On the Occult Anatomy of Minerals, Plants and Animals
© 2003
>> Do plants, objects and animals have astral feelings in the same way as humans do? <<
While *every* physical thing has an astral body, the structure of the astral body itself and its relationship to the mental and physical bodies, is different in each of the three categories you list. The astral body of the average human for example, is very complex and capable of a broad range of experience and expression. The astral bodies of most other animals are not quite as complex and not capable of the same degree of expression and experience as the human. An animal does experience emotion as they interact with their environment but it is significantly different than human emotion. The astral bodies of plants, while quite complex, do not experience "emotion", per se. They do interact with their environment and experience an astral reaction, but these reactions are very simple (unlike "emotions") and are necessitated by nature as opposed to choice. Objects, in general (unless they are infused with an astral charge through magic, worship, etc.), possess very rudimentary astral bodies and while they are capable of storing emotional/astral energies, they are incapable of experiencing emotions or of emotional expression.
>> Do plants, objects and animals have thoughts in the same way as humans do? <<
For physical things, *thinking* requires a physical brain so only animals and insects are capable of *thinking*. However, *every* thing exists within an ocean of ideas, so to speak. The temporal mental body of *every* thing attracts ideas, ingests and expresses ideas, but not all temporal mental bodies are capable of *interpreting*, comparing* and *choosing* from the ideas that surround them. An object for example, expresses at least one idea by its very nature but is incapable of doing anything other than purely expressing the idea(s). It does not filter those ideas or think about how it might want to express those ideas. A plant, since it has a more complex temporal mental body, experiences and expresses ideas but again, it is not capable thinking (i.e., interpreting, comparing and choosing). Animals, which have rather complex mental bodies AND brains, are indeed capable of thinking. Some species (such as humans, Elephants, Whales and Dolphins, to name a few) have very, very complex mental bodies with brains to match and are capable of profound thinking. In general, insects are capable of thinking but it is probably the most rudimentary type of thinking, except when it comes to hive- or group-minded insects. Some of the most complex insect group-minds are capable of profound thinking.
>> Do they have an immortal spirit in the same way humans do? <<
Yes. *Every* thing has an eternal mental body. Or rather, every *thing* is an expression of an eternal mental body / immortal spirit.
I think that you will find great pleasure in the "transference of consciousness" exercises. Using those techniques, you will be able to experience what an object experiences, feel what a plant feels, think an animal's thoughts, etc., for yourself. :)
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
14 Oct 2003
>> But there still is one kingdom missing: the mineral (and metallic) kingdom in special. This part of our matter cannot be classified as being only a part of "objects" in general. <<
:) In relation to the original question which was about thinking and feeling, the mineral kingdom does belong to the category of "objects", especially when compared to animate life forms such as plants and animals. However, I understand your Alchemistical viewpoint of their significance! Just because something is not capable of thinking or emotional feeling, doesn't mean it lacks significance! ;-)
>> From my point of view - as you know an Alchemical one - one can find the purest expressions of mental and astral energies in minerals and metals. Perhaps that was the deeper reason why true alchemy primarily was concentrated on the so called mineral kingdom more than on the plant or animal kingdom, human himself included. The alchemists always said that the strongest energies are enclosed in the mineral kingdom. Who learns to release these energies from this kingdom will have much more energy at his disposal than he ever can concentrate in products derived from plants or animals. <<
The *pure* minerals and especially the *pure* metals express, through their forms, *a* single essential meaning or root idea more clearly than any other physical substance. The clarity with which they express their essential meaning is what generates their power -- the essential energy you seek.
Power is a product of the clarity with which a *form* (be it physical, astral or mental form) expresses its (Akashic) essential meaning. The metals express their essential meaning with great clarity at each level -- 24k Gold being an example of perfect clarity in which even the physical form is a perfectly clear expression of the essential meaning. A human on the other hand, generally presents a very muddy expression at the physical level and of a compound essential meaning instead of *a* single essential meaning.
But at *each* level, that essential meaning is bound up in the form (be it mental, astral or physical). *Form* is the *medium* of expression. At the mental level, where *form* is at its most rarified state, essential meaning is a radiant thing and one's mental body can easily perceive and absorb the power of its radiant clarity. At the astral level, the clarity with which an astral form expresses its essential meaning becomes an important factor in one's ability to perceive and absorb its essential meaning. At the astral level, the essential meaning has usually been muddied and compounded by its passage through the astral materia. However, with 24k Gold for example, which possesses a *physical* purity and clarity of expression, the astral expression is just as pure and radiant as the mental expression and one can easily perceive and absorb its radiant clarity with the astral body as well.
To perceive and *absorb* the essential meaning and thus the energetic power of a metal with one's *physical* body would, I'd imagine, require several conditions. #1) The integration on your part of what you have perceived and absorbed at the astral and mental levels, into your physical body. #2) The development of your ability to *directly* perceive essential meaning at a physical level. #3) The "opening" of the physical form of the metal in such a way that the essential meaning is no longer bound up by the physical materia and is thereby allowed to radiate as *physical* energy.
>> But the big problem is to find the method to "ferment" minerals and metals in a way, that the hidden inner fire of matter really can break down the dark imprisonment of the physical bodies of minerals and metals, i.e. the material cage in which the inner fire of nature is bound and hidden. <<
I should think that this operation would be a process of a) purifying and "loosening" the physical form of the metal; b) placing in its physical presence a combination of other equally purified metals which act as an extreme polar contrast (of essential meaning) to the primary metal you're trying to force "open"; and, c) creating within *yourself* the essential meaning expressed by your primary metal as a way of *drawing out* the *physical* radiant clarity (employing the mental Law of "like attracts like").
>> I would be very interested in hearing from you some illuminating thoughts about this kingdom concerning its mental and astral qualities. <<
Mind you, my thoughts are not those of a practicing Alchemist, as you well know. :) Nonetheless, I hope my perspective fertilizes your own and that you can make a useful translation of my thoughts into "Alchemese". ;-)
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
18 Oct 2003
>> As usual your explanations are fertilizing the own thoughts and experiences. But there still is left one point worth discussing:
You wrote: >Power is a product of the clarity with which a *form* (be it physical, astral or mental form) expresses its (Akashic) essential meaning. The metals express their essential meaning with great clarity at each level -- 24k Gold being an example of perfect clarity in which even the physical form is a perfectly clear expression of the essential meaning.<
Would this mean that the purer a metal the stronger its power?
In alchemical writings you often can find declarations the raw material i.e. the ore of a metal be more located to the root of the metal or in your terms to its expression of its essential (akashic) meaning (of all three levels mental, astral and physical) than the perfectly purified metal. They say, that an ore after heating and reducing it to the pure metal looses its ability to become living in an alchemical sense. They say, the metal be dead instead of still alive. How can you explain the difference between your statement of a pure metal having "more power" to these traditional statements of being dead i.e. without still containing the living metallic energy of life?
According to my experience there is an explanation which can bring together both seemingly contradictory "theories". A pure metal is very closed in an alchemical sense, i.e. to release its great power is the more difficult the purer the metal is. And because WITHOUT THE AID OF A MEDDLE MATTER - the universal solvent - you never can get the energies you are searching for: a pure especially a precious metal is "dead". But "dead" means in no way "without power", it only means useless for alchemy because of the lack of its own medium for releasing power. Or: A metal is too much closed in our physical world so that we could use its hidden fire or inner energy directly.
But the ore of a specific metal is still in its natural matrix i.e. bound to a kind of womb of its being so that using the ore together with its matrix it is much easier to release the energies of the hidden metal though the ore itself really is impure and cannot express the essential meaning with such a great clarity than the pure metal is able to. In an ore the essential meaning is strongly darkened, but nevertheless an ore is more alive than the pure metal enclosed in it.
The important conclusion: The essential meaning is much clearer and more perfectly expressed in a pure metal. But to really release it practically it's easier to use an ore. Or - as an alternative of great practical importance - if you know the mentioned "meddle matter", you can directly extract the essence out of a pure metal easier than using the ore (another seeming contradiction). In the alternative case you only have to learn how you can get your "meddle matter" outside of the ore or metal you are working with.
So the contradiction is only a seeming one. Regarding the clarity a pure metal has reached a much higher level than an ore. But regarding the easiness to extract the pure energies hidden in the metal the usage of an ore is the more appropriate method.
Could you agree with this my explanation from a magical point of view i.e. "reading in and out of the things"? Have you some more thoughts about this matter very basic to alchemy? <<
>> Would this mean that the purer a metal the stronger its power? <<
If we define 'strength' as the degree of clarity of the given power, then yes.
>> Could you agree with this my explanation from a magical point of view i.e. "reading in and out of the things"? Have you some more thoughts about this
matter very basic to alchemy? <<
The conundrum you present, and your solution, make perfect sense to me. As an ore, the pure metal exists within the context of energetic contrasts. To my "eye", it's like an oil floating atop water. The energy/essence of the pure metal is more readily accessible because the contrasting energetics push it to the surface, so to speak. I imagine that it's this dynamic of contrasting energetics that Alchemy recognizes as "alive" or "life".
In this sense, the essential meaning of the pure metal is somewhat less bound to the *form*; or rather, it exists within the ore as smaller, individual quanta of form-bound essence, which would be easier to capture away from the ore than from an equal mass of the purified metal. A mass of purified metal, while it expresses the essential meaning more clearly, also creates a deeper bond of the essence to the form itself, since it is a single, larger quanta.
If you apply your "meddle matter" to the pure metal, you extract *only* the energetic essence of the metal itself. On the other hand, if you apply it to the ore, this process is interfered with because of the presence of the impurities and their dynamic energetic contrast with the essence of the pure metal.
Clear as mud? ;-)
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
29 Oct 2003
>> It seems that We are All One down to the level of Chokmah, but what about at the Binah, Tiphareth, and Yesod Levels of being? Say for example with animals- does each animal have a unique Personal self, Individual self and Greater self, or is there a group self at one or more of these levels, like a 'group dog greater self'? It seems to me that each animal has a unique personality, but do they each have a unique individual self that reincarnates as well? <<
Most individual animals do have a unique Individual Self that incarnates as one single personal self at a time. However, not all animals are the same in this regard. For example, there are certain fish species that possess a "hive" mind and each "hive" represents a single Individual Self and a single personal self, even though this is manifest in a series of simultaneous physical bodies. Such a "hive" Individual might incarnate for several centuries duration while constantly renewing the bodies which compose its incarnate "hive".
ALL things are part of a Greater Self at the level of Binah. With some animal species, all the Individual Selves and their personal incarnations belong to a single, species-wide Greater Self. But the more complex animal species represent several unique Greater Selves.
>> And what about plants and minerals? Is there only one eternal tree, or one eternal tree for each species, or for each tree? <<
Plants make for an especially interesting study. For some species of plants there is only a single unique, species-wide Greater Self. For other species there are several Greater Selves, each representing a specific variety within the species. Some plant species, for example the foresting trees, manifest many, many Greater Selves, each of which might incarnate as a specific group or forest of trees. There can even be several Individual Selves composing a really complex forest. Generally, each Individual Self will incarnate as several simultaneous personal selves, thus prolonging the temporal duration of a single incarnation for several thousands of years (as in the case of Redwoods).
Minerals, on the other hand, have a very simple occult anatomy (which is one reason why they are so useful in Alchemy). Each specific, unique mineral has a single unique Greater Self at the level of Binah. Each Greater Self manifests a single, unique Individual Self or temporal mental body. And while each of these Individual Selves manifests only a single astral body (of VERY long temporal duration), it will have countless physical representations which either exist in combination with other minerals, or exist in their (physically) pure state amid other minerals.
>> I also know that our beloved ancients had goddesses and gods that 'represented' regions of the Earth in addition to the beings of various plants and animals. Are these the eternal Mental Bodies of these regions and organisms? Do they also have Individual and Personal levels? <<
Yes, on all counts. :) Many of the aboriginal cultures' Deities were anthropomorphizations or animalizations of either the Binah level Greaters or of the more inclusive entities of Chokmah. The Individual and personal manifestations of these Deities where, of course, the physical animals, plants, minerals, regions, etc.
>> Sorry to bombard you with all of these questions. But I would think that this sort of knowledge would be very useful in using TMO to contact and connect with all of our companions who are mostly disregarded today. I would think it would be profoundly healing for one's self as well as the planet. <<
Yes, it is healing for both one's own self and for that of the planet -- for all the Deities, so to speak. This is one thing that I think most folks don't fully understand. Namely, that *recognizing*, *perceiving* and *communicating with* the Earth and all the Deities that compose it, is VERY healing *for the Earth and Her Deities*.
It is also healing when we bestow these gifts of recognition to our fellow humans. :)
One thing that we're learning in the TMO-Working Group is the ultimate healing and harmonizing power that is generated by simply *recognizing, perceiving and communicating with* another individual at *each* level of their unique being (i.e., Binah, Tiphareth and Malkuth). And the same holds true in our work with animals and plants since our methodology works with a subject, even a plant, at the Binah, Tiphareth and Malkuth levels of its being. One of our first experiments was with a newly planted row of Beet seeds and over a span of 5 weeks we clearly proved our effectiveness when it comes to increasing plant growth and overall health.
Based upon our findings, I theorize that with a sufficiently large group, TMO could be beneficially applied to things like ecosystem restoration, forest reclamation, the promotion of fading species, revivifying of ancient location-Deities, etc.
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
04 Nov 2003
>> I suppose flocking birds are like this as well? <<
A few are, though this is less predominant than with fish. An example would be the Starlings that come after the grape harvest here in Northern California. They will form great clouds of birds that look and act exactly like a dense school of small fish.
The larger migratory birds however, are usually social groupings.
>> I have some other questions related to this that pertains to the 'involution and evolution' of the kingdoms of nature. Does for example, a dog or dolphin 'develop' spiritually with multiple incarnations like humans do? Does a plant or animals consciousness split off then expand as ours does? Is there a 'purpose' of sequential existence for them? <<
Yes.
<< Based upon our findings, I theorize that with a sufficiently large group, TMO could be beneficially applied to things like ecosystem restoration, forest reclamation, the promotion of fading species, revivifying of ancient location-Deities, etc. >>
>> I am fascinated with this possibility. I have a lot of questions about how you would do this,. Many of these can wait till I'm 'there' I suppose. But for now, how do you contact these spirits the first time, and learn there 'names' or other identifying sigils etc? <<
The group TMO work is evolving (very rapidly), so I can only really speak from where we're at presently. Who knows what the future will bring in terms of perfecting our technique? ;-) At any rate, as far as I can see, such things as names and sigils are irrelevant for making contact or for continuing work with the contacted entity, when using TMO. Here's our current method which we use to contact our healing subjects and which could just as easily be applied to contacting *any* form of consciousness --
As a *group*, we create a triple accumulation of the Adonai Light and impress upon it our intention to contact a specific subject at a specific temporal "location". Then, as a *group*, we send our accumulation out to the metaphorical edges of the universe for the Divine Blessing. This prepares the Light.
Then, as a *group*, we rise to Kether *with our accumulation* and descend through the layers of the IHVH, all the while holding our intention of contacting said subject at said temporal "location". As we descend through the layers of IHVH, we make contact with that level of our subject's being. At the level of Yod / Chokmah, our intention is critical as this is what decides our *choice* of "direction" into Binah. At the level of the first Heh and Binah, we enjoin the Greater Self and HGA of our subject. At the Vav / Tiphareth level, we enjoin their Individual Self, and then at the final Heh / Malkuth level, we surround their personal, incarnated self.
A simpler technique is described in Lesson Eight, "Healing From Afar", in which one impresses their intention upon the accumulation and then rides along with the out-flowing wave to their intended target. However, this seems more appropriate for solitary, individual work than for group work.
<< Yes, most definitely! :) It is worshiped in many places and times as Mother Earth, for truly she provides us with all we need for life. She isn't just all the life *on* Earth -- She is also the life *of* the Earth itself. >>
>> These higher levels of consciousness must be quite fluid if there can be several 'beings' manifesting through one place or organism ( like a local deity and a more universal one like Mother Earth) <<
Consciousness is infinite and it "pools" or "collects" or "solidifies" at an infinite number of levels. It is really the *sequentialized consciousness of the observer* that splits this unbroken, infinite continuum into specific, defined and finite levels. Thus it's just a matter of "where" (i.e., at which point along that infinite continuum) one looks or rests their vision, if you will. If one focuses upon the planet as a whole, then one sees Mother Earth, but if one narrows the focus to a specific location upon the earth, then one sees the Spirit of a Mountain, for example.
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
08 Nov 2003