From the previous presentations, it appears that instances of “intervention” in human affairs by invisible agents, which occur from time to time and are, of course, quite inexplicable from the worldly standpoint, may readily be explained rationally by one who understands something of the emotional plane and its possibilities.
In the East, the existence of “invisible helpers” has consistently been recognised; even in Europe, we have had the old Greek stories of the interference of gods in human affairs and the Roman legend that Castor and Pollux led the legions of the infant republic in the Battle of Lake Regillus. In medieval times, many stories of saints appeared during critical moments. They turned the fortune of war in favour of the Christian hosts — such as St. James having led the Spanish troops — and guardian angels who sometimes saved a traveller from danger or even death.
Several classes of inhabitants of the finer planes of matter may help human monads. It may come from nature spirits, devas, the physically dead, or those who, while still alive physically, can function freely on the emotional plane.
There are few cases in which nature spirits help Humanity. Nature spirits, as has been mentioned, mostly shun the haunts of Humanity, disliking our emanations, our bustling lives and our unrest. Also, excepting some of their higher orders, they are generally inconsequent and thoughtless, more like happy children at play than grave and responsible entities. As a rule, they can not be relied upon for something like steady co-operation in this class of work, though occasionally, one of them will become attached to a human being and do them many good turns.
The work of the Adept, or Master, lies chiefly upon the arupa or causal levels of the mental plane. He may influence the actual individualities of Humanity and not the mere personality, which is all that can be reached in the emotional or physical world. Therefore, He rarely finds working on the emotional plane necessary or desirable.
The same consideration applies to devas, those of this class of entity, who sometimes respond to Humanity’s higher yearnings or appeals, working on the mental plane rather than the emotional or physical, and more frequently in the periods between incarnations than during physical existence. Indeed, how these devas would enter the subjective bubbles of a monad on the mental plane is unclear. If the monad were focused in its 47:4 permanent molecule, the Mental World would be objectively visible, and the possibilities for interaction would dramatically increase.
Help is sometimes given by those who have recently died physically and who remain still in close touch with earthly affairs. It must be understood, however, that the amount of such help must, in the nature of things, be exceedingly limited because the more unselfish and helpful a person is, the less likely are they to be found after death lingering in full consciousness on the lower levels of the emotional plane, from which the earth is most readily accessible. I have heard reports of dead Japanese soldiers communicating with and assisting their living comrades, fighting in the Jungles of South East Asia. These were treacherous environments, and Allied forces noted that the Japanese could navigate through these environments with surprising ease. For a dead person to influence someone still living physically, the latter must be susceptible, or the would-be helper must possess a certain amount of knowledge and skill. These conditions are fulfilled only very rarely.
It follows that helping on the emotional and lower mental planes is chiefly in the hands of pupils of the Masters and any others sufficiently evolved to function consciously upon these two planes. The good old days of bumping into your Master are long gone. A 45-Self cannot deal with the number of aspirants beginning to walk the path. If contact is to be made, it would be through one of the Master’s disciples. Of even greater significance is the establishment of the New Group of World Servers, who are slowly being constituted to work from the casual and mental planes in support of the further development of Humanity.
Varied as this class of work on the emotional plane is, it is all directed to the one great end of furthering evolution. Occasionally, it is connected with the development of the lower kingdoms, including the elemental, vegetable, and animal, which can be accelerated under certain conditions. In fact, in some cases, it is only through connection with or use by Humanity that the progress of these lower kingdoms occurs. Thus, for example, an animal can individualise only through certain classes of animals that we have domesticated. This may not apply to whales and dolphins. I have not met any domesticated Humpback Whales. By far, the largest and most important part of the work is connected to Humanity in some way, chiefly with our spiritual development, though very rarely, even purely physical assistance, may be given.
In the classic book on the subject, Invisible Helpers, by Charles Leadbeater, several typical examples of physical intervention are given. Sometimes, with his more expansive vision, an invisible helper can perceive a danger threatening someone and impress the idea upon the person threatened or upon a friend who will go to their assistance. In this way, shipwrecks have sometimes been prevented. At other times, the helper may materialise themselves or be materialised by a more experienced helper, sufficiently to lead someone out of danger, e.g., to take a child out of a burning building, to save someone from falling over a precipice, to bring home children who have lost their way, and so on. One instance is given where a helper, finding a boy who had fallen over a cliff and cut an artery, was materialised so that he might tie a bandage and so stop the bleeding, which otherwise would have proved fatal, another helper meanwhile impressing the idea of danger upon the boy’s mother and leading her to the spot.
How an emotional entity becomes aware of a physical cry or an accident may be asked. The answer is that any cry with a strong feeling or emotion would produce an effect on the emotional plane and convey precisely the same idea as the one on the physical plane. In the case of an accident, the rush of emotion caused by pain or fright would flame out like a great light and could not fail to attract the attention of an emotional entity if it were anywhere near.
There are three well-defined varieties of materialisation: (1) tangible, though not visible to ordinary physical sight; at séances, this is the most typical kind; it is used for moving small objects and the phenomenon of the “direct voice”. This order of matter can neither reflect nor obstruct light but, under certain conditions, can be used to produce sound. A variety of this class can affect some of the ultra-violet rays, thus enabling “spirit photographs” to be taken. (2) That which is visible but not tangible. (3) The perfect materialisation, which is both visible and tangible. Many spiritualists are familiar with all these three types.
An effort of will bring about such materialisations. This effort, directed towards changing matter from its natural state into another, temporarily opposes the cosmic will, as it were. The effort must be maintained the whole time, for if the mind is taken off for one half-second, the matter flies back to its original condition like a flash of lightning.
At spiritualistic séances, a full materialisation is usually brought about by utilising matter from the etheric and the physical bodies of the medium and the sitters. In such cases, it is clear that the very closest connection is thus set up between the medium and the materialised body. The significance of this we shall consider in a subsequent presentation.
In the case of a trained helper who finds it necessary to produce a temporary materialisation, quite another method is employed. No pupil of a master would ever be permitted to put such a strain on anyone else’s body. Such strain would occur were matter from that body used for the materialisation, nor, indeed, would such a plan be necessary. A far less dangerous method is condensing as much matter as needed from the surrounding ether or the physical air. This feat, though no doubt beyond the power of the average entity manifesting at a séance, presents no difficulty to a student of occult chemistry. In a case of this kind, whilst we have an exact reproduction of the physical body, it is created by a mental effort out of matter entirely foreign to that body. Consequently, the phenomenon known as repercussion could not possibly take place, as could happen where a form is materialised with matter drawn from a medium’s body.
Repercussion occurs when an injury inflicted upon a materialised form is reproduced, with faithful accuracy, upon the corresponding part of the medium’s body. Or it may appear, as is very common at spiritualistic séances, where chalk is rubbed on a materialised hand; after the materialised hand has vanished, the chalk is found upon the hand of the medium. An injury to a form materialised by a helper from the ether or air could no more affect the helper’s physical body by repercussion than a man could be affected by an injury to a marble statue of himself.
On that reassuring note, let us resume our look at our invisible helpers in the following presentation.