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'''Father-Mother''' is a compound term used by [[H. P. Blavatsky]] in some different ways. She defines it as the "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In this sense, Father-Mother is related to [[svabhavat]]. In other passages "father-mother" is used to refer to the more concrete emanation [[akasha]]. In yet another sense, "father-mother" refers to the [[Logos#Second Logos|second Logos]].
'''Father-Mother''' (or sometimes, Mother-Father) is a compound term used by [[H. P. Blavatsky]] in some different ways. She defines it as the "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In this sense, Father-Mother is related to [[svabhavat]]. In other passages "father-mother" is used to refer to the more concrete emanation [[akasha]]. In yet another sense, "father-mother" refers to the [[Logos#Second Logos|second Logos]]. Finally, there is a more generic use, in which it represents the male and female poles of the universe.


== General description ==
== General description ==


<blockquote>The Manvantaras should not be confounded. The fifteen-figure Manvantaric cycle applies to the solar system; but there is a Manvantara which relates to the whole of the objective universe, the Mother-Father, and many minor Manvantaras. The slokas relating to the former have been generally selected, and only two or three relating to the latter given.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 321.</ref></blockquote>
In its general application, Father and Mother are a symbol of the masculine and feminine aspects of the Cosmos, which during [[Pralaya]] are still united and, therefore, unmanifested. [[H. P. Blavatsky]] wrote:
 
<blockquote>The Father-Mother are the male and female principles in root-nature, the opposite poles that manifest in all things on every plane of Kosmos, or [[Spirit]] and [[Matter#Differentiation_of_matter|Substance]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 41.</ref></blockquote>
 
== Primordial Substance ==
 
Mme. Blavatsky said that the "Eternal Parent" of the [[Stanzas of Dzyan|Stanzas of Dzyan]] ([[Mūlaprakṛti]])<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 3.</ref></blockquote> becomes the "seven skinned Father Mother" at the first flutter of differentiation,<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 2.</ref> when matter comes out of its [[Laya Centre#Laya condition|Laya condition]]:<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 66.</ref>  


<blockquote>. . . Matter had begun to differentiate, but had not yet assumed form. Father-Mother is a compound term which means primordial Substance or Spirit-matter. When from Homogeneity it begins through differentiation to fall into Heterogeneity, it becomes positive and negative; thus from the “Zero-state” (or laya) it becomes active and passive, instead of the latter alone; and, in consequence of this differentiation (the resultant of which is evolution and the subsequent Universe),—the “Son” is produced, the Son being that same Universe, or manifested Kosmos, till a new Mahapralaya.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 333.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>. . . Matter had begun to differentiate, but had not yet assumed form. Father-Mother is a compound term which means primordial Substance or Spirit-matter. When from Homogeneity it begins through differentiation to fall into Heterogeneity, it becomes positive and negative; thus from the “Zero-state” (or laya) it becomes active and passive, instead of the latter alone; and, in consequence of this differentiation (the resultant of which is evolution and the subsequent Universe),—the “Son” is produced, the Son being that same Universe, or manifested Kosmos, till a new Mahapralaya.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 333.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>Space is called in the esoteric symbolism “the Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father.” It is composed from its undifferentiated to its differentiated surface of seven layers.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 9.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>The Worlds, including our own, were of course, as germs, primarily evolved from the [[Element#The One Element|ONE Element]] in its second stage (“Father-Mother,” the differentiated World’s Soul, not what is termed the “[[Over-Soul]]” by Emerson).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 140.</ref></blockquote>
 
The phrase "Spirit-matter" suggests that, though there is a primordial differentiation between these two principles, they are still united.
 
The Father-Mother contains the germs for the manifestation of all the planes in the universe, and, therefore, the seven fundamental manifestations of force, consciousness, etc. For this reason, the [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza VI|Stanzas of Dzyan]] portray it as being "seven-Skinned":
 
<blockquote>Space is called in the esoteric symbolism “the Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father.”<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 9.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>Q. What, then, are the seven layers of Space, for in the “Proem” we read about the “Seven-skinned Mother-Father”?<br>
<blockquote>Q. What, then, are the seven layers of Space, for in the “Proem” we read about the “Seven-skinned Mother-Father”?<br>
A. Plato and Hermes Trismegistus would have regarded this as the Divine Thought, and Aristotle would have viewed this “Mother-Father” as the “privation” of matter. It is that which will become the seven planes of being, commencing with 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 septenaries are symbolized by the seven Skins.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 304.</ref></blockquote>
A. Plato and Hermes Trismegistus would have regarded this as the Divine Thought, and Aristotle would have viewed this “Mother-Father” as the “[[privation]]” of matter. It is that which will become the seven planes of being, commencing with 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 septenaries are symbolized by the seven Skins.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 304.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>In The Secret Doctrine, that from which the manifested Logos is born is translated by the “Eternal Mother-Father”; while in the Vishnu-Purâna it is described as the Egg of the World, surrounded by seven skins, layers or zones.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 313.</ref></blockquote>
The [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza VI|Stanza II.5]] of Cosmogenesis identifies Father-Mother with [[Svābhāvat]].<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 60.</ref></blockquote> Mme. Blavatsky also stated:


<blockquote>Latent, during Pralaya, and active, during Manvantara, the “Primordial” proceed from “Father-Mother” (Spirit-Hyle, or Ilus); whereas the other manifested Quaternary and the Seven proceed from the Mother alone.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 88.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>In Esotericism it [Svabhavat] is called “Father-Mother”. It is the plastic essence of matter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>“The ‘Primordial’ proceed from ‘Father-Mother’.”<br>
<blockquote>As for Svabhavat, the Orientalists explain the term as meaning the Universal plastic matter diffused through Space, with, perhaps, half an eye to the Ether of Science. But the Occultists identify it with “father-mother” on the mystic plane.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98.</ref></blockquote>
Q. Is Father-Mother here synonymous with the Third Logos?<br>
A. The first primordial seven are born from the Third Logos. This is before it is differentiated into the Mother, when it becomes pure primordial matter in its first primitive essence, Father-Mother potentially.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 397.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>The Worlds, including our own, were of course, as germs, primarily evolved from the ONE Element in its second stage (“Father-Mother,” the differentiated World’s Soul, not what is termed the “Over-Soul” by Emerson).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 140.</ref></blockquote>
Finally, there are some references to the Father-Mother as being the [[Ākāśa]] (the third, rather than the second stage of differentiation).<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 18.</ref><ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 400, fn.</ref><ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 75-76.</ref></blockquote>


== Svābhāvat ==
== Father-Mother of the gods ==


<blockquote>DARKNESS ALONE WAS FATHER-MOTHER, SVÂBHÂVAT, AND SVÂBHÂVAT WAS IN DARKNESS.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 60.</ref></blockquote>
Another aspect of Father-Mother is that this principle is from where the Logoi and subsequent gods are born:


<blockquote>FATHER-MOTHER SPIN A WEB WHOSE UPPER END IS FASTENED TO SPIRIT (Purusha), THE LIGHT OF THE ONE DARKNESS, AND THE LOWER ONE TO MATTER (Prakriti) ITS (the Spirit’s) SHADOWY END; AND THIS WEB IS THE UNIVERSE SPUN OUT OF THE TWO SUBSTANCES MADE IN ONE, WHICH IS SWÂBHÂVAT.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 83.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>The first [Logos] is the already present yet still unmanifested potentiality in the bosom of Father-Mother.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 334.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>The Svabhavat of the Buddhists, the Father-Mother (a compound word) of The Secret Doctrine and the Mûlaprakriti of the Vedântins.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 490.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>The first line or diameter is the Mother-Father; from it proceeds the Second Logos, which contains in itself the Third Manifested Word.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 314.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>In Esotericism it [Svabhavat] is called “Father-Mother”. It is the plastic essence of matter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>In The Secret Doctrine, that from which the manifested Logos is born is translated by the “Eternal Mother-Father”; while in the Vishnu-Purâna it is described as the Egg of the World, surrounded by seven skins, layers or zones.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 313.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>Neïth is the “Father-mother” of the Stanzas of the Secret Doctrine, the Swabhâvat of the Northern Buddhists, the immaculate Mother indeed, the prototype of the latest “Virgin” of all.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Theosophical Glossary'' (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 77.</ref></blockquote>
It is also said that the [[Primordial Seven]] are born from the Father-Mother, before it becomes the [[Mother (symbol)|Mother]] under the fecundation of the [[Logos#Third Logos|Third Logos]]:


<blockquote>As for Svabhavat, the Orientalists explain the term as meaning the Universal plastic matter diffused through Space, with, perhaps, half an eye to the Ether of Science. But the Occultists identify it with “father-mother” on the mystic plane.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98.</ref>
<blockquote>Latent, during Pralaya, and active, during Manvantara, the “Primordial” proceed from “Father-Mother” (Spirit-Hyle, or Ilus); whereas the other manifested Quaternary and the Seven proceed from the Mother alone.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 88.</ref></blockquote>


== Second Logos ==
<blockquote>''Question'': Is Father-Mother here synonymous with the third Logos and not with [[Svābhāvat]] in Darkness, as before, since it has now manifested and differentiated existence. . .?<br>
''Mme. Blavatsky'': It is synonymous now with the third Logos. And Svābhāvat is light, or manifestation. It is called both; it is perfectly interchangeable.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 313-314.</ref></blockquote>


“The last vibration of the Seventh Eternity” is the first which announces the Dawn, and is a synonym for the First or unmanifested Logos. There is no Time at this stage. There is neither Space nor Time when beginning is made; but it is all in Space and Time, once that differentiation sets in. At the time of the primordial radiation, or when the Second Logos emanates, it is Father-Mother potentially, but when the Third or manifested Logos appears, it becomes the Virgin-Mother.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 358-359.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>The first primordial seven are born from the third Logos. This is before it is differentiated into the mother, when it becomes pure primordial matter in its first primitive essence--father, mother potentially.<ref>Michael Gomes (transcriber), ''The Secret Doctrine Commentaries'' (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 313.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>There seems to be great confusion and misunderstanding concerning the First and Second Logos. The first is the already present yet still unmanifested potentiality in the bosom of Father-Mother; the Second is the abstract collectivity of creators called “Demiurgi” by the Greeks or the Builders of the Universe. The third logos is the ultimate differentiation of the Second and the individualization of Cosmic Forces, of which Fohat is the chief; for Fohat is the synthesis of the Seven Creative Rays or Dhyan Chohans which proceed from the third Logos.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 334.</ref></blockquote>
This apparent contradiction can be understood if we remember that the "Father-Mother" is related to the [[Logos#Second Logos|Second Logos]], which is regarded to be both manifested and unmanifested.


<blockquote>The point within the circle which has neither limit nor boundaries, nor can it have any name or attribute. This first unmanifested Logos is simultaneous with the line drawn across the diameter of the Circle. The first line or diameter is the Mother-Father; from it proceeds the Second Logos, which contains in itself the Third Manifested Word.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 314.</ref></blockquote>
== Second Logos ==


<blockquote>The first geometrical figure after the Circle or the Spheroid is the Triangle. It corresponds to Motion, Color and Sound. Thus the Point in the Triangle represents the Second Logos, “Father-Mother,” or the White Ray which is no color, since it contains potentially all colors. It is shown radiating from the Unmanifested Logos, or the Unspoken Word.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 564.</ref></blockquote>
Although the Father-Mother is seen as the origin of all the Logoi, we also find an identification between this and the [[Logos#Second Logos|Second Logos]]:


== Akasa ==
<blockquote>At the time of the primordial radiation, or when the Second Logos emanates, it is Father-Mother potentially, but when the Third or manifested Logos appears, it becomes the Virgin-Mother.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 358-359.</ref></blockquote>


<blockquote>After Pralaya, whether the great or the minor Pralaya (the latter leaving the worlds in statu quo), the first that re-awakes to active life is the plastic A’kâsá, Father-Mother, the Spirit and Soul of Ether, or the plane on the surface of the Circle.  Space is called the “Mother” before its Cosmic activity, and Father-Mother at the first stage of re-awakening.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 18.</ref></blockquote>
As shown above, the Father-Mother has been defined as "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In the [[Three Fundamental Propositions#First Fundamental Proposition|First Fundamental Proposition]] it is written: "Spirit-matter, Life; the “Spirit of the Universe,” the Purusha and Prakriti, or the second Logos".<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 16.</ref> She also states that "the Point in the Triangle represents the Second Logos, “Father-Mother”.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 564.</ref>


<blockquote>Fohat is the “Son of Ether” in its highest aspect, Akâsa, the Mother-Father of the primitive Seven, and of Sound or LOGOS. Fohat is the light of the latter.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 400, fn.</ref></blockquote>
Also, although Father-Mother is identified with [[Svābhāvat]], in [[Stanzas of Dzyan#Stanza VI|Stanza III.10]] of Cosmogenesis the former is portrayed as an active principle building on latter, which could be interpreted as referring to the second Logos:


<blockquote>All the Kabalists and Occultists, Eastern and Western, recognise the identity of “Father-Mother” with primordial AEther or Akasa, (Astral Light)<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 75-76.</ref></blockquote>
<blockquote>Father-Mother spin a web whose upper end is fastened to Spirit (''Purusha''), the light of the one Darkness, and the lower one to Matter (''Prakriti'') its (''the Spirit’s'') shadowy end; and this web is the Universe spun out of the two substances made in one, which is Swâbhâvat.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''The Secret Doctrine'' vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 83.</ref></blockquote>


== Notes ==
== Notes ==
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Latest revision as of 09:30, 3 January 2019

Father-Mother (or sometimes, Mother-Father) is a compound term used by H. P. Blavatsky in some different ways. She defines it as the "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In this sense, Father-Mother is related to svabhavat. In other passages "father-mother" is used to refer to the more concrete emanation akasha. In yet another sense, "father-mother" refers to the second Logos. Finally, there is a more generic use, in which it represents the male and female poles of the universe.

General description

In its general application, Father and Mother are a symbol of the masculine and feminine aspects of the Cosmos, which during Pralaya are still united and, therefore, unmanifested. H. P. Blavatsky wrote:

The Father-Mother are the male and female principles in root-nature, the opposite poles that manifest in all things on every plane of Kosmos, or Spirit and Substance.[1]

Primordial Substance

Mme. Blavatsky said that the "Eternal Parent" of the Stanzas of Dzyan (Mūlaprakṛti)[2] becomes the "seven skinned Father Mother" at the first flutter of differentiation,[3] when matter comes out of its Laya condition:[4]

. . . Matter had begun to differentiate, but had not yet assumed form. Father-Mother is a compound term which means primordial Substance or Spirit-matter. When from Homogeneity it begins through differentiation to fall into Heterogeneity, it becomes positive and negative; thus from the “Zero-state” (or laya) it becomes active and passive, instead of the latter alone; and, in consequence of this differentiation (the resultant of which is evolution and the subsequent Universe),—the “Son” is produced, the Son being that same Universe, or manifested Kosmos, till a new Mahapralaya.[5]

The Worlds, including our own, were of course, as germs, primarily evolved from the ONE Element in its second stage (“Father-Mother,” the differentiated World’s Soul, not what is termed the “Over-Soul” by Emerson).[6]

The phrase "Spirit-matter" suggests that, though there is a primordial differentiation between these two principles, they are still united.

The Father-Mother contains the germs for the manifestation of all the planes in the universe, and, therefore, the seven fundamental manifestations of force, consciousness, etc. For this reason, the Stanzas of Dzyan portray it as being "seven-Skinned":

Space is called in the esoteric symbolism “the Seven-Skinned Eternal Mother-Father.”[7]

Q. What, then, are the seven layers of Space, for 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 viewed this “Mother-Father” as the “privation” of matter. It is that which will become the seven planes of being, commencing with 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 septenaries are symbolized by the seven Skins.[8]

The Stanza II.5 of Cosmogenesis identifies Father-Mother with Svābhāvat.[9] Mme. Blavatsky also stated:

In Esotericism it [Svabhavat] is called “Father-Mother”. It is the plastic essence of matter.[10]

As for Svabhavat, the Orientalists explain the term as meaning the Universal plastic matter diffused through Space, with, perhaps, half an eye to the Ether of Science. But the Occultists identify it with “father-mother” on the mystic plane.[11]

Finally, there are some references to the Father-Mother as being the Ākāśa (the third, rather than the second stage of differentiation).[12][13][14]

Father-Mother of the gods

Another aspect of Father-Mother is that this principle is from where the Logoi and subsequent gods are born:

The first [Logos] is the already present yet still unmanifested potentiality in the bosom of Father-Mother.[15]

The first line or diameter is the Mother-Father; from it proceeds the Second Logos, which contains in itself the Third Manifested Word.[16]

In The Secret Doctrine, that from which the manifested Logos is born is translated by the “Eternal Mother-Father”; while in the Vishnu-Purâna it is described as the Egg of the World, surrounded by seven skins, layers or zones.[17]

It is also said that the Primordial Seven are born from the Father-Mother, before it becomes the Mother under the fecundation of the Third Logos:

Latent, during Pralaya, and active, during Manvantara, the “Primordial” proceed from “Father-Mother” (Spirit-Hyle, or Ilus); whereas the other manifested Quaternary and the Seven proceed from the Mother alone.[18]

Question: Is Father-Mother here synonymous with the third Logos and not with Svābhāvat in Darkness, as before, since it has now manifested and differentiated existence. . .?
Mme. Blavatsky: It is synonymous now with the third Logos. And Svābhāvat is light, or manifestation. It is called both; it is perfectly interchangeable.[19]

The first primordial seven are born from the third Logos. This is before it is differentiated into the mother, when it becomes pure primordial matter in its first primitive essence--father, mother potentially.[20]

This apparent contradiction can be understood if we remember that the "Father-Mother" is related to the Second Logos, which is regarded to be both manifested and unmanifested.

Second Logos

Although the Father-Mother is seen as the origin of all the Logoi, we also find an identification between this and the Second Logos:

At the time of the primordial radiation, or when the Second Logos emanates, it is Father-Mother potentially, but when the Third or manifested Logos appears, it becomes the Virgin-Mother.[21]

As shown above, the Father-Mother has been defined as "primordial Substance or Spirit-matter". In the First Fundamental Proposition it is written: "Spirit-matter, Life; the “Spirit of the Universe,” the Purusha and Prakriti, or the second Logos".[22] She also states that "the Point in the Triangle represents the Second Logos, “Father-Mother”.[23]

Also, although Father-Mother is identified with Svābhāvat, in Stanza III.10 of Cosmogenesis the former is portrayed as an active principle building on latter, which could be interpreted as referring to the second Logos:

Father-Mother spin a web whose upper end is fastened to Spirit (Purusha), the light of the one Darkness, and the lower one to Matter (Prakriti) its (the Spirit’s) shadowy end; and this web is the Universe spun out of the two substances made in one, which is Swâbhâvat.[24]

Notes

  1. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 41.
  2. Michael Gomes (transcriber), The Secret Doctrine Commentaries (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 3.
  3. Michael Gomes (transcriber), The Secret Doctrine Commentaries (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 2.
  4. Michael Gomes (transcriber), The Secret Doctrine Commentaries (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 66.
  5. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 333.
  6. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 140.
  7. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 9.
  8. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 304.
  9. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 60.
  10. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary (Krotona, CA: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 314.
  11. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 98.
  12. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 18.
  13. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. II, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 400, fn.
  14. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 75-76.
  15. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 334.
  16. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 314.
  17. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 313.
  18. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 88.
  19. Michael Gomes (transcriber), The Secret Doctrine Commentaries (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 313-314.
  20. Michael Gomes (transcriber), The Secret Doctrine Commentaries (The Hague: I.S.I.S. foundation, 2010), 313.
  21. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. X (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1988), 358-359.
  22. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 16.
  23. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 564.
  24. Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine vol. I, (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993), 83.