Agni Yoga (1929) - 420: 420. The material teraph was usually made as a sculpted image, by using any object to which was added something belonging to a person referred to in the ritual. Often, after the death of the owner of the teraph, it was put into the tomb, as in ancient Egypt and in the burial monuments of the Mayans and Etruscans. When the funeral rites required cremation, the teraph followed into the fire. Brotherhood (1937) - 372: 372. People inquire if the envelopes left behind by the mental body can be seen? Not only can they be seen but they will be especially attracted to the earthly sphere. The subtle body is drawn to the earthly sphere if the mental body does not attract it to a higher sphere. It is entirely conceivable that a shell left behind by the mental body will be attracted to the earthly sphere. Such phantoms can be especially terrifying to certain people, because in them the rational principle will be absent. And for the shells themselves such wanderings are not useful; drawing near to the carnate stratum reinforces them and prevents their natural dissolution. But all such manifestations respond only to the lower and middle strata of the Subtle World. A lofty condition furthers the speediest decomposition of the abandoned vehicles. Thus when lofty consciousnesses help the one who is passing over, the envelope is immediately consumed. It is exactly the same as in cremation. The complete analogy should not be surprising.
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