A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  a. The permanent atoms become radioactive, and their ring-pass-not is therefore no longer a barrier to the lesser units within; the electronic lives in their various groups escape, and return to the eternal reservoir. They form substance of a very high [831] order, and will produce the forms of those existences who, in another cycle, will seek vehicles.

  b. The petals are destroyed by the action of fire, and the multiplicity of deva lives which form them and give to them their coherence and quality are gathered back by the solar Pitris of the highest order into the Heart of the Sun; they will be directed outward again in another solar system.

  The atomic substance will be used for another manvantara, but the solar Pitris will not again be called upon to sacrifice themselves until the next solar system when they will come in as planetary Rays, thus repeating upon monadic levels in the next system what they have done in this. They will then be the planetary Logoi.

  c. The central Life electric returns to its source, escaping out of prison and functioning as a centre of energy on planes of cosmic etheric energy.

  We have endeavoured above to convey a general idea of the evolutionary process in connection with the Ego, and its progression under karmic and cyclic law. If the student ponders upon these two laws it will become apparent to him that both might be summed up under the generic term of the Law of Rhythm. All manifestation is the result of active energy producing certain results, and expenditure of energy in any one direction will necessitate an equal expenditure in an opposite. This in terms of the Ego and its life experience brings about three stages:

  First. The stage wherein the energy manifested acts outwardly. The Self becomes identified with its sheaths. This is the strictly personal stage.

  Second. The stage wherein adjustment under law is being sought, and the Self is neither entirely identified with its sheaths, nor identified entirely with Itself. It is [832] learning to choose between the pairs of opposites. This is the period of the fiercest strife and turmoil, and the battlefield wherein the adjustment has to be made; it is the laboratory period wherein enough transmutative force is generated by the disciple to carry him to the opposite extreme of the earlier stage,—that stage wherein the energy will manifest within and not without.

  Third. The stage wherein the energy of the Ego is centred at the heart of the circle, and not in the periphery, being applied from thence through the conscious effort of the Ego in group service. The pull of the lower nature is superseded, and the attraction of that which is higher even than the Ego is felt. The earlier process has then to be repeated on a higher turn of the spiral, and monadic energy begins to work upon the Ego as the egoic worked upon the personality. The Monad, which has been identifying Itself with the Ego (its outer manifestation) begins again to seek its own true centre “within the Heart,” and on the higher levels results affecting distribution and conservation of energy may again be seen.

  It is necessary to emphasise this procedure because it is important that all occultists should learn to interpret and to think in terms of energy and of force, in contradistinction to the sheaths or instruments employed. The mystic has recognised this “force” factor, but has only worked with the positive force aspect. The occultist must recognise and work with three types of force, or energy, and therein lies the distinction between his work and that of the mystic. He recognises:

  1. Positive force Or that which energises.

  2. Negative force Or that which is the recipient of energy; that which acts or assumes form under the impact of positive force.

  3. Light, or harmonic force That which is produced by the union of these two. The result is radiant energy, and is the result of the equilibrising of the two others.

  [833] These three aspects of energy have been called, as has been often said:

  a. Electric fire positive energy Father.

  b. Fire by friction negative energy Mother.

  c. Solar fire radiant energy Sun or Son.

  Each of these two last aspects demonstrates within itself in a dual manner, but the effect is a unified whole as regards the great Unity in which they are demonstrating.

  The problem of the devas may be somewhat better understood if it is remembered that they in themselves embody the two types of energy. For instance, the solar Pitris are the substance of the egoic bodies and groups, and the medium of expression for the Spirit aspect, for Spirit manifests by means of soul. The lunar Pitris, who form the personal lower self, being the aggregate of the lower sheaths, are energised and used by the solar Lords. These solar Angels again are in many groups and express within their own ranks a dual energy, both positive and negative. There is the positive life of the egoic lotus which co-ordinates, preserves, and actuates the petals, and there is also the energy of the petal substance itself, or the negative aspect which is swept by the positive force of the greater solar Lords into living whorls or wheels which we symbolically call “petals.” There is a close analogy in connection with the planetary Logos, and the solar Logos between prana, the life force which animates the etheric body of man, and by means of that [834] force coheres the dense physical body, and that synthesising life force of the Logos which animates every atom on every plane of the system. If this is meditated upon, and the fact of all our planes being the etheric and dense manifestation of the solar Logos is realised, then the place played by the solar Angels may become somewhat elucidated, and their relation to the planetary Logos and to the solar Logos may become also clearer.

  We must not only study them in connection with ourselves and with our effort to identify ourselves with the solar Lords of the lunar Pitris, but must recognise also:

  a. The solar Angels of a planetary scheme.

  b. The solar Angels of the solar system.

  c. The lunar lords of the scheme and system.

  The word “lunar” is here an anachronism and is technically inaccurate. The moon or moons in any scheme are systemic effects, and are not causes. In certain planetary relationships, they are considered causes, but in connection with our solar system they are not. Yet also, in connection with a system, there exist cosmically certain bodies in space which have as definite an effect upon the system as the moon has upon the earth. This is something as yet unknown and incomprehensible to metaphysicians, scientists and astronomers. War wages cosmically as yet between the systemic “lunar” lords, and those Entities who are analogous to the solar Lords on cosmic levels. Until our students extend their concept to include in their calculations the logoic astral and mental bodies as the Logos seeks to express emotion and mind on the physical plane (through His physical body, a solar system) they will not progress far towards the heart of the solar mystery. Until the force of the cosmic lunar Lords is sought for, the fact of there being entire constellations beyond our solar system in process of disintegration in time and space in a manner similar to [835] the disintegration of the moon will not be known nor the effects of this traced. Eventually our solar system will pass into a similar state. The true mystery of evil (265) lies here, and the true reality of the “War in Heaven” must here be sought. Similarly it must be remembered that planetary schemes pass into obscuration and “die out,” through the withdrawal in all cases of the positive life and energy and of the electric fire which is the animating principle of every system, scheme, globe, kingdom in nature, and human unit. This produces again in every case the dying out of the “solar radiance,” or of the light produced by the commingling of the negative and positive energy. All that is left in every case again is the habitual energy of the substance upon which, and through which, the positive energy has had such a remarkable [836] effect. This negative type of force gradually dissipates, or disperses itself, and seeks the central reservoir of energy. The spheroidal form is thus disintegrated. This can be seen working out now in the case of the moon, and the same rule holds good for all bodies. We might word it otherwise:—The solar Devas (or radiant energy) return to the central Heart or to the source which breathed them out. This leaves the l
esser deva substance dependent upon its own internal heat, as it involves the withdrawal of that which built substance into form. This deva substance is of many kinds and perhaps the consequent procedure can be more clearly understood if we say that as the form breaks up the lesser builders and devas return to their group soul. Certain of them, those who form the bodies of the fourth kingdom in nature, and who are therefore the highest kind of substance through which consciousness can manifest in the three worlds, are on the road towards individualisation,—they are nearer the human stage than the substance of the three other kingdoms. They occupy a place in the deva evolution analogous to that which a man holds in the human kingdom (note that I say kingdom, not evolution) who is nearing the Path. The goal for the devas (below the rank of solar Pitris) is individualisation, and their objective is to become men in some future cycle. The goal for a man is initiation, or to become a conscious Dhyan Chohan, and in some distant cycle to do for the humanity of that age what the solar Pitris have done for him, and make their self-conscious expression a possibility. The goal for a solar Pitri is, as said earlier, to become a logoic Ray. (266)

  [837] To return to the matter which we were considering:—Just as the moon is a deterrent or malefic force where the Earth is concerned, and productive of evil “influences,” so all such disintegrating bodies are equally destructive. Such bodies exist within the solar ring-pass-not, (267) unrecognised as yet, and disintegrating constellations (of which there are many in the universe, unknown and unrecognised by scientists) have an equally malefic effect upon our system, and upon all that passes into their sphere of influence.

  There is one such constellation, situated between the lesser Dipper and our system, and another, interrelated with the Pleiades and our system which still have a profound effect upon the physical body of the solar Logos.

  The above paragraph is specifically worded thus because the effects are felt in the lowest sheath of all, and are responsible for much that is ignorantly termed “black magic.” These two constellations have run their cycles and are “dissolving.” Some of their life force and energy has been transferred to our solar system, [838] just as the lunar life force was transferred to our earth, and this it is that is the cause of much cyclic evil. The process of decay and the evil emanations induced still have power to influence forms which are responsive to what was for them an earlier vibration. The substance of these forms is magnetically linked with the decaying body, much as the etheric double is connected with its dense sheath, and effects are therefore manifested. Purificatory fire is the only cure for this magnetic corruption, and this is being utilised freely by the planetary Logoi in Their schemes, and by the solar Logos in the system.

  PURIFICATORY FIRE

  “The fire burned low. A dull red glow slumbered within the Heart of Mother. Its warmth was scarcely felt. The first and second of the inner lines throbbed with the burning, but the rest were cold.

  The Sons of God looked down from the innermost centre. They looked, then turned away Their gaze and thoughts to other spheres. Their hour had not yet come. The elemental fires had not prepared the altar for the Lords. The sacrificial fire waited in its high place and the steady glow beneath increased.

  The fire burned clearer, and the first and second slowly lighted up. Their glow became a line of brilliant fire yet the five remained untouched. The Sons of God again looked down. For one brief second They thought upon the Mother, and as They thought the third caught fire. Swiftly They looked away for the form as yet relayed to Them no call. The heat was latent and no outer warmth ascended to Their place.

  The aeons passed. The glow increased. The Spheres took form, but dissipated rapidly, lacking coherent force. They passed. They came again. Action incessant, noise and fire and smouldering heat characterised Their cycles. But the Lhas in Their high heaven spurned this elemental work and gazed within Themselves. They meditated.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  The glow became a steady burning and tiny flames were seen. The first, the second, and the third became three lines of fire and one triangle was consummated. Yet the four are seen quiescent [839] and respond not to the heat. Thus do the cycles and the elemental lives pass and repass, and their work continues.

  The forms are set, yet brief their span. They move not, yet they pass. The hour has come for the great awakening. They pass no longer down but mount.

  This is the interlude for which the Lhas in Their high place have waited. They may not enter yet the forms prepared, but feel Their hour approaching. They meditate anew, and for a minute gaze upon the myriad threefold fires until the fourth responds.

  The sixty seconds passed in dynamic concentration produce forms of triple kind, three sets of forms, and myriads in the three. The Heart of Mother contracts, and expands with these sixty fiery breaths. The lines become allied, and cubes are formed, shielding the inner fire. The altar is prepared, and four square stands. The altar glows, red at the centre and warm without.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  The altar flames. Its heat mounts up, yet it burns not, nor is consumed. Its heat, which has no flame, reaches a higher sphere; the Sons of God for a brief period warm Themselves, yet approach not nearer to it until the passing of another cycle. They await the hour, the hour of sacrifice.

  The solar Lords, taking the Word as sounded by the Sons of God, arise in the fierceness of their solar life and approach the altar. The four lines glow and burn. The sun applies a ray; the solar Lords pass it through Their substance and again approach the altar. The fifth line awakens and becomes a glowing point, and then a dull red line, measuring the distance ‘twixt the altar and the One Who watches.

  The fivefold fire dynamic begins to flicker and to burn. It lights not yet without; it simply glows. The aeons pass away, the cycles come and go.

  Steadily the solar Lords sacrifice Themselves; They are the fire upon the altar. The fourth provides the fuel.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  The Sons of God still watch. The work nears its final consummation. The Eternal Lhas in Their high place call each to each, and four take up the cry: “The fire is burning. Does the heat suffice?” [840]

  Two answer to each other: “‘The fire is burning; the altar is well-nigh destroyed. What happens next?’” “Add to the fire with fuel from Heaven. Breathe on the blazing fire and fan its flame to utter fierceness.”

  Thus the command goes out from One Who watches, silent hitherto, through countless aeons. They send forth breath. Something prevents the passage of the breath. They call for aid. One makes His appearance Who has not yet been seen.

  He lifts His hand. The one, the two, the three, the four and five merge into one and mingle with the sixth. The flame mounts up, responding to the breath. The final disappearance of the cube is needed and then the work stands forth.”

  From the archives of The Lodge.

  (c) The Names of the Egoic Lotuses. We might consider briefly the work of forming the egoic lotus on its own plane; this is as the result of the work of the Agnishvattas, after its segregation in space, and the formation of its ring-pass-not. We have touched upon the remotest and earliest stages. One point we have not yet emphasised but which is of interest to the thoughtful student. This is the fact of the difference existing between the egoic bodies owing to their varying stages of development. For instance, up till the middle of the Atlantean rootrace (S. D., I, 196.) (when the door of individualisation was closed), Egos were to be seen at many differing stages from the newly organised “buds,” representing freshly individualised men, to the highly developed causal bodies of the different disciples and initiates, who were superintending the evolution of the race. Now the egoic bodies might be grouped from the evolutionary standpoint as follows:

  On the third subplane of the mental plane:

  Bud egos. Our planetary scheme, being at the midway point in its evolution, there are therefore no unopened “buds” strictly speaking. All the egoic lotuses have at least one petal open. All the lotuses are organised,
but there are vast differences among those of small development, [841] showing forth in the brilliancy of the permanent atoms, and in the stage of petal unfoldment.

  Brahmic lotuses in which the first or knowledge petal is fully unfolded. They are so called as they represent on the physical plane the fully active intelligent unity, the man of small mental development, the lowest type of workers, agriculturists, and peasants on every continent. They are also called “third class creators,” as they express themselves only through the act of physical creation on the physical plane, and their function is largely to provide vehicles for those of their own group.

  The lotuses of Brahman, in which the second petal is showing signs of opening and the second aspect in its lowest manifestation is showing signs of demonstration. They stand as representing certain groups of Egos from certain planetary schemes, notably Jupiter and Venus, who are a grade higher than the class above, but which have as yet a long way to go. They are called “second class creators,” for though they demonstrate on the physical plane in the act of physical creation, yet they are more swayed by love than by animal instinct as in the first case. They are to be found incarnating at this time in the Orient, particularly in India and in the Latin countries, and just lately in America.

  Primary lotuses. These are a group of special interest brought in under the influence of the Lord of the fifth Ray, and therefore fundamentally allied to the energy which is the special manifestation in this system and the basis of all achievement, that is, manas. They were quiescent during the Atlantean root-race but have come in during the fourth and fifth subraces of this rootrace. They are a group a good deal more advanced than the earlier classes but need much to develop the second petal. With them the first and the third petals in the first circle are opening, but the middle petal is yet shut. The middle tier also shows no signs of vitality. Owing [842] to conditions in their emanating planet, their development has been one-sided, and hence their entering on a wave of energy into this scheme in order to “round” themselves out, as it is called. They may be seen in the purely intellectual selfish scientific type. They are responsible for much of the advanced application of mechanical science to the needs of men, and for the introduction of certain types of machinery; they work largely in connection with the energy of the mineral kingdom. By this it must be inferred that the solar Lords who embody this type are linked with a group of lunar Lords who respond magnetically to the devas of the mineral kingdom. Their work for the race has at present a deleterious effect, but when the second petal is opened, the wonders then to be achieved by them in loving service along their own particular line will be one of the factors which will regenerate the fourth kingdom. They will achieve emancipation in the fifth round, four fifths of them passing on to the Path and one fifth set back for another cycle.