Semele

“ How marvellous it is to look into the seeds of time—yes, and these may be small as mustard seeds—which are the smallest of all seeds—and see the bursting of the husks, the peering out of the plumule, the feeding of the sprout, the struggle through the clods, the fight with frost and hail and broiling sun, and canker worm and blight, the growth of the strengthening stem, and then the leaf and blossoms and fruit! ”

“ But when once planted all the universe knows about the little brown seed. The earth and the seed were made for each other, and no sooner do they come in proper contact than the whole universe is set in motion about and for the development of that buried germ. There is not a cloud floating afar nor a star gleaming mildly in the distant blue that does not exist for that tiny seed until, through the ministration of sunbeam and moonlight, shower and baptismal dew, the seed arises, clothed in the glory of a resurrection, to lift itself in right royal grandeur above the clod. ”

“ And even as the Male-Seed is injected into the Womb, and touches the Menstruum, which is its Earth, but the Seed which goes out of the Male into the Female, is operated in both by the Sydereal and Elementary, that they be united, and nourished by the Earth unto the Birth. ”

“ Closely observe how the plant, by little and little progressing,
⁠Step by step guided on, changeth to blossom and fruit!
First from the seed it unravels itself, as soon as the silent
⁠Fruit-bearing womb of the earth kindly allows its escape.
And to the charms of the light, the holy, the ever-in-motion,
⁠Trusteth the delicate leaves, feebly beginning to shoot.
Simply slumbered the force in the seed; a germ of the future. ”

“ Wherever the Sunbeam falls we find life and motion; elsewhere, death and stillness. Under its influence the seed germinates, the stem sends forth branches, the leaf bursts from the bud, the flower unfolds its petals, and the fruit grows and ripens. ”

“ The Seeds are the sole "end and aim" of all the organs of fructification. Every other part is, in some manner, subservient to the forming, perfecting, or dispersing of these. A seed consists of several parts, some of which are more essential than others, and of these I shall speak first.
Embryo, the Embryo, or Germ, is the most essential of all, to which the rest are wholly subservient, and without which no seed is perfect, or capable of vegetation, however complete in external appearance. ”

“ XL. In the first place, the seed, which is the principle of all germination, is of two kinds, that which is not appreciable by our senses and that which is. Seed is hidden from us when it is disseminated in the air, as the physicist Anaxagoras holds, or is distributed over the land by the surface water, as Theophrastus maintains. The seeds which the farmer can see should be studied with the greatest care. ”

“ So we plant seeds in rows on our dam-wall, and pull one up daily to see how it goes with them. Alladeen buried her wonderful stone, and a golden palace sprung up at her feet. We do far more. We put a brown seed in the earth, and a living thing starts out—starts upward—why, no more than Alladeen can we say—starts upward, and does not desist till it is higher than our heads, sparkling with dew in the early morning, glittering with yellow blossoms, shaking brown seeds with little embryo souls on to the ground. ”

“ After a while the cloth is removed, and the seed is found to have sprouted, and an inch or so of the stem and the first green leaves are seen to be sprouting from the earth. The illusion is perfect, and the onlookers are more taken up with gazing in wonder at the miraculous growth and discussing it one with another than with critically examining the seed and the sprouting plant. ”

“ Amid the measureless grossness and the slag,
Enclosed and safe within its central heart,
Nestles the seed perfection.
By every life a share or more or less,
None born but it is born, conceal'd or unconceal'd the seed is waiting. ”

“ As a seed of a tree, when planted in the soil, germinates, grows, flowers and bears fruit, so does a Karma-impression germinate, grow, flower and bear fruit. As the germ of a seed, in process of development, produces the events called sprouting, putting forth leaves and branches, flowering and fruiting, lo, a man's mental thought-impressions of previous lives, in almost the self-same way, sprout, put forth leaves and branches, flower and fruit in the shape of events, inside and outside of him. The thought-impressions are reflected upon the aura. ”

“ The seed-corn scattered from the hand vanishes from sight, the very bed in which it is hidden lies buried, and an uncongenial, impenetrable element spreads its barrier between the sower and the seed, which he must leave in the hands of God. The farmer who has ploughed his field and settled his seed in the furrows feels less shut out from it; he sees at least where it lies, he can test its condition, he can trace the first green bloom on the brown surface of his fields, which is the prophecy and the pledge of harvest. ”

“ This short account of the germination of seeds may suffice to shew, to the inquisitive in the wonders of nature, what preparations and means nature uses to produce a single plant. When, therefore, we see a seed that we have placed in the earth sprout, we shall no longer consider it as beneath our notice, but shall rather be disposed to regard it as one of those wonders of nature which have excited the observation and attention of some of the greatest of men. ”

“ The tiny seed begins to grow; it pushes through the earth, and after years of growth it is a mighty tree and birds rest in its leafy bowers and men find refuge 'neath its sheltering boughs from sun and storm. ”

“ Every form of plant-life, from the giants of the forest, the oak, beech, fir, and others, to the tiniest moss, has its beginning in the seed. Every plant has its flowers, its fruit, and its seeds. It is in the seed that vegetation is preserved in a thriving condition through the ages; it is by the seed that every tree, every shrub, every blade of grass propagate their kind and leave a numerous progeny. [130]
“Who would not like to know,” continued Uncle Paul, “something about the formation of the seed that is sown in the ground to become either a little plant or an enormous tree? ”

“ There is a subtle charm about garden work from its very beginning. The seed we sow has a mystery wrapped up in it. The processes of germination are as fascinating as a fairytale. The development of the tiny seedling is a source of constant wonder to us. ”

“ In the ashes sowed the seedlings
Near the Alue-lake and border,
In the rich and loamy fallow.
There the seed took root and flourished,
Quickly grew to great proportions,
In a single night in summer. ”

“ Also in fingering the seeds, you will know why some are slow in germinating: these are either hard and gritty, sandlike, like those of the English primrose, smooth as if coated with varnish, like the pansy, violet, columbine, and many others, or enclosed in a rigid shell like the iris-hued Japanese morning-glories and other ipomeas. Heart of Nature is never in a hurry, for him time is not. What matters it if a seed lies one or two years in the ground? ”

“ When the strangers saw how the small seed planted in the ground—warmed by the sun and watered by the rain—throve and became a tiny blade of grass, a delicate flower, or a magnificent tree, this seemed a miracle to them, for nothing ever grows out of the soil of the Moon or the Sun. ”

“ These three things are—water, air, and warmth. We can grow seeds without soil at all if we give them these three things. But if either water, air, or warmth be wanting, your seeds cannot grow.”
“That is why seeds won’t grow outside in winter, then,” said Frank.
“That is the reason,” his uncle answered. “In winter there is not enough heat to make seeds grow. If you sow seeds in a pot of dry soil in summer, and do not give them water, they will not grow.”
“I think a seed is a most wonderful thing,” said Tom.
“It is,” said Uncle George, “wonderful indeed. ”

“ They are of course herbs; they spring from the seed, blossom, mature their fruit and seed, and then die, root and all. Annuals of our temperate climates with severe winters start from the seed in spring, and perish at or before autumn. Where the winter is a moist and growing season and the summer is dry, winter annuals prevail; their seeds germinate under autumn or winter rains, grow more or less during winter, blossom, fructify, and perish in the following spring or summer. Annuals are fibrous-rooted. ”

“ If we sow the seed, a mighty tree appears from it. The virtues of the seed are revealed in the tree; it puts forth branches, leaves, blossoms, and produces fruits. All these virtues were hidden and potential in the seed. Through the blessing and bounty of cultivation these virtues became apparent. ”

“ The seed must first strike root in the earth, then spring up in stalks and branches, next bud into flowers, and lastly, produce fruit from them; so also must the word of God first be rooted in the soul, then bring forth the germs of good thoughts, and the flowers of good desires, that it may at length produce the fruit of good works. 10. The entire power of a tree or plant is in the seed: for from it the plant and all its parts and members, which it possesses in an analogous manner to the limbs of men and animals, proceed. ”

“ How Love burns through the Putting in the Seed
On through the watching for that early birth
When, just as the soil tarnishes with weed,
The sturdy seedling with arched body comes
Shouldering its way and shedding the earth crumbs. ”

“ PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN.
TO form the seed seems to be the chief end of the plant. When in the vigor of its own maturity, and when receiving the sun's strongest rays and the earth's richest nourishment, the plant gathers all its resources, and devotes them to the building of the seed. When done, the seed itself, the embryo, commonly possesses little substance and serves little use beyond its primary purpose, the reproduction of the plant. ”

“ If a seed like that is planted, it may make a tree like the root part of the one from which it came, or it may make a tree like the upper part, or it may make something different from either one. No one can tell what that seed will bring. So fruit growers [149] plant a great many such seeds each year, and once in a great while some new peach, or apple, or plum, or cherry, finer than anything ever grown before, comes from one of those seeds. ”

“ When nature has provided a soil, her next care is to perfect the growth of her seeds and then to disperse them. This is effected by the structure and arrangement of the seed varying according to the nature of its particular habitat. When the seed, or mature ovule, is ripe, it bursts the capsule in which it is contained and falls to the ground, or is scattered by the wind. ”

“ Forms of Stems.—Stems may grow in many ways. Let the pupils compare the habits of growth of the seedlings they have studied. The Sunflower and Corn are erect. This is the most usual habit, as with our common trees. The Morning Glory is twining, the stem itself twists about a support. The Bean, Pea and Nasturtium are climbing. The stems are weak, and are held up, in the first two by tendrils, in the last by the twining leaf-stalks. ”

“ The ovule, as the female cell with its immediate surrounding tissue is termed, becomes inclosed with one or more coats of varying thickness, and, when the whole structure has reached maturity and is ready to separate from the parent-plant, we have the familiar body known as a seed. The seed is an independent plant-structure designed to develop into a mature herb, shrub, or tree, when the conditions are favorable for its germination and growth. ”

“ The seed is not only one of the smallest, being so little that it can slip unnoticed from your grasp, and hide within the crevice of a clod, mocking your solicitous search, but it is of most rapid growth. Within a fortnight it will overshadow the garden, and before the season is ended will tower twelve to fifteen feet in height, its sturdy branches affording shelter, and protected nests, for many birds. Divine thoughts within the brain are capable of this marvelous development. ”

“ The planting of the seed, the growth, the bud and flower must be rapid. The spring must be quick and warm—the soil perfect, the sunshine and rain enough—everything should tend to hasten, nothing to delay. ”

“ It is the winter of history, but the season will change. Under the crusted streams the water is flowing, flowers are rising under the snow, flowers from the living seed. The seed lives through the four seasons, and the seed is the Word of God. ”

“ THE GENERATION OF THE SEED OF SEEDS, OR THE ORIGIN OF CORN.
"We are the People of Seed," said these strangers, replying to our fathers of old, "born elder brothers of ye, and led of the gods!"
"Nay," contended our fathers, "verily, we are led of the gods and of us are the Seed people and the substance of seed whereof our wise elders carry the potencies." Whereupon they grew yet more angry, so dark were they of understanding! ”

“ Each flower had two green sepals and five colored petals, also five stamens, so they knew it was an exogen, though it would have been harder to tell this from the thick, pulpy leaves and stem. The little seed-pod of each had a tiny cap which lifted off when the seeds were ripe, leaving a perfect cup, heaping full.
"You see, children," said the Chief Gardener, "weeds do not care to be either useful or ornamental. So they become rank and common, and lose their beautiful flowers. But somehow they never have any less seed. ”