Part 1. The Five Causes of Disease.^[1]

IT is an eternal truth, which was also recognised and proclaimed by Gautama Buddha, that all suffering is caused by ignorance (avidyā); which means, by our non-recognition and non-realization of our own higher and spiritual nature. All the great world religions teach, and the “Secret Doctrine” explains, that aboriginal, paradisiacal man before his descent into matter and long before his arrival upon this globe was an ethereal, spiritual being, not subject to disease or suffering. He desired “to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” that is to say, he wanted to know by experience the laws of material nature, so as to become their master and employ them for his own benefit, and therefore his descent took place and he assumed himself a material body. Thus we become subject to the laws of material nature, the same as all other beings incarnated in an animal form; but in our innermost essence we are still spiritual and if we would realise our true spiritual state, overcome the resistance of our material forms, and have them spiritualized and penetrated by our spiritual power, our physical bodies would no longer be subject to disharmony, disease and suffering. Pure spirit does not suffer; but now, as we have a physical organism, composed of different principles and elements, and liable to be affected by disease, we have to seek in the elements of its composition the causes of its disharmonies.

          These elements in their original state are all invisible. Substance of whatever kind consists of vibrating forces, which become perceptible to our physical senses only when they swing at a certain rate, or in other words, when that substance enters into a certain state of density, in which it becomes for us visible and tangible “matter.” Physical science deals with such materialized visible forms; metaphysical science with the invisible substance from which these forms originate and with the natural laws which govern these states. All visible products of nature have an invisible origin; we see only the vehicles in which the forces of nature act; but not the forces themselves. We see the acorn out of which an oak tree grows, but not the organizing power which causes the acorn to select its nutriment and become an oak. A medical science which is ignorant of the invisible elements from which man’s visible body grows, and ignorant of the organizing power which governs the formation of the elements into a harmonious whole can know only a very small portion of the causes of the diseases which affect the human body, and is almost helpless when called to cure any other troubles except such as arise from obstructions or other purely mechanical causes. The link which connects the spirit and soul with the visible body is the “astral,” or ethereal body of man. It is this body to which the research of the scientist and physician of the future ought to be directed above all, for the purpose of detecting the invisible causes of visible phenomena.

          There is only one spirit and one substance, but a great variety of gradations and forms. Man is made up of a scale of such gradations, from the lowest state of matter rising upwards towards the highest spiritual state. The higher states of substance penetrate the lower ones; spirit penetrates thought, thought penetrates the ether, ether penetrates the air, air penetrates water, water the earth. The higher or more refined elements in man’s constitution penetrate into the lower ones, seek to transform them and to raise them up to a higher state. The divine power within the sanctuary in the heart of man sends out a ray called intuition and thereby guides and elevates his intellect; his intellectual power protects and guides his psychic states and emotions, and these again with the co-operation of will and the instrumentality of the ethereal body guide the functions of the physical body, be they voluntary or involuntary. Each scale of forces may be regarded as being positive to the next lower one, and negative to the next higher one. If the lower ones would offer no great resistance to the influence of the higher ones the progress towards health, happiness, spiritualization and perfection, would be easier.

          Each of the principles or elements in the constitution of man has its own origin and belongs to its own region, from whence is was bom and to which it will return at the end of its journey; but as long as they are connected with each other, an interaction and correlation of forces takes place, from which a great variety of states may arise.

          Theophrastus Paracelsus, the great reformer of the science of medicine, recognised and taught five original causes of disease. They are as follows:

1. 1. 1. Astral conditions. (Pre-natal and such as exist during life).
      2. Impurities and poisons. (Physical, physical, and intellectual).
      3. Inherited diseases. (Physical, moral, and mental).
      4. Spiritual influences. (Hypnotism, suggestion, telepathy, witchcraft, etc.).
      5. The law of divine justice. (Karma, or as Paracelsus calls it, “the will of God,”; i. e., the result of causes created in previous existences).

          We now propose to examine in a short way these separate causes.

I. Astral Causes.

          This subject will not be fully understood, unless we know the laws of reincarnation. Metaphysical science teaches that the astral elements composing the astral body of man are combined and formed before the physical body is formed; in fact the former is the ethereal prototype of the latter, the physical body the visible image of the invisible ethereal form. These elements, going to form the astral body of anything, be it a mineral, a plant, an animal, a human being, or a whole planet, cannot come from anything else but from the same elements existing in the universal storehouse of nature, and as the whole universe consists of a collection of celestial bodies or stars (astra) and their ethereal emanations and influences, of which the suns and stars and planets are the visible, materialized centres; everything that exists in nature is necessarily built up of these astral influences. Thus, for instance, our visible sun is such a star and visible centre of power, whose heat and light, electricity, magnetism, etc., give life to everything and builds up all forms on our globe.

          The influences represented by the visible Moon and emanating from her are also known, owing to the observation of the action of the moon’s rays upon the earth, sea, plants, and animals. Less known, because less prominent are the other forces represented by the visible planets of our solar system. Nevertheless they have a great influence upon the formation of our astral body and this is proved by the fact that every good astrologer can predict from the horoscope of a person, by what diseases, and at what periods of his life, that person is liable to be affected; or he may by observing the character and state of health of a person know under what planetary influence the same was bom. Everything, even our physical bodies, are built up of such influences, which may be called “spiritual”; but pure spirit cannot act directly upon gross matter, it needs an ethereal medium for that purpose, and this constitutes the astral bodies of things. Not the planet Jupiter, visible in the sky, but the “Jupiter” in the constitution of man makes him powerful; the power called “Mars,” which his soul has breathed from the spiritual atmosphere of our globe makes him daring and strong; Venus in him makes him affectionate; Mercury intelligent; etc. These “planets” are the external representatives of universal spiritual powers, called by those names.

          Not only is everybody subject to the astral influences ruling before and at the time of the birth of his physical body, but all his life long he is more or less dependent on planetary influences of various kinds. His body is affected by heat and cold, sunshine and rain, by the state of the atmosphere, electrical and magnetic currents, miasms and infections, states of the earth and water, psychic surroundings, mental and moral influences, etc., etc. Each principal power and element in the organism of man, is intimately correlated with its corresponding principle power or element in the universe, in which he is bom and whose product he is. Thus the ancient philosophers were right in saying, that man, according to his divine nature, is a son of the gods, his soul is a child of the stars, and his physical body formed of the physical elements of this Earth.

II. Impurities and Poisons.

          Everything is pure, when free of any foreign admixture; if so, there exists in it no cause for disharmony. If two or more things are united in harmony, that union is also pure. Purity produces harmony, impurity disharmony, and disharmony is disease. Everything that hinders the establishment of harmony or causes disharmony is a cause of disease. We may regard everything in nature, from a stone up to a thought, as a compound of vibrations, representing a note in the grand musical scale of nature. Some tunes produce an harmonious accord, others a disharmony. The law of harmony is the law of nature; all evolution and progress strive to produce harmony, and the higher by its contact with the lower is to raise the latter up to its own level. All things are relatively good and also relatively bad. That which is conducive to man’s higher evolution is good for him; that which prevents his progress or causes him to sink lower, is evil for him.

          Owing to man’s organism being a compound of many elements and being subject to receive different influences, impurities of various kinds may enter his system, causing disease. Many impure states are caused by improper food; but the most dangerous poisons are Alcohol, Morphine, Cocaine and similar poisons, as well as the endless number of so-called “nervous tonics,” all of which have a paralyzing effect upon the vital currents which form the link between the astral body and the brain, causing a partial exteriorization of the astral body, which ultimately result in degeneration of the substance of the brain or in any of the various forms of insanity, obsession, etc.

          But not only the physical body is subject to the detrimental action of impure matter, microbes, and other things: the world’s psychic and mental atmosphere is also full of impurities, poisoning the soul and mind of mankind, producing all sorts of states of immorality, perverted thoughts and opinions, such as may even throw whole nations into war and bloodshed, especially if the impure thoughts take possession of crowned heads or other influential persons. An unlawful desire or an erroneous thought or prejudice may be compared to a physical obstruction in the body, preventing a free circulation. The presence of such impure thoughts prevents the perfect action of reason, and hinders the light of truth to enter the mind. There is no remedy against such obstructions except their removal, and this can be done only by the light of knowledge, a remedy which such patients are often unwilling to take.

          Occult science, aided and corroborated by clairvoyance, teaches that the bad states of men’s minds poison the spiritual ether surrounding our globe, and this state of the ether again influences men’s minds. Thoughts are not airy nothings, but substantial, although the stuff of which they are made is invisible to our physical eyes. There are thoughts which lift the mind upwards and others that rest upon the soul as heavy as lead. Like attracts like and any psychic germ, any immoral aspiration or prejudice in the mind, may attract corresponding elements from the psychic region or the mental plane and open the door for deleterious influence, causing even epidemics of moral or mental diseases.

          Perhaps the most widespreading injurious effects are caused by the psychic and mental quackery of our times. Stuffing the minds with all sorts of dogmas and theories which constitute only a burden for memory, goes to paralyze the self-thinking faculties of the brain and hinder the self-perception of truth. Still more detrimental and quick in action are the now fashionable experiments with hypnotism, spiritism, and so-called Yoga practices, made for the purposes of obtaining occult powers. They poison the soul, injure the mind, ruin the astral body, cause diseases of the physical organs, produce weakness of will and character, cause mediumship, obsession, moral and intellectual insanity, and not rarely suicide. Beware of such quacks.

III. Inheritance.

          There are three modes of inheriting. The soul of the newborn child inherits from the preceding incarnation the qualities which it has acquired in former existences; the physical body inherits certain qualities from its parents; and finally people inherit during their lives things from others with which they are in some way connected.

          Everyone, when he enters this world, brings with him certain talents and inclinations which often greatly differ from those of his parents or grandparents, and the conclusion lies near that he must have acquired them in some previous incarnation, and even if these qualities resemble those of his parents, it is no proof of his having inherited them from the same; the probability is that a similarity of aspirations attracted his spirit to that family where his talents could be developed, no other action of the law of Karma directing it otherwise. But with the physical body it is somewhat different. Spiritually every one is his own father or the son of his “father in heaven”; the physical body is the house that was built for the spirit to dwell therein; and of this the parents are the builders. The material of which that body is built comes from their substance and consequently diseased states may be transmitted to the child. In this way syphilis, scrofula, cancer, tuberculosis, etc., may be inherited. If the parents were of feeble health the child’s constitution may be weak; if they were drunkards, the child’s brain may be diseased and the result be a congenital idiot.

          Mental and moral diseases point to a more distant origin. The children of great scientists or speculative philosophers are frequently very stupid and narrow-minded, while on the other hand people of high moral standing often have their “black sheep” in the family. Children are often bom with criminal tendencies or moral perversities whose origin cannot be traced to any other cause except acquisitions made in a previous incarnation, or impressions received during the foetal state.

          Man’s nature however is a whole and in his Microcosm the whole of the Macrocosm is represented. Therefore everybody has within himself all the seeds of good and of evil; difference exists only in the degree of their development. Some seeds may be as dormant as the seed of a wheat, which was found in an Egyptian mummy and made to germinate after some thousand years, others may have germinated in a previous incarnation, others be developed, bearing flowers and fruits. It is a generally observable law that like attracts like. Therefore the presence of the wise acts beneficially upon those who are inclined to wisdom, and the present example and conduct of the foolish or wicked may easily produce fools or knaves. In this way moral diseases (drunkenness, profligacy, etc.) or intellectual diseases (orthodoxy, superstition, intolerance, insanity, etc.) may be transmitted from parents to child, or developed by a false education; but these inheritances belong rather to the chapter of psychic impurities engrafted upon the mind.

          In all cases of congenital inheritance the cause of the disease will be found in the astral body; because the physical body is the ultimate expression of the condition of the astral, and therefore inherited diseases may remain latent for years before they become manifested in the physical form. Generally speaking, all contagious diseases have their origin on the super-sensual plane, although when once developed they may be engrafted upon another body or transmitted by contact. Disease is caused by a state of disharmony among the fever molecules of the ethereal body. Syphilis for instance is not caused by the carnal intercourse of two persons in harmony with each other, but by a promiscuous intercourse of one with many it may be generated even if each of these persons was not afflicted with any disease. If modern science wishes to know the real cause of diseases, it will have to look somewhat deeper than to the external shell and to study the nature of the astral body and the laws which govern it.

IV. Spiritual Causes.

          Paracelsus says: “The wisdom of the civilization of one century will often be laughed at by the generation of the next, and things which appear absurd and foolish to-day may be admired to-morrow as the apex of all human science.” His saying has proved true; a science which is based only upon external appearances continually changes its dress. Hypnotism, Suggestion, Telepathy, Mediumship, Obsession, the powers of will and imagination, etc., were all known 300 years ago, and perhaps better known than now, although they were called by other names. These powers were laughed at by the scientists of the last century and are ignored or ridiculed even now by many of the representatives of modern learning; nevertheless the majority of thinking people have their attention called to it and regard them as something new. Even one of the most prominent German university professors of psychology (Professor Wundt of Leipzig) says in his handbook of psychology: “The theory that there is a soul (psyche), is, as a hypothesis for the study of psychology, not to be entirely rejected.”

          At the present day it seems hardly necessary to proclaim on the public market the doctrine of the soul and its hidden powers; on the contrary, it seems that it would be better if less had been said, for everything that can be used can also be misused. The practice of dealing with spooks is widely spreading, mediumship, hysteria, insanity, crime and suicide are on the increase, schools which claim to teach, for a money consideration, how celestial powers may be acquired are springing up like mushrooms after a rainy night, and there are thousands of persons greedy to obtain such powers for the purpose of employing them for low or devilish purposes. It seems as if a new era of witchcraft and sorcery were near at hand and the whole world turning into an insane asylum in which few only are able to retain their true self-consciousness.

          Leo Tolstoy rightly says that our present generation does not deserve to possess the great inventions of which we are so proud, such as gunpowder, dynamite, electric batteries, etc., as they are only used for their mutual destruction in war, and fighting their petty quarrels. Now if these forces of nature are already misused to such an extent as to deprive many thousands of soldiers of their physical life in one battle, how much more dangerous will be the knowledge which teaches how to develop and employ spiritual powers, which if universally known, will undoubtedly be universally misused for the destruction of souls. The psychic plague and immorality spreading to-day and the disappearance of true religious sentiment (not to be confounded with religious credulity) are the forerunners of a period of black magic and its terrors, which may call for the destruction of the civilized world.

          We know that thoughts are substantial and that they receive living force through the influence of the will and intelligence. A mature thought made alive by the will causes a corresponding substantial thought-form to come into existence, endowed with the intelligence of its creator. Good thoughts will produce beautiful, and devilish thoughts horrid, forms; which are guided by the will of the one whose products they are. Thus we may send a blessing or a curse to another in the shape of an angel or of a devil, and the more a person is weak of mind or “mediumistic” and unaccustomed to use self-control, the easier will he be influenced and possessed and become a victim of such influences. Our jails, penitentiaries and insane asylums are full of such victims, while so-called spiritism and a pseudo-occultism are hard at work to increase the number of such unfortunates. There are perhaps many more bodily diseases caused by deranged minds and consequently disordered brains than such as are caused by purely physical conditions.

          Of course, divine man has the right to investigate all the laws of nature, be they occult or non-occult; but for the purpose of obtaining these prerogatives, in regard to divine powers, he ought to become divine himself. At the present time, when selfishness is everywhere on the increase the world’s atmosphere is filled with the creations of evil, and those who call them to their aid will work their own destruction.

V. The Law of Karma.

          The law of Karma, or retribution, is the law of divine justice, the law of exact correspondence and harmony between cause and effect. Paracelsus calls it “the Will of God” and rightly so; for the will of God is the law which rules the order in the universe and it is not an artificial law made by any “law-maker”; the will of God is not anything separate from God; God, being the highest state of everything, the highest wisdom, the highest justice, the highest love, etc., is also himself the highest law of harmony in the universe, whose power is manifest everywhere in nature, provided it is not resisted.

          This law acts upon all planes, in the intellectual and moral kingdom as well as in the physical world. According to it everything returns to the source from which it is born. As sure as a stone thrown up in the air falls back upon the ground, equally certain the consequence of an act, be it good or evil, falls back upon the one who caused it.

          Man’s descent into matter was easy, his ascent towards spiritualization is difficult and consists of a school of many classes and grades. In each incarnation he gathers experience and suffers or enjoys the consequences of his acts; his errors and sins are the steps which guide him to wisdom. There are many diseases which are of purely Karmic origin; that is to say, caused by errors committed in previous incarnations, and they are incurable as long as the effects of such causes last; but when the evil Karma which thus has been created has become exhausted, the disease will disappear or the right remedy will be found.

          It ought not to be supposed, that these five causes of disease stand separate, or that this or that disease is produced by only one of such causes; in fact they all co-operate together, although one or the other of these causes may be prominently active. Thus, for instance, a man may be bom an idiot, owing to his father having generated him while in a state of intoxication; but the son’s own evil Karma, created in a previous incarnation was the cause that attracted him to the family of a drunkard to become reincarnated therein. The workings of Karma are as intricate as the thoughts and motives and actions of man are complicated, and it is impossible to trace every consequence to its source; neither is this necessary and may even be injurious; because we ought to avoid doing evil not for fear of the punishment which it will bring, but we ought to do good because it is wise to do good, and we ought to abandon evil because it is wise to abandon it. Gautama Buddha says: “To purify the heart, to avoid doing evil, and to strive for goodness, this is the religion of the Enlightened”; and the Bible says: “Seek ye above all the Kingdom of God, and all the rest will be given to you.” The Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of eternal truth. The self-realisation of truth is divine wisdom, or what is called “Theosophy,” in the true sense of the word.

Note:

^[1] Metaphysical Science in Medicine. Part 1. The Five Causes of Disease. Dr. Franz Hartmann. The Word 1, no. 5 (February 1905), 197-208. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

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Part 2. The Constitution of “Matter.”^[1]

THERE is no doubt that since the time of Theophrastus Paracelsus great progress has been made in some of the branches of science upon which the art of treating disease is based, such for instance as chemistry, anatomy, physiology, etc., while on the other hand a great deal of useful knowledge was lost during that period in modem history, when a blind materialism and all-denying skepticism took the place of intuition and the spirit of rationalism suppressed all spirituality; for it is certain that Theophrastus Paracelsus knew a great deal more about certain secrets of nature than is now known to the average college educated physician of our times, and this is proven by his astonishing cures of leprosy and other diseases deemed incurable at present. It is also certain that the ancient sages and priests among the Indians and Egyptians knew all and perhaps more than ourselves about hypnotism, mesmerism, magnetism, the power of faith, of prayer, of thought-transference, suggestion, etc., only these arts were then in the possession of the Initiates of the temples, who guarded them well to prevent their misuse, and if we now behold how these holy arts are misused, since they have fallen into unholy hands, how they are used by the ignorant with detrimental effects upon themselves and others, and by the selfish for the purpose of swindling, cheating and robbing others, and how all this leads to physical and moral destruction and spiritual death for all, the conscious or unconscious criminals themselves included, we seem to have cause to regret, that these sciences did not remain “occult” and the exclusive property of those who were worthy to possess them.

          However, it is the same with all arts and sciences. Every power which may be used for a good purpose may also be used for an evil one. Tolstoi says that if we contemplate the bad uses which are made by the nations of gunpowder, dynamite, electricity, steam-power, etc., for their mutual destruction, it would seem that these discoveries and inventions came prematurely and before mankind was worthy to receive them. Now if our present civilization is not yet capable to put these physical powers to a proper and legitimate use, is it then desirable that the general public should learn to know and to use magical powers, and why should those who are initiated in occult science be desirous to teach and convert doubters and scoffers and such as are not yet ripe to receive such knowledge and who would only use occult powers to their own injury and that of others?

          However, the steps which have been made in this direction cannot be retraced. There are some who have so to say peeped through the keyhole of the door of the sanctuary of wisdom and obtained a glance at the truth, and they now prostitute this sacred knowledge for the purpose of obtaining dollars and cents, and others driven on by vainglory and ambition parade what little they know before the public for the purpose of gaining the admiration of children and fools. Thus a great deal of error is sown, which will bear evil fruits. The proverb says: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.’’ It will therefore be better, instead of passing this subject over in silence, to see upon what foundation “occult science” stands, and whether or not it can be called “exact?”

          The key to the understanding of occult science is the knowledge of the constitution of man in his physical, metaphysical, psychic and spiritual aspects, and the correspondence in the visible and invisible worlds, which he inhabits. But can such a science be called “exact?”

          There is a great deal of prating about what is now-a-days called “exact science”; but nothing is said about the development and qualifications of the investigator necessary to make his science exact and to practically apply it. It is usually supposed that only that science is exact, which can be proved to be true by physical observation and experiment. But even for that purpose certain qualifications are required. To a person with sound eyes the existence of the sun is a matter of exact science, while to a blind person it is a matter of belief on hearsay or conjecture and consequently a superstition. What may be exact science to a mathematician may be mere fancy to one incapable to prove its truth. Thus the exact science of one is not that of another and many things which used to be considered exact in the past and were generally accepted, were afterward found to be inexact or totally false. Even physical science changes its views and Paracelsus truly says: that what may be regarded as the apex of all science in one century may be rejected as foolish in the next, and what now is regarded as a superstition will perhaps in the future be held up as the greatest achievement of wisdom.

          We do not recognize any other science as being “exact,” except that which results from true observation, experience and correct understanding; but these faculties are not applicable solely to objects on the physical plane. We can for instance grasp and observe experience and understand a moral truth without having recourse to our physical senses, and a mathematical truth may be plain to our intellectual perception without the aid of our physical eyes; while to an idiot they are unattainable. Thus the greatest truths, however plain they may be for some persons, will be “occult” or hidden for others, and this is especially true in regard to such matters as can only be known and understood by one’s own introspection and selfexamination. The best way to study the powers of the soul is to develop these powers within oneself and to examine them carefully; the observation of phenomena produced by the psychic powers of others will always leave room for doubt in regard to the causes by which they are produced, as the history of spiritism and witchcraft shows.

          True occult science has for its origin real occult wisdom. Wisdom is the self-realisation of truth. We really know only that which we realise by becoming conscious not only of its presence, but of its real nature. For instance, nobody needs to accept it or take it for granted that the doctrine about the seven principles in the constitution of man is true; provided he has the power to examine himself. He will then find that he has neither more nor less than these seven. They are, as is known to every reader of theosophical literature, the physical body, the life principle, the “astral” or dream-body, the body of desire, the mind, the spiritual soul and the universal spirit. These principles or elements may be called by other names in other schools; but they all amount to the same.

          Now every sane person will, if he examines himself, surely and infallibly know that he has a physical body, neither will he dispute his possession of a power that enables him to live. If he studies his own dream life, he will become convinced that he has a body which enables him to live and act in his dreams. If he is not already a saint, he will find within himself a lower region wherein reside instincts and passions, and a higher region in which his power to think and argue enters into action. If he can rise higher, or, what is the same, enter deeper within himself he will find a region in which the truth may be directly or intuitively perceived, where he is in touch with the infinite; to say nothing about that highest and innermost state of consciousness in which man realises the presence of his own divine Self, the universal Spirit of God.

          The knowledge of these principles, states or powers and the realisation of their existence and action within oneself, in connection with their correspondences in universal nature, is the key to the exact understanding of occult science. We say that these correspondences must be known, and that they exist is self-evident; because the principles in the constitution of man are not created by him out of nothing; they are the manifestations of identical universal powers and are nourished by them. In the same sense as the physical body of man is nourished by the physical elements of our planet; likewise his other principles have their corresponding origin; his life originates from and is nourished by the power which comes from the sun, his lower instincts are fed by the astral plane; his intellect grows by assimilating ideas, his soul is nourished by the spirit of truth. These principles or powers are not non-entities, they are substantial and can be perceived. We feel the rush of the life-force through our veins just as certain as the heat of the sun’s rays upon our skin and the emotion caused to the soul by the touch of elevating and inspiring higher influences is not less realised than the motion of a muscle when coming in contact with a current of electricity. Everything is substantial and comes to our consciousness by means of its motion. What we call forces are modes of motion and they are distinguished from each other by their intensity, volume and velocity of vibration. A wave of etheric force of a certain length becomes manifested as “light”; the same wave of another length represents “electricity,” another “heat,” etc.

          Every plane of existence requires for its perception corresponding faculties and powers. The senses belonging to one plane of existence cannot perceive things which belong to a higher plane. An astral form might surpass in density any physical material object; still it would neither be seen by the physical eye, nor its contact be felt by the physical sense of touch. We have physical organs of sense for the perception of the phenomena of the physical plane and the powers of the soul to perceive that which belongs to the soul. We have intellectual organs to grasp, analyse and combine ideas, and in some persons are unfolded spiritual organs, by which they may grasp and understand that which is spiritual and divine. The spiritual perception belongs to a higher plane than that of the intellect; it is as much higher as the intellect is above animal instinct, and even an intellectually highly developed person may for all that be without spiritual power. In that case all that belongs to the divine kingdom in man will have no existence for him or it will be, to him, hidden or “occult.”

          Therefore, the apostle Paul in his letters to the Corinthians writes to those who are “reborn of the spirit,” that is to say, to those whose organs of spiritual perception and understanding have been developed and their inner senses opened: “The wisdom of which we speak is not the wisdom of this world, nor of the great ones that perish; but the occult wisdom of God.” In the Greek original of the Bible this “occult wisdom” is called Theosophia. “The great ones that perish” are those scientists and philosophers who move merely in the realm of phenomena, whose knowledge is based only upon external observation of the phenomena of this world of illusion, upon speculation and information, book-learning, etc., and who may be highly intellectual and learned, but have not the power of spiritually realising the divine ideal within themselves.

          The basis and foundation of all true occult wisdom is the realisation of this divine ideal, one’s own personal God and real immortal Self. This kind of self-knowledge enables man to know all the spheres of his existence and he finds that his whole organism is composed of a scale of vibrations of something which we call “substance,” beginning from the lowest grade which manifests itself as what is called “matter,” to the highest state, called “spirit.” But spirit, force, and matter, are not three separate things essentially different from each other; they are only three manifestations of one eternal, unchangeable, self-existent nameless One, whose power has been called the “Logos,” “Iswara [Īśvara],” or “Word,” which means the organising principle in nature.

          Already the ancient sages knew, what modem philosophers are beginning to suspect, that all things in nature are constituted of one primordial substance in vibration, which they called prima materia. The different grades of vibrations produce different manifestations and phenomena on the different planes of existence. Thus we have vibrations of thought substance, emotional (psychic) vibrations, atomic vibrations, etc., and from the higher is produced the lower, while within the lower the higher can be reborn and become manifest. Thus for instance what is known upon the higher planes as a triple manifestation of Love, Light, and Intelligence, becomes manifest upon the lower plane as magnetism (attraction), heat, and electricity. There is only one fundamental power, but there are many modes of its manifestation; or as the Bible says: “There is only one (universal) God, but many powers.”

          The eternal essence remains, but its aspects change. Thus if we regard ourselves from a philosophical point of view, our nature represents many different aspects, and each of these a different state of matter, or, what is the same, a different mode of vibration, and such is also the case with every other product of nature, be it an animal, a plant or a stone.

          Looked at from a mechanical point of view, our organism is a piece of machinery set into motion by some internally acting power which we call “life”; but whose first origin we cannot know, unless we know the origin of all things, the “Self” of everything, called “God.”

          Superficially regarded this organism appears to be of a solid material nature, grown from the elements of the earth. Chemically considered it is made of water and we are really materialised water-spirits; for our muscular system contains a very large percentage of water. We are also spirits of air; for our body is principally composed of three gases, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and also of carbon, which in its combination with oxygen forms also a gas. Besides these gases we possess only a comparatively insignificant portion of earthly matter composing our bones. We may also say we are ethereal beings, made of “fire” or force; for each of the molecules composing our body is a storehouse of energy; “matter” is only bound up energy or latent “force,” and what we call “force” is a manifestation of the energy of matter.

          Thus even the physical body of man has its different aspects which may be demonstrated according to the rules of “exact” science; but the body is not the man, it is only the house in which man resides during his earthly career. Man individually considered is the embodiment and representation of an idea, and in his highest aspect he is a spiritual being inhabiting a form of flesh, an incarnation of the divine Word, endowed with an organization which enables him to become self-conscious of his divine nature.

          Let us now consider him in his aspect as the embodiment of an idea, to speak more correctly, as the representation of a sum of ideas, of which each may become manifested as a certain kind of vibrations of thought. There are low ideas and high ones, there are gross and vulgar as well as refined and exalted vibrations of thought, and according to their nature is the character of a person and his position as a man in the universe either high or low. The state of his consciousness depends on the quality of these vibrations, and from this state depends the quality of his soul powers; such as impressibility, perceptive faculty, aspiration and inspiration, intuition, will power, etc., etc. There are vibrations of thought so grossly material and heavy that they cannot rise above the most sensual plane, and others so high and spiritual that they rise to the uppermost strata of the ether of space and are only grasped by highly refined minds.

          Man is said to be a thinker. He could not think without having ideas. His very essence are the ideas which he has assimilated and made his own. They constitute his character and his knowledge. The thoughts by which his ideas become manifest come and go; his ideas remain, and out of their substance arise new forms of thought. And not only man, but every product of nature is the representation of an idea and the embodiment of certain vibrations of thought, so that if we were in full possession of that spiritual power by which these vibrations of thought can be changed, we would be able to produce changes within the forms representing such thoughts. Where man, the thinker, ends, there man, the god, begins; higher and more potent than the power of the intellect is the divine power of the spirit. Vibrations of thought reach the brain, but the voice of the spirit penetrates to the very heart into the essence of things.

          To look upon man and upon everything as personifications of certain vibrations of thought, representing certain ideas, renders easy the understanding of many teachings of occult science, which are often erroneously taught and misunderstood. For instance, the doctrine of reincarnation, if examined in this light, offers no difficulties for our understanding, because it appears then only as the action of one universal law. Everywhere in nature we see that forms or “personalities” perish, and that the ideas which they represented appear in new-born forms. Personal man is the embodiment of a thought of his divine creator, his spiritual Self; the idea remains, but the vehicle for its embodiment disappears and is rebuilt again. Not only man becomes reincarnated; the character of everything remains impressed in the universal storehouse of nature and becomes again expressed in visible forms. “There is truly nothing new under the sun”; the same types reappear not only in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, but also in the history of mankind and in that of nations as a whole.

          In the lower kingdoms there are the types of classes and divisions ; but if a human being has once developed an individual character of his own he possesses a set of vibrations differing from any other of a similar kind, and this individual type naturally by way of necessity requires successive and repeated re-expressions in matter, as without that no individual evolution or progress of that particular type would be possible.

          Likewise the phenomena of telepathy, transmission of thought, mental healing, faith cure, hypnotism, apparitions, “materialisations” and so-called spirit-phenomena of various kinds appear less mysterious if we recognize the law of vibration. Man being an embodiment of ideas and his thoughts their partial expression, if he sends a thought to a distant person, he sends to him a part of his very self, without getting separated from that part, and if his friend is receptive for that special kind of vibration, his own being in harmony with the same, there appears to be no difficulty in establishing mental telepathy or communication from mind to mind, however great the distance. Something similar takes place in hypnotism, obsession, etc., where the vibrations of a stronger mind overcome those of a weaker one and by changing the plastic substance of the astral body may produce some astounding phenomena.

          Furthermore, if we consider that the highest spiritual vibrations differ from the lower and material ones not in essence but only in degrees, it is not difficult to conceive that by lowering a higher scale of vibrations to a lower standard, so-called “spiritual” or invisible things may be rendered visible and tangible; but of course it cannot be expected that anybody could accomplish this intentionally or at will, unless he were in possession of that spiritual power necessary to control and change these vibrations of thought. The mysteries of occult science will not be fully known, nor can they all be practically applied, unless or until we have become sufficiently spiritualised to have control over matter; first over the vibrations within ourselves and afterward over those in our surroundings. In other words, real wisdom and power are only obtained through perfect self-knowledge, self-possession and self-control.

Note:

^[1] Metaphysical Science in Medicine. Part 2. The Constitution of “Matter.” Dr. Franz Hartmann. The Word 1, no. 8 (May 1905), 341-350. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

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Part 3. The Occult Causes of Insanity and Obsession.^[1]

THERE is perhaps no subject more worthy of investigation and nothing more important for the welfare of mankind than the study of insanity and its causes. In the present state of our civilization the great majority of the people living in overpopulated cities are taxing the powers of their brains to the utmost capacity, not only to obtain the means for a more or less comfortable living, but also for enjoying luxuries which were unknown to our ancestors, and which in the progress of civilization have become apparent necessities. Thousands are suffering from nervous diseases caused by a waste of vitality. The insane asylums are crowded, and if the overworking of the intellect and the starving of the religious feeling within the heart continues at the present rate, it is to be feared that before very long a really mentally sound person will rarely be found and the whole country may be turned into a pandemonium.

          The causes of insanity are but little understood and “medicine,” although pretending to be a science, stands helpless before such facts and must confess its ignorance; for although it may know the structure of the brain, as the instrument of the mind, it knows nothing of the entity which governs the mind and produces the thoughts of the brain.

          The key to all occult and metaphysical knowledge, to the real understanding of the physiological phenomena taking place in the organism of man, is the understanding of the invisible constitution of man. To know only the construction of the physical body, is like knowing only the construction of a harp, but nothing of the musician who is playing that instrument. The superficial reasoner sees only the manifestations of powers within the forms, and he imagines that the forms create these powers. Nevertheless all nature teaches a different lesson. We know that a crystal does not create its own luminosity, but the light of the sun becoming manifested in it renders it luminous; flowers do not create their own colors; but the light of the sun manifests itself as white in the lily and red in the rose. No combination of dead bodies can create life or intelligence, but if a body presents the necessary conditions for receiving the power to live, then life and intelligence may become active and manifested therein.

          The “materialist” looks upon what he calls “matter” as the origin of everything, and thus he confounds the vehicle with its contents; he believes, perhaps, that matter can produce spirit or consciousness without a spiritual source. If so, he believes that something can be created from nothing and that children without fathers are bom. We believe that all things are the manifestation of one universal essence and power, which in its highest condition is called “spirit” and in its lowest “matter,” while that part of it which binds spirit and matter together, is called “force.” Thus we look upon the constitution of man, as well as that of the universe, as a graduated scale of being, made of only one substance, but manifesting itself in a variety of states of consciousness, density, and different vibrations and aspects. The higher penetrates the lower and becomes manifest therein by means of the intermediary links. Spirit penetrates and becomes active within the body by means of that force called “the soul,” which again has its different aspects; from the highest spiritual soul, being the vehicle of wisdom and intelligence, down to the “astral body,” the seat of emotions and desires, to its grossest form, the molecular ethereal body of which the physical body is its ultimate expression.

          We do not believe in an evolution of spirit from matter; but in an evolution of spirit within material organisms. There are two kinds of evolution. First, the evolution of matter through the influence of the spirit, and second, the evolution of spiritual beings by means of their becoming incarnated and reincarnated within the material forms. Nature is the mother, spirit the father. Nature gives birth in all of her kingdoms to material organisms; they evolve from the elemental to the universal, from the vegetable up to the animal kingdom whose highest expression is man, and when these animal human forms have been perfected to such an extent as to attain a higher than the ordinary animal intelligence, and capable to grasp the higher principles of eternal justice, universal love and wisdom, they become fit to serve as tabernacles for reincarnating spiritual intelligences, in the manner taught by the ancient Indian and Egyptian sages; which is also alluded to in the Bible, where it says: “That the sons of the gods (the higher intelligences) saw the daughters of the human race (the human-animal organisms) that they were beautiful; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”^[2] And again it is said by St. Paul: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in You?”

          Thus the universal spirit, the organising principle in nature, is the great architect guiding the evolution of forms. In the human kingdom this divine spirit evolves individualized spiritually self-conscious divine beings. Where humanity can reach no higher, divinity begins. In its evolution the animal needs egotism and personal desires. If it were not to acquire anything by striving for it, it could not grow. The divine being in man evolves by overcoming egotism and personal desires ; the more it identifies itself with the universal, the more it becomes conscious of its own immortal and divine nature.

          A perfectly sane person, therefore, is one who has dwelling within himself a higher spiritual intelligence, to guide him in his thoughts, desires, and actions; and a sound body, to be guided by his spiritual intelligence and to be obedient to it. The great occultist, Theophrastus Paracelsus, calls this higher intelligence “the angel in man,” and the personality with its lower thoughts and desires “the animal in man.” In all great religions the battle between the angel and the animal—which also may turn into a devil—is symbolically represented to teach the way that man, by means of his higher intelligence, may conquer his lower nature, is the highest object of every religious system worthy of that name.

          Insanity, therefore, has two principal causes:

1. 1. 1. The spiritual soul incarnated in man may not be powerful enough to control the actions of the brain. This may be the case when the “angel in man” is crucified within a very gross and material personality full of vulgar thoughts, sensuality and passions; or that the body may be too delicate and deficient in will-power, understanding, and self-control; in which case insanity may take the form of hysteria, phantasy and vagaries of various kinds.
      2. The brain, owing to some physical, moral, or intellectual defect, may be incapable to understand, or to follow the guiding voice of the spirit which speaks in his heart. This is especially the case in idiocy.

          There is, however, a third cause, which perhaps is the most common of all; namely:

1. 1. 3. The brain of man may be under some kind of obsession; either by some being created by his own thoughts and desires, or by some foreign element, such as occurs in mediumship and demoniacal possession.

          The spirit is the master, superintending the actions of the mind; the brain is his laboratory and instrument by which mind substance is formed into thoughts. If the machinery of the brain works without the guidance of the master, disorder is likely to prevail.

          Spirit cannot act directly upon the gross matter of the brain substance; it being too refined. Its vibrations belong to a higher order and it needs for that purpose that less refined element which goes to form what is called the astral body of man. This body is called “astral,” because it is formed of the elements emanating from the “astra” or stars. As a matter of fact even our visible physical body is built up from such influences, for it receives its life from that great astrum, the sun of our solar system. Everything has its astral body, minerals, plants, and animals; nothing could be without it, because the visible body is only the external manifestation of the astral. There is an astral sun behind the visible sun, and an astral brain causes the action of the physical brain. Every organ in our body has its astral counterpart with its astral currents, comparable to the currents of nervous or magnetic forces of our nervous system.

          This invisible body is the seat of the life which causes the physical body to live, and the passing away of the astral body is the death of the physical. By means of the astral body the physical form receives its life through the solar plexus, this being the place for its concentration. The physical body attracts that life power by means of inbreathing, and by out- breathing causes it to be sent to the brain, where it is made to undergo a certain kind of chemical and physical process. From whence it is sent through the cerebellum to the sympathetic nerve and passes through its branches into all parts of the body.

          Thus the brain is so to say the central office from which all orders regulating the life of the different organs are emanating, and it is the seat of the manager who superintends the work. This laboratory is filled with psychic force and energies radiating into it from the region of intelligence. The soul reasons and thinks and transmits to the physical brain the results of her activity by means of the astral sensorium; while the brain, grasping such elements as it is capable of receiving, analyzes and combines them and produces its thoughts.

          The physical body has no life of its own, it lives by a kind of reflected action of the life of the astral form; its life is, so to say, the reflected image of that of the astral body. The soul, being relatively immaterial and spiritual, could not act upon the physical body without the intervention of the astral organism. However, it is not our object in these pages to persuade the sceptic to believe in the existence of his own astral body; it will be sufficient to say that as long as the physical body is in good order, and its connection with the astral body not interrupted or irregular, the astral sensorium transmits its vibrations to the physical brain and serves as an intermediary between that and the mind; while on the other hand in cases where this connection is weakened or the flow of magnetic currents interrupted, as in cases of exteriorization of the astral form, the action of the brain becomes disorderly, and phantasy, vagary, insanity, are either the temporary or permanent result.

          Such an “exteriorization,” or partial separation of the astral from the physical body, occurs when the nervous system of the latter becomes to a certain extent paralyzed or incapable of conducting the flow of the magnetic currents. It takes place in cases of intoxication of any kind, alcohol, opium, hashish, or cocaine, and is the common cause of hysteria. Even in ordinary sleep an exteriorization of the astral body takes place and without it the physical body would not fall asleep.

          The astral body is the true representative of the personality of man; the external physical body is its more or less true image; it has therefore also been called the “double” or duplicate of the astral body, but being of a more plastic nature its aspect is likely to change. It includes what is called by the Indian philosophers the “Kama rupa” or “body of desire,” and as the desires of man are manifold and changeable it can undergo many changes.

          From the intellectual plane ideas penetrate into the astral body of man, creating desires which are communicated to the physical brain, where they are elaborated into thoughts and purposes, ready to be put into action by means of the physical body, which in its turn sends the sensations which it receives from the external world by means of the senses, back to the realm of intellect, where they awaken ideas. Every thought is substantial and every desire a force, called “the will,” this being an activity of life, and as a being constituted of thought and endowed with desire represents an individual entity, the microcosm of man resembles a little world peopled with different kinds of thought-forms. Each thought-germ may grow and become a so-called elemental being, a “fixed idea,” or an all-powerful desire, overcoming reason and forcing the personality even, against the will, to commit foolish actions. In such cases the brain may be completely sound, but the mind has become unhealthy, folly then takes place of reason, and causes insanity.

          The contrary takes place when the mind is sound, though the brain is unable to receive correct impressions, owing to some physical disease or injury received; but it is not our purpose to enter into this department of pathological research. To such cases also belong more especially those of idiocy, either inherited or acquired.

          The mind of man may be compared to a soil in which the greatest variety of seeds are contained, some in an entirely dormant or latent state; others more or less awakened, active and in process of development. These thought-germs not only give color to the character of the personality, but they sometimes constitute, so to say, an assembly of personalities. Thus in every person there is hidden within the depths of his nature a demon as well as an angel; there are in him the saint and the criminal, the sage and the fool; the artist, the preacher, the actor, the soldier and so on ad infinitum; and any of these personalities constitute or may become his alter ego according to his development. These “elementary beings” constitute each a certain state of consciousness. They are nourished and made to grow by the mental influences which they receive from the surrounding mental atmosphere. Like attracts like. Therefore, some generally prevailing idea or superstition acts upon the mind of receptive individuals, like an epidemic disease upon a receptive physical organism, causing a kind of obsession, such as may often be observed when there is some popular religious excitement or during disorders caused by a mob. The most peaceful persons may have their emotions stirred up to the point of insanity during wartime, a coward in the ranks of soldiers may become a hero by the hypnotic influence which takes possession of him during the storming of a fortress; there are few people able to retain under all circumstances their sanity and self-possession; the great majority obey common impulses like dry leaves blown about by the wind. Public opinion is a power as difficult to resist as an earthquake. The most ridiculous opinions and modes are accepted and adopted when they come into fashion.

          In the same way that one may grow to be a thief or a murderer by cultivating the qualities which belong to such characters, one may also grow within himself a divine being, by cultivating and practicing the principles which belong to the divine state. In the one case the personality becomes the personification of an animal passion, in the other a representative of divine virtues; and as each character finds on the astral plane its expression in a corresponding form, the character of human brutes will be expressed in brutish forms, those of the virtuous in beautiful forms. To live up to one’s highest ideals and to retain constant self-possession is the best remedy to prevent moral or emotional insanity.

          Although each human being is a complete microcosm, containing within himself all the potentialities for good and for evil, nevertheless every one brings with him certain tendencies and talents into this world. This consideration raises the question of atavism and heredity in regard to insanity.

          There is no doubt that physical infirmities can be inherited by a child from its parents. Children begotten while the father was in a drunken state often become idiots; inherited syphilis may in time become destructive to the brain; but as the parents of a child do not create its soul we must look for another source of inherited tendencies. This source is to be found in the doctrines of Reincarnation and Karma.

          Observation and history teach that upon the stage of life the same characters are ever reappearing. Plants die in autumn, but the sunshine produces in springtime similar plants from their seeds. Personalities die, but their characters reappear clothed in other human forms, and that which constitutes the seeds from which they grow are the tendencies and qualities which formed the character of the preceding personality. It is not an entity which travels from one body to another as in the case of mediumship or obsession; but the spiritual soul of man, which is the spiritual sun-ray, overshadowing the new personality. The character remains and it is the product of the actions of the preceding personality, or as the Eastern philosophers call it, his Karma; made up of his tendencies, talents, aspirations, etc., acquired in former lives.

          It frequently happens that a child manifests talents and qualities entirely different from his physical parents. This may be taken as a proof that he has inherited them from another parent, namely, from that personality which he represented in a previous incarnation. It is, as Gautama Buddha says, as if one light has been kindled by another. Like attracts like and if, for instance, the son of a musician manifests great talent for music it does not follow that he inherited it from his father, but it may be supposed that his soul was instinctively attracted to the family of that musician for the purpose of developing the talent acquired by him in his previous life.

          In the same way a person having acquired the habit of stealing may be bom in a family of low thieves, even though he has been an emperor in his previous incarnation. In this way it may also be explained why there are born criminals, people born with perverted instincts, or with other tendencies to insanity. Such causes are “occult” and not to be discovered by anatomical or physiological researches; they belong to the realm of the soul, of which even our modern “psychologists” know exceedingly little.

          It is undoubtedly true that in many cases of insanity some defect of the physical brain may be found at the post mortem examination; but they are more frequently the result of a disordered mind than the cause of the same. If, for instance, a person becomes insane in consequence of some religious mania, or on account of trying to produce some new invention, it is not any disorder of the brain that caused His mental disorder, but it may be that his disordered mind caused some lesion of the brain. There are criminals of an insane type, whose brains have been found perfectly healthy after their execution.

          The same may be said in regard to demoniacal obsession, which not unfrequently is the cause of that mysterious disease called “epilepsy”; although this is not expected to be recognized by “official medical science.”

          In the cases above described, we have considered the organism of man as being controlled by the principle of intelligence belonging to him, and this control may be rendered imperfect or failing altogether, owing to some impediment between that guiding power and the physical brain. In the case of demoniacal obsession, which is often manifested in trance-mediumship, the rightful owner of the organism is driven away or overpowered by some foreign astral entity taking possession of the same. Such cases are usually not permanent. During the time of obsession the person seems to be entirely changed into another; but when the spell is over he is in his right senses again. In the middle ages, the practice of witchcraft and demoniacal obsession was of frequent occurrence; but as it was little understood most cases of insanity were mistaken for such practice or obsession, and insane persons were put in chains, tortured and starved in dungeons, or burnt at the stake. Then owing to these exaggerations reaction set in and finally scientists of those times declared the belief in demons and witchcraft to be baseless superstitions and closed their eyes to such facts. In doing so they neither abolished the demons nor the obsessions caused by them. Such cases are even now-a-days much more frequent than the ordinary reader is willing to believe. Among certain classes of spiritualists it is even encouraged and desired.

          What is the nature of these obsessing “spirits?”

          To answer this question we would have to enter into an elaborate investigation of the states after death. For our present purpose it must suffice to say that our researches go to show that these states are very different, according to the state of evolution attained by the persons during life. According to our experiences the great majority of the astral remnants of deceased persons exist on the astral plane in a semi-conscious dreamy state and do not deserve the name of “spirits” after the spiritual principle has departed from them. Such astral beings, bereft of reason and instinctively clinging to terrestrial life may take possession of sensitive persons who have not sufficient self-control. This may take place without any intellectual volition on their part, or even of their being aware of it, some of them are blindly attracted, while there may be others of a more intelligent kind, usually such as have suffered a premature death from suicide or accident, while still filled with earthly passions and desire, may take knowingly possession of mediumistic persons for the gratification of their personal desires. From this class especially arise demoniacal obsessions for the purpose of revenge or some evil purpose; but there are also other entities connected with such occurrences and described in the books of mystics and occultists. To these belong some of the principalities and powers of darkness spoken of in the Bible and certain elemental spirits of nature of which modem science knows nothing and which we will not attempt to describe, referring those who are curious to know something about it to the description given in Bulwer Lytton’s “Zanoni,” for although that book may be regarded as a work of fiction, there is more truth in it than many readers suspect.

          There is also another kind of obsession, produced by the spirits of living persons. It has become very common and is usually called “hypnotism.” In such cases the passive person becomes obsessed by the will and thought and consciousness of the operator. The hypnotized person loses his reason and self-control, and if such experiments are frequently repeated he may permanently become a victim of this foreign influence and a chronic state of dementia be the result. Whether a person has become obsessed by some irregular state of consciousness or an “elemental” created by himself, such as for instance the illusion of greatness, or of being persecuted, or some other product of a morbid imagination, or whether the obsession is produced by some foreign influence, the result will ultimately be the same.

          This leads us a step further to the consideration of “black magic” and sorcery, of which “hypnotism” is the beginning. Mere “suggestion” under ordinary circumstances cannot always be called “magic;” because in such cases the person receiving the suggestion may still have the power to judge whether or not he will accept and follow it; but if the suggestion is made in the hypnotic state, when reason has departed, the case is different. Such interferences with the Karina of a person are highly objectionable. In what is properly called “sorcery,” the astral body of the operator may actually take possession of his victim or direct some other astral being to take possession of it. Forms created by thought and made alive by will-power are as real as any other beings; they become associated with corresponding elements from the astral plane and thus a self-conscious, self-acting, intelligent being may be created and developed for good or for evil. If we send a good thought infused with spiritual power to a person, we send him a helping angel; if we send him a hateful thought permeated with spiritual force, we send him a devil. Fortunately not everybody has that spiritual strength; otherwise, evil tendencies being more common than good will among men, our world would soon be turned into a pandemonium of black magic.

          The emanations of the mind carried through space by the spiritual will are more powerful than the actions of the body. Mental power rules the world and disordered states of mind may not only cause epileptic fits in some individual, but even disturbances within the crust of our planet; nor will this seem incomprehensible to those who have studied the interaction of the forces existing on the different planes of the constitution of our globe. The law of induction acts upon all planes; therefore, mental diseases, states of passion, moral and intellectual insanity, scientific and religious superstitions and opinions, are contagious. It has often been observed that physicians and nurses in insane asylums, if they are not of a very strong and self-possessed mind, become crack-brained or insane themselves. For this reason it is just as detrimental for the health of the patients to crowd insane people together in one asylum, as to put crowds of consumptives into a common hospital; because in both cases a central hearth of disease is created, where each patient suffers from the others and increases the sufferings of the rest.

          Insanity, like all other diseases, is a state of disharmony among the elements of the organism, and may originate from physical, astral, moral, intellectual or spiritual causes. The cure for it, therefore, consists in restoring harmony in the system. If the causes are physical the remedy may be found on the physical plane; if they exist in the mind, the mind should be treated. Among the remedies which act directly upon the mind, the action of music deserves the greatest attention. The vibrations of sound penetrate to the inner nature and well chosen music may help more than any other remedy to tranquilize the mind, to restore harmony, and to drive “evil spirits” away. As far as demoniacal obsession and injury from black magic are concerned the best thing to avoid it is to remain self-possessed and true to one’s own divine nature. The remedies of our modem physicians and the exorcisms of priests will in such cases be of little avail, because the power of “spirits” can only be overcome by spiritual power, and among our academicians and theologians there are at present very few in possession of that spiritual or magic power, necessary to cast out demons; for this power does not belong to the intellect, but to the Christ-principle manifested through man.

Note:

^[1] Metaphysical Science in Medicine. Part 3. The Occult Causes of Insanity and Obsession. Dr. Franz Hartmann. The Word 1, no. 9 (June 1905), 404-417. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

^[2] Genesis vi. 2. The Hebrew word used above to represent “the human race” is the word Adam, which corresponds to the Latin homo, or member of the human race, as distinguished from ish which corresponds to the Latin vir, or individualized, evolved man, or character. The word for “god” is the plural noun Elohim meaning, in Hebrew prose (not in Hebrew poetry and very late Hebrew prose) “majesties,” used of kings as well as of divinities of any kind.

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Part 4. Metaphysics.^[1]

“Philosophy that lean’d on heaven before,

Shrinks to her second cause and is no more;

Physic of metaphysics begs defense

And Metaphysics calls for aid on sense.”—Pope.

THE word meta (beyond) and physics (pertaining to nature) denotes that science which is based upon a knowledge of powers and things which are beyond the grasp of the external senses. Consequently it not only refers only to a knowledge of the powers hidden within the constitution of man, namely, the powers of the soul and spirit, but also to an understanding of the finer vibrations or forces of nature, which constitute the soul of all things, whether animate or inanimate, so-called, and their action each upon the other. There are physical, astral, mental and spiritual vibrations; and there are correlations existing among them. A knowledge of these different states and vibrations, their affinities and correlations are most useful in the cure of diseases.

The whole of our universe, including all living beings, may be compared to a great orchestra filled with innumerable musical instruments, the vibrations which they produce fill the vast space with various sounds, discordant as well as harmonious. Harmony is health; discord, disease; the cure of disease consists in restoring the harmony of a discordant part. And here it may be remarked, that there exists a law of nature according to which the higher and finer vibrations penetrate among similar substances and act upon these correspondingly lower and coarser vibrations and should they be receptive raise them to their level. Thus the higher control the lower; spirit, the soul; soul the mind; mind, the body; as on each of these planes there are different degrees of vibrations; one state of mind may induce changes in another state of mind, one idea displace or change another idea, one emotion of the soul expel or modify other emotions, and the atomic vibrations constituting material bodies again act upon each other in certain ways; not only by chemical affinity or physical action, but also in a metaphysical way; because each atom contains in principle or “potentially” all the principles of which the universe is constituted. Each object is the representation, symbol and manifestation of a thought or idea; consequently, a “state of mind”; each mineral, plant or animal, contains the principle of spirit and soul, life and consciousness, love and attraction.

Metaphysical science, therefore, embraces not only a knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human animal body and its visible material changes in health and disease, but a knowledge of the laws of nature in all her departments; even a certain understanding of the spiritual mysteries and of the state of Divinity in which so-called “magical” powers exist. Such powers are called “supernatural”; not that they exist outside or beyond universal nature, but because they do not belong to the mortal animal nature of man, but to the divine spiritual and immortal part of his constitution; they are latent or dormant in every normally constituted human being and become awakened and active in him when he enters into conscious possession of them by himself becoming spiritual, or by what is called his “spiritual regeneration.”

There are two kinds of knowledge and the metaphysician ought to be in possession of both. There is that external knowledge which may be obtained by the reading of books and by external observation; this includes all the so-called “natural sciences” and philosophical speculations; then there is that higher knowledge which is the product of the spiritual illumination of the mind, owing to the capacity of directly perceiving and realizing the truth. A true metaphysician should be acquainted with the fundamental laws of existence, and if he can draw his knowledge directly from the fountain of the light of truth, so much the better for him; for a man without intuition will make neither a good physician, nor a metaphysician.

There is a region within the mind of man, higher than the speculating and calculating intellect, in which exists the power of directly perceiving the truth. From this region comes the light of intuition, by means of which the personal man may partake of the knowledge belonging to his own higher self. This light comes from his God; it is the light of divine wisdom, the light of truth, as God is the truth and the life. In every human being there exists a spark of that higher life and consciousness, and it may by the power of divine love be blown into a flame and illuminate the intellect. True love is the breath and the life of the spirit and if one perseveringly directs his attention to the higher life of the soul and the realization of the divine ideal, that higher life will dominate the lower, and the ideal which at first seemed so far away will come nearer and finally be realized within one’s self.

Looked at from a grossly materialistic point of view, everything will appear grossly material. No one can be a good metaphysician by employing merely the inferior powers of reasoning. Divine truths cannot be dragged down to the comprehension of the semi-animal intellect; we must become more spiritual ourselves, if we wish to rise to their perception. A knowledge of theories is not sufficient to realize a truth; all self-knowledge comes from .experience and practice. There is a great difference between theoretical knowledge or that acquired from books and practical knowledge attained by experience. For instance, one endowed with common understanding and good memory may learn the contents of books on religion, memorize the catechism, bible stories and learn to preach. He may become a theologian and a versatile talker on holy things, of which he actually knows nothing by experience, and which exist for him only in his imagination; but a real sage or theosophist is one whose soul is illumined by the divine light of truth and who is taught thus by revelations made by the divinity dwelling within the innermost sanctuary of his heart; even if his personality is deficient in book learning and without a college education. Theologians and Doctors of Medicine may be made such by drilling; but real theosophists, metaphysicians and physicians are such “by the divine grace of God”; that is to say, they are what they are, in consequence of being themselves the result of efforts made in the right direction in previous lives.

A knowledge of correct theories however is not only useful and helpful, but in most cases absolutely necessary for the purpose of destroying errors and misconceptions, which are obstacles to the self perception of truth; they act as guide posts, to show us the way which we have to travel to reach the temple of wisdom. The true doctrines have been established by the sages who have travelled on before and arrived at the sanctuary, and these doctrines form the basis upon which all the great religious systems of the world have been built. It is not sufficient that we should learn these doctrines and rest contentedly in the opinion that they are true, but should know that the things they teach are like pictures representing truths and are made to induce us to ourselves look for the real things which these symbols describe. Where our material science comes to its end and can go no further, there religion, if properly understood, often clearly points out the way.

External academical science deals with the external states and appearances of this world of evanescent illusions; it investigates their immediate and perceptible causes and effects, and the transformations and correlations of “matter” and “force”; metaphysical science requires a deeper insight into the nature of things and a closer approach to the supreme cause of all. It teaches that all things, including ourselves, are only temporary manifestations of the one great universal and indivisible supreme cause, which in its essence remains unchangeable and forever the same, while the innumerable forms in which it appears to manifest itself in nature, are continually subject to change, to birth and decay. These forms, whether visible or invisible, grossly material or made up of that finer matter of which thought pictures are made, are constituted of modes of motion of one and the same essential substance, namely, of vibrations in many different degrees of states or density. All things being essentially one are therefore correlated; body and mind, soul and spirit are but different states of that one essence and therefore enabled to control each other. There is only one substance; but it appears in various states and forms. We call it by different names, such as “matter” or “mind,” according to the way it manifests itself to us; or we may call it “Brahma” or “God”; but as it is beyond our intellectual comprehension, we cannot actually know what it is; but we know that it is not separate from ourselves or nature, for we ourselves like all things in nature, are of it. If we call it “Spirit,” we may say that we all are “materialized spirits,” or spirit corporized, or crystallized into forms. We give things different names and imagine an essential difference where there is none.

If we regard ourselves, we find that Man is a unity and we speak of that unity as the “Self”; but we discover that this unity is made of different organisms or selves, contained in one. We have a visible material organism with bones, muscles and nerves, a brain for thinking, eyes for seeing, ears for hearing, limbs to grasp objects; but this body is not the real Ego or Self; it is merely an instrument for our use. We also have a mental constitution or organism made up of mind substance, which enables us to seek and perceive ideas, to grasp them and form them into thoughts and images, to analyze and recombine ideas and to people our aura with the products of our imagination.

But above the realm of physical matter and the region of the intellect there is a still higher state of consciousness, the seat of self-consciousness, where the real Self or Ego resides which controls the workings of the mental organism and has dominion over the actions of the physical body.

What is this real Self, which remains immutable, while matter and mind are subject to continual change? What is this “Lord” within us which power rules our lower selves? “Exact science,” here confused by ignorance, stands as helpless before the investigation of that “I” or “Self” as before the investigation of “God.” Philosophy can only speculate about it, but the Divinity in man only can know its divine self.

If we ask the Christian Bible, “what is this ‘I’ or ‘God’ or universal ‘Self’ this Essence of all things?” we are told that all are made of the “Word,” that the Word is God and was in the beginning with God (John. I. i.). Philosophy explains that the word is the expression of an idea and that ideas have a certain meaning, sense or intention; so that in fact words are the external manifestations of the sense contained in the ideas which these words represent or express. Thus the whole cosmos rep-> resents a trinity in which the intention or will is the “father,” the thought the “son” and nature the visible manifestation of the spirit of both. The three are one and inseparable, for the word is the expression of an idea and the idea is born from a definite will or desire. This is no vague theory; any one may observe within himself how a thought springs from a desire and finally gives rise to an expression in word or deed. This process taking place in the macrocosm, or nature, repeats itself on a minor scale in the microcosm, or man. In the big world as well as in the little world, an idea may be expressed in as many different words as there are different languages. The embodiments change, but the idea remains the same. Forms are appearances; the idea is the real, substantial thing and the “I” or the “self- conscious Self” is eternal and permanent. We, in our bodily aspect, are symbols of the idea or character which we represent, and are formed of “such stuff as dreams are made of,” but of that “stuff” in a lower degree of vibration, as the real Self is the infinite Spirit in us. If we attain self-consciousness of its presence in us, we shall know the things which are “beyond physics” and are “metaphysical.” If the metaphysician attains divine self-consciousness by himself becoming spiritual and divine, he will have the power over all vibrations and states of matter, for his will is the will of the Infinite Spirit made active by his understanding.

According to ancient Indian philosophy the Godhead (Parabrahm) or the Infinite Spirit has two aspects or principles, the passive and the active. In its first aspect God can be conceived of merely as eternal rest, self-conscious bliss, the eternal inactive witness of all that takes place in the world of phenomena, the impersonal spirit of the abode of everlasting bliss; separate from all things but nevertheless the inmost soul of all beings, the home of peace and divine grace, perfect purity and freedom, liberation from evil, beyond the limitations of space, time and causality, unconditioned, void of self conceit and ambition; the source from which all things spring and to which all will return, comparable to the sun in the sky, from which all life and power originate.^[2] In its second aspect, God appears to us as the light of that sun or “divine wisdom,” whose active rays call the world of phenomena into existence, create (draw from the world of ideas) the thought-forms which constitute the visible and invisible worlds and endow them with life and love and their qualities according to the law of their evolution and progress. It is the builder, preserver and transmuter of forms.

In accordance with this doctrine, occult or metaphysical science teaches that the active principle in the universe manifests itself as a trinity of

Love, Light and Life.

These three powers or states are one and identical in their essence; they constitute only a threefold manifestation of the one power that fills the All; they are inseparable; where there is one, there also are the other two, although they may not be equally manifest. We may regard love as the substance of all things; it causes desire and attraction and the union of things that are similar in their nature. It binds together forces, atoms and worlds. We find these three principles represented on all planes of existence. Light on the spiritual plane is intelligence, on the physical plane it is the externally visible light. It is consciousness and as such may be discovered in everything; for the whole of creation is a manifestation of consciousness or “light,” and therefore everything has a certain kind of consciousness, be it as a class or individual. Without a certain kind of consciousness there would be no love and no affinity among chemical substances. There is also life in everything, although not always manifest to our eyes. Wherever there is a form of any kind, there is an appropriate state of life, from a spiritual being down to a mineral. Life is the spirit of everything; even the things which we call the five elements are but the visible manifestations of these invisible forms of life, called the spirits of earth, water, air, fire and ether. Visible objects are made of coarser vibrations, corresponding to higher vibrations of the same kind, of which the astral forms and mental images of these objects consist.

In music we have different octaves consisting of lower and higher vibrations of sound, each sound of the lower scale is in harmony with the corresponding vibrations of the higher one. In a similar way there are different scales of existence or planes and states of consciousness according to which law of harmony certain vibrations are related to act upon and influence each other. This universal law of harmony exists upon all planes. The higher and finer vibrations may act upon the corresponding lower ones and raise them to their level. Spiritual vibrations act upon the mind, mental vibrations upon the emotions, these upon the nervous currents and those upon the physical body. There are endless varieties of vibrations and correlations between them and it is reasonable to suppose that the medical virtues of plants are due to this law of harmony existing between their elements and those of the human organism.

According to the division which we have adopted, there are five main divisions in the scale of existence, namely:

1. 1. 1. The spiritual plane, or region of ideals.
      2. The mental plane or region of thought-forms.
      3. The psychic or astral plane, with its forms of atomic matter.
      4. The ethereal region, where matter is molecular.
      5. The physical world, which is composed of thought-forms clothed in visible matter.

Each of these worlds has its subdivisions and inhabitants and each is as real to those who inhabit them, as our physical world appears real to us; because “existence” is a relative term, and what appears perfectly real to those who belong to this state, will appear unreal and imaginary to those of another state. Man, however, in his physical body has within his constitution all the principles belonging to these different states; by developing these principles into powers, he will be able to know by experience all these states, and even rise to the highest by the power of this indwelling divine spirit. Therefore, the true metaphysician having attained this state of perfection, may not only know all the secrets of nature, but may also employ these highest spiritual and divine powers for the benefit of mankind and the restoration of harmony.

Here, however, it is important to observe, that if a person is in possession of divine or magical powers for the cure of diseases; being endowed with them either by birth or having attained them by development, he ought never to employ them with a view of thereby acquiring a personal benefit for himself, either of money or reputation. These powers belong to the higher self and he ought to consider his personality, not as the real actor, but as an instrument in the hands of his God. If Tom, Dick, or Harry, imagine that they may employ God for the purpose of curing diseases and to further their own petty personal interests, they raise themselves in their self-conceit above God; they worship the devil of self and regard God as their servant instead of serving him. He who attempts to make the will and power of God subservient to his own selfish purposes, travels the road that leads to black magic and eternal perdition.

The true metaphysician does not seek for the gratification of his passions. He has no personal desires to gratify, but realizing within himself the presence of his divine Master, he acts as his servant and is led and instructed by him. Knowing his wisdom and power, he is full of confidence and trusts in him whom he recognizes as his immortal Self, his “father in heaven,” who lives above the region of desires and has nothing to wish for, but gives his divine grace, power and bliss, his love, light and life to all beings according to their capacity to receive it, as determined by their Karma. Spiritual self-knowledge and divine powers are not given to mortals for the gratification of scientific curiosity or ambition and cannot be bought for money; they are attained only through the knowledge of God and by His mercy. Therefore it is taught that we should seek above all the kingdom of heaven (which is within us and everywhere) and that everything else will then be given us. One metaphysician of old used to say: “I desire no other knowledge, no other power, no other love, I have no other joy, ambition or desire, neither in heaven, nor upon the earth, except that which comes from the living Word, which has become flesh in Man.” In saying this, he cannot be accused of excessive modesty; because he who knows that Word, which is God and the Truth, is full of divine wisdom. He who knows the Master partakes of His power; he who knows the Christ crucified in his own personality, joins Him in his resurrection; he who knows the One who is the source of everything, knows, possesses and controls everything by His power and name.

Notes:

^[1] Metaphysical Science in Medicine. Part 4. Metaphysics. Dr. Franz Hartmann, M.D.. The Word 7, no. 5 (August 1908), 295-303. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

^[2] Compare “Bhagavad-Gita” C. xiii.

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Part 5.  The Metaphysical Properties and Curative Powers of Plants
and Other Physical Substances. ^[1]

All curative qualities in medicines, except those which act in a strictly mechanical or chemical manner, are metaphysical; because they call into action the principle or power of life. Life is not the “motion of matter”; it is a power of whose nature we can judge only by observing its manifestations in bodies which it causes to live. Nor is it merely a “series of definite changes”; but it is, as Cowper says, a power which is:

“The Lord of all, himself through all diffused,

Sustains and is the life of all that lives.”

          Powers cannot be seen, though they may be sensed by feeling. Let one advanced in years, who believes that life is merely a mechanical motion of matter, remember how in his vigorous youth he felt the rush of life thrilling through his veins and nerves, giving him strength and energy. Life is an aspect of the will in nature, a higher degree of the will-power, which we call “electricity.” That the sap of a tree rises from its roots to a height of more than a hundred feet in spite of the known laws of atmospheric pressure and hydraulics, is due, not to “capillary attraction” alone, but to the life in that tree. In a dead piece of wood this could not take place. Likewise, a man does not live because his heart beats, but his heart beats because the man lives. A corpse could not be made to live, even though we succeeded in making its heart beat by artificial stimulation.

The action of life in nature may be understood if we realize that life is a spiritual power. There is only one life in the universe; but there are different degrees of its manifestation; life is present in all forms of existence from the atomic to the self- conscious life of a spiritual being. Where there is life, there is love, light and consciousness. Trees would not spread their branches towards the light if they did not love it, and how could they love it if they were unconscious of its presence. It may be said that they are acted upon by the heat of the sunrays, or by their chemical action; but heat is a manifestation of love in nature and chemical action a manifestation of life.

During the period of materialism academical science lost its true spirit, and medical science lost sight of the finer forces in nature. The employment of medicines prepared from fresh plants fell almost entirely into disuse, because their ethereal, life-giving properties were not understood. Poisonous alkaloids were supposed to be their only active principle and were extracted and used because their gross action could not be denied. The physicians of the ancients knew better; they used fresh plants which were gathered at the proper season and hour; but in our modern pharmacies only the dried and lifeless herbs and roots are to be found, which are gathered without regard to the time and prevailing influence. Medicine was practiced on the principle that a sledge hammer was needed for killing a fly, and so the patient frequently came to harm; the reaction came and medical agnosticism, contenting itself with mere observation of the symptoms of the disease, has become the fashion.

Dr. Babbitt, in his “Principles of Light and Color,” was the first in modern times who called attention to the finer forces in medicines. He showed that the active principle of light is the curative power, and his discoveries have to a great degree been amplified by M. Ritter, of Breslau.^[2]

Discoveries such as “Principles of Light and Color,” the Roentgen ray and Radium, have opened a new field of research which is destined to lead medical science into a higher realm. By these discoveries many strange problems have been solved. As, for instance, certain springs whose curative qualities could not be denied, although chemical analysis showed nothing in the waters to which their virtues could be attributed, until the finding of Radium in them explained the matter.^[3]

Previous to this, the door to the kingdom of ether had been opened by homoeopathy. The discoveries of Hahnemann and his followers showed that the finer medical substances are more potent in the cure of diseases than the grosser. A maxim among the physicians of old was that, “corpora non agunt nisi fluida sunt.” (Bodies do not act except in a liquid state.) If so, it is reasonable to suppose that the ethereal parts of medicines act upon the ethereal parts of the body. Metaphysical science teaches that the ethereal body is the seat of life from which the life ethers are communicated to the physical organs. Thus, while gross material or solid substances can have only a physical, mechanical action, homoeopathic remedies, whose ethereal particles have become freed through repeated dilutions, act upon the ethereal currents of life metaphysically.

In every plant or mineral are contained the vibrations of one or more of the seven solar rays of the spectrum. These colors are visible if we examine the ashes of plants or the alkalies and alkaloids obtained from them. The following are a few examples:

          Carbonate of Lime, yellow.

          Calciumsulphide, yellow orange.

          Sulphate of Calcium, reddish yellow.

          Magnesium sulphate, red.

          Soda, yellow.

          Sulphate of Sodium, bluish.

          Chlornatrium, whitish yellow.

          Potassium Sulphate, violet.

          Sodium fluoride, reddish.

          Sulphur, light blue.

          Phosphorous, whitish blue.

          Sulphuret of Iron, whitish yellow.

          Manganese sulphate, intensely green.

          The light and love and life in the universe are represented in every sunray through its luminous, coloric and chemical properties. These are the three energies, of which, ultimately all things consist. We know if we burn coal, we free the solar energy which has been stored therein for thousands of years, and similarly all solid bodies are concentrated energy in condensed form; they are space, matter and motion objectified, storage batteries of energy, vibrations of force made substantial; in their ultimate essence they are love, light and life, or the “three substances” called by the alchemists; Salt, ⊖, Sulphur, 🜍, and Mercury, ☿, and are represented in the old eastern philosophy as the three Gunas, or qualities of universal nature, namely, Tamas, Rajas and Sattva guna. The love element causes desire and attraction; it causes the animal to seek its food and enables the roots of plants to search the soil for nutriment. Consciousness is light and on the lower planes it manifests as instinct; it enables the roots to select from liquids those ingredients which are suitable to the growth of plants and to reject those which are useless. Life is volition, a conscious or instinctive exercise of the will. Love attracts and unites, intelligence chooses and selects; life regulates and builds forms out of the unformed material. If an organ is diseased, the disease is brought on by disharmonious conditions, caused by a disorderly action of the element of love; the cure consists in supplying the organ with the forces necessary to displace the disordered elements and endow it with those needed. If an organ is overexcited we may calm its nervous currents by means of a blue light coming either directly from the sun, or by employing internal remedies in which the principle of that color predominates; if there is a want of energy we may employ stimulating rays of light, or such substances in which upon spectral analysis the red principle predominates. For instance, if there is a disordered action of the liver, the yellow principle may restore order. Blue is the symbol of love, red of life and yellow is the symbol of light or intelligence. Green combines the qualities of yellow and blue; orange, of yellow and red. Thus the different combinations of color have each their special medical virtues.

The entire vegetable kingdom is a storehouse of medicines; the difficulty is to select the proper ones in each case. Perhaps this would not be difficult for an educated and experienced clairvoyant metaphysician; but so long as the medical fraternity has not become spiritually enough developed to possess the clairvoyant powers, it will have to rely on the general observations based upon a system of eclecticism. This system is necessarily fallible because individual cases usually differ, not only as to kind of medicine, but also as to degree of dilution.

The great Paracelsus writes: “I have reflected on the magical powers of the soul and have discovered many of the secrets in nature. I tell you that he only can be a good physician who has attained the magical power of interior perception.” If our physicians possessed it, their books might be burned, their medicines thrown into the ocean, and the world benefited thereby. This magic power of the soul everywhere finds that which is needed and more than will be required. [“]The soul does not regard the physical construction of herbs or roots, but it perceives their powers and virtues.”^[4]

As the Life in the universe is only one and all forms of life its manifestation, it is clear that all the principles contained in the macrocosm are represented in each microcosm. The ancients divided those principles into seven states of the one life, corresponding to the seven principles of the Hindu philosophy; they symbolised them according to the names of the seven “planets” or powers, described in theosophical literature, namely:

Symbol	Planet.	Color.	Musical Scale.	Principles.	Manifestation
5	Jupiter	Orange	sol	Aura	Spirit (Life)
2	Mercury	Blue	mi	Buddhi	Soul (Intelligence)
1	Venus	Yellow	la	Manas (higher)	Mind (love)
4	Saturn	Indigo	fa	Manas (lower)	Intellect
6	Mars	Green	do	Kāma	Desire
f	Moon	Red	si	Liṅga śarīra	Form, or astral body
3	Sun	Violet	re	Prāṇa	Vitality

These seven principles are contained in everything, either in a latent or active condition; either one or the other may predominate. The visible material body is not separately considered; it is no principle, but the external manifestation of those seven principles contained therein. The medical virtue of a certain plant, therefore, consists in the predominance of a certain principle, or set of vibrations therein, such as may be useful to restore the harmony of corresponding vibrations in a diseased organ; the remedy will be most active, if it is in a fluid, ethereal, or spiritualized state, such as may be produced by homoeopathic dilutions, triturations, or magnetic manipulations.The reason why this or that principle predominates in certain plants is because each plant attracts from the universal storehouse of nature such planetary influences as its nature requires. It is therefore reasonable to believe, with the ancients, that the medical virtue of a plant will be more effective, if the plant be gathered according to the rules of astrology, at a certain planetary hour.

Not only plants, but all the organs of the human body are subject to planetary influences and conditions. Every human being is a little sun with its planets moving in their zodiac, 3, is the sun of his life, 5, his power, 2, the lord of his brain, 1, (love) rules his heart, 6, dominates in his blood, f, reigns over his imagination, 4, gives him materiality. It therefore stands to reason that a plant ruled by certain planetary influences will have a stimulating effect if the corresponding vibrations are employed as medicine in the human or animal organism.

The following are a few examples taken from a list of plants divided according to their predominating planetary powers:

3 Aloes, Amber, Balm-tree, Cedar, Calamus, Clover, Resin, Gentian, Heliotrope, Laurel, Lotus, Myrrh, Pepper, Hypericon, Musk, Marjoram, Safron, Sunflower, Cinnamon, Incense, etc.

4 Asphodel, Hen-bane, Cypress, Ivy, Fern, Figtree, Cumin, Helleborine, Poppy, Sweet pine, Snake-weed, Celery, Bue, Weeping willow, Yew-tree, etc.

5 Apple tree, Elecampane, Basil, Betony, Oak, Hemp, Barley, Cherry, Manna, Mulberry tree, Mint, Almond, Lavender, Nutmeg, Bugloss, Poplar, Plumtree, Raisins, Rhubarb, Horsechestnut, Licorice, Grape vine, Sugar.

1 Valerian, Mug-wort, Coriander, Spices, Adiantum, Myrtle, Rose, Sandal-wood, Thyme, White lily, Violets.

2 All plants with short and small leaves and with multicolored flowers, Fumitory, Cinquefoil, Hazelnut, Parsley, Pimpernel, Wallpepper, etc.

3 Daisy, Peony, Cucumber, Elder, Cabbage, Pumpkin, Palm-tree, Olive, Lettuce, Turnips, Hyssop.

6 Nettle, Thistle, Garlic, Plants containing narcotic substances. Horse-radish, Horse-parsley, Plantain, Wolfs-milk, Radish, Spurge-laurel, Belladonna, Aconite, Leek, Mustard, Onion.

Moreover, it may be added that 3 is generally predominant in aromas and balsams, 4 in roots, 5 in fruits, 1 in flowers, 2 in the Bark, f in leaves and 6 in the woody parts.

Theoretical knowledge of these things however will be little use to an ordinary medical practitioner, because metaphysics is a spiritual science and requires a spiritual recognition of the essence of things, which belongs only to those who have thus been endowed from birth or have acquired such powers by becoming more spiritual themselves.

Fortunately, there are at this day a few genuine medical clairvoyants and persons capable of sensing the specific action of this or that plant upon especial nerve currents in their own bodies. The following are a few examples of the neurodynamic action of some of the most important vegetable remedies. They are taken from a not yet published manuscript of one of the greatest authorities in that line.^[5]

Agropyrum repens (Quick grass). The juice acts especially upon the glands and nerves which stimulate the digestive activity of the stomach and bowels. It helps the bladder and kidneys and dissolves gall-stones.

Allium cepa (Garlic) acts upon the motor nerves of the blood-vessels and lymphatics which extend to the bones and tendons. It is especially useful in cases of gout, diseases of the bones and sclerosis of the Aorta.

Anchusa officinalis (Onitongue) acts on the motor nerves of the blood vessels of the lungs. Useful in asthma causing heart-trouble.

Angelica acts upon the nerves of the parotid gland.

Calamus serves to dissolve uric acid salts; useful in chronic gout and rheumatism.

Calendula, special remedy for swellings of the uterus or the prostate gland.

Centaury acts upon the Trigeminus. Very useful if the brain is exhausted from overwork.

Cichorium intobus (Soccory), acts upon the vasomotor nerves of nearly all mucous and serous membranes; inflammation of the brain, spine, etc.

Convallaria. Useful in weakness and paralysis of the heart.

Cucurbita (Pumpkin). Specific remedy against bronchial asthma inflammation of serous membranes and for the reabsorption of exudates.

Herba bursa pastoris acts upon the vasomotor nerves of the arteries and veins. Especially useful in disorders of the circulation.

Lactuca sativa acts upon the nerves of the spinal cord. Useful in tabes dorsalis and epilepsy.

Lappa major. Special remedy against inflammation of the gall-bladder and against gall-stones.

Taraxacum. Special remedy against malaria. It stimulates the activity of the spleen.

Tur silago (Colts-foot) acts upon the nerves of the blood nerves of the bronchial membranes. Useful in tuberculosis of the lungs, catarrh.

Vicia faba acts upon the vasomotor and sensible nerves of the uterus or the prostate gland; cures nervous headache, strengthens the memory.

Viola tricolor acts upon the nerves of the bronchial glands. Special remedy in Catarrh, Emphysema and Tuberculosis of the lungs.

These few extracts from the manuscript go to show that the medical virtues of plants are in the ethereal particles which act upon the life-ethers with which they are in affinity, and so set up vibrations in certain corresponding nerve-currents and organs in the human and animal body. This will take place in a more effective manner, if the remedies are applied diluted or “etherealized,” as in homoeopathy; the action is then not merely physical or mechanical, but is metaphysical, because it involves the active life principle and Consciousness.

All plants and every material body, or atom contain the seven principles; so each plant may exercise, by way of the nervous currents with which these principles come into contact, an ethereal, mental and spiritual influence; not only by being taken internally but also by way of touch, sight, taste and odor, according to the receptivity of the individual. Everybody knows the tranquilizing influence which a walk through the forest has upon a mind suffering from excitement, or the health-giving effect which the sight of beautiful flowers sometimes has upon a depressed mind. The effects of odors upon the mind are also well known, although they vary in different cases. Musk is said to predispose to sensibility and amiability; rose to audacity, avarice and pride; geranium to tenderness; violet to mysticism and piety; benzoin to dreams, poetry and inconstancy; mint and verbena to a taste for the beautiful arts, camphor to stupidity and brutality.

Similar remarks might be made about the metaphysical and spiritual influences of metals and stones, and the corresponding powers which they attract from the ethereal realm. The claims of the ancients regarding these are not based upon fancy and superstition. Such influences are real, even if the majority of people in our age have become too grossly material to be susceptible to such finer forces of nature.

To be Continued.

Notes:

^[1] Metaphysical Science in Medicine. Part 5. The Metaphysical Properties and Curative Powers of Plants and Other Physical Substances. Dr. Franz Hartmann. The Word 8, no. 1 (October 1908), 49-56. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

^[2] “Die Neuro-dynamische-Therapeutik.” Leipzig, 1905.

^[3] Such springs are at Gastein, in Austria.

^[4] Compare F. Hartmann: “The life and doctrines of Paracelsus.” Publishers, Theosophical Pub. Co.

^[5] M. Ritter.

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Part 6. The Word and Its Creative Powers.^[1]

AN old doctrine has it that the powers in the macrocosm, or universal nature, are reproduced in the microcosm, or man. Man is the storehouse of all spiritual, psychical and physical forces; if he but knew the powers hidden within his body, he would be able to protect himself against all ills and cure himself of all diseases. It is therefore of great importance to his welfare, to know these powers and how to use them, and thus gain a true knowledge of self.

There are two ways by which one may attain such knowledge. By studying the laws of nature and observing their result, we may understand the quality of the powers within ourselves, and by examining the principles of which we are composed and developing them, we will understand the creative powers in nature.

The spirit of man is a creator within his own kingdom, just as the universal spirit is a creator within the realm of universal nature; he is himself the life of his body just as the universal spirit is the life of all nature.

Life, according to the teachings of occult science, is identified with sound. Not necessarily sound which may be heard, but spiritual sound, the emanation of which is only a manifestation. The “Secret Doctrine” says: “The Principle of Life emanates from the eternal Absolute One Life in a descending and reascending scale of hierarchic degrees, a true septenary ladder, with Sound, the Logos at the upper end and the inferior Pitris at the lower.”^[2]

There is a magical power in sound, in speech as well as music; we do not fully realize and know how to use it or we could create things in this material visible plane as readily as we create thought forms on the mental and astral planes. The power of sound rests in the efficacy of Mantrams. It is said that “God hears the prayers of the heart.” Why should he not hear them? Is he not the seat and innermost consciousness of the heart and brain?

According to Eastern philosophy, all things in the material universe originate from Sound. “Sound is life; it is the first and only attribute of Akāsha; namely, that spiritual essence and primordial substance which pervades all space, and wherein lies hidden the eternal idea of the universe, of which all things are produced.” Sankaracharya says: “From the Tamas portion of the five Tattvas originate the twenty-five combined elements, which make up the material body (sthūla sharira) of this universe.^[3] The five Tattvas or forms of existence are:

1. 1. 1. Akāska. Space or Sound. (Appeals to the sense of hearing).
      2. Vāyu. Motion. (Appeals to the sense of touch).
      3. Tejas. Expansion. (Appeals to the sense of seeing).
      4. Apas. Concentration. (Appeals to the sense of taste).
      5. Prithivi. Cohesive virtue. (Appeals to the sense of smell).

These five Tattvas are represented by the five vowels of our alphabet; from their combinations, as described in Sankaracharya “Tattva Bodha” are produced the twenty-five elements of our material world, constituting the divine alphabet of nature. All numbers originate from the One and cannot exist without it. According to the great mystic Jacob Boehme, the twenty-five letters of our alphabet spring from the A.

All great religions teach that the universe was called into existence by the power of the Logos, the Word. It is taught, “God said: Let there be Light and there was Light.” This is not supposed to mean that God was a sorcerer or wizard who spoke these words and brought light into existence by some unknown miraculous power, for we are informed by St. John that “The Word” was God and all things were made by him. God was and is the Word; he speaks by expressing himself. His expression is his creation. He is that life in nature which expresses itself in the building of forms, just as man expresses his character by his actions. God in his aspect as the Word is the source and father of all things in the macrocosm and microcosm, as the One is the father and source of all numbers, and the A of the whole alphabet. Subba Row in his “Lectures on the Bhagavad-Gita” says: “The Logos is the one source of energy, wisdom, spiritual enlightenment. All that is great, sublime and noble in this phenomenal world, or even in the other lokas, has its outcome from the Logos and in some way or other is the manifestation of its wisdom and power.” Why then should we seek for the remedies of our ills in external things if we have the greatest of all powers, the light of the Logos, divine Consciousness, within ourselves?

The divine Word is the foundation of the language of nature and all things in nature represent the language in which the Word speaks to us. Each natural thing by its very presence speaks to us, saying: “I Am!” Each is a letter or symbol, expressing the qualities constituting its character; each represents a truth. It is said that we are living in a world of illusions; but nature does not delude us; we do not understand the language of nature; we do not see the truth which those forms represent; we are mistaking the form of the letter for the spirit and are thus deluding ourselves.

Language is thought expressed by acts, be it by speaking, writing or growing. Each living thing is a letter in the book of nature, each a symbol of an expressed truth; each is a vehicle of that life which caused it to exist; each sound an expression of the spiritual power it contains. It is claimed that the five vowels of our alphabet represent the five creative powers in the universe. They are therefore the letters in the “name of God” and in his aspect represented as the creator in the word Jehova; the h in the middle being added to them as a symbol of the divine breath of life.

H

I E O U A

Thus the name Jehova signifies the living All, universal space, in which is acting the law of Karma, creating forms. It represents the “dark-deity,” the kingdom where rules the law of necessity without free will; where the individual is subject to the law of nature, without the power of wisdom.

Each letter in the Hebrew language has a certain numerical value. It is said that if we count together cabalistically the numbers of the letters composing the word Jehova, we obtain the well known mathematical formula expressing the relation of the diameter of a circle to its circumference. Thus we may regard Jehova as infinite space, a circle whose circumference is without limit and whose dark center is everywhere. If we now insert the Hebrew letter shin in the midst of that circle, the aspect changes, because that letter signifies fire and from fire arises light. From the fire of divine love arises the light of divine wisdom. Now the dark world (the field of which and in which we are conscious) becomes lighted up by true knowledge; the name Jehova is transformed into Jehoshua, from which word originates the name “Jesus,” the light and saviour of our inner world; real self-knowledge becomes our redeemer from darkness, ignorance, sin and death; because, if we follow that light, we become our own masters, free of the law of necessity, we can shape our own destiny and attain immortality in that light. Therefore, the advent of that light is the advent of love; for from the love to the Highest arises the recognition of the Highest and the realization of the divine ideal in humanity.

All things are personifications of the powers which they contain and which caused them to grow. “The (dead) letter kills, but the spirit gives life.” A symbol can tell us nothing if we do not recognize the truth which it represents. Each of the vowels has a certain signification, each contains a tremendous spiritual power, whose presence we will become conscious of if we pronounce it correctly. The nature of these powers is indicated in our Latin letters by their shapes.

A (pronounced as in all) has the form of a compass. From one point (the invisible center), the One, springs the duality; darkness and light, good and evil. The A encompasses the All, without limit; it comes from the heart and is the symbol of universal life.

E (as in stem). Its sound produces an inner feeling of uplifting and extension which, as indicated by the shape of the written letter, seems to represent three different planes of life.

I (as in stick) penetrates the heart, like an arrow from above downward. Jacob Boehme says: “It is the center of supreme love.” The pronunciation of the I is an assertion of individuality, self-consciousness, egoism, but to him who recognizes its true spirit, it is a manifestation of the universal Self and the infinite spirit in man.

O (as in God) is expressive of comprehension, encompassment, which also is shown in the formation of the letter. Man filled with the spirit of God is a complete being; without his god he is an empty shell.

U (as in full) indicates the power of the soul to receive the the comprehension (retention), U the outgoing of the holy spirit. Thus the word AOU represents the holy Trinity. ” If we add to it the M vibrating through space, representing the macrocosm, we have the holy syllable, pronounced either O M, A U M, or A O U M, the Trinity, forming with the M the sacred quaternary, the number of Truth.

Such and similar mysteries are difficult to explain and they will be incomprehensible to those who try to grasp them by the mere application of their intellect, without calling to aid the power of intuition, but it is easy to recognize the magic power in sound, as will be conceded by everyone who has experienced the charm of some delightful music, or knows the difference between the singing of a mocking bird and the croaking of a crow.

Voice expresses and indicates character. H. P. Blavatsky says: “No adept has ever been known to have a squeaking voice or a nasal twang.” By means of sounds and words a man may call celestial influences to his aid or attract devils.^[4]

How can the magic power of sound for the production of forms be explained? The answer is, by the law of vibration and the correlation of forces which they produce. We know that in a ray of white light, the seven colors of the solar spectrum are contained. Likewise sound or Akāska, being the origin of the other Tattvas, contains all these elements within itself. A metaphysician knows that every sound has a corresponding color. There are people who can see these colors in sound and hear sounds in colors. Not only light and color, but all other principles, such as produce the sense of touch, taste and smell, are contained in sound. If a person’s inner senses are opened, his soul may not only see, but touch, taste and smell sounds as well; colors may impress him as tastes and odors, or odors as colors and tastes. Moreover, each ray of light has a definite physiological effect upon the human system; red is exciting, orange is warming, yellow animates the nerves, blue is cooling, green has the qualities of yellow combined with blue. The effect of these vibrations upon the mind is similar; red irritates, blue tranquillizes, violet gives a melancholy impression, black is used for mourning and despondency. Similar remarks might be made in regard to the actions of the varieties of odors and touches and tastes; the soul has its senses for contact, as well as the body; it cannot realize the presence of spiritual powers unless it comes in contact with them. We can neither bodily nor mentally grasp a thing which we are not able to feel.

The senses are based upon feeling; as we can only hear, see, touch, taste or smell that with which the mind is in contact, so to listen to a sound is to feel it with the sense of hearing; to see it is to be conscious of its touch by means of our sense of sight; to taste or smell it is to get its vibrations by means of the sense of taste or smell. And in a similar way, as motion may produce heat, light, electricity, magnetism, the above mentioned states of feeling may likewise bring about consciousness of one another. The odor of a rose will call forth its mental image, the sight of food will conjure up the taste in a famished person, or its odor produce a vision of it. Mental impressions will reflect themselves on the material plane; grief, joy, pain, melancholy, will cause like expressions in the face and bearing of the body, as the position of the body influences the mind.

This goes to show the power of mind over matter and its faculty of creating forms, but mind itself can accomplish nothing without the power of the spirit which causes it to move. If our spirit were powerful enough to move and mold at will mental substance and physical atoms, we would be able to create material things by our will.

What we call “matter” is only a form of motion of something substantial. There is nothing, not even mind, without substance. Sound is substantial; every force is substantial, otherwise we could not come into contact with and feel it. “Matter” and “force” are essentially the same; they are only two aspects of the one “substance” or “understanding” (from sub-sto) of all that exists; for this substance we have no better name than “God.” It manifests as spirit and all things are a manifestation of it.

Sound is a vibration of Aether (Akāsha). From Akāsha originates vāyu tattva; from sound originates tangibility, touch. Thus sound is the creator of forms whose contact we may feel, see, taste and smell, be it with the inner senses or with those of the physical organism. A sound or a word, rendered alive by the power of the spirit and spoken within us will make a deeper impression on the mind than that which reaches us through the ear. The voice of the soul in its own kingdom is more powerful than the voice of the mouth. The speaking of God is a creative act, in the microcosm of man not any less than in the macrocosm of nature. His word is the life of all things, on the material and spiritual planes; it causes the generation of visible growths and in the heart of man his spiritual regeneration.

In the “Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians” of the 16th and 17th centuries, there is the following description of the creative power of the Word:

“There is a Word, speaking eternally. It speaks itself from within, but not in itself, and yet it can never be spoken. This Word is I, the All, everything and nothing; heaven and hell, light and darkness, good and evil, spirit and matter, will and desire, joy and sadness, the real and the illusive, time and eternity, angel and devil, life and death, sound and stillness, something and nothing, man and god, all in all, called the Christ.”

It is the “lost Word” which the masonic fraternity seeks to discover; byt cannot be discovered by any one, except by him who has awakened to the consciousness of his divine Self and the indivisible universal Self in all beings. If anyone suffering under the delusion of self imagines that he is God, he is believing a falsehood; but the word of God is truth. Not within the region of fancy, but in the innermost sanctuary of our being resides the imperishable principle the I Am that I Am, the divine ideal, whose powers we cannot know and whose nature we cannot realize unless it becomes itself realized in us. God is the light in man, the personality is the shadow; no one can truly say: “I Am!” if he is not conscious of his real existence in an imperishable state in the Divine Being. Not what the mind of man, but what the voice of the higher Self says in his heart, ought to be listened to as being the truth. Boehme says: “If you could only for one moment keep still and let all your faculties be at rest, you would hear the voice of God.”

Sound being such a tremendous power, and the very life itself, it naturally follows that it ought not to be wasted, but preserved and accumulated. Every power grows by resistance. If we resist the impulse to talk and spend our forces unnecessarily, we gather strength and obtain self-control over them. This is the power of silence. Fools talk much, heroes speak by way of their deeds. Great talkers are usually weak-minded people who accomplish nothing, great men know how to act and be silent. He who by practice has learned to control himself may control others. It is known that Appollonius of Tyana kept absolutely silent for seven years. During that time he subdued an insurrection of the people without speaking a word. His presence told them enough and was sufficient to quiet the rebels.

If men and women had a higher conception of human nature and of the purpose of life, they would avoid wasting their power in idle talk, empty gossip and foolish conversation, and there would consequently be a great deal less nervousness, neurasthenia and insanity. Silence and solitude is nature’s law for development. The child grows in the stillness and solitude of the mother’s womb; the highest thoughts are bom during moments of deep meditation; spiritual regeneration can take place only when the passions are at rest; the seed in the soil needs stillness and the dark for its development; it dies if too much disturbed. But stillness and the dark would be of no benefit if the seed were not nourished by the life-giving influences penetrating it, as the child in the womb would die if it were not partaking of the life of its mother. Persons boro dumb have no advantage over those who are able to speak; inability and self-control are two different things; our lower faculties can only be held in abeyance if we take a firm hold of the Highest.

A writer on metaphysics says^[5]: “If we were but animated machines, it would be sufficient if we were supplied with enough food, fresh air and exercise. But we are all conscious of considerably more in our composition than that which is merely apparent. Just as in plant life the living organism shows above ground only a part, as an expression of what is hidden, so these bodies of ours, that we deem of so vast importance, are but the visible evidence of a far greater part below the surface, with which we must reckon. I know that it is inadvisable to press any human simile too far; but may we not learn something from the plant-life, to which we have alluded? Its growth, until a considerably advanced stage, has been attained, is in darkness and silence, and even after that part which is visible has risen above the ground, it is the root which must be nourished and cared for. No amount of attention to the plant will take the place of that which must be bestowed upon the root. May it therefore not be possible that an equally vital part of ourselves is that which is hidden from sight in the invisible; that that which is recognized by our fellow men is but a small part of the real living organism to which we are attached? This then will give us a reason for retirement into silence, where the true being may be fed and nourished. Man has always instinctively recognized by divine intuition the existence of this unseen part of his being, and the necessity of bringing himself into touch with the hidden source of all life.”

It is a great art, to be silent if one is tempted to speak. It requires great strength to disregard the voices of the elements in one’s own lower nature when they are clamoring for the gratification of their particular desires; but power arises from practice. All true power comes from within, for in ourselves is the center of Consciousness to which are attracted the principles constituting the universe, and in us they can grow into powers. Every natural thing grows from within and not by addition from without; in ourselves is the all-powerful Word, the spiritual life which we call our own.

Our inner life is our real life; but there are comparatively few who know of its existence because the great crowd, instead of resting in the sunshine of divine wisdom, wander about in the moonshine of their fancies; they dream, but they do not yet really live. There are thousands who do not know the real purpose for which they came into this world; they are born and vegetate and die without ever having become acquainted with their own real self.

To aid humanity in its struggle, to awaken to the realization of the true inner life, to show them the way to the finding of their true self, the center from which arises all power, so that they may cure themselves of their ills and not expect salvation merely from external remedies, this ought to be the principal object of the true metaphysician.

Notes:

^[1] Metaphysics in Medicine [Metaphysical Science in Medicine] Part 6. The Word and Its Creative Powers. Franz Hartmann, M.D. The Word 8, no. 6 (March 1909), 350-358. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}

^[2] Vol. 1, p. 588.

^[3] Sankaracharya. “Tattva Bodha.”

^[4] I do not know whether the reader has ever experienced the magic power which the sounding of the big bell in the tower of some cathedral or church exercises over the heart; but it seems to me that this ringing of the bell, which sounds like the O M, reverberating in space, does more to uplift the soul, elevate the mind, fill it with noble aspiration and produce a deep religious feeling, than all the sermons preached for the purpose of removing doubts of the intellect.

^[5] Rev. Lombard to the “Health Record.”