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Nº. XLIII
CONCERNING PSYCHE,
OR THE
IT is truly said that God is the
primordial mind, and that the kosmic universe and its
manifestations are the ideas of that mind. Mind in itself is passive; it is
organ, not function. Idea is active; it is function. As soon, therefore, as mind
begins to act, it brings forth ideas, and these constitute existence. Mind is
abstract; ideas are concrete. When thou thinkest, thou
createst. Every thought is a substantial action.
Thoth, (3)
therefore, is the creator of the Kosmos. The science
of the mysteries can be understood only by one who has studied the physical
sciences; because it is the climax and crown of all these, and must be learned
last, and not first. Unless thou understand
the physical sciences, thou canst not comprehend
the doctrine of Vehicles, which is the basic doctrine of occult science. “If
thou understand not earthly things, how shall I make thee understand heavenly
things?” Wherefore, get knowledge, get knowledge, and be greedy of knowledge,
ever more and more. It is idle for thee to seek the inner chamber until thou
hast passed through the outer. This, also, is another reason why occult science
cannot be unveiled to the horde. To the unlearned, no truth can be demonstrated.
Theosophy (1) is the royal science.
If thou wouldst reach the king’s presence chamber, there is no way save through the outer rooms and galleries of the palace.
In every living globule there are
four inherent powers. I speak not now of the component parts of a cell, but of
forces. The first and lowest mode of power is mechanical; the second is
chemical, the third is electric, and the fourth is psychic. The first three
belong to the domain of physiological science; the last to that of occult
science. It is this last mode of power which belongs to the immaculate and
essential. It is inherent in the substantial, and is therefore permanent as an
indefeasible quantity. It is in the Arche, (2) and it is wherever there is organic life. Now the Psyche is
from the beginning latent and diffused in all matter; and forasmuch as Psyche
also is not of herself, but of spirit, therefore is spirit also the basic
quality of all things; – the motionless by motion converted into the solid; –
the invisible by energy made visible. So that herein are two: – that which is
made visible, and that which makes visible; and of these again is a third, that
which is visible.
And of this energy, or primordial
force, there are two modes (because everything is dual), the centrifugal or
accelerating force; and the centripetal or moderating force. (Yet, as I have
already said, this second mode of energy is feminine, and therefore derivative,
being reflex and complementary to its primary.) By means of the first force,
substance (Psyche) becomes matter. By Means of the second, substance resumes her
first condition. But in all matter there is a tendency to
revert to substance, and hence to polarise soul by means of evolution.
The tendency to revert to substance is the cause of evolution. And this, because
the instant the centrifugal mode begins to act, that instant its derivative, the
centripetal, begins also to exercise its influence.
And no sooner has the primordial Arche assumed the condition of matter, than matter itself
begins to differentiate, actuated by the inherent force of psychic energy, and
by differentiation begets individuals without number.
Then Psyche, once impersonal because
essential, becomes individuated and personal, and through the gate of matter
issues forth into new life. A tiny spark in the globule, Psyche becomes a
refulgent blaze in the globe. And this by continual accretion
and centralisation. As along a chain of nerve-cells the current of
magnetic energy flows to its central point – being conveyed, as is a mechanical
shock, along a series of units in contiguity – with ever culminating impetus, so
is the psychic energy throughout nature developed. Hence the necessity of centres, of associations, of organisms.
Thus, by the systematisation of congeries of living entities, that which in each
is little becomes great in the whole. For the quality of
Psyche is ever the same, and her potentiality is invariable.
I have spoken of an outer personality
and of an inner personality; of a material consciousness as differing from a
spiritual consciousness. So now, in like manner, I speak of a spiritual energy
as differing from a material energy. The energy whereby Psyche polarises and
accretes is not dependent on the undulations of ether, as are material energies.
For Psyche is the essence of the ether itself. All manifested life is a process
of burning. Psyche is the substance of the medium by which the burning is
conditioned. The first state of matter is ether. But Psyche is within and before
the ether. Therefore is she rightly termed immaculate. And to the first state of matter corresponds a first mode of force, that is rotatory, the centrifugal and centripetal in one. But
before and within force is will; – that is Necessity. Necessity is the will of
God. Now this will is spiritual force. It is inherent in Psyche, and she is the
medium in which it operates. Such, therefore, as the primordial will is in
relation to the primordial substance, such is the
individual will in relation to the derived soul. And when the current of
spiritual energy (or will) is strong enough in the complex organism to polarise
and kindle centrally, then the individual Psyche conceives divinity in her womb,
and becomes God-conscious. In the rudimentary stages of matter this current is
not strong enough, or continuous enough, thus to polarise.
Psyche, when once she has gathered
force enough to burn centrally, is not quenched by the disintegration of the
physical
elements. These, indeed, fall asunder and
desquamate many times during life, whether it be the
life of an individual or the life of a system; yet the consciousness and memory
remain the same. Thou hast not in thy physical body a single particle that thou
hadst fifteen years since, yet thou art the same Ego,
and thy thought is continuous. Thy Psyche, therefore, has grown up out of many
elements; and in thine Ego their interior Egos are
perpetuated, because their psychic force is centralised in
thine
individuality. And when thy Psyche passes forth from the disintegrating
particles of thy physical body, these shall build up new material entities, and
the reversion of matter to substance shall still continue. And thy substantial
part shall go forth to new affinities.
“But,” thou sayest, “if soul be immaculate, how comes she to be
attracted by material affinities?”
The link between her and earth is
Karma. Not until she is permeated throughout her essence by spirit, is she able
to rise above the astral influences. Remember that the science of theosophy is a
science of vehicles. Soul is the highest of these vehicles. But the spirit is
the first and last term. Immaculate though she be in her virginal essence, she
is not the espoused bride until the bond between her and earth be severed. And
this can only be when every molecule of her essence is pervaded by spirit, and
indissolubly married therewith, as God with Arche in
the Principle.
“But,” thou sayest, “there are foul and horrible forms; – have these
also an immaculate Psyche?”
These have a Psyche overwhelmed by
her Karma, because of her feebleness. Either increase or decrease is the portion
of the soul. “He that gathereth not with
me, scattereth.” Then, when the celestial is
weak and divided, the astral and material are strong.
“But,” thou sayest, “if soul be thus a
resultant of polarisation occurring in the organism she animates, how can soul
pass from one body to another by re-incarnation? Surely soul is formed anew in
every body and cannot undergo transmigration?”
Do not confuse between substance and
force. Substance is Psyche, the medium. Force is Spirit, the energy. That which
burns in a flame is gas; the process of burning is a mode or condition of the
gas. That which is burnt is fuel, or matter, in which the gas is generated. And
when thou askest, “How can the Psyche, which is
generated in one body, pass by transmigration
to another?” it is as though thou askedst, “How can the flame generated in one log of wood
pass to another?” The dispensation of physical series may be compared to a
furnace into which are cast in succession many faggots. In each faggot is a
certain amount of unburnt gas and of latent energy;
because there is no medium without inherent force. This latent or inherent force
is capacity. (A living medium need not always be active, but it must retain the
capacity of action. God need not always be creating, but God must always retain
the capacity of creating.) As by the burning the gas of each faggot is consumed,
the elements of the faggot (in each of which is stored a certain proportion of
this gas) disintegrate and fall into ash. Then another faggot catches the flame
and continues it without solution, supplying in the same way the necessary
medium. But observe that Psyche is not “generated in a body,” neither is flame
generated in a faggot. But for fuel there could be no flame, and but for matter
there could be no Psyche. That which really is “generated” in the fuel, is the
gas by means of which flame becomes manifest. And that which really is generated
in the body, is the
condition
by means of which Psyche abstract becomes Psyche concrete.
Footnotes
(104:2)
(104:3) Also spelt
Thaut, in which form it is identical in both sound and
meaning with our word Thought. Thoth
or Thaut was the Egyptian equivalent for both Hermes
and the Logos. E.M.
(105:1) This term
is used here in its ancient sense, the science of divine things, and without
reference to any modern or special application of it. E.M.
(105:2) See Appendix, “Definitions.”
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