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The Secret Doctrine, Volume II: Anthropogenesis

H. P. Blavatsky · 1888 (3rd ed. 1893) · 311,123 words

Volume two of The Secret Doctrine: the Stanzas on the evolution of humanity through the “root races”, the symbolism of the archaic myths, and the science of the ancients.

Editor’s note: this book reflects the racial and cultural assumptions of its time, which Olytis does not share. It is offered for its historical and spiritual content.

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Preliminary Notes on the Archaic Stanzas, and the Four Pre-Historic Continents

Facies totius universi, quamvis infinitis modis variet,
Manet tamen semper eadem.—Spinoza.

The Stanzas, with the Commentaries thereon, in this Volume, are drawn from the same Archaic Records as the Stanzas on Cosmogony in Volume I. As far as possible a verbatim translation is given: but some of the Stanzas are too obscure to be understood without explanation, and therefore, as in Volume I, they are first given in full as they stand, and then, when taken verse by verse with their Commentaries, an attempt is made to make them clearer, by words added in foot-notes, in anticipation of the fuller explanation of the Commentary.

As regards the Evolution of mankind, the Secret Doctrine postulates three new propositions, which stand in direct antagonism to Modern Science as well as to current religious dogmas. It teaches: (a) the simultaneous evolution of seven human Groups on seven different portions of our globe; (b) the birth of the astral, before the physical body, the former being a model for the latter; and (c) that man, in this Round, preceded every mammalian—the anthropoids included—in the animal kingdom.

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Contents

  1. Preliminary Notes on the Archaic Stanzas, and the Four Pre-Historic Continents
  2. Part I. Anthropogenesis
  3. Text · Stanza I
  4. Stanza II
  5. Stanza III
  6. Stanza IV
  7. Stanza V
  8. Stanza VI
  9. Stanza VII
  10. Stanza VIII
  11. Stanza IX
  12. Stanza X
  13. Stanza XI
  14. Stanza XII
  15. Commentaries · Stanza I. Beginnings of Sentient Life
  16. Stanza II. Nature Unaided Fails
  17. Stanza II.—Continued
  18. Stanza III. Attempts to Create Man
  19. Stanza IV. Creation of the First Races
  20. Stanza IV.—Continued
  21. Stanza V. The Evolution of the Second Race
  22. Stanza VI. The Evolution of the “Sweat-Born.”
  23. Stanza VII. From the Semi-Divine Down to the First Human Races
  24. Stanza VIII. Evolution of the Animal Mammalians: The First Fall
  25. Stanza IX. The Final Evolution of Man (part 1)
  26. Stanza IX. The Final Evolution of Man (part 2)
  27. Stanza X. The History of the Fourth Race (part 1)
  28. Stanza X. The History of the Fourth Race (part 2)
  29. Stanza X. The History of the Fourth Race (part 3)
  30. Stanza XI. The Civilization and Destruction of the Fourth and Fifth Races
  31. Stanza XII. The Fifth Race and its Divine Instructors (part 1)
  32. Stanza XII. The Fifth Race and its Divine Instructors (part 2)
  33. Stanza XII. The Fifth Race and its Divine Instructors (part 3)
  34. Conclusion
  35. Part II. The Archaic Symbolism of the World-Religions
  36. Section I. Esoteric Tenets Corroborated in Every Scripture
  37. Section II. Adam=Adami
  38. Section III. The “Holy of Holies.” its Degradation
  39. Section IV. On the Myth of the “Fallen Angels” in its Various Aspects · A. The Evil Spirit: Who, and What?
  40. B. The Gods of Light Proceed from the Gods of Darkness
  41. Section IV. On the Myth of the “Fallen Angels” in its Various Aspects · C. The Many Meanings of the “War in Heaven.”
  42. Section V. Is Plerôma Satan's Lair?
  43. Section VI. Prometheus, the Titan · His Origin in Ancient India
  44. Section VII. Enoïchion-Henoch
  45. Section VIII. The Symbolism of the Mystery-Names Iao and Jehovah, with their Relation to the Cross and Circle
  46. A. Cross and Circle
  47. B. The Fall of the Cross Into Matter
  48. Section IX. The Upanishads in Gnostic Literature
  49. Section X. The Cross and the Pythagorean Decad
  50. Section XI. The Mysteries of the Hebdomad
  51. A. Saptaparna
  52. B. The Tetraktys in Relation to the Heptagon
  53. Section XI. The Mysteries of the Hebdomad · C. The Septenary Element in the Vedas
  54. D. The Septenary in the Exoteric Works
  55. E. Seven in Astronomy, Science, and Magic
  56. F. The Seven Souls of the Egyptologists
  57. Part III. Addenda. Science and the Secret Doctrine Contrasted
  58. Section I. Archaic, or Modern Anthropology?
  59. Section II. The Ancestors Mankind is Offered by Science
  60. Plastidular Souls, and Conscious Nerve-Cells
  61. Section III. The Fossil Relics of Man and the Anthropoid Ape · A. Geological Facts Bearing on the Question of their Relationship
  62. B. Western Evolutionism: The Comparative Anatomy of Man and the Anthropoid in No Way a Confirmation Of…
  63. Section III. The Fossil Relics of Man and the Anthropoid Ape · C. Darwinism and the Antiquity of Man: The Anthropoids and their Ancestry
  64. Section IV. Duration of the Geological Periods, Race Cycles, and the Antiquity of Man
  65. A. Modern Scientific Speculations About the Ages of the Globe, Animal Evolution, and Man
  66. B. On Chains of Planets and their Plurality
  67. Section IV. Duration of the Geological Periods, Race Cycles, and the Antiquity of Man · C. Supplementary Remarks on Esoteric Geological Chronology
  68. Section V. Organic Evolution and Creative Centres
  69. A. The Origin and Evolution of the Mammalia: Science and Esoteric Phylogeny
  70. B. The European Palæolithic Races: Whence, and How Distributed
  71. Section VI. Giants, Civilizations, and Submerged Continents Traced in History
  72. A. Some Statements About the Sacred Islands and Continents in the Classics, Explained Esoterically
  73. Section VII. Scientific and Geological Proofs of the Existence of Several Submerged Continents

About this edition

Source: Project Gutenberg #54488

Public domain: Public domain worldwide (1888).

What’s included: Volume II, complete, in the third and revised edition (1893), the text Project Gutenberg follows (the posthumous 1897 “third volume” is not included). Footnotes, figures and the index are not included.

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