The Washington herald., 1914-09-27
LOST SOULS.
By DIR. w. w. BAKER.
(ContInucd from mat Sunday1D


The whole force Of the universe Is
pressing upward toward unity, and the
man who is willing to make all his life
an intelligent cooperation with nature.
gains as part OF his reward an ever
! increasing perception of the reality Of
/ this unity. But, on the other hand. It Is
/ obvious that men may set themselves IN
I opposition to nature, and instead of work
! ing unselhshly for the good Of all, may
/ debase every faculty they possess for
! purely selfish ends: and Of them also. as
OF the others, the old saying is uue,
Verify I say unto you, they have their
I reward" They spend their lives in stTiv-
ing for separateness, and for long time
they attain IL. and II Is said that that
sensation Of being utterly alone in space
/ is the most awful fate that can ever be-
/ fall the sons Of men,.
| This extraordinary. development Of
| selflshness Is the characteristic Of the
black magician, and 1t is among their
ranks only that men can be found VINO
are in danger of this terrible fate. Many
and lOathsome are their varieties, but
I they may all be classsd in one or other
of two great divisions. They both use
such occult arts as they possess for pure
ly selfish purposes, but these purposes
differ
| type the object pursued Is the gratifca-
tion Of sensual desire of some sort, and
naturally the result OF a life devoted TO
nothing but that ID to center the mans
energy in the desire-body: so that If the
man who works on these lines has sue
ceeded in killing out from himself every
unselfsh or afYectionate feeling. every
spark Of higher impulse. naturally moth
ing Is left but a remorseless. ruthless
lF1r ,efa ~ lraf N hn de
death neither able nor desirous TO rise
above the lowest subdivision Of the astral
plane. The whole Of such mind as he has
is absolutely in the grip OF desire. and
when the struggle takes place the ego Ian
recover none Of II, and finds himself serI-
ously weakened in consequence.
By his carelessness in permitting this
he has for the time cut himself on from
the current of evolution. from the mighty
ways Of the life of Logos. and so until
he can return to incarnation. he stands
what appeals to him to bel outside that
life in the condition of avichi. the wave
less. Even when he does return TO in
carnatIon II cannot be among those
whom he has known before, for he has
not enough available capital left to pro- :
vide ensoulment for a mind and body
at his previous level. He must now be
content to occupy vehicles OF a far less
evolved type, belonging to some earlier
race, so that he has thrown himself far
back in evolution and must climb over
again many rungs OF the ladder.
He will probably be born as a savage,
but will most likely be a chief among
them. as he will still have some intel
lect. II has been said that he may even
throw himself so far back that he may
be unable to find upon the world in its
present condition any type of human body
low enough for the manifestation which
he now requires so that he may even
be incapacitated from taking any FUR
ther part in this scheme Of evolution.
and may threfore have to wait in a kind
OF condition OF suspended animation for
the commencement OF another.
Amputated PersonIIty.
Meanwhile. what Of the amputated per-
sonaIity? II is no longer a permanent
entity, but Il remains full OF vigorous
and wholly evil life, entirely without re-
morse or responsibility. As its fate is
disintegration amidst the unpleasant sur
roundinSs Of what is called the eighth |
sphere" it naturally tries to maintain !
some sort OF existence on the physical !
plane as long as possible. Nampirism !
Of some kind is its sole means Of po- !
longing its baneful existence. and when |
that fails 1t has been known TO seize .
upon any available body. driving out the |
lawful owner. In spite of its frenzied ef-N
forts, its power seems soon to fail. and !
believe there is no instance on record !
of its successfully stealing a second body !
after the first theft Is worn out. The |
creature is a demon Of the most terrible 1
type-a monster for which there is no !
permanent place in the scheme of evo- |
luton to which We belong.
Its natural tendency. therefore, is tol
drift out OF this evolution. and to bel
drown by the irresistible force Of law
intwo that astral cesspool which in earlier
theosophical writings was called the
eighth sphere, because what passes into
it stands outside the ring of seven worlds
Csome say the eighth sphere is the astral
plane OF the noon. and cannot return
into their evolution. There, surrounded
by loathsome relics of all OF the conCen-
trated vileness of the ages that are
past burning ever with desire, vet with
out possibility OF satisfaction this mon
strosity slowly decays, its mental and
casual matter being thus at last set free
never indeed to rejoin the ego from
which ii has torn itself, but to be dis
tributed among the other matter of the !
plane to enter gradually itno fresh COM
bination. and so put to better uses II !
is consolinE to know that such entities
are so rare as to be practically unknown.
and that they have the power in seize
only those who have in their nature pro
nouncsd defects of kindred type.
But there is another type Of the black
maGicians in outward appearance more
respectable. yet really even more dan
gerous, because more powerful This Is
the man who instead of giving himselt up
altogether to sensuality Of one kind or
another sets before himself the goal OF
a more refined but not less unsCrupuIOus
selfishness. His object is the acquisi-
ton of an occult power higher and wider
indeed but to be used always for his
own qualification and advancement. to
further his own ambition or satisfy his
own revenge.
RIEId ASccficiSnI.
In order TO gain this he adopts the
most rigid asceticism as regards mere
fleshIy desires, and staTvss out the
qrosssr particles Of his astral body as
perservingIv as does the pupil of the
Great White Brotherhood. But though
II is only a less material kind OF desire
with which he will allow his mind to
become cntanglcd. and when at the end
of the astral lie the time of the separa-
ton comes the ego is able to recover no
whit OF his investment. For the man.
therefore. the result is much the same as
in the former case, except that he will
remain in touch with the personality
much longer, and will to some extent.