From the point of view of the forms which they produce we may group
thought into three classes:--
1. That which takes the image of the thinker. When a man thinks of
himself as in some distant place, or wishes earnestly to be in that
place, he makes a thought-form in his own image which appears there.
Such a form has not infrequently been seen by others, and has sometimes
been taken for the astral body or apparition of the man himself. In such
a case, either the seer must have enough of clairvoyance for the time to
be able to observe that astral shape, or the thought-form must have
sufficient strength to materialise itself--that is, to draw round itself
temporarily a certain amount of physical matter. The thought which
generates such a form as this must necessarily be a strong one, and it
therefore employs a larger proportion of the matter of the mental body,
so that though the form is small and compressed when it leaves the
thinker, it draws round it a considerable amount of astral matter, and
usually expands to life-size before it appears at its destination.
2. That which takes the image of some material object. When a man thinks
of his friend he forms within his mental body a minute image of that
friend, which often passes outward and usually floats suspended in the
air before him. In the same way if he thinks of a room, a house, a
landscape, tiny images of these things are formed within the mental body
and afterwards externalised. This is equally true when he is exercising
his imagination; the painter who forms a conception of his future
picture builds it up out of the matter of his mental body, and then
projects it into space in front of him, keeps it before his mind's eye,
and copies it. The novelist in the same way builds images of his
character in mental matter, and by the exercise of his will moves these
puppets from one position or grouping to another, so that the plot of
his story is literally acted out before him. With our curiously inverted
conceptions of reality it is hard for us to understand that these mental
images actually exist, and are so entirely objective that they may
readily be seen by the clairvoyant, and can even be rearranged by some
one other than their creator. Some novelists have been dimly aware of
such a process, and have testified that their characters when once
created developed a will of their own, and insisted on carrying the plot
of the story along lines quite different from those originally intended
by the author. This has actually happened, sometimes because the
thought-forms were ensouled by playful nature-spirits, or more often
because some 'dead' novelist, watching on the astral plane the
development of the plan of his fellow-author, thought that he could
improve upon it, and chose this method of putting forward his
suggestions.
3. That which takes a form entirely its own, expressing its inherent
qualities in the matter which it draws round it. Only thought-forms of
this third class can usefully be illustrated, for to represent those of
the first or second class would be merely to draw portraits or
landscapes. In those types we have the plastic mental or astral matter
moulded in imitation of forms belonging to the physical plane; in this
third group we have a glimpse of the forms natural to the astral or
mental planes. Yet this very fact, which makes them so interesting,
places an insuperable barrier in the way of their accurate reproduction.
Thought-forms of this third class almost invariably manifest themselves
upon the astral plane, as the vast majority of them are expressions of
feeling as well as of thought. Those of which we here give specimens are
almost wholly of that class, except that we take a few examples of the
beautiful thought-forms created in definite meditation by those who,
through long practice, have learnt how to think.
Thought-forms directed towards individuals produce definitely marked
effects, these effects being either partially reproduced in the aura of
the recipient and so increasing the total result, or repelled from it. A
thought of love and of desire to protect, directed strongly towards some
beloved object, creates a form which goes to the person thought of, and
remains in his aura as a shielding and protecting agent; it will seek
all opportunities to serve, and all opportunities to defend, not by a
conscious and deliberate action, but by a blind following out of the
impulse impressed upon it, and it will strengthen friendly forces that
impinge on the aura and weaken unfriendly ones. Thus may we create and
maintain veritable guardian angels round those we love, and many a
mother's prayer for a distant child thus circles round him, though she
knows not the method by which her "prayer is answered."
In cases in which good or evil thoughts are projected at individuals,
those thoughts, if they are to directly fulfil their mission, must find,
in the aura of the object to whom they are sent, materials capable of
responding sympathetically to their vibrations. Any combination of
matter can only vibrate within certain definite limits, and if the
thought-form be outside all the limits within which the aura is capable
of vibrating, it cannot affect that aura at all. It consequently
rebounds from it, and that with a force proportionate to the energy with
which it impinged upon it. This is why it is said that a pure heart and
mind are the best protectors against any inimical assaults, for such a
pure heart and mind will construct an astral and a mental body of fine
and subtle materials, and these bodies cannot respond to vibrations that
demand coarse and dense matter. If an evil thought, projected with
malefic intent, strikes such a body, it can only rebound from it, and it
is flung back with all its own energy; it then flies backward along the
magnetic line of least resistance, that which it has just traversed, and
strikes its projector; he, having matter in his astral and mental bodies
similar to that of the thought-form he generated, is thrown into
respondent vibrations, and suffers the destructive effects he had
intended to cause to another. Thus "curses [and blessings] come home to
roost." From this arise also the very serious effects of hating or
suspecting a good and highly-advanced man; the thought-forms sent
against him cannot injure him, and they rebound against their
projectors, shattering them mentally, morally, or physically. Several
such instances are well known to members of the Theosophical Society,
having come under their direct observation. So long as any of the
coarser kinds of matter connected with evil and selfish thoughts remain
in a person's body, he is open to attack from those who wish him evil,
but when he has perfectly eliminated these by self-purification his
haters cannot injure him, and he goes on calmly and peacefully amid all
the darts of their malice. But it is bad for those who shoot out such
darts.
Another point that should be mentioned before passing to the
consideration of our illustrations is that every one of the
thought-forms here given is drawn from life. They are not imaginary
forms, prepared as some dreamer thinks that they ought to appear; they
are representations of forms actually observed as thrown off by ordinary
men and women, and either reproduced with all possible care and fidelity
by those who have seen them, or with the help of artists to whom the
seers have described them.
* * * * *
For convenience of comparison thought-forms of a similar kind are
grouped together.