I did an open call on social media to solicit any topic to write a blog post about. This is for Kronig Bernhard – the Three Transformations!

First, I suggest the below video by my friend SixtySkills for some additional information. You can also take a free course on 3 Transformations: How to Convert your Energies at Perseus Arcane Academy. The post further below will be my own initial insights and considerations.

---

I was first introduced to the Three Transformations in my Eastern training, unbeknownst to me. It is known as Jing, Qi & Shen or Vital, Astral & Mental, as indicated in the above video. I learned it as the Japanese version of Jing, Qi and Shen. Be it through the Eastern or Western approach, these distinctions are applicable both within and without.

To call it transformations indicates some workings and movement. It is one thing for the Jing/vital to be that, the Qi/astral to be that, and the Shen/mental to be that. That is a containment within itself. Then, there is the action of moving and transforming that energy. At a baseline, we must establish that vital energy resides at the vital plane, astral energy at the astral plane, and mental energy at the mental plane. However, these energies can be moved, intermingled and influence the resonance of one another. Just as the saying goes, a sound mind in a sound body, the quality and quantity of one level of energy influences the energy at the other levels. The energetic frequencies at each level make us kind of like multi-dimensional Russian dolls that stand alone but are also interconnected in a larger, holistic ecosystem.

In my Eastern training we had an identification of the three energy types, namely how to use or access each one, if it was weak or strong when it came to application and to distinguish which type of energy one was working with at any given moment. Shen was not just mental energy, but could also be Heaven energy. Opening that gate (higher mental planes) is its own process. For a greater appreciation of Heaven and Earth energy in the Eastern framework you can reference the I-Ching.

Now, to put some pen to paper about the transformation aspect. 😀

First, I am far from any expert on this subject, but something I’m pulling out of my hat & putting together as small pebbles to cast for you to step on. I’m sure there’s robust and established knowledge & applications out there beyond the few paragraphs I’ll put together.

To work with the Three Transformations in a tangible way requires clairsentience. The means by which one can expose and familiarize themselves with vital, astral and mental energy is manyfold. You can start with the within, namely tuning into your own vital, astral and mental energy. At one level, these are like floors of your own house. Each floor may have its own broken floor boards, cobwebs, ghosts, gifts left by your ancestors, pretty stained glass windows or fresh scent of lavender coming in from the field next door. Each level has its own laws it is subject to and mechanics by which it operates. Acquaint yourself with each level.

At one stage, you can just work on the transformation of energy at each level, digging into the quality and quantity of each energy type and transforming it. While there is without, namely the vital, astral and mental plane existing as their own dimensions, you can use without tools to influence your 3 energies within. For example, for vital energy you can alter your diet, water intake, exercise, time in nature and the environmental factors around you. For astral you can focus on the quality & quantity of sensory input of music, content and what feelings/emotions are coming in and out of your life. For mental you can study, cultivate your mindset, attitude and belief system, develop your abilities to focus, meditate, etc. By cultivating each level independently, I think there is a feedback, like the Russian dolls example, where the more one focuses on cultivating health and balance at one plane, so are the other planes indirectly benefited. However, one cannot ignore the other planes just because they are receiving an indirect benefit. They must be paid attention to on their own accord – like a good parent who realizes each child has different needs, abilities, strengths and weaknesses and you must give the appropriate attention and care to each one.

To try to summon words about the inner transformation between the various planes is like looking at a large wooden door of a Buddhist temple kept away in a distant mountain. They are intimidating and looming, but behind them is something to be treated with sanctity and seriousness. It is one thing to take the journey to the threshold. To open the door and step behind them is where a previously unfathomable work truly begins.

Yet, I will lay some metaphysical cards on the table for us to consider.

In the Hermetic framework, we identify the astral matrix and mental matrix as connecting cords. The astral matrix connects the physical body and astral body. The mental matrix connects the mental body and the astral body. So if looking at a diagram from top down, we have (0) the ineffable above the mental body, (i) mental body, (ii) mental matrix, (iii) astral body, (iv), astral matrix, and (v) physical body (which has the vital energy emanation). How does one translate energy between the various planes?

We have the mental and astral matrix as transmitters. The intentional movement and intermingling of the energies through these cords can lead to inner alchemy and transformation. Information and energy is constantly flowing between these matrixes already. To consciously work with that can be a deliberate practice. It is by our highest self that we are animated in the here and now and how we express ourselves as incarnated beings. To the extent one does that consciously or in a vegetative, sleeping state depends on a myriad of factors and influences. It is a process of cultivation, maturity and workings. By exploring the inner workshop of harmony, music and rhythm one can create between the various bodies, one can create what is akin to enchanted ropes that reverberate between these bodies. These enchanted ropes, connecting the three planes with their own enchanted resonance, can then become the structure by which something Divine descends into physical reality.