ANTHROPOLOGY 83 



with the whole of Nature ; and therefore every change 

 that takes place in the Macrocosm can be sensed by the 

 ethereal essence surrounding his spirit, and it may come 

 to the consciousness and comprehension of mau."^ 



Mortal man is a spirit, and has two bodies that are 

 intimately connected together, an elementary and a 

 sidereal body. These two bodies go to form one man. 

 When a man dies, his elementary body returns to the 

 elements of the Earth ; the Earth absorbs the whole of 

 his three lower principles, and nothing remains of the 

 form of the body. The more material parts of the 

 sidereal body undergo a similar decomposition. This 

 body is formed of the astral elements, and is not 

 dependent on physical substances. It is subject to 

 planetary influences, and as the elementary body is dis- 

 solved into the elements from which it has been taken, 

 likewise the astral form will in due time dissolve into 

 the sidereal elements to which its substance belongs. 

 The sidereal body remains near the decaying physical 

 body until it is itself decomposed by the action of the 

 astral influences. The two bodies were partners during 

 life, and are only separated by death. Therefore they 

 naturally remain near each other for a while after death, 

 until they are consumed by their elements, the one in 

 the grave, the other one in the air.^ The decomposition 

 of the elementary body requires a certain length of time 

 according to its qualities and the qualities of its sur- 



* It ought to be kept in mind that whenever Paracelsus speaks of the 

 terrestrial or "earthly" man, he does not refer to the elementary (physi- 

 cal) body, but to the carnal part of the mind (the lower manaa). There- 

 fore, he say, "the body thinks, but the spirit wills." The elementary 

 body does not think; it is merely a corpse, without the "inner man," 

 and the shadow of the latter. It is as such of so little importance that it 

 may not be at all missed, if we leave it either during a trance or after its 

 death. 



" If clairvoyance were at present a normal faculty of mankind, and if 

 men could see the astral forms of the dead hoverini? over the graves and 

 decomposing in the air, graveyards would soon be abolished, and cremation 

 take the place of burial. 



