Vibrations[1]
As the intellectual progress of the world advances, even the most narrow-minded adherents of scientific superstitions are gradually forced to change their opinions and to begin to understand that all things in the visible and invisible universe are made up of only one essence or “primordial substance” (as it was called by the ancient sages and alchemists) in an infinite variety of motions or vibrations, which may become manifest to our senses as sound, light, electricity, heat, solidity, odor, taste, etc. This is an occult truth, which has been taught for centuries by many, but which was understood only by few. The Bible teaches that all things were made by the Word and that the Word was God, and God itself the Word. Thus the “primordial substance” or essence of all things are essentially God, whether they be conscious of it or not. God, who in his innermost nature is eternal rest, moved, and the world of phenomena became manifest. “God said: Let there be light, and there was light.” This is not to be understood as if God were a wizard, ordering it to be light, and that then the light appeared in some miraculous and unaccountable manner; but God himself manifested his own light by the power of his expressed will; he was himself the Light as well as the Word. This is not a truth for the reason that it is stated in the Bible, but it is stated in the Bible and in many other religious books because it is true. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Where there is light, there is God, there is life, there is consciousness, power, intelligence, love, virtue and strength; without the true light there is darkness, despair, error, illusion, and suffering.
The centre of light for our physical universe is our visible sun. From him this planet receives its life, light, heat, and electricity. If the light of our sun were to be extinguished the life of our globe would depart. The centre of the spiritual light which we receive is the spiritual sun of our universe, divine wisdom (theosophia); it is the source of our spiritual life and spiritual consciousness, divine love and all the divine powers whose germs lie still inactive in the souls of the great majority of mankind; but which may grow and be developed under its influence. As the moon in our physical world receives its light from the sun, and shines with a light thus borrowed; so the light of man’s personal consciousness and the intellectual attainments of his brain are originally caused by the reflected rays coming from the rays of the spiritual light which he receives in his soul. A man with even the most powerful intellect and with a brain stuffed with learning, but without spirituality in his soul is like an empty shell or soap-bubble, exhibiting borrowed colors, but without any light of his own.
As there are different stages for the manifestations of consciousness, so there are different orders of vibrations of light; but the higher influences the lower and seeks to raise it to its own level. The spiritual light of the soul is a reflection of the light of divine wisdom; it purifies, exalts and ennobles the human intellect; while the light of intellect enables man to control his lower animal instincts and to influence the conditions of physical matter. If the spiritual life in a person were fully awakened and its vibrations in him in full strength, such a person might by his spiritual power act directly upon the vibrations of physical matter and produce changes therein in a magical way, as has indeed often been proved true by apparently miraculous cures performed by sages and saints. Such powers, however, cannot be attained by mere intellectual study or reading of books, nor can they be conveyed by college-degrees, diplomas, etc. They are divine gifts; some persons have obtained them as a result of merits acquired in previous existences and are thus born with them. In others they have been developed during their present life in consequence of an unfoldment of the life of the soul. There are, as Paracelsus says, naturally born physicians and others which are artificially made, and as the majority of mankind are still in a very unspiritual condition, it is not at all surprising if we find a plain person with little learning more capable to restore the health of sick people than some great graduates of medical colleges who have a great deal of theoretical knowledge but no power to heal. In fact, learned blockheads are by no means exceedingly rare.
A tree growing in one direction does not bear fruit in another. If we employ all of our strength in only one direction, we cannot grow strong in another. If we spend all of our power to stuff the brain and overfeed our animal intellect, our heart will starve, our spiritual intelligence suffer, and real power be lost. The proof of it may be seen to-day in the downfall of the medical profession and the increase of so-called “Christian science.” there is no doubt that even among the doctors of medicine, men of a spiritual character may be found, who do more good by their personal influence than by the prescriptions they write; but the medical profession as a whole is making exaggerated efforts especially in some European countries, for the purpose of creating and enforcing laws to enable them to maintain their authority over the people and force them to employ them and swallow their medicines whether they will or not; while on the other hand the more intelligent part of the community judge the qualities of a physician more by the cures he makes than by the number of diplomas in his possession. Spiritual power and mental acquisitions are two different things. One may be deficient in the one and have an abundance of the other.
One of the greatest and most powerful remedies for the cure of diseases is that spiritual power which is called “faith” and its carrier is divine love. The vibrations of faith do not consist in giving credit to a certain adopted opinion; but they are the vibrations of spiritual life and spiritual power within the soul. It is nowhere stated in the Bible that Jesus said to the person healed: “I cured thee;” but he said “thy faith (not thy opinion) has made thee whole.”
There is no doubt that every human being has a spark of that divine life in him, even if he is not conscious of it, as otherwise he could have no aspirations of a higher kind; but not everyone lets that spark grow. Selfish desires, the wish to obtain some personal profit by the use of spiritual power; be it money or flattery or an increase of scientific knowledge or the gratification of curiosity are the obstacles in the way of the employment of this power; because divine faith is guided by divine love and the least taint of selfishness renders love impure and unspiritual. Therefore some of the most astonishing faith-cures are often made unconsciously or during moments in which there is no thought of self or of self-action; the true faith-healer does nothing in his own personal power; he acts only as an instrument of the divine will; his own will having been sacrificed to the divine will, has itself become unselfish (selfless) and divine.
Everything is made up of vibrations. Health is harmony, disease is discord. A simple thing in which no variety of vibration exists can never be diseased or inharmonious; but if various vibrations exist within one organism, its health will depend on the harmony existing between them, in the same sense as the harmony of an orchestra depends on the necessity of all the instruments being in tune with each other. This is just as true on the spiritual, intellectual, psychic and astral planes as it is on the physical plane, and the higher acts upon the lower. Thur for instance a clashing of opinions on the intellectual plane may cause a storm of passion on the physical plane and thus produce a physical disease; or on the other hand some sweet melodious tune may soothe the troubled mind and restore health to the body. The art of curing disease is the art of restoring harmony between discordant vibrations. A new and strange thought causes a consternation in the mind and may produce antagonism and discord. “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” The best books are those in which the reader finds nothing entirely new, but thinks he might have written it all himself, because it is as it were written from his own soul. The truths which our soul knows are thus brought into harmony with the external mind. In the same way some medicine may agree with the nature of one man and not with that of another; “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” It is the same law of vibrations which manifests itself on all the different planes of existence. A certain compound of chemical elements may form intuitions of food; change the proportion of its atoms and it becomes a deadly poison. Harmonious vibrations call forth corresponding vibrations, inducing them to swing in harmony with themselves. Every element acts upon that which is similar to its own nature. You cannot call forth from the soul of a man a knowledge which does not exist in his soul. Therefore the very best books on spiritual or religious subjects rarely find any readers, even among the would-be occultists, because they have the things of which these books speak not within themselves and are therefore not ripe for their understanding.
In the human organism the nerves are the conductors of the life-powers, carrying to each organ the proper vibrations which the organ requires; each organ assimilates from these nerve-currents the vibrations which it needs. Like finds its like on all planes and is nourished by the products of the material globe on which we live. Our physical body is nourished by the products of the material globe on which we live, our life-power is supplied by the sun, our desires and passions grow in proportion as they are stimulated by desires and passions, our intellect is fed and made to grow and expand the realm of its acquisitions by assimilating ideas, opinions, and theories, and appropriating to itself the thoughts of other persons. In the same way our spiritual nature is fed and our soul caused to grow by the spiritual vibrations which we receive from above. Nobody can develop anything within his own constitution without a corresponding influence from without. Nothing can come out of a man unless it has first entered into him. The plant needs sunshine and the soul the light of wisdom and the warmth of divine love. Such divine powers being universal can only be received when the vibrations of the soul are in harmony with the universe as a whole.
The nerves carry currents of vibratory life-forces to the different parts of the body, currents of thought, compelled by that mysterious power called “the will,” carry vibrations of spiritual power to any part of our universe, perhaps to the highest heaven. Heartfelt blessings as well as curses coming from the heart are not idle words, but create vibrations which may act powerfully for good or for evil according to their nature and according to the nature of the receiver. If we send a person a good and spiritual thought, we create an angel that will act as a messenger guide by our love; find its destination, and enter if it finds an open door; and an evil thought led on by hate will cause an injurious devil to enter where it finds vibrations of mind corresponding to its own nature, unless the entrance is protected by a predominant power of goodness. Fortunately the thoughts of the great majority of people, they being still subject to selfish desires, have very little spiritual power and therefore less power to harm; but those who have attained consciousness in the spirit may act powerfully by means of their thoughts even upon the most distant places upon this earth.
The curative power of medicines consists in that they supply the diseased organs with just such vibrations of life-force as they require to have harmony restored. Therefore the wise physician seeks to assist nature and to supply it with what it needs, while the fool tries to domineer and counteract it. The nerve forces being themselves of an ethereal nature, it naturally follows that they will only assimilate with the vibrations of medicines in a highly refined or ethereal state, and this explains why the action of medicines in a highly diluted state, such as are used in homeopathy are much more reliable and efficient than the grossly material drugs of the old school physician.
It has been shown already many years ago by Dr. Babbitt and others that the action of drugs upon the nervous system depends upon the principles of light and color which they contain. For instance the soothing action of opiates is due to the blue ray, the purgative action of purgative remedies to the yellow color, the stimulating effects of existing drugs to the red ray, etc. Each of the colors of a ray of light has its own special number of vibrations, and there are not only besides the visible colors of the rainbow many visible mixtures and shades, but there are also higher scales of colors invisible to our eyes.
Likewise there are innumerable varieties of states or vibrations of substance. Substance is only one, but its states differ according to the vibrations which represent substance in its various forms of matter. Thus for instance, the nerve matter represents an aspect different from that of muscles or blood or bones. The more gross and solid a thing appears, the lower on the scale appear to be the vibrations of which it is constituted, and besides the visible states of matter there are invisible states and even invisible organs which are as necessary for our well-being as the organs of our visible body. An astral “principle” would serve as nothing if it were not organized, and without a mental organization the mind would not be capable of being employed for the seeking, grasping, analyzing and combining of ideas.
Now, it seems clear that for the purpose of acting upon a certain organ we can do nothing better than to supply that organ with such vibration as belongs to its own nature and is capable to produce an harmonious action thereon.
Where can we find such remedies?—The answer is: “Everywhere in nature;” because nature is the macrocosm and man its microcosm; there is no power in the little world which constitutes the organism of man, that cannot be found in universal nature. These vibrations of ether are especially supplied by the vegetable kingdom. Here we find that the sun-ray is transformed into innumerable colors and hues, each constituting a certain set of vibrations, becoming manifest in the rose as red and as white in the lily. Plants are made of materialized sunlight, cor- porified by aid of the elements which they attract from the soil. Each species of plant has its own peculiar set of spiritual, ethereal and astral vibrations. Not unlike the human body in which food is transformed into different substances, such as nerves, muscles, bones; so the organism of a plant uses the vibrations of light which is received from the sun, for forming roots and stems, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits. In a crystal or a dew-drop the sun-ray becomes divided into different colors, but it does not stay; in plants the rays become divided and they remain.
Thus are the plants made up of light in a great variety of forms, and light is life. Thus are the plants receptacles or vehicles of life in different forms and possess their individual qualities, which are far more potent in living plants than in the dead dried herbs found in the apothecary shops; and not only do these qualities change according to the age of the plant and according to the place where it has grown; but also according to the day and hour in which they have been gathered and according (as was well-known to the ancients) to the constellations of the stars.
Each plant and each part of a plant, if used as a medicine has its specific action upon certain nerves in the human body by calling forth certain vibrations, and exercises therefore a specific action upon this or that organ. Some act upon the liver, others upon the heart, the skin, the bowels; because the vibrations which they find in the nerves of these organs correspond to their own, and this is the occult secret of the specific medical action of plants.
It seems that the law of vibrations and its action in medicine can easily be understood if we keep in mind the knowledge of the constitution of matter, and remember that in every product of nature are contained the seven principles now known to every student of metaphysical science. All material forms are “materialized” spirit; we ourselves are spirits embodied in material forms. God is the essence of everything, and the whole of nature, with all of its productions, is a manifestation of this divine creative and magical power. Each principle up to the highest represents a certain octave of vibrations within the grand harmony of nature and in each object or class of objects is either one or the other principle more manifest than the rest, although each atom contains them all.
Thus, for instance, in a plant the kama principle (the principle of desire) is especially active in the roots which penetrate the earth in search of sentiment, while in the flowers the principle of buddhi (the principle of beauty) is predominantly manifest and the fruits may be regarded as representing the highest, namely, the ultimate object, fruition (joy or bitterness), and the power of reproduction. Each product of nature, each stone, plant, animal, has its physical body, its ethereal image, its astral soul, and also the higher principles in a more or less latent state; while in the higher animals and in human beings, some of the higher principles have become more or less active and subject to conscious will.
Now it is universally known that like is attracted by like, combines with like and is nourished by it, and that vibrations of a lower order may be raised to a higher order if they come into contact with such higher ones as are adapted to assimilation with them. We can therefore change the vibrations of the vital powers, and consequently the conditions of the material body, by bringing into action the requisite higher vibrations, and thus in diseased conditions bringing harmony into disharmony. In this consists, in my opinion, the therapeutical action of plants.
As a matter of course, a very high set of vibrations cannot act directly by induction upon another set on a very low scale; the two must not be removed from each other by a too great difference of their qualities. It would perhaps be difficult even for a very spiritually minded person (unless in possession of magical powers) to change at will the growth of a plant, although the personal influence of certain people upon the growth of vegetation is no secret, and the greatest thinker could hardly by means of his mental action transform charcoal into diamonds; but a spiritual person may by means of the unseen vibrations exercise a powerful influence upon another who is not entirely devoid of spirituality, and the influence which thought may have upon the mind of another man, or even upon animals, is too well known to require further assertion or demonstration. Grossly material and inert drugs, substances, and minerals, act upon the human system only in a mechanical manner; that is to say, the human organism exercises its power to eliminate them again after they have been introduced, and therefore the old orthodox system of medicine has actually no other remedies to employ rationally except purging and sweating. The finer action of medicines rests in their ethereal parts, and upon this seems to depend the superior usefulness of homeopathic triturations and dilutions over allopathic remedies, in cases of persons that are susceptible for receiving refined influences; for it appears that by the act of preparing homeoopathic remedies, their active essences are raised to a higher state of vibrations and thus rendered capable to act directly and powerfully upon the vital essences and the nervous system. This will perhaps become more comprehensible, if we study not only the seven divisions of matter, but also the seven subdivisions of each component part.
Spirit acts upon spirit, soul upon soul, mind upon mind, matter upon matter. Spirit penetrates thought, thought the ether, ether the air, air the water, water the earth. Thus the higher vibrations always penetrate into the lower ones, modify and transform them, and, if possible, raise them up to a higher form.
The more the vibrations are gross and material, the more are they limited in their action; the finer and more spiritual they are, the wider is the extent of their division. Grossly material and solid substances act upon each other only by mechanical contact; liquid substances may produce chemical action; gaseous substances for instance, oxygen and hydrogen, may combine instantaneously and produce an explosion; thoughts act upon mind irrespective of distance and time; and the action of spirit may produce effects not only upon this globe, but in the highest of the heavens. God within man may cure all the diseases of man by his divine spiritual power, which is called the living faith; but not in every person that “faith” is alive and powerful, while a mere intellectual belief of credulity is a product of fancy and, unless aided by spiritual power, can have only a fanciful effect It is also undoubtedly true that there have existed persons whose spiritual power was so great that they could send spiritually “electric shocks,” and thus cure sick people that were thousands of miles away. The author of this article has himself experienced this; having been cured in an instant, of a long standing trouble while in Texas, by the late Dr. Newton, who was at San Francisco at that time. But such healers, endowed with such powers are evidently very rare, and while there may be some who are living at present, the advertising quacks who pretend to be in possession of divine powers and wish to employ them for the purpose of making money, rely for their miraculous cures upon exciting the fancy of their gullible patients.
The scarcity of real spiritual healers is especially shown by the fact that there are so few persons capable of driving out devils and curing obsession. Our insane asylums teem with people that are obsessed by beings from the astral plane; but our “regular” orthodox “science” stands not only helpless before such facts, but refuses to recognize the true causes of such unfortunate cases; and if some physician more intelligent than the rest dares to speak the truth he is ridiculed by his colleagues, who may properly be compared to those lights of science at the time of Galileo, who laughed at the rotundity of the earth.
It is a self-evident truth that none can exercise any power unless he possesses the same. This is true on every plane of existence. A druggist cannot furnish us any drug unless he has it in his shop or knows how to obtain it; an idiot cannot furnish us with an intelligent thought, and an unspiritual person cannot communicate to another any spiritual power. But not only does a cure depend upon the capacity of the physician; it also depends upon the condition of the patient. He who has no life in him cannot be made living; a person having not a spark of faith in him cannot have that faith awakened. It is nowhere mentioned in the Bible that Christ said to anybody after restoring him to health: “I cured thee.’’ He said: ‘‘Thy faith hath made thee whole.” This means, that he by his spiritual influence awakened the spiritual powers that were dormant in that patient, and in this way a person may act very beneficially upon another, even if he is no graduate of any medical college; and he may do this even without being conscious of it, and probably much better than if he were conscious; because in such a case the will of his divine self coming from the heart would act unimpeded by his personal self-will and find no resistance in the speculations and doubts of the brain.
There is another metaphysical fact, which is seldom taken into consideration, but which forms one of the causes of diseases mentioned by Paracelsus. I have seen persons die who could easily have been cured, if they had consented to apply the proper treatment that was offered to them, or if they had not been prevented from doing so by their relatives or some other opposing influence. On the other hand, there are some who, after many years of treatment, and after trying all sorts of cure, suddenly recover their health in some almost miraculous and inexplainable way, or after taking some treatment which would be considered inadequate for effecting a cure. Such cases may be registered under the head of “diseases having their origin in the action of the law of karma.” If the disease has such a cause, no help will be found and even if it is offered it will not be accepted, but if the accumulated evil karma has been exhausted, the proper physician or the proper remedy will be found. Such cases are of frequent occurrence, and thus it happens that any physician, however ignorant he may be, may effect occasionally apparently “miraculous” cures, attributing them to his own wisdom and claiming for himself the glory of it, which in reality belongs only to that mysterious power which men call “God.”
Note:
[1] Occult Science in Medicine. Vibrations. Franz Hartmann, M.D. The Word 2, no. 6 (March 1906), 328-337 {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}