The Shapes of Everyday Thoughts
©Lorena Loo
©Lorena Loo
Thoughts & Emotions as Form & Color:
When we think of the invisible world of form, microscopic form such as bacteria, cells and atomic and subatomic particles such as atoms, nuclei, quarks and leptons to name but a few are what immediately spring to mind. Seldom do we associate our thoughts with shapes and/or color. But to those with the ability of clairvoyance, thoughts are seen as definite visible (to them) forms that have shape and color.
Theosophists and other occultists have called these forms, suitably enough, thought-forms. These are not to be confused with what Tibetans refer to as thought- forms, the so-called tulpas.
So how do thought-forms form? Most if not all spiritual traditions speak of layers or sheaths of subtle matter that surround the physical body. They are appropriately referred to as subtle bodies. Three of the most commonly referenced of these subtle bodies are the astral, mental and causal. Vibrations within the astral and mental bodies are what produce thought-forms.
The mental body is the vehicle of concrete thought which includes memory and imagination. The subtle matter comprising the mental body is described as of various gradations of density and quality, each of which has its own particular resonant frequency, a frequency which it naturally and most readily vibrates at. Whenever we have a thought, it produces a vibration in the mental body. The result of this vibration is both radiating vibrations or waves and a floating thought-form. All this produced by just a thought..
If the thought is a simple one, there is only one rate of vibration (frequency) in the mental body and it will be perceived as such by a clairvoyant. But complex thoughts will consist of several frequencies.
Vibrations within the mental body, just like a wave in any medium, propagates through surrounding matter in the mental plane. Think of it as a thought wave. When the thought wave impinges upon the mental body of another person, it tends to produce a similar thought in that person's mind as had arisen in the mind of the originator of the thought wave. If you think an angry thought and the resultant thought wave strikes the mental body of another person, he or she will most likely have an angry thought.
Just as fine grains of sand on a vibrating plate assemble into a form or shape, so too the vibrations in the mental body generate a shape from the subtle matter of that body. The mental body is described as literally throwing off a portion of itself and gathering more subtle matter around itself from the sea of matter in the mental plane. Thus is created a thought-form. As vibration corresponds to a certain color, the thought-form will have both colors and shape..
The astral body is the vehicle of emotions, desires, passions, and the so-called animal appetites. The subtle matter comprising it is of coarser nature than that of the mental body but finer than that of the physical body. As with the mental body, there are varying gradations of astral matter. The astral body acts as a communications bridge between the mind (mental body) and the physical brain. Vibrations triggered in this body either come from the mental plane above or the physical plane below.
If an emotion is strong, it will set the astral body into violent agitations. Even though the agitation is only temporary, it permanently tinges the astral body with the color hue corresponding to the particular emotion. Each time a person experiences that same emotion, it habituates the astral body to that vibration. It then becomes easier and easier to vibrate at that particular vibration. For example, each time you feel joy, you habituate your astral body to vibrate at the frequency of joy.
When we think of the invisible world of form, microscopic form such as bacteria, cells and atomic and subatomic particles such as atoms, nuclei, quarks and leptons to name but a few are what immediately spring to mind. Seldom do we associate our thoughts with shapes and/or color. But to those with the ability of clairvoyance, thoughts are seen as definite visible (to them) forms that have shape and color.
Theosophists and other occultists have called these forms, suitably enough, thought-forms. These are not to be confused with what Tibetans refer to as thought- forms, the so-called tulpas.
So how do thought-forms form? Most if not all spiritual traditions speak of layers or sheaths of subtle matter that surround the physical body. They are appropriately referred to as subtle bodies. Three of the most commonly referenced of these subtle bodies are the astral, mental and causal. Vibrations within the astral and mental bodies are what produce thought-forms.
The mental body is the vehicle of concrete thought which includes memory and imagination. The subtle matter comprising the mental body is described as of various gradations of density and quality, each of which has its own particular resonant frequency, a frequency which it naturally and most readily vibrates at. Whenever we have a thought, it produces a vibration in the mental body. The result of this vibration is both radiating vibrations or waves and a floating thought-form. All this produced by just a thought..
If the thought is a simple one, there is only one rate of vibration (frequency) in the mental body and it will be perceived as such by a clairvoyant. But complex thoughts will consist of several frequencies.
Vibrations within the mental body, just like a wave in any medium, propagates through surrounding matter in the mental plane. Think of it as a thought wave. When the thought wave impinges upon the mental body of another person, it tends to produce a similar thought in that person's mind as had arisen in the mind of the originator of the thought wave. If you think an angry thought and the resultant thought wave strikes the mental body of another person, he or she will most likely have an angry thought.
Just as fine grains of sand on a vibrating plate assemble into a form or shape, so too the vibrations in the mental body generate a shape from the subtle matter of that body. The mental body is described as literally throwing off a portion of itself and gathering more subtle matter around itself from the sea of matter in the mental plane. Thus is created a thought-form. As vibration corresponds to a certain color, the thought-form will have both colors and shape..
The astral body is the vehicle of emotions, desires, passions, and the so-called animal appetites. The subtle matter comprising it is of coarser nature than that of the mental body but finer than that of the physical body. As with the mental body, there are varying gradations of astral matter. The astral body acts as a communications bridge between the mind (mental body) and the physical brain. Vibrations triggered in this body either come from the mental plane above or the physical plane below.
If an emotion is strong, it will set the astral body into violent agitations. Even though the agitation is only temporary, it permanently tinges the astral body with the color hue corresponding to the particular emotion. Each time a person experiences that same emotion, it habituates the astral body to that vibration. It then becomes easier and easier to vibrate at that particular vibration. For example, each time you feel joy, you habituate your astral body to vibrate at the frequency of joy.
© Copyright Lorena Loo
In vague pure affection, the "author" of the thought-form felt happy and at peace with the world, dreamily thinking pleasant thoughts about a distant friend. As the person had gentle but not strong, directed feelings of well being and affection toward the friend in question, the resultant thought-form given off is itself not well defined. The purity of the unselfish thought is manifested in the lack of the darker hues of selfishness. Purportedly, such concentric clouds of rosy shells frequently emanate from a contented purring cat.
When the affection expressed is of a selfish nature, the thought-form becomes tainted with a dark brown-grey color as in figure 9, vague selfish affection.
Figure 10, definite affection, exhibits the same color hues as figure 8 but its shape is much more definite and clearly defined. It came from a person expressing intense as opposed to vague affection toward another individual. With such strength and intention, the thought-form itself was ejected toward the object of the affection, hence supposedly accounting for its projectile-like shape.
In figure 11, the author of the thought-form was intentionally pouring forth love to all beings. This is expressed in the purity of its color, its well-defined shape and numerous rays.
The next set of images illustrate thought-forms of ambition and greed. The presence of hooks are indicative of some type of craving or desire in the astral body. Orange seems to be the color of ambition. But contrast the dark hues of brown-grey present in selfish ambition as opposed to high ambition. Apparently the author of the high ambition thought-form craved power not for personal gain but for what he could do in a position of power for the good of all humankind.
When the affection expressed is of a selfish nature, the thought-form becomes tainted with a dark brown-grey color as in figure 9, vague selfish affection.
Figure 10, definite affection, exhibits the same color hues as figure 8 but its shape is much more definite and clearly defined. It came from a person expressing intense as opposed to vague affection toward another individual. With such strength and intention, the thought-form itself was ejected toward the object of the affection, hence supposedly accounting for its projectile-like shape.
In figure 11, the author of the thought-form was intentionally pouring forth love to all beings. This is expressed in the purity of its color, its well-defined shape and numerous rays.
The next set of images illustrate thought-forms of ambition and greed. The presence of hooks are indicative of some type of craving or desire in the astral body. Orange seems to be the color of ambition. But contrast the dark hues of brown-grey present in selfish ambition as opposed to high ambition. Apparently the author of the high ambition thought-form craved power not for personal gain but for what he could do in a position of power for the good of all humankind.
In his book Man Visible and Invisible, C.W. Leadbeater depicted the mental and astal body of the average man as perceived by him.
If a thought is strictly intellectual and impersonal such as solving a math problem then both the thought-form and the vibration are confined to the mental plane. Thoughts of a spiritual nature, especially if accompanied by unselfish feelings of love, will rise to higher planes. But thoughts that involve self and personal desire will generate thought-forms of both mental and astral matter. Thought-forms then typically are composites of both mental and astral matter.
Theosophists Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, both clairvoyants, wrote a book about thought-forms and documented in colored plates two-dimensional images of some of the thought-forms they themselves had seen. A table of the meaning of colors both in the subtle bodies and in the thought-forms out of which they emerged was included in the frontispiece of their book, a portion of which I have reproduced below.
Theosophists Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, both clairvoyants, wrote a book about thought-forms and documented in colored plates two-dimensional images of some of the thought-forms they themselves had seen. A table of the meaning of colors both in the subtle bodies and in the thought-forms out of which they emerged was included in the frontispiece of their book, a portion of which I have reproduced below.
According to Besant and Leadbeater, it is the outer portion of the interpenetrating subtle bodies which gives rise to the aura seen around our bodies. The astral body dominates in those controlled by the lower emotions and thoughts. This will appear in their aura and astral body as dull hues of brown, reds and dirty greens for the most part. In more highly evolved beings, the colors are fine and clear in hue. As selfishness is eliminated, so too are the duller and heavier colors.
Even the best of two dimensional representations of thought-forms fall short of what clairvoyants actually see. Nonetheless, it is probably the best we can come to "seeing" them ourselves, short of becoming clairvoyant. So let's take a look at some of the images illustrated in Besant and Leadbeater's book, Thought-Forms.
Both of these clairvoyants consistently saw affection expressed in all shades of crimson and rose. Four different thought-forms corresponding to various expressions of affection are illustrated below. The numbers below each thought-form image corresponds to their figure number in their book.
Even the best of two dimensional representations of thought-forms fall short of what clairvoyants actually see. Nonetheless, it is probably the best we can come to "seeing" them ourselves, short of becoming clairvoyant. So let's take a look at some of the images illustrated in Besant and Leadbeater's book, Thought-Forms.
Both of these clairvoyants consistently saw affection expressed in all shades of crimson and rose. Four different thought-forms corresponding to various expressions of affection are illustrated below. The numbers below each thought-form image corresponds to their figure number in their book.
The thought-forms of selfish greed and greed for alcohol exhibit the dark colored hues of lower type emotions, sometimes referred to as animal emotions. Again the strong hooks of craving are present. In some cases, the hooks were seen actually clawing around the object of desire.
The thought-forms produced by those who, through meditation, have learned to bring mind and emotion under control are quite beautiful and symmetric in form. They also frequently assume well known geometric shapes such as triangles, hexagons/hexagrams, pentagons/pentagrams and crosses.
The thought-forms produced by those who, through meditation, have learned to bring mind and emotion under control are quite beautiful and symmetric in form. They also frequently assume well known geometric shapes such as triangles, hexagons/hexagrams, pentagons/pentagrams and crosses.
Thought-forms of a spiritually devotional nature such as self renunciation invariably assume flower-like form with petals turned upwards likened to azure flames.
Generally speaking, the nature and character of thought determines the form and color of the thought-form generated. Spiritual thoughts, for example, will produce different shapes and colors than those of base emotions and thoughts such as selfishness and avarice. The definiteness of thought determines the clearness of its outline. A well-defined thought generates a well-defined thought-form but a vague thought results in a nebulous-looking thought-form.
Thought-forms can also travel and discharge themselves on the mental and astral bodies of others. When a thought-form discharges on another person's mental and astral bodies, it causes that person to think the same-not similar but same-thought as what gave birth to it. If a thought or feeling is about another person, the generated thought-form travels and discharges on that person's astral and mental bodies. If the thought or feeling is about oneself, however, then the thought-form hovers about you. The moment your mind is not engaged in other things, the thought-form discharges upon your own mental and astral bodies. Most people have a mass of these thought-forms about them and they distort how one thinks, metaphorically "coloring" the way they see the world.
Generally speaking, the nature and character of thought determines the form and color of the thought-form generated. Spiritual thoughts, for example, will produce different shapes and colors than those of base emotions and thoughts such as selfishness and avarice. The definiteness of thought determines the clearness of its outline. A well-defined thought generates a well-defined thought-form but a vague thought results in a nebulous-looking thought-form.
Thought-forms can also travel and discharge themselves on the mental and astral bodies of others. When a thought-form discharges on another person's mental and astral bodies, it causes that person to think the same-not similar but same-thought as what gave birth to it. If a thought or feeling is about another person, the generated thought-form travels and discharges on that person's astral and mental bodies. If the thought or feeling is about oneself, however, then the thought-form hovers about you. The moment your mind is not engaged in other things, the thought-form discharges upon your own mental and astral bodies. Most people have a mass of these thought-forms about them and they distort how one thinks, metaphorically "coloring" the way they see the world.