In Search of the Miraculous

matter we do not speak of chemical elements. The special chemistry of which I speak

looks upon every substance having a separate function, even the most complex, as an

element. In this way only is it possible to study the cosmic properties of matter,

because all complex compounds have their own cosmic purpose and significance.

From this point of view an atom of a given substance is

the smallest amount of the given substance which retains all its chemical, physical,

and cosmic properties. Consequently the size of the 'atom' of different substances is

not the same. And in some cases an 'atom' may be a particle even visible to the naked

eye.

"The four aspects or states of every substance have definite names.

"When a substance is the conductor of the first or the active force, it is called

'carbon,' and, like the carbon of chemistry, it is designated by the letter C.

"When a substance is the conductor of the second or the passive force, it is called

'oxygen,' and, like the oxygen of chemistry, it is designated by the letter 0.

"When a substance is the conductor of the third or neutralizing force, it is called

'nitrogen,' and, like the nitrogen of chemistry, it is designated by the letter N.

"When a substance is taken without relation to the force manifesting itself through

it, it is called 'hydrogen,' and, like the hydrogen of chemistry, it is designated by the letter H.

"The active, the passive, and the neutralizing forces are designated by the figures 1, 2, 3, and the substances by the letters C, 0, N, and H. These designations must be

understood."

"Do these four elements correspond to the old four alchemical elements, fire, air,

water, earth?" asked one of us.

"Yes, they do correspond," said G., "but we will use these. You will understand why afterwards."

What I heard interested me very much for it connected G.'s system with the system

of the Tarot, which had seemed to me at one time to be a possible key to hidden

knowledge. Moreover it showed me a relation of three to four which was new to me and which I had not been able to understand from the Tarot. The Tarot is definitely

constructed upon the law of four principles. Until now G. had spoken only of the law of three principles. But now I saw how three passed into four and understood the necessity for this division so long as the division of force and matter exists for our immediate observation. "Three" referred to force and "four" referred to matter. Of course, the further meaning of this was still obscure for me, but even the little that G.

said promised a great deal for the future.

In addition I was very interested in the names of the elements: "carbon," "oxygen,"

"nitrogen," and "hydrogen." I must here remark that although G. had definitely promised to explain precisely why these names were taken and not others, he never

did so. Later on I shall return once again to these names. Attempts to establish the

origin of these names explained to me a great deal concerning the whole of G.'s

system as well as its history.

At one of the meetings, to which a fairly large number of new people had been

invited who had not heard G. before, he was asked the question:

"Is man immortal or not?"

"I shall try to answer this question," said G., "but I warn you that this cannot be done fully enough with the material to be found in ordinary knowledge and in

ordinary language.

"You ask whether man is immortal or not.

"I shall answer. Both yes and no.

"This question has many different sides to it. First of all what does immortal mean?

Are you speaking of absolute immortality or do you admit different degrees? If for

instance after the death of the body something remains which lives for some time

preserving its consciousness, can this be called immortality or not? Or let us put it this way: how long a period of such existence is necessary for it to be called immortality?

Then does this question include the possibility of a different 'immortality* for

different people? And there are still many other different questions. I am saying this

only in order to show how vague they are and how easily such words as 'immortality'

can lead to illusion. In actual fact nothing is immortal, even God is mortal. But there is a great difference between man and God, and, of course. God is mortal in a different

way to man. It would be much better if for the word 'immortality' we substitute the

words 'existence after death.' Then I will answer that man has the possibility of existence after death. But possibility is one thing and the realization of the possibility is quite a different thing.

"Let us now try to see what this possibility depends upon and what its realization

means."

Then G, repeated briefly all that had been said before about the structure of man

and the world. He drew the diagram of the ray of creation and the diagram of the four

bodies of man [see Figs. 1, 3]. But in relation to the bodies of man he introduced a