A round, in the esoteric cosmology of

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

Anthroposophy Anthroposophy is a spiritualist movement founded in the early 20th century by the esotericist Rudolf Steiner that postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world, accessible to human experience. Followers ...

and

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

, is a cosmic cycle or sequence by which an evolving reincarnating being passes through the various stages of existence as the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

, the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

or the

Cosmos The cosmos (, ) is another name for the Universe. Using the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos, and understandings of the reasons for its existence and significance, are studied in ...

comes into and passes out of

manifestation Manifestation is the act of becoming manifest, to become perceptible to the senses. Manifestation may also refer to: * Manifestation of conscience, a practice in religious orders * Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith), the prophets of the Bah ...

Theosophy

In Theosophy, a round is a process in a planetary chain, according to which a life cycle or life-wave of

souls In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

or monads begins its evolutionary journey on the first and most subtle or spiritual of the series of seven globes; then finishing its evolution there, proceeds to the next, and so on, to the densest or most manifest globe (usually called globe D), which in our case is the gross, physical

. From there it proceeds on the ascending arc, through increasingly more ethereal globes. Each of these globes are in coadunition with the physical Earth, though they are not in consubstantiation with it. Each of these stages is called a ''round'', and during this time the reincarnating life wave has passed through seven

Root Race Root races are stages in human evolution in the esoteric cosmology of theosophist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, as described in her book ''The Secret Doctrine'' (1888). These races existed mainly on now-lost continents. Blavatsky's model was develop ...

s. When the life wave has gone through all seven globes of the planetary chain, it has completed one ''planetary round'' or ''globe manvantara''. This is followed by the dissolution of the planetary chain in a nirvana (which is not the same as what

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

calls

nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

because it is not permanent); this period between physical manifestation is called

pralaya Pralaya ( sa, प्रलय, , Apocalypse or the Annihilation of the Universe, translit=Pralaya) is a concept in Hindu eschatology. Generally referring to four different phenomena, it is most commonly used to indicate the event of the dissol ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Finally, a new round begins, in which consciousness is now more developed than in the preceding round. Seven such planetary rounds (or forty-nine globe rounds) represents one ''

kalpa Kalevan Pallo (KalPa) is a professional ice hockey team which competes in the Finnish Liiga. They play in Kuopio, Finland at the Niiralan monttu, Olvi Areena. Team history Established in 1929 as ''Sortavalan Palloseura'' in Sortavala, the club r ...

'' (day of

Brahma Brahma ( sa, ब्रह्मा, Brahmā) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the trinity of supreme divinity that includes Vishnu, and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 21 ...

) or ''

manvantara A ''manvantara'', in Hindu cosmology, is a cyclic period of time identifying the duration, reign, or age of a Manu (Hinduism), Manu, the progenitor of mankind. In each ''manvantara'', seven Rishis, certain deities, an Indra, a Manu (Hinduism), Ma ...

''. This is followed by a higher "nirvana" or pralaya, which is the pralaya of that planetary chain. This lasts until a new planetary chain forms with its various life waves. Seven such planetary chains and their pralayas constitute a solar manvantara, after which the Solar System is dissolved in a cosmic pralaya, before the cycle begins anew. This elaborate cosmology, first formulated by

Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 ...

, was also taught by de Purucker, Leadbeater, and

Alice Bailey Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949) was a writer of more than twenty-four books on theosophical subjects, and was one of the first writers to use the term New Age. Bailey was born as Alice La Trobe-Bateman, in Mancheste ...

Anthroposophy

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a ...

retained the basic concept of root races and sevenfold cycles within cycles, but his description is considerably simpler, concentrating only on the seven cycles of the present

. Each of these cycles constitutes a coming into being and passing out of being of the solar system, and each is divided into seven rounds, upon which

man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

passes through seven root races. Each of Steiner's seven rounds is related to a metamorphosis of the Earth: * Ancient Saturn :During the Ancient Saturn round, the life wave of human beings underwent the mineral stage, endowed only with a physical vehicle. * Ancient Sun :During the Ancient Sun round, human beings underwent the plant stage, being endowed with a physical and an etheric vehicle. * Ancient Moon :During the Ancient Moon round, human beings underwent the animal stage, endowed with a physical, an etheric, and an astral vehicle. Meanwhile, the present Angels were undergoing the human stage, while the present Archangels were undergoing the Angel stage, and so on. * Earth :During the Earth round, human beings undergo the man stage. * Jupiter :During the Jupiter round, human beings will undergo the soul man stage. * Venus :During the Venus round, human beings will undergo the higher soul man stage. * Vulcan :During the Vulcan round, human beings will undergo the spiritual man stage. For Steiner, the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms represent "cast off" elements of the human entity from previous rounds. These teachings have been incorporated into the

Anthroposophical Society The General Anthroposophical Society is an "association of people whose will it is to nurture the life of the soul, both in the individual and in human society, on the basis of a true knowledge of the spiritual world." As an organization, it is d ...

that Steiner founded.

Rosicrucian

According to

Max Heindel Max Heindel (born Carl Louis von Grasshoff, July 23, 1865 – January 6, 1919) was a Danish American Christian occultist, astrologer, and mystic. Early infancy He was born in Aarhus, Denmark, into the noble family von Grasshoff, which was con ...

Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking it ...

writings about the scheme of evolution, in the beginning of a ''Day of Manifestation'' a certain collective Great Being,

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

, limits Himself to a certain portion of space, in which He elects to create a

for the evolution of added

self-consciousness Self-consciousness is a heightened sense of awareness of oneself. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. Historically, "self-consciousness" was synonymous with " self-awareness", referring to a state of awareness that ...

. In God there are contained hosts of glorious Hierarchies and lesser beings of every grade of intelligence and stage of

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

, from

omniscience Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an God#General conceptions, attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In B ...

to an

unconsciousness Unconsciousness is a state in which a living individual exhibits a complete, or near-complete, inability to maintain an awareness of self and environment or to respond to any human or environmental stimulus. Unconsciousness may occur as the re ...

deeper than that of the deepest trance condition. During the current period of manifestation these various grades of beings are working to acquire more experience than they possessed at the beginning of this period of existence. Those who, in previous manifestations, have attained to the highest degree of development work on those who have not yet evolved any consciousness. The period of time devoted to the attainment of self-consciousness and to the building of the vehicles through which the spirit in man manifests, is called "

Involution Involution may refer to: * Involute, a construction in the differential geometry of curves * '' Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia'', a 1963 study of intensification of production through increased labour inpu ...

". The succeeding period of existence, during which the individual human being develops self-consciousness into divine

, is called "

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

". Every evolving being has within him a "force" which makes evolution not to be a mere unfoldment of latent germinal possibilities but a process where each individual differs from that of every other. This force, called "Epigenesis" provides the element of

originality Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from replica, reproductions, clones, forgery, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romantici ...

and gives scope to the creative ability which the evolving being is to cultivate in order that he may become a

. Heindel states that in the

, God's Habitation, there are

seven Worlds ''Seven Worlds'' is a 1998 solo album by Eric Johnson. It contains songs recorded between 1976 and 1978 – after disbanding with his previous band The Electromagnets – that were intended to be Johnson's first solo album. Due to various disput ...

differentiated by

, within Himself, one after another. These Worlds have each a different "measure" and rate of

vibration Vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. The word comes from Latin ''vibrationem'' ("shaking, brandishing"). The oscillations may be periodic function, periodic, such as the motion of a pendulum ...

and are not separated by

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

distance Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...

, as is the earth from the other planets. They are states of

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic partic ...

, of varying

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

and vibration (as are the

solids Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural ...

liquids A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. As such, it is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, gas, a ...

and

gases Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

of the physical Earth). These Worlds are not instantaneously created at the beginning of a day of Manifestation, nor do they last until the end. The evolutionary scheme is carried through five of these Worlds in seven great Periods of manifestation, during which the evolving virgin spirit becomes first

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

and, then, a

. The highest Worlds are created first, and as

involution Involution may refer to: * Involute, a construction in the differential geometry of curves * '' Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in Indonesia'', a 1963 study of intensification of production through increased labour inpu ...

is to slowly carry the life into denser and denser matter for the building of forms, the finer Worlds gradually

condense Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapor to ...

and new Worlds are differentiated within

to furnish the necessary links between Himself and the Worlds which have consolidated. In due time the point of greatest density, the

nadir The nadir (, ; ar, نظير, naẓīr, counterpart) is the direction pointing directly ''below'' a particular location; that is, it is one of two vertical directions at a specified location, orthogonal to a horizontal flat surface. The direc ...

of materiality, is reached. From that point the life begins to ascend into higher Worlds, as

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

proceeds. That leaves the denser Worlds depopulated, one by one. When the purpose has been served for which a particular World was created,

ends its existence, which has become superfluous, by ceasing within Himself the particular activity which brought into being and sustained that World

References

* Powell, A.E. ''The Solar System: A Complete Outline of the Theosophical Scheme of Evolution'' London:1930 The Theosophical Publishing House * de Purucker, G, '' Theosophical Glossary, Occult Glossary - a Compendium of Oriental and Theosophical Terms'' * Arthur E. ''The Causal Body and the Ego'' * Steiner, Rudolph, ''Occult science – An Outline''. Trans. George and Mary Adams. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1909, 1969 * Heindel, Max, ''

The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception ''The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception or Mystic Christianity'' (also known as ''Western Wisdom Teachings'') is a Rosicrucian text by Max Heindel, first published in 1909. Contents overview The author talks about the true man and his journey thro ...

'', first edition in 1909 (
www.rosicrucian.com

External links

{{Theosophy series Esoteric cosmology Theosophical philosophical concepts