Power of the Word

by Barbara Maré

The Word as the Power of Creative Manifestation

T he universe came into being through the power of the Word: "The basis of all manifested phenomena is the enunciated sound, or the Word spoken with power, that is, with the full purpose of the will behind it." (IHS:150) 'Logos' means 'Word', and the Word of the Solar Logos embodies the divine Will and Law of the solar system. The sound which substands our solar system is the sacred Word "AUM"; or more exactly, "AUM" is the best approximation to the great cosmic Word which Humanity can currently comprehend: "[This] sound AUM is man's endeavour to reproduce on an infinitesimally small scale the cosmic triple sound whereby creation was made possible." (IHS:151)

The Word carries the power of manifestation because it activates the builders of the deva kingdom who work with Matter. The devas on the evolutionary path consciously collaborate in the process of form construction, while the devas on the involutionary arc, (the lesser builders) respond unconsciously, building form out of their own substance. (IHS:151) It is the vibrations of sound which constitute the Word to which the devas respond. "The sound of the AUM, the sound of the OM, and the SOUND itself, are all related to vibration and its differing and varied effects." (EH:132) The Law of Vibration "is really the basic law of evolution, which necessitates involution. It is analogous to the first movement the Logos made to express Himself through this solar system. He uttered the Sound, a threefold Sound, one sound for each of His three systems, and started a ripple on the ocean of space." (CF:574)

The cosmic Word is a tremendously potent and concentrated creative energy. The Word is a 'seed' encapsulating the information and detail of the whole living, expanded, manifested universe. The breath of the Logos and the sound of the AUM create the dimensions of time and of space: "Students would do well to ponder on the distinction between the breath and the sound, between the process of breathing and the process of creating vibratory activity. They are related but distinct from each other. One is related to Time and the other to Space and (as the Old Commentary puts it) "the sound, the final and yet initiating sound, concerns that which is neither Time nor Space; it lies outside the manifested All, the Source of all that is and yet is naught" (or no-thing. A.A.B.)." (EH:132)

The Solar Logos formed the potency of the Word through meditation and visualisation: "When it is said that the Logos produced the worlds through meditation it means that within His own centre of consciousness there was a period wherein He brooded over and meditated upon the purposes and plans He had in view; wherein He visualised to Himself the entire world process as a perfected whole, seeing the end from the beginning and being aware of the detail of the consummated sphere. Then, when His meditation was concluded, and the whole completed as a picture before His inner vision, He brought into use a certain Word of Power which had been committed to Him by the One about Whom naught may be said, the Logos of the cosmic scheme of which our system is but a part." (IHS:150) It is as if this 'seed' Word carries a fractal formula containing all the information and procedure for the proliferation of every living thing in the solar system.

"a. The first aspect works through a Word of Power.
 b The second aspect works through mantric combinations.
 c. The third aspect works through mathematical formulas." (CF:771)

In the terms of fractal geometry, our universe is a complex iteratively self-reflective series of inter-related geometrical forms that are the essence and the pattern of God. "'Having pervaded this whole universe with a fragment of Myself, I remain' is the challenge of Deity and the eternal hope of humanity. [...] God is here, present among us and in all forms of expression; He includes, pervades and remains beyond. He is greater than all appearance. He reveals Himself progressively and cyclically as man gets ready for further knowledge." (ExH:289; quote Bhagavad Gita X:42)

The Three Aspects

E ach of the three letters of the Sacred Word A-U-M "stands for the first letter of a subsidiary phrase, consisting of various sounds." (CF:217) These subsidiary phrases correspond to the three Aspects:

"One letter, with a sequence of four sounds, makes up the vibration or note of Brahma, which is the intelligence aspect dominant in matter. Hence the mystery hidden in the pentagon, in the fifth principle of mind, and in the five planes of human evolution. These five letters when sounded forth on the right note, give the key to the true inwardness of matter and also to its control,—this control being based on the right interpretation of the Law of Economy. [This is the 'M' of 'AUM'.]

Another phrase, this time of seven letters, or a letter for each of the seven Heavenly Men, embodies the sound or note of the Vishnu aspect, the second aspect logoic, the form-building aspect. By its correct or partial sounding, by its complete or incomplete reverberation, are the forms built and adapted. The Law of Attraction finds expression in the manipulation of matter and its welding into form for the use of Spirit. [This is the 'U'.]

Then a third Word or phrase is added to the other two, completing the entire Word logoic and producing consummation. It is a Word of nine letters, making therefore the twenty-one sounds (5 + 7 + 9) of this solar system. The final nine sounds produce spiritual synthesis, and the dissociation of the spirit from the form. We have a correspondence in the nine Initiations, each initiation marking a more perfect union of the Self with the All-Self, and a further liberation from the trammels of matter. [This is the 'A'.]" (CF:217-8 & IHS:153)

The Seven Rays

R ays One, Two and Three – the Rays of Aspect – are "in their totality, the manifested Deity, the Word in incarnation. They are the expression of the creative purpose, and the synthesis of life, quality and appearance." (EP1:158) The three Rays are AUM, the sacred Word. "[The] AUM is composed of one major Sound, three minor sounds, and seven subsidiary vibratory tones." (ExH:533) The vibrations of the Rays express as sound as well as colour.

The cosmos was created "from one basic sound substance symbolised as Om, necessarily split itself into a primal three, a subsequent seven vowels and then into seven notes and then into seven combinations of the seven notes on a basic three and then into hymns. All these falling into the material field of the consonants, gradually produced the manifested crystallised forms which are collectively taken as the universe." (CF:217 ft.) The three Rays formed the seven, and these seven Ray energies create and sustain all forms in manifestation.

DK gives the Words of Power for the First and Second Rays: The Word of the First Ray "looks (when presented in its symbolic written form) something like this—UKRTAPKLSTI [...] Certain sounds in this word-form are omitted because there is no way of depicting them, since they are neither vowels nor consonants. Correctly sounded, the above forms three words." (R&I:514) He says of the Second Ray: "Of this Word, the dual symbol SXPRULXS takes form in the mind of the disciple and signifies the assertion: "I SEE THE GREATEST LIGHT." This statement has relation to the Central Spiritual Sun and not to the Heart of the Sun; it involves, if I might so express it, the most intense effort to see in the light the relation of the whole, and this is one of the most potent experiences to which the disciple can be subjected. It is not vision or even aspiration to see the vision. It is complete sight and of this the Masonic symbol of the "Eye of God," the "All-Seeing Eye," is the expression. It involves realisation of the light of the divine countenance; of this the light of the soul is the dim reflection." (R&I:516)

The Word and the Soul

T he Word made Flesh is the Christ; the Word is the Second Aspect of divinity. The "glory" is the Spirit in Matter, the divinity hidden in the form. Matter is 'glorified' when it reveals the divine. The result is radiance: "[When] the man is under control of the soul, there eventuates the shining forth of the light throughout the body. This shows as [...] radiance." (WM:106) For the Second Aspect in Humanity is consciousness or soul.

Vibration is "the manifestation of the second aspect", the Ego or soul. (CF:523) "Sound, in an occult and deeply metaphysical sense, stands for that which we term 'the relation between'." (LOM:4) The Word is the sound of the soul. The soul is the middle principle, the mediator, the burning ground between Spirit and Matter. The fusion of Spirit and Matter at the point of soul brings about the birth of Christ consciousness. "The Word when rightly apprehended causes the second, or Christ aspect of divinity to shine forth resplendently." (LS:55)

"[The] second aspect of the Logos (that of love or the manifestation of the love nature of the Logos through the medium of the Son) is the one demonstrated in this system." (CF:511) In this solar system the Word is an expression of Love/Wisdom: Words of Power "are all of second ray origin. This is the ray of the manifestation of consciousness. They are, therefore, intended for soul use because the soul is the expression of the second aspect of divinity, and only the soul can really employ these Words and sounds and thus produce the desired results which are always in line with the divine Plan." (EP1:65)

The Law of Attraction governs the soul or Second Aspect. (CF:5) Therefore sound operates by attraction and repulsion. (LOM:54) The vibrations of the Word are radiant and magnetic.

Each being has its own 'soul word' or 'note'. "This word is dual. It is sounded forth on the note to which the soul responds, his own peculiar note, blended with that of his personality. This chord of two notes is the producer of the resulting effects, and is more important than the set phrase composing the word of power." (WM:127) It is this sounding of the soul note which instigates incarnation, and which then also invokes initiation, carrying the soul back on the Path of Return. The Word of the soul is the word at the centre of the Egoic Lotus. (CF:772)

The Word of the soul is in turn derived from that of the monad: "The personality—the reflection of that monad at the densest point in evolution,—is linked to the monad by the attractive force of the Sacred Word sounded by its monad on its note and on its own subtone." (LOM:56-7) Eventually when the soul in incarnation has built the antahkarana and established a direct relationship with the monad, the soul is by-passed. (R&I:216)

The Word and Etheric Substance

T he vibrations of the Word of the Soul are transmitted through the etheric plane, stimulating the devic builders into activity. So the soul incarnates; so the Word of God becomes form; so the words of humanity materialise ideas and forms in the three worlds. This is the basis of 'magic': The miracle of apparently creating 'something from nothing': "Through speech a thought is evoked and becomes present; it is brought out of abstraction and out of a nebulous condition and materialised upon the physical plane:oducing (could we but see it) something very definite on etheric levels. Objective manifestation is produced, for "Things are that which the Word makes them in naming them." Speech is literally a great magical force, and the adepts or white magicians, through knowledge of the forces and power of silence and of speech, can produce effects upon the physical plane." (CF:981)

The true medium of the Word is the etheric web which interconnects all life in the cosmos. This is the synthetic link between microcosm and macrocosm, between Humanity and Deity: "[The] etheric body of every form in nature is an integral part of the substantial form of God Himself. [...] The etheric or energy body, therefore, of every human being is an integral part of the etheric body of the planet itself and consequently of the solar system. Through this medium, every human being is basically related to every other expression of the Divine Life, minute or great." (TEV:2)

The Word and Initiation

A pproaching the Master for initiation the disciple "will sound the admission word in his own key or tone, endeavouring to strike the note that will evoke the Ego." (LOM:294) The Word is a bridging agent which communicates between polarities through vibration by means of the Law of Attraction. (LOM:54) Using the vibration of the Word a path can be constructed from lower to higher, leading upward toward Spirit. "The vibration is then set up on lower levels of divine manifestation and becomes strong enough to produce response from the higher. Then, when the Word of Power is known and rightly used, the bridge is rapidly built." (R&I:493) The Word is an invocation used to evoke higher energy. So it is effective in building the antahkarana between personality and soul, and then between the soul and the spiritual triad. ("[The] act of projecting the antahkarana is performed, and it is then carried forward on the impetus of a Word of Power." R&I:515)

Words or mantrams can be used to encourage the opening of the chakras, the energy centres of the human body, as the disciple works toward greater personality integration and deeper contact with soul: "When the Sacred Word is intoned by the average aspirant, it carries force through all the inner centres to the etheric, and causes a definite stimulation of the petals in each centre." (LOM:85)

The Word is also used in the raising of kundalini energy from the base to the head: "The Kundalini Fire [...is] raised by the use of a Word of Power (sent forth by the will of the Monad) and by the united authority of the soul and personality, integrated and alive. The human being who can do this in full consciousness is therefore an initiate who has left the third initiation behind him. He, and he alone, can safely raise this triple fire from the base of the spine to the head centre." (EH:185)

Mercury is the communicator between polarities, the divine intermediary, the Messenger of the Gods. Mercury rules writing, speaking and all forms of communication. It is said that Mercury and the Sun are one. "The Sun is the symbol of the Son of God, Who is the mediator between Father-Spirit and Mother-Matter. Mercury, therefore, leads Aries to Virgo (again speaking symbolically) where the idea or Word of God begins to take form." (EA:100) (Mercury rules Aries esoterically and Virgo exoterically.) So Mercury rules the birth of the "Word". Virgo is the Virgin who nurtures within her the cosmic Christ, the Word of the soul, until it is brought to birth.

Mercury the divine intermediary, synthesises Manas and Buddhi, and so it rules the bridge or the antahkarana which the disciple builds between the mental and buddhic planes. (EA:281)

Each of the Initiations is ruled by particular planets. (See EA:70-1) However Uranus is the planet of initiation per se: Uranus "rules the occult Way and is, in an esoteric sense, connected with the Hierophant of the Mysteries of Initiation." It "leads the soul to the burning ground during the final stages of the Path." (EA:100) A planet of manifestation, Uranus brings Spirit into Matter, relating the highest and the lowest planes. It also inter-relates the highest and lowest chakras, governing during the process of initiation the raising of kundalini: "Uranus is, however, only registered at a very advanced stage of development upon the Path and is analogous to that point in the unfoldment of consciousness wherein, by an act of the will, the conscious and illumined man (focussed in the highest head centre) arouses the centre at the base of the spine and draws the kundalini fire upwards." (EA:297)

Venus is also a planet of initiation. At the time of individualisation the spark of mind given to animal man during the Lemurian Age came from the Venus globe of the Earth scheme. (CF:1076) Sanat Kumara the One Initiator came from the Venus globe of the Earth scheme. (CF:371) Venus is the 'higher self' of the Earth, and so stimulates Humanity towards initiation.

The Word Made Flesh

T he Word of God in manifestation is the 'Word made Flesh': "This refers specifically to the great Wheel of Rebirth whereby, upon that turning wheel, souls are carried down into incarnation and then up and out of the soul's prison; through the turning of the wheel, human beings learn their needed lessons." (R&I:92) Humanity is literally the 'embodiment' of the cosmic Word. We therefore carry within us the potential for our own salvation; and also for the redemption of the lower kingdoms. Essentially the way towards Spirit lies in the recognition of our own divinity and so our connection with all life. This is initiation: "An initiation is that moment in which a man feels and knows through every part of his being that life is reality and reality is life. For a brief moment his consciousness becomes all-enfolding; he not only sees the vision and hears the word of recognition, but knows that the vision is of himself, and that the word is himself made flesh." (BC:105)

Scorpio is the "Word made Flesh" as it is the sign of the world disciple. Mercury is the hierarchical ruler of Scorpio, governing the Fourth Creative Hierarchy, Humanity as souls or initiates. (EA:35) Scorpio "is the sign wherein the Christ demonstrates His control over matter in the guise of the triumphant disciple." (EA:272)

The Annunciation

T he story of the Annunciation symbolises the Word made Flesh, for it describes the descent of Spirit into Matter, the immaculate conception of the Christ child:

"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth. To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou has found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. [...] The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. [...] And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." (Luke 1:26-38)

The 'annunciation' is the 'announcement' of the conception of the Christ. It is a verbal agreement recorded as a conversation between Mary and the angel Gabriel. And Mary replies "be it unto me according to thy word." In Medieval and early Renaissance paintings of the Annunciation frequently Mary's reply "Ecce ancilla Domini" ("Here I am, the handmaiden of the Lord") is often written upside-down so that the angels can read it.

Destruction, Disintegration

T he power of the creative Word holds life in manifestation, and when the Word is no longer sounded the form dies. The Word is a destructive force also in the sense that the Word of the soul is destructive to the personality. The process of initiation involves the disintegration of old thoughtforms, mental and astral structures and crystallisations, the death of the Dweller. "In emancipation comes the breaking of the chains, in liberation comes the abolition of the old forms, in the domination of matter is seen the liberation of spirit. So, in the sounding of the Sacred Word in its sevenfold sense, comes the escaping from the shattered forms." (LOM:57-8)

Words or mantrams can be used to deliberately break down old patterns and forms. The healing power of the Word is closely related because sound can be used to break the patterns and forms of disease: "Colour can destroy just as it can heal; sound can disrupt just as it can bring about cohesion; in these two thoughts lie hid the next step ahead for the science of the immediate future." (LOM:250) However, "only initiates of high degree are permitted to cure by the power of the will, focussed in the WORD OF POWER, and this only because they can test the capacity of the patient, the tension of the disease, and know also whether or no it is the will of the soul that the disease should be cured." (EH:99)

The Word, Hearing and the Akasha

T he task of the disciple is to learn to hear the Word; to develop occult hearing. A different type of hearing needs to be cultivated to hear the voices of each plane. Clairaudience is hearing on the astral plane. Yet only by stilling the astral voices can one learn to hear "the Voice of the Silence or of the Christ within", the voice of the soul. (LS:336) "When the extension of hearing becomes such that it concerns the psyche [soul], then we call it telepathy or that wordless communication that is the synthesis of hearing on all the three lower planes and which is known by the Ego in the causal body on the formless levels of the mental plane." Hearing on the buddhic plane is "complete comprehension", for it involves the recognition of individual sound and group sound. On the atmic plane "perfected hearing is seen as beatitude". (CF:191-2)

"Spiritual hearing" is developed "by the means of one-pointed meditation upon the relationship between the akasha and sound." (LS:240) The akasha is the primordial substance of space, "the active vitalised matter of the solar system, that nourishes all as does a mother." (CF:60) It is the substance of the Monadic plane, upon which the breath of the Logos set up vibration when the great Word was sounded. (LS:334) "All the substances of our manifested solar system are differentiations of the akasha, and so all sounds are differentiations of the one sound, the cosmic Word." (LS:337) The records of the Lords of Karma (the Lipika Lords) are written in the akasha. (IHS:40) They are "the eternal scroll whereon the plan for our world is inscribed". (ExH:12) So the akashic records trace the progress of the soul through its many incarnations. They record the Word or Sound of the soul, the history of cause and effect; they record time. The akashic records are usually seen by Humanity reflected through the distortions of the astral plane.

When the sense of hearing on all planes is perfected the great word AUM will be known. Humanity will understand the meaning of each of the sub-phrases of the letters A-U-M (the three Aspects): "As the sound of matter or of Brahma peals forth in his ears on all the planes, he will see all forms as illusion and will be freed, knowing himself as omnipresent. As the sound of Vishnu reverberates within himself, he knows himself as perfected wisdom, and distinguishes the note of his being (or that of the Heavenly Man in whose Body he finds place) from the group notes, and knows himself as omniscient. As the note of the first or Mahadeva aspect, follows upon the other two, he realises himself as pure Spirit and on the consummation of the chord is merged in the Self, or the source from which he came. Mind is not, matter is not, and nought is left but the Self merged in the ocean of the Self. At each stage of relative attainment, one of the laws comes into sway,—first the law of matter, then the law of groups, to be succeeded by the law of Spirit and of liberation." (CF:218-9)

The Aquarian Age

T he Seventh Ray of Uranus, the exoteric ruler of Aquarius, is coming into prominence in the Aquarian Age. A planet of manifestation, Uranus brings Spirit into Matter and so governs "the power of embodiment" which is the power of the Word. In the New Age, from a study of the tonal values of Words, "their numerological indications and their inherent potency, men will eventually arrive at vast magical achievements and creations:oducing group activity and the appearance of certain forms of expression upon the outer plane." (DN:131) The Great Invocation is the mantram or "group word" of the Seventh Ray, embodying the group aspiration of the Aquarian Age. (EP2:145) Aquarius also channels the Fifth Ray of Concrete Knowledge; so "disciples in the new age will lay the emphasis upon the mental principle, because it conditions thought and speech. All magical work is based upon the energy of thought and of the spoken word [...] and purity in the realm of the mind and motive is regarded consequently as a basic essential." (DN:132)

The Seventh Ray also rules occult hearing. (EP1:133) So in the Aquarian Age Humanity has the opportunity to develop truer perception of the Word.

The Lost Word

T here are three basic Words or sounds currently in manifestation as far as Humanity is concerned, and these Words have a correspondence to the First, Second and Third Aspects:

"I. The Word, or note of Nature. This is the Word or the sound of all forms existing in physical plane substance, and as is usually known, it is sounded on the fundamental note "FA." It is a note with which the white occultist has nothing to do, for his work is concerned not with the increase of tangibility but with the demonstration of the subjective or the intangible. This is the Word of the third aspect, the Brahma or Holy Ghost aspect.

II. The Sacred Word. This is the Word of Glory, the AUM. This is the Pranava, the sound of conscious Life itself as It is breathed forth into all forms. It is the Word of the second aspect, and just as the Word of Nature when rightly emanated provides the forms which are intended to reveal the soul or second aspect, so the Pranava, when rightly expressed, demonstrates the Father or Spirit through the medium of the soul. It is the Word of the incarnated sons of God. [...]

III. The Lost Word. The idea of this Lost Word has been preserved for us in Masonry. It is the Word of the first aspect, the spirit aspect, and only the initiate of the third degree can truly begin the search for this word for only the freed soul can find it. This word concerns the highest initiations and it is profitless for us further to consider it." (LS:54-5)

As this is a solar system of the Second Ray in which Love is the line of least resistance, we are not yet able to truly know the Word of Will or Spirit. Only an initiate may know something of it. This Word was 'lost' when Spirit descended into Matter at the beginning of the previous solar system, yet it is this Word of Spirit which will come 'from the centre' in the next solar system and so be reclaimed for Humanity. This will be as a result of our own realisation that we ourselves are the Word: "Some day each of us can say with power: "It is written," and see that Word expressed in every part of our human nature as individuals and—at some distant date—in humanity itself. This is the "lost Word" of the Masonic tradition." (BC:118)

DK mentions specifically that when the fourth ray and the seventh ray "come into incarnation together, we shall have a most peculiar period of revelation and of light-bringing. It is said of this time that then "the temple of the Lord will take on an added glory and the Builders will rejoice together." This will be the high moment of the Masonic work, spiritually understood. The Lost Word will then be recovered and uttered for all to hear, and the Master will arise and walk among His builders in the full light of the glory which shines from the east." (EP1:52-3)

The Word & the Word

T he microcosm reflects the macrocosm, and so there is potential for the words of Humanity to participate in the power of the cosmic Word. In the power of the word lies the potential of written and spoken communication to express the soul. Through the magic and creativity of the word Humanity can act as a cause for change in the three worlds: "Of the various karmic agencies wielded by man in the way of moulding himself and surroundings, sound or speech is the most important, for, to speak is to work in ether which of course rules the lower quaternary or elements, air, fire, water and earth. Human sound or language contains therefore all the elements required to move the different classes of Devas and those elements are of course the vowels and the consonants." (From Some Thoughts on the Gita, CF:217 note.)

The Creative Intelligence of Matter is due to the responsiveness of the building devas to vibration. So "the power to communicate is to be found in the very nature of substance itself. It lies potentially within the ether, and the significance of telepathy is to be found in the word omnipresence." (TEV:5) It is the divinity inherent in all Matter that empowers the Word.

It is particularly important to attain the correct pronunciation of the Word or mantram: "Learned Brahmans [...] say that by formulating the words correctly a vibration is set up in the akaz [akasha], or that part of the ether of space which enwraps our globe, which makes man the master over all the spirit denizens of the various kingdoms of nature." (The Theosophist, Vol. XIII: 229, 613, quoted in CF:449 ft.)

Yet correct pronunciation is not enough: The Word must be said with intent and from the soul. DK comments that "the O.M. is useless to most people [...]. This general uselessness is caused not only because most people do not use the Word correctly, but also because, even when using it they are not holding its significance firmly in their consciousness." (R&I:514)

As the power of the Word is realised, the disciple becomes more careful of the use of speech, and so his words become more potent: "[On] the path of return, speech becomes ever more brief, words are more sparingly used." (IHS:156)

Distortion and Diffusion

I f the Word "is remote, deep-hidden by the veiling form, only distorted sounds will issue forth, and the Word will not be potent enough to withstand the devil. The Word is written in the flesh, defaced and almost invisible though it may be through the activity of the lower nature." (BC:117-8) As the cosmic Word is stepped down through the planes into manifestation it is reflected, reinterpreted, distorted and diffused. "Under the evolutionary urge, we have had the creative Sound, the Word, Speech. The latter, in its turn, has been differentiated into words:rases, sentences:ragraphs, books, until we now have the era wherein this differentiation is at its height, and we have speeches at all hours of the day and night [...]. We have the publication of books literally in their millions, and all playing their part in the same great work, and we have as yet both methods of communication being prostituted to the selfish ends and ambitious purposes of those who speak and write. Yet there are a few true creators who are endeavouring to make their sound heard, to speak those mystical words which will enable humanity to see the vision." (WM:477)

The proliferation of words in society today has diffused the power of the Word. "Only as the multitude of spoken words is reduced, and silence in speech is cultivated, will it be possible for the Word to make its power felt on the physical plane. Only when the many voices of the lower nature and of our environment are silenced, will the "Voice that speaketh in the stillness" make its presence felt. Only when the sound of many waters dies away in the adjustment of the emotions will the clear note of the God of the waters be heard." (WM:142)

To hold power the Word must:

• issue from the soul,
• be sent forth on the mental plane,
• be directed by the Will
• proceed from right motive.
(ExH:145 & IHS:198)

The disciple must also be sensitive to the correct and appropriate timing of speech and of silence through sensitivity to the rhythms and cycles of life. He must learn the controlled use of words to effect certain ends. "Having thought, let us then choose the right words to express the right thought, attempting to give correct pronunciation:oper values, and true tonal quality to every word we utter. Then will our spoken word create a thought form which will embody the idea we have in our minds." (WM:143)

Meditation aids the concentration of thought, enabling the powerful formation of the Word prior to its expression: Meditation "produces eventually that inner dynamic purpose and recollection, or that internal ideation which must invariably precede the uttering of any creative sound." (IHS:150)

Eventually speech and the written word will no longer be needed. Humanity will be "led on into the new age, wherein "talk will die out and books come to naught" for the lines of subjective communication will lie open. Men will recognise that noise acts as a deterrent to telepathic intercourse. The written word will not be needed either, for men will use symbols of light and colour to supplement through the eye what the subjective hearing has recorded." (WM:477-8)

Truth

T hrough the development of spiritual hearing the disciple approaches progressively towards truer perception of the Word. He rises above the illusions of the lower planes. Through the development of right speech the disciple learns to 'speak his truth'. The throat is "the organ of the Word". (EP1:289) To speak one's truth it is necessary first to raise the energies of the sacral centre to the throat: "The true, as an expression of the divine, finds its point of centralisation in the throat centre; the failure of the personality to respond, and its inability to express the true, is to be seen in the relation of the sacral centre to the throat centre. This relation, when lacking poduces friction. There will be no real expression of "the true" until the forces of the creative centre below the diaphragm are raised to the creative centre of the throat. Then "the Word," which is man essentially, "will be made flesh" and a true expression of the soul upon the physical plane will be seen." (EH:569)

Origin of the Word

W hat is the origin of the Word? How do you find your own soul note? How do you discover and speak your own truth? "The Word is the result of the point of tension; it emerges from the silence..." (R&I:220) The Word of an individual, or a group or a solar system comes 'from the centre': "'Always in the centre shall come a new Word.' Every form has its positive centre of life. Every organism is constructed around a central nucleus of power." (BC:36) The Word comes spontaneously from within; from the soul. Discovering the Word is a process of going within and revealing that which is hidden.