In Search of the Miraculous

35.5; 'hydrogen' 96 corresponds to Bromine, Br., atomic weight 80; and 'hydrogen'

192 corresponds to Iodine, I., atomic weight 127. The atomic weights of these

elements stand almost in the ratio of an octave to one another, in other words, the

atomic weight of one of them is almost twice as much as the atomic weight of

another. The slight inexactitude, that is, the incomplete

octave relationship, is brought about by the fact that ordinary chemistry does not take

into consideration all the properties of a substance, namely, it does not take into

consideration 'cosmic properties.' The chemistry of which we speak here studies matter

on a different basis from ordinary chemistry and takes into consideration not only the

chemical and physical, but also the psychic and cosmic properties of matter.

"This chemistry or alchemy regards matter first of all from the point of view of its functions which determine its place in the universe and its relations to other matters

and then from the point of view of its relation to man and to man's functions. By an

atom of a substance is meant a certain small quantity of the given substance that

retains all its chemical, cosmic, and psychic properties, because, in addition to its

cosmic properties, every substance also possesses psychic properties, that is, a certain

degree of intelligence. The concept 'atom' may therefore refer not only to elements,

but also to all compound matters possessing definite functions in the universe or in the

life of man. There can be an atom of water, an atom of air (that is, atmospheric air

suitable for man's breathing), an atom of bread, an atom of meat, and so on. An atom

of water will in this case be one-tenth of one-tenth of a cubic millimeter of water

taken at a certain temperature by a special thermometer. This will be a tiny drop of

water which under certain conditions can be seen with the naked eye.

"This atom is the smallest quantity of water that retains all the properties of water.

On further division some of these properties disappear, that is to say, it will not be

water but something approaching the gaseous state of water, steam, which does not

differ chemically in any way from water in a liquid state but possesses different

functions and therefore different cosmic and psychic properties.

"The 'table of hydrogens' makes it possible to examine all substances making up

man's organism from the point of view of their relation to different planes of the

universe. And as every function of man is a result of the action of definite substances,

and as each substance is connected with a definite plane in the universe, this fact

enables us to establish the relation between man's functions and the planes of the

universe."

I ought to say at this point that the "three octaves of radiations" and the "table of hydrogens" derived from them were a stumbling block to us for a long time. The

fundamental and the most essential principle of the transition of the triads and the

structure of matter I understood only later, and I will speak of it in its proper place.

In my exposition of G.'s lectures in general, I am trying to observe a chronological

order, although this is not always possible as some things were repeated very many

times and entered, in one form or another, into almost all lectures.

Upon me personally the "table of hydrogens" produced a very strong impression

which, later on, was to become still stronger. I felt in this "ladder reaching from earth to heaven" something very like the sensations of the world which came to me several

years before during my strange experiments when I felt so strongly the connectedness,

the wholeness, and the "mathematicalness" of everything in the world.1 This lecture, with different variations, was repeated many times, that is, either in connection with the explanation of the "ray of creation" or in connection with the explanation of the law of octaves. But in spite of the strange sensation it gave to me I was far from giving it its proper value the first times I heard it. And above all, I did not understand at once that these ideas are much more difficult to assimilate and are much deeper in their content

than they appeared from their simple exposition.

I have preserved in my memory one episode. It happened at one of the repetitions of

this lecture on the structure of matter in connection with the mechanics of the universe.

The lecture was read by P., a young engineer belonging to G.'s Moscow pupils, whom I

have mentioned.

I arrived when the lecture had already begun. Hearing familiar words I decided that

I had already heard this lecture and therefore, sitting down in a comer of the large

drawing room, I smoked and thought of something else. G. was there too.

"Why did you not listen to the lecture?" he asked me after it was over.

"But I have already heard it," I said. G. shook his head reproachfully. And quite honestly I did not understand what he expected from me, why I ought to listen for a

second time to the same lecture.