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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 
 
SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL 
 ATTRACTION 
 
 A CONCEPTION OF UNITY 
 
 BY 
 
 / 
 
 EUGENE DEL MAR 
 
 • « «* • * • • w . j * v » « a * 
 
 DENVER, COLORADO 
 
 THE SMITH-BROOKS PRINTING CO. 
 
 1901 
 

 TVF I RRARY OF 
 
 4 Off £88, 
 Tw« Cuh£I hEceiveo 
 
 NOV, 10 190! 
 
 f^HT ENTRY 
 
 CLASS PL, xXa NO. 
 / °l c\ / ^ 
 
 cot 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1901 
 
 BY 
 
 EUGENE DEL MAR 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 PREFACE 5 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF ATTRACTION .— 19 
 
 THE MARVELS OF SCIENCE-THE PRINCIPLE 
 OF ATTRACTION-THE "PRINCIPLE OF REPUL- 
 SION"- SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS -INHER- 
 ENT REPULSION-MAGNETIC REPULSION - 
 THE MAGNET - MAGNETIZATION - THE "MAG- 
 NETIC CURRENT''- REVOLVING SPIRALS- 
 POLAR EXCRESCENCES-ANALOGIES-THE 
 FIELD OF FORCE-MOLECULAR ATTRACTION- 
 WHAT REPELS?-THE CHARACTERISTIC OF RE- 
 PULSION-APPEARANCE OF REPULSION - RE- 
 PULSION OR ATTRACTIONS-DOES A FIRE RE- 
 PELS-ACTION AND REACTION-NEGATIVES AND 
 NONENTITIES-LIFE AND DEATH-PARADOXES 
 -OPPOSITE S AND CONTRASTS-INNUMERABLE 
 CONTRASTS -CONCEPTIONS OF OPPOSITES- 
 UNITY AND DUALITY-CONSEQUENCES OF MEN- 
 TAL CONCEPTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTEK II. 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF ATTRACTION - 40 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE - ATTRACTION AND 
 EVOLUTION - THE PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE- 
 GROWTH-EVOLUTION -HARMONY WITH ENVI- 
 
Page 
 RONMENT-HAPPINESS-THE STRUGGLE FOR 
 LIFE-SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST-THE EVOLU 
 TION OF ENVIRONMENT -ATTRACTION AND 
 GROWTH-THE LAW OF LOVE-THE SPIRITUAL 
 AND MATERIAL -SOUL DEVELOPMENT -THE 
 ONE PRINCIPLE-THE ESSENTIALS OF GROWTH 
 -EXPRESSION NOT SPONTANEOUS-RECEIVING 
 AND GIVING -POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES - 
 GROWTH IS INEVITABLE -THE SIGNIFICANCE 
 OF ATTRACTION -PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL 
 CORRESPONDENCE -UNITY OF PRINCIPLE- 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY-MENTAL EX- 
 CHANGE -THE HUMAN MAGNET -THE BASIS 
 OF ATTRACTION -THE BENEFICENCE OF AT- 
 TRACTION-EXPERIENCES AND DIFFICULTIES- 
 FRIENDSHIPS-THE MUTUALITY OF HAR- 
 MONY-ETERNAL FRIENDSHIPS -TEMPORARY 
 FRIENDSHIPS-LOVE-THE MUTUALITY 
 OF ATTRACTION - KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL 
 LAWS-A LAW OF MUTUAL BENEFIT-MUTUAL 
 USE AND MUTUAL N E C E S S I T Y-IMMUTABLE 
 PRINCIPLE S-THE BENEFICENCE OF NATURE- 
 THE HIGHER HARMONIES-THE LINE OF LEAST 
 RESISTANCE. 
 
 REFERENCES AND AUTHORITIES 76 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The time seems peculiarly opportune for a pre- 
 sentation of the philosophy known as the New 
 Thought along such lines as will appeal not only to 
 the religious or philosophical mind, but equally to 
 the scientific and commercial. The widespread in- 
 terest that has been awakened along this line of 
 thought seems to demand such an explanation of 
 its underlying principles as will carry a conviction 
 of its necessary connection with and relation to 
 every condition of human life. 
 
 It has yet to be generally understood that the 
 truth of the conceptions of the New Thought may 
 readily be tested and demonstrated by material 
 methods. Nor has it come to be recognized that 
 this philosophy is founded upon such principles and 
 facts of Physical Science as are now universally ac- 
 cepted as expressions of the highest known truths. 
 
 The fundamental basis of this philosophy is the 
 conception of Unity, and this owes its newly ac- 
 quired vitality to the wonderful scientific progress 
 of the present age. The keynote to our knowledge 
 is seen to be the Continuity 1 which pervades the 
 Universe, a conception of which serves to unite, 
 combine and simplify all life and thought. In 
 every department of science Evolution is now recog- 
 nized as the only scientific explanation of change 
 and growth. 
 
6 Preface. 
 
 It is this principle of Unity that will alone 
 give any satisfactory explanation of the phenomena 
 of the material world; and, in our necessary con- 
 ception of the universality of all natural principles, 
 we are obliged to assume the identity of principle 
 underlying both what we call the Material or Phy- 
 sical and the Mental or Spiritual. These domains 
 are not governed by analogous principles, but by 
 the same One Principle, and it follows that our 
 knowledge of the one domain may be translated 
 into terms of the other. 2 
 
 The discovery of spiritual truths has usually 
 been attempted along distinctively spiritual lines, 
 and our knowledge of the "immaterial" has been de- 
 rived almost exclusively from introspective and in- 
 tuitional sources. There is another and comple- 
 mentary line of investigation, however, and sub- 
 jective and objective thought are as closely corre- 
 lated and mutually essential as are the deductive 
 and inductive methods of logic. 3 
 
 It is believed that, through the recognition of 
 identity of principle, we may arrive at mental or 
 spiritual conceptions from a consideration of ma- 
 terial or physical truths. We may come to an un- 
 derstanding of what must ever remain physically 
 unknown to us, through a comprehension of what 
 appeals distinctively to the physical. And, as each 
 presents but a different aspect of the One Principle, 
 we may build a clear conception of the Spiritual on 
 a foundation of Physical Truths. 4 
 
Preface. 7 
 
 The Man of Science is essentially the Man of 
 Religion; and, as Huxley says, science is but trained 
 and organized common sense. It has already trans- 
 formed the world, and there is a sense of solidity 
 about a Law of Nature that belongs to nothing else. 
 Each single Law is an instrument* of scientific re- 
 search, simple in its adjustments, universal in its 
 application and infallible in its results. Science 
 simplifies, while it infinitely ennobles and purifies, 
 our conception of God. 5 
 
 Nature is the true revelation or source of real 
 knowledge. As Forces of Nature are but different 
 forms of the One Omnipresent Divine Energy, Nat- 
 ural Law will enable us to read that great duplicate 
 which we call the "Unseen Universe," and to think 
 and live in fuller harmony with it. And, as Dresser 
 well says: "That man who, starting with Nature 
 as a great living fact, develops his philosophy di- 
 rect from that, and steers clear of all theological 
 basis, will do the world a great service." 6 
 
 The introduction of Law among the scattered 
 phenomena of Nature has made science, and trans- 
 formed knowledge into eternal truth. The religion 
 of the future, says Flammarion, after it has re- 
 ceived the same crystallizing touch, will be scien- 
 tific, and founded on a knowledge of psychical facts; 
 and it will have one great advantage over all that 
 have gone before it — Unity. 7 
 
 We may only reach the unknown, with any de- 
 gree of certainty, through an understanding of the 
 known. Not only is our knowledge of higher laws 
 
8 Preface. 
 
 necessarily limited by our understanding of the 
 lower; but we only know things by their effect, we 
 can only express spiritual laws in language bor- 
 rowed from the visible universe, and every attitude 
 of mind has advanced along material as well as 
 immaterial stepping-stones. 8 
 
 Science is only in part a thing of the senses, 
 for the roots of phenomena are embedded in a 
 region beyond the reach of the senses. And scien- 
 tific education should enable us to sense the invis- 
 ible as well as the visible in Nature. Without imag- 
 ination, says Tyndall, we can not take a step beyond 
 the bourne of the mere animal world, perhaps not 
 even to the edge of it. 9 
 
 In the present work, some of the identities of 
 Spiritual and Material principles will be deduced 
 from a consideration of the Principle of Attraction. 
 Only such fundamental and primary facts and prin- 
 ciples of Physical Science will be adduced, and 
 authorities cited, as are deemed essential to the pur- 
 pose at hand, but it is hoped that sufficient interest 
 may be aroused to induce further investigation by 
 the reader. 
 
 The discoveries and generalizations of modern 
 science, as Tyndall well says, constitute a poem 
 more sublime than has ever yet addressed the hu- 
 man imagination. The new conceptions of science 
 may, indeed, seem quite startling to many of us; 
 but history warns us that it is the customary fate 
 of new truths to begin as heresies and to end as 
 superstitions. 10 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF ATTRACTION. 
 
 THE MARVELS OF SCIENCE. 
 
 The study of science from the Conception of 
 Unity is vitally interesting and fascinating. At 
 every turn it brings to light curious and instructive 
 analogies and identities, and uncovers miracles of 
 combined simplicity and profundity. It inculcates 
 conceptions of intense beauty and grandeur. 
 Science should be the possession of the many. It 
 offers us greater marvels than the miracles of the- 
 ology, for the miracles of to-day become the science 
 of to-morrow. 11 
 
 As Leonide Keating well says: "No matter 
 how long a soul may exist, no matter how much 
 it may advance, no matter how much it may require 
 to satisfy its ambition for knowledge, and no mat- 
 ter what its power of transition may be, even if it 
 were a billion miles a second, the Universe is large 
 enough for its movements, grand enough for its 
 instruction, admiration and study, and intricate 
 enough in its unfoldment, to satisfy even an in- 
 finite soul." 12 
 
10 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF ATTRACTION. 
 
 The Principle of Attraction lies at the root of 
 all laws of nature. Each atom of the Universe has 
 an inherent attraction for every other atom, and 
 all things are forever in motion; while their rela- 
 tions to one another, at all times, are the result of 
 this universal principle. 13 
 
 "Universal attraction is a force by virtue of 
 which the material particles of all bodies tend in- 
 cessantly to approach each other;, it is a mutual 
 action, however, which all bodies, at rest or in 
 motion, exert upon one another, no matter how 
 great or how small the space between them may be, 
 or whether this space be occupied or unoccupied 
 by other matter." Consult any book of science of 
 the present day, and it will be found to assert the 
 universal attraction of all material bodies. 14 
 
 The attraction between any two bodies is the 
 resultant of the attraction of each molecule of the 
 one upon every molecule of the other. And as each 
 body tends to approach every other body, any two 
 bodies must approach each other unless prevented 
 from doing so by some external means. Masses of 
 matter on the surfaces of the earth have an attrac- 
 tion for or gravitate toward each other: but the at- 
 traction of the earth is at the same time so much 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 11 
 
 greater, that their attraction for each other is quite 
 insensible. 15 
 
 A molecule within the mass wishes to unite 
 with another to its right, but it wishes equally to 
 unite with another to its left; the one tendency neu- 
 tralizes the other and it unites with neither. And 
 the pull of the earth upon the mass is as nothing 
 compared with the mutual pull of its own atoms. 16 
 
 It is through a marvelous infinity of vibrations 
 that each thing attracts, and is attracted by, every 
 other thing. These vibrations are so universally 
 attuned that, in their wondrous diversity, they con- 
 stitute a Unity. A Universe governed by a Princi- 
 ple of Repulsion is inconceivable, for such a prin- 
 ciple — could it be imagined — would serve to bring 
 together things that had no affinity for one another. 
 It is quite as important that some things be kept 
 apart as that others be brought together, and both 
 of these functions are equally subserved through 
 universal attraction. 
 
 If it be a universal principle that each atom 
 in the Universe attracts every other atom, it would 
 indeed seem impossible to conceive of any particu- 
 lar atom or aggregation of atoms at the same time 
 repelling any other. It has been claimed, however, 
 that a Law of Repulsion is absolutely essential to 
 any well-ordered Universe, and that without it all 
 
12 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 things would come together and be welded into 
 one solid mass. 
 
 THE "PRINCIPLE OF REPULSION." 
 
 Who ever discovered a "Principle of Kepul- 
 sion? v Where is it defined and expounded? No 
 scientific work makes any definite presentation of 
 such a principle, nor do the text books even refer 
 to it. It is true that the word repulsion is often 
 made use of; but principles, and not words, are 
 what we are now considering. 
 
 That the manifestation of action ordinarily 
 termed repulsion exists, is beyond any doubt. The 
 condition that is so designated is an accepted fact, 
 while it is indisputable that similar poles of a mag- 
 net "repel" one another. It is not the phenomenon, 
 therefore, that is in any way questioned, but 
 whether this is the result of an assumed Principle 
 of Eepulsion. And what we are to determine is 
 whether the Principle of Attraction satisfactorily 
 accounts for all the phenomena of both attraction 
 and repulsion. 
 
 SEEMING CONTRADICTIONS. 
 
 There are, indeed, many seeming contradictions 
 to the conception of but One Principle. Our senses 
 deceive us at every turn. We see the sun, moon 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 13 
 
 and stars revolving round us; we feel that the earth 
 is motionless ; we see the sun rise above the horizon. 
 We touch what we think is a solid body; we hear 
 harmonious sounds; we admire the effects of light 
 and color; we speak of heat and cold. In fact, there 
 is no solid and no sound, no light and no color, no 
 heat and no cold; only motion. 17 
 
 There are many aspects of attraction that are 
 equally deceptive. But we know that two truths 
 can not be at variance; and if it were certain that 
 any one thing had the attribute of inherently re- 
 pelling any other thing, we would be obliged to 
 admit that a universal power of attraction is not a 
 truth. 
 
 INHERENT REPULSION? 
 
 The one question to be considered is whether 
 there is a Principle of Repulsion, by virtue of which 
 any one atom or aggregation of atoms contains that 
 quality or attribute which inherently repels or 
 pushes away another. If each thing attracts every 
 other thing, as the physical scientists hold, it is 
 manifest that it does not repel any. And if there 
 be no inherent Principle of Repulsion, it is equally 
 evident that all forms of energy, force and power 
 are merely different phases or characteristics of the 
 power of attraction. 
 
14 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 MAGNETIC REPULSION. 
 
 First and foremost among the seeming contra- 
 dictions to the existence of but One Principle are 
 the phenomena observable when the similar poles 
 of two magnets are brought into proximity. A force 
 is seen to be exerted between them, tending to sep- 
 arate them, and this is ordinarily explained by say- 
 ing that they "repel" each other. 18 
 
 THE MAGNET. 
 
 What happens, then, when iron is magnetized, 
 and in what form is the magnetic power exerted? 
 When a piece of iron is magnetized — by passing a 
 current of electricity around it — nothing at all is 
 added to, or taken from, the iron. The magnetic 
 power is inherent in the iron. The molecules of 
 iron — that is, the smallest particles of iron that can 
 be mentally conceived, so small that one hundred 
 thousand million million millions of them occupy 
 but a cubic inch of space — possess an inherent mag- 
 netic power, and naturally form themselves into 
 molecular rings, which satisfy their mutual attrac- 
 tions. 19 
 
 Pass a current of electricity through the iron, 
 and it will break up these molecular rings. It will 
 turn the like poles of all the molecules in one direc- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 15 
 
 tion. The electrical power exerted to unbend these 
 molecular rings is stored up in the molecules of 
 iron, just as is the power exerted to straighten out 
 a spring. The molecules of iron are no longer per- 
 mitted to be satisfied by their mutual attractions. 
 They are forcibly held apart, and they send their 
 currents of desire out to the molecules that simi- 
 larly attract them, by the most direct route left 
 open to them. 20 
 
 MAGNETIZATION. 
 
 When a body is magnetized, no change is made 
 in its weight and nothing of a material nature is 
 added to it. Magnetization consists in the rearrange- 
 ment or ordered arrangement of matter already ex- 
 isting in the body. When the magnetic substance is 
 not magnetized the molecular currents occupy such 
 positions that their total action on any external sub- 
 stance is nil. As soon as more molecular atoms set 
 in one certain direction than in another, the magnet 
 shows polarity. This polarity increases as one direc- 
 tion predominates, and it reaches a maximum when 
 all the molecular magnets are completely parallel. 21 
 
 THE "MAGNETIC CURRENT." 
 
 Emanating from the poles of the magnet, and 
 expressive of these molecular desires, are lines of 
 force or strings of whirls or vortices in the ether. 
 
1G Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 When the north pole of a magnet is looked at, the 
 direction of these whirls is opposite to that of the 
 hands of a watch; and when the south pole is looked 
 at, the direction is the same as that of the hands. 
 Like all rotating things, these whirls are acted upon 
 by forces tending to shorten them along the axis of 
 rotation, and widen them at right angles to the 
 axis. 22 
 
 If two magnets are arranged in line so that dis- 
 similar poles are in proximity, the whirls of both 
 magnets revolve in the same direction, and will com- 
 bine to form a single set of w T hirls; which becomes 
 narrower and draws the magnets together. If simi- 
 lar poles are in proximity, the whirls revolve in 
 opposite directions and are unable to combine, and 
 as the two sets of whirls become wider, the magnets 
 draw apart. 23 
 
 REVOLVING SPIRALS. 
 
 The action of the whirls may be likened to that 
 of two similar revolving spirals, which, if moving 
 in the same direction and pushed together from 
 opposite points will combine within the space occu- 
 pied by but one of them; moving in opposite direc- 
 tions, they will antagonize one another, and together 
 will occupy twice as much space as either will sepa- 
 rately. Under the former condition they come to- 
 gether, and under the latter, they remain apart. 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 17 
 
 POLAR EXCRESCENCES. 
 
 The strings of whirls or vortices in the ether 
 which emanate from the poles of the magnet form, 
 as it were, a constant excrescence or cushion to the 
 magnet, and possess definite form and intensity. To 
 push the two positive poles together until the mag- 
 nets press against each other, is like pressing to- 
 gether two rubber balls until the full circumference 
 of each is in complete contact. And the drawing 
 away of the two positive poles after they have been 
 forced together is no more a repulsion than would 
 be the drawing apart of the two rubber balls when, 
 after being forcibly pressed together, the pressure 
 is suddenly removed. 
 
 ANALOGIES. 
 
 If a hollow rubber ball be cut into hemispheres 
 and the convex side of each be placed in contact, 
 bringing together their full circumference by means 
 of pressure would exemplify the meeting of the two 
 similar poles of a magnet. Whereas placing the two 
 hemispheres together so that they fitted in close con- 
 tact, the convex side of the one being placed next 
 to the concave side of the other, would exemplify 
 bringing the dissimilar poles together. 
 
18 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 The magnet serves as a conduit for the electric 
 energy, but this no more "repels" than would a 
 stream of air or water from a pipe "repel" another 
 stream from a pipe set opposite to it. The two 
 streams might be directed toward each other too 
 violently for them to at once coalesce, but their 
 meeting and the consequent necessary transmuta- 
 tion of energy does not at all indicate inherent re- 
 pulsion or the existence of a principle of repulsion. 
 
 If currents of air or water are sent in the same 
 direction, say from south to north, through each of 
 two pipes, and the north end of one pipe is placed 
 next to the south end of the other; as the two cur- 
 rents travel in the same direction, they will unite 
 and flow through without antagonism. Here the 
 dissimilar poles of the magnets, as it were, are 
 brought together. 
 
 It will be found difficult, however, to place the 
 north end of one pipe next to the north end of the 
 other. The two streams of air or water, being di- 
 rected toward each other, necessitate the exertion 
 of force in order to bring the pipes together, just as 
 is required to bring the similar poles of magnets in 
 contact with each other. But when two things are 
 actively propelled toward each other, it is clear that 
 the result of their meeting does not follow from any 
 principle of repulsion. It is a consequence of pro- 
 pulsion or the active operation of attraction. 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 19 
 
 THE FIELD OF FORCE. 
 
 The masses of the iron of the magnet have no 
 more to do with the manifestation of repulsion than 
 have the pipes conveying the currents of air or 
 water that are propelled against one another. The 
 pipes do not repel one another; neither, in fact, do 
 the magnets. It is the antiquated nomenclature 
 alone that presents any special difficulty to a clear 
 understanding of this subject, and the terms "elec- 
 tric current/' and "attraction" and "repulsion" of 
 magnetic poles should properly be avoided. 24 
 
 All the processes with which we are concerned 
 take place essentially in the surrounding space. It 
 is the fields of force that repel one another, for the 
 masses of the magnets have no part in the mutual 
 action. It originates entirely in the lines of force 
 emanating from or converging to the poles, and its 
 essential basis is the state of stress in the surround- 
 ing medium; being the pressure across the lines of 
 force, and the tension along them. 25 
 
 MOLECULAR ATTRACTION. 
 
 The atoms of the iron so powerfully attract 
 one another, that their desire to meet is mani- 
 fested through a current of energy that continu- 
 ously reaches out from one end of the magnet to 
 
20 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 the other, and passing completely through it, is the 
 expression of an intensity of desire that is superior 
 to all others of its powers of attraction. 26 Except 
 in the case of specially hardened steel, this attrac- 
 tion is so great that as soon as the electric current 
 is no longer applied it again successfully asserts 
 itself; and the molecular atoms rearrange them- 
 selves in rings, and thus again satisfy their mutual 
 desires. 
 
 WHAT REPELS? 
 
 What is it that is supposed to "repel?" It is 
 not the iron, for we know that, until magnetized, 
 the iron possesses no such power. And one portion 
 of the same piece of iron is apparently attracted, 
 while another portion is seemingly repelled. We 
 know that we added nothing to the iron when we 
 magnetized it, and we know that the iron of itself 
 possesses only a power of attraction. We are, in- 
 deed, left with no alternative but to conclude that 
 the power of the magnet which seems to "repel," 
 can be no other than a form of the power of at- 
 traction. 
 
 That the magnet exercises no inherent power 
 of repulsion is strikingly demonstrated by the fact 
 that if there be placed across its two ends a piece 
 of iron — an "armature" or "keeper" — that in its 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 21 
 
 attractions will fully satisfy the molecular attrac- 
 tions of the atoms of the magnet, the latter will no 
 longer repel anything. 27 Their desires being thus 
 satisfied, the molecules have no further occasion to 
 disturb the ether with demands for conjunction 
 with their other affinities. And as they no longer 
 send out any intense current of desire all other 
 atoms are equally indifferent to them, and none of 
 them may feel that they are slighted or "repelled." 
 
 THE CHARACTERISTIC OF REPULSION. 
 
 As each atom attracts every other atom, the 
 mere attribute of attraction may not be regarded 
 as a distinctive characteristic of a magnet; but the 
 attribute of repulsion is. 28 Attraction is universal, 
 and is generally unaccompanied by evident repul- 
 sion ; while the latter may not exist by itself, but is 
 exclusively correlated to the intense forms of at- 
 traction. 
 
 Repulsion to any great extent is, in fact, only 
 attendant on an excessive degree of attraction, and 
 the greater the attraction, the more repulsion is 
 there capable of manifestation. When two bodies 
 are obliged to come together by reason of their 
 mutual attraction, all intervening bodies are neces- 
 sarily pushed out of the way and this result is evi- 
 denced in what is known as repulsion. 
 
22 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 The impossibility of a Principle of Repulsion, 
 or the existence of inherent repulsion in any atom 
 or body, may well be illustrated by an ordinary in- 
 stance of pulling and pushing. Standing at one end 
 of a rope at a distance from an object fastened to 
 the other end of it, you may pull the object toward 
 you, but you can not push it from you. You may 
 only push after you have come in contact with it, 
 and as a result of approaching it. And you ap- 
 proach it only as a result of the operation of at- 
 traction. And your pushing it then is the result of 
 a transference of energy on your part that has no 
 necessary relation to or suggestion of any Principle 
 of Repulsion. 
 
 APPEARANCE OF REPULSION. 
 
 The operation of the Principle of Attraction 
 must, it is true, evidence itself equally in the ap- 
 pearance of both attraction and repulsion. There 
 being no vacuum, and no possibility of any single 
 atom perishing or being destroyed, it is evident 
 that no two things can come together without, in- 
 cidentally, pushing other things apart. In appear- 
 ance, repulsion is, therefore, as inevitable as at- 
 traction. The result of the activity of attraction 
 must, in fact, always be dual and by way of con- 
 trast. For no one atom may contract unless an- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 23 
 
 other expand, none may expand unless another con- 
 tract; there can be no centrifugal movement with- 
 out a compensating centripetal one, no inside with- 
 out an outside, and no one extreme without another. 
 But the fundamental, primary, essential, and, in 
 fact, the Only Principle involved is that of Attrac- 
 tion. 
 
 The Principle of Attraction serves to bring to- 
 gether things that are distant from one another. 
 There is no principle operating to increase the dis- 
 tance between things already apart, and which are 
 not at the same time being brought together. This 
 is what would evidently happen were there a Prin- 
 ciple of Eepulsion. The appearance of repulsion 
 is manifested only after two things have approached 
 or been attracted toward each other, and it is the 
 direct result of this attraction. Eepulsion is, there- 
 fore, seen to be merely an incident of and inevitably 
 attendant upon any active operation of attraction. 
 
 It is certain that each atom attracts every 
 other atom, 29 and that the attraction of any ma- 
 terial body is an expression of the combined attrac- 
 tion of its atoms. And unless we are to disregard 
 all fundamental principles of science, the repulsion 
 of any material body must similarly be an expres- 
 sion of the combined repulsion of its atoms. But, 
 if every atom inherently and eternally attracts 
 every other atom, it is beyond the range of possi- 
 
24 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 bility for even a single atom to inherently repel an- 
 other. Nor is it within the power of science to 
 convert the attribute of attraction into that of its 
 supposed opposite, repulsion! Matter and energy 
 may, indeed, be induced to change form; but prin- 
 ciples are immutable! 
 
 REPULSION OR ATTRACTION? 
 
 When water is heated sufficiently, it assumes 
 the form of steam. As water it clings to the earth, 
 while as steam it moves away from it. Does the 
 earth repel it? Neither the earth nor the water 
 possesses any power of repulsion. The heat pos- 
 sesses only a power of attraction. The steam moves 
 away from the earth, not because either repels the 
 other, but because there are substances away from 
 the earth that attract the steam more than the 
 earth does. As J. Clerk Maxwell says: "No man 
 of science doubts that two portions of atmospheric 
 air attract each other." 30 The steam merely seeks its 
 affinities, and thus follows the line of least resist- 
 ance; and it leaves the hard, dense earth for realms 
 where its more ethereal qualities are better appre- 
 ciated. 
 
 Why do we avoid those who do not meet with 
 our approval? Do they or their thoughts inherently 
 repel us? No. We are more strongly attracted by 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 25 
 
 those in greater harmony with our own; that is all. 
 The lower forms continue to attract us, but we have 
 become more friendly to higher expressions of truth. 
 And this is clearly shown by the fact that the 
 thought or person attracting us inevitably loses in- 
 fluence, as soon as we establish greater harmony 
 with a better or a different thought atmosphere. 81 
 
 DOES A FIRE REPEL? 
 
 Why does one draw away from a hot fire? Does 
 the fire inherently repel him? No, indeed. At one 
 time he will with the same degree of pleasure draw 
 near that fire, as at another he will move away from 
 it. Does the fire have a power of attraction at one 
 moment, and a power of repulsion at another? Do 
 the properties of fire change from time to time? 
 
 One voluntarily moves from a fire, because at 
 the time and under the circumstances, his desire to 
 get away from it is greater than his desire to re- 
 main by it. It is merely a question of desire, which 
 is, indeed, a most potent form of attraction. It is 
 true that the fire attracts him, but it is equally true 
 that every other atom in the Universe attracts him. 
 And the fire is too infinitesimal a portion of all that 
 is, and has too little inherent attraction for him, to 
 overrule the desires of all other portions of the Uni- 
 verse, and particularly of his own desire. 
 
26 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 ACTION AND REACTION. 
 
 The axiom that action and reaction are equal 
 has its entire application to the transmutation of 
 the power of attraction, which is always conserved 
 and of which each form of energy is an exemplifica- 
 tion. If a stone is lifted from the earth through an 
 attraction stronger than that exerted by the earth, 
 it does not leave the earth because it is repelled by 
 the latter. And if the attraction that lifted the 
 stone is withdrawn, so that the stone falls to the 
 earth, it is not because of any repulsion by the 
 power that is withdrawn. In each instance it is the 
 power of attraction, and that alone, which is ex- 
 erted. As Maxwell says: "Action and reaction are 
 opposite aspects of one and the same stress. * * * 
 In some popular treatises the centripetal and cen- 
 trifugal forces are described as opposing and bal- 
 ancing each other. But they are only the different 
 aspects of the same stress." 32 
 
 NEGATIONS AND NONENTITIES. 
 
 That the Principle of Attraction has no oppo- 
 site is basic and fundamental. If there is a Principle 
 of Repulsion all conceptions of the Unity and Jus- 
 tice of the Universe are untenable, and all accepted 
 principles founded on these conceptions are abso- 
 lutely impossible. If there is a Principle of Repul- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 27 
 
 sion there is that which is not good at all, and may 
 never become good. If there is a Principle of Re- 
 pulsion there is Duality, and good and evil or God 
 and the Devil, are Divine Partners. If there is a 
 Principle of Repulsion there is entire absence of 
 life, and there is entire absence of truth. 
 
 But there is no absence of life; there is only life. 
 What is it that dies? Is it the imperishable soul, or 
 is it the equally imperishable matter? There is no 
 absence of truth. There is only truth; and each 
 form of life, and there is only life, is an individual 
 expression of truth. 
 
 There is a Principle of Health, but none of dis- 
 ease; which latter condition merely denotes a fall- 
 ing off in Health. Disease has no separate exist- 
 ence, nor is there a zero point between the two 
 where neither exists. There is no condition that is 
 entirely lacking in health, and which expresses only 
 disease. When the human system is in complete 
 order and harmony, it expresses the greatest inten- 
 sity of Health. As it is lacking in this degree of 
 accord does it express less health; and when this 
 harmony becomes so lessened that the condition 
 is evidenced by pain and apparent discord, it rep- 
 resents an undesirable or diseased condition of 
 Health. 
 
 Repulsion, evil, death and falsehood, as entities, 
 have no existence. These terms merely serve to put 
 
28 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 in contrast various degrees of the one thing. That 
 which possesses an inferior degree of attraction is 
 obliged to defer to the superior. The latter exerts 
 more influence than the former and draws towards 
 it, and away from the inferior, the object of their 
 mutual devotion. The latter does not push or repel 
 anything from it, but is pulling or attracting at its 
 best all the time. And this will at once be made 
 manifest whenever the superior force is no longer 
 exerted. 
 
 That which does not attract sufficiently to over- 
 come the active influence of other attractions, is 
 ordinarily regarded as repelling. Of two expres- 
 sions of good, that which is recognized as the lesser 
 is termed evil as compared with the greater, and 
 good as contrasted with a third and still lesser good. 
 That which experiences an apparent loss of what we 
 are accustomed to recognize as life, is called death, 
 to distinguish it from other forms of life. What is 
 less true than another truth is termed false. But 
 repulsion, evil, death and falsehood are simply ex- 
 pressive of comparatively undeveloped forms of at- 
 traction, of good, of life, and of truth. 
 
 LIFE AND DEATH. 
 
 If there be any death, it is constant and as ever- 
 existent as is life. Life expresses itself in continu- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 29 
 
 ous and never ceasing transformation. Each day, 
 each minute, each second — each instant — have we 
 changed and become different from what we were 
 the preceding one. It may, therefore, be said that 
 we cannot live without at the same time dying; that 
 we only live because, and as, we die. 
 
 The transformations of life are usually so 
 gradual as to lie beyond our conscious recognition. 
 But when the soul, in its development, makes what 
 seems to us to be a sudden change, we call the trans- 
 formation death. But so softly and harmoniously is 
 Nature attuned, that when we are more in conscious 
 harmony with it, we shall doubtless come to under- 
 stand that even death is as easy a transition as any 
 that takes place during what we call life; that it 
 constitutes a link in the chain of existence which 
 may not be distinguished from any other. 
 
 PARADOXES. 
 
 That there are no opposites and no Law of Re- 
 pulsion may also be gathered from the fact that the 
 grandest of all truths are expressed in the form of 
 paradoxes or seeming contradictions. 33 We are told 
 that we must live by dying; that we may best oppose 
 by non-resistance; that one should cultivate desire 
 
30 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 by killing it; that God is everywhere and nowhere. 
 This form of expression indicates that the seeming 
 opposites are merely two different views of exactly 
 the same thing, which are in fact so intimately re- 
 lated that their complete identity may be discerned 
 by all whose horizon of thought is sufficiently un- 
 obscured. 
 
 OPPOSITES AND CONTRASTS. 
 
 There are no two opposites in the entire Uni- 
 verse. There are innumerable shades and contrasts, 
 but there are no two things either exactly alike or 
 diametrically opposed. There are no two things 
 that are unrelated. All things are finally resolvable 
 into the same elements, and as they are thus trans- 
 latable one into the other, they must ever be in re- 
 lation, and may never be in opposition to one an- 
 other. 
 
 No substance is either perfectly black or per- 
 pectly white, and the difference between the high- 
 est known transparency and the highest known 
 opacity is one of degree only. Silence, darkness and 
 cold are not the opposites of sound, light and heat; 
 for we may produce silence by adding sound to 
 sound, we may obtain cold by combining heat with 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 31 
 
 heat, and we may cause darkness by mixing light 
 with light. 34 
 
 INNUMERABLE CONTRASTS! 
 
 There are innumerable contrasts, and these 
 may, for convenience sake, be designated by dis- 
 tinctive names. There are sides, colors, shades or 
 ends to all things. There is a North Pole and a 
 South Pole, an inside and an outside, a seen and an 
 unseen ; but these expressions merely serve to place 
 extremes in contrast. They are the names given 
 severally to two different qualities of but one quan- 
 tity. The two extremes are relative. They are not 
 separate entities, but are two parts or aspects of 
 the One Whole. 
 
 Good and evil, seen and unseen, mental and 
 physical, heat and cold, light and darkness, knowl- 
 edge and ignorance, are expressions of two relative 
 degrees, respectively, of the same thing. When 
 good is so developed as to possess high creative 
 qualities, we call it "good;" and until it reaches this 
 plane we call it "evil." The relation of good to evil, 
 however, is that of one good to another good. Un- 
 der varying conditions, the unseen becomes cogniz- 
 able to the senses, the mental is manifested in the 
 physical, heat becomes cold, light is termed dark- 
 ness, and knowledge is seen to be ignorance. 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 There is nothing in existence that has but one 
 side or one end, for, of necessity, there must be an- 
 other to complement it. A beginning assumes an 
 ending, and only that which never began will never 
 end. When we treat of any subject or thing, it is 
 necessary, in order that we may readily contrast 
 various portions of it, to give to each of such por- 
 tions a distinct and separate designation. 
 
 A traveler in London, going from the Bank of 
 England to Oxford Circus by the most direct route, 
 w r ould proceed along Poultry, Cheapside, Newgate, 
 Holborn, High Holborn, New Oxford Street and Ox- 
 ford Street; each and all parts of the very same thor- 
 oughfare, but each bearing a different name, which 
 serves to identify its situation in relation to the 
 others. 
 
 It is so with all things. It is essential that we 
 should hold contrasts in view, for it is only in this 
 way that we may differentiate between various de- 
 grees of the same thing. And we may only con- 
 veniently communicate our thoughts in reference to 
 such differentiation by giving a distinctive name to 
 each of such contrasts. Not only is it right, there- 
 fore, but it is inevitable that we should use some 
 such distinguishing words as inside and outside, up 
 and down, good and evil, seen and unseen, attrac- 
 tion and repulsion. 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 33 
 
 CONCEPTIONS OF OPPOSITES. 
 
 It is not the mere use of such words, however, 
 but the erroneous conceptions attached to and in- 
 spired by them, that is sought to be done away with. 
 The fact that such contrasting words only serve to 
 express different degrees of the same thing has been 
 lost sight of. Each portion has been invested with 
 the properties of a distinct entity, and their inti- 
 mate and necessary relation entirely hidden and ob- 
 scured. Theology has carefully fostered these er- 
 roneous conceptions with the view of enslaving the 
 mind; and it has so effectually accomplished its pur- 
 pose, that but few persons now have any desire to 
 free themselves, or even willingness to permit 
 others to help free them, from their servitude. 
 
 Were we to do away with such words as dis- 
 cord and evil, we should doubtless soon replace 
 them with others; but these would be expressive of 
 the meanings that the former were originally in- 
 tended to convey. The change would not be a mere 
 substitution of words, which of itself would be un- 
 important. But such words as discord and evil now 
 carry with them traditional, conventional and long- 
 accepted meanings; and these foster and tend to 
 perpetuate conceptions that retard our growth, dis- 
 turb our harmony, and cloud our happiness. 
 
34 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 We can not escape from pictures that we inces- 
 santly photograph on the mind, and this mental 
 photography of erroneous conceptions is exactly 
 what is ordinarily done when we use these words. 
 Nor can we readily avoid this result unless we cease 
 to use them. Instead of using the words evil and 
 discord, we may identify what we mean by them 
 with the words good and harmony. We may regard 
 evil only as undeveloped good, and discord as har- 
 mony not understood. We may come to know and 
 feel that there are only good and harmony; that 
 what we call repulsion is only one of the aspects of 
 attraction. 
 
 When these latter conceptions are so accepted 
 and absorbed as to completely fill our being, we may 
 without injury to ourselves attach these meanings 
 to any form of words we may prefer. But as long 
 as others attach erroneous conceptions to such 
 words as repulsion, evil and discord, it is advisable 
 for us either to cease using them, or only to do so 
 in such connections as will make them clearly ex- 
 pressive of the truth that All is One. 
 
 UNITY AND DUALITY. 
 
 When we consider the wondrous intricacies of 
 every expression of life, we can not but regard the 
 Universe as the most beautiful of all works of art, 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 35 
 
 the most consummate of all expressions of harmony, 
 the most elevated of all embodiments of love. And 
 when we contemplate the inimitable works of the 
 Infinite, we may not regard as the highest truth 
 any conception of life that is not at least worthy of 
 man himself. 
 
 Which, then, is the higher expression of love 
 and peace — the neutralizing of two discordant, con- 
 flicting and opposing forces, or the co-operative ef- 
 fect of infinitely numerous expressions of the One 
 Force, each willing to efface itself in favor of that 
 which carries with it the greater good? Which is 
 the more beautiful — that of two contending forces, 
 each struggling to subdue the other, or One Force 
 expressing itself in many ways, and ever manifest- 
 ing in the form most in accord with environment? 
 
 Which is the loftier conception — that of the 
 constant victory of the more violent of two battling 
 forces, or the inevitable and perpetual reign of the 
 most beneficial expression of the One Force? 
 Which is the more artistic — the overthrowing of 
 good by evil, or the loving competition between vari- 
 ous expressions of good? Which better accords 
 with a lofty wisdom — a Universe kept in order 
 through the ugly repulsions of evil, or one that 
 knows only good? Which conception most appeals 
 to the sense of justice — that of Universal Love 
 
36 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 which ever prevails, or that of Universal Love ever 
 imperiled by Universal Hate? Which conception 
 carries with it the greater harmony, peace, order, 
 beauty and wisdom; which conception savors of the 
 Infinite rather than the human — a Universe or a 
 Diverse? 
 
 CONSEQUENCES OF MENTAL CONCEPTIONS. 
 
 It is the conceptions attached to the words, and 
 not the words of themselves, that carry great conse- 
 quences. The conception of Unity brings with it 
 peace, harmony, love, health and life; that of Dual- 
 ity conduces to war, discord, hate, disease and 
 death. 
 
 The conception of Duality carries with it the 
 sense of opposition and contest. It makes life a con- 
 stant struggle. It finds enemies in all the forces of 
 Nature. It looks upon unpleasant experiences as 
 punishments and penalties. It makes a God of its 
 Devil. 
 
 The conception of Unity carries with it the 
 sense of serenity and peace. It makes life a con- 
 stant joy. It finds friends in all the forces of Na- 
 ture. It looks upon unpleasant experiences as inci- 
 dents of spiritual growth and guide-posts to greater 
 happiness. Good is its God, and it knows no Devil. 
 
 It is not a trifling matter to us, therefore, which 
 conception we foster; it is of the utmost importance. 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 37 
 
 It is a choice between health and disease, between 
 life and death. The conception of Unity is pro- 
 ductive of intensities of health and happiness that 
 are not attainable by those living the conception of 
 Duality. The creative power of the mental phy- 
 sician comes through his conception of Unity, while 
 his patients are those who are still laboring under 
 the conception of Duality. 
 
 The fact that Duality carries with it disease and 
 death, while Unity fosters health and life, uner- 
 ringly indicates the respective degrees of truth that 
 they embody. Life and health are ever proportioned 
 and in correspondence with truth; and the higher 
 the truths we express, the greater will be our 
 health and happiness. If Duality expressed a 
 greater degree of truth than Unity, it would carry 
 with it more happiness; for it is the higher truths 
 that correct, unite and heal ; and truth expresses its 
 highest forms in Oneness, Completeness, Unity. 
 
 We manifest more and more life as our thought 
 becomes clarified and reaches higher planes. This 
 is obtained with the greater facility as we use word 
 pictures that are clearly defined, and relieved of the 
 conceptions that became attached to them on lower 
 planes of thought. It is with words that we must 
 build our temple of thought, and if we are to make 
 it expressive of the higher truths, we may use such 
 
38 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 material only as has been carefully and intelligently 
 selected for the purpose in view. 
 
 We reach the more elevated and intensified 
 planes of harmony as we bring into conscious exist- 
 ence the unconscious harmonies of our being; and 
 we accomplish this as we live the conception of 
 Unity, and become more and more in unison with 
 the vibrations of universal attraction. As we be- 
 come the living conception of harmony, we express 
 only love, and find centred in ourselves an attrac 
 tion that draws to us the highest harmonies of ex- 
 istence. 
 
 \ 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 39 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF ATTRACTION. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE. 
 
 The Principle of Attraction serves to bring 
 things together. It is this universal tendency that 
 has resulted in the gradual development of all life, 
 from the simplest form to the most complex now 
 existing. This principle manifests in inorganic life 
 through growth by accretion or from without, and 
 in the organic by growth through assimilation or 
 from within. 35 
 
 ATTRACTION AND EVOLUTION. 
 
 The phenomena of inorganic life have come to 
 be regarded as evidences of Attraction, those of 
 organic life as results of Evolution. Joseph Le 
 Conte reminds us that the Law of Gravitation is 
 universal in infinite space, and the Law of Evolu- 
 tion universal in infinite time; the former imply- 
 ing universal sustenation, and the latter universal 
 creation, by law. 36 
 
 While he regards these conceptions as "the two 
 greatest ideas in the realm of thought/' it is evident 
 that they are but different aspects of the One Prin- 
 
40 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 eiple as viewed respectively from the standpoints 
 of space and of time. Haeckel recognizes this Unity 
 when he states that growth rests upon attraction; 
 while he regards growth as the fundamental func- 
 tion of evolution, and the first condition of develop- 
 ment. 37 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE. 
 
 The purpose of existence, then, is growth; and 
 this is evidenced by the attainment of conditions of 
 existence more complex and differentiated than 
 what were previously represented. It is an essen- 
 tial of organic growth, or growth from within, that 
 there be absorbed what is lacking and required for 
 the expression of a higher development. 38 This end 
 can only be subserved by attraction, for no two 
 things may come together unless there is a mutual 
 attraction; and only then can the one be appro- 
 priated by the other. 
 
 GROWTH. 
 
 That growth is the purpose of existence is beau- 
 tifully illustrated in the evolutionary history of life. 
 It evidences itself in the increasing complexities of 
 inorganic forms; and in the gradual development of 
 the organic from the simplest to the most complex 
 forms of the plant and animal kingdoms, and finally 
 in the advance from the lowest type of savage to the 
 highest of civilized man. We find it in the sue- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 41 
 
 cessive appearance of more differentiated forms of 
 life; not only generally in the plant and animal 
 kingdoms, but throughout all of their various sub- 
 kingdoms, classes, orders, families and species. 
 
 EVOLUTION. 
 
 There is no reason for the slightest hesitation 
 in accepting Evolution as the explanation of all 
 growth. It is merely the conception of a continuous 
 progressive change according to certain laws and by 
 means of resident forces. It is a Law of Continuity 
 or causal relation throughout Nature, the general 
 tendency of which is always onward and upward. 
 We know of no other method of growth. 39 
 
 Evolution is one thing and Materialism is quite 
 another. The former is an established Law of Na- 
 ture, and the latter an unwarranted and hasty in- 
 ference from that law. As a Law of Continuity, 
 Evolution is not only thoroughly established, but 
 it is a necessary truth, like the axioms of geometry. 
 And, as Le Conte assures us, it is far more certain 
 than even the law of gravitation. In fact, it is only 
 necessary to conceive it clearly, in order to accept 
 it unhesitatingly. 40 
 
 Creation by Evolution, says Le Conte, expresses 
 divine agency by natural processes. In the imper- 
 sonal authority of Law, says Drummond, we every- 
 where recognize the Authority of God ; and Hudson 
 
42 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 regards Evolution as God's method of creation. If 
 Nature is a revelation of God, says Drummond, it 
 is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and, be- 
 ing God's writing, it can only tell the truth. Says 
 Henry Wood, Evolution has done more to build 
 up an intelligent consciousness of the One Infinite 
 Intelligence, Goodness and Will, than all the dog- 
 matic formulas extant. 41 
 
 Evolution is a doctrine of unimaginable grand- 
 eur, says Drummond. It enters no region of the 
 temple of knowledge without transforming it. It 
 was reserved for Evolution to make the final reve- 
 lation of the Unity of the world, to comprehend 
 everything under one generalization, to explain 
 everything by one great end. No imagination of 
 man could have designed a spectacle so wonderful, 
 or worked out a plot at once so intricate and so 
 transcendently simple. 42 
 
 HARMONY WITH ENVIRONMENT. 
 
 Evolutionary growth from the simple to the 
 complex, or from the homogeneous to the hetero- 
 geneous, is evidenced by a progressive differentia- 
 tion of form and function. This increasing com- 
 plexity has enabled each succeeding organism ex- 
 pressive of a higher growth to become more re- 
 sponsive to its environment through the attain- 
 ment of a greater accord with the harmonies of its 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 43 
 
 surroundings. And, in the broadest sense, the en- 
 vironment of any form of life means all else that 
 is. 43 
 
 A living organism must be in vital connection 
 with its general surroundings. Life, as Herbert 
 Spencer tells us, "is the continuous adjustment of 
 internal relations to external relations"; and the 
 ascending expressions of life are denoted by the 
 higher degree and the greater number of these ad- 
 justments. All organisms, indeed, may be said to 
 be both living and dead; living in relation to all 
 that is within the circumference of their corre- 
 spondences, while dead to all else. 44 
 
 To die to any environment is simply to with- 
 draw correspondence with it. Without environ- 
 ment there can be no life, and growth implies a con- 
 stantly changing environment. In the organism 
 lies the principle of life, and in the environment the 
 conditions of life. And uninterrupted correspond- 
 ence with a perfect environment, as Drummond 
 says, is therefore Eternal Life, according to 
 science. 45 
 
 HAPPINESS. 
 
 This greater intimacy in the relation of life to 
 environment is always accompanied by a corre- 
 sponding ability to sense greater harmonies; so 
 that growth, as externalized through the senses, is 
 
44 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 translated into consciousness in the form of happi- 
 ness. Life, says Huxley, can not exist without a 
 certain conformity to the surrounding universe — 
 that conformity involves a certain amount of happi- 
 ness in excess of pain. 46 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 
 
 In the first instance, says Drummond, the 
 Struggle for Life is simply living itself; at the best, 
 it is living under a healthy, normal maximum of 
 pressure; at the worst, under an abnormal pressure. 
 What it really brings about is the maximum of life 
 and of the enjoyment of life, with the minimum of 
 suffering and pain. It is a first necessity of prog-^ 
 ress. 47 
 
 SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. 
 
 The purposes of the higher harmonies are ever 
 furthered by the lower ones through the Survival of 
 the Fittest. Those individual forms of life which 
 are best capable of expressing the higher harmonies 
 of their environment, will render all others subser- 
 vient to them. And this results in the physical sur- 
 vival of those best able to cultivate into expression 
 still higher conditions of growth, harmony and hap- 
 piness. By the law of the Survival of the Fittest, 
 Altruism is forced upon the world, says Drummond, 
 while there could be no more perfect law than that 
 which at the same moment eliminates the unfit and 
 establishes the fit. 48 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 45 
 
 THE EVOLUTION OF ENVIRONMENT. 
 
 The supreme factor of Evolution is environ- 
 ment. In organic evolution, says Le Conte, species 
 are transformed by environment. In human evolu- 
 tion, character is transformed by its own ideals. 
 Organic evolution is by necessary law, human evo- 
 lution by free law. In human evolution man modi- 
 fies the environment so as to make it conform to 
 his wants, and bring it into harmony with himself. 49 
 
 Complete harmony with any environment will 
 induce improved conditions and attract new and 
 more harmonious environments. Each breath 
 drawn and utilized to make one upward step, says 
 Drummond, brings man into relation with a frac- 
 tionally higher air, a fractionally different world. 
 The new energies he there receives are utilized, and 
 in virtue of them he rises to a third, and from a 
 third to a fourth. There is an ascending energy in 
 the Universe, and the whole moves on with one 
 mighty idea and anticipation. 50 
 
 ATTRACTION AND GROWTH. 
 
 The Principle of Attraction, as it operates 
 through infinite time, evidences itself in the form of 
 growth. The one fundamental and inevitable re- 
 sult of attraction — and therefore its purpose, so far 
 as we may predicate one — is the bringing together 
 
46 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 of things that have an affinity for each other, with 
 a resultant, eternally advancing growth of life. 
 
 Growth, as we have seen, is expressive of a 
 capacity for greater adjustment with environment, 
 and different planes of growth may be relatively 
 determined from their contrasting inherent capaci- 
 ties for higher conscious harmonies or happiness. 
 We find, therefore, that the Principle of Attrac- 
 tion, throughout its wondrous intricacies and infi- 
 nite varieties of form, is the expression of Infinite 
 Love and Wisdom. It affords every opportunity 
 whereby life may be attuned to higher harmonies 
 and the consciousness of greater intensities of hap- 
 piness. 
 
 THE LAW OF LOVE. 
 
 In its highest form of expression the Principle 
 of Attraction is manifested as Love. But it is the 
 One Universal Principle that equally governs the 
 seeming involuntary affinities of mineral and 
 vegetable substances, the passions of animals, and 
 the loves of men. The Evolution of Love, as Drum- 
 mond assures us, is a piece of pure science; and the 
 oldest and simplest form of love is the elective 
 affinity of two differing cells. Above all others is 
 the Law of Love, for Love is life, and all Love is 
 good. Progress being the object of Nature, and 
 Altruism the object of Progress, the Book of Evo- 
 lution is seen to be a love-story. 51 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 47 
 
 THE SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL. 
 
 The Principle of Attraction is based on men- 
 tal or spiritual, rather than on material or physical 
 properties. Each material or physical atom or form 
 is the manifestation and correspondence of an un- 
 derlying mental or spiritual one. All growth is 
 mental or spiritual, and evolution is primarily 
 metaphysical. It is progression in life — in ascend- 
 ing qualities of mind — and the visible form is 
 merely its physical manifestation. Life is invisible; 
 only its material expression may be seen by us. 32 
 
 The spiritual and the material world are in- 
 deed identical, and the conditions of life in the one 
 are the conditions of life in the other. The spir- 
 itual world is here and now. Spirit exists every- 
 where in Nature, and we know of no spirit outside 
 of Nature. The spirit of man is inseparably con- 
 nected with the material substance of his body. 
 
 Matter can never exist and act without spirit, 
 nor spirit without matter; and neither may be 
 separately conceived by the mind. And we know 
 as much of one as of the other. They are, says 
 Haeckel, the two fundamental and inseparable at- 
 tributes of the all-embracing divine essence of the 
 world, the Universal Substance. 53 
 
 Law in the Visible is the Invisible in the Vis- 
 ible, for all laws are primarily spiritual; while spir- 
 
48 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 itual and natural laws are the same laws. It is 
 not a question of analogy, but of identity; not par- 
 allel laws, but the same laws. 54 
 
 SOUL DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 We grow to consciously evidence more and 
 more of the unconscious harmonies of our being; 
 and evolutionary growth on the physical plane is 
 the material expression of soul development, or 
 character building. And character, says Tyndall, 
 is better than science and higher than intellect. The 
 spiritual and the physical are but different aspects 
 of the One Life, and their various forms are expres- 
 sive of contrasting phases of development. 55 
 
 Evolution does not denote progress in matter, 
 but in life, mind or soul. Matter is only an external, 
 temporary banner or signboard. The human soul 
 undergoes a continual development through the life 
 of the individual. Each step is a successive state of 
 internal character, and its visible form is only its 
 sensuous translation. Evolution is metaphysical; 
 and the life, mind or soul is alw T ays the cause and 
 not the result of organization. 56 
 
 Evolution, as Florence Huntley says, is progress 
 by intelligent affinities and not by physical compul- 
 sions. It moves according to certain immutable 
 spiritual principles, by way of vibratory correspond- 
 ences and ethical advantages. And the orderly and 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 49 
 
 sequential development of love under the spiritual 
 law of affinity constitutes the Harmonics of Evolu- 
 tion. 57 
 
 THE ONE PRINCIPLE. 
 
 The One Universal Principle manifests itself in 
 the attraction that each atom of the Universe has 
 for every other atom, in infinite degrees of varying 
 intensities. It is by virtue of combining and super- 
 ior attractions that things are brought together, and 
 of opposing and inferior attractions that they are 
 kept apart. The Principle of Attraction being of 
 universal application, and holding tributary to itself 
 all the other principles of nature, is the sole means 
 whereby the purpose of existence is subserved and 
 carried into effect. 58 
 
 THE ESSENTIALS OF GROWTH. 
 
 The purpose of life is growth. In order to grow 
 we must obtain that which is essential to the ex- 
 pression of growth; we must be provided with what 
 we lack and require. And as we may only grow 
 through acquisition, it is necessary that we be re- 
 ceptive. Each of us is at all times a complete 
 thought entity, and this completeness makes it pos- 
 sible for us to receive only as we give. Growth is 
 attained through an exchange of the old for the new, 
 of the good for the better; and, as growth is condi- 
 tional on reciprocal action, we may not obtain what 
 we lack if we tenaciously cling to what we have. 59 
 
50 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 EXPRESSION NOT SPONTANEOUS. 
 
 In the physical world it is clearly evident that 
 there is no spontaneous expression. However it 
 may be in the moral world, says P. G. Tait, in the 
 physical universe the giving and taking power of 
 one and the same body are strictly correlative and 
 equal. The emissive and absorptive power are equal 
 to one another. A gas or vapor absorbs those pre- 
 cise rays of light which it can itself emit, and all 
 bodies which show selective emission also show 
 selective absorption. 60 
 
 Living force can generate the same amount of 
 work as that expended in its production, and the 
 animal body does not differ from the steam engine 
 as regards the manner in which it obtains heat and 
 force. A tree which weighs several thousand pounds 
 has taken in every grain of its substance from its 
 environment; and, as Drummond says, a child does 
 not grow out of a child by spontaneous unfolding. 
 The process is fed from without. And if the phy- 
 sical is a counterpart of the spiritual it is evident 
 that the same Principle of Exchange must equally 
 prevail with both. 61 
 
 If we regard the soul as individualized Spirit, 
 possessing inherent potentiality for unlimited ex- 
 pression of growth, it is still necessary that there 
 be a stimulus to induce such expression, and that 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 51 
 
 it come from without. Otherwise, all physical life 
 might profitably be dispensed with, gradual un- 
 foldment would lack all necessary purpose, and 
 evolutionary growth would be a senseless waste of 
 time and effort. On the contrary, it is clear that 
 Nature is all imperatives, that it always takes the 
 quickest path, and follows the line of least resist- 
 ance. 62 
 
 GIVING AND RECEIVING. 
 
 As growth is attained through exchange, it is 
 essential to that end that each individual form, as 
 well as each atom, should possess the attributes or 
 capacities both of receiving and of giving. In the 
 thought forms ordinarily regarded as inanimate, the 
 material locations of the greatest development or 
 massing of the receiving and giving propensities, 
 may readily be discerned. And as would naturally 
 be expected, they evidence the greatest intensities of 
 these correlated attributes at points the most dis- 
 tant from one another. 
 
 These contrasting parts have come to be desig- 
 nated as their positive and negative poles. There 
 are no unipolar magnets. The positive pole is sim- 
 ply the point of departure or giving out; the nega- 
 tive, that of arrival, or taking in. The former is 
 a "source" and the latter a "sink." Without a nega- 
 tive there can be no positive; for, in the nature of 
 things, it is impossible to give mentally or spiritu- 
 
52 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 ally without at the same time receiving. Without 
 a positive there can be no negative; for we may not 
 be more than complete. Nothing, in fact, can either 
 be received or given mentally except by way of 
 substitution. And Involution is the counterpart of 
 Evolution. 63 
 
 POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES. 
 
 Positives and negatives, as such, do not attract 
 one another; but when atoms or thought forms are 
 mutually attracted, it is the positive of the one that 
 necessarily attracts the negative of the other. And 
 the degree of their attraction will depend upon how 
 much one may give or receive from the other. We 
 find this exemplified in the slight attraction that 
 widely different species of animals and races of 
 mankind have for one another, and generally in the 
 varying degrees of attraction that each individual- 
 ized expression of life has for other contrasting 
 forms. 
 
 GROWTH IS INEVITABLE. 
 
 As the One Purpose of Life is growth, this 
 purpose must be subserved by whatever is; and all 
 principles underlying existence must contribute to 
 give it effect. As the sole purpose of life, growth 
 is necessary and inevitable; and it is evidenced in 
 the capacity for greater harmonies, or higher in- 
 tensities of happiness. It is subserved equally by 
 pain and pleasure, disease and health, poverty and 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 53 
 
 affluence. Every experience must conduce to this 
 One Purpose of life, either by way of guiding us 
 along the paths of happiness or away from those 
 of misery. 
 
 We are compelled to ascend to higher planes 
 of life and greater intensities of happiness, whether 
 we would have it so or not. But it remains with us 
 to determine the manner of our growth, the rate of 
 our progress, and the degree of happiness that we 
 shall from time to time express as we are making 
 the journey of life. While we can not escape the 
 operation of universal principles, it entirely re- 
 mains with us to fashion our consciousness of the 
 happiness or harmony that we shall at any time 
 serve to manifest. All growth is the expression 
 of immutable principles, and the necessity of 
 growth is met in a most beautiful and effective 
 manner through the instrumentality of a Universal 
 Principle of Attraction. 
 
 On the lower planes of existence, before indi- 
 vidual characteristics have come to be developed, 
 the degree of attraction existing between different 
 forms may be accurately measured and expressed 
 in terms that are equally applicable to every sepa- 
 rate expression of any one form. But, as spiritual 
 growth advances and becomes more specialized, we 
 find it expressed in the forms of correspondences 
 commonly designated as life. It is here that the 
 
54 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 element of individuality comes into play, and a new 
 factor is introduced into the operation of attraction. 
 
 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ATTRACTION. 
 
 On the mental plane, as contrasted with the 
 physical, we find that like attracts like; that men- 
 tal vibrations respond only to the extent of their 
 harmony, that they attract each other only as they 
 are in vibratory correspondence. On the physical 
 plane, as contrasted with the mental, we find that 
 unlike attracts unlike; that the positive is most 
 attracted by the negative, the masculine by the 
 feminine, the light by the dark, the short by the 
 tall. 
 
 While it is true that like attracts like, it is 
 equally true that unlike attracts unlike. It is clear, 
 therefore, that the basis of the Principle of Attrac- 
 tion is not founded entirely either on the likeness 
 or the unlikeness of appearance or attributes. 
 These may severally be more than incidental; they 
 may ever remain in constant relation to the basic 
 truth, but there is evidently a deeper meaning and 
 significance to the universal Principle of Attrac- 
 tion. 
 
 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 The physical being a correspondence of the 
 mental or spiritual, all differences in the physical 
 are necessarily representative of spiritual differ- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 55 
 
 ences. It is not by accident or chance, therefore, 
 nor can it be without spiritual significance, that 
 persons are variously light and dark, tall and short, 
 large and small. These physical contrasts are but 
 tokens of spiritual conditions. A study of physi- 
 ognomy, phrenology or palmistry soon demonstrates 
 the truth of this conclusion. 
 
 Each line and curve of the body, each gesture, 
 each action, each shading of the voice, has a spir- 
 itual significance, and is indicative of character. 
 And, if physical contrasts have an attraction for 
 one another, it must be by virtue of an attraction 
 of contrasts in the spiritual. It can not be a phe- 
 nomenon of mere physical attraction, but is of 
 necessity the physical interpretation of some prin- 
 ciple of mental or spiritual attraction. 
 
 UNITY OF PRINCIPLE. 
 
 The fundamental basis of all Truth is the con- 
 ception of Unity. As All is One, and the Principle 
 of Attraction the One Principle of the Universe; 
 supposed opposites are seen to be but contrasts, 
 Oneness is found to underlie all apparent Duality, 
 and Completeness to be inherent in what outwardly 
 seems to be but fragmentary. While there must 
 always be at least two sides, this necessarily pre- 
 supposes a Oneness of which the sides are but differ- 
 ent portions and as the mental and physical are 
 
56 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 but different aspects of the One Substance we are 
 obliged to conclude that the same One Principle 
 that governs the physical, must likewise govern the 
 mental. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY. 
 
 Underlying the wondrous harmonies of the Uni- 
 verse, and the beautiful intricacies of creation, 
 ther^is seen to be a grand principle that makes for 
 equality. It is one of the attributes of the Princi- 
 ple of Attraction. Nature ever seeks the normal 
 and the line of least resistance, and there is a level- 
 ing process in constant and ever-active operation. 
 The attraction between persons of contrasting 
 physical appearance is a striking evidence of this 
 principle. 
 
 If like had attraction only for like in the physi- 
 cal, it would not be long before races only of giants 
 and pigmies, of negroes and albinoes, would be de- 
 veloped. 64 All peculiarities and eccentricities would 
 be unduly accentuated were it not that there is an 
 attraction between contrasts which serves to strike 
 a balance and maintain an equilibrium. 
 
 MENTAL EXCHANGE. 
 
 Our mental absorption or spiritual appropria- 
 tion from one another, is affected by way of vibra- 
 tory exchange, 65 through giving and receiving men- 
 tal vibrations. The degree of exchange that may 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 57 
 
 be effected bears intimate relation to our vibratory 
 correspondence, and the result is an actual absorp- 
 tion or appropriation. Each must both gain and 
 lose; and this result is expressed in an alteration 
 of the vibratory condition of each. For it is ob- 
 vious that no one can remain the same after he has 
 exchanged a part of what he has for something 
 different that he had not previously possessed. 
 
 THE HUMAN MAGNET. 
 
 Each person is a magnet, and necessarily has 
 both positive and negative attributes, and as re- 
 lated to one another, man represents the positive 
 and woman the negative qualities. 66 Aside from the 
 normal attraction between man and woman, the 
 greater individual attraction of each is for the other 
 who represents a similar condition of mental or 
 spiritual development. 
 
 As between those on the same spiritual plane, 
 the greatest attraction is for the one who possesses 
 in the highest degree what the other lacks and re- 
 quires for further growth. And, however great the 
 attraction, its intensity must lessen as each absorbs 
 what the other possesses that may be of use in the 
 attainment of a higher growth. 
 
58 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 THE BASIS OF HUMAN ATTRACTION. 
 
 The basis of the attraction of one person for 
 another lies in their unity in regard to Funda- 
 mentals; these being the conceptions of life and be- 
 ing that lie at the root of thought and action. What 
 keeps one person bound to another after they have 
 been brought together, is their diversity in respect 
 to Incidentals; these being the various peculiarities 
 of expression that result from individual and con- 
 trasting experiences. 
 
 As no two persons are identical, of any two 
 coming together, each must have at least something 
 that the other lacks and requires; and each must 
 possess some degree of attraction for the other. But 
 the highest degree of attraction exists between 
 those who are in entire accord as to Fundamentals, 
 and in complete contrast as to Incidentals. 
 
 Under such conditions, as each will absorb the 
 most readily from the other, the degree of attrac- 
 tion will have a waning tendency, unless each con- 
 tinually adds to the supply of what the other lacks 
 and is desirous of appropriating. And, when per- 
 sons gather from each other all that may be of 
 benefit to them, they cease to possess a degree of 
 attraction for each other sufficient to keep them 
 together, and each of them will inevitably be dis- 
 posed to turn to others who may better satisfy their 
 individual requirements. 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 59 
 
 The correspondence between the spiritual and 
 the physical is thus seen to be strikingly complete. 
 On both planes attraction serves to bring together 
 those who are fundamentally alike. On both planes 
 is there seen to be an attraction which gives oppor- 
 tunity for mutual use between incidental and ap- 
 parent contrasts. And these are kept together by 
 their desires, through the necessity of a mutual ap- 
 propriation of the qualities that are lacking in and 
 required by the one, and possessed by the other. 
 
 The growth of the individual atom or thought 
 form is thus brought about by the Principle of At- 
 traction, first, through the mutual attraction of like 
 for like, and the bringing together of individuals 
 each of which possesses what the other requires; 
 and afterward, by keeping them together until, 
 through the operation of their desires and by virtue 
 of the use that unlike has for unlike, each may ab- 
 sorb, by way of exchange, such of its requirements 
 as the other may possess. 
 
 THE BENEFICENCE OF ATTRACTION. 
 
 The Principle of Attraction operates to bring 
 to us only what may be to our advantage. We are 
 able to consciously control our conditions as we 
 come to sense the purpose of what we attract, and 
 are able to extract from each experience only what 
 we require for our further growth. Our ability to 
 
60 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 do this determines the degree of harmony or happi- 
 ness we will represent. 
 
 AY hen we possess this faculty to a high degree, 
 we may grow rapidly, and glide readily into planes 
 of thought where opportunities for greater intensi- 
 ties of happiness await us. It remains for us on 
 each successive plane to learn how to express the 
 greater harmonies that our higher growth has 
 placed within our reach, for it is only through ex- 
 pression that we may appropriate what is of use or 
 benefit to us on any given plane. 
 
 But no particular plane of spiritual growth is 
 necessary to a conception or expression of harmony. 
 Each plane has its own conception, and each indi- 
 vidual will come to a sense of poise and peace as he 
 more fully expresses all the harmonies of the plane 
 he occupies. When he has exhausted all the bene- 
 fits to be derived from that plane of spiritual 
 growth, he will at once enter a higher plane of 
 growth where greater intensities of happiness pre- 
 vail, and where new powers and opportunities will 
 respond to the new requirements. 
 
 The ability to absorb and appropriate what we 
 require for our growth, continually increases as we 
 reach higher and higher planes of spiritual exist- 
 ence. The higher the plane we occupy, the broader 
 is our spiritual vision; and the greater our ability 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 61 
 
 to know what we require, to attract it, to discern 
 its presence, and to absorb it. 
 
 We grow slowly, however, and may only ab- 
 sorb what is demanded by our immediate require- 
 ments. 67 That which is not approximately repre- 
 sentative of the spiritual plane we occupy, is not 
 available for our present use; and we are unable 
 to appropriate it. There is, therefore, but little 
 attraction between expressions of great spiritual 
 contrasts, for the lower is unable to absorb much 
 of what the higher has to offer, and the higher finds 
 little in the lower that it desires to appropriate. 
 The degree of benefit that one individual will re- 
 ceive from another is proportioned to the similarity 
 of their spiritual growth, while the absorption will 
 necessarily be limited to that which one lacks and 
 requires, of what the other possesses. 
 
 EXPERIENCES AND DIFFICULTIES. 
 
 Nothing may come to us except what we invite. 
 No two things can come together except to the 
 extent of their mutual attraction. We are mag- 
 nets, and we attract only what we have an affinity 
 for. Nothing may reach us except what is designed 
 to bring about our capacity for greater intensities 
 of happiness. We may consciously assist and fur- 
 ther this design, or we may retard and delay it; 
 but we can not prevent it. We may from any one 
 experience learn the spiritual lesson it was intended 
 
62 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 to convey, or we may make necessary many simi- 
 lar experiences. We may gather wisdom from ex- 
 perience rapidly and with ease, or we may do so 
 slowly and with difficulty. 
 
 All conditions and experiences that come to us, 
 do so for our benefit. They offer us opportunities 
 for the attainment of a higher spiritual growth, 
 through our extraction and appropriation of the wis- 
 dom that is of their essence. Difficulties and ob- 
 stacles come to us as we need them, that we may 
 gather from them the essentials of our further 
 growth ; and until we absorb their wisdom they will 
 continue to return. 
 
 We grow only as we conquer difficulties, and 
 we gain permanent strength to the extent of the 
 effort necessary to overcome them. That we reap 
 what we sow, is true to mathematical exactness. 
 And it is for our benefit and advantage that we are 
 spurred on to the attainment of mastery, of freedom, 
 and of greater happiness. 
 
 FRIENDSHIPS. 
 
 Our friendships are dependent upon and meas- 
 ured by mental unity. Those whom we mentally 
 attract to us are our friends, and they come in re- 
 sponse to requirements of our growth. If we after- 
 wards lose them it is because this mutuality has 
 come to an end, and our thought forces no longer 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 63 
 
 conform. They have lost the harmony that is neces- 
 sary to effectively resist the greater attractions of 
 other mentalities. 
 
 As friendship is an expression of harmony, it 
 must terminate when that condition ceases, and its 
 growth will synchronize with it. There is, indeed, 
 a natural and automatic process governing the lives 
 of friendships — their birth, maturity, and death — 
 and these are in constant correspondence with the 
 mutuality of mental conditions. 
 
 When friends draw apart, we may know that 
 their usefulness to one another has come to an end. 
 They have parted for their mutual benefit; for it is 
 use — and use alone, as we have seen — that deter- 
 mines the permanence of friendships. Not material 
 use, but the requirements of our mental or spiritual 
 progress. Friends draw apart in order that each 
 may form other friendships of which they are in 
 greater need. 
 
 THE MUTUALITY OF HARMONY. 
 
 No one may be in harmony with another beyond 
 the extent that the other is in harmony with him. 
 No one can give to another more than that other is 
 able to receive. In order to assimilate each must 
 equally harmonize with the other, so that the ex- 
 tent to which others have lost accord with us, is 
 measured by the diminished sympathy we have for 
 them. 
 
64 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 Our higher growth demands more strengthen- 
 ing nourishment than what was before required. 
 Mental as well as physical maturity calls for a diet 
 different from that of its infancy; and if we are to 
 progressively develop, our environments must alter 
 to correspond with our changing needs. Friendships 
 form one of the most important elements of our sur- 
 roundings, and unless there is a mutuality of de- 
 velopment, our growth demands that we recognize 
 the fact of separation. 
 
 When friends have lost harmonious accord, it is 
 the result of a natural tendency on the part of each 
 to gravitate toward what has for him a greater at- 
 traction; and this may be resisted only at the ex- 
 pense of individual progress. Moreover, as friend- 
 ships automatically terminate when we cease to be 
 in agreement with our friends, it is unwise, as well 
 as unsafe, to depend upon supports that may at any 
 moment be withdrawn. 
 
 ETERNAL FRIENDSHIPS. 
 
 It is neither necessary nor desirable, however, 
 that friendships should terminate. They may con- 
 tinue ever to express more beautiful forms of har- 
 money. And as our friendships are what make life 
 beautiful, they should be most carefully cultivated. 
 But, if they do cease, it were well to recognize the 
 fact; recognition being an essential element of 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 65 
 
 growth. When we refuse to acknowledge the truth 
 we shall gradually become blinded to it. 
 
 While we may have thoughts only of kindness 
 for all, our accord with another is measured by the 
 response. Our own beauty of expression may tend 
 to promote similar manifestations in others, but it 
 is actual mutality of vibration that constitutes 
 friendship. It is impossible for us to be in harmony 
 with what is not in harmony with us. 
 
 TEMPORARY FRIENDSHIPS. 
 
 When a friendship ceases, let us accept the situ- 
 ation and understand its significance. It may fall 
 away as the dead leaf drops from the tree. When 
 the flower fades and droops it ceases to be cherished. 
 When the flower of friendship becomes to us but as 
 the leaf of acquaintance, it has lost its fragrance, 
 which may henceforth be to us but as a beautiful 
 memory. Should harmony be re-established, a 
 friendship that has ceased may again take on all the 
 beauty of life. But it will be a new friendship, just 
 as the leaves and flowers of each successive season, 
 though similar in form and from the same stock, 
 are essentially original expressions of life. 
 
 We may long cherish, and with great delight, 
 the memory of friendships that have ceased to exist. 
 It were well, indeed, that we should each retain the 
 most pleasant recollections of those who have come 
 
66 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 into our life at different times, and afforded us the 
 advantage of conscious harmonies that perhaps con- 
 stituted the greater part of our happiness. But 
 friendship, as we know it, consists in our conscious- 
 ness of harmony with another; and as friendships 
 are dependent in part upon vibrations of others that 
 are not entirely within our command, we have only 
 a partial control over them. 
 
 We only constitute one of two necessary fac- 
 tors, and existing friendships may come to an end 
 quite regardless of our individual desires concern- 
 ing them. We do not keep a friendship alive through 
 mere belief in a mutuality of vibration that does not 
 exist. It is of the utmost importance that we should 
 be able to sense these vibratory correspondences, 
 and we may do this to increasing advantage as we 
 seek and associate only with what appeals to our 
 highest conceptions of the truth. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 In outward appearance there would seem to be 
 exceptions to the mutuality of attraction, but in 
 reality there are none. No person cvn love another 
 without that love being reciprocated; for love is 
 harmony, and is expressive of a relation and a cor- 
 respondence. But persons differ greatly, and what 
 fully satisfies one may have but a slight attraction 
 for another. We are always satisfied by the highest 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction, 67 
 
 degree of love we are at the time capable of; but 
 if the recipient of our love has developed a greater 
 love capacity — or, in other words, has attained a 
 higher plane of harmony, or loftier spiritual concep- 
 tions — our love will only partly meet the latter's re- 
 quirements, and cannot give complete satisfaction. 
 We may fill a pint measure to overflowing from 
 a quart vessel, but the latter has a capacity that 
 the former may not possibly satisfy. The quart 
 measure of love cannot satisfy its full nature with 
 a harmony that appeals only to one-half of it — and 
 the lower half at that! 
 
 THE MUTUALITY OF ATTRACTION. 
 
 We know that the action of two bodies upon 
 each other is always equal; that the attraction of 
 the iron for the magnet must be equal to that of the 
 magnet for the iron; and that the stone and the 
 earth attract each other equally. The attraction of 
 the earth fully satisfies the stone, which clings 
 closely to it. The earth willingly responds and rela- 
 tively to the extent of its mass; but the poor stone 
 would be sadly disappointed did it expect the earth 
 to meet it half way. The moon revolves around the 
 earth for the same reason that the latter encircles 
 the sun; but if the moon had the greatest attraction 
 it would reverse the position of affairs, and would 
 
68 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 take the sun and earth from their other admirers 
 and compel them all to follow in its train. 68 
 
 The inexorable requirements of growth demand 
 that we exert the greatest degree of attraction for 
 what is most completely in accord with us. It is 
 true that attraction is always mutual, but any de- 
 gree of love or harmony bears a different relation 
 to its total development in each individual; and it 
 is this relation that determines the proportionate re- 
 sponses. It is only when our whole nature is ap- 
 pealed to that we may fully respond. 
 
 KNOWLEDGE OF NATURAL LAWS. 
 
 This conception of the Purpose of Attraction 
 is expounded with a view of disclosing the under- 
 lying motive governing human life, and from which 
 it is impossible to escape. It is offered primarily 
 as an explanation of life, as it is, rather than a 
 suggestion of how it should be conducted. It is 
 believed, however, that the higher degrees of hap- 
 piness will be best attained through our understand- 
 ing of, and conscious co-operation with natural laws. 
 There are, in fact, no other laws. 
 
 It is proposed to strengthen and prolong friend- 
 ships. There is not the slightest thought of suggest- 
 ing the advisability of curtailing them; but to guide 
 our lives to advantage it is necessary to possess a 
 knowledge of the principles that govern friendship 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 69 
 
 and love, that we may best conserve the harmonies 
 that constitute life's greatest pleasures and delights. 
 It is our ignorance of the cause and purpose of these 
 harmonies that at times makes it difficult, if not 
 impossible, for us to insure their continuance. 
 
 The social relations of husband and wife, and 
 parent and child, are affected by considerations that 
 do not enter into the ordinary friendships of life. 
 These ties should be given every possible considera- 
 tion, and their social necessity be fully recognized. 
 These relations carry with them certain legal and 
 conventional duties which should no more be lightly 
 discarded than assumed. 
 
 The mere lessening in the degree of sympathy 
 or harmony in a family, does not warrant its dis- 
 ruption, and the disregard of legal and moral obli- 
 gations. In all such matters justice, and policy, and 
 common sense, are important factors to be consid- 
 ered. But even here a knowledge of natural laws 
 is one of the necessary guides to what conduct on 
 our part may be the most advisable and expedient 
 for all concerned. 
 
 A LAW OF MUTUAL BENEFIT. 
 
 The One Principle of existence is that of At- 
 traction, the basis of which is the use that each 
 atom and form has for others in promoting its in- 
 dividual growth; 69 and through the instrumentality 
 of the Principle of Attraction only what we require 
 
70 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 is brought to us. Nothing may come to us but what 
 we have a use or necessity for, so that what we re- 
 ceive is exactly what we require and are entitled to. 
 It is, therefore, the opportunity for growth, and the 
 desire and necessity of appropriating what one 
 lacks and needs for that purpose, that lies at the 
 basis of attraction. The Principle of Attraction 
 operates to bring together what may be of mutual 
 benefit. 
 
 MUTUAL USE AND MUTUAL NECESSITY. 
 
 This conception of the Principle of Attraction 
 as a Law of Use and Necessity is regarded as an 
 exalted and beautiful one. It is a Law of Mutual 
 Use and Mutual Necessity. We only receive as we 
 give; we may only give to those who can receive; 
 we only attract what we may be of use to, and what 
 may be of use to us. We can not grow at another's 
 expense, nor another at ours. Each must pay for 
 what he receives, and we only receive as we pay. 
 We must receive, and we must pay at some time 
 and in some manner, for we can not avoid ultimate 
 growth. P>ut it remains with us to determine our 
 rate of growth, and the degree of harmony or hap- 
 piness that we shall from time to time express. 
 
 There is no individual selfishness or disregard 
 for the rights or happiness of others involved in 
 this conception of a Law of Mutual Use and Mutual 
 Necessity. It permits us to grow only through oth- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 71 
 
 ers, as they do through us. We live equally for the 
 benefit of ourselves and others. A Law of Mutual 
 Use is a conception of the highest Altruism. It is 
 of its essence that the greatest regard for the Self 
 is involved in the greatest regard for others. It 
 means that as every atom is forever conserved, and 
 in both its spiritual and material aspects, whatever 
 is parted with must inevitably be received some- 
 where. It can not perish, and it only exists for use. 
 It can go only where it is attracted, and therefore 
 required. It is only required where it may be of 
 benefit. 
 
 IMMUTABLE PRINCIPLES. 
 
 We are, indeed, in the loving care of principles 
 that are immutable, and that are designed solely 
 for our benefit and advantage. Nor can we escape 
 from their operation. It is in our power to place 
 ourselves in conscious harmony with them, and 
 thus express a life of comparative peace and happi- 
 ness; or we may put ourselves in opposition to the 
 inevitable, with necessarily unpleasant results. We 
 each determine our conscious relation to all that is. 
 We express the exact degree of happiness that we 
 have earned. 
 
 INHARMONIES. 
 
 All of our inharmonies are the result of inter- 
 ruptions in the rhythmic flow of the dual process 
 of growth. The outgoing and incoming currents 
 
72 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 have gotten out of balance. We are either refusing 
 to give out what we no longer need, or preventing 
 the acceptance of what we require. 
 
 Our disturbance usually arises from our refusal 
 to give as freely as we are able to receive, or our 
 unwillingness to pay for what we have already ob- 
 tained. It is only when we give freely and wisely 
 that we may, with the least friction or resistance, 
 obtain what the requirements of our growth de- 
 mand ; and in order to express health and happiness 
 it is essential that we freely give. 
 
 THE BENEFICENCE OF NATURE. 
 
 Nature is entirely beneficent in its operation. 
 It necessitates our growth and our attainment of 
 higher conscious harmonies; 70 and we can not but 
 attract what will subserve this purpose. Affinities 
 are brought together that they may be of mutual 
 benefit. They are compelled to come together be- 
 cause they inevitably move along the line of least 
 resistance, which is always that of the greatest at- 
 traction. And as the advantages of an environment 
 are exhausted, a new one is attracted, the benefits 
 of which, in turn, may be absorbed. And this pro- 
 cess is unceasing and eternal. 
 
 We may freely choose what we shall think and 
 act, but the result of our thought or action is gov- 
 erned by immutable law. We progress as we ex- 
 
Spiritual and Material Attraction. 73 
 
 tract from our environment the essentials of our 
 growth, and we are able to do this as we come to 
 better understand what we require and how to ap- 
 propriate it. And this ability is attained as we 
 more clearly comprehend the Principles of Nature 
 and more faithfully live in accord with them. 
 
 THE HIGHER HARMONIES. 
 
 When we vitally understand the Unity and 
 Beneficence of Nature — of God, of the Universe — 
 we express an intensity of love that attracts the 
 higher harmonies, and confers a happiness that 
 may not otherwise be acquired. We gladly accept 
 all experiences; for we know that they are exactly 
 what we have attracted and require, and that they 
 are designed solely for our advantage. 
 
 We cheerfully meet all obstacles and difficul- 
 ties; for we recognize their educational necessity, 
 and know that we may extract from them the essen- 
 tials of our spiritual development. We give as 
 freely as we receive, knowing that the return will 
 always be exactly what we are entitled to. 
 
 As we live we are paid for living, says Huxley. 
 The ledger of the Almighty is strictly kept, and 
 every one of us has the balance of his operations 
 paid over at the end of every minute of his exist- 
 ence. And, as Drummond says, every day is a reck- 
 oning day. All are judged by Nature now. 71 
 
74 Spiritual and Material Attraction. 
 
 THE LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE. 
 
 As we live in increasing conscious agreement 
 with our environment, do we more readily express 
 the higher harmonies of existence. Our inner life 
 is deep and full in proportion to the extent of our 
 conscious harmonies with other lives and things. 72 
 And our continual ascent to the higher planes of 
 spiritual growth meets with the minimum of oppo- 
 sition, for we proceed along the path of love and 
 peace — the Line of Least Resistance. 
 
 In the words of Sir Edwin Arnold's "Light of 
 Asia:" 
 
 Such is the Law which moves to righteousness, 
 Which none at last can turn aside or stay; 
 
 The heart of it is Love, the end of it 
 
 Is Peace and Consummation sweet. Obey! 
 
References and Authorities. 75 
 
 REFERENCES AND AUTHORITIES. 
 
 ^enry Drummond, Natural Law in the Spiritual 
 World, N. Y. 1883, p. 37. 
 
 2 The best reasoning ever yet discovered by man is 
 analogy. It stands at the very threshold of scientific in- 
 quiry, and is indispensable. Leonide Keating, Man and the 
 Mystic Universe, Phila. 1901, p. 164. 
 
 s Ernst Haeckel, The Riddle of the Universe, N. Y. and 
 London 1901, pp. 18, 19, 96. 
 
 *id. p. 306; The Evolution of Man, N. Y. and London 
 1896, 2 vols., i, 97. 
 
 5 Haeckel, Riddle, p. 345; Thomas H. Huxley, Life and 
 Letters, by Leonard Huxley, N. Y. 1900, 2 vols., ii, 14; Ca- 
 mille Flammarion, The Unknown, N. Y. and London 1900, 
 p. v; Keating, p. 184; Drummond, Natural Law, pp. xxiii, 4; 
 Joseph LeConte, Evolution, N. Y. 1898, p. 347. 
 
 6 Drummond, The Ascent of Man, N. Y. 1894, p. 199; 
 Haeckel, Riddle, p. 306; Haeckel, Evolution, i, 97; LeConte, 
 p. 318; Drummond, Natural Law, pp. 55, 57; H. W. Dresser, 
 The Higher Law, Sept. 1900. 
 
 7 Drummond, Natural Law, pp. ix, xviii, 30, 31, 237; 
 Flammarion, p. xii. The various parts and processes of 
 Nature are as definitely related to each other as are the 
 organs and processes of the living body itself. John Tyn- 
 dall, Heat, a Mode of Motion, N. Y. 1883, p. 2. 
 
 8 Drummond, Natural Law, pp. 51, 52; Tyndall, Light 
 and Electricity, N. Y. 1895, p. 123; Tyndall, The Forms of 
 Water, N. Y. 1885, p. 12; Edward L. Nichols and William S. 
 Franklin, Elements of Physics, N. Y. and London 1898, 3 
 vols., i, 25; Sydney Lupton, Notes on Observations, London 
 1898, p. 3; La Forest Potter, Psychology of Health and Hap- 
 piness, Boston 1897, p. 132. 
 
76 References and Authorities. 
 
 •Tyndall, Light, London 1885, pp. 42, 73, 91, 208; 
 Sound, N. Y. 1895, p. 35; Heat, p. 110; Water, p. 34; Keating, 
 p. 33; Flammarion, p. 12; LeConte, pp. 81, 333; Thomas J. 
 Hudson, The Divine Pedigree of Man, Chicago 1899, p. 181; 
 Huxley, Life, i, 521. 
 
 10 Tyndall, Heat, p. 535; Huxley, Life, ii, 12. 
 
 "See Huxley, Life, i, 313, ii, 13, 120, 172, 297, 298, 336, 
 396. 
 
 "Keating, p. 166. 
 
 13 J. Clerk Maxwell, Matter and Motion, N. Y. 1892, pp. 
 46, 47; Ganot, Elements of Physics, London 1893, p. 3. 
 
 "Ganot, p. 55; Tyndall, Water, p. 30; Maxwell, p. 203; 
 Haeckel, Riddle, p. 224. 
 
 "Ganot, p. 55; Tyndall, Light and Electricity, p. 142; 
 Silas W. Holman, Matter, Energy, Force and Motion, N. Y. 
 
 1899, p. 28; John Johnston, Manual of Natural Philosophy, 
 Phila. 1860, p. 27. 
 
 "Tyndall, Light, p. 100; Heat, pp. 56, 118, 185, 192, 544; 
 see H. Ebert, Magnetic Fields of Force, N. Y. 1897, p. 78. 
 
 "Flammarion, p. 11. 
 
 18 The magnetic field is the sphere of action of the mag- 
 net. Ganot, pp. 665, 688. 
 
 "Keating, p. 39; Nichols, ii, 188; Elisha Gray, Nature's 
 Miracles, N. Y. 1900, 3 vols., iii, 25, 26; A. E. Dolbear, Matter, 
 Ether and Motion, Boston 1892, p. 203; J. A. Ewing, Mag- 
 netic Induction in Iron and Other Metals, N. Y. and London 
 
 1900, pp. 294, 352; Maxwell, p. 155; Ganot, p. 688; Ebert, 
 i, 117. 
 
 "Gray, iii, 27; Ebert, i, 138. 
 
 "Gray, iii, 27; Ebert, i, 20, 117; Dolbear, p. 203; Ganot, 
 pp. 670, 672, 880; Tyndall, Light and Electricity, pp. 136, 
 137; Ewing, p. 295. 
 
 "Ebert, i, 47, 145, 188, 257; Ganot, p. 881; Nichols, ii, 
 18, 32, 176. 
 
 "Ebert, i, 46; Nichols, ii, 17. 
 
 "Ebert, i, 41, 45, 47, 200; Gray, iii, 53. 
 
References and Authorities. 77 
 
 "Ebert, i, 41, 45, 200; Nichols, ii, 20, 32, 177; Dolbear, 
 pp. 196, 205. 
 
 "Gray, iii, 41, 53; Ebert, i, 130, 134, 156; Ewing, p. 263. 
 
 - 7 Gray, iii, 31. 
 
 ,8 Ganot, p. 670; Tyndall, Light and Electricity, p. 146; 
 Ebert, i, 123. 
 
 "Ganot, p. 55; Tyndall, Light and Electricity, p. 142. 
 
 "Maxwell, p. 220; Tyndall, Heat, p. 211; Water, p. 19. 
 
 "See Maxwell, p. 71; Ebert, i, 146; Tyndall, Light, p. 
 60: 
 
 "Matter and Motion, pp. 54, 77, 140, 172. 
 
 "So called paradoxes are merely facts as yet unex- 
 plained. P. G. Tait, Heat, London 1884, p. 6. 
 
 "Nichols, ii, 140; Tyndall, Light, pp. 31, 35, 57, 154; 
 Sound, pp. 369, 383; Heat, pp. 484, 485, 490, 491; Light and 
 Electricity, p. 88. 
 
 "LeConte, Evolution, N. Y. 1898, p. 53; Haeckel, Evolu- 
 tion, i, 156. 
 
 86 LeConte, pp. 48, 49. 
 
 87 id. p. 282; Haeckel, Evolution, i, 155, 156, ii, 457. 
 
 "Evolution is not to unfold from within; it is to infold 
 from without. Drummond, Ascent of Man, p. 324. 
 
 "Haeckel, Evolution, i, 167; LeConte, pp. 8, 15, 16, 53, 
 348; Drummond, Ascent of Man, p. 334. 
 
 "LeConte, pp. 66, 275, 286. 
 
 "id. pp. 56, 292; Drummond, Natural Law, pp. xxiii; 
 Ascent of Man, p. 333; Hudson, Divine Pedigree, p. 36; 
 Henry Wood, Studies in the Thought World, p. 200. 
 
 "Drummond, Ascent of Man, pp. 2, 3, 4, 37, 44, 154, 321, 
 329. 
 
 "id. p. 325, 327; Natural Law, p. 153. 
 
 "id. p. 324; Natural Law, pp. 146, 147, 155. 
 
 "Drummond, Natural Law, pp. 181, 215, 261, 264; Tyn- 
 dall, Light and Electricity, p. 68; Haeckel, Evolution, ii, 7; 
 Potter, p. 154. 
 
 LofC. 
 
78 References and Authorities. 
 
 "Huxley, Life, i, 236. 
 
 "Drummond, Ascent of Man, pp. 201, 205, 208; Riddle, 
 p. 271. 
 
 "Drummond, Ascent of Man, pp. 209, 265. 
 
 "id. pp. 198, 324; LeConte, pp. 89, 248, 363. 
 
 "Drummond, Ascent of Man, pp. 326, 340, 341. 
 
 "Florence Huntley, Harmonics of Evolution, p. 382; 
 Drummond, Ascent of Man, pp. 216, 218, 231, 263; Natural 
 Law, p. 5; Haeckel, Evolution, ii, 394; Riddle, p. 224. 
 
 "Drummond, Ascent of Man, p. 328; Natural Law, pp. 
 53, 92. 
 
 63 Drummond, Natural Law, pp. 56 (quoting Descartes 
 and Huxley), 157, 256; Haeckel, Evolution, ii, 455, 456 
 (quoting Goethe), 457; Riddle, pp. 13, 21, 216, 223, 242, 254; 
 LeConte, pp. 35, 312, 358. (All is mind or none. Everything 
 is immortal or none); Flammarion, p. xi; Huxley, Life, i, 
 262; Henry Wood, God's Image in Man, p. 72; Maxwell, pp. 
 165, 168; Holman, p. 159; Potter, pp. 22, 146. 
 
 "Drummond, Natural Law, pp. 11, 55; Haeckel, Riddle, 
 p. 349. 
 
 M LeConte, pp. 361, 372; Tyndall, Light, p. 210; Haeckel, 
 Riddle, pp. 105, 108. 
 
 C6 Drummond, Ascent of Man, p. 335; Haeckel, Riddle, 
 p. 132; Henry Wood, God's Image in Man, p. 232; Studies in 
 the Thought World, pp. 22, 129, 187. 
 
 ^Harmonics of Evolution, pp. 168, 178, 288. 
 
 M See LeConte, pp. 49, 282. 
 
 69 See Drummond, Ascent of Man, pp. 159, 190, 240, 325, 
 326. 
 
 C0 O. G. Tait, Heat, London 1884, pp. 4, 205, 250, 256; 
 Tyndall, Light and Electricity, p. 78; Water, p. 8; Heat, pp. 
 243, 283; Light, pp. 168, 174; Helmholtz, pp. 221, 228; 
 Nichols, iii, 136, 138, 173. 
 
 ei Helmholtz, Interaction of Natural Forces, N. Y. 1879, 
 pp. 218, 238; Tyndall, Heat, pp. 83, 546; Drummond, Ascent 
 of Man, p. 330. 
 
References and Authorities. 79 
 
 ^Hudson, Divine Pedigree, p. 262; Drummond, Ascent 
 of Man, pp. 275, 277; Haeckel, Evolution, i, 17. 
 
 ^Ganot, p. 668; Johnston, p. 323; Ebert, i, 48 (quoting 
 Maxwell), 127. 
 
 "See LeConte, p. 243. 
 
 "Flammarion, pp. 236, 237. 
 
 W H. Durville, Theory and Practice of Human Magnet- 
 ism, Chicago 1900, pp. 39 et seq; see LeConte, p. 248; Keat- 
 ing, p. 40. 
 
 67 See note 14; Keating, p. 67. 
 
 ^Ganot, pp. 23, 56; Lupton, p. 29; Nichols, i, 28; John- 
 ston, pp. 28, 38, 39; Tait, p. 13; Maxwell, pp. 77, 81, 142. 
 
 69 See Florence Huntley, pp. 226, 238, 243, 297, 436. 
 
 70 LeConte, pp. 367, 368, 372, 373, 374; Drummond, As- 
 cent of Man, pp. 190, 192, 193, 197, 200, 279. 
 
 n Huxley, Life, i, 236; Drummond, Natural Law, p. 115. 
 
 "Drummond, Ascent of Man, p. 42. 
 
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