.. . .

L-'
 FOREWORD
THEtext of this little book is the joint work of M r
Leadbeater and myself ; some of it has already appeared-
as an article in Luczyer (now the Theosophical Review),,
but 'the greater part of it is new. The drawing and.
painting of the Thought-Forms observed by Mr Lead--
beater or by myself, or by both of us together, has been
done by three friends-Mr John Varley, Mr Prince,
71391 7 and Miss Macfarlane, to each ofwhomwe tender our
cordial thanks To paint in earth's dullcoloursthe:
forms clothed in the living light of other worlds is a hard
and thankless task ; so much the more gratitude is due
to those who have attempted it. They neededcoloured
fire, and had only ground earths We have also to thank
MCF. BlighBondforallowing us to usehisessay on
Vibatwa Fz;eUres, and some of his exquisite drawings.
Another friend, who sent us some notes and a few
drawings, insists on remaininganonymous, so we can.
only send our thanks to him with similar anonymity.
It is our earnest hope-as it is our belief-thatthis.
little book will serve as a striking moral lesson to every
reader, making him realise the nature and power of his.
thoughts, acting as a stimulus to the noble, a curb on:
the base. With this belief and hope we send it on its
way.
ANNIE BESANT.

,
 CONTENTS
.
PAGE

FOREWORD . 6
INTRODUCTION . II
THE DIFFICULTY OF REPRESENTATION 16
THE TWO EFFECTS OF THOUGHT 21

HOW THE VIBRATIONACTS 23

THE FORM A N D ITS EFFECT '5
THE MEANING OF THE COLOURS 32
THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 36
ILLUSTRATIVE
THOUGHT-FORMS . 40
AFFECTION 43-44
DEVOTION 44-49
INTELLECT 49-50
AMBITION .- 51
ANGER . 52

SYMPATHY 55
FEAR 0 55
GREED . 56
VARIOUS
EMOTIONS . 57
SHIPWRECK 57
ON THE FIRST NIGHT 59
THE GAMBLERS 60
AT A STREET ACCIDENT . . 61
AT A FUNERAL . . 61
ON MEETING A FRIEND . 64
APPRECIATION OF A PICTURE 65
vii
 viii CONTENTS
?AGE
FORMS SEEN IN MEDITATION , . 66
SYMPATHY
AND
LOVE
FOR
ALL . . 66
AN ASPIRATION
TO ENFOLD ALL . . 66
IN
THE SIX DIRECTIONS . 67
COSMIC
ORDER . . 68
THE LOGOS AS MANIFESTED IN MAN 69
THE LOGOS PERVADING ALL 70
ANOTHER
CONCEPTION . a 71
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THE THREEFOLD MANIFESTATION . 71
THE SEVENFOLD
MANIFESTATION . - 72 FIG. PAC8

INTELLECTUALASPIRATION . - 72
MEANING OF THE COLOURS
CHLADNI'S SOUND PLATE .
,

HELPFUL THOUGHTS , ' 74

FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC . - 75
FORMSPRODUCEDINSAND

MENDELSSOHN . 77
W9 W9 99

.
GOUNOD . 80
FORMSPRODUCED
VAGUE PURE AFFECTION
BY PENDULUMS
.
WAGNER . 82
VAGUE SELFISH AFFECTION . .
DEFINITE AFFECTION .
RADIATING
AFFECTION . .
PEACE AND PROTECTION .
GRASPINGANIMALAFFECTION
VAGUE RELIGIOUS FEELING. .
UPWARD
RUSH OF DEVOTION .
SELF-RENUNCIATION
RESPONSE
TO
DEVOTION .
VAGUE INTELLECTUAL PLEASURE .
VAGUE
SYMPATHY .
THE INTENTION TO KNOW .
HIGH AMBITION
.
. .

SELFISH AMBITION .
MURDEROUS
RAGE .
SUSTAINED ANGER . .
EXPLOSIVE
ANGER .
WATCHFULJEALOUSY
JEALOUSY ANGRY . .
ix

I 1
- - 7
 X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SUDDEN FRIGHT .
SELFISH GREED .
GREED FOR DRINK
AT A SHIPWRECK .
ONTHE FIRST NIGHT
THE GAMBLERS .
AT A STREET ACCIDENT . .
'AT A FUNERAL . .
.
ON MEETING A FRIEND
THE APPRECIATIONOF A PICTURE . THOUGHT-FORMS
SYMPATHY AND
LOVE
FOR ALL .'
AN ASPIRATION TO ENFOLD ALL . As knowledge increases, the attitude of science towards
1111 THE IN SIX DIRECTIONS . 39 66 .the things of the invisibleworld is undergoingcon-

Il
AN INTELLECTUAL
CONCEPTION OF COSMIC ORDER. 40 69 siderable modification. Its attention is no longer directed
THE LOGOS AS MANIFESTED IN MAN 69 41
9
solelyto the earth with all its variety of objects,
THE LOGOS PERVADING
ALL . 42 and 44 70
or to the physicalworlds around it ; butit finds itself
CONCEPTIONANOTHER . 45 70
compelled to glance further afield, and to construct
I

I
J THE THREEFOLD MANIFESTATION . . . 46 70
THE SEVENFOLD MANIFESTATION . 47 70 hypotheses as to the nature of the matter and force
whichlie in the regionsbeyond the ken of its instru-
I! INTELLECTUAL ASPIRATION . 43 72
ments. Ether is now comfortably settled in the scientific
HELPFUL THOUGHTS 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54 74
. kingdom,becomingalmostmore than. a hypothesis.
.
PLATE
I MUSIC OF MENDELSSOHN . M 78
,, OF GOUNOD . . G 80
Mesmerism,under its new name of hypnotism, is no
longer an outcast. Reichenbach's
experiments are
9, OF WAGNER . W 82
stilllooked at askance, but are notwhollycondemned.
' .
Röntgen's rays have rearranged some of the older ideas
.of matter, whileradiumhasrevolutionisedthem, and is
leading science beyond the borderland of ether into the
istral world. The boundaries between animate and
inanimate matter are broken down. Magnets are found
to bepossessed of almostuncannypowers, transferring
certain forms of disease in a way notyetsatisfactorily
explained. Telepathy, clairvoyance,movementwithout
contact, though not yet adm'itted to the scientifictable,
II
 I....

11111
.....
..... THOUGHT-FORMS
I2 THOUGHT-FORMS 13

are approaching the Cinderella-stage. The fact is that Clairvoyants were occasionally justified by the appearance
science has pressed its researches so far, has used such onsensitivephotographic plates of figures seen and
rare ingenuity in its questionings of nature, has shown described by them as present with the sitter, .though
.,,,,m
suchtirelesspatience in its investigations, that it is invisible to physicalsight. I t is notpossiblefor an
.....
11111

receiving the reward of those who seek, and forces and unbiassed judgment to reject in toto the evidence of such
11111

beings of the next higher plane of nature are beginning occurrences proffered by men of integrity on the strength
to show themselves on the outer edge of the physical of their own experiments,oftentimesrepeated.And
field. “ Nature makesnoleaps,” and asthe physicist nowwe have investigators who turn their attention to
nears the confinesofhiskingdomhefindshimself the obtaining of images of subtle forms, inventing
bewilderedbytouches and gleams from another realm methods specially designed with the view of reproducing
which interpenetrates his own. He findshimselfcom- them.Among these, Dr Baraducseems to havebeen
pelled to speculate on invisible presences, if only to find the mostsuccessful,andhe has published a volume
a rational explanation for undoubted physical phenomena, dealingwith his investigations and containingrepro-
and insensibly he slips over the boundary, and is,although ductions of the photographs he has obtained. Dr
he does not yet realise it, contacting the astral plane. Baraduc states that he is investigating the subtle forces
, One of the most interesting of the highroads from the bywhich the soul-defined as the intelligence working
“’ physical to the astral is that of the study of thought. between the body and the spirit-expresses itself,by
The Western scientist, commencing in the anatomy and seeking to record its movements by means of a needle,
physiology of the brain,endeavours to make these the its “ luminous ” butinvisiblevibrationsbyimpressions
basisfor a soundpsychology.’’ He passes then into on sensitive plates. He shuts out bynon-conductors
the region of dreams, illusions, hallucinations; and as soon electricity and heat. We canpass over his experiments’
.,.
P___.
,
:=-:
.
.
.. .
.... .... ...
. ...
.
as he endeavours to elaborate an experimental science in Biometry(measurement of lifebymovements), and
which shallclassify and arrange these, he inevitably glance at those inIconography-theimpressions of
plunges into the astral plane. Dr Baraduc of Paris has invisiblewaves,regardedby him as of the nature of
nearly crossed the barrier, and is well on the way towards light, in which the soul draws its own image. A number
photographing astro-mental images, to obtaining pictures of these photographs represent etheric andmagnetic
of whatfrom the materialistic standpoint wouldbe the results of physical phenomena, and these again we may
results of vibrations in the grey matter of the brain. pass over as not bearing on our special subject,interesting
It has long beenknown to those who have given as they are in themselves. Dr Baraduc obtained various
attention to the question that impressions were produced impressions by strongly thinking of an object, the effect
by the reflection of the ultra-violet rays fromobjects producedby the thought-form appearing on a sensitive
not
visible
by the rays of the ordinary spectrum. plate ; thus he tried to project a portrait of a lady (then
I4 THOUGHT-FORMS THOUGHT-FORMS 15
dead) whom he had known, and produced an impression , Atthe presenttime observers outside the Theo-
due to his thought 0f.a drawinghehadmade of her on . . - sophicalSociety are concerningthemselves with the fact
her deathbed. He quite rightly says thatthe creation k=.,,F*
-.
-.-c-

that emotional changes show their nature by changes of

of an object is the passingout of an image from the colour in the cloud-like ovoid, or aura, that encompasses
mind 'and its subsequentmaterialisation, and he seeks all living beings.Articleson the subject are appearing
the.chemical effect caused on silver salts by this thought- in papersunconnectedwith the TheosophicalSociety,
created picture. One striking illustration is that of a and a medical specialist has collected a large number of
forcerayingoutwards, the projection of an earnest casesinwhich the colour of the aura of persons of
prayer. Another prayer is seen producingformslike various types and temperaments is recorded byhim,
the fronds of a fern, another like rain pouring upwards, His resultsresembleclosely those arrived at byclair-
if the phrase may be permitted. A rippled oblong mass voyanttheosophists and others, and the general
is projected by three persons thinking of their unity in unanimity on the subject is sufficient to establish the
affection. A young boy sorrowing over and caressing fact, if the evidence be judged by the usual canons
a dead bird is surrounded by a flood of curved interwoven applied to human testimony.
threads of emotionaldisturbance. A strong vortex is The book Man Vkibde and lizvisibde dealt with the
formedby a feeling of deep sadness. Looking at this general subject of the aura. The present little volume,
most interesting and suggestive series, it is clear that in written by the author of Man Visibde and lnvkibde, and
these pictures that which is obtained is not the thought- a theosophical colleague, is intended to carry the
image, but the effectcausedin etheric matter by itsJ
/ ' subject further ; and it is believed that this study is
vibrations, and it is necessary to clairvoyantly see the useful, as impressing vividly on the mindof the student.
thought in order to understand the resultsproduced. the power and living nature of thought and desire, and
In fact, the illustrations are instructive for what th,ey do the influence exerted by them on all whom they reach.
not show directly, as well as for the images that appear. Dr Hooker, Gloucester Place, London, W.
It may be useful to put before students, a little more
plainly than has hitherto beendone,some of the facts
in nature whichwill render more intelligible the results
at which Df. Baraduc is arriving. Necessarilyimperfect
these mustbe, a physical photographiccamera
, and
sensitive plates notbeingideal instruments for astral
research ; but, as will be seen from the above, they are
d
most interesting and valuable as forming a link between
clairvoyant and physical scientific invedgations.
 DIFFICULTY OF REPRESENTATION 17
are already familiar to those who look at the picture and
accept the suggestion which it conveys. A person who
had never seen a tree could form but little idea of one
from even the most skilful painting. If to this difficulty
we add the other and far more serious one of a limitation
ofconsciousness, and supposeourselves to beshowing
the picture to a being who knew only two dimensions, we
THE DIFFICULTY OF REPRESENTATION
see how utterly impossible it would be to convey to him
any adequate impression of such a landscape as we see.
WE haveoften heard it said that thoughts are things,
Precisely this difficulty in its most aggravated form
and there are many among us who are persuaded of the
stands in our way,whenwe try to make a drawing of
truth of this statement. Yet very fewof us haveany
even a very simple thought-form. The vast majority of
clear idea as to what kind of thing a thought is, and the
those wholook at the picture are absolutely limited to
object of this little book is to help us to conceive this.
There are some serious difficultiesin our way, for our the consciousness of three dimensions, and furthermore,
have not the slightest conception of that inner world to
conception of space is limited to three dimensions, and
which thought-formsbelong,with all its splendidlight
when we attempt to make a drawing we practically limit
ourselves to two. In reality the presentationeven of andcolour.
All that wecan do atthe best is to
ordinary three-dimensional objects is seriously defective, represent a section of the thought-form ; and those whose
for scarcely a line or angle in our drawing is accurately facultiesenablethem to see the originalcannotbut be
disappointedwithanyreproduction of it, Still,those
shown. I f a roadcrosses the picture, the part in the
who are at present unable to see anything will gain at
......
.
---...-..
. foreground must
be
represented as enormously
wider than
... .I.._*.
.
... ..
.. .
_i -....
....
.
that in the background, although in reality the width is least a partial comprehension, and however inadequate it
unchanged. If a house is to be drawn, the right angles may be it is at least better than nothing.
at its corners must be shown as acute or obtuse as the
I
All students know that what is called the aura of man
casemaybe,buthardly ever as they actually are. In is the outer part of the cloud-like substance of his higher
fact, we draw everything not as it is but as it appears, bodies, interpenetrating each other,and extending beyond
and the effort of the artist is by a skilful arrangement the confinesofhisphysicalbody, the smallest of all.
of linesupon a flatsurface to convey tothe eye an They know also that two of these bodies, the mental and
impressionwhichshallrecall that made by a three- desire bodies, are thosechieflyconcernedwith the,'

dimensional object, appearance of what are calledthought-forms.But in

It is possible to do this only because similar objects order that the matter may be made clear, for all, and not
16 onlyfor students alreadyacquainted with theosophical
2

I
I8 THOUGHT-FORMS DIFFICULTYOFREPRESENTATION 19

teachings, a recapitulation of the main facts will not be emotionalactivities, this energy works in a less subtle
out of place. order of matter than the mental, in that of the astral
.Man, the Thinker, is clothed in a bodycomposedof world. What is calledhisdesire-body is composed of
innumerablecombinations of the subtle matter of the this matter, and it forms the most prominent part of the
mentalplane, this body beingmore or lessrefinedin aura in the undeveloped man. Where the man is of a
its constituents and organised more or lessfullyfor its gross type, the desire-body is of the denser matter of
functions, according to the stage of intellectual develop- the astral plane, and is dull in hue,browns and dirty
ment at which the man himself has arrived. The mental greens and reds playing a great part in it. Through
body is an object of great beauty, the delicacy and rapid this will
flash various
characteristic
colours, as
his
motion of its particles givingit an aspect of living passions are excited. A manof a higher type has his
iridescent light, and this beauty becomes an extraordin- desire-bodycomposed of the finerqualities of astral
arily radiant and entrancing loveliness as the intellect matter, with the colours,rippling over and flashing
becomes more highly evolved and is employed chiefly on through it,fine and clear in hue.Whileless delicate
pure and sublimetopics. Every thought gives rise to a and less radiant than the mentalbody, it forms a
set of correlated vibrations in the matter of this body, beautifulobject, and as selfishness is eliminatedall the
accompanied with a marvellous play of colour, like that duller and heavier shades disappear.
in the spray of a waterfall as thesunlight strikes it, raised This desire (or astral) body gives rise to a second class
to the nth degree of colour and vivid delicacy. The body of entities, similar in their general constitution to the
under this impulse throws off a vibrating portion of .itself, thought-forms already described, but limited to the astral
shaped by the nature of the vibrations-asfigures are plane, and generated by the mind under the domhion of
made by sand on a disk vibrating to a musical note-and 1 the animal nature.
this gathers from the surrounding atmosphere matter like These are caused by the activity of the lowermind,
itself in fineness from the elemental essence of the mental throwing itself out through the astral body-the activity
world. We have then a thought-form pure and simple, of Kama-Manas in theosophical terminology, or the mind
and it is a living entity of intense activity animated by dominated by desire.Vibrations in the body of desire,
the oneidea that generated it. If made of the finer or astral body, are in this case set up, and under these
kinds of matter, it will be of great power and energy, and this body throws off a vibrating portion of itself, shaped,
may be used as a most potent agent when directed by a as in the previous case, by the nature of the vibrations,
strong and steady will. Into the details of such use we and this attracts to itself someof the appropriate elemental
will enter later. essence of the astral world. Such a thought-form has for
When the man's energy flows outwards towards its body this elemental essence, andfor its animating soul
external objects of desire, or is occupied in passional and the desire or passion which threw it forth ; according to
I

20 THOUGHT-FORMS
the amount of mental. energy combined with this desire
or passion will be the force of the thought-form. These,
likethosebelonging to the mentalplane, are called
artificial elementals,and they are by far the most common,
as few thoughts of ordinary men and women are untinged
with desire, passion, or emotion.

THE TWO EFFECTS O F THOUGHT

EACHdefinite thought produces a doubleeffect -a
.

radiating vibrationand a floating form. The thought:

itself appears first to clairvoyant sight as a vibration
in the mentalbody,and this maybe either simple or
complex. If the thought itself is absolutely simple, there
is only the one rate of vibration, and onlyonetype of
mental matter will bestronglyaffected. The mental
body is composed of matter of several d,egreesof density,
which we commonly arrange in classes according to the
sub-planes. Of each of these we have many sub-divisions,
and if wetypify these by drawing horizontallines to
indicate the different degrees of density, there is another
arrangement which we mightsymbolise by drawing
perpendicular lines at right angles to the others, to denote
types which differ in quality as well as in density. There
are thus many varieties of this mental matter, and it is
found that eachone of these has its own especial and
appropriate rate of vibration, to whichitseemsmost
accustomed, so that it veryreadilyresponds to it,and
tends to return to it as soon as possible when it has been
forced away from it by some strong rush of thought or
feeling. When a suddenwave of someemotionsweeps
over a man,forexample, his astral body is thrown into
II
 22 THOUGHT-FORMS
violent agitation, and its original colours are or the time
.almostobscured by the flushof carmine, of blue, or of
scarlet which correspondswith the rate of vibration of
that particular emotion. This change is only temporary ;
i t passes off in a few seconds, and the astral body rapidly
resumes its usualcondition. Yet every such rush of
feeling produces a permanent effect : it always adds a
little of its hue to the normal colouring of the astral body, H O W T H E VIBRATION ACTS
so that every time that the man yields himself to a certain
emotion it becomes easier for him to yield himself to it .,
THESEradiating vibrations,like all others in nature,
.again, because his astral body is getting into the habit of become less powerful in proportion to the distance from
-vibratingat that especial rate. their source, though it is probable that the variation is in
The majority of human thoughts, however, are by no proportion to the cube of the distance instead of to the
means simple. Absolutely pure affection of course exists ; square,because of the additionaldimensioninvolved.
but we very often find it tinged with pride or with selfish- Again, like all other vibrations, these tend to reproduce
ness,withjealousy or withanimalpassion. This means themselves whenever opportunity is offered to them ; and
that at least two separate vibrations appear both in the so whenever they strike upon .another mental body they
mental and astral bodies-frequentlymore than two. tend to provoke in it their own rate of motion. That is-
The radiating vibration, therefore, will be a complex one, from the point of view of the man whose mental body is
.and the resultant thought-form will show several colours touched by these waves-they tend to produce in his mind
instead of only one. thoughts of the same type as that which had previously
.
l. :L::_. --
__,,i -.-- arisen in the mind of the thinker who sent forth the
-
waves. The distance to which such
thought-waves
penetrate, and the force and persistency with which they
impinge upon the mental bodies of others, depend upon
the strength and clearness of the originalthought. In
this way the thinker is in the sameposition as the
speaker. The voice of the latter sets in motion waves of
sound in the air which radiate from him in all directions,
and conveyhismessage to all those who are within
hearing, and the distance to which his voice can penetrate
depends upon its power and upon the clearness of his
. 23
 d.

24 THOUGHT-FORMS
enunciation. In just the same way the forceful thought
will carry very much further than the weak and undecided
thought;butclearnessand definiteness are of even
greater
importance
than
strength.
Again,
just as the I

speaker’s voice may fall uponheedless ears where men !

are already engaged in business or in pleasure, so may a
mighty wave of thought sweep past without affecting the
mind of the man, if he be already deeply engrossed in THE FORM AND ITS EFFECT
some other line of thought.
I t shouldbeunderstoodthatthisradiatingvibration LET usturn now tothesecond effect of thought,the
conveys the character of the thought, but not its subject.‘ creation of a definite form. All students of the occult are
If a Hindu sits rapt in devotion to KyiShna, the waves of acquainted with the idea of the elemental essence, that
11 feeling which pourforthfrom him stimulatedevotional strange half-intelligent life which surroundsus in all
feeling in allthose who comeundertheir influence, directions, vivifying the matter of the mental and.astra1
i though in the case of the Muhammadan that devotion is planes. This matter thus animated responds very readily
II to Allah, while for the Zoroastrian it is to Ahuramazda, to the influence of humanthought,andeveryimpulse
i
i
or for theChristianto Jesus. A manthinking keenly sent out, either from the mental body or from the astral
I
upon some high subject pours out from himself vibrations body of man, immediately clothes itself in a temporary
I

I
which tend to stir up thought at a similar level in others, vehicle of thisvitalisedmatter. Such a thoughtor im-
but they in no way suggest to those others the special pulse becomes for the time a kind of living creature, the
!
subject of histhought. They naturallyactwithspecial thought-force being the soul, and the vivified matter the
vigour upon those minds already habituatedto vibrations body. Instead of using the somewhat clumsy paraphrase,
of similar character ; yet they have some effect on every “ astral or mental matterensouled by the monadic essence

mental body upon which they impinge, so that their tend- at the stage of one of the elementalkingdoms,”theo-’’
ency is to awaken the power of higher thought in those sophical writers often, for
brevity’s sake, call this quickened
to whom ithasnotyet become a custom. It isthus matter simplyelementalessence ; andsometimesthey
evidentthateveryman who thinksalonghighlinesis speak of the thought-form as “ a n elemental.” There
doing missionary work, even though he may be entirely may be infinite variety in the colour and shape of such
unconscious of it. elementals or thought-forms, for eachthoughtdraws
round it the matter which is appropriate for its expres-
sion, and sets that matter into vibration in harmony with
its own ; so that the character of the thought decides its
=S
.. . . .

26 THOUGHT-FORMS l

T H E FORM A N D ITS E F F E C T 27 7
I

colour, and the study of its variations and combinations everything tingedwith its predominant colours, and all :
3s an exceedingly interesting one. . rates of vibration which reach him from without are more f
This thought-form may not inaptly be compared to a or less modifiedby its rate. Thus until the man learns ‘.t
Leyden jar, the coating of living essence being symbol- complete control of thought and feeling, he sees nothing !
ised by the jar, and the thought energy by the charge
of electricity. If the man’s thought or feeling is directly
as it reallyis,since all his observations mustbemade /
through this medium,which distorts and colours every+‘‘
connected with someone else, the resultant thought-form thing like badly-made glass.
moves towards that person and discharges itself upon his If the thought-form be neither definitely personal nor
astral and mentalbodies. If the man’s thought is about specially aimed at someone else, it. simply floats detached
himself, or is based upon a personal feeling, as the vast in the atmosphere, all the time radiating vibrations
majority of thoughts are, it hovers round its creator and similar to those originally sent forth by its creator. If it
is always ready to react upon him whenever he is for a does not come into contact with any other mental body,
moment in a passivecondition. For example, a man this radiation gradually exhausts its store of energy, and
who yields himself to thoughts of impuritymayforget in that case the form falls to pieces ; but if it succeeds in
.all about them while he is engaged in the daily routine awakening sympathetic vibration in any mentalbody
of his business, even thoughthe resultant forms are hang- near at hand, an attraction is set up, and the thought-form
ing round him in a heavy cloud, because his attention is is usually absorbed by that mental body. Thus we see
otherwise directed and his astral body is therefore not that the influence of the thought-form is by no means sov.
impressible by any other rate of vibration than its own. far-reaching as that of the original vibration; but in SO far
When, however, the marked vibration slackens and the as it acts, it acts with much greater precision. What it
man rests after his labours and leaves his mind blank as produces in the mind-body whichit influences is not merely
regards definite thought, he is verylikely to feel the a thought of an order similar to that which gave it birth ;
vibration of impurity stealing insidiouslyuponhim. If it is actually the same thought. The radiation may affect
the consciousness of the man be to any extent awakened, thousands and stir up in them thoughts on the same level
he may perceive this and cry out that he is being tempted a s the original,andyet it may happen that noone of
by the devil ; yet the truth is that the temptation is from them will beidentical with that original ; the thought-
withoutonly in appearance,since it is nothing but form can affect only very few, but in those few cases it
the natural reaction upon him of his own thought-forms.J
”

will reproduce exactly the initiatory idea.

(Each man travels through space enclosed within a cage The fact of the creation by vibrations of a distinct
1 of his own building, surrounded by a mass of the forms form,geometrical or other, is alreadyfamiliar to every

[
1 created by hishabitualthoughts.
he looksoutupon
Through this medium
the world, and naturallyhe sees
student of acoustics, and “ Chladni’s ” figures are con-
tinuallyreproduced in every physicallaboratory.

. . . . -.
. -. . . . . . ................. .-. ,.
28 THOUGHT-FORMS T H E FORM A N D ITS E F F E C T 29
For the lay reader the following brief description may the pendulum the vibrations set up in the mental or astral
beuseful. A Chladni'ssound plate (fig. I ) is made of body, and we have clearly before us the modzls o p e r a d
brass or plate-glass. Grains of of the building of forms by vibrations.'
fine sand or spores are scattered The following description is taken from a most
over the surface, and the edge of interesting essay entitled Vibràtion F z . r e s , by F. Bligh
the plate is bowed. The sand Bond, F.R. I.B.A., who has drawn a number of remark-
is thrownupinto the air by the able figures by the use of pendulums. The pendulum is
suspended on knife edges of hardened steel, and is free
to swing only at right angles to the knife-edge suspension.
regular lines (fig. 2). By touching
the edge of the plate at different points when it is bowed,
differentnotes,andhence varying forms, are obtained
(fig. 3). If the figures here given are comparedwith
thoseobtained from the humanvoice,manylikenesses
will beobserved. For these latter, the ' voice-forms '
so admirably studied and pictured by Mrs Watts
Hughes,l bearing witness to the samefact,shouldbe

FIG.3.

FIG. 2.
Four such pendulums may be coupled in pairs, swinging
consulted, and her work on the subjectshouldbe in the at right angles to each other, by threads connecting the
hands of every student. But few perhaps have realised shafts of each pair of pendulums with the ends of a light
that the shapes pictured are due to the interplay of the but rigid lath, from the centre of which run other threads ;
vibrations that create them, and that a machine exists by these threads carry the unitedmovements of eachpair
means of which two or more simultaneous motions canbe of pendulums to a light square of wood, suspended by a
imparted to a pendulum,and that by attaching a fine spring, and bearing a pen. The pen is thus controlled by
drawing-pen to a lever connected with the pendulum its the combined movement of the four pendulums, and this
action may be exactly traced. Substitute for the swing of movement is registered on a drawing board by the pen.
Mr Joseph Gould, Stratford House, Nottingham, supplies the twin-
1 The Ei'dophne Voice Rpres. MargaretWatta Hughes. elliptic pendulum by which these wonderful figures may be produced.
.
. . .

.
d.

THOUGHT-FORMS
There is no limit, theoretically, to the number of
pendulums that canbecombined in this manner. The.
1111 movements are rectilinear,buttworectilinearvibrations
of equal amplitude acting at right angles to each other
generate a circle if they alternate precisely, an ellipse
if the alternations are lessregular or the amplitudes
unequal. A cyclic vibration may also be obtained
from a pendulumfree to swing in a rotary path. In
these ways a mostwonderful series of drawings have
beenobtained,and the similarity of these to some
of the thought-forms is remarkable; they suffice to
demonstrate how readily vibrations may be transformed
into figures. Thus compare fig. 4 with fig. 12, the
.mother's prayer ; or fig. 5 with fig. I O ; or fig. 6
11111
with fig. 25, the serpent-like darting forms. Fig. 7
1I1 is added as an illustration of the complexity attain-
able. It seems to us a mostmarvellous thing that
. I

some of the drawings, madeapparently at random..;"'

by the use of this machine, should
exactly cor-
respond to higher types of thought-forms created in
meditation. We are sure that a wealth of significance
liesbehind this fact,though it willneedmuch further
investigationbefore wecan saycertainly all that it
means. But it mustsurelyimply this much -that,
if twoforceson the physicalplane bearing a certain
ratio one to the other can draw a formwhich exactly
corresponds to that produced on the mental plane
by a complexthought; we mayinfer that that thought'.'
sets in motionon its own plane two forces
which
are in the same ratioone to the other. What these
L

forces are and how they workremains to beseen ;

but if we are ever able to solve this problem, it is likely

1
 IIII

THE FORM A N D ITS EF,FECT 31

thatitwill open to us a new and exceedingly valuable

,field of knowledge.

PRINCIPLES.
GENERAL
Three general principles underlie the production of alt
thought-forms :-
I . Quality of thought determines colour.
2. Nature of thought determines form.
3. Definiteness of thought determines clearness of
outline.

..... .

I
 .. I d' THE MEANING OF THE COLOURS 33
flashes of scarlet) betokens jealousy. Green seems
always to denote adaptability ; in the lowest case, when
mingled with
selfishness, this adaptability becomes
deceit ; at a later stage, when the colour becomes purer,
it means rather the wish to be all things to all men, even
though it maybechieflyfor thesake of becoming
popularand bearing a good reputation withthem ; in
its still higher, more delicate and more luminous aspect,
it shows the divine power of sympathy.Affection ex-
pressesitself in all shades of crimsonandrose-.;. a full
THE MEANING O F THE COLOURS -__H-

clear carmine means a strong healthy affection of normal

THEtable ofcolours given in the frontispiecehas type ; if stained heavilywithbrown-grey, a selfishand
grasping feeling is indicated, while pure pale rose marks
already beenthoroughlydescribed in the book Man
that absolutelyunselfishlovewhich is possibleonly to
Visible and hvisibde, and the meaning to be attached
to them is just the same in the thought-form as in the
high natures ; it passes from the dull crimson of animal
body out of which it is evolved. For the sake of those love to the mostexquisite shades of delicate rose, like
who havenot at hand the full descriptiongiven in the the earlyflushes of the dawning, as the lovebecomes
purified from all selfish elements, and flows out in wider
book just mentioned, it willbewell to state that black
and widercircles of generousimpersonal tenderness
means hatred and malice. Red, of all shades fromlurid
and compassion to all who are in need. With a touch
brick-red to brilliant scarlet, indicates anger ; brutal anger
of the blued-dwoti.on, in it, this may express a strong
will show as flashes of lurid red from dark brown clouds,
realisation of the universalbrotherhood of humanity.
while the anger of " nobleindignation " is a vivid
Deep orange imports pride or ambition, and the various
scarlet, byno meansunbeautiful,though it gives an
shades ofyellow denote intellect or intellectual grati-
unpleasantthrill ; a particularly dark andunpleasant
fication, dull yellow ochre implying the direction of such
red,almostexactly the colourcalled dragon's blood,
faculty to selfishpurposes, whilecleargambogeshows
showsanimalpassionandsensual desire of various
a distinctly higher type, and paleluminousprimrose
kinds. Clear brown (almost burnt sienna) shows avarice ;
yellow is a sign of the highest and most unselfish use of
hard dull brown-grey is a sign of selfishness-a
colourwhich is indeedpainfullycommon ; deep heavy intellectualpower, the pure reasondirected to spiritual
grey signifiesdepression,while a lividpale grey is ends. The different shades ofblue all indicate religious
associatedwithfear ; grey-green is a signal of deceit, feeling, and range through all hues from the dark brown-
whilebrownish-green(usuallyflecked with points and blue of selfish devotion, or the pallid grey-blue of fetish-
32
3
 l

34 THOUGHT-FORMS T H E MEANING OF T H E COLOURS 35

l
worship tinged withfear,up to the rich deep clear downwards, and it draws rounditself a bodyof astral
colour of heartfelt adoration, and the beautiful pale azure matter in addition to its clothing of mentalmatter.
of that highest form which implies self-renunciation and Such a thought-form is capable of acting upon the
unionwith the divine ; the devotional thought of an astral bodies of other men as well as their minds, so
unselfish heart is verylovely in colour,like the deep that it cannotonlyraise thought within them,but
blue of a summersky. Through suchclouds of .blue i can also stir up their feelings.
willoften shine out golden stars . of great brilliancy,
darting upwards like a shower of sparks. A mixture
ofaffection and devotion is manifestedby a tint of
violet, and the moredelicate shades of this invariably
show the capacity of absorbing and responding to a
highandbeautifulideal. The brilliancy and the depth
lof the colours are usually a measure of the strength
and the activity of the feeling.
Another consideration whichmust notbe forgotten
3s the type of matter in which these forms are generated.
If a thought bepurelyintellectualandimpersond-
for example, if the thinker is attempting to solve a
problem in algebra orgeometry-thethought-form and
the waveof vibration will be confined entirely to the
mental plane. If, however, the thought be of a spiritual
........ . - ...
.....
. . . .
....... ..
nature, if it be tinged with love and aspiration or deep
unselfishfeeling, it will rise upwardsfrom the mental
plane and will borrowmuch
of the splendour and
glory of the buddhic level. In such a case its
influence is exceedingly powerful, and everysuch
thought is a mighty force
for
good which cannot
butproduce a decidedeffectuponallmentalbodies \
C

within reach, if they contain any quality at all capable

.of response.
If, on the other hand, the thought has in it something
lof selfor of personal desire, at once its vibration turns
 THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 37
which often passes outward and usually floats suspended
in the air before him. In the same way if he thinks of a
room, a house, a landscape, tiny images of these things
are formed within the mental body andafterwards
externalised. This is equally true whenhe is exercising
his imagination ; the painter who forms a conception of
' his futurepicturebuilds it upoutof the matterof his
.i mental body,.and then projects it into space in front of
THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS him,keeps it beforehismind'seye, andcopies it. The
' novelist in the same waybuildsimages of his character
FROM the point ofviewof the formswhichtheypro- in mental matter, and by the exercise ofhis will moves
duce we may group thought into three classes :- these puppets from one position or grouping to another,
I. That which takes the imageof the thinker. When so that the plot of his story is literally acted out before
a man thinks ofhimself as in some distantplace,or him. With our curiouslyinvertedconceptionsofreality
wishes earnestly to be in that place, he makes a thought- it is hard for us to understand that these mental images
formin his ownimagewhich appearsthere.Such a actuallyexist,and are so entirelyobjective that they
form has not infrequently been seen by others, and has may readily be seen by the clairvoyant, and can even be
sometimes been taken for the astral body or apparition rearranged bysomeone other than their creator. Some
of the man himself. In such a case, either the seer must
.
novelists have been dimly aware of such a process, and
have enough of clairvoyance for the time to be able to havetestified that theircharacters whenoncecreated
observe that astralshape,orthethought-formmusthave .'
developed a will of their own, and insisted on carrying
sufficientstrength tomaterialiseitself-that is, to draw the plot of the story along lines quite differentfrom those
... . . ..
rounditselftemporarily a certainamount of physical
"ii..

.. .

originallyintendedby the author. This hasactually

matter. The thought which generates such a form as happened,sometimesbecause the thought-formswere ,'
this must necessarilybe a strong one,and it therefore ensouled by playful nature-spirits, or more often because
employs a larger proportion of the matter of the mental some 'dead ' novelist, watching on the astral plane thei
body, so that though the form is smallandcompressed developmentof the planof his fellow-author, thought;
when it leaves the thinker, it draws round it a consider- that he could improve upon it, and ,chose this method of!
ableamount of astralmatter,andusuallyexpandsto putting forward his suggestions.
life-sizebefore it appears at its destination.
3. That which takes a form entirely its own, expressing
2. That which takes the image ofsomematerial
its inherent qualities in the matter which it draws round
object.When a man thinks of hisfriendheforms
it. Only thought-forms of thisthirdclasscanusefully
withinhismentalbody a minuteimageof that friend,
36

l
 1
l

l
38 THOUGHT-FORMS I T H R E E C L A S S E S O F T H O U G H T - F O R M S 39
be illustrated, for to represent those of the first or second him, though she knowsnot the method by which her
classwouldbemerely to draw portraits or landscapes. “ prayer is answered.”

In those types we have the plasticmental or astral In casesin which good or evil thoughts are projected
matter moulded in imitation of formsbelonging to the at individuals, those thoughts, if they are to directly fulfil
physical plane ; in this third group we have a glimpse of their mission, must find, in the aura of the object to whom
the forms natural tothe astral or mentalplanes.Yet they are sent, materialscapable of respondingsympa-
this veryfact,whichmakesthem so interesting, places thetically to their vibrations. Any combination of matter
an insuperable barrier in the way of their accurate can only vibrate within certain definite limits, and if the
reproduction. thought-form be outside all the limits withinwhich the
Thought-forms of this third classalmostinvariably aura is capable of vibrating, it cannot affect that aura at
manifestthemselvesupon the astral plane, as the vast all. I t consequentlyreboundsfromit, and that with a
majority of them are expressions of feeling as well as of force proportionate to the energy with which it impinged
thought. Those ofwhichwe here give specimens-are upon it. This is why ‘it is said that a pure heart and
almost whollyof that class,except that we take a few mind are the best protectors against any inimical assaults,
examples of the ‘beautiful thought-forms created in forsuch a pure heart and mind will construct an astral
definite meditation by those who, through long practice, and a mental body of fine and subtle materials, and these
have learnt how to think. bodies cannot respond to vibrations that demand coarse
Thought-forms directed towardsindividualsproduce and dense matter. If an evil thought, projectedwith
definitely
marked effects, these effectsbeing either malefic intent, strikes such a body, it canonlyrebound
partially reproduced in the aura of the recipient and-so ,-fromit, and it is flung back with all its own energy ; it
increasing the total result, or repelled from it. A thought then fliesbackward along the magneticline of least
. .
p-....
.... -......
-
. of love and of desire to protect, directed strongly towards resistance, that which it has just traversed, and strikes
somebelovedobject, creates a formwhich goes to the its projector ; he, having matter in his astral and mental
person thought of, and remains in his aura as a shielding bodies similar to that of the thought-form he generated,
and protecting agent ; it will seek allopportunities to is thrown into respondent vibrations,andsuffers the
serve, and all opportunities to defend, not by a conscious destructive effects he had intended to cause to another.
and deliberate action, but by a blind following out of the Thus ‘(curses[andblessings]comehome to roost”
impulse impressed upon it, and it will strengthen friendly From this arise also the veryseriouseffects of hating
forces that impinge on the aura and weaken unfriendly or suspecting a good and highly-advanced man ; the
ones. Thus may we .create and maintain veritable thought-forms sent against him cannot injure him, and .

guardian angels round those we love, and many a they rebound against their projectors, shattering them
mother’s prayer for a distant child thus circlesround mentally,morally, or physically. Several such instances

\
 T H R E E CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 41
proximity of those who are beloved. The feeling which
gives birth to such a cloud is pure of its kind, but there
is in it noforcecapable of producingdefiniteresults.
An appearance by no meansunlike this frequently
surrounds a gently purring cat, and radiates slowly out-
ward from the animal in a series of gradually enlarging
concentric shells of rosy cloud, fading into invisibility at
a distance of a few feet from. their drowsilycontented
creator.
V a p e Se@sh A#ection.-Fig. g shows us also a cloud
of affection, but this time it is deeply tinged with a far
less
desirable
feeling. The dullhardbrown-grey of
selfishness shows itself very decidedly amongthe carmine
of love,and 'thus we see thatthe affectionwhich is
indicated is closely connected with satisfaction at favours
already received, and with a lively anticipation of others
to come in the near future. Indefinite as was the feeling
which produced the cloud in Fig. 8, it was at least free
from this taint of selfishness, and it therefore showed a
certain nobility of nature in its author. Fig. 9 represents
what takes the place of that condition of mind at a lower
level of evolution. It wouldscarcelybepossible that
these two clouds shouldemanate from the same person in
the same incarnation. Yet there is good in the man who
generates this second cloud, thoughas yet it is but partially --
evolved. A vast amount of the average affectionof the
world is of this type, and it is only by slow degrees that it
develòps towards the other and higher manifestation.
Dejaite A'ectiolr.--Even the first glance at Fig. IO
shows us that here we have to deal with something of an
entirely different nature-something effective and capable,
something that will achieve a result. The colour is fullv
 THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 45
manifesting to our eyes the first faint flutter of one at
least of the twin wings of devotion and wisdom, by the
use of which the soul flies upward to God from whom it
came.
Strange is it to note under what varied circumstances
this vaguebluecloudmaybe seen ; and oftentimes its
absence speaks moreloudly than its presence. For in
many a fashionable place of worship we seek it in vain,
and find instead of it a vast conglomeration of thought-
forms of that second type which takethe shape of
materialobjects. Instead of tokens of devotion, we see
floating above the '' worshippers " the astral images of
hats and bonnets, of jewellery and gorgeous dresses, of
horses and of carriages, of whisky-bottles and of Sunday
dinners, and sometimesof whole rows of intricate calcula-
tions, showing that men and women alike have had during
their supposedhours of prayer and praiseno thoughts
but of business or of pleasure, of the desires orthe
anxieties of the lowerformof mundane existence.
Yet sometimes in a humbler fane, in a church belong-
ing to the unfashionable Catholic or Ritualist, or even in
a lowly meeting-house wherethere is but little of learning
or of culture, one may watch the deep blue clouds rolling
ceaselessly eastward towards the altar, or upwards, testi-
fying at least to the earnestness and the reverence of
those who give them birth. Rarely-very
rarely-
among the clouds of blue will flash like a lance cast by
the hand of a giant such a thought-form as is shown in
Fig, I 5 ; or such a flower of self-renunciation as we see
in Fig. 16 mayfloatbefore our ravished eyes ; but in
most cases we must seek elsewhere for these signs of a
higher development.
l

THREE CLASSES OF, THOUGHT-FORMS47

1
the mentalplane than on the astral ; and yeteven its
glory at the mental level is ineffably transcended by that
of the buddhicplane.Normallyeach of these mighty
waves of influence 'spreads about its appropriate plane-
horizontally, as it were-but it does notpass into the
obscuration 0f.a planelower than that forwhich it was
originally intended.
Yet there are conditionsunder which the grace and
strength peculiar to a higher plane may in a measure be
brought down to a lowerone, and may spread abroad
there withwonderfuleffect. This seems to bepossible
only when a special channel is for the moment opened ;
and that work must be done from below and by the effort
of man. It has beforebeenexplained that whenever a
man's thought orfeeling is selfish; the energy which it
producesmoves in a close curve, and thus inevitably
returns and expends itself upon its own level ; but when
the thought or feeling is absolutely unselfish, its energy
rushes forth in an open curve, and thus does not return
in the ordinary sense, but pierces through into the plane
above,becauseonly in that higher condition,with its
1 additional
dimension,
can it find
room
for its expansion.
But in thus breaking through, such a thought or feeling
holds open a door (to speak symbolically) of-dimension
equivalent to its own diameter, and thus furnishes the
requisite channel through which the divine force
appropriate to the higher planecanpouritself into the *

lower with marvellousresults,notonly for the thinker

but for others. An attempt is made in Fig. 17 to sym-
bolise this, and to indicate the great truth that an infinite
flood of the higher type of force is alwaysreadyand
waiting to pour through when, the channel is offered, just

--. .............. .
 48 THOUGHT-FORMS THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 49

as the water in a cistern maybe said to bewaiting to somewhat similar to the action of those thoughts. Since
pour through the first pipe that may be opened. the universe is itself a mighty thought-form called into
The result of the descent of divine life is a very existence by the LOGOS, it may well be that tiny parts of
great strengthening anduplifting of the maker of the it are also the thought-forms of minor entities engaged
. channel, and the spreading all about him of a most in the same work ; and thus perhaps wemay approach
powerful and beneficentinfluence. This effect has often a comprehension of what is meant by the three hundred
been called an answer to prayer, and has been attributed and thirty million Devas of the Hindus.
by the ignorant to what they call a “ special interposition This form is of the loveliest pale azure, with a glory
of Providence,” instead of to the unerring action of the ,of whitelight shining through it-somethingindeed to
great and immutable divine law. tax the skill even of the indefatigable artist who worked
Sedf-Re.nlmciat.--Fig. 16 gives us yet another so hard to get them as nearly right as possible. I t is .

form of devotion, producing an exquisitely beautiful form what a Catholic would call a definite.“ act of devotion ”-
of a type quite new to us-a type in which one might at better still, an act of utter selflessness, of self-surrender
first sight suppose that various graceful shapes belonging and renunciation.
to animate nature werebeingimitated. Fig. 16, for
example, is somewhat suggestive of a partially opened INTELLECT
flower-bud, while other forms are found to bear a certain
resemblance to shells or leaves or tree-shapes.Mani- V a p e Iizteddectuad Plemre.-Fig. I S represents a
festly,however, these are not and cannotbecopies of vague cloudof the same order as those shown in Figs.
vegetable or animal forms, and it seems probable that the 8 and 14, but in this case .the colour is yellow
explanation of the similarity lies very much deeper than instead of crimson or blue.Yellowin any ofman’s
that. A n analogous and evenmoresignificantfactis vehiclesalwaysindicatesintellectualcapacity,but its
that someverycomplexthought-formscanbeexactly shades varyvery much, and it may becomplicated
imitated by the action of certain mechanical forces,as has by the admixture of other.,hues.Generally speaking,
beensaidabove. While with our present knowledge it it has a deeper and duller tint if the intellect is directed
would be unwise toattempt a solution of the very fascinat- chiefly
into
lower
channels,moreespecially if the
ing problem presented by these remarkable resemblances, objects are selfish. In the astral or mentalbody of the
it seems likely that we are obtaining a glimpse across the average man of business it would-show itself as yellow
threshold of a verymightymystery,for if by certain ochre,
whilepure
intellect
devoted to the study of
thoughts we produce a formwhich has been duplicated philosophy or mathematics appears freque.ntly to be
by the processes of nature, we have at least a presump- golden, and this rises gradually to a beautiful clear and
tion that these forces of nature work along lines luminouslemon or. primrose yellowwhen a powerful .

4
 THREE CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 57
shop-windowmaybeseen thus protruding astral crav-
ings through the glass.
Greed for DrinA-In Fig. 29 we have another
variant of the samepassion,perhaps at- an evenmore
degraded and animallevel. This specimen was taken
from the astral body of a man just as he entered at the
door of a drinking-shop ; the expectation of and the
keen desire for the liquor which he was about to absorb
l
showeditself in the projection in front ofhimof this
1 veryunpleasantappearance.Oncemore the hooked
protrusions show the craving, while the colourand the
coarse mottled texture show the low and sensual nature
of the' appetite. Sexual desiresfrequentlyshow them-
selves in an exactlysimilarmanner. Menwho give
birth to forms such as this are as yet but little removed
from the animal ; as they rise in the scale of evolution
the place of this formwill gradually be taken by some-
thing resembling that shown in Fig. 13, and very
slowly, as development advances, that in turn will pass
through the stages indicated in Figs. g and 8, until
at last all selfishness is cast out, and the desire to have
has been transmuted into the desire to give, andwe arrive
at the splendid results shown in Figs. I I and IO.

VARIOUS EMOTIONS

At a Sh@wrecK.-Very serious is the panic which has

occasioned the very interesting group of thought-forms
which are depicted in Fig. 30. They were seen simul-
l taneously, arranged exactly as represented, though in the
midst of indescribable confusion,so their relative positions
have been retained, though in explaining them it will be
 THREE CLASSES O F THOUGHT-FORMS 63
hends the facts of the case. It will be observed
that the two have nosingleemotion in common ;
in the formercaseallwasdespondencyandhorror,
while in this case wefind nonebllt the highest and.
mostbeautifulsentiments. At the base of the thought-.
formwefind a full expression of deep sympathy, the
lighter green indicatingappreciation of the suffering
of the mourners and condolencewiththem,while the.
band of deeper green shows the attitude of the thinker
towards the dead manhimself. The deep rose-colour,
exhibits affection towards both the dead and the living,
while the upper part of the cone and the stars which
rise from it testify tothe feelingaroused within the
thinker by the consideration of the subject of death, the
blueexpressing its devotionalaspect,while the violet
shows the thought of, and the power to respondto, a
nobleideal, and the golden stars denote the spiritual
aspirations which its contemplation calls
forth. The
band of clear yellow which is seen in the centre of this
thought-form is verysignificant, as indicating that the
man'swhole attitude is baseduponandpromptedby
his intellectual comprehension of the situation, and this.
is alsoshownby the regularity of the arrangement of
the colours and the definiteness of the lines of demar-
cationbetweenthem.
The comparisonbetween the twoillustrations shown
in this plate is surely a very impressive testimony to the
value of the knowledgegivenby the theosophical
.

teaching.Undoubtedly this knowledge of thetruth

takes away all fear of death, and makes life easier to live
because we understand its object and its end,and we
realise that death is. a perfectlynaturalincident in its

...... . . . . . . - .. - . . .
... I. ... . . ' I .

...
 -- ! . -

T H R E E CLASSES O F T H O U G H T - F O R M S 65
if to embrace him. The rosecolour naturally betokens
the affection felt, the light green shows the depth of the
sympathy which exists, and the clear yellow is a sign of
the intellectual pleasure withwhich the creator of the
thought anticipates the revival of delightful reminiscences
of days long gone by.
The AMreciatwlt of a .Pictwe.-In Fig. 36 we have
a somewhat complexthought-form representing the
delighted appreciation of a beautifulpictureupon a
religioussubject. The strong pure yellow marks the
beholder’s enthusiastic recognition of the technical
skill of the artist, while all the other colours are
expressions of the various emotions evoked withinhim
by the examination of so glorious a work of art. Green
shows his sympathy with the central figure in the
picture, deep devotion appears notonlyin the broad
band of blue,but also in the outline of theentire
figure,while the violettells us thatthe picture has
raised, the man’s thought to the contemplation of a
loftyideal, and has made him, at least for the time,
capable of responding to it. We have herethe first
.. specimen of an interesting class of thought-forms of which
we shall find abundant examples later-that in which
light of one colour shines out through a network of lines
ofsome quite different hue. I t will be noted that in I

this casefrom the mass of violet there risemany

wavy lines
which
flow like rivulets over a golden
plain ; and this makes it clear that the loftiest aspira-
tion is,by no means vague, but is thoroughly supported
by anintellectual grasp of the situation and a clear
comprehension of the method bywhich it canbe put
into effect.
5

il
r
, .,.. . . , , ,,” :, .,, .. ...1 .. ,..* .-...- .”-- . .. m
 T H R E E CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 67
form was generated by one who was trying, while sitting
in meditation, to fill his mind with an aspiration to enfold
I
all mankind in order to draw them upward towards the
II
highideal which shone so clearly before his eyes,
Therefore it is that the formwhich heproduces seems
to rush out from him, to curve round upon itself, and to
return to its base ; therefore it is that the marvellously
finelines are drawn in lovelyluminousviolet, and that
from within the form there shines out a glorious golden
light which it is unfortunately quite impossible to re-
produce. For the truth is that all these apparently
intricate lines are in reality only one line circling round
the form again and again withunweariedpatience and
wonderfulaccuracy. It .is scarcelypossible that any
human hand could make such a drawing as this on this
scale, and in any case the effect of its colours could not
beshown,for it will beseenbyexperiment that if an
attempt be made to draw fine violet lines close together
upon a yellow background a grey effect at once appears,
and all likeness to the. original is destroyed. But what
cannot be done by hand may sometimes be achieved by
the superior accuracy and delicacyof a machine, and i t
is in this way that the drawing wasmadefromwhich
ourillustration is reproduced,-withsome attempt to
represent the coloureffect as well as the wonderful
delicacyof the lines and curves.
1%the S k DiYections.-The form represented in Fig.
39 is the result of another endeavour to extendlove
and sympathy in all directions-an effort almost precisely
similar to that which gave birth to Fig. 37, though the
effectseems so different. The reasons for this variety
and for the curious shape taken in this case constitute a
 T H R E E CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 69
wasobviously a Theosophist,andit will beseenthat
when he endeavours to think of the action of spirit upon
matter heinstinctively follows the same line of symbolism.
as that depicted in the well-known seal of the Society,
Here wehaveanupward-pointingtriangle, signifying
the threefold aspect of theSpint, interlacedwith the
downward-pointing triangle, which indicates matter with
itsthreeinherent qualities.Usuallywerepresent the
upward triangle in white or gold, andthe downward-
pointing one in some darker hue such as. blue or black,
butit is noteworthythat in this case the thinker is so
entirely occupied with the intellectualendeavour, that
no colour but yellow isexhibitedwithin the form.
There is no room as yet for emotions of devotion, of
wonder, or of admiration ; the idea which he wishes to.
realise fills his mind entirely, to the exclusion of all else.
Still the definiteness of the outline a s it standsout
against its
background of rays shows that hehas
achieved a high measure of success.
................
The Logos as manzyested in Man.-We arenow
d- . .... ..
....
coming to a series of thoughts which are among the very
highest the humanmindcanform,wheninmeditation
upon the divine source of its being. When the man in
reverent contemplatiqn triestoraisehisthought to-
wardsthe LOGOSof oursolarsystem, he naturally
makes no attempt to image to himself that august Being ;
nor does hethink of Him as in any waypossessing
such form as wecancomprehend. Neverthelesssuch
thoughts build forms for themselves in the matter of t h e
mentalplane ; and it will be of interestforus to ex-
aminethose forms. In our illustrationin Fig. 41 we
have a thought of the LOGOSas manifested in man,
 70 THOUGHT-FORMS
with the devotionalaspiration that H e may thus be
D
manifested through the thinker. It is this devotional
-feelingwhich gives the paleblue tinge to. the five-
pointed star, and its shape is significant, since it has been
employed for many ages as a symbol of God manifest in
-man. The thinker may perhaps have been a Freemason,
and his knowledge of the symbolism employed by that
body may have had its share in the shaping of the star.
II It will be seen that thestar is surrounded by bright
-yellowrays shining out amidst a cloud of glory, which
.denotes not only the reverential understanding of the
II surpassing -glory of the'Deity, but also a distinct
intellectual
effort in addition to the outpouring of
devotion.
The Logos#ervaa?i~g'aZL-Our next three Figures are
devoted to the effort to represent a thought of a very
high type-an endeavour to think of the LOGOSas per-
vading allnature. Here again, as in Fig. 38, it is im-
possible to give a full reproduction, andwe must call upon
-our readers for an effort of the imaginationwhichshall
....
-..
........... . . ........ -to some extent supplement the deficiencies of .the arts of
drawing and printing. The golden ball depicted in Fig.
-42 must be thought of as inside the other ball of delicate
lines (bluein colour) which is drawnin Fig. 44. Any effort
t o place the colours in such intimate juxtaposition on the
physical plane results simply in producing a green blur,
:so that the whole character of the thought-form is lost.
It is only by means of the machine before mentionedthat
it is at all possible to represent the grace and the delicacy
.of the lines. As before, a single lineproducesall the
.wonderful tracery of Fig. 44, and the effect of the four
radiating lines making a sort of cross of light is merely
 f:
I-
I
I.
T H R E E CLASSES OF THOUGHT-FORMS 71
due to the fact that the curves are not really concentric,
although at first sight they appear to be so.
Another Conception.-Fig. 45 exhibits the form pro-
duced by another person when trying to hold exactly the
same thought. Here also we have an amazing complexity
of almost inconceivably delicate blue lines, and here also
our imagination must be called upon to insert the golden
globe from Fig. 42, so that its glory may shine through
at every point. Here also, as in Fig. 44, we have that
curious and beautiful pattern, resembling somewhat the
damascening on ancient Oriental swords, or that which is
seen uponwateredsilk or moire ant+ue. When this
form is drawn by the pendulum, the pattern is not in any
way intentionally produced, but simply comesas a conse-
quence of the crossing of the innumerable microscopically
finelines. It is evident that the thinker who created
the form upon Fig. 44 must have held in his mind most
prominently the unity of the LOGOS, while he who gener-
atedthe form in Fig. 45 has as clearly in mind the
subordinate centres through which the divine life pours
forth,
and
many of these subordinate centres have
accordingly represented themselves in the thought-
form.
The ThreefoZà! Ma~zyestatio~.-When the form em-
ployed in Fig. 46 was made, its creator was endeavouring
to think of the LOGOSin His threefoldmanifestation.
l
The vacant space in the centre of the form was a blinding
glow ofyellow light, and this clearlytypified the First
Aspect,while the Second wassymbolisedby the broad
i ring of closely-knitted and almost bewildering lines which
surround this centre, while the Third Aspect is suggested
by the narrow outer ring which seems more loosely woven.
 T H R E E C L A S S E S OF THOUGHT-FORMS 73
of Holiness, for he has learnt how to use the power of
thought to very mighty effect. It will be noted that in
both the colours there is a strong admixture of the white
light which always indicates unusual spiritual power.
Surely the study of these thought-forms should be a:
most impressive object-lesson, since from it wemay see
both what to avoid and what to cultivate, and may learn
by degrees to appreciate how tremendous is our responsi-
bilityfor the exercise of this mighty power. Indeed it
is terribly true, as we said in the beginning, that thoughts
are things, and puissant things ; and it behoves us to
remember that every one of us is generating them un-
ceasingly night and day. See how great is the happiness
this knowledge brings to us, and how gloriously we can
utilise it whenweknowof someone in sorroworin
suffering.Oftencircumstances arise which prevent u s
from giving physicalhelp either byword or deed,
however, much we may desire to do so ; but there is no
case in which help by thought may not be given, and no
case in which it canfail to produce a definite result. I t
may often happen that at the moment our friend may be
too entirely occupied with his own suffering, or perhaps
toomuchexcited, to receive and accept any suggestion
fromwithout,butpresently a timecomeswhen our
thought-form can penetrate and discharge itself, and then
assuredlyoursympathy will produce its dueresult. It
is indeed true thatthe responsibility of using such a.
power is great, yet we should not shrink from our duty
on that account. It is sadly truethat there are many
menwho are unconsciously using their thought-power
chieflyforevil,yet this onlymakes it all the more
necessary that those of us who are beginning to under-

. .
 FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC 75
up. I n this way many details could be checked and com-
pared as from opposite ends of the line, and the nature
of the influence communicated offered another means of
verification.Upon one occasion A. was disturbed inhis
endeavour to send a thought of the blue-pink connotation,
by a feeling of anxiety that thenature of the pink element
shouldnotbemisapprehended. The report of B. was
that a .well-defined globe as in Fig. 54 was first seen, but
that this suddenlydisappeared, being replaced by a
movingprocessionof little light-greentriangles, as in
Fig. 53. These few drawings give but a slightidea of
the variedflower-likeandgeometricformsseen,while
neither paintnorcrayon-workseemscapable of repre-
senting the glowingbeauty of their livingcolours.”

FORMSBUILTBY MUSIC
Before closing this little treatise it will perhaps beof
interest to our readers to give a few examples of another
type of forms unknown to those who are confined to the
physical senses as their means of obtaining information.
Many people are aware that sound is always associated
withcolour-thatwhen,forexample, a musical noteis
sounded, a flashof colourcorresponding to it maybe
seen by thosewhosefiner senses are already to some
extent developed. It seems not to be so generally
known that soundproducesform as well as colour, and
that every piece of music leaves behind it an impression
of this nature, .whichpersists for some considerable time,
and is clearly visible and intelligible to those who have
eyes tosee.Such a shape is perhaps nottechnically a
thought-form-unless indeed we take it, as we well may,

.... .
 I

FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC 77

76 THOUGHT-FORMS
as the result of the thought of the composer expressed the forms built
by different pieces ofmusic under
by means of the skill of the musician through his differentconditions, so that the most that canbedone
instrument. within any reasonable compass is to give a few examples
Some suchforms are very striking and impressive, of the leading types. It has beendecidedfor the pur-
and naturally their variety is infinite. Each class of poses of this book to limit these to three, to take types
music has its own type ofform, and the style of the of music presenting readilyrecognisablecontrasts,and
composer shows as clearly in the formwhich his music for the sake of simplicity in comparison to present them
builds as a man's character shows in his handwriting. all as they appeared
when played
upon the same
Other possibilities of variation are introduced by the instrument-averyfinechurchorgan. In each of our
kind of instrument uponwhich the music is performed, Plates the churchshows as well as the thought-form
and also by the merits of the player. The samepiece which towers far into the air above it ; and it should be
of music if accurately played will always build the same remembered that though the drawings are onvery
form, but that form will be enormously larger when it is different scales the church is the same in all three cases,
played upon a church organ or by a military band tharl and consequently the relative size of the sound-form can
when it is performed upon a piano, and not only the size easily becalculated. The actual height of the tower of
butalsothe texture of the resultant form will bevery the church is just under a hundred feet, so it will be seen
different. There will also be a similardifference in thatthe sound-formproducedby a powerful organ is
texture between the result of a piece ofmusicplayed enormous in size.
upon a violinand the samepieceexecutedupon the Such formsremain as coherent erectionsforsome
flute.Again, the excellence of the performancehas its considerable time-an hour or two at least ; and during
effect, and there is a wonderfuldifferencebetween the all that time they are radiating forth their characteristic
radiant beauty of the formproducedby the work of a vibrations in every direction, just as our thought-forms
true artist, perfectalike in expression and execution, do ; and if the music be good, the effect of those vibra-
.*'- and the comparatively dull and undistinguished-looking tions cannot but be uplifting to every man upon whose
one which represents the effort of the wooden and vehiclestheyplay. Thus the communityowes a very
mechanicalplayer. Anything likeinaccuracy in render- real debt of gratitude to the musicianwhopoursforth
ing naturally leaves a corresponding defect in the form, suchhelpful
influences,
for he mayaffect
for
good
so that the exact character of the performanceshows
hundreds whom henever saw and will never know
itself justas clearly tothe clairvoyant spectator as it upon the physicalplane.
does to the auditor. Mededssok-The first of such forms, a comparatively
It is obvious that, if timeandcapacity permitted, smallandsimpleone, is drawnforus in Plate M. It
hundreds ofvolumes might befilled with drawings of willbe seen that we have here a shape roughly repre-

.... . .
 I

a
FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC 79
moving approximately together denoting the treble,
alto, tenor and bassrespectively,thoughthey do not.
necessarily appear in that order in this astral form.
Here it is necessary to interpolate a still further ex-
planation. Even with a melody so comparatively
simple as this there are tints and shades fartoofinely.
modulated to be reproduced on any scale at 'all within;
our reach; therefore it must be said that each of the
short lines expressing a note has a colour of its own,
so that although as a whole that outer line gives an
impression of blueness, and the one next within it of
carmine, each yet varies in every inch of its length ; so
that whatisshown is not a correctreproduction of
every tint, but only the general impression.
The two sets of fourlines whichseem to cross one
another are caused by twosections of the melody ;
lI the scalloped edging surrounding the whole is the result
-! of'..various flourishesand arpeggios, and the floating .
crescents in the centre represent isolated or staccato
chords.Naturally the arpeggios are notwhollyviolet,
for each loop has a different hue, but on the whole they
approach more nearly to that colour than to any other,
The height of this form above the tower of the church,
is probably a little over a hundred feet ; but since it also
extends downwards through the roofof the church its
S
total perpendicular diameter may well be about a hundred
and fifty feet. It is produced by one of Mendelssohn's
Lieder ohne Wörte," and is characteristic of the delicate
filigree-work which so often appears as the result or
d
his compositions.
The wholeform is seen projected against a coruscat-
ing . background of many colours, which is in reality a

. .
. . . . .
. .
 FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC 81

able to see. Nevertheless it is possible to discern

something of the processwhichbuilds the form,and
the easiestpoint at which to commence is the lowest
on the lefthand as oneexamines the Plate. The large
violetprotrusion there is evidently the openingchord
of a phrase, and if wefollow the outer line of the form
upwardandround the circumference wemay obtain
someidea of the character of that phrase. A close
inspection will reveal two other lines further in which run
roughlyparallel to this outer one, and showsimilar
successions of colour on a smaller scale, and these may
well indicate a softer repetition of the same phrase.
Carefulanalysis of this nature willsoonconvinceus
that there is a veryreal order in this seemingchaos,
and we shallcome to see that if it werepossible to
make a reproduction of this glowing glory that should
be accurate down to the smallest detail, it would also
be possible patiently to disentangle it to the uttermost,
and to assign every lovelytouch of coruscatingcolour
to the verynote that called it into existence. It must
notbe forgotten that veryfarless detail is given in
this illustration than in Plate M ; for example,each of
these points or projectionshas within it as integral
parts, at least the four lines or bands of varying colour
whichwereshown as separate in Plate M, but here
they are blended into oneshade, and only the general
effect
of the chord is given. In M we combined
horizontally,and tried to show, the characteristics of a
number of successive notes blended into one,but to
keepdistinct the effectof the foursimultaneous parts
by using a differently-colouredlineforeach. In G
we attempt exactly the reverse,for we combine verti-
6
 .x-

4
,

FORMS BUILT BY MUSIC 83

c

resplendentradiance over all the country round.Yet

ineach of these masses of colour other colours. are
constantlyflickering, as they do over the surface of
moltenmetal, so that the coruscations and scintillations
of these wondrous astral edifices are farbeyond the
power of any physicalwords to describe.
A striking fmture in this form is the radical difference
between the two types ofmusicwhichoccur in it, one
producing the angular rockymasses, and the other the
roundedbillowycloudswhichliebetweenthem. Other
motgs are shownby the broadbands of blue and
rose and green which appear at the base of the bell,
and the meanderinglines of white and yellowwhich
quiver across them are probably produced by a rippling
arpeggio accompaniment.
In these three Plates only the form createddirectly
by the sound-vibrations has been drawn, though as seen
by the clairvoyant it is usually surrounded by many other
I
minorforms, the result of the personalfeelings. of the
-I performer or of the emotions aroused among the audience
by the music. To recapitulatebriefly : in Plate Ad
.....
we have a small and comparativelysimple formpour-
trayed in considerable detail, something of the effectof
eachnote being given ; in Plate G we have a more
elaborate form of verydifferent character delineated
with less detail, since no attempt is made to render the
separate notes, but onlyto show how each chord expresses
itself in form and colour ; in Plate W we have a still
greater andricherform, in the depiction of which. all
detail is avoided, in order that the full effect of the piece
as a whole may be approximately given.
Naturally everysoundmakes its impressionupon

. . . . .. . . .. . .. . .. . . .., . ..

. .
..,
.. .
.
 L . I m -
.

. .
*
'J .
e.
h
'-
1,
+
qe

84 THOUGHT-FORMS
astral andmentalmatter-not
only
those ordered
successions of sounds whichwe call music. Some .day,
perhaps, the forms built by those other less euphonious
D'
sounds may be pictured for us, though they are beyond
the scope of this treatise ; meantime, those who feel an
interest inthemmayread an account of them in the
* . little book on .The H&R Si& of .Thiags.l
It is well for us ever to bear in mind that there is a
. hidden side to life-thateach act and word and thought
has its consequence in the.unseen world which is always
so near to us, and that usually these unseen results are
of infinitely greater importancethan those which. are
visible to allupon the physicalplane. The wise man,
knowingthis, orders hislifeaccordingly, .and 'takes
account of the whole of the world-in which he lives, and
not of the outer husk'of it only. Thus he saves himself
an infinity of trouble, and makes his life not only happier
butfarmoreuseful to. his fellow-men.But to do this
. impliesknowledge-thatknowledgewhich is power ;
and in our Western world such knowledge is practically
obtainable only through the literature of Theosophy.
.... .... -.-.-
To exist is not enough ; we desire to live intelligently.
'

.
But to live we must know, and to know we must study ;
and here is a vast field 'open before us, if wewillonly
m

enter upon it and gather thence the fruits of enlighten-

ment. Let us, then,waste nomoretime in the dark
dungeons of ignorance,butcomeforthboldly into the
glorious sunshine of that divine wisdomwhichin these
,modern days men call Theosophy.
By C. W.Leadbeater.
J

._._-

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*?'

. . .