Remember the above teaching, because upon its full comprehension rests the ability to read symbols aright. It will aid the soul to fully realize that, the vast universe is but the mental image of the Creator; that there is no such thing as manifested existence apart from mind; and consequently, the infinite worlds that float securely in space, blushing and scintillating with light of life and love of the Father, revealing to mortal minds some faint conception of the awful resources and recesses within Nature's star-making laboratory, are but the scintillating reflection of life, the reactions of mental phenomena. So, too, with the mental creative powers of the mind of man, for, not a vibration that proceeds from his every thought but what creates its correspondence in the creative realm of spirit. Hence, symbolism continues giving to the soul of man, throughout eternity, food for thought and contemplation. All symbols, then, are objectified ideas, whether human or Divine; and as such possess a real meaning; and this meaning is altered, extended and rendered more complex with every additional thing or influence by which we find it surrounded, or with which, we find it correlated. For instance, $1.00 means one dollar; add six ciphers to the left 0000001., and it is still the same $1.00, and no more, because their position is previous, or before, the 1. But add the same number of ciphers to the right, $1,000000, and lo! we find a wondrous change of force, power, and consequence. We see all the mighty power of our million of money, and the possibilities and responsibilities with which, in these days, it becomes associated. So it is with everything else in Nature. Man pays the penalty by increased responsibility, for every step in knowledge that be takes, as well as every dollar in gold be procures. Dollars, as well as talents, have to be accounted for, and their usefulness increased tenfold. The dollars must not be buried nor hoarded any more than our talents, but each, unfolded and doubled, so that we may be instrumental in helping our coworkers in their upward path, in the Cycle of Necessity. Knowledge is the basic foundation in reading Nature's language. Purity of thought, truth in motive, and unselfish benevolence, will lift the veil that now lies between the two trines, cause and effect, spirit and matter. We have given the key and explained the alphabet of this wondrous law; therefore we close. Each must, by the same rules, work out the special links in the chain for him or herself. The angle from which each take their view determines the reading and interpretation of the symbols presented, whether that be from the apex, the sides or the base, for every symbol has its trinity in principles and form. Cause and effect are but the action and reaction; the result is the symbol which reveals the correspondence of both. CHAPTER VII. ALCHEMY--PART I