Each atom is surrounded by a field, formed of the atoms of the four
higher planes, which surround and interpenetrate it.
The atom can scarcely be said to be a "thing," though it is the material
out of which all things physical are composed. It is formed by the flow of
the life-force[5] and vanishes with its ebb. When this force arises in
"space"[6]--the apparent void which must be filled with substance of some
kind, of inconceivable tenuity--atoms appear; if this be artificially
stopped for a single atom, the atom disappears; there is nothing left.
Presumably, were that flow checked but for an instant, the whole physical
world would vanish, as a cloud melts away in the empyrean. It is only the
persistence of that flow[7] which maintains the physical basis of the
universe.[8]
In order to examine the construction of the atom, a space is artificially
made[9]; then, if an opening be made in the wall thus constructed, the
surrounding force flows in, and three whorls immediately appear,
surrounding the "hole" with their triple spiral of two and a half coils,
and returning to their origin by a spiral within the atom; these are at
once followed by seven finer whorls, which following the spiral of the
first three on the outer surface, and returning to their origin by a spiral
within that, flowing in the opposite direction--form a caduceus with the
first three.
Pages:
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50