Creation is opposite to the life of God, but because every natural phenomenon is the opposite of what it appears to be; and therefore, should we take these as a point of departure in the search after Absolute Truth, we should arrive at nothing but Falsehood. Natural Phenomena, whether these are derived from external observation or from internal observation in the consciousness, besides being false and deceptive, exist in the utmost diversity and discord; so that it is impossible to reason from them with any prospect of arriving at the truth, or even of realizing any consistent theory of life, either natural, supernatural, or spiritual. Even with regard to natural life, it has come to be a universally accepted rule, that we cannot reason from phenomena, but only from law; for even the most inveterate materialist or sensualist, who is simply a generalizer of phenomena, will allow that phenomena must be exhausted before the most universal generalization can be realized as the law through which he hopes to obtain an explanation of them. Those who reason from phenomena are therefore obliged to assume some phenomenon or generalization of phenomena to be a law, before any process of reasoning can be commenced. As Correspondence is a universal medium of representation, it is constructed in a tri-personal form, and is divided into three regions of experience corresponding with these three spheres; the relationship between which is that of body, soul, and spirit; the body being negative and destructive, the soul relative and representative, and the spirit vital and productive. The principles of the mind through which these forms of correspondence are realized are the Fancy, the Imagination, and the Reason; and we will therefore state the kind of correspondences which are produced by each of these, in order that we may learn. how to separate the spiritual from the natural, and the true from the false and fictitous.

By means of the Fancy, we obtain, instinctively and spontaneously, a knowledge of those relationships between phenomena which arise in partial and superficial resemblances between their attributes, functions, and forms, and between these and the attributes, forms, and functions of the mind; its most important function being the power of instituting relationships between the mental states and the phenomena of material existence, in which it either incarnates these states by connecting them with visible forms and functions, or ideally invests physical phenomena with attributes of feeling and of thought. These forms of correspondence, which we call Metaphors or Similes, constitute one of the

most external elements in language, and the most external mode of communicating a knowledge of the individual mental condition or state; and is thus resorted to by those individuals, nations, and races who exist in an immature and external condition of the consciousness, and are obliged to depend upon a spontaneous feeling of relationship by which to illustrate what they are not able either to comprehend or to express. From the definition here given, which is one generally recognized, of the nature of the metaphor or simile as a form of correspondence, it will be seen, that although these poetic forms of the Fancy serve the purpose of illustration, give diversity and richness to language and to thought, and are necessary to constitute the body of correspondence, they can never furnish an appropriate medium for the expression of truth, for the reason that they present to us an appearance of relationship between things which have no real relationship; and they must, therefore, constitute a destructive element in every thing into which they are introduced. When separated from and thus not corrected by the higher powers of the mind, instead of furnishing a medium for the expression of truth, they will furnish a medium for the expression of falsehood. We accordingly find the Fancy to be the constructor of all the forms of Wit and of Humor; the foundation of which we shall hereafter demonstrate to be falsehood, because they are constituted by the combination of those things which appear to be like, while they are in reality the most unlike and opposite.

By means of the Imagination, which in a natural sphere of consciousness is simply apprehensive in character, and therefore confined to the perception of phenomena and their relations, we obtain spontaneously an apprehensive knowledge of those real relationships between phenomena which arise in the correspondence that has been ordained to exist between internal and external and between spiritual and natural things; and it possesses the power of recognizing those external things which symbolize the spiritual, as well as those which symbolize the internal natural conditions; so that the knowledge furnished by the Imagination is as real as that furnished by the Fancy is fictitious. These conceptions of the Imagination, which give comprehensiveness and truth to language, and unity and rationality to thought, we denominate Analogies. As these are internal and intellectual in character, being contrasted with those of the Fancy which are external and affectional, they belong to knowledge or to truth, and are therefore useful for the purpose of demonstration or conviction as well

as for illustration; and they constitute the soul of Correspondence, in a natural sphere of consciousness, the function of which is to incarnate the Supernatural in sensible images and in forms of thought. This constitutes the Imagination the highest incarnating power of the mind, because it becomes receptive of ideas from the Reason and from the Sentiment, which it incarnates in legitimate symbolic forms. Here originate, therefore, the highest forms of Philosophy, Theology, and Art; here originated those correspondences which constitute the letter of the Jewish Scriptures, and also that symbolism in which the history and teaching of Christ is embodied, which constitutes the letter or most external form of the New Testament. These correspondences do not of themselves communicate any supernatural truth to the mind, but only act upon the religious sentiment in producing an apprehensive recognition of it; and even this is realized only in the most external sphere of consciousness. They are supernatural forms which cannot be interpreted by the natural understanding except in a fanciful and fictitious manner, by which a meaning opposite to the real one is produced: and we therefore find that the history and teaching of Christ, which are entirely symbolic, have been used more than any other portion of the Bible to support naturalistic ideas, which are opposite and destructive to supernatural truth; while the correspondences of the Old Testament, which are more external and therefore still further removed from an apparent resemblance to the things represented, have been used to sustain the most destructive external manifestations. Although becoming thus destructive when interpreted by the understanding from a natural point of view, these supernatural correspondences and natural analogies of the Imagination are not only calculated to give a natural vitality to language and to thought, and to act upon the sentimental principles in an unconscious manner in the production of vital sentimental experiences, but they are also calculated to act as suggestive material in the conception by the Imagination, in a spiritual sphere of consciousness, of those spiritual forms of correspondence which are combined with the intuition of Absolute Law in the production of spiritual knowledge. Even these spiritual analogies of the Imagination do not, however, of themselves communicate any spiritual knowledge to the mind, because they are in relation to Spiritual Law external and representative, and are only calculated to combine with the conception of Universal Spiritual Laws in the realization by incarnation of Spiritual Truth.

Through the natural development of the Reason, which is the spiritual region of the mind, we obtain intuitions representative of the Universal Laws of Being and of the relationship existing between God and Creation from an ontological point of view; these being Supernatural Laws of Correspondence which unconsciously constitute the internal, vital, and productive powers in the realization of all Ontological forms of Philosophy, Religion, and Art. By means of the Reason in a spiritual sphere of consciousness, we obtain intuitions of the Universal Laws of Being which constitute the indefinite ground of Existence, and also of the laws through which these become united in the realization of Definite Being in Absolute and Phenomenal Spheres; and these constitute the ground from which we derive the Spiritual Laws of Correspondence, a conception of which must be realized as the condition of spiritual and real knowledge. By the conception of these laws, and their incarnation and application through the Spiritual Imagination, Truth becomes One and Universal, - the supernatural symbolic forms of the Imagination are invested with a higher life or significance, which brings them out of a poetic into a philosophic region of the consciousness, the relationships of the natural, and those existing between the natural and the spiritual, are explained, all hidden things are revealed, — and the records of Inspiration become harmonious and comprehensible. These spiritual laws of correspondence we have conceived and embodied in a statement of the Law of Tri-Personality, from which we obtain a conception of the Laws of Representation and of Succession, which govern the structure and manifestations of all created things.

Before we proceed to state and to apply these laws in the classification and analysis of these forms and manifestations, let us consider some of the difficulties which we shall have to encounter in carrying on this process; for, if we understand at the outset what obstacles we have to expect, we shall be better prepared for them, and better able to overcome them. If Absolute Truth could be recognized from a natural, unitarian point of view, our task would be an easy one; for then, all things being homogeneous, the external harmonious with the internal, the affectional with the intellectual, and the natural with the spiritual, the senses alone were sufficient as a guide to its discovery by tracing all effects in nature up to their spiritual cause. A science of Correspondence might then be constructed upon the basis of observation; and, by a generalization of the forms and the functions or apparent uses of things,

we might obtain a knowledge of the laws which govern them, and the relations which bind them together. We have seen, however, that this process of classification by generalization under a naturalistic law has resulted in nothing but a succession of failures from the commencement of philosophy down to the present time, until every possible method has been exhausted without the advance of a single step: indeed, that, instead of advancing, philosophy has receded, and is now, so far as the truth is concerned, inconceivably far behind the position that was first occupied by it. It is this that has made the establishment of a new and opposite method necessary at the present time. It must be understood, however, that all these systems of philosophy have been constructed in harmony with the natural conditions of the human mind; and therefore, that, in establishing this new method, we establish something not harmonious with but antagonistic to the natural consciousness, or to what appears to the natural mind to be true. It calls upon us to deny all the natural perceptions of the mind, and to regard them, not merely as unreal, but as opposite to the real; and this can be done only by a faith in absolute truth that is strong enough to overcome the natural world.

It will be seen, then, that in constructing a system of philosophy upon the ground of universal spiritual truths, — although all natural things are to be explained by the application of these truths as the laws of absolute science, and cannot, as we may see, be explained in any other way, the natural understanding, the natural affection, and the natural consciousness, must be brought into direct opposition to these laws, and consequently to most of the conclusions which are drawn from them: for the reason that "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." This opposition between the natural and the spiritual is represented in the history of the Church and of the religious experiences of individuals, because the Church and the Religious Sentiments are the supernatural representatives of the Spiritual. The theological statements of the Church are therefore perfect contradictions to the natural understanding, to the natural affection, and to that which seems to the individual to be his real condition; and are only sustained by the predominating influence of those religious principles which are in harmony with a supernatural order of thought and of experience so that, when these religious sentiments decline, and a natural order of thought obtains the ascendency, these beliefs of