86 THE UNIVERSE 



is a living evidence of his previous thought or con- 

 cept. All things tangible are the living evidence 

 of a soul the invisible soul or spirit of deity and 

 man. All material things are the forms of God's 

 thoughts or man's thoughts, which is the interior 

 cause, producing tangible effects. For the natural 

 world is the spiritual unfoldment made manifest in 

 matter by electric energy. But I must not consume 

 space by a repetition of these things. What the 

 world wants is the truth, and we are discovering 

 it at a very rapid rate. And if these theories are 

 not the truth they are nearer to it than nine-tenths 

 of the accepted truths of science. 



The ancients knew little about their bodies, or 

 the mysterious operations of physical life. They 

 looked only at effects and the outside of things, 

 and knew nothing of the invisible forces of nature. 

 They regarded all the mysteries they could not 

 understand as supernatural, as outside of nature, 

 and produced by demons, wizards, necromancers, 

 or their imaginary gods. 



Their knowledge of their bodies was as limited as 

 their knowledge of the universe, which they regarded 

 as a little span of flat earth and bending sky; 

 and they relied on incantations and prayers to 

 restore the sick, and on the flight of birds and the 

 entrails of beasts to reveal the mysteries of the 

 future. They believed in obsession and deemed all 

 sick, insane and diseased persons as possessed of 

 demon spirits or devils, and their restoration to 

 health or their right minds was called "the casting 

 out of devils." 



The ancients also believed every evil propensity 

 was the prompting of some demon spirit that pos- 



