sensational trial in regard to the state of _non compos mentis_,
concerning a nobleman, who left a considerable fortune to his servants,
the total ignorance of the experts on “psychology” regarding all
matters concerning the soul, and their total incapacity to judge of
the character and motives of a person, became so plain and was exposed
in such a ludicrous manner, that it became the public opinion, which
was also expressed by the judge, that the custom of calling in medical
men as experts in such things ought to be abandoned, and that actors,
novel-writers, or such as possess more capacity to know the motives of
human nature should be selected for that purpose.]
[Footnote 11: We may read at any time that the views of the ancients in
regard to this or that were “very vague”; while in fact the vagueness
is with the critic who does not understand what the views of the
ancients were. Words are made for the purpose of expressing ideas, and
if the ideas are not perceived the words are only misleading. If we
interpret the meaning of a term according to our own fancy, we shall
find therein only the misconception put into it by ourselves, but not
the original meaning.]
[Footnote 12: We call this the _sensual plane_, merely because it
includes that which is perceived by the senses of our _physical_ body.
If the senses of the _astral_ form are developed, the astral plane
will also be our _sensual_ plane. There can be no knowledge without
perception, and no perception without a sense for that purpose. A
system of philosophy based merely upon speculation, and without any
perception of truth, is no philosophy at all; but consists merely of
vagaries, illusions and dreams.]
[Footnote 13: See Rama Prasad’s “Nature’s Finer Forces.”]
[Footnote 14: See “Magic, white and black,” 4th edition, London, 1893
(Kegan, Paul and Co.).]
[Footnote 15: The more the minds of men become complicated by attending
to a multiplicity of details, the more will they lose sight of simple
facts. Thus the action of the sunlight and its various colours, of
which each has its special therapeutic qualities, is far too simple a
thing to find popular favour.]
[Footnote 16: “The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians,” II., pp. 16.
(Occult Publishing Co., Boston, Mass., 1888).]
[Footnote 17: “Paracelsus,” p. 168. (London, 1887: Trübner & Co.)]
[Footnote 18: The regenerated spiritual man is not a dream or an
unrealisable ideal, but far more substantial than the terrestrial man.
_William Law_ says: “Where Christ is born or His Spirit rises up in
the soul, there all self is denied and obliged to turn out, there all
carnal wisdom, arts of advancement, with every pride and glory of this
life, are so many heathen idols, all willingly renounced, and the man
is not only content, but rejoices to say that his kingdom is not of
this world.” (“William Law,” London, 1893.) See also “Jacob Boehme,”
page 263. London, 1891.]
[Footnote 19: “Theosophical Siftings.” Alchemy. (London: Theo. Pub.
Soc., 1891.)]
[Footnote 20: We purposely say “carbogen” and not “carbon,” because we
refer to that invisible element, whose product upon the visible plane
is carbon or coal.]
[Footnote 21: As we are not writing for children, it is unnecessary
to refute the puerile objection and say that the sixty-four so-called
single bodies of chemistry are not elements of nature, although they
may be regarded as the elements of the science of chemistry.]
[Footnote 22: In everything are there five elements or qualities
contained, because everything consists of vibrations of the one
element, called by the Alchemists _prima materia_, in which these
qualities are latent (potentially contained). Everything is a
manifestation of substance. That which is essential in it, is the
substance and not the form. Thus for instance that which is essential
in a diamond is the carbon; but carbon is not composed of diamonds.
Carbon is a substance universally distributed in nature in solid,
watery, gaseous, fiery form, and all these forms of carbon are certain
states of the one element “Carbogen” which is at the root of their
existence.]
[Footnote 23: _Vach._—If we remember that according to the Bible all
things were made of the _Word_, and that “the Word was God” (John i.,
1), we may obtain the key to the understanding of what generated the
_Akâsa_.]
[Footnote 24: Occult Publ. Co., Boston, Mass.; and Theosoph. Publ.
Soc., London.]
[Footnote 25: Occult Publ. Co., Boston, Mass.; and Theosoph. Publ.
Soc., London.]
[Footnote 26: _Jacob Boehme._]
[Footnote 27: “Secret Doctrine,” Vol. I., p. 106.]
[Footnote 28: “Superstition”—from _super_ = over and _sto_ = to
stand—is a belief in the knowledge of the attributes of a thing, while
these attributes are beyond our conception. A superstition is therefore
a misconception of an existing thing, or a creation of fancy: an
erroneous conclusion arrived at by the observation of a phenomenon,
without an understanding of the law which produced the phenomenon.]
[Footnote 29: _Richard Quain_, “Dictionary of Medicine,” 1883.]
[Footnote 30: “Paracelsus.” (London: Trübner and Co., 1887.)]
[Footnote 31: The word “substance” comes from _sub_, under, and _sto_,
to stand, and means the principle underlying phenomenal existence, the
basis of the manifestation of power. It is only too customary to give
to such terms a wrong interpretation, and then to fight the man of
straw created by oneself.]
[Footnote 32: “_Ens_” means a beginning.]
[Footnote 33: It is hardly necessary to furnish examples, such as, for
instance, presented by Strychnine, composed of C₂₁ H₂₂ N₂₂ O₂₂, a very
poisonous substance; while the same elements combined in a different
proportion are contained as gluten in our food. If we accept the theory
of vibration, which appears as a necessary result of the universe
being substance in motion, the cause of such secrets will easily be
found in the discords existing between the vibrations constituting
these substances. This theory of harmony will also explain why certain
chemicals combine with others in certain proportions.]
[Footnote 34: In the recognition of the law is contained the key to
the understanding of chiromancy, phrenology, physiognomy, psychometry,
etc., and their value in practising medicine; for although the physical
form, owing to external physical conditions, may not be an exact image
of the internal nature of man, nevertheless the character of the mind
is to a certain extent impressed visibly upon each part of the body,
and being a whole and a unity, the whole of that character may be read
in every part of the body, if we know how to read it; in the same sense
as a botanist can tell the character of a tree by examining one of its
leaves, for he knows at once to what class of trees it belongs.]
[Footnote 35: “The character of a man and his talents, aptitude,
dexterity, etc., are not given to him by (terrestrial) nature. His
spirit is not a product of nature, but comes from the incorporeal
realm. You should not say that he receives these things from nature;
the sages never said so.” (“Paramirum,” L. I., Tr. iii., C. 2.)]
[Footnote 36: “Then shall the dust return to earth as it was, and the
spirit shall return to God who gave it.” (“Ecclesiastes,” xii., 7.)]
[Footnote 37: See: “Magic, white and black,” “Paracelsus,” “Boehme,”
etc.]
[Footnote 38: “Key to Theosophy,” p. 121 (London, 1889).]
[Footnote 39: “There is an invisible organism in man, not placed within
the _three substances_; a body which (unlike the material one) does not
come from the _Limbus_ (matter) but has its origin in the living breath
of God. It is not a body coming into existence after death, to rise up
on the judgment day; for the physical body being a nonentity (unreal)
cannot become resurrected after death, neither shall we be called upon
to give account about our physical health and disease; but we shall be
judged according to the things that have issued from our will. This
spiritual body in man is the flesh that comes from the breath of God.
There are two bodies, but only one flesh.” (“Paramir.” _Lib._ II., 8.)]
[Footnote 40: Any person wishing for information on such points may
find it in the literature of spiritism, mediæval witchcraft, in the
“Lives of the Saints,” etc., etc. Volumes might be filled with such
accounts, but phenomena are proofs only to him to whom they occur. A
person having no experience of a thing is always at liberty to deny its
existence, and it is far easier to call it a “superstition” than to
arrive at its understanding by studying secret laws.]
[Footnote 41: See: _Thomson Jay Hudson_. “The Law of Psychic
Phenomena.”]
[Footnote 42: “Arcanum” means mystery. The key to a mystery is its
understanding. The Arcana of Paracelsus were not, as has been asserte
by certain “authorities,” patent medicines whose composition he kept
secret; but they were his knowledge of the means for effecting a cure.
He says:—“If there is a stone in the bladder, the _arcanum_ is the
knife (for performing lithotomy), in (acute) Mania phlebotomy is the
arcanum. An arcanum is the entering into a new state, the giving birth
to a new thing.” (_Lib._ “Paramir.,” I. 5, II. 2.) Every plane of
existence has its own mysteries and arcane remedies.]
[Footnote 43: H. P. Blavatsky’s “Key to Theosophy,” p. 201.]
[Footnote 44: The cause of a certain disease may exist not only in one
of these five classes, but in more. For instance, a hæmorrhage of the
womb may be caused by mental excitement in connection with a state of
weakness of resistance in the tissues of the organs; insanity may be
caused by mental, moral or physical circumstances; blindness may be the
result of physical causes or of mental excitement; a bodily defect the
result of antenatal _Karma_, or of physical causes. In the clockwork
of nature all the wheels are connected by one common chain. Therefore
not only one of these causes but all of them ought to be known and
taken into consideration; but each of the corresponding five methods
of treatment contains in itself all the elements for effecting a cure.
It is therefore not necessary that a physician should practise all the
five methods of treatment; but he should have a thorough knowledge of
the method which he has chosen, and be well versed in it and stick to
his method; but he should not believe his own method to be the only
true one, and reject others of which he knows nothing.]
[Footnote 45: The soothing power of blue, the exciting effects of
red, the invigorating effects of yellow, etc., deserve a great deal
more attention than they receive at present. The reason why the “blue
light cure” has caused only a passing excitement, is because it was
indiscriminately used and its laws not understood.]
[Footnote 46: “Paracelsus,” p. 141.]
[Footnote 47: Professor O. Korschelt in Leipzig invented an instrument
for that purpose.]
[Footnote 48: See “Paracelsus,” p. 138.]
[Footnote 49: All forces may become manifest in a threefold form. There
are universal, animal and spiritual “magnets”; a physical electricity,
an electricity of life, a spiritual electricity, etc., etc.]
[Footnote 50: _Dr Babbitt’s_ “Principles of Light and Colour.”]
[Footnote 51: F. Hartmann, “Eine neue Heilmethode.” W. Friedrich,
Leipzig, 1893.]
[Footnote 52: “Magic, white and black.” (London, 1893.)]
[Footnote 53: I. Timothy, III., 7.]
[Footnote 54: Romans, IX., _ib._]