377. Esoteric Psychology - Volume I - 20. Section Two - CHAPTER II - The Rays and the Kingdoms in Nature 2. The Vegetable Kingdom - A. BAILEY

Section Two - CHAPTER  II - The Rays and the Kingdoms in Nature

2. The Vegetable Kingdom

Influences	The second Ray of Love-wisdom, working out in a vastly increased sensibility.
	The fourth Ray of Harmony and Beauty, working out in the mineral harmonization of this kingdom throughout the entire planet.
	The sixth Ray of Devotion or (as it has been expressed symbolically in The Ancient Wisdom the "urge" to consecrate the life to the Sun, the giver of that life," or again, the "urge" to turn the eye of the heart to the heart of the sun.
Results	These work out in the second kingdom as magnetism, perfume, colour and growth towards the light.  These words I commend to you for your earnest study, for it is in this kingdom that one first sees clearly the glory which lies ahead of humanity:
	a. Magnetic radiation.  The blending of the mineral and vegetable goals.
	b. The perfume of perfection.
	c. The glory of the human aura.  The radiant augoeides
	d. Aspiration which leads to final inspiraton.
Process	Conformation, or the power to "conform" to the pattern   set in the heavens, and to produce below that which is found above.  This is done in this kingdom with greater pliability than in the mineral kingdom, where the process of condensation goes blindly forward.
Secret	Transformation. Those hidden alchemical processes which enable the vegetable growths in this kingdom to draw their sustenance from the sun and. soil, and to "transform" it into form and colour
Purpose	Magnetism.  That inner source of beauty, loveliness and attractive power which lures to it the higher forms of life, leading the animal forms to consume it for food, and the thinking entities to draw from it inspiration, comfort and satisfaction of a mental kind.
Divisions	Trees and shrubs.
	The flowering plants.
	The grasses and the lesser green things which do not come under the other two categories.  A group of vegetable growths which are found under the general heading of sea growths.
Objective agency	Water.
Subjective agency	Touch.
Quality	Rajas or activity.

[234] It is not my intention to give in this treatise what the reader can discover in the academic textbooks of our colleges.  It is not my work to parallel the information found in the exoteric teachings and theologies of our modern sciences.  I seek to indicate the synthesis which underlies the whole, and to point out the continuity of consciousness which can be noted by the esotericist.  In so doing the part is seen to be integrated in the [235] sum total, in a manner different to that which can be seen when considering the form.  It is the world of causes with which we are primarily concerned, and even when we consider and study that which we include under the heading of "results", it is as they demonstrate as initiated causes that we best arrive at their significance.  It is as we grasp the radiatory potency of the mineral kingdom that we can begin to investigate the base of the evolutionary ladder and grasp the first steps taken by the life of God, through the medium of manifested forms.  If, at the close of this writing, the student can grasp somewhat the meaning of those symbolic words,—Radiation, Magnetism, Experiment, Transmutation and Realisation,—and can understand that they embody the purpose and goal of each of the five kingdoms in nature with which we are basically concerned, then the emerging reality of consciousness will be seen, and the prevailing synthesis will be grasped.

a. Life—Radiance—Magnetism

We are told in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali that "By mastery of the binding life comes radiance," and in these words can be found the clue to the relation existing between the mineral and the human kingdoms.  In other words, by the conscious control of the static mineral nature, as it expresses itself in man, comes his eventual radiatory activity.  Thus "the spark becomes the flame. " (Patanjali: III.40, The Light of the Soul.) It will be found that in the sutras much effective correlation can be made, particularly when considering any of the various quintuples found in manifestation with such frequency.  This book is a basic treatise for initiatory training.  Take, as an illustration of this, the words found in Book III.44, and note the illumination thrown upon the evolutionary cycle and on the symbolic development of the five kingdoms in nature:

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"One-pointed meditation upon the five forms which every element takes produces mastery over every element.  These five forms are the gross nature, the elemental form, the quality, the pervasiveness and the basic purpose."

You have, therefore, an analogy for consideration:

1. The gross nature	the mineral kingdom.
2. The elemental form	the vegetable kingdom.
3. The quality	the animal kingdom.
4. The pervasiveness	the human kingdom.
5. The basic purpose	the kingdom of souls.

Note also the correlation of ideas which can be found as we study the words:

"By one-pointed meditation upon the relationship existing between the body and the akasha, ascension out of matter (the three worlds) and power to travel in space is gained.." (The Light of the  Soul, page 338.)   Patanjali: III.42.

Here it is apparent how valuable is the teaching of this sutra, when the consciousness aspect is held carefully in mind, and how the relationships, on a larger scale than the simply human, become clear:

1. The body	mineral kingdom	the dense prison of life.
2. The akasha	vegetable kingdom	the fluid conscious life.
3. Ascension     out of matter	animal kingdom	the evolutionary goal of    the relation between body    and  akasha
4. Power to travel       in space	human kingdom	the goal of the human   consciousness through    the realisation of the above three

It is the inner relations with which I deal in this treatise, [237] and with the inner ray influences, which bring about the desired outer results.  It is the goal of the evolving consciousness which I seek to make clear.  Science can handle with skill and insight the evolution of form.  I shall endeavour to lay the ground for that coming science (of which modern psychology is the experimental beginning) which will deal as easily with the evolution of consciousness as modern science deals with the form expressions of life.  Only when that newer science has been brought to the point of development at which material science now stands will it be possible to consider the evolution of life, through consciousness in form.  I have here made a basic and synthetic statement which needs grasping.  Those whose consciousness is expanding out of the human to the egoic will follow my reasoning with a measure of facility.

A very apposite question might here be asked: What determines the ray which should govern or predominantly influence any or all of the various kingdoms in nature?  It should be remembered that every kingdom, viewing it as a whole, is an entity, and (from its form side) the sum total of all forms constitutes that entity's body of manifestation.  In the last analysis also, the aggregate of self-initiated influences, or the magnetic radiation of that particular kingdom, is an expression of that entity's basic quality or qualities,—the aura of that entity's personality.  Two rays govern each kingdom in nature, except in the case of the vegetable kingdom, where three rays indicate the nature of that kingdom's life.  Students will possibly find it helpful to consider this problem from the angle of analogy, and to realise that they (as well as every other human being) are governed or actuated by two rays, i.e., the personality ray and the egoic ray.  After the third initiation, the disciple has three rays active in him, for the ray of the Monad begins then to make its presence felt.  An analogous condition is found in all the kingdoms in nature.  Two rays are [238] dominant in each kingdom, but in the vegetable kingdom three rays control, for that kingdom is more evolved (along its own peculiar lines) than any other.  What might be regarded as the monadic ray of the Life of that kingdom is functioning.  This whole matter must not be viewed from the standpoint of human consciousness, and the human standards of unfoldment and of awareness must not be regarded as holding prominent place in this evolution of divine life.  This living entity has a different objective to the Life which informs the fourth kingdom in nature.  Nevertheless three basic logoic influences, three major breaths, or three ray vibrations account for this kingdom's life-quality and appearance.  This whole matter is too intricate for real comprehension, and the reader would do well simply to accept the statements I make, with reservations, and realise that when he himself is a member of the great company of initiates of the wisdom, that which is at present inexplicable to him may be made clear, and when fitted into its rightful place in the scheme of things will not seem so extraordinary or peculiar.

b. The Five Secrets of the Kingdoms in Nature

There is a secret anent each of the five kingdoms in nature.  These secrets concern the relation of the human evolution to the whole, and they are revealed to the initiate at the five initiations.  At each initiation one of the five secrets is explained to the initiate, and they are called by the following five names, which are an attempt on my part to interpret symbolically the ancient name or sign:

1. The mineral kingdom	The secret of the brilliance of the light.
2. The vegetable kingdom	The secret of the sacred perfume.
3. The animal kingdom	The secret of the following scent.
4. The human kingdom	The secret of the double path or of the double breath.

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5. The kingdom of souls....The secret of the golden rose of light.

The symbolic forms in which these five secrets are hidden, and so conveyed to the intelligence of the initiate, are as follows:

1. The mineral secret	A diamond, blue white in colour.
2. The vegetable secret	A cube of sandalwood in the heart of the lotus.
3. The animal secret	A bunch of cypress, over a funeral urn.
4. The human secret	A twisted golden cord, with seven knots.
5. The egoic secret	A closed lotus bud with seven blue rays.

Be all this as it may, certain of the seven logoic influences are at this time dominant in the five kingdoms; in four cases, two rays control; in the case of the vegetable kingdom, three rays control.  It must not be forgotten that these rays are related to each other, and in the great interfacing and interlocking of the planetary and the solar forces every kingdom comes under the influence of every ray, yet with certain rays always controlling and certain others dominating cyclically.  The rays determine the quality of the manifesting life and indicate the type of the appearance.

In resuming our consideration of the three divisions of the vegetable kingdom it might be stated that...

Ray VI	determines the type, family, appearance, strength, size and nature of the trees upon our planet.
Ray II	is the beneficent influence, expressing itself through the cereals and flowers.
Ray IV	is the life quality, expressing itself through the grasses and the smaller forms of vegetable life,— those which provide the "green carpet whereon the angels dance".

An important symbolic happening has been consummated [240] at the close of this Piscean Age, which is the period of the sixth ray influence.  This has been the world-wide devastation of the forests of the world.  Everywhere they have been sacrificed to the needs of man.  Thus have been brought under the influence of fire, those vegetable forms of life which were ready for the initiation.  The major agency in the development of this kingdom has been water, and this new development, this bringing together of fire and water in this kingdom, has constituted the subjective fact which brought the steam age into being.  The vast forest fires, which form such a menace at this time in different parts of the world, are also related to this "initiation by fire" of a kingdom hitherto controlled and directed in its growth by the element of water.

Similarly, the coming in of the seventh ray inaugurated a tremendous event in the mineral kingdom.  This I referred to in an earlier book.  Through the effect of sound and fire, the mineral kingdom has also been initiated, and in the great world war, in the steel factories and the other factories where metal is transmuted into articles for the use of man, the world of minerals, and the entity which informs that world, are passing through a major initiation.  This was made possible by the personality ray of the entity, manifesting through this kingdom, subjecting itself to the initiatory fire.  This is of course expressed symbolically,—the only way in which any aspect of this planetary truth can be grasped by man.  It is an interesting, though quite unimportant fact, that at all the initiations of the kingdoms in nature, the planetary Logos of a particular ray always functions as the Initiator.  This ray cyclically alters.  In the major initiations at this time, for instance, in connection with humanity, not only is the first Initiator, the Christ, officiating, not only is the Ancient of Days, the embodiment of our planetary Logos, participating (either actively or behind [241] the scenes), but behind Them both stands now the Lord of the fifth Ray of Knowledge and Understanding.

One point of interest might here be noted.  It is known esoterically that the vegetable kingdom is the transmitter and the transformer of the vital pranic fluid to the other forms of life on our planet.  That is its divine and unique function.  This pranic fluid, in its form of the astral light, is the reflector of the divine akasha.  The second plane therefore reflects itself in the astral plane.  Those who seek to read the akashic records, or who endeavour to work upon the astral plane with impunity, and there to study the reflection of events in the astral light correctly, have perforce and without exception to be strict vegetarians.  It is this ancient Atlantean lore which lies behind the vegetarian's insistence upon the necessity for a vegetarian diet, and which gives force and truth to this injunction.  It is the failure to conform to this wise rule which has brought about the misinterprertions of the astral and akashic records by many of the psychics of the present time, and has given rise to the wild and incorrect reading of past lives.  Only those who have been for ten years strict vegetarians can work thus in what might be called the "record aspect of the astral light".  When they add to their purified astral and physical bodies the light of reason and illumination of the focussed mind (which is very rarely found), then they become accurate interpreters of astral phenomena.  Their link with the vegetable kingdom is then very close and unbreakable, and that link or binding chain will lead them through the door to the scene of their investigations.  But unless the goal of a vegetarian diet is this field of service, the arguments for its following and for that form of diet are usually futile and of no real moment.  From the standpoint of the eternal verities, what a man eats or wears are seen in a connotation very different to that of the one-pointed fanatic.  Let me again reiterate [242] that this whole problem of the taking of life (whether in the vegetable or the animal kingdom) is a far bigger one than we know, and should be approached from an angle different (not only in degree but in kind) to that of the taking of life in the human family.  The three aspects of divinity meet in man, and with the destiny of a divine son of God no one must interfere.  Where the two aspects of divinity are concerned, as in the subhuman kingdoms, the attitude can be otherwise, and the emerging truth is different to that which the little minds believe.

The influence of the three rays, blended together in the vegetable kingdom, being also the three rays of even numbers, 2. 4. 6, has produced a fourfold perfection in this kingdom which is unparalleled in any other.  The rays are responsible for this result, and their effect can be seen in the following analysis:

Ray II	The result of this influence, pouring cyclically through the kingdom, has been to produce its magnetism, its attractiveness.
Ray IV	This ray of struggle and of conflict has as its objective the production of harmony between form and life, and has brought about the synthesis and the harmony of colour in nature.  As we say the words, "colour in nature", automatically we think of the vegetable kingdom and its achievement of harmony in vegetation.
Ray VI	Growth towards the light is the effect of this ray influence, plus the normal tendency of all lifeforms to evolve.  It has brought the latent seeds of the vegetable kingdom, inherent within the soil, to the surface.  It constitutes the energy of externalisation.

The united effect of these three rays, working in unison, has been to bring forth the fourth result, the perfume of the flowers, as found in the higher units of the vegetable kingdom. This perfume can be either deadly or vitalising, and can either [243] delight or repel.  It attracts and constitutes part of the aroma of this kingdom which is sensed in the planetary aura, though unrecognised as a whole by humanity.  You isolate a perfume. Yet the perfume of an entire kingdom is a well recognised phenomenon to the initiate.

Students would find it of interest to trace similar analogies in the other kingdoms in nature, remembering however that this kingdom is esoterically ahead of the others, for there are three rays participating in its perfecting.  It might be stated that three rays will ultimately affect each of the other three kingdoms.

During the next subrace, ray two will begin to influence the mineral kingdom.

In the next root race, ray five will commence to pour its power into the animal kingdom, gradually stimulating the instinctual mind of the animal until it vibrates to the ray of the intellect, of knowledge.  This will bring about an organising of the animal brain, and the transfer of the power of the solar plexus centre to the head centre, and consequently a shift in the animal polarisation and an added activity of the brain in the head.

Towards the close of this round, the monadic ray of the advanced units of humanity will be so powerful that there will be a marked pouring in of ray one, with its stimulation of the individual will.  You will therefore have in this unfoldment of the will aspect of mankind the following stages, which are of psychological importance.

1. Instinct.	2. Emotional aspiration.
3. Intellect.	4. Mental one-pointedness.
5. Egoic purpose.	6. Spiritual will.
	7. Divine intent.

These stages are latent in all of us, and are related to the seven principles of man.  They will express themselves in advanced [244] humanity as "aspects of the psyche", and therefore psychologically, during the later stages of human development.  They should begin to be of greater interest to investigators and to educators who should seek to develop them in the child and the adolescent.  They work out today as marked stages in the development of all disciples and initiates.  They indicate place upon the Path. Hence their practical usefulness.

In the kingdom of souls, ray four will complete the work of the next two rounds, but this period is so far distant that with it we need not concern ourselves.

In the vegetable kingdom, the work of the second ray of Love-Wisdom is seen, symbolically, in one of its major consummations.  Attractiveness, in the sense of beauty, of colour, of form, of distribution, and of perfume, is to be seen on every hand, and had you but the eyes to vision the reality, the synthesis of life would appear to you in all its glory.  But just as the last of the five senses to make its presence felt in man, the sense of smell, is as yet but little understood, and its implications are not realised, whilst its relation to the analytical and discriminative mind is not appreciated scientifically, so the "attractiveness" (esoterically speaking) of the vegetable kingdom remains uncomprehended.  It is the radiant garment of the planet, and is revealed by the sun; it is the achieved expression of the informing life of this kingdom in nature, and is the effect of the manifestation of the three divine and functioning aspects of this "peculiar" son of divinity, as he works out his destiny in form and through matter.

The entire problem of magnetism is closely connected with the problem of sex.  In the occult study of the dissemination of the seed life and the germs of the vegetable kingdom, and in the understanding of the part played therein by those miraculously developed organisms,—the ants and bees—and later in the investigation of the work of the etheric builders, the elves [245] and fairies, by those with awakened vision will come a new light upon sex and upon the function it serves in the interrelation of lives and the creation of forms.  With this aspect of this deeply esoteric truth I cannot here deal, for it is the effect of activity in the solar lives of the solar system, and with these we cannot concern ourselves.  It is not possible to handle the subject in such a way as to make it of constructive value to the average reader.  What is not of immediate esoteric value at this time of world urgency may well be relegated to a later time.

c. The Planets And The Kingdoms

In the vegetable kingdom the influence of Venus is predominant, amazing as this may seem to some occult students. Venus and Jupiter together powerfully influence this world of forms.

It might be of interest to note that all the planets have a close relation to all the kingdoms, but that this relation should not be confounded with the planetary rays or with the fact that some of the planets are considered as "sacred planets" and some are not.  I am here using the words "planetary influence" in the same sense as the astrologer uses them, for he is not dealing, either, with the basic planetary rays.  It might be stated therefore that the planetary relations in this cycle are as follows:

1. The mineral kingdom	Pluto and Vulcan.
2. The vegetable kingdom	Venus and Jupiter.
3. The animal kingdom	The Moon and Mars.
4. The human kingdom	Mercury and Saturn.
5. The kingdom of souls	Neptune and Uranus.
6. Synthesising these five	The Sun.

There are other planetary influences to be felt, and hidden forces likewise play upon our planetary life, but these are the major influences bringing about the desired results in the kingdoms of nature under the Plan.  It must be remembered that these are the cyclic influences dominant at this time, and that they change from cycle to cycle.  For instance, a disciple who is upon the path is strongly influenced by Mercury and by Saturn, but when he begins his training for the first initiation he has to contend with the influences of Pluto and Vulcan; the training for the second initiation brings him under Neptunian influences with Venus and Jupiter contending for control.  The link with the vegetable kingdom is then strong, and hence the frequent recognition of "astral perfumes" which the disciple can note.  Before the first initiation, the static mineral world within him has been broken up.

At the third initiation, the Moon and Mars struggle to assume ascendancy, and there is his battle-ground.  Hence at the great Transfiguration, the body is "transfigured" as the indication of triumph.  At the fourth initiation, Mercury and Saturn act as the great translators, and bring the disciple to the door of realisation.  When the final initiation is taken, it is the activity of Uranus and the in-pouring force of Jupiter that bring about the reorganisation which results in the final emancipation.  The vastness and complexity of the subject thus become apparent.

In the emergence of colour in the vegetable kingdom another vast influence is seen, and the problem of the ray influences becomes still more complicated.  In the basic colour, green, we have the indication of the potency of Saturn.  Esoterically speaking, the vegetable kingdom is upon an advanced stage of the path of discipleship, and hence Saturn and Mars are active. The influence of the latter planet is to be seen in the prevalence of the colours red, rose, yellow and orange in the flowers at this time.

Again, readers would find it interesting to note mentally the relation of growth to the idealism of the sixth ray.  Theycould learn therefrom the part that the Ray of Devotion plays in bringing about the urge to evolve.  It is growth towards an ideal, or towards a divine prototype or archetype.  Here is where the secret of this kingdom appears.  The secret is hidden in the word "transformation," for the rays 2.4.6 are the great transformers.  The clue to the secret is to be found in the processes of assimilation and in the building forces that transmute the assimilated minerals, the absorbed moisture, the food in the air, and the proffered offering of the insect kingdoms into the manifested bodies, the radiant colours, the magnetic auras, and the distilled perfumes of this kingdom.  Much along this line has been the subject of investigation by the modern scientist, but until he recognises the fact of ray influences, and the part they play in the producing of these factors, he will fail to discover the true secret of the transformations which he notes.

It will appear, therefore, to the careful reader, that in the relation of the rays to the kingdoms in nature, and in the similarity of the rays found functioning in widely differing kingdoms, will be found their point of contact or door of entry, whereby they can contact each other.

For instance, the human and the vegetable kingdoms find their point of influential entry (using the words in the esoteric sense) through ray four, which influences the forms in both kingdoms.  The relation between the vegetable kingdom and the kingdom of souls is found along the second ray.  Ray two is beginning to make its presence felt in the mineral kingdom, and hence man's work with, and facility in using materially, the forms in this kingdom.  Perhaps I should say, misusing them. Ray five will before long, as we have noted, make its power felt in the animal kingdom, and an ever closer relation will then be set up between men and animals.

Again, the rays in incarnation at any time will establish relations [248] between the kingdoms, increasing the interplay of forces and the interchange of energies, and thus producing new effects, new forms of life, and new wonders in the world of phenomena.  Man is also apt to think that his ray influences (the ray predominant in his own kingdom) must be of paramount importance and the most potent.  This is not so at this time.

A careful study and a true analysis of the effect and work of the rays in connection with the animal kingdom is not possible.  Yet it must be remembered that the roots of human psychology lie hidden in this expression of God.  Humanity is an expression of two aspects of the soul,—the animal soul and the divine soul,—and these two, blended and fused in man, constitute the human soul.  It is this fact that is the cause of man's special problems, and it is these two factors which involve him in the long struggle which eventuates in the liberation of the divine soul, through the sublimation of the animal soul.  In these words lie much food for thought.  "The twain shall be one".  This work is begun in the animal kingdom, and constitutes its "secret", and hence the use of the word "transfusion" in this connection.  Individualisation was the first result of this secret process.  Its final consummating effect can be seen in the five stages of the initiatory process, leading to eventual transfiguration and liberation.  The entire work is, however, one great unfolding revelation of the soul of God, and it is only when we divorce humanity from that process of revelation that we find the secrets, the problems, the difficulties and the mysteries insoluble.  A consciousness, an awareness and a sensitivity to an ever-widening and more inclusive contact is gradually being developed, and this is the consciousness of God, the awareness of the solar Logos, and the sensitivity of the cosmic Son of God.

The form through which that Life expresses Itself, the sensitive [249] response apparatus through which that Consciousness works, are of secondary importance, and are in the nature of an automatic mechanism.  It is the mechanism, nevertheless, with which we have hitherto identified ourselves, and we have forgotten that that mechanism is but an expression of an aspect of consciousness, and that it indicates, at any particular time, the point of evolution of the informing entity.  Let me reiterate: The two factors which are of major importance, during manifestation, are the evolving consciousness and the manifesting life.  When this is borne in mind, it will be noted how each stage upon the way can be seen whole as a kingdom in nature. Each of these kingdoms carries the consciousness aspect forward to a greater stage of perfection, and demonstrates a greater sensitivity and responsiveness to outer and inner environing conditions, than does the preceding kingdom.  Each manifests a fuller revelation of the inner and hidden glory.  When, however, a unit of life is immersed in form, and when the consciousness is identified (in time and space) with any particular form, it is not possible for it to realise its divinity or to express it consciously.  Its psychology is that of the partial and the particular, and not that of the universal and the whole. The greater and closer the identification with the form aspect, the greater is the lower unity and synthesis, but at the same time, the greater the darkness and, speaking symbolically, the denser is the prison.  Such is the consciousness in the lower or subhuman kingdoms in nature.  The more the unit of life is identified with "the one who is conscious", the greater again is the higher, yet different, unity and synthesis.  Such also is the consciousness of the three higher kingdoms, the superhuman.  The tragedy, the problem and the glory of man is that he can identify himself with both aspects—the form and the life; and his psychological state is such that during the period wherein he forms part of the human kingdom, his kingdom, [250] his consciousness fluctuates between these pairs of opposites.  He can identify himself with the subhuman forms, and this he invariably does in the early stages.  He can identify himself with the life aspect, and this he does in the final stages.  In the midway stage of the average man, he is torn violently between both, and is himself the battle-ground.

With this consciousness, incident upon an awareness of the pairs of opposites, is connected the entire problem of pain and of suffering, as we today understand it.  The animal suffers, but suffers entirely physically and sentiently.  Man suffers, but suffers physically, sentiently, and also mentally, and the mental suffering is due to the development in him of certain aspects of the lower mind-anticipation, memory, imagination, the power to visualise, remorse, and the inherent urge to reach out after divinity, which brings with it a sense of loss and of failure.  The sufferings of God Himself (to which the scriptures of the world so often mysteriously refer) are divorced from sentiency, and are mental and intuitive.  But on this mystery we need not enlarge.  The sufferings of humanity are primarily personal; of God, they are pre-eminently impersonal and related to the whole.  I have touched on this as I wanted you to get a picture of the synthesis of the unfoldment from the inchoate to the sentient, from the sentient to the mentally realised, and from the mentally realised to the "divinely appreciated," as it is occultly termed.  I give you pictures, but they are pictures of a whole.  Endeavour to think in wholes, and try not to fit every point of detail into the whole, but remember that what may appear to be a contradiction may be but a fragment of temporary detail for which you—as yet—see no place or explanation.

In the animal kingdom the first dim indication of sorrow and pain is seen, whilst in the higher and the domesticated animals these two educating processes are still more clearly indicated.  [251]  Man's work with the animals is potent in results, and will lead eventually to a re-opening of the door into the human kingdom.  Some of the work already done by man has outstripped divine expectation and may warrant a hastening of the Plan.

Let us now tabulate our points anent this kingdom and the rays, as we did with the other two kingdoms.