The Writings of C
The Planetary Chains
From
A Textbook of Theosophy
By
C
The scheme of evolution
of which our Earth forms a part is not the only one in our solar system, for
ten separate chains of globes exist in that system which are all of them
theatres of somewhat similar progress. Each of these schemes of evolution is
taking place upon a chain of globes, and in the course of each scheme its chain
of globes goes through seven incarnations. The plan, alike of each scheme as a
whole and of the successive incarnations of its chain of globes, is to dip step
by step more deeply into matter, and then to rise step by step out of it again.
Each chain consists of
seven globes, and both globes and chains observe the rule of descending into
matter and then rising out of it again. In order to make this comprehensible
let us take as an example the chain to which our Earth belongs.
At the present time it
is in its fourth or most material incarnation, and therefore three of its
globes belong to the physical world, two to the astral world and two to the
lower part of the mental world. The wave of Divine Life passes in succession
from globe to globe of this chain, beginning with one of the highest,
descending gradually to the lowest and then climbing again to the same level as
that at which it began.
Let us for convenience
of reference label the seven globes by the earlier letters of the alphabet, and
number the incarnations in order. Thus, as this is the fourth incarnation of
our chain, the first globe in this incarnation will be 4A, the second 4B, the
third 4C, the fourth (which is our Earth) 4D, and so on.
These globes are not all
composed of physical matter. 4A contains no matter lower than that of the
mental world; it has its counterpart in all the worlds higher than that, but
nothing below it. 4B exists in the astral world; but 4C is a physical globe,
visible to our telescope, and is in fact the planet which we know as Mars.
Globe 4D is our own Earth, on which the life-wave of the chain is at present in
action. Globe 4E is the planet which we call Mercury – also in the physicalworld. Globe 4F is in the astral world,
corresponding on the ascending arc to globe 4B in the descent; while globe 4G
corresponds to globe 4A in having its lowest manifestation in the lower part of
the mental world. Thus it will be seen that we have a scheme of globes starting
in the lower mental world, dipping through the astral into the physical and
then rising into the lower mental through the astral again.
Just as the succession
of the globes in a chain constitutes a descent into matter and an ascent from
it again, so do the successive incarnations of a chain. We have described the
condition of affairs in the fourth incarnation; looking back at the third, we
find that that commences not on the lower level of the mental world but on the
higher. Globes 3A and 3G, then, are both of higher mental matter, while globes
(Page123) 3B and 3F are at the lower mental level. Globes 3C
and 3E belong to the astral world, and only globe 3D is visible in the
physical world. Although this third incarnation of our chain is long past, the
corpse of this physical globe 3D is still visible to us in the shape of that
dead planet the Moon, whence that third incarnation is usually called the lunar
chain.
The fifth incarnation of
our chain, which still lies very far in the future, will correspond to the
third. In that, globes 5A and 5G will be built of higher mental matter, globes
5B and 5F of lower mental matter, globes 5C and 5E of astral matter, and only
globe 5D will be in the physical world. This planet 5D is of course not yet in
existence.
The other incarnations
of the chain follow the same general rule of gradually decreasing materiality;
2A, 2G, 6A and 6G are all in the intuitional world; 2B, 2F, 6B and 6F are all
in the higher part of the mental world; 2C, 2E, 6C and 6E are in the lower part
of the mental world; 2D and 6D are in the astral world. In
the same way 1A, 1G, 7A
and 7G belong to the spiritual world; 1B, 1F, 7B and 7F are in the intuitional
world; 1C, 1E, 7C and 7E are in the higher part of the mental world; 1D and 7D
are in the lower part of the mental world.
Thus it will be seen
that not only does the life-wave in passing through one chain of globes dip
down into matter and rise out of it again, but the chain itself in its
successive incarnations does exactly the same thing.
There are ten schemes of
evolution at present existing in our solar system, but only seven of them are
at the stage where they have planets in the physical world. These are:
(1) that
of an unrecognized planet Vulcan, very near the sun, about which we have very
little definite information. It was seen by the astronomer Hersche,
but is now said to have disappeared. We at firstunderstood
that it was in its third incarnation; but it is now regarded as possible that
it has recently passed from its fifth to its sixth chain, which would account
for its alleged disappearance;
(2) that
of Venus, which is in its fifth incarnation, and also therefore has only one
visible globe;
(3) that
of the Earth, Mars and Mercury, which has three visible planets because it is
in its fourth incarnation;
(4) that
of Jupiter,
(5) that
of Saturn,
(6) that
of Uranus, all in their third incarnations; and
(7) that
of
In each incarnation of a
chain (commonly called a chain-period) the wave of Divine Life moves seven
times round the chain of seven planets, and each such movement is spoken of as
a round. The time that the life-wave stays upon each planet, is known as a
world-period, and in the course of a world-period there
are seven great root-races. As has been previously explained,
these are subdivided into sub-races, and those again into branch races. For
convenience of reference we may state this in tabular form:
7Branch-Races1- Sub-Race
7Sub-Races1-Root-Race
7Root-Races1-World-Period
7World-Periods1-Round
7Rounds1-Chain-Period
7Chain-Periods1-Scheme
of Evolution
10Schemes of EvolutionOur System Evolution
It is clear that the
fourth root-race of the fourth globe of the fourth round of a fourth
chain-period would be the central point of a whole scheme of evolution, and we
find ourselves at the present moment only a little past the point. The Aryan
race, to which we belong, is the fifth root-race of the fourth globe, so
that the actual middle point fell in the time of the last great
root-race, the Atlantean. Consequently the human race as a whole is very little
more than halfway through its evolution, and those few souls who are already
nearing Adeptship, which is the end and crown of this
evolution, are very far in advance of their fellows.
How do they come to be
so far in advance? Partly and in some cases because they have worked harder,
but usually because they are older egos – because they were individualized out
of the animal kingdom at an earlier date, and so have had more time for the
human part of their evolution.
Any given wave of life
sent forth from the Deity usually spends a chain-period in each of the great
kingdoms of nature. That which in our first chain was ensouling
the first elemental kingdom must have ensouled in the
second of those kingdoms in the second chain, the third of them in the
Moon-chain, and is now in the mineral kingdom in the fourth chain. In the
future fifth chain it will ensoul the vegetable
kingdom, in the sixth the animal, and in the seventh it will attain humanity.
From this it follows
that we ourselves represented the mineral kingdom on the first chain, the
vegetable on the second, and the animal on the lunar chain. There some of us
attained our individualization, and so we were enabled to enter this
Earth-chain as men. Others who were a little more backward did not succeed in
attaining it, and so had to be born into this chain as animals for a while
before they could reach humanity.
Not all of mankind,
however, entered this chain together. When the lunar chain came to its end the
humanity upon it stood at various levels. Not Adeptship,
but what is now for us the fourth step on the Path,
was the goal appointed for that chain. Those who had attained it (commonly
called in theosophical literature the Lords of the Moon) had, as is usual,
seven choices before them as to the way in which they would serve. Only one of
those choices brought them, or rather a few of them, over into this Earth-chain,
to act as guides and teachers to the earlier races. A considerable proportion –
a vast proportion, indeed – of the
Moon-men had not
attained that level, and consequently had to appear in this Earth-chain as
humanity. Besides this, a great mass of the animal kingdom of the Moon-chain
was surging up to the level of individualization, and some of its members had
already reached it, while many others had not. These latter needed further
animal incarnations upon the Earth-chain, and for the
moment may be put aside.
There were many classes
even among humanity, and the manner in which these distributed themselves over
the Earth-chain needs some explanation. It is the general rule that those who
have attained the highest possible in any chain, on any globe, in any
root-race, are not born into the beginning of the next chain, globe or race,
respectively. The earlier stages are always for the backwardentities,
and only when they have already passed through a good deal of evolution and are
beginning to approach the level of those others who had done better, do the
latter descend into incarnation and join them once more. That is
to say, almost the
earlier half of any period of evolution, whether it be a race, a globe or a
chain, seems to be devoted to bringing the backward people up to nearly the
level of those who have got on better; then these latter also (who, in the
meantime, have been resting in great enjoyment in the mental world) descend
into incarnation along with the others, and they press on together until the
end of the period.
Thus the first of the
egos from the Moon who entered the Earth-chain were by no means the most
advanced. Indeed they may be described as the least advanced of those who had
succeeded in attaining humanity – the animal-men. Coming as they did into a
chain of new globes, freshly aggregated, they had to establish the forms in all
the different kingdoms of Nature. This needs to be done at the beginning of the
first round in a new chain, but never after that; for though the life-wave is
centered only upon one of the seven globes of a chain at any given time, yet
life has not entirely departed from the other globes. At the
present moment, for example, the life-wave of our chain is centered
in this Earth, but on the other two physical globes of our chain, Mars and
Mercury, life still exists. There is still a population, human, animal and
vegetable, andconsequently when the life-wave goes
round again to either of those planets there will be no necessity for the
creation of new forms. The old types are already there, and all that will happen will be a
sudden marvellous fecundity, so that the various kingdoms will quickly increase
and multiply, and make a rapidly increasing population instead of a stationary
one.
It was, then, the
animal-men, the lowest class of human beings of the Moon-chain, who established
the forms in the first round of the Earth-chain. Pressing closely after them
were the highest of the lunar animal kingdom, who were
soon ready to occupy the forms which had just been made. In the second journey
round the seven globes of the Earth-chain, the animal-men who had been the most
backward of the lunar humanity were leaders of this terrene humanity, the
highest of the moon-animals making its less developed grades. The same thing
went on in the third round of the Earth-chain, more and more of the lunar
animals attaining individualization and joining the human ranks, until in the
middle of that round on this very globe D which we call the Earth, a higher
class of human beings – the Second Order of moon-men – descended into
incarnation and at once took the lead.
When we come to the
fourth, our present round, we find the First Order of the moon-men pouring in
upon us – all the highest and the best of the lunar humanity who had only just
fallen short of success. Some of those who had already, even on the Moon,
entered upon the Path soon attained its end, became
Adepts and passed away
from the Earth. Some few others who had not been quite so far advanced have
attained Adeptship only comparatively recently – that
is, within the last few thousand years, and these are the Adepts of the present
day.
We, who find ourselves
in the higher races of humanity now, were several stages behind Them, but the opportunity lies before us of following in
Their steps if we will.
The evolution of which
we have been speaking is that of the ego himself, of
what might be called the soul of man; but at the same time there has been also
an evolution of the body. The forms built in the first round were very
different from any of which we know anything now. Properly speaking, those
which were made on our physical earth can scarcely be called forms at all, for
they were constructed of etheric matter only, and resembled vague, drifting and
almost shapeless clouds. In the second round they were definitely physical, but
still shapeless and light enough to float about in currents of wind.
Only in the third round
did they begin to bear any kind of resemblance to man as we know him today. The
very methods of reproduction of those primitive forms differed from those of
humanity today, and far more resembled those which we now find only in very
much lower types of life. Man in those early days was androgynous, and a
definite separation into the sexes took place only about the middle of the
third round. From that time onward until now the shape of man has been steadily
evolving along definitely human lines, becoming smaller and more compact than
it was, learning to stand upright instead of stooping and crawling, and
generally differentiating itself from the animal forms out of which it had been
evolved.
One curious break in the
regularity of this evolution deserves mention. On this globe, in this fourth
round, there was a departure from the straightforward scheme of evolution. This
being the middle globe of a middle round, the midmost point of evolution upon
it marked the last movement at which it was possible for members of what had
been the lunar animal kingdom to attain individualization.
Consequently a sort of
strong effort was made – a special scheme was arranged to give a final chance
to as many as possible. The conditions of the first and second rounds were
specially reproduced in place of the first and second races – conditions of
which in the earlier rounds these backward egos had not been able fully to take
advantage. Now, with the additional evolution which they had undergone during
the third round, some of them were able to take such advantage, and so they
rushed in at the very last moment before the door was shut, and became just
human. Naturally they will not reach any high level of human development, but
at least when they try again in some future chain it will be some advantage to
them to have had even this slight experience of human life.
Our terrestrial
evolution received a most valuable stimulus from the assistance given to us by
our sister globe, Venus. Venus is at present in the fifth incarnation of its
chain, and in the seventh round of that incarnation, so that its inhabitants
are a whole chain and a half in front of us in evolution.
Since, therefore, its
people are so much more developed than ours, it was thought desirable that
certain Adepts from the Venus evolution should be transferred to our Earth in
order to assist in the specially busy time just before
the closing of the door, in the middle of the fourth root-race.
These august Beings have
been called the Lords of the Flame and the Children of the Fire-mist, and They have produced a wonderful effect upon ourevolution. The intellect of which we are so proud is
almost entirely due to Their presence, for in the natural course of events the
next round, the fifth, should be that of intellectual advancement, and in this
our present fourth round we should be devoting ourselves chiefly to the
cultivation of the emotions. We are therefore in reality a long way in advance
of the program marked out for us; and such advance is entirely due to the
assistance given by these great Lords of the Flame. Most of Them stayed with us
only through that critical period of our
history; a few still
remain to hold the highest offices of the Great White Brotherhood until the
time when men of our own evolution shall have risen to such a height as to be
capable of relieving their august Visitors.
The evolution lying
before us in both of the life and of the form; for in future rounds, while the
egos will be steadily growing in power, wisdom and love, the physical forms
also will be more beautiful and more perfect than they have ever yet been. We
have in this world at the present time men at widely differing stages of
evolution, and it is clear that there are vast hosts of savages who are far
behind the great civilized races of the world – so far behind that it is quite
impossible that they can overtake them. Later on in the course of our evolution
a point will be reached at which it is no longer possible for those undeveloped
souls to advance side by side with the others, so that it will be necessary
that a division should be made.
The proceeding is
exactly analogous to the sorting out by a schoolmaster of the boys in his
class. During the school year he has to prepare his boys for a certain
examination, and by perhaps the middle of that school year he knows quite well
which of them will pass it. If he should have in his class some who are
hopelessly behind the rest, he might reasonably say to them when the middle period
was reached:
“It is quite useless for
you to continue with your fellows, for the more difficult lessons which I shall
now have to give will be entirely unintelligible to you. It is impossible that
you can learn enough in the time to pass the examination, so that the effort
would only be a useless strain for you, and meantime you would be a hindrance
to the rest of the class. It is therefore far better for you to give up striving
after the impossible, and to take up again the work of the lower class which
you did not do perfectly, and then to offer yourselves for this examination
along with next year’s class, for what is now impossible for you will then be
easy”.
This is in effect
exactly what is said at a certain stage in our future evolution, to the most
backward egos. They drop out of this year’s class and come along with the next
one. This is the “aeonian condemnation” to which
reference was made a little while ago. It is computed that about two fifths of
humanity will drop out of the class in this way, leaving the remaining three
fifths to go on with far greater rapidity to the glorious destinies which lie
before them.
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Tekels Park to be Sold to a Developer
Concerns are raised about the fate of the wildlife as
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Classic Introductory Theosophy Text
A Text Book of Theosophy By C
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The Constitution of Man After Death Reincarnation
The Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The Result of Theosophical Study
An Outstanding
Introduction to Theosophy
By a student of
Katherine Tingley
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man? Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation Karma
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