Lives of Alcyone

This is, I believe, the first serious attempt to link together many lives of many persons in consecutive order, and they throw much light on the workings of Karma and the Law of Reincarnation. They remind one of a saying in the Hebrew Scriptures; "I will bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth." History of 70,000 years brought forward by 2 of the greatest writers in theosophy.

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EXCERPT

The Group of Servers is a large one; the two hundred and fifty characters to whom names have been assigned are supposed to be less than one tenth of the whole, it is thought likely that the whole clan is divided into companies for the purpose of special training, and that these companies are taken in hand one after another by the Manu and his subordinates. Our two hundred and fifty may well be such a company, and when one of its members disappears from it for a time, he has probably been gaining experience in one of the other companies. There are various pieces of evidence that point to this. For example: our characters are called together by the Manu about 70,000 BC, when he is making preparations for his new Root Race; many of them were killed in the massacre which took place then, and received a promise from him that those who died for the sake of the Race should be re-incarnated in it immediately under somewhat more suitable conditions. When, ten thousand years later, the race was definitely established, every member of our group appeared in it.

When the time came for the formation of the second sub-race our band was utilised both in the first occupation of the valley and again two thousand years later when the actual migration into Arabia took place. Just the same thing happened with regard to the third sub-race, our group passing through three incarnations in the course of its establishment. But when the time came for the founding of the fourth and fifth sub-races, not a single member of our clan of two hundred and fifty is to be found among those who were helping the Manu in his work. It seems evident, then, that at that period the turn of another company had come -- and another set of egos must have been going through this training. When the Bodhisattva condescended to appear in India as Shri Krishna and in Palestine as Jesus, no single member of our group was in attendance on him, nor were we chosen, as now, to prepare the way for his advent. In each of these cases He had attendants, so the presumption is that they belonged to one of the other companies.

From the glimpses we have had of the beginnings of the Sixth Root Race we know that our clan of Servers is to have the honour of being employed in that connection, and there is also reason to suppose that we should have a part to play in the development of the sixth sub race of this present Root Race. But the purpose for which we are now called together is neither of these, though it is still of the usual preparatory nature. We are now called upon to prepare the way of the Lord -- to help to make ready the world for the descent of the Bodhisattva. Because that is so, the method of this incarnation differs from all those that have preceded it. When we were founding a physical race, we were born in the same country and thrown into close physical relationship, but that is not at all what is needed now. The coming teacher needs heralds to prepare his way in all countries, and so that ancient and compact Band of Servers finds itself scattered loosely over the whole civilised world. Having thus scattered us, they bring this together again, but this time intellectually, on the mental plane instead of the physical.

They draw us altogether through a common interest in Theosophy, and they are trying upon us this interesting experiment, to see whether after all the experience we have had, we can preserve the clan spirit and work equally well together for a common object when we are born in different races and different families. The subjects of the experiment at first known nothing about it. They find themselves in relation to people of other races and of many types, all with their various peculiarities, and the first idea that occurs to them is how tiresome these peculiarities are, and how difficult it is to get on with these people.

But presently they get through the surface differences to the common humanity behind. The ego breaks through the veil of his vehicles, and the old sense of comradeship reasserts itself. We must needs be in every land because He needs his agents in every land; we must needs be a coherent all those agents must work together as one great body animated by one mighty spirit.

And those older lives we usually find our people gathered together into three or four large families, springing often from a single couple, or from two or three couples. The descendants of these couples for three or four generations generally consist almost wholly of members of our group. Then suddenly the stream dries up, and the next generation consists of strangers. But many among these strangers have been observed as recurring frequently, and it is possible that they might prove on further examination to be members of that second group whose existence we had been inferring. It may well be that that second group, whose members are as yet unidentified, may have been employed to follow our group in the case of the first, second and third sub races, and that they were tried in the leading role in the case of the fourth and fifth. It is likely that on so important an occasion as the descent of the Bodhisattva both of these groups, and quite possibly a dozen more, may be brought into incarnation.

Our investigations were undertaken for the special purpose in connection with the past lives of Alcyone, and the egos to whom names have been given are those who appear most closely in association with him -- those who were going through the same training at the same time. Those who appear to be training in another squad naturally do not appear at all, although it is obvious that their work must have been just as important in connection with other sub races. Even in our own squad many other entities are recognizable as recurring frequently, and might no doubt be identified among existing fellows of the Theosophical Society, if the same amount of individual trouble were given to them that was given in the beginning to the others.

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EXCERPT

As years rolled on Alcyone' s family rapidly increased, all its members being characters well known to us. It was one of her greatest pleasures to dream of their future, imagining for them all sorts of distinguished destinies. Some of her dreams seem to have been actual previsions; and her husband Surya, who used to listen to her with an indulgent smile, was on one occasion at least greatly impressed by one of her visions-so much so that he took the words out of her mouth and spoke himself as though inspired:

"You and I, my wife, and these flowers of our race, have a wondrous destiny before us. As you follow me now, so shall you and they follow me in that glorious future. Some of these who now call you mother shall pass in advance of you, and shall be my more immediate helpers in the work which I have to do. And when your share in that work comes, others of these your children shall stand round you as helpers and disciples. So the members of this our family shall not be separated as so often happens; again and again shall they be here together, so that it becomes a permanent family whose members shall meet in fraternal affection through the ages that are yet to come."

So when Viraj was gathered to his fathers it was Mars, not Surya, who was proclaimed King in his stead; and it was not long after he came to the throne before it was found necessary to take further control of that part of the island inhabited by the Turano Lemurians. These latter had an obscene form of religion which, among other unpleasantness, involved occasional human sacrifices-usually sacrifices of especially beautiful children. These were sometimes selected from among their own families, but more frequently one of their tribes made a raid upon another in the hope of finding suitable victims. On one occasion, however, it was decided by the priests of this unpleasant form of worship that an unusually choice sacrifice was required, because an unknown infectious disease had broken out among their people. So the priests met in conclave and decided that, as ordinary methods had proved ineffectual in turning aside the wrath of their deities, a white child should be captured and sacrificed.

Their only hope of obtaining such a prize was through some of those of their tribe who were in close touch with the ruling race.

There had been a certain amount of intermarriage between the races, although this was discouraged by the authorities, and it was from some of these mulatto families that the most powerful and most scheming of the priests were drawn. Among them were found just at this period two with whom we are acquainted, Lacey and Tripos.

Aided by a woman named Cancer, they resolved to steal a child from the white settlements, and after much lurking and watching they contrived to carry off Phra, one of the grandsons of Surya and Alcyone. It was some little time before he was missed, and still longer before his relations suspected what had happened; but as soon as the truth was realised the boy' s father, Naga, hurriedly got together a few friends and retainers, and started out in pursuit. As they knew nothing of the secret hiding-places of the aborigines they would probably have failed in their quest, but for the aid given to them by some others of the mulattos who were thoroughly well disposed towards the white race. Assisted by these, Naga and his party were able to overtake the abductors and rescue the child before the tribe could be called together for the sacrifice.

They made prisoners of the three people we have mentioned, and brought them before King Mars, who promptly had them executed, and furthermore issued an edict that the interior portion of the country should be brought directly under his rule, and that sacrifices of all sorts should be entirely suppressed. This was done, but the aborigines regretted their sanguinary faith, and were by no means well disposed towards the new regime.

This was on the whole a quiet and uneventful life, passed in a pleasant land and among an amiable people. They were not by any means unlike those of their race whom we have already described as living in Ireland a few centuries before. They were good farmers and bold seamen, hospitable and affectionate, showing a great reverence for old age. The great men among them were rather orators and poets than fighters; and certain amount of excellence along these lines was expected from the leaders of the people, as all judgements, sermons and public speeches of any sort on great occasion were invariably delivered in extemporaneous verse. They were clever builders, weavers and dyers; and their woodcarving was remarkably good, intricate and detailed. The life was on the whole happy and simple one, with no striking events, and at the end of it Alcyone passed peacefully away at the elevated age of eighty-eight.