THE COMING
FORCE:
ITS POSSIBILITIES
AND IMPOSSIBILITIES.
Shall we
say that Force is "moving matter," or "matter in motion," and a manifestation of energy; or that matter and force are the
phenomenal differentiated aspects of the one primary, undifferentiated Cosmic Substance?
This query
is made with regard to that Stanza which treats of FOHAT and his "Seven brothers or Sons," in other words, of the cause and
the effects of Cosmic Electricity, the latter called, in Occult parlance, the seven primary forces of Electricity, whose purely
phenomenal, and hence grossest effects are alone cognizable by physicists on the cosmic and especially on the terrestrial
plane. These include, among other things, Sound, Light, Colour, etc., etc. Now what does physical Science tell us of these
"Forces"? SOUND, it says, is a sensation produced by the impact of atmospheric molecules on the tympanum, which, by setting
up delicate tremors in the auditory apparatus, thus communicate themselves to the brain. LIGHT is the sensation caused by
the impact of inconceivably minute vibrations of ether on the retina of the eye.
So, too,
we say. But this is simply the effect produced in our atmosphere and its immediate surroundings, all, in fact, which falls
within the range of our terrestrial consciousness. Jupiter Pluvius sent his symbol in drops of rain, of water composed, as
is believed, of two "elements," which chemistry dissociates and recombines. The compound molecules are in its power, but their
atoms still elude its grasp. Occultism sees in all these Forces and manifestations a ladder, the lower rungs of which belong
to exoteric physics, and the higher are traced to a living, intelligent, invisible Power, which is, as a rule, the unconcerned,
and exceptionally, the conscious cause of the sense-born phenomenon designated as this or another natural law.
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[[Vol. 1,
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We say and
maintain that SOUND, for one thing, is a tremendous Occult power; that it is a stupendous force, of which the electricity
generated by a million of Niagaras could never counteract the smallest potentiality when directed with occult knowledge. Sound
may be produced of such a nature that the pyramid of Cheops would be raised in the air, or that a dying man, nay, one at his
last breath, would be revived and filled with new energy and vigour.
For Sound
generates, or rather attracts together, the elements that produce an ozone, the fabrication of which is beyond chemistry,
but within the limits of Alchemy. It may even resurrect a man or an animal whose astral "vital body" has not been irreparably
separated from the physical body by the severance of the magnetic or odic chord. As one saved thrice from death by that power,
the writer ought to be credited with knowing personally something about it.
And if all
this appears too unscientific to be even noticed, let Science explain to what mechanical and physical laws known to it, is
due the recently produced phenomena of the so-called "Keely motor?" What is it that acts as the formidable generator of invisible
but tremendous force, of that power which is not only capable of driving an engine of 25 horse-power, but has even been employed
to lift the machinery bodily? Yet this is done simply by drawing a fiddle-bow across a tuning fork, as has been repeatedly
proven. For the etheric Force, discovered by the well-known (in America and now in Europe) John Worrell Keely, of Philadelphia,
is no hallucination. Notwithstanding his failure to utilize it, a failure prognosticated and maintained by some Occultists
from the first, the phenomena exhibited by the discoverer during the last few years have been wonderful, almost miraculous,
not in the sense of the supernatural* but of the superhuman. Had Keely been permitted to succeed, he might have reduced a
whole army to atoms in the space of a few seconds as easily as he reduced a dead ox to the same condition.
The reader
is now asked to give a serious attention to that newly-discovered potency which the discoverer has named "Inter-Etheric Force
and Forces."
In the humble
opinion of the Occultists, as of his immediate friends,
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[[Vol. 1,
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Mr. Keely,
of Philadelphia, was, and still is, at the threshold of some of the greatest secrets of the Universe; of that chiefly on which
is built the whole mystery of physical Forces, and the esoteric significance of the "Mundane Egg" symbolism. Occult philosophy,
viewing the manifested and the unmanifested Kosmos as a UNITY, symbolizes the ideal conception of the former by that "Golden
Egg" with two poles in it. It is the positive pole that acts in the manifested world of matter, while the negative is lost
in the unknowable absoluteness of SAT -- "Be-ness."* Whether this agrees with the philosophy of Mr. Keely, we cannot tell,
nor does it really much matter. Nevertheless, his ideas about the ethero-material construction of the Universe look strangely
like our own, being in this respect nearly identical.
This is what
we find him saying in an able pamphlet compiled by Mrs. Bloomfield-Moore, an American lady of wealth and position, whose incessant
efforts in the pursuit of truth can never be too highly appreciated:-- "Mr. Keely, in explanation of the working of his engine,
says: 'In the conception of any machine heretofore constructed, the medium for inducing a neutral centre has never been found.
If it had, the difficulties of perpetual-motion seekers would have ended, and this problem would have become an established
and operating fact. It would only require an introductory impulse of a few pounds, on such a device, to cause it to run for
centuries. In the conception of my vibratory engine, I did not seek to attain perpetual motion; but a circuit is formed that
actually has a neutral centre, which is in a condition to be vivified by my vibratory ether, and, while under operation by
said substance, is really a machine that is virtually independent of the mass (or globe),** and it is the wonderful velocity
of the vibratory circuit which makes it so. Still, with all its perfection, it requires to be fed with the vibratory ether
to make it an independent motor . . . ."
"All structures
require a foundation in strength according to the weight of the mass they have to carry, but the foundations of the universe
rest on a vacuous point far more minute than a molecule; in fact, to express this truth properly, on an inter-etheric point,
which requires an infinite mind to understand it. To look down into the depths of an etheric centre is precisely the same
as it would be to search into the broad space of heaven's ether to find the end, with this difference: that one is the positive
field, while the other is the negative field . . . ."
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[[Vol. 1,
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This, as
easily seen, is precisely the Eastern doctrine. His inter-etheric point is the laya-point of the Occultists, which, however,
does not require "an infinite mind to understand it," but only a specific intuition and ability to trace its hiding-place
in this world of matter. Of course, the laya centre cannot be produced, but an inter-etheric vacuum can -- as proved in the
production of bell-sounds in space. Mr. Keely speaks as an unconscious Occultist, nevertheless, when he remarks in his theory
of planetary suspension:--
"As regards
planetary volume, we would ask in a scientific point of view, How can the immense difference of volume in the planets exist
without disorganising the harmonious action that has always characterised them? I can only answer this question properly by
entering into a progressive analysis, starting on the rotating etheric centres that were fixed by the Creator* with their
attractive or accumulative power. If you ask what power it is that gives to each etheric atom its inconceivable velocity of
rotation (or introductory impulse), I must answer that no finite mind will ever be able to conceive what it is.
The philosophy
of accumulation is the only proof that such a power has been given. The area, if we can so speak, of such an atom, presents
to the attractive or magnetic, the elective or propulsive, all the receptive force and all the antagonistic force that characterises
a planet of the largest magnitude; consequently, as the accumulation goes on, the perfect equation remains the same. When
this minute centre has once been fixed, the power to rend it from its position would necessarily have to be so great as to
displace the most immense planet that exists. When this atomic neutral centre is displaced, the planet must go with it. The
neutral centre carries the full load of any accumulation from the start, and remains the same, for ever balanced in the eternal
space."
Mr. Keely
illustrates his idea of "a neutral centre" in this way:--
"We will
imagine that, after an accumulation of a planet of any diameter, say, 20,000 miles, more or less, for the size has nothing
to do with the problem; there should be a displacement of all the material, with the exception of a crust 5,000 miles thick,
leaving an intervening void between this crust and a centre of the size of an ordinary billiard ball, it would then require
a force as great to move this small central mass as it would to move the shell of 5,000 miles thickness. Moreover, this small
central mass would carry the load of this crust for ever, keeping it equidistant; and there could be no opposing power, however
great, that could bring them together. The imagination staggers in contemplating the immense load which bears upon this point
of centre, where weight ceases. . . . This is what we understand by a neutral centre."
And what
Occultists understand by a "laya centre."
The above
is pronounced "unscientific" by many. But so is everything that is not sanctioned and kept on strictly orthodox lines by physical
science. Unless the explanation given by the inventor himself is accepted -- and his explanations, being, as observed, quite
orthodox from
[[Footnote(s)]]
-------------------------------------------------
* "By Fohat,
more likely," would be an Occultist's reply.
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[[Vol. 1,
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the spiritual
and the Occult stand-points, if not from that of materialistic speculative (called exact) Science, are therefore ours in this
particular -- what can science answer to facts already seen which it is no longer possible for anyone to deny? Occult philosophy
divulges few of its most important vital mysteries. It drops them like precious pearls, one by one, far and wide apart, and
only when forced to do so by the evolutionary tidal wave that carries on humanity slowly, silently, but steadily toward the
dawn of the Sixth-Race mankind. For once out of the safe custody of their legitimate heirs and keepers, those mysteries cease
to be occult: they fall into the public domain and have to run the risk of becoming in the hands of the selfish -- of the
Cains of the human race -- curses more often than blessings. Nevertheless, whenever such individuals as the discoverer of
Etheric Force -- John Worrell Keely -- men with peculiar psychic and mental capacities* are born, they are generally and more
frequently helped than allowed to go unassisted; groping on their way, though, if left to their own resources, falling very
soon victims to martyrdom and unscrupulous speculators. Only they are helped on the condition that they should not become,
whether consciously or unconsciously, an additional peril to their age: a danger to the poor, now offered in daily holocaust
by the less wealthy to the very wealthy.** This necessitates a short digression and an explanation.
Some twelve
years back, during the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the writer, in answering the earnest queries of a theosophist,
one of the earliest admirers of Mr. Keely, repeated to him what she had heard in quarters, information from which she could
never doubt.
It had been
stated that the inventor of the "Self-Motor" was what is called, in the jargon of the Kabalists, a "natural-born magician."
That he was and would remain unconscious of the full range of his powers, and would work out merely those which he had found
out and ascertained in his own nature -- firstly, because, attributing them to a wrong source, he could never give them full
sway; and
[[Footnote(s)]]
-------------------------------------------------
* The reason
for such psychic capacities is given farther on.
** The above
was written two years ago, at a time when hopes of success for the "Keely Motor" were at their highest. What was then said
by the writer proved true, in every word, and now only a few remarks are added to it with regard to the failure of his expectations,
so far, which has now been admitted by the discoverer himself. Though, however, the word failure is here used the reader should
understand it in a relative sense, for as Mrs. Bloomfield-Moore explains: "What Mr. Keely does admit is that, baffled in applying
vibratory force to mechanics, upon his first and second lines of experimental research, he was obliged either to confess a
commercial failure, or to try a third departure from his base or principle; seeking success through another channel." . .
And this "channel" is on the physical plane.
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[[Vol. 1,
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secondly,
because it was beyond his power to pass to others that which was a capacity inherent in his special nature. Hence the whole
secret could not be made over permanently to anyone for practical purposes or use.*
Individuals
born with such a capacity are not very rare. That they are not heard of more frequently is due to the fact that they live
and die, in almost every case, in utter ignorance of being possessed of abnormal powers at all. Mr. Keely possesses powers
which are called "abnormal" just because they happen in our day to be as little known as blood circulation was before Harvey's
time. Blood existed, and it behaved as it does at present in the first man born from woman; and so does that principle in
man which can control and guide etheric vibratory force. At any rate it exists in all those mortals whose inner selves are
primordially connected, by reason of their direct descent, with that group of Dhyan-Chohans who are called "the first-born
of Ether." Mankind, psychically considered, is divided into various groups, each of which is connected with one of the Dhyanic
groups that first formed psychic man; (see paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 in the Commentary to Stanza VII.)
Mr. Keely
being greatly favoured in this respect, and moreover, besides his psychic temperament, being intellectually a genius in mechanics,
may thus achieve most wonderful results. He has achieved some already -- more than any mortal man, not initiated into the
final mysteries, has achieved in this age up to the present day. What he has done is certainly quite sufficient "to demolish
with the hammer of Science the idols of Science" -- the idols of matter with the feet of clay -- as his friends justly predict
and say of him. Nor would the writer for a moment think of contradicting Mrs. Bloomfield-Moore, when in her paper on "Psychic
Force and Etheric Force," she states that Mr. Keely, as a philosopher, "is great enough in soul, wise enough in mind, and
sublime enough in courage to overcome all difficulties, and to stand at last before the world as the greatest discoverer and
inventor in the world."
And again
she writes:-- "Should Keely do no more than lead scientists from the dreary realms where they are groping into the open field
of elemental force, where gravity and cohesion are disturbed in their haunts and diverted to use; where, from unity of origin,
emanates infinite energy in diversified forms, he will achieve immortal fame. Should he demonstrate, to the destruction of
materialism, that the universe is animated by a mysterious principle to which matter, however perfectly organized, is absolutely
subservient, he will be a greater spiritual benefactor to our race than the modern world has yet found in any man. Should
he be able to substitute, in the treatment of disease,
[[Footnote(s)]]
-------------------------------------------------
* We learn
that these remarks are not applicable to Mr. Keely's latest discovery; time alone can show the exact limit of his achievements.
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[[Vol. 1,
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the finer
forces of nature for the grossly material agencies which have sent more human beings to their graves than war, pestilence
and famine combined, he will merit and receive the gratitude of mankind. All this and more will he do, if he and those who
have watched his progress, day by day for years, are not too sanguine in their expectations."
Writing in
the T. P. S. ("Theosophical Publication Society") series (No. 9), the same lady, in her pamphlet, "Keely's Secrets," brings
forward a passage from an article, written a few years ago by the writer of the present volume, in her journal, the Theosophist,
in these words:--
"The author
of No. 5 of the pamphlets issued by the Theosophical Publication Society, 'What is Matter and What is Force,' says therein,
'The men of science have just found out "a fourth state of matter," whereas the Occultists have penetrated years ago beyond
the sixth, and therefore do not infer, but know of, the existence of the seventh, the last.' This knowledge comprises one
of the secrets of Keely's so-called 'compound secret.' It is already known to many that his secret includes 'the augmentation
of energy,' the insulation of the ether, and the adaptation of dynaspheric force to machinery."
It is just
because Keely's discovery would lead to a knowledge of one of the most occult secrets, a secret which can never be allowed
to fall into the hands of the masses, that his failure to push his discoveries to their logical end seems certain to Occultists.
But of this more presently. Even in its limitations this discovery may prove of the greatest benefit. For:--
"Step by
step, with a patient perseverance which some day the world will honour, this man of genius has made his researches, overcoming
the colossal difficulties which again and again raised up in his path what seemed to be (to all but himself) insurmountable
barriers to further progress: but never has the world's index finger so pointed to an hour when all is making ready for the
advent of the new form of force that mankind is waiting for. Nature, always reluctant to yield her secrets, is listening to
the demands made upon her by her master, necessity. The coal mines of the world cannot long afford the increasing drain made
upon them. Steam has reached its utmost limits of power, and does not fulfil the requirements of the age. It knows that its
days are numbered. Electricity holds back, with bated breath, dependent upon the approach of her sister colleague. Air ships
are riding at anchor, as it were, waiting for the force which is to make aerial navigation something more than a dream.
As easily
as men communicate with their offices from their homes by means of the telephone, so will the inhabitants of separate continents
talk across the ocean. Imagination is palsied when seeking to foresee the grand results of this marvellous discovery, when
once it is applied to art and mechanics. In taking the throne which it will force steam to abdicate, dynaspheric force will
rule the world with a power so mighty in the interests of civilization, that no finite mind can conjecture the results. Laurence
Oliphant, in his preface to 'Scientific Religion,' says: 'A new moral future is dawning upon the human race -- one, certainly,
of which it stands much in need.' In no way could this
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[[Vol. 1,
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new moral
future be so widely, so universally, commenced as by the utilizing of dynaspheric force to beneficial purposes in life. .
. . ."
The Occultists
are ready to admit all this with the eloquent writer. Molecular vibration is, undeniably, "Keely's legitimate field of research,"
and the discoveries made by him will prove wonderful --yet only in his hands and through himself. The world so far will get
but that with which it can be safely entrusted. The truth of this assertion has, perhaps, not yet quite dawned upon the discoverer
himself, since he writes that he is absolutely certain that he will accomplish all that he has promised, and will then give
it out to the world; but it must dawn upon him, and at no very far distant date. And what he says in reference to his work
is a good proof of it:--
"In considering
the operation of my engine, the visitor, in order to have even an approximate conception of its modus operandi, must discard
all thought of engines that are operated upon the principle of pressure and exhaustion, by the expansion of steam or other
analogous gas which impinges upon an abutment, such as the piston of a steam-engine. My engine has neither piston nor eccentrics,
nor is there one grain of pressure exerted in the engine, whatever may be the size or capacity of it.
"My system,
in every part and detail, both in the developing of my power and in every branch of its utilization, is based and founded
on sympathetic vibration. In no other way would it be possible to awaken or develop my force, and equally impossible would
it be to operate my engine upon any other principle. . . . . . .This, however, is the true system; and henceforth all my operations
will be conducted in this manner -- that is to say, my power will be generated, my engines run, my cannon operated, through
a wire.
"It has been
only after years of incessant labour, and the making of almost innumerable experiments, involving not only the construction
of a great many most peculiar mechanical structures, and the closest investigation and study of the phenomenal properties
of the substance 'ether,' per se, produced, that I have been able to dispense with complicated mechanism, and to obtain, as
I claim, mastery over the subtle and strange force with which I am dealing."
The passages
underlined by us, are those which bear directly on the occult side of the application of the vibratory force, or what Mr.
Keely calls "sympathetic vibration." The "wire" is already a step below, or downward from the pure etheric plane into the
terrestrial. The discoverer has produced marvels -- the word "miracle" is not too strong -- when acting through the inter-etheric
Force alone, the fifth and sixth principles of Akasa. From a "generator" six feet long, he has come down to one "no larger
than an old-fashioned silver watch;" and this by itself is a miracle of mechanical (but not spiritual) genius. But, as well
expressed by his great patroness and defender, Mrs. Bloomfield-Moore, "the two forms of force which he has been experimenting
with, and the phenomena attending them, are the very antithesis of each other." One was generated and acted upon by and
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[[Vol. 1,
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through himself.
No one, who should have repeated the thing done by himself, could have produced the same results. It was "Keely's ether" that
acted truly, while "Smith's or Brown's" ether would have remained for ever barren of results. For Keely's difficulty has hitherto
been to produce a machine which would develop and regulate the "force" without the intervention of any "will power" or personal
influence, whether conscious or unconscious of the operator. In this he has failed, so far as others were concerned, for no
one but himself could operate on his "machines." Occultly this was a far more advanced achievement than the "success" which
he anticipates from his "wire," but the results obtained from the fifth and sixth planes of the etheric (or Astral) Force,
will never be permitted to serve for purposes of commerce and traffic. That Keely's organism is directly connected with the
production of the marvellous results is proven by the following statement emanating from one who knows the great discoverer
intimately.
At one time
the shareholders of the "Keely Motor Co." put a man in his workshop for the express purpose of discovering his secret. After
six months of close watching, he said to J. W. Keely one day: "I know how it is done, now." They had been setting up a machine
together, and Keely was manipulating the stop-cock which turned the force on and off. "Try it, then," was the answer. The
man turned the cock, and nothing came. "Let me see you do it again," the man said to Keely. The latter complied, and the machinery
operated at once. Again the other tried, but without success. Then Keely put his hand on his shoulder and told him to try
once more. He did so, with the result of an instantaneous production of the current. This fact, if true, settles the question.
We are told
that Mr. Keely defines electricity "as a certain form of atomic vibration." In this he is quite right; but this is electricity
on the terrestrial plane, and through terrestrial correlations. He estimates --
Molecular
vibrations at 100,000,000 per second.
Inter-molecular
vibrations at 300,000,000 per second
Atomic vibrations
at 900,000,000 per second
Inter-atomic
vibrations at 2,700,000,000 per second
AEtheric
