114 OCCULT PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH & HEALING
replenished; otherwise it could not continue to do this.
Where does it renew its deadly load? There can be but
one answer to that question—from the food and drink;
there is absolutely no other source.
The food and drink which nourish the body must
be, at the same time, the primary source of the
calcareous, earthy matter which is deposited by the
blood all over the system, causing decrepitude and
finally death. To sustain physical life it is necessary
that we eat and drink, but as there are many kinds of
food and drink, it behooves us, in light of the above
facts, to ascertain, if possible, what kinds contain the
smallest proportion of destructive matter. If we can
find such food we can lengthen our lives, and from an
occult standpoint, it is desirable to live as long as
possible in each dense body, particularly after a start
has been made toward the path. So many years are
required to educate, through childhood and hot youth,
each body inhabited, until the Spirit can at least obtain
some control over it, that the longer we retain a body
that has become amenable to the Spirit's promptings,
the better. Therefore it is highly important that the
pupil partake of such food and drink only as will
deposit the least amount of hardening matter and at the
same time keep the excretory organs active.
The skin and the urinary system are the saviors of
man from an early grave. Were it not that by their
means, most of the earthy matter taken from our food
is eliminated, no one would live ten years.
It has been estimated that ordinary, undistilled
spring water contains carbonate and other compounds
of lime to such an extent that the average quantity used