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(Continued from No. XLIII)
BUT it may make the subject clearer to thee if, leaving such material comparisons, we speak of those things which only may be fitly compared together. Thou knowest already the nature of the planet and the divisions of its Ego into four parts or regions. Of these thou knowest that the soul or Psyche is in man, the human superior reason. Now there appertains to the planet besides all these four regions, an atmosphere of a magnetic nature. 3 This atmosphere is well known to thee. It is the astral or sideral soul of the planet, the anima mundi or picture-world. Therein are stored up all the memories of the world: its past life, its history, its affections and recollections of physical things. The adept may interrogate this phantom world, and it shall speak for him. It is the cast-off vestment of the planet; yet it is living and palpitating, for its very fabric is spun of psychic substance, and its entire parenchyma 4 is magnetic. And forasmuch as the planet is an entity ever being born and ever dying, so this astral counterpart of itself is ever in process of increase--the mirror of the globe, a world encompassing a world. But the Divine Spirit, Dio-Nysos, is not in this magnetic circle. God the Nous is in the celestial, and the temple thereof is in the heart of humanity.
Such as is the astral world to the planet, the Ruach is to man. And in truth the great magnetic sphere of the planet is itself composed and woven out of the magnetic Egos of its offspring, precisely as these in their turn are woven out of the infinitely
lesser atoms which compose the individual man. So that, by a figure, one may represent the whole astral atmosphere of the planet as a system of so many tiny spheres, each reflecting and transmitting special rays. But if in this astral sphere thou shouldst seek the true soul and Divine Spirit, thou shalt not find them; for they are of the higher altitudes. To each world its Ruach, and but one. But the world's true soul migrates and interchanges. And this is the secret of the "creation" of worlds. Worlds, like men, have their karma, and new kosmic globes arise out of the ruins of former states. As the soul of the individual human unit transmigrates and passes on, so likewise does the Psyche of the planet. From world to world, in ceaseless intercourse and impetus, the living Neshamah pursues her variable way. And as she passes, the tincture of her divinity changes. Here her spirit is derived through Iacchos, there through Aphrodite, anon through Hermes or another god. Here, again, she is weak, and there strong. Your planet did not begin this avatâr in strength; an evil karma overwhelmed its soul, and evil lives predominated in its first ages. Monstrous reptiles, creeping things, and many fierce natures tore and devoured each other in the great deeps. For the world-soul was weak, and brought forth with pain and trouble. But Adonai reigns, and shall reign.
Now the physical molecules of the planet are its many generated bodies, whether of plants, of animals, or of men; and these are continually dropping into decay and being shed. But the living germs of all these organisms die not; they revert continually to their proper place, and the soul of each gathers strength by progression. And the ghost of each living thing goes into the astral sphere, its proper place; and the dust of each creature to the earth; and the Psyche departs to fulfil her karma. For Psyche is as a flame within a flame, whereof the highest and most luminous part mounts and wanders, while the heavier and the less pure remains burning above the surface of the earth.
And as with the man, so with the planet; for small and great there is one law. And one star differeth from another star in glory. And so throughout the infinite vistas and systems of heaven. From star to star, from sun to sun, from galaxy to galaxy, the kosmic souls migrate and interchange. But every God keeps his tincture and maintains his indefeasible personality.
There is no evil. There are only weak and strong, and the differentiation of substance.
Compare like with like, and preserve the affinity of similars.
All things are explicable and comprehensible; but the key of their explanation is order.
Order is the first word of analysis, and the alphabet of synthesis.
111:2 Paris, January 6, 1883.
111:3 Not another element, but another mode of the astral: that in which it represents its past as distinguished from its present condition, which co-exist-the latter continually passing into the former. E. M.
111:4 Anatomically, the mass of a glandular or similar organ. Botanically, the soft cellular tissue of plants. E. M.