Esoteric Lesson

Our sympathy or antipathy affects the etheric body. We can easily recognize this through ordinary observation. We know that the etheric body controls the glands. When, for example, a gourmet sees delicious food, his salivary glands are stimulated and his mouth waters. To the extent that we learn to control ourselves and bring our sympathy or antipathy into balance, the glands in our body dry up and become like the bark of a tree, protecting the interior. In plants, the sap rises and falls. Therefore, they cannot resist the cold of winter; they die. The tree, on the other hand, allows the outside to dry out and become bark, thus protecting itself from the harsh effects of storms and cold. So is the initiate. His life body does not die from one incarnation to another. Such were the Druids. And “Druid” means “oak,” which is the strongest of trees.