Nature spirits and Devas

Nature spirits and devas

Jimmy Henderson 

Hons BA (philosophy) MA (psychology), FRC

Many people will admit to seeing what appear to be faces in the foliage of trees and bushes when out walking in natural settings.

In terms of the ability of the mind to transform subtle sense-impressions into symbolic images, this could be explained as follows: 

These experiences are very subjective, and figures will appear within the faculty of imagination (almost like a daydream), and therefore will generally only be detected (or sensed) by those who have an open mind and have a well-developed faculty of imagery. 

The energy accumulating around natural flora such as bushes and trees provides an ideal environment for the accumulations of small pockets of conscious energy often referred to as 'nature spirit's to emerge and present themselves. Their energy-characteristics become cues for our perceptual processes and we will see what we believe to be physical and personality traits, such as size, form, dress and features. 

In the case of the 'faces' in the bush, the shading and structure of the foliage is augmented and shaped by the mind using selective perception to arrive at the image of a face, the features and expression of which will represent the energy characteristics of the elemental consciousness. The face could therefore appear friendly or unfriendly, large and brutish or small and kind-looking depending on whether the energy has been translated in the mind as ‘evolved’ or ‘primitive’, ‘powerful’ or ‘gentle’.

A simple rule is that the higher and more evolved the nature 'spirit', the more attractive he or she will appear. In other words, these 'nature' personalities have a real existence in energy, but their actual form and appearance is shaped by our symbolic mental processes and frameworks of interpretation. 

These nature spirits are generally very shy and wary, but will communicate and interact with us if we have a genuine love and respect for nature and our minds are completely open to their existence. 

Deva

Deva are more powerful natural archetypal entities which have been described as the overseers of Nature. It is said that they are the guardians of natural phenomena and the elements of earth, air (wind) fire and water. When it comes to the ‘construction’ of this sphere of reality out of conscious energy, they could be regarded as the agents working behind the scenes, giving form and direction to the formation of the energy structures on this plane of existence. In some esoteric texts they are also referred to as 'earth angels'.

Once again, due to our symbolic mental processing, deva will appear (in the mind) as extremely large humanlike forms of either gender.

It is therefore quite possible that many of the so-called (minor) religious deities listed throughout Greek, Roman and Aryan history, may, in fact, be expressions of deva, but this is only my opinion at this stage. 

As previously stated, their activity suggests that their primary purpose is that of the structuring, guardianship and correction of the energy-matrices which we experience as the natural world, and, not being really concerned with our human development, deva should rather be left to continue their task. 

Jimmy Henderson is a cognitive specialist who is also a metaphysician and has been able to integrate human psychology with the higher world of metaphysics. His books are available on Amazon.com and through his website www. jimmyhendersonbooks.com  

The world of Spirit

Exploring the World of Spirit

By Jimmy Henderson FRC

'Spirit’ could be understood as a generic term normally used to describe all self-conscious archetypal personalities existing within higher realms of the collective unconscious. When engaging these realms during deep meditation or altered states of consciousness, these personalities, traditionally called angels, archangels or spirit-guides, appear to be in different ‘dimensions’, although this is merely a perception resulting from the the mind's tendency to provide structure to our inner experiences. In fact, these so-called ‘planes’, ‘dimensions’ or ‘realms’ are actually representations of areas of lesser or greater degrees of consciousness.

These archetypal figures in 'Spirit' can be of much assistance to students of metaphysical practice, by providing information, guidance and initiations.  

Passing through to these elevated areas of mind-reality during meditation requires much effort, as our symbolic processes have difficulty functioning at such high and unusual levels of conscious activity. It is therefore possible that only light and colours will be seen at first, and later, as our symbolic processes adapt, one may be able to distinguish transparent outlines, shapes and even forms and movement appearing to the left in visual peripheral fields. At first these may seem like figments of the imagination, elements of a daydream impinging on consciousness, but as this experience is occurring spontaneously, it can be regarded as external to self.

Archetypal personalities existing within the 'collective unconscious' (within 'spirit'), take on visual forms according to their attributes. In other words, what is seen is assembled in the mind (one's inner visual field) using one’s storehouse of memories and thinking paradigm, and will usually differ from person to person. For instance, seeing a crown on a figure may denote ‘majesty’, size and height could suggest ‘power’, and seeing a figure as male or female will depend on what personality characteristics are being presented, as well as one’s own male/female framework of reference. 

The best time to view such archetypal figures during meditation is in the early hours of the morning, or at night when the room is slightly darkened and their outlines and luminosity can more easily be seen.   

In this regard, one’s intention should be to avoid entering the lower ‘realms’ of ‘Spirit’ in which there are lesser forms which are, as yet, not fully evolved (usually called elementals), as well ‘shadow entities’ which still embody the principle of chaos.  

Due to our symbolic processes of interpretation and their low level of functioning, elementals will usually appear as animal-like creatures which emerge from the earth and can sometimes be quite unpleasant, mischievous and deceptive. Apart from mutual respect, any kind of relationship with these figures is not recommended, as it could be binding on one’s consciousness.   

One therefore needs to be careful when setting an intention to explore the depths of one's own mind and beyond into the 'collective unconscious', especially at these lower, formative levels, as this energy can be very uncomfortable and disturbing to those who are not familiar with it. Inadvertently or even consciously entering this domain during meditation could be likened to making a wrong turn during a road trip and ending up in a rough neighbourhood in an unfamiliar part of town. 

Contacts with the lower levels of Spirit as embodied in shadow entities or elementals, are therefore usually not helpful and they are best left alone unless one is fully acquainted with the rules for safe engagement which have been fully explained in my previous book ‘Multi-Dimensional Perception (2010).

Jimmy Henderson is a well-known metaphysician and the author of a number of books and articles on inner exploration and self-development. See www.jimmyhendersonbooks.com 

The soul

The Existence of the Soul

By Jimmy Henderson

Hons (BA) Phil, MA (Psychology), FRC

"Before the soul can see, the Harmony within must be attained, and fleshly eyes be rendered blind to all illusion.
Madame Helene Blavatsky

Somewhere within the vastness of spiritual creation exists the soul (or 'monad') or 'higher self' of each individual. I personally believe that our souls actually exist in collectives or group-souls, together with others with whom we are affiliated on a spiritual level. 

The soul is not the same as the ego, which is a false sense of self constructed as a result of conditioning, and is nothing more than a core of self-awareness surrounded by a mass of self-centered thoughts. Religious scriptures, as well as other ancient texts, suggest that the soul is how we were originally formed, but, at some stage, we dissociated from this perfect state of being and now exist in a 'fallen' state or a lower manifestation of 'self'.  

When entering this Earth level or sphere, much of our soul-consciousness is lost in the physiology of the body, and we therefore enter a state of forgetfulness. 

The dimension of the soul could also be linked to the ‘authentic self’ as described in psychology, that area of the mind that houses the most moral part of the human psyche. In fact, the aim of some forms of psychotherapy is simply to raise our self‑awareness (consciousness) in order to remove past and present obstacles, so that this pure identity will emerge.

When the soul wishes to experience something she throws an image of the experience out before her and enters into her own image.

Meister Eckhart

Although usually covered up by emotional and psychological debris spanning many years of conditioning, it is possible that promptings from this pure area of consciousness can emerge from time to time in one’s conscience. Exposing the authentic self requires the stripping away of all pretence, masks and conditioned thoughts and behavior in order to become ‘real’ once again.

It is also possible to directly access this dimension of soul during meditation, by first emptying the self and mind of all conflicting impressions, sensations, thoughts and emotions and completely quieting the activity of the ego, and then striving to discover that centre of pure consciousness in which there is nothing except the pure realisation that one exists. This type of meditation can result in some profound inner experiences, as well as new levels of perception and understanding.

See Jimmy's books and e-books as listed on his website www.jimmyhendersonbooks.com

The notion of evil

The notion of evil 

‘Evil is an extreme manifestation of human unconsciousness’

Eckhart Tolle

   'Evil’, which is a concept that only has meaning relative to human understanding and behavior. For instance, a lion killing a rival in the animal kingdom is accepted as natural and normal. However, in human society this would be regarded as wrong and therefore evil. 

Evil is therefore linked to human norms, values and accountability, and would emerge in a situation where the human consciousness has not fully unfolded, been regressed, or lowered to such the point where only basic drives and instincts remain. 

This un-evolved or regressed state of mind would lead to selfish, aggressive and murderous acts which, in human terms, could legitimately be categorized as ‘evil’.

What is also true, is that shadow layers of the human unconscious mind do exist and these can contain a host of primitive archetypal forms which are of such a nature and quality that they are able to lower one's consciousness, resulting in rather unpleasant emotional experiences based on unhappy memories, human frailties, doubts and fears.