Ii6 PARACELSUS 



formed into beings having shapes, through the action 

 of the spiritual rays. There are good spirits and 

 spirits of evil ; planetary spirits and angels. There 

 are the spirits of the four elements, and there are many 

 thousand different kinds.^ 



" Each child receives at the time of its birth a familiar 

 spirit or genius, and such spirits sometimes instruct 

 their pupils even while the latter are in their earliest 

 youth. They often teach them to do very extraordinary 

 things. There is an incalculable number of such genii 

 in the universe, and we may learn through them all 

 the mysteries of the Chaos in consequence of their con- 

 nection with the Mysterium magnum. Such familiar 

 spirits are called Flagce." ^ 



" There are several kinds of Flagae, and there are two 

 ways by which we may obtain knowledge through them. 

 One way is by their becoming visible and able to talk 



1 There is a never-ending chain of births and transformations taking 

 place in the world of causes (spirits), as in the world of effects (forms). 

 The lives of some such entities extend over enormous periods of time j 

 others have only a short individual existence. According to the Brah- 

 minical teachings there are seven main classes of spirits, some of them 

 having innumerable subdivisions : — i. Arupa Devas (formless spirits), 

 planetary spirits — the intelligent sixth principle of the planet whose 

 product they are. 2. Rupa Devas (having forms). High planetary 

 spirits. Dhyan-Chohans. 3. Pisachas and Mohinis — male and female 

 Elementaries consisting of the astral forms of the dead, that may be 

 obsessed by Elementals, and cause Incubi and Succubi. 4. Mara rupas : 

 forms of desire or passion. Souls doomed to destruction. 5. Asuras : 

 Elementals (Gnomes, Sylphs, Undines, Salamanders, &c.). They will 

 develop into human beings in the next Manvantara (cycle of evolution). 

 6. Beasts. Elementals having animal forms, monstrosities. 7. Rakshasas 

 or demons. Souls of sorcerers and of men with great intelligence, but 

 with evil tendencies. Criminals for the advancement of science, dog- 

 matists, sophists, vivisectionists, &c., furnish material for the develop- 

 ment of such "devils." The Asuras are often called Devas, and are 

 worshipped in many places of India. They are the guardian spirits of 

 certain places, gardens, houses, &c., and have temples of their own. 

 There are many thousand varieties. {See "Isis Unveiled.") 



2 They are evidently a different class of " familiar spirits " than the 

 "invisible guides" mentioned above. The spirit which each child re- 

 ceives at its birth, and who attends to the person during his terrestrial 

 life, is his own spiritual self, the " ICarana sbarirat" 



