The Dark Brotherhood
DK talks a lot about the dark brothers. The beginning reader will immediately get the idea that these are a bunch of bad dudes to be avoided, kind of like the Christian has toward evil demons, but to get a more complete picture one needs to delve fairly deeply into the writings.
To put it concisely, the dark brother is one who has consciously chosen the left-hand path while the brother of light has chosen the path of the right hand.
The path on the left leads away from the soul and spirit to eventual destruction of the personality self and the path on the right leads toward soul and Spirit which takes us back to our Source, sometimes referred to as the “Father’s House.”
This may seem like a clear demarcation, but identifying the agents of the two is nothing like in the movies where the identity of saints and demons is obvious. DK makes this point:
“The Hierarchy, animated by love and that of the opposite pole, the Black Lodge, working entirely through mind and substance — are engaged and their close relationship will emerge. You will realise then that the margin of difference is very slight and is to be found solely in intention, in the underlying purpose and the concrete objectives which this group of material workers have set themselves.” Destiny of the Nations, Pages 36-37
The key statement here is that “the margin of difference is very slight and is to be found solely in intention.”
He also says this:
“The Great White Lodge, our spiritual Hierarchy, and the Black Lodge employ the same universal energies but with different motives and objectives; both groups are groups of trained esotericists.” Education in the New Age, Page 61
Many of the energies and powers used by the two brotherhoods are the same but the intention behind its direction of use makes all the difference. Take money, for instance. One can use it to feed the poor or to blow up a building containing innocent people. The intent of the user makes all the difference.
The problem is that the dark brother hides his intent and presents himself agent of light similarly to that noted by Paul: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” II Cor 11:14
DK says something similar here: “Oft too the Dark Brother masquerades as an agent of the light, oft he poses as a messenger of the gods.” Letters on Occult Meditation, Page 136
This makes it very difficult for the rank and file to tell the difference between the two agents for often they “call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20
One of the main things that causes confusion is that the dark brothers are capable of many of the miracles often attributed to the brotherhood of light. He says this:
“Supernormal powers are, of themselves, no evidence of divinity at all. Great exponents of evil can perform the same miracles and demonstrate the same capacity to create and to transcend the normal faculties of man. These powers are inherent in the creative aspect of Divinity, the third or matter aspect, and are linked to an intelligent understanding of matter and to the power of the mind to dominate substance. This power is, therefore, neither divine nor non-divine. It is a demonstration of the capacity of the mind, and can be used with equal facility by an incarnated Son of God, functioning as a World Saviour or Christ, and by those Beings who are on the path of destruction.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 2, Page 60
We can see this at work in certain ministers and gurus whose adherents claim that they work miracles, especially in healing, yet stories surface of how they sexually abuse men, women and children or spend donated money on a lavish lifestyle.
Since the dark side often successfully presents itself as benefactors of humanity and portrays those working on the side of light and love as evil, or just plain insane, it would be wise of us examine the esoteric writings so we can discern which is which. After all, did not the Master say “that there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matt 24:24
The Dark Brothers then present themselves as agents of light and average people have difficulty seeing through them. We must keep in mind that DK tells us that the fundamental difference lies in their “motives and objectives” which differ widely from the spiritual hierarchy.
DK summarizes how deceptively the Dark Brothers work in this quote: “They endeavour to preserve that which is familiar and old, to counteract the effects of the oncoming culture and civilisation, to bring blindness to the peoples and to feed steadily the existing fires of hate, of separateness, of criticism and of cruelty. These forces, as far as the intelligent peoples of the world are concerned, work insidiously and cloak their effort in fair words, leading even disciples to express hatred of persons and ideologies, fostering the hidden seeds of hatred found in many human beings. They fan to fury the fear and hate of the world in an effort to preserve that which is old and make the unknown appear undesirable, and they hold back the forces of evolution and of progress for their own ends.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 75
A key statement that applies to the political conflict of the day lies in these words: they “cloak their effort in fair words, leading even disciples to express hatred of persons and ideologies, fostering the hidden seeds of hatred found in many human beings.”
Their power of deception is so great that even disciples will enter the political debate in a negative way and “express hatred of persons and ideologies.”
Indeed, we see that happening on the news each evening with what we assume are average people, but DK tells us that even disciples (or the elect) are deceived into supporting the negative energy. The dark ones seek “to cloud the issues involved to such a degree that the men of goodwill everywhere will be bewildered and will fail to see the clear outlines of the factual situation or distinguish between what is true and what is false. Forget not, the forces of evil are exceedingly clever.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 452
Here are some of the other differences between the brothers of the light and dark:
The Dark brother is “animated by the life and purpose which distinguished the evolution of the first solar system… therefore, identification with that which is past, retrogression and the methods of the old” are the focus of his attention. TCF, Page 622
On the other hand, the spiritual hierarchy’s main goal is to move forward and manifest the goal of this solar system and “is working entirely with the soul or the consciousness aspect, and in this group the doctrine of the heart and the law of love control.” Destiny of the Nations, Page 107
This difference is illustrated on one hand by “a humanity which is oriented towards the higher spiritual and altruistic values and whose keynotes are sacrifice, group good and world understanding, and those whose focus is predominantly material and whose aims are selfish, animated by ambition and the spirit of acquisition.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 126
The focus of the dark brother is on the desire/feeling nature from the astral plane:
“The Black Lodge or the planetary centre of evil works almost entirely upon the astral plane, and is impressed directly and guided in detail from the cosmic astral plane.” Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 689 Though “They have achieved mind, and need love.” TCF, Page 1125 they seek to control humanity through their desire nature.
The plane of the upper mind and higher is the main focus of the spiritual hierarchy though they do seek to influence our feeling nature with love in a positive direction. They seek to stimulate “the aspiration and the will-to-serve from the plane of the emotions to that of the mind (the plane whereon the Masters can be found)” Introduction by DK
The Spiritual Hierarchy seek to enhance the freedom of humanity whereas the dark side seeks to restrict it to further their own ends:
“The major battle in the world today is that of the freedom of the average citizen to think for himself and to come to his own decisions and conclusions. It is here that the major quarrel between the Great White Lodge and the Black Lodge is to be found. It is a battle in which humanity itself is the decisive factor” Rays and Initiations, Page 679
He also tells us that there are “three modes whereby the forces of darkness seek to control humanity are hatred, aggression and separativeness. The three great spiritual counterparts are love, selfless sharing and synthesis.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 2, Page 577
The dark brothers work though deva lives of the seventh order which causes an effect of “vampirism and the devitalisation of their victims. They deal with the etheric bodies of their enemies, and by means of sounds affect deva substance, thus producing the desired results.” The Brothers of light “works through the devas of the sixth order” which works out as positive energy rather than negative. TCF, Page 668
Have you ever been in the presence of an authority figure who made you feel weakened on several levels? Many students have felt this when an authority works with the dark energy. This could be a sign that you are influenced by an agent of the Dark Brotherhood.
The Dark Brother also places focus on the material plane and the physical senses and pleasure.
“The black brother carries the evolution of the senses on to a stage inconceivable to man.” FCF, Page 1126 The dense physical body “is ever deemed occultly evil. The matter might be more simply expressed by stating that the black adept is frankly concerned with what is termed “the residue of that which earlier was.’” TCF, Page 1125
The forces of darkness create lawlessness and when the situation becomes bad enough a Master Soul will be sent. Here are the words of Krishna, who was a previous incarnation of the Christ according to DK.
“Whenever there is a withering of the law … and an uprising of lawlessness on all sides, then I manifest Myself.
“For the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of such as do evil; for the firm establishing of the law I come to birth in age after age.” The Bhagavad Gita, Quoted on Page 4 of The Reappearance of the Christ
Even though the Dark brothers have great power in the world the numbers of those solidly on the left-hand path are a lot fewer than those who find the right-hand path of liberation. But many of those on the right hand do not stay behind to assist humanity, but go on to other work.
“It is interesting also to note that it is the very rare man indeed who swings into the field of so-called black magic. This indicates, does it not, my brother, the extraordinarily triumphant work of the Great White Lodge.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 2, Page 389
Here he tells us that one has to stubbornly persist in error to become a Dark Brother:
“Anyone who over-exalts the concrete mind and permits it continuously to shut out the higher, is in danger of straying on the left-hand path. Many so stray…but come back, and then in the future avoid like errors in the same way as a child once burnt avoids the fire. It is the man who persists in spite of warning and of pain who eventually becomes a brother of darkness.” Letters on Occult Meditation, Page 134
A few pages later (Page 137) tells us there are three main things the disciple must embrace to avoid the left hand path.
First is “A realisation that purity of all the vehicles is the prime essential.”
By vehicles he means the physical body, the astral or emotional self and the mind.
Second is “The elimination of all fear.” Dark forces feed upon fear for it lowers our vibration.
The third is the disciple must stand “firm and unmoved, no matter what occurs.” This is another way of telling us to keep our minds steady in the light and to always keep our focus on the Spirit over the material world no matter what happens around us.
DK does not tell is how many dark brothers there are on this planet but he does give us this about their leaders:
“The dark forces are ruled on the physical plane by a group of six oriental leaders and six occidental leaders; of these the oriental are the most powerful because they are the oldest racially and therefore the most experienced.” Esoteric Psychology, Vol 2, Page 577
He doesn’t make it clear whether these have bodies in the dense physical as do we or in etheric matter. When he says physical, he usually is referring to all seven subplanes which include four ethers invisible to most of humanity. When he speaks of physical as we see it, he usually uses the term “dense physical.”
Even though both brotherhoods appear benevolent on the surface, when the masks come off and they show their true colors the difference becomes very clear:
The dark brother considers not what suffering he may cause; he cares not what agony of mind he brings upon an opponent; he persists in his intention and desists not from the hurt of any man, woman or child, provided that in the process his own ends are furthered. Expect absolutely no mercy from those opposing the Brotherhood of Light.” Letters on Occult Meditation, Page 135
“Their particular form of selfishness is far worse than anything which you can imagine, because they are completely detached and divorced from all contact with the energy to which we give the name of love.” Rays and Initiations, Page 716
It is chilling enough to contemplate the dark brothers on this planet, but according to DK the more advanced of them move on to other solar systems:
“They can reach, in their later stages, expansions of consciousness and of power that will take them far beyond the confines of our solar system, and give them attributes and capacities which prove a menace to the unfolding of the second Aspect.” TCF, Page 1125
It appears then that even after they move on that they still “prove a menace” to us.
It then appears that these highly placed Dark Brothers are then contacted by brothers who remain here:
“By means of invocation and forms the Dark Brothers (or those who tamper with what you ignorantly term the powers of evil) tap forces connected with dark intelligences in high places. Thus they set in motion happenings on the physical plane that have their origination in the dark mysterious caves of cosmic evil as found within our solar system. Equally so, it is possible to tap the still greater forces of light and good and to make application of them on the side of evolution.” Letters on Occult Meditation, Pg 192
You’ll notice that the situation is similar on both sides. Both have advanced entities who have progressed beyond our own system and can be contacted.
Fortunately for us the dark brotherhood eventually self-destructs and the Brotherhood of light returns to their Source.
But eventually in another solar system, ages hence, even the worst of the Dark Brothers will come to their senses, seek out their true Source and return home.
More wrongs have been committed in the name of Christ than in the name of the devil. – Anonymous
Nov 4, 2025
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