ÐÏࡱátive centre Pole of the central Sun. Surface radiation or emanation Solar prana. Movement produced Systemic rotation. Distributive effect Solar etheric radiation (felt cosmically) . THE PLANET Entity manifesting A planetary Logos. Body of manifestation A planet. Receptive centre The planetary pole. Surface radiation or emanation Planetary prana. Movement produced Planetary rotation. Distributive effect Planetary etheric radiation (felt within the system). A HUMAN BEING Entity manifesting The thinker, a Dhyan Chohan Body of manifestation Physical body. Receptive centre The spleen. Surface radiation or emanation Health aura. Movement produced Atomic rotation. Distributive effect Human etheric radiation (felt by environment). THE ETHERIC BODY AND PRANA 85 THE ATOM OF MATTER Entity manifesting An elementary life. Body of manifestation The atomic sphere. Receptive centre Pole of the atom. Surface radiation or emanation Contribution of atom to the united health aura of body. Movement produced Atomic rotation Distributive effect Atomic etheric radiation (felt within the physical form). Eighth. When the "will to live" vanishes, then the "Sons of Necessity" cease from objective manifestation. This is logically inevitable, and its working out can be seen in every case of entifed objectivity. When the Thinker on his own plane withdraws his attention from his little system within the three worlds and gathers within himself all his forces, then physical plane existence comes to an end and all returns within the causal consciousness; this is as much an abstraction in the three worlds of the Thinker as the Absolute is in the threefold solar system of the Logos. This demonstrates on the physical plane in the withdrawing from out of the top of the head of the radiant etheric body and the consequent disintegration of the physical. The framework goes and the dense physical form falls apart; the pranic life is abstracted bodily from out of the dense sheath, and the stimulation of the fires of matter ceases to be. The latent fire of the atom remains; it is inherent, but the form is made by the action of the two fires of matter–active and latent, radiatory and inherent–aided by the fire of the second Logos, and when they are separated the form falls apart. This is a picture in miniature of the essential duality of all things acted upon by Fohat. Again in the solar system itself similar action will eventuate at the close of a Mahamanvantara. The Logos will withdraw within Himself, abstracting His three major principles.37 His body of manifestation–the Sun 37 Principles, the basic differentiations, essential qualities or types of energy upon which all things are built; they give the distinctive nature of all forms. THE ETHERIC BODY AND PRANA 87 and the seven sacred Planets, all existing in etheric matter–will withdraw from objectivity and become obscured. From the usual physical standpoint, the light of the system will go out. This will be succeeded by a gradual inbreathing until He shall have gathered all unto Himself; the etheric will cease to exist, and the web will be no more. Full consciousness will be achieved, and in the moment of achievement existence or entified manifestation will cease. All will be reabsorbed within the Absolute; pralala,38 or the cosmic heaven of rest will then ensue, and the Voice of the Silence will be heard no more. The reverberations of the WORD will die away, and the "Silence of the High Places" will reign supreme. within the web (which correspond to the sacred centres, and of which the spleen is frequently counted as one) it has the two above mentioned, which make–with the spleen–a triangle of activity. The etheric web of the solar system is of an analogous nature, and likewise has its three receptive centres for cosmic prana. The mysterious band in the heavens, which we call the Milky Way, (S. D. II.250) is closely connected with cosmic prana, or that cosmic vitality or nourishment which vitalises the solar etheric system. 48a Ring-pass-not. The circumference of the sphere of influence of any centre of positive life. This includes the fire sphere of magnetic work of the solar orb, viewing it as the body of manifestation of a solar Logos and inclusive of an entire solar system. This term is also applied to the sphere of activity of a planetary Logos or to a planetary scheme and could equally well be applied to the sphere of activity of the human Ego."– S. D., I, 346. e. Our solar system is what is called a system of the fourth order; that is, it has its location on the fourth cosmic etheric plane, counting, as always, from above downwards. k. It is to be observed that just as in man the dense physical body in its three grades–dense, liquid and gaseous–is not recognised as a principle, so in the cosmic sense the physical (dense) astral (liquid) and mental (gaseous) levels are likewise regarded as non-existing, and the solar system has its location on the fourth ether. The seven sacred planets are composed of matter of this fourth ether, and the seven Heavenly Men, whose bodies they are, function normally on the fourth plane of the system, the buddhic or the fourth cosmic ether. When man has attained the consciousness of the buddhic plane, he has raised his consciousness to that of the Heavenly Man in whose body he is a cell. This is achieved at the fourth Initiation, the liberating initiation. At the fifth Initiation he ascends with the Heavenly Man on to the fifth plane (from the human standpoint), the atmic, and at the sixth he has dominated the second cosmic ether and has monadic consciousness and continuity of function. At the seventh Initiation he dominates the entire sphere of matter contained in the lowest cosmic plane, escapes from all etheric contact, and functions on the cosmic astral plane. The past solar system saw the surmounting of the three lowest cosmic physical planes viewed from the matter standpoint and the co-ordination of the dense threefold physical form in which all life is found, dense matter, liquid matter, gaseous matter. A correspondence may be seen here in the work achieved in the first three rootraces.56 57 57 In the co-ordination of the Monadic, Atmic and Buddhic vehicles of the Heavenly Man, the vehicles of spiritual life, the higher esoteric correspondence to the prana flowing through the lower reflection, the etheric physical body, the point of synthesis is always on the atomic subplane, and the six merge and become the seventh. In this solar system the plane of synthesis is not included in the evolutionary scheme. It is the plane of gathering in and of pralaya. In the earlier system the fourth aetheric was in this position; it was to the evolving units of that period what the atomic plane is now, the highest point of achievement. The goal for all was the buddhic plane or the fourth cosmic aether. Three other planes are the goal now,–the buddhic, atmic and monadic, each time three planes and their eventual synthesis. In the future solar system the cosmic physical atomic aether (the plane of Adi in the system now) will be the starting point and the three planes to be dominated will be the three lowest cosmic astral planes. Man starts in where he leaves off, with cosmic physical matter perfected. His lowest body, therefore, will be the monadic or the body of the second cosmic aether. This will not be then counted as a principle any more than the threefold lower physical body of present day man is recognised as a principle. The present solar system will see the surmounting of the three next cosmic physical planes, the fourth, third, and the second aethers, and the coordination of the cosmic etheric body. It is not our purpose to give facts for verification by science, or even to point the way to the next step onward for scientific investigators; that we may do so is but incidental and purely secondary. What we seek mainly is to give indications of the development and correspondence of the threefold whole that makes the solar system what it is–the vehicle through which a great cosmic ENTITY, the solar Logos, manifests active intelligence with the purpose in view of demonstrating perfectly the love side of His nature. Back of this design lies a yet more esoteric and ulterior purpose, hid in the Will Consciousness of the Supreme Being, which perforce will be later demonstrated when the present objective is attained. The dual alternation of objective manifestation and of subjective obscuration, the periodic out-breathing, followed by the in-breathing of all that has been carried forward through evolution embodies in the system one of the basic cosmic vibrations, and the key-note of that cosmic ENTITY whose body we are. The heart beats of the Logos (if it might be so inadequately expressed) are the source of all cyclic evolution, and hence the importance attached to that aspect of development called the "heart" or "love aspect," and the interest that is awakened by the study of rhythm. This is true, not only cosmically and macrocosmically, but likewise in the study of the human unit. Underlying all the physical sense attached to rhythm, vibration, cycles and heart-beat, lie their subjective analogies–love, feeling, emotion, desire, harmony, synthesis and ordered sequence,–and back of these analogies lies the source of all, the identity of that Supreme Being Who thus expresses Himself. incarnation of the Son is concluded. But the faculty or inherent quality of matter also persists, and at the end of each period of manifestation, matter (though distributed again into its primal form) is active intelligent matter plus the gain of objectivity, and the increased radiatory and latent activity which it has gained through experience. Let us illustrate: The matter of the solar system, when undifferentiated, was active intelligent matter, and that is all that can be predicated of it. This active intelligent matter was matter qualified by an earlier experience, and coloured by an earlier incarnation. Now this matter is in form, the solar system is not in pralaya but in objectivity,–this objectivity having in view the addition of another quality to the logoic content, that of love and wisdom. Therefore at the next solar pralaya, at the close of the one hundred years of Brahma, the matter of the solar system will be coloured by active intelligence, and by active love. This means literally that the aggregate of solar atomic matter will eventually vibrate to another key than it did at the first dawn of manifestation. All these three concepts are governed by the Law of Economy, which is the Law of Adaptation in time and space, or the line of least resistance. This line of least resistance is that which is sought for and followed on the matter side of existence. Incidentally, Brahma manifests Will, because He is purpose, and Love because in this solar system Love is the line of least resistance. While this is an occult statement worthy of consideration, yet it must be remembered that He is primarily activity and intelligence with the aim of adaptability, and that this is His main characteristic. The Second Logos. The second Logos, Vishnu, the divine Wisdom Ray, the great principle of Buddhi seeking to blend with the principle of Intelligence, is characterised by Love. His motion is that which we might term spiral cyclic. Availing Himself of the rotary motion of all atoms, He adds to that His own form of motion or of spiralling periodical movement, and by circulation along an orbit or spheroidal path (which circles around a central focal point in an ever ascending spiral) two results are brought about: a. He gathers the atoms into forms. b. By means of these forms He gains the needed contact, and develops full consciousness on the five planes of human development, gradually rarefying and refining the forms as the Spirit of Love or the Flame Divine spirals ever onward towards its goal, that goal which is also the source from which it came. These forms are the sumtotal of all spheres or atoms within the solar system, or within the solar ring-pass-not, and in their seven major differentiations they are the 144 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE spheres of the seven Spirits, or the seven planetary Logoi. These three concepts are governed by the Law of Attraction, or the law governing the interplay or the action and reaction. a. Between the Sun and its six brothers. b. Between the circling whirling seven planes of the solar system. c. Between everything in the matter of all forms, the spheres of matter themselves and the aggregate of those spheres that are embodied in the forms of still others. deep mystery, and only a clue to it all can be found at this time by man in the contemplation of his own nature in the three worlds of his manifestation. Just as our Logos is seeking objectivity through His solar system in its threefold form of which the present is the second, so man seeks objectivity through his three bodies–physical, astral and mental. At this time he is polarised in his astral body, or in his second aspect in like manner as the undifferentiated Logos is polarised in His second aspect. In time and space as we now conceive it, the sum total of jivas are governed by feeling, emotion, and desire, and not by the will, yet at the same time the will aspect governs manifestation, for the Ego who is the source of personality shows in manifestation the will to love. Every sphere in the body macrocosmic rotates. This rotation produces certain effects, which effects might be enumerated as follows: 1. Separation is produced by rotary movement. By means of this action, all the spheres became differentiated, and form, as we know, the following atomic units: a. The solar system, recognised as a cosmic atom, all the so-called atoms within its periphery being regarded as molecular. b. The seven planes, regarded as seven vast spheres, rotating latitudinally within the solar periphery. c. The seven rays, regarded as the seven veiling forms of the Spirits, themselves spheroidal bands of colour, rotating longitudinally, and forming (in connection with the seven planes) a vast interlacing network. These two sets of spheres (planes and rays) form the totality of the solar system, and produce its form spheroidal. This can be predicated likewise of the entire ring-pass-not of the solar system in relation to its cosmic environment. Force flows into the solar system from three directions via three channels: a. The sun Sirius, b. The Pleiades, c. The Great Bear. In considering the occult meaning of what is here suggested, one point in elucidation may be imparted, leaving the working out of the other two relationships to the student. The Pleiades are to the solar system, the source of electrical energy, and just as our sun is the embodiment of the heart, or love aspect, of the Logos (Who is Himself the heart of ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID) so the Pleiades are the feminine opposite of Brahma. Think this out, for much is contained in this statement. Every rotating sphere of matter can be pictured by using the same general cosmic symbols as are used for the portrayal of evolution. 1. The circle. This stands for the ring-pass-not of undifferentiated matter. It stands for a solar system or the body logoic, viewed etherically; it stands for a planet or the body of a Heavenly Man viewed etherically; it stands for a human body, viewed likewise, etherically and it stands for them all at the prime or earliest epoch of manifestation. It stands finally for a single cell within the human vehicle, and for the atom of the chemist or physicist. 2. The circle with the point in the centre. This signifies the production of heat in the heart of matter; the point of fire, the moment of the first rotary activity, the first straining of the atom, motivated by latent heat, into the sphere of influence of another atom. This produced the first radiation, the first pull of attraction, and the 160 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE consequent setting up of a repulsion and therefore producing 3. The circle divided into two. This marks the active rotation and the beginning of the mobility of the atom of matter, and produces the subsequent extension of the influence of the positive point within the atom of matter till its sphere of influence extends from the centre to the periphery. At the point where it touches the periphery it contacts the influence of the atoms in its environment; radiation is set up and the point of depression makes its appearance, marking the inflow and outflow of force or heat. We are here only showing the application of cosmic symbols to matter, and are not dealing with manifestation from any other angle than that of the purely material. For instance, we are applying the symbol of the point within the circle to the sphere of matter, and the point of latent heat. We are not handling at this point matter as informed by an entity who is to matter, when so informing, a point of conscious life. We are dealing only with matter and latent heat, with the result produced by rotary movement of radiatory heat and the consequent interplay of bodies atomic. We are therefore dealing with the point we set out to consider while studying our fifth division, motion in the sheaths. 4. The Circle divided into four. This is the true circle of matter, the equal armed cross of the Holy Spirit, Who is the personification of active intelligent matter. This shows the fourth dimensional quality of matter and the penetration of the fire in four directions, its threefold radiation being symbolised by the triangles formed by the fourfold cross. This portrays the fourfold revolution of any atom. By this is not meant the ability of any atom to make four revolutions, but the fourth dimensional quality of the revolution which is the goal aimed at, and which is even now becoming known in matter during this PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL MOTION 161 fourth round, and in this fourth chain. As the fifth spirilla or fifth stream of force in an atom becomes developed, and man can conceive of a fourth-dimensional rotary movement, the accuracy of this symbol will be recognised. It will then be seen that all sheaths in their progress from inertia to rhythm, via mobility, pass through all stages, whether they are logoic sheaths, the rays in which the Heavenly Men veil Themselves, the planes which form the bodies of certain solar entities, the causal body (or the sheath of the Ego on the mental plane), the human physical body in its etheric constitution, or a cell in that body etheric. All these material forms (existent in etheric matter which is the true matter of all forms) are primarily undiferentiated ovoids; they then become actively rotating or manifest latent heat; next they manifest duality or latent and radiatory fire; the expression of these two results in fourth dimensional action or the wheel or rotary form turning upon itself. 5. The swastika, or the fire extending not only from the periphery to the centre in four directions, but gradually circulating and radiating from and around the entire periphery. This signifies completed activity in every department of matter until finally we have a blazing, fiery wheel, turning every way, with radiant channels of fire from the centre to the ring-pass-not,–fire within, without and around until the wheel is consumed and there is naught remaining but perfected fire. By the time the fifth round is reached, three-fifths of the human family will have attained this point and will have their five senses fully functioning on the three planes in the three worlds, leaving the two other planes to be subjugated during the remaining two rounds. I would here point out a fact that is little realised, that in this fivefold evolution of man and in this solar system, the two remaining rounds in any planetary cycle, and the sixth and seventh root-races in those cycles are always synthetic; their function is to gather up and synthesise that which has been achieved in the earlier five. For instance, in this root-race, the sixth and seventh sub-races will synthesise and blend that which the earlier five have wrought out. The analogy lies in the fact that in this solar system the two higher planes (the logoic-and the monadic) are synthetic. One is the synthesising plane for the Logos from whence He abstracts the essence in manifestation; the other for the Monad, from whence the Monad abstracts and garners the fruits of objectivity. The first period is by far the longest, and covers the vast progression of the centuries wherein the activity aspect of the threefold self is being developed. Life after life slips away during which the aspect of manas or mind is being slowly wrought out, and the human being comes more and more under the control of his intellect, operating through his physical brain. This might be looked upon as corresponding to the period of the first solar system, wherein the third aspect logoic, that of Brahma, Mind, or Intelligence, was being brought to the point of achievement.74 Then the second aspect began in At the coming of the Pralaya no human, animal, or even vegetable entity will be alive to see it, but there will be the earths or globes with their mineral kingdoms; and all these planets will be physically disintegrated in the pralaya, yet not destroyed; for they have their places in the sequence of evolution and their "privations " coming again out of the subjective, they will find the exact point from which they have to move on around PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL MOTICN 175 this present solar system to be blended with, and wrought out through it. Centuries go by and the man becomes ever more actively intelligent, and the field of his life more suitable for the coming in of this second aspect. The correspondence lies in similitude and not in detail as seen in time and space. It covers the period of the first three triangles dealt with earlier. We must not forget that, for the sake of clarity, we are here differentiating between the different aspects, and considering their separated development, a thing only permissible in time and space or during the evolutionary process, but not permissible from the standpoint of the Eternal Now, and from the Unity of the All-Self. The Vishnu or the Love-Wisdom aspect is latent in the Self, and is part of the monadic content, but the Brahma aspect, the Activity-Intelligence aspect precedes its manifestation in time. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness preceded the building of the Temple of Solomon; the kernel of wheat has to lie in the darkness of mother Earth before the golden perfected ear can be seen, and the Lotus has to cast its roots down into the mud before the beauty of the blossom can be produced. The answer lies here: The egoic ray can always be one of the seven, but we need to remember that, in this astral-buddhic solar system, wherein love and wisdom are being brought into objectivity, the bulk of the monads are on the love-wisdom ray. The fact, therefore, of its being the synthetic ray has a vast significance. This is the system of the son, whose name is Love. This is the divine incarnation of Vishnu. The Dragon of Wisdom is in manifestation, and He brings into incarnation those cosmic Entities who are in essence identical with Himself. After the third Initiation all human beings find themselves on their monadic ray, on one of the three major rays, and the fact that Masters and Initiates are found on all the rays is due to the following two factors: a central receiving and transmitting station (using inadequate words to convey an occult idea) by the direct action of the centres, and of the centres above all. Just as it was spiritual force, or the will aspect, that built the solar system, so it is the same force in the man that builds the causal body. By the bringing together of spirit and matter (Father-Mother) in the macrocosm,; and their union through the action of the will, the objective solar system, or the Son, was produced–that Son of desire, Whose characteristic is love, and Whose nature is buddhi or spiritual wisdom. By the bringing together (in microcosm) of Spirit and matter, and their coherence by means of force (or the spiritual will) that objective system, the causal body, is being produced; it is the product of transmuted desire, whose characteristic (when fully demonstrated) will be love, the expression eventually on the physical plane of buddhi. The causal body is but the sheath of the Ego. The solar system is but the sheath of the Son. In both the greater and the lesser systems, force centres exist which are productive of objectivity. The centres in the human being are reflections in the three worlds of those higher force centres. Before taking up the subject of kundalini and the centres, it would be well to extend the information given above, from its prime significance for man, as that which concerns himself, to the solar system, the macrocosm, and to the cosmos. What can be predicated of the microcosm is naturally true of the macrocosm and of the cosmos. It will not be possible to give the systemic triangles, for the information would have to be so blinded that, except for those who have occult knowledge and the intuition developed, it would be practically useless intellectually, but certain things may be pointed out in this connection that may be of interest. The Solar system. We might briefly look at this from 180 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE the standpoint of the centres of the Heavenly Men and of the Grand Man of the Heavens, the Logos. a. The Heavenly Men. The Heavenly Men, in Themselves, embody centres just as does a human being, and on Their Own plane these centres of force can be found. Again we need to recollect that these centres of force on cosmic levels, and in manifestation in the objective system, demonstrate as the great force centres of which any particular group of adepts and Their pupils are the exponents. Every group of Masters and all the human beings incarnate or discarnate –who are held within the periphery of Their consciousness–are centres of force of some particular kind or quality. This is a fact generally recognised, but students should be urged to link up this fact with the information imparted on the centres of the human being, and see if much is not thereby learnt. These centres of force will demonstrate on etheric levels and on the subtler planes just as they do in a man, and they will be vivified as are the human centres by planetary kundalini, progressing in the desired triangles. Two hints can here be given for thoughtful consideration. In connection with one of the Heavenly Men (which one cannot at this juncture be pointed out) we have one triangle of force to be seen in the following three centres: a. The force centre of which the Manu, and His group, are the expression. b. The centre of which the Bodhisattva or the Christ and His adherents are the focal point. c. The centre of which the Mahachohan and his followers are the exponents. These three groups form the three centres in one great triangle–a triangle which is not yet in complete vivification at this stage of evolutionary development. PHYSICAL AND ASTRAL MOTION 181 Another triangle in connection with our own planetary Logos is that formed by the seven Kumaras–the four exoteric Kumaras corresponding to the four minor head centres, and the three esoteric Kumaras corresponding to the three major head centres.75 76. The second hint I seek to give, lies in the triangle formed by the Earth, Mars and Mercury. In connection with this triangle, the analogy lies in the fact that Mercury and the centre at the base of the spine in the human being are closely allied. Mercury demonstrates kundalini in intelligent activity, while Mars demonstrates kundalini latent. The truth lies hid in their two astrological symbols. In transmutation and planetary geometrising, the secret may be revealed. b. The Grand Man of the Heavens. The seven Heavenly Men are the seven centres in the body of the Logos, bearing to Him a relationship identical with that borne by the Masters and Their affiliated groups, to some planetary Logos. Systemic kundalini goes forward to the vivification of these centres, and at this stage of development certain centres are more closely allied than others. Just as in connection with our planetary Logos, the three etheric planets of our chain– Earth, Mercury and Mars 77–form a triangle of rare importance, so it may be here said that at the present point in evolution of the logoic centres, Venus, Earth and Saturn form one triangle of great interest. It is a triangle that is at this time undergoing vivification 75 There are seven Kumaras connected with our planetary evolution, of Whom four are exoteric, the four exoteric have vehicles in etheric matter three Kumaras are esoteric and have their vehicles in subtler matters still. Sanat Kumara, The Lord of the world, is the representative on earth of the specialized force of the planetary Logos; the other six Kumaras transmit energy from the other six planetary schemes. 76 S. D., I, 186-189. 77 The chains of any planetary scheme are frequently called by the names of the seven sacred planets, making the study of the Law of Correspondences easier; similarly, the globes of any chain are called by planetary names, as is the case here. There are planetary schemes called Mars and Mercury. 182 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE through the action of kundalini; it is consequently increasing the vibratory capacity of the centres, which are becoming slowly fourth-dimensional. It is not yet permissible to point out others of the great triangles, but as regards the centres, we may here give two hints: First. Venus corresponds to the heart centre in the body logoic, and has an inter-relationship therefore with all the other centres in the solar system wherein the heart aspect is the one of greater prominence. Second. Saturn corresponds to the throat centre, or to the creative activity of the third aspect. The Cosmos. Our solar system, with the Pleiades and one of the stars of the Great Bear, form a cosmic triangle, or an aggregation of three centres in the Body of HIM OF WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID. The seven stars in the constellation of the Great Bear are the correspondences to the seven head centres in the body of that Being, greater than our Logos. Again, two other systems, when allied with the solar system and the Pleiades, make a lower quaternary which are eventually synthesised into the seven head centres in much the same way as in the human being after the fourth initiation. In the two lower planes in the three worlds–the astral and the physical–the five subplanes of human endeavour are the five highest. The two lowest subplanes, the sixth and seventh, are what we might express as ”below the threshold," and concern forms of life beneath the human altogether. We have a corroborating analogy in the fact that the two earliest root-races in this round are not definitely human, and that it is the third root-race which is really human for the first time. Counting, therefore, from the bottom upwards it is only the third subplane on the physical and the astral planes which mark the commencement of human effort, leaving five subplanes to be subdued. On the mental plane the five lower subplanes have to be subjugated during purely human evolution. When the consciousness is centred on the fifth subplane (counting from below upwards) then the planes of abstraction–from the standpoint of man in the three worlds–supervene the two subplanes of synthesis, demonstrating through the synthesis of the five senses. In the evolution of the Heavenly PIan we have exactly the same thing: the five planes of endeavour, the five lower planes of the solar system. and the two higher planes of abstraction, the spiritual or monadic and the divine, or logoic. b. Touch. In taking up the subject of the second sense, that of touch, we must note that this sense is preeminently the sense of very great importance in this, the second, solar system–a system of astral-buddhic consciousness.81 Each of these senses, after having reached a certain point, begins to synthesise with the others in such a way that it is almost impossible to know where one begins and the other ends. Touch is that innate recognition of contact through the exercise of manas or mind in a threefold manner: 81 Astral-buddhic consciousness is the term applied to the basic consciousness in our solar system. It is characterised by emotion, by feeling, sensation, which have eventually to be transmuted into intuition, spiritual perception and unity. As regards taste and smell, we might call them minor senses, for they are closely allied to the important sense of touch. They are practically subsidiary to that sense. This second sense, and its connection with this second solar system, should be carefully pondered over. It is predominantly the sense most closely connected with the second Logos. This conveys a hint of much value if duly considered. It is of value to study the extensions of physical plane touch on other planes and to see whither we are led. It is the faculty which enables us to arrive Third. The Rod of Initiation, wielded by the Logos of the solar system, is called among other things, the "Sevenfold Flaming Fire." It was confided to our Logos by the Lord of Sirius and sent to our system from that radiant sun. One of its purposes is for use in emergencies. This great talisman has never yet been employed in this particular manner, though twice it was nearly thus used,–once in Atlantean days, and once in the third year of the late war. This Rod of Power is used at the initiation of the seven Heavenly Men on cosmic levels. It is used also in the initiation of groups, a thing almost incomprehensible to us. It is applied to the centres of the seven Heavenly Men in the same general way as the lesser Rods are applied to the human centres, and the effects are the same, only on a vaster scale. This, needless to say, is a vast and abstruse subject, and concerns not the sons of men. It is but touched upon, as an enumeration of the Rods of Initiation would be incomplete without some reference to it, and it serves to show the wondrous synthesis of the whole, and the place of the system within an even greater scheme. In all things cosmic, perfect law and order are found, and the ramifications of the plan can be seen on all planes and all subplanes. This greatest Rod is in the care of the first great group of karmic Lords. It might be described as the Rod which carries a voltage of pure fohatic force from cosmic levels. The two lesser Rods carry differentiated fohatic force. This logoic Rod of Power is kept within the Sun, and is only re-charged at the beginning of every one hundred years of Brahma. The great WORD that peals through one hundred years of Brahma or persists in reverberation throughout a solar system, is the sacred sound of A U M. In differentiation and as heard in time and space, each of those three mystic letters stands for the first letter of a subsidiary phrase, consisting of various sounds. One letter, with a sequence of four sounds, makes up the vibration or note of Brahma, which is the intelligence aspect dominant in matter. Hence the mystery hidden in Then a third Word or phrase is added to the other two, completing the entire Word logoic and producing consummation. It is a Word of nine letters, making therefore the twenty-one sounds (5 + 7 + 9) of this solar system. The final nine sounds produce spiritual synthesis, and the dissociation of the spirit from the form. We have a correspondence in the nine Initiations, each initiation marking a more perfect union of the Self with the All-Self, and a further liberation from the trammels of matter. Then a third Word or phrase is added to the other two, completing the entire Word logoic and producing consummation. It is a Word of nine letters, making therefore the twenty-one sounds (5 + 7 + 9) of this solar system. The final nine sounds produce spiritual synthesis, and the dissociation of the spirit from the form. We have a correspondence in the nine Initiations, each initiation marking a more perfect union of the Self with the All-Self, and a further liberation from the trammels of matter. Thus, the thought of union and of fusion underlies the entire scheme of evolution; Man, the Heavenly Men, and the cosmic Man (the Son of the Father and the Mother) have to a. Radiate occult heat beyond their own individualised ring-pass-not. b. Occultly blaze forth and demonstrate light or fiery objectivity. c. Expand so as to include that which lies beyond their own immediate spheres. d. Fuse and blend the two fires so as to produce perfectly the central fire, solar fire. e. Blend Spirit and matter so that a body is produced that will adequately express Spirit. f. Merge the essence within the form, which is occultly INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS 233 qualified during evolution, with the essence in all forms–humanly, in a planetary sense, and cosmically. g. Attain human, systemic and cosmic manhood. h. Achieve mastery on three planes of the solar system, humanly speaking. i. Achieve mastery on five planes of the solar system, when speaking of a Heavenly Man. j. Achieve mastery on three cosmic planes when speaking of the cosmic Christ, the Son, or the Logos manifesting objectively. This Entity, Whom we call the solar Logos, is in no sense the same as the personal God of the Christian, who is no more nor less than man himself, expanded into a being of awful power, and subject to the virtues and vices of man himself. The solar Logos is more than man, for He is the sumtotal of all the evolutions within the entire solar system, including the human, which is an evolution standing at a middle point in relation to the other evolutions. On one side of him are ranged hosts of beings who are more than human, and who, in Just as the planet called the earth is regarded as the turning point or the battle-ground between Spirit and matter, and is therefore, from that very consideration, of great importance, so our solar system holds an analogous place in the cosmic scheme. The cosmic man, the solar Arjuna, is wrestling for His individualised perfected self-consciousness, and for freedom and liberation from the form, and from the not-self. So man on this planet battles for similar ideals on his tiny scale; so battle in heaven Michael and His Angels, or the divine Heavenly Men, Whose problem is the same on the higher scale. One could go on piling up terms, but the above suffices to demonstrate the relationship between the threefold Logos, during manifestation. Emphasis must be laid upon the above fact: The solar system embodies the above logoic relationship during evolutionary objectivity, and the whole aim of progressive development is to bring the Son of the Father and the Mother, to a point of full realisation, of complete self-consciousness, and to full and active knowledge. This Son is objectively the solar system, inherently will or power, and subjectively He is love-wisdom. This latter quality is in process of development through the utilisation of active intelligence. ledge, and are self-conscious on all planes, then the Son achieves, and the solar system (His body of manifestation and experience) has served its purpose. The Son is liberated. Extend the idea of this threefold development of consciousness to the Logos in a still larger cycle (to that of the three solar systems of which this is the middle one) and we have repeated on cosmic levels in connection with the Logos, the process of the development of man in the three worlds. IV. WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS? WHAT IS ITS PLACE IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS? Consciousness might be defined as the faculty of apprehension, and concerns primarily the relation of the Self to the not-self, of the Knower to the Known, and of the Thinker to that which is thought about. All these definitions involve the acceptance of the idea of duality, of that which is objective and of that which lies back of objectivity.99 Consciousness expresses that which might be regarded as the middle point in manifestation. It does not involve entirely the pole of Spirit. It is produced by the union of the two poles, and the process of interplay and of adaptation that necessarily ensues. It might be tabulated as follows, in an effort to clarify by visualisation: 99 "Consciousness is the kosmic seed of superkosmic omniscience. It has the potentiality of budding into divine consciousness."–S. D., III. 555. The universe is an aggregate of states of consciousness.–S. D., II, 633. Consciousness may be roughly divided into: 1. Absolute or God Consciousness....Unmanifested Logos. "I am That I am." 2. Universal or Group Consciousness Manifested Logos. "I am That." Consciousness of planetary Logos. 3. Individual or Self-Consciousness.... Human consciousness. "I am." 4. Consciousness or Atomic Conscious- ness ................................ Sub-human consciousness. The goal of consciousness for: 1. A planetary Logos................... Absolute consciousness. 2. Man ................................ Group consciousness. 3. Atom ............................... Self-consciousness. The Logos is the Macrocosm for Man.–S. D., I, 288, 295. Man is the Macrocosm for the Atom.... Summation: The Life and the Lives.–S. D., I, 281, 282. 244 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE First Pole The Point of Union Second Pole First Logos Second Logos Third Logos Mahadeva Vishnu Brahma Will Wisdom-Love Active Intelligence Spirit Consciousness Matter Father Son Mother Monad Ego Personality The Self The relation between The Not-Self The Knower Knowledge The Known Life Realisation Form One could go on piling up terms, but the above suffices to demonstrate the relationship between the threefold Logos, during manifestation. Emphasis must be laid upon the above fact: The solar system embodies the above logoic relationship during evolutionary objectivity, and the whole aim of progressive development is to bring the Son of the Father and the Mother, to a point of full realisation, of complete self-consciousness, and to full and active knowledge. This Son is objectively the solar system, inherently will or power, and subjectively He is love-wisdom. This latter quality is in process of development through the utilisation of active intelligence. The three manifested Persons of the logoic Triad seek full development by means of each other. The will to be, of the Mahadeva aspect, seeks, with the aid of the intelligence of Brahma, to develop love-wisdom, or the Son aspect, the Vishnu aspect. In the microcosmic system, the reflection of the threefold Logos, the man is endeavoring through the three vehicles to attain the same development on his own plane. On higher planes the Heavenly Men (through atma-buddhi-manas) aim at a similar progression. These two, the Heavenly Men plus the units in Their bodies, which are composed of deva and human monads form, in their totality, the Grand Heavenly Man. When man achieves, then the Heavenly Men likewise achieve; when They reach Their full growth and know- INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS 245 ledge, and are self-conscious on all planes, then the Son achieves, and the solar system (His body of manifestation and experience) has served its purpose. The Son is liberated. Extend the idea of this threefold development of consciousness to the Logos in a still larger cycle (to that of the three solar systems of which this is the middle one) and we have repeated on cosmic levels in connection with the Logos, the process of the development of man in the three worlds. THE MACROCOSM The first solar system embodied the "I am" principle. The second solar system is embodying the "I am that" principle. The third solar system will embody the "I am that I am" principle. THE MICROCOSM The first manifestation, the Personality, embodies the "I am" principle. The second manifestation, the Ego, is embodying the "I am that " principle. The third manifestation, the Monad, will embody the "I am that I am" principle. First. Rotary motion. His life as it cycles through a day of Brahma, can be seen spiralling around His greater wheel, the ten schemes of a solar system. The microcosm reproduces the solar system in miniature. The above deals with the objective forms, corresponding to the sun and the seven sacred planets. But the exoteric form is paralleled by a psychic development which we call the seven principles. Man develops seven principles, which might be enumerated as follows: MICROCOSMIC PRINCIPLES 9 Two higher principles: 1. Active intelligence. 2. Latent love-wisdom. 8 Kamamanas–That blending of the mental and desire element that forms the personality or common brain-intelligence of the man. "The energies that express themselves through the lower kinds of mental matter are so changed by it into slower vibrations that are responded to by astral matter that the two bodies are continually vibrating together, and become very closely interwoven."–The Ancient Wisdom by Mrs. Besant. 9 1. There are two main cosmic principles in nature:– a. Active and passive, male and female.–S. D., II, 556. I, 46. b. Buddhi and mahat. See also S. D., I,.357. II, 649. III, 273. 2. These higher principles united produce the three and the seven.– S. D., I, 46. a. They are called the three Rays of Essence and the four Aspects. –S. D., I, 147. b. They can be called the three Vehicles with their three Aspects and Atma.–S. D., I, 182. INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS 263 (The psychic nature of the Monad is twofold.) 1. The principle of atma. Spiritual nature. Will. 2. The principle of buddhi. Love nature. Wisdom. 3. The principle of manas. Intelligence nature, Activity. Note here that the three principles in terms of the Triad with the two synthesising principles on the plane of the Monad, make five principles and give the key to H. P. B.'s numbering in certain places. We might express it thus: I. The Absolute The Monad. II. 1. Prakriti Active intelligence. The Divine Manasaputra. 2. Purusha Love-Wisdom. The Vishnu aspect. On the plane of objectivity. III. 3. Atma. The Triad. 4. Buddhi 5. Manas. From the standpoint of evolution we regard the higher two and the highest one as the correspondence to the Absolute as He manifests in duality. This is prior to objectivity, which requires the presence of the three. In manifestation we might regard the principles as follows. e. They are also called the three-tongued Flame of the Four Wicks. –S. D., I, 257. This is true cosmically and humanly. The Principles of the Logos the seven Planetary Logoi. –S. D., I, 358, 365. The Principles of the planetary Logos The vehicle called a chain. –S. D., I, 194, 196. II, 626. The Principles of man The different vehicles. Note also:–S. D., I, 176, 177. II, 630, 631. I, 189. Summation:–S. D., III, 475. 3. Cosmic Ideation, focussed in a principle results as the consciousness of the individual.–S. D., I, 351. a. Appropriation by the individual of a vehicle produces a display of energy of any particular plane. This energy will be of a peculiar colour and quality, according to the plane involved. 4. The seven principles are the manifestation of the one Flame.–S. D. I, 45. III, 374. Note also the function of the Gods in furnishing man with his principles. S. D., I, 308. 264 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE First Principle The sphere of manifestation, the monadic egg. Second Principle Atma Will. Third Principle Buddhi Pure reason, wisdom. Fourth Principle Manas Pure mind, higher mind. Fifth Principle Manas Lower mind. Sixth Principle Kama-manas Seventh Principle Pure emotion, or feeling. These are the principles for the microcosm viewed as having transcended the physical bodies altogether, and thus the tabulation deals entirely with the subjective life, or the development of the psyche or soul. This should be borne carefully in mind else confusion will ensue. In our enumeration we are here dealing with subjectivity and not with form. We have, therefore, considered: a. Sevenfold objectivity the material forms. b. Sevenfold subjectivity. the psychic evolution. c. Sevenfold spirituality the life of the Entity. We will note also that in the tabulation of the spiritual life of the Monad we considered it as fivefold. This was necessarily so in this fivefold evolution, but the remaining two principles might be considered as: 6. The life of the Heavenly Man in Whose body the human Monad finds a place. 7. The life of the Logos in Whose body the Heavenly Man finds place. It might be useful here to consider another enumeration of the principles of man 10 as he manifests in the 10 Enumeration of the Principles.–S. D., II, 627, 631. 1st Principle Dense physical body. Sthula Sharira. 2nd Principle Etheric body. Linga Sharira. 3rd Principle Prana. Vital energy. 4th Principle Kama-rupa The energy of desire. –S. D., I, 136. (These are the lower four principles.) INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS 265 three worlds, the planes whereon the subjective and the objective are united. What have we there? Let us begin where man begins, with the lowest: 7. The etheric body 1. The vital body. 6. Prana 2. Vital force. 5. Kama-manas 3. Desire Mind. 4. Lower mind 4. Concrete mind. 3. Manas 5. Higher or abstract mind. 2. Buddhi 6. Wisdom, Christ force, intuition. 1. Atma 7. Spiritual Will. This is the lowest enumeration for little evolved man at the present time. From the standpoint of the Ego what can be seen? I. The Absolute Atma. Pure will-to-be. II. The Duad. 1. Buddhi Pure reason, wisdom. 2. Manas Pure mind. III. The Triad. 3. The causal body. 4. Lower mind. 5th Principle Manas. The energy of thought. The middle principle.–S. D., II, 83, 84. II, 332. S. D., II, 669. 6th Principle Buddhi. The energy of love.–S. D., II, 649, 676. S. D., III, 58. 7th Principle Atma. The synthetic principle.–S. D., I, 357, 201. S. D., III, 142. See S. D., III, 201, note. a. Buddhi is the vehicle for atma. b. Manas is the vehicle for buddhi. c. Kamarupa is the vehicle for manas.–S. D., II, 171. d. The etheric body is the vehicle for prana. Remember also:– a. That the physical body is not a principle.–S. D., II, 652. III, 445. III, 652. b. That atma is not a principle. See also S. D., III, 62, 63. III, 293. (Other enumerations, differing in certain particulars will be found:–S. D., I, 177, 181, 685. II, 669. III, 476, 560. The latter is more esoteric.) 266 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE 5. Kama-manas. 6. Prana. 7. The etheric body. In these various enumerations of the principles we are dealing with them (as H. P. B. has pointed out they must be dealt with)l1 12 from differing standpoints, dependent upon the stage reached and the angle of vision. We have considered them thus in answering question six because we have sought to emphasise and to impress clearly upon our minds that the three lines of development must be remembered when considering the evolution of the Manasaputras. 2. The Objective Development. This is sevenfold in evolution and in time, ninefold during obscuration, and tenfold at dissolution. Macrocosmic 1. The seven sacred planets of the solar system. 2. The two which are hid, which are the synthesising planets. 3. The one final synthesising planet–the Sun. Seven added to two added to one make ten. There are ten centres in the Grand Heavenly Man. A Heavenly Man 1. The seven chains of a scheme. 2. The two synthesising chains. 3. One ultimate chain. 11 H. P. Blavatsky says in the Secret Doctrine in connection with the Principles. a. That mistakes in the classification are very possible.–S. D., II, 677. b. That we must seek the occult meaning.–S. D., II, 652. That there are really six not seven principles. c. That there are several classifications.–S. D., III, 374, 446. d. That the esoteric enumeration cannot be made to correspond with the exoteric–S. D., III, 476. e. That the numbering of the principles is a question of spiritual progress. –S. D., III, 456, 460. 12 S. D., III, 456. INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS 267 There are ten centres in a planetary Logos. Microcosm 1. The seven vehicles employed: a. The atmic sheath. b. The buddhic vehicle. c. The causal or egoic body. d. The mental body. e. The astral body. f. The etheric body. g. The dense physical. 2. Two synthesising bodies: a. The causal body. b. The physical body. 3. One synthesising body: a. The monadic sheath. There are seven centres in the physical vehicle which correspond to these bodies, with the synthesising centres at the heart and throat; the head is then the ultimate synthesiser. This tabulation deals entirely with the form side, and with the vehicles indwelt by the Logos, the Manasaputras and by Man. They are the seven planetary Logoi, and are the Lords of the Rays, the seven Heavenly Men. They developed the mind aspect in the first solar system, that in which Brahma was paramount, and in Himself embodied objective existence. This He did in the same sense as that in which the second aspect (the Vishnu or Dragon of Wisdom aspect) is the sumtotal of existence in this the second system. Just as a human being has an originating source, the Monad, and a semi-permanent vehicle, the causal body, but manifests through his lower principles (of which the dense physical is not one) so a Heavenly Man has an originating source, His Monad, a semi-permanent body on the monadic levels of the solar system, but manifests through three lower sheaths, our atmic, buddhic, and manasic levels. He is extraneous to the astral and physical planes just as a human being is to the physical. Man vitalises the physical vehicle with his force or heat but he does not occultly count it as a principle. So the Heavenly Man is extraneous to the two lower planes of manifestation though He vitalises them with His force. The human being realises his relationship (as a cell in the body) to a Heavenly Man only when he is developing the consciousness of the Ego on its own plane. If it might be so expressed, the groups of causal bodies are the lowest forms through which a Heavenly Man manifests, just as the physical body is the lowest through which a human being manifests, and this in its etheric connotation. lower planes of the three worlds during the first solar system, again in relation to the cells in His body. Man is repeating His endeavor up to the fifth Initiation which will bring him to a stage of consciousness achieved by a Heavenly Man in a much earlier mahamanvantara. In connection with the initiations this should be carefully borne in mind. c. Repetition in space: This concept is involved deep in the greater concept of karma, which is really the law that governs the matter of the solar system, and which commenced its work in earlier solar systems. We have, therefore, cycles in order, and repetition in an ever-ascending spiral, under definite law. The thoughts thus conveyed might be expressed likewise as follows: a. The solar system repeating its activity Repetition in Space. b. A planetary chain repeating its activity Repetition in Time. c. The constant consecutive re- verberation of a plane note, of a subplane note, and of all that is called into objec- tivity by that note Plane Repetition. d. The tendency of atoms to perpetuate their activity, and thus produce similar- ity of circumstance, of en- vironment, and of vehicle Form Repetition. When we carry these ideas on to every plane in the solar system, and from thence to the cosmic planes. we have opened up for ourselves infinitude. The first type of cycle, or the period involved in one entire revolution of a sphere around its own centre of consciousness, is to the particular Entity involved (be he God or man) a lesser cycle. The second type of cycle or the period involved in the complete circling of an orbit, or the revolution of a sphere around the centre of which it is an integral part, we can consider as a greater cycle. The third type of cycle has not so much to do with the transition of the form through a certain location in space but as the cycle which includes both the greater and the lesser cycles. It has to do with the response of the ENTITY, to Whom our solar Logos is but a centre in His Body, to the contacts made on that centre and on its cosmic opposite. These two centres, for instance, our solar system and its cosmic opposite, in their interaction create a cycle period which has a relation to the “ONE WHO IS ABOVE OUR LOGOS.” This is, of course, beyond human conception, but must be included in our enumeration of cycles if exactitude is to be achieved. The entire middle section of this treatise on the Fires has to do with the development of the consciousness of a Heavenly Man, and the application by Him of the knowledge gained (through the aid of manas or mind) in a previous solar system, to the acquisition of wisdom through objectivity, and to the transmutation of the earlier acquired faculty into applied Love. This is His work in the same sense that the work of the cells within His body is to develop the mind principle. When through experience in the three worlds the human units have accomplished this, they can then gain–through the final initiations–something of the group concept, or the conscious realisation of place, and of energised activity within the ring-pass-not of their particular planetary Logos. Therefore, we might consider the following points: A solar Logos on His Own plane holds an analogous place to that of a Heavenly Man in a solar system, and from a still higher standpoint to that of a man within the solar system. When the place of the solar planes within the cosmic scheme is duly apprehended it will be recognised that on cosmic levels of a high order the solar Logos is an Intelligence as relatively low in the order of cosmic consciousness as man is in relation to solar consciousness. He is but a cell in the body of the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID. His work parallels on cosmic levels the work of man on the solar planes. He has to undergo on the three lower cosmic planes a process of developing an apprehension of His environment of the same nature as man in the three worlds. This fact should be remembered by all stu- This fifth principle is the distinctive coloring of a particular group of solar Logoi on the causal level of the cosmic mental, and is the animating factor of Their Existence, the reason of Their manifesting through various solar systems, and the great Will-to-be that brings Them forth into objectivity. First, the method pursued on the moon-chain (the planetary manifestation previous to ours), when, through innate force and energy, the conjunction of the three fires was brought about and the fire of matter contacted the fire of Spirit through the latent presence of the fiery spark of mind. This spark of mind, working through the instinct, drove the material form or substance, into such activity that it was enabled to reach up to heights where its opposite pole could be contacted. Animal-man aspired; Spirit answered; the vibration of the germ of mentality had permeated the substance like yeast. Thus was consciousness awakened. In the previous solar system, in connection with the Heavenly Men, this was the method pursued by Them, and These advanced cosmic Beings entered into consciousness and mastered the three lower planes of the cosmic physical,–the planes which man is endeavouring to master now. They individualised as the result of work accomplished during incomprehensible aeons of endeavour.28 The earlier solar system was much longer in duration than this one will be, and force in matter was generated by the progression of the ages. It was the period of the vitalisation of the spirillae in the physical permanent atom of the Logos. Second, in the second solar system, and in connection with the method employed therein, another point merits attention. This fire of mind has its source in a constellation until recently unrecognized by exoteric science as having any relation of an intimate nature to our solar system, owing to its tremendous distance away. The sun “Sirius" is the source of logoic manas in the same sense as the Pleiades are connected with the evolution of manas in the seven Heavenly Men, and Venus was responsible for the coming in of mind in the Earth chain. Each was primary to the other, or was the agent which produced the first flicker of consciousness in the particular groups involved. In every case the method was that of a slow evolutionary growth till the consciousness suddenly blazed forth owing to the interposition of force, apparently from an extraneous source, 1. The Logos Solar system Sirius 2. Seven Heavenly Men Planetary scheme. Pleiades 3. Heavenly Man Earth chain Venus This second method therefore is that which is brought about by the hastening of the evolutionary process through influences from outside; these tend to awaken consciousness, and to bring about the merging of the poles. The first method touched upon was that of the earlier solar system. The method we are now considering is the distinctive one of this solar system and will persist till the end of the mahamanvantara. That the earlier method was seen in the moon-chain is only evidence of the steadfastness of the Law of Repetition by which every large cycle includes, in its earlier 348 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE stages, all the lesser, and repeats the earlier procedure. This is a recognised fact, for instance, in the building of man's physical body, for the foetus reproduces all earlier stages and forms till the human is achieved; again, as we know, the fourth round reproduces briefly the earlier three but has its own distinctive quality. b. The Method of Initiation. In this second method the "Rods of Initiation" are used to effect certain results. These rods are of four kinds: 1. Cosmic, used by a cosmic Logos in the initiations of a solar Logos, and of the three major planetary Logoi. 2. Systemic, used by a solar Logos in the initiations of a planetary Logos. 3. Planetary, used by a planetary Logos for initiatory purposes, and for the third, the fourth, and fifth major initiations, with the two higher. 4. Hierarchical, used by an occult Hierarchy for minor Initiations, and for the first two initiations of manas by the Bodhisattva.29 When man individualised in Lemurian days (about eighteen million years ago), it was the application of the Rod of Initiation to the Logos of our Earth chain which brought about the event and touched into activity certain centres in His body with their corresponding groups. This application, bringing about consciousness on some plane, may be regarded as literally the awakening of the lives concerned to participate in intelligent work on the mental plane. Animal man was conscious on the physical, and on the astral planes. By the stimulation effected by the electric rod this animal man awoke to consciousness on the mental. Thus the three bodies were co-ordinated, and the Thinker enabled to function in them. Third, the third method of individualisation is the one to be followed in the next solar system, though it will have its faint beginnings in this one. It is not based on latent activity as in the first case, nor in electrical polarity as in the second, but in a peculiar process of "occult abstraction" (using the word "abstraction" in its basic sense as "the drawing out" of essence). This occult abstraction is brought about by an effort of the will at present incomprehensible. The first method of individualisation For a solar Logos individualisation dates back to stages far anterior to the triplicity of solar systems which constitutes for Him the Eternal Now, but which from man's point of view embody the past, the present, and the future. A planetary Logos individualised in a previous system; a man individualises in this; the planetary entities, now involutionary, will individualise in the next. a. Consciousness and Existence. From the wider point of view the terms initiation and individualisation are synonymous; they both express the idea of an expansion of consciousness, or of entrance into a new kingdom of nature. The faculty of acquiring knowledge THE FACTOR OF MANAS 351 must be realised as paralleling the development of the sense of sight, or vision, as earlier pointed out. The fire of mind shone forth and illuminated animal man in Lemurian days, during that vast cycle wherein sight opened up for him the physical plane. The relationship between sight and mind is a very close one, and must not be lost from sight. In the first round, and in the first root-race of this round, hearing was the sense developed. In the second round and the second root-race touch was evolved. In the third round and corresponding root-race sight was added to the other two, and the Self which hears, and the Not-self which is touched, or apprehended as tangible, are related and connected by sight,–the correspondence to the intelligence that links. Thus is brought about the blending of the three fires, and illumination is present. But through all this evolutionary development the ONE Who hears, touches, and sees, persists and interprets according to the stage of the development of the manasic principle within Him. This basic Interpreter is the Entity Who is independent of an existence which ever necessitates a form. His is the life that causes matter to vibrate and He is therefore "fire by friction"; His is the life of pure Spirit which wills to be, and which utilises form, and is therefore electrical impulse on the cosmic physical plane or "electric fire"; His is the life that not only animates the atoms and electrifies them by His Own nature, but likewise knows itself to be one with all yet apart from all,–the thinking, discriminating, Self-realising something that we call MIND or Solar Fire. Universal mind or manas permeates all, and is equally that Self-knowing, individualised Entity Whose body contains our solar Logos as well as certain other solar Logoi; Whose fire, heat and radiation embrace certain other solar systems and unify them with our own system so that one complete vital body forms the manifestation of this mighty cosmic Be- 352 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE ing. Vortices of force on the cosmic etheric plane form the etheric framework of seven solar systems in the same way that the bodies of the seven Heavenly Men are the etheric centres for a solar Logos, and as the seven centres in man (existing in etheric matter), are the animating electrical impulse of his life. To express the origin of manas apart from manifestation through a congery of systems, a solar system, or a man is for us impossible. Only as one grasps the fact that each planetary scheme, for instance, serves as the body of a Heavenly Man Who is the directing Mind in that scheme, and the animating principle of manas or the active discriminating faculty which every atom in that scheme evinces; only when it is realised that a solar Logos is similarly the manasic principle of those large atoms we call schemes in their totality; only when it is apprehended that a cosmic Logos is again the instigating mind of the still vaster atoms we call systems; only when it is admitted that man is the animating discriminative faculty of the tiny spheres which form his body of manifestation; and finally, only when all this is meditated upon, and its truth accepted, will this question of the origin of manas assume a less abstruse character, and the difficulty of its comprehension be less appalling. Man, the Thinker, the Knower, the manasic principle in the centre of the many spheres which form his bodies, manipulates electrical force in three departments (the physical, astral and mental bodies) through seven centres which are the focal points of force, and of its intelligent dispersal throughout his little system to the myriads of lesser atoms, which are the cells in these spheres. A Heavenly Man equally, and in a wider sense, the Thinker and Knower, the manasic or mind principle plus the buddhic or Christ principle, manipulates electrical force through three principal vehicles or globes in atmic, buddhic, and manasic matter, dispersing it from thence THE FACTOR OF MANAS 353 to the myriads of cells which correspond to the deva and human units. A solar Logos in a still wider sense is the permeating universal Mind, the manasic principle, plus the buddhic and the will principle, working in three major schemes, by means of seven centres of force, and through the myriads of groups which are the cells in His body, in the same way as human beings are the cells in the body of a Heavenly Man. The cosmic Logos of our system works similarly through three major systems (of which ours is not one), utilising seven solar systems (of which ours is one), for the distribution of His force and having myriads of sevenfold groups as the cells of His body. b. Will and ordered purpose. Thus all that we can really predicate anent the origin of manas is that it is the unified will-activity, or the purposeful expression of the realised Identity of some great Self which colours the life and swings into intelligent co-operation all the lesser units included in its sphere of influence. Each of us, in illustration, is the thinking purposeful Entity who acts as the manasic principle, and the spring of action, to all the units included in our three bodies. Each of us sways them to our will; we act, and by acting, force co-operation as we see fit. The Logos does the same on a larger scale. In this thought lies light on the question of karma, of free-will and of responsibility. Manas is, really WILL working itself out on the physical plane, and the truth of this will be seen when it is realised that all our planes form the cosmic physical plane, whereon an Entity, inconceivably greater than our Logos, is working out a set purpose through the Logos, through us, through all Spirit-substance that is included within His sphere of radiatory activity. Certain problems of real interest are prone to enter our minds, but they serve only to develop abstract thought 354 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE and to expand the consciousness, for they are as yet insoluble and will remain so. Some of them might be enumerated as follows: 1. Who is the cosmic Entity in Whose scheme our Logos plays his little part? 2. What is the nature of the great purpose He is working out? 3. Which centre in His body is represented by our solar system? 4. What is the nature of the incarnation He is now undergoing? 5. What are the ten systems–the three and the seven–of which our solar system is one? Must we look for the major three within the seven, or extraneously? 6. What is the coloring or basic quality of this cosmic Entity? 7. Is the colouring of the fourth cosmic ether (the buddhic plane), blue, or is it violet to correspond with our fourth physical ether? Why is buddhi exoterically regarded as yellow in color? 8. Which are the primary three centres in the body of our solar Logos and which the minor four? 9. What is the karma of the different schemes? 10. What is the over-balancing karma of the Logos Himself as it affects the ten schemes within His system? First, that each Heavenly Man holds the position of a centre in the body of a solar Logos; therefore, the Logos of a scheme will embody some outstanding characteristic. The ten schemes are the seven, and the synthesising three–not the seven and a lower three. The lower centres were vital in the last solar system (from the esoteric standpoint), and are not counted in this; they were synthesised and absorbed during the obscuration process of System I. The planetary Logos of this scheme is one of the four minor Logoi, or Lords of the Rays, and is specially concerned therefore with the development of one attribute of manas. Each of the four minor Rays is, as we know, eventually synthesised, or absorbed into that Ray which is represented on our earth by the Mahachohan. He is the Lord of the third major Ray or Aspect, and synthesises the four. These four Rays with their synthesising Ray make the five rays of Manas or Mind. We can consider them as: a. The fivefold Brahma Aspect. b. They were the five Rays of prime importance in the first solar system, and were the five individualised Heavenly Men, called the Mind-born Sons of Brahma. Through the individualisation of the four in that system the individualisation of the great cosmic Entity we call Brahma was brought about. He individualised and the four go to the content of His body. c. They are represented on our earth by the five Kumaras Who obeyed the Law, and took human form, as H. P. B.33 hints in several passages in the Secret Doctrine. This scheme is considered as the fourth and the one of the most importance in the system during this particular cycle for the following reasons: Our solar system, being considered as of the fourth 33 S. D., I, 493. 362 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE order, and our scheme being the fourth in order, there is consequently a moment of special opportunity afforded our planetary Logos through the alignment brought about. It eventuates in the turning of the attention of the logoic kundalini fire towards this centre, our scheme, and the subsequent results are in process of working out. These very important facts merit close attention, and the consideration of all occult students. They hold the key whereby some comprehension of manas and of planetary evolution may come about. What have we, therefore, in this special cyclic alignment? THE FACTOR OF MANAS 363 1. A solar system of the fourth order. 2. The fourth scheme in the system. 3. The fourth chain in the scheme. 4. The fourth globe in the chain. 5. The fourth round.34 All these are found active within the same cycle, and all therefore bring about a simultaneous alignment which results in the clearing of a channel direct from the heart of our scheme through every ring-pass-not to the cosmic correspondence, found outside the solar sphere. To the above realisation, we must add yet the further fact that the fourth Creative Hierarchy is the one whose evolution we are considering, and it will be apparent to the most superficial student that in these thoughts lies hidden the clue, not only to man but to the entire cyclic evolution in which he is taking part. The fourth Creative Hierarchy is essentially the Hierarchy of manas. This is no play on words, but a statement of deep occult significance. The statement has been made with entire accuracy that five Hierarchies out of the twelve have passed out and that seven remain. Of these seven, our human Hierarchy is the fourth, making it literally the ninth when counting the entire twelve. In this connection it would be well to link up the statements that have been made to the effect that the five Kumaras or Heavenly Men Who definitely embody the manasic principle (or the five Rays over which the systemic correspondence to the Mahachohan presides) de- 34 Compare also the following correspondences: The sacred Tetraktys The manifested Logos. The Fourth Creative Hierarchy The Human. The Fourth Principle Lower Mind. The Fourth Race Kamamanas. The Fourth Element Water, S. D., I, 95. I, 640. The Four Truths S. D., I, 70. The Four Propositions S. D., I, 107. The Four Initiations S. D., I, 227. The Fourth Plane Buddhi, fourth cosmic ether. The Fourth physical sub-plane The Fourth Ether. The Fourth Round The Present. 364 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE veloped manas in an earlier system; They passed out of the wave of manasic influence as far as their own Nature is concerned. We must remember also that nine is the number of Initiation, or of the major Initiations of Manas, wherein man becomes a perfect Nine, or literally is the number of his Hierarchy. This is from the standpoint of the three systems, though his present systemic number may be four. It would be well to enlarge here a little on the connection between Venus and the Earth, which is hinted at in some of the occult books, and is somewhat touched upon in this. I have stated that the interaction between the two schemes is due largely to their positive and negative polarity, and I pointed out that a similar relation underlies the relation of the Pleiades and the seven schemes of our solar system, and also the relation of Sirius and the system itself. This, therefore, sweeps into close interaction three great systems: 1. The system of Sirius, 2 . The system of the Pleiades, 3. The system of which our sun is the focal point, making, as we will have noted, a cosmic triangle. Within our system there are several such triangles, varying at different stages; according to their relation to each other, the differentiated force of the different schemes can pass from scheme to scheme, and thus the units of life on the different rays or streams of force become temporarily intermingled. In all these triangles (cosmic, systemic, planetary, and human) two points of the triangle represent each a different polarity, and one point represents the point of equilibrium, of synthesis or merging. This should be borne in mind in studying both the macrocosmic and the microcosmic centres, for it accounts for diversity in manifestation, in forms and in quality. A correspondence might here also be pointed out which 376 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE may serve to convey light to those who have eyes to see : The Venus scheme, being in the fifth round, had the fifth principle of manas co-ordinated and developed, the minor four manasic aspects had been synthesised, and the buddhic aspect was being provided with a means of expression through the medium of the perfected fifth. Our Heavenly Man, in the fifth round, will have attained a paralleling point in evolution, and the fifth principle will, as stated, be no longer the object of His attention as regards the human units. Five stages of activity mark the development and utilisation of the mind principle; there are three stages of acquisition, and two wherein that which has been acquired is used. This is too intricate a calculation for us to enter into it here, and it cannot be undertaken except by an initiate, for it involves ability to study the cycles of the earlier solar system, but it might be noted that (judging from the microcosm on the earth planet) this is just what might be expected. Man developed manas in this round during the third, fourth and fifth root-races, and utilises it for the development of the intuition and of the higher consciousness during the sixth and seventh. During an incarnation by a planetary Logos in a chain, during one round He demonstrates through His seven centres or globes manas on three globes, and utilises it for specific purposes on the final two. This is a lesser cycle to that in which we view the seven chains as His seven centres. These words are chosen with care; I say not "acquires manas"; He but produces that which is inherent. It must be remembered that just as the planes of a solar system stand for a different purpose, vibrate to a different key, and serve their own specific ends, so do the globes serve an analogous function. a. Globe 1, is that of ultimate abstraction, and of origination It is the initial globe of manifestation. THE FACTOR OF MANAS 377 b. Globe 2, is the first sheath in which a Heavenly Man embodies Himself. c. Globes 3, 4, 5, are those through which He demonstrates the possession of the manasic principle. d. Globes 6 and 7, are the ones through which He manifests buddhi, through forms built by means of the manasic principle. This can be equally predicated on a larger scale of a chain. An interesting correspondence of a very occult nature can be worked out by the advanced student in connection also with the seven schemes. There are two which may be considered primarily archetypal, causal, or involving abstraction; three in which manas is manifested, and two in which already buddhi is manasically demonstrating. Of these two, Venus is one and thus we have the three and the two which make the five schemes of the five Kumaras, Who are Brahma.36 Therefore, enlarging the concept, we can note the fact that our Heavenly Men are the transmitters, via their seven schemes, to the seven stars of the Pleiades. Our solar system is negatively polarised as regards the sun Sirius, which influences our entire system psychically via the three synthesising schemes–Uranus, Neptune, Saturn–the latter, Saturn, being the focal point for the transmission of cosmic manas to the entire seven schemes. The Moon chain has in itself a curious occult history, not yet to be disclosed. This differentiates it from the other chains in the scheme and even from any other chain in any scheme. An analogous situation or correspondence will be found in another planetary scheme within the solar system. All this is hidden in the history of one of the solar systems which is united to ours within a cosmic ring-pass-not. Hence the impossibility of yet enlarging upon it. Each Heavenly Man of a scheme is a focal point for the force and power and vibratory life of seven stupendous ENTITIES in exactly the same sense as the seven centres in a human being are the focal points for the influence of a corresponding heavenly Prototype. Our Heavenly Man, therefore, is esoterically allied to one of the seven solar systems, and in this mysterious alliance is hidden the mystery of the moon chain. Certain brief hints may be given for the due consideration of students: The Moon chain was a chain wherein a systemic failure was to be seen. It is connected with the lower principles, which H.P.B. has stated are now superseded. The sexual misery of this planet finds its origin in the moon failure. The progress of evolution on the moon was abruptly disturbed and arrested by the timely interference of the solar Logos. The secret of the suffering in the Earth chain, which makes it merit the name of the Sphere of Suffering, and the mystery of the long and painful watch kept by the SILENT WATCHER, 48 has its origin in the events which brought the moon chain to a terrific culmination. Conditions of agony and of distress such as are found on our planet are found in no such degree in any other scheme. 48 . . it is He, again, who holds spiritual sway over the initiated Adepts throughout the whole world. He is, as said, the "Nameless One" who has so many names, and yet whose names and whose very nature are unknown. He is the 'Initiator,' called the 'Great Sacrifice.' For, sitting at the Threshold of Light, he looks into it from within the Circle of Darkness which he will not cross; nor will he quit his post till the last Day of this Life-Cycle. Why does the Solitary Watcher remain at his self-chosen post? Why does he sit by the Fountain of Primeval Wisdom, of which he drinks no longer, for he has naught to learn which he does not know–aye, neither on this Earth, nor in its Heaven? Because the lonely, sore-footed Pilgrims, on their journey back to their Home, are never sure, to the last moment, of not losing their way, in this limitless desert of Illusion and Matter called Earth-Life. Because he would fain show the way to that region of freedom and light, from which he is a voluntary exile himself, to every prisoner who has succeeded in liberating himself from the bonds of flesh and illusion. Because, in short, he has sacrificed himself for the sake of Mankind, though but a few elect may profit by the Great Sacrifice."–S. D., I, 229. The time for the sounding of the final mantric phrase by ordered active groups lies ahead in the sixth and seventh rounds, and will not reach its full vibration in this solar system at all. "I am That" will peal forth fully consummated in this system of duality, for the third initiation sees the initiate comprehending its mantric force. Nevertheless, initiates of the sixth and seventh Initiations will not preponderate in this system. After the fifth round and the passing into temporary obscuration of two fifths of the human family, the remaining units will achieve an approximate standing as follows: One fifth will mantrically sound the words "I am That I am. " Two fifths will achieve the fifth Initiation and will know themselves as "I am That." They will also be cultivating response to the higher note. One fifth and a half will attain the third Initiation, and will know themselves as "I am That" in full consciousness. The remaining units will be those who are treading the Path, and beginning to know themselves as the group. Psychical Physical Entity Force Centres Manifestation Manifestation 1. Solar Logos. Heavenly Men. Deva Builders. A solar system They energise They work in and are ac- matter and tive life. hold the life. 2. Planetary Logos Human group units Deva Builders. A scheme. 3. A Man Seven etheric centres Elemental builders Bodies. Each of these divisions can be studied separately and in due course of time (when it may be safe to transmit information more freely anent the devas) it will be seen that a deva Lord of a plane, for instance, works through force centres, manifests objectively through the colour which is His psychical display, and ensouls the matter of THE FACTOR OF MANAS 439 a plane just as a Heavenly Man ensouls His scheme. The idea can be extended likewise to chains, globes, races, and rounds. Duality always will be seen,–human and deva manifestation forming the sumtotal, and always will energy and quality progress in parallel lines. As the ray influence passes away from a race or a planet, a scheme or a solar system, it must not be supposed that it is completely abrogated; it has simply passed beyond the periphery of whatever ring-pass-not it was energising, and the force of its influence is being focussed elsewhere. The original recipient becomes a channel, or transmitting agent, and not so much an absorber or container. Words again are handicapping us, and proving their inadequacy to express an idea. What the student should recognise is that during a cycle of ray influence, the object of its immediate attention receives and absorbs it, and transmutes it according to its need, and not so much therefore is available for transmission. When the cycle is drawing to a close more and more of the ray influence or magnetism will be felt elsewhere, until practically all of it will be passed on unabsorbed. This is what is beginning to happen in relation to this sixth Ray of Devotion. Egos who are on that particular Ray will take form elsewhere on other globes, and in other chains, and not so much on our planet. The vibrations of that Ray will quiet down as far as we are concerned, and find increased activity elsewhere. To phrase it otherwise, our planet and all thereon will become positive and non-receptive, and will temporarily repulse this particular type of force. A psychical manifestation of this can be seen in the dying down of what is called Christian enthusiasm. This Ray, on which the Chohan Jesus may be found, will no longer pour its force to the same extent into the form He built, and it will necessarily slowly but surely disintegrate, having served its purpose 440 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE for close on two thousand years. Later again the same force will be felt returning, and a new form will be found slowly coming into being, but along more adequate lines. Certain Words belong to the different aspects, and the Words of the first aspect set in vibration the matter that evolves through the seven cycles of solar systems. Their relation to the Words of the present solar system is analogous to the primordial substance which lies back of our present creation. The Words of the second aspect concern us closely, but the Words of Brahma are at the present stage more closely connected with our work upon the physical plane. These Words, where the three worlds are concerned, very largely fall into a group of mantrams, hidden in the consciousness of the Lords of the fifth and seventh Rays; by their intelligent utterance the third aspect (the Brahma or manasic aspect) is brought into contact with the first aspect and produces that which we call the "Conscious Son" or Sun. Upon the mental plane they are sounded by the Lord of the fifth Ray, causing a vibration not only in what we might call "the lower levels " but producing response on the first or archetypal Finally: this solar system, the objective physical manifestation of the Logos, is interpenetrated by His astral body, as is the case with the human manifestation. As the Logos is polarised in His cosmic astral sheath and has not yet attained cosmic mental polarisation His force or desire nature is the main incentive for the subjective Life and lives that underlie the form. 4. Summary. Before proceeding further, however, it might be well to sum up some of the facts anent the spirillae and the atom, and then we can take up the subject of the causal body and man, the individual. THE EGOIC RAY AND SOLAR FIRE 531 1. The four lower spirillae are definitely under the influence of the personality Ray. 2. The fifth and sixth spirillae are more specifically under the egoic Ray, whatever that Ray may be. 3. The fifth spirilla has a peculiar value inasmuch as it synthesises the lower four. It is the third when counting the streams of spiral force from the standpoint of the atomic pole. It vibrates to five types of force. 4. The spirillae are literally ten in number, three major and seven minor. But from the unity point of view, they are the four and the major three, the remaining lesser three being counted as one with their major, inasmuch as they are direct reflections. 5. The permanent atoms are not heart-shaped as portrayed in certain books. A certain number of atoms are of that type but they are not the permanent atoms which are more definitely spheroidal and are slightly flattened at the top, where the correspondence to the polar depression may be found, and equally flattened at the under surface. 6. The arrangement of the spirillae within the permanent atoms varies on each plane and the ones most frequently described are those of the physical plane. The arrangement of these tiny force vortices and their internal economy on each plane is one of the secrets of initiation and may not be revealed. One hint only may be given to guide the student: The astral permanent atom has its internal streams of force arranged so that the spirals do approach quite closely the conformation of a heart, though the pointed end is eliminated. The buddhic permanent atom has its spirillae arranged so as to form approximately a figure eight with a central stream bisecting the double spiral. 7. The closer the approach to reality the simpler will be found the arrangement of the spirilla. These streams of force show a septenary arrangement in the 532 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE lower three permanent atoms of man, while the higher three contain but three spirillae–the major three. 8. It should be noted that there are but six permanent atoms connected with human evolution, while a Heavenly Man has but five, and even then only one in the solar system. (The mystery of a planet and its central life has not yet been revealed. It is connected with another manifestation of which as yet nought is known.) 9. It should be remembered that we are dealing with a physical incarnation of these great Entities and that Their permanent atoms, with the exception of the physical, are extra-systemic. 10. The causal body of the Heavenly Men is upon the third subplane of the cosmic mental plane, while that of the solar Logos and those of the three Persons of the logoic Trinity are upon the first subplane. 11. The permanent atoms of men are upon the atomic subplane of each plane, with the one exception of the mental unit. Those of the animal groups are upon the second subplane; those of the vegetable groups are upon the third subplane; those of the mineral groups are upon the fourth subplane. There is, therefore, a close analogy between these focal points of force of the group–human or otherwise–and a chain, a globe, and a round, and in their due application comes enlightenment. The sumtotal of the permanent atoms of any particular kingdom form the streams of force or spirillae in the greater atoms of solar entities or of lunar entities, while the sumtotal of the permanent atoms of man in the spiritual kingdom (the three triadal atoms, atma-buddhi-manas) form the spiral streams of force within certain centres. 12. As the permanent atoms become radioactive in due course of evolution, the result within the centre is a marked increase of vibration. 13. The permanent atoms concern solar entities when they are found on or above the higher mental. They THE EGOIC RAY AND SOLAR FIRE 533 concern lunar entities on the lower mental, the astral and the physical planes. 14. It should be noted that in this solar system the following entities manifest through: I. One permanent atom . . . the physical. 1. A solar Logos. 2. The three major Rays, or Lords of Aspect. 3. The seven Heavenly Men. 4. The forty-nine Regents of the planetary chains. 11. Two permanent atoms . . . the physical and the astral. 1. The seven Lords of the globes in every chain. 2. The forty-nine Root Manus. 3. The seventy-seven Embodiers of form–a group of solar Lords Who are concerned with form building, working primarily on the first ray. 4. Certain of the Avatars, Who are selected by the Logos to carry a certain type of force at stated intervals and thus further the evolution of the psyche. III. Three permanent atoms . . . physical, astral, and mental. 1. The Lords of the third Kingdom, the animal. They are seven Entities whose bodies are made up of animal souls just as the Heavenly Men embody for man the Buddhic principle, so these lords embody for the animal kingdom the manasic principle, which is the goal of the evolutionary process for them. 2. Certain great entities who embody a whole range of existences upon five of the planets, of which the earth is not one, but who in due course of time will come to be recognised as having a powerful effect upon man on the earth, via the three Buddhas of Activity. A hint as to this esoteric influence comes to man in the close connection existing between the Earth and Mercury. As yet it is not possible to enlarge further. 3. The entities who are the sumtotal of those group souls who contain definite permanent triads. Nine triads constitute the body of one of these entities. 1V. Through four permanent atoms . . . physical, astral, mental and buddhic. 1. Eight groups of solar Entities Who form the subjective life of the seven centres in the body of Brahma, viewing Him as a separate cosmic Entity, 534 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE dissociated from His two brothers. They are the seven Sons of Fohat, with the eighth Son included, and They are the final differentiation of the forty-nine fires, prior to Their union with the fire of Eros. Thus is it expressed by H. P. B.74 These laws are all dominated and controlled eventually by the three higher laws in the system–the Laws of Magnetic Control, of Disintegration, and of Cohesion. There is a direct connection between these seven laws and the seven Rays or Vibrations, and if we study the correspondence we shall recognise the fact that the first law, that of Vibration, is the controlling law of the six, demonstrating through the second law, that of Cohesion, just as the solar Logos is at this time manifesting Himself through His second aspect in this the second solar system. This principle of mutation governs every department in the Law of Correspondences, and certain things can be stated as regards the system, and its component parts which will be found illuminating if we remember that they are facts for the present. Let me again illustrate: we have been told that the three major Rays at this time are the first, the second, and the seventh. But later, the Rays now major may become subsidiary, and others take their place, though for this solar system the second Ray, being the synthetic Ray, will always be a major Ray. Perhaps we can here get a hint on this great principle, though we must be careful not to draw it out to too fine a conclusion. For this system the major Rays will always be the dual Rays–the negative-positive Rays, the masculine-feminine Rays–this being the dual system. The major Rays for system three will be those in triple manifestation. I seek to deal with a very important point here, emphasising the close connection between Agni, the sumtotal of the life force of the logoic threefold personality, as He is seen at work on the mental plane (which closely concerns man), and that manifesting driving force or intelligent will which emanates from the cosmic mental plane. There is a very interesting series of correspondences to be worked out here and we might briefly indicate the lines to be followed in this connection by the ensuing tabulation: The 5th cosmic plane The cosmic mental. The 5th systemic plane The mental plane. The 5th subplane of the phys- ical The gaseous. The 5th principle Manas. The 5th Law Fixation, the Law of Concretion. The 5th Ray Concrete knowledge. The 5th round The round of manasic attain- ment. THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 605 The 5th root-race The Aryan. Mental develop- ment. The 5th sub-race The Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon. Concrete mind. The 5th group of Devas Fire Devas of the mental plane. The 5th Manvantara Three-fifths of the manasaputras achieve. The 5th scheme The Lord of concrete science. The 5th Mahamanvantara (or solar system) The solar Logos achieves His fifth major Initiation. The 5th chain Principal evolution - fire devas. The 5th Hierarchy The greater Builders. Vibrations of fifth order Manasic. It will, therefore, be apparent that when the system is viewed in reverse order and the physical plane is counted as the first (as it often is when considering it as the field of strictly human evolution), that the third plane–the mental plane–comes under the same group of correspondences and Agni, as the energising factor of the dense physical body of the Logos, or as the fire of His most concrete manifestation, vitalising, warming and holding all together, has to be considered. Three hierarchies are, in this mahamanvantara, of profound significance, the fourth or human Creative Hierarchy, and the two deva hierarchies, the fifth and sixth. The fourth Hierarchy in the larger scheme is literally the ninth, for five hierarchies have earlier passed on and are considered as pure abstractions. In this system concretion concerns us, and the blending of form and of energy into one coherent whole. In the ninth, tenth and eleventh Hierarchies lie the clue to the nature of Agni, the Lord of fire, the sumtotal of systemic vitality. He who understands the significance of these figures, and their relation to each other as the triple division of a Unity in time and space will have dis- 606 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE covered one of the keys which will unlock a door hitherto fast closed. They are the numbers of achievement, of potentiality brought into full activity and of innate capacity demonstrating in perfect fruition. All potentiality lies in the vitalising, energising power of Agni, and in His ability to stimulate. He is life itself, and the driving force of evolution, of psychic development and of consciousness. This fact is hidden in these figures, and not the evolution of substance, which is but a result, emanating from psychic causes. These three numbers are the basis of the cyclic calculations which concern the egoic cycles, and the cycles of Vishnu, as distinguished from the cycles dealing with the third aspect. Occult students have not sufficiently grasped the fact that objectivity is an inevitable result of an inner conscious subjective life. When this is better apprehended, bodies on the physical plane, for instance, will be purified, developed and beautified through a scientific attention paid to the development of the psyche, to the unfoldment of the Ego, and to the stimulation of the egoic vibration. The cause will be dealt with and not the effect, and hence the growing appreciation by the human family of the study of psychology, even though as yet they are but studying the kama-manasic body, and have not reached back to the egoic consciousness. The lunar Lords have had their day; now Agni, as the solar Lord of life and energy, will assume due importance in human life. I seek to emphasise here the fact that in this threefold manifestation there is a ninefold unfoldment. It should ever be borne in mind that seven is the number which governs the evolution of substance and of form building in the solar system, but that nine is the number governing the development of the consciousness within that form of the psyche. This is seen in the sevenfold display of logoic life through the planetary scheme, and the ninefold nature of egoic unfoldment. If the student here substitutes for the words, Monad, Ego and personality, the three aspects of the Logos, and will bear in mind that as yet all that he can ascertain or cognise is the lowest of the logoic manifestations–the personality–it will be apparent why so much must remain mysterious to even the higher grades of initiates, and why even the perfected Dhyan Chohan cannot penetrate the secrets of the Logos outside His system.89 They 89 H. P. B. in the Secret Doctrine refers to ". . . the solution of the riddle . . . before which even the highest Dhyan Chohan must bow in 610 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE can cognise much concerning Agni, the Lord of Fire, but until They can contact that of which He is an emanation, a reflection or a ray, there is a limit to what may be known. The lunar Pitris,98 99 the builders of man's lunar body and their correspondence in the other kingdoms of nature, are the sumtotal of the dense physical body of the Logos, or the substance of the mental, astral and physical planes (the gaseous, liquid and dense bodies which form a unity, His physical vehicle, viewing it apart from the etheric). They are the product of an earlier solar system; their activities date from there. That system stands to the present one as the lunar chain to ours. That is why the physical body is considered no principle (either for man or the solar Logos); that is why the lower nature is considered evil, and why man must "slay his lunar body." 1 Evil is that which can be controlled and subdued but which is permitted to govern. The positive can always manipulate the negative. When the negative line is followed and the line of least resistance to that which is no principle, is pursued, then we have evil. In the first solar system the negative substance aspect, the Mother aspect or matter, was perfected. The lower Pitris dominated. In this system force activity lies in the hands of the solar Pitris or greater devas. At the close of the mahamanvantara they will have built accord- He is concerned also with those devas who are as yet animated by the life and purpose which distinguished the evolution of the first solar system. That life is the life of God, and that purpose is the working out of His will, but it is evil from our present standpoint, for it is superseded as far as man is concerned by a different purpose and goal. Therefore, identification with that which is past, retrogression and the methods of the old are for a man a return along the path of self-conscious evolution, and lead eventually to a loss of the egoic principle, or of ego-ism, which distinguishes a man (human or heavenly) from the rest of evolution. The buddhic plane, or fourth cosmic ether, is the plane whereon: a. The sacred planets function. b. Man will eventually function freed from the triple lower man. c. The true meaning of the words "Divine Hermaphrodite" is there to be comprehended. d. It is predominantly the plane of life-force, and one of the planes of generation. e. Here man will for the first time understand and utilize his relationship with the devas. f. It will see the fruition of the combined evolutionary process of the two solar systems. g. It is the plane from whence all planetary avatars emanate. h. The Heavenly Men take the first Initiation on this plane. i. On this plane the true inner significance of the "Sun" is apprehended. More I cannot say, but careful study of that which is here given may open up much that is of significance in the study of the macrocosm and the microcosm. We shall now come to a considerable amount of tabulation, for all that it is wise and possible to give at this time are certain facts, names and outlines which can only be demonstrated through the law of correspondence. The key to comprehension is always this law. The basic differentiation in the solar system is as follows: Agni Electric fire Spirit Central Spiritual Sun Energy Surya Solar fire Vishnu Heart of the Sun Light Brahma Fire by friction Physical visible Sun Fohat As electric fire the Logos manifests as the seven aspects of Will, spiritual impulse or purpose. As solar fire He manifests as the seven Rays, or as the Light of Wisdom, the Consciousness, radiating through the form. As fire by friction He manifests as the seven Sons of Fohat, the seven great fires, or the active heat of intelligent substance. These three aspects of the God of Fire, and of the fire of God, are the three Entities of the logoic Trinity, and each in turn manifests through seven other Entities Who form their total manifestation. Sevenfold electric fire. The seven types of spiritual existences, or the seven Spirits before the Throne in Their essential essence; the dynamic force or will lying back of all manifestation. They form on their own plane in a peculiar sense the logoic "Jewel in the Lotus," and THOUGHT AND FIRES ELEMENTALS 629 hence are inconceivable to our intelligence in this solar system, as They are not revealed until the "Son be made perfect," or the logoic consciousness is fully awakened. They are esoterically the "Spirits of Darkness." Sevenfold solar fire. The seven Heavenly Men, the sumtotal of Light, the seven Rays of manifestation of the Spiritual Sun. In time and space these seven Rays of Light become the nine (the major three, with the third demonstrating as seven) and are thus esoterically the nine petals of the logoic Ego as He manifests in His physical vehicle. They are esoterically the "Sons of Light." Sevenfold fire by friction. The seven brothers of Fohat. The seven manifestations of electricity, or of electrical phenomena. These are the seven Raja-Lords or Devas of the seven planes; they are the seven Fires, or those seven states of activity through which consciousness is expressing itself. They are the vehicles of consciousness and the seven vibrations. They are esoterically the "Brothers of energy." Therefore it will be apparent that the sumtotal of logoic manifestation as it can be seen in existence in time and space is: Seven Spirits sevenfold will. Seven Rays sevenfold quality or psyche. Seven Deva Lords sevenfold form. The latter are literally the seven spirillae, or force vibrations within the logoic physical permanent atom. This needs to be carefully borne in mind and pondered upon. The seven Rays are the sumtotal of the psychic nature of the Logos, as it radiates through His physical form– His seven qualities, the aggregate of the expression of His desire, or love nature. The seven Spirits are the sumtotal of His Will-to-be aspect, the synthetic Life of His total manifestation, that which causes the persistence 630 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE of the form, and its evolution for as long as the logoic Ego seeks physical existence. To carry the simile, or analogy, even further back and thus bear in mind the resemblance between microcosmic and macrocosmic development we have: 1. The seven Spirits who find Their originating incentive on: a. The cosmic lower mental levels. b. The logoic "Jewel in the Lotus." c. The cosmic atmic plane. 2. The seven Heavenly Men are in the line of force from: a. The cosmic astral plane. b. The logoic nine-petalled lotus. c. The cosmic buddhic plane (the seven Rishis of the Great Bear). 3. The seven Sons of Fohat find their vital force emanating from: a. The cosmic physical plane. b. The logoic permanent atoms (within the causal body) . c. The cosmic higher mental levels. Yet these three are but the expressions of One Existence, for behind the Logos in physical incarnation is to be found the logoic Monad, expressing Itself through the logoic Ego, and its reflection, the logoic Personality. All these spiritual Essences are individualised self-conscious Identities, and the "Fiery Lives" are real, and conscious, vital Existences. Thus we see the Logos manifesting as One Unity yet Three in One; we see the threefold Unity differentiating into the seven great Lives, containing within Themselves all lesser lives. Another broad differentiation must next be touched upon: THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 631 a. The seven Fires form the forty-nine Fires. b. The seven Heavenly Men manifest through forty-nine lesser Rays. c. The seven Spirits shew forth as forty-nine Existences. In connection with the Spirit aspect it will prove unprofitable to carry the thought any further. Of Spirit per se we can know nothing, and beyond predicating the forty-nine 5 solar Manus (each of the Heavenly Men is expressing Himself on the physical plane through seven Manus) it is impossible to go. Therefore, in discussing these abstract questions, we will concern ourselves only with the seven Rays of Light, or Heavenly Men, and the seven Fires. Each of the seven Rays of Light differentiates into seven making the forty-nine aspects of the logoic psychic nature, as it shews itself on the cosmic physical plane, and each of the seven Fires manifests as seven lesser Fires, making the forty-nine Fires referred to by H. P. B. in the Secret Doctrine.6 The seven Heavenly Men manifest each through seven lesser Entities, Who form the psychic centres in Their body in the same manner as They–in Their turn–form the psychic centres in the logoic vahan or vehicle. Each of the seven Fires, or Deva Lords, of a plane manifest through seven lesser devas, who form the central fire, and consciousness of the substance of a subplane. It is with their mutual interplay and work that we are now concerned, or with the study of matter as it is affected and built into form through the medium of Divine Thought or Will. Of the higher Fires (the Lords of the four higher planes) I do not seek to deal, for it only profits us to 5 The fortynine Manus. They are the patrons or guardians of the race cycles in a manvantara, or Day of Brahma. There are seven races in a world period, and there are seven world periods. 6 See S. D., I, 567. 632 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE study the construction of thought-forms in the three worlds through the medium of deva essences; these are vitalised and manipulated by the Builders, the Dhyan Chohans, the Heavenly Men through the force of Their Life, through Their knowledge of the logoic Will or purpose, and through the power of Their psychic nature. Thus They are occupied in building the logoic physical body, and in carrying out His plans in that body, in this way fulfilling the purpose for which He incarnated. Their work is infinitely greater than this, for it lies primarily on cosmic levels, but this is what concerns us, and all that we can, in any way grasp. Man in the three worlds of human endeavour works at two things: First. The building of his body of manifestation, a threefold body. Second. The construction of thought-forms, which he builds of mental matter and vitalises by desire, and which he holds within his aura, thus constructing a tiny system of his own. Both man, and the Heavenly Men, work in deva substance; both co-operate with the devas; both manifest will, psychic quality and intelligent activity as they pursue their work but a difference lies, not only in degree, but in consciousness. Man works usually unconsciously. The Heavenly Men, on cosmic levels, work for the most part consciously. Herein lies a hint as to the stage of evolution of our Logos. This matter is of real difficulty, for the subject is abstruse and profound. We will now leave these basic ideas, and deal more specifically with the devas with whom we are immediately concerned, or with the three groups I have outlined–the Agnichaitans, the Agnisuryans, and the Agnishvattas. They are concerned primarily with the evolution of the dense body of the Logos, the liquid, gaseous and dense subplanes of the THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 633 cosmic physical, or the three worlds of human endeavour; with the magnetic radiation of the Logos through His physical vehicle, and with the radiatory emanations of the particular Heavenly Man Who is expressing Himself through our planet. Finally they are concerned with the evolution of consciousness 7 in the three worlds, and particularly with the individualisation of the human unit of consciousness, and with the vitalisation of the centres in the body of the Heavenly Man with Whom we are peculiarly connected. The subject of our consideration now is the fire devas of the physical plane, those great building devas who are working out the purposes of the Logos in his dense, physical body. Let us get our ideas as clear as possible on this matter; in the following tabulation, the status of these devas will be apparent at a glance: Systemic Name Cosmic Plane Plane Nature Ruler Agnichaitan 7th subplane Physical Densest Kshiti cosmic physical concretion Agnisuryan 6th subplane Astral Liquid Varuna cosmic physical Agnishvatta 5th subplane Mental Gaseous Agni cosmic physical The Agnichaitans. These are the devas who construct, and build in matter of the densest kind in connection with logoic manifestation. They function on the seventh subplane of the cosmic physical plane, and are the producers of the greatest concretion. In the planetary body of our planetary Logos they are the builders of the Earth, His densest form, and throughout the entire solar system they are the sum-total of that activity and vibra- 7 The Lunar Angels have to reach the plane of the Solar Angels.–S. D., I, 203. They have to win immortality.–S. D., III, 518, 519. Self-consciousness is their goal.–S. D., I, 205; II, 622. 634 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE tion which demonstrates through what we call "solid substance." Therefore, it will be apparent that under the law they will have a peculiarly powerful effect on the lowest subplane of the systemic physical plane; hence their esoteric appellation of the "Agnichaitans of the inner or central heat." They are the totality of the lowest vibration in the cosmic physical vehicle. The Agnisuryans are the builders on the sixth subplane of the cosmic physical plane, our systemic astral plane. They represent, as I have before hinted, the sympathetic nervous system in the logoic physical body, just as their brothers of the seventh vibration represent the sumtotal of the circulatory or blood system. A hint to the student who is interested in the physiological key lies in the relationship between the two great groups of devas who build and construct the most objective portion of logoic manifestation, and the two groups of corpuscles which in their mutual interaction hold the body in health; there is an analogy also in the relationship between the devas of the astral plane, and the motor and sensory nerves of the physical body. I will not enlarge upon this angle of vision. These devas have to do, in a very esoteric sense, with the nerve plexus in the: a. Solar system. (Physical Sun) b. Planetary scheme. (Dense Planet) c. Human physical body. (Dense Body) and are therefore a powerful factor in the eventual vitalisation of the centres in man. The etheric centres, or the focal points of force of a Heavenly Man are on the fourth cosmic ether, the buddhic plane. The astral plane is closely allied to the buddhic, and as the etheric centres of our Heavenly Man, for instance, come into full activity, the force is transmitted through the astral correspond- THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 635 ence to the fourth physical ether, in which the centres of man exist. This holds the clue to much. A further clue to the sad condition to be seen in the world (especially along sex lines ) lies in the fact that those units of the human family who contribute to the constitution of this particular centre out of the seven, are frequently at this stage over-vitalised, the physical vehicle vitality indicating to them the line of least resistance. To word it otherwise: The deva forces who form the centre, and are likewise the activity of the centre, are as yet over-dominant, and the power they acquired in the earlier solar system has not yet been transmuted into spiritual power. Cosmically there is a very interesting series of triangles which will be found by the student of esoteric astronomy and of occult cycles. They originate in the central sun of our particular group of solar systems. This series involves the Pleiades. The fact that this is so will not be known until the last decade of the present century, and will not be recognised by science till that time when certain lines of knowledge and discovery will bring scientists to a realisation that there is a third type of electricity, which ever balances and forms the apex of the triangle. But the time is not yet. These three orders are (in this solar system) the most potent, especially in this fourth round. They influence particularly the fourth kingdom of nature, and are the basis of that search for balance, of that aspiration towards harmony, union and yoga which distinguishes man in all grades; it shows in its lower manifestation as the sex instinct as we know it, and in its higher as longing for union with God. If the student endeavours to dissociate our solar system from that which preceded it, and if he considers the pralaya at the close of this mahamanvantara to be a final one, and the utter consummation of all things, he errs. In the preceding system the cosmic physical plane attained a certain vibratory capacity, and the devas of the internal furnaces became (relatively speaking) highly evolved, the "fires of matter" then blazing forth. Certain Existences attained self-consciousness in that earlier system, and are the "nirvanis" spoken of by H. P. B.26 As might be expected, they are characterised by active intelligence, achieved and developed by means of material evolution during a previous mahamanvantara. They 26 See S. D., II, 83, 84 243. THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 687 are the Manasa devas and in their totality are the vehicles of the Divine mind, the dhyan-chohanic forces, the aggregate of the Ah-hi. In this solar system the vibration of the cosmic astral plane is becoming dominant, and through that vibration, travelling via the fourth cosmic ether (whereon as earlier stated are the etheric centres of the planetary Logoi) and our systemic astral plane, certain eventualities become possible. The "Sons of desire," logoic or human, can learn certain lessons, undergo certain experiences, and add the faculty of love-wisdom to the intelligence earlier gained. Our solar Logos, and the Heavenly Men, are polarised on the cosmic astral plane, and the effect of Their life energy as it flows through the systemic “Heart” can be seen in the activity of the astral plane, and in the part sex and passion play in the development of man. At the close of this mahamanvantara there will be ready for manifestation in the coming third system nirvanis who will be, in very essence, “active intelligent love”; they will have to wait until the five lower planes of the system have reached a stage of vibratory development which will permit them to enter, as the nirvanis in this system waited until the three lower planes became adequate in vibratory response. We are here speaking in terms of the Heavenly Men. In the Earth scheme, the analogy is hidden in the advent of the Egos in the third round, in the third root race and in the third chain. Individualisation, as we understand it, was not possible until the "third state of pleroma" was reached, either universally where a Heavenly Man is concerned, or relatively in connection with a human unit. should be studied for they hold the mystery hid, and though the true occult meaning will not be revealed until the third major Initiation, nor fully comprehended until the fifth, yet light may stream in on a difficult point. Equally so in the next solar system, individualisation (if such an inadequate term may be applied to a state of consciousness inconceivable even to an initiate of the third Initiation) will not be possible until the second or sixth stage of Pleroma. Consciousness will blaze forth then on the Monadic plane, and it will be the plane of individualisation. All states of consciousness below that high level will be to the Logos what the consciousness of the three worlds is to Him now. Just as the physical body of man is not a principle, so all planes at this time below the fourth cosmic ether are not considered by the Logos to be a principle. Our present solar Angels or fire devas will then have a position analogous to that of the lunar Pitris now, for all will form a part of the divine consciousness, and yet, will be esoterically considered as "below the threshold" of consciousness. Man has to learn to control, guide and use the deva substances of which his lower sheaths are made; this goal involves the development of full self-consciousness, which is brought about through the agency of the solar Angels or builders and vitalisers of the egoic body; they are those through whom self-consciousness becomes a fact. In the next solar system they too will no longer embody the type of consciousness towards which man aspires; he will have to rise to still greater realisations, and again by occultly "putting his foot upon" them these higher realisations will become possible. In this solar system he has to mount by the putting his foot upon the serpent of matter. He rises by domination of matter and becomes himself a serpent of wisdom. In the next solar system he will mount upward by means of the "serpent of wisdom," and by the domi- Certain broad and general affirmations have been laid down with the purpose in view of opening up this stupendous and practical subject, and in an endeavour to link up this solar system in its fundamental manasic aspect with the past and the future. Finally, the student should very carefully study here the significance of the numbers three, four and five in the evolution of consciousness. Numerology has hitherto been studied primarily, and rightly, from the substance aspect, but not so much from the standpoint of conscious energy. The Triad, for instance, is usually looked upon by our students as the triangle formed by the manasic-buddhic and atmic permanent atoms; the cube stands for the lower material man, and the five-pointed star has frequently a very material interpretation. All these angles of vision are necessary, and must precede the study of the subjective aspect, but they lay the emphasis upon the material rather than upon the subjective; the subject nevertheless should be studied psychologically. In this solar system, the above numbers are the most important from the angle of the evolution of conscious- 696 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE ness. In the earlier system, the numbers six and seven held the mystery hid. In the next system, it will be two and one. This refers only to the psychical development. Let me illustrate: The five-pointed star on the mental plane signifies (among other things) the evolution, by means of the five senses in the three worlds (which are also capable of a fivefold differentiation) of the fifth principle, the attainment of self-consciousness, and the development of the fifth spirilla. On the buddhic plane, when flashing forth at initiation, this number signifies the full development of the fifth principle or quality, the completed cycle of the Ego upon the five Rays under the Mahachohan, and the assimilation of all that is to be learned upon them, and the attainment–not only of full self-consciousness, but also of the consciousness of the group wherein a man is found. It infers the full unfoldment of five of the egoic petals, leaving four to open before the final initiation. The five-pointed star at the initiations on the mental plane flashes out above the head of the initiate. This concerns the first three initiations which are undergone in the causal vehicle. It has been said that the first two initiations take place upon the astral plane and this is correct, but has given rise to a misunderstanding. They are felt profoundly in connection with the astral and physical bodies and with the lower mental, and effect their control. The chief effect being felt in those bodies, the initiate may interpret them as having taken place on the planes concerned, for the vividness of the effect, and the stimulation works out largely in the astral body. But it must ever be remembered that the major initiations are taken in the causal body or–dissociated from that body–on the buddhic plane. At the final two initiations, which set a man free from the three worlds and enable him to function in the logoic body of vitality and to wield the force which animates that logoic THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 697 vehicle, the initiate becomes the five-pointed star, and it descends upon him, merges in him, and he is seen at its very centre. This descent is brought about through the action of the Initiator, wielding the Rod of Power, and puts a man in touch with the centre in the Body of the planetary Logos of which he is a part; this is consciously effected. The two initiations, called the sixth and seventh, take place on the atmic plane; the five-pointed star "blazes forth from within itself" as the esoteric phrase has it, and becomes the seven-pointed star; it descends upon the man and he enters into the Flame. Initiation and the mystery of numbers primarily concern consciousness, and not fundamentally "ability to function on a plane," nor the energy of matter, as might be gathered from so many occult books. They deal with the subjective life, life as part of the consciousness and self-realization of a planetary Logos, or Lord of a Ray, and not life in matter as we understand it. A Heavenly Man functions in His pranic vehicle, and there His consciousness is to be found as far as we are concerned in this system; He works consciously through His centres. To sum up: There is a stage in the evolution of consciousness where the three, the four and the five blend and merge perfectly. Confusion on this point arises from two causes which are the point of individual achievement of the student. We interpret and colour statements according to the state of our own inner consciousness. H. P. B. hints at this 32 when dealing with the principles; also the interpretation of these figures varies according to the key employed. The fifth or spiritual kingdom is entered when the units of the fourth kingdom have succeeded in vitalizing the fifth spirilla in all the atoms of the threefold lower man; when they 32 See S. D., III, 456. 698 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE have unfolded three of the egoic petals and are in process of unfolding the fourth and fifth and when they are becoming conscious of the pranic force of the Heavenly Man. substance and the life of those planes. Another group is connected definitely with the causal bodies of all Egos and are of prime importance in this solar system. They come from the heart centre, and express that force. The third group, corresponding to the throat centre, show forth their power on the fourth subplane through the mental units. They are the sumtotal of the power of the Ego to see, to hear and to speak (or sound) in the strictly occult sense. A hint may here be given to those who have power to see. Three constellations are connected with the fifth logoic principle in its threefold manifestation: Sirius, two of the Pleiades, and a small constellation whose name must be ascertained by the intuition of the student. These three govern the appropriation by the Logos of His dense body. When the last pralaya ended, and the etheric body had been co-ordinated, a triangle in the Heavens was formed under law which permitted a flow of force, producing vibration on the fifth systemic plane. That triangle still persists, and is the cause of the continued inflow of manasic force; it is connected with the spirillae in the logoic mental unit and as long as His will-to-be persists, the energy will continue to flow through. In the fifth round, it will be felt at its height. We have dealt with the method of individualisation through the coming in of the Lords of the Flame because it is the prime method in this solar system; whatever methods may be pursued in the varying schemes and chains, this–at the middle stage is the universal rule. Karmic conditions having to do with a planetary Logos may effect modifications, and bring into action manasadevas whose activity may not be the same in working detail, but the results are ever similar, and the divine Egos in their causal bodies have analogous instruments to work through. ... (c.) Methods of Individualisation. We have seen how the characteristic method of lindividualisation in this solar system is the result of force emanating from the cosmic mental plane, which sweeps into activity those entities whose function it is to form the body of the ego out of their own living substance on the mental plane and thus, through their own quality and nature, endow human units on the physical plane with the faculty of self-consciousness, thus producing Man. It is their work also to energise the mental units of all men, and to co-ordinate, by means of the force which they embody, and to energise the sheaths of the threefold lower man, so that they may in due course of time intelligently express the will and purpose of the indwelling Thinker. Through the carrying out of this function in the case of the human family, certain planetary and systemic conditions are brought about. The microcosmic correspondence can be seen in the following process. The physical permanent atom absorbs the entire life force of the physical body, and its inherent heat and light is thereby increased until at the fourth initiation the seven spirillae are fully vitalised, and vibrant. The internal heat of the atom, plus the external heat of the egoic body wherein it has its place, produces then that which destroys the permanent atom. Temporarily, and just prior to destruction, it becomes a tiny sevenfold sun owing to the radiation and activity of the spirillae. So with the physical sun of the system; it will in a similar manner become seven suns, when it has absorbed the life essence of the fully evolved planes, and of the planetary schemes thereon. The ensuing conflagration is the final work of the Destroyer aspect. It marks the moment of the highest development of deva substance in the system, the consummation of the work of Agni and his fire angels, and the initiation of Brahma. Atomic substance will then individualise (which, as we know, is the goal for the atom) and after the great pralaya the next solar system will start with the threefold Spirit manifesting through substance which is essentially distinguished by active intelligent love. This is necessarily incomprehensible to our fourth round minds. We have thus considered the various types of pralaya, in so far as they affect the human unit; each unit finds its ways eventually into one of the cosmic astral centres of the particular cosmic Entity Who is the Lord of his Ray, and therefore at the great pralaya those human units who have achieved, and who have not passed to other distant cosmic centres, will find their place there. In considering planetary pralaya we might briefly enumerate the following periods of quiescence: Between Two Globes in a Chain. This covers the period of abstraction of the seeds of all life, and its transference from one sphere to another. The seed manu of a globe gathers all the life forces into Himself, as does the Logos at the close of a system, and as also transpires at the close of a chain, and holds them quiescent in His aura. This covers a period of a manvantara, or of one day of Brahma. Between Two Chains. This covers the period of a mahamanvantara, or of one year of Brahma. There are many ways of arriving at the greater cycles, but there is no need to confuse with the intricacies of figures. The ten Prajapatis or Rishis, or 744 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE the ten planetary Logoi, manifest through Their ten schemes in time and space, the hour of Their appearing differing. Each likewise manifests as does the Logos through a septenate and a triad, making again a ten of perfection. Between Two Solar systems. This covers the period of one hundred years of Brahma, and through the study of the planetary cycles comprehension of these greater cycles may come. Complication comes to the student nevertheless in the fact that two of the schemes cover their cyclic periods in five rounds, while others have seven; one scheme has but three rounds, but a mystery is hidden here; on the inner round one planet has nine cycles to run before the purpose of its Lord is completed. Certain lesser periods of pralaya do not concern man at all, but concern the atom of matter as it is released from form of any kind in the subhuman kingdoms. Pralaya is the result of radioactivity carried to a conclusion. as are the lower results, the egoic body becomes equally more active and its manifestation of energy is increased. Towards the close of the evolutionary period in the three worlds a constant interchange of energy is seen to be taking place; the lower forms become irradiated with light, and reflect the higher radiance; the egoic body is the Sun of the lower system, and its bodies reflect its rays, as the moon reflects the light of the solar sun. Similarly the egoic Sun,–through the interaction–shines with ever greater intensity and glory. On the higher levels a similar interaction takes place for a brief period between the Monad and its reflection the Ego, but only in the coming solar system will this interaction be carried to its logical conclusion. a. 100 years of Brahma An occult century. The period of a solar system. b. One year of Brahma The period of seven chains, where the seven planetary schemes are concerned. c. One week of Brahma The period of seven rounds in one scheme. It has a chain significance. d. One day of Brahma The occult period of a round. e. One hour of Brahma Concerns interchain affairs. f. One Brahmic minute Concerns the planetary centres, and therefore egoic groups. g. One Brahmic moment Concerns an egoic group, and its relation to the whole. In the working out of the law we must therefore note that man is first of all the victim of the impulses of dense substance or of the brahma aspect, and thus repeats rapidly the evolutionary process of the preceding solar system; in the second stage he is the victim of desire, or of his own love nature. In terms of fire, the same truths may be expressed as follows, and this should be carefully pondered upon by the student of this Treatise: 1. Electric fire. Spirit Will aspect Jewel in the lotus. 2. Solar fire Consciousness Love aspect The nine petals. 3, Fire by friction Substance Activity aspect The three per- manent atoms. THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 819 In electric fire, the Monad is represented in its threefold nature, and stands for that type of manifestation which will be brought to its highest stage of development in the next solar system. In solar fire, these solar Pitris in their ninefold formation represent and make possible the unfolding of the consciousness of the Monad through the medium of the Ego in the three worlds of human evolution. In fire by friction, the lunar Pitris are represented and constitute the lower self, the personality, or those vehicles by means of which the Ego in turn is to acquire experience on the lower planes. Yet these three are one in manifestation within the egoic auric egg, and the interchange of energy and vitality proceeds steadily. Spirit uses the Soul, or the Ego, as a vehicle of enlightenment, and the Ego uses the lower Quaternary as its medium of expression. The evolution of Spirit can really therefore be divided into three stages: By the time the third Initiation is taken, the inner circle of petals is opened and the full-blown lotus in all its beauty can be seen. At the fourth Initiation the inner bud bursts open through the effect of the electrical force of the Rod, which brings in the power of the synthetic ray of the solar system itself; the inner jewel is thus revealed. The work has been accomplished; the energy resident in the permanent atoms, has vitalised all the spirillae whilst the perfected force of the lotus, and the dynamic will of the central spark are brought into full and united activity. This brings about a threefold display of vital force which causes the disintegration of the form and the following results: a. The permanent atoms become radioactive, and their ring-pass-not is therefore no longer a barrier to the lesser units within; the electronic lives in their various groups escape, and return to the eternal reservoir. They form substance of a very high THOUGHT AND FIRE ELEMENTALS 831 order, and will produce the forms of those existences who, in another cycle, will seek vehicles. b. The petals are destroyed by the action of fire, and the multiplicity of deva lives which form them and give to them their coherence and quality are gathered back by the solar Pitris of the highest order into the Heart of the Sun; they will be directed outward again in another solar system. The atomic substance will be used for another manvantara, but the solar Pitris will not again be called upon to sacrifice themselves until the next solar system when they will come in as planetary Rays, thus repeating upon monadic levels in the next system what they have done in this. They will then be the planetary Logoi. c. The central Life electric returns to its source, escaping out of prison and functioning as a centre of energy on planes of cosmic etheric energy. Up to 800 and something …