In Search of the Miraculous

"That is something people always ask," he said. "Whatever they may be speaking about, they ask: Ought it to be like that and how can it be changed, that is, what ought

to be done in such a case? As though it were possible to change anything, as though it

were possible to do anything. You at least ought to have realized by now how naive

such questions are. Cosmic forces have created this state of affairs and cosmic forces

control this state of affairs. And you ask: Can it be left like that or should it be

changed! God himself could change nothing. Do you remember what was said about

the forty-eight laws? They cannot be changed, but liberation from a considerable

portion of them is possible, that is to say, there is a possibility of changing the state of affairs for oneself, it is possible to escape from the general law. You should understand that in this case as well as in all others the general law cannot be changed. But one can change one's own position in relation to this law;

one can escape from the general law. The more so since in this law about which I

speak, that is, in the power of sex over people, are included many different

possibilities. It includes the chief form of slavery and it is also the chief possibility of liberation. This is what you must understand.

" 'New birth,' of which we have spoken before, depends as much upon sex energy as

do physical birth and the propagation of species.

"'Hydrogen' si 12 is the 'hydrogen' which represents the final product of the

transformation of food in the human organism. This is the matter with which sex

works and which sex manufactures. It is 'seed' or 'fruit.'

" 'Hydrogen' si 12 can pass into do of the next octave with the help of an 'additional shock.' But this 'shock' can be of a dual nature and different octaves can begin, one

outside the organism which has produced si, and the other in the organism itself. The

union of male and female si 12 and all that accompanies it constitutes the 'shock' of the first kind and the new octave begun with its help develops independently as a new

organism or a new life.

"This is the normal and natural way to use the energy of si 12. But in the same

organism there is a further possibility. And this is the possibility of creating a new life within the actual organism, in which the si 12 has been manufactured, without the

union of the two principles, the male and the female. A new octave then develops

within the organism, not outside it This is the birth of the 'astral body.' You must

understand that the 'astral body' is born of the same material, of the same matter, as the physical body, only the process is different. The whole of the physical body, all its

cells, are, so to speak, permeated by emanations of the matter si 12. And when they

have become sufficiently saturated the matter si 12 begins to crystallize. The

crystallization of this matter constitutes the formation of the 'astral body.'

"The transition of matter si 12 into emanations and the gradual saturation of the

whole organism by it is what alchemy calls 'transmutation' or transformation. It is

first this transformation of the physical body into the astral that alchemy called the

transformation of the 'coarse' into the 'fine' or the transformation of base metals into

gold.

"Completed transmutation, that is to say, the formation of the 'astral body,' is

possible only in a healthy, normally functioning organism. In a sick, or a perverted, or

a crippled organism, no transmutation is possible."

"Is complete sexual abstinence necessary for transmutation and is sexual

abstinence, in general, useful for work on oneself?" we asked him.

"Here there is not one but a number of questions," said G. "In the first place sexual abstinence is necessary for transmutation only in certain cases, that is, for certain

types of people. For others it is not at all necessary. And with yet others it comes by

itself when transmutation begins. I will explain this more clearly. For certain types a

long and complete sexual abstinence is necessary for transmutation to begin; this means in other words that without a long and complete sexual abstinence transmutation will not begin. But once it has begun abstinence is no longer necessary. In other cases, that is, with other types, transmutation can begin in a normal sexual life—and

on the contrary, can begin sooner and proceed better with a very great outward

expenditure of sex energy. In the third case the beginning of transmutation does not

require abstinence, but, having begun, transmutation takes the whole of sexual energy

and puts an end to normal sexual life or the outward expenditure of sex energy.

"Then the other question—'Is sexual abstinence useful for the work or not?'

"It is useful if there is abstinence in all centers. If there is abstinence in one center and full liberty of imagination in the others, then there could be nothing worse. And

still more, abstinence can be useful if a man knows what to do with the energy which