Written and published on 30 Nov 2013; revised

Dear Ones,

Here are thoughts by the School of Theosophy on the Devic Kingdom … the devas, nature spirits, elves, fairies, trolls, gnomes, and so on.

In love, light and joy,
I Am of the Stars

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THE DEVAS AND THE NATURE SPIRITS, BY THE THEOSOPHISTS

“The Second Outpouring, in addition to its work of forming the Elemental and other Kingdoms, also brings with it evolved beings, at various stages of development, who form the normal and typical inhabitants of the Three Elemental Kingdoms. These beings have been brought over by the Logos from a preceding evolution. They are now sent forth to inhabit the plane for which their development fits them; they co-operate with the work of the Logos, and later with man, in the general scheme of evolution. From them, man derives his perishable bodies.

“They are known in some religions as Angels, to Hindus as Devas—meaning literally, Shining Ones. Plato speaks of them as ‘Minor Gods’. It is the translation of the word ‘Deva’ as ‘Gods’ which has led to much misapprehension of Eastern thought. The ‘thirty-three crores (330 millions) of Gods’, are not Gods in the Western sense of the term, but are Devas or Shining Ones.

“Of these there are many grades, including representatives on each of the five lower planes, i.e.,  those of Atma, Buddhi, Manas, Kama, and the etheric part of the physical plane.

“Their bodies are formed of the Elemental Essence of the Kingdom to which they belong, and are flashing and many-hued, changing form at the will of the entity Himself. They form a vast host, ever actively at work, labouring at the Elemental Essence to improve its quality, taking it to form their own bodies, throwing it off again and taking other portions, so as to render it more sensitive.

“In the First Elemental Kingdom, on the higher mental or causal plane, they make materials ready to clothe abstract thoughts. In the Second Elemental Kingdom, on the lower mental plane, they make materials ready to clothe concrete thoughts. In the Third Elemental Kingdom, on the astral plane, they prepare materials for the clothing of desires.

“At the stage which we are now considering, this work of improving the Elemental Essence, is the only work there is for them to do. Later on, they are also constantly busied in the shaping of forms, in aiding human egos on the way to incarnation in building their new bodies, bringing materials of the kind required and helping in its arrangements. The less advanced the ego, the greater the directive work of the Devas. With animals they do almost all the work, and practically all with the vegetables and minerals. They are the active, agents of the Logos, carrying out all details of His world-plan, and aiding, the countless evolving lives to find materials they need for their clothing and use. Included with them are the vast numbers of the fairy kingdom, known as nature spirits, trolls, gnomes, and by countless other names.

“Some description of these hosts of beings is given in The Astral Body and The Mental Body, so that there is no need to describe them further here. All we are really concerned with at the moment is their origin, and the part they play in helping the Monads to commence their evolution in the lower planes.

“The term Deva is, strictly speaking, not wide enough to cover all the living agencies which are employed in the work connected with the Monads and their long pilgrimage through the lower worlds. This work is carried out by no less than seven orders of beings, known collectively as Creative Hierarchies, the Monads, themselves, curiously enough, being one of the seven.

“For our present purposes, however, in order not to make the description too complicated and involved, we shall denote all these agencies by the single term Devas. In a later and separate chapter we shall to some extent go over the ground again more in detail, and give the names and functions [so far as these are known] of the seven Creative Hierarchies.

“Thus we see that before any embodied consciousness, save that of the Logos and His Creative Hierarchies, could appear, or do anything at all, a vast preliminary work had to be accomplished, preparing the ‘form-side’ of the field of evolution.”

–from Citation: “The Causal Body And The Ego,” compiled by Arthur E. Powell, 1928, public domain, “Chapter VI. The Attachment of the Items: 1. Higher Triad.”

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devas, Arthur E. Powell, elves, faeries, fairies, gnomes, nature spirits, trolls, School of Theosophy,