Symbolism is the intuitive means of overcoming the limitations of reason. Here Schwaller explains how true progress in human thought can be made only if we call upon the -symbolizing- faculty of intelligence, developed and refined in the temple culture of ancient Egypt and reflected in its hieroglyphs.

The first part of the book, written in a single, uninterrupted flow of inspiration, takes the form of answers from the word of nature to questions posed by the rational mind. The second part of the book consists of philosophical reflections on the first and proposes the practice of imagination as a way of evolutionary development. Many traditions have spoken of a -higher consciousness,- but Schwaller de Lubicz's attempt to formulate in modern terms an alchemical science of qualities, functions, analogies and signatures is unique.

We lack direct consciousness of Space and Time. We can know of them only indirectly by mass, force, and energy, and by the intermediary of phenomena such as may be tested by our five senses. Without direct awareness of Space or Time, human beings lack two "senses" necessary for the knowledge of all causes. From this imperfection, of which we are always being made aware, is born our need to simplify. Thus we reduce everything to fundamental properties, without paying any attention to the underlying universal organization, the effects of which are all around us.

The result is that the...