A Treatise on Cosmic Fire

by Alice A Bailey

  Radiation is the outer effect produced by all forms in all kingdoms when their internal activity has reached such a stage of vibratory activity that the confining walls of the form no longer form a prison, but permit of the escape of the subjective essence. It marks a specific point of attainment in the evolutionary process, and this is equally true of the atom of substance with which the chemist and physicist deal, when working with the elements, as it is of the forms in the vegetable kingdom, the [1061] forms in the animal kingdom, in the human, and, likewise, in the divine.

  From some angles of vision, it might be regarded as the “true form” (which is to be understood occultly as the etheric form of energy) making its presence felt in such a way that it becomes apparent even to the scientist. Students should here remember two things:

  First, that in all occult conclusions, it is the body of energy which is dealt with and the subjective life back of the form which is recognised as being of supreme importance.

  Second, that the dense objective manifestation, as has been reiterated frequently, is not regarded as a principle at all; the occultist deals with principles alone.

  It might be of value here to remind the student also that three things have to be recognised in all manifestation:

  First, that the tangible objective exterior, negative, receptive, and occultly unorganised, is without form and usefulness apart from the inner energy.

  Second, that the “true form” or the force-vehicle energises and produces the cohesion of that which is unorganised.

  Third, that the “volatile essence,” or the spiritual essential Life, focuses itself in some one point within the “true form.” (310)

  [1062] In studying the subject of radiatory activity, we are dealing with the effect produced by the inner essence as it makes its presence felt through the form, when the form has been brought to a stage of such refinement that it becomes possible.

  When this realisation is applied to all the forms in all the kingdoms, it will be found possible to bridge the gaps existing between the different forms of life, and the “elements” in every kingdom, and those unifying radiating centres will be found. The word “element” is yet confined to the basic substances in what is called essential matter, and the chemist and physicist are busy with such lives; but their correspondence (in the occult sense of the term) is to be found in every kingdom in nature, and there are forms of life in the vegetable kingdom which are occultly regarded as “radioactive,” the eucalyptus tree being one such form. There are forms of animal life equally at an analogous stage and the human unit (as it approaches “liberation”) demonstrates a similar phenomenon.

  Again, as a planetary scheme nears its consummation, it becomes “radioactive,” and through radiation transfers its essence to another “absorbent planet,” or planets, as is the case with a solar system also. Its essence, or true Life, is absorbed by a receiving constellation, and the outer “case” returns to its original unorganised condition.

  [1063] Under our consideration of the law of radiation, we will first of all take up the topic of the cause of radiation.

  a. The Cause of Radiation. The student will only be able to get a true view of this matter if he views the subject in a large way. Two aspects of the matter naturally come before his mental vision, both of which must be dealt with if any adequate concept of this subject is to be reached,—a subject which has engrossed philosophers, scientists and alchemists for hundreds of years consciously or unconsciously. We must, therefore, consider:

  a. That which radiates.

  b. That which is the subjective cause of radiation.

  It might be very briefly stated that when any form becomes radioactive, certain conditions have been fulfilled and certain results brought about, which conditions and results might be summed up as follows:

  The radioactive form is one which has run through its appointed cycles, through its wheel of life, great or small, which has been turned with adequate frequency, so that the volatile life-essence is ready to escape from that form and merge itself in the greater form of which the lesser is but a part. It must be remembered in this connection that radiation occurs when the etheric or true form becomes responsive to certain types of force. Radiation, as it is occultly understood, does not concern itself with the escape from the physical or dense form, but with that period in the life of any living entity (atomic, human or divine) wherein the etheric or pranic body is in such a state that it can no longer limit or confine the indwelling life.

  Radiation comes about when the internal, self-sufficient life of any atom is offset by a stronger urge, or pull, emanating from the enveloping greater existence of whose body it may form a part. This is nevertheless only true when it is caused by the pull upon the essential [1064] life by the essential life of the greater form; it is not due to the attractive power of the form aspect of that greater life. A very definite distinction must here be made. It is the failure to recognise this that has led so many alchemical students and scientific investigators to lose their way, and thus negate the conclusions of years of study. They confuse the impulse of the atom to respond to the vibratory magnetic pull of the more powerful and comprehensive form with the true esoteric attraction which alone produces “occult radiation,”—that of the central essential life of the form in which the element under consideration may have place. It is very necessary to make this clear from the start. Perhaps the whole subject may be clearer if we consider it in the following way.

  The atom in a form revolves upon its own axis, follows its own revolution, and lives its own internal life. This concerns its primary awareness. As time progresses it becomes magnetically aware of the attractive nature of that which envelops it on all sides, and becomes conscious of the form which surrounds it. This is its secondary awareness but it still concerns what we might, for lack of a better term, call matter. The atom, therefore, has an interplay with other atoms.

  Later, the atom in a form becomes aware that it not only revolves upon its axis, but that it also follows an orbit around a greater centre of force within a greater form. This is tertiary awareness, and is caused by the magnetic pull of the greater centre being felt, thus causing an urge within the atom which impels it to move within certain specific cycles. This awareness, esoterically understood, concerns itself with substance or with the true form within the objective form.

  Finally, the attractive pull of the greater centre becomes so powerful that the positive life within the atom (whatever type of atom it may be and in whatever kingdom) feels the force of the central energy which holds it, [1065] along with other atoms, coherently fulfilling their function. This energy penetrates through the ring-pass-not, evokes no response from what might be called the electronic or negative lives within the atomic periphery, but does evoke a response from the essential, positive nucleus of the atom. This is due to the fact that the essential life of any atom, its highest positive aspect, is ever of the same nature as that of the greater life which is drawing it to itself. When this is felt sufficiently strongly, the atomic cycle is completed, the dense form is dispelled, the true form is dissipated, and the central life escapes to find its greater magnetic focal point.

  Through this process (which is found throughout the solar system in all its departments) every atom in turn becomes an electron. The positive life of any atom in due course of evolution becomes negative to a greater life toward which it is impelled or drawn, and thus the process of evolution carries every life invariably through the four stages enumerated above. Within the three lower kingdoms of nature, the process is undergone unconsciously, according to the human connotation of that term; it is consciously passed through in the human kingdom, and in the higher spheres of existence, with an enveloping consciousness which can only be hinted at in the ambiguous term “self-conscious group realisation.”

  It was in connection with this transmutative process that the alchemists of old occupied themselves, but seldom did they reach the stage wherein it was possible for them to concer
n themselves with the response of the two types of positive energy to each other, and with the consequent escape of a lesser positive force to its greater attractive centre. When they did (with a few exceptions) they were brought up against a dead wall, for though they had succeeded in locating the radiating principle in substance, or in the true form, and had managed to pierce through (or to negate) both the dense physical [1066] body and the etheric form, yet they had no perception of the nature of the central force which was drawing the life they were concerned with out of its apparently legitimate sphere into a new realm of activity. Some few did possess this knowledge but (realising the danger of their conclusions) refused to put in writing the result of their investigations.

  If students will study the laws of transmutation, (311) as already apprehended, and above all, as incorporated in the writings of Hermes Trismegistus, bearing this in mind, some interesting results might be brought about. Let them remember that that which “seeks liberty” is the central electric spark; that this liberty is achieved first of all through the results brought about by the activity of the “frictional fire” which speeds up its internal vibration; then by the work upon the atom, or the substance of solar fire, which causes:

  a. Orbital progression,

  b. Stimulative vibration,

  c. Awakened internal response,

  until finally electric fire is contacted. This is true of all atoms: [1067]

  a. The atom of substance,

  b. The atom of a form whatsoever it be,

  c. The atom of a kingdom in nature,

  d. The atom of a planet,

  e. The atom of a solar system.

  In every case the three fires or types of energy play their part; in every case the four stages are passed through; in every case transmutation, transference, or radiation takes place, and the result of the escape of the central positive energy is achieved, and its absorption into a greater form, to be held in place for a specific cycle by the stronger energy.

  This process of rendering radioactive all the elements has, as we have seen, occupied students down the ages. The alchemists of the middle ages beginning with the simpler elements and starting with the mineral kingdom sought to find out the secret of the liberating process, to know the method of release, and to understand the laws of transmutation. They did not succeed in the majority of cases because, having located the essence, they had no idea how to deal with it when released, nor (as we have seen) had they any conception as to the magnetic force which was drawing the released essence to itself.

  To comprehend the law and therefore to be able to work perfectly with it, the experimenting student must have the ability to release the essence from its form. He must know the formulae and words which will direct it to that particular focal point in the mineral kingdom which stands in the same correspondential relation to the mineral monad as the Ego on its own plane stands to the man who casts off his physical and true forms through death. This involves knowledge only committed to the pledged disciple; if chance students stumble upon the law, and theoretically know the process, they would do well to proceed no further until they have learned how [1068] to protect themselves from the interplay of forces. As we well know, the workers with radium, and those who experiment in the world’s laboratories, suffer frequently from loss of limb or life; this is due to their ignorance of the forces they are dealing with. The liberated essences become conductors of the greater force which is their magnetic centre, because they are responsive to it, and it is this force which produces the distressing conditions sometimes present in connection with radioactive substances. Every radioactive atom becomes, through this conductive faculty, a releasing agent; and they consequently cause what we call burns. These burns are the result of the process of releasing the essential life of the atom of physical substance being dealt with.

  There might here be noted the curious phenomenon, in the human kingdom which is erroneously termed the prolongation of life; it might more truthfully be called the perpetuation of the form. Medical science today strains every effort to retain life in forms diseased and inadequate; these Nature, if left to herself, would long ago have discarded. They thereby imprison the life, and force back the life essence again and again into the sheath at the moment of liberation. In course of time and with more knowledge, true medical science will become purely preventative. It will concentrate its ability on preserving the atomic life of the human atom, and at furthering the preservative protective processes, and the functionary smoothness of the atomic rotary life, thus conducing to the correct following of the human orbital path. But further than that it will not go, and when the course of nature has been run, when the wheel of life has run down, when the hour for liberation has struck, when the time has come for the return of the essence to its centre, then the work will be recognised as completed, and the form discarded. But this will not, however, be possible until the human family has reached a stage [1069] when, through pure living and clean thinking, the present corruptions have been eliminated. Men will then function on into old age, or until the Ego, realising the particular work to be accomplished in any one life has been duly worked out, calls in the lower spark of life, and withdraws the central point of fire. This naturally presupposes knowledge and faculties at present lacking.

  All these thoughts can be extended to include entire kingdoms of nature, the globes of a chain, the chains themselves, a planetary scheme or a solar system.

  The moon is an interesting instance of the transmutative or liberating process practically completed in a globe: the essential life of the human kingdom has withdrawn and found a new field of expression. All animal life has equally been absorbed by a greater centre in another chain. Practically the same can be said of the vegetable kingdom on the moon though there are a few of the lower forms of the vegetable life (of a kind unrecognisable by us) still to be found there; whilst the mineral kingdom is radioactive and the essence of all mineral forms is fast escaping.

  In connection with the kingdoms of nature, it must be remembered that their growth and eventual radiation is dependent upon the cyclic purpose of the planetary Logos, and upon the currents of force which play upon His planetary body, and which emanate from other planetary schemes.

  All atoms become radioactive as the result of a response to a stronger magnetic centre which response is brought about through the gradual evolutionary development of consciousness of some kind or another. This is known to be true in a small degree in connection with the mineral kingdom though scientists have not yet admitted that radiation is thus caused. Later they will, but only when this general theory which is here laid down in connection with all atoms is admitted by them to be a plausible [1070] hypothesis. Then the goal of their endeavour will be somewhat changed; they will seek to ascertain through clear thinking and a study of the involved analogy what focal points of magnetic energy may be regarded as existing, and how they affect the atoms in their environment. One hint only can here be given. Light upon these dark problems will come along two lines.

  First, it will come through the study of the place of the solar system in the universal whole, and the effect that certain constellations have upon it; secondly, it will come through a close study of the effect of one planetary scheme upon another, and the place of the moon in our own planetary life. This will lead to a close investigation of polar conditions in the earth, of the planetary magnetic currents, and of the electrical intercourse between our earth, and the Venusian and Martian planetary schemes. When this has been accomplished, astronomy and esoteric astrology will be revolutionised, and the nature of solar energy as an expression of an Entity of the fourth rank will be appreciated. This will come at the close of this century after a scientific discovery of even greater importance to the scientific world than that as to the nature of the atom. Until that time it will be as difficult to express the hylozoistic conception in terms of exact science as it would be for the sixteenth century ancestor of present humanity to conceive of the atom as being simply a
n aspect of force, and not objective and tangible. Hence further elucidation will but serve to confuse.

  In considering this vast subject of radiation, which is the result of spiral-progressive movement, it might be of interest if I here pointed out that in every kingdom of nature there are certain focal points of energy which, as the aeons gradually sweep along, bring the atomic substance of which all forms in all kingdoms are composed to the point where they become radioactive and achieve [1071] liberation. (The term “liberation” really means the ability of any conscious atom to pass out of one sphere of energised influence into another of a higher vibration, of larger and wider expanse of conscious realisation.)

  Broadly speaking, it might be said that:

  The mineral kingdom is responsive to that type of energy which is the lowest aspect of fire, of those internal furnaces which exert an influence upon the elements in the mineral world, and which resolve these atomic lives into a gradual series of ever-higher types of mineral energy. For instance, the type of energy which plays upon iron ore, or which produces tin, is emanated from a different centre in the body of the Entity informing the mineral kingdom to that which converts the elements into those wondrous jewels, the diamond, the sapphire, the emerald or the ruby. The energy of the particular centre involved is likewise responsive to force originating in the centre in the body of the planetary Logos—which centre depends upon the kingdom to be vivified. In dealing with these kingdoms, therefore, the relations might be briefly indicated—

  Kingdom Planetary Centre

  a. Human Heart centre.

  b. Animal Throat centre.

  c. Vegetable Solar plexus.