Two laws described in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, the Law of Attraction and Repulsion and the Law of Consequence and Rebirth, provide insight regarding emotions.
- The Law of Attraction and Repulsion: Just as the Soul attracts some Astral Light and some Aether to form its Astral Body and its Etheric Body, it also repels some Astral Light and some Aether.
- The Law of Consequence and Rebirth: When a Soul involves from one plane to the next, its transformation from one plane to the next can be seen as a death on one plane and a rebirth on the next. Consequences, in summation, are sometimes described as ‘karma’. Individually, though, consequences can be reactions to situations. Some of these reactions are labeled ‘emotions’.
According to the Octagon Society teachings, the natural state of the Divine Spark exists in Joy, Peace, and Happiness. These emotions represent a balance on the Material and Etheric Plane: the Soul attracts the things it should attract and repels the things it should repel. But a Soul that is evolving does not always do what it should, and herein is the source of ‘negative’ emotions.
Let us consider what happens when a Soul attracts what it should repel or repels what it should attract:
Our Unconscious Soul contains our instincts, our ancient memories that fuel our drive and reflexes that push for continued existence on the Material Plane, such as hunger. If a predator has successfully killed a prey animal, other opportunistic predators may try to take his food. This can trigger the Sympathetic Nervous System. The predator unconsciously releases adrenaline, which increases the heart rate and dilates bronchial tubes, preparing the predator for “fight or flight”. The defending predator may initially opt to fight to retain his food, but if he is outnumbered or outmatched, he may soon realize than fleeing is a better option for survival.
For some animals, such as lions, a social hierarchy determines who gets the best food and who gets to mate. Young strong males challenge established leaders for dominance by fighting, and dominant males will frequently drive their male offspring away from the tribe when they reach maturity (causing the younger males to flee). In our modern civilization, even when our actual physical survival is not at stake, we can react to challenges to our status with a surge of adrenaline, which primes our body for “fight or flight”. We describe this ‘feeling’ as Anger.
Our Subconscious Soul contains our emotions. After a “fight or flight” situation, the Parasympathetic Nervous System tries to restore balance by releasing acetylcholine, which decreases the heart rate and constricts the bronchial tubes, attempting to return the Body to a state of calm. Instead of feeling “fight or flight”, our emotions are less intense. If the Soul did NOT attract what it desired, we describe the emotion as Sadness. If the Soul did NOT repel what it wanted to repel, we describe the emotion as Fear.
| Did NOT Attract Successfully | Did NOT Repel Successfully | |
| Material Plane (Instinct) | Fight | Flight |
| Etheric Plane (Emotion) | Sadness | Fear |
The reactions of fight and flight are consequences of a challenge or stress that the Unconscious Soul perceives as a threat to survival. The Subconscious Soul interprets the fight or flight reaction as Anger. (When the Material Body is not reacting to a threat, the Subconscious Soul interprets that feeling as Peace.) When the immediate threat has been resolved, the feeling of Anger can be transmuted to the Etheric Plane as either Sadness or Fear.
Sadness and Fear are either transmuted from Anger in the Material Plane to the Etheric Plane or are consequences of a challenge or stress that the Subconscious Soul perceives as a threat to contentment. Survival is not at risk. (When the Subconscious Soul is not reacting to a threat, the Subconscious Soul interprets the feeling of not-Sad as Happiness and of not-Fear as Joy.) If the threat to contentment can be removed, the Soul can return to balance. But if the threat to contentment cannot be removed, the Soul must transmute the emotion to the Astral Plane to work toward achieving balance.
The Astral Plane is the realm of the Conscious Soul. To transmute emotions from the Etheric Plane to the Astral Plane requires conscious effort—acknowledging the emotion and recognizing the emotion is a reaction that can be counteracted by a deliberate action. Once this is done, to achieve balance, the Soul must transmute the emotion to the Mental Plane.
The Mental Plane is home to Judgment. The Soul judges itself, the Soul judges others, and the Soul perceives itself as judged by others. We do not yet have a fully developed Mental Body and the corresponding fully developed “Mental Soul” (Supraconscious Soul), so our judgments are frequently harsh.
- When a Soul judges itself harshly, the result is Guilt. When Guilt is transmuted from the Mental Plane to the Etheric, the associated emotion is Sadness.
- When a Soul judges others harshly, the result is Blame. When Blame is transmuted from the Mental Plane to the Etheric, the associated emotion is Anger.
- When a Soul perceives itself as being judged harshly by others, the result is Shame. When Shame is transmuted from the Mental Plane to the Etheric, the associated emotion is Fear.
To achieve balance on the Mental Plane, we need Justice—Judgement with Mercy. (Or, in Octagon Society vocabulary, Judgement with Forgiveness.) A Soul does not need to forget that something happened, and a Soul does not need to let what happened continue to happen. But if the Soul does not forgive, it holds on to the emotions that are keeping the Soul out of balance. When the Soul forgives, these negative emotions that have accreted onto the Etheric Body are released.