Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge of the Theosophical Society. Discussions on the stanzas of the first volume of The secret doctrine

Q. But why is the Eternal Parent, Space, spoken of as feminine?

A. Not in all cases, because in the extract above, Space is called the "Eternal Mother-Father." However, when it is spoken of as feminine, the reason is that while it is impossible to define Parabrahm The Supreme Infinite, once we speak of that first conceivable "something," it must be treated as a feminine principle. In all accounts of the origin of the universe, the first differentiation was considered feminine. It is Mulaprakriti Root-matter which conceals or veils Parabrahm. In the Kabbala, it is Sephira, the light that first emanates from Ain-Soph The Boundless. In the works of Hesiod original Greek: THEOG. IV.; 201—246; referring to the Theogony, it is Gaia Earth who springs from Chaos, preceding Eros Love/Desire. This is repeated in all subsequent and less abstract material creations, as seen in the story of Eve being created from Adam's rib, and so on. It is the goddess and goddesses who appear first. The first emanation becomes the immaculate Mother from whom all the gods, or the personified creative forces, proceed. We have to use the masculine or feminine gender because we cannot use the neuter it. Strictly speaking, nothing can proceed from "IT"—neither a radiation nor an emanation.

Q. Is this first emanation the same as the Egyptian goddess Neith?

A. In reality, it exists beyond Neith, but in one sense or in a lower aspect, it is Neith.

Q. Then the IT itself is not the "Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father"?

A. Certainly not. In Hindu philosophy, "IT" is Parabrahm, which is beyond Brahmâ, or what is now called the "unknowable" in Europe. The space we are discussing is the female aspect of Brahmâ, the male. At the first movement of differentiation, the Subjective proceeds to emanate—or fall like a shadow—into the Objective. It becomes what was called the Mother Goddess, from whom proceeds the Logos, who is the Son and Father God at the same time. Both are unmanifested: one is the Potentiality, the other is the Potency. However, the former must not be confused with the manifested Logos, which is also called the "Son" in all creation stories.

Q. Is the first differentiation from the absolute IT always feminine?

A. Only as a figure of speech. In strict philosophy, it is sexless. However, the female aspect is the first it assumes in human concepts. Its later materialization in any philosophy depends on how spiritual the race or nation was that created the system. For instance, in the Kabbala of the Talmudists, "IT" is called AIN-SOPH—the endless, the boundless, the infinite (the description is always negative).

Yet, they refer to this absolute Principle as He!! From this negative, Boundless Circle of Infinite Light, the first Sephira (the Crown) emanates, which the Talmudists call "Torah" (the Law), explaining that she is the wife of Ain-Soph. This is a very extreme way of giving human characteristics to the Spiritual.

Q. Is it the same in Hindu Philosophies?

A. Exactly the opposite. If we look at Hindu creation stories, we find that Parabrahm is not even mentioned; only Mulaprakriti is. The latter is, so to speak, the lining or aspect of Parabrahm in the invisible universe. Mulaprakriti means the Root of Nature or Matter. But Parabrahm cannot be called the "Root," because it is the absolute Rootless Root of everything. Therefore, we must begin with Mulaprakriti, the Veil of this unknowable. Here again, we see that the first principle is the Mother Goddess—the reflection or the subjective root on the first plane of Substance. Then, issuing from (or rather residing in) this Mother Goddess, follows the unmanifested Logos. He is both her Son and Husband at once and is called the "concealed Father." From these comes the first-manifested Logos, or Spirit, and the Son, from whose substance the Seven Logoi emanate. Their synthesis, viewed as one collective Force, becomes the Architect of the Visible Universe. These are the Elohim of the Jews.

Q. Which aspect of Space—or the unknown deity called "THAT" in the Vedas—is referred to here as the "Eternal Parent"?

A. It is the Vedantic Mulaprakriti and the Svâbhâvat of the Buddhists, or that male-female something we have been discussing, which is both differentiated and undifferentiated. In its first principle, it is a pure abstraction. It becomes differentiated only when it is transformed, over time, into Prakriti Nature/Matter. If compared to human principles, it corresponds to Buddhi the Spiritual Soul, while Atma the Spirit would correspond to Parabrahm, and Manas the Mind to Mahat Universal Intelligence, and so on.

Q. What, then, are the seven layers of Space? In the "Proem," we read about the "Seven-Skinned Mother-Father."

A. Plato and Hermes Trismegistus would have regarded this as the Divine Thought, and Aristotle would have seen this "Mother-Father" as the "deprivation" of matter. It represents what will become the seven planes of existence, starting from the spiritual and passing through the psychic to the material plane. The seven planes of thought or the seven states of consciousness correspond to these planes. All these groups of seven are symbolized by the seven "Skins."