"The whole Kosmos is guided, controlled, and animated by almost endless series of Hierarchies of sentient Beings, each having a mission to perform, and who - whether we give them one name or another, and call them Dhyan-Chohans or Angels - are 'messengers' in the sense only that they are the agents of Karmic and Cosmic Laws. They vary infinitely in their respective degrees of consciousness and intelligence; and to call them all pure Spirits without any of the earthly alloy 'which time is wont to prey upon' is only to indulge in poetical fancy. For each of these Beings either was, or prepares to become, a man, if not in the present then in a past or a coming cycle (Manvantara). They are perfected, when not incipient, men..." (Secret Doctrine I, pp. 274-5)

"In sober truth, as just shown, every 'Spirit' so-called is either a disembodied or a future man. As from the highest Archangel (Dhyan Chohan) down to the last conscious 'Builder' (the inferior class of Spiritual Entities), all such are men, having lived eons ago, in other Manvantaras, on this or other Spheres; so the inferior, semi-intelligent and non-intelligent Elementals - are all future men." (Secret Doctrine I, p. 277)

Neo-Theosophy:

"The nature-spirits constitute an evolution apart , quite distinct at this stage from that of humanity ... We know that, after that individuality has been attained, the unfolding of humanity carries us gradually to the steps of the Path, and then onward and upward to Adeptship and to the glorious possibilities which lie beyond.

"This is our line of development, but we must not make the mistake of thinking of it as the only line . . . The nature spirits, for example, neither have been nor ever will be members of a humanity such as ours." (C. W. Leadbeater, The Hidden Side of Things I, pp. 116-7)

"...there are several parallel streams of evolving life, each mostly independent of the others in its development.

"Two of these streams are those of Humanity and of a parallel stream called the evolution of Devas or Angels ... As already mentioned, human life has its earlier stages of animal vegetable, mineral and elemental life. From the same mineral life, however, the life diverges into another channel, through stages of vegetable forms, animal forms, then the forms of 'nature-spirits,' or the fairies of tradition, into Angels or Devas ... One stream builds organisms living in water, while three use forms living on land. Only one of the six streams leads into humanity; the other five pass into the parallel evolution of the Devas." (C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, pp. 17-19) [20]