Manly P. Hall: The Maestro of Esoteric Philosophy (III)

Part 3 | The Philosophy of the UFO

14. The Philosophy of the UFO: An Introduction

In the 1940s and 1950s, scattered about his quarterly journal publications and lecture manuscripts, Manly P. Hall offered a series of commentaries about the UFO phenomenon and its larger philosophical implications. I’ve never seen anyone analyze this content of his before, and so in this article we’re going to do a deep dive into it, investigating what the great philosopher had to say about this important and highly relevant issue.

• This discussion follows a string of articles and podcast episodes I put out on the topic of UFOs as part of a longer series on the “secret history” of the 20th century. In those articles, I overviewed a wide range of material from various researchers that point to the emergence of an American-based, human-run (and consequently non-alien) UFO program all the way back in the 19th century, with these early versions of anti-gravity vehicles being termed “flying airships” in contemporary newspaper reports about them from the period.

• It appears that these early antigravity vehicles were developed based on the use of an “exotic” form of physics derived from experimentation into the mysteries of alchemy. In particular, the antigravity effects these early UFOs demonstrated were generated by tapping into what in alchemy is called the “fifth element”: the luminiferous Ether. Notably, this principle of Ether is the same energetic substrate that Nikola Tesla discussed and harnessed in his own designs and blueprints.

While I was putting together that earlier series of articles on the UFO topic, I was aware that Manly Hall had, during the 1950s, written extensively on the issue, but I deliberately left this material out because I wanted to save it for this current chapter, which is entirely dedicated to Manly Hall’s writings on contemporary issues facing mankind during the 20th and 21st centuries.

• Now that I’ve explored the UFO topic without reference to Hall, we can now factor in his teachings about the topic and thereby gain further insights about it.

• Furthermore, having already gone into the latest research into the history of UFOs from contemporary researchers, we can now look back to what Hall wrote about the topic 70 years ago and gain a better appreciation of how advanced his thinking on it was.

• As we’ll discover, Hall made certain statements about UFOs back in the 1940s and 50s that modern scholars have only able to verify decades later. It makes you wonder how Hall gained access to the knowledge he had. When we hear what he has to say about the topic, it’s truly remarkable how prescient his thoughts and predictions about it have proven to be.

Surprisingly to me, none of the major contemporary researchers on UFOs have uncovered Manly Hall’s material on the topic. It’s a shame, because if they had they could have been spared a lot of wasted time following false leads, such as the idea that UFOs are the result of ET/alien visitations.

• As we’ll see, Hall states emphatically that the UFO phenomena is a human-run project. By implication, the idea of aliens that we carry around with us today is very much a projection of our own ignorance and superstition: the result of a confused, materialistic, faux-scientific worldview that has become dominant within modern society.

• One of the main ideas that comes out of Hall’s writings and lectures on UFOs is the notion that our tendency to lean on an “alien” explanation for them functions as an aspect of a larger scientific-age mythological system, one built around the core ideas of secular scientific materialism. Also incorporated in this body of “modern myth” are Einstein’s ideas about space-time, Darwin’s model of biological evolution, and modern psychology’s premise that Mind and Consciousness arise out of the physical brain. None of these theories are actually scientifically true, but we accept them as so, and therefore in time they have become part of a modern scientific-age mythological system.

Hall’s teachings on the UFO topic help us cut through the fog of confusion that this modern system of mythology has instilled within us. On one hand, Hall helps us discover the deeper, metaphysical truths that the UFO phenomenon points us toward; on the other hand, his teachings also help us appreciate that the there is a larger psychological and philosophical meaning behind the timing of the appearance of this mystery on the world stage.

• The modern myth of aliens visiting Earth from somewhere in outer space is not an arbitrary one: rather, it forms part of our modern, exoteric system of belief. In all ages, there has existed an “exoteric” worldview accepted by the uninformed masses; meanwhile, there has always also been an inner “esoteric” body of teachings reserved for the initiated few. The modern scientific age belief in aliens, Darwinian evolution, relativistic space-time, materialistic science, etc. merely represent a modern version of this exoteric paradigm. By implication, an alternative “esoteric” explanation for these phenomena also exist, but this is “classified”, with “classified knowledge” being the modern equivalent of “esoteric knowledge”.

• If we look at things this way, we can appreciate how a major disclosure of the esoteric, classified truths about UFOs, where they come from, and how they work would lead to a major transformation in the structure of the collective psyche, altering in fundamental ways the core body of myth that collective society subsists on.

• This is a significant point, because it suggests that more is going on with the UFO mystery than just aliens visiting us and the government lying about it. Rather, disclosure about UFOs represents the ending of an entire paradigm of scientific-age mythology, with a new, as yet unspecified body of myth rising to replace it. In this new paradigm, key metaphysical truths and facts about the relationship between the human being, the Earth, and the Universe as a whole will be revealed, and a new body of myth must be developed to incorporate these new revealed truths.

In the new worldview that will emerge alongside the destruction of the old, it will be emphasized that, contrary to modern beliefs, there is nothing truly “alien” in the Universe. Rather, the Cosmos is one great Life Form, and all forms of life within it are like cells and organs in its body: each exists alongside its counterparts in a brotherhood of fraternity and common purpose. All are creations of the same supreme Universal Self or God and therefore all are, in essence, One.

• The deeper we go into the metaphysical mysteries underling the manifestation of the material Universe, the more we discover the Divine Presence everywhere. Ultimately, all life forms in the Universe - on Earth or elsewhere - emerge out of this Unity. They exist for a while as an individualized entity, before again being dissolved back into the being of God, the Divine Oneness.

• The idea that fundamentally different and separate ET beings are visiting Earth in flying aircraft is very much a projection of our own state of understanding concerning our own relationship to the greater Universe we inhabit. We see ourselves as discreet, autonomous beings, fundamentally separate from each other, from other planets in the solar system, and from other stars and galaxies in the cosmos. Indoctrinated by this worldview, it becomes natural for us to project this state of mind onto the Universe at large, with the idea of “aliens” becoming the ultimate form of an “other” or “not-self” we can image.

• Actually, there is nothing truly individual or separate in this Universe; everything existing within the Cosmos is the creation of one Divine Consciousness and one Divine Mind. Therefore, the mystery of the UFO is ultimately not about discovering other, separate beings from outer space; rather, it is about discovering our connection to the source of life in the Universe itself.

• This discovery is to be found not in the technological exploration of “outer space” but rather in the mystical exploration of “inner space” - i.e. within the depths and roots of our own psyches. There we discover, enthroned at the apex of each of our psychic natures, the existence of a common, universal principle - what Carl Jung termed the “Self”.

As we explore Manly Hall’s mid-century writings and lectures on the UFO topic, all these themes come up. The overall idea here is to use the symbolism of the UFO as a means to further enhance our understanding of esoteric philosophy and the spiritual worldview of the cosmos it advocates.

• Although the UFO topic is a definitively modern one, the ultimate truths we uncover in our exploration of it reveal the same timeless ideas and principles once pondered and discussed long ago during the times of the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Chinese, and Hindus.

• As Hall teaches over and over again, the study of any particular topic must be grounded in a foundation of universal principles and concepts. This is true when we study Atlantis and the evolution of races and nations; it is also true when we study contemporary topics such as UFOs and aliens or the World Economic Forum’s campaign for a forthcoming “Great Reset”. Each of these topics exists within the backdrop of timeless truths and wisdom teachings, and to come to a full understanding of what these current events herald, we must base our analysis on a consideration of these universal themes and principles.

Any individual life form, person, event, or social structure must exist and take place within the larger background context of Universal Space. This unified field of Space possesses its own inherent laws, designs, and plans and impresses them upon every individual life form and event that manifests internally within itself.

• Life, Consciousness, Mind, and Form all ultimately belong to the unified field of Space. Therefore, the more we learn about any given area or topic, the more our analysis moves inevitably more and more into the realm of universal principles.

• This holds true for the study of human history, human psychology, and the social structure of human civilization: follow the trail deep enough in any of these categories, and you inevitably end up coming across the existence of universal principles and archetypes in Space.

• This also holds true for the study of the laws and processes behind evolution in Nature. And it is likewise true regarding the study of UFOs and the secret science behind how they work: in each case, as we delve deeper into the topic, we discover our attention being drawn more and more to a consideration of Space, God, Consciousness, Mind, and the existence of a divine hierarchy of spiritual life forms existing above and beyond the earthly world of physical creation.

In this article’s coverage of the philosophy of the UFO phenomenon, we will follow this basic approach, using the UFO issue as a means to climb a ladder of ascent that begins with a consideration of discreet, individualized physical phenomena, such as a UFO sighting, then moving upward to a study of man’s psychological response to its symbolism, before finishing with an analysis of the profound philosophical themes and metaphysical concepts that a deep exploration of this issue inevitably reveals.

• We will begin our analysis by looking at that what Manly Hall had to say about the immediate causes of the UFO phenomenon: are they caused by a secret government research program or are they the product of extraterrestrial beings visiting us on Earth?

• Furthermore, what do sightings of UFOs and descriptions of the irregular physical properties they demonstrate tell us about the shortcomings of our modern paradigm of scientific materialism? And is it possible that the study of the UFO issue will end up bringing mankind toward adopting a new and more elevated philosophical worldview?

These are the questions we will be considering as we go forward in this article, using the teachings of philosopher Manly P. Hall as our guide.

• By considering the larger philosophic viewpoint Hall provides on this issue, we discover that our understanding of the larger spiritual questions of life become enhanced and a doorway is opened within us to come to new collective realizations about the relationship between God, man, the Universe, and the evolution of life on Earth.

• As world civilization becomes increasingly globalized and moves inevitably toward a new age of world government, these are exactly the type of collective realizations that we need to begin accepting and adopting; they are part of a new, expanded philosophical worldview that must rise and become dominant within global society in forthcoming decades.

• As the current UFO disclosure process proceeds, our attention will be brought increasingly toward the revelation of key esoteric truths, ones which must in time become adopted as part of the new, expanded worldview that will accompany the formal creation of a World Nation or World Government.

• With this new worldview in hand, we will be enabled to collectively coordinate, cooperate, and labor together in a world fraternity of shared purpose, one based on the pursuit of a common ideal: the belief in the Unity of God and the Brotherhood of Man; and the shared ambition to elevate human civilization toward a permanent state of peace, prosperity, and enlightenment.

15. The Geopolitics of the UFO

In a scattered selection of articles and lectures put out in the 1950s, ones featuring titles like “The Case of the Flying Saucers” (1950), “The Flying Saucers Fly Again” (1953), and “Dr. Jung and the Flying Saucers” (1959), Manly P. Hall offers a comprehensive assessment of the UFO topic, approaching it from different angles and analyzing its various layers and aspects.

• Hall begins his assessment by offering a general definition of the UFO, writing: “under the general heading of ‘Flying Saucers’ should be combined widely differing accounts of mysterious shapes, lights, glows, beams, gleams, etc.”

• He also emphasizes that, when it comes to UFOs, “several distinct phenomena are present and more than one explanation is necessary to cover the subject.”

Hall points out that unidentified and mysterious flying objects “cover a period of nearly a thousand years” and that an even “greater antiquity could be established by reference to the accounts of mysterious forms seen hovering over Jerusalem at the time of the Roman conquest.”

• A profound scholar of ancient mythology, Hall reminds us that “ancient myths and legends include accounts of gravity-defying mechanisms devised by magic and propelled by secret power.”

• These myths trace back to the time of lost Atlantis, when the prehistoric priest-kings of the Atlantean race were said to have used their knowledge of alchemy to manufacture all manner of exotic technologies such as antigravity flying machines.

Modern-day UFO sightings began en mass around 1947, with the famous Roswell crash being the most well-known of the numerous incidents that would take place that year.

• Since 1947, UFO sightings have been reported with regularity, not just by the public, but also by the military and by national security officials within the US military-industrial complex.

• Before the critical year of 1947, a number of UFO sightings had previously occurred during WWII, these being popularly dubbed “Foo Fighters” by onlookers at the time. Decades earlier, during the 1890s, an even older spate of sightings took place throughout North and South America, with onlookers describing mysterious steampunk-esque “flying airships” piloted by human operatives. (For more coverage of this, see my previous chapter on the history of the 20th century).

Writing and lecturing in the 1950s, Hall offered his take on various possible theories attempting to explain what could be the potential cause for the increase in UFO sightings in recent years.

• The first possible explanation he considers is the most popular and well-known: that UFOs “come from outside the Earth’s atmosphere and originate somewhere among the outer worlds that dot the firmament.”

• The second one he mentions is more overlooked, but also most logical: that “the flying saucers bear witness to human ingenuity” and in truth are “included among the secret experiments carried out primarily to strengthen world armament.”

• Thus, in his view, these are the “only two possible causes for (the phenomena that) seem worth considering. Either they are coming from some distant place outside our planet or else they are being manufactured here.”

Of the two, Hall is of the opinion that “until the physical (and human) phases of this question are thoroughly solved, I think we should be moderately reluctant to press the outer-space hypothesis. It is not to deny the possibility, but to rationalize the probability that should be the first concern.”

• In Hall’s estimation, “we can say conservatively that the chances are seven to one that the mysterious disks are just one more new and useful improvement by which we hope to maintain a world balance of power.”

• Actually, Hall offers a very low chance of possibility that UFOs are extraterrestrial in origin, given that “there are no reputable accounts of anyone arriving on this earth from other spheres in the long history of mankind.”

• He further points out that “the matter of timing is also significant. If aerial visitors had landed on this planet prior to the modern age of invention, a very different situation would have arisen.” But the fact that “visitors from afar should appear riding in contraptions which merely anticipate our own ingenuity by a few years … is extremely fortuitous.” He wonders: “is it a coincidence … that other planets are sending visitors (to us) at almost the same time that we are hoping to send visitors to them?”

Hall concludes that, “the more we ponder, the more the circumstantial evidence grows in favor of an earth origin for the flying disks. … I suspect that it is possible that the UFOs could be in some way part of a research project” and that “these devices are actually ingenious productions in defense or military strategy."

• Hall points out that “one of the supporting claims for this hypothesis is the general lack of profound anxiety among advanced scientists. … It is inconceivable that an unknown type of aerial machine could appear repeatedly in the Earth’s atmosphere without appropriate consternation. If the disks came from another star or a distant planet and were so highly efficient, they could well announce a danger of invasion or a plan for the destruction of the Earth.”

• Consequently, one might expect scientists in such a situation to be in an uproar over the topic. But this is not what we find: our scientist are “not apparently suffering from unnervement. … (Instead), from their distant, austere ivory towers, there is a thundering silence.”

• Hall therefore deduces that, “not having observed any pandemonium among the physicists, one may be inclined to assume that they are in possession of information which they are holding in the strictest confidence.”

• Either that, or our current crop of scientists are profoundly stupid. As Hall humorously observes, “either those in the best position to know do not believe that these mysterious projectiles come from the outer atmosphere, … or the whole group of them is the most idiotic combination ever recorded. They are stupid beyond concept if they believe or have any scientific evidence of penetration of our earth’s atmosphere from the outside and are still worrying about China, Korea, India, Russia, America, England, or any other nation on Earth.”

Stating his case further, Hall believes that “the most practical response to a potential invasion from space would be a highly organized defense program.” Confronted with the possibility of a real alien invasion, “it is inconceivable that the physicists of our globe would not immediately set in motion a worldwide program of common defense.”

• It is therefore logical to assume that, if an alien invasion truly were at hand, an international agency or department of scientists would be set up “through such an instrument as the United Nations Organization, (where) the learned from all nations, including the Soviet Union, could be called together to study the most fascinating and extraordinary circumstance in the known history of the human race.”

• “There is a sufficient body of trained physicians and astronomers to make a world congress of this kind not only feasible but practically mandatory.” So why haven’t we seen it happen?

• The only rational explanation for what might prevent such “a union of world powers” from coming together for mutual protection from a perceived alien threat is the fact that the flying saucers are actually man-made and are part of a classified portfolio of secret military R&D projects, ones being kept secret because their development is taking place within a background context of geopolitical competition and social instability.

In his 1953 article, “The Flying Saucers Fly Again,” Hall offers further elaboration on this point, writing that: “the flying saucer is exactly the type of device with which militarists would be profoundly interested.”

• He continues: “on the military hypothesis that the best defensive is an offensive, we would certainly have every motive to perfect such devices if only to prevent the aggression of other powers.”

• “If the flying saucer represents an advanced type of armament, then those who have it will try to keep it and use it for themselves, and those who do not have it will resort to espionage and sabotage to intensify their own research until they do have it. (Therefore,) silence would not be unreasonable in the latter case, and might be imposed for strategic reasons and to prevent the collective demoralization of people.”

Hall is here referencing the existence of a secret black projects superstate within the inner architecture of the US national security complex, one that began during World War II before expanding into new heights during the Cold War.

• Writing in the 1950s, Hall points out that “we should bear in mind that in the last ten years we have become accustomed to secret military projects of several kinds,” both at home and abroad. Certainly, the Manhattan Project is one obvious example of this type of secret military project, but Hall also acknowledges that Nazi Germany had their own version, as did Soviet Russia.

• Mirroring a line of research we discussed previously in our series on the secret history of the 20th century, Hall writes that “during the rise of the Hitler regime in Germany, scientists were hard at work in remote places perfecting instruments of destruction.” Is he referencing Nazi Germany’s secret Kammlerstab program with this statement?

• Hall wonders if, after the war, the Nazi scientists involved with this program, “whose whereabouts are unknown,” might have kept their research projects alive in either America or Russia. In both countries, “enormous regions comparatively unexplored are available for … research. … Under such conditions, and with the aid of German scientists, … it is not impossible that the flying saucers could be a product of (the continuance of Nazi Germany’s) intense scientific-military research endeavor.”

Between the two world superpowers of the Cold War era, America and Soviet Russia, Hall stated definitively his belief that the UFO mystery was centered in America.

• More specifically, he wrote that: “as these flying saucers have appeared principally over the United States and adjacent areas, one of two explanations presses in upon the mind. Either they are being created here, or they are being designed especially for use here.”

• He further states: “that the United States has an elaborate research project we know too well to even question it, because the reports that come out, little by little, are backed up by every indication that we actually lead the world in that type of research.”

• The idea that the UFOs are the product of classified military research taking place within the inner recesses of the US national security state explains how and why we find an all-pervading policy of secrecy surrounding the subject in this country. Hall believes that all this secrecy is best explained “as a practical precaution in the protection of a vital defense secret. … If these were indications of armament projects, then naturally it would be difficult for the average citizen to pierce the protective wall which the government has placed around such research under prevailing world conditions.”

Overall, Hall concludes that “the only conclusion that seems to be reasonable and carries a large part of the story is that which is now beginning to drift into our contemplation, and that is that the flying saucers and the floating cigars are the products of our own research equipment.”

• “It is some type of research device, an experimental device for either defensive or offensive armament. It is the only practical explanation that exists. … and there is much to indicate the experimental work is being carried on in the United States.”

• “The device in all probability is some highly specialized structure intended to advance research. … That some of them are comparatively small might indicate they are involved in a new principle, either of motion or focus of energy of some kind.”

• Writing in 1950, Hall states that “we must assume (the technology) is (still) in an experimental stage. …The project seems to have been running for several years, but is gradually emerging.”

• He also points out that “the device itself may not be the (final end goal of the) project, but some means of testing for something else. But whether it is a means to an end, or is the end itself, it is almost certainly humanly guided, humanly devised, and is being advanced in the unfoldment of necessary research into the great and powerful potentials of the planet.” Beyond this he declines to go further, stating: “beyond that I think we shall simply have to wait until Uncle Sam decides to talk.”

16. The Psychology of the UFO

In his coverage of the UFO issue, Manly Hall expands his analysis into the realm of human psychology. Here, he moves beyond the question of who or what is responsible for producing the physical technology and seeks instead to articulate a view on the phenomenon’s deeper psychological meaning and significance.

• In taking this angle on the topic, Hall mirrors the work of famous 20th century psychologist Carl Jung, who also wrote of the larger psychological principles and themes underlying man’s experience of the UFO phenomenon. Here, the focus isn’t necessarily on how the physical phenomenon is created, but rather how our interpretation of this phenomenon reveals important aspects of our own psychological functioning.

• In a 1959 lecture titled “Dr. Carl Jung and the Flying Saucers”, Manly Hall builds off Carl Jung’s analysis of the UFO topic, which he presented in his book “Flying Saucers: A Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies”, and offers a number of interesting insights concerning the inner psychological aspects of the UFO mystery.

Hall begins his assessment by pointing out that human psychology extends between two dimensions: one individual, the other collective. Any time the topic of the human mind is considered, both dimensions must be factored in and considered.

• Hall writes that, “up to the present time, we have generally thought of (psychological) experience as a relatively personal, individual thing. (But) Jung approaches the problem” differently: he adds in another dimension of analysis, one oriented around the idea that there exists also an aspect to human psychology that is fundamentally collective and transpersonal, one that all humans are linked to and therefore all share in common.

In Jung’s framework, this collective realm of the human psyche is the home to a domain that he calls the “collective unconscious”. Within this transpersonal realm of the human psyche are located transcendent psychological principles, ones he, following the teachings of Plato, termed “psychological archetypes”.

• Philosophically, these psychological archetypes, which reside within the realm that Jung calls the the collective unconscious, can be thought as fundamental idea patterns held with the Mind of God, with God being the entity that Jung terms the “Self”. Any thought or emotion pattern a human can make exist always and ever in relation to these fundamental archetypes; they form the metaphysical basis upon which all human activities are founded.

• In Carl Jung and Manly Hall’s psycho-analysis of the UFO issue, they factor in the existence of these transcendent, transpersonal archetypes in their considerations. Here, their interest is to move beyond the quest to establish a physical explanation for the phenomenon and instead seek to understand how the human mind engages with it on a deep, subconscious level.

In his 1959 lecture on Carl Jung’s take on the UFO issue, as well as in various journal articles published both before and after it, Manly Hall points out that the modern manifestation of the UFO phenomenon is occurring during a particularly chaotic period in human history, one in which the World Soul has fallen under a tremendous amount of stress-pressure.

• This collective pressure is the result of the build-up of a wide-ranging number of transformations taking place across the world in association with global civilization’s rapid shift into a globally-interconnected industrial, political, economic, scientific, cosmopolitain social order.

• The widespread changes to society associated with these shifts are responsible for exerting a tremendous amount of stress-pressure on the human psyche, both individually and collectively. Consequently, the World Soul and the individual soul alike are going through a combustable state of self-transformation, with a number of drastic shifts, transitions, and rebirths now taking place around the world in nearly every area of human thought and activity

In his 1944 article “The World Out in Space”, Hall points out that, at present, we are living through an era featuring “the most rapid scientific progress ever known to man, with science dominating the thought pattern of modern intellectualism. And at the same time, we (are suffering from) the most terrible collective fear ever known by man - the fear of absolute extermination by nuclear warfare.”

• As a consequence of these pressures, ones that have broken the back of man’s traditional relationship with religion, “we are living in a time of the tremendous breakdown of human hopes. It is an era of disillusionments. People are losing the central core of value around which they previously built their lives. They are confused, uncertain, and disturbed about situations which they cannot direct or control. They have lost most of their power to have a simple faith and a gentle believing. And their doubts and responsibilities are increasing hourly.”

• “With this combination of great scientific promise (meeting) an absolutely unsolvable personal situation as far as the average person is concerned, we have undoubtedly the proper ground for an extraordinarily confused psychological situation. Perhaps more than ever before, man’s subconscious nature is at its wit’s end and is susceptible to the rise of a powerful neurotic situation. This should be taken into consideration when trying to evaluate phenomena (such as UFO) encounters and their consequences on the public mind.”

In his 1959 lecture on Jung, Hall elaborates on this situation, pointing out that “as a collective group, we are now under a series of collective pressures. These pressures, for example, can represent what Dr. Jung points out as ‘world cleavage’ at the moment: The world psychologically breaking up (and) dividing. Division … means confusion and confusion presents problems on various levels. And in almost every instance, confusion is overpowering to groups of persons.”

• The problem is widespread: “instead of an isolated person (here or there) coming under psychological tension, more than 50% of our people are suffering from some form of psychic stress-tension.” As part of this phenomenon, “Dr. Jung points out that almost identical stimuli are now effecting vast groups of persons.”

• Elaborating, Hall notes that, while each individual has their own personal reaction to whatever pressures confront them in their personal life, behind and beneath these reactions are “mass or archetypal pressures, which are of tremendous intensity. This means that while we may react differently to things that happen to us as persons, we may react with amazing similarity to things which happen subjectively or archetypally to vast groups.”

• This situation creates what Hall describes as “the proper and natural cause for what might be called mass hysteria. The presence of mass hysteria, arising from common causes, means that we now have hundreds of millions of persons under tensions from identically the same type of pressure.”

Hall and Jung both conclude that the UFO is a prime example of a powerful archetypal stimuli that can trigger the manifestation of a mass hysterical event within the populace at large. It confronts the human psyche in a collective manner and therefore calls forth a mass psychological response.

• In my view, the COVID hysteria of recent years is another example of such a pressure. In both cases, a mass event or symbol confronts large numbers of people at once as a collective psychological force.

• This archetypal force attracts the attention, engagement, and interpretation of large numbers of people simultaneously, with each approaching it according to the level of their own psychological development.

Hall points out that the confusion surrounding the UFO phenomenon is indicative of the idea that the collective psyche is undergoing a processes of psychic splitting. This explains why, “in the interpretation of the flying saucer phenomenon, we run across a number of diversified accounts,” each disagreeing with its counterparts in fundamental areas of concern regarding the issue.

• For example, “some opinions are to the effect that we are being surveyed for possible invasion: that out of space some kind of creatures … have arrived, … some of them resembling human beings, others representing ‘highly intellectualized octopi.’  Whatever they may be, they are supposed to be out looking us over. Now what does man inevitably do? He measures instinctively and archetypally and comes upon one of the most just thoughts he ever had: namely, that if someone is looking us over, they’re not going to see much. This is a very common thought. Also, if people from somewhere else are looking for a better world, this is not it. So there is one school of thought that insists that, after having a look around, these various reconnaissance flights depart to their own cause, deciding to wait awhile to give humanity additional millennia in which to ripen.”

• With this possible explanation of the UFO phenomenon, we find the psyche drawing upon one type of archetypal symbolism, one whose counterparts can be found in previous eras of religious myth: that mankind is a spiritually immature creature, one that higher and more developed intellectual superiors are supervising and evaluating from "on high.” This is a type of thinking we can recognize from the golden days of Greek Myths, with the gods on Mount Olympus surveying us over and interfering with the trajectory of human life at their own seemingly arbitrary whims.

Hall also considers another, somewhat related take on the UFO and ET question, this one based around the observation that there is a “peculiar relationship between the increasing evidence of UFOs and the development of our own nuclear program.”

• He points out that “while there have been a number of rather interesting and abstract cases prior to this time, the majority of the sightings fit into the time pattern of the intensification of our program of nuclear fission research and experimentation.”

• To me, the most plausible explanation for the correlation between UFO sightings and the development of our nuclear program is that the former (the nuclear program) masks the existence of a secret black projects underworld, one that is responsible for the production of the UFO technologies we see in the sky. For some reason, this secretive technology is being used to stimulate the US military command in certain ways, with UFO encounters at nuclear sites being one aspect of what appears to be a larger social engineering campaign, which they are being used as a component of.

• But those not inclined to look at this aspect of this issue instead become focused on providing an ET explanation for this peculiar situation. As Hall tells us, those who fall in this group believe that “some of our recent scientific experiments are known to those on other planets or stars.” Seeing that we might “blow ourselves up and perhaps them also,” these ETs have decided that “it might be wise to take a look around to see what could be done to prevent the common disaster.”

• To give an example one a prominent contemporary public figure thinking along these lines, Dr. Steven Greer, a popular modern UFOologist, fits into this camp.

Hall emphasizes that those who come to this conclusion on the matter are demonstrating “actually man’s natural, archetypal, subjective thinking under an emergency.”

• Notably, this perspective on the UFO situation is based on the assumption "that the occupant of the mysterious interspace vehicle has a mind like (our own), is reacting approximately how (we) react, and that, as in the case of ancient mythology, gods (or aliens in this case) are men-plus: that they have very much the same natures and constitutions (as we do) but they have more power and authority to do something about it. More intelligence. More native understanding, but of a kind similar to our own.”

• As we discover, there are strong religious undertones and elements of psychological projection going on behind the scenes in the way that ET believers describe the “alien intelligences” that they perceive as “watching us over” from “on high”.

• Hall writes that believers in this myth “are quite convinced … that we are going to be reached by beings of superior intelligence. And the reason we know they are superior is because they are going to be peaceful. You see the psychological content in our own thinking there? At the moment, our idea of superiority is the arbitration of dispute without war. That is a goal. That is something we have not attained, but something we believe an ex-superior may have attained: a deity or power.” So in this view, we find the idea that a superior power, whatever it is, appearing out of space, “comes this time not with a sword but with peace, their purpose being essentially to assist us.”

Hall emphasizes that “here we have a valid statement of man’s natural theological insight,” one that opens the door to a closer examination of the underlying religious implications of the UFO phenomenon. Here, at the level of subconscious religious symbolism, we come to the heart of what man’s psychological engagement with the UFO subject is really all about.

• Elaborating, Hall states that “we will assume something moves across the heavens. This something is for the most part described as a spherical or plate-like disc. This disc has been seen” in modern times, and there are also “records of it having been seen hundreds of years ago. Jung points this out. But he also points out that the whirling disc is not only a scientific symbol but also one of the oldest religious symbols of mankind, something we are inclined to overlook.”

• For example, “in Indian mythology, in the wonderful story of the Bhagavad Gita, the deity Vishnu tells Agarjuna, the prince of men, that ‘when virtue fails upon the Earth I will come forth.’ Among the basic symbols of Vishnu, always carried by this deity in one of his several arms, is the chakra or whirling disc. This whirling disc is also the Buddhist mandala or mandara: the symbol of whirling motion. And most of all, in all mythologies, the symbol of totality, unity, and completeness.”

• Related to these Indian and Buddhist symbols is the “whirling, swastika-like hammer of the nordic deity Thor: the hammer which, thrown vast distances, performs its mission and then whirls back like a boomerang to be captured again by the deity of power who wields it. Here, we have a mysterious whirling symbol, a symbol which has since the beginning of time archetypally been deployed in religion.”

As we discover, the classic symbol of the UFO - the flying saucer or whirling disc - is actually an archetypal symbol, one whose corollaries can be found in the mythological symbolism of every major world religion from the past.

• From a philosophical standpoint, Hall explains that the whirling disc “is a subconscious power symbol: it is unconsciously or subconsciously the symbol of a presence or power superior to man and likened in the Hindu mysteries to Vishnu. Now, Vishnu is the preserver. He a symbol of the protection of man against the inevitability of absolute law without mercy. (Like Christ,) He is the intercessor. He is a presence of messianic significance.”

• “In Buddhism, throughout ancient times, the belief in the advent of a new power of benevolence came in the form of the celestial bodhisattva Maitreya. (In recent years), legends have been gathering that this deity was to come again and would come soon for the salvation of his people. This Maitreya principle or symbol is also therefore the symbol of a deity coming in glory for the salvation of his people.”

Continuing with this line of thought, we discover that the symbol that underlies the UFO mystery, the spinning wheel or chakra, is actually an archetypal symbol of the Divine Being - the Universal Self - and His lordship over the destiny of worldly affairs.

• What Hall is suggesting in his analysis is that, in our modern scientific age, with the human mind trapped in a secular, materialistic mode of perception, the archetypal symbol of the Messiah, the “whirling wheel”, impresses itself upon the human psyche in a form appropriate to the zeitgeist of the current moment.

• All systems of religious mythology from the past have had their own version of this symbol; now, the appearance of the UFO is our modern expression of it, one fitting the worldview of the modern, secular, scientific age.

As we collectively encounter the UFO phenomenon, we can’t help but to draw upon archetypal elements within our own psyches in our interpretation of this mystery. Thus, our conclusions about the topic are a reflection of who we are, what we already believe, and how advanced our level of philosophic insight is.

• Hall explains that, as with all archetypal symbols, the UFO represents, at the most fundamental level, an “internal experience of human consciousness, projected outward upon the world’s exterior atmosphere. The Tibetans have always believed this: … (that) a form in the minds of many persons can create in the atmosphere of the Earth a structure that can be photographed.”

• Hall tells us that, in actuality, “most of what we think, much of what we see, and a great deal of what we do is projected directly from sources within ourselves.”

• A primary error that most analysts of the UFO issue fall into is that they neglect this aspect of the equation. They are “not giving the (mental) nature of man any essential consideration. They are trying to “solve UFOs without solving the consciousness equation in existence itself.” In other words, they are “trying to isolate what they hope is a physical thing from its own framework, from the great pattern of laws upon which it must depend if it exists at all.”

Clearly, the UFO phenomena possesses a strong archetypal character to it: something deep within the human psyche is pushing out and impressing its mark upon collective psyche, utilizing a symbolic form appropriate to the age in order to do it.

• When it comes to our modern interpretation of UFOs and aliens, Hall tells us that ”we are simply in the process of creating an imagery for (archetypal) ideas that are gradually taking hold within us.” These archetypes take on different appearances depending on the person or group: this explains the diversity in accounts and explanations that the UFO topic engenders.

• Hall points out that previously in mankind’s history, in the days before science, these same archetypal themes and symbols were present but took on different symbolic form: they were there, but we experienced them in a manner that suited the state of our psychology at the time.

• So, for example, he points out that modern eyewitness descriptions of aliens bear close similarity to drawings of imps and gnomes by medieval magicians from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. The difference is that, “in those days, it was assumed that these beings belonged in our atmosphere. … Now we like to think of them as somewhere in outer space. But they look alike; and they seem to have the same mysterious and elusive qualities.”

Thus, when it comes to aliens, “we are bestowing upon them practically every one of the extrasensory factors we previously conferred upon the elementals, demons, and spirits of necromancy and Cabalistic magic.”

• This also holds true with the content of supposed alien communications: these messages “are almost identical with the messages received from discarnate entities through psychic phenomena. There has been very little said in these messages that could not have been done on a ouija board or by crystal gazing or deep trance. … It is the same type of thing.”

• Therefore, when confronting the UFO issue, we discover there is no possible way we can come to a firm conclusion about it without factoring in the internal dynamics of our own psyches. Clearly, there is a deep-rooted connection between the influence of archetypes within the collective unconscious and the emergence of UFO sightings in modern times.

Perhaps what the coming of the UFOs represents is not an alien invasion but what Manly Hall calls an “invasion from inner space”: meaning, a systematic outpouring of archetypal symbols held deep within the collective unconscious, moving gradually but inevitably out into the conscious awareness of man.

• The purpose of this outpouring is to bring out into active expression that which has been repressed and blocked off. In an age of egotism and materialism, the blocked-off archetype that is now pushing itself through is that which is representative of the Universal Self: the Deity of Power associated with Vishnu, Thor, Christ, and Maitreya.

• The more we pull on the string of the UFO mystery and follow its symbolism to its source, the reality we find ourselves encountering is not one featuring “aliens” or “extraterrestrials”, but rather our repressed inner connection to God, the source of all life and the root of our own experience of consciousness. This is the ultimate discovery the UFO mystery brings us toward: a reconnection with the Cosmic Christ: the divine principle of Self that lies at the root of human existence on Earth.

Thinking along these lines, Hall writes that “at the moment, we are being heavily attacked by subtle invading forces from within ourselves. … Either we must conquer (this) internal chaos (within ourselves), or we will fall victim to its effects (on our outer life).”

• “Under the pressures of living, forces are released from the inner space of man’s psychic life. … We have been invaded from ‘inner space’ (in other words): out of the mental and emotional darkness within ourselves has come forth a pressure which we lack the ability, and often even the inclination, to resist.”

In truth, the things we experience in the outer world are “the lengthy shadows of (archetypes that exist within) ourselves.” But as yet, the vital problem of the collective unconscious, its archetypes, and the integration of man’s personality with them “is not fully recognized or accepted.” Consequently, these internal archetypes, which have here-to-now been blocked from being engaged with constructively on an inner, psychological level, must instead appear to us externally.

• This is what the UFO phenomenon ultimately is: the projection of a blocked-off internal archetype into the outer environment of human civilization. Manifesting itself in this outer symbolic form, this archetype now demands our attention and engagement and we are forced to finally acknowledge it and work through it.

• Gradually, through our external engagement with the symbol, we come to connect with the inner psychological archetype that the outer symbol has been attempting to direct our attention towards the entire time.

• In this way, as Hall tells us, “the flying saucer epidemic reveals both the natural inquisitiveness of man and his deep anxiety about things mysterious and unknown. He attacks and defends, he accepts and rejects, but (yet) he does not display an appropriate and mature thoughtfulness.”

• But we can change this: by incorporating Jung’s psychological and Hall’s philosophical approach to the issue, a door is opened for us to begin to explore the UFO’s deeper archetypal dimensions. This exploration will ultimately bring us closer to an engagement with the inner mysteries of our own consciousness. This is the true destination that the UFO symbol is gradually bringing us toward: a re-discovery of the root principle within our own psyches: the Universal Self.

17. The UFO and the Aquarian Age

In their analyses of the inner, psychological implications of the UFO mystery, both Manly P. Hall and Dr. Carl Jung conclude that “we are now standing in the presence of a world mythology. A mythology built upon an entirely new dimension of human experience.”

• This new mythology emerges differently from how past ones came about: it comes not as a scriptural revelation from a prophet, but from our scientific engagement with a deep-rooted archetypal symbol within ourselves: the spinning wheel or swastika. As covered above, this archetypal symbol represents the motion of the “deity of power” as it directs its life-giving energy into creation, thereby impressing its will upon the root substance of Matter and giving birth to the evolving life forms of Earth in the process.

• As mankind evolves, the archetypal symbol of the Creative Power moves in and possesses its psyche in new and dynamic ways. In older times, this symbol possessed the psyche through theology, such as in the myths described above of Vishnu and Thor. Now, in the modern age, we engage with these symbols in a modern, scientific, objectivized manner.

The idea that esoteric truths are clothed in cultural forms is how symbolism has always worked. As Manly Hall further explains, “the purpose of symbols is to uncover the limitations of mortal consciousness by continually emphasizing the insufficiency of the interpretations placed upon them.“

• For example, “confront the untrained mind with some symbol or fable, and it will construct a confused and meaningless explanation.” By contrast, the well-trained and well-disciplined mind, such as that possessed by the philosopher or initiate, is capable of using symbolism as a springboard to leap into and reveal the internal mysteries of the mind.

• In this way, “Symbols consequently change their meanings according to the level of intelligence upon which their interpreter functions.” The UFO mystery offers a perfect example of how this works: many groups come to the issue with many different explanations and interpretations, and in the process each demonstrates and reveals the inner mechanics of their own mind and how it responds to stimulation from a common archetype.

In this way, in the modern age of secular science, the symbol of the Self, embodied in the archetypal image of the spinning wheel or chakra, has reached out and possessed mankind from within its own psyche through its engagement with a mystery appearing in man’s outer, physical environment - this being the mystery of the UFO.

• This outer mystery has the effect of stimulating unconscious elements within man’s internal psyche, with each person encountering and engaging with the symbol in a manner suitable to their own personality type, degree of philosophical insight, cultural and social influences, and overall level of intelligence.

• It's no mistake in that, in the modern age, this archetype has chosen to impress itself upon mankind in a way that is physical, scientific, and which pertains to the outer mysteries of man’s own government.

• As Hall explains, this new space-age mythology "is no longer the mythology of ancient gods rattling their spears. This a mythology based around the mystery of Space itself.” And this Mystery of Space is actually the Mystery of Spirit, which is also the Mystery of Self: of Self moving into and out of material creation as part of a great cycle of evolutionary development, with the ultimate enlightenment of the Universal Self being the final objective that the entire trajectory of life’s evolution on Earth is being drawn inevitably towards.

Simply put: when you pull hard enough on the UFO string, you inevitably move into a religious re-discovery of the Self: the God within.

• This happens in stages. First, the UFO mystery brings about an investigation into the mechanics of the physical technology and the practical science behind it. Then, our attention is drawn toward a consideration of an invisible world of “black projects”, which is responsible for researching and developing exotic technologies like UFOs.

• The existence of these secret projects is the gateway into a larger area of study: the idea that there is an “invisible government” behind the overt government, perhaps existing on more than one level, which is operating as a Hidden Hand behind the scenes, guiding world civilization toward a pre-specified end-state.

Here’s where we come to an important, albeit subtle point: while on one hand the appearance of UFOs interfaces with certain archetypal dynamics existing within the human psyche, it is also true that the manifestation of this phenomenon involves the orchestration of a vast network of humans laboring together to produce and utilize these technologies.

• The activation of this archetype within the psyche of the collective is what brings the individuals who work within these covert groups and organizations together to manifest this archetype into physical existence by means of the UFO.

• For example, the networks of individuals and groups that labor within the black projects world to produce these technologies are themselves inwardly possessed the “spinning wheel” archetype. This possession manifests within them in a certain way: it motivates them to dedicate their career to produce these flying saucers, which in turn manifest the “spinning wheel” characteristic as part of their engineering design.

• When these objects fly around, the eyewitnesses who see them experience the triggering of this “spinning wheel” archetype within themselves. It moves in and possesses them, and they subconsciously become stimulated by it. This stimulation provokes a reaction, and in this way the archetype becomes manifested outwardly within the psyche of the collective body of public society.  In all cases, one common subconscious archetype is being triggered, but each is affected by it in a different way, one that promotes a different type of psychological response in each person or group that encounters it..

• Altogether, various human groups orbit around this central archetype, each approaching it and engaging with it in a manner suitable to their own life story, social position, and soul journey. One thing is certain: each person and group, in their own way and at their own time, will ultimately be forced to confront this mystery.

Overall, we discover that, through the UFO mystery, the archetypal symbol of the Universal Self is impressing itself upon the human psyche, both individually and collectively. This process is taking place at a critical point in man’s historical evolution.

• This period in which the UFO mystery has arrived is one of rapid transition, with mankind on the cusp of establishing a global civilization for itself, with science as its dominant worldview and advanced industrial technology as its economic backbone.

• Clearly, this timing is not a mistake or coincidence: man’s engagement with this archetype sets the stage for the next phase of his evolutionary journey. At the current moment, the “spinning wheel” archetype, in all its various manifestations, is bringing mankind gradually to the transcendence of a long-held infatuation with materiality and egotism.

• Actually, what the UFO mystery is bringing us ultimately towards is a rediscovery and re-embracement of our inner spiritual connection to God. This is a God whose existence is not somewhere out there in “outer space”, but rather deep within the inner hidden dimensions of our own psyches.

• In Carl Jung’s model, the apex archetype at the center of the human psyche is what he terms the “Self”. This Self is Universal Consciousness: the single sovereign source and cause of all individual experiences of consciousness in the solar system.

• The spiraling vortex or spinning wheel is the symbol of the energy of this Divine Self moving into and out of creative activity. This is why galaxies are spiral shaped: each is the embodiment of a single Self or “Buddha” moving into creative activity.

At a more local level, in the motion of the constellations around the night sky we find another manifestation of the “spinning wheel” archetype. More specifically, we find it in the rotation of the seven stars of the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) moving around the axis marked by the north celestial pole.

• The time cycle of one rotation of the Big Dipper around the north celestial pole lasts approximately 25,400 years - a span of time that Plato called the Great Year. The division of this year into 12 months gives us the 12 constellations of the zodiac, with each being around 2,160 years in duration.

• Considering this vast time cycle and its relationship to the development of life here on Earth, Carl Jung and Manly Hall both come to a common realization: that the entire manifestation of the modern UFO mystery, stretching back to its first emergence in the 19th century, coincides with the motion of great astrological shifts that are taking place in the great astrological cycle known as the Great Year.

In his 1959 lecture “Dr. Carl Jung and the Flying Saucers”, Hall states that, when it comes to the UFO mystery, “what we are really dealing with is a crisis: a crisis in the great Platonic year. A crisis in which man, moving from one pattern of archetype symbolism to another, is confronted with an entirely new way of life, a way of life which is in his own archetype, but which is not (yet) in his persona or outer, conscious self.”

• The power and influence of this “archetype, impelling and impressing itself upon the (lower) self, the objective person, results in bewilderment and confusion.” Hall warns that the pressure this archetype brings about within us will continue “until this bewilderment is arbitrated and this confusion solved by the integration of the two parts of man’s own nature and the establishment of an interior totality.”

• Hall states that “this interior totality is announced as mysteries are announced: by the appearance of the peculiar symbol of the Deity of Totality; by the rising in man’s consciousness of the sense of this great whirling wheel, … which is the Wheel of Life, the mysterious cyclic symbol of the great Platonic Year.”

In particular, Hall tells us that UFO archetype is revealing itself at a point in time when the Piscean Age is moving toward completion and a new Aquarian Age is gradually rising to take its place. Therefore, “that this phenomenon of the flying saucer should arise as the vernal equinox moves toward the Aquarian point” is no coincidence: it implies, "a major motion of world consciousness, world pressure.” And in the transition of the Piscean Age to the Aquarian one, this motion is one moving “from a water sign to an air sign.”

• Hall points out that this motion of the world from a water sign to an air sign is encoded in the symbolism of the UFO mystery itself, most obviously in how these unidentified flying objects mysteriously appear into and disappear out of Earth’s atmosphere, which here is representative of the element “air”; the same elemental symbol that Aquarius harnesses.

• Thus, the thematic relationship between the flying saucer, the physical atmosphere, and the alchemical element of air is no accident: it signifies the idea that, as we move into the Aquarian Age, an age of air, “the mystery of air, and that which is concealed within air, must become increasingly psychologically dominant for a period of more than 2,000 years to come. (Thus,) … it is quite conceivable why an air sign should bring in an age of air.”

• Hall emphasizes that the type of air the UFO mystery ultimately points us towards "is not ordinary air. It is not the kind of air that blows upon our cheeks or fills the sails of our ships. It is not the kind of air that we simply and obviously accept, the kind of air that we think of as being better in the mountains. It is another kind of air; an air of life. It is a power moving in air. It is the symbol of an energy filled space. It is a fluidic power. This is force fluid. This is vital fluid. This is the mysterious Vril. This is universal energy, made available to man.”

In two articles published in 1944, one titled “The World Out in Space” and the other “The Conquest of the Air”, Hall prophesies what changes we can expect to take place in human civilization as we move closer to the Aquarian Age and the “age of air” that it heralds.

• Hall declares that, as the world moves ever closer to the realization of the Aquarian Age, we will increasingly discover that “the mystery of the air is the new challenge.”

• He elaborates: “today were are on the threshold of extensive research into the great world of air.” This approach begins from a physical standpoint”, but gradually moves into metaphysical concerns. This process is proceeding “very slowly, scientifically, cautiously.” But nevertheless it is proceeding: and as it does, the world will undergo an increasingly drastic series of transformations.

• Hall states that, “as we are now only at the beginning, it is impossible to place any limitation upon the progress that lies ahead. Whatever it will be, it unquestionably will change the entire course of human history.”

As we begin to probe the mysteries of Space more deeply, one thing we discover in our investigation of its inner mysteries is that, “within the strange world of space dwells the greatest and most powerful giant that creation has ever known - electricity.”

• As we move into the age of Air, we discover not a universe comprised mostly of empty space, which the limitations of our physical sense perceptions deceives us into believing, but the reality of a space comprised of Universal Energy: the rarified, all-pervading field that the ancient ancient Hindu philosophers once called Akasha and the medieval alchemists the luminiferous Ether.

• Describing the way in which this field of Etheric energy interfaces with the forms and structures of material reality, Hall writes: “we are beginning to realize that material particles, the minutest of physical substances, are suspended in binders. A mysterious, invisible substance in the air about us is the medium which supports, sustains, vitalizes, preserves, and organizes (material forms) into pattern.”

• This all-pervading field of Etheric energy in space is therefore the creator, preserver, and destroyer of worlds. And within its inner space, all visible, physical, mortal beings and substances “are suspended, as though in some strange and subtle fluid.”

If this is the reality, that “space is not necessarily empty, void, and formless,” but actually an unfathomably rich field of energy, then an inevitable question arises: “What causes the illusion of emptiness?” Why do we perceive it that way? Hall’s answer is simple: “man’s eyes have very narrow limitation. Beyond the very small gamut of vibratory reflexes which we call sight, there must be innumerable things which we cannot see.”

• In truth, man’s perception of the universe “is isolated by the limitations of his five sensory perceptions.” In this view, what we call “Space is no more than our name for the place where human vision ends. … It is (therefore) man’s ineptitude which casts the strange shadow of emptiness upon it.”

• Space in actuality is not empty; actually, it is the source of all energy and form.

In a pamphlet published in 1930 called the “Mystery of Electricity”, Hall writes that “by the ancients, electricity was not regarded as merely a blind force but a gigantic intellectual entity - a being rather than an elementary force.”

• What we call electricity was anciently recognized under the name of “heavenly fire”, implying that its true purpose was to function as the vehicle within creation through which the Divine Will was to be expressed.

• Today, electricity still performs this function, but we do not appreciate or realize this fact, looking at it instead as a resource to be plundered for the pursuit of our own selfish ambitions. But actually, the ancients were right: the field of universal energy is part of a great system of life, one that pervades all things and which is our entry point into the greater mystery of the Universal Self.

• Energy is not a neutral resource: it is intelligent, it is alive, it is moral, and it is spiritual. Hall calls it “the soul of the air”, writing that, “while bodies subsist upon the earth, their spiritual counterparts exist in that atmospheric Ether which is the soul of the air.”

As we discover, the UFO archetype draws us inevitably toward a consideration of this field of universal energy within Space. This is what the coming Aquarian Age heralds: a time when humanity unravels the mysteries of Space and learns to harness the inner secrets of Energy for its own growth and development.

• Writing in 1944, Hall predicts that, as the Aquarian Age approaches, “we are going on into the air and into space. The first symptoms of it will be our age of commercial and industrial air. Battles will be fought in the air as men fight for the sea, for the control of it. And they will also … at the same time be searching into that inner atmosphere which is the very substance of our minds.”

• Surveying the last 80 years since Hall wrote these words, is this not what has happened? Just consider the technologies that have grown dominant within the modern era: wireless internet, smartphones, cell towers, satellite dishes, etc.: all are premised upon man’s engagement with the atmosphere and the mysteries of energy and air.

• In this way, just as Hall predicted, as the decades have advanced mankind has found itself more and more engaging with the Aquarian element of Air. And this is just the beginning: “we are beginning to realize that this substance we call atmosphere is really a great unexplored world.” And the exploration and conquest of this unexplored, metaphysical world is our destiny: “this is the end for which we were fashioned, it is the mystery from which we came, and the mystery to which we will return.”

18. The Internal Exploration of Space

To recap, in the preceding sections of this article, we discussed the psychological and philosophical implications of the UFO mystery, tying its symbolism to the presence of deep-rooted psychological archetypes impressing themselves upon the collective psyche of mankind. We also noted how this mystery has appeared at a critical point in man’s long-term evolutionary development, one marked by the gradual transition of the World Soul out of the Age of Pisces and into a forthcoming Age of Aquarius.

• As this transition of ages proceeds, the mystery of Space confronts us more and more. This Mystery in Space is what the UFO phenomenon is ultimately drawing us towards. In particular, our attention is being pulled toward a realization that space is not empty, but rather is comprised of an all-pervading energy field - the luminiferous Ether or Akasha.

• As we delve deeper and deeper into the mysteries of this field, we discover more and more not only about the energetic basis of material reality, but also about the hidden inner realms of our own psyches. Apparently, the two share a common interface with this metaphysical energy field.

• Consequently, as we delve deeper into the mysteries of energy, we find ourselves delving also into the mysteries of our own psyche. Here we come to discover a new concept of religion, one based around the inner exploration of our own psyches and the re-discovery of archetypal, spiritual principles within it, with God, or what Jung calls the Universal Self, being the most powerful and prominent of these inner psychological archetypes.

In the new worldview that is gradually coming into formation as a result of our engagement with the mysteries of Space, we begin to associate the concepts of God, Consciousness, Spirit and Space with each other. They become synonymous: different words for the same truth.

• In a 1976 lecture titled “The Mysteries of Space in the Esoteric Philosophies of East and West”, Manly Hall elaborates on the relationship between Space and God, stating that,. like God, “Space itself is the ultimate that man can contemplate.”

• “Space is eternal: never created, never ceasing, but existing everywhere and always.”

• “Space is reality; it is always the thing as it is, past, present, or future. It is, for it remains forever in a kind of present tense, an eternal now.”

• Space is therefore the “proper abode" of God, because “space, as far as man can estimate it, meets all of the requisites of the limitlessness of Being. … Space goes on beyond conception, beyond imagination. There is no way of trying to discover what” lies beyond it: what “rivers or streams flow into the ocean of space. We cannot go beyond it, for everything beyond it is within it and in some way limited by it.”

So “Space is the supreme being: life as one and all. … All are composed of its substances and essences, nourished by its vitality, ensouled by its soul, given mind from its mind, and given body from its form. This one supreme Over-self, this Adam Kadmon, this Oversoul or Cosmic Entity, is the reality.”

• To the philosopher, “Deity is Consciousness in Space, and Space is the first primary manifestation of eternal Consciousness. These are the furthest points of ascension that man can reach.”

• Within Space, we discover “an infinite number of species, each developing according to its own laws and its own rules, but within the structure of larger patterns.” These larger patterns are held within the field of Space itself.

• "Space is indestructible and therefore immortal, but everything that it engendered or created was destructible and therefor must be considered mortal.”

“It is obvious that while we can not really see it, it cannot be a vacuum. Space has to be the seed ground, the infinite potential from which solar systems and all types of other astronomical phenomena originated.”

• “Space (is), in a sense, the common denominator of everything that exists within it. Space is a vast matrix.”

• “Space was like an invisible Earth: just as seeds planted in the Earth are nourished and grow, so lives arising from seeds in space flourish and grow.”

• “All (mortal) things which originate in Space return to it. … So there is an infinite outflowing of beings and things from Space, and after vast cycles of time they returned to Space and become one again with the invisible cause of themselves.”

• As part of this process, everything begins in Space first “by being invisible, before then passing through various conditions of visibility, before in the end returning again into the invisible.”

Hall tells us that, ultimately, “the Space problem is the discovery of Consciousness in Space. It is the discovery of a Space that is alive with potential but also is the eternal God, that God which directs us, reveals to us, inspires us, and sustains us.”

• Simply put, “we are manifestations of God in Space. … Therefore, it is true that in this Supreme Power we all live and move and have our being.”

• “Space is far vaster than any of us. We cannot become masters of it, but we can become servants of it. Man can never master anything until he masters himself, and … man masters himself finally only when he accepts the fact that he is a servant of that which is greater than himself. … We are here to obey; not to give orders. But we are entitled to become increasingly aware of the splendor of the world of which we are a part.”

Our increasing awareness of Space takes place across two fronts: science and religion.

• Scientifically, our increased awareness of Space’s mysteries results inevitably in us letting go of a false, materialistic viewpoint on life and the workings of Nature, one that has long been accepted as gospel truth by the majority of modern intellectuals and scientists.

• In the “age of air”, we replace this outdated paradigm with the new discovery that, as Manly Hall tells us, within Space “there is no physical substance, per se; there is only spiritual essence producing an endless chemistry of which substance or the physical nature is an aspect and manifestation.”

The spiritual essence that Hall is referring to is what we today term “energy”. And, as any contemporary physicist knows, “If we take any aspect of matter and reduce it to its ultimate particles, we will find not matter but energy.”

• The energy within Nature moves into it after being drawn down from a source field, this being the all-encompassing, ever-present field of Etheric energy or Akasha, which surrounds, interpenetrates, and vitalizes all forms in Space.

• Through the rediscovery of this sacred esoteric truth, the entire body of modern scientific knowledge can be reframed and re-ensouled with a newfound sense of religious vitality and spiritual significance.

• Hall elaborates on this point, noting that, as we delve deeper into the mysteries of Space, we discover “we have to correct our beliefs about what we think we have learned. There is no change in facts; they remain the same. … But now there is added a greater body of reality, (one) which ensouls truth, makes facts vital, and gives the individual a living textbook to study during his years of studentship in this material world.”

By reattaching itself to the core principles of philosophy and religion, something it has recently grown away from, science once again rediscovers Nature as a living textbook of the Divine Wisdom. Here, Science’s purpose becomes to study Nature so as to discover Law. And through the discovery of Law, we learn to obey Law, and in so doing we honor the intelligence of Nature and the wisdom of God, who first formulated these Laws.

• In this new paradigm, science learns to see the world as Plato did, with visible effects seen as the consequence or outcome of invisible, metaphysical causes whose origin recedes into the mysteries of Space itself. As we realize this, our whole outlook on life changes, and a new era of scientific discovery and accomplishment is revealed. Here, secular science is left by the wayside and science comes to understand that it is one component of a divine trinity, existing alongside philosophy and religion as its fundamental brethren.

• Elaborating, Hall informs us that, in the new, more advanced, philosophic understanding of science that we are moving into, one based upon a rediscovery of Francis Bacon’s original concept for it, we come to understand that “the only way Space can be explained concretely is to study its consequences (or “effects”) as these gradually become apparent. We cannot see the roots, but we can sometimes see the blossom and the fruit.” In other words: “We cannot always estimate the cause, but gradually the effect becomes manifested.”

• “By a continuous consideration of effects and by constantly observing the changing situations of existence, thoughtful persons gradually develop a hypothesis of Space that is highly valuable and useful.” Over time, this hypothesis can developed into a body of knowledge that informs us not only about the scientific mysteries of material existence, but also about the spiritual and religious mysteries that underly man’s inner mystical encounters with the spirit world beyond.

According to the teachings of the esoteric doctrine, which Manly Hall dedicated his life to revealing to us, the infinite power God of “abode in Space and manifested through the infinite manifestations of energy, life, and power” that come into being within it.

• Space is therefore understood to be “alive and intelligent.” Within Space, “every process of existence is in and of itself lawful and dominated by purpose.”

• Therefore, a close study of Space reveals the presence of God, Law, Wisdom, and Intelligence everywhere in the Universe. In this way, through a transformed understanding of Space, we come to discover a new outlook on science, one based on a paradigm that is no longer secular, but rather scientific, philosophic, and religious - all at once, simultaneously.

• This new outlook naturally reveals itself the more we come to study Space, for the reason that a close investigation of Space reveals a Universe in which the life of Spirit - which is energy - pervades all things. This energy is alive, it is intelligent, it pervades each of us, and we all share it in common.

• In this view, we come to understand that Spirit’s interface with Matter comes through this all-pervading field of Etheric energy, which fluxes into, out of, and through all material forms. This energetic substrate is therefore the gateway into the Spirit, as well as into the inner mysteries of our own minds.

In order to truly unravel the inner mechanics of the Mind, we must first address this mystery of Space, for the reason that Mind resides in a middle ground between abstract Space or Spirit and the world of individualized material forms existing within its field.

• As you go into Space, you discover that, between the world of individualized material forms and the universal field of Absolute Space that contains them exist a number of metaphysical planes. These planes are the actual home of the entity within us that we call the Mind, Psyche, or Soul.

• In other words, the human soul or mind has a tangible existence, this being within an “energy body” that exists in the metaphysical fields that surround the dense, physical body. It is by means of this “energy body” that we ultimately come into contact with the grand mysteries of Space, these having to do with universal presence of God, Spirit, and Consciousness.

Hall tells us that “there is only one way in which we can approach a comprehension of the Space dimension, and that is through the gradual experience of the Space dimension within ourselves.” In other words, through the mechanism of an intermediary agent: the Mind.

• Hall writes that “man can only know what he experiences. He cannot know Space until he experiences Space, and the only way he can experience it is through inner intuitional insight.”

• This experience of inner intuitional insight is fulfilled in the mystical experience, where “the inner consciousness of man” integrates psychically “with the universal consciousness of life. The ideal concept of this is illumination, this being man’s inner experience of his own identity with totality.”

• Elaborating further on the nature of this transcendent experience, Hall writes:“it is not difficult to imagine that mystics like Lao-Tse in China, sitting on the side of a hill and contemplating all this mystery, might be overwhelmed by it, might suddenly experience such a surge of inner, emotional sensitivity, (that it would be revealed) to them (that) the universe is far more glorious than anything we have ever contemplated.”

Through passages like these, we discover that, through a gradual enlargement of consciousness within ourselves, the human psyche comes to attain a transcendent experience of Space - or more specifically, the spiritual mystery of consciousness within Space.

• By implication, the more we explore the hidden metaphysical mysteries of Space, the more we gradually come to explore the hidden inner realms of our own psyches, for the two are one and the same.

• In esoteric philosophy, it is taught that within the human psyche are latent mental powers and potentials, ones that at present remain dormant and un-utilized in the majority of people. Thus, Hall tells us that “the only possible way in which man can finally orient himself in this greater universe is through faculties that are (now) latent within himself.”

• The secret to unlocking these inner psychic capacities lies in the mysteries of the mind and the metaphysical energy-body it is contained within. This so-called “light body” has to be “gradually unfolded and its resources clarified”, which is accomplished “through discipline and the perfection of esoteric arts and sciences.”

Hall cautions that “the perfection of the individual is not achieved merely by the perfection of his body; true perfection implies the improvement within himself of a subtle field or plane of energy which may be termed vibratory, whereby man travels from one state of being to another state of being by changing the vibratory rate of his consciousness.”

• It is through this energy-body that man explores the inner mysteries of Inner Space. Evolution for man is therefore primarily the perfection of the inner soul more so than the outer body. It is what Manly Hall calls an “experience in depth”, in other words: one that pushes mankind toward “the recognition of the need to explore the deeper resources of (its own) nature.“

• As mankind evolves, it incrementally unlocks and releases new powers, potentials, and capacities within the soul. By implication, the soul powers we possess and demonstrate today are the fruitage of past lifetimes of evolutionary development, ones the soul moved into and out of during pervious cycles of incarnation.

• Today, mankind is working to develop and unfold new psychic powers and potentials, and the challenges of the present age are ultimately designed to stimulate this unfoldment. These new powers include those associated with ESP or extrasensory perception. With these inner faculties coming into development, in the coming “age of air” we will use them to explore the inner metaphysical dimensions of Space: the realms where the enlightened ones dwell, the gods are permanently enthroned, and the Light of God shines eternal.

19. Space as the Gateway to the Spiritual Hierarchy

The deeper we probe into the hidden mysteries of Space, the closer we come to the Creative Principle itself, as well as to the hierarchy of gods and spiritual beings that descend from its Consciousness and draw from its Light.

• Carl Jung termed this Creative Principle the “Self” and the gods surrounding it “the archetypes of the collective unconscious”. In his view, when we have psychological encounters and experiences of divine beings, what we are actually engaging with is these psychological archetypes within ourselves.

• This inner exploration of these hidden dimensions of our own psychic nature is what religion is actually all about. It’s not about an idea of god or spirits derived from scripture or a story we tell ourselves; it is about a personal, transcendent, mystical experience of the inner aspects of our own psyches, with a mystical union with the Self being the culminating experience one can discover.

Hall and Jung both believed that the religion of the future must become a psychologized one, one based on the experience of God rather than merely the worship of God.  In their view, religion must integrate with mysticism, so that it may become “that part of human knowledge which enables man to discover or experience the spiritual integrity and consciousness of Space as the supreme deity.”

• Hall tells us that there is “one Deity - one enteral life; one God abiding in all things. A God of stars, constellations, atoms, molecules, and ions: one tremendous archetype of which all things are miniature reproductions.” This is the God of Space; it is also the God of Consciousness. And in the fullness of religion, the quest ends in the experience of a psychological communion with this Divine Being.

• This view on things imparts a clear moral directive upon Space and our relationship to it: “Space is not only there but it is good. It is not only everywhere, but it is wise, and it is not only good and wise, but in its infinite diffusion it is Infinite Love.”

• Religion in its highest form becomes about awakening the Love of God within the soul and experiencing it to its fullest. This is religion as a mystical, esoteric experience of the Divine: an experience that one learns to unlock and release through study and practice of the esoteric teachings. This doctrine teaches the disciple how to awaken and release this power of Divine Love within the soul, and therefore it constitutes the highest practice of science and the most sublime form of religion.

As the consciousness of the awakening soul ascends into Space, it discovers above and beyond material reality “a spiritual, non-material realm vastly greater than physical creation.” Discovering this truth, the soul also discovers that “the invisible universe around us is actually inhabited by evolving forms of life.” More specifically, “the universe is divided into bands of vibratory rates, each of which can be inhabited.”

• The mystics and seers of all ages testify to this truth. For example, Hall informs that that “in his last discourse with his disciples, Socrates described a race of beings that live along the shores of the air, as men live along the shores of the sea. He was convinced, as the result of his own intellectual penetration,” that someday we would find out about the existence of these numerous orders of living things in the atmosphere, “growing and developing as we are, but composed of a more subtle substance.”

• Later, in the 16th century, Paracelsus came to same realization, stating that “this world in which we live is an island in the midst of a great inhabited space. There are countless orders of life (within Space) that we cannot see, races of beings infinitely more intelligent than we are.”

Here we come to idea that, within an immense monotheistic concept exists a polytheistic organization of gods, demigods, enlightened beings, and non-physical entities.

• Hall explains that the interval between the infinite and unbound realm of the Absolute and the bound and finite realm of creation we know and experience cannot exist as an empty vacuum: “we cannot imagine a great corporation composed of the board of trustees and the office boy, with nothing between them. We cannot image a great institution of learning, with a president, a small group of deans, and then a large collection of freshmen, with nothing in between. This is not conceivable.”

• Instead, “in the universe, the machinery of life is very complicated. There are infinite levels of being. There are all forms of existence, visible and invisible to us. … All of these levels represent conditions and manifestations of one unconditioned power.”

• It would seem reasonable to assume then that, whereas order is present everywhere, from the highest to the lowest, there must be branch managers, assistant managers, bookkeepers, salesmen; there must be those who fulfill all the duties of a great metropolitan city - the firemen, the postman, the policeman. … A great cooperation must exist before the great corporation is able to function.”

By analogy, in the metaphysical realms of Space “this vast organization represents a great hierarchy of creating powers, all of them subservient to the eternal, supreme reality itself.”

• “The evidence would suggest that there had to be deputy supervisors taking care of things, and out of this came polytheism. Polytheism was the creation of symbolic personalties to represent the major levels and processes of universal life. All of these secondary deities, so-called, … had various sovereignties making possible a legitimate and organized way of existence.”

• Each have “as their duties and responsibilities the distribution of the natural resources of the Infinite. … In man’s body, we have the same general organization. Whether we know it or not, there is a great organization under the skin. This organization has its centers, its managers, its associate managers, all its branch offices.”

As one’s consciousness opens up to the mysteries of Space, this vast hierarchy of spiritual organization reveals itself. But it does so archetypally, clothing itself in a variety of outer symbolic forms, ones appropriate to the mindstate of the person undergoing this experience.

• In his lecture “The Mysteries of Space in the Esoteric Philosophies of East and West,” Hall elaborates further, explaining that the psyche encounters this divine hierarchy of spiritual powers in such a way that their attributes become clothed in patterns of archetypal symbolism that the human mind can comprehend and understand.

• Hall writes that “psychologically speaking, it is assumed that if we become aware of super-mundane beings or sub-mundane creatures, this awareness takes the form of an abstract intuitional experience. Whenever such an experience occurs, it must become embodied in some way before it is tangible to the mind. … To meet this emergency, we create thought-forms, usually based upon traditional beliefs, and these forms provide a more tangible means of communication. The thought-form can speak, or at least impress upon our minds with word patterns some message originating outside our area of cognition.”

• In this way, “angelic visions as reported in the mystical experiences of saints are actually based upon archetypal images of sacred art through which a message of some kind is transmitted. Visions usually occur through symbolisms with which we are familiar.” The content of these visions “convey valid information by presenting it through symbolism available in the subconscious minds of those experiencing prophetic dreams.”

In this way, we come to understand that man’s inner psychological encounters with angelic beings, ones inhabiting higher planes of metaphysical existence than what we see and experience here on Earth with our physical senses, are actually true occurrences, but their truth is primarily psychological rather than physical.

• In psychological terms, encounters with angels and divine beings represent the mind’s psychological engagement with archetypal principles and elements within itself. These experiences come as part of the mind’s larger journey to rediscover and center itself within the divine presence of the Self within.

• Hall writes that “assuming that the Divine Principle is enthroned in the heart of man, the angels that gather about the eternal throne appear in dreams or visions, or to purified souls in meditation during their mystical preoccupations.”

• These type of experiences and encounters have been reported by mystics and prophets from all cultures in all ages. They come as part of man’s natural psychic growth: as we move from a physical to a metaphysical orientation, inevitably we come into contact with superior beings residing in the more rarified Ethers of the World Soul.

Hall explains that the word “angel” actually means “messenger”: “It was assumed that these invisibles were fashioned by deity to convey the will of heaven to the inhabitants of the mundane creation.”

• Hall further describes angels as “the thought of God; the love of deity clothed in a semi-visible essence. … These creatures were pure from all mortal defilement and dwelt forever in the love of God.”

• “The angel is an archetypal being, a personification of inspiration, arising within the spiritual nature of man himself. … The angel is a radiant image of man’s spiritual aspirations, and as this pictorial projection is strengthened it reveals the will of the Divine Core around which the human personality is gradually objectified.” In this way, “the angelic visitation (represents) the presence of God in every person.”

In his book “12 World Teachers”, Hall goes deeper into the spiritual cosmology of esoteric philosophy, which describes how this angelic order first originated out of the Mind of God. He he writes how “Hermes taught that the universe was sustained through the energies of certain secondary gods who were the manifestations and administrators of the Divine Will.”

• “Of the First God, the recondite source of all things, Hermes says little, regarding this matter as too profound to be discovered by intellectual process. Although Hermes did not define First Cause, he seems to prefer to denominate it ‘the Primordial Mind’, or ‘the Supreme Being from whom emanated Reason,’ the sustainer and orderer of all natural phenomena.”

• “Thus Hermes was monotheistic in principle and pantheistic in his concept of the secondary principles which, emerging from the One, become the sustaining power administering to the many.”

• “In this concept Hermes parallels Plato, who in slightly different words expresses the same thought, thus revealing the secret of mythologies.” This secret is simple: “the ancient pantheons of divinities are really the personifications of the various attributes of Universal Life.”

In the process of creation, “the Universal One first emanates superior beings and with these, its first progeny, rules over the mundane sphere and its creatures.”

• Hall indicates that there are three primary orders in the spiritual hierarchy, each with its own orders and classes.

• At the top level are the “gods”; next come the demigods (or what the Buddhists call Bodhisattvas); and lastly come the enlightened Adepts, Saints, and Sages who serve as the hierophants of the Mystery Schools - these occupy the third level of this hierarchy.

• According to Hall, this three-tiered hierarchy is responsible for maintaining “the order of creation.” It is its duty “to make sure that God’s will triumphs and sets the world right.”

In the process of creation, each level of the hierarchy comes into manifestation one after the other, the lower level proceeding from the higher. Once manifested, this hierarchy works together to fashion and evolve the lower world of material creation.

• Describing this process in further detail, Hall states how, “in ancient India, there was an account that, when the time came for the Earth to become fruitful, the gods descended from their celestial abodes to a realm which they fashioned in the atmosphere above the North polar cap.”

• According to their sacred writings, it was here that these divinities first "established their systems of mysteries and ordained their priesthoods to perpetuate the Divine Plan among the first races and nations. The physical institutions for the preservation of the Divine Plan were the esoteric schools, where dedicated mortals could be taught the way of heaven.”

Hall emphasizes that the “the only way in which the invisible powers ruling the cosmos can be known is through the unfoldment of the human soul resulting in the clarifying of extra-sensory perceptions.”

• In the human life wave, there have always been those rare individuals who have specially dedicated themselves to the unfoldment of these soul powers within themselves and these are the ones who became the first shamans and sages of primitive people. These awakened individuals “became psychically, or intuitively aware of this mystical over-government and, with the passing of time, sought to establish conscious union with the sacred teachers.”

• Through these enlightened mortals and the Mystery School institution they founded, the early moral and ethical codes of civilization were brought down to Earth and revealed to man. According to Hall, “all these occurrences were under the direction of the divinities and their disciples,” with “the benevolence of Deity manifesting first from gods or buddhas, through the demigods or bodhisattvas, and into the consciousness of the prophets, saints, and sages.”

• In this way, we come to understand that “the laws useful to human survival were not created by mortal legislators, but it was their duty to make sure that life on Earth was in harmony with the Universal Plan.”

Over time, by degrees, “the initiates of the esoteric schools were able to take over the responsibilities of human society. Sacred books came into existence and oral traditions led gradually to the formation of individual religious sects.”

• “As a result of the diffusion of the sacred tradition, the concept of a Divine over-government was bestowed upon human beings as a priceless heritage. It was Divinely decreed that the individuals and collective humankind should release all the potential bestowed upon them by the deities until they had brought forth a society, perfectly enlightened and submissive to cosmic and universal law.”

• This is the long-term vision of the Mystery Schools, one that the gods first bestowed to man at the beginning of mankind’s cycle of evolutionary development here on Earth. These Schools have quietly persisted ever since in the effort of fulfilling God’s great vision for man on Earth.

Hall explains that, still to this day, “enlightened souls, whether embodied or unembodied, continue their benevolent ministries on behalf of humanity. Christianity has its saints acting as intermediaries between divinity and humanity. Oriental nations have their Rishi, Arhats, and Mahatmas, and the Adept tradition in Europe” is also part of this lineage.

• “In esoteric philosophy, the Adepts and Arhats are regarded as the most enlightened mortals,” illumined souls “who have dedicated their lives (completely) to the advancement of humankind. These perfectly enlightened ones are servants of the Divine Plan and protect it with their mystical powers against perversion and corruption.”

• “In every case, these leaders of mankind” have been drawn from this elite caste of illuminates. These are the “enlightened persons, disciplined and dedicated, (who) stand as evidence of the exalted degree of wisdom and devotion for which they will be long remembered.”

• Hall calls these enlightened souls “the fruitage of the human world period. These great initiates, with their divinely inspired minds, are established as mighty pillars in the House of their God. They are the supports of the Temple of Human Progress.” They “are the custodians of the Great Plan and, through their boundless compassion, they guard the growth and destiny of those creatures which are not wise or strong enough to understand the purpose for their own existence.”

In the Western lineage of the esoteric tradition, the Adept hierarchy was ported over from Europe into America by means of Francis Bacon’s Rosicrucian Order, its point of initial importation dating back to the early 17th century, at the very beginning of England’s colonization scheme in America.

• Hall states that the “true” Rosicrucian Order that Bacon was a part of - “the real Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross” - dwells not here on earth but "in the Mind of God.” They are “stewards in the universal house and will protect the Divine Plan and purpose until the burden of these labors can be carried by enlightened members of human society.”

• It was from within their abode in the “Mind of God” that these illuminated ones “called to themselves those qualified to advance the spiritual destiny of humankind.”

• Hall further informs us that “the Rosicrucian Adepts and the Buddhist Arhats cannot be recognized unless they wish to be known. … They cannot be summoned, but can choose to make themselves known when they so desire.”

• But, to those pure of heart, who have dedicated themselves to the fulfillment of the Divine Plan, then, “through reverie, meditation, and prayer, these invisible teachers of mankind could be contacted.” Only in this manner can “the true purpose of the Fraternity and the identity of its actual members can be known with certainty.”

20. The Coming Space Age

Manly P. Hall teaches us that ultimately, as we probe ever deeper into the mysteries of Space, something the coming Aquarian Age is inevitably drawing us towards, in our explorations “we must inevitably discover a universe of absolute life.”

• “It is inevitable that we will finally come to the conclusion that Space is populated with an immense race of beings, distributed much as on the Earth and developing their potentials in the specialized environments in which they must function.”

• The truth about “extraterrestrial life” lies in this idea of a metaphysical spiritual hierarchy. As Hall further explains, “more than one natural evolving order of life can exist in a solar system, or even on one planet, at one time. … Each order of life is isolated by some type of vibratory core-pattern, and many such patterns can exist in the same place at the same time.

• Indeed, “if these different evolving strata of life are keyed to different vibratory rates, they can move through their separate evolutions for millions of years and never contact each other or know that anything else exists.”

Thus, if you’re wondering “what is a reasonable attitude toward a concept that other planets and solar systems are also theaters for the unfoldment of conscious life, there can be only one intelligent answer: if the earth can be inhabited and its isolated population unfold socially and mentally through millions of years, other planets certainly can produce the same phenomena.”

• Therefore, “the argument that life cannot flourish on Jupiter or Saturn because the environment is different is essentially unsound. A different environment may produce a different type or kind of life, but does not deny the existence of life.”

• Actually, “the old Jewish mystics, twenty five hundred years ago, were of the opinion that over forty orders of evolving life exist, of which only one is visible to us. This opens a very large pattern.”

Hall states that “we have no reason to assume that a person, by death, would enter one of these other groups. Therefore, we may conclude that the actual region in which man exists, his own core vibratory psychological integration, has its visible and invisible areas; and that in these areas, man is objective or subjective, seen or unseen, but constantly continuing to exist.”

• “The human being, in order to accomplish the regeneration of himself, must live many times in the corporeal state, and only through the corporeal state can he achieve liberation. And having achieved liberation, having achieved the point of attunement with the Universal Mind, that individual, from that time on, may be appropriately regarded as a divine being to whom all honor must be paid at all times.”

• “He who has accomplished this state merits during the rest of his lifetime the peculiar veneration of mankind. Such a one is entitled at all times to respect: … (They) shall be placed above any king of the earth, above any ruler of man, above wealth or authority, inasmuch as this one is no longer a mortal being, but a god walking among men.”

Actually, to fine-tune this statement a bit further, “the perfected man does not become ‘a god’ but becomes God. As all the drops of water flow back to the ocean, so all separate creatures flow back to the one consciousness which fashioned them and is locked within them.”

• In actuality, “there is a fragment of divinity in the core of every living thing. This God in man is not a separate deity from the God in space. When the spirit of man is finally restored to the Universal Spirit, they are not separate beings, but one being.”

• Ultimately, “the quest for reality is an adventure inward, toward the spiritual core at the root of existence. This very attitude is essentially mystical, for it assumes that the search for the divine is a personal experience.”

• “The end of all existence, the purpose of all existence, is the Principle of Principles” - the Eternal Spirit, which is the root or foundation of cosmic creation. This Root “shall restate itself; shall reaffirm itself; and shall become the one and only Reality, beyond which there is no other.”

Hall tells us that, in the fullness of time, as mankind’s evolutionary destiny moves toward its final state of completion, the human being becomes more and more a Space being. More specifically, as human evolution progresses there will come “a refinement of man’s physical body, with less and less of this physical body composed of the mineral substances that we know, and more and more of pure vital substance.”

• With time, the body will grow transparent, “until it would seem to be made of some very beautiful, luminous glass. … At the same time, every nerve fiber would be similarly refined … and the creature would acquire extension of mental power, sensitivity of consciousness, and an appreciation and understanding of beauty to a degree indescribable to us at our present time.”

• In the future, the human will “speak without opening its lips. Its voice would be the voice of impulse, sent on rays of energy.” In this form, “every one of man’s thoughts will be heard or felt - sensed as music, or seen as color if one so desired.”

• When the mind of this future creature wished to learn, … all knowledge was available to its mind.” This knowledge it drew from the ethers surrounding itself, where “all history lived.”

• “This creature would probably be what the Brahmans called the Blue Race, the Race of the Gods, the race composed of the substances of ether, energy, and mind.” This is the race “toward which the motion of all human progress is leading.”

In a deep, symbolic way, the UFO mystery heralds the gradual coming of this future age, where we will unlock and express all soul powers we contain within ourselves. These new soul powers will allow us to perfect the deep inner mysteries of Space, mysteries which we are only now beginning to have our attention directed towards.

• It is toward these final ends that the spinning image of the UFO is subtly directing us. First, we engage within this symbol externally; as a technological object. But as we discover that the mysteries of life cannot be solved with a technological exploration of outer space, we come to a conclusion we must embrace instead the mystical journey into Inner Space. Through this inner journey, the mysteries of Space are finally conquered, and the purpose of the soul’s cycle of evolution here on Earth brought to its ultimate completion.