IN the American lexicon of military phraseology- there are many sayings that illustrate a paradox of military philosophy. One of the commonest. of these is the saying, "Hurry up and wait." This saying is used in cases where the existing military solution clearly calls for strong and immediate action, but the action which the situation requires happens to be contrary to the overall policy or strategy of the High Command. A local Commander who finds himself in this position is certain to experience the ultimate in frustration and futility. He is still responsible for the outcome of the situation, but is prohibited from taking any steps which could bring it to a successful conclusion.

The position in which the late Gen. Douglas McArthur found himself in Korea is, of course, the best known and most outstanding example. Here was a four star General who was given a specific task and responsibility, and then was prohibited from completing the task or discharging the responsibility.

The concept of perpetual stalemate which was born in Korea has been made a pattern for all subsequent American military commitments. The result is, of course, that the United States has never

2 UNDERSTANDING

won a victory or successfully completed a commitment to any foreign country since that time. This continued display of utter impotence has created dangerous misunderstandings throughout. the world. Every small nation seems to think of the United States either as a personal piggy bank, from which they can shake money when-ever they need it, or as a sort of benign punching bag upon which they can vent their spite or any ill will which they may have for other nations. (This attitude is no fault of the small nations; it is the exact image which we have labored long and successfully to create.) It is, however, a dangerous image because it invites attack.

Our top military men have recently estimated that the conflict in South Viet Nam may go for ten more years. Yet every military strategist in the United States knows that the U.S. could end that conflict in three days any time that it chose to do so, and without using nuclear weapons. The aircraft from our two carriers alone have enough striking power to reduce all of North Viet Nam to military impotence in about three days. Every military commander in North Viet Nam is well aware of this fact, but they are supremely confident that we will never do it.

The objection that the reduction of North Viet Nam might bring Red China into the war is ridiculous on its face. Mao Tze Tung has declared openly and frequently that he will attack the United States with everything which he has just as soon as he thinks he has any chance of success. Nothing that the United States does or does not do will have any effect upon his timetable, except that. our pretense of weakness may deceive him into making his move sooner than he would otherwise.

Diamond Jim Brady once said, "It's fun to be a sucker, if you can afford it." The question is, how much longer can we afford it? In any event, all that `we the people' can do in the meantime is to hurry up and wait!

——— ♦ ———

Since 1961, 110,000 Americans have applied for service in the Peace Corps. More than 10,000 have served; 5,000 continue to volunteer each month; Peace Corpsmen and women have been sent to 46 countries; 24 other nations are on the waiting list; and the back-log of requests for volunteers from foreign governments surpasses 50,000.

FEBRUARY, 1965 3

CAN SCIENCE EXPLAIN PRAYER?

SHORTLY before his death in 1923, Charles Steinmetz was asked what was the most important line of research to follow nest. Without hesitation, he replied, "Prayer! Find out about prayer."

Seven years later Dr. Joseph B. Rhine began his revolutionary experiments in extrasensory perception at Duke University, experiments destined to give scientific respectability to telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis, three possible ways in which prayers may be answered.

For two years a young divinity student tried guessing the symbols on a special deck of twenty-five cards. As he stared into space Dr. Rhine, or a colleague, stared at the symbol to send it by thought transference. According to the law of averages chance alone would have given him five correct guesses, but Hubert Pearce never went below chance unless asked to do so. It is significant to note that when he deliberately tried to miss the cards, he could, sometimes scoring zero. Thus intention was to prove essential in these experiments. Certainly, something was in operation here that could not be explained on the basis of luck, chance, or the law of averages. Furthermore, since only one in five seemed able to demonstrate this ability under the rigid laboratory controlled conditions, it must be a power, an energy, that the individual bad to "tune into," and something that was capable of being directed by will.

If the mind can send and receive thoughts, it stands to reason that a moment of silent., positive prayer is one method of sending messages which logically can be received and answered. It also suggests that worry and pessimism could be a form of negative prayer, and that much of the trouble we berate God for sending us, could have been ordered by ourselves, much as Job feared to himself his own string of disasters.

Apparently testing only telepathy, Dr. Rhine soon discovered that even if the "sender" did not look at the cards, certain individuals could still guess above chance. These gifted could "see" the symbol on a card, face down in another room. In fact, it was found that those who possessed telepathic powers also possessed clairvoyance, and usually to an equal degree. However, an experiment in England,

4 UNDERSTANDING

by Dr. S. G. Soal, revealed that ESP could be short-circuited by the skepticism of others, if closely involved.

As for the role clairvoyance plays in prayer, cybernetic scientists, in comparing the electronic brains with those of man, have become convinced that man's brain is primarily a goal-seeking mechanism. In this search for a target, clairvoyance could very well play a part. Just as G. Croiset, Netherlands’s gifted paragnost, can find lost objects, so, too, if your goals are vivid enough, your psychic power can help guide you in the right direction.

Then, before the more cynical members of the scientific world bad conceded either of these two precedent shattering phenomena, experiments were begun on psychokinesis. Was it. possible. that mind could actually influence matter? Experiments started with a young gambler whose success indicated that will produces chance defying results.

There is no more striking example of psychokinesis than the repeated miracles of Lourdes when time and again prayer has restored sight, repaired tissue, and in one remarkable instance, restored brain power.

It is strange that in this day of incredulity almost everyone will accept. the demonstrable proof that a man under hypnosis can be induced to produce a burn on his arm within six hours, even though he has been branded only by the hypnotist's finger, yet few will concede this same psychokinetic power can work to effect a cure. At Lourdes it is not necessary for the patient himself to pray, or even to have any religious faith, only that there be someone around him who prays for him. Obviously, the psychic power, whether given in the form of a negative suggestion by a hypnotist, or a positive prayer by a believer, can work not only on one's own nervous system but upon another's as well.

"Prayer is a force as real as terrestrial gravity," wrote Dr. Alexis Carrel. "As a physician, I have seen men, after all other therapy has failed, lifted out of disease and melancholy by the serene effort of prayer. It is the only power in the world that seems to overcome the so-called `laws of nature'... "

Noted physicists have stated that the laws of cause and effect are not irrevocable. According to Werner Heisenberg, every description of nature contains some essential and irremovable element of uncertainty.

FEBRUARY, 1985 5

All that science can do is to predict the probable trend. Therefore, it is possible, according to natural laws for ESP to operate. Certainly it could operate within the probable trend, but the miracles of Lourdes indicates it also operates in the area of uncertainty, defying the probable trend!

A prayer is not a wish. There is nothing idle about it. It is a power, possibly a form of energy, perhaps electricity, as divine and miraculous as life itself. It. may be that one day the area of the brain which participates in ESP will be located. Still, no one need wait for that clay of discovery to avail himself of the power any more than he need wait to comprehend electronics before tuning in to the electrical impulses of his television set.

It is true that many go to Lourdes and not all are cured. No one can say yet why some leave as they come while others are trans-formed. But. the possibility of the miracle is always there, and it is not confined to Lourdes!

There is no one time nor one place only for prayer. As much as you worry, so much more should you pray, for now there is a segment of the scientific world which believes with Tennyson that "more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of...

-E. T. Wells

——— ♦ ———

THE LIGHT OF WORLD UNDERSTANDING

Riots, crime and war having become common news topics, it is no wonder that many people are gloomy about the prospects of attaining lasting peace and world understanding. Yet there are certain encouraging factors in the situation.

From an historical standpoint, one must remember that racial strife, crime and wars, in one form or another, have plagued man-kind for thousands of years. In spite of this, there are good indications that society is evolving steadily, if slowly, toward solution of these terrible problems. In spite of the international tensions of the present, progress toward world understanding is very noticeable in areas like public health and religion.

It is of course true that mighty struggles between opposing social forces are now taking place: Nationalism versus internationalism, business versus labor, white interests versus colored interests. Yet

6 UNDERSTANDING

the presence of conflict always implies an inner identity of the contestants. Philosophers argue because they share the quality of being philosophers.

`The knowledge of opposites is one,' said the medieval scholastics. And this holds true also on the plane of being. Thus whites, negroes and orientals share their common human qualities, whatever differences they may have. We are men before we are white or negro, American or Russian.

A program for world understanding must, to succeed, concentrate on the qualities shared by men of different races and nationalities, rather than on the points in which they differ. This is by no means to say that true differences should be ignored or denied. If there were no real differences between individuals, nations or races much struggle would disappear but the interest and stimulation which comes from variety would disappear along with them. "Variety is the spice of life."

Mankind needs both unity and difference ... But in a state of cooperation, not anarchy. Happiness might eventually emerge from a chaos of hostility, but it can only be rare and fleeting during such a period of disunity.

Conflicting philosophies of life can be brought into harmony only by seeking out their underlying common premises. For instance, consider the greatest social struggle of our time-that of capitalist society, as embodied in the United States, and of communist society as represented by the Soviet Union. What do these conflicting view-points have in common?

One might answer: their materialism. Both standpoints, capitalism as well as communism, emphasize the materialistic factors of human existence far too much. Both concentrate on economic goals such as industrial production, and consumption of the resulting material products. Neither pays much attention to the advice of the Great Teacher who said: "Man does not live by bread alone."

The materialistically oriented philosophies of traditional capital-ism and Marxism fail to recognize that man is spirit. as well as body. Neither side has tried to reconcile soul needs with physical needs, just as neither has shown much disposition to compromise on fundamentals. There is little wonder, then, that we live amidst a growing trend toward intolerance and violence. This is the price men must

FEBRUARY, 1965 7

always pay for being too convinced that only `this way' is right and reasonable.

For social harmony, men must learn to recognize whatever truths may lie in beliefs which oppose their own, even those they hold most clear.

Even those who cannot bring themselves to love their enemies can learn to recognize the portions of truth which may lie in opposing viewpoints. We should thank our enemy when, by opposing something we believe, he brings us to see that we have been wrong in that particular matter.

That world unity will some day come to reconcile the nations and races of our earth seems assured; but. as to when it will come, one can only speculate. There is no human difference, one might add, whether it be personal, national or racial, which cannot be bridged by love.

Just as love is stronger than death, so is it stronger than hate. Only love can overcome the painful hatreds which now divide men, and bring the light of world understanding forth. This solution may seem simple, but it is the legacy of man's greatest leaders. It is the message of Buddha and of Jesus.

Love for our fellows is the only light that can lead us to world understanding. This is the Light that will lead us upward towards the peace that passes all understanding.

-R. Eugene Hitchcock

——— ♦ ———

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

(The "Orbit" of the Tyneside UFO Society of England quotes from Paul Brunton as follows:)

"Evolution, involution and devolution have not ceased with that petty proud creature which lords this planet under the title of man. His name comes from the Sanskrit. root, minas-to think! I cannot count the immense number of years since lie first made an appearance upon this stage, but it is perfectly- obvious that he has begun to use this faculty of thought only lately, and that he has still much more distance to travel before he uses it fully. If any Gulliver of a Sirian were cast ashore on this Lilliput of an Earth, he would find

8 UNDERSTANDING

not less astonishing things to write home about than did his famous prototype of the fable.

"Those who imagine that because our own planet bears its load of frail humanity, no other planet may therefore bear one too, be-tray an ant-like narrowness of vision. Just as the brown earth, whose molecules compose part of the crust of the globe, revolves through space only to provide habitation for ants, as the ants them-selves are firmly convinced, so this spacious universe reposes grandly in the ether with all its living inhabitants concentrated in a single relatively microscopic speck called the Earth, our human ants are likewise firmly convinced. It would he difficult to choose between their delusion and George Bernard Shaw's theory, that this planet is the lunatic asylum for the whole solar system!"

(Among the "Letters to the Editor" of the January-February issue of the "Aberee" is this positive approach to counter the usual prophecies of doom so evident these days. It was written by Sadah Loomis, Elizabeth., Colo.)

"I think I'd like to predict that an individual's humanity will very shortly become far more significant than the color of the hide in which man is clothed. I think I'd like to predict a revolution that preserves and enhances the native intelligence and creativity the child carries to school with him... I think I'd like to predict a `peace gun' that wouldn't harm anyone but just make it impossible for anyone to harm anyone else. I think I'd like to predict that people on the street will all look alive and happy rather than as though they had just lost their best friend, were scared to death, or wanted to beat someone over the head. I think I'd like to predict that every time the 'fear-mongers' tried to do some of their fear-mongering the words would come out only in the most hopeful and cheerful messages ... I think I'd like to predict that the human race, as a whole, would begin taking responsibility, each person for his own acts ... I think I'd like to predict a sudden shift of attitude such that people would start acting in terms of how much they can do for another's benefit instead of acting in terms of how much they can get from another ... I think I'd like to predict that singing commercials would all metamorphose into wordless passages from great symphonies ... and all visual commercials would turn into great art masterpieces on the TV screen-again, with the accompaniment

FEBRUARY, 1965 9

of great music or poetry. I think I'd like to predict that all these people who are fighting all these other people about all these things would all of a sudden say, "Hey! What are we fighting about?" "

And, she so predicts.

——— ♦ ———

UFO ACTIVITY INCREASES

IN the January 1965 issue of TRITE Magazine, Major Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC (Ret.), presents further enlightening facts concerning UFO activity. The article entitled "U. S. Air Force Censorship of the UFO Sightings," states that there has been a considerable increase the past three years in the number of sightings, comparable to the magnitude noted in the late 1940's and early 50's.

One of the most interesting cases was reported to Major Keyhoe by two scientists present at the launching of the first two-man Gemini capsule in April, 1964. They stated that while the capsule was in its first orbit, four spacecraft of unknown origin appeared on radar screens, flew up to the Gemini and surrounded it. These craft paced the capsule for a full orbit of the earth and then disappeared

This is only one of many recent unusual sightings reported to NICAP which, after considerable investigation, Major Keyhoe feels to be reliable. The article also contains statements from well-known American politicians and military men who acknowledge the existence of the UFO's and express their interest in both obtaining and publicizing further information on the subject. Some of these men have publicly stated that the objects are intelligently controlled and are not from our planet.

According to Major Keyhoe, considerable pressure is building up in Congress for a full-scale public hearing on the strange objects. With enough public demand, it could happen in 1965.

Advance Notice

The Board of Directors of Understanding, Inc., wish to announce that at the last Annual Meeting it was decided to set the date for the 1965 meeting. The meeting will be held in Merlin, Ore., the third weekend of October, that is on October 16 and 17. It is suggested you mark your calendars accordingly, and plan to participate personally at this important meeting.

10 UNDERSTANDING

BEAUTY FROM AN INNER SIGHT

A story is told of a rich Arab whose beautiful garden was his pride and joy. Failing health was forcing him to sell his estate and move to a country more favorable to his recovery.

A friend who was considering buying the estate came one day. Being a practical businessman, he at once set about making an appraisal. It included all the material features, such as the cost of the grading, the masonry, the water pipes, the cementing of the pool, the walls and the landscaping, the trees, shrubs, vines and flowers.

When the owner studied the itemized costs carefully, he shook his head sadly.

"My friend," he said, "this is not a complete appraisal. You have not appraised the perfume of my orange grove, the aroma of my spice trees, the glory of my irises, the loveliness of my lotus blossoms, the tinkling music of my fountain, the sweet songs of birds that make their home in my garden. You do not mention the shrine where, at dawn, Allah may be greeted by a prayer of ecstasy; nor the paths where, in the cool serenity of dusk, one can walk with Allah.

"These are things you evidently are unable to appraise, for their value depends entirely on the capacity of the individual to enjoy them. As the poet has said: `Spirit that lurks each form within, beckons the spirit of its kin.' Alas, my friend, you do not feel this kinship. To see beauty, truth must first touch the eyes. You have proved to me this place is not for you. I must. find a buyer who can see the priceless beauty of my garden; otherwise, I could not bear to leave it."

How right this Arab was! Unfortunately, the individual who cannot see the love and beauty that surrounds him is missing a precious thing in life. Beauty is God manifest. Robert Browning was expressing the true feeling of every lover of beauty when be said:

"O World, as God bas made it! All is beauty;

And knowing this, is love, and love is duty."

Ecclesiastes, 3:11 says: "He hath made everything beautiful in its time."

-Ona Lacy Hunter

FEBRUARY, 1965 11

EXAMINE ALL THINGS

(This is the 4th of a series of descriptive listings of Exchange Publications received by Understanding, Inc. We encourage you to, investigate those that appeal to you. -Ed.)

"Proceedings" of the College of Universal Wisdom, published by The Ministry of Universal Wisdom, Inc., P.O. Box 458, Yucca Valley, California.

A non-profit and non-sectarian organization for Religious and Scientific Research, there is no subscription rate and it will be mailed free to those who request, it. Editor, George W. Van Tassel.

"Prevention" (The Magazine for Better Health), published by Rodale Press, Inc., Emmaus, Pa.

Editor, Mr. J. I. Rodale. 1 year $4.00; single copy .35c.

"Ancient Wisdom," published by Ancient Wisdom Press, St. Louis 10, Mo.

A journal devoted to teaching theosophical and occult truths-intelligent answers to intelligent questions. Editer, Charles E. Luntz. Founded by L. W. Rogers in 1035. Single copy .30c.

"Oomoto," bi-monthly publication of the official organ of the Universal Love and Brotherhood Association (U.LB.A.). Editorial and publishing office, Kameoka, Koyoto-fu, Japan.

$1.00 per year ... over seas.

"Occult Gazette," monthly published by The School of Universal Philosophy and Healing, 6 Phillimore Pl., Kensington W. 8, London, U.K. $3.00 per year. Single copy .30c.

"Christian Yoga World," monthly published by Christian Yoga Publications, 3375 Sacramento St., San Francisco, Calif. 94118. Editor, Swami Sanatkumara. (The 17th Anniversary Brochure offers a World Fellowship correspondence course-write for it.)

"Magnificent Consumation, Inc.," 822 N. 4th Ave., Apt. 4, Phoenix, Arizona 85003.

Pres. Mr. Garman Van Polen says, "Magnificent Consumation is the Voice from Cosmic Consciousness with New Age information to the whole world."

"The Voice, of Universarius," published by Universarium Foundation (a non-profit corporation), 6403 N.E. Pacific, Portland 13, Ore.

12 UNDERSTANDING

(A Cosmic Movement for Planet Earth.) 1 year (12 issues), $5.00.

"Scientific American," published by Scientific American, Inc., 415 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017.

"Read it," says T. D., "and learn to think free-to create the new-to help mold the future-to assist freedom with new ideas for the New Age."

"The Rosicrucian Digest," published monthly by The Rosicrucian Order Amore., Rosicrucian Park, San Jose, Calif.

Devoted to the investigation, study, and practical application of natural and Spiritual laws. One year $3.50. Single copy .35c.

"Om-on-o," Gold Sector 1, 548 W. Stelles Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

Much informative material upon request.

-True Day

913 Virginia St., San Jose, Calif. 95112

——— ♦ ———

book reviews

Youth: Open the Door!

This extraordinary book would appear to be an epitomization of several lifetimes of experience for the author, Eloise Mellor, without being diminished in any way as a complete unit in itself. By this I mean that her viewpoint is personal as well as cosmic, physical as well as spiritual. She is, it would appear, a spiritual gourmet who can discuss carrots and cutlets, sex glands and electrical transcriptions. One wonders, upon viewing the table of contents, what calcium, iodine, silicon, sulphur and manganese have to do with etiquette, divinity or financial philosophy, but in the course of devouring this breath-taking volume, one must acknowledge that the presumption

FEBRUARY, 1965 13

has become superbly handled formulas and facts. These latter include diet and exercise, chemical analysis and philoso-religious exhortation.

Addressed to youth, the book is for all ages. It takes a positive approach to spiritual values, insisting one may awaken them not only by "listening," but. also by "talking" inwardly to persons, situations, and to things and projects! The great. barrenness of life for many who have found unexplained ritual inadequate may burst into a flowering field upon grasping Miss Mellor's approach to a four-dimensional world.

To take a "daily bath of the mind" with pencil and old newspaper, writing with closed eyes one's tensions and frustrations, then destroying that paper, recalls the written prayers of Buddhists tied to prayer wheels. This "mind bath" is indeed prayer come of age with psycho-analytic terms fitting our precise situation-for never before have we been so "tense" and so "frustrated," nor have we suffered so many shocks to the ego as in this indifferent world of super-efficient industrial management sans humanism.

But we can cure old habits of self-induced defeatism and worry, and take on new physical and spiritual grooming by accepting the author's precise and illuminating suggestions. To realize that we are "gods in embryo," our words possessing the creative power, enkindles one as does wine. This is the New Testament message linking us to the Olympic Greeks as well as the New Age we are now entering. Further, Miss Mellor explains, the key to thought transmutation in a four-dimensional world, is to seek sincerely to under-stand others everywhere.

The author goes deeply into the chemical make up of various personality types. Art, sculpture, color, sunlight, thoughts, breath, as well as vegetables, fruits, and proteins from meatless sources, are discussed as food. Thumbnail chemical type readings, giving the effects of sixteen major body chemicals on human personality, suggest self-improvement and cure of bodily ills.

The chapter which covers the work of the glands, the "jewels of one's body," links Miss Mellor with other great teachers of the New Age.

-Lorena Hopkins Roberts

(The book sells for $3.95 and may be purchased from the author, c/o White Lodge, Boa 464, Del Mar, California.)

14 UNDERSTANDING

poet’s corner

One Nation, One World, Under God

Skin dark, eyes dark too

Skin fair, eyes of blue

Yellowish skin, almond eves

Reddish slain. like summer skies

All different human beings

With varied points of view

But, basically the same

In all that human's do.

A mother's love, a father's toil

Does not change with the skin

So who can say where love should end

And hatred should begin.

Right and wrong should not be weighed

Just by a color line

Nor should the urgent plea for help

Be stricken from our mind.

Tears are tears, they sadly flow

Down anybody's face

And dark despair corrodes the soul

Regardless of the race.

A slashing cut can bring the blood

To any color skin

And any heart can feel the load

FEBRUARY, 1965 15

Of the troubles of their kin.

Habits may be different

Even home and skill

But surely all men need one thing

And that's called Good Will.

Someday perhaps we'll know real peace

With each man standing by

To help his fellowman, 'til then,

Let's hope and pray and try!

-- Mrs. M. Garguilo

——— ♦ ———

HOW TO STUDY

(For those whose plans for 1965 include some concentrated study and serious reading we offer the following Study Procedures, sent to its by Trite Day, of San Jose. The plan is not original with her but has been effectively used by study groups which she has con-ducted. It is equally effective for individual readings.)

"To get the best results from a. book, keep a. pencil and a sheet of paper handy. As you read each page and each line, jot down each impression that you receive. Do not read too much at one time. Rest results will be obtained by reading one page and then writing down all your impressions before proceeding on.

"After you have read the whole book, read it again. This time you will notice that your impressions have changed, yet they will blend with the first impressions. This is the self-developing process. Read the book over and over, taking notes of your impressions each time. You will get new impressions with each reading.

"This shows you that you are evolving higher and higher as you read the book. This way you become your own teacher. Keep notes all the time. Read these notes over from time to time to see how they blend with one another. Keep doing this until you no longer receive new impressions from the book.

"In the meantime you have written your own book. To continue in the development of yourself, follow the same process with the notes you kept as you went along. In this way, you keep developing as long as you live without any further help. You are using your Real Self as the teacher of your present self. There is no end to learning in all fields of life if you use this method."

16 UNDERSTANDING

world report

Earthquake Predictions

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A seismology expert says the time, place and size of earthquakes may never be predictable, but he wants a 10 year research pro-gram to determine if danger spots can be mapped. Dr. Frank Press of the California Institute of Technology said he envisions a program to chart the earth for changes in pressure, geologic strain, earth magnetism, heat flow and other factors that may precede earthquakes.

The program he proposes, Press said, might give several hours warning of an impending earthquake. In any case, he felt, the basic research in earth sciences would justify the program. Engineers would have better data for planning and design.

Dr. Press spoke at a conference of 150 geologists, seismologists and engineers. He said the committee has not developed cost estimates of the program, but that it would probably involve tens of millions of dollars.

Another speaker, Hugo Fisher, said 90 per cent of all earthquakes in the continental United States occur in California and Nevada. He said California has had 30 strong tremors since 1789, the time from which there are records. Anyone of these earthquakes in a present-day densely- populated area could cause enormous damage and loss of life.

Mystery Objects

WASHINGTON - The Air Force is investigating the reported sighting of two high-speed unidentified flying objects by Navy radar operators at Patuxent Naval Air Station, Md.

The Navy- said yesterday that the operators observed "two objects on their scope approaching at approximately 4800 miles an hour from 30 to 40 mild south" of the base at 8:30 p.m., Dec. 29.

Handprints

WASHINGTON (Times-Post News Service)-The public health service is checking into a form of palmistry to see if handprints of

FEBRUARY, 1965 17

newborn babies might disclose hidden neurological abnormalities. The special study is now underway- at three Virginia State institutions and hospitals to see if handprints are distinctive for patients with inherited mental disorders.

Dr. Fred Rosner, public health service epidemiologist, said impetus for the study developed out of a spate of recent, reports in the medical literature of palm and fingerprint abnormalities in a variety of diseases.

Among such disorders, Dr. Rosner said, are hydrocephalus (water-logging of the brain), mongolism, schizophrenia (the split personality mental disorder), congenital heart disease and inborn defects of body chemistry.

Some 5,000 patients will be examined before the study in complete. A retired District of Columbia police officer and fingerprint expert is reading and analyzing the 20 to 25 prints taken of each patient's palm and fingerprint patterns.

Dr. Rosner said there seems to be some evidence that mongolism, a type of idiocy, may foretell its presence by dermatoglyphic (palm and fingerprint) abnormalities, which can be used diagnostically in doubtful l cases.

Light High in Sky

By Alton Blakeslee, Associated Press Science Writer

AUSTIN, Tex. (AP)-Exciting news has just reached our planet earth.

It may be tidings of the birth of a mysterious object out toward the edge of the universe.

For perhaps five billion years the news has been racing through space at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.

The courier was light waves, produced by an apparent gigantic explosion long ago.

The news was picked up recently in a picture taken with the giant 200-inch telescope on Mt. Palomar in California.

The picture showed that something had happened suddenly since a last look in that particular direction of the universe in 1962. The distant light still streaming toward earth-may be disclosing the story of the birth of one of the most puzzling of all heavenly

18 UNDERSTANDING

bodies, says Dr. Allan R. Sandage of the Mt. Palomar and Aft. Wilson observatories.

The objects are known as quasi-stellar force, abbreviated to QSF. They are an entirely new source and kind of energy in the universe. They simply do not follow the rules of physical force that astronomers and other scientists have so far figured out.

They know why our sun keeps burning. They know that our sun is one of about 200 billion stars in a great family or galaxy-the Milky Way. They know there are billions of other huge galaxies.

But none can yet explain why the QSF's omit such prodigious energy -- why they are trillions of times brighter than our own sun, why they broadcast so much radio energy, how or why they came about.

——— ♦ ———

MARS, MAYBE

(Reprinted from an Editorial in Grants Pass Courier)

OUT beyond the moon there's a silver needle flying. A man on earth sees through its eyes, feels through its senses and governs its course. Spacecraft Mariner IV seeks for and finds its guiding star and turn, toward Mars, its destination.

In an age of scientific miracles have we lost our sense of wonder? For here is a wonder, indeed. The invasion of space has become such a. commonplace that its achievements tend to obscure the tremendous body of thought, knowledge, skill and precision to which they are due.

This silver mote vanishing into the depths of interplanetary space, yet still obedient to a man's hand, has a significance far beyond mere triumphs of research and engineering. It is a human artifact penetrating a universe so alien we can describe it to our-selves only in terms of abstract mathematics.

It is flying in a blaze of galaxies never catalogued by human eyes, through extremes of heat that is not heat and cold that is not cold in any sense familiar to human experience.

For month after month on its journey it be subject. to the ebb and flow of mysterious tides of which we have only begun to suspect the existence. These forces act in a vacuum so tenuous it is not subject

FEBRUARY, 1965 19

to material measurement. Yet if we achieve space travel-and we are on its threshold-it must be at such speeds that single molecules adrift in vast volumes of space will build resistances equal to earthly gases or even liquids.

Mariner IV, plodding through its millions of miles from earth at a mere 7,400 miles an hour is little more than a Cro-Magnon savage in a canoe facing the width of the Atlantic, compared with what it foreshadows.

It is the symbol of a revolution in human thought. Facing the Space Age, we are equivalent to that intelligent beast which first conceived himself to be a man, and all which that implied. The consequences, as with him, are in all probability beyond even the scope of our imagination. Our experiences equip us only to picture this new universe in terms of analogies drawn from a planetary environment.

Man will need courage to face the unknowns that lie beyond. But whether on not Mariner IV reaches Mars, the tiny silver needle flashing through the starlit void is an inescapable challenge to his daring.

——— ♦ ———

RADIOACTIVITY

Much fear has been engendered, quite naturally, by the known results of large lethal doses of radiation from nuclear explosions. This concern has been carried forward as a threat even for lesser amounts of radioactivity, as in the gradual fall-out from nuclear testing. But, an amazing paradox was discovered by scientists in 1961 which may lead to more optimistic conclusions.

On the tiny island of Nine, south of Samoa, west of the Cook Islands, the natives evidence remarkably good health though the radioactivity of the soil is 100 times normal. The body radioactivity of the 5000 inhabitants is 10 times that of most other people, yet they are medically considered among the most healthy in the Pacific. Scientists are intrigued by this adaptation to a potentially dangerous environment and are seeking answers to the problem of immunity development, effect. upon future generations, and whether or not

20 UNDERSTANDING

presently the inhabitants evidence any unusual characteristic.

Sir Ernest Marsden, a nuclear scientist, upon investigating the effects of soil and food on these people says, "The natural radiation on Niue is the highest in the world. Since the native population is only about 5000, we have the chance to study a relatively small, self-contained group which has been exposed to high radiation for many generations."

Scientific studies have revealed that the plankton blown ashore is much more radioactive than elsewhere in the world. Also discovered is the fact that the island lacks thorium, a dark gray metallic substance that resembles platinum, which elsewhere is considered a major cause of radioactive phenomena.

The future conclusions of the research studies on Niue should be of great significance to all men, particularly if they show evidence that man can adapt to a gradual intake of radioactivity, without physical or mental deterioration. Fear is ever man's enemy, and in the realm of metaphysics it is a principle that that which we fear we bring upon ourselves.

There is also the further implication of interest to the New Age student, who anticipates that entrance into a higher realm of consciousness and understanding is based upon a higher vibratory rate of the physical atoms of his being. Could adaptation to gradually increased radioactivity result, in time, to a general quickening to spiritual awareness by all men?

Consider the possibilities as you await the results of this research.

——— ♦ ———

"Strides in new knowledge are taken slowly, usually against the will of the currently knowledgeable; and `education' is designed far more to freeze learning than to advance it. For education caters to the cultural pattern, and promulgates it. Education slams the door of every tabooed vista in the face of all youthful interest. It meticulously blunts imagination and stultifies criticism. It but conveys a culture; in that task, the errors of the culture and its unchallenged prohibitions are handed down. It discourages the rebel and the innovator; it sedulously abets the conformer."

-Philip Wylie

I TALK WITH SPACE PEOPLE BY SHORT WAVE RADIO"

"Yes, it's true. I, Bob Renaud, have talked with people from other planets over my short wave radio set, at regular intervals, for over 3 years. Since Jan. 6, 1962, I have viewed these people inside their spaceships on my own TV Screen; met them in person; ridden in, piloted, and photographed their spaceships; visited their underground and undersea bases; and became the first Earth-man to walk outside a spaceship in outer space! Learn what these advanced people teach, and of their plan to help mankind solve its problems and, in our time, to build a Great Society-advanced far beyond today's most optimistic concepts. Read it all in "UFO International" starting with issue 18. Six issues for $3.00. Single copy-50c. Gabriel Green, Editor. 7 Flying Saucer color photos-$3.00. Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs, 2004 N. Hoover, Los Angeles, Calif. 90027.

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