| Group B. Agnichaitans In taking up the
matter of the second group of Agnichaitans - Group B - we are dealing with that important
group of devas who are designated in some works as the "devas of the shadows."
Their function is primarily a fourfold one, and they are the basis of motion or of
activity on all planes, which activity is produced by the interplay of the negative and
positive aspects of Brahma, the manifested God.
- First, they are the builders of the etheric bodies of all sentient existences, and
primarily of all the etheric bodies of men.
- Second, they are the transmitters of prana.
- Third, they perform a very definite function in the evolutionary process of linking up
the four kingdoms of nature, being essentially the transmuters and transmitters of the
lower into the higher. They build between each kingdom - mineral, vegetable, animal and
human - that which in each case corresponds to the antahkarana, or the bridge linking
higher and lower manas, and which therefore is the channel for the transmission of the
life from out of the lower human kingdom into the higher spiritual one. It will be found
that between each of the different stages of consciousness (from the subconscious through
the self-conscious to the superconscious) there is a period of linking, of building, and
of bridging, and this is carried out by the agency of [644] certain groups of devas on all
the planes. These three groups on the physical plane find their counterparts and their
work paralleled on higher levels. The point to be remembered is that this work of bridging
from one stage or from one kingdom to another has to be performed under the following
conditions:
- As the
result of an impulse emanating from the lower, or originating in the active desire of the
lower to embrace or contact the higher. This is of paramount importance, for all progress
must be self-induced, self-initiated, and be the result of an inner activity.
- As the
result of reflex action from the higher stage or kingdom; it is brought about by the
activity of the lower which calls forth a response from the higher. All vibration, it must
be remembered, travels along waves of living substance.
- As the
result of extraneous stimulation produced by the activity of certain conscious powers,
interested in the process of evolutionary development.
All these
conditions can be seen in the process of the initiation of man, and of his transference
from the fourth kingdom into the spiritual. His efforts must be self-induced, or the
effect of his own self-conscious endeavor; they will meet with a response from his
superconsciousness, the atmic aspect or Spirit and this dual interplay will be further
aided by the Guardians of the Rites of Initiation. Yet all three effects are felt in
spirit-matter; all proceed under the law of vibration, and this law is literally the
response of deva substance to force emanating from some conscious or unconscious source.
Fourth, these "devas of the shadows," perform certain activities of an
interesting and varied kind, but [645] of such diversity as to make enumeration well-nigh
impossible. We might attempt with brevity to state a few of these functions, remembering
ever that what can be predicated of them on the physical plane can also be predicated of
their correspondences on all the planes. This we can leave to the student to work out for
himself, begging him again to bear in mind that we are dealing with the devas on the
evolutionary arc, which may be divided into the following classes, amongst many others.
- Class 1. The
special agents of magic. They are peculiarly susceptible to the building vibrations of the
seven rays.
- Class 2. A
group of Agnichaitans who manifest as physical plane electricity. They are a group who are
coming somewhat under the control of man, and will be more and more dominated by him.
- Class 3. A
group who form the health auras of all the three middle kingdoms of nature (vegetable,
animal and human) either collectively or individually. Man is coming into contact with
them along medical lines and beginning somewhat to recognize them. One of the great errors
into which the human family has fallen has been the endeavor to administer mineral drugs
to man for medicinal purposes. It has resulted in a combination of deva substances which
was never intended. The relation of man to the lower kingdoms, and particularly to the
animal and mineral, has brought about a peculiar condition in the deva world and has
tended to complicate deva evolution. The use of animal food (and the use of minerals as
medicine in a lesser degree) has produced a commingling of deva substance, and of
vibrations which are not attuned to each other. The vegetable kingdom is in a totally
different situation, and part of its karma has lain in the providing of food for man; this
has resulted in a needed transmutation of the life [646] of that kingdom into the higher
stage (the animal) which is its goal. The transmutation of vegetable life takes place
necessarily on the physical plane. Hence its availability as food. The transmutation of
the life of the animal into the human kingdom takes place on kama-manasic levels. Hence
the non-availability, esoterically understood, of the animal as food for man. This is an
argument for vegetarian living which needs due consideration.
- Class 4. A
very important class of etheric devas (as far as man is concerned) who are definitely the
constituent substance of his centers. They occupy this position for karmic reasons, and
are, from many angles, some of the most highly evolved of the devas of the shadows. They
are distinguished by their ability to respond to a particular set of planetary vibrations
in a peculiar manner, and in their essential essence, and in their own peculiar sphere
enable man to react to Ray stimulation. Each center is under the influence of one or other
of the planets. In this fact lies the ability of man eventually - through the agency of
his centers - to put himself en rapport with the sevenfold soul of the world.
- Class 5. We
have here a very important group of devas, who are peculiarly active and esoterically
dominant during this round; they are the Agnichaitans who form the center which vibrates
to the measure of kundalini in its many forms and demonstrations; this is the center at
the base of the spine. In this center we have a very effective display of the two
polarities, for the petals of the center which is the seat of kundalini, and the fire or
vitality which animates them are negative and positive to each other. This center is to be
found in some form or other in all sentient beings and upon it largely depends: [647]
- Consciousness at one of its seven stages.
- Continuity of existence.
- Perpetuation of species or reproduction on some or other of the planes.
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