Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt00679)

Part II

THE ASTRAL WORLD



ASTRAL and PHYSICAL BODIES  

The physical body, as a mass of flesh, bones, muscles, nerves, brain matter,
bile, mucous, blood, and skin is an object of exclusive care for too many
people, who make it their “god” because they have come to identify
themselves with it, meaning it only when they say "I." 

Left to itself it is devoid of sense, and acts in such a case solely by
reflex and automatic action. This we see in sleep, for then the body assumes
attitudes and makes motions which the waking man does not permit. It is like
mother earth in that it is made up of an infinitesimal number of "lives." 


“LITTLE LIVES” (Monads in physical evolution,)

Each of these lives is a sensitive point. Not only are there microbes,
bacilli, and bacteria, but these are composed of others, and those others of
still more minute lives. These lives are not the cells of the body, but make
up the cells, keeping ever within the limits assigned by evolution to the
cell. They are forever whirling and moving together throughout the whole
body, being in certain apparently void spaces as well as where flesh,
membrane, bones, and blood are seen. They extend, too, beyond the actual
outer limits of the body to a measurable distance. 

CAN THE “ASTRAL BODY” MOVE OUT OF THE “PHYSICAL
BODY ?”

In the ordinary man who has not been trained in practical occultism or who
has not the faculty by birth, the astral body cannot go more than a few feet
from the physical one. It is a part of that physical, it sustains it and is
incorporated in it just as the fibers of the mango are all through that
fruit. 

But there are those who, by reason of practices pursued in former lives on
the earth, have a power born with them of unconsciously sending out the
astral body. These are mediums, some seers, and many hysterical, cataleptic,
and scrofulous people. Those who have trained themselves by a long course of
excessively hard discipline which reaches to the moral and mental nature and
quite beyond the power of the average man of the day, can use the astral
form at will, for they have gotten completely over the delusion that the
physical body is a permanent part of them, and, besides, they have learned
the chemical and electrical laws governing in this matter. In their case
they act with knowledge and consciously; in the other cases the act is done
without power to prevent it, or to bring it about at will, or to avoid the
risks attendant on such use of potencies in nature of a high character. 


THE ASTRAL BODY CONTAINS THE REAL SENSES OF
PERCEPTION

The astral body has in it the real organs of the outer sense organs. In it
are the sight, hearing, power to smell, and the sense of touch. It has a
complete system of nerves and arteries of its own for the conveyance of the
astral fluid which is to that body as our blood is to the physical. It is
the real personal man. There are located the subconscious perception and the
latent memory, which the hypnotizers of the day are dealing with and being
baffled by. 


“ASTRAL FORM” IS RELEASED AT DEATH FROM THE
“PHYSICAL”

So when the body dies the astral man is released, and as at death the
immortal man -- the Triad -- flies away to another state, the astral becomes
a shell of the once living man and requires time to dissipate. 

It retains all the memories of the life lived by the man, and thus reflexly
and automatically can repeat what the dead man knew, said, thought, and saw.
It remains near the deserted physical body nearly all the time until that is
completely dissipated, for it has to go through its own process of dying. 


THE “ASTRAL” FORMS THE “SPOOK” AFTER DEATH.

Three explanations are offered: 

FIRST, that the astral body of the living medium detaches itself from its
corpus and assumes the appearance of the so-called spirit; for one of the
properties of the astral matter is capacity to reflect an image existing
unseen in ether. 

SECOND, the actual astral shell of the deceased -- wholly devoid of his or
her spirit and conscience -- becomes visible and tangible when the condition
of air and ether is such as to so alter the vibration of the molecules of
the astral shell that it may become visible. The phenomena of density and
apparent weight are explained by other laws. 

THIRD, an unseen mass of electrical and magnetic matter is collected, and
upon it is reflected out of the astral light a picture of any desired person
either dead or living. This is taken to be the "spirit" of such persons, but
it is not, and has been justly called by H. P. Blavatsky a "psychological
fraud," because it pretends to be what it is not. And, strange to say, this
very explanation of materializations has been given by a "spirit" at a
regular seance, but has never been accepted by the spiritualists just
because it upsets their notion of the return of the spirits of deceased
persons. 


ELEMENTALS IN THE “ELEMENTS”

Another class are those elemental beings which will never evolve into human
beings in the present Manvantara, but occupy, as it were, a specific step of
the ladder of being, and, by comparison with the others, may properly be
called nature-spirits, or cosmic agents of nature, each being confined to
its own element and never transgressing the bounds of others. These are what
Tertullian called the "princes of the powers of the air." 

In the teachings of Eastern Kabalists, and of the Western Rosicrucians and
Alchemists, they are spoken of as the creatures evolved in and from the four
kingdoms of earth, air, fire and water, and are respectively called gnomes,
sylphs, salamanders and undines. Forces of nature, they will either operate
effects as the servile agents of general law, or may be employed, as shown
above, by the disembodied spirits--whether pure or impure--and by living
adepts of magic and sorcery, to produce desired phenomenal results. Such
beings never become men. 9 

Under the general designation of fairies, and fays, these spirits of the
elements appear in the myths, fables, traditions, or poetry of all nations,
ancient and modern. Their names are legion--peris, devs, djins, sylvans,
satyrs, fauns, elves, dwarfs, trolls, norns, nisses, kobolds, brownies,
necks, stromkarls, undines, nixies, goblins, ponkes, banshees, kelpies,
pixies, moss people, good people, good neighbours, wild women, men of peace,
white ladies--and many more. They have been seen, feared, blessed, banned,
and invoked in every quarter of the globe and in every age. Shall we then
concede that all who have met them were hallucinated? 
These Elementals are the principal agents of disembodied but never visible
"shells" taken for spirits at séances, and are, as shown above, the
producers of all the phenomena except the subjective. 

In the course of this article we will adopt the term "Elemental" to
designate only these nature-spirits, attaching it to no other spirit or
monad that has been embodied in human form.

Elementals, as said already, have no form, and in trying to describe what
they are, it is better to say that they are "centres of force" having
instinctive desires, but no consciousness, as we understand it. Hence their
acts may be good or bad indifferently. 

This class is believed to possess but one of the three chief attributes of
man. They have neither immortal spirits nor tangible bodies; only astral
forms, which partake, to a distinguishing degree, of the element to which
they belong and also of the ether. They are a combination of sublimated
matter and a rudimental mind. Some remain throughout several cycles
changeless, but still have no separate individuality, acting collectively,
so to say.

Others, of certain elements and species, change form under a fixed law which
Kabalists explain. The most solid of their bodies is ordinarily just
immaterial enough to escape perception by our physical eyesight, but not so
unsubstantial but that they can be perfectly recognized by the inner or
clairvoyant vision. They not only exist and can all live in ether, but can
handle and direct it for the production of physical effects, as readily as
we can compress air or water for the same purpose by pneumatic and hydraulic
apparatus; in which occupation they are readily helped by the "human
elementaries," or the "shells." 

More than this; they can so condense it as to make for themselves tangible
bodies, which by their Protean powers they can cause to assume such likeness
as they choose, by taking as their models the portraits they find stamped in
the memory of the persons present. It is not necessary that the sitter
should be thinking at the moment of the one represented. His image may have
faded many years before. The mind receives indelible impression even from
chance acquaintances or persons encountered but once. As a few seconds'
exposure of the sensitized photograph plate is all that is requisite to
preserve indefinitely the image of the sitter, so is it with the mind. 

According to the doctrine of Proclus, the uppermost regions from the Zenith
of the Universe to the Moon belonged to the Gods or Planetary Spirits,
according to their hierarchies and classes. The highest among them were the
twelve Huper-ouranioi, or Super-celestial Gods, with whole legions of
subordinate Daimons at their command. They are followed next in rank and
power by the Egkosmioi, the Inter-cosmic Gods, each of these presiding over
a great number of Daimons, to whom they impart their power and change it
from one to another at will. These are evidently the personified forces of
nature in their mutual correlation, the latter being represented by the
third class, or the Elementals we have just described. 

Further on he shows, on the principle of the Hermetic axiom--of types, and
prototypes--that the lower spheres have their subdivisions and classes of
beings as well as the upper celestial ones, the former being always
subordinate to the higher ones. He held that the four elements are all
filled with Daimons, maintaining with Aristotle that the universe is full,
and that there is no void in nature. [S D I 289] 

The Daimons of the earth, air, fire, and water are of an elastic, ethereal,
semi-corporeal essence. It is these classes which officiate as intermediate
agents between the Gods and men.

Although lower in intelligence than the sixth order of the higher Daimons,
these beings preside directly over the elements and organic life. They
direct the growth, the inflorescence, the properties, and various changes of
plants. They are the personified ideas or virtues shed from the heavenly
Hylê into the inorganic matter; and, as the vegetable kingdom is one remove
higher than the mineral, these emanations from the celestial Gods take form
and being in the plant, they become its soul. It is that which Aristotle's
doctrine terms the form in the three principles of natural bodies,
classified by him as privation, matter, and form. 

His philosophy teaches that besides the original matter, another principle
is necessary to complete the triune nature of every particle, and this is
form; an invisible, but still, in an ontological sense of the word, a
substantial being, really distinct from matter proper. Thus, in an animal or
a plant--besides the bones, the flesh, the nerves, the brains, and the
blood, in the former; and besides the pulpy matter, tissues, fibres, and
juice in the latter, which blood and juice, by circulating' through the
veins and fibres, nourishes all parts of both animal and plant; and besides
the animal spirits, which are the principles of motion, and the chemical
energy which is transformed into vital force in the green leaf--there must
be a substantial form, which Aristotle called in the horse, the horse's
soul; Proclus, the daimon of every mineral, plant, or animal, and the
mediæval philosophers, the elementary spirits of the four kingdoms. 

All this is held in our century as "poetical metaphysics" and gross
superstition. Still on strictly ontological principles, there is, in these
old hypotheses, some shadow of probability, some clue to the perplexing
missing links of exact science. The latter has become so dogmatic of late,
that all that lies beyond the ken of inductive science is termed imaginary;
and we find Professor Joseph Le Conte stating that some of the best
scientists "ridicule the use of the term 'vital force,' or vitality, as a
remnant of superstition.'' 10 De Candolle suggests the term "vital
movement," instead of vital force; 11 thus preparing for a final scientific
leap which will transform the immortal, thinking man, into an automaton with
clock-work inside him. "But," objects Le Conte, "can we conceive of movement
without force? And if the movement is peculiar, so also is the form of
force." 

In the Jewish Kabalah, the nature-spirits were known under the general name
of Shedim, and divided into four classes. The Hindûs call them Bhûtas and
Devas, and the Persians called them all Devs; the Greeks indistinctly
designated them as Daimons; the Egyptians knew them as Afrites. The ancient
Mexicans, says Kaiser, believed in numerous spirit-abodes, into one of which
the shades of innocent children were placed until final disposal; into
another, situated in the sun, ascended the valiant souls of heroes; while
the hideous spectres of incorrigible sinner were sentenced to wander and
despair in subterranean caves, held in the bonds of the earth-atmosphere,
unwilling and unable to liberate themselves. This proves pretty clearly that
the "ancient" Mexicans knew something of the doctrines of Kâma Loka. These
passed their time in communicating with mortals, and frightening those who
could see them. Some of the African tribes know them as Yowahoos. In the
Indian Pantheon, as we have often remarked, there are no less than
330,000,000 of various kinds of spirits, including Elementals, some of which
were termed by the Brâhmans, Daityas. 


ASTROLOGICAL INFLUENCES

These beings are known by the adepts to be attracted toward certain quarters
of the heavens by something of the same mysterious property which makes the
magnetic needle turn toward the north, and certain plants to obey the same
attraction If we will only bear in mind the fact that the rushing of planets
through space must create as absolute a disturbance in the plastic and
attenuated medium of the ether, as the passage of a cannon shot does in the
air, or that of a steamer in the water, and on a cosmic scale, we can
understand that certain planetary aspects, admitting our premises to be
true, may produce much more violent agitation and cause much stronger
currents to flow in a given direction than others. 

We can also see why, by such various aspects of the stars, shoals of
friendly or hostile Elementals might be poured in upon our atmosphere, or
some particular portion of it, and make the fact appreciable by the effects
which ensue. If our royal astronomers are able, at times, to predict
cataclysms, such as earthquakes and inundations, the Indian astrologers and
mathematicians can do so, and have so done, with far more precision and
correctness, though they act on lines which to the modern sceptic appear
ridiculously absurd. 


ELEMENTALS AND HUMAN TEMPERAMENT

The various races of spirits are also believed to have a special sympathy
with certain human temperaments, and to more readily exert power over such
than others. Thus, a bilious, lymphatic, nervous, or sanguine person would
be affected favourably or otherwise by conditions of the astral light,
resulting from the different aspects of the planetary bodies. Having reached
this general principle, after recorded observations extending over an
indefinite series of years, or ages, the adept astrologer would require only
to know what the planetary aspects were at a given anterior date, and to
apply his knowledge of the succeeding changes in the heavenly bodies, to be
able to trace, with approximate accuracy, the varying fortunes of the
personage whose horoscope was required, and even to predict the future. The
accuracy of the horoscope would depend, of course, no less upon the
astrologer's astronomical erudition than upon his knowledge of the occult
forces and races of nature. 


UNIVERSAL FORCES AND LAWS

Pythagoras taught that the entire universe is one vast series of
mathematically correct combinations. Plato shows the Deity geometrizing. The
world is sustained by the same law of equilibrium and harmony upon which it
was built. The centripetal force could not manifest itself without the
centrifugal in the harmonious revolutions of the spheres; all forms are the
product of this dual force in nature. Thus, to illustrate our case, we may
designate the spirit as the centrifugal, and the soul as the centripetal,
spiritual energies. When in perfect harmony, both forces produce one result;
break or damage the centripetal motion of the earthly soul tending toward
the center which attracts it; arrest its progress by clogging it with a
heavier weight of matter than it can bear, and the harmony of the whole,
which was its life, is destroyed. Individual life can only be continued if
sustained by this two-fold force. The least deviation from harmony damages
it; when it is destroyed beyond redemption, the forces separate and the form
is gradually annihilated. 


“SPIRITS’ OF THE DEPRAVED

After the death of the depraved and the wicked, arrives the critical moment.
If during life the ultimate and desperate effort of the inner self to
reunite itself with the faintly-glimmering ray of its divine monad is
neglected; if this ray is allowed to be more and more shut out by the
thickening crust of matter, the soul, once freed from the body, follows its
earthly attractions, and is magnetically drawn into and held within the
dense fogs of the material atmosphere of the Kâma Loka. Then it begins to
sink lower and lower, until it finds itself, when returned to consciousness,
in what the ancients termed Hades, and we--Avichî. The annihilation of such
a soul is never instantaneous; it may last centuries, perhaps; for nature
never proceeds by jumps and starts, and the astral soul of the personality
being formed of elements, the law of evolution must bide its time. Then
begins the fearful law of compensation, the Yin-youan of the Buddhist
initiates. 


BROTHERS OF THE SHADOW -- DUGPAS

This class of spirits are called the "terrestrial," or "earthly
elementaries," in contradistinction to the other classes, as we have shown
in the beginning. But there is another and still more dangerous class. In
the East, they are known as the "Brothers of the Shadow," living men
possessed by the earth-bound elementaries; at times--their masters, but ever
in the long run falling victims to these terrible beings. 

In Sikkhim and Tibet they are called Dugpas (red-caps), in contradistinction
to the Geluk-pas (yellow-caps), to which latter most of the adepts belong.
And here we must beg the reader not to misunderstand us. For though the
whole of Bûtan and Sikkhim belongs to the old religion of the Bhons, now
known generally as the Dug-pas, we do not mean to have it understood that
the whole of the population is possessed, en masse, or that they are all
sorcerers. Among them are found as good men as anywhere else, and we speak
above only of the élite of their Lamaseries, of a nucleus of priests,
"devil-dancers," and fetish worshippers, whose dreadful and mysterious rites
are utterly unknown to the greater part of the population. 

Thus there are two classes of these terrible "Brothers of the Shadow"--the
living and the dead. Both cunning, low, vindictive, and seeking to retaliate
their sufferings upon humanity, they become, until final annihilation,
vampires, ghouls, and prominent actors at séances.

These are the leading "stars," on the great spiritual stage of
"materialization," which phenomenon they perform with the help of the more
intelligent of the genuine-born "elemental" creatures, which hover around
and welcome them with delight in their own spheres. 

Henry Kunrath, the great German Kabalist, in his rare work, Amphitheatrum
Sapientæ Æternæ has a plate with representations of the four classes of
these human "elementary spirits." Once past the threshold of the sanctuary
of initiation, once that an adept has lifted the "Veil of Isis," the
mysterious and jealous Goddess, he has nothing to fear; but till then he is
in constant danger. 


EVOCATIONS

Magi and theurgic philosophers objected most severely to the "evocation of
souls." "Bring her (the soul) not forth, lest in departing she retain
something," says Psellus. "It becomes you not to behold them before your
body is initiated, since, by always alluring, they seduce the souls of the
uninitiated"--says the same philosopher, in another passage. 

They objected to it for several good reasons. 

1. "It is extremely difficult to distinguish a good Daimon from a bad
one," says Iamblichus. 

2. If the shell of a good man succeeds in penetrating the density of
the earth's atmosphere--always oppressive to it, often hateful--still there
is a danger that it cannot avoid; the soul is unable to come into proximity
with the material world without that on "departing, she retains something,"
that is to say, she contaminates her purity, for which she has to suffer
more or less after her departure. 

Therefore, the true theurgist will avoid causing any more suffering to this
pure denizen of the higher sphere than is absolutely required by the
interests of humanity. It is only the practitioners of black magic--such as
the Dugpas of Bhûtan and Sikkhim--who compel the presence, by the powerful
incantations of necromancy, of the tainted souls of such as have lived bad
lives, and are ready to aid their selfish designs.
 
Of intercourse with the Augœides, through the mediumistic powers of
subjective mediums, we elsewhere speak. 


PROTECTION AND PURIFICATION

The theurgists employed chemicals and mineral substances to chase away evil
spirits. Of the latter, a stone called Mnizurin was one of the most powerful
agents. "When you shall see a terrestrial Daimon approaching, exclaim, and
sacrifice the stone Mnizurin"--exclaims a Zoroastrian Oracle (Psel., 40). 

These "Daimons" seek to introduce themselves into the bodies of the
simple-minded and idiots, and remain there until dislodged therefrom by a
powerful and pure will. Jesus, Apollonius, and some of the apostles, had the
power to cast out "devils," by purifying the atmosphere within and without
the patient, so as to force the unwelcome tenant to flight.

Certain volatile salts are particularly obnoxious to them; Zoroaster is
corroborated in this by Mr. C. F. Varley, and ancient science is justified
by modern. The effect of some chemicals used in a saucer and placed under
the bed, by Mr. Varley, of London, 12 for the purpose of keeping away some
disagreeable physical phenomena at night, are corroborative of this great
truth. 

Pure or even simply inoffensive human spirits fear nothing, for having rid
themselves of terrestrial matter, terrestrial compounds can affect them in
no wise; such spirits are like a breath. Not so with the earth-bound souls
and the nature-spirits.
 
It is for these carnal terrestrial Larvæ, degraded human spirits, that the
ancient Kabalists entertained a hope of reïncarnation. But when, or how? At
a fitting moment, and if helped by a sincere desire for his amendment and
repentance by some strong, sympathizing person, or the will of an adept, or
even a desire emanating from the erring spirit himself, provided it is
powerful enough to make him throw off the burden of sinful matter. Losing
all consciousness, the once bright monad is caught once more into the vortex
of our terrestrial evolution, and repasses the subordinate kingdoms, and
again breathes as a living child. To compute the time necessary for the
completion of this process would be impossible. Since there is no perception
of time in eternity, the attempt would be a mere waste of labour.
 
Speaking of the elementary, Porphyry says: 

“These invisible beings have been receiving from men honours as gods; . ..
a universal belief makes them capable of becoming very malevolent; it proves
that their wrath is kindled against those who neglect to offer them a
legitimate worship.” 13 

Homer describes them in the following terms: 

“Our gods appear to us when we offer them sacrifice . . . sitting themselves
at our tables, they partake of our festival meals. Whenever they meet on his
travels a solitary Phœnician, they serve to him as guides, and otherwise
manifest their presence. We can say that our piety approaches us to them as
much as crime and bloodshed unite the Cyclopes and the ferocious race of
Giants.” 14 

The latter proves that these Gods were kind and beneficent Daimons, and
that, whether they were disembodied spirits or elemental beings, they were
no "devils." 

The language of Porphyry, who was himself a direct disciple of Plotinus, is
still more explicit as to the nature of these spirits. 

“Daimons are invisible; but they know how to clothe themselves with forms
and configurations subjected to numerous variations, which can be explained
by their nature having much of the corporeal in itself. Their abode is in
the neighbourhood of the earth . . . and when they can escape the vigilance
of the good Daimons, there is no mischief they win not tare commit. One day
they will employ brute force; another, cunning.” 15 

Further, he says: 

“It is a child's play for them to arouse in us vile passions, to impart to
societies and nations turbulent doctrines, provoking wars, seditions, and
other public calamities, and then tell you "that all of these are the work
of the gods." . . . These spirits pass their time in cheating and deceiving
mortals, creating around them illusions and prodigies; their greatest
ambition is to pass as gods and souls (disembodied spirits).” 16 

Iamblichus, the great theurgist of the Neoplatonic school, a man skilled in
sacred magic, teaches that: 

“Good Daimons appear to us in reality, while the bad ones can manifest
themselves but under the shadowy forms of phantoms.”
 
Further, he corroborates Porphyry, and tells how that: 

“The good ones fear not the light, while the wicked ones require darkness.
. . The sensations they excite in us make us believe in the presence and
reality of things they show, though these things be absent.” 17 

Even the most practised theurgists sometimes found danger in their dealings
with certain elementaries, and we have Iamblichus stating that: 

“The gods, the angels, and the Daimons, as well as the souls, may be
summoned through evocation and prayer . . . But when, during theurgic
operations, a mistake is made, beware! Do not imagine that you are
communicating with beneficent divinities, who have answered your earnest
prayer; no, for they are bad Daimons, only under the guise of good ones! For
the elementaries often clothe themselves with the similitude of the good,
and assume a rank very much superior to that they really occupy. Their
boasting betrays them.” 18 


FIVE ELEMENTS

The ancients, who named but four elements, made of ether a fifth. On account
of its essence being made divine by the unseen presence, it was considered
as a medium between this world and the next. They held that when the
directing intelligences retired from any portion of ether, one of the four
kingdoms which they are bound to superintend, the space was left in
possession of evil. 


PURITY AN ESSENTIAL IN MOTIVE

An adept who prepared to converse with the "invisibles," had to know his
ritual well, and be perfectly acquainted with the conditions required for
the perfect equilibrium of the four elements in the astral light. 

First of all, he must purify the essence, and within the circle in which he
sought to attract the pure spirits, equilibrize the elements, so as to
prevent the ingress of the Elementals into their respective spheres. But woe
to the imprudent enquirer who ignorantly trespasses upon forbidden ground;
danger will beset him at every step. He evokes powers that he cannot
control; he arouses sentries which allow only their masters to pass. For, in
the words of the immortal Rosicrucian: 

“Once that thou hast resolved to become a cooperator with the spirit of the
living God, take care not to hinder Him in His work; for, if thy heat
exceeds the natural proportion, thou hast stirr'd the wrath of the moyst 19
natures, and they will stand up against the central fire, and the central
fire against them, and there will be a terrible division in the chaos.” 20 

The spirit of harmony and union will depart from the elements, disturbed by
the imprudent hand; and the currents of blind forces will become immediately
infested by numberless creatures of matter and instinct--the bad demons of
the theurgists, the devils of theology; the gnomes, salamanders, sylphs, and
undines will assail the rash performer under multifarious aërial forms. 

Unable to invent anything, they will search your memory to its very depths;
hence the nervous exhaustion and mental oppression of certain sensitive
natures at spiritual circles. The Elementals will bring to light
long-forgotten remembrances of the past; forms, images, sweet mementoes, and
familiar sentences, long since faded from our own remembrance, but vividly
preserved in the inscrutable depths of our memory and on the astral tablets
of the imperishable "Book of Life." 

The author of the Homoiomerian system of philosophy, Anaxagoras of
Clazomene, firmly believed that the spiritual prototypes of all things, as
well as their elements, were to be found in the boundless ether, where they
were generated, whence they evolved, and whither they returned from earth.
In common with the Hindûs who had personified their Âkâsha, and made of it a
deific entity, the Greeks and Latins had deified Æther. Virgil calls Zeus,
Pater Omnipotens Æther, 21 Magnus, the Great God, Ether. These beings, the
elemental spirits of the Kabalists, 22 are those whom the Christian clergy
denounce as "devils," the enemies of mankind! 


Dallas