sequence thereof; blinded by materialism, certain doctors seldom
acknowledge their real cause; and yet instances of hair turning white
in a single night are too numerous to be refuted, congestion of the
brain brought on by a fit of anger, jaundice and other grave maladies
caused by grief and trouble, are to be met with continually.

When the mental forces which disturb the physical organs meet with
obstacles which prevent their immediate outlet, they accumulate, like
the electric fluid in a condenser, until an unexpected contact
produces a discharge; this condensation often persists for a whole
life in a latent condition, and is preserved intact for a future
incarnation; this is the cause of original vices, which, incorporated
in the etheric double, react upon the organic texture of the body.
This also explains why each individual possesses an _ensemble_ of
pathological predispositions often radically different from those
heredity should have bequeathed to him; it is also, to some extent,
the key to physiognomy, for every single feature bears either the
stamp of our passions or the halo of our virtues.

Thought creates lasting bonds between human beings; love and hatred
enchain certain individuals to one another for a whole series of
incarnations; many a victim of the past is to be found again in those
unnatural sons who send a thrill of horror through society when it
hears of some heinous crime--they have become the torturers of their
former oppressors. In other cases, it is love which attracts and
unites in renewed affection those who formerly loved one another--they
return to earth as brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, husbands or
wives.

But if we are the slaves of the past, if fate compels us to reap what
we have sown, we yet have the future in our hands, for we can tear up
the weeds, and in their place sow useful plants. Just as, by means of
physical hygiene, we can change within a few years the nature of the
constituents that make up our bodies, so also, by a process of moral
hygiene, we can purify our passions and then turn their strength in
the direction of good. According as we will, so do we actually become,
good or bad; every man who has taken his evolution in hand notices
this rapid transformation of his personality, and sees his successive
"egos" rise step by step, so to speak, throughout his whole life.
Speaking generally, the first part of life is the expression of the
distant past--of former lives-