Elementals. According to H. P. Blavatsky
Franz Hartmann[1]
Translation from French by Robert Hutwohl
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The Pitris [The pitṛs][2]
- P. Blavatsky said:
“The Devas and the Pitris are, for us, the most important groups among the thirty-three million divinities populating the Indian pantheon; they are also the ones that Orientalists understand the least. Their nature has always been kept secret by the Brahmins, who never felt the slightest desire to entrust their philosophical secrets to the scholastic wisdom of Europeans.[3]
“The Devas are ethereal beings, many of whom stand above—and others below—mankind, humanity being regarded as the diameter of a circle. The word “Deva” signifies “the shining one,” “the radiant one”; it applies to a vast array of beings differing widely from one another—ranging from those intelligences that evolved during previous Manvantaras (and which, charged with the construction of solar systems, undertook the task of nurturing humanity during its infancy) to the undeveloped Planetary Spirits that appear in spiritualist séances, masquerading as deities fashioned by the human imagination or as historical figures.
“The Deva-Yonis are elemental beings of a species inferior to the cosmic gods and can be subjugated by the will of Black Magicians. To this class belong Gnomes, Sylphs, Fairies, Djinns, and the like. They are the souls of the elements—the capricious forces of Nature, the products of her fancy—yet they remain subject to the invariable law emanating from the center that governs these forces. Their consciousness is undeveloped, and their bodies are of a plastic nature, enabling them to assume any form presented to them by the conscious or unconscious will of the human being who establishes contact with these entities.
“It is through these classes of elemental beings—whom they attract unwittingly—that spiritualists succeed in animating the astral shells of deceased men with a factitious life. These classes of beings were never men, though later, in thousands of centuries, they will become so. They belong to the three lower kingdoms of Nature, knowledge of which is reserved for Initiates, for it is dangerous to enter into contact with them.”
As for the Pitris, European scholars hold entirely erroneous views regarding them. It is generally believed that the word Pitris designates our direct ancestors—the spirits of the men who preceded us on Earth; Spiritualists, for instance, believe that fakirs are mediums who perform their phenomena thanks to the assistance of the phantoms of the deceased. This is a complete error. The Pitris are not the direct ancestors of currently existing human beings, but rather the ancestors of present-day Humanity—the spirits of human races that preceded our own on the evolutionary scale many thousands of years ago, and which, in both physical and spiritual respects, were far superior to what we are today. In the Manava Dharma Shastra [mānava dharma śāstra], they are referred to as the Lunar Ancestors.
[4] These are the Devas of the Moon—that is, of the intellect—and the Devas of the Sun [agniṣvātta pitṛ],[5] representing wisdom. In the course of evolution, the former—the Lunar Pitris—left behind their chhayas (their shadows) so that the first human race of the Fourth Round might be fashioned from them; the latter—the Solar Pitris [agniṣvātta pitṛ]—endowed man with reason. It is stated in the Bible that the “sons of heaven” (the Pitris) saw that the “daughters of men” (the terrestrial human shells, as yet devoid of spirit) were fair, and that they united with them. In the Rig-Veda [ṛg-veda]—and even more clearly in The Secret Doctrine—the meaning of these words is elucidated: they pertain to the animation of the earliest human forms by those Spirits who, by endowing them with reason, transformed them into immortal beings. There are seven classes of Pitris: three are bodiless (arupa) [arūpa], and four are endowed with a body (rupa) [rūpa].”
The Kama-Rupas [kāma-rūpa]
These creatures—whose appearance is the result of the desires embodied within them—do not belong to the category of celestial beings, but rather to that of astral beings. They are inhabitants of the astral plane of our world, and, under certain circumstances, they can render themselves visible and enter into contact with human beings.
- P. Blavatsky said:
“As is evident, the Pitris are in no way of the nature of ghosts, nor of that of the spirits of deceased men [elementaries], according to the modern point of view. They constituted the link uniting the ethereal races of humanity with those races endowed with a physical body. They have never had any connection with the nonsense of Spiritualism, nor with the wonders of fakirs; and the immortal spirit of a deceased man, likewise, has no connection with these things. However, if we survey the list of the various types of demons or elemental beings, their very names suffice to indicate to us the occupations in which they engage.”
The following may give an idea of it:
“Mādan is the name of a class of elemental beings of a malevolent nature, bovine in form and of monstrous stature. Mādan signifies a creature resembling a cow; it lives amicably with malevolent sorcerers and lends them its aid in inflicting harm upon humans and animals, striking them down with disease or even sudden death.
“The Schoudāla-Mādan, or Graveyard Devil, is a type of vampire that frolics in places where murders have been committed and has a particular fondness for fresh graves, slaughterhouses, and sites of torture. It lends its aid to the sorcerer—much like the Koutti-Schāttan, the familiar spirit of witches—to ignite fires or to render the sorcerer’s body impervious to flame. It is said that the Schoudāla is composed half of fire and half of water, and that it possesses the power to assume any living form and to alter the appearance of things. When it is not within fire, it resides in water. It can cloud the vision of men, causing them to perceive things as entirely different from what they truly are.
“The Schoula-Mādan is another type of mischievous spirit, one that concerns itself particularly with matters of cooking and baking. It does no harm to its friends, but plays tricks on those who offend it. It loves compliments and flattery; and since it typically dwells beneath the ground, it is to this spirit that the fakirs of India appeal—those who perform the much-discussed feat of causing a mango tree, planted from seed, to grow and bear ripe fruit in less than an hour.
“The Koumil-Mādan is an Undine—that is to say, an elemental spirit of water; its name denotes the rustling sound made by an air bubble as it rises through the water. It is a mischievous sprite, and it aids those humans who are its friends, to the best of its abilities. It waters the earth, brings down the rain, and reveals the present and the future to those versed in hydromancy.
“The Porouthou-Mādan is a herculean Demon—the most powerful of all; it is he who causes furniture to move during séances, who lifts mediums into the air, and who makes it possible to tame ferocious animals.
Ultimately, every type of physical manifestation occurring during spiritualist séances is produced by a particular species of elementary beings, without whose assistance nothing is produced.
“In India, one still encounters a host of species of elemental beings and demons, of giants and vampires, of Asuras and Nagas, of dragons and creatures with serpents’ heads, etc.”
The Larvae
These beings must not be confused with shades, souls, or ghosts—in a word, the astral remains of deceased men—which, in turn, are entirely distinct from the true human soul (Buddhi-Manas), which stands above all earthly things and no longer takes any part in those shadow-plays we call the world and life, whereas the animal part of man remains within the astral realm.
Thereupon, Proclus said:
“After death, the soul departs into its aerial body (the Astral Body), where it remains until it is divested of all anger and passion. Then, through a second death, it sheds its astral body, just as it has already shed its physical body. The ancients say that the soul possesses an immortal celestial body, which is akin to the light of the stars.”
And Plutarch:
“The element of these souls is the Moon (in a mystical sense), because souls dissolve therein just as physical bodies dissolve into the earth. Those who were virtuous and honorable—who led a tranquil and wise life, without creating enmities—are swiftly liberated. Their remains, abandoned by the Nous (reason) and no longer kept active by the passions of the body, disintegrate.”
“The ancient Egyptians, whose knowledge originated in India,[6] were aware of all these things. Modern archaeologists—who are completely ignorant of them—have been unable to explain the figures and symbols inscribed on papyri, on mummy coffins in the Book of the Dead, and carved into the walls of temples and monuments, except by viewing them as images of gods worshipped by the Egyptians—gods represented by cats, dogs, birds, reptiles, and insects. This view is entirely false and stems from the ignorance currently prevailing regarding the astral world and its numerous species of inhabitants.
“There are numerous classes of Larvae and Kama-rupas [kāma-rūpa]. In terms of intelligence and capability, the Larvae—which are superior to the others—are human spirits bound to the earth. They are the Shells, or shadows, of those who have lived on earth[7]—without exception, whether their conduct there was virtuous or vicious. They constitute the lower principles of all discarnate beings, both human and animal; they may be divided into three main groups:
- The Spiritually Dead. This first group comprises the Larvae of men who have forsaken all spiritual knowledge to concern themselves solely with matter, and whose spirit gradually detached itself from their soul (astral organism) during their lifetime; these are the reprobates, who have lost all possibility of attaining immortality. After departing from the physical plane, these souls—or rather, these astral Larvae—especially those of individuals who believed in nothing but physical matter and the pleasures and sufferings it affords, are irresistibly drawn back to Earth, where they dwell for a certain period in an environment suited to their coarse nature. Since, throughout their entire lives, they harbored not the slightest sentiment for higher things—but instead always regarded the vulgarities of the earth as the alpha and omega of existence—they are unfit to enter the elevated spheres that constitute the domain of pure beings, for whom the earthly atmosphere is foul and suffocating. The attraction to which higher beings yield draws them so far from the earth that they could not return to it, even were they to wish to do so, for their celestial faculties can have no affinity with the earth or its inhabitants. There are exceptions, which we shall discuss later. Material souls gradually disintegrate and are ultimately dispersed—atom by atom—into the surrounding elements, into the astral fire. These are the Larvae that linger longest in Kama-loka [kāma-loka]; they are saturated with terrestrial properties, and their Kama-rupa [kāma-rūpa] (the body formed by their desires) is so dense that it resists the vibrations of the higher principles and disperses only very slowly. We are taught that these Larvae can exist for centuries before vanishing completely.
- The Kāma-rūpas. The second group comprises the astral forms of beings who possessed a certain measure of spirituality, yet remained more or less attached to earthly things, and whose desires were directed more toward physical matters than toward celestial ones. Their period of residence in Kama-loka [kāma-loka] is shorter than that of the preceding class, though it may nonetheless be quite prolonged, owing to the intensity of their desires for life on the physical plane.
- Disembodied Men. To the third group belong those who perished by a violent death.[8] These are complete men, deprived only of their physical bodies; they remain in Kama-loka [kāma-loka], in the state of complete men, until the moment when they would have died naturally.”
The Māra-rūpas.—Devils
These earthbound souls, once the spirit has departed them, may assume the animal forms that best correspond to their passions—the astral body serving as the expression, the symbol, of the fundamental nature forming the core of a creature. The physical body, being less plastic, retains the human form, even in a man who has become completely bestialized; yet the astral body does not prevent the man—or rather, the animalistic part of the man—from assuming, after death, the animal form that serves as the expression of his character.
Boehme [Jakob Böhme] said:
“By this, everyone must learn that he is whatever his will makes him, and that if his desires are those of animals, he is not a man, but an inhabitant of the animal kingdom—a creature of the dark world, a voracious dog, a fickle bird, a lewd beast, a furious serpent, or a wretched toad full of venom. All these properties have their source within him and provide the wood with which he fuels the fire of his life. Thus, when he departs from the external wood formed of the four elements, nothing of him will remain but the poisoned source of his torment. What form, then, will such a property assume? None other than that which corresponds to the dominant property within him—a form he will take on through the power of the infernal Word—such that he will become a dog, a serpent, a toad, or any other animal. The properties that the will has brought to life impose their likeness upon his soul. (The Six Points VII, 37).[9]
Swedenborg, in his visions of the astral world—to which he gave an ecclesiastical guise—describes these spirits as having, from a distance, the appearance of animals, yet being recognizable as men when viewed close up. In our world, it is quite the opposite.
Anyone who finds these things strange need only look within themselves to discern the animal species teeming within their astral soul. Perhaps they will discover there a veritable menagerie; indeed, under certain circumstances, these very traits or states of soul may even manifest objectively—just as is recounted in the legends of the saints, and as evidenced by numerous examples found in the annals of modern and contemporary Spiritism.
These forms manifest themselves with great ease when an awakening to true spirituality drives them out of a person—repelling them like a morbid sweat that cannot remain within a body returning to health; they may then become visible both to the one shedding them and to any onlookers.
We are told that Saint Anthony, in his solitude, was tormented by all manner of visible devils. If we accept that these forms emerged from his prior moral nature—that they were produced by his will and his thoughts—and that, simultaneously, he possessed a mediumistic temperament through which he materialized these forms, then we can believe in the reality of his visions, replacing religious superstition with scientific understanding.
Franz Hartmann.
Notes
[1] Elementals. According to H. P. Blavatsky. By Franz Hartmann. Le Lotus bleu / Revue Theosophique Française 6, no. 3 (May 1895), 124-130 [Les Élémentaux D’apres H. P. Blavatsky] [Translation from French by Robert Hütwohl, ©2026]
[2] [R. H.—At the time when this article was written, The Theosophical Society used an antiquated Latinized Sanskrit diacritics (a conversion from the original Devanāgarī script to Roman letters). However, that style has long since been discarded. Today, the world community uses the International Alphabet for Sanskrit Transliteration, or IAST. For this article, I have used the latter, which will enable the current reader to better recognize the Sanskrit word as it is seen today. The corrected word follows in brackets the author’s spelling and usually is applied only once, with exceptions.]
[3] [R. H.—In particular, as described in the Hindu literature, there are two classes, a higher and a lower, which together, make up the seven-fold human principles: The Seven classes of Pitṛ-s
Exoteric Hindu books mention seven classes of Pitris [pitṛ-s], and among them two distinct kinds of Progenitors or Ancestors: the Barhishad [barhiṣad] and the Agnishwatta [agniṣvātta]; or those possessed of the “sacred fire” and those devoid of it. [In the Greek myth about Prometheus, it was he who represent the manasaputra] Hindu ritualism seems to connect them with sacrificial fires, and with Grihasta [gṛhaṣṭha] Brahmins in earlier incarnations: those who have, and those who have not attended as they should to their household sacred fires in their previous births. The distinction, as said, is derived from the Vedas. The first and highest class (esoterically) the Agnishwatta, are represented in the exoteric allegory as Gṛhasta (Brahman householders) who, in their past births in other Manvantaras having failed to maintain their domestic fires and to offer burnt sacrifices, have lost every right to have oblations with fire presented to them [As described in The Secret Doctrine, refusing to incarnate into humans and build their lower quaternary.]. Whereas the Barhishad, being Brahmins who have kept up their household sacred fires, are thus honoured to this day. Thence the Agnishwatta are represented as devoid of, and the Barhishad as possessed of, fires. But esoteric philosophy explains the original qualifications as being due to the difference between the natures of the two classes : the Agnishwatta Pitris are devoid of fire (i.e., of creative passion), because too divine and pure (vide supra, Sloka 11th); whereas the Barhishad, being the lunar spirits more closely connected with Earth, became the creative Elohim of form, or the Adam of dust.
The Secret Doctrine II, 77-78.]
[4] [R. H.—These are the lunar fathers (pitṛs) or barhiṣad, responsible for building the lower quaternary (☐) of humans. They are described in ancient Hindu literature.]
[5] [R. H.—agniṣvātta pitṛ]
[6] [R. H.—Other than those who arrived from Atlantis.]
[7] [R. H.—And have cast them off; which is why they are called shells or shadows.]
[8] [R. H.—For most cases, by suicide or murder but sometimes by accident.]
[9] R. H.—Closed double quotes missing here.]
This is a most complete survey of the beings populating the astral or kāma-plane which can highly assist adherents of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions groups.
- P. Blavatsky describes Devas and Pitris as crucial groups within the Indian pantheon, often misunderstood by Western scholars. Devas are ethereal beings, ranging from evolved intelligences to undeveloped Planetary Spirits, while Pitris are the ancestors of present-day humanity, not individual ancestors. These beings, along with Kama-Rupas and Larvae, are elemental entities with varying natures and abilities, influencing the physical and spiritual realms.
After death, the human soul departs into its astral body, remaining there until it sheds its astral body through a second death. The astral body, or Kama-rupa, is the expression of a person’s desires and passions, and can take on the form of an animal that best represents their character. This concept is supported by various philosophical and religious teachings, including those of Proclus, Plutarch, and Swedenborg.