A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  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 [907] 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 [908] 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. (283) 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.

  [911] 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 o
ver 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 [912] 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.

  The green devas of the vegetable kingdom. These exist in two divisions also. They are of high development, and will be contacted principally along the lines of magnetisation. The greater devas of this order preside over the magnetic spots of the earth, guard the solitude of the forests, reserve intact spaces on the planet which are required to be kept inviolate; they defend them from molestation, and with the violet devas are at this time working definitely, though temporarily, under the Lord Maitreya. The Raja Lord of the astral plane, Varuna [913] and his brother Kshiti, have been called to the council chamber of the Hierarchy for specific consultation, and just as the Masters are endeavouring to prepare humanity for service when the World Teacher comes, so these Raja Lords are working along similar lines in connection with the devas. They are arduous in Their work, intense in Their zeal, but much obstructed by man.

  The white devas of the air and water who preside over the atmosphere work with certain aspects of electrical phenomena, and control the seas, rivers, and streams. From among them, at a certain stage in their evolution, are gathered the guardian angels of the race when in physical plane incarnation. Each unit of the human family has his guardian deva.

  Each group of devas has some specific method of development and some means whereby they evolve and attain a particular goal.

  For the violet devas the path of attainment lies through feeling, and through educating the race in the perfecting of the physical body in its two departments.

  For the green devas the path of service is seen in magnetisation, of which the human race knows nothing as yet. Through this power they act as the protectors of the vegetable plant life, and of the sacred spots of the earth; in their work lies the safety of man’s body, for from the vegetable kingdom for the remainder of this round comes the nourishment of that body.

  For the white devas the path of service lies in the guarding of the individuals of the human family, in the care and segregation of types, in the control of the water and air elementals, and much that concerns the fish kingdom.

  Thus in the service of humanity in some form or another lies attainment for these physical plane devas. They have much to give and do for humanity, and in time [914] it will be apparent to the human unit what he has to give towards the perfecting of the deva kingdom. A great hastening of their evolution goes forward now coincident with that of the human family.

  There is another group of devas about which much may not as yet be communicated. They have come in from another planetary scheme, and are specialists in their particular line. They have attained, or passed through, the human kingdom, and are of equal rank with certain members of the Hierarchy, having chosen to stay and work in connection with the physical plane evolution. They are not many in number, being only twelve. Four work in the violet group, five in the green group, and two in the white, with a presiding officer of rank equal to a Chohan. The number of the deva evolution is six, as that of man is now five, and as ten stands for perfected man, so twelve stands for perfection in the deva kingdom. This group presides over the three earlier enumerated. Certain subsidiary groups are found.

  Under group 1 are found all the elementals working with the etheric doubles of men, all the elementals forming the etheric bodies wherein is life, and all the elementals working with the etheric counterparts of so-called inanimate objects. These are named in the order and the importance of their development. The violet devas are on the evolutionary path; the elementals are on the involutionary path, the goal for them being to pass into the deva kingdom of violet hue.

  Under group 2 work the fairies of plant life, the elves who build and paint the flowers, the radiant little beings who inhabit the woods and the fields, the elementals who work with the fruits, vegetables, and with all that leads to the covering of the earth’s surface with verdure. Associated with them are the [915] lesser devas of magnetisation, those attached to sacred spots, to talismans and to stones, and also a special group to be found around the habitations of the Masters wherever situated.

  Under group 3 work the elementals of the air and the sea, the sylphs, the water fairies, and the devas who guard each human being.

  Here only general hints are given. This list is not complete and does not include the grosser elementals, the brownies, and those that inhabit the dark spaces of the earth, the cities and the subterranean spots of the earth’s crust.

  The devas of the ethers carry on their foreheads a translucent symbol in the form of a crescent moon, and by this they may be distinguished from the astral devas by those able to see clairvoyantly.

  As we consider the devas of the ethers, we find that they fall naturally—as far as manifestation is concerned—into two main groups. Each group is represented on each of the four subplanes, and this grouping must be considered as but one method of differentiation out of the many possible. These groups are, first, those devas who are the transmitters of prana to all forms of life; they are a group of intermediary devas, and may be regarded as the energy providers in their various differentiations; secondly, those devas who form the etheric bodies of every form in manifestation. These constitute the bulk of the lesser devas.

  There are naturally many other organised intelligences in the great Army of the Voice in connection with this primary division of the physical plane, but if the student will consider these two groups, and will investigate their relationship to man and to the Heavenly Man within Whose body they are to be found, he will learn much which will enable him to comprehend problems hitherto consid
ered insoluble, and will find many things [916] revealed which will tend to revolutionise the findings of modern science, and bring about changes in the care of the physical body.

  The Devas and Energy. Before we take up the consideration of these two groups it might be wise here to emphasise the necessity of remembering that when we consider the etheric levels of the physical plane we are dealing with those planes upon which the true form is to be found, and are approaching the solution of the mystery of the Holy Spirit and the Mother. In this realisation, and its extension to include an entire solar system, will come a clarifying of the connection between the four higher planes of the system and the three worlds of human endeavour. We have, in the macrocosm, the four planes of super-conscious life, or those four central vibrations which are the basis of the life and energy of the etheric body of a planetary Logos and of a solar Logos, and the three planes of conscious and of self-conscious life which form the dense physical vehicle of a Heavenly Man, and of the Grand Man of the Heavens.

  By a close scrutiny of these conditions in the macrocosm and in the microcosm will come a comprehension of the reason why the physical vehicle is never considered a principle at all by occultists. The Holy Spirit, the One Who overshadows and Who implants the germ of life in the waiting acquiescent Virgin Mother or matter (causing her to awaken and to commence her great work of producing the divine incarnation) is a primary factor from the standpoint of the second solar system. In a way incomprehensible to modern thinkers, the Mother, or the divine Aspirant to the mysteries of the cosmic marriage, was (in a previous system) the dominant factor. In this system in connection with substance it is the Holy Spirit. The work, therefore, on etheric levels, and the energy and activity originating therefrom, are the factors that primarily are responsible on the physical [917] plane for all that is tangible, objective, and manifested. The accretion of matter around the vital body, and the densification of substance around the vital etheric nucleus are in themselves the result of interaction, and the final interchange of vibration between that which might be called the residue from an earlier manifestation, and the vibration of this present one.