,,theosophical ,,manuals4 ,no4 #e ,,the ,,astral ,,plane ,,its ,,scenery1 ,,inhabitants ,,and ,,phenomena ,c4 ,w4 ,,leadbeater ,london3 ,theosophical ,publishing ,society #g ,duke ,street1 ,adelphi1 ,w4,c4 ,,benares3 ,,theosophical ,,publishing ,,society1 ,,madras3 ,the ,theosophist ,,office1 ,,adyar4 #ahie 99 99 99 99 99 ,,preface4 ,few words are needed in sending this little book out into the world4 ,it is the fifth of a series of ,manuals designed to meet the public demand for a simple exposition of ,theosophical teachings4 ,some have complained that our literature is at once too abstruse1 too technical1 and too expensive for the ordinary reader1 and it is our hope that the present series may succeed in supplying what is a very real want4 ,theosophy is not only for the learned2 it is for all4 ,perhaps among those who in these little books catch their first glimpse of its teachings1 there may be a few who will be led by them to penetrate more deeply into its philosophy1 its science and its religion1 facing its abstruser problems with the student's zeal and the neophyte's ardour4 ,but these ,manuals are not written for the eager student1 whom no initial difficulties can daunt2 they are written for the busy men and women of the work-a-day world1 and seek to make plain some of the great truths that render life easier to bear and death easier to face4 ,written by servants of the ,masters who are the ,elder ,brothers of our race1 they can have no other object than to serve our fellow-men4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents4 ,introduction4 ,scenery4--,the ,seven ,subdivisions--,degrees of ,materiality--,characteristics of ,astral ,vision--,the ,aura--,the ,etheric ,double--,power of ,magnifying ,minute ,objects--,the ,summerland--,records of the ,astral ,light4 ,inhabitants4--,i4 ,human4 7#a7 ,living3--,the ,adept or ,chela in ,myvirpa--,the ,psychically ,developed ,person--,the ,ordinary ,person in ,astral ,body--,the ,black ,magician4 7#b7 ,dead3--,the ,nirmnakya--,the ,chela awaiting ,reincarnation--,the ,ordinary ,person after ,death--,the ,shade--,the ,shell--,the ,vitalized ,shell--,the ,suicide--,the ,victim of ,sudden ,death--,the ,vampire--,the ,werewolf--,the ,black ,magician after ,death4 ,,ii4 ,non-human3--,the ,elemental ,essence--,the ,kmarpas of ,animals--,various ,classes of ,nature-,spirits1 commonly called ,fairies--,kmadevas--,rpadevas--,arpadev as--,the ,devarjahs4 ,,iii4 ,artificial3--,elementals formed ,unconsciously--,guardian ,angels--,elementals formed ,consciously--,human ,artificials--,the ,true ,origin of ,spiritualism4 ,phenomena4--,churchyard ,ghosts4--,apparitions of the ,dying--,haunted ,localities--,family ,ghosts--,bell-ringing1 ,stone-throwing1 etc4--,fairies--,communicating ,entities--,astral ,resources--,clairvoyance--,prevision--, second-,sight--,astral ,forces--,etheric ,currents--,etheric ,pressure--,latent ,energy--,sympathetic ,vibration--,mantras--,disintegration--, materialization--,why ,darkness is required at a ,sance--,spirit ,photographs--,reduplication--,precipita tion of ,letters and ,pictures--,slate-writing--,levitation-- ,spirit ,lights--,handling ,fire--,transmutation--,repercussion4 ,conclusion4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,astral ,,plane4 ,,introduction ,reference to the astral plane1 or ,kmaloka as it is called in ,sanskrit1 has frequently been made by ,theosophical writers1 and a good deal of information on the subject of this realm of nature is to be found scattered here and there in our books2 but there is not1 so far as ,i am aware1 any single volume to which one can turn for a complete summary of the facts at present known to us about this interesting region4 ,the object of this manual is to collect and make some attempt to arrange this scattered information1 and also to supplement it slightly in cases where new facts have come to our knowledge4 ,it must be understood that any such additions are only the result of the investigations of a few explorers1 and must not1 therefore1 be taken as in any way authoritative1 but are given simply for what they are worth4 ,on the other hand every precaution in our power has been taken to ensure accuracy1 no fact1 old or new1 being admitted to this manual unless it has been confirmed by the testimony of at least two independent trained investigators among ourselves1 and has also been passed as correct by older students whose knowledge on these points is necessarily much greater than ours4 ,it is hoped1 therefore1 that this account of the astral plane1 though it cannot be considered as quite complete1 may yet be found reliable as far as it goes4 ,the first point which it is necessary to make clear in describing this astral plane is its absolute reality4 ,of course in using that word ,i am not speaking from that metaphysical standpoint from which all but the ,one ,unmanifested is unreal because impermanent2 ,i am using the word in its plain1 every-day sense1 and ,i mean by it that the objects and inhabitants of the astral plane are real in exactly the same way as our own bodies1 our furniture1 our houses or monuments are real--as real as ,charing ,cross1 to quote an expressive remark from one of the earliest ,theosophical works4 ,they will no more endure for ever than will objects on the physical plane1 but they are nevertheless realities from our point of view while they last--realities which we cannot afford to ignore merely because the majority of mankind is as yet unconscious1 or but vaguely conscious1 of their existence4 ,there appears to be considerable misunderstanding even among ,theosophical students upon this question of the reality of the various planes of the universe4 ,this may perhaps be partly due to the fact that the word plane has occasionally been very loosely used in our literature--writers speaking vaguely of the mental plane1 the moral plane1 and so on2 and this vagueness has led many people to suppose that the information on the subject which is to be found in ,theosophical books is inexact and speculative--a mere hypothesis incapable of definite proof4 ,no one can get a clear conception of the teachings of the ,wisdom-,religion until he has at any rate an intellectual grasp of the fact that in our solar system there exist perfectly definite planes1 each with its own matter of different degrees of density1 and that some of these planes can be visited and observed by persons who have qualified themselves for the work1 exactly as a foreign country might be visited and observed2 and that1 by comparison of the observations of those who are constantly working on these planes1 evidence can be obtained of their existence and nature at least as satisfactory as that which most of us have for the existence of ,greenland or ,spitzbergen4 ,the names usually given to these planes1 taking them in order of materiality1 rising from the denser to the finer1 are the physical1 the astral1 the devachanic1 the sushuptic1 and the nirvnic4 ,higher than this last are two others1 but they are so far above our present power of conception that for the moment they may be left out of consideration4 ,now it should be understood that the matter of each of these planes differs from that of the one below it in the same way as1 though to a much greater degree than1 vapour differs from solid matter2 in fact1 the states of matter which we call solid1 liquid1 and gaseous are merely the three lowest subdivisions of the matter belonging to this one physical plane4 ,the astral region which ,i am to attempt to describe is the second of these great planes of nature--the next above 7or within7 that physical world with which we are all familiar4 ,it has often been called the realm of illusion--not that it is itself any more illusory than the physical world1 but because of the extreme unreliability of the impressions brought back from it by the untrained seer4 ,this is to be accounted for mainly by two remarkable characteristics of the astral world--first1 that many of its inhabitants have a marvellous power of changing their forms with ,protean rapidity1 and also of casting practically unlimited glamour over those with whom they choose to sport2 and secondly1 that sight on that plane is a faculty very different from and much more extended than physical vision4 ,an object is seen1 as it were1 from all sides at once1 the inside of a solid being as plainly open to the view as the outside2 it is therefore obvious that an inexperienced visitor to this new world may well find considerable difficulty in understanding what he really does see1 and still more in translating his vision into the very inadequate language of ordinary speech4 ,a good example of the sort of mistake that is likely to occur is the frequent reversal of any number which the seer has to read from the astral light1 so that he would be liable to render1 say1 #aci as #ica1 and so on4 ,in the case of a student of occultism trained by a capable ,master such a mistake would be impossible except through great hurry or carelessness1 since such a pupil has to go through a long and varied course of instruction in this art of seeing correctly1 the ,master1 or perhaps some more advanced pupil1 bringing before him again and again all possible forms of illusion1 and asking him ,what do you see8 ,any errors in his answers are then corrected and their reasons explained1 until by degrees the neophyte acquires a certainty and confidence in dealing with the phenomena of the astral plane which far exceeds anything possible in physical life4 ,but he has to learn not only to see correctly but to translate the memory of what he has seen accurately from one plane to the other2 and to assist him in this he is trained to carry his consciousness without break from the physical plane to the astral or devachanic and back again1 for until that can be done there is always a possibility that his recollections may be partially lost or distorted during the blank interval which separates his periods of consciousness on the various planes4 ,when the power of bringing over the consciousness is perfectly acquired the pupil will have the advantage of the use of all the astral faculties1 not only while out of his body during sleep or trance1 but also while fully awake in ordinary physical life4 ,it has been the custom of some ,theosophists to speak with scorn of the astral plane1 and treat it as entirely unworthy of attention2 but that seems to me a somewhat mistaken view4 ,most assuredly that at which we have to aim is the purely spiritual plane1 and it would be most disastrous for any student to neglect that higher development and rest satisfied with the attainment of astral consciousness4 ,there are some whose ,karma is such as to enable them to develop the purely spiritual faculties first of all--to over-leap the astral plane for the time1 as it were2 and when afterwards they make its acquaintance they have1 if their spiritual development has been perfect1 the immense advantage of dipping into it from above1 with the aid of a spiritual insight which cannot be deceived and a spiritual strength which nothing can resist4 ,it is1 however1 a mistake to suppose1 as some writers have done1 that this is the only1 or even the ordinary method adopted by the ,masters of ,wisdom with their pupils4 ,where it is possible it saves much trouble1 but for most of us such progress by leaps and bounds has been forbidden by our own faults or follies in the past3 all that we can hope for is to win our way slowly step by step1 and since this astral plane lies next to our world of denser matter1 it is usually in connection with it that our earliest superphysical experiences take place4 ,it is therefore by no means without interest to those of us who are but beginners in these studies1 and a clear comprehension of its mysteries may often be of the greatest importance to us1 not only by enabling us to understand many of the phenomena of the sance-room1 of haunted houses1 etc41 which would otherwise be inexplicable1 but also to guard ourselves and others from possible dangers4 ,the first introduction to this remarkable region comes to people in various ways4 ,some only once in their whole lives under some unusual influence become sensitive enough to recognize the presence of one of its inhabitants1 and perhaps1 because the experience does not repeat itself1 come in time to believe that on that occasion they must have been the victims of hallucination3 others find themselves with increasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which those around them are blind and deaf2 others again--and perhaps this is the commonest experience of all--begin to recollect with greater and greater clearness that which they have seen or heard on that other plane during sleep4 ,among those who make a study of these subjects1 some try to develop the astral sight by crystal-gazing or other methods1 while those who have the inestimable advantage of the direct guidance of a qualified teacher will probably be placed upon that plane for the first time under his special protection1 which will be continued until1 by the application of various tests1 he has satisfied himself that the pupil is proof against any danger or terror that he is likely to encounter4 ,but1 however it may occur1 the first actual realization that we are all the while in the midst of a great world full of active life1 of which most of us are nevertheless entirely unconscious1 cannot but be to some extent a memorable epoch in a man's existence4 ,so abundant and so manifold is this life of the astral plane that at first it is absolutely bewildering to the neophyte2 and even for the more practised investigator it is no easy task to attempt to classify and to catalogue it4 ,if the explorer of some unknown tropical forest were asked not only to give a full account of the country through which he had passed1 with accurate details of its vegetable and mineral productions1 but also to state the genus and species of every one of the myriad insects1 birds1 beasts1 and reptiles which he had seen1 he might well shrink appalled at the magnitude of the undertaking3 yet even this affords no parallel to the embarrassments of the psychic investigator1 for in his case matters are further complicated1 first by the difficulty of correctly translating from that plane to this the recollection of what he has seen1 and secondly by the utter inadequacy of ordinary language to express much of what he has to report4 ,however1 just as the explorer on the physical plane would probably commence his account of a country by some sort of general description of its scenery and characteristics1 so it will be well to begin this slight sketch of the astral plane by endeavouring to give some idea of the scenery which forms the background of its marvellous and ever-changing activities4 ,yet here at the outset an almost insuperable difficulty confronts us in the extreme complexity of the matter4 ,all who see fully on that plane agree that to attempt to call up before those whose eyes are as yet unopened a vivid picture of this astral scenery is like speaking to a blind man of the exquisite variety of tints in a sunset sky--however detailed and elaborate the description may be1 there is no certainty that the idea presented before the hearer's mind will be an adequate representation of the truth4 ,,scenery4 ,first of all1 then1 it must be understood that the astral plane has seven subdivisions1 each of which has its corresponding degree of materiality and its corresponding condition of matter4 ,now numbering these from the highest and least material downwards1 we find that they naturally fall into three classes1 divisions #a1 #b and #c forming one such class1 and #d1 #e and #f another1 while the seventh and lowest of all stands alone4 ,the difference between the matter of one of these classes and the next would be commensurable with that between a solid and a liquid1 while the difference between the matter of the subdivisions of a class would rather resemble that between two kinds of solid1 such as1 say1 steel and sand4 ,putting aside for the moment the seventh1 we may say that divisions #d1 #e and #f of the astral plane have for their background the physical world we live in and all its familiar accessories4 ,life on the sixth division is simply our ordinary life on this earth1 minus the physical body and its necessities2 while as it ascends through the fifth and fourth divisions it becomes less and less material1 and is more and more withdrawn from our lower world and its interests4 ,the scenery of these lower divisions1 then1 is that of the earth as we know it3 but it is also very much more2 for when looked at from this different standpoint1 with the assistance of the astral senses1 even purely physical objects present a very different appearance4 ,as has already been mentioned1 they are seen by one whose eyes are fully opened1 not as usual from one point of view1 but from all sides at once--an idea in itself sufficiently confusing2 and when we add to this that every particle in the interior of a solid body is as fully and clearly visible as those on the outside1 it will be comprehended that under such conditions even the most familiar objects may at first be totally unrecognizable4 ,yet a moment's consideration will show that such vision approximates much more closely to true perception than does physical sight4 ,looked at on the astral plane1 for example1 the sides of a glass cube would all appear equal1 as they really are1 while on the physical plane we see the further side in perspective--that is1 it appears smaller than the nearer side1 which is1 of course1 a mere illusion4 ,it is this characteristic of astral vision which has led to its sometimes being spoken of as sight in the fourth dimension--a very suggestive and expressive phrase4 ,but in addition to these possible sources of error matters are further complicated by the fact that astral sight cognizes forms of matter which1 while still purely physical1 are nevertheless invisible under ordinary conditions4 ,such1 for example1 are the particles composing the atmosphere1 all the various emanations which are always being given out by everything that has life1 and also four grades of a still finer order of physical matter which1 for want of more distinctive names1 must all he described as etheric4 ,the latter form a kind of system by themselves1 freely interpenetrating all other physical matter2 and the investigation of their vibrations and the manner in which various higher forces affect them would in itself constitute a vast field of deeply interesting study for any man of science who possessed the requisite sight for its examination4 ,even when our imagination has fully grasped all that is comprehended in what has already been said1 we do not yet understand half the complexity of the problem2 for besides all these new forms of physical matter we have to deal with the still more numerous and perplexing subdivisions of astral matter4 ,we must note first that every material object1 every particle even1 has its astral counterpart2 and this counterpart is itself not a simple body1 but is usually extremely complex1 being composed of various kinds of astral matter4 ,in addition to this each living creature is surrounded with an atmosphere of its own1 usually called its aura1 and in the case of human beings this aura forms of itself a very fascinating branch of study4 ,it is seen as an oval mass of luminous mist of highly complex structure1 and from its shape has sometimes been called the auric egg4 ,theosophical readers will hear with pleasure that even at the early stage of his development at which the pupil begins to acquire this astral sight1 he is able to assure himself by direct observation of the accuracy of the teaching given through our great founder1 ,madame ,blavatsky1 on the subject of some at least of the seven principles of man4 ,in regarding his fellow-man he no longer sees only his outer appearance2 exactly co-extensive with that physical body he clearly distinguishes the etheric double1 which in ,theosophical literature has usually been called the ,linga ,sharra2 while the ,jva1 as it is absorbed and specialized into ,prna1 as it circulates in rosy light throughout the body1 as it eventually radiates from the healthy person in its altered form1 is also perfectly obvious4 ,most brilliant and most easily seen of all1 perhaps1 though belonging to quite a different order of matter--the astral--is the kmic aura1 which expresses by its vivid and ever-changing flashes of colour the different desires which sweep across the man's mind from moment to moment4 ,this is the true astral body4 ,behind that1 and consisting of a finer grade of matter--that of the rpa levels of ,devachan--lies the devachanic body or aura of the lower ,manas1 whose colours1 changing only by slow degrees as the man lives his life1 show the disposition and character of the personality2 while still higher and infinitely more beautiful1 where at all clearly developed1 is the living light of the ,krana ,sharra1 the aura or vehicle of the higher ,manas1 which shows the stage of development of the real ,ego in its passage from birth to birth4 ,but to see these the pupil must have developed something more than mere astral vision4 ,it will save the student much trouble if he learns at once to regard these auras not as mere emanations1 but as the actual manifestation of the ,ego on their respective planes--if he understands that it is the auric egg which is the real man1 not the physical body which on this plane crystallizes in the middle of it4 ,so long as the reincarnating ,ego remains upon the plane which is his true home in the arpa levels of ,devachan1 the body which he inhabits is the ,krana ,sharra1 but when he descends into the rpa levels he must1 in order to be able to function upon them1 clothe himself in their matter2 and the matter that he thus attracts to himself furnishes his devachanic or mind-body4 ,similarly1 descending into the astral plane he forms his astral or kmic body out of its matter1 though of course still retaining all the other bodies1 and on his still further descent to this lowest plane of all the physical body is formed in the midst of the auric egg1 which thus contains the entire man4 ,fuller accounts of these auras will be found in ,transaction ,no4 #ah of the ,london ,lodge1 and in a recent article of mine in ,the ,theosophist1 but enough has been said here to show that as they all occupy the same space 7which by the way they share also with the physical health-aura71 the finer interpenetrating the grosser1 it needs careful study and much practice to enable the neophyte to distinguish clearly at a glance the one from the other4 ,nevertheless the human aura1 or more usually some one part of it only1 is not infrequently one of the first purely astral objects seen by the untrained1 though in such a case its indications are naturally very likely to be misunderstood4 ,though the kmic aura from the brilliancy of its flashes of colour may often be more conspicuous1 the nerve-ether and the etheric double are really of a much denser order of matter1 being strictly speaking within the limits of the physical plane1 though invisible to ordinary sight4 ,it has been the custom in ,theosophical literature to describe the ,linga ,sharra as the astral counterpart of the human body1 the word astral having been usually applied to everything beyond the cognition of our physical senses4 ,as closer investigation enables us to be more precise in the use of our terms1 however1 we find ourselves compelled to admit much of this invisible matter as purely physical1 and therefore to define the ,linga ,sharra no longer as the astral1 but as the etheric double4 ,this seems an appropriate name for it1 since it consists of various grades of that matter which scientists call ether1 though this proves on examination to be not a separate substance1 as has been generally supposed1 but a condition of finer subdivision than the gaseous1 to which any kind of physical matter may be reduced by the application of the appropriate forces4 ,the name etheric double will therefore for the future be used in ,theosophic writings instead of ,linga ,sharra3 and this change will not only give us the advantage of an ,english name which is clearly indicative of the character of the body to which it is applied1 but will also relieve us from the frequent misunderstandings which have arisen from the fact that an entirely different signification is attached in all the ,oriental books to the name we have hitherto been using4 ,it must not however be supposed that in making this alteration in nomenclature we are in any way putting forward a new conception2 we are simply altering1 for the sake of greater accuracy1 the labels previously attached to certain facts in nature4 ,if we examine with psychic faculty the body of a newly-born child1 we shall find it permeated not only by astral matter of every degree of density1 but also by the several grades of etheric matter2 and if we take the trouble to trace these inner bodies backwards to their origin1 we find that it is of the latter that the etheric double--the mould upon which the physical body is built up--is formed by the agents of the ,,lords of ,karma2 while the astral matter has been gathered together by the descending ,ego--not of course consciously1 but automatically--as he passes through the astral plane4 7,see ,manual ,no4 ,,iv41 p4 #dd47 ,into the composition of the etheric double must enter something of all the different grades of etheric matter2 but the proportions may vary greatly1 and are determined by several factors1 such as the race1 sub-race1 and type of a man1 as well as by his individual ,karma4 ,when it is remembered that these four subdivisions of matter are made up of numerous combinations1 which1 in their turn1 form aggregations that enter into the composition of the atom of the so-called element of the chemist1 it will be seen that this second principle of man is highly complex1 and the number of its possible variations practically infinite1 so that1 however complicated and unusual a man's ,karma may be1 the ,,lipika are able to give a mould in accordance with which a body exactly suiting it can be formed4 ,one other point deserves mention in connection with the appearance of physical matter when looked at from the astral plane1 and that is that the astral vision possesses the power of magnifying at will the minutest physical particle to any desired size1 as though by a microscope1 though its magnifying power is enormously greater than that of any microscope ever made or ever likely to be made4 ,the hypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science are therefore visible realities to the occult student1 though the latter recognizes them as much more complex in their nature than the scientific man has yet discovered them to be4 ,here again is a vast field of study of absorbing interest to which a whole volume might readily be devoted2 and a scientific investigator who should acquire this astral sight in perfection1 would not only find his experiments with ordinary and known phenomena immensely facilitated1 but would also see stretching before him entirely new vistas of knowledge needing more than a lifetime for their thorough examination4 ,for example1 one curious and very beautiful novelty brought to his notice by the development of this vision would be the existence of other and entirely different colours beyond the limits of the ordinarily visible spectrum1 the ultra-red and ultra-violet rays which science has discovered by other means being plainly perceptible to astral sight4 ,we must not1 however1 allow ourselves to follow these fascinating bye-paths1 but must resume our endeavour to give a general idea of the appearance of the astral plane4 ,it will by this time be obvious that though1 as above stated1 the ordinary objects of the physical world form the background to life on certain levels of the astral plane1 yet so much more is seen of their real appearance and characteristics that the general effect differs widely from that with which we are familiar4 ,for the sake of illustration take a rock as an example of the simpler class of objects4 ,when regarded with trained sight it is no mere inert mass of stone4 ,first of all1 the whole of the physical matter of the rock is seen instead of a very small part of it2 secondly1 the vibrations of its physical particles are perceptible2 thirdly1 it is seen to possess an astral counterpart composed of various grades of astral matter1 whose particles are also in constant motion2 fourthly1 the ,jva or universal life is seen to be circulating through it and radiating from it2 fifthly1 an aura will be seen surrounding it1 though this is1 of course1 much less extended and varied than in the case of the higher kingdoms2 sixthly1 its appropriate elemental essence is seen permeating it1 ever active but ever fluctuating4 ,in the case of the vegetable1 animal and human kingdoms1 the complications are naturally much more numerous4 ,it may be objected by some readers that no such complexities as these are described by most of the psychics who occasionally get glimpses of the astral world1 nor are they reported at sances by the entities that manifest there2 but this is readily accounted for4 ,few untrained persons on that plane1 whether living or dead1 see things as they really are until after very long experience2 even those who do see fully are often too dazed and confused to understand or remember3 and among the very small minority who both see and remember there are hardly any who can translate the recollection into language on our lower plane4 ,many untrained psychics never examine their visions scientifically at all3 they simply obtain an impression which may be quite correct1 but may also be half false1 or even wholly misleading4 ,all the more probable does the latter hypothesis become when we take into consideration the frequent tricks played by sportive denizens of the other world1 against which the untrained person is usually absolutely defenceless4 ,it must also be remembered that the regular inhabitant of the astral plane1 whether he be human or elemental1 is under ordinary circumstances conscious only of the objects of that plane1 physical matter being to him as entirely invisible as is astral matter to the majority of mankind4 ,since1 as before remarked1 every physical object has its astral counterpart1 which would be visible to him1 it may be thought that the distinction is a trivial one1 yet it is an essential part of the symmetrical conception of the subject4 ,if1 however1 an astral entity constantly works through a medium1 these finer astral senses may gradually be so coarsened as to become insensible to the higher grades of matter on their own plane1 and to include in their purview the physical world as we see it instead2 but only the trained visitor from this life1 who is fully conscious on both planes1 can depend upon seeing both clearly and simultaneously4 ,be it understood1 then1 that the complexity exists1 and that only when it is fully perceived and scientifically unravelled is there perfect security against deception or mistake4 ,for the seventh or lowest subdivision of the astral plane also this physical world of ours may be said to be the background1 though what is seen is only a distorted and partial view of it1 since all that is light and good and beautiful seems invisible4 ,it was thus described four thousand years ago in the ,egyptian papyrus of the ,scribe ,ani3 ,what manner of place is this unto which ,i have come8 ,it hath no water1 it hath no air2 it is deep1 unfathomable2 it is black as the blackest night1 and men wander helplessly about therein2 in it a man may not live in quietness of heart4 ,for the unfortunate entity on that level it is indeed true that all the earth is full of darkness and cruel habitations1 but it is darkness which radiates from within himself and causes his existence to be passed in a perpetual night of evil and horror--a very real hell1 though1 like all other hells1 entirely of man's own creation4 ,most students find the investigation of this section an extremely unpleasant task1 for there appears to be a sense of density and gross materiality about it which is indescribably loathsome to the liberated astral body1 causing it the sense of pushing its way through some black1 viscous fluid1 while the inhabitants and influences encountered there are also usually exceedingly undesirable4 ,the first1 second1 and third subdivisions seem much further removed from this physical world1 and correspondingly less material4 ,entities inhabiting these levels lose sight of the earth and its belongings2 they are usually deeply self-absorbed1 and to a large extent create their own surroundings1 though these are not purely subjective1 as in ,devachan1 but on the contrary sufficiently objective to be perceptible to other entities and also to clairvoyant vision4 ,this region is beyond doubt the summerland of which we hear so much at spiritualistic sances1 and the entities who descend from and describe it are probably often speaking the truth as far as their knowledge extends4 ,it is on these planes that spirits call into temporary existence their houses1 schools1 and cities1 for these objects are often real enough for the time1 though to a clearer sight they may sometimes be pitiably unlike what their delighted creators suppose them to be4 ,nevertheless1 many of the imaginations that take form there are of real though temporary beauty1 and a visitor who knew of nothing higher might wander contentedly enough there among forests and mountains1 lovely lakes and pleasant flower-gardens1 or might even construct such surroundings to suit his own fancies4 ,it may be said in passing that communication is limited on the astral plane by the knowledge of the entity1 just as it is here4 ,while a person able to function freely on that plane can communicate with any of the human entities there present more readily and rapidly than on earth1 by means of mental impressions1 the inhabitants themselves do not usually seem able to exercise this power1 but appear to be restricted by limitations similar to those that prevail on earth1 though perhaps less rigid4 ,the result of this is that they are found associating1 there as here in groups drawn together by common sympathies1 beliefs1 and language4 ,an account of the scenery of the astral plane would be incomplete without mention of what are commonly called the ,records of the ,astral ,light1 the photographic representation of all that has ever happened4 ,these records are really and permanently impressed upon that higher medium called the ksha1 and are only reflected in a more or less spasmodic manner in the astral light1 so that one whose power of vision does not rise above this plane will be likely to obtain only occasional and disconnected pictures of the past instead of a coherent narrative4 ,but nevertheless pictures of all kinds of past events are constantly being reproduced on the astral plane1 and form an important part of the surroundings of the investigator there4 ,,inhabitants4 ,having sketched in1 however slightly1 the background of our picture1 we must now attempt to fill in the figures--to describe the inhabitants of the astral plane4 ,the immense variety of these entities makes it exceedingly difficult to arrange and tabulate them4 ,perhaps the most convenient method will be to divide them into three great classes1 the human1 the non-human1 and the artificial4 ,i4 ,,human4 ,the human denizens of ,kmaloka fall naturally into two groups1 the living and the dead1 or1 to speak more accurately1 those who have still a physical body1 and those who have not4 #a4 ,,living4 ,the entities which manifest on the astral plane during physical life may be subdivided into four classes3 #a4 ,the ,adept or ,chela in the ,myvirpa4 ,this body is the artificial vehicle used on the four lower or rpa divisions of the devachanic plane by those capable of functioning there during earth-life1 and is formed out of the substance of the mind-body4 ,the pupil is at first unable to construct this for himself1 and has therefore to be content with his ordinary astral body composed of the less refined matter of the kmic aura2 but at a certain stage of his progress the ,master ,himself forms his ,myvirpa for him for the first time1 and afterwards instructs and assists him until he can make it for himself easily and expeditiously4 ,when this facility is attained this vehicle is habitually used in place of the grosser astral body1 since it permits of instant passage from the astral to the devachanic plane and back again at will1 and allows of the use at all times of the higher powers belonging to its own plane4 ,it must be noted1 however1 that a person travelling in the ,myvirpa is not perceptible to merely astral vision unless he chooses to make himself so by gathering around him particles of astral matter and so creating for himself a temporary body suitable to that plane1 though such a temporary creation would resemble the ordinary astral body only as a materialization resembles the physical body2 in each case it is a manifestation of a higher entity on a lower plane in order to make himself visible to those whose senses cannot yet transcend that plane4 ,but whether he be in the ,myvirpa or the astral body1 the pupil who is introduced to the astral plane under the guidance of a competent teacher has always the fullest possible consciousness there1 and is in fact himself1 exactly as his friends know him on earth1 minus only the four lower principles in the former case and the three lower in the latter1 and plus the additional powers and faculties of this higher condition1 which enable him to carry on far more easily and far more efficiently on that plane during sleep the ,theosophical work which occupies so much of his thought in his waking hours4 ,whether he will remember fully and accurately on the physical plane what he has done or learnt on the other depends largely1 as before stated1 upon whether he is able to carry his consciousness without intermission from the one state to the other4 #b4 ,the ,psychically-developed ,person who is not under the guidance of a ,master4 ,such a person may or may not be spiritually developed1 for the two forms of advancement do not necessarily go together1 and when a man is born with psychic powers it is simply the result of efforts made during a previous incarnation1 which may have been of the noblest and most unselfish character1 or on the other hand may have been ignorant and ill-directed or even entirely unworthy4 ,such an one will usually be perfectly conscious when out of the body1 but for want of proper training is liable to be greatly deceived as to what he sees4 ,he will often be able to range through the different subdivisions of the astral plane almost as fully as persons belonging to the last class2 but sometimes he is especially attracted to some one division and rarely travels beyond its influences4 ,his recollection of what he has seen may vary according to the degree of his development through all the stages from perfect clearness to utter distortion or blank oblivion4 ,he will appear always in the astral body1 since by the hypothesis he does not know how to form the ,myvirpa4 #c4 ,the ,ordinary ,person--that is1 the person without any psychic development--floating about in his astral body in a more or less unconscious condition4 ,in deep slumber the higher principles in their astral vehicle almost invariably withdraw from the body1 and hover in its immediate neighbourhood1 practically almost as much asleep as the latter4 ,in some cases1 however1 this astral vehicle is less lethargic1 and floats dreamily about on the various astral currents1 occasionally recognizing other people in a similar condition1 and meeting with experiences of all sorts1 pleasant and unpleasant1 the memory of which1 hopelessly confused and often travestied into a grotesque caricature of what really happened1 will cause the man to think next morning what a remarkable dream he has had4 ,these extruded astral bodies are almost shapeless and very indefinite in outline in the case of the more backward races and individuals1 but as the man develops in intellect and spirituality his floating astral becomes better defined and more closely resembles his physical encasement4 ,since the psychical faculties of mankind are in course of evolution1 and individuals are at all stages of their development1 this class naturally melts by imperceptible gradations into the former one4 #d4 ,the ,black ,magician or his pupil4 ,this class corresponds closely to the first1 except that the development has been for evil instead of good1 and the powers acquired are used for purely selfish purposes instead of for the benefit of humanity4 ,among its lower ranks come members of the negro race who practise the ghastly rites of the ,obeah or ,voodoo schools1 and the medicine-men of many a savage tribe2 while higher in intellect1 and therefore the more blame-worthy1 stand the ,tibetan black magicians1 who are often1 though incorrectly1 called by ,europeans ,dgpas--a title properly belonging1 as is quite correctly explained by ,surgeon-,major ,waddell in his recent work on ,the ,buddhism of ,tibet1 only to the ,bhotanese subdivision of the great ,kargyu sect1 which is part of what may be called the semi-reformed school of ,tibetan ,buddhism4 ,the ,dgpas no doubt deal in ,tntrik magic to a considerable extent1 but the real red-hatted entirely unreformed sect is that of the in-m-pa1 though far beyond them in a still lower depth lie the ,bn-pa--the votaries of the aboriginal religion1 who have never accepted any form of ,buddhism at all4 ,it must not1 however1 be supposed that all ,tibetan sects except the ,gelgpa are necessarily and altogether evil2 a truer view would be that as the rules of other sects permit considerably greater laxity of life and practice1 the proportion of self-seekers among them is likely to be much larger than among the stricter reformers4 ,the investigator will occasionally meet on the astral plane students of occultism from all parts of the world 7belonging to lodges quite unconnected with the ,masters of whom ,theosophists know most7 who are in many cases most earnest and self-sacrificing seekers after truth4 ,it is noteworthy1 however1 that all such lodges are at least aware of the existence of the great ,himalayan ,brotherhood1 and acknowledge it as containing among its members the highest ,adepts now known on earth4 #b4 ,,dead4 ,to begin with1 of course this very word dead is an absurd misnomer1 as most of the entities classified under this heading are as fully alive as we are ourselves2 the term must be understood as meaning those who are for the time unattached to a physical body4 ,they may be subdivided into nine principal classes as follows3 #a4 ,the ,nirmnakya4 ,this class is just mentioned in order to make the catalogue complete1 but it is of course very rarely indeed that so exalted a being manifests himself upon so low a plane as this4 ,when for any reason connected with his sublime work he found it desirable to do so1 he would probably create a temporary astral body for the purpose1 just as the ,adept in the ,myvirpa would do1 since the more refined vesture would be invisible to astral sight4 ,further information about the position and work of the ,nirmnakyas may be found in ,madame ,blavatsky's ,theosophical ,glossary and ,the ,voice of the ,silence4 #b4 ,the ,chela awaiting reincarnation4 ,it has frequently been stated in ,theosophical literature that when the pupil reaches a certain stage he is able with the assistance of his ,master to escape from the action of what is in ordinary cases the law of nature which carries a human being into the devachanic condition after death1 there to receive his due reward in the full working out of all the spiritual forces which his highest aspirations have set in motion while on earth4 ,as the pupil must by the hypothesis be a man of pure life and high thought1 it is probable that in his case these spiritual forces will be of abnormal strength1 and therefore if he1 to use the technical expression1 takes his ,devachan1 it is likely to be an extremely long one2 but if instead of taking it he chooses the ,path of ,renunciation 7thus even at his low level and in his humble way beginning to follow in the footsteps of the ,great ,master of ,renunciation1 ,,gautama ,,buddha ,himself71 he is able to expend that reserve of force in quite another direction--to use it for the benefit of mankind1 and so1 infinitesimal though his offering may be1 to take his tiny part in the great work of the ,nirmnakyas4 ,by taking this course he no doubt sacrifices centuries of intense bliss1 but on the other hand he gains the enormous advantage of being able to continue his life of work and progress without a break4 ,when a pupil who has decided to do this dies1 he simply steps out of his body1 as he has often done before1 and waits upon the astral plane until a suitable reincarnation can be arranged for him by his ,master4 ,this being a marked departure from the usual course of procedure1 the permission of a very high authority has to be obtained before the attempt can be made2 yet1 even when this is granted1 so strong is the force of natural law1 that it is said the pupil must be careful to confine himself strictly to the ,kmaloka while the matter is being arranged1 lest if he once1 even for a moment1 touched the devachanic plane1 he might be swept as by an irresistible current into the line of normal evolution again4 ,in some cases1 though these are rare1 he is enabled to avoid the trouble of a new birth by being placed directly in an adult body whose previous tenant has no further use for it1 but naturally it is not often that a suitable body is available4 ,far more frequently he has to wait on the astral plane1 as mentioned before1 until the opportunity of a fitting birth presents itself4 ,in the meantime1 however1 he is losing no time1 for he is just as fully himself as ever he was1 and is able to go on with the work given him by his ,master even more quickly and efficiently than when in the physical body1 since he is no longer hampered by the possibility of fatigue4 ,his consciousness is of course quite complete1 and he roams at will through all the divisions of the ,kmaloka with equal facility4 ,the chela awaiting reincarnation is by no means one of the common objects of the astral plane1 but still he may be met with occasionally1 and therefore he forms one of our classes4 ,no doubt as the evolution of humanity proceeds1 and an ever-increasing proportion enter upon the ,path of ,holiness1 this class will become more numerous4 #c4 ,the ,ordinary ,person after death4 ,needless to say1 this class is millions of times larger than those of which we have spoken1 and the character and condition of its members vary within extremely wide limits4 ,within similarly wide limits may vary also the length of their lives upon the astral plane1 for while there are those who pass only a few days or hours there1 others remain upon this level for many years and even centuries4 ,a man who has led a good and pure life1 whose strongest feelings and aspirations have been unselfish and spiritual1 will have no attraction to this plane1 and will1 if entirely left alone1 find little to keep him upon it1 or to awaken him into activity even during the comparatively short period of his stay4 ,for it must be understood that after death the true man is withdrawing into himself1 and just as at the first step of that process he casts off the physical body1 and almost directly afterwards the etheric double and the ,prna1 so it is intended that he should as soon as possible cast off also the astral or kmic body1 and pass into the devachanic condition1 where alone his spiritual aspirations can find their full fruition4 ,the noble and pure-minded man will be able to do this1 for he has subdued all earthly passions during life2 the force of his will has been directed into higher channels1 and there is therefore but little energy of lower desire to be worked out in ,kmaloka4 ,his stay there will consequently be very short1 and most probably he will have little more than a dreamy half-consciousness of existence until he sinks into the sleep during which his higher principles finally free themselves from the kmic envelope and enter upon the blissful rest of ,devachan4 ,for the person who has not as yet entered upon the path of occult development1 what has been described is the ideal state of affairs1 but naturally it is not attained by all1 or even by the majority4 ,the average man has by no means freed himself from the lower desires before death1 and it takes a long period of more or less fully conscious life on the astral plane to allow the forces he has generated to work themselves out1 and thus release the higher ,ego4 ,the body which he occupies during this period is the ,kmarpa which may be described as a rearrangement of the matter of his astral body2 but it is much more defined in outline1 and there is also this important difference between the two that while the astral body1 if sufficiently awakened during life to function at all freely1 would probably be able to visit all1 or at any rate most1 of the subdivisions of its plane1 the ,kmarpa has not that liberty1 but is strictly confined to that level to which its affinities have drawn it4 ,it has1 however1 a certain kind of progress connected with it1 for it generally happens that the forces a man has set in motion during earth-life need for their appropriate working out a sojourn on more divisions than one of the ,kmaloka1 and when this is the case a regular sequence is observed1 commencing with the lowest2 so that when the ,kmarpa has exhausted its attractions to one level1 the greater part of its grosser particles fall away1 and it finds itself in affinity with a somewhat higher state of existence4 ,its specific gravity1 as it were1 is constantly decreasing1 and so it steadily rises from the denser to the lighter strata1 pausing only when it is exactly balanced for a time4 ,this is evidently the explanation of a remark frequently made by the entities which appear at sances to the effect that they are about to rise to a higher sphere1 from which it will be impossible1 or not so easy1 to communicate through a medium2 and it is as a matter of fact true that a person upon the highest subdivision of this plane would find it almost impossible to deal with any ordinary medium4 ,it ought perhaps to be explained here that the definiteness of outline which distinguishes the ,kmarpa from the astral body is of an entirely different character from that definiteness which was described as a sign of progress in the astral of the man before death4 ,there can never be any possibility of confusion between the two entities1 for while in the case of the man attached to a physical body the different orders of astral particles are all inextricably mingled and ceaselessly changing their position1 after death their activity is much more circumscribed1 since they then sort themselves according to their degree of materiality1 and become1 as it were1 a series of sheaths or shells surrounding him1 the grossest being always outside and so dissipating before the others4 ,this dissipation is not necessarily complete1 the extent to which it is carried being governed by the power of ,manas to free itself from its connection with any given level2 and on this also1 as will be seen later1 the nature of the shade depends4 ,the poetic idea of death as a universal leveller is a mere absurdity born of ignorance1 for1 as a matter of fact1 in the vast majority of cases the loss of the physical body makes no difference whatever in the character or intellect of the person1 and there are therefore as many different varieties of intelligence among those whom we usually call the dead as among the living4 ,the popular religious teaching of the ,west as to man's post-mortem adventures has long been so wildly inaccurate that even intelligent people are often terribly puzzled when they recover consciousness in ,kmaloka after death4 ,the condition in which the new arrival finds himself differs so radically from what he has been led to expect that it is no uncommon case for him to refuse at first to believe that he has passed through the portals of death at all2 indeed1 of so little practical value is our much-vaunted belief in the immortality of the soul that most people consider the very fact that they are still conscious an absolute proof that they have not died4 ,the horrible doctrine of eternal punishment1 too1 is responsible for a vast amount of most pitiable and entirely groundless terror among those newly arrived in ,kmaloka who in many cases spend long periods of acute mental suffering before they can free themselves from the fatal influence of that hideous blasphemy1 and realize that the world is governed not according to the caprice of some demon who gloats over human anguish1 but according to a benevolent and wonderfully patient law of evolution4 ,many members of the class we are considering do not really attain an intelligent appreciation of this fact at all1 but drift through their astral interlude in the same aimless manner in which they have spent the physical portion of their lives4 ,thus in ,kmaloka1 exactly as on earth1 there are the few who comprehend something of their position and know how to make the best of it1 and the many who have not yet acquired that knowledge2 and there1 just as here1 the ignorant are rarely ready to profit by the advice or example of the wise4 ,but of whatever grade the entity's intellect may be1 it is always a fluctuating and on the whole a gradually diminishing quantity1 for the lower ,manas is being drawn in opposite directions by the higher ,triad which acts on it from above its level and the ,kma which operates from below2 and therefore it oscillates between the two attractions1 with an ever-increasing tendency towards the former as the kmic forces wear themselves out4 ,and here comes in the evil of what is called at sances the development of a spirit through a medium--a process the object of which is to intensify the downward pull of the ,kma1 to awaken the lower portion of the entity 7that being all that can be reached7 from the natural and desirable unconsciousness into which it is passing1 and thus to prolong unnaturally its existence in the ,kmaloka4 ,the peculiar danger of this will be seen when it is recollected that the real man is all the while steadily withdrawing into himself1 and is therefore as time goes on less and less able to influence or guide this lower portion1 which nevertheless1 until the separation is complete1 has the power to generate ,karma1 and under the circumstances is obviously far more likely to add evil than good to its record4 ,thus the harm done is threefold3 first1 the retardation of the separation between ,manas and ,kma1 and the consequent waste of time and prolongation of the interval between two incarnations2 secondly1 the extreme probability 7almost amounting to certainty7 that a large addition will be made to the individual's evil ,karma1 which will have to be worked out in future births2 thirdly1 the terrible danger that this abnormal intensification of the force of ,kma may eventually enable the latter to entangle the whole of the lower ,manas inextricably1 and so cause the entire loss of an incarnation4 ,though such a result as this last-mentioned is happily uncommon1 it is a thing that has happened more than once2 and in very many cases where the evil has fallen short of this ultimate possibility1 the individual has nevertheless lost much more of his lower ,manas by this additional entanglement with ,kma than he would have done if left to withdraw into himself quietly as nature intended4 ,it is not denied that a certain amount of good may occasionally be done to very degraded entities at spiritualistic circles2 but the intention of nature obviously is that such assistance should be given1 as it frequently is1 by occult students who are able to visit the astral plane during earth-life1 and have been trained by competent teachers to deal by whatever methods may be most helpful with the various cases which they encounter4 ,it will be readily seen that such a scheme of help1 carrying with it as it does the possibility of instant reference to higher authorities in any doubtful case1 is infinitely safer than any casual assistance obtained through a medium who may be 7and indeed generally is7 entirely ignorant of the laws governing spiritual evolution1 and who is as liable to the domination of evil or mischievous influences as of good ones4 ,apart altogether from any question of development through a medium1 there is another and much more frequently exercised influence which may seriously retard a disembodied entity on his way to ,devachan1 and that is the intense and uncontrolled grief of his surviving friends or relatives4 ,it is one among many melancholy results of the terribly inaccurate and even irreligious view that we in the ,west have for centuries been taking of death1 that we not only cause ourselves an immense amount of wholly unnecessary pain over this temporary parting from our loved ones1 but we often also do serious injury to those for whom we bear so deep an affection by means of this very regret which we feel so acutely4 ,as one of our ablest writers has recently told us1 when our departed brother is sinking peacefully and naturally into pre-devachanic unconsciousness an awakening may be caused by the passionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth1 and these1 violently vibrating the kmic elements in the embodied persons1 may set up vibrations in the ,kmarpa of the disembodied1 and so reach and rouse the lower ,manas not yet withdrawn to and reunited with its parent1 the spiritual intelligence4 ,thus it may be roused from its dreamy state to vivid remembrance of the earth-life so lately left4 ,this awakening is often accompanied by acute suffering1 and even if this be avoided the natural process of the ,triad freeing itself is rudely disturbed1 and the completion of its freedom is delayed4 7,death and ,after1 p4 #cb47 ,it would be well if those whose loved ones have passed on before them would learn from these undoubted facts the duty of restraining for the sake of those dear ones a grief which1 however natural it may be1 is yet in its essence selfish4 ,not that occult teaching counsels forgetfulness of the dead--far from it2 but it does suggest that a man's affectionate remembrance of his departed friend is a force which1 if properly directed into the channel of earnest good wishes for his progress towards ,devachan and his quiet passage through ,kmaloka might be of real value to him1 whereas when wasted in mourning for him and longing to have him back again it is not only useless but harmful4 ,it is with a true instinct that the ,hindu religion prescribes its ,shrddha ceremonies and the ,catholic ,church its prayers for the dead4 ,it sometimes happens1 however1 that the desire for communication is from the other side1 and that an entity of the class we are considering has something which it specially desires to say to those whom it has left behind4 ,occasionally this message is an important one1 such as1 for example1 an indication of the place where a missing will is concealed2 but more often it seems to us quite trivial4 ,still1 whatever it may be1 if it is firmly impressed upon the mind of the dead person1 it is undoubtedly desirable that he should be enabled to deliver it1 as otherwise the anxiety to do so would perpetually draw his consciousness back into the earth-life1 and prevent him from passing to higher spheres4 ,in such a case a psychic who can understand him1 or a medium through whom he can write or speak1 is of real service to him4 ,it should be observed that the reason why he cannot usually write or speak without a medium is that one state of matter can ordinarily act only upon the state next below it1 and1 as he has now no denser matter in his organism than that of which the ,kmarpa is composed1 he finds it impossible to set up vibrations in the physical substance of the air or to move the physical pencil without borrowing living matter of the intermediate order contained in the etheric double1 by means of which an impulse can readily be transferred from the one plane to the other4 ,now he would be unable to borrow this material from an ordinary person1 because such a man's principles would be too closely linked together to be separated by any means likely to be at his command1 but the very essence of mediumship is the ready separability of the principles1 so from a medium he can draw without difficulty the matter he needs for his manifestation1 whatever it may be4 ,when he cannot find a medium or does not understand how to use one he sometimes makes clumsy and blundering endeavours to communicate on his own account1 and by the strength of his will he sets elemental forces blindly working1 perhaps producing such apparently aimless manifestations as stone-throwing1 bell-ringing1 etc4 ,it consequently frequently happens that a psychic or medium going to a house where such manifestations are taking place may be able to discover what the entity who produces them is attempting to say or do1 and may thus put an end to the disturbance4 ,this would not1 however1 invariably be the case1 as these elemental forces are occasionally set in motion by entirely different causes4 ,but for one entity who is earth-bound by the desire to communicate with his surviving friends1 there are thousands who1 if left alone1 would never think of doing so1 although when the idea is suggested to them through a medium they will respond to it readily enough1 for since during earth-life their interests were probably centred less in spiritual than in worldly affairs1 it is not difficult to re-awaken in them vibrations sympathetic to matters connected with the existence they have so lately left2 and this undesirable intensification of earthly thoughts is frequently brought about by the interference of well-meaning but ignorant friends1 who endeavour to get communications from the departed through a medium1 with the result that just in proportion to their success he is subjected to the various dangers mentioned above4 ,it should also be remembered that the possible injury to the entity itself is by no means all the harm that may accrue from such a practice1 for those who habitually attend sances during life are almost certain to develop a tendency to haunt them after death1 and so themselves in turn run the risks into which they have so often brought their predecessors4 ,besides1 it is well known that the vital energy necessary to produce physical manifestations is frequently drawn from the sitters as well as from the medium1 and the eventual effect on the latter is invariably evil1 as is evinced by the large number of such sensitives who have gone either morally or psychically to the bad--some becoming epileptic1 some taking to drink1 others falling under influences which induced them to stoop to fraud and trickery of all kinds4 #d4 ,the ,shade4 ,when the separation of the principles is complete1 the ,kmaloka life of the person is over1 and1 as before stated1 he passes into the devachanic condition4 ,but just as when he dies to this plane he leaves his physical body behind him1 so when he dies to the astral plane he leaves his ,kmarpa behind him4 ,if he has purged himself from all earthly desires during life1 and directed all his energies into the channels of unselfish spiritual aspiration1 his higher ,ego will be able to draw back into itself the whole of the lower ,manas which it put forth into incarnation2 in that case the ,kmarpa left behind on the astral plane will be a mere corpse like the abandoned physical body1 and it will then come not into this class but into the next4 ,even in the case of a man of somewhat less perfect life almost the same result may be attained if the forces of lower desire are allowed to work themselves out undisturbed in ,kmaloka but the majority of mankind make but very trifling and perfunctory efforts while on earth to rid themselves of the less elevated impulses of their nature1 and consequently doom themselves not only to a greatly prolonged sojourn on the astral plane1 but also to what cannot be described otherwise than as a loss of a portion of the lower ,manas4 ,this is1 no doubt1 a very material method of expressing the great mystery of the reflection of the higher ,manas in the lower1 but since only those who have passed the portals of initiation can fully comprehend this1 we must content ourselves with the nearest approximation to exactitude which is possible to us2 and as a matter of fact1 a very fairly accurate idea of what actually takes place will be obtained by adopting the hypothesis that the mnasic principle sends down a portion of itself into the lower world of physical life at each incarnation1 and expects to be able to withdraw it again at the end of the life1 enriched by all its varied experiences4 ,the ordinary man1 however1 usually allows himself to be so pitiably enslaved by all sorts of base desires that a certain portion of this lower ,manas becomes very closely interwoven with ,kma1 and when the separation takes place1 his life in ,kmaloka being over1 the mnasic principle has1 as it were1 to be torn apart1 the degraded portion remaining within the ,kmarpa4 ,this ,kmarpa then consists of the particles of astral matter from which the lower ,manas has not been able to disengage itself1 and which therefore retain it captive2 for when ,manas passes into ,devachan these clinging fragments adhere to a portion of it and as it were wrench it away4 ,the proportion of the matter of each level present in the ,kmarpa will therefore depend on the extent to which ,manas has become inextricably entangled with the lower passions4 ,it will be obvious that as ,manas in passing from level to level is unable to free itself completely from the matter of each1 the ,kmarpa will show the presence of each grosser kind which has succeeded in retaining its connection with it4 ,thus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called ,the ,shade--an entity1 be it observed1 which is not in any sense the real individual at all 7for he has passed away into ,devachan71 but nevertheless1 not only bears his exact personal appearance1 but possesses his memory and all his little idiosyncrasies1 and may1 therefore1 very readily personate him1 as indeed it frequently does at sances4 ,it is not1 of course1 conscious of any act of impersonation1 for as far as its intellect goes it must necessarily suppose itself to be the individual1 but one can imagine the horror and disgust of the friends of the departed1 if they could only realize that they had been deceived into accepting as their loved one a mere soulless bundle of all his worst qualities4 ,its length of life varies according to the amount of the lower ,manas which animates it1 but as this is all the while in process of fading out1 its intellect is a steadily diminishing quantity1 though it may possess a great deal of a certain sort of animal cunning2 and even quite towards the end of its career it is still able to communicate by borrowing temporary intelligence from the medium4 ,from its very nature it is exceedingly liable to be swayed by all kinds of evil influences1 and1 having separated from its higher ,ego1 it has nothing in its constitution capable of responding to good ones4 ,it therefore lends itself readily to various minor purposes of some of the baser sort of black magicians4 ,so much of the matter of the mnasic nature as it possesses gradually disintegrates and returns to its own plane1 though not to any individual mind1 and thus the shade fades by almost imperceptible gradations into a member of our next class4 #e4 ,the ,shell4 ,this is absolutely the mere astral corpse in process of disintegration1 every particle of the lower ,manas having left it4 ,it is entirely without any kind of consciousness or intelligence1 and is drifted passively about upon the astral currents just as a cloud might be swept in any direction by a passing breeze2 but even yet it may be galvanized for a few moments into a ghastly burlesque of life if it happens to come within reach of a medium's aura4 ,under such circumstances it will still exactly resemble its departed personality in appearance1 and may even reproduce to some extent his familiar expressions or handwriting1 but it does so merely by the automatic action of the cells of which it is composed1 which tend under stimulation to repeat the form of action to which they are most accustomed1 and whatever amount of intelligence may lie behind any such manifestation has most assuredly no connection with the original entity1 but is lent by the medium or his guides for the occasion4 ,it is1 however1 more frequently temporarily vitalized in quite another manner1 which will be described under the next head4 ,it has also the quality of being still blindly responsive to such vibrations--usually of the lowest order--as were frequently set up in it during its last stage of existence as a shade1 and consequently persons in whom evil desires or passions are predominant will be very likely1 when they attend physical sances1 to find these intensified and as it were thrown back upon them by the unconscious shells4 ,there is also another variety of corpse which it is necessary to mention under this head1 though it belongs to a much earlier stage of man's post-mortem history4 ,it has been stated above that after the death of the physical body the ,kmarpa is comparatively quickly formed1 and the etheric double cast off--this latter body being destined to slow disintegration1 precisely as is the kmarpic shell at a later stage of the proceedings4 ,this etheric shell1 however1 is not to be met with drifting aimlessly about1 as is the variety with which we have hitherto been dealing2 on the contrary1 it remains within a few yards of the decaying physical body1 and since it is readily visible to any one even slightly sensitive1 it is accountable for many of the commonly current stories of churchyard ghosts4 ,a psychically developed person passing one of our great cemeteries will see hundreds of these bluish-white1 misty forms hovering over the graves where are laid the physical vestures which they have recently left2 and as they1 like their lower counterparts1 are in various stages of disintegration1 the sight is by no means a pleasant one4 ,this also1 like the other kind of shell1 is entirely devoid of consciousness and intelligence2 and though it may under certain circumstances be galvanized into a very horrible form of temporary life1 this is possible only by means of some of the most loathsome rites of one of the worst forms of black magic1 about which the less said the better4 ,it will thus be seen that in the successive stages of his progress from earth-life to ,devachan1 man casts off and leaves to slow disintegration no less than three corpses--the physical body1 the etheric double and the ,kmarpa--all of which are by degrees resolved into their constituent elements and utilized anew on their respective planes by the wonderful chemistry of nature4 #f4 ,the ,vitalized ,shell4 ,this entity ought not1 strictly speaking1 to be classified under the head human at all1 since it is only its outer vesture1 the passive1 senseless shell1 that was once an appanage of humanity2 such life1 intelligence1 desire and will as it may possess are those of the artificial elemental animating it1 and that1 though in terrible truth a creation of man's evil thought1 is not itself human4 ,it will therefore perhaps be better to deal with it more fully under its appropriate class among the artificial entities1 as its nature and genesis will be more readily comprehensible by the time that part of our subject is reached4 ,let it suffice here to mention that it is always a malevolent being--a true tempting demon1 whose evil influence is limited only by the extent of its power4 ,like the shade1 it is frequently used to further the horrible purposes of the ,voodoo and ,obeah forms of magic4 ,some writers have spoken of it under the name elementary1 but as that title has at one time or other been used for almost every variety of post-mortem entity1 it has become so vague and meaningless that it is perhaps better to avoid it4 #g4 ,the ,suicide1 or victim of sudden death4 ,it will be readily understood that a man who is torn from physical life hurriedly while in full health and strength1 whether by accident or suicide1 finds himself upon the astral plane under conditions differing considerably from those which surround one who dies either from old age or from disease4 ,in the latter case the hold of earthly desires upon the entity is more or less weakened1 and probably the very grossest particles are already got rid of1 so that the ,kmarpa will most likely form itself on the sixth or fifth subdivision of the ,kmaloka1 or perhaps even higher2 the principles have been gradually prepared for separation1 and the shock is therefore not so great4 ,in the case of the accidental death or suicide none of these preparations have taken place1 and the withdrawal of the principles from their physical encasement has been very aptly compared to the tearing of the stone out of an unripe fruit2 a great deal of the grossest kind of astral matter still clings around the personality1 which is consequently held in the seventh or lowest subdivision of the ,kmaloka4 ,this has already been described as anything but a pleasant abiding-place1 yet it is by no means the same for all those who are compelled for a time to inhabit it4 ,those victims of sudden death whose earth-lives have been pure and noble have no affinity for this plane1 and the time of their sojourn upon it is passed1 to quote from an early ,letter on this subject1 either in happy ignorance and full oblivion1 or in a state of quiet slumber1 a sleep full of rosy dreams 4 ,but on the other hand1 if their earth-lives have been low and brutal1 selfish and sensual1 they will1 like the suicides1 be conscious to the fullest extent in this undesirable region2 and they are liable to develop into terribly evil entities4 ,inflamed with all kinds of horrible appetites which they can no longer satisfy directly now they are without a physical body1 they gratify their loathsome passions vicariously through a medium or any sensitive person whom they can obsess2 and they take a devilish delight in using all the arts of delusion which the astral plane puts in their power in order to lead others into the same excesses which have proved so fatal to themselves4 ,quoting again from the same letter3--,these are the ,pischas the incubi and succub of medival writers--demons of thirst and gluttony1 of lust and avarice1 of intensified craft1 wickedness and cruelty1 provoking their victims to horrible crimes1 and revelling in their commission4 ,from this class and the last are drawn the tempters--the devils of ecclesiastical literature2 but their power fails utterly before purity of mind and purpose2 they can do nothing with a man unless he has first encouraged in himself the vices into which they seek to draw him4 ,one whose psychic sight has been opened will often see crowds of these unfortunate creatures hanging round butchers' shops1 public-houses1 or other even more disreputable places--wherever the gross influences in which they delight are to be found1 and where they encounter men and women still in the flesh who are like-minded with themselves4 ,for such an entity as one of these to meet with a medium with whom he is in affinity is indeed a terrible misfortune2 not only does it enable him to prolong enormously his dreadful life in ,kmaloka but it renews for perhaps an indefinite period his power to generate evil ,karma1 and so prepare for himself a future incarnation of the most degraded character1 besides running the risk of losing a large portion or even the whole of the lower ,manas4 ,on this lowest level of the astral plane he must stay at least as long as his earthly life would have lasted if it had not been prematurely cut short2 and if he is fortunate enough not to meet with a sensitive through whom his passions can be vicariously gratified1 the unfulfilled desires will gradually burn themselves out1 and the suffering caused in the process will probably go far towards working off the evil ,karma of the past life4 ,the position of the suicide is further complicated by the fact that his rash act has enormously diminished the power of the higher ,ego to withdraw its lower portion into itself1 and therefore has exposed him to manifold and great additional dangers3 but it must be remembered that the guilt of suicide differs considerably according to its circumstances1 from the morally blameless act of ,seneca or ,socrates through all degrees down to the heinous crime of the wretch who takes his own life in order to escape from the entanglements into which his villainy has brought him1 and of course the position after death varies accordingly4 ,it should be noted that this class1 as well as the shades and the vitalized shells1 are all what may be called minor vampires2 that is to say1 whenever they have the opportunity they prolong their existence by draining away the vitality from human beings whom they find themselves able to influence4 ,this is why both medium and sitters are often so weak and exhausted after a physical sance4 ,a student of occultism is taught how to guard himself from their attempts1 but without that knowledge it is difficult for one who puts himself in their way to avoid being more or less laid under contribution by them4 #h4 ,the ,vampire and ,werewolf4 ,there remain two even more awful but happily very rare possibilities to be mentioned before this part of our subject is completed1 and though they differ very widely in many ways we may yet perhaps group them together1 since they have in common the qualities of unearthly horror and of extreme rarity--the latter arising from the fact that they are really relics of earlier races4 ,we of the fifth root race ought to have evolved beyond the possibility of meeting such a ghastly fate as is indicated by either of the two headings of this sub-section1 and we have so nearly done it that these creatures are commonly regarded as mere medival fables2 yet there are examples to be found occasionally even now1 though chiefly in countries where there is a considerable strain of fourth-race blood1 such as ,russia or ,hungary4 ,the popular legends about them are probably often considerably exaggerated1 but there is nevertheless a terribly serious sub-stratum of truth beneath the eerie stories which pass from mouth to mouth among the peasantry of ,central ,europe4 ,the general characteristics of such tales are too well known to need more than a passing reference2 a fairly typical specimen of the vampire story1 though it does not profess to be more than the merest fiction1 is ,sheridan le ,fanu's ,carmilla1 while a very remarkable account of an unusual form of this creature is to be found in ,isis ,unveiled1 vol4 i41 p4 #ded4 ,all readers of ,theosophical literature are familiar with the idea that it is possible for a man to live a life so absolutely degraded and selfish1 so utterly wicked and brutal1 that the whole of his lower ,manas may become entirely immeshed in ,kma1 and finally separated from its spiritual source in the higher ,ego4 ,some students even seem to think that such an occurrence is quite a common one1 and that we may meet scores of such soulless men1 as they have been called1 in the street every day of our lives1 but this1 happily1 is untrue4 ,to attain the appalling preeminence in evil which thus involves the entire loss of a personality and the weakening of the developing individuality behind1 a man must stifle every gleam of unselfishness or spirituality1 and must have absolutely no redeeming point whatever2 and when we remember how often1 even in the worst of villains1 there is to be found something not wholly bad1 we shall realize that the abandoned personalities must always be a very small minority4 ,still1 comparatively few though they be1 they do exist1 and it is from their ranks that the still rarer vampire is drawn4 ,the lost entity would very soon after death find himself unable to stay in ,kmaloka1 and would be irresistibly drawn in full consciousness into his own place1 the mysterious eighth sphere1 there slowly to disintegrate after experiences best left undescribed4 ,if1 however1 he perishes by suicide or sudden death1 he may under certain circumstances1 especially if he knows something of black magic1 hold himself back from that awful fate by a death in life scarcely less awful--the ghastly existence of the vampire4 ,since the eighth sphere cannot claim him until after the death of the body1 he preserves it in a kind of cataleptic trance by the horrible expedient of the transfusion into it of blood drawn from other human beings by his semi-materialized ,kmarpa1 and thus postpones his final destiny by the commission of wholesale murder4 ,as popular superstition again quite rightly supposes1 the easiest and most effectual remedy in such a case is to exhume and burn the body1 thus depriving the creature of his point d'appui4 ,when the grave is opened the body usually appears quite fresh and healthy1 and the coffin is not infrequently filled with blood4 ,of course in countries where cremation is the custom vampirism of this sort is impossible4 ,the ,werewolf1 though equally horrible1 is the product of a somewhat different ,karma1 and indeed ought perhaps to have found a place under the first instead of the second division of the human inhabitants of ,kmaloka1 since it is always during a man's lifetime that he first manifests under this form4 ,it invariably implies some knowledge of magical arts--sufficient at any rate to be able to project the astral body4 ,when a perfectly cruel and brutal man does this1 there are certain circumstances under which the body may be seized upon by other astral entities and materialized1 not into the human form1 but into that of some wild animal--usually the wolf2 and in that condition it will range the surrounding country killing other animals1 and even human beings1 thus satisfying not only its own craving for blood1 but that of the fiends who drive it on4 ,in this case1 as so often with the ordinary astral body1 any wound inflicted upon the animal materialization will be reproduced upon the human physical body by the extraordinary phenomenon of repercussion2 though after the death of that physical body the ,kmarpa1 which will probably continue to appear in the same form1 will be less vulnerable4 ,it will then1 however1 he also less dangerous1 as unless it can find a suitable medium it will be unable to materialize fully4 ,it has been the fashion of this century to scoff at what are called the foolish superstitions of the ignorant peasantry2 but1 as in the above cases1 so in many others the occult student finds on careful examination that obscure or forgotten truths of nature lie behind what at first sight appears mere nonsense1 and he learns to be cautious in rejecting as well as cautious in accepting4 ,intending explorers of the astral plane need have little fear of encountering the very unpleasant creatures described under this head1 for1 as before stated1 they are even now extremely rare1 and as time goes on their number will happily steadily diminish4 ,in any case their manifestations are usually restricted to the immediate neighbourhood of their physical bodies1 as might be supposed from their extremely material nature4 #i4 ,the ,black ,magician or his pupil4 ,this person corresponds at the other extremity of the scale to our second class of departed entities1 the chela awaiting reincarnation1 but in this case1 instead of obtaining permission to adopt an unusual method of progress1 the man is defying the natural process of evolution by maintaining himself in ,kmaloka by magical arts--sometimes of the most horrible nature4 ,it would be easy to make various subdivisions of this class1 according to their objects1 their methods1 and the possible duration of their existence on this plane1 but as they are by no means fascinating objects of study1 and all that an occult student wishes to know about them is how to avoid them1 it will probably be more interesting to pass on to the examination of another part of our subject4 ,it may1 however1 be just mentioned that every such human entity which prolongs its life thus on the astral plane beyond its natural limit invariably does so at the expense of others1 and by the absorption of their life in some form or another4 ,,ii4 ,,non-,,human4 ,though it might have been thought fairly obvious even to the most casual glance that many of the terrestrial arrangements of nature which affect us most nearly have not been designed exclusively with a view to our comfort or even our ultimate advantage1 it was yet probably unavoidable that the human race1 at least in its childhood1 should imagine that this world and everything it contains existed solely for its own use and benefit4 ,undoubtedly we ought by this time to have grown out of that infantile delusion and realized our proper position and the duties that attach to it2 that most of us have not yet done so is shown in a dozen ways in our daily life notably by the atrocious cruelty habitually displayed towards the animal kingdom under the name of sport by many who probably consider themselves highly civilized people4 ,of course the veriest tyro in the holy science of occultism knows that all life is sacred1 and that without universal compassion there is no true progress2 but it is only as he advances in his studies that he discovers how manifold evolution is1 and how comparatively small a place humanity really fills in the economy of nature4 ,it becomes clear to him that just as earth1 air and water support myriads of forms of life which1 though invisible to the ordinary eye1 are revealed to us by the microscope1 so the higher planes connected with our earth have an equally dense population of whose existence we are ordinarily completely unconscious4 ,as his knowledge increases he becomes more and more certain that in one way or another the utmost use is being made of every possibility of evolution1 and that wherever it seems to us that in nature force or opportunity is being wasted or neglected1 it is not the scheme of the universe that is in fault1 but our ignorance of its method and intention4 ,for the purposes of our present consideration of the non-human inhabitants of the astral plane it will be best to leave out of consideration those very early forms of the universal life which are evolving1 in a manner of which we can have little comprehension1 through the successive encasement of atoms1 molecules and cells3 for if we commence at the lowest of what are usually called the elemental kingdoms1 we shall even then have to group together under this general heading an enormous number of inhabitants of the astral plane upon whom it will be possible to touch only very slightly1 as anything like a detailed account of them would swell this manual to the dimensions of an encyclopdia4 ,the most convenient method of arranging the non-human entities will perhaps be in four classes it being understood that in this case the class is not1 as previously1 a comparatively small subdivision1 but usually a great kingdom of nature at least as large and varied as1 say1 the animal or vegetable kingdom4 ,some of these rank considerably below humanity1 some are our equals1 and others again rise far above us in goodness and power4 ,some belong to our scheme of evolution--that is to say1 they either have been or will be men like ourselves2 others are evolving on entirely distinct lines of their own4 ,before proceeding to consider them it is necessary1 in order to avoid the charge of incompleteness1 to mention that in this branch of the subject two reservations have been made4 ,first1 no reference is made to the occasional appearances of very high ,adepts from other planets of the solar system and of even more august ,visitors from a still greater distance1 since such matters cannot fitly be described in an essay for general reading2 and besides it is practically inconceivable1 though of course theoretically possible1 that such glorified ,beings should ever need to manifest ,themselves on a plane so low as the astral4 ,if for any reason ,they should wish to do so1 the body appropriate to the plane would be temporarily created out of astral matter belonging to this planet1 just as in the case of the ,nirmnakya4 ,secondly1 quite outside of and entirely unconnected with the four classes into which we are dividing this section1 there are two other great evolutions which at present share the use of this planet with humanity2 but about them it is forbidden to give any particulars at this stage of the proceedings1 as it is not apparently intended under ordinary circumstances either that they should be conscious of man's existence or man of theirs4 ,if we ever do come into contact with them it will most probably be on the purely physical plane1 for in any case their connection with our astral plane is of the slightest1 since the only possibility of their appearance there depends upon an extremely improbable accident in an act of ceremonial magic1 which fortunately only a few of the most advanced sorcerers know how to perform4 ,nevertheless1 that improbable accident has happened at least once1 and may happen again1 so that but for the prohibition above mentioned it would have been necessary to include them in our list4 #a4 ,the ,elemental ,essence belonging to our own evolution4 ,just as the name elementary has been given indiscriminately by various writers to any or all of man's possible post-mortem conditions1 so this word elemental has been used at different times to mean any or all non-human spirits1 from the most godlike of the ,devas down through every variety of nature-spirit to the formless essence which pervades the kingdoms lying behind the mineral1 until after reading several books the student becomes absolutely bewildered by the contradictory statements made on the subject4 ,for the purposes of this treatise it will perhaps simplify matters to restrict its meaning to the last-mentioned class only1 and use it to denote the three great kingdoms which precede the mineral in the order of our evolution4 ,it may be remembered that in one of the earlier letters from an ,adept teacher these elemental kingdoms are referred to1 and the statement is made that the first and second cannot readily be comprehended except by an ,initiate4 ,fortunately this1 the most incomprehensible part of the vast subject1 does not come within the province of this manual1 as those first and second elemental kingdoms exist and function respectively upon the arpa and rpa levels of the devachanic plane4 ,we have consequently to deal for the moment only with kingdom ,no4 #c--the one next before the mineral2 though even that will be found quite sufficiently complicated1 as will be understood when it is stated that it contains just over two thousand four hundred perfectly distinct varieties of elemental essence1 each of which the pupil who wishes to attain perfect control of the astral forces must learn not only to distinguish instantly at sight1 but to deal with in its own special method and no other4 ,of course phenomena of various sorts may be1 and constantly are1 produced by those who are able to wield only one or two of these forces1 but the ,adept prefers to take the additional trouble requisite to understand all of them thoroughly1 and uses in every case precisely the most appropriate force or combination of forces1 so that his object may be attained with scientific accuracy and with the least possible expenditure of energy4 ,to speak1 as we so often do1 of an elemental in connection with the group we are now considering is somewhat misleading1 for strictly speaking there is no such thing4 ,what we find is a vast store of elemental essence1 wonderfully sensitive to the most fleeting human thought1 responding with inconceivable delicacy in an infinitesimal fraction of a second to a vibration set up in it even by an entirely unconscious exercise of human will or desire4 ,but the moment that by the influence of such thought or exercise of will it is moulded into a living force--into something that may correctly be described as an elemental--it at once ceases to belong to the category we are discussing1 and becomes a member of the artificial class4 ,even then its separate existence is usually of the most evanescent character1 and as soon as its impulse has worked itself out it sinks back into the undifferentiated mass of that particular subdivision of elemental essence from which it came4 ,it would be tedious to attempt to catalogue these subdivisions1 and indeed even if a list of them were made it would be unintelligible except to the practical student who can call them up before him and compare them4 ,some idea of the leading lines of classification can1 however1 be grasped without much trouble1 and may prove of interest4 ,first comes the broad division which has given the elementals their name--the classification according to the kind of matter which they inhabit4 ,here1 as usual1 the septenary character of our evolution shows itself1 for there are seven such chief groups1 related respectively to the seven states of physical matter--to earth1 water1 air and fire1 or to translate from medival symbolism to modern accuracy of expression1 to the solid1 liquid1 gaseous and etheric conditions4 ,it has long been the custom to pity and despise the ignorance of the alchemists of the middle ages1 because they gave the title of elements to substances which modern chemistry has discovered to be compounds2 but in speaking of them thus slightingly we have done them great injustice1 for their knowledge on this subject was really wider1 not narrower1 than ours4 ,they may or may not have catalogued all the sixty or seventy substances which we now call elements2 but they certainly did not apply that name to them1 for their occult studies had taught them that in that sense of the word there was but one element1 ksha itself1 of which these and all other forms of matter were but modifications--a truth which some of the greatest chemists of the present day are just beginning to suspect4 ,the fact is that in this particular case our despised forefathers' analysis went several steps deeper than our own4 ,they understood and were able to observe the ether1 which modern science can only postulate as a necessity for its theories2 they were aware that it consists of physical matter in four entirely distinct states above the gaseous--a fact which has not yet been re-discovered4 ,they knew that all physical objects consisted of matter in one or other of these seven states1 and that into the composition of every organic body all seven entered in a greater or lesser degree2 hence all their talk of fiery and watery humours1 or elements1 which seems so grotesque to us4 ,it is obvious that they used the latter word simply as a synonym for constituent parts1 without in the least degree intending it to connote the idea of substances which could not be further reduced4 ,they knew also that each of these orders of matter served as an ,updhi or basis of manifestation for a great class of evolving monadic essence1 and so they christened the essence elemental4 ,what we have to try to realize1 then1 is that in every particle of solid matter1 so long as it remains in that condition1 there resides1 to use the picturesque phraseology of medival students1 an earth elemental--that is1 a certain amount of the living elemental essence appropriate to it1 while equally in every particle of matter in the liquid1 gaseous1 or etheric states1 the water1 air1 and fire elementals respectively inhere4 ,it will be observed that this first broad division of the third of the elemental kingdoms is1 so to speak1 a horizontal one--that is to say1 its respective classes stand in the relation of steps1 each somewhat less material than the one below it1 which ascends into it by almost imperceptible degrees2 and it is easy to understand how each of these classes may again be divided horizontally into seven1 since there are obviously many degrees of density among solids1 liquids and gases4 ,there is1 however1 what may be described as a perpendicular division also1 and this is somewhat more difficult to comprehend1 especially as great reserve is always maintained by occultists as to some of the facts which would be involved in a fuller explanation of it4 ,perhaps the clearest way to put what it is permissible to say on the subject will be to state that in each of the horizontal classes and subclasses will be found seven perfectly distinct types of elemental1 the difference between them being no longer a question of degree of materiality1 but rather of character and affinities4 ,each of these types so reacts upon the others that1 though it is impossible for them ever to interchange their essence1 in each of them seven sub-types will be found to exist1 distinguished by the colouring given to their original peculiarity by the influence which sways them most readily4 ,it will at once be seen that this perpendicular division and subdivision differs entirely in its character from the horizontal1 in that it is far more permanent and fundamental2 for while it is the evolution of the elemental kingdom to pass with almost infinite slowness through its various horizontal classes and subclasses in succession1 and thus to belong to them all in turn1 this is not so with regard to the types and sub-types1 which remain unchangeable all the way through4 ,a point which must never be lost sight of in endeavouring to understand this elemental evolution is that it is taking place on what is sometimes called the downward curve of the arc2 that is to say1 it is progressing towards the complete entanglement in matter which we witness in the mineral kingdom1 instead of away from it1 as is most other evolution of which we know anything2 and this fact sometimes gives it a curiously inverted appearance in our eyes until we thoroughly grasp its object4 ,in spite of these manifold subdivisions1 there are certain properties which are possessed in common by all varieties of this strange living essence2 but even these are so entirely different from any with which we are familiar on the physical plane that it is exceedingly difficult to explain them to those who cannot themselves see it in action4 ,let it be premised1 then1 that when any portion of this essence remains for a few moments entirely unaffected by any outside influence 7a condition1 by the way1 which is hardly ever realized7 it is absolutely without any definite form of its own1 though even then its motion is rapid and ceaseless2 but on the slightest disturbance1 set up perhaps by some passing thought-current1 it flashes into a bewildering confusion of restless1 ever-changing shapes1 which form1 rush about1 and disappear with the rapidity of the bubbles on the surface of boiling water4 ,these evanescent shapes1 though generally those of living creatures of some sort1 human or otherwise1 no more express the existence of separate entities in the essence than do the equally changeful and multiform waves raised in a few moments on a previously smooth lake by a sudden squall4 ,they seem to be mere reflections from the vast storehouse of the astral light1 yet they have usually a certain appropriateness to the character of the thought-stream which calls them into existence1 though nearly always with some grotesque distortion1 some terrifying or unpleasant aspect about them4 ,a question naturally arises in the mind here as to what intelligence it is that is exerted in the selection of an appropriate shape or its distortion when selected4 ,we are not dealing with the more powerful and longer-lived artificial elemental created by a strong definite thought1 but simply with the result produced by the stream of half-conscious1 involuntary thoughts which the majority of mankind allow to flow idly through their brains1 so that the intelligence is obviously not derived from the mind of the thinker2 and we certainly cannot credit the elemental essence itself1 which belongs to a kingdom further from individualization even than the mineral1 with any sort of awakening of the mnasic quality4 ,yet it does possess a marvellous adaptability which often seems to come very near it1 and it is no doubt this property that caused elementals to be described in one of our early books as the semi-intelligent creatures of the astral light4 ,we shall find further evidence of this power when we come to consider the case of the artificial class4 ,when we read of a good or evil elemental1 it must always be either an artificial entity or one of the many varieties of nature spirits that is meant1 for the elemental kingdoms proper do not admit of any such conceptions as good and evil1 though there is undoubtedly a sort of bias or tendency permeating nearly all their subdivisions which operates to render them rather hostile than friendly towards man1 as every neophyte knows1 for in most cases his very first impression of the astral plane is of the presence all around him of vast hosts of ,protean spectres who advance upon him in threatening guise1 but always retire or dissipate harmlessly if boldly faced4 ,it is to this curious tendency that the distorted or unpleasant aspect above mentioned must be referred1 and medival writers tell us that man has only himself to thank for its existence4 ,in the golden age before this ,kaliyuga men were on the whole less selfish and more spiritual1 and then the elementals were friendly1 though now they are no longer so because of man's indifference to1 and want of sympathy with1 other living beings4 ,from the wonderful delicacy with which the essence responds to the faintest action of our minds or desires it seems clear that this elemental kingdom as a whole is very much what the collective thought of humanity makes it4 ,any one who will think for a moment how far from elevating the action of that collective thought is likely to be at the present time will see little reason to wonder that we reap as we have sown1 and that this essence1 which has no power of perception1 but only blindly receives and reflects what is projected upon it1 should usually exhibit unfriendly characteristics4 ,there can be no doubt that in later races or rounds1 when mankind as a whole has evolved to a much higher level1 the elemental kingdoms will be influenced by the changed thought which continually impinges upon them1 and we shall find them no longer hostile1 but docile and helpful1 as we are told that the animal kingdom will also be4 ,whatever may have happened in the past1 it is evident that we may look forward to a very passable golden age in the future1 if we can arrive at a time when the majority of men will be noble and unselfish1 and the forces of nature will co-operate willingly with them4 ,the fact that we are so readily able to influence the elemental kingdoms at once shows us that we have a responsibility towards them for the manner in which we use that influence2 indeed1 when we consider the conditions under which they exist1 it is obvious that the effect produced upon them by the thoughts and desires of all intelligent creatures inhabiting the same world with them must have been calculated upon in the scheme of our system as a factor in their evolution4 ,in spite of the consistent teaching of all the great religions1 the mass of mankind is still utterly regardless of its responsibility on the thought-plane2 if a man can flatter himself that his words and deeds have been harmless to others1 he believes that he has done all that can be required of him1 quite oblivious of the fact that he may for years have been exercising a narrowing and debasing influence on the minds of those about him1 and filling surrounding space with the unlovely creations of a sordid mind4 ,a still more serious aspect of this question will come before us when we discuss the artificial elemental2 but in regard to the essence it will be sufficient to state that we undoubtedly have the power to accelerate or delay its evolution according to the use which consciously or unconsciously we are continually making of it4 ,it would be hopeless within the limits of such a treatise as this to attempt to explain the different uses to which the forces inherent in the manifold varieties of this elemental essence can be put by one who has been trained in their management4 ,the vast majority of magical ceremonies depend almost entirely upon its manipulation1 either directly by the will of the magician1 or by some more definite astral entity evoked by him for that purpose4 ,by its means nearly all the physical phenomena of the sance-room are produced1 and it is also the agent in most cases of stone-throwing or bell-ringing in haunted houses1 such results as these latter being brought about either by blundering efforts to attract attention made by some earth-bound human entity1 or by the mere mischievous pranks of some of the minor nature-spirits belonging to our third class4 ,but the elemental must never be thought of as itself a prime mover2 it is simply a latent force1 which needs an external power to set it in motion4 ,it may be noted that although all classes of the essence have the power of reflecting images from the astral light as described above1 there are varieties which receive certain impressions much more readily than others--which have1 as it were1 favourite forms of their own into which upon disturbance they would naturally flow unless absolutely forced into some other1 and such shapes tend to be a trifle less evanescent than usual4 ,before leaving this branch of the subject it may be well to warn the student against the confusion of thought into which some have fallen through failing to distinguish this elemental essence which we have been considering from the monadic essence manifesting through the mineral kingdom4 ,it must be borne in mind that monadic essence at one stage of its evolution towards humanity manifests through the elemental kingdom1 while at a later stage it manifests through the mineral kingdom3 but the fact that two bodies of monadic essence at these different stages are in manifestation at the same moment1 and that one of these manifestations 7the earth elemental7 occupies the same space as and inhabits the other 7say a rock71 in no way interferes with the evolution either of one or the other1 nor does it imply any relation between the bodies of monadic essence lying within both4 ,the rock will also be permeated by its appropriate variety of the omnipresent ,jva or life principle1 but that of course is again totally distinct from either of the essences above mentioned4 #b4 ,the ,kmarpas of ,animals4 ,this is an extremely large class1 yet it does not occupy a particularly important position on the astral plane1 since its members usually stay there but a very short time4 ,the vast majority of animals have not as yet acquired permanent individualization1 and when one of them dies the monadic essence which has been manifesting through it flows back again into the particular stratum whence it came1 bearing with it such advancement or experience as has been attained during that life4 ,it is not1 however1 able to do this quite immediately2 the kmic aura of the animal forms itself into a ,kmarpa1 just as in man's case1 and the animal has a real existence on the astral plane1 the length of which1 though never great1 varies according to the intelligence which it has developed4 ,in most cases it does not seem to be more than dreamily conscious1 but appears perfectly happy4 ,the comparatively few domestic animals who have already attained individuality1 and will therefore be reborn no more as animals in this world1 have a much longer and much more vivid life in ,kmaloka than their less advanced fellows1 and at the end of it sink gradually into a subjective condition1 which is likely to last for a very considerable period4 ,one interesting subdivision of this class consists of the ,kmarpas of those anthropoid apes mentioned in ,the ,secret ,doctrine 7vol4 i1 p4 #ahd7 who are already individualized1 and will be ready to take human incarnation in the next round1 or perhaps some of them even sooner4 #c4 ,nature-,spirits of all ,kinds4 ,so many and so varied are the subdivisions of this class that to do them anything like justice one would need to devote a separate treatise to this subject alone4 ,some characteristics1 however1 they all have in common1 and it will be sufficient here to try to give some idea of those4 ,to begin with1 we have to realize that we are here dealing with entities which differ radically from all that we have hitherto considered4 ,though we may rightly classify the elemental essence and the animal ,kmarpa as non-human1 the monadic essence which manifests itself through them will1 nevertheless1 in the fulness of time1 evolve to the level of manifesting itself through some future humanity comparable to our own1 and if we were able to look back through countless ages on our own evolution in previous manvantaras1 we should find that that which is now ourselves has passed on its upward path through similar stages4 ,that1 however1 is not the case with the vast kingdom of nature-spirits2 they neither have been1 nor ever will be1 members of a humanity such as ours2 their line of evolution is entirely different1 and their only connection with us consists in our temporary occupancy of the same planet4 ,of course since we are neighbours for the time being we owe neighbourly kindness to one another when we happen to meet1 but our lines of development differ so widely that each can do but little for the other4 ,many writers have included these spirits among the elementals1 and indeed they are the elementals 7or perhaps1 to speak more accurately1 the animals7 of a higher evolution4 ,though much more highly developed than our elemental essence1 they have yet certain characteristics in common with it2 for example1 they also are divided into seven great classes1 inhabiting respectively the same seven states of matter already mentioned as permeated by the corresponding varieties of the essence4 ,thus1 to take those which are most readily comprehensible to us1 there are spirits of the earth1 water1 air1 and fire 7or ether7--definite intelligent astral entities residing and functioning in each of those media4 ,it may be asked how it is possible for any kind of creature to inhabit the solid substance of a rock1 or of the crust of the earth4 ,the answer is that since the nature-spirits are formed of astral matter1 the substance of the rock is no hindrance to their motion or their vision1 and furthermore physical matter in its solid state is their natural element--the only one to which they are accustomed and in which they feel at home4 ,the same is of course true of those who live in water1 air or ether4 ,in medival literature1 these earth-spirits are often called gnomes1 while the water-spirits are spoken of as ndins1 the air-spirits as sylphs1 and the ether-spirits as salamanders4 ,in popular language they are known by many names--fairies1 pixies1 elves1 brownies1 peris1 djinns1 trolls1 satyrs1 fauns1 kobolds1 imps1 goblins1 good people1 etc4--some of these titles being applied only to one variety1 and others indiscriminately to all4 ,their forms are many and various1 but most frequently human in shape and somewhat diminutive in size4 ,like almost all inhabitants of the astral plane1 they are able to assume any appearance at will1 but they undoubtedly have definite forms of their own1 or perhaps we should rather say favourite forms1 which they wear when they have no special object in taking any other4 ,of course under ordinary conditions they are not visible to physical sight at all1 but they have the power of making themselves so by materialization when they wish to be seen4 ,there are an immense number of subdivisions or races among them1 and individuals of these subdivisions differ in intelligence and disposition precisely as human beings do4 ,the great majority of them apparently prefer to avoid man altogether2 his habits and emanations are distasteful to them1 and the constant rush of astral currents set up by his restless1 ill-regulated desires disturbs and annoys them4 ,on the other hand instances are not wanting in which nature-spirits have as it were made friends with human beings and offered them such assistance as lay in their power1 as in the well-known stories told of the ,scotch brownies or of the fire-lighting fairies mentioned in spiritualistic literature4 ,this helpful attitude1 however1 is comparatively rare1 and in most cases when they come in contact with man they either show indifference or dislike1 or else take an impish delight in deceiving him and playing childish tricks upon him4 ,many a story illustrative of this curious characteristic may be found among the village gossip of the peasantry in almost any lonely mountainous district1 and any one who has been in the habit of attending sances for physical phenomena will recollect instances of practical joking and silly though usually good-natured horseplay1 which always indicate the presence of some of the lower orders of the nature-spirits4 ,they are greatly assisted in their tricks by the wonderful power which they possess of casting a glamour over those who yield themselves to their influence1 so that such victims for the time see and hear only what these fairies impress upon them1 exactly as the mesmerized subject sees1 hears1 feels and believes whatever the magnetizer wishes4 ,the nature-spirits1 however1 have not the mesmerizer's power of dominating the human will1 except in the case of quite unusually weak-minded people1 or of those who allow themselves to fall into such a condition of helpless terror that their will is temporarily in abeyance2 they cannot go beyond deception of the senses1 but of that art they are undoubted masters1 and cases are not wanting in which they have cast their glamour over a considerable number of people at once4 ,it is by invoking their aid in the exercise of this peculiar power that some of the most wonderful feats of the ,indian jugglers are performed--the entire audience being in fact hallucinated and made to imagine that they see and hear a whole series of events which have not really taken place at all4 ,we might almost look upon the nature-spirits as a kind of astral humanity1 but for the fact that none of them--not even the highest possess a permanent reincarnating individuality4 ,apparently therefore one point in which their line of evolution differs from ours is that a much greater proportion of intelligence is developed before permanent individualization takes place2 but of the stages through which they have passed1 and those through which they have yet to pass1 we can know little4 ,the life-periods of the different subdivisions vary greatly1 some being quite short1 others much longer than our human lifetime4 ,we stand so entirely outside such a life as theirs that it is impossible for us to understand much about its conditions2 but it appears on the whole to be a simple1 joyous1 irresponsible kind of existence1 much such as a party of happy children might lead among exceptionally favourable physical surroundings4 ,though tricky and mischievous1 they are rarely malicious unless provoked by some unwarrantable intrusion or annoyance2 but as a body they also partake to some extent of the universal feeling of distrust for man1 and they generally seem inclined to resent somewhat the first appearance of a neophyte on the astral plane1 so that he usually makes their acquaintance under some unpleasant or terrifying form4 ,if1 however1 he declines to be frightened by any of their freaks1 they soon accept him as a necessary evil and take no further notice of him1 while some among them may even after a time become friendly and manifest pleasure on meeting him4 ,some among the many subdivisions of this class are much less childlike and more dignified than those we have been describing1 and it is from these sections that the entities who have sometimes been reverenced under the name of wood-gods1 or local village-gods1 have been drawn4 ,such entities would be quite sensible of the flattery involved in the reverence shown to them1 would enjoy it1 and would no doubt be quite ready to do any small service they could in return4 7,the village-god is also often an artificial entity1 but that variety will be considered in its appropriate place47 ,the ,adept knows how to make use of the services of the nature-spirits when he requires them1 but the ordinary magician can obtain their assistance only by processes either of invocation or evocation--that is1 either by attracting their attention as a suppliant and making some kind of bargain with them1 or by endeavouring to set in motion influences which would compel their obedience4 ,both methods are extremely undesirable1 and the latter is also excessively dangerous1 as the operator would arouse a determined hostility which might prove fatal to him4 ,needless to say1 no one studying occultism under a qualified ,master would ever be permitted to attempt anything of the kind at all4 #d4 ,the ,devas4 ,the highest system of evolution connected with this earth1 so far as we know1 is that of the beings whom ,hindus call the ,devas1 and who have elsewhere been spoken of as angels1 sons of ,god1 etc4 ,they may1 in fact1 be regarded as a kingdom lying next above humanity1 in the same way as humanity in turn lies next above the animal kingdom1 but with this important difference1 that while for an animal there is no possibility of evolution through any kingdom but the human1 man1 when he attains a certain high level1 finds various paths of advancement opening before him1 of which this great ,deva evolution is only one4 ,in comparison with the sublime renunciation of the ,nirmnakya1 the acceptance of this line of evolution is sometimes spoken of in the books as yielding to the temptation to become a god1 but it must not be inferred from this expression that any shadow of blame attaches to the man who makes this choice4 ,the path he selects is not the shortest1 but it is nevertheless a very noble one1 and if his developed intuition impels him towards it1 it is probably the one best suited for his capacities4 ,we must never forget that in spiritual as in physical climbing it is not every one who can bear the strain of the steeper path2 there may be many for whom what seems the slower way is the only one possible1 and we should indeed be unworthy followers of the great ,teachers if we allowed our ignorance to betray us into the slightest thought of despisal towards those whose choice differs from our own4 ,however confident that ignorance of the difficulties of the future may allow us to feel now1 it is impossible for us to tell at this stage what we shall find ourselves able to do when1 after many lives of patient striving1 we have earned the right to choose our own future2 and indeed1 even those who yield to the temptation to become gods1 have a sufficiently glorious career before them1 as will presently be seen4 ,to avoid possible misunderstanding it may be mentioned par parenthse that there is another and entirely evil sense sometimes attached in the books to this phrase of becoming a god1 but in that form it certainly could never be any kind of temptation to the developed man1 and in any case it is altogether foreign to our present subject4 ,in oriental literature this word ,deva is frequently used vaguely to mean almost any kind of non-human entity1 so that it would often include ,,dhy,n ,,chohans on the one hand and nature-spirits and artificial elementals on the other4 ,here1 however1 its use will be restricted to the magnificent evolution which we are now considering4 ,though connected with this earth1 the ,devas are by no means confined to it1 for the whole of our present chain of seven worlds is as one world to them1 their evolution being through a grand system of seven chains4 ,their hosts have hitherto been recruited chiefly from other humanities in the solar system1 some lower and some higher than ours1 since but a very small portion of our own has as yet reached the level at which for us it is possible to join them2 but it seems certain that some of their very numerous classes have not passed in their upward progress through any humanity at all comparable to ours4 ,it is not possible for us at present to understand very much about them1 but it is clear that what may be described as the aim of their evolution is considerably higher than ours2 that is to say1 while the object of our human evolution is to raise the successful portion of humanity to a certain degree of occult development by the end of the seventh round1 the object of the ,deva evolution is to raise their foremost rank to a very much higher level in the corresponding period4 ,for them1 as for us1 a steeper but shorter path to still more sublime heights lies open to earnest endeavour2 but what those heights may be in their case we can only conjecture4 ,it is of course only the lower fringe of this august body that need be mentioned in connection with our subject of the astral plane4 ,their three lower great divisions 7beginning from the bottom7 are generally called ,kmadevas1 ,rpadevas1 and ,arpadevas respectively4 ,just as our ordinary body here--the lowest body possible for us--is the physical1 so the ordinary body of a ,kmadeva is the astral2 so that he stands in somewhat the same position as humanity will do when it reaches planet ,f1 and he1 living ordinarily in an astral body1 would go out of it to higher spheres in a ,myvirpa just as we might in an astral body1 while to enter the ,krana ,sharra would be to him 7when sufficiently developed7 no greater effort than to form a ,myvirpa is to us4 ,in the same way the ,rpadeva's ordinary body would be the ,myvirpa1 since his habitat is on the four lower or rpa levels of that spiritual state which we usually call ,devachan3 while the ,arpadeva belongs to the three higher levels of that plane1 and owns no nearer approach to a body than the ,krana ,sharra4 ,but for ,rpa and ,arpadevas to manifest on the astral plane is an occurrence at least as rare as it is for astral entities to materialize on this physical plane1 so we need do no more than mention them now4 ,as regards the lowest division--the ,kmadevas--it would be quite a mistake to think of all of them as immeasurably superior to ourselves1 since some have entered their ranks from a humanity in some respects less advanced than our own2 of course the general average among them is much higher than among us1 for all that is actively or wilfully evil has long been weeded out from their ranks2 but they differ widely in disposition1 and a really noble1 unselfish1 spiritually-minded man may well stand higher in the scale of evolution than some of them4 ,their attention can be attracted by certain magical evocations1 but the only human will which can dominate theirs is that of a certain high class of ,adepts4 ,as a rule they seem scarcely conscious of us on our physical plane1 but it does now and then happen that one of them becomes aware of some human difficulty which excites his pity1 and he perhaps renders some assistance1 just as any of us would try to help an animal that we saw in trouble4 ,but it is well understood among them that any interference in human affairs at the present stage is likely to do far more harm than good4 ,above the ,arpadevas there are four other great divisions1 and again1 above and beyond the ,deva kingdom altogether1 stand the great hosts of the ,,dhy,n ,,chohans1 but the consideration of such glorified ,beings would be out of place in an essay on the astral plane4 ,though we cannot claim them as belonging exactly to any of our classes1 this is perhaps the best place in which to mention those wonderful and important ,beings1 the four ,devarjahs4 ,in this name the word ,deva must not1 however1 be taken in the sense in which we have been using it1 for it is not over the ,deva kingdom but over the four elements of earth1 water1 air1 and fire1 with their indwelling nature-spirits and essences1 that these four ,kings rule4 ,what the evolution has been through which they rose to their present height of power and wisdom we cannot tell1 save only that it has certainly not passed through anything corresponding to our own humanity4 ,they are often spoken of as the ,regents of the ,earth1 or ,angels of the four cardinal points1 and the ,hindu books call them the ,chatur ,mahrjahs1 giving their names as ,dhritarashtra1 ,virudhaka1 ,virupaksha1 and ,vaishravana4 ,in the same books their hosts are called ,gandharvas1 ,kumbhandas1 ,ngas1 and ,yakshas respectively1 the points of the compass appropriated to each being in corresponding order east1 south1 west1 and north1 and their symbolical colours white1 blue1 red1 and gold4 ,they are mentioned in ,the ,secret ,doctrine as winged globes and fiery wheels2 and in the ,christian bible ,ezekiel makes a very remarkable attempt at a description of them in which very similar words are used4 ,references to them are to be found in the symbology of every religion1 and they have always been held in the highest reverence as the protectors of mankind4 ,it is they who are the agents of man's ,karma during his life on earth1 and they thus play an extremely important part in human destiny4 ,the ,,lipika the great karmic deities of the ,kosmos1 weigh the deeds of each personality when the final separation of its principles takes place in ,kmaloka and give as it were the mould of an etheric double exactly suitable to its ,karma for the man's next birth2 but it is the ,devarjahs who1 having command of the elements of which that etheric double must be composed1 arrange their proportion so as to fulfil accurately the intention of the ,,lipika4 ,it is they also who constantly watch all through life to counterbalance the changes perpetually being introduced into man's condition by his own free will and that of those around him1 so that no injustice may be done1 and ,karma may be accurately worked out1 if not in one way then in another4 ,a learned dissertation upon these marvellous beings will be found in ,the ,secret ,doctrine1 vol4 i41 pp4 #abb-abf4 ,they are able to take human material forms at will1 and several cases are recorded when they have done so4 ,all the higher nature-spirits and hosts of artificial elementals act as their agents in the stupendous work they carry out1 yet all the threads are in their hands1 and the whole responsibility rests upon them alone4 ,it is not often that they manifest upon the astral plane1 but when they do they are certainly the most remarkable of its non-human inhabitants4 ,a student of occultism will not need to be told that as there are seven great classes both of nature-spirits and elemental essence there must really be seven and not four ,devarjahs but outside the circle of initiation little is known and less may be said of the higher three4 ,,iii4 ,,artificial4 ,this1 the largest class of astral entities1 is also much the most important to man4 ,being entirely his own creation1 it is inter-related with him by the closest karmic bonds1 and its action upon him is direct and incessant4 ,it is an enormous inchoate mass of semi-intelligent entities1 differing among themselves as human thoughts differ1 and practically incapable of anything like classification or arrangement4 ,the only division which can be usefully made is that which distinguishes between the artificial elementals made by the majority of mankind unconsciously1 and those made by magicians with definite intent2 while we may relegate to a third class the very small number of artificially arranged entities which are not elementals at all4 #a4 ,elementals formed unconsciously4 ,it has already been explained that the elemental essence which surrounds us on every side is in all its numberless varieties singularly susceptible to the influence of human thought4 ,the action of the mere casual wandering thought upon it1 causing it to burst into a cloud of rapidly-moving1 evanescent forms1 has already been described2 we have now to note how it is affected when the human mind formulates a definite1 purposeful thought or wish4 ,the effect produced is of the most striking nature4 ,the thought seizes upon the plastic essence1 and moulds it instantly into a living being of appropriate form--a being which when once thus created is in no way under the control of its creator1 but lives out a life of its own1 the length of which is proportionate to the intensity of the thought or wish which called it into existence4 ,it lasts1 in fact1 just as long as the thought-force holds it together4 ,most people's thoughts are so fleeting and indecisive that the elementals created by them last only a few minutes or a few hours1 but an often-repeated thought or an earnest wish will form an elemental whose existence may extend to many days4 ,since the ordinary man's thoughts refer very largely to himself1 the elementals they form remain hovering about him1 and constantly tend to provoke a repetition of the idea they represent1 since such repetitions1 instead of forming new elementals1 would strengthen the old one1 and give it a fresh lease of life4 ,a man1 therefore1 who frequently dwells upon one wish often forms for himself an astral attendant which1 constantly fed by fresh thought1 may haunt him for years1 ever gaining more and more strength and influence over him2 and it will easily be seen that if the desire be an evil one the effect upon his moral nature may be of the most disastrous character4 ,still more pregnant of result for good or evil are a man's thoughts about other people1 for in that case they hover not about the thinker1 but about the object of the thought4 ,a kindly thought about any person or an earnest wish for his good will form and project towards him a friendly artificial elemental2 if the wish be a definite one1 as1 for example1 that he may recover from some sickness1 then the elemental will be a force ever hovering over him to promote his recovery1 or to ward off any influence that might tend to hinder it1 and in doing this it will display what appears like a very considerable amount of intelligence and adaptability1 though really it is simply a force acting along the line of least resistance--pressing steadily in one direction all the time1 and taking advantage of any channel that it can find1 just as the water in a cistern would in a moment find the one open pipe among a dozen closed ones1 and proceed to empty itself through that4 ,if the wish be merely an indefinite one for his general good1 the elemental essence in its wonderful plasticity will respond exactly to that less distinct idea also1 and the creature formed will expend its force in the direction of whatever action for the man's advantage comes most readily to hand4 ,of course in all cases the amount of such force it has to expend1 and the length of time that it will live to expend it1 depend entirely upon the strength of the original wish or thought which gave it birth2 though it must be remembered that it can be1 as it were1 fed and strengthened1 and its life-period protracted by other good wishes or friendly thoughts projected in the same direction4 ,furthermore1 it appears to be actuated1 like most other beings1 by an instinctive desire to prolong its life1 and thus reacts on its creator as a force constantly tending to provoke the renewal of the feeling which called it into existence4 ,it also influences in a similar manner others with whom it comes into contact1 though its rapport with them is naturally not so perfect4 ,all that has been said as to the effect of good wishes and friendly thoughts is also true in the opposite direction of evil wishes and angry thoughts2 and considering the amount of envy1 hatred1 malice and all uncharitableness that exists in the world1 it will be readily understood that among the artificial elementals many terrible creatures are to be seen4 ,a man whose thoughts or desires are spiteful1 brutal1 sensual1 avaricious1 moves through the world carrying with him everywhere a pestiferous atmosphere of his own1 peopled with the loathsome beings he has created to be his companions1 and thus is not only in sadly evil case himself1 but is a dangerous nuisance to his fellow-men1 subjecting all who have the misfortune to come into contact with him to the risk of moral contagion from the influence of the abominations with which he chooses to surround himself4 ,a feeling of envious or jealous hatred towards another person will send an evil elemental to hover over him and seek for a weak point through which it can operate2 and if the feeling be a persistent one1 such a creature may be continually nourished by it and thereby enabled to protract its undesirable activity for a very long period4 ,it can1 however1 produce no effect upon the person towards whom it is directed unless he has himself some tendency which it can foster--some fulcrum for its lever1 as it were2 from the aura of a man of pure thought and good life all such influences at once rebound1 finding nothing upon which they can fasten1 and in that case1 by a very curious law1 they react in all their force upon their original creator4 ,in him by the hypothesis they find a very congenial sphere of action1 and thus the ,karma of his evil wish works itself out at once by means of the very entity which he himself has called into existence4 ,it occasionally happens1 however1 that an artificial elemental of this description is for various reasons unable to expend its force either upon its object or its creator1 and in such cases it becomes a kind of wandering demon1 readily attracted by any person who indulges feelings similar to that which gave it birth1 and equally prepared either to stimulate such feelings in him for the sake of the strength it may gain from them1 or to pour out its store of evil influence upon him through any opening which he may offer it4 ,if it is sufficiently powerful to seize upon and inhabit some passing shell it frequently does so1 as the possession of such a temporary home enables it to husband its dreadful resources more carefully4 ,in this form it may manifest through a medium1 and by masquerading as some well-known friend may sometimes obtain an influence over people upon whom it would otherwise have little hold4 ,what has been written above will serve to enforce the statement already made as to the importance of maintaining a strict control over our thoughts4 ,many a well-meaning man1 who is scrupulously careful to do his duty towards his neighbour in word and deed1 is apt to consider that his thoughts at least are nobody's business but his own1 and so lets them run riot in various directions1 utterly unconscious of the swarms of baleful creatures he is launching upon the world4 ,to such a man an accurate comprehension of the effect of thought and desire in producing artificial elementals would come as a horrifying revelation2 on the other hand1 it would be the greatest consolation to many devoted and grateful souls who are oppressed with the feeling that they are unable to do anything in return for the kindness lavished upon them by their benefactors4 ,for friendly thoughts and earnest good wishes are as easily and as effectually formulated by the poorest as by the richest1 and it is within the power of almost any man1 if he will take the trouble1 to maintain what is practically a good angel always at the side of the brother or sister1 the friend or the child whom he loves best1 no matter in what part of the world he may be4 ,many a time a mother's loving thoughts and prayers have formed themselves into an angel guardian for the child1 and except in the almost impossible case that the child had in him no instinct responsive to a good influence1 have undoubtedly given him assistance and protection4 ,such guardians may often be seen by clairvoyant vision1 and there have even been cases where one of them has had sufficient strength to materialize and become for the moment visible to physical sight4 ,a curious fact which deserves mention here is that even after the passage of the mother into the devachanic condition the love which she pours out upon the children she thinks of as surrounding her will react upon the real children still living in this world1 and will often support the guardian elemental which she created while on earth1 until her dear ones themselves pass away in turn4 ,as ,madame ,blavatsky remarks1 her love will always be felt by the children in the flesh2 it will manifest in their dreams and often in various events1 in providential protections and escapes--for love is a strong shield1 and is not limited by space or time 7,key to ,theosophy1 p4 #aej74 ,all the stories of the intervention of guardian angels must not1 however1 be attributed to the action of artificial elementals1 for in many cases such angels have been the souls of either living or recently departed human beings1 and they have also occasionally1 though rarely1 been ,devas4 ,this power of an earnest desire1 especially if frequently repeated1 to create an active elemental which ever presses forcefully in the direction of its own fulfilment1 is the scientific explanation of what devout but unphilosophical people describe as answers to prayer4 ,there are occasions1 though at present these are rare1 when the ,karma of the person so praying is such as to permit of assistance being directly rendered to him by an ,adept or his pupil1 and there is also the still rarer possibility of the intervention of a ,deva or some friendly nature-spirit2 but in all these cases the easiest and most obvious form for such assistance to take would be the strengthening and the intelligent direction of the elemental already formed by the wish4 ,a very curious and instructive instance of the extreme persistence of these artificial elementals under favourable circumstances came under the notice of one of our investigators quite recently4 ,all readers of the literature of such subjects are aware that many of our ancient families are supposed to have associated with them a traditional death-warning--a phenomenon of one kind or another which foretells1 usually some days beforehand1 the approaching decease of the head of the house4 ,a picturesque example of this is the well-known story of the white bird of the ,oxenhams1 whose appearance has ever since the time of ,queen ,elizabeth been recognized as a sure presage of the death of some member of the family2 while another is the spectral coach which is reported to drive up to the door of a certain castle in the north when a similar calamity is impending4 ,a phenomenon of this order occurs in connection with the family of one of our members1 but it is of a much commoner and less striking type than either of the above1 consisting only of a solemn and impressive strain of dirge-like music1 which is heard apparently floating in the air three days before the death takes place4 ,our member1 having himself twice heard this mystic sound1 finding its warning in both cases quite accurate1 and knowing also that according to family tradition the same thing had been happening for several centuries1 set himself to seek by occult methods for the cause underlying so strange a phenomenon4 ,the result was unexpected but interesting4 ,it appeared that somewhere in the twelfth century the head of the family went to the crusades1 like many another valiant man1 and took with him to win his spurs in the sacred cause his youngest and favourite son1 a promising youth whose success in life was the dearest wish of his father's heart4 ,unhappily1 however1 the young man was killed in battle1 and the father was plunged into the depths of despair1 lamenting not only the loss of his son1 but still more the fact that he was cut off so suddenly in the full flush of careless and not altogether blameless youth4 ,so poignant1 indeed1 were the old man's feelings that he cast off his knightly armour and joined one of the great monastic orders1 vowing to devote all the remainder of his life to prayer1 first for the soul of his son1 and secondly that henceforward no descendant of his might ever again encounter what seemed to his simple and pious mind the terrible danger of meeting death unprepared4 ,day after day for many a year he poured all the energy of his soul into the channel of that one intense wish1 firmly believing that somehow or other the result he so earnestly desired would be brought about4 ,a student of occultism will have little difficulty in deciding what would be the effect of such a definite and long-continued stream of thought2 our knightly monk created an artificial elemental of immense power and resourcefulness for its own particular object1 and accumulated within it a store of force which would enable it to carry out his wishes for an indefinite period4 ,an elemental is a perfect storage-battery--one from which there is practically no leakage2 and when we remember what its original strength must have been1 and how comparatively rarely it would be called upon to put it forth1 we shall scarcely wonder that even now it exhibits unimpaired vitality1 and still warns the direct descendants of the old crusader of their approaching doom by repeating in their ears the strange wailing music which was the dirge of a young and valiant soldier seven hundred years ago in ,palestine4 #b4 ,elementals formed consciously4 ,since such results as have been described above have been achieved by the thought-force of men who were entirely in the dark as to what they were doing1 it will readily be imagined that a magician who understands the subject1 and can see exactly what effect he is producing1 may wield immense power along these lines4 ,as a matter of fact occultists of both the white and dark schools frequently use artificial elementals in their work1 and few tasks are beyond the powers of such creatures when scientifically prepared and directed with knowledge and skill2 for one who knows how to do so can maintain a connection with his elemental and guide it1 no matter at what distance it may be working1 so that it will practically act as though endowed with the full intelligence of its master4 ,very definite and very efficient guardian angels have sometimes been supplied in this way1 though it is probably very rarely that ,karma permits such a decided interference in a person's life as that would be4 ,in such a case1 however1 as that of a pupil of the ,adepts1 who might have in the course of his work for them to run the risk of attack from forces with which his unaided strength would be entirely insufficient to cope1 guardians of this description have been given1 and have fully proved their sleepless vigilance and their tremendous power4 ,by some of the more advanced processes of black magic1 also1 artificial elementals of great power may be called into existence1 and much evil has been worked in various ways by such entities4 ,but it is true of them1 as of the previous class1 that if they are aimed at a person whom by reason of his purity of character they are unable to influence they react with terrible force upon their creator2 so that the medival story of the magician being torn to pieces by the fiends he himself had raised is no mere fable1 but may well have an awful foundation in fact4 ,such creatures occasionally1 for various reasons1 escape from the control of those who are trying to make use of them1 and become wandering and aimless demons1 as do some of those mentioned under the previous heading under similar circumstances2 but those that we are considering1 having much more intelligence and power1 and a much longer existence1 are proportionately more dangerous4 ,they invariably seek for means of prolonging their life either by feeding like vampires upon the vitality of human beings1 or by influencing them to make offerings to them2 and among simple half-savage tribes they have frequently succeeded by judicious management in getting themselves recognized as village or family gods4 ,any deity which demands sacrifices involving the shedding of blood may always be set down as belonging to the lowest and most loathsome class of this order2 other less objectionable types are sometimes content with offerings of rice and cooked food of various kinds4 ,there are parts of ,india where both these varieties may be found flourishing even at the present day1 and in ,africa they are probably comparatively numerous4 ,by means of whatever nourishment they can obtain from the offerings1 and still more by the vitality they draw from their devotees1 they may continue to prolong their existence for many years1 or even centuries1 retaining sufficient strength to perform occasional phenomena of a mild type in order to stimulate the faith and zeal of their followers1 and invariably making themselves unpleasant in some way or other if the accustomed sacrifices are neglected4 ,for example1 it was asserted recently that in one ,indian village the inhabitants had found that whenever for any reason the local deity did not get his or her regular meals1 spontaneous fires began to break out with alarming frequency among the cottages1 sometimes three or four simultaneously1 in cases where they declared it was impossible to suspect human agency2 and other stories of a more or less similar nature will no doubt recur to the memory of any reader who knows something of the out-of-the-way corners of that most wonderful of all countries4 ,the art of manufacturing artificial elementals of extreme virulence and power seems to have been one of the specialities of the magicians of ,atlantis--the lords of the dark face4 ,one example of their capabilities in this line is given in ,the ,secret ,doctrine 7vol4 ii41 p4 #dbg71 where we read of the wonderful speaking animals who had to be quieted by an offering of blood1 lest they should awaken their masters and warn them of the impending destruction4 ,but apart from these strange beasts they created other artificial entities of power and energy so tremendous1 that it is darkly hinted that some of them have kept themselves in existence even to this day1 though it is more than eleven thousand years since the cataclysm which overwhelmed their original masters4 ,the terrible ,indian goddess whose devotees were impelled to commit in her name the awful crimes of ,thuggee--the ghastly ,kl1 worshipped even to this day with rites too abominable to be described--might well be a relic of a system which had to be swept away even at the cost of the submergence of a continent1 and the loss of sixty-five million human lives4 #c4 ,human ,artificials4 ,we have now to consider a class of entities which1 though it contains but very few individuals1 has acquired from its intimate connection with one of the great movements of modern times an importance entirely out of proportion to its numbers4 ,it seems doubtful whether it should appear under the first or third of our main divisions2 but1 though certainly human1 it is so far removed from the course of ordinary evolution1 so entirely the product of a will outside of its own1 that it perhaps falls most naturally into place among the artificial beings4 ,the easiest way of describing it will be to commence with its history1 and to do that we must once more look back to the great ,atlantean race4 ,in thinking of the ,adepts and schools of occultism of that remarkable people our minds instinctively revert to the evil practices of which we hear so much in connection with their latter days2 but we must not forget that before that age of selfishness and degradation the mighty civilization of ,atlantis had brought forth much that was noble and worthy of admiration1 and that among its leaders were some who now stand upon the loftiest pinnacles as yet attained by man4 ,among the lodges for occult study preliminary to initiation formed by the ,adepts of the good ,law was one in a certain part of ,america which was then tributary to one of the great ,atlantean monarchs--the ,divine ,rulers of the ,golden ,gate2 and though it has passed through many and strange vicissitudes1 though it has had to move its headquarters from country to country as each in turn was invaded by the jarring elements of a later civilization1 that lodge still exists even at the present day1 observing still the same old-world ritual even teaching as a sacred and hidden language the same ,atlantean tongue which was used at its foundation so many thousands of years ago4 ,it still remains what it was from the first--a lodge of occultists of pure and philanthropic aims1 which can lead those students whom it finds worthy no inconsiderable distance on the road to knowledge1 and confers such psychic powers as are in its gift only after the most searching tests as to the fitness of the candidate4 ,its teachers do not stand upon the ,adept level1 yet hundreds have learnt through it how to set their feet upon the ,path which has led them to ,adeptship in later lives2 and though it is not in direct communication with the ,brotherhood of the ,himalayas1 there are some among the latter who have themselves been connected with it in former incarnations1 and therefore retain a more than ordinarily friendly interest in its proceedings4 ,the chiefs of this lodge1 though they have always kept themselves and their society strictly in the background1 have nevertheless done what they could from time to time to assist the progress of truth in the world1 and some half-century ago1 in despair at the rampant materialism which seemed to be stifling all spirituality in ,europe and ,america1 they determined to make an attempt to combat it by somewhat novel methods--in point of fact to offer opportunities by which any reasonable man could acquire absolute proof of that life apart from the physical body which it was the tendency of science to deny4 ,the phenomena exhibited were not in themselves absolutely new1 since in some form or other we may hear of them all through history2 but their definite organization--their production as it were to order--these were features distinctly new to the modern world4 ,the movement they thus set on foot gradually grew into the vast fabric of modern spiritualism1 and though it would perhaps be unfair to hold the originators of the scheme directly responsible for many of the results which have followed1 we must admit that they have achieved their purpose to the extent of converting vast numbers of people from a belief in nothing in particular to a firm faith in at any rate some kind of future life4 ,this is undoubtedly a magnificent result1 though1 in the opinion of many of those whose power and knowledge enable them to take a wider view of such matters than we can1 it has been attained at too great a cost1 since it seems to them that on the whole the harm done outweighs the good4 ,the method adopted was to take some ordinary person after death1 arouse him thoroughly upon the astral plane1 instruct him to a certain extent in the powers and possibilities belonging to it1 and then put him in charge of a spiritualistic circle4 ,he in his turn developed other departed personalities along the same line1 they all acted upon those who sat at their sances1 and developed them as mediums2 and so spiritualism grew and flourished4 ,no doubt living members of the original lodge occasionally manifested themselves in astral form at some of the circles--perhaps they may do so even now2 but in most cases they simply gave such direction and guidance as they considered necessary to the persons they had put in charge4 ,there is little doubt that the movement increased so much more rapidly than they had expected that it soon got quite beyond their control1 so that1 as has been said1 for many of the later developments they can only be held indirectly responsible4 ,of course the intensification of the astral-plane life in those persons who were thus put in charge of circles distinctly delayed their natural progress2 and though the idea had been that anything lost in this way would be fully atoned for by the good ,karma gained by helping to lead others to the truth1 it was soon found that it was impossible to make use of a spirit-guide for any length of time without doing him serious and permanent injury4 ,in some cases such guides were therefore withdrawn1 and others substituted for them2 in others it was considered for various reasons undesirable to make such a change1 and then a very remarkable expedient was adopted which gave rise to the curious class of creatures we have called human artificials4 ,the higher principles of the original guide were allowed to pass on their long delayed evolution into the devachanic condition1 but the shade he left behind him was taken possession of1 sustained1 and operated upon so that it might appear to its admiring circle practically just as before4 ,this seems at first to have been done by members of the lodge themselves1 but apparently that arrangement was found irksome or unsuitable1 or perhaps was considered a waste of force1 and the same objection applied to the use for this purpose of an artificial elemental2 so it was eventually decided that the departed person who would have been appointed to succeed the late spirit-guide should still do so1 but should take possession of the latter's shade or shell1 and in fact simply wear his appearance4 ,it is said that some members of the lodge objected to this on the ground that though the purpose might be entirely good a certain amount of deception was involved2 but the general opinion seems to have been that as the shade really was the same1 and contained something at any rate of the original lower ,manas1 there was nothing that could be called deception in the matter4 ,this1 then1 was the genesis of the human artificial entity1 and it is understood that in some cases more than one such change has been made without arousing suspicion1 though on the other hand some investigators of spiritualism have remarked on the fact that after a considerable lapse of time certain differences suddenly became observable in the manner and disposition of a spirit4 ,it is needless to say that none of the ,adept ,brotherhood has ever approved of the formation of an artificial entity of this sort1 though they could not interfere with any one who thought it right to take such a course4 ,a weak point in the arrangement is that many others besides the original lodge may adopt this plan1 and there is nothing whatever to prevent black magicians from supplying communicating spirits--as1 indeed1 they have been known to do4 ,with this class we conclude our survey of the inhabitants of the astral plane4 ,with the reservations specially made some few pages back1 the catalogue may be taken as a fairly complete one2 but it must once more be emphasized that this treatise claims only to sketch the merest outline of a very vast subject1 the detailed elaboration of which would need a lifetime of study and hard work4 ,,phenomena4 ,though in the course of this paper various superphysical phenomena have been mentioned and to some extent explained1 it will perhaps before concluding be desirable so far to recapitulate as to give a list of those which are most frequently met with by the student of these subjects1 and to show by which of the agencies we have attempted to describe they are usually caused4 ,the resources of the astral world1 however1 are so varied that almost any phenomenon with which we are acquainted can be produced in several different ways1 so that it is only possible to lay down general rules in the matter4 ,apparitions or ghosts furnish a very good instance of the remark just made1 for in the loose manner in which the words are ordinarily used they may stand for almost any inhabitant of the astral plane4 ,of course psychically developed people are constantly seeing such things1 but for an ordinary person to see a ghost1 as the common expression runs1 one of two things must happen3 either that ghost must materialize1 or that person must have a temporary flash of psychic perception4 ,but for the fact that neither of these events is a common one1 ghosts would be met with in our streets as frequently as living people4 ,sidenote3 ,churchyard ,ghosts4 ,if the ghost is seen hovering about a grave it is probably the etheric shell of a newly-buried person1 though it may be the astral body of a living man haunting in sleep the tomb of a friend2 or again1 it may be a materialized thought-form--that is1 an artificial elemental created by the energy with which a man thinks of himself as present at that particular spot4 ,these varieties would be easily distinguishable one from the other by any one accustomed to use astral vision1 but an unpractised person would be quite likely to call them all vaguely ghosts4 ,sidenote3 ,apparitions of the ,dying4 ,apparitions at the time of death are by no means uncommon1 and are very often really visits paid by the astral form of the dying man just before what we elect to call the moment of dissolution2 though here again they are quite likely to be thought-forms called into being by his earnest wish to see some friend once more before he passes into an unfamiliar condition4 ,sidenote3 ,haunted ,localities4 ,apparitions at the spot where some crime was committed are usually thought-forms projected by the criminal1 who1 whether living or dead1 but most especially when dead1 is perpetually thinking over again and again the circumstances of his action2 and since these thoughts are naturally specially vivid in his mind on the anniversary of the original crime1 it is often only on that occasion that the artificial elementals he creates are strong enough to materialize themselves to ordinary sight--a fact which accounts for the periodicity of some manifestations of this class4 ,another point in reference to such phenomena is1 that wherever any tremendous mental disturbance has taken place1 wherever overwhelming terror1 pain1 sorrow1 hatred1 or indeed any kind of intense passion has been felt1 an impression of so very marked a character has been made upon the astral light that a person with even the faintest glimmer of psychic faculty cannot but be deeply impressed by it1 and it would need but a slight temporary increase of sensibility to enable him to visualize the entire scene--to see the event in all its detail apparently taking place before his eyes--and in such a case he would of course report that the place was haunted1 and that he had seen a ghost4 ,indeed1 people who are as yet unable to see psychically under any circumstances are frequently very unpleasantly impressed when visiting such places as we have mentioned2 there are many1 for example1 who feel uncomfortable when passing the site of ,tyburn ,tree1 or cannot stay in the ,chamber of ,horrors at ,madame ,tussaud's1 though they may not be in the least aware that their discomfort is due to the dreadful impressions in the astral light which surround places and objects redolent of horror and crime1 and to the presence of the loathsome astral entities which always swarm about such centres4 ,sidenote3 ,family ,ghosts4 ,the family ghost1 whom we generally find in the stock stories of the supernatural as an appanage of the feudal castle1 may be either a thought-form or an unusually vivid impression in the astral light1 or again he may really be an earth-bound ancestor still haunting the scenes in which his thoughts and hopes centred during life4 ,sidenote3 ,bell-ringing1 stone-throwing1 etc4 ,another class of hauntings which take the form of bell-ringing1 stone-throwing1 or the breaking of crockery1 has already been referred to1 and is almost invariably the work of elemental forces1 either set blindly in motion by the clumsy efforts of an ignorant person trying to attract the attention of his surviving friends1 or intentionally employed by some childishly mischievous nature-spirit4 ,sidenote3 ,fairies4 ,the nature-spirits are also responsible for whatever of truth there may be in all the strange fairy stories which are so common in certain parts of the country4 ,sometimes a temporary accession of clairvoyance1 which is by no means uncommon among the inhabitants of lonely mountainous regions1 enables some belated wayfarer to watch their joyous gambols2 sometimes strange tricks are played upon some terrified victim1 and a glamour is cast over him1 making him1 for example1 see houses and people where he knows none really exist4 ,and this is frequently no mere momentary delusion1 for a man will sometimes go through quite a long series of imaginary but most striking adventures1 and then suddenly find that all his brilliant surroundings have vanished in a moment1 leaving him standing in some lonely valley or on some wind-swept plain4 ,on the other hand1 it is by no means safe to accept as founded on fact all the popular legends on the subject1 for the grossest superstition is often mingled with the theories of the peasantry about these beings1 as was shown by a recent terrible murder case in ,ireland4 ,to the same entities must be attributed a large portion of what are called physical phenomena at spiritualistic sances--indeed1 many a sance has been given entirely by these mischievous creatures2 and such a performance might easily include many very striking items1 such as the answering of questions and delivery of pretended messages by raps or tilts1 the exhibition of spirit lights1 the apport of objects from a distance1 the reading of thoughts which were in the mind of any person present1 the precipitation of writings or drawings1 and even materializations4 ,in fact1 the nature-spirits alone1 if any of them happened to be disposed to take the trouble1 could give a sance equal to the most wonderful of which we read2 for though there may be certain phenomena which they would not find it easy to reproduce1 their marvellous power of glamour would enable them without difficulty to persuade the entire circle that these phenomena also had duly occurred1 unless1 indeed1 there were present a trained observer who understood their arts and knew how to defeat them4 ,as a general rule1 whenever silly tricks or practical jokes are played at a sance1 we may infer the presence either of low-class nature-spirits1 or of human beings who were of a sufficiently degraded type to find pleasure in such idiotic performances during life4 ,sidenote3 ,communicating ,entities4 ,as to the entities who may communicate at a sance1 or may obsess and speak through an entranced medium1 their name is simply legion2 there is hardly a single class among all the varied inhabitants of the astral plane from whose ranks they may not be drawn1 though after the explanations given it will be readily understood that the chances are very much against their coming from a high one4 ,a manifesting spirit may be exactly what it professes to be1 but on the whole the probabilities are that it is nothing of the kind2 and for the ordinary sitter there is absolutely no means of distinguishing the true from the false1 since the extent to which a being having all the resources of the astral plane at his command can delude a person on the physical plane is so great that no reliance can be placed even on what seems the most convincing proof4 ,if something manifests which announces itself as a man's long-lost brother1 he can have no certainty that its claim is a just one2 if it tells him of some fact known only to that brother and to himself1 he remains unconvinced1 for he knows that it might easily have read the information from his own mind1 or from his surroundings in the astral light2 even if it goes still further and tells him something connected with his brother1 of which he himself is unaware1 but which he afterwards verifies1 he still realizes that even this may have been read from the astral record1 or that what he sees before him may be only the shade of his brother1 and so possess his memory without in any way being himself4 ,it is not for one moment denied that important communications have sometimes been made at sances by entities who in such cases have been precisely what they said they were2 all that is claimed is that it is quite impossible for the ordinary person who visits a sance ever to be certain that he is not being cruelly deceived in one or other of half a dozen different ways4 ,there have been a few cases in which members of the lodge of occultists referred to above as originating the spiritualistic movement have themselves given1 through a medium1 a series of valuable teachings on deeply interesting subjects1 but this has invariably been at strictly private family sances1 not at public performances for which money has been paid4 ,sidenote3 ,astral ,resources4 ,to understand the methods by which a large class of physical phenomena are produced1 it is necessary to have some comprehension of the various resources mentioned above1 which a person functioning on the astral plane finds at his command2 and this is a branch of the subject which it is by no means easy to make clear1 especially as it is hedged about with certain obviously necessary restrictions4 ,it may perhaps help us if we remember that the astral plane may be regarded as in many ways only an extension of the physical1 and the idea that matter may assume the etheric state 7in which1 though intangible to us1 it is yet purely physical7 may serve to show us how the one melts into the other4 ,in fact1 in the ,hindu conception of ,jagrat1 or the waking state1 the physical and astral planes are combined1 its seven subdivisions corresponding to the four conditions of physical matter1 and the three broad divisions of astral matter explained above4 ,with this thought in our minds it is easy to move a step further1 and grasp the idea that astral vision1 or rather astral perception1 may from one point of view be defined as the capability of receiving an enormously increased number of different sets of vibrations4 ,in our physical bodies one small set of slow vibrations is perceptible to us as sound2 another small set of much more rapid vibrations affects us as light2 and again another set as electric action3 but there are immense numbers of intermediate vibrations which produce no result which our physical senses can cognize at all4 ,now it will readily be seen that if all1 or even some only1 of these intermediates1 with all the complications producible by differences of wave-length1 are perceptible on the astral plane1 our comprehension of nature might be very greatly increased on that level1 and we might be able to acquire much information which is now hidden from us4 ,sidenote3 ,clairvoyance4 ,sidenote3 ,prevision and ,second-sight4 ,it is admitted that some of these pass through solid matter with perfect ease1 so that this enables us to account scientifically for some of the peculiarities of astral vision1 though those minds to which the theory of the fourth dimension commends itself find in it a neater and more complete explanation4 ,it is clear that the mere possession of this astral vision by a being would at once account for his capability to produce many results that seem very wonderful to us--such1 for example1 as the reading of a passage from a closed book2 and when we remember1 furthermore1 that this faculty includes the power of thought-reading to the fullest extent1 and also1 when combined with the knowledge of the projection of currents in the astral light1 that of observing a desired object in almost any part of the world1 we see that a good many of the phenomena of clairvoyance are explicable even without rising above this level4 ,of course true1 trained1 and absolutely reliable clairvoyance calls into operation an entirely different set of faculties1 but as these belong to a higher plane than the astral1 they form no part of our present subject4 ,the faculty of accurate prevision1 again1 appertains altogether to that higher plane1 yet flashes or reflections of it frequently show themselves to purely astral sight1 more especially among simple-minded people who live under suitable conditions--what is called second-sight among the ,highlanders of ,scotland being a well-known example4 ,another fact which must not be forgotten is that any intelligent inhabitant of the astral plane is not only able to perceive these etheric vibrations1 but can also--if he has learnt how it is done--adapt them to his own ends or himself set them in motion4 ,sidenote3 ,astral ,forces4 ,sidenote3 ,etheric ,currents4 ,sidenote3 ,etheric ,pressure4 ,sidenote3 ,latent ,energy4 ,sidenote3 ,sympathetic ,vibration4 ,it will be readily understood that superphysical forces and the methods of managing them are not subjects about which much can be written for publication at present1 though there is reason to suppose that it may not be very long before at any rate some applications of one or two of them come to be known to the world at large3 but it may perhaps be possible1 without transgressing the limits of the permissible1 to give so much of an idea of them as shall be sufficient to show in outline how certain phenomena are performed4 ,all who have much experience of spiritualistic sances at which physical results are produced must at one time or another have seen evidence of the employment of practically resistless force in1 for example1 the instantaneous movement of enormous weights1 and so on2 and if of a scientific turn of mind1 they may perhaps have wondered whence this force was obtained1 and what was the leverage employed4 ,as usual in connection with astral phenomena1 there are several ways in which such work may have been done1 but it will be enough for the moment to hint at four4 ,first1 there are great etheric currents constantly sweeping over the surface of the earth from pole to pole in volume which makes their power as irresistible as that of the rising tide1 and there are methods by which this stupendous force may be safely utilized1 though unskilful attempts to control it would be fraught with frightful danger4 ,secondly1 there is what can best be described as an etheric pressure1 somewhat corresponding to1 though immensely greater than1 the atmospheric pressure4 ,in ordinary life we are as little conscious of one of these pressures as we are of the other1 but nevertheless they both exist1 and if science were able to exhaust the ether from a given space1 as it can exhaust the air1 the one could be proved as readily as the other4 ,the difficulty of doing that lies in the fact that matter in the etheric condition freely inter-penetrates matter in all states below it1 so that there is as yet no means within the knowledge of our physicists by which any given body of ether can be isolated from the rest4 ,practical ,occultism1 however1 teaches how this can be done1 and thus the tremendous force of etheric pressure can be brought into play4 ,thirdly1 there is a vast store of potential energy which has become dormant in matter during the involution of the subtle into the gross1 and by changing the condition of the matter some of this may be liberated and utilized1 somewhat as latent energy in the form of heat may be liberated by a change in the condition of visible matter4 ,fourthly1 many striking results1 both great and small1 may be produced by an extension of a principle which may be described as that of sympathetic vibration4 ,illustrations taken from the physical plane seem generally to misrepresent rather than elucidate astral phenomena1 because they can never be more than partially applicable2 but the recollection of two simple facts of ordinary life may help to make this important branch of our subject clearer1 if we are careful not to push the analogy further than it will hold good4 ,it is well known that if one of the wires of a harp be made to vibrate vigorously1 its movement will call forth sympathetic vibrations in the corresponding strings of any number of harps placed round it1 if they are tuned to exactly the same pitch4 ,it is also well known that when a large body of soldiers crosses a suspension bridge it is necessary for them to break step1 since the perfect regularity of their ordinary march would set up a vibration in the bridge which would be intensified by every step they took1 until the point of resistance of the iron was passed1 when the whole structure would fly to pieces4 ,with these two analogies in our minds 7never forgetting that they are only partial ones7 it may seem more comprehensible that one who knows exactly at what rate to start his vibrations--knows1 so to speak1 the keynote of the class of matter he wishes to affect--should be able by sounding that keynote to call forth an immense number of sympathetic vibrations4 ,when this is done on the physical plane no additional energy is developed2 but on the astral plane there is this difference1 that the matter with which we are dealing is far less inert1 and so when called into action by these sympathetic vibrations it adds its own living force to the original impulse1 which may thus be multiplied many-fold2 and then by further rhythmic repetition of the original impulse1 as in the case of the soldiers marching over the bridge1 the vibrations may be so intensified that the result is out of all apparent proportion to the cause4 ,indeed1 it may be said that there is scarcely any limit to the conceivable achievements of this force in the hands of a great ,adept ,who fully comprehends its possibilities2 for the very building of the ,universe itself was but the result of the vibrations set up by the ,spoken ,word4 ,sidenote3 ,mantras4 ,the class of mantras or spells which produce their result not by controlling some elemental1 but merely by the repetition of certain sounds1 also depend for their efficacy upon this action of sympathetic vibration4 ,sidenote3 ,disintegration4 ,the phenomenon of disintegration also may be brought about by the action of extremely rapid vibrations1 which overcome the cohesion of the molecules of the object operated upon4 ,a still higher rate of vibrations of a somewhat different type will separate these molecules into their constituent atoms4 ,a body reduced by these means to the etheric condition can be moved by an astral current from one place to another with very great rapidity2 and the moment that the force which has been exerted to put it into that condition is withdrawn it will be forced by the etheric pressure to resume its original form4 ,it is in this way that objects are sometimes brought almost instantaneously from great distances at spiritualistic sances1 and it is obvious that when disintegrated they could be passed with perfect ease through any solid substance1 such1 for example1 as the wall of a house or the side of a locked box1 so that what is commonly called the passage of matter through matter is seen1 when properly understood1 to be as simple as the passage of water through a sieve1 or of a gas through a liquid in some chemical experiment4 ,sidenote3 ,materialization4 ,since it is possible by an alteration of vibrations to change matter from the solid to the etheric condition1 it will be comprehended that it is also possible to reverse the process and to bring etheric matter into the solid state4 ,as the one process explains the phenomenon of disintegration1 so does the other that of materialization2 and just as in the former case a continued effort of will is necessary to prevent the object from resuming its original form1 so in exactly the same way in the latter phenomenon a continued effort is necessary to prevent the materialized matter from relapsing into the etheric condition4 ,in the materializations seen at an ordinary sance1 such matter as may be required is borrowed as far as possible from the medium's etheric double--an operation which is prejudicial to his health1 and also undesirable in various other ways2 and this explains the fact that the materialized form is usually strictly confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the medium1 and is subject to an attraction which is constantly drawing it back to the body from which it came1 so that if kept away from the medium too long the figure collapses1 and the matter which composed it1 returning to the etheric condition1 rushes back instantly to its source4 ,sidenote3 ,why ,darkness is required4 ,sidenote3 ,spirit ,photographs4 ,the reason why the beings directing a sance find it easier to operate in darkness or in very subdued light will now be manifest1 since their power would usually be insufficient to hold together a materialized form or even a spirit hand for more than a very few seconds amidst the intense vibrations set up by brilliant light4 ,the habitus of sances will no doubt have noticed that materializations are of three kinds3--,first1 those which are tangible but not visible2 second1 those which are visible but not tangible2 and third1 those which are both visible and tangible4 ,to the first kind1 which is much the most common1 belong the invisible spirit hands which so frequently stroke the faces of the sitters or carry small objects about the room1 and the vocal organs from which the direct voice proceeds4 ,in this case1 an order of matter is being used which can neither reflect nor obstruct light1 but which is capable under certain conditions of setting up vibrations in the atmosphere which affect us as sound4 ,a variation of this class is that kind of partial materialization which1 though incapable of reflecting any light that we can see1 is yet able to affect some of the ultra-violet rays1 and can therefore make a more or less definite impression upon the camera1 and so provide us with what are known as spirit photographs4 ,when there is not sufficient power available to produce a perfect materialization we sometimes get the vaporous-looking form which constitutes our second class1 and in such a case the spirits usually warn their sitters that the forms which appear must not be touched4 ,in the rarer case of a full materialization there is sufficient power to hold together1 at least for a few moments1 a form which can be both seen and touched4 ,when an ,adept or pupil finds it necessary for any purpose to materialize his ,myvirpa or his astral body1 he does not draw upon either his own etheric double or any one else's1 since he has been taught how to extract the matter which he requires directly from the astral light or even from the ksha4 ,sidenote3 ,reduplication4 ,another phenomenon closely connected with this part of the subject is that of reduplication1 which is produced by simply forming in the astral light a perfect mental image of the object to be copied1 and then gathering about that mould the necessary physical matter4 ,of course for this purpose it is necessary that every particle1 interior as well as exterior1 of the object to be duplicated should be held accurately in view simultaneously1 and consequently the phenomenon is one which requires considerable power of concentration to perform4 ,persons unable to reduce the matter required directly from the astral light have sometimes borrowed it from the material of the original article1 which in this case would be correspondingly reduced in weight4 ,sidenote3 ,precipitation4 ,we read a good deal in ,theosophical literature about the precipitation of letters or pictures4 ,this result1 like everything else1 may be obtained in several ways4 ,an ,adept wishing to communicate with some one might place a sheet of paper before him1 form an image of the writing which he wished to appear upon it1 and draw from the astral light the matter wherewith to objectify that image2 or if he preferred to do so it would be equally easy for him to produce the same result upon a sheet of paper lying before his correspondent1 whatever might be the distance between them4 ,a third method which1 since it saves time1 is much more frequently adopted1 is to impress the whole substance of the letter on the mind of some pupil1 and leave him to do the mechanical work of precipitation4 ,that pupil would then take his sheet of paper1 and1 imagining he saw the letter written thereon in his ,master's hand1 would proceed to objectify the writing as before described4 ,if he found it difficult to perform simultaneously the two operations of drawing his material from the astral light and precipitating the writing on the paper1 he might have either ordinary ink or a small quantity of coloured powder on the table beside him1 which1 being already physical matter1 could be drawn upon more readily4 ,it is of course obvious that the possession of this power would be a very dangerous weapon in the hands of an unscrupulous person1 since it is just as easy to imitate one man's handwriting as another's1 and it would be impossible to detect by any ordinary means a forgery committed in this manner4 ,a pupil definitely connected with any ,master has always an infallible test by which he knows whether any message really emanates from that ,master or not1 but for others the proof of its origin must always lie solely in the contents of the letter and the spirit breathing through it1 as the handwriting1 however cleverly imitated1 is of absolutely no value as evidence4 ,as to speed1 a pupil new to the work of precipitation would probably be able to image only a few words at a time1 and would1 therefore1 get on hardly more rapidly than if he wrote his letter in the ordinary way1 but a more experienced individual who could visualize a whole page or perhaps the entire letter at once would get through his work with greater facility4 ,it is in this manner that quite long letters are sometimes produced in a few seconds at a sance4 ,when a picture has to be precipitated the method is precisely the same1 except that here it is absolutely necessary that the entire scene should he visualized at once1 and if many colours are required there is of course the additional complication of manufacturing them1 keeping them separate1 and reproducing accurately the exact tints of the scene to be represented4 ,evidently there is scope here for the exercise of the artistic faculty1 and it must not be supposed that every inhabitant of the astral plane could by this method produce an equally good picture2 a man who had been a great artist in life1 and had therefore learnt how to see and what to look for1 would certainly be very much more successful than the ordinary person if he attempted precipitation when on the astral plane after death4 ,sidenote3 ,slate-writing4 ,the slate-writing1 for the production of which under test conditions some of the greatest mediums have been so famous1 is sometimes produced by precipitation1 though more frequently the fragment of pencil enclosed between the slates is guided by a spirit hand1 of which only just the tiny points sufficient to grasp it are materialized4 ,sidenote3 ,levitation4 ,an occurrence which occasionally takes place at sances1 and more frequently among eastern ,ygs1 is what is called levitation--that is1 the floating of a human body in the air4 ,no doubt when this takes place in the case of a medium1 he is often simply upborne by spirit hands1 but there is another and more scientific method of accomplishing this feat which is always used in the ,east1 and occasionally here also4 ,occult science is acquainted with a means of neutralizing or even entirely reversing the attraction of gravity1 and it is obvious that by the judicious use of this power all the phenomena of levitation may be easily produced4 ,it was no doubt by a knowledge of this secret that some of the air-ships of ancient ,india and ,atlantis were raised from the earth and made light enough to be readily moved and directed2 and not improbably the same acquaintance with nature's finer forces greatly facilitated the labours of those who raised the enormous blocks of stone sometimes used in cyclopean architecture1 or in the building of the ,pyramids and ,stonehenge4 ,sidenote3 ,spirit ,lights4 ,with the knowledge of the forces of nature which the resources of the astral plane place at the command its inhabitants the production of what are called spirit lights is a very easy matter1 whether they be of the mildly phosphorescent or the dazzling electrical variety1 or those curious dancing globules of light into which a certain class of fire elementals so readily transform themselves4 ,since all light consists simply of vibrations of the ether1 it is obvious that any one who knows how to set up these vibrations can readily produce any kind of light that he wishes4 ,sidenote3 ,handling ,fire4 ,it is by the aid of the etheric elemental essence also that the remarkable feat of handling fire unharmed is generally performed1 though there are as usual other ways in which it can be done4 ,the thinnest layer of etheric substance can be so manipulated as to be absolutely impervious to heat1 and when the hand of a medium or sitter is covered with this he may pick up burning coal or red-hot iron with perfect safety4 ,sidenote3 ,transmutation4 ,most of the occurrences of the sance-room have now been referred to1 but there are one or two of the rarer phenomena of the outer world which must not be left quite without mention in our list4 ,the transmutation of metals is commonly supposed to be a mere dream of the medival alchemists1 and no doubt in most cases the description of the phenomenon was merely a symbol of the purification of the soul2 yet there seems to be some evidence that it was really accomplished by them on several occasions1 and there are petty magicians in the ,east who profess to do it under test conditions even now4 ,be that as it may1 it is evident that since the ultimate atom is one and the same in all substances1 and it is only the methods of its combination that differ1 any one who possessed the power of reducing a piece of metal to the atomic condition and of re-arranging its atoms in some other form would have no difficulty in effecting transmutation to any extent that he wished4 ,sidenote3 ,repercussion4 ,the principle of sympathetic vibration mentioned above also provides the explanation of that strange and little-known phenomenon called repercussion1 by means of which any injury done to1 or any mark made upon1 the astral body in the course of its wanderings will be reproduced in the physical body4 ,we find traces of this in some of the evidence given at trials for witchcraft in the middle ages1 in which it is not infrequently stated that some wound given to the witch when in the form of a dog or a wolf was found to have appeared in the corresponding part of her human body4 ,the same strange law has sometimes led to an entirely unjust accusation of fraud against a medium1 because1 for example1 some colouring matter rubbed upon the hand of a materialized spirit was afterwards found upon his hand--the explanation being that in that case1 as so often happens1 the spirit was simply the medium's astral body or perhaps even his etheric double1 forced by the guiding influences to take some form other than his own4 ,in fact the astral and physical bodies are so intimately connected that it is impossible to touch the keynote of one without immediately setting up exactly corresponding vibrations in the other4 ,,conclusion4 ,it is hoped that any reader who has been sufficiently interested to follow this treatise thus far1 may by this time have a general idea of the astral plane and its possibilities1 such as will enable him to understand and fit into their proper places in its scheme any facts in connection with it which he may pick up in his reading4 ,though only the roughest sketch has been given of a very great subject1 enough has perhaps been said to show the extreme importance of astral perception in the study of biology1 physics1 chemistry1 astronomy1 medicine and history1 and the great impulse which might be given by its development to all these sciences4 ,yet its attainment should never be regarded as an end in itself1 since any means adopted with that object in view would inevitably lead to what is called in the ,east the laukika method of development--a system by which certain psychic powers are indeed acquired1 but only for the present personality2 and since their acquisition is surrounded by no safeguards1 the student is extremely likely to misuse them4 ,to this class belong all systems which involve the use of drugs1 invocation of elementals1 or the practices of ,hatha ,yoga4 ,the other method1 which is called the lokottara1 consists of ,raj ,yoga or spiritual progress1 and though it may be somewhat slower than the other1 whatever is acquired along this line is gained for the permanent individuality1 and never lost again1 while the guiding care of a ,master ensures perfect safety from misuse of power as long as his orders are scrupulously obeyed4 ,the opening of astral vision must be regarded then only as a stage in the development of something infinitely nobler--merely as a step1 and a very small step1 on that great ,upward ,path which leads men to the sublime heights of ,adeptship1 and beyond even that through glorious vistas of wisdom and power such as our finite minds cannot now conceive4 ,yet let no one think it an unmixed blessing to have the wider sight of the astral plane1 for upon one in whom that vision is opened the sorrow and misery1 the evil and the greed of the world press as an ever-present burden1 until he often feels inclined to echo the passionate adjuration of ,schiller3 ,why hast thou cast me thus into the town of the ever-blind1 to proclaim thine oracle with the opened sense8 ,take back this sad clear-sightedness2 take from mine eyes this cruel light6 ,give me back my blindness--the happy darkness of my senses2 take back thy dreadful gift6 ,this feeling is perhaps not an unnatural one in the earlier stages of the ,path1 yet higher sight and deeper knowledge soon bring to the student the perfect certainty that all things are working together for the eventual good of all--that ,hour after hour1 like an opening flower1 ,shall truth after truth expand2 ,for the sun may pale1 and the stars may fail1 ,but the ,,law of ,,good shall stand4 ,its splendour glows and its influence grows ,as ,nature's slow work appears1 ,from the zoophyte small to the ,,lords of all1 ,through kalpas and crores of years4 99 99 99 99 99