Sympathetic Vibratory Physics - It's a Musical Universe!
Table of Contents
IN lecture one we saw that in some of the temples of India there are colored figures and symbols. These played an important part in the occult history of that nation, and depict the forces of man and of nature; but the world has no record left concerning these teachings, and it is only students of mysticism who can read in those colors occult truths. In those Indian temples man is depicted as radiating from himself various colors; but what does that mean to the average mind?
Among the ancient Europeans little was known concerning color. Coming down to more modern history, we find that among the Greeks there were no teachings regarding colors. Greek development ran more particularly to sculpture, arts, architecture and to the use of pigments, rather than to what we call science, and hence they had no knowledge of the nature of vibrations. Passing on to the Romans, we find that they, too, lacked in a large measure any knowledge concerning the nature of color. Seneca seems to be about the only Roman who wrote anything along this line, and he only went so far as to show that the primary colors of the rainbow were the same as the refraction of sunlight through broken glass, but he was not able to explain the cause of the identity of the phenomena. Then passing on to the Middle Ages, we find that those who had commenced to investigate this subject of color from a scientific standpoint, i. e., from the standpoint of light, accepted the theory that all light is the result of certain colors emitted from objects. But about 1665 Robert Hook, for the first time certainly in historic ages, formulated a theory of wave motions which Christian Huygens, in 1690, accepted and elaborated and made the basis of the vibratory or wave theory of light and color. But the great Newton threw his weight of opinion with the old emission theory; consequently the wave theory became heterodox and unpopular, and it was not heard of again for almost a century. Then once more the scientists began to talk about the wave theory of light and of color, and we find the old emission theory disappearing and the wave theory meeting with the acceptance of the scientific world. This is the predominating theory of our scientists at present; but it seems not to have occurred to many of them that there is an element of truth in both theories and that by blending parts of the cardinal ideas of both, an hypothesis might be formulated which would cover all facts and phenomena.
We find a diversity of opinion concerning color among those who study from the standpoint of pigments and those who study from the standpoint of light, as well as some difference of opinion on this subject in each of these several schools. The modern scientist bases his hypothesis upon the wave theory, using for his basis the solar radiation, or the visible so-called white light. And yet he tells you that in point of fact there is no white light, meaning the sum total of all the solar radiation. He tells you that the great emission of light or electrical vibration, whichever it may be, that comes from the sun as a greenish-blue color, is refracted by our atmosphere and manifests itself to our eyes as prismatic colors. But he also says that as the sunlight comes into the world's atmosphere, large proportions of the blue and green rays are withheld by the atmosphere, which has a selective absorption for those colors.
Starting with what must admittedly be largely a hypothetical premise, modern science advances a theory concerning colors based entirely upon such of the solar radiations as reach this earth and are not absorbed by atmospherical conditions, for it does not seem to have occurred to the modern scientist that there is a vibratory force in the earth itself which modifies the solar radiation.
The Occultist has great respect for the indefatigable energy of the modern scientist, and appreciates the painstaking care with which he collects his facts; but he recognizes that the physicist is only working on the plane of effects and hence causes are but guesses with him. These guesses change from decade to decade as new facts are discovered by further research, and hence the Occultist does not feel bound to follow the orthodox theories of any particular decade relative to any branch of knowledge; because he has his own sciences, which have existed for ages, and have been verified by all who have studied along these lines. For this reason we shall not enter too far into the discussion of how near right the modern scientist may be. But the Occultist says this: he does not accept wholly the views of the modern scientist as to primary colors based upon visible solar light.
The accepted prism, you know, consists of the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet; and these are considered to be the primary colors. The Occultist says the color you call yellow in point of fact is not yellow, but is the higher rays of the orange, and that the human eye does not record the true primary yellow, because it is beyond the vision of the ordinary eye, even when assisted by mechanical devices. The physicist tells you that your eye cannot detect the ultra violet rays, and that on the other end of the spectrum it cannot follow the lowest vibrations of the red. The Occultist accepts that statement, but adds that you do not detect all the rays or shades of any one of the colors contained even in your spectrum. Again, he differs from the modern physicist in regard to the question of indigo and violet. The Occultist says that indigo and violet are not primary colors, but are only some of the higher and lower rays of the blue, which, in registering themselves upon the human vision, appear as separate colors. Nor does the Occultist agree with those who make a study of pigments -artists and chemists - who consider blue, yellow and red as the primary colors, and that all the other colors are but modifications or blendings of these primary ones. The Occultist says that here also the yellow pigment is not the yellow of the basic vibration, but is merely a modification of the vibration of the orange, and, moreover, that in limiting the primary colors to blue, yellow and red, you leave out entirely the orange and green which are both primary colors. So much, therefore, to show you the lines of divergence between Occultism and the present scientific conception relative to color.
By primary colors, from the standpoint of Occultism, is meant those basic vibrations that appear at the beginning of time, and manifest throughout all planes of nature. Before discussing these, it may be well to enlarge upon some of the points of agreement between modern science and Occultism, which we touched upon in lecture three. First, you will remember that whatever is manifested must have form and color; nothing could manifest if there were a lack of these two qualities, because manifestation means a rate of vibration which parcels or separates a portion of atoms from the mass of matter. Therefore, vibration is the parent of form and color, and manifestation means that there must always exist these two qualities. Take, for example, the flowers; why do they have their various forms? Why do they have their peculiar pigments? Is it not the rate of vibration which determines the size, color and form of the flowers? You remember that when you went to school you were taught that form is the result of vibration, and the fact was illustrated by placing a quantity of fine feathery seed upon a drum head, and then prolonging the notes of a violin over it. The seed gathered into various forms, according to the vibration or sound which was given, and this illustration proved the truth of the teaching. Then you remember the illustration given of the hot poker which changed its color according to its change in vibration. These illustrations were given to show that the so-called inanimate things vibrate, and that their vibrations can be changed according to the will or desire of man. And now we will go a step further, and learn something about the vibrations which determine the form and color of man himself.
Man, being an individualized manifestation of nature, must naturally have his form and color. When I speak of man, I refer to both the physical and mental man. Place the human body in an easy position, with feet together, and with arms at the sides; then draw a line around it, touching each extreme outer point of the body, and you will find that the line forms an ovoid. You remember when we discussed the subjective and the objective minds we found that the two interblended and ensouled the physical man. These two united minds not only fill the interstices of the physical body, and hold together all the physical molecules, and keep them in place, but also extend beyond and around the body to the distance of several inches. If you should draw a line around this inner or mental man you would find that it, too, is oval, or egg-shaped, which seems to be the best form for the highest and largest expression of individualized consciousness - as witness man, world, or sun.
Into each center of consciousness flows the magnetic force called the life principle, and by reason of that inflow into all forms there is a constant pushing out of old atoms and a replacement of them with new elements. And this is true whether the form be on the subjective or objective side of nature. This passing in and out of the atomic life force, makes a fluidic sphere around each man and around everything. In electricity we call this fluidic sphere the electric field; in the sun we call it the photosphere; around a magnet we call it the magnetic field or field of attraction. Baron Karl von Reichenbach, through sensitives, re-discovered in modern times this magnetic field around men and animals, and even around minerals. This magnetic field he called "od," or "odic" force. His discovery is confirmed now by clairvoyants, by seers, and in France by sensitives under hypnotic influence. Persons from each of these classes of investigators have seen around each person, tree and mineral this field of light or color. This is one reason for that law of physics which says that no two masses can approach each other without being mutually affected, because, being brought into juxtaposition, there is an attraction and repulsion due to the flow of the life forces, and the exchange of atoms which is constantly taking place between them. There is essentially nothing in inert matter to attract; but the inflowing of the life force and the throwing off of old particles make a change of atoms between masses that are near each other, and they attract or repel according to their similarity or dissimilarity of vibration.
It is the existence of the magnetic field of an animal or a man which enables a dog to follow the scent of either. As a physical animal body passes over the ground it throws off from itself particles or atoms with each effort or emotion. A certain quantity of these particles is left imprinted upon the earth; and since every individualized consciousness, possesses its own distinct odor or perfume - due to its condition of development or rate of vibration - it is not at all difficult for the dog to keep the scent of the creature he is following. The atoms left upon the earth are impregnated with the odor of that person or thing which the dog is able to distinguish from any other.
When we come to the higher centers of consciousness, as in man, we not only have the life force as an element which builds, but we also have a thought force which is constantly manifesting, and by its vibratory flow is modifying, the life force. Each person radiates from himself not only the physical atoms which he has used, and which have lost his vibration, but also the finer forms of matter which go out with his thought force; and therefore there is a continuous stream flowing out from each individual to other centers, and these streams leave their impress upon everything the person thinks about or touches. A sensitive coming in contact with a part of the outflow from a man, can read his character as well as a scientist, by taking up a piece of coal, can tell you its chemical constituency, or its probable age and formation; and this faculty is now called psychometry.
In ancient times, the sphere surrounding man was called the aureola when it encircled his whole body; when it only radiated from his head and shoulders it was called the nimbus. Later, this magnetic field in either aspect was called the aura by Western Occultists, while in the East it was called the sacred Auric Egg. The ancient masters of art always represented their saints with a nimbus about their heads and were accustomed to paint their most divine characters as surrounded by an aureola. In the pictures of Christ there is a radiation from the entire body, while in those of his disciples there is usually but the nimbus to be seen. And these old painters were right in their conceptions; they were sensitives and either had the intuitive knowledge of an occult fact, or they were clairvoyants and saw that according to the development of the ego was the extent of its emanations. The Occultist says that in the ordinary man this radiation extends from two to six inches from the body; but as man develops in thought, power and capacity to draw into himself cosmic forces, his radiations expand until they may extend from six inches to several feet outward.
This aura is one of the chief causes for the unaccountable likes and dislikes that we have for persons whom we meet; for, if one is at all sensitive, one can feel very distinctly the auras one comes in contact with. If we meet with a person whose vibrations are very much higher than our own, we will be likely to either almost worship that person or dislike him for being so far in advance of us. We will be greatly disturbed by the higher vibrations proceeding from him, which will very likely call forth all the good in us, or bring all the sediment in our nature to the surface. Knowing this, and being sensitive to these sudden likes and dislikes for persons, you may save yourself much discomfort by keeping a good distance between yourselves and those who disturb you. A distance of three or four feet will be sufficient to prevent you from feeling so plainly the vibratory force of another.
This aura will also account for the great depletion that many persons feel when they come in contact with other persons; for it is very true that there are human sponges who, unconsciously perhaps, maintain their own lives by drawing all the magnetic force or life they can get from others. This is what the Occultist calls vampirization. You may have observed that invalids are most anxious to have young, strong people about them. They will often take the hand of a healthy person and hold it for hours, if they are permitted to. It is pleasant for the invalid, but quite trying sometimes for the visitor, because with the blending of the auras the magnetic force flows from the stronger to the weaker. Old people are very fond of children, and often insist upon sleeping with them. This is very dangerous for the child, because of the demagnetization which must always follow so doing.
There are several ways by which you may save yourselves from being demagnetized by others. The first is to spend much of your time alone. Another is by declaring positiveness for yourself and by keeping your mind on your own magnetism, and thus retain it within your own body. Again, you may save yourself considerably by letting your feet touch each other lightly, and by clasping your hands together when you are sitting near other persons; this is a means of closing your circuit and preventing your magnetism from flowing out. In the last-mentioned practice it is not alone the physical act of closing your circuit, but the mental attitude you take at that time which protects you from vampirization.
The size and color of the human aura changes according to the intensity and quality of the thought. We have seen that all vibration is either the direct or indirect result of thought; and this is true from the first Divine impulse down to every thought of man. It can be demonstrated in a number of ways. Telepathy, which I believe scientists now accept as a fact, is the transmission of thought or vibratory force from the mind of one person to that of another without the use of material signs, using as the medium of communication the ether or Universal Consciousness. If there is a vibration or emanation that goes forth from you every time you think, and it passes to the point it is sent, then it is reasonable to suppose that according to the intensity of the thought is the emanation projected. If you sit quietly daydreaming, or thinking in an indefinite, incoherent manner, the emanation does not proceed far from you; but if your thought is definite and intense, then its vibration must proceed according to its own intensity. By intense thinking I do not mean that you should clench your fist, nor corrugate your brow while doing it; but I mean that your thought must be clearly held in mind and distinctly sent forth.
I understand that Dr. Baraduct, a French physician, has invented a disk so delicately sensitized that it registers the vibrations of a human being brought in contact with it. If an angry man puts forth his hand toward the dial, the needle on it immediately registers the intensity of his vibrations. If the opposite hand of the same man is extended, the dial immediately shows the difference in vibrations between the positive and negative sides of his body. When a clear, distinct thinker tests the machine, there is a greater number registered upon the dial than when a negative person tests it, and thus we are fortunate in having a recently invented mechanical instrument which proves the claims of Occultism concerning the vibratory emanations from the human body.
The intensity of the thought determines the size of the aura, and the quality of the thought determines its color. For example, you may have an intense vibration of a low color, which would cause your emanation to project for three or more feet from you, or you might have an intense thought of a higher nature which would reach the same distance. Its size would depend upon its intensity, but its color would be determined by its quality or rate of vibration, or its moral and intelligent degree of excellence.
According to the Occult system in reference to mind or man, the spectrum, as applied to this particular planet, would include what is generally known as the absence of color at one end and the synthesis of color at the other, or black and white.
But because neither of these has a practical bearing upon this course of lectures - nor will it have in your lives at this point in your evolution - I shall omit them from this course. Both colors indicate abnormal conditions of mind, and we do not desire to waste our time studying the abnormal. The Occultist says that red, orange, green, blue and yellow are the normal primary colors, and can be seen and known upon each inner plane of being according to the development of the investigator. The ordinarily developed person cannot see the pure yellow ray with his physical eyes any more than the ordinary American can see the many delicate colors in an Indian shawl that the specialized vision of an expert can distinguish.
The inner man, usually called the soul or ego, the real man, always has a color as distinctly his own as has the outside man. Each individual has his particular color according to his quality of thought, character and development. During his first incarnation on the earth the normal color of the subjective mind was yellow or blue, and the natural color of the objective mind was green; therefore, when these two first came together, and united as one mind, and incarnated in a human body, the combined colors became a greenish blue or greenish yellow. This very quickly changed to lower rates of vibration, because sensation immediately commenced to manifest in the place of reason, in the newly incarnated man. The green predominated over the yellow or blue because the latter were the product of the subjective side of life, and the green was the product of the objective side which was stronger upon its own plane of development. But even these combination color vibrations were lost through the excitation of the emotional nature, which came quickly into the ascendency in man's nature. This was due to the great desire for the physical enjoyments of life, for in those days man was in his absolutely normal, animal condition. He had a new body, had not put into action causes which reacted upon it, and his power of thinking was limited, and therefore not likely to have much influence on his body during those first incarnations. So there was nothing for man at that time but the mere physical enjoyment of existence.
Before we take up the study of the emotional nature and its colors, it may be well to examine that force which built man's physical form, and which builds all physical forms - the force we call "life." This force manifests as orange vibration. If life is a force, if it is something, then it must have a rate of vibration of its own to distinguish it from everything else in the universe. We speak of the Gulf Stream. It is a current of water which vibrates at a higher rate than the body of water through which it flows, and we call this current of water the Gulf Stream to distinguish it from the rest of the ocean. So in this great sea of consciousness there are certain definite and distinct currents of force which play very important parts in man's evolution, and that which we call "life" is one of them. I cannot prove this statement to you because of the limitation of your vision, but you can prove it for yourself - as you can prove every other statement I shall make in these lectures - if you develop to that point where your inner senses permit you to function upon that plane of existence where forces are visible as forces, as causes, and not as effects or phenomena.
On this physical plane you see life as form; on the subjective or mental side you see life manifesting as a separate and distinct thing which is building the form you see with your physical eyes. Seeing life on the subjective side, it is an orange color, or a force which vibrates as orange, sweeping into everything and giving vitality to all forms. All physical bodies have this vital force manifesting in them according to the capacity of each to express it. You do not see the orange force permeating the invalid to the same extent that it does an athlete, because the invalid cannot express it so well. And now that you understand something about the force which fashions and preserves the physical body, let us turn to man himself and study the other forces expressed in him.
The lowest force in psychic man is that which we designate as his distinct animal propensities, and these are red in their manifestation or vibration. You remember we found the four cardinal emotions upon which all the other human emotions were based, and the first three of these were red; therefore, when the animal nature is in the ascendency in man, when it dominates the intellectual side of his nature, the red vibrations become the dominating ones and permeate the entire man and his aura. If you strike a tuning fork upon the table, the sound produced is the vibration which emanates from that tuning fork. If you put a weight upon the fork the sound ceases, because the low rate of vibration which you bring in contact with the tuning fork causes its vibrations to be lowered, and finally to cease; thus the vibrations of the weight overcome those of the tuning fork. It is the same with thought; when the animal nature becomes intense it gives its lowering vibrations to every part of the man, and consequently the intellectual nature ceases its activity for the time being, and takes the color of the dominating emotion. When the emotional nature is in the ascendency, man's color is red, and according to the intensity of his emotions is the color intensified; but if he struggles to control his emotions there will be a change of colors in his aura.
In the course of time man's lower intellectual nature began to be more prominent, and when his emotions were not over-stimulated it began to be something of a factor in his life; and as time went on what was originally the red in the psychic man, and the orange of his body, became tinged with the green of his objective mentality, and then he had the three colors blended, which gave him a brown vibration. This color, unfortunately, indicates the condition of the mass of men at the present day, because they have not developed beyond that point. The intellectual side of man is very weak as yet; even the objective mind is not well individualized, and as for the subjective mind, it is not active in one person in a thousand.
After many centuries some men, for one reason or another, began to control their emotions somewhat. This may have been brought about by laws being enacted which said: If a person gives sway to his emotions, and kills another, or becomes too avaricious, and robs his fellow man, he shall be punished. Or it may have been because social life required the suppression of the emotions at times. As man began to control more and more his emotional nature, the green vibrations became more prominent. First in its deeper shades which indicate intense selfishness - and subsequently in its lighter shades, indicating individualization.
Green is the color of the objective mind of man when he first begins to individualize as a permanent center of consciousness in Deity. It is the color of the manifested, lower, intellectual nature which is sometimes called the brain consciousness. Self-consciousness in the growing man was necessarily an evolutionary step; and when man, for his own purposes and his own interests, began to use his intellect even on a low plane, he began to control his emotional nature. This in itself helped to strengthen his intellectual nature and made his emotions more or less subservient to it. Green vibrations are desirable because no soul can mount very high in its evolution unless it becomes properly individualized. Then will come the time when our subjective minds, or the diviner portion of our natures, will fight for the ascendency as the lower intellectual is now fighting the emotional nature. At that time the original color of the subjective mind will begin to manifest itself and the blue vibrations will commence to tinge the inner man. At first there will be but occasional flashes of the blue in his aura; later, it will become suffused with the blue vibration.
Raising the vibrations of the developing man is a slow process. Where his higher intellect and intuition begin to manifest, and where reason commences to overpower desire, there is the battle ground for the objective and subjective minds. This is where most of the progressive men and women are to-day; and if you were clairvoyant, you could see the auras changing from green to blue, with often a flash of red, and then back again to green, or perhaps to purple, a combination of the blue and red. I know of no better comparison than to liken the progressive inner man, in his appearance, to an electric fountain. One moment you may see the fountain all blue, at another green and blue mingling; then perhaps it will change to purple, with now and again a flash of red, or with red suffusing the whole. So man, according to his thought, is always radiating these beautiful colors which are in each human soul or mind.
In the course of time, when his spiritual nature becomes awakened and his intuition becomes active, the yellow vibrations begin to interblend with the blue. You will see the well-developed man possessed of all the colors, properly regulated and controlled. The lower vibrations, the red, will then appear as a beautiful rose pink, and will be seen more particularly about that portion of the body where the generative organs are located. The orange vibration will suffuse the entire body. The green will be the individualizing band outlining the body, and the blue and yellow will blend and extend beyond the green, forming the outer border of the aura.
There are two classes of these colors which may be designated as positive and negative. There is the positive yellow and the negative yellow, the positive green and the negative green. And when you see man's aura composed of negative colors you may know that the negative side of his nature is dominant. A man may be negatively good, and be neither wise nor strong. He may seem to control his objective mind and you may believe him to be a well-developed man, when really his objective mind is but a poor vehicle for his subjective mind. Or you may find persons with the negative blue and yellow vibrations, those whose intuitional natures are only partially awakened, but who have not the force aspect; neither has the higher intelligence become active in them. A person may be negatively good because he has not been tempted in this life to be otherwise; his environment may have been such as to guard him against temptation, and his nature being negative, he had not the desire to overcome. Some time in some life he must be tempted and learn to be positively good before lie becomes a perfected ego.
There is a practical side to this lecture, as there has been to all the other lectures of this course. According to your knowledge of these forces or vibrations, and according to the intensity of your thought, will you have the power to use the Occult forces of nature, and become conscious upon other than the material plane, and to put yourself in touch with certain cosmic currents or forces. For illustration: A man with an emotional nature goes to the theater. There is a cry of "Fire!" and a wave of fear sweeps over the audience. Every mind in the house has become attached to the red cosmic current of fear. Having tapped this great current, waves of fear come into every center of consciousness in that house, and the emotional man loses his reason and rushes like a maddened brute to save himself, regardless of everyone else. He tramples upon women and children, and fights like a wild animal to liberate his body from the struggling mass of human beings around him. There may or may not be a fire, but this man has connected his objective mind, through thought, with this current of fear, does not control the emotion as it sweeps over him, and you see the result.
These cosmic currents which surround our earth correspond in color and rate of vibration to each of the colors in the aura of men and animals; and all living creatures use these currents, either consciously or unconsciously. When man learns to vibrate harmoniously with the color or cosmic current he desires to use, then his development will be much more rapid than when he uses the currents, as the animals do, unconsciously and without a knowledge of what he is doing. It is according to the color of a man's vibrations that he connects himself with these cosmic forces; and some of the lower forces bring disaster to him when he uses them. Take the current of fear for example. If a man is constantly fearing something, or someone, he thus connects himself with the current of fear, and it constantly plays upon him. He never can gain success in anything he undertakes until he raises his vibrations above this current, and in this way disconnects himself from it. It is indeed of the most importance that man should learn to control his thoughts and his vibrations.
There are also different planes of consciousness, and it is according to the rate of man's vibration that he can function upon them. As a man may be able to see no color but red, because his optic nerves are at so low a rate of vibration that they cannot record any color of a higher rate, so some men have a much broader apprehension of the laws of life than other men, because their vibrations are high enough to permit vibrations coming from other and higher planes to impinge upon their consciousness. A genius is a man whose consciousness has become expanded through his evolution until he can contact more planes of cosmic consciousness than other men. You remember the lines,
"A primrose by a river's brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more."
One man sees in a primrose nothing more nor less than a vegetable growth; another thinks what a pretty yellow flower; still another sees in that same primrose the secrets of the Universe; he sees in that flower the vibratory effect of the Divine Idea - that God has geometrized, as the scholars of Pythagoras were accustomed to say.
There are forty-nine states of consciousness, but the minds of average men only function upon ten or twelve. There are a great many doors to knowledge, which we may open if we will; but if we continue to think in the lower states of consciousness, and never rise above them in aspiration, these other doors will remain forever shut to us. If we always live in the cellar of our house we will never see God's sunlight streaming into our upper rooms. The sun shines, but not for us because we will not go where it can reach us.
All the world's great teachers have substantially taught the same rules for conduct and morality. Ethics is not founded on police regulations nor sentiments of moralists, but is established on the immutable laws of nature. "Love your enemies" was one of the precepts taught by Jesus, and it has puzzled many of his followers to find the reason for the teaching. Many persons think, if they do not say: What sense is there in loving one's enemies? This precept has a purely scientific basis. Love is not an indefinite sentiment, it is something real; it is the highest and greatest dynamic force on this planet, and is one that manifests on all planes. Since it is a force, it is something we can feel on this plane of effects and see on the mental plane, if we are able to function on that plane. When pure love is sent forth from the subjective mind, it manifests as a constructive force, having its own particular high yellow rate of vibration. Anger being an emotion, and proceeding from the objective mind of man, vibrates at a lower rate, which is red. A person who hates you - an enemy - sends a red current of thought toward you; but if you send loving thoughts in return, you are projecting a yellow rate of vibration which is infinitely higher and more forceful than the red, and the yellow vibration deflects the lower vibration so that it never reaches you.
The higher rates of vibration will protect you from harm, and if you live according to ethical principles, a high quality of thought or vibration is attained. When we come to consider Spiritual Forces, we shall see how, by the control of our thoughts, we can use the cosmic forces.