Divine Love and Wisdom (Rogers) n. 365

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365. (2) A person's life exists in its first elements in the brain, and in its derivative elements in the body. By first elements we mean its first forms, and by derivative elements we mean the forms produced and formed from the first ones. And by life in its first elements we mean the will and intellect. These two are what exist in their first elements in the brain, and in their derivative elements in the body. That the first elements or first forms of life exist in the brain is apparent from the following:

1. It is apparent from a person's very sensation that when he concentrates his mind and thinks, he perceives himself to be thinking in the brain. He draws the sight of his eye seemingly inward, firmly fixes his brow, and perceives his contemplation as being within, especially inside the forehead, and somewhat above. [2] 2. It is apparent from a person's formation in the womb, from the fact that the brain or head develops first, and for some time afterward is bigger than the body. [3] 3. It is apparent from the fact that the head is uppermost and the body below, it being according to order that higher things act upon lower ones, and not the reverse. [4] 4. It is apparent from the fact that if the brain is injured, whether in the womb, or by a wound or disease, or owing to excessive strain, the person's thinking is impaired, and sometimes the mind is deranged. [5] 5. It is apparent from the fact that all the external senses of the body, which are those of sight, hearing, smell, and taste, together with the universal sense which is that of touch, and moreover speech, are located in the front part of the head, called the face, and through fibers communicate directly with the brain, from which they derive their sensory and operative life. [6] 6. So it is that affections which have to do with love are visible in a kind of image in the face, and that thoughts which have to do with wisdom are visible in a kind of light in the eyes. [7] 7. We also know from the study of anatomy that all fibers descend from the brain through the neck into the body, and that none ascend from the body through the neck into the brain. And where the fibers exist in their first elements or first forms, there life exists in its first elements or first forms. Who can deny that life originates where the fibers originate? [8] 8. Ask anyone who has common perception where thought exists, or where he thinks, and he will reply, in the head. But speak after that to someone who has placed the seat of the soul either in some gland or in the heart, or elsewhere, and ask him where affection with its consequent thought exists in its first form, whether it does not exist in the brain, and he will reply that it does not, or that he does not know. (To learn the reason for his not knowing, see no. 361 above.)


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