Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-17

The Alchemy
OF nature is going on all the while. slowly.
Natures processes are inconceivably slow.
All of evolution is sort of alchemy. The
world is transformed from its inert masses
to growing green, to running animal. TO
thinking man. But it takes millions of
years. 1t takes millions of years simply to
grow a civilized man from a barbarian.
But the processes of nature can be has
tened. expedited by artitice We can put
an Indian into a school and evolve a civil
lied man in generation or two II the same
civilized environment be maintained. just
like the alChemist prepares his gold and
silver quickly from the baSer metals instead
of depending on the leiSurely processes of
natural evolution.
So We can hasten the processes of our
own development. We Fastening them
In many. many ways Our educational sys
tens are agents of the human alchemy. All
our processes of culture are alchemical We
are destined to become gold. to purify our
tie baSCr elements of our natures and to
develop into noble metals. Sooner or later
by our experience. by the education Of the
daily life and thought and expression. the
process goes on apace. Experience is our
natural teacher BY experience we learn
the ill-effectS az oUr bad habits and the good
effects Of our good habits. Precept often is
Insufficient. We must learn by experience.
We experience the calamites of our mis-
takes our fingers burn. and dread
TIE fire and are careful in the future. OF
course. il takes many different sorts Of ca
ltmittrS to teach us and many years and
lives 10 learn. But We do learn. We cam
not hut learn. The experience of the past,
The lesson learned from it leaves its I'm
press on the mind. We inStinCtiVely turn
from that which was painful in the past
We instlnCtiVrlv tNrn to things that reaped
IS good in The past experience. We may be
unconscious of the process but We never
t4riess act under its working. And when
nit a bluu1gr il is bpr1nSp have
mad insufficient experience with this phase
a. our life. In this slow way our charac-
tiers are cultured by the natural process.
There
Are many weird tales about the old alche-
mists Same Of them. like the saints were
burned at the stake and were martyrs of
many sorts and misunderstood and ma
lisned. But they are in better repute now
Their strange. mysterious old ways OF try
ing 10 convert the baser metals into gold
nave been found TO be based on fact and
not fiction.
They called lead the father or the mother
OF the metals. and later on mercury was a
chief agent in the derivation of metals. And
their formulas SO far as they are known
and so far as they had formulas are being
found TO correspond with the latter day
sience OF alchemy.
All over the world lead mine every
where. has been found out To be a silver
mine also. Why? 1t is because constant
alchemy is going on. the base lead grad
ually is being converted into the beautiful
silver. The dreams of the alchemist are
true. they are coming true. There is al
chemv OF nature. There is a sort of pri-
mary metal whence the others derive The
haser metals refine through the processes
OF the ages and become the finer. Those
OF who the natural law in the Splr-
itual world see here picture of the al
cheIny that goes on in the human heart. in
the race. The savage retines TO the baIba-
rian. the barbarian to the civilized man. the
civilized man To the saint. the saint to the
angel and God
The Artificial
Way Of culturing character and the rapid
way is by adding conscious system of
culture TO the natural process of the world
IT, It's stupendous evolution through all the
kingdoms and through all the worlds and
planets.
We do not look TO nature. but We look to
-supra-nature: we take ourselves as We are
but we make ourselves what We would be-
We choose the habits we would acquire
and these habits We develop. They can be
grown and brought to fruition Just like
fruits and flowers.
We choose the emotions that We prefer
10 have course through our heart and
these emotions we cultivate until they be-
come our second nature.
we choose the sort of thought that we
would always have sway u.s. and this
thousht We develop until it becomes the
characteriSuc expression of our minds
Our pooS may have it's huugerings for
ths OF that, our thoughts may fly hifhar
s0o tAither az they list. our emotions may