“Chaos is not understood; some regard it as apart from the manifest, others understand it as entirely an abstraction, but if people would realise how multiformly Chaos intrudes into existence, they would realise the need for caution. Each dissonance, each decay, if not immediately dissolved, carries the tide of the chaos of the elements of destruction. Thus to observe Chaos, telescopes are not needed; humanity can study and sense true chaos very, very close to itself. Verily the heart quivers from the presence of Chaos. Thus we again turn to the heart.’ (Heart 351)

Chaos is – all pervasive, interacting with all matter, latent within it. Ancient mythology depicts Chaos as a deity whose personal appearance could not be described, as there was no light by which he could be seen. He shared his throne with his wife Night. Eventually Gaia (the Earth) and Uranus descended from them. In the Pelasgian myth, Eurynome, the Goddess of all things, arose naked from Chaos and coupled with Ophion (the great serpent) and eventually gave birth to the Universal Egg.

The Olympian creation myth shows Mother Earth emerging from Chaos and birthing her son Uranus as she slept. Some say Darkness came first, and from darkness sprang Chaos. From a union between Darkness and Chaos sprang Night and Day, Erebus and the Air. Others say that the God of all things appeared suddenly in Chaos, and separated earth from the heavens, the water from the earth – in other words, Order first appeared.

Whatever way we look at it, Chaos has to do with the originating causes of our Universe; it has the potential to embody all things, hence is really ‘undifferentiated substance’ (mulaprakriti) or that which has not taken a shape or form, or has been fertilised by consciousness.

Chaos is also known as the Abyss, The Darkness or The Deep and is in many ways a feminine energy:

“The waters of life, or Chaos, the female principle in symbolism, are the vacuum (to our mental sight) in which lie the latent Spirit and Matter.” (SD 1-132)

“number 0, the feminine symbol, Chaos, The Deep…’ (SD 5-129)

“if we call Jehovah by his divine name, then he becomes at best and forthwith “a female passive” potency in Chaos.” (SD 4-192)

“The Virgin Egg is the microcosmic symbol of the macrocosmic prototype, the “Virgin Mother” – Chaos or the Primeval Deep.” (SD 1-134)

So, from the feminine waters emerges spirit, the latent masculine principle. The merging of the two:

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.’ (Gen. 1:2)

Note all the ‘Chaos’ synonyms – void, darkness, deep, waters. All matter or form proceeds from Chaos. This “matter” is our physical, emotional and mental bodies, our souls, our very vital essence or Spirit.

“Matter is spirit at its lowest vibration and spirit is matter at its highest vibration.” (HPB)

It is this “matter” which we as souls are seeking to bring to an intelligent synthesis in our many incarnations. There has to be a complete mastery of matter in order to complete our evolutionary journey. This journey’s end is Synthesis, hence we start from Chaos and reach a relative perfection at Synthesis. However, Chaos follows us upon this journey and the purpose here is to see how it infiltrates our lives and how we can deal with it.

This confusion or disorder which Chaos embodies is the energy of matter before it has experienced the incarnation of spiritual energy. It can also be the energy of matter after it has experienced spiritual energy and which has been ejected as “reject substance” from the aura: it can attract chaotic force to it. At this stage it may pay to differentiate between “substance” and “matter”:

“When the Sons of Men know the distinction which exists between matter and substance, the lesson of this epoch will be grasped…..Matter and substance together work out the way of darkness. Substance and purpose blended indicate the way of light.” (TWM 267)

“Substance” is matter vibrating at a more refined level. Therefore substance is a “force” in relation to matter. (TWM 565) We catch in this statement a profound glimpse of the evolution of matter from darkness to light: Matter evolves out of darkness into “substance” through the action of “purpose” (spirit/will) and onward toward the light. This is beautifully symbolised for us in the ancient Chinese ying yang symbol.

“Force” relates to our physical, emotional and mental bodies, while our souls are transmitters of “energy.” The sum total of these three bodies, the personality, when aligned and purified can be a transmitter of soul energy . “Energy” is the source of “force.”  “Substance” is only truly known to the soul, and it is with this that the white magician works for the benefit of humanity. Hence the divine triplicity can be expressed:

Energy – Spirit     Substance – Soul      Matter – Personality

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

What is “hoped for” and “not seen” are soul qualities to which we aspire. We experience the intrusion of disorder and confusion in our lives when we fail to recognise and dissolve old or “reject matter” in our aura. This “matter” is crystallised emotions and thoughtforms:

“Each dissonance, each decay, if not immediately dissolved, carries the tide of the Chaos of the elements of destruction.” (Heart 351)

That is, the elements of dissonance and decay are attracted to those very same vibrations in ourselves. Therefore, as we consciously tread the spiritual path, our responsibility is to be “eternally vigilant”, to offset the continual pervasive influence of Chaos. One of the main energy centres in this process is the solar plexus chakra. If the emotions or lower concrete mind have been over active, then this centre will experience chaotic energy churning through it. The Sanskrit term for this emotio-mental energy is “Kama-Manas”, or “desire mind”, and constitutes the greatest obstacle on the path to enlightenment. Of course, this centre is quite active in terms of being a general “clearing house” for many of the centres below the diaphragm.

Our evolutionary aim as souls is to raise our activity away from the solar plexus to the heart centre. The heart leads to synthesis and eventual liberation. If we become too polarised in kama-manas we invite chaotic energy to penetrate the aura. This process could be called evil, especially if we should know better, or if we see evil as the “good” we should have left behind. We have to recognise repetitive, damaging forms of behaviour to pull ourselves out of old patterns.

Evil is really ignorance. In its many anagrams it is a “veil” to reality; it can be “vile” in its manifestation, and the opposite of “live”. Depending upon our stage of evolution, what was good a year ago, may be “evil” now. It is simply, for many, identifying with the form life, when there is a capacity for soul consciousness. Stagnation, inertia, ignorance, all describe this provocative, emotive, and Biblical, word. But stripped bare of any distorted connotations, it is an important consideration in the lives of esotericists, as it embodies one aspect of the great dualities of good/evil, light/dark, yin/yang, and order/chaos.

The beliefs of the great (Ray 1) Buddhist teacher, Padmasambhava, are that good and evil are inseparably one; that good cannot be considered apart from evil. The Buddhist “Great Liberation” is where all dualities are transcended to become undifferentiated Wisdom. Evil must be philosophically understood and tested along with good if we are to see the whole:

“From the One proceed all dualities, and in the One they dissolve in undifferentiation. And thus, ceasing to exist as dualities they are realised by the yogin to be Maya.” ¹

So it seems to be our karmic responsibility as evolving souls to not only “redeem the matter” in our own bodies, but to salvage as much as possible from outside our personal sphere. According to our state of evolution, this should be “second nature” to the soul for the simple reason that we are not separate from all other matter. It is the kind of response when someone puts their life at risk to rescue another. If we are not watchful and responsible for our emotional responses and projected thoughts, we may experience them rebounding upon us with chaotic energy and leave ourselves open to manipulation.

Chaos is undifferentiated matter, and it is through the use of matter that the soul unfolds. This use of matter could be described as refinement, spiritualising, redeeming or salvation.  On the subject of incarnation, DK says:

“Existences come into manifestation…participate in the experiences of their particular cycle…and vanish. The two aspects concerned, spirit and matter, are brought thus into close rapport, and necessarily exert an effect on each other. Matter is energised, ‘lifted up’ in the occult sense of the term, by its contact with spirit. Spirit, in its turn, is enabled to enhance its vibration through the medium of its experience in matter. The bringing together of these two divine aspects results in the emergence of a Mind, which we call the soul, and through the medium of the soul, spirit develops a sentiency and a conscious awareness and capacity to respond which remains its permanent possession.’ (TWM 522)

In looking at the journey of matter to light, or chaos to synthesis, (Chaos to Christ) we must define “synthesis”:

“Life is loving synthesis in action and thus the trend to synthesis is an instinct inherent in the entire universe and humanity today is only awakening to its immediacy and potency. It is this divine attribute which makes the physical body an integral part of the physical world, which makes one psychically gregarious and willing to herd with their fellow humanity.” (EP 2-233)

“We have been taught much about the heresy of Separativeness; it is this that is offset when one permits a “trend towards synthesis” to pour through as a divine potency, and thus to condition conduct. These divine trends have constituted the basic sub-conscious urges since the dawn of evolution. Today humanity can consciously adjust itself to them, and thus hasten the time when truth, beauty and goodness will reign.

The disciples of the world and the New Group of World Servers, as well as the intelligent and active aspirants, have today the responsibility of recognising these trends and particularly this trend to unification. The work of the Hierarchy at this time is peculiarly connected with this, and They and all of us, must foster this tendency wherever found. All moves toward national and world synthesis are good and right….The swing at this time to religious unity is also part of the emerging unity…..The moment there is knowledge and a flash of understanding, that moment one’s responsibility begins.” (EP 2-236)

Once we have this understanding, we may oscillate between the past and the future, but as we take on our true service responsibilities, the present (the now, the heart) becomes the only tense: A point of dynamic tension. The Law of Synthesis is technically one which is finally effected before the Fourth Initiation, after the many integrations achieved in many incarnations. It is the synthesis of spirit and soul, which is the goal of the evolutionary process for humanity. The Fourth Degree Initiation, called “The Crucifixion” or “Renunciation” was effected by the Christ on the cross at Calvary:

“The gate into the Kingdom of Souls stood open. He had given us an example of service unparalleled in history and demonstrated to us the nature of perfection. There was no more that he could do and so we hear his triumphant cry: “It is finished!” He had demonstrated the eternal sacrifice of spirit upon the cross of matter, renounced that to which he held dear (His soul) and learned to stand alone, assured of his divinity.” (BTC – 4th In.)

It is at this stage where the initiate functions entirely and always upon the plane of buddhi (intuition/pure reason) and achieves mastery over the three lower planes. This is the end of the journey where Synthesis is achieved and the start of another journey which leads away from planetary awareness. It is soon after at the Fifth Initiation that the initiate becomes a true Master of Wisdom. Of course, this is a very advanced stage of evolution that we can but aspire towards. Within a spiritual group with all members at various stages of soul growth an aspect of the Fourth Degree Initiation can supposedly be anchored by one person who has reached or is close to that stage. The higher devas of the angelic kingdom naturally function at the buddhic level of awareness, so there is complete cooperation and co-creation with these beings. It is part of what occultists call the “mystic marriage”:

‘…the two great evolutions (human and deva) find their group unity on the buddhic plane, and portions of both hierarchies blend and merge so as to form the body of the divine Hermaphrodite.” (TCF 328)

“Beyond all demarcations we inevitably reach the synthesis of the heart. We need not recall that silence issues from the intermingling of all sounds. Hence, let us learn to coordinate the heart with silence. But this silence will not be emptiness. It will suffuse space with the synthesis of thought. Just as the prayer of the heart has no need of words, so the silence that is pregnant needs no formulas. Intense silence demands many cumulations of thought and benign desires. Thus the heart, intensified by silence, replete as a dynamo, beats out the rhythm of the Universe, and personal desires are transmuted into the guiding Universal Will. Thus is cooperation with the distant worlds evolved.” (Heart 68)

Without synthesis of heart understanding, we can never reconcile our own resourceful activity with that of Hierarchy. That is, we would see them as separate, that our labours somehow belong to us and not the Plan. The same goes for our personal desires: We live “below the diaphragm” when we are continually appeasing the appetites of sensation, in their many forms, and not let the personal will come in line with the Divine Will or Universal Law. For some this process is a continual oscillation between the solar plexus and the inspiring fire of the heart, and the effects can be emotionally chaotic. If we really know better, then these sensations are really “the good we should have left behind”:

“Synthesis must be understood as the apparatus of the laboratory of life…The mind that has achieved the stage of synthesis becomes productive, moral, unifying, non-irritable and capable of manifesting patient cooperation with Hierarchy.” (Hierarchy 326)

There seem to be many misunderstandings about synthesis. Some consider it a little of everything, but it is not knowing everything, we have to assimilate it in consciousness. Synthesis will help us to love the quality of life because it is based upon “convincingness and attractiveness” and broadly encompasses the essence. If we are working on various personality blockages such as irritation, fear, pride etc., we can bear in mind that “delving by degrees into the synthesis of the teaching, its rainbow quality enhances our service to all”, (to paraphrase Morya) – that is, “all” aspects of ourselves and others.

Synthesis is the opposite of analysis. Analysis is akin to the lower concrete mind and its separating, reasoning, rationalising microscopic view. Synthesis is a quality of the higher mind and heart (soul) and its joining, abstract, macrocosmic outlook. Analysis is the narrow material view – Synthesis is the wide spiritual view.

Astrology of Chaos
All planets, zodiacal energy and fixed stars can have chaotic effects upon us simply because it is the action of more refined energy acting upon the “unredeemed substance” within our own forms. Traditionally, amongst astrologers, Uranus is linked with Chaos, which substantiates the myth of Uranus being the first progeny of Chaos. The Moon also has a somewhat chaotic reputation. The “moon chain” evolution was brought to a close by the solar Logos because of misuse of mainly sexual energies. Uranian energy helped effect the ending and transfer of those souls to the “earth chain” later during Atlantis. This is partially why in esoteric astrology the moon “veils” Uranus, and rules Aquarius “hierarchically.”

Uranus is also the ruler of the human sacral centre. Chaotic effects are two-fold: The lower, “nefarious” lunar influences and the higher Uranian vibrations – perhaps a mixture of both for individuals repolarisng from the sacral to the throat chakras. This has particular relevance to the sign of Scorpio, as here the moon “falls” and Uranus is “exalted.” Scorpio is the sign of discipleship and constitutes one of the greatest testings on the spiritual path: the conquering of desire in all its forms, by which control of the sexual function is usually the most difficult. The Moon represents defeated personality desires and Uranus the triumph of the mind “where divine knowledge can take the place of the mystic way of feeling.” (EA 224)

Uranus, as ruler of the Ray 7 of Ceremonial Order, embodies the duality of Chaos and Order. This relates to its lower and higher octave expressions as previously discussed, and may have to do with the mystery of the duality of the Ray 2 which conditions this solar system.² Of course, Moon/Uranus tell us another story in the opposite sign Taurus – the exaltation of the form and the awakening of the intuitive response. The Scorpio-Taurus axis holds many secrets of our past and future.

Chaos is the antithesis of Spirit. Spirit and Chaos are like two sides of the same coin. Will or Spirit is the created form of Chaos. Lack of Will is Chaos. When we look at the Ray 1 which embodies Will-Power, Chaos can be seen working through its astrological rulership of Pluto. Pluto is the “non-sacred” co-ruler of the Ray 1 who destroys all useless forms (Shiva) and Vulcan is the “sacred” ruler of the Ray 1 who creates new forms. It is this destructive power of Pluto which can have a chaotic effect as it seeks to break down and destroy all useless forms and return them to the void – that reservoir of “undifferentiated substance.” (Remember that the ‘void’ is another name that is used frequently for Chaos.) Pluto is the Lord of Death but mythologically rules over the wealth and life of the earth, having:

“attributes of the serpent…being a healer, giver of health, spiritual and physical, and of enlightenment.” (SD 3-39fn.)

Death is but a doorway into a new life. Pluto is situated on the furthest frontiers of our solar system, and could be seen as symbolically guarding the door to the void – or “the place where evil dwells”, to paraphrase a line from “The Great Invocation”. Because Pluto is a “non-sacred” planet and hasn’t fully “redeemed” its form, it can have a close relationship to Chaos but is not inherently Chaos. Its action can cause the illusion of Chaos, but it is working within universal laws. This may have to do with Pluto’s association to the human solar plexus centre, and the attendant distortions and illusions of the astral plane. Yet it seems to function in a higher,clearer sense:

“Pluto… becomes active in the life of the man who is becoming alive in the higher sense, his lower nature passes into the smoke and darkness of Pluto, who governs the lesser burning ground, in order that the man may live in the higher land of light.” (EA 78)

Esoteric students may note that Uranus rules the burning ground:

“The crisis of the burning ground, which is brought about through the activity of Uranus.” (EA 101)

The Uranus/Pluto connection is very strong, especially from the angle of the Rays, with some of the glamours, virtues and vices of the Uranus ruled Ray 7 remarkably similar to the Ray 1. This is logical of course, if Spirit (Ray 1), is to incarnate into matter (Ray 7). Pluto is also exoteric co-ruler of Scorpio, having a relationship to the Mars ruler as that of the soul to personality, similar to Venus and the Earth.

Mythologically, Pluto was known as Aidoneus or Aides (Hades), which has a fascinating correspondence to Pluto’s transit of Scorpio and the onset of AIDS, the disease which causes Chaos in the immune system. The Pleiades also is connected aurally here, and it is interesting that this constellation embodies the 3rd aspect of matter which is closely associated with sex and the building of a body. Libra, Ray 3, sex and Uranus as soul ruler also play a part.

Pluto also has a correspondence to the numeral 2, and hence duality:

“…number two expressed a contrary idea. The science of good and evil began with it. All that is double, false, opposed to the only reality, was depicted by the binary. It also expressed the contrasts in Nature which are always double: night and day, light and darkness, cold and heat, dampness and dryness, health and sickness, error and truth, male and female, etc…The Romans dedicated to Pluto the second month of the year, and the second day of that month to expiations in honour of the Manes (Gods). Hence the same rite established by the Latin Church, and faithfully copied. Pope John XIX, instituted in 1003 the Festival of the Dead, which had to be celebrated on the 2nd of November, the second month of Autumn.” (SD 5-116)

November 2nd is Scorpio, co-ruled by Pluto. The current western 2nd month of the year is Pisces; both Scorpio and Pisces constitute the two types of death the Tibetan describes. (EA 214) Death in Pisces is through Pluto and death in Scorpio is through Mars. This relates of course to the macrocosmic significance of the relation between Pluto and Mars and the microcosmic reflection in the (human) sacral and solar plexus centres.

If we recall the references to Chaos being equated with the feminine principle, there is, with Uranus, Moon and Earth, quite a strong connection. Uranus has much to do with the Ray 3 (Mother/Matter aspect) through its influence in the first solar system which concentrated on developing this quality. The Moon of course, has much to do with matter, the form nature, the Mother and Mother Earth, co-ruler of the Ray 3.

Perhaps the hierarchical rulership of moon “veiling Uranus” in Aquarius will mean that in this Aquarian Age, much to do with this ancient karma is being worked out. This also relates to a long Ray 3 cycle conditioning the Fifth Rootrace. We may be able to establish from the above that Chaos expresses through the Ray 3 and is linked to a past solar system and the moon chain; but there is ample proof of similar expression in the Rays 1 and 2. This brings us back to the source being within the Unmanifest, before these Ray Lives came into being, yet Chaos still expresses through the Rays, as they express through Humanity’s unredeemed form.

“Chaos…is Space, the container of everything in the Universe …Space is the great storehouse of Creation, whence proceed not forms alone, but also ideas…” (SD 1-141)

In describing the Mandelbrot “fractal” pictures:

“It turns out that an eerie type of Chaos can lurk just behind the facade of order, and yet, deep inside the Chaos lurks an even eerier type of order.” (“Chaos” – Gleick)

These pictures seem to illustrate “ordered chaos” and the infinite creativity of the universe – that all spirals of evolution lead to a realisation of wholeness. This has been recently echoed in the ‘Mandelbrot’ pictogram which appeared in 1991 in the “crop circle” area of England. This realisation is most important for modern science as it hints to those working within the fragmented, separate disciplines, that their speculations are part of a larger inter-disciplinary pattern. The gaps are now being bridged between the sciences and occultism/mysticism, which is the synthesising influence of Uranus and the Ray 7, and authors such as Bohm, Capra and Sheldrake are setting the trend. The long spirals in the Mandelbrot pictures can be seen as basic intelligent matter that has a complex intricate look about it, and is in reality, creative substance waiting to be utilised:

“Before our globe became egg-shaped, a long trail of cosmic dust or fire mist moved and writhed like a serpent in space. The Spirit of God moving on Chaos (the Waters of Space) was symbolised by every nation in the shape of a fiery serpent breathing fire and light upon the primordial waters, until it had incubated cosmic matter.” (SD 1-141)

The similarity of this description to the fractal pictures is close; they seem to be pictures of ‘spiritualised’ matter waiting to be moulded into an infinitude of forms. Their seemingly ‘random’ themes follow orderly patterns that reflect the basic evolutionary urge of matter within the universe. The “Lorenz Attractor” pictures reflect similar notions, that there is a basic pattern, yet a fluidity which allows for non-repetition.

‘…the harmony of receptivity to the currents and the (subsequent) chaos in their assimilation create vital tides upon the planet.” (Infinity 2-449)

“Chaos in their assimilation” is an important phrase which seems to describe the dynamics of new energy integrating with the old, and expelling that which is useless. It also implies that the nefarious influences of “undifferentiated substance” are attracted to the old useless matter being expelled, as well as the general chaotic vibrations that are emanating from the assimilation of energy in Space.

As mentioned, Chaos and Spirit seem to be two sides of the same coin: As Spirit is projected to the physical plane, (or 1st plane expressed through the 7th plane) it passes through the 4th plane, which relates to the Ray 4 of “harmony through conflict”, which rules this planetary cycle. Therefore, in the assimilation of spiritual energy, this planet will work out the effects of Chaos by harmony through conflict.

A Numerological Perspective
The Pythagoreans asserted that the Doctrine of Numbers had been revealed to humanity by the Celestial Deities; that the world had been called forth out of Chaos by sound or harmony, and constructed according to the principles of musical proportion:

“Chaos…Space is the great storehouse of Creation, whence proceed not forms alone, but also ideas, which could receive their expression only through the Logos, the Word, Verbum, or Sound.” (SD 5-234)

C H A O S

3 8 1 6 1 = 19/10/1. = 19/10/1. = 19/10/1.

As 19 it could be interpreted as overcoming Chaos through initiation (9) into Ray 1 energy (1); or perhaps control that can only be exercised after the Fourth Degree Initiation; after synthesis – where there is a direct relation between spirit and matter, or monad and personality. This is something for ashramic groups to think about in relation to the accelerating Shamballa force and how they can act as “psychic shields” for humanity, i.e. take on some of the burden of Hierarchy.

As 10 (perfection) it can be seen as having the potential of the Supreme God. 1 is the male principle, and 0 the female principle which the planet at this time is beginning to express more fully. The two numbers form the symbol of the Androgyne, or the number 10.

As 1 it can be simply seen as pure Ray 1 energy with all the Chaotic attributes mentioned earlier. Perhaps this is why the Ray 1 Chohan Morya, discusses the subject of Chaos so much in the Agni Yoga books through Helena Roerich.

TOHU – VAH – BOHU was the name given to Chaos by the Chaldeans, Egyptians and many other nations. In Kabalistic numerology the numbers of this word which means “chaos and confusion” come to 432, “one of the most famous numbers of antiquity” which describe the cycles of time: 4,320,000 years. (4+3+2=9: Initiation) (SD 5-235)

“…the numerical value of Tohu-vah-bohu, or ‘Chaos,’ in the Bible – which Chaos, of course, is the ‘Mother’ Deep, or the Waters of Space – should yield the same figures…: It is said of the heavens and the earth in the second verse of Genesis that they were ‘Chaos and Confusion’ – that is, they were ‘Tohu-vah-bohu;’ ‘and darkness was upon the face of the deep,’ i.e. ‘the perfect material out of which construction was to made lacked organisation.” (SD 5-235)

Chaos and the Forces of Materialism
“We call for a deepening of thought. We offer valuable means for the balancing of Chaos. The Teacher does not conceal knowledge within himself. At the first opportunity he arms one against Chaos. Madmen are trying to set forth the forces of Chaos against Us (Hierarchy) without themselves knowing how to bridle them. It must be understood that Chaos is not only manifested in physical convulsions of Earth but also in the world of psychic energies. It is not difficult to multiply psychic madnesses, but how to control them? Madmen do not realise how bad are their allies; their desire is only to impede the path of ascent. One is amazed at the manner in which they propel all their destructive measures, as though they were in need only of ruins!” (Heart 337)

Who are these “madmen”? Simply those known as the “dark brotherhood” who oppose all that Hierarchy is working toward:

“It is impossible not to notice the opposition that each conscious motion toward Light encounters. Besides the usual movements from the dark ones, one can also notice the work of Chaos, and in this law of the counteraction of the Unmanifest (undifferentiated substance) is contained our self consolation and experiment in patience.” (Heart 168)

With every step toward the light a universal law is working where the inertia of Chaos can weigh us down and block our path. Chaos is like an “unconscious darkness” and these “materialistic forces” are conscious manipulators of this darkness, or “raw matter”. Most of them know how to evoke Chaos but very few of them can control it:

“The dark forces are ruled on the physical plane by a group of six oriental leaders and six occidental leaders; of these the oriental are the most powerful because they are the oldest racially and therefore the most experienced. They work by the intensification of glamour and by the stimulation of the lower psychic powers. Their particular point of attack at this time is the group of world disciples and initiates, for these latter are responsible for the fostering of love in the world and the binding of men together in the spirit of unity. If they (dark forces) cannot succeed with this task now, it should be possible to externalise the Hierarchy and thereby greatly lessen the control of the so-called evil forces.” (EP 2-577)

The numerous references to the dark forces in the writings of Morya and DK are to prepare us for the fact of their increase in this world karmic cycle. The recent two world wars were a major recapitulation of the Atlantean battle which has its roots way back on the moon chain. This battle has not stopped. Dozens of wars have raged over the planet since 1945, and they continue as the energy of liberation from the star Sirius, and the power of Shamballa free humanity from oppression and dictatorship; and this is only the outward manifestation as the fight is equally intense upon the astral and lower mental planes.

Of course, the main reason for concentration of negative forces has much to do with the planned externalisation of The Great White Brotherhood and the reappearance of the Christ/Maitreya. The flow of all that is positive for evolution attracts all that is of a negative vibration as well. Hence the necessity to work with the Light and in the Light. Those who compose the “New Group of World Servers” must realise the importance of the work with which they are involved and the responsibility it entails of vigilance, not slipping back into the past, or leaving ourselves open to “involutionary” forces. The other factor which the Tibetan refers to is the notion of doing “nice” service work, and the ability of many to double their service capacity if they really tried.

Other descriptions of the dark brotherhood are: brothers of the dark face, black magicians, sorcerers, involutionary forces, the black lodge etc. A black magician works on astral/emotional levels, working with our glamours, or the way we distort reality through our ‘veils’ of lower mind and emotions. The lower psychic powers can be stimulated, creating a web of illusion for the individual, when they may in fact be thinking that they have contacted some high spiritual source. Discrimination is called for. This treatise does not attempt to dwell on the subject, but simply serve as a reminder of its continual presence.

The physical plane is of course an area with which they can easily work, the “matter” aspect being the least point of resistance. Whichever way we look at it they are only working with that unredeemed substance we still hold onto, so realisation of this fact can only inspire us ever onward, up into the light. The basic reason for the war in Atlantis between the Brothers of Light and the forces of darkness was that humanity had divided into two groups: one embodied the forces of materialism and the other Light.

The forces of materialism were bent on satisfying the desire mind by the indiscriminate use of magical mantrams that had been given to the race by the Hierarchy of the time. These mantrams evoked elementals who could build the forms of whatever was desired, or which manipulated others’ thoughts to their own ends. Sex magic was also rampant and the sky was a mass of seething thoughtforms, clairvoyantly perceived. Astral clairvoyance was natural then with most having the third eye awakened. Humanity was not up to handling their new powers at the time. They were mainly physically and emotionally focussed, with little development of the mind.

“The cleavage between the two groups grew gradually wider until at the close of the Atlantean Age it was so wide, and the lines of demarcation between the two schools of light and thought were so clear that a crisis was precipitated in the then civilised world of which the present conflict (World War 2) is a definite effect …Then took place the great war between the Lords of Form and the Lords of Being, or between the Forces of Matter and the Great White Lodge…The Forces of Light triumphed because the Hierarchy was forced to intervene potently, and, with the aid of certain great lives extraneous to our planetary life, They brought the Atlantean civilisation to an abrupt end after a long period of chaos and disaster. This took place through the medium of a culminating catastrophe which wiped hundreds of thousands of human beings off the face of the earth. This historical event has been preserved for us in the universal legend of the great flood.” (EOH 122-3)

There was “Divine Intervention” at this time and an “ethically sound minority” were salvaged. This we know through the story of Noah’s ark. These beings formed the nucleus of the Fifth Root Race, of which the Old Testament speaks. The Ark and the descendants of the survivors, as well as the Jewish Race, stand for the remnants of Humanity, salvaged in spite of themselves. Now this ancient conflict is being fought out on a higher turn of the spiral, in the arena of the mind. The cleavage between materialism and spirituality has become increasingly clear to the point where a final struggle seems immanent.

It was hoped that World War 2 would see the final resolution of this ancient conflict, with the same leaders of the Atlantean wars reincarnated to work out the karma. Of course, both sides had members of these ancient camps within their ranks, but the main evil was working through the “Axis” nations of Germany, Italy and Japan. We have to remember that it was not all by our free will that the Forces of Light triumphed in World War 2:

“The imminence of this release (of atomic energy) – inevitable and under direction – produced an enormous tension in hierarchical circles because (to express the idea colloquially) a race was on between the Dark Forces and the Forces of Light to acquire possession of the techniques necessary to bring about this liberation of needed energy. Had the Dark Forces triumphed, and had the Axis Powers obtained possession of the needed scientific formulas, it would have led to a major planetary disaster. The released energy would have been used first of all to bring about the complete destruction of all opposing the forces of evil, and then it would have been prostituted to the preservation of an increasingly materialistic and non-idealistic civilisation. Germany could not be trusted with this power, for all her motives were compelling wrong.

You might here fall back on the trite religious platitude that the innate good in humanity and mankind’s inherent divinity would eventually have triumphed, because naught can finally overcome the universal trend to good. You are prone to forget that if the evil forces possess potencies which can destroy form in the three worlds on such a wide scale that the souls of advanced aspirants and disciples, and those of initiates seeking incarnation, cannot come into outer expression during a particular world crisis, then you have direfully affected the time-schedule of the evolutionary process; you will have greatly delayed (perhaps for millennia of years) the manifestation of the kingdom of God. The time had come for that manifestation, and hence the powerful activity of the dark forces.

This attempt to hinder the planned progress constituted a definite menace and indicated a supreme danger and problem. The evil forces were closer to success than any of you have ever dreamed. They were so close to success in 1942 that there were four months when the members of the spiritual Hierarchy had made every possible arrangement to withdraw from human contact for an indefinite and unforeseen period of time; the plans for a closer contact with the evolutionary process in the three worlds and the effort to blend and fuse the two divine centres, the Hierarchy and Humanity, into one working, collaborating whole seemed doomed to destruction. Their fusion would have meant the appearance of the Kingdom of God on earth; the obstacles to this fusion, owing to the active tension of the dark forces, seemed at that time insuperable; we believed that man would go down to defeat, owing to his selfishness and his misuse of the principle of free will. We made all preparations to withdraw, and yet at the same time we struggled to get humanity to choose rightly and to see the issues clearly.

The necessity to withdraw was averted. I may not say in what manner, beyond telling you that the Lords of Liberation took certain unexpected steps. This They were led to do owing to the invocative powers of humanity, used consciously by all those upon the side of the will-to-good and unconsciously by all men of goodwill. Owing to these steps, the efforts of those fighting in the realm of science for the establishing of true knowledge and right human relations were aided. The trend of the power to know and to discover (a definite form of energy) was deflected away from the demanding evocative minds of those seeking to destroy the world of men, leading to a form of mental paralysis. Those seeking to emphasise the right values and to save humanity were simultaneously stimulated to the point of success.” (EOH 493-4)

This is one of the most extraordinary statements of DK’s, one that bears much sober consideration. Since 1945 there have been many descendants of the dark camp who, through inclination or ancient karma, have perpetuated certain misguided ideals about materialistic activity. Because of their activity they attract those forces which are dedicated to the preservation of the form. This is one of the reasons why there is such a huge imbalance in the world today between the very rich and the very poor. There are marked cleavages which seem to reflect the need for further resolution of the ancient Atlantean war.

The Gulf Crisis (1992-1998 so far) certainly seemed an arena for this as Iraq is the ancient Babylon of the “Revelation” and many other prophecies. Perhaps this area will still set the stage for a “final conflict”. A quote from 1949 has a familiar ring:

“the Arabs never got a true hearing in the American newspapers or on the radio; the American people were “pressured” into an acceptance of the Zionist position – the motive being oil and mineral riches.” (RI  749)

With more Ray 1 energy from Shamballa pouring upon the planet, many negativities are being brought to the surface, as well as stimulating a positive effect spiritually. It is putting the New Group of World Servers “through their paces” very quickly by allowing no deviation from the spiritual task at hand. At the same time it is accentuating the material bias of many. As the Tibetan foresaw at the end of World War 2, greed and separativeness were still rampant upon the earth, and the conflict has continued since then. Indeed, humanity had a choice to fight it out on mental levels then but chose the physical.

Again we have probably had the opportunity to do so, but seem to be choosing the physical solution. The manifestation of this can be seen in the many conflicts raging over the face of the earth and evil expressing itself in places such as Bosnia, Cambodia, Roumania, Africa and South America. This is the Holocaust or Apocalypse; one that is gradually happening over the whole globe, perhaps so that we don’t completely destroy ourselves.

At least many are freeing themselves from the yoke of oppression and seeking democracy, manifesting their light within the darkness. However, the scenario of a final conflict still looks possible despite the sweeping changes in Germany and Russia, with China still relatively unchanged since the Tianamen Square massacre. Probably the biggest changes will be caused by economic considerations: e.g. oil in the Gulf War and Russia ending Communism and starting a free market economy. In 1998 the world teeters on economic collapse.

In the 1980’s many business high flyers went down; those that are unstable and based on wrong motive or false economy are being destroyed. Greedy profiteers are suffering, but the worst is surely to come as a complete purge is needed to really start a proper economy on the right foundations of mutual trust and sharing. The dark brotherhood work through and with material wealth; this is their speciality, this concretised energy we call money. Again, we have reference to the Ray 3 energy of matter, and again the planet Uranus (ruler of the Aquarian Age) comes into the picture:

‘Uranus…the 7th ray works through this planet and is the embodiment of the principle of concretion and the materialising of that which is in need of objective manifestation, through the bringing together of spirit and matter. It is here that the whole mystery of money lies hid and the creation and production of money. I would like here to point out to you that it is with the third aspect of divinity and the third aspect alone that the creative process is concerned. It is through the relation of the three aspects of the third divine manifestation – law, affinity and concretised energy – that money is created.” (EA 246)

Ray 7 of Ceremonial Magic governs black magic, the selfish manipulation of substance on the 7th plane, the physical. The redistribution of wealth upon the planet will change as the Forces of Light triumph:

“The Dark or Materialistic Forces correspond in their entirety to the energies of the sacral centre of the planet, dealing with the generation of forms, and their work is to keep the direction of planetary interest upon the form side of expression. They are concerned with the life of matter itself, with its magical usage, and with that which is regarded as dark because, for humanity at its present stage of development, that divine aspect should have lost its major hold and should lie behind “in the darkness of that which has been outgrown and which has no further hold upon the son of God.” (EOH 87-8)

Much of the wealth is derived from natural resources such as oil, forestry, mining and monoculture that all have detrimental effects upon the environment. Gaia is being raped and vampirised as if there were unlimited resources. It is no coincidance that conservationists are called “greens”, as this is the colour given for the Ray 3 which the Earth co-rules. It is also the colour of “the greenback” currency. Ray 3 is one of the main influences of the Jewish Race:

“When the mind aspect (the 3rd aspect of the personality) is more fully developed, then the focus of the effort of the Dark Forces will change and the problem of the Jews will disappear. Mankind is not yet handling its problems intelligently. Thus the forces and energies of the creative process are exceedingly active at this time in preparing what I might call the “material of the world” and the substance of all four kingdoms in nature for the coming changes.” (EOH 88)

All the foregoing, as mentioned earlier, had its roots on the moon chain:

“The origin of the feud between the Lords of the Dark Face and the Brotherhood of Light, which found scope for activity in Atlantean days, and during the present root race, can be traced back to the moon chain.” (TCF 417)

“The Moon chain with the Earth chain formed two units, or two polarities, negative and positive. The point of merging was reached, and the Earth chain absorbed or synthesised the moon chain…. …Therefore the Earth chain is essentially dual in its nature, being the sum total of a male and female chain.” (TCF 414)

This extremely ancient history gives a few clues as to the major importance of world karma working out in this present cycle. It is interesting to note that the Ray 3 of Active Intelligence rules the animal kingdom, and the Earth is the ‘non-sacred’ co-ruler; the 4th ray of Harmony through Conflict rules the human kingdom, and the Moon is the ‘non-sacred’ co-ruler. Perhaps some of the working out of duality lays hid within these numbers, as it certainly must with these two planets. (4+3 =7)

Materialistic thinking of theologians in the church for the past two thousand years has distorted the original message of Christ. The separative, analytical lower mind has created what D.K. calls “Churchianity”. It has been the materialistic mind which has interpreted the letter of the teachings and not its spirit, even to the point of outlawing the belief in reincarnation in 553 AD at the Second Council of Constantinople.

“Immortalists” who discount reincarnation but hold that the body can live forever, are also an example of narrow, material thinking. “Cryogenics” is big business in America. There is no realisation of consciousness being the real Self. The same goes for countless wasted hours by academics in universities who do brain research on the false premise that the brain is the organ of intelligence, instead of the instrument of the mental body. Admittedly they do discover interesting things in their investigations, yet the focus is material in that Ray 5 sense.

Modern medicine has placed great emphasis on keeping the body alive at all costs, not recognising the evolution of the soul through different bodies and that death can sometimes be a healing factor.

Likewise the “obscene” prices on some modern art pieces, sometimes overshadowing the original soul expression of the artist is materialism gone mad. The materialistic mind only acknowledges that which is tangible to the five senses. It does not have the vision of the abstract mind, or the imagination and sensitivity to explore more subtle realms of perception.

Psychic Attack
Within the scope of karma our Master or soul may allow dark forces to gravitate towards our “reject substance”, even to the point of psychic attack. This may manifest for us as headaches, nausea or even more subtle behavioural traits. It doesn’t necessarily mean that because you have these symptoms, that it constitutes a psychic attack. It usually happens for the disciple when the personality life is out of alignment with the soul’s purpose.

This temporary state is allowed for as the disciple’s own education or as a reminder that the New Group of World Servers is aspiring Hierarchy and will one day act as a shield against excessive evil for humanity. Many people, when they are approaching the point of re-awakening in their lives, where they consciously start to pick up the threads of spiritual service rendered in other lives, may become targets for psychic attack. The reasons may be several:

As soon as we start to walk consciously toward the Light , serving our fellow humanity, progress is often impeded, depending on one’s karma, by the dark forces. This of course, has to be viewed with some discrimination as DK warns against the attendant glamours of thinking that one is a sufficiently important “divine being” that is a threat to “dark forces”.

However, usually the person has made recent changes in diet and other emotional and mental attitudes so that much of their grosser substance is circulating within their aura. The law of like attracting like starts to operate and entities or elementals can consequently be attracted and hence manipulated. This is especially so if the seeker is at a critical stage of evolution where lifetimes of wrong doing have not had the karmic opportunity to be balanced.

We may have had psychic attack experiences in our lives but not recognised their manifestation at the time. It could have been a particularly bad headache, pains in the body, nausea, or even a particularly frightening dream. It could also manifest as thoughts that you feel you “don’t own”, feelings of separativeness, or inane, repetitive “musak” running through the mind. The latter example here has to do with mantrams and sound, the same kind of forces a white magician wields, with far more power for good. However psychic attack can only work with that which is imperfect within us.

We usually attract psychic attack when some aspect of our life is imbalanced. We may be too emotionally or mentally polarised at any one time. One of these two polarisations usually represents the past for the individual, that which is well developed but backwards in the current cycle. The combination of emotional and mental energies is called ‘kama-manas’ or desire mind, as mentioned earlier. It works from the higher astral to the lower mental planes and is the focus of attention for much of humanity today.

The ideal ‘middle way’ is the Heart with its “fountain of protective love energy”. In fact, the indigo blue colour associated with the heart, is one of the best to use for psychic protection work. It is this colour/energy which we direct to our “brothers in darkness.”  As D.K. notes, they truly are our brothers who have taken deviations or the “circuitous route” on their journey toward love.

We can visualise indigo blue flowing through the affected parts of our being – if healing is needed there. If you intuitively get other colours such as white or violet, then work with them. During times of stress, the soul sometimes draws near to give instantaneous advice in the form of images and hints. Hues of lavender and violet are the colours of the etheric body, and are quite suitable for patching up holes in the etheric web. “White Lighting” is of course one of the best known methods of psychic cleansing and is very effective for many people. Drugs and alchohol damage the etheric web, as well as prematurely opening chakras. This too can also attract entities that obsess or possess.

The soul or Master never allows more to happen to an individual than they can handle: gross or horrifying experiences, there is always a lesson learnt, usually in retrospect. The area in which the lesson was learnt usually involves the solar plexus: this can be figuratively seen in its lower interpretation as “the door where evil dwells”.

Other “open doors” can be people in your life who “press your buttons”. They may embody a particular vibration where this darker energy in oneself finds expression. This may happen with either friends or strangers in everyday life. There is also the confusing projection and counter projection that we may have experienced. Interacting with the general public brings great revelations as to the degree of kama-manasic qualities that are reflected back at us.

The circumstances can be set up in unfamiliar situations where we will be confronted with and confounded by an aspect of our own “shadow” or “dweller on the threshold”, triggered through another personality. Ideally one remains in the ‘now’ when a situation is unfolding, though quite often we are not in this state which is “presence of heart”: we react and only learn our lesson later in retrospect.

The Dweller or “imposter” or “shadow” can only be engaged through relationship with others. Otherwise it just “dwells” and never comes to the surface. Human relationships evolve through various aspects of the Dweller being brought to the surface.

If we are conscious of what is occuring in a psychically negative situation, we can do protective visualisations of light, or even something more tangible such as donning “spiritual armour”. You may present yourself with a sword, a shield or a helmet which may have appeared to you in your ongoing meditation. Everyone is different so there are no set rules. The Tibetan talks about the “empty hand” being the “armed hand”, which protects its possessor. The symbol of the hands wielding the sword implies the Sword of the Spirit which cuts down obstacles in the way of progress. (TWM 575) It is also related to the hand chakras and consequently healing.

The art of “Harmlessness”, when rightly practiced attracts to us only events and individuals which are beneficial to our well being. It is not a meekness or a kind of weakness, but a refusal to think, say or act out anything with another being which is of a harmful nature. This can be a very difficult thing to practice, but can yield great rewards. The process of visualisation obviously builds a stronger bridge to the soul, since energy follows thought. And so, we become aware of the darkness within, we can let go of it and evolve faster toward the light. Our glamours and illusions that we carry with us are merely aspects of a darkness which serves to veil the light.

Other forms of psychic attack can happen in dreams, where entities can take animal or human forms. Most of these occurences can be fairly obvious with associated unpleasant feelings. Here discrimination is needed to distinguish between a true soul impression, or astral entities.  However, we can be “set up” in our dreams and “knocked down” in our waking life by a “bad seed” implanted during sleep. We are at our most vunerable when returning to our physical bodies in the morning and some people may have experienced entities trying to come back into the physical body. This is the best time to have our ‘spiritual shower’ of white light. When we awaken each morning we need to remain awake and not dawdle in half-sleep state.

“The dark forces work also through the intensification or stimulation of the psychic mechanism, so that the lower psychic powers become abnormally developed and prematurely assume proportions which are almost uncontrollable.” (EP 2-578)

Here at this point it may be well to state that we have to be careful about ‘dumping’ the reasons for our imperfections, illusions and sicknesses on the materialistic forces. Within the integrated or integrating personality, there must be an ever sharpening discriminative faculty being honed upon the wheel of everyday life. The closer we come to the Externalisation of the Hierarchy, the more intense all energies, positive and negative, will become – Energy is impartial. Hence the need for all disciples in externalised and non-externalised ashrams worldwide to stand unified. To paraphrase Morya: “the battle was intense then and still rages”.

We are not powerless to do anything about it though. Through the “age of conferences” and other networking, the globe can be strengthened into a powerful etheric framework that will withstand any buffeting. The “Triangles” meditations are part of this process, whereby the planet, in the process of becoming sacred, is converting from an etheric structure of squares to one of triangles.

There is a purpose within this Chaos: the evolution of Consciousness. We may perceive Chaos as negative, but if it were not for this perception, we might be less motivated to embark upon the spiritual path and strive for higher ideals. D.K. also states:

“…then they (dark brotherhood) will endeavour to utilise group glamour to negative their efforts and force those with whom the disciples work to believe evil, to impugn motives, and to produce such a convincining story that the struggling disciple will be left to fight almost singlehanded.” (EP 2-578)

“New Age”, metaphysical groups are prone to be the most glamoured of all, and therefore quite susceptible to this kind of attack. Witness the many occult groups to which this has happened in the past one hundred years, from the Theosophical Society onwards. This has been especially evident in the eighties and nineties, where spiritual groups have broken up because of abuse of power by their leaders, who have had their own weaknesses fed by group glamours. Group glamour separates and divides personalities, pitting one against the other, through subtle suggestion, innuendo, ‘seeded’ thoughtforms, working with weaknesses, especially the emotions and the critical mind.

This is a profound teaching for many. For some, it is not until you have participated and lived through group illusion, being completely submerged in it, can you learn in retrospect what it was all about. The pitfalls of group evolution remain only a theory otherwise. For many groups it is the “recapitulation” of the Piscean stage of group endeavour around a central guru or charismatic leader, before a more co-creative Aquarian group can be realised.

One of the most important reasons for learning about psychic defence is that if we know how to protect ourselves, then we are helping to take the workload from the Master and the Hierarchy who can channel their energies into other arenas such as cosmic evil:

“Is it easy where the Chaos of the Unmanifest rages? Along the Chain of Hierarchy the strained heart can feel the reverberation of the tension of the cosmic battle.” (Hierarchy 278)

“The Hierarchy stands as a wall between humanity and excessive evil. Forget not that as humanity is thus protected that protection extends to all human sub-kingdoms, of which the fourth kingdom, the human, is the Macrocosm. The excessive evil, emanating from cosmic sources, requires the trained skill of Hierarchy and the fiat of Shamballa to prevent it flooding over disastrously.” (EOH 519)

Of course it could be argued that as long as one were leading a sufficiently purely motivated life, highly expressive of light and love, then this would constitute psychic defence. This is very true for many, yet there are some individuals if not ashram or ashrams whose purpose it is to act as “shields”. Groups with a Ray 1 and 2 flavouring come to mind here, as there is needed the will and the power to repel, yet the loving, wise direction behind it, towards our “brothers of the left hand path”. Once our souls have drawn us onto our respective paths, we perform our service work, that which we have chosen to do before we incarnate. As servers on the physical plane we salvage the substance within our own forms, in the “lower vehicles”.

As radiating bodies, we penetrate the periphery of night and draw darkness to light. We salvage the substance within our enviroment and within the forms of others by the penetrating power of our steadily radiating auras. The Buddha’s aura was reputedly several kilometres wide, and the New Testament describes a similar state:

“…the shadow of Peter passing by healed. His aura was of such a nature that it had a beneficent effect wherever and whenever it touched or contacted those in his environment. The control of the Christ over His aura was such that “He knew when virtue had gone out of Him”—He knew, therefore, that healing energies had poured through one of His centres to a needy person or group of persons. (TEV 174)

The magnetic quality of these great beings drew souls to them and hence ‘salvaging’ or salvation was effected.

In the sleep state is where much of our service work takes place. We may work upon the lowest sub-planes of the astral plane, which can be a sickening, gross experience or we may function on exalted soul levels, experiencing highly abstract dream images.

The lower “hell” realms of the astral plane are an important area for the service work and the salvaging and dissipating of tainted substance. It is a place of much suffering, pain and degradation. Of course it isn’t really considered a “principle”, therefore is an illusion that has been built up over millennia, that will take a long time to break down and destroy: Chaos thrives here.

Service on the astral plane may entail doing battle with materialistic forces or other unsavoury characters, which can be a rather mundane and onerous task, but often necessary for one’s protection and others. The Tibetan states that our Will to Love is a recognition of our limitations, desires and our intense aspiration to really love. We know we lack love when we constantly find ourselves isolated, irritated and critical of others. Living through the heart is the only method of arriving at this synthesis mentioned earlier:

“Fear and irritation are called the gates of darkness. The servants of darkness dispatch fear first of all, in order to confound the spirit. Each conjuration may comprise danger inasmuch as during the conjuration terror may penetrate – thus the most precise magic may be turned into the utmost danger. Hence one may lean upon more certain means. An educated heart will first of all eradicate fear and recognise the harm of irritation. Thus the heart is that armour of Light which will put to shame the cunning of darkness. As is ever asserted, the heart is constantly ready to smite darkness and bridle chaos. It is especially sad that many do not desire to think about the power of the heart. Thus they not only cause themselves dejection but bring harm to their near ones. Each treasure unrealised merges into Chaos, thus strengthening darkness.” (Heart 558)

The occult law is that the more you can love, the more you can respond to and include the point of view, the nature and force of your fellow humanity. We can see how this is related to the Salvation of Substance. As the capacity of the heart expands to radiate a greater love, its inclusiveness takes in the good and bad alike within its aura. It therefore processes much “foreign substance” in its natural outgoing attitude. However:

“One can also notice a decline of the fires upon the slightest deviation from Hierarchy. As a whirlwind extinguishes the torches, the deviation into the abyss of Chaos destroys the fires of the heart.” (Heart 536)

Humanity’s general evolution provides much inertia to individual (occult) evolution because of the mass of materialism to which we are subjected. The earth herself is at her deepest point of material incarnation before she ascends back to the plane of spirit.

Spiritual Groups
Growth processes are dynamic within a group. The degree of interaction can make for a quick cutting through of personality blocks, especially if there is a group project with which all are involved. If the group is so disposed, then integration can occur, or equally, growth can be stunted, expression suppressed and the group as a whole can suffer personality deficiencies similar to an individual. The group situation can be a “crucible experience” as the “flame of love” is applied unremittingly to “burn off the dross”.

Whether personality traits are dealt with adequately or not depends upon techniques and attitudes of the group. One thing is sure though, and that is the group will be dynamic and have strong soul expression if all are one-pointed in any specific group service work that has to manifest. An externalising ashram would be a case in point. As the Masters can work with our increasing radiance, so can their polar opposites work with our shadows, (within our karmic framework) as crystallised thoughts and emotions are released from our being.

The shadow is another name for the “Dweller on the Threshold”. A shadow is the result of light playing upon a form, or the soul shining upon the personality. The Dweller on the Threshold is the total expression of all our unsurmounted glamours and negativities which accumulate from life to life and assume the shape of a usually grotesque thoughtform. At a certain stage during soul evolution the Dweller must be faced and defeated by the Angel of the Presence, or the soul. So we need to understand the role the “shadow” or “dweller” plays within ourselves, and this can come into strong contrast in group interaction. To understand and evolve toward the Light, we experience the negative aspects and practices of Chaos and darkness.

“In ancient communities each one undergoing testing was hailed. He was dealt with solicitously since it was known that it was inadmissable to forcibly interrupt the process of his experience. It was considered that each testing is a threshold to progress. No one could twist the path of effects but brotherly encouragement enabled him not to slacken his pace, even before the most frightful images. Of course, Chaos in its terrible ugliness inevitably tries to impede the path of each one being tested. But let these images be dreadful; the manifestation of the most horrible one will be in itself the forerunner of the end of the test.” (Brotherhood 483)

Deva Kingdom
The use of devas or angelic beings in healing or psychic protection is a supremely important process with which modern day seekers need to familiarise themselves. Through consciously working with the deva kingdom we can offset the forces of Chaos. If we can understand that all matter in the universe is made of deva substance, including our physical and subtle bodies, then we can learn to control the lower elemental forces and co-operate with the devas. As devas build nature’s forms, so they build our bodies in the womb and sustain them for our earthly duration. We all have a personal deva or “guardian angel” that we can call on in times of stress, or who looks out for us and guides us away from danger. These “guardians” are from a group known as the white devas.

“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 see etherically as easily as the average human being sees physically; as conditions of harmony gradually evolve out of the current world chaos, devas and human beings will meet as friends.” (TCF 911)

The devas easiest to see are dark purple and “reside” on the fourth ether. They are light purple/violet on the third ether; light violet on the second ether; and translucent lavender on the first ether. When we visualise colour in healing or psychic defence, we attract devas of a similar vibration to the colour visualised. Psychic defence is healing. Therefore, in any visualisation or meditation we are consciously or unconsciously working with deva substance, and hence may attract more advanced devas to help us. Of course, at a more advanced stage we can communicate with devas via mantrams and speech:

“Speech is one of the keys which opens the doors of communication between men and subtler beings. It gives the clue to the discovery of those entities who are contacted on the other side of the veil. But only he who has learned to keep silent, and has arrived at the knowledge of the times to speak can pass this veil and make certain esoteric contacts. Magic consists, we are told in the Secret Doctrine , in addressing the Gods in Their own language; therefore the speech of average man cannot reach Them. Therefore, those who seek to learn the occult language, those who yearn to become aware of the words which will penetrate to the ears of those who stand on the other side, and those who seek to utilise the formulae and phrases which will give them power over the Builders, have to unlearn their previous use of words and to refrain from ordinary methods of talking. Then the new language will be theirs and the new expressions, words, mantrams and formulas will be entrusted to their care.” (TCF 981)

Sanskrit is this language, which used to be the ancient Senzar:

“In the Sanskrit language letters are continually arranged in the sacred Ollas so that they may become musical notes. For the whole Sanskrit alphabet and the Vedas, from the first word to the last, are musical notations reduced to writing; the two are inseparable. As Homer distinguished between the “language of the Gods” and the “language of men,” so did the Hindus. The Devanagari, the Sanskrit characters, are the “speech of the Gods,” and Sanskrit is the divine language.” (SD 5197)

One last word on Chaos from the DK:

“An effort is being constantly made to arrest the ugly chaos of the present and to produce the ordered beauty of the future. The major weapon now being used by the combined Forces of Evil is Chaos, disruption, lack of established security, and consequent fear. The potency of these evil forces is exceedingly great because they belong to no one group of people and to all the ideologies. The chaos produced by indifference, the chaos produced by uncertainty, the chaos produced by fear, starvation, by insecurity, by watching others suffer innocently, and the chaos produced by the warring and conflicting ambitious elements in every nation (without exception) – these are the factors with which the Master R. (St. Germain) is attempting to deal; the task is one of supreme difficulty. The entire rhythm of international thinking has to be altered, and that constitutes a slow and arduous task; the evil personalities which, in every country, are responsible for the chaos and uncertainty, have eventually to be replaced by those who can work in cooperation with the rhythm of the seventh ray, and thus produce ordered beauty.” (EOH 668)

And a final word from M:

“The rhythm of battle lies not in a desire to kill. I affirm that manifested forces do not go out to fight; they stand on the defensive against chaos. Thus it is not easy for many to understand that the battle is continuous, only its rhythm changes. Timid ones tremble at a single mention of the battle and ask, When will it end? But they become completely crestfallen when told that the battle will come to an end only with the termination of chaos. Is this not terrifying for some? But terror is not suitable on the path to Brotherhood.” (Brotherhood 490)

Footnotes:
1 “The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation,” W.Y. Evans-Wentz, P.37. “The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation,” W.Y. Evans-Wentz, P.37. “The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation,” W.Y. Evans-Wentz, P.37.

2 Briefly, some second ray relationships to Uranus: (a) Uranus transmits Sirian (Ray 2) energy to Hierarchy (2) via Pisces (Ray 2) – Sirian energy pours through Scorpio ; (b) Uranus relates to the heart in that “life” is anchored there – the heartbeat is a Uranian, timed, electrical impulse ; (c) Leo rules the heart – the 2nd ray Sun rules Leo and “veils” Uranus, ruling from an Hierarchical level; (d) Uranus, Venus & Jupiter are the mental, astral & physical expressions of the Ray 2, respectively ; (e) Jupiter, ruler of Ray 2, is very ritualistic in a Uranian way – both are the respective esoteric & exoteric rulers of Aquarius; (f) Uranus may bring out more Ray 2 as a disruptor of crystallised personality patterns. EPJ Spring 1987 -“Unexplored Relationships Between the Seven Rays and Astrology: Part 3”, Michael Robbins.Pp 80-96.

Phillip Lindsay © 2003.