NEUOFFENBARUNGFighting anger (7 April 1847)
1. Since this anger-devil is such a dangerous creature when he is in possession of human flesh, and it is often necessary to let children die bodily, and not infrequently to kill entire generations in the flesh through plague and other devastating diseases, before it is still possible for this devil to completely draw the soul into his essence, but above all it is of utmost importance for every man, who has to take care of his own soul, and if he is father or mother, also of the souls of the children, that one knows the just diet and then follows it, by which not only the soul can be saved, but also the body of man can reach a possible highest age for the eternal welfare of his soul, but which cannot happen if people do not know this diet for the most part, and if they know it, but still do not follow it.
2. How, then, must a man behave from his birth, or how must he be kept in the beginning, so that in the maturity of his years he may observe that psychological and bodily dietary order by which alone it becomes possible for him to attain a quiet old age, and by that very old age, to secure for his soul a true, firm continuance lasting for eternity?
3. The child, if it is already apparent in the cradle that it is of a very sensitive nature and can easily be irritated by all kinds of influences, should, as long as it has no memory, be nourished by such means as do not heat the blood, but only gently cool it down.
4. If the mother nurses the child at the breast, she should abstain from spirit-drinks, and mainly from emotional upheavals: for by all this, she puts elements into her breast, which are food for this fire-spirit – in short, she should abstain from such food and drink products with too much bile, or agitate that which has already been produced. Legumes, especially beans, are not to be recommended to such a mother, but moderate meat broths, roasts of pure animal flesh, and pastries of wheat, rye and white corn; also water barley or rice is beneficial to such a mother, when boiled in non-fat milk.
5. But if a mother does not suckle the child herself, but lets it drink at the breast of a so-called wet nurse, which is never really good, then the wet nurse should firstly be well identified as to whose spirit child she is, and if it has turned out that she is a good and gentle soul, then secondly, she must observe the same diet in eating and drinking, and in the restraint of her mind, as this very diet is prescribed for the mother.
6. If the child nurses from the mother or the wet nurse, it should be weaned from the breast as soon as the first teeth appear, because the child's memory begins with the teeth. However, it would be best for such a child to be raised without a breast.
7. Wheat bran boiled and mixed with some pure honey would be the best primal food for a hot-blooded child. However, barley water sweetened with a little honey or sugar can also be used: boiled figs and boiled carob are just as good and sometimes even better.
8. In some children, especially in later times, even a light lentil must would be a very noteworthy diet, if, as I said, they are already somewhat advanced in age.
9. Animal milk is not to be recommended at first, because animals themselves are sometimes not completely healthy and therefore cannot supply healthy milk, which is usually the case in winter. Sometimes, however, animals are already of full-blooded and of a violent temperament, whose milk would therefore be very bad for such a hot, full-blooded child; only when children have become one to two years old, they can be served with light milk diluted with water.
10. On the other hand, it will never hurt them to sometimes enjoy a cooked fruit must: because the fruit, especially good apples and finer pears, are very suitable to purify and tone down the blood.
11. Meat can be given to such children only after they have changed their teeth. If the children, especially those mentioned above, are given meat food earlier, their blood will be nourished too much, their meat itself will be too fatty, and as a result their transpiration tools will become too slimy, from which a lot of dangerous diseases will soon arise for such children.
12. When such children have matured to the point where they can walk and talk, then they should be occupied with all kinds of more quiet, and for the child's mind useful, uplifting games, and attention should be constantly paid that such children never become too heated, neither by movement, much less by a mood effect. Everything must be cleared away that could annoy them in the least.
13. If, however, in spite of all the regulations, it is noticed that one or the other is not infrequently in a flare-up of temper, then a suitable punishment should never be neglected, which, however, should not be so quick with beatings, but much more effective and beneficial with a suitable fasting; for nothing cures anger better than hunger, and the hungry are least apt to revolution, whereas, if they are full, they would be untrustworthy.
14. It is very good for children, when they have to be punished for such causes, to be made to understand and to be told that the heavenly Father did not send them bread because they were bad. But when they become completely good again, and ask the heavenly Father for bread, He will immediately give it to them again. In this way, such children will be made aware of God, and it will be ever more deeply impressed on their young souls that they depend on God in everything, and that He is the most faithful retributor for all good and bad.
15. But when such children have become quite calm and demure, then it should not be neglected to show them quite comprehensibly how the heavenly Father takes quite great delight in them, and calls out to them daily in the morning, at noon, and in the evening: "Let these dear little ones come to Me."
16. If the children are guided in this way, they will have few problems later on; but if they are not guided in this way, it will be somewhat more difficult to bring them onto the right path in later times, and the proverb will come true, according to which an old tree cannot be bent, except sometimes by lightning and storm, but such a tree seldom escapes without damage.
17. If such children are fully grown up and have already attained perfect self-knowledge, i.e. as far as this concept is extended in natural terms, and if they still show noticeable symptoms of exaggerated irritability of mind here and there, they are to be advised above all to live very moderately in all respects, to go to bed early, but to get up even earlier, to abstain from spirit-drinks for a longer time, as well as from the flesh of unclean animals, do not visit such places where all kinds of mad spectacles are performed for the bad amusement of the spectators, but especially not those places where dancing and gambling take place. Such places must be avoided for a long time, if not for ever in the case of some.
18. It is also very good for such people of both genders if they marry soon; for the heat of an effervescent head is much worse than that of a gentle man. In addition to this natural diet, such people should also pray quite often and read spiritual books, or have them read to them if they cannot read themselves. This will strengthen their soul and loosen the fetters of their spirit, which easily becomes completely free when such people embrace My love – and because such people are exposed to a greater temptation than others, they are also for that very reason so much closer to My grace, the greater their temptation is; For it is precisely these people who can become something great when they have found
the right path, because they have the righteous courage within them. From these people, spiritually taken, ships and palaces are built as from oak and marble in My kingdom; from sponges and reeds, something better than it is in it's kind, is not easily made.
19. This diet was still necessary to add to this memorandum; and now that we have clearly presented it for the safe and most useful attention of every human being, let us move on to another memorandum, next time.