_At a Shipwreck._--Very serious is the panic which has occasioned the
very interesting group of thought-forms which are depicted in Fig. 30.
They were seen simultaneously, arranged exactly as represented, though
in the midst of indescribable confusion, so their relative positions
have been retained, though in explaining them it will be convenient to
take them in reverse order. They were called forth by a terrible
accident, and they are instructive as showing how differently people are
affected by sudden and serious danger. One form shows nothing but an
eruption of the livid grey of fear, rising out of a basis of utter
selfishness: and unfortunately there were many such as this. The
shattered appearance of the thought-form shows the violence and
completeness of the explosion, which in turn indicates that the whole
soul of that person was possessed with blind, frantic terror, and that
the overpowering sense of personal danger excluded for the time every
higher feeling.
[Illustration: FIG. 30. AT A SHIPWRECK]
The second form represents at least an attempt at self-control, and
shows the attitude adopted by a person having a certain amount of
religious feeling. The thinker is seeking solace in prayer, and
endeavouring in this way to overcome her fear. This is indicated by the
point of greyish-blue which lifts itself hesitatingly upwards; the
colour shows, however, that the effort is but partially successful, and
we see also from the lower part of the thought-form, with its irregular
outline and its falling fragments, that there is in reality almost as
much fright here as in the other case. But at least this woman has had
presence of mind enough to remember that she ought to pray, and is
trying to imagine that she is not afraid as she does it, whereas in the
other case there was absolutely no thought beyond selfish terror. The
one retains still some semblance of humanity, and some possibility of
regaining self-control; the other has for the time cast aside all
remnants of decency, and is an abject slave to overwhelming emotion.
A very striking contrast to the humiliating weakness shown in these two
forms is the splendid strength and decision of the third. Here we have
no amorphous mass with quivering lines and explosive fragments, but a
powerful, clear-cut and definite thought, obviously full of force and
resolution. For this is the thought of the officer in charge--the man
responsible for the lives and the safety of the passengers, and he rises
to the emergency in a most satisfactory manner. It does not even occur
to him to feel the least shadow of fear; he has no time for that. Though
the scarlet of the sharp point of his weapon-like thought-form shows
anger that the accident should have happened, the bold curve of orange
immediately above it betokens perfect self-confidence and certainty of
his power to deal with the difficulty. The brilliant yellow implies that
his intellect is already at work upon the problem, while the green which
runs side by side with it denotes the sympathy which he feels for those
whom he intends to save. A very striking and instructive group of
thought-forms.
_On the First Night._--Fig. 31 is also an interesting specimen--perhaps
unique--for it represents the thought-form of an actor while waiting to
go upon the stage for a "first-night" performance. The broad band of
orange in the centre is very clearly defined, and is the expression of a
well-founded self-confidence--the realisation of many previous
successes, and the reasonable expectation that on this occasion another
will be added to the list. Yet in spite of this there is a good deal of
unavoidable uncertainty as to how this new play may strike the fickle
public, and on the whole the doubt and fear overbalance the certainty
and pride, for there is more of the pale grey than of the orange, and
the whole thought-form vibrates like a flag flapping in a gale of wind.
It will be noted that while the outline of the orange is exceedingly
clear and definite, that of the grey is much vaguer.
[Illustration: FIG. 31. ON THE FIRST NIGHT]
_The Gamblers._--The forms shown in Fig. 32 were observed simultaneously
at the great gambling-house at Monte Carlo. Both represent some of the
worst of human passions, and there is little to choose between them;
although they represent the feelings of the successful and the
unsuccessful gambler respectively. The lower form has a strong
resemblance to a lurid and gleaming eye, though this must be simply a
coincidence, for when we analyse it we find that its constituent parts
and colours can be accounted for without difficulty. The background of
the whole thought is an irregular cloud of deep depression, heavily
marked by the dull brown-grey of selfishness and the livid hue of fear.
In the centre we find a clearly-marked scarlet ring showing deep anger
and resentment at the hostility of fate, and within that is a sharply
outlined circle of black expressing the hatred of the ruined man for
those who have won his money. The man who can send forth such a
thought-form as this is surely in imminent danger, for he has evidently
descended into the very depths of despair; being a gambler he can have
no principle to sustain him, so that he would be by no means unlikely to
resort to the imaginary refuge of suicide, only to find on awakening
into astral life that he had changed his condition for the worse instead
of for the better, as the suicide always does, since his cowardly action
cuts him off from the happiness and peace which usually follow death.
[Illustration: FIG. 32. THE GAMBLERS]
The upper form represents a state of mind which is perhaps even more
harmful in its effects, for this is the gloating of the successful
gambler over his ill-gotten gain. Here the outline is perfectly
definite, and the man's resolution to persist in his evil course is
unmistakable. The broad band of orange in the centre shows very clearly
that although when the man loses he may curse the inconstancy of fate,
when he wins he attributes his success entirely to his own transcendent
genius. Probably he has invented some system to which he pins his faith,
and of which he is inordinately proud. But it will be noticed that on
each side of the orange comes a hard line of selfishness, and we see how
this in turn melts into avarice and becomes a mere animal greed of
possession, which is also so clearly expressed by the claw-like
extremities of the thought-form.
_At a Street Accident._--Fig. 33 is instructive as showing the various
forms which the same feelings may take in different individuals. These
two evidences of emotion were seen simultaneously among the spectators
of a street accident--a case in which someone was knocked down and
slightly injured by a passing vehicle. The persons who generated these
two thought-forms were both animated by affectionate interest in the
victim and deep compassion for his suffering, and so their thought-forms
exhibited exactly the same colours, although the outlines are absolutely
unlike. The one over whom floats that vague sphere of cloud is thinking
"Poor fellow, how sad!" while he who gives birth to that sharply-defined
disc is already rushing forward to see in what way he can be of
assistance. The one is a dreamer, though of acute sensibilities; the
other is a man of action.
[Illustration: FIG. 33. AT A STREET ACCIDENT]
_At a Funeral._--In Fig. 34 we have an exceedingly striking example of
the advantage of knowledge, of the fundamental change produced in the
man's attitude of mind by a clear understanding of the great laws of
nature under which we live. Utterly different as they are in every
respect of colour and form and meaning, these two thought-forms were
seen simultaneously, and they represent two points of view with regard
to the same occurrence. They were observed at a funeral, and they
exhibit the feelings evoked in the minds of two of the "mourners" by the
contemplation of death. The thinkers stood in the same relation to the
dead man, but while one of them was still steeped in the dense ignorance
with regard to super-physical life which is so painfully common in the
present day, the other had the inestimable advantage of the light of
Theosophy. In the thought of the former we see expressed nothing but
profound depression, fear and selfishness. The fact that death has
approached so near has evidently evoked in the mind of the mourner the
thought that it may one day come to him also, and the anticipation of
this is very terrible to him; but since he does not know what it is that
he fears, the clouds in which his feeling is manifested are
appropriately vague. His only definite sensations are despair and the
sense of his personal loss, and these declare themselves in regular
bands of brown-grey and leaden grey, while the very curious downward
protrusion, which actually descends into the grave and enfolds the
coffin, is an expression of strong selfish desire to draw the dead man
back into physical life.
[Illustration: FIG. 34. AT A FUNERAL]
It is refreshing to turn from this gloomy picture to the wonderfully
different effect produced by the very same circumstances upon the mind
of the man who comprehends the facts of the case. It will be observed
that the two have no single emotion in common; in the former case all
was despondency and horror, while in this case we find none but the
highest and most beautiful sentiments. At the base of the thought-form
we find a full expression of deep sympathy, the lighter green indicating
appreciation of the suffering of the mourners and condolence with them,
while the band of deeper green shows the attitude of the thinker towards
the dead man himself. The deep rose-colour exhibits affection towards
both the dead and the living, while the upper part of the cone and the
stars which rise from it testify to the feeling aroused within the
thinker by the consideration of the subject of death, the blue
expressing its devotional aspect, while the violet shows the thought of,
and the power to respond to, a noble ideal, and the golden stars denote
the spiritual aspirations which its contemplation calls forth. The band
of clear yellow which is seen in the centre of this thought-form is very
significant, as indicating that the man's whole attitude is based upon
and prompted by his intellectual comprehension of the situation, and
this is also shown by the regularity of the arrangement of the colours
and the definiteness of the lines of demarcation between them.
The comparison between the two illustrations shown in this plate is
surely a very impressive testimony to the value of the knowledge given
by the theosophical teaching. Undoubtedly this knowledge of the truth
takes away all fear of death, and makes life easier to live because we
understand its object and its end, and we realise that death is a
perfectly natural incident in its course, a necessary step in our
evolution. This ought to be universally known among Christian nations,
but it is not, and therefore on this point, as on so many others,
Theosophy has a gospel for the Western world. It has to announce that
there is no gloomy impenetrable abyss beyond the grave, but instead of
that a world of life and light which may be known to us as clearly and
fully and accurately as this physical world in which we live now. We
have created the gloom and the horror for ourselves, like children who
frighten themselves with ghastly stories, and we have only to study the
facts of the case, and all these artificial clouds will roll away at
once. We have an evil heredity behind us in this matter, for we have
inherited all kinds of funereal horrors from our forefathers, and so we
are used to them, and we do not see the absurdity and the monstrosity of
them. The ancients were in this respect wiser than we, for they did not
associate all this phantasmagoria of gloom with the death of the
body--partly perhaps because they had a much more rational method of
disposing of the body--a method which was not only infinitely better for
the dead man and more healthy for the living, but was also free from the
gruesome suggestions connected with slow decay. They knew much more
about death in those days, and because they knew more they mourned less.
_On Meeting a Friend._--Fig. 35 gives us an example of a good,
clearly-defined and expressive thought-form, with each colour well
marked off from the others. It represents the feeling of a man upon
meeting a friend from whom he has been long separated. The convex
surface of the crescent is nearest to the thinker, and its two arms
stretch out towards the approaching friend as if to embrace him. The
rose colour naturally betokens the affection felt, the light green shows
the depth of the sympathy which exists, and the clear yellow is a sign
of the intellectual pleasure with which the creator of the thought
anticipates the revival of delightful reminiscences of days long gone
by.
[Illustration: FIG. 35. ON MEETING A FRIEND]
_The Appreciation of a Picture._--In Fig. 36 we have a somewhat complex
thought-form representing the delighted appreciation of a beautiful
picture upon a religious subject. The strong pure yellow marks the
beholder's enthusiastic recognition of the technical skill of the
artist, while all the other colours are expressions of the various
emotions evoked within him by the examination of so glorious a work of
art. Green shows his sympathy with the central figure in the picture,
deep devotion appears not only in the broad band of blue, but also in
the outline of the entire figure, while the violet tells us that the
picture has raised the man's thought to the contemplation of a lofty
ideal, and has made him, at least for the time, capable of responding to
it. We have here the first specimen of an interesting class of
thought-forms of which we shall find abundant examples later--that in
which light of one colour shines out through a network of lines of some
quite different hue. It will be noted that in this case from the mass of
violet there rise many wavy lines which flow like rivulets over a golden
plain; and this makes it clear that the loftiest aspiration is by no
means vague, but is thoroughly supported by an intellectual grasp of the
situation and a clear comprehension of the method by which it can be put
into effect.
[Illustration: FIG. 36. THE APPRECIATION OF A PICTURE]