It is almost touching, this childlike faith that the world of matter is the only real one and all the rest, epiphenomena of it. But what if we were to turn the tables and suggest that the inner world is prior to the outer? That the imagination precedes rather than follows the event? That the only reason we see the stars is that we share, for that moment, in their perpetual creation? Then it would be the material and imaginal states that are primary, and the chemical procedures that are secondary to them. As normal, undeveloped people, we are only able to perceive and live in a normal, undeveloped world, which is the world known to science. But once supernormal conscious states had been mastered, then one might live in a supernormal world with different laws from those of classical physics. This, incidentally, would explain the miracles of healing attributed to Christ and others; and even the turning of lead into gold. --Joscelyn Godwin I don't create things....I merely rearrange the molecules. Richard Seraphinoff Matter engages us in creative communication with life force. The greatest gift we have been given as human beings is the ability to create beauty. Beauty may please the eye, enliven the intellect, and open the heart. And it mingles with the soul in the form of sound and fragrance. The sharing and appreciation of beauty can evoke not only an experience of sheer joy, but also a vision of something larger than oneself. There are rare moments when the universe seems to unfold before our very eyes: in the glowing expanse of a sky at sunset, the dancing colors of a cathedral window, the opening petals of a flower, the delicate intricacy of a piece of lace or the gentle drape of a silken fabric. Our soul is touched by beauty and we find ourselves expanding within, to include much more than we suspected was there. This magical occurrence of melding with matter fills artisan and appreciator alike with a sense of awe and wonder, and a sense of completeness which is our birthright.