Article October 14, 1967 Issue

Reality or Phantasmagoria?

MARY RETTA TITUS

Among the blessings given to her followers and to all mankind by Mrs. Eddy in her writings is her precise use of words to convey the wonderful message of Christian Science. Often the shades of meaning of a passage are illumined by the words she uses in accuracy and timeliness to guide the searching thought of the student.

In one instance Mrs. Eddy uses the very expressive word "phantasmagoria" to depict the sweeping thought of the changing human scene. This scene stands out in contrast to the real universe of God's creating, spiritual, substantial, and eternal. A dictionary definition of this unusual word includes the meaning of an optical effect produced by a magic lantern when the mechanism is adjusted so as to make the picture seem to recede into the distance or rush toward the observer. After an impression of surprise or fear the viewer would recognize that the presentation is only a picture and no part of his actual experience. The word also has the meaning of a shifting assemblage of illusive images.

In the passage referred to in Unity of Good, Mrs. Eddy brings into bold relief the difference between the real, unchanging creation of God and the unreal, changing, and illusory false beliefs of mortal mind. The suggestion of evil that God is the source and authority for error is handled by this wonderful statement: "You mistake, O evil! God is not your authority and law. Neither is He the author of the material changes, the phantasma, a belief in which leads to such teaching as we find in the hymn-verse so often sung in church:—

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