Today, we will look at the group souls of the Mineral and Vegetable kingdoms in more detail. Looking at the diagram, you see an illustration depicting a Mineral Group-Soul. The diagram shows that the Group-Soul’s outer wall or envelope consists of three layers: the outermost layer is made up of physical atomic matter, the central layer is composed of emotional monadic essence, and the innermost layer consists of mental elemental essence, which is the matter of the fourth mental sub-plane (47:4).
A mineral group-soul can be defined as a collection of triads enclosed in a triple envelope consisting of mental elemental essence, emotional monadic essence, and physical atomic matter. Notice that this is where the group soul resides and does not include the higher triad. Within the Group Soul, there are Lower Triads attached to their respective Higher Triads, which are linked to their overshadowing Monads. These higher aspects benefit from the activities of the lower triad but do not control it. The devas are controlling this group soul. The high and mighty monads with their higher triads have yet to be functional units in any meaningful way. All the action is always at the lowest level, where consciousness begins to become objective. These triads within the Group Soul are currently not immersed in any mineral substance.
The image shows several irregular shapes representing groups or blocks of mineral substances. Some of these blocks contain Lower Triads, indicated by lines rising upwards, showing that they belong to the overarching Group Soul hovering over them.
On the far right of the diagram, a block of mineral substance appears to have been shattered, breaking into fragments. The Lower Triad, which was previously immersed in it, is shown withdrawing towards its parent Group Soul. The Mineral Group Soul primarily inhabits the physical plane. By physical plane, we mean the etheric component of it.
Every lower triad must pass through the mineral kingdom. This is where matter reaches its grossest form, and the great Life Wave reaches the limit of its descent before beginning its upward climb. So much for being a divine spark from an omniscient “father”. A spark the monad may be, but it is a very dumb spark. However, it has potential.
Moreover, physical consciousness is the first to awaken. Life on the physical plane requires turning outward and forming connections with the outside world. Over time, consciousness learns to perceive external stimuli, associate them with the outside world, and acknowledge the changes it experiences. In essence, it is on the physical plane that consciousness initially develops self-awareness. Remember that. Be proud that you were once a rock!
Through lengthy experiences, consciousness senses the pleasure or pain that arises from external stimuli and begins to identify with those feelings. This leads to the initial differentiation between what is perceived as “Not-I” and “I.” This concept is very challenging for teenagers to comprehend when they are looking in the mirror.
As experiences accumulate, the “I” will retreat ever inwards throughout its future evolution. One veil of matter after another will be relegated outwards as belonging to the “Not-I”. While its connotations steadily change, the fundamental distinction between subject and object always remains. “I” is the consciousness that wills, thinks, feels, and acts. “Not-I” is about which the consciousness wills, thinks, feels, or acts. This last statement is paramount and must be deeply ingrained in one consciousness.
Consciousness becomes awakened on the physical plane through the physical permanent atom. It is said that “it sleeps in the mineral,” indicating that some level of awakening must occur to transition out of this dreamless sleep and advance into the next stage, the vegetable kingdom, where it is meant to “dream.” The mineral kingdom shows responses of consciousness to external stimuli, with some indicating a beginning of consciousness in the emotional permanent atom. Chemical elements display distinct mutual attractions, and chemical compounds are constantly being broken up when a different element intrudes. For example, two elements forming a silver salt, such as silver nitrate, will separate from each other in the presence of hydrochloric acid, with the silver uniting with the chlorine from the acid and the hydrogen from the acid-forming a new compound with the discarded element that was formerly united to the silver. When such active exchanges occur, there is a slight disturbance in the emotional particle due to the intense physical vibrations caused by the creation and separation of close connections. As a chemist, you think of this as a chemical reaction. Little does the chemist know that they are witnessing an evolutionary process in action.
Emotional consciousness is gradually awakened from the physical, as these slight stirrings draw a small cloud of emotional matter around the emotional permanent atom. However, this emotional matter is loosely held and needs to be more organised. At this point, there isn’t any mental unit vibration.
The detailed classification of minerals, plants, animals, and the Seven Rays or types has not yet been compiled. However, the following list of jewels and minerals is a starting point for future classification.
We now move on to the Vegetable group soul. In this diagram, we can see a representation of a Vegetable Group-Soul. In this illustration, you’ll notice that the outer layer of the Group Soul comprises emotional atomic matter. In contrast, the inner layer comprises matter from the fourth mental sub-plane. Unlike the Mineral Group-Soul, the Vegetable Group-Soul has no physical layer in its envelope. It seems like the Group Soul has absorbed the physical layer to strengthen their etheric bodies.
Within the Group Soul, there are Lower Triads attached to their respective Higher Triads, which are linked with their overshadowing Monads. As with the mineral group soul, the Lower Triads within the Group Soul are currently not directly associated with any plant life. Below the Group Soul, there are several forms representing groups of plants or vegetable life. Some of these forms contain Lower Triads, and the lines connecting them to the Group Soul indicate that they belong to the overarching parent Group Soul.
Depicted at point A on the far right of the diagram, there is an illustration of a plant form believed to have been destroyed as an organism. The Lower Triad, which was contained within it, is released upon the form’s destruction. Subsequently, the Group Soul withdraws back into itself, as indicated by the arrow in the diagram. The Group Soul’s activity is now transferred from the physical to the emotional plane, where it nourishes the emotional bodies of the lives it contains.
Just like with the Mineral Group-Souls, it’s important to understand that not every blade of grass, plant, or tree contains a permanent atom that will evolve into humanity during the lifespan of the Earth Scheme. Instead, the vegetable kingdom, which exists for its purposes, provides the environment for the evolution of these permanent atoms. Notice that we are talking about the evolution of permanent atoms here. We are not fixated on the monad but on the atom. Why? The permanent is composed of tertiary matter, and it is this that evolves. The monad benefits from this process because it gains an anchor point into the Cosmic Physical Kingdom, which allows it to wake up. But this is a multilayered process of advancement. When we talk about the evolution from the Mineral Kingdom upwards, remember that there is also the involution of the Elemental Kingdoms and the subsequent evolution of Tertiary matter, the third step along the overall evolutionary path every monad takes. The Devas guide the permanent atoms through different plant forms, allowing them to experience the vibrations that affect the vegetable world. This process helps the atoms store these vibrations as powers within themselves, similar to when they were embedded in the mineral kingdom. These higher vibrations further evolve the tertiary matter while stimulating the connected monad, which has reached the consciousness level of the Vegetable kingdom.
The method of vibration interchange and subsequent segregation continues as before. The Group Souls, therefore, constantly divide and subdivide, thus becoming not only more numerous but also more distinct in their leading characteristics.
During the time spent in the Vegetable Kingdom, there was more perceptible activity in the emotional permanent atom than in the period spent in the mineral kingdom. As a result, the emotional permanent atom attracts emotional matter around itself, which the Devas arrange in a more defined way. Over the long life of a forest tree, the accumulation of emotional matter develops in all directions as the emotional form of the tree. This emotional form experiences vibrations that cause intense pleasure or discomfort in the physical tree due to sunshine, storm, wind, rain, heat, cold, etc. These experiences are transferred to the permanent atom embedded in that particular tree. When the tree form perishes, the permanent atom retreats within the Group Soul, taking its collection of experiences, which it shares with the other Triads in the Group Soul as previously described.
Furthermore, as consciousness becomes more responsive in the emotional realm, it sends small thrills down to the physical plane. These thrills give rise to feelings that, although derived from the emotional, are felt as though in the physical. This is how we eventually can feel our own emotions in our bodies through our five senses.
When there has been a long, separate life, such as in a tree, there will be a slight arousal of the mental unit, which will gather a little cloud of mental matter around it. The recurrence of seasons, etc., will slowly impress itself as a faint memory, which becomes a dim anticipation. So trees not only have tree rings to tell us of their experiences; they also have a memory.
As a general rule, each lower triad in the later stages of its evolution in the plant world will spend an extended period in a single form. This allows for some mental experiences, preparing the lower triad for future life as an animal. However, this rule is not absolute. In some cases, the transition to the animal kingdom occurs earlier, and the first mental experiences happen in stationary or elementary forms of animal life. Similar conditions to those in the mineral and plant kingdoms also exist in the lowest types of animals, indicating some overlap between the kingdoms. Some of this was briefly mentioned in the series on Chains, Rounds and Globes.
In the following presentation, we look at the Animal Group Soul.