As for the length of life of nature spirits, it is said to vary greatly,
some having very short, others much longer lives than humans.All, like
humans, are subject to reincarnation, though their condition makes the
working of it slightly different.
During their tenure on earth, nature spirits have the advantage that
in etheric life there is no need for food.The body of a fairy is described
as absorbing the nourishment it needs without effort, straight from the
surrounding ether. This nourishment, according to Leadbeater, is not
actually absorbed, but rather a change of particles is constantly taking
place with particles that have been drained of their vitality being cast
out to make way for others full of it.And though nature spirits do not
eat, they are said to obtain from the fragrance of flowers a pleasure
analogous to that which people derive from the taste of food.To the
nature spirits, says Leadbeater, aroma is more than a mere question of
smell or taste; they bathe in it until it interpenetrates their bodies,
reaching every particle simultaneously.
A nature spirit's body is described as having no more internal struc-
ture than a wreath of mist, so they cannot be cut or injured. As neither
heat nor cold has any painful effect on them, they are seen to play as
happily among the falling flakes of snow as under "the level lances of
the rain," dancing with equal pleasure in the moonlight or glorying
in the glow of sunlight, as content to float idly in the calm of a sum-
mer afternoon as to revel in the rushing wind. Fire spirits are distinct
for liking nothing better than to bathe in fire, rushing from all sides to
any conflagration, to fly upward with the flame over and over with
wild delight.
Among nature spirits there appears to be no sex, no disease, no
struggle for existence, exempting them from the most fertile causes of
human suffering. Bodily pain is said to come to a nature spirit only
from an unpleasant or inharmonious emanation or vibration, but the
elemental's power of rapid locomotion enables it easily to avoid such
hazards. Both Leadbeater and Hodson think we would see many more
nature spirits if it weren't for their rooted objection to the proximity of
human beings, an objection shared by all but the lowest types of nature
spirits. Most, say the two theosophists, dislike and avoid humankind,
joyce
(Joyce)
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