{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_21080/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_21080","id":"gutenberg_21080","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21080","summary":null,"tags":["Astral body","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Theosophy"],"text":"Produced by Bryan Ness, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHEOSOPHICAL MANUALS. No. 5\n\n\n\n\n                           THE ASTRAL PLANE\n\n\n                     ITS SCENERY, INHABITANTS AND\n\n                              PHENOMENA\n\n\n\n\n                           C. W. LEADBEATER\n\n\n\n\n                               London:\n\n                   Theosophical Publishing Society\n\n                    7 Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C.\n\n\n              BENARES: THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY,\n\n              MADRAS: _The Theosophist_ OFFICE, ADYAR.\n\n                                 1895\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\n_Few words are needed in sending this little book out into the world.\nIt is the fifth of a series of Manuals designed to meet the public\ndemand for a simple exposition of Theosophical teachings. Some have\ncomplained that our literature is at once too abstruse, too technical,\nand too expensive for the ordinary reader, and it is our hope that the\npresent series may succeed in supplying what is a very real want.\nTheosophy is not only for the learned; it is for all. Perhaps among\nthose who in these little books catch their first glimpse of its\nteachings, there may be a few who will be led by them to penetrate\nmore deeply into its philosophy, its science and its religion, facing\nits abstruser problems with the student's zeal and the neophyte's\nardour. But these Manuals are not written for the eager student, whom\nno initial difficulties can daunt; they are written for the busy men\nand women of the work-a-day world, and seek to make plain some of the\ngreat truths that render life easier to bear and death easier to face.\nWritten by servants of the Masters who are the Elder Brothers of our\nrace, they can have no other object than to serve our fellow-men._\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nIntroduction.\n\nScenery.--The Seven Subdivisions--Degrees of\nMateriality--Characteristics of Astral Vision--The Aura--The Etheric\nDouble--Power of Magnifying Minute Objects--The \"Summerland\"--Records\nof the Astral Light.\n\nInhabitants.--I. Human. (1) _Living_:--The Adept or Chela in\nMayavirupa--The Psychically Developed Person--The Ordinary Person in Astral\nBody--The Black Magician. (2) _Dead_:--The Nirmanakaya--The Chela awaiting\nReincarnation--The Ordinary Person after Death--The Shade--The Shell--The\nVitalized Shell--The Suicide--The Victim of Sudden Death--The Vampire--The\nWerewolf--The Black Magician after Death. II. Non-human:--The Elemental\nEssence--The Kamarupas of Animals--Various Classes of Nature-Spirits,\ncommonly called Fairies--Kamadevas--Rupadevas--Arupadevas--The Devarajahs.\nIII. Artificial:--Elementals formed Unconsciously--Guardian\nAngels--Elementals formed Consciously--Human Artificials--The True Origin\nof Spiritualism.\n\nPhenomena.--Churchyard Ghosts.--Apparitions of the Dying--Haunted\nLocalities--Family Ghosts--Bell-ringing, Stone-throwing,\netc.--Fairies--Communicating Entities--Astral\nResources--Clairvoyance--Prevision--Second-Sight--Astral Forces--Etheric\nCurrents--Etheric Pressure--Latent Energy--Sympathetic\nVibration--Mantras--Disintegration--Materialization--Why Darkness is\nrequired at a _Seance_--Spirit Photographs--Reduplication--Precipitation of\nLetters and Pictures--Slate-writing--Levitation--Spirit Lights--Handling\nFire--Transmutation--Repercussion.\n\nConclusion.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\nTHE ASTRAL PLANE.\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nReference to the astral plane, or Kamaloka as it is called in\nSanskrit, has frequently been made by Theosophical writers, and a good\ndeal of information on the subject of this realm of nature is to be\nfound scattered here and there in our books; but there is not, so far\nas I am aware, any single volume to which one can turn for a complete\nsummary of the facts at present known to us about this interesting\nregion. The object of this manual is to collect and make some attempt\nto arrange this scattered information, and also to supplement it\nslightly in cases where new facts have come to our knowledge. It must\nbe understood that any such additions are only the result of the\ninvestigations of a few explorers, and must not, therefore, be taken\nas in any way authoritative, but are given simply for what they are\nworth. On the other hand every precaution in our power has been taken\nto ensure accuracy, no fact, old or new, being admitted to this manual\nunless it has been confirmed by the testimony of at least two\nindependent trained investigators among ourselves, and has also been\npassed as correct by older students whose knowledge on these points is\nnecessarily much greater than ours. It is hoped, therefore, that this\naccount of the astral plane, though it cannot be considered as quite\ncomplete, may yet be found reliable as far as it goes.\n\nThe first point which it is necessary to make clear in describing this\nastral plane is its absolute _reality_. Of course in using that word I\nam not speaking from that metaphysical standpoint from which all but\nthe One Unmanifested is unreal because impermanent; I am using the\nword in its plain, every-day sense, and I mean by it that the objects\nand inhabitants of the astral plane are real in exactly the same way\nas our own bodies, our furniture, our houses or monuments are real--as\nreal as Charing Cross, to quote an expressive remark from one of the\nearliest Theosophical works. They will no more endure for ever than\nwill objects on the physical plane, but they are nevertheless\nrealities from our point of view while they last--realities which we\ncannot afford to ignore merely because the majority of mankind is as\nyet unconscious, or but vaguely conscious, of their existence.\n\nThere appears to be considerable misunderstanding even among\nTheosophical students upon this question of the reality of the various\nplanes of the universe. This may perhaps be partly due to the fact\nthat the word \"plane\" has occasionally been very loosely used in our\nliterature--writers speaking vaguely of the mental plane, the moral\nplane, and so on; and this vagueness has led many people to suppose\nthat the information on the subject which is to be found in\nTheosophical books is inexact and speculative--a mere hypothesis\nincapable of definite proof. No one can get a clear conception of the\nteachings of the Wisdom-Religion until he has at any rate an\nintellectual grasp of the fact that in our solar system there exist\nperfectly definite planes, each with its own matter of different\ndegrees of density, and that some of these planes can be visited and\nobserved by persons who have qualified themselves for the work,\nexactly as a foreign country might be visited and observed; and that,\nby comparison of the observations of those who are constantly working\non these planes, evidence can be obtained of their existence and\nnature at least as satisfactory as that which most of us have for the\nexistence of Greenland or Spitzbergen. The names usually given to\nthese planes, taking them in order of materiality, rising from the\ndenser to the finer, are the physical, the astral, the devachanic, the\nsushuptic, and the nirvanic. Higher than this last are two others, but\nthey are so far above our present power of conception that for the\nmoment they may be left out of consideration. Now it should be\nunderstood that the matter of each of these planes differs from that\nof the one below it in the same way as, though to a much greater\ndegree than, vapour differs from solid matter; in fact, the states of\nmatter which we call solid, liquid, and gaseous are merely the three\nlowest subdivisions of the matter belonging to this one physical\nplane.\n\nThe astral region which I am to attempt to describe is the second of\nthese great planes of nature--the next above (or within) that physical\nworld with which we are all familiar. It has often been called the\nrealm of illusion--not that it is itself any more illusory than the\nphysical world, but because of the extreme unreliability of the\nimpressions brought back from it by the untrained seer. This is to be\naccounted for mainly by two remarkable characteristics of the astral\nworld--first, that many of its inhabitants have a marvellous power of\nchanging their forms with Protean rapidity, and also of casting\npractically unlimited glamour over those with whom they choose to\nsport; and secondly, that sight on that plane is a faculty very\ndifferent from and much more extended than physical vision. An object\nis seen, as it were, from all sides at once, the inside of a solid\nbeing as plainly open to the view as the outside; it is therefore\nobvious that an inexperienced visitor to this new world may well find\nconsiderable difficulty in understanding what he really does see, and\nstill more in translating his vision into the very inadequate language\nof ordinary speech. A good example of the sort of mistake that is\nlikely to occur is the frequent reversal of any number which the seer\nhas to read from the astral light, so that he would be liable to\nrender, say, 139 as 931, and so on. In the case of a student of\noccultism trained by a capable Master such a mistake would be\nimpossible except through great hurry or carelessness, since such a\npupil has to go through a long and varied course of instruction in\nthis art of seeing correctly, the Master, or perhaps some more\nadvanced pupil, bringing before him again and again all possible forms\nof illusion, and asking him \"What do you see?\" Any errors in his\nanswers are then corrected and their reasons explained, until by\ndegrees the neophyte acquires a certainty and confidence in dealing\nwith the phenomena of the astral plane which far exceeds anything\npossible in physical life. But he has to learn not only to see\ncorrectly but to translate the memory of what he has seen accurately\nfrom one plane to the other; and to assist him in this he is trained\nto carry his consciousness without break from the physical plane to\nthe astral or devachanic and back again, for until that can be done\nthere is always a possibility that his recollections may be partially\nlost or distorted during the blank interval which separates his\nperiods of consciousness on the various planes. When the power of\nbringing over the consciousness is perfectly acquired the pupil will\nhave the advantage of the use of all the astral faculties, not only\nwhile out of his body during sleep or trance, but also while fully\nawake in ordinary physical life.\n\nIt has been the custom of some Theosophists to speak with scorn of\nthe astral plane, and treat it as entirely unworthy of attention; but\nthat seems to me a somewhat mistaken view. Most assuredly that at\nwhich we have to aim is the purely spiritual plane, and it would be\nmost disastrous for any student to neglect that higher development and\nrest satisfied with the attainment of astral consciousness. There are\nsome whose Karma is such as to enable them to develop the purely\nspiritual faculties first of all--to over-leap the astral plane for\nthe time, as it were; and when afterwards they make its acquaintance\nthey have, if their spiritual development has been perfect, the\nimmense advantage of dipping into it from above, with the aid of a\nspiritual insight which cannot be deceived and a spiritual strength\nwhich nothing can resist. It is, however, a mistake to suppose, as\nsome writers have done, that this is the only, or even the ordinary\nmethod adopted by the Masters of Wisdom with their pupils. Where it is\npossible it saves much trouble, but for most of us such progress by\nleaps and bounds has been forbidden by our own faults or follies in\nthe past: all that we can hope for is to win our way slowly step by\nstep, and since this astral plane lies next to our world of denser\nmatter, it is usually in connection with it that our earliest\nsuperphysical experiences take place. It is therefore by no means\nwithout interest to those of us who are but beginners in these\nstudies, and a clear comprehension of its mysteries may often be of\nthe greatest importance to us, not only by enabling us to understand\nmany of the phenomena of the _seance_-room, of haunted houses, etc.,\nwhich would otherwise be inexplicable, but also to guard ourselves and\nothers from possible dangers.\n\nThe first introduction to this remarkable region comes to people in\nvarious ways. Some only once in their whole lives under some unusual\ninfluence become sensitive enough to recognize the presence of one of\nits inhabitants, and perhaps, because the experience does not repeat\nitself, come in time to believe that on that occasion they must have\nbeen the victims of hallucination: others find themselves with\nincreasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those\naround them are blind and deaf; others again--and perhaps this is the\ncommonest experience of all--begin to recollect with greater and\ngreater clearness that which they have seen or heard on that other\nplane during sleep. Among those who make a study of these subjects,\nsome try to develop the astral sight by crystal-gazing or other\nmethods, while those who have the inestimable advantage of the direct\nguidance of a qualified teacher will probably be placed upon that\nplane for the first time under his special protection, which will be\ncontinued until, by the application of various tests, he has satisfied\nhimself that the pupil is proof against any danger or terror that he\nis likely to encounter. But, however it may occur, the first actual\nrealization that we are all the while in the midst of a great world\nfull of active life, of which most of us are nevertheless entirely\nunconscious, cannot but be to some extent a memorable epoch in a man's\nexistence.\n\nSo abundant and so manifold is this life of the astral plane that at\nfirst it is absolutely bewildering to the neophyte; and even for the\nmore practised investigator it is no easy task to attempt to classify\nand to catalogue it. If the explorer of some unknown tropical forest\nwere asked not only to give a full account of the country through\nwhich he had passed, with accurate details of its vegetable and\nmineral productions, but also to state the genus and species of every\none of the myriad insects, birds, beasts, and reptiles which he had\nseen, he might well shrink appalled at the magnitude of the\nundertaking: yet even this affords no parallel to the embarrassments\nof the psychic investigator, for in his case matters are further\ncomplicated, first by the difficulty of correctly translating from\nthat plane to this the recollection of what he has seen, and secondly\nby the utter inadequacy of ordinary language to express much of what\nhe has to report. However, just as the explorer on the physical plane\nwould probably commence his account of a country by some sort of\ngeneral description of its scenery and characteristics, so it will be\nwell to begin this slight sketch of the astral plane by endeavouring\nto give some idea of the scenery which forms the background of its\nmarvellous and ever-changing activities. Yet here at the outset an\nalmost insuperable difficulty confronts us in the extreme complexity\nof the matter. All who see fully on that plane agree that to attempt\nto call up before those whose eyes are as yet unopened a vivid picture\nof this astral scenery is like speaking to a blind man of the\nexquisite variety of tints in a sunset sky--however detailed and\nelaborate the description may be, there is no certainty that the idea\npresented before the hearer's mind will be an adequate representation\nof the truth.\n\n\n\n\nSCENERY.\n\n\nFirst of all, then, it must be understood that the astral plane has\nseven subdivisions, each of which has its corresponding degree of\nmateriality and its corresponding condition of matter. Now numbering\nthese from the highest and least material downwards, we find that they\nnaturally fall into three classes, divisions 1, 2 and 3 forming one\nsuch class, and 4, 5 and 6 another, while the seventh and lowest of\nall stands alone. The difference between the matter of one of these\nclasses and the next would be commensurable with that between a solid\nand a liquid, while the difference between the matter of the\nsubdivisions of a class would rather resemble that between two kinds\nof solid, such as, say, steel and sand. Putting aside for the moment\nthe seventh, we may say that divisions 4, 5 and 6 of the astral plane\nhave for their background the physical world we live in and all its\nfamiliar accessories. Life on the sixth division is simply our\nordinary life on this earth, minus the physical body and its\nnecessities; while as it ascends through the fifth and fourth\ndivisions it becomes less and less material, and is more and more\nwithdrawn from our lower world and its interests.\n\nThe scenery of these lower divisions, then, is that of the earth as we know\nit: but it is also very much more; for when looked at from this different\nstandpoint, with the assistance of the astral senses, even purely physical\nobjects present a very different appearance. As has already been\nmentioned, they are seen by one whose eyes are fully opened, not as usual\nfrom one point of view, but from all sides at once--an idea in itself\nsufficiently confusing; and when we add to this that every particle in the\ninterior of a solid body is as fully and clearly visible as those on the\noutside, it will be comprehended that under such conditions even the most\nfamiliar objects may at first be totally unrecognizable. Yet a moment's\nconsideration will show that such vision approximates much more closely to\ntrue perception than does physical sight. Looked at on the astral plane,\nfor example, the sides of a glass cube would all appear equal, as they\nreally are, while on the physical plane we see the further side in\nperspective--that is, it appears smaller than the nearer side, which is, of\ncourse, a mere illusion. It is this characteristic of astral vision which\nhas led to its sometimes being spoken of as sight in the fourth\ndimension--a very suggestive and expressive phrase. But in addition to\nthese possible sources of error matters are further complicated by the fact\nthat astral sight cognizes forms of matter which, while still purely\nphysical, are nevertheless invisible under ordinary conditions. Such, for\nexample, are the particles composing the atmosphere, all the various\nemanations which are always being given out by everything that has life,\nand also four grades of a still finer order of physical matter which, for\nwant of more distinctive names, must all he described as etheric. The\nlatter form a kind of system by themselves, freely interpenetrating all\nother physical matter; and the investigation of their vibrations and the\nmanner in which various higher forces affect them would in itself\nconstitute a vast field of deeply interesting study for any man of science\nwho possessed the requisite sight for its examination.\n\nEven when our imagination has fully grasped all that is comprehended\nin what has already been said, we do not yet understand half the\ncomplexity of the problem; for besides all these new forms of physical\nmatter we have to deal with the still more numerous and perplexing\nsubdivisions of astral matter. We must note first that every material\nobject, every particle even, has its astral counterpart; and this\ncounterpart is itself not a simple body, but is usually extremely\ncomplex, being composed of various kinds of astral matter. In addition\nto this each living creature is surrounded with an atmosphere of its\nown, usually called its aura, and in the case of human beings this\naura forms of itself a very fascinating branch of study. It is seen as\nan oval mass of luminous mist of highly complex structure, and from\nits shape has sometimes been called the auric egg. Theosophical\nreaders will hear with pleasure that even at the early stage of his\ndevelopment at which the pupil begins to acquire this astral sight, he\nis able to assure himself by direct observation of the accuracy of the\nteaching given through our great founder, Madame Blavatsky, on the\nsubject of some at least of the seven principles of man. In regarding\nhis fellow-man he no longer sees only his outer appearance; exactly\nco-extensive with that physical body he clearly distinguishes the\netheric double, which in Theosophical literature has usually been\ncalled the Linga Sharira; while the Jiva, as it is absorbed and\nspecialized into Prana, as it circulates in rosy light throughout the\nbody, as it eventually radiates from the healthy person in its altered\nform, is also perfectly obvious. Most brilliant and most easily seen\nof all, perhaps, though belonging to quite a different order of\nmatter--the astral--is the kamic aura, which expresses by its vivid\nand ever-changing flashes of colour the different desires which sweep\nacross the man's mind from moment to moment. This is the true astral\nbody. Behind that, and consisting of a finer grade of matter--that of\nthe rupa levels of Devachan--lies the devachanic body or aura of the\nlower Manas, whose colours, changing only by slow degrees as the man\nlives his life, show the disposition and character of the personality;\nwhile still higher and infinitely more beautiful, where at all clearly\ndeveloped, is the living light of the Karana Sharira, the aura or\nvehicle of the higher Manas, which shows the stage of development of\nthe real Ego in its passage from birth to birth. But to see these the\npupil must have developed something more than mere astral vision.\n\nIt will save the student much trouble if he learns at once to regard\nthese auras not as mere emanations, but as the actual manifestation of\nthe Ego on their respective planes--if he understands that it is the\nauric egg which is the real man, not the physical body which on this\nplane crystallizes in the middle of it. So long as the reincarnating\nEgo remains upon the plane which is his true home in the arupa levels\nof Devachan, the body which he inhabits is the Karana Sharira, but\nwhen he descends into the rupa levels he must, in order to be able to\nfunction upon them, clothe himself in their matter; and the matter\nthat he thus attracts to himself furnishes his devachanic or\nmind-body. Similarly, descending into the astral plane he forms his\nastral or kamic body out of its matter, though of course still\nretaining all the other bodies, and on his still further descent to\nthis lowest plane of all the physical body is formed in the midst of\nthe auric egg, which thus contains the entire man. Fuller accounts of\nthese auras will be found in _Transaction_ No. 18 of the London Lodge,\nand in a recent article of mine in _The Theosophist_, but enough has\nbeen said here to show that as they all occupy the same space (which\nby the way they share also with the physical health-aura), the finer\ninterpenetrating the grosser, it needs careful study and much\npractice to enable the neophyte to distinguish clearly at a glance the\none from the other. Nevertheless the human aura, or more usually some\none part of it only, is not infrequently one of the first purely\nastral objects seen by the untrained, though in such a case its\nindications are naturally very likely to be misunderstood.\n\nThough the kamic aura from the brilliancy of its flashes of colour may\noften be more conspicuous, the nerve-ether and the etheric double are\nreally of a much denser order of matter, being strictly speaking\nwithin the limits of the physical plane, though invisible to ordinary\nsight. It has been the custom in Theosophical literature to describe\nthe Linga Sharira as the astral counterpart of the human body, the\nword \"astral\" having been usually applied to everything beyond the\ncognition of our physical senses. As closer investigation enables us\nto be more precise in the use of our terms, however, we find ourselves\ncompelled to admit much of this invisible matter as purely physical,\nand therefore to define the Linga Sharira no longer as the astral, but\nas the etheric double. This seems an appropriate name for it, since it\nconsists of various grades of that matter which scientists call\n\"ether,\" though this proves on examination to be not a separate\nsubstance, as has been generally supposed, but a condition of finer\nsubdivision than the gaseous, to which any kind of physical matter may\nbe reduced by the application of the appropriate forces. The name\n\"etheric double\" will therefore for the future be used in Theosophic\nwritings instead of \"Linga Sharira\": and this change will not only\ngive us the advantage of an English name which is clearly indicative\nof the character of the body to which it is applied, but will also\nrelieve us from the frequent misunderstandings which have arisen from\nthe fact that an entirely different signification is attached in all\nthe Oriental books to the name we have hitherto been using. It must\nnot however be supposed that in making this alteration in\nnomenclature we are in any way putting forward a new conception; we\nare simply altering, for the sake of greater accuracy, the labels\npreviously attached to certain facts in nature. If we examine with\npsychic faculty the body of a newly-born child, we shall find it\npermeated not only by astral matter of every degree of density, but\nalso by the several grades of etheric matter; and if we take the\ntrouble to trace these inner bodies backwards to their origin, we find\nthat it is of the latter that the etheric double--the mould upon which\nthe physical body is built up--is formed by the agents of the LORDS of\nKarma; while the astral matter has been gathered together by the\ndescending Ego--not of course consciously, but automatically--as he\npasses through the astral plane. (See _Manual_ No. IV., p. 44.)\n\nInto the composition of the etheric double must enter something of all\nthe different grades of etheric matter; but the proportions may vary\ngreatly, and are determined by several factors, such as the race,\nsub-race, and type of a man, as well as by his individual Karma. When\nit is remembered that these four subdivisions of matter are made up of\nnumerous combinations, which, in their turn, form aggregations that\nenter into the composition of the \"atom\" of the so-called \"element\" of\nthe chemist, it will be seen that this second principle of man is\nhighly complex, and the number of its possible variations practically\ninfinite, so that, however complicated and unusual a man's Karma may\nbe, the LIPIKA are able to give a mould in accordance with which a\nbody exactly suiting it can be formed.\n\nOne other point deserves mention in connection with the appearance of\nphysical matter when looked at from the astral plane, and that is that\nthe astral vision possesses the power of magnifying at will the\nminutest physical particle to any desired size, as though by a\nmicroscope, though its magnifying power is enormously greater than\nthat of any microscope ever made or ever likely to be made. The\nhypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science are therefore\nvisible realities to the occult student, though the latter recognizes\nthem as much more complex in their nature than the scientific man has\nyet discovered them to be. Here again is a vast field of study of\nabsorbing interest to which a whole volume might readily be devoted;\nand a scientific investigator who should acquire this astral sight in\nperfection, would not only find his experiments with ordinary and\nknown phenomena immensely facilitated, but would also see stretching\nbefore him entirely new vistas of knowledge needing more than a\nlifetime for their thorough examination. For example, one curious and\nvery beautiful novelty brought to his notice by the development of\nthis vision would be the existence of other and entirely different\ncolours beyond the limits of the ordinarily visible spectrum, the\nultra-red and ultra-violet rays which science has discovered by other\nmeans being plainly perceptible to astral sight. We must not, however,\nallow ourselves to follow these fascinating bye-paths, but must resume\nour endeavour to give a general idea of the appearance of the astral\nplane.\n\nIt will by this time be obvious that though, as above stated, the\nordinary objects of the physical world form the background to life on\ncertain levels of the astral plane, yet so much more is seen of their\nreal appearance and characteristics that the general effect differs\nwidely from that with which we are familiar. For the sake of\nillustration take a rock as an example of the simpler class of\nobjects. When regarded with trained sight it is no mere inert mass of\nstone. First of all, the whole of the physical matter of the rock is\nseen instead of a very small part of it; secondly, the vibrations of\nits physical particles are perceptible; thirdly, it is seen to possess\nan astral counterpart composed of various grades of astral matter,\nwhose particles are also in constant motion; fourthly, the Jiva or\nuniversal life is seen to be circulating through it and radiating from\nit; fifthly, an aura will be seen surrounding it, though this is, of\ncourse, much less extended and varied than in the case of the higher\nkingdoms; sixthly, its appropriate elemental essence is seen\npermeating it, ever active but ever fluctuating. In the case of the\nvegetable, animal and human kingdoms, the complications are naturally\nmuch more numerous.\n\nIt may be objected by some readers that no such complexities as these\nare described by most of the psychics who occasionally get glimpses of\nthe astral world, nor are they reported at _seances_ by the entities\nthat manifest there; but this is readily accounted for. Few untrained\npersons on that plane, whether living or dead, see things as they\nreally are until after very long experience; even those who do see\nfully are often too dazed and confused to understand or remember: and\namong the very small minority who both see and remember there are\nhardly any who can translate the recollection into language on our\nlower plane. Many untrained psychics never examine their visions\nscientifically at all: they simply obtain an impression which may be\nquite correct, but may also be half false, or even wholly misleading.\n\nAll the more probable does the latter hypothesis become when we take\ninto consideration the frequent tricks played by sportive denizens of\nthe other world, against which the untrained person is usually\nabsolutely defenceless. It must also be remembered that the regular\ninhabitant of the astral plane, whether he be human or elemental, is\nunder ordinary circumstances conscious only of the objects of that\nplane, physical matter being to him as entirely invisible as is astral\nmatter to the majority of mankind. Since, as before remarked, every\nphysical object has its astral counterpart, which _would_ be visible\nto him, it may be thought that the distinction is a trivial one, yet\nit is an essential part of the symmetrical conception of the subject.\nIf, however, an astral entity constantly works through a medium, these\nfiner astral senses may gradually be so coarsened as to become\ninsensible to the higher grades of matter on their own plane, and to\ninclude in their purview the physical world as we see it instead; but\nonly the trained visitor from this life, who is fully conscious on\nboth planes, can depend upon seeing both clearly and simultaneously.\nBe it understood, then, that the complexity exists, and that only when\nit is fully perceived and scientifically unravelled is there perfect\nsecurity against deception or mistake.\n\nFor the seventh or lowest subdivision of the astral plane also this\nphysical world of ours may be said to be the background, though what\nis seen is only a distorted and partial view of it, since all that is\nlight and good and beautiful seems invisible. It was thus described\nfour thousand years ago in the Egyptian papyrus of the Scribe Ani:\n\"What manner of place is this unto which I have come? It hath no\nwater, it hath no air; it is deep, unfathomable; it is black as the\nblackest night, and men wander helplessly about therein; in it a man\nmay not live in quietness of heart.\" For the unfortunate entity on\nthat level it is indeed true that \"all the earth is full of darkness\nand cruel habitations,\" but it is darkness which radiates from within\nhimself and causes his existence to be passed in a perpetual night of\nevil and horror--a very real hell, though, like all other hells,\nentirely of man's own creation.\n\nMost students find the investigation of this section an extremely\nunpleasant task, for there appears to be a sense of density and gross\nmateriality about it which is indescribably loathsome to the liberated\nastral body, causing it the sense of pushing its way through some\nblack, viscous fluid, while the inhabitants and influences\nencountered there are also usually exceedingly undesirable.\n\nThe first, second, and third subdivisions seem much further removed\nfrom this physical world, and correspondingly less material. Entities\ninhabiting these levels lose sight of the earth and its belongings;\nthey are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to a large extent create\ntheir own surroundings, though these are not purely subjective, as in\nDevachan, but on the contrary sufficiently objective to be perceptible\nto other entities and also to clairvoyant vision. This region is\nbeyond doubt the \"summerland\" of which we hear so much at\nspiritualistic _seances_, and the entities who descend from and\ndescribe it are probably often speaking the truth as far as their\nknowledge extends. It is on these planes that \"spirits\" call into\ntemporary existence their houses, schools, and cities, for these\nobjects are often real enough for the time, though to a clearer sight\nthey may sometimes be pitiably unlike what their delighted creators\nsuppose them to be. Nevertheless, many of the imaginations that take\nform there are of real though temporary beauty, and a visitor who knew\nof nothing higher might wander contentedly enough there among forests\nand mountains, lovely lakes and pleasant flower-gardens, or might even\nconstruct such surroundings to suit his own fancies.\n\nIt may be said in passing that communication is limited on the astral\nplane by the knowledge of the entity, just as it is here. While a\nperson able to function freely on that plane can communicate with any\nof the human entities there present more readily and rapidly than on\nearth, by means of mental impressions, the inhabitants themselves do\nnot usually seem able to exercise this power, but appear to be\nrestricted by limitations similar to those that prevail on earth,\nthough perhaps less rigid. The result of this is that they are found\nassociating, there as here in groups drawn together by common\nsympathies, beliefs, and language.\n\nAn account of the scenery of the astral plane would be incomplete\nwithout mention of what are commonly called the Records of the Astral\nLight, the photographic representation of all that has ever happened.\nThese records are really and permanently impressed upon that higher\nmedium called the Akasha, and are only reflected in a more or less\nspasmodic manner in the astral light, so that one whose power of\nvision does not rise above this plane will be likely to obtain only\noccasional and disconnected pictures of the past instead of a coherent\nnarrative. But nevertheless pictures of all kinds of past events are\nconstantly being reproduced on the astral plane, and form an important\npart of the surroundings of the investigator there.\n\n\n\n\nINHABITANTS.\n\n\nHaving sketched in, however slightly, the background of our picture,\nwe must now attempt to fill in the figures--to describe the\ninhabitants of the astral plane. The immense variety of these entities\nmakes it exceedingly difficult to arrange and tabulate them. Perhaps\nthe most convenient method will be to divide them into three great\nclasses, the human, the non-human, and the artificial.\n\n\nI. HUMAN.\n\nThe human denizens of Kamaloka fall naturally into two groups, the\nliving and the dead, or, to speak more accurately, those who have\nstill a physical body, and those who have not.\n\n1. LIVING.\n\nThe entities which manifest on the astral plane during physical life\nmay be subdivided into four classes:\n\n1. _The Adept or Chela in the Mayavirupa._ This body is the artificial\nvehicle used on the four lower or rupa divisions of the devachanic\nplane by those capable of functioning there during earth-life, and is\nformed out of the substance of the mind-body. The pupil is at first\nunable to construct this for himself, and has therefore to be content\nwith his ordinary astral body composed of the less refined matter of\nthe kamic aura; but at a certain stage of his progress the Master\nHimself forms his Mayavirupa for him for the first time, and\nafterwards instructs and assists him until he can make it for himself\neasily and expeditiously. When this facility is attained this vehicle\nis habitually used in place of the grosser astral body, since it\npermits of instant passage from the astral to the devachanic plane and\nback again at will, and allows of the use at all times of the higher\npowers belonging to its own plane. It must be noted, however, that a\nperson travelling in the Mayavirupa is not perceptible to merely\nastral vision unless he chooses to make himself so by gathering around\nhim particles of astral matter and so creating for himself a temporary\nbody suitable to that plane, though such a temporary creation would\nresemble the ordinary astral body only as a materialization resembles\nthe physical body; in each case it is a manifestation of a higher\nentity on a lower plane in order to make himself visible to those\nwhose senses cannot yet transcend that plane. But whether he be in the\nMayavirupa or the astral body, the pupil who is introduced to the\nastral plane under the guidance of a competent teacher has always the\nfullest possible consciousness there, and is in fact himself, exactly\nas his friends know him on earth, minus only the four lower principles\nin the former case and the three lower in the latter, and plus the\nadditional powers and faculties of this higher condition, which enable\nhim to carry on far more easily and far more efficiently on that plane\nduring sleep the Theosophical work which occupies so much of his\nthought in his waking hours. Whether he will remember fully and\naccurately on the physical plane what he has done or learnt on the\nother depends largely, as before stated, upon whether he is able to\ncarry his consciousness without intermission from the one state to the\nother.\n\n2. _The Psychically-developed Person who is not under the guidance of\na Master._ Such a person may or may not be spiritually developed, for\nthe two forms of advancement do not necessarily go together, and when\na man is born with psychic powers it is simply the result of efforts\nmade during a previous incarnation, which may have been of the noblest\nand most unselfish character, or on the other hand may have been\nignorant and ill-directed or even entirely unworthy. Such an one will\nusually be perfectly conscious when out of the body, but for want of\nproper training is liable to be greatly deceived as to what he sees.\nHe will often be able to range through the different subdivisions of\nthe astral plane almost as fully as persons belonging to the last\nclass; but sometimes he is especially attracted to some one division\nand rarely travels beyond its influences. His recollection of what he\nhas seen may vary according to the degree of his development through\nall the stages from perfect clearness to utter distortion or blank\noblivion. He will appear always in the astral body, since by the\nhypothesis he does not know how to form the Mayavirupa.\n\n3. _The Ordinary Person_--that is, the person without any psychic\ndevelopment--floating about in his astral body in a more or less\nunconscious condition. In deep slumber the higher principles in their\nastral vehicle almost invariably withdraw from the body, and hover in\nits immediate neighbourhood, practically almost as much asleep as the\nlatter. In some cases, however, this astral vehicle is less lethargic,\nand floats dreamily about on the various astral currents, occasionally\nrecognizing other people in a similar condition, and meeting with\nexperiences of all sorts, pleasant and unpleasant, the memory of\nwhich, hopelessly confused and often travestied into a grotesque\ncaricature of what really happened, will cause the man to think next\nmorning what a remarkable dream he has had. These extruded astral\nbodies are almost shapeless and very indefinite in outline in the case\nof the more backward races and individuals, but as the man develops in\nintellect and spirituality his floating astral becomes better defined\nand more closely resembles his physical encasement. Since the\npsychical faculties of mankind are in course of evolution, and\nindividuals are at all stages of their development, this class\nnaturally melts by imperceptible gradations into the former one.\n\n4. _The Black Magician or his pupil._ This class corresponds closely\nto the first, except that the development has been for evil instead of\ngood, and the powers acquired are used for purely selfish purposes\ninstead of for the benefit of humanity. Among its lower ranks come\nmembers of the negro race who practise the ghastly rites of the Obeah\nor Voodoo schools, and the medicine-men of many a savage tribe; while\nhigher in intellect, and therefore the more blame-worthy, stand the\nTibetan black magicians, who are often, though incorrectly, called by\nEuropeans Dugpas--a title properly belonging, as is quite correctly\nexplained by Surgeon-Major Waddell in his recent work on _The Buddhism\nof Tibet_, only to the Bhotanese subdivision of the great Kargyu sect,\nwhich is part of what may be called the semi-reformed school of\nTibetan Buddhism. The Dugpas no doubt deal in Tantrik magic to a\nconsiderable extent, but the real red-hatted entirely unreformed sect\nis that of the Nin-ma-pa, though far beyond them in a still lower\ndepth lie the Boen-pa--the votaries of the aboriginal religion, who\nhave never accepted any form of Buddhism at all. It must not, however,\nbe supposed that all Tibetan sects except the Gelugpa are necessarily\nand altogether evil; a truer view would be that as the rules of other\nsects permit considerably greater laxity of life and practice, the\nproportion of self-seekers among them is likely to be much larger than\namong the stricter reformers. The investigator will occasionally meet\non the astral plane students of occultism from all parts of the world\n(belonging to lodges quite unconnected with the Masters of whom\nTheosophists know most) who are in many cases most earnest and\nself-sacrificing seekers after truth. It is noteworthy, however, that\nall such lodges are at least aware of the existence of the great\nHimalayan Brotherhood, and acknowledge it as containing among its\nmembers the highest Adepts now known on earth.\n\n\n2. DEAD.\n\nTo begin with, of course this very word \"dead\" is an absurd misnomer,\nas most of the entities classified under this heading are as fully\nalive as we are ourselves; the term must be understood as meaning\nthose who are for the time unattached to a physical body. They may be\nsubdivided into nine principal classes as follows:\n\n1. _The Nirmanakaya._\n\nThis class is just mentioned in order to make the catalogue complete,\nbut it is of course very rarely indeed that so exalted a being\nmanifests himself upon so low a plane as this. When for any reason\nconnected with his sublime work he found it desirable to do so, he\nwould probably create a temporary astral body for the purpose, just as\nthe Adept in the Mayavirupa would do, since the more refined vesture\nwould be invisible to astral sight. Further information about the\nposition and work of the Nirmanakayas may be found in Madame\nBlavatsky's _Theosophical Glossary_ and _The Voice of the Silence_.\n\n2. _The Chela awaiting reincarnation._\n\nIt has frequently been stated in Theosophical literature that when the\npupil reaches a certain stage he is able with the assistance of his\nMaster to escape from the action of what is in ordinary cases the law\nof nature which carries a human being into the devachanic condition\nafter death, there to receive his due reward in the full working out\nof all the spiritual forces which his highest aspirations have set in\nmotion while on earth. As the pupil must by the hypothesis be a man of\npure life and high thought, it is probable that in his case these\nspiritual forces will be of abnormal strength, and therefore if he, to\nuse the technical expression, \"takes his Devachan,\" it is likely to be\nan extremely long one; but if instead of taking it he chooses the Path\nof Renunciation (thus even at his low level and in his humble way\nbeginning to follow in the footsteps of the Great Master of\nRenunciation, GAUTAMA BUDDHA Himself), he is able to expend that\nreserve of force in quite another direction--to use it for the benefit\nof mankind, and so, infinitesimal though his offering may be, to take\nhis tiny part in the great work of the Nirmanakayas. By taking this\ncourse he no doubt sacrifices centuries of intense bliss, but on the\nother hand he gains the enormous advantage of being able to continue\nhis life of work and progress without a break. When a pupil who has\ndecided to do this dies, he simply steps out of his body, as he has\noften done before, and waits upon the astral plane until a suitable\nreincarnation can be arranged for him by his Master. This being a\nmarked departure from the usual course of procedure, the permission of\na very high authority has to be obtained before the attempt can be\nmade; yet, even when this is granted, so strong is the force of\nnatural law, that it is said the pupil must be careful to confine\nhimself strictly to the Kamaloka while the matter is being arranged,\nlest if he once, even for a moment, touched the devachanic plane, he\nmight be swept as by an irresistible current into the line of normal\nevolution again. In some cases, though these are rare, he is enabled\nto avoid the trouble of a new birth by being placed directly in an\nadult body whose previous tenant has no further use for it, but\nnaturally it is not often that a suitable body is available. Far more\nfrequently he has to wait on the astral plane, as mentioned before,\nuntil the opportunity of a fitting birth presents itself. In the\nmeantime, however, he is losing no time, for he is just as fully\nhimself as ever he was, and is able to go on with the work given him\nby his Master even more quickly and efficiently than when in the\nphysical body, since he is no longer hampered by the possibility of\nfatigue. His consciousness is of course quite complete, and he roams\nat will through all the divisions of the Kamaloka with equal facility.\nThe chela awaiting reincarnation is by no means one of the common\nobjects of the astral plane, but still he may be met with\noccasionally, and therefore he forms one of our classes. No doubt as\nthe evolution of humanity proceeds, and an ever-increasing proportion\nenter upon the Path of Holiness, this class will become more numerous.\n\n\n3. _The Ordinary Person after death._\n\nNeedless to say, this class is millions of times larger than those of\nwhich we have spoken, and the character and condition of its members\nvary within extremely wide limits. Within similarly wide limits may\nvary also the length of their lives upon the astral plane, for while\nthere are those who pass only a few days or hours there, others remain\nupon this level for many years and even centuries. A man who has led a\ngood and pure life, whose strongest feelings and aspirations have been\nunselfish and spiritual, will have no attraction to this plane, and\nwill, if entirely left alone, find little to keep him upon it, or to\nawaken him into activity even during the comparatively short period of\nhis stay. For it must be understood that after death the true man is\nwithdrawing into himself, and just as at the first step of that\nprocess he casts off the physical body, and almost directly afterwards\nthe etheric double and the Prana, so it is intended that he should as\nsoon as possible cast off also the astral or kamic body, and pass\ninto the devachanic condition, where alone his spiritual aspirations\ncan find their full fruition. The noble and pure-minded man will be\nable to do this, for he has subdued all earthly passions during life;\nthe force of his will has been directed into higher channels, and\nthere is therefore but little energy of lower desire to be worked out\nin Kamaloka. His stay there will consequently be very short, and most\nprobably he will have little more than a dreamy half-consciousness of\nexistence until he sinks into the sleep during which his higher\nprinciples finally free themselves from the kamic envelope and enter\nupon the blissful rest of Devachan.\n\nFor the person who has not as yet entered upon the path of occult\ndevelopment, what has been described is the ideal state of affairs,\nbut naturally it is not attained by all, or even by the majority. The\naverage man has by no means freed himself from the lower desires\nbefore death, and it takes a long period of more or less fully\nconscious life on the astral plane to allow the forces he has\ngenerated to work themselves out, and thus release the higher Ego. The\nbody which he occupies during this period is the Kamarupa which may be\ndescribed as a rearrangement of the matter of his astral body; but it\nis much more defined in outline, and there is also this important\ndifference between the two that while the astral body, if sufficiently\nawakened during life to function at all freely, would probably be able\nto visit all, or at any rate most, of the subdivisions of its plane,\nthe Kamarupa has not that liberty, but is strictly confined to that\nlevel to which its affinities have drawn it. It has, however, a\ncertain kind of progress connected with it, for it generally happens\nthat the forces a man has set in motion during earth-life need for\ntheir appropriate working out a sojourn on more divisions than one of\nthe Kamaloka, and when this is the case a regular sequence is\nobserved, commencing with the lowest; so that when the Kamarupa has\nexhausted its attractions to one level, the greater part of its\ngrosser particles fall away, and it finds itself in affinity with a\nsomewhat higher state of existence. Its specific gravity, as it were,\nis constantly decreasing, and so it steadily rises from the denser to\nthe lighter strata, pausing only when it is exactly balanced for a\ntime. This is evidently the explanation of a remark frequently made by\nthe entities which appear at _seances_ to the effect that they are\nabout to rise to a higher sphere, from which it will be impossible, or\nnot so easy, to \"communicate\" through a medium; and it is as a matter\nof fact true that a person upon the highest subdivision of this plane\nwould find it almost impossible to deal with any ordinary medium.\n\nIt ought perhaps to be explained here that the definiteness of outline\nwhich distinguishes the Kamarupa from the astral body is of an\nentirely different character from that definiteness which was\ndescribed as a sign of progress in the astral of the man before death.\nThere can never be any possibility of confusion between the two\nentities, for while in the case of the man attached to a physical body\nthe different orders of astral particles are all inextricably mingled\nand ceaselessly changing their position, after death their activity is\nmuch more circumscribed, since they then sort themselves according to\ntheir degree of materiality, and become, as it were, a series of\nsheaths or shells surrounding him, the grossest being always outside\nand so dissipating before the others. This dissipation is not\nnecessarily complete, the extent to which it is carried being governed\nby the power of Manas to free itself from its connection with any\ngiven level; and on this also, as will be seen later, the nature of\nthe \"shade\" depends.\n\nThe poetic idea of death as a universal leveller is a mere absurdity\nborn of ignorance, for, as a matter of fact, in the vast majority of\ncases the loss of the physical body makes no difference whatever in\nthe character or intellect of the person, and there are therefore as\nmany different varieties of intelligence among those whom we usually\ncall the dead as among the living. The popular religious teaching of\nthe West as to man's _post-mortem_ adventures has long been so wildly\ninaccurate that even intelligent people are often terribly puzzled\nwhen they recover consciousness in Kamaloka after death. The condition\nin which the new arrival finds himself differs so radically from what\nhe has been led to expect that it is no uncommon case for him to\nrefuse at first to believe that he has passed through the portals of\ndeath at all; indeed, of so little practical value is our much-vaunted\nbelief in the immortality of the soul that most people consider the\nvery fact that they are still conscious an absolute proof that they\nhave not died. The horrible doctrine of eternal punishment, too, is\nresponsible for a vast amount of most pitiable and entirely groundless\nterror among those newly arrived in Kamaloka who in many cases spend\nlong periods of acute mental suffering before they can free themselves\nfrom the fatal influence of that hideous blasphemy, and realize that\nthe world is governed not according to the caprice of some demon who\ngloats over human anguish, but according to a benevolent and\nwonderfully patient law of evolution. Many members of the class we are\nconsidering do not really attain an intelligent appreciation of this\nfact at all, but drift through their astral interlude in the same\naimless manner in which they have spent the physical portion of their\nlives. Thus in Kamaloka, exactly as on earth, there are the few who\ncomprehend something of their position and know how to make the best\nof it, and the many who have not yet acquired that knowledge; and\nthere, just as here, the ignorant are rarely ready to profit by the\nadvice or example of the wise.\n\nBut of whatever grade the entity's intellect may be, it is always a\nfluctuating and on the whole a gradually diminishing quantity, for the\nlower Manas is being drawn in opposite directions by the higher Triad\nwhich acts on it from above its level and the Kama which operates from\nbelow; and therefore it oscillates between the two attractions, with\nan ever-increasing tendency towards the former as the kamic forces\nwear themselves out. And here comes in the evil of what is called at\n_seances_ the \"development\" of a spirit through a medium--a process\nthe object of which is to intensify the downward pull of the Kama, to\nawaken the lower portion of the entity (that being all that can be\nreached) from the natural and desirable unconsciousness into which it\nis passing, and thus to prolong unnaturally its existence in the\nKamaloka. The peculiar danger of this will be seen when it is\nrecollected that the real man is all the while steadily withdrawing\ninto himself, and is therefore as time goes on less and less able to\ninfluence or guide this lower portion, which nevertheless, until the\nseparation is complete, has the power to generate Karma, and under the\ncircumstances is obviously far more likely to add evil than good to\nits record. Thus the harm done is threefold: first, the retardation of\nthe separation between Manas and Kama, and the consequent waste of\ntime and prolongation of the interval between two incarnations;\nsecondly, the extreme probability (almost amounting to certainty) that\na large addition will be made to the individual's evil Karma, which\nwill have to be worked out in future births; thirdly, the terrible\ndanger that this abnormal intensification of the force of Kama may\neventually enable the latter to entangle the whole of the lower Manas\ninextricably, and so cause the entire loss of an incarnation. Though\nsuch a result as this last-mentioned is happily uncommon, it is a\nthing that has happened more than once; and in very many cases where\nthe evil has fallen short of this ultimate possibility, the individual\nhas nevertheless lost much more of his lower Manas by this additional\nentanglement with Kama than he would have done if left to withdraw\ninto himself quietly as nature intended. It is not denied that a\ncertain amount of good may occasionally be done to very degraded\nentities at spiritualistic circles; but the intention of nature\nobviously is that such assistance should be given, as it frequently\nis, by occult students who are able to visit the astral plane during\nearth-life, and have been trained by competent teachers to deal by\nwhatever methods may be most helpful with the various cases which they\nencounter. It will be readily seen that such a scheme of help,\ncarrying with it as it does the possibility of instant reference to\nhigher authorities in any doubtful case, is infinitely safer than any\ncasual assistance obtained through a medium who may be (and indeed\ngenerally is) entirely ignorant of the laws governing spiritual\nevolution, and who is as liable to the domination of evil or\nmischievous influences as of good ones.\n\nApart altogether from any question of development through a medium,\nthere is another and much more frequently exercised influence which\nmay seriously retard a disembodied entity on his way to Devachan, and\nthat is the intense and uncontrolled grief of his surviving friends or\nrelatives. It is one among many melancholy results of the terribly\ninaccurate and even irreligious view that we in the West have for\ncenturies been taking of death, that we not only cause ourselves an\nimmense amount of wholly unnecessary pain over this temporary parting\nfrom our loved ones, but we often also do serious injury to those for\nwhom we bear so deep an affection by means of this very regret which\nwe feel so acutely. As one of our ablest writers has recently told us,\nwhen our departed brother is sinking peacefully and naturally into\npre-devachanic unconsciousness \"an awakening may be caused by the\npassionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth, and these,\nviolently vibrating the kamic elements in the embodied persons, may\nset up vibrations in the Kamarupa of the disembodied, and so reach and\nrouse the lower Manas not yet withdrawn to and reunited with its\nparent, the spiritual intelligence. Thus it may be roused from its\ndreamy state to vivid remembrance of the earth-life so lately left.\nThis awakening is often accompanied by acute suffering, and even if\nthis be avoided the natural process of the Triad freeing itself is\nrudely disturbed, and the completion of its freedom is delayed.\"\n(_Death and After_, p. 32.) It would be well if those whose loved ones\nhave passed on before them would learn from these undoubted facts the\nduty of restraining for the sake of those dear ones a grief which,\nhowever natural it may be, is yet in its essence selfish. Not that\noccult teaching counsels forgetfulness of the dead--far from it; but\nit does suggest that a man's affectionate remembrance of his departed\nfriend is a force which, if properly directed into the channel of\nearnest good wishes for his progress towards Devachan and his quiet\npassage through Kamaloka might be of real value to him, whereas when\nwasted in mourning for him and longing to have him back again it is\nnot only useless but harmful. It is with a true instinct that the\nHindu religion prescribes its Shraddha ceremonies and the Catholic\nChurch its prayers for the dead.\n\nIt sometimes happens, however, that the desire for communication is\nfrom the other side, and that an entity of the class we are\nconsidering has something which it specially desires to say to those\nwhom it has left behind. Occasionally this message is an important\none, such as, for example, an indication of the place where a missing\nwill is concealed; but more often it seems to us quite trivial.\nStill, whatever it may be, if it is firmly impressed upon the mind of\nthe dead person, it is undoubtedly desirable that he should be enabled\nto deliver it, as otherwise the anxiety to do so would perpetually\ndraw his consciousness back into the earth-life, and prevent him from\npassing to higher spheres. In such a case a psychic who can understand\nhim, or a medium through whom he can write or speak, is of real\nservice to him. It should be observed that the reason why he cannot\nusually write or speak without a medium is that one state of matter\ncan ordinarily act only upon the state next below it, and, as he has\nnow no denser matter in his organism than that of which the Kamarupa\nis composed, he finds it impossible to set up vibrations in the\nphysical substance of the air or to move the physical pencil without\nborrowing living matter of the intermediate order contained in the\netheric double, by means of which an impulse can readily be\ntransferred from the one plane to the other. Now he would be unable to\nborrow this material from an ordinary person, because such a man's\nprinciples would be too closely linked together to be separated by any\nmeans likely to be at his command, but the very essence of mediumship\nis the ready separability of the principles, so from a medium he can\ndraw without difficulty the matter he needs for his manifestation,\nwhatever it may be. When he cannot find a medium or does not\nunderstand how to use one he sometimes makes clumsy and blundering\nendeavours to communicate on his own account, and by the strength of\nhis will he sets elemental forces blindly working, perhaps producing\nsuch apparently aimless manifestations as stone-throwing,\nbell-ringing, etc. It consequently frequently happens that a psychic\nor medium going to a house where such manifestations are taking place\nmay be able to discover what the entity who produces them is\nattempting to say or do, and may thus put an end to the disturbance.\nThis would not, however, invariably be the case, as these elemental\nforces are occasionally set in motion by entirely different causes.\n\nBut for one entity who is earth-bound by the desire to communicate\nwith his surviving friends, there are thousands who, if left alone,\nwould never think of doing so, although when the idea is suggested to\nthem through a medium they will respond to it readily enough, for\nsince during earth-life their interests were probably centred less in\nspiritual than in worldly affairs, it is not difficult to re-awaken in\nthem vibrations sympathetic to matters connected with the existence\nthey have so lately left; and this undesirable intensification of\nearthly thoughts is frequently brought about by the interference of\nwell-meaning but ignorant friends, who endeavour to get communications\nfrom the departed through a medium, with the result that just in\nproportion to their success he is subjected to the various dangers\nmentioned above. It should also be remembered that the possible injury\nto the entity itself is by no means all the harm that may accrue from\nsuch a practice, for those who habitually attend _seances_ during life\nare almost certain to develop a tendency to haunt them after death,\nand so themselves in turn run the risks into which they have so often\nbrought their predecessors. Besides, it is well known that the vital\nenergy necessary to produce physical manifestations is frequently\ndrawn from the sitters as well as from the medium, and the eventual\neffect on the latter is invariably evil, as is evinced by the large\nnumber of such sensitives who have gone either morally or psychically\nto the bad--some becoming epileptic, some taking to drink, others\nfalling under influences which induced them to stoop to fraud and\ntrickery of all kinds.\n\n4. _The Shade._\n\nWhen the separation of the principles is complete, the Kamaloka life\nof the person is over, and, as before stated, he passes into the\ndevachanic condition. But just as when he dies to this plane he leaves\nhis physical body behind him, so when he dies to the astral plane he\nleaves his Kamarupa behind him. If he has purged himself from all\nearthly desires during life, and directed all his energies into the\nchannels of unselfish spiritual aspiration, his higher Ego will be\nable to draw back into itself the whole of the lower Manas which it\nput forth into incarnation; in that case the Kamarupa left behind on\nthe astral plane will be a mere corpse like the abandoned physical\nbody, and it will then come not into this class but into the next.\nEven in the case of a man of somewhat less perfect life almost the\nsame result may be attained if the forces of lower desire are allowed\nto work themselves out undisturbed in Kamaloka but the majority of\nmankind make but very trifling and perfunctory efforts while on earth\nto rid themselves of the less elevated impulses of their nature, and\nconsequently doom themselves not only to a greatly prolonged sojourn\non the astral plane, but also to what cannot be described otherwise\nthan as a loss of a portion of the lower Manas. This is, no doubt, a\nvery material method of expressing the great mystery of the reflection\nof the higher Manas in the lower, but since only those who have passed\nthe portals of initiation can fully comprehend this, we must content\nourselves with the nearest approximation to exactitude which is\npossible to us; and as a matter of fact, a very fairly accurate idea\nof what actually takes place will be obtained by adopting the\nhypothesis that the manasic principle sends down a portion of itself\ninto the lower world of physical life at each incarnation, and expects\nto be able to withdraw it again at the end of the life, enriched by\nall its varied experiences. The ordinary man, however, usually allows\nhimself to be so pitiably enslaved by all sorts of base desires that a\ncertain portion of this lower Manas becomes very closely interwoven\nwith Kama, and when the separation takes place, his life in Kamaloka\nbeing over, the manasic principle has, as it were, to be torn apart,\nthe degraded portion remaining within the Kamarupa.\n\nThis Kamarupa then consists of the particles of astral matter from\nwhich the lower Manas has not been able to disengage itself, and which\ntherefore retain it captive; for when Manas passes into Devachan these\nclinging fragments adhere to a portion of it and as it were wrench it\naway. The proportion of the matter of each level present in the\nKamarupa will therefore depend on the extent to which Manas has become\ninextricably entangled with the lower passions. It will be obvious\nthat as Manas in passing from level to level is unable to free itself\ncompletely from the matter of each, the Kamarupa will show the\npresence of each grosser kind which has succeeded in retaining its\nconnection with it.\n\nThus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called\n\"The Shade\"--an entity, be it observed, which is not in any sense the\nreal individual at all (for he has passed away into Devachan), but\nnevertheless, not only bears his exact personal appearance, but\npossesses his memory and all his little idiosyncrasies, and may,\ntherefore, very readily personate him, as indeed it frequently does at\n_seances_. It is not, of course, conscious of any act of\nimpersonation, for as far as its intellect goes it must necessarily\nsuppose itself to be the individual, but one can imagine the horror\nand disgust of the friends of the departed, if they could only realize\nthat they had been deceived into accepting as their loved one a mere\nsoulless bundle of all his worst qualities. Its length of life varies\naccording to the amount of the lower Manas which animates it, but as\nthis is all the while in process of fading out, its intellect is a\nsteadily diminishing quantity, though it may possess a great deal of a\ncertain sort of animal cunning; and even quite towards the end of its\ncareer it is still able to communicate by borrowing temporary\nintelligence from the medium. From its very nature it is exceedingly\nliable to be swayed by all kinds of evil influences, and, having\nseparated from its higher Ego, it has nothing in its constitution\ncapable of responding to good ones. It therefore lends itself readily\nto various minor purposes of some of the baser sort of black\nmagicians. So much of the matter of the manasic nature as it possesses\ngradually disintegrates and returns to its own plane, though not to\nany individual mind, and thus the shade fades by almost imperceptible\ngradations into a member of our next class.\n\n5. _The Shell._\n\nThis is absolutely the mere astral corpse in process of\ndisintegration, every particle of the lower Manas having left it. It\nis entirely without any kind of consciousness or intelligence, and is\ndrifted passively about upon the astral currents just as a cloud might\nbe swept in any direction by a passing breeze; but even yet it may be\ngalvanized for a few moments into a ghastly burlesque of life if it\nhappens to come within reach of a medium's aura. Under such\ncircumstances it will still exactly resemble its departed personality\nin appearance, and may even reproduce to some extent his familiar\nexpressions or handwriting, but it does so merely by the automatic\naction of the cells of which it is composed, which tend under\nstimulation to repeat the form of action to which they are most\naccustomed, and whatever amount of intelligence may lie behind any\nsuch manifestation has most assuredly no connection with the original\nentity, but is lent by the medium or his \"guides\" for the occasion. It\nis, however, more frequently temporarily vitalized in quite another\nmanner, which will be described under the next head. It has also the\nquality of being still blindly responsive to such vibrations--usually\nof the lowest order--as were frequently set up in it during its last\nstage of existence as a shade, and consequently persons in whom evil\ndesires or passions are predominant will be very likely, when they\nattend physical _seances_, to find these intensified and as it were\nthrown back upon them by the unconscious shells.\n\nThere is also another variety of corpse which it is necessary to\nmention under this head, though it belongs to a much earlier stage of\nman's _post-mortem_ history. It has been stated above that after the\ndeath of the physical body the Kamarupa is comparatively quickly\nformed, and the etheric double cast off--this latter body being\ndestined to slow disintegration, precisely as is the kamarupic shell\nat a later stage of the proceedings. This etheric shell, however, is\nnot to be met with drifting aimlessly about, as is the variety with\nwhich we have hitherto been dealing; on the contrary, it remains\nwithin a few yards of the decaying physical body, and since it is\nreadily visible to any one even slightly sensitive, it is accountable\nfor many of the commonly current stories of churchyard ghosts. A\npsychically developed person passing one of our great cemeteries will\nsee hundreds of these bluish-white, misty forms hovering over the\ngraves where are laid the physical vestures which they have recently\nleft; and as they, like their lower counterparts, are in various\nstages of disintegration, the sight is by no means a pleasant one.\nThis also, like the other kind of shell, is entirely devoid of\nconsciousness and intelligence; and though it may under certain\ncircumstances be galvanized into a very horrible form of temporary\nlife, this is possible only by means of some of the most loathsome\nrites of one of the worst forms of black magic, about which the less\nsaid the better. It will thus be seen that in the successive stages of\nhis progress from earth-life to Devachan, man casts off and leaves to\nslow disintegration no less than three corpses--the physical body,\nthe etheric double and the Kamarupa--all of which are by degrees\nresolved into their constituent elements and utilized anew on their\nrespective planes by the wonderful chemistry of nature.\n\n6. _The Vitalized Shell._\n\nThis entity ought not, strictly speaking, to be classified under the\nhead \"human\" at all, since it is only its outer vesture, the passive,\nsenseless shell, that was once an appanage of humanity; such life,\nintelligence, desire and will as it may possess are those of the\nartificial elemental animating it, and that, though in terrible truth\na creation of man's evil thought, is not itself human. It will\ntherefore perhaps be better to deal with it more fully under its\nappropriate class among the artificial entities, as its nature and\ngenesis will be more readily comprehensible by the time that part of\nour subject is reached. Let it suffice here to mention that it is\nalways a malevolent being--a true tempting demon, whose evil influence\nis limited only by the extent of its power. Like the shade, it is\nfrequently used to further the horrible purposes of the Voodoo and\nObeah forms of magic. Some writers have spoken of it under the name\n\"elementary,\" but as that title has at one time or other been used for\nalmost every variety of _post-mortem_ entity, it has become so vague\nand meaningless that it is perhaps better to avoid it.\n\n7. _The Suicide, or victim of sudden death._\n\nIt will be readily understood that a man who is torn from physical\nlife hurriedly while in full health and strength, whether by accident\nor suicide, finds himself upon the astral plane under conditions\ndiffering considerably from those which surround one who dies either\nfrom old age or from disease. In the latter case the hold of earthly\ndesires upon the entity is more or less weakened, and probably the\nvery grossest particles are already got rid of, so that the Kamarupa\nwill most likely form itself on the sixth or fifth subdivision of the\nKamaloka, or perhaps even higher; the principles have been gradually\nprepared for separation, and the shock is therefore not so great. In\nthe case of the accidental death or suicide none of these preparations\nhave taken place, and the withdrawal of the principles from their\nphysical encasement has been very aptly compared to the tearing of the\nstone out of an unripe fruit; a great deal of the grossest kind of\nastral matter still clings around the personality, which is\nconsequently held in the seventh or lowest subdivision of the\nKamaloka. This has already been described as anything but a pleasant\nabiding-place, yet it is by no means the same for all those who are\ncompelled for a time to inhabit it. Those victims of sudden death\nwhose earth-lives have been pure and noble have no affinity for this\nplane, and the time of their sojourn upon it is passed, to quote from\nan early Letter on this subject, either \"in happy ignorance and full\noblivion, or in a state of quiet slumber, a sleep full of rosy dreams\n\". But on the other hand, if their earth-lives have been low and\nbrutal, selfish and sensual, they will, like the suicides, be\nconscious to the fullest extent in this undesirable region; and they\nare liable to develop into terribly evil entities. Inflamed with all\nkinds of horrible appetites which they can no longer satisfy directly\nnow they are without a physical body, they gratify their loathsome\npassions vicariously through a medium or any sensitive person whom\nthey can obsess; and they take a devilish delight in using all the\narts of delusion which the astral plane puts in their power in order\nto lead others into the same excesses which have proved so fatal to\nthemselves. Quoting again from the same letter:--\"These are the\nPisachas the _incubi_ and _succubae_ of mediaeval writers--demons of\nthirst and gluttony, of lust and avarice, of intensified craft,\nwickedness and cruelty, provoking their victims to horrible crimes,\nand revelling in their commission\". From this class and the last are\ndrawn the tempters--the devils of ecclesiastical literature; but their\npower fails utterly before purity of mind and purpose; they can do\nnothing with a man unless he has first encouraged in himself the vices\ninto which they seek to draw him.\n\nOne whose psychic sight has been opened will often see crowds of these\nunfortunate creatures hanging round butchers' shops, public-houses, or\nother even more disreputable places--wherever the gross influences in\nwhich they delight are to be found, and where they encounter men and\nwomen still in the flesh who are like-minded with themselves. For such\nan entity as one of these to meet with a medium with whom he is in\naffinity is indeed a terrible misfortune; not only does it enable him\nto prolong enormously his dreadful life in Kamaloka but it renews for\nperhaps an indefinite period his power to generate evil Karma, and so\nprepare for himself a future incarnation of the most degraded\ncharacter, besides running the risk of losing a large portion or even\nthe whole of the lower Manas. On this lowest level of the astral plane\nhe must stay at least as long as his earthly life would have lasted if\nit had not been prematurely cut short; and if he is fortunate enough\n_not_ to meet with a sensitive through whom his passions can be\nvicariously gratified, the unfulfilled desires will gradually burn\nthemselves out, and the suffering caused in the process will probably\ngo far towards working off the evil Karma of the past life.\n\nThe position of the suicide is further complicated by the fact that\nhis rash act has enormously diminished the power of the higher Ego to\nwithdraw its lower portion into itself, and therefore has exposed him\nto manifold and great additional dangers: but it must be remembered\nthat the guilt of suicide differs considerably according to its\ncircumstances, from the morally blameless act of Seneca or Socrates\nthrough all degrees down to the heinous crime of the wretch who takes\nhis own life in order to escape from the entanglements into which his\nvillainy has brought him, and of course the position after death\nvaries accordingly.\n\nIt should be noted that this class, as well as the shades and the\nvitalized shells, are all what may be called minor vampires; that is\nto say, whenever they have the opportunity they prolong their\nexistence by draining away the vitality from human beings whom they\nfind themselves able to influence. This is why both medium and sitters\nare often so weak and exhausted after a physical _seance_. A student\nof occultism is taught how to guard himself from their attempts, but\nwithout that knowledge it is difficult for one who puts himself in\ntheir way to avoid being more or less laid under contribution by them.\n\n8. _The Vampire and Werewolf._\n\nThere remain two even more awful but happily very rare possibilities\nto be mentioned before this part of our subject is completed, and\nthough they differ very widely in many ways we may yet perhaps group\nthem together, since they have in common the qualities of unearthly\nhorror and of extreme rarity--the latter arising from the fact that\nthey are really relics of earlier races. We of the fifth root race\nought to have evolved beyond the possibility of meeting such a ghastly\nfate as is indicated by either of the two headings of this\nsub-section, and we have so nearly done it that these creatures are\ncommonly regarded as mere mediaeval fables; yet there _are_ examples to\nbe found occasionally even now, though chiefly in countries where\nthere is a considerable strain of fourth-race blood, such as Russia or\nHungary. The popular legends about them are probably often\nconsiderably exaggerated, but there is nevertheless a terribly serious\nsub-stratum of truth beneath the eerie stories which pass from mouth\nto mouth among the peasantry of Central Europe. The general\ncharacteristics of such tales are too well known to need more than a\npassing reference; a fairly typical specimen of the vampire story,\nthough it does not profess to be more than the merest fiction, is\nSheridan le Fanu's _Carmilla_, while a very remarkable account of an\nunusual form of this creature is to be found in _Isis Unveiled_, vol.\ni., p. 454. All readers of Theosophical literature are familiar with\nthe idea that it is possible for a man to live a life so absolutely\ndegraded and selfish, so utterly wicked and brutal, that the whole of\nhis lower Manas may become entirely immeshed in Kama, and finally\nseparated from its spiritual source in the higher Ego. Some students\neven seem to think that such an occurrence is quite a common one, and\nthat we may meet scores of such \"soulless men,\" as they have been\ncalled, in the street every day of our lives, but this, happily, is\nuntrue. To attain the appalling preeminence in evil which thus\ninvolves the entire loss of a personality and the weakening of the\ndeveloping individuality behind, a man must stifle every gleam of\nunselfishness or spirituality, and must have absolutely no redeeming\npoint whatever; and when we remember how often, even in the worst of\nvillains, there is to be found something not wholly bad, we shall\nrealize that the abandoned personalities must always be a very small\nminority. Still, comparatively few though they be, they do exist, and\nit is from their ranks that the still rarer vampire is drawn. The lost\nentity would very soon after death find himself unable to stay in\nKamaloka, and would be irresistibly drawn in full consciousness into\n\"his own place,\" the mysterious eighth sphere, there slowly to\ndisintegrate after experiences best left undescribed. If, however, he\nperishes by suicide or sudden death, he may under certain\ncircumstances, especially if he knows something of black magic, hold\nhimself back from that awful fate by a death in life scarcely less\nawful--the ghastly existence of the vampire. Since the eighth sphere\ncannot claim him until after the death of the body, he preserves it in\na kind of cataleptic trance by the horrible expedient of the\ntransfusion into it of blood drawn from other human beings by his\nsemi-materialized Kamarupa, and thus postpones his final destiny by\nthe commission of wholesale murder. As popular \"superstition\" again\nquite rightly supposes, the easiest and most effectual remedy in such\na case is to exhume and burn the body, thus depriving the creature of\nhis _point d'appui_. When the grave is opened the body usually appears\nquite fresh and healthy, and the coffin is not infrequently filled\nwith blood. Of course in countries where cremation is the custom\nvampirism of this sort is impossible.\n\nThe Werewolf, though equally horrible, is the product of a somewhat\ndifferent Karma, and indeed ought perhaps to have found a place under\nthe first instead of the second division of the human inhabitants of\nKamaloka, since it is always during a man's lifetime that he first\nmanifests under this form. It invariably implies some knowledge of\nmagical arts--sufficient at any rate to be able to project the astral\nbody. When a perfectly cruel and brutal man does this, there are\ncertain circumstances under which the body may be seized upon by other\nastral entities and materialized, not into the human form, but into\nthat of some wild animal--usually the wolf; and in that condition it\nwill range the surrounding country killing other animals, and even\nhuman beings, thus satisfying not only its own craving for blood, but\nthat of the fiends who drive it on. In this case, as so often with the\nordinary astral body, any wound inflicted upon the animal\nmaterialization will be reproduced upon the human physical body by the\nextraordinary phenomenon of repercussion; though after the death of\nthat physical body the Kamarupa, which will probably continue to\nappear in the same form, will be less vulnerable. It will then,\nhowever, he also less dangerous, as unless it can find a suitable\nmedium it will be unable to materialize fully.\n\nIt has been the fashion of this century to scoff at what are called\nthe foolish superstitions of the ignorant peasantry; but, as in the\nabove cases, so in many others the occult student finds on careful\nexamination that obscure or forgotten truths of nature lie behind what\nat first sight appears mere nonsense, and he learns to be cautious in\nrejecting as well as cautious in accepting. Intending explorers of the\nastral plane need have little fear of encountering the very unpleasant\ncreatures described under this head, for, as before stated, they are\neven now extremely rare, and as time goes on their number will happily\nsteadily diminish. In any case their manifestations are usually\nrestricted to the immediate neighbourhood of their physical bodies, as\nmight be supposed from their extremely material nature.\n\n9. _The Black Magician or his pupil._\n\nThis person corresponds at the other extremity of the scale to our\nsecond class of departed entities, the chela awaiting reincarnation,\nbut in this case, instead of obtaining permission to adopt an unusual\nmethod of progress, the man is defying the natural process of\nevolution by maintaining himself in Kamaloka by magical\narts--sometimes of the most horrible nature. It would be easy to make\nvarious subdivisions of this class, according to their objects, their\nmethods, and the possible duration of their existence on this plane,\nbut as they are by no means fascinating objects of study, and all that\nan occult student wishes to know about them is how to avoid them, it\nwill probably be more interesting to pass on to the examination of\nanother part of our subject. It may, however, be just mentioned that\nevery such human entity which prolongs its life thus on the astral\nplane beyond its natural limit invariably does so at the expense of\nothers, and by the absorption of their life in some form or another.\n\n\nII. NON-HUMAN.\n\nThough it might have been thought fairly obvious even to the most\ncasual glance that many of the terrestrial arrangements of nature\nwhich affect us most nearly have not been designed exclusively with a\nview to our comfort or even our ultimate advantage, it was yet\nprobably unavoidable that the human race, at least in its childhood,\nshould imagine that this world and everything it contains existed\nsolely for its own use and benefit. Undoubtedly we ought by this time\nto have grown out of that infantile delusion and realized our proper\nposition and the duties that attach to it; that most of us have not\nyet done so is shown in a dozen ways in our daily life notably by the\natrocious cruelty habitually displayed towards the animal kingdom\nunder the name of sport by many who probably consider themselves\nhighly civilized people. Of course the veriest tyro in the holy\nscience of occultism knows that all life is sacred, and that without\nuniversal compassion there is no true progress; but it is only as he\nadvances in his studies that he discovers how manifold evolution is,\nand how comparatively small a place humanity really fills in the\neconomy of nature. It becomes clear to him that just as earth, air and\nwater support myriads of forms of life which, though invisible to the\nordinary eye, are revealed to us by the microscope, so the higher\nplanes connected with our earth have an equally dense population of\nwhose existence we are ordinarily completely unconscious. As his\nknowledge increases he becomes more and more certain that in one way\nor another the utmost use is being made of every possibility of\nevolution, and that wherever it seems to us that in nature force or\nopportunity is being wasted or neglected, it is not the scheme of the\nuniverse that is in fault, but our ignorance of its method and\nintention.\n\nFor the purposes of our present consideration of the non-human\ninhabitants of the astral plane it will be best to leave out of\nconsideration those very early forms of the universal life which are\nevolving, in a manner of which we can have little comprehension,\nthrough the successive encasement of atoms, molecules and cells: for\nif we commence at the lowest of what are usually called the elemental\nkingdoms, we shall even then have to group together under this general\nheading an enormous number of inhabitants of the astral plane upon\nwhom it will be possible to touch only very slightly, as anything like\na detailed account of them would swell this manual to the dimensions\nof an encyclopaedia.\n\nThe most convenient method of arranging the non-human entities will\nperhaps be in four classes it being understood that in this case the\nclass is not, as previously, a comparatively small subdivision, but\nusually a great kingdom of nature at least as large and varied as,\nsay, the animal or vegetable kingdom. Some of these rank considerably\nbelow humanity, some are our equals, and others again rise far above\nus in goodness and power. Some belong to our scheme of evolution--that\nis to say, they either have been or will be men like ourselves; others\nare evolving on entirely distinct lines of their own. Before\nproceeding to consider them it is necessary, in order to avoid the\ncharge of incompleteness, to mention that in this branch of the\nsubject two reservations have been made. First, no reference is made\nto the occasional appearances of very high Adepts from other planets\nof the solar system and of even more august Visitors from a still\ngreater distance, since such matters cannot fitly be described in an\nessay for general reading; and besides it is practically\ninconceivable, though of course theoretically possible, that such\nglorified Beings should ever need to manifest Themselves on a plane\nso low as the astral. If for any reason They should wish to do so, the\nbody appropriate to the plane would be temporarily created out of\nastral matter belonging to this planet, just as in the case of the\nNirmanakaya. Secondly, quite outside of and entirely unconnected with\nthe four classes into which we are dividing this section, there are\ntwo other great evolutions which at present share the use of this\nplanet with humanity; but about them it is forbidden to give any\nparticulars at this stage of the proceedings, as it is not apparently\nintended under ordinary circumstances either that they should be\nconscious of man's existence or man of theirs. If we ever do come into\ncontact with them it will most probably be on the purely physical\nplane, for in any case their connection with our astral plane is of\nthe slightest, since the only possibility of their appearance there\ndepends upon an extremely improbable accident in an act of ceremonial\nmagic, which fortunately only a few of the most advanced sorcerers\nknow how to perform. Nevertheless, that improbable accident has\nhappened at least once, and may happen again, so that but for the\nprohibition above mentioned it would have been necessary to include\nthem in our list.\n\n1. _The Elemental Essence belonging to our own evolution._\n\nJust as the name \"elementary\" has been given indiscriminately by\nvarious writers to any or all of man's possible _post-mortem_\nconditions, so this word \"elemental\" has been used at different times\nto mean any or all non-human spirits, from the most godlike of the\nDevas down through every variety of nature-spirit to the formless\nessence which pervades the kingdoms lying behind the mineral, until\nafter reading several books the student becomes absolutely bewildered\nby the contradictory statements made on the subject. For the purposes\nof this treatise it will perhaps simplify matters to restrict its\nmeaning to the last-mentioned class only, and use it to denote the\nthree great kingdoms which precede the mineral in the order of our\nevolution. It may be remembered that in one of the earlier letters\nfrom an Adept teacher these elemental kingdoms are referred to, and\nthe statement is made that the first and second cannot readily be\ncomprehended except by an Initiate. Fortunately this, the most\nincomprehensible part of the vast subject, does not come within the\nprovince of this manual, as those first and second elemental kingdoms\nexist and function respectively upon the arupa and rupa levels of the\ndevachanic plane. We have consequently to deal for the moment only\nwith kingdom No. 3--the one next before the mineral; though even that\nwill be found quite sufficiently complicated, as will be understood\nwhen it is stated that it contains just over two thousand four hundred\nperfectly distinct varieties of elemental essence, each of which the\npupil who wishes to attain perfect control of the astral forces must\nlearn not only to distinguish instantly at sight, but to deal with in\nits own special method and no other. Of course phenomena of various\nsorts may be, and constantly are, produced by those who are able to\nwield only one or two of these forces, but the Adept prefers to take\nthe additional trouble requisite to understand all of them thoroughly,\nand uses in every case precisely the most appropriate force or\ncombination of forces, so that his object may be attained with\nscientific accuracy and with the least possible expenditure of energy.\n\nTo speak, as we so often do, of _an_ elemental in connection with the\ngroup we are now considering is somewhat misleading, for strictly\nspeaking there is no such thing. What we find is a vast store of\nelemental essence, wonderfully sensitive to the most fleeting human\nthought, responding with inconceivable delicacy in an infinitesimal\nfraction of a second to a vibration set up in it even by an entirely\nunconscious exercise of human will or desire. But the moment that by\nthe influence of such thought or exercise of will it is moulded into a\nliving force--into something that may correctly be described as _an_\nelemental--it at once ceases to belong to the category we are\ndiscussing, and becomes a member of the artificial class. Even then\nits separate existence is usually of the most evanescent character,\nand as soon as its impulse has worked itself out it sinks back into\nthe undifferentiated mass of that particular subdivision of elemental\nessence from which it came. It would be tedious to attempt to\ncatalogue these subdivisions, and indeed even if a list of them were\nmade it would be unintelligible except to the practical student who\ncan call them up before him and compare them. Some idea of the leading\nlines of classification can, however, be grasped without much trouble,\nand may prove of interest. First comes the broad division which has\ngiven the elementals their name--the classification according to the\nkind of matter which they inhabit. Here, as usual, the septenary\ncharacter of our evolution shows itself, for there are seven such\nchief groups, related respectively to the seven states of physical\nmatter--to \"earth, water, air and fire,\" or to translate from mediaeval\nsymbolism to modern accuracy of expression, to the solid, liquid,\ngaseous and etheric conditions. It has long been the custom to pity\nand despise the ignorance of the alchemists of the middle ages,\nbecause they gave the title of \"elements\" to substances which modern\nchemistry has discovered to be compounds; but in speaking of them thus\nslightingly we have done them great injustice, for their knowledge on\nthis subject was really wider, not narrower, than ours. They may or\nmay not have catalogued all the sixty or seventy substances which we\nnow call elements; but they certainly did not apply that name to them,\nfor their occult studies had taught them that in that sense of the\nword there was but one element, Akasha itself, of which these and all\nother forms of matter were but modifications--a truth which some of\nthe greatest chemists of the present day are just beginning to\nsuspect.\n\nThe fact is that in this particular case our despised forefathers'\nanalysis went several steps deeper than our own. They understood and\nwere able to observe the ether, which modern science can only\npostulate as a necessity for its theories; they were aware that it\nconsists of physical matter in four entirely distinct states above the\ngaseous--a fact which has not yet been re-discovered. They knew that\nall physical objects consisted of matter in one or other of these\nseven states, and that into the composition of every organic body all\nseven entered in a greater or lesser degree; hence all their talk of\nfiery and watery humours, or \"elements,\" which seems so grotesque to\nus. It is obvious that they used the latter word simply as a synonym\nfor \"constituent parts,\" without in the least degree intending it to\nconnote the idea of substances which could not be further reduced.\nThey knew also that each of these orders of matter served as an Upadhi\nor basis of manifestation for a great class of evolving monadic\nessence, and so they christened the essence \"elemental\".\n\nWhat we have to try to realize, then, is that in every particle of\nsolid matter, so long as it remains in that condition, there resides,\nto use the picturesque phraseology of mediaeval students, an earth\nelemental--that is, a certain amount of the living elemental essence\nappropriate to it, while equally in every particle of matter in the\nliquid, gaseous, or etheric states, the water, air, and fire\n\"elementals\" respectively inhere. It will be observed that this first\nbroad division of the third of the elemental kingdoms is, so to speak,\na horizontal one--that is to say, its respective classes stand in the\nrelation of steps, each somewhat less material than the one below it,\nwhich ascends into it by almost imperceptible degrees; and it is easy\nto understand how each of these classes may again be divided\nhorizontally into seven, since there are obviously many degrees of\ndensity among solids, liquids and gases. There is, however, what may\nbe described as a perpendicular division also, and this is somewhat\nmore difficult to comprehend, especially as great reserve is always\nmaintained by occultists as to some of the facts which would be\ninvolved in a fuller explanation of it. Perhaps the clearest way to\nput what it is permissible to say on the subject will be to state that\nin each of the horizontal classes and subclasses will be found seven\nperfectly distinct types of elemental, the difference between them\nbeing no longer a question of degree of materiality, but rather of\ncharacter and affinities. Each of these types so reacts upon the\nothers that, though it is impossible for them ever to interchange\ntheir essence, in each of them seven sub-types will be found to exist,\ndistinguished by the colouring given to their original peculiarity by\nthe influence which sways them most readily. It will at once be seen\nthat this perpendicular division and subdivision differs entirely in\nits character from the horizontal, in that it is far more permanent\nand fundamental; for while it is the evolution of the elemental\nkingdom to pass with almost infinite slowness through its various\nhorizontal classes and subclasses in succession, and thus to belong to\nthem all in turn, this is not so with regard to the types and\nsub-types, which remain unchangeable all the way through. A point\nwhich must never be lost sight of in endeavouring to understand this\nelemental evolution is that it is taking place on what is sometimes\ncalled the downward curve of the arc; that is to say, it is\nprogressing _towards_ the complete entanglement in matter which we\nwitness in the mineral kingdom, instead of _away_ from it, as is most\nother evolution of which we know anything; and this fact sometimes\ngives it a curiously inverted appearance in our eyes until we\nthoroughly grasp its object.\n\nIn spite of these manifold subdivisions, there are certain properties\nwhich are possessed in common by all varieties of this strange living\nessence; but even these are so entirely different from any with which\nwe are familiar on the physical plane that it is exceedingly difficult\nto explain them to those who cannot themselves see it in action. Let\nit be premised, then, that when any portion of this essence remains\nfor a few moments entirely unaffected by any outside influence (a\ncondition, by the way, which is hardly ever realized) it is absolutely\nwithout any definite form of its own, though even then its motion is\nrapid and ceaseless; but on the slightest disturbance, set up perhaps\nby some passing thought-current, it flashes into a bewildering\nconfusion of restless, ever-changing shapes, which form, rush about,\nand disappear with the rapidity of the bubbles on the surface of\nboiling water. These evanescent shapes, though generally those of\nliving creatures of some sort, human or otherwise, no more express the\nexistence of separate entities in the essence than do the equally\nchangeful and multiform waves raised in a few moments on a previously\nsmooth lake by a sudden squall. They seem to be mere reflections from\nthe vast storehouse of the astral light, yet they have usually a\ncertain appropriateness to the character of the thought-stream which\ncalls them into existence, though nearly always with some grotesque\ndistortion, some terrifying or unpleasant aspect about them. A\nquestion naturally arises in the mind here as to what intelligence it\nis that is exerted in the selection of an appropriate shape or its\ndistortion when selected. We are not dealing with the more powerful\nand longer-lived artificial elemental created by a strong definite\nthought, but simply with the result produced by the stream of\nhalf-conscious, involuntary thoughts which the majority of mankind\nallow to flow idly through their brains, so that the intelligence is\nobviously not derived from the mind of the thinker; and we certainly\ncannot credit the elemental essence itself, which belongs to a kingdom\nfurther from individualization even than the mineral, with any sort of\nawakening of the manasic quality. Yet it does possess a marvellous\nadaptability which often seems to come very near it, and it is no\ndoubt this property that caused elementals to be described in one of\nour early books as \"the semi-intelligent creatures of the astral\nlight\". We shall find further evidence of this power when we come to\nconsider the case of the artificial class. When we read of a good or\nevil elemental, it must always be either an artificial entity or one\nof the many varieties of nature spirits that is meant, for the\nelemental kingdoms proper do not admit of any such conceptions as good\nand evil, though there is undoubtedly a sort of bias or tendency\npermeating nearly all their subdivisions which operates to render them\nrather hostile than friendly towards man, as every neophyte knows, for\nin most cases his very first impression of the astral plane is of the\npresence all around him of vast hosts of Protean spectres who advance\nupon him in threatening guise, but always retire or dissipate\nharmlessly if boldly faced. It is to this curious tendency that the\ndistorted or unpleasant aspect above mentioned must be referred, and\nmediaeval writers tell us that man has only himself to thank for its\nexistence. In the golden age before this Kaliyuga men were on the\nwhole less selfish and more spiritual, and then the \"elementals\" were\nfriendly, though now they are no longer so because of man's\nindifference to, and want of sympathy with, other living beings. From\nthe wonderful delicacy with which the essence responds to the\nfaintest action of our minds or desires it seems clear that this\nelemental kingdom as a whole is very much what the collective thought\nof humanity makes it. Any one who will think for a moment how far from\nelevating the action of that collective thought is likely to be at the\npresent time will see little reason to wonder that we reap as we have\nsown, and that this essence, which has no power of perception, but\nonly blindly receives and reflects what is projected upon it, should\nusually exhibit unfriendly characteristics. There can be no doubt that\nin later races or rounds, when mankind as a whole has evolved to a\nmuch higher level, the elemental kingdoms will be influenced by the\nchanged thought which continually impinges upon them, and we shall\nfind them no longer hostile, but docile and helpful, as we are told\nthat the animal kingdom will also be. Whatever may have happened in\nthe past, it is evident that we may look forward to a very passable\n\"golden age\" in the future, if we can arrive at a time when the\nmajority of men will be noble and unselfish, and the forces of nature\nwill co-operate willingly with them.\n\nThe fact that we are so readily able to influence the elemental\nkingdoms at once shows us that we have a responsibility towards them\nfor the manner in which we use that influence; indeed, when we\nconsider the conditions under which they exist, it is obvious that the\neffect produced upon them by the thoughts and desires of all\nintelligent creatures inhabiting the same world with them must have\nbeen calculated upon in the scheme of our system as a factor in their\nevolution. In spite of the consistent teaching of all the great\nreligions, the mass of mankind is still utterly regardless of its\nresponsibility on the thought-plane; if a man can flatter himself that\nhis words and deeds have been harmless to others, he believes that he\nhas done all that can be required of him, quite oblivious of the fact\nthat he may for years have been exercising a narrowing and debasing\ninfluence on the minds of those about him, and filling surrounding\nspace with the unlovely creations of a sordid mind. A still more\nserious aspect of this question will come before us when we discuss\nthe artificial elemental; but in regard to the essence it will be\nsufficient to state that we undoubtedly have the power to accelerate\nor delay its evolution according to the use which consciously or\nunconsciously we are continually making of it.\n\nIt would be hopeless within the limits of such a treatise as this to\nattempt to explain the different uses to which the forces inherent in\nthe manifold varieties of this elemental essence can be put by one who\nhas been trained in their management. The vast majority of magical\nceremonies depend almost entirely upon its manipulation, either\ndirectly by the will of the magician, or by some more definite astral\nentity evoked by him for that purpose. By its means nearly all the\nphysical phenomena of the _seance_-room are produced, and it is also\nthe agent in most cases of stone-throwing or bell-ringing in haunted\nhouses, such results as these latter being brought about either by\nblundering efforts to attract attention made by some earth-bound human\nentity, or by the mere mischievous pranks of some of the minor\nnature-spirits belonging to our third class. But the \"elemental\" must\nnever be thought of as itself a prime mover; it is simply a latent\nforce, which needs an external power to set it in motion. It may be\nnoted that although all classes of the essence have the power of\nreflecting images from the astral light as described above, there are\nvarieties which receive certain impressions much more readily than\nothers--which have, as it were, favourite forms of their own into\nwhich upon disturbance they would naturally flow unless absolutely\nforced into some other, and such shapes tend to be a trifle less\nevanescent than usual.\n\nBefore leaving this branch of the subject it may be well to warn the\nstudent against the confusion of thought into which some have fallen\nthrough failing to distinguish this elemental essence which we have\nbeen considering from the monadic essence manifesting through the\nmineral kingdom. It must be borne in mind that monadic essence at one\nstage of its evolution towards humanity manifests through the\nelemental kingdom, while at a later stage it manifests through the\nmineral kingdom: but the fact that two bodies of monadic essence at\nthese different stages are in manifestation at the same moment, and\nthat one of these manifestations (the earth elemental) occupies the\nsame space as and inhabits the other (say a rock), in no way\ninterferes with the evolution either of one or the other, nor does it\nimply any relation between the bodies of monadic essence lying within\nboth. The rock will also be permeated by its appropriate variety of\nthe omnipresent Jiva or life principle, but that of course is again\ntotally distinct from either of the essences above mentioned.\n\n2. _The Kamarupas of Animals._\n\nThis is an extremely large class, yet it does not occupy a\nparticularly important position on the astral plane, since its members\nusually stay there but a very short time. The vast majority of animals\nhave not as yet acquired permanent individualization, and when one of\nthem dies the monadic essence which has been manifesting through it\nflows back again into the particular stratum whence it came, bearing\nwith it such advancement or experience as has been attained during\nthat life. It is not, however, able to do this quite immediately; the\nkamic aura of the animal forms itself into a Kamarupa, just as in\nman's case, and the animal has a real existence on the astral plane,\nthe length of which, though never great, varies according to the\nintelligence which it has developed. In most cases it does not seem to\nbe more than dreamily conscious, but appears perfectly happy. The\ncomparatively few domestic animals who have already attained\nindividuality, and will therefore be reborn no more as animals in this\nworld, have a much longer and much more vivid life in Kamaloka than\ntheir less advanced fellows, and at the end of it sink gradually into\na subjective condition, which is likely to last for a very\nconsiderable period. One interesting subdivision of this class\nconsists of the Kamarupas of those anthropoid apes mentioned in _The\nSecret Doctrine_ (vol. i, p. 184) who are already individualized, and\nwill be ready to take human incarnation in the next round, or perhaps\nsome of them even sooner.\n\n3. _Nature-Spirits of all Kinds._\n\nSo many and so varied are the subdivisions of this class that to do\nthem anything like justice one would need to devote a separate\ntreatise to this subject alone. Some characteristics, however, they\nall have in common, and it will be sufficient here to try to give some\nidea of those. To begin with, we have to realize that we are here\ndealing with entities which differ radically from all that we have\nhitherto considered. Though we may rightly classify the elemental\nessence and the animal Kamarupa as non-human, the monadic essence\nwhich manifests itself through them will, nevertheless, in the fulness\nof time, evolve to the level of manifesting itself through some future\nhumanity comparable to our own, and if we were able to look back\nthrough countless ages on our own evolution in previous manvantaras,\nwe should find that that which is now ourselves has passed on its\nupward path through similar stages. That, however, is not the case\nwith the vast kingdom of nature-spirits; they neither have been, nor\never will be, members of a humanity such as ours; their line of\nevolution is entirely different, and their only connection with us\nconsists in our temporary occupancy of the same planet. Of course\nsince we are neighbours for the time being we owe neighbourly kindness\nto one another when we happen to meet, but our lines of development\ndiffer so widely that each can do but little for the other.\n\nMany writers have included these spirits among the elementals, and\nindeed they are the elementals (or perhaps, to speak more accurately,\nthe animals) of a higher evolution. Though much more highly developed\nthan our elemental essence, they have yet certain characteristics in\ncommon with it; for example, they also are divided into seven great\nclasses, inhabiting respectively the same seven states of matter\nalready mentioned as permeated by the corresponding varieties of the\nessence. Thus, to take those which are most readily comprehensible to\nus, there are spirits of the earth, water, air, and fire (or\nether)--definite intelligent astral entities residing and functioning\nin each of those media. It may be asked how it is possible for any\nkind of creature to inhabit the solid substance of a rock, or of the\ncrust of the earth. The answer is that since the nature-spirits are\nformed of astral matter, the substance of the rock is no hindrance to\ntheir motion or their vision, and furthermore physical matter in its\nsolid state is their natural element--the only one to which they are\naccustomed and in which they feel at home. The same is of course true\nof those who live in water, air or ether. In mediaeval literature,\nthese earth-spirits are often called gnomes, while the water-spirits\nare spoken of as undines, the air-spirits as sylphs, and the\nether-spirits as salamanders. In popular language they are known by\nmany names--fairies, pixies, elves, brownies, peris, djinns, trolls,\nsatyrs, fauns, kobolds, imps, goblins, good people, etc.--some of\nthese titles being applied only to one variety, and others\nindiscriminately to all. Their forms are many and various, but most\nfrequently human in shape and somewhat diminutive in size. Like almost\nall inhabitants of the astral plane, they are able to assume any\nappearance at will, but they undoubtedly have definite forms of their\nown, or perhaps we should rather say favourite forms, which they wear\nwhen they have no special object in taking any other. Of course under\nordinary conditions they are not visible to physical sight at all, but\nthey have the power of making themselves so by materialization when\nthey wish to be seen.\n\nThere are an immense number of subdivisions or races among them, and\nindividuals of these subdivisions differ in intelligence and\ndisposition precisely as human beings do. The great majority of them\napparently prefer to avoid man altogether; his habits and emanations\nare distasteful to them, and the constant rush of astral currents set\nup by his restless, ill-regulated desires disturbs and annoys them. On\nthe other hand instances are not wanting in which nature-spirits have\nas it were made friends with human beings and offered them such\nassistance as lay in their power, as in the well-known stories told of\nthe Scotch brownies or of the fire-lighting fairies mentioned in\nspiritualistic literature. This helpful attitude, however, is\ncomparatively rare, and in most cases when they come in contact with\nman they either show indifference or dislike, or else take an impish\ndelight in deceiving him and playing childish tricks upon him. Many a\nstory illustrative of this curious characteristic may be found among\nthe village gossip of the peasantry in almost any lonely mountainous\ndistrict, and any one who has been in the habit of attending _seances_\nfor physical phenomena will recollect instances of practical joking\nand silly though usually good-natured horseplay, which always indicate\nthe presence of some of the lower orders of the nature-spirits. They\nare greatly assisted in their tricks by the wonderful power which they\npossess of casting a glamour over those who yield themselves to their\ninfluence, so that such victims for the time see and hear only what\nthese fairies impress upon them, exactly as the mesmerized subject\nsees, hears, feels and believes whatever the magnetizer wishes. The\nnature-spirits, however, have not the mesmerizer's power of dominating\nthe human will, except in the case of quite unusually weak-minded\npeople, or of those who allow themselves to fall into such a condition\nof helpless terror that their will is temporarily in abeyance; they\ncannot go beyond deception of the senses, but of that art they are\nundoubted masters, and cases are not wanting in which they have cast\ntheir glamour over a considerable number of people at once. It is by\ninvoking their aid in the exercise of this peculiar power that some of\nthe most wonderful feats of the Indian jugglers are performed--the\nentire audience being in fact hallucinated and made to imagine that\nthey see and hear a whole series of events which have not really taken\nplace at all.\n\nWe might almost look upon the nature-spirits as a kind of astral\nhumanity, but for the fact that none of them--not even the highest\npossess a permanent reincarnating individuality. Apparently therefore\none point in which their line of evolution differs from ours is that a\nmuch greater proportion of intelligence is developed before permanent\nindividualization takes place; but of the stages through which they\nhave passed, and those through which they have yet to pass, we can\nknow little. The life-periods of the different subdivisions vary\ngreatly, some being quite short, others much longer than our human\nlifetime. We stand so entirely outside such a life as theirs that it\nis impossible for us to understand much about its conditions; but it\nappears on the whole to be a simple, joyous, irresponsible kind of\nexistence, much such as a party of happy children might lead among\nexceptionally favourable physical surroundings. Though tricky and\nmischievous, they are rarely malicious unless provoked by some\nunwarrantable intrusion or annoyance; but as a body they also partake\nto some extent of the universal feeling of distrust for man, and they\ngenerally seem inclined to resent somewhat the first appearance of a\nneophyte on the astral plane, so that he usually makes their\nacquaintance under some unpleasant or terrifying form. If, however, he\ndeclines to be frightened by any of their freaks, they soon accept him\nas a necessary evil and take no further notice of him, while some\namong them may even after a time become friendly and manifest pleasure\non meeting him.\n\nSome among the many subdivisions of this class are much less childlike\nand more dignified than those we have been describing, and it is from\nthese sections that the entities who have sometimes been reverenced\nunder the name of wood-gods, or local village-gods, have been drawn.\nSuch entities would be quite sensible of the flattery involved in the\nreverence shown to them, would enjoy it, and would no doubt be quite\nready to do any small service they could in return. (The village-god\nis also often an artificial entity, but that variety will be\nconsidered in its appropriate place.) The Adept knows how to make use\nof the services of the nature-spirits when he requires them, but the\nordinary magician can obtain their assistance only by processes either\nof invocation or evocation--that is, either by attracting their\nattention as a suppliant and making some kind of bargain with them, or\nby endeavouring to set in motion influences which would compel their\nobedience. Both methods are extremely undesirable, and the latter is\nalso excessively dangerous, as the operator would arouse a determined\nhostility which might prove fatal to him. Needless to say, no one\nstudying occultism under a qualified Master would ever be permitted to\nattempt anything of the kind at all.\n\n4. _The Devas._\n\nThe highest system of evolution connected with this earth, so far as\nwe know, is that of the beings whom Hindus call the Devas, and who\nhave elsewhere been spoken of as angels, sons of God, etc. They may,\nin fact, be regarded as a kingdom lying next above humanity, in the\nsame way as humanity in turn lies next above the animal kingdom, but\nwith this important difference, that while for an animal there is no\npossibility of evolution through any kingdom but the human, man, when\nhe attains a certain high level, finds various paths of advancement\nopening before him, of which this great Deva evolution is only one. In\ncomparison with the sublime renunciation of the Nirmanakaya, the\nacceptance of this line of evolution is sometimes spoken of in the\nbooks as \"yielding to the temptation to become a god,\" but it must not\nbe inferred from this expression that any shadow of blame attaches to\nthe man who makes this choice. The path he selects is not the\nshortest, but it is nevertheless a very noble one, and if his\ndeveloped intuition impels him towards it, it is probably the one best\nsuited for his capacities. We must never forget that in spiritual as\nin physical climbing it is not every one who can bear the strain of\nthe steeper path; there may be many for whom what seems the slower way\nis the only one possible, and we should indeed be unworthy followers\nof the great Teachers if we allowed our ignorance to betray us into\nthe slightest thought of despisal towards those whose choice differs\nfrom our own. However confident that ignorance of the difficulties of\nthe future may allow us to feel now, it is impossible for us to tell\nat this stage what we shall find ourselves able to do when, after many\nlives of patient striving, we have earned the right to choose our own\nfuture; and indeed, even those who \"yield to the temptation to become\ngods,\" have a sufficiently glorious career before them, as will\npresently be seen. To avoid possible misunderstanding it may be\nmentioned _par parenthese_ that there is another and entirely evil\nsense sometimes attached in the books to this phrase of \"becoming a\ngod,\" but in that form it certainly could never be any kind of\n\"temptation\" to the developed man, and in any case it is altogether\nforeign to our present subject.\n\nIn oriental literature this word \"Deva\" is frequently used vaguely to\nmean almost any kind of non-human entity, so that it would often\ninclude DHYAN CHOHANS on the one hand and nature-spirits and\nartificial elementals on the other. Here, however, its use will be\nrestricted to the magnificent evolution which we are now considering.\nThough connected with this earth, the Devas are by no means confined\nto it, for the whole of our present chain of seven worlds is as one\nworld to them, their evolution being through a grand system of seven\nchains. Their hosts have hitherto been recruited chiefly from other\nhumanities in the solar system, some lower and some higher than ours,\nsince but a very small portion of our own has as yet reached the level\nat which for us it is possible to join them; but it seems certain that\nsome of their very numerous classes have not passed in their upward\nprogress through any humanity at all comparable to ours. It is not\npossible for us at present to understand very much about them, but it\nis clear that what may be described as the aim of their evolution is\nconsiderably higher than ours; that is to say, while the object of our\nhuman evolution is to raise the successful portion of humanity to a\ncertain degree of occult development by the end of the seventh round,\nthe object of the Deva evolution is to raise their foremost rank to a\nvery much higher level in the corresponding period. For them, as for\nus, a steeper but shorter path to still more sublime heights lies open\nto earnest endeavour; but what those heights may be in their case we\ncan only conjecture.\n\nIt is of course only the lower fringe of this august body that need be\nmentioned in connection with our subject of the astral plane. Their\nthree lower great divisions (beginning from the bottom) are generally\ncalled Kamadevas, Rupadevas, and Arupadevas respectively. Just as our\nordinary body here--the lowest body possible for us--is the physical,\nso the ordinary body of a Kamadeva is the astral; so that he stands in\nsomewhat the same position as humanity will do when it reaches planet\nF, and he, living ordinarily in an astral body, would go out of it to\nhigher spheres in a Mayavirupa just as we might in an astral body,\nwhile to enter the Karana Sharira would be to him (when sufficiently\ndeveloped) no greater effort than to form a Mayavirupa is to us. In\nthe same way the Rupadeva's ordinary body would be the Mayavirupa,\nsince his habitat is on the four lower or rupa levels of that\nspiritual state which we usually call Devachan: while the Arupadeva\nbelongs to the three higher levels of that plane, and owns no nearer\napproach to a body than the Karana Sharira. But for Rupa and\nArupadevas to manifest on the astral plane is an occurrence at least\nas rare as it is for astral entities to materialize on this physical\nplane, so we need do no more than mention them now. As regards the\nlowest division--the Kamadevas--it would be quite a mistake to think\nof all of them as immeasurably superior to ourselves, since some have\nentered their ranks from a humanity in some respects less advanced\nthan our own; of course the general average among them is much higher\nthan among us, for all that is actively or wilfully evil has long been\nweeded out from their ranks; but they differ widely in disposition,\nand a really noble, unselfish, spiritually-minded man may well stand\nhigher in the scale of evolution than some of them. Their attention\ncan be attracted by certain magical evocations, but the only human\nwill which can dominate theirs is that of a certain high class of\nAdepts. As a rule they seem scarcely conscious of us on our physical\nplane, but it does now and then happen that one of them becomes aware\nof some human difficulty which excites his pity, and he perhaps\nrenders some assistance, just as any of us would try to help an animal\nthat we saw in trouble. But it is well understood among them that any\ninterference in human affairs at the present stage is likely to do far\nmore harm than good. Above the Arupadevas there are four other great\ndivisions, and again, above and beyond the Deva kingdom altogether,\nstand the great hosts of the DHYAN CHOHANS, but the consideration of\nsuch glorified Beings would be out of place in an essay on the astral\nplane.\n\nThough we cannot claim them as belonging exactly to any of our\nclasses, this is perhaps the best place in which to mention those\nwonderful and important Beings, the four Devarajahs. In this name the\nword Deva must not, however, be taken in the sense in which we have\nbeen using it, for it is not over the Deva kingdom but over the four\n\"elements\" of earth, water, air, and fire, with their indwelling\nnature-spirits and essences, that these four Kings rule. What the\nevolution has been through which they rose to their present height of\npower and wisdom we cannot tell, save only that it has certainly not\npassed through anything corresponding to our own humanity. They are\noften spoken of as the Regents of the Earth, or Angels of the four\ncardinal points, and the Hindu books call them the Chatur Maharajahs,\ngiving their names as Dhritarashtra, Virudhaka, Virupaksha,\nand Vaishravana. In the same books their hosts are called\nGandharvas, Kumbhandas, Nagas, and Yakshas respectively, the points of\nthe compass appropriated to each being in corresponding order east,\nsouth, west, and north, and their symbolical colours white, blue, red,\nand gold. They are mentioned in _The Secret Doctrine_ as \"winged\nglobes and fiery wheels\"; and in the Christian bible Ezekiel makes a\nvery remarkable attempt at a description of them in which very similar\nwords are used. References to them are to be found in the symbology of\nevery religion, and they have always been held in the highest\nreverence as the protectors of mankind. It is they who are the agents\nof man's Karma during his life on earth, and they thus play an\nextremely important part in human destiny. The LIPIKA the great karmic\ndeities of the Kosmos, weigh the deeds of each personality when the\nfinal separation of its principles takes place in Kamaloka and give as\nit were the mould of an etheric double exactly suitable to its Karma\nfor the man's next birth; but it is the Devarajahs who, having command\nof the \"elements\" of which that etheric double must be composed,\narrange their proportion so as to fulfil accurately the intention of\nthe LIPIKA. It is they also who constantly watch all through life to\ncounterbalance the changes perpetually being introduced into man's\ncondition by his own free will and that of those around him, so that\nno injustice may be done, and Karma may be accurately worked out, if\nnot in one way then in another. A learned dissertation upon these\nmarvellous beings will be found in _The Secret Doctrine_, vol. i., pp.\n122-126. They are able to take human material forms at will, and\nseveral cases are recorded when they have done so. All the higher\nnature-spirits and hosts of artificial elementals act as their agents\nin the stupendous work they carry out, yet all the threads are in\ntheir hands, and the whole responsibility rests upon them alone. It is\nnot often that they manifest upon the astral plane, but when they do\nthey are certainly the most remarkable of its non-human inhabitants.\nA student of occultism will not need to be told that as there are\nseven great classes both of nature-spirits and elemental essence there\nmust really be seven and not four Devarajahs but outside the circle of\ninitiation little is known and less may be said of the higher three.\n\n\nIII. ARTIFICIAL.\n\nThis, the largest class of astral entities, is also much the most\nimportant to man. Being entirely his own creation, it is inter-related\nwith him by the closest karmic bonds, and its action upon him is\ndirect and incessant. It is an enormous inchoate mass of\nsemi-intelligent entities, differing among themselves as human\nthoughts differ, and practically incapable of anything like\nclassification or arrangement. The only division which can be usefully\nmade is that which distinguishes between the artificial elementals\nmade by the majority of mankind unconsciously, and those made by\nmagicians with definite intent; while we may relegate to a third class\nthe very small number of artificially arranged entities which are not\nelementals at all.\n\n1. _Elementals formed unconsciously._\n\nIt has already been explained that the elemental essence which\nsurrounds us on every side is in all its numberless varieties\nsingularly susceptible to the influence of human thought. The action\nof the mere casual wandering thought upon it, causing it to burst into\na cloud of rapidly-moving, evanescent forms, has already been\ndescribed; we have now to note how it is affected when the human mind\nformulates a definite, purposeful thought or wish. The effect produced\nis of the most striking nature. The thought seizes upon the plastic\nessence, and moulds it instantly into a living being of appropriate\nform--a being which when once thus created is in no way under the\ncontrol of its creator, but lives out a life of its own, the length\nof which is proportionate to the intensity of the thought or wish\nwhich called it into existence. It lasts, in fact, just as long as the\nthought-force holds it together. Most people's thoughts are so\nfleeting and indecisive that the elementals created by them last only\na few minutes or a few hours, but an often-repeated thought or an\nearnest wish will form an elemental whose existence may extend to many\ndays. Since the ordinary man's thoughts refer very largely to himself,\nthe elementals they form remain hovering about him, and constantly\ntend to provoke a repetition of the idea they represent, since such\nrepetitions, instead of forming new elementals, would strengthen the\nold one, and give it a fresh lease of life. A man, therefore, who\nfrequently dwells upon one wish often forms for himself an astral\nattendant which, constantly fed by fresh thought, may haunt him for\nyears, ever gaining more and more strength and influence over him; and\nit will easily be seen that if the desire be an evil one the effect\nupon his moral nature may be of the most disastrous character.\n\nStill more pregnant of result for good or evil are a man's thoughts\nabout other people, for in that case they hover not about the thinker,\nbut about the object of the thought. A kindly thought about any person\nor an earnest wish for his good will form and project towards him a\nfriendly artificial elemental; if the wish be a definite one, as, for\nexample, that he may recover from some sickness, then the elemental\nwill be a force ever hovering over him to promote his recovery, or to\nward off any influence that might tend to hinder it, and in doing this\nit will display what appears like a very considerable amount of\nintelligence and adaptability, though really it is simply a force\nacting along the line of least resistance--pressing steadily in one\ndirection all the time, and taking advantage of any channel that it\ncan find, just as the water in a cistern would in a moment find the\none open pipe among a dozen closed ones, and proceed to empty itself\nthrough that. If the wish be merely an indefinite one for his general\ngood, the elemental essence in its wonderful plasticity will respond\nexactly to that less distinct idea also, and the creature formed will\nexpend its force in the direction of whatever action for the man's\nadvantage comes most readily to hand. Of course in all cases the\namount of such force it has to expend, and the length of time that it\nwill live to expend it, depend entirely upon the strength of the\noriginal wish or thought which gave it birth; though it must be\nremembered that it can be, as it were, fed and strengthened, and its\nlife-period protracted by other good wishes or friendly thoughts\nprojected in the same direction.\n\nFurthermore, it appears to be actuated, like most other beings, by an\ninstinctive desire to prolong its life, and thus reacts on its creator\nas a force constantly tending to provoke the renewal of the feeling\nwhich called it into existence. It also influences in a similar manner\nothers with whom it comes into contact, though its _rapport_ with them\nis naturally not so perfect.\n\nAll that has been said as to the effect of good wishes and friendly\nthoughts is also true in the opposite direction of evil wishes and\nangry thoughts; and considering the amount of envy, hatred, malice and\nall uncharitableness that exists in the world, it will be readily\nunderstood that among the artificial elementals many terrible\ncreatures are to be seen. A man whose thoughts or desires are\nspiteful, brutal, sensual, avaricious, moves through the world\ncarrying with him everywhere a pestiferous atmosphere of his own,\npeopled with the loathsome beings he has created to be his companions,\nand thus is not only in sadly evil case himself, but is a dangerous\nnuisance to his fellow-men, subjecting all who have the misfortune to\ncome into contact with him to the risk of moral contagion from the\ninfluence of the abominations with which he chooses to surround\nhimself. A feeling of envious or jealous hatred towards another person\nwill send an evil elemental to hover over him and seek for a weak\npoint through which it can operate; and if the feeling be a persistent\none, such a creature may be continually nourished by it and thereby\nenabled to protract its undesirable activity for a very long period.\nIt can, however, produce no effect upon the person towards whom it is\ndirected unless he has himself some tendency which it can foster--some\nfulcrum for its lever, as it were; from the aura of a man of pure\nthought and good life all such influences at once rebound, finding\nnothing upon which they can fasten, and in that case, by a very\ncurious law, they react in all their force upon their original\ncreator. In him by the hypothesis they find a very congenial sphere of\naction, and thus the Karma of his evil wish works itself out at once\nby means of the very entity which he himself has called into\nexistence. It occasionally happens, however, that an artificial\nelemental of this description is for various reasons unable to expend\nits force either upon its object or its creator, and in such cases it\nbecomes a kind of wandering demon, readily attracted by any person who\nindulges feelings similar to that which gave it birth, and equally\nprepared either to stimulate such feelings in him for the sake of the\nstrength it may gain from them, or to pour out its store of evil\ninfluence upon him through any opening which he may offer it. If it is\nsufficiently powerful to seize upon and inhabit some passing shell it\nfrequently does so, as the possession of such a temporary home enables\nit to husband its dreadful resources more carefully. In this form it\nmay manifest through a medium, and by masquerading as some well-known\nfriend may sometimes obtain an influence over people upon whom it\nwould otherwise have little hold.\n\nWhat has been written above will serve to enforce the statement\nalready made as to the importance of maintaining a strict control over\nour thoughts. Many a well-meaning man, who is scrupulously careful to\ndo his duty towards his neighbour in word and deed, is apt to consider\nthat his thoughts at least are nobody's business but his own, and so\nlets them run riot in various directions, utterly unconscious of the\nswarms of baleful creatures he is launching upon the world. To such a\nman an accurate comprehension of the effect of thought and desire in\nproducing artificial elementals would come as a horrifying revelation;\non the other hand, it would be the greatest consolation to many\ndevoted and grateful souls who are oppressed with the feeling that\nthey are unable to do anything in return for the kindness lavished\nupon them by their benefactors. For friendly thoughts and earnest good\nwishes are as easily and as effectually formulated by the poorest as\nby the richest, and it is within the power of almost any man, if he\nwill take the trouble, to maintain what is practically a good angel\nalways at the side of the brother or sister, the friend or the child\nwhom he loves best, no matter in what part of the world he may be.\nMany a time a mother's loving thoughts and prayers have formed\nthemselves into an angel guardian for the child, and except in the\nalmost impossible case that the child had in him no instinct\nresponsive to a good influence, have undoubtedly given him assistance\nand protection. Such guardians may often be seen by clairvoyant\nvision, and there have even been cases where one of them has had\nsufficient strength to materialize and become for the moment visible\nto physical sight. A curious fact which deserves mention here is that\neven after the passage of the mother into the devachanic condition the\nlove which she pours out upon the children she thinks of as\nsurrounding her will react upon the real children still living in this\nworld, and will often support the guardian elemental which she\ncreated while on earth, until her dear ones themselves pass away in\nturn. As Madame Blavatsky remarks, \"her love will always be felt by\nthe children in the flesh; it will manifest in their dreams and often\nin various events, in providential protections and escapes--for love\nis a strong shield, and is not limited by space or time\" (_Key to\nTheosophy_, p. 150). All the stories of the intervention of guardian\nangels must not, however, be attributed to the action of artificial\nelementals, for in many cases such \"angels\" have been the souls of\neither living or recently departed human beings, and they have also\noccasionally, though rarely, been Devas.\n\nThis power of an earnest desire, especially if frequently repeated, to\ncreate an active elemental which ever presses forcefully in the\ndirection of its own fulfilment, is the scientific explanation of what\ndevout but unphilosophical people describe as answers to prayer. There\nare occasions, though at present these are rare, when the Karma of the\nperson so praying is such as to permit of assistance being directly\nrendered to him by an Adept or his pupil, and there is also the still\nrarer possibility of the intervention of a Deva or some friendly\nnature-spirit; but in all these cases the easiest and most obvious\nform for such assistance to take would be the strengthening and the\nintelligent direction of the elemental already formed by the wish.\n\nA very curious and instructive instance of the extreme persistence of\nthese artificial elementals under favourable circumstances came under\nthe notice of one of our investigators quite recently. All readers of\nthe literature of such subjects are aware that many of our ancient\nfamilies are supposed to have associated with them a traditional\ndeath-warning--a phenomenon of one kind or another which foretells,\nusually some days beforehand, the approaching decease of the head of\nthe house. A picturesque example of this is the well-known story of\nthe white bird of the Oxenhams, whose appearance has ever since the\ntime of Queen Elizabeth been recognized as a sure presage of the death\nof some member of the family; while another is the spectral coach\nwhich is reported to drive up to the door of a certain castle in the\nnorth when a similar calamity is impending. A phenomenon of this order\noccurs in connection with the family of one of our members, but it is\nof a much commoner and less striking type than either of the above,\nconsisting only of a solemn and impressive strain of dirge-like music,\nwhich is heard apparently floating in the air three days before the\ndeath takes place. Our member, having himself twice heard this mystic\nsound, finding its warning in both cases quite accurate, and knowing\nalso that according to family tradition the same thing had been\nhappening for several centuries, set himself to seek by occult methods\nfor the cause underlying so strange a phenomenon. The result was\nunexpected but interesting. It appeared that somewhere in the twelfth\ncentury the head of the family went to the crusades, like many another\nvaliant man, and took with him to win his spurs in the sacred cause\nhis youngest and favourite son, a promising youth whose success in\nlife was the dearest wish of his father's heart. Unhappily, however,\nthe young man was killed in battle, and the father was plunged into\nthe depths of despair, lamenting not only the loss of his son, but\nstill more the fact that he was cut off so suddenly in the full flush\nof careless and not altogether blameless youth. So poignant, indeed,\nwere the old man's feelings that he cast off his knightly armour and\njoined one of the great monastic orders, vowing to devote all the\nremainder of his life to prayer, first for the soul of his son, and\nsecondly that henceforward no descendant of his might ever again\nencounter what seemed to his simple and pious mind the terrible danger\nof meeting death unprepared. Day after day for many a year he poured\nall the energy of his soul into the channel of that one intense wish,\nfirmly believing that somehow or other the result he so earnestly\ndesired would be brought about. A student of occultism will have\nlittle difficulty in deciding what would be the effect of such a\ndefinite and long-continued stream of thought; our knightly monk\ncreated an artificial elemental of immense power and resourcefulness\nfor its own particular object, and accumulated within it a store of\nforce which would enable it to carry out his wishes for an indefinite\nperiod. An elemental is a perfect storage-battery--one from which\nthere is practically no leakage; and when we remember what its\noriginal strength must have been, and how comparatively rarely it\nwould be called upon to put it forth, we shall scarcely wonder that\neven now it exhibits unimpaired vitality, and still warns the direct\ndescendants of the old crusader of their approaching doom by repeating\nin their ears the strange wailing music which was the dirge of a young\nand valiant soldier seven hundred years ago in Palestine.\n\n2. _Elementals formed consciously._\n\nSince such results as have been described above have been achieved by\nthe thought-force of men who were entirely in the dark as to what they\nwere doing, it will readily be imagined that a magician who\nunderstands the subject, and can see exactly what effect he is\nproducing, may wield immense power along these lines. As a matter of\nfact occultists of both the white and dark schools frequently use\nartificial elementals in their work, and few tasks are beyond the\npowers of such creatures when scientifically prepared and directed\nwith knowledge and skill; for one who knows how to do so can maintain\na connection with his elemental and guide it, no matter at what\ndistance it may be working, so that it will practically act as though\nendowed with the full intelligence of its master. Very definite and\nvery efficient guardian angels have sometimes been supplied in this\nway, though it is probably very rarely that Karma permits such a\ndecided interference in a person's life as that would be. In such a\ncase, however, as that of a pupil of the Adepts, who might have in the\ncourse of his work for them to run the risk of attack from forces with\nwhich his unaided strength would be entirely insufficient to cope,\nguardians of this description have been given, and have fully proved\ntheir sleepless vigilance and their tremendous power. By some of the\nmore advanced processes of black magic, also, artificial elementals of\ngreat power may be called into existence, and much evil has been\nworked in various ways by such entities. But it is true of them, as of\nthe previous class, that if they are aimed at a person whom by reason\nof his purity of character they are unable to influence they react\nwith terrible force upon their creator; so that the mediaeval story of\nthe magician being torn to pieces by the fiends he himself had raised\nis no mere fable, but may well have an awful foundation in fact.\n\nSuch creatures occasionally, for various reasons, escape from the\ncontrol of those who are trying to make use of them, and become\nwandering and aimless demons, as do some of those mentioned under the\nprevious heading under similar circumstances; but those that we are\nconsidering, having much more intelligence and power, and a much\nlonger existence, are proportionately more dangerous. They invariably\nseek for means of prolonging their life either by feeding like\nvampires upon the vitality of human beings, or by influencing them to\nmake offerings to them; and among simple half-savage tribes they have\nfrequently succeeded by judicious management in getting themselves\nrecognized as village or family gods. Any deity which demands\nsacrifices involving the shedding of blood may always be set down as\nbelonging to the lowest and most loathsome class of this order; other\nless objectionable types are sometimes content with offerings of rice\nand cooked food of various kinds. There are parts of India where both\nthese varieties may be found flourishing even at the present day, and\nin Africa they are probably comparatively numerous. By means of\nwhatever nourishment they can obtain from the offerings, and still\nmore by the vitality they draw from their devotees, they may continue\nto prolong their existence for many years, or even centuries,\nretaining sufficient strength to perform occasional phenomena of a\nmild type in order to stimulate the faith and zeal of their followers,\nand invariably making themselves unpleasant in some way or other if\nthe accustomed sacrifices are neglected. For example, it was asserted\nrecently that in one Indian village the inhabitants had found that\nwhenever for any reason the local deity did not get his or her regular\nmeals, spontaneous fires began to break out with alarming frequency\namong the cottages, sometimes three or four simultaneously, in cases\nwhere they declared it was impossible to suspect human agency; and\nother stories of a more or less similar nature will no doubt recur to\nthe memory of any reader who knows something of the out-of-the-way\ncorners of that most wonderful of all countries.\n\nThe art of manufacturing artificial elementals of extreme virulence\nand power seems to have been one of the specialities of the magicians\nof Atlantis--\"the lords of the dark face\". One example of their\ncapabilities in this line is given in _The Secret Doctrine_ (vol. ii.,\np. 427), where we read of the wonderful speaking animals who had to be\nquieted by an offering of blood, lest they should awaken their masters\nand warn them of the impending destruction. But apart from these\nstrange beasts they created other artificial entities of power and\nenergy so tremendous, that it is darkly hinted that some of them have\nkept themselves in existence even to this day, though it is more than\neleven thousand years since the cataclysm which overwhelmed their\noriginal masters. The terrible Indian goddess whose devotees were\nimpelled to commit in her name the awful crimes of Thuggee--the\nghastly Kali, worshipped even to this day with rites too abominable to\nbe described--might well be a relic of a system which had to be swept\naway even at the cost of the submergence of a continent, and the loss\nof sixty-five million human lives.\n\n3. _Human Artificials._\n\nWe have now to consider a class of entities which, though it contains\nbut very few individuals, has acquired from its intimate connection\nwith one of the great movements of modern times an importance entirely\nout of proportion to its numbers. It seems doubtful whether it should\nappear under the first or third of our main divisions; but, though\ncertainly human, it is so far removed from the course of ordinary\nevolution, so entirely the product of a will outside of its own, that\nit perhaps falls most naturally into place among the artificial\nbeings. The easiest way of describing it will be to commence with its\nhistory, and to do that we must once more look back to the great\nAtlantean race. In thinking of the Adepts and schools of occultism of\nthat remarkable people our minds instinctively revert to the evil\npractices of which we hear so much in connection with their latter\ndays; but we must not forget that before that age of selfishness and\ndegradation the mighty civilization of Atlantis had brought forth much\nthat was noble and worthy of admiration, and that among its leaders\nwere some who now stand upon the loftiest pinnacles as yet attained by\nman. Among the lodges for occult study preliminary to initiation\nformed by the Adepts of the good Law was one in a certain part of\nAmerica which was then tributary to one of the great Atlantean\nmonarchs--\"the Divine Rulers of the Golden Gate\"; and though it has\npassed through many and strange vicissitudes, though it has had to\nmove its headquarters from country to country as each in turn was\ninvaded by the jarring elements of a later civilization, that lodge\nstill exists even at the present day, observing still the same\nold-world ritual even teaching as a sacred and hidden language the\nsame Atlantean tongue which was used at its foundation so many\nthousands of years ago. It still remains what it was from the first--a\nlodge of occultists of pure and philanthropic aims, which can lead\nthose students whom it finds worthy no inconsiderable distance on the\nroad to knowledge, and confers such psychic powers as are in its gift\nonly after the most searching tests as to the fitness of the\ncandidate. Its teachers do not stand upon the Adept level, yet\nhundreds have learnt through it how to set their feet upon the Path\nwhich has led them to Adeptship in later lives; and though it is not\nin direct communication with the Brotherhood of the Himalayas, there\nare some among the latter who have themselves been connected with it\nin former incarnations, and therefore retain a more than ordinarily\nfriendly interest in its proceedings.\n\nThe chiefs of this lodge, though they have always kept themselves and\ntheir society strictly in the background, have nevertheless done what\nthey could from time to time to assist the progress of truth in the\nworld, and some half-century ago, in despair at the rampant\nmaterialism which seemed to be stifling all spirituality in Europe and\nAmerica, they determined to make an attempt to combat it by somewhat\nnovel methods--in point of fact to offer opportunities by which any\nreasonable man could acquire absolute proof of that life apart from\nthe physical body which it was the tendency of science to deny. The\nphenomena exhibited were not in themselves absolutely new, since in\nsome form or other we may hear of them all through history; but their\ndefinite organization--their production as it were to order--these\nwere features distinctly new to the modern world. The movement they\nthus set on foot gradually grew into the vast fabric of modern\nspiritualism, and though it would perhaps be unfair to hold the\noriginators of the scheme directly responsible for many of the results\nwhich have followed, we must admit that they have achieved their\npurpose to the extent of converting vast numbers of people from a\nbelief in nothing in particular to a firm faith in at any rate some\nkind of future life. This is undoubtedly a magnificent result, though,\nin the opinion of many of those whose power and knowledge enable them\nto take a wider view of such matters than we can, it has been attained\nat too great a cost, since it seems to them that on the whole the harm\ndone outweighs the good. The method adopted was to take some ordinary\nperson after death, arouse him thoroughly upon the astral plane,\ninstruct him to a certain extent in the powers and possibilities\nbelonging to it, and then put him in charge of a spiritualistic\ncircle. He in his turn \"developed\" other departed personalities along\nthe same line, they all acted upon those who sat at their _seances_,\nand \"developed\" them as mediums; and so spiritualism grew and\nflourished. No doubt living members of the original lodge occasionally\nmanifested themselves in astral form at some of the circles--perhaps\nthey may do so even now; but in most cases they simply gave such\ndirection and guidance as they considered necessary to the persons\nthey had put in charge. There is little doubt that the movement\nincreased so much more rapidly than they had expected that it soon got\nquite beyond their control, so that, as has been said, for many of the\nlater developments they can only be held indirectly responsible.\n\nOf course the intensification of the astral-plane life in those\npersons who were thus put in charge of circles distinctly delayed\ntheir natural progress; and though the idea had been that anything\nlost in this way would be fully atoned for by the good Karma gained\nby helping to lead others to the truth, it was soon found that it was\nimpossible to make use of a \"spirit-guide\" for any length of time\nwithout doing him serious and permanent injury. In some cases such\n\"guides\" were therefore withdrawn, and others substituted for them; in\nothers it was considered for various reasons undesirable to make such\na change, and then a very remarkable expedient was adopted which gave\nrise to the curious class of creatures we have called \"human\nartificials\". The higher principles of the original \"guide\" were\nallowed to pass on their long delayed evolution into the devachanic\ncondition, but the shade he left behind him was taken possession of,\nsustained, and operated upon so that it might appear to its admiring\ncircle practically just as before. This seems at first to have been\ndone by members of the lodge themselves, but apparently that\narrangement was found irksome or unsuitable, or perhaps was considered\na waste of force, and the same objection applied to the use for this\npurpose of an artificial elemental; so it was eventually decided that\nthe departed person who would have been appointed to succeed the late\n\"spirit-guide\" should still do so, but should take possession of the\nlatter's shade or shell, and in fact simply wear his appearance. It is\nsaid that some members of the lodge objected to this on the ground\nthat though the purpose might be entirely good a certain amount of\ndeception was involved; but the general opinion seems to have been\nthat as the shade really was the same, and contained something at any\nrate of the original lower Manas, there was nothing that could be\ncalled deception in the matter. This, then, was the genesis of the\nhuman artificial entity, and it is understood that in some cases more\nthan one such change has been made without arousing suspicion, though\non the other hand some investigators of spiritualism have remarked on\nthe fact that after a considerable lapse of time certain differences\nsuddenly became observable in the manner and disposition of a\n\"spirit\". It is needless to say that none of the Adept Brotherhood has\never approved of the formation of an artificial entity of this sort,\nthough they could not interfere with any one who thought it right to\ntake such a course. A weak point in the arrangement is that many\nothers besides the original lodge may adopt this plan, and there is\nnothing whatever to prevent black magicians from supplying\ncommunicating \"spirits\"--as, indeed, they have been known to do.\n\nWith this class we conclude our survey of the inhabitants of the\nastral plane. With the reservations specially made some few pages\nback, the catalogue may be taken as a fairly complete one; but it must\nonce more be emphasized that this treatise claims only to sketch the\nmerest outline of a very vast subject, the detailed elaboration of\nwhich would need a lifetime of study and hard work.\n\n\n\n\nPHENOMENA.\n\n\nThough in the course of this paper various superphysical phenomena\nhave been mentioned and to some extent explained, it will perhaps\nbefore concluding be desirable so far to recapitulate as to give a\nlist of those which are most frequently met with by the student of\nthese subjects, and to show by which of the agencies we have attempted\nto describe they are usually caused. The resources of the astral\nworld, however, are so varied that almost any phenomenon with which we\nare acquainted can be produced in several different ways, so that it\nis only possible to lay down general rules in the matter.\n\nApparitions or ghosts furnish a very good instance of the remark just\nmade, for in the loose manner in which the words are ordinarily used\nthey may stand for almost any inhabitant of the astral plane. Of\ncourse psychically developed people are constantly seeing such things,\nbut for an ordinary person to \"see a ghost,\" as the common expression\nruns, one of two things must happen: either that ghost must\nmaterialize, or that person must have a temporary flash of psychic\nperception. But for the fact that neither of these events is a common\none, ghosts would be met with in our streets as frequently as living\npeople.\n\n[Sidenote: Churchyard Ghosts.]\n\nIf the ghost is seen hovering about a grave it is probably the etheric\nshell of a newly-buried person, though it _may_ be the astral body of\na living man haunting in sleep the tomb of a friend; or again, it may\nbe a materialized thought-form--that is, an artificial elemental\ncreated by the energy with which a man thinks of himself as present at\nthat particular spot. These varieties would be easily distinguishable\none from the other by any one accustomed to use astral vision, but an\nunpractised person would be quite likely to call them all vaguely\n\"ghosts\".\n\n[Sidenote: Apparitions of the Dying.]\n\nApparitions at the time of death are by no means uncommon, and are\nvery often really visits paid by the astral form of the dying man just\nbefore what we elect to call the moment of dissolution; though here\nagain they are quite likely to be thought-forms called into being by\nhis earnest wish to see some friend once more before he passes into an\nunfamiliar condition.\n\n[Sidenote: Haunted Localities.]\n\nApparitions at the spot where some crime was committed are usually\nthought-forms projected by the criminal, who, whether living or dead,\nbut most especially when dead, is perpetually thinking over again and\nagain the circumstances of his action; and since these thoughts are\nnaturally specially vivid in his mind on the anniversary of the\noriginal crime, it is often only on that occasion that the artificial\nelementals he creates are strong enough to materialize themselves to\nordinary sight--a fact which accounts for the periodicity of some\nmanifestations of this class. Another point in reference to such\nphenomena is, that wherever any tremendous mental disturbance has\ntaken place, wherever overwhelming terror, pain, sorrow, hatred, or\nindeed any kind of intense passion has been felt, an impression of so\nvery marked a character has been made upon the astral light that a\nperson with even the faintest glimmer of psychic faculty cannot but be\ndeeply impressed by it, and it would need but a slight temporary\nincrease of sensibility to enable him to visualize the entire\nscene--to see the event in all its detail apparently taking place\nbefore his eyes--and in such a case he would of course report that\nthe place was haunted, and that he had seen a ghost. Indeed, people\nwho are as yet unable to see psychically under any circumstances are\nfrequently very unpleasantly impressed when visiting such places as we\nhave mentioned; there are many, for example, who feel uncomfortable\nwhen passing the site of Tyburn Tree, or cannot stay in the Chamber of\nHorrors at Madame Tussaud's, though they may not be in the least aware\nthat their discomfort is due to the dreadful impressions in the astral\nlight which surround places and objects redolent of horror and crime,\nand to the presence of the loathsome astral entities which always\nswarm about such centres.\n\n[Sidenote: Family Ghosts.]\n\nThe family ghost, whom we generally find in the stock stories of the\nsupernatural as an appanage of the feudal castle, may be either a\nthought-form or an unusually vivid impression in the astral light, or\nagain he may really be an earth-bound ancestor still haunting the\nscenes in which his thoughts and hopes centred during life.\n\n[Sidenote: Bell-ringing, stone-throwing, etc.]\n\nAnother class of hauntings which take the form of bell-ringing,\nstone-throwing, or the breaking of crockery, has already been referred\nto, and is almost invariably the work of elemental forces, either set\nblindly in motion by the clumsy efforts of an ignorant person trying\nto attract the attention of his surviving friends, or intentionally\nemployed by some childishly mischievous nature-spirit.\n\n[Sidenote: Fairies.]\n\nThe nature-spirits are also responsible for whatever of truth there\nmay be in all the strange fairy stories which are so common in certain\nparts of the country. Sometimes a temporary accession of clairvoyance,\nwhich is by no means uncommon among the inhabitants of lonely\nmountainous regions, enables some belated wayfarer to watch their\njoyous gambols; sometimes strange tricks are played upon some\nterrified victim, and a glamour is cast over him, making him, for\nexample, see houses and people where he knows none really exist. And\nthis is frequently no mere momentary delusion, for a man will\nsometimes go through quite a long series of imaginary but most\nstriking adventures, and then suddenly find that all his brilliant\nsurroundings have vanished in a moment, leaving him standing in some\nlonely valley or on some wind-swept plain. On the other hand, it is by\nno means safe to accept as founded on fact all the popular legends on\nthe subject, for the grossest superstition is often mingled with the\ntheories of the peasantry about these beings, as was shown by a recent\nterrible murder case in Ireland.\n\nTo the same entities must be attributed a large portion of what are\ncalled physical phenomena at spiritualistic _seances_--indeed, many a\n_seance_ has been given entirely by these mischievous creatures; and\nsuch a performance might easily include many very striking items, such\nas the answering of questions and delivery of pretended messages by\nraps or tilts, the exhibition of \"spirit lights,\" the apport of\nobjects from a distance, the reading of thoughts which were in the\nmind of any person present, the precipitation of writings or drawings,\nand even materializations. In fact, the nature-spirits alone, if any\nof them happened to be disposed to take the trouble, could give a\n_seance_ equal to the most wonderful of which we read; for though\nthere may be certain phenomena which they would not find it easy to\nreproduce, their marvellous power of glamour would enable them without\ndifficulty to persuade the entire circle that these phenomena also had\nduly occurred, unless, indeed, there were present a trained observer\nwho understood their arts and knew how to defeat them. As a general\nrule, whenever silly tricks or practical jokes are played at a\n_seance_, we may infer the presence either of low-class\nnature-spirits, or of human beings who were of a sufficiently degraded\ntype to find pleasure in such idiotic performances during life.\n\n[Sidenote: Communicating Entities.]\n\nAs to the entities who may \"communicate\" at a _seance_, or may obsess\nand speak through an entranced medium, their name is simply legion;\nthere is hardly a single class among all the varied inhabitants of the\nastral plane from whose ranks they may not be drawn, though after the\nexplanations given it will be readily understood that the chances are\nvery much against their coming from a high one. A manifesting \"spirit\"\n_may_ be exactly what it professes to be, but on the whole the\nprobabilities are that it is nothing of the kind; and for the ordinary\nsitter there is absolutely no means of distinguishing the true from\nthe false, since the extent to which a being having all the resources\nof the astral plane at his command can delude a person on the physical\nplane is so great that no reliance can be placed even on what seems\nthe most convincing proof. If something manifests which announces\nitself as a man's long-lost brother, he can have no certainty that its\nclaim is a just one; if it tells him of some fact known only to that\nbrother and to himself, he remains unconvinced, for he knows that it\nmight easily have read the information from his own mind, or from his\nsurroundings in the astral light; even if it goes still further and\ntells him something connected with his brother, of which he himself is\nunaware, but which he afterwards verifies, he still realizes that even\nthis may have been read from the astral record, or that what he sees\nbefore him may be only the shade of his brother, and so possess his\nmemory without in any way being himself. It is not for one moment\ndenied that important communications have sometimes been made at\n_seances_ by entities who in such cases have been precisely what they\nsaid they were; all that is claimed is that it is quite impossible\nfor the ordinary person who visits a _seance_ ever to be certain that\nhe is not being cruelly deceived in one or other of half a dozen\ndifferent ways.\n\nThere have been a few cases in which members of the lodge of\noccultists referred to above as originating the spiritualistic\nmovement have themselves given, through a medium, a series of valuable\nteachings on deeply interesting subjects, but this has invariably been\nat strictly private family _seances_, not at public performances for\nwhich money has been paid.\n\n[Sidenote: Astral Resources.]\n\nTo understand the methods by which a large class of physical phenomena\nare produced, it is necessary to have some comprehension of the\nvarious resources mentioned above, which a person functioning on the\nastral plane finds at his command; and this is a branch of the subject\nwhich it is by no means easy to make clear, especially as it is hedged\nabout with certain obviously necessary restrictions. It may perhaps\nhelp us if we remember that the astral plane may be regarded as in\nmany ways only an extension of the physical, and the idea that matter\nmay assume the etheric state (in which, though intangible to us, it is\nyet purely physical) may serve to show us how the one melts into the\nother. In fact, in the Hindu conception of Jagrat, or \"the waking\nstate,\" the physical and astral planes are combined, its seven\nsubdivisions corresponding to the four conditions of physical matter,\nand the three broad divisions of astral matter explained above. With\nthis thought in our minds it is easy to move a step further, and grasp\nthe idea that astral vision, or rather astral perception, may from one\npoint of view be defined as the capability of receiving an enormously\nincreased number of different sets of vibrations. In our physical\nbodies one small set of slow vibrations is perceptible to us as sound;\nanother small set of much more rapid vibrations affects us as light;\nand again another set as electric action: but there are immense\nnumbers of intermediate vibrations which produce no result which our\nphysical senses can cognize at all. Now it will readily be seen that\nif all, or even some only, of these intermediates, with all the\ncomplications producible by differences of wave-length, are\nperceptible on the astral plane, our comprehension of nature might be\nvery greatly increased on that level, and we might be able to acquire\nmuch information which is now hidden from us.\n\n[Sidenote: Clairvoyance.]\n\n[Sidenote: Prevision and Second-sight.]\n\nIt is admitted that some of these pass through solid matter with\nperfect ease, so that this enables us to account scientifically for\nsome of the peculiarities of astral vision, though those minds to\nwhich the theory of the fourth dimension commends itself find in it a\nneater and more complete explanation. It is clear that the mere\npossession of this astral vision by a being would at once account for\nhis capability to produce many results that seem very wonderful to\nus--such, for example, as the reading of a passage from a closed book;\nand when we remember, furthermore, that this faculty includes the\npower of thought-reading to the fullest extent, and also, when\ncombined with the knowledge of the projection of currents in the\nastral light, that of observing a desired object in almost any part of\nthe world, we see that a good many of the phenomena of clairvoyance\nare explicable even without rising above this level. Of course true,\ntrained, and absolutely reliable clairvoyance calls into operation an\nentirely different set of faculties, but as these belong to a higher\nplane than the astral, they form no part of our present subject. The\nfaculty of accurate prevision, again, appertains altogether to that\nhigher plane, yet flashes or reflections of it frequently show\nthemselves to purely astral sight, more especially among simple-minded\npeople who live under suitable conditions--what is called\n\"second-sight\" among the Highlanders of Scotland being a well-known\nexample.\n\nAnother fact which must not be forgotten is that any intelligent\ninhabitant of the astral plane is not only able to perceive these\netheric vibrations, but can also--if he has learnt how it is\ndone--adapt them to his own ends or himself set them in motion.\n\n[Sidenote: Astral Forces.]\n\n[Sidenote: Etheric Currents.]\n\n[Sidenote: Etheric Pressure.]\n\n[Sidenote: Latent Energy.]\n\n[Sidenote: Sympathetic Vibration.]\n\nIt will be readily understood that superphysical forces and the methods of\nmanaging them are not subjects about which much can be written for\npublication at present, though there is reason to suppose that it may not\nbe very long before at any rate some applications of one or two of them\ncome to be known to the world at large: but it may perhaps be possible,\nwithout transgressing the limits of the permissible, to give so much of an\nidea of them as shall be sufficient to show in outline how certain\nphenomena are performed. All who have much experience of spiritualistic\n_seances_ at which physical results are produced must at one time or\nanother have seen evidence of the employment of practically resistless\nforce in, for example, the instantaneous movement of enormous weights, and\nso on; and if of a scientific turn of mind, they may perhaps have wondered\nwhence this force was obtained, and what was the leverage employed. As\nusual in connection with astral phenomena, there are several ways in which\nsuch work may have been done, but it will be enough for the moment to hint\nat four. First, there are great etheric currents constantly sweeping over\nthe surface of the earth from pole to pole in volume which makes their\npower as irresistible as that of the rising tide, and there are methods by\nwhich this stupendous force may be safely utilized, though unskilful\nattempts to control it would be fraught with frightful danger. Secondly,\nthere is what can best be described as an etheric pressure, somewhat\ncorresponding to, though immensely greater than, the atmospheric pressure.\nIn ordinary life we are as little conscious of one of these pressures as we\nare of the other, but nevertheless they both exist, and if science were\nable to exhaust the ether from a given space, as it can exhaust the air,\nthe one could be proved as readily as the other. The difficulty of doing\nthat lies in the fact that matter in the etheric condition freely\ninter-penetrates matter in all states below it, so that there is as yet no\nmeans within the knowledge of our physicists by which any given body of\nether can be isolated from the rest. Practical Occultism, however, teaches\nhow this can be done, and thus the tremendous force of etheric pressure can\nbe brought into play. Thirdly, there is a vast store of potential energy\nwhich has become dormant in matter during the involution of the subtle into\nthe gross, and by changing the condition of the matter some of this may be\nliberated and utilized, somewhat as latent energy in the form of heat may\nbe liberated by a change in the condition of visible matter. Fourthly, many\nstriking results, both great and small, may be produced by an extension of\na principle which may be described as that of sympathetic vibration.\nIllustrations taken from the physical plane seem generally to misrepresent\nrather than elucidate astral phenomena, because they can never be more than\npartially applicable; but the recollection of two simple facts of ordinary\nlife may help to make this important branch of our subject clearer, if we\nare careful not to push the analogy further than it will hold good. It is\nwell known that if one of the wires of a harp be made to vibrate\nvigorously, its movement will call forth sympathetic vibrations in the\ncorresponding strings of any number of harps placed round it, if they are\ntuned to exactly the same pitch. It is also well known that when a large\nbody of soldiers crosses a suspension bridge it is necessary for them to\nbreak step, since the perfect regularity of their ordinary march would set\nup a vibration in the bridge which would be intensified by every step they\ntook, until the point of resistance of the iron was passed, when the whole\nstructure would fly to pieces. With these two analogies in our minds (never\nforgetting that they are only partial ones) it may seem more comprehensible\nthat one who knows exactly at what rate to start his vibrations--knows, so\nto speak, the keynote of the class of matter he wishes to affect--should be\nable by sounding that keynote to call forth an immense number of\nsympathetic vibrations. When this is done on the physical plane no\nadditional energy is developed; but on the astral plane there is this\ndifference, that the matter with which we are dealing is far less inert,\nand so when called into action by these sympathetic vibrations it adds its\nown living force to the original impulse, which may thus be multiplied\nmany-fold; and then by further rhythmic repetition of the original impulse,\nas in the case of the soldiers marching over the bridge, the vibrations may\nbe so intensified that the result is out of all apparent proportion to the\ncause. Indeed, it may be said that there is scarcely any limit to the\nconceivable achievements of this force in the hands of a great Adept Who\nfully comprehends its possibilities; for the very building of the Universe\nitself was but the result of the vibrations set up by the Spoken Word.\n\n[Sidenote: Mantras.]\n\nThe class of mantras or spells which produce their result not by\ncontrolling some elemental, but merely by the repetition of certain\nsounds, also depend for their efficacy upon this action of sympathetic\nvibration.\n\n[Sidenote: Disintegration.]\n\nThe phenomenon of disintegration also may be brought about by the\naction of extremely rapid vibrations, which overcome the cohesion of\nthe molecules of the object operated upon. A still higher rate of\nvibrations of a somewhat different type will separate these molecules\ninto their constituent atoms. A body reduced by these means to the\netheric condition can be moved by an astral current from one place to\nanother with very great rapidity; and the moment that the force which\nhas been exerted to put it into that condition is withdrawn it will be\nforced by the etheric pressure to resume its original form. It is in\nthis way that objects are sometimes brought almost instantaneously\nfrom great distances at spiritualistic _seances_, and it is obvious\nthat when disintegrated they could be passed with perfect ease through\nany solid substance, such, for example, as the wall of a house or the\nside of a locked box, so that what is commonly called \"the passage of\nmatter through matter\" is seen, when properly understood, to be as\nsimple as the passage of water through a sieve, or of a gas through a\nliquid in some chemical experiment.\n\n[Sidenote: Materialization.]\n\nSince it is possible by an alteration of vibrations to change matter\nfrom the solid to the etheric condition, it will be comprehended that\nit is also possible to reverse the process and to bring etheric matter\ninto the solid state. As the one process explains the phenomenon of\ndisintegration, so does the other that of materialization; and just as\nin the former case a continued effort of will is necessary to prevent\nthe object from resuming its original form, so in exactly the same way\nin the latter phenomenon a continued effort is necessary to prevent\nthe materialized matter from relapsing into the etheric condition. In\nthe materializations seen at an ordinary _seance_, such matter as may\nbe required is borrowed as far as possible from the medium's etheric\ndouble--an operation which is prejudicial to his health, and also\nundesirable in various other ways; and this explains the fact that the\nmaterialized form is usually strictly confined to the immediate\nneighbourhood of the medium, and is subject to an attraction which is\nconstantly drawing it back to the body from which it came, so that if\nkept away from the medium too long the figure collapses, and the\nmatter which composed it, returning to the etheric condition, rushes\nback instantly to its source.\n\n[Sidenote: Why Darkness is required.]\n\n[Sidenote: Spirit Photographs.]\n\nThe reason why the beings directing a _seance_ find it easier to\noperate in darkness or in very subdued light will now be manifest,\nsince their power would usually be insufficient to hold together a\nmaterialized form or even a \"spirit hand\" for more than a very few\nseconds amidst the intense vibrations set up by brilliant light. The\n_habitues_ of _seances_ will no doubt have noticed that\nmaterializations are of three kinds:--First, those which are tangible\nbut not visible; second, those which are visible but not tangible; and\nthird, those which are both visible and tangible. To the first kind,\nwhich is much the most common, belong the invisible spirit hands which\nso frequently stroke the faces of the sitters or carry small objects\nabout the room, and the vocal organs from which the \"direct voice\"\nproceeds. In this case, an order of matter is being used which can\nneither reflect nor obstruct light, but which is capable under certain\nconditions of setting up vibrations in the atmosphere which affect us\nas sound. A variation of this class is that kind of partial\nmaterialization which, though incapable of reflecting any light that\nwe can see, is yet able to affect some of the ultra-violet rays, and\ncan therefore make a more or less definite impression upon the camera,\nand so provide us with what are known as \"spirit photographs\". When\nthere is not sufficient power available to produce a perfect\nmaterialization we sometimes get the vaporous-looking form which\nconstitutes our second class, and in such a case the \"spirits\" usually\nwarn their sitters that the forms which appear must not be touched.\nIn the rarer case of a full materialization there is sufficient power\nto hold together, at least for a few moments, a form which can be both\nseen and touched.\n\nWhen an Adept or pupil finds it necessary for any purpose to\nmaterialize his Mayavirupa or his astral body, he does not draw upon\neither his own etheric double or any one else's, since he has been\ntaught how to extract the matter which he requires directly from the\nastral light or even from the Akasha.\n\n[Sidenote: Reduplication.]\n\nAnother phenomenon closely connected with this part of the subject is\nthat of reduplication, which is produced by simply forming in the\nastral light a perfect mental image of the object to be copied, and\nthen gathering about that mould the necessary physical matter. Of\ncourse for this purpose it is necessary that every particle, interior\nas well as exterior, of the object to be duplicated should be held\naccurately in view simultaneously, and consequently the phenomenon is\none which requires considerable power of concentration to perform.\nPersons unable to reduce the matter required directly from the astral\nlight have sometimes borrowed it from the material of the original\narticle, which in this case would be correspondingly reduced in\nweight.\n\n[Sidenote: Precipitation.]\n\nWe read a good deal in Theosophical literature about the precipitation\nof letters or pictures. This result, like everything else, may be\nobtained in several ways. An Adept wishing to communicate with some\none might place a sheet of paper before him, form an image of the\nwriting which he wished to appear upon it, and draw from the astral\nlight the matter wherewith to objectify that image; or if he preferred\nto do so it would be equally easy for him to produce the same result\nupon a sheet of paper lying before his correspondent, whatever might\nbe the distance between them. A third method which, since it saves\ntime, is much more frequently adopted, is to impress the whole\nsubstance of the letter on the mind of some pupil, and leave him to do\nthe mechanical work of precipitation. That pupil would then take his\nsheet of paper, and, imagining he saw the letter written thereon in\nhis Master's hand, would proceed to objectify the writing as before\ndescribed. If he found it difficult to perform simultaneously the two\noperations of drawing his material from the astral light and\nprecipitating the writing on the paper, he might have either ordinary\nink or a small quantity of coloured powder on the table beside him,\nwhich, being already physical matter, could be drawn upon more\nreadily.\n\nIt is of course obvious that the possession of this power would be a\nvery dangerous weapon in the hands of an unscrupulous person, since it\nis just as easy to imitate one man's handwriting as another's, and it\nwould be impossible to detect by any ordinary means a forgery\ncommitted in this manner. A pupil definitely connected with any Master\nhas always an infallible test by which he knows whether any message\nreally emanates from that Master or not, but for others the proof of\nits origin must always lie solely in the contents of the letter and\nthe spirit breathing through it, as the handwriting, however cleverly\nimitated, is of absolutely no value as evidence.\n\nAs to speed, a pupil new to the work of precipitation would probably\nbe able to image only a few words at a time, and would, therefore, get\non hardly more rapidly than if he wrote his letter in the ordinary\nway, but a more experienced individual who could visualize a whole\npage or perhaps the entire letter at once would get through his work\nwith greater facility. It is in this manner that quite long letters\nare sometimes produced in a few seconds at a _seance_.\n\nWhen a picture has to be precipitated the method is precisely the\nsame, except that here it is absolutely necessary that the entire\nscene should he visualized at once, and if many colours are required\nthere is of course the additional complication of manufacturing them,\nkeeping them separate, and reproducing accurately the exact tints of\nthe scene to be represented. Evidently there is scope here for the\nexercise of the artistic faculty, and it must not be supposed that\nevery inhabitant of the astral plane could by this method produce an\nequally good picture; a man who had been a great artist in life, and\nhad therefore learnt how to see and what to look for, would certainly\nbe very much more successful than the ordinary person if he attempted\nprecipitation when on the astral plane after death.\n\n[Sidenote: Slate-writing.]\n\nThe slate-writing, for the production of which under test conditions\nsome of the greatest mediums have been so famous, is sometimes\nproduced by precipitation, though more frequently the fragment of\npencil enclosed between the slates is guided by a spirit hand, of\nwhich only just the tiny points sufficient to grasp it are\nmaterialized.\n\n[Sidenote: Levitation.]\n\nAn occurrence which occasionally takes place at _seances_, and more\nfrequently among eastern Yogis, is what is called levitation--that is,\nthe floating of a human body in the air. No doubt when this takes\nplace in the case of a medium, he is often simply upborne by \"spirit\nhands,\" but there is another and more scientific method of\naccomplishing this feat which is always used in the East, and\noccasionally here also. Occult science is acquainted with a means of\nneutralizing or even entirely reversing the attraction of gravity, and\nit is obvious that by the judicious use of this power all the\nphenomena of levitation may be easily produced. It was no doubt by a\nknowledge of this secret that some of the air-ships of ancient India\nand Atlantis were raised from the earth and made light enough to be\nreadily moved and directed; and not improbably the same acquaintance\nwith nature's finer forces greatly facilitated the labours of those\nwho raised the enormous blocks of stone sometimes used in cyclopean\narchitecture, or in the building of the Pyramids and Stonehenge.\n\n[Sidenote: Spirit Lights.]\n\nWith the knowledge of the forces of nature which the resources of the\nastral plane place at the command its inhabitants the production of\nwhat are called \"spirit lights\" is a very easy matter, whether they be\nof the mildly phosphorescent or the dazzling electrical variety, or\nthose curious dancing globules of light into which a certain class of\nfire elementals so readily transform themselves. Since all light\nconsists simply of vibrations of the ether, it is obvious that any one\nwho knows how to set up these vibrations can readily produce any kind\nof light that he wishes.\n\n[Sidenote: Handling Fire.]\n\nIt is by the aid of the etheric elemental essence also that the\nremarkable feat of handling fire unharmed is generally performed,\nthough there are as usual other ways in which it can be done. The\nthinnest layer of etheric substance can be so manipulated as to be\nabsolutely impervious to heat, and when the hand of a medium or sitter\nis covered with this he may pick up burning coal or red-hot iron with\nperfect safety.\n\n[Sidenote: Transmutation.]\n\nMost of the occurrences of the _seance_-room have now been referred\nto, but there are one or two of the rarer phenomena of the outer world\nwhich must not be left quite without mention in our list. The\ntransmutation of metals is commonly supposed to be a mere dream of the\nmediaeval alchemists, and no doubt in most cases the description of the\nphenomenon was merely a symbol of the purification of the soul; yet\nthere seems to be some evidence that it was really accomplished by\nthem on several occasions, and there are petty magicians in the East\nwho profess to do it under test conditions even now. Be that as it\nmay, it is evident that since the ultimate atom is one and the same in\nall substances, and it is only the methods of its combination that\ndiffer, any one who possessed the power of reducing a piece of metal\nto the atomic condition and of re-arranging its atoms in some other\nform would have no difficulty in effecting transmutation to any extent\nthat he wished.\n\n[Sidenote: Repercussion.]\n\nThe principle of sympathetic vibration mentioned above also provides\nthe explanation of that strange and little-known phenomenon called\nrepercussion, by means of which any injury done to, or any mark made\nupon, the astral body in the course of its wanderings will be\nreproduced in the physical body. We find traces of this in some of the\nevidence given at trials for witchcraft in the middle ages, in which\nit is not infrequently stated that some wound given to the witch when\nin the form of a dog or a wolf was found to have appeared in the\ncorresponding part of her human body. The same strange law has\nsometimes led to an entirely unjust accusation of fraud against a\nmedium, because, for example, some colouring matter rubbed upon the\nhand of a materialized \"spirit\" was afterwards found upon his\nhand--the explanation being that in that case, as so often happens,\nthe \"spirit\" was simply the medium's astral body or perhaps even his\netheric double, forced by the guiding influences to take some form\nother than his own. In fact the astral and physical bodies are so\nintimately connected that it is impossible to touch the keynote of one\nwithout immediately setting up exactly corresponding vibrations in the\nother.\n\n\n\n\nCONCLUSION.\n\n\nIt is hoped that any reader who has been sufficiently interested to\nfollow this treatise thus far, may by this time have a general idea of\nthe astral plane and its possibilities, such as will enable him to\nunderstand and fit into their proper places in its scheme any facts in\nconnection with it which he may pick up in his reading. Though only\nthe roughest sketch has been given of a very great subject, enough has\nperhaps been said to show the extreme importance of astral perception\nin the study of biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, medicine and\nhistory, and the great impulse which might be given by its development\nto all these sciences. Yet its attainment should never be regarded as\nan end in itself, since any means adopted with that object in view\nwould inevitably lead to what is called in the East the _laukika_\nmethod of development--a system by which certain psychic powers are\nindeed acquired, but only for the present personality; and since their\nacquisition is surrounded by no safeguards, the student is extremely\nlikely to misuse them. To this class belong all systems which involve\nthe use of drugs, invocation of elementals, or the practices of Hatha\nYoga. The other method, which is called the _lokottara_, consists of\nRaj Yoga or spiritual progress, and though it may be somewhat slower\nthan the other, whatever is acquired along this line is gained for the\npermanent individuality, and never lost again, while the guiding care\nof a Master ensures perfect safety from misuse of power as long as\nhis orders are scrupulously obeyed. The opening of astral vision must\nbe regarded then only as a stage in the development of something\ninfinitely nobler--merely as a step, and a very small step, on that\ngreat Upward Path which leads men to the sublime heights of Adeptship,\nand beyond even that through glorious vistas of wisdom and power such\nas our finite minds cannot now conceive.\n\nYet let no one think it an unmixed blessing to have the wider sight of\nthe astral plane, for upon one in whom that vision is opened the\nsorrow and misery, the evil and the greed of the world press as an\never-present burden, until he often feels inclined to echo the\npassionate adjuration of Schiller: \"Why hast thou cast me thus into\nthe town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle with the opened\nsense? Take back this sad clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes this\ncruel light! Give me back my blindness--the happy darkness of my\nsenses; take back thy dreadful gift!\" This feeling is perhaps not an\nunnatural one in the earlier stages of the Path, yet higher sight and\ndeeper knowledge soon bring to the student the perfect certainty that\nall things are working together for the eventual good of all--that\n\n    Hour after hour, like an opening flower,\n      Shall truth after truth expand;\n    For the sun may pale, and the stars may fail,\n      But the LAW of GOOD shall stand.\n    Its splendour glows and its influence grows\n      As Nature's slow work appears,\n    From the zoophyte small to the LORDS of all,\n      Through kalpas and crores of years.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *","title":"The Astral Plane: Its Scenery, Inhabitants and Phenomena","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":32547}