by Geoffrey Hodson

FOREWORD

TWENTY years ago it would have been difficult to suppose that belief in the existence of angels and fairies would gain so wide an acceptance as it has gained nowadays. People's outlook on the world has undergone such modification that they are far less prone to dismiss unfamiliar ideas with ridicule. Only a few days ago I was reading of a machine, devised by a well-known firm of electricians, which opened doors, started an electric fan, operated an electric sweeper, polished boots or performed other actions in obedience to the command of the voice. The principle was simple enough-that of sympathetic vibration-and a number of tuning-forks served as sound selectors. Science has produced so many marvels, that its exponents may well be regarded as thaumaturgists; and in consequence people are far less prone than they were a few years back to deny the existence of that which is simply, as yet, unknown to them.

Some years ago a Dr. Evans Wentz, who had taken scientific and other degrees in American and European universities, went to Brittany and collected folk stories about fairies. The evidence that he accumulated was so striking that he became convinced of their existence, and he published his records in a book of exceptional interest entitled Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries. Somewhat later Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in The Coming of the Fairies, commented on the remarkable photographs of nature spirits, investigated by Mr. E. L. Gardner. No flaw has yet been detected in the conditions under which these pictures were obtained.

There is, in fact, a considerable body of evidence available, showing that there are those who see and can communicate with members of the angel kingdom. Looking back the other day over a magazine that I edited in 1911, I find a reference to the Bishop of London relating in St. Paul's, Harringay, how children in his congregations saw angels.

I have been following with much interest the recent writings of Mr. Geoffrey Hodson. Those who know Mr. Hodson, as I have had the honour to do over a period of many years, need no assurance as to his sincerity and complete integrity. His life is spent in the constant service of his fellows, and his great natural gifts as a psychic are laid unstintingly at the disposal of serious investigators on the one hand, and of the many who suffer on the other. Whilst I cannot lay claim to anything like the same wide experience of our angel friends and colleagues as can Mr. Hodson, I have still had some personal experience of this kind. Much of what Mr. Hodson says is quite beyond the range of my own knowledge, but there are certain marks in his writings which clearly indicate to one who has this personal touch with the other worlds and with the Deva evolution, that Mr. Hodson on these points, at any rate, sees unmistakably, and that he should be listened to with respect and with an open mind. There will be many who will find inspiration in the ethical teachings given in this book.

J. T. WEDGWOOD, Bishop. Docteur (Sciences) de l'Université de Paris.

INTRODUCTION

THE purpose of the angel in writing this third [The first and second books are: The Brotherhood of Angels and of Men and Be Ye Perfect. ] book, is to provide a basis from which a more detailed study of the angelic hierarchy may be made. His method of teaching is dual; he communicates the subject-matter directly into my consciousness and, in addition, enables me to see the facts for myself, so far as my limitations permit. He uses one or both of these means, according to the nature of the subject and my capacity to receive instruction. The teaching concerning fire, for example, was received with difficulty at first, because, as the absence of reference to the spirits of fire in both my books [ Fairies at Work and at Play. The Kingdom of Faerie ] on fairies suggests, I had not succeeded in gaining much contact with the spirits concerned and consequently I had little or no foundation on which to build.

Perceiving the difficulty, the angel combined the method of direct communication with that of raising my consciousness to a level at which the phenomena which he described [See Chapter IV.-" Fire." ] were visible to me; at the same time he unified my consciousness with his, so that a far wider range of vision was afforded me, and the transference of ideas became relatively easy. Attempted descriptions of such unforgettable experiences inevitably give the writer an acute sense of failure and produce a series of paradoxes and contradictions in his account of the vision.

I seemed to be standing with him submerged in a sea of fire, which was solid and all-pervasive, yet translucent and transparent. I seemed also to see the sun-flower formation of the fire-aspect of the Logos and His system as if the angel and I were standing on one of the petals. Though the distances and dimensions of this fire-world were so colossal as to be physically incomprehensible and immeasurable, yet at this level they were well within my grasp, and the fact that I was standing completely submerged in a veritable cataract of flame as it rushed and swirled about me did not prevent me from seeing the whole of it and its shape, as if I were looking down upon it from above. I could trace its source in the sun and see its limits where the tip of a petal touched the ring-pass-not of the system. I was not able to discover the relation of the physical sun to the fiery sun, but their relative size and luminosity were such that the physical sun would be completely lost in its fiery counterpart.

Under the angel's guidance I moved in this world of fire, but, however great the distance we covered, it always presented the same aspect. Whether we rose or fell in the sea of fire, or crossed a wide area of flame, the system continued to appear like a sun-flower which presented its full-face towards us. Contradictory though this may sound, it will be intelligible to those who are familiar with the idea of the fourth dimension: at the fire-level, however, the dimensions of space are more than four.

The appearance of the solar fire lords was glorious and awe-inspiring. Their stature must be gigantic. Though they did not approach the size of the main petals themselves, as they stood, like an inner ring of petals round the central fiery heart of the flower, they were large enough to be noticeable from points near the outer edge of the system. When we approached the heart, they were seen to be solar colossi, and at one of our resting places one of them completely filled the field of vision. Their forms were distinctly human, though every cell in their bodies resembled a roaring furnace, while flames leapt and played about them continuously. I was not able to see their faces with any distinctness, and their eyes were shaded from my view-perhaps by a merciful providence-but I received the impression of beauty quite as strongly as that of power. In fact, as I recall the experience, I find that their beauty has left a more lasting impression upon me than their power. I am drawn to them by a beauty so perfect as to compel my love and my adoration; they evoke all that is highest in my Nature and fill me with a thirst, rather for beauty in the abstract, than to see them again, or to be like them.

The sense of beauty which I receive from them, is not so much that of shape and form, though their bodies are inexpressibly beautiful-so beautiful, in fact, as to leave one spiritually breathless-but belongs to the abstract ideal of beauty which they embody. Perhaps there is a beauty which is so great that it must be veiled, just as there is a fire so powerful and so hot that we must be shielded from it. In the fire-world I perceived beauty in the abstract as a living power, equally as potent as fire, and realised that as there is a fire aspect of God, so is there a beauty aspect, equal to that of fire in its regenerating, transforming and destructive power; equally glorious, equally terrible, equally dangerous to him who gazes upon its naked potency. I begin to appreciate the truth of the saying that no man may see God and live; man may climb the heights of the spiritual mountain and the beauty of God may transfigure him, but unless he is prepared for its resistless power, he may be utterly destroyed.

In the world of fire there seems to be a highly organised system whereby such dangers are made as remote as possible. The illimitable power, glory and beauty of the Logos passes through the angel hierarchy, which serves as a transformer to reduce and temper it so that dwellers at lower levels be not blinded and destroyed by its awful might. Possibly the human evolution serves in a similar way; I cannot say, for I saw no distinction between angel and man in the fire-world; I was conscious only of the solar system and its inhabitants as a whole. Where I discerned a difference of outline or of form, either in the play of fire energies or in the fire lords, I was, at the same time, equally aware of their essential unity as a corporate whole.

I find that sub-consciously - if there is sub-consciousness at that level-I recorded many impressions during the short period of physical time, say one hour, which I seemed to spend in that region. I saw, for example, that the flames of which each petal consisted, gave the general appearance of homogeneity and solidarity, but close examination revealed that they were granular in substance and consisted of a continuous succession of minute particles rushing from the centre to the circumference of the system.

Variations in density were due to a closer packing of the particles and each particle resembled the ultimate physical atom [Vide Occult Chemistry, by A. Besant and C. W. Leadbeater] and was spinning as it travelled. These fire-atoms rushed past us at a speed which is incalculable, because distances in that realm are unknown; yet I seemed to possess the power of examining a single granule as if it were standing still, for its spinning and rapidity of motion were no barrier to my examination of it.

I have brought back a three-dimensional impression of the region of fire, although, in the account which I was dictating physically, with the angel's help, whilst my consciousness was still at that level, I recorded my perception that it apparently extended in an infinity of dimensions. None the less, as I write now, my memory is of standing on the petal of a sunflower composed of fire, looking towards the centre, of stooping down and taking a portion of the petal in my hand in order to examine its texture and to discover if energy of this type was discrete or continuous.

As the many defections and imperfections of this book testify, I am still far from perfect in the technique of this work, but believe I can develop it by practice. The reception of the angel's teaching always produces an illumination, an expansion of consciousness, a state. of happiness and harmony and a vivid feeling of "rightness " throughput all my vehicles. The privilege of serving in this way can hardly be overestimated, and I look forward to the time when many other students will take up the work and provide us with additional knowledge, more enlightened teachings and a more perfect expression of the indefinable quality of beauty and vitality which is such a prominent characteristic of the angel hierarchy.

THE attitude of the angels towards God differs radically from that of man. They do not conceive the existence of a central personalised individual consciousness, but rather of a universally diffused life-force or energy, an intelligent power which pervades the whole system, forms and ensouls every atom, and fills all space between forms, whether of atom, planet, or of sun.

Though they recognise this power as an all-pervasive immanence, they also know themselves to be a part of it, to be its embodiment, and know no other will or intelligence than that by which its activities are guided. The predominating characteristic of their consciousness is a realisation of unity with each other and with that central source; selfishness, separateness, desire, sense of possession, anger, fear, rebellion or bitterness are impossible to them, because knowledge of the unity of all life forms the background of their existence. They are living embodiments of unity, and display to perfection, each at his level, all the qualities of character which naturally harmonise with and result from its realisation.

All angels are instinctively loving, though their love is far more impersonal than is human love; they see in the object of affection not a desirable form or an attractive personal character, but another embodiment of the same life-force which inspires them. Recognising a mutual source of life and a similarity of purpose, they pour forth towards the object of their affection an impersonal love combined with reverence and a certain spiritual recognition of identity of essence. In the life of the angels there is nothing which corresponds to the bodily affection which men display. They show their love for each other, for men and for Nature by vivid flashes of colour, by an extension and mingling of auras and by a close mental identification with all the hopes, dreams, capacities, qualities of character and fundamental purposes of the beloved.

In spite of their natural realisation of soul-identity, there are great divergences of character and capacity amongst the angels; these largely result from difference of evolutionary standing, of elemental associations and from difference of ray. The first two differences will be considered later; the third operates in a manner closely corresponding to that of the human line of development. Men and angels both come forth from the one parent source through one of the many streams of evolutionary life, of which there are at least seven.

The highest rank in the angel evolution is occupied by One Who may be regarded as the angel aspect of the Supreme, a Being of ineffable and inconceivable splendour and power. The references to Him which follow must be taken as symbolical rather than actual, though they closely approach the truth. The angel aspect of the Logos, like every other aspect, is triple, yet one; from the permutations of these three aspects seven primary characteristics arise, each represented by and expressed in an archangel. These great ones serve as the angelic heads of the seven rays; each is an external expression of a quality in the character of the Logos. The work of each is a perfect example of one of the methods by which He achieves the realisation of His dreams and the fulfilment of His plans. All manifestations of His life, whether angel or human, pass through these primary seven, who form an inner ring which encircles the divine Point.

Six of them, working in pairs, represent the three aspects of the Supreme; each pair constitutes a positive and a negative expression of one aspect. The seventh great spirit sums up within himself both the positive and negative qualities of all three aspects. He may be looked upon as their objective external synthesis, as a summation of all the divine attributes and as one in whom their positive and negative polarities are equally balanced and included.

This idea of a mighty synthesis of all the divine attributes is the nearest approach in angel cosmogony to the human conception of God; it differs from it, in that He is regarded only as the incarnation and summation of qualities and powers which have their source in a region beyond the conception of any embodied consciousness, however spiritual and tenuous that embodiment may be.

That source is formless, immanent in every form, ubiquitous throughout the solar system, beyond which it extends into a region or level of existence where it is united with a central universal source of power, life and consciousness. This is the central source from which all the solar systems in a universe arise, by which they are sustained and into which they all return. This conception of a series of sources, each more interior and remote than the other, reaching inwards towards an ultimate, absolute source and outwards to the production of an infinity of sub-sources, forms the background of all angel consciousness.

The various levels of density of matter are also conceived of in this way, one level being the source of life and power to the level below, until the point of greatest density in a given system is reached. Each system has an enclosing boundary beyond which its life-force cannot pass, through which it cannot escape and from which it rebounds to complete a circuit by its return to the central source. Systems, in their turn, differ according to the level at which this point of greatest density is fixed. This same conception is equally applicable in a cosmos to which universes bear the same relation as do solar systems to a universe.

The angel conceives of at least three major circuits through which and by means of which the power from the central source is conveyed and expressed throughout the system or universe. They are firstly, the matter of which the system is composed; secondly and thirdly, the angel and the human evolutions respectively. If others exist, as conceivably they may, we are not concerned with them at present. The angel evolution, in its capacity of conveyor of power, does not regard matter so much as substance, as a fixed mode or permanent condition, but rather as an illusory appearance produced by the rapid travel of energy. Man sees the illusory and ever-changing appearances caused by this continual flow, while the angel perceives the flowing force of which they are the result. To him, all form is spectral, unsubstantial and impermanent; he thus completely reverses the human attitude in which the life-force is spectral, unsubstantial and impermanent. To mankind, the soul of man, animal or vegetable is ghostly and unreal.

This difference results quite naturally from their divergent methods of evolutionary progress. Both angels and men, from their own point of view, are equally correct. The ideal attitude (to which it would appear more easily possible for man to attain) is one in which both points of view are united. Evolution is not limited, however, to the acquirement of a point of view, but aims also at the attainment by the evolving consciousness of mastery of the technique of the method by which he evolves; again, it would appear from this, that the human kingdom is more likely to attain mastery both of life and form than is the angel, for man is involved more deeply in the form. Though the penalties he pays are heavy indeed, his goal is glorious, for he develops the power of synthesising both angel and human faculties and methods, while from the separateness through which he makes his long pilgrimage, he achieves the highest realisation of a unity which includes both life and form.

Matter is an unconscious conveyor and manifestor of life, power and consciousness. The angels are conscious conveyors and manifestors of the same triplicity of ensouling attributes; their function is to increase and maintain by virtue of their intelligent co-operation the ensouling, vitalising and spiritualising action of that power; the whole of their activities are concentrated upon the life or spirit side of manifestation.

Man touches the extreme limits of the system. Man takes the power, of which he is an intelligent conveyor and manifestor, downward to the lowest depths and himself completes the circuit, bearing with him that power with which he was sent forth. He undertakes the task of intelligent conveyance and manifestation of the three aspects of the Supreme through out all the levels of Nature down to the densest physical. He deliberately identifies himself with matter, voluntarily submitting to the suffering and limitations which such a process inevitably involves in order that both the life and the matter of the system may fulfil their respective functions with increasing perfection.

Man has undertaken responsibility for the fulfilment of the divine will by uniting in himself the functions of both life and form. The angel, on the other hand, concentrates upon the life side and plays his part in the economy of the system, not by self-identification with matter or with form, but with the life behind them both.

Force radiates continually throughout the system from the central power station, to which it rebounds from the densest plane. As it strikes each level in turn in its out-going journey, atoms are formed; these atoms serve to convey the force from the plane above, through the plane on which it exists, into the plane below, where other atoms are formed, until the densest plane is reached. This process is repeated on the return journey, the polarity of the atom being reversed. Positive and negative atoms are continually being brought into existence and as continually ceasing to exist. The speed at which the power travels is so great, that an illusory appearance of permanence and solidity is produced.

The formation of the atom on a given plane makes possible the conveyance of the power and consciousness of the Logos through that plane and enables it to manifest thereon. The aggregation of atoms produces the chemical elements of that plane and the aggregation of the elements produces the forms; through atom, element and form, the divine power is continually passing, both on the outward and return journey, from and to the central power station. The divine immanence is made manifest throughout the whole system by this function of the atom; that manifestation is automatic and the forms which it produces possess but an instinctive consciousness.

The function of both angel and man is to quicken the evolution of life from instinctive to full self-consciousness manifestation. The angel hierarchy brings the power of its consciousness to bear upon the immanent divine life which is evolving through the matter of the plane upon which its members reside; they influence that matter indirectly through their work upon the life. The goal of their endeavours is to produce in the form an increasingly conscious expression of that life, by uniting with it their own more self-conscious life-force.

Each member of the angel kingdom and each atom serves the Logos as a conveyor of His life-force. The service of the angel, however, is intelligent; as the life-force plays through him he manipulates and adjusts the quantity and direction of its flow. If individualised, he does this self consciously, if not, instinctively, obeying the innate laws of his Nature. This union of the consciously directed angel life-force with the automatic and non-conscious flow through the atom, quickens the evolutionary progress of all matter and therefore of all form, whether mineral, vegetable, animal, angel or human.

As evolution proceeds, a greater measure of consciousness shows itself in all the forms of the system, in all the kingdoms of Nature, with the result that instinctive consciousness is gradually evolving towards self consciousness. The angels' dual function in Nature is that of quickening the evolution of form, by sharing their life-force with the life-force within it and stimulating the growth of consciousness into self-consciousness by uniting their own intelligently directed life-force and consciousness with that of the form on which they are working.

They serve the Logos in this way on all planes and in all the kingdoms of Nature, including the human, in which kingdom their dual function may easily be discerned. They select, specialise and build every atom of which all man's bodies are composed. They recognise the type of atom required, by its response to the vibration emitted from the central permanent atom around which all other atoms are built. Before it is placed, the angel or nature-spirit unifies his life-force and consciousness with it and thereby specialises and quickens it into a more responsive state; he then permits it to assume its natural position in the body, according to its type or vibratory rate and the particular line of force by which it is attracted into position. Similar processes are carried out in all the kingdoms of Nature, each by a nature-spirit or angel appropriate to the type of matter and the level of density in which the work is to be done.

In the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms the angels also labour continually to provide that temporary, conscious link between spirit and matter which, in man, is provided permanently by the ego. The association of an angel with a tree, for example, provides the tree with a self conscious focus or channel for the flow of the divine life, increases the extent of the self-conscious and individual existence of which the tree is normally capable and hastens the time when the evolving life within it will be self-consciously manifested.

From the angel point of view, the three great stages of evolution through which the life-force of the Logos-and therefore the forms through which it is manifested-passes are the sub-conscious, instinctive or blind manifestations of that force, the self-conscious and the super-conscious. In the first stage the divine law is obeyed instinctively and blindly, in the second in varying degrees of intelligence and in the third as perfectly as in the first, but consciously instead of instinctively. As the angel himself evolves through those successive stages, the field of his labours corresponds to the stage of his development; thus he passes from the infusoria, nature-spirit and angel stages, through the angelic solar lords, up to the angelic Logos.

 Man, as conveyor and manifestos of the divine power and consciousness, identifies himself with form, in order that spirit and matter may be brought into the closest possible relationship. During his long series of lives, he labours, century after century, to free himself from the voluntary imprisonment which results from the method he has chosen. Gradually he attains mastery over the matter in which he is enclosed; slowly the dynamic power of his awakened will produces in inert substance a responsiveness by virtue of which it becomes obedient to his will. That which once imprisoned him, provides his means of freedom; he does not escape from the prison walls, rather does he change the matter of which they are composed and learns to build it into wings with which he flies. In man and through man, spirit and matter, power and inertia, life and form, are united ; he serves the Logos in the fulfilment of His plan by his synthesising power.

In the elements and in the atomic constitution of matter, we perceive the divine immanence; in the angel hierarchy the divine life finds a conscious expression; in the human hierarchy divine life and divine form are united. Through the angelic Logos or heavenly angel and His hierarchy, the divine life flows freely, unobstructed by material resistance, and the whole angel kingdom is but an embodiment or expression in terms of evolving consciousness of that life. Through the heavenly man, the divine life flows with difficulty, because his consciousness and that of all his kingdom is identified with matter.

As the sun of the logoic day climbs towards the mid-heavens, the resistance begins to be overcome and in the evening of His day, He will witness the free and unobstructed flow of His life throughout all form. The human kingdom will have mastered matter and will have moulded it into perfect vehicles and channels for His life. The heavenly man will take all matter in all the worlds in which he has been incarnate and, shaping it into a perfect chalice, hold it up to the Supreme, knowing that by his labours it may be filled with the wine of the divine life. The heavenly angel will pour out that wine and the members of his kingdom will serve as channels for its distribution throughout all worlds.

When that supreme eucharist has been celebrated, when every atom in the universe is filled with the wine of the one life, when every consciousness is perfectly attuned to the One Consciousness and all manifestation becomes a perfect expression of the divine Will, Wisdom and Intelligence, then the labours of angels and of men will cease and He will call His children home, back into His bosom whence they first came forth.

Then at last He, too, may rest; the curtain may be drawn upon the mighty drama which He has enacted; then at last the sun of His day shall set and He shall seek repose. His worlds will imprison Him no more, for He shall form them into wings which shall bear Him towards That from which He, in His turn, came forth. The fruits of all His labours shall be preserved throughout the long night of His repose, until another dawn, when once more He shall awaken and the sun of a new day shall rise.

Angels and men shall learn new ways of serving Him, shall perform each other's tasks, until at last, in all the long succession of solar systems in which they have laboured, every task and every mode of service shall have been performed; that which once was angel and was man, shall have become a God and be sent forth to be the Logos of a system of his own, the offspring of his heavenly Parent, Who, in His turn, shall have become the Ruler of a universe. His Logoi shall be those who served Him in His solar systems as angels and as men. They shall serve Him through an infinity of time in ever-widening fields of labour, bound to Him by links of love and service, which shall endure throughout eternity.

Who shall tell us when these bonds were formed? Were we all once the jewels in some solar system long ago dissolved and did He serve as nature-sprite to help in our unfolding? Or did we wave our emerald arms as plant, as flower, or tree and did He come as fairy or as angel to flood us with His higher life and wider powers of thought? Or were we just the atoms of a system in which He was a ruler of a world?

The links of love and service endure throughout all time. Though solar systems change from nebulas to suns and planets with their ordered orbits live their evolving lives and finally dissolve, the bonds of love remain unchanged and indissoluble. Those who once were atom and angel, precious stone and nature-sprite, flower and attendant fairy, landscape and angel, animal and man, pupil and Master, initiate and King, pass on, preserving their relationship, as Logoi and Solar Lords, as universal Logoi and Gods of wheeling solar systems, which circle still around their ancient Lord.

Love is the force which maintains the planets in their successive orbits, as they circle round the sun, their Lord of Love. Love binds into a whole the many systems of the universe. From the highest ruler of the rulers of universes, down to the lowest form of life on the densest plane in every system, there is a chain of love, unbroken and unbreakable. In the light of that supernal love, all differences and all diversities are seen but as the manifold expressions of that One infinite and eternal Power from Which all things sprang and to Which all things shall return.

CHAPTER II

THE CREED OF THE ANGELS

The belief of the angels is founded upon knowledge and consists of divine truth as discernible by them according to their different stages of development; it follows that there is an almost infinite gradation of belief, from the creed of the nature-spirit to that of the angelic solar lords. Below the level of the self-conscious and individualised sylph, [ see The Hidden Side of Things, by C. W. Leadbeater ] belief is instinctive and the behests of truth are obeyed without thought or question.

Every nature-spirit, according to his degree, is a perfect expression of the Will, Wisdom and Intelligence of the Supreme. They know no other Will than His; naught separates them from that Will; in it they live and move and have their being, of it their life consists. They are that Will, perfectly manifested at the evolutionary level at which they stand. Hence they evolve but slowly, knowing no resistance, meeting with no obstacles to the expression of that Will of which they are the embodiments. Sadness, sorrow and pain are unknown to them; their world is a fair garden, a paradise, an Eden before the fruit of the tree of knowledge has been plucked.

Their lives are guided by a perfect Wisdom, because, similarly, they are its perfect expression. Every action they perform is perfect in its wisdom; their rectitude of life is absolute, not because they choose the right, but because, being incarnations of divine Wisdom, they can do no wrong. As wisdom is synonymous with bliss, their lives are blissful in the extreme. They live in a state of ecstasy which is perpetual and varies only in degree. Their opportunity of growth lies in that variation, for, having touched a peak of ecstasy and then descended to the vale below-still blissful, but not ecstatic-there arises within them an instinctive desire to repeat the experience. In that fact lies the secret of the life and development of the nature-spirit: he works, because work brings an increase of bliss; work, therefore, is his creed. He does not choose this creed, not does he choose to work, but the Bliss aspect of the Supreme is pressing through him ceaselessly towards a fuller and deeper expression in material worlds; that pressure behind him gives rise to the instinct to strive continually for the highest bliss. The Bliss aspect, knowing that work provides expression, and expression produces joy, inspires its fairy children to work. That work consists of the three processes of absorption, assimilation and expression. In absorption, whether of vitality or of matter, they find happiness; in assimilation they find joy; in expression, bliss.

The method by which those three processes are carried out is ordered by the divine Intelligence, which also is perfectly expressed in them. As the divine Intelligence works within the womb of time and space, preparing for the production of form, so does its manifestation in the nature spirits lead them instinctively to absorb matter, to allow it to gestate within them and so become specialised and afterwards to build it into form. Under the influence of Intelligence they become the builders of the universe. Through them the one Will, the one Wisdom and the one Intelligence find ultimate expression on every plane.

Their creed, therefore, is the law of their existence. Absolute obedience, perfect co-operation, supreme accuracy, tireless activity in never-ceasing labour, immortality, an ever-growing and ever-deepening sense of happiness-these are the characteristics of the nature-spirits. Evolution for them consists of an increase in their powers of expressing the three divine attributes and in individualising [ For an explanation of the technical meaning of this term, see A Study in Consciousness, by A. Besant.  ] from the sub-conscious and instinctive to the self-conscious and intelligent. Eons of time must pass before that change can occur; with it there comes a change of creed, for the newly individualised angel must adjust himself to the belief of his degree.

The nature-spirit is immortal; he suffers no loss of consciousness with a change of form. He ranges, at will, between the two worlds of which his universe is composed. His self-consciousness does not extend beyond the astral plane; above that he is merged into the stream of consciousness with and from which he has descended into the material worlds; as he evolves he passes through the seven levels of the astral world, enters the mental and passes through it, to gain his first realisation of true individual existence at the causal level. Similarly, before he reached the astral plane, he rose through the dense physical into the etheric, where he lived as a member of the many ultra-microscopic races, whose function material science has yet to discover. It may be that when that discovery is made, the true nature of disease will be revealed.

Since he reached his present state by progress through and relative mastery of the etheric world, the nature-spirit possesses the power of returning to that region, of clothing himself in etheric matter at will, and of appearing in one of the many familiar nature-spirit forms.

The Logos, in designing His universe, has willed that the typical form of the self-conscious entity should be that upon which the form of angel and of man is modelled; it follows, therefore, that when consciousness plunges deep into matter and thereby takes a form, there is a natural tendency to reproduce the archetype existing in the mind of God. The present form of nature-spirit, as of angel and of man, is not fixed; it is the product of millions of years of growth and their future forms will approach the archetype far more closely than is possible to-day. The operation of the creative Will, which is immanent on every plane of Nature, may be perceived in the forms in which the spirits of the elements appear.

The astral level has a relationship to the fairy similar to that which the causal level has to man. When man has mastered the three lower worlds, as the fairy has mastered the etheric, he will be able to assume and cast aside a form in any one of them with the same ease as does the nature spirit in the realm of which he is master. The body of the nature-spirit on the astral plane resembles, at its level, the causal body [See works on the subtler bodies of man by A. E. Powell and A Study in Consciousness, by A. Besant ] of the man in miniature ; the results of his life in the two worlds are stored within it, and it contains for him all that he knows of self-consciousness. Within that tiny " causal " body, the archetypal nature-spirit form is faintly to be seen; when he descends to the etheric level he assumes a modification of its shape and the globular astral body surrounds him as an aura. His life consists entirely of the expression of his creed, as previously described. His growth is slow, but it is regular and certain, for he is so completely pervaded by the divine life that error is impossible.

The nature-spirit differs from his brethren of the kingdom of Pan - the satyr and the faun-in that the divine life expressed in them has first been specialised by the Spirit of the Earth of whose consciousness they are the perfect expressions; but they are not direct expressions of the divine consciousness in the same degree as are the nature-spirits. The Spirit of the Earth is an evolving being, and inevitably affects the life of which it is an embodiment by the qualities which it has developed and the limitations due to its position in the evolutionary scale. Pan bears a relationship to the Spirit of the Earth similar to that which the nature spirit bears to the angelic-Logos.

The Spirit of the Earth is a member of the angelic hierarchy, and the little which may be said concerning it can best be grasped, perhaps, by a study of the methods of those angels who ensoul landscapes and mountains. The function which they perform for their districts bears a resemblance to that which the Spirit of the Earth performs for the whole planet; it is that of an ensouling consciousness, whose presence makes homogeneous the heterogeneity of the myriad forms of life of a district or a globe. The evolution of every cell and every atom within their sphere of influence is quickened by their ensouling presence. They also serve as additional and direct links between their angelic superiors and the dense physical matter of the area under their charge. Though their work may appear as an eternal imprisonment and does indubitably affect them in some measure as such, the higher levels of their consciousness are free, and at those levels they are in continuous communication with the angel or archangel next above them in the hierarchical order. That overlord, in his turn, is linked to his superior, the whole forming a hierarchy reaching up to the Logos Himself. Through this hierarchy He has a means of communication with, and control of, the whole of His system which is far more direct than that which He exercises by the projection of His Will and Consciousness through matter, plane by plane, down to the physical. .

As there is a spirit of each planet in a system, so is there a being who unites within his consciousness all the physical planets, another who similarly unites all the astral and others the mental and super-mental planets in the system. On every plane of Nature there is a being who holds all the planets of that plane within his consciousness; to him they serve as a body and appear, not as separated in space, but as one homogeneous whole. Thus there is a spirit of the physical planets of our system who holds within his consciousness all the physical globes and the spirits who inhabit them. His chief concern, like that of every individual spirit, is the evolution of the matter and the life of which the plane consists. The branch of the angelic hierarchy to which he belongs serves the Logos on every plane through representatives at every level by impressing His characteristics-as far as they are able to express them-upon the matter of their plane; by their function in Nature, the progress of the evolution of matter in our system keeps pace with the unfolding of consciousness; thus matter can be moulded into forms which fitly express the results of that unfolding.

The newly individualised angel must adjust himself to the change from the instinctive to the self-conscious in all his work, whilst at the same time his co-operation and obedience must be as perfect as before. Such training as he receives is directed chiefly towards that end. He knows himself to be an individual, possessed of definite and distinct powers and capable of individual activity; yet his powers must never be expressed in a direction contrary to that of the divine Will. He must preserve all that is most valuable in the full and complete co-operation which he unconsciously gave as a nature-spirit and add to it the powers of his own individuality. That is his task as he enters into his new life; as he grows in stature, in knowledge and in power, so must he grow in obedience to that rule.

To the human mind, this might seem a self-abasement and a self-effacement, so complete as to be unworthy of an evolving God; the fundamental difference between the outlook of angel and of man is expressed in such a view. The human method of growth, up to the point where the Path [See In the Outer Court, by A. Besant; and The Masters and the Path, by C. W. Leadbeater. ] is entered, aims at the development of full realisation of a separate individuality, capable of self-initiated action in any direction, and of resistance to all attempts at external domination. When the Path is entered, that lesson must be unlearned and the angel mode of progress must be followed, for the truly spiritual man must be as incapable of action outside the direct operation of the divine Will as are the angels. All that he has won by many lives of strenuous endeavour, in self-defence and self-support, must be surrendered at the entrance to the Path; that is one meaning of his becoming " as a little child"; from this point of view, each member of the angelic hierarchy, from nature-spirit to solar lord, is "as a little child."

With extremely rare exceptions, an angel is incapable of treading the left-hand path; his whole method of evolution is the direct antithesis of all for which the Brothers of the Shadow stand. There is, however, a branch of the angel hierarchy, under the archangel Michael, which chose a variation of the angel method of evolution. The story of the war in heaven is a symbolic reference to that choice. The truth is deeply veiled, for an actual war was not involved, but rather a difference of service. A path mid-way between that trodden by humanity and the angels was chosen, which resulted in the development of the power aspect of consciousness to an enormous degree.

All streams of angel evolution find their highest expression in the supreme heavenly angel, the one central angelic being, who corresponds in human development to the heavenly man-and angelic Logos, if you will, but not separate from the "One without a second." Of that Being who may write and what may even the most enlightened say, save that in Him the whole angel hierarchy has its being, and that of Him every member is a part? He is the angelic Whole. Every solar system has its angelic and its human hierarchies, and these mighty Ones, Who are the summation of all the consciousnesses evolving in Their care, are Themselves part of a universal existence, glorious beyond the conception of angel or man, whilst his imagination still remains imprisoned within the "ring-pass not" of his own solar system.

The angel gradually acquires a knowledge of these conceptions which may be said to form his creed. He meditates upon them, seeking to discover their significance, and to fit himself perfectly into the system to which they and he belong. No external teaching is needed, for the knowledge arises gradually within his consciousness, as does the knowledge of the rising of the sun and its upward climb towards the mid heaven in one who, watching from a mountain side, witnesses its glorious ascent. Development for the angel consists almost entirely of growth initiated from within; this shows itself as an increase in the size and luminosity of the aura and of the central form and in a widening and deepening grasp of the fundamental processes behind all manifested life.

Until a certain stage is reached, he rejoices in a life of entire freedom, an existence which, compared to the human lot, is one of continuous ecstasy. The aerial spaces are open to him, and he revels in his growing power, in the companionship of his fellows, and in the beauties of Nature, of sea, land, or sky, according to the line of his development. These are the angels who may be seen disporting themselves high up in the air, building the clouds into strange shapes, wing-like streamers and sylph-like forms, flashing down the long valleys of earth, crossing the wide expanse of the heavens and peopling, in their countless thousands, the vast realms of aerial space.

During this period which immediately follows individualisation, a change occurs within the soul of the angel; a sense of responsibility begins to make an insistent demand for expression in action. The angel hears the call to work. The days of his irresponsible freedom and superabundant joy are drawing to a close, for that which is growing within him will brook no denial; under its irresistible influence he is drawn closer to the higher ranks of his hierarchy and gradually he changes from an angel who plays to an angel who works. Even in his play he served, for that, too, was an expression of the divine play, a manifestation of the divine happiness, freedom and joy.

The creed of the angels may be regarded as a natural expression of the Third Aspect of the Logos, their play and blissful happiness of the Second Aspect and their work of the First Aspect.

CHAPTER III

EARTH AND THE SPIRITS OF EARTH

When the time comes, the angel adds the service of work to the service of play. He is then employed as an agent of his hierarchy in one of the four elements of earth, air, fire or water.[These terms are used throughout in the Aristotelian sense, rather than in that of modern science ] His task is a double one; he works ceaselessly to increase his own powers of expressing the divine within himself and, at the same time, he labours to quicken the evolution of that aspect of the divine Life and Consciousness which is in incarnation within the element to which he is attached. As he grows in stature he offers a fuller and deeper expression of the divine within himself; by the impact of his self-conscious and increasingly vivid existence upon the dreaming consciousness of his element, he quickens its evolutionary progress. To do this, he identifies himself as closely as possible with the life and consciousness within the element in question, so that he may share his own more developed life-force with it. He works by merging himself with the object of his toil and by unifying himself with the stream of consciousness which he seeks to quicken.

Those angels who have risen from the races of nature-spirits of the earth tend, though not invariably, to choose that element as their field of service. They descend voluntarily below the surface of the ground and allow their specialised life-force to permeate a given area. By practice they learn to blend themselves with the evolving consciousness, in order to quicken its evolution. As they grow in stature and capacity, the area which they can thus ensoul increases until, gradually, a whole landscape or a mountain can be included within the play of their life force.

As previously explained, the spirit of a planet serves the whole globe, as an earth angel serves field, hill, valley, mountain and landscape. In addition to the quickening effect upon the element of earth and the life within it, all the elemental life within the area affected is also stimulated and assisted in its evolutionary progress. This, in its turn, affects both animal and plant life, for the nature-spirit builders of form work with greater capacity as a result of the angel's presence. An angel ensouling a district in which human beings live, or through which they frequently pass, may also produce a distinct effect upon those men who can respond to him; when he finds that a person or a group is specially responsive, he concentrates his powers upon them, and employs lesser angels and nature-spirits to improve the condition of their bodies and auras and, if possible, to illumine their consciousness. Most men have a natural affinity with the element of earth and the spirits of that element, so that it frequently follows that large numbers of people benefit considerably, though unconsciously, from the ministrations of the angels of earth.

The period of time for which an angel remains connected with a district depends upon his growth and the results at which he aims. The younger angels require longer than the more advanced to produce noticeable results. An angel will remain in contact with an area of ground for at least fifty to a hundred years, working almost continuously to quicken the evolution of every form of life within that area, to develop his own capacities and to increase the boundaries of his district. When his own development has reached a certain point, he is generally recalled by a superior and passed on to other work.

The order of the earth angels regard their element not as soil or dead matter or as uncleanness, but as part of one of the many robes of the Creator. To them all physical matter is sacred, for they perceive the presence of the divine Life within every atom of which it is composed. They recognise the work of the divine Will, Wisdom and Intelligence in the varying degrees of evolution, perfection of form and power of expressing consciousness of the different modes of earth life and form. The desert sand, the mountain rock, the fertile soil of the plain, the flint, the metals and the precious jewels, each has a message and a meaning entirely different from that which they convey to the mind of man.

The earth angels regard them as different portions of one of the garments of God, portions of His life at different stages of growth, aspects of His beauty differently portrayed; in their crystalline formation they see examples of the geometry by which His universe is planned. Behind them all they recognise an order and a design, a definite system of evolutionary progress, which it is their work to forward and to serve. The whole of the earth branch of the angels devotes itself to that work; within that branch there are many sub-divisions, each with its appropriate activities.

In addition to the earth angels whose general work has been briefly outlined, there is an order of nature-spirits which is concerned with the evolution of the crystal form upon the planet. All processes of crystallisation operate under its influence and direction; its members are the embodiments of the law which governs the formation of crystals in all the different types of matter, each with the appropriate geometrical form. Of the seven types of jewels, for example, each has its own nature spirits and angels, which work exclusively upon its development and perfection. They may be regarded as the jewellers of the Logos, the specialists in precious stones, which they strive to bring to their highest perfection, that the physical garment of God may be ever more worthily adorned. They experience the same joy in their labour as does an artist in the creation of a work of art.

Every precious stone has a heart which is composed of a central atom with a group of atoms gathered round it. Through that central atom the special life-force and influence of the first Logos reaches the stone, which is thus magnetised by its descending power. This descent of power causes the atoms to arrange themselves in a flower-like formation in the centre of the jewel, the growth of which takes place, under the guidance of the nature-spirits, along the geometrical lines of force thus produced. The whole stone is seen by the nature-spirit as a living, pulsing, flower like jewel, for he sees it from within; unlike man, he pays little regard to the surface of the stone, hence the unpolished and lustreless condition of most jewels in their natural state.

This difference of treatment and appreciation of the precious stone by nature-spirit and man is an excellent example of their divergent viewpoints concerning Nature. Man sees the outside of a jewel and bends all his efforts to perfect it so that it may reflect, with increasing brilliancy, external sources of light; the nature-spirit sees the inflowing and permeating divine Life within the stone and seeks to provide for it a means of fuller and more perfect expression.

The nature-spirit workers in metals also regard their minerals as part of the adornment of the Logos and see His life as their ensouling principle. They labour to quicken the mineral consciousness and to perfect the mineral form. In every mode of earth-life, the nature-spirits and the angels of appropriate type toil to produce on earth an ever more perfect expression of the archetypal ideas in the divine mind.

The divine models-all of which are modifications of the platonic solids-exist within the consciousness of the Logos and are impressed upon the Akasha of every plane; these exert a continuous influence upon all forms, so that they tend to grow into the likeness of their Archetype.

Nature-spirits and angels perceive these reflections from the divine mind, not as would a workman, as designs to copy, but rather as tendencies inherent within every atom of matter in which they work. In some cases the nature-spirit himself becomes impressed with the archetype and assumes its shape, as may be seen in the flower-building fairies who frequently appear in modified flower-shapes themselves.

In the nature-spirits this process is instinctive and is largely due to their close self-identification with the divine Mind from which the model is projected. This power of self-identification with the divine Life reaches such a high degree that it almost becomes absorption. It is a reflection of that expansion of consciousness and power of identification which is achieved by man at super-mental levels. The fairy identifies herself so completely with the life in the plant on which she is working, that her form temporarily disappears and her consciousness is extended through every cell and atom of the plant. In this condition she actually experiences a reflection of the bliss of Nirvâna; and although it is the result of an instinctive and sub-conscious attainment of unity, it nevertheless definitely releases a measure of nirvanic life and this release gives an evolutionary impulse to the plant and, incidentally, to the fairy as well.

The same process in varying degrees operates throughout all the work of the nature-spirits in every kingdom of Nature. It is a fundamental process, well worth serious study and meditation, for an understanding of it will provide the key to many problems. The creative urge expresses itself in the animal and human kingdoms as a conscious desire for self identification with the opposite polarity; a definite release of power occurs when the identification is achieved, its volume being proportionate to the level of consciousness at which the identification is attained.

In man, a conscious release of buddhic and nirvanic power should result from the achievement of perfect unity from the physical up to the egoic levels. Such a result is attainable by those who deliberately focus their consciousness away from the physical into the spiritual and engage in meditation during the procreative act. The ideal of human union is to repeat with the closest possible fidelity the process of creation as performed by the Logos. Man creates micro cosmically and in the process becomes a God. It will be apparent from this, into what ignominy and shame they fall, who misuse the creative power for the gratification of lust. Man, in choosing the human path of development by incarnation at the dense physical level, wins the power to create physically and is given freedom of choice in the use to which he will put that gift. The human path becomes a path of woe because, until a certain stage is passed, he inevitably misuses it. To the angels no such choice has been given, and though they possess powers and capacities which man develops only after many lives, they run no risk of misusing them because they never lose the knowledge of their identity with their source.

The angels practise union and self-identification, not for the reproduction of species but m order to share their life and consciousness with other forms of life; they attain such a large measure of self-identification with the life and consciousness of the object of their labours, that buddhic and nirvanic power is released into both the life and the form at the level at which they are working.

CHAPTER IV

FIRE AND THE SPIRITS OF FIRE

Fire, too, is one of the garments of God, Who, to the spirits of fire, appears clothed in flame. They regard Him as the central fiery heart of all manifested life and the solar system as an expression of Him as fire. In order to understand fire as an element, the mind must be dissociated from the idea of physical flame. As to man on earth the sun appears expressed throughout the whole system in terms of power, light, heat and vitality, so to the salamander the sun is manifested on all planes as fire. The fire angels see the universe as a vast roaring sea of flame-a furnace in which all things burn. Every object on every plane is seen in terms of fire, as if it were aflame. Men, angels, trees, landscapes and globes are all centres of fire, permeated and surrounded by fiery energy. Salamanders are the embodiments of that all-pervasive element; in it they live and work as the servants of the Logos, Who, to them, is the central flame.

The septenary division of the universe, as of the cosmos, finds a reflection in the realms of fire; fire exists in seven states and there are seven degrees of salamanders or fire angels, each more glorious and more fiery than his brother of lower degree. Earthly fire is of the lowest degree, as are the astral salamanders of whom it is an expression. All fire, on every plane, is summed up in one great archangel who is the God of fire in our solar system and under whom, in their graded orders, the salamanders work.

The purpose of the universal fire is to regenerate and to transform; to ensure continuity of growth by means of change, and to insure that no part or parts of the universe should become static, resistant and inert. The element of fire is an expression of the divine Will which exerts a ceaseless forward pressure upon all life and manifests in all form as an inward urge towards a more perfect expression of the ensouling life. Fire has the special function of maintaining universal movement and its denizens possess that fiery quality which transforms and regenerates and, when necessary, destroys. On earth the salamander and his element of fire are most familiar in their aspect as "destroyers"-yet you employ them not only to consume, but also as producers of light, heat and power.

Between the earthly fire and the heart of the Logos, which is eternally aflame, there is an unbroken chain of fire by means of which He manifests the fire aspect of His nature throughout His system; that manifestation produces a form which somewhat resembles the familiar single sunflower which blooms in earthly gardens. The heart of the blossom is the sun, and each petal is a mighty tongue of flame, playing from the sun out to the farthest confines of the system. From whatever direction this fire flower is seen, the same aspect of widely opened petals appears, for the solar sunflower extends into every dimension of the system and therefore presents a full-face from every point of view. Yet not the gentle beauty of an earthly flower, but a roaring sea of fire is presented to the gaze of him who is able to see the fire aspect of the Logos. Each petal of the fiery flower is a living tongue of flame through which with a mighty roar power is rushing in a steady and continuous stream.

Amidst this colossal display the fire angels dwell, wielding its resistless energy and directing the play of the fiery solar forces according to the will of that supreme Fire which is their source of life. They are the lords of fire, the archangels of flame, the spiritual regenerators of the system; living embodiments of fire-power, they are inspired by the fiery Will of the atmic Logos, Who is the one Supreme Ruler, of Whom this mighty solar fire-flower and the great lords of fire are a direct expression.

In colour golden-yellow and flame-like, they resemble gigantic men built of flame; in the hand of each a spear and on the head a golden crown of living fire. Flames shoot forth from them on every side; every change of consciousness sends forth a tongue of flame; every gesture flings a flood of fire. They form an august body of solar fire-angels who, each at his station where the petal-shaped tongues of flame rush forth, encircle the sun. Through them passes power, to be transformed in passing, lest its naked energy should destroy the system which, by their mediation, it regenerates and transforms. They shield the solar system lest the fiery power should blind the eyes of those to whom it is a source of light, burn those to whom it is a source of heat and shatter those to whom it is a source of power.

Such are the mighty Ones Who stand before the fiery throne of the fiery Father of angels and of men. Below them, rank on rank, grade on grade, is ranged the mighty order of the spirits of the fire. On every plane of Nature they serve their Fire-King and own allegiance to their fire-lords. Their fiery nature gives them an appearance of uncontrolled ferocity, of fiery and destructive power. In each of them, at every level,  a measure of the fiery logoic power is stored. Their growth is marked by an increase in that power, an added stature and a more perfect expression of the fire of the logoic Will.

The greatest earthly fire is but a dim and faint reflection of the true fire of the sun; the brightest earthly blaze seems but a shadow beside its radiant light. The fire aspect of the system, as of the universe, resembles lightning formed into a sunflower, whose every petal is a permanent lightning flash and whose heart is the womb in which lightning is born. All manifested life, on every plane, is surrounded and permeated by fire; there is no inter-planetary space; the separation of the globes is but illusion; the sun is not the isolated centre of a ring of planets; there is but one homogeneous whole, fire-filled.

Every atom in the system and all the space between the atoms is filled with fire and all is aflame with fiery power. Centre and circumference are one. Though mighty solar flowers, whose petals touch the orbits of the furthest globes, present themselves full-faced from every point of view, there is but one flower and one fire, as there is but one solar Logos. The solar flower is His body, the planets are His organs, the sun His fiery heart. The solar fire-angels are His limbs and His mighty head and feet form the organs of One mightier than He, the universal Lord of universal Fire.

In olden days the solar Lords of fire sent a messenger to the earth to found the religion of fire and deliver the message of fire to men. His name was Zarathustra; he was one of the flowers of earth's humanity, one of its first-fruits, who, having won his way into the realm of fire and learnt to dwell therein, had gained the knowledge and the power to stand unharmed before the solar lords, to learn from them the message he should bring and to receive the gift of mastery of fire. He appeared amongst his people amid tongues of flame and surrounded by the spirits of fire. He told of fire the regenerator and transformer and taught his people to transform their lives by the fire of their own will united with the divine Will. He taught that every evil in their lives and in their land must be consumed by fire, that thus they might prepare a temple for the regenerating power of the spiritual sun. Knowing the word of power, he called down fire from on high; from that fire the temple lamps and fires on the hearth were lit throughout the land.

His mission marked an epoch in the evolutionary life of the planet, for he brought the element of fire into closer contact with the element of earth. Until your chemists have discovered the significance of fire as an element and have learnt to trace it in the atom and through all the kingdoms of Nature, the meaning of this statement cannot be fully grasped. After Zarathustra's time a change took place in all the earthly elements, for he brought an added measure of the solar fire into the heart of that physical atom from which all the chemical elements are formed. He established the kingdom of fire upon earth and since his day all matter has become more malleable and more responsive to thought and will.

Whenever fire burns upon your hearth, it forms a vehicle for the solar fire; therefore should fire be everywhere regarded as sacred. The lighting of a fire invokes a salamander; the fire of the hearth has its appropriate nature-spirit, the forest fires have theirs; a great conflagration attracts them in large numbers and they come to revel and rejoice in the manifestation of their element on earth. As they are but the embodiments of the solar fire, they may be regarded as ensouling physical fire, to which they bear a relation similar to that borne by the fire aspect of the solar Logos to themselves.

Volcanoes are centres in which the solar fire is concentrated and where salamanders gather in their various degrees; for wherever their element is active, there the fire-spirits are present. Far below the surface of the earth there burns an unquenchable fire, a veritable portion of the solar fire by which it is still fed, and with which it is in unbroken and direct connection. There dwell mighty members of the salamander's race; there labour many orders of nature-spirits and of angels, for the interior source of life and power to the planet exists at the centre of the earth. There its vital energies are renewed, jaded matter is re-charged and interstellar atoms are impressed with the special vibratory rate of the planet in order that they may pass into the circulating stream of the planet's atomic life. The fiery life-force of the Logos arises at the centre of the earth. No earthly channels are required for its passage; it arrives direct through the operation of the higher dimensional mechanism by which the system is ordered. Here are stored and renewed the magnetic energies of the planet, each under the charge of its appropriate nature-spirit and angel; each type of force is a physical reflection of an aspect of the central divine energy and is intimately associated with the region of solar fire.

The fiery sun-not its physical veil-is the power-house from which the life-giving energies of the Logos are projected throughout the system. The fire angels are the agents of that power, the engineers in charge of the mechanism by which it regenerates and transforms all life within its sphere of influence. The most prominent characteristic of the power of fire is change; thus, physical fire consumes by the law of its being, which is to produce a change of form, that new orders of power may be released.

This invisible element of fire is at work behind the whole system, as are its agents. In every rock, in every stone, jewel, plant, animal and man, it ceaselessly exerts an influence in the direction of change; because of its presence nothing in Nature can ever stand still; it ensures the growth of the system. Its power is wielded, not only by the nature-spirits who labour instinctively in the cause of change, but by the great fire angels who consciously produce all changes throughout the system, so that the new birth which results may grow ever nearer and nearer to the likeness of its archetype in the mind of God. Thus, fire is "the power that maketh all things new" and change the universal watchword, the fundamental law throughout the whole realm of fire, the word by which its energies are freed and its denizens evoked.

When the spark leaps from the flint, divinity is revealed; when the fire is lighted on the hearth, the sacred Presence is invoked; where that divinity is revealed and that Presence is invoked, man and angel should both pay homage to That to which they owe their life. The days of fire worship must return; within men's hearts and minds the sacred fire of the divine life must burn more brightly as each man knows himself to be the earthly counterpart of the central fiery Man who reigns omnipotent, whose throne is set both in his heart and in the fiery heart of the universe. Fire is the parent of Spring, the promise of renewal in all worlds; fire dwells in the heart of man, fire warms his blood; in his invisible self he is a man of fire.

HYMN TO FIRE

Hail fire ! Hail fiery Solar Lords!

Hail Spirits of the Fire!

In all your countless numbers,

In all your manifold degrees,

We greet you, Brethren of the Fire!

Oh holy Fire! Oh wondrous Flame!

Transformer of the universe, regenerator of all worlds,

Life-giver to all form.

The glory of Thy fiery power fills heaven and earth,

And all the wide dominions that lie between the stars.

Thou art the spark within the stone, the life within the tree,

Thou art the fire on the hearth, the splendour of the Sun.

Thine is the hand which paints the roseate morn,

Thine the fiery beauty of the sunset sky;

Thine the warm breath of flower-scented summer breeze,

Thine the power that maketh all things new.

Fire to Fire, we offer our souls to Thee,

Draw us closer to Thy fiery heart,

That we may lose ourselves in Thee.

Oh Fire Divine! Burn fiercely in our lives,

That darkness, lust and hate may be dispelled

And human souls shine forth in purity,

With all the dazzling glory of the Sun.

Cleanse us, oh lordly Fire; rejuvenate our hearts and minds;

Burn up the dross, recharge the will

And send us forth to labour in Thy name,

Thy chosen men of Fire.

AMEN

His is the sighing of the trees, the roaring of the wind,
His the voice of every bird, the nightingale's sweet song,
His the bleating of the lamb, the lowing of the calf.

His the soft murmuring of every rippling stream,
His the mighty roaring of the cataract,

The awesome thunder of the earthquake,
The volcano's fearful sound.

His the songs of angels and of men,
The music of His planets as they spin.
His the many voices of His many worlds,

His the seeming discords which mark the stages of His system's growth
For in Him, harmony and discord melt away.

He knows them both as one.

The angels of light may be invoked. Fairy, sylph, angels of power, great Ghandarvas [The Indian name for the angels of music. ] and their heavenly hosts will combine with men in offering up their deepest adoration towards the Sun, praying that His light shall descend to earth, that darkness may be dispelled.

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