ng the evolution of beings lower than themselves,
and a new light is shed on evolution when we see that men form grades in
these hierarchies of intelligent beings. These angels are the "sons of
God" of an earlier birth than ours, who "shouted for joy"[330] when the
foundations of the earth were laid amid the choiring of the Morning
Stars.

Others beings are below us in evolution--animals, plants, minerals, and
elemental lives--as the Angels are above us; and as we thus study, a
conception dawns upon us of a vast Wheel of Life, of numberless
existences, inter-related and necessary each to each, man as a living
Intelligence, as a self-conscious being, having his own place in this
Wheel. The Wheel is ever turning by the divine Will, and the living
Intelligences who form it learn to co-operate with that Will, and if in
the action of those Intelligences there is any break or gap due to
neglect or opposition, then the Wheel drags, turning slowly, and the
chariot of the evolution of the worlds goes but heavily upon its way.

These numberless Lives, above and below man, come into touch with human
consciousness in very definite ways, and among these ways are sounds and
colours. Each sound has a form in the invisible world, and combinations
of sounds create complicated shapes.[331] In the subtle matter of those
worlds all sounds are accompanied by colours, so that they give rise to
many-hued shapes, in many cases exceedingly beautiful. The vibrations
set up in the visible world when a note is sounded set up vibrations in
the worlds invisible, each one with its own specific character, and
capable of producing certain effects. In communicating with the
sub-human Intelligences connected with the lower invisible world and
with the physical, and in controlling and directing these, sounds must
be used fitted to bring about the desired results, as language made up
of definite sounds is used here. And in communicating with the higher
Intelligences certain sounds are useful, to create a harmonious
atmosphere, suitable for their activities, and to make our own subtle
bodies receptive of their influences.

This effect on the subtle bodies is a most important part of the occult
use of sounds. These bodies, like the physical, are in constant
vibratory motion, the vibrations changing with every thought or desire.
These changing irregular vibrations offer an obstacle to any fresh
vibration coming from outside, and, in order to render the bodi