What about Gods? What about the Dead? What are the creatures of the Underworld?
We will discuss this within this post, but first we’re going look over things we’ve already talked about from a different perspective.
Microcosm VS. Macrocosm
In the previous article, we discussed the who, or identity, of spirits existence.
Here, we will discuss the what of their composition and nature.
Some beings exist as a microcosmic reflection of singular higher energies while others contain multiple energies in varying amounts, creating a spectrum of entities all the way up to ones that contain an entire cosmology.
I want to stress that each of these are independent intelligences. They are not mere personifications of their nature, or humans ascribing them qualities which they do not inherently possess. They indeed have minds of their own, senses, and personalities unique to themselves. Some may seem mechanical, or like animals, and some may seem smarter than humans.
The Small
Microcosmic entities are beings which consist of one or more energies, but lack a full cosmology within themselves. They are reflections of a particular aspect of the nature of which they are composed. Because of this, they are unchanging and unable to deviate from their nature. Happenings, events, do not affect them in any meaningful way and they cannot be contrary to the expression of what they are.
Elementals
Elementals are beings which consist of one of the 4 (or 5) elements: Air, Fire, Water, and Earth (and sometimes Spirit).
These creatures are composed of only a singular thing, and are therefore microcosmic.
They neatly fall into the category I created in the previous article of “Near-Earth Spirits“. This is because they are the spirits of the world around you, the nature of the physical world with which you interact.
We can think of them as adjectives. They are the intelligence of the qualities of physical existence. They are descriptive of how something is.
We can say they are a microcosmic entities in the domain of space.
Angels
As in the last article, I am using the word “Angel” to discuss not a divine messenger, but an entity whose existence is that of a process.
As Elementals are the qualities of the world around you, Angels are the functions of it. They are the mechanics of things happening.
We can consider them to be verbs, intelligences descriptive of events occurring.
They are microcosmic entities in the domain of time.
Planetary Intelligences
Just as the elements reflect themselves as elemental spirits, so do the planetary cosmic forces have spirits of their own.
The Sun, Mercury, Venus, The Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn all contain their own intelligences that act independently.
These beings are the qualities of events. As Angels are the functions of happenings, Planetary Intelligences are the how and why of happenings.
We can consider them to be adverbs. Astrological forces describing contexts.
They are microcosmic entities in the domain of space-time.
We can see here that they are “larger” than what we’ve called Angels or Elementals, yet as they are still tightly limited beings they are microcosmic. They properly fit a spectrum between “Near” and “Far” Spirits.
Others
A Servitor that a magician conjures up, the Egregore of a fictional character, folk-spirts and those of world mythologies, lower astral entities, and others can all also be considered microcosmic entities. We can also find many creatures of the underworld, the usually-unconscious portions of the mind and the astral, to fit this category.
These beings do not require a cosmological function to exist. They exist within the cosmology, and act accordingly. A lobster crawling along the ocean floor is not the cause of the Sun rising each day. (You need a rooster for that.)
They are independent and capable of acting on their own, as long as it expresses the nature of their composition. In this fashion one could argue that they have a limited will. Within the boundaries of their existence they are free to act, however they do not contain the capacity to go against themselves.
No one expects a fly to compose a symphony.
The Large
Macrocosmic entities contain a full cosmology.
Lets be careful with the description: They contain A full cosmology, not THE full cosmology.
Every Sephirot on the Tree of Life contains another full tree. As these Sephirot are also associated with Elements and Planets, each Element and Planet also contains a full cosmology.
It is important to remember that while some of the entities discussed here may share a name and be associated with an Element or Planet, they are not the Element or Planet itself. Just as microcosmic entities are reflections of a particular aspect of these, so too are the macrocosmic beings discussed below a reflection of the full cosmology of these with particular aspects at the forefront. Even the physical planet would just be a representation of the Cosmological Planet.
It is also important to keep in mind that while some of the discussed entities may originate from the same Element or Planet, they are independent beings. Some have been associated with others, and we’re told they are the same being with different names. However, even one with the same name interacted with by different people may seem very different. Just as one person may know a lot about sports and computers, another may only have knowledge to discuss sports with them, and a third may only have knowledge to discuss computers. The interaction is a combination of both you and them, and as such we could consider each individual person to have their own array of these beings.
These entities are free to act in ways that microcosmic entities are not. Containing a full cosmology, they are capable of doing whatever they wish within the limits of that nature.
Archangels
We are told that Archangels command legions of Angels.
Analogically, as the way a human’s body is comprised of cells, so are Archangels comprised of Angels.
These entities are often associated with specific a Sephirot, Element, Planet, or other cosmological demarcation.
We can say they “oversee” the happenings of everything falling under their domain. They contain both the terrain and the mechanics of each part of their cosmology.
Highest-tier cosmological functions.
While their Angels can be considered the specifics of what happens, they are the broader, larger, and more generalized all-encompassing idea of an event-concept. Their actions are more dramatic, and bigger, than something an Angel would produce on its own.
Enochian Angels
The Enochian Aethyrs are a different division of the cosmology than the Tree of Life, containing 30 steps. And yet, we can say that the Tree of Life, since each sephirot contains a full cosmology, contains itself, linked Kether to Malkuth, three times and get the same division.
Each of the Aethyrs is governed by a trio of Angels (except for the 30th which has 4).
These Angels are macrocosmic beings, and we could describe them as each containing the whole of that Aethyr.
They are the very nature of that plane of existence, in the form of an intelligent and independent being.
Pantheonic Deities
These beings are the Gods of world mythology.
Many seem to come from a singular source and spread across the world (Such as the Proto Indo-European [PIE] hypothesized pantheon being the basis for the Vedic, Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse-Germanic, and Slavic pantheons), while others seem to have identified themselves independently.
Some are syncretized across cultures, where separate peoples recognize that their Gods appear to have similarities enough to be considered the same individual with different names and qualities.
To find who and what each of them are, one needs only to look at the cosmology in which they are found. Each has its placement.
They are often also associated with a particular Planet (some even sharing the name), Element, or Sephirot. Others are independently know with no specific cosmological association.
Even some Goetic entities and local folk-deities fit this category.
They are macrocosmic on an immense scale, and capable of acting in just about whatever way they wish, not limited by their apparent forward-facing qualities.
Others
There are other macrocosmic entities which do not fit a particular association with a specific cosmological demarcation. These beings exist independently, may contain their own quasi-worlds or planes, and are free to act as they will.
Nearly everything within this category would be considered “Far-Earth Spirits” as discussed in the last article. But this is not a requirement. “Near-Earth Spirits” can be macrocosmic as well.
Let us take the case of a Genius Loci, the spirit of a place. In a similar fashion to Archangels being comprised of Angels, a Genius Loci would be the macrocosmic entity composed a numerous Elemental spirits, and yet still local to Earth. This is like a Dryad being part of a specific tree, and yet there are many trees which create a forest, and that forest has its own Spirit. But, it is still firmly placed as “Near-Earth”.
The Ultra-Cosmic
There exists consciousnesses which transcend the microcosmic-macrocosmic border.
These beings exist both as containers of a cosmology and as entities within that cosmology in a recursive fashion.
These beings are you.
Aion
Aion is the form Divinity takes when it wishes to be known.
It is the God which is expressed as a Multiplicity of Gods, like Stars in the Night Sky.
It is the unique consciousness behind every individual. The Divine Fire within the heart of every person, and within which each God stands to cast its shadow into time. This is the process of incarnation.
Within it is the fullness of the entire cosmology, including itself.
The Holy Guardian Angel
The Holy Guardian Angel, or HGA, is often considered one’s “higher self”.
The truth is, it is a dualistic perspective on that which is non-dual by nature.
It is indeed the highest God, Aion, as seen by one who has not realized it as themselves. It is the personalized representation of Divinity, specialized to the individual.
We call it an “Angel”, and thus it must also represent a process. The process it contains is that of a whole human life, and in fact multiple lives, leading toward the human recognizing and uniting with its own Divinity.
It is the process of Enlightenment. That which carries one on their journey.
Humans
Humans are God, Aion, in physical form.
But the body is not the only thing we are.
We are within the Divinity of Aion, and we contain the entirety of the cosmology, including Aion itself.
We are a midpoint center of the whole thing, directly between the light and the darkness, and encompassing both.
And we transcend even this, because we are beyond the borders of duality – non-duality. We are both and neither.
The only way to discuss this “beyondness” is to say nothing, or to say everything, and so there is nothing left to say of it.
The Dead
If we are the Divine itself, what happens when we die?
The journey of the dead, Katabasis, has its particulars unique to the individual, but follows a universal structure.
The God, Aion, always returns for further incarnation. Whether the human mind follows along is a question of continuity of consciousness. Like everything else we’ve discussed here, it falls within a spectrum.
From one perspective, we can say that when one dies the God which they are judges itself, reviews the life that it lead, and chooses which parts or memories of lived experiences to keep and which to not keep before incarnating again. However, we can split this into a more detailed breakdown:
There are those who are completely bereft of spiritual experience to the point where the light is offensive, or even painful, to them. In the previous article we spoke of a Shadow in a Shadow, and it is this which these individuals have fallen for. These people face what is known as the “Second Death” wherein the personality severs itself from the Divine. However, unable to survive on its own, it dissolves into nothingness.
The Unawakened Dead struggle to maintain consciousness when passing on. Depending on the person, they will persist for a time within the astral. The form this takes can be any flavor of afterlife you may have, or have not, heard of. As we manifest the world around us here in Creation, so too do the dead. It is a dreamlike existence, which may feel long to them, but they are experiencing “less time” than those still living. Eventually, they fade into an unconscious sleep-like state and the conscious continuity is broken between the life they just lived and the next.
The Partially Awakened Dead retain partial coherence of their identity. Similar to the Unawakened Dead, they will exist in an afterlife state, but more conscious and aware of it. It is not dreamlike for them, but more similar to incarnate existence. They do not necessarily drift into an unconsciousness, instead persisting until the time comes to reincarnate. This is not the end for them, parts of the identity and experiences will be kept and become part of the next life, and they may persist beyond this or fall asleep. The next individual may or may not have memories or qualities of this previous life.
We should note here that those asleep are not gone or lost. They are kept by the Goddess. They are capable of being awoken and interacted with. However, there is are breaks in the continuity within their awareness. Its also important to remember that it is a matter of perspective “when” things happen and their order. From God’s perspective, there is no “before” or “after”, as though they contain Time they exist beyond it.
The Enlightened Dead have developed continuity between lives. Their afterlife experience is voluntary and completely lucid for them. They may at any moment know or experience what they wish. They are not at risk of falling into an unconscious state. They are Eternal, permanently fused with Divinity. Reincarnation will happen for them, but it is a voluntary process for when and how, keeping all that they are as they move to another life.
The Transcendent Dead, those who have achieved mastery within life, are beyond reincarnation. To these individuals, there is no difference between being Alive or Dead or God. Continuity for them is perfectly continuous, with a lack of any sort of separation or border between states. They are simultaneously any one of them, all of them, and none of them, without demarcation between them. There is no question of reincarnation because there is no difference.
This is only a very basic understanding of what can be known, and everything should always be examined on a case-by-case basis focusing on the details particular to that experience.
Never assume you know what a discarnate entity is, or believe what it says, just because you’ve achieved some form of interaction with it.
But do interact.
There is much to explore.
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