just as much as are animals and men. Without a potential soul no
organisation could exist. The _form_ of a plant is determined by its
soul. An acorn and the kernel of a peach are planted side by side in
the same soil, the same situation, under the same conditions; why
should the first produce an oak and the second a peach tree? Because
an organic force inherent in the oak will construct its special kind
of vegetable, and another organic force, another soul inherent in the
peach, will equally draw to itself other elements necessary for its
special body, just as the human soul, in the construction of its body,
uses the means put by nature at its disposal. Only the soul of the
plant has not any self-consciousness.
[Sidenote: Souls and atoms.]
[Sidenote: Personality of the soul.]
The souls in vegetables, in animals, and in men, have already attained
to that degree of personality and of authority, which enables them
to bend at will, and to command and govern at pleasure, all those
non-personal forces which exist in the bosom of immeasurable nature.
The human monad, for example, being superior to the monad of salt,
or of carbon, or of oxygen, absorbs and incorporates them in its
structure. Our human soul in our terrestrial body upon the Earth
governs, without being conscious of it, all the elementary souls
forming the constituent parts of its body. Matter is not a solid and
compassable substance. It is an assemblage of centres of forces.
Substance has not any importance. From one atom to another there is a
great distance in proportion to the dimensions of atoms. At the head
of the divers centres of forces which constitute and form the human
body is the human soul, governing all the ganglionic souls, which are
subordinated to it.
QUÆRENS. I must frankly own, most wise instructor, that I fail to
clearly grasp this theory.
LUMEN. Then I will illustrate it for you by an example which will
demonstrate the truth of all I have said, and convince you that it is a
fact.
QUÆRENS. A fact? Are you, then, a reincarnation of the Princess
Scheherazade, and have you been fascinating me with a new tale from the
"Arabian Nights"?
FIFTH CONVERSATION
INGENIUM AUDAX: NATURA AUDACIOR
[Sidenote: Theta (θ) in Orion.]
LUMEN. You know the splendid constellation of Orion which reigns like
a sovereign over your winter nights, and the curious multiple star
θ (theta) which is to be found below the sword suspended from the
Belt, and shines in the midst of the famous nebula. This system θ of
Orion is one of the most singular which is to be found in the vast
treasure-house which contains such a variety of celestial jewels. It is
composed of four principal Suns disposed in a quadrilateral form. Two
of these Suns, forming what I may call the base of the quadrilateral,
are accompanied, the one by a single Sun, the other by two Suns. Thus
it is a system of seven Suns around each of which circulate inhabited
planets.
[Sidenote: A world in Orion.]
I was on a planet turning round one of the secondary Suns. This
revolved round another of the four principal Suns. That in its turn
circulated, in concert with the others and at the same time, around an
invisible centre of gravity in the interior of the quadrilateral. I do
not insist on these movements, but the celestial mechanism explains
them.
[Sidenote: Day Suns and night Suns.]
I was therefore lighted and warmed on my planet by seven Suns at the
same time; by one larger and more brilliant in appearance than the
other six, because it was nearer to me; by a second very large and
equally bright; by a third of moderate size, and by two who were like
twins. These different Suns are never all together above the horizon.
There are day Suns and night Suns; that is to say, they have there no
night properly so called.
QUÆRENS. Really? Are there in the heavens double and multiple Suns?
[Sidenote: Inhabitants of Theta Orionis.]
LUMEN. Yes, a very great number. The system of which I am speaking to
you, amongst others, is known to the astronomers of the Earth, who
count by thousands in their catalogues, systems of double stars, of
multiple stars, and of coloured stars. You can study them yourself
with your telescope. Now, on the planet of Orion, which I have just
mentioned to you, the inhabitants are neither vegetables nor animals.
They could not be placed in any classification of terrestrial life,
nor in either of the two great divisions of the vegetable and animal
kingdoms. In truth I do not know with what to compare them in order to
give you an idea of their form.
Have you ever seen, in botanic gardens, the gigantic tapering plant the
_Cereus giganteus_?
QUÆRENS. I know this plant very well. Its name comes from its
resemblance to the wax tapers, placed in three or more branched stands,
with which churches are lighted.
[Sidenote: Analysis of the nervous system.]
[Sidenote: Plant-beings.]
LUMEN. Well, the men of θ Orionis bear some likeness to this
form. Only they move slowly, and maintain an upright position by means
of a process of suction analogous to that of the ampullæ of certain
plants. The lower part of the vertical stem, where it rests on the
ground, is slightly elongated, like a starfish, with little appendages
which fix themselves to the soil by means of suction. These beings
often go in troops, and change their latitude according to the seasons.
But the most singular peculiarity of their organisation is that which
illustrates the principle of which I have spoken to you, of the union
of elementary souls in the human body. One day I visited this world,
and found myself in the midst of an Orionic landscape. I beheld a
being standing there like a plant ten metres high, without leaves or
flowers. He consisted in fact of a cylindrical stalk, the uppermost
part of which separated into many branches like those of a chandelier.
The central stem, as well as those of the branches, measured about a
third of a metre in diameter. The tops of the stalk and of the branches
were crowned with a diadem of silver fringe. Suddenly I saw this being
agitate his branches and then vanish. The fact is that in this world
individuals, although quite well, fall to pieces literally in an
instant.
[Sidenote: Death by disintegration.]
The molecules of which they are constituted fall altogether to the
ground. The personal existence of the individual comes to an end. His
molecules separate and are dispersed.
QUÆRENS. They disintegrate, and the atoms fly apart, like truants from
school.
LUMEN. Just so. I can recollect this disintegration of the body often
took place in their lives. Sometimes it was the result of contrariety,
sometimes of fatigue, and in other cases of a want of organic accord
between the different parts. They exist in their entirety actual
and complete, then suddenly they are reduced into the most simple
elementary form. The cerebral molecule, which constitutes each one in
reality, feels itself descending in consequence of the fall of its
sister molecules of the long branches, and it arrives at the surface
of the ground solitary and independent.
QUÆRENS. This mode of dissolution would sometimes be a very convenient
proceeding here below. To get out of an embarrassing situation, for
example a conjugal scene _à la_ Molière, or a bad quarter of an hour
such as Rabelais describes, or a mournful situation such as the
scaffold for an execution, one would only have to let loose one's
constituent atoms, and--bid good-bye to the company....
* * * * *
[Sidenote: Animated molecules.]
LUMEN. You seem to regard the matter as a joke, but I assure you it is
an undoubted reality. It would exist on the Earth as well as on the
planet of Orion, if the principle of authority were not so firmly fixed
with you. There it is only in an elementary form. Your body is formed
of animated molecules.
According to one of your most eminent physiologists, your spinal marrow
is a series of centres, linked together independently, and yet under
control. The essential constituents of your blood, of your flesh, and
of your bones, are in a like case. They are provinces self-governed,
but subject to a superior authority. The working of this superior
authority is a condition of human life--a condition which is less
exclusive amongst the inferior animals. Each ring of the worm called
lombric is a complete worm, so that a lombric represents a series of
similar beings constituting a veritable living cooperative society. Cut
into rings, the worm would be so many independent individuals.
In the tape-worm, a solitary worm, the head is of more importance
than the rest of the body, and possesses the faculty of reproducing
the rest of the body after it has been cut off. The leech is another
example of united individuals. Cut it into five or six rings, and the
operation gives you as many leeches. Thus also, a cutting of a branch
of a tree will grow. In like manner a crab's claw or a lizard's tail
will be reproduced. In reality the vertebrate animals, such as man, are
essentially composite in structure. The spinal marrow, and its highest
expansion in the brain, consist of segments placed in juxtaposition,
with nervous centres, each of which possesses an elementary soul.
[Sidenote: Power of the personal soul.]
The law of authority in action on the Earth, has determined in the
animal series a preponderating direction. You are composed of a
multitude of beings grouped together, and dominated by the plastic
attraction of your personal soul, which from the centre of your being
has formed your body from the embryo, and has united round itself, in
a microcosm, a whole world of beings, who have not any consciousness of
their individuality.
QUÆRENS. On the planet of Orion nature itself is then in a state of
absolute Republicanism.
LUMEN. Republicanism governed by _law_.
QUÆRENS. But when a being finds itself thus disintegrated, how can he
afterwards reconstitute himself as a whole?
LUMEN. By an act of the will, and often without the least effort, and
even by a casual desire. Although separated from the cerebral molecule,
the corporeal molecules are still intimately connected with one
another. At a given moment they combine, and each takes its place. The
directing molecule draws the other from a distance, as the loadstone
attracts iron filings.
QUÆRENS. I can easily picture to myself the spectacle of this
Lilliputian army, when summoned by a whistle, drawing to its centre
to organise a reunion; all the little soldiers climbing one over the
other, and in a moment taking their places to reconstruct the man-taper
that you have described to me. One really ought to leave the Earth to
behold such rare wonders!
LUMEN. You still judge of universal nature by the atom that you have
before your eyes, and you are only qualified to comprehend the facts
which are within the sphere of your observations. But I assure you the
Earth is not the type of the universe.
[Sidenote: Various forms of life.]
This world of θ Orionis, with its seven revolving Suns,
is peopled by an organic system analogous to that which I have just
described to you.
I lived there 2400 years ago, and I can see myself there again in
accordance with the time that light occupied in coming from that point
in space to Capella. When there, I was acquainted with the spirit who
in this century was incarnated on the Earth and published his studies
under the name of Allan Kardec.
We did not recollect that we had known one another before, during
our terrestrial life, but we often felt attracted to one another by
peculiar intellectual sympathies. Now that he has returned, like
myself, into the world of spirits, he also remembers the singular
republic of Orion and can see it. Yes, this is very curious, but it is
quite true. You have no idea, on your poor planet, of the unimaginable
diversity which separates the worlds in their geological, as much as in
their physiological organisations.
[Sidenote: Sense of sight in spirits.]
These conversations may serve to throw light on your knowledge of
this general truth, so important in the conception of the universe.
But the scientific service that these conversations can specially
render you is in making you understand that light is the mode of
transmission of universal history. With the powerful visual faculty
which we enjoy here, we can distinguish the surface of distant worlds.
The eye of our "perisprit" is not identical with the bodily eye. In
the terrestrial sight the rays diverge, so that a very small object,
placed quite near the eye fills the interval of the two rays, whilst
at a greater distance, a larger object is necessary to fill the space,
proportionately increased, which separates the same rays. In our eye,
on the contrary, the visual rays enter in parallel lines, so that we
see each object in its real proportions, and in its normal size, its
apparent size being quite unaffected by distance. We do not see the
whole of large objects, but only sections of them proportioned to the
openings of our special retina, but these parts are seen by us with
equal clearness at any distance (when there is no atmosphere to veil
this distance).
A tree in a prairie on a celestial body, as far as Theta of Orion
is from Capella, is perfectly visible to us. On the other hand, in
accordance with the law of the successive transmission of the rays of
light, all the events in nature, and the history of all the worlds, are
depicted in space as a universal tableau, the most true and the most
magnificent in all nature.
[Sidenote: Infinite diversity in Sirius.]
As these conversations will have shown you, I have traversed a great
many different celestial countries, and have actually studied creation
without fixing myself in any place. I hope in the course of the next
century to be reincarnated on a world dependent on the train of Sinus.
The humanity there is more beautiful than that of the Earth. Birth is
effected by means of an organic system less ridiculous and less brutal
than that of the Earth.
But the most remarkable characteristic of the life on this world is,
that there men perceive the physico-chemical operations which take
place for the maintenance of the body. From each molecule of the body,
so to speak, proceeds a nerve which transmits to the brain the various
impressions that it receives, so that the soul absolutely knows its
body, and rules over it as a sovereign.
[Sidenote: Vegetable life in Aldebaran.]
There is an immense variety amongst the worlds. On one of the
planets of the system of Aldebaran, very curious from this point
of view, the vegetables are all composed of a substance analogous
to _the loadstone_, because silica and magnesia predominate in its
constitution. The animals feed on this substance only. Most of the
beings inhabiting this world are _incombustible_.
Upon the world of which I speak night is illumined by phosphorescent
lights. I have visited other worlds where night does not exist at
all, where day and night do not succeed each other as upon the Earth,
because every portion of their spheres is continuously supplied with
light by several suns, which never leave them in darkness for an
instant. There sleep is unnecessary, either for man, for animals, or
for plants.
Upon your planet sleep consumes a third portion of your life, its
primary cause being the rotation of the earth on its axis, which
produces day and night in succession, on the various parts of the globe.
Upon these worlds where it is always day, the inhabitants never sleep,
and it would greatly surprise them to learn, that there exists a
humanity where a third of life is passed in a lethargy resembling death.
[Sidenote: Phosphoric light]
Not far from this, a world revolves where night is almost unknown,
although it does not possess a nocturnal sun, as in the quadrilateral
of Orion, and it has no satellites. The rocks of its mountains, being
of a chemical composition that reminds one of the phosphates and the
sulphates of barytes, store up the solar light received during the
day; and during the night they radiate a sweet, calm, translucent
light, which illumines the scenery with a tranquil nocturnal clearness.
There, also, one sees curious trees, bearing flowers which shine in the
evening like fire-flies. These resemble horse-chestnuts, but the snowy
flowers are luminous.
Phosphorus enters largely into the composition of this curious and
singular world. Its atmosphere is constantly electrical; its animals
are luminous, as well as its plants, and its humanity partakes of the
same nature.
[Sidenote: The passions phosphorescent.]
The temperature is very high, and the inhabitants have not much need to
invent clothes. Now, it happens that certain passions are manifested
by the illumination of part of the body. This is, on a large scale,
what takes place on a small scale in your terrestrial meadows, where
one sees in the sweet summer evenings the glow-worms silently consumed
in an amorous flame. In the fire-flies of the north, that you see
in France, the male is winged and is not luminous; the female, on
the contrary, is luminous, but does not possess the aerial faculty.
In Italy the two sexes are winged, and both can become luminous. The
humanity which I am describing to you has all the advantages of this
latter type.
Certain forms of terrestrial life are to be met with among the sidereal
humanities. Thus we find in some of them, the same thing that takes
place on the Earth in the ant world, where, on the day of their aerial
unions, all the males die of exhaustion; and again in the world of
bees, where the procreators are pitilessly sacrificed; and amongst
spiders, where they are devoured by their companions unless they can
immediately escape. We find reproduced the habits of a great number
of insects, which never see their offspring, and lay their eggs in
surroundings in which the newly-born will find their first food.
The human body on this Earth owes its form and its state of being to
the atmospheric environment, and to the conditions of density, of
weight, and of nutrition, by means of which terrestrial evolution
operates.
The human being proceeds from the fusion of a microscopic masculine
corpuscle with a minute feminine ovule. This fusion gives birth to a
little cell which is transformed into the embryo, in which gradually
appear the heart, the head, the limbs, and the different organs. The
nervous system of this embryo may be compared to rays of delicate
threads, proceeding from a central point which will become the brain.
Under the influence of the Solar light and of the vibrations of the
air, one of these nerves is developed at its extremity, and forms the
eye. This is undefined at first, and almost blind in an elementary
state, like the eyes of the trilobites and of the fishes of the
Silurian period, but it develops into the admirable eyes of birds, of
the vertebræ, and of man. The senses of smell and taste proceed from
the nerves in the same way. These last two senses, with that of touch,
are the most primitive, the earliest, and the most necessary to life.
There are but two of the senses which place man in communication with
the outer world--sight and hearing,--but the eye is the sole organ
which puts us in communication with the whole universe.
Millions of these little nerve-threads proceed from the brain, through
the body, without producing any other than the five senses, unless we
except certain sensations of touch, which are intimate and personal,
and which have even been described as a sixth sense. You shall hear.
Now there is no reason why that which has taken place and been arrested
on our little planet, should take place and be arrested in the same
fashion elsewhere.
In proof of this I must tell you that I visited, not long since, two
worlds on which human beings have two senses of which we have not any
idea on our Earth.
One of these senses may be described as electrical. One of the
little nerve-threads of which I have just told you is developed into
a multitude of ramifications which form a sort of cornet. These,
under the scalpel and the microscope, appear to be tubes placed in
juxtaposition, the outer extremity of which receives the electric fluid
and transmits it to the brain, much as our optic nerves receive the
waves of light, and our auditory nerves receive the undulations of
sound.
The beings provided with this sense perceive the electrical condition
of bodies, of material things, of plants and flowers, of animals, of
the atmosphere, and of clouds. To these beings this electric sense is
a source of knowledge which is wholly forbidden to us. Their organic
sensations are all different from yours. Their eyes are not constructed
like yours; they do not see what you see; they see what you do not see.
They are conscious only of the invisible violet rays. But their mode of
existence differs from yours, especially through their electric sense.
The electric constitution of their world is the cause of the existence
and of the development of this sense.
Another sense with which I was still more struck, and which was of
quite a different character, I found on a second world. This was the
sense of orientation. Another of the nerve-threads proceeding from the
brain produced a species of winged ear, very light, by means of which
the living being perceives his direct bearings. He is conscious of the
points of the compass, and turns to the north or the south, the east or
the west, instinctively.
The atmosphere is full of emanations which you never perceive. This
singular sense orients the possessors of it infallibly. It enables them
also to discover things concealed in the interior of the Sun, and gives
them an insight into some of Nature's secrets which are absolutely
hidden from you.
I would thus demonstrate to you that in the vast domains of creation
an infinite variety exists, and that eternity will be inexhaustibly
occupied in gathering and partaking of its flowers and of its fruits.
There are worlds where old age is unknown--where lovers are consumed in
a delirious fantasy, transported by the intoxication of the body, and
careless of the morrow. The active sex never survive these nuptials;
the passive sex, oviparous, having secured the perpetuity of the
species, sleep their last sleep. Those celestial worlds, where one
never grows old, are not without their advantages.
[Sidenote: Life too long]
[Sidenote: A world without war.]
Worlds exist in which the vital movements, respiration, assimilation,
the organic periods, day and night, the seasons and the years, are all
of extreme length. Although the nervous system of the human inhabitants
is highly developed, and thought has a prodigious activity, life there
appears to be of an endless length. Those who die of old age have
lived more than a thousand of these years, but they are so rare that
the memory of a few only have been preserved in the historical records
of this humanity. War between the nations has never been invented,
because there is only one race, one people, one language. The natural
constitutions of these organisms are remarkable. Diseases are almost
unknown; there are no doctors. As a result of this great mental
activity, the length of life becomes a perspective without end, and
before long becomes a burden. Hence suicide is almost universal. This
custom has been habitual from very ancient times. The few old men who
from any special motive have not put an end to their lives, are looked
upon as exceptional beings, originals, and more or less eccentric.
Suicide is the general law.
But, my dear friend, it is impossible for me to describe to you all the
curiosities of the universe. Let it suffice that I have raised the veil
sufficiently, to give you a glimpse of the incommensurable diversity
that exists, in the animated productions of all the various systems
disseminated through space.
[Sidenote: Infinite diversity]