THE STRUGGLE FOR REALITIES. 371 
imps and elves, astral bodies and odic forces. It is 
quite as consistent with ordinary virtue and effective- 
ness to accept these as objective realities, as it is to 
have the vague faith in microbes and molecules, mahat- 
mas and protoplasm, in protective tariffs and mani- 
fest destiny, which form part of the mental outfit of 
the man of our day. Unless these ideas are brought 
into terms of personal experience, they can not be 
wrought into action. If they are so brought, truth is 
separated from falsehood, and the vague conceptions 
most men possess are found to diverge very widely from 
the actual facts in Nature. Thus, when one comes to 
handle microbes, they become as real as nutmegs or 
oranges, and as capable of being manipulated. But the 
astral body exists only to those who use it as a cover 
for real ignorance, and the ghosts vanish when we turn 
on the electric light. 
Other mental processes arise to produce confusion. 
Memory pictures readily blend themselves with realities. 
The nervous system of the one individu- 
al is easily affected by the conditions ex- 
isting in another. Men are gregarious 
creatures, and their speech gives them the power to add 
to their own ideas and experiences the ideas and experi- 
ences of others. Thus, many actions are based not on 
our own sensations, but on the suggestions of others. 
Openness to suggestion and the instinct of convention- 
ality are elements of great importance in insuring the 
safety of gregarious creatures. 
With all this, the growth of each individual must be 
determined by his own experience. About the sense- 
impressions formed in my own brain I must build up my 
own universe. Thus it comes that each accretion of 
human knowledge must be thrown into terms of our pre- 
vious experience. Stated in these terms, it is always 
Suggestion and 
conventionality. 
