Macrocosm and Microcosm

Note on teminology

Varying terminology employed (see Lecture Six and onwards) for the super-sensible worlds:

In Oriental Theosophy:

Physical Plane

Astral plane

Rupa-Devachan or Lower Mental plane

Arupa-Devachan or Higher Mental plane

In Rosicrucian Theosophy:

Physical World.

Imaginative World

World of Inspiration or of the Harmony of the Spheres

World of true Intuition

In the Movement that has associated itself with that of the Rosicrucians: [*This fivefold division is based on a different approach.]

The Little World or the World of the Intellect

World of the Elements (Elementary World)

World of Spirit (or, occasionally, Heaven World)

World of Reason

World of Archetypal Images or World of Providence

The Astral World might also be called the Soul-World and the Devachanic World the Spirit-Land. (See the book, Theosophy) European languages, “if they are honest with themselves”, have as yet no designations suitable for application to the Nirvana plane.