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Preface
5 Planes of Existence
Introduction
Five Planes of Manifestation
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DEATH OF LEMMINKAINEN
A symbol of the descent of the Self to the lower
planes.
“'The Lady of Pohjola imposed a third condition on Lemminkainen (to
giving her daughter to him) that he should kill with an arrow the
Swan that lives on the black waters of the river of Tuoni, lord of
the dead. And Lemminkainen went down into the abysses of Manala, the
abode of the dead. But there, near the river, lay in wait for him
the evil-minded Shepherd whom he had despised and spared. And when
he came near, this Shepherd pulled from the waters a monstrous
Serpent and hurled it against him; the viper penetrated into the
very vitals of the hero, and he died, thinking on his mother. Then
the Shepherd threw him into the waters of the black river, and Tuoni
cut him to pieces with his sharp sword and strewed his limbs on the
stream. - Professor COMPARETTI, Traditional Poetry of the Finns, p.
86.
The astro-physical nature (Lady of Pohjola) offers, as it were, to
the Higher Self (Lemminkainen) the Sense-nature (her daughter) on
condition that the spiritual nature or Divine germ (swan on the dark
waters) is destroyed. So the Higher self descends into the lower
nature (abysses of Manala) and becomes involved therein, as the
Archetypal man. But the lower instincts (the evil Shepherd), whose
origin is beneath, had now evolved and become allied with the
Desire-nature (the Serpent). This combination killed out for a time
the higher promptings, and so the Self is said to die. But the hope
of the Self's resurrection lies in the Wisdom-nature (the Divine
Mother) and the transmutations to be effected through it (buddhi).
The soul is now ruled by the Desire-mind (Tuoni, lord of the nether
world), and the struggle below produces limitation and diversity.
But in all qualities (limbs of the Ineffable) there is to be found
the germ of progress.
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