333. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - 51. DIVISION D - II. THOUGHT ELEMENTALS AND DEVAS. 4. THE FIRE ELEMENTALS, THE LESSER BUILDERS. - Part 1 - A. BAILEY

DIVISION D - THOUGHT ELEMENTALS AND FIRE ELEMENTALS

II. THOUGHT ELEMENTALS AND DEVAS.

4. THE FIRE ELEMENTALS, THE LESSER BUILDERS. - Part 1

a. Introductory.

It will be apparent now that in our consideration of the deva Builders, great and small, of the solar system, we have hitherto practically confined ourselves to those who are the functioning agents in the three worlds of human endeavour.  We have dealt briefly with the Builders on the evolutionary arc, the greater entities who either have passed through the human kingdom, and therefore have left that stage of evolution behind them in earlier cycles, or are at this time the "solar agents" of human manifestation.  All these forms of divine existence represent—in their own place—aspects of positive force.  We come now to the consideration of the lesser builders in the three worlds, those who represent the negative aspect of force, being on the involutionary arc, and who are, therefore, the recipients of energy and influences.  They are worked upon by energy, and through the activity of the greater Builders are forced into different directions in space, being built into the differing forms.  The energy that works upon them, as is well known, emanates from the second aspect, and in their totality they form the great Mother.

I would call to the attention of all students the fact that these lesser builders are literally a "sea of fire" upon which the great breath, or the AUM, takes effect.  Each fiery spark, or atom, becomes (through the action of the Word), vitalised with new life, and impregnated with a different type of energy.  In the union of the life of atomic substance itself with that which causes the atoms to cohere, and to form vehicles of some kind or another, can be seen demonstrating the "Son of God."  Herein lies the essential duality of all manifestation; this duality is later supplemented by the life of the One Who sounds the Word.  Thus is the cosmic incarnation brought about with the three factors entering in.  This has been sufficiently dealt with in earlier pages.

Much that will have to be said will be of a tabulatory nature, and the only way in which students can check up the approximate accuracy of that which is imparted will be through a careful meditation upon:

a. The Law of Correspondences.

b. The realisable probabilities.

c. The indications in occult literature of a corroborative nature.

Students should remember that we are dealing with involutionary substance, or atomic matter.  This atomic matter is living substance, each atom being a tiny life palpitating with the vitality of the third Logos.  These lives, being negative energy, are responsive to their polar opposite, and can (under the Law of Attraction and Repulsion) be built into forms which are the expression of the second aspect.  Eventually the forms themselves become in their turn negative, and responsive to still another type of force, becoming recipients of the life of the first Logos when the fourth or human kingdom is reached.

This Treatise seeks to prove, that in the fourth kingdom the three fires meet:

a. Fire by friction, or the negative Brahma Aspect, the third Aspect.

b. Solar Fire, or the positive negative Vishnu Aspect, the second Aspect.

c. Electric Fire, or the positive Shiva Aspect, the first Aspect.

Man in the three worlds, consciously or unconsciously, recapitulates the logoic process, and becomes a creator, working in substance through the factor of his positive energy.  He wills, he thinks, he speaks, and thought-forms eventuate.  Atomic substance is attracted to the enunciator.  The tiny lives which compose that substance are forced (through the energy of the thinker), into forms, which are themselves active, vitalised and powerful.  What man builds is either a beneficent or a maleficent creation according to the underlying desire, motive, or purpose.

It is essential that we endeavour to make practical what is here to be imparted, as it is useless for man to study the groups of lesser builders, their functions and their names, unless he realises that with many of them he has an intimate connection, being himself one of the great builders, and a creator within the planetary scheme.  Men should remember that through the power of their thoughts and their spoken words they definitely produce effects upon other human beings functioning on the three planes of human evolution and upon the entire animal kingdom.  The separative and maleficent thoughts of man are largely responsible for the savage nature of wild beasts, and the destructive quality of some of nature's processes, including certain phenomena, such as plague and famine.

It is of no value to man to know the names of some of the "army of the voice" unless he comprehends his relationship to that army, unless he apprehends the responsibility which is his to be a beneficent creator, working under the law of love, and not impelled to the creative act through selfish desire, or uncontrolled activity.

b. Physical Plane Elementals.

It should be remembered that the devas we have been considering are the originators of impulse, and the manipulators of energy in their own degree, and on their own plane.  In connection with them are to be found, therefore, the recipients of force, or the multitude of lives of an elemental nature which form the sumtotal of the matter of a plane.  These are swept on waves of energy, through the impulse of the Breath, and as the result of[890] vibratory action, into all forms as we know them on the physical plane.  Therefore, in connection with manifestation on the physical plane the devas may be divided into three groups:

1. The transmitters of the will of God, the originators of activity in deva substance.  These are the greater builders in their various groups.

2. The manipulators of the initiated energy.  These are the myriads of workers with force who transmit the impulse in their turn to the elemental essence.  They are the builders of lesser degree, but are on the evolutionary arc as are the first group.

3. The recipients of force, the sumtotal of the living substance of a plane.  These lives are passive in the hands of the builders of greater degree.

The three groups to be considered are:

1. The elementals of densest matter.

2. The elementals of liquid matter.

3. The elementals of gaseous matter.

We must bear in mind as we study these three groups that we are not concerned with the transmitters, but with the manipulators and with the recipients of energy.

The Elementals of Densest Matter.  These are the workers and builders which are concerned with the tangible and objective part of all manifestation.  In their totality they literally form that which can be touched, seen, and contacted physically by man.  In considering these matters we must never dissociate the various groups in our minds in a too literal sense, for they all interpenetrate and blend, in the same manner as man's physical body is compounded of dense, liquid, gaseous, and etheric matter.  Diversity, producing a unity, is everywhere to be seen; this fact must constantly be borne [891] in mind by the occult student when studying the subhuman forms of existence.  There is a distinct danger in all tabulations, for they tend to the forming of hard and fast divisions, whereas unity pervades all.

Among the manipulating devas of the lowest level of the dense physical plane are to be found certain subterranean forms of existence, of which hints are to be found in the ancient and occult books.  There is to be found in the very bowels of the earth, an evolution of a peculiar nature, with a close resemblance to the human.  They have bodies of a peculiarly gross kind, which might be regarded as distinctly physical as we understand the term.  They dwell in settlements, or groups, under a form of government suited to their needs in the central caves several miles below the crust of the earth.  Their work is closely connected with the mineral kingdom, and the "agnichaitans" of the central fires are under their control.  Their bodies are constituted so as to stand much pressure, and they are not dependent upon as free a circulation of air as man is, nor do they resent the great heat to be found in the earth's interior.  Little can here be communicated anent these existences, for they are connected with the lesser vital portions of the physical body of the planetary Logos, finding their microcosmic correspondence in the feet and legs of a man.  They are one of the factors which make possible the revolutionary progressive activity of a planet.

Allied with them are several other groups of low class entities, whose place in the scheme of things can only be described as having relation to the grosser planetary functions.  Little is gained by enlarging upon these lives and their work; it is not possible for man in any way to contact them, nor would it be desirable.  When they have pursued their evolutionary cycle, they will take their place in a later cycle in the ranks of certain deva bodies that are related to the animal kingdom.

It is commonly supposed that all the fairies, gnomes, elves, and like nature spirits are to be found solely in etheric matter, but this is not so.  They are to be found in bodies of gaseous and liquid substance likewise, but the mistake has arisen for the reason that the basis of all that which can be objectively seen is the etheric structure, and these little busy lives frequently protect their dense physical activities through the agency of glamour, and cast a veil over their objective manifestation.  When etheric vision is present then they can be seen, for the glamour, as we understand it, is only a veil over that which is tangible.

Students must at this juncture remember that all dense physical forms, whether of a tree, an animal, a mineral, a drop of water, or a precious stone, are in themselves elemental lives constructed of living substance by the aid of living manipulators, acting under the direction of intelligent architects.  It will immediately become apparent why it is not possible in any way to tabulate in connection with this particular lowest group.  A beautiful diamond, a stately tree, or a fish in the water are but devas after all.  It is the recognition of this essential livingness which constitutes the basic fact in all occult investigation, and is the secret of all beneficent magic.  It is not my purpose, therefore, to deal more specifically with these lowest forms of divine life, except to impart two facts, and thus give indication of the solution of two problems which have oft disturbed the average student; these are, first, the problem as to the purpose of all reptilian life, and, secondly, the specific connection of the bird evolution with the deva kingdom.

The secret of the reptile kingdom is one of the mysteries of the second round, and there is a profound significance connected with the expression "the serpents of wisdom" which is applied to all adepts of the good law. [893] The reptile kingdom has an interesting place in all mythologies, and all ancient forms of truth impartation, and this for no arbitrary reason.  It is not possible to enlarge upon the underlying truth which is hidden in the karmic history of our planetary Logos, and is revealed as part of the teaching given to initiates of the second degree.

The second great life impulse, or life wave, initiated by our planetary Logos, when brought in conjunction with the first, was the basis of that activity which we call evolutionary energy; it resulted in a gradual unrolling, or revelation, of the divine form.  The heavenly serpent manifested, being produced out of the egg, and began its convolutions, gaining in strength and majesty, and producing through its immense fecundity millions of lesser "serpents."  The reptile kingdom is the most important part of the animal kingdom in certain aspects, if such an apparently contradictory statement can be made.  For all animal life can be seen passing through it during the prenatal stage, or returning to it when the form is in advanced decomposition.  The connection is not purely a physical one, but it is also psychic.  When the real nature and method of the kundalini, or serpent fire, is known, this relation will be better understood, and the history of the second round assume a new importance.

The secret of life lies hidden in the serpent stage,—not the life of the Spirit, but the life of the soul, and this will be revealed as the "serpent of the astral light" is truly approached, and duly studied.  One of the four Lipika Lords, Who stand nearest to our planetary Logos, is called "The Living Serpent," and His emblem is a serpent of blue with one eye, in the form of a ruby, in its head.  Students who care to carry the symbology a little further can connect this idea with the "eye of Shiva" which sees and knows all, and records all, as [894] does the human eye in lesser degree; all is photographed upon the astral light, as the human eye receives impressions upon the retina.  The same thought is frequently conveyed in the Christian Bible, in the Hebrew and Christian recognition of the all-seeing eye of God.  The application and value of the hints here given may be apparent if the subject of the third eye is studied, and its relation to the spine, and the spinal currents investigated.  This third eye is one of the objects of kundalinic vivification, and in the spinal territory there is first the centre at the base of the spine, the home of the sleeping fire.  Next we have the triple channel along which that fire will travel in due course of evolution, and finally we find at the summit of the column, and surmounting all, that small organ called the pineal gland, which when vivified causes the third eye to open, and the beauties of the higher, subtler planes to stand revealed.  All this physico-psychical occurrence is possible to man owing to certain events which happened to the Heavenly Serpent in the second, or serpent, round.  These happenings necessitated the formation and evolution of that peculiar and mysterious family we call the reptilian.  These forms of divine life are very intimately connected with the second planetary scheme, being responsive to energy emanating from that scheme, and reaching the earth via the second globe in the second chain.  A group of special devas (connected with a particular open sound in the planetary Word), work with the reptile evolution.

It should be noted here that this evolution on the etheric planes has a closer effect upon man than on the physical.  If students will apply themselves to the consideration of these facts, to the investigation of the serpent lore in all lands, mythologies and scriptures, and if they will link up all this knowledge with that concerning those heavenly constellations which have a serpent appellation (such as, for instance, the Dragon), much [895] illumination may come.  If the intuition suffices, knowledge may then be imparted which will make clearer the connection between the physical bodies with their centres, and the psychic nature.

The bird kingdom is specifically allied to the deva evolution.  It is the bridging kingdom between the purely deva evolution and two other manifestations of life.

First.  Certain groups of devas who desire to pass into the human kingdom, having developed certain faculties, can do so via the bird kingdom, and certain devas who wish to get in communication with human beings can do so via the bird kingdom.  This truth is hinted at in the Christian Bible and Christian religious representations by angels or devas being frequently represented as having wings.  These cases are not many, as the usual method is for the devas gradually to work themselves towards individualisation through expansive feeling, but in the cases which do occur these devas pass several cycles in the bird kingdom, building in a response to a vibration which will ultimately swing them into the human family.  In this way they become accustomed to the use of a gross form without the limitations, and impurities, which the animal kingdom engenders.

Second.  Many devas pass out of the group of passive lives in the effort to become manipulating lives via the bird kingdom, and before becoming fairies, elves, gnomes, or other sprites, pass a certain number of cycles in the bird realm.

Why the two above events occur will not be apparent to the casual reader, nor will the true connection between the birds and the devas be accurately realised by the occult student unless he applies himself to the consideration of the "bird or swan out of time and space," and the place that birds play in the mysteries.  Herein lies for him the clue.  He must remember likewise the fact that every life of every degree, from a god to the most [896] insignificant of the lesser devas, or builders, must at some time or another pass through the human family.

As H. P. B. has pointed out, birds and serpents are closely connected with wisdom, and therefore with the psychic nature of God, of men, and of devas.  The study of mythology should reveal certain stages and relationships which will make this matter clearer.

The Elementals and Lesser Devas of Liquid Matter.  A very interesting illustration of the interpenetration of all the living matter of creation can be seen in connection with the atmosphere surrounding our planet.  In it is to be found:

a. Moisture, or those living essences which are the liquid elementals.

b. Gaseous substance, or those lives which are linked to all fiery essences, being volatile and the result of heat.

c. Etheric matter, or the lowest orders of the devas of the ethers.

This major triplicity, when in conjunction, produces that which we breathe, and that in which we live and move and have our being.  To the thoughtful student the air is full of symbology, for it is a synthesis, and that which bridges the higher and the lower strata of manifestation.

We must centre our attention first upon those lives which constitute the sumtotal of all that is watery, and liquid throughout manifestation, and in dealing with this we must remember that we are concerned with the most occult of investigations, and with matters which are very closely connected with man's evolution.

The many groups of the water devas of the manipulatory class have been roughly grouped by mythological writers, under the terms undines, mermaids, and other [897] expressions, but their diversity is great, and this will be necessarily apparent when it is remembered that the sumtotal of water upon the earth (oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and streams), far exceeds the dry portion, or land, and every drop of moisture is in itself a tiny life, fulfilling its function and running its cycle.  The mythic forms above referred to are but those myriad lives built into a form through which an evolutionary deva is seeking expression.

The extreme interest of this subject might be expressed under certain statements which will give the student some idea of the close attention which should, and eventually will be paid to this subject of the deva lives of watery manifestation.  As said above, the aggregate of these lives is greater than the aggregate of those lives which form the sum total of solid earth as we understand the term, even though they do not exceed the number of lives which form the gaseous portion of manifestation; this gaseous portion is found in the atmosphere, interpenetrating dense matter, and filling in a large degree the interior caverns of the planet.  The microcosmic resemblance to the great Life of the planet is seen in the fact that both forms are but outer sheaths or frameworks, sheltering an inner "vault"; both forms are hollow, both have their negative and positive extremities, their poles, so to speak, and internally much proceeds affecting the outer evolutions.

One of the most occult of the planets, Neptune, presides over the "devas of the waters"; their presiding deva Lord, Varuna, the Raja of the astral plane, being an emanation from that planet.  Students will find it of profound interest to study the close interaction therefore between:

1. The sixth plane, the astral plane, and the sixth subplane of the physical plane, the liquid subplane.

2. The sixth subplane of each plane in the solar system, and their relation to each other.

Herein will be found one reason why men of a relatively low type of physical body, and having an astral body with some sixth subplane matter in it are responsive to higher things and have a spiritual aspiration.  The influence emanating from the sixth subplane of the buddhic plane calls out a reciprocal response from the sixth subplane matter in other bodies, and the sixth principle of buddhi under the Law of Correspondences intensifies that vibration.

The name Neptune is one under which the planetary Logos of one of the major three schemes is known upon our planet.  Certain of His influences and energies affect paramountly the deva essence of this sixth subplane matter, reaching them via the Raja Lord Varuna.  This knowledge is of practical value astrologically, for it will enable men to understand the nature of their own physical bodies, and above all of their astral bodies.  It is an occult fact that the type of astral matter in a man's body decides the quality of the watery substance of his physical body.  There is, in occultism, no dissociating the physico-psychic natures, for the latter determines the former.  The planet Neptune therefore has a profound effect and a close connection under the Law of Correspondences with the sixth, or astral plane, which is the plane of the liquid portion of the logoic physical body, with the sixth subplane of the physical plane, or with the liquid portion of the human physical body and of the planetary physical body, also with the sixth type of energy or force, or the sixth ray.

The major scheme over which Neptune presides forms a systemic triangle of great interest for esoteric astrologers with the sixth scheme and one other.  This is symbolised in the three pronged trident which the god Neptune [899]is always portrayed as holding, the prongs being literally the symbolic triangles connected with each other by three lines of force.

This planet has also a vital relation to the sixth logoic principle, or Buddhi, and therefore the sixth principle of man.  No man begins to co-ordinate the buddhic vehicles until he comes under Neptunian influence in some life or another.  When this is the case, his personality horoscope will show Neptunian influence dominating somewhere.

The Neptunian scheme governs one of the three paths of return, and gathers to itself eventually all those Egos who attain primarily through the manipulation of the sixth type of energy usually called devotion.  It is Neptunian influence likewise which presides over and makes possible the second Initiation, wherein the initiate produces results in the astral body, and wherein his astral centres are the object of the Hierophant's attention.  This particular type of energy flows through three centres:

a. That particular head centre which is linked to the heart centre.

b. The heart centre.

c. The solar plexus.

The planet Neptune, along with the planetary Logos of the sixth ray controls the astral centres in man.  This statement involves much esoteric macrocosmic significance.  When it is remembered that all centres—human and divine—are composed of deva essence, the connection between this influence and the devas, and their reflex effect upon man, will immediately become apparent.

In the mystery of the sea and the secret of its occult "drying up" or absorption, will be revealed eventually the significance underlying:

a. The sex impulse, macrocosmically and microcosmically interpreted.

b. The cessation of desire.

c. The direction of fire to the throat centre instead of to the generative organs.

d. Pralaya and obscuration.

e. The meaning of the words "There shall be no more sea" found in the Christian Bible.

When meditating upon these thoughts, students will find it well to bear in mind the fact that Neptune is one of the major or synthesising planets, that it is an "absorbing" or "abstracting" planet, and that it is connected with the process whereby eventual perfection is demonstrated.  The Son is made perfect, and the cosmic incarnation is brought to a close.

There is again a very close esoteric connection between the fact lying behind the Biblical words "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," ^[cclxxx]81 and the ordered lawful activity of the Great Mother as she performs her work of body-building under the impulse of desire.  The true relation between the astral plane and the physical plane will only become apparent as students carefully bear in mind that the astral plane of the solar system is the sixth subplane of the cosmic physical plane, and constitutes the sumtotal of the liquid substance of the logoic physical body.  When this is realised, the work of the deva essence takes due place; the factor of desire, or of astral motion, and its reflex action upon the physical body via the sixth subplane will become apparent, and the Great Mother will be seen actively engaged, under the influence of desire, in the work of building, nourishing, and producing that warmth and moisture which make manifestation possible.  The Mother is the greatest of the devas, and closely linked with the devas of the waters, for moisture of some kind or another is an essential to all life.

The sixth principle, therefore, or the love aspect (the Christ principle), and the sixth plane, are connected; there is an interplay of energy between the fourth cosmic ether, or buddhic energy, and the sixth plane, or astral energy.  The devas on both these planes belong essentially to groups over which Neptunian influence presides, hence the astral plane can, and eventually will, directly reflect the buddhic.

The greater building devas on the second plane of the solar system, the monadic plane or the second cosmic ether, direct the energies of the manipulating devas of the fourth cosmic ether, the buddhic plane.

The manipulating devas of the fourth cosmic ether will, in due course of evolution, work out the plan in objective perfection through the medium of the living substance of the lesser devas of the liquid or astral plane.  When they have done this two results will be seen:  first, the astral plane will perfectly reflect the buddhic plane and, secondly, the result of that will be that the physical plane will produce the exact vehicle needed for microcosmic or macrocosmic expression through the force of water, or desire.

All this is revealed to esotericists in the symbology of the circulatory system in man.  As the blood system, with its two types of channels (arteries and veins) and its two types of builders (the red and the white corpuscles), is studied from the occult standpoint, much will be ascertained of a revolutionary nature.  The laws of the path of outgoing, and of the path of return, with the two groups of deva lives therein concerned, will be apprehended by man.  A further hint may here be given.  In the physical body of man in connection with the circulatory system, we find, in the three factors—the heart, the arteries, and the veins—the clue to the three types of devas, and also to the systemic triangle which they represent, and further, to the three modes of divine expression.  There is a planetary as well as a systemic circulation, and it is carried on through the medium of deva substance everywhere, macrocosmically as well as microcosmically.

The devas of the sixth physical subplane can be divided into three groups, and these again into seven and into forty-nine, thus corresponding with all groups in the solar system.  These groups (in their essential nature) respond to that "which lies above more than that which lies below," which is only an occult way of expressing a relationship of an intimate nature between the devas of fire and the devas of water, and a negation of a close connection between the water devas and the earth.  Occultly expressed, through the action of the fire devas, the water devas find liberation.

The devas of water find for themselves the path of service in their great work of nourishing all the vegetable and animal life upon the planet; the goal for them is to enter into that higher group of devas which we call the gaseous or fire devas.  These, through the action of their fire upon the waters, produce that sequence of evaporation, condensation, and eventual precipitation which—through its constant activity—nourishes all life upon the earth.  Thus again can the psychic laws of love be seen at work in the deva kingdom as in the human; first, the withdrawal or segregation of the unit from the group (called individualisation in man, and evaporation in the water realm).  Next, condensation, or the amalgamation of the unit with a newer or higher group, this we call condensation for the devas of the waters, and initiation in man; finally, the sacrifice of the group of human or deva atoms to the good of the whole.  So does the law of service and sacrifice govern all the second aspect divine in all its departments great or small.  Such is the law.  But in the human kingdom, though love is the fulfilling of the law, it is arrived at along the path of pain and sorrow, and every true lover and server of humanity is stretched upon the cross until for them the sixth principle dominates, and the sixth type of matter in their bodies is completely subjected to the higher energy.  In the case of the devas, love is the fulfilling of the law without pain or sorrow.  It is for them the line of least resistance, for they are the mother aspect, the feminine side of manifestation, and the easy path for them is to give, to nourish, and to tend.  Therefore, the devas of the waters pour themselves out in service to the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and in the transmutative fires all that holds them on the sixth subplane will eventually be overcome, and through occult "distillation and evaporation" these devas will eventually form part of the gaseous fiery group and become those fires which are the basis of the divine alchemy.

Speaking generally, it must be remembered that the earth devas of densest matter become, in the course of evolution, the devas of the waters, and find their way eventually on to the astral plane, the cosmic liquid; the devas of the waters of the physical plane find their way, through service, on to the gaseous subplane, and then to the cosmic gaseous, becoming the devas of the mental plane.  This literally and occultly constitutes the transmutation of desire into thought.

The gaseous devas become eventually the devas of the fourth ether, and from thence in long aeons, find their way to the cosmic fourth ether, the buddhic plane.  These three groups are therefore cosmically connected with:

1. The cosmic astral plane and the constellation whence emotional and desire energy originates.

2. The cosmic mental plane, and therefore with the constellation Sirius.

3. The cosmic buddhic plane, and the constellation of the Pleiades.

Thus can the whole process be worked out, if man carefully studies his own nature, and the law of analogy.

The Devas of the Gaseous Subplane.  In dealing with the elementals, or lesser devas, under the manipulatory devas of this extensive group, we are dealing with the devas of fire, and with the fiery essences of substantial nature which can be seen manifesting in myriads of forms.  Certain of the subdivisions of this group are known to students, such as:

The Salamanders, or the fiery lives which can be seen by clairvoyants leaping in the flames of a furnace or of a volcano; this group can be subdivided into four groups according to color—red, orange, yellow, and violet—the last of which approximate very closely to the devas of the fourth ether.

The Agnichaitans; this is a term applied to the fiery lives, which are the sumtotal of the plane substance, as seen in the first part of our treatise, and also to the tiny essences which compose the fires of manifestation.  As the nature of physical plane electricity is understood and studied, and its true condition realised, the reality of the existence of these agnichaitans will stand revealed.

As the race becomes clairvoyant, as it surely will in a great degree before the close of this rootrace, these gaseous devas will stand revealed, and men will realise that they are working with fiery lives, and that they are themselves closely allied to these lives through the fires of their own bodies.  The clairvoyance which is in process of developing in this rootrace is entirely physical, and, under the law, its development is to be anticipated, for the Aryan rootrace is that one wherein man—in this fourth round—comes to full self-consciousness.  This involves complete physical vision, and the use in perfection of the three physical plane senses of hearing, touch, and sight.  In the next rootrace, astral clairvoyance will be prevalent, though not universal, and thus contact with the buddhic plane will be more easily achieved.  In the earlier rootraces of the next round, the fifth, there will be a recapitulation of the activities of this round, until, in the fifth rootrace, the sumtotal of that achieved in this round will be seen.  Men will then begin to demonstrate mental clairvoyance.  Thus the cycles mingle and overlap, in order that no unit of life, however small and unimportant, may fail in opportunity.

These agnichaitans of the third subplane come particularly under the influence of Saturnian energy.  They are the great fusers of substance, and it is in connection with them that the transmutation of metals becomes possible.  They have a relationship to the mineral kingdom analogous to that which the watery devas have to the vegetable and animal.  They are, as will be apparent, connected with the throat centre of a planetary Logos and of a solar Logos, and it is through their activity that the transmission of sound through the air becomes possible.  It might surprise students and inventors could they but realise that the present rapid growth of wireless communication everywhere is due to the swinging into contact with the human vibration of a group of fiery deva lives hitherto uncontacted.

Just as each plane has its seven subplanes, so likewise each subplane can be subdivided, thus making forty-nine fires on every plane, or the three hundred and forty-three fires of the solar system.  Herein can be found the clue to the mystery of the "fourth between the three" which has at times bewildered students of the occult records.  There are several ways of reading these figures, 3 4 3, but the only occult method which can be hinted at here, lies in the recognition of the three higher planes, the three lower planes, the fourth plane of meeting between them.  This fourth plane has occultly been called "the meeting place."  When it is remembered that the goal for these gaseous devas is the fourth cosmic ether, or the buddhic plane and that they (in their major and minor groups) are the internal macrocosmic and microcosmic fires, some idea may be gained as to the true significance of the eventual at-one-ment between the two lines of evolution for the goal for man likewise is the buddhic plane.

On the third subplane, therefore, in its fifth division of deva essences, certain groups are now being contacted in this, the fifth rootrace; the result of this contact can be seen in the stimulation of responsive vibration, which is demonstrated already in the discovery of wireless intercourse and of radium.

There will also be seen a paralleling increased vibration of the human spirillae which will result, before the end of the round, in the awakening to full activity of the fifth spirilla of the human physical permanent atom.

Hence the work of the Mahachohan at this time in connection with seventh ray (which is temporarily acting as the synthesis of the five types of energy over which He presides), might be summed up as follows:

First, He is utilising the seventh type of energy in order to further the recognition by the human unit of the subtler substance of the physical plane.  This seventh ray is a primary factor in the production of objectivity.  The energy of the planetary Logos of the seventh scheme dominates the seventh plane; it is the ray whereon deva substance and Spirit can meet and adapt themselves to each other with greater facility than on any other ray except the third.

Man, at present, is fully conscious, through some one or other of his senses, on the three lower subplanes; it is intended that he shall be equally conscious on the four higher.  This has to be brought about by the stimulation of the deva substance which composes his bodies.  This will be accomplished through the dynamic will of the transmitting devas as they energise the manipulatory devas, and thus affect the myriads of lesser lives which compose man's body, and also by an increased responsiveness of the indwelling man or thinker to the contact made upon his body.  This increased awareness will be brought about by the arousing of the fifth spirilla, by the unfolding of the fifth petal in the egoic lotus, and by the gradual opening of the third eye through the arousing and uniform activity of five factors:  the centre at the base of the spine, the three channels in the spinal column, and the pineal gland.

All these factors involve the activity of deva essence, plus the resultant awareness of the thinker.  This will be followed by the conscious use of the newly-awakened powers.  In this manner the close interrelation and interdependence of the two lines of evolution becomes magnificently apparent.

Second, the Mahachohan is working specifically at this time (in co-operation with the Manu), with the devas of the gaseous subplane; this is in connection with the destroying work they are to effect by the end of this rootrace, in order to liberate Spirit from constricting forms.  Volcanic action therefore may be looked for, demonstrating in unexpected localities, as well as within the sphere of the present earthquake and volcanic zones.  Serious disturbance may be looked for in California before the end of the century, and in Alaska likewise.

The work of the Mahachohan can also be seen in the effect that the devas of the kundalini fire are producing upon man.  These are a peculiar group of Agnichaitans who have reached a stage of evolution which permits of their being separated off from their group into a group connected with a certain fire in man's bodies.  This fire owing to its present activity, and the direction of that activity, is responsible for the reaction against physical marriage, and for the desire evinced by highly evolved men everywhere to evade the marriage relation, and confine themselves to creation upon the mental or astral planes.  This is due to the present inclination of the manipulatory devas of the lower generative organs to seek the throat centre, and to function there, utilising the strength of the kundalini fire to bring this about.  All this is under the law of evolution, but in the interim between cause and justified effect much harm, evasion of the law, and consequent suffering can be seen.  Owing, therefore, to the violent reaction at this time against the safeguarding laws of civilisation, it has been decided that the nature and functions of the devas must be somewhat revealed to man, and that their place in the scheme of things, and man's close connection and dependence upon them, must be given out. At the same time, the means whereby they can be contacted, and the words whereby they can be controlled, will be withheld.

Laxness in the marriage relation, due to this particular cause, is only seen amongst the highly evolved and amongst the independent thinkers of the race.  Similar laxness amongst the masses, and the low types of humanity, is based upon a different reason, and their promiscuity is due to certain developments of the animal nature in its lowest manifestation.  These two causes [909] will bear consideration by those who have the present needs of civilisation at heart.  They can then co-operate with the Mahachohan in the work of effecting the very necessary transfer of force from a lower to a higher centre, and prevent (through knowledge), the incidental license.  This will bring about a refusal to besmirch the great love or sex impulse of nature.

The ceremonial ray has been often called "the marriage ritual of the Son," because upon this ray Spirit and matter can meet and have union.  This fact also should be borne in mind during the next one hundred years, for they will see great changes in the marriage laws.  The present laxity will inevitably bring a reaction, and the laws will become more stringent, in order to safeguard the race during a transition period.  These laws will not be along the line of making escape from the marriage relation more difficult, but will take effect at the other end, so to speak; the rising generation will be properly taught and guarded, and indiscriminate, hasty marriage will not be permitted, nor will juveniles be allowed rashly to enter into the marriage obligation.  There is no need to enlarge further upon this, for in working out their own problems men learn, and all that those upon the inner side are permitted to do is to give a hint or an indication.

Another angle of the Mahachohan's work at this time is connected with sound, and therefore with the particular devas whom we are considering.  Through the mismanagement of men, and their unbalanced development, the sounds of earth, such as those of the great cities, of the manufactories, and of the implements of war, have brought about a very serious condition among the gaseous devas.  This has to be offset in some way and the future efforts of civilisation will be directed towards the spreading of a revolt against the evils of congested living and to the dissemination of an impulse of a widespread [910] nature to seek the country and wide spaces.  One of the main interests in the future will be a tendency towards the elimination of noise, owing to the increased sensitiveness of the race.  When the energy of water and of the atom is harnessed for the use of man, our present types of factories, our methods of navigation and of transportation, such as steamers and railway apparatus, will be entirely revolutionised.  This will have a potent effect not only on man but on the devas.

c. The Elementals of the Ethers.

We will consider now the etheric levels of the physical plane or the four highest subplanes of the physical plane.  These etheric levels are but gradations of physical plane matter of a rarer and more refined kind, but physical nevertheless. They are termed in most textbooks:

1. The first ether, or atomic matter.

2. The second ether, or sub-atomic matter.

3. The third ether, or super-etheric matter.

4. The fourth ether, or simply etheric matter.

The fourth ether is the only one as yet recognised by scientists, and is the subject of their present investigations, little though they may realise it.

On the atomic subplane are the permanent physical atoms of all humanity and the appropriated atoms of the deva kingdom.  The devas do not develop as do the human race.  They reincarnate in groups, and not as individuals, though each group is composed of units, and has nothing of the nature of the involutionary group soul.  The group soul on the involutionary path and that upon the evolutionary are unlike; one is passing on to differentiation and is composed of entities animated by one general life; the other has differentiated, and each entity is a separate unit of the one life, complete in itself, yet one with the whole.

There are many types of life to be contacted on the four etheric levels, but we can only concern ourselves at present with the deva life, remembering that the deva evolution is of equal importance to that of the human.  These devas are many in number, are of involutionary and evolutionary nature, and of all grades and types.  Ruling over them on the physical plane is the great deva Kshiti.  He is a deva of rank and power equal to a Chohan of a Ray; He presides over everything outside the human kingdom upon the physical plane, and He has for His council the four subordinate deva lords of the four etheric levels.  He, with these subordinate devas, presides over a subsidiary council of seven devas who handle all that concerns the deva evolution, and the work of the greater and the lesser builders.

The deva Ruler of the fourth, or lowest ether, has delegated a member of His council to meet with certain of the Masters at this time for two specific purposes, first, to see whether the approximation of the two lines of evolution, human and deva, might be now tentatively permitted, and, secondly, to reveal some of the methods of healing and the causes of physical disability which are inherent in the etheric double.

Devas of all kinds and colours are found on the physical etheric levels, but the prevailing hue is violet, hence the term so often employed, the "devas of the shadows."  With the coming in of the ceremonial ray of violet, we have the amplification therefore of the violet vibration, always inherent on these levels, and the great opportunity therefore for contact between the two kingdoms.  It is in the development of etheric vision (which is a capacity of the physical human eye) and not in clairvoyance that this mutual apprehension will become possible.  With the coming in likewise of this ray will arrive those who belong thereon, with a natural gift of seeing etherically.  Children will frequently be born who will see etherically as easily as the average human being sees physically; as conditions of harmony gradually evolve out of the present world chaos, devas and human beings will meet as friends.

As the two planes, astral and physical, merge and blend, and continuity of consciousness is experienced upon the two, it will be difficult for human beings to differentiate at first between devas of the astral plane, and those of the physical.  At the beginning of this period of recognition, men will principally contact the violet devas, for those of the higher ranks amongst them are definitely making the attempt to contact the human.  These devas of the shadows are of a dark purple on the fourth etheric level, of a lighter purple, much the same colour as violet, on the third etheric level, a light violet on the second, whilst on the atomic subplane they are of a glorious translucent lavender.

Some of the groups of devas to be contacted on the physical plane are as follows:

Four groups of violet devas, associated with the etheric doubles of all that exists on the physical plane.  These four are in two divisions, those associated with the building of the etheric doubles, and those out of whose substance these doubles are built.