In Search of the Miraculous

elements are higher 'hydrogens.' These higher 'hydrogens' are present in every small

particle of air 'we inhale. By inhaling air we introduce these higher 'hydrogens' into

ourselves, but if our organism does not know how to extract them out of the particles

of air, and retain them, they are exhaled back into the air. If the organism is able to

extract and retain them, they remain in it. In this way we all breathe the same air but

we extract different substances from it. Some extract more, others less.

"In order to extract more, it is necessary to have in our organism a certain quantity of corresponding fine substances. Then the fine substances contained in the organism

act like a magnet on the fine substances contained in the inhaled air. We come again to the old alchemical law: 'In order to make gold, it is first of all necessary to have a

certain quantity of real gold.' 'If no gold whatever is possessed, there is no means

whatever of making it.'

"The whole of alchemy is nothing but an allegorical description of the human

factory and its work of transforming base metals (coarse substances) into precious

ones (fine substances).

"We have followed the development of two octaves. The third octave, that is, the

octave of impressions, begins through a conscious effort. Do 48 passes to re 24; re 24

passes to mi 12. At this point the development of the octave comes to a stop. (See Fig.

38.)

"Now if we examine the result of the development of these three octaves, we shall

see that the first octave has reached si 12, the second la 6, and the third mi 12. Thus the first and third octaves stop at notes which are unable to pass to the following notes.

"For the two octaves to develop further, a second conscious shock is needed at a certain point in the machine, a new conscious effort is necessary which will enable the

two octaves to continue their development. The nature of this effort demands special

study. From the point of view of the general work of the machine it can be said in

general that this effort is connected with the emotional life, that it is a special kind of influence over one's emotions. But what this kind of influence really is, and how it has

to be produced, can be explained only in connection with a general description of the

work of the human factory or the human machine.

"The practice of not expressing unpleasant emotions, of not 'identifying,' of not

'considering inwardly,' is the preparation for the second effort.

"If we now take the work of the human factory as a whole, we shall be able to see

at the moments when the production of fine substances is arrested by what means we

can increase the productivity of the factory. We see that, under ordinary conditions

and working with one mechanical 'shock' the factory produces a very small quantity

of the fine substances, in fact only si 12. Working with one mechanical and one

conscious 'shock' the factory now produces a much greater quantity of the fine

substances. Working with two conscious 'shocks' the factory will produce a quantity

of the fine substances such as, in the course of time, will completely change the

character of the factory itself.

"The three-story factory represents the universe in miniature and is constructed

according to the same laws and on the same plan as the whole universe.

"In order to understand the analogy between man, the human organism, and the

universe, let us take the world as we did before in the form of three octaves from the

Absolute to the sun, from the sun to the earth, and from the earth to the moon. Each of

these three octaves lacks a semitone between fa and mi and in each octave the place of

this missing semitone is taken by a certain kind of 'shock' which is created artificially at the given point. If we now begin to look for an analogy between the three-story

factory and the three octaves of the universe, we ought to realize that the three

'additional shocks' in the three octaves of the universe correspond to the three kinds of food entering the human organism. The 'shock' in the lower octave corresponds to

physical food; this 'shock' is do 768 of the cosmic three-story factory. The 'shock' in

the middle octave corresponds to air. It is do 192 of the cosmic factory. The 'shock' in

the upper octave corresponds to impressions; it is do 48 of the cosmic factory. In the

inner work of this cosmic three-story factory all three kinds of food undergo the same

transformation as in the human factory, on the same plan and in accordance with the

same laws. A further study of the analogy between man and the universe is possible

only after an exact study of the human machine and after the respective 'places' of

each of the 'hydrogens' in our organism has been established exactly. This means that

to proceed with any further study we must find the exact purpose of each 'hydrogen,'

that is to say, each 'hydrogen' must be defined chemically, psychologically,

physiologically, and anatomically, in other words, its functions, its place in the human