These are no mere theories, for they have been rigorously tested in the laboratories of science. As Sir William Osler, one of the world’s most illustrious luminaries of knowledge, has said: “For man’s body, too, is a humming hive of working cells, each with its specific function, all under central control of the brain and heart, and all dependent on materials called hormones (secreted by small, even insignificant looking structures) which lubricate the wheels of life.

For example, remove the thyroid gland just below the adam’s apple, and you deprive man of the lubricants which enable his thought-engines to work. It is as if you cut off the oil-supply of a motor, and gradually the stored acquisitions of his mind cease to be available, and within a year he sinks into dementia. The normal processes of the skin cease, the hair falls, the features bloat, and the paragon of animals is transformed into a shapeless caricature of humanity.

These essential lubricators, of which a number are now known, are called hormones--you will recognize from its derivation how appropriate is the term. The name is derived from the he Greek verb meaning “to rouse or set in motion.” The name was given by Starling and Bayliss, two great Englishmen noted for their research work in endocrinology. Cretins--dwarfed imbeciles--can be cured by the administration, internally, of the thyroid glands of sheep, with truly miraculous results; because cretinism is caused by the lack or absence of thyroid gland secretions.

As an instance of the fascination of these studies, consider the conception that the thyroid played a fundamental part in the change of sea creatures into land animals. Feeding the Mexican axolotl, a purely aquatic newt, breathing through gills, on thyroid, quickly changes it into the ambystoma, a terrestrial salamander, breathing by means of lungs.

The endocrine glands produce secretions which enter the blood-stream and vitally affect the bodily structure and functions. The pituitary is a small gland, located near the center of the head, directly under the third ventricle of the brain, where it rests in a depression in the bony floor-plate of the skull. Its secretions have an important part in the mobilizing of carbohydrates, maintaining blood-pressure, stimulating other glands, and maintaining the tonicity of the sympathetic nerve system. Its under, or over, activity during childhood, will produce marked characteristics in the body structure, and what concerns us more, equally marked characteristics of mental development and function.

The thyroid gland is located at the frontal base of the neck, extending upward in a sort of semicircle on both sides, with the parathyroids near the tips. The thyroid secretion is important in mobilizing both proteins and carbohydrates; it stimulates other glands, helps resist infections, affects the hair growth, and influences the organs of digestion and elimination. It is a strongly determining factor in the all-around physical development, and also in the mental functioning. A well-balanced thyroid goes a long way toward insuring an active, efficient, smoothly co-ordinated mind and body.

The adrenal glands are located just above the small of the back. These organs have been called by some writers the “decorative glands,” since one of their functions appears to be that of keeping the pigments of the body in proper solution and distribution. But of greater importance is the agency of the adrenal secretion in other directions. It contains a most valuable blood-pressure agent; it is a tonic to the sympathetic nerve system, hence to the involuntary muscles, heart, arteries, intestines, and so on; as well as to the perceptive paths. It responds to certain emotional excitements by an immediate increase in volume of secretion, thus increasing the energy of the whole system, and preparing it for effective response.

The cerebro-spinal nervous system is the telephone system of the conscious mind; it is a very complete wiring system for communication from the brain to every part of the body, especially the terminals. It is the intelligence department of self-conscious man.

The sympathetic nervous system is the system of the subconscious mind. Behind the stomach, and in front of the spine, is the center of the system known as the “Solar Plexus.” It is composed of two masses of brain substance, each in the shape of a crescent. They surround an artery whose function it is to equalize the blood pressure of all the abdominal organs.

Just as the brain and the voluntary nervous system constitute the apparatus of self-conscious man, in like manner the solar plexus and the sympathetic system comprise the special apparatus of the subconscious mind.

The function of the sympathetic nervous system is to maintain the equilibrium of the body, to act as a balance wheel, to prevent over or under action of the cerebro-spinal system. As it is directly affected by emotional states such as fear, anger, jealousy or hatred, these may easily throw out of gear the operation of the automatic functions of the body. That is to say, that emotional states such as joy, fear, anger and hatred may upset such functions of the body as digestion, blood circulation, general nutrition, and so forth.

“Nerves,” and all the unpleasant experiences that follow in the way of bodily discomfort and ill health, are caused by negative emotions, such as fear, anger, hatred and the like; they break down the resistance which has been offered by the various plexii which, when in normal working order, have a definite capacity to inhibit the effect of such emotions.

The sympathetic system is the apparatus whose function it is to maintain the body in normal and healthy working order and to replace the wastage due to ordinary wear and tear, both emotional and physical. The kind of emotions which we entertain is therefore of great importance; if positive, they are constructive; if negative, they are destructive.

Attraction



Mental chemistry is a power which is sweeping through eternity, a living stream of relative action in which the basic principle is ever active; it embraces the past and carries it forward into the ever widening future; a movement where relative action, cause, and effect go hand in hand; where law dovetails into law and where all laws are the ever willing handmaids of this great creative force.

This power stretches beyond the utmost planets, beyond a beginning, beyond an ending, and on into a beginningless and endless eternity; it causes the things we see to take form and shape. It brings the fruit from the he blossom and the sweetness to the honey; it measures the sweep of the countless orbs; it lurks in the sparkle in the diamond, and in the amethyst and in the grape; it works in the seen and in the unseen, and it permeates the all.

It is the source of perfect justice, perfect unity, perfect harmony, and perfect truth; while its constant activity brings perfect balance, perfect growth, and perfect understanding.

Perfect justice, because it renders equal retribution.

Perfect unity, because it has oneness of purpose.

Perfect harmony, because in it all laws blend.

Perfect truth, because it is the one great truth of all existence.

Perfect balance, because it measures unerringly.

Perfect growth, because it is a natural growth.

Perfect understanding, because it solves every problem of life.

The reality of this law lies in its activity, for only through action, and constant change, can this law come to be; and only through inaction can it cease to be; but as there is no inaction, there can be no cessation.

The one purpose of this law is unchangeable; in the silence of darkness, in the glory of light, in the turmoil of action and the pain of reaction, it moves ever forward toward the fulfillment of its one great purpose--perfect harmony.

We see and feel its urge in the myriads and myriads of plant forms on hill and in dale, as they push forth from the same darkness into one light; and though bathed by the same waters and breathed upon by same air, yet all varieties maintain their own individuality--that is, the rose is always a rose and differs from the violet, which is always a violet; the acorn gives to the world the oak and never a willow or any other variety of tree; and though all send out roots into the same soil, and blossom in the same sunshine, yet some are frail, some are strong, some are bitter, and some are sweet; while others are repulsive, some are beautiful; thus all varieties draw to themselves through their own roots and from the same elements, that which differ entiates them from each other; and this great law of life, this constant urge, this hidden force in the plant causing it to manifest, to grow, and to attain, is this Law of Attraction bearing forward in silent majesty, bring all fruition; dictating nothing, yet making each unit of growth true to its own individual nature.

In the Mineral world it is the cohesion in the rock, sand, and clay; it is the strength in the granite, the beauty in the marble, the sparkle in the sapphire, and the blood in the ruby.

Thus do we find it working in the things we see; but its unseen power, as it works in the mind of man, is greater.

This Law of Attraction is neither good nor evil, neither moral nor immoral; it is a neutral law that always flows in conjunction with the desires of the individual; we each choose our own line of growth, and there are as many lines of growth as there are individuals; and although no two of us are exactly alike, yet many of us move along similar lines.

These lines of growth are made up of past, present, and future desires, manifesting in the ever forming present, where they establish the central line of our being along which we advance; the nature of these desires has no power to check the action of this, for its function is to bring to maturity the bitter as well as the sweet.

An illustration of the neutrality and action of this law is found in the grafting of an apple tree bud into an osage orange tree, where we find in due time eatable and uneatable fruits growing together on the same tree; that is, wholesome and unwholesome fruits nourished and brought to maturity by the same sap.

In applying this illustration to ourselves, we find that the apples and oranges represent our different desires, while the sap represents this Law of Growth; and just the sap brings to maturity the different kinds of fruit, just so will this Law bring to fruitfulness our different kinds of desires; and whether they be wholesome or unwholesome, it matters not to the law, for its place in life is to bring to our minds a conscious realization of the results that follow all desires we hold, as well as of their nature, their effect and their purpose.

In man’s division of the Law, we come into contact with a larger activity, one that is utterly unknown to the primitive mind, which leads us to a conscious awakening of a newer power in a larger field of action--in other words, a larger truth, a greater understanding, and a deeper insight.

We are touching a greater reality, for let us understand that reality lies in activity and not outside of it; to exist is to be alive to the action of the laws about us; the hidden urge in the plant is its reality, and not the outer form we see.

True knowledge comes to us through our own activities, borrowed knowledge through the activities of others; both together evolves our intellects. And slowly we are forming an unique self, an individualizing unit.

As we move out into the power of our growing intellects, into an ever moving consciousness we are learning to seek for the wherefore and why of things, and in this search we think and imagine that we are original, when in fact we are only students of established beliefs, notions, and facts, gathered throughout generations of tribal and national life.

We live in a state of fear and uncertainty, until we find, and make use of, the unvarying uniformity running though all laws; this is a central truth that we must know and use before we can become masters of self, or masters of conditions. The Law of Growth ripens collectively, for its one function is: “to act upon that which we give it to act upon.”

As the nature of the cause governs the effect, so does thought precede and predetermine action. Each one must use this Law knowingly, consciously; otherwise we use it blindly--use it we must.

In our growth from primitive man to conscious man, there are three seeming divisions or sections. First, our growth through the savage or unconscious state; second, our growth through the intellectual and conscious growing state; and third, our growth into, and conscious recognition of, our conscious state.

We all know that the bulb must first send out roots before it can send out shoots, and it must send out shoots before it can come to blossom in the sunlight. It is just so with us, like the plant, we must first send out roots (our roots are our thoughts), before we can evolve from our primitive or animal bulb-like state into the intellectual and conscious growing state.

Next we, like the plant, must send forth shoots before we can evolve from a purely intellectual state of conscious growing, into a conscious state of conscious knowing; otherwise we would always remain only creatures of the law and never masters of the law.