CHAPTER II—NATURAL PRINCIPLES

The Nature Spirits are sometimes visible to the human eye, but can be controlled only by those who are rulers of the elements in which these elementals live. Man’s mastery of the elements, therefore, gives him dominion over these kingdoms. According to the ancients, the elementals were originally under the dominion of the Adamic man, and are always subject to the one who is master of their element. They serve sincerely, though they do not realize or recognize the needs of the race they serve. Under the guidance of higher hierarchies, these creatures are the intelligent basis of natural phenomena, and assist in implanting qualities and powers within the plant, the mineral, the animal, and man.

Many readers may not care to accept the reality of these entities. But as they constitute a part of the great occult hierarchy and are the incarnation of natural principles, it is necessary that we give them a certain amount of attention and study. Under certain conditions, these elementals have attached themselves to man and served him faithfully and well, as in the case of the demon of Socrates. Under other conditions, they have been mistaken for angels, demons, and other supernatural larvae. They are said also to exist in essence in the chemicals of Nature. There are elementals not only of our earth and planetary chain, but of other planets and solar systems. The primary constitutional difference between the elementals and man is that the evolving life of which we are a part consists of complex organisms composed of spirit and its chain of vehicles, while the composition of the elementals is the one ether from which they are formed. Hence the only evolution they can experience is the evolution of their own ether, from which they cannot dissociate themselves.

Practically all the occult wisdom of the world is based upon the knowledge of the four ethers and their powers as factors in the unfoldment of form combinations. The ethers in the bodies of the mineral, plant, animal, and man, are the basis of the differentiation these kingdoms of life. Without their vital principle (which is, in truth, the Hiram Abiff of Masonry) the temple building of the ages could not go on.

Among the ancient Oriental peoples, the doctrine of the four creations taught that from the body of Brahma, the concrete Deity, four children, representing the visible races of the earth, were born. From the feet of Brahma, was born the black man, or the physical earth, which has been referred to as the footstool of God. From the thorax of Brahma was born the brown man, who represents the ether or ethereal outpouring of Nature. From the hands of Brahma (with their power of action) was born the red man, who represents the principles of motion and emotion, construction and destruction, action and reaction. From the mouth of Brahma was born the white man, the Brahman, who is the spiritual and mental man.

These four elements constitute the four outpourings from the Cosmic Egg. The Orientals sometimes divided the universe into five divisions, symbolized by the five fingers of the human hand. The Hindus recognize a fifth division extending from the root of the nose to the top of the head. The evolution of man consists in the passage of his consciousness through the four elements which we find so wonderfully symbolized in the ancient initiations.

First initiation—The slaying of the Dragon of Matter. This is the triumph of the discrimination over the vehicles of Maya, and the liberation from the chemical substances of Nature, with their corresponding law of crystallization. This also consists in overcoming the law of inertia and passing physically through a stone wall. This battle is won by means of the sword Excalibur, which is given to the king out of the waters of the vital ether by the hand of the undine.

Second initiation—The rescue of the Pearl of Great Price from the ocean of living substances. This Rhinegold is guarded by the angels and the keepers of the vital forces of the body. Under the direction of the second group of elementals (already described as water spirits) are the vital forces of Nature, which they manipulate under the direction of higher hierarchies. This second initiation is accomplished by burning up the water with the flaming sword of the four headed Cherubim, which is turned upward into the brain. In this, the candidate learns to cast the molten sea and receive the benediction of the holy water (which represents the vital forces of his own body) after which he passes under the sea and learns to solve the mystery of water, which is born out of the thorax of Brahma.

Third initiation—The passing of the Flaming Ring. In this, the candidate steps across the line between the two higher and the two lower elements in his effort to separate the soul from the animal body. That is told in the Northern legend of Siegfried and Brunhilde. The candidate receives the benediction of fire, incorporates the power of the salamanders into his conscious vehicle, and comes under the direct ray of Leo, the fire king of the temple. He learns to pass through the flame and also to rule the flames in his own body. During this process he is taught to apply the gentle heat of the alchemist which, passing up the spine, hatches the egg of Brahma within himself, thereby loosening the serpent from its coil and turning its fire upward to the Tree of Life. Under this heading, he takes the first mystic degree. If he remains here, he becomes a mystic and a power of the heart path of flame, and dons the crimson robe of Christ.

Fourth initiation—The ascending of the path of spirit fire. In this test, the candidate gains the power of passing consciously through the spiritual atmosphere, and incorporates into his vehicle the active functioning power of the sylphs, or air spirits. He gains the power to read the atmospheric records of Nature and also of conscious functioning on the fourth plane of Nature through the assistance of the fourth elemental essence within himself. In the Norse myths, he rides the eight footed horse to heaven—the eight for many ages being symbolic of the path of the spirit fire in man. He thus combines these four elements in the power of mind, which is made available by the fourth ether, and is the highest form of consciousness which we have at the present time.

All these initiations are possible only through the interpenetration of the elemental essences with the organism of man. During these initiations, he gains mastery over the elements and the various groups of intelligences which inhabit them. In our present work we are considering only one of these groups of inhabitants; namely, the Nature Spirits.

Briefly stated, the elements are as follows (beginning with the lowest):

1. Basic, atomic ether (gnomes) expressing its highest phase in crystallization.

2. Humidic ether (undines) expressing itself as the water of life, the divine Mother Isis of all things.

3. Astral ether (salamanders) expressing itself in all motion and sense perception.

4. Mental ether (sylphs) expressing itself as the basis of memory perception and the reasoning intellect.

These four ethers represent the channels for the expression of the forces of the four worlds of Nature through which man is evolving at the present time. The ether is not the world itself, but merely a substance capable of carrying or perpetuating that which is the product of some other sphere. Ether was referred to by the ancients as the hypothetical mirror of eternity, because it mirrors the world of Nature into concrete form, vitalizing and impregnating this form with the sparks of life which it contains within itself.

When the hand of the priest is lifted in benediction, two fingers are raised and two are lowered. The two lowered fingers represent the elements of earth and water; the two raised fingers represent the elements of fire and air; while the thumb represents the Akasha, or spirit. In this way, the priest gives the benediction of the four ethers, without which the consciousness is impossible, and the influx of which is the basis of growth, redemption, and regeneration.