The Arcane Teaching · 13 of 21

Lesson XIII. Lower Astral Planes

There are three great planes of manifestation in the Cosmos—the Material Plane; the Astral Plane; and the Spiritual Plane. There is much confusion in the use of the term “plane” in the occult writings, for it is employed in various ways, from necessity and in the absence of other words with which to express the unfamiliar facts of the case. For instance, many occultists very properly speak of “the physical plane; the mental plane; and the spiritual plane, of Thought,” meaning respectively thereby: (1) the plane of thought connected with the sensations of the body, the physical desires, etc.; (2) the plane of intellect, reason, etc.; and finally, (3) the plane of the higher mental activities and manifestations, familiarly known as the Spiritual Plane of Thought. The beginner in the study of occultism is apt to confuse the above usage of the term with that employed in speaking or writing of the Three Great Planes of the Cosmos, the Material Plane; the Astral Plane; and the Spiritual Plane; the second of which, the Astral Plane, will form the subject of consideration in the present lesson, and the two immediately following it in sequence.

The word “plane” has been appropriated by occult writers, from necessity, and given a meaning apparently at variance with the accepted usages. In ordinary language a “plane” is a “perfectly level, flat, and smooth surface.” In geometry and astronomy it is sometimes used in an abstract or ideal sense, to indicate “an ideal surface supposed to cut or pass through a solid body or in various directions; as the plane of an ecliptic, the plane of a planet’s orbit, etc.” It is also used in a figurative sense, implying “a level, or field” as “on the plane of reason; on the plane of common sense, etc.” Generally speaking, its figurative use implies a layer, strata, or level, and it is used in occult phraseology in the figurative sense of a level, or strata of Cosmic activity or manifestation.

But the student is cautioned against confusing the term “plane” with any conception of “place.” A plane is not a place. A particular place may include several planes, and sub‑planes; for the planes interpenetrate each other. A plane has no dimensions in space, and rather more resembles a state or condition. It cannot be measured in the three dimensions, and yet it is capable of measurement by degrees in the Scale of Vibrations. These states or degrees of vibration interpenetrate each other, without interference, in which peculiarity they have correspondences or analogies in physical phenomena. For instance, a dozen or more currents of electricity may pass along the same wire, at the same time without interfering with each other, and may then register each on its special instrument, providing that the rate of tension or vibration be different in each case. Or, again, light vibrations, heat vibrations, vibrations of electricity and magnetism of several degrees, vibrations of the X‑Rays, sound vibrations, etc., may manifest and remain present in the space of a room, at the same time.

The various planes of manifestation blend into each other, and each of the three planes has seven sub‑planes, which in turn are sub‑divided into seven minor planes, and so on, until seven times seven acts of sub‑division have been made.

On the Physical Plane of the Cosmos occurs the various manifestations of the physical world—the world of matter and energy. It is the plane best known to us, for all of our physical activities are performed on some of its sub‑planes. On these planes there are manifestations of matter of degrees unrecognized by the senses of man, as well as the familiar forms and degrees. Likewise there are forces and energies of which man of to‑day is totally ignorant, with the exception of a few advanced souls who have risen above the ordinary race limitations. It is not our purpose to enter into a consideration of the Physical Plane in this lesson. Neither is it our purpose to enter into a consideration of the Spiritual Plane, the conception of which is beyond the comprehension of the ordinary human, and which the words of the ordinary plane of life would be utterly inadequate to express. Our subject for consideration here is simply the second plane of the Cosmos— the Astral Plane.

The term “astral” (from the Greek word meaning “a star”) is of ancient usage in the occult teachings. Astral “regions” and Astral “beings,” were held to be places and beings of a more ethereal and finer order and degree than our material world and beings—so far as the bodies of the latter were concerned, at least. In the Astral regions the disembodied entities and the supernatural beings were held to abide. The term was often used loosely and in a manner tending to confuse the student. In fact, even to‑day the term is used with various shades of meanings, by the different schools of occultism, and confusion results by reason thereof. Some schools use the term “Astral Plane” to designate only the lower sub‑planes of the Astral, using other terms to designate the higher planes, which latter they often confuse with those of the Spiritual Plane. Others include the entire series of above‑the‑Material planes, lower and higher Astral and Spiritual alike, under the general term of Astral Plane. The Arcane Teaching follows the most approved ancient usage, and applies the term “Astral Plane” to the intermediate plane of the Cosmos—the plane lying between the Material and the Spiritual—including, however, the higher as well as the lower Astral sub‑planes. Such has always been the custom of the Arcane Teachers, and it is, moreover, in accordance with the most ancient and authoritative practice.

There are many sub‑planes on the Astral Plane, many of which bear close analogies to corresponding planes known to us on the Material Plane. There are also sub‑planes containing life activities, which are different from the more familiar ones, and which bear the same relationship to the latter that the black keys On the piano‑board bear to the white keys. On these “black‑key” sub‑planes dwell entities strange to human sight and thought, but which, nevertheless, form a part of the universal manifestation of life. These entities are non‑human—never were human, and never will be human. Their evolution has been, and will continue, along totally different lines. Occultists group these entities under the general term of “elementaries,” or “elementals,” although their degrees and characteristics vary greatly, one from another. We shall consider these entities in the following lesson.

Beginning our consideration of the Astral Plane, we must not fail to take notice of one of the sub‑planes nearest the material—the sub‑plane in which the Thought Currents operate, and also in which the Astral Bodies of the embodied, and the Auric Colors are visible. On this sub‑plane the phenomena of Mentalism manifest. This sub‑plane is the one nearest to the ordinary Material Plane, and is often penetrated, unwittingly, by persons whose psychic faculties have become sharpened and who have developed the qualities of Clairvoyance, Astral Sensing, etc.

It is scarcely necessary to explain in detail the facts relating to the Astral Body of human beings, for the student is supposed to have had some preliminary acquaintance with the general subject of occultism. We shall merely note the general facts in passing. The Astral Body of the person is the finer body, or inner envelope, of the entity or soul. This Astral Body has long been known in the traditions of the race, and has been called by various names, such as “the ethereal body”; the “fluidic body”; the “double”; the “wraith”; the “doppelganger,” etc. It is composed of Astral substance, which is much finer than the matter with which we are familiar. It bears the same relation to ordinary matter that steam does to ice. The Astral Body leaves the material covering, or ordinary body of the person, at the death of the latter. It also often wanders far from the physical body when the latter is sleeping. Under certain conditions it may leave the physical body during waking hours, and project itself to distant points in space. The familiar “apparitions of the living” are instances of this travel in the Astral, and the phenomena of Clairvoyance is largely due to this form of Astral manifestation. The Astral Body is invisible to the ordinary physical senses, although those possessing Clairvoyant power, or well developed Astral Senses may see it plainly. It may also lower its vibrations and “materialize,” as above noted, at which times it becomes visible as a shadowy form apparent to the ordinary physical senses. During the life of the physical body, however, the Astral Body is always connected with the latter by a thin, slender filament, which if broken results in the death of the physical body. Contrary to the ordinary teaching, the Astral Body is composed of seven “sheaths” or “layers” of substance, the grosser of which disintegrate or “sloughs off” when the entity rises to higher Astral sub‑planes, and which must be again “materialized” when it revisits the lower planes.

The Aura and Auric Colors of the Astral Body are in the nature of emanations or radiations from the Astral Body, which are manifested in some degree by every person, and which recent scientific investigation has proven conclusively, by means of photographs, etc. The Physical Body, even, has its aura of vitality vibrations, or “Vril,” which flow freely from it, particularly when the vitality of the person is strong. This “Vril” is the “human magnetism” of the magnetic healers, and others, and which serves to arouse strength and vigor to those to whom it is applied. The Astral aura, on the contrary, is rather an emanation of the mental states, feelings and emotions of the person’s mind. It is egg‑shaped, and extends on all sides of the person to a distance of about three feet. It manifests various colors, particularly around the head, the colors corresponding to the character of the mental states being manifested, or those habitual to the person. For instance: Red indicates the animal passions, lust, anger, etc. Blue represents religious emotion, etc.— light blue denoting what is generally called “spirituality,” but which in reality is but an ethereal, refined form of religious feeling. Spirituality is more a matter of knowledge and life development, rather than feeling or emotion. Green denotes jealousy, and, in one of its shades, that which is generally called “tact,” “agreeableness,” “diplomacy,” or in its lower forms, “deceit.” Gray denotes selfishness. Yellow, intellectuality in its various degrees and forms. Black is the astral color of hate, malice and vengeful emotion. Persons in whom the faculty of Astral Sensing is well developed may see these auric colors plainly, and are thereby informed as to the mental characteristics of the person under observation.

On this lower sub‑plane of the Astral are also manifested the thought waves, thought currents, thought‑forms, etc., which are manifested in the phenomena of Mentalism. Thoughts and mental states manifest in objective form. The person manifesting active thought or feeling, emanates waves and currents of thought‑force which spread around him in constantly widening circles in every direction. In this way great thought‑clouds are formed which hover over and around places to which they are attracted. Thought‑clouds of the same general character have a tendency to coalesce and mingle and blend with each other, and to move toward persons, places and localities in which similar thoughts or feelings are being manifested. The Law of Attraction operates in this direction of drawing thought influences toward those who are manifesting similar thought vibrations. Cities, towns and smaller places—even places of business, office‑buildings, houses, and rooms have their own particular thought atmosphere, which may be felt by those sensitive to such influences, and seen by those possessing the faculty of Astral Sensing.

Akin to these thought‑clouds are what are known as thought‑forms, which are thought‑clouds of great density and power of cohesion, which are also charged with the strong Will or ardent Desire of the persons emanating them—and which are often practically vitalized by the “Vril,” or vitality of the person, which has been infused into them. Such thought‑forms often exert nearly as great a psychic power over those with whom they come in contact as would the sender himself, in person. They are akin to the desire‑elementals mentioned in the following lesson.

These thought‑clouds and thought‑forms abide on the lower sub‑planes of the Astral until they finally disintegrate. They tend to coalesce and gather around places in which the vibrations are harmonious to their own. Some places have their mental atmospheres of vice, others of greed, others of industry, others of the reverse. In short thought atmospheres exist everywhere on this lower Astral sub‑plane, just as does the material atmosphere exist everywhere on the material plane. One is just as real as is the other. They have all the correspondences which one might expect. Those who are able to travel in the Astral Body find this thought atmospheric phenomena a source of never failing interest, although at times one is glad to will himself away from some of the scenes, so gross and base are the emotions and feelings manifesting in the dark, heavy suffocating clouds of thought force—so horrible some of the thought‑forms. But even these may be driven away by an exercise of the Will, and thought‑vibrations of a contrary nature tend to repel them and scatter them away from one’s vicinity.

On a sub‑plane of a different class from that just mentioned, are found the manifestations of what has been called the “scrap pile of the Astral,” and, indeed, that term of the workshop very aptly expresses it. On this sub‑plane are to be found the discarded Astral materials of the Astral Bodies which have been “sloughed off” by entities which have discarded them as they have moved up higher. Also, the disintegrating Astral bodies of entities which have failed to survive and whose souls have been resolved into their original elements and become merged into the general principle of Consciousness, as described in a previous lesson. Remember, please, that these remnants of the Astral bodies so discarded and disintegrating, are not in any way related to the souls which formerly inhabited them. They are mere shells, without soul or mind, and yet preserving a slight degree of vitality, or “Vril.” They are astral corpses, just as much a corpse as is the discarded physical body. But, just as the physical corpse may be aroused into apparent life activity by a strong galvanic current, and will roll its eyes, move its limbs, and even utter groans—so may these astral corpses be “galvanized” by the “Vril” of a medium (unconsciously by the latter), if the conditions be favorable, and may be materialized so as to appear as a shadowy form, acting, moving and even speaking, the only mind in it, however, being supplied by that of the medium or the persons present at the seance. These astral corpses also become visible under certain conditions, often around graveyards, battle‑fields, etc., and are thought to be ghosts, or “spirits” of those who formerly inhabited them. They are, however, generally but the grossest astral covering of the Astral body—its “shell” so to speak, and are no more to be regarded as the deceased person himself than is the physical body lying in the grave—both are discarded coverings, or “corpses.”

A psychic who, by means of untrained or misdirected psychic development, happens to wander on to this plane of the Astral, experiences a most unpleasant sight. It is not pleasant to roam in this charnel house of the Astral—this tomb of the Earth. An old Egyptian sage thus recorded his impressions of it: “What manner of place is this I see. It hath no water. It hath no air. It hath no light. It hath no foundation. It is unfathomably deep. It is as black as the blackest night.” A modern investigator has said of this region—this Golgotha of the Astral: “Most students find the investigation of this section an extremely unpleasant task, for there appears to be a sense of density and gross materiality about it which is indescribably loathsome to the liberated Astral Body, causing the sense of pushing its way through some black viscous fluid, while the inhabitants and influences encountered there are unusually undesirable.”

“And are there inhabitants of such a place?” one naturally asks. Alas, yes! There are denizens of this loathsome place—inhabitants of this horrible abode. Entities, however, not placed there for punishment, for no Being would entail such a fate upon the meanest and most depraved—or invent such a Hell. They are there because of their own abnormal desires and tendencies, which unfit them for the planes of even the lowest of disembodied human entities, and which also render them unfit for association with the disembodied astral forms of the beasts, which latter persist for a short time after physical death. “Then, what manner of creatures must these be?” you ask. “Fit for neither man nor beasts. Were they human?” And, one is forced to answer, “Yes!” Subject to the laws of humankind they are not allowed the privilege of rapid annihilation bestowed upon the beasts—they must live out their peculiar life to the end. They are the pariahs, the ghoul‑like scum of the human race, who have removed themselves from the race fate and have entailed upon themselves a fate of their own. Their fate is a Living Death—a conscious life in a corpse‑like body, among corpses of the Astral. These creatures are the disembodied entities of those who degenerated along abnormal sex lines—who attempted to reverse the Cosmic Law of Sex Polarity, and thus brought upon themselves the Recoil of the Life Forces. They were the lowest of the human Satyrs. Nature finally casts over them the spell of a deep sleep, from which they never awaken, and from which they pass into disintegration and annihilation. They polluted the Sacred Altar. They stole the Divine Fire for devilish rites. They committed the Unpardonable Sin. They removed themselves from the trend of Cosmic Evolution. Their own Desire was their Fate. We wish it were possible to speak plainer—but the time has not yet come.