THE ASTRAL WORLD/PART 3

 

CHAPTER III.

REALITY OF THE ASTRAL.

IT is customary among occultists to speak of the Astral Plane simply as “the Astral,” as for instance “out in the Astral;” “visiting “the Astral phenomena of the Astral”, “inhabitants of the Astral,” etc., etc. The student may as well familiarize himself with this use of the term “the Astral,” in order to understand and be understood by others interested in occult study. Accordingly, I shall from now on use this term, “the Astral,” as indicating the Astral Regions—the Astral Plane—without further explanation.

One of the hardest things for the elementary student to realize is that the Astral is just as real, abiding, and fixed as is the material world. Just as steam is actually as real as water, or even as ice, so is the Astral just as real as the world of the physical senses. For that matter, if we could see our world of matter placed under a sufficiently strong magnifying glass, we should perceive it not as a great body of solid fixed matter, but rather as an aggregation of an infinite number of the tiniest particles themselves built into atoms; these built into molecules; and these built into solid masses.

The space between the ions of the material atom is as comparatively great as the space between the planets of our solar system. And every ion, atom and molecule is in constant and intense motion. Under a glass of sufficient power there would seem to be nothing solid in the material world. If the magnifying glass were to be raised to an infinite power even the ions would melt into seeming nothingness, and there would be nothing left but the ether which has no weight and which is imperceptible to the senses even when aided by the strongest instruments of the laboratory. So you see, the solidity of things is merely relative and comparative. The vibration of substance on the Astral is higher than those of the material plane; but even the Astral vibrations are far slower than those of the next higher plane, and so on.

To the traveller on the Astral the scenery and everything connected therewith seems as solid as the most solid material does to the physical eye. It really is just as solid as is the astral body in which you visit it, for that matter. As for reality, the Astral is just as real as is the material, in every respect.

The Forces of Nature are not perceptible to the physical eye, except as manifesting through matter—but they are very real as all of us know by experience. You cannot see electricity, but when you receive its shock you realize its reality. You cannot see the force of gravity, but you become painfully aware of its reality when it drops an apple on your head; or causes you to fall suddenly when you make a misstep on the curb of the street. In fact, it is realized by all advanced occultists, that if there really can be said to be any degrees in reality between things, the balance is in favor of the finer forms of substance and forces and against the less fine.

So, student, never permit yourself to think of the Astral as something comparatively unreal, or as only relatively existent. I, of course, am not speaking of Reality in the metaphysical sense of the term, for in such sense the entire manifested universe, including all of its planes, is unreal as compared to the One Reality. And, again, do not permit yourself to think of the astral senses as being one less real, reliable and important than those of the physical body. Each class of sense perception has its own proper field in which it is king. Each is master in its own realm. And there should be no attempt to draw distinctions of reality between them. At the last, they are all but the mechanism of consciousness, or “awareness,” each adapted to the peculiar requirements of its environment.

The Astral has its scenery, geography, and “things,” just as has the material world. These things are just as real as are England, the Vatican, St. Paul’s, the Capitol at Washington; Broadway, Picadilly, or the Rue de la Paix; the Great Redwood Trees of California, the Grand Canyon, the Alps, or the Black Forest. Its inhabitants are just as real as any of the great men of the country in which you live, or those of any other country, whose names I hesitate to call, lest they pass from this material plane and thus become “unreal” even before these printed words pass before your eye, so impermanent are the inhabitants and things of even this real material world.

The law of constant change operates on the Astral just as on the material plane. There, things come and go, just as they do here on the material plane. Stop a moment and concentrate on the gist of the matter, and you will see that the difference between the things of the two planes is simply like the difference between red and blue—simply a difference in the rate of vibration of substance. And, this again, is the cause of the difference between steel and hydrogen gas, between electricity and light, between magnetism and heat—simply a difference of vibrations of substance.

Moreover, and this is quite important to the student, the Astral has its laws just as has the material world. These laws must be learned and observed, otherwise the inhabitants of the Astral, as well as the visitor thereto, will reap the result which always comes from broken natural laws.

Again, there exists what may be called the “geography” of the Astral, if this material plane word is permitted in this connection. There are regions, points of space, places, kingdoms, countries, etc., on the Astral, just as on the material plane. Sometimes these Astral regions have no connection with any on the material plane, while in other cases they have a very direct connection with and relation to material places and the inhabitants thereof.

One may travel from one region of the Astral to another, by simply an act of Will which raises the vibration of the astral body, without it moving a point in space. Again, one may travel in space from one point to another on the Astral, in cases where these points have some relation to points on the material plane.

As an instance of this latter form of travel I would say that one may travel in the Astral from Berlin to Bombay—in but the twinkle of an eye as regards time,—by merely wishing or willing to do so. Yes! time and space have their manifestation on the Astral. But, nevertheless, certain Astral manifestations, on its seven-times-seven sub-planes, may be, and likely are, present THERE in, at, and on the exact point of space which you are occupying at this moment on the material plane—at this very moment of time, NOW!

If you have the knowledge and power, you, without leaving your seat, may traverse all of these sub-planes, one after the other, witnessing their scenery and inhabitants, their phenomena and activity, and then return to the material plane—all in a moment of time, and without changing a single point in space.

Or, if you prefer, you may travel to any of these sub-planes of the Astral, at your point of space, and then travel in space on the Astral to some other place on that sub-plane; and then have the choice of returning either the same way by which you came, or else descending to the material plane and travelling on it in your astral body back to where your physical body is resting. Read over these last two paragraphs until you get the idea clearly fixed in your mind, for by so doing you will be able to comprehend more easily that which I shall have to say to you in the following chapters of this book.

In travelling on the Astral, one meets with many strange inhabitants of that wonderful realm of Nature—some pleasant and others unpleasant. Some of these inhabitants have passed on from the material plane, while others have never dwelt there, these latter forms being natives of the Astral and peculiar to itself.

In my personal class instruction I have found it advantageous to my students to describe the phenomena of the Astral to them in my lectures, in the form of the story of a trip in the Astral, rather than as a dry, technical description. In such lectures, I assume that the students are present on the Astral with me, and that I am acting as their guide. In this way, a much clearer conception of the subject seems to be gained by them. After careful consideration, I have decided to follow this same plan—in part, at least—in some of the following chapters. I need scarcely add that the descriptions given are based upon the actual experiences of advanced occultists, including myself, and are not dogmatic statements of theory, conjectures, or speculations of mere “book occultists.’’ Every fact herein stated may be verified by the experience of any advanced occultist.

 

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Passing the Border.