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A Treatise on Cosmic Fire - Section One - Introductory Remarks - Fire in the Microcosm
II. Fire in the Microcosm

Let us briefly consider therefore the correspondence between the greater whole and the unit man and then block out our subject in detail and consider the sections into which it will be wise to divide it.

Fire in the Microcosm is likewise threefold in essence and fivefold in manifestation.

1. There is Internal Vitalizing Fire, which is the correspondence to fire by friction. This is the sumtotal of individual kundalini; it animates the corporeal frame and demonstrates also in the twofold manner:

  • First, as latent heat which is the basis of life of the spheroidal cell, or atom, and of its rotary adjustment to all other cells.
  • Second, as active heat or prana; this animates all, and is the driving force of the evolving form. It shows itself in the four ethers and in the gaseous state, and a correspondence is here found on the physical plane in connection with man to the Akasha and its fivefold manifestation on the plane of the solar system.

This fire is the basic vibration of the little system in which the monad or human spirit is the logos, and it [46] holds the personality or lower material man in objective manifestation thus permitting the spiritual unit to contact the plane of densest matter. It has its correspondence in the ray of intelligent activity and is controlled by the Law of Economy in one of its subdivisions, the Law of Adaptation in Time.

2. There is next the Fire or Spark of Mind which is the correspondence in man to solar fire. This constitutes the thinking self-conscious unit or the soul. This fire of mind is governed by the Law of Attraction as is its greater correspondence. Later we can enlarge on this. It is this spark of mind in man, manifesting as spiral cyclic activity, which leads to expansion and to his eventual return to the center of his system, the Monad - the origin and goal for the reincarnating Jiva or human being. As in the macrocosm this fire also manifests in a twofold manner.

  • It shows as that intelligent will which links the Monad or spirit with its lowest point of contact, the personality, functioning through a physical vehicle.
  • It likewise demonstrates, as yet imperfectly, as the vitalizing factor in the thought forms fabricated by the thinker. As yet but few thought forms, comparatively, can be said to be constructed by the center of consciousness, the thinker, the Ego. Few people as yet are in such close touch with their higher self, or Ego, that they can build the matter of the mental plane into a form which can be truly said to be an expression of the thoughts, purpose or desire of their Ego, functioning through the physical brain. Most of the thought forms at present in circulation may be said to be aggregations of matter, built into form with the aid of kama-manas (or of desire faintly tinged with mind producing thus an admixture of astral and mental matter, mostly astral), and largely due to reflex elemental action.

These dualities of expression are: [47]

  1. Active fire or prana.
    Latent fire or bodily heat.
  2. Mental energy in the mental body.
    Purely mental thought forms, animated by self-engendered fire, or by the fifth principle, and therefore part of the sphere, or system of control, of the Monad.

These form an esoteric quaternary which with the fifth factor, the divine spark of intelligent will, make the five of monadic manifestation - manifestation in this case connotating a purely subjective manifestation which is neither altogether spiritual nor altogether material.

3. Finally there is the Monadic Flame Divine. This embodies the highest vibration of which the Monad is capable, is governed by the Law of Synthesis, and is the cause of the forward progressive movement of the evolving Jiva.

We now come, in due course, to the point of merging or to the end of manifestation, and to the consummation (viewing it monadically) of the great cycle or manvantara. What shall we therefore find? Just as in the macrocosm the blending of the three essential fires of the cosmos marked the point of logoic attainment, so, in the blending of the essential fires of the microcosm, do we arrive at the apotheosis of human attainment for this cycle.

When the latent fire of the personality or lower self blends with the fire of mind, that of the higher self, and finally merges with the Divine Flame, then the man takes the fifth Initiation in this solar system, and has completed one of his greater cycles. 13 When the three blaze forth as one fire, liberation from matter, or from material form is achieved. Matter has been correctly adjusted to spirit, and finally the indwelling life slips forth out of its sheath which forms now only a channel for liberation.


13 These terms, Lower Self, Higher Self, Divine Self, are apt to be confusing [48] until the student apprehends the various synonyms connected with them. The following table may be found helpful:

Father Son Mother
Spirit Soul Body
Life Consciousness Form
Monad Ego Personality
Divine Self Higher Self Lower Self
Spirit Individuality Personal Self
The Point The Triad The Quaternary
Monad Solar Angel Lunar Lords
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