THEOSOPHICAL MANUALS. No. 5

 THE ASTRAL PLANE

 ITS SCENERY, INHABITANTS AND

 PHENOMENA

 C. W. LEADBEATER

 London:

 Theosophical Publishing Society

 7 Duke Street, Adelphi, W. C. 

 BENARES: THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, MADRAS: _The Theosophist_ OFFICE, ADYAR. 

 1895

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PREFACE. 

_Few words are needed in sending this little book out into the world. It is the fifth of a series of Manuals designed to meet the publicdemand for a simple exposition of Theosophical teachings. Some havecomplained that our literature is at once too abstruse, too technical, and too expensive for the ordinary reader, and it is our hope that thepresent series may succeed in supplying what is a very real want. Theosophy is not only for the learned; it is for all. Perhaps amongthose who in these little books catch their first glimpse of itsteachings, there may be a few who will be led by them to penetratemore deeply into its philosophy, its science and its religion, facingits abstruser problems with the student's zeal and the neophyte'sardour. But these Manuals are not written for the eager student, whomno initial difficulties can daunt; they are written for the busy menand women of the work-a-day world, and seek to make plain some of thegreat truths that render life easier to bear and death easier to face. Written by servants of the Masters who are the Elder Brothers of ourrace, they can have no other object than to serve our fellow-men. _

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CONTENTS. 

Introduction. 

Scenery. --The Seven Subdivisions--Degrees ofMateriality--Characteristics of Astral Vision--The Aura--The EthericDouble--Power of Magnifying Minute Objects--The "Summerland"--Recordsof the Astral Light. 

Inhabitants. --I. Human. (1) _Living_:--The Adept or Chela inMāyāvirūpa--The Psychically Developed Person--The Ordinary Person in AstralBody--The Black Magician. (2) _Dead_:--The Nirmānakāya--The Chela awaitingReincarnation--The Ordinary Person after Death--The Shade--The Shell--TheVitalized Shell--The Suicide--The Victim of Sudden Death--The Vampire--TheWerewolf--The Black Magician after Death. II. Non-human:--The ElementalEssence--The Kāmarūpas of Animals--Various Classes of Nature-Spirits, commonly called Fairies--Kāmadevas--Rūpadevas--Arūpadevas--The Devarājahs. III. Artificial:--Elementals formed Unconsciously--GuardianAngels--Elementals formed Consciously--Human Artificials--The True Originof Spiritualism. 

Phenomena. --Churchyard Ghosts. --Apparitions of the Dying--HauntedLocalities--Family Ghosts--Bell-ringing, Stone-throwing, etc. --Fairies--Communicating Entities--AstralResources--Clairvoyance--Prevision--Second-Sight--Astral Forces--EthericCurrents--Etheric Pressure--Latent Energy--SympatheticVibration--Mantras--Disintegration--Materialization--Why Darkness isrequired at a _Séance_--Spirit Photographs--Reduplication--Precipitation ofLetters and Pictures--Slate-writing--Levitation--Spirit Lights--HandlingFire--Transmutation--Repercussion. 

Conclusion. 

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THE ASTRAL PLANE. 

INTRODUCTION

Reference to the astral plane, or Kāmaloka as it is called inSanskrit, has frequently been made by Theosophical writers, and a gooddeal of information on the subject of this realm of nature is to befound scattered here and there in our books; but there is not, so faras I am aware, any single volume to which one can turn for a completesummary of the facts at present known to us about this interestingregion. The object of this manual is to collect and make some attemptto arrange this scattered information, and also to supplement itslightly in cases where new facts have come to our knowledge. It mustbe understood that any such additions are only the result of theinvestigations of a few explorers, and must not, therefore, be takenas in any way authoritative, but are given simply for what they areworth. On the other hand every precaution in our power has been takento ensure accuracy, no fact, old or new, being admitted to this manualunless it has been confirmed by the testimony of at least twoindependent trained investigators among ourselves, and has also beenpassed as correct by older students whose knowledge on these points isnecessarily much greater than ours. It is hoped, therefore, that thisaccount of the astral plane, though it cannot be considered as quitecomplete, may yet be found reliable as far as it goes. 

The first point which it is necessary to make clear in describing thisastral plane is its absolute _reality_. Of course in using that word Iam not speaking from that metaphysical standpoint from which all butthe One Unmanifested is unreal because impermanent; I am using theword in its plain, every-day sense, and I mean by it that the objectsand inhabitants of the astral plane are real in exactly the same wayas our own bodies, our furniture, our houses or monuments are real--asreal as Charing Cross, to quote an expressive remark from one of theearliest Theosophical works. They will no more endure for ever thanwill objects on the physical plane, but they are neverthelessrealities from our point of view while they last--realities which wecannot afford to ignore merely because the majority of mankind is asyet unconscious, or but vaguely conscious, of their existence. 

There appears to be considerable misunderstanding even amongTheosophical students upon this question of the reality of the variousplanes of the universe. This may perhaps be partly due to the factthat the word "plane" has occasionally been very loosely used in ourliterature--writers speaking vaguely of the mental plane, the moralplane, and so on; and this vagueness has led many people to supposethat the information on the subject which is to be found inTheosophical books is inexact and speculative--a mere hypothesisincapable of definite proof. No one can get a clear conception of theteachings of the Wisdom-Religion until he has at any rate anintellectual grasp of the fact that in our solar system there existperfectly definite planes, each with its own matter of differentdegrees of density, and that some of these planes can be visited andobserved by persons who have qualified themselves for the work, exactly as a foreign country might be visited and observed; and that, by comparison of the observations of those who are constantly workingon these planes, evidence can be obtained of their existence andnature at least as satisfactory as that which most of us have for theexistence of Greenland or Spitzbergen. The names usually given tothese planes, taking them in order of materiality, rising from thedenser to the finer, are the physical, the astral, the devachanic, thesushuptic, and the nirvānic. Higher than this last are two others, butthey are so far above our present power of conception that for themoment they may be left out of consideration. Now it should beunderstood that the matter of each of these planes differs from thatof the one below it in the same way as, though to a much greaterdegree than, vapour differs from solid matter; in fact, the states ofmatter which we call solid, liquid, and gaseous are merely the threelowest subdivisions of the matter belonging to this one physicalplane. 

The astral region which I am to attempt to describe is the second ofthese great planes of nature--the next above (or within) that physicalworld with which we are all familiar. It has often been called therealm of illusion--not that it is itself any more illusory than thephysical world, but because of the extreme unreliability of theimpressions brought back from it by the untrained seer. This is to beaccounted for mainly by two remarkable characteristics of the astralworld--first, that many of its inhabitants have a marvellous power ofchanging their forms with Protean rapidity, and also of castingpractically unlimited glamour over those with whom they choose tosport; and secondly, that sight on that plane is a faculty verydifferent from and much more extended than physical vision. An objectis seen, as it were, from all sides at once, the inside of a solidbeing as plainly open to the view as the outside; it is thereforeobvious that an inexperienced visitor to this new world may well findconsiderable difficulty in understanding what he really does see, andstill more in translating his vision into the very inadequate languageof ordinary speech. A good example of the sort of mistake that islikely to occur is the frequent reversal of any number which the seerhas to read from the astral light, so that he would be liable torender, say, 139 as 931, and so on. In the case of a student ofoccultism trained by a capable Master such a mistake would beimpossible except through great hurry or carelessness, since such apupil has to go through a long and varied course of instruction inthis art of seeing correctly, the Master, or perhaps some moreadvanced pupil, bringing before him again and again all possible formsof illusion, and asking him "What do you see?" Any errors in hisanswers are then corrected and their reasons explained, until bydegrees the neophyte acquires a certainty and confidence in dealingwith the phenomena of the astral plane which far exceeds anythingpossible in physical life. But he has to learn not only to seecorrectly but to translate the memory of what he has seen accuratelyfrom one plane to the other; and to assist him in this he is trainedto carry his consciousness without break from the physical plane tothe astral or devachanic and back again, for until that can be donethere is always a possibility that his recollections may be partiallylost or distorted during the blank interval which separates hisperiods of consciousness on the various planes. When the power ofbringing over the consciousness is perfectly acquired the pupil willhave the advantage of the use of all the astral faculties, not onlywhile out of his body during sleep or trance, but also while fullyawake in ordinary physical life. 

It has been the custom of some Theosophists to speak with scorn ofthe astral plane, and treat it as entirely unworthy of attention; butthat seems to me a somewhat mistaken view. Most assuredly that atwhich we have to aim is the purely spiritual plane, and it would bemost disastrous for any student to neglect that higher development andrest satisfied with the attainment of astral consciousness. There aresome whose Karma is such as to enable them to develop the purelyspiritual faculties first of all--to over-leap the astral plane forthe time, as it were; and when afterwards they make its acquaintancethey have, if their spiritual development has been perfect, theimmense advantage of dipping into it from above, with the aid of aspiritual insight which cannot be deceived and a spiritual strengthwhich nothing can resist. It is, however, a mistake to suppose, assome writers have done, that this is the only, or even the ordinarymethod adopted by the Masters of Wisdom with their pupils. Where it ispossible it saves much trouble, but for most of us such progress byleaps and bounds has been forbidden by our own faults or follies inthe past: all that we can hope for is to win our way slowly step bystep, and since this astral plane lies next to our world of densermatter, it is usually in connection with it that our earliestsuperphysical experiences take place. It is therefore by no meanswithout interest to those of us who are but beginners in thesestudies, and a clear comprehension of its mysteries may often be ofthe greatest importance to us, not only by enabling us to understandmany of the phenomena of the _séance_-room, of haunted houses, etc. , which would otherwise be inexplicable, but also to guard ourselves andothers from possible dangers. 

The first introduction to this remarkable region comes to people invarious ways. Some only once in their whole lives under some unusualinfluence become sensitive enough to recognize the presence of one ofits inhabitants, and perhaps, because the experience does not repeatitself, come in time to believe that on that occasion they must havebeen the victims of hallucination: others find themselves withincreasing frequency seeing and hearing something to which thosearound them are blind and deaf; others again--and perhaps this is thecommonest experience of all--begin to recollect with greater andgreater clearness that which they have seen or heard on that otherplane during sleep. Among those who make a study of these subjects, some try to develop the astral sight by crystal-gazing or othermethods, while those who have the inestimable advantage of the directguidance of a qualified teacher will probably be placed upon thatplane for the first time under his special protection, which will becontinued until, by the application of various tests, he has satisfiedhimself that the pupil is proof against any danger or terror that heis likely to encounter. But, however it may occur, the first actualrealization that we are all the while in the midst of a great worldfull of active life, of which most of us are nevertheless entirelyunconscious, cannot but be to some extent a memorable epoch in a man'sexistence. 

So abundant and so manifold is this life of the astral plane that atfirst it is absolutely bewildering to the neophyte; and even for themore practised investigator it is no easy task to attempt to classifyand to catalogue it. If the explorer of some unknown tropical forestwere asked not only to give a full account of the country throughwhich he had passed, with accurate details of its vegetable andmineral productions, but also to state the genus and species of everyone of the myriad insects, birds, beasts, and reptiles which he hadseen, he might well shrink appalled at the magnitude of theundertaking: yet even this affords no parallel to the embarrassmentsof the psychic investigator, for in his case matters are furthercomplicated, first by the difficulty of correctly translating fromthat plane to this the recollection of what he has seen, and secondlyby the utter inadequacy of ordinary language to express much of whathe has to report. However, just as the explorer on the physical planewould probably commence his account of a country by some sort ofgeneral description of its scenery and characteristics, so it will bewell to begin this slight sketch of the astral plane by endeavouringto give some idea of the scenery which forms the background of itsmarvellous and ever-changing activities. Yet here at the outset analmost insuperable difficulty confronts us in the extreme complexityof the matter. All who see fully on that plane agree that to attemptto call up before those whose eyes are as yet unopened a vivid pictureof this astral scenery is like speaking to a blind man of theexquisite variety of tints in a sunset sky--however detailed andelaborate the description may be, there is no certainty that the ideapresented before the hearer's mind will be an adequate representationof the truth. 

SCENERY. 

First of all, then, it must be understood that the astral plane hasseven subdivisions, each of which has its corresponding degree ofmateriality and its corresponding condition of matter. Now numberingthese from the highest and least material downwards, we find that theynaturally fall into three classes, divisions 1, 2 and 3 forming onesuch class, and 4, 5 and 6 another, while the seventh and lowest ofall stands alone. The difference between the matter of one of theseclasses and the next would be commensurable with that between a solidand a liquid, while the difference between the matter of thesubdivisions of a class would rather resemble that between two kindsof solid, such as, say, steel and sand. Putting aside for the momentthe seventh, we may say that divisions 4, 5 and 6 of the astral planehave for their background the physical world we live in and all itsfamiliar accessories. Life on the sixth division is simply ourordinary life on this earth, minus the physical body and itsnecessities; while as it ascends through the fifth and fourthdivisions it becomes less and less material, and is more and morewithdrawn from our lower world and its interests. 

The scenery of these lower divisions, then, is that of the earth as we knowit: but it is also very much more; for when looked at from this differentstandpoint, with the assistance of the astral senses, even purely physicalobjects present a very different appearance. As has already beenmentioned, they are seen by one whose eyes are fully opened, not as usualfrom one point of view, but from all sides at once--an idea in itselfsufficiently confusing; and when we add to this that every particle in theinterior of a solid body is as fully and clearly visible as those on theoutside, it will be comprehended that under such conditions even the mostfamiliar objects may at first be totally unrecognizable. Yet a moment'sconsideration will show that such vision approximates much more closely totrue perception than does physical sight. Looked at on the astral plane, for example, the sides of a glass cube would all appear equal, as theyreally are, while on the physical plane we see the further side inperspective--that is, it appears smaller than the nearer side, which is, ofcourse, a mere illusion. It is this characteristic of astral vision whichhas led to its sometimes being spoken of as sight in the fourthdimension--a very suggestive and expressive phrase. But in addition tothese possible sources of error matters are further complicated by the factthat astral sight cognizes forms of matter which, while still purelyphysical, are nevertheless invisible under ordinary conditions. Such, forexample, are the particles composing the atmosphere, all the variousemanations which are always being given out by everything that has life, and also four grades of a still finer order of physical matter which, forwant of more distinctive names, must all he described as etheric. Thelatter form a kind of system by themselves, freely interpenetrating allother physical matter; and the investigation of their vibrations and themanner in which various higher forces affect them would in itselfconstitute a vast field of deeply interesting study for any man of sciencewho possessed the requisite sight for its examination. 

Even when our imagination has fully grasped all that is comprehendedin what has already been said, we do not yet understand half thecomplexity of the problem; for besides all these new forms of physicalmatter we have to deal with the still more numerous and perplexingsubdivisions of astral matter. We must note first that every materialobject, every particle even, has its astral counterpart; and thiscounterpart is itself not a simple body, but is usually extremelycomplex, being composed of various kinds of astral matter. In additionto this each living creature is surrounded with an atmosphere of itsown, usually called its aura, and in the case of human beings thisaura forms of itself a very fascinating branch of study. It is seen asan oval mass of luminous mist of highly complex structure, and fromits shape has sometimes been called the auric egg. Theosophicalreaders will hear with pleasure that even at the early stage of hisdevelopment at which the pupil begins to acquire this astral sight, heis able to assure himself by direct observation of the accuracy of theteaching given through our great founder, Madame Blavatsky, on thesubject of some at least of the seven principles of man. In regardinghis fellow-man he no longer sees only his outer appearance; exactlyco-extensive with that physical body he clearly distinguishes theetheric double, which in Theosophical literature has usually beencalled the Linga Sharīra; while the Jīva, as it is absorbed andspecialized into Prāna, as it circulates in rosy light throughout thebody, as it eventually radiates from the healthy person in its alteredform, is also perfectly obvious. Most brilliant and most easily seenof all, perhaps, though belonging to quite a different order ofmatter--the astral--is the kāmic aura, which expresses by its vividand ever-changing flashes of colour the different desires which sweepacross the man's mind from moment to moment. This is the true astralbody. Behind that, and consisting of a finer grade of matter--that ofthe rūpa levels of Devachan--lies the devachanic body or aura of thelower Manas, whose colours, changing only by slow degrees as the manlives his life, show the disposition and character of the personality;while still higher and infinitely more beautiful, where at all clearlydeveloped, is the living light of the Kārana Sharīra, the aura orvehicle of the higher Manas, which shows the stage of development ofthe real Ego in its passage from birth to birth. But to see these thepupil must have developed something more than mere astral vision. 

It will save the student much trouble if he learns at once to regardthese auras not as mere emanations, but as the actual manifestation ofthe Ego on their respective planes--if he understands that it is theauric egg which is the real man, not the physical body which on thisplane crystallizes in the middle of it. So long as the reincarnatingEgo remains upon the plane which is his true home in the arūpa levelsof Devachan, the body which he inhabits is the Kārana Sharīra, butwhen he descends into the rūpa levels he must, in order to be able tofunction upon them, clothe himself in their matter; and the matterthat he thus attracts to himself furnishes his devachanic ormind-body. Similarly, descending into the astral plane he forms hisastral or kāmic body out of its matter, though of course stillretaining all the other bodies, and on his still further descent tothis lowest plane of all the physical body is formed in the midst ofthe auric egg, which thus contains the entire man. Fuller accounts ofthese auras will be found in _Transaction_ No. 18 of the London Lodge, and in a recent article of mine in _The Theosophist_, but enough hasbeen said here to show that as they all occupy the same space (whichby the way they share also with the physical health-aura), the finerinterpenetrating the grosser, it needs careful study and muchpractice to enable the neophyte to distinguish clearly at a glance theone from the other. Nevertheless the human aura, or more usually someone part of it only, is not infrequently one of the first purelyastral objects seen by the untrained, though in such a case itsindications are naturally very likely to be misunderstood. 

Though the kāmic aura from the brilliancy of its flashes of colour mayoften be more conspicuous, the nerve-ether and the etheric double arereally of a much denser order of matter, being strictly speakingwithin the limits of the physical plane, though invisible to ordinarysight. It has been the custom in Theosophical literature to describethe Linga Sharīra as the astral counterpart of the human body, theword "astral" having been usually applied to everything beyond thecognition of our physical senses. As closer investigation enables usto be more precise in the use of our terms, however, we find ourselvescompelled to admit much of this invisible matter as purely physical, and therefore to define the Linga Sharīra no longer as the astral, butas the etheric double. This seems an appropriate name for it, since itconsists of various grades of that matter which scientists call"ether, " though this proves on examination to be not a separatesubstance, as has been generally supposed, but a condition of finersubdivision than the gaseous, to which any kind of physical matter maybe reduced by the application of the appropriate forces. The name"etheric double" will therefore for the future be used in Theosophicwritings instead of "Linga Sharīra": and this change will not onlygive us the advantage of an English name which is clearly indicativeof the character of the body to which it is applied, but will alsorelieve us from the frequent misunderstandings which have arisen fromthe fact that an entirely different signification is attached in allthe Oriental books to the name we have hitherto been using. It mustnot however be supposed that in making this alteration innomenclature we are in any way putting forward a new conception; weare simply altering, for the sake of greater accuracy, the labelspreviously attached to certain facts in nature. If we examine withpsychic faculty the body of a newly-born child, we shall find itpermeated not only by astral matter of every degree of density, butalso by the several grades of etheric matter; and if we take thetrouble to trace these inner bodies backwards to their origin, we findthat it is of the latter that the etheric double--the mould upon whichthe physical body is built up--is formed by the agents of the LORDS ofKarma; while the astral matter has been gathered together by thedescending Ego--not of course consciously, but automatically--as hepasses through the astral plane. (See _Manual_ No. IV. , p. 44. )

Into the composition of the etheric double must enter something of allthe different grades of etheric matter; but the proportions may varygreatly, and are determined by several factors, such as the race, sub-race, and type of a man, as well as by his individual Karma. Whenit is remembered that these four subdivisions of matter are made up ofnumerous combinations, which, in their turn, form aggregations thatenter into the composition of the "atom" of the so-called "element" ofthe chemist, it will be seen that this second principle of man ishighly complex, and the number of its possible variations practicallyinfinite, so that, however complicated and unusual a man's Karma maybe, the LIPIKA are able to give a mould in accordance with which abody exactly suiting it can be formed. 

One other point deserves mention in connection with the appearance ofphysical matter when looked at from the astral plane, and that is thatthe astral vision possesses the power of magnifying at will theminutest physical particle to any desired size, as though by amicroscope, though its magnifying power is enormously greater thanthat of any microscope ever made or ever likely to be made. Thehypothetical molecule and atom postulated by science are thereforevisible realities to the occult student, though the latter recognizesthem as much more complex in their nature than the scientific man hasyet discovered them to be. Here again is a vast field of study ofabsorbing interest to which a whole volume might readily be devoted;and a scientific investigator who should acquire this astral sight inperfection, would not only find his experiments with ordinary andknown phenomena immensely facilitated, but would also see stretchingbefore him entirely new vistas of knowledge needing more than alifetime for their thorough examination. For example, one curious andvery beautiful novelty brought to his notice by the development ofthis vision would be the existence of other and entirely differentcolours beyond the limits of the ordinarily visible spectrum, theultra-red and ultra-violet rays which science has discovered by othermeans being plainly perceptible to astral sight. We must not, however, allow ourselves to follow these fascinating bye-paths, but must resumeour endeavour to give a general idea of the appearance of the astralplane. 

It will by this time be obvious that though, as above stated, theordinary objects of the physical world form the background to life oncertain levels of the astral plane, yet so much more is seen of theirreal appearance and characteristics that the general effect differswidely from that with which we are familiar. For the sake ofillustration take a rock as an example of the simpler class ofobjects. When regarded with trained sight it is no mere inert mass ofstone. First of all, the whole of the physical matter of the rock isseen instead of a very small part of it; secondly, the vibrations ofits physical particles are perceptible; thirdly, it is seen to possessan astral counterpart composed of various grades of astral matter, whose particles are also in constant motion; fourthly, the Jīva oruniversal life is seen to be circulating through it and radiating fromit; fifthly, an aura will be seen surrounding it, though this is, ofcourse, much less extended and varied than in the case of the higherkingdoms; sixthly, its appropriate elemental essence is seenpermeating it, ever active but ever fluctuating. In the case of thevegetable, animal and human kingdoms, the complications are naturallymuch more numerous. 

It may be objected by some readers that no such complexities as theseare described by most of the psychics who occasionally get glimpses ofthe astral world, nor are they reported at _séances_ by the entitiesthat manifest there; but this is readily accounted for. Few untrainedpersons on that plane, whether living or dead, see things as theyreally are until after very long experience; even those who do seefully are often too dazed and confused to understand or remember: andamong the very small minority who both see and remember there arehardly any who can translate the recollection into language on ourlower plane. Many untrained psychics never examine their visionsscientifically at all: they simply obtain an impression which may bequite correct, but may also be half false, or even wholly misleading. 

All the more probable does the latter hypothesis become when we takeinto consideration the frequent tricks played by sportive denizens ofthe other world, against which the untrained person is usuallyabsolutely defenceless. It must also be remembered that the regularinhabitant of the astral plane, whether he be human or elemental, isunder ordinary circumstances conscious only of the objects of thatplane, physical matter being to him as entirely invisible as is astralmatter to the majority of mankind. Since, as before remarked, everyphysical object has its astral counterpart, which _would_ be visibleto him, it may be thought that the distinction is a trivial one, yetit is an essential part of the symmetrical conception of the subject. If, however, an astral entity constantly works through a medium, thesefiner astral senses may gradually be so coarsened as to becomeinsensible to the higher grades of matter on their own plane, and toinclude in their purview the physical world as we see it instead; butonly the trained visitor from this life, who is fully conscious onboth planes, can depend upon seeing both clearly and simultaneously. Be it understood, then, that the complexity exists, and that only whenit is fully perceived and scientifically unravelled is there perfectsecurity against deception or mistake. 

For the seventh or lowest subdivision of the astral plane also thisphysical world of ours may be said to be the background, though whatis seen is only a distorted and partial view of it, since all that islight and good and beautiful seems invisible. It was thus describedfour thousand years ago in the Egyptian papyrus of the Scribe Ani:"What manner of place is this unto which I have come? It hath nowater, it hath no air; it is deep, unfathomable; it is black as theblackest night, and men wander helplessly about therein; in it a manmay not live in quietness of heart. " For the unfortunate entity onthat level it is indeed true that "all the earth is full of darknessand cruel habitations, " but it is darkness which radiates from withinhimself and causes his existence to be passed in a perpetual night ofevil and horror--a very real hell, though, like all other hells, entirely of man's own creation. 

Most students find the investigation of this section an extremelyunpleasant task, for there appears to be a sense of density and grossmateriality about it which is indescribably loathsome to the liberatedastral body, causing it the sense of pushing its way through someblack, viscous fluid, while the inhabitants and influencesencountered there are also usually exceedingly undesirable. 

The first, second, and third subdivisions seem much further removedfrom this physical world, and correspondingly less material. Entitiesinhabiting these levels lose sight of the earth and its belongings;they are usually deeply self-absorbed, and to a large extent createtheir own surroundings, though these are not purely subjective, as inDevachan, but on the contrary sufficiently objective to be perceptibleto other entities and also to clairvoyant vision. This region isbeyond doubt the "summerland" of which we hear so much atspiritualistic _séances_, and the entities who descend from anddescribe it are probably often speaking the truth as far as theirknowledge extends. It is on these planes that "spirits" call intotemporary existence their houses, schools, and cities, for theseobjects are often real enough for the time, though to a clearer sightthey may sometimes be pitiably unlike what their delighted creatorssuppose them to be. Nevertheless, many of the imaginations that takeform there are of real though temporary beauty, and a visitor who knewof nothing higher might wander contentedly enough there among forestsand mountains, lovely lakes and pleasant flower-gardens, or might evenconstruct such surroundings to suit his own fancies. 

It may be said in passing that communication is limited on the astralplane by the knowledge of the entity, just as it is here. While aperson able to function freely on that plane can communicate with anyof the human entities there present more readily and rapidly than onearth, by means of mental impressions, the inhabitants themselves donot usually seem able to exercise this power, but appear to berestricted by limitations similar to those that prevail on earth, though perhaps less rigid. The result of this is that they are foundassociating, there as here in groups drawn together by commonsympathies, beliefs, and language. 

An account of the scenery of the astral plane would be incompletewithout mention of what are commonly called the Records of the AstralLight, the photographic representation of all that has ever happened. These records are really and permanently impressed upon that highermedium called the Ākāsha, and are only reflected in a more or lessspasmodic manner in the astral light, so that one whose power ofvision does not rise above this plane will be likely to obtain onlyoccasional and disconnected pictures of the past instead of a coherentnarrative. But nevertheless pictures of all kinds of past events areconstantly being reproduced on the astral plane, and form an importantpart of the surroundings of the investigator there. 

INHABITANTS. 

Having sketched in, however slightly, the background of our picture, we must now attempt to fill in the figures--to describe theinhabitants of the astral plane. The immense variety of these entitiesmakes it exceedingly difficult to arrange and tabulate them. Perhapsthe most convenient method will be to divide them into three greatclasses, the human, the non-human, and the artificial. 

I. HUMAN. 

The human denizens of Kāmaloka fall naturally into two groups, theliving and the dead, or, to speak more accurately, those who havestill a physical body, and those who have not. 

1. LIVING. 

The entities which manifest on the astral plane during physical lifemay be subdivided into four classes:

1. _The Adept or Chela in the Māyāvirūpa. _ This body is the artificialvehicle used on the four lower or rūpa divisions of the devachanicplane by those capable of functioning there during earth-life, and isformed out of the substance of the mind-body. The pupil is at firstunable to construct this for himself, and has therefore to be contentwith his ordinary astral body composed of the less refined matter ofthe kāmic aura; but at a certain stage of his progress the MasterHimself forms his Māyāvirūpa for him for the first time, andafterwards instructs and assists him until he can make it for himselfeasily and expeditiously. When this facility is attained this vehicleis habitually used in place of the grosser astral body, since itpermits of instant passage from the astral to the devachanic plane andback again at will, and allows of the use at all times of the higherpowers belonging to its own plane. It must be noted, however, that aperson travelling in the Māyāvirūpa is not perceptible to merelyastral vision unless he chooses to make himself so by gathering aroundhim particles of astral matter and so creating for himself a temporarybody suitable to that plane, though such a temporary creation wouldresemble the ordinary astral body only as a materialization resemblesthe physical body; in each case it is a manifestation of a higherentity on a lower plane in order to make himself visible to thosewhose senses cannot yet transcend that plane. But whether he be in theMāyāvirūpa or the astral body, the pupil who is introduced to theastral plane under the guidance of a competent teacher has always thefullest possible consciousness there, and is in fact himself, exactlyas his friends know him on earth, minus only the four lower principlesin the former case and the three lower in the latter, and plus theadditional powers and faculties of this higher condition, which enablehim to carry on far more easily and far more efficiently on that planeduring sleep the Theosophical work which occupies so much of histhought in his waking hours. Whether he will remember fully andaccurately on the physical plane what he has done or learnt on theother depends largely, as before stated, upon whether he is able tocarry his consciousness without intermission from the one state to theother. 

2. _The Psychically-developed Person who is not under the guidance ofa Master. _ Such a person may or may not be spiritually developed, forthe two forms of advancement do not necessarily go together, and whena man is born with psychic powers it is simply the result of effortsmade during a previous incarnation, which may have been of the noblestand most unselfish character, or on the other hand may have beenignorant and ill-directed or even entirely unworthy. Such an one willusually be perfectly conscious when out of the body, but for want ofproper training is liable to be greatly deceived as to what he sees. He will often be able to range through the different subdivisions ofthe astral plane almost as fully as persons belonging to the lastclass; but sometimes he is especially attracted to some one divisionand rarely travels beyond its influences. His recollection of what hehas seen may vary according to the degree of his development throughall the stages from perfect clearness to utter distortion or blankoblivion. He will appear always in the astral body, since by thehypothesis he does not know how to form the Māyāvirūpa. 

3. _The Ordinary Person_--that is, the person without any psychicdevelopment--floating about in his astral body in a more or lessunconscious condition. In deep slumber the higher principles in theirastral vehicle almost invariably withdraw from the body, and hover inits immediate neighbourhood, practically almost as much asleep as thelatter. In some cases, however, this astral vehicle is less lethargic, and floats dreamily about on the various astral currents, occasionallyrecognizing other people in a similar condition, and meeting withexperiences of all sorts, pleasant and unpleasant, the memory ofwhich, hopelessly confused and often travestied into a grotesquecaricature of what really happened, will cause the man to think nextmorning what a remarkable dream he has had. These extruded astralbodies are almost shapeless and very indefinite in outline in the caseof the more backward races and individuals, but as the man develops inintellect and spirituality his floating astral becomes better definedand more closely resembles his physical encasement. Since thepsychical faculties of mankind are in course of evolution, andindividuals are at all stages of their development, this classnaturally melts by imperceptible gradations into the former one. 

4. _The Black Magician or his pupil. _ This class corresponds closelyto the first, except that the development has been for evil instead ofgood, and the powers acquired are used for purely selfish purposesinstead of for the benefit of humanity. Among its lower ranks comemembers of the negro race who practise the ghastly rites of the Obeahor Voodoo schools, and the medicine-men of many a savage tribe; whilehigher in intellect, and therefore the more blame-worthy, stand theTibetan black magicians, who are often, though incorrectly, called byEuropeans Dūgpas--a title properly belonging, as is quite correctlyexplained by Surgeon-Major Waddell in his recent work on _The Buddhismof Tibet_, only to the Bhotanese subdivision of the great Kargyu sect, which is part of what may be called the semi-reformed school ofTibetan Buddhism. The Dūgpas no doubt deal in Tāntrik magic to aconsiderable extent, but the real red-hatted entirely unreformed sectis that of the Ńin-mā-pa, though far beyond them in a still lowerdepth lie the Bön-pa--the votaries of the aboriginal religion, whohave never accepted any form of Buddhism at all. It must not, however, be supposed that all Tibetan sects except the Gelūgpa are necessarilyand altogether evil; a truer view would be that as the rules of othersects permit considerably greater laxity of life and practice, theproportion of self-seekers among them is likely to be much larger thanamong the stricter reformers. The investigator will occasionally meeton the astral plane students of occultism from all parts of the world(belonging to lodges quite unconnected with the Masters of whomTheosophists know most) who are in many cases most earnest andself-sacrificing seekers after truth. It is noteworthy, however, thatall such lodges are at least aware of the existence of the greatHimalayan Brotherhood, and acknowledge it as containing among itsmembers the highest Adepts now known on earth. 

2. DEAD. 

To begin with, of course this very word "dead" is an absurd misnomer, as most of the entities classified under this heading are as fullyalive as we are ourselves; the term must be understood as meaningthose who are for the time unattached to a physical body. They may besubdivided into nine principal classes as follows:

1. _The Nirmānakāya. _

This class is just mentioned in order to make the catalogue complete, but it is of course very rarely indeed that so exalted a beingmanifests himself upon so low a plane as this. When for any reasonconnected with his sublime work he found it desirable to do so, hewould probably create a temporary astral body for the purpose, just asthe Adept in the Māyāvirūpa would do, since the more refined vesturewould be invisible to astral sight. Further information about theposition and work of the Nirmānakāyas may be found in MadameBlavatsky's _Theosophical Glossary_ and _The Voice of the Silence_. 

2. _The Chela awaiting reincarnation. _

It has frequently been stated in Theosophical literature that when thepupil reaches a certain stage he is able with the assistance of hisMaster to escape from the action of what is in ordinary cases the lawof nature which carries a human being into the devachanic conditionafter death, there to receive his due reward in the full working outof all the spiritual forces which his highest aspirations have set inmotion while on earth. As the pupil must by the hypothesis be a man ofpure life and high thought, it is probable that in his case thesespiritual forces will be of abnormal strength, and therefore if he, touse the technical expression, "takes his Devachan, " it is likely to bean extremely long one; but if instead of taking it he chooses the Pathof Renunciation (thus even at his low level and in his humble waybeginning to follow in the footsteps of the Great Master ofRenunciation, GAUTAMA BUDDHA Himself), he is able to expend thatreserve of force in quite another direction--to use it for the benefitof mankind, and so, infinitesimal though his offering may be, to takehis tiny part in the great work of the Nirmānakāyas. By taking thiscourse he no doubt sacrifices centuries of intense bliss, but on theother hand he gains the enormous advantage of being able to continuehis life of work and progress without a break. When a pupil who hasdecided to do this dies, he simply steps out of his body, as he hasoften done before, and waits upon the astral plane until a suitablereincarnation can be arranged for him by his Master. This being amarked departure from the usual course of procedure, the permission ofa very high authority has to be obtained before the attempt can bemade; yet, even when this is granted, so strong is the force ofnatural law, that it is said the pupil must be careful to confinehimself strictly to the Kāmaloka while the matter is being arranged, lest if he once, even for a moment, touched the devachanic plane, hemight be swept as by an irresistible current into the line of normalevolution again. In some cases, though these are rare, he is enabledto avoid the trouble of a new birth by being placed directly in anadult body whose previous tenant has no further use for it, butnaturally it is not often that a suitable body is available. Far morefrequently he has to wait on the astral plane, as mentioned before, until the opportunity of a fitting birth presents itself. In themeantime, however, he is losing no time, for he is just as fullyhimself as ever he was, and is able to go on with the work given himby his Master even more quickly and efficiently than when in thephysical body, since he is no longer hampered by the possibility offatigue. His consciousness is of course quite complete, and he roamsat will through all the divisions of the Kāmaloka with equal facility. The chela awaiting reincarnation is by no means one of the commonobjects of the astral plane, but still he may be met withoccasionally, and therefore he forms one of our classes. No doubt asthe evolution of humanity proceeds, and an ever-increasing proportionenter upon the Path of Holiness, this class will become more numerous. 

3. _The Ordinary Person after death. _

Needless to say, this class is millions of times larger than those ofwhich we have spoken, and the character and condition of its membersvary within extremely wide limits. Within similarly wide limits mayvary also the length of their lives upon the astral plane, for whilethere are those who pass only a few days or hours there, others remainupon this level for many years and even centuries. A man who has led agood and pure life, whose strongest feelings and aspirations have beenunselfish and spiritual, will have no attraction to this plane, andwill, if entirely left alone, find little to keep him upon it, or toawaken him into activity even during the comparatively short period ofhis stay. For it must be understood that after death the true man iswithdrawing into himself, and just as at the first step of thatprocess he casts off the physical body, and almost directly afterwardsthe etheric double and the Prāna, so it is intended that he should assoon as possible cast off also the astral or kāmic body, and passinto the devachanic condition, where alone his spiritual aspirationscan find their full fruition. The noble and pure-minded man will beable to do this, for he has subdued all earthly passions during life;the force of his will has been directed into higher channels, andthere is therefore but little energy of lower desire to be worked outin Kāmaloka. His stay there will consequently be very short, and mostprobably he will have little more than a dreamy half-consciousness ofexistence until he sinks into the sleep during which his higherprinciples finally free themselves from the kāmic envelope and enterupon the blissful rest of Devachan. 

For the person who has not as yet entered upon the path of occultdevelopment, what has been described is the ideal state of affairs, but naturally it is not attained by all, or even by the majority. Theaverage man has by no means freed himself from the lower desiresbefore death, and it takes a long period of more or less fullyconscious life on the astral plane to allow the forces he hasgenerated to work themselves out, and thus release the higher Ego. Thebody which he occupies during this period is the Kāmarūpa which may bedescribed as a rearrangement of the matter of his astral body; but itis much more defined in outline, and there is also this importantdifference between the two that while the astral body, if sufficientlyawakened during life to function at all freely, would probably be ableto visit all, or at any rate most, of the subdivisions of its plane, the Kāmarūpa has not that liberty, but is strictly confined to thatlevel to which its affinities have drawn it. It has, however, acertain kind of progress connected with it, for it generally happensthat the forces a man has set in motion during earth-life need fortheir appropriate working out a sojourn on more divisions than one ofthe Kāmaloka, and when this is the case a regular sequence isobserved, commencing with the lowest; so that when the Kāmarūpa hasexhausted its attractions to one level, the greater part of itsgrosser particles fall away, and it finds itself in affinity with asomewhat higher state of existence. Its specific gravity, as it were, is constantly decreasing, and so it steadily rises from the denser tothe lighter strata, pausing only when it is exactly balanced for atime. This is evidently the explanation of a remark frequently made bythe entities which appear at _séances_ to the effect that they areabout to rise to a higher sphere, from which it will be impossible, ornot so easy, to "communicate" through a medium; and it is as a matterof fact true that a person upon the highest subdivision of this planewould find it almost impossible to deal with any ordinary medium. 

It ought perhaps to be explained here that the definiteness of outlinewhich distinguishes the Kāmarūpa from the astral body is of anentirely different character from that definiteness which wasdescribed as a sign of progress in the astral of the man before death. There can never be any possibility of confusion between the twoentities, for while in the case of the man attached to a physical bodythe different orders of astral particles are all inextricably mingledand ceaselessly changing their position, after death their activity ismuch more circumscribed, since they then sort themselves according totheir degree of materiality, and become, as it were, a series ofsheaths or shells surrounding him, the grossest being always outsideand so dissipating before the others. This dissipation is notnecessarily complete, the extent to which it is carried being governedby the power of Manas to free itself from its connection with anygiven level; and on this also, as will be seen later, the nature ofthe "shade" depends. 

The poetic idea of death as a universal leveller is a mere absurdityborn of ignorance, for, as a matter of fact, in the vast majority ofcases the loss of the physical body makes no difference whatever inthe character or intellect of the person, and there are therefore asmany different varieties of intelligence among those whom we usuallycall the dead as among the living. The popular religious teaching ofthe West as to man's _post-mortem_ adventures has long been so wildlyinaccurate that even intelligent people are often terribly puzzledwhen they recover consciousness in Kāmaloka after death. The conditionin which the new arrival finds himself differs so radically from whathe has been led to expect that it is no uncommon case for him torefuse at first to believe that he has passed through the portals ofdeath at all; indeed, of so little practical value is our much-vauntedbelief in the immortality of the soul that most people consider thevery fact that they are still conscious an absolute proof that theyhave not died. The horrible doctrine of eternal punishment, too, isresponsible for a vast amount of most pitiable and entirely groundlessterror among those newly arrived in Kāmaloka who in many cases spendlong periods of acute mental suffering before they can free themselvesfrom the fatal influence of that hideous blasphemy, and realize thatthe world is governed not according to the caprice of some demon whogloats over human anguish, but according to a benevolent andwonderfully patient law of evolution. Many members of the class we areconsidering do not really attain an intelligent appreciation of thisfact at all, but drift through their astral interlude in the sameaimless manner in which they have spent the physical portion of theirlives. Thus in Kāmaloka, exactly as on earth, there are the few whocomprehend something of their position and know how to make the bestof it, and the many who have not yet acquired that knowledge; andthere, just as here, the ignorant are rarely ready to profit by theadvice or example of the wise. 

But of whatever grade the entity's intellect may be, it is always afluctuating and on the whole a gradually diminishing quantity, for thelower Manas is being drawn in opposite directions by the higher Triadwhich acts on it from above its level and the Kāma which operates frombelow; and therefore it oscillates between the two attractions, withan ever-increasing tendency towards the former as the kāmic forceswear themselves out. And here comes in the evil of what is called at_séances_ the "development" of a spirit through a medium--a processthe object of which is to intensify the downward pull of the Kāma, toawaken the lower portion of the entity (that being all that can bereached) from the natural and desirable unconsciousness into which itis passing, and thus to prolong unnaturally its existence in theKāmaloka. The peculiar danger of this will be seen when it isrecollected that the real man is all the while steadily withdrawinginto himself, and is therefore as time goes on less and less able toinfluence or guide this lower portion, which nevertheless, until theseparation is complete, has the power to generate Karma, and under thecircumstances is obviously far more likely to add evil than good toits record. Thus the harm done is threefold: first, the retardation ofthe separation between Manas and Kāma, and the consequent waste oftime and prolongation of the interval between two incarnations;secondly, the extreme probability (almost amounting to certainty) thata large addition will be made to the individual's evil Karma, whichwill have to be worked out in future births; thirdly, the terribledanger that this abnormal intensification of the force of Kāma mayeventually enable the latter to entangle the whole of the lower Manasinextricably, and so cause the entire loss of an incarnation. Thoughsuch a result as this last-mentioned is happily uncommon, it is athing that has happened more than once; and in very many cases wherethe evil has fallen short of this ultimate possibility, the individualhas nevertheless lost much more of his lower Manas by this additionalentanglement with Kāma than he would have done if left to withdrawinto himself quietly as nature intended. It is not denied that acertain amount of good may occasionally be done to very degradedentities at spiritualistic circles; but the intention of natureobviously is that such assistance should be given, as it frequentlyis, by occult students who are able to visit the astral plane duringearth-life, and have been trained by competent teachers to deal bywhatever methods may be most helpful with the various cases which theyencounter. It will be readily seen that such a scheme of help, carrying with it as it does the possibility of instant reference tohigher authorities in any doubtful case, is infinitely safer than anycasual assistance obtained through a medium who may be (and indeedgenerally is) entirely ignorant of the laws governing spiritualevolution, and who is as liable to the domination of evil ormischievous influences as of good ones. 

Apart altogether from any question of development through a medium, there is another and much more frequently exercised influence whichmay seriously retard a disembodied entity on his way to Devachan, andthat is the intense and uncontrolled grief of his surviving friends orrelatives. It is one among many melancholy results of the terriblyinaccurate and even irreligious view that we in the West have forcenturies been taking of death, that we not only cause ourselves animmense amount of wholly unnecessary pain over this temporary partingfrom our loved ones, but we often also do serious injury to those forwhom we bear so deep an affection by means of this very regret whichwe feel so acutely. As one of our ablest writers has recently told us, when our departed brother is sinking peacefully and naturally intopre-devachanic unconsciousness "an awakening may be caused by thepassionate sorrow and desires of friends left on earth, and these, violently vibrating the kāmic elements in the embodied persons, mayset up vibrations in the Kāmarūpa of the disembodied, and so reach androuse the lower Manas not yet withdrawn to and reunited with itsparent, the spiritual intelligence. Thus it may be roused from itsdreamy state to vivid remembrance of the earth-life so lately left. This awakening is often accompanied by acute suffering, and even ifthis be avoided the natural process of the Triad freeing itself isrudely disturbed, and the completion of its freedom is delayed. "(_Death and After_, p. 32. ) It would be well if those whose loved oneshave passed on before them would learn from these undoubted facts theduty of restraining for the sake of those dear ones a grief which, however natural it may be, is yet in its essence selfish. Not thatoccult teaching counsels forgetfulness of the dead--far from it; butit does suggest that a man's affectionate remembrance of his departedfriend is a force which, if properly directed into the channel ofearnest good wishes for his progress towards Devachan and his quietpassage through Kāmaloka might be of real value to him, whereas whenwasted in mourning for him and longing to have him back again it isnot only useless but harmful. It is with a true instinct that theHindu religion prescribes its Shrāddha ceremonies and the CatholicChurch its prayers for the dead. 

It sometimes happens, however, that the desire for communication isfrom the other side, and that an entity of the class we areconsidering has something which it specially desires to say to thosewhom it has left behind. Occasionally this message is an importantone, such as, for example, an indication of the place where a missingwill is concealed; but more often it seems to us quite trivial. Still, whatever it may be, if it is firmly impressed upon the mind ofthe dead person, it is undoubtedly desirable that he should be enabledto deliver it, as otherwise the anxiety to do so would perpetuallydraw his consciousness back into the earth-life, and prevent him frompassing to higher spheres. In such a case a psychic who can understandhim, or a medium through whom he can write or speak, is of realservice to him. It should be observed that the reason why he cannotusually write or speak without a medium is that one state of mattercan ordinarily act only upon the state next below it, and, as he hasnow no denser matter in his organism than that of which the Kāmarūpais composed, he finds it impossible to set up vibrations in thephysical substance of the air or to move the physical pencil withoutborrowing living matter of the intermediate order contained in theetheric double, by means of which an impulse can readily betransferred from the one plane to the other. Now he would be unable toborrow this material from an ordinary person, because such a man'sprinciples would be too closely linked together to be separated by anymeans likely to be at his command, but the very essence of mediumshipis the ready separability of the principles, so from a medium he candraw without difficulty the matter he needs for his manifestation, whatever it may be. When he cannot find a medium or does notunderstand how to use one he sometimes makes clumsy and blunderingendeavours to communicate on his own account, and by the strength ofhis will he sets elemental forces blindly working, perhaps producingsuch apparently aimless manifestations as stone-throwing, bell-ringing, etc. It consequently frequently happens that a psychicor medium going to a house where such manifestations are taking placemay be able to discover what the entity who produces them isattempting to say or do, and may thus put an end to the disturbance. This would not, however, invariably be the case, as these elementalforces are occasionally set in motion by entirely different causes. 

But for one entity who is earth-bound by the desire to communicatewith his surviving friends, there are thousands who, if left alone, would never think of doing so, although when the idea is suggested tothem through a medium they will respond to it readily enough, forsince during earth-life their interests were probably centred less inspiritual than in worldly affairs, it is not difficult to re-awaken inthem vibrations sympathetic to matters connected with the existencethey have so lately left; and this undesirable intensification ofearthly thoughts is frequently brought about by the interference ofwell-meaning but ignorant friends, who endeavour to get communicationsfrom the departed through a medium, with the result that just inproportion to their success he is subjected to the various dangersmentioned above. It should also be remembered that the possible injuryto the entity itself is by no means all the harm that may accrue fromsuch a practice, for those who habitually attend _séances_ during lifeare almost certain to develop a tendency to haunt them after death, and so themselves in turn run the risks into which they have so oftenbrought their predecessors. Besides, it is well known that the vitalenergy necessary to produce physical manifestations is frequentlydrawn from the sitters as well as from the medium, and the eventualeffect on the latter is invariably evil, as is evinced by the largenumber of such sensitives who have gone either morally or psychicallyto the bad--some becoming epileptic, some taking to drink, othersfalling under influences which induced them to stoop to fraud andtrickery of all kinds. 

4. _The Shade. _

When the separation of the principles is complete, the Kāmaloka lifeof the person is over, and, as before stated, he passes into thedevachanic condition. But just as when he dies to this plane he leaveshis physical body behind him, so when he dies to the astral plane heleaves his Kāmarūpa behind him. If he has purged himself from allearthly desires during life, and directed all his energies into thechannels of unselfish spiritual aspiration, his higher Ego will beable to draw back into itself the whole of the lower Manas which itput forth into incarnation; in that case the Kāmarūpa left behind onthe astral plane will be a mere corpse like the abandoned physicalbody, and it will then come not into this class but into the next. Even in the case of a man of somewhat less perfect life almost thesame result may be attained if the forces of lower desire are allowedto work themselves out undisturbed in Kāmaloka but the majority ofmankind make but very trifling and perfunctory efforts while on earthto rid themselves of the less elevated impulses of their nature, andconsequently doom themselves not only to a greatly prolonged sojournon the astral plane, but also to what cannot be described otherwisethan as a loss of a portion of the lower Manas. This is, no doubt, avery material method of expressing the great mystery of the reflectionof the higher Manas in the lower, but since only those who have passedthe portals of initiation can fully comprehend this, we must contentourselves with the nearest approximation to exactitude which ispossible to us; and as a matter of fact, a very fairly accurate ideaof what actually takes place will be obtained by adopting thehypothesis that the mānasic principle sends down a portion of itselfinto the lower world of physical life at each incarnation, and expectsto be able to withdraw it again at the end of the life, enriched byall its varied experiences. The ordinary man, however, usually allowshimself to be so pitiably enslaved by all sorts of base desires that acertain portion of this lower Manas becomes very closely interwovenwith Kāma, and when the separation takes place, his life in Kāmalokabeing over, the mānasic principle has, as it were, to be torn apart, the degraded portion remaining within the Kāmarūpa. 

This Kāmarūpa then consists of the particles of astral matter fromwhich the lower Manas has not been able to disengage itself, and whichtherefore retain it captive; for when Manas passes into Devachan theseclinging fragments adhere to a portion of it and as it were wrench itaway. The proportion of the matter of each level present in theKāmarūpa will therefore depend on the extent to which Manas has becomeinextricably entangled with the lower passions. It will be obviousthat as Manas in passing from level to level is unable to free itselfcompletely from the matter of each, the Kāmarūpa will show thepresence of each grosser kind which has succeeded in retaining itsconnection with it. 

Thus comes into existence the class of entity which has been called"The Shade"--an entity, be it observed, which is not in any sense thereal individual at all (for he has passed away into Devachan), butnevertheless, not only bears his exact personal appearance, butpossesses his memory and all his little idiosyncrasies, and may, therefore, very readily personate him, as indeed it frequently does at_séances_. It is not, of course, conscious of any act ofimpersonation, for as far as its intellect goes it must necessarilysuppose itself to be the individual, but one can imagine the horrorand disgust of the friends of the departed, if they could only realizethat they had been deceived into accepting as their loved one a meresoulless bundle of all his worst qualities. Its length of life variesaccording to the amount of the lower Manas which animates it, but asthis is all the while in process of fading out, its intellect is asteadily diminishing quantity, though it may possess a great deal of acertain sort of animal cunning; and even quite towards the end of itscareer it is still able to communicate by borrowing temporaryintelligence from the medium. From its very nature it is exceedinglyliable to be swayed by all kinds of evil influences, and, havingseparated from its higher Ego, it has nothing in its constitutioncapable of responding to good ones. It therefore lends itself readilyto various minor purposes of some of the baser sort of blackmagicians. So much of the matter of the mānasic nature as it possessesgradually disintegrates and returns to its own plane, though not toany individual mind, and thus the shade fades by almost imperceptiblegradations into a member of our next class. 

5. _The Shell. _

This is absolutely the mere astral corpse in process ofdisintegration, every particle of the lower Manas having left it. Itis entirely without any kind of consciousness or intelligence, and isdrifted passively about upon the astral currents just as a cloud mightbe swept in any direction by a passing breeze; but even yet it may begalvanized for a few moments into a ghastly burlesque of life if ithappens to come within reach of a medium's aura. Under suchcircumstances it will still exactly resemble its departed personalityin appearance, and may even reproduce to some extent his familiarexpressions or handwriting, but it does so merely by the automaticaction of the cells of which it is composed, which tend understimulation to repeat the form of action to which they are mostaccustomed, and whatever amount of intelligence may lie behind anysuch manifestation has most assuredly no connection with the originalentity, but is lent by the medium or his "guides" for the occasion. Itis, however, more frequently temporarily vitalized in quite anothermanner, which will be described under the next head. It has also thequality of being still blindly responsive to such vibrations--usuallyof the lowest order--as were frequently set up in it during its laststage of existence as a shade, and consequently persons in whom evildesires or passions are predominant will be very likely, when theyattend physical _séances_, to find these intensified and as it werethrown back upon them by the unconscious shells. 

There is also another variety of corpse which it is necessary tomention under this head, though it belongs to a much earlier stage ofman's _post-mortem_ history. It has been stated above that after thedeath of the physical body the Kāmarūpa is comparatively quicklyformed, and the etheric double cast off--this latter body beingdestined to slow disintegration, precisely as is the kāmarūpic shellat a later stage of the proceedings. This etheric shell, however, isnot to be met with drifting aimlessly about, as is the variety withwhich we have hitherto been dealing; on the contrary, it remainswithin a few yards of the decaying physical body, and since it isreadily visible to any one even slightly sensitive, it is accountablefor many of the commonly current stories of churchyard ghosts. Apsychically developed person passing one of our great cemeteries willsee hundreds of these bluish-white, misty forms hovering over thegraves where are laid the physical vestures which they have recentlyleft; and as they, like their lower counterparts, are in variousstages of disintegration, the sight is by no means a pleasant one. This also, like the other kind of shell, is entirely devoid ofconsciousness and intelligence; and though it may under certaincircumstances be galvanized into a very horrible form of temporarylife, this is possible only by means of some of the most loathsomerites of one of the worst forms of black magic, about which the lesssaid the better. It will thus be seen that in the successive stages ofhis progress from earth-life to Devachan, man casts off and leaves toslow disintegration no less than three corpses--the physical body, the etheric double and the Kāmarūpa--all of which are by degreesresolved into their constituent elements and utilized anew on theirrespective planes by the wonderful chemistry of nature. 

6. _The Vitalized Shell. _

This entity ought not, strictly speaking, to be classified under thehead "human" at all, since it is only its outer vesture, the passive, senseless shell, that was once an appanage of humanity; such life, intelligence, desire and will as it may possess are those of theartificial elemental animating it, and that, though in terrible trutha creation of man's evil thought, is not itself human. It willtherefore perhaps be better to deal with it more fully under itsappropriate class among the artificial entities, as its nature andgenesis will be more readily comprehensible by the time that part ofour subject is reached. Let it suffice here to mention that it isalways a malevolent being--a true tempting demon, whose evil influenceis limited only by the extent of its power. Like the shade, it isfrequently used to further the horrible purposes of the Voodoo andObeah forms of magic. Some writers have spoken of it under the name"elementary, " but as that title has at one time or other been used foralmost every variety of _post-mortem_ entity, it has become so vagueand meaningless that it is perhaps better to avoid it. 

7. _The Suicide, or victim of sudden death. _

It will be readily understood that a man who is torn from physicallife hurriedly while in full health and strength, whether by accidentor suicide, finds himself upon the astral plane under conditionsdiffering considerably from those which surround one who dies eitherfrom old age or from disease. In the latter case the hold of earthlydesires upon the entity is more or less weakened, and probably thevery grossest particles are already got rid of, so that the Kāmarūpawill most likely form itself on the sixth or fifth subdivision of theKāmaloka, or perhaps even higher; the principles have been graduallyprepared for separation, and the shock is therefore not so great. Inthe case of the accidental death or suicide none of these preparationshave taken place, and the withdrawal of the principles from theirphysical encasement has been very aptly compared to the tearing of thestone out of an unripe fruit; a great deal of the grossest kind ofastral matter still clings around the personality, which isconsequently held in the seventh or lowest subdivision of theKāmaloka. This has already been described as anything but a pleasantabiding-place, yet it is by no means the same for all those who arecompelled for a time to inhabit it. Those victims of sudden deathwhose earth-lives have been pure and noble have no affinity for thisplane, and the time of their sojourn upon it is passed, to quote froman early Letter on this subject, either "in happy ignorance and fulloblivion, or in a state of quiet slumber, a sleep full of rosy dreams". But on the other hand, if their earth-lives have been low andbrutal, selfish and sensual, they will, like the suicides, beconscious to the fullest extent in this undesirable region; and theyare liable to develop into terribly evil entities. Inflamed with allkinds of horrible appetites which they can no longer satisfy directlynow they are without a physical body, they gratify their loathsomepassions vicariously through a medium or any sensitive person whomthey can obsess; and they take a devilish delight in using all thearts of delusion which the astral plane puts in their power in orderto lead others into the same excesses which have proved so fatal tothemselves. Quoting again from the same letter:--"These are thePisāchas the _incubi_ and _succubę_ of medięval writers--demons ofthirst and gluttony, of lust and avarice, of intensified craft, wickedness and cruelty, provoking their victims to horrible crimes, and revelling in their commission". From this class and the last aredrawn the tempters--the devils of ecclesiastical literature; but theirpower fails utterly before purity of mind and purpose; they can donothing with a man unless he has first encouraged in himself the vicesinto which they seek to draw him. 

One whose psychic sight has been opened will often see crowds of theseunfortunate creatures hanging round butchers' shops, public-houses, orother even more disreputable places--wherever the gross influences inwhich they delight are to be found, and where they encounter men andwomen still in the flesh who are like-minded with themselves. For suchan entity as one of these to meet with a medium with whom he is inaffinity is indeed a terrible misfortune; not only does it enable himto prolong enormously his dreadful life in Kāmaloka but it renews forperhaps an indefinite period his power to generate evil Karma, and soprepare for himself a future incarnation of the most degradedcharacter, besides running the risk of losing a large portion or eventhe whole of the lower Manas. On this lowest level of the astral planehe must stay at least as long as his earthly life would have lasted ifit had not been prematurely cut short; and if he is fortunate enough_not_ to meet with a sensitive through whom his passions can bevicariously gratified, the unfulfilled desires will gradually burnthemselves out, and the suffering caused in the process will probablygo far towards working off the evil Karma of the past life. 

The position of the suicide is further complicated by the fact thathis rash act has enormously diminished the power of the higher Ego towithdraw its lower portion into itself, and therefore has exposed himto manifold and great additional dangers: but it must be rememberedthat the guilt of suicide differs considerably according to itscircumstances, from the morally blameless act of Seneca or Socratesthrough all degrees down to the heinous crime of the wretch who takeshis own life in order to escape from the entanglements into which hisvillainy has brought him, and of course the position after deathvaries accordingly. 

It should be noted that this class, as well as the shades and thevitalized shells, are all what may be called minor vampires; that isto say, whenever they have the opportunity they prolong theirexistence by draining away the vitality from human beings whom theyfind themselves able to influence. This is why both medium and sittersare often so weak and exhausted after a physical _séance_. A studentof occultism is taught how to guard himself from their attempts, butwithout that knowledge it is difficult for one who puts himself intheir way to avoid being more or less laid under contribution by them. 

8. _The Vampire and Werewolf. _

There remain two even more awful but happily very rare possibilitiesto be mentioned before this part of our subject is completed, andthough they differ very widely in many ways we may yet perhaps groupthem together, since they have in common the qualities of unearthlyhorror and of extreme rarity--the latter arising from the fact thatthey are really relics of earlier races. We of the fifth root raceought to have evolved beyond the possibility of meeting such a ghastlyfate as is indicated by either of the two headings of thissub-section, and we have so nearly done it that these creatures arecommonly regarded as mere medięval fables; yet there _are_ examples tobe found occasionally even now, though chiefly in countries wherethere is a considerable strain of fourth-race blood, such as Russia orHungary. The popular legends about them are probably oftenconsiderably exaggerated, but there is nevertheless a terribly serioussub-stratum of truth beneath the eerie stories which pass from mouthto mouth among the peasantry of Central Europe. The generalcharacteristics of such tales are too well known to need more than apassing reference; a fairly typical specimen of the vampire story, though it does not profess to be more than the merest fiction, isSheridan le Fanu's _Carmilla_, while a very remarkable account of anunusual form of this creature is to be found in _Isis Unveiled_, vol. I. , p. 454. All readers of Theosophical literature are familiar withthe idea that it is possible for a man to live a life so absolutelydegraded and selfish, so utterly wicked and brutal, that the whole ofhis lower Manas may become entirely immeshed in Kāma, and finallyseparated from its spiritual source in the higher Ego. Some studentseven seem to think that such an occurrence is quite a common one, andthat we may meet scores of such "soulless men, " as they have beencalled, in the street every day of our lives, but this, happily, isuntrue. To attain the appalling preeminence in evil which thusinvolves the entire loss of a personality and the weakening of thedeveloping individuality behind, a man must stifle every gleam ofunselfishness or spirituality, and must have absolutely no redeemingpoint whatever; and when we remember how often, even in the worst ofvillains, there is to be found something not wholly bad, we shallrealize that the abandoned personalities must always be a very smallminority. Still, comparatively few though they be, they do exist, andit is from their ranks that the still rarer vampire is drawn. The lostentity would very soon after death find himself unable to stay inKāmaloka, and would be irresistibly drawn in full consciousness into"his own place, " the mysterious eighth sphere, there slowly todisintegrate after experiences best left undescribed. If, however, heperishes by suicide or sudden death, he may under certaincircumstances, especially if he knows something of black magic, holdhimself back from that awful fate by a death in life scarcely lessawful--the ghastly existence of the vampire. Since the eighth spherecannot claim him until after the death of the body, he preserves it ina kind of cataleptic trance by the horrible expedient of thetransfusion into it of blood drawn from other human beings by hissemi-materialized Kāmarūpa, and thus postpones his final destiny bythe commission of wholesale murder. As popular "superstition" againquite rightly supposes, the easiest and most effectual remedy in sucha case is to exhume and burn the body, thus depriving the creature ofhis _point d'appui_. When the grave is opened the body usually appearsquite fresh and healthy, and the coffin is not infrequently filledwith blood. Of course in countries where cremation is the customvampirism of this sort is impossible. 

The Werewolf, though equally horrible, is the product of a somewhatdifferent Karma, and indeed ought perhaps to have found a place underthe first instead of the second division of the human inhabitants ofKāmaloka, since it is always during a man's lifetime that he firstmanifests under this form. It invariably implies some knowledge ofmagical arts--sufficient at any rate to be able to project the astralbody. When a perfectly cruel and brutal man does this, there arecertain circumstances under which the body may be seized upon by otherastral entities and materialized, not into the human form, but intothat of some wild animal--usually the wolf; and in that condition itwill range the surrounding country killing other animals, and evenhuman beings, thus satisfying not only its own craving for blood, butthat of the fiends who drive it on. In this case, as so often with theordinary astral body, any wound inflicted upon the animalmaterialization will be reproduced upon the human physical body by theextraordinary phenomenon of repercussion; though after the death ofthat physical body the Kāmarūpa, which will probably continue toappear in the same form, will be less vulnerable. It will then, however, he also less dangerous, as unless it can find a suitablemedium it will be unable to materialize fully. 

It has been the fashion of this century to scoff at what are calledthe foolish superstitions of the ignorant peasantry; but, as in theabove cases, so in many others the occult student finds on carefulexamination that obscure or forgotten truths of nature lie behind whatat first sight appears mere nonsense, and he learns to be cautious inrejecting as well as cautious in accepting. Intending explorers of theastral plane need have little fear of encountering the very unpleasantcreatures described under this head, for, as before stated, they areeven now extremely rare, and as time goes on their number will happilysteadily diminish. In any case their manifestations are usuallyrestricted to the immediate neighbourhood of their physical bodies, asmight be supposed from their extremely material nature. 

9. _The Black Magician or his pupil. _

This person corresponds at the other extremity of the scale to oursecond class of departed entities, the chela awaiting reincarnation, but in this case, instead of obtaining permission to adopt an unusualmethod of progress, the man is defying the natural process ofevolution by maintaining himself in Kāmaloka by magicalarts--sometimes of the most horrible nature. It would be easy to makevarious subdivisions of this class, according to their objects, theirmethods, and the possible duration of their existence on this plane, but as they are by no means fascinating objects of study, and all thatan occult student wishes to know about them is how to avoid them, itwill probably be more interesting to pass on to the examination ofanother part of our subject. It may, however, be just mentioned thatevery such human entity which prolongs its life thus on the astralplane beyond its natural limit invariably does so at the expense ofothers, and by the absorption of their life in some form or another. 

II. NON-HUMAN. 

Though it might have been thought fairly obvious even to the mostcasual glance that many of the terrestrial arrangements of naturewhich affect us most nearly have not been designed exclusively with aview to our comfort or even our ultimate advantage, it was yetprobably unavoidable that the human race, at least in its childhood, should imagine that this world and everything it contains existedsolely for its own use and benefit. Undoubtedly we ought by this timeto have grown out of that infantile delusion and realized our properposition and the duties that attach to it; that most of us have notyet done so is shown in a dozen ways in our daily life notably by theatrocious cruelty habitually displayed towards the animal kingdomunder the name of sport by many who probably consider themselveshighly civilized people. Of course the veriest tyro in the holyscience of occultism knows that all life is sacred, and that withoutuniversal compassion there is no true progress; but it is only as headvances in his studies that he discovers how manifold evolution is, and how comparatively small a place humanity really fills in theeconomy of nature. It becomes clear to him that just as earth, air andwater support myriads of forms of life which, though invisible to theordinary eye, are revealed to us by the microscope, so the higherplanes connected with our earth have an equally dense population ofwhose existence we are ordinarily completely unconscious. As hisknowledge increases he becomes more and more certain that in one wayor another the utmost use is being made of every possibility ofevolution, and that wherever it seems to us that in nature force oropportunity is being wasted or neglected, it is not the scheme of theuniverse that is in fault, but our ignorance of its method andintention. 

For the purposes of our present consideration of the non-humaninhabitants of the astral plane it will be best to leave out ofconsideration those very early forms of the universal life which areevolving, in a manner of which we can have little comprehension, through the successive encasement of atoms, molecules and cells: forif we commence at the lowest of what are usually called the elementalkingdoms, we shall even then have to group together under this generalheading an enormous number of inhabitants of the astral plane uponwhom it will be possible to touch only very slightly, as anything likea detailed account of them would swell this manual to the dimensionsof an encyclopędia. 

The most convenient method of arranging the non-human entities willperhaps be in four classes it being understood that in this case theclass is not, as previously, a comparatively small subdivision, butusually a great kingdom of nature at least as large and varied as, say, the animal or vegetable kingdom. Some of these rank considerablybelow humanity, some are our equals, and others again rise far aboveus in goodness and power. Some belong to our scheme of evolution--thatis to say, they either have been or will be men like ourselves; othersare evolving on entirely distinct lines of their own. Beforeproceeding to consider them it is necessary, in order to avoid thecharge of incompleteness, to mention that in this branch of thesubject two reservations have been made. First, no reference is madeto the occasional appearances of very high Adepts from other planetsof the solar system and of even more august Visitors from a stillgreater distance, since such matters cannot fitly be described in anessay for general reading; and besides it is practicallyinconceivable, though of course theoretically possible, that suchglorified Beings should ever need to manifest Themselves on a planeso low as the astral. If for any reason They should wish to do so, thebody appropriate to the plane would be temporarily created out ofastral matter belonging to this planet, just as in the case of theNirmānakāya. Secondly, quite outside of and entirely unconnected withthe four classes into which we are dividing this section, there aretwo other great evolutions which at present share the use of thisplanet with humanity; but about them it is forbidden to give anyparticulars at this stage of the proceedings, as it is not apparentlyintended under ordinary circumstances either that they should beconscious of man's existence or man of theirs. If we ever do come intocontact with them it will most probably be on the purely physicalplane, for in any case their connection with our astral plane is ofthe slightest, since the only possibility of their appearance theredepends upon an extremely improbable accident in an act of ceremonialmagic, which fortunately only a few of the most advanced sorcerersknow how to perform. Nevertheless, that improbable accident hashappened at least once, and may happen again, so that but for theprohibition above mentioned it would have been necessary to includethem in our list. 

1. _The Elemental Essence belonging to our own evolution. _

Just as the name "elementary" has been given indiscriminately byvarious writers to any or all of man's possible _post-mortem_conditions, so this word "elemental" has been used at different timesto mean any or all non-human spirits, from the most godlike of theDevas down through every variety of nature-spirit to the formlessessence which pervades the kingdoms lying behind the mineral, untilafter reading several books the student becomes absolutely bewilderedby the contradictory statements made on the subject. For the purposesof this treatise it will perhaps simplify matters to restrict itsmeaning to the last-mentioned class only, and use it to denote thethree great kingdoms which precede the mineral in the order of ourevolution. It may be remembered that in one of the earlier lettersfrom an Adept teacher these elemental kingdoms are referred to, andthe statement is made that the first and second cannot readily becomprehended except by an Initiate. Fortunately this, the mostincomprehensible part of the vast subject, does not come within theprovince of this manual, as those first and second elemental kingdomsexist and function respectively upon the arūpa and rūpa levels of thedevachanic plane. We have consequently to deal for the moment onlywith kingdom No. 3--the one next before the mineral; though even thatwill be found quite sufficiently complicated, as will be understoodwhen it is stated that it contains just over two thousand four hundredperfectly distinct varieties of elemental essence, each of which thepupil who wishes to attain perfect control of the astral forces mustlearn not only to distinguish instantly at sight, but to deal with inits own special method and no other. Of course phenomena of varioussorts may be, and constantly are, produced by those who are able towield only one or two of these forces, but the Adept prefers to takethe additional trouble requisite to understand all of them thoroughly, and uses in every case precisely the most appropriate force orcombination of forces, so that his object may be attained withscientific accuracy and with the least possible expenditure of energy. 

To speak, as we so often do, of _an_ elemental in connection with thegroup we are now considering is somewhat misleading, for strictlyspeaking there is no such thing. What we find is a vast store ofelemental essence, wonderfully sensitive to the most fleeting humanthought, responding with inconceivable delicacy in an infinitesimalfraction of a second to a vibration set up in it even by an entirelyunconscious exercise of human will or desire. But the moment that bythe influence of such thought or exercise of will it is moulded into aliving force--into something that may correctly be described as _an_elemental--it at once ceases to belong to the category we arediscussing, and becomes a member of the artificial class. Even thenits separate existence is usually of the most evanescent character, and as soon as its impulse has worked itself out it sinks back intothe undifferentiated mass of that particular subdivision of elementalessence from which it came. It would be tedious to attempt tocatalogue these subdivisions, and indeed even if a list of them weremade it would be unintelligible except to the practical student whocan call them up before him and compare them. Some idea of the leadinglines of classification can, however, be grasped without much trouble, and may prove of interest. First comes the broad division which hasgiven the elementals their name--the classification according to thekind of matter which they inhabit. Here, as usual, the septenarycharacter of our evolution shows itself, for there are seven suchchief groups, related respectively to the seven states of physicalmatter--to "earth, water, air and fire, " or to translate from medięvalsymbolism to modern accuracy of expression, to the solid, liquid, gaseous and etheric conditions. It has long been the custom to pityand despise the ignorance of the alchemists of the middle ages, because they gave the title of "elements" to substances which modernchemistry has discovered to be compounds; but in speaking of them thusslightingly we have done them great injustice, for their knowledge onthis subject was really wider, not narrower, than ours. They may ormay not have catalogued all the sixty or seventy substances which wenow call elements; but they certainly did not apply that name to them, for their occult studies had taught them that in that sense of theword there was but one element, Ākāsha itself, of which these and allother forms of matter were but modifications--a truth which some ofthe greatest chemists of the present day are just beginning tosuspect. 

The fact is that in this particular case our despised forefathers'analysis went several steps deeper than our own. They understood andwere able to observe the ether, which modern science can onlypostulate as a necessity for its theories; they were aware that itconsists of physical matter in four entirely distinct states above thegaseous--a fact which has not yet been re-discovered. They knew thatall physical objects consisted of matter in one or other of theseseven states, and that into the composition of every organic body allseven entered in a greater or lesser degree; hence all their talk offiery and watery humours, or "elements, " which seems so grotesque tous. It is obvious that they used the latter word simply as a synonymfor "constituent parts, " without in the least degree intending it toconnote the idea of substances which could not be further reduced. They knew also that each of these orders of matter served as an Upādhior basis of manifestation for a great class of evolving monadicessence, and so they christened the essence "elemental". 

What we have to try to realize, then, is that in every particle ofsolid matter, so long as it remains in that condition, there resides, to use the picturesque phraseology of medięval students, an earthelemental--that is, a certain amount of the living elemental essenceappropriate to it, while equally in every particle of matter in theliquid, gaseous, or etheric states, the water, air, and fire"elementals" respectively inhere. It will be observed that this firstbroad division of the third of the elemental kingdoms is, so to speak, a horizontal one--that is to say, its respective classes stand in therelation of steps, each somewhat less material than the one below it, which ascends into it by almost imperceptible degrees; and it is easyto understand how each of these classes may again be dividedhorizontally into seven, since there are obviously many degrees ofdensity among solids, liquids and gases. There is, however, what maybe described as a perpendicular division also, and this is somewhatmore difficult to comprehend, especially as great reserve is alwaysmaintained by occultists as to some of the facts which would beinvolved in a fuller explanation of it. Perhaps the clearest way toput what it is permissible to say on the subject will be to state thatin each of the horizontal classes and subclasses will be found sevenperfectly distinct types of elemental, the difference between thembeing no longer a question of degree of materiality, but rather ofcharacter and affinities. Each of these types so reacts upon theothers that, though it is impossible for them ever to interchangetheir essence, in each of them seven sub-types will be found to exist, distinguished by the colouring given to their original peculiarity bythe influence which sways them most readily. It will at once be seenthat this perpendicular division and subdivision differs entirely inits character from the horizontal, in that it is far more permanentand fundamental; for while it is the evolution of the elementalkingdom to pass with almost infinite slowness through its varioushorizontal classes and subclasses in succession, and thus to belong tothem all in turn, this is not so with regard to the types andsub-types, which remain unchangeable all the way through. A pointwhich must never be lost sight of in endeavouring to understand thiselemental evolution is that it is taking place on what is sometimescalled the downward curve of the arc; that is to say, it isprogressing _towards_ the complete entanglement in matter which wewitness in the mineral kingdom, instead of _away_ from it, as is mostother evolution of which we know anything; and this fact sometimesgives it a curiously inverted appearance in our eyes until wethoroughly grasp its object. 

In spite of these manifold subdivisions, there are certain propertieswhich are possessed in common by all varieties of this strange livingessence; but even these are so entirely different from any with whichwe are familiar on the physical plane that it is exceedingly difficultto explain them to those who cannot themselves see it in action. Letit be premised, then, that when any portion of this essence remainsfor a few moments entirely unaffected by any outside influence (acondition, by the way, which is hardly ever realized) it is absolutelywithout any definite form of its own, though even then its motion israpid and ceaseless; but on the slightest disturbance, set up perhapsby some passing thought-current, it flashes into a bewilderingconfusion of restless, ever-changing shapes, which form, rush about, and disappear with the rapidity of the bubbles on the surface ofboiling water. These evanescent shapes, though generally those ofliving creatures of some sort, human or otherwise, no more express theexistence of separate entities in the essence than do the equallychangeful and multiform waves raised in a few moments on a previouslysmooth lake by a sudden squall. They seem to be mere reflections fromthe vast storehouse of the astral light, yet they have usually acertain appropriateness to the character of the thought-stream whichcalls them into existence, though nearly always with some grotesquedistortion, some terrifying or unpleasant aspect about them. Aquestion naturally arises in the mind here as to what intelligence itis that is exerted in the selection of an appropriate shape or itsdistortion when selected. We are not dealing with the more powerfuland longer-lived artificial elemental created by a strong definitethought, but simply with the result produced by the stream ofhalf-conscious, involuntary thoughts which the majority of mankindallow to flow idly through their brains, so that the intelligence isobviously not derived from the mind of the thinker; and we certainlycannot credit the elemental essence itself, which belongs to a kingdomfurther from individualization even than the mineral, with any sort ofawakening of the mānasic quality. Yet it does possess a marvellousadaptability which often seems to come very near it, and it is nodoubt this property that caused elementals to be described in one ofour early books as "the semi-intelligent creatures of the astrallight". We shall find further evidence of this power when we come toconsider the case of the artificial class. When we read of a good orevil elemental, it must always be either an artificial entity or oneof the many varieties of nature spirits that is meant, for theelemental kingdoms proper do not admit of any such conceptions as goodand evil, though there is undoubtedly a sort of bias or tendencypermeating nearly all their subdivisions which operates to render themrather hostile than friendly towards man, as every neophyte knows, forin most cases his very first impression of the astral plane is of thepresence all around him of vast hosts of Protean spectres who advanceupon him in threatening guise, but always retire or dissipateharmlessly if boldly faced. It is to this curious tendency that thedistorted or unpleasant aspect above mentioned must be referred, andmedięval writers tell us that man has only himself to thank for itsexistence. In the golden age before this Kaliyuga men were on thewhole less selfish and more spiritual, and then the "elementals" werefriendly, though now they are no longer so because of man'sindifference to, and want of sympathy with, other living beings. Fromthe wonderful delicacy with which the essence responds to thefaintest action of our minds or desires it seems clear that thiselemental kingdom as a whole is very much what the collective thoughtof humanity makes it. Any one who will think for a moment how far fromelevating the action of that collective thought is likely to be at thepresent time will see little reason to wonder that we reap as we havesown, and that this essence, which has no power of perception, butonly blindly receives and reflects what is projected upon it, shouldusually exhibit unfriendly characteristics. There can be no doubt thatin later races or rounds, when mankind as a whole has evolved to amuch higher level, the elemental kingdoms will be influenced by thechanged thought which continually impinges upon them, and we shallfind them no longer hostile, but docile and helpful, as we are toldthat the animal kingdom will also be. Whatever may have happened inthe past, it is evident that we may look forward to a very passable"golden age" in the future, if we can arrive at a time when themajority of men will be noble and unselfish, and the forces of naturewill co-operate willingly with them. 

The fact that we are so readily able to influence the elementalkingdoms at once shows us that we have a responsibility towards themfor the manner in which we use that influence; indeed, when weconsider the conditions under which they exist, it is obvious that theeffect produced upon them by the thoughts and desires of allintelligent creatures inhabiting the same world with them must havebeen calculated upon in the scheme of our system as a factor in theirevolution. In spite of the consistent teaching of all the greatreligions, the mass of mankind is still utterly regardless of itsresponsibility on the thought-plane; if a man can flatter himself thathis words and deeds have been harmless to others, he believes that hehas done all that can be required of him, quite oblivious of the factthat he may for years have been exercising a narrowing and debasinginfluence on the minds of those about him, and filling surroundingspace with the unlovely creations of a sordid mind. A still moreserious aspect of this question will come before us when we discussthe artificial elemental; but in regard to the essence it will besufficient to state that we undoubtedly have the power to accelerateor delay its evolution according to the use which consciously orunconsciously we are continually making of it. 

It would be hopeless within the limits of such a treatise as this toattempt to explain the different uses to which the forces inherent inthe manifold varieties of this elemental essence can be put by one whohas been trained in their management. The vast majority of magicalceremonies depend almost entirely upon its manipulation, eitherdirectly by the will of the magician, or by some more definite astralentity evoked by him for that purpose. By its means nearly all thephysical phenomena of the _séance_-room are produced, and it is alsothe agent in most cases of stone-throwing or bell-ringing in hauntedhouses, such results as these latter being brought about either byblundering efforts to attract attention made by some earth-bound humanentity, or by the mere mischievous pranks of some of the minornature-spirits belonging to our third class. But the "elemental" mustnever be thought of as itself a prime mover; it is simply a latentforce, which needs an external power to set it in motion. It may benoted that although all classes of the essence have the power ofreflecting images from the astral light as described above, there arevarieties which receive certain impressions much more readily thanothers--which have, as it were, favourite forms of their own intowhich upon disturbance they would naturally flow unless absolutelyforced into some other, and such shapes tend to be a trifle lessevanescent than usual. 

Before leaving this branch of the subject it may be well to warn thestudent against the confusion of thought into which some have fallenthrough failing to distinguish this elemental essence which we havebeen considering from the monadic essence manifesting through themineral kingdom. It must be borne in mind that monadic essence at onestage of its evolution towards humanity manifests through theelemental kingdom, while at a later stage it manifests through themineral kingdom: but the fact that two bodies of monadic essence atthese different stages are in manifestation at the same moment, andthat one of these manifestations (the earth elemental) occupies thesame space as and inhabits the other (say a rock), in no wayinterferes with the evolution either of one or the other, nor does itimply any relation between the bodies of monadic essence lying withinboth. The rock will also be permeated by its appropriate variety ofthe omnipresent Jīva or life principle, but that of course is againtotally distinct from either of the essences above mentioned. 

2. _The Kāmarūpas of Animals. _

This is an extremely large class, yet it does not occupy aparticularly important position on the astral plane, since its membersusually stay there but a very short time. The vast majority of animalshave not as yet acquired permanent individualization, and when one ofthem dies the monadic essence which has been manifesting through itflows back again into the particular stratum whence it came, bearingwith it such advancement or experience as has been attained duringthat life. It is not, however, able to do this quite immediately; thekāmic aura of the animal forms itself into a Kāmarūpa, just as inman's case, and the animal has a real existence on the astral plane, the length of which, though never great, varies according to theintelligence which it has developed. In most cases it does not seem tobe more than dreamily conscious, but appears perfectly happy. Thecomparatively few domestic animals who have already attainedindividuality, and will therefore be reborn no more as animals in thisworld, have a much longer and much more vivid life in Kāmaloka thantheir less advanced fellows, and at the end of it sink gradually intoa subjective condition, which is likely to last for a veryconsiderable period. One interesting subdivision of this classconsists of the Kāmarūpas of those anthropoid apes mentioned in _TheSecret Doctrine_ (vol. I, p. 184) who are already individualized, andwill be ready to take human incarnation in the next round, or perhapssome of them even sooner. 

3. _Nature-Spirits of all Kinds. _

So many and so varied are the subdivisions of this class that to dothem anything like justice one would need to devote a separatetreatise to this subject alone. Some characteristics, however, theyall have in common, and it will be sufficient here to try to give someidea of those. To begin with, we have to realize that we are heredealing with entities which differ radically from all that we havehitherto considered. Though we may rightly classify the elementalessence and the animal Kāmarūpa as non-human, the monadic essencewhich manifests itself through them will, nevertheless, in the fulnessof time, evolve to the level of manifesting itself through some futurehumanity comparable to our own, and if we were able to look backthrough countless ages on our own evolution in previous manvantaras, we should find that that which is now ourselves has passed on itsupward path through similar stages. That, however, is not the casewith the vast kingdom of nature-spirits; they neither have been, norever will be, members of a humanity such as ours; their line ofevolution is entirely different, and their only connection with usconsists in our temporary occupancy of the same planet. Of coursesince we are neighbours for the time being we owe neighbourly kindnessto one another when we happen to meet, but our lines of developmentdiffer so widely that each can do but little for the other. 

Many writers have included these spirits among the elementals, andindeed they are the elementals (or perhaps, to speak more accurately, the animals) of a higher evolution. Though much more highly developedthan our elemental essence, they have yet certain characteristics incommon with it; for example, they also are divided into seven greatclasses, inhabiting respectively the same seven states of matteralready mentioned as permeated by the corresponding varieties of theessence. Thus, to take those which are most readily comprehensible tous, there are spirits of the earth, water, air, and fire (orether)--definite intelligent astral entities residing and functioningin each of those media. It may be asked how it is possible for anykind of creature to inhabit the solid substance of a rock, or of thecrust of the earth. The answer is that since the nature-spirits areformed of astral matter, the substance of the rock is no hindrance totheir motion or their vision, and furthermore physical matter in itssolid state is their natural element--the only one to which they areaccustomed and in which they feel at home. The same is of course trueof those who live in water, air or ether. In medięval literature, these earth-spirits are often called gnomes, while the water-spiritsare spoken of as ūndinés, the air-spirits as sylphs, and theether-spirits as salamanders. In popular language they are known bymany names--fairies, pixies, elves, brownies, peris, djinns, trolls, satyrs, fauns, kobolds, imps, goblins, good people, etc. --some ofthese titles being applied only to one variety, and othersindiscriminately to all. Their forms are many and various, but mostfrequently human in shape and somewhat diminutive in size. Like almostall inhabitants of the astral plane, they are able to assume anyappearance at will, but they undoubtedly have definite forms of theirown, or perhaps we should rather say favourite forms, which they wearwhen they have no special object in taking any other. Of course underordinary conditions they are not visible to physical sight at all, butthey have the power of making themselves so by materialization whenthey wish to be seen. 

There are an immense number of subdivisions or races among them, andindividuals of these subdivisions differ in intelligence anddisposition precisely as human beings do. The great majority of themapparently prefer to avoid man altogether; his habits and emanationsare distasteful to them, and the constant rush of astral currents setup by his restless, ill-regulated desires disturbs and annoys them. Onthe other hand instances are not wanting in which nature-spirits haveas it were made friends with human beings and offered them suchassistance as lay in their power, as in the well-known stories told ofthe Scotch brownies or of the fire-lighting fairies mentioned inspiritualistic literature. This helpful attitude, however, iscomparatively rare, and in most cases when they come in contact withman they either show indifference or dislike, or else take an impishdelight in deceiving him and playing childish tricks upon him. Many astory illustrative of this curious characteristic may be found amongthe village gossip of the peasantry in almost any lonely mountainousdistrict, and any one who has been in the habit of attending _séances_for physical phenomena will recollect instances of practical jokingand silly though usually good-natured horseplay, which always indicatethe presence of some of the lower orders of the nature-spirits. Theyare greatly assisted in their tricks by the wonderful power which theypossess of casting a glamour over those who yield themselves to theirinfluence, so that such victims for the time see and hear only whatthese fairies impress upon them, exactly as the mesmerized subjectsees, hears, feels and believes whatever the magnetizer wishes. Thenature-spirits, however, have not the mesmerizer's power of dominatingthe human will, except in the case of quite unusually weak-mindedpeople, or of those who allow themselves to fall into such a conditionof helpless terror that their will is temporarily in abeyance; theycannot go beyond deception of the senses, but of that art they areundoubted masters, and cases are not wanting in which they have casttheir glamour over a considerable number of people at once. It is byinvoking their aid in the exercise of this peculiar power that some ofthe most wonderful feats of the Indian jugglers are performed--theentire audience being in fact hallucinated and made to imagine thatthey see and hear a whole series of events which have not really takenplace at all. 

We might almost look upon the nature-spirits as a kind of astralhumanity, but for the fact that none of them--not even the highestpossess a permanent reincarnating individuality. Apparently thereforeone point in which their line of evolution differs from ours is that amuch greater proportion of intelligence is developed before permanentindividualization takes place; but of the stages through which theyhave passed, and those through which they have yet to pass, we canknow little. The life-periods of the different subdivisions varygreatly, some being quite short, others much longer than our humanlifetime. We stand so entirely outside such a life as theirs that itis impossible for us to understand much about its conditions; but itappears on the whole to be a simple, joyous, irresponsible kind ofexistence, much such as a party of happy children might lead amongexceptionally favourable physical surroundings. Though tricky andmischievous, they are rarely malicious unless provoked by someunwarrantable intrusion or annoyance; but as a body they also partaketo some extent of the universal feeling of distrust for man, and theygenerally seem inclined to resent somewhat the first appearance of aneophyte on the astral plane, so that he usually makes theiracquaintance under some unpleasant or terrifying form. If, however, hedeclines to be frightened by any of their freaks, they soon accept himas a necessary evil and take no further notice of him, while someamong them may even after a time become friendly and manifest pleasureon meeting him. 

Some among the many subdivisions of this class are much less childlikeand more dignified than those we have been describing, and it is fromthese sections that the entities who have sometimes been reverencedunder the name of wood-gods, or local village-gods, have been drawn. Such entities would be quite sensible of the flattery involved in thereverence shown to them, would enjoy it, and would no doubt be quiteready to do any small service they could in return. (The village-godis also often an artificial entity, but that variety will beconsidered in its appropriate place. ) The Adept knows how to make useof the services of the nature-spirits when he requires them, but theordinary magician can obtain their assistance only by processes eitherof invocation or evocation--that is, either by attracting theirattention as a suppliant and making some kind of bargain with them, orby endeavouring to set in motion influences which would compel theirobedience. Both methods are extremely undesirable, and the latter isalso excessively dangerous, as the operator would arouse a determinedhostility which might prove fatal to him. Needless to say, no onestudying occultism under a qualified Master would ever be permitted toattempt anything of the kind at all. 

4. _The Devas. _

The highest system of evolution connected with this earth, so far aswe know, is that of the beings whom Hindus call the Devas, and whohave elsewhere been spoken of as angels, sons of God, etc. They may, in fact, be regarded as a kingdom lying next above humanity, in thesame way as humanity in turn lies next above the animal kingdom, butwith this important difference, that while for an animal there is nopossibility of evolution through any kingdom but the human, man, whenhe attains a certain high level, finds various paths of advancementopening before him, of which this great Deva evolution is only one. Incomparison with the sublime renunciation of the Nirmānakāya, theacceptance of this line of evolution is sometimes spoken of in thebooks as "yielding to the temptation to become a god, " but it must notbe inferred from this expression that any shadow of blame attaches tothe man who makes this choice. The path he selects is not theshortest, but it is nevertheless a very noble one, and if hisdeveloped intuition impels him towards it, it is probably the one bestsuited for his capacities. We must never forget that in spiritual asin physical climbing it is not every one who can bear the strain ofthe steeper path; there may be many for whom what seems the slower wayis the only one possible, and we should indeed be unworthy followersof the great Teachers if we allowed our ignorance to betray us intothe slightest thought of despisal towards those whose choice differsfrom our own. However confident that ignorance of the difficulties ofthe future may allow us to feel now, it is impossible for us to tellat this stage what we shall find ourselves able to do when, after manylives of patient striving, we have earned the right to choose our ownfuture; and indeed, even those who "yield to the temptation to becomegods, " have a sufficiently glorious career before them, as willpresently be seen. To avoid possible misunderstanding it may bementioned _par parenthčse_ that there is another and entirely evilsense sometimes attached in the books to this phrase of "becoming agod, " but in that form it certainly could never be any kind of"temptation" to the developed man, and in any case it is altogetherforeign to our present subject. 

In oriental literature this word "Deva" is frequently used vaguely tomean almost any kind of non-human entity, so that it would ofteninclude DHYĀN CHOHANS on the one hand and nature-spirits andartificial elementals on the other. Here, however, its use will berestricted to the magnificent evolution which we are now considering. Though connected with this earth, the Devas are by no means confinedto it, for the whole of our present chain of seven worlds is as oneworld to them, their evolution being through a grand system of sevenchains. Their hosts have hitherto been recruited chiefly from otherhumanities in the solar system, some lower and some higher than ours, since but a very small portion of our own has as yet reached the levelat which for us it is possible to join them; but it seems certain thatsome of their very numerous classes have not passed in their upwardprogress through any humanity at all comparable to ours. It is notpossible for us at present to understand very much about them, but itis clear that what may be described as the aim of their evolution isconsiderably higher than ours; that is to say, while the object of ourhuman evolution is to raise the successful portion of humanity to acertain degree of occult development by the end of the seventh round, the object of the Deva evolution is to raise their foremost rank to avery much higher level in the corresponding period. For them, as forus, a steeper but shorter path to still more sublime heights lies opento earnest endeavour; but what those heights may be in their case wecan only conjecture. 

It is of course only the lower fringe of this august body that need bementioned in connection with our subject of the astral plane. Theirthree lower great divisions (beginning from the bottom) are generallycalled Kāmadevas, Rūpadevas, and Arūpadevas respectively. Just as ourordinary body here--the lowest body possible for us--is the physical, so the ordinary body of a Kāmadeva is the astral; so that he stands insomewhat the same position as humanity will do when it reaches planetF, and he, living ordinarily in an astral body, would go out of it tohigher spheres in a Māyāvirūpa just as we might in an astral body, while to enter the Kārana Sharīra would be to him (when sufficientlydeveloped) no greater effort than to form a Māyāvirūpa is to us. Inthe same way the Rūpadeva's ordinary body would be the Māyāvirūpa, since his habitat is on the four lower or rūpa levels of thatspiritual state which we usually call Devachan: while the Arūpadevabelongs to the three higher levels of that plane, and owns no nearerapproach to a body than the Kārana Sharīra. But for Rūpa andArūpadevas to manifest on the astral plane is an occurrence at leastas rare as it is for astral entities to materialize on this physicalplane, so we need do no more than mention them now. As regards thelowest division--the Kāmadevas--it would be quite a mistake to thinkof all of them as immeasurably superior to ourselves, since some haveentered their ranks from a humanity in some respects less advancedthan our own; of course the general average among them is much higherthan among us, for all that is actively or wilfully evil has long beenweeded out from their ranks; but they differ widely in disposition, and a really noble, unselfish, spiritually-minded man may well standhigher in the scale of evolution than some of them. Their attentioncan be attracted by certain magical evocations, but the only humanwill which can dominate theirs is that of a certain high class ofAdepts. As a rule they seem scarcely conscious of us on our physicalplane, but it does now and then happen that one of them becomes awareof some human difficulty which excites his pity, and he perhapsrenders some assistance, just as any of us would try to help an animalthat we saw in trouble. But it is well understood among them that anyinterference in human affairs at the present stage is likely to do farmore harm than good. Above the Arūpadevas there are four other greatdivisions, and again, above and beyond the Deva kingdom altogether, stand the great hosts of the DHYĀN CHOHANS, but the consideration ofsuch glorified Beings would be out of place in an essay on the astralplane. 

Though we cannot claim them as belonging exactly to any of ourclasses, this is perhaps the best place in which to mention thosewonderful and important Beings, the four Devarājahs. In this name theword Deva must not, however, be taken in the sense in which we havebeen using it, for it is not over the Deva kingdom but over the four"elements" of earth, water, air, and fire, with their indwellingnature-spirits and essences, that these four Kings rule. What theevolution has been through which they rose to their present height ofpower and wisdom we cannot tell, save only that it has certainly notpassed through anything corresponding to our own humanity. They areoften spoken of as the Regents of the Earth, or Angels of the fourcardinal points, and the Hindu books call them the Chatur Mahārājahs, giving their names as Dhritarashtra, Virudhaka, Virupaksha, and Vaishravana. In the same books their hosts are calledGandharvas, Kumbhandas, Nāgas, and Yakshas respectively, the points ofthe compass appropriated to each being in corresponding order east, south, west, and north, and their symbolical colours white, blue, red, and gold. They are mentioned in _The Secret Doctrine_ as "wingedglobes and fiery wheels"; and in the Christian bible Ezekiel makes avery remarkable attempt at a description of them in which very similarwords are used. References to them are to be found in the symbology ofevery religion, and they have always been held in the highestreverence as the protectors of mankind. It is they who are the agentsof man's Karma during his life on earth, and they thus play anextremely important part in human destiny. The LIPIKA the great karmicdeities of the Kosmos, weigh the deeds of each personality when thefinal separation of its principles takes place in Kāmaloka and give asit were the mould of an etheric double exactly suitable to its Karmafor the man's next birth; but it is the Devarājahs who, having commandof the "elements" of which that etheric double must be composed, arrange their proportion so as to fulfil accurately the intention ofthe LIPIKA. It is they also who constantly watch all through life tocounterbalance the changes perpetually being introduced into man'scondition by his own free will and that of those around him, so thatno injustice may be done, and Karma may be accurately worked out, ifnot in one way then in another. A learned dissertation upon thesemarvellous beings will be found in _The Secret Doctrine_, vol. I. , pp. 122-126. They are able to take human material forms at will, andseveral cases are recorded when they have done so. All the highernature-spirits and hosts of artificial elementals act as their agentsin the stupendous work they carry out, yet all the threads are intheir hands, and the whole responsibility rests upon them alone. It isnot often that they manifest upon the astral plane, but when they dothey are certainly the most remarkable of its non-human inhabitants. A student of occultism will not need to be told that as there areseven great classes both of nature-spirits and elemental essence theremust really be seven and not four Devarājahs but outside the circle ofinitiation little is known and less may be said of the higher three. 

III. ARTIFICIAL. 

This, the largest class of astral entities, is also much the mostimportant to man. Being entirely his own creation, it is inter-relatedwith him by the closest karmic bonds, and its action upon him isdirect and incessant. It is an enormous inchoate mass ofsemi-intelligent entities, differing among themselves as humanthoughts differ, and practically incapable of anything likeclassification or arrangement. The only division which can be usefullymade is that which distinguishes between the artificial elementalsmade by the majority of mankind unconsciously, and those made bymagicians with definite intent; while we may relegate to a third classthe very small number of artificially arranged entities which are notelementals at all. 

1. _Elementals formed unconsciously. _

It has already been explained that the elemental essence whichsurrounds us on every side is in all its numberless varietiessingularly susceptible to the influence of human thought. The actionof the mere casual wandering thought upon it, causing it to burst intoa cloud of rapidly-moving, evanescent forms, has already beendescribed; we have now to note how it is affected when the human mindformulates a definite, purposeful thought or wish. The effect producedis of the most striking nature. The thought seizes upon the plasticessence, and moulds it instantly into a living being of appropriateform--a being which when once thus created is in no way under thecontrol of its creator, but lives out a life of its own, the lengthof which is proportionate to the intensity of the thought or wishwhich called it into existence. It lasts, in fact, just as long as thethought-force holds it together. Most people's thoughts are sofleeting and indecisive that the elementals created by them last onlya few minutes or a few hours, but an often-repeated thought or anearnest wish will form an elemental whose existence may extend to manydays. Since the ordinary man's thoughts refer very largely to himself, the elementals they form remain hovering about him, and constantlytend to provoke a repetition of the idea they represent, since suchrepetitions, instead of forming new elementals, would strengthen theold one, and give it a fresh lease of life. A man, therefore, whofrequently dwells upon one wish often forms for himself an astralattendant which, constantly fed by fresh thought, may haunt him foryears, ever gaining more and more strength and influence over him; andit will easily be seen that if the desire be an evil one the effectupon his moral nature may be of the most disastrous character. 

Still more pregnant of result for good or evil are a man's thoughtsabout other people, for in that case they hover not about the thinker, but about the object of the thought. A kindly thought about any personor an earnest wish for his good will form and project towards him afriendly artificial elemental; if the wish be a definite one, as, forexample, that he may recover from some sickness, then the elementalwill be a force ever hovering over him to promote his recovery, or toward off any influence that might tend to hinder it, and in doing thisit will display what appears like a very considerable amount ofintelligence and adaptability, though really it is simply a forceacting along the line of least resistance--pressing steadily in onedirection all the time, and taking advantage of any channel that itcan find, just as the water in a cistern would in a moment find theone open pipe among a dozen closed ones, and proceed to empty itselfthrough that. If the wish be merely an indefinite one for his generalgood, the elemental essence in its wonderful plasticity will respondexactly to that less distinct idea also, and the creature formed willexpend its force in the direction of whatever action for the man'sadvantage comes most readily to hand. Of course in all cases theamount of such force it has to expend, and the length of time that itwill live to expend it, depend entirely upon the strength of theoriginal wish or thought which gave it birth; though it must beremembered that it can be, as it were, fed and strengthened, and itslife-period protracted by other good wishes or friendly thoughtsprojected in the same direction. 

Furthermore, it appears to be actuated, like most other beings, by aninstinctive desire to prolong its life, and thus reacts on its creatoras a force constantly tending to provoke the renewal of the feelingwhich called it into existence. It also influences in a similar mannerothers with whom it comes into contact, though its _rapport_ with themis naturally not so perfect. 

All that has been said as to the effect of good wishes and friendlythoughts is also true in the opposite direction of evil wishes andangry thoughts; and considering the amount of envy, hatred, malice andall uncharitableness that exists in the world, it will be readilyunderstood that among the artificial elementals many terriblecreatures are to be seen. A man whose thoughts or desires arespiteful, brutal, sensual, avaricious, moves through the worldcarrying with him everywhere a pestiferous atmosphere of his own, peopled with the loathsome beings he has created to be his companions, and thus is not only in sadly evil case himself, but is a dangerousnuisance to his fellow-men, subjecting all who have the misfortune tocome into contact with him to the risk of moral contagion from theinfluence of the abominations with which he chooses to surroundhimself. A feeling of envious or jealous hatred towards another personwill send an evil elemental to hover over him and seek for a weakpoint through which it can operate; and if the feeling be a persistentone, such a creature may be continually nourished by it and therebyenabled to protract its undesirable activity for a very long period. It can, however, produce no effect upon the person towards whom it isdirected unless he has himself some tendency which it can foster--somefulcrum for its lever, as it were; from the aura of a man of purethought and good life all such influences at once rebound, findingnothing upon which they can fasten, and in that case, by a verycurious law, they react in all their force upon their originalcreator. In him by the hypothesis they find a very congenial sphere ofaction, and thus the Karma of his evil wish works itself out at onceby means of the very entity which he himself has called intoexistence. It occasionally happens, however, that an artificialelemental of this description is for various reasons unable to expendits force either upon its object or its creator, and in such cases itbecomes a kind of wandering demon, readily attracted by any person whoindulges feelings similar to that which gave it birth, and equallyprepared either to stimulate such feelings in him for the sake of thestrength it may gain from them, or to pour out its store of evilinfluence upon him through any opening which he may offer it. If it issufficiently powerful to seize upon and inhabit some passing shell itfrequently does so, as the possession of such a temporary home enablesit to husband its dreadful resources more carefully. In this form itmay manifest through a medium, and by masquerading as some well-knownfriend may sometimes obtain an influence over people upon whom itwould otherwise have little hold. 

What has been written above will serve to enforce the statementalready made as to the importance of maintaining a strict control overour thoughts. Many a well-meaning man, who is scrupulously careful todo his duty towards his neighbour in word and deed, is apt to considerthat his thoughts at least are nobody's business but his own, and solets them run riot in various directions, utterly unconscious of theswarms of baleful creatures he is launching upon the world. To such aman an accurate comprehension of the effect of thought and desire inproducing artificial elementals would come as a horrifying revelation;on the other hand, it would be the greatest consolation to manydevoted and grateful souls who are oppressed with the feeling thatthey are unable to do anything in return for the kindness lavishedupon them by their benefactors. For friendly thoughts and earnest goodwishes are as easily and as effectually formulated by the poorest asby the richest, and it is within the power of almost any man, if hewill take the trouble, to maintain what is practically a good angelalways at the side of the brother or sister, the friend or the childwhom he loves best, no matter in what part of the world he may be. Many a time a mother's loving thoughts and prayers have formedthemselves into an angel guardian for the child, and except in thealmost impossible case that the child had in him no instinctresponsive to a good influence, have undoubtedly given him assistanceand protection. Such guardians may often be seen by clairvoyantvision, and there have even been cases where one of them has hadsufficient strength to materialize and become for the moment visibleto physical sight. A curious fact which deserves mention here is thateven after the passage of the mother into the devachanic condition thelove which she pours out upon the children she thinks of assurrounding her will react upon the real children still living in thisworld, and will often support the guardian elemental which shecreated while on earth, until her dear ones themselves pass away inturn. As Madame Blavatsky remarks, "her love will always be felt bythe children in the flesh; it will manifest in their dreams and oftenin various events, in providential protections and escapes--for loveis a strong shield, and is not limited by space or time" (_Key toTheosophy_, p. 150). All the stories of the intervention of guardianangels must not, however, be attributed to the action of artificialelementals, for in many cases such "angels" have been the souls ofeither living or recently departed human beings, and they have alsooccasionally, though rarely, been Devas. 

This power of an earnest desire, especially if frequently repeated, tocreate an active elemental which ever presses forcefully in thedirection of its own fulfilment, is the scientific explanation of whatdevout but unphilosophical people describe as answers to prayer. Thereare occasions, though at present these are rare, when the Karma of theperson so praying is such as to permit of assistance being directlyrendered to him by an Adept or his pupil, and there is also the stillrarer possibility of the intervention of a Deva or some friendlynature-spirit; but in all these cases the easiest and most obviousform for such assistance to take would be the strengthening and theintelligent direction of the elemental already formed by the wish. 

A very curious and instructive instance of the extreme persistence ofthese artificial elementals under favourable circumstances came underthe notice of one of our investigators quite recently. All readers ofthe literature of such subjects are aware that many of our ancientfamilies are supposed to have associated with them a traditionaldeath-warning--a phenomenon of one kind or another which foretells, usually some days beforehand, the approaching decease of the head ofthe house. A picturesque example of this is the well-known story ofthe white bird of the Oxenhams, whose appearance has ever since thetime of Queen Elizabeth been recognized as a sure presage of the deathof some member of the family; while another is the spectral coachwhich is reported to drive up to the door of a certain castle in thenorth when a similar calamity is impending. A phenomenon of this orderoccurs in connection with the family of one of our members, but it isof a much commoner and less striking type than either of the above, consisting only of a solemn and impressive strain of dirge-like music, which is heard apparently floating in the air three days before thedeath takes place. Our member, having himself twice heard this mysticsound, finding its warning in both cases quite accurate, and knowingalso that according to family tradition the same thing had beenhappening for several centuries, set himself to seek by occult methodsfor the cause underlying so strange a phenomenon. The result wasunexpected but interesting. It appeared that somewhere in the twelfthcentury the head of the family went to the crusades, like many anothervaliant man, and took with him to win his spurs in the sacred causehis youngest and favourite son, a promising youth whose success inlife was the dearest wish of his father's heart. Unhappily, however, the young man was killed in battle, and the father was plunged intothe depths of despair, lamenting not only the loss of his son, butstill more the fact that he was cut off so suddenly in the full flushof careless and not altogether blameless youth. So poignant, indeed, were the old man's feelings that he cast off his knightly armour andjoined one of the great monastic orders, vowing to devote all theremainder of his life to prayer, first for the soul of his son, andsecondly that henceforward no descendant of his might ever againencounter what seemed to his simple and pious mind the terrible dangerof meeting death unprepared. Day after day for many a year he pouredall the energy of his soul into the channel of that one intense wish, firmly believing that somehow or other the result he so earnestlydesired would be brought about. A student of occultism will havelittle difficulty in deciding what would be the effect of such adefinite and long-continued stream of thought; our knightly monkcreated an artificial elemental of immense power and resourcefulnessfor its own particular object, and accumulated within it a store offorce which would enable it to carry out his wishes for an indefiniteperiod. An elemental is a perfect storage-battery--one from whichthere is practically no leakage; and when we remember what itsoriginal strength must have been, and how comparatively rarely itwould be called upon to put it forth, we shall scarcely wonder thateven now it exhibits unimpaired vitality, and still warns the directdescendants of the old crusader of their approaching doom by repeatingin their ears the strange wailing music which was the dirge of a youngand valiant soldier seven hundred years ago in Palestine. 

2. _Elementals formed consciously. _

Since such results as have been described above have been achieved bythe thought-force of men who were entirely in the dark as to what theywere doing, it will readily be imagined that a magician whounderstands the subject, and can see exactly what effect he isproducing, may wield immense power along these lines. As a matter offact occultists of both the white and dark schools frequently useartificial elementals in their work, and few tasks are beyond thepowers of such creatures when scientifically prepared and directedwith knowledge and skill; for one who knows how to do so can maintaina connection with his elemental and guide it, no matter at whatdistance it may be working, so that it will practically act as thoughendowed with the full intelligence of its master. Very definite andvery efficient guardian angels have sometimes been supplied in thisway, though it is probably very rarely that Karma permits such adecided interference in a person's life as that would be. In such acase, however, as that of a pupil of the Adepts, who might have in thecourse of his work for them to run the risk of attack from forces withwhich his unaided strength would be entirely insufficient to cope, guardians of this description have been given, and have fully provedtheir sleepless vigilance and their tremendous power. By some of themore advanced processes of black magic, also, artificial elementals ofgreat power may be called into existence, and much evil has beenworked in various ways by such entities. But it is true of them, as ofthe previous class, that if they are aimed at a person whom by reasonof his purity of character they are unable to influence they reactwith terrible force upon their creator; so that the medięval story ofthe magician being torn to pieces by the fiends he himself had raisedis no mere fable, but may well have an awful foundation in fact. 

Such creatures occasionally, for various reasons, escape from thecontrol of those who are trying to make use of them, and becomewandering and aimless demons, as do some of those mentioned under theprevious heading under similar circumstances; but those that we areconsidering, having much more intelligence and power, and a muchlonger existence, are proportionately more dangerous. They invariablyseek for means of prolonging their life either by feeding likevampires upon the vitality of human beings, or by influencing them tomake offerings to them; and among simple half-savage tribes they havefrequently succeeded by judicious management in getting themselvesrecognized as village or family gods. Any deity which demandssacrifices involving the shedding of blood may always be set down asbelonging to the lowest and most loathsome class of this order; otherless objectionable types are sometimes content with offerings of riceand cooked food of various kinds. There are parts of India where boththese varieties may be found flourishing even at the present day, andin Africa they are probably comparatively numerous. By means ofwhatever nourishment they can obtain from the offerings, and stillmore by the vitality they draw from their devotees, they may continueto prolong their existence for many years, or even centuries, retaining sufficient strength to perform occasional phenomena of amild type in order to stimulate the faith and zeal of their followers, and invariably making themselves unpleasant in some way or other ifthe accustomed sacrifices are neglected. For example, it was assertedrecently that in one Indian village the inhabitants had found thatwhenever for any reason the local deity did not get his or her regularmeals, spontaneous fires began to break out with alarming frequencyamong the cottages, sometimes three or four simultaneously, in caseswhere they declared it was impossible to suspect human agency; andother stories of a more or less similar nature will no doubt recur tothe memory of any reader who knows something of the out-of-the-waycorners of that most wonderful of all countries. 

The art of manufacturing artificial elementals of extreme virulenceand power seems to have been one of the specialities of the magiciansof Atlantis--"the lords of the dark face". One example of theircapabilities in this line is given in _The Secret Doctrine_ (vol. Ii. , p. 427), where we read of the wonderful speaking animals who had to bequieted by an offering of blood, lest they should awaken their mastersand warn them of the impending destruction. But apart from thesestrange beasts they created other artificial entities of power andenergy so tremendous, that it is darkly hinted that some of them havekept themselves in existence even to this day, though it is more thaneleven thousand years since the cataclysm which overwhelmed theiroriginal masters. The terrible Indian goddess whose devotees wereimpelled to commit in her name the awful crimes of Thuggee--theghastly Kālī, worshipped even to this day with rites too abominable tobe described--might well be a relic of a system which had to be sweptaway even at the cost of the submergence of a continent, and the lossof sixty-five million human lives. 

3. _Human Artificials. _

We have now to consider a class of entities which, though it containsbut very few individuals, has acquired from its intimate connectionwith one of the great movements of modern times an importance entirelyout of proportion to its numbers. It seems doubtful whether it shouldappear under the first or third of our main divisions; but, thoughcertainly human, it is so far removed from the course of ordinaryevolution, so entirely the product of a will outside of its own, thatit perhaps falls most naturally into place among the artificialbeings. The easiest way of describing it will be to commence with itshistory, and to do that we must once more look back to the greatAtlantean race. In thinking of the Adepts and schools of occultism ofthat remarkable people our minds instinctively revert to the evilpractices of which we hear so much in connection with their latterdays; but we must not forget that before that age of selfishness anddegradation the mighty civilization of Atlantis had brought forth muchthat was noble and worthy of admiration, and that among its leaderswere some who now stand upon the loftiest pinnacles as yet attained byman. Among the lodges for occult study preliminary to initiationformed by the Adepts of the good Law was one in a certain part ofAmerica which was then tributary to one of the great Atlanteanmonarchs--"the Divine Rulers of the Golden Gate"; and though it haspassed through many and strange vicissitudes, though it has had tomove its headquarters from country to country as each in turn wasinvaded by the jarring elements of a later civilization, that lodgestill exists even at the present day, observing still the sameold-world ritual even teaching as a sacred and hidden language thesame Atlantean tongue which was used at its foundation so manythousands of years ago. It still remains what it was from the first--alodge of occultists of pure and philanthropic aims, which can leadthose students whom it finds worthy no inconsiderable distance on theroad to knowledge, and confers such psychic powers as are in its giftonly after the most searching tests as to the fitness of thecandidate. Its teachers do not stand upon the Adept level, yethundreds have learnt through it how to set their feet upon the Pathwhich has led them to Adeptship in later lives; and though it is notin direct communication with the Brotherhood of the Himalayas, thereare some among the latter who have themselves been connected with itin former incarnations, and therefore retain a more than ordinarilyfriendly interest in its proceedings. 

The chiefs of this lodge, though they have always kept themselves andtheir society strictly in the background, have nevertheless done whatthey could from time to time to assist the progress of truth in theworld, and some half-century ago, in despair at the rampantmaterialism which seemed to be stifling all spirituality in Europe andAmerica, they determined to make an attempt to combat it by somewhatnovel methods--in point of fact to offer opportunities by which anyreasonable man could acquire absolute proof of that life apart fromthe physical body which it was the tendency of science to deny. Thephenomena exhibited were not in themselves absolutely new, since insome form or other we may hear of them all through history; but theirdefinite organization--their production as it were to order--thesewere features distinctly new to the modern world. The movement theythus set on foot gradually grew into the vast fabric of modernspiritualism, and though it would perhaps be unfair to hold theoriginators of the scheme directly responsible for many of the resultswhich have followed, we must admit that they have achieved theirpurpose to the extent of converting vast numbers of people from abelief in nothing in particular to a firm faith in at any rate somekind of future life. This is undoubtedly a magnificent result, though, in the opinion of many of those whose power and knowledge enable themto take a wider view of such matters than we can, it has been attainedat too great a cost, since it seems to them that on the whole the harmdone outweighs the good. The method adopted was to take some ordinaryperson after death, arouse him thoroughly upon the astral plane, instruct him to a certain extent in the powers and possibilitiesbelonging to it, and then put him in charge of a spiritualisticcircle. He in his turn "developed" other departed personalities alongthe same line, they all acted upon those who sat at their _séances_, and "developed" them as mediums; and so spiritualism grew andflourished. No doubt living members of the original lodge occasionallymanifested themselves in astral form at some of the circles--perhapsthey may do so even now; but in most cases they simply gave suchdirection and guidance as they considered necessary to the personsthey had put in charge. There is little doubt that the movementincreased so much more rapidly than they had expected that it soon gotquite beyond their control, so that, as has been said, for many of thelater developments they can only be held indirectly responsible. 

Of course the intensification of the astral-plane life in thosepersons who were thus put in charge of circles distinctly delayedtheir natural progress; and though the idea had been that anythinglost in this way would be fully atoned for by the good Karma gainedby helping to lead others to the truth, it was soon found that it wasimpossible to make use of a "spirit-guide" for any length of timewithout doing him serious and permanent injury. In some cases such"guides" were therefore withdrawn, and others substituted for them; inothers it was considered for various reasons undesirable to make sucha change, and then a very remarkable expedient was adopted which gaverise to the curious class of creatures we have called "humanartificials". The higher principles of the original "guide" wereallowed to pass on their long delayed evolution into the devachaniccondition, but the shade he left behind him was taken possession of, sustained, and operated upon so that it might appear to its admiringcircle practically just as before. This seems at first to have beendone by members of the lodge themselves, but apparently thatarrangement was found irksome or unsuitable, or perhaps was considereda waste of force, and the same objection applied to the use for thispurpose of an artificial elemental; so it was eventually decided thatthe departed person who would have been appointed to succeed the late"spirit-guide" should still do so, but should take possession of thelatter's shade or shell, and in fact simply wear his appearance. It issaid that some members of the lodge objected to this on the groundthat though the purpose might be entirely good a certain amount ofdeception was involved; but the general opinion seems to have beenthat as the shade really was the same, and contained something at anyrate of the original lower Manas, there was nothing that could becalled deception in the matter. This, then, was the genesis of thehuman artificial entity, and it is understood that in some cases morethan one such change has been made without arousing suspicion, thoughon the other hand some investigators of spiritualism have remarked onthe fact that after a considerable lapse of time certain differencessuddenly became observable in the manner and disposition of a"spirit". It is needless to say that none of the Adept Brotherhood hasever approved of the formation of an artificial entity of this sort, though they could not interfere with any one who thought it right totake such a course. A weak point in the arrangement is that manyothers besides the original lodge may adopt this plan, and there isnothing whatever to prevent black magicians from supplyingcommunicating "spirits"--as, indeed, they have been known to do. 

With this class we conclude our survey of the inhabitants of theastral plane. With the reservations specially made some few pagesback, the catalogue may be taken as a fairly complete one; but it mustonce more be emphasized that this treatise claims only to sketch themerest outline of a very vast subject, the detailed elaboration ofwhich would need a lifetime of study and hard work. 

PHENOMENA. 

Though in the course of this paper various superphysical phenomenahave been mentioned and to some extent explained, it will perhapsbefore concluding be desirable so far to recapitulate as to give alist of those which are most frequently met with by the student ofthese subjects, and to show by which of the agencies we have attemptedto describe they are usually caused. The resources of the astralworld, however, are so varied that almost any phenomenon with which weare acquainted can be produced in several different ways, so that itis only possible to lay down general rules in the matter. 

Apparitions or ghosts furnish a very good instance of the remark justmade, for in the loose manner in which the words are ordinarily usedthey may stand for almost any inhabitant of the astral plane. Ofcourse psychically developed people are constantly seeing such things, but for an ordinary person to "see a ghost, " as the common expressionruns, one of two things must happen: either that ghost mustmaterialize, or that person must have a temporary flash of psychicperception. But for the fact that neither of these events is a commonone, ghosts would be met with in our streets as frequently as livingpeople. 

[Sidenote: Churchyard Ghosts. ]

If the ghost is seen hovering about a grave it is probably the ethericshell of a newly-buried person, though it _may_ be the astral body ofa living man haunting in sleep the tomb of a friend; or again, it maybe a materialized thought-form--that is, an artificial elementalcreated by the energy with which a man thinks of himself as present atthat particular spot. These varieties would be easily distinguishableone from the other by any one accustomed to use astral vision, but anunpractised person would be quite likely to call them all vaguely"ghosts". 

[Sidenote: Apparitions of the Dying. ]

Apparitions at the time of death are by no means uncommon, and arevery often really visits paid by the astral form of the dying man justbefore what we elect to call the moment of dissolution; though hereagain they are quite likely to be thought-forms called into being byhis earnest wish to see some friend once more before he passes into anunfamiliar condition. 

[Sidenote: Haunted Localities. ]

Apparitions at the spot where some crime was committed are usuallythought-forms projected by the criminal, who, whether living or dead, but most especially when dead, is perpetually thinking over again andagain the circumstances of his action; and since these thoughts arenaturally specially vivid in his mind on the anniversary of theoriginal crime, it is often only on that occasion that the artificialelementals he creates are strong enough to materialize themselves toordinary sight--a fact which accounts for the periodicity of somemanifestations of this class. Another point in reference to suchphenomena is, that wherever any tremendous mental disturbance hastaken place, wherever overwhelming terror, pain, sorrow, hatred, orindeed any kind of intense passion has been felt, an impression of sovery marked a character has been made upon the astral light that aperson with even the faintest glimmer of psychic faculty cannot but bedeeply impressed by it, and it would need but a slight temporaryincrease of sensibility to enable him to visualize the entirescene--to see the event in all its detail apparently taking placebefore his eyes--and in such a case he would of course report thatthe place was haunted, and that he had seen a ghost. Indeed, peoplewho are as yet unable to see psychically under any circumstances arefrequently very unpleasantly impressed when visiting such places as wehave mentioned; there are many, for example, who feel uncomfortablewhen passing the site of Tyburn Tree, or cannot stay in the Chamber ofHorrors at Madame Tussaud's, though they may not be in the least awarethat their discomfort is due to the dreadful impressions in the astrallight which surround places and objects redolent of horror and crime, and to the presence of the loathsome astral entities which alwaysswarm about such centres. 

[Sidenote: Family Ghosts. ]

The family ghost, whom we generally find in the stock stories of thesupernatural as an appanage of the feudal castle, may be either athought-form or an unusually vivid impression in the astral light, oragain he may really be an earth-bound ancestor still haunting thescenes in which his thoughts and hopes centred during life. 

[Sidenote: Bell-ringing, stone-throwing, etc. ]

Another class of hauntings which take the form of bell-ringing, stone-throwing, or the breaking of crockery, has already been referredto, and is almost invariably the work of elemental forces, either setblindly in motion by the clumsy efforts of an ignorant person tryingto attract the attention of his surviving friends, or intentionallyemployed by some childishly mischievous nature-spirit. 

[Sidenote: Fairies. ]

The nature-spirits are also responsible for whatever of truth theremay be in all the strange fairy stories which are so common in certainparts of the country. Sometimes a temporary accession of clairvoyance, which is by no means uncommon among the inhabitants of lonelymountainous regions, enables some belated wayfarer to watch theirjoyous gambols; sometimes strange tricks are played upon someterrified victim, and a glamour is cast over him, making him, forexample, see houses and people where he knows none really exist. Andthis is frequently no mere momentary delusion, for a man willsometimes go through quite a long series of imaginary but moststriking adventures, and then suddenly find that all his brilliantsurroundings have vanished in a moment, leaving him standing in somelonely valley or on some wind-swept plain. On the other hand, it is byno means safe to accept as founded on fact all the popular legends onthe subject, for the grossest superstition is often mingled with thetheories of the peasantry about these beings, as was shown by a recentterrible murder case in Ireland. 

To the same entities must be attributed a large portion of what arecalled physical phenomena at spiritualistic _séances_--indeed, many a_séance_ has been given entirely by these mischievous creatures; andsuch a performance might easily include many very striking items, suchas the answering of questions and delivery of pretended messages byraps or tilts, the exhibition of "spirit lights, " the apport ofobjects from a distance, the reading of thoughts which were in themind of any person present, the precipitation of writings or drawings, and even materializations. In fact, the nature-spirits alone, if anyof them happened to be disposed to take the trouble, could give a_séance_ equal to the most wonderful of which we read; for thoughthere may be certain phenomena which they would not find it easy toreproduce, their marvellous power of glamour would enable them withoutdifficulty to persuade the entire circle that these phenomena also hadduly occurred, unless, indeed, there were present a trained observerwho understood their arts and knew how to defeat them. As a generalrule, whenever silly tricks or practical jokes are played at a_séance_, we may infer the presence either of low-classnature-spirits, or of human beings who were of a sufficiently degradedtype to find pleasure in such idiotic performances during life. 

[Sidenote: Communicating Entities. ]

As to the entities who may "communicate" at a _séance_, or may obsessand speak through an entranced medium, their name is simply legion;there is hardly a single class among all the varied inhabitants of theastral plane from whose ranks they may not be drawn, though after theexplanations given it will be readily understood that the chances arevery much against their coming from a high one. A manifesting "spirit"_may_ be exactly what it professes to be, but on the whole theprobabilities are that it is nothing of the kind; and for the ordinarysitter there is absolutely no means of distinguishing the true fromthe false, since the extent to which a being having all the resourcesof the astral plane at his command can delude a person on the physicalplane is so great that no reliance can be placed even on what seemsthe most convincing proof. If something manifests which announcesitself as a man's long-lost brother, he can have no certainty that itsclaim is a just one; if it tells him of some fact known only to thatbrother and to himself, he remains unconvinced, for he knows that itmight easily have read the information from his own mind, or from hissurroundings in the astral light; even if it goes still further andtells him something connected with his brother, of which he himself isunaware, but which he afterwards verifies, he still realizes that eventhis may have been read from the astral record, or that what he seesbefore him may be only the shade of his brother, and so possess hismemory without in any way being himself. It is not for one momentdenied that important communications have sometimes been made at_séances_ by entities who in such cases have been precisely what theysaid they were; all that is claimed is that it is quite impossiblefor the ordinary person who visits a _séance_ ever to be certain thathe is not being cruelly deceived in one or other of half a dozendifferent ways. 

There have been a few cases in which members of the lodge ofoccultists referred to above as originating the spiritualisticmovement have themselves given, through a medium, a series of valuableteachings on deeply interesting subjects, but this has invariably beenat strictly private family _séances_, not at public performances forwhich money has been paid. 

[Sidenote: Astral Resources. ]

To understand the methods by which a large class of physical phenomenaare produced, it is necessary to have some comprehension of thevarious resources mentioned above, which a person functioning on theastral plane finds at his command; and this is a branch of the subjectwhich it is by no means easy to make clear, especially as it is hedgedabout with certain obviously necessary restrictions. It may perhapshelp us if we remember that the astral plane may be regarded as inmany ways only an extension of the physical, and the idea that mattermay assume the etheric state (in which, though intangible to us, it isyet purely physical) may serve to show us how the one melts into theother. In fact, in the Hindu conception of Jagrat, or "the wakingstate, " the physical and astral planes are combined, its sevensubdivisions corresponding to the four conditions of physical matter, and the three broad divisions of astral matter explained above. Withthis thought in our minds it is easy to move a step further, and graspthe idea that astral vision, or rather astral perception, may from onepoint of view be defined as the capability of receiving an enormouslyincreased number of different sets of vibrations. In our physicalbodies one small set of slow vibrations is perceptible to us as sound;another small set of much more rapid vibrations affects us as light;and again another set as electric action: but there are immensenumbers of intermediate vibrations which produce no result which ourphysical senses can cognize at all. Now it will readily be seen thatif all, or even some only, of these intermediates, with all thecomplications producible by differences of wave-length, areperceptible on the astral plane, our comprehension of nature might bevery greatly increased on that level, and we might be able to acquiremuch information which is now hidden from us. 

[Sidenote: Clairvoyance. ]

[Sidenote: Prevision and Second-sight. ]

It is admitted that some of these pass through solid matter withperfect ease, so that this enables us to account scientifically forsome of the peculiarities of astral vision, though those minds towhich the theory of the fourth dimension commends itself find in it aneater and more complete explanation. It is clear that the merepossession of this astral vision by a being would at once account forhis capability to produce many results that seem very wonderful tous--such, for example, as the reading of a passage from a closed book;and when we remember, furthermore, that this faculty includes thepower of thought-reading to the fullest extent, and also, whencombined with the knowledge of the projection of currents in theastral light, that of observing a desired object in almost any part ofthe world, we see that a good many of the phenomena of clairvoyanceare explicable even without rising above this level. Of course true, trained, and absolutely reliable clairvoyance calls into operation anentirely different set of faculties, but as these belong to a higherplane than the astral, they form no part of our present subject. Thefaculty of accurate prevision, again, appertains altogether to thathigher plane, yet flashes or reflections of it frequently showthemselves to purely astral sight, more especially among simple-mindedpeople who live under suitable conditions--what is called"second-sight" among the Highlanders of Scotland being a well-knownexample. 

Another fact which must not be forgotten is that any intelligentinhabitant of the astral plane is not only able to perceive theseetheric vibrations, but can also--if he has learnt how it isdone--adapt them to his own ends or himself set them in motion. 

[Sidenote: Astral Forces. ]

[Sidenote: Etheric Currents. ]

[Sidenote: Etheric Pressure. ]

[Sidenote: Latent Energy. ]

[Sidenote: Sympathetic Vibration. ]

It will be readily understood that superphysical forces and the methods ofmanaging them are not subjects about which much can be written forpublication at present, though there is reason to suppose that it may notbe very long before at any rate some applications of one or two of themcome to be known to the world at large: but it may perhaps be possible, without transgressing the limits of the permissible, to give so much of anidea of them as shall be sufficient to show in outline how certainphenomena are performed. All who have much experience of spiritualistic_séances_ at which physical results are produced must at one time oranother have seen evidence of the employment of practically resistlessforce in, for example, the instantaneous movement of enormous weights, andso on; and if of a scientific turn of mind, they may perhaps have wonderedwhence this force was obtained, and what was the leverage employed. Asusual in connection with astral phenomena, there are several ways in whichsuch work may have been done, but it will be enough for the moment to hintat four. First, there are great etheric currents constantly sweeping overthe surface of the earth from pole to pole in volume which makes theirpower as irresistible as that of the rising tide, and there are methods bywhich this stupendous force may be safely utilized, though unskilfulattempts to control it would be fraught with frightful danger. Secondly, there is what can best be described as an etheric pressure, somewhatcorresponding to, though immensely greater than, the atmospheric pressure. In ordinary life we are as little conscious of one of these pressures as weare of the other, but nevertheless they both exist, and if science wereable to exhaust the ether from a given space, as it can exhaust the air, the one could be proved as readily as the other. The difficulty of doingthat lies in the fact that matter in the etheric condition freelyinter-penetrates matter in all states below it, so that there is as yet nomeans within the knowledge of our physicists by which any given body ofether can be isolated from the rest. Practical Occultism, however, teacheshow this can be done, and thus the tremendous force of etheric pressure canbe brought into play. Thirdly, there is a vast store of potential energywhich has become dormant in matter during the involution of the subtle intothe gross, and by changing the condition of the matter some of this may beliberated and utilized, somewhat as latent energy in the form of heat maybe liberated by a change in the condition of visible matter. Fourthly, manystriking results, both great and small, may be produced by an extension ofa principle which may be described as that of sympathetic vibration. Illustrations taken from the physical plane seem generally to misrepresentrather than elucidate astral phenomena, because they can never be more thanpartially applicable; but the recollection of two simple facts of ordinarylife may help to make this important branch of our subject clearer, if weare careful not to push the analogy further than it will hold good. It iswell known that if one of the wires of a harp be made to vibratevigorously, its movement will call forth sympathetic vibrations in thecorresponding strings of any number of harps placed round it, if they aretuned to exactly the same pitch. It is also well known that when a largebody of soldiers crosses a suspension bridge it is necessary for them tobreak step, since the perfect regularity of their ordinary march would setup a vibration in the bridge which would be intensified by every step theytook, until the point of resistance of the iron was passed, when the wholestructure would fly to pieces. With these two analogies in our minds (neverforgetting that they are only partial ones) it may seem more comprehensiblethat one who knows exactly at what rate to start his vibrations--knows, soto speak, the keynote of the class of matter he wishes to affect--should beable by sounding that keynote to call forth an immense number ofsympathetic vibrations. When this is done on the physical plane noadditional energy is developed; but on the astral plane there is thisdifference, that the matter with which we are dealing is far less inert, and so when called into action by these sympathetic vibrations it adds itsown living force to the original impulse, which may thus be multipliedmany-fold; and then by further rhythmic repetition of the original impulse, as in the case of the soldiers marching over the bridge, the vibrations maybe so intensified that the result is out of all apparent proportion to thecause. Indeed, it may be said that there is scarcely any limit to theconceivable achievements of this force in the hands of a great Adept Whofully comprehends its possibilities; for the very building of the Universeitself was but the result of the vibrations set up by the Spoken Word. 

[Sidenote: Mantras. ]

The class of mantras or spells which produce their result not bycontrolling some elemental, but merely by the repetition of certainsounds, also depend for their efficacy upon this action of sympatheticvibration. 

[Sidenote: Disintegration. ]

The phenomenon of disintegration also may be brought about by theaction of extremely rapid vibrations, which overcome the cohesion ofthe molecules of the object operated upon. A still higher rate ofvibrations of a somewhat different type will separate these moleculesinto their constituent atoms. A body reduced by these means to theetheric condition can be moved by an astral current from one place toanother with very great rapidity; and the moment that the force whichhas been exerted to put it into that condition is withdrawn it will beforced by the etheric pressure to resume its original form. It is inthis way that objects are sometimes brought almost instantaneouslyfrom great distances at spiritualistic _séances_, and it is obviousthat when disintegrated they could be passed with perfect ease throughany solid substance, such, for example, as the wall of a house or theside of a locked box, so that what is commonly called "the passage ofmatter through matter" is seen, when properly understood, to be assimple as the passage of water through a sieve, or of a gas through aliquid in some chemical experiment. 

[Sidenote: Materialization. ]

Since it is possible by an alteration of vibrations to change matterfrom the solid to the etheric condition, it will be comprehended thatit is also possible to reverse the process and to bring etheric matterinto the solid state. As the one process explains the phenomenon ofdisintegration, so does the other that of materialization; and just asin the former case a continued effort of will is necessary to preventthe object from resuming its original form, so in exactly the same wayin the latter phenomenon a continued effort is necessary to preventthe materialized matter from relapsing into the etheric condition. Inthe materializations seen at an ordinary _séance_, such matter as maybe required is borrowed as far as possible from the medium's ethericdouble--an operation which is prejudicial to his health, and alsoundesirable in various other ways; and this explains the fact that thematerialized form is usually strictly confined to the immediateneighbourhood of the medium, and is subject to an attraction which isconstantly drawing it back to the body from which it came, so that ifkept away from the medium too long the figure collapses, and thematter which composed it, returning to the etheric condition, rushesback instantly to its source. 

[Sidenote: Why Darkness is required. ]

[Sidenote: Spirit Photographs. ]

The reason why the beings directing a _séance_ find it easier tooperate in darkness or in very subdued light will now be manifest, since their power would usually be insufficient to hold together amaterialized form or even a "spirit hand" for more than a very fewseconds amidst the intense vibrations set up by brilliant light. The_habitués_ of _séances_ will no doubt have noticed thatmaterializations are of three kinds:--First, those which are tangiblebut not visible; second, those which are visible but not tangible; andthird, those which are both visible and tangible. To the first kind, which is much the most common, belong the invisible spirit hands whichso frequently stroke the faces of the sitters or carry small objectsabout the room, and the vocal organs from which the "direct voice"proceeds. In this case, an order of matter is being used which canneither reflect nor obstruct light, but which is capable under certainconditions of setting up vibrations in the atmosphere which affect usas sound. A variation of this class is that kind of partialmaterialization which, though incapable of reflecting any light thatwe can see, is yet able to affect some of the ultra-violet rays, andcan therefore make a more or less definite impression upon the camera, and so provide us with what are known as "spirit photographs". Whenthere is not sufficient power available to produce a perfectmaterialization we sometimes get the vaporous-looking form whichconstitutes our second class, and in such a case the "spirits" usuallywarn their sitters that the forms which appear must not be touched. In the rarer case of a full materialization there is sufficient powerto hold together, at least for a few moments, a form which can be bothseen and touched. 

When an Adept or pupil finds it necessary for any purpose tomaterialize his Māyāvirūpa or his astral body, he does not draw uponeither his own etheric double or any one else's, since he has beentaught how to extract the matter which he requires directly from theastral light or even from the Ākāsha. 

[Sidenote: Reduplication. ]

Another phenomenon closely connected with this part of the subject isthat of reduplication, which is produced by simply forming in theastral light a perfect mental image of the object to be copied, andthen gathering about that mould the necessary physical matter. Ofcourse for this purpose it is necessary that every particle, interioras well as exterior, of the object to be duplicated should be heldaccurately in view simultaneously, and consequently the phenomenon isone which requires considerable power of concentration to perform. Persons unable to reduce the matter required directly from the astrallight have sometimes borrowed it from the material of the originalarticle, which in this case would be correspondingly reduced inweight. 

[Sidenote: Precipitation. ]

We read a good deal in Theosophical literature about the precipitationof letters or pictures. This result, like everything else, may beobtained in several ways. An Adept wishing to communicate with someone might place a sheet of paper before him, form an image of thewriting which he wished to appear upon it, and draw from the astrallight the matter wherewith to objectify that image; or if he preferredto do so it would be equally easy for him to produce the same resultupon a sheet of paper lying before his correspondent, whatever mightbe the distance between them. A third method which, since it savestime, is much more frequently adopted, is to impress the wholesubstance of the letter on the mind of some pupil, and leave him to dothe mechanical work of precipitation. That pupil would then take hissheet of paper, and, imagining he saw the letter written thereon inhis Master's hand, would proceed to objectify the writing as beforedescribed. If he found it difficult to perform simultaneously the twooperations of drawing his material from the astral light andprecipitating the writing on the paper, he might have either ordinaryink or a small quantity of coloured powder on the table beside him, which, being already physical matter, could be drawn upon morereadily. 

It is of course obvious that the possession of this power would be avery dangerous weapon in the hands of an unscrupulous person, since itis just as easy to imitate one man's handwriting as another's, and itwould be impossible to detect by any ordinary means a forgerycommitted in this manner. A pupil definitely connected with any Masterhas always an infallible test by which he knows whether any messagereally emanates from that Master or not, but for others the proof ofits origin must always lie solely in the contents of the letter andthe spirit breathing through it, as the handwriting, however cleverlyimitated, is of absolutely no value as evidence. 

As to speed, a pupil new to the work of precipitation would probablybe able to image only a few words at a time, and would, therefore, geton hardly more rapidly than if he wrote his letter in the ordinaryway, but a more experienced individual who could visualize a wholepage or perhaps the entire letter at once would get through his workwith greater facility. It is in this manner that quite long lettersare sometimes produced in a few seconds at a _séance_. 

When a picture has to be precipitated the method is precisely thesame, except that here it is absolutely necessary that the entirescene should he visualized at once, and if many colours are requiredthere is of course the additional complication of manufacturing them, keeping them separate, and reproducing accurately the exact tints ofthe scene to be represented. Evidently there is scope here for theexercise of the artistic faculty, and it must not be supposed thatevery inhabitant of the astral plane could by this method produce anequally good picture; a man who had been a great artist in life, andhad therefore learnt how to see and what to look for, would certainlybe very much more successful than the ordinary person if he attemptedprecipitation when on the astral plane after death. 

[Sidenote: Slate-writing. ]

The slate-writing, for the production of which under test conditionssome of the greatest mediums have been so famous, is sometimesproduced by precipitation, though more frequently the fragment ofpencil enclosed between the slates is guided by a spirit hand, ofwhich only just the tiny points sufficient to grasp it arematerialized. 

[Sidenote: Levitation. ]

An occurrence which occasionally takes place at _séances_, and morefrequently among eastern Yógīs, is what is called levitation--that is, the floating of a human body in the air. No doubt when this takesplace in the case of a medium, he is often simply upborne by "spirithands, " but there is another and more scientific method ofaccomplishing this feat which is always used in the East, andoccasionally here also. Occult science is acquainted with a means ofneutralizing or even entirely reversing the attraction of gravity, andit is obvious that by the judicious use of this power all thephenomena of levitation may be easily produced. It was no doubt by aknowledge of this secret that some of the air-ships of ancient Indiaand Atlantis were raised from the earth and made light enough to bereadily moved and directed; and not improbably the same acquaintancewith nature's finer forces greatly facilitated the labours of thosewho raised the enormous blocks of stone sometimes used in cyclopeanarchitecture, or in the building of the Pyramids and Stonehenge. 

[Sidenote: Spirit Lights. ]

With the knowledge of the forces of nature which the resources of theastral plane place at the command its inhabitants the production ofwhat are called "spirit lights" is a very easy matter, whether they beof the mildly phosphorescent or the dazzling electrical variety, orthose curious dancing globules of light into which a certain class offire elementals so readily transform themselves. Since all lightconsists simply of vibrations of the ether, it is obvious that any onewho knows how to set up these vibrations can readily produce any kindof light that he wishes. 

[Sidenote: Handling Fire. ]

It is by the aid of the etheric elemental essence also that theremarkable feat of handling fire unharmed is generally performed, though there are as usual other ways in which it can be done. Thethinnest layer of etheric substance can be so manipulated as to beabsolutely impervious to heat, and when the hand of a medium or sitteris covered with this he may pick up burning coal or red-hot iron withperfect safety. 

[Sidenote: Transmutation. ]

Most of the occurrences of the _séance_-room have now been referredto, but there are one or two of the rarer phenomena of the outer worldwhich must not be left quite without mention in our list. Thetransmutation of metals is commonly supposed to be a mere dream of themedięval alchemists, and no doubt in most cases the description of thephenomenon was merely a symbol of the purification of the soul; yetthere seems to be some evidence that it was really accomplished bythem on several occasions, and there are petty magicians in the Eastwho profess to do it under test conditions even now. Be that as itmay, it is evident that since the ultimate atom is one and the same inall substances, and it is only the methods of its combination thatdiffer, any one who possessed the power of reducing a piece of metalto the atomic condition and of re-arranging its atoms in some otherform would have no difficulty in effecting transmutation to any extentthat he wished. 

[Sidenote: Repercussion. ]

The principle of sympathetic vibration mentioned above also providesthe explanation of that strange and little-known phenomenon calledrepercussion, by means of which any injury done to, or any mark madeupon, the astral body in the course of its wanderings will bereproduced in the physical body. We find traces of this in some of theevidence given at trials for witchcraft in the middle ages, in whichit is not infrequently stated that some wound given to the witch whenin the form of a dog or a wolf was found to have appeared in thecorresponding part of her human body. The same strange law hassometimes led to an entirely unjust accusation of fraud against amedium, because, for example, some colouring matter rubbed upon thehand of a materialized "spirit" was afterwards found upon hishand--the explanation being that in that case, as so often happens, the "spirit" was simply the medium's astral body or perhaps even hisetheric double, forced by the guiding influences to take some formother than his own. In fact the astral and physical bodies are sointimately connected that it is impossible to touch the keynote of onewithout immediately setting up exactly corresponding vibrations in theother. 

CONCLUSION. 

It is hoped that any reader who has been sufficiently interested tofollow this treatise thus far, may by this time have a general idea ofthe astral plane and its possibilities, such as will enable him tounderstand and fit into their proper places in its scheme any facts inconnection with it which he may pick up in his reading. Though onlythe roughest sketch has been given of a very great subject, enough hasperhaps been said to show the extreme importance of astral perceptionin the study of biology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, medicine andhistory, and the great impulse which might be given by its developmentto all these sciences. Yet its attainment should never be regarded asan end in itself, since any means adopted with that object in viewwould inevitably lead to what is called in the East the _laukika_method of development--a system by which certain psychic powers areindeed acquired, but only for the present personality; and since theiracquisition is surrounded by no safeguards, the student is extremelylikely to misuse them. To this class belong all systems which involvethe use of drugs, invocation of elementals, or the practices of HathaYoga. The other method, which is called the _lokottara_, consists ofRaj Yoga or spiritual progress, and though it may be somewhat slowerthan the other, whatever is acquired along this line is gained for thepermanent individuality, and never lost again, while the guiding careof a Master ensures perfect safety from misuse of power as long ashis orders are scrupulously obeyed. The opening of astral vision mustbe regarded then only as a stage in the development of somethinginfinitely nobler--merely as a step, and a very small step, on thatgreat Upward Path which leads men to the sublime heights of Adeptship, and beyond even that through glorious vistas of wisdom and power suchas our finite minds cannot now conceive. 

Yet let no one think it an unmixed blessing to have the wider sight ofthe astral plane, for upon one in whom that vision is opened thesorrow and misery, the evil and the greed of the world press as anever-present burden, until he often feels inclined to echo thepassionate adjuration of Schiller: "Why hast thou cast me thus intothe town of the ever-blind, to proclaim thine oracle with the openedsense? Take back this sad clear-sightedness; take from mine eyes thiscruel light! Give me back my blindness--the happy darkness of mysenses; take back thy dreadful gift!" This feeling is perhaps not anunnatural one in the earlier stages of the Path, yet higher sight anddeeper knowledge soon bring to the student the perfect certainty thatall things are working together for the eventual good of all--that

 Hour after hour, like an opening flower, Shall truth after truth expand; For the sun may pale, and the stars may fail, But the LAW of GOOD shall stand. Its splendour glows and its influence grows As Nature's slow work appears, From the zoophyte small to the LORDS of all, Through kalpas and crores of years. 

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