The Earth
THE SPIRITUAL EARTH
- Chapter 43 -
Guardian spirits in the kingdom of nature
You know the natural course of growth of a plant. The growth begins with the sowing of the seed in the soil and ends with the ripeness of the fruit. The seed would not have the ability to seek suitable nourishment if not for the spirits that give the necessary instructions to its astral intelligence specifica.
A wheat kernel contains the following intelligence specifica: first, parts of love, which are the actual nutritive substance in the seed of the wheat. A second specificum is the spiritual, which provides the possibility of extracting alcohol out of wheat, as may be done out of other fruits as well.
Another specificum is the carbon; this becomes visible through burning. When too much of this specificum rises in the stalk, then the seed becomes burnt and black as wheat rust (when the wheat turns black. -ED.) in the field. Yet another specificum which this grain contains is oxygen; this makes it possible for beer to be made from the seed.
There is still another specificum, namely ætheric sulphur, which causes the combustibility of this seed, and yet another is the oil which may be extracted out of the germ of the grain. Another substance is sugar, of which an ample supply may be found in the wheat kernel. And yet another specificum is the rubberlike mucilage out of which starch is made.
The seed contains, besides that, a large amount of the purest hydrogen. This substance fills the hollow duct in the stalk and thereby keeps it upright. Without it the stalk would not grow upwards. Therefore the hollow stalk is tied to its roots like a balloon, which keeps the plant upright as long as it has not attained its own necessary firmness. As soon as the plant has attained this firmness, it draws this specificum more and more into the maturing seed and stores it there, so that it is available in a sufficient amount for the next seeding season.
This enumeration clearly shows the multifarious fundamental specifica in a wheat kernel. By whom are these specifica stimulated? This is done by spirits which are employed for this purpose. The spirits of the lower kind each take care of approximately one field. These spirits guide the individual specifica with their will; this will is like a court of law for the specifica. The spirit knows exactly the specifica in the seed which is planted in the soil, how much of it comes from the Earth and how much from the stars, and of what kind and in what proportions.
Once the seed has been placed in the soil, the spirit breathes his will, which is the same kind as the particular specifica, over the field, and seizes the specifica, urging them to the place where they belong. Then they flow to the point that is in accordance with their captive intelligence and begin their task, for which they possess the intelligence and the appropriate energy, in the form of infusoria-like beings. Some will form the roots and the ducts. Others enter into the roots and nourish and enlarge them; others enter through the roots into the stalk; others form the ducts in the stalks; others, shutters, pumps, and valves. Others again, the purer ones, ascend through these ducts and form the leaves in the order of their intelligence, and the still purer ones ascend through the ducts and form the blossoms. And the purest, which are cleansed through this act, form the fruit, and the very spiritual central intelligences unite in the fruit to form the germ. They enclose themselves in a tissue which the external and as yet impure intelligences cannot penetrate.
When, by this activity, the ripeness of the plant has in time been reached, the spirit who was employed in this field has done his work and leaves everything else to human beings. He also leaves some of the work to the nature spirits, which affect the further dissolution of those parts that do not belong to the fruit, in order that their specifica may ascend at the proper time in a finer form.
There are spirits for every field and for every species of plants. Every spirit is assigned a particular kind of plant at a particular place, and he must take care that these species will always possess the same characteristics and form.
The slightest negligence by such a guiding spirit will have misgrowth and crop failure as a consequence. And this occurs quite frequently, since these spirits do not have a captive will in respect to their activities, but rather a free will. This is necessary, because it would not be possible to deliver your own achievements with a captive will. When human beings are to be disciplined with a crop failure, all that is necessary is to entrust the supervision of this to careless spirits. The spirits that guard the vegetation do not accommodate the soul specifica liberated in an orderly manner, in a fully proper order; then the ones that are not in order ascend immediately into the second region, where they unite into nature spirits and cause bad weather and deterioration of the air, to the detriment of plant growth.
In order that such unauthorized acts do not spread contrary to plan, there is a higher spirit in charge of the lower spirits, who supervises a much greater district. Such a higher spirit may be compared to a big landowner who has different kinds of labor carried out on his property, and who knows well its necessity and chronological order. His laborers know their work, and each and every one of them carries out a part of the task. He is in charge of all of them, and delegates the work in accordance with their abilities. A spirit which is in charge of a district does not interfere with the district of another. The district spirits have a spirit above them who guides and is in charge of a whole country, so that in every district the same order prevails. When a spirit attains this rank, it is already a spirit from the third region. You know that several counties make up a kingdom. This kingdom is watched over by an angel prince. However, the Prince of Princes watches over all kingdoms, which no spirit is capable of doing, just as He watches each individual specificum. And that is why the statement, "The Lord's eyes see every occurrence," is correct.