The Secret Doctrine
The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
London :
THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, LIMITED,
7, Duke Street, Adelphi, W.C.
WILLIAM Q. JUDGE,
117, Nassau Street, New York.
THE MANAGER OF THE THEOSOPHIST,
Adyar, Madras.
—
1888.
Credits for electronic first verbatim edition goes to Theosophical University Press.
Table of contents
VOLUME FIRST.
COSMOGENESIS.
COSMOGENESIS.
Proem ... 1
- The Oldest MSS. in the world and its Symbolism ... 2
- The One Life, Active and Passive ... 4
- The Secret Doctrine — Pantheism — Atheism ... 6
- “ Space ” in all Religions and in Occultism ... 9
- Seven Cosmic Elements — Seven Races of Mankind ... 12
- The Three Postulates of the Secret Doctrine ... 14
- Description of the Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan ... 20
BOOK I.—PART I.
COSMIC EVOLUTION.
COSMIC EVOLUTION.
Seven Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan ... 27
Stanza I.–The Night of the Universe ... 35
- The Seven Eternities ... 36
- “ Time ” ... 37
- The Universal Mind and the Dhyan Chohans ... 38
- Nidana and Maya : The Causes of Misery ... 39
- The Great Breath ... 43
- Being and Non-Being ... 45
- The Eye of Dangma ... 47
- Alaya, the Universal Soul ... 49
x | x |
Stanza II.–The Idea of Differentiation ... 53
- The Absolute knows Itself not ... 55
- The Germ of Life was not yet ... 57
- The Universe was still concealed in the Divine Thought ... 61
Stanza III.–The Awakening of Kosmos ... 62
- The Great Vibration ... 63
- Nature’s Symbols ... 65
- The Power of Numbers ... 67
- The Logoi and the Dragon ... 73
- The Astral Light ... 75
- Primeval Radiations from Unity ... 79
- The Web of Being ... 83
- Conscious Electricity : Fohat ... 85
Stanza IV.–The Septenary Hierarchies ... 86
- The Sons of the Fire ... 86
- The Vehicle of the Universe — the Dhyan Chohans ... 89
- The Army of the Voice ... 93
- Speech and Mind ... 95
- The Ogdoad and the Heptad ... 99
- The Stellar “ Sons of Light ” ... 103
Stanza V.–Fohat : The Child of the Septenary Hierarchies ... 106
- The Fiery Whirlwind and the Primordial Seven ... 106
- They Produce Fohat ... 108
- The Correlation of the “ Gods ” ... 113
- Evolution of the “ Principles ” of Nature ... 119
- The Mystery of the Fire ... 121
- The Secret of the Elements ... 123
- The Square of the Tabernacle ... 125
- The Planetary Spirits and the Lipika ... 129
- The Ring “ Pass Not ” ... 130
- The Sidereal Book of Life ... 131
- The Soul’s Pilgrimage and its “ Rest ” ... 134
Stanza VI.–Our World, its Growth and Development ... 136
xi | xi |
- The Seven Layu Centres ... 138
- The “ Elementary Germs ” ... 139
- The Evolution of the Elements ... 140
- The Building of the Worlds ... 145
- A Neutral Centre ... 147
- “ Dead ” Planets — The Moon ... 149
... 152
- The Planetary Divisions and the Human Principles ... 153
- The Moon ... 155
- Transmigrations of the Ego ... 159
- The Septenary Chain ... 161
- Relation of the other Planets to the Earth ... 163
... 170
- The Lunar Chain and the Earth Chain ... 172
- The Earth, the Child of the Moon ... 173
- Classification of the Monads ... 175
- The Monad Defined ... 177
- The Lunar Monads–the Pitris ... 179
- A Triple Evolution in Nature ... 181
Stanza VI.–Continued ... 191
- “ Creation ” in the Fourth Round ... 191
- The “ Curse,” “ Sin,” and “ War ” ... 193
- The Struggle for Life and the Birth of the Worlds ... 202
- The Adepts and the Sacred Island ... 207
Stanza VII.–The Parents of Man on Earth ... 213
- Divisions of the Hierarchies ... 214
- Correlations of Beings ... 223
- What incarnates in Animal Man ... 233
- Formation of Man : the Thinker ... 238
- Occult and Kabalistic Pneumatics ... 243
- Akâsa and Ether ... 257
- The Invisible “ Lives ” ... 259
- Occult Vital Chemistry and Bacteriology ... 261
xii | xii |
Summing up ... 269
BOOK I.—PART II.
THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER.
THE EVOLUTION OF SYMBOLISM IN ITS APPROXIMATE ORDER.
I. Symbolism and Ideographs ... 303
II. The Mystery Language and its Keys ... 310
- Egypt’s many Religions ... 311
- The Jews and their System ... 313
- Moses copied from Sargon ... 319
- Identity of Ancient Symbols ... 323
III. Primordial Substance and Divine Thought ... 325
- Divine Thought, or Cineritious Matter ? ... 327
- Ether and Intelligence ... 330
- The Seven Prakritis ... 335
- The Mystic Fire ... 339
- One Tree of Knowledge ... 341
IV. Chaos—Theos—Kosmos ... 342
V. The Hidden Deity, its Symbols and Glyphs ... 349
xiii | xiii |
VI. The Mundane Egg ... 359
VII. The Days and Nights of Brahmâ ... 368
VIII. The Lotus as a Universal Symbol ... 379
IX. Deus Lunus ... 386
- A Glance at the Lunar Myth ... 387
- A Key-note to the Moon ... 389
- Copies and Originals ... 393
- The Moon Bi-sexual ... 397
X. Tree and Serpent and Crocodile Worship ... 403
XI. Demon est Deus Inversus ... 411
XII. The Theogony of the Creative Gods ... 424
- The Point within the Circle ... 426
- The Logos or Verbum ... 429
- The Factors of Creation ... 432
- Identity of the Hierarchies in all Religions ... 438
- Difference between the Aryan and Semitic Systems ... 444
xiv | xiv |
XIII. The Seven Creations ... 445
XIV. The Four Elements ... 460
- The “ Gods ” and the “ Elements ” ... 463
- The Language of the Elements ... 464
- Pagan and Christian Worship of the Elements ... 467
XV. On Kwan-Shi-Yin and Kwan-Yin ... 470
BOOK I.—PART III.
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED.
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED.
I. Reasons for these Addenda ... 477
II. Modern Physicists are Playing at Blind Man’s Buff ... 482
III. An Lumen Sit Corpus nec non ? ... 483
IV. Is Gravitation a Law ? ... 490
xv | xv |
V. The Theories of Rotation in Science ... 500
VI. The Masks of Science ... 506
- What are the “ Forces ? ” ... 508
- The View of the Occultists ... 510
- Scientific and Occult Theories on Heat ... 515
- The Atoms of Science ... 519
VII. An Attack on the Scientific Theory of Force by a Man of Science ... 523
- Ether and Atoms ... 527
VIII. Life, Force, or Gravity ? ... 529
- Dr. Richardson on Nervous Ether ... 531
- The Senses and their Action ... 535
- Too much “ Life ” may Kill ... 539
IX. The Solar Theory ... 540
- The Primordial Element ... 542
- Elements and Meta-Elements ... 546
- The Tree of Life and Being ... 549
- Prof. Crookes on the Elements ... 552
X. The Coming Force ... 554
- Mr. Keeley, an Unconscious Occultist ... 557
- Inter-Etheric Waves ... 561
- The Secrets of Sound and Odour ... 565
XI. On the Elements and Atoms ... 566
- Metaphysical Chemistry ... 569
- What are the Seven Planets ? ... 575
- The Cyclic Fall of the Gods ... 577
xvi | xvi |
XII. Ancient Thought in Modern Dress ... 579
XIII. The Modern Nebular Theory ... 588
XIV. Forces—Modes of Motion or Intelligences ? ... 601
XV. Gods, Monads, and Atoms ... 610
- The Gods of the Ancients — the Monads ... 613
- The Monad and the Duad ... 617
- The Genesis of the Elements ... 621
- Hermes and Huxley ... 625
- The Teaching of Leibnitz ... 627
- The Monads according to Occultism ... 632
XVI. Cyclic Evolution and Karma ... 634
XVII. The Zodiac and its Antiquity ... 647
- The Jewish Patriarchs and the Signs of the Zodiac ... 651
- Zodiacal Cycles ... 656
- Hindu Astronomy ... 661
XVIII. Summary of the Mutual Position ... 668
N.B. — The Index and Glossary will be found at the close of Volume II.
VOLUME SECOND.
BOOK II.— PART I.
ANTHROPOGENESIS.
ANTHROPOGENESIS.
Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan ... 15
Stanza I.—Beginnings of Sentient Life ... 22
- Man, the Third Logos ... 25
- The Celestial Governors of Humanity ... 29
- Parent Stars and Sister Planets... 33
- Three Kinds of Light ... 35
- The Numbers of Creation ... 39
- The First War in Heaven ... 45
Two Antediluvian Astronomers ... 47
Stanza II.—Nature Unaided Fails ... 52
viii | viii |
The Chronology of the Brahmins ... 66
Stanza III.—Attempts to create Man ... 75
- The various classes of Creators ... 77
- Man, a god in animal form ... 81
- “ Fires,” “ Sparks,” and “ Flames ” ... 83
Stanza IV.—Creation of the First Races ... 86
- Pitris of the Gods and Demons ... 89
- What Prometheus symbolized ... 95
- The Hammer of Thor ... 99
- The Divine Rebels ... 103
- Man’s Father, the Sun ... 105
Stanza V.–The Evolution of the Second Race ... 109
- The Secret Work of Chiram ... 113
- The outgrowth of Races ... 117
- Leda, Castor, and Pollux ... 121
- Jah-Hovah Androgynous ... 125
- The Jewish God-name ... 127
Stanza VI.–The Evolution of the Sweat-born ... 131
- Bi-sexual reproduction ... 133
- The Virgin Third Race ... 135
- A Few Words about Deluges and Noah’s ... 138
- Various Deluges ... 141
- The Arkite Symbols ... 143
- Could Men Exist 18,000,000 Years ago ? ... 148
- Spontaneous Generation ... 151
- The Solar System in the Purânas ... 155
- Oceans of Carbonic Acid ? ... 159
Stanza VII.–From the Semi-Divine down to the First Human Races ... 161
ix | ix |
Stanza VIII.–Evolution of the Animal Mammalians—the First Fall ... 180
What may be the Objections to the Foregoing ... 185
Stanza IX.–The Final Evolution of Man ... 191
Edens, Serpents and Dragons ... 202
- The Garden of Eden a College ... 203
- Flying Camels ... 205
- Two Schools of Magic ... 211
- The Flying Dragons ... 219
The Sons of God and the Sacred Island ... 220
- The Magicians of Atlantis ... 223
Stanza X.–The History of the Fourth Race ... 227
- The Mysteries among the Mayas ... 229
- Satanic Myths ... 233
- Mahasura and Satan ... 237
- Man, the pale shadow of God ... 243
- The curse of Vasishta ... 247
Archaic Teachings in the Purânas and Genesis ... 251
A Panoramic View of the Early Races ... 263
x | x |
Stanza X.—Continued ... 271
Are Giants a Fiction ? ... 277
The Races with the “ Third Eye ” ... 289
The Primeval Manus of Humanity ... 307
Stanza XI.—The Civilization and Destruction of the Fourth and Fifth Races ... 316
- Degeneration of Mankind ... 319
- Atlantis now Ocean Floor ... 325
- Changes of Climate ... 329
- How to Read Symbols ... 335
- The Antediluvian Buddhas ... 339
Cyclopean Ruins and Colossal Stones as Witnesses to Giants ... 341
Stanza XII.—The Fifth Race and its Divine Instructors ... 351
- The Astronomical Dragon ... 353
- Serpents and Dragons under different Symbolisms ... 355
- The Sidereal and Cosmic Glyphs ... 357
- Our Divine Instructors ... 365
- The Origin of the Satanic Myth ... 378
- Noah was a Kabir, hence he must have been a Demon ... 390
xi | xi |
- The oldest Persian Traditions about the Polar, and the Submerged Continents ... 393
- Western Speculations founded on the Greek and Purânic Traditions ... 401
- The “ Curse ” from a Philosophical point of view ... 409
Additional Fragments from a Commentary on the Verses of Stanza XII ... 423
- The Oldest Records about Atlantis ... 425
- The Doom of Atlantis ... 427
- The Races, Sub-Races, and Family Races ... 434
Conclusion ... 437
BOOK II.—PART II.
THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS.
THE ARCHAIC SYMBOLISM OF THE WORLD-RELIGIONS.
Esoteric Tenets corroborated in every Scripture ... 449
§ XVI. Adam-Adami ... 452
- The Cabalistic Four Adams ... 457
XVII. The “ Holy of Holies ” : Its Degradation ... 459
XVIII. On the Myth of the “ Fallen Angel,” in its various aspects ... 475
- The Evil Spirit : Who and What ? ... 475
- The Gods of Light proceed from the Gods of Darkness ... 483
- The many meanings of the “ War in Heaven ” ... 492
XIX. Is Pleroma Satan’s Lair ? ... 506
- Jehovah’s Personating Spirit ... 509
- The Mysterium Magnum ... 512
- The Logos and Satan are One ... 515
xii | xii |
XX. Prometheus the Titan ... 519
XXI. Enoïchion-Henoch ... 529
XXII. The Symbolism of the Mystery Names Iao, and Jehovah ... 536
XXIII. The Upanishads in Gnostic Literature ... 563
XXIV. The Cross and the Pythagorean Decade ... 573
- Poseidon’s Five Ministers ... 577
- The Mystery of the Number Six ... 583
- The Cross and Christian After-thought ... 587
XXV. The Mysteries of the Hebdomad ... 590
BOOK II.—PART III.
ADDENDA.
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED.
ADDENDA.
SCIENCE AND THE SECRET DOCTRINE CONTRASTED.
I. Archaic, or Modern Anthropology ? ... 645
xiii | xiii |
II. The Ancestors Mankind is offered by Science ... 656
- Various Modes of Reproduction ... 659
- A Pithecoid Man Wanted ... 669
- Plastidular Souls and Conscious Nerve-Cells ... 670
- The atoms of our “ Father-Bathybius ” ... 674
III. The Fossil Relics of Man and the Anthropoid Ape ... 675
- Insurmountable difficulties for the Darwinians ... 677
- The Argument of “ Rudimentary Organs ” ... 683
- “ Epitomized History ” in the Fœtus ... 684
- The Evidence of Skulls ... 687
IV. Duration of the Geological Periods, Race Cycles, and the Antiquity of Man ... 690
- Sayce’s Sketch of Chronology ... 691
- (a) Speculations on the Age of the Globe ... 694
- The Adept-Astronomer ... 698
- The Adept-Astronomer
V. Organic Evolution and Creative Centres ... 731
- Dhyan Chohans and these Centres ... 732
- (a) Origin and Evolution of the Mammalia ... 734
- (b) The European Palæolithic Races — whence and how distributed ... 738
xiv | xiv |
VI. Giants, Civilizations, and Submerged Continents traced in History ... 742
- A Mysterious Nation ... 743
- The Seven Sabbaths ... 747
- “ Revelation ” and the “ Secret Doctrine ” ... 748
- Druidic Stones ... 752
- Races of Giants ... 755
- Mazdean “ Seven Earths ” ... 759
... 760
- The Heirloom of Atlantis ... 763
- The God-bearing Land ... 765
- The Power of Names ... 767
- The Sons of Cœlus and Terra ... 769
- Southern and Northern Atlantis ... 770
- Niobe and her Children ... 771
- The Cycles of Time ... 773
- The Titans in Prison ... 776
VII. Scientific and Geological Proofs of the Existence of several Submerged Continents ... 778
- Corroborations of Occultism by Geology ... 779
- Evidence of the Flora ... 781
- Atlantis necessary to Ethnology ... 783
- Astræa falls on her Head ... 785
- Communication between South-Sea Islands ... 788
- Evidence of Language ... 790
- Ragon explains Masonic Symbols ... 795
- The End a fitting prelude to Truth ... 797
VOLUME III.
vii | vii |
- Introductory ... 1
- One Key to All Sacred Books ... 3
- Assumptions have to be proven ... 5
- The Spirit of Plato's Teaching ... 7
- Self-Contradiction of the Critic ... 9
- The Character of Ammonius Saccas ... 11
- Plato a follower of Pythagoras ... 13
- Preliminary Survey ... 14
- The Protectors of China ... 15
- The A B C of Magic ... 17
- Magic As old As Man ... 19
- The Tree of Knowledge ... 21
- Occultism must win the Day ... 23
- Black Magic at work ... 25
- Black Magic and Hypnotism ... 27
- The Philosophy stands on its own Merits ... 29
- Modern Criticism and the Ancients ... 30
- All Honour to Genuine Scientists ... 31
- What is a Myth? ... 33
- Chaldean Oracles ... 35
- The Origin of Magic ... 36
- The Books of Hermes ... 37
- What is the Origin of Magic? ... 39
- Pherecydes of Syros ... 41
- Cain, Mathematical and Anthropomorphic ... 43
viii | viii |
- The Secrecy of Initiates ... 44
- Exoteric and Esoteric Teachings ... 45
- Origen on “Genesis” ... 47
- The “Dark Sayings” of the “Testaments” ... 49
- The Greatest Crime ever perpetrated ... 51
- Asiatic Religions proclaim their Esoterism openly ... 53
- The Wisdom Religion ... 55
- Some Reasons for Secrecy ... 56
See also
- Main page for this book with general description and links.