(A.A. Bailey, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, pp. 475-498, 1925. — SECTION TWO, DIVISION B. MANAS AS A COSMIC, SYSTEMIC, AND HUMAN FACTOR, IV. THE FUTURE OF MANAS, 3. Manas in the final rounds, <a>.)

"Transmutation is a subject that from the earliest ages has occupied theattention of students, scientists and alchemists. The power to change, through the application of heat, is of course universally recognised, but the key to the mystery, or the secret of the systemic formula is advisedly guarded from all searchers, and is only gradually revealed after the second Initiation. The subject is so tremendous that it is only possible to indicate in broad general outlines how it may be approached. The mind of the public turns naturally to the transmutation of metals into gold with the aim in view of the alleviation of poverty. The mind of the scientist seeks the universal solvent which will reduce matter to its primordial substance, release energy, and thus reveal the processes of evolution, and enable the seeker to build for himself (from the primordial base) the desired forms. The mind of the alchemist searches for the Philosopher's Stone, that effective transmuting agent which will bring about revelation, and the power to impose the will of the chemist upon the elemental forces, which work in, by, and through matter. The religious man, especially the Christian, recognises the psychic quality of this transmutative power, and frequently speaks in the sacred books, of the soul being tried or tested seven times in the fire. All these students and investigators are recognising one great truth from their own constricted angle, and the whole lies not with one or another, but in the aggregate.

In defining transmutation as it is occultly understood, we might express it thus: Transmutation is the passage across from one state of being to another through the agency of fire. The due comprehension of this is based on certain postulates, mainly four in number. These postulates must be expressed in terms of the Old Commentary, which is so worded that it reveals to those who have eyes to see, but remains enigmatic to those who are not ready, or who would misuse the knowledge gained for selfish ends. The phrases are as follows:

I. He who transfers the Father's life to the lower three seeketh the agency of fire, hid in the heart of Mother. He worketh with the Agnichaitans, that hide, that burn, and thus produce the needed moisture.

II. He who transfers the life from out the lower three into the ready fourth seeketh the agency of fire hidin the heart of Brahma. He worketh with the forces of the Agnishvattas, that emanate, that blend, and thus produce the needed warmth.

III. He who transfers the life into the gathering fifth seeketh the agency of fire hid in the heart ofVishnu. He worketh with the forces of the Agnisuryans, that blaze, that liberate the essence, and thus produce the needed radiance.

IV. First moisture, slow and all enveloping; then heat with ever-growing warmth and fierce intensity;then force that presses, drives and concentrates. Thus is radiance produced; thus the exudation; thus mutation; thus change of form. Finally liberation, escape of the volatile essence, and the gathering of the residue back to primordial stuff.

He who ponders these formulas and who meditates upon the method and suggested process will receive a general idea of the evolutionary process of transmutation which will be of more value to him than the formulas whereby the devas transmute the various minerals.

Transmutation concerns the life of the atom, and is hidden in a knowledge of the laws governing radioactivity. It is interesting to note how in the scientific expression 'radioactivity,' we have the eastern conception of Vishnu-Brahma, or the Rays of Light vibrating through matter. Hence the usually accepted interpretation of the term 'atom' must be extended from that of the atom of chemistry to include:

a. All atoms or spheres upon the physical plane.
b. All atoms or spheres upon the astral and mental planes.
c. The human being in physical incarnation.
d. The causal body of man on its own plane.
e. All planes as entified spheres.
f. All planets, chains and globes within the solar system.
g. All monads on their own plane, whether human monads or Heavenly Men.
h. The solar Ring-Pass-Not, the aggregate of all lesser atoms.

In all these atoms, stupendous or minute, microcosmic or macrocosmic, the central life corresponds to the positive charge of electrical force predicated by science, whether it is the life of a cosmic Entity such as a solar Logos, or the tiny elemental life within a physical atom. The lesser atoms which revolve round their positive centre, and which are at present termed electrons by science, are the negative aspect, and this is true not only of the atom on the physical plane, but of the human atoms, held to their central attractive point, a Heavenly Man, or the atomic forms which in their aggregate form the recognised solar system. All forms are built up in an analogous manner and the only difference consists—as the text-books teach—in the arrangement and the number of the electrons.{57} The electron itself will eventually be found to be an elemental, tiny life.

The second point I seek to make now is: Radiation is transmutation in process of accomplishment. Transmutation being the liberation of the essence in order that it may seek a new centre, the process may be recognised as radioactivity technically understood and applied to all atomic bodies without exception.

That science has but recently become aware of radium (an example of the process of transmutation) is but the fault of science. As this is more comprehended it will be found that all radiations, such as magnetism or psychic exhalation, are but the transmuting process proceeding on a large scale. The point to be grasped here is that the transmuting process, when effective, is superficially the result of outside factors. Basically it is the result of the inner positive nucleus of force or life reaching such a terrific rate of vibration, that it eventually scatters the electrons or negative points which compose its sphere of influence, and scatters them to such a distance that the Law of Repulsion dominates. They are then no more attracted to their original centre but seek another. The atomic sphere, if I might so express it, dissipates, the electrons come under the Law of Repulsion, and the central essence escapes and seeks a new sphere, occultly understood.

We must remember always that all within the solar system is dual, and is in itself both negative and positive: positive as regards its own form, but negative as regards its greater sphere. Every atom therefore is both positive and negative,—it is an electron as well as an atom.

Therefore, the process of transmutation is dual and necessitates a preliminary stage of application of external factors, a fanning and care and development of the inner positive nucleus, a period of incubation or of the systematic feeding of the inner flame, and an increase of voltage. There is next a secondary stage wherein the external factors do not count so much, and wherein the inner centre of energy in the atom may be left to do its own work. These factors may be applied equally to all atoms; to the mineral atoms which have occupied the attention of alchemists so much, to the atom, called man who pursues the same general procedure being governed by the same laws; and to all greater atoms, such as a Heavenly Man or a solar Logos.

The process might be tabulated as follows:

1. The life takes primitive form.
2. The form is subjected to outer heat.
3. Heat, playing on the form, produces exudation and the factor of moisture supervenes.
4. Moisture and heat perform their function in unison.
5. Elemental lives tend all lesser lives.
6. The devas co-operate under rule, order and sound.
7. The internal heat of the atom increases.
8. The heat of the atom mounts rapidly and surpasses the external heat of its environing.
9. The atom radiates.
10. The spheroidal wall of the atom is eventually broken down.
11. The electrons or negative units seek a new centre.
12. The central life escapes to merge with its polar opposite becoming itself negative and seeking thepositive.
13. This is occultly obscuration, the going-out of the light temporarily, until it again emerges andblazes forth.

More detailed elucidation will not be possible here nor advisable:

It will be apparent, therefore, that it should be possible, from the standpoint of each kingdom of nature, to aid the transmuting process of all lesser atoms. This is so, even though it is not recognised; it is only when the human kingdom is reached that it is possible for an entity consciously and intelligently to do two things:

First: aid in the transmutation of his own positive atomic centre from the human into the spiritual.

Second: assist at the transmutation

a. From the lower mineral forms into the higher forms.
b. From the mineral forms into the vegetable.
c. From vegetable forms into the animal forms.
d. From animal forms into the human or consciously and definitely to bring about individualisation.

That it is not done as yet is due to the danger of imparting the necessary knowledge. The adepts understand the transmuting process in the three worlds, and in the four kingdoms of nature, which make them a temporary esoteric three and exoteric four.

Man will eventually work with the three kingdoms but, only when brotherhood is a practice and not a concept.

Three points must now be considered in this connection:

Conscious manipulation of the fires.
Devas and transmutation.
Sound and colour in transmutation.

It is necessary here to point out, as I have done in other matters under consideration, that only certain facts can be imparted, whilst the detailed work concerning process may not be dealt with owing to the inability of the race as yet to act altruistically. Much misapprehension crept in, owing to this very thing, in the early days of hierarchical effort to give out some of the Wisdom fundamentals in book form, and this is bravely dealt with by H. P. B.{58 59} The danger still persists, and greatly handicaps the efforts of Those, Who—working on the inner side—feel that the thoughts of men should be lifted from the study of the ways of physical existence to broader concepts, wider vision, and synthetic comprehension. Indication only is possible; it is not permissible here to give out the transmutative formulas, or the mantrams that manipulate the matter of space. Only the way can be pointed to those who are ready, or who are recovering old knowledge (gained through approach to the Path, or latent through experience undergone in Atlantean days) and the landmarks indicated hold sufficient guidance to enable them to penetrate deeper into the arcana of knowledge. The danger consists in the very fact that the whole matter of transmutation concerns the material form, and deva substance. Man, being not yet master even of the substance of his own sheaths, nor in vibratory control of his third aspect, incurs risk when he concentrates his attention on the Not-Self. It can only be safely done when the magician knows five things:

1. The nature of the atom.

2. The keynote of the planes.

3. The method of working from the egoic level through conscious control, knowledge of the protectivesounds and formulas, and pure altruistic endeavour.

4. The interaction of the three fires, the lunar words, the solar words, and later a cosmic word.

5. The secret of electrical vibration, which is only realised in an elementary way when a man knows thekeynote of his own planetary Logos.

All this knowledge as it concerns the three worlds is in the hands of the Masters of the Wisdom, and enables Them to work along the lines of energy or force, and not with what is usually understood when the word 'substance' is used. They work with electrical energy, concerning Themselves with positive electricity, or with the energy of the positive nucleus of force within the atom, whether it is the atom of chemistry, for instance, or the human atom. They deal with the soul of things. The black magician works with the negative aspect, with the electrons, if I might so term it, with the sheath, and not with the soul. This distinction must be clearly borne in mind. It holds the clue to the non-interference of the whole Brotherhood in material matters and affairs, and Their concentration upon the force aspect, upon the centres of energy. They reach the whole through the agency of the few centres in a form. With this preamble we will now take up the consideration of the

Conscious Manipulation of the Fires.

It will now be apparent that the whole process of transmutation, as we can deal with it at present, concerns itself with the two fires which reached a high stage of perfection in a past solar system:

a. The fire of an atom in its twofold aspect—internal and radiatory.
b. The fires of mind.

It is with these that transmutation concerns itself from the human standpoint, and the third fire of Spirit is not at this stage to be considered.

This conscious manipulation of the fires is the prerogative of man when he has reached a certain point in his evolution; the unconscious realisation of this has led naturally to the attempts of the alchemist to transmute in the mineral kingdom. A few of the older students right through the ages have comprehended the vastness of the endeavour of which the transmutation of the baser metals into gold was but preliminary and a symbol, a pictorial, allegorical, concrete step. The whole subject of transmutation is covered by the work of the Hierarchy in all its three departments on this planet, and we might get some idea of the matters involved if we studied this vast hierarchical standpoint, getting thereby a concept of the work done in aiding the evolutionary process. It is the work of transferring the life from one stage of atomic existence to another, and it involves three distinct steps, which can be seen and traced by means of the higher clairvoyance, and from the higher planes. These steps or stages are:

The fiery stage—the blending, fusing, burning period, through which all atoms pass during the disintegration of form.

The solvent stage, in which the form is dissipated and substance is held in solution, the atom being resolved into its essential duality.

The volatile stage, which concerns primarily the essential quality of the atom, and the escape of this essence, later to take a new form.

Radioactivity, pralayic solution, and essential volatility might express the thought. In every transmuting process without exception these three steps are followed. Occultly expressed in the old Commentary they are thus stated:

"The fiery lives burn within the bosom of Mother.
"The fiery centre extends to the periphery of the circle and dissipation supervenes and pralayic peace.
"The Son returns to the bosom of Father, and Mother rests quiescent."

The Masters, in concert with the great Devas, concern Themselves with this transmutative process, and each department might be considered as dealing with one of the three stages:

The Mahachohan's department in its five divisions deals with the burning of the fiery lives.
The Manu's department concerns itself with the form or the ring-pass-not which encloses the burning lives.
The Bodhisattva's department deals with the return of the Son to the bosom of the Father.

Within the department of the Mahachohan, a secondary division along these lives might be outlined:

The seventh and fifth Rays are occupied with the return of the Son to the Father and are largely centred in pouring forth energising power when it becomes necessary to transfer the life of the Son from an old form into a new, from one kingdom of nature to another on the Path of Return.
The third and sixth Rays deal with the burning of the fiery lives.
The fourth blends the two fires within the atomic form.

It will be seen from a close study of these subdivisions, how close is the co-operation between the different groups, and how inter-related are their activities. The work of the Hierarchy can be interpreted always in terms of alchemy, and Their activities deal with a threefold transmutation. This work is carried on by Them consciously, and supervenes upon Their own emancipation.

A Master transmutes in the three worlds and principally concerns Himself with the process upon the eighteen subplanes, the great field of human evolution, and with the passage of the life throughout the dense physical body of the Logos. The Chohans of the sixth Initiation work in the fourth and fifth ethers of the logoic etheric body (the buddhic and atmic planes), and deal with the passage of the life of Spirit from form to form in those worlds, having in view the transmutation of units in the spiritual kingdom into the monadic. Those on still higher levels—the Buddhas and their Confreres of the first and third Rays—deal with the passage of the life into the sub-atomic, and atomic planes of the cosmic physical. What has been said applies to all hierarchical efforts in all schemes and on all globes, for the unity of effort is universal. In every case, conscious self-induced control, or authority, precedes ability to transmute. Initiates learn to transmute and superintend the passage of the life out of the animal kingdom into the human after the third Initiation, and during the earlier stages of initiation, formulas that control the lesser devas, and which produce results in the merging of the second and third kingdoms are communicated; they work under safeguards and supervision.

Advanced intellectual man should be able to co-operate in the synthesis of the work, and deal with the transmutation of the metals, as the ratio of their intellectual development to that of the mineral elements, and builders whom they would control, is the same as in the above mentioned cases and grades of consciousness, but owing to the disastrous developments in Atlantean days, and the consequent stultification of spiritual evolution for a time until karma has been adjusted, the art has been lost; or rather, the knowledge has been safeguarded until a period is reached in the racial progress wherein the physical body is pure enough to withstand the forces contacted, and to emerge from the process of chemical transmutation enriched, not only in knowledge and experience, but strengthened in its own inner fibre.

As time proceeds, man will gradually do four things:

1. Recover past knowledge and powers developed in Atlantean days.

2. Produce bodies resistant to the fire elementals of the lower kind which work in the mineral kingdom.

3. Comprehend the inner meaning of radioactivity, or the setting loose of the power inherent in allelements and all atoms of chemistry, and in all true minerals.

4. Reduce the formulas of the coming chemists and scientists to SOUND, and not simply formulatethrough experiment on paper. In this last statement lies (for those who can perceive) the most illuminating hint that it has been possible as yet to impart on this matter.

It may seem that I have not communicated much information anent this conscious manipulation of the fires. That lies in the inability of the student to read the esoteric background of the above communicated statements. Conscious transmutation is possible only when a man has transmuted the elements in his own vehicles; then only can he be trusted with the secrets of divine alchemy.

When through the latent internal fires of the matter of his own sheaths he has transmuted the chemical and mineral atoms of those sheaths, then can he safely—through affinity of substance—aid the work of mineral transmutation of the first order. Only when (through the radiatory fires of the sheaths) he has transmuted the correspondence to the vegetable kingdom within his own organism can he alchemically do work of the second order. Only when the fires of mind in himself dominate, can he work with the transmutative processes of the third order, or with the transference of life into the animal forms. Only when the Self within, or the Ego in the causal body, is in control of his threefold personality can he occultly be permitted to be an alchemist of the fourth order, and work in connection with the transmutation of the animal monad into the human kingdom, with all the vast knowledge that is included in that idea. Much lies ahead to be accomplished, but in the appreciation of the magnitude of the task need be no place for discouragement, for in the wise outlining of the future, in the cautious promulgation of knowledge concerning the necessitated stages, will come strenuous effort and aim on the part of many aspirants, and the evolutionary bringing in of those who can achieve.

The problem of speaking clearly on this subject of transmutation is a very real one, owing to the vastness of the subject and the fact that in the transmutation process the magician or alchemist works with deva essence through the control of the lesser Builders in co-operation with the greater Devas. In order, therefore, to bring about clarity of thought and definiteness of conjecture in this respect, I desire primarily to lay down certain postulates which must be carefully borne in mind when considering this question of transmutation. They are five in number and concern specifically the field wherein the transmuting process is carried on. The student must recollect at this juncture the distinction that is made between the work of the black and the white magician. It might be helpful here before proceeding further to look at these distinctions as far as they concern the matter in hand:

First. The white Brother deals with positive electrical energy. The dark Brother deals with the negative electrical energy.

Second. The white Brother occupies himself with the soul of things. The black Magician centres his attention upon the form.

Third. The white Magician develops the inherent energy of the sphere concerned (whether human, animal, vegetable or mineral) and produces results through the self-induced activities of the central life, subhuman, human or super-human. The black Magician attains results through the agency of force external to the sphere involved, and produces transmutation through the agency of resolvents (if so I might term it) or through the method of the reduction of the form, rather than through radiation, as does the white Magician.

These differences of method need to be carefully considered and their reaction visualised in connection with different elements, atoms, and forms. To return to our statement of our five postulates anent the transmutation of substance, the resolution of the life, or the transference of energy into different forms.

THE FIVE POSTULATES

Postulate I. All matter is living matter, or is the vital substance of deva entities. For instance, a plane, and forms built of that particular plane substance, is the material form or sheath of a great deva, who is the essence back of manifestation and the soul of the plane.

Postulate II. All forms, vibrating to any keynote, are fabricated by the building devas out of the matter of their own bodies. Hence they are called the great Mother aspect, for they produce the form out of their own substance.

Postulate III. The devas are the life which produces form-cohesion. They are the third and second aspects blended, and might be considered as the life of all forms that are subhuman. A magician, therefore, who transmutes in the mineral kingdom works practically with deva essence in its earliest form on the upward arc of evolution, and has to remember three things:

a. The effect of the backward pull of the involutionary lives which lie back of the mineral, or, in effect,its heredity.

b. The sevenfold nature of the peculiar group of devas which constitute its being in an occult sense.

c. The next transition stage ahead into the vegetable kingdom, or the occult effect of the secondkingdom on the first.

Postulate IV. All deva essences and builders on the physical plane are peculiarly dangerous to man, for they work on the etheric levels and are—as I have earlier pointed out—the transmitters of prana, or the vital, animating substance, and hence they set loose upon the ignorant and the unwary, fiery essence which burns and destroys.

Postulate V. The devas do not work as individualised conscious units through self-initiating purposes as does a man, a Heavenly Man or a solar Logos (viewed as Egos) but they work in groups subject to:

a. Inherent impulse, or latent active intelligence.

b. Orders issued by the greater Builders.

c. Ritual, or compulsion induced through colour and sound.

When these facts are remembered and considered, some comprehension of the place the devas play in transmutation may be achieved. The position that fire occupies in the process is of peculiar interest here, for it brings out clearly the difference of method between the two schools.

In the transmutative process as carried on by the Brotherhood, the inner fire which animates the atom, form or man is stimulated, fanned and strengthened till it (through its own internal potency) burns up its sheaths, and escapes by radiation from within its ring-pass-not. This is seen in an interesting way as occurring during the process of the final initiations when the causal body is destroyed by fire. The fire within burns up all else and the electric fire escapes. The true alchemist therefore in days to come will in every case seek to stimulate the radioactivity of the element or atom with which he is working and will centre his attention upon the positive nucleus. By increasing its vibration, its activity, or its positivity, he will bring about the desired end. The Masters do this in connection with the human spirit and do not concern Themselves at all with his 'deva' aspect. The same basic rule will be found to apply in the case of a mineral as well as of a man.

The process as carried on by the Dark Brotherhood is the reverse of this. They centre the attention upon the form, and seek to shatter and break that form, or the combination of atoms, in order to permit the central electric life to escape. They bring about this result through external agencies and by availing themselves of the destructive nature of the substance (deva essence) itself. They burn and destroy the material sheath, seeking to imprison the escaping volatile essence as the form disintegrates. This hinders the evolutionary plan in the case of the life involved, delays the consummation, interferes with the ordered progress of development, and puts all the factors involved in a bad position. The life (or entity) concerned receives a setback, the devas work destructively, and without participation in the purpose of the plan, and the magician is in danger, under the Law of Karma, and through the materialising of his own substance by affinity with the third aspect. Black magic of this nature creeps into all religions along this very line of the destruction of the form through outer agency, and not through the liberation of the life through inner development and preparedness. It produces the evils of Hatha Yoga in India and similar methods as practised in certain religious and occult orders in the Occident also. Both work with matter on some plane in the three worlds, and do evil that good may come; both control the devas, and attempt to produce specific ends by manipulation of the matter of the form. The Hierarchy works with the soul within the form and produces results that are intelligent, self-induced and permanent. Wherever attention is centred on the form and not on the Spirit, the tendency is to deva worship, deva contact and black magic, for the form is made of deva substance on all planes.

This must be considered well in connection with every form for it holds the key to many mysteries.

We have seen how in this question of the transference of the life from form to form, the work proceeds under rule and order, and is effected through the co-operation of the devas in the first instance, and the application of external agents to the atom or form involved, and in the second place (involving the most important and lengthy stage of the procedure) through the subsequent reaction within the atom itself, which produces an intensification of the positive burning centre, and the consequent escape (through radioactivity) of the volatile essence.

At all the different stages, the fire elementals perform their part, aided by the fire devas who are the controlling agents. This is so on all the planes which primarily concern us in the three worlds—different groups of devas coming into action according to the nature of the form concerned, and the plane on which the transmutation is to take place. Electric fire passes from atom to atom according to law, and "fire by friction" responds, being the latent fire of the atom, or its negative aspect; the process is carried on through the medium of solar fire, and herein lies the secret of transmutation and its most mysterious angle. Fire by friction, the negative electricity of substance, has been for some time the subject of the attention of exoteric science, and investigation of the nature of positive electricity has become possible through the discovery of radium.

Keely, as H. P. B. hinted,{60} had gone far along this path, and knew even more than he gave out, and others have approached, or are approaching, the same objective. The next step ahead for science lies in this direction, and should concern the potential force of the atom itself, and its harnessing for the use of man. This will let loose upon earth a stupendous amount of energy. Nevertheless, it is only when the third factor is comprehended, and science admits the agency of mental fire as embodied in certain groups of devas, that the force of energy that is triple, and yet one in the three worlds, will become available for the helping of man. This lies as yet far ahead, and will only become possible towards the end of this round; and these potent forces will not be fully utilised, nor fully known till the middle of the next round. At that time, much energy will become available through the removal of all that obstructs. This is effected, in relation to man, at the Judgment separation, but it will produce results in the other kingdoms of nature also. A portion of the animal kingdom will enter into a temporary obscuration, thus releasing energy for the use of the remaining percentage, and producing results such as are hinted at by the prophet of Israel{62} when he speaks of "the wolf lying down with the lamb"; his comment "a little child shall lead them" is largely the esoteric enunciation of the fact that three fifths of the human family will stand upon the Path, 'a little child' being the name applied to probationers and disciples. In the vegetable and mineral kingdoms a corresponding demonstration will ensue, but of such a nature as to be too obscure for our comprehension.

The central factor of solar fire in the work of transmutation will come to be understood through the study of the fire devas and elementals, who are fire, and who are, in themselves (essentially and through active magnetic radiation), the external heat or vibration which produces:

The force which plays upon the spheroidal wall of the atom.
The response within the atom which produces radiation or the escape of volatile essence.

Speaking cosmically, and regarding the solar system as itself a cosmic atom, we would consider that:

The abstractions or entities who indwell the form are "electric fire."
The material substance which is enclosed within the ring-pass-not viewing it as a homogeneous whole, is "fire by friction."
The fire devas from the cosmic mental plane (of whom Agni and Indra are the embodiers along with one whose name is not to be given) are the external agencies who carry on cosmic transmutation.

This triple statement can be applied to a scheme, a chain, or a globe also, remembering ever that in connection with man the fire which is his third aspect emanates from the systemic mental.

We have dealt in broad and general manner with this question of electricity and have seen that fire essence or substance is resolved through internal activity and external heat in such a manner that the electric fire at the centre of the atom is liberated and seeks a new form. This is the aim of the transmutative process and the fact that hitherto alchemists working in the mineral kingdom have failed to achieve their objective has been due to three things:

First. Inability to contact the central electric spark. This is due to ignorance of certain of the laws of electricity, and above all, ignorance of the set formula which covers the range of the electrical influence of that spark.

Second. Inability to create the necessary channel or "path" along which the escaping life may travel into its new form. Many have succeeded in breaking the form so that the life has escaped but they have not known how to harness or guide it and all their labour has consequently been lost.

Third. Inability to control the fire elementals who are the external fire which affects that central spark through the medium of its environment. This inability is especially distinctive of the alchemists of the fifth root race who have been practically incapable of this control, having lost the Words, the formulas, and the sounds. This is the consequence of undue success in Atlantean days, when the alchemists of the time, through colour and sound so entirely controlled the elementals that they utilised them for their own selfish ends and along lines of endeavours outside their legitimate province. This knowledge of formulas and sounds can be comparatively easily acquired when man has developed the inner spiritual ear. When this is the case, the transmutative processes of the grosser kind (such as are involved in the manufacture of pure gold) will interest him not at all and only those subtler forms of activity which are connected with the transference of life from graded form to form will occupy his attention.

The following facts might also be pointed out:

First. That every kingdom of nature has its note or tone, and the mantric sounds, which concern any transmutative process within that kingdom, will have that note as the key or base note.

Second. That the note of the mineral kingdom is the basic note of substance itself, and it is largely the sounding of the note combinations, based on this key, which produces the great world cataclysms, wrought through volcanic action. Every volcano is sounding forth this note, and, for those who can see, the sound and colour (occultly understood) of a volcano are a truly marvellous thing. Every gradation of that note is to be found in the mineral kingdom which is itself divided into three main kingdoms:

a. The baser metals, such as lead and iron, with all allied minerals.

b. The standard metals, such as gold and silver, which play such a vital part in the life of the race, andare the mineral manifestation of the second aspect.

c. The crystals and precious stones, the first aspect as it works out in the mineral kingdom—theconsummation of the work of the mineral devas, and the product of their untiring efforts.

When scientists fully appreciate what it is which causes the difference between the sapphire and the ruby, they will have found out what constitutes one of the stages of the transmutative process, and this they cannot do until the fourth ether is controlled, and its secret discovered. As time progresses, the transmutation, for instance, of coal into diamonds, of lead into silver, or of certain metals into gold, will hold no appeal for man, for it will be recognised that the outcome of such action would cause deterioration of the standard, and result in poverty instead of the acquirement of riches; man will eventually come to the realisation that in atomic energy, harnessed to his need, or in the inducing of increased radioactivity, lies for him the path to prosperity and riches. He will, therefore concentrate his attention on this higher form of life transference and

a. Through knowledge of the devas,
b. Through external pressure and vibration,
c. Through internal stimulation,
d. Through colour applied in stimulation and vitalisation,
e. Through mantric sounds

he will find the secret of atomic energy, latent in the mineral kingdom, and will bend that inconceivable power and force to the solution of the problems of existence. Only when atomic energy is better understood and the nature of the fourth ether somewhat comprehended, shall we see that control of the air which lies inevitably ahead.

Third. By the discovery of the note of the vegetable kingdom, by its conjunction with other of nature's notes, and by its due sounding forth in different keys and combinations will come the possibility to produce marvellous results within that kingdom, and to stimulate the activities of those devas who work with flowers, fruits, trees and herbs.

Every root race has its own particular style of vegetation, or certain basic forms and designs which can be traced in all countries where the race locates. These results are brought about by the interaction between the basic note of the vegetable kingdom itself, and the note of the race of men who are evolving simultaneously. The union of these two notes is that which produces distinctive vegetation, though it should be remembered that when the human note dominates too strongly it is apt to drive out the life of the forms of this second kingdom. The devas who work in this kingdom are a special group, and have a closer and more peculiar relation to it than have the builders or devas in any other kingdom. The transmutative process is effected more easily in the vegetable kingdom than in any other owing to this very factor, and also to the incentive given to this second kingdom and its evolutionary process by the coming of the Lords of the Flame from the second or Venus globe—pre-eminently the globe with which this kingdom has a mysterious connection. If I might express it in other words: the cosmic Entity, Who is the life of the second globe and its informing principle, has a close connection with the solar Entity Who is the informing life of the entire vegetable kingdom. This analogy can be worked out in connection with the other kingdoms, globes and other forms and accounts somewhat for the fact that this fourth{63 64} globe is above everything else the globe of human evolution in this scheme; it gives also the clue to the mystery of the Presence of the great Kumara Himself upon earth. These thoughts merit close attention. The note of the human kingdom, sounded in quadruple intensity on this globe, has produced portentous happenings, and I would suggest to all occult investigators the close study and scrutiny of the following manifestations in time and space:

1. The fourth Creative Hierarchy -- The human.
2. The fourth scheme ------------------- Our earth scheme.
3. The fourth chain ---------------------- The earth chain.
4. The fourth globe ---------------------- Our planet.
5. The fourth kingdom ----------------- The human.
6. The fourth round --------------------- The first strictly human round.
7. The four Kumaras -------------------- Embodiers of humanity.
8. The fourth plane ---------------------- The buddhic, the human goal.
9. The fourth ether ---------------------- The physical correspondence of the buddhic plane.

One fundamental sound is responded to by all these varied factors; it is the note that is the cause of their existence and the basis of their being. This note, if sought for and found, will bring into close alliance all of these factors till they are blended into a great occult unity; it will bring likewise into co-operation the band of devas who are the essences of the fourth human principle." [498]

———————
{57} Atom and Electron: See Consciousness of the Atom, page 17-22.
{58} The difficulty of giving one the Wisdom Religion is dealt with by H. P. B. in the Secret Doctrine as follows:—
1. Opinion must be reserved because:—
   a. Complete explanation for initiates only.
   b. Only a fragmentary portion of the esoteric meaning given.
   c. Only adepts can speak with authority.—S. D., I, 188, 190. II, 55, 90.
   d. The teachings are offered as a hypothesis.—II, 469.
2. We must lose sight entirely of:—
   a. Personalities.
   b. Dogmatic beliefs.
   c. Special religions.—S. D., I, 3, 4.
3. We must be free from prejudice.—S. D., III, 1.
   We must also:
   a. Be free from conceit.
   b. Free from selfishness.
   c .Ready to accept demonstrated truth.
4. We must find the highest meaning possible. S. D., III, 487.
5. We must be also non-sectarian.—S. D., III, 110.
6. We must remember the handicap of language.—S. D., I, 197, 290, 293.
7. We must aim to become a disciple.—S. D., 188. II, 246. III, 129.
8. We must eventually develop powers.—S. D., I, 518. II, 85.
9. We must lead the life of Brotherhood. S. D., I, 190.
10. We must remember that H. P. B. makes no claim to infallibility.—S. D., II, 25 note, 273. I, 293.
H. P. B. says:—
"I speak with 'absolute certainty' only so far as my own personal belief is concerned. Those who have not the same warrant for their belief as I have would be very credulous and foolish to accept it on blind faith....What I do believe in is:—
1. The unbroken oral tradition revealed by living divine men during the infancy of mankind to the elect among men.
2. That it has reached us unaltered.
3. That the Masters are thoroughly versed in the science based on such uninterrupted teaching."—Lucifer, Vol. V, p.157.
"The Secret Doctrine is no 'authority' per se; but being full of quotations and texts from the Sacred Scriptures and philosophies of almost every great religion and school, those who belong to any of these are sure to find support for their arguments on some page or another. There are, however, Theosophists, and of the best and most devoted, who do suffer from such weakness for authority."—Lucifer, Vol. III, p. 157.
{59} See Preface and Introduction, Secret Doctrine, Vol. I.
{60} S. D., I, 172, 607-611.
{62} Bible, Isaiah 11:6.
{63} The Fourth Round. The present (our) Round being the middle Round (between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and the 5th, 6th and 7th) is one of adjustment and final equipoise between Spirit and matter. It is that point, in short, wherein the reign of true matter, its grossest state (which is as unknown to Science as its opposite pole—homogeneous matter or substance) stops and comes to an end. From that point physical man begins to throw off "coat after coat," of his material molecules for the benefit and subsequent formation or clothing of the animal kingdom, which in its turn is passing it on to the vegetable, and the latter to the mineral kingdoms. Man having evoluted in the first Round from the animal via the two other kingdoms, it stands to reason that in the present Round he should appear before the animal world of this manvantaric period. But see the Secret Doctrine for particulars.—Lucifer, Vol. III, p. 253.
{64} S. D., I, 107.

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