birth to Fig. 37,
though the effect seems so different. The reasons for this variety and
for the curious shape taken in this case constitute a very interesting
illustration of the way in which thought-forms grow. It will be seen
that in this instance the thinker displays considerable devotional
feeling, and has also made an intellectual effort to grasp the
conditions necessary for the realisation of his wishes, and the blue and
yellow colours remain as evidence of this. Originally this thought-form
was circular, and the dominant idea evidently was that the green of
sympathy should be upon the outside, facing in all directions, as it
were, and that love should lie at the centre and heart of the thought
and direct its outgoing energies. But the maker of this thought-form had
been reading Hindu books, and his modes of thought had been greatly
influenced by them. Students of Oriental literature will be aware that
the Hindu speaks, not of four directions (north, east, south, and west),
as we do, but always of six, since he very sensibly includes the zenith
and the nadir. Our friend was imbued from his reading with the idea that
he should pour forth his love and sympathy "in the six directions"; but
since he did not accurately understand what the six directions are, he
directed his stream of affection towards six equidistant points in his
circle. The outrushing streams altered the shape of the outlying lines
which he had already built up, and so instead of having a circle as a
section of his thought-form, we have this curious hexagon with its
inward-curving sides. We see thus how faithfully every thought-form
records the exact process of its upbuilding, registering ineffaceably
even the errors of its construction.

[Illustration: FIG. 39. IN THE SIX DIRECTIONS]

_An Intellectual Conception of Cosmic Order._--In Fig. 40 we have the
effect of an attempt to attain an intellectual conception of cosmic
order. The thinker was obviously a Theosophist, and it will be seen
that when he endeavours to think of the action of spirit upon matter he
instinctively follows the same line of symbolism as that depicted in the
well-known seal of the Society. Here we have an upward-pointing
triangle, signifying the threefold aspect of the Spirit, interlaced with
the downward-pointing triangle, which indicates matter with its three
inherent qualities. Usually we represent the upward triangle in white or
gold, and the downward-pointing one in some