“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”

-Alan Watts.

At a certain point in one’s development journey, one must fully understand one’s place and potential within the Universe and Creation. Just as we live within the universe, the universe lives within us. And yet, it must be understood that the requirements upon oneself change as one reaches certain development stages. And this is to do with the ecology one finds oneself in. Just as one needs a physical body to match the planet's ecology in which we live, certain higher embodiments are necessary to deal with Creation's more rarified realms. By way of example, consider what would become of your physical body if it suddenly found itself in a plasma condition as one finds on the sun. It simply was not designed to withstand the power levels of a solar ecology. However, that does not mean that it is outside of human possibility to do so.

Each embodiment possible for the human to engender is more rarified than the one below. One way to understand this is through the analogy of a sponge. A sponge consists of individual cells loosely grouped to form a porous physical body. When submerged, the water interpenetrates the sponge's physical body because it is of a more rarified nature. Within the water occupying the sponge's space, there are to be found various gas molecules suspended within that interpenetrate the water because they are yet finer than the water. In the sponge, filled with water permeated by gasses, are electromagnetic forces of varying wavelengths that are finer still.

Similarly, man is given a physical body that is host to many interpenetrating substances of a rarified, higher-than-planetary nature. These substances have been given various names throughout the ages, such as ‘soul,’ ‘spirit,’ ‘ether,’ ‘prana,’ and the like. However, what is not commonly understood in our time, is that while each man or woman has a certain quantity of these substances, they are generally not crystallized to form an embodiment.

What is an Embodiment, and How is it Acquired?

There is a science experiment that you likely encountered at some point in your schooling that helps explain what is meant by the term ‘embodiment.’ It is to do with something called a supersaturated solution. If you continue to add tablespoons of salt to a cup of water, you will reach a point when the water cannot hold any more salt in suspension and begins to precipitate to the bottom of the glass. The water is said to have reached its saturation point; it can hold no more.

If, however, you heat the water to a degree below its boiling point, you can add much more salt to the water than you could at room temperature before precipitation occurs. If you gradually cool the solution, the excess salt will remain suspended in the water instead of precipitating. This is a supersaturated solution.

What happens next in our experiment is genuinely astounding. If one adds a single grain of salt to the supersaturated solution, a large crystal will suddenly form! In the context of our discussion, this is precisely how embodiments are formed.

All humans are infused to some degree with substances of an astral, ethereal, animated, and spiritual nature. These substances come from various levels in the Ray of Creation and are a part of what makes us human. However, the undeveloped person simply precipitates what they cannot hold, never finding themselves in a condition to crystallize these fine substances.

Just like the example of a supersaturated solution, the acquisition of crystallized embodiments of an astral, ethereal, animated, or spiritual nature requires five special conditions: A solute (i.e., salt), a solvent (i.e., water), heat, slow cooling, and a seed crystal.

...The Solute...

Of course, if one wants to create a salt crystal, adding sugar to the water is no use. Similarly, to crystallize an Astral Embodiment, one must gather the suitable material into oneself, which applies to all possible embodiments, each consisting of a different substance. Not only that, but one must also acquire enough of the substance to produce the desired result.

Therefore, it is not enough to wish to create a higher embodiment; one must know where to collect the materials and understand the alchemical process involved.

The Solvent

Well, it is, of course, you! And it is interesting to note here that in our everyday speech, we use the term ‘solve’ in the context of a problem. But what is not readily seen is that when we solve something, it becomes a part of us; we become permeated with it. Thus, the adage ‘…you become what you think about.'

Heat

Now we enter the realms of the unusual. Not from the standpoint of the bizarre or abnormal but from the perspective of scarcity. It was stated earlier that everyone contains some astral, ethereal, animated, and spiritual matter, but it precipitates out based on how much containment they can offer.

In every religion, there are to be found certain practices that produce a type of ‘friction.’ In ancient times, these practices were understood well, but as is the case with most things, the meaning has all but been lost, and what remains is the ritual without the purpose.

Examples of this can be seen in the religious ascetic practices that induce suffering through various means, such as starvation, self-flagellation, celibacy, and the like. These practices came about to acquire an Astral Embodiment that can survive the physical body's death.

However, without obtaining enough Astral substance, what survives is only a faint reflection of what is possible in these realms. We return to our earlier analogy of a supersaturated solution to understand why this is the case. See that one can prevent precipitation by heating the solvent. Still, unless one has enough of the substance to dissolve, causing a super-saturation, the resulting crystal will be tiny compared to what is possible.

Understand that we are not advocating suffering in this work; there are many more intelligent ways to create the desired heat we discussed elsewhere.

Slow Cooling

See that an ongoing alternation occurs between the function of confirmation and aggregation in every natural growth process. When the impregnated ovum splits into two identical cells, it is an act of confirmation (proof), for it is only by replicating itself that it can confirm itself. After confirmation, aggregation occurs because “things go with things.” Bone cells aggregate with other bone cells. Blood cells aggregate with other blood cells, and so on—confirmation, aggregation, confirmation, aggregation.

Whereas natural growth is a slow heating process, what we require is its opposite. Therefore, the process works in reverse and consists of alternations between aggregation as primary and confirmation as secondary – aggregation, confirmation, aggregation, confirmation.

What is meant by aggregation in the context of slow cooling? It is the process of learning and acquiring multiple cross-referenced stocks in oneself.

Note: The learning we speak of here has nothing to do with cultural education, such as one would find in a university, but a learning based on fundamental laws and groundwork.

After aggregation comes confirmation that occurs by encoding one’s aggregation into another, it is the Tarot deck's Hierophant card. It is becoming a teacher so that one can be taught. Teaching another what you know has a profound way of showing you where your ‘genetic’ flaws are (in the example of cells reproducing) and allows you the opportunity to correct them in the next aggregation phase.

Aggregation, confirmation, aggregation, confirmation…

A Seed Crystal