We now begin our study of the five groups of souls. For purposes of classification and comparison, we shall divide our earth humanity into the following groups:

1. Lemurian Egos - our true Earth Humanity.
2. Egos which came in - on Atlantis.
3. Moon chain Egos - from the moon.
4. Egos - from other planets.
5. Rare and advanced Egos - awaiting incarnation.

We enter, therefore, upon a brief consideration of a subject that, to the ordinary psychologist and student who is not familiar with the occult teaching and terms, will sound fanciful and unintelligent. The reason for this is that we are considering the origin of the souls which are expressing themselves through human beings, of the selves who are functioning through form and are therefore intangible and - scientifically speaking - non-provable. They are only to be inferred by those who can accept inference, deduction and conclusions which cannot be demonstrated, with the type of human equipment now in use. Modern psychology, speaking generally, regards the soul in one or another of the following ways:

1. Either non-existent, the only obvious and provable thing being the intelligent mechanism.
2. As being the sum total of the conscious reactions of the cells of the body - the sentiency of the organism, in other words.
3. As a gradually evolving self, conveying life and, as time elapses, awareness; it is regarded as being conditioned by the body and as a product of the evolution of that [202] body during the ages. It does not, however, exist in the lower types of human beings, and it possibly possesses immortality, but that is not provable and may not be posited as a fact.
4. As a definite Self, an entity, informing a body, functioning at various levels of human consciousness, and having continuity, immortality and potentiality.

The occult teaching accepts all these hypotheses as correct, but as relative in time and space, and as having reference to different forms of divine life and to differing aspects of those forms. It is with the occult teaching, right or wrong, that we are at present engaged, and our premises and conclusions can be stated in the following propositions:

1. Every human being, in or out of incarnation, is a "fragment of divinity," and an outpost of the divine consciousness, functioning in time and space for purposes of expression.

2. All these souls, selves, or human beings are found, as we have seen, on one or other of the seven emanations of spiritual energy, issuing forth from God at the beginning of an era of creative activity. They return to their emanating Source when that particular cycle is brought to a close.

3. In the interim between emanation and reabsorption, these souls pass through various experiences until such time as they can "shine forth in all their exactitude of truth."

4. They are called, as has been stated, in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire (See page 855.)

1. Lotuses of revelation.
2. Lotuses with perfume.
3. Radiant lotuses. [203]
4. Lotuses wherein the flower is on the point of opening.
5. Lotuses of closed and sealed condition.
6. The colorless lotuses.
7. Lotuses in bud.

5. These souls, cycling through various forms of life in the long evolutionary process arrive eventually at full, self-conscious existence. By this we mean that they are self-determined, self-conditioned, and self-aware. They are also conscious of and responsive to their environment.

6. Once this conscious awareness is achieved, then progress becomes more rapid. It should be borne in mind that many human beings are not thus aware. The groupings which arise out of this awareness (limiting our ideas entirely to those within the radius of the human family) can be expressed as follows: