The eternally evolving One Life expresses itself through five Kingdoms that are also unfolding, and which reflect varying levels of consciousness. These Kingdoms, starting with the least developed are- Mineral Kingdom, Plant Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Human Kingdom and Master or Divine Kingdom. Both the outer form and the inner life of the beings within each Kingdom grow and mature over time. Some animals will evolve along the Deva line of evolution, with others, including higher mammals, following the human evolutionary line.

The Animal Kingdom contains multiple classes of animals of differing development levels. All species of animals exist in what is called a group soul. Animals evolve over eons as part of a group soul until they eventually reach the point of Individualization. When the consciousness of the animal advances enough, they separate from the group soul and become individualized animals. Individualized animals include the elephant, horse, dog and cat. Like all Kingdoms, the Animal Kingdom is divided into seven primary groups corresponding to the seven rays.

When animals that are part of a group soul physically die, the group soul they’re part of progresses in proportion to the evolutionary contribution of the particular animal. Non-individualized animals are karmically compensated as a group, not individually. The herd instinct in animals is the early development of what will be known as group consciousness in humans. Once the advanced animal achieves humanhood, it can’t retrograde back into the Animal Kingdom.

Animal consciousness is primarily instinctual in simple animals with emotional and early mental development appearing in the more complex animal groups. Advanced animals are capable of both higher and lower feelings. They can feel affection, loyalty and devotion as well as fear, hostility, and jealousy, among other emotions. Humans help animals progress by encouraging affection, gentleness, intelligence, and a positive protective instinct within them, and harm them greatly by training them to exhibit negative and/or vicious behavior. Love and goodwill are what animals need and deserve from humans.

People who demonstrate thoughtless cruelty, neglect, mistreatment or hurtfulness to animals always pay an unhappy karmic price that is especially harsh for those who intentionally cause animals to suffer. Mercilessness toward animals develops mistrust, fear and hatred within the victimized animal, while causing them undeserved trauma, sadness and pain. Compassionate humans in the physical world like the spirit helpers in the afterlife, help various members of the animal kingdom through their kind care, love and healing. Awakened mortals can help animals evolve like immortal masters help humans evolve.

Exceptional intelligence has been observed in the Animal Kingdom. In 1909, Herr Krall taught the famous Elberfeld horses, one of them blind, to do mathematics. Ultimately the four horses could add, subtract, multiply, divide, extract square and cube roots and spell words. The horses answered questions by stamping their hooves. For example, to give the number 25, they struck twice with the left hoof and five times with the right hoof. The horses, examined by numerous scientists, often spelled in reverse order, similar to Spiritualist mirror-writing. Clairvoyance and supernormal perception are some of the documented abilities of animals.

Animals are like humans in that both have a dense physical body, an etheric body, an astral body, and a mental body. The development of these bodies varies with the evolutionary progress of the animal.

Animal symbols included in the Rider-Waite Tarot deck are- rams, serpents, lions, eagles, bulls, horses, a bird in a tree, dogs, wolf and a crustacean.