I
have put into this little book the result of many years of patient
study, practice
and experiment. There is nothing in it that has not been proved to be
true. The
object has been to put the most profound and mighty truths in such
plain and simple
language that men and women of the common people - God bless them - may
understand
it all, and find help, comfort and happiness. The knowledge that is
given here
has been of inestimable value to me, and if you study it well it will
help you.
Hoping you will do so, I am,
Yours
Fraternally,
Wallace
D. Wattles
Chapter
1
Some Basic Truths
There
exists in the universe a propagative power, or principle, from which
every
living thing springs. This propagative power is the creative energy, or
life
force, of the universe; the natural world receives a continual inflow
of life
from it, which is received by all organisms according to their form. In
the
plant world this energy is manifested simply as life and reproductive
power, without sense; in the animal world it
becomes conscious and sentient life, and in man it is not only
conscious and
sentient but God-conscious, knowing good from evil. But in all these
kingdoms,
in man, animal and plant, the life is the same, and comes from the same
source.
There is only one Life; one God and father of all, in whom we all live
and move
and are. And this propagative principle has nothing of evil in it,
because it
is from the infinite wisdom, the source of all things; it is from the
Eternal;
it is the Eternal Life and is therefore essential Good.
The
moving principle in all creation was and is the love and goodness of
God. All
things were made by good, and for good. The propagative, creative or
reproductive
principle in man, animal and plant is a continuation or extension of
the Divine
energy which created and maintains all things. Every birth is simply a
continuation of the work of creation, performed by the same power. The
reproductive principle is the vivifying principle of the universe; it
is
essential life, essential wisdom, essential love, essential good.
Now,
in creating, producing and re-producing, Good works in an orderly
fashion, and
according to certain fixed rules or laws; and these rules, the laws of
the
action of Good, constitute truth. Truth is the channel through which
the
creative power of good manifests itself. Good is the propagative, truth
the
forth-bringing principle. Good is the male principle from which the
life-germ
springs; truth is the female principle, which receives the life from
good and shapes,
organizes and brings it forth. And the form of the organism will depend
on the
truth; plant truth organizes a plant from the life-germ, animal truth
an
animal, and human truth a child. The life is always the same, and from
the same
source; the difference in manifestation depends upon the difference in
the
truth that is shown by the Life.
There
is only one good; all things are born of the union or marriage of good
and
truth. Life is always the same, and from the same source and is always
perfect;
and when the Life works through perfect truth the resulting
organism is perfect. Imperfect organisms are the result of deviation
from
truth. Thus, if a plant is imperfect, it is because, from some
accident, plant
truth has been violated in its growth; so also in the animal world. All
distorted, imperfect or monstrous forms of
organic life are perversions of the truth. They are untruths. In the
plant and
animal world defects, except from accident, are rare because
reproduction is
mostly automatic and instinctive; mental power and the knowledge of
good and evil do not appear as factors; reason and God-consciousness
are not present, and so the offspring of plants and animals are seldom
perverted by the errors of the parents. Because plants and animals are
generally in the truth, or living in accord with the laws of life for
their
kind, we have plants and animals, generally speaking, perfect after
their kind.
Very little distorted, sickly or unhappy life is found in these
kingdoms,
except from accident, or the interference of man. The young animal is a
product
of the universal mind.
In
the propagation of the human race the higher elements of reason and
God-consciousness are to be taken into consideration. The child is the
product
of the individual minds of the parents, and in proportion as those
minds are full of evil and
error, we have a distorted, imperfect and sickly life. All that we need
to bring
forth, and to retain perfect life is to know and do the truth.
Knowing
and doing the truth constitute salvation. That is why Jesus said to
Pilate:
"To this end was I born and for this purpose came I into the world,
that I
should bear witness to the truth." A lost world is a world that has
lost
the truth about life. Normal, healthy, and consequently happy life is
only born
of the union of good and truth.
Chapter
2
Sex Love
In
marriages on the animal plane neither good nor truth are considered.
Sex love
brings the pair together, and holds them united until the reproductive
purpose
is accomplished. Sex love is general, or is to all of the opposite sex;
generally promiscuous, but sometimes choosing a mate to be retained for
a more or less protracted period. Men and women have sex
love as well as animals and very many marriages are made on this plane.
Most of
these are, to a greater or less extent, failures, because sex love in
the human
race is no more lasting than among the animals. The pair who are so
united will
get tired of one another, or one will tire of the other, or be
attracted
elsewhere. If a majority of our marriages are to continue to be made on
this
plane, we ought to repeal all our marriage laws, and let people choose
their
mates as freely and as often as they please. It is useless folly to
legislate for animals in regard to the sex relation.
Animals cannot change their natural order of reproduction by enacting
laws. But
if men and women are capable of union on a higher plane than that of
sex love,
then we ought to make a scientific study of this possibility and teach
the
truth concerning it to all. That is what I propose to do in this little
book.
There
are three kinds of marriage common among us - they are as follows:
Commercial
marriage, or marrying for a home, or for advantage or convenience;
sex-love
marriage, and unions made from true marriage love. This last is where
we rise
above what is possible with the animals.
Marriage love is where all that is good in a
man is attracted by truth in a woman,
and all that is true in a woman is attracted by good in a man. A couple
so
attracted are united for eternity, and that is the only true marriage.
It is
the law of human association that every real marriage must be a union
of good
and truth; and it is because we disregard this law in making marriages
that we have to annul so many of them in the courts. If
you are unhappily married, remember that the only way to reach a happy
union is
by uniting the husband's good to the wife's truth.
These
two principles, the propagative and the forth bringing, eternally
attract each
other. As there is good in every man and truth in every woman, it
follows that
happiness is possible to all. Unhappy people should renounce, as far as
possible, all evil and untruth. They must remember that there is
absolutely
nothing that can permanently unite them but good and truth. No
woman ever really and permanently loves anything but good in a man; no
man ever
really and permanently loves anything but truth in a woman.
Every
real marriage is a repetition of the creation, and exhibits the same
laws in
action. The first essential in forming happy marriages is, therefore, a
knowledge of the laws which govern the union of good and truth. Real
marriage
is a union of good and truth. Good is not a principle of matter, and
does not
enter into the unions and combinations of matter. Neither good nor
truth can be
perceived by matter. As sound does not exist without an ear to hear it,
so good
and truth do not exist without a mind to perceive them. They are mental
principles, not physical, and the marriage of good and truth is not in
the
union of bodies, but of minds.
Marriage
on the animal plane means that two sentient bodies are united for the
purpose
of experiencing the pleasure of procreation, and of bringing forth
other
bodies.
Marriage
on the human plane means that two minds are united, for their own
unfoldment
and the fulfillment of their eternal destiny, and to intelligently
form, from
themselves, other minds. And that the propagative union in the human
race is
really mental and governed by mental law is apparent not only by
logical
deduction, but from the facts in the case. If the propagative mental
principle
good, by union with the forth bringing mental principle truth, has
offspring,
that offspring must be mentally conceived and shaped, and its
controlling
principle must be mind.
The
offspring of animals are produced mechanically, by the sex principles,
individual mind having little, if any, action in the matter. The
children of
most married couples are produced by the sex principles, with mind as
the most powerful
factor, although unconsciously and often wrong- fully exerted. Children
are
mental productions, because the propagative and forth-bringing
principles are
mental, not physical.
In
the procreation of a child the life principle or germ of propagative
life comes
from the father; the clothing of this germ, the body of the child and
all that
pertains thereto comes from the mother. As to the nature of this
clothing, the sex,
shape, color of hair and eyes, cranial structure, etc., all these are
determined by the mind of the mother, either by independent action or
by
suggestion. Now, I wish to lay this down as a fundamental fact, that
the mind
of the mother determines the sex, physical appearance, and mental
traits of the
child, and is the only force which does, or can do so; and therefore we
may
intelligently control in these matters only by influencing the mind of
the
mother.
The
power of the mother's mind, in all the particulars cited above
is easily established by well known facts. The "marking" of children
by fright or strong emotion is not an uncommon occurrence; I know of
one
instance where a still-born child's head bore an almost exact
resemblance to
that of a vicious dog which had given the mother a terrible fright; and
another
in which a child was given, to the most minute particulars, the facial
conformation
of an ape.
As
to the power of the mind of the mother to determine the mental
characteristics of the child, it is so generally conceded that I need
not
enlarge upon it. The parents of Napoleon Bonaparte for two years
previous to
his birth were absorbed in the study of the military history of Europe;
this formed the mind of the greatest military genius of the world.
I
know a man who was born shortly after the election of Abraham Lincoln,
in 1860.
His mother, although she never saw Lincoln, was an enthusiastic
supporter and partisan
of the great commoner and the marked physical and mental resemblance of
her son
to Lincoln has often excited comment.
Here
is a still stronger proof. Sixteen years ago my attention was called to
the
birth of a child with red hair, in a family where both parents and the
grandparents for two generations were dark haired people. Investigation
revealed the fact that the young mother had passed hours, during her
pregnancy,
contemplating a picture, representing a golden-haired child, which hung
above
the couch on which she rested a considerable part of every day. Her
child, a
little girl, might have passed for the original of the picture.
From
the study of this case I evolved the plan of suggestion described in
the
following chapter, which I have used with invariable success, proving
the
possibility of determining by suggestion the sex, color of eyes and
hair, and
general physical characteristics of the child, where the conditions
are, to a reasonable
degree, favorable.
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