Theosophy and New Age

**Theosophy** is a collection of
mystical and occultist philosophies concerning, or seeking direct
knowledge of the presumed mysteries of life and nature, particularly
of the nature of divinity and the origin and purpose of the universe.
Theosophy is considered part of Western esotericism, which believes
that hidden knowledge or wisdom from the ancient past offers a path
to enlightenment and salvation. Though it was also heavily inspired by eastern religions, with one of its founders, Henry olcott being one of the first major european to formally convert to buddhism, and to bring buddhist concepts later into this western esotericism. The concepts of reincarnation, and the enlightened who were free from it being the main holy beings being a major aspect that would later become a large facet of it.

Theosophy comes from the Greek
theosophia,
which combines theos, "God" and
sophia, "wisdom", meaning
"divine wisdom". From the late 19th century onwards, the
term theosophy has generally been used to refer to the
religio-philosophic doctrines of the Theosophical Society, founded in
New York City in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky. Blavatsky's major work, The Secret Doctrine
(1888), was one of the foundational works of modern theosophy. Modern theosophy has also given rise to, or influenced, the
development of other mystical, philosophical, and religious
movements such as new age movements, for which it is the biggest inspiration. These were all seen as highly syncretic from the beginning, as the society's logo openly incorporated symbols from multiple religions.

Theosophy is actually a large inspiration in megaten, and especially iv, with it referencing many of its figures and concepts such as sanat kumara, the great white brotherhood, and the akashic records. Neutral's emphasis on humans that underwent apotheosis is also based somewhat in the concept of ascended masters, especially in that its religious focus closely resembles the theological focus on those as their main divinities. Even law has a slight reference to neo-theosophical ideas such as its focus more on angels and less on god, and it having a slight aesthetic that resembles it, by combining things like peace signs with an angelic side. In redux zelenin even refers to the lawful world as a new age.

Although some later theosophical teachings do veer into the concept of UFO religions, it is generally considered distinct due to that not being the core aspect when it occurs. Theosophy often conflates spirits and aliens, depicting ufos as a thing that belong to beings from the plane of venus. Sanat kumara being considered a being that originally came from venus in the past in this way.

## General info

The
term theosophy was used as a synonym for theology as early as the 3rd
century ad. The 13th century work Summa philosophiae made a distinction between theosophers and
theologians. In Summa, theosophers were described as authors only
inspired by the holy books, while theologians were described as persons whose task was to
explain theosophy. That usage began to fall out of favor however, as
the term more and more began to be used for esoteric meanings, until
now it mainly only refers to trends stemming from the traditions
established be a certain specific collection of groups. During the
Renaissance, use of the term diverged to refer to gnostic knowledge
that offers the individual enlightenment and salvation through a
knowledge of the bonds that are believed to unite her or him to the
world of divine or intermediary spirits.

Theosophy actually designates a
specific flow of thought or tradition within the modern study of
esotericism. Thus, it follows the path starting from the more modern
period of the 15th century onward. Faivre describes the "theosophic
current" or theosophy as a single esoteric current among seven
other esoteric currents in early modern Western thought.

Faivre noted that there are "obvious
similarities" between earlier theosophy and modern Theosophy as
both play an important part in Western esotericism and both claim to
deal with wisdom from a gnostic perspective. But he says there are
also differences, since they do not actually rely on the same
reference works; and their style is different. The referential corpus
of earlier theosophy "belongs essentially to the Judeo-Christian
type", while that of modern Theosophy "reveals a more
universal aspect". Although there are many differences between
Christian theosophy and the Theosophical movement begun by Helena
Blavatsky, the differences "are not important enough to cause an
insurmountable barrier." When referring to the ideas related to
Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, the word "Theosophy"
is capitalized; otherwise it is not. Theosophy and theosophists refer
to Blavatsky's philosophy while theosophy and theosophers refer to
Christian theosophy. This page will describe aspects of multiple trends within the tradition.

**Anthrosophy**. By 1907, a split
between what would later become anthrosophists and the mainstream
Theosophical Society had begun to become apparent, leading to
anthrosophy branching out as a unique group. While the Society was
oriented toward an Eastern and especially Indian approach, Steiner,
the founder of anthrosophy was trying to develop a path that embraced
more of Christianity and science. The split became irrevocable when
Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society, began to
present the child Jiddu Krishnamurti as the reincarnated Christ.
Steiner strongly objected and considered any comparison between
Krishnamurti and Christ to be nonsense; many years later,
Krishnamurti also repudiated the assertion, but at that point the
schools had developed down two distinct lines.

**Neo-theosophy**. The term Neo-Theosophical came
to be used outside Theosophical circles to refer to groups formed by
former Theosophists as well as groups whose central premises borrow
heavily from Blavatskyian Theosophy. Other neo-theosophists include
Steiner's contemporary Peter Deunov and Samael Aun Weor, who
introduced theosophical teachings to Latin America. Dion Fortune and
Aleister Crowley were also influencers of (and influenced by) the
leading edge of the theosophical movement, which in turn influenced
Anton LaVey's Satanism, L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology, Wicca, and the
modern New Age and New Thought movements. (Alice Bailey introduced
the term New Age).

While syncretism has been around since the beginning, many have pointed out that the sense in which it includes eastern ideas often tends to be nominal and vague, and to not properly understand many of the ideas it seeks to include. While transformation is intentional due to the syncretic nature, various theosophical trends have often been accused of not really understanding many of the ideas they try to include.

**The New Age** is a term applied to a range of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices that developed in Western nations during the 1970s. Precise scholarly definitions of the New Age differ in their emphasis, largely as a result of its highly eclectic structure. In many ways it is considered an eclectic form of theosophy and ascended master teachings. New Age belief is that whereas once humanity lived in an age of great
technological advancement and spiritual wisdom, it has entered a period
of spiritual degeneracy, which will be remedied through the
establishment of a coming Age of Aquarius, from which the milieu gets its name. And that this period will be an age of peace. The new age is mentioned explicitly in some of the tabletop games, mentioning how the world is moving into the coming age of aquarius.

## Humanity.

Anthroposophy
describes a broad evolution of human consciousness. Early stages of
human evolution possess an intuitive perception of reality, including
a clairvoyant perception of spiritual realities. Humanity has
progressively evolved an increasing reliance on intellectual
faculties and a corresponding loss of intuitive or clairvoyant
experiences, which have become atavistic. The increasing
intellectualization of consciousness, initially a progressive
direction of evolution, has led to an excessive reliance on
abstraction and a loss of contact with both natural and spiritual
realities. However, to go further requires new capacities that
combine the clarity of intellectual thought with the imagination, and
beyond this with consciously achieved inspiration and intuitive
insights.

**Reincarnation**. Anthroposophy speaks of the reincarnation of the human spirit:
that the human being passes between stages of existence, incarnating
into an earthly body, living on earth, leaving the body behind and
entering into the spiritual worlds before returning to be born again
into a new life on earth. After the death of the physical body, the
human spirit sees the past life, perceiving its events as
they were experienced by the objects of its actions. A complex
transformation takes place between the review of the past life and
the preparation for the next life. The individual's karmic condition
eventually leads to a choice of parents, physical body, disposition,
and capacities that provide the challenges and opportunities that
further development requires, which includes karmically chosen tasks
for the future life.

If they become ascended through enough spiritual growth they are freed from reincarnation and can live entirely on the spiritual plane. However, those who do this are still capable of incarnating into earth.

Note that this concept of reincarnation heavily ties to how it appears in megaten, and megaten references this explicitly. Many figures in megaten free themselves from reincarnation and become immortals through various means, such as spiritual practice, magic, or even technology at times. Especially for neutral, for whom their main figures are the equivalent of ascended masters. The games reference the theosopical associations explicitly by having the white show up, who are based on the great white brotherhood, as well as figures like saint germain who is a big figure in theosophy. (And sanat kumara, though in-game, he is not explicitly called a human who underwent apotheosis).

**Subtle body. A subtle body** is one of a series of psycho-spiritual
constituents of living beings, according to various esoteric, occult,
and mystical teachings. According to such beliefs each subtle body
corresponds to a subtle plane of existence, in a hierarchy or great
chain of being that culminates in the physical form. Humanity when
incarnated is composed of a layer of these subtle bodies that each
represent an aspect of its functioning. Subtle bodies being distinct from their physical body. There are three
important subtle bodies in theosophy.

**1: Linga Sharira - the Double or Astral body**. The *Linga Sharira*
is the invisible double of the human body, elsewhere referred to as
the etheric body, doppelgänger or bioplasmic body and serves as a
model or matrix of the physical body, which conforms to the shape,
appearance and condition of his "double". The linga sarira
can be separated or projected a limited distance from the body. When
separated from the body it can be wounded by sharp objects. When it
returns to the physical frame, the wound will be reflected in the
physical counterpart, a phenomenon called "repercussion".
At death, it is discarded together with the physical body and
eventually disintegrates or decomposes.

**2: Mayavi-rupa - the "Illusion-body."** The mayavi-rupa is
dual in its functions, being: "the vehicle both of thought and
of the animal passions and desires, drawing at one and the same time
from the lowest terrestrial manas (mind) and Kama, the element of
desire". The higher part of this body, containing the spiritual
elements gathered during life, merges after death entirely into the
causal body; while the lower part, containing the animal elements,
forms the Kama-rupa, the source of "spooks" or apparitions
of the dead.

Some divide the dual mayavi-rupa into two different bodies: the
**emotional** and the **mental** bodies, with mental being higher than
emotional.

**3: Causal Body - the vehicle of the higher Mind.** It refers to the
atman or soul, and is seen as being preserved after death, while the other bodies dissipate or merge into it. It is
considered the highest subtle body, beyond even the mental body. As
with all the vehicles of consciousness, the Causal Body is associated
with an objective or cosmic plane, in this case the Causal plane. It
is the vehicle of the higher or “abstract” mind that contrasts
the lower concrete mind of the previous body.

**Evolution**. The anthroposophical view of evolution
considers all animals
to have evolved from an early, unspecialized form. As the least
specialized animal, human beings have maintained the closest
connection to the archetypal form;
contrary to the Darwinian conception of human evolution, all other
animals *devolve* from this archetype.
The spiritual archetype originally created by spiritual beings was
devoid of physical substance; only later did this descend into
material existence on Earth.
In this view, human evolution has accompanied the Earth's evolution
throughout the existence of the Earth.

The evolution of man, Steiner
said, has consisted in the gradual incarnation of a spiritual being
into a material body. It has been a true "descent" of man
from a spiritual world into a world of matter. The evolution of the
animal kingdom did not precede, but rather *accompanied* the
process of human incarnation. Man is thus not the end result of the
evolution of the animals, but is rather in a certain sense their
*cause*. In the succession of types which appears in the fossil
record-the fishes, reptiles, mammals, and finally fossil remains of
man himself — the stages of this process of incarnation are
reflected. As bizarre as it sounds, this could maybe correlate somewhat to how in megaten worlds are human-centric, shaping themselves around human or godly designs.

Anthroposophy took over from Theosophy a complex system of cycles
of world development and human evolution. The evolution of the world
is said to have occurred in cycles. The first phase of the world
consisted only of heat. In the second phase, a more active condition,
light, and a more condensed, gaseous state separate out from the
heat. In the third phase, a fluid state arose, as well as a sounding,
forming energy. In the fourth (current) phase, solid physical matter
first exists. This process is said to have been accompanied by an
evolution of consciousness which led up to present human culture.

## Ethics

**Lightworking** is a term for undergoing the process to help or heal other people, ultimately with a goal of elevating their consciousness and as such helping them to move forward to ascension. This overlaps with generally benevolent actions in general, but with a focus on spiritual and psychological healing, since effected minds are seen as a basis of many problems. While not all theosophical or new age groups use this terminology, it is fairly common. The opposite is called darkworking, which is caring only about your own benefit and spiritual advancements even if it comes at the expense of others.

There is a lot of emphasis placed on the fact that everyone is part of a conscious whole, and that lightworkers will tend to identify with that collective consciousness. They still
have their own egos, but they regard their individuality as an avatar of
 that collective consciousness. So the expansion of individual
consciousness is a tool of a greater consciousness rather than an end
unto itself. For a lightworker the notion of trying to get ahead at someone else’s
 expense is seen as dubious. It’s like your left hand is competing with your
 right. In contrast, darkworkers focus on their own individuality, and do not identify with the whole in the same way.

Note the correspondence here to law and chaos a bit. Dark being depicted as caring about your own benefits and spiritual enhancements even if it causes harm is a pretty straightforward association with chaos. Light focusing on you as an aspect of the whole, and seeking to benefit all equally has a heavy tone of law. However, despite it sounding lawful on paper, the eclectic and open ended format of ethics in many of these groups in practice means that they have no codified emphasis on serious ways to put this in practice. And so for many, it bears little resemblance to serious efforts to engage in heavy altruism, with the emphasis of many of these groups focusing instead on personal development, and sharing these positive vibes with others. New age groups have been accused of complacency, and on their focus on positive mentalities and less on tangible good and bad essentially making them more likely to be apathetic about serious problems in the world. As such, this concept has aspects of both neutral and law, depending on the sense in which one emphasizes it.

**Non-dogmatism**. New age ethics revolve heavily around the strong emphasis on being non-dogmatic. They say the new age god is impersonal and omnipresent. He (it) has not
revealed himself (itself) to mankind, and therefore, mankind is not
accountable to any divine commands that are considered beyond question. Since each person is god, the ultimate authority to decide how to act is seen as existing within them, and up to them to decide how to actualize.

People are seen as needing to be able to make decisions autonomously, and free from dogmatic constraints. When this happens, their values are seen as becoming
internal.” Internalized values are seen as allowing people to seek higher
consciousness, whereas any external limit or authority blocks our
ability to get in touch with our inner truths. As such, tolerance is treated as a high virtue, and enforcing things is seen as a vice, but beyond there they claim that they can't go far in the way of making particular accusations against other people, that leading to a judgemental attitude.

This sometimes gets into ambiguous territory, since it implies that no one should judge another's actions as right or wrong, with this being up to themselves to decide, and people can even change their minds without this being seen as a threat to consistency, or have different standards than another without either being at threat of being wrong. Sayings like “Create your own reality according to what feels right for you” call to mind this ambiguity and the lack of it meaningfully corresponding to a consistent set of ethics. It is often seen as collapsing into relativism, which is noted by ethicists for its internal inconsistency. Doubly so because many people profess relativist views based on the assumption of them leading to more tolerance, but tolerance doesn't inherently flow from it, considering that one can allow for intolerant views to exist via one's own relativist paradigm.

Note how from this angle, it does sound a little like neutral. While neutral is not this strongly wishy-washy, note how in many games neutral characters will refuse to deliberately insinuate that other characters are wrong even when fighting against them. Like isabeau in Iv, on the law or chaos ends will say that you can be proud of the path you have chosen despite being willing to fight you to the death over it.

**Anthrosophy**. The anthroposophical view is that good is found in the balance
between two polar influences on world and human evolution. These are
often described through their mythological embodiments as spiritual
adversaries which endeavour to tempt and corrupt humanity, Lucifer
and his counterpart Ahriman (who is sometimes called satan). These have both positive and negative
aspects. Lucifer is the light spirit, which "plays on human
pride and offers the delusion of divinity", but also motivates
creativity and spirituality; Ahriman is the dark spirit that tempts
human beings to "...deny [their] link with divinity and to live
entirely on the material plane", but that also stimulates
intellectuality and technology. Both figures exert a negative effect
on humanity when their influence becomes misplaced or one-sided, yet
their influences are necessary for human freedom to unfold.

Each human being has the task to find a balance between these
opposing influences, and each is helped in this task by the mediation
of the Representative of Humanity, also known as the Christ being, a
spiritual entity who stands between and harmonizes the two extremes.

This association becomes a major aspect of the alignments in SMTII, where law is associated with satan, and chaos with lucifer. In an old interview atlus actually explicitly associates the alignments with anthrosophical teaching directly, making it an explicit reference. Though they use the name satan rather than ahriman, in reference to the plot of smtii. Ahriman as a distinct demon later shows up as an orderly demon in nocturne. Satan's humanoid form in II also has a dark aesthetic in keeping with being called the dark spirit in anthrosophy, and lucifer's humanoid form has a light aesthetic in keeping with being called the light spirit.

This association is also a major aspect of the structure of the plot of SMTII. In keeping with the idea of satan as the demon of order, who gives rise to science, and lucifer as the demon of spirituality, the law areas of the game are futuristic and structured, whereas the chaos aspect is the tree of life. Anthrosophy depicts christ as the balance between ahriman and lucifer, and in-game, aleph is depicted as a jesus-figure, who can represent balance between these forces.

In anthrosophy, there is also a figure depicted as opposite to christ known as sorat or sorath. Unlike ahriman and lucifer, the problems of which are seen as coming from an inbalance, sorat is seen as an outright destructive force. And is called the leader of the asura and Rakshasas. This aspect doesn't seem to be something overtly referenced in SMTII, however.

A major aspect of anthrosophy in general is the idea of evolution. It believed that different religions were all valid for their time and place, but that they become unsuited for the future of the world over time, and must evolve to meet new challenges. This idea of religious evolution also underlies the games, in which the real world religions were implied to exist in the past of the world, but to have evolved to new forms as understanding moved on. With an implied goal of continuing to evolve.

## God

Something common to essentially all theosophy and modern new age groups is the concept of a god that is not perceived as personal or commanding. An important aspect of this is that no divine commands or laws were ever directly given, and so it rejects dogmatism, seeing it as indicative of being rigid. However, how it views this overall is not always seen as the same.

The theosophy of Blavatsky emphasized that there was no god proper in the sense of resembling a monotheistic god. They did however use pantheistic or occasionally monotheistic language to talk about the immanent divinity within reality, though they downplayed use of the word god. There were however many things seen as equivalents of polytheistic gods in a sense. They said: "we will have to regard the
“Absolute” merely as the aggregate of all intelligences, the
totality of all existences, incapable of manifesting itself but
through the interrelationship of its parts, as *It* is
absolutely uncognizable and *non*-existent outside its
phenomena, and depends entirely on its ever-correlating Forces,
dependent in their turn on the one Great Law." and stressed that the high adepts knew no "God" but only the universal unconditioned deity, manifested in many "gods." They often used the word elohim for these gods. The beliefs as a whole, and everything that stems from them tend to emphasize unity and that everything is part of this single fundamental essence.

They occasionally used kabbalic terminology for this, comparing the godhead to the ein sof. This isn't totally in tune with the standard jewish uses of the kabbalah, in which god exists but is ineffable and in the form of the godhead beyond comprehension, but was used to stress not seeing it as a being, but only a source of reality, within which beings acted in a divine capacity.

Later new Age doctrine preserved the emphasis on a lack of there being divine commands, and of not seeing god as a thing to focus on as a distinct person. Due to its eclectic nature, new age beliefs were more likely to see god as having its own mind, albeit one that instead of acting directly was still remote, and seen through the actions of godly beings within reality. Not all new age people agree, but some hold views closer to hindu ones, in which while people within reality are still likewise part of god, god itself is its own being. Some still see it as a mere force however. Both emphasize a deistic or pantheistic aspect however, in which the importance of divinity is immanent and that rather than focusing on the remote person of god, one should focus on the godly beings within reality that act on its behalf.

New age often says that humans are currently estranged from god
due to a lack of insight concerning god's real nature and reality. Generally, New Age thought supports the theory
of organic evolution, but extends the concept to the evolution of
the spirit. This is the concept of "Evolutionary Godhood,"
where the next step in evolution won't be physical, but spiritual. In a nutshell, Evolutionary Godhood means that mankind will soon
see itself as god. This is often referred to as the "**Christ principle**" or "**Christ consciousness**.**"** New Age teaches
that we are basically good and inherently divine.

Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that each
person is an incarnation of an "Individualized Presence" of
the "Most High Living God," which manifests in the created universe through individual divine entities. As embodied individuals, we are the
outer expression of that God Self in form, which is our true identity. Ascended masters are those humans who have fully realized this, breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation to live as immortal divine beings who can help guide others to this realization.

The plane of god is considered the highest plane of existence, and is beyond the ability of any being to reach. There are seen as seven planes of reality, but where the highest one is the one of the source alone.

On the surface, it should be obvious in how this applies to the in-game depictions of much of the spirituality. For starters, megaten obviously emphasizes an anti-monotheistic view in which there is not meant to be seen as there being any one perfect divinity who is always right. Even law, which is the most abrahamic looking side does not accept yhvh as a divine infallible lawgiver, being willing to get rid of him when he tries to act as one.

Emphasis on ascended masters instead of a universal god of course has a heavy tone for neutral, and law has an equivalent one in focus on angels. Both of which are concepts that show up in theosophical and neo theosophical teachings (and sometimes which even show up as synonyms). Law even has a part in the visionary item scenes of II where zayin realizes that there is no god proper in the sense he thought, because god does not only have one face, but many beings can embody aspects of it. So this neo-theosophical focus more on angels and avatars than the idea of god itself shows up even for law. Neutral of course has an equivalent of the great white brotherhood even show up as divine beings for neutral, albeit they were depressed neutral figures who had given up on seeking a good outcome for humanity.

**Universal** and **individualized presence**. In the ascended
master teachings there is one god who is the souce of all creation,
called the "Universal All-Pervading Presence of Life", or "The One" This
 Divine Being and Mind is considered to be above and distinct from all
creation (in the sense of classical theism), transcending all creation
yet interpenetrating all existence. Belief in this one God stresses the
essential unity of the spiritual and material components of the
universe. This god is stressed to not be a personal entity, but rather
an immutable principle, occasionally referred to as brahman, which is
given personhood only in its avatars.

God creates through Individualized Identities that have distinct
Self-Consciousness and that make up the Spiritual Hierarchy of Creation.
 All beings in creation have what is called The Individualized "I AM"
Presence. With those with the highest levels of spiritual enlightenment
acting as the faces of god in reality, embodying different aspects of
god's consciousness across the cosmos. And where beings in reality who
undergo spiritual enlightenment can raise to a higher place in the
hierarchy. This unity is often compared to the hindu ideas of atman and
brahman.

In IV, along with the other alignments, law is given an explicit
theosophical slant, with ancient of days talking about how it is a part
of the lord, and the lord being depicted as a composite being with
different beings manifested as its faces. Ancient of days in IV is
depicted as based on the solar logoi of theosophy, who are the highest
manifestations of god in reality after the alpha and omega, in keeping
with how the avatars of god are depicted as the highest manifestations
of divinity after yhvh.

This is consistent with earlier games, such as where zayin talks
about becoming a face of god, and how god does not only have one face,
being himself everything. And in strange journey where mastema talks
about transcending his angel form and ascending to a higher form. This
depiction of beings acting as faces of god also shows up in apocalypse
where when in front of the crowd merkabah is referred to as god, and
they say god has descended.

**MA** is a syllable commonly found in words associated with motherhood worldwide, deriving from the sound infants make. In certain new age teachings it is considered the archetypical divine feminine name. Strange journey shows this as part of the names of many mother godesses, and mem aleph as the prototypical version. So this is not alignment specific, though its relevance is greater for chaos.

## Beings

Theosophy and later new age beliefs tend to hold syncretic views, considering various beings from various religions as divine, such as jesus and buddha, and angels, or various classical polytheistic gods.

**Ascended Masters** are believed to be spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans, but who have undergone a series of spiritual transformations originally called *initiations*. Both "Mahatma" and "Ascended Master" are terms used in the Ascended Master Teachings. Ascended Master is based on the Theosophical concept of the Mahatma or *Masters of the Ancient Wisdom*. The Ascended Master Teachings refer to the Sixth Initiation as *Ascension*. Ascended masters are seeing as having internalized and actualized their own divinity, and so are seen as godly beings relative to humanity, due to their internalization of the divine source.

According to the Ascended Master Teachings, a "Master", "Commoner",
"Shaman", or "Spiritual Master" is a human being who has taken the Fifth
 Initiation and is thereby capable of dwelling on the 5th dimension. An
"Ascended Master" is a human being who has taken the Sixth Initiation, fully realizing their divine essence,
and is thereby capable of dwelling on the 6th dimension. This sixth initiation is considered ascension.

A "Chohan" (Lord) of a "Ray" is an Ascended Master who has been placed
in charge of one of the 12 "Rays," due to having an extraordinary
natural spiritual affinity for that Ray. A "Ray" is a concentrated
stream of spiritual energy emanating, ultimately, from the Godhead. Each
 "Ray" is the embodiment/expression of one of the 12 great
God-Qualities, such as Divine Will, Divine Wisdom, Divine Love, etc. As such, they function like gods, moderating aspects of the divine as it relates to the world.

Those who have taken the Seventh Initiation hold the Senior
Administrative Posts in the Great White Brotherhood on Earth. These
senior administrative posts are divided into 3 departments: The
Department of the Manu, the Department of the Planetary Christ, and the
Department of the Mahachohan." Various roles and hierarchies exist within the realm of these divine beings.

A "Lord of the World" is a human being (or a being of some lifewave
other than the human lifewave) who has taken the Ninth Initiation. The
Ninth Initiation is the highest Initiation possible on a 9d-dimensional
planet grid such as Earth and it will be until the end of the 21st of
December 2012. Sanat Kumara
 (a "Lord of the Flame" originally from the higher-dimensional levels of
 the planet Venus) was the original being who held the spiritual office
of "Lord of the World" here on planet Earth.

Various people were seen as ascended masters, such as Jesus, buddha, saint getmain, Confucius, mary, lao tsu, maitreya, and even various angels, since beliefs differ on whether angel was just a term for every spirit, spirits in a certain role, or spirits that never incarnated into humans.

Right off the bat, it is obvious why this is tied to neutral. Neutral's main divine figures are ascended humans who have achieved immortality and watch over humanity from afar. In keeping with neo-theosophical teachings they don't try to force certain ends, but merely guide humanity to them. Since various figures like sanat kumara, saint germain, and the great white brotherhood show up in-game, this is obviously an explicit aspect of neutral, although it may not have been in the earliest games. Since neutral professes to be a more human oriented and humanist religion, drawing from religious tradition that emphasizes the divine beings as transcended human beings, and tolerant of human nature is a meaningful basis. As well as the emphasis on humans not being subjected to commanding divine beings.

**The** **Great White Brotherhood**, in belief systems akin to Theosophy and New Age, are said to be supernatural beings of great power who spread spiritual teachings through selected humans. The members of the Brotherhood may be known as the Masters of the Ancient Wisdom or the Ascended Masters.

The idea of a secret organization of enlightened mystics, guiding the
spiritual development of the human race, was pioneered in the late
eighteenth century by Karl von Eckartshausen (1752-1803) in his book *The Cloud upon the Sanctuary*; Eckartshausen called this body of mystics, who remained active after their physical deaths on earth, the *Council of Light*. Eckartshausen's proposed communion of living and dead mystics, in turn, drew partially on Christian ideas such as the Communion of the Saints, and partially on previously circulating European ideas about secret societies of enlightened, mystical, or magic adepts typified by the Rosicrucians and the Illuminati.

In SMTIV the white are a group of ascended humans who are based directly on the great white brotherhood, and show up in all white, which is in keeping with the aesthetics of the brotherhood, who are generally always shown wearing white clothes. The white believe that it is now impossible for humanity to truly achieve a good outcome, and so seek to guide it no longer to enlightenment, but to erasure, seeing that as an improvement over its current state. They are even associated with neutral, albeit a group of depressed ascended rather than more positive ones like en no ozuno who are seeking to help.

**Lords of flame** or **the seven holy kumaras** are a term in
the ascended master teachings
for a group of spirits who are considered to be positive spirits who
came from venus to enlighten humanity in the distant past, but who
were seen by christians as lucifer and the fallen angels. One of
these beings is sanat kumara, who shows up on chaos as a
transcendental being for them who is fostering humanity to develop
their inner seeds of chaos so as to be able to fight back against the
dispensation of the universe. Christians have interpreted sanat kumara
as the devil in disguise due to its associations with the planet venus
(the morning star), and its name being an anagram of satan.

Sanat
kumara's presence shows theosophical references for more than just
neutral.
Sanat kumara came to earth in theosophy because humanity had lost
 its spiritual nature, having become corrupt, and the spiritual
hierarchies governing reality had considered that it would be
necessary to end the world, and recycle its spiritual energy for a new
one. But he offered instead to go to earth, becoming its spiritual flame
 to help foster spiritual growth. And was given permission to do this.
In-game, sanat kumara takes credit for the development of humanity, and

talks about war against the dispensation of the universe, which is associated with ancient of days. Note that in his lore, he is challenging the council from within, and parts with them on good terms, contrary to the aggressive nature he takes in-game.

**Sanat kumara**. According to the post-1900 publications of Theosophy, **Lord Sanat Kumara** is an "Advanced Being" at the Ninth level of initiation who is regarded as the 'Lord' or 'Regent' of Earth and of the humanity, and is thought to be the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Earth who dwells in Shamballah (also known as 'The City of Enoch'). He is referred to as the eternal youth, since he appears to be aged sixteen, despite being an immeasurably old age.

The Great White Brotherhood
 is a spiritual 'fraternity' of Ascended Beings, including Lord Sanat
Kumara, long since dedicated to the eventual Salvation of Mankind and
the establishment of Divine Law again in this Three-dimensional reality. These authors believe that Lord Sanat Kumara is the founder of the Great White Brotherhood, composed of Masters of the Ancient Wisdom (called in the Ascended Master Teachings Ascended Masters) and volunteers from other worlds who have joined together to advance spiritual evolution on Earth.

Interestingly, while a group that are implicitly meant to be the great white brotherhood show up in IV, which is the same game sanat kumara appears in, he is not shown as having any particular association with it, not even being of the same alignment or having the same goal, being a chaotic being rather than neutral. He is also interestingly referred to as the eternal youth in-game, despite not appearing as even human much less young.

He explains that he was the one who planted the seeds of chaos on the
planet eons ago, and is overwhelmed with joy at how it resulted in
creatures that are able to fight him and are no longer mere apes after
ages of evolving. As the fight starts, he tells Flynn, who he calls a
human, full of potential: "Show me how far this 5th humanity has grown!
Show me your worth...!" and says that he will personally draw out the
power within his opponent. Interestingly, this is one of the few times theosophical ideas are associated with chaos, rather than neutral or law. As a figure, he is presented as mysterious, and implied to be even more remote and powerful than lucifer, perhaps one of the strongest entities on the chaos side seen thus far.

As the second part of the fight initiates, Sanat will mention he will
 take Flynn to the "true war", asking whether Flynn understands what
he's talking about. Regardless of the answer, Sanat will clarify he
meant the war against "the dispensation of the universe", a phrase the Ancient of Days often repeats at the start of the fight against him and what it calls its mission.

As Sanat falls, it joyfully commends Flynn for showing him such
unrestrained power, and orders him, as the "seed of chaos", to further
"ripen" and lead the world into further chaos, saying they will meet
again when the time of the next harvest comes.

**Solar Logoi** or solar lords is a term in theosophy for the
beings who are the highest manifestations of divinity after the dual
manifestations of the alpha and the omega. They channel the divine light
 that emanates from the godhead and through this underlie all creation.
They reside in the great central sun, which is an invisible sun from
which the divine light emanates into reality. They are ultimately the
ones who are the cosmic teachers who grant the dispensations (light
energy) that are used to help those in reality.

In IV, for law, the ancient of days is likely meant to call this
to mind in keeping with the emphasis that the missions tied to the white
 have to do with theosophy. The mission is called ancient one of the
sun, and ancient of days is another term for sanat kumara, showing a
polar interpretation of a figure. Ancient of days also routinely uses
the word dispensation in keeping with the role of the solar lords.

One story in theosophy is how the alpha and the omega and the
solar logoi and the further ranks beneath them saw how in the ancient
past humanity had lost entirely its connection to the divine and instead
 turned to corruption and sought to dissolve earth back into primal
energy to cycle back through the great central sun for repolarization
and recreation. But sanat kumara offered to go to earth to foster it
until humanity could be restored. Here this story is depicted through
the ancient of days coming to earth to wipe out what is left of the
corrupt humanity to give rise to a new one free from corruption.

**Lucifer** in theosophy is occasionally depicted as a positive figure, and as the morning star and lightbringer. However, little emphasis is placed on him.

**Saint germain** was a
European adventurer, with an interest in science and the arts. He
achieved prominence in European high society of the mid-1700s. Prince
Charles of Hesse-Kassel considered him to be "one of the
greatest philosophers who ever lived". He claimed that he had
used alchemy to unlock the secret to eternal life, and was over 300
years old. Stories about him have been common even since that time,
with people claiming that he is still around today, wandering around
as an immortal. In megaten Saint Germain is a quest giver and a
character in the series. Who was confirmed in an interview to be free
from the cycle of samsara.

**Angels**. The role of various types of spiritual beings in these hierarchies is somewhat ambiguous, due to their eclectic nature. The original theosophists insisted that all angels used to be humans, but who due to transcending their human nature were transformed into higher beings so long ago as to barely resemble them. Some new age teachings however posit that angels are souls that never incarnated into human bodies, and as such underwent their growth entirely within the spiritual realms. Different new age writings are ambiguous between whether angel is a term for any spiritual being, or those closer to the human sphere and below elohim.

Angels are also associated with the new age concept of angel healing, which is seen as a type of energy healing in which a therapist under the guide of an angel will use their energy in order to heal problems with the proper flowing of the energy of a client. They are particularly associated with lightworking, which angel healing is seen as a major facet of.

In-game, aside from mastema in Iv angels are all associated with the law side. Though its appearance looks mostly abrahamic, law does have a few aspects which more resemble neo-theosophical teachings. For instance, zayin realizes in the visionary item scene of II that god does not have a single face, but is immanent in everything, and you can function as its face. Which is consistent with theosophical teachings. Law not treating yhvh as infallible, but merely a face that it can get rid of if it begins to function improperly gives it a tone resembling it, especially with its larger focus on angels, rather than god directly except as a concept. In addition to this, the law side has been associated with peace signs a few times, which is in keeping with more contemporary ideas based on neo-theosophy. Especially when focusing on the ones who seek to bring in an age of peace, or see it as upcoming based on a new astrological age.

Notably, the messian magus unit has a cross over a symbol that looks like a jewish star. But it is composed of differently colored interlaced triangles in the sense that it appears in the theosophical society's logo. While jews use that form too it is not as common, so whether this was intentionally meant to call that to mind or not is unknown.

**The great central sun** is a term in theosophy that refers to a
spiritual sun on another plane from which all the divine light is
filtered to the universe. It is populated by the solar logoi, who
channel the divine light. The great central sun is referenced in the
name of ancient of days who is depicted in a theosophical light being
called ancient one of the sun. Although this is not highlighted and no
mention is made of ths being a distinct existing spiritual realm,
leaving it ambiguous to what it refers.

**Elohim** is a term used as an equivalent for god or goddess. What distinguishes elohim, from masters or angels is often ambiguous, and considered different by different writers. Elohim are often seen as having an important role in preserving or upholding the universe via the influencing of the divine rays. Note how this is a term for god or gods that comes from the old testament, and shows how much of theosophical teachings are ingrained in abrahamic terminology despite the syncretis, due to growing up in the west. Note how in megaten, many figures are viewed through an abrahamic paradigm even if not abrahamic figures per say, due to its presence as the dominant paradigm.

**Fairies**. While many new age teachings believe that the only spiritual beings are transcended heavenly ones, some also hold that various earthly ones exist also, and that they have their own independent more earthly nature, which has its own benefits for trying to relate to. These can be fairies or elves, or, again, due to the eclectic structure, more or less any type of being one can imagine. Fairies are sometimes presented as an alternate type of being that has its own unique benefits to interact with for seperate fairy healing.

In terms of neutral, one thing worth noting is how fairies are often treated like the main neutral demon race, and in iva the fairies are depicted as part of what is presented as an important neutral religious paradigm. While this is due to the fact that fairies are derived from the irish gods, one can also tie it to the presence in some neo anthrosophical beliefs of incorporating them among other spiritual figures as other kinds of guides. This aspect is probably not intentional on the part of the games, but it is noteworthy regardless.

## Thoughtforms and egregores

**Thoughtforms** and **Egregores**. A thoughtform is an esoteric concept, also known as a tulpa or in some contexts an egregore, and based on the earlier Vajrayana concept of the emanation body. A thought-form is a form shaped in some way by human thought, but which obtains a more tangible reality as an external spiritual force. The idea of the thoughtform was developed in theosophy, but later became a more ubiquitous esoteric concept.

Thought-Forms, as originally defined were divided into three classes: forms in the shape of the person who creates them, forms that resemble objects or people and may become ensouled by nature spirits or by the dead, and forms that represent inherent qualities from the astral or mental planes, such as emotions. In terms of megaten, the second of these is the most important, with the third also being relevant.

In megaten, demons are described as being thoughtforms to a degree, in that the forms humans see of them are shaped to a degree by human thoughts. This doesn't mean that humans have full control over them however, and to what degree they still exist outside of human perception is left deliberately ambiguous. Humans mentally shape the archetypes they appear as to humans, and then some intangible and from the human perspective indefinable essence of spirit will fill it to give it a tangible appearance in human perception. With some games like strange journey using blue squares to show that when not made tangible, demons appear to humans as a relatively meaningless shape.

The term egregore in particular is a specific form of thoughtform that arises from the collective thoughts of a distinct group of people. Originally, the concept referred to angelic beings, or watchers, and the specific rituals and practices associated with them, namely within Enochian traditions. But in modern fay the term has been purposed to refer to a thoughtform associated with a group that has a common motivation. One that becomes tangible, being made up of, and influencing the thoughts of the group. The symbiotic relationship between an egregore and its group has been compared to the more recent, non-occult concepts of the corporation (as a juridical person or legal entity) and the meme.

In terms of megaten, this is closer to being the more specific form of thought form that is relevant, because demon archetypes are implied to be shaped by the thoughts not of any given individual, but by the thoughts of many people coalescing together. And may indeed represent the groups that give rise to them. Although some represent more manifestations of abstracts and parts of nature, representing not human ideals, but human perceptions on external things. And similar to the concept of the egregore, they become in a dynamic relationship with humans, affecting humans in turn as humans effect them. Individual demons may also be dissatisfied with the form they manifest as, and seek another one, or even be viewed as different forms by different people. (note that if we are talking about personas rather than demons, it is often depicted as a thought form shaped by only the one whose persona it is).

This isn't however to say that demons are totally bound by human whims, or should be seen as only a human epiphenomenon. As stated above, in what sense they exist outside of human perception is left ambiguous, but they do have external lives, and some are stated to not bother appearing in the human world at all, being less affected by human thoughts in turn. So while human thoughts influence their nature and power on earth, and even to a degree in the demon realm, the degree outside of human perception is left ambiguous by design.

While the esoteric concept of thoughtforms does draw on jungian archetypes, and the games also do so explicitly, it is worth noting that the form of this idea that shows up in fiction is not just made up by writers as a metaphor for groups, but as shown, draws on actual modern esoteric teachings. These teachings to a degree had their origins in negative theology, and the idea that the divine is beyond comprehension, and that how one sees it is a limited manifestation. This evolved to the idea that different levels of human spiritual growth can see different forms of divinity, and eventually to the idea that human psychology and its limits may shape it in all sorts of cultural ways.

At a glance, it might seem odd for actual spiritual teachings to posit that human religion changing can change tangible divine manifestations, but this was born in part to account for variations of religions belief in different cultures, accommodating the idea that all of these were interacting with tangible divinity in different forms. So this accommodates both the idea that the human perception is limited, and so introduces a “subjective” element to spirituality, as well as the idea of spiritual evolution, which can posit that humans can evolve to higher forms over time. Which is something alluded to by the games themselves, albeit indirectly, in nozomi complaining about yhvh preventing the birth of new gods, by seeking to remain as a static unchanging form that blocks out the possibility of human development moving past it.

## Akashic records

**Akashic records**. In theosophy and anthroposophy, the Akashic records are a compendium
 of all human events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have
 occurred in the past, present, or future. They are believed by theosophists to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the etheric plane. This was seen as the basis for how to spiritually obtain information about things such as the past, or even the future, since it was seen as something you were able to spiritually tune into. Akasha as a term comes from the indian word for aether. Due to functioning essentially like a database, the Akashic Records, or "The Book of Life," is often equated to the universe's super-computer system. The idea is seen as having been indirectly references in the bible at times the book of life was mentioned.

The akashic records show up directly in devil survivor 2, being a part of the akashic stratum, the place where the current administrator of the world is seen as residing. The akashic records are indeed presented as like a computer in-game, with emphasis on how the world itself is composed of data, and how in the akashic stratum it can be seen in the form of data. And since it is data, it is even capable of being hacked in order to change the rules of the world, or take entities out of it. They also mention how data exists even for the future, and this is how the visions of deaths are shown. Interestingly, devil survivor 2 is one of the few games that does not really emphasize religious implications of any of this at all, instead merely depicting it as a facet of the world.