THE

WORD

JUNE 1913

MOMENTS WITH FRIENDS

Is man a microcosm of the macrocosm, the universe in miniature? If so, the planets and the visible stars must be represented within him. Where are they located?

Thinkers in different times and in various ways, said the universe is epitomized in man. As a metaphor or in fact, this is likely to be true. It does not mean that the universe has fingers and toes and wears eyebrows and hair on a head, nor that the universe is built according to the present dimensions of man’s physical body, but it means that the operations of the universe may be characterized and featured in man by his organs and parts. The organs in man’s body are not made to fill space, but to perform certain functions in the general economy and welfare of the organism as a whole. The same may be said of bodies in the firmament.

The scintillating rays of light and the steady glowing orbs in the heavens are media through which universal forces act in the body of space, according to universal law and for the general welfare and economy of the whole. The internal organs, such as sex organs, kidneys, spleen, pancreas, liver, heart and lungs, are said to be correspondence of and bearing a direct relation to the seven planets. Such scientists and mystics as Boehme, Paracelsus, Von Helmont, Swedenborg, the fire philosophers and alchemists, have named the organs and planets which correspond to each other. They do not all give the same correspondences, but agree that there is a reciprocal action and relation between the organs and planets. After being aware that there is a correspondence, the student must, if he wishes to know, think out and solve which organs correspond to particular planets, and how they are related and operate. He cannot depend on another’s tables in this matter. The table of correspondences may be right for the one who made it; it may not be true for another. A student must find his correspondences.

Without thinking, no one will ever know how universal objects correspond and relate to individual parts of the body, no matter what others may say about them. Thinking must be continued until the subject is known. What corresponds to the constellations, star clusters, nebulae in space, acts in man’s body as plexuses, nerve ganglia, nerve crossings. These clusters or crossings in the body emit a light, a nerve aura. This in the heavens is spoken of as light of stars, and by other names. This would seem far fetched and fanciful to the astronomer, but if he thought in his body until he found out the nature of the nerve centers and their currents, he would change his theory about his astronomy. He would know what the stars in the heavens are, and be able to locate them as centers in his body.

What is meant by health in general? If it is the equilibrium of man’s physical, mental and spiritual strength, then how is the balance maintained?

Health is wholeness and soundness of the body in its structure and function. Health in general is the operation of a body in the work for which it is intended, without impediment of its function or impairment of its parts. Strength is developed and maintained as the result of health. Strength is not a thing apart from health, nor independent of health. Health is maintained by a conservation of the strength or energy developed, and a reciprocal action between the parts of the body and the body as a whole. This applies to the mind and spiritual nature of man, in combination with his human body, as well as to ordinary animal man. There is mental and spiritual health as there is physical health. The health of the whole is maintained when each part of the combination does its work in relation to and for the good of the whole. The rule is easily understood but hard to follow. Health is gained and maintained in the degree that one does what he knows best to gain health, and does what he knows best to preserve it.

A Friend [H. W. Percival]