. And all these universal beliefs must be classed with the "presentiments" and "obstinate conceptions," some of them ineradicable, in popular faiths. Such beliefs, as remarked by Louis Figuier, are "frequently the outcome of the wisdom and observation of an infinite number of generations of men." For, "a tradition which has an uniform and universal existence, 

 

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* An hypothesis evolved in 1881 by Mr. Mattieu Williams seems to have impressed Astronomers but little. Says the author of "The Fuel of the Sun," in Knowledge, Dec. 23, 1881: "Applying now the researches of Dr. Andrews to theconditions of Solar existence . . . I conclude that the Sun has no nucleus, either solid, liquid, or gaseous, but is composed of dissociated matter in the critical state, surrounded, first, by a flaming envelope, due to the recombination of the dissociated matter, and outside of this, by another envelope of vapours due to this combination." 

 

This is a novel theory to be added to other hypotheses, all scientific and orthodox. The meaning of the "critical state" is explained by Mr. M. Williams in the same journal (Dec. 9, 1881), in an article on "Solids, Liquids, and Gases." Speaking of an experiment by Dr. Andrews on carbonic acid, the scientist says that "when 88º is reached, the boundary between liquid and gas vanished; liquid and gas have blended into one mysterious intermediate fluid; an indefinite fluctuating something is there filling the whole ofthe tube — an etherealised liquid or a visible gas. Hold a red-hotpoker between your eye and the light; you will see an upflowing wave of movement of what appears like liquid air. The appearance of the hybrid fluid in the tube resembles this, but is sensibly denser, and evidently stands between the liquid and gaseous states of matter, as pitch or treacle stands between solid and liquid." 

 

The temperature at which this occurs has been named by Dr. Andrews the "critical temperature"; here the gaseous and the liquid states are "continuous," and it is probable that all other substances capable of existing in both states have their own particular critical temperatures. 

 

Speculating further upon this "critical" state, Mr. Mattieu Williams emits some quite occult theories about Jupiter and other planets. He says: "Our notions of solids, liquids, and gases are derived from our experiences of the state of matter here upon this Earth. Could we be removed to another planet, they would be curiously changed. On Mercury water would rank as one of the condensible gases; on Mars, as a fusible solid; but what on Jupiter?" 

 

"Recent observations justify us in regarding this as a miniature sun, with an external envelope of cloudy matter, apparently of partially-condensed water, but red-hot, or probably still hotter within. His vaporous atmosphere is evidently of enormous depth, and the force of gravitation being on his visible outer surface two-and-a-half 
―Footnote continued on next page

 

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has all the weight of scientific testimony."* And there is more than one such tradition in the Purânic allegories, as has been shown. Moreover, the doctrine that the first Race of mankind was formed out of the chhayas (astral images) of the Pitris, is fully corroborated in the Zohar. "In the Tzalam (shadow image) of Elohim (the Pitris), was made Adam (man). (Cremona, Ed. iii., 76a; Brody, Ed. iii., 159a; "Qabbalah," Isaac Myer, p. 420.) 

 

It has been repeatedly urged as an objection that, however high the degree of metaphysical thought in ancient India, yet the old Egyptians had nothingbut crass idolatry and zoolatry to boast of; Hermes, as alleged, being thework of mystic Greeks who lived in Egypt. To this, one answer can be given— a direct proof that the Egyptians believed in the Secret Doctrine is, that it was taught to them at Initiation. Let the objectors open the "Eclogæ Physicæ et Ethicæ " of Stobæus, the Greek compiler of ancient fragments, who lived in the fifth century, A.D. The following is a transcription by him of an old Hermetic fragment, showing the Egyptian theory of the Soul. Translated word for word, it says: — 

 

"From one Soul, that of ALL, spring all the Souls, which spread themselves as if purposely distributed through the world. These souls undergo many transformations; those which are already creeping creatures turn into aquatic animals; from these aquatic animals are derived land animals; and from the latter the birds. From the beings who live aloft in the air (heaven) men are born. On reaching that 

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Footnote continued from previous page―

 

times greater than that on our Earth's surface, the atmospheric pressure, in descending below this visible surface, must soon reach that at which thevapour of water would be brought to its critical condition. Therefore we may infer that the oceans of Jupiter are neither of frozen, liquid, nor gaseous water, but are oceans or atmospheres of critical water. If any fish or birds swim or fly therein, they must be very critically organized." 

As the whole mass of Jupiter is 300 times greater than that of the Earth, and its compressing energy towards the centre proportional to this, its materials, if similar to those of the Earth, and no hotter, would be considerably more dense, and the whole planet would have a higher specific gravity; but we know by the movement of its satellites that, instead of this, its specific gravity is less than a fourth of that of the Earth. This justifies the conclusion that it is intensely hot; for even hydrogen, if cold, would become denser than Jupiter under such pressure. 

 

"As all elementary substances may exist as solids, liquids, or gases, or, critically, according to the conditions of temperature and pressure, I am justified in hypothetically concluding that Jupiter is neither a solid, a liquid, nor a gaseous planet, but a critical planet, or an orb composed internally of associated elements in the critical state, and surrounded by a dense atmosphere of their vapours and those of some of their compounds such as water. The same reasoning applies to Saturn and other large and rarified planets." 

 

It is gratifying to see how scientific imagination approaches every year more closely to the borderland of our occult teachings. * "The Day After Death," p. 23. 

 

status of men, the Souls receive the principle of (conscious) immortality, become Spirits, then pass into the choir of gods." 

S D II 135 -8

 

 

 

MAN’S BODIES IN EARLIER GEOLOGICAL PERIODS

 

            

“To return to the Chronology of the geologists and anthropologists.We are afraid Science has no reasonable grounds on which she could oppose the views of the Occultists in this direction. Except that "of man, the highest organic being of creation, not a trace was found in the primary strata; only in the uppermost, the so-called alluvial layer," is all that can be urged, so far. That man was not the last member in the mammalian family, but the first in this Round, is something that science will be forced to acknowledge one day. A similar view also has already been mooted in France on very high authority. 

 

That man can be shown to have lived in the mid-Tertiary period, and in a geological age when there did not yet exist one single specimen of the now known species of mammals, is a statement that science cannot deny and which has now been proven by de Quatrefages.* But even supposing his existence in the Eocene period is not yet demonstrated, what period of time has elapsed since the Cretaceous period? We are aware of the fact that only the boldestgeologists dare to place man further back than the Miocene age. But how long, we ask, is the duration of those ages and periods since the Mesozoic time? On this, after a good deal of speculation and wrangling, science is silent, the greatest authorities upon the subject being compelled to answer tothe question: "We do not know." This ought to show that the men of scienceare no greater authorities in this matter than are the profane. If, according to Prof. Huxley, "the time represented by the coal formation would be six millions of years, † how many more millions would be required tocover 

 

_____  

 

* "Introduction a l'Etude des Races Humaines." 

† "Modern Science and Modern Thought," by S. Laing, p. 32. 

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THE SECRET DOCTRINE.


the time from the Jurassic period, or the middle of the so-called "Reptilian" age (when the Third Race appeared), up to the Miocene, when the bulk of the Fourth Race was submerged? * 

 

The writer is well aware that those specialists, whose computations of the ages of the globe and man are the most liberal, always had the shyer majority against them. But this proves very little, since the majority rarely, ifever, turns out to be right in the long run. Harvey stood alone for many years. The advocates for crossing the Atlantic with steamers were in danger of ending their days in a lunatic asylum. Mesmer is classed to this day (inthe Encyclopaedias) along with Cagliostro, and St. Germain, as a charlatanand impostor. And now that Messrs. Charcot and Richet have vindicated Mesmer's claims, and that "Mesmerism" under its new name of Hypnotism —a false nose on a very old face — is accepted by science, it does not strengthen one's respect for that majority, when one sees the ease and unconcern with which its members treat of "Hypnotism," "Telepathic Impacts," and its other phenomena. They speak of it, in short, as if they had believed in it since the days of Solomon, and had never called its votaries, only a few years ago, "lunatics and impostors!" † 

 

The same revulsion of thought is in store for the long period of years, claimed by esoteric philosophy as the age of sexual and physiological mankind.Therefore even the Stanza which says: — 

 

"The mind-born, the boneless, gave being to the will-born with bones"; adding that this took place in the middle of the Third Race 18,000,000 years ago — has yet a chance of being accepted by future scientists. 

 

As far as XIXth century thought is concerned, we shall be told, even by some personal friends who are imbued with an abnormal respect for the shiftingconclusions of science, that such a statement is absurd. How much more improbable will appear our further assertion, to the effect that the antiquityof the First Race dates back millions of years beyond this again. For, although the exact figures are withheld, and it is out of the question to refer the incipient evolution of the primeval Divine 

 

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* "Esoteric Buddhism," p. 70. 

 

† The same fate is in store for spiritualistic phenomena and all the other psychological manifestations of the inner Man. Since the days of Hume, whose researches culminated in a nihilistic idealism, Psychology has gradually shifted its position to one of crass materialism. Hume is regarded as a psychologist, and yet he denied a priori the possibility of phenomena in which millions now believe, including many men of science. The Hylo-idealists of to-day are rank Annihilationists. The schools of Spencer and Bain are respectively positivist and materialist, and not metaphysical at all. It is psychism and not psychology; it reminds one as little of the Vedantic teaching as the pessimism of Schopenhauer and von Hartmann recalls the esoteric philosophy, the heart and soul of true Buddhism. 

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157


THE SLEIGHT-OF-HAND OF SCIENCE.


Races with certainty to either the early Secondary, or the Primary ages of geology, one thing is clear: that the figures 18,000,000 of years, which embrace the duration of sexual, physical, man, have to be enormously increased if the whole process of spiritual, astral and physical development is taken into account. 

 

Many geologists, indeed, consider that the duration of the Quaternary and Tertiary Ages demands the concession of such an estimate; and it is quite certain that no terrestrial conditions whatever negative the hypothesis of anEocene Man, if evidence for his reality is forthcoming. Occultists, who maintain that the above date carries us far back into the secondary or "Reptilian" age, may refer to M. de Quatrefages in support of the possible existence of man in that remote antiquity. But with regard to the earliest Root-Races the case is very different. If the thick agglomeration of vapours, charged with carbonic acid, that escaped from the soil or was held in suspension in the atmosphere since the commencement of sedimentation, offered a fatal obstacle to the life of human organisms as now known, how, it will be asked, could the primeval men have existed? 

 

This consideration is, in reality, out of court. Such terrestrial conditions as were then operative had no touch with the plane on which the evolutionof the ethereal astral races proceeded. Only in relatively recent geological periods, has the spiral course of cyclic law swept mankind into the lowest grade of physical evolution — the plane of gross material causation. In those early ages, astral evolution was alone in progress, and the two planes, the astral and the physical,* though developing on parallel lines, had no direct point of contact with one another. It is obvious that a shadow-like ethereal man is related by virtue of his organization — if such it can be called — only to that plane from which the substance of his Upadhi is derived. 

 

There are things, perhaps, that may have escaped the far-seeing — but not all-seeing — eyes of our modern naturalists; yet it is Nature herself who undertakes to furnish the missing links. Agnostic speculativethinkers have to choose between the version given by the Secret Doctrine of the East, and the hopelessly materialistic Darwinian and Biblical accounts of the origin of man; between no soul and no spiritual evolution, and theOccult doctrine which repudiates "Special creation" and the "Evolutionist"Anthropogenesis equally. 

 

Again, to take up the question of "Spontaneous generation"; life — as science shows — has not always reigned on this terrestrial plane. 

_____  

 

* It must be noted that, though the astral and physical planes of matter ran parallel with one another even in the earliest geological ages, yet they were not in the same phases of manifestation in which they are now. The Earth did not reach its present grade of density till 18,000,000 years ago. Since then both the physical and astral planes have become grosser. 

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THE SECRET DOCTRINE.


There was a time when even the Haeckelian Moneron — that simple globule of Protoplasm — had not yet appeared at the bottom of the seas. Whence came the Impulse which caused the molecules of Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc., to group themselves into the Urschleim of Oken, that organic "slime," now christened protoplasm. What were the prototypes of the Monera? 

 

 

LIFE-GERMS FROM OTHER PLANETS ?

 

 

They, at least, could not have fallen in meteorites from other globes already formed, Sir W. Thomson's wild theory to this effect, notwithstanding. And if they have so fallen; if our Earth got its supply of life-germs from other planets; who, or what, had carried them into those planets? Here, again, unless the Occult teaching is accepted, we are compelled once more to face a miracle; to accept the theory of a personal, anthropomorphic Creator, the attributes and definitions of whom, as formulated by the Monotheists, clash as much with philosophy and logic, as they degrade the ideal of an infinite Universal deity, before whose incomprehensible awful grandeur the highest human intellect feels dwarfed. Let not the modern philosopher, while arbitrarily placing himself on the highest pinnacle of human intellectuality hitherto evolved, show himself spiritually and intuitionally so far below the conceptions of even the ancient Greeks, themselves on a far lower level,in these respects, than the philosophers of Eastern Aryan antiquity. Hylozoism, when philosophically understood, is the highest aspect of Pantheism. It is the only possible escape from idiotic atheism based on lethal materiality, and the still more idiotic anthropomorphic conceptions of the monotheists; between which two it stands on its own entirely neutral ground. Hylozoism demands absolute Divine Thought, which would pervade the numberless active, creating Forces, or "Creators"; which entities are moved by, and havetheir being in, from, and through that Divine Thought; the latter, nevertheless, having no more personal concern in them or their creations, than theSun has in the sun-flower and its seeds, or in vegetation in general. Suchactive "Creators" are known to exist and are believed in, because perceived and sensed by the inner man in the Occultist. Thus the latter says that an ABSOLUTE Deity, having to be unconditioned and unrelated, cannot be thought of at the same time as an active, creating, one living god, without immediate degradation of the ideal.* A Deity that manifests in Space and Time — these two being simply the forms of THAT which is the Absolute ALL — can be but a fractional part of the 

 

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* The conception and definition of the Absolute by Cardinal Cusa may satisfy only the Western mind, prisoned, so unconsciously to itself, and entirelydegenerated by long centuries of scholastic and theological sophistry. Butthis "Recent philosophy of the Absolute," traced by Sir W. Hamilton to Cusa, would never satisfy the more acutely metaphysical mind of the Hindu Vedantin. 

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159


OCEANS OF CARBONIC ACID?


whole. And since that "all" cannot be divided in its absoluteness, therefore that sensed creator (we say Creators) can be at best but the mere aspect thereof. To use the same metaphor — inadequate to express the full idea, yet well adapted to the case in hand — these creators are like the numerous rays of the solar orb, which remains unconscious of, and unconcerned in, the work; while its mediating agents, the rays, become the instrumental media every spring — the Manvantaric dawn of the Earth — in fructifying and awakening the dormant vitality inherent in Nature and its differentiated matter. This was so well understood in antiquity, that even the moderately religious Aristotle remarked that such work of direct creation would be quite unbecoming to God —ajprepe;ß tw'qew'. Plato and other philosophers taught the same: deity cannot set its own hand to creation, — aujtournei'n a&panta. This Cudworth calls "Hylozoism." As old Zeno is credited by Laertius with having said, "Nature isa habit moved from itself, according to seminal principles; perfecting andcontaining those several things which in determinate times are produced from it, and acting agreeably to that from which it was secreted." * 

 

Let us return to our subject, pausing to think over it. Indeed, if there was vegetable life during those periods that could feed on the then deleterious elements; and if there was even animal life whose aquatic organization could be developed, notwithstanding the supposed scarcity of Oxygen, why could there not be human life also, in its incipient physical form, i.e., in arace of beings adapted for that geological period and its surroundings? Besides, science confesses that it knows nothing of the real length of "geological periods." 

 

But the chief question before us is, whether it is quite certain that, fromthe time of that which is called the "Azoic" age, there ever was such an atmosphere as that hypothesised by the Naturalists. Not all the physicists agree with this idea. Were the writer anxious to corroborate the teachings of the Secret Doctrine by exact science, it would be easy to show, on the admission of more than one physicist, that the atmosphere has changed little,if at all, since the first condensation of the oceans — i.e., since the Laurentian period, the Pyrolithic age. Such, at any rate, is the opinion of Blanchard, S. Meunier, and even of Bischof — as the experiments of the latter scientist with basalts have shown. For were we to take the word of the majority of scientists as to the quantity of deadly gases, and of elements entirely saturated with carbon and nitrogen, in which the vegetable and animal kingdoms are shown to have lived, thriven, and developed,then one would have to come to the curious conclusion that there were, in those days, oceans 

 

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* Cudworth's "Intellectual System," I. p. 328. 

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160


THE SECRET DOCTRINE.


of liquid carbonic acid, instead of water. With such an element, it becomesdoubtful whether the Ganoids, or even the Primitive Trilobites themselves could live in the oceans of the primary age — let alone in those ofthe Silurian, as shown by Blanchard. 

 

            

 

DIFFERENT PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF THE PAST

 

 

The conditions that were necessary for the earliest race of mankind, however, require no elements, whether simple or compound. That which was stated at the beginning is maintained. The spiritual ethereal Entity which lived inSpaces unknown to Earth, before the first sidereal "jelly-speck" evolved in the ocean of crude Cosmic Matter, — billions and trillions of years before our globular speck in infinity, called Earth, came into being andgenerated the Moneron in its drops, called Oceans — needed no "elements." The "Manu with soft bones" could well dispense with calcic phosphate, as he had no bones, save in a figurative sense. And while even the Monera, however homogeneous their organism, still required physical conditions of life that would help them toward further evolution, the being which became primitive Man and the "Father of man," after evolving on planes of existence undreamt of by science, could well remain impervious to any state of atmospheric conditions around him. The primitive ancestor, in Brasseur de Bourbourg's "Popul-Vuh," who — in the Mexican legends — could act and live with equal ease under ground and water as upon the Earth, answers only to the Second and early Third Races in our texts. And if the threekingdoms of Nature were so different in pre-diluvian ages, why should not man have been composed of materials and combinations of atoms now entirely unknown to physical science? The plants and animals now known, in almost numberless varieties and species, have all developed, according to scientifichypotheses, from primitive and far fewer organic forms. Why should not thesame have occurred in the case of man, the elements, and the rest? "Universal Genesis starts from the one, breaks into three, then five, and finally culminates into seven, to return into four, three, and one." (Commentary.) 

 

For additional proofs consult Part II. of this Volume, "The Septenary in Nature." 

S D II 155-160

 

 

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

 

>From a letter:

 

 

“We need to discover how and why the 7 Principles were developed. What is their pristine spiritual quality, their psychological, and intellectual (mental) power, and finally, the way physical forms are affected. [ As an example read KAMADEVA in the THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY, p. 170-1 and observe what the pure spiritual KAMA was and is.] [see S D II 593 -- lower quaternary correspondences.]

 

The nature of this “influence” is not made quite clear. But one may look for it by a careful study of the human and Cosmic PRINCIPLES( see S D I 155, II 593, 596 )

 

They were first mentioned as an illustration (or a correspondence to the 7 Globes of the Earth Chain) in MAHATMA LETTERS, pp. 143, 176, 480, 490-1, 

 

Then carefully read what Judge says in OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY, Ch. III, p.25.

 

“4th plane globes of distinct planetary masses…visible to us, THEIR COMPANION SIX CENTRES OF ENERGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS BEING INVISIBLE.”  

 

 

[ Each planet, including VENUS, had its own humanity and these were separate from the EARTH CHAIN OF GLOBES and its HUMANITY. The present planet we see, is a 4th Globe planet like ours. 

 

 

The other 6 “globes” of those planets are invisible to us, just as ours are at present invisible to us. When we are awake, shall we say they are potential? Just as our principles are potential, and still they interact as “influences” with the physical body and brain, when the ONE CONSCIOUSNESS (our TRUE SELF -- Higher-Manas -- is focused and active there.]

 

THE EARTH CHAIN OF GLOBES -- Judge Articles I 214, 218, 223,

 

ON EVOLUTION -- Judge Art. I 227,

 

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

 

MARS & MERCURY Judge Articles I 230

see also THEOSOPHY Mag. Vol. 12, p. 208,  

LUCIFER III p. 247

 

 

This development and controversy was made public by Sinnett after H P B died. He should have done that with H P B in public debate after the SD was published in 1888.

 

 

Chronology

 

Original review PATH 8, p. 86

 

Annie Besant in PATH Vol. 8, pp 97-100, 172, 362  

(supports H. P. Blavatsky and Judge)

 

Sinnett ESOTERIC TEACHINGS, PATH 8 p. 166,

 

Judge HOW TO SQUARE THE TEACHINGS, PATH 8, 172 

[ Judge Art. I - 234]

 

A. Besant MARS and the EARTH,           

PATH 8, p 172 

 

Judge H P B was not DESERTED BY MASTERS,     

PATH April 1896 [Judge Art. II - 13]

 

A. Besant reversed herself LUCIFER Dec. 1895 (M L 490)

 

PATH review PATH, Vol. X, 362-3, March 1896,   

 

PATH Vol. 11, p. 14-17 ( W Q J Articles II 14-17)

 

In this exchange Judge defended the Masters, H P B, The SECRET DOCTRINE to the end.

 

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LIVING MATERIAL

 

“our Esoteric Doctrine. The latter teaches that it is this original, primordial prima materia, divine and intelligent, the direct emanation ofthe Universal Mind—the Daiviprakriti (the divine light emanating from the Logos *)—which formed the nuclei of all the "self-moving" orbs in Kosmos. It is the informing, ever-present moving-power and life-principle, the vital soul of the suns, moons, planets, and even of our Earth. The former latent: the last one active—the invisible Ruler and guideof the gross body attached to, and connected with, its Soul, which is the spiritual emanation, after all, of these respective planetary Spirits. 

 

Another quite occult doctrine is the theory of Kant, that the matter of which the inhabitants and the animals of other planets are formed is of a lighter and more subtle nature and of a more perfect conformation in proportionto their distance from the Sun. The latter is too full of Vital Electricity, of the physical, life-giving principle. Therefore, the men on Mars are more ethereal than we are, while those of Venus are more gross, though far more intelligent, if less spiritual. 

 

The last doctrine is not quite ours—yet those Kantian theories are as metaphysical, and as transcendental as any occult doctrines; and more than one man of Science would, if he but dared speak his mind, accept them asWolf does. From this Kantian mind and soul of the Suns and Stars to the MAHAT (mind) and Prakriti of the Puranas, there is but a step. After all, theadmission of this by Science would be only the admission of a natural cause, whether it would or would not stretch its belief to such metaphysical heights. But then Mahat, the MIND, is a "God," and physiology admits "mind" only as a temporary function of the material brain, and no more. 

The Satan of Materialism now laughs at all alike, and denies the visible aswell as the invisible. Seeing in light, heat, electricity, and even in thephenomenon of life, only properties inherent in matter, it 

_____  

* Which "Light" we call Fohat. 


603


THE VITAL PRINCIPLE.


laughs whenever life is called VITAL PRINCIPLE, and derides the idea of itsbeing independent of and distinct from the organism. 

 

But here again scientific opinions differ as in everything else, and there are several men of science who accept views very similar to ours. Consider,for instance, what Dr. Richardson, F.R.S. (elsewhere quoted at length) says of that "Vital principle," which he calls "nervous ether" ("Popular Science Review," Vol. 10):—

 

"I speak only of a veritable material agent, refined, it may be, to the world at large, but actual and substantial: an agent having quality of weight and of volume, an agent susceptible of chemical combination, and thereby ofchange of physical state and condition, an agent passive in its action, moved always, that is to say, by influences apart from itself,* obeying otherinfluences, an agent possessing no initiative power, no vis or energia naturae, † but still playing a most important, if not a primary part in the production of the phenomena resulting from the action of the energeiaupon visible matter" (p. 379). 

 

As Biology and Physiology now deny, in toto, the existence of a "vital principle," this extract, together with de Quatrefages' admission, is a clear confirmation that there are men of science who take the same views about "things occult" as theosophists and occultists do. These recognise a distinct vital principle independent of the organism—material, of course, asphysical force cannot be divorced from matter, but of a substance existingin a state unknown to Science. Life for them is something more than the mere interaction of molecules and atoms. There is a vital principle without which no molecular combinations could ever have resulted in a living organism, least of all in the so-called "inorganic" matter of our plane of consciousness. 

 

By "molecular combinations" is meant, of course, those of the matter of ourpresent illusive perceptions, which matter energises only on this, our plane. And this is the chief point at issue. ‡ 

 

_____  

 

* This is a mistake, which implies a material agent, distinct from the influences which move it, i.e. blind matter and perhaps "God" again, whereas this ONE Life is the very God and Gods "Itself." 

 

† The same error. 

 

‡ "Is the Jiva a myth, as science says, or is it not?" ask some Theosophists, wavering between materialistic and idealistic Science. The difficulty of really grasping esoteric problems concerning the "ultimate state of matter" is again the old crux of the objective and the subjective. What is matter? Is the matter of our present objective consciousness anything butour SENSATIONS? True, the sensations we receive come from without, but canwe really (except in terms of phenomena) speak of the "gross matter" of this plane as an entity apart from and independent of us? To all such arguments Occultism answers: True, in reality matter is not independent of, or existent outside, our perceptions. Man is an illusion: granted. But the existence and actuality of other, still more illusive, but not less actual, entities than we are, is not a claim which is lessened, but rather strengthened by this doctrine of Vedantic and even Kantian Idealism. 

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604


THE SECRET DOCTRINE.


Thus the Occultists are not alone in their beliefs. Nor are they so foolish, after all, in rejecting even the "gravity" of modern Science along with other physical laws, and in accepting instead attraction and repulsion. Theysee, moreover, in these two opposite Forces only the two aspects of the universal unit, called "MANIFESTING MIND"; in which aspects, Occultism, through its great Seers, perceives an innumerable Host of operative Beings: Cosmic Dhyan-Chohans, Entities, whose essence, in its dual nature, is the Causeof all terrestrial phenomena. For that essence is co-substantial with the universal Electric Ocean, which is LIFE; and being dual, as said—positive and negative—it is the emanations of that duality that act now on earth under the name of "modes of motion"; even Force having now become objectionable as a word, for fear it should lead someone, even in thought, to separate it from matter! It is, as Occultism says, the dual effects of that dual essence, which have now been called centripetal and centrifugalforces, negative and positive poles, or polarity, heat and cold, light anddarkness, etc., etc. 

 

And it is maintained that even the Greek and Roman Catholic Christians, arewiser in believing, as they do—even if blindly connecting and tracing them all to an anthropomorphic god—in Angels, Archangels, Archons, Seraphs, and Morning Stars: in all those theological Deliciae humani generis, in short, that rule the cosmic elements, than Science is, in disbelieving in them altogether, and advocating its mechanical Forces. For these act very often with more than human intelligence and pertinency. Nevertheless, that intelligence is denied and attributed to blind chance. But, as De Maistre was right in calling the law of gravitation merely a word which replaced "the thing unknown" (Soirees), so are we right in applying the same remark to all the other Forces of Science. And if it is objected that the Count was an ardent Roman Catholic, then we may cite Le Couturier, as ardent amaterialist, who said the same thing, as also did Herschell and many others. (Vide Musee des Sciences, August, 1856.) 

 

>From Gods to men, from Worlds to atoms, from a star to a rush-light, from the Sun to the vital heat of the meanest organic being—the world of Form and Existence is an immense chain, whose links are all connected. The law of Analogy is the first key to the world-problem, and these links have to be studied coordinately in their occult relations to each other. 

 

When, therefore, the Secret Doctrine—postulating that conditioned or limited space (location) has no real being except in this world of illusion, or, in other words, in our perceptive faculties—teaches that every one of the higher, as of the lower worlds, is interblended with our ownobjective world; that millions of things and beings are, in point of localization, around and in us, as we are around, with, and in them; it is no metaphysical figure of speech, but a sober fact in Nature, however incomprehensible to our senses. 

 

But one has to understand the phraseology of Occultism before criticising what it asserts. For example, the Doctrine refuses (as Science does, in one sense) to use the words "above" and "below," "higher" and "lower," in reference to invisible spheres, as being without meaning. Even the terms "East" and "West" are merely conventional, necessary only to aid our human perceptions. For, though the Earth has its two fixed points in the poles, North and South, yet both East and West are variable relatively to our own positionon the Earth's surface, and in consequence of its rotation from West to East. Hence, when "other worlds" are mentioned—whether better or worse, more spiritual or still more material, though both invisible—theOccultist does not locate these spheres either outside or inside our Earth, as the theologians and the poets do; for their location is nowhere in thespace known to, and conceived by, the profane. 

 

They are, as it were, blended with our world—interpenetrating it and interpenetrated by it. There are millions and millions of worlds and firmaments visible to us; there still greater numbers beyond those visible to the telescopes, and many of the latter kind do not belong to our objective sphere of existence. Although as invisible as if they were millions of milesbeyond our solar system, they are yet with us, near us, within our own world, as objective and material to their respective inhabitants as ours is tous. 

 

But, again, the relation of these worlds to ours is not that of a series ofegg-shaped boxes enclosed one within the other, like the toys called Chinese nests; each is entirely under its own special laws and conditions, having no direct relation to our sphere. The inhabitants of these, as already said, may be, for all we know, or feel, passing through and around us as if through empty space, their very habitations and countries being interblendedwith ours, though not disturbing our vision, because we have not yet the faculties necessary for discerning them. 

 

Yet by their spiritual sight the Adepts, and even some seers and sensitives, are always able to discern, whether in a greater or smaller degree, the presence and close proximity to us of Beings pertaining to other spheres of life. Those of the (spiritually) higher worlds, communicate only with thoseterrestrial mortals who ascend to them, through individual efforts, on to the higher plane they are occupying. . . . 

 

"THE SONS OF Bhumi (EARTH) REGARD THE SONS OF Deva-lokas (ANGEL-SPHERES) ASTHEIR GODS; AND THE SONS OF LOWER KINGDOMS LOOK UP TO THE MEN OF Bhumi, ASTO THEIR devas (GODS); MEN REMAINING UNAWARE OF IT IN THEIR BLINDNESS. . .. THEY (men) TREMBLE BEFORE THEM WHILE USING THEM (for magical purposes). . . . THE FIRST RACE OF MEN WERE THE "Mind-born sons" OF THE FORMER. THEY (the pitris and devas) ARE OUR PROGENITORS. . . . (Book II. of Commentary onthe Book of DZYAN.) 

 

"Educated people," so-called, deride the idea of Sylphs, Salamanders, Undines, and Gnomes; the men of science regard as an insult any mention of such superstitions; and with a contempt of logic and common good sense, that is often the prerogative of "accepted authority," they allow those, whom it istheir duty to instruct, to labour under the absurd impression that in the whole Kosmos, or at any rate in our own atmosphere, there are no other conscious, intelligent beings, save ourselves.* 

 

Any other humanity (composed of distinct human beings) than a mankind with two legs, two arms, and a head with man's features on it, would not be called human; though the etymology of the word would seem to have little to do with the general appearance of a creature. Thus, while Science sternly rejects even the possibility of there being such (to us, generally) invisible creatures, Society, while believing in it all secretly, is made to deride the idea openly. It hails with mirth such works as the Count de Gabalis, and fails to understand that open satire is the securest mask. 

 

Nevertheless, such invisible worlds do exist. Inhabited as thickly as our own is, they are scattered throughout apparent Space in immense number; somefar more material than our own world, others gradually etherealizing untilthey become formless and are as "Breaths." That our physical eye does not see them, is no reason to disbelieve in them; physicists can see neither their ether, atoms, nor "modes of motion," or Forces. Yet they accept and teach them. 

 

If we find, even in the natural world with which we are acquainted, matter affording a partial analogy in the difficult conception of such invisible worlds, there seems little difficulty in recognizing the possibility of sucha presence. The tail of a comet, which, though attracting our attention byvirtue of its luminosity, yet does not disturb or impede our vision of objects, which we perceive through and beyond it, affords the first stepping-stone toward a proof of the same. The tail of a comet passes rapidly across our horizon, and we should neither feel it, nor be cognizant of its passage, but for the brilliant coruscation, often perceived only by a few interested in the phenomenon, while everyone else remains ignorant of its presence and passage through, or across, a portion of our globe. This tail may, or may not, be an integral portion of the being of the comet, but its tenuity sub- 

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* Even the question of the plurality of worlds inhabited by sentient creatures is rejected or approached with the greatest caution! And yet see what the great astronomer, Camille Flammarion, says in his "Pluralite des Mondes." 

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serves our purpose as an illustration. Indeed, it is no question of superstition, but simply a result of transcendental science, and of logic still more, to admit the existence of worlds formed of even far more attenuated matter than the tail of a comet. By denying such a possibility, Science has played for the last century into the hands of neither philosophy nor true religion, but simply into those of theology. To be able to dispute the better the plurality of even material worlds, a belief thought by many churchmen incompatible with the teachings and doctrines of the Bible, * Maxwell had tocalumniate the memory of Newton, and try to convince his public that the principles contained in the Newtonian philosophy are those "which lie at thefoundation of all atheistical systems." (Vide Vol. II., "Plurality of Worlds.") 

 

"Dr. Whewell disputed the plurality of worlds by appeal to scientific evidence," writes Professor Winchell. † And if even the habitability of physical worlds, of planets, and distant stars which shine in myriads over our heads is so disputed, how little chance is there for the acceptance of invisible worlds within the apparently transparent space of our own! 

 

But, if we can conceive of a world composed (for our senses) of matter still more attenuated than the tail of a comet, hence of inhabitants in it who are as ethereal, in proportion to their globe, as we are in comparison withour rocky, hard-crusted earth, no wonder if we do not perceive them, nor sense their presence or even existence. Only, in what is the idea contrary to science? Cannot men and animals, plants and rocks, be supposed to be endowed with quite a different set of senses from those we possess? Cannot their organisms be born, developed, and exist, under other laws of being than those that rule our little world? Is it absolutely necessary that every corporeal being should be clothed in "coats of skin" like those that Adam and Eve were provided with in the legend of Genesis? Corporeality, we are told, however, by more than one man of science, "may exist under very divergent conditions." ‡ Do not we know through the 

 

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* Nevertheless, it will be shown on the testimony of the Bible itself, and of such good Christian theologians as Cardinal Wiseman, that this pluralityis taught in both the Old and the New Testaments. 

 

† See "The Plurality of the Worlds," wherein the list of many men of Science, who wrote to prove the theory, is given. 

 

‡ Professor A. Winchell—arguing upon the plurality of the worlds—makes the following remarks: "It is not at all improbable that substances of a refractory nature might be so mixed with other substances, known or unknown to us, as to be capable of enduring vastly greater vicissitudes of heat and cold than is possible with terrestrial organisms. The tissues of terrestrial animals are simply suited to terrestrial conditions. Yet even here we find different types and species of animals adapted to thetrials of extremely dissimilar situations. . . . . . That an animal shouldbe a quadruped or a 
—Footnote continued on next page—

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discoveries of that very all-denying science that we are surrounded by myriads of invisible lives? If these microbes, bacteria and the tutti quanti ofthe infinitesimally small, are invisible to us by virtue of their minuteness, cannot there be, at the other pole of it, beings as invisible owing to the quality of their texture or matter—to its tenuity, in fact? Conversely, as to the effects of cometary matter, have we not another example of a half visible form of life and matter? The ray of sunlight entering ourapartment, reveals in its passage myriads of tiny beings living their little life and ceasing to be, independent and heedless of whether they are perceived or not by our grosser materiality. And so again, of the microbes andbacteria and such-like unseen beings in other elements. We passed them by,during those long centuries of dreary ignorance, after the lamp of knowledge in the heathen and highly philosophical systems had ceased to throw its bright light on the ages of intolerance and bigotry during early Christianity; and we would fain pass them by again now.

 

And yet these lives surrounded us then as they do now. They have worked on,obedient to their own laws, and it is only as they were gradually revealedby Science that we have begun to take cognisance of them, as of the effects produced by them. 

 

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—Footnote continued from previous page—

 

biped is something not depending on the necessities of organization, or instinct, or intelligence. That an animal should possess just five senses is not a necessity of percipient existence. There may be animals on the earth with neither smell nor taste. There may be beings on other worlds, and even on this, who possess more numerous senses than we. The possibility of this is apparent when we consider the high probability that other properties andother modes of existence lie among the resources of the Kosmos, and even of terrestrial matter. There are animals which subsist where rational man would perish—in the soil, in the river, and the sea" . . . (and why not human beings of different organizations, in such case?) . . . "Nor is incorporated rational existence conditioned on warm blood, nor on any temperature which does not change the forms of matter of which the organism may becomposed. There may be intelligences corporealized after some concept not involving the processes of injection, assimilation, and reproduction. Such bodies would not require daily food and warmth. They might be lost in the abysses of the ocean, or laid up on a stormy cliff through the tempests of an Arctic winter, or plunged in a volcano for a hundred years, and yet retain consciousness and thought. It is conceivable. Why might not psychic natures be enshrined in indestructible flint and platinum? These substances are no further from the nature of intelligence than carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and lime. But, not to carry the thought to such an extreme (?), might not high intelligences be embodied in frames as indifferent to external conditions as the sage of the western plains, or the lichens of Labrador, the rotifers that remain dried for years, or the spores of bacteria which pass livingthrough boiling water. . . . These suggestions are made simply to remind the reader how little can be argued respecting the necessary conditions of intelligent, organized existence, from the standard of corporeal existence found upon the earth. Intelligence is, from its nature, as universal and as uniform as the laws of the Universe. Bodies are merely the local fitting ofintelligence to particular modifications of universal matter or Force." (World-Life, or Comparative Geology, pp. 496-498 et seq.) “

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