(From p. 192 to p. 200, Vol. I)
The Astral Light is not in its nature truth revealing or "good". Note 2, p. 197. "It stands in the same relation to Akasa and Anima Mundi as Satan stands to the Deity. They are one and the same thing seen from two aspects." It may be said that the astral light is the next step above material concerns. It is the first field into which the seer steps in his progress, but it is dangerous because misleading, and misleading because it reverses all things, as well as being the chief reservoir for the bad or material deeds and thoughts of men. Because it is strange, new, and extraordinary, it influences those who see in it, since it presents images of a weird character, and just from its newness and vividness those who see in it are apt to consider it to be of consequence. It is to be studied but not depended upon. Somewhat as the brain has to accustom itself to the reversed image on the retina — turning it straight by effort — so the inner senses have to become accustomed to the reversals made by the Astral Light.
The Fall into Generation is explained from p. 192 to p. 198, Stanza VI. Necessarily this raises the question "Why any fall whatever?" The author says: "It was the Fall of Spirit into generation, not the fall of mortal man." Hence, if this be true, man has not fallen, but is, for this period of evolution, on the way upward. Spirit in order "to become self-conscious must pass through every cycle of being culminating in its highest point on earth in man. * * It is an unconscious negative abstraction. Its purity is inherent, not acquired by merit; hence, to become the highest Dhyan Chohan it is necessary for each Ego to attain to full self-consciousness as a human, that is, a conscious, being — Man." (192-193) So the question, why any fall if it was pure originally, is based on the assumption that to remain in a state of unconscious abstraction is better. This cannot, however, be so. When a period of evolution begins, with spirit at one end of the pole and matter at the other, it is absolutely necessary for spirit to proceed through experience in matter in order that self-consciousness may be acquired. It is a "fall" into matter so far as the fact is concerned, but so far as the result and the object in view it is neither fall nor rise, but the carrying out of the immutable law of the nature of spirit and matter. We ignorantly call it a fall or a curse, because our lower consciousness does not see the great sweep of the cycles nor apprehend the mighty purpose entertained. Following the lines of the philosophy elsewhere laid down, we see that at the close of each grand period of evolution some Egos will have failed to attain the goal, and thus some spirit — if we may say — is left over to be again at a new period differentiated into Egos who shall, helped by Egos of the past now become Dhyan Chohans, once more struggle upward. Such is the immense and unending struggle.
States and Planes of Consciousness in Kosmos and Man. p. 199, 2nd and 3rd paras. It is here stated that of the seven planes of consciousness three are above the entire chain of globes to which the earth belongs, and that the earth is in the lowest of the lower four. But in man, as said here, there are seven states of consciousness which correspond to these seven cosmical planes. He is to "attune the three higher states in himself to the three higher planes in Kosmos." Necessarily he must have in him centres or seats of energy correspondingly, and, as the author points out, he must awaken those seats to activity, to life, before he can attune them to the higher planes. They are dormant, asleep as it were.
First and Seventh Globes of the chain are in the Archetypal plane. Page 200, note to diagram. That is, that on the first globe of the chain — A — the whole model of the succeeding globes is made or laid down, and upon that evolution proceeds up to the 7th, where, all having reached the highest stage of perfection after seven rounds, the complete model is fully realized. This is distinctly hinted in the note, for she says: "not the world as it existed in mind of the Deity, but a world made as a first model to be followed and improved upon by the worlds which succeed it physically — though deteriorating in purity." The reader will remember that in another place it is plainly said that on Globe A man appears, but that in the second round the process changes. If we assume, as we must, conscious Beings at work in the scheme of evolution, they have to create the mental model, as it were, of the whole planetary chain, and this has to be done at the time of the first globe. The plan is impressed on all the atoms or particles which are to take part in the evolution, and is preserved intact in that plane. The seventh globe is the receiver of the entire result of evolution in each round, and transfers it once more to Globe A, where it proceeds as before, and again the whole mass of evoluting beings is impressed with the original plan. This is repeated for every round.
The Three Higher Planes of Consciousness spoken of in second note to diagram on page 200 as being inaccessible to human consciousness as yet, does not involve a contradiction. For the attuning of our three higher states of consciousness to the three higher planes is possible, although attainment to those planes is impossible for ordinary human consciousness. The attempt has to be made so as to come into harmony in ourselves with those planes, so that the potentialities may be made active and development of new faculties made possible.