Again speaking symbolically (and what else is possible when dealing with a mechanism as yet so inadequate as the mind and brain of the average aspirant?), the mineral kingdom marks the point of unique condensation. This is produced under the action of fire and by the pressure of the "divine idea." Esoterically speaking, we have, in the mineral world, the divine [227] Plan hidden in the geometry of a crystal, and God's radiant beauty stored in the color of a precious stone. In miniature and at the lowest point of manifestation, we find the divine concepts working out. The goal of the universal concept is seen when the jewel rays forth its beauty, and when radium sends forth its rays, both destructive and constructive. If you could really understand the history of a crystal, you would enter into the glory of God. If you could enter into the attractive and the repulsive consciousness of a piece of iron or lead, you would see revealed the complete story of evolution. If you could study the hidden processes which go on under the influence of fire, you would enter into the secret of initiation. When the day comes when the history of the mineral kingdom can be grasped by the illumined seer, he will then see the long road that the diamond has traveled, and - by analogy - the long road that all sons of God traverse, governed by the same laws and unfolding the same consciousness.

1. The power or will of God expresses itself through the organized systematized processes of the seventh ray. The geometrical faculty of the Universal Mind finds its most material perfection on the physical or seventh plane, working through the seventh ray. So the mineral kingdom came into being as this major expression. It holds in [228] solution all the forces and those chemicals and minerals which are needed by the forms in the other material kingdoms.
2. The mineral kingdom is therefore the most concrete expression of the dual unity of power and order. It constitutes the "foundation" of the ordered physical structure or the universe of our planet.
3. The rhythmic ritualistic adaptability of the seventh ray, plus the dynamic will of the power ray, are needed in conjunction for the full working out of the Plan, as it is found in the mind of God.

We shall now touch upon the next two points, - condensation and its hidden secret, transmutation. From the standpoint of external matter, the mineral kingdom marks the densest expression of the life of God in substance, and its outstanding, though oft unrealized, characteristic is imprisoned or unexpressed power. Speaking in symbols, a volcano in eruption is a mild expression of this power. From the standpoint of esoteric substance, the four ethers are far more dense and "substantial." This modern science has also told us, positing the hypothetical ether. This fifth kingdom (counting occultly from the egoic kingdom downwards) is a reflection of these four ethers, and the point of their densest concretion. Just as they "substand" or form the basis of the manifested world, and are regarded as the "true form," so the mineral kingdom is the fundamental kingdom in the three worlds, under the Law of Correspondences. [229] It is, in a most peculiar sense, "precipitated etheric substance," and is a condensation or externalization of the etheric planes. This solidification or precipitation - resulting in the production of dense objective or solid matter - is the tangible result of the interplay of the energies and qualities of the first and seventh rays. Their united will and ordered rhythm have produced this Earth and the molten content of the planet, regarding the earth as the crust.