We have now concluded our consideration of thought forms, having viewed the whole universe (including man) as an embodied thought, and having dealt with the ability [1028] of man himself to create forms for the clothing of his ideas.

We now return once more to the realm of technicalities, and to the more scientific part of our thesis. I use the word "scientific," for that which will be said concerns that which is proven and known to occultists, and deals with facts. The modern fact of the modern scientist is his approximation of a part, and often an infinitesimal part, of some greater whole, and even then it concerns only the most objective part of manifestation, for that which is the essence is not regarded as a reality at all by them as it is by the real occult knower. That which we see and can touch is but an effect of inner underlying causes. The occultist does not concern himself with effects, but only with their originating cause. The modern scientist, therefore, is not as yet occupying himself with causes, and during the past only approached the realm of these initiatory impulses when he began to comprehend the energy aspect of matter, and to consider the nature of the atom. When he can pass more directly in his thoughts to the discussion and consideration of the etheric substratum which underlies the tangible, then and only then will he be entering the domain of causes, and even in this case, only those physical causes which underlie the grossly objective; he will not really have ascertained the vital impulses which produce Being. Yet a great step will have been made for, under the Law of Analogy, he will then be in a position to comprehend some of the major secrets of solar manifestation; for the planes of our solar system constitute, as we know, and as this Treatise seeks to demonstrate, the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane.

It is apparent to all careful students of this Treatise on Fire that in this section we are concerned with:

• First, that mode of activity which distinguishes the Vishnu aspect of Deity, or the motion of the Divine [1029] Manasaputras. This involves, therefore, a consideration of the effects of this motion:
  1. Within the planetary schemes, Their bodies.
  2. Upon the atoms or "Points" in those bodies, the human and deva Monads.
• Second, that impulse which is the basis of the Law of Periodicity, and which results in the cyclic incarnation of all Beings. This impulse manifests in three cycles or in three turns of the wheel of Being.
  1. The activity which produces involution, or the submergence in matter of Life or Spirit.
  2. The activity which produces the equilibrium of these two forces, matter and Spirit, or manifestation, or the processes of evolution.
  3. The activity which withdraws the central energy from out of the responsive form and produces obscuration.
• Third, that activity which causes the interplay – attraction and consequent repulsion – between all atoms, from the great cosmic atom, a solar system, to the tiny atom of the chemist or the physicist. This activity, therefore, may be viewed as:
  1. Inter-cosmic, or affecting constellations.
  2. Interplanetary, or affecting the schemes.
  3. Interchain, or affecting the chains.
  4. Inter-globular, or producing an interchange of force between the globes of the chains.
  5. Inter-sectional, or affecting the transference of force between the five kingdoms of nature.
  6. Inter-human, or relating to the interplay between the various human units.
  7. Inter-atomic, or the passage of force from one atom to another atom.

Students need here to remember that we are concerned with the energy or activity which produces forms, and, [1030] therefore, with the forces which tend to coherence, to concretion, and to the stabilization of the work of the builders. If they but realized it, the key to much that is connected with the production of forms, or of the Son, the second aspect, is contained in the above tabulation, for all nature holds together, and the life of any scheme, globe, kingdom, or atom, becomes in turn the animating principle of another scheme, globe, kingdom, or atom. Everything in the solar system is in a state of flux, as is everything in the universe, and the vital energy circulates, as the blood or the nervous energy of the body circulates, throughout the entire system. This is the basis of the occult fact that all in nature, for instance, will be, is, or has been, through the human kingdom.³⁰⁵ Under this type of solar activity, the ultimate good is attained by the method of interplay, interchange, and in mutual attraction and repulsion.

It would be advisable here if students would study that which was communicated in the early part of this treatise upon motion upon the physical and astral planes. Under the Law of Analogy, much will be noted as necessarily translated on to the higher plane, and to be transmuted into the energy of the form-building impulse. We will consider what we have to say in this section under the following heads:

1. The nature of this motion – spiral cycling.
2. The results of its activity. These results can be viewed as four subsidiary laws or adjuncts to the major law of Attraction, and may be called:
   • The Law of Expansion.
   • The Law of Monadic Return.
   • The Law of Solar Evolution.
   • The Law of Radiation. [1031]
   It will, therefore, be apparent that, as we consider these laws, we are dealing with matters that concern:
   • The process of initiation.
   • The life of the divine pilgrims upon the upward arc.
   • The impulse which produces the Son, and which drives Him to gain experience through the medium of the solar system.
   • Magnetism, or Divine Alchemy.
3. The turning of the wheel,
   1. The solar wheel,
   2. The planetary wheel,
   3. The human wheel.
   This will involve our taking up the consideration of the orbital paths of these various spheres, their centers, interplay and inter-communication, and of force transference, and will bring out the concept that all spiral-cyclic activity is not the result of the rotary action of matter itself, but of an impulse emanating from without any particular atom, and therefore extraneous to it.
4. Motion, or the form-building impulse latent in:
   1. The mental sheath itself, both cosmically and humanly considered.
   2. The causal body of the macrocosm and the microcosm.
   3. The centers, divine and human.
5. The effects of the united activity of the sheath, the centers, and the causal body as it produces:
   1. Periodic manifestation.
   2. The linking of the triangles.
   3. The relation between the throat center, the alta major center, and the mental center, macrocosmically and microcosmically considered. [1032]

As we well know, the nature of the motion on the plane of matter is rotary. Each atom of matter rotates on its own axis, and each larger atom, from the purely physical standpoint, likewise does the same; a cosmic atom, a solar system, a planetary atom, and a human atom, man, can be seen equally rotating at differing degrees of velocity upon their own axis or around their own pole. When we arrive at the plane of mind, and have to consider the activity of the second aspect of divinity, that which builds and holds the forms in coherent form, and which is the basis of the phenomenon we call time (literally, the awareness of the form), a different type of force or motion becomes apparent. This type of energy in no way negates or renders useless the atomic rotary type, but involves it, and yet at the same time it brings the atoms of all degrees under the influence of its own activity, so that in every form which is in manifestation, the two types are manifested. I would here remind the student that we are primarily considering the force of the second aspect as it concerns the human and superhuman kingdoms, or as the Manasaputras and their various groups are concerned. On the involutionary arc, the Vishnu force is likewise felt, but until the nature of the group soul is more apprehended, and the quality of the Life who informs each of the subhuman kingdoms of nature is known with greater accuracy, it will profit us more to deal with force as it affects the human being, the planet on which he may be found, and the system in which that planet is playing its part.

The activity of the second aspect has been called spiral-cyclic, which in itself involves the concept of duality. This activity is the cause of all cyclic evolution, and has been called in the occult phraseology "the activity of Brahma's year." It is that which brings about the [1033] periodical appearing and disappearing of all existences, great or small. It is intimately linked with the will aspect of Divinity, and with the Lipika Lords of the highest degree and its origin is, therefore, difficult for us to comprehend. Perhaps all that can be said about it is that it is largely due to certain impulses which (as far as our solar system is concerned) can be traced to the sun Sirius. These impulses find their analogy in the impulses emanating in cyclic fashion from the causal body of man, which impulses bring about his appearance upon the plane of maya for a temporary period. A hint may here be given to the earnest student; in the threefold Ego (the lives who form the central bud, the lives of the petals, and the triple group of lives who form the three permanent atoms) is seen a correspondence to the three groups of Lipika Lords who are the karmic cause of solar manifestation, and who control its periodic manifestation. These three groups are related to Their guiding Intelligences on Sirius.

The Law of Periodicity is the effect produced by the amalgamation of these two types of force with a third. The two types of force or energy are the activity of the first Aspect, the logoic will or purpose, and the energy of the second aspect. This purpose is hidden in foreknowledge of the Logos and is completely hidden even from the Adept of the fifth Initiation. The Adept has achieved a comprehension of the purpose of the Son, and for Him there remains the problem to recognize the purpose of the Father. The one is the impulse behind the forward movement of all life, and the other the impulse behind its cyclic activity, and this is called spiral-cyclic. When this blended dual force is brought in touch with the rotary activity of matter itself, we have the triple activity of the Ego, for instance, which is rotary-spiral-cyclic, and that which results in the stimulation of the self-contained atom, in the periodical emergence of form, and in the [1034] steady, though slow, progress towards a goal. We might, for the sake of clarity, differentiate the effects thus:

1. Rotary activity – The internal activity of every atom viewed as a unity, the activity of Brahma or the Holy Spirit, perfected in the first solar system. It is unified individual consciousness – "I am."
2. Cyclic activity – The activity of all forms, viewing them from the aspect of consciousness, and of time. It is unified group consciousness – "I am That," the activity of Vishnu in process of being perfected in this the second solar system.
3. Spiral activity – The influence which impresses all forms, which emanates from their greater center, and which merges itself a little, a very little, with the two other modes of motion, being practically lost sight of in the stronger vibration. It is the activity which will be perfected in the third solar system, and is the Shiva form of motion, and the unified consciousness of all groups. It is the consciousness which proclaims "I am That I am."

One of the primary things the occult student should remember when considering the nature of spiral-cyclic activity, is that it has two effects.

• First, it is an attractive force, gathering the rotating atoms of matter into definite types and forms, and holding them there as long as necessity demands.
• Secondly, it is itself gradually dominated by another and higher vibration, and through its spiraling progress through matter it sweeps those forms systematically nearer and nearer to another and stronger point of energy.

These effects are to be seen clearly demonstrated in man's evolution in the approach he makes uniformly through the cycles to the center of the spiral-cyclic [1035] energy, and subsequently to the still more impressive point, that of his "Father in Heaven." The Angel first attracts animal man; cyclically He actuates the material sheaths, thus giving them coherence, and ever swings them into closer relation to himself. Later, as the momentum is increased, the man is swung more definitely into relation with the monadic aspect, until that higher rhythm is imposed upon him. This is equally true of a planetary Logos, and of a solar Logos.

The spiral-cyclic force demonstrates, as might be expected, in seven ways; of these, the three major methods of demonstration are symbolized in the Rod of Initiation of Sanat Kumara. The Rod most frequently recognized by men is that of the Hierophant, the Bodhisattva, which consists of the straight central serpent with the two others entwined around it, thus picturing, among other things:

1. The three outpourings,
2. The three worlds,
3. The spinal column and its channels,

or those main factors with which the initiate concerns himself. He has to understand somewhat the nature of matter and what is occultly involved in that expression, his own triple constitution, the three worlds in which he has to play his part, and the instrument which he has to use. This rod of the Bodhisattva is surmounted by a diamond which is not as great a diamond as the "Flaming Diamond" of the first Kumara, but is of rare beauty. At the time of initiation when the electrical forces are tapped, this diamond revolves on its axis, picturing the rotary nature of atomic matter.

The Rod of Sanat Kumara is far more intricate, and instead of the central Rod, or Serpent, standing on the tip of its tail, all the three serpents are interwoven in a spiral fashion, and the Flaming Diamond which [1036] surmounts it is of such radiance that the effect is produced of a spheroidal aura, cast around the interlaced serpents, typifying the form-building nature of the Vishnu activity.

According to the initiation taken, a reflection will be seen from a part of the interlaced serpents, and the illusion will be created that the diamond is cycling up and down between the summit, and the irradiated portion.

At the same time, each serpent revolves upon itself, and likewise cycles around its neighbor, producing an effect of extraordinary brilliance and beauty, and typifying rotary-spiral-cyclic force.

The seven types of spiral-cyclic energy are suggestive of the nature of the planetary Logoi which they represent, and produce, therefore, the distinctions which exist between men; they are accountable for the nature of cycles, and this is a point oft overlooked. Students discuss the periods of the emergence of the Rays, setting arbitrary dates, such as 2500 years, for the manifestation of any particular ray. One ray does pass through its cycle in that length of time, but only one, the others being either longer or shorter. The difference has a great effect upon the egoic cycles, and is responsible for the length of time between incarnations. Some Egos cycle through their incarnations and their pralayas very rapidly; others spend untold aeons, and hence it is impossible to say that there are even "averages" connected with the appearance of Egos on the astral plane, for instance. This fact has bearing upon the statement of H. P. B. anent the Lodge effort each one hundred years. Under the particular type of cyclic force emanating from the Lodge, the high water mark of its activity is to be found once in every seven cycles. All that originates on that Ray is controlled by spiral-cyclic efforts based upon the number 10 and its multiples, and finding its highest cyclic vibration, as it happens, during the last [1037] quarter of each century. What our more modern students are apt to forget in this connection is that this activity is but the demonstration of one type of force out of seven possible and that it concerns primarily that group of adepts who are on that particular line of energy, and will necessarily affect greatly all disciples and people on a similar line. At the same time, the work it initiates is endorsed by the Lodge as a whole, for it is part of the force emanation of the planetary Logos. It is naturally of great importance owing to the fact that this ray-energy is that of one of the three major Rays; but it will be, in the equilibrising process, balanced by analogous cyclic emanatory activity from the two other major Rays.

It might be added here that when this is recognized it will become apparent that the revolutionizing scientific discoveries which can be traced down the centuries, such as the formulation of the Law of Gravitation, the circulation of the blood, the ascertainment of the nature of steam, the discovery by man of that form of electrical phenomena which he has harnessed, and the more recent discovery of radium, are in their own department (that of the Mahachohan), analogous to the effort made during the last quarter of each century to stimulate the evolution of men through a further revelation of some part of the Secret Doctrine. Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Harvey, and the Curies are, on their own line of force, lightbringers of equal rank with H. P. B. All revolutionized the thought of their time; all gave a great impulse to the ability of man to interpret the laws of nature, and to understand the cosmic process, and only those of circumscribed vision will fail to recognize the unity of the many force impulses emanating from the one Lodge.

These cycles will not coincide, for they are not all similar to the one hundred year spiral. Some idea as to the Mahachohan's cycle of emanatory impulses may be [1038] gathered by considering the dates of the foremost scientific discoveries since Plato's time; the cycles of the second ray may also be averaged by a summary of the appearances of the great Teachers down the ages.

The force emanations from the Manu, or those of the first Ray, are easily traced when the races are considered, and this has been done in the recognition of the races and subraces. What is oft overlooked is that each of these rays of energy demonstrates constructively, through the form-building agencies, and destructively through the ability of the force to destroy prior to building. Thus the cycles can be viewed from two angles.

It is at this point that students in one branch of our theosophical movement must recognize the fact that just as H. P. B. came forth on a cyclic tide of energy to destroy the limiting forms to be found in the world of science and religion, so his work must fit in with other force emanations, such as the constructive work of the second ray in conjunction with the energy of the seventh at this time.

When students learn to blend the one hundred year cycles of the first type of energy with the equally powerful impulses from the second Ray and the third, we shall then have a cessation of many controversies. No great impulse will come from the Lodge along the line of the first Ray of Will or Power till the close of a century. One such impulse along another line of force came when the discovery of the nature of the atom was arrived at through the study of electricity, and of radioactive substances, and an impulse from the second aspect is imminent. It is not safe for students with limited vision to dogmatize anent this question of cycles. Apart from the cyclic impulses continuously going forth, overlapping and superseding, and intermingling with each other, there are many which we might call lesser impulses (and the cycle of one hundred years to which H. P. B. refers [1039] is but one of the lesser impulses. There is a one thousand year cycle of greater moment). There are vaster cycles, of 2500 years, of 7,000 years, of 9,000 years, of 15,000 years, and many others which only advanced initiates know of or can follow; these can break in upon any of the lesser impulses, and can be seen appearing, unexpectedly, as far as average man's knowledge is concerned, and yet they are but the returning impulses set in cyclic motion perhaps thousands of years ago.

H. P. B. is right in his affirmation as far as the impulse of the first ray is concerned; but his followers are not right, in so far as they overlook and negate the six other types of impulses, of equal or of more importance, which may emanate cyclically from the Lodge, and which will meet with response from those who vibrate to that particular type of energy.

These results can be studied in four ways, considering each as a subsidiary Law of the basic Law of Attraction and Repulsion. All motion is the result literally of the impact, or intercourse, between atoms, and there is no atom anywhere which escapes this force. In the case of rotary motion, which governs the activity of the atom of substance, the impulse emanates from within the ring-pass-not, and is produced by the impact of the positive charge upon the negative charges. This is true of all atoms, cosmic, solar, individual, chemical, and so forth.

When, however, the effect of the rotation of the atom is so strong that it begins to affect other atoms outside its individual ring-pass-not, another influence begins to make itself felt, which draws together, or dissipates, those contacting coalescing atoms. Thus forms are built under the impulse of aggregated forces of some one kind, and these forms in turn produce effects on other cohering atomic forms, until the rhythm is built up, and a [1040] vibration instigated which is a continuation of the rotary motion of the individual atoms, and the modification produced on them by their group activity. This causes progression and simultaneous rotation. The movement forward is modified considerably by the internal atomic activity, and this it is which causes that motion we call spiral cyclic. It demonstrates in all forms as a tendency to repeat, owing to the backward pull of the rotating atoms, and yet is offset by the strong progressive impulse of the form activity. Students can work this out in connection with:

• The planetary Logos, as He manifests through the rounds, each one of which, in its earlier stages, recapitulates all that has preciously occurred.
• Man, in the antenatal period, in which he runs through the various stages of development.
• Spiritual man, as he creates that which will destroy the "Dweller on the Threshold.

This spiral-cyclic activity, which is distinctive of all forms, can perhaps be comprehended more practically if we study it as an expression of four laws, taking each one briefly in turn:

This law of a gradual evolutionary expansion of the consciousness indwelling every form is the cause of the spheroidal form of every life in the entire solar system. It is a fact in nature that all that is in existence dwells within a sphere.³⁰⁶ The chemical atom is spheroidal; man [1041] dwells within a sphere, as does the planetary Logos and the solar Logos, this sphere being the form matter takes when its own internal activity, and the activity of the form are working in unison. It requires the two types of force – rotary and spiral-cyclic – to produce this. Scientists are beginning to recognize this more or less, and to realize that it is the Law of Relativity, or the relation between all atoms, which produces that which is called Light, and which, in its aggregated phenomena, forms that composite sphere, a solar system. The motion of the constellations external to the solar sphere is responsible for its form in conjunction with its own rotary motion in space. As the wave lengths of the light from the constellations, and their relation to the sun are better understood, and as the effect of those wave lengths or light vibrations (which are either attractive to, or repulsive to, the sun) are understood, much will be revealed. Little has as yet been grasped as to the effect [1042] those constellations in the heavens (which are antagonistic to the solar system), have upon it, and whose wave lengths it will not transmit, whose rays of light do not pierce (if it might be expressed in so unscientific a manner) through the solar periphery.

We are told in the Secret Doctrine that "the seven solar Rays dilate to seven suns and set fire to the whole cosmos." (S. D., II,72) This it is which produces that final burning which ushers in the great pralaya, and brings to an end the logoic incarnation. It is produced under this Law of Expansion, and causes that eventual merging and blending of the seven sacred planetary schemes which marks the achievement of the goal, and their eventual perfection.

In occult literature this term "Law of Expansion" is limited to the discussion of the seven Rays, and to the subject of the planetary initiations. When dealing with the expansions of consciousness of the human being, and his initiations, we group them under the second "Law of Monadic Return."

Students should here remember that we are dealing with the expansions of consciousness of a planetary Logos through the medium of:

1. The chains.
2. The rounds.
3. The kingdoms of nature.
4. The root races.

It should be remembered that the consciousness He is in process of developing is that of the absolute will and purpose of the solar Logos, as it is the expression of the desire of the cosmic Logos.³⁰⁸ Therefore, the expansions might be grouped as follows: [1043]

1. The solar Logos expands His consciousness to include the desire of the cosmic Logos.
2. The planetary Logos expands His consciousness to measure up to the will and purpose of the Solar Logos.
3. The Lords of the Chains are working at the desire consciousness (the love nature) of the planetary Logos.
4. The informing Lives of the globe in the chain are working at the intelligent consciousness of the planetary Logos.

This can be worked out in connection with a globe in a chain (such as our earth-chain) in the following manner.

• The Lord of the world, the planetary Logos, in physical incarnation, works at His own peculiar problem, the bringing through (into physical manifestation upon the planet) of the purpose or will of the solar Logos in any particular scheme. This He does through meditation.
• The totality of Dhyan Chohans of the fifth or spiritual kingdom are occupied with the working out into active manifestation of the will and purpose of the planetary Logos.
• The human family, or the fourth kingdom, is seeking to make manifest the desire, or love nature, of the planetary Logos.
• The three subhuman kingdoms have for objective the [1044] manifesting of the intelligent nature of the planetary Logos.

All this done under the Law of Expansion, by the method of spiraling progression, cyclic growth, rotary repetition, and the summation of each greater spiral is the expansion of the consciousness into that of the sphere which enclosed the lesser ovoid, and the escape of the life imprisoned in the sphere. It is merged in its greater whole. As the fires of the sphere concerned blaze up, the "fire by friction" which produces rotary motion, and "solar fire," which is the basis of the spiral-cyclic activity, blend and merge. The ring-pass-not of the confining spheroidal wall is negated, and a blaze results. The old Commentary expressed this as follows in connection with the planets, and it is equally, though relatively, true, of the atom of substance, or the solar atom:

1. "The life pulsates, and the pole performs its function. The sphere revolves in many cycles. As it revolves it senses other spheres, and seeks to know their secret.
2. They meet each other. They seek a greater intimacy or reject with hatred any more approach. Some pass away; others return and marry. They know each other. They spiral through their courses hand in hand. Through union the fires blaze up, the two become the one, and live again in their Son, who is the Third."

Through the study of these significant words students may learn somewhat concerning "polar affinity," the "Marriage in the Heavens," the transference of the germs of life from the male attractive planet to the negative and receptive one, and finally, at a later period, the absorption of the life of the two planets by a third planet, who is called occultly "the Son." This refers to the synthesizing planet which forms the apex of the solar triangle.

In summing up the effect of the union of individual atomic rotary motion and the spiral cyclic activity of all [1045] atomic groups, it is necessary to point out, therefore, that the following units are affected.

1. The essential individual atom. Its evolutionary progress towards self-determination is brought about by the effect of its group activity, or the motion of the form modifying its own inherent action.
2. The atomic form, likewise an atomic unit, rotating on its own axis and influenced and driven towards the center of force of a higher macrocosm by the activity of its embracing kingdom.
3. The human atom, self-determined and individual, yet driven progressively forward by the influence of its group, or the potent activity of the Heavenly Man in Whose body it is the cell.
4. The planetary atom, equally self-determined, a composite of all planetary groups, rotating on its own axis, yet conforming to the cyclic-spiraling action, induced by the activity of the greater sphere in which it finds its place.
5. The solar Atom, also an individualized Life, the Son in incarnation, through the medium of the Sun, pursuing its own inherent cycle, yet spiraling in cyclic fashion through the heavens, and therefore, progressing through the effect of the extra-cosmic active Lives who either attract or repulse it.

These are the main sets of atomic groups, but there are many intermediate forms upon which it is not possible as yet to touch. All in nature affects that which it contacts, and these effects work either as

1. Attractive or repulsive impulses.
2. Retarding or accelerating impulses.
3. Destructive or constructive impulses.
4. Devitalizing or stimulating impulses.
5. Energizing or disintegrating impulses.

Yet all can be expressed in terms of negative and [1046] positive force, manifesting as rotary or spiral activity. The lesser cycle can, from certain angles of vision, be regarded as appertaining to the rotary activity of certain atomic forms, and the greater cycles, which are so much more difficult for man to follow, as relating to the spiral action of the enclosing Life of the greater sphere. Every atom is part of a greater whole, even the solar atom is not a separated Life but a fragment of an immensity of Existence beyond the ken of man, and which is but dimly cognized by the most advanced Dhyan Chohan.

Here it is possible to study the Monad from the cyclic and energetic standpoint, and divorce our minds temporarily from that aspect of manifestation we call the human, or man.

In considering the "Divine Pilgrim" we can study him as demonstrating in the form of:

1. Three focal points of energy or force.
2. Three fires, each producing a definite effect, and each in turn producing effects upon each other.

In relation to a solar system, these three fires on the cosmic planes are called:³⁰⁹ [1047]

1. The central spiritual sun (essential).
2. The sun (subjective), called 'the heart of the sun.'
3. The physical sun (objective).

and the same thought can be carried through the monadic manifestation. The three monadic centers are distinguished by different types of energy:

1. Monadic – dynamic energy – electric impulse – pure fire.
2. Egoic – magnetic energy – radiatory impulse – solar fire.
3. Personal – individual energy – rotary impulse – fire by friction.

The first produces light, the second heat, and the third moisture or concretion.

By the interplay of the three types of force which constitute the three monadic aspects, a rhythm is set up which eventuates in the formation of:

• A ring-pass-not, or ovoidal sphere, wherein the pilgrim is confined, and which contains within itself three major centers of force, corresponding to
  1. The three major logoic centers when the subjective or force side of existence is contemplated.
  2. The three permanent atoms if the purely objective side is in question.
• A cyclic pulsation, which is the cause of every evolutionary impulse. [1048]

These evolutionary impulses may be regarded as three in number for a solar system, or for a Monad:

• There is the impulse which drives every atom to self-determination, and is the secret of the phenomenon called individualization. It is largely the force called Brahma.
• There is the impulse which forces the individual atom towards group determination, and is the secret of the phenomenon termed "Initiation," or the process of passing out of the human or self-determined individualized Life into the higher kingdom. It is the sum total of the force of Vishnu, the second aspect, and produces the higher states of consciousness.
• There is finally the impulse which forces the planetary groups, the sum total of all atoms and forms, to a conscious realization of the nature of the all-enclosing group, the solar atom.

The Monad, acted upon by the Heavenly Man, intelligently forms his ring-pass-not. There his work ceases from the purely monadic standpoint; the inherent life of the atomic matter thus constituted produces the later phenomena. The rotary life of the atoms, and their interplay, modified by the Life of the planetary group, or Heavenly Man, pursued through long aeons, causes the phenomena of the various involutionary stages up to the point where certain of the atoms have evolved to the consciousness of animal-man. All through this inconceivable period (that is, in connection with our earth sphere) the milliards of atomic lives have pursued their courses, energized by the Life of the Monad, as it pulsates through the medium of the monadic heart on the spiritual plane; and equally they have responded to the larger rhythm of the Heavenly Man. This it is which has produced graded concretion, and brought animal-man to the stage where the upward pull of the Monad itself began to be felt. At the same time, the Monad on its [1049] own plane began to respond to the self-engendered energy of the lower form, the two rhythms contacted, individualization occurred and the pilgrim manifested in his true nature.

Then – as far as concerns the Monad – progressive life forward begins. It is truly cyclic, repetitive and spiraling. At first the action, or the interplay between the rotary lower atomic form, and the influence of the Monad, is lethargic, slow and heavy, and the form retards the action of the Monad, and its heavy vibration tends to offset the higher. Gradually, as the sweeping spirals play their part, the higher vibration makes itself felt, and the activity, or motion, is more balanced, but lighter. Thus the cycles run until the higher rhythm or vibration is so dominant that the influence of the form is negated, and leads to its eventual discarding. Simultaneously with this, the highest rhythm of all makes itself felt, leading to increased activity upon the highest planes, and producing in time a negation of the sheath life of the Ego. As the old Commentary again says:

"The drops of moisture grow heavier. They break as rain upon the lowest plane. They sink into the clay and cause it to blossom. Thus do the waters cover the earth and all the cycles.

Two are the objectives of the fathering drops, and each attained in vastly separated cycles; one is to sink and lose itself in the dark soil of earth; the other to rise and merge itself in the clear air of heaven.

Between the two vast periods the heat doth play its part. But when the heat grows fierce, and the fires within the earth and beneath the waters burn hot and flow, the nature of the many drops is seen to undergo a change. They dissipate in steam. Thus doth the heat perform its part.

Later again the fire electric flashes forth, and turns the steam to that which will permit its passage through the air."

We will now sum up briefly the various vibratory impulses which have a definite effect upon the Monad, and which must be borne in mind as we consider the evolution [1050] of the Divine Pilgrim. It is not the purpose of this Treatise to enlarge upon each distinctive impulse. It but seeks to indicate, leaving to later individual students the expansion of the imparted ideas.

1. Three impulses inherent in the three periodical vehicles, as H. P. B. terms the three main centers of energy through which the Monad manifests:
   1. The energy of the monadic ring-pass-not, viewing it as a unit.
   2. The energy of the causal body, within the monadic periphery.
   3. The energy of the physical body, the synthesis upon the physical plane of the force pouring through into manifestation through the three permanent atoms.
2. The activity set up in the seven etheric centers of force, the result of the activity of the seven principles:
   1. The head center – an esoteric seven with an exoteric three.
   2. The throat center.
   3. The heart center – an esoteric three and exoteric seven.
   4. The solar plexus – an esoteric three and exoteric four.
   5. The organs of generation – an esoteric two.
   6. The base of the spine – an esoteric unity.
3. The inherent activity of every atom in every sheath, which produces the rhythm of the sheath.
4. The unified activity of every sheath or form which the divine Pilgrim uses.
5. The united active motion produced by the unification of the three vehicles, the seven sheaths, the force centers, and the atomic substance.
6. The effect produced by the action of the groups karmically allied with the Pilgrim. They are: [1051]
   1. His Ray vibration, his monadic group.
   2. His subray vibration, or the vibration of the egoic group.
   3. His personality affiliations, such as his family, racial, and national energy. All of these play upon the sensitive atoms in the various bodies and produce specific effects.
7. The activity or motion initiated and stimulated by the life of any of the three lower kingdoms in nature, – all of which produce definite results.
8. The vibration of the particular planet upon which the monad may be seeking expression and experience.
9. The effect produced in the substance of the sheaths by the influences, or vibrations, of the various planets. This, esoterically understood, is the influence of some one or other of the solar centers, as the forces emanating from them play upon the planetary centers and thereby affect the involved monadic units. This is hidden in the karma of the Heavenly Man, and when true esoteric astrology comes into being then more anent this will be given out. Astrology as now studied and taught misleads more than it helps, and astrological students are as yet learning but the a-b–c of this stupendous subject, and are occupied with the exoteric fringes of that great veil which has been wisely thrown over all planetary lore.
10. Another form of energy which must ever be considered is that of the planetary Logos, as He pours His force through some one chain or some one globe upon the groups of evolving human units. This – from the human standpoint – cannot as yet be calculated, as it is dependent upon the occult "turning of the attention" by the planetary Logos in meditation upon any center in His body corporate. It is, of course, all under cosmic law, but beyond the realization of man. It involves [1052] cognizance of the planetary individual purpose, which is not revealed until the later initiations.
11. The inherent energy of the solar atom itself has likewise a rhythmic effect upon the individual Monad, and though it only reaches the monad via the greater centers of Existence yet it has its effect upon one and all. This is another factor not sufficiently recognized.
12. Finally, the energy of the greater life (in which our solar system but forms a part) has to be reckoned with, and the impulses emanating from the cosmic Logos, the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID reach the monadic lives and produce stimulation or retardation according to the nature of the cosmic ideation. These are necessarily entirely outside the ken of average man and are only touched upon as no tabulation would be complete without them.
13. There is also to be borne in mind the play of energy which emanates from any one of those "Twelve signs of the Zodiac" with which astrology concerns itself. This type of force is primarily concerned with planetary stimulation, with the planetary Logoi, and is hidden in Their cyclic karma, – a karma which of course will incidentally involve those monads and devas which form Their bodies and centers.
14. We must not ignore the three great waves of energy which sweep cyclically through the entire solar system from:
    1. The seven stars of the Great Bear. The strength of these vibrations depends upon the closeness of the connection and the accuracy of the alignment between any particular Heavenly Man and His Prototype. The mystery here is profound; it is connected with the stage in evolution of the "imperfect gods" and the objective of the planetary deities. [1053]
    2. The Seven Sisters, or the Pleiades, and from that one in particular who is occultly termed "the wife" of the planetary Logos whose scheme will eventually receive the seeds of life from our planet, which is not considered a sacred planet, as has before been stated.
    3. The sun Sirius.

There are other streams of energetic force which have an effect upon the Pilgrim everywhere, but the above enumeration will serve to show the complexity of the subject and the vastness of the scheme of evolution. All these vibratory emanations pass through the sphere cyclically; they come and go, and according to their presence or their non presence and according to the stage of evolution of the emanating Existence will depend the phenomenal character of all life, will depend the nature of any specific period, and the quality of the manifesting Monads. It is the appearance or the disappearance of these waves of life-force (planetary, interplanetary, systemic, cosmic and inter-cosmic) which sweeps into incarnation the divine pilgrims, and which brings about the cyclic manifestation of such great Lives as the "Silent Watcher" and the "Great Sacrifice"; it is this which causes also the dissolution of a scheme, and its reappearance, and is responsible for the transportation of the life seeds from one scheme to another, or from one solar system to another.

In this great tide of forces, the Monads are swept along; their aggregate is termed the "force of evolution," and the life and persistence of the initiatory Being sets the term for their duration. Man is but the plaything of the forces which gather him up and carry him on, just as the atom, in the human frame is but the obedient servant of the man's imposing direction; yet within limits man is the controller of his destiny; within [1054] limits he wields forces and energies, he manipulates lesser lives and controls lesser centers of energy, and as time slips away his radius of control becomes ever more extensive.

The atom controls its own central life; man can control the sets of lives who form his three bodies; the initiate and the adept are controlling energies of many kinds in the three worlds, as the Chohan does on the five planes of evolution. Thus the plan is carried forward until the Army of the Voice become themselves the Sounder of the Words, and the Sounders of the Words become the Word itself.

It will, therefore, be apparent, that the "Law of Monadic Return" which we have just been considering, is the sumtotal of those influences which have a direct bearing upon the monadic atoms, which affect its progress cyclically, and which stimulate it, or retard its activity according to the strength of the initiating life. It is only after initiation that the human atom reaches a stage in its development where forces and influences begin to be comprehended. When the methods are understood whereby adjustment is consciously made to extraneous force currents, resistance to retarding forces is initiated consciously and with scientific accuracy, and the man consciously puts himself into line with forces which will swing him along on the path of return. There is in this thought no undue complexity or cause for discouragement, for ever the potent force of electrical energy will offset the more lethargic vibration of solar fire, and solar fire itself in due time will negate the effects of fire by friction."

It is, of course, a truism to state that the Law of Solar Evolution is the sumtotal of all the lesser activities. [1055] We might consider this point in connection with the planetary atom, and the solar atom.

The planetary atom has, as all else in nature, three main activities:

First. It rotates upon its own axis, revolves cyclically within its own ring-pass-not, and thus displays its own inherent energy. What is meant by this phrase? Surely that the milliards of atoms which compose the planetary body (whether dense or subtle) pursue an orbital course around the central energetic positive unit. This dynamic force center must be considered as subsisting naturally in two locations (if such an unsuitable term is permissible) according to the stage, usage, and particular type of the indwelling planetary entity.

1. In what corresponds to the head center in man, if the planetary Logos is of very advanced development.
2. In the planetary correspondence to the heart center.

The throat center is, of course, ever vibrant in all the Logoi, as all are fully intelligent Creators, having perfected this capacity in an earlier solar system.

Students should here bear in mind that these centers of force are to be found depicted in the central Triangles upon the chart on page 373,^{Chart VI} though no indication is to be found through a study of such triangles as to the relative attainment of the planetary Logos. Within the chains likewise, will be found corresponding centers of energy, and also within the dense physical body of the Logos of any scheme, the physical planet.

One such center is to be found at the North Pole, and two more are located within the planetary sphere, and frequently the inflow of force or energy to these internal centers (via the polar center) results in those disasters we call earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

There is, as we know, a cyclic shifting of polar inclination, [1056] due to the gradually increasing responsiveness of the planetary Logos to His heavenly Prototype, whereby influences from the Great Bear draw, or occultly, "attract," the attention of the Logos, and bring Him more into line with a greater impulsive Will. This shifting causes disruption in His lower manifestation, which is a condition on the cosmic Path of Initiation analogous to that undergone by a disciple.

The planetary atom revolves upon its axis and comes periodically under influences which produce definite effects. These influences are, among others, those of the moon, and of the two planets which lie nearest to it on either side – nearer and farther away from the Sun. The moon's influence is exceedingly strong, and has a curious resemblance (as far as the physical planet is concerned) to the "Dweller on the Threshold," which has such a familiar and potent effect upon the human atom. The resemblance must not be strained, for it should be borne in mind that the moon has no effect upon the Heavenly Man Himself, as His stage of evolution negates such a thing, but that the influence felt is by the planetary Entity – the sumtotal of the elemental essences of the planet. Scientific occult students will learn much anent the planetary scheme when they consider the influence of the moon's karmic pull upon the earth, coupled with the effect of the two neighboring planets, occultly understood.

Second, the planetary atom also revolves orbitally around its solar center. This is its expression of rotary-spiral-cyclic action, and its recognition of the divine central magnet. This brings it under the constant impression of other schemes, each of which produces effects upon the planet. It likewise brings it under the inflowing streams of energy from what are termed the zodiacal constellations which reach the planetary scheme via the great center, the Sun. It will be apparent to any student [1057] who has even slightly developed the power of visualization, and has some realization of the force currents of the solar system, that all can be regarded as the swirling tide of intermingling currents, with numerous focal points of energy demonstrating here and there, yet in no way static as to location.

The third activity of the planetary atom is that which carries it through space along with the entire solar system, and which embodies its "drift" or inclination towards the systemic orbit in the heavens.

The solar atom must be considered as pursuing analogous lines of activity and as paralleling on a vast scale the evolution of the planetary atom. The entire solar sphere, the logoic ring-pass-not, rotates upon its axis, and thus all that is included within the sphere is carried in a circular manner through the Heavens. The exact figures of the cycle which covers the vast rotation must remain as yet esoteric, but it may be stated that it approximates one hundred thousand years, being, as might be supposed, controlled by the energy of the first aspect, and therefore of the first Ray. This of itself is sufficient to account for varying and diverse influences which may be traced over vast periods by those with the "seeing eye," for it causes a turning of varying parts of the sphere to the differing zodiacal constellations. This influence (in connection with the planets) is increased or mitigated according to the place of the planets on their various orbital paths. Hence the immense complexity of the matter and the impossibility for the average astronomical and astrological student to make accurate computations or to draw accurate horoscopes. Within the Hall of Wisdom, there exists a department of which the modern varying astrological organizations are but the dim and uncertain reflections. The Adepts connected with it work not with humanity but concern Themselves specifically with "casting the horoscopes" (thus [1058] ascertaining the nature of the work immediately to be done) of the various great lives who inform the globes and kingdoms of nature, with ascertaining the nature of the karmic influences working out in the manifestation of three of the planetary Logoi:

1. Our own planetary Logos.
2. The planetary Logos of our polar opposite.
3. The planetary Logos of the scheme which makes with the two above mentioned a planetary triangle.

Beyond that, They may not go. They progress these various horoscopes for the next stated cycle, and Their records are of profound and significant interest. I would conjure students here to refrain from attempting (in years to come) to form cyclic computations of any kind, for as yet the many constellations which exist only in physical matter of an etheric nature are unknown and unseen. Yet they are potent in influence and until etheric vision is developed, all calculations will be full of error. It suffices for man as yet to master his own dharma, to fulfil group karma, and to dominate what is called "his stars."

Like the planetary atom, the solar atom not only rotates on its axis but likewise spirals in a cyclic fashion through the Heavens. This is a different activity to the drift or progressive dynamic motion through the Heavens. It deals with the revolution of our Sun around a central point and with its relation to the three constellations so oft referred to in this Treatise:

• The Great Bear.
• The Pleiades.
• The Sun Sirius.

These three groups of solar bodies are of paramount influence where the spiral cyclic activity of our system is concerned. Just as in the human atom the spiral cyclic [1059] activity is egoic and controlled from the egoic body, so in connection with the solar system these three groups are related to the logoic Spiritual Triad, atma-buddhi-manas, and their influence is dominant in connection with solar incarnation, with solar evolution, and with solar progress.

Further, it must be added that the third type of motion to which our system is subjected, that of progress onward, is the result of the united activity of the seven constellations (our solar system forming one of the seven) which form the seven centers of the cosmic Logos. This united activity produces a uniform and steady push (if it might so be expressed) toward a point in the heavens unknown as yet to even the planetary Logoi.

The confines of the Heavens Themselves are illimitable and utterly unknown. Naught but the wildest speculation is possible to the tiny finite minds of men and it profits us not to consider the question. Go out on some clear starlit night and seek to realize that in the many thousands of suns and constellations visible to the unaided eye of man, and in the tens of millions which the modern telescope reveals there is seen the physical manifestation of as many millions of intelligent existences; this infers that what is visible is simply those existences who are in incarnation. But only one-seventh of the possible appearances are incarnating. Six-sevenths are out of incarnation, waiting their turn to manifest, and holding back from incarnation until, in the turning of the great wheel, suitable and better conditions may eventuate.

Realize further that the bodies of all these sentient intelligent cosmic, solar and planetary Logoi are constituted of living sentient beings, and the brain reels, and the mind draws back in dismay before such a staggering concept. Yet so it is, and so all moves forward to some unfathomable and magnificent consummation which will only in part begin to be visioned by us when our [1060] consciousness has expanded beyond the cosmic physical plane, and beyond the cosmic astral until it can "conceive and think" upon the cosmic mental plane. That supposes a realization beyond that of the Buddhas who have the consciousness of the cosmic physical plane, and beyond that of the planetary Logoi. It is the consciousness and knowledge of a solar Logos.

To the occult student, who has developed the power of the inner vision, the vault of Heaven can therefore be seen as a blazing fire of light, and the stars as focal points of flame from which radiate streams of dynamic energy. Darkness is light to the illumined Seer, and the secret of the Heavens can be read and expressed in terms of force currents, energy centers, and dynamic fiery systemic peripheries.

It will be found that more time will be given to this expression of divine activity than to any other in this section, as it is the one of the most practical utility. This Law of Radiation is one that is beginning to be recognized by scientists since their acceptation of the radioactivity of certain substances, and when they are willing to approximate the occult conception of the radiatory, or emanatory condition, of all substances at a specific point in evolution, then they will very definitely approach Reality.

Radiation is the outer effect produced by all forms in all kingdoms when their internal activity has reached such a stage of vibratory activity that the confining walls of the form no longer form a prison, but permit of the escape of the subjective essence. It marks a specific point of attainment in the evolutionary process, and this is equally true of the atom of substance with which the chemist and physicist deal, when working with the elements, as it is of the forms in the vegetable kingdom, the [1061] forms in the animal kingdom, in the human, and, like-wise, in the divine.

From some angles of vision, it might be regarded as the "true form" (which is to be understood occultly as the etheric form of energy) making its presence felt in such a way that it becomes apparent even to the scientist. Students should here remember two things:

• First, that in all occult conclusions, it is the body of energy which is dealt with and the subjective life back of the form which is recognized as being of supreme importance.
• Second, that the dense objective manifestation, as has been reiterated frequently, is not regarded as a principle at all; the occultist deals with principles alone.

It might be of value here to remind the student also that three things have to be recognized in all manifestation:

• First, that the tangible objective exterior, negative, receptive, and occultly unorganized, is without form and usefulness apart from the inner energy.
• Second, that the "true form" or the force-vehicle energizes and produces the cohesion of that which is unorganized.

Third, that the "volatile essence," or the spiritual essential Life, focuses itself in some one point within the "true form."³¹⁰ [1062]

In studying the subject of radiatory activity, we are dealing with the effect produced by the inner essence as it makes its presence felt through the form, when the form has been brought to a stage of such refinement that it becomes possible.

When this realization is applied to all the forms in all the kingdoms, it will be found possible to bridge the gaps existing between the different forms of life, and the "elements" in every kingdom, and those unifying radiating centers will be found. The word "element" is yet confined to the basic substances in what is called essential matter, and the chemist and physicist are busy with such lives; but their correspondence (in the occult sense of the term) is to be found in every kingdom in nature, and there are forms of life in the vegetable kingdom which are occultly regarded as "radioactive," the eucalyptus tree being one such form. There are forms of animal life equally at an analogous stage and the human unit (as it approaches "liberation") demonstrates a similar phenomenon.

Again, as a planetary scheme nears its consummation, it becomes "radioactive," and through radiation transfers its essence to another "absorbent planet," or planets, as is the case with a solar system also. Its essence, or true Life, is absorbed by a receiving constellation, and the outer "case" returns to its original unorganized condition. [1063]

Under our consideration of the law of radiation, we will first of all take up the topic of the cause of radiation.

The student will only be able to get a true view of this matter if he views the subject in a large way. Two aspects of the matter naturally come before his mental vision, both of which must be dealt with if any adequate concept of this subject is to be reached, – a subject which has engrossed philosophers, scientists and alchemists for hundreds of years consciously or unconsciously. We must, therefore, consider:

1. That which radiates.
2. That which is the subjective cause of radiation.

It might be very briefly stated that when any form becomes radioactive, certain conditions have been fulfiled and certain results brought about, which conditions and results might be summed up as follows:

The radioactive form is one which has run through its appointed cycles, through its wheel of life, great or small, which has been turned with adequate frequency, so that the volatile life-essence is ready to escape from that form and merge itself in the greater form of which the lesser is but a part. It must be remembered in this connection that radiation occurs when the etheric or true form becomes responsive to certain types of force. Radiation, as it is occultly understood, does not concern itself with the escape from the physical or dense form, but with that period in the life of any living entity (atomic, human or divine) wherein the etheric or pranic body is in such a state that it can no longer limit or confine the indwelling life.

Radiation comes about when the internal, self-sufficient life of any atom is offset by a stronger urge, or pull, emanating from the enveloping greater existence of whose body it may form a part. This is nevertheless only true when it is caused by the pull upon the essential [1064] life by the essential life of the greater form; it is not due to the attractive power of the form aspect of that greater life. A very definite distinction must here be made. It is the failure to recognize this that has led so many alchemical students and scientific investigators to lose their way, and thus negate the conclusions of years of study. They confuse the impulse of the atom to respond to the vibratory magnetic pull of the more powerful and comprehensive form with the true esoteric attraction which alone produces "occult radiation," – that of the central essential life of the form in which the element under consideration may have place. It is very necessary to make this clear from the start. Perhaps the whole subject may be clearer if we consider it in the following way.

The atom in a form revolves upon its own axis, follows its own revolution, and lives its own internal life. This concerns its primary awareness. As time progresses it becomes magnetically aware of the attractive nature of that which envelops it on all sides, and becomes conscious of the form which surrounds it. This is its secondary awareness but it still concerns what we might, for lack of a better term, call matter. The atom, therefore, has an interplay with other atoms.

Later, the atom in a form becomes aware that it not only revolves upon its axis, but that it also follows an orbit around a greater center of force within a greater form. This is tertiary awareness, and is caused by the magnetic pull of the greater center being felt, thus causing an urge within the atom which impels it to move within certain specific cycles. This awareness, esoterically understood, concerns itself with substance or with the true form within the objective form.

Finally, the attractive pull of the greater center becomes so powerful that the positive life within the atom (whatever type of atom it may be and in whatever kingdom) feels the force of the central energy which holds it, [1065] along with other atoms, coherently fulfiling their function. This energy penetrates through the ring-pass-not, evokes no response from what might be called the electronic or negative lives within the atomic periphery, but does evoke a response from the essential, positive nucleus of the atom. This is due to the fact that the essential life of any atom, its highest positive aspect, is ever of the same nature as that of the greater life which is drawing it to itself. When this is felt sufficiently strongly, the atomic cycle is completed, the dense form is dispelled, the true form is dissipated, and the central life escapes to find its greater magnetic focal point.

Through this process (which is found throughout the solar system in all its departments) every atom in turn becomes an electron. The positive life of any atom in due course of evolution becomes negative to a greater life toward which it is impelled or drawn, and thus the process of evolution carries every life invariably through the four stages enumerated above. Within the three lower kingdoms of nature, the process is undergone unconsciously, according to the human connotation of that term; it is consciously passed through in the human kingdom, and in the higher spheres of existence, with an enveloping consciousness which can only be hinted at in the ambiguous term "self-conscious group realization."

It was in connection with this transmutative process that the alchemists of old occupied themselves, but seldom did they reach the stage wherein it was possible for them to concern themselves with the response of the two types of positive energy to each other, and with the consequent escape of a lesser positive force to its greater attractive center. When they did (with a few exceptions) they were brought up against a dead wall, for though they had succeeded in locating the radiating principle in substance, or in the true form, and had managed to pierce through (or to negate) both the dense physical [1066] body and the etheric form, yet they had no perception of the nature of the central force which was drawing the life they were concerned with out of its apparently legitimate sphere into a new realm of activity. Some few did possess this knowledge but (realizing the danger of their conclusions) refused to put in writing the result of their investigations.

If students will study the laws of transmutation,³¹¹ as already apprehended, and above all, as incorporated in the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, bearing this in mind, some interesting results might be brought about. Let them remember that that which "seeks liberty" is the central electric spark; that this liberty is achieved first of all through the results brought about by the activity of the "frictional fire" which speeds up its internal vibration; then by the work upon the atom, or the substance of solar fire, which causes:

1. Orbital progression,
2. Simulative vibration,
3. Awakened internal response,

until finally electric fire is contacted. This is true of all atoms: [1067]

1. The atom of substance,
2. The atom of a form whatsoever it be,
3. The atom of a kingdom in nature,
4. The atom of a planet,
5. The atom of a solar system.

In every case the three fires or types of energy play their part; in every case the four stages are passed through; in every case transmutation, transference, or radiation takes place, and the result of the escape of the central positive energy is achieved, and its absorption into a greater form, to be held in place for a specific cycle by the stronger energy.

This process of rendering radioactive all the elements has, as we have seen, occupied students down the ages. The alchemists of the middle ages beginning with the simpler elements and starting with the mineral kingdom sought to find out the secret of the liberating process, to know the method of release, and to understand the laws of transmutation. They did not succeed in the majority of cases because, having located the essence, they had no idea how to deal with it when released, nor (as we have seen) had they any conception as to the magnetic force which was drawing the released essence to itself.

To comprehend the law and therefore to be able to work perfectly with it, the experimenting student must have the ability to release the essence from its form. He must know the formulae and words which will direct it to that particular focal point in the mineral kingdom which stands in the same correspondential relation to the mineral monad as the Ego on its own plane stands to the man who casts off his physical and true forms through death. This involves knowledge only committed to the pledged disciple; if chance students stumble upon the law, and theoretically know the process, they would do well to proceed no further until they have learned how [1068] to protect themselves from the interplay of forces. As we well know, the workers with radium, and those who experiment in the world's laboratories, suffer frequently from loss of limb or life; this is due to their ignorance of the forces they are dealing with. The liberated essences become conductors of the greater force which is their magnetic center, because they are responsive to it, and it is this force which produces the distressing conditions sometimes present in connection with radioactive substances. Every radioactive atom becomes, through this conductive faculty, a releasing agent; and they consequently cause what we call burns. These burns are the result of the process of releasing the essential life of the atom of physical substance being dealt with.

There might here be noted the curious phenomenon, in the human kingdom which is erroneously termed the prolongation of life; it might more truthfully be called the perpetuation of the form. Medical science today strains every effort to retain life in forms diseased and inadequate; these Nature, if left to herself, would long ago have discarded. They thereby imprison the life, and force back the life essence again and again into the sheath at the moment of liberation. In course of time and with more knowledge, true medical science will become purely preventative. It will concentrate its ability on preserving the atomic life of the human atom, and at furthering the preservative protective processes, and the functionary smoothness of the atomic rotary life, thus conducing to the correct following of the human orbital path. But further than that it will not go, and when the course of nature has been run, when the wheel of life has run down, when the hour for liberation has struck, when the time has come for the return of the essence to its center, then the work will be recognized as completed, and the form discarded. But this will not, however, be possible until the human family has reached a stage [1069] when, through pure living and clean thinking, the present corruptions have been eliminated. Men will then function on into old age, or until the Ego, realizing the particular work to be accomplished in any one life has been duly worked out, calls in the lower spark of life, and withdraws the central point of fire. This naturally presupposes knowledge and faculties at present lacking.

All these thoughts can be extended to include entire kingdoms of nature, the globes of a chain, the chains themselves, a planetary scheme or a solar system.

The moon is an interesting instance of the transmutative or liberating process practically completed in a globe: the essential life of the human kingdom has withdrawn and found a new field of expression. All animal life has equally been absorbed by a greater center in another chain. Practically the same can be said of the vegetable kingdom on the moon though there are a few of the lower forms of the vegetable life (of a kind unrecognizable by us) still to be found there; whilst the mineral kingdom is radioactive and the essence of all mineral forms is fast escaping.

In connection with the kingdoms of nature, it must be remembered that their growth and eventual radiation is dependent upon the cyclic purpose of the planetary Logos, and upon the currents of force which play upon His planetary body, and which emanate from other planetary schemes.

All atoms become radioactive as the result of a response to a stronger magnetic center which response is brought about through the gradual evolutionary development of consciousness of some kind or another. This is known to be true in a small degree in connection with the mineral kingdom though scientists have not yet admitted that radiation is thus caused. Later they will, but only when this general theory which is here laid down in connection with all atoms is admitted by them to be a plausible [1070] hypothesis. Then the goal of their endeavor will be somewhat changed; they will seek to ascertain through clear thinking and a study of the involved analogy what focal points of magnetic energy may be regarded as existing, and how they affect the atoms in their environment. One hint only can here be given. Light upon these dark problems will come along two lines.

First, it will come through the study of the place of the solar system in the universal whole, and the effect that certain constellations have upon it; secondly, it will come through a close study of the effect of one planetary scheme upon another, and the place of the moon in our own planetary life. This will lead to a close investigation of polar conditions in the earth, of the planetary magnetic currents, and of the electrical intercourse between our earth, and the Venusian and Martian planetary schemes. When this has been accomplished, astronomy and esoteric astrology will be revolutionized, and the nature of solar energy as an expression of an Entity of the fourth rank will be appreciated. This will come at the close of this century after a scientific discovery of even greater importance to the scientific world than that as to the nature of the atom. Until that time it will be as difficult to express the hylozoistic conception in terms of exact science as it would be for the sixteenth century ancestor of present humanity to conceive of the atom as being simply an aspect of force, and not objective and tangible. Hence further elucidation will but serve to confuse.

In considering this vast subject of radiation, which is the result of spiral-progressive movement, it might be of interest if I here pointed out that in every kingdom of nature there are certain focal points of energy which, as the aeons gradually sweep along, bring the atomic substance of which all forms in all kingdoms are composed to the point where they become radioactive and achieve [1071] liberation. (The term "liberation" really means the ability of any conscious atom to pass out of one sphere of energized influence into another of a higher vibration, of larger and wider expanse of conscious realization.)

Broadly speaking, it might be said that:

The mineral kingdom is responsive to that type of energy which is the lowest aspect of fire, of those internal furnaces which exert an influence upon the elements in the mineral world, and which resolve these atomic lives into a gradual series of ever-higher types of mineral energy. For instance, the type of energy which plays upon iron ore, or which produces tin, is emanated from a different center in the body of the Entity informing the mineral kingdom to that which converts the elements into those wondrous jewels, the diamond, the sapphire, the emerald or the ruby. The energy of the particular center involved is likewise responsive to force originating in the center in the body of the planetary Logos – which center depends upon the kingdom to be vivified. In dealing with these kingdoms, therefore, the relations might be briefly indicated:

• Kingdom – Planetary Center

1. Human – Heart center.
2. Animal – Throat center.
3. Vegetable – Solar plexus.
4. Mineral – Spleen.

The planetary egoic center is, of course, the transmitter to all the others, and it should be borne in mind in this connection that every center transmits three types of force, with the exception of the spleen which hands on the solar fires, pranic force, pure and simple. Students will eventually ascertain how to group the various types in the different kingdoms according to the type of energy they display in fullest measure, remembering that only in the fourth kingdom, the human, is the highest of the three types (that which produces self-consciousness) [1072] manifesting; in the others it is latent. This will become apparent if the method of lunar individualization, is studied.

The vegetable kingdom is responsive to the particular type of energy which produces the phenomenon of water, or moisture. Through the effect of water every higher type of plant life is evolved, and through the combination of heat and water results are brought about which produce new types. The herbal scientist who is producing new species is really occupied with the effect of sex energy in the second kingdom of nature; he will do well to deal with all plant life as energy points responsive to other and greater energy centers. Much will be learned along this line when electricity and colored lights are more freely used in experimental stations. Sex, in the mineral kingdom, or chemical affinity, is the display in that kingdom of the second type of magnetic force; in the vegetable kingdom the same thing can be studied in the seed life, and in the fertilization processes of all plants. Neptune, the God of the Waters, has a curious relationship to our planetary Logos, and also to the Entity Who is the informing life of the second kingdom.

The animal kingdom is responsive to a type of energy which is neither fire nor water but is a combination of the two. They are also the first of the kingdoms on the physical plane to be responsive to sound, or to the energy emanating from that which we call noise. This is an occult fact worthy of close attention. The energy emanating from the Entity Who is the informing Life of the third kingdom in nature has five channels of approach, that is five centers. That animating the fourth kingdom has seven, for the mind and the intuition are added. In the second kingdom there are three centers, but their manifestation is so obscure as to seem practically non-existent to the human mind. In the first or mineral kingdom, the avenue of approach is limited to one center. [1073] It will be observed, therefore, that the stimulation of magnetic energy proceeds from what might be regarded as jumps, 1-3–5-7. Each kingdom starts with a specific equipment, and during the process of evolution within the kingdom adds to it so that the liberated life enters the next kingdom with its old equipment plus one.

The human kingdom is equally responsive to energy. This time it is the energy of fire at its highest manifestation in the three worlds. It must be borne in mind that we are referring to the positive energy of the greater Whole as it affects the lesser positive energetic points. We are not referring to form energy.

The atom becomes responsive to form energy or to that which surrounds it. It becomes conscious and then becomes responsive to the force of the kingdom in which it is a part. It gradually becomes responsive to stronger influences or to the force emanating from the Entity Who is the life of that kingdom.

Finally, the atom becomes conscious of planetary energy, or responsive to the Heavenly Man Himself. It then transcends the kingdom in which it has been, and is elevated into another kingdom in which the cycle is again repeated.

This can all be expressed in terms of consciousness but in this section we will limit the thought simply to that of energy. In summation it might be said that:

1. The planetary Logos has seven centers, as has man.
2. The informing Life of the animal kingdom has five centers, and the animal kingdom has five prototypes on the archetypal plane, whereas man has seven prototypes.
3. The informing Life of the vegetable kingdom has three centers of force on His Own plane, and there are, therefore, but three basic types of plant life. [1074] All that we know are but differentiations of those three.
4. The informing Life of the mineral kingdom works through one center.

We have seen that the cause of radiation is the response of the positive life in any atom to the attractive power of the positive life in a greater atom. Expressed in other words, we might say that the deva life of any atomic form proceeds with its evolution, and by a series of "releases" transfers itself during the manvantaric cycles out of one kingdom into another until every atom has achieved self-determination, and thus the purpose of the Heavenly Man for any particular mahamanvantara is satisfactorily accomplished. As might be expected, therefore, when the subject is viewed as a whole and not from the standpoint of any one kingdom, there are in the evolutionary process five major at-one-ments.

1. At-one-ment with the mineral kingdom.
2. At-one-ment of the mineral monad with the vegetable kingdom.
3. At-one-ment of the vegetable monad with the animal kingdom.
   The progressive life has now made three at-one-ments or expanded its realization three times.
4. At-one-ment with the human kingdom.
5. At-one-ment with the Heavenly Man or with the great planetary life.

Along these five stages, one of them is considered in this solar system to be the most important, and that is the at-one-ment with the human kingdom. For this particular greater cycle, the goal of evolution is man; when individualization is achieved and self-determination is awakened, the Monad or Divine Pilgrim has attained that which expresses the logoic purpose most perfectly. The [1075] later stages but set the crown upon the victor, and the final at-one-ment with the divine Self is but the consummation of the fourth stage. Students will find it of interest to work out the correspondence between the five initiations and these five unifications. There is a close connection between the two. By understanding the laws of the different kingdoms, much can be learned anent the conditions governing the five Initiations. It will be found that the initiations mark stages in response to contact and to realization which have their interesting germs in the five kingdoms.

It might here be pointed out with propriety that radiation is the result of transmutation; transmutation marks the completion of a cycle of rotary-spiraling activity. No atom becomes radioactive until its own internal rhythm has been stimulated to a point where the positive central life is ready for the imposition of a higher vibratory activity, and when the negative lives within the atomic periphery are repulsed by the intensity of its vibration, and are no longer attracted by its drawing qualities. This is due to the coming in and consequent response to the magnetic vibration of a still stronger positive life which releases the imprisoned central spark and causes what might from some aspects be called the dissipation of the atom. This process, nevertheless, in the majority of cases covers such a vast period of time that the human mind is unable to follow the process.

The radioactive period is much the longest in the mineral kingdom, and shortest of all in the human. We are not concerned with radiation in the spiritual kingdom at the close of the mahamanvantara, so no comment will here be made.

It is interesting to note that during this round, owing to planetary decision, the process of producing human radiation or "release" is being artificially stimulated through the method which we call initiation, and the [1076] short cut to intensive purification and stimulation is open to all who are willing to pass through the divine alchemical fire. Simultaneously, in the other kingdoms of nature a process somewhat similar in kind though not in degree is being attempted. The tremendous manipulation of ores, the scientific work of the chemist, and scientific investigation is analogous in the mineral kingdom to the world processes which are being utilized to liberate the human spark. Out of the chaos and turmoil of the World War, for instance, and the weight of metal undergoing violent disintegration the mineral monad emerged as from an initiatory test, incomprehensible as this may seem. It will be apparent that a great simultaneous movement is on foot to produce more rapid radiation in all the kingdoms of nature so that when the cycle is run the process of planetary radiation may be consummated. This intensive culture is not proceeding upon all the planets but only upon a very few. The others will run a longer cycle. The initiatory cultural process which has in view the stimulation of magnetic radiation or transmutation is but an experiment. It was tried first on Venus, and on the whole proved successful, resulting in the consummation of the planetary purpose in five rounds instead of seven. This was what made it possible to utilize Venusian energy upon the Venus chain and the Venus globe of our scheme and thus cause the phenomenon of forced individualization in Lemurian days. It was the intensive stimulation of the third kingdom of nature during the third root race which artificially unified the three aspects. The process of stimulating through the medium of Venusian energy was really begun in the third round when the triangle of force was completed, and ready to function. It is this factor which occultly makes the third Initiation of such tremendous importance. In it the human triangle is linked, the Monad, the [1077] Ego and the personality, or Venus, the Sun and the Earth are symbolically allied.

Enough has here been indicated to give the student room for thought, though one more word in this connection might be added. In the potentially radioactive qualities of the four kingdoms of nature with which we are most concerned will be found an interesting analogy to the functions of the four planetary schemes which (in their totality) form the logoic quaternary. This applies also in a lesser degree to the four chains which form the planetary quaternary. All have to become radioactive and all their principles have to be transmuted and the form for which they are responsible transcended.

When the subject of radiation is more completely comprehended, it will be found that it demonstrates one more instance of the unity of all life, and furnishes one more corroborative indication of the synthetic nature of the entire evolutionary process. In every instance that which radiates from each kingdom of nature is one and the same. The radioactive human being is the same in nature (differing only in degree and in conscious response) as the radioactive mineral; in every case it is the central positive life, the electric spark or that which is its correspondence, which radiates. There are, therefore, seven correspondences in this connection in the solar system, seven types which radiate, or seven classes of entities which demonstrate ability to transcend their normal motion and to transfer themselves into some greater sphere in due course of evolution. These are:

1. The mineral monad of the mineral kingdom, or the central positive nucleus in all atoms and elements.
2. The monad in the vegetable kingdom, or the central positive life of every plant and vegetable growth.
3. The monad in the animal kingdom or the positive life of each type. [1078]
4. The human Monads in their myriads of groups.
5. The Monad of any particular type, or form.
6. The planetary Monad, the sum total of all the lives within a planetary scheme.
7. The solar Monad or the sum total of all lives in the solar system.

Each of these is first rotary in its activity, or self-centered; later each simultaneously with its original motion demonstrates spiral-cyclic activity. Thereby it becomes "aware" of form, and finally becomes radioactive. During this final period it transcends the form, and escapes from out of it, becoming thus conscious of, and able to participate in, the activity of the still greater enveloping whole.

Scattered throughout this Treatise, are numerous indications of the cyclic nature of this phenomenon, and students should bear in mind that in all which concerns radiation, as in all else, there will be periods of quiescence, and periods of intensified activity. This will be seen quite clearly in connection with the fourth kingdom of nature. A period of radioactivity is being entered upon now in which men and women will achieve a larger realization, they will begin to transcend their human limitations, and to enter the fifth kingdom one by one, and unit by unit. This period, as far as the larger cycle is concerned, began when the Door of Initiation was opened in Atlantean days, but many lesser cycles have occurred, for the influx into the fifth kingdom is equally governed by cyclic law, by periodic ebb and flow. At the close of the fourth root race there was a period of distinctive radioactivity, and many hundreds of men passed out of the fourth Creative Hierarchy into another and a higher one. Many posts held hitherto by Venusian Entities were vacated in order that our humanity might occupy them, and a vast interchain [1079] radiation went on as many of the Kumaras and certain lesser existences quitted our earth chain, and entered upon subtler, and more advanced work. Then the activity gradually ebbed until a recurring cycle brought in influences which produced a new radiation, though not of such a strength as in the preceding period.

Another period of radioactivity occurred during the time of the Buddha and many achieved Arhatship in those days. That period was the highest point of what is occultly termed "a cycle of the third degree," and a similar degree of radiatory activity has not been reached since that time. Human radiation of a very slight nature was felt about the time of Christ, but it only lasted for a couple of hundred years, and though individuals here and there have since achieved the goal, yet no large numbers have passed successfully through the fires of transmutation, and thus transcended the fourth kingdom. The cycle is again on the upward turn; about the fourteenth century the human kingdom began to be noticeably radioactive, and we are on the way to the fulfilment of a "cycle of the second order" or of a period of transcendence of a still greater activity than in the time of the Buddha. It will become demonstrably great when certain conditions have been fulfiled.

• First, when the present world chaos has subsided.
• Next, when the present generation has consummated its work of reconstruction.
• Third, when the coming great Lord has entered upon His mission upon earth, thereby increasing the vibration in every kingdom of nature, but particularly in the second and fourth.
• Fourth, when the movement, inaugurated at the close of each century by the Trans-Himalayan Lodge is under way, and the psycho-scientific Egos who are its agents have made their presence felt.
• Finally, when a movement is instituted by the Lodge, working in connection with the fourth root-race; it will [1080] also be part of the simulative process, and will result in the rendering radioactive of some of the foremost thinkers of that race. It will be their day of opportunity, and so great is the importance attached to this that a Member of the Lodge, Confucius as he has been called in the past, will incarnate in order to superintend the work. The preliminary steps are being taken now, and Egos are coming in who will endeavor to direct the energies of this race on to the right line though the peak of the cycle of stimulation will not be until the middle of the next century. It is needless for me to point out that all such movements are first felt as disturbing, and only when the dust of turmoil, and the noise of clashing forces have died away will purpose be seen emerging. This is very apparent in Russia at the present time.

A great factor and one that it is hard to explain so that the average thinker can understand it is the cyclic coming in of egos who are at a point in evolution where they are ready for their first radioactive life. In one great department of hierarchical endeavor all Egos are divided into two groups, according to their cycle and according to their type of energy. These grades are in turn subdivided according to the quality and the vibratory effect to be induced upon any one kingdom of nature by their united, or single, incarnation. This might be illustrated by pointing out that by the gradual coming in of human beings who are vegetarians by natural inclination and by the appearance of egos who are interested specifically in the welfare and nurture of the animals (as is the case so noticeably now) we have the cyclic appearance of a whole group of human units who have a definite karmic relation to the third kingdom. This relation is of a kind differing in specific detail from the meat-eating, and oft inhuman, groups of the past five hundred years.

It might be of profit and of interest if we here enumerated some of the occult terms applied to some of these [1081] differentiated groups, remembering that we are only touching upon a few out of a vast number, and only name those the terminology of which conveys information and educational benefit to the student:

1. The units of inertia,
2. Atoms of rhythmic centralization,
3. Units of primary radiation,
4. The sons of heavy rhythm,
5. The points of fiery excellence (a name given oft to magnetic, highly-evolved types),
6. Tertiary points of secondary fire,
7. Magnetic flames (given to chelas and initiates of certain degrees),
8. Positive sons of electricity,
9. Rotating units of the seventh order,
10. Points of light of the fourth progression,
11. Electric sparks,
12. Units of negative resistance,
13. The equilibrized atoms.

Many more names might be given but these will suffice to indicate the general nature of these energy summations, under which all the members of the human family are gathered and placed according to:

1. Their rhythm,
2. Their quality,
3. Their heat,
4. Their light,
5. Their magnetic influence,
6. Their radiation,
7. Their activity.

This tabulation is but an extension of the major one which grouped all Egos under the divisions of color, sound and vibration. A similar enumeration has also grouped the atoms in the other kingdoms of nature, and [1082] even the Dhyan Chohans of the highest rank find their place in the hierarchical archives of this fifth (or third) department.

A cyclic tabulation is of equal interest but is of a totally different nature, carrying to the initiated and intuitive investigator many hints of an evolutionary and historical value. Again we might append a brief epitome of some of the expressions used and of some of the names under which human beings are grouped in the archives of this the seventh department:

1. Units of the fire-mist stage,
2. Points of lunar origin,
3. Sons of the sun,
4. Devas of the fourth degree,
5. Flames from interplanetary spheres,
6. Atoms from the crimson sphere – a reference to certain Egos who have come to the earth from the planetary scheme whose note is red,
7. The successful Vyasians,
8. The points in the third planetary petal, and groups of others related to the twelve petalled planetary lotus,
9. The lovers of low vibration,
10. The rejectors of the eighth scheme,
11. The points of triple resistance,
12. The followers of the ARHAT,
13. The cyclic sons of peace,
14. The recurring sons of war,
15. The specks within the planetary eye,
16. The recognized points within the chakras. These naturally exist in ten groups.

Each name conveys to the mind of the initiate some knowledge as to the place in evolution of the Monad concerned, the nature of its incarnations, and its place in cyclic evolution. [1083]

The same method of grouping is used in connection with all the kingdoms though only in the case of the fourth and the fifth kingdoms are individual atoms dealt with; the tabulations and records for the other kingdoms are concerned with groups. When a group is known, the nature, vibration, and rhythm of the atom within that group is immediately apparent.

We come now to the consideration of another point, and one of very real moment; it emerges out of what we have been saying anent cycles and is the basis of all periodic phenomena. One of the most elementary of scientific truths is that the earth revolves upon its axis, and that it travels around the sun. One of the truths less recognized, yet withal of equal importance, is that the entire solar system equally revolves upon its axis but in a cycle so vast as to be beyond the powers of ordinary man to comprehend, and which necessitates mathematical formulae [1084] of great intricacy. The orbital path of the solar system in the heavens around its cosmic center is now being sensed, and the general drift also of our constellation is being taken into consideration as a welcome hypothesis. Scientists have not yet admitted into their calculations the fact that our solar system is revolving around a cosmic center along with six other constellations of even greater magnitude in the majority of cases than ours, only one being approximately of the same magnitude as our solar system. This cosmic center in turn forms part of a great wheel till – to the eye of the illumined seer – the entire vault of Heaven is seen to be in motion. All the constellations, viewing them as a whole, are impelled in one direction.

The old Commentary expresses this obscure truth as follows:

"The one wheel turns. One turn alone is made, and every sphere, and suns of all degrees, follow its course. The night of time is lost in it, and kalpas measure less than seconds in the little day of man.

Ten million millions kalpas pass, and twice ten million millions Brahmic cycles and yet one hour of cosmic time is not completed.

Within the wheel, forming that wheel, are all the lesser wheels from the first to the tenth dimension. These in their cyclic turn hold in their spheres of force other and lesser wheels. Yet many suns compose the cosmic One.

Wheels within wheels, spheres within spheres. Each pursues his course and attracts or rejects his brother, and yet cannot escape from the encircling arms of the mother.

When the wheels of the fourth dimension, of which our sun is one and all that is of lesser force and higher number, such as the eighth and ninth degrees, turn upon themselves, devour each other, and turn and rend their mother, then will the cosmic wheel be ready for a faster revolution."

It will, therefore, be apparent that the power of man to conceive of these whirling constellations, to measure their interaction, and to realize their essential unity is not as yet great enough. We are told that even to the [1085] liberated Dhyan Chohan the mystery of that which lies beyond his own solar Ring-Pass-Not is hid.

Certain influences indicate to Him and certain lines of force demonstrate to Him the fact that some constellations are knit with His system in a close and corporate union. We know that the Great Bear, the Pleiades, Draco or the Dragon are in some way associated with the solar system but as yet He knows not their function nor the nature of the other constellations. It must also be remembered that the turning of our tiny systemic wheel, and the revolution of a cosmic wheel can be hastened, or retarded, by influences emanating from unknown or unrealized constellations whose association with a systemic or a cosmic Logos is as mysterious relatively as the effect individuals have upon each other in the human family. This effect is hidden in logoic karma and is beyond the ken of man.

The wheels in order of their importance might be enumerated as follows:

The wheel of the universe, or the sumtotal of all stars and starry systems.

A cosmic wheel, or a group of seven constellations. These are grouped according to:

1. Their magnitude,
2. Their vibration,
3. Their color,
4. Their influence upon each other.

These cosmic wheels, according to the esoteric books, are divided into forty-nine groups, each comprising millions of septenary constellations. For purposes of study by the Adepts, they are each known by a symbol, and these forty-nine symbols embody all that can be apprehended anent the size, magnitude, quality, vibratory activity, and objective of those great forms through which an Existence is experiencing. The Chohans of high [1086] degree know the forty-nine sounds which give the quality of the consciousness aspect of these great Beings Who are as far removed from the consciousness of our solar Logos as the consciousness of man is removed from that of a crystal. The knowledge thus appreciated by the Chohans is naturally but theoretical and conveys only to their relatively limited consciousness the general nature of the group of constellations, and the force occasionally emanating from them which has at times to be taken into calculation. For instance, the interest awakened in the public mind lately by the giant star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion is due to the fact that at this particular time there has been an interplay of force between our tiny system and this giant one, and communication between the two informing Existences.

Systemic wheels or the atomic life of individual constellations. These again are divided into 343 groups, known to the Adept again through a series of characters forming a word which – through its ideographic nature – conveys essential information to the Adept. The ideograph for our solar system may in part be disclosed – not the characters themselves but a digest of that for which the characters stand. Our solar system is disclosed as being:

1. A system of the fourth order, having its force centers upon the fourth cosmic plane, and making its objective manifestation from the fourth systemic plane, via the fourth subplane of the systemic physical plane.
2. Blue in color, esoteric orange and green.
3. A system which is occultly known to the Adept as "in an airy sign in which the Bird can fly."
4. A system formed of "three fires which form a fourth."
5. A system in which the Bird has "four tail feathers" [1087] and hence can occultly "mount to a higher plane and find its fifth."
6. A system which has four major cycles, and minor periods of manifestation which are multiples of that figure.
7. A system which in the alchemical phraseology of the Masters is viewed as being "a product of the fourth; the fourth itself in process of transmutation; and the living stone with four shells." All this can be seen at one glance by the Master who has the ideographic word before Him. Other ideograms are available for His use which give Him the immediate information as He studies the influences contacting our solar system.

Planetary wheels. For these there are ten modes of expression.

Chain wheels, called in some of the books rounds.

• The revolution of any one globe.
• The cycle of the three worlds.
• The wheel of a plane.
• The revolution or cyclic appearance of a kingdom in nature. This applies within a scheme but only to the four kingdoms in objective appearance.
• The revolution of a planetary center producing monadic appearance.
• The monadic wheel, or the periodic appearance of units of the fourth Creative Hierarchy. Thus we pass down the scale through all the kingdoms and forms till we arrive at the tiny revolution of an atom of substance.

In concluding our remarks concerning the diverse wheels of the universe, we will touch with brevity upon the "wheels" which concern the human monad. This is a subject but little dealt with as yet, though a few words have been spoken anent the egoic wheel.

It must be borne in mind that the evolution of the [1088] Monad is a much more intricate thing than appears in the books as yet given to the public. In those books the development of consciousness and its transition through the kingdoms of nature are the points dwelt upon. Yet there have been earlier cycles which it will be only possible to comprehend as the history and evolution of the planetary Logoi become gradually revealed. They are parts of His body of manifestation, cells within that greater vehicle, and thus vitalized by His life, qualified by His nature, and distinguished by His characteristics. This will take the history, therefore, of a Monad back to the earlier kalpas. Such history it is not possible to reveal, and no purpose would be served by such a revelation. The fact only can be touched upon as it must be considered along general lines if the true nature of the Self is to be accurately known.

We might consider that the Monad of the human being passes through cycles analogous to those through which the Heavenly Man travels. There is, first, the vast cycle of unfoldment through which a "spark" passes. This covers the period of three major solar systems – that preceding this one, the present, and the succeeding one. In these three, the totality of the cosmic Past, Present, and Future, embodying the three aspects of the divine Life of the solar Logos, are carried to the point of perfection in an individualized Monad. It must be remembered that in this solar system, for instance, certain developments are only recapitulations of evolutionary processes undergone in an earlier solar system; the clue to this lies in the consideration of the manasic or mind principle. The solar Angels, the intelligent individualizing factor, were (from certain angles of vision) the product of an earlier system, and only waited for the time in the present system when the forms in the three kingdoms had reached the point of synthetic development which made it possible for them to be impressed and influenced from on high. We [1089] have in this concept an idea analogous to the entering in of those Monads, during Atlantean days, who, having individualized upon another chain, tarried in the interplanetary spaces until earth conditions were such that the occupation of adequate forms became possible. The correspondence is not exact but is indicative of the truth. The vast cycle of unfoldment (which rendered later evolution possible) preceded this solar system, and might be regarded as the monadic correspondence to a cosmic wheel. In the old Commentary this point of development is hinted at in the words:

"The fifth did not appear as the product of the present. The five spokes of that wheel had each a cycle of development, and one in which they were welded at the center."

The Monad has cycles analogous, though on a miniature scale, to those of the one Life Who permeates and animates all lesser lives. (Bible. I Peter 2:4.) Certain of these cycles cover periods of time so vast, and so long past, that their history can only be conveyed to the investigating Adepts through the medium of sound and symbol. The details of that development are lost in the night of other kalpas, and all that can be seen are the results, – the cause must be accepted as existing, though for us remaining inexplicable until the higher initiations are taken.

In the fact of the turning of the monadic Wheel covering the period of three solar systems, lies hid the mystery of monadic self-will, and the secret as to why some of the Monads refused to incarnate, whilst others "fell," and thus proceeded along the present lines of evolution. They refused to incarnate because of internal group conditions brought about through the evolutionary processes of the past kalpas. It will, therefore, be apparent that the question of what constitutes sin and evil is far more intricate than even appears upon the surface. From our [1090] limited vision, it appears to be "sin" to fall into incarnation, and equally sin or self-will, self-satisfaction, to remain unevolved upon the higher planes. Yet both groups followed the law of their being, and the solution of the mystery lies in that which is to come.

If the student will with care meditate upon the fact that the three lower planes – the mental, the astral, and the physical – form the dense physical body of the planetary Logos and are, therefore, no principle, it will become apparent to him that through necessity certain units or cells in the body are more active in space and time than others. He must also bear in mind that groups of Monads come into incarnation according to which center in a Heavenly Man of a particular planetary scheme, or which center of the solar Logos, is in process of vivification or cyclic activity, and that certain of the centers of a solar Logos and this particular solar system are in a condition of partial pralaya through the process of the absorption of the lower solar life forces by the centers of higher vitality. Again, he must remember that the entire aspect of the Divine Life is not intended to reach its full unfoldment at any time in this solar system but must wait for the vitalizing impulses of a later. This is due to the fact that there exist in this solar system effects of causes originating in earlier kalpas or – to word it otherwise – the karmic seeds of earlier logoic activities.

Our solar Logos has not yet attained true rhythm, but for millennia of cycles the equilibrising process must go on. Nor has our planetary Logos achieved equilibrium, and the even balancing of forces, therefore until His point in evolution and His objective vision is known and it is known also which center in the solar body is vitalized by His life, it will be the part of wisdom to refrain from dogmatic assertion, and a too free utterance in connection with incarnating, and non-incarnating, Monads. All are turning upon the monadic cosmic wheel; each is being [1091] swept into some form of activity upon the lesser revolution of this particular systemic wheel, but not all in any particular cycle are to be found revolving upon a specific planetary wheel. Many wait for development and for more appropriate seasons in interplanetary spaces, and some must wait until the entering in of a new mahamanvantara. Students should bear carefully in mind the words of H. P. B. where he tells students of the Secret Doctrine that the stanzas and their Commentary deal primarily with our particular planetary Logos. This is oft forgotten.

It may interest students to know that there are certain colors, veiling these groups of non-incarnating Monads, at present totally unknown to humanity. These will sweep into the consciousness of the human being in another solar system, or after the taking of the sixth Initiation. All that we have on earth are reflections of the true colors, and likewise the reflection of the lowest aspect.

Every color in the cosmos exists in three forms

1. The true color.
2. The illusory appearance of the color.
3. Its reflection.

The reflection is that with which we are familiar; the appearance, or that which veils the reality, is contacted and known when we see with the eye of the soul, the Eye of Shiva, and the true color³¹⁴ is contacted after the fifth kingdom has been passed through, and group consciousness is merging in that of the divine. Students will, therefore, note that the monadic cosmic wheel can be [1092] visioned in terms of "true color," and is seen by the illumined seer as the combined blending of the primary colors of the three solar systems.

The monadic systemic wheel, which concerns this solar system alone, is distinguished by being the totality of the seven colors of the seven Heavenly Men, and from the vision of the adept of the fifth Initiation is the sumtotal of the primary colors of the egoic groups of the differing planetary schemes.

The monadic planetary wheel, which concerns the particular group of Monads incarnating in a particular scheme, is seen by the seer as the blending of egoic groups, but with the difference that the color is a dual one, and the coloring of the personality ray of the incarnating Ego is also seen.

The egoic cycle, or the turning of the wheel of the incarnating Ego, is of the most practical interest to man, and has already been somewhat dealt with. For purposes of clarity and elucidation, this wheel may also be seen as turning in three cycles and as making three kinds of revolutions, covering varying periods of time.

There is first, the Wheel of the chain, or the cycling of the Monad around an entire chain, and its passage through all the globes and kingdoms. The consideration of this is complicated by the fact that in any particular chain, the Monads seldom begin and end their evolution; they seldom emerge, pass through their cycle and achieve their objective. It is not possible to dissociate a chain from its preceding or succeeding chain. Many Monads who achieved self-consciousness in the moon chain only entered into renewed activity in the middle of the fourth root race; others, who have individualized on this earth, will not succeed in reaching their goal upon this planet. There is here a correspondence to systemic evolution, and there is an analogy between the Monads who refused to [1093] incarnate and the Egos who were unable to take bodies in the Lemurian or third root race.

There is next, the Wheel of a globe, or the process of evolution upon any particular globe. The student must bear in mind that the Monad, after planetary dissolution, passes the time between incarnations on other and subtler globes, which are the correspondence to the interplanetary and intersystemic spheres.

There is also, the Wheel of a race, or the lesser cycle of incarnations – forming a definite series – wherein the incarnating Monad cycles through a number of lives in a particular race.

All these cycles of periodic manifestation are concerned primarily with the appearance, or the manifesting of the "sparks" upon one or other of the three planes in the three worlds, or in some part of the physical body of the planetary Logos. The lesser cycles deal with this; the greater turning of the wheel concerns also the appearance, or flashing forth, of the sparks in the planetary or systemic etheric body, or on the four higher planes of our solar system. We can picture to ourselves the glory of this concept; the downpouring of the streams of fiery sparks; their flashing forth into points of intensified fire as they meet conditions which produce occult "ignition"; and the constant circulation of the forty-nine fires constructed of the sixty thousand million human Monads and the countless streams of deva monads: fire on every side – a network of fiery rivers of living energy, focal points of intensified brilliancy and everywhere the sparks.

There are a few more remarks to be made anent the turning of the various wheels, and we can then take up the consideration of motion and the sheaths.

Within all those wheels which we have enumerated, are many lesser wheels all governed by the same laws, actuated by the same three forms of activity, and all (in their totality) forming one great whole. It will be apparent [1094] to all conscientious students that the founders of the symbolical method managed to convey in the symbol of the wheel an idea of the triplicity of all atomic activity:

1. The central point of active positive force – the hub.
2. The negative stream of life – the radiating spokes.
3. The sphere of activity itself, the effect of the interplay of these two – the circumference of the wheel.

If the student can picture those wheels in activity, if he can visualize all parts of the wheel as composed of lesser living wheels, and if he can work into his picture a hint of the interplay of all these fiery essences, colored with certain predominant hues, he will become aware of conditions, and see before him a picture which is ever apparent to the illuminated seer. If, before doing this, he can vision the whole of the systemic wheel as in a constant state of circulation, in which the tiny lesser lives are impelled by the force of the central solar life to pass throughout the extent of the wheel so that they come in contact with all parts of the wheel, and are impressed by all the varying types of "power-substance," then the general nature of the method can be somewhat ascertained. We use the term "motion," but what do we really mean? Simply and literally, the manifestation of the energy generated through the bringing together of certain aspects of energy, and the triple result thereby produced; the activities resulting from this stream of dynamic electrical energy, emanating from some center, which sweeps into response all that it contacts, and which holds the responsive units in some form or another.

From the occult standpoint, all that manifests is spheroidal in form, and is appropriately called a wheel, yet (in dense physical manifestation) the forms are diverse, and many, and unless etheric vision is present, the spheroidal forms of all lives are not apparent. How can this [1095] be explained? There are three major reasons for this illusion, and these we might here touch upon, finding in the word "illusion"³¹⁵ the key to the mystery.

We have been told in connection with the dense physical body that it is not considered a principle and is not (in this second solar system) expressing those qualities which are characteristic of the solar Logos and His present incarnation. We are told, further, that the grosser dense forms of substance, all that is objective and tangible upon the physical plane, are vibrating to a key which is characteristic of the preceding system, being a left-over (if so it might be expressed) of an earlier kalpa.

These two points must be carefully borne in mind and latitude allowed for them, when endeavoring to express the truth anent motion. Therefore, a number of the atoms of matter are as yet governed by an internal life which has for its main, distinctive feature, the faculty of a much closer adhesion, and a decisiveness of grouping that is inherently characteristic of the present body of manifestation of the solar system. We must remember when considering this, that all that is dense and gross in all forms, concerns only those forms on the three lower subplanes of the lowest systemic planes; the forms are constructed of matter of all the planes, but the percentage of gross matter is as we can plainly see but small. Interaction for the mineral monad exists, and completely negatives the vibration of the three lower subplanes of the physical plane; it passes eventually into forms which are more closely allied to the "true form."

The mineral monad has a problem slightly at variance with that of the other kingdoms, for it is specifically an [1096] expression of the lives which were classed as the failures of a previous solar system, and which were doomed to immerse themselves in the forms of the mineral kingdom. Liberation for man comes when he succeeds in freeing himself from the vibration of the three lower planes of our solar system, from that part of the logoic manifestation which constitutes His dense body, and which He does not therefore regard as a principle. It will, consequently, be apparent that there is a correspondence worthy of study to be found in the relation between the mineral monad, a human being, and a solar Logos. Viewing these three as an esoteric triplicity much light may be gained by meditation upon them as

1. The residual vibration of system 1,
2. The medial point of activity of system 2,
3. The subjective energy of the present system.

In the comprehension of this, and in the realization that there are forces present in nature which are in the nature of left-overs, we have the clue to much of the puzzling side of manifestation, to the cruelty and death, the suffering, and the agony which are seen in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. In the term animal kingdom I include man's physical body. We have also the clue to some aspects of the left hand Path, and a clue to the problem of the basic cause of the appearance of such existences as black magicians. Just as no human being can escape the effects of energy generated by him in an early life, so the solar Logos Himself is working out and so held back by influences which are the result of His earlier activities in System 1.

The dense physical forms are an illusion because they are due to the reaction of the eye to those forces about which we have been speaking. Etheric vision, or the power to see energy-substance, is true vision for the human being, just as the etheric is the true form. But until [1097] the race is further evolved, the eye is aware of, and responds to the heavier vibration only. Gradually it will shake itself free from the lower and coarser reactions, and become an organ of true vision. It might be of interest here to remember the occult fact that as the atoms in the physical body of the human being pursue their evolution, they pass on and on to ever better forms, and eventually find their place within the eye, first of animals and then of man. This is the highest dense form into which they are built, and marks the consummation of the atom of dense matter. Occultly understood, the eye is formed through the interplay of certain streams of force, of which there are three in the animal, and five in the human being. By their conjunction and interaction, they form what is called "the triple opening" or the "fivefold door" out of which the animal soul or the human spirit can "look out upon the world illusion."

The final reason why the spheroidal true form of everything is apparently not seen on the planet can only at this stage be expressed through a quotation from an old esoteric manuscript in the Masters archives:

"The vision of the higher sphere is hidden in the destiny of the fourth form of substance. The eye looks downwards and, behold, the atom disappears from view. The eye looks sideways and the dimensions merge, and again the atom disappears. Outward it looks but sees the atom out of all proportion. When the eye negates the downward vision, and sees all from within outwards, the spheres again will be seen."

In the first section of this treatise we dealt somewhat with various phases of activity when considering "fire by friction," and the fiery motion of substance itself. We will only touch on some further aspects of the matter, for it is necessary that the student should bear in mind [1098] certain things. He should endeavor to ascertain the relationship between the universal mind (or the systemic mind) and cosmic mind, and seek to comprehend the purpose of the mental sheath, which is one of the most interesting of the various bodies on account of its fiery gaseous constitution. He should also seek to bring about through meditation that mental control and alignment which will result in stabilization, and a responsiveness to causal impression. This will lead to the transmission of egoic instruction to the man on the physical plane.

Certain points in connection with the mental sheath require emphasizing, though it is not our purpose to do more than call attention to their nature. Under the law of correspondence, the student should be able to arrive at certain conclusions and judge wisely the assignment of purpose and place to the particular set of lunar pitris who form the vehicle.

The mental body is composed of only four types of essence, whereas the astral body and the physical are formed of seven types. The devas who compose this body are grouped together as "the cohorts of the fourth order" and have a close connection with that group of cosmic Lives who (through the impress of their influence upon solar matter) are responsible for the fact that our solar system is a system of the fourth order. This group of Lives is manipulated and controlled, in the macrocosmic sense, from cosmic mental levels via the central spiritual sun, and through what is called in esoteric parlance "the fourth solar cavity." If students will meditate upon the nature of the human heart and its various divisions, and particularly upon one of the valves, light upon this complex problem may be forthcoming. There is a constant inflow of energy from these great Entities on cosmic mental levels; this inflow is the very life itself of the solar units who are the sumtotal of the four lower subplanes of the mental plane, and consequently the life [1099] of the individual units who form the mental bodies of all human beings.

It will be apparent to all careful students that on all the planes, the fourth subplane has a peculiar and close relation to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, that of the human monads, and this is peculiarly the case in connection with the mental body. Through the medium of the plane number (five), and the subplane number (four), the possibility of initiation for the human being becomes a fact and that particular form of activity which distinguishes his progress is brought about. There are, therefore, two main streams of energy responsible for the form of the mental sheaths,

1. That emanating from the fourth subplane of the cosmic mental plane, including consequently the remaining three subplanes.
2. That emanating from the aggregate of those lives who form the fourth Creative Hierarchy. As we know, the esoteric number of this Hierarchy is nine, the exoteric number being four.

It is the blending of these two streams of force which (within the confines of the three worlds) results in the progressive activity of man. When this is coupled with the self-engendered action of the individual atoms of any sheath, we have spiral-progressive motion. This is true macrocosmically and microcosmically, for the activity of the cosmic physical plane (our seven systemic planes), is largely dependent upon the coordinated activity of certain force manifestations, which might be enumerated as follows:

1. That of the fourth Creative Hierarchy, who, in their aggregate, form the force centers.
2. The emanating influences of the fourth cosmic ether, the buddhic plane, upon which is dependent, [1100] throughout the system, the manifestation of that which is tangible and objective.
3. The opening up, both macrocosmically and microcosmically, of the fourth aspect of the solar and human egoic lotus; this is the revelation of the "Jewel in the Lotus," and macrocosmically is the perfect coordination of the three aspects through the medium of substance; this is the completion of logoic purpose, which is that of the fourth group. It might be expressed otherwise:

   "When all is known of the significance of fourth dimensional existence, then the fourth order with the fifth will complete the sacred nine."

4. The specific alignment, interplay or free circulation of force simultaneously through the following manifestations of the one life:
   1. The logoic Quaternary and equally the human.
   2. The fourth systemic ether.
   3. The fourth cosmic ether, the buddhic.
   4. The fourth Creative Hierarchy.

When this has been completed, the goal universal will have been reached, and the Logos will have assumed the desired control of His physical body; the human units will be then functioning upon the buddhic plane, and the groups of lives who form the mental bodies of the human beings (who are numerically allied with the above progression) will have equally achieved.

Certain influences and forces play upon the mental sheath of any human being, and produce in it that activity which is termed "spiral progressive." These forces might be briefly considered as comprising the following:

1. The energies of the atoms of substance which compose the mental body.
2. The energies of the lunar father who is the coherent [1101] life of the mental group body. These two groups concern the Not-Self, the third aspect of monadic manifestation.
3. The energies of the solar Angel, or Father, which is the coordinating principle behind manifestation in the three worlds.
4. The energies of the intelligent lives who form the body egoic. These lives find their emanating source on other levels than the systemic. These two groups concern the egoic principle, the middle principle which links the above and the below, and is the second aspect of monadic manifestation.
5. The energy emanating from the "Jewel in the Lotus" itself, the focal point of energy in the Upper Triad. This concerns the Self, the highest aspect of monadic manifestation.

The effects produced by the play of these five types of energy upon each other produce (through the medium of the mental unit) that which we term the mental sheath. This sheath is after all only the aggregate of those atoms within a specific area with which the Thinker has to do, which he holds magnetically within his ring-pass-not, and which serve as the medium for his mental expression, according to his point of evolution. This same definition will be recognized as true of all atomic sheaths, and one of the things which students of the occult sciences will eventually do is to investigate the nature of the informing lives of the sheaths, the qualities of the energies influencing such lives, and the character and force of the basic underlying principles. They will thus arrive at facts concerning energies in the human kingdom which will prove of inestimable value.

In order to keep the basic idea of this Treatise corresponding in its various divisions, I might call your attention to the four points we considered relative to motion [1102] in the physical and astral sheaths. We found that the effects of such motion might be regarded as four altogether:

• Separation.
• Momentum.
• Frictional Activity.
• Absorption.

This separation is brought about through the initial activity of the Ego who produces the first of those forms which he intends to use during the cycle of incarnation, through the bringing together of these energies through self-engendered impulse. He, for purposes of development, identifies himself with that form, and thus temporarily separates himself off from his own real Self. Through the veil of mental matter he first knows separation, and undergoes his first experiences of the three worlds. This deals with separation from the highest aspect. Viewing it from the personality standpoint, separation is again to be seen, for the activity of the monadic sheath, its own internal volition produces the formation of a sphere of activity, distinct in its nature and governed by laws of its own, which – until a certain amount of alignment has been achieved during evolution – lives its own separate existence apart from the two lower sheaths, astral and physical. Thus it can be truly said that the "mind slays the Real"³¹⁶ and serves as the "great Deluder" of the Self in the one case, and as the "great Separator" in another; it comes between the centralized egoic life and the personality existences.

This life of separation becomes steadily stronger as the rotary-spiral action of the mental body becomes intensified during the cycles of manifestation, and the "individualized" [1103] Idea becomes daily more dominant. The "Ahamkara" principle,³¹⁷ as it is called in the Secret Doctrine, does its work, and man becomes strongly self-centered, and self-conscious in the lower connotation of the term. Later, as higher energies come into play and the effort is made to balance the three types of force manifestations in the three worlds through the three vehicles, the Ego becomes aware of delusion and eventually frees himself. When this is in process of consummation during the final stages of evolution, the mental body becomes a transmitter for force currents from the egoic mind, the antahkarana between the higher mind and the mental sheath is built, and the "transmitting mind body" blends itself with the "reflecting astral body." Thus separation is negated.

Students will note, therefore, that the goal for the mental body is simply that it should become a transmitter of the thoughts and wishes of the solar Angel, and should act as the agent for the Triad. The goal for the astral body is that it should be the reflector in a similar way of the buddhic impulses, which reach the emotional body via certain petals in the egoic lotus, and the astral permanent atom. The process of equilibrising the forces in the personality (thus producing stability, and alignment) is brought about through the scientific manifestation of the electrical reactions of the three sheaths.

The mental sheath is regarded in its totality of force as positive. The physical bodies are regarded as negative to the mental. The astral vehicle is the point of the at-one-ment of the energies; it is the battleground whereon the dualities are adjusted to each other, and equilibrium is attained. This is the underlying thought when the words "kama-manasic" body are used, because for two-thirds of the pilgrim's journey this body serves a dual purpose. It is only during the later stage that a [1104] man differentiates between will and desire, and between his mental body and his desire body.

The activity of the mental sheath and its gradually increasing rate of vibration is brought about by the inflow of energies of different kinds. These various factors, as they are brought to bear upon the mental sheath produce an increased activity and speed in the rotary motion of the individual atoms, and also greater speed in the progress of the entire sheath. This means a more rapid transference of the atoms of low vibration out of the sheath and the substitution of atoms of high quality.

It involves also more rapid transition of the various energies, or increased spiral action. This is one of the factors resulting in more rapid incarnation, and more rapid assimilation of the experiences learnt. Curiously enough, from the standpoint of the average thinker, this factor causes longer devachanic periods, for these cycles of interior mental consideration are of ever increasing activity. They are cycles of intense mental adjustment, and of the generation of force until (towards the close of the cycle of incarnation) the activity which has been generated is so strong that continuity of consciousness becomes an accomplished fact. The man frequently then foregoes devachan as he needs it no more. Other results are the fourth dimensional activity of the various "wheels," which begin not only to rotate but to "turn upon themselves," and the vivification of the four spirillae of the mental unit. Some of the energies which produce increased momentum in the mental sheath might be enumerated, and as the students consider them it will again become apparent what a complicated thing human unfoldment really is. These energies are:

1. The direct increasing influence of the solar Angel. This influence is felt in four stages:
   • As the three rows of petals unfold. [1105]
   • As the "interior jewel" rays forth more powerfully.
2. The reflex action from the physical personality, or the thought currents sent through in course of time from the physical brain.
3. The activities of the astral body.
4. The thought currents or energy units initiated by identification with groups, national, family, racial and egoic.
5. The currents which impinge upon the mental bodies of all human beings as different Rays pass in and out of incarnation.
6. The forces and energies which become active or latent during different cycles.
7. The interplay between planets, or between systems and constellations, of which an illustration can be seen in the effect of Venusian energy upon our Earth

and many more factors too numerous to mention. All these energies have their effects, and serve either to speed, or in some cases, to retard the evolutionary process.

It should be borne in mind by students that all egoic groups come under the Law of Karma, but only as it affects the Heavenly Man, and not the law as it demonstrates in the three worlds. This karmic law, which is the governing impulse of His centers, will show itself in peculiar ways, and as the human monads compose those centers, each group will have its own "activity" problems, will spiral through the round of Being in its own peculiar manner, and will demonstrate qualities and motions different from its brothers. For instance, through withdrawal of energy and not through basic inertia those monads who are the sum total of the center of creative force of the Heavenly Man show qualities of violent [1106] reaction on the physical plane against certain "laws of nature" and in the period of their transition from the lowest center to the throat center of the Heavenly Man, betray qualities of revolt which make them a puzzle to their brothers.

We have now to consider the "frictional activity" of the mental sheath, and the activity of the sheath as it manifests as absorption. These two concern, let us remember, the motion of the mental sheath as a whole. The result of this activity is rotary-spiral progressive action.

This, as is apparent from the words, deals with the "Fire by friction" aspect of substance, and therefore with the lowest aspect of the energy of the mental sheath. The force of the Life within the sheath manifests in the attractive and repulsive action of the individual atoms, and this constant and ceaseless interplay results in the "occult heat" of the body, and its increased radiation. It is one of the factors also which produces the gradual building in of new atoms of substance (ever of a better and more adequate quality) and the expulsion of that which fails to suffice as a medium for intelligent expression.

The mental unit is the synthesis of the four types of force with which we are dealing, and of the four expressions of it which we are in process of considering.

Each of the groups of lives which are the living essence of four subplanes and which focalize through one of the spirillae of the unit and thus influence

1. The sheath itself
2. The man on the physical plane
3. Part of the head center

express in greater or less degree these four qualities. It might be noted here that the groups are called certain names by some occult teachers, which names convey [1107] the idea of the active enterprise which is their predominant function.

The "Lives" on the fourth subplane (that on which the mental unit has its place) are called "The absorbers of the above and the below" or the "Transmitting faces of the fourth order." They receive energy and absorb from the Ego on the one hand in the first stage of the incarnation process, and on the other absorb the energies of the personality at the close of the period of manifestation. They have, therefore, an activity which might be regarded as corresponding to the first aspect. When it is remembered that the cosmic process repeats itself on every plane, and that the Ego in the three worlds stands for the unmanifested, it will be seen that they are the primal separators, and the final "destroyers."

The lives of the next plane (which utilize the second spirilla of the mental unit) are called "The interacting points of cyclic momentum." These points which gather momentum through the process of attraction and repulsion represent, in the mental body, dual force, for it is only through the coming together and the separation of atoms, great and small, macrocosmic and microcosmic, that manifestation of any kind becomes possible.

On the subplane which is formed of lives functioning through the third spirilla, are found "the points of frictional activity" or the "heat producers" and these three – the absorbers, the points of momentum, and the heat producers, pour their united forces through the "separated lives" which form the real barrier between the next body and the mental sheath. This is only possible when their work is unified and synthesized. The student must here remember that the lives are the expression of one Life but that one or other of the spirillae will be the agency for lives which express specific qualities. We are dealing specifically with the fourth effect of motion in [1108] the mental sheath as it manifests throughout the entire vehicle.

This is the faculty which produces the forms of the mental ring-pass-not, and which (at the close of the cycle) is the active principle behind devachanic manifestation. The student, through a consideration of the macrocosmic process, can arrive at a knowledge of the separation of the mental body and its individual functioning. It is anent the process of "heavenly withdrawal" that we are speaking; under the law of analogy it is not easily possible to follow the various steps and stages and this for the following reasons:

All our planes, being the cosmic physical subplanes, form the logoic physical body. At His final withdrawal from manifestation, He functions in His cosmic astral body, and the cosmic devachan is as yet far from Him, and impossible to conceive of. Certain points, therefore, anent man's "rest in Heaven" are all that is possible for us to deal with.

Absorption into devachan is absorption into a definite stage of consciousness within the logoic physical body; devachan, therefore, is occultly a state of consciousness, but of consciousness thinking in terms of time and space in the three worlds. It has therefore no location for the unit of consciousness, but has location from the standpoint of the Heavenly Man. Prakriti (matter) and consciousness are – in manifestation – inseparable.

The "devachan" of the occult books is connected with the consciousness of the logoic planetary body, and with the gaseous subplane of the cosmic physical plane. It is, consequently, transcended the moment a man begins to function in the cosmic ethers, such as the fourth cosmic ether, the buddhic plane. It is closely allied with certain karmic forces for, whilst in devachan, the man is occupied with the aggregate of the thought forms he has built, [1109] which are essentially of an occult, a mental, and a persistent nature.

It is in devachan that the man shapes and polishes the stones which are built into the Temple of Solomon. It is the workshop to which the individual stones (good deeds and thoughts) are taken for fashioning, after being extracted from the quarry of the personal life.

Being of mental matter, devachan might be regarded as a center, or heart of peace, within the periphery of the sphere of influence of the mental unit. The four spirillae form four protecting streams of force. A correspondence to this stream of force can be seen in the four rivers which emanated from the Garden of Eden. Out of this garden man is driven into the world of physical incarnation and the Angel with the flaming sword protects the entrance, driving him back from entry until the time comes when evolution has progressed so far that he can come to the portal laden with stones which can withstand the action of fire. When he submits these stones to the fire and they stand the test, he can enter "Heaven" again, his time though being limited by the nature and the quality of what he brought.

When the consciousness within devachan has absorbed all the essences of life experience even that locality, or that aspect of matter, cannot enfold him, and he escapes from limitation into the causal vehicle.

We have studied somewhat this activity as it manifests in fourfold fashion in the mental sheath, and the reason that there has not been much to say anent this matter has been that the mental sheath comes under the laws of the matter aspect, and is subject to the same rules as are the material vehicles of all existences. It is only matter of a finer grade. The student, therefore, can apply what has been earlier said anent the astral and physical bodies [1110] to the mental body, and thus negate the necessity of our entering upon the subject in greater detail. The causal body differs from the Brahma aspect in that it is a fuller embodiment of the life of the second aspect, its predominant characteristics are those of the second aspect. To study the nature of motion in the causal vehicle involves much clarity of thought, and due appreciation of the nature of that body.

It should here be remembered that in considering the causal body, we are dealing specifically with the vehicle of manifestation of a solar Angel who is its informing life and who is in process of constructing it, of perfecting it, and of enlarging it, and thus reflecting on a tiny scale the work of the Logos on His own plane.

Each part of the causal body is actuated by a type of force emanating from some one or other great center, and it might be of interest, therefore, if we considered the component parts of this "Temple of the Soul," if we studied the type of animating activity and arrived at a knowledge of the forces playing upon it and through it. We will take them one by one, beginning with the outer row of petals.

These are the petals which represent the lowest aspect of the Triad and are responsive to the lowest forms of egoic force. These petals are three in number and come under the influence of certain streams of activity.

1. One stream of energy emanates from the lower triad of permanent atoms, particularly the physical permanent atom, via that one of the three petals called 'the knowledge petal. The stream of force engendered in the lower self circulates in a triple stream (the reflection in the lower self of the threefold Path to God) around the atomic triangle at the base of the egoic lotus. When of sufficient strength and [1111] purity, it affects the outer row of petals. This begins to be felt during the third period of man's evolution when he is an average intelligent unit or atom. This energy, when it blends with the inherent life of the atomic lives which form the petals, produces eventually that intimate fusing of soul and body which makes man a living soul.
2. Another stream of energy emanates in time from the second tier of petals when in activity; this second tier is peculiarly instinctive with the life and quality of the Manasaputra in manifestation. The second tier of petals in any egoic lotus is the one that gives us the key to the nature of the solar Angel, just as the outer tier is – to the inner vision of the Adept – a clue to the point in evolution of the personality. By looking at the egoic lotus, the seer can tell the nature of the:
   • Personal self through the condition of the atomic triangle, and the outer tier of petals.
   • Higher Self, through the color and arrangement of the central tier of petals. This tier gives the "family" of the solar Angel through the arrangement of atomic lives which form the petals, and the circulation of the streams of forces in those petals.
   • Monad, through the inner circle of petals; its stage of lower awareness is revealed in a similar way.
   • The number of the Ray concerned is known through the quality of the "light" of the concealed jewel.
   In all these petals, groups of lives, solar and otherwise, are concerned, and streams of energy from them focus through the petals. This is apparent to the man who has the key. It is a curious fact that the streams of force which form the petals and [1112] which are in constant flux produce apparently "key symbols" within the periphery of the egoic wheel, and thus reveal themselves through their activity.
3. A third type of energy is that which – at the close of evolution – makes itself felt through the inner circle of petals, and which is the result of an inflow of monadic force, or atma.
4. Finally, therefore, when the petals are unfolded they are therefore transmitters of life or energy from three sources:
   1. The lower self – Lunar Pitri – Knowledge petals.
   2. Ego – Solar Angel – Love petals.
   3. Monad – Father in Heaven – Sacrifice petals.
   It then becomes possible for a still higher form of energy to be felt, that which is the energy of the center of the body of the Heavenly Man or planetary Logos, and which uses the "Jewel in the Lotus" as its focal point.

   In this summation, we have dealt with the main types of energy manifesting in the egoic or causal body. Certain other influences must likewise be considered in connection with the outer tier of petals.

5. There is the energy reaching directly to the knowledge petals from the manasic permanent atom. The permanent atoms of the Spiritual Triad, as well as the bodies which are built around them, bring in certain groups of deva lives which have not as yet been much considered. They are not the lunar pitris, as that term is commonly understood, but have a direct connection with what is called "the cosmic moon" or to that dying solar system which has the same relation to our system as the moon has to the earth chain. This "cosmic [1113] moon" transmits its energy to the manasic atomic subplane, via the planet Saturn. It is a triple energy and there is an esoteric connection between this triple energy, and Saturn's rings.

   The old Commentary expresses this truth about an interesting group of sons of manas as follows:

   "These Sons of mind clung to the old and dying form, and refused to leave their Mother. They chose to pass into dissolution with her, but a younger son (Saturn) sought to rescue his brothers, and to this end he built a triple bridge between the old and new. This bridge persists, and forms a path whereon escape is possible.

   Some escaped and came to the help of the incarnating Sons of Mind who had left the Mother for the Father. The greater gulf was bridged. The lesser gulf persisted, and must be bridged by the living Sons of Mind themselves."

   (This latter clause, refers to the building of the antahkarana.)

   The energy transmitted from the manasic permanent atom of each incarnating jiva, its union with its reflection, the energy of the mental unit, and the triple stream of force thus created on the mental plane, has its planetary reflection in the relation of Saturn to another planetary scheme, and the three rings which are energy rings, and symbols of an inner verity.
6. Energy also pours in upon the knowledge petals from the egoic group, or from the aggregated knowledge petals of all the other lotuses in the group affiliated with any particular solar Angel.

   These groups have been earlier dealt with.

7. Energy is transmitted also to the petals via the groups and emanations from those planetary schemes and streams of force which form the outer petals of that great center which is our solar system, and which we are told is seen from the higher planes as a twelve-petalled lotus. These streams [1114] do not emanate from the seven sacred planets but from other planetary bodies within the solar Ring-Pass-Not. Streams of force from the Sacred Planets play upon the central tier of petals. Herein lies a hint to the wise student, and a clue to the nature of the lower aspect of the solar Angel.

The streams of energy playing upon and through this second tier of petals closely resemble those already dealt with, but originate in differing groups of lives (lunar and solar).

1. The lowest form of energy, reaching this circle, emanates from the lower self, via the astral permanent atom, and the second petal of the outer tier. It is transmuted astral energy; it is more powerful than its correspondence in the first tier, owing to the inherent nature of the astral body, and the fact that it is augmented by the energy of the outer tier itself. This is one of the factors which brings about the more rapid progress made towards the close of the evolutionary period. There are certain streams of force in the evolution of the Monad which might be regarded as embodying for it the line of least resistance and they are specifically, beginning at the lowest:
   1. Emanations from the vegetable kingdom.
   2. Astral energy.
   3. The energy of the second circle of petals.
   4. Buddhic force.
   5. The activity of the second Logos, planetary or solar.
   This is, of course, only true of this solar system, being the system of regenerative love.
2. Another form of influencing energy originates in the inner circle of petals, which is the focal point [1115] of force for the Monad, considered as atma. It must be pointed out that the streams of force which form the "petals of will" have a dynamic activity and (when in action) produce very rapid unfoldment. It is the inner of the two types of force; their mutual interplay provides the necessary stimulus, and results in the opening of the bud and the revelation of the Jewel.

   The other types of energy find their correspondence with those already enumerated but I seek only to mention one of them, – that one which reaches the second tier of love petals, via the buddhic permanent atom. The energy thus originating is of a peculiarly interesting kind being the basic energy of all manifestation, and the sum total of the forces which form the sevenfold heart of the physical sun, and which are located within its sheltering luminosity. They in their turn are transmitters of the life-impulses from the heart of the central Spiritual Sun, so that we have a direct graded chain of transmitting energies.

   1. The Heart of the central Spiritual Sun.
   2. The sevenfold heart of the physical Sun.
   3. The buddhic devas

      to

   4. The central circle of petals.
   5. The astral permanent atom.
   6. The heart center within the Head.
   7. The heart center.
   This buddhic energy is the sumtotal of the life force of Vishnu or the Son, Who is the transmitter and representative of a still greater cosmic Deity.

   All the above serves to demonstrate the oneness of the tiniest unit with the one great informing Life, and shows the integral beauty of the scheme. The life of the greatest cosmic Lord of Love pulsates in infinitesimal degree [1116] in the heart of His tiniest reflection, and for this reason the atom man can likewise say "I too am God; His Life is mine."

The energies or forces flowing through, and thus producing activity in the inner tier of petals, the Sacrifice Petals, are again similar in nature to those already enumerated, plus a definite stimulation of power in two directions.

One stimulating influence comes from the Will Aspect of the Monad, and thus (through transmission) from the first Aspect of the planetary Logos, and the other emanates from the "Sacred Bud which veils the Jewel." This is a particularly strong vibration because, when the inner circle is unfolded, the jewel is revealed, and the three "veils" or "sacred petals" open successively when the three tiers unfold.

It is thus apparent what numerous energizing agencies are responsible for the "motion," occultly understood, of the egoic lotus. There is the inherent life of the atomic units forming each petal, and the circulatory life of the petal itself, regarding it as an individual unit. There is likewise the life of the circle of three petals and to this we must add the unified activity of the outer three circles, or the blending of knowledge forces absorbed from the personal self, of love forces which are the natural energies of the solar Angel, and of sacrifice forces pouring in from the Monad. Thus we have a marvelous aggregate of streams of energies, all representing interior and still greater (because cosmic) energies.

Finally, we have the dynamic force of the "Jewel" at the Heart, which is itself the focal point for the life of the planetary Logos, and through the planetary Logos of all the other Logoi.

Thus the potentialities latent in the incarnating jiva are stupendous, and he can become as God, provided he submits to the evolutionary process, and does not [1117] "refrain from being stretched upon the wheel." Thus the expansions of consciousness, which will admit an individual point of spiritual life into the councils, and the Wisdom of the Deity, are no idle promise but are guaranteed by the very constitution of the vehicle employed, and the place in the scheme of the "developing Point," as the Ego is sometimes called. Naught in time and space can hinder, for every form being simply an expression of energized life, tends to serve every other form. Stimulation of some kind, the tendency to increase the vibration of contacting streams of energy, the accentuation of the activity of each centralized point as it contacts other points in the general heightening of the vibration through the interplay of those forces, all this sweeps the entire system on to its consummation, and to the revelation of the "glory which shall some day be revealed." (Bible. I. Peter, 5:1.) All these forces form the aggregate of what is called "fohatic life." As the system, or the body of the Logos, is carried forward through the energy in all its parts, so is each infinitesimal part speeded on to its similar individual glorification. The many which form the All, and the units which constitute the One, cannot be differentiated as the consummation is achieved. They are merged, and lost in the general "beatific light," as it is sometimes called. We can then extend the concept somewhat further, and realize the cosmic interplay which is likewise being carried forward. We can picture the cosmic stimulation and intensification which proceeds as constellations form the units in the Whole instead of planets or human atoms. Whole suns with their allied systems in their immensity play the part of atoms. Thus some idea may be gained of the unified purpose underlying the turning of the great Wheel of the cosmic Heaven, and the working through of the life purposes of those stupendous Existences Who [1118] hold a position in the cosmic Hierarchy similar to that of the "ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID."

It is not possible to give students an adequate idea of the beauty of the egoic lotus when it has reached the stage of complete unfoldment. The radiance of its color is not here referred to, but the brilliancy of the fires, and the rapid scintillation of the ceaselessly moving streams and points of energy. Each petal pulsates with quivering fire "points," and each tier of petals vibrates with life, whilst at the center glows the Jewel, raying forth streams of energy from the center to the periphery of the outermost circle.

The fires of living energy circulate around each individual petal and the method of interweaving and the circulation of the fires is (as may be well realized) sevenfold in nature according to the sevenfold nature of the Logos involved. Each circle of petals becomes, as evolution proceeds, likewise active, and revolves around the central Jewel, so that we have, not only the activity of the petals, not only the activity of the living points or the deva lives within the petal circumference, but likewise the unified activity of each tier of the threefold lotus. At a specific stage in evolution, prior to the opening of the central veiling bud, the three tiers of petals, considered as a unit, begin to revolve, so that the entire lotus appears to be in motion. At the final stages the central circle of petals opens, revealing that which is hid, and revolves around the Jewel, only in a contrary direction to the rapidly circulating outer lotus. The reason may not here be revealed for it is hid in the nature of the electric Fire of Spirit itself.

The Jewel itself remains occultly static, and does not circulate. It is a point of peace; it pulsates rhythmically as does the heart of man, and from it ray forth eight streams of living fire which extend to the tips of the four love petals and the four sacrifice petals. This eightfold [1119] energy is atma-buddhi. It is this final raying forth which produces the eventual disintegration of the body of the Ego. The knowledge petals, not being the subject of the attention of this central fire in due time cease to be active; knowledge is superseded by divine wisdom and the love petals have their forces equally absorbed. Naught is eventually left but the desire to "sacrifice," and as the vibratory impulse is akin to the nature of the living Jewel, it is synthesized in the central living unit and only the Jewel of fire remains. When all the petals have merged their forces elsewhere, the process of revelation is completed. The lower fires die out; the central fire is absorbed, and only the radiant point of electric fire persists. Then a curious phenomenon is to be seen at the final Initiation. The Jewel of fire blazes forth as seven jewels within the one, or as the sevenfold electric spark, and in the intensity of the blaze thus created is reabsorbed into the Monad or the One. This process is paralleled at the final consummation of solar evolution when the seven Suns blaze forth before the great Pralaya.

All these modes of expression are but pictures which serve to convey some small idea of the beauty, and the intricacy of the divine process as it is carried on in the microcosm, and in the macrocosm. They all serve to limit and circumscribe the reality, but to the man who has the divine eye in process of opening, and to him who has the faculty of the higher intuition awakened, such pictures serve as a clue or key to the higher interpretation. They reveal to the student certain ideas as to the nature of fire.

In concluding what is to be said anent motion in the causal body, I would like to point out that it too – on its own plane – has the three characteristics of inertia, mobility and rhythm.

Inertia characterizes the stage prior to the revolution of the different tiers of petals, and this revolution only [1120] begins to be felt when the petals are becoming active. It might be stated that the passing of the Pilgrim through the Hall of Ignorance corresponds to the period of "egoic inertia." During this period, the permanent atoms are the most noticeable points of light in the lotus; they constitute the "energy feeders" of the petal. Later, as the Pilgrim on the physical plane becomes more active and the egoic lotus is consequently unfolding with greater rapidity, the stage of mobility supervenes, and the circles commence their revolution. Finally, when the man treads the Path and his purpose is intensified, the central bud unfolds, the revolution is unified, and through the raying forth of the fires of the Jewel, a specific rhythm is imposed upon the lotus, and its energies are stabilized. This rhythm is diverse according to the type of Monad concerned, or the nature of the planetary Logos of a man's ray, his divine Prototype.

By the use of certain terms, information is conveyed to the Workers of the planet, the Brotherhood of Light, as to the nature of Ego concerned, the quality of his Ray, the number of his vibration, and the point of evolution attained. It will be apparent therefore, why it is not permitted here to make public the names of the seven rhythmic groups.

One of the effects produced in the lower man via the centers, through the unified activity of the causal body, is the coordination of the lower energies of the human being. These lower energies, as we know, demonstrate through the medium of:

1. The three groups of centers in the three bodies.
2. The etheric body itself.
3. Certain centers in the physical body such as the pineal gland, the pituitary body and the spleen.

We are not here referring to the work of those centers as it is self-initiated because inherent in their very nature, [1121] but to the effects to be seen in them as the three tiers of petals function with increasing coherence, and the force latent in the Jewel makes its presence felt. It might specifically be said that these effects show themselves in a threefold manner:

• First, they cause the group of "wheels" or centers on each plane (or in each of the subtler vehicles) to become fourth dimensional, and to function as "wheels which turn upon themselves."
• Secondly, they produce the orderly distribution of force by the forming of various triangles of energy within the bodies. This has been earlier dealt with, and it is only necessary here to point out that it is the energy, accumulating in the causal body and from thence making its presence felt, which produces among the centers the esoteric circulation of force which eventually links each center up in a peculiar geometrical fashion, thus bringing every part of the nature of the lower man into subjection.
• Thirdly, they bring about the stimulation of certain of the glands of the body which are deemed at present purely physical, and thus enable the solar Angel to grip and hold to His purpose the dense physical body.

It may be helpful if the student bears in mind the fact that every center may be considered as an evidence of solar energy or fire, manifesting as a medium of lower energy or fire by friction. Where these centers exist the solar Angel is enabled gradually to impose his rhythm and vibration upon that which vibrates to what is regarded as a lower rhythm. Thus He gradually swings the entire lower form-substance into His control.

Before the final liberation but after the major part of the purificatory and aligning processes are complete, the vehicles of the initiate present a wonderful appearance, due to the streams of energy from the egoic body which [1122] can reach him. The egoic lotus is unfolded, and the central "fire" displayed. Each petal and each circle of petals is pulsating with life and color, and is in active movement, revolving with great rapidity and with the stream of living energy circulating in every part of the lotus. The three permanent atoms glow and blaze and form, through their rapid revolution and interplay, what appears to be a blazing point of fire, so that it has been called at times "the reflection of the Jewel in the Mother's forehead." The eighteen centers on the three planes (four on the mental and seven on each of the two lower planes) are radiant wheels of fire, each group distinguished by a specific color, and revolving with such rapidity that the eye can scarce follow them. The bodies are formed of the highest grades of substance, each individual atom, therefore, being capable of intensified vibration, and glowing with the light of its own central fire. The etheric body especially is to be noticed as it is a transmitter at this stage of the purest type of prana, and deserves the name sometimes given to it of "the body of the Sun." It is the envelope which holds the fires of the microcosmic system; in it are centered not only the pranic fires, but those seven centers which are the transmitters of all the higher energies from the Ego, and from the two higher material bodies. All is centralized, and the etheric vehicle waits for use on the physical plane in cooperation with the dense medium until the man can succeed in linking the consciousness of the two aspects of the dense body so that the continuity is preserved. This work accomplished, the three centers which are of a strictly physical nature – the pineal gland, the pituitary body and the spleen – themselves become luminous and radiant, and all the fires of the body are so stimulated that the atoms which form the physical sheath appear to radiate. This is the occult truth behind the belief that every messenger from the Lodge and every Savior [1123] of man is naturally a healer. The forces which flow through a man whose atoms, centers, sheaths, and causal body form a coherent unit in full and radiant activity are of such strength and purity as to have a definite effect upon the nature of those they contact. They heal, stimulate and increase the vibration of their fellow men.

All this must be somewhat realized and visioned before a man on the physical plane will be willing to undergo the purifying discipline, and tread the Path whereby he finds his center and works from that standpoint of power. He has to align these various factors, or energy centers, and thus bring on to the physical plane power to be used in the healing of the nations. When the glory of a man's inner God is seen, when his radiance shines forth then will it be said of him as of those who have preceded him along the Path: "Then shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings." (Bible. Malachi, 4:2.)

There are, in connection with human evolution, certain factors which produce definite and important results, when connected with each other through linking streams of energy and therefore consciously functioning. These factors might be considered as follows, dividing them into two groups, each of them emphasizing the duality of the microcosmic manifestation:

• Group I.

1. The Knowledge Petals.
2. The knowledge petal in each of the two inner circles.
3. The centers on the mental plane.
4. The throat center in etheric matter.
5. The alta major center.
6. The physical brain.

• Group II.

1. The Love Petals.
2. The love petal in each circle. [1124]
3. The centers on the astral plane.
4. The heart center in etheric matter.
5. The pituitary body.
6. The sympathetic nervous system.

These various alignments (when functioning with due adjustment) result in the transmission of energy in the first case from the manasic permanent atom, and in the second case from the buddhic permanent atom. It will be apparent, therefore, how important it is that the student duly considers the process of bringing about a uniform alignment, and a conscious appreciation of the vibratory processes of these two groups. As he brings this adjustment about, the effect upon the physical plane will be the manifestation of the powers of the Soul, and of the healing capacity; the man will become a focal point for egoic energy and a server of his race. The black magician brings about similar results by means of the first group, only with the exception that he cannot align the knowledge petals in the two inner groups, as the love-wisdom aspect is atrophied in his case. He does, however, bring through the energy of the manasic permanent atom, for the force of Mahat (of which Manas is an expression) is closely connected with what is erroneously called "evil." Mahat and cosmic Evil have a close connection.

The great Existences Who are the principle of Mahat in its cosmic sense are connected with the lesser existences who express systemic evil. They are the sum total of the separative instrument, and where separation in any form exists, there is to be found ignorance, and therefore evil. Separation negates comprehension, or knowledge of that which is to be found outside the separated consciousness, for separative knowledge entails identification with that which is expressing itself through the medium of a form. Therefore, the Brothers of the Shadow can, and do, reach high levels along one aspect of consciousness, and touch certain specific heights of [1125] spiritual evil, going a great way along the line of Mahat, or knowledge, the principle of Universal Mind. They can reach, in their later stages, expansions of consciousness and of power that will take them far beyond the confines of our solar system, and give them attributes and capacities which prove a menace to the unfolding of the second Aspect.

The first group of alignments, when not balanced by the second group, is the line of the black magician; it will lead him eventually out of the stream of fivefold energy we call manasic on to the cosmic path of fohatic energy, the strictly mahatic. When on that Path two directions are possible to him; one will keep him in touch with the natural substance aspect concerned with the cosmic incarnations of our solar Logos; the other will sweep him on to that center in the universe which is the emanating source of the mahatic principle; it is the focal point where is generated that type of energy which makes possible the dense physical manifestation of Gods and men.

In making this statement, it is necessary to bear in mind that the dense physical sheath is never considered a principle. It is ever deemed occultly evil. The matter might be more simply expressed by stating that the black adept is frankly concerned with what is termed "the residue of that which earlier was." He responds to the vibration of the solar system of an earlier greater cycle in which the knowledge, or the manasic principle, was the goal of achievement. He does not respond to the impulse of this solar system, but this lack of response is hid in the karma of the earlier manifestation. As we know, the Sons of Mind or the incarnating jivas are the returning nirvanis of a previous logoic incarnation. They have achieved mind, and need love. Some few, through a mysterious cycle of events inexplainable to man in this solar system, repudiated opportunity and linked themselves with that great deva existence which is the impulse [1126] of the dense physical, and they cannot loose themselves. Their destination, as well as his, is hidden in the plans of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID, and in this solar system there is no hope for them. Fortunately, they are little likely to make themselves known to average man; it is the Adepts of the Good Law Who meet them the most often.

The subject is most intricate, but some light may come, if we remember that manas on the mental plane is found in two expressions: – the mental unit on the form levels and the manasic permanent atom on the formless planes. These two types of manas may be regarded as embodying the qualities of the two kinds, white and black. The mental unit or the mind aspect of a man, for instance, is after all but the sixth sense, and has to be transcended by the higher mind and the intuition. The black brother carries the evolution of the senses on to a stage inconceivable to man now and this sixth mahatic sense is of vaster extent and service to them than it ever is to the white Adept. Therefore, it will be apparent that for a long cycle of time, the black magician can persist and develop his powers because one-third of the force of the egoic lotus is his and he knows well how to utilize it to the best advantage. He builds also an antahkarana, but of quality and objective different to that of the student of the white magic. It is called "the path of manasic evil," and bridges a gap between the mental unit of the magician concerned, and certain correspondences on mental levels in the vehicles of the devas of that plane. Through this medium, and through identification with the devas, he can escape from the three worlds to spheres of evil incomprehensible to us. The point to be remembered here is that the black magician remains ever a prisoner; he cannot escape from substance and from form.

There is no need to enlarge further on this subject. I would like to enumerate the lines of alignment of the [1127] third group which eventually transcends the other two, and effects the final illumination and liberation of the man.

• Group III.

1. The sacrifice Petals.
2. The sacrifice petals in the two outer groups.
3. The three major centers in each of the three planes of the three worlds, producing thus absorption of the lower four centers on each plane.
4. The head center, or the thousand-petalled lotus.
5. The pineal gland, producing the vivification and irradiation of the entire lower nature.

These three groups of forces in man, when synthesized, produce eventually that perfect coordination and adaptation to all conditions, forms and circumstances which eventuate in the escape of the liberated vital spark. This is technically accomplished when the "bud" opens, and it becomes possible for the Hierophant at initiation to liberate the energy of the Monad, and to direct that energy (through the agency of the Rod) so that eventually it circulates free and untrammeled through every part of the lower threefold manifestation. As it circulates, it destroys by burning, for it arouses the kundalini aspect perfectly by the time the fifth Initiation is taken. The destroyer aspect becomes dominated, and the form is "burnt upon the altar."

These ideas can also be studied in their larger aspect; a clue to the mystery of cosmic evil may be found in the difference existing between the sacred and non-sacred planets, and in the purpose and place, hitherto unrecognized, of the lives of the informing existences of the many planets and planetoids in the solar system. Some are purely mahatic or of the third Aspect, dominated by the devas. Others (of which the sacred planets are examples) are controlled by the second Aspect, and that second aspect will work through unconquerably into manifestation. [1128] A few, like our Earth planet, are battlegrounds, and the two Aspects are in collision, with the indication of the eventual triumph of the "white" magic.

The effects of the synthetic activity of the centers, sheaths and causal body produce:

• Periodicity of manifestation.
• The linking of the Triangles.
• The relation between:
  • The alta major center.
  • The throat center.
  • The centers on the mental plane.

If we summarize the thoughts conveyed here, we will find that it deals with some aspects of that very necessary alignment which must take place prior to full ability to serve in final liberation. We have studied from many angles the component parts of man, the microcosm, and the mode whereby he manifests on earth in order to express that which lies hidden, and to make his energy felt in the group and place where he finds himself. The constitution of the causal body has been seen to consist of a triple form of energy, with a fourth and more dynamic type of force latent at the heart, ready to demonstrate when the other three forms are active, thus utilizing them as a vehicle. We have noted also that there are also three forms of energy which we call the sheaths of the personal self, and which have also to be actively functioning before the triple egoic force can make itself felt through their medium. Added to these factors, must be mentioned the seven centers in etheric matter which find their place in the etheric body, and which awaken and become active as the sheaths swing into rhythmic activity. Of these centers the three major are of the main importance where [1129] egoic alignment is concerned, and their vital force only begins to make itself felt after the lower four are fully active.

A second factor which works into the general scheme here is the latent triple kundalini fire which is aroused and mounts through the triple spinal channel just as soon as the three major centers (the head, the heart and the throat) form an esoteric triangle, and can thus pass the fiery energy hidden in each center in circulatory fashion. To summarize therefore: we have perfected alignment just as soon as the following factors have been put in touch with each other, or as soon as their motion or activity is synthesized; this is a most important subject for students of meditation, and for those who tread the Path of attainment to consider and practically realize.

1. The three tiers of petals.
2. The three sheaths.
3. The three major centers.
4. The threefold Kundalini fire.
5. The threefold spinal channel.
6. The three head centers, the pineal gland, the pituitary body, the alta major center.³²⁰

Another factor which must be allowed for in advanced stages of development, is the third eye which is to the occultist and true white magician what the fourth energy center (the jewel in the lotus) is to the lotus, or to the three tiers of petals. The correspondence is interesting:

• The jewel in the lotus is the director of energy from the monad, whilst the third eye directs the energy of the Ego on the physical plane.
• The jewel in the Lotus is the center of force which links [1130] the buddhic and mental planes. When it is to be seen and felt, the man can function consciously on the buddhic plane. The third eye links the awakened physical plane man with the astral or subjective world, and enables him to function consciously there.
• The jewel, or diamond concealed by the egoic lotus, is the window of the Monad or Spirit whereby he looks outward into the three worlds. The third eye is the window of the Ego or soul functioning on the physical plane whereby he looks inward into the three worlds.
• The jewel in the lotus is situated between manas and buddhi whilst the third eye is found between the right and left eyes.

One of the main functions of the Master in this cycle (though not in all cycles) is to teach His pupil how to reconcile all these factors, how to synthesize their various modes of motion or expression, and how to coordinate them all so that the vibration is uniform. When energy from the Ego controls, or imposes its rhythm upon the various sheaths via their respective major centers, when the triple fire is mounting in orderly fashion via the triple channel, and when the three head centers are united in triangular fashion, then we have illumination or the irradiance of the entire personality life, darkness gives place to light, and the Sun of Knowledge arises and dispels the darkness of ignorance. The minor centers are concerned with the internal coordination of the sheath, the major with the group coordination or the interrelation of one sheath to another. The man becomes a burning and a shining light, radiating forth a light which burns from within.

When the next step is accomplished, and the energy of the Monad, focused through the jewel, makes itself felt also on the physical plane, passing through the triple egoic lotus via the channels already utilized by the Ego, [1131] we have a man who is "inspired," who is a spiritual creator, and who is himself "a Sun of Healing Radiance."

These are the objectives before all those who tread the path and the goal ahead for those who follow the necessary discipline of life, and the stages of unfoldment through meditation. There are, needless to say, certain modes of work and mantric formulas known to the Masters which enable Them to hasten the process (when necessary) for Their disciples, but these are secrets scrupulously guarded and not frequently used. The usual method, a lengthy and laborious one, is to let the pupil find out each step of the way for himself, to teach him the constitution of his own body, the nature of the sheaths, and the function and apparatus of energy and so let him gradually become aware of the forces latent in himself. What is meant by the "three periodical vehicles" and the seven principles or qualities of force, is slowly revealed to him, and through experience, experiment, frequent failures, occasional success, mature reflection and introspection, and frequent incarnation, he is brought to the point where he has produced a certain measure of alignment through self-induced and continuous effort. He is then taught how to utilize that alignment, and how to manipulate energy consciously so that he can bring about on the physical plane results in service that for many lives have been probably a dream or an impossible vision. When he is proficient in these two things – stabilization and manipulation – then, and only then, are committed to him the words and secrets which produce the demonstration on the physical plane of spiritual, or monadic, energy by means of the soul or egoic energy, utilizing in its turn the energy of the material forms in the worlds, or what we might call bodily energy. This has been expressed in the following mystical and occult phrase:

"When the jewel sparkles as does the diamond under the influence of the rays of the blazing sun, then the setting likewise [1132] gleams and rays forth light. As the diamond shines with increasing brilliance, the fire is generated which sets on fire that which held and enclosed."

We must here bear in mind, that we are considering synthetic alignment in connection with the second aspect, and are therefore dealing with the activity of those forms of divine manifestation which are nearing their objective. This objective might be defined as ability to vibrate synchronously with the greater unit of which it is a part. This must, therefore, be considered by the student in seven ways.

• The first three ways concern the relation of the perfected or nearly perfected units in the three kingdoms of nature with their immediate group soul, and their continued manifestation in any particular kingdom.
• Fourth, the relation of the disciple, or man on the path, to his immediate group, and the laws which govern his reappearance in physical incarnation.
• Fifth, the relation of a planetary Spirit to His group of planets, and the processes of man's obscuration, or withdrawal, from physical plane manifestation.
• Sixth, the relation of the major three planetary Spirits, or the three major aspects of the Logos and their manifestation.
• Seventh, the relation of the informing Life of a solar system to the group of constellations of which He forms part, and His periodic manifestation.

These subjects have been touched upon when we studied incarnation and, earlier still, when considering pralaya or obscuration, but we dealt then with them in general terms. We might now deal more specifically with the final activities, or modes of motion, in these various congeries of lives, and see what occurs during the final stages of conscious existence, and of limited manifestation. The subject [1133] is peculiarly abstruse, particularly where the elemental groups are concerned, but certain interesting points might here be brought out which will bear the closest study. Let us consider the three lower kingdoms first and pass later to the methods and activities of a human being, of a planetary Logos, and of a solar Logos.

The appearance, and the final disappearance, of any manifested Life is intimately concerned with the possession, the evolutionary development, and the final disintegration, of the permanent atom. Permanent atoms, as the term is usually understood, are the property of those lives only who have achieved self-consciousness, or individuality, and therefore relative permanence in time and space. The permanent atom may be viewed as the focal point of manifestation on any particular plane. It serves, if I may use so peculiar a term, as the anchor for any particular individual in any particular sphere, and this is true of the three great groups of self-conscious Lives:

1. The incarnating Jivas, or human beings,
2. The planetary Logoi,
3. The solar Logos.

We must remember here that all the atomic subplanes of the seven planes form the seven spirillae of the logoic permanent atom, for this has a close bearing upon the subject under consideration.

The units, therefore, in the three lower kingdoms possess no permanent atoms but contribute to the formation of those atoms in the higher kingdoms. Certain wide generalizations might here be made, though too literal or too identified an interpretation should not be put upon them.

First, it might be said that the lowest or mineral kingdom provides that vital something which is the essence of the physical permanent atom of the human being. It provides that energy which is the negative basis for the [1134] positive inflow which can be seen pouring in through the upper depression of the physical permanent atom.

Secondly, the vegetable kingdom similarly provides the negative energy for the astral permanent atom of a man, and thirdly, the animal kingdom provides the negative force which when energized by the positive is seen as the mental unit. This energy which is contributed by the three lower kingdoms is formed of the very highest vibration of which that kingdom is capable, and serves as a link between man and his various sheaths, all of which are allied to one or other of the lower kingdoms.

1. The mental body – mental unit – animal kingdom.
2. The astral body – astral permanent atom – vegetable kingdom.
3. The physical body – physical permanent atom – mineral kingdom.

In man these three types of energy are brought together, and synthesized, and when perfection of the personality is reached, and the vehicles aligned, we have:

1. The energy of the mental unit – positive.
2. The energy of the astral permanent atom – equilibrized.
3. The energy of the physical permanent atom – negative.

Man is then closely linked with the three lower kingdoms by the best that they can provide, and they have literally given him his permanent atoms, and enabled him to manifest through their activity. The above three groups might be studied also from the standpoint of the three Gunas:³²¹ [1135]

1. Tamas – inertia – mineral kingdom – physical permanent atom.
2. Rajas – activity – vegetable kingdom – astral permanent atom.
3. Sattva – rhythm – animal kingdom – mental unit.

All these must be regarded only from the point of view of the personality, the lower self, or not-self. In illustration of this idea, it might be pointed out that when the animal body of prehuman man was rhythmically adjusted, and had attained its highest or sattvic vibration, then individualization became possible, and a true human being appeared in manifestation.

Each kingdom is positive to the one next below it, and between them is found that period of manifestation which bridges the two, and connects the positive and the negative. The types of most intense rajas or activity in the mineral kingdom are found in those forms of life which are neither mineral nor vegetable but which bridge the two. Similarly in the vegetable kingdom, the rajas period is seen in fullest expression just before the activity becomes rhythmic and the vegetable merges in the animal. In the animal kingdom the same is seen in the animals which individualize, passing out of the group soul into separated identity. These types of activity must be regarded as constituting for the mineral, physical activity, for the vegetable, sentient activity, and for the animal, rudimentary mental activity.

When this triple activity is achieved it might be noted that the dense physical body of the solar or planetary Logos is fully developed, and conscious contact can then [1136] be made with the etheric or vital body. It is this contact which produces man, for Spirit (as man understands the term) is after all but the energy, vitality, or essential life of the solar, or planetary Logos. Its correspondence in man is prana. A comprehension of this will be brought about if man realizes that all the planes of our solar system are but the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane. It is the realization of this which will eventually unite science and religion, for what the scientist calls energy, the religious man calls God, and yet the two are one, being but the manifested purpose, in physical matter, of a great extra-systemic Identity. Nature is the appearance of the physical body of the Logos, and the laws of nature are the laws governing the natural processes of that body. The Life of God, His energy, and vitality, are found in every manifested atom; His essence indwells all forms. This we call Spirit, yet He Himself is other than those forms, just as man knows himself to be other than his bodies. He knows himself to be a will, and a purpose, and as he progresses in evolution that purpose and will become to him ever more consciously defined. So with the planetary Logos and solar Logos. They dwell within, yet are found without, the planetary scheme or solar system.

It is useful to remember that in the three lower kingdoms, manifestation, or appearance on the physical plane, is ever group manifestation and not the appearance of separated units. Each group soul, as it is called, is divided into seven parts which appear in each of the seven races of a world period, and there is an interesting distinction between them and the units of the human kingdom. When portions of the group soul in one of its seven parts are out of incarnation they are to be found on the astral plane, even though the Mother group soul is found on the mental plane. Human units of the fourth kingdom when out of incarnation pass through the astral to the mental and descend again to incarnation from mental levels. [1137] Each group soul, therefore, subjectively forms a triangle of force with one point (the highest) to be found on the mental plane, the lowest on the etheric levels of the physical plane, and another on the astral plane. The third point for the mineral group-soul is found on the second subplane of the astral, the vegetable on the third, and the animal on the fourth. It is owing to the fact that a center of force for the animal group soul is found on the fourth subplane of the astral plane that it is possible for transference eventually to be made out of that kingdom into the fourth.

Certain laws govern the appearance periodically of the three kingdoms of nature, which are the laws of involution, the laws of the elemental kingdoms, and the laws of the three great groups which hold the germs and seeds of all manifested forms. We have in logoic manifestation the following seven groups for consideration:

• 1. 2. 3. Three groups of superhuman existence:
  1. The group forming the Father aspect of which little can here be predicated.
  2. The group of seven planetary Logoi.
  3. The group of seven raja devas, or the life of each of the physical planes.
• 4. A group of solar lives who are the manasaputras or man.
• 5. 6. 7. Three groups of elemental lives, who form the three involutionary elemental kingdoms.

These three lower groups achieve concretion, and enter the upward arc, through the medium of the three lower kingdoms. The fourth group is the most important in some ways during the present cycle for it borrows from all the other six groups and is therefore the synthesis of energies taken from each and manifested. The higher three groups are closely allied, and until a man has passed out of the period of existence wherein he is controlled by [1138] that which he has borrowed from the three lower kingdoms, he cannot comprehend the nature and purpose of the three higher. We might express the matter as follows:

• The three higher groups are sattvic.
• The three lower groups are tamasic.
• The fourth group, or human, is rajasic.

Again, the three higher groups are energized by three streams of force which enter along the line of the three spirillae of the logoic permanent atom. The three lower groups are energized by energy entering by the three lowest spirillae (which we call the three lowest planes) and these spirillae energize the logoic dense body, were vitalized in the previous solar system, and are no longer in any way controlling factors in logoic existence. The fourth group, the human, is energized by the force of the fourth spirilla, to which we give the name of buddhic energy, and this fourth group has, therefore, the problem of bringing about conditions whereby the buddhic vibrations may dominate the other, and lower, three. It is this imposition which eventually releases the human units, and permits of their passing into the higher group. The elemental group souls find correspondences in the higher – first, in the human kingdom in the three main groups of Egos, in whom the three types of energy predominate; again in the three main or major planetary groups, and finally in the three aspects.

• Elemental group – animal kingdom – Sattvic – Solar Logos – Uranus.
  Father aspect.
• Elemental group – vegetable kingdom – Rajasic – Planetary Logoi – Neptune.
  Son aspect.
• Elemental group – mineral kingdom – Tamasic – Plane devas – Saturn.
  Mother, Brahma aspect. [1139]

The fourth or human group, unites all three lives. The periodic manifestation of the three elemental groups (through the medium of the three lower kingdoms) is, therefore, governed by factors hidden in the nature of that great vibration which we call tamasic, or heavy rhythm. It is the vibration of Brahma, the third aspect, the mother or matter aspect. Their appearance, therefore, is one of a very slow manifestation, the seven subsidiary vibrations bringing in one or other of the seven groups of each group soul in a very slow alternation. The cycles cannot be given; two things only can be said: the appearance of these groups as units in manifestation is controlled by three factors:

1. The moon, for these are the many lunar fathers.
2. The ray in manifestation at any time.
3. The karma of the informing Life of any kingdom.

The second consideration is the karma and life-history of the planetary entity. He sleeps and awakes; he is the embodiment of tamas, and as he progresses and evolves so do the lower kingdoms.

The lunar pitris are to the planetary entity what the three major centers are to man or to the Logoi. The lunar Pitris who contribute the human form are (to the planetary entity) the correspondence to the head center. Those who are the fathers of the vegetable forms correspond to his heart center, whilst the Pitris of the mineral kingdom are analogous to the throat center. This is all very obscure but hints of much value lie here.

It is not possible to give much further information relative to the periodical appearing of the subhuman forms of life. The subject is too obscure, and the detail too vast. Until the student has fitted himself to appreciate [1140] the symbolic, or hieroglyphic writings of the adepts,³²² it is impossible for him to grasp the matter. Much of the teaching on this matter is found in records in the department of the Manu, as it concerns primarily the initial stages of form building. It might be said that the appearance of any life in manifestation is due to primary activity on the part of some Entity, which activity is largely the expression of the first Ray. This concerns the periodical manifestation of the life or lives of any round just as it concerns also the ephemeral existence of a dragon fly; it deals with the form through which what we call a race is evolving and concerns itself with the tiny life of an individual in that race. The same laws govern all, though the response to the law may be relative and in degree. This law has the generic name of the "Law of Cycles," and is expressed in terms of time; [1141] but the secret to the cycles may not as yet be given as it would convey to the intuitive too much dangerous information. It is the knowledge of this law as it concerns rounds, races, subraces, groups (involutionary and evolutionary) and individuals (human and superhuman) which enables the Lords of Karma, and the Adepts of the good Law, to manipulate force or energy, and so carry all that is, on to its triumphant conclusion. In connection with this, students may get much light on this difficult question of force if they bear in mind that every form in every kingdom on the downward, and the upward arc, is in itself a negative force impelled into activity by a positive force and demonstrating as a combination of the two. The distinctions are demonstrated in the fact that some forms are negative-positive, others positive-negative, whilst still others are at the point of equilibrium. This includes all the intermediate stages. The Builders of the cosmos work under cyclic law consciously, and utilize the aggregate of these forces in any kingdom, any group or any unit to bring about the consummation of the plan.

It would interest men much if they could see and interpret some of the records in the hierarchical records, for in them men and angels, minerals and elements, animals and vegetables, kingdoms and groups, Gods and ants are specified in terms of energy formulas and by a scrutiny of these records the approximate increase of vibration in any form of any kind can be found out at any time. This might be expressed in terms also of the Gunas; it will be found by disciples (when permitted access to the records) that they themselves, along with every other expression of the divine life, are described by a triple formula which conveys to the mind of the initiate the proportions of tamas or inertia, of rajas or activity, and of sattva or rhythm to be found in any form. This, therefore, through correspondences, imparts knowledge as to past achievement, present opportunity and the immediate [1142] future of any unit or embodied life, manifesting under any of the three aspects.

Another series of files in the records give – under a different formula – information as to what is esoterically called "the heat content" of any unit, "the radiating light" of any form, and the "magnetic force" of every life. It is through this knowledge that the Lipikas control the bringing in, and the passing out, of every Life, divine, superhuman, solar and human, and it is through a consideration of that formula which is the basic formula for a solar system that the physical plane appearance of a solar Logos is controlled, and the length of a cosmic pralaya settled. We must not forget that the Lipika Lords of the solar system have Their cosmic prototypes, and that These have Their feeble and groping human reflections in the great astronomical scientists who endeavor to ascertain facts anent the heavenly bodies, being subconsciously aware of the existence of these cosmic formulas conveying information as to the specific gravity, constitution, radiation, magnetic pull, heat and light of any sun, solar system, or constellation. Many of them in future and remote ages will pass to a full comprehension, and will have the formulas committed to their care, thus joining the ranks of the Lipikas. It is a peculiar line, requiring cycles of careful training in divine mathematics.

The Lipika Lords, controlling the periodical manifestation of life are, roughly speaking, divided into the following groups, which it might be of interest to note:

1. Three extra-systemic or cosmic Lords of Karma, Who work from a center in Sirius through the medium of three representatives. These form a group around the solar Logos, and hold to Him a position analogous to the three Buddha's of Activity Who stand around Sanat Kumara. [1143]
2. Three Lipika Lords Who are the karmic agents working through the three aspects.
3. Nine Lipikas Who are the sumtotal of the agents for the Law working through what the Kabalah calls the nine Sephiroth.
4. Seven presiding agents of karma for each one of the seven schemes.

These four groups correspond in manifestation to the Unmanifested, manifesting through the triple Aspects, and under Them work an infinity of lesser agents. These lesser agents might again be somewhat differentiated, each of the following groups being found in every scheme and on every ray-emanation.

1. The Lipika Lords of a scheme Who, through the manipulation of forces, make it possible for a planetary Logos to incarnate under the Law, and work out His cyclic problem.
2. Those who (under the first group) control the destiny of a chain.
3. Those who are the energy-directors of a globe.
4. Agents of every kind Who are concerned with the karmic adjustments, incident upon the periodical manifestation of such forms as:
   1. A round, seven in all.
   2. A kingdom in nature, seven in all.
   3. The human kingdom.
   4. A root-race, subraces and branch race.
   5. A nation, a family, a group, and their correspondences in all the kingdoms.
   6. A plane.
   7. The reptile and insect world.
   8. The bird evolution.
   9. The devas.
   10. Human units, egoic groups, monadic lives, [1144]

and myriad's of other forms, objective and subjective, planetary and interplanetary, in connection with the Sun, and in connection with the planetoids.

All work with energy emanations, and with force units under cyclic law, and all have the same objective, – the producing of perfected activity, intensification of heat, and of radiant magnetic light as an expression of the will or purpose of each embodied life.

Periodicity of manifestation is the cyclic appearance of certain forms of specified energy, and this is true whether a man is speaking of a solar system, of a Ray, of the appearance of a planet in space, or of the phenomenon of human birth. Certain factors extraneous to any energy unit under consideration, will inevitably affect its appearance, and act as deflecting or directing agents. The Law of Cycles has ever been regarded as one of the most difficult for a man to master, and it has been truly said that when a man has mastered its technicalities, and can understand its methods of time computation, he has attained initiation. Its intricacies are so numerous and so bound up with the still greater law, that of cause and effect, that practically the whole range of possible knowledge is thereby surmounted. To comprehend this law involves ability to:

1. Deal with the higher mathematical formulas of the solar system.
2. Compute the relationship between a unit of any degree and the greater whole upon whose vibration that unit is swept into periodic display.
3. Read the akashic records of a planetary system.
4. Judge of karmic effects in time and space.
5. Differentiate between the four streams of karmic effects as they concern the four kingdoms of nature.
6. Distinguish between the three main streams of [1145] energy – the units of inertia, mobility and rhythm – and note the key of each unit, and its place in the great group of transitional points. These latter units are those who are on the crest of one of the three waves, and ready, therefore, to be transferred into a wave of a higher vibratory capacity.
7. Enter the Hall of Records and there read a peculiar group of documents dealing with planetary manifestation in a fourfold manner. It concerns the planetary Logos, and deals with the transference of energy from the moon chain. It concerns the transmission of energy to another planetary scheme, and concerns the interaction between the human Hierarchy (the fourth Kingdom) and the great informing Life of the animal kingdom.

When a man can do all these things and has earned the right to know that which produces the phenomenon of manifestation, he has earned the right to enter into the councils of the planetary Hierarchy, and himself to direct streams of energy upon, through and out of the planet.

Some idea of the complexity governing the periodical manifestation of a human being may be gathered by a consideration of the forces which bring human units into manifestation, which produce individualization; this is, after all, the appearing of a third stream of energy in conjunction with two others. A man is the meeting ground of three streams of force, one or other preponderating according to his peculiar type.

Let us briefly enumerate these factors and thus get some idea as to the complexity of the matter:

• The first and paramount factor is the ray upon which a particular human unit is found. This means, that there are seven specialized force streams, each with its peculiar quality, type and rhythm. The matter is further complicated by the fact that though the Ray of the Monad is its [1146] main qualifying factor, yet two subsidiary Rays, those of the Ego and of the personality, have likewise to be considered.
• Secondly, it must be borne in mind that the human units now upon this planet fall naturally into two great groups – those who reached individualization, or became "units of self-directing energy," upon the moon, and those who attained self-consciousness upon the earth. There are important distinctions between these two groups, for the units of the moon chain are distinguished, not only by a more advanced development, owing to the longer period of their evolution, but also by the quality of great and intelligent activity, for (as might be expected) on the third or moon chain, the third Ray was a dominant factor. In this fourth chain, the quaternary dominates, or the synthesis of the three so as to produce a fourth, and this is one reason for the intensely material nature of those who entered the human kingdom on this planet. The distinctions between the two groups are very great, and one of the mysteries lying behind the main divisions of humanity – rulers and the ruled, capitalists and laborers, the governed and those who govern – is found right here. No system of sociological reform will be successfully worked out without a due consideration of this important fact. Other distinguishing features might be enumerated but would only serve at this stage to complicate the matter.
• A third factor differentiating the groups of human units who reached self-consciousness on our planet is hidden in the methods employed by the Lords of the Flame at that time. They, we are told, employed three methods.
  • First, They themselves took bodies and thus energized certain of the higher forms of the animal kingdom, so that they appeared as man, and thus initiated a particular group. Their descendants can be seen in the highest [1147] specimens of the earth humanity now on earth. They are not even now, however, as far advanced as the groups of units from the moon chain who came in in Atlantean days. Their heredity is peculiar.
  • They implanted a germ of mind in the secondary group of animal-men who were ready for individualization. This group, for a long time, was unable to express itself, and was most carefully nurtured by the Lords of Flame, nearly proving a failure. By the time, however, that the last subrace of the Lemurian root race was at its height it suddenly came into the forefront of the then civilization, and justified hierarchical effort.
  • Thirdly, They fostered the germ of instinct in certain groups of animal-men until it flowered into mind. It must never be forgotten that men have within themselves (apart from any extraneous fostering) the ability to arrive, and to achieve full self-consciousness.

These three methods bring us to the fourth factor which must be remembered, that of the three modes of motion which powerfully affect the incarnating jivas.

The Sons of Mind are distinguished by the three qualities of matter as has been earlier brought out, and they have been generically called:

1. The Sons of sattvic rhythm,
2. The Sons of mobility,
3. The Sons of inertia.

These qualities are the characteristics of the three major Rays, and of the three Persons of the Godhead; they are the qualities of consciousness – material, intelligent, and divine. They are the predominating characteristics of the chains of which our earth is one.

• Earth Planetary Scheme

• First Chain – Archetypal.
• Second Chain – Sattvic Rhythm. [1148]
• Third Chain – Mobility.
• Fourth Chain – Inertia.
• Fifth Chain – Mobility.
• Sixth Chain – Sattvic Rhythm.
• Seventh Chain – Perfection.

The factors which we have considered as affecting the different incarnating units have a vital effect on their cyclic evolution, and the ray and the three main types produce varying periodic appearance. Certain statements have been made in occult books as to the length of time varying between incarnations. Such statements are in the main inaccurate, for they make no allowance for Ray difference, and permit of no calculations as to whether the human unit involved is a unit of inertia, a sattvic point, or a rajasic entity. No hard and fast rule can be laid down at this time for the general public, though such rules exist, and are governed by seven different formulas for the three main types. Within this sevenfold differentiation, exist many lesser, and the wise student refrains from dogmatic assertion on this most peculiar and difficult subject. The fringe of the matter has but been touched upon here. It should be remembered that in the earlier stages of incarnation, the unit is governed mainly by group appearance, and comes into incarnation with his group.

As time progresses and his own will or purpose becomes more distinctive, he will at times force himself into manifestation independently of his group, as will other group units, and this leads to an apparent confusion which is detrimental to the surface calculations of the superficial student. When this is the case, the particular unit concerned has his record transferred into another file in the hierarchical archives, and becomes what is occultly termed "a self directed point of fire." He is then strongly individualized, entirely self-engrossed, free of [1149] all group sense, except the earthly affiliations to which he adheres from the instinct of self-protection and personal well-being. In this stage he remains for a vast period of time, and has before him the mastering of a later stage in which he returns to the earlier group recognition on a higher turn of the spiral.

The rules governing the incarnations of average man have been considered elsewhere, and much information has been given in this treatise and in Letters on Occult Meditation which – if collated – will provide sufficient data for study for a long time. Not much has been given anent the incarnations of disciples and the methods involved in the later stages of evolution.

It should here be borne in mind that (for a disciple) direct alignment with the Ego via the centers and the physical brain is the goal of his life of meditation and of discipline. This is in order that the Inner God may function in full consciousness and wield full control on the physical plane. Thus will humanity be helped and group concerns furthered. Again it must be remembered that the basic Ray laws and the disciple's particular type will paramountly dictate his appearances, but certain other forces begin to hold sway which might here be touched upon.

The factors governing the appearance in incarnation of a disciple are as follows:

• First, his desire to work off karma rapidly and so liberate himself for service. The Ego impresses this desire upon the disciple during incarnation, and thus obviates any counter desire on his part for the bliss of devachan, or even for work on the astral plane. The whole objective, therefore, of the disciple after death is to get rid of his subtler bodies, and acquire new ones. There is no desire for a period of rest, and as desire is the governing factor in this system of desire, and particularly in this planetary scheme, if it exists not, there is no incentive to fulfilment. [1150] The man, therefore, absents himself from the physical plane for a very brief time, and is driven by his Ego into a physical body with great rapidity.
• Second, to work out some piece of service under direction of his Master. This will involve some adjustments, and occasionally the temporary arresting of his karma. These adjustments are made by the Master with the concurrence of the disciple, and are only possible in the case of an accepted disciple of some standing. It does not mean that karma is set aside, but only that certain forces are kept in abeyance until a designated group work has been accomplished.
• Third, a disciple will return into incarnation occasionally so as to fit into the plan of a greater than himself. When a messenger of the Great Lodge needs a vehicle through which to express Himself, and cannot use a physical body Himself, owing to the rarity of its substance, He will utilize the body of a disciple. We have an instance of this in the manner the Christ used the body of the initiate Jesus, taking possession of it at the time of the Baptism. Again when a message has to be given out to the world during some recurring cycle, a disciple of high position in a Master's group will appear in physical incarnation, and be "over-shadowed" or "inspired" (in the technically occult sense) by some teacher greater than he.
• Fourth, a disciple may, through lack of rounded development, be very far advanced along certain lines but lack what is called the full intensification of a particular principle. He may, therefore, decide (with the full concurrence of his Ego and of his Master) to take a series of rapidly recurring incarnations with the intention of working specifically at bringing a certain quality, or series of qualities, to a point of higher vibratory content, thus completing the rounding of his sphere of manifestation. This accounts for the peculiar, yet powerful, people who are [1151] met at times; they are so one-pointed and apparently so unbalanced that their sole attention is given to one line of development only, so much so that the other lines are hardly apparent. Yet their influence seems great, and out of all proportion to their superficial worth. A realization of these factors will deter the wise student from hasty judgments, and from rapid conclusions concerning his fellowmen.
• Occasionally a variation of this reason for rapid and immediate incarnation is seen when an initiate (who has nearly completed his cycle) appears in incarnation to express almost entirely one perfected principle. This he does for the good of a particular group which – though engaged in work for humanity – is failing somewhat in its objective through the lack of a particular quality, or stream of force. When this becomes apparent on the inner side, some advanced disciple puts the energy of that particular quality at the disposal of the Hierarchy, and is sent forth to balance that group, and frequently to do so for a period of rapidly succeeding lives.

These are a few of the causes governing the periodic manifestation of those who are grouped in the Hierarchical records as "the aligned points of fire." They are distinguished by the energy flowing through them, by the magnetic quality of their work, by their powerful group effects, and by their physical plane realization of the plan.

The coming into manifestation of the superhuman lives (such as greater liberated Existences, or the raja-devas of a plane), the appearing of the planetary Logoi and the solar Logoi in physical incarnation is governed by laws similar in nature to those governing the human unit, but of a cosmic scope. It will be apparent to the most superficial student that the gradual emergence of a plane out of the darkness which exists between systems is produced not only as the result of vibratory response to the enunciated Word, but as the working out of the karma of a [1152] cosmic Life and the relationship existing between that particular Life and the cosmic Existence Whom we call Brahma or the third Person of the Trinity. The deva Ruler of a plane is a superhuman Entity Who comes in under a great cosmic impulse to provide the vibratory form which will make possible the appearing of other and lesser forms. The Lords of the Rays, or the planetary Logoi, are similarly and karmically linked with the second aspect logoic, or with that manifesting Life we call Vishnu. It will thus be seen that three main impulses, each emanating from the will, plan, or conscious purpose of a cosmic Entity are responsible for all that is seen and known in our solar system. This, of course, has been oft emphasized in different occult books but the following tabulation may be of service:

Cosmic Entity	Systemic Entities	Number of Impulses	Quality
1. Brahma	The Raja Lords	7 Activity	Inertia.
2. Vishnu	The Planetary Logoi	7 Wisdom	Mobility.
3. Shiva	The Solar Logos	1 Will	Rhythm.

It should be noted here that the above tabulation will apply to the microcosm as well as the macrocosm, and students will find it interesting to work it out.

Enough has been indicated in this Treatise to show the general plan underlying and accounting for systemic emergence or incarnation, and it is not my purpose here to enlarge at great length. Just as it is not possible for a man in an early incarnation to conceive of the effects of evolution upon him and to realize the nature of the man upon the Path, so it is not possible for even great [1153] systemic existences to conceive (except in the broadest and most general terms) of the nature of the solar Logos, and of the effect evolution will have on Him. Suffice it to add, anent this matter, that when certain vast cosmic alignments have been made and the energy from the logoic causal ovoid on the cosmic mental planes is able to flow unimpeded through to the physical plane atom (our solar system) great eventualities and unconceived of possibilities will then take place.

Certain phenomena likewise of a secondary nature to this major happening will also take place as the cycles slip away which may be generally summarized as follows:

• First.   Certain systemic triangles will be formed which will permit of the interplay of energy between the different planetary schemes, and thus bring to more rapid maturity the plans and purposes of the Lives concerned. It should be noted here that when we are considering the transmission of energy through alignment and through the forming of certain triangles, it is always in connection with the energy of the first aspect. It deals with the transmission of electric fire. It is important to bear this in mind, as it preserves the analogy between the macrocosm and the microcosm with accuracy.
• Second.   A final systemic triangle will be formed which will be one of supreme force, for it will be utilized by the abstracted essence and energies of the septenate of schemes as the negative basis for the reception of positive electric energy. This electric energy is able to circulate through the schemes owing to the bringing about of a cosmic alignment. It is the bringing in of this terrific spiritual force during the final stages of manifestation which results in the blazing forth of the seven suns.³²³ Though the seven have become the three, this is only in [1154] connection with the dense physical planets. The blazing forth spoken of in the occult books and in the Secret Doctrine is in etheric matter; it is this etheric fiery energy which brings to a consummation (and so destroys) the remaining three major schemes. In this we have a correspondence to the burning of the causal body at the fourth Initiation through the merging of the three fires. It is only a correspondence, and the details must not be pushed too far. The Saturn scheme is esoterically regarded as having absorbed the "frictional fires of systemic space"; Neptune is looked upon as the repository of the "solar flames," and Uranus as the home of "fire electric." When, through extra-systemic activity based upon three causes:
  1. Logoic alignment,
  2. The taking of a logoic Initiation,
  3. The action of the "ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID,"
  these three schemes are simultaneously stimulated and the fires pass from one to another in a triangular manner, they then too pass into obscuration. Naught is left save the blazing etheric suns and these – through very intensity of burning – dissipate with great rapidity. [1155]

The question of the centers has always had a great deal of interest for men, and much harm has been done through the directing of attention upon the physical centers. Unfortunately, names have been given to the centers which have their counterparts in the physical form, and with the usual aptitude of man to identify himself with that which is tangible and physical, a mass of data has accumulated which is based (not on spiritual knowledge) but on a study of the effects produced through meditation on the physical centers. Such meditation is only safely undertaken when a man is no longer polarized in the lower personal self but views all things from the standpoint of the Ego with whom he is completely identified. When this is the case, the centers in physical matter are recognized as being simply focal points of energy located in the etheric body, and having a definite use. This use is to act as transmitters of certain forms of energy consciously directed by the Ego or Self, with the intent of driving the physical body (which is not a principle) to fulfil egoic purpose. To do this the Ego has to follow certain rules, to conform to law, and to have attained not only conscious control of the physical body, but a knowledge of the laws of energy, and of the constitution of the etheric body, and its relation to the physical. The attention of students must be called to certain fundamental facts anent the centers and thus supplement, correlate, and summarize that already given in this Treatise. That a certain amount of repetition will be necessary is of value, and the information here given and the correspondences indicated, should provide all followers of raja yoga with a basis for sane consideration, wise meditation and a fuller comprehension of the truths involved. Owing to the rapid development of the race, and the future [1156] quick unfoldment of etheric vision, the gain will be very real if occult students have at least a theoretical concept of the nature of that which will be seen relatively so soon.

The centers, as we know, are seven in number and are formed in matter of the etheric subplanes of the physical plane. As we have been told, there are literally ten, but the lower three are not considered as subjects for the direction of egoic energy. They relate to the perpetuation of the physical form and have a close connection with:

1. The three lower kingdoms in nature.
2. The three lower subplanes of the physical plane.
3. The third solar system, from the logoic standpoint.

It must be borne in mind that though the three solar systems (the past, the present and that which is to come) are differentiated in time and space where the consciousness of man is concerned, from the point of view of the Logos they represent more accurately, highest, intermediate and lowest, and the three form but one expression. The past system, therefore, is deemed esoterically the third, being the lowest and being related to the dense and negative matter. It will be apparent that the past solar system has consequently a close relation to the third or animal kingdom, and this, man has presumably transcended.

The seven centers, with which man is concerned are themselves found to exist in two groups: a lower four, which are related to the four Rays of Attributes, or the four minor rays, and are, therefore, closely connected with the quaternary, both microcosmic and macrocosmic, and a higher three which are transmitters for the three rays of aspect.

These energy centers are transmitters of energy from [1157] many and varied sources which might be briefly enumerated as follows:

1. From the seven Rays, via the seven subrays of any specific monadic ray.
2. From the triple aspects of the planetary Logos as He manifests through a scheme.
3. From what are called "the sevenfold divisions of the logoic Heart," or the sun in its sevenfold essential nature, as it is seen lying esoterically behind the outer physical solar form.
4. From the seven Rishis of the Great Bear; this pours in via the Monad and is transmitted downward, merging on the higher levels of the mental plane with seven streams of energy from the Pleiades which come in as the psychical force demonstrating through the solar Angel.

All these various streams of energy are passed through certain groups or centers, becoming more active and demonstrating with a freer flow as the course of evolution is pursued. As far as man is concerned at present, this energy all converges, and seeks to energize his physical body, and direct his action via the seven etheric centers. These centers receive the force in a threefold manner:

1. Force from the Heavenly Man and, therefore, from the seven Rishis of the Great Bear via the Monad.
2. Force from the Pleiades, via the solar Angel or Ego.
3. Force from the planes, from the Raja Devas of a plane, or fohatic energy, via the spirillae of a permanent atom.

It is this fact which accounts for the gradual growth and development of a man. At first it is the force of the plane substance, which directs him, causing him to identify [1158] himself with the grosser substance and to consider himself a man, a member of the fourth Kingdom, and to be convinced, therefore, that he is the Not-Self. Later as force from the Ego pours in, his psychical evolution proceeds (I use the word "psychical" here in its higher connotation) and he begins to consider himself as the Ego, the Thinker, the One who uses the form. Finally, energy from the Monad begins to be responded to and he knows himself to be neither the man nor the angel, but a divine, essence or Spirit. These three types of energy demonstrate during manifestation as Spirit, Soul, and Body, and through them the three aspects of the Godhead meet and converge in man, and lie latent in every atom.

The sevenfold energy of the planes, and therefore of substance, finds its consummation when the four lower centers are fully active. The sevenfold energy of the psyche, the consciousness aspect, demonstrates when the three higher in the three worlds are vibrating with accuracy. The sevenfold activity of spirit makes itself felt when each of these seven centers is not only fully active but is rotating as "wheels turning upon themselves," when they are fourth dimensional and are not only individually alive but are all linked up with the sevenfold head center. A man is then seen as he is truly – a network of fire with flaming focal points, transmitting and circulating fiery energy. These centers not only receive the energy through the top of the head, or through a point slightly above the top of the head, to be more accurate, but pass it out through the head center likewise, that which is being passed out being seen as differing in color, being brighter and vibrating more rapidly than that which is being received. The etheric body is formed of a negative aspect of fire, and is the recipient of a positive fire. As the various types of fire blend, merge, and circulate, they gain thereby and produce definite effects in the fires of the microcosmic system. [1159]

The center at the base of the spine (the lowest with which man has consciously to deal) is one of a peculiar interest, owing to its being the originating center for three long streams of energy which pass up and down the spinal column. This triple stream of force has most interesting correspondences which can be worked out by the intuitive student. Some hints may here be given. This channel of threefold energy has itself three points of supreme interest, which (to word it so as to convey sense to the interested) may be regarded as:

1. The basic center at the extreme lowest point of the spine.
2. The alta major center at the top of the spine.
3. The supreme head center.

It is, therefore, a miniature picture of the whole evolution of spirit and matter for,

1. The lowest center corresponds to the personality,
2. The middle center to the Ego, or the Thinker,
3. The supreme head center to the Monad.

In the evolution of the fires of the spine, we have a correspondence to the sutratma with its three points of interest, the monadic auric egg, its emitting point, the egoic auric egg, the medial point, and the body or gross form, its lowest point.

Another hint of interest lies in the fact that there exist between these spinal centers, certain gaps (if I may so express it) which have (in the course of evolution) to be bridged by the energetic action of the rapidly growing vibration of the force unit. Between the triple energy of the spinal column and the alta major center, there is a hiatus, just as there exists that which must be bridged between the triple lower man and the egoic body, or between the mental unit on the fourth subplane of the mental plane and the solar Angel on the third subplane. Though we are told that the permanent atomic triad is enclosed in the [1160] causal periphery, nevertheless, from the standpoint of consciousness there is that which must be bridged. Again, between the alta major center and the supreme head center, exists another gulf – a correspondence to the gulf found between the plane of the Ego and the lowest point of the Triad, the manasic permanent atom. When man has constructed the antahkarana (which he does during the final stages of his evolution in the three worlds) that gulf is bridged and the Monad and the Ego are closely linked. When man is polarized in his mental body, he begins to bridge the antahkarana. When the center between the shoulder blades, referred to earlier in this Treatise as the manasic center, is vibrating forcefully, then the alta major center and the head center, via the throat center can be united.

Man, when he reaches this stage, is a creator in mental matter of a caliber different from the unconsciously working average man. He constructs in unison with the plan and the divine Manasaputra, the Son of Mind, will turn his attention from being a Son of Power in the three worlds and center his attention in the Spiritual Triad, thus recapitulating on a higher turn of the spiral, the work he earlier did as man. This becomes possible when the growth of the triangle just above dealt with (base of spine, alta major center and throat, as they unify in the head) is paralleled by another triplicity, the solar plexus, the heart and the third eye; the energy merging through them is similarly unified in the same head center. The third eye is an energy center constructed by man; it is a correspondence to the energy center, the causal body, constructed by the Monad. The alta major center is similarly constructed by other streams of force and corresponds interestingly to the triple form constructed by the ego in the three worlds.

When this dual work has proceeded to a certain evolutionary point, another triplicity becomes alive within the [1161] head itself as the result of these dual streams of triple energy. This triangle transmits fiery energy via the pineal gland, the pituitary body and the alta major center and this reaches the head center. In this way in these three triangles we have nine streams of energy converging and passing into the highest head lotus. The correspondence to certain macrocosmical forces will here be apparent to all discerning students.

We have seen the close connection between the different centers and the gradually demonstrating effects to be noted as they are linked up and eventually produce a synthetic circulatory system for egoic energy in conjunction with the energy of the lower man, which forms a kind of medium by which the egoic force makes itself felt. Macrocosmically, but little can be said which would prove intelligible to man at his present stage of evolution. Some brief statements might, nevertheless, be given which (if pondered on and correlated with each other) may throw some light on planetary evolution and on the relation of the planetary Logoi to the solar Logos.

A solar Logos uses for His energy centers the planetary schemes, each of which embodies a peculiar type of energy, and each of which, therefore, vibrates to the key of the logoic solar Angel, of which the human solar Angel is a dim reflection. It is interesting here to note that as the human solar Angel is a unity, manifesting through three tiers of petals, the logoic correspondence is even more interesting, for that great cosmic Entity demonstrates on the cosmic mental plane as a triple flame working through seven tiers of petals, and it is the energy from these seven circles of energy which pulsates through the medium of any scheme. All this is hidden in the mystery of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID, and it is not possible for men to solve it, – the truth being obscure to even the highest Dhyan Chohan of our system.

The energy centers of the solar Logos are themselves [1162] in the form of vast lotuses³²⁴ or wheels, at the center of which lies hidden that central cosmic Life, we call a planetary Logos. He is the meeting place for two types of force, spiritual or logoic, which reaches Him (via the logoic Lotus on cosmic mental planes) from the seven Rishis of the Great Bear on Their own plane, and, secondly, of buddhic force, which is transmitted via the Seven Sisters or the Pleiades from a constellation called the Dragon in some books, and from which has come the appellation "The Dragon of Wisdom."

A third type of energy is added and, therefore, can be detected in these centers, that of manasic type. This reaches the logoic centers via the star Sirius, and is transmitted from that constellation which (as earlier I have [1163] hinted) must remain obscure at present. These three great streams of energy form the total manifestation of a logoic center. This is known to us as a planetary scheme.

Within the planetary scheme, these streams of energy work paramountly in the following manner:

1. Spiritual energy – three higher planes – the Monads.
2. Buddhic force – fourth plane – the solar Angels.
3. Manasic force – two lower planes – the four kingdoms of nature.

Physical energy, the left-over of a previous solar system, demonstrates through the dense physical form and in the material which is energized during the involutionary cycle. It is not considered a principle; and is regarded as the basis of maya or illusion.

The various planetary schemes are not all alike and differ as to:

1. Type of energy,
2. Point in evolution,
3. Position in the general plan,
4. Karmic opportunity,
5. Rate of vibration.

The main distinction exists in the fact, as we have so oft repeated, that three of them form the three higher etheric energy centers of the Logos, and four constitute the lower centers.

Saturn is of interest to us here because the Logos of Saturn holds a position in the body logoic similar to that held by the throat center in the microcosm. Three centers towards the close of manifestation will become aligned in the same way as the center at the base of the spine, the throat center and the alta major center. Here it must be pointed out that there are three planetary schemes which [1164] hold a place analogous to that held by the pineal gland, the pituitary body, and the alta major center, but they are not the schemes referred to as centers, or known to us as informed by planetary Logoi. Certain of the planetoids have their place here, and one scheme which has passed out of activity, and is in a condition of quiescence and non-activity. This latter scheme is the correspondence in the logoic body to the atrophied third eye in the fourth kingdom of nature. When man has developed etheric vision and thus has expanded his range of vision, he will become aware of these facts, for he will see. Many planetary schemes which are found only in etheric matter will be revealed to his astonished gaze, and he will find that (as in the body microcosmic) there are seven (or ten), paramount centers but numbers of other centers for the purpose of energizing various organs. So likewise the body macrocosmic has myriads of energy focal points or feeders which have their place, their function, and their felt effects. These centers, with no dense physical globe, constitute what has sometimes been called "the inner round" and transmit their force through those greater centers which have been spoken of in occult books as having a connection with the inner round.

Each of these planetary schemes can be seen as a lotus having seven major petals, of which each chain forms one petal, but having also subsidiary petals of a secondary color according to the nature and karma of the Entity concerned. It is in the enumeration of these solar lotuses that occult students go astray. It is, for instance, correct to say that the planetary scheme corresponding to the microcosmic base of the spine is a fourfold lotus and has, therefore, four petals. There are four outstanding petals of a peculiar hue, but there are three of a secondary color, and nine of a tertiary nature. (To students with intuition the hint here conveyed may reveal the name of the planet, and the nature of its evolution). [1165]

Each of these solar lotuses, or planetary schemes, unfolds in three great stages of activity, in each one of which one of the three types of energy dominates. As the unfolding proceeds, the vibratory activity increases, and the appearance of the manifesting activity changes.

1. The motion of the lotus or wheel for a long time is simply that of a slow revolution.
2. Later, for a still vaster period, each petal revolves within the greater whole, and at an angle different to that of the whole revolution.
3. Finally, these two activities are increased by the appearance of a form of energy which, originating from the center, pulsates so powerfully that it produces what look to be streams of energy passing backwards and forwards from the center to the periphery.
4. When these three are working in unison, the effect is wonderful in the extreme, and impossible for the eye to follow, the mind of man to conceive, or the pen to express in words. It is this stage, macrocosmic and microcosmic, which constitutes the different grades of alignment, for it must never be forgotten by students that all that manifests is a sphere, and alignment really consists in unimpeded communication between the heart of the sphere and the periphery or the bound of the influence of the dynamic will and the center.

Within each planetary scheme, are found the seven chains which are the seven planetary centers, and again within the chain are the seven globes which are the chain centers, but students would do well not to study the globes from the point of view of centers until their knowledge of the mystery underlying dense physical substance is greater, or they will be led into error. The lower down one seeks to carry the correspondence, the more the likelihood of error. The correspondence must lie in quality and in principle expressed, but not in form. [1166]