The Soul or the Astral Body

As the spirit would not be able to operate without the intervention of the soul, the astral body is the seat of all the qualities the immortal spirit has. According to its development and maturity, spirit has a different electric or magnetic fluid vibration, which becomes outwardly patent, in soul, in the four temperaments. In accordance with the predominant elements, we distinguish the choleric, the sanguine, the melancholic, and the phlegmatic temper. The choleric temper is due to the element of air, the sanguine temper is due to the element of air,
the melancholic temper is born from the water element, and the phlegmatic one is ascribed to the earthy element. The strength and vibration of the respective element corresponds in the various properties to the strength, vigor, and expansion of the respective fluid vibrations.
Each of these four elements, which determine man’s temper, in the active form, owns the good properties, and in its passive form, the contrary or bad qualities. It would be too prolix to inform here about the effects of the elements, and it is better for the incipient adept to find out himself further effects by his own meditation. This manner also has a very special reason,
on the path to initiation. Here I shall a few examples only:
The choleric temper, in its active polarity, has the following good qualities: activity,
enthusiasm, eagerness, resolution, courage, productivity, etc. In the negative form these qualities are: gluttony, jealousy, passion, irritability, intemperance, bent to destruction, etc.
The sanguine temper in its active form shows: capacity of penetrating, diligence, joy,
adroitness, kindness, clearness, lack of grief, cheerfulness, optimism, eagerness,
independence, familiarity, etc. In the negative form: continual feeling of being affronted,
contempt, propensity to gossiping, lack of endurance, slyness, garrulousness, dishonesty,
fickleness, etc.
The melancholic temper in its active form: respectability, modesty, compassion, devotion,
seriousness, docility, fervor, cordiality, comprehension, meditation, calmness, quick to give one’s confidence, forgiveness, tenderness, and so on. In the negative form: indifference,
depression, apathy, shyness, laziness, etc.
The phlegmatic temper in its active form: respectability, reputation, endurance,
consideration, resolution, firmness, seriousness, scrupulousness, thoroughness, concentration,
sobriety, punctuality, reservedness, objectivity, infallibility, responsibility, reliability,
circumspection, resistance, self-assurance, and so on. In the negative form: insipidity,
unscrupulousness, misanthropy, dullness, tardiness, laziness, unreliability, laconism, and so on.
The qualities of the temperaments, according to the preponderant quality, form the basis of the human character. The intensity of these qualities shown outwardly depends on the polarity, the electric or the magnetic fluid. The total influence of the effects of the temperaments results in an emanation professionally called aura. Therefore this kind of aura is not to be compared with the astral matrix, because between these two conceptions there is a thumping difference. The astral matrix is the connecting substance between body and soul,
whilst the aura is the emanation of the action o the elements in the various qualities, having its origin either in the active or in the passive form. This emanation in the whole soul produces a certain vibration corresponding to a certain color. On the grounds of this color, the adept can exactly recognize his own aura of that of another being with the astral eyes. Backed by this aura, the seer can establish not only a man’s basic character, but he also can perceive the action or the polarity of the soul’s vibration, and influence it eventually. I shall speak of these problems in a more detailed way in a separate chapter relating to introspection. Hence, a

man’s temperament influences his character, and both together, in their effect as total result,
are creating the emanation of the soul or the aura. This is also the reason for high adepts or saints always being represented in the images with a halo identical to the aura we have described.
Besides the character, the temperament and the activity of the electromagnetic fluid, the astral body still has two centers in the brain, the cerebrum being the seat of normal consciousness, whilst in the cerebellum, there is the opposite to the normal consciousness,
the sub-conscious. As to their functions, see the chapter concerning the “Spirit”.
As it has been said before, according to the elements, the soul is divided in exactly the same way as the body. The psychic functions, powers and properties also have their seat respectively in the soul and certain centers analogous to all the elements, which the Indian philosophy designates as charkas. The awakening of these charkas is named Kundalini yoga in the Indian doctrine. I desist, however, from a comment on these lotuses or centers, because the student interested in this problem will find all the necessary enlightenment in the respective literature. I will touch on it only slightly and say that the lowest center is the so-called Muladhara or earth center, having its seat in the lowest part of the soul. The next center is that of the water, with its seat in the region of the sexual organs and designated in the Indian terminology as Swadisthana. The center of fire, as center of the soul, is in the umbilical region and is named Manipura. The center of air as compensatory element is in the region of the heart and is termed Anahata. The center of the ether or principle of akasa is found in the region of the neck and is named Visudha. Another center, that of volition and intellect, is between the eyebrows and is called Ajna. As the supreme and most divine center is regarded as the thousand-petaled lotus, named Sahasrara from which derive and are influenced all the other powers of the centers. Beginning at the top, from the supreme center,
along the neck, down to the lowest center, like a channel runs the so-called Susumna or the akasa-principle already known to us, liable for the connection and control of the entire centers. Later on, I shall come back to the problem of the evocation of the snake-power in the single centers. In describing the soul, the principal task will be to establish the connection of the elements with their positive and negative polarities in the soul, and give a neat idea of it.
One will see that the body, as well as the soul, with their effects are alive and working, that their preservation and destruction are subject to the immutable laws of the four-pole magnet,
i.e., the secret of the tetragrammaton, and governed by them. If he who is to be initiated will attentively meditate about it, he will win a clear idea not only of the bodily functions, but also of those of the soul, and come to a sound notion of the mutual interaction according to the original laws.

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