All action results from thought, so it is thoughts that matter. 
-Sai Baba
What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: Our life is the creation of our mind.
-Buddha
Taken from the book ‘The Magus Of Strovolos’ which I keep on my desk – and to which I turn to read, whenever urged to do so.
The subject of Daskalos’ talk was (thought forms.) At first he summarized many of the ideas he had discussed during previous meetings. It was his pedagogic method to repeat old material on a routine basis until his students had fully digested it.
Thought Forms , he said, have a life of their own just like any other living form and can have an existence independent of the one who projected them. Any thought and any feeling that an individual projects is an elemental. He then proceeded to explain that there are two kinds of elementals: those that are produced subconsciously, which he called elementals of desires-thoughts,’ and those consciously constructed and called elementals of ‘thoughts-desires.’ An individual, he went on, can vibrate through thoughts and sentiments. The way a person vibrates determines the type and quality of the elementals he creates. When he vibrates primarily through sentiments, he is under the impact of emotions and desires, thought playing a subservient role. These are the elementals of desires-thoughts. When an individual is under the influence of thought, he builds elementals made of noetic substance and becomes a master of the power of visual imagery. A Researcher of Truth should train himself to build powerful but benign elementals made up of strong thoughts within which desire and sentiment play a supportive role. Such elementals of thoughts-desires last longer, are more powerful and tend to carry out the task for which they were constructed much faster.
Thoughtforms (elementals) of desires-thoughts are characteristic of ordinary people who lack an understanding of the nature of thought and desire. Consequently they often fall prey to the very elementals they themselves create. It is the law of Nature that once elementals are projected outwards they eventually return to the subconscious of the person who created them. Then they surface from the pool of his memory to the conscious level in order to acquire new energy and withdraw again. The same cycle is repeated until such elementals succeed in staying within the subconscious of the person on a more permanent basis.
They then absorb energy from the etheric-double of the individual and in this manner they extend their life. This is how habits and obsessions such as smoking, gambling and drinking are being formed.
The tendency of elementals to return to their source is what makes the law of Karma possible. An individual sooner or later will be confronted with the elementals that he consciously or subconsciously creates. In a conversation I once had with Daskalos he maintained that elementals of strong desires may return to the person that gave them birth at a time when he least desires them. Daskalos then claimed that in a previous incarnation as an Italian during the Renaissance, he was obsessed with the idea of inventing a printing machine. The end result of that obsession was to spend his present life working as a linotypist in the government printing office.
Our present personalities, Daskalos went on, and the circumstances within which we live, are the sum total of the elementals we have constructed ever since our descent into the three-dimensional world and the beginning of our cycles of incarnation. Elementals are built with the very substance with which personality and the universes in general are built, that is, with etheric matter of the noetic, psychic, and gross material worlds.
‘Let us examine,’ Daskalos continued as the audience of about thirty persons listened attentively, ‘the process by which an elemental is being formed. You will notice that it is not possible for a human being to desire something before he becomes aware of its existence. For example, when I see an object it means that etheric vibrations of light hit its surface and transfer images and forms to my eyes. They cause an irritation on the optic nerve and then on the brain which is imprinted as “seeing.” Suppose now that I see an object which men consider precious, say a diamond necklace. I become aware of the existence of this object through my sight. Suppose that I am a person who has a strong desire for diamond necklaces. What happens then? Psychic matter is gathered around the image of the necklace. Desire is formed. It is precisely psychic matter that makes possible the birth of a desire which is followed by thoughts on how to satisfy it, in this case how to acquire the necklace. Around that object a series of elementals is being formed having as their ultimate goal the acquisition of that object by the person who projected them. An awareness of its existence and desire to know or possess it are not, alone, sufficient. Thoughts about it must follow in order for such an elemental to be created. The individual subconsciously begins the process of visual imagery.
‘Suppose we take this person to a place away from the desired necklace and ask him to bring it to his mind. Most likely he will recreate it in the greatest detail. Someone else who saw the same object but who was not impressed by it will not be able to reconstruct it in his mind so accurately. Therefore, concentration and desire lead us to the construction of images made of noetic matter. This is what thought is all about, the condensation of noetic matter. We begin to see that object through noetic light. Now pay attention. What are real possessions? Are they those objects which ordinary people consider real? Or are they the elementals that we have constructed inside us? Suppose we take a precious object that we own and lock it up in a safe. The elemental of that object is inside us, is part of us. It exists in the pool of our memory and we can bring it to consciousness any time we wish. It is ours. It seems to you, however, that it is not real. And yet if you cannot bring it to your memory, how ean you have knowledge of the material object in the safe? Think about it. Let me put it differendy. Suppose that a very wealthy individual who knows that in a secret safe he has some very valuable objects, then suffers from amnesia. Everything within his memory collapses and is dissolved. What value do you think the objects outside his mind will have? None. Therefore, where is the real source af value af things? Pay attention to these points which you need to study.
Otherwise you will not be able to penetrate and understand the nature of Life. What is Life in reality other than receiving impressions and interpreting them. Just think af the world around you. Can you perceive it outside af these elementals?
‘You must realize by now that whether we perceive the world as good or as evil will depend on the kinds of elementals we construct inside us and project outward. Nothing, absolutely nothing, has any value in the world af the three dimensions if it does not also have value within us. It is what has value inside us which bestows value to whatever is outside of us. What, such as, does the phrase “lack of interest” mean? When an object outside af us does not have its counterpart inside us it has no value. So where has this condition come from? From the object or from within us? Everything is inside us.’ Daskalos stopped his talk for a few seconds and then proceeded to elaborate on the physical appearance of elementals, or more precisely on how elementals are perceived by a clairvoyant like himself.
‘When an elemental is created, its image will appear at the base af the nose right on the chakra that lies between the two eyes. A clairvoyant will notice that it appears first in the shape of a needle’s head. The moment it is thrust out of the etheric double of the individual, it begins to acquire its natural size and shape. It will then move into the psychic worlds and will make a cyclical movement the size of which will depend on the strength of the desire. Then it will return to the person. At this moment it will enter into his psychic body but not in the same place from which it exited. It will make an entrance through a different center, that which is at the back af the skull.
‘The shape of an elemental will depend on its type. It may be a desired house, a bicycle, or a car, and so on. These are examples of concrete images of desires-thoughts that remain within the subconscious for a relatively short time. They do so because such elementals, as I have said, seek a new lease on life in the same manner that an embryo seeks food. It will surface again at the disc between the two eyes and will seek an exit.
The analogous vibrations in the psychic body of the person will begin again. He will remember it and the desire will become stronger. The elemental will detach itself once more and move on its cyclical trajectory. An ordinary individual does not realize what is happening. The elemental will tend to dominate him. It may become so powerful that he may not be able to control it. In such a case the individual is a slave to his desire which sometimes may be so intense that it could lead him to the asylum. It is possible that such an elemental may absorb so much etheric substance from the individual that it may even enable it to literally materialize itself. Let us not talk about this unfortunate development for the time being.
‘What about morbid conditions that emerge directly as a result of our egotism such as anger, ostentation, hatred, feelings of being hurt, of showing off and the like? These elementals are constructed in the same way as all other elementals. Note that egotism is itself an elemental which is already formed within the self-conscious personality. It is the product of the repetition of many elementals. It is so sensitive that the slightest provocation sets it in motion. Egotism can create a variety of elementals. For example we have noticed from experience that when an individual has evil and malicious thoughts against someone, the elementals he creates have the shape of snakes with various dark colors, usually putrid green. They come out either from the heart or from the base of the nose. They move towards the person against whom we consciously or subconsciously direct them and they tend to stick to the aura of that person. Eventually they return to us. Sometimes such elementals acquire the size of an anaconda and when they return to us we feel our heart tighten.
‘Have you ever considered how many such elementals people create daily? Had they been able to see the form of the elementals they project, they would have been filled with terror.”
source: The Magus Of Strovolos – K.C.Markides
Children Of Light 