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<center>BY AN ENGLISH MEMBER OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.</center>

<center>BY AN ENGLISH MEMBER OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.</center>

NO ONE can understand the Hermetic philosophy without beginning ''at initio. ''The astral light (universal ether) is our starting point. If the reader, unlearned in the terminology of the occult writers, will interpret the “astral light,” to which allusion is more than once made, into the “universal ether” postulated by modern science, I think there is little else that requires explanation to be, at all events, intelligible. It is not to the purpose to go behind the operative activity of the law of evolution for its cause; that is a separate branch of metaphysics. Let us take the principle of cosmogony admitted by science, viz., that the visible universe is the result of aggregations of molecules caused by evolution’ Every molecule has its inherent energy, and is thereby forced into each successive relationship as it passes through the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. The Hermetist, who sees with both eyes instead of with one only, observes that each atom, no matter where found, is Imbued with that vital principle called spirit. Thus each grain of sand, equally with each minutest atom of the human body, has its inherent latent spark of the Divine light; and as one law of evolution applies to the whole universe, so each of these grains of sand will assuredly one day go to make up the body of man.

{{Style S-Small capitals|No one}} can understand the Hermetic philosophy without beginning ''at initio. ''The astral light (universal ether) is our starting point. If the reader, unlearned in the terminology of the occult writers, will interpret the “astral light,” to which allusion is more than once made, into the “universal ether” postulated by modern science, I think there is little else that requires explanation to be, at all events, intelligible. It is not to the purpose to go behind the operative activity of the law of evolution for its cause; that is a separate branch of metaphysics. Let us take the principle of cosmogony admitted by science, viz., that the visible universe is the result of aggregations of molecules caused by evolution’ Every molecule has its inherent energy, and is thereby forced into each successive relationship as it passes through the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms. The Hermetist, who sees with both eyes instead of with one only, observes that each atom, no matter where found, is Imbued with that vital principle called spirit. Thus each grain of sand, equally with each minutest atom of the human body, has its inherent latent spark of the Divine light; and as one law of evolution applies to the whole universe, so each of these grains of sand will assuredly one day go to make up the body of man.

In the progress of these atoms, from the primitive rock to the human being, there is a constant giving off of astral ema nations. These go into the common store-house of nature, the astral atmosphere of our planet. The same law following them here, these emanations have a tendency to assume concrete forms. Exactly as the fishes of different species rep resent the successive stages of nature's journey work in her attempt to produce the moss perfect piscatorial form, so the multifarious forms of the elementary mark her attempts to produce the perfect and concrete physical man. This implies an evolution of spirit keeping pace with the evolution of matter, and a constant tendency of the spirit to gain ascendency over, or rather to escape from, the bondage of its encompassing matter.

In the progress of these atoms, from the primitive rock to the human being, there is a constant giving off of astral ema nations. These go into the common store-house of nature, the astral atmosphere of our planet. The same law following them here, these emanations have a tendency to assume concrete forms. Exactly as the fishes of different species rep resent the successive stages of nature's journey work in her attempt to produce the moss perfect piscatorial form, so the multifarious forms of the elementary mark her attempts to produce the perfect and concrete physical man. This implies an evolution of spirit keeping pace with the evolution of matter, and a constant tendency of the spirit to gain ascendency over, or rather to escape from, the bondage of its encompassing matter.