(45.) Maurice Nicoll 1 - On Hydrogens (II) p.188-192
This is number (45.) of our sequential postings from Volume 1 of Maurice Nicoll’s Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky.
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Birdlip, November 21, 1942
ON HYDROGENS - II - THE FOOD OCTAVE
To-night we speak only of the Food Octave.
Regarded as an octave, the Ray of Creation, starting with the note Do at the upper level of the Absolute and reaching the note Re below at the level of the Moon, is a descending octave: Do-Si-La-Sol-Fa-Mi-Re. You will see that it could not be an ascending octave once you grasp the conception of the Hydrogens or energy-levels, which are formed at different points in the descending scale of creation. The Absolute is composed of the finest possible matter. It is the Highest Energy-Level. No higher, no finer matter, or no finer, subtler, more penetrative energy, is possible. The act of creation, therefore, cannot be in the form of an ascending octave, for that would imply the creation of finer and finer matters than those belonging to the starting-point—i.e. the Absolute would be creating something finer than itself, which is impossible. But Man has the possibility of creating finer matters in himself. He is created as a self-developing being. That is, he can create something finer than himself and so ascend in the ladder of creation. Just where he can create finer energies belongs to a further talk.
The Ray of Creation is, then, necessarily a descending octave and the energy-matters belonging to it at different points in its descent necessarily increase in density or coarseness. They become coarser and coarser the further removed they are from the source of the Ray—the Absolute itself. This is shewn by the numbers connected with the Hydrogens: H 6, H 12, H 24, and so on. Each number denotes a denser or coarser energy. So the Hydrogens get denser or coarser as we pass down the Ray and this is shewn clearly in the Diagrams where the relation of the Hydrogens to their positions in the Ray of Creation is given.
Now although the Octave of Creation itself is a descending octave, the octaves in the human machine are all ascending octaves. They go in the reverse way. The three Hydrogens in the Universe used by Man for his life enter him from outside and form starting-points or Do's for ascending octaves and this is life for Man. That is, Man as a living being transforms lower energy-matters into higher energy-matters. This is life. Life is transformation. Man transforms lower Hydrogens into finer Hydrogens.
To-night we take only the Food Octave, starting from the Hydrogen 768 which is called "Food for Man". It is transformed into Hydrogen 12 ultimately in a series of successive steps, which constitute an ascending octave: Do 768 becomes by transformation Re 384, Re 384 becomes Mi 192 and so on by transformation.
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As was pointed out last time, I am giving these diagrams in as simple and abbreviated form as possible. Now the whole of this ascending octave of Food represents successive stages in the digestion of ordinary food taken by the mouth into the body, from the standpoint of the Work. Many stages and steps in its digestion exist. The first digestion or transformation occurs in the mouth, stomach, etc. and this can be understood easily enough. It is what we call "digestion of food". The food we eat is first transformed into a finer form and as such can begin to pass inwards through the walls of the stomach into the lymph and bloodstream. At this stage it is called (in the Work) Hydrogen 384 or "Water" at the note or stage Re. We should make a great mistake however, in thinking that this is the end of the process of the "digestion of food" in the human machine. It has only begun. It is the first step in full digestion in the Work sense. Hydrogen 384 passes to Hydrogen 192 called "Air", at the stage or note Mi. All I will say here is that just as wrong or faulty digestion may occur in the passage of Hydrogen 768 to Hydrogen 384 in the stomach, etc., which is ordinary digestion, so again another kind of wrong digestion can occur in the passage of Hydrogen 384 into Hydrogen 192, and this has to do with the air we breathe. That is to say, digestion at this stage cannot go on without air. But this subject cannot properly be included here in this simple explanation and so will come later on. Hydrogen 192 then passes into Hydrogen 96 at the note Fa. This is a further stage of digestion. Hydrogen 96 at the note Fa, or Fa 96 is called "Animal Magnetism". Other names are given
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to it. The point is that its materiality is intermediate between the coarser visible Hydrogens and finer invisible or psychic Hydrogens. Notice that it is made in the middle compartment of the 3-storey factory comprising the human machine.
Let us look for a moment at this Hydrogen 96, which appears here under the sign or at the note of Fa. Fa 96 is called "Animal Magnetism" for want of a better term. If we call it simply vitality or health, we may not be using quite the right term for it. But it is connected with vitality or health and yet it is not quite the same. Physical vitality or health depends as much on proper amounts of Hydrogen 384 and 192. The term "Animal Magnetism" means something "animal" and so in a way something "physical", some sort of vitality or health: the term "magnetism" denotes that it is at a higher level. A man may not enjoy very good physical health, in the ordinary sense, and yet possess the resiliency and strength that comes from having Fa 96. A person, indeed, may be ill physically and yet possess sufficient quantities of the substance called Fa 96 to make him transcend illness, and on the other hand he may be well physically and possess insufficient quantities of Fa 96 and have little power of making others feel better. Long ago someone asked G. what Fa 96 signified: the answer was that if you had sufficient quantities of this Hydrogen "fleas would not bite you." Of course, naturally, some people who heard this answer were shocked and considered it irrelevant and crude. But the idea is exactly expressed in this answer. Fa 96 is something that protects us, as it were, like an "envelope" surrounding us. Now let us look at its position. As was said, it is manufactured in the second storey. As you know, in the diagram of the centres in Man, the emotional centre comes in the second storey. It dominates it. Therefore the formation of Fa 96 is interfered with if the emotional state is wrong. Negative emotion, despair, nervous fear, wrong imagination, jealousy, depression, anxiety, chronic dislike, constant worrying, and so on, are all negative states of the emotional centre. Such states occurring in the second compartment of the human machine may prevent the formation of Fa 96 in sufficient quantities and so deplete a man of this important substance. He is then robbed of his "Animal Magnetism". That is, this step in the digestion of food is interfered with and so he suffers a particular form of "indigestion" at this point which prevents the octave of food from developing further in its right way. Sometimes very negative people, or some kinds of sick people, can drain a person of Fa 96—but only if one identifies with them. Then one feels drained, although one may be quite well otherwise, whereas contact with a person with Fa 96 gives one energy. People who are habitually negative and especially perhaps those who are evil in their long-developed jealousies and hatreds and so on feed on Fa 96 in others and actually have a delight in exhausting them, especially in the case of young people. They are the real vampires, so to speak, who suck that aspect of the blood called Fa 96. One should always avoid contact with them. Again, simply dull, depressed people, who make no effort in life can without
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any evil intention sometimes drain another person in the same way of this very important force. But remember only for the time being that all negative states of oneself can prevent the proper formation of Fa 96, which is a very important energy in the human machine and protects us from many ills, both physical and psychic.
The next stage (in the full digestion of food from the Work point of view) is the passage of Fa 96 into Sol 48. This Hydrogen 48 is the first mental or psychic Hydrogen. It is the lowest energy-matter used for thinking. It is used by the formatory side of the Intellectual Centre—the ordinary thinking part in life. If the formation of Fa 96 is being interfered with—say, by negative states, by internal considering, by self-pity, or any other cause—then very little Sol 48 is made. So the person cannot concentrate, cannot think clearly, cannot make any effort of mind. And this is often the first sign of nervous breakdown.
The next stage in "digestion"—that is, transformation—consists in the passage of Sol 48 to La 24. Hydrogen 24 is the energy (or "petrol") that works the Emotional Centre. This "petrol" can be used up entirely in negative emotions, in which case the final stage of the digestion of food—namely, the passage of La 24 into Si 12—is interfered with. Hydrogen 12 is the energy that works the sex centre. This centre rarely works with its own energy.
Now all this is very brief and you will see that many things could be said. What you should grasp, as a principle, is that the full digestion of food in the human machine (in the Work teaching) consists of six stages. It goes far beyond the ordinary scientific idea of "digestion". And you will see that at every stage mal-transformation or "indigestion" may occur.
Now in a balanced man all the different energies or Hydrogens or "Petrols" are used in proper amounts at their different points of manufacture. But suppose, let us say, a man is engaged in formatory work. Say he studies day and night. He uses Hydrogen 48—that is, Sol 48— for this purpose. If he uses too much, then none, or very little, is available for the further passage of it to La 24 and Si 12. His emotional and his sex life are starved. In other words, there is a use and mis-use of every Hydrogen in the body. For if a man does not use Hydrogen 48 enough—that is, never tries to think, never applies his mind to anything—there is then a wrong accumulation of H 48 in the centre in which it should be used. It then poisons the centre. But of all this we will speak more fully at another time. Remember at present that not a single activity, physical or psychic, is possible save with the appropriate and right amount of energy—that is, the necessary Hydrogen. You cannot think or feel or have sensation or move without the particular and necessary Hydrogen for the purpose present in your human machine. You all know how, if you are seriously ill, it is impossible to think or feel or move very much. This is because the Octave of Food with all the different energies or Hydrogens that are derived from it is working at very low intensity. But you may eat wrong food. That is at the beginning
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—768. You start wrongly. Next, you may not have enough air—that belongs to 192, as will be explained. Then you may be negative—that interferes with 96 and 24 and this is very serious. Or you may not think enough, or too much—that implicates 48 and so 24 and 12. But all this is too complex to talk of save in a general outline. What you should get hold of is simply the general principle. Simply grasp that our wrong function, our wrong thinking, may interfere with everything.