Quote:
‘I must now make a statement which will introduce you to a concept which was, until comparatively recently, one of the deepest secrets of the esoteric Schools: In some ways, the Moon is the greatest problem of esoteric lore. The Moon is not at all what it appears to be.
‘At the end of the last century an astounding revelation was made, as a result of dissent among members of secret Schools. Information, hitherto guarded jealously by the most enclosed of the inner Orders, was made public. The secrets disclosed pertained to a far deeper level of knowledge than has hitherto been made exoteric by the Schools - even in this
enlightened age.’
His trace of cynicism seemed to go by unnoticed.
‘Our purpose here is not to document how so deep an esoteric idea was made public - or even to assess whether it was wise for this idea to be brought out into the open. All this has been dealt with in the literature — and if any of you wish to follow this up, I will give you a few titles later.
‘In a nutshell, what was made public during this conflict in the Schools was the truth that our Moon is a sort of counterweight to another sphere, which remains invisible to ordinary vision. This counterweighted sphere is called in esoteric circles the Eighth Sphere.
‘We must be careful with these words, for, in spite of what I have just said, this region is not itself a sphere, nor is it a moon. Even to locate it behind the physical Moon is not correct, for in the Spiritual realm spaces and distances are different. The truth is that this Eighth Sphere does not pertain to anything we are familiar with on the physical plane, yet we must use words from our own vocabularies whenever we wish to denote its existence. Were we to use a word which fits most appropriately this Sphere, then we should really call it a vacuum. Certainly, vacuum is a more appropriate term than sphere, for the Eighth Sphere sucks things into its own shadowy existence.
‘This Sphere is lower in the scale of being than the Seventh Sphere (which is the Earth). It acts as a sort of demonic conduit to suck into its maws certain degenerate Spiritual forms on the Earth. It is a shadow Sphere, controlled by shadow beings. However, the fact that they are shadow beings should not lead us to demote or underestimate their capabilities and intelligence. In many respects they are more intelligent than Man, for they are not limited by the power of love, as is Mankind.
‘The operation of this Eighth Sphere is complex. Its denizens - those shadowy beings for whom it is home - wish to people their Sphere with humanity, or (more accurately) with human souls. Towards this end, it has erected what we might call terminals on the Earth: these terminals are soul-conduits, which will suck into the lower Sphere a certain form of materialized Spiritual energy that is engendered on the Earth plane. The most usual circumstances where this materialization or engendering
takes place is in seances, and in other localities wherein human beings attempt to meddle - against the cosmic law - with the lower Etheric planes.’
Philip was having difficulties with this curious account of the lunar powers, and asked: ‘Are you saying that Spiritualist activity is itself victimized by the Eighth Sphere?’
‘Yes, Philip. Certain Spiritualist activity is coloured by the erroneous belief that the realm of the dead is accessible to the living. In truth, mediumistic activity cannot penetrate through into the true realm of the dead: it is therefore dealing only with shadows. In so doing, it is creating fodder for the nourishment of the Eighth Sphere. This sucking of certain forms of human soul-matter into the Eighth Sphere is not, by any means, intended for the benefit of humanity. The aim of the denizens of this world is to enhance and populate a world which may truly be described as the realm of the damned. The efforts of these denizens, or demons, is contrary to the evolutionary development which has been planned for the world. In truth, the human being was not designed to become a shadow being, captive in a demonic sphere: it was designed to become a god.
‘It is less than one hundred years since this knowledge of the Eighth Sphere was made public. At first there was an outcry at this breach in initiate knowledge, but now we can see that it has proved something of a blessing that the demonic threat has been brought out into the open. In some ways, it is easier to deal with a visible enemy. Those who dabble in the supposed communications with the dead, and with that spirit-land which they fondly imagine lies beyond the veil, have not gone unwarned.'
