THOUGHT-FORMS

BY ANNIE BESANTAND C. W. LEADBEATER

[Illustration: Publisher Logo]

THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE LTD38 GREAT ORMOND STREET, LONDON, W. C. 1

_First Printed_ 1901_Reprint_ 1905_Reprint_ 1925

_Made and Printed in Great Britain by_PERCY LUND, HUMPHRIES & CO LTDTHE COUNTRY PRESSBRADFORD

[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE--MEANING OF THE COLOURS--(see html versionfor this and other illustrations. )]

FOREWORD

The text of this little book is the joint work of Mr Leadbeater andmyself; some of it has already appeared as an article in _Lucifer_ (nowthe _Theosophical Review_), but the greater part of it is new. Thedrawing and painting of the Thought-Forms observed by Mr Leadbeater orby myself, or by both of us together, has been done by three friends--MrJohn Varley, Mr Prince, and Miss Macfarlane, to each of whom we tenderour cordial thanks. To paint in earth's dull colours the forms clothedin the living light of other worlds is a hard and thankless task; somuch the more gratitude is due to those who have attempted it. Theyneeded coloured fire, and had only ground earths. We have also to thankMr F. Bligh Bond for allowing us to use his essay on _VibrationFigures_, and some of his exquisite drawings. Another friend, who sentus some notes and a few drawings, insists on remaining anonymous, so wecan only send our thanks to him with similar anonymity. 

It is our earnest hope--as it is our belief--that this little book willserve as a striking moral lesson to every reader, making him realise thenature and power of his thoughts, acting as a stimulus to the noble, acurb on the base. With this belief and hope we send it on its way. 

ANNIE BESANT. 

CONTENTS

 PAGEFOREWORD 6INTRODUCTION 11THE DIFFICULTY OF REPRESENTATION 16THE TWO EFFECTS OF THOUGHT 21HOW THE VIBRATION ACTS 23THE FORM AND ITS EFFECT 25THE MEANING OF THE COLOURS 32THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 36ILLUSTRATIVE THOUGHT-FORMS 40AFFECTION 40-44DEVOTION 44-49INTELLECT 49-50AMBITION 51ANGER 52SYMPATHY 55FEAR 55GREED 56VARIOUS EMOTIONS 57 SHIPWRECK 57 ON THE FIRST NIGHT 59 THE GAMBLERS 60 AT A STREET ACCIDENT 61 AT A FUNERAL 61 ON MEETING A FRIEND 64 APPRECIATION OF A PICTURE 65FORMS SEEN IN MEDITATION 66 SYMPATHY AND LOVE FOR ALL 66 AN ASPIRATION TO ENFOLD ALL 66 IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS 67 COSMIC ORDER 68 THE LOGOS AS MANIFESTED IN MAN 69 THE LOGOS PERVADING ALL 70 ANOTHER CONCEPTION 71 THE THREEFOLD MANIFESTATION 71 THE SEVENFOLD MANIFESTATION 72 INTELLECTUAL ASPIRATION 72HELPFUL THOUGHTS 74FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC 75 MENDELSSOHN 77 GOUNOD 80 WAGNER 82

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 FIG. PAGEMEANING OF THE COLOURS _Frontispiece_CHLADNI'S SOUND PLATE 1 28FORMS PRODUCED IN SAND 2 28FORMS PRODUCED IN SAND 3 29FORMS PRODUCED BY PENDULUMS 4-7 30VAGUE PURE AFFECTION 8 40VAGUE SELFISH AFFECTION 9 40DEFINITE AFFECTION 10 42RADIATING AFFECTION 11 43PEACE AND PROTECTION 12 42GRASPING ANIMAL AFFECTION 13 43VAGUE RELIGIOUS FEELING 14 44UPWARD RUSH OF DEVOTION 15 46SELF-RENUNCIATION 16 44RESPONSE TO DEVOTION 17 46VAGUE INTELLECTUAL PLEASURE 18 50VAGUE SYMPATHY 18A 50THE INTENTION TO KNOW 19 51HIGH AMBITION 20 52SELFISH AMBITION 21 52MURDEROUS RAGE 22 53SUSTAINED ANGER 23 53EXPLOSIVE ANGER 24 51WATCHFUL JEALOUSY 25 54ANGRY JEALOUSY 26 54SUDDEN FRIGHT 27 55SELFISH GREED 28 56GREED FOR DRINK 29 56AT A SHIPWRECK 30 58ON THE FIRST NIGHT 31 59THE GAMBLERS 32 60AT A STREET ACCIDENT 33 61AT A FUNERAL 34 62ON MEETING A FRIEND 35 64THE APPRECIATION OF A PICTURE 36 64SYMPATHY AND LOVE FOR ALL 37 66AN ASPIRATION TO ENFOLD ALL 38 67IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS 39 66AN INTELLECTUAL CONCEPTION OF COSMIC ORDER 40 69THE LOGOS AS MANIFESTED IN MAN 41 69THE LOGOS PERVADING ALL 42 and 44 70ANOTHER CONCEPTION 45 70THE THREEFOLD MANIFESTATION 46 70THE SEVENFOLD MANIFESTATION 47 70INTELLECTUAL ASPIRATION 43 72HELPFUL THOUGHTS 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 74

 PLATEMUSIC OF MENDELSSOHN M 78MUSIC OF GOUNOD G 80MUSIC OF WAGNER W 82

[Transcriber's Note: Some of the plates are displayed out of sequence tocorrespond with references to them in the text. ]

THOUGHT-FORMS

As knowledge increases, the attitude of science towards the things ofthe invisible world is undergoing considerable modification. Itsattention is no longer directed solely to the earth with all its varietyof objects, or to the physical worlds around it; but it finds itselfcompelled to glance further afield, and to construct hypotheses as tothe nature of the matter and force which lie in the regions beyond theken of its instruments. Ether is now comfortably settled in thescientific kingdom, becoming almost more than a hypothesis. Mesmerism, under its new name of hypnotism, is no longer an outcast. Reichenbach'sexperiments are still looked at askance, but are not wholly condemned. Röntgen's rays have rearranged some of the older ideas of matter, whileradium has revolutionised them, and is leading science beyond theborderland of ether into the astral world. The boundaries betweenanimate and inanimate matter are broken down. Magnets are found to bepossessed of almost uncanny powers, transferring certain forms ofdisease in a way not yet satisfactorily explained. Telepathy, clairvoyance, movement without contact, though not yet admitted to thescientific table, are approaching the Cinderella-stage. The fact isthat science has pressed its researches so far, has used such rareingenuity in its questionings of nature, has shown such tirelesspatience in its investigations, that it is receiving the reward of thosewho seek, and forces and beings of the next higher plane of nature arebeginning to show themselves on the outer edge of the physical field. "Nature makes no leaps, " and as the physicist nears the confines of hiskingdom he finds himself bewildered by touches and gleams from anotherrealm which interpenetrates his own. He finds himself compelled tospeculate on invisible presences, if only to find a rational explanationfor undoubted physical phenomena, and insensibly he slips over theboundary, and is, although he does not yet realise it, contacting theastral plane. 

One of the most interesting of the highroads from the physical to theastral is that of the study of thought. The Western scientist, commencing in the anatomy and physiology of the brain, endeavours tomake these the basis for "a sound psychology. " He passes then into theregion of dreams, illusions, hallucinations; and as soon as heendeavours to elaborate an experimental science which shall classify andarrange these, he inevitably plunges into the astral plane. Dr Baraducof Paris has nearly crossed the barrier, and is well on the way towardsphotographing astro-mental images, to obtaining pictures of what fromthe materialistic standpoint would be the results of vibrations in thegrey matter of the brain. 

It has long been known to those who have given attention to the questionthat impressions were produced by the reflection of the ultra-violetrays from objects not visible by the rays of the ordinary spectrum. Clairvoyants were occasionally justified by the appearance on sensitivephotographic plates of figures seen and described by them as presentwith the sitter, though invisible to physical sight. It is not possiblefor an unbiassed judgment to reject _in toto_ the evidence of suchoccurrences proffered by men of integrity on the strength of their ownexperiments, oftentimes repeated. And now we have investigators who turntheir attention to the obtaining of images of subtle forms, inventingmethods specially designed with the view of reproducing them. Amongthese, Dr Baraduc seems to have been the most successful, and he haspublished a volume dealing with his investigations and containingreproductions of the photographs he has obtained. Dr Baraduc states thathe is investigating the subtle forces by which the soul--defined as theintelligence working between the body and the spirit--expresses itself, by seeking to record its movements by means of a needle, its "luminous"but invisible vibrations by impressions on sensitive plates. He shutsout by non-conductors electricity and heat. We can pass over hisexperiments in Biometry (measurement of life by movements), and glanceat those in Iconography--the impressions of invisible waves, regarded byhim as of the nature of light, in which the soul draws its own image. Anumber of these photographs represent etheric and magnetic results ofphysical phenomena, and these again we may pass over as not bearing onour special subject, interesting as they are in themselves. Dr Baraducobtained various impressions by strongly thinking of an object, theeffect produced by the thought-form appearing on a sensitive plate; thushe tried to project a portrait of a lady (then dead) whom he had known, and produced an impression due to his thought of a drawing he had madeof her on her deathbed. He quite rightly says that the creation of anobject is the passing out of an image from the mind and its subsequentmaterialisation, and he seeks the chemical effect caused on silver saltsby this thought-created picture. One striking illustration is that of aforce raying outwards, the projection of an earnest prayer. Anotherprayer is seen producing forms like the fronds of a fern, another likerain pouring upwards, if the phrase may be permitted. A rippled oblongmass is projected by three persons thinking of their unity in affection. A young boy sorrowing over and caressing a dead bird is surrounded by aflood of curved interwoven threads of emotional disturbance. A strongvortex is formed by a feeling of deep sadness. Looking at this mostinteresting and suggestive series, it is clear that in these picturesthat which is obtained is not the thought-image, but the effect causedin etheric matter by its vibrations, and it is necessary toclairvoyantly see the thought in order to understand the resultsproduced. In fact, the illustrations are instructive for what they donot show directly, as well as for the images that appear. 

It may be useful to put before students, a little more plainly than hashitherto been done, some of the facts in nature which will render moreintelligible the results at which Dr Baraduc is arriving. Necessarilyimperfect these must be, a physical photographic camera and sensitiveplates not being ideal instruments for astral research; but, as will beseen from the above, they are most interesting and valuable as forming alink between clairvoyant and physical scientific investigations. 

At the present time observers outside the Theosophical Society areconcerning themselves with the fact that emotional changes show theirnature by changes of colour in the cloud-like ovoid, or aura, thatencompasses all living beings. Articles on the subject are appearing inpapers unconnected with the Theosophical Society, and a medicalspecialist[1] has collected a large number of cases in which the colourof the aura of persons of various types and temperaments is recorded byhim. His results resemble closely those arrived at by clairvoyanttheosophists and others, and the general unanimity on the subject issufficient to establish the fact, if the evidence be judged by the usualcanons applied to human testimony. 

The book _Man Visible and Invisible_ dealt with the general subject ofthe aura. The present little volume, written by the author of _ManVisible and Invisible_, and a theosophical colleague, is intended tocarry the subject further; and it is believed that this study is useful, as impressing vividly on the mind of the student the power and livingnature of thought and desire, and the influence exerted by them on allwhom they reach. 

[Footnote 1: Dr Hooker, Gloucester Place, London, W. ]

THE DIFFICULTY OF REPRESENTATION

We have often heard it said that thoughts are things, and there are manyamong us who are persuaded of the truth of this statement. Yet very fewof us have any clear idea as to what kind of thing a thought is, and theobject of this little book is to help us to conceive this. 

There are some serious difficulties in our way, for our conception ofspace is limited to three dimensions, and when we attempt to make adrawing we practically limit ourselves to two. In reality thepresentation even of ordinary three-dimensional objects is seriouslydefective, for scarcely a line or angle in our drawing is accuratelyshown. If a road crosses the picture, the part in the foreground must berepresented as enormously wider than that in the background, although inreality the width is unchanged. If a house is to be drawn, the rightangles at its corners must be shown as acute or obtuse as the case maybe, but hardly ever as they actually are. In fact, we draw everythingnot as it is but as it appears, and the effort of the artist is by askilful arrangement of lines upon a flat surface to convey to the eye animpression which shall recall that made by a three-dimensional object. 

It is possible to do this only because similar objects are alreadyfamiliar to those who look at the picture and accept the suggestionwhich it conveys. A person who had never seen a tree could form butlittle idea of one from even the most skilful painting. If to thisdifficulty we add the other and far more serious one of a limitation ofconsciousness, and suppose ourselves to be showing the picture to abeing who knew only two dimensions, we see how utterly impossible itwould be to convey to him any adequate impression of such a landscape aswe see. Precisely this difficulty in its most aggravated form stands inour way, when we try to make a drawing of even a very simplethought-form. The vast majority of those who look at the picture areabsolutely limited to the consciousness of three dimensions, andfurthermore, have not the slightest conception of that inner world towhich thought-forms belong, with all its splendid light and colour. Allthat we can do at the best is to represent a section of thethought-form; and those whose faculties enable them to see the originalcannot but be disappointed with any reproduction of it. Still, those whoare at present unable to see anything will gain at least a partialcomprehension, and however inadequate it may be it is at least betterthan nothing. 

All students know that what is called the aura of man is the outer partof the cloud-like substance of his higher bodies, interpenetrating eachother, and extending beyond the confines of his physical body, thesmallest of all. They know also that two of these bodies, the mental anddesire bodies, are those chiefly concerned with the appearance of whatare called thought-forms. But in order that the matter may be made clearfor all, and not only for students already acquainted with theosophicalteachings, a recapitulation of the main facts will not be out of place. 

Man, the Thinker, is clothed in a body composed of innumerablecombinations of the subtle matter of the mental plane, this body beingmore or less refined in its constituents and organised more or lessfully for its functions, according to the stage of intellectualdevelopment at which the man himself has arrived. The mental body is anobject of great beauty, the delicacy and rapid motion of its particlesgiving it an aspect of living iridescent light, and this beauty becomesan extraordinarily radiant and entrancing loveliness as the intellectbecomes more highly evolved and is employed chiefly on pure and sublimetopics. Every thought gives rise to a set of correlated vibrations inthe matter of this body, accompanied with a marvellous play of colour, like that in the spray of a waterfall as the sunlight strikes it, raisedto the _n_th degree of colour and vivid delicacy. The body under thisimpulse throws off a vibrating portion of itself, shaped by the natureof the vibrations--as figures are made by sand on a disk vibrating to amusical note--and this gathers from the surrounding atmosphere matterlike itself in fineness from the elemental essence of the mental world. We have then a thought-form pure and simple, and it is a living entityof intense activity animated by the one idea that generated it. If madeof the finer kinds of matter, it will be of great power and energy, andmay be used as a most potent agent when directed by a strong and steadywill. Into the details of such use we will enter later. 

When the man's energy flows outwards towards external objects of desire, or is occupied in passional and emotional activities, this energy worksin a less subtle order of matter than the mental, in that of the astralworld. What is called his desire-body is composed of this matter, and itforms the most prominent part of the aura in the undeveloped man. Wherethe man is of a gross type, the desire-body is of the denser matter ofthe astral plane, and is dull in hue, browns and dirty greens and redsplaying a great part in it. Through this will flash variouscharacteristic colours, as his passions are excited. A man of a highertype has his desire-body composed of the finer qualities of astralmatter, with the colours, rippling over and flashing through it, fineand clear in hue. While less delicate and less radiant than the mentalbody, it forms a beautiful object, and as selfishness is eliminated allthe duller and heavier shades disappear. 

This desire (or astral) body gives rise to a second class of entities, similar in their general constitution to the thought-forms alreadydescribed, but limited to the astral plane, and generated by the mindunder the dominion of the animal nature. 

These are caused by the activity of the lower mind, throwing itself outthrough the astral body--the activity of Kâma-Manas in theosophicalterminology, or the mind dominated by desire. Vibrations in the body ofdesire, or astral body, are in this case set up, and under these thisbody throws off a vibrating portion of itself, shaped, as in theprevious case, by the nature of the vibrations, and this attracts toitself some of the appropriate elemental essence of the astral world. Such a thought-form has for its body this elemental essence, and for itsanimating soul the desire or passion which threw it forth; according tothe amount of mental energy combined with this desire or passion willbe the force of the thought-form. These, like those belonging to themental plane, are called artificial elementals, and they are by far themost common, as few thoughts of ordinary men and women are untinged withdesire, passion, or emotion. 

THE TWO EFFECTS OF THOUGHT

Each definite thought produces a double effect--a radiating vibrationand a floating form. The thought itself appears first to clairvoyantsight as a vibration in the mental body, and this may be either simpleor complex. If the thought itself is absolutely simple, there is onlythe one rate of vibration, and only one type of mental matter will bestrongly affected. The mental body is composed of matter of severaldegrees of density, which we commonly arrange in classes according tothe sub-planes. Of each of these we have many sub-divisions, and if wetypify these by drawing horizontal lines to indicate the differentdegrees of density, there is another arrangement which we mightsymbolise by drawing perpendicular lines at right angles to the others, to denote types which differ in quality as well as in density. There arethus many varieties of this mental matter, and it is found that each oneof these has its own especial and appropriate rate of vibration, towhich it seems most accustomed, so that it very readily responds to it, and tends to return to it as soon as possible when it has been forcedaway from it by some strong rush of thought or feeling. When a suddenwave of some emotion sweeps over a man, for example, his astral body isthrown into violent agitation, and its original colours are or the timealmost obscured by the flush of carmine, of blue, or of scarlet whichcorresponds with the rate of vibration of that particular emotion. Thischange is only temporary; it passes off in a few seconds, and the astralbody rapidly resumes its usual condition. Yet every such rush of feelingproduces a permanent effect: it always adds a little of its hue to thenormal colouring of the astral body, so that every time that the manyields himself to a certain emotion it becomes easier for him to yieldhimself to it again, because his astral body is getting into the habitof vibrating at that especial rate. 

The majority of human thoughts, however, are by no means simple. Absolutely pure affection of course exists; but we very often find ittinged with pride or with selfishness, with jealousy or with animalpassion. This means that at least two separate vibrations appear both inthe mental and astral bodies--frequently more than two. The radiatingvibration, therefore, will be a complex one, and the resultantthought-form will show several colours instead of only one. 

HOW THE VIBRATION ACTS

These radiating vibrations, like all others in nature, become lesspowerful in proportion to the distance from their source, though it isprobable that the variation is in proportion to the cube of the distanceinstead of to the square, because of the additional dimension involved. Again, like all other vibrations, these tend to reproduce themselveswhenever opportunity is offered to them; and so whenever they strikeupon another mental body they tend to provoke in it their own rate ofmotion. That is--from the point of view of the man whose mental body istouched by these waves--they tend to produce in his mind thoughts of thesame type as that which had previously arisen in the mind of the thinkerwho sent forth the waves. The distance to which such thought-wavespenetrate, and the force and persistency with which they impinge uponthe mental bodies of others, depend upon the strength and clearness ofthe original thought. In this way the thinker is in the same position asthe speaker. The voice of the latter sets in motion waves of sound inthe air which radiate from him in all directions, and convey his messageto all those who are within hearing, and the distance to which his voicecan penetrate depends upon its power and upon the clearness of hisenunciation. In just the same way the forceful thought will carry verymuch further than the weak and undecided thought; but clearness anddefiniteness are of even greater importance than strength. Again, justas the speaker's voice may fall upon heedless ears where men are alreadyengaged in business or in pleasure, so may a mighty wave of thoughtsweep past without affecting the mind of the man, if he be alreadydeeply engrossed in some other line of thought. 

It should be understood that this radiating vibration conveys thecharacter of the thought, but not its subject. If a Hindu sits rapt indevotion to Krishna, the waves of feeling which pour forth from himstimulate devotional feeling in all those who come under theirinfluence, though in the case of the Muhammadan that devotion is toAllah, while for the Zoroastrian it is to Ahuramazda, or for theChristian to Jesus. A man thinking keenly upon some high subject poursout from himself vibrations which tend to stir up thought at a similarlevel in others, but they in no way suggest to those others the specialsubject of his thought. They naturally act with special vigour uponthose minds already habituated to vibrations of similar character; yetthey have some effect on every mental body upon which they impinge, sothat their tendency is to awaken the power of higher thought in those towhom it has not yet become a custom. It is thus evident that every manwho thinks along high lines is doing missionary work, even though he maybe entirely unconscious of it. 

THE FORM AND ITS EFFECT

Let us turn now to the second effect of thought, the creation of adefinite form. All students of the occult are acquainted with the ideaof the elemental essence, that strange half-intelligent life whichsurrounds us in all directions, vivifying the matter of the mental andastral planes. This matter thus animated responds very readily to theinfluence of human thought, and every impulse sent out, either from themental body or from the astral body of man, immediately clothes itselfin a temporary vehicle of this vitalised matter. Such a thought orimpulse becomes for the time a kind of living creature, thethought-force being the soul, and the vivified matter the body. Insteadof using the somewhat clumsy paraphrase, "astral or mental matterensouled by the monadic essence at the stage of one of the elementalkingdoms, " theosophical writers often, for brevity's sake, call thisquickened matter simply elemental essence; and sometimes they speak ofthe thought-form as "an elemental. " There may be infinite variety in thecolour and shape of such elementals or thought-forms, for each thoughtdraws round it the matter which is appropriate for its expression, andsets that matter into vibration in harmony with its own; so that thecharacter of the thought decides its colour, and the study of itsvariations and combinations is an exceedingly interesting one. 

This thought-form may not inaptly be compared to a Leyden jar, thecoating of living essence being symbolised by the jar, and the thoughtenergy by the charge of electricity. If the man's thought or feeling isdirectly connected with someone else, the resultant thought-form movestowards that person and discharges itself upon his astral and mentalbodies. If the man's thought is about himself, or is based upon apersonal feeling, as the vast majority of thoughts are, it hovers roundits creator and is always ready to react upon him whenever he is for amoment in a passive condition. For example, a man who yields himself tothoughts of impurity may forget all about them while he is engaged inthe daily routine of his business, even though the resultant forms arehanging round him in a heavy cloud, because his attention is otherwisedirected and his astral body is therefore not impressible by any otherrate of vibration than its own. When, however, the marked vibrationslackens and the man rests after his labours and leaves his mind blankas regards definite thought, he is very likely to feel the vibration ofimpurity stealing insidiously upon him. If the consciousness of the manbe to any extent awakened, he may perceive this and cry out that he isbeing tempted by the devil; yet the truth is that the temptation is fromwithout only in appearance, since it is nothing but the natural reactionupon him of his own thought-forms. Each man travels through spaceenclosed within a cage of his own building, surrounded by a mass of theforms created by his habitual thoughts. Through this medium he looks outupon the world, and naturally he sees everything tinged with itspredominant colours, and all rates of vibration which reach him fromwithout are more or less modified by its rate. Thus until the man learnscomplete control of thought and feeling, he sees nothing as it reallyis, since all his observations must be made through this medium, whichdistorts and colours everything like badly-made glass. 

If the thought-form be neither definitely personal nor specially aimedat someone else, it simply floats detached in the atmosphere, all thetime radiating vibrations similar to those originally sent forth by itscreator. If it does not come into contact with any other mental body, this radiation gradually exhausts its store of energy, and in that casethe form falls to pieces; but if it succeeds in awakening sympatheticvibration in any mental body near at hand, an attraction is set up, andthe thought-form is usually absorbed by that mental body. Thus we seethat the influence of the thought-form is by no means so far-reaching asthat of the original vibration; but in so far as it acts, it acts withmuch greater precision. What it produces in the mind-body which itinfluences is not merely a thought of an order similar to that whichgave it birth; it is actually the same thought. The radiation may affectthousands and stir up in them thoughts on the same level as theoriginal, and yet it may happen that no one of them will be identicalwith that original; the thought-form can affect only very few, but inthose few cases it will reproduce exactly the initiatory idea. 

The fact of the creation by vibrations of a distinct form, geometricalor other, is already familiar to every student of acoustics, and"Chladni's" figures are continually reproduced in every physicallaboratory. 

[Illustration: FIG. 1. CHLADNI'S SOUND PLATE]

[Illustration: FIG. 2. FORMS PRODUCED IN SOUND]

For the lay reader the following brief description may be useful. AChladni's sound plate (fig. 1) is made of brass or plate-glass. Grainsof fine sand or spores are scattered over the surface, and the edge ofthe plate is bowed. The sand is thrown up into the air by the vibrationof the plate, and re-falling on the plate is arranged in regular lines(fig. 2). By touching the edge of the plate at different points when itis bowed, different notes, and hence varying forms, are obtained (fig. 3). If the figures here given are compared with those obtained from thehuman voice, many likenesses will be observed. For these latter, the'voice-forms' so admirably studied and pictured by Mrs Watts Hughes, [1]bearing witness to the same fact, should be consulted, and her work onthe subject should be in the hands of every student. But few perhapshave realised that the shapes pictured are due to the interplay of thevibrations that create them, and that a machine exists by means of whichtwo or more simultaneous motions can be imparted to a pendulum, and thatby attaching a fine drawing-pen to a lever connected with the pendulumits action may be exactly traced. Substitute for the swing of thependulum the vibrations set up in the mental or astral body, and we haveclearly before us the _modus operandi_ of the building of forms byvibrations. [2]

[Illustration: FIG. 3. FORMS PRODUCED IN SOUND]

[Footnote 1: _The Eidophone Voice Figures. _ Margaret Watts Hughes. ]

[Footnote 2: Mr Joseph Gould, Stratford House, Nottingham, supplies thetwin-elliptic pendulum by which these wonderful figures may beproduced. ]

The following description is taken from a most interesting essayentitled _Vibration Figures_, by F. Bligh Bond, F. R. I. B. A. , who hasdrawn a number of remarkable figures by the use of pendulums. Thependulum is suspended on knife edges of hardened steel, and is free toswing only at right angles to the knife-edge suspension. Four suchpendulums may be coupled in pairs, swinging at right angles to eachother, by threads connecting the shafts of each pair of pendulums withthe ends of a light but rigid lath, from the centre of which run otherthreads; these threads carry the united movements of each pair ofpendulums to a light square of wood, suspended by a spring, and bearinga pen. The pen is thus controlled by the combined movement of the fourpendulums, and this movement is registered on a drawing board by thepen. There is no limit, theoretically, to the number of pendulums thatcan be combined in this manner. The movements are rectilinear, but tworectilinear vibrations of equal amplitude acting at right angles to eachother generate a circle if they alternate precisely, an ellipse if thealternations are less regular or the amplitudes unequal. A cyclicvibration may also be obtained from a pendulum free to swing in a rotarypath. In these ways a most wonderful series of drawings have beenobtained, and the similarity of these to some of the thought-forms isremarkable; they suffice to demonstrate how readily vibrations may betransformed into figures. Thus compare fig. 4 with fig. 12, the mother'sprayer; or fig. 5 with fig. 10; or fig. 6 with fig. 25, the serpent-likedarting forms. Fig. 7 is added as an illustration of the complexityattainable. It seems to us a most marvellous thing that some of thedrawings, made apparently at random by the use of this machine, shouldexactly correspond to higher types of thought-forms created inmeditation. We are sure that a wealth of significance lies behind thisfact, though it will need much further investigation before we can saycertainly all that it means. But it must surely imply this much--that, if two forces on the physical plane bearing a certain ratio one to theother can draw a form which exactly corresponds to that produced on themental plane by a complex thought, we may infer that that thought setsin motion on its own plane two forces which are in the same ratio one tothe other. What these forces are and how they work remains to be seen;but if we are ever able to solve this problem, it is likely that itwill open to us a new and exceedingly valuable field of knowledge. 

[Illustration: FIGS. 4-7. FORMS PRODUCED BY PENDULUMS]

GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 

Three general principles underlie the production of all thought-forms:--

1. Quality of thought determines colour. 

2. Nature of thought determines form. 

3. Definiteness of thought determines clearness of outline. 

THE MEANING OF THE COLOURS

The table of colours given in the frontispiece has already beenthoroughly described in the book _Man Visible and Invisible_, and themeaning to be attached to them is just the same in the thought-form asin the body out of which it is evolved. For the sake of those who havenot at hand the full description given in the book just mentioned, itwill be well to state that black means hatred and malice. Red, of allshades from lurid brick-red to brilliant scarlet, indicates anger;brutal anger will show as flashes of lurid red from dark brown clouds, while the anger of "noble indignation" is a vivid scarlet, by no meansunbeautiful, though it gives an unpleasant thrill; a particularly darkand unpleasant red, almost exactly the colour called dragon's blood, shows animal passion and sensual desire of various kinds. Clear brown(almost burnt sienna) shows avarice; hard dull brown-grey is a sign ofselfishness--a colour which is indeed painfully common; deep heavy greysignifies depression, while a livid pale grey is associated with fear;grey-green is a signal of deceit, while brownish-green (usually fleckedwith points and flashes of scarlet) betokens jealousy. Green seemsalways to denote adaptability; in the lowest case, when mingled withselfishness, this adaptability becomes deceit; at a later stage, whenthe colour becomes purer, it means rather the wish to be all things toall men, even though it may be chiefly for the sake of becoming popularand bearing a good reputation with them; in its still higher, moredelicate and more luminous aspect, it shows the divine power ofsympathy. Affection expresses itself in all shades of crimson and rose;a full clear carmine means a strong healthy affection of normal type; ifstained heavily with brown-grey, a selfish and grasping feeling isindicated, while pure pale rose marks that absolutely unselfish lovewhich is possible only to high natures; it passes from the dull crimsonof animal love to the most exquisite shades of delicate rose, like theearly flushes of the dawning, as the love becomes purified from allselfish elements, and flows out in wider and wider circles of generousimpersonal tenderness and compassion to all who are in need. With atouch of the blue of devotion in it, this may express a strongrealisation of the universal brotherhood of humanity. Deep orangeimports pride or ambition, and the various shades of yellow denoteintellect or intellectual gratification, dull yellow ochre implying thedirection of such faculty to selfish purposes, while clear gamboge showsa distinctly higher type, and pale luminous primrose yellow is a sign ofthe highest and most unselfish use of intellectual power, the purereason directed to spiritual ends. The different shades of blue allindicate religious feeling, and range through all hues from the darkbrown-blue of selfish devotion, or the pallid grey-blue offetish-worship tinged with fear, up to the rich deep clear colour ofheartfelt adoration, and the beautiful pale azure of that highest formwhich implies self-renunciation and union with the divine; thedevotional thought of an unselfish heart is very lovely in colour, likethe deep blue of a summer sky. Through such clouds of blue will oftenshine out golden stars of great brilliancy, darting upwards like ashower of sparks. A mixture of affection and devotion is manifested by atint of violet, and the more delicate shades of this invariably show thecapacity of absorbing and responding to a high and beautiful ideal. Thebrilliancy and the depth of the colours are usually a measure of thestrength and the activity of the feeling. 

Another consideration which must not be forgotten is the type of matterin which these forms are generated. If a thought be purely intellectualand impersonal--for example, if the thinker is attempting to solve aproblem in algebra or geometry--the thought-form and the wave ofvibration will be confined entirely to the mental plane. If, however, the thought be of a spiritual nature, if it be tinged with love andaspiration or deep unselfish feeling, it will rise upwards from themental plane and will borrow much of the splendour and glory of thebuddhic level. In such a case its influence is exceedingly powerful, andevery such thought is a mighty force for good which cannot but produce adecided effect upon all mental bodies within reach, if they contain anyquality at all capable of response. 

If, on the other hand, the thought has in it something of self or ofpersonal desire, at once its vibration turns downwards, and it drawsround itself a body of astral matter in addition to its clothing ofmental matter. Such a thought-form is capable of acting upon the astralbodies of other men as well as their minds, so that it can not onlyraise thought within them, but can also stir up their feelings. 

THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS

From the point of view of the forms which they produce we may groupthought into three classes:--

1. That which takes the image of the thinker. When a man thinks ofhimself as in some distant place, or wishes earnestly to be in thatplace, he makes a thought-form in his own image which appears there. Such a form has not infrequently been seen by others, and has sometimesbeen taken for the astral body or apparition of the man himself. In sucha case, either the seer must have enough of clairvoyance for the time tobe able to observe that astral shape, or the thought-form must havesufficient strength to materialise itself--that is, to draw round itselftemporarily a certain amount of physical matter. The thought whichgenerates such a form as this must necessarily be a strong one, and ittherefore employs a larger proportion of the matter of the mental body, so that though the form is small and compressed when it leaves thethinker, it draws round it a considerable amount of astral matter, andusually expands to life-size before it appears at its destination. 

2. That which takes the image of some material object. When a man thinksof his friend he forms within his mental body a minute image of thatfriend, which often passes outward and usually floats suspended in theair before him. In the same way if he thinks of a room, a house, alandscape, tiny images of these things are formed within the mental bodyand afterwards externalised. This is equally true when he is exercisinghis imagination; the painter who forms a conception of his futurepicture builds it up out of the matter of his mental body, and thenprojects it into space in front of him, keeps it before his mind's eye, and copies it. The novelist in the same way builds images of hischaracter in mental matter, and by the exercise of his will moves thesepuppets from one position or grouping to another, so that the plot ofhis story is literally acted out before him. With our curiously invertedconceptions of reality it is hard for us to understand that these mentalimages actually exist, and are so entirely objective that they mayreadily be seen by the clairvoyant, and can even be rearranged by someone other than their creator. Some novelists have been dimly aware ofsuch a process, and have testified that their characters when oncecreated developed a will of their own, and insisted on carrying the plotof the story along lines quite different from those originally intendedby the author. This has actually happened, sometimes because thethought-forms were ensouled by playful nature-spirits, or more oftenbecause some 'dead' novelist, watching on the astral plane thedevelopment of the plan of his fellow-author, thought that he couldimprove upon it, and chose this method of putting forward hissuggestions. 

3. That which takes a form entirely its own, expressing its inherentqualities in the matter which it draws round it. Only thought-forms ofthis third class can usefully be illustrated, for to represent those ofthe first or second class would be merely to draw portraits orlandscapes. In those types we have the plastic mental or astral mattermoulded in imitation of forms belonging to the physical plane; in thisthird group we have a glimpse of the forms natural to the astral ormental planes. Yet this very fact, which makes them so interesting, places an insuperable barrier in the way of their accurate reproduction. 

Thought-forms of this third class almost invariably manifest themselvesupon the astral plane, as the vast majority of them are expressions offeeling as well as of thought. Those of which we here give specimens arealmost wholly of that class, except that we take a few examples of thebeautiful thought-forms created in definite meditation by those who, through long practice, have learnt how to think. 

Thought-forms directed towards individuals produce definitely markedeffects, these effects being either partially reproduced in the aura ofthe recipient and so increasing the total result, or repelled from it. Athought of love and of desire to protect, directed strongly towards somebeloved object, creates a form which goes to the person thought of, andremains in his aura as a shielding and protecting agent; it will seekall opportunities to serve, and all opportunities to defend, not by aconscious and deliberate action, but by a blind following out of theimpulse impressed upon it, and it will strengthen friendly forces thatimpinge on the aura and weaken unfriendly ones. Thus may we create andmaintain veritable guardian angels round those we love, and many amother's prayer for a distant child thus circles round him, though sheknows not the method by which her "prayer is answered. "

In cases in which good or evil thoughts are projected at individuals, those thoughts, if they are to directly fulfil their mission, must find, in the aura of the object to whom they are sent, materials capable ofresponding sympathetically to their vibrations. Any combination ofmatter can only vibrate within certain definite limits, and if thethought-form be outside all the limits within which the aura is capableof vibrating, it cannot affect that aura at all. It consequentlyrebounds from it, and that with a force proportionate to the energy withwhich it impinged upon it. This is why it is said that a pure heart andmind are the best protectors against any inimical assaults, for such apure heart and mind will construct an astral and a mental body of fineand subtle materials, and these bodies cannot respond to vibrations thatdemand coarse and dense matter. If an evil thought, projected withmalefic intent, strikes such a body, it can only rebound from it, and itis flung back with all its own energy; it then flies backward along themagnetic line of least resistance, that which it has just traversed, andstrikes its projector; he, having matter in his astral and mental bodiessimilar to that of the thought-form he generated, is thrown intorespondent vibrations, and suffers the destructive effects he hadintended to cause to another. Thus "curses [and blessings] come home toroost. " From this arise also the very serious effects of hating orsuspecting a good and highly-advanced man; the thought-forms sentagainst him cannot injure him, and they rebound against theirprojectors, shattering them mentally, morally, or physically. Severalsuch instances are well known to members of the Theosophical Society, having come under their direct observation. So long as any of thecoarser kinds of matter connected with evil and selfish thoughts remainin a person's body, he is open to attack from those who wish him evil, but when he has perfectly eliminated these by self-purification hishaters cannot injure him, and he goes on calmly and peacefully amid allthe darts of their malice. But it is bad for those who shoot out suchdarts. 

Another point that should be mentioned before passing to theconsideration of our illustrations is that every one of thethought-forms here given is drawn from life. They are not imaginaryforms, prepared as some dreamer thinks that they ought to appear; theyare representations of forms actually observed as thrown off by ordinarymen and women, and either reproduced with all possible care and fidelityby those who have seen them, or with the help of artists to whom theseers have described them. 

 * * * * *

For convenience of comparison thought-forms of a similar kind aregrouped together. 

ILLUSTRATIVE THOUGHT-FORMS

AFFECTION

_Vague Pure Affection. _--Fig. 8 is a revolving cloud of pure affection, and except for its vagueness it represents a very good feeling. Theperson from whom it emanates is happy and at peace with the world, thinking dreamily of some friend whose very presence is a pleasure. There is nothing keen or strong about the feeling, yet it is one ofgentle well-being, and of an unselfish delight in the proximity ofthose who are beloved. The feeling which gives birth to such a cloud ispure of its kind, but there is in it no force capable of producingdefinite results. An appearance by no means unlike this frequentlysurrounds a gently purring cat, and radiates slowly outward from theanimal in a series of gradually enlarging concentric shells of rosycloud, fading into invisibility at a distance of a few feet from theirdrowsily contented creator. 

[Illustration: FIG. 8. VAGUE PURE AFFECTION]

_Vague Selfish Affection. _--Fig. 9 shows us also a cloud of affection, but this time it is deeply tinged with a far less desirable feeling. Thedull hard brown-grey of selfishness shows itself very decidedly amongthe carmine of love, and thus we see that the affection which isindicated is closely connected with satisfaction at favours alreadyreceived, and with a lively anticipation of others to come in the nearfuture. Indefinite as was the feeling which produced the cloud in Fig. 8, it was at least free from this taint of selfishness, and it thereforeshowed a certain nobility of nature in its author. Fig. 9 representswhat takes the place of that condition of mind at a lower level ofevolution. It would scarcely be possible that these two clouds shouldemanate from the same person in the same incarnation. Yet there is goodin the man who generates this second cloud, though as yet it is butpartially evolved. A vast amount of the average affection of the worldis of this type, and it is only by slow degrees that it develops towardsthe other and higher manifestation. 

[Illustration: FIG. 9. VAGUE SELFISH AFFECTION]

_Definite Affection. _--Even the first glance at Fig. 10 shows us thathere we have to deal with something of an entirely differentnature--something effective and capable, something that will achieve aresult. The colour is fully equal to that of Fig. 8 in clearness anddepth and transparency, but what was there a mere sentiment is in thiscase translated into emphatic intention coupled with unhesitatingaction. Those who have seen the book _Man Visible and Invisible_ willrecollect that in Plate XI. Of that volume is depicted the effect of asudden rush of pure unselfish affection as it showed itself in theastral body of a mother, as she caught up her little child and coveredit with kisses. Various changes resulted from that sudden outburst ofemotion; one of them was the formation within the astral body of largecrimson coils or vortices lined with living light. Each of these is athought-form of intense affection generated as we have described, andalmost instantaneously ejected towards the object of the feeling. Fig. 10 depicts just such a thought-form after it has left the astral body ofits author, and is on its way towards its goal. It will be observed thatthe almost circular form has changed into one somewhat resembling aprojectile or the head of a comet; and it will be easily understood thatthis alteration is caused by its rapid forward motion. The clearness ofthe colour assures us of the purity of the emotion which gave birth tothis thought-form, while the precision of its outline is unmistakableevidence of power and of vigorous purpose. The soul that gave birth to athought-form such as this must already be one of a certain amount ofdevelopment. 

[Illustration: FIG. 10. DEFINITE AFFECTION]

_Radiating Affection. _--Fig. 11 gives us our first example of athought-form intentionally generated, since its author is making theeffort to pour himself forth in love to all beings. It must beremembered that all these forms are in constant motion. This one, forexample, is steadily widening out, though there seems to be anexhaustless fountain welling up through the centre from a dimensionwhich we cannot represent. A sentiment such as this is so wide in itsapplication, that it is very difficult for any one not thoroughlytrained to keep it clear and precise. The thought-form here shown is, therefore, a very creditable one, for it will be noted that all thenumerous rays of the star are commendably free from vagueness. 

[Illustration: FIG. 11. RADIATING AFFECTION]

_Peace and Protection. _--Few thought-forms are more beautiful andexpressive than this which we see in Fig. 12. This is a thought of loveand peace, protection and benediction, sent forth by one who has thepower and has earned the right to bless. It is not at all probable thatin the mind of its creator there existed any thought of its beautifulwing-like shape, though it is possible that some unconscious reflectionof far-away lessons of childhood about guardian angels who alwayshovered over their charges may have had its influence in determiningthis. However that may be, the earnest wish undoubtedly clothed itselfin this graceful and expressive outline, while the affection thatprompted it gave to it its lovely rose-colour, and the intellect whichguided it shone forth like sunlight as its heart and central support. Thus in sober truth we may make veritable guardian angels to hover overand protect those whom we love, and many an unselfish earnest wish forgood produces such a form as this, though all unknown to its creator. 

[Illustration: FIG. 12. PEACE AND PROTECTION]

_Grasping Animal Affection. _--Fig. 13 gives us an instance of graspinganimal affection--if indeed such a feeling as this be deemed worthy ofthe august name of affection at all. Several colours bear their share inthe production of its dull unpleasing hue, tinged as it is with thelurid gleam of sensuality, as well as deadened with the heavy tintindicative of selfishness. Especially characteristic is its form, forthose curving hooks are never seen except when there exists a strongcraving for personal possession. It is regrettably evident that thefabricator of this thought-form had no conception of theself-sacrificing love which pours itself out in joyous service, neveronce thinking of result or return; his thought has been, not "How muchcan I give?" but "How much can I gain?" and so it has expressed itselfin these re-entering curves. It has not even ventured to throw itselfboldly outward, as do other thoughts, but projects half-heartedly fromthe astral body, which must be supposed to be on the left of thepicture. A sad travesty of the divine quality love; yet even this is astage in evolution, and distinctly an improvement upon earlier stages, as will presently be seen. 

[Illustration: FIG. 13. GRASPING ANIMAL AFFECTION]

DEVOTION

_Vague Religious Feeling. _--Fig. 14 shows us another shapeless rollingcloud, but this time it is blue instead of crimson. It betokens thatvaguely pleasurable religious feeling--a sensation of devoutness ratherthan of devotion--which is so common among those in whom piety is moredeveloped than intellect. In many a church one may see a great cloud ofdeep dull blue floating over the heads of the congregation--indefinitein outline, because of the indistinct nature of the thoughts andfeelings which cause it; flecked too often with brown and grey, becauseignorant devotion absorbs with deplorable facility the dismal tinctureof selfishness or fear; but none the less adumbrating a mightypotentiality of the future, manifesting to our eyes the first faintflutter of one at least of the twin wings of devotion and wisdom, by theuse of which the soul flies upward to God from whom it came. 

[Illustration: FIG. 14. VAGUE RELIGIOUS FEELING]

Strange is it to note under what varied circumstances this vague bluecloud may be seen; and oftentimes its absence speaks more loudly thanits presence. For in many a fashionable place of worship we seek it invain, and find instead of it a vast conglomeration of thought-forms ofthat second type which take the shape of material objects. Instead oftokens of devotion, we see floating above the "worshippers" the astralimages of hats and bonnets, of jewellery and gorgeous dresses, of horsesand of carriages, of whisky-bottles and of Sunday dinners, and sometimesof whole rows of intricate calculations, showing that men and womenalike have had during their supposed hours of prayer and praise nothoughts but of business or of pleasure, of the desires or the anxietiesof the lower form of mundane existence. 

Yet sometimes in a humbler fane, in a church belonging to theunfashionable Catholic or Ritualist, or even in a lowly meeting-housewhere there is but little of learning or of culture, one may watch thedeep blue clouds rolling ceaselessly eastward towards the altar, orupwards, testifying at least to the earnestness and the reverence ofthose who give them birth. Rarely--very rarely--among the clouds of bluewill flash like a lance cast by the hand of a giant such a thought-formas is shown in Fig. 15; or such a flower of self-renunciation as we seein Fig. 16 may float before our ravished eyes; but in most cases we mustseek elsewhere for these signs of a higher development. 

_Upward Rush of Devotion. _--The form in Fig. 15 bears much the samerelation to that of Fig. 14 as did the clearly outlined projectile ofFig. 10 to the indeterminate cloud of Fig. 8. We could hardly have amore marked contrast than that between the inchoate flaccidity of thenebulosity in Fig. 14 and the virile vigour of the splendid spire ofhighly developed devotion which leaps into being before us in Fig. 15. This is no uncertain half-formed sentiment; it is the outrush intomanifestation of a grand emotion rooted deep in the knowledge of fact. The man who feels such devotion as this is one who knows in whom he hasbelieved; the man who makes such a thought-form as this is one who hastaught himself how to think. The determination of the upward rush pointsto courage as well as conviction, while the sharpness of its outlineshows the clarity of its creator's conception, and the peerless purityof its colour bears witness to his utter unselfishness. 

[Illustration: FIG. 15. UPWARD RUSH OF DEVOTION]

_The Response to Devotion. _--In Fig. 17 we see the result of histhought--the response of the LOGOS to the appeal made to Him, the truthwhich underlies the highest and best part of the persistent belief in ananswer to prayer. It needs a few words of explanation. On every plane ofHis solar system our LOGOS pours forth His light, His power, His life, and naturally it is on the higher planes that this outpouring of divinestrength can be given most fully. The descent from each plane to thatnext below it means an almost paralysing limitation--a limitationentirely incomprehensible except to those who have experienced thehigher possibilities of human consciousness. Thus the divine life flowsforth with incomparably greater fulness on the mental plane than on theastral; and yet even its glory at the mental level is ineffablytranscended by that of the buddhic plane. Normally each of these mightywaves of influence spreads about its appropriate plane--horizontally, asit were--but it does not pass into the obscuration of a plane lower thanthat for which it was originally intended. 

[Illustration: FIG. 17. RESPONSE TO DEVOTION]

Yet there are conditions under which the grace and strength peculiar toa higher plane may in a measure be brought down to a lower one, and mayspread abroad there with wonderful effect. This seems to be possibleonly when a special channel is for the moment opened; and that work mustbe done from below and by the effort of man. It has before beenexplained that whenever a man's thought or feeling is selfish, theenergy which it produces moves in a close curve, and thus inevitablyreturns and expends itself upon its own level; but when the thought orfeeling is absolutely unselfish, its energy rushes forth in an opencurve, and thus does _not_ return in the ordinary sense, but piercesthrough into the plane above, because only in that higher condition, with its additional dimension, can it find room for its expansion. Butin thus breaking through, such a thought or feeling holds open a door(to speak symbolically) of dimension equivalent to its own diameter, andthus furnishes the requisite channel through which the divine forceappropriate to the higher plane can pour itself into the lower withmarvellous results, not only for the thinker but for others. An attemptis made in Fig. 17 to symbolise this, and to indicate the great truththat an infinite flood of the higher type of force is always ready andwaiting to pour through when the channel is offered, just as the waterin a cistern may be said to be waiting to pour through the first pipethat may be opened. 

The result of the descent of divine life is a very great strengtheningand uplifting of the maker of the channel, and the spreading all abouthim of a most powerful and beneficent influence. This effect has oftenbeen called an answer to prayer, and has been attributed by the ignorantto what they call a "special interposition of Providence, " instead of tothe unerring action of the great and immutable divine law. 

_Self-Renunciation. _--Fig. 16 gives us yet another form of devotion, producing an exquisitely beautiful form of a type quite new to us--atype in which one might at first sight suppose that various gracefulshapes belonging to animate nature were being imitated. Fig. 16, forexample, is somewhat suggestive of a partially opened flower-bud, whileother forms are found to bear a certain resemblance to shells or leavesor tree-shapes. Manifestly, however, these are not and cannot be copiesof vegetable or animal forms, and it seems probable that the explanationof the similarity lies very much deeper than that. An analogous and evenmore significant fact is that some very complex thought-forms can beexactly imitated by the action of certain mechanical forces, as has beensaid above. While with our present knowledge it would be unwise toattempt a solution of the very fascinating problem presented by theseremarkable resemblances, it seems likely that we are obtaining a glimpseacross the threshold of a very mighty mystery, for if by certainthoughts we produce a form which has been duplicated by the processes ofnature, we have at least a presumption that these forces of nature workalong lines somewhat similar to the action of those thoughts. Since theuniverse is itself a mighty thought-form called into existence by theLOGOS, it may well be that tiny parts of it are also the thought-formsof minor entities engaged in the same work; and thus perhaps we mayapproach a comprehension of what is meant by the three hundred andthirty million Devas of the Hindus. 

[Illustration: FIG. 16. SELF-RENUNCIATION]

This form is of the loveliest pale azure, with a glory of white lightshining through it--something indeed to tax the skill even of theindefatigable artist who worked so hard to get them as nearly right aspossible. It is what a Catholic would call a definite "act ofdevotion"--better still, an act of utter selflessness, of self-surrenderand renunciation. 

INTELLECT

_Vague Intellectual Pleasure. _--Fig. 18 represents a vague cloud of thesame order as those shown in Figs. 8 and 14, but in this case the colouris yellow instead of crimson or blue. Yellow in any of man's vehiclesalways indicates intellectual capacity, but its shades vary very much, and it may be complicated by the admixture of other hues. Generallyspeaking, it has a deeper and duller tint if the intellect is directedchiefly into lower channels, more especially if the objects are selfish. In the astral or mental body of the average man of business it wouldshow itself as yellow ochre, while pure intellect devoted to the studyof philosophy or mathematics appears frequently to be golden, and thisrises gradually to a beautiful clear and luminous lemon or primroseyellow when a powerful intellect is being employed absolutelyunselfishly for the benefit of humanity. Most yellow thought-forms areclearly outlined, and a vague cloud of this colour is comparativelyrare. It indicates intellectual pleasure--appreciation of the result ofingenuity, or the delight felt in clever workmanship. Such pleasure asthe ordinary man derives from the contemplation of a picture usuallydepends chiefly upon the emotions of admiration, affection, or pitywhich it arouses within him, or sometimes, if it pourtrays a scene withwhich he is familiar, its charm consists in its power to awaken thememory of past joys. An artist, however, may derive from a picture apleasure of an entirely different character, based upon his recognitionof the excellence of the work, and of the ingenuity which has beenexercised in producing certain results. Such pure intellectualgratification shows itself in a yellow cloud; and the same effect may beproduced by delight in musical ingenuity, or the subtleties of argument. A cloud of this nature betokens the entire absence of any personalemotion, for if that were present it would inevitably tinge the yellowwith its own appropriate colour. 

[Illustration: FIG. 18. VAGUE INTELLECTUAL PLEASURE]

_The Intention to Know. _--Fig. 19 is of interest as showing us somethingof the growth of a thought-form. The earlier stage, which is indicatedby the upper form, is not uncommon, and indicates the determination tosolve some problem--the intention to know and to understand. Sometimes atheosophical lecturer sees many of these yellow serpentine formsprojecting towards him from his audience, and welcomes them as a tokenthat his hearers are following his arguments intelligently, and have anearnest desire to understand and to know more. A form of this kindfrequently accompanies a question, and if, as is sometimes unfortunatelythe case, the question is put less with the genuine desire for knowledgethan for the purpose of exhibiting the acumen of the questioner, theform is strongly tinged with the deep orange that indicates conceit. Itwas at a theosophical meeting that this special shape was encountered, and it accompanied a question which showed considerable thought andpenetration. The answer at first given was not thoroughly satisfactoryto the inquirer, who seems to have received the impression that hisproblem was being evaded by the lecturer. His resolution to obtain afull and thorough answer to his inquiry became more determined thanever, and his thought-form deepened in colour and changed into thesecond of the two shapes, resembling a cork-screw even more closely thanbefore. Forms similar to these are constantly created by ordinary idleand frivolous curiosity, but as there is no intellect involved in thatcase the colour is no longer yellow, but usually closely resembles thatof decaying meat, somewhat like that shown in Fig. 29 as expressing adrunken man's craving for alcohol. 

[Illustration: FIG. 19. THE INTENTION TO KNOW]

_High Ambition. _--Fig. 20 gives us another manifestation of desire--theambition for place or power. The ambitious quality is shown by the richdeep orange colour, and the desire by the hooked extensions whichprecede the form as it moves. The thought is a good and pure one of itskind, for if there were anything base or selfish in the desire it wouldinevitably show itself in the darkening of the clear orange hue by dullreds, browns, or greys. If this man coveted place or power, it was notfor his own sake, but from the conviction that he could do the workwell and truly, and to the advantage of his fellow-men. 

[Illustration: FIG. 20. HIGH AMBITION]

_Selfish Ambition. _--Ambition of a lower type is represented in Fig. 21. Not only have we here a large stain of the dull brown-grey ofselfishness, but there is also a considerable difference in the form, though it appears to possess equal definiteness of outline. Fig. 20 isrising steadily onward towards a definite object, for it will beobserved that the central part of it is as definitely a projectile asFig. 10. Fig. 21, on the other hand, is a floating form, and is stronglyindicative of general acquisitiveness--the ambition to grasp for theself everything that is within sight. 

[Illustration: FIG. 21. SELFISH AMBITION]

ANGER

_Murderous Rage and Sustained Anger. _--In Figs. 22 and 23 we have twoterrible examples of the awful effect of anger. The lurid flash fromdark clouds (Fig. 22) was taken from the aura of a rough and partiallyintoxicated man in the East End of London, as he struck down a woman;the flash darted out at her the moment before he raised his hand tostrike, and caused a shuddering feeling of horror, as though it mightslay. The keen-pointed stiletto-like dart (Fig. 23) was a thought ofsteady anger, intense and desiring vengeance, of the quality of murder, sustained through years, and directed against a person who had inflicteda deep injury on the one who sent it forth; had the latter beenpossessed of a strong and trained will, such a thought-form would slay, and the one nourishing it is running a very serious danger of becoming amurderer in act as well as in thought in a future incarnation. It willbe noted that both of them take the flash-like form, though the upper isirregular in its shape, while the lower represents a steadiness ofintention which is far more dangerous. The basis of utter selfishnessout of which the upper one springs is very characteristic andinstructive. The difference in colour between the two is also worthy ofnote. In the upper one the dirty brown of selfishness is so stronglyevident that it stains even the outrush of anger; while in the secondcase, though no doubt selfishness was at the root of that also, theoriginal thought has been forgotten in the sustained and concentratedwrath. One who studies Plate XIII. In _Man Visible and Invisible_ willbe able to image to himself the condition of the astral body from whichthese forms are protruding; and surely the mere sight of these pictures, even without examination, should prove a powerful object-lesson in theevil of yielding to the passion of anger. 

[Illustration: FIG. 22. MURDEROUS RAGE]

[Illustration: FIG. 23. SUSTAINED ANGER]

_Explosive Anger. _--In Fig. 24 we see an exhibition of anger of atotally different character. Here is no sustained hatred, but simply avigorous explosion of irritation. It is at once evident that while thecreators of the forms shown in Figs. 22 and 23 were each directing theirire against an individual, the person who is responsible for theexplosion in Fig. 24 is for the moment at war with the whole world roundhim. It may well express the sentiment of some choleric old gentleman, who feels himself insulted or impertinently treated, for the dash oforange intermingled with the scarlet implies that his pride has beenseriously hurt. It is instructive to compare the radiations of thisplate with those of Fig. 11. Here we see indicated a veritableexplosion, instantaneous in its passing and irregular in its effects;and the vacant centre shows us that the feeling that caused it isalready a thing of the past, and that no further force is beinggenerated. In Fig. 11, on the other hand, the centre is the strongestpart of the thought-form, showing that this is not the result of amomentary flash of feeling, but that there is a steady continuousupwelling of the energy, while the rays show by their quality and lengthand the evenness of their distribution the steadily sustained effortwhich produces them. 

[Illustration: FIG. 24. EXPLOSIVE ANGER]

_Watchful and Angry Jealousy. _--In Fig. 25 we see an interesting thoughunpleasant thought-form. Its peculiar brownish-green colour at onceindicates to the practised clairvoyant that it is an expression ofjealousy, and its curious shape shows the eagerness with which the manis watching its object. The remarkable resemblance to the snake withraised head aptly symbolises the extraordinarily fatuous attitude of thejealous person, keenly alert to discover signs of that which he least ofall wishes to see. The moment that he does see it, or imagines that hesees it, the form will change into the far commoner one shown in Fig. 26, where the jealousy is already mingled with anger. It may be notedthat here the jealousy is merely a vague cloud, though interspersed withvery definite flashes of anger ready to strike at those by whom itfancies itself to be injured; whereas in Fig. 25, where there is noanger as yet, the jealousy itself has a perfectly definite and veryexpressive outline. 

[Illustration: FIG. 25. WATCHFUL JEALOUSY]

[Illustration: FIG. 26. ANGRY JEALOUSY]

SYMPATHY

_Vague Sympathy. _--In Fig. 18A we have another of the vague clouds, butthis time its green colour shows us that it is a manifestation of thefeeling of sympathy. We may infer from the indistinct character of itsoutline that it is not a definite and active sympathy, such as wouldinstantly translate itself from thought into deed; it marks rather sucha general feeling of commiseration as might come over a man who read anaccount of a sad accident, or stood at the door of a hospital wardlooking in upon the patients. 

[Illustration: FIG. 18A. VAGUE SYMPATHY]

FEAR

_Sudden Fright. _--One of the most pitiful objects in nature is a man oran animal in a condition of abject fear; and an examination of PlateXIV. In _Man Visible and Invisible_ shows that under such circumstancesthe astral body presents no better appearance than the physical. When aman's astral body is thus in a state of frenzied palpitation, itsnatural tendency is to throw off amorphous explosive fragments, likemasses of rock hurled out in blasting, as will be seen in Fig. 30; butwhen a person is not terrified but seriously startled, an effect such asthat shown in Fig. 27 is often produced. In one of the photographs takenby Dr Baraduc of Paris, it was noticed that an eruption of brokencircles resulted from sudden annoyance, and this outrush ofcrescent-shaped forms seems to be of somewhat the same nature, though inthis case there are the accompanying lines of matter which even increasethe explosive appearance. It is noteworthy that all the crescents to theright hand, which must obviously have been those expelled earliest, show nothing but the livid grey of fear; but a moment later the man isalready partially recovering from the shock, and beginning to feel angrythat he allowed himself to be startled. This is shown by the fact thatthe later crescents are lined with scarlet, evidencing the mingling ofanger and fear, while the last crescent is pure scarlet, telling us thateven already the fright is entirely overcome, and only the annoyanceremains. 

[Illustration: FIG. 27. SUDDEN FRIGHT]

GREED

_Selfish Greed. _--Fig. 28 gives us an example of selfish greed--a farlower type than Fig. 21. It will be noted that here there is nothingeven so lofty as ambition, and it is also evident from the tinge ofmuddy green that the person from whom this unpleasant thought isprojecting is quite ready to employ deceit in order to obtain herdesire. While the ambition of Fig. 21 was general in its nature, thecraving expressed in Fig. 28 is for a particular object towards which itis reaching out; for it will be understood that this thought-form, likethat in Fig. 13, remains attached to the astral body, which must besupposed to be on the left of the picture. Claw-like forms of thisnature are very frequently to be seen converging upon a woman who wearsa new dress or bonnet, or some specially attractive article ofjewellery. The thought-form may vary in colour according to the preciseamount of envy or jealousy which is mingled with the lust forpossession, but an approximation to the shape indicated in ourillustration will be found in all cases. Not infrequently peoplegathered in front of a shop-window may be seen thus protruding astralcravings through the glass. 

[Illustration: FIG. 28. SELFISH GREED]

_Greed for Drink. _--In Fig. 29 we have another variant of the samepassion, perhaps at an even more degraded and animal level. Thisspecimen was taken from the astral body of a man just as he entered atthe door of a drinking-shop; the expectation of and the keen desire forthe liquor which he was about to absorb showed itself in the projectionin front of him of this very unpleasant appearance. Once more the hookedprotrusions show the craving, while the colour and the coarse mottledtexture show the low and sensual nature of the appetite. Sexual desiresfrequently show themselves in an exactly similar manner. Men who givebirth to forms such as this are as yet but little removed from theanimal; as they rise in the scale of evolution the place of this formwill gradually be taken by something resembling that shown in Fig. 13, and very slowly, as development advances, that in turn will pass throughthe stages indicated in Figs. 9 and 8, until at last all selfishness iscast out, and the desire to have has been transmuted into the desire togive, and we arrive at the splendid results shown in Figs. 11 and 10. 

[Illustration: FIG. 29. GREED FOR DRINK]

VARIOUS EMOTIONS

_At a Shipwreck. _--Very serious is the panic which has occasioned thevery interesting group of thought-forms which are depicted in Fig. 30. They were seen simultaneously, arranged exactly as represented, thoughin the midst of indescribable confusion, so their relative positionshave been retained, though in explaining them it will be convenient totake them in reverse order. They were called forth by a terribleaccident, and they are instructive as showing how differently people areaffected by sudden and serious danger. One form shows nothing but aneruption of the livid grey of fear, rising out of a basis of utterselfishness: and unfortunately there were many such as this. Theshattered appearance of the thought-form shows the violence andcompleteness of the explosion, which in turn indicates that the wholesoul of that person was possessed with blind, frantic terror, and thatthe overpowering sense of personal danger excluded for the time everyhigher feeling. 

[Illustration: FIG. 30. AT A SHIPWRECK]

The second form represents at least an attempt at self-control, andshows the attitude adopted by a person having a certain amount ofreligious feeling. The thinker is seeking solace in prayer, andendeavouring in this way to overcome her fear. This is indicated by thepoint of greyish-blue which lifts itself hesitatingly upwards; thecolour shows, however, that the effort is but partially successful, andwe see also from the lower part of the thought-form, with its irregularoutline and its falling fragments, that there is in reality almost asmuch fright here as in the other case. But at least this woman has hadpresence of mind enough to remember that she ought to pray, and istrying to imagine that she is not afraid as she does it, whereas in theother case there was absolutely no thought beyond selfish terror. Theone retains still some semblance of humanity, and some possibility ofregaining self-control; the other has for the time cast aside allremnants of decency, and is an abject slave to overwhelming emotion. 

A very striking contrast to the humiliating weakness shown in these twoforms is the splendid strength and decision of the third. Here we haveno amorphous mass with quivering lines and explosive fragments, but apowerful, clear-cut and definite thought, obviously full of force andresolution. For this is the thought of the officer in charge--the manresponsible for the lives and the safety of the passengers, and he risesto the emergency in a most satisfactory manner. It does not even occurto him to feel the least shadow of fear; he has no time for that. Thoughthe scarlet of the sharp point of his weapon-like thought-form showsanger that the accident should have happened, the bold curve of orangeimmediately above it betokens perfect self-confidence and certainty ofhis power to deal with the difficulty. The brilliant yellow implies thathis intellect is already at work upon the problem, while the green whichruns side by side with it denotes the sympathy which he feels for thosewhom he intends to save. A very striking and instructive group ofthought-forms. 

_On the First Night. _--Fig. 31 is also an interesting specimen--perhapsunique--for it represents the thought-form of an actor while waiting togo upon the stage for a "first-night" performance. The broad band oforange in the centre is very clearly defined, and is the expression of awell-founded self-confidence--the realisation of many previoussuccesses, and the reasonable expectation that on this occasion anotherwill be added to the list. Yet in spite of this there is a good deal ofunavoidable uncertainty as to how this new play may strike the ficklepublic, and on the whole the doubt and fear overbalance the certaintyand pride, for there is more of the pale grey than of the orange, andthe whole thought-form vibrates like a flag flapping in a gale of wind. It will be noted that while the outline of the orange is exceedinglyclear and definite, that of the grey is much vaguer. 

[Illustration: FIG. 31. ON THE FIRST NIGHT]

_The Gamblers. _--The forms shown in Fig. 32 were observed simultaneouslyat the great gambling-house at Monte Carlo. Both represent some of theworst of human passions, and there is little to choose between them;although they represent the feelings of the successful and theunsuccessful gambler respectively. The lower form has a strongresemblance to a lurid and gleaming eye, though this must be simply acoincidence, for when we analyse it we find that its constituent partsand colours can be accounted for without difficulty. The background ofthe whole thought is an irregular cloud of deep depression, heavilymarked by the dull brown-grey of selfishness and the livid hue of fear. In the centre we find a clearly-marked scarlet ring showing deep angerand resentment at the hostility of fate, and within that is a sharplyoutlined circle of black expressing the hatred of the ruined man forthose who have won his money. The man who can send forth such athought-form as this is surely in imminent danger, for he has evidentlydescended into the very depths of despair; being a gambler he can haveno principle to sustain him, so that he would be by no means unlikely toresort to the imaginary refuge of suicide, only to find on awakeninginto astral life that he had changed his condition for the worse insteadof for the better, as the suicide always does, since his cowardly actioncuts him off from the happiness and peace which usually follow death. 

[Illustration: FIG. 32. THE GAMBLERS]

The upper form represents a state of mind which is perhaps even moreharmful in its effects, for this is the gloating of the successfulgambler over his ill-gotten gain. Here the outline is perfectlydefinite, and the man's resolution to persist in his evil course isunmistakable. The broad band of orange in the centre shows very clearlythat although when the man loses he may curse the inconstancy of fate, when he wins he attributes his success entirely to his own transcendentgenius. Probably he has invented some system to which he pins his faith, and of which he is inordinately proud. But it will be noticed that oneach side of the orange comes a hard line of selfishness, and we see howthis in turn melts into avarice and becomes a mere animal greed ofpossession, which is also so clearly expressed by the claw-likeextremities of the thought-form. 

_At a Street Accident. _--Fig. 33 is instructive as showing the variousforms which the same feelings may take in different individuals. Thesetwo evidences of emotion were seen simultaneously among the spectatorsof a street accident--a case in which someone was knocked down andslightly injured by a passing vehicle. The persons who generated thesetwo thought-forms were both animated by affectionate interest in thevictim and deep compassion for his suffering, and so their thought-formsexhibited exactly the same colours, although the outlines are absolutelyunlike. The one over whom floats that vague sphere of cloud is thinking"Poor fellow, how sad!" while he who gives birth to that sharply-defineddisc is already rushing forward to see in what way he can be ofassistance. The one is a dreamer, though of acute sensibilities; theother is a man of action. 

[Illustration: FIG. 33. AT A STREET ACCIDENT]

_At a Funeral. _--In Fig. 34 we have an exceedingly striking example ofthe advantage of knowledge, of the fundamental change produced in theman's attitude of mind by a clear understanding of the great laws ofnature under which we live. Utterly different as they are in everyrespect of colour and form and meaning, these two thought-forms wereseen simultaneously, and they represent two points of view with regardto the same occurrence. They were observed at a funeral, and theyexhibit the feelings evoked in the minds of two of the "mourners" by thecontemplation of death. The thinkers stood in the same relation to thedead man, but while one of them was still steeped in the dense ignorancewith regard to super-physical life which is so painfully common in thepresent day, the other had the inestimable advantage of the light ofTheosophy. In the thought of the former we see expressed nothing butprofound depression, fear and selfishness. The fact that death hasapproached so near has evidently evoked in the mind of the mourner thethought that it may one day come to him also, and the anticipation ofthis is very terrible to him; but since he does not know what it is thathe fears, the clouds in which his feeling is manifested areappropriately vague. His only definite sensations are despair and thesense of his personal loss, and these declare themselves in regularbands of brown-grey and leaden grey, while the very curious downwardprotrusion, which actually descends into the grave and enfolds thecoffin, is an expression of strong selfish desire to draw the dead manback into physical life. 

[Illustration: FIG. 34. AT A FUNERAL]

It is refreshing to turn from this gloomy picture to the wonderfullydifferent effect produced by the very same circumstances upon the mindof the man who comprehends the facts of the case. It will be observedthat the two have no single emotion in common; in the former case allwas despondency and horror, while in this case we find none but thehighest and most beautiful sentiments. At the base of the thought-formwe find a full expression of deep sympathy, the lighter green indicatingappreciation of the suffering of the mourners and condolence with them, while the band of deeper green shows the attitude of the thinker towardsthe dead man himself. The deep rose-colour exhibits affection towardsboth the dead and the living, while the upper part of the cone and thestars which rise from it testify to the feeling aroused within thethinker by the consideration of the subject of death, the blueexpressing its devotional aspect, while the violet shows the thought of, and the power to respond to, a noble ideal, and the golden stars denotethe spiritual aspirations which its contemplation calls forth. The bandof clear yellow which is seen in the centre of this thought-form is verysignificant, as indicating that the man's whole attitude is based uponand prompted by his intellectual comprehension of the situation, andthis is also shown by the regularity of the arrangement of the coloursand the definiteness of the lines of demarcation between them. 

The comparison between the two illustrations shown in this plate issurely a very impressive testimony to the value of the knowledge givenby the theosophical teaching. Undoubtedly this knowledge of the truthtakes away all fear of death, and makes life easier to live because weunderstand its object and its end, and we realise that death is aperfectly natural incident in its course, a necessary step in ourevolution. This ought to be universally known among Christian nations, but it is not, and therefore on this point, as on so many others, Theosophy has a gospel for the Western world. It has to announce thatthere is no gloomy impenetrable abyss beyond the grave, but instead ofthat a world of life and light which may be known to us as clearly andfully and accurately as this physical world in which we live now. Wehave created the gloom and the horror for ourselves, like children whofrighten themselves with ghastly stories, and we have only to study thefacts of the case, and all these artificial clouds will roll away atonce. We have an evil heredity behind us in this matter, for we haveinherited all kinds of funereal horrors from our forefathers, and so weare used to them, and we do not see the absurdity and the monstrosity ofthem. The ancients were in this respect wiser than we, for they did notassociate all this phantasmagoria of gloom with the death of thebody--partly perhaps because they had a much more rational method ofdisposing of the body--a method which was not only infinitely better forthe dead man and more healthy for the living, but was also free from thegruesome suggestions connected with slow decay. They knew much moreabout death in those days, and because they knew more they mourned less. 

_On Meeting a Friend. _--Fig. 35 gives us an example of a good, clearly-defined and expressive thought-form, with each colour wellmarked off from the others. It represents the feeling of a man uponmeeting a friend from whom he has been long separated. The convexsurface of the crescent is nearest to the thinker, and its two armsstretch out towards the approaching friend as if to embrace him. Therose colour naturally betokens the affection felt, the light green showsthe depth of the sympathy which exists, and the clear yellow is a signof the intellectual pleasure with which the creator of the thoughtanticipates the revival of delightful reminiscences of days long goneby. 

[Illustration: FIG. 35. ON MEETING A FRIEND]

_The Appreciation of a Picture. _--In Fig. 36 we have a somewhat complexthought-form representing the delighted appreciation of a beautifulpicture upon a religious subject. The strong pure yellow marks thebeholder's enthusiastic recognition of the technical skill of theartist, while all the other colours are expressions of the variousemotions evoked within him by the examination of so glorious a work ofart. Green shows his sympathy with the central figure in the picture, deep devotion appears not only in the broad band of blue, but also inthe outline of the entire figure, while the violet tells us that thepicture has raised the man's thought to the contemplation of a loftyideal, and has made him, at least for the time, capable of responding toit. We have here the first specimen of an interesting class ofthought-forms of which we shall find abundant examples later--that inwhich light of one colour shines out through a network of lines of somequite different hue. It will be noted that in this case from the mass ofviolet there rise many wavy lines which flow like rivulets over a goldenplain; and this makes it clear that the loftiest aspiration is by nomeans vague, but is thoroughly supported by an intellectual grasp of thesituation and a clear comprehension of the method by which it can be putinto effect. 

[Illustration: FIG. 36. THE APPRECIATION OF A PICTURE]

FORMS SEEN IN THOSE MEDITATING

_Sympathy and Love for all. _--Hitherto we have been dealing chiefly withforms which are the expression of emotion, or of such thought as isaroused within the mind by external circumstances. We have now toconsider some of those caused by thoughts which arise from within--formsgenerated during meditation--each being the effect produced by aconscious effort on the part of the thinker to form a certainconception, or to put himself into a certain attitude. Naturally suchthoughts are definite, for the man who trains himself in this way learnshow to think with clearness and precision, and the development of hispower in this direction shows itself in the beauty and regularity of theshapes produced. In this case we have the result of an endeavour on thepart of the thinker to put himself into an attitude of sympathy and lovetowards all mankind, and thus we have a series of graceful lines of theluminous green of sympathy with the strong roseate glow of affectionshining out between them (Fig. 37). The lines are still sufficientlybroad and wide apart to be easily drawn; but in some of the higherexamples of thought-forms of this type the lines are so fine and soclose that no human hand can represent them as they really are. Theoutline of this thought-form is that of a leaf, yet its shape and thecurve of its lines are more suggestive of a certain kind of shell, sothat this is another example of the approximation to forms seen inphysical nature which we noted in commenting upon Fig. 16. 

[Illustration: FIG. 37. SYMPATHY AND LOVE FOR ALL]

_An Aspiration to Enfold all. _--In Fig. 38 we have a far more developedexample of the same type. This form was generated by one who wastrying, while sitting in meditation, to fill his mind with an aspirationto enfold all mankind in order to draw them upward towards the highideal which shone so clearly before his eyes. Therefore it is that theform which he produces seems to rush out from him, to curve round uponitself, and to return to its base; therefore it is that the marvellouslyfine lines are drawn in lovely luminous violet, and that from within theform there shines out a glorious golden light which it is unfortunatelyquite impossible to reproduce. For the truth is that all theseapparently intricate lines are in reality only one line circling roundthe form again and again with unwearied patience and wonderful accuracy. It is scarcely possible that any human hand could make such a drawing asthis on this scale, and in any case the effect of its colours could notbe shown, for it will be seen by experiment that if an attempt be madeto draw fine violet lines close together upon a yellow background a greyeffect at once appears, and all likeness to the original is destroyed. But what cannot be done by hand may sometimes be achieved by thesuperior accuracy and delicacy of a machine, and it is in this way thatthe drawing was made from which our illustration is reproduced, --withsome attempt to represent the colour effect as well as the wonderfuldelicacy of the lines and curves. 

[Illustration: FIG. 38. AN ASPIRATION TO ENFOLD ALL]

_In the Six Directions. _--The form represented in Fig. 39 is the resultof another endeavour to extend love and sympathy in all directions--aneffort almost precisely similar to that which gave birth to Fig. 37, though the effect seems so different. The reasons for this variety andfor the curious shape taken in this case constitute a very interestingillustration of the way in which thought-forms grow. It will be seenthat in this instance the thinker displays considerable devotionalfeeling, and has also made an intellectual effort to grasp theconditions necessary for the realisation of his wishes, and the blue andyellow colours remain as evidence of this. Originally this thought-formwas circular, and the dominant idea evidently was that the green ofsympathy should be upon the outside, facing in all directions, as itwere, and that love should lie at the centre and heart of the thoughtand direct its outgoing energies. But the maker of this thought-form hadbeen reading Hindu books, and his modes of thought had been greatlyinfluenced by them. Students of Oriental literature will be aware thatthe Hindu speaks, not of four directions (north, east, south, and west), as we do, but always of six, since he very sensibly includes the zenithand the nadir. Our friend was imbued from his reading with the idea thathe should pour forth his love and sympathy "in the six directions"; butsince he did not accurately understand what the six directions are, hedirected his stream of affection towards six equidistant points in hiscircle. The outrushing streams altered the shape of the outlying lineswhich he had already built up, and so instead of having a circle as asection of his thought-form, we have this curious hexagon with itsinward-curving sides. We see thus how faithfully every thought-formrecords the exact process of its upbuilding, registering ineffaceablyeven the errors of its construction. 

[Illustration: FIG. 39. IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS]

_An Intellectual Conception of Cosmic Order. _--In Fig. 40 we have theeffect of an attempt to attain an intellectual conception of cosmicorder. The thinker was obviously a Theosophist, and it will be seenthat when he endeavours to think of the action of spirit upon matter heinstinctively follows the same line of symbolism as that depicted in thewell-known seal of the Society. Here we have an upward-pointingtriangle, signifying the threefold aspect of the Spirit, interlaced withthe downward-pointing triangle, which indicates matter with its threeinherent qualities. Usually we represent the upward triangle in white orgold, and the downward-pointing one in some darker hue such as blue orblack, but it is noteworthy that in this case the thinker is so entirelyoccupied with the intellectual endeavour, that no colour but yellow isexhibited within the form. There is no room as yet for emotions ofdevotion, of wonder, or of admiration; the idea which he wishes torealise fills his mind entirely, to the exclusion of all else. Still thedefiniteness of the outline as it stands out against its background ofrays shows that he has achieved a high measure of success. 

[Illustration: FIG. 40. AN INTELLECTUAL CONCEPTION OF COSMIC ORDER]

_The Logos as manifested in Man. _--We are now coming to a series ofthoughts which are among the very highest the human mind can form, whenin meditation upon the divine source of its being. When the man inreverent contemplation tries to raise his thought towards the LOGOS ofour solar system, he naturally makes no attempt to image to himself thataugust Being; nor does he think of Him as in any way possessing suchform as we can comprehend. Nevertheless such thoughts build forms forthemselves in the matter of the mental plane; and it will be of interestfor us to examine those forms. In our illustration in Fig. 41 we have athought of the LOGOS as manifested in man, with the devotionalaspiration that He may thus be manifested through the thinker. It isthis devotional feeling which gives the pale blue tinge to thefive-pointed star, and its shape is significant, since it has beenemployed for many ages as a symbol of God manifest in man. The thinkermay perhaps have been a Freemason, and his knowledge of the symbolismemployed by that body may have had its share in the shaping of the star. It will be seen that the star is surrounded by bright yellow raysshining out amidst a cloud of glory, which denotes not only thereverential understanding of the surpassing glory of the Deity, but alsoa distinct intellectual effort in addition to the outpouring ofdevotion. 

[Illustration: FIG. 41. THE LOGOS AS MANIFESTED IN MAN]

_The Logos pervading all. _--Our next three Figures are devoted to theeffort to represent a thought of a very high type--an endeavour to thinkof the LOGOS as pervading all nature. Here again, as in Fig. 38, it isimpossible to give a full reproduction, and we must call upon ourreaders for an effort of the imagination which shall to some extentsupplement the deficiencies of the arts of drawing and printing. Thegolden ball depicted in Fig. 42 must be thought of as inside the otherball of delicate lines (blue in colour) which is drawn in Fig. 44. Anyeffort to place the colours in such intimate juxtaposition on thephysical plane results simply in producing a green blur, so that thewhole character of the thought-form is lost. It is only by means of themachine before mentioned that it is at all possible to represent thegrace and the delicacy of the lines. As before, a single line producesall the wonderful tracery of Fig. 44, and the effect of the fourradiating lines making a sort of cross of light is merely due to thefact that the curves are not really concentric, although at first sightthey appear to be so. 

[Illustration: FIG. 42. THE LOGOS PERVADING ALL]

[Illustration: FIG. 44. THE LOGOS PERVADING ALL]

_Another Conception. _--Fig. 45 exhibits the form produced by anotherperson when trying to hold exactly the same thought. Here also we havean amazing complexity of almost inconceivably delicate blue lines, andhere also our imagination must be called upon to insert the golden globefrom Fig. 42, so that its glory may shine through at every point. Herealso, as in Fig. 44, we have that curious and beautiful pattern, resembling somewhat the damascening on ancient Oriental swords, or thatwhich is seen upon watered silk or _moire antique_. When this form isdrawn by the pendulum, the pattern is not in any way intentionallyproduced, but simply comes as a consequence of the crossing of theinnumerable microscopically fine lines. It is evident that the thinkerwho created the form upon Fig. 44 must have held in his mind mostprominently the unity of the LOGOS, while he who generated the form inFig. 45 has as clearly in mind the subordinate centres through which thedivine life pours forth, and many of these subordinate centres haveaccordingly represented themselves in the thought-form. 

[Illustration: FIG. 45. ANOTHER CONCEPTION]

_The Threefold Manifestation. _--When the form employed in Fig. 46 wasmade, its creator was endeavouring to think of the LOGOS in Histhreefold manifestation. The vacant space in the centre of the form wasa blinding glow of yellow light, and this clearly typified the FirstAspect, while the Second was symbolised by the broad ring ofclosely-knitted and almost bewildering lines which surround this centre, while the Third Aspect is suggested by the narrow outer ring which seemsmore loosely woven. The whole figure is pervaded by the usual goldenlight gleaming out between the lines of violet. 

[Illustration: FIG. 46. THE THREEFOLD MANIFESTATION]

_The Sevenfold Manifestation. _--In all religions there remains sometradition of the great truth that the LOGOS manifests Himself throughseven mighty channels, often regarded as minor Logoi or great planetarySpirits. In the Christian scheme they appear as the seven greatarchangels, sometimes called the seven spirits before the throne of God. The figure numbered 47 shows the result of the effort to meditate uponthis method of divine manifestation. We have the golden glow in thecentre, and also (though with lesser splendour) pervading the form. Theline is blue, and it draws a succession of seven graceful and almostfeatherlike double wings which surround the central glory and areclearly intended as a part of it. As the thought strengthens andexpands, these beautiful wings change their colour to violet and becomelike the petals of a flower, and overlap one another in an intricate butexceedingly effective pattern. This gives us a very interesting glimpseinto the formation and growth of these shapes in higher matter. 

[Illustration: FIG. 47. THE SEVENFOLD MANIFESTATION]

_Intellectual Aspiration. _--The form depicted in Fig. 43 bears a certainresemblance to that in Fig. 15; but, beautiful as that was, this is inreality a far higher and grander thought, and implies much more advanceddevelopment on the part of the thinker. Here we have a great clear-cutspear or pencil of the pure pale violet which indicates devotion to thehighest ideal, and it is outlined and strengthened by an exceedinglyfine manifestation of the noblest development of intellect. He who canthink thus must already have entered upon the Path of Holiness, for hehas learnt how to use the power of thought to very mighty effect. Itwill be noted that in both the colours there is a strong admixture ofthe white light which always indicates unusual spiritual power. 

[Illustration: FIG. 43. INTELLECTUAL ASPIRATION]

Surely the study of these thought-forms should be a most impressiveobject-lesson, since from it we may see both what to avoid and what tocultivate, and may learn by degrees to appreciate how tremendous is ourresponsibility for the exercise of this mighty power. Indeed it isterribly true, as we said in the beginning, that thoughts are things, and puissant things; and it behoves us to remember that every one of usis generating them unceasingly night and day. See how great is thehappiness this knowledge brings to us, and how gloriously we can utiliseit when we know of some one in sorrow or in suffering. Oftencircumstances arise which prevent us from giving physical help either byword or deed, however much we may desire to do so; but there is no casein which help by thought may not be given, and no case in which it canfail to produce a definite result. It may often happen that at themoment our friend may be too entirely occupied with his own suffering, or perhaps too much excited, to receive and accept any suggestion fromwithout, but presently a time comes when our thought-form can penetrateand discharge itself, and then assuredly our sympathy will produce itsdue result. It is indeed true that the responsibility of using such apower is great, yet we should not shrink from our duty on that account. It is sadly true that there are many men who are unconsciously usingtheir thought-power chiefly for evil, yet this only makes it all themore necessary that those of us who are beginning to understand life alittle should use it consciously, and use it for good. We have at ourcommand a never-failing criterion; we can never misuse this mighty powerof thought if we employ it always in unison with the great divine schemeof evolution, and for the uplifting of our fellow-man. 

HELPFUL THOUGHTS

The Figures numbered 48 to 54 were the results of a systematic attemptto send helpful thought by the friend who has furnished us with thesketches. A definite time was given each day at a fixed hour. The formswere in some cases seen by the transmitter, but in all cases wereperceived by the recipient, who immediately sent rough sketches of whatwas seen by the next post to the transmitter, who has kindly suppliedthe following notes with regard to them:--

"In the coloured drawings appended the blue features appear to haverepresented the more devotional element of the thought. The yellow formsaccompanied the endeavour to communicate intellectual fortitude, ormental strength and courage. The rosy pink appeared when the thought wasblended with affectionate sympathy. If the sender (A. ) could formulatehis thought deliberately at the appointed time, the receiver (B. ) wouldreport seeing a large clear form as in Figs. 48, 49, and 54. The latterpersisted for some minutes, constantly streaming its luminous yellow'message' upon B. If, however, A. Was of necessity experimenting underdifficulty--say walking out of doors--he would occasionally see his'forms' broken up into smaller globes, or shapes, such as 50, 51, 52, and B. Would report their receipt so broken up. In this way manydetails could be checked and compared as from opposite ends of the line, and the nature of the influence communicated offered another means ofverification. Upon one occasion A. Was disturbed in his endeavour tosend a thought of the blue-pink connotation, by a feeling of anxietythat the nature of the pink element should not be misapprehended. Thereport of B. Was that a well-defined globe as in Fig. 54 was first seen, but that this suddenly disappeared, being replaced by a movingprocession of little light-green triangles, as in Fig. 53. These fewdrawings give but a slight idea of the varied flower-like and geometricforms seen, while neither paint nor crayon-work seems capable ofrepresenting the glowing beauty of their living colours. "

[Illustration: FIG. 48. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

[Illustration: FIG. 49. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

[Illustration: FIG. 50. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

[Illustration: FIG. 51. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

[Illustration: FIG. 52. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

[Illustration: FIG. 53. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

[Illustration: FIG. 54. HELPFUL THOUGHTS]

FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC

Before closing this little treatise it will perhaps be of interest toour readers to give a few examples of another type of forms unknown tothose who are confined to the physical senses as their means ofobtaining information. Many people are aware that sound is alwaysassociated with colour--that when, for example, a musical note issounded, a flash of colour corresponding to it may be seen by thosewhose finer senses are already to some extent developed. It seems not tobe so generally known that sound produces form as well as colour, andthat every piece of music leaves behind it an impression of this nature, which persists for some considerable time, and is clearly visible andintelligible to those who have eyes to see. Such a shape is perhaps nottechnically a thought-form--unless indeed we take it, as we well may, as the result of the thought of the composer expressed by means of theskill of the musician through his instrument. 

Some such forms are very striking and impressive, and naturally theirvariety is infinite. Each class of music has its own type of form, andthe style of the composer shows as clearly in the form which his musicbuilds as a man's character shows in his handwriting. Otherpossibilities of variation are introduced by the kind of instrument uponwhich the music is performed, and also by the merits of the player. Thesame piece of music if accurately played will always build the sameform, but that form will be enormously larger when it is played upon achurch organ or by a military band than when it is performed upon apiano, and not only the size but also the texture of the resultant formwill be very different. There will also be a similar difference intexture between the result of a piece of music played upon a violin andthe same piece executed upon the flute. Again, the excellence of theperformance has its effect, and there is a wonderful difference betweenthe radiant beauty of the form produced by the work of a true artist, perfect alike in expression and execution, and the comparatively dulland undistinguished-looking one which represents the effort of thewooden and mechanical player. Anything like inaccuracy in renderingnaturally leaves a corresponding defect in the form, so that the exactcharacter of the performance shows itself just as clearly to theclairvoyant spectator as it does to the auditor. 

It is obvious that, if time and capacity permitted, hundreds of volumesmight be filled with drawings of the forms built by different pieces ofmusic under different conditions, so that the most that can be donewithin any reasonable compass is to give a few examples of the leadingtypes. It has been decided for the purposes of this book to limit theseto three, to take types of music presenting readily recognisablecontrasts, and for the sake of simplicity in comparison to present themall as they appeared when played upon the same instrument--a very finechurch organ. In each of our Plates the church shows as well as thethought-form which towers far into the air above it; and it should beremembered that though the drawings are on very different scales thechurch is the same in all three cases, and consequently the relativesize of the sound-form can easily be calculated. The actual height ofthe tower of the church is just under a hundred feet, so it will be seenthat the sound-form produced by a powerful organ is enormous in size. 

Such forms remain as coherent erections for some considerable time--anhour or two at least; and during all that time they are radiating forththeir characteristic vibrations in every direction, just as ourthought-forms do; and if the music be good, the effect of thosevibrations cannot but be uplifting to every man upon whose vehicles theyplay. Thus the community owes a very real debt of gratitude to themusician who pours forth such helpful influences, for he may affect forgood hundreds whom he never saw and will never know upon the physicalplane. 

_Mendelssohn. _--The first of such forms, a comparatively small andsimple one, is drawn for us in Plate M. It will be seen that we havehere a shape roughly representing that of a balloon, having a scallopedoutline consisting of a double violet line. Within that there is anarrangement of variously-coloured lines moving almost parallel with thisoutline; and then another somewhat similar arrangement which seems tocross and interpenetrate the first. Both of these sets of linesevidently start from the organ within the church, and consequently passupward through its roof in their course, physical matter being clearlyno obstacle to their formation. In the hollow centre of the form float anumber of small crescents arranged apparently in four vertical lines. 

[Illustration: PLATE M. MUSIC OF MENDELSSOHN]

Let us endeavour now to give some clue to the meaning of all this, whichmay well seem so bewildering to the novice, and to explain in somemeasure how it comes into existence. It must be recollected that this isa melody of simple character played once through, and that consequentlywe can analyse the form in a way that would be quite impossible with alarger and more complicated specimen. Yet even in this case we cannotgive all the details, as will presently be seen. Disregarding for themoment the scalloped border, we have next within it an arrangement offour lines of different colours running in the same direction, theoutermost being blue and the others crimson, yellow, and greenrespectively. These lines are exceedingly irregular and crooked; infact, they each consist of a number of short lines at various levelsjoined together perpendicularly. It seems that each of these short linesrepresents a note of music, and that the irregularity of theirarrangement indicates the succession of these notes; so that each ofthese crooked lines signifies the movement of one of the parts of themelody, the four moving approximately together denoting the treble, alto, tenor and bass respectively, though they do not necessarily appearin that order in this astral form. Here it is necessary to interpolate astill further explanation. Even with a melody so comparatively simple asthis there are tints and shades far too finely modulated to bereproduced on any scale at all within our reach; therefore it must besaid that each of the short lines expressing a note has a colour of itsown, so that although as a whole that outer line gives an impression ofblueness, and the one next within it of carmine, each yet varies inevery inch of its length; so that what is shown is not a correctreproduction of every tint, but only the general impression. 

The two sets of four lines which seem to cross one another are caused bytwo sections of the melody; the scalloped edging surrounding the wholeis the result of various flourishes and arpeggios, and the floatingcrescents in the centre represent isolated or staccato chords. Naturallythe arpeggios are not wholly violet, for each loop has a different hue, but on the whole they approach more nearly to that colour than to anyother. The height of this form above the tower of the church is probablya little over a hundred feet; but since it also extends downwardsthrough the roof of the church its total perpendicular diameter may wellbe about a hundred and fifty feet. It is produced by one ofMendelssohn's "Lieder ohne Wörte, " and is characteristic of the delicatefiligree-work which so often appears as the result of his compositions. 

The whole form is seen projected against a coruscating background ofmany colours, which is in reality a cloud surrounding it upon everyside, caused by the vibrations which are pouring out from it in alldirections. 

_Gounod. _--In Plate G we have an entirely different piece--a ringingchorus by Gounod. Since the church in the illustration is the same, itis easy to calculate that in this case the highest point of the formmust rise fully six hundred feet above the tower, though theperpendicular diameter of the form is somewhat less than that, for theorganist has evidently finished some minutes ago, and the perfectedshape floats high in the air, clearly defined and roughly spherical, though rather an oblate spheroid. This spheroid is hollow, as are allsuch forms, for it is slowly increasing in size--gradually radiatingoutward from its centre, but growing proportionately less vivid and moreethereal in appearance as it does so, until at last it loses coherenceand fades away much as a wreath of smoke might do. The golden glorysurrounding and interpenetrating it indicates as before the radiation ofits vibrations, which in this case show the dominant yellow in muchgreater proportion than did Mendelssohn's gentler music. 

[Illustration: PLATE G. MUSIC OF GOUNOD]

The colouring here is far more brilliant and massive than in Plate M, for this music is not so much a thread of murmurous melody as a splendidsuccession of crashing chords. The artist has sought to give the effectof the chords rather than that of the separate notes, the latter beingscarcely possible on a scale so small as this. It is therefore moredifficult here to follow the development of the form, for in this muchlonger piece the lines have crossed and intermingled, until we havelittle but the gorgeous general effect which the composer must haveintended us to feel--and to see, if we were able to see. Neverthelessit is possible to discern something of the process which builds theform, and the easiest point at which to commence is the lowest on theleft hand as one examines the Plate. The large violet protrusion thereis evidently the opening chord of a phrase, and if we follow the outerline of the form upward and round the circumference we may obtain someidea of the character of that phrase. A close inspection will reveal twoother lines further in which run roughly parallel to this outer one, andshow similar successions of colour on a smaller scale, and these maywell indicate a softer repetition of the same phrase. 

Careful analysis of this nature will soon convince us that there is avery real order in this seeming chaos, and we shall come to see that ifit were possible to make a reproduction of this glowing glory thatshould be accurate down to the smallest detail, it would also bepossible patiently to disentangle it to the uttermost, and to assignevery lovely touch of coruscating colour to the very note that called itinto existence. It must not be forgotten that very far less detail isgiven in this illustration than in Plate M; for example, each of thesepoints or projections has within it as integral parts, at least the fourlines or bands of varying colour which were shown as separate in PlateM, but here they are blended into one shade, and only the general effectof the chord is given. In M we combined horizontally, and tried to show, the characteristics of a number of successive notes blended into one, but to keep distinct the effect of the four simultaneous parts by usinga differently-coloured line for each. In G we attempt exactly thereverse, for we combine vertically, and blend, not the successive notesof one part, but the chords, each probably containing six or eightnotes. The true appearance combines these two effects with aninexpressible wealth of detail. 

_Wagner. _--No one who has devoted any study to these musical forms wouldhesitate in ascribing the marvellous mountain-range depicted in Plate Wto the genius of Richard Wagner, for no other composer has yet builtsound edifices with such power and decision. In this case we have a vastbell-shaped erection, fully nine hundred feet in height, and but littleless in diameter at the bottom, floating in the air above the church outof which it has arisen. It is hollow, like Gounod's form, but, unlikethat, it is open at the bottom. The resemblance to the successivelyretreating ramparts of a mountain is almost perfect, and it isheightened by the billowy masses of cloud which roll between the cragsand give the effect of perspective. No attempt has been made in thisdrawing to show the effect of single notes or single chords; each rangeof mimic rocks represents in size, shape, and colour only the generaleffect of one of the sections of the piece of music as seen from adistance. But it must be understood that in reality both this and theform given in Plate G are as full of minute details as that depicted inPlate M, and that all these magnificent masses of colour are built up ofmany comparatively small bands which would not be separately visibleupon the scale on which this is drawn. The broad result is that eachmountain-peak has its own brilliant hue, just as it is seen in theillustration--a splendid splash of vivid colour, glowing with the gloryof its own living light, spreading its resplendent radiance over allthe country round. Yet in each of these masses of colour other coloursare constantly flickering, as they do over the surface of molten metal, so that the coruscations and scintillations of these wondrous astraledifices are far beyond the power of any physical words to describe. 

[Illustration: PLATE W. MUSIC OF WAGNER]

A striking feature in this form is the radical difference between thetwo types of music which occur in it, one producing the angular rockymasses, and the other the rounded billowy clouds which lie between them. Other _motifs_ are shown by the broad bands of blue and rose and greenwhich appear at the base of the bell, and the meandering lines of whiteand yellow which quiver across them are probably produced by a ripplingarpeggio accompaniment. 

In these three Plates only the form created directly by thesound-vibrations has been drawn, though as seen by the clairvoyant it isusually surrounded by many other minor forms, the result of the personalfeelings of the performer or of the emotions aroused among the audienceby the music. To recapitulate briefly: in Plate M we have a small andcomparatively simple form pourtrayed in considerable detail, somethingof the effect of each note being given; in Plate G we have a moreelaborate form of very different character delineated with less detail, since no attempt is made to render the separate notes, but only to showhow each chord expresses itself in form and colour; in Plate W we have astill greater and richer form, in the depiction of which all detail isavoided, in order that the full effect of the piece as a whole may beapproximately given. 

Naturally every sound makes its impression upon astral and mentalmatter--not only those ordered successions of sounds which we callmusic. Some day, perhaps, the forms built by those other less euphonioussounds may be pictured for us, though they are beyond the scope of thistreatise; meantime, those who feel an interest in them may read anaccount of them in the little book on _The Hidden Side of Things_. [1]

It is well for us ever to bear in mind that there is a hidden side tolife--that each act and word and thought has its consequence in theunseen world which is always so near to us, and that usually theseunseen results are of infinitely greater importance than those which arevisible to all upon the physical plane. The wise man, knowing this, orders his life accordingly, and takes account of the whole of the worldin which he lives, and not of the outer husk of it only. Thus he saveshimself an infinity of trouble, and makes his life not only happier butfar more useful to his fellow-men. But to do this impliesknowledge--that knowledge which is power; and in our Western world suchknowledge is practically obtainable only through the literature ofTheosophy. 

To exist is not enough; we desire to live intelligently. But to live wemust know, and to know we must study; and here is a vast field openbefore us, if we will only enter upon it and gather thence the fruits ofenlightenment. Let us, then, waste no more time in the dark dungeons ofignorance, but come forth boldly into the glorious sunshine of thatdivine wisdom which in these modern days men call Theosophy. 

[Footnote 1: By C. W. Leadbeater. ]

BRADFORD: REPRINTED BY PERCY LUND, HUMPHRIES AND CO. LTD.