“It must be noted that the term ‘a point of the universe’ which I have used, has a quite definite meaning, namely, a ‘point’ represents a certain combination of HYDROGENS which is organized in a definite place and fulfills a definite function in one or another system. The concept ‘point’ cannot be replaced by the concept ‘hydrogen’ because ‘hydrogen’ means simply matter not limited in space. A point is always limited in space. At the same time, a ‘point of the universe’ can be designated by the number of the ‘hydrogen’ which predominates in it or is central in it. Fragments: Nine

“Twelve ‘HYDROGENS’ are obtained with densities ranging from 6 to 12288. (See Table 1.) Fragments: Nine

“These twelve ‘HYDROGENS’ represent twelve categories of matter contained in the universe from the Absolute to the moon, and if it were possible to establish exactly which of these matters constitute man’s organism and act in it, this alone would determine what place man occupies in the world. Fragments: Nine

“But at the place where we are situated, within the limits of our ordinary powers and capacities ‘hydrogen’ 6 is irresolvable; we can take it therefore as ‘hydrogen’ 1; the next ‘hydrogen’ 12 as ‘hydrogen’ 6. Reducing all the HYDROGENS that follow by 2 we obtain a scale from ‘hydrogen’ 1 to ‘hydrogen’ 6144. (See Table 2.) Fragments: Nine

“All matters from ‘hydrogen’ 6 to ‘hydrogen’ 3072 are to be found and play a part in the human organism. Each of these ‘HYDROGENS’ includes a very large group of chemical substances known to us, linked together by some function in connection with our organism. In other words, it must not be forgotten that the term ‘hydrogen’ has a very wide meaning. Any simple element is a ‘hydrogen’ of a certain density, but any combination of elements which possesses a definite function, either in the world or in the human organism, is also a ‘hydrogen.’ Fragments: Nine

“Altogether in examining the ‘table of HYDROGENS,’ it must always be remembered that each ‘hydrogen’ of this table includes an enormous number of different substances connected together by one and the same function in our organism and representing a definite ‘cosmic group.’ Fragments: Nine

“In addition it is possible to point out in the table of atomic weights elements which correspond to certain HYDROGENS, that is, elements whose atomic weights stand almost in the correct octave ratio to one another. Thus ‘hydrogen’ 24 corresponds to fluorine, Fl., atomic weight 19; ‘hydrogen’ 48 corresponds to Chlorine, CL., atomic weight 35.5; ‘hydrogen’ 96 corresponds to Bromine, Br., atomic weight 80; and ‘hydrogen’ 192 corresponds to Iodine, I., atomic weight 127. The atomic weights of these elements stand almost in the ratio of an octave to one another, in other words, the atomic weight of one of them is almost twice as much as the atomic weight of another. The slight inexactitude, that is, the incomplete octave relationship, is brought about by the fact that ordinary chemistry does not take into consideration all the properties of a substance, namely, it does not take into consideration ‘cosmic properties.’ The chemistry of which we speak here studies matter on a different basis from ordinary chemistry and takes into consideration not only the chemical and physical, but also the psychic and cosmic properties of matter. Fragments: Nine

“The ‘table of HYDROGENS’ makes it possible to examine all substances making up man’s organism from the point of view of their relation to different planes of the universe. And as every function of man is a result of the action of definite substances, and as each substance is connected with a definite plane in the universe, this fact enables us to establish the relation between man’s functions and the planes of the universe.” Fragments: Nine

I ought to say at this point that the “three octaves of radiations” and the “table of HYDROGENS” derived from them were a stumbling block to us for a long time. The fundamental and the most essential principle of the transition of the triads and the structure of matter I understood only later, and I will speak of it in its proper place. Fragments: Nine

Upon me personally the “table of HYDROGENS” produced a very strong impression which, later on, was to become still stronger. I felt in this “ladder reaching from earth to heaven” something very like the sensations of the world which came to me several years before during my strange experiments when I felt so strongly the connectedness, the wholeness, and the “mathematicalness” of everything in the world.1 This lecture, with different variations, was repeated many times, that is, either in connection with the explanation of the “ray of creation” or in connection with the explanation of the law of octaves. But in spite of the strange sensation it gave to me I was far from giving it its proper value the first times I heard it. And above all, I did not understand at once that these ideas are much more difficult to assimilate and are much deeper in their content than they appeared from their simple exposition. Fragments: Nine

I was thinking just of certain deductions from the ‘table of HYDROGENS,’ chiefly about one inconsistency in this diagram as compared with another of which we heard later. My question referred to HYDROGENS below the normal level. Later on I will explain exactly what it was I asked and what, long afterwards, G. answered­ Fragments: Nine

After the ‘HYDROGENS’ G. at once went further. “We want to ‘do,’ but” (he began the next lecture) “in everything we do we are tied and limited by the amount of energy produced by our organism. Every function, every state, every action, every thought, every emotion, requires a certain definite energy, a certain definite substance. Fragments: Nine

“The work of the factory consists in transforming one kind of matter into another, namely, the coarser matters, in the cosmic sense, into finer ones. The factory receives, as raw material from the outer world, a number of coarse ‘HYDROGENS’ and transforms them into finer HYDROGENS by means of a whole series of complicated alchemical processes. But in the ordinary conditions of life the production by the human factory of the finer ‘HYDROGENS,’ in which, from the point of view of the possibility of higher states of consciousness and the work of higher centers, we are particularly interested, is insufficient and they are all wasted on the existence of the factory itself. If we could succeed in bringing the production up to its possible maximum we should then begin to save the fine ‘HYDROGENS.’ Then the whole of the body, all the tissues, all the cells, would become saturated with these fine ‘HYDROGENS’ which would gradually settle in them, crystallizing in a special way. This crystallization of the fine ‘HYDROGENS’ would gradually bring the whole organism onto a higher level, onto a higher plane of being. Fragments: Nine

” ‘Learn to separate the fine from the coarse’ — this principle from the ‘Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus’ refers to the work of the human factory, and if a man learns to ‘separate the fine from the coarse,’ that is, if he brings the production of the fine ‘HYDROGENS’ to its possible maximum, he will by this very fact create for himself the possibility of an inner growth which can be brought about by no other means. Inner growth, the growth of the inner bodies of man, the astral, the mental, and so on, is a material process completely analogous to the growth of the physical body. In order to grow, a child must have good food, his organism must be in a healthy condition to prepare from this food the material necessary for the growth of the tissues. The same thing is necessary for the growth of the ‘astral body’; out of the various kinds of food entering it, the organism must produce the substances necessary for the growth of the ‘astral body.’ Moreover, the ‘astral body’ requires for its growth the same substances as those necessary to maintain the physical body, only in much greater quantities. If the physical organism begins to produce a sufficient quantity of these fine substances and the ‘astral body’ within it becomes formed, this astral organism will require for its maintenance less of these substances than it required during its growth. The surplus from these substances can then be used for the formation and growth of the ‘mental body’ which will grow with the help of the same substances that feed the ‘astral body,’ but of course the growth of the ‘mental body’ will require more of these substances than the growth and feeding of the ‘astral body.’ The surplus of the substances left over from the feeding of the ‘mental body’ will go to the growth of the fourth body. But in all cases the surplus will have to be very large. All the fine substances necessary for the growth and feeding of the higher bodies must be produced within the physical organism, and the physical organism is able to produce them provided the human factory is working properly and economically. Fragments: Nine

the air inhaled by different people is exactly the same, the air exhaled is quite different. Let us suppose that the air we breathe is composed of twenty different elements unknown to our science. A certain number of these elements are absorbed by every man when he breathes. Let us suppose that five of these elements are always absorbed. Consequently the air exhaled by every man is composed of fifteen elements; five of them have gone to feeding the organism. But some people exhale not fifteen but only ten elements, that is to say, they absorb five elements more. These five elements are higher ‘HYDROGENS.’ These higher ‘HYDROGENS’ are present in every small particle of air ‘we inhale. By inhaling air we introduce these higher ‘HYDROGENS’ into ourselves, but if our organism does not know how to extract them out of the particles of air, and retain them, they are exhaled back into the air. If the organism is able to extract and retain them, they remain in it. In this way we all breathe the same air but we extract different substances from it. Some extract more, others less. Fragments: Nine

“In order to understand the analogy between man, the human organism, and the universe, let us take the world as we did before in the form of three octaves from the Absolute to the sun, from the sun to the earth, and from the earth to the moon. Each of these three octaves lacks a semitone between fa and mi and in each octave the place of this missing semitone is taken by a certain kind of ‘shock’ which is created artificially at the given point. If we now begin to look for an analogy between the three-story factory and the three octaves of the universe, we ought to realize that the three ‘additional shocks’ in the three octaves of the universe correspond to the three kinds of food entering the human organism. The ‘shock’ in the lower octave corresponds to physical food; this ‘shock’ is do 768 of the cosmic three-story factory. The ‘shock’ in the middle octave corresponds to air. It is do 192 of the cosmic factory. The ‘shock’ in the upper octave corresponds to impressions; it is do 48 of the cosmic factory. In the inner work of this cosmic three-story factory all three kinds of food undergo the same transformation as in the human factory, on the same plan and in accordance with the same laws. A further study of the analogy between man and the universe is possible only after an exact study of the human machine and after the respective ‘places’ of each of the ‘HYDROGENS’ in our organism has been established exactly. This means that to proceed with any further study we must find the exact purpose of each ‘hydrogen,’ that is to say, each ‘hydrogen’ must be defined chemically, psychologically, physiologically, and anatomically, in other words, its functions, its place in the human organism, and, if possible, the peculiar sensations connected with it must be defined. Fragments: Nine

“The first stage refers to the work of the human organism as it has been created by nature, that is to say, to the life and functions of man number one, number two, and number three. The first octave, that is, the octave of food, develops in a normal way to mi 192. At this point it automatically receives a ‘shock’ from the beginning of the second octave, and its development goes on consecutively to si 12. The second octave, that is, the air octave, begins with do 192 and develops to mi 48 where it stops. The third octave, that is, the octave of impressions, begins with do 48 and stops there. Thus seven notes of the first octave, three notes of the second, and one note of the third octave represent a complete picture of the work of the ‘human factory’ in its first or natural stage. Nature has provided only one ‘shock,’ that is, the ‘shock’ received from the entrance of the second octave which helps mi of the first octave to pass to fa. But nature did not foresee and did not provide for the second ‘shock,’ that is, the ‘shock’ that would help the development of the third octave and thereby enable mi of the second octave to pass to fa. A man must create this ‘shock’ by his own personal efforts if he desires to increase the output of the fine HYDROGENS in his organism. Fragments: Nine

“The effort which creates this ‘shock’ must consist in work on the emotions, in the transformation and transmutation of the emotions. This transmutation of the emotions will then help the transmutation of si 12 in the human organism. No serious growth, that is, no growth of higher bodies within the organism, is possible without this transmutation. The idea of this transmutation was known to many ancient teachings as well as to some comparatively recent ones, such as the alchemy of the Middle Ages. But the alchemists spoke of this transmutation in the allegorical forms of the transformation of base metals into precious ones. In reality, however, they meant the transformation of coarse ‘HYDROGENS’ into finer ones in the human organism, chiefly of the transformation of mi 12. If this transformation is attained, a man can be said to have ‘achieved what he was striving for, and it can also be said that, until this transformation is attained, all results attained by a man can be lost because they are not fixed in him in any way; moreover, they are attained only in the spheres of thought and emotion. Real, objective results can be obtained only after the transmutation of mi 12 has begun. Fragments: Nine

“The third stage in the work of the human organism begins when man creates in himself a conscious second volitional ‘shock’ at the point mi 12, when the transformation or transmutation of these ‘HYDROGENS’ into higher ‘HYDROGENS’ begins in him. The second stage and the beginning of the third stage refer to the life and functions of man number four. A fairly considerable period of. transmutation and crystallization is needed for the transition of man number four to the level of man number five. Fragments: Nine

“When the ‘table of HYDROGENS’ has been sufficiently understood, it shows immediately many new features in the work of the human machine, establishing clearly before anything else the reasons for the differences between the centers and their respective functions. Fragments: Nine

“The centers of the human machine work with different ‘HYDROGENS.’ This constitutes their chief difference. The center working with a coarser, heavier, denser ‘hydrogen’ works the slower. The center working with light, more mobile ‘hydrogen’ works the quicker. Fragments: Nine

The thinking or intellectual center is the slowest of all the three centers we have examined up to now. It works with ‘hydrogen’ 48 (according to the third scale of the ‘table of HYDROGENS’). Fragments: Nine

“If we consider the work of the human machine from the point of view of the ‘HYDROGENS’ which work the centers, we shall see why the higher centers cannot be connected with the lower ones. Fragments: Nine

“What is necessary to understand and what the ‘table of HYDROGENS’ helps us to grasp, is the idea of the complete materiality of all the psychic, intellectual, emotional, volitional, and other inner processes, including the most exalted poetic inspirations, religious ecstasies, and mystical revelations. Fragments: Nine

“But this is only one aspect of it. Another aspect consists in the fact that, when the energy of the sex center is plundered by the other centers and spent on useless work, it has nothing left for itself and has to steal the energy of other centers which is much lower and coarser than its own. And yet the sex center is very .important for the general activity, and particularly for the inner growth of the organism, because, working with ‘hydrogen’ 12, it can receive a very fine food of impressions, such as none of the ordinary centers can receive. The fine food of impressions is very important for the manufacture of the higher ‘HYDROGENS.’ But when the sex center works with energy that is not its own, that is, with the comparatively low ‘HYDROGENS’ 48 and 24, its impressions become much coarser and it ceases to play the role in the organism which it could play. At the same time union with, and the use of its energy by, the thinking center creates far too great an imagination on the subject of sex, and in addition a tendency to be satisfied with this imagination. Union with the emotional center creates sentimentality or, on the contrary, jealousy, cruelty. This is again a picture of the ‘abuse of sex.’” Fragments: Twelve

During the period of my stay in Moscow G.’s pupils had explained to me various laws relating to man and the world; among others they showed me again the “table of HYDROGENS,” as we called it in St. Petersburg, but in a considerably expanded form. Namely, besides the three scales of “HYDROGENS” which G. had worked out for us before, they had taken the reduction further and had made in all twelve scales. (See Table 4.) Fragments: Thirteen

But I was unable to grasp the principle on the basis of which it would be possible to determine exactly when to make use of such a scale. P. showed me a table made up to the fifth scale and relating to parallel levels in different worlds. But I got nothing from it. I began to think whether it was not possible to unite all these various scales with the various cosmoses. And having dwelt on this thought I went in an absolutely wrong direction because the cosmoses of course had no relation whatever to the division of the scale. It seemed to me at the same time that I had in general ceased to understand anything in the “three octaves of radiations” from which the first scale of “HYDROGENS” was deduced. The principal stumbling block here was the relation of the three forces 1, 2, 3 and 1, 3, 2 and the relations between “carbon,” “oxygen,” and “nitrogen.” Fragments: Thirteen

G. returned to the enneagram many times and in various connections. “Each completed whole, each cosmos, each organism, each plant, is an enneagram,” he said. “But not each of these enneagrams has an inner triangle. The inner triangle stands for the presence of higher elements, according to the scale of ‘HYDROGENS,’ in a given organism. This inner triangle is possessed by such plants, for example, as hemp, poppy, hops, tea, coffee, tobacco, and many other plants which play a definite role in the life of man. The study of these plants can reveal much for us in regard to the enneagram. Fragments: Fourteen

“So far,” he said, “we have looked upon the ‘table of HYDROGENS’ as a table of vibrations and of the densities of matter which are in an inverse proportion to them. We must now realize that the density of vibrations and the density of matter express many other properties of matter. For instance, till now we have said nothing about the intelligence or the consciousness of matter. Meanwhile the speed of vibrations of a matter shows the degree of intelligence of the given matter. You must remember that there is nothing dead or inanimate in nature. Everything in its own way is alive, everything in its own way is intelligent and conscious. Only this consciousness and intelligence is expressed in a different way on different levels of being — that is, on different scales. But you must understand once and for all that nothing is dead or inanimate in nature, there are simply different degrees of animation and different scales. Fragments: Sixteen

“The ‘table of HYDROGENS,’ while serving to determine the density of matter and the speed of vibrations, serves at the same time to determine the degree of intelligence and consciousness because the degree of consciousness corresponds to the degree of density or the speed or vibrations. This means that the denser the matter the less conscious it is, the less intelligent. And the denser the vibrations, the more conscious and the more intelligent the matter. Fragments: Sixteen

“In determining the degree of density of matter the ‘table of HYDROGENS’ also determines by this the degree of intelligence. This means that in making comparisons between the matters which occupy different places in the ‘table of HYDROGENS,’ we determine not only their density but also their intelligence. And not only can we say how many times this or that ‘hydrogen’ is denser or lighter than another, but we can say how many times one ‘hydrogen’ is more intelligent than another. Fragments: Sixteen

“The application of the ‘table of HYDROGENS’ for the determination of the different properties of things and of living creatures which consist of many ‘HYDROGENS’ is based on the principle that in each living creature and in each thing there is one definite ‘hydrogen’ which is the center of gravity; it is, so to speak, the ‘average hydrogen’ of all the ‘HYDROGENS’ constituting the given creature or thing. To find this ‘average hydrogen’ we will, to begin with, speak about living creatures. First of all it is neces­sary to know the level of being of the creature in question. The level of being is primarily determined by the number of stories in the given machine. So far we have spoken only about man. And we have taken man as a three-story structure. We cannot speak about animals and man at one and the same time because animals differ in a radical way from man. The highest animals we know consist of two stories and the lowest of only one story.” “A man consists of three stories. “A sheep consists of two stories. “A worm consists of only one story. “At the same time the lower and middle stories of a man are, so to speak, equivalent to the sheep, and the lower story — to the worm. So that it can be said that a man consists of a man, a sheep, and a worm, and that a sheep consists of a sheep and a worm. Man is a complex creature; the level of his being is determined by the level of being of the creatures of which he is composed. The sheep and the worm may play a bigger or a smaller part in man. Thus the worm plays the chief part in man number one; in man number two — the sheep; and in man number three — man. But these definitions are important only in individual cases. In a general sense ‘man’ is determined by the center of gravity of the middle story. Fragments: Sixteen

“If you remember the diagram of the four bodies of man which has been previously given and in which the ‘average HYDROGENS’ of the upper story were shown, it will be easier for you to understand what I am now saying.” Fragments: Sixteen

“But, as I have already said, to determine the level of being by the ‘table of HYDROGENS’ it is usual to take the middle story. “With this as a point of departure it is possible for example to solve such problems: “Let us suppose Jesus Christ to be man number eight, how many times is Jesus Christ more intelligent than a table? “A table has no stories. It lies wholly between ‘hydrogen’ 1536 and ‘hydrogen’ 3072 according to the third scale of the ‘table of HYDROGENS.’ Man number eight is ‘hydrogen’ 6. This is the center of gravity of the middle story of man number eight. If we are able to calculate how many times ‘hydrogen’ 6 is more intelligent than ‘hydrogen’ 1536 we shall know how many times man number eight is more intelligent than a table. But, in this connection, it must be remembered that ‘intelligence’ is determined not by the density of matter but by the density of vibrations. The density of vibrations, however, increases not by doubling as in the octaves of ‘HYDROGENS’ but in an entirely different progression which many times outnumbers the first. If you know the exact coefficient of this increase you will be in a position to solve this problem. I only want to show that, however strange it looks, the problem can be solved. Fragments: Sixteen

“If you try to continue these definitions you will see that this plan, so simple at the first glance, makes it possible to determine the most subtle distinctions between classes of living beings, especially if you bear in mind that ‘HYDROGENS,’ taking them as we have by octaves, are very broad concepts. For example, we took it that a dog, a fish, and a flour worm alike feed on ‘hydrogen’ 1536, implying by this ‘hydrogen’ substances of organic origin which are not good for human food. Now, if we realize that these substances in their turn can be divided into definite classes, we shall see the possibility of very exact definitions. It is exactly the same with air and exactly the same with the medium. Fragments: Sixteen

“These cosmic traits of being are immediately connected with the definition of intelligence according to the ‘table of HYDROGENS.’ Fragments: Sixteen

“When we talked before about the octaves of food in the three-story factory we saw that ‘all the finer ‘HYDROGENS’ needed for the working, the growth, and the evolution of the organism were prepared from three kinds of food, that is, from food in the strict meaning of the word — eatables and drink, from air which we breathe, and from impressions. Now let us suppose that we could improve the quality of food and air, feed, let us say, on ‘hydrogen’ 384 instead of 768 and breathe ‘hydrogen’ 96 instead of 192. How much simpler and easier the preparation of fine matters in the organism would be then. But the whole point is that this is impossible. The organism is adapted to transform precisely these coarse matters into fine matters, and if you give it fine matters instead of coarse matters it will not be in a position to transform them and it will very soon die. Neither air nor food can be changed. But impressions, that is, the quality of the impressions possible to man, are not subject to any cosmic law. Man cannot improve his food, he cannot improve the air. Improvement in this case would be actually making things worse. For instance ‘hydrogen* 96 instead of 192 would be either very rarefied air or very hot incandescent gases which man cannot possibly breathe; fire is ‘hydrogen’ 96. It is exactly the same with food. ‘Hydrogen’ 384 is water. If man could improve his food, that is, make it finer, he would have to feed on water and breathe fire. It is clear that this is impossible. But while it is not possible for him to improve his food and air he can improve his impressions to a very high degree and in this way introduce fine ‘HYDROGENS’ into the organism. It is precisely on this that the possibility of evolution is based. A man is not at all obliged to feed on the dull impressions of H48, he can have both H24, H12, and H6, and even H3. This changes the whole picture and a man who makes higher ‘HYDROGENS’ the food for the upper story of his machine will certainly differ from one who feeds on the lower ‘HYDROGENS.’” Fragments: Sixteen

In our conversations about this diagram we very soon agreed to take “angels” as planets and “archangels” as suns. Many other things gradually became clear to us. But what used to confuse us a great deal was the appearance of “hydrogen” 6144 which was absent altogether in the previous scale of “HYDROGENS” in the third scale which ended with “hydrogen” 3072. At the same time, G. insisted that the enumeration of “HYDROGENS” had been taken according to the third scale. Fragments: Sixteen

” ‘Hydrogens’ 48, 24, 12, and 6 are matters unknown to physics and chemistry, matters of our psychic and spiritual life on different levels. Fragments: Nine