82 OCCULT PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH & HEALING
Shell Shock
It was found by examining a number of people in
normal health that each of the prismatic atoms
composing the lower ethers radiated from itself the
lines of force which set spinning the physical atom in
which it is inserted, enduing the whole body with life.
The united trend of all these units of force is toward
the periphery of the body, where they constitute what
has been called the “Odic Fluid”, also designated by
other names. When the air pressure from without is
lowered by residence in a high altitude, a tendency to
nervousness becomes manifest because the etheric
force from within rushes outward unchecked; and were
the man not able to shut off the outflow of solar energy
in part by an effort of will to overcome the difficulty,
no one could live in such a place.
We have heard of “shell shock” and we are aware
that numbers of people who had not even the slightest
wound were found dead on the battlefield. In fact, we
had seen and spoken with people who had passed out
in this manner but were at a loss to know why death
had resulted. They all disclaimed fear and were
unanimous in their assertion that they had suddenly
become unconscious and a moment later they had
found themselves in their present condition. They were
unlike their fellows in that they had not a single
scratch on their bodies. Our preconceived idea that it
must have been a momentary fear at a particularly
close call which, though unrealized, had caused their
demise, prevented a full investigation; but the
ascertained results of the consequences of a fall led us
to believe that something similar might take place in
this connection; this surmise was correct.