The Earth
THE SPIRITUAL EARTH
- Chapter 30 -
The spirits of the second region of the air
There is a transition from the uppermost to the middle region, just as there is a transition in a human being from the pure spiritual to the astral. These two regions interact with each other as does the soul with the spirit. The spirit can affect the soul in such a manner as to enable him to penetrate the soul. The soul, however, is limited to her boundaries. The spirit can accept the soul, and through this act the soul becomes spiritual.
In this manner, the spirits of the second region can pass over into the third region, when their souls - that is, their substantial bodies - become more and more spiritualized, and eventually become one with the spirit altogether. For the soul herself is a composition of countless particles of intelligence, and that is why she is possessed by many desires which she contains within herself as specifica.
When one or another specificum no longer comes to the fore, then all the others incline in the same direction. This inclination causes some kind of passion in the soul. When, however, another particular part of the soul takes over and overtakes all the other astral specifica and follows their bent, then the previous passion may be exchanged for another.
This description makes it obvious how, when the spirit be not awake, many a soul is driven from one pole to another by countless passions and desires.
Similar conditions prevail in the second region, because here are souls whose spirits have not fully awakened. That is why one soul has one main urge, while another soul has yet another. Millions of souls have different inclinations and urges. What a mixture of different souls must congregate in the second region!
How many different events are caused in this region which eventually, when they become condensed, are visible in the natural world! The different cloud formations, and many other happenings in the middle region, have their origin thus. There will neither be a day nor a night that will bring back precisely the same forms or shapes which existed before.
You will also discover other phenomena that repeat themselves as far as their kind is concerned, but never in accordance with previous forms or shapes. Not one snowflake is like another, and not one raindrop is exactly the same size as another. This applies also to hail - one hailstone does not weigh as much as another. Ice is indeed ice, but this applies only to the nature of ice. When it comes to the form or shape of the ice, it is just as different as the formations of the character of souls.
The variety of human works originates in the different tendencies of the souls of their creators. If, for instance, a commission be given to several painters to paint the same motif, each painter will portray it in his own unique manner. Or give ten composers the same poem; each of the ten composers will compose a different melody.
The variety of the formal portrayals lies within the differences of specifica intelligences of the soul. The actions are always in accordance with the predominant specifica. Therefore there are always new manifestations, and never will there be anything that is a complete repetition of the former, especially where the astral intelligences are not subject to any coercion; and this is the case when it comes to the souls of human beings that must gain their original freedom again by working for it.
But there is a difference between a departed soul and one which is still in the physical body: the soul which is still in the physical body may be seized by any number of different passions. On account of this, a human being could be a different person every day. Today he may feel and think one thing and make certain resolutions accordingly, and tomorrow he may judge in accordance with other priorities in his soul.
Departed souls act differently, for usually only one main passion turns up, and this passion rules the soul more and more, gradually drawing all the intelligence particles under its spell. This does not mean that a departed soul is incorrigible; it only means that a soul remains imprisoned in one main passion until all the other specific particles of intelligence are consumed. This causes a great impoverishment of the soul, and she thus passes over into a condition of desolation in which she finds herself as if totally naked and in a fog in the dark of night. When the soul is in this desolation, the spirit can begin to penetrate her. This is the transition from the second region into the third. The spirit cannot expand himself in the soul until this condition has occurred, because the soul's specifica are still spiritually or intellectually inadequate, since in the second region a multitude of differently disposed souls comes together, and each and every soul carries within herself her main passion and acts accordingly. It is obvious that the phenomena resulting from this astral diversity of form appear very different. That is why every lightning has another zigzag, every cloud a different formation and movement. That is why the winds criss-cross, followed by cloudbursts, then a downpour, then hail, and then large, medium, or small snowflakes; and there are thousands of other similar phenomena. This is, in general, a necessary preamble. Now we shall inspect the subject more particularly.