It is on the acceptance or rejection of the theory of the Unity of all in Nature, in its ultimate Essence, that mainly rests the belief or unbelief in the existence around us of other conscious beings besides the Spirits of the Dead.
[[Vol.
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It is on the right comprehension of the primeval Evolution of Spirit-Matter and its real essence that the student has to depend for the further elucidation in his mind of the Occult Cosmogony, and for the only sure clue which can guide his subsequent studies.
In sober truth, as just shown, every "Spirit" so-called is either a disembodied or a future man.
As from the highest Archangel (Dhyan Chohan) down to the last conscious "Builder" (the inferior class of Spiritual Entities), all such are men , having lived aeons ago, in other Manvantaras, on this or other Spheres; so the inferior, semi-intelligent and non-intelligent Elementals -- are all future men.
That fact alone -- that a Spirit is endowed with intelligence -- is a proof to the Occultist that that Being must have been a man, and acquired his knowledge and intelligence throughout the human cycle.
There is but one indivisible and absolute Omniscience and Intelligence in the Universe, and this thrills throughout every atom and infinitesimal point of the whole finite Kosmos which hath no bounds, and which people call SPACE, considered independently of anything contained in it.
But the first differentiation of its reflection in the manifested World is purely Spiritual, and the Beings generated in it are not endowed with a consciousness that has any relation to the one we conceive of.
They can have no human consciousness or Intelligence before they have acquired such, personally and individually.
This may be a mystery, yet it is a fact, in Esoteric philosophy, and a very apparent one too.
The whole order of nature evinces a progressive march towards a higher life.
There is design in the action of the seemingly blindest forces.
The whole process of evolution with its endless adaptations is a proof of this.
The immutable laws that weed out the weak and feeble species, to make room for the strong, and which ensure the "survival of the fittest," though so cruel in their immediate action -- all are working toward the grand end.
The very fact that adaptations do occur, that the fittest do survive in the struggle for existence, shows that what is called "unconscious Nature"* is in reality an aggregate of forces mani- [[Footnote(s) -------------------------------------------------]] * Nature taken in its abstract sense, cannot be "unconscious," as it is the emanation from, and thus an aspect (on the manifested plane) of the ABSOLUTE consciousness.
Where is that daring man who would presume to deny to vegetation and even to minerals a consciousness of their own.
All he can say is, that this consciousness is beyond his comprehension.
[[Vol.
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pulated by semi-intelligent beings (Elementals) guided by High Planetary Spirits, (Dhyan Chohans), whose collective aggregate forms the manifested verbum of the unmanifested LOGOS, and constitutes at one and the same time the MIND of the Universe and its immutable LAW.
Three distinct representations of the Universe in its three distinct aspects are impressed upon our thought by the esoteric philosophy: the PRE-EXISTING (evolved from) the EVER-EXISTING; and the PHENOMENAL -- the world of illusion, the reflection, and shadow thereof.
During the great mystery and drama of life known as the Manvantara, real Kosmos is like the object placed behind the white screen upon which are thrown the Chinese shadows, called forth by the magic lantern.
The actual figures and things remain invisible, while the wires of evolution are pulled by the unseen hands; and men and things are thus but the reflections, on the white field, of the realities behind the snares of Mahamaya, or the great Illusion.
This was taught in every philosophy, in every religion, ante as well as post diluvian, in India and Chaldea, by the Chinese as by the Grecian Sages.
In the former countries these three Universes were allegorized, in exoteric teachings, by the three trinities emanating from the Central eternal germ and forming with it a Supreme Unity: the initial, the manifested, and the Creative Triad, or the three in One.
The last is but the symbol, in its concrete expression, of the first ideal two.
Hence Esoteric philosophy passes over the necessarianism of this purely metaphysical conception, and calls the first one, only, the Ever Existing.
This is the view of every one of the six great schools of Indian philosophy -- the six principles of that unit body of WISDOM of which the " gnosis, " the hidden knowledge, is the seventh.
The writer hopes that, superficially handled as may be the comments on the Seven Stanzas, enough has been given in this cosmogonic portion of the work to show Archaic teachings to be more scientific (in the modern sense of the word) on their very face, than any other ancient Scriptures left to be regarded and judged on their exoteric aspect.
Since, however, as confessed before, this work withholds far more than it gives out, the student is invited to use his own intuitions.
Our chief care is to elucidate that which has already been given out, and, to our regret, very incorrectly at times; to supplement the knowledge hinted at -- whenever and wherever possible -- by addi- [[Vol.
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tional matter; and to bulwark our doctrines against the too strong attacks of modern Sectarianism, and more especially against those of our latter-day Materialism, very often miscalled Science, whereas, in reality, the words "Scientists" and "Sciolists" ought alone to bear the responsibility for the many illogical theories offered to the world.
In its great ignorance, the public, while blindly accepting everything that emanates from "authorities," and feeling it to be its duty to regard every dictum coming from a man of Science as a proven fact -- the public, we say, is taught to scoff at anything brought forward from "heathen" sources.
Therefore, as materialistic Scientists can be fought solely with their own weapons -- those of controversy and argument -- an Addendum is added to every Book contrasting our respective views and showing how even great authorities may often err.
We believe that this can be done effectually by showing the weak points of our opponents, and by proving their too frequent sophisms -- made to pass for scientific dicta -- to be incorrect.
We hold to Hermes and his "Wisdom" -- in its universal character; they -- to Aristotle as against intuition and the experience of the ages, fancying that Truth is the exclusive property of the Western world.
Hence the disagreement.
Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.
The passage explicitly references 'the primeval Evolution of Spirit-Matter' and 'the Occult Cosmogony,' and discusses the three universes (PRE-EXISTING, EVER-EXISTING, PHENOMENAL) as the structure of cosmic origin.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
The Absolute consciousness is described as thrilling 'throughout every atom and infinitesimal point of the whole finite Kosmos,' and Nature is called 'the emanation from, and thus an aspect (on the manifested plane) of the ABSOLUTE consciousness.'
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
'There is design in the action of the seemingly blindest forces' and 'all are working toward the grand end' assert that the divine actively orders cosmic unfolding toward intelligible ends against blind necessity.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage describes a cascading hierarchy from the unmanifested LOGOS through Dhyan Chohans to Elementals, and explicitly mentions 'three trinities emanating from the Central eternal germ' forming a Supreme Unity.
A historical or mythical chain of transmission for secret wisdom from master to disciple across time and cultures — the credential of the teaching, not merely its content. Distinct from oral_tradition (the spoken-not-written modality of transmission, which a lineage may or may not use) and hidden_sayings (the concealment-for-readiness of a teaching's meaning, independent of who transmitted it or in what unbroken chain).
'This was taught in every philosophy, in every religion, ante as well as post diluvian, in India and Chaldea, by the Chinese as by the Grecian Sages' asserts a universal chain of transmission of the same wisdom across cultures and epochs.
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The passage explicitly names 'the gnosis, the hidden knowledge, is the seventh' among the principles of Indian philosophy, positioning it as a distinct mode of knowing.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage draws a sharp distinction between exoteric and esoteric teachings ('in exoteric teachings, by the three trinities'), states 'this work withholds far more than it gives out,' and frames the entire text as revealing what is concealed behind the outer form.
A non-physical dimension of reality, interpenetrating the physical world, populated by forces, beings, and forms ordinarily imperceptible to physical senses and instruments, that can affect embodied life without being seen — Dion Fortune's 'mind-side of nature,' the astral plane of Western esotericism broadly construed. Distinct from astral_light (a specific transmitting medium or fluid operating within this realm, not the realm itself), pleroma (the divine fullness at the summit of a cosmic hierarchy, not a parallel plane coextensive with ordinary life), and animism (particular indwelling spirits bound to specific natural objects, not the general unseen dimension itself).
The entire passage is concerned with a non-physical dimension populated by Dhyan Chohans, Elementals, semi-intelligent beings, and 'other conscious beings besides the Spirits of the Dead' that interpenetrates the physical world.
The divine reason, word, or ordering principle through which the universe was created; mediates between the transcendent God and the material world.
The passage explicitly names 'the manifested verbum of the unmanifested LOGOS' which constitutes 'the MIND of the Universe and its immutable LAW,' functioning as the ordering principle mediating between the unmanifested and manifested worlds.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
'There is but one indivisible and absolute Omniscience and Intelligence in the Universe' and 'the Unity of all in Nature, in its ultimate Essence' express a single undivided first principle from which all multiplicity flows.
The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.
The distinction between the 'real Kosmos' behind the screen and the 'world of illusion, the reflection, and shadow thereof' (Mahamaya) sets up two registers of reality — the absolute and the phenomenal — both acknowledged as valid on their own plane.
The passage states that all spirits 'having lived aeons ago, in other Manvantaras, on this or other Spheres' and that Elementals are 'future men,' explicitly describing transmigration of consciousness across cycles and worlds.
The doctrine that the one Godhead or first principle subsists as three co-equal aspects or persons rather than a bare unity — the Christian Father/Son/Holy Ghost invoked in the recurring liturgical formula 'In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,' but structurally the same pattern as the Egyptian Amen/Ptah/Osiris, the Hindu Brahma/Vishnu/Siva, and the Kabbalistic Chochmah/Binah/Kether triads that esoteric writers explicitly map onto it as instances of one universal law. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about internal plurality) and divine_simplicity (God as having no parts or divisions at all) in asserting a definite three-aspected differentiation within a single divine essence.
The passage explicitly describes 'the three trinities emanating from the Central eternal germ and forming with it a Supreme Unity: the initial, the manifested, and the Creative Triad, or the three in One,' and maps this onto the three universes.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
'the Unity of all in Nature, in its ultimate Essence' and 'There is but one indivisible and absolute Omniscience and Intelligence in the Universe, and this thrills throughout every atom' express non-duality as a theological claim.