World," because, as we shall find later on, the same principle acts in
the same way on the scale of the Microcosm or "Small World," which is
the individual man. This is why these things have a personal interest
for us, otherwise they would not be worth troubling about. But a mistake
to be avoided at this point, is that of supposing that the "Word" is
something which dictates to the Spirit when and where to operate. The
"Word" is the word of the Spirit itself, and not that of some higher
authority, for the Spirit being First Cause there can be nothing
anterior to dictate to it; there can be nothing before that which is
First. The "Word" which centralizes the activity of the Spirit, is
therefore that of the Spirit itself. We have an analogy in our own case.
If I go to New York the first movement in that direction is that of my
Thought or Desire. It is true that in my present state of evolution I
have to follow the usual methods of travel, but so far as my Thought is
concerned, I have been there all the time. Indeed, such a case as the
one I have mentioned, of my being seen in Edinburgh while I was
physically in London, seems to point to the actual transference of some
part of the personality to another locality, and similarly with my visit
to Lanercost Abbey; and the reader must remember, that such phenomena
are by no means uncommon--they are the natural action of some part of
our personality, and must therefore follow some natural law, even though
we may at present know very little of how it works.

We see, therefore, both from _a priori_ reasoning, and from observed
facts, that it is the Word, Thought, or Desire of the Spirit, that
localizes its activity in some definite centre. The student should bear
this in mind as a leading principle, for he will find that it is of
general application, alike in the case of individuals, of groups of
individuals, and of entire nations. It is the key to the relation
between Law and Personality, the opening of the Grand Arcanum, the