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Section One – The Internal Fires – Fire by Friction
Introductory Remarks
We purpose in these few introductory remarks to lay down the foundation for a "Treatise on Cosmic Fire," and to consider the subject of fire both macrocosmically and microcosmically, thus dealing with it from the standpoint of the solar system, and of a human being. This will necessitate some preliminary technicalities which may seem at first perusal to be somewhat abstruse and complicated but which, when meditated upon and studied, may eventually prove illuminating and of an elucidating nature, and which also, when the mind has familiarized itself with some of the details, may come to be regarded as providing a logical hypothesis concerning the nature and origin of energy. We have elsewhere, in an earlier book, touched somewhat upon this matter, but we desire to recapitulate and in so doing to enlarge, thus laying down a broad foundation upon which the subject matter can be built up, and providing a general outline which will serve to show the limits of our discussion.
Let us, therefore, look at the subject macrocosmically and then trace the correspondence in the microcosm, or human being.
I. Fire in the Macrocosm
In its essential nature Fire is threefold, but when in manifestation it can be seen as a fivefold demonstration, and be defined as follows: [38]
  1. Fire by friction, or internal vitalizing fire. These fires animate and vitalize the objective solar system. They are the sumtotal of logoic kundalini, when in full systemic activity.
  2. Solar Fire, or cosmic mental fire. This is that portion of the cosmic mental plane which goes to the animation of the mental body of the Logos. This fire may be regarded as the sumtotal of the sparks of mind, the fires of the mental bodies and the animating principle of the evolving units of the human race in the three worlds.
  3. Electric Fire, or the logoic Flame Divine. This flame is the distinguishing mark of our Logos, and it is that which differentiates Him from all other Logoi; it is His dominant characteristic, and the sign of His place in cosmic evolution.
This threefold fire may be expressed in ray terms as follows:
4 "That whereinto all enter, vishanti, is Vishnu; he who covers up, envelopes, surrounds, undertakes all, is Brahma; he who sleeps, shete, in everything, is Shiva. Shiva sleeps, lies hidden, in all and everything as the nexus, the bond, and this is the nature of desire. Vrinite signifies the envelopment, the covering with an envelope, the demarcation of the limiting bounds or the periphery, and so the formation or creation (of all forms); and this is action presided over by Brahma. Vishanti sarvani indicates that all things enter into It and It into all, and such is the Self, connected with cognition and Vishnu. The summation or totality of these is Mahavishnu.

"Mahavishnu, 'the overlord of all this world-system, is described as the Ishvara, white-colored, four-armed, adorned with the conch, the discus, the mace, the lotus, the forest-wreath, and the kanstubha-gem, shining, vestured in blue and yellow, endless and imperishable in form, attributeless yet ensouling and underlying all attributes. Here, the epithet Ishvara indicates the rule; the four arms, the four activities of cognition, etc.; the white resplendence is the illumination of all things; the shankha, conch [39] or shell, indicates all sound, and the chakra, wheel or discus, all time, there being a connection between the two; gada, the (whirling) mace, is the spiral method of the procession of the world and the lotus-flower is the whole of that procession; the vana-mala, the wreath of forest flowers, indicates the stringing together of all things into unity and necessity; the nila-pit-ambara, blue and yellow vestures, are darkness and light; the kaustubha jewel indicates inseparable connection with all; Nirguna, attributeless, shows the presence of the nature of Negation; while saguna, attributeful, implies possession of name and form. The World-process (as embodied in our world-system) is the result of the ideation of Mahavishnu." – Pranava-Vada, pp. 72-74, 94-95.

5 Mahadeva is literally "great Deva." The term is frequently applied to the first Person of the manifested Trinity, to Shiva, the Destroyer aspect, the Creator.

6 "One day out of this long life of Brahma is called Kalpa; and a Kalpa is that portion of time which intervenes between one conjunction of all the planets on the horizon of Lanka, at the first point of Aries, and a subsequent similar conjunction. A Kalpa embraces the reign of fourteen Manus, and their sandhis (intervals); each Manu lying between two sandhis. Every Manu's rule contains seventy-one Maha Yugas, – each Maha Yuga consists of four Yugas, viz., Krita, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali; and the length of each of these four Yugas is respectively as the numbers, 4, 3, 2 and 1. The number of sidereal years embraced in the foregoing different periods are as follows:

  Mortal years

360 days of mortals make a year 1

Krita Yuga contains 1,728,000

Treta Yuga contains 1,296,000

Dwapara Yuga contains 864,000

Kali Yuga contains 432,000

The total of the said four Yugas constitute a Maha Yuga 4,320,000

Seventy-one of such Maha Yugas form the period of the
reign of one Manu 306,720,000

The reign of 14 Manus embraces the duration of
994 Maha Yugas, which is equal to 4,294,080,000

Add Sandhis, i.e., intervals between the reign of
each Manu, which amount to 6 Maha Yugas, equal to 25,920,000

The total of these reigns and interregnums of 14 Manus,
is 1,000 Maha Yugas, which constitute a Kalpa, i.e.,
one day of Brahma, equal to 4,320,000,000

As Brahma's night is of equal duration, one day and night
of Brahma will contain 8,640,000,000

360 of such days and nights make one year of Brahma, equal to 3,110,400,000,000

100 of such years constitute the whole period of
Brahma's age, ie., Maha Kalpa 311,040,000,000,000

That these figures are not fanciful, but are founded upon astronomical facts, has been demonstrated by Mr. Davis, in an essay in the Asiatic Researches; and this receives further corroboration from the geological investigations and calculations made by Dr. Hunt, formerly President of the Anthropological Society, and also in some respects from the researches made by Professor Huxley.

Great as the period of the Maha Kalpa seems to be, we are assured that thousands and thousands of millions of such Maha Kalpas have passed, and as many more are yet to come. (Vide Brahma-Vaivarta and Bhavishyre Puranas; and Linga Purana, ch. 171, verse 107, ∧c.) and this in plain language means that the Time past is infinite and the Time to come is equally infinite. The Universe is formed, dissolved, and reproduced, in an indeterminate succession (Bhagavad Gita, VIII, 19). – The Theosophist, Vol. VII, p. 11 15.

7 The term "ring-pass-not" is used in occult literature to denote the periphery of the sphere of influence of any central life force, and is applied equally to all atoms, from the atom of matter as dealt with by the physicist or chemist through the human and planetary atoms up to the great atom of a solar system. The ring-pass-not of the average human being is the spheroidal form of his mental body which extends considerably beyond the physical and enables him to function on the lower levels of the mental plane.

8

  1. The Primordial is the Ray and the direct emanation of the Sacred Four. (S. D., I, 115, 116) The Sacred Four are:
    1. Unity (Father – Mahadeva – 1st Logos – Will – Spirit).
    2. Duality (Son – Vishnu – 2nd Logos – Love-Wisdom).
    3. Trinity (Mother – Brahma – 3rd Logos – Intelligent activity).
    4. Sacred Four (The united manifestation of the tree – Macrocosm).
  2. The manifested Quaternary and the seven Builders proceed from the Mother (S.D., I, 402)
    1. The seven Builders are the Manasaputras, the Mind-born sons of Brahma, the third aspect. (S. D., III, 540)
    2. They come into manifestation to develop the second aspect. (S. D., I., 108)
    3. Their method is objectivity
  3. The reawakened Energies sprang into space.
    1. They are the veiled synthesis (S. D., I, 362)
    2. They are the totality of manifestation (S. D., I, 470)
    3. They are precosmic (S. D., I, 152, 470)

9 Akasha. Definition (S. D., II,538)

  • It is the synthesis of ether (S. D., I, 353, 354)
  • It is the essence of ether (S. D., I, 366)
  • It is primordial ether (S D., I, 585)
  • It is the third Logos in manifestation (S D., I, 377)

10 H. P. B., defines the Akasha in the following terms: (S. D., II, 538) "Akasha the astral Light can be defined in a few words: It is the Universal soul, the Matrix of the Universe, the Mysterium Magicum from which all that exists is born by separation or differentiation. In the various occult books it is called by different terms and it would be of value perhaps if we enumerate some of them here: There is one universal element with its differentiations.

Homogeneous Differentiated
1. Undifferentiated cosmic substance 1. Astral Light.
2. Primordial ether 2. Sea of fire.
3. Primordial electric entity 3. Electricity.
4. Akasha 4. Prakriti.
5. Super-astral light 5. Atomic matter.
6. Fiery serpent 6. The serpent of evil.
7. Mulaprakriti. 7. Ether, with its four divisions "air, fire, water earth".
8. Pregenetic matter.  

11 Fohat is divine thought or energy (Shakti) as manifested on any plane of the cosmos. It is the interplay between Spirit and matter. The seven differentiations of Fohat are:

  1. The Plane of divine life – Adi – Sea of fire.
  2. The Plane of monadic life – Anupadaka – Akasha.
  3. The Plane of spirit – Atma – Aether.
  4. The Plane of the intuition – Buddhi – Air.
  5. The Plane of mind – Mental – Fire.
  6. The Plane of desire – Astral – Astral Light.
  7. The Plane of density – Physical – Ether.
(S. D., I, 105, 134, 135, 136)

12 The quaternary is composed of the four lower principles and the sheaths through which they manifest as a coherent unit, being held together during manifestation by the life force of the indwelling entity.

First, we have the animating fires of the solar system, which are the fires of the primordial ray of active intelligent matter; these constitute the energy of Brahma, the third aspect of the Logos. Next are to be found the fires of the divine Ray of Love-Wisdom, the ray of intelligent love, which constitutes the energy of the Vishnu aspect, the second aspect logoic.4 Finally are to be found the fires of the cosmic mental plane, which are the fires of the cosmic ray of will. They might be described as the rays of intelligent will and are the manifestation of the first aspect logoic, the Mahadeva aspect.5 Therefore we have three cosmic rays manifesting:
The Ray of intelligent activity. This is a ray of a very demonstrable glory, and of a higher point of development than the other two, being the product of an earlier mahakalpa, or a previous solar system.6 It embodies [40] the basic vibration of this solar system, and is its great internal fire, animating and vitalizing the whole, and penetrating from the center to the periphery. It is the cause of rotary motion, and therefore of the spheroidal form of all that exists.
The Ray of intelligent love. This is the ray which embodies the highest vibration of which our solar Logos or Deity is capable in this present solar system. It is not yet vibrating adequately nor has it yet attained the peak of its activity. It is the basis of the cyclic spiral movement of the body logoic, and just as the Law of Economy is the law governing the internal fires of the system so the cosmic Law of Attraction and Repulsion is the basic law of this divine Ray.
The Ray of intelligent will. Little as yet can be said about this ray. It is the ray of cosmic mind and in its evolution parallels that of cosmic love, but as yet its vibration is slower and its development more retarded. This is definitely and deliberately so, and is due to the underlying purpose and choice of the solar Logos, Who seeks on His high level (just as do His reflections, the sons of men) to achieve a more rounded out development, [41] and He therefore concentrates on the development of cosmic love in this greater cycle.
This ray is governed by the Law of Synthesis, and is the basis of the systemic movement which may be best described as that of driving forward through space, or forward progression. Little can be predicated anent this ray and its expression. It controls the movements of the entire ring-pass-not in connection with its cosmic center.7
The (following) tabulation on page 42 may make the above ideas somewhat clearer.
Fire and the Aspects (Tabulation I)
Fire Ray Aspect Expression Law Quality
1. Internal Primordial Intelligent Activity Rotary motion Economy Fire by friction.
2. Of Mind Love Intelligent Love Spiral cyclic motion Attraction Solar Fire.
3. Divine Flame Will Intelligent Will Forward Progression Synthesis Electric Fire.
These three expressions of the divine Life may be regarded as expressing the triple mode of manifestation. First, the objective or tangible universe; second, the subjective worlds or form; and thirdly, the spiritual aspect which is to be found at the heart of all.8
The internal fires that animate and vitalize shew themselves in a twofold manner: [42/43] First as latent heat. This is the basis of rotary motion and the cause of the spheroidal coherent manifestation of all existence, from the logoic atom, the solar ring-pass-not, down to the minutest atom of the chemist or physicist.
Second, as active heat. This results in the activity and the driving forward of material evolution. On the highest plane the combination of these three factors (active heat, latent heat and the primordial substance which they animate) is known as the 'sea of fire,' of which akasha is the first differentiation of pregenetic matter. Akasha, in manifestation, expresses itself as Fohat, or divine Energy, and Fohat on the different planes is known as aether, air, fire, water, electricity, ether, prana and similar terms. 9, 10, 11 It is the sumtotal [44] of that which is active, animated, or vitalized, and of all that concerns itself with the adaptation of the form to the needs of the inner flame of life.
It might here be useful to point out that magnetism is the effect of the divine ray in manifestation in the same sense that electricity is the manifested effect of the primordial ray of active intelligence. It would be well to ponder on this for it holds hid a mystery. The fires of the mental plane also demonstrate in a twofold manner:
  • First, as the Fire of Mind, the basis of all expression and in one peculiar occult sense the sumtotal of existence. It provides the relation between the life and the form, between spirit and matter, and is the basis of consciousness itself.
  • Second, as the Elementals of Fire, or the sumtotal of the active expression of thought, showing itself through the medium of those entities who, in their very essence, are fire itself.
These dualities of expression make the four necessary factors in the logoic quaternary,12 or the lower nature of the Logos viewing His manifestation from one esoteric angle; esoterically, they are the sumtotal of the logoic quaternary, plus the logoic fifth principle, cosmic mind.
The divine spark does not as yet manifest (as do the other two fires) as a duality, though what lies hidden in a later cycle, evolution alone will disclose. This third fire, along with the other two, make the necessary five of logoic evolutionary development and by its perfected merging with the other two fires as the evolutionary process proceeds is seen the goal of logoic attainment for this greater cycle or period of this solar system. [45] When the primordial ray of intelligent activity, the divine ray of intelligent love, and the third cosmic ray of intelligent will meet, blend, merge, and blaze forth, the Logos will take His fifth initiation, thus completing one of His cycles. When the rotary, the forward, and the spiral cyclic movements are working in perfect synthesis then the desired vibration will have been reached. When the three Laws of Economy, of Attraction, and of Synthesis work with perfect adjustment to each other, then nature will perfectly display the needed functioning, and the correct adaptation of the material form to the indwelling spirit, of matter to life, an
II. Fire in the Microcosm
Let us briefly consider therefore the correspondence between the greater whole and the unit man and then block out our subject in detail and consider the sections into which it will be wise to divide it.
Fire in the Microcosm is likewise threefold in essence and fivefold in manifestation.
1. There is Internal Vitalizing Fire, which is the correspondence to fire by friction. This is the sumtotal of individual kundalini; it animates the corporeal frame and demonstrates also in the twofold manner:
  • First, as latent heat which is the basis of life of the spheroidal cell, or atom, and of its rotary adjustment to all other cells.
  • Second, as active heat or prana; this animates all, and is the driving force of the evolving form. It shows itself in the four ethers and in the gaseous state, and a correspondence is here found on the physical plane in connection with man to the Akasha and its fivefold manifestation on the plane of the solar system.
This fire is the basic vibration of the little system in which the monad or human spirit is the logos, and it [46] holds the personality or lower material man in objective manifestation thus permitting the spiritual unit to contact the plane of densest matter. It has its correspondence in the ray of intelligent activity and is controlled by the Law of Economy in one of its subdivisions, the Law of Adaptation in Time.
2. There is next the Fire or Spark of Mind which is the correspondence in man to solar fire. This constitutes the thinking self-conscious unit or the soul. This fire of mind is governed by the Law of Attraction as is its greater correspondence. Later we can enlarge on this. It is this spark of mind in man, manifesting as spiral cyclic activity, which leads to expansion and to his eventual return to the center of his system, the Monad – the origin and goal for the reincarnating Jiva or human being. As in the macrocosm this fire also manifests in a twofold manner.
  • It shows as that intelligent will which links the Monad or spirit with its lowest point of contact, the personality, functioning through a physical vehicle.
  • It likewise demonstrates, as yet imperfectly, as the vitalizing factor in the thought forms fabricated by the thinker. As yet but few thought forms, comparatively, can be said to be constructed by the center of consciousness, the thinker, the Ego. Few people as yet are in such close touch with their higher self, or Ego, that they can build the matter of the mental plane into a form which can be truly said to be an expression of the thoughts, purpose or desire of their Ego, functioning through the physical brain. Most of the thought forms at present in circulation may be said to be aggregations of matter, built into form with the aid of kama-manas (or of desire faintly tinged with mind producing thus an admixture of astral and mental matter, mostly astral), and largely due to reflex elemental action.
These dualities of expression are: [47]
  1. Active fire or prana. Latent fire or bodily heat.
  2. Mental energy in the mental body.
Purely mental thought forms, animated by self-engendered fire, or by the fifth principle, and therefore part of the sphere, or system of control, of the Monad. These form an esoteric quaternary which with the fifth factor, the divine spark of intelligent will, make the five of monadic manifestation – manifestation in this case connotating a purely subjective manifestation which is neither altogether spiritual nor altogether material.
3. Finally there is the Monadic Flame Divine. This embodies the highest vibration of which the Monad is capable, is governed by the Law of Synthesis, and is the cause of the forward progressive movement of the evolving Jiva.
We now come, in due course, to the point of merging or to the end of manifestation, and to the consummation (viewing it monadically) of the great cycle or manvantara. What shall we therefore find? Just as in the macrocosm the blending of the three essential fires of the cosmos marked the point of logoic attainment, so, in the blending of the essential fires of the microcosm, do we arrive at the apotheosis of human attainment for this cycle.
13 These terms, Lower Self, Higher Self, Divine Self, are apt to be confusing [48] until the student apprehends the various synonyms connected with them. The following table may be found helpful:
Father Son Mother
Spirit Soul Body
Life Consciousness Form
Monad Ego Personality
Divine Self Higher Self Lower Self
Spirit Individuality Personal Self
The Point The Triad The Quaternary
Monad Solar Angel Lunar Lords
When the latent fire of the personality or lower self blends with the fire of mind, that of the higher self, and finally merges with the Divine Flame, then the man takes the fifth Initiation in this solar system, and has completed one of his greater cycles.13 When the three blaze forth as one fire, liberation from matter, or from material form is achieved. Matter has been correctly adjusted to spirit, and finally the indwelling life slips forth out of its sheath which forms now only a channel for liberation.
III. Fire in Manifestation
To continue our consideration of the fires which sustain the economy of the visible solar system, and of the visible objective human being, which produce evolutionary development, and which are the bases of all objective efflorescence, it must be noted that they demonstrate as the sumtotal of the vital life of a solar system, of a planet, of the entire constitution of active functioning man upon the physical plane, and of the atom of substance.
Speaking broadly we would say that the first fire deals entirely with:
  1. Activity of matter.
  2. The rotary motion of matter.
  3. The development of matter by the means of friction, under the law of Economy. H.P.B. touches on this in the Secret Doctrine.14
14 See S. D., I, 169, 562, 567, 569; II, 258, 390, 547, 551, 552.

15 In the Study of Consciousness Mrs. Besant says (page 37): "Consciousness is the one reality, in the fullest sense of that much-used phrase; it follows from this that any reality found anywhere is drawn from consciousness. Hence, everything which is thought, is. That consciousness in which everything is, everything literally, "possible" as well as "actual" – actual being that which is thought of as existent by a separated consciousness in time and space, and possible all that which is not so being thought of at any period in time and any point in space – we call Absolute Consciousness. It is the All, the Eternal, the Infinite, the Changeless. Consciousness, thinking time and space, and of all forms as existing in them in succession and in places, is the Universal Consciousness, the One, called by the Hindu the Saguna Brahman – the Eternal with attributes – the Pratyag-Atma – the Inner Self; by the Parsi, Hormuzd; by the Mussulman, Allah. Consciousness dealing with a definite time, however long or short, with a definite space, however vast or restricted, is individual, that of a concrete Being, a Lord of many universes, or a universe or of any so-called portion of a universe, his portion and to him therefore a universe – these terms varying as to extent with the power of the consciousness; so much of the universal thought as a separate consciousness can completely think, i.e., on which he can impose his own reality, can think of as existing like himself, is his universe."

16 Universal consciousness, manifesting as consciousness in time and space, as Mrs. Besant so ably expresses it, includes all forms of activity and spiral cyclic evolution from the standpoint of cosmic evolution, and in terms of absolute consciousness, may again be rotary.

The second fire, that from the cosmic mental plane, deals with:
  1. The expression of the evolution of mind or manas.
  2. The vitality of the soul.
  3. The evolutionary expression of the soul as it shows forth in the form of that elusive something which brings about the synthesis of matter. As the two merge by means of this active energizing factor, that which is termed consciousness appears.15 As [49] the merging proceeds and the fires become more and more synthesized, that totality of manifestation which we regard as a conscious existence becomes ever more perfected.
  4. The operation of this fire under the Law of Attraction.
  5. The subsequent result in the spiral-cyclic movement which we call, within the system, solar evolution, but which (from the standpoint of a cosmos) is the approximation of our system to its central point. This must be considered from the standpoint of time.16
The third fire deals with:
  1. The evolution of spirit.
    Practically nothing can at this stage be communicated anent this evolution. The development of spirit can be only expressed as yet in terms of the evolution of matter, and only through the adequacy of the vehicle, and through the suitability of the sheath, the body or form, can the point of [50] spiritual development reached in any way be appraised. A word of warning should here be interpolated: Just as it is not possible upon the physical plane for the physical vehicle fully to express the total point of development of the Ego or higher self, so it is not possible even for the Ego fully to sense and express the quality of spirit. Hence the utter impossibility for human consciousness justly to appraise the life of the spirit or Monad.
  2. The working of the flame divine under the Law of Synthesis – a generic term which will be seen eventually to include the other two laws as subdivisions.
  3. The subsequent result of forward progressive motion – a motion which is rotary, cyclic and progressive.
The whole matter dealt with in this Treatise concerns the subjective essence of the solar system, not primarily either the objective or spiritual aspect. It concerns the Entities who indwell the form, who demonstrate as animating factors through the medium of matter, and primarily through etheric matter; who are evolving a second faculty, the fire of mind, and who are essentially themselves points of fire, cast off through cosmic friction, produced by the turning of the cosmic wheel, swept into temporary limited manifestation and due eventually to return to their central cosmic center. They will return plus the results of evolutionary growth, and through assimilation they will have intensified their fundamental nature, and be spiritual fire plus the fire manasic.
The internal fire of matter is called in the Secret Doctrine "Fire by Friction." It is an effect and not a cause, It is produced by the two fires of spirit and of mind (electric and solar fire) contacting each other through the medium of matter. This energy demonstrates in [51] matter itself as the internal fires of the sun, and of the planets and finds a reflection in the internal fires of man. Man is the Flame Divine and the fire of Mind brought into contact through the medium of substance or form. When evolution ends, the fire of matter is not cognizable. It persists only when the other two fires are associated, and it does not persist apart from substance itself.
Let us now briefly recognize certain facts regarding fire in matter and let us take them in order, leaving time to elucidate their significance. First we might say that the internal fire being both latent and active, shows itself as the synthesis of the acknowledged fires of the system, and demonstrates, for instance, as solar radiation and inner planetary combustion. This subject has been somewhat covered by science, and is hidden in the mystery of physical plane electricity, which is an expression of the active internal fires of the system and of the planet just as inner combustion is an expression of the latent internal fires. These latter fires are to be found in the interior of each globe, and are the basis of all objective physical life.
Secondly, we might note that the internal fires are the basis of life in the lower three kingdoms of nature, and in the fourth or human kingdom in connection with the two lower vehicles. The Fire of Mind, when blended with the internal fires, is the basis of life in the fourth kingdom, and united they control (partially now and later entirely) the lower threefold man or the personality; this control lasts up to the time of the first Initiation.
The fire of Spirit finally, when blended with the two other fires (which blending commences in man at the first initiation), forms a basis of spiritual life or existence. As evolution proceeds in the fifth or spiritual kingdom, these three fires blaze forth simultaneously, producing perfected consciousness. This blaze results in the final [52] purification of matter and its consequent adequacy; at the close of manifestation it brings about eventually the destruction of the form and its dissolution, and the termination of existence as understood on the lower planes. In terms of Buddhistic theology it produces annihilation; this involves, not loss of identity, but the cessation of objectivity and the escape of Spirit, plus mind, to its cosmic center. It has its analogy in the initiation at which the adept stands free from the limitations of matter in the three worlds.
The internal fires of the system, of the planet, and of man are threefold:
1. Interior fire at the center of the sphere, those inner furnaces which produce warmth. This is latent fire.
2. Radiatory fire. This type of fire might be expressed in terms of physical plane electricity, of light rays, and of etheric energy. This is active fire.
3. Essential fire, or the fire elementals who are themselves the essence of fire. They are mainly divided into two groups:
  1. Fire devas or evolutionary entities.
  2. Fire elementals or involutionary entities.
Later we will elaborate on this when we consider the Fire of Mind and deal with the nature of the thought elementals. All these elementals and devas are under the control of the fire Lord, Agni. When considering Him and His kingdom the subject can be taken up at greater length.
We might here point out, however, that our first two statements concerning the internal fires, express the effect that the fire entities have upon their environment. Heat and radiation are other terms which might be applied in this sense. Each of these effects produces a [53] different class of phenomena. Latent fire causes the active growth of that in which it is embedded and causes that upward pushing which brings into manifestation all that is found in the kingdoms of nature. Radiatory fire causes the continued growth of that which has progressed, under the influence of latent fire, to a point receptive of the radiatory. Let us tabulate it thus:
Systemic or Macrocosmic: The solar Logos or The Grand Man of the Heavens. Latent or interior fire produces the internal heat which makes the solar system productive of all forms of life. It is the inherent warmth that causes all fertilization, whether human, animal, or vegetable. Active or radiatory fire retains in life and causes the evolution of all that has evolved into objectivity by means of latent fire.
Planetary, or the Heavenly Men: What is laid down anent the system, as a whole, can be predicated of all planets which in their nature reflect the Sun, their elder brother.
Human, or the Microcosmic Man: Human latent fire, the heat interior of the human frame causes production of other forms of life, such as:
  1. The physical body cells.
  2. Organisms nourished by the latent heat.
  3. The reproduction of itself in other human forms, the basis of the sex function.
Human radiatory, or active fire, is a factor as yet but little comprehended; it relates to the health aura and to that radiation from the etheric which makes a man a healer, and able to transmit active heat.
It is necessary to differentiate between this radiation from the etheric, which is a radiation of prana, and magnetism, which is an emanation from a subtler body (usually the astral), and has to do with the manifestation of [54] the Divine Flame within the material sheaths. The Divine Flame is formed on the second plane, the monadic, and magnetism (which is a method of demonstrating radiatory fire) is therefore felt paramountly on the fourth and sixth planes, or through the buddhic and astral vehicles. These are, as we know, closely allied to the second plane. This distinction is of importance and should be carefully recognized.
Having, therefore, made the above statements, we can proceed to take up somewhat in greater detail the interior fires of the systems, microcosmic and macrocosmic. [55]