THE 7 RISHIS

VISION
5-30-03

by Dee Finney

AULD LANG SYNE

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days o' lang syne?

Chorus

For auld lang syne, my Dear
For auld lang syne
We'll tak a cup o kindness yet
For auld lang syne

(LEST WE FORGET)

Rishi means the one who knows - the word is derived from the Sanskrit root RS which is in the sense of knowing.
The knowledge or Vidyaa of the Rishis is called Arsha Vidyaa.

It is the Rishis who mark the time and the periods of Kali-yuga, the age of sin and sorrow. See in the Bhagavata Purana XII., II, 2, 6, 32, and Vishnu Purana. Says the latter: "When the splendour of Vishnu (Krishna) departed for heaven, then did the Kali Yug, during which men delight in sin, invade the world. . . . . When the Seven Rishis were in Magha, the Kali Yug, comprising 1,200 (divine) years (432,000 years of mortals), began; and when from Magha, they shall reach Purvashadha, then will this Kali age attain its growth, under Nanda and his successors."* This is the revolution of the Rishis "when the two first stars of the Seven Rishis (of the Great Bear) rise in the heavens, and some lunar asterism is seen at night, at an equal distance between them, then the Seven Rishis continue stationary in that conjunction for a hundred years," a hater of Nanda makes Parasara say. According to Bentley, it is in order to show the quantity of the precession of the equinoxes that this notion originated among the astronomers. It was done "by assuming an imaginary line, or great circle, passing through the poles of the ecliptic and the beginning of the fixed Magha, which circle was supposed to cut some of the stars in the Great Bear. . . . The seven stars being called the Rishis, the Circle so assumed was called the line of the Rishis . . . . and being invariably fixed to the beginning of the lunar asterism Magha, the precession would be noted by stating the degree . . . of any moveable lunar mansion cut by that line or circle as an index"

The saptha Rishi’s are the seven major stars of Ursa Major. Based on Varaaha Mihira’s verses, we can easily identify starting from east, that ‘Marichi’ is Arab Alkaid, ‘Vasishta’ is Mizar, ‘Angirasa’ is Alioth, ‘Athri’ is Megrez, ‘Pulasthya’ is Phecda, ‘Pulaaha’ is ’Merak and ‘Krathu’ is DuBhe. The companion star for Mizar is Alcor. Hence ‘Arundhathi’ stands for Alcor.
In the figure 1, Vasishta and Arudhathi (Mizar-Alcor) can not be seen separately.

Varaaha Mihira in his Brihat-Samhitha, dedicates 13th chapter to Saptha Rishis.
The relevant verses provide following descriptions roughly translated as;

We have on Vriddha Garga’s authority that in the Northern Sky, the Saptha Rishi’s revolve around Dhruva Nayaka like a necklace.

From east to west the saptha muni's Marichi, Vasishtha, Angirasa, Athri, Pulasthya, Pulaaha and Krathu sit.
Chaste Arundhathi accompanies sage Vasishtha.

These descriptions provide us with adequate information about the explicit astronomical identity of the nine stars,
called as Dhruva, Arundhathi & Saptha Rishis’s.

The Seven Sages are ‘Marichi, vasishtha, angirasa, athri, pulasthya, pulaaha, and kruthu’. Varaaha Mihira notes that Saptha Rishi’s circles around Dhruva naayaka (Ref 1), which clearly stands for Ursa Major & Polaris. He provides us the proper names of seven dominant stars, and attributes the origin of these names to sage ‘Vruddha Garga’. In all probability ‘Vriddha garga’ is same as ‘Gargya Rishi’ of Athrvana veda 19 kaanda 6-7 sooktha whose time was approximately 2400 BC.(Ref 2). Figure 1 and 2 illustrate a sky view of Ursa Major(Ref 3) from a modern astronomical software. This constellation in Northern Hemisphere appears to rotate around the pole star Polaris. ‘Dhruva’ clearly is Polaris.

The seven Rishis

According to the epic Mahabharata, composed in about 500 B.C., the stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages called Rishis. These seven sages are said to be those who made the Sun rise and shine. They were happily married to seven sisters named Krttika. They originally all lived together in the northern sky.

But one day, the god of fire, Agni, emerged from the flames of an offering performed by the seven Rishis and fell in love with the seven Krttika. Trying to forget his hopeless love for the Krttika, Agni wandered in the forest where he met Svaha. To conquer Agni's love, Svaha disguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. Svaha could mimic only six of the Krttika because the seventh sister Arundhati was too devoted to her husband to be imitated.

After a while, Svaha gave birth to a child that she named Skanda. With his birth, rumors began to spread that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother. Six of the Rishis divorced their wives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with her husband as the star Alcor. The other six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades.

7 Sisters of the Pleiades

The Bears and the Shepherd

Sirius - The Dog Star

The Coming of the New Age - Aquarius

The seven Krttika

In the Hindu mythology, it is said that the stars of the Big Dipper were the seven sages called Rishis. They were happily married to seven sisters named Krttika. They originally lived all together in the northern sky. But one day, the god of fire, Agni, fell in love with the seven Krttika. Trying to forget his love, Agni wandered in the forest where he met Svaha, the star Zeta Tauri.

Svaha was at once infatuated with Agni. To conquer Agni's love, Svaha disguised herself as six of the seven Krttika. Agni who believed he had conquered the attractive wives of the seven Rishis.

Svaha had a child. Rumors began to spread that six of the Rishis' wives were his mother. The seven Rishis divorced their wives. Arundhati was the only one that remained with her husband as the star Alcor. The other six Krttika went away to become the Pleiades.

The Pleiades

According to the ancient Greeks, the Pleiades were seven sisters. In Greek, the word "pleiades" means "doves." Their parents were Pleione and Atlas who was condemned by Zeus to support the Heavens on his shoulders. One day, the Pleiades were traveling with their mother and met the hunter Orion.

Orion fell in love with Pleione and her charming daughters. He spent a great deal of time chasing after them, trying to win their affection. After several years, Zeus intervened and transformed the women into doves to help them escape. They flew into the sky to become the cluster of stars that today has their name.

However, only six stars are visible in the sky without a telescope. The ancient Greeks explained the absence of a seventh star with several different stories. According to one story, one of the Pleiades, Merope deserted her sisters because she was ashamed of having a mortal husband, who also happened to be a criminal.

The Pleiades, as well as the Hyades, are part of the constellation Taurus the Bull.

RISHIS

The Hindu seers, of whom many were incarnations of Vishnu. The most famous were Gotama, Bharadjawa, Viswamitra, Jamad-agni, Vasishtha, Kasyapa and Atri, as well as Bhrigu and Daksha.

GOTAMA

One of the Rishis, to whom was ascribed the authorship of a book on law

BHARADWAJA

One of the Hindu Rishis, he lived through three lives, at the end of which he 'became immortal and ascended to the heavenly world, to union with the sun'.

VISWAMITRA

One of the great Rishis of Hindu legend, he once ordered the river Saraswati to bring to him Vasishtha for execution, but the river defied him, instead carrying his prey far away. In rage, Viswamitra turned the river to blood.

JAMAD-AGNI

One of the Hindu Rishis, Jamad-Agni perceived Renuka, his wife, as fallen from perfection, after her envious desires had been brought to the fore by her witnessing of a loving couple bathing, and ordered his five sons to kill her. Four refused, and were cursed to idiocy by the enraged father, but the fifth, Parasurama, obeyed, striking off his mother's head. This act of obedience calmed Jamad-Agni, and he granted his son's wish that his brothers be restored to sanity, and his mother restored to life. The Rishi was killed by one of the Kartavirya, whom Parasurama in turn slew.

BHRIGU

One of the Prajapatis, who surveyed the gods, to see which of them was worthy of the worship of both gods and men, finding Vishnu the only one worthy.

DAKSHA

One of the Rishis, Daksha was the son of Brahma, springing from the god's right thumb, but he was condemned to go through a rebirth as a result of a curse laid on him by Shiva, his son-in-law. This had to do with the inadvertent exclusion of the Destroyer from a sacrifice to Vishnu, for which the god retaliated to devastating effect, laying low most of the gods gathered there. Daksha himself was decapitated, and his head thrown in the sacrifical fire. After due apology and entreaty, Shiva agreed to restore his victims, but as Dashka's head could not be found, he had to make do with that of a ram.

ATRI

Atri Rishi was one of those seven sons of Brahma.   Atri practiced severe penance for countless number of years and attained Brahma-Jnana (Self-realisation). Later, at the instance of Brahma, he married Anasuya, the daughter of Kardama Prajapati. Anasuya was embodiment of perfection and was entirely blemishless and her name itself indicates, was devoid of even the least taint of envy, which is one of the greatest blemishes among humans. She has no malice against anyone and had overwhelming and motherly love for all beings. She was an embodiment of chastity, who worshipped and considered her husband alone as God. She is reckoned foremost among Pati-vratas, i.e., those whose devotion for their husbands is unalloyed and supreme. Her fame and glory spread far and wide, all over the three worlds.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rishi means a sage. The Vedas were revealed to them and the respective hymns stand in their names. Seven Rishis (Saptarshi) are recognized as the mind born sons of the creator Brahma. The ’Satapatabrahmana’ gives their names as,

Vashishta, Kashyapa, Viswamitra, Jamadagni, Gautama, Bharadwaja and Atri.

The Vayupurana adds the eighth name of ‘Bhrigu’, but the congregation is still called ‘Saptarshi’.

Brahmins trace their lineage to these seven Rishis. By keeping close track of their family tree through a system called, Gotra (lineage record), they have been able to avoid co-sanguineous marriages. Also by marrying within the Brahmin groups to which they belong, Brahmins have preserved and safeguarded their genetic value.

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VISHNU

Perhaps the highest of the Hindu gods, Vishnu was the personification of the preserving power of the divine spirit. Vishnu was described as of a blue colour, with four hands, in which he held a shell, a quoit, a club and a lotus. Vishnu's vahan was Garuda, the winged half-man, half-bird, king of birds, and his sacti was Lakshmi. Vishnu was said to rest on the serpent of eternity, Ananta, awaiting the end of the Kali Yuga, when from his navel would spring forth a lotus stalk, on the top of which would appear Brahma, to remake the world.Vishnu appears in many incarnations, the most popular being those of Krishna and Rama.

As Krishna he battled the great water serpent Kaliya, but spared him, banishing him to the ocean, assuring Kaliya of his protection from Garuda, the enemy of all serpents. Vishnu appeared in many Avatars, or incarnations, the most famous being that of Matsya- Avatara, Kurma-Avatara, Varaha-Avatara, Nrishima-Avatara, and Vamana-Avatara, all of which are recounted in detail in the entry on Avatars of Vishnu.Rama, another powerful incarnation of the god, was brought into being in order to fight the demon Ravana, and his exploits are recounted elsewhere, under the entry concerning Rama. Krishna's adventures.

Born from a hair of Vishnu, which the god placed in the womb of Devaki, Krishna had to be exchanged for the newborn daughter of the cowherd Nanda and his wife Yasoda, as Krishna's mother had been instructed by Kansa that her son would usurp him. Krishna then went on to slay the serpent Kaliya, abduct the daughter of the Gandharva king, overthrow the flying city of Daityas, and obtain the discus from the fire god Agni.On reaching manhood, Krishna left the cowherds and returned to Mathura, where he killed Kansa, as per the prophecy. He played a central role in the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, later being killed by an arrow fired by the hunter Jaras.

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THE SEVEN RISHIS

FROM ALICE BAILEY AND DJWAL KHUL

FROM: http://beaskund.helloyou.ws/netnews/bk/astrology/astr1036.html

In our study of the interlocking system of energies, in so far as they affect and condition a human being, the theme of the Three Crosses is of profound and practical interest, especially as they provide those points of crisis wherein a man steps off the ordinary path of evolution and treads the path of discipleship or - after the third initiation mounts a third Cross. It will underlie our thought and all that I have to say. A steady recollection of the twelve basic [85] energies (five major and seven minor which are in reality, and apart from astral reversion due to the Great Illusion, seven major and five minor) will be of value. These work out into human expression via the Lords of the twelve signs and the twelve planetary Rulers. These twelve basic energies emanate from the seven stars of the Great Bear (transmitted through seven stars of the Little Bear); two of them come from Sirius and three from the Pleiades. This set-up (if I may use such an unorthodox term) will be the condition of the major solar sphere of influence at the end of the Great Age of Brahma, as it is esoterically called. In the "interim or interlude of evolution" (which is the inadequate translation of an occult phrase given to a world cycle in the Masters' Archives) these energies are stepped down into forces and are literally sixteen all told - from the angle of manifestation, I would remind you - and make literally: 7 + 7 + 2 = 16 = 7. In these numbers the mystery of our evolutionary process lies hid. Always, however, the emphasis must be laid upon the Rays of Energy and Quality as they pour through the zodiacal constellations and the planets. The new astrology therefore is necessarily based upon an understanding of the rays. The following tabulation is fundamental in its implications in this connection and upon it all that I have to say will be based.

Seven stars of the Great Bear are the originating Sources of the seven rays of our solar system. The seven Rishis (as They are called) of the Great Bear express Themselves through the medium of the seven planetary Logoi Who are Their Representatives and to Whom They stand in the relation of prototype. The seven Planetary Spirits manifest through the medium of the seven sacred planets.

Each of these seven Rays, coming from the Great [86] Bear, are transmitted into our solar system through the medium of three constellations and their ruling planets. The following tabulation makes this clear but must be interpreted only in terms of this present turn of the Great Zodiacal Wheel (25,000 years):

Esoteric Astrology - The Nature of Esoteric Astrology - Spiritual Effects of the Zodiacal Constellations

You have consequently in connection with the path of discipleship the following lines of "influential energy":

Sirius - working in a sevenfold manner through the seven rays and their seven groups as these constitute the active Hierarchy.

The Fixed Cross - a fusion of four major energies, pouring into our solar system, on to our planet and through humanity.

Scorpio - an aspect of the Fixed Cross, of peculiar and specialized potency upon the Path of Discipleship and preparing, with its tests and trials:

The process of reorientation, whereby a man mounts the Fixed Cross and leaves the Mutable Cross.

The disciple for the first, second and third initiations. After the third initiation, its peculiar testing potency is no longer felt.

The Hierarchy - The distributing agency to the various kingdoms in nature.

Mars and Saturn - Both these planets are exceedingly potent in connection with initiation into the life of the Hierarchy; Mars is potent in relation to Scorpio and Saturn in relation to Capricorn. This involves the intensified activity of the 6th and the 3rd rays and their energies, and when these are rightly employed there comes liberation from form control and the release of the conscious individual.

Again, astrologers would do well to work with this line of fused forces, studying its implications and effects in the life of the disciple. [200]

Aquarius relates humanity to the Pleiades and therefore to Taurus in an unusual manner. The key to this relation is to be found in the word desire, leading, through the transmutative processes of life experience, to aspiration and finally the relinquishing of desire in Scorpio. Aquarius, Alcyone and Humanity constitute a most interesting triangle of force. Alcyone is one of the seven Pleiades and is called the "star of the Individual" and sometimes the "star of intelligence." It was potently active during the previous solar system wherein the Third Person of the Trinity was peculiarly omnipotent and active, just as today the cosmic Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, is peculiarly active in this solar system. The energies coming from Alcyone impregnated the substance of the universe with the quality of mind. As a consequence of this most ancient activity, the same force was present at the time of individualization in this solar system, for it is in this system, and primarily upon our planet, the Earth, that the major results of that early activity have made themselves felt. Two of our planets, the Earth (non-sacred) and Uranus (sacred), are directly the product of this third ray activity. This is of great importance to remember. I would also ask you to link this thought with the teaching that through the divine center of intelligent activity which we call humanity, the fourth kingdom in nature will eventually act as the mediating principle to all the three lower kingdoms. Humanity is the divine Messenger to the world of form; it is essentially Mercury, bringing light and life to other divine manifestations and of this all divine world Saviors are the eternal symbols.

This coming process of planetary service through the third divine center is only truly effective when Aquarius rules and when our sun is passing through that sign of the [201] zodiac. Hence the immense importance of the next 2000 years. Therefore, only when a man is a world server and becoming group conscious can this desired objective of manifestation begin to demonstrate. It is beginning to happen today for the first time in planetary history. It is one of the first fruits of initiation and only in the next root race to our present Aryan race will we begin really to understand the significance of the process and the true nature of the energies to be released through the medium of humanity upon the planet. It is for this reason that Jupiter and Uranus (expressions of the second and the seventh rays) are the exoteric and esoteric rulers of Aquarius.

You have, therefore, the following line of force to study:

Alcyone - in the Pleiades, the mothers of the seven aspects of form life and the "wives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear." They are connected with the Mother aspect which nurtures the infant Christ.

Aquarius - the World Server, the transmitter of energy which evokes magnetic response.

Jupiter and Uranus - planets of beneficent consummation. The second ray of love and the seventh ray which fuses spirit and matter "to the ultimate glory" of the solar Logos are in the fullest eventual cooperation.

Humanity - the focal point for all these energies and the divine distributor of them to individual man and later to the lower three kingdoms in nature.

Thus you see, that from a generalization re the exterior constellations (exterior to the zodiac and the solar system itself) we are becoming more specific, showing how certain stars in these constellations are definitely related by direct [202] lines of energy to our planet; these lines of force usually reach us via one of the zodiacal signs and - in rare cases - directly to a planet. The latter case is, however, exceedingly rare. We have also brought into relation to our solar system another constellation, called the Little Bear which is a reflection of or a corollary to the major energies of its greater prototype, Ursa Major, the Great Bear. These facts contain a great mystery connected with the interrelation of Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and the Pleiades; they constitute one of the greatest and more important of the triplicities to be found in the heavens as far as we have astronomically ascertained the nature of our immediate universe. This is a perfectly unimportant piece of information as far as you are concerned and is only of significance to initiates of the fourth degree. It serves, nevertheless, to add its evidence to the essential integrity and interlocking dependencies of the universe.

Esoteric Astrology - The Nature of Esoteric Astrology - Spiritual Effects of the Zodiacal Constellations

The other point upon which I might here touch is that certain of the rays express themselves through two planets. For instance, the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict reaches us both through the Moon and through Mercury, whilst the first Ray of Will or Power reaches us through Vulcan and through Pluto. The real reason for this is one of the secrets of initiation and is hidden in the destiny of the fourth Creative Hierarchy and in the will-to-manifest of the Lord of our Earth, Who is Himself upon the third Ray of Active Intelligence; of Him it is said that "when the third great energy is related to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the mystery of the perfected Seven will be understood." One of the more obvious of the significances of this statement is to be found in the unfoldment of intelligence and love in the initiate, at which time of manifested expression and at the last major initiation, he will be responsive to the synthesis of energies which emanate from the "seven spirits before the throne of God." These are the representatives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear and Their other pole, the seven Sisters of the Pleiades, symbolically recognized as the seven wives of the Rishis of the Great Bear. Here again, in relation to our solar system, do we find another great triangle of energies, of which the focal points on our Earth are the seven Spirits before the Throne. With this triangle we shall later deal; I simply want to refer to it here: [270]

The seven Spirits responsive to the seven sacred planets. They are:

Expressions of divine life upon the Earth.

Focal points for the Lords of the seven rays.

Rulers of the seven planes of consciousness and manifestation.

Representatives because responsive to

The seven Rishis of the Great Bear Who are:

Expressions of the life of the One About Whom Naught May Be Said.

The positive focal points for the seven major cosmic energies.

Rulers of the seven Creative Hierarchies.

Related as positive poles to

The seven Sisters or the seven Pleiades who:

Are expressions of the dualism of manifestation in their relation to the seven Rishis.

Provide the negative pole to the positive aspect of the seven Rishis.

Fuse with the positive energies of the Great Bear and, unitedly, work through seven of the zodiacal signs.

Here again the complexity of the forces playing upon our planet and increasing in their number and their potency as the vehicles of response upon our planet become more highly developed and sensitive and are, therefore, capable of a truer reaction and a more rapid response to the many forces impinging upon our planetary forms of life. It has been remarked by a profound astrological expert Who [271] works with the Masters of the Great White Lodge that "when humanity comprehends the distinction between the signs and the constellations, understands the nature of the polarity of energies and responds to the three cosmic Realities, the twelve cosmic Energies and the seven planetary Impacts and the interplay of the twelve Creative Hierarchies, then and not till then, will a radiant light be seen and the destiny of our solar Logos be finally determined." Behind this statement are to be found three meanings: one for average intelligent man, another for disciples, and a third one for initiates above the third degree.

As I earlier pointed out to you, the sign Virgo is related to nine constellations and in this fact lies both prophecy and guarantee. That which this sign veils and hides is potentially responsive to nine streams of energy which - playing upon the life within the form and evoking response from the soul - produce those "points of crisis" and those "moments of demonstrated development" to which we have referred in speaking of Leo-Libra-Capricorn.

Through Mercury, Virgo comes into close relation to three constellations - Aries, Gemini, and Scorpio. Here again is a triangle of energies of great importance in the life of the Christ-child which Virgo guards and nourishes and hides within herself. Through Aries and Scorpio, the Christ-life and manifestation is integrated with that of the fourth Creative Hierarchy; herein lies a great mystery which is concerned with the dual manifestation of the Christ principle both in form and - upon its own plane - through spiritual manifestation; it is here also that the true significance of the words found in The Bhagavad Gita appears when Krishna (the Christ principle) says to Arjuna (the world disciple, or developed form aspect): "Having pervaded the entire universe with a fragment of myself, I [272] remain." There is here an esoteric reference to the essential identity of Son with the Father, the "undying One," and with the eternal Mother; that is, with spirit and matter. This is the fundamental mystery of Virgo and will be revealed when the energies pouring into Virgo from Gemini, via the planet Mercury, have done their destined work; for Gemini is an expression of the fourth unmanifested Creative Hierarchy - one of the higher group of Lives which stand just beyond the seven Who condition our systemic lives. These Lives have achieved Their goal, but Their energies are still directed towards and focused upon our planet. They are not unmanifested in the case where such developed planets as Uranus, Jupiter or Saturn are concerned.

Esoteric Astrology - The Science of Triangles - Triangles of Energy - Constellations

Behind these concepts of the relation existing in time and space between the constellations of the Great Bear, the Pleiades and the sun, Sirius, and our solar system, there exists, it must be remembered, an immense series of interlocking triangles between the stars which compose these constellations interiorly and our solar system. You have, therefore, a relationship between:

The seven stars, composing the Great Bear.

The seven stars, composing the Pleiades, sometimes called the seven "sisters" or "wives" of the Rishis or informing Lives of the Great Bear.

The sun, Sirius.

These compose major triangles of force and all are held within the radius of the Life of that Great Being Whose expressed, manifested intention is brought into being through the medium of these three related groups and our solar system. As hinted by me in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, these four groups of stars constitute the manifested aspect or personality of a great and unknown Life.

I seek in this connection to give only a general picture because, with these cosmic triangles, I have no intention to deal. We will only consider those constellations within the greater zodiac which are known by astrologers to have a definite effect upon humanity and our planetary life.

Therefore, in studying these triangles, we will make (for our guidance) certain rules which, under the Law of Analogy, may facilitate our comprehension of the underlying meaning and truths. [420]

All triangles studied will be regarded as expressing:

A major conditioning energy, producing manifestation.

This corresponds to the Monad aspect.

A secondary qualifying energy producing consciousness.

This corresponds to the Ego or Soul aspect.

A lesser expression of force, producing tangibility.

This corresponds to the Personality aspect.

These three energies will be related, therefore, to the three aspects of manifested life. These have been termed throughout this treatise: Life, Quality and Appearance.

These energies change within, themselves and sometimes one will strike the dominating note and sometimes another; sometimes a secondary energy will become a major conditioning force and sometimes the lesser expression will come to the top and become, for the cycle, the outstanding characteristic of the triangle. Such cosmic events are governed by a great Law of Expediency, evoked by the evolutionary process and incident also to zodiacal movement and its own interior mathematical conditioning - a subject of such vast dimensions and mystery that no Life within our solar system has more than sensed its significance. The cyclic expression of life is dependent upon constant mutation and infinitely changing processes.

The statements made by me in this attempt - for it is little more - to indicate the main lines of approach to the new science of esoteric astrology, may not yet be capable of any proof. Later on such proof will be available. All that I can ask of you at this time is to be [421] interested in the presentation, to strive to see the general picture I am seeking to present and to grasp somewhat the relative synthesis which underlies all manifestation. Starting from that which is today accepted, be willing to move on from there into new fields of possibility and of sensed probability. Time will justify the information I ask you to accept as hypothesis.

Next I will deal with analysis of three groups of triangles which are of major importance to humanity at this time and which follow upon information earlier given. These groups of triangles emanate energies which reach through space to the individual man and, therefore, cannot be ignored. They are:

The Great Bear The Pleiades Sirius

Transmit energy via:

Leo Capricorn Pisces

These transmit energy via:

Saturn Mercury Uranus

Reaching the following center:

Planetary head center Planetary ajna center Planetary heart

From thence to:

Disciple's head center Disciple's ajna center Disciple's heart center

and eventually control:

The base of the spine The throat center the solar plexus

I will also take up with you some of the points and indications which are hinted at in Tabulation IX, relating to the twelve signs of the zodiac, to be found on page 423. Certain major streams of conditioning energies will be seen related to each other and to our Earth and these fall into two groups:

The ray energies which we are told emanate from the Great Bear in seven great out-raying streams of force. [422]

The inherent energies of the twelve constellations which blend with the ray energies, producing the essential dualism of manifested life, and incidentally are responsible for the peculiar difficulties confronting humanity on the arc of evolutionary experience upon our planet.

Esoteric Astrology - The Science of Triangles - Triangles of Energy - Constellations

Again I would repeat that what I shall have to say will be related to present world conditions, to humanity, and also - for practical teaching and application - to the life of the individual disciple. Necessarily, these energies have a cosmic, systemic and planetary significance but these no disciple can as yet grasp; personality has to be transcended before even the earlier stages of the understanding of these mysteries become possible, and this transcendence is something you have not yet accomplished but which some day inevitably you will.

Once man is impersonal and free from the reactions of the lower self, and his consciousness is illumined by the clear light of the intuition, then his "window of vision" becomes clarified and his sight into reality is unimpeded. Obstructions (always erected by humanity itself) are removed and he sees all life and form in their true relation and can comprehend, and even occultly "see," the "passage of the energies."

The relationship of certain rays and cosmic triangles may become clearer to you if the following tabulation is studied with care.

NOTE: The seven stars of the Great Bear are the originating sources of the seven rays of our solar system. The seven Rishis (as They are called) of the Great Bear express Themselves through the medium of the seven planetary Logoi Who are Their Representatives and to Whom They stand in the relation of cosmic Prototype. The seven [423] planetary Gods manifest through the medium of the seven sacred planets. Each of these seven rays is transmitted into our solar system through the medium of three constellations and their ruling planets.

Esoteric Astrology - The Rays, Constellations and Planets - The Nature of the Will

There is only one way in which focused evil will, with its responsiveness to the Shamballa force, can be overcome and that is by the opposition of an equally focused spiritual will, displayed by responsive men and women of goodwill who can train themselves to be sensitive to this type of new incoming energy and can learn how to invoke and evoke it.

You can consequently see why there was more than the casual use of a current word in my mind when the terms of goodwill and of the will-to-good were discussed. All the time, I had in my thoughts not just kindness and good intention, but the focused will-to-good which can and must evoke the Shamballa energy and use it for the arresting of the forces of evil.

This, I realize, is a relatively new idea to many of you; to others of you it will mean little or nothing; others again may have faint glimmerings of this new approach to God and service which - again I say - can and must remake, rebuild, and rehabilitate the world. I would like here to point out that the will aspect can be contacted only from the mental plane and only those, therefore, who are working with and through the mind can begin to appropriate this energy. Those who seek to evoke the Shamballa force are approaching close to the energy of fire. Fire is the symbol and the quality of the mental plane. Fire is an aspect of the divine nature. Fire was an outstanding aspect [587] of the war. Fire is produced by physical means and the aid of the mineral kingdom and this was the great menacing and chosen means of destruction in this war. This is a fulfilment of the ancient prophecy that the attempt to destroy the Aryan race will be by means of fire, just as ancient Atlantis was destroyed by water. But, fiery goodwill and the conscious focused use of the Shamballa force can counter fire by fire and this must be done.

I cannot give you more upon this subject until you have given time to its consideration and have sought to understand the use of the will, its nature, purpose and its relation to what you understand by the human will. You must ponder upon how it should be employed and in what manner aspirants and disciples who are mentally polarized can focus that will and safely shoulder the responsibility for its wise use. Later when you know more about it, I can give you further knowledge upon the matter. I would however like to make one practical suggestion. Might there not be organized a group who would take this subject as the theme of their meditation and who would try to fit themselves - by right understanding - to contact and use the Shamballa energy? Would it not be possible gradually to elaborate this theme of the revelation of the divine will so that the general subject may be ready for presentation to the thinking public when peace truly comes? There is much to be considered in this connection. There is the demonstration of the three aspects of the will as enumerated above; there is the preparation of the individual for the expression of this energy; there is a mature consideration to be given to the relation of the Hierarchy to Shamballa, carried forward as the Masters attempt to work out divine purpose and to be the distributing Agents of the will energy. There is the effort to be made to comprehend somewhat the nature of [588] the direct impact of the first aspect upon the human consciousness, apart from the hierarchical center altogether - an impact made without any of the absorbing and stepping-down process to which the Hierarchy subjects it. I have referred to this direct contact elsewhere; it can be more direct and complete when there is greater safety brought about by a more understanding human approach.

One of the causes lying behind World War II is to be found in a premature contact - a contact made by certain selfish minds of a relatively high quality, aided by the Black Lodge. To offset this and eventually bring about the elimination of the influence of the dark forces from our planet must come the active, conscious use of the Shamballa force by the White Lodge, aided by the men and women whose will-to-good is strong enough to safeguard them from personal peril in their work and from being deflected on to wrong and dangerous lines. This aid necessitates a certain definite and planned contact and interplay between the two centers: Humanity and Hierarchy. When this is better established, there can be organized and known cooperation and the members of both great centers can "stand together with massed intent." This massed intent will be the correspondence upon the mental plane of the massed intent of the general public who stand with the power of appeal upon their lips and in their hearts. To this appeal must be added the focused will of the world thinkers and intuitives who will use their minds and brains in the affirmation of right.

It was for the reason that the will aspect was involved that I made our last point in our consideration of the seven rays to be a consideration of the Rays, Constellations and Planets, as given in Tabulation X. The interrelation there given concerns the first aspect of the will, as I have [589] here indicated. The analysis of this tabulation will complete our consideration of esoteric astrology.

The seven stars of the Great Bear are the originating sources of the seven rays of our solar system. The seven Rishis of the Great Bear express Themselves through the medium of the seven planetary Logoi Who are Their Representatives and to whom they stand in the relation of Prototype. These seven planetary Spirits manifest through the medium of the seven sacred planets.

Each of these seven rays, coming from the Great Bear, are transmitted into our solar system through the medium of three constellations and their ruling planets. The following tabulation will make this clear, but must be interpreted only in terms of the present turn of the great zodiacal wheel of 25,000 years.

Esoteric Astrology - Appendix - Suggestions for Students

The Constellations

1. "Each of the twelve constellations, whether separately or in combination with other signs, has an occult influence, either for good or evil." (S.D. Vol. I, 440) [639]

2. "Enoch, the type of the dual nature of man (spiritual and physical) occupies the center of the astronomic Cross... which is a six-pointed star... In the upper angle of the upper triangle is the Eagle (Scorpio); in the left lower angle stands the Lion (Leo); in the right, the Bull (Taurus); while between the Bull and the Lion... is the face of Enoch, the man (Aquarius)... These are the four animals of Ezekiel and Revelations." (S.D. Vol. II, 561-562) (The Fixed Cross of the Heavens)

3. "The constellations of the Great Bear and of the Pleiades constitute the greatest mystery of occult nature." (S.D. Vol. II, 580)

4. "From the beginning of humanity, the Cross, or Man, with arms stretched out horizontally (the Fixed Cross) typifying his cosmic origin, was connected with his psychic nature and with the struggles which led to initiation." (S.D. Vol. III, 141)

NOTE: All the travels of all the Heroes of antiquity through the signs of the sun and the heavens... are in each individual case, the personification of the sufferings, triumphs, and miracles of an adept before and after initiation.

5. The signs of the zodiac: Each a double sign in ancient astrological magic - namely: it was Taurus-Eve; and Scorpio was Mars-Lupa, or Mars with the female wolf... So as these signs were opposites of each other, yet met in the center they are connected; ... (S.D. Vol. III, 154)

References in A Treatise of Cosmic Fire. [640]

6. "Until the mystery of the Great Bear is revealed and is known as it is, and until the influence of Pleiades is comprehended, and the true significance of the cosmic Triangle formed by

The seven Rishis of the Great Bear,

The seven planetary Logoi of our solar system,

The seven Pleiades or Sisters,

is revealed, the karma of the seven sacred planets will remain unknown. All that we can see is its working out in the solar system. The intricacy of the whole subject will be apparent when it is borne in mind that not only do these three groups form a cosmic triangle, but that within that triangle many lesser triangles have to be studied. Any one of the seven Rishis with one of the seven Sisters may form a subsidiary triangle, and all must thus be studied." (C.F. 801)

7. "A further factor in cyclic computation lies in the effect of the following stars and constellations upon our system and upon any particular planet within the system:

The Great Bear.

The little Bear (Ursa Minor).

The Pole Star.

The Pleiades.

Constellation Capricorn.

Draco.

And all the other constellations and allied stars of the zodiac. The mystery is hidden in esoteric astrology and until the subject of energy, working through the etheric body, of radioactivity and of the transmutation of all bodies from a lower state into a higher is better comprehended, the true mystery of the "influence of [641] these various bodies upon each other will remain at its present stage - an unrevealed secret." (C.F. 795)

8. Energy in the universe can be differentiated as follows:

"Inter-cosmic - affecting constellations.

Interplanetary - affecting planets.

Interchain - affecting the chains in a planetary cycle.

Inter-globular - producing interchange of force between the globes of a chain.

Inter-sectional - affecting the transference of force between the kingdoms in nature.

Inter-human - interplay between men.

Inter-atomic - passage of force between atoms." (C.F. 1029)

9. "There must also be borne in mind the play of energy which emanates from any one of the twelve constellations or signs of the zodiac, with which astrology concerns itself. This type of force is primarily concerned with planetary stimulation, with the planetary Logoi, and is hidden in Their cyclic karma - a karma which will incidentally involve those monads and devas which form Their bodies and centers." (C.F. 1052)

10. "These three groups of solar bodies (The Great Bear, the Pleiades and Sirius) are of paramount influence where the spiral cyclic activity of our system is concerned. Just as in the human atom, the spiral activity is egoic and controlled from the egoic body, so in connection with the solar system these three groups are related to the Logoic Spiritual Triad - atma-buddhi-manas - and their influence is dominant in connection with solar incarnation, with solar evolution and with solar progress." (C.F. 1058) [642]

"Mercury and Venus, the Sun and the Moon constitute the 'Guardian angels of the four corners of the Earth." [646] Note:

The sun and moon veil hidden planets.

These are the four Maharajas, connected with karma, humanity, cosmos and man.

They are the Sun or its substitute - Michael.

They are the Moon or its substitute - Gabriel.

They are Mercury or its substitute - Raphael.

They are Venus or its substitute - Uriel. (S.D. Vol. III, 459)

27. "Saturn - governs the devotional faculties.

Mercury - governs the intellectual facilities.

Jupiter - governs the sympathetic faculties.

The Sun - governs the governing faculties.

Mars - governs the selfish faculties.

Venus - governs the tenacious faculties.

Moon - governs the instinctual faculties." (S.D. Vol. III, 463)

28. "The seven Angels Who preside over the seven planets are the Builders of the Universe. They are the natural Guardians of the seven regions of our planetary system." (S.D. Vol. III, 115)

29. "The seven Builders graft the divine and the beneficent forces on to the gross material nature of the vegetable and mineral kingdoms every Second Round."

(S.D. Vol. III, 162; Note I)

30. "The seven planetary Spirits or Angels... are identical with the Dhyan Chohans of the esoteric doctrine and have been transformed into the archangels and the Spirits of the Presence by the Christian Church." (S.D. Vol. III, 160)

31. "The seven chief Deities... are the rays of the One Boundless Unity."

(S.D. Vol. III, 229) [647]

32. "Each of the seven chambers of the Pyramid was known by the name of one of the planets." (S.D. Vol. III, 247)

33. "The Kabiri were always the seven planets... who together with their Father, the Sun ...composed a powerful ogdoad." (S.D. Vol. III, 316)

34. "The Ancients knew of seven planets besides the sun... The seventh with two others were mystery planets." (S.D. Vol. III, 316, Note)

35. "The solar system is (from the higher cosmic planes) seen as a vast blue lotus and so on down the scale; even the tiny atom of substance can be so considered... The solar system is a twelve-petalled lotus, each petal being formed of forty-nine lesser petals. The planetary lotuses differ in each scheme and one of the secrets of initiation is revealed when the number of petals of:

Our earth planet

Our planetary polar opposite

Our complementary equilibrizing planet

is committed to the initiate." (C.F. 1018)

36. "Within the Hall of Wisdom, there exists a department of which the modern astrological organizations are dim and uncertain reflections. The Adepts connected with it work not with humanity but concern Themselves specifically with "casting the horoscopes" of the various great lives who inform... the kingdoms of nature, with ascertaining the nature of the karmic influences working out in the manifestation of the three planetary Logoi (mentioned under point 35 above)... They progress these various horoscopes [648] for the next stated cycle and Their records are of profound interest. I would conjure students to refrain from attempting to form cyclic computations of any kind for as yet the many constellations which exist only in physical matter of an etheric nature are unknown and unseen. Yet they are potent in influence and until etheric vision is developed, all calculations will be full of error." (C.F. 1057)

37. "A planetary Logos is the meeting place for two types of force, spiritual or logoic, which reaches Him... from the seven Rishis of the Great Bear on Their own plane, and, secondly, of buddhic force which is transmitted via the seven Sisters or the Pleiades from a constellation called The Dragon and from which has come the appellation 'The Dragon of Wisdom'." (C.F. 1162)

Tabulations Related to Astrology

The Rays and the Planets (According to Besant)

Ray Method Planet Color

I Will or Power Raja Yoga Uranus

(representing Sun) Flame

II Love-Wisdom

Intuition Raja Yoga Mercury Yellow, Rose

III Higher Mind Higher Mathematics

Philosophy Venus Indigo, Blue, Bronze

IV Conflict

Birth of man Tension

Hatha Yoga Saturn Green

V Lower mind Practical Science The Moon Violet

VI Devotion Bhakti Yoga Mars Rose, Blue

VII Magic Ritual Jupiter Bright Blue

[649]

Esoteric Astrology - Appendix - Suggestions for Students

The Rays and the Planets

Each of the seven sacred planets (of which our Earth is not one) is an expression of one of the seven ray influences. These seven planets may be enumerated as follows, and the rays working through them are accurately given. The student, however, must remember three things:

That every planet is the incarnation of a Life, or an Entity or Being.

That every planet, like a human being, is the expression of two ray forces - the personality and the egoic.

That two rays are therefore in esoteric conflict in each planet.

It should also be noted that until the mystery of the constellation of the Great Bear is revealed, and until the influence of the Pleiades is comprehended and the true significance of the cosmic triangle formed by:

The seven Rishis of the Great Bear.

The seven Planetary Logoi of our solar system.

The seven Pleiades or Sisters

is also revealed, the destiny and true function of the seven sacred planets will remain unknown. Within this cosmic triangle are many lesser ones. Any one of the seven Rishis with one of our planetary Logoi and one of the seven Sisters can form subsidiary triangles and the combinations possible are many and intricate.

Note: In the occult books there are many enumerations of the planets and many of these are simply blinds and the sacred and non-sacred planets are deliberately intermixed. In the Tibetan's books there are several such enumerations, i.e., the two listed above and the following: [652]

The Seven Planets, Centers or Schemes

Vulcan - the sun exoterically considered.

Venus.

Mars.

The Earth.

Mercury.

Saturn.

Jupiter.

The Three Synthesizing Planets

Uranus - 8.

Neptune - 9.

Saturn.

The One Resolver

The Sun.

The first one given above will be regarded as accurate for this world period and will be the basis of our astrological teaching. The informing Lives of the seven sacred planets are called by the following names:

The seven Planetary Logoi.

The seven Spirits before the throne.

The seven Kumaras.

The seven solar Deities.

The primordial Seven.

The seven Builders.

The seven intellectual Breaths.

The seven Manus.

The Flames.

Lords of Love, Knowledge and Sacrifice. [653]

Suggestions for Students

The Seven Stars of the Great Bear

References in The Secret Doctrine and A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

"The seven Rishis are the Regents of the seven stars of the Great Bear, and, therefore, of the same nature as the Angels of the Planets or the seven great planetary Spirits." (S.D. Vol. II, 332, Note)

"It is the seven Rishis who mark the time and the duration of events in our septenary life cycle. They are as mysterious as their supposed wives, the Pleiades." (S.D. Vol. II, 579)

"The first 'seven stars' are not planetary. They are the leading stars of seven constellations which turn [656] around with the Great Bear (S.D. Vol. III, 195)

"In Egypt, the Great Bear was the constellation...called the Mother of the Revolutions, and the Dragon with seven heads was assigned to Saturn, who was called the Dragon of Life." (S.D. Vol. III, 195)

"In the Book of Enoch, the Great Bear is called Leviathan." (S.D. Vol. III, 195)

"Our solar system with the Pleiades and one of the stars of the Great Bear form a cosmic triangle or an aggregation of three centers in the Body of the One about Whom Naught may be Said...The seven stars of the Great Bear correspond to the seven head centers of this Great Entity." (C.F. 182)

"Vibrations (energies) come to our solar system from the seven Rishis of the Great Bear and primarily from those two who are the Prototypes of the seventh and fifth Rays or planetary Logoi." (C.F. 553)

"Cosmic Avatars 'represent embodied force from Sirius, and from that one of the seven stars of the Great Bear which is ensouled by the Prototype of the Lord of the third major Ray, the third planetary Logos'." (C.F. 723)

"Cosmic evil from the standpoint of our planet consists in the relation between that spiritual, intelligent Unit or Rishi of the Superior Constellation - the informing Life of one of the seven stars of the Great Bear and our planetary prototype and one of the forces of the Pleiades...In this relation, at present lacking perfect adjustment, lies hid the mystery of cosmic evil...When the heavenly triangle is duly equilibrated and the force circulates freely through one of the stars of the Great Bear, the Pleiad involved and the planetary [657] scheme concerned, then cosmic evil will be negated and a relative perfection achieved." (C.F. 990)

"Great waves of energy sweep cyclically through the entire solar system from the seven stars of the Great Bear. The strength of these vibrations depends upon the closeness of the connection and the accuracy of the alignment between any particular Heavenly Man and His Prototype." (C.F. 1052)

Esoteric Astrology - Appendix - Suggestions for Students

The Seven Sisters, the Pleiades

References in The Secret Doctrine

The Pleiades are the supposed wives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear. They are also the nurses of the God of War, Mars, the commander of the celestial armies." (Vol. II, 579)

"The Pleiades are the central group of the system of sidereal astronomy.

They are found in the neck of the Bull, the constellation Taurus.

They are therefore in the Milky Way.

They are thus considered (Alcyone, in particular) as the central point around which our universe of fixed stars revolves." (Vol. II, 582)

"The number seven is closely connected with the occult significance of the Pleiades, the six present and the 7th hidden." (Vol. II, 654)

"The Pleiades were at one time the Atlantides and connected with Atlantis and its seven races." (Vol. II, 811)

"One of the most esoteric cycles is based upon certain conjunctions and respective positions of Virgo and the Pleiades." (Vol. II, 454) [658]

From A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

"The Pleiades are to the solar system the source of electrical energy and, just as our sun is the embodiment of the heart or love aspect of the Logos (Who is Himself the heart of the One about Whom Naught may be Said) so the Pleiades are the feminine opposite of Brahma." (The third aspect) (156)

"Our solar system, with the Pleiades and one of the stars of the Great Bear, form a cosmic triangle or an aggregation of centers in the body of the One about Whom Naught may be Said." (182)

"Two other systems, when allied with our solar system and the Pleiades make a lower quaternary." (182)

"The sun, Sirius, is the source of the Logoic mind (manas) in the same sense that the Pleiades are connected with the evolution of mind in the seven Heavenly Men and Venus was responsible for the coming of mind to the Earth." (347)

"Sirius, the Pleiades and our Sun form a cosmic triangle." (375)

"The Pleiades are negatively polarized to our seven schemes." (377)

"Our seven planetary Logoi are transmitters, via Their seven schemes to the seven stars of the Pleiades." (378)

"Three constellations are connected with the fifth logoic principle in its threefold manifestation: Sirius, two of the Pleiades and a small constellation whose name must be intuitively ascertained." (699)

"Three great waves of energy sweep cyclically through [659] the entire solar system from...the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades, from that one in particular who is occultly termed "the wife" of the planetary Logos whose scheme will eventually receive the seeds of life from our planet which is not considered a sacred planet"...(1052)

"Cosmic evil...consists in the relation between that spiritual intelligent unit or "Rishi of the Superior Constellation," as He is called (Who is the informing Life of one of the seven stars of the Great Bear) and our planetary Prototype and one of the forces of the Pleiades...The Seven Sisters are occultly called the "seven wives" of the Rishis...(990)

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Stanzas of Dzyan

Stanza X

The Fifth progresseth and from the remnants of the Fourth multiplied and reproduced. The waters arose. All sank and was submerged. The sacred remnant, in the place appointed, emerged at later date from out the zone of safety.

The waters dissipated. The solid ground emerged in certain destined places. The Fifth o'er-ran the Sacred Land, and in their fivefold groups developed the lower Fifth.

They passed from stage to stage. The watching Lords, recognizing the rupas formed, gave a sign to the circulating Fourth and it speeded faster on its way. When the lesser Fifth had midway passed and all the lesser four were peopling the land, the Lords of Dark Intent arose. They said: "Not so shall go the force. The forms and rupas of the third and fourth, within the corresponding Fifth, approach too close the archetype. The work is far too good."

They constructed other forms. They called for cosmic fire. The seven deep pits of hell belched forth the animating shades. The incoming seventh reduced to order all the forms, - the white, the dark, the red, and shaded brown.

The period of destruction extended far on either hand. The work was sadly marred. The Chohans of the highest plane gazed in silence on the work. The Asuras and the Chaitans, the Sons of Cosmic Evil, and the Rishis of the darkest constellations, [29] gathered their lesser hosts, the darkest spawn of hell. They darkened all the space.

***

From the coming of the heaven-sent One peace passed upon the earth. The planet staggered and belched forth fire. Part rose. Part fell. The form was changed. Millions took other forms or ascended to the appointed place of waiting. They tarried till the hour of progress should again sound forth for them.

***

The early Third produced the monsters, great beasts and evil forms. They prowled upon the surface of the sphere.

The watery Fourth produced within the watery sphere, reptiles and spawn of evil fame, the product of their karma. The waters came and swept away the progenitors of the fluidic spawn.

The separating Fifth built in the rupa sphere the concrete forms of thought. They cast them forth. They peopled the lower four, and like a black and evil cloud shut out the light of day. The higher three were hid.

***

The war upon the planet had been waged. Both sides descended into hell. Then came the Conqueror of form. He drew on the Sacred Fire, and purified the rupa levels. The fire destroyed the lands in the days of the lesser Sixth.

When the Sixth appeared the land was changed. The surface of the globe circled through another cycle. Men of the higher Fifth mastered the lower [30] three. The work was shifted to the plane whereon the Pilgrim stood. The lesser triangle within the lower auric egg became the center of cosmic dissonance. [31]

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section One - Division A - The Internal Fires of the Sheaths

c. The Man. At the base of the spine lie hid the fires of the human system, or the internal fires of the Microcosm. The center is located there, and from it the radiations go forth along the three channels, recognizable in the spine.

Bodily warmth, the channel along which the heat radiates and which finds the goal of its attention to be the heating of the corporeal frame. This vitalization of the dense matter of the body finds its correspondence in the systemic akasha, and in planetary productive substance.

Nervous response. This is the vitalizing tenuous fluid which applies itself to the stimulation of the nervous centers, and which creates electrical response to contact between the nerves and the brain. It should now be more closely studied. It corresponds to systemic electricity, and to planetary electricity.

Pranic emanation. The emanation, via the etheric body, which corresponds in man to solar prana and to planetary prana. This demonstrates principally in the health aura and has naught to do with magnetic qualities, as generally interpreted when considering a personality, or man as a unit. I make this repetition as it is very necessary that no mental confusion exists between that magnetism which is a spiritual emanation and that which is purely animal.

It might be wise here to point out that this triple manifestation of fire demonstrates in the astral and mental bodies likewise, having to do with the substance of those bodies. We might express this fire in its triple manifestation as the sumtotal of the essential fire, or life activity of the third Logos. It should be carefully borne [62] in mind that the manifestation of the work of the three Logoi is the expression of the mind of some cosmic Entity. In the same way, the seven planetary Entities, the seven Heavenly Men, are seven Logoi (likewise cosmic Beings) Who in Their totality form the Body of the threefold Logos. We have, therefore:

The undifferentiated Logos - a cosmic Entity.

The Logos, threefold in manifestation:

The cosmic Lord of Will Power.

The cosmic Lord of Love and Wisdom.

The cosmic Lord of Active Intelligence.

The triple Logos, sevenfold in manifestation., i.e. The seven planetary Logoi. 18, 19, 20

[63] Each of there cosmic Entities is, in His essential essence, Fire; each manifests as fire in a threefold manner. In point of time the cosmic Lord of active Intelligence, considered from the standpoint of cosmic evolution, is more evolved than His two Brothers. He is the life of matter, its latent internal Fire. His is the fire essence that lies at the heart of the Sun, of the planet, and of man's material forms. He is the sumtotal of the Past.

The Lord of Cosmic Love now seeks union with His Brother, and, in point of time, embodies all the Present. He is the sumtotal of all that is embodied; He is conscious Existence. He is the Son divine and His life and nature evolve through every existent form. The Lord of Cosmic Will holds hid the future within His plans and consciousness. They are all three the Sons of one Father, all three the aspects of the One God, all three are Spirit, all three are Soul, and all three are Rays emanating from one cosmic center. All three are substance, but in the past one Lord was the elder Son, in the present another Lord comes to the fore, and in the future still another. But this is so only in Time. From the standpoint of the Eternal Now, none is greater nor less than another, for the last shall be first, and the first last. Out of manifestation time is not, and freed from objectivity states of consciousness are not.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18 T. Subba Rao says on page 20, of Esoteric Writings: As a general rule, whenever seven entities are mentioned in the ancient occult science of India in any connection whatsoever, you must suppose that those seven entities came into existence from three primary entities and that these three entities again are evolved out of a single entity or monad. To take a familiar example, the seven colored rays in the solar ray are evolved out of three primary colored rays; and the three primary colors coexist with the four secondary colors in the solar ray. Similarly the three primary entities which brought man into existence coexist in him with the four secondary entities which arose from different combinations of the three primary entities."

In Christian terminology these are the three Persons of the Trinity, and the seven Spirits which are before the Throne. Compare "Our God is a consuming fire." Heb:12.29.

19 "I have already said in speaking of this Logos, that it was quite possible that it was the Logos that appeared in the shape of the first Dhyan Chohan, or planetary Spirit, when the evolution of man was recommenced after the last period of inactivity on this planet, as stated in Mr. Sinnett's book, Esoteric Buddhism, and after having set the evolutionary current in motion, retired to the spiritual plane congenial to its own nature, and has been watching since over the interests of humanity, and now and then appearing in connection with a human individuality for the good of mankind. Or you may look upon the Logos represented by Krishna as one belonging to the same class as the Logos which so appeared. In speaking of himself Krishna says, (chap. x, verse 6):

"The seven great Rishis, the four preceding Manus, partaking of my nature were born from my mind: from them sprang, was (born) the human race and the world."

He speaks of the sapta Rishis and of the Manus as his manasaputras, or mind-born sons, which they would be if he was the so-called Prajapati, who appeared on this planet and commenced the work of evolution." - The Theosophist, Vol. VIII, p. 443.

2O The following tabulation should be borne in mind:

Seven branch races make one subrace

Seven subraces make one root-race

Seven root-races make one world period

Seven world periods make one round

Seven rounds make one chain period

Seven chain periods make one planetary scheme

Ten planetary schemes make one solar system

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section One - Division E - Motion on the Physical and Astral Planes

The activity of the second Logos is carried on under the cosmic Law of Attraction. The Law of Economy has for one of its branches a subsidiary Law of marked development called the Law of Repulsion. The cosmic Laws of Attraction and Economy are therefore the raison d'être (viewed from one angle) of the eternal repulsion that goes on as Spirit seeks ever to liberate itself from form. The matter aspect always follows the line of least resistance, and repulses all tendency to group formation, while Spirit, governed by the Law of Attraction, seeks ever to separate itself from matter by the method of attracting an ever more adequate type of matter in the process of distinguishing the real from the unreal, and passing from one illusion to another until the resources of matter are fully utilized. [145]

Eventually the Indweller of the form feels the urge, or attractive pull, of its Own Self. The reincarnating jiva, for instance, lost in the maze of illusion, begins in course of time to recognize (under the Law of Attraction) the vibration of its own Ego, which stands to it as the Logos of its own system, its deity in the three worlds of experience. Later, when the body egoic itself is seen as illusion, the vibration of the Monad is felt, and the jiva, working under the same law, works its way back through the matter of the two planes of superhuman evolution, till it is merged in its own essence.

Therefore:

The goal of the second Logos is consciousness, to be achieved in cooperation with the third Logos.

His function is the building of forms to be His instruments of experience.

His mode of action is cyclic and spiral, the revolution of the wheel of existence in ordered cycles for a specific purpose, and the progression of these spheres of matter around a fixed center, within the solar periphery.

These three concepts are governed by the Law of Attraction, or the law governing the interplay or the action and reaction.

Between the Sun and its six brothers.

Between the circling whirling seven planes of the solar system.

Between everything in the matter of all forms, the spheres of matter themselves and the aggregate of those spheres that are embodied in the forms of still others.

The First Logos. The first Logos is the Ray of Cosmic Will. His mode of action is a literal driving forward of the solar ring-pass-not through space, and until the end of this mahamanvantara or day of Brahma (the logoic cycle) [146] we shall not be able to conceive of the first aspect of will or power as it really is. We know it now as will to exist, manifesting through the matter of the forms, (the Primordial Ray and the Divine Ray), and we know it as that which in some occult manner links the system up with its cosmic center. In a manner inconceivable to us the first Logos brings in the influence of other constellations. When this first aspect is better understood (in the next mahamanvantara) the work of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear,65 and the supreme influence o Sirius will be comprehended; in this present manifestation of the Son, or of the Vishnu aspect, we are concerned more closely with the Pleiades and their influence via the Sun, and, in relation to our planet, via Venus.

This subject of the first Logos, manifesting only in connection with the other two in the system, is a profound mystery, which is not fully understood by even those who have taken the sixth Initiation.

The first Logos embodies the "will to live" and it was through His instrumentality that the Manasaputras came into objective existence in relation to the human and deva hierarchies. In this system, the blending of the Divine Ray of Wisdom and the Primordial Ray of intelligent matter forms the great dual evolution; back of both these cosmic Entities stands another Entity Who is the embodiment of Will, and Who is the utilizer of forms - though not the forms of any other than the Greater Building devas and the human hierarchies in time and space. He is the animating principle; the will-to-live aspect of the seven Hierarchies. Nevertheless these seven Hierarchies are (as says H. P. B.) the sevenfold ray of wisdom, the dragon in its seven forms. 66, 67, 68 This is a [147] deep mystery, and only a clue to it all can be found at this time by man in the contemplation of his own nature in the three worlds of his manifestation. Just as our Logos is seeking objectivity through His solar system in its threefold form of which the present is the second, so man seeks objectivity through his three bodies - physical, astral and mental. At this time he is polarized in his astral body, or in his second aspect in like manner as the undifferentiated Logos is polarized in His second aspect. In time and space as we now conceive it, the sum total of jivas are governed by feeling, emotion, and desire, and not by the will, yet at the same time the will aspect governs manifestation, for the Ego who is the source of personality shows in manifestation the will to love.

The difficulty lies in the inability of the finite mind to grasp the significance of this threefold manifestation, but by thoughtful brooding over the Personality and its relation to the Ego, who is the love aspect and who nevertheless in relation to manifestation in the three worlds is the will aspect likewise, will come some faint light upon the same problems raised to Deity, or expanded from microcosmic to macrocosmic spheres.

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65 "The Hindus place their seven primitive Rishis in the Great Bear. The prototypes or the animating source of the seven Heavenly Men, the planetary Logoi, are considered the seven Existences who function through the seven stars of the Bear."

- S. D., II, 668.

66 S. D., I, 100-108.

67 Subba Rao says in Five Years of Theosophy, page 102: "As a general rule, whenever seven entities are mentioned in the ancient occult science of India in any connection whatsoever, you must suppose that those seven entities came into existence from three primary entities; and that these three entities, again, are evolved out of a single entity or monad. To take a familiar example, the seven colored rays in the solar ray are evolved out of three primary colored rays; and the three primary colors coexist with the four secondary colors in the solar ray. Similarly the three primary entities which brought man into existence coexist in him with the four secondary entities which arose from different combinations of the three primary entities." Read also S. D., I, 190, 191.

68 "See S. D., I, 100, 108. Also Stanza III, 7A.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Introductory Questions

4. The Heavenly Men and Man

The final part of question six is: Who are the Manasaputras?

This will be dealt with in greater detail in connection with our planet when taking up the subject of the coming of the Lords of Flame. It is desirable now to make certain facts clear which must form the basis of any thought upon this subject. [270] The Divine Manasaputras 13, 14 Who are known in the Secret Doctrine by diverse names, are the Mind-born Sons of Brahma, the third aspect logoic.

They are the seven planetary Logoi, and are the Lords of the Rays, the seven Heavenly Men. They developed the mind aspect in the first solar system, that in which Brahma was paramount, and in Himself embodied objective existence. This He did in the same sense as that in which the second aspect (the Vishnu or Dragon of Wisdom aspect) is the sumtotal of existence in this the second system.

The cells in Their bodies are made up of the units of the human and deva evolutions in the same manner (only on a higher turn of the spiral) as the bodies of human beings are made up of living organisms, the various animated cells, or the lesser lives. This is a basic fact in occultism, and the relationship between the cells in the human vehicles, and the cells in the bodies of a Heavenly [271] Man, will be productive of illumination if carefully studied.

Just as a human being has an originating source, the Monad, and a semi-permanent vehicle, the causal body, but manifests through his lower principles (of which the dense physical is not one) so a Heavenly Man has an originating source, His Monad, a semi-permanent body on the monadic levels of the solar system, but manifests through three lower sheaths, our atmic, buddhic, and manasic levels. He is extraneous to the astral and physical planes just as a human being is to the physical. Man vitalizes the physical vehicle with his force or heat but he does not occultly count it as a principle. So the Heavenly Man is extraneous to the two lower planes of manifestation though He vitalizes them with His force. The human being realizes his relationship (as a cell in the body) to a Heavenly Man only when he is developing the consciousness of the Ego on its own plane. If it might be so expressed, the groups of causal bodies are the lowest forms through which a Heavenly Man manifests, just as the physical body is the lowest through which a human being manifests, and this in its etheric connotation.

It should be borne in mind that the manifesting Existences embody certain planes, and have Their points of deepest involution on diverse levels:

A Man originates on the monadic level, has his main focal point on the fifth level, the mental, but is seeking full conscious development on the three lower planes, the mental, the astral and the physical.

A Heavenly Man has His source outside the solar system (as man outside the three worlds of his endeavor), has His main focal point on the second plane of the system, the monadic, and is seeking consciousness on the Planes of the Triad - this in relation to all the cells in His body. He developed consciousness on the three [272] lower planes of the three worlds during the first solar system, again in relation to the cells in His body. Man is repeating His endeavor up to the fifth Initiation which will bring him to a stage of consciousness achieved by a Heavenly Man in a much earlier mahamanvantara. In connection with the initiations this should be carefully borne in mind.

A solar Logos has His origin on a still higher cosmic level, has his main focal point on the cosmic mental plane but is expressing Himself through the three lower cosmic planes just as man is seeking self-expression in the three worlds. Therefore, the seven major planes of the solar system are in the same relation to Him cosmically as the physical plane is to a human being. They form His etheric and dense bodies. It might be stated that:

He vitalizes them by His life and heat.

He animates them.

He is fully conscious through them.

The etheric is in time His lowest principle, but the dense physical is not counted. The dense cosmic physical body is composed of matter of the three lower planes of the solar system, the mental, the astral and the physical. The buddhic plane is consequently the fourth cosmic ether.

The Heavenly Men form the seven centers in the body of the Logos. Therefore, They are the spheres of fire which animate His body, and each of Them expresses one form of His force manifestation, according to Their place within the body.

Human beings, when centered within their groups on causal levels, form one or other of the seven centers in the body of a Heavenly Man.

The solar Logos forms one center in the body of a still greater cosmic ENTITY. Human beings therefore [273] find their place within one of the forty-nine centers (not groups, for a center may be made up of many groups, corresponding to the different parts) of the seven Heavenly Men.

A Heavenly Man, with His seven centers, forms one center in the body of the solar Logos. I would here point out to you the close connection existing between the seven Rishis of the Great Bear and the seven Heavenly Men. The seven Rishis of the Great Bear are to Them what the Monad is to the evolving human unit.

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13 In the Secret Doctrine the Heavenly Men are spoken of as:

Agents of creation. They are the totality of manifestation. - S. D., I, 470.

They are precosmic. - S. D., I, 470.

They are the sumtotal of solar and lunar entities. - S. D., I, 152, 470. Compare II, 374.

They are the seven Biblical Archangels.

They are the seven Forces or creative Powers.

They are the seven Spirits before the Throne.

They are the seven Spirits of the Planets - S. D., I, 472, 153.

In Their totality They are the Secret Unpronounceable Name. - S. D., I, 473.

They are the collective Dhyan Chohans. - S. D., I, 477.

They are the seven Kumaras. The seven Rishis. - S. D., I, 493. III, 196, 327.

They are the Sons of Light - S. D., I, 521, 522.

They are the Hierarchy of creative Powers - S. D., I, 233.

They are the veiled synthesis. - S. D., I, 362.

They are our own planetary deities. - S. D., I, 153.

They are all men, the product of other worlds. - S. D., I, 132.

They are closely connected with the seven stars of the Great Bear. - S. D., I, 488. S. D., II, 332. II 579, 668. S. D., III, 195

They are symbolized by circles - S. D., II, 582. I

They are collectively the fallen Angels. - S. D., II, 284, 541.

14 The Sons of Mind: are known by various terms, such as: "The Manasaputras, the Prajapatis, the Kumaras, the Primordial Seven, the Rudras, the Heavenly Men, the Rishis, the Spirits before the Throne.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Div. B - Manas as a Cosmic, Systemic and Human Factor

b. The Method of Initiation

In this second method the "Rods of Initiation" are used to effect certain results. These rods are of four kinds:

Cosmic, used by a cosmic Logos in the initiations of a solar Logos, and of the three major planetary Logoi.

Systemic, used by a solar Logos in the initiations of a planetary Logos.

Planetary, used by a planetary Logos for initiatory purposes, and for the third, the fourth, and fifth major initiations, with the two higher.

Hierarchical, used by an occult Hierarchy for minor Initiations, and for the first two initiations of manas by the Bodhisattva. 29

When man individualized in Lemurian days (about eighteen million years ago), it was the application of the Rod of Initiation to the Logos of our Earth chain which brought about the event and touched into activity certain centers in His body with their corresponding groups. This application, bringing about consciousness on some plane, may be regarded as literally the awakening of the lives concerned to participate in intelligent work on the mental plane. Animal man was conscious on the physical, and on the astral planes. By the stimulation effected by the electric rod this animal man awoke to consciousness on the mental. Thus the three bodies were coordinated, and the Thinker enabled to function in them. [349]

All Rods of Initiation cause certain effects:

Stimulation of the latent fires till they blaze.

Synthesis of the fires through an occult activity that brings them within the radius of each other.

Increase of the vibratory activity of some center, whether in man, a Heavenly Man, or a solar Logos.

Expansion of all the bodies, but primarily of the causal, - this also in speaking of all the three types of Entities.

All these results were seen when the Heavenly Man of our scheme took initiation eighteen million years ago. This initiation was brought about - as earlier pointed out - by a peculiar juxtaposition of chains, globes and schemes, and caused such a stimulation of all the latent manasic units within His body that a downflow of pure manas from the planetary manasic permanent atom was possible along the path of the planetary antahkarana - a channel which exists in the case of the planetary Logos, and which has not to be built as in the case of man. Along with this juxtaposition came a similar alignment with one of the Pleiades, permitting of manasic influence from that source. 30, 31

Third, the third method of individualization is the one to be followed in the next solar system, though it will have its faint beginnings in this one. It is not based on latent activity as in the first case, nor in electrical polarity as in the second, but in a peculiar process of "occult abstraction" (using the word "abstraction" in its basic sense as "the drawing out" of essence). This occult abstraction is brought about by an effort of the will at present incomprehensible. The first method of individualization [350] is that of the third aspect, or latent activity, and follows the line of least resistance under the Law of Economy; the second method is the purely electrical one, and works under the Law of Attraction; whilst the third method lies hidden in dynamic will and is as yet to us impossible and incomprehensible.

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29 The above information about the "Rods" is taken out of Initiation Human and Solar, page 126.

30 "The Secret of the Pleiades and of their relation to the Seven Rishis of the Great Bear, and therefore to our Seven Heavenly Men, is not yet to be revealed. It is known only in detail to the Chohans. of the Seventh Initiation, though the fact that there is such a relation is now exoteric." H.P.B. speaks of it in the Secret Doctrine.

31 "See S. D, II, 711, 725, 726.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Div. B - Manas as a Cosmic, Systemic and Human Factor

Religious students will study the side of manifestation we call the "life side" just as the scientist studies that called "matter," and both will come to a realization of the close relation existing between the two, and thus the old gap and the ancient warfare between science and religion will be in temporary abeyance. Definite methods of demonstrating the fact that life persists after the death of the physical body will be followed, and the etheric web will be recognized as a factor in the case. The connection between the different planes will be sought, and the analogy between the fourth etheric subplane and the fourth or buddhic plane (the fourth cosmic ether) will be studied, for it will be realized that the life of those Entities, Whom we recognize as the planetary Logoi, pours [430] through our scheme from the fourth cosmic plane, the cosmic buddhic, and thus in a very special sense through all lesser correspondences. The alignment will be as follows:

The fourth cosmic plane, the cosmic buddhic.

The fourth cosmic ether, the fourth plane of the system, the buddhic.

The fourth etheric subplane of our physical plane.

There is thus a line of least resistance from the planes of the cosmos, producing a special activity in connection with the Heavenly Men, demonstrating on Their Own plane, and sequentially in connection with the units in Their bodies on lower levels. Lines of force, extending from our scheme extra-systemically, will be a recognized fact, and will be interpreted by scientists in terms of electrical phenomena, and by the religious man in terms of life, - the life force of certain Entities.

Philosophic students will endeavor simultaneously to link these two schools of thought, and to demonstrate the factor of the intelligent adaptation of the electrical phenomena which we call matter, - of that energized active material we call substance, - to the life purpose of a cosmic Being. In these three lines of thought, therefore, - scientific, religious, and philosophic, - we have the beginning of the conscious building, or construction of the antahkarana of that group which we call the fifth root-race.

On the fourth subplane of the astral plane, a similar activity will be noted as in process. The inflowing force will cause an astral stimulation in the bodies of many of the human family who are still on that subplane, and will bring about an awakening of the desire for harmony in a new manner. This will work out relatively well in the sixth subrace. It should be remembered that numbers of the old Atlanteans (fourth root-race men) will respond to [431] the stimulation and will find their way into incarnation at that time, for the four and the six are always closely allied. We have another suggestive analogy in the fact that the devas of the fourth ether will be soon swinging into recognized utility and that in the sixth subrace the deva evolution will be exceedingly prominent. The fourth plane is the plane of at-one-ment for certain deva and human units, and certain groups (the fourth Creative Hierarchy and the sixth Deva Hierarchy) have a pronounced karma to work out together. One can now see the supreme importance of the human Hierarchy, the fourth in this sequence of planes and ideas.

Second Cosmic Plane - Seven Cosmic Logoi.

Fourth Cosmic Plane - Seven Rishis of the Great Bear.

Second Solar Plane - Seven Heavenly Men.

Fourth Solar Plane - Seven centers of the seven Heavenly Men in the fourth cosmic ether.

Fourth subplane of the solar physical - Seven centers of the human unit in ether of the fourth order.

The beauty of the interlocking system will be apparent, even though it may not be so immediately understandable wherein lies the relation between these complexities of entities. We must ever remember that we are considering the force or life-energy of these entities as it pours into, and works through definite, material, substantial forms.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division C - The Egoic Ray and Solar Fire

b. The Atomic Triangle

The causal sheath is to the clairvoyant therefore a sphere of vibrant living substance; within it can be seen three fiery points. At the heart of the sphere is a central blaze of light, emitting [514] rays; these rays are given as seven in number, and play upon these points or circles (analogous to the electrons in the atoms of science) and at this stage produce most effect upon the astral permanent atom. The physical permanent atom has a position relatively close to the positive center, and the force plays through it, and passes on to the astral permanent atom in the form of five rays of parti-colored light which blend with the intensely vivid hue of the astral permanent atom, and increase its intensity until the blaze is so excessive that it appears to the onlooker as if the two points blended, or the two electrons merged, and (in merging) produce such an intensity of light that they are seen as dissolving. The mental unit, having a position within the causal body analogous to the planet furthermost from the sun, becomes vibrant likewise, and the two other points (considered now as one) begin to interact with the mental unit, and a similar process is set up and is pursued until these two points - circulating around their positive center - also approach each other, blend, merge, and dissolve. The center of positive life gathers or synthesizes the three points, and thus the three fires of the personality repeat on their tiny scale the microcosmic procedure as seen in the synthesis of electric fire, solar fire, and fire by friction, and only a blazing unit is left. This blazing unit, through the combined heat of its being, burns up the causal body, and escapes back on to the planes of abstraction. Thus man is the Path itself, and also the pilgrim upon the Path; thus does he burn, but is also the burning-ground.

The analogy holds true in the case of the microcosm viewed from monadic levels in his manifestation as Monad, Ego and Personality, and thus the process is carried on as it concerns a Heavenly Man, and likewise a solar Logos. Should the brain suffice to hold the concept, thus [515] is the process also on cosmic levels for such high existences as the seven Rishis of the Great Bear, and that still greater Being, the ONE ABOUT WHOM NOUGHT MAY BE SAID.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals

SECTION TWO - DIVISION D - THOUGHT ELEMENTALS AND FIRE ELEMENTALS

Under this division we shall briefly give an outline of the study which we will undertake upon this vast and stupendous subject, for, as it definitely concerns the evolution of man and his power eventually to create, it will be wise for us to take up the matter in some detail.

This section is not intended to give interesting bits of information anent the devas; I only seek to deal with the matter in its practical application to man, and to give as much of the necessary knowledge as will enable a man to control and build his own system, to understand the method of creation and to comprehend somewhat the lesser lives and the paralleling deva evolution with which he may be concerned.

I. Thought Forms

1. Their Function

It will be noted that in studying this matter we have not started with that which is most apparent, the exoteric form in mental matter, but with the inner life or Idea within the form and with the Laws that govern the creative [552] aspect. This function of every thought form, is threefold:

To respond to vibration

To provide a body for an idea

To carry out specific purpose.

Let us first study the logoic thought form and then turn our attention to the thought forms fabricated by the Thinker from the systemic mental planes and in mental matter. We have to note that, in the case of the Logos, all upon which we have to base our conclusions are His physical manifestation, and His quality, psychic nature, aroma, emanation or magnetism, as we see it working out through the form. Hence we are very much handicapped.

a. Response to Vibration

It is always recognized in occult circles that the whole object of human evolution is to enable the Thinker to respond to every contact fully and consciously, and thus to utilize his material sheath, or sheaths, as adequate transmitter of such contact. The most easily studied human thought-form is the one the Ego creates through which to function. He builds his sheaths by the power of thought, and the dense physical body is the best sheath that - at any particular stage of evolution - he can at the time manufacture. The same can be predicated of the solar Logos. He builds by the power of thought a body which can respond to that group of vibrations which are concerned with the cosmic physical plane (the only one we can study). It is not yet adequate, and does not fully express the logoic Thinker.

The vibrations to which the systemic thought-form must respond are many in number, but for our purposes might be enumerated as mainly seven:

The vibrations of the cosmic physical plane, viewing it as all the matter of that plane which exists [553] outside the logoic ring-pass-not. It concerns the pranic and akashic fluids and currents.

The vibrations of the cosmic astral plane as they affect the physical form of divine manifestation. This involves cosmically the action upon our solar Logos of the emotional quality of other cosmic entities, and concerns the magnetic effect upon Him of their psychic emanation. This, in view of the fact that His dense physical body is not a principle, is of a more potent nature than the first set of vibrations, as is the case also in man's evolution.

Vibrations from that which, within the logoic consciousness, is recognized as the logoic Higher Self, or His emanating source. This brings the solar system within the vibratory radius of certain constellations which have a position of profound importance in the general evolution of the system.

Vibrations from Sirius via the cosmic mental plane.

Vibrations from the seven Rishis of the Great Bear, and primarily from those two Who are the Prototypes of the Lords of the seventh and fifth Rays. This is a most important point, and finds its microcosmic correspondence in the place which the seventh Ray has in the building of a thought-form, and the use of the fifth Ray in the work of concretion. All magicians who work with matter and who are occupied with form-building (either consciously or unconsciously) call in these two types of force or energy.

Certain very remote vibrations, as yet no more appreciable in the logoic Body than is monadic influence in that of average man, from the ONE ABOUT WHOM NAUGHT MAY BE SAID, that cosmic [554] Existence Who is expressing Himself through seven centers of force, of which our solar system is one.

A series of vibrations which will become more potent as our Logos nears that period which is occultly called "Divine Maturity," which emanate from that constellation in the Heavens which embodies His polar opposite. This is a deep mystery and concerns the cosmic marriage of the Logos.

It will be apparent, therefore, how little can as yet be predicated anent the future of the solar system until the vibrations of the sixth and seventh order become more powerful, and their effects can consequently be studied more easily. It is not possible here to do more than indicate the seven types of vibrations to which our solar Logos (functioning in a material body) will in due course of time consciously, and fully, respond. He responds to vibrations of the first, second, third and fourth order quite fully at this time, but as yet (though responding) cannot fully, and consciously, utilize these types of energy. The vibration of the fifth order is recognized by Him, particularly in three of His centers, but is not as yet fully under His control. The other two are sensed, and felt, but so remotely as to be almost outside the range of His consciousness.

In carrying out these ideas in connection with man and the thought forms which he fabricates (such as his material sheaths), the correspondence can be worked out within the system, and from the point of view of the planetary schemes in which man has his place. The work of man as he builds in mental thought matter and constructs forms extraneous to himself, we shall deal with later.

The methods whereby vibratory response is brought about might be enumerated as follows: [555]

Through the factor of time in evolution.

Through extra-systemic stimulation and intensive training, whether for a Logos or a man.

Through the process of Initiation, and the application of the Rods of Initiation.

The factor of evolution is recognized and studied by many schools of thought, esoteric or exoteric. The extra-systemic stimulation involves a large number of factors, but the main two to be remembered are that this stimulation will be applied:

Through the group to the unit.

Through a more evolved "Kingdom of Nature" to a less evolved.

As regards the third factor of Initiation, it must be borne in mind that we are here considering only the great initiations, and not the numerous expansions of consciousness which can be traced through all kingdoms and all manifestations.

In connection with what we have considered above, anent the primary function of a thought-form (the power to respond to vibration) I would emphasize the necessity of remembering that that response must be made by the inner embodied Idea, and that it will then through a complex reflex action, bring about response from the material sheath which veils it. Vibration is the result of subjective impulse, and makes its appeal to the subjective consciousness through impact upon whatever may be understood as substance; this impact is transmitted direct to the inner life, and in due turn is retransmitted to substance in the form of recognition or realization. An analogous process may be studied in the nerve reactions of the physical frame, and their alliance with the brain consciousness.

As will be seen in the three worlds of man's emprise, man will work as a Creator and will follow a similar procedure. [556] His thought forms will be constructed of mental matter, chosen specifically because it vibrates to the same type of vibration as the Idea seeking embodiment, and these forms will persist - as does the logoic thought form, the solar system - for just as long as the factor of Will, or dynamic vitality, continues to hold it together.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals

To carry the simile, or analogy, even further back and thus bear in mind the resemblance between microcosmic and macrocosmic development we have:

The seven Spirits who find Their originating incentive on:

The cosmic lower mental levels.

The logoic "Jewel in the Lotus."

The cosmic atmic plane.

The seven Heavenly Men are in the line of force from:

The cosmic astral plane.

The logoic nine-petalled lotus.

The cosmic buddhic plane (the seven Rishis of the Great Bear).

The seven Sons of Fohat find their vital force emanating from:

The cosmic physical plane.

The logoic permanent atoms (within the causal body).

The cosmic higher mental levels.

Yet these three are but the expressions of One Existence, for behind the Logos in physical incarnation is to be found the logoic Monad, expressing Itself through the logoic Ego, and its reflection, the logoic Personality.

All these spiritual Essences are individualized self-conscious Identities, and the "Fiery Lives" are real, and conscious, vital Existences. Thus we see the Logos manifesting as One Unity yet Three in One; we see the threefold Unity differentiating into the seven great Lives, containing within Themselves all lesser lives.

Another broad differentiation must next be touched upon: [631]

The seven Fires form the forty-nine Fires.

The seven Heavenly Men manifest through forty-nine lesser Rays.

The seven Spirits shew forth as forty-nine Existences.

In connection with the Spirit aspect it will prove unprofitable to carry the thought any further. Of Spirit per se we can know nothing, and beyond predicating the forty-nine 5 solar Manus (each of the Heavenly Men is expressing Himself on the physical plane through seven Manus) it is impossible to go. Therefore, in discussing these abstract questions, we will concern ourselves only with the seven Rays of Light, or Heavenly Men, and the seven Fires.

Each of the seven Rays of Light differentiates into seven making the forty-nine aspects of the logoic psychic nature, as it shews itself on the cosmic physical plane, and each of the seven Fires manifests as seven lesser Fires, making the forty-nine Fires referred to by H. P. B. in the Secret Doctrine (See S. D., 1, 567.). The seven Heavenly Men manifest each through seven lesser Entities, Who form the psychic centers in Their body in the same manner as They - in Their turn - form the psychic centers in the logoic vahan or vehicle. Each of the seven Fires, or Deva Lords, of a plane manifest through seven lesser devas, who form the central fire, and consciousness of the substance of a subplane. It is with their mutual interplay and work that we are now concerned, or with the study of matter as it is affected and built into form through the medium of Divine Thought or Will.

Of the higher Fires (the Lords of the four higher planes) I do not seek to deal, for it only profits us to [632] study the construction of thought-forms in the three worlds through the medium of deva essences; these are vitalized and manipulated by the Builders, the Dhyan Chohans, the Heavenly Men through the force of Their Life, through Their knowledge of the logoic Will or purpose, and through the power of Their psychic nature. Thus They are occupied in building the logoic physical body, and in carrying out His plans in that body, in this way fulfiling the purpose for which He incarnated. Their work is infinitely greater than this, for it lies primarily on cosmic levels, but this is what concerns us, and all that we can, in any way grasp. Man in the three worlds of human endeavor works at two things:

First. The building of his body of manifestation, a threefold body.

Second. The construction of thought-forms, which he builds of mental matter and vitalizes by desire, and which he holds within his aura, thus constructing a tiny system of his own.

Both man, and the Heavenly Men, work in deva substance; both cooperate with the devas; both manifest will, psychic quality and intelligent activity as they pursue their work but a difference lies, not only in degree, but in consciousness. Man works usually unconsciously. The Heavenly Men, on cosmic levels, work for the most part consciously. Herein lies a hint as to the stage of evolution of our Logos.

This matter is of real difficulty, for the subject is abstruse and profound. We will now leave these basic ideas, and deal more specifically with the devas with whom we are immediately concerned, or with the three groups I have outlined - the Agnichaitans, the Agnisuryans, and the Agnishvattas. They are concerned primarily with the evolution of the dense body of the Logos, the liquid, gaseous and dense subplanes of the [633] cosmic physical, or the three worlds of human endeavor; with the magnetic radiation of the Logos through His physical vehicle, and with the radiatory emanations of the particular Heavenly Man Who is expressing Himself through our planet. Finally they are concerned with the evolution of consciousness 7 in the three worlds, and particularly with the individualization of the human unit of consciousness, and with the vitalization of the centers in the body of the Heavenly Man with Whom we are peculiarly connected.

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5 The forty-nine Manus. They are the patrons or guardians of the race cycles in a manvantara, or Day of Brahma. There are seven races in a world period, and there are seven world periods.

7 The Lunar Angels have to reach the plane of the Solar Angels. - S. D., I, 203.

They have to win immortality. - S. D., III, 518, 519.

Self-consciousness is their goal. - S. D., I, 205; II, 622.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals

Group A. Agnichaitans

We have seen that on all planes the groups of devas can be divided into three [654] main groups, even though usually studied in their dual capacity of involutionary and evolutionary force units. Broadly speaking, these groups can be viewed as:

Those which embody the positive aspect, or positive electrical phenomena.

Those which embody the negative aspect.

That group which - in time and space - is the union of the two aspects and which - during evolution - demonstrates the third type of electrical phenomena.

Another grouping of this triplicity can be made which brings them into line with the order of manifestation as laid down in the ancient cosmogony, and this we followed when we enumerated the groups of Agnichaitans.

Group A - Corresponds to the manifestations of existence as seen on the highest plane, or that aspect which is understood by the term Agni.

Group B - Corresponds to the Vishnu-Surya aspect.

Group C - Corresponds to the Brahma or the creative Logos aspect.

We have recapitulated thus, as it is desirable to have the thought clearly defined.

We have touched upon the two lower groups of devas. Now, we might take up the consideration of Group A, the most important group on the physical plane from the standpoint of creation, and of objectivity, for they are the life of matter itself and the intelligence animating the forms of all that exists on the systemic physical [656] plane; they are not self-conscious intelligence, but consciousness as understood by the occultist.

Each of the atomic subplanes in the solar system is closely interrelated with the others, and the seven atomic subplanes of all the planes form a unity, and are essentially the cosmic physical plane as the term is occultly understood. The subplanes of which they are the originating source bear the same relationship to them as the six principles do to the seventh. Therefore, the devas of Group A are the concentrated creative force of the subplanes, the origin of the objective side of physical manifestation, and the source of the seven Breaths of the creative Logos on the physical plane. But it must be remembered that in each scheme the creative impulse or will is the planetary Logos of the scheme, Who as truly creates His body of Manifestation under the Law (His dense physical planet) as man - under the same Law - creates his physical body, or as the solar Logos (at the other end of the scale) creates His body, a solar system.

This has a definite and esoteric bearing upon the subject under discussion, and the essential differences between the Heavenly Men seeking manifestation will be seen in Their schemes, and therefore in the types of devas through whom They function, and out of whose essence Their form is made.

It might be expressed thus: Just as each man has a body which, in its main characteristics and form, resembles other bodies, yet in its quality and personal distinctive features is unique, so each of the Heavenly Men builds for Himself a body out of deva substance or spirit-matter which is of the same nature as that of His brothers, and yet which is distinctive, colored by His own peculiar coloring, vibrant to His own particular key, and able to demonstrate His own unique quality. This is produced through the peculiar type of deva [656] essence He chooses, or (to word it perhaps more occultly) it has involved the response of certain peculiar groups of devas to His note. They embody in themselves just those constituents which He requires to build His body or scheme. It will, therefore, be recognized that the devas of Group A, being what we might call the key-devas, are of prime importance, and, from our present standpoint, must remain abstract and esoteric. If we consider this under the Law of Analogy, and study the essentially esoteric nature of the plane of the Logos (the first plane, called Adi) the reason for this will be apparent. If the devas of Group A could be recognized, or even contacted by advanced men, the study of their nature, coloring and tone would reveal to unprepared humanity the coloring and tone of our particular planetary Logos. For this knowledge the race is not ready. It would reveal also, through the study of the Law of Action and Reaction, which of the incarnating Egos were on the ray of this Logos; the deductions from this would lead men into dangerous realms, and put power into hands as yet unprepared to wield it wisely.

Therefore, Group A of Agnichaitans must remain profoundly esoteric, and their true nature can only be revealed to the Adept of the great Law.

Thus only a few hints are permissible, and these deal simply with the relationship of man to these entities. He is related to them primarily because his physical permanent atom is directly energized by them, being a part of their essential nature, and having a place in their form. It will be apparent to any student that if the permanent atoms of the lower man are within the causal periphery the devas of the three worlds on the atomic subplanes must work in the closest cooperation; there must be unity of purpose and of plan.

The devas of the atomic levels of all the planes in our scheme work in close affiliation: [657]

With each other, thus making seven groups who are the sumtotal of the Brahma aspect of our planetary Logos.

With the seven groups who constitute the atomic matter of that scheme which is the polar opposite of ours.

With that particular group in that scheme which is one of the points in a systemic triangle of which our scheme and our opposite scheme are the other two.

With corresponding groups in lesser degree in all the systemic schemes.

With the scheme which corresponds to the first aspect, or the plane of Adi.

With those devas who form the spirit-substance of the manifestation of that particular Rishi of the Great Bear Who is the prototype of our particular planetary Logos.

With those devas who form the substance of that one of those esoteric existences who are spoken of in the Secret Doctrine (See S. D, II, 579-582) as "The wives of the seven Rishis," or the seven sisters, the Pleiades. One of these seven sisters has a close connection with our Heavenly Man, and therefore we have an interesting cosmic interplay as follows:

One of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear.

One of the seven Sisters, or a Pleiad.

The Heavenly Man of our scheme.

This interplay will be threefold and as far as we are concerned just now will involve a transmission of life force through the atomic matter of our planes, circulating in deva substance. This will materially affect certain types of humanity more than others, according to their ray and nature, and this effect will demonstrate in [658] a vivification of the spirillae of the permanent atoms and of the centers.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals

Students should ever bear in mind that these occult subjects can be expressed in a twofold manner:

In terms of the three worlds, or from the standpoint of the logoic dense physical body.

In terms of force or energy, or from the standpoint of the logoic body of prana or vitality, the four cosmic ethers.

What we understand by the fifth principle is but the expression on the causal plane of that force or energy which emanates from the logoic causal body on the fifth cosmic plane, via the logoic correspondence to the mental unit. (These correspondences involve a concept far in advance of what is possible even to an initiate at this time). In the fifth round, the inner significance may become more apparent to the disciple. As the logoic will is gradually transmuted into desire and thus the physical incarnation is produced, a tremendous downflow of vitalizing force from the fifth cosmic plane takes place, until it arrives at our fifth plane, the mental. This force it is which - at the correct cyclic moment - causes certain eventualities in time and space and in the three worlds, His dense physical body. The first of these events is the appropriation by the Logos of that dense physical vehicle, and the flashing into manifestation [692] of the physical Sun and the physical planets. Though this, from our standpoint, covers an inconceivably vast period of time, to the Logos it is but the brief period of gestation which all bodies undergo. A second momentous occurrence is the appropriation by the various Prajapatis, 30 or Heavenly Men of their physical bodies - again at varying times and according to their evolutionary stage. This is of later date for the seven than for the three. An idea of the meaning of this distinction can be gleaned by the student, as he studies the process of the incarnating ego.

What do we consequently find? First of all, impulse, or the will-to-be, emanating from the mental plane; then desire, emanating from the astral plane, producing manifestation on the dense physical.

This idea must be extended to the three Logoi or logoic Aspects and we then have the key to the mystery of the nine Sephiroth, the triple Trimurti.

The other event might be noted, - the appropriation at a still later period in time and space by the individual Monads of their bodies of manifestation.

The pouring in of this force of energy, emanating from the fifth logoic Principle, brings about two things:

The appropriation by the sevenfold Logos of His dense physical body.

The appearance on the fifth systemic plane of the causal bodies of the human Monads.

or

For the greater Life it was incarnation.

For the lesser lives it was individualization.

This needs pondering upon. [693]

It will, therefore, be apparent to all thinkers why this fifth principle stirred the third aspect into self-conscious activity.

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30 Prajapatis. The Progenitors; the givers of life to all on this earth. They are seven and then ten corresponding to the seven and ten Sephiroth. Cosmically, they are the seven Rishis of the Great Bear; systemically they are the seven planetary Logoi, and from the standpoint of our planet they are the seven Kumaras.

See S. D., I, 109, 122, 459, 661; II, 33, 36; footnote 80.

A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section Two - Division D - Thought Elementals and Fire Elementals

The second group, the intermediate, can be subdivided into two lesser groups:

Those who implant the spark of manas,

Those who fan and feed the latent flame in the best types of animal man,

thus again making five. These statements have been accepted at their face value, but little attention is paid to the real meaning. Much profit would come if the student would study the subject from the standpoint of energy, and of magnetic interaction. Those who refused to incarnate or to energize with their life the prepared forms, were acting under Law, and their opposition to incarnation in these forms was based on magnetic repulsion. They could not energize the forms provided, for it involved the opposition of that which is occultly the same. The lesser was not negative to the greater Life. Where the Spark was implanted we have the receptivity of the negative aspect to the positive force and therefore the progress of the work. In every case we have deva substance of one polarity energized by another polarity with the goal in view of producing - through their mutual interaction - a balancing of forces, and the attainment of a third type of electrical phenomena.

The question of the coming of the Lords of Flame is discussed hereafter under the heading "Individualization." At this point we are only dealing with the work of these chohanic forces in a systemic and cosmic sense. These solar entities, being liberated intelligent Essences were in pralaya of a secondary nature when the time came for their reappearance in manifestation. When the WORD sounded forth which produced desire in the Triad for self-expression, and when the sound of the lower manifestation had blended with it, and had risen up into the Heavens, as the occult books express it, [702] an effect was produced which caused a response in certain allied constellations; this set loose energy which swept into the solar system, carrying with it those solar angels who "rested in the Heart of God until the hour was come." Their appearance upon the mental plane brought about the union of Spirit and matter, and from this union was born a self-conscious Identity, the Ego. On cosmic levels, an analogous process occurs in connection with such stupendous Identities as a solar Logos, and the septenary Lives.

As the energy of a human being, seeking incarnation, passes down from the plane of intensive purpose, the mental plane, into the physical vehicle on the gaseous or fifth subplane, so a somewhat analogous stimulation takes place in the body logoic. A somewhat similar process can also be seen in connection with this energy in a human body as it stimulates the life of the individual cell, and brings about relatively its intelligent cooperation in group work, and its ability to take its place in the body corporate. It is so with the human Monads, the cells in the body lo