“This term is used... to denote, not the symbolic images to which the title was given by ancient peoples, but hieriarchical Orders of Intelligence, quite distinct from man in this Solar System, but who have been or will be men.

“...In the East they are called devas, a Sanskrit word meaning 'shining ones' and referring to their self-luminous appearance. They are regarded as omnipresent, super-physical agents of the Creative Will, as directgors of all natural forces, laws and processes, solar, inter-planetary and planetary.

“...Nature spirits, like animals and birds, are actuated by a group consciousness shared with others of the same genus. Gods, Sephiras, devas, and angels, have evolved out of group consciousness into separate individuality, as has man. Archangels, especially, have transcended the limitations of individuality and have entered into universal or cosmic consciousness, as has the Superman or Adept.