Black Traces in White Noise

jwr47
In technology white noise has been defined as a random signal with a constant power spectral
density. White noise refers to a statistical model for signals and signal sources, rather than to any
specific signal.
In technology white noise often may be understood as the absence of any information in signals. It
is sometimes used in non technical contexts, in the metaphoric sense of "random talk without
meaningful contents".[4] []
!pplied to linguistics Black Traces in White Noise symboli"e possible information inside a random
signal, e#ui$alent to "possible information included in random talk without meaningful contents".
I chose this metaphor to describe an idea of physical roots for words. In fact modern scripture may
be considered as a source which is generating white noise, which is being enriched with some traces
of $ery ancient, hardly recogni"able symbolism.
In studying %alph Waldo &merson's work (ature )*+,-. I found some samples of antipodal
symbolism, which &merson used as samples for linguistic roots.
Right originally means straight/ wrong means twisted.
Light and darkness are our familiar expression for knowledge and ignorance/
&merson describes how antipodes need to be 0oined to procreate life.
In a certain sense &merson also foresees the e$olutionary corruption of language and man1
2he corruption of man is followed by the corruption of language.
!nd his words are truly prophetic in claiming the old words are per$erted and fiat money is to be
applied as soon as the bullion has left the $aults. %ight now the fraud is manifest and the word fiat
money loses its magic. It probably already lost symbolic trust and will be in$erted to symboli"e
fraud and corruption.
3ld words are perverted to stand for things which are not/ a paper currency is
employed if there is no bullion in the vaults. In due time, the fraud is manifest, and
words lose all power to stimulate the understanding or the affections.
2he rotten diction may be pro$en from experience of theft and fraud, corruption and deceit, in
which wisdom is needed to return to the original symbolism of true diction.
4ut wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to $isible things.
&merson's work is inspiring and I decided to take a closer look at his suggestions.
5arts of speech are metaphors because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human
mind.
6et's see what metaphors may be found inside the human mind.
&merson's choice of philosophical expressions struck me for their generality and uni$ersality.
Vinegar is the son of wine/
&specially the 7last ounce8 seemed to be symboli"ing today's battle of the 9ed camel against losing
the fiat currency's $alue1
The last ounce )of gold:. broke the camel's back/
It appears to men, or it does not appear. !nd the last ones who are to recogni"e the truth are those
who claim to ha$e studied economics, because the new generation vinegar is the son of wine.
2he chapter's last line suggests to be surprised from these $iews and e$en 7economists8 may be
surprised from &merson's idea of 7rightly seeing81
! new interest surprises us, whilst, under the $iew now suggested, we contemplate the
fearful extent and multitude of ob0ects/ since "every obect rightly seen, unlocks a new
faculty of the soul." 2hat which was unconscious truth, becomes, when interpreted and
defined in an ob0ect, a part of the domain of knowledge,;a new amount to the
maga"ine of power.
Procreation requires sexual antipodes
In the chapter 6!(<=!<& )in (ature, *+,-. %alph Waldo &merson suggests the basic idea for this
symbolism in the roots
*
1
Every word which is used to express a moral or intellectual fact, if traced to its root, is
found to be borrowed from some material appearance.
3ne of &merson's concepts was the basic idea of polarity, which had been related to sex, in which
the 0oint of two antipodes are needed to procreate and create life.
All the facts in natural history taken by themselves, have no value, but are barren like a
sinle sex. But marry it to human history, and it is full of life.
The inversions of right and wrong
In the chapter 6!(<=!<& )(ature, *+,-. &merson specifies some illustrati$e samples and I started
analy"ing the word 7wrong81
Right oriinally means straight! wrong means twisted.
&merson suggests to in$estigate the state of mind for the words right and wrong. In &nglish we also
use the antipodes 7right8 and 7left8, in which 7right8 seems to symboli"e 7correct8 and 7left8
7incorrect8, as a 7lefto$er8, bad choice.
I didn't feel $ery sure of the bad character of 7wrong8 and 7twisted8 and decided to dig deeper into
the spiritual backround of early reliions. !s a word twisted should carry some symbolic
Every natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact. Every appearance in nature
corresponds to some state of the mind.
2he problem of the origin is the historical flow of re$olutions the concepts may ha$e experienced.
7%ight8 and 7wrong8 may ha$e exchanged their symbolism. What had been 7correct8 became 7to
be corrected" or 7incorrect8.
Darkness leading the daylight
&merson gi$es another sample in the symbolism of light and darkness:
Light and darkness are our familiar expression for knowledge and ignorance!
>arkness may now symboli"e ignorance, but we also know ancient religions considered darkness
as the holy phase. In 7<ermania8 2acitus describes how darkness had been considered by <ermanic
tribes
?
1
(either in reckoning of time do they count, like us, the number of days but that of
nights. In this style their ordinances are framed, in this style their diets appointed/ and
with them the night seems to lead and govern the day.
2he original symbolism of the words 7right8 and 7wrong8 may be understood from &mersons
explanation 7straight8, respecti$ely 7twisted8. @owe$er 7straight8 and 7twisted8 cannot be
understood as the roots.
* Aee the appendix1 2he Bhapter 6!(<=!<& In (ature )*+,-. by %alph Waldo &merson,
? <ermania, trans. 2homas <ordon )*C*D. at the Eedie$al Aourcebook
The words twist and twine
! twisted yarn is a twine. 2he concept of twisting yarns and wea$ing belong to the ancient
fundamentals of society. 2he stabili"ing designs had been in$entions which may ha$e been
crucial to o$ercome the problems of sur$i$ing iceFages and occupying cold territories. In the
beginning a stabili"ed wea$ing structure always must ha$e been superior to singular strands.
2he idea that 7twisting8 and 7twofold8Fstructures may be bad must ha$e been introduced at
later eras, in which for instance monotheism replaced biFtheism or polytheism.
2he word 7twist8 refers to 7two8, symboli"ing an unlucky di$erging bifurcation from the basic
concept of unity. 2wist also refers to negati$e concepts such as 7di$orce8, 7twilight8, 7discord8, but
also refers to the positi$e idea of entwining, or twisting strands to obtain a more powerful strong,
balanced yarn by plying two or more strands of yarn. ! balanced yarn is a twine, which is more
powerful than any singular strand.
Aome of the ancient religions indeed understood the mating of the male and female elements as a
symbolic concept of twisting threads to form a powerful strong, balanced society comparable to a
$ery strong twine. 3f course this idea had been implemented in $arious linguistic constructs1
! line, deri$ed from the use of a linen thread was to determine a straight line/
! twine, deri$ed from twisting strands was to determine a twisted line/
2he twine, whose ad$antageous design and strength in images
,
most clearly may be explained, is an
impro$ed $ersion of the line.
=ntwining is disentangling a stable or messed up structure. =ntwining a balanced yarn clearly is a
bad idea, but untwining a knotted yarn may be fine to reuse the yarn for other purposes. 4oth
positi$e and negati$e aspects may be illustrated by the samples1
#neative$1 to separate )things that deliberately ha$e been entwined.
#positive$1 to separate )things that accidentally ha$e been caught on one another. or to
remo$e the unwanted twists or knots )in something..
4oth untwinins are separatin actions, but one is considered positi$e and the other negati$e.
(ow this antipodal duality of ood and bad clearly illustrates the problem of identifying the
#ualities of 7twists8. 7Wrong8 and 7twisted8 defined by &merson as 7incorrect8 cannot be
considered as an antipodal root for 7right8 and 7straight8 in the sense of 7correct8.
Instead the older root symbol is supposed to refer to twisted and twine as the material representation
of positi$e #uality )the idea of 7good8.. In contrast the simple, straight line had to be interpreted as
a material representation of negati$e #uality )the idea of 7bad8..
2hose ancient days a 7twisted8 or 7entwined8 religious concept might ha$e been positi$e. In fact I
had recogni"ed the creator deity 2uisto as such 7entwined8 religious concept.
"2uisto", is commonly connected to the 5rotoF<ermanic root %tvaiF "two" and its
deri$ati$e %tvisF "twice" or "doubled", thus gi$ing 2uisto the core meaning "double"
4
.
2he negati$e aspect of this duality is illustrated in the <ermanic word "twist", which, in all but the
&nglish has the primary meaning of "disputeGconflict".[*]
, &wirn
4 2uisto )Wikipedia.
Byssus
2wining may ha$e been used as the symbolic stabili"er for society. 5robably sexual intercourse had
been considered as the basic concept of twining to procreate.
2he twining concepts ha$e been documented in the 4ible. 2he basic material had been named
byssus' an exceptionally fine and $aluable fibre or cloth of ancient times. 3riginally used for fine
flax and linens, its use was later extended to fine cottons, silks, and sea silk

.
Aea silk was produced in the Eediterranean region from the large marine bi$al$e
mollusc (inna nobilis until early in the ?Dth century. 2he shell, which is sometimes
almost a metre long, adheres itself to rocks with a tuft of $ery strong thin fibres, pointed
end down, in the intertidal "one. 2hese byssus or filaments )which can be up to - cm
long. are spun and, when treated with lemon 0uice, turn a golden colour, which ne$er
fades.
(inna nobilis has become threatened with extinction, partly due to o$erfishing, the
decline in seagrass fields, and pollution. !s it has declined so dramatically, the once
small but $ibrant sea silk industry has almost disappeared, and the art is now preser$ed
only by a few women on the island of Aant'!ntioco near Aardinia.[*-]
2he earliest usage of the &nglish name sea silk remains uncertain, but the )xford
Enlish *ictionary defines sea+silkworm as "a bi$al$e mollusc of the genus (inna."[*H]
2he article Beltic Blothing >uring the Iron !ge
-
supplies us with lots of details, in which especially
finely wea$ing technologies pre$ail. 2he fine ancient wea$ings e$en impresse today's wea$ers
H
.
4urial findings suggest religious symbolism in 2ablet weavin
+
. Aome of the materials were imports
from !sia.
2he @ochdorf BhieftainIs burial from <ermany dating to the 6ate @allstatt period
around ,D4B contained some $ery fine wo$en fabric of extremely high thread count,
possibly ? to *+ treads of wool per centimeter according to ,ise Bender -orensen in
North European textiles until A* ./// )Jorgensen . which disrupts not only the
%oman $iew that these tribes were primiti$e but also our modern belief that they wore
archaic course and large knit clothing, though archaeological e$idence as a whole does
not discredit such larger wea$es as such examples also exist, but they had the capability
of manufacturing fine cloth.
2he @ochdorf silk was indeed a luxury import traced to !sia, a clear indication to the intricate trade
system of the period that defined prestige. )!rnold ?D**..
9rom the period, @allstatt yarns are for the most part of $ery fine #uality with most
being less than D.- mm in thickness and most @allstatt textiles are of fine to extra fine
#uality with more than *DK* threads per centimeter according to 0eina 1ofmann+de
2ei34er in her compilation Ancient textiles 5 recent knowlede' a multidisciplinary
research pro3ect on textile framents from the prehistoric salt mine of 1allstatt )Lei0"er
C?*..
!n extremely fine, rare and $aluable fabric produced from the long silky filaments or byssus excreted by se$eral
molluscs )particularly (inna nobilis. by which they attach themsel$es to the sea bed.
- Aource !cademia.edu
H Beltic Blothing >uring the Iron !ge
+ 2abletFwo$en bands are commonly found in Iron age gra$es and are presumed to be standard trim for garments
among $arious peoples, including the Mikings. ) NO 2ablet weavin.
3f the different dyes, testing suggests the use of woad blue, possible 5olish and or
!rmenian cochineal with kerms for red, weld yellow, other shades from2annins )oak
bark. and orchil )lichen species.. 3ther dyes could not be identified.
Bomparing these technologies and dyes with biblical #uotations I found most of these details
matched with the findings. 2he colors and technologies )referring to byssus. ha$e been #uotated in
2he @ermetic Bodex II F 4ipolar Eonotheism
C
1
2he 4ooks &xodus and Bhronicles re$eal a great number of symbolic colored wo$en
materials )red, blue and purple twining. in the di$ine instructions for the Bo$enant tent
and for Aolomon's great 2emple
*D
1
!"1

2hey shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the fine
linen.
-
72hey shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen, the work of the skilful workman.
H
It shall ha$e two shoulderFpieces 0oined to the
two ends of it, that it may be 0oined together.
+
2he skilfully wo$en band, which is on it,
that is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece/ of gold, of blue, and purple,
and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
*
7Pou shall make a breastplate of 0udgment, the work of the skilful workman/ like the
work of the ephod you shall make it/ of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine
twined linen, shall you make it.
?+
2hey shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings of the ephod with a lace
of blue, that it may be on the skillfully wo$en band of the ephod, and that the
breastplate may not swing out from the ephod.
2here is a total of ? di$ine orders for the usage of blue, purple and scarlet. In these
descriptions the <erman 6utherF4ible also mentions the color white as an additional,
maybe important attribute for the twined linen.
Aome >utch and <erman translations remained erroneous for centuries, referring to yellow instead
of blue. !lso the definition of purple remained blurred for centuries. &$en today the colors seem to
be unsure.
Tuisco as the son of the sky-god Dyeus
2he second $ariant of the name, occurring originally in manuscript E, reads "2uisco".
3ne proposed etymology for this $ariant reconstructs a 5rotoF<ermanic %tiwisko and
connects this with 5rotoF<ermanic %Tiwa4, gi$ing the meaning "son of 2iu". 2his
interpretation would thus make 2uisco the son of the skyFgod )5rotoFIndoF&uropean
Q*yeus. and the earthFgoddess [?]
**
.
!t least the origin of 2uisto seemed to be referring to a dual concept and 2uisco may ha$e been
deri$ed from the skyFgod Q*yeus. 2he crossFrelations between 2uisco and 2uisto suggest to
interpret the skyFgod Q*yeus as a bipolar concept.
C 3f course the subtitle 4ipolar Eonotheism refers to twines from a bipolar set of strands forming a sinular thread
as a basic concept.
*D &xodus ?+1?F
** 2uisto )Wikipedia.
The Hochdorf hieftain!s "urial gar#ents
2he @ochdorf BhieftainIs burial garments ha$e been depicted as red R blue whereas his coat is a
finely wo$en combination of $ery fine red R blue yarns, which from a distance look like purple in
the sense of the red R blue mixture the human eye sees, but which cannot be found as a spectral
component in the sunlight.
!ll these details suggest to identify the colors red, blue and purple and the twining technology as
religious symbols. 2hese symbols also may ha$e been applied in naming the gods 2uisto, 2uisco
and e$en >yaus.
In fact >yaus )the father of 2uisco:. contains three $owels1 y, a and u. It took me some time to
correlate these $owel symbols P, = and ! to the colors red )7i8 or 7y8., blue )7u8. and purple
)7a8.
*?
.
The ego-pronouns
In the end I recogni"ed the same $owels in the personal pronouns of the first person sinular, which
I simply named eo+pronouns as a shorthand coding.
Eost of the languages, including &nglish, howe$er lost some of the trailer $owels and reduced the
threeFletter central codes 7yau8 or 7iau8 in the Breator's name to 7I8 )&nglish. or 7Je8 )9rench..
3nly a few dialects still preser$e the original threeF$owel egoFpronouns 7iau8, 7ieu8 and 7iou8
*,
.
3f course the three biblical colors red, blue and purple may be correlating to male, female and
androynous as well as to the $owels I, = and !, but these correlations remain to be pro$en.
In an o$er$iew the bipolarity seems to ha$e been a subset of the trinity in which one )neutral,
androgynous. element represents the 3oint of both antipodal )male and female. elements.
*? 2he @ermetic Bodex II F 4ipolar Eonotheism
*, 2he 5I& Boncept F >ecoding the 5roto Indo &uropean 6anguage
6i. .' The 7eltic soverein wrapped in red 8 blue
$onathan %wift reveals the na#e yahoo for reator&s i#age
2he use of three distinct $owels for di$ine names has been common in long eras and widespread
areas.
In <ulli$er's 2ra$els the priest Jonathan Awift re$eals the name #ahoo for Breator's image )S the
7creature8 man.. !fter the publication, in *H?- ),D years after becoming a priest., the author ran
into se$ere accusations from Mictorian commentators1
&specially the Pahoos in the fourth book of <ulli$ers 2ra$els had been accused by
Mictorian critics as a Tdefamation of <od and the human being7 )4ulwerF6ytton., which
had to bann this tool Tfrom any decent household7 )&. <osse.
*4
.
Eost of the Breator's names ha$e been composed from $owels, mostly P or I, ! and = or 3 and
Pahoo is a common composition resembling a number of the following names1
Pehua, Pawhanan )PUhanan., IaFuFa )IaFu., P@W, Pah, Jeho$ah, P@ )Pah., Pahu
)@ebrew., $%&' )9aho in 6atin., Ia R IaU )<reek., I!V
*
, WXYVZ[\
*-
, Iaoue, I!]
)W^_ in <reek and [Iah] in 6atin., Iabe
*H
)for Aamaritans., resp. !`a for the Jews
*+
, I3!
)WV\., Ieue, Ieue, Pohoua, Pohouah, Ieoa, Ihehoua, Jeho$ah
*C
, @iehouahi, Ihe$he, Ioua,
Iehoua )a 9oua :9oue F Jupiter., Iohauah, Iehouah )instead of 9oua., Iehue
?D
, W^bcd
?*
S
Iaoouee, Iabe, Ieouiee
??
.
In some languages howe$er the $owels I, !, 3, = ha$e been $eiled by consonants such as P, @, M,
W, which ha$e to be deciphered by the Eothers of %eading )matres lectionis$.
2he hiding of truth seems to ha$e been important and continues e$en up till today, in which
currency wars and shooting wars are applying falsifying decoys in descriptions, names, statistics,
$ideos, photographs and currencies. Just name it and search ferohedge for the correct specifications
of the decoys, where wise men pierce the rotten diction and fasten words again to $isible things.
*4 page ?D- in >ie 2lassiker der enlischen ,iteratur F Latalog der ( ) !utoren1 =we 4gker, @orst 4reuer und %olf
4reuer, &24 K &B3( 2aschenbuch Merlag.. >ocumented )in <erman. in Mon >en =rsprhngen >er Pahoos
* 2he (ame W\V
*- 2he (ame W\V
*H 2he b in Iabe may ha$e been understood as the 7w8 or 7uu8 )double u.
*+ iuaestiones in &xodum cap. jM K #uoted in 2he (ame 3f <od Pehowah. Its Atory, 4y <krard <ertoux
*C 2he (ame 3f <od Pehowah. Its Atory, 4y <krard <ertoux !H F Is <alatino the first who introduced the name
Jeho$ah in **+:
?D resp. 9ehoua or 9ihue not deri$ed from 9oue )Jupiterl., but from from !ramaic yihweh, respecti$ely @ebrew 9ehoua
?* @owe$er, there are other e#ually reputable scholars who can pro$ide e$idence that the underlying <reek of Ja$e is
"m^bc" and not "m^bcd".
?? 6ondon 5apyri. jl$i, 44-F4+?
%u##ary
%alph Waldo &merson's work (ature re$eals some prophetic $isions on linguistic roots and
especially antipodal symbolism. &merson describes how antipodes need to be 0oined to procreate
life.
@is interpretation of riht )straiht. as correct or ood and wrong )twisted. as incorrect or bad
howe$er seems to be as uncertain as the interpretations of light as knowledge and darkness as
ignorance.
Ey analysis in this paper illustrates how twisted )wrong. may be interpreted as 7good8 )correct. and
straight )right. may be interpreted as 7bad8 )incorrect..
4asically corrupted language may in$ert the linguistic symbolism. Pes, &merson's statement was
right1 the corruption of man is followed by the corruption of language. @e e$en predicts the
current corruption of fraudulent currencies1
3ld words are perverted to stand for things which are not/ a paper currency is
employed if there is no bullion in the vaults. In due time, the fraud is manifest, and
words lose all power to stimulate the understanding or the affections.
4ut he also gi$e us some hope of a re$elation1
4ut wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to $isible things.
The last ounce )of gold:. will break the camel's back/
!nd &merson's $ision of interconnections between linguistic concepts )legends, words and letters.
and material symbols may be illustrated by samples of dye colors, wo$en materials, burial findings
and biblical #uotations.
2he hiding of truth seems to ha$e been important and continues e$en up till today, in which
currency wars and shooting wars are applying falsifying decoys in descriptions, names, statistics,
$ideos, photographs and currencies. Just name it and search ferohedge for the correct specifications
of the decoys, where wise men pierce the rotten diction and fasten words again to $isible things.
!s an integral component a reference to this paper will be added to
5roceedings in the &goF5ronouns' &tymology )3$er$iew.
'ppendix - hapter (anguage )n *ature "y +alph ,aldo -#erson
./
B@!52&% IM.
6!(<=!<&.
! 2@I%> use which (ature subser$es to man is that of 6anguage. (ature is the $ehicle of thought,
and in a simple, double, and threefold degree.
*. Words are signs of natural facts.
?. 5articular natural facts are symbols of particular facts.
,. (ature is the symbol of spirits.
Words are signs of natural facts. 2he use of natural history is to gi$e us aid in supernatural history.
2he use of the outer creation is to gi$e us language for the beings and changes of the inward
creation. &$ery word which is used to express a moral or intellectual fact, if traced to its root, is
found to be borrowed from some material appearance.
Right originally means straight/ wrong means twisted.
*pirit primarily means wind/ transgression, the crossing of a line/
supercilious, the raising of the eyeFbrow.
We say the heart to express emotion, the head to denote thought/
and thought and emotion are, in their turn, words borrowed from sensible things, and now
appropriated to spiritual nature.
Eost of the process by which this transformation is made, is hidden from us in the remote time
when language was framed/ but the same tendency may be daily obser$ed in children. Bhildren and
sa$ages use only nouns or names of things, which they continually con$ert into $erbs, and apply to
analogous mental acts.
4ut this origin of all words that con$ey a spiritual import,;so conspicuous a fact in the history of
language,;is our least debt to nature. It is not words only that are emblematic/ it is things which
are emblematic. &$ery natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact. &$ery appearance in nature
corresponds to some state of the mind, and that state of the mind can only be described by
presenting that natural appearance as its picture.
!n enraged man is a lion, a cunning man is a fox,
a firm man is a rock, a learned man is a torch.
! lamb is innocence/ a snake is subtle spite/
flowers express to us the delicate affections.
Light and darkness are our familiar expression for knowledge and ignorance/
and heat for lo$e.
Misible distance behind and before us, is respecti$ely our image of memory and hope.
Who looks upon a ri$er in a meditati$e hour, and is not reminded of the flux of all things: 2hrow a
stone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themsel$es are the beautiful type of all
influence. Ean is conscious of a uni$ersal soul within or behind his indi$idual life, wherein, as in a
firmament, the natures of Justice, 2ruth, 6o$e, 9reedom, arise and shine. 2his uni$ersal soul, he
calls %eason1 it is not mine or thine or his, but we are its/ we are its property and men.
?, Aource1 2he Bhapter 6!(<=!<& In (ature )*+,-. by %alph Waldo &merson, an !merican essayist, lecturer, and
poet, who led the 2ranscendentalist mo$ement of the midF*Cth century.
!nd the blue sky in which the pri$ate earth is buried, the sky with its eternal calm, and full of
e$erlasting orbs, is the type of %eason. 2hat which, intellectually considered, we call %eason,
considered in relation to nature, we call Apirit. Apirit is the Breator. Apirit hath life in itself. !nd
man in all ages and countries, embodies it in his language, as the 9!2@&%.
It is easily seen that there is nothing lucky or capricious in these analogies, but that they are
constant, and per$ade nature. 2hese are not the dreams of a few poets, here and there, but man is an
analogist, and studies relations in all ob0ects. @e is placed in the centre of beings, and a ray of
relation passes from e$ery other being to him. !nd neither can man be understood without these
ob0ects, nor these ob0ects without man. !ll the facts in natural history taken by themsel$es, ha$e no
$alue, but are barren like a single sex. 4ut marry it to human history, and it is full of life. Whole
9loras, all 6innnus' and 4uffon's $olumes, are but dry catalogues of facts/ but the most tri$ial of
these facts, the habit of a plant, the organs, or work, or noise of an insect, applied to the illustration
of a fact in intellectual philosophy, or, in any way associated to human nature, affects us in the most
li$ely and agreeable manner. 2he seed of a plant,;to what affecting analogies in the nature of man,
is that little fruit made use of, in all discourse, up to the $oice of 5aul, who calls the human corpse a
seed,;"It is sown a natural body/ it is raised a spiritual body."
2he motion of the earth round its axis, and round the sun, makes the day, and the year. 2hese are
certain amounts of brute light and heat. 4ut is there no intent of an analogy between man's life and
the seasons: !nd do the seasons gain no grandeur or pathos from that analogy: 2he instincts of the
ant are $ery unimportant considered as the ant's/ but the moment a ray of relation is seen to extend
from it to man, and the little drudge is seen to be a monitor, a little body with a mighty heart, then
all its habits, e$en that said to be recently obser$ed, that it ne$er sleeps, become sublime.
4ecause of this radical correspondence between $isible things and human thoughts, sa$ages, who
ha$e only what is necessary, con$erse in figures. !s we go back in history, language becomes more
pictures#ue, until its infancy, when it is all poetry/ or, all spiritual facts are represented by natural
symbols. 2he same symbols are found to make the original elements of all languages. It has
moreo$er been obser$ed, that the idioms of all languages approach each other in passages of the
greatest elo#uence and power. !nd as this is the first language, so is it the last. 2his immediate
dependence of language upon nature, this con$ersion of an outward phenomenon into a type of
somewhat in human life, ne$er loses its power to affect us. It is this which gi$es that pi#uancy to
the con$ersation of a strongFnatured farmer or backFwoodsman, which all men relish.
2hus is nature an interpreter, by whose means man con$erses with his fellow men. ! man's power to
connect his thought with its proper symbol, and so utter it, depends on the simplicity of his
character, that is, upon his lo$e of truth and his desire to communicate it without loss. 2he
corruption of man is followed by the corruption of language. When simplicity of character and the
so$ereignty of ideas is broken up by the pre$alence of secondary desires, the desire of riches, the
desire of pleasure, the desire of power, the desire of praise,;and duplicity and falsehood take place
of simplicity and truth, the power o$er nature as an interpreter of the will, is in a degree lost/ new
imagery ceases to be created, and old words are per$erted to stand for things which are not/ a paper
currency is employed when there is no bullion in the $aults. In due time, the fraud is manifest, and
words lose all power to stimulate the understanding or the affections.
@undreds of writers may be found in e$ery longFci$ili"ed nation, who for a short time belie$e, and
make others belie$e, that they see and utter truths, who do not of themsel$es clothe one thought in
its natural garment, but who feed unconsciously upon the language created by the primary writers of
the country, those, namely, who hold primarily on nature.
4ut wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to $isible things/ so that pictures#ue
language is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truth
and <od. 2he moment our discourse rises abo$e the ground line of familiar facts, and is inflamed
with passion or exalted by thought, it clothes itself in images.
! man con$ersing in earnest, if he watch his intellectual processes, will find that always a material
image, more or less luminous, arises in his mind, cotemporaneous with e$ery thought, which
furnishes the $estment of the thought. @ence, good writing and brilliant discourse are perpetual
allegories. 2his imagery is spontaneous. It is the blending of experience with the present action of
the mind. It is proper creation. It is the working of the 3riginal Bause through the instruments he
has already made.
2hese facts may suggest the ad$antage which the countryFlife possesses for a powerful mind, o$er
the artificial and curtailed life of cities. We know more from nature than we can at will
communicate. Its light flows into the mind e$ermore, and we forget its presence. 2he poet, the
orator, bred in the woods, whose senses ha$e been nourished by their fair and appeasing changes,
year after year, without design and without heed,;shall not lose their lesson altogether, in the roar
of cities or the broil of politics. 6ong hereafter, amidst agitation and terror in national councils,;in
the hour of re$olution,;these solemn images shall reappear in their morning lustre, as fit symbols
and words of the thoughts which the passing e$ents shall awaken. !t the call of a noble sentiment,
again the woods wa$e, the pines murmur, the ri$er rolls and shines, and the cattle low upon the
mountains, as he saw and heard them in his infancy. !nd with these forms, the spells of persuasion,
the keys of power are put into his hands.
,. We are thus assisted by natural ob0ects in the expression of particular meanings. 4ut how great a
language to con$ey such pepperFcorn informationsl >id it need such noble races of creatures, this
profusion of forms, this host of orbs in hea$en, to furnish man with the dictionary and grammar of
his municipal speech: Whilst we use this grand cipher to expedite the affairs of our pot and kettle,
we feel that we ha$e not yet put it to its use, neither are able. We are like tra$ellers using the cinders
of a $olcano to roast their eggs. Whilst we see that it always stands ready to clothe what we would
say, we cannot a$oid the #uestion, whether the characters are not significant of themsel$es. @a$e
mountains, and wa$es, and skies, no significance but what we consciously gi$e them, when we
employ them as emblems of our thoughts: 2he world is emblematic. 5arts of speech are metaphors
because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind. 2he laws of moral nature answer to
those of matter as face to face in a glass. "2he $isible world and the relation of its parts, is the dial
plate of the in$isible." 2he axioms of physics translate the laws of ethics. 2hus, "the whole is
greater than its part/" "reaction is e#ual to action/" "the smallest weight may be made to lift the
greatest, the difference of weight being compensated by time/" and many the like propositions,
which ha$e an ethical as well as physical sense. 2hese propositions ha$e a much more extensi$e
and uni$ersal sense when applied to human life, than when confined to technical use.
In like manner, the memorable words of history, and the pro$erbs of nations, consist usually of a
natural fact, selected as a picture or parable of a moral truth. 2hus/
! rolling stone gathers no moss/
! bird in the hand is worth two in the bush/
! cripple in the right way, will beat a racer in the wrong/
Eake hay whilst the sun shines/
'2 is hard to carry a full cup e$en/
Vinegar is the son of wine/
The last ounce broke the camel's back/
Long)lived trees make roots first/
;and the like.
In their primary sense these are tri$ial facts, but we repeat them for the $alue of their analogical
import. What is true of pro$erbs, is true of all fables, parables, and allegories.
2his relation between the mind and matter is not fancied by some poet, but stands in the will of
<od, and so is free to be known by all men. It appears to men, or it does not appear. When in
fortunate hours we ponder this miracle, the wise man doubts, if, at all other times, he is not blind
and deaf/
;;"Ban these things be,
!nd o$ercome us like a summer's cloud,
Without our special wonder:"
for the uni$erse becomes transparent, and the light of higher laws than its own, shines through it.
It is the standing problem which has exercised the wonder and the study of e$ery fine genius since
the world began/ from the era of the &gyptians and the 4rahmins, to that of 5ythagoras, of 5lato, of
4acon, of 6eibnit", of Awedenborg. 2here sits the Aphinx at the roadFside, and from age to age, as
each prophet comes by, he tries his fortune at reading her riddle. 2here seems to be a necessity in
spirit to manifest itself in material forms/ and day and night, river and storm, beast and bird, acid
and alkali, preoxist in necessary Ideas in the mind of <od, and are what they are by $irtue of
preceding affections, in the world of spirit. ! 9act is the end or last issue of spirit. 2he $isible
creation is the terminus or the circumference of the in$isible world.
"Eaterial ob0ects," said a 9rench philosopher, "are necessarily kinds of scori; of the substantial
thoughts of the Breator, which must always preser$e an exact relation to their first origin/ in other
words, $isible nature must ha$e a spiritual and moral side."
2his doctrine is abstruse, and though the images of "garment," "scorin," "mirror," Rc., may
stimulate the fancy, we must summon the aid of subtler and more $ital expositors to make it plain.
"&$ery scripture is to be interpreted by the same spirit which ga$e it forth,";is the fundamental
law of criticism. ! life in harmony with nature, the lo$e of truth and of $irtue, will purge the eyes to
understand her text. 4y degrees we may come to know the primiti$e sense of the permanent ob0ects
of nature, so that the world shall be to us an open book, and e$ery form significant of its hidden life
and final cause.
! new interest surprises us, whilst, under the $iew now suggested, we contemplate the fearful extent
and multitude of ob0ects/ since "e$ery ob0ect rightly seen, unlocks a new faculty of the soul." 2hat
which was unconscious truth, becomes, when interpreted and defined in an ob0ect, a part of the
domain of knowledge,;a new amount to the maga"ine of power.
)nhaltsver0eichnis
5rocreation re#uires sexual antipodes ........................................................................................,
2he in$ersions of 7right8 and 7wrong8.......................................................................................,
7>arkness8 leading 7the daylight8..............................................................................................,
2he words 7twist8 and 7twine8...................................................................................................4
4yssus.........................................................................................................................................
2uisco as the son of the skyFgod >yeus......................................................................................-
2he @ochdorf BhieftainIs burial garments..................................................................................H
2he egoFpronouns.......................................................................................................................H
Jonathan Awift re$eals the name yahoo for Breator's image .....................................................+
Aummary ....................................................................................................................................C
!ppendix F Bhapter 76anguage8 In 7(ature8 by %alph Waldo &merson.................................*D