  The idea that a background of invisible material pervades the whole universe
is as old as the history of natural philosophy. Modern particle physics and
cosmology support that idea and identify in the cosmic vacuum the ultimate
source of matter-energy, both seen and unseen, in the universe. In the
framework of the inflation-axion scenario, we suggest an unusual realization of
the Higgs mechanism which converts the latent energy of the vacuum into
observable mass. The existence of a new spontaneously broken symmetry is
pointed out which has the same effect of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry in creating
axions as pseudo-Goldstone bosons. However such particles are eliminated from
the physical spectrum in favor of massive pseudoscalar particles.
