- 8 - condensed into material bodies. Later I will have more to tell you about this. From what I have said you can deduce that in every terrestrial being there are three forms of Od: 1. The Od of the Spirit embodied in this being. 2. The somewhat more condensed Od that is still invisible to the human eye and that is the body’s life force. 3. And the Od that has become solid matter, which you call the body. The Od representing the life force of the body always remains connected with the Od of the spirit and hence with the spirit itself. It is the bodily ‘fuel’ under the control of the spirit, just as your terrestrial power current is the ‘fuel’ at the engineer’s command. If, therefore, the ‘fuel’ for the body is diminished below the point required to maintain life, the spirit departs from the body and corporeal death ensues. Similarly, the machinist abandons his machine when he can no longer keep it running for lack of power. • When terrestrial bodies die, the Odic force remains with the spirit, for earthly bodies possess no independent Odic force of their own; only the spirits that have taken possession of the bodies have such force. Nevertheless, the spirit can with its own Odic force through the exercise of its willpower strengthen the Od of its body, which may have become weakened by sickness; it can stimulate the activity of sluggish bodily organs and thereby eliminate injurious matter from the system. In these circumstances it is of course essential that the weakened body avoid eating harmful foods, and that it promote the effect of the spirit Od by means of a wholesome diet. To use another concrete metaphor, the spirit in this case works by its own Odic energy like a powerful pressure pump upon the physical Od and on the conductor of the Odic current, namely, the blood. How much strength the spirit of a person can infuse into the physical Od of its body through its own Odic force by exercising its willpower can be seen through numerous occurrences. Often paralysed persons threatened with great danger receive such strengthening of their bodily Odic force through the willpower of the spirit, which is focused on saving the individual, that their paralysis is gone and the use of their limbs is restored to them, at least temporarily. The same effect is produced by a patient’s heightened hope for healing. This is also an act of will, and, through the strength it imparts to the Odic force of the body, it leads to many sudden recoveries, which you regard as miracles. • Willpower expressed in courage, hope, faith and cheerfulness is therefore the best remedy and, incidentally, the best safeguard against contagious diseases. The Od of the body, reinforced by willpower, forms as it were a protective wall that prevents the entry of noxious germs. The greater the willpower, the stronger this invisible armour. • A spirit’s lack of willpower, despondency, fear and timidity have the opposite effect. They act like a suction pump that draws the physical Od, together with the blood, inward out of the body and its organs, thus weakening the system and paving the way for infection. Just as the spirit is able to lend strength to its body’s physical Od when this has become weakened by sickness, so the Odic force of healthy persons may be transmitted to, and invigorate, the sick.
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