Generally we use the word ‘nothing’ in a limited sense. Someone looking for particular objects might open an empty cupboard and say, ‘There’s nothing here.’ There will certainly be something in the cupboard, even it its only dust or air but the meaning is clear. In Alphomism, the statement that, ‘there is nothing other than the universe,’ is an instruction to halt all attempts to imagine. Habits of thought tend to make us think of the universe as being surrounded by darkness. But darkness implies empty space. The Alphomist insists that, alone amongst words, ‘nothing’ requires no effort of imagination. It is the mind’s final punctuation mark. BACK