Degeneration and restoration

Meaning

Degeneration is a departure from the proper condition of a species, and reformation its proposed return to the former state. The passage assigns restoration to the soul’s closely allied spirit, whose affinity and responsiveness make it an appropriate intermediary.

The ideal intellect is not itself dragged down into matter as the restoring ingredient. Nuysement expressly distinguishes attraction of the soul with its powers from attraction of the higher intellectual source. Reformation therefore belongs to the book’s account of specific forms and their embodiment, not a claim that every damaged body can become any other kind or that the supreme intelligence is materially captured.