Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1910-01-14
The RIDDLE OF SLEEP
A Mystery That the Mind Of Man
Is Unable to Penetrate.
THE CAVERN or MORPHEUS.
Il Is Pitch Black as Far as Human
Understanding Goes, For We Know
No More About It Than We Do About
Its Twin Mystery. Death.

When all is written, how little we
know Of sleep. 1t IS Il closing OF the
eyes, a disappearance. wondering re-
turn. In uneasy slunlber. in drealniess
dead rest. in horrid nightmare or in
ccsiasics Of somnOient fancies the eyes
are blinded. the body is abandoned
while The inner essence is we know not
where. We have 10 other knowledge
Of sleep lhan we have of death In de-
lirum or coma or trance. no less imam
in normal sleep and in dissolution. the
soul is gone. In these il returns, III
that IT does not come again. or 50 we
iynoranlly think.
Yet when reflect on my death Tor
yet that | have encountered II many
times already and find myself none
the worse. forget that | sleep. Inc
nv has no shorter existence than
n,an's. We hustle about for Few
years with luGicrOrs Importance. us
lo,tIeh;es huZz mt the window panes.
They. TOO. may imagine themselves OF
infinite moment in this universe we
share with them. But this Is 10 take
no account Of the prognostics OF sleep
There is something hidden. something
secret. some unfathomed mystery
whose presence we feel. but cannot
verify: some permeative thought IN
Sistpntly moving in our hearts. some
phosphoreScen' that glowS we know
not whence through our shadowy at
OnlS
Neither sleep itself nor half its prom
Uses nor mysteries have been plumbed.
It is the mother Of superstitions ana
Of miracles. In dreams we may search
tho surface powers OF the freed soul.
Visirls in the night are not all hallu-
cinatiGiiS: voices in the night are NOT
all mocking. There is prophet dwells
within the mind-not Of the mind, but
deeper throNcd in obscurity.
The llain cannot know OF this holy
presence nGr Of its life in sleep. The
brain is mortal and untrusi worthy.
phonograph AID IL camera for audible
and l,"hHI,r existence. Strike it
blow i, ,'h'dhcrd 50 that 1t ceases its
labarH I'D a:y':!:e 1t by surgery after
forty years and it will repeat the in
fan,ilc action or word it last recorded
and will take up its task on the in
slant. making no account OF the inter-
mediate years. They are nonresident
TO II. Yet TO that hidden memory those
diseased wears are not blank ltknows.
it has recorded. though the brain has
slept. And in hypnotic or psychic
trance. when that wonderful ruler *
released from The prison Of the body. 1t
can speak through ;he atom blent ma
chincry Of the flesh and tell OF things
man himself could not know because
Of his paralyZed brain. This ruler is
not asleep IN sleep. nor in delirium is
it dpliriOuS. AID !" death is it dead!
Through a.: lie a"ci il has been our
sphinx. which We !l1ve intprrOgated In
vain. II ;r:!,; nu; t.! our laughter nor
our fears. Ne have fancipd 1t with i'm
mobile. ; "m;iiu% features OF utmost
kn0wicdcr - Il wisdom and sorrow. II
has asked Us ! Ut ere question. nor
from the day Cf OpGirus unto today
have we answered rightly. 50 tina, We
die of our ignorance. 1t is Osiris l.v-
ing fiji rs. 1t is the unknown God to
whom we erect our affairs. the fire il
the tabernacle. the presence behind the
veil. Not in normal wakefulness at
least will it answer our queries. but in
sleep sometimes il will speak. And it
may possibly he that ut last. after all
these centuries. we are learning how
10 question it and in hypnotic trance
and in the fearful law of suggestion
are discovering somewhat Of its mys-
terry and how TO employ it for our
worldly good. Yet ~ its essential Sc
cret we are no closer than our fore
fathers were.
We may define dreams and night
mare. coma and swOon and trance
with what terms we will. search their
physical reasons and learn 10 guide
and guard vet we know no more OF
them than of electricity. We may be-
gin TO suspect th"t iclepathy and clair
voyance and Deer forces Of the soul
are not superst;iiDuS fancies. and we
may even cmpirirally classify and
study and direct them. Yet lhr soul
itself Is 10 nearer our inquisiilon.
Though we should know OF It's real
ity. though our finite minds should
fathom the intinitude. Of what benefit
would it DE? Would it modify cur be-
liefs or our hopes or our faiths? Would
il dictate enc action TO our passionate
lives? There would be no change in
human natUr, ard 10 reforms OF the
world. We :rr The children of our IA
Tiers. and our children will tread the
prehistoric paths. Dreams are our Ire.
whether We wake or sleep. We browse
through existence. awaking and dying
and being reborn daily. ever torpescent
and unamaZed, and our thousand SUM-
berous deaths we call restorative sleep
sleep that restores our physical be-
ing. building up where we have torn
down, recreating what we destroy.
Black-ptch black. indeed-is the
cavern of Morpheus Faith peoples II
with varied lcgions and builds its
chaos 'rio myriad forms. Nightly we
enter it and drain the I.ethean air and
forget. and daily we return with re-
joicings. babbling Of dreams that were
not dreamed. and finally we enter for
the last time and drain somewhat
more deeply the essence cf ecstasy
and awake no more ard no mere re-
turn TO The autumn dyed skies Of the
dawn. And vet we s5ai! dream. AT
lantic Monthly.
Opening an Oyster.