ourners" by the
contemplation of death. The thinkers stood in the same relation to the
dead man, but while one of them was still steeped in the dense ignorance
with regard to super-physical life which is so painfully common in the
present day, the other had the inestimable advantage of the light of
Theosophy. In the thought of the former we see expressed nothing but
profound depression, fear and selfishness. The fact that death has
approached so near has evidently evoked in the mind of the mourner the
thought that it may one day come to him also, and the anticipation of
this is very terrible to him; but since he does not know what it is that
he fears, the clouds in which his feeling is manifested are
appropriately vague. His only definite sensations are despair and the
sense of his personal loss, and these declare themselves in regular
bands of brown-grey and leaden grey, while the very curious downward
protrusion, which actually descends into the grave and enfolds the
coffin, is an expression of strong selfish desire to draw the dead man
back into physical life.

[Illustration: FIG. 34. AT A FUNERAL]

It is refreshing to turn from this gloomy picture to the wonderfully
different effect produced by the very same circumstances upon the mind
of the man who comprehends the facts of the case. It will be observed
that the two have no single emotion in common; in the former case all
was despondency and horror, while in this case we find none but the
highest and most beautiful sentiments. At the base of the thought-form
we find a full expression of deep sympathy, the lighter green indicating
appreciation of the suffering of the mourners and condolence with them,
while the band of deeper green shows the attitude of the thinker towards
the dead man himself. The deep rose-colour exhibits affection towards
both the dead and the living, while the upper part of the cone and the
stars which rise from it testify to the feeling aroused within the
thinker by the consideration of the subject of death, the blue
expressing its devotional aspect, while the violet shows the thought of,
and the power to respond to, a noble ideal, and the golden stars denote
the spiritual aspirations which its contemplation calls forth. The band
of clear yellow which is seen in the centre of this thought-form is very
significant, as indicating that the man's whole attitude is based upon
and prompted by his intellectual comprehension of the situation, and
thi