The Metaphysics of Emerson Selig

Last modified by Charter Agent G81

In the journal entry quoted below, Emerson lays the philosophical groundwork for his experiments with resurrection.

What is meant by essence? What is meant by, “It is manifest… that every soul and spirit hath a certain continuity with the spirit of the universe, so that it must be understood to exist and to be included… Anything we take in the universe, because it has in itself that which is All in All, includes in its own way the entire soul of the world.” If this is true and if I am always entering every room I have ever entered, perhaps I will always be and always be entering still. Perhaps we do not end.

The Egyptian King did not die, his murdered servants did not die and the crops on the walls of his tomb were real crops with real sustenance and the king and his workers still eat them.

As long as we still say them, names live. The Egyptians called this essence Ren. Ren is one fifth of a thing’s essence. All that has been named, people, minerals, elements, stars – they all have this essence. A thing without a name is incomplete. To say a thing’s Ren gives this essence sustenance.

Although he certainly comes off as a crank, Emerson hit on a truth that more respectable scientists had discarded: the link between a thing’s name and its essential spirit. Instead of calling on the deceased’s literal name, Emerson tracks the deceased through his or her unique sonic spectrum. His machine then harmonizes with this spectrum, drawing the spirit back into its original place.

Selig is impressive for an adult human, but he’s mistaken. One can never recall deceased energy. Our own experiments with resurrection were never successful. Most of those ended with an industrial water hose, a drain in the middle of a concrete floor and an agreement to never speak of the experiment again.

Jean’s influence runs thickly through Emerson’s scientific pursuits.