MY DEAR FRIEND
I will enlighten you today on the teachings of the Tradition, which divides
the universe in three realms. You will find all the necessary details in
the books I recommended to you. I only wish to clarify what you do not understand,
bringing to mind what we agreed upon: if your brain does not let through
this or that truth of this threefold theory, then let it be - you will get
back to it later.
Therefore, you have learnt that occult science distinguishes three realms
or principal worlds in the Universe and in Man. The superior realm or world
of principles; the intermediary realm or world of laws and finally the physical
realm or world of facts.
It is important that you have a very clear conceptualization of the term
"realm." In order to obtain this goal, let us work with analogies:
the first one taken from Man, the other one taken from Nature.
Consider for a moment the mysterious phenomenon of the spoken word and you
will easily see appear the three realms of Tradition. The vibrations produced
by sound will reach the ears of your interlocutor and create a concept similar
to the one you have in mind. This is already an example of the plan of realization,
the third realm. The principal idea that arises in your mind and seeks to
materialize itself is an example of the first realm, the superior one. Lastly,
all visible and invisible organs of your body that made it possible for
your idea to materialize itself, are an example of the intermediary realm,
the second world.
Now let us take a second analogy, the analogy of Nature. If we warm an ice
cube, its matter will change from a solid state to a gaseous state WITHOUT
CHANGING PLACE. The molecules of this ice cube changed state, not place,
and you realize that we could relocate them and bring them back to their
primitive state.
This allows you to consider this division in realms as a mere differentiation
between states of being in which we can study matter. You will understand
immediately that: 1° Occult science can rightfully claim to teach you
about states of being not yet acknowledged by modern science; 2° Therefore,
"realm" should not be considered a place but rather a particular
state of being regarding what we call "matter"; 3° With a
little effort you will easily deduce that one should never apply the procedures
needed for the physical realm (2) and that Space and Time manifest themselves
quite differently depending on in what realm they are, the astral or the
physical one. - This is important to know if we wish to understand the occult
phenomena you will get to observe in the future.
Today you must only remember what exactly the astral realm is all about
by simply theoretically observing the ladder of the known states of solid
matter: liquids, gasses, radiant states, ethereal states and finally astral
states of being. In my next letter, I will try to give you an idea about
how you can conceptualize the astral realm.
PHANEG.
MY
DEAR FRIEND
You say that after reading and studying the ideas on the astral realm, you
are still far away from forming a clear image of what it is all about.
As I told you in my latest letter, it is necessary to conceptualize a realm
like a state of being of matter, not like a specific place. I added that
the best way to understand what occult science describes as the astral realm
is to imagine a fluid or rather a vibratory state of being which is much
faster than the state of being of matter. Modern science found a similar
description in the hypothesis of the Ether. If you now imagine a state of
being which is a thousand times subtler than this Ether of Science, you
conceptualize astral matter.
The Ether, hypothesis for the Science of yesterday, almost reality for the
Science of today and certainty for the Science of tomorrow, has always been
known and studied by students and initiates of the occult.
I am personally convinced that what Reisenbach called the "Od"
in his famous experiments is nothing other than the Ether. With a little
training, taking from our physical eyes as much collected solar light as
possible in the darkness, we can perceive the "Od" or the "Ether."
Take a lump of sugar and break it in two next to your eyes in the darkness,
and you will see the ether that sets free, so to speak, because of this
shock.
The sleepwalkers of M. Durville, who repeated Reisenbach's experiments,
had come so close to perceiving the Ether, that they could read a paper
in absolute darkness. Then you should admit you have perceived the Ether,
which is not yet the Astral realm, as you will need your physical eyes to
perceive the ethereal halo of a loved one or a flower. For an astral perception,
however, your physical senses will prove to be more a nuisance than anything
else, and you will see more closing your eyes.
I am telling you all this to point out that you will only know what the
astral realm is, when you become conscious, i.e. when you can momentarily
discard the protection - that you need so badly - of your physical organs.
It is only then that your hyper-physical senses can enter in harmonious
vibration with astral matter.
What can help you find the way at this very moment? Two things that appear
to be known to the Profane, but which are in reality very much unknown to
him: premonitory feelings and clairvoyance, sleeping and dreaming. However,
before I start to expound on these themes, we should consider together what
a human being is in reality, and if there is something in him that corresponds
to what is called the Astral in Nature. This is what I will talk about in
my next letter as soon as I have received your answer.
Sincerely yours,
G. PHANEG.
MY DEAR FRIEND
You tell me that to help you understand the various properties of matter
with extremely rapid vibratory movements, which we call the astral realm,
you prefer the theories and facts, or at least the study, of the occult
phenomena. The astral realm cannot be explained other than in terms of the
existence of a certain state of being of matter, not yet studied by modern
science. That is also my advise, in explaining the different phenomena that
I am allowed to explain without running any risks, I will automatically
come to a description of the properties of astral matter that evolved human
beings already know of. We have not even understood half of what the astral
realm comprises exactly, but we can confirm that the day our studies can
be completed, nothing will have to be discarded. The little that we know
today is real. So, let me systematically give you all the clarifications
on clairvoyance, sleeping, dreams, spells, alchemy, and death. Afterwards,
we will continue with the study of man from the point of view of divinatory
science.
However, in order to understand all these phenomena, it is indispensable
not only to know the existence of the realms in which they develop, but
also to know exactly what a human being is. It is also imperative to know
whether there are organs in him capable of vibrating in harmony with the
various states of being of matter surrounding him.
You know already that there are three realms or worlds in the Universe,
and that Man possesses organisms allowing him to evolve in each of these
realms. Each one of these organisms is naturally analogous to the surroundings
for which it was created and comports a high number of different levels
in each state of being. The physical organism varies with every planet and
a little with each natural surrounding on earth. The fluidic or astral body,
which allows human beings to live in the astral realm, varies enormously,
because in hyperphysical matter there are many different degrees of molecular
vibrations. Between the vibratory states closest to physical matter and
the most elevated states, there is a world of difference. Eventually, in
the divine realm, our consciousness and our "I" have, as a support,
the organism named by Saint Paul the "glorious body". Of this
body, I can only say that it is constructed molecule by molecule by the
good deeds we did on earth or in the astral realm.
The physical body has been studied by science in all its details, so I will
not get into this. With regard to the astral body, reread attentively all
the books that can enlighten you on this subject, and in my next letter
I will give you some more ideas which, I think, have not yet been written
down yet by anyone else.
Sincerely yours,
PHANEG.
MY
DEAR FRIEND
The last time I made you a vow that I will try to keep today. You have read
what the classical treatises on the occult say about the astral body and
you have marveled to see that the teachings given today are identical to
the ones of the Initiates of the Egyptians or Hindus. You have understood,
at least in theory, what is called "the double" in a human being,
and that it is analogous to what science called Vitality. The occult initiate
succeeds in perceiving this vitality in a much clearer way than the wise.
For those who were capable of seeing and touching this vitality, it can
leave the physical body, in other words exteriorize, and be recognized as
a real substance whose molecules are ordered in such a way that they reconstitute
the exterior form of the physical body.
For the Spirit, this vitality constitutes the "I", an instrument
which is at first incomplete and difficult to handle, but afterwards increasingly
complete and more docile. You have often observed a simple phenomenon, to
which no attention is paid, which nevertheless reveals an extremely fertile
law. If you pour a boiling liquid on a lump of sugar of a certain shape
and form, you will see how the molecules remount to the surface and reproduce
exactly the same form.
This fact proves that all solid bodies show a tendency to reconstitute their
form in radiant, ethereal or astral form. Well, this goes for human beings
as well.
During ordinary sleep, when we are ill, under hypnosis etc. the molecules
of That which constitutes Life inside of us, are able to glide, so to speak,
out of the physical molecules, which, in their normal state of being, are
kept together. When they regroup themselves, they reconstitute the plain
organism they left temporarily.
You have learnt about the double polarization of this fluidic organism;
you have studied its role in yourself, when awake or asleep.
You have heard about the experiences of colonel Rochas and d'E Paladino
et al. What I would like to do in this letter is to add some appropriate
considerations, so that you truly understand what the double actually is,
as far as this is possible for you and me.
You will get certainty about the astral body, since a photograph of it has
been taken, and its various characteristics that are known will be revealed
to you by means of dreams, manifestations of clairvoyance etc.
Today I would only like to insist on the importance of practical knowledge
of the astral realm and the double. Not only do I wish to give you a marvelously
simple and enlightening explanation of the phenomena for which orthodox
science cannot give any logical explanation, but also from the point of
view of general human evolution, living morality and the real understanding
of the religious truths.
The study of the astral body allows us to acknowledge the manifestations
of man's personality when outside of his physical organism, hereby ruining
almost completely the materialist theories. We will see that the astral
body, in spite of having dissolved and taken on its original form and the
freedom of its cells, just like the cells of the plain body retook theirs
on earth, the Spirit can still manifest itself.
Obviously, we cannot understand what a Spirit is, since the realm of the
Spirit remains completely closed to us, but we start to surmise what it
could be like, as we will have started to conceptualize that we are more
than just physical bodies with a brain. We will have realized that our "I"
is completely independent from all organisms that should never mean anything
else but instruments to us.
As the absolute proof will be given to us by study of the astral realm and
the astral body, it will appear logical to us that there do exist other,
more subtle states of being of matter than the purely material organisms.
If these higher states of consciousness are real, then human evolution as
such is also proven, the certainty of a splendid future is given, the teachings
of the religions detach from their ponderous envelope, and the necessity
of living morally becomes apparent to us.
Now you see, my dear friend, the importance of the studies we commenced
together, but you can only grasp them intellectually, I know, and it is
impossible that it be otherwise for the time being. Later, when the chaos
formed by the many new ideas that have been running through your brain has
started to brighten, and you are enlightened by the rays of the light of
Intuition, you will understand them more deeply, for by that time they will
have become a living part of your Self. In order to obtain this result,
or rather, in order to keep you on track of the resolution you made to yourself,
and also to help you in moments of doubt, I will keep writing you. In my
next letter, I will talk about dreams, as it one of the best ways to comprehend
the astral body.
G. PHANEG.
