Every age has its own ideas about the Invisible World. In the past, people spoke of dwarves and fairies, deities and demons, then angels and devils, later Ascended Masters, and today various kinds of aliens. Sometimes these are beings that practitioners frequently see during meditation; at other times, they are the play and manifestation of various energies in the mind of a person with schizophrenia.
The idea of Ascended Masters was popularized in the late nineteenth century by Theosophy, the principal precursor of today’s New Age movement. On the one hand, the basic concept derives from Greek mythology, in which the gods placed a mortal in the heavens as a constellation. Sometimes this happened after the mythological figure’s death. In other cases, however, figures were taken up into the heavens while still alive, such as Callisto and Arcas (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor). These heroes did not die but underwent a transformation of their bodily state (catasterism). They now live an eternal life in the heavens. In Jewish tradition, Elijah underwent a similar ascension, although the idea of a stellar body in the form of a constellation is absent there.
The aforementioned Jewish and Greek pagan traditions influenced the development of Christianity. The Gospels of Luke and Mark, as well as the Acts of the Apostles, describe how Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, ascended into heaven some time later. Unlike the stories of Callisto and Ganymede, according to tradition, Jesus Christ ascended into heaven through his own spiritual powers and the grace of God. This ascent represents the elevation of a spiritual master into eternal life in an ascended state. Unlike the Ascension, Jesus’ mother Mary and, in addition, Enoch are said to have undergone an Assumption. Mary and Enoch were assumed into heaven through God’s grace, whereas Jesus’ Ascension was also the result of his own power.
Christian ideas about the Ascension subsequently influenced the development of Theosophy, which introduced the idea of Ascended Masters, of whom there were supposedly many besides Jesus. Attempts were made to communicate with these so-called Ascended Masters. The great pitfall of Theosophy is that it separated ascension from the presence of God. When dealing with the nonphysical world, we can never know what will come through an invocation. The Theosophists also had their own hidden agendas. Their Ascended Masters mostly represent black magicians or individuals otherwise marked by evil.
The Ascended Master Sanat Kumara originates in Indian spirituality, where he represents a spiritual follower of Brahma, the creator god. The Theosophists, however, gradually transformed him into the Lord of the World. Sanat Kumara’s association with Christianity, mountains or heights, and dominion over the world changes the context. Sanat is an anagram of Satan. The evil spirit is said to have tested Jesus on a mountain while acting as the lord of the world. The Theosophical Sanat Kumara can therefore become something quite different from the mythological figure of Indian tradition.
Paul the Venetian is a corruption of Baal ben Tanas, where Tanas is Sanat spelled backward and, in turn, an anagram of Satan. The full name therefore appears to be Baal ben Satan.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky communicated with two spirits: one was Koot Hoomi and the other Morya, or Maurya. Koot Hoomi is a corruption of Gautama, while Morya derives from the name Māra. Gautama Buddha fought the demon Māra. It appears that the Theosophists interpreted Gautama’s teachings as a rejection of a personal God and that, through his atheism, he supposedly attained a form of synthetic enlightenment.
They also took aim at Christianity. They objected to the wholeness of Jesus Christ’s purported ascension and his connection with God. Therefore, just as some Gnostics did, they separated Jesus and Christ into two distinct persons. Christ means king, or anointed one, and is a function of Jesus rather than an independent person. The Ascended Master (False) Christ, together with the Ascended Master (False) Jesus, thus represents the forces of division and duality.
Alice Bailey developed a closer connection with Djwhal Khul, whom Helena Petrovna Blavatsky had already known. Djwhal Khul is said to have transmitted the text of The Great Invocation to Alice Bailey. This prayer is supposedly a universal world prayer, but in reality, it represents an invocation of anti-divine forces, as I have demonstrated in a separate article.
The Ascended Master Saint Germain is a rather suspicious figure. He is said to have developed the I AM decree, which activates the upper energy centers and can lead to illusions and difficulties. In the New Orleans tradition, he appears as the vampire Jacques Saint Germain. Although vampires are not Ascended Masters, they are, in fact, astral beings whose virtually eternal lives bear a strong resemblance to the Theosophical Ascended Masters.
I allow for the possibility that someone might become truly ascended in the sense of possessing such powerful consciousness and energy, together with such a strong sense of wholeness, that their body becomes transparent and virtually disappears from this dimension. I have no personal experience of this; in fact, I find it amusing even to make such a statement. 😊 Nor do I know anyone who has succeeded in doing so. I have heard secondhand about a certain Ms. Jiang from China who supposedly achieved this. Did she really? I don’t know. There is a bit of a doubting Thomas in me. Nevertheless, I remain open to many possibilities.
So what should we make of all these Ascended Masters? I simply pray to God. If God takes care of me through a genuine Ascended Master of God, that is fine. And if He takes care of me in some other way, that is fine, too.
