The True Colours of Man

Book excerpt: One hundred and forty years have passed like a dream, with much heart-sore and soaring hope, since the Theosophical Society was founded on 17 November 1875 in New York. We have decided to mark this auspicious date by releasing a series of hitherto private study notes and analyses of H.P. Blavatsky's Esoteric Section (E.S.) Instructions. The True Colours of Man, amplifies and clarifies E.S. Instructions I and II, aided by 31 original drawings, diagrams, and tables. The seven prismatic colours are direct emanations from the Seven Hierarchies of Compassion, each of which is the creator and source of the corresponding human principle. Each prismatic colour is the “Father of the Sound” which corresponds to it; Sound being the Word, or Logos, of its “Father-Thought.” Thus the Creative Force produces colours, sounds, and numbers, in the shape of rates of vibration, which compound and dissociate atoms and molecules. The Seven Primordial Lights, manifested from Light Unmanifested, are Divine Principles. The Principles of Man are bright reflections of Divine Principles, a Great Sacrifice; they are the seven-stringed lyre of Apollo. Colours and sounds are all spiritual numerals. Colour is Spirit (Atman), sound is Voice (Buddhi), proportion of numbers is Word (Higher Manas). Colours and sounds are associated with the Hierarchy of Compassion, the Manifested Logos. Colours–sounds–numbers proceed from 1 to 7 and not from 7 to 1, as erroneously shown in the spectrum of the prismatic colours. As the Seven Colours of the solar spectrum correspond to the Seven Rays, or Hierarchies, so each Ray has its seven divisions corresponding to the same series of colours. Esoterically, the right eye corresponds with Soul Wisdom or true knowledge; the left, with mere head learning. The Spiritual Man corresponds directly with the “coloured circles” of the Divine Prism which emanate from the One Infinite White Circle; the physical man emanates from the Sephiroth of the Kabbalah, the “voices” or “sounds” of Eastern Philosophy. “Voices,” however, are lower than colours. The lower Sephiroth are the seven physical planets. Our triple physical Sun, personified by the Upper Triad, is the Sephirothal Crown. The real Sephiroth are the Four Maharajas of The Secret Doctrine: Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Venus. The ancients considered as the most holy those organs which we now associate with feelings of shame and secrecy. The lower organs have been evolved to perform six functions on six distinct planes of action, besides a seventh, the lowest and purely terrestrial function on the physical plane. The physical body is not a “principle” and has no place in the sevenfold division. It is furnished by Mother Earth. Numbers and harmonious proportions guide the first differentiations of the Homogeneous Substance into heterogeneous elements. Perfect knowledge of the correspondences between colours, sounds, and numbers is the first requisite for students of Occultism. The Eye of Dangma will awaken only when the mouth is supressed. The Auric Egg is the monadic envelope and amnion of the physical man. Initiates, saints, and pure men can help others as well as themselves in their hour of need, with the aid of the God within, who has been enabled to act on the outward plane. Advanced students are invited to pronounce the Word before going to sleep and first thing upon awakening. Beginners, who cannot help going into crowds, are advised to wear either a ring containing some jewel of the colour of the presiding planet for the particular day of the week, or else of the metal sacred to it. A word of advice concerning Instructions I and II: students should strive to spiritualise these Instructions and avoid materialising them.