The Golden Star

VISION 3

Elements and Elementals

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“In the Limbus, or Ideos of primordial matter, the only matrix of all created things, the substance of all things is contained; and this applies to all thoughts also, for thoughts are things and have substance, weak or strong, according to the strength or weakness of the thinker’s will and imagination. From the primordial substance proceeds the unequal development of these qualities of mind, and is produced the origin of the subtle elements and of the organs of sense.

“The Divine Pymander states that: ‘God is not a mind, but the cause that the mind is; not a spirit, but the cause that the spirit is; not light, but the cause that light is.’

“As man is composed of all the great elements—Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Æther—the Elementals which respectively belong to the Elements feel attracted to man by reason of their co-essence. Each man has one Element which predominates in him; and if a man has a preponderance of the earthly element, the Gnomes will lead him towards the assimilation of metals, money and wealth; and so it is with the rest of the Elements in connection with man. Man is ruled by the Elements, but he can rise above them and become their master.

“It is further said by Paracelsus that: ‘Animal man is the son of the animal elements out of which his soul was born, and animals are the mirrors of man.’

“If we substitute the word ‘life’ for ‘soul,’ we shall find that this statement is correct, and that it contains a clue to our own status in comparison to that of the higher Beings.”

“Why is it necessary to use mantras, or incantations, in order to speak to the Elementals?” asked Ma-u.

“Because Sound is a tremendous Occult Power, a stupendous Force, if used for material reasons. It may be used in such a way by the Adept that the Pyramids would be raised in the air, or that a dying man would be revived and filled with energy and vigour. The reason is that Sound attracts the Elements and draws them together, and when this is done by the Adept he can utilize these elemental forces in such a way that he seems to produce miracles; yet, all he does is to direct these potentialities with Occult knowledge.

“The essential power of all the Cosmic and terrestrial Elements enables them to generate within themselves a regular and harmonious series of results; and to achieve these results it is necessary that there should be intellects who can direct these powers. If that were not so and the elemental forces were allowed to generate without direction, there could be no harmony. Therefore, the intellect of the Gods, as well as of man, can utilize the elemental forces in a directive manner, and the medium is Sound, manipulated by manifesting Mind, for the elements are centres of force as well as spiritual beings whose very nature is to ACT under direction. And to the Seer the higher Elemental Powers appear under two aspects: the subjective—as influences, and the objective—as mystic forms, which become Presences; Spirit and Matter being One. Spirit is Matter on a higher plane, and Matter is Spirit at the lowest point of its cyclic activity; and both are ILLUSION.

“All are derived from the Absolute—which is that Light which condenses into the forms of the Lords of Being. From these downwards—formed from the ever-consolidating waves of that Light, which becomes on the objective plane gross matter—proceed the numerous Hierarchies of the Creative Forces; some formless, others having their own distinctive form, others again, such as the lowest elementals, having no form of their own, but assuming every form according to their surrounding conditions. From this One, Absolute, Spiritual Basis are built the countless basic centres from which proceed the universal, cyclic and individual evolutions during the active periods, or Days of Brahmâ.

“The Races of Man have developed coordinately, and on parallel lines with the four elements; every new race being physiologically adapted to meet the additional Element: Our Fifth Race is rapidly approaching the Fifth Element, or Æther; which has more to do, however, with the spirit than with physics.

“During the final centuries of the Third Race, or the Lemurians, the beings of that Race could live with equal ease in water, air, or fire, for they had unlimited control over these elements. These were the Sons of God; not those who saw the daughters of men, but the real Elohim. It was they who imparted Nature’s most weird secrets to men, and revealed to them the ineffable, and now lost word. The last remnant of this Race lived on an island in a vast inland sea, which has since dried up and is now known as the Gobi Desert. We are told that this island still exists as an oasis in the Gobi Desert.

“Beyond the five elements of Fire, Air, Water, Earth and Æther, are the secret and incomprehensible Origin of the Elements and the Universal Mind.

“The seven Elemental Powers are symbolized in the seven large stars of the Great Bear, and the Hindus place their seven primitive Rishis in the Great Bear also, and call this constellation the abode of the Saptarshi, Riksha and Chitra-Shikandinas. Their Adepts claim to know whether this is only an astronomical myth, or a primordial mystery, having a deeper meaning than appears on the surface.

“The earliest forces recognized in Nature were reckoned as seven in number. They became the seven Elementals, demons, devas, or divinities; and it was understood that there were seven elements in man.”

During Neteru-Hem’s final words on the nature of the elements and elementals, there had gathered together great multitudes of Beings, representing the ancient beliefs in the elemental Gods and Goddesses, who had to do with the forces of nature in divers ways.

The merriest of all this host is in the fair form of Dionysus, or Bacchus, the God of Wine; who visits people in their sleep, when ailing, and reveals to them the remedies that will help to set them once again upon the road to health and joy. He was the Son of Zeus and of Demeter, once changed into a ram by his Father and carried to Mount Nysa’s nymphs, who tended the young God within their caves, and were rewarded for their labours by being honoured as Hyades, among the stars in heaven.

Surrounded is the God by riotous throngs of Pans and Satyrs who chase the Mimalones, Bassarides, and Bacchantes, who in madness of enthusiasm dance with heads thrown back, hair dishevelled, striking audacious cymbals; whilst some wave in the air their thyrsus-staffs entwined with ivy and crowned with cones of pine. Some swing their gleaming swords or play with serpents, who circle round their graceful limbs; and violently do they jump or run with shining eyes agleam with wild emotion; as once they did when on Mount Cithæron, or Parnassus, the Bacchic festivals were held; when the bright God had fought the Amazons and drove them from Ephesus to Samos, and slew them at Panæma.

Here comes he, riding on an ass, with Ariadne, his beloved; and all the Graces, Lenæ, Mænades, Thyiades, in dithyrambic choruses perform; and Sileni and Centaurs, bedecked with vines and laurels, asphodel and ivy, storm around; and tigers, lynx and panthers fawn about the pair divine.

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