o as to understand better various processes by which a Soul — that is the true Divine Principle living in man which is triple (“Atma – Bouddhi - Hight Manas”) — returns on Earth and takes a physical body, it is necessary to distinguish three possibilities : Incarnation - Incorporation – Overshadowing.

Incarnation : it is there general process, the one that use all the human beings for returning on Earth. The Divine Principle of a being takes possession since the birth (on the first breath but it takes care of the embryo since the third month of the gestation) of this dense body; this Divine Principle guards normally this body until the death.

Incorporation : it is always the Divine Principle of a being which returns on Earth but it takes a body which belonged at the moment of the birth (generally until 14 years — we say “to provide life to the body until such age”) to an other being who gives up voluntarily this vehicle on the deliberate age.

This process is frequently used by the Masters of Wisdom to avoid wasting time in gestation, small childhood, adolescence, etc. They are advanced Disciples, with a very pure structure, who devote themselves for this real service that is “to come to Earth and to provide life to this body” until a certain age.

It was the situation of Franz Bardon of whom the Real Being or Soul took, with a precise occult purpose and with the agreement of his owner (that is the human being named “Franz Bardon” who was not the Adept), the body of a 14 year old adolescent. This last one had an heavy Karma to be restabilized; that explains why this body was chosen. (See Franz Bardon's life).

The effect of “incarnation” or “incorporation” is the same : the real being (that is the Soul) has a physical body and he is very present here below. We say : “to be incarnated by incorporation”.

Overshadowing : this process does not require the taking possession by a Soul of a physical body as with “incarnation”or “incorporation”. The Being (with a capital letter because they are the Masters who often use this method), that means his Divine Principle, wants to help humanity through an human being, less evolved than him; this being, who is embodied and lives then on Earth, has certain qualities, certain competence so as to be able to work for the benefit of the world. In that situation, the Soul of the Master stays very near of this person, inspires totally his mind and his emotions so as to strengthen them with more power and creativity while he offers to them the aim of this inspiration.  

Occultists made numerous confusions between “incarnation” and “overshadowing”. Then, they thought honestly that the Master Morya, for instance, “was really incarnated” in the person of Akbar, the Great Mogol. Akbar, from a certain period of his life, was “overshadowed” in fact by this Master.

It was the same situation with the Master, known under the name of “Franz Bardon” :  he overshadowed Nostradamus, Robert Fludd and many others… In the person of Hermes Trismegist (but this last had another name, Hermes Trismegistos being a title of Consecration), of Lao Tseu, Apollonius of Tyana and the Earl of Saint Germain, he was really incarnated.