Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00418)

On Mon, 13 Jan 97, Martin Giuffrida wrote:

>Titus Roth wrote:
>
>>It still seems like a big leap to say animals evolve.
>
>The general *Theosophical* view I once heard and found acceptable is that
>animals evolve from the animal kingdom into the human kingdom, as human
>evolve into the spiritual kingdom.  There are angelic associations with
>animals, and the totality will not be simple.  But from one perspective,
>animals set out upon group souls.  When most animals die, their essence is
>re-absorbed into a group soul, but not as an individuality.
>
>Certain animals, probably along seven main streams, associate closely with
>human beings.  These are the domesticated dog, cat, horse, elephant, etc.
>Some animals are recognized for their uncanny manifestation of a remarkable
>'personality'.  At a certain point an animal, through tutilage and influence
>of human beings is brought to the portal of 'individuation' in which the
>life passes into the beginning stage of a human soul.

This is the theory that makes the most sense to me, and is compatible with
saying that individual animals do not evolve, at least past their
lifetimes.