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504 I'HE SECRET DOCTRINE.
a gas ; the very word gas, from geist, a ghost or spirit, affords us an instance of the
gradual transmutation of a spiritual into a physical conception.*
This, the great man of Science, in his
his work, considers to
no business to meddle with the causes.
preface to the sixth edition of
be the 07ily concern of exact Science, which has
Cause and effect are, therefore, in their abstract relation to these forces, words
solely of convenience. We are totally unacquainted with the ultimate generating
power of each and all of them, and probably shall ever remain so; we can only
ascertain the normal of their actions; we must humbly refer their causation to one
omnipresent influence, and content ourselves with studying their effects and developing,
by experiment, their mutual relations, t
This policy once accepted, and the
system virtually admitted in the
above-quoted words, namely, the spirituality of the "ultimate generating
power," it would be more than illogical to refuse to recognize this
quality which is inherent in the material elements, or rather, in their
compounds, as present in the fire, air, water or earth. The Ancients
knew these powers so well, that, while concealing their true nature
under various allegories, for the benefit, or to the detriment, of the
uneducated rabble, they never departed from the multiple object in
view, while inverting them. They contrived to throw a thick veil over
the tiucleus of truth concealed by the symbol, but they ever tried to
preserve the latter as
a record for future generations, sufficiently transparent
to allow their wise men to discern the truth behind the fabulous
form of the glyph or allegor>\ These ancient sages are accused of
superstitioti and credulity; and this too by the very nations, which,
though learned in all the modern arts and sciences, and cultured and
wise in their generation, accept to this day as their one living and
God, the anthropomorphic "Jehovah" of the Jews!
What were some of these alleged "superstitions" Hesiod believed,
infinite
for instance, that "the winds were the sons of the Giant Typhoeus,"
who were chained and unchained at will by ^olus, and the polyi;heistic
Greeks accepted it along with Hesiod. Why should they not, since the
monotheistic Jews had the same beliefs, with other names for their
dramatis persona:, and since Christians believe in the same to this day
The Hesiodic ^olus, Boreas, etc., were named Kedem, Tzephuni,
Derum, and Ruach Hayum by the "chosen people" of Israel. What
is, then, the fundamental difference While the Hellenes were taught
that .^olus tied and untied the winds, the Jews believed as
fervently
The Correlation of Physical Forces, p. 89.
t Ibid., xiv.