Waves of Life and Transitions Between Them

The hierarchically varied harmony of the universe, postulated by the magical myth, is expressed in the multiplicity of forms and manifestations of life.

The Myth under consideration describes life as essentially unified, yet differentiated Flow, consisting of separate waves. In other words, it is held that this Flow did not arise all at once in its complete form, but that the life force flowed into the cosmos gradually, in distinct “portions”, and these “portions” are called “Waves of life“.

In particular, it is believed that the mineral kingdom expresses the most recent wave of developing life, the plant kingdom is enlivened by a life-wave with a longer evolutionary history; the life-wave of the animal kingdom has an even longer past, while the Human, in other words life now expressed in human form, has the longest evolutionary history among the four kingdoms of the physical world. Similarly, a separate wave of life is assigned to the gods, another to the ministering hierarchies, and so on. This conception implies several important consequences.

The first important consequence concerns a particular notion of evolution. It is believed that over time each wave of life passes through different hierarchical states. That is, the wave animating the human previously passed through the stages of mineral, plant, and animal, and, for example, the wave that animates animals will, in time, advance to the hierarchical position of Human. However, this notion does not mean that animals “will become humans”, or that a human “was an animal”. The point concerns only hierarchical positions. And when a life-wave manifested in animals reaches the “Human” position, those “humans” will be entirely different “humans” than present humanity; what they share is only the hierarchical position, in this case the position of the fullest union of matter and spirit.

Moreover, an important perspective concerns the different inhabitants of the “physical” Multiverse. In particular, regardless of which planet the “human” wave of life develops on, whatever forms and properties its bearers acquire there, the common characteristics of their minds — that is, the conjunction of “matter” and “spirit” — will always be clearly traceable. The same applies to all the other waves.

The second important consequence lies in the fundamental difference in the nature of representatives of different waves of life. An animal which, through accelerated evolution, attains the human position differs from an ordinary human, and likewise a human who, by accelerating their evolution, reaches the god position is not an ordinary god.

And here we come to an extremely important and interesting phenomenon — the possibility of transition between hierarchies. Such transitions occur from time to time, and mythology is rich in their descriptions.

One of the best-known myths of this kind is the Talmudic tale of the emergence of the archangels Metatron and Sandalphon, which tells of a human’s transition to the hierarchy of angels. Thus, in the Aggadah Enoch (Hanoch) is one of the righteous who entered paradise, without experiencing death; there he was given the name the Great Scribe, Metatron. The Bible says very little about Enoch: he was a descendant of Adam through Sheth (Seth). He was the son of Jared, and Enoch was the father of Methuselah. But Enoch did not die when he was 365 years old, “he was no more, because God took him” (Genesis). And then “The Lord placed His crown upon Enoch’s head and gave him 72 wings and a great number of eyes. His skin became flame, his sinews fire, his bones burning coals, his eyes torches, and his hair rays of light, and he was surrounded by storms, winds, thunders and lightnings” (Sefer Hechalot). Moreover, angels usually stand, and only Metatron has the special right to sit. And it is Metatron who is the “ideal conduit”: he does not reflect, but passes the Divine light through himself without distorting it. Hence, Metatron is called the “secretary of the Most High”, conveying His commands.

The second “angel-lad” is Sandalphon, the angelic embodiment of the prophet Elijah (Eliyahu). Together with Metatron, they are called “ne’arim” (“lads”). The prophet Elijah did not receive the name “Sandalphon” by chance — “the Sandal-maker”. Ancient sandals consisted of soles strapped to the feet, and so it was thought that just as sandals are attached to the feet, so Sandalphon facilitates the connection between the “upper” and the “lower” worlds. They are the most “youthful” of the angels, and they are former humans who are better than other angels at bridging worlds, for in their nature there is the point of contact between spirit and matter corresponding to the human.

No less well known are the transitions of humans into the position of the ““Governing” spirits of nature. Popular, in particular, are Slavic legends about the Rusalki, water spirits, many of whom are originally human girls. Rusalki are close to the true spirits of moisture — the Vilas — yet differ because of their human origin. Those who become rusalki are young women who died, often by drowning, people who bathe at inopportune times, those whom the vodyanoy has deliberately dragged into his service, and unbaptized children.

It is believed that any girl may become a rusalka if she bathes without a cross — she may be dragged away by the vodyanoy. Rusalki were depicted as girls with loose hair; their faces were pale and bore an enigmatic sadness. Rusalki live in communities in the water: in lakes, river eddies, and springs. In the Novgorod-Seversky district, there are two wells whose timbers host every dawn during Green Week two girls combing their hair. Rusalki were considered most dangerous to people in the week after Trinity (“Rusalka week”), when they emerge from the water and engage in games. Rusalki are tied to the forces of fertility, and they appeared at their festival during “Rusalka week”, when the rye began to flower. During the days of this festival, work was forbidden. According to tradition, rusalki punish violators of the ban by trampling their crops. Rusalki can be encountered in many places — in the field, by the water, on trees. In many round-dance songs, people invoke rusalki to help the growth of grain. All this indicates that rusalki are not simply restless souls, elementers, but are in fact deities of fertility who, nevertheless, have human origins.

Thus, although the Waves of life are distinct formations, the boundary between them is not absolute. Although not common, transitions between them are possible. In some cases, these transitions are necessary, since they help perform certain functions better.