Vril, or Vital Magnetism

Vril or Vital Magnetism

Bulwer Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873), a novelist and Rosicrucian who popularized the term "Vril" in his 1871 science fiction novel, The Coming Race., who was well-versed in occult tradition and terminology, used the term “Vril” in one of his novels to describe a mysterious form of energy used by a newly discovered and highly advanced race of people. It is almost certain that Bulwer borrowed this term from the ancient occult writings with which he was so familiar, and that the ancient Arcane term “Vril” was known to him.

In many of these ancient occult treatises formal written works on a specific subject, we find frequent references to “Vril.” It is used not only to describe the principle of vital energy but also that sense of inherent, usable energy that we try to express with the term “human magnetism.” In such writings, we find the term used to explain many occult phenomena. Nearly all schools of occultism, in all lands and across all eras, have taught the existence of this wonderful principle of energy. In Persian mysticism, the term glama referring to a concept of subtle light or soul energy is used in the same sense; in Hindu occultism, we find the word prana original: prana, meaning "life force" or "breath" serving a similar purpose. Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), the physician who developed the theory of "animal magnetism." seems to have stumbled upon this truth when he taught the existence of “the universal fluid,” although his conclusions were far from the truth. In the revival of interest in occult science in Western lands—which was so noticeable in the previous generation and continues today—we find frequent references to “human magnetism,” “animal magnetism,” and “vital magnetism.” In the schools of “magnetic healing” that attracted so much attention about ten years ago, we heard much of “the magnetic fluid.” The existence of the principle of Nature which we call “Vril” in the Arcane Teaching has been recognized by many schools of thought throughout human history. Many names have been given to it, and many theories have been proposed to account for its existence and to explain its purposes and effects. We shall not attempt to go into the history of this idea, nor to consider the many attempted explanations mentioned above. We prefer to go directly to the source and present the original Arcane Teaching regarding the principle of Vril.

In the Arcane Teaching, the term “Vril” is used in several senses, both general and specific, as we shall see as we proceed. In the first place, Vril is