A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  a. The transmutative process. Transmutation is a subject that from the earliest ages has occupied the attention of students, scientists and alchemists. The power to change, through the application of heat, is of course universally recognised, but the key to the mystery, or the secret of the systemic formula is advisedly guarded from all searchers, and is only gradually revealed after the second Initiation. The subject is so tremendous that it is only possible to indicate in broad general outlines how it may be approached. The mind of the public turns naturally to the transmutation of metals into gold with the aim in view of the alleviation of poverty. The mind of the scientist seeks the universal solvent which will reduce matter to its primordial substance, release energy, and thus reveal the processes of evolution, and enable the seeker to build for himself (from the primordial base) the desired forms. The mind of the alchemist [476] searches for the Philosopher’s Stone, that effective transmuting agent which will bring about revelation, and the power to impose the will of the chemist upon the elemental forces, which work in, by, and through matter. The religious man, especially the Christian, recognises the psychic quality of this transmutative power, and frequently speaks in the sacred books, of the soul being tried or tested seven times in the fire. All these students and investigators are recognising one great truth from their own constricted angle, and the whole lies not with one or another, but in the aggregate.

  In defining transmutation as it is occultly understood, we might express it thus: Transmutation is the passage across from one state of being to another through the agency of fire. The due comprehension of this is based on certain postulates, mainly four in number. These postulates must be expressed in terms of the Old Commentary, which is so worded that it reveals to those who have eyes to see, but remains enigmatic to those who are not ready, or who would misuse the knowledge gained for selfish ends. The phrases are as follows:

  I. He who transfers the Father’s life to the lower three seeketh the agency of fire, hid in the heart of Mother. He worketh with the Agnichaitans, that hide, that burn, and thus produce the needed moisture.

  II. He who transfers the life from out the lower three into the ready fourth seeketh the agency of fire hid in the heart of Brahma. He worketh with the forces of the Agnishvattas, that emanate, that blend, and thus produce the needed warmth.

  III. He who transfers the life into the gathering fifth seeketh the agency of fire hid in the heart of Vishnu. He worketh with the forces of the Agnisuryans, that blaze, that liberate the essence, and thus produce the needed radiance.

  IV. First moisture, slow and all enveloping; then heat with ever-growing warmth and fierce intensity; then force that presses, drives and concentrates. Thus is radiance [477] produced; thus the exudation; thus mutation; thus change of form. Finally liberation, escape of the volatile essence, and the gathering of the residue back to primordial stuff.

  He who ponders these formulas and who meditates upon the method and suggested process will receive a general idea of the evolutionary process of transmutation which will be of more value to him than the formulas whereby the devas transmute the various minerals.

  Transmutation concerns the life of the atom, and is hidden in a knowledge of the laws governing radioactivity. It is interesting to note how in the scientific expression ‘radioactivity,’ we have the eastern conception of Vishnu-Brahma, or the Rays of Light vibrating through matter. Hence the usually accepted interpretation of the term ‘atom’ must be extended from that of the atom of chemistry to include:

  a. All atoms or spheres upon the physical plane.

  b. All atoms or spheres upon the astral and mental planes.

  c. The human being in physical incarnation.

  d. The causal body of man on its own plane.

  e. All planes as entified spheres.

  f. All planets, chains and globes within the solar system.

  g. All monads on their own plane, whether human monads or Heavenly Men.

  h. The solar Ring-Pass-Not, the aggregate of all lesser atoms.

  In all these atoms, stupendous or minute, microcosmic or macrocosmic, the central life corresponds to the positive charge of electrical force predicated by science, whether it is the life of a cosmic Entity such as a solar Logos, or the tiny elemental life within a physical atom. The lesser atoms which revolve round their positive centre, and which are at present termed electrons by science, are the negative aspect, and this is true not only of the atom on the physical plane, but of the human atoms, held to their central attractive point, a Heavenly Man, or the [478] atomic forms which in their aggregate form the recognised solar system. All forms are built up in an analogous manner and the only difference consists—as the text-books teach—in the arrangement and the number of the electrons. (157) The electron itself will eventually be found to be an elemental, tiny life.

  The second point I seek to make now is: Radiation is transmutation in process of accomplishment. Transmutation being the liberation of the essence in order that it may seek a new centre, the process may be recognised as radioactivity technically understood and applied to all atomic bodies without exception.

  That science has but recently become aware of radium (an example of the process of transmutation) is but the fault of science. As this is more comprehended it will be found that all radiations, such as magnetism or psychic exhalation, are but the transmuting process proceeding on a large scale. The point to be grasped here is that the transmuting process, when effective, is superficially the result of outside factors. Basically it is the result of the inner positive nucleus of force or life reaching such a terrific rate of vibration, that it eventually scatters the electrons or negative points which compose its sphere of influence, and scatters them to such a distance that the Law of Repulsion dominates. They are then no more attracted to their original centre but seek another. The atomic sphere, if I might so express it, dissipates, the electrons come under the Law of Repulsion, and the central essence escapes and seeks a new sphere, occultly understood.

  We must remember always that all within the solar system is dual, and is in itself both negative and positive: positive as regards its own form, but negative as regards its greater sphere. Every atom therefore is [479] both positive and negative,—it is an electron as well as an atom.

  Therefore, the process of transmutation is dual and necessitates a preliminary stage of application of external factors, a fanning and care and development of the inner positive nucleus, a period of incubation or of the systematic feeding of the inner flame, and an increase of voltage. There is next a secondary stage wherein the external factors do not count so much, and wherein the inner centre of energy in the atom may be left to do its own work. These factors may be applied equally to all atoms; to the mineral atoms which have occupied the attention of alchemists so much, to the atom, called man who pursues the same general procedure being governed by the same laws; and to all greater atoms, such as a Heavenly Man or a solar Logos.

  The process might be tabulated as follows:

  1. The life takes primitive form.

  2. The form is subjected to outer heat.

  3. Heat, playing on the form, produces exudation and the factor of moisture supervenes.

  4. Moisture and heat perform their function in unison.

  5. Elemental lives tend all lesser lives.

  6. The devas co-operate under rule, order and sound.

  7. The internal heat of the atom increases.

  8. The heat of the atom mounts rapidly and surpasses the external heat of its environing.

  9. The atom radiates.

  10. The spheroidal wall of the atom is eventually broken down.

  11. The electrons or negative units seek a new centre.

  12. The central life escapes to merge with its polar opposite becoming itself negative and seeking the positive.

  13. This is occultly obscuration, the going-out of the light temporarily, until it again emerges and blazes forth.

  More detailed elucidation will not b
e possible here nor advisable:

  It will be apparent, therefore, that it should be possible, [480] from the standpoint of each kingdom of nature, to aid the transmuting process of all lesser atoms. This is so, even though it is not recognised; it is only when the human kingdom is reached that it is possible for an entity consciously and intelligently to do two things:

  First: aid in the transmutation of his own positive atomic centre from the human into the spiritual.

  Second: assist at the transmutation

  a. From the lower mineral forms into the higher forms.

  b. From the mineral forms into the vegetable.

  c. From vegetable forms into the animal forms.

  d. From animal forms into the human or consciously and definitely to bring about individualisation.

  That it is not done as yet is due to the danger of imparting the necessary knowledge. The adepts understand the transmuting process in the three worlds, and in the four kingdoms of nature, which make them a temporary esoteric three and exoteric four.

  Man will eventually work with the three kingdoms but, only when brotherhood is a practice and not a concept.

  Three points must now be considered in this connection:

  Conscious manipulation of the fires.

  Devas and transmutation.

  Sound and colour in transmutation.

  It is necessary here to point out, as I have done in other matters under consideration, that only certain facts can be imparted, whilst the detailed work concerning process may not be dealt with owing to the inability of the race as yet to act altruistically. Much misapprehension crept in, owing to this very thing, in the early days of hierarchical effort to give out some of the Wisdom fundamentals in book form, and this is bravely dealt [481] with by H. P. B. (158) (159) The danger still persists, and greatly handicaps the efforts of Those, Who—working on the inner side—feel that the thoughts of men should be lifted from the study of the ways of physical existence to broader concepts, wider vision, and synthetic comprehension. Indication only is possible; it is not permissible here to give out the transmutative formulas, or the mantrams that manipulate the matter of space. Only the way can be pointed to those who are ready, or who are recovering [482] old knowledge (gained through approach to the Path, or latent through experience undergone in Atlantean days) and the landmarks indicated hold sufficient guidance to enable them to penetrate deeper into the arcana of knowledge. The danger consists in the very fact that the whole matter of transmutation concerns the material form, and deva substance. Man, being not yet master even of the substance of his own sheaths, nor in vibratory control of his third aspect, incurs risk when he concentrates his attention on the Not-Self. It can only be safely done when the magician knows five things:

  1. The nature of the atom.

  2. The keynote of the planes.

  3. The method of working from the egoic level through conscious control, knowledge of the protective sounds and formulas, and pure altruistic endeavour.

  4. The interaction of the three fires, the lunar words, the solar words, and later a cosmic word.

  5. The secret of electrical vibration, which is only realised in an elementary way when a man knows the keynote of his own planetary Logos.

  All this knowledge as it concerns the three worlds is in the hands of the Masters of the Wisdom, and enables Them to work along the lines of energy or force, and not with what is usually understood when the word ‘substance’ is used. They work with electrical energy, concerning Themselves with positive electricity, or with the energy of the positive nucleus of force within the atom, whether it is the atom of chemistry, for instance, or the human atom. They deal with the soul of things. The black magician works with the negative aspect, with the electrons, if I might so term it, with the sheath, and not with the soul. This distinction must be clearly borne in mind. It holds the clue to the non-interference of the [483] whole Brotherhood in material matters and affairs, and Their concentration upon the force aspect, upon the centres of energy. They reach the whole through the agency of the few centres in a form. With this preamble we will now take up the consideration of the

  Conscious Manipulation of the Fires

  It will now be apparent that the whole process of transmutation, as we can deal with it at present, concerns itself with the two fires which reached a high stage of perfection in a past solar system:

  a. The fire of an atom in its twofold aspect—internal and radiatory.

  b. The fires of mind.

  It is with these that transmutation concerns itself from the human standpoint, and the third fire of Spirit is not at this stage to be considered.

  This conscious manipulation of the fires is the prerogative of man when he has reached a certain point in his evolution; the unconscious realisation of this has led naturally to the attempts of the alchemist to transmute in the mineral kingdom. A few of the older students right through the ages have comprehended the vastness of the endeavour of which the transmutation of the baser metals into gold was but preliminary and a symbol, a pictorial, allegorical, concrete step. The whole subject of transmutation is covered by the work of the Hierarchy in all its three departments on this planet, and we might get some idea of the matters involved if we studied this vast hierarchical standpoint, getting thereby a concept of the work done in aiding the evolutionary process. It is the work of transferring the life from one stage of atomic existence to another, and it involves three distinct steps, which can be seen and traced by means of the higher clairvoyance, and from the higher planes. These steps or stages are: [484]

  The fiery stage—the blending, fusing, burning period, through which all atoms pass during the disintegration of form.

  The solvent stage, in which the form is dissipated and substance is held in solution, the atom being resolved into its essential duality.

  The volatile stage, which concerns primarily the essential quality of the atom, and the escape of this essence, later to take a new form.

  Radioactivity, pralayic solution, and essential volatility might express the thought. In every transmuting process without exception these three steps are followed. Occultly expressed in the old Commentary they are thus stated:

  “The fiery lives burn within the bosom of Mother.

  “The fiery centre extends to the periphery of the circle and dissipation supervenes and pralayic peace.

  “The Son returns to the bosom of Father, and Mother rests quiescent.”

  The Masters, in concert with the great Devas, concern Themselves with this transmutative process, and each department might be considered as dealing with one of the three stages:

  The Mahachohan’s department in its five divisions deals with the burning of the fiery lives.

  The Manu’s department concerns itself with the form or the ring-pass-not which encloses the burning lives.

  The Bodhisattva’s department deals with the return of the Son to the bosom of the Father.

  Within the department of the Mahachohan, a secondary division along these lives might be outlined:

  The seventh and fifth Rays are occupied with the return of the Son to the Father and are largely centred in pouring forth energising power when it becomes necessary to transfer the life of the Son from an old form into a new, from one kingdom of nature to another on the Path of Return. [485]

  The third and sixth Rays deal with the burning of the fiery lives.

  The fourth blends the two fires within the atomic form.

  It will be seen from a close study of these subdivisions, how close is the co-operation between the different groups, and how inter-related are their activities. The work of the Hierarchy can be interpreted always in terms of alchemy, and Their activities deal with a threefold transmutation. This work is carried on by Them consciously, and supervenes upon Their own emancipation.

  A Master transmutes in the three worlds and principally concerns Himself with the process upon the eighteen subplanes, the great field of human evolution, and with the passage of th
e life throughout the dense physical body of the Logos. The Chohans of the sixth Initiation work in the fourth and fifth ethers of the logoic etheric body (the buddhic and atmic planes), and deal with the passage of the life of Spirit from form to form in those worlds, having in view the transmutation of units in the spiritual kingdom into the monadic. Those on still higher levels—the Buddhas and their Confrères of the first and third Rays—deal with the passage of the life into the sub-atomic, and atomic planes of the cosmic physical. What has been said applies to all hierarchical efforts in all schemes and on all globes, for the unity of effort is universal. In every case, conscious self-induced control, or authority, precedes ability to transmute. Initiates learn to transmute and superintend the passage of the life out of the animal kingdom into the human after the third Initiation, and during the earlier stages of initiation, formulas that control the lesser devas, and which produce results in the merging of the second and third kingdoms are communicated; they work under safeguards and supervision.

  Advanced intellectual man should be able to co-operate in the synthesis of the work, and deal with the transmutation [486] of the metals, as the ratio of their intellectual development to that of the mineral elements, and builders whom they would control, is the same as in the above mentioned cases and grades of consciousness, but owing to the disastrous developments in Atlantean days, and the consequent stultification of spiritual evolution for a time until karma has been adjusted, the art has been lost; or rather, the knowledge has been safeguarded until a period is reached in the racial progress wherein the physical body is pure enough to withstand the forces contacted, and to emerge from the process of chemical transmutation enriched, not only in knowledge and experience, but strengthened in its own inner fibre.

  As time proceeds, man will gradually do four things:

  1. Recover past knowledge and powers developed in Atlantean days.