Properties of Matter
29. Is ponderability an essential attribute of matter?
“Yes, for matter as you understand it, but not matter that is considered the universal fuid. The ethereal and subtle matter forming this fuid cannot be measured by you, and yet it is the source of your matter that can be weighed.” Gravity is a relative property. Beyond the realm of gravitational pull between planets and stars, there is no such thing as weight, just as there is neither up nor down.
30. Is matter composed of one or several elements?
“One single primordial element. The bodies that you see as simple are not truly elements, but transformations of the primordial matter.”
31. From where do the different properties of matter originate?
“They originate from changes undergone by elementary molecules as a result of their union, and under certain conditions.”
32. According to this interpretation, are favors, odors, colors, sounds, and the toxic or benefcial qualities of bodies solely the result of modifcations of the same basic substance?
“Precisely. These senses only exist according to the design of the organs intended to perceive them.” This principle is demonstrated by the fact that everyone does not perceive the qualities of material items in the same manner. While something may appear to taste good to one person, it may be horrible to another; what appears blue to one person appears red to another. That which is poisonous for some, is harmless or even healthy for others.
33. Can the same elementary matter undergo all possible changes and acquire all properties? “Yes, and it is this fact that is implied in the saying ‘everything is in everything.’” (1)
Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and all the other masses that we see as elements are merely variations of one primordial substance. As we have found it impossible to arrive at this elemental matter other than as an intellectual deduction, they appear to be elementary. We may therefore continue to regard them as such for now.
a) This theory appears to support the opinion of those who acknowledge only two essential properties in matter, force and movement, and who regard all other properties of matter as purely secondary effects, varying according to the intensity of the force and direction of movement.
“This opinion is exact. We must also add according to molecular arrangement, for instance, in an opaque body that may become transparent and vice versa.”
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(1) This principle explains the phenomenon known by all magnetizers and that consists in giving radically different properties to any substance, such as a specifc taste to water, and even the active qualities of other substances. Since there is only one primordial element, and the properties of different bodies are only variations of this element, the most inoffensive substance has the same foundation as the most noxious. Water, which is one part oxygen and two parts hydrogen, becomes corrosive when someone doubles the proportion of oxygen. A similar transformation may occur by the magnetic action directed by the will. A.K.
34. Do molecules have a defnite form?
“Of course they have a form, but it cannot be assessed by you.”
a) Is this form constant or variable?
“Constant for primordial elementary molecules, but variable for secondary molecules that are only aggregations of the primary ones. What you call a molecule is very far from being an elementary molecule.”
