Serie F brev nr 4

Magazine Overview

This issue of BREVCIRKELN, identified as series F, number 4, is titled 'UNDERJORDENS VERKLIGHET' (The Reality of the Underground) and is presented as the fourth part of a series.

Något om Framtiden (Something About the Future)

This section, attributed to 'Hodson' from 'KINGDOM OF FAERIE,' discusses significant changes expected in the future of humanity. It posits that aspects of the Earth's life and movement will come closer to the surface and human consciousness. This proximity to nature is expected to foster a sense of naturalness amidst the increasingly complex human existence. This contact with nature tends to develop mysticism within human consciousness, leading to a unifying, synthesizing, and harmonizing influence on humanity. These changes, while appearing to stem from numerous life streams, are destined to occur during specific periods, guided by an omniscient and omnipresent intelligence. The development is described as irresistible, perfect, and unfolding in a divinely ordained sequence.

The author expresses relief upon reading these statements, viewing them as wise pronouncements from a being who observes humanity's development plans from a detached perspective. Hodson's teachings are interpreted as seeing humans as 'gods in the making,' striving to control their inner creative forces. These forces have both positive and negative aspects (good and evil), and humanity must struggle until one prevails.

Opening oneself to inner evil invites unbalanced forces from the Earth's interior, leading to vices, crimes, and the resulting pain and suffering that provide knowledge. The serpent or dragon is thus a symbol of knowledge and of both good and evil. The depiction of paired, upright cobras with hoods, seen on Egyptian rulers' headdresses and in temples, symbolizes balanced creative forces, as should be the case in every normal, healthy, and well-balanced human. When an individual achieves this state, they have temporarily 'conquered the dragon,' as dramatically symbolized by Siegfried in Wagner's opera.

This occult knowledge is presented as a counterbalance to the chaotic and evil underground. It is contrasted with the materialism of Richard Shaver. Until a person's vision is illuminated by their inner spirit, they are ruled by their lower nature, characterized by an imbalance of power on the negative side. This is evident in H.G. Wells' 'The Ten Machines,' where the desperate attitude is normal for primitive humans who worship the devil, their consciousness still limited. However, this should not be the norm for the civilized fifth race. After passing the lowest point of evolutionary development, there should be an enduring faith in God and an irresistible drive towards the ultimate improvement of conditions.

Earth itself is progressing towards final completion, just as humans are. Mother Earth must accept our efforts and tribulations, just as we must endure her unconditional and struggling forces within. As developing gods, it is part of our schooling to learn from these forces, to understand them, and to use them under control.

The Snake Dance (Orm dansen)

Certain Native American tribes in Southwestern USA are said to have learned long ago how to safely contact Earth goddesses through magical ceremonies. The text specifically mentions the 'snake dance' for invoking rain. Medicine men explain that they gather and use rattlesnakes to communicate with the snakes, asking them to bring rain. The snakes are then released to slither down into the earth with the message for the Earth goddesses. These rain-making ceremonies are described as so successful that there is no doubt the medicine men know what they are doing.

Earth's Composition (Jordens Sammansättning)

These desert snakes disappear only about half a meter below the surface when released by the medicine man. The tribe's desire for rain is telepathically gathered by the magicians. This telepathic message is then projected mentally down to the fourth, or water stratum, within the Earth. Here reside the 'potential possibilities in a dormant state' of everything on Earth's surface. It is here that the archetypes of the forces behind group consciousness, as well as the archetypes of mineral forces, are encountered. This stratum is described as the direct, physical expression of the concrete thought region.

The text then presents Diagram 18 from Max Heindel's 'The Constitution of the Earth' (published in Swedish as 'ROSENKREUZARNES VÄRLDSÅSKÅDNING' in 1932). This is presented as the only work that makes a claim to provide even an incomplete account of the Earth's interior.

According to Heindel, scientists have only superficially investigated the planet's outer shell. Volcanic eruptions, for example, are attempts to understand phenomena in a mechanistic way, which has some basis but neglects the spiritual causes that occultists perceive as true.

For those initiated into the mysteries, the Earth appears to be built in layers, like an onion, with each stratum defining itself from the outside. There are nine such strata and a central core, making ten in total. These strata are gradually revealed to the initiated. Each stratum becomes accessible to the individual with each initiation, so that at the end of the nine lesser initiations, they are master of all the layers, but have not yet gained access to the core's secrets.

The text then details the strata:

1. Mineral Stratum: Earth's stony crust, as understood by geology.
2. Liquid Stratum: A substance more fluid than the outer crust, but not watery; akin to a thick dough. It has the capacity to expand explosively and is held in place by the pressure of the outer crust. If this pressure were removed, the stratum would vanish into space. These two strata correspond to the chemical and etheric regions of the visible world.
3. Gaseous Stratum: The first and second strata have no conscious life. This stratum, however, contains a constant flowing and pulsating life, similar to the desire world that surrounds and permeates our Earth.
4. Water Stratum: Contains the possibilities of everything on Earth's surface in a dormant state. It is here that the archetypes of forces behind group consciousness and mineral forces are found. It is the direct, physical expression of the concrete thought region.
5. Seed Stratum: This stratum represents the original source of life from which the strong, living force that builds all forms on Earth emanates. This corresponds to the abstract thought region. The text clarifies that life existed before dead forms. Life created its bodies from a subtle, gaseous substance long before it condensed into Earth's solid crust. When life left the forms, they condensed and became hard and dead. Coal is crystallized plant bodies, and coral is crystallized animal forms. Life leaves forms, and the forms die. Life did not come to a form to awaken it; life withdrew from forms, and the forms died, thus becoming dead things.
6. Fiery Stratum: This stratum is receptive to emotional impressions such as joy and pain, sympathy and aversion. The Earth is generally not considered receptive to such feelings, but occult researchers know that when the Earth is harvested (e.g., fruits in autumn or flowers), it experiences joy, similar to a cow whose udder is relieved of milk. This joy comes from giving nourishment to its offspring. This joy reaches its peak at harvest time. Conversely, when a plant is uprooted, the Earth feels sudden pain. For this reason, the author avoids eating root vegetables, as they are filled with Earth-force, lack solar force, and are poisoned by being uprooted. Potatoes are an exception, as they grew on the surface before being cultivated underground. Occultists prefer to nourish their bodies with fruits grown in sunlight, which contain more of the higher solar force and do not cause the Earth pain. The text questions whether mining would be painful for the Earth.

Contrary to intuition, the breaking down and dissolution of the hard crust brings relief, while hardening causes pain. The Earth's feelings are most active in this sixth stratum, which corresponds to the world of the vital spirit. To understand the joy experienced when mining penetrates the rock and the pain of accumulating deposits, one must remember that the Earth is the physical body of a great Spirit, which must condense its body into its current solid state to provide an environment for us to live and gain experience. This is what Paul meant when he said that all creation groans and travails, waiting for the day of liberation.

7. Reflective Stratum: This stratum corresponds to the divine spirit's world. In occult science, it is known as the 'seven unspeakable secrets.' For those unaware of their significance, the characteristics of this stratum may seem absurd. All forces known as 'laws of nature' exist here, alongside moral or immoral forces. In the early stages of human consciousness, these forces were much worse than they are now. However, as humanity progresses morally, these forces improve, and any moral decay releases these natural forces, causing destruction on Earth. Conversely, striving for higher ideals makes them less hostile to humanity. The forces in this stratum are an exact reflection of humanity's moral state. From an occult perspective, the 'hand of God' striking Sodom or Gomorrah is not superstition, because just as individuals are responsible for their actions, so too are communities and nations responsible for their collective actions. Natural forces are the powerful agents of this retributive justice, causing floods, earthquakes, or the formation of oil and coal for different groups, according to their merit.

8. Atomic Stratum: This is the name given by the Rosicrucians to the eighth layer of the Earth, representing the world of pure spirits. It has the capacity to multiply things manifold, but only those that have become definitive forms. Unformed pieces of rock or unshaped stones do not exist here. However, anything that has been formed or has life or form (like a flower or a picture) has a greatly magnified effect in this stratum.

9. Material Expression of the Earth Spirit: Here are the subtle streams that are closely connected to the brain, heart, and reproductive organs of the human race. This corresponds to the world of God.

10. Center of the Earth Spirit's Being: Nothing more can be said about this than it is the ultimate seed-school for everything that exists in and on the Earth, corresponding to the Absolute.

From the sixth or fiery stratum, several shafts lead to the Earth's surface, known as 'volcanic craters.' When the natural forces in the seventh stratum are released, causing a volcanic eruption, they set the sixth stratum in motion, and the shaking spreads outwards to the mouth of the shaft. Most of the material comes from the substance of the second stratum, which is the dense counterpart to the sixth stratum, just as the etheric body is the human being's other expression of the vital spirit. This liquid stratum, with its expanding and explosive properties, leaves an unlimited supply of material at the time of eruption. Contact with the outer atmosphere hardens the part of the mass that is not expelled into space, forming lava and ash. Just as blood flow stops when a wound clots, the lava flow eventually seals the opening from the Earth's interior.

A correction is noted for line two under point 10, stating it should read: 'ÄN ATT DET ÄR DEN SLUTLIGA...etc.' (Than that it is the final...etc.)

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The issue strongly emphasizes esoteric and theosophical concepts, particularly concerning spiritual evolution, the inner nature of humanity and the Earth, and the interconnectedness of all things. The editorial stance appears to be one of promoting spiritual understanding and a higher moral development as essential for both individual and planetary progress. It presents a worldview where unseen forces and spiritual laws govern existence, and where humanity has a role to play in its own and the Earth's evolution towards perfection. There is a clear distinction made between materialistic views and the occult or spiritual understanding of reality.