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Arthur Powell – The Astral Body

CHAPTER XX

ASTRAL ENTITIES: NON-HUMAN

1- Elemental Essence. The term "elementary" has been applied by various authors to
entities of very different kinds.
Here it is used to denote monadic essence, during certain stages of its existence.
In turn, we can define the monadic essence as an influx of spirit or divine force
into matter.
It is very important that the student realize that the evolution of this elemental
essence takes place in the downward curve of the arc, as it is frequently called;
that is to say, that his progress consists in immersing himself completely in matter,
as we see it in the mineral kingdom, instead of moving away from it; consequently,
progress for it is descending into matter, instead of ascending towards the higher
planes.
Before the flow reaches the state in which it animates a man, it passes, animating them,
through six phases of evolution, namely: the first elemental kingdom (on the higher mental
plane), the second elemental kingdom (on the lower mental plane ), the third elemental
kingdom (in the astral plane), the mineral, the vegetable and the animal. The elemental essence
is sometimes called the animal, vegetable, or mineral monad, although this is misleading, for
long before reaching any of these kingdoms it has become, not one, but many monads. In this
work we deal, of course, with the astral elemental essence only. This essence is a divine force
that has descended and clothed itself with matter up to the astral atomic subplane, wrapping
itself in a body of atomic astral matter. Such a combination is what we call "elemental essence"
from the astral plane; which belongs to the third elemental kingdom, the one that immediately
precedes the mineral kingdom.
In the course of its 2,401 differentiations on the astral plane, it attracts to itself
many and varied combinations of matter from the various subplanes. However,
such combinations are only transitory, as it remains essentially a kingdom. Strictly
speaking, relative to the group we are considering, there is no such thing as an
elemental. What we find is a vast reservoir of elemental essence wonderfully
sensitive to the faintest human thought; it responds with inconceivable delicacy, in
an infinitesimal fraction of a second, to the vibration caused in it by an entirely
unconscious exercise of human will or desire.
But the moment such an essence is molded into a living force by the influence
of thought or will, it becomes an elemental and belongs to the "artificial" class,
with which we shall deal in the next chapter. Even then, their separate
existence is usually evanescent; for as soon as the impulse has been spent, it
returns to the undifferentiated mass of elemental essence from which it came.

The visitor to the astral plane will inevitably be impressed by the various forms
assumed by the incessant wave of elemental essence, always revolving around
him; threatening at times, but always moving away at the slightest effort of the
will; he will also be amazed among the numerous army of entities that
incessantly arise from this ocean, to separate existence, evoked by the
thoughts and feelings of man, be they good or bad.
In general terms, the elemental essence can be classified according to the kind
of matter with which it is wrapped; i.e. solid, liquid, gas, etc. These are the
"elementals" of medieval alchemists. They correctly maintained that a

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"elemental", that is, a portion of adequate living elemental essence, is inherent in each
"element"; that is, it is the constituent part of all physical substance.
Each of the seven main classes of elemental essence, can be classified into seven
subdivisions, making forty-nine in total.
In addition to these completely separate horizontal divisions, there are also seven
perfectly distinct types of elemental essence; the difference between them has
nothing to do with the degree of materiality, but with the character and affinity. The
student will know this classification as "perpendicular" division, which is related to
"Rays".
There are also seven subdivisions in each type of Ray, that is, forty-nine
perpendicular subdivisions in all.
The total number of elementary matter classes is 49 by 49, or 2,401.
The perpendicular division is much more permanent and fundamental than the horizontal
one; for the elemental essence, in the slow course of evolution, passes successively
through the various horizontal classes, but remains in its own perpendicular subdivision
throughout the course.
When a portion of elemental essence remains unaffected by some external
influence for a few moments (which rarely happens) it has no definite form of its
own; but at the slightest disturbance it enters into an astonishing confusion of
shifting and ever-changing forms, forming, stirring, and disappearing with the
rapidity of bubbles on the surface of boiling water.
These evanescent forms, although generally caused by living creatures of some sort,
human or otherwise, do not imply the existence of separate entities in essence. They seem
rather to be mere reflections of the vast reservoir of astral light; nevertheless, they are, to
some extent, appropriate to the character of the current of thought that brings them into
being, though almost always with some grotesque distortion, with some terrifying or
unpleasant aspect.
When the elemental essence assumes forms suitable to the stream of involuntary and
semi-conscious thoughts, which most humans allow to flow passively from their brains, the
intelligence that chooses the suitable form does not come from the mind of the thinker;
nor does it come from the elemental essence itself, for the latter belongs to a realm even
further removed from individualization than the mineral, which is entirely devoid of
awakened mental power.
However, the essence possesses a marvelous power of adaptation, which is very
much like intelligence; Without a doubt, this property gives reason to some
primitive books to classify the elements as "semi-intelligent creatures of the astral
light".
The elemental kingdom itself does not admit such concepts as good and evil.
Nevertheless, there exists in all the divisions of the same a kind of inclination or
tendency that makes them more hostile than benevolent towards man. Hence the
current experience of the neophyte in the astral plane, to meet which come hosts
of various menacing specters; but they always recede when confronted decisively.
As medieval writers assert, this inclination or tendency is entirely the fault of man
himself; it is due to the indifference and lack of sympathy that he manifests
towards other living beings. During the golden age of the past it was not so;
neither will it be in the future, once man's attitude changes; then both the
elemental essence and the animal kingdom will be docile and helpful to man,
instead of hostile like now. This makes it clear that the elemental kingdom is, as a
whole, and to a great extent, what the collective thought of humanity makes of it.

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One who is able to manipulate and direct the forces inherent in the many varieties of
elemental essence can use them for many applications. The vast majority of magic
ceremonies depend almost entirely on this manipulation, either directed by the
magician's will, or by some more precise astral entity evoked by him for that purpose.

The elemental essence is the means by which almost all the physical
phenomena in seances are produced; He is also the agent of the phenomena
that sometimes occur in the houses called apparitions; such phenomena are
caused by some earth-inclined entity trying to attract attention, or by some
low-order nature spirit belonging to the third class. The "elemental" is never to
be considered as the promoter; he is simply a latent force that needs an
external power to put it into action.
2 - The astral bodies of Animals. This is an extraordinarily large class; However, it
does not occupy a particularly important position on the astral plane, since its
components do not remain there for long. The vast majority of animals have not
yet become permanently individualized; when one of them dies, the monadic
essence, which has manifested itself through it, returns to the group soul, from
which it proceeds, carrying the progress or experience it achieved during earthly
life. However, this does not happen immediately, since the astral body of the
animal has real existence in the astral world; the duration of which, although not
very prolonged, varies according to the degree of intelligence that has developed.
In most cases, such an existence is nothing more than a state of sleepiness,

The relatively few domesticated animals, which have achieved individualization

and will not be reborn as mere animals in this world, spend a longer and more
vivid life on the astral plane than their less advanced companions. These
individualized animals usually remain close to home and in contact with their
friends and protectors. This period will be followed by another still happier one,
called sleeping consciousness, which will last until in a future world he assumes
human form. During all this time, the animal is in a condition similar to that of the
human in the celestial world, although at a lower level.
An interesting subdivision of this class is that of the anthropoid apes, which are
already individualized and will be ready for human incarnation in the next Round,
and some of them perhaps sooner.
In "civilized" countries, animal astral bodies contribute to a large extent to the
general feeling of hostility on that plane, because organized killing in
slaughterhouses and for sport sends millions of them into the astral world
terrified and fearful of man. In modern times such a feeling has been intensified,
due to the practice of vivisection.
3- Spirits of Nature of all kinds. These are so numerous and so diverse that we can only
give here some idea of the characteristics common to all of them.
The nature spirits belong to a very different evolution from ours; they have
never been and will never be members of a humanity like ours. Their only
connection with us is that they temporarily inhabit the same planet.
Apparently, they are animals of a superior evolution: they are divided into
seven great classes and inhabit the same seven states of matter, impregnated
by the corresponding varieties of elemental essence. So there are nature
spirits of earth, water, air and fire (or ether); they are intelligent astral entities,
residing and acting in each of such environments.

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Only those of the air class normally reside in the astral world, but their number is
so great that they are found everywhere. In medieval literature, nature spirits
receive names such as gnomes, those of the earth; undines those of water, sylphs
those of air and salamanders those of fire or ether. In popular language, they are
also called: fairies, goblins, peris, satyrs, fauns and many other names. Its forms
are many and varied; the most frequent is the human dwarf. Like most astral
entities, they can assume any appearance at will, although they have their
preferred forms, which they take when they have no special reason to take
another. They are usually invisible to the physical eye, but have the power to make
themselves visible when they want, through materialization.
At the head of each of these classes is a great Being, the directing and guiding
intelligence of the entire department of nature, administered and galvanized by
the class of entities under the sway of that Being. The Hindus give them the
following names: Indra , Lord of Akasa or ether; Agni, Lord of fire; Pavana, Lord of
the air; Varuna, Lord of the water; Kshiti, Lord of the earth. The vast realm of the
nature spirits, as stated before, is largely an astral realm, though a large portion of
it belongs to the etheric region of the physical plane.
There are a great number of subdivisions or races among the nature spirits,
whose intelligence and disposition vary as much as among human beings.
Most of them avoid the man completely; the habits and emanations of it are
unpleasant to them; the constant rush of the astral currents, caused by restless
and ill-regulated human desires, disturb and disturb them. Occasionally,
however, they befriend humans and even help them. The helpful attitude is
rare; in most cases they show indifference or displeasure, or delight in
deceiving and betraying the man. Many such cases are found in lonely
mountainous districts and at séances.
They are greatly aided in such deceptions by their marvelous power to obfuscate;
so that their victims see and hear only what they suggest, as if they were
mesmerized subjects. However, the spirits of nature cannot dominate over the
human will, except in people of very weak mentality, or in those whose will is
paralyzed by terror. They can fool the senses only; It has even been the case of
obfuscating a considerable number of people at the same time. Some of the most
marvelous acts of the Hindu conjurers are performed by invoking the help of the
spirits of nature to produce the collective hallucination.
Apparently, they have very little sense of responsibility and their will is less developed
than that of the common man.
Therefore, they can easily be dominated by mesmerism, and used to
accomplish the magician's will. They can be used for many purposes, faithfully
and safely performing the tasks within their reach.
In certain mountainous regions, nature spirits sometimes cause delayed
travelers to hallucinate, making them see houses and people who are known
not to really exist.
These hallucinations are not always momentary but last for a long time; the
hallucinated one experiences a long series of imaginary and surprising
adventures, to find himself after everything vanishes and is left in a desolate
valley, or on a windswept plain.
In order to cultivate relations and friendship with such beings, man must be free from
emanations offensive to them, such as those of meat, alcohol, tobacco and general
uncleanliness, as well as from all feelings of greed, anger, envy, jealousy, greed and depression;
in other words, he has to be physically and astrally clean and unobjectionable. The

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pure, elevated and serene feelings create around man an atmosphere in which
the spirits of nature bathe with great delight.
They all delight in music; they even enter houses to enjoy it, throbbing and
moving to the beat.
Nature spirits must also be attributed a large part of the so-called physical phenomena
that occur in spiritualist seances; indeed, more than one such session has been
entirely run by such mischievous creatures. They are capable of answering questions,
giving pretended messages with blows or inclinations, displaying lights, and providing
distant objects, reading the thoughts of any of those present, precipitating writing or
drawings, and even materializations. They can, of course, add hallucination to their
other delusions.
It is quite possible that they do not have the slightest intent to deceive or harm; but
they are glad to play their part successfully, and enjoy the devotion and affection
shown them as "dear spirits" and "angelic helpers." They participate in the pleasure of
those present and consider that they are doing a good deed in consoling the afflicted.
Sometimes, they disguise themselves by taking man-made thought forms and have
great fun sporting horns or a pointy tail, for example, and blowing flames in their
forays. Sometimes they terrify a very impressionable child with such appearances. It
must be said, however, that the spirits of nature cannot feel fear; therefore, they do
not understand the evil they do; they probably believe that the child's terror is
simulated and is part of the game.
None of the nature spirits possess a permanent reincarnating individuality.
Apparently, in their evolution, they develop the highest proportion of
intelligence before reaching individualization. The life spans of the different
classes vary greatly; some are very short, others much longer than a human
life. Their existence seems to be simple, joyous, irresponsible, very similar to a
group of happy children in an exceptionally favorable physical environment.

There is no sex between nature spirits; neither disease nor struggle for existence.
They have strong affections and can form close and lasting friendships. They are
susceptible to anger and jealousy; but they soon pass before the overwhelming
delight they feel in the performance of all the operations of nature, which is their
most outstanding characteristic.
The bodies of nature spirits have no internal structure; so that they cannot be torn to
pieces or injured, nor are they affected by heat or cold. They seem to be free of all
fear. Although playful and mischievous, they are rarely mischievous, unless provoked.
As a class, they distrust man and generally resent the presence of a newcomer to the
astral world, to the point that they present themselves to him in an unpleasant and
terrifying form. However, if the newcomer refuses to be scared, they soon accept it as
a necessary evil and ignore it; instead, some will become friends with him.

One of the greatest delights of nature spirits is to play with children and entertain
them in a thousand ways, while they are in the astral world, dead to the physical
world. Some less playful and more dignified have been revered as local gods in the
villages. They appreciate the tributes paid to them and are willing to render any
small service that is asked of them.
The Adepts know how to use the services of the nature spirits; frequently they are
entrusted with some work; but the ordinary magician can do it only by invoking
them, that is, attracting their attention with entreaties and promising something,
or by evocation, that is, forcing them to obey. But both methods are

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highly undesirable; evocation is also extraordinarily dangerous, because the

operator arouses hostility that can be fatal. No pupil of a Master would allow
himself to attempt anything of the sort.
The highest type of nature spirits is that of the sylphs or spirits of the air, whose lowest
vehicle is the astral. They have intelligence equivalent to that of the average man.

The method of achieving individualization is for them to associate with and love the
immediate superior members, that is, the astral angels.
A nature spirit wishing to experience human life can haunt some living person
in the physical world. There have been cases in which a certain class of nature
spirits have physically materialized, and have had undesirable relations with
men and women. Possibly due to this fact, the stories about fauns and satyrs
were born; although, sometimes, such comics refer to an evolution very
different from the subhuman.
In passing we must note that, despite being the realm of nature spirits very
different from the human, since they lack sex and fear, and do not have to
fight for existence, the final result of their development it is equal in all senses
to that achieved by humanity.
4 - The Devas. The beings whom the Hindus call Devas are elsewhere called
Angels, sons of God, etc. They belong to a different evolution from the human one;
evolution which can be considered as a kingdom immediately superior to the
human. In Eastern literature, the word deva is used to also indicate all kinds of
non-human entities. In this work we use it in the restricted sense mentioned
above. The devas will never be human, because most of them are already beyond
the human state; however, some of them have been humans in the past.

The bodies of the devas are more fluid than humans; the texture of his aura is, so
to speak, looser; they are capable of much greater expansion and contraction, and
possess a certain fiery quality that is clearly discernible when compared to that of
an ordinary human being. The shape within a deva's aura, which is almost always
human, is much less precise than that of a man; the deva lives more in the
circumference, more in the whole aura than the man. The devas usually appear as
human beings of gigantic stature; they have a color language, which is possibly
not as precise as ours, although in a certain sense it may be more expressive.

The devas frequently make themselves available to human beings, sufficiently

developed and capable of appreciating them, to explain and demonstrate
matters related to their activities. Although linked to the earth, the devas
evolve in a great system of seven chains; our seven worlds become one world
for them. Very few of our humanity have reached the degree where it is
possible to join the evolution of the devas. Most of them come from other
humanities in the solar system, some inferior and some superior to ours.
The objective of the deva evolution is to elevate its highest rank to a degree far
superior to that which humanity has to reach, in the corresponding period. The three
great inferior divisions of the devas are: 1 - Kamadevas, whose lowest body is the
astral; 2 - Rupadevas, whose lower body is the lower mental; 3 - Arupadevas, whose
lower body is the higher mental or causal.
The manifestation of the Rupadevas and the Arupadevas, in the astral plane, is as rare
as the materialization of an astral entity in the physical plane. About the divisions

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mentioned, there are four other great divisions, and above the realm of the devas,
are the great hosts of the Planetary Spirits.
In this work we are especially interested in the Kamadevas.
The general average between them is much higher than between us; for
everything that is bad has been eliminated from its evolution long ago. They
differ greatly in arrangement; a truly spiritual man can reach a higher degree
of evolution than some of the Kamadevas.
By certain magical evocations one can attract the attention of the devas; but
the only human will that can dominate theirs is that of certain high-order
Adepts. As a rule, they seem to be barely aware of our physical world; although
occasionally one of them lends a helping hand, similar to how one of us helps
an animal. They understand, however, that any interference in human affairs
today can do more harm than good.
It is convenient to mention here the four Devarajas, although they do not
strictly belong to any of our classes.
These four have followed an evolution that in no way corresponds to ours. They are known
as Regents of the Earth, the Angels of the Four Cardinal Points, or the Chatur Maharajas.
They govern, not the devas, but the four "elements" of earth, water, air, and fire, with the
nature spirits and essences that dwell in such elements. For greater clarity we give more
information about them in the following Table:

Name compass points elemental hosts symbolic color

Dhritarashtra East Gandharvas White
virudhaka South Kumbhandas Blue
Virupaksha West nagas Red
Vaishravana North Yakshas Prayed

The Secret Doctrine mentions them as "Winged Globes and Wheels of Fire." In the
Christian Bible Ezekiel tries to describe them in very similar terms. They are
referred to in the symbolism of all religions, and held in great reverence as
protectors of humanity. They are the agents of man's karma during his earthly life;
so they play an important role in human destiny. The great karmic deities of the
Cosmos, the Lipikas, counterbalance the actions of each personality, when the
final separation of the principles occurs, at the end of the astral life, and they give,
as it were, the mold of an etheric double exactly adequate to their k weapon for
the next birth of man. But it is the Devarajas, who, having dominion over the
"elements" of which the etheric body is to be composed, they arrange its
proportions, so as to exactly fill the intention of the Lipikas. The Devarajas
constantly counterbalance, during the life of the individual, the changes that occur
in the condition of man, due to the exercise of his own free will and those around
him, so that the karma is fulfilled exactly and justly. They can take on human
material forms at will, and cases are known where they have done so.

All the higher order nature spirits and the hosts of artificial elementals act as
agents of the Devarajas, in the performance of their stupendous work; but they
hold all the strings in their hands and assume all the responsibility. They
seldom manifest on the astral plane, but when they do they are certainly the
most notable of the non-human denizens of that plane.
There must actually be seven Devarajas instead of four; but outside the circle of
Initiation, little is known, and less can be said, regarding the other three.

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