"The lower light is thrown upward and the greater light illuminates the three; the work of the four proceedeth."

What of this lower light? The student should remember that for the present purposes he has three bodies of light to consider:

• There is the radiant body of the soul itself, found on its own plane, and called, frequently, the Karana Sarira or the causal body.
• There is the vital or etheric body, the vehicle of prana which is the body of golden light, or rather the flame colored vehicle.
• There is the body of "dark light", which is the occult way of referring to the hidden light of the physical body, and to the light latent in the atom itself.

These three types of energy are referred to in the Old Commentary under the following symbolic terms:

"When the radiant light of the Solar Angel is fused with the golden light of the cosmic intermediary, it awakens from darkness the rush light of anu, the speck."

The "cosmic intermediary" is the term given to the etheric body, which is part and parcel of the universal ether. It is through the etheric body that all the energies flow, whether emanating from the soul, or from the sun, or from a planet. Along those living lines of fiery essence pass all the contacts that do not emanate specifically from the tangible world.

The dark light of the tiny atoms of which the physical vehicle is constructed is responsive to the stimulation passing down from the soul into its vehicle, and, when the man is under control of the soul, there eventuates the shining forth of the light throughout the body. This [106] shows as the radiance emanating from the bodies of adepts and saints, giving the effect of bright and shining light.

When the radiant light of the soul is blended with the magnetic light of the vital body, it stimulates the atoms of the physical body to such an extent that each atom becomes in turn a tiny radiant center. This only becomes possible when the head, heart, the solar plexus and the center at the base of the spine are connected in a peculiar fashion, which is one of the secrets of the first initiation. When these four are in close cooperation the "floor of the triangle" as it is symbolically called, is prepared for the magical work. In other words - these can be enumerated as follows:

1. The physical material form with its center at the base of the spine.
2. The vital body working through the heart center where the life principle has its seat. The activities of the body which are due to this stimulation are carried through the circulation of the blood.
3. The emotional body, working through the solar plexus center.
4. The head center, the direct agent of the soul and its interpreter, the mind. These four are in complete accord and alignment.

When this is the case, the work of initiation and its interludes of active discipleship become possible. Before this time the work cannot proceed. This is foreshadowed in the aspirant when there is enacted a symbolic happening in the light in the head which is the forerunner of the later stage of initiation.