Among the gnomes

by Franz Hartmann

THE TEMPLE OF LUCIFER

ADALGA, like all the rest of the gnomes, was a spirit, in the same sense as we are spirits ourselves; the term “spirit” implying a centre of consciousness or intelligence, irrespective as to whether the form in which that spiritual power or energy dwells is visible to somebody or everybody or nobody. In this sense the essence of everything is spirit, and every living form is a dwelling-place or vehicle for a conscious spiritual energy, be it latent or active, as it could not otherwise be, if the world, as demonstrated by our best philosophers, is, with all its seen and unseen forms, nothing else but a manifestation of All-consciousness, an attribute of the Divine Mind.

In taking this view I am well aware that I am assuming an attitude directly opposed to that of Professor Thomas Cracker, in his capacity as a representative of that modern science which regards the universe as being made up of dead lumps of matter, in which, in some inexplicable way, life and consciousness are produced by means of mechanical motion, due to the friction caused by their coming accidentally in contact with each other. I am also clairvoyant enough to foresee that Mr Cracker and his learned colleagues will treat this story with contempt, if they should ever condescend to notice it; but this cannot be helped, and I resign myself to my fate.

I will therefore not enter into a discussion concerning the merits of a philosophy resulting from looking at the universe in its spiritual aspect, or compare it with the absurdities resulting from a blind belief in materialism and its superstitions, but proceed to say that Adalga being a spirit, in possession of an intelligence not due to mechanical friction, but due to the presence of an intelligent power in her own constitution, this intelligence of which she was possessed became manifested in her, and as time went on its manifestations increased, as might have been scientifically proved by the observation that she became more clever and intelligent. From this it may be inferred that the princess was in possession of a mind capable of cognizing things by means of her bodily senses, and the facts which I witnessed every day went to corroborate the correctness of this theory. Moreover, there were indications that her mind was capable of cognizing the actuality of spiritual truths or principles; but being only a gnome, she was not capable of intricate reasoning and complicated argumentation.

I often argued with her about the supposed immortality of the soul, and it seemed to me that Adalga was not substantial enough to be more than an ideal, and could therefore not be an enduring reality, because ideals require substance for becoming realised. In other words, the princess often appeared to me like a thought, that may delight the present generation but be forgotten by the next. What she needed was “matter” or firmness, such as results from fixedness or stability of the spirit, and I came to the conclusion that I could supply her with the required material elements by her union with me. I know that I will be accused of making wild statements, unsupported by any well-authenticated scientific theory, but it will be seen that by means of my logical and inductive reasoning I arrived at the end at the same result, which Adalga seems to have perceived instinctively, and without any scientific training of her imagination, merely by her own direct perception.

It may be inferred that Adalga had a soul, because she was alive and capable of having emotions, and in that soul seemed to be dormant a spark of a higher or spiritual life or consciousness, producing in her longings for the unknown, such as were expressed in her song in the cave; longings which she herself could not explain, be it that her mind was not sufficiently developed to understand her own nature, or that she was deficient in a scientific training of her imagination.

The tribe to which Adalga belonged was that of the Sagani, the noblest of all the tribes among the gnomes, whose intellectual capacity was nearest to that of man. Being a Sagana, it was in her power to elongate her body, a circumstance which was at first terrifying, and afterwards somewhat annoying to me; for often while we were sitting side by side, with arms interlinked, and engaged in the sweet occupation of exchanging our sentiments, would she forget herself, and suddenly elongating her body shoot up some twenty-five feet high by sheer force of habit, upsetting me or carrying me up into space before I had time to let go of her arm or take it away from my waist. I begged her to restrain herself, and not to do so again in my presence; but self-restraint is a power entirely unknown among the gnomes. It is only possible for those beings who are in possession of a certain amount of spiritual self-consciousness, or, in other words, who feel or know that they are somehow superior to their own nature, as I am bound to say, even if I risk being accused of believing in the existence of something supernatural. The gnomes do not realise anything higher than their own elemental nature, and can therefore not restrain it. Only man can do or keep from doing certain things from a sense of duty and superiority. It is true that even animals seem to restrain themselves, but it is their fear or other instincts which restrains them, and not the experience of anything higher than their natural animal state; they do not experience any superiority over their animal nature, because no such superiority is existing in them; their motives for action are all to be found in their own natural world, while man’s motives may sometimes spring from something superior than his own animal nature, namely, from a higher and divine nature in him.

To my remonstrances the princess used to answer:

“It is my longing for the high, the sublime, and exalted which causes me to elongate my body involuntarily. I wish to grasp the infinite, and this makes me shoot up involuntarily.”