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 Sexual Phenomena. The very foundation of life, of health and happiness, is rooted in the intricate phenomena of sex. All forms of life, except the lowest, depend upon sex for the preservation of the species. Sex has been described as the tie that binds all life together. It is certainly the most magnetic force in our animated world of many potent forces. When an individual in any species is sexually incomplete, underdeveloped or pathologically afflicted, that individual is usually rendered incapable of fulfilling the biological rôle of reproducing his kind.

When a human being, in particular, is not sexually normal, through whatever cause, whether hereditary or acquired, that condition is a serious hindrance to a healthy, happy life.

Sexual maladies and disabilities may result from many causes, and practically all except those that have been inherited, may be traced to the common source of ignorance. Even many of the inherited afflictions are the result of ignorance on the part of previous generations.

Of course an understanding of sex is essential to a genuine understanding of self. How thoroughly we are influenced by the unconscious expressions of our sexual nature—as well as, at times, by the conscious impulses—will be seen as we go on.

All about us we see the manifestations of sex, and there are many examples that are too remote to see and too subtle for us to notice. The world is filled with countless forms of life, from the tiny, invisible creatures, all the way up the biological scale to the mammals, of which man is the highest order.

All these classes of life are self-perpetuating products of nature, and nature in every case has devised some appropriate methods for the continuance of that particular class.