260 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath 



with indigo we have an Occult truth. From the 

 earliest ages Eastern philosophers have associated 

 indigo with the spiritual, or higher mind of man 

 (the Causal Body) ; but the curious properties of 

 indigo have always been as well known to the prac- 

 tical dyer as to the Occultist. It is lighter than 

 any known liquid and as long as it retains its color 

 and nature it is insoluble even in ether. There- 

 fore, the dyer must extract the blue by means of 

 deoxidation. 



In this process, called " setting the blue-vat," 

 indigo gives us a perfect object lesson of the trans- 

 formation in a substance according to its negative 

 or positive conditions. When being made soluble 

 indigo loses its apparent color in proportion as the 

 oxygen departs, becoming perfectly white in solu- 

 tion. Goods dipped in the white liquid are then 

 hung in the air, when they swiftly turn blue as the 

 indigo in them is oxidized. Repeated immersion in 

 the blue-vat gives every shade of blue from " sky " 

 to " navy." As long as dyeing remained an art 

 (until commercialized by the introduction of ana- 

 line dyes) , indigo was considered the only real blue 

 dye (the woad of Gaul and Britain was a northern 

 indigo and acted similarly) ; and with red, yellow, 

 and brown, furnished the dyer with the natural 

 substances from which he could make all the 

 shades, tints, and hues his art required. 



As you know that the earth vibration, Prithivi, 



