We are all perpetually bombarded by an inconceivable amount of energies throughout each day. Yet, we only respond to those for which we have activated polarities within our own being. The ancients recognized that within each person is a microcosm of the macrocosm. Human beings contain a complete solar system within and therefore are able to activate a complete set of solar polarities.

Paracelsus, the old alchemist, referred to the bodily polarities as foci. For every star in the heavens, there is a corresponding foci within each individual. For every flower in the field and every energy center throughout the cosmos, there is an internal foci, which can be activated, within each person.

Some wise teachers in the past believed that the material world existed within the thought stream of the Creator. Held in thought by the Creator, matter remains in a form that appears solid and tangible.

Human beings are also creators in terms of their imagination. Human imagination can eventually take form in art, science and physical structures that we invent. But creation is not just limited to outer forms it also takes place within our inner world.

Human beings are perpetually creating various things through the sheer nature of their thoughts and imagination. We are in the likeness of the Creator in that we are also able to create and manifest. Whenever a person initiates an impulse through a thought or imaginative image, vibrations are set into motion leading to an action and a creation of a new life takes place.

In the 1500s in a small village in Germany, several townsfolk became concerned when one of the citizens locked himself in his house for five days. Every part of the house was completely closed and tightly sealed and because of their concern, the townspeople broke down the door to check on the man. Once inside they found the man dead. Nothing that the people saw could explain why the man had died.

In that time, people could not figure out the real reason why the individual had passed away. One philosopher, a great observer of nature, reasoned that something had polluted the air, causing a stagnation and the stagnation led to the death of the body.

From this experience the philosopher observed similar situations in nature as well as similar situations in human nature, where a closing off of vital nutrients led to a stagnation and a sort of death of normal activity.

The ancients used the analogy of light to explain the vital energy that surrounded and energized them.

There is a visible light which we call brightness and an invisible light of energy within the visible light which goes unseen to our outer senses. The visible physical light is bright to our senses and the inner energy is a light that feeds our inner soul.

Whenever we are within the range of hearing music it has an influence upon our body, mind and spirit. Music can speed or slow down our heartbeat, relax or jar our nerves, affect our blood pressure, and affect our digestion and rate of respiration.

Although we have come to understand how music has an effect upon our physical state, the ancient philosophers recognized a far deeper importance to music and many cultures recognized a sacredness belonging to music.

Paracelsus, a famous philosopher of the 1500s who spent a great amount of time in nature, found his interest peaked in virtually every aspect of the natural world. One of his observations involved a pond near his home. During the spring the pond was very active with fish. During the middle of summer, the pond became heated and some fish died. During the winter time, the outside temperature became extremely cold, and the pond became frozen. The fish became less active, some swam deeper under the surface, and some of the fish died.

What fascinated the old philosopher was why the pond went through these changes. He reasoned that the sun, the earth, and the pond water were still of the same essence throughout the year. If all the basic elements remained the same, then what would cause the changes of heat and cold? He then realized that the pathway of the sun across the sky was different throughout the year. He recognized that, while the elements had not changed, the relationship between the elements was different.

The philosopher carried the theory of relationship to many other areas of life.

The alchemical drawing that you see is from Michael Maier (1618), it is titled, ‘Let Nature Be Your Guide.’ 

The footprints represent the pioneers that have followed nature. The walking stick represents the use of reason, the spectacles on the man represent the importance of experience, and the lantern represents the study of writings.

Approximately 2500 years ago, Pythagoras instituted the discipline of silence in the western world. This discipline was firmly imposed at his school at Crotona where most students were not permitted to speak at any time. The lesser grades went through a three-year discipline of silence, while those who passed to the higher grades of the school were required to complete a life of silence for five years. Writings from other philosophers of that period reveal that more than 200 people, which included sixty women, underwent this discipline while receiving instruction at Pythagoras' School.

Many people have viewed Raphael’s wonderful painting, Sistine Madonna (La Madonna di San Sisto) which current resides in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, which is part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden museums in Dresden, Germany. If someone is not familiar with the overall painting, they will certainly recognize the two cherubs at the bottom of the picture. Over the years I have asked people if they find anything unusual regarding the figures in the painting. I have met people with various opinions regarding how many digits were on the right hand of the figure at the bottom left of the painting. People who have discussed it on the Internet have said everything from it is a reflective error, Raphael didn't realize it, or Pope Sixtus IV really had six fingers. It might also have been Raphael's inference that this man had a sixth sense regarding the life and mission that Jesus would experience. My point is that most people have never really looked closely to observe this aspect of the painting. I would revisit Raphael's painting years later as I became more involved with Goethe's study of Greek sculpture.

What would a future culture, perhaps two or three hundred years from now, think about us if they looked at some of our existing words, pictures and images. Would they believe that temperatures ruled our civilization? That car is really hot! That picture you showed me is cool! Or perhaps they will find images of talking bears speaking of toilet paper, a duck saying Aflac and so on. There are literally hundreds of slang words, idioms and phrases we use that would completely confuse future researchers. Unless you become one with the period and attempt to understand them, you can’t fully understand what the real meaning might have been.

The ancients built idols and images created in the likeness of deities. They did not believe that the rock, stone or marble were the deities. Many people look back at these ancient times believing that some of the ancients were deluded, hysterical and not very wise. The images were meant as a likeness, a representation of similitude. Their existing philosophical principle had to do with creating a sufficient similarity to the original principle where there would be a motion of energy from the original to the symbol.

During our tour of the Castle von Bernus in 1989, our hostess was the Baroness Isa von Bernus, owner of the estate and widow of Alexander von Bernus. In the early to mid-20th century, Alexander was a prolific author of poems, plays and stories, as well as volumes created from his research in alchemy and medicine.

All the experiences, I did relate,
Really took place, at the von Bernus estate.
The physical aspects, of the castle you see,
Will eventually fade away, and no longer be,
But the wisdom it houses, some truths that are there,
Have existed forever, and can be found everywhere.
Philosophers give wisdom, which is housed in their frame,
They didn’t invent it, despite all their fame.
My experiences were many, each pointed the way,
That what you desire, can manifest each day.

While I was on a visit to my Stuttgart office in 1989, my associates Karl Walter and Heidi Kleber told me that they felt impelled to visit the Castle von Bernus (Schloss Donaumünster). Heidi had grown up just a few blocks away from the castle and knew both Alexander von Bernus and his wife, Isa.

Alexander von Bernus was a well-known alchemist, poet and playwright in Germany who passed away in 1965. His wife, who was in her 90s, was still alive, and Heidi had a strong feeling that I should visit the castle. Heidi told me the Baroness didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak German. When we knocked at the door, Heidi spoke with the Baroness and then the Baroness turned toward me and said in English, ‘We’ve been waiting for you.’ That she spoke in English took Heidi and Karl by complete surprise.

I was given a short tour of the castle with the Baroness holding on to my forearm. I noticed incredible artwork, floor to ceiling books in most of the rooms, and books from the 1600s lying on top of end tables.

In 1987 I received an invitation from the Central Government in Beijing to spend 17 days visiting medical and traditional academies of healing in China. I traveled to Beijing and made presentations at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences as well as visited Traditional Research centers in the cities of Hangzhou and Xian in China.

In the city of Hangzhou, I was introduced to the practice of Qigong. I was led into a room where a very old woman was lying on her back. I was told through a translator that she had a paralyzed right arm. Then Dr. Huang Rui Sheng walked into the room. He spoke a few words (in Chinese), took her pulse and then stood behind her, out of her sight. Without saying one additional word, various parts of her body began moving in concert with the doctor’s arm movements. She held her legs in positions that would be hard for younger people. The doctor moved his arms left, right, up and down and the legs moved exactly with his movements.

There is more to this story than just an herbal book.

The Badianus Manuscript was discovered at the Vatican Library in 1929 by Professor Charles Clark. This illustrated Aztec herbal is America’s earliest medical book, having been written in 1552. Henry Sigerist, of Johns Hopkins University stated, “it has been known that the Aztecs had physicians of great experience. The Spanish conquerors were very impressed by the medical lore of the Indians and they mentioned it with much praise in all their early reports from Cortez’ letter to Charles V.”