We have now to consider a class of entities which, though it contains
but very few individuals, has acquired from its intimate connection
with one of the great movements of modern times an importance entirely
out of proportion to its numbers. It seems doubtful whether it should
appear under the first or third of our main divisions; but, though
certainly human, it is so far removed from the course of ordinary
evolution, so entirely the product of a will outside of its own, that
it perhaps falls most naturally into place among the artificial
beings. The easiest way of describing it will be to commence with its
history, and to do that we must once more look back to the great
Atlantean race. In thinking of the Adepts and schools of occultism of
that remarkable people our minds instinctively revert to the evil
practices of which we hear so much in connection with their latter
days; but we must not forget that before that age of selfishness and
degradation the mighty civilization of Atlantis had brought forth much
that was noble and worthy of admiration, and that among its leaders
were some who now stand upon the loftiest pinnacles as yet attained by
man. Among the lodges for occult study preliminary to initiation
formed by the Adepts of the good Law was one in a certain part of
America which was then tributary to one of the great Atlantean
monarchs--"the Divine Rulers of the Golden Gate"; and though it has
passed through many and strange vicissitudes, though it has had to
move its headquarters from country to country as each in turn was
invaded by the jarring elements of a later civilization, that lodge
still exists even at the present day, observing still the same
old-world ritual even teaching as a sacred and hidden language the
same Atlantean tongue which was used at its foundation so many
thousands of years ago. It still remains what it was from the first--a
lodge of occultists of pure and philanthropic aims, which can lead
those students whom it finds worthy no inconsiderable distance on the
road to knowledge, and confers such psychic powers as are in its gift
only after the most searching tests as to the fitness of the
candidate. Its teachers do not stand upon the Adept level, yet
hundreds have learnt through it how to set their feet upon the Path
which has led them to Adeptship in later lives; and though it is not
in direct communication with the Brotherhood of the Himalayas, there
are some among the latter who have themselves been connected with it
in former incarnations, and therefore retain a more than ordinarily
friendly interest in its proceedings.
The chiefs of this lodge, though they have always kept themselves and
their society strictly in the background, have nevertheless done what
they could from time to time to assist the progress of truth in the
world, and some half-century ago, in despair at the rampant
materialism which seemed to be stifling all spirituality in Europe and
America, they determined to make an attempt to combat it by somewhat
novel methods--in point of fact to offer opportunities by which any
reasonable man could acquire absolute proof of that life apart from
the physical body which it was the tendency of science to deny. The
phenomena exhibited were not in themselves absolutely new, since in
some form or other we may hear of them all through history; but their
definite organization--their production as it were to order--these
were features distinctly new to the modern world. The movement they
thus set on foot gradually grew into the vast fabric of modern
spiritualism, and though it would perhaps be unfair to hold the
originators of the scheme directly responsible for many of the results
which have followed, we must admit that they have achieved their
purpose to the extent of converting vast numbers of people from a
belief in nothing in particular to a firm faith in at any rate some
kind of future life. This is undoubtedly a magnificent result, though,
in the opinion of many of those whose power and knowledge enable them
to take a wider view of such matters than we can, it has been attained
at too great a cost, since it seems to them that on the whole the harm
done outweighs the good. The method adopted was to take some ordinary
person after death, arouse him thoroughly upon the astral plane,
instruct him to a certain extent in the powers and possibilities
belonging to it, and then put him in charge of a spiritualistic
circle. He in his turn "developed" other departed personalities along
the same line, they all acted upon those who sat at their _séances_,
and "developed" them as mediums; and so spiritualism grew and
flourished. No doubt living members of the original lodge occasionally
manifested themselves in astral form at some of the circles--perhaps
they may do so even now; but in most cases they simply gave such
direction and guidance as they considered necessary to the persons
they had put in charge. There is little doubt that the movement
increased so much more rapidly than they had expected that it soon got
quite beyond their control, so that, as has been said, for many of the
later developments they can only be held indirectly responsible.
Of course the intensification of the astral-plane life in those
persons who were thus put in charge of circles distinctly delayed
their natural progress; and though the idea had been that anything
lost in this way would be fully atoned for by the good Karma gained
by helping to lead others to the truth, it was soon found that it was
impossible to make use of a "spirit-guide" for any length of time
without doing him serious and permanent injury. In some cases such
"guides" were therefore withdrawn, and others substituted for them; in
others it was considered for various reasons undesirable to make such
a change, and then a very remarkable expedient was adopted which gave
rise to the curious class of creatures we have called "human
artificials". The higher principles of the original "guide" were
allowed to pass on their long delayed evolution into the devachanic
condition, but the shade he left behind him was taken possession of,
sustained, and operated upon so that it might appear to its admiring
circle practically just as before. This seems at first to have been
done by members of the lodge themselves, but apparently that
arrangement was found irksome or unsuitable, or perhaps was considered
a waste of force, and the same objection applied to the use for this
purpose of an artificial elemental; so it was eventually decided that
the departed person who would have been appointed to succeed the late
"spirit-guide" should still do so, but should take possession of the
latter's shade or shell, and in fact simply wear his appearance. It is
said that some members of the lodge objected to this on the ground
that though the purpose might be entirely good a certain amount of
deception was involved; but the general opinion seems to have been
that as the shade really was the same, and contained something at any
rate of the original lower Manas, there was nothing that could be
called deception in the matter. This, then, was the genesis of the
human artificial entity, and it is understood that in some cases more
than one such change has been made without arousing suspicion, though
on the other hand some investigators of spiritualism have remarked on
the fact that after a considerable lapse of time certain differences
suddenly became observable in the manner and disposition of a
"spirit". It is needless to say that none of the Adept Brotherhood has
ever approved of the formation of an artificial entity of this sort,
though they could not interfere with any one who thought it right to
take such a course. A weak point in the arrangement is that many
others besides the original lodge may adopt this plan, and there is
nothing whatever to prevent black magicians from supplying
communicating "spirits"--as, indeed, they have been known to do.
With this class we conclude our survey of the inhabitants of the
astral plane. With the reservations specially made some few pages
back, the catalogue may be taken as a fairly complete one; but it must
once more be emphasized that this treatise claims only to sketch the
merest outline of a very vast subject, the detailed elaboration of
which would need a lifetime of study and hard work.