THE UNIVERSAL FLOODS

The Secret Doctrine explains the "Floods" not as isolated events, but as manifestations of the Law of Universal Periodicity, or ebb and flow, one of the fundamental laws of the Universe, which governs decay and growth.

The general term for these dissolutions or destructions is Pralaya. Pralaya applies not only to the Dissolution of the World (the "Night of Brahma"), but to every "Obscuration" and every cataclysm that brings an end to a Root Race through Fire or Water, in turn.

Classification of the Floods

In Esoteric Philosophy, floods have multiple meanings (geological, astronomical, moral) and are based on events that occurred in Nature.

Several Floods are mentioned, but they can be classified into at least three main categories:

Cosmic or Sidereal (Astronomical) Floods

These refer to pre-cosmic transformations or events that took place before the formation of the Earth, serving as sidereal prototypes and being based on cosmogony.

1. First Cosmic Flood: This refers to the Primordial Creation or the formation of the Heavens and the Earths. In this case, Chaos and the great Ocean represent the "Flood," and the Moon represents the "Mother," from whom all the seeds of life originate.

2. Astronomical Allegories: The "War in Heaven" refers to astronomical and cosmic events. The biblical Flood of Noah is considered astronomical and allegorical, based on the pre-astronomical Cosmic Flood.

3. The Mazar of the Ocean of Milk (a Hindu allegory) took place after a "Flood," but this event refers to a period prior to the formation of the Earth.

Terrestrial Floods or Racial (Geological) Cataclysms

These are the periodic and recurring cataclysms that close the cycle of each Root Race, caused primarily by changes in the tilt of the Earth's axis. The cataclysms of Races are not a forty-day Noah's Flood, but rather geological upheavals that determine immense changes in the configuration of the globe.

The three most important ones mentioned, which close the cycle of a Root Race, are:

a. Cataclysm of the Second Race: This occurred due to a geological disturbance of the Earth's axis, resulting in the submersion of the entire Second Continent along with its primitive races.

b. Cataclysm of the Third Race (Lemuria): It sank approximately 700,000 years ago, before the beginning of the Tertiary Period (Eocene). This was a true geological deluge and is known as the Third Pralaya of the Races.

c. Cataclysm of the Fourth Race (Atlantis): This is the true and historical submersion of Atlantis.

1. The greatest Atlantean catastrophe (the one that destroyed the Fourth Race in general) occurred approximately 850,000 years ago.

2. The last remnant of Atlantis, Poseidonis, sank relatively recently, about 12,000 years ago (or 11,000 years ago, according to Plato).

3. Allegorical or Moral Floods

The term "Flood" and its correspondences often have a moral, philosophical, or esoteric meaning, in addition to its physical aspects.

Descent into Matter: The Flood legend has a theogonic meaning that refers to the great FLOOD of WATERS (Matter) in CHAOS, awakened and fertilized by Rays—Spirits that perished in differentiation.

Conflict of Adepts: The "War in Heaven" or the struggle between the "Sons of God" and the "Sons of Shadow" (White Magic versus Black Magic of the Atlanteans) is also an allegorical flood of the struggle between the two schools of Adepts. The chosen initiates of the Fifth Race were saved from the Flood of the Atlanteans.

Noah's Flood: Although based on a cosmic event, the biblical allegory is considered to conceal the most vulgar sexual mysteries and is an allegory of a new Cycle and a new Round (the Fourth Round).

The Role of Manu Vaivasvata

Manu Vaivasvata is a generic name that symbolizes collective humanity and the seed saved from destruction.

1. He is the Noah of the Aryans.

2. He is the allegorical "Man" who saved the Fifth Race.

3. The Manu of the Race (Vaivasvata) is the one who witnesses the periodic cataclysms, saving the human species.

The different events (the emergence of physical man, the cosmic flood, and the Atlantean flood) are intentionally intertwined in exoteric narratives, such as the Vishnu Purana, but the Secret Doctrine distinguishes between them.

Essentially, the "Floods" in the Secret Doctrine are a metaphor for the karmic cycles of the Earth. They are not singular events, but rather periodic cleansings (Pralayas) where Mother Earth, regulated by the Lunar Spirit, shakes and shifts her axis, eliminating the races that have fallen into materialism and vice, allowing the seeds of future races, guarded by the sages (Manus), to continue evolution.

Article based on "The Secret Doctrine" by Helena P. Blavatsky.