To Light a Thousand Lamps - The Theosophical Society

118 / TO LIGHT A THOUSAND LAMPS
allow the ingress into their psyche of malevolent forces from
the lowest portions of the astral light? While nature utilizes
all things for ultimate good, and broader insights may well
come through at times, channeling could deflect many sincere
seekers from their true goal and, at worst, plunge them
into a psychic whirlpool of confusion and, possibly, into
unconscious sorcery.
We can take a lesson from Macbeth: almost immediately,
on learning from the witches of Endor that he is to be
Thane of Cawdor, he becomes anxious. Will all really be as
they foretell? Observing Macbeth in severe stress of emotion,
swinging between greed and fear, Banquo muses:
But ’tis strange:
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
In deepest consequence.
— Macbeth, Act I, scene iii
This is precisely what happens to many recipients of ‘‘messages’’
from those ‘‘beyond.’’ Astral entities channeled by
mediums in the beginning often do win us with honest
trifles, certain small truths, which lead us on, only to betray
us later in matters of deepest consequence.
Then there are those who are interested in ‘‘astral
travel,’’ getting out of the body and trying to reach their
ātman; or to visit people, other lands, planets, or planes
astrally. Many sincerely believe they can help friends or
relatives in this manner. To understand why this is not a
wise way of attaining union with one’s ātman or divine self,
we need a knowledge of the sevenfold nature of human