Theosophy -- Doctrines; Thought and thinking -- Religious aspects -- Theosophy
[Illustration: FIG. 18A. VAGUE SYMPATHY]
FEAR
_Sudden Fright._--One of the most pitiful objects in nature is a man or
an animal in a condition of abject fear; and an examination of Plate
XIV. in _Man Visible and Invisible_ shows that under such circumstances
the astral body presents no better appearance than the physical. When a
man's astral body is thus in a state of frenzied palpitation, its
natural tendency is to throw off amorphous explosive fragments, like
masses of rock hurled out in blasting, as will be seen in Fig. 30; but
when a person is not terrified but seriously startled, an effect such as
that shown in Fig. 27 is often produced. In one of the photographs taken
by Dr Baraduc of Paris, it was noticed that an eruption of broken
circles resulted from sudden annoyance, and this outrush of
crescent-shaped forms seems to be of somewhat the same nature, though in
this case there are the accompanying lines of matter which even increase
the explosive appearance. It is noteworthy that all the crescents to the
right hand, which must obviously have been those expelled earliest,
show nothing but the livid grey of fear; but a moment later the man is
already partially recovering from the shock, and beginning to feel angry
that he allowed himself to be startled. This is shown by the fact that
the later crescents are lined with scarlet, evidencing the mingling of
anger and fear, while the last crescent is pure scarlet, telling us that
even already the fright is entirely overcome, and only the annoyance
remains.
[Illustration: FIG. 27. SUDDEN FRIGHT]
GREED
_Selfish Greed._--Fig. 28 gives us an example of selfish greed--a far
lower type than Fig. 21. It will be noted that here there is nothing
even so lofty as ambition, and it is also evident from the tinge of
muddy green that the person from whom this unpleasant thought is
projecting is quite ready to employ deceit in order to obtain her
desire. While the ambition of Fig. 21 was general in its nature, the
craving expressed in Fig. 28 is for a particular object towards which it
is reaching out; for it will be understood that this thought-form, like
that in Fig. 13, remains attached to the astral body, which must be
supposed to be on the left of the picture. Claw-like forms of this
nature are very frequently to be seen converging upon a woman who wears
a new dress or bonnet, or some specially attractive article of
jewellery. The thought-form may vary in colour according to the precise
amount of envy or jealousy which is mingled with the lust for
possession, but an approximation to the shape indicated in our
illustration will be found in all cases. Not infrequently people
gathered in front of a shop-window may be seen thus protruding astral
cravings through the glass.
[Illustration: FIG. 28. SELFISH GREED]
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