“Many things are possible,” said G. “But it is necessary to understand that man’s being, both in life and after death, if it does exist after death, may be very different in quality. The ‘man-machine’ with whom everything depends upon external influences, with whom everything happens, who is now one, the next moment another, and the next moment a third, has no future of any kind; he is buried and that is all. Dust returns to dust. This applies to him. In order to be able to speak of any kind of future life there must be a certain crystallization, a certain fusion of man’s inner qualities, a certain independence of external influences. If there is anything in a man able to resist external influences, then this very thing itself may also be able to resist the death of the physical body. But think for yourselves what there is to withstand physical death in a man who faints or forgets everything when he cuts his finger? If there is anything in a man, it may survive; if there is nothing, then there is nothing to survive. But even if something survives, its future can be very varied. In certain cases of fuller crystallization what people call ‘reincarnation’ may be possible after death, and, in other cases, what people call ‘existence on the other side.’ In both cases it is the continuation of life in the ‘ASTRAL BODY,’ or with the help of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ You know what the expression ‘ASTRAL BODY’ means. But the systems with which you are acquainted and which use this expression state that all men have an ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ This is quite wrong. What may be called the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ is obtained by means of fusion, that is, by means of terribly hard inner work and struggle. Man is not born with it. And only very few men acquire an ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ If it is formed it may continue to live after the death of the physical body, and it may be born again in another physical body. This is ‘reincarnation.’ If it is not re-born, then, in the course of time, it also dies; it is not immortal but it can live long after the death of the physical body. Fragments: Two

“The ‘ASTRAL BODY’ is not an indispensable implement for man. It is a great luxury which only a few can afford. A man can live quite well without an ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ His physical body possesses all the functions necessary for life. A man without ‘ASTRAL BODY’ may even produce the impression of being a very intellectual or even spiritual man, and may deceive not only others but also himself. Fragments: Two

“How is one to know if a man has an ‘ASTRAL BODY’?” I asked. Fragments: Three

“There are definite ways of knowing that,” answered G. “Under certain conditions the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ can be seen; it can be separated from the physical body and even photographed at the side of the physical body. The existence of the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ can be still more easily and simply established by its functions. The ‘ASTRAL BODY’ has definite functions which the physical body cannot have. The presence of these functions indicates the presence of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ The absence of these functions shows the absence of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ But it is too early to speak of this now. All our attention must be concentrated on the study of the physical body. It is necessary to understand the structure of the human machine. Our principal error is that we think we have one mind. We call the functions of this mind ‘conscious’; everything that does not enter this mind we call ‘unconscious’ or ‘subconscious.’ This is our chief error. Of the conscious and the unconscious we will speak later. At this moment I want to explain to you that the activity of the human machine, that is, of the physical body, is controlled, not by one, but by several minds, entirely independent of each other, having separate functions and separate spheres in which they manifest themselves. This must be understood first of all, because unless this is understood nothing else can be understood.” Fragments: Three

“Yes,” said G., “that is one meaning of the expression, but I am speaking of another meaning. This necklace of bones which encircles the neck beneath the skin is directly connected with what is called the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ The ‘ASTRAL BODY’ is, so to speak, attached to it, or, to be more accurate, this ‘necklace’ connects the physical body to the astral. Now if the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ continues to live after the death of the physical body, the person possessing a bone of this ‘necklace’ can always communicate with the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ of the dead man. This is magic. But they never speak of it openly. You are right about their having magic and this is an instance of it. It does not follow, of course, that the bone you saw was a real one. You will find these bones in almost every house; but I am telling you of the belief which lies at the bottom of this custom.” Fragments: Three

“In pronouncing the word ‘man’ everyone will involuntarily connect with this word the point of view from which he is generally accustomed to regard man, or from which, for some reason or other, he regards him at the moment. One man at the moment may be occupied with the question of the relation between the sexes. Then the word ‘man’ will have no general meaning for him and on hearing this word he will first of all ask himself — Which? man or woman? Another man may be religious and his first question will be — A Christian or not a Christian? The third man may be a doctor and the concept ‘man’ will mean for him a ‘sick man’ or a ‘healthy man,’ and, of course from the point of view of his speciality. A spiritualist will think of ‘man’ from the point of view of his ‘ASTRAL BODY,’ of ‘life on the other side,’ and so on, and he may say, if he is asked, that men are divided into mediums and non-mediums. A naturalist speaking of man will place the center of gravity of his thoughts in the idea of man as a zoological type, that is to say, in speaking of man he will think of the structure of his teeth, his fingers, his facial angle, the distance between the eyes. A lawyer will see in ‘man’ a statistical unit, or a subject for the application of laws, or a potential criminal, or a possible client. Fragments: Four

“In a man with two bodies the second body is active in relation to the physical body; this means that the consciousness in the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ may have power over the physical body.” G. put a plus over the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ and a minus over the physical. Fragments: Five

“In a man with three bodies, the third or ‘mental body’ is active in relation to the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ and to the physical body; this means that the consciousness in the ‘mental body’ has complete power over the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ and over the physical body.” G. put a plus over the ‘mental body’ and a minus over the ‘astral’ and the physical bodies, bracketed together. Fragments: Five

“You remember what I said about the ‘ASTRAL BODY’? Let us go over it briefly. People who have an ‘ASTRAL BODY’ can communicate with one another at a distance without having recourse to ordinary physical means. But for such communication to be possible they must establish some ‘connection’ between them. For this purpose when going to different places or different countries people sometimes take with them something belonging to another, especially things that have been in contact with his body and are permeated with his emanations, and so on. In the same way, in order to maintain a connection with a dead person, his friends used to keep objects which had belonged to him. These things leave, as it were, a trace behind them, something like invisible wires or threads which remain stretched out through space. These threads connect a given object with the person, living or in certain cases dead, to whom the object belonged. Men have known this from the remotest antiquity and have made various uses of this knowledge. Fragments: Five

” ‘Learn to separate the fine from the coarse’ — this principle from the ‘Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus’ refers to the work of the human factory, and if a man learns to ‘separate the fine from the coarse,’ that is, if he brings the production of the fine ‘hydrogens’ to its possible maximum, he will by this very fact create for himself the possibility of an inner growth which can be brought about by no other means. Inner growth, the growth of the inner bodies of man, the astral, the mental, and so on, is a material process completely analogous to the growth of the physical body. In order to grow, a child must have good food, his organism must be in a healthy condition to prepare from this food the material necessary for the growth of the tissues. The same thing is necessary for the growth of the ‘ASTRAL BODY’; out of the various kinds of food entering it, the organism must produce the substances necessary for the growth of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ Moreover, the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ requires for its growth the same substances as those necessary to maintain the physical body, only in much greater quantities. If the physical organism begins to produce a sufficient quantity of these fine substances and the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ within it becomes formed, this astral organism will require for its maintenance less of these substances than it required during its growth. The surplus from these substances can then be used for the formation and growth of the ‘mental body’ which will grow with the help of the same substances that feed the ‘ASTRAL BODY,’ but of course the growth of the ‘mental body’ will require more of these substances than the growth and feeding of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ The surplus of the substances left over from the feeding of the ‘mental body’ will go to the growth of the fourth body. But in all cases the surplus will have to be very large. All the fine substances necessary for the growth and feeding of the higher bodies must be produced within the physical organism, and the physical organism is able to produce them provided the human factory is working properly and economically. Fragments: Nine

“All that has been said before about work on oneself, about the formation of inner unity and of the transition from the level of man number one, number two, and number three to the level of man number four and further, pursues one and the same aim. What is called according to one terminology the ‘ASTRAL BODY,’ is called in another terminology the ‘higher emotional center,’ although the difference here does not lie in the terminology alone. These are, to speak more correctly, different aspects of the next stage of man’s evolution. It can be said that the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ is necessary for the complete and proper functioning of the ‘higher emotional center’ in unison with the lower. Or it can be said that the ‘higher emotional center’ is necessary for the work of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ Fragments: Nine

“This is the normal and natural way to use the energy of si 12. But in the same organism there is a further possibility. And this is the possibility of creating a new life within the actual organism, in which the si 12 has been manufactured, without the union of the two principles, the male and the female. A new octave then develops within the organism, not outside it This is the birth of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ You must understand that the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ is born of the same material, of the same matter, as the physical body, only the process is different. The whole of the physical body, all its cells, are, so to speak, permeated by emanations of the matter si 12. And when they have become sufficiently saturated the matter si 12 begins to crystallize. The crystallization of this matter constitutes the formation of the ‘ASTRAL BODY.’ Fragments: Twelve

“Completed transmutation, that is to say, the formation of the ‘ASTRAL BODY,’ is possible only in a healthy, normally functioning organism. In a sick, or a perverted, or a crippled organism, no transmutation is possible.” Fragments: Twelve

“The center of gravity of the middle story of man is ‘hydrogen’ 96. The intelligence of ‘hydrogen’ 96 determines the average intelligence of ‘man,’ that is, the physical body of man. The center of gravity of the ‘ASTRAL BODY’ will be ‘hydrogen’ 48. The center of gravity of the third body will be ‘hydrogen’ 24, and the center of gravity of the fourth body will be ‘hydrogen’ 12. Fragments: Sixteen