black traces in white noise (analyzing emerson's work "nature")

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8/11/2019 Black Traces in White Noise (analyzing Emerson's work "Nature") http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/black-traces-in-white-noise-analyzing-emersons-work-nature 1/14 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 symbolie  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 $ery ancient, hardly recogniable symbolism. In studying %alph Waldo &merson's work (ature )*+- I found some samples of antipodal symbolism, which &merson used as samples for linguistic roots. Right originally means straight / wrong means twisted. Light and darkness  are our familiar expression for knowledge and ignorance/ &merson describes how antipodes need to be 0oined to procreate life. In a certain sense &merson also foresees the e$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 symbolie 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. ut 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.

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Page 1: Black Traces in White Noise (analyzing Emerson's work "Nature")

8/11/2019 Black Traces in White Noise (analyzing Emerson's work "Nature")

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/black-traces-in-white-noise-analyzing-emersons-work-nature 1/14

Black Traces in White Noise jwr47  

In technology white noise  has been defined as a random signal  with a constant  power spectraldensity. White noise refers to a statistical model for signals and signal sources, rather than to anyspecific signal.

In technology white noise often may be understood as the absence of any information in signals. Itis sometimes used in non technical contexts, in the metaphoric sense of "random talk withoutmeaningful contents".[4] [] 

!pplied to linguistics Black Traces in White Noise symbolie possible information inside a randomsignal, 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 tracesof $ery ancient, hardly recogniable symbolism.

In studying  %alph Waldo &merson's work  (ature  )*+- I found some samples of antipodalsymbolism, 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 beapplied as soon as the bullion has left the $aults. %ight now the fraud is manifest and the word fiatmoney loses its magic. It probably already lost symbolic trust and will be in$erted to symboliefraud 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, andwords 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, inwhich wisdom is needed to return to the original symbolism of true diction.

ut 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 humanmind.

6et's see what metaphors may be found inside the human mind.

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&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 symboliing today's battle of the 9ed camel against losingthe 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 recognie the truth are thosewho 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 besurprised from &merson's idea of 7rightly seeing81

! new interest surprises us, whilst, under the $iew now suggested, we contemplate thefearful extent and multitude of ob0ects/ since "every obect rightly seen, unlocks a newfaculty of the soul." 2hat which was unconscious truth, becomes, when interpreted anddefined in an ob0ect, a part of the domain of knowledge,;a new amount to the

magaine of power.

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The words “twist” and “twine”

! twisted yarn is a twine. 2he concept of twisting yarns and wea$ing belong to the ancientfundamentals of society. 2he stabiliing designs had been in$entions which may ha$e beencrucial to o$ercome the problems of sur$i$ing iceFages and occupying cold territories. In the

 beginning a stabilied 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 atlater eras, in which for instance monotheism replaced biFtheism or polytheism.

2he word 7twist8 refers to 7two8, symboliing an unlucky di$erging bifurcation from the basicconcept of unity. 2wist also refers to negati$e concepts such as 7di$orce8, 7twilight8, 7discord8, butalso refers to the positi$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 asymbolic 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$antageous design and strength in images most clearly may be explained, is animpro$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. oth 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 toremo$e the unwanted  twists or knots )in something.

oth 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 beconsidered 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 representationof positi$e #uality )the idea of 7good8. In contrast the simple, straight line had to be interpreted asa material representation of negati$e #uality )the idea of 7bad8.

2hose ancient days a 7twisted8 or 7entwined8 religious concept might ha$e been positi$e. In fact Ihad recognied the creator deity 2uisto as such 7entwined8 religious concept.

"2uisto", is commonly connected to the 5rotoF<ermanic  root %tvaiF "two" and itsderi$ati$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

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Byssus

2wining may ha$e been used as the symbolic stabilier 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 ible. 2he basic material had been named

byssus' an exceptionally fine and $aluable fibre or cloth of ancient times. 3riginally used for fineflax 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$al$emollusc  (inna nobilis until early in the ?Dth century. 2he shell, which is sometimesalmost a metre long, adheres itself to rocks with a tuft of $ery strong thin fibres, pointedend down, in the intertidal one. 2hese byssus or filaments )which can be up to - cmlong are spun and, when treated with lemon 0uice, turn a golden colour, which ne$er fades.

 (inna nobilis  has become threatened with extinction, partly due to o$erfishing, thedecline in  seagrass fields, and pollution. !s it has declined so dramatically, the oncesmall but $ibrant sea silk industry has almost disappeared, and the art is now preser$edonly 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 especiallyfinely wea$ing technologies pre$ail. 2he fine ancient wea$ings e$en impresse today's wea$ersH.urial findings suggest religious symbolism in 2ablet weavin +. Aome of the materials were importsfrom !sia.

2he @ochdorf Bhieftains burial from <ermany dating to the 6ate @allstatt periodaround DB 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 worearchaic course and large knit clothing, though archaeological e$idence as a whole doesnot discredit such larger wea$es as such examples also exist, but they had the capabilityof manufacturing fine cloth.

2he @ochdorf silk was indeed a luxury import traced to !sia, a clear indication to the intricate tradesystem 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  )Lei0er C?*.

!n extremely fine, rare and $aluable fabric produced from the long silky filaments or byssus excreted by se$eralmolluscs )particularly (inna nobilis by which they attach themsel$es to the sea bed.

- Aource !cademia.eduH 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 

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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 detailsmatched with the findings. 2he colors and technologies )referring to byssus ha$e been #uotated in

2he @ermetic Bodex II F ipolar EonotheismC

12he ooks &xodus and Bhronicles re$eal a great number of symbolic colored wo$enmaterials )red, blue and  purple twining  in the di$ine instructions for the Bo$enant tentand for Aolomon's great 2emple*D1

!"1 2hey shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet , and the finelinen. -72hey shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet , and fine twinedlinen, the work of the skilful workman. HIt shall ha$e two shoulderFpieces 0oined to thetwo ends of it, that it may be 0oined together. +2he skilfully wo$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 thework of the ephod you shall make it/ of gold, of blue, and  purple, and scarlet , and finetwined linen, shall you make it.

?+2hey shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings of the ephod with a laceof 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 6utherFible 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 insteadof 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 $ariant reconstructs a 5rotoF<ermanic %tiwisko  andconnects this with 5rotoF<ermanic %Tiwa4 , gi$ing the meaning "son of 2iu". 2hisinterpretation would thus make 2uisco the son of the skyFgod ) 5rotoFIndoF&uropeanQ *yeus and the earthFgoddess [?]**.

!t least the origin of 2uisto seemed to be referring to a dual concept and 2uisco may ha$e beenderi$ed from the skyFgod Q *yeus. 2he crossFrelations between 2uisco and 2uisto suggest tointerpret the skyFgod Q *yeus as a bipolar concept.

C 3f course the subtitle ipolar Eonotheism refers to twines from a bipolar set of strands forming a sinular thread  as a basic concept.

*D &xodus ?+1?F** 2uisto )Wikipedia

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The Hochdorf hieftain!s "urial gar#ents

2he @ochdorf Bhieftains burial garments ha$e been depicted as red R blue whereas his coat is afinely wo$en combination of $ery fine red R blue yarns, which from a distance look like purple inthe sense of the red R blue mixture the human eye sees, but which cannot be found as a spectralcomponent in the sunlight.

!ll these details suggest to identify the colors red, blue and purple and the twining technology asreligious symbols. 2hese symbols also may ha$e been applied in naming the gods 2uisto, 2uiscoand e$en >yaus.

In fact >yaus )the father of 2uisco: contains three $owels1 y, a and u. It took me some time tocorrelate these $owel symbols P, = and ! to the colors red )7i8 or 7y8, blue )7u8 and purple)7a8*?.

The ego-pronounsIn the end I recognied the same $owels in the personal pronouns of the first person sinular , whichI simply named eo+pronouns as a shorthand coding.

Eost of the languages, including &nglish, howe$er lost some of the trailer $owels and reduced thethreeFletter central codes 7yau8 or 7iau8 in the Breator's name to 7I8 )&nglish or 7Je8 )9rench.3nly a few dialects still preser$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  andandroynous 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 ipolar Eonotheism* 2he 5I& Boncept F >ecoding the 5roto Indo &uropean 6anguage

 6i. ' The 7eltic soverein wrapped in red 8 blue

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$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 widespreadareas.

In <ulli$er's 2ra$els the priest Jonathan Awift re$eals the name #ahoo for Breator's image )S the7creature8 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 byMictorian critics as a Tdefamation of <od and the human being7 )ulwerF6ytton, whichhad 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 andPahoo 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*, XYVZ\*-, Iaoue, I!)^_ in <reek and [Iah] in 6atin, Iabe*H )for Aamaritans, resp. !`a for the Jews*+, I3!

)V\, Ieue, Ieue, Pohoua, Pohouah, Ieoa, Ihehoua, Jeho$ah*C, @iehouahi, Ihe$he, Ioua,Iehoua ) 9oua :9oue F Jupiter, Iohauah, Iehouah )instead of 9oua, Iehue?D , ^?* SIaoouee, Iabe, Iouiee??.

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 whichcurrency wars and shooting wars are applying falsifying decoys in descriptions, names, statistics,$ideos, photographs and currencies. Just name it and search erohedge for the correct specificationsof 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 ker, @orst reuer und %olfreuer, &2 K &B3( 2aschenbuch Merlag. >ocumented )in <erman in Mon >en =rsprngen >er Pahoos

* 2he (ame \V*- 2he (ame \V*H 2he b in Iabe may ha$e been understood as the 7w8 or 7uu8 )double u*+ uaestiones in &xodum cap. jM K #uoted in 2he (ame 3f <od Pehowah. Its Atory, y <rard <ertoux*C 2he (ame 3f <od Pehowah. Its Atory, y <rard <ertoux !H F Is <alatino the first who introduced the name

Jeho$ah in **+:

?D resp. 9ehoua or 9ihue not deri$ed from 9oue )Jupiter, but from from !ramaic yihweh, respecti$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

"^" and not "^".?? 6ondon 5apyri. jl$i, 44-F4+?

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%u##ary

%alph Waldo &merson's work  (ature  re$eals some prophetic $isions on linguistic roots andespecially antipodal symbolism. &merson describes how antipodes need to be 0oined to procreatelife.

@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 asignorance.

Ey analysis in this paper illustrates how twisted )wrong may be interpreted as 7good8 )correct andstraight )right may be interpreted as 7bad8 )incorrect.

asically corrupted language may in$ert the linguistic symbolism. Pes, &merson's statement wasright1 the corruption of man  is followed by the corruption of language. @e e$en predicts thecurrent corruption of fraudulent currencies1

3ld words are perverted  to stand for things which are not/ a paper currency  isemployed if there is no bullion in the vaults. In due time, the fraud is manifest, andwords lose all power to stimulate the understanding or the affections.

ut he also gi$e us some hope of a re$elation1

ut 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 $ision of interconnections between linguistic concepts )legends, words and lettersand material symbols may be illustrated by samples of dye colors, wo$en materials, burial findingsand biblical #uotations.

2he hiding of truth seems to ha$e been important and continues e$en up till today, in whichcurrency wars and shooting wars are applying falsifying decoys in descriptions, names, statistics,$ideos, photographs and currencies. Just name it and search erohedge for the correct specificationsof 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

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'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 inwardcreation. &$ery word which is used to express a moral or intellectual fact, if traced to its root, isfound 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 nowappropriated to spiritual nature.

Eost of the process by which this transformation is made, is hidden from us in the remote timewhen language was framed/ but the same tendency may be daily obser$ed in children. Bhildren andsa$ages use only nouns or names of things, which they continually con$ert into $erbs, and apply to

analogous mental acts.ut this origin of all words that con$ey a spiritual import,;so conspicuous a fact in the history of language,;is our least debt to nature. It is not words only that are emblematic/ it is things whichare emblematic. &$ery natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact. &$ery appearance in naturecorresponds 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 astone into the stream, and the circles that propagate themsel$es are the beautiful type of allinfluence. Ean is conscious of a uni$ersal soul within or behind his indi$idual life, wherein, as in afirmament, the natures of Justice, 2ruth, 6o$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.

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!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. !ndman 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 areconstant, and per$ade nature. 2hese are not the dreams of a few poets, here and there, but man is ananalogist, and studies relations in all ob0ects. @e is placed in the centre of beings, and a ray of relation passes from e$ery other being to him. !nd neither can man be understood without theseob0ects, 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. ut marry it to human history, and it is full of life. Whole9loras, all 6innus' and uffon'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 illustrationof a fact in intellectual philosophy, or, in any way associated to human nature, affects us in the mostli$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 aseed,;"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 arecertain amounts of brute light and heat. ut is there no intent of an analogy between man's life andthe seasons: !nd do the seasons gain no grandeur or pathos from that analogy: 2he instincts of theant are $ery unimportant considered as the ant's/ but the moment a ray of relation is seen to extendfrom it to man, and the little drudge is seen to be a monitor, a little body with a mighty heart, thenall its habits, e$en that said to be recently obser$ed, that it ne$er sleeps, become sublime.

ecause of this radical correspondence between $isible things and human thoughts, sa$ages, whoha$e only what is necessary, con$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 naturalsymbols. 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 thegreatest elo#uence and power. !nd as this is the first language, so is it the last. 2his immediatedependence 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$es that pi#uancy tothe con$ersation of a strongFnatured farmer or backFwoodsman, which all men relish.

2hus is nature an interpreter, by whose means man con$erses with his fellow men. ! man's power toconnect his thought with its proper symbol, and so utter it, depends on the simplicity of hischaracter, that is, upon his lo$e of truth and his desire to communicate it without loss. 2hecorruption of man is followed by the corruption of language. When simplicity of character and theso$ereignty of ideas is broken up by the pre$alence of secondary desires, the desire of riches, thedesire of pleasure, the desire of power, the desire of praise,;and duplicity and falsehood take placeof simplicity and truth, the power o$er nature as an interpreter of the will, is in a degree lost/ newimagery ceases to be created, and old words are per$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, andwords lose all power to stimulate the understanding or the affections.

@undreds of writers may be found in e$ery longFci$ilied nation, who for a short time belie$e, andmake others belie$e, that they see and utter truths, who do not of themsel$es clothe one thought inits natural garment, but who feed unconsciously upon the language created by the primary writers of the country, those, namely, who hold primarily on nature.

ut wise men pierce this rotten diction and fasten words again to $isible things/ so that pictures#uelanguage is at once a commanding certificate that he who employs it, is a man in alliance with truthand <od. 2he moment our discourse rises abo$e the ground line of familiar facts, and is inflamedwith passion or exalted by thought, it clothes itself in images.

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! man con$ersing in earnest, if he watch his intellectual processes, will find that always a materialimage, more or less luminous, arises in his mind, cotemporaneous with e$ery thought, whichfurnishes the $estment of the thought. @ence, good writing and brilliant discourse are perpetualallegories. 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 hehas 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 willcommunicate. Its light flows into the mind e$ermore, and we forget its presence. 2he poet, theorator, bred in the woods, whose senses ha$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,;inthe hour of re$olution,;these solemn images shall reappear in their morning lustre, as fit symbolsand words of the thoughts which the passing e$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 themountains, 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. ut how great alanguage to con$ey such pepperFcorn informations >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 cindersof a $olcano to roast their eggs. Whilst we see that it always stands ready to clothe what we wouldsay, we cannot a$oid the #uestion, whether the characters are not significant of themsel$es. @a$emountains, and wa$es, and skies, no significance but what we consciously gi$e them, when weemploy 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 isgreater than its part/" "reaction is e#ual to action/" "the smallest weight may be made to lift thegreatest, 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$eand uni$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 anatural 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 $alue of their analogicalimport. What is true of pro$erbs, is true of all fables, parables, and allegories.

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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 infortunate hours we ponder this miracle, the wise man doubts, if, at all other times, he is not blindand 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 sincethe world began/ from the era of the &gyptians and the rahmins, to that of 5ythagoras, of 5lato, of acon, of 6eibnit, of Awedenborg. 2here sits the Aphinx at the roadFside, and from age to age, aseach prophet comes by, he tries his fortune at reading her riddle. 2here seems to be a necessity inspirit to manifest itself in material forms/ and day and night, river and storm, beast and bird, acid

and alkali, prexist 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 $isiblecreation is the terminus or the circumference of the in$isible world.

"Eaterial ob0ects," said a 9rench philosopher, "are necessarily kinds of scori; of the substantialthoughts 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," " scori," "mirror," Rc., maystimulate 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 fundamentallaw of criticism. ! life in harmony with nature, the lo$e of truth and of $irtue, will purge the eyes tounderstand her text. y degrees we may come to know the primiti$e sense of the permanent ob0ectsof 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 $iew now suggested, we contemplate the fearful extentand multitude of ob0ects/ since "e$ery ob0ect rightly seen, unlocks a new faculty of the soul." 2hatwhich was unconscious truth, becomes, when interpreted and defined in an ob0ect, a part of thedomain of knowledge,;a new amount to the magaine of power.

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)nhaltsver0eichnis

5rocreation re#uires sexual antipodes ........................................................................................2he in$ersions of 7right8 and 7wrong8.......................................................................................7>arkness8 leading 7the daylight8..............................................................................................2he words 7twist8 and 7twine8...................................................................................................4yssus.........................................................................................................................................2uisco as the son of the skyFgod >yeus......................................................................................-2he @ochdorf Bhieftains burial garments..................................................................................H2he egoFpronouns.......................................................................................................................HJonathan Awift re$eals the name yahoo for Breator's image .....................................................+Aummary ....................................................................................................................................C!ppendix F Bhapter 76anguage8 In 7(ature8 by %alph Waldo &merson.................................*D