CHAPTER X
THE EVOLUTION OF MATTER AND FORCE
It is usual for men to make a contrast between
mind and matter; mind signifies to them a
spiritual faculty while matter denotes a lifeless unspiritual substance which is the very
opposite of mind. But a new outlook arises
when we realize that both mind and matter
are the expressions. and revelations of a wondrous Personality, the Logos "in whom we live and move and have our being". Then
we see that matter is no less divine than mind,
and that there is a gospel of beauty and grandeur to be found, not only in the mind of a
genius, but also in the tiny fragment of matter
which makes a crystal. Behind both mind
and matter a mighty Doer works, who wills to
evolve, and who directs each stage. In the
understanding of what constitutes His matter,
no less than in the understanding of His mind,
we may gain a slight glimpse into His Nature —
...
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that ever-attractive nature, for which matter
is a mirror of His wisdom, strength and beauty.
Before we attempt to understand the Life of
the Logos as matter, as revealed in Theosophy,
we must first grasp fairly clearly what matter is,
as modern science has discovered it for us. For
the facts established by science are God's Facts,
and the understanding of them enables us to lay
a sure foundation for the deeper wisdom about
God's Facts revealed in Theosophy. Leaving
aside for the time the fact that matter consists
fundamentally of "holes in the ether", with
those "holes" grouped into electrons, protons
and neutrons, the matter of the world around
us consists of various substances with which we
are more or less familiar. The earth we tread
is solid, the water we drink is liquid, and the
air we breathe is gaseous; our houses, our
utensils, our furniture are all made of matter
of various kinds — earths, woods, metals; we
have matter, but of a different kind, in the
living bodies of ourselves and of people around
us, and in the plants and animals and other
"living" things which people our world.
Now, this matter is either solid, as wood or
iron; liquid, as water; or gaseous, as the
atmosphere. It exists for us in thousands of
variations. But, numerous are the kinds of
...
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matter which compose the objects of our world,
in reality they are made up out of a few fundamental substances.
These fundamental substances are called the "chemical elements",
and modern science has, so far, tabulated for us
92 elements1. Each chemical element exists in
an "atomic" state;2 thus, for example, a piece
of sulphur is an aggregation of sulphur
"atoms", and the nature of each of these
atoms is such that it cannot be further subdivided, without losing its characteristic as
the element. The atom (is built of protons
(carrying a charge of positive electricity)
electrons (negative electricity) and neutrons
(neither positive nor negative).
The known chemical elements are divisible
into two main groups-metals and non-metals.
1 List of chemical elements as given in the International Atomic
Weights Table of 1937 : Aluminium, Antimony, Argon, Arsenic,
Barium, Beryllium, Bismuth, Boron, Bromine, Cadmium, Calcium,
Carbon, Caerium, Cesium, Chlorine, Chromium, Cobalt, Columbium,
Copper, Dysprosium, Erbium, Europium, Fluorine, Gadolinium, Gallium, Germanium, Gold, Hagnium, Helium, Holmium,
Hydrogen, Indium, Iodine, Iridium, Iron, Krypton, Lanthanum,
Lead, Lithium, Lutecium; Magnesium, Manganese, Mercury,
Molybdenum, Neodymium, Neon, Nickel, Nitrogen, Osmium, Oxygen, Palladium, Phosphorus, Platinum, Potassium, Praseodymium,
Protoactinium, Radium, Radon, Rhenium, Rhodium, Rubidium,
Ruthenium, Samarium, Scandium, Selenium, Silicon, Silver, Sodium, Strontium, Sulphur, Tantalum, Tellurium, Terbium, Thal-
lium, Thorium, Thulium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Uranium,
Vanadium, Xenon, Ytterbium, Yttrium, Zinc, Zirconium.
2 The words "atomic" and " atom "are here used in the ordinary
chemical sense, not in that of "Occult Chemistry".
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Metallic elements are Aluminium, Manganese,
Calcium, etc., and non-metals are Carbon,
Boron, Oxygen, Chlorine, etc. Metals in
electrolysis appear at the cathode or negative
pole, and non-metals at the anode or positive
pole. The metals are good conductors of heat
and electricity, while the non-metals are bad
conductors. There is a third group of elements,
like Arsenic, Antimony, etc., called metalloids,
as they are hybrid in character, being like
both metals and non-metals in their behavior.
In Fig. 74, we have in its first division twelve out of the 92 chemical elements, with the ...
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symbols used for them: H=Hydrogen,
C=Carbon, N=Nitrogen, O=Oxygen,
Na (for Natrium)=Sodium, Cl=Chlorine,
K (for Kalium)=Potasium, S=Sulphur,
AI=Aluminium, Fe (for Ferrum)=Iron,
P=Phosphorus, Ca=Calcium. Each has
its definite weight, and certain other marked
characteristics.
In the second and third divisions of Fig. 74,
we have illustrated the fact that these primary
elements combine among themselves to make
new substances. Thus, two particles of Hydrogen will combine with one of Oxygen to make
a unit particle of water; one particle of Sodium
will combine'with one particle of Chlorine to
make a unit particle of salt. So element combines with element to make the myriads of
organic and inorganic substances which make
up our world. While only two atoms of Carbon, with six of Hydrogen and one of Oxygen,
are necessary to make one molecule of alcohol,
we require, to make one molecule of Hemoglobin (the red coloring-matter of the blood),
no less than 712 Carbon, 1,130 Hydrogen, 214
Nitrogen, 1 Iron, 2 Sulphur and 425 Oxygen
atoms. Protoplasm, the primary living substance out of
which all cells are made, is composed of Hydrogen, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen,
...
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Sulphur, Phosphorous, Chlorine, Sodium,
Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and Iron
atoms, but in what proportion science cannot
as yet say.
The chemical elements, the bricks, so to say,
of our universe, not only combine (with a few
exceptions) among themselves, but they combine according to certain habits characteristic
of each element. This habit of combination
is called " valency" (see Fig. 75). Thus (see ...
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- 242 -
Figure, first column), one atom of Fluorine, or
of Chlorine, Bromine or Iodine, prefers to combine with one atom of Hydrogen rather than
with two; while on the other hand, an atom
of Oxygen, or Sulphur, Selenium or Tellurium, prefers to combine with two Hydrogen
atoms rather than with one (see Figure, second
column). Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Arsenic
atoms select three Hydrogen atoms for combinations, and atoms of Carbon and Silicon choose
four (see Figure, third and fourth columns).
Chemical science merely catalogues this behavior of the elements, and terms it valency,
without being able to account for it precisely.
In the lower half of Fig. 75, we have illustrated two cases
of an atom of an element combining with five other bodies. When
Ammonium Chloride is made by 1 Nitrogen, 4 Hydrogen and 1 Chlorine atoms,
Chemistry presumes that Nitrogen, whose valency is, as
here, five, in some way puts out of itself in five
directions five unsatisfied desires for combination; these are fulfilled by combining with 4
Hydrogen and 1 Chlorine atoms. We have a
similar case of a fivefold valency in Phosphorus
Pentachloride.
The next interesting fact taught us in Chemistry is that, as chemical elements combine
...
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they combine so as to make geometrical
figures; we have this fact illustrated for us in
Fig. 76.
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Marsh Gas is composed of 1 Carbon
and 4 Hydrogen atoms; it has been suggested
by Kekule that the spatial positions of the five
atoms are as shown in the diagram, that is,
the Carbon atom stands in the middle of a
tetrahedron, and the 4 Hydrogen atoms are
placed at its four corners. With another gas,
called Ethane, which is composed of 2 Carbon
and 6 Hydrogen atoms, it has been suggested
...
- 244 -
that the positions of the 8 atoms are as in the
figure, where the apices of two tetrahedra interpenetrate each other, there being at each
apex 1 Carbon atom, and 6 Hydrogen atoms
being placed at the other corners of the two
tetrahedra.
A further illustration of this geomtetrical
building appears in the ammoniacal derivatives of Cobalt, Violeocobaltammine and
Praseocobaltammine. The former in color
is violet and the latter green; yet in both there
are 2 atoms of Chlorine with four groups of
Ammonia, each of which is made up of 1 Nitrogen and 3 Hydrogen atoms. Now, it has been
suggested that the difference of color is due
to the difference of position in an octohedron
of the two Chlorine atoms; where the two
atoms of Chlorine are at the opposite apices of
the octohedron, the Cobalt derivative is Violet,
while when these two atoms are at the ends of
an edge of the octohedron, the derivative is
green.
There are certain marked characteristics in
the chemical elements, which can be summarized as follows:
1. Each element has a definite average
weight, and no two elements are of the same
weight.
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2. Elements are either paramagnetic or
diamagnetic; that is to say, when they are
brought under the influence of magnetic force,
some remain parallel to the lines of that force
(paramagnetic), while others remain at right
angles to that force (diamagnetic).
3. Elements are either electro-positive or
electro-negative.
4. Elements have valency, that is, they can
combine with or displace one or more atoms of
Hydrogen.
Now when all the elements are arranged in a
list, according to their atomic weights, it is
found that they group themselves naturally in
a certain order according to valency, magnetic
and electric qualities. This method of grouping of the elements is known as the " Periodic
Law". There are several ways of stating this
"periodicity" of the elements but, the way
that the Periodic Law has been stated for us by
the late Sir William Crookes is perhaps the
clearest. We have it in our next diagram,
Fig. 77.
(Click here for Figure 77.)
In the line depicting a pendulum which
swings backwards and forwards all the elements
are marked in their order of weight; the
lightest, Hydrogen, beginning the pendulum
swing, and the heaviest, Uranium, (and
...
- 246 -
possibly one or more heavier, yet to be discovered) closing the swing. Among the
upper-right lines is a middle line, and there are four
on either side; if the middle-perpendicular
line represents no valency, and also "inter-periodicity", if the four lines on either side of
this median line represent, in order, valency 1,
valency 2, valency 3 and valency 4; then, it is
found, as the elements are mapped out in the
order of their atomic weights, and placed at
the intersecting points of the pendulum line
and the nine upright lines, that (with a few exceptions):
1. On the median line fall the "inert
gases", whose characteristic is that they will
not combine with any other element, and
hence have valency 0. They appear regularly
after one complete swing of the pendulum.
2. On the same median line, and at regular
intervals, that is, after one complete swing of
the pendulum (after Neon), occur the Inter-periodics.
3. All elements to the right of the median
line are diamagnetic, and those to the left
paramagnetic, according to the theory of
Crookes.
4. The elements appear in a certain order
of valency; beginning with any element having
...
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characteristic valency 0, the next heavier has.
valency 1, and following it there come those
with valency 2, valency 3, valency 4; next the
valency diminishes, and the succeeding elements have valency 3, valency 2 and valency
1; and after this the next element, valency 0.
5. As the pendulum swings outward from
the median line, most of the elements coming
on the outward swing are all electro-positive;
as the pendulum swings inward to the median
line, the elements coming on this inward swing
are all electro-negative.
As long ago as 1887, Crooke conceived or
the chemical elements as appearing in the
Cosmos one after another, their characteristics
modified by forces brought to bear upon them.
He drew a picture of the "Genesis of the Elements" out of
a primordial substance which he
called "protyle". The diagram of Crookes
appears as Fig. 77, with scarcely any modifications; the chief changes are the giving to each
element not the weight given in Chemistry
but its "number weight", i.e., the number of
"ultimate physical atoms" which it contains1,
and that new elements discovered since 1887
have also been added to the diagram.
1 As discovered by clairvoyant investigation by Annie Besant and
C. W. Leadbeater. See the book, Occult Chemistry.
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The idea of a "genesis of the elements " is in
reality no mere hypothesis at all, but a fact of
the greatest inspiration. Let us first conceive
the idea as Crookes presented it to a materialistically-minded scientific audience at the
Royal Institution of London on February
18, 1887; we shall then have our imaginations.
fairly prepared to grasp the more magnificent
conception given as in Occultism.1
“We may trace, in the undulating curve, the action
of two forms of energy, the one acting vertically and the
other vibrating to and fro like a pendulum: Let the
vertical line represent temperature gradually sinking
through an unknown number of degrees from the dissociation-point of the first-formed element downwards
to the dissociation-point of the last member of the scale.
“But what form of energy is figured by the oscillating
line? We see it swinging to and fro to points equidistant
from a neutral center. We see this divergence from
neutrality confer atomicity of one, two, three, or four
degrees, as the distance from the center increases to one,
two, three, or four divisions. We see the approach to
or the retrocession from this same neutral line deciding
the electro-negative or electro-positive character of each
element; those on the retreating half of the swing being
positive, and those on the approaching half negative.
In short, we are led to suspect that this oscillating power
must be closely connected with the imponderable matter,
essence, or source of energy we call electricity.
“Our pendulum begins its swing from the electro-positive side: lithium, next to hydrogen in the simplicity of ...
1 In quoting from Crookes's lecture at the Royal Institution, I
have left out here and there sentences and paragraphs of a somewhat technical nature.
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its atomic weight, is now formed, followed by glucinum,
boron, and carbon. Each element, at the moment of
birth, takes up definite quantities of electricity, and on
these quantities its atomicity depends. Thus are fixed
the types of the monatomic, diatomic, triatomic and
tetratomic elements.
“It has been pointed out by Dr. Carnelly that "those
elements belonging to the even series of the periodic
classification are always paramagnetic, whereas the
elements belonging to the odd series are always diamagnetic". Now in our curve the even series to the left, so
far as has been ascertained, are paramagnetic, whilst,
with a few exceptions, all to the right are diamagnetic.
“We come now to the return or negative part of the
swing; nitrogen appears and shows instructively how
position governs the rriean, dominant atomicity. Nitrogen occupies a position
immediately below boron, a tri-atomic element, and, therefore, nitrogen is
likewise tri-atomic. But nitrogen also follows upon carbon, a
tetratomic body, and occupies the fifth position if we
count from the place of origin. Now these seemingly
opposing tendencies are beautifully harmonized by the
endowment of nitrogen with a double atomicity, its atom
being capable of acting either as a tri- or as a pent-atomic
element. With oxygen (di- and hex-atomic) and fluorine
mon- and hept-atomic) the same law holds good, and
one half-oscillation of the pendulum is completed.
Passing the neutral line again, we find successively
formed the electro-positive bodies sodium (monatomic),
magnesium (diatomic), aluminium (triatomic), and
silicon (tetratomic).
“The first complete swing of the pendulum is accomplished by the
birth of the three electro-negative elements, phosphorus, sulphur, and chlorine; all three,
like the corresponding elements on the opposite
homeward swing, having at least a double atomicity,
depending upon position.
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“Again let us follow our pendulum ... and the first
element to come into existence, when the pendulum
starts for its second oscilation, is not lithium, but the
metal next allied to it in the series, i.e., potassium, which
may be regarded as the lineal descendant of lithium,
with the same hereditary tendencies, but with less molecular mobility and a higher atomic weight.
“Pass along the curve, and in nearly every case the
same law holds good. Thus the last element of the
first complete vibration is chlorine. In the corresponding place in the second vibration. we have, not an exact
repetition of chlorine, but the very similar body bromine, and when the same position recurs for a third
time we see iodine. I need not multiply examples. I
may, however, point out that we have here a phenomenon
which reminds us of alternating or cyclical generation in the organic world, or we may perhaps say of
atavism, a recurrence to ancestral types somewhat
modified. ”
Now that we have gained a general idea of
the speculations of modern science as to a possible "genesis of the elements",
we can understand more fully what Theosophy reveals of the
mysteries ,of force and matter. From the
beginning we must remember that there is no
such thing as a "fortuitous concourse of
atoms"; the building of the universe was
thought out by a Divine Builder, and each step
in the building is directed by Him. Atoms rush
together or part, only because He so wills.
The first stages in the building of matter by
the Logos have already been described in
Chapter VIII, on "The Work of the Triple
...
- 251 -
Logos", in Figs. 64, 65
and 66. The energy of
the Cosmic Logos, called "Fohat"
in The
Secret Doctrine, "thrilling through the inert
Substance" makes in Koilon those holes or
bubbles which are the true units of our solar
planes. Then these holes, thus filled with the
Consciousness of the Cosmic Logos, are whirled
by the Solar Logos into spiral formations.
When, in the process of forming the physical,
atom, spirillae of the sixth order have been
formed, He then coils strands of them into
three parallel series, as in Fig. 78.
The coils
in this figure go from right to left, in order to ...
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We must
never forget that the atom is not "substance",
but the negation of substance; the white lines in
Figs. 79 and 80 represent the bubbles in their
coils, and are lines of force. The substance, the
fundamental rether, is represented by the black
background of the diagram. So, as Poincare
truly said, the atom is only a "hole in the
ether". Yet is this "hole in the ether" filled ...
1 The word "atom" is used henceforth in the Theosophical sense.
2 The details of this subject of "occult chemistry" will be found
in Occult Chemistry by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater.
3 Occult Chemistry, page 7 of First Edition
- 253 -
with the Divine Nature; "hole" though it be,
when compared with Koilon, it is real to us,
true substance to our knowing, just because the
Cosmic Logos is there, and creates in us the
thought of substance and reality. As He
thinks, and as the Solar Logos thinks, so think
we, at our level, with Them.
When the physical atom; of the two types,
positive and negative, is constructed, then
begins the building of the chemical elements.
They are built according to the Periodic Law,
outlined in Fig. 77; but there is more Wisdom
and Beauty in the Periodic. Law than has yet
happened to the scientific imagination to con-
ceive. Before we can appreciate the Periodic
Law in all its magnificence, we must turn aside
for a while to study what are known as the
Platonic Solids (Fig. 81).
There are five, and only five, three-dimensional
solids, in each of which its lines, angles
and surfaces are equal. They are the Tetrahedron, Cube (Hexahedron), Octahedron,
Dodecahedron and Icosahedron.1 In the first
row of Fig. 81 are illustrations of them, as the
five solids appear when they lie on a flat ...
1 Tetrahedron, 4, surfaces; Hexahedron, or Cube, 6 surfaces;
Octahedron, 8 surfaces; Dodecahedron, 12 surfaces; Icosahedron, 20 surfaces.
- 254 -
surface. In this position, their symmetry is not
readily evident; hence they are placed in a
different position, in order to bring out their
symmetry, and their appearance then is given
in the illustrations of the second and third rows.
These five " Platonic Solids " were considered
of special significance by the Platonic schools
of Greece and Alexandria; the reason for this
will be evident soon. Now, these five solids,
distinctive though each is in the number of its
lines, angles and surfaces, are all developable
from one solid, the tetrahedron. Thus, the
cube and the octahedron are developed out of
two tetrahedra when symmetrically interlaced
(see the second figure of the second row);
the 8 corners of the 2 interlacing tetrahedra give
the 8 corners of the cube, while the 6 intersecting points give the 6 corners of the octahedron.
This fact has long been well known in geometry.
But the further fact, that the two remaining
Platonic Solids, the dodecahedron and the
icosahedron, are also developable from the
tetrahedron, was discovered by Senor Arturo
Soria y Mata, a Theosophist of Madrid. By
interlacing 5 tetrahedra, we have the complicated solid shown in the first figure of the third
row; the 20 corners of the 5 interlacing tetrahedra make the 20 corners of the dodecahedron,
...
- 255 -
while the 12 intersecting points give the 12
corners of the icosahedron.
There are, in each of the five solids, a number of surfaces and corners; these give the
directions for the building of the chemical
elements. Taking the first three solids —
the tetrahedron, cube and octahedron — we have:
| SOLID |
|
SURFACES | |
|
CORNERS | |
| Tetrahedron |
|
4 | |
|
4 | |
| Cube |
|
6 |
| |
8 |
| Octahedron |
|
8 |
| |
6 |
We find that these three solids are the tanmatras —
"the measures of That" — or axes for
the building of the divalent, trivalent and tetravalent elements of the Periodic Law. Thus,
all divalent elements, both positive and negative, paramagnetic and diamagnetic, with the
single exception of Oxygen, are of the general
type of Beryllium (Glucinum), illustrated in
Fig. 82.
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Atoms of the positive and negative
types are massed together in groups, but especially in four main groups or "funnels",
which radiate from the center of the tetrahedron to its four surfaces. This is the simple
divalent structure for the lighter elements; in
...
- 256 -
the heavier elements there appear, in addition to
the "funnels", new groups termed
"spikes", four in number, and radiating from
the center to the four corners. (The unit of
each element is surrounded by a spherical
limiting wall, composed of the circumambient
matter of the atomic sub-plane of the physical
plane, but for the sake of simplicity, this is not
shown in the diagrams.)
All trivalent elements, with the single exception of Nitrogen, are of the type in Fig. 83;
the lighter trivalents are composed of six
"funnels" radiating from the center of a cube
10 its six surfaces; the heavier trivalents have,
in addition to the six funnels, eight "spikes"
radiating to the eight corners of the cube.
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All tetravalent elements, with the exception
of Titanium and Zirconium, are of the type in
Fig. 84; the lighter tetravalents are composed
of eight "funnels", starting from the center of
an octahedron and pointing to its eight surfaces; the heavier
tetravalents have, in addition, six "spikes" pointing to the six corners:
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Lithium contains 127 ultimate physical atoms.
The remaining elements, down the line of Lithium, in Fig. 77 of the Periodic Law (with the
exception of Fluorine), have the center pillar
or "cigar" of Lithium, but made heavier by
the addition of new bodies, and multiplied in
a definite series, and radiating from a common
center.
The direction of these radiating bodies
has not yet been determined, but they will be
sure to follow definite positions formed by the
interlacing of various solids. The diamagnetic
monovalents are all built after the type of
Sodium in Fig. 86;
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there is a central bar or
rod, which connects an upper group of twelve ...
1 The dodecahedron also appears in the "ring" series of carbon
compounds like napthalene, anthracene, etc., with 12 funnels pointing to the 12 surfaces of the dodecahedron.
- 258 -
(This page only contains Fig. 85.)
- 259 -
radiating funnels with a lower group of twelve
similarly radiating funnels.
There are two remaining groups in the table
of the chemical elements to be accounted for;
these are the "interperiodic" metals, and the
"inert gases" of the atmosphere. Both groups,
come on the median line of the diagram of the
Periodic Law. The appearance of the Interperiodics (Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Palladium,
Ruthenium, Rhodium, etc.) is given in Fig. 87.
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Each is composed of 14 "bars" radiating from
a center. The four interperiodic groups so far
noted go in triplets (with the fourth group
adding a fourth member), and they have a
striking peculiarity in that each member of its
group is 28 atoms heavier than the preceding
member. Thus, since each Interperiodic is
composed of 14 bars, all of which within one
element are alike, we have "periodicity"
coming regularly as follows in each group:
GROUP I. IRON, COBALT, NICKEL
| |
|
in
a Bar |
|
Total
14 Bars |
|
Total Weight,
H=1 |
| |
| Iron |
|
72 |
|
1008 |
|
56 |
| Cobalt |
|
74 |
|
1036 |
|
57.55 |
| Nickel |
|
76 |
|
1064 |
|
59.11 |
- 260 -
GROUP II. RUTHENIUM, RHODIUM, PALLADIUM
| Ruthenium |
|
132 |
|
1848 |
|
102.66 |
| Rhodium |
|
134 |
|
1876 |
|
104.22 |
|
| Palladium |
|
136 |
|
1904 |
|
105.77 |
| |
| GROUP III. X, Y, Z
|
| |
| X |
|
189 |
|
2646 |
|
147 |
| Y |
|
191 |
|
2674 |
|
148.55 |
| Z |
|
193 |
|
2702 |
|
150.11 |
| |
| GROUP IV OSMIUM, IRIDIUM, PLATINUM, PLATINUM B |
| |
| Osmium |
|
245 |
|
3430 |
|
190.55 |
| Iridium |
|
247 |
|
3458 |
|
192.11 |
| Platinum |
|
249 |
|
3486 |
|
193.66 |
| Platinum B 1 |
|
251 |
|
3514 |
|
195.22 |
This same characteristic of periodicity
appears in the second type of elements which
come on the median line, the inert gases.
Their general appearance is given in Fig. 88.
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These inert gases go in pairs, the second member of the pair having exactly 42 atoms more ...
1
As later this element of weight 195.22 was said to be discovered
in Canada, a few Canadian chemists gave it the name of "Canadium". But the discovery has not been confirmed.
- 261 -
than the first member. Fig. 88 shows us that
in the center there appears the complicated
five interlacing tetrahedra which came in Fig. 81; radiating from this, but all on one plane,
are six arms, each having the same number of
atoms. Periodicity appears in the fact that,
in each inert gas, the second member or
"isotope" has 7 atoms more in each arm.,
(In all of the inert gases, the center sphere has
only 120 atoms.)
GROUP I. NEON, META-NENON
| |
|
Number
in an Arm |
|
Total Weight,
H=1 |
| |
| Neon |
|
40 |
|
20 |
| Meta-Neon |
|
47 |
|
22.33 |
|
| |
| GROUP II. ARGON, META-ARGON |
| |
| Argon |
|
99 |
|
39.66 |
| Meta-Argon |
|
106 |
|
42 |
| |
| GROUP III. KRYPTON, META-KRYPTON |
| |
| Krypton |
|
224 |
|
81.33 |
| Meta-Krypton |
|
231 |
|
83.66 |
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GROUP IV. XENON, META-XENON
| |
|
Number
in an Arm |
|
Total Weight,
H=1 |
| |
| Xenon |
|
363 |
|
127.66 |
| Meta-Xenon |
|
370 |
|
130 |
|
| |
| GROUP V. "KALON", "META-KALON" |
| |
| "Kalon" |
|
489 |
|
169.66 |
| "Meta-Kalon" |
|
496 |
|
172 |
| |
| GROUP VI. RADON, META-RADON |
| |
| Radon |
|
645 |
|
221.6 |
| Meta-Radon |
|
652 |
|
224 |
In the description given above of the elements, it has been stated that certain elements
(i.e., Nitrogen, Oxygen, Fluorine, etc.) are
exceptions. There are no "exceptions" to divine laws; the word is
merely used in the conventional sense, to imply that we have not as
yet discovered of what law each exception is an
example. We do not yet know why the exceptions are different in structure from that
which is seen as the "ancestral type ". But,
even from what little we have already seen of
the building of the elements, it is fairly clear
that further discoveries will explain exactly
...
- 263 -
why these exceptions have their present formations.
Of the few exceptions, among the noteworthy
are Hydrogen, Nitrogen and Oxygen, represented in Figs. 89, 90, 91. In Fig. 89, which
...
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- 266 -
into 6 groups of 3 each. At the next stage, on
the super-etheric sub-plane, there is a rearrangement. At the fourth stage on the
etheric sub-plane, there is a further rearrangement. Finally, when we come to the gaseous
sub-plane, the 18 atoms making up the one
unit of Hydrogen (the chemical atom of Hydrogen) re-group themselves into 6 groups of 3
each; three of these 6 groups are specially
linked together as a positive half of Hydrogen,
while the remaining 3 groups link themselves
together as the negative half of Hydrogen.
In this First Principles of Theosophy it is
obviously out of place to write fully on "Occult
Chemistry", i.e., chemical structure as seen by
the enlarging power of trained clairvoyance.
But Occult Chemistry is interesting even to a
beginner in Theosophy, because, when, after
leaving on one side mere theories and speculations about chemical structure, one sees how
elements are actually constructed, then one
realizes how, even in the proton, electron, and
neutron in the atom and the element, the
Logos is at work, building.
The vision of "things as they are" is a vision
revealing a wonderful craftsmanship and an inspiring wisdom. A glimpse of His Plan, even
for the chemical element, enables one to know
...
- 267 -
that there is no place where He is not, and nothing in which He is not working.
We have had glimpses of the modes of His
working in the elements in their geometrical
design, in their periodicity, in their "valency".
We get another glimpse as we look at one more
diagram, that of Fig. 92, which gives us the ...
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- 268 -
skeleton of the structure of six monovalent elements — Sodium, Chlorine, Copper, Bromine,
Silver and Iodine. All these come on one line
of the Periodic Table, Fig. 77, and all are of the
"ancestral type" of Sodium shown in Fig. 86.
That figure shows us Sodium somewhat like a
dumb-bell in shape; there is a central rod connecting two groups of funnels, an upper and a
lower; the funnels of each group are twelve in
number, and each set of twelve radiates on to
two planes from a central sphere. This
"dumb-bell" structure is carried on to all elements appearing
on the diamagnetic monovalent line. If, therefore, in anyone of these
elements, we know the bar, one funnel, and
one sphere from which the funnels radiate, we
can construct the full element. Then, by
counting the total number of "ultimate physical atoms", and dividing by 18 (for Hydrogen
has 18 such atoms, and if we make H=1, to
reduce "atomic weights" to a common
standard), we get the "atomic weight" of the
element in terms of Hydrogen.1 Fig. 92 is
illuminating, as it shows us how the Logos
builds from an "ancestral type", as Crookes
suggests. To make a funnel of Chlorine, the ...
1 If it is desired to get the "atomic weight" in terms of Oxygen = 16,
as is done now in Chemistry, the divisor will have to be made 18.144.
- 269 -
funnel of Sodium is taken, and added to, and
the bar is made heavier by 5 atoms. Then
the funnel of Chlorine is in turn taken to make
the funnels of Copper and Bromine, and new
groups of atoms are added. Bromine in its
turn is taken to build Silver and Iodine, and the
Bromine funnel of 58 atoms is used with additions in order to build them. The changes
made in the spheres connecting the funnels
are shown in the diagram. It will be seen that
from Chlorine to Iodine no change is made in
the bar. Counting all the dots, which represent "ultimate physical atoms",
and remembering that in each element there is one bar,
two spheres, and 24 funnels (see Sodium, Fig. 86), we get the following:
| Element |
|
Number
of Atoms |
|
Weight,
H=1 |
| |
| Sodium |
|
418 |
|
23.22 |
| Chlorine1 |
|
639 |
|
35.50 |
| Copper |
|
1139 |
|
63.27 |
| Bromine |
|
1439 |
|
79.94 |
| Silver |
|
1945 |
|
108.05 |
| Iodine |
|
2287 |
|
127.05 |
Here I must leave this fascinating subject of
the building of the chemical elements, referring ...
1 There is an isotope of Chlorine with 667 atoms, and weight 37.05.
- 270 -
students who care to follow the matter further
to the special work on the subject, Occult Chemistry, by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater.1
When most of us turn our attention to the
substances around us, which are all composed
of the chemical elements, we think of these substances by the relation which they bear to us.
Utterly wrapped up in our man-centered outlook, we say that this substance is useful, or that
useless. We look with interest at a diamond,
but with no interest at all at a piece of granite
or clay. It has not yet dawned on our imagination that all substances have their part in
the Divine Plan, and are doing their work to
further that Plan, irrespective of their relation
to us mortals.
How different all nature appears when we
come to know that even the" dead "substances
which compose our world are evolving; and
that, as each one of us is irresistibly drawn upwards towards an ideal, so all the elements
and their combinations are being drawn upwards slowly to become more perfect lenses of
the Divinity dwelling within them. For He
does so dwell, even as in the soul of man. Did
not Christ the Logos say: “Raise the stone, ...
1 First edition, 1908; second edition, 1919; third edition, 1951.
French, Italian and German translations of this work have appeared.
- 271 -
and there thou shalt find Me; cleave the wood,
and there am I?”
To him that hath ears to
hear, there is not only a melody in the surf of
the sea and in the whispers of the wood, there
is also a Song of nature wherever even the
tiniest speck of matter exists, and does its part
in the Great Plan. Out of the earth, out of
heaven and hell, from every corner of all the
worlds visible and invisible, there ever rises one
triumphant pean of nature:
Thus at the roaring Loom of time I ply,
And weave for God the Robe thou seest Him by.
- 272 -
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