128 D The Secret Liji $Nature
Thus, no matter what external interference there might be, the plant it-
self is still enveloped by the ideational matrix, held by the deva, into
which it may grow.
Studying what he called "the female deva of another tree,"
Leadbeater noted that she observed the astral double of all the physical-
plane objects around her.A tree appeared to her as a dark central form,
its physical shape interpenetrated and surrounded by a pale, luminous,
gray light, its etheric double surrounded in turn by a violet astral aura
that extended about six inches beyond the physical form.To this female
deva each tree was like an engine into and through which force was
flowing from the astral plane, vivi@ing and lllunlinating it-keeping it
ahve. "She sees at the root of the tree, just below the ground level, a
golden vortex of energy where the force enters from the astral plane
and from which it passes throughout the whole body of the tree."
Exploring the Cotswolds in August of 1925, Hodson encountered
in a valley two miles long and one mile wide a more majestic deva,
which appeared to him to be there "to help forward the evolution of
the whole valley, primarily the elemental and vegetable kingdoms, but
also taking an interest in the human inhabitants of the valley." In the
evening of the following day, climbing the hills that rise from the
valley to a point where he could look down on fields, houses, and
woods-a peaceful, beautiful scene--Hodson spotted the deva hover-
ing over the treetops, apparently waiting to bid him welcome.
About ten feet high, its aura-which radiated to about a hundred
yards on all sides-could extend right across the valley to touch every
living thing within it, giving to each, as Hodson puts it, "a share of its
own magnificently vital life force, its colors brilliant and constantly
changing, flowing in waves and vortices outward from its central
form, from deep royal blue with red and golden yellow and green
sweeping through it, followed by pale rose-du-Barry with a soft eau-
de-Nil sky blue."
The deva's features Hodson described as noble and beautiful, eyes
dazzling bright, more like the centers of force than eyes, not used to
the same extent as those of humans for the expression of thought and
emotion.The seat of its consciousness appeared to be in the middle of
its head, a blazing center of light. From this center the deva controlled