etheric worlds were formed; and finally in the etheric worlds,
prakritic globes like the earth were formed. The earth is the
centre of a prakritic globe, revolving in ether around the sun.
The sun is the centre of a solar globe of ether, revolving in
prana around Alcyone. Alcyone is the centre of a stellar globe
of prana revolving in manasa around the central and hidden sun of
the great manasic globe. These four conditions of matter
prakriti, ether, prana, and manasa are the earth, water, fire,
air of the Ancient Metaphysics, the four elements of matter, and
are present in every atom of prakriti. When the atom of prana
was formed, it had an envelope of manasa. When the atom of ether
was formed it had an envelope of pranic-manasic atoms. When the
prakritic atom was formed it had an envelope of etheric-pranic-
manasic atoms, each of its encircling etheric atoms being the
centre of a pranic molecule, and each pranic atom of that
molecule being the centre of a manasic molecule.

Each atom of prakriti was the material universe in miniature. It
held the potentialities of mind, life, and phenomena. In every
aggregation of atoms, there were the four planes, each in touch
through the Cosmic Mind, its manasa, with other atoms in the
universe, with every other globe of whatever kind. "As above, so
below," was the secret Key-word. The unity of all the material
universe in its prakriti, ether, prana and manasa, was the corner
stone of this knowledge. The three planes above prakriti were
called Astral, and in common speech there was the ordinary
division into two planes, visible and invisible, or "Spirit," as
the invisible was called, and "Matter," as the visible was
called. Only in the hidden secret doctrine of physics, and in
the open metaphysics which were a "stumbling block" and