Michael Wynn's Occult Reference Library
PHILOSOPHER

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18276066 GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 1

nd the strong gen. in -es forbidding. but the whole idea may in the earliest times have taken far stronger root in south germany than in scandinavia, since the edda tells next to nothing of oski, while our poetry as late as the] 5th century has so much to say of wunsch. that it was not foreign to the north either, is plainly proved by the oshmcyjar= wunschdfrauen, wish-women; by the oskasteinn, a philosopher's stone connected with our wunschelrute, wishing-rod, and mercury's staff; by oskabyrr, mhg. wunschivint, fair wind; by oshabiorn, wish-bear, a sea-monster; all of which will be discussed more fully by and by. a fem. proper name osk occurs in a few places; what if the unaccountable oskopnir, saem. 188% were really to be explained as osk-opnir? opnir, ofnir, we know, are epithets of osi

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGICK SPELLS

rshins. plunge the pendulum in cold running water to cleanse it, shake it dry and circle it nine times deosil over the tool(s) to restore energies. you may need to repeat this several times if a tool seems lifeless or after you have been carrying out a banishing ritual. the four elements the four elements- earth, air, fire and water- play an important part in all kinds of magick. plato, the greek philosopher who lived around 360 bc, was the first to identify these elements as the components that made up the whole universe and right until elizabethan times people still believed that our nature was influenced by our elemental composition. indeed, jung, the twentieth-century psychoanalyst, used this concept in his personality types, renaming them as earth/sensations, air/thinking, fire/intuit

d or projected on other people whom we then unconsciously disliked because they mirrored our faults. in formal magick, the four elements are seen as providing natural energies for transforming wishes into reality. together they combine to form the fifth element- ether, or akasha- that represents pure spirit, or perfection. medieval alchemists attempted to create this elusive substance, called the philosopher's stone. it was said to turn base metal into gold and, as an elixir according to the eastern tradition, to cure all ills and offer immortality. these elements form the basis for raising power in formal magick and in less formal spells too and are represented by devas, the guardians of the watchtowers or the four main archangels. earth earth represents midnight, winter and the quarter a

ABRAMELIN1

cques de la boucherie which exists at the present day, is the tower, which stands near the place du ch telet, about ten minutes walk from the biblioth que de l'arsenal; and there is yet a street near this tower which bears the title of rue nicolas flamel, so that his memory still survives in paris, together with that of the church close to which he lived, and to which, after the attainment of the philosopher s stone, he and his wife pernelle caused a handsome peristyle to be erected. from his own account, the author of the present work appears to have been born in a.d. 1362, and to have written this manuscript for his son, lamech, in 1458, being then in his ninety-sixth year. that is to say, that he was the contemporary both of nicholas flamel and pernelle, and also of the mystical christi

ALEISTER CROWLEY EIGHT LECTURES ON YOGA

want you to note in particular the astonishing final identification of this cosmic experience with the nervous system as described by the anatomist. 21. at this point we may well be led to consider once more what we call the objective universe, and what we call our subjective experience. what is nature? immanuel kant, who founded an epochmaking system of subjective idealism, is perhaps the first philosopher to demonstrate clearly that space, time, causality (in short, all conditions of existence) are really no more than conditions of thought. i have tried to put it more simply by defining all possible predicates as so many dimensions. to describe an object properly it is not sufficient to determine its position in the space-time continuum of four dimensions, but we must enquire how it sta

ALEISTER CROWLEY BOOK OF LIES

it is necessary to separate things, in order that they might rejoice in uniting. see liber legis i, 28-30, which is paraphrased in the penultimate paragraph. in the last paragraph this doctrine is interpreted in common life by a paraphrase of the familiar and beautiful proverb "absence makes the heart grow fonder (ps. i seem to get a subtle after-taste of bitterness (it is to be observed that the philosopher having first committed the syllogistic error quaternis terminorum, in attempting to reduce the terms to three, staggers into non distributia medii. it is possible that considerations with sir wm. hamilton's qualification (or quantification) of the predicate may be taken as intervening, but to do so would render the humour of the chapter too subtle for the average reader in oshkosh for

ALEISTER CROWLEY LIBER 777

bine these ideas, not in the mutual toleration of subcontraries, but in the affirmation of contraries, that transcending of the laws of intellect which is madness in the ordinary man, genius in the overman who hath arrived to strike off more fetters from our understanding. the savage who cannot conceive of the number six, the orthodox mathematician who cannot conceive of the fourth dimension, the philosopher who cannot conceive of the absolute all these are one; all must be impregnated with the divine essence of the phallic yod of macroprosopus, and give birth to their idea. true (we may agree with balzac, the absolute recedes; we never grasp it; but in the travelling there is joy. am i no better than a staphylococcus because my ideas still crowd in chains? but we digress. the last attempt

ty senior of genesis, that lawgiver of leviticus, that phallus of the depopulated slaves of the egyptians, that jealous king-god of the times of the kings, that more spiritual conception of the captivity, only invented when all temporal hope was lost, that medi val battleground of cross-chopped logic, that being stripped of all his attributes and assimilated to parabrahman and the absolute of the philosopher? satan, again, who in job is merely attorney-general and prosecutes for the crown, acquires in time all the obloquy attaching to that functionary in the eyes of the criminal classes, and becomes a slanderer. does any one really think that any angel is such a fool as to try to gull the omniscient god into injustice to his saints? then, on the other hand, what of moloch, that form of jeh

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

the possibility of magick, chosing one which is at first sight of an obviously "fatal" character. it is convenient to quote verbatim from the diary< of a distinguished magician and philosopher "i have noticed that the effect of a magical work has followed 74 it so closely that it must have been started before the time of the work. e.g. i work to-night to make x in paris write to me. i get the letter the next morning, so that it must have been written before the work. does this deny that the work caused the effect "if i strike a billiard-ball and it moves, both my will and it

tical persecution, and the profanation of the secrets of power, were equally dreaded. worse still, from our point of view, this motive induced writers to insert intentionally misleading statements, the more deeply to bedevil unworthy pretenders to their mysteries. we do not propose to discuss any of the actual processes. most readers will be already aware that the main objects of alchemy were the philosopher's stone, the medicine of metals, and various tinctures and elixirs possessing divers virtues; in particular, those of healing disease, extending the span of life, increasing human abilities, perfecting the nature of man in every respect, conferring magical powers, and transmuting material substances, especially metals, into more valuable forms. the subject is further complicated by the

ee from ideas, however excellent in themselves, which are foreign to it. for instance, literary interest has no proper place in a picture. thus an artist, attuned to appreciate plastic beauty is likely to 296 receive a visual impression of his angel in a physical form which is sublimely quintessential of his ideal. a musician may be rapt away by majestic melodies such as he never hoped to hear. a philosopher may attain apprehension of tremendous truths, the solution of problems that had baffled him all his life. conformably with this doctrine, we read of illuminations experienced by simpleminded men, such as a workman who "saw god" and likened him to "a quantity of little pears. again, we know that ecstasy, impinging upon unbalanced minds, inflames the idolised idea, and produces fanatical

ALEISTER CROWLEY MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS

school began to observe this fact. 34* n.b. christianity was in its first stage a jewish communism, hardly distinguishable from marxism. 52 magic without tears get any book for free on: www.abika.com 93 ferule of the black schoolmaster to the outstretched arms of the white mistress of life. let us leave the sinister figure of schopenhauer for the mysteriously radiant shape of spinoza! this latter philosopher, in respect at least of his pantheism, represents fairly enough the fundamental thesis of the white tradition. almost the first observation that we have to make is that this white tradition is hardly discoverable outside europe. it appears first of all in the legend of dionysus (in this connection read carefully browning's apollo and the fates) the egyptian tradition of osiris is not d

vin differs from monte silvio and the matterhorn (they are bound to appear different, because the mountain does not look the same from zermatt as it does from domodossola, or even as seen by a french-swiss and a german-swiss) in the same way read the life of napoleon written by one of his marshals, by michelet (a rabid republican, by lord rosebery, by a patriotic russian, and by a german poet and philosopher: one can hardly believe that the subject of any two of these biographies is the same man. but upon certain points the identity is bound to transpire; even when we read of his crushing and classic defeat at waterloo by the belgians, the man is detected. transferring the analogy to the gods, it is then open to us to suppose that tahuti, thoth, hermes, mercury, loki, hanuman and the rest

ALEISTER CROWLEY MEDITATION

e. now the mind refuses to rest in a belief of the unreality of its own experiences. it may not be what is seems; but it must be something, and if (on the whole) ordinary life is something, how much more must that be by whose light ordinary life seems nothing! the ordinary man sees the falsity and disconnectedness and purposelessness of dreams; he ascribes them (rightly) to a disordered mind. the philosopher looks upon waking life with similar contempt; and the person who has experienced dhyana takes the same view, but not by mere pale intellectual conviction. reasons, however cogent, never convince utterly; but this man in dhyana has the same commonplace certainty that a man has on waking from a nightmare "i wasn't falling down a thousand flights of stairs, it was only a bad dream" simila

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE I CHING

se who would thwart these rights "the slaves shall serve- al. ii. 58 "love is the law, love under will- al. i. 57. aleister crowley ve- al. ii t "the i ching" by the master therion (aleister crowley, inputed for the o.t.o. with a revision to the name of hexagram 51 of the brock publishing edition by the very excellent& perfect prince and reverend senior; knight of the red eagle, knight hermetic philosopher- senator steven santiago. completed may 1, 1989. uu the i ching a new translation of the book of changes by the master therion introduction the yi king is mathematical and philosophical in form. its structure is cognate with that of the qabalah; the actual apparatus is simple, and five minutes is sufficient to obtain a fairly detailed answer to any but the most obscure questions. to me

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE LOST CONTINENT

atlas was a 'science of sciences. it was the final integration of all knowledge. in method its theory was differentiation, and in theory its method was integration. for example, the fifth of the great philosophers indicated "everything is zro" to the keeper of the speech at the annual sacrifice. this in spite of the fact that in that very year two new forms of zro had been discovered by that same philosopher. it was the third of the galaxy who announced "the ultimate analysis of sensation is pain; that of thought, madness; that of super- consciousness (a state of trance induced by zro and valued above all things) annihilation" his successor had retorted that in this was implicit a postulate that pain, madness and annihilation were undesirable. the third admitted that he had so meant his ph

n; and like all revolutionary bodies, was obliged to adopt the strictest form of autocracy. a democracy is always soddenly conservative. the only hope is to catch it in one of its moments of crazy enthusiasm, and crush it before it has time to recover. caesar and napoleon both did this as far as they could; cromwell and porfirio diaz did the same within narrower limits. now a certain sophist--for philosopher one cannot call him- tried to enunciate a magical law to the effect that the present standard of life was all that could be desired; that further progress would be harmful, that venus was not worth attaining, and that the sole endeavour of the magicians should be to preserve things as they were. that such a proposition could be supposed a 'law' reflects no credit on its author or its s

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE OLD AND NEW COMMENTARIES TO LIBER AL

of, all theories of utopian dependence on ant-like social order should be highly suspect. the flaw is four-fold: 1. omission of social mobility. 2. assumption of enduring intelligence linked with good will in the higher class. 3. preposterous ignorance of the limitations of tests and techniques. 4. failure to understand human motivation. all structured utopias are stagnating tyrannies. no utopian philosopher has yet devised a state which would have allowed that particular individual, the utopian philosopher himself, to survive childhood! such fantasmogoria as these arise from the detritus of the elder age. crowley himself once remarked to grady mcmurtry that he (crowley) had been born before the age of thelema and that it would take someone born in the age to fully comprehend the age. al i

now incarnate have made the last ten years memorable. al ii,33 "enough of because! be he damned for a dog" the old comment 33. we pass from the wandering in the jungle of reason to- the awakening (see next verse. the new comment this is the only way to deal with reason. reason is like a woman; if you listen, you are lost; with a thick stick, you have some sort of sporting chance. reason leads the philosopher to self-contradiction, the statesman to doctrinaire follies; it makes the warrior lay down his arms, and the lover cease to rave. what is so unreasonable as man? the only because in the lover's litany is because i love you. we want no skeleton syllogisms at our symposium of souls. philosophically 'because is absurd' there is no answer to the question "why" the greatest thinkers have be

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE QABALAH

his own ignorance of hebrew and philosophy, pretends in his translation of v. rosenroth. second is without limit [ws ya, i.e, infinite space. this is the primal dualism of infinity; the infinitely small and the infinitely great. the clash of these produces a finite positive idea which happens (see tycarb29 for a more careful study, though i must not be understood to indorse every word in our poet-philosopher s thesis) to be light, rwa. this word rwa is most important. it symbolises the universe immediately after chaos, the confusion or clash of the infinite opposites. a is the egg of matter; w is, the bull, or energy-motion; and r is the sun, or organised and moving system of orbs. the three letters of rwa thus repeat the three ideas. the nature of rwa is this analysed, under the figure of

ALEISTER CROWLEY THE SWORD OF SONG

ou weary me with proof enough that all this meditation stuff is self-hypnosis. be it so! 585 do you suppose i did not know? still, to be accurate, i fear the symptoms are entirely strange. if i were hard, i d make it clear that criticism must arrange 590 the sword of song 40 a test. the artist s concentration on his work. yogi but a more vigorous artist. indignation of poet suppressed by yogi and philosopher alike. an explanation different for this particular events. though surely i my find it queer that you should talk of self-hypnosis, when your own faith so very close is 595 to similar experience; lies, in a word, beneath suspicion to ordinary common sense and logic s emery attrition. i take, however, as before 600 your own opinion, and demand some test by which to understand huxley s p

enly, once the rate of change has been sufficiently slowed down, so that, even for a few seconds, the relation of subject and object remains impregnable. it is a circumstance of little interest to the present essayist that this annihilation of duality is associated with intense and passionless peace and delight; the fact has been a bribe to the unwary, a bait for the charlatan, a hindrance to the philosopher; let us discard it* hume, and kant in the prolegomena, discuss this phenomenon unsatisfactorily. a. c. it is this rapture which has ever been the bond between mystics of all shades; and the obstacle to any accurate observation of the phenomenon, its true causes, and so on. this must always be a stumblingblock to more impressionable minds; but there is no doubt as to the fact it is a fa

this being the sole condition on which morals, religion, and fees to priests can continue. for the deist has only to advance his fundamental idea to be forced round in a vicious circle of absurdities.1 the buddhist makes a clean sweep of all this sort of nonsense. he analyses the phenomena of mind, adopting berkeley s paradox that matter is immaterial, in a sane and orderly way. the common-sense philosopher, whom i leave to chew the bitter leaves of professer huxley s essay on sensation and the unity of the structure of sensiferous organs, observes, on lifting his arm, i lift my arm. the buddhist examines this proposition closely, and begins: there is a lifting of an arm. by this terminology he avoids teutonic discussions concerning the ego and nonego. 2 but how does he know this proposit

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 1

" now this metal is not in any wise like unto earthly metals; let the brethren well beware, for many false knaves be abroad. three things be golden: the mineral gold of the merchant, that is dross; the vegetable gold that groweth from the seed of the scroll by virtue of the lion; and the animal gold that cometh forth from the regimen of the dragon, and this last is the sole marketable gold of the philosopher. for, behold, an arcanum! i charge you, keep secret this matter; for the vile brothers, could they divine it, would pervert it. this mineral gold cannot be changed into any other substance by any means. this vegetable gold is fluidic; it must increase wonderfully and be fixed in the perfection of the sphinx. but this our animal gold is to this mighty pitch unstable, that it can neither

or all its? form. and the name of that question is nibbana. take this matter of the soul. when mr. judas mccabbage asks the man in the street why he believes in a soul, the man stammers out that he has always heard so; naturally mccabbage has no difficulty in proving to him by biological methods that he has no soul; and with a sunny smile each passes on his way. 128 but mccabbage is wasted on the philosopher whose belief in a soul rests on introspection; we must have heavier metal; hume will serve our turn, may be. but hume in his turn becomes perfectly futile, pitted against the hindu mystic, who is in constant intense enjoyment of his new-found atman. it takes a buddha-gun to knock "his" castle down. now the ideas of mccabbage are banal and dull; those of hume are live and virile; there

urn becomes perfectly futile, pitted against the hindu mystic, who is in constant intense enjoyment of his new-found atman. it takes a buddha-gun to knock "his" castle down. now the ideas of mccabbage are banal and dull; those of hume are live and virile; there is a joy in them greater than the joy of the man in the street. so too the buddha-thought, anatta, is a more splendid conception than the philosopher's dutch-doll-like ego, or the rational artillery of hume. this weapon, too, that has destroyed our lesser, our illusionary universes, ever revealing one more real, shall we not wield it with divine ecstasy? shall we not, too, perceive the inter-dependence of the questions and the answers, the necessary connection of the one with the other, so that (just as 0 x is an indefinite) we dest

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

e: corrected, original text had hb:peh-final hb:vau hb:mem "i.e, infinite space. this is the primal dualism of infinity; the infinitely small and the infinitely great. the clash of these produces a finite positive idea which happens (see hb:taw hb:yod hb:shin hb:aleph hb:resh hb:bet, in "the sword of song" for a more careful study, though i must not be understood to indorse every word in our poet-philosopher's thesis) to be light, hb:resh hb:vau hb:aleph. this word hb:resh hb:vau hb:aleph is most important. it symbolises the universe immediately after chaos, the confusion or clash of the infinite opposites. hb:aleph is the egg of matter; hb:yod is taurus, the bull, or energy-motion; and hb:resh is the sun, or organised and moving system of orbs. the three letters of hb:resh hb:vau hb:aleph

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQ I 5

ry! m. tupper. konx om pax the most remarkable treatise on the mystic path ever written contains an introduction and four essays; the first an account of the progress of the soul to perfect illumination, under the guise of a charming fairy tale; the second, an essay on truth, under the guise of a christmas pantomime; the third, an essay on magical ethics, under the guise of the story of a chinese philosopher; the fourth, a treatise on many magical subjects of the profoundest importance, under the guise of a symposium, interspersed with beautiful lyrics. no serious student can afford to be without this delightful volume. the second edition is printed on hand-made paper, and bound in white buckram, with cover-design in gold. price ten shillings walter scott publishing co, ltd, and through "t

you have not feared to reveal 'the arcana which are in he adytum of god-nourished silence' to those who, abandoning nothing, will sail in the company of the brethren of the rosy cross towards the limbus, that outer, unknown world encircling so many a universe":john bull" in the course of a long review by mr. herbert vivian "the author is evidently that rare combination of genius, a humorist and a philosopher. for pages he will bewilder the mind with abstruse esoteric pronouncements, and then, all of a sudden, he will reduce his readers to hysterics with some surprisingly quaint conceit. i was unlucky to begin reading him at breakfast and i was moved to so much laughter that i watered my bread with my tears and barely escaped a convulsion "the times "the light wherein he writes is the .v.x

ine's salt of antimony, with its use, translated out of high dutch by daniel cable, a person of great skill in chemistry, 1671- treatise concerning the fiez water of the philosophers, written in he german tongue, and now published in english by j. f. houpreght, a student of the wonderful secrets of hermes "n.d- marrow of alchemy, an experimental treatise discovering the most hidden mystery of the philosopher's elixer, by e. p. philalethes (lewis du moulin, 1654-55. in one volume, 8vo "being a series "of beautifully written manuscripts, as legible as copper-plate, in calf "4 4"s" there is practically no doubt that this very singular volume was entirely the work of daniel cable, and none of the works appear to have ever been printed. cable published a work entitled "of natural and supernatur

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 1 2

l booksellers. konx om pax the most remarkable treatise on the mystic path ever written contains an introduction and four essays; the first an account of the progress of the soul to perfect illumination, under the guise of a charming fairy tale; the second, an essay on truth, under the guise of a christmas pantomime; the third, an essay on magical ethics, under the guise of the story of a chinese philosopher; the fourth, a treatise on many magical subjects of the profoundest importance, under the guise of a symposium, interspersed with beautiful lyrics. no serious student can afford to be without this delightful volume. the second edition is printed on hand-made paper, and bound in white buckram, with cover design in gold. price ten shillings walter scott publishing co. ltd. and through "t

ou have not feared to reveal 'the arcana which are in the adytum of god-nourished silence' to those who, abandoning nothing, will sail in the company of the brethren of the rosy cross towards the limbus, that outer, unknown world encircling so many a universe."john bull, in the course of a long review by mr. herbert vivian""the author is evidently that rare combination of genius, a humorist and a philosopher. for pages he will bewilder the mind with abstruse esoteric pronouncements, and then, all of a sudden, he will reduce his readers to hysterics with some surprisingly quaint conceit. i was unlucky to begin reading him at breakfast and i was moved to so much laughter that i watered my bread with my tears and barely escaped a convulsion."the times""the light wherein he writes is the l.v.x

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 2

ch wetteth not the hands" true, much "twaddle" was written concerning balsams, and elixirs, and bloods, which, however, to the merest tyro in alchemy can be sorted from the earnest works as easily as a "bart's" student can sort hair-restoring pamphlets and blackhead eradicators from lectures and essays by lister and m ller. thus frenziedly, at the age of twenty-two, p. set out on the quest of the philosopher's stone. visita interiora terrae rectificando invenies occultam lapidem veram medicinam; this is indeed the true medicine of souls; and so p. sought the universal solvent vitriolum, and equated the seven letters in vitriol, sulphur, 235 and mercury with the alchemical powers of the seven planets; precipitating the salt from the four elements- subtilis, aqua, lux, terra; and mingling fl

e of a wonderful event, indeed; but no one trained in the methods of science would imagine that any law of nature was really violated thereby. he would simply set to work to investigate the conditions under which so highly unexpected an occurrence took place; and thereby enlarge his experience and modify his hitherto unduly narrow conception of the laws of nature- huxley "essay on hume" p. 155 "a philosopher has declared that he would discredit universal testimony rather than believe in the resurrection of a dead person, but his speech was rash, for it is on the faith of before the birth of copernicus the sun was universally considered to be a body moving round the earth; it was a fact, and probably whilst it lasted the most universal fact the mind of man has ever accepted; but since that

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2 3

nhauer. by m. kelly, m.d. swan sonnenschein and co, 2"s. 6"d. this excellent little book by major kelly sums up in a few pages, concisely enough, the greater portion of kant's philosophy; the only difficulty is to tell where kant ends and where major kelly and schopenhauer begin. further, 385 it is interesting reading, which is more than we can say of most recent works dealing with the k nigsberg philosopher; except, however, two, which, as it happens, are also written by soldiers, viz, captain william bell mctaggart's "absolute relativism" and captain j. f. c. fuller's "star in the west" this work, however, more than these two, which only deal with kant "en passant" shows him to be, as we have always considered him, the wild irishman of teutonic thought, who recklessly gallops at the phil

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 2

rkeley. let us not try to shirk the truth of it, either by the "common- sense" folly, or the "faith" folly, or the hegelian folly. it may, i think, be readily conceded that the reasoning faculty is not apodeictally absolute. it represents a stage in human thought, no more. you cannot convince a savage of the truth of the binomial theorem; should we then be surprised if a mystic fails to convert a philosopher? yet must he try. 51 ix "for being furnished with every kind of armour, and armed, he is similar to the goddess- zoroaster. my dear professor, how can you expect me to believe this nonsense about bacteria? come, saith he, to the microscope; and behold them! i don't see anything. just shift the fine adjustment- that screw there- to and fro very slowly! i can't see- keep the left eye ope

is tendency (sankhara) to perceive. the oyster gets no fun out of the rose. this state establishes a dualistic conception, such as mansel was unable to transcend, and at the same time places the original rose in its cosmic place. the creative forces that have made the rose and the observer what they are, and established their relation to one another, are now the sole consciousness. here lives the philosopher. easily enough, this state passes into one of pure consciousness (vin n anam. the rose and the observer and their tendencies and relations have somehow vanished. the phenomenon (not the original phenomenon "a rose" but the phenomenon of the tendency to perceive the sensation of a rose) becomes a cloudless light; a static, no longer a dynamic conception. one has somehow got behind the v

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3 3

my tutor's desk, and h2so4, because i poured some on his chair to see if it would turn his trousers red, with the result that what lived beneath mine turned very pink shortly after he had discovered who the miscreant was. how i should have learnt to love chemistry instead of hating it, if i had been taught from sir edward thorpe's little book! there is more elementary education in chapter iv_ the philosopher's stone_ than ever i learnt in five years with newth and thompson; and after all, should not school teach us to love knowledge instead of hating it? should not school teach us the pretty little fables of great men's lives that we can use them in our conversation afterwards, rather than scores of musty dry-as-dust facts, which can only help us to pass dry-as-dust and useless examination

ic and religious, as well as on the psychic side_ light [t.p.'s weekly "temperately and carefully written, and is in every way superior to the average spiritualistic publication "in every way worthy of study_ christian world. the wisdom of plotinus. a metaphysical study, by c. j. whitby, m.d. 120 pp. crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 2s. net. a treatise on the metaphysical doctrines of the great neoplatonic philosopher. contents_ life of plotinus. ancient and modern methods. neoplatonism. matter. the universe. individuality. the problem of evil. providence and the individual. demons and the demonic faculty. concerning love and emotions. substance or corporeal essence. time and eternity. doctrine of the soul. individuality. incarnation or descension. intelligence, and the intelligible world. primal ca

he hermetic and alchemical writings of aureolus philippus theophrastus bombast of hohenheim, called paracelsus the great, now for the first time translated into english. edited, with elucidatory notes, a copious hermetic vocabulary and index, by a. e. waite. 2 vols, 4to, cloth, 1894 (published 2 12s. 6d) 27s. 6d. alchemical writings of edward kelly, the englishman's two excellent treatises on the philosopher's stone, together with the theatre of terrestrial astronomy. by edward kelly, translated from the hamburg edition of 1676, and edited, with a biographical preface, emblematic figures. crown 8vo, cloth, 1893 (published, 7s. 6d) 4s. 6d. ashmole (elias) theatrum chemicum britannicum. containing severall poeticall pieces of our famous english philosophers, who have written the hermetique m

f court hotel. konx om pax the most remarkable treatise on the mystic path ever written contains an introduction and four essays; the first an account of the progress of the soul to perfect illumination, under the guise of a charming fairy tale; the second, an essay on truth, under the guise of a christmas pantomime; the third, an essay on magical ethics, under the guise of the story of a chinese philosopher; the fourth, a treatise on many magical subjects of the profoundest importance, under the guise of a symposium, interspersed with beautiful lyrics. no serious student can afford to be without this delightful volume. the second edition is printed on hand-made paper, and bound in white buckram, with cover-design in gold. price ten shillings walter scott publishing co, ltd, and through "t

ou have not feared to reveal 'the arcana which are in the adytum of god-nourished silence' to those who, abandoning nothing, will sail in the company of the brethren of the rosy cross towards the limbus, that outer, unknown world encircling so many a universe":john bull" in the course of a long review by mr. herbert vivian "the author is evidently that rare combination of genius, a humorist and a philosopher. for pages he will bewilder the mind with abstruse esoteric pronouncements, and then, all of a sudden, he will reduce his readers to hysterics with some surprisingly quaint conceit. i was unlucky to begin reading him at breakfast and i was moved to so much laughter that i watered my bread with my tears and barely escaped a convulsion "the times "the light wherein he writes is the l.v.x

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 3

ssembled in convocation. the work ranks next to gober as a fountain-head of alchemy in western europe. it reflects the earliest byzantine, syrian and arabian writers. this famous work is accorded the highest place among the works of alchemical philosophy which are available for the students in the english language. the new pearl of great price. the treatise of bonus concerning the treasure of the philosopher's stone. translated from the latin. edited by a. e. waite. crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. net. one of the classics of alchemy, with a very curious account, accompanied by emblematical figures showing the generation and birth of metals, the death of those that are base and their resurrection in the prefect forms of gold and silver. a golden and blessed casket of nature's marvels. by benedictus figu

he generation and birth of metals, the death of those that are base and their resurrection in the prefect forms of gold and silver. a golden and blessed casket of nature's marvels. by benedictus figulus. with a life of the author. edited by a. e. waite. crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. net. a collection of short treatises by various authors belonging to the school of paracelsus, dealing with the mystery of the philosopher's stone, the revelation of hermes, the great work of the tincture, the glorious antidote of potable gold. benedictus figulus connects by imputation with the early rosicrucians. the triumphal chariot of antimony. by basil valentine. translated from the latin, including the commentary of kerckringius, and biographical and critical introduction. edited by a. e. waite. crown 8vo, 4s. 6d. n

t. contents_ the secret of the immortal liquor called alkahest_ aurum potabile_ the admirable efficacy of the true oil of sulphur fire_ the stone of the philosophers_ the bosom book of sir george ripley_ the preparation of the sophic mercury. the hermetic museum, restored and enlarged: most faithfully instructing all disciples of the sopho-spagyric art how that greatest and truest medicine of the philosopher's stone may be found and held. now first done into english from the latin original published at frankfort in the year 1678. containing 22 celebrated alchemical tracts. translated from the latin and edited by a. e. waite. with numerous most interesting engravings. fcap. quarto, 2 vols. very scarce, 35s. azoth, or the star in the east. a new light of mysticism. by arthur edward waite. im

ared to which all others_ chains of duty, chains of lawless love_ are nothing but webs of gauze and spider tissues. horrible marriage of man with himself "i had become a bounden slave in the trammels of opium, and my labours and my orders had taken a colouring from my dreams" says the husband of ligeia. but in how many marvellous passages does edgar poe, this incomparable poet, this never-refuted philosopher, whom one must always quote in speaking of the mysterious maladies of the soul, describe the dark and clinging splendours of opium! the lover of the shining berenice, egoeus, the metaphysician, speaks of an alteration of his faculties which compels him to give an abnormal and monstrous value to the simplest phenomenon "to muse for long unwearied hours, with my attention riveted to some

nsforms itself into a weather of calm, silent, reposeful beatitude, and the universality of beings presents itself tinted and illumined by a flaming dawn. if by chance a vague memory slips into the soul of this deplorable thrice-happy one "might there not be another god_ believe that he will stand upright before him; that he will dispute his will, and confront him without fear. who was the french philosopher that, mocking modern german doctrines, said "i am a god who has dined ill? this irony would not bite into a spirit uplifted by hashish; he would reply tranquilly "maybe i have dined ill; but i am a god" 106 chapter v moral but the morrow; the terrible morrow! all the organs relaxed, tired; the nerves unstretched, the teasing tendency to tears, the impossibility of applying yourself to

to his original greatness. but man is not so god-forsaken, so barren of straightforward means of reaching heaven, that he need invoke pharmacy and witchcraft. he has no need to sell his soul to buy intoxicating caresses and the friendship of the hur al'ain. what is a paradise which must be bought at the price of eternal salvation? i imagine a man (shall i 111 say a brahmin, a poet, or a christian philosopher) seated upon the steep olympus of spirituality; around him the muses of raphael or of mategna, to console him for his long fasts and his assiduous prayers, weave the noblest dances, gaze on him with their softest glances and their most dazzling smiles; the divine apollo, master of all knowledge (that of francavilla, of albert d rer, of goltzius, or another_ what does it matter? is ther

1 i bought his body for ten francs. months before i had bought his soul, bought it for the first glass of the poison_ the first glass of the new series of horrors since his discharge, cured_ cured_ from the "retreat" yes, i tempted him, i, a doctor! bound by the vows_ faugh! i needed his body! his soul? pah! but an incident in the bargain. for soul is but a word, a vain word_ a battlefield of the philosopher fools, the theologian fools, since anaximander and gregory nanzianus. a toy. but the consciousness? that is what we mean by "soul" we others. that then must live somewhere. but is it, as descartes thought, atomic? or fluid, now here, now there? or is it but a word for the totality of bodily sense? as weir mitchell supposed. well, we should see. i would buy a brain and hunt this elusive

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 2

eir beauty for her. there were two large cavities under her eye- lids. the force within the nutshells had drawn the eyes out of them. the man ran away, carrying a treasured little box, and no more was ever heard of him in those parts. iv "what boots it to tell of the long, awful days of darkness through which poor little ljubov lived before she grew accustomed to her blindness? i am not a medical philosopher; i like home and comfort far too much. if i journey, i must needs travel in state,and my staff includes both a medial 298 man and a philosopher. therefore, what need is there for me to think, to fathom the depths of childish or human sorrow, to send my brains into a tiring process of elucidation? far more pleasant it is to remain a contemplative individual. there fore, o mexican gaucho

uses an egoistical distinction between his own person and that of another, he will recognize his innermost and true self in all beings, regard their endless suffering 340 as his own, and so appropriate to himself the pain of the while world (p. 184. here the "true-self" is the higher self, atman or augoeides, unity with which is what we have called the great work of the a. a. when a soldier turns philosopher we always expect good work, and mayor kelly has not failed us; and to all such as would understand kant as well as schopenhauer's great work "the world as will and idea- of which an excellent english translation is published by messrs. paul, trench, tr bner, we heartily recommend this masterful little volume. f. the signs and symbols of primordial man. by albert churchward. swan sonnen

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 4 3

treet studios, konx om pax the most remarkable treatise on the mystic path ever written contains an introduction and four essays; the first an account of the progress of the soul to perfect illumination, under the guise of a charming fairy tale; the second, an essay on truth, under the guise of a christmas pantomime; the third, an essay on magical ethics, under the guise of the story of a chinese philosopher; the fourth, a treatise on many magical subjects of the profoundest importance, under the guise of a symposium, interspersed with beautiful lyrics. no serious student can afford to be without this delightful volume. the second edition is printed on hand-made paper, and bound in white buckram, with cover-design in gold. price ten shillings walter scott publishing co, ltd, and through "t

you have not feared to reveal 'the arcana which are in he adytum of god-nourished silence' to those who, abandoning nothing, will sail in the company of the brethren of the rosy cross towards the limbus, that outer, unknown world encircling so many a universe":john bull" in the course of a long review by mr. herbert vivian "the author is evidently that rare combination of genius, a humorist and a philosopher. for pages he will bewilder the mind with abstruse esoteric pronouncements, and then, all of a sudden, he will reduce his readers to hysterics with some surprisingly quaint conceit. i was unlucky to begin reading him at breakfast and i was moved to so much laughter that i watered my bread with my tears and barely escaped a convulsion "the times "the light wherein he writes is the .v.x

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6 2

omplished. 124 konx om pax the most remarkable treatise on the mystic path ever written contains an introduction and four essays; the first an account of the progress of the soul to perfect illumination, under the guise of a charming fairy tale; the second, an essay on truth, under the guise of a christmas pantomime; the third, an essay on magical ethics, under the guise of the story of a chinese philosopher; the fourth, a treatise on many magical subjects of the profoundest importance, under the guise of a symposium, interspersed with beautiful lyrics. no serious student can afford to be without this delightful volume. the second edition is printed on hand-made paper, and bound in white buckram, with cover-design in gold. price ten shillings walter scott publishing co. ltd, and through "t

ou have not feared to reveal 'the arcana which are in the adytum of god-nourished silence' to those who, abandoning nothing, will sail in the company of the brethren of the rosy cross towards the limbus, that outer, unknown world encircling so many a universe "john bull" in the course of a long review by mr. herbert vivian "the author is evidently that rare combination of genius, a humorist and a philosopher. for pages he will bewilder the mind with abstruse esoteric pronouncements, and then, all of a sudden, he will reduce his readers to hysterics with some surprisingly quaint conceit. i was unlucky to begin reading him at breakfast and i was moved to so much laughter that i watered my bread with my tears and barely escaped a convulsion "the times "the light wherein he writes is the l.v.x

ALEISTER CROWLEY EQUINOX EQ I 6

the face of a madonna, perhaps; but a madonna of rodin. besides this, 115 she was seductive, alluring, a messalina rather than an aspasia. chienne de race! she was young, and her lips rather sheered than smiled, rather gloated than sneered. one instinctively muttered the word "cannibal" she had a perfect and perverse enjoyment of life, a perfect and perverse contempt of life; the contempt of the philosopher, the enjoyment of the wallowing pig. procus e grege epicuri. this much edgar rolles smelt rather than saw; for as he turned to her, he caught her eyes. they were the eyes of an enthusiast, of a saint, of an ascetic- but of a saint who, strong in his agony through faith and hope and love, still endures the dark night of the soul "you shall lunch with me, nice boy (she said "and beg my p

ALICE A BAILEY01 THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE ATOM

in these talks to broaden somewhat our point of view. i hope we shall come to the realisation that the man who is only interested in the scientific aspect, and who confines himself to the study of those manifestations which are purely material, is just as much occupied with the study of the divine as is his frankly religious brother who only concerns himself with the spiritual side; and that the philosopher is, after all, occupied in emphasising for us the very necessary aspect of the intelligence which links the matter aspect and the spiritual, and blends them into one coherent whole. perhaps by the union of these three lines of science, religion, and philosophy we may get a working knowledge of the truth as it is, remembering at the same time that "truth lies within ourselves" no one ma

merges all units and all groups, until you have that sumtotal of manifestation which can be called nature, or god, and which is the aggregate of all the states of consciousness. this is the god to whom the christian refers when he says "in him we live, and move, and have our being; this is the force, or energy, which the scientist recognises; and this is the universal mind, or the oversoul of the philosopher. this, again, is the intelligent will which controls, formulates, binds, constructs, develops, and brings all to an ultimate perfection. this is that perfection which is inherent in matter itself, and the tendency which is latent in the atom, in man, and in all that is. this interpretation of the evolutionary process does not look upon it as the result of an outside deity pouring his e

ALICE A BAILEY04 A TREATISE ON COSMIC FIRE

ence the individual cells. this work of transmuting cell activity was begun on this planet during the last root-race, and the divine alchemy proceeds. the progress made is as yet but small, but each transmuted conscious cell increases the speed and the accuracy of the work. time alone is needed for the completion of the work. in connection with this matter of transmutation comes the legend of the philosopher's stone, which is literally the application of the rod of initiation, in one sense. division a- manas or mind and its nature i. three manifestations of manas- 179- a treatise on cosmic fire copyright 1998 lucis trust ii. some definitions of manas: 1. manas is the fifth principle. 2. manas is electricity. 3. manas is that which produces cohesion. 4. manas is the key opening the door int

urally to the transmutation of metals into gold with the aim in view of the alleviation of poverty. the mind of the scientist seeks the universal solvent which will reduce matter to its primordial substance, release energy, and thus reveal the processes of evolution, and enable the seeker to build for himself (from the primordial base) the desired forms. the mind of the alchemist searches for the philosopher's stone, that effective transmuting agent which will bring about revelation, and the power to impose the will of the chemist upon the elemental forces, which work in, by, and through matter. the religious man, especially the christian, recognises the psychic quality of this transmutative power, and frequently speaks in the sacred books, of the soul being tried or tested seven times in

"the veda, the world song in human sound that was given to man for his use metaphysically from the standpoint of its meaning, and magically from the standpoint of its proper recitation. the world song obeying certain laws of proportions or the pythagorean arithmetic and imparting its thrilling effect to the domain of cosmic substance, has induced the latter into a crystallisation process that the philosopher plato called the geometry of the cosmos. the various forms that are observed from a molecule of salt crystal to the wonderfully complex organism of the human body are all the structures of the great cosmic geometriser known as viswakarma, the deva carpenter in our puranic writings. the revealed veda whose function is to trace out the cosmos from one basic sound substance symbolised as

ALICE A BAILEY05 THE LIGHT OF THE SOUL

and from danger. this has been very clearly and ably stated by charles johnston in his commentary on this sutra as follows "each state or field of the mind, each field of knowledge, so to speak, which is reached by mental and emotional energies, is a psychical state, just as the mind picture of a stage with the actors on it, is a psychical state or field. when the pure vision, as of the poet, the philosopher, the saint, fills the whole field, all lesser views and visions are crowded out. this high consciousness displaces all lesser consciousness. yet, in a certain sense, that which is viewed as part, even by the vision of a sage, has still an element of illusion, a thin psychical veil, however pure and luminous that veil may be. it is the last and highest psychic state" 51. when this state

ALICE A BAILEY08 A TREATISE ON WHITE MAGIC

ition is this, that or the other; that, until we can function in our soul-consciousness, it is not for us to say what- 20- a treatise on white magic copyright 1998 lucis trust is or what is not; that until we have submitted ourselves to the needed training we are in no position to deny or affirm anything. our attitude should be that of reasonable enquiry and our interest that of the investigating philosopher, willing to accept an hypothesis on the basis of its possibility, but being unwilling to acknowledge as proven truth anything until we know it for and in ourselves. i, an aspirant to the higher mysteries, and one who has searched into them for a longer period than has been possible as yet to many, may write of things as yet impossible of demonstration to you or to the public who may re

ALICE A BAILEY09 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME I ESOTERIC PSYCHOLOGY I

on on philosophic studies, patience, caution, absence of the tendency to worry himself or others over trifles. vices of ray: intellectual pride, coldness, isolation, inaccuracy in details, absent-mindedness, obstinacy, selfishness, overmuch criticism of others. virtues to be acquired: sympathy, tolerance, devotion, accuracy, energy and common-sense. this is the ray of the abstract thinker, of the philosopher and the metaphysician, of the man who delights in the higher mathematics but who, unless modified by some practical ray, would hardly be troubled to keep his accounts accurately. his imaginative faculty will be highly developed, i.e, he can by the power of his imagination grasp the essence of a truth; his idealism will often be strong; he is a dreamer and a theorist, and from his wide

ALICE A BAILEY13 PROBLEMS OF HUMANITY

cognize the self-proven fact that there is a peculiar quality in every man, an innate, inherent characteristic to which one may give the name "mystical perception. this characteristic connotes an undying, though oft unrecognized, sense of divinity; it involves the constant possibility to vision and contact the soul and to grasp (with increasing aptitude) the nature of the universe. it enables the philosopher to appreciate the world of meaning and through that perception to touch reality. it is, above all else, the power to love and to go out towards that which is other than the self. it confers the ability to grasp ideas. the history of mankind is fundamentally the history of the growth of ideas, progressively realized and of man's determination to live by them; with this power goes the ca

ALICE A BAILEY15 THE DESTINY OF THE NATIONS

ing silent and still in their pristine magnificence, which today call for the attention of- 64- the destiny of the nations copyright 1998 lucis trust archaeologists and travellers; the forms of lesser magic which they produced were dedicated to the magical protection of the physical form and allied matters. in later days, we have the appearance of alchemy in its many forms plus its search for the philosopher's stone and the teaching as to the three basic mineral elements. they were driven esoterically and from the subjective side of life to search for that which could unify the three lower physical levels and this is in its nature deeply symbolic of racial unfoldment. these levels symbolise the integrated man physical, astral and mental. when to these elements the philosopher's stone is ad

is is in its nature deeply symbolic of racial unfoldment. these levels symbolise the integrated man physical, astral and mental. when to these elements the philosopher's stone is added and has done its magical work, then you have the symbolic representation of the control by the soul of the four higher levels of the physical plane, the etheric or energy levels. of this desirable consummation, the philosopher's stone is the emblem. i said "emblem" and i did not say "symbol" a symbol is an outer and visible sign of an inner and spiritual reality, carried out into expression upon the physical plane by the force of the inner embodied life. an emblem is man's formulation of a concept, created by man and embodying for him the truth as he sees it and understands it. a symbol is ever greater in it

ALICE A BAILEY18 A TREATISE ON THE SEVEN RAYS VOLUME III ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

gradually begin to pour in. the world must begin to accept and give weight to the conclusions of its intuitives; they have ever- 305- a treatise on the seven rays- volume iii: esoteric astrology copyright 1998 lucis trust taken the first needed steps in the unfoldment of the human consciousness. it is the complexity of detail which primarily is responsible for the confusion. the intuition (as the philosopher understands it) is the ability to arrive at knowledge through the activity of some innate sense, apart from the reasoning or logical processes. it comes into activity when the resources of the lower mind have been used, explored and exhausted. then, and then only, the true intuition begins to function. it is the sense of synthesis, the ability to think in wholes, and to touch the world

AN INTRO TO STUDY OF THE KABALAH

gulielmus postellus, 1581; john pistorius, 1608; jacob behmen, 1624; the notable english rosicrucian, robert fludd, 1637; henry more, 1687; the famous jesuit athanasius kircher, 1680; and knorr von rosenroth, 1689. to these must be added eliphaz l vi and edouard schur, two modern french writers on the occult sciences, and two english authors, anna kingsford and edward maitland. the notable german philosopher spinoza, 1677, regarded the doctrines of the kabalah with great esteem. the practical kabalah let us take the practical kabalah before the dogmatic; it may perhaps have preceded the theoretical philosophy because it was at first concerned with an intimate study of the pentateuch; a research based upon the theory that every sentence, word and letter were given by divine inspiration and

yet it is not apart from deity, it is not a transient effect, it is immanent in the cause. it is god made manifest to man. matter is our conception alone; it represents the aspect of the lowest manifestation of spirit, or spirit is the highest manifestation of matter. spirit is the only substance "matter" says a kabalist "is the mere residuum of emanation, but little above non-entity" the hindoo philosopher called matter a maya, a delusion. as already remarked the supreme being of the kabalah is found to be demonstrated in more than one aspect. at one time the inconceivable eternal power proceeding by successive emanations into a more and more humanly conceivable existence, formulating his attributes into conceptions of wisdom, beauty, power, mercy and governance; exhibiting these attribu

BASIL VALENTINE TWELVE KEYS

soul, and spirit exist in both, whence the whole matter proceeds. it proceeds from one, and is one matter. bind together the fixed and the volatile; they are two, and three, and yet one only. if you do not understand you will attain nothing. adam was in a bath v v wherein venus found her like, which bath the aged dragon had prepared when his strength was deserting him. there is nothing, says the philosopher, save a double mercury; i say that no other matter has been named; blessed is he who understands it. seek therein, and be not weary; the result justifies the labour. a short appendix and clear resumption of the foregoing tract concerning the great stone of the ancient sages i, basil valentine, brother of the benedictine order, do testify that i have written this little book, wherein, a

. salt of tartar by itself is a powerful fixative, particularly if the heat of quicklime be incorporated with it. for these two substances are singularly efficacious in producing fixation. twelve keys of basil valentine 78 of 95 in the same way, the vegetable salt of wine fixes and volatilizes according to the manner of its preparation. its use is one of the arcana of nature, and a miracle of the philosopher s art. when a man drinks wine, there may be gained from his urine a clear salt, which is volatile, and renders other fixed substances volatile, causing them to rise with it in the alembic. but the same does not fix. if a man drank nothing but wine, yet for all that the salt obtained from his urine would have a different property from that gained out of the lees of wine. for it has unde

BLAVATSKY H P ANTHROPOGENESIS

aras, agnishwattas, and the barhishads. how precise and true is plato's expression, how profound and philosophical his remark on the (human) soul or ego, when he defined it as "a compound of the same and the other" and yet how little this hint has been understood, since the world took it to mean that the soul was the breath of god, of jehovah. it is "the same and the other" as the great initiate- philosopher said; for the ego (the "higher self" when merged with and in the divine monad) is man, and yet the same as the "other" the angel in him incarnated, as the same with the universal mahat. the great classics and philosophers felt this truth, when saying that "there must be something within us which produces our thoughts. something very subtle; it is a breath; it is fire; it is ether[[vol

to be performed through all the planes of existence half unconsciously, if not entirely so, as in the case of the animals. it is owing to this rebellion of intellectual life against the morbid inactivity of pure spirit, that we are what we are- self-conscious, thinking men, with the capabilities and attributes of gods in us, for good as much as for evil. hence the rebels are our saviours. let the philosopher ponder well over this, and more than one mystery will become clear to him. it is only by the attractive force of the contrasts that the two opposites- spirit and matter- can be cemented on earth, and, smelted in the fire of selfconscious experience and suffering, find themselves wedded in eternity. this will reveal the meaning of many hitherto incomprehensible allegories, foolishly cal

iz 'has spent many hundreds of thousands of years, during the present geological period, in building out the peninsula of florida. produce their offspring from themselves like the buds and ramifications in a tree' bees are somewhat in the same line. the aphides or plant lice keep house like amazons, and virgin parents perpetuate the race for ten successive generations" what say the old sages, the philosopher-teachers of antiquity. aristophanes speaks thus on the subject in plato's "banquet "our nature of old was not the same as it is now. it was androgynous, the form and name partaking of, and being common to both the male and female. their bodies were round, and the manner of their running[[footnote(s* see extracts from that essay in "the theosophist" of february, 1883[[vol. 2, page] 134

is accepted, we are compelled once more to face a miracle; to accept the theory of a personal, anthropomorphic creator, the attributes and definitions of whom, as formulated by the monotheists, clash as much with philosophy and logic, as they degrade the ideal of an infinite universal deity, before whose incomprehensible awful grandeur the highest human intellect feels dwarfed. let not the modern philosopher, while arbitrarily placing himself on the highest pinnacle of human intellectuality hitherto evolved, show himself spiritually and intuitionally so far below the conceptions of even the ancient greeks, themselves on a far lower level, in these respects, than the philosophers of eastern aryan antiquity. hylozoism, when philosophically understood, is the highest aspect of pantheism. it i

ections and in all senses* this is the kabalistic view of the western occultists, and it differs from the more philosophical eastern or aryan views upon this subject* the separation of the sexes was in the programme of nature and of natural evolution; and the creative faculty in male and female was a gift of divine wisdom. in the truth of such traditions the whole of antiquity, from the patrician philosopher to the humblest spiritually inclined plebeian, has believed. and as we proceed, we may successfully show that the relative truth of such legends, if not their absolute exactness- vouched for by such giants of intellect as were solon, pythagoras, plato, and others- begins to dawn upon more than one modern scientist. he is perplexed; he stands startled and confused before proofs that are

e author asserts that they were associated with the remains of pigmy hippopotami, the former being "only two feet six inches high; or the still-existing hippopotamus (choeropsis) liberiensis, which m. milne-edwards figures as little more than two feet in height* sceptics may smile and denounce our work as full of nonsense or fairy-tales. but by so doing they only justify the wisdom of the chinese philosopher chuang, who said that "the things that men do know can in no way be compared, numerically speaking, to the things that are unknown* and thus they laugh only at their own ignorance[[footnote(s "the human species" p. 52 "manual of geology" p. 301 "recherches sur les mammiferes" plate i* preface to "wonders by land and sea (shan hai king[[vol. 2, page] 220 the secret doctrine. the "sons o

e. believers in the pope's infallibility, but will hardly satisfy the philosophical mind. yet the truth, although known to most of the higher kabalists, has never been told by any of their number. one and all, kabalists and symbologists, showed an extraordinary reluctance to confess the primitive meaning of the fall of the angels. in a christian such silence is only natural. neither alchemist nor philosopher could, during the mediaeval ages, utter that* which in the sight of orthodox theology was a terrible blasphemy, for it would have led them directly through the "holy" office of the inquisition, to stake and rack. but for our modern kabalists and freethinkers the case is different. with the latter, we fear, it is merely human pride, vanity based on a loudly rejected and as ineradicable

and by jehovah-il-da-baoth against his "rebellious son" satan. the cold, pure snows of the caucasian mountain and the neverdying, singeing fire and flames of an extinguishable hell. two poles, yet the same idea; the dual aspect of a refined torture: a fire producer- the personified emblem of[[phosphoros] of the astral fire and light in the anima mundi (that element of which the german materialist philosopher moleschott said "ohne phosphor kein gedanke" i.e, without phosphorus no thought, burning in the fierce flames of his terrestrial passions; the conflagration fired by his thought, discerning as it now does good from evil, and yet a slave to the passions of its earthly adam; feeling the vulture of doubt and full consciousness gnawing at its heart- a prometheus indeed, because a conscious

BLAVATSKY H P COSMOGENESIS

brahmins, simply because the name[[vol. 1, page] xx introductory. suggests what to them, as monotheists, are noxious doctrines. unwise is the correct term to use in their case. for the esoteric philosophy is alone calculated to withstand, in this age of crass and illogical materialism, the repeated attacks on all and everything man holds most dear and sacred, in his inner spiritual life. the true philosopher, the student of the esoteric wisdom, entirely loses sight of personalities, dogmatic beliefs and special religions. moreover, esoteric philosophy reconciles all religions, strips every one of its outward, human garments, and shows the root of each to be identical with that of every other great religion. it proves the necessity of an absolute divine principle in nature. it denies deity

ts and the svabhavikas as the "positivists" of the archaic ages. if we take a one-sided view of the philosophy of the latter, our materialists may be right in their own way. the buddhists maintained that there is no creator, but an infinitude of creative powers, which collectively form the one eternal substance, the essence of which is inscrutable- hence not a subject for speculation for any true philosopher. socrates invariably refused to argue upon the mystery of universal being, yet no one would ever have thought of charging him with atheism, except those who were bent upon his destruction. upon inaugurating an active period, says the secret doctrine, an expansion of this divine essence from without inwardly and from within outwardly, occurs in obedience to eternal and immutable law, an

ur[[vol. 1, page] 8 the secret doctrine. the orthodox brahmins, those who rise the most against the pantheists and adwaitees, calling them atheists, are forced, if manu has any authority in this matter, to accept the death of brahma, the creator, at the expiration of every "age" of this (creative) deity (100 divine years- a period which in our years requires fifteen figures to express it. yet, no philosopher among them will view this "death" in any other sense than as a temporary disappearance from the manifested plane of existence, or as a periodical rest. the occultists are, therefore, at one with the adwaita vedantin philosophers as to the above tenet. they show the impossibility of accepting on philosophical grounds the idea of the absolute all creating or even evolving the "golden egg

same for ages[[vol. 1, page] 19 proem. not perish with created things (or achyuta, a name of vishnu; whereas the orthodox christian separates his personal creative deity into the three personages of the trinity, and admits of no higher deity. the latter, in occultism, is the abstract triangle; with the orthodox, the perfect cube. the creative god or the aggregate gods are regarded by the eastern philosopher as bhrantidarsanatah "false apprehension" something "conceived of, by reason of erroneous appearances, as a material form" and explained as arising from the illusive conception of the egotistic personal and human soul (lower fifth principle. it is beautifully expressed in a new translation of vishnu purana "that brahma in its totality has essentially the aspect of prakriti, both evolve

the world" as translated by wilson (see book i, vishnu purana; for jagad yoni (as shown by fitzedward hall) is scarcely so much "the mother of the world" or "the womb of the world" as the "material cause of the universe" the puranic commentators explain it by karana "cause- but the esoteric philosophy, by the ideal spirit of that cause. it is, in its secondary stage, the svabhavat of the buddhist philosopher, the eternal cause and effect, omnipresent yet abstract, the self-existent plastic essence and the root of all things, viewed in the same dual light as the vedantin views his parabrahm and mulaprakriti, the one under two aspects. it seems indeed extraordinary to find great scholars speculating on the possibility of the vedanta, and the uttara- mimansa especially, having been "evoked by

in it better; for prakriti is not the "uncognizable brahma* it is a mistake of those who know nothing of the universality of the occult doctrines from the very cradle of the human races, and especially so of those scholars who reject the very idea of a "primordial revelation" to teach that the anima mundi, the one life or "universal soul" was made known only by anaxagoras, or during his age. this philosopher brought the teaching forward simply to oppose the too materialistic conceptions on cosmogony of democritus, based on his exoteric theory of blindly driven atoms. anaxagoras of clazomene was not its inventor but only its propagator, as also was plato. that which he called mundane intelligence, the nous[[nous, the principle that according to his views is absolutely separated and free fro

trunk and its many branches are three distinct objects, yet they are one tree. say the kabalists "the deity is one, because it is infinite. it is triple, because it is ever manifesting" this manifestation is triple in its aspects, for it requires, as aristotle has it, three principles for every natural body to become objective: privation, form, and matter* privation meant in the mind of the great philosopher that which the occultists call the prototypes impressed in the astral light- the lowest plane and world of anima mundi. the union of these three principles depends upon a fourth- the life which radiates from the summits of the unreachable, to become an universally diffused essence on the manifested planes of existence. and this quaternary (father, mother, son, as a unity, and a quatern

aters of life, or chaos- the female principle in symbolism- are the vacuum (to our mental sight) in which lie the latent spirit and matter. this it was that made democritus assert, after his instructor leucippus, that the primordial principles of all were atoms and a vacuum, in the sense of space, but not of empty space, as "nature abhors a vacuum" according to the peripatetics, and every ancient philosopher. in all cosmogonies "water" plays the same important part. it is the base and source of material existence. scientists, mistaking the word for the thing, understood by water the definite chemical combination of oxygen and hydrogen, thus giving a specific meaning to a term used by occultists in a generic sense, and which is used in cosmogony with a metaphysical and mystical meaning. ice

BLUE EQUINOX

ow .you must be tired of standing in this lonely field. and he said .the joy of scaring is a deep and lasting one, and i never tire of it. said i, after a minute of thought .it is true; for i too have known that joy. said he .only those who are stuffed with straw can know it. then i left him, not knowing whether he had complimented or belittled it. a year passed, during which the scarecrow turned philosopher. and when i passed by him again i saw two crows building a nest under his hat. reviews 297 here is another: the new pleasure last night i invented a new pleasure, and as i was giving it the first trial an angel and a devil came rushing toward my house. they met at my door and fought with each other over my newly created pleasure; the one crying .it is a sin..the other .it is a virtue

BOOK OF JASHAR

otivate and control the people around him, as he uses both material rewards and mythological stories to gain his soldiers' loyalty. so nimrod forms his band of landless hunters into a disciplined army, and then he uses this army to become master of all the noahite communities. nimrod's use of mythological story-telling to teach loyalty to his soldiers is just what we should expect from a platonic philosopher-king at the start of his career. when he tells stories to mold his army, he incidently gives us the name "jinn" for the patterns that existed in the first age after creation, and we may guess that our own knowledge of these jinn (as summarized in the first paragraph) might be attributed to nimrod's revelations. as he creates the first kingdom, nimrod also acts as a prophet, revealing t

he noahites with his two hands, and human, who had a withered arm and could not control the dispute between his sons. both men faced the perennial problem of disputes that threaten to fracture the community. but whereas the story of human and cain is a tragedy resulting from weak leadership, the story of nimrod and isaac is a tragedy resulting from leadership that grows too strong. even nimrod, a philosopher-king and prophet, could not achieve the suppression of disputes and the union of the noahites without force and killing. when his ability to exercise force weakens in his old age, he finds that he is trapped in his position, because the families of his victims are waiting for revenge. he understands that they will devour him if he ever lets go of the reins of power, but his great hands

BUCKLAND RAYMOND COMPLETE BOOK OF WITCHCRAFT

wer the "ultimate deity" is some genderless force which is so far beyond our comprehension that we can have only the vaguest understanding of its being. yet we know that it is there and, frequently, we wish to communicate with it. as individuals, we wish to thank it for what we have and to ask it for what we need. how do we do this with such an incomprehensible power? in the sixth century bce the philosopher xeno-phones remarked on the fact that deities are determined by ethnic factors. he pointed out that the black ethiopians naturally saw their gods as negroid, whereas the thracians' gods were white, with red hair and gray eyes. he cynically commented that if horses and oxen could carve they would probably represent their gods in animal form! about seven hundred fifty years later maximus

CASSANDRA EASON A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO WITCHCRAFT AND MAGIC

rshins. plunge the pendulum in cold running water to cleanse it, shake it dry and circle it nine times deosil over the tool(s) to restore energies. you may need to repeat this several times if a tool seems lifeless or after you have been carrying out a banishing ritual. the four elements the four elements- earth, air, fire and water- play an important part in all kinds of magick. plato, the greek philosopher who lived around 360 bc, was the first to identify these elements as the components that made up the whole universe and right until elizabethan times people still believed that our nature was influenced by our elemental composition. indeed, jung, the twentieth-century psychoanalyst, used this concept in his seite 120 wicca01.txt personality types, renaming them as earth/sensations, air

d or projected on other people whom we then unconsciously disliked because they mirrored our faults. in formal magick, the four elements are seen as providing natural energies for transforming wishes into reality. together they combine to form the fifth element- ether, or akasha- that represents pure spirit, or perfection. medieval alchemists attempted to create this elusive substance, called the philosopher's stone. it was said to turn base metal into gold and, as an elixir according to the eastern tradition, to cure all ills and offer immortality. these elements form the basis for raising power in formal magick and in less formal spells too and are represented by devas, the guardians of the watchtowers or the four main archangels. earth earth represents midnight, winter and the quarter a

CHRONOLOGIA RORISPERGIUS

on of the equinoxes which was already known in babylonia centuries earlier. 86-82 bc rhetorica ad herennium latin rhetorical treatise on the classical art of memory attributed to marcus tullius cicero. 70-19 virgil 67 pirates based in cilicia (a province on the southeastern coast of asia minor) were practicing secret rites of mithras. 46-120 plutarch 20 bc- 45 philo of alexandria, jewish platonic philosopher 10 bce apollonius of tyana 4? bce-33 ce jesus founds christianity. diamond sutra. heart sutra. 1st century ce apollonius of tyana flourished. nagarjuna- first order 4 magic square, in india. 1st to 3rd ce) testament of solomon composed 17 egyptian zodiac at denderah is erected. 30-96 new testament. 50-63 (n.t) colossians, philemon, ephesians, philippians. c.50 chaeremon egyptian stoic

books in which the author discourses of magic, divination and medicine. c.200 desert mothers and fathers. ascetic christians in egypt practised a method of intensive meditation, combined with physical exercises, that they called hesychasm (from the greek, hesychia=silence, q.v. parallels have been observed between medieval ecstatic kabbalah and hesychast practice. 204-270 ce plotinus, neoplatonic philosopher and mystic (born in egypt) c.210 clement of alexandria stromata book 6 chap.4 describes sacred ceremonial procession of egyptian priests carrying the 42 books of hermes(emanation of re) 215-220: origen (185-253/4, then catechist for the christian community of alexandria, preaches his homilies on genesis along with a lot of other works 216 to 276- life of mani, the illuminator, who foun

- life of mani, the illuminator, who founded manicheism, based on ideas from judaism, christianity, zoroasterism, gnosticism, etc. 244-261 mani sent a mission to egypt under adda and patteg reaching as far as alexandria and another mission was led by ammo penetrating to the far north-east of the empire, to parthia and marv and beyond where he founded communities. 250-325 ce iamblicus, neoplatonic philosopher, was born in chalcis, coele-syria 261-62 manichaean mission, led by adda and abzaxya made converts among the christian in karkuk. 262-310 porphyry of tyre, student of plotinus c. 270. christian monks begin congregating in the deserts of syria and egypt; of them possibly the most reknowned, anthony, undertakes a life of solitude. c. 275: porphyry publishes the enneads, a distillation of

h exist in a reciprocal relation to each other. more than this the human voice can effect change. thus the arts of the trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric) have esoteric/magical correlates"-robert zoller 825 al-razi(abu bakr muhammad ibn zakariyya, born at rhagae near tehran 836 thabit ibn qurrah (thebit)exiled'sabian' of harran iun baghdad "we are the heirs and propagators of paganism" hermetic philosopher/priest and sabian scientist. 858- 929 abu abdallah mohammad ibn jabir al-battani. harran astrologer. c. 860: john scotus eriugena (c. 800-880) translates pseudo-dionysius's works into latin and adds a commentary. 873-950 al farabi islamic philosopher mystic influenced by plotinus. 875 d. abu yazid al-bistami sufi said to have first expressed symbolism of wine, cup, and cupbearer "i hav

he resurrection until the resurrection at the end of time. identified an "age of the spirit "during which the seven spiritual gifts (isa 11:2) are poured out on the faithful, each gift dominating a different age of church history" 1075-1160 abelard of bath translates euclid into latin from arabic 1076-1153 shahrastani refers to sabian "philosophers" 1080-1167 bernard sylvestris school of chartres philosopher of neo-platonic and neo-pythagoreanism tendencies probably influenced by the writings of eriugena. 1080-1154 william of conches rectification of neoplatonism and christianity- school of chartres. 1090 fr res d'orient("the brothers of the east) established at constantinople, ancestor of novo cabalae philosophorum incognuorum dignissimo sodali (society of unknown philosophers "is it poss

raph; he also writes an authoritative life of saint francis to replace earlier versions. bonaventure believed that st. francis's order would inherit the 'key of david' given to the angel of philadelphia. 1258- hulagu khan destroys baghdad; mongols destroy mesopotamia, the mother of civilization. fl 1259-1285 guilhem de cervera troubadour. 1259 peter de abano [pietro d'abano, italian physician and philosopher born. professor of medicine in padua. heptameron. knew marco polo. translates abraham ibn ezra on decanates. 1260- 1294 kublai khan c.1260 "the book of kings of merlin(liber regnum) 1260: kublai is appointed khan and declares buddhism the state religion mongols are defeated for the first time in palestine (by muslims, in the battle of ain jalut. joachite date of the anticipated apocaly

n c.1260 "the book of kings of merlin(liber regnum) 1260: kublai is appointed khan and declares buddhism the state religion mongols are defeated for the first time in palestine (by muslims, in the battle of ain jalut. joachite date of the anticipated apocalypse. 1264 albertus magnus, bishop of regensburg, writes de mineralibus 1265-1321 dante alighieri 1266 b.john duns scotus, scottish scholastic philosopher and theologian. 1266 roger bacon opus maius. 1267 roger bacon opus tertium first who anticipates angelic pope. 1268 sefer hayyim("book of life")r. ezra. connects the golem with the influence of the planets- after 1269 sordello italian troubadour. 1270-1340 nicholas of lyra, franciscan exegete. the report that he was of jewish descent dates only from the fifteenth century. turned to ras

agricola 1492 ferdinand and isabella expel jews from spain, center of cabalistic studies, caused dispersal and spread of jewish and cabalistic manuscripts and scholarship; discovery of the new world. 1492-1550 andres alciati, a lawyer from milan, created the first emblem book 1493 paracelsus (aureolus philippus theophrastus bombastus von hohenheim) born einsiedeln switzerland. swiss physician and philosopher. he was tutored (by his account) by trithemius 1494 reuchlin's de verbo mirifico published. lefevre d'etaples ed. of ficino's pimander in france. 1495-1563 john bale. influenced by the twelfth-century monk joachim of fiore. bale envisioned three laws of nature, bondage and grace encompassing seven ages of world history. 1496 giovanna(zuana) veronese born aka venetian virgin had frances

CHYMICAL WEDDING OF CHRISTIAN ROSENKREUTZ

returned him thanks, and immediately looked more diligently upon my native country, and found moreover that besides the ringlet, there were also certain delicate streaks upon it, which nevertheless i would not be thought to speak about to my own praise and glory. i saw much more too upon this globe than i am willing to reveal. let each man take into consideration why every city does not produce a philosopher. after this he led us right into the globe, which was thus made: on the sea (there being a large square beside it) was a tablet, on which stood three dedications and the author s name, which a man might gently lift up and by a little joined board go into the centre, which was capable of holding four persons, being nothing but a round board on which we could sit, and at ease, by broad d

COLLIER IRENE CHINESE MYTHOLOGY

nts streams flowing together, running parallel, merging or diverging from many places and from many different models of reality.1 myths contain strong influences from chinese folk religion, confucianism, taoism, and buddhism. chinese folk religion, the oldest of the four, pays homage to ancestors who watch from afar and guide the lives of those still living on earth. in the fifth century b.c, the philosopher confucius introduced his ideas, which stressed fulfilling obligations and maintaining proper conduct. although confucianism is not a religion, its influence is deeply ingrained in chinese ideas about behavior and government. between 600 300 b.c. taoism emerged. at first, it was a philosophy that encouraged people to seek harmony with the tao, or the way, a nature force. later, it evolv

jewelry. professor d argenc sums up its symbolism: with time jade came to be associated in popular belief with everything that is noble, pure, beautiful and indestructible. 6 chinese mythology 94 9 monkey introduction by the first century a.d, a philosophy called taoism dominated chinese thought. taoism was based on the tao te ching [dow deh jing, a collection of eighty-one verses written by the philosopher lao-tzu. the tao te ching puts forth the idea of following the tao, usually translated as the way, the natural creative life force of the universe. it also speaks of noninterference, or wu-wei, with living creatures and forces. from a philosophy, taoism gradually grew into a religion. temples were built, and monks were given the task of overseeing these places of worship. the taoist he

uscious meat dumplings. he then tiptoed into the wine cellar and quickly guzzled down several casks of wine, each more fragrant than the one before. in his haste, he accidentally tipped over some wine barrels and broke monkey 101 several casks. monkey ran out into the night, fearing that the palace cooks would find him. looking for a place to hide, he stumbled into tushita palace, where the great philosopher lao-tzu lived. since the wise man was not at home, monkey peeked at all the rooms in the philosopher s house. in the alchemy lab, monkey found five gourds full of the elixir of immortality. on the table, almost a hundred pills, rolled out from the cooled elixir, were neatly lined up in rows, ready for the banquet. he scooped up a fistful of pills and gulped them down like toasted soybe

y found five gourds full of the elixir of immortality. on the table, almost a hundred pills, rolled out from the cooled elixir, were neatly lined up in rows, ready for the banquet. he scooped up a fistful of pills and gulped them down like toasted soybeans, scattering the rest all over the floor. he dropped to his hands and knees and grabbed the remaining pills, turning over several tables in the philosopher s tidy workroom. surveying the mess he had made in the alchemy lab, and remembering similar scenes of wreckage in the peach garden, kitchen, and wine cellar, monkey decided to sneak out of heaven. when he returned to his mountain home, the monkeys welcomed him with date wine, but having been spoiled by the fine wines of heaven, the monkey king spat out their local brew. he boasted that

y was greedy by nature, and he wanted to taste the banquet meats, wines, and fruit. he was also insulted that he had not been invited to the feast. q: what did monkey steal to eat and drink? a: he consumed the magic peaches from the orchard, dumplings from the kitchen, wines from the heavenly cellar, and all the magic pills of immortality from laotzu s house. q: who was lao-tzu? a: he was a great philosopher, the author of the tao te ching, and the founder of taoism. monkey 105 expert commentary both the tao te ching and journey to the west are two well-known pieces of literature. fatima wu, assistant professor at loyola marymount university, explains the widespread affection for journey to the west in china: if one is asked to name a chinese book that is known to all ages and all social l

tem is currently favored by chinese scholars. the q is pronounced like ch, the x is pronounced like sh, and zh is pronounced like j. p pa a chinese lute, or musical instrument. quiver a case for holding arrows. sinologist a scholar who studies the language and culture of the chinese people. tao translated as the way, or a nature force. tao te ching a collection of eighty-one verses written by the philosopher lao-tzu, forming the basic ideas of taoism. taoism a religion based on the belief in the tao, or the way. it was originally a philosophy based on the 81 verses of the poet lao-tzu. trigram a design made of three broken and/or solid lines. each design stands for an important element heaven, earth, fire, water, wind, storm, mountain, laa commentary on the seal of the nine angles by micha

DAVID ICKE AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE

s of south africa. the name rhodesia, now zimbabwe, is an indication of his influence in that part of the world. as a student at oxford university, rhodes was inspired by a fine arts professor called john ruskin, who is still considered a legendary figure at oxford. ruskin was born in london in 1819, the son of a wealthy wine merchant, and inherited a large fortune. his hero was the ancient greek philosopher, plato, whose works he read almost every day. plato had a brilliant mind and made a great contribution to human debate and knowledge, but some of his views on how to structure a society by top-down imposition could hardly be further from my own. ruskin was a believer in the new world order agenda of centralised power, and he felt the state should control the means of production and dis

man. put simply, the modified version of his thinking can be described as 'crisis management, which appears uncontrolled, but is, in fact, extremely calculated 'managed conflict' and 'controlled choice' would be even more accurate descriptions. the idea is to create the war and then win the peace in the way you restructure the devastated post-war world. george wilhelm friedrich hegel was a german philosopher, born in stuttgart in 1770. during his life he could never have known what an effect a modified, materialistic version of the phenomena he identified would have on the world from that day to this. his observations about the spiritual development of the mind were developed and changed by others, including karl marx, and this modified version of hegelianism expressed itself thus: if you

ish foreign secretary arthur balfour to victor rothschild's uncle, walter, in 1917, confirming british support for a jewish state in palestine. victor rothschild covertly gathered information for the nuclear scientists at the weizmann institute from researchers and experts all over the world, including albert einstein, members of the british atomic scientists association, and the mathmatician and philosopher, bertrand russell, who, with einstein, helped to create the pugwash conferences on nuclear weapons.24 roland perry writes in his book the fifth man "the dream of an israeli bomb was ambitious indeed, but it spurred rothschild to keep abreast of all things nuclear so he could pass on data to the weizmann institute, which was planning a nuclear reactor at dimona in the negev desert. unde

DAVID ICKE CHILDREN OF THE MATRIX

g else. one seeks to unite, the other to divide and, therefore, rule. you will see this theme throughout the book as i tell the story of how the llluminati, the atlantean "sons of belial" or whatever you would like to call them, have sought to build the new atlantis ever since the cataclysmic events that destroyed the original version. atlantis was described by plato (427-347bc, the ancient greek philosopher. he was also a high initiate of the secret society- mystery school network. to this day this secret network has passed on advanced knowledge to the chosen few while denying that privilege to the mass of the people. official history dismisses plato's contention that such a continent existed, but there is vast geological support for such claims. the azores, which some believe were part o

yptian army in the red sea is not recorded in any historical document and this is utterly ludicrous if it had actually happened. the greek historian herodotus (c.485-425bc) travelled and researched the lands and history of egypt and the near east and yet he heard nothing of king solomon, the mass exodus of "israelites" from egypt, or the egyptian army drowned in the red sea. neither did the greek philosopher, plato. l.a. waddell, a fluent reader of sanskrit, sumerian, and egyptian, researched that whole region in great detail. he concluded "there is absolutely no inscriptional evidence whatsoever, nor any ancient greek or roman reference, for the existence of abraham or any of the jewish patriarchs or prophets of the old testament, nor for moses, saul, david, solomon, nor any of the jewish

ory symbolically. marcion was a gnostic (a word meaning "knowledge) and they wrote widely in symbolism and allegory. gnostic texts referring to the jesus story which were found in 1945 at nag hammadi in egypt, have been used as "proof" that jesus existed, but they are not. first they were written long after the "event" and second the gnostics were allegorical writers. moses maimonedes, the hebrew philosopher and gnostic of the 12th century, wrote "every time that you find in our books a tale, the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit."39 whoever wrote the original

atistical chances of that. it was these very forces that created the bible and decided what would be in it. they brought together the texts of the old testament with the texts they wrote, or chose, to form the new. they translated it into latin, english, and other languages. even the original versions of the biblical texts continued to be changed and new phrases added whenever it suited them. the philosopher, celsus, wrote to the church leaders in the 3rd century "you utter fables, and you do not even possess the art of making them seem likely..you have altered three, four times and oftener, the texts of your own gospels in order to deny objections to you."41 220 children of the matrix celsus said that the church leaders were forever telling their followers not to examine the evidence, but

ant and "son of the serpent" who plundered that key region of greece, persia, syria, phoenicia, egypt, babylon, the former lands of sumer, and across into india before dying in babylon at the age of 33. during his rule of egypt he founded the city of alexandria "city of the serpent's son, later one the greatest centres for esoteric knowledge in the ancient world. alexander was taught by the greek philosopher, aristotle, who had been taught by plato, who had been taught by socrates. the bloodline and the hidden advanced knowledge have always gone together. this key bloodline comes down through the most famous egyptian queen, cleopatra (60-30bc, who married the most famous roman emperor, julius caesar, and bore him a son, who became ptolemy xiv. she also bore twins with mark anthony, who has

DAVID ICKE THE BIGGEST SECRET

f atlantis and mu or lemuria: twovast continents, one in the atlantic and the other in the pacific, which many peoplebelieve were ruled by highly advanced races. the continents are said to havedisappeared under the sea in the circumstances described above, leaving only islandslike the azores as remnants of their former scale and glory. atlantis was described byplato (427-347 bc, the ancient greek philosopher and high initiate of the secretsociety-mystery school network. to this day this secret network has passed on muchknowledge to the chosen few while denying that privilege to the mass of the people.official history dismisses platos contention that such a continent existed and there areapparent historical discrepancies in his accounts, but there is geological support for hisbasic theme. t

ther drugs, and the secret knowledge of theirproperties, can be traced back to the earliest daysof sumer.33 the therapeutae had a flourishinguniversity at alexandria and from there they sentout missionaries to establish branches and affiliatedcommunities across the middle east. here againwe have the connection back to egypt and themystery schools.the essenes were advocates of pythagoras, thegreek philosopher and esoteric mathematician,who was a high initiate of both the greek andegyptian mystery schools.34 according to the most famous historian of the period,josephus, the essenes were sworn to keep secret the names of the powers who ruled theuniverse. this was in line with the laws of the mystery schools. the essenes-therapeutae practised rituals very similar to the later christian baptism

. the gospels and other books of thebible are only those chosen by the hierarchy of the christian church from those writtenby the pisos and pliny and the many copies and offshoots which followed. many othertexts were available that were just as valid, often very much more so, than those whichmade it into the holy book. texts were rejected, destroyed or rewritten to fit the official116line and the philosopher, celsus, wrote of the church leaders in the third century:you utter fables, and you do not even possess the art of making them seem likely. youhave altered three, four times and oftener, the texts of your own gospels in order to denyobjections to you.25in 1958, a manuscript was discovered at a monastery at mar saba, east of jerusalem,which shows how the jesus story was rewritten by the

r ornavigators and the ones between 1188 and 1918 were listed (or claimed to be) indocuments known as the dossiers secrets, which were privately published textsdeposited at the national library in paris. among them were marie and jean de saint-clair; leonardo da vinci; sandro botticelli, another italian artist and friend of da vinci;nicolas flamel, the famous medieval alchemist; robert fludd, the philosopher; isaacnewton, who discovered the law of gravity and was a major player in the creation ofthe this-world-is-all-there-is version of science; robert boyle, a close friend ofnewton and another founder of modern science; and jean cocteau, the french writerand artist. two others in office during the lifetime of sauniere, were the french writerand poet victor hugo, and his friend the compose

d, and this is where she spent much of hertime after alberts death. lord mountbatten would later be governor of the island. theisle of wight is a significant centre for satanism as well as being a most beautiful placeto visit. another brotherhood city is edinburgh in scotland, just down the road from thesinclairs rosslyn chapel. palmerston spent three years in edinburgh lodging with thewhig party philosopher, professor dugald stewart, and edinburgh university was acommon connection between the members of the lunar society and charles darwin.the brotherhood chosen one, tony blair, the british prime minister elected on may 1st1997, was brought up in edinburgh and went to fettes, a private school there. his fatherwas a lecturer at edinburgh university.the vehicle for the opium trade from indi

avendishs, the dukes ofdevonshire, and both families are related to the spencers. diana was carried in aleadained coffin and lead is the metal associated in ritual magic with saturn, possiblyfrom where we get the name satan. the colour associated with saturn and satanism isblack. diana was also led to her death across the two key brotherhood days of saturn-dayand sun-day. the 15th-century italian philosopher-doctor from horence, marsiho ficino,produced talismans for protection and the one for saturn was engraved on pure lead. itwas said to protect the wearer against death by assassination and ambush and protectedwomen in childbirth. on dianas lead coffin during the funeral were lilies, the flower oflilith, another version of hecate and a symbol of the bloodline. the lilies were chosen byea

DAVID ICKE RELATED THE HIDDEN GEARS OF FREEMASONRY

ed to and mislead with false interpretations by the invisible organization. the invisible organization knows the truth and is comprised of elite masons. this two dimensional organization is described by manly p. hall (who is a mason himself. hall was honored by the scottish rite journal, who called hall 'the illustrious manly p. hall' in september, 1990, and further called him 'masonry's greatest philosopher, saying "the world is a far better place because of manly palmer hall, and we are better persons for having known him and his work. manly p. hall said "freemasonry is a fraternity within a fraternity- an outer organization concealing an inner brotherhood of the elect. it is necessary to establish the existence of these two separate and yet interdependent orders, the one visible and the

y of his craft. the seething energies of lucifer are in his hands and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly apply energy [the lost keys to freemasonry, manly p. hall, published by the macoy publishing and masonic supply company, inc, richmond, virginia, 1976, p. 48; emphasis added] the scottish rite journal praised manly p. hall in 1990 as "masonry's greatest philosopher. some masons may not have ever heard of manly p. hall; yet you can see his book was published by the macoy publishing and masonic supply company. the only reason this high-ranking mason had never heard of manly p. hall is that hall was a leader of the invisible fraternity, while this mason was participating in the visible fraternity! i hope you understand just what it is i am teaching

DICTIONARY GLOSSARY OF OCCULT TERMINOLOGY

uman-god was a duality. according to aleister crowley (q.v, it begin in 1904 with the dictation of the book of the law and is coeval with the astrological age of aquarius. agla: a hebrew notarikon (q.v) for "ah-tah gee-boor lih-oh-lahm ah-doh-nye" which translates in english "thou art great forever, my lord" agripa, henry cornelius (of nettesheim: a german doctor of laws, and a doctor of letters, philosopher, and occultist who lived from 1486?-1535. he is most noted for the writing of his three books on occult philosophy, which have been plagiarized by more classical authors than just about any other work in history. aik bekar: a form of biblical interpretation and system for making codes. see temurah. ain: hebrew for "no-thing" one of the kabbalistic three so-called negative veils of exis

onounced "heh-sehd. the fourth (4th) sephirah (q.v) on the tree of life (q.v. chiah: our true will, in hebrew. corresponds to the second sephirah on the tree of life (q.v. chiron: the newest planet of the terran solar system to be discovered (1977 c.e, lying between the orbits of saturn (q.v) and uranus (q.v. in astrology (q.v, the planet named after the most noble of the centaurs who served as a philosopher, healer, and astrologer to the greek gods. attributed as being the second in command of the zodiac (q.v) sign virgo (q.v) by many modern astrologers, though the last word has yet to be written on this subject. keywords include: teaching, mentoring, student, apprentice, medicine, healing, ecology, recycling, death with dignity. chochma: in hebrew "wisdom" pronounced "hoh-khah-mah" the s

(q.v) of the body with awakened kundalini (q.v) energy. tantra of the "left hand" advocates sexual practices that have been traditionally condemned by ascetic christian and buddhist priests, yet their ultimate goal is an exalted one- no less than the union of shiva and shakti vessels of human flesh for the purpose of transcendent enlightenment. taoism: tao means "way" the teachings of the chinese philosopher and mystic lao-tse, who, like the buddha, lived in the 6th century b.c. the tao cannot be defined. it may be inadequately described as the undivided, unknowable spiritual source that generated and continues to vitalize all manifest things. in occultism, it may be likened to mana (q.v. tarot: a mystical set of cards having an uncertain origin. although these cards, covered with images

triangle, with one point down, composed of hode, netzach, and yesode- u- umbanda: one of the african-based cults of brazil that is heavily influenced by western spiritualism via the writings of allan kardec. it involves ecstatic possession. unmanifest: a term used by don tyson for the unknowable source of existence. it is god stripped of all attributes, equivalent to the tao (q.v) of the chinese philosopher and mystic lao-tse; the unground of jacob boehme, and the ain soph (q.v) of the kabbalah (q.v. uranus: the seventh planet of the terran solar system. in astrology (q.v, the planet named after the greek god who served as the mage of the gods. attributed as being the ruler of the zodiac (q.v) sign aquarius (q.v. on the tree of life (q.v) within the kabbalah (q.v) attributed to the second

DION FORTUNE MYSTICAL QABALA

ays remember that different minds go back different distances, and that for some the veil is drawn in one place, and for others in another. the ignorant man goes no further than the concept of god as an old man with a long white beard who sat on a golden throne and gave orders for creation. the scientist will go back a little further before he is compelled to draw a veil called the ether; and the philosopher will go back yet further before he draws a veil called the absolute; but the initiate will go back furthest of all because he has learnt to do his thinking in symbols, and symbols are to the mind what tools are to the hand-an extended application of its powers. 4. the qabalist takes for his starting-point kether, the crown, the first sephirah which he symbolises by the figure one, unit

may differ as much in kind and degree from our minds as our bodies differ in type and scale from the bodies of the planets. we shall be nearer an understanding of nature if we look for mind in the background than if we refuse to admit that the visible universe has an invisible framework. the ether of the physicists is closer akin to mind than to matter; time and space, as understood by the modern philosopher, are more like modes of consciousness than linear measures. 19. the initiates of the ancient wisdom made no bones about their philosophy; they took each factor in nature and personified it, gave it a name, and built up a symbolic figure [page 68] to represent it, just as british artists have by their collective efforts produced a standard britannia, a female figure with shield charged

ncluded that the beings that produced natural phenomena were of the same nature as the invisible but active mind and soul. 2. now all this sounds very crude as it is put by the anthropologists, but that is only because when translating savage ideas they choose words that have crude associatiohs. for instance, the standard translation of one of the chief scriptures of china refers to the venerable philosopher lao tse as "the old boy" this sounds comical to european ears, yet it is not so far removed from the words of another scripture which has been fortunate enough to receive translation at the hands of those who reverenced it" except ye become as a little child" i am not a sinologue, but i incline to the opinion that the translation "eternal child" would have been equally accurate and in

, ye will do it in adonai" 4. and after all, was primitive man so very far off the mark when he attributed the causation of natural phenomena to activities of the same nature as the thought-processes of the [page 86] human mind, but upon a higher arc? is not that the point towards which both physics and metaphysics are gradually converging? supposing we were to re-cast the statement of the savage philosopher and say, the essential nature of man is similar in type to that of his creator, would we be held to have said anything either blasphemous or ridiculous? 5. we may personalise natural forces in terms of human consciousness; or we may abstract human consciousness in terms of natural forces; both are legitimate proceedings in occult metaphysics, and the process yields some very interestin

hedding of blood. but those who give off an appreciable quantity are few and far between. when a number of psychically developed people are gathered together in a circle for the purpose of evocation they may, between them, give off sufficient ectoplasm to form the necessary basis for physical phenomena. such a method is not without its difficulties, not to say risks, and the esotericist, who is a philosopher ratherth an an experimenter, seldom makes use of it. it is sufficient for him if he gets manifestations in the sphere of yesod and perceives them with the inner vision. 45. the only satisfactory channel of evocation is the operator himself. in the egyptian method of evocation, known as the assumption of the god-forms, the operator identifies himself with the god and offers himself as t

DONALDTYSON EVILEYE

to imagine what practical purpose this gesture might serve, even in a symbolic sense, but it was believed to be a highly effective means of protection. for christians, to cross oneself and to utter a prayer under the breath offered some protection. a cross or crucifix worn around the neck was a sentinel against not only vampires, but the evil eye as well. stories of the evil eye are ancient. the philosopher francis bacon observed "scripture calleth envy an evil eye" a reference to proverbs 23:6-8, which reads "eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats; for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. the morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words" the

EMPERORS NEW RELIGION CHURCH OF SATAN

his past that have personality cult mentality in the words of michael rose (magister: another common avenue of attack is to charge that members of the church of satan worshipped dr. lavey. these dolts cannot distinguish worship from respect. they imagine that by criticizing dr. lavey they can diminish, or cause us to reject, the church of satan. they do not attack the philosophy; they attack the philosopher. this makes it quite clear that it is they who are the personality cultists [55] while it is true that an attack on the founder does not necessarily imply an attack on the ideology, it is false to state that the attack implies personality cult mentality on behalf of the attacker. the argument may apply to some people, but does not address the following cases, for example: if anything

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 1

e name of a god in syria and as a magical symbol by the jews. it seems doubtful whether the abracadabra, or its synonyms, was really the name of a deity. sources: levi, eliphas. transcendental magic. london: rider, 1896. reprint, new york: samuel weiser, 1970. abraham the jew (ca. 1362.ca. 1460) little biographical information exists concerning this german jew, who was an alchemist, magician, and philosopher, ca. 1400. what is known is mostly derived from a manuscript in the archives of the bibliotheque de l arsenal, paris, an institution rich in occult documents. written entirely in french, the manuscript purports to be translated from the hebrew, and the handwriting style indicates that the scribe lived at the beginning of the eighteenth century or possibly somewhat earlier. a distinct i

to continue his education by traveling. with his friend samuel, a bohemian by birth, he wandered through austria and hungary into greece, and next into constantinople (now istanbul, where he remained two years. abraham then traveled to arabia, in those days a renowned center of mystic learning, and afterward to palestine and egypt. in egypt he became acquainted with abra-melin, a famous egyptian philosopher, who entrusted certain documents to him and confided to him a number of invaluable secrets. abraham then left egypt for europe, where he settled eventually at wurzburg in germany, became deeply involved in research on alchemy. he married a woman who appears to have been his cousin, and had three daughters and two sons, the elder named joseph and the younger, lamech. he instructed both

th that bears the miraculous portrait of jesus, is veronica, based on an apocryphal legend of a woman who wiped the face of jesus during the procession to the cross. the controversial turin shroud is one of the more interesting examples of such a cloth. achmet see ahmad ibn sirin aconcio, jacques see jacobus acontius acontius, jacobus (ca. 1500.ca. 1566) also known as jacques aconcio. theologian, philosopher, and engineer. born in trent, tyrol, he became curate of that diocese, then became a calvinist in 1557. acontius came to england about two years later, where he dedicated his major work, stratagemata satanae (the stratagems of satan, to queen elizabeth. the book attributes all doctrines other than the apostles creed to satan as stratagems to tempt mankind from truth. however, the book

of the best historical memoir on the subject. branches of the order were established at worms, cologne, and paris, and it was said to be affiliated with the society of alethophilas, or lovers of truth, after which it named one of its grades. there were two temples, comprising the following degrees (1) apprentice of egyptian secrets (2) initiate into egyptian secrets (3) cosmopolitan (4) christian philosopher, and (5) alethophilos. higher grades (1) esquire (2) soldier, and (3) knight, thus supplying egyptian, christian, and templar mysteries to the initiate. in 1806 a pamphlet was published at berlin entitled a discovery concerning the system of the order of african architects. afs see american folklore society ag a red flower used by some hindus to propitiate the deity sanee (the planet s

hat cicero, who bore a grudge against augustus, conceived the plan of committing suicide on the emperor s hearth, and thus becoming his alastor. sources: weyer, johannes. witches, devils, and doctors in the renaissance: johann weyer, de praestigiis. edited by george mora. binghamton, n.y: medieval and renaissance texts and studies, 1991. albertus magnus (albert of cologne (ca. 1206.1280) scholar, philosopher, and scientist traditionally believed to have been an alchemist. no fewer than 21 folio volumes are attributed to him, though it is highly improbable that all of them are really his. in several cases the ascription rests on slender evidence, but those that are incontestably written by him are numerous enough to label him a prolific writer. tradition holds that he was the inventor of th

s, that only those who are instructed by god can achieve the grand secret. others, again, state that while a novice might possibly stumble upon it, unless guided by an adept the beginner has small chance of achieving the grand arcanum. the transcendental view of alchemy, however, rapidly gained ground through the nineteenth century. among its exponents was a. e. waite, who argued, the gold of the philosopher is not a metal, on the other hand, man is a being who possesses within himself the seeds of a perfection which he has never realized, and that he therefore corresponds to those metals which the hermetic theory supposes to be capable of development. it has been constantly advanced that the conversion of lead into gold was only the assumed object of alchemy, and that it was in reality in

waite, a. e, ed. the hermetical& alchemical writings of paracelsus. 2 vols, london, 1894. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1967. the works of thomas vaughan, mystic and alchemist. london, 1919. reprint, new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1968. zetznerus, l, ed. theatrum chimicum. 6 vols. strasbourg, france, 1659.61. alchindus (or alkindi (ca. ninth century c.e) arabian doctor and philosopher of the ninth century regarded by some authorities as a magician but by others as merely a superstitious writer. he used charmed words and combinations of figures in order to cure his patients. demonologists maintained that the devil was responsible for his power, and based their statements on the fact that he had written a work entitled the theory of the magic arts. he was probably, ho

ome authorities as a magician but by others as merely a superstitious writer. he used charmed words and combinations of figures in order to cure his patients. demonologists maintained that the devil was responsible for his power, and based their statements on the fact that he had written a work entitled the theory of the magic arts. he was probably, however, nothing more formidable than a natural philosopher at a time when all matters of science and philosophy were held in suspicion. some of his theories were of a magical nature, as when he attempted to explain the phenomena of dreams by saying that they were the work of the elementals, who acted their strange fantasies before the mind of the sleeper as actors play in a theater. but on the whole there is little to connect him with the prac

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF OCCULTISM AND PARAPSYCHOLOGY VOL 2

nts, signified wise, which was the interpretation of it given by the greek and roman writers. stobaeus expressly called the science of the magi, the service of the gods, as did plato. according to joseph ennemoser in his book the history of magic (1847, magiusiah, madschusie signified the office and knowledge of the priest, who was called mag, magius, magiusi, and afterward magi and magician. the philosopher j. j. brucker maintained that the primitive meaning of the word was fire worshiper and worship of the light, an erroneous opinion. in modern persian, the word is mog; mogbed signifies high priest. the high priest of the parsees at surat was called mobed. others derive the word from megh, meh-ab signifying something that is great and noble; zoroaster s disciples were called meghestom. e

olloquii by hilarion on behalf of the rosicrucian fraternity. from these pamphlets it appears that maier considered himself a member of the mystical order. he became the most profuse writer on alchemy of his time. most of his works, many of which are adorned with curious plates, are obscure with the exception of his rosicrucian apologies. maimonides, rabbi moses (1135.1204) a great spanish-hebrew philosopher, theologian, and author of the guide for the perplexed. his theories were aristotelian and rational, but there remained in his viewpoint a touch of mysticism. he was born april 6, 1135, in cordova, southern spain, and was educated by arabic teachers. after the moorish conquest of cordova in 1148, jews left the province, and maimonides settled in fez, morroco. after five years he moved

min harris, 1693. mather, increase. essay for the recording of illustrious provinces. boston, 1684. mathers, moina (1865.1928) moina mathers, a leading member of the hermetic order of the golden dawn (hogd, was largely responsible for the rituals of this ground-breaking magical organization. born on feburary 28, 1865, as mina bergson, she was the daughter of jewish parents and the sister of noted philosopher henri bergson. her brother was a professor at the university of paris, the winner of a nobel prize (1927, and president of the society of psychical research. he authored the noted volume creative evolution, in which he articulated his theory of elan vital, or life urge, an idea integral to magical thought. the elan vital was analogous to the subtle energy that allowed magic to work. mi

her in 1885 and spent much time researching occultism at the british museum library, london. anna kingsford introduced him to helena petrovna blavatsky. blavatsky invited him to collaborate in the building of encyclopedia of occultism& parapsychology. 5th ed. mathers, s(amuel) l(iddell) macgregor 999 the theosophical society, but he declined. in 1890 he married moina bergson, sister of the french philosopher henri bergson. soon afterward he moved to paris with his wife. mathers and his wife received a small allowance from annie horniman (daughter of the founder of the horniman museum, london, and a member of the golden dawn, so that he might continue his studies on behalf of the order. however, disputes developed between them on financial issues, and in december 1896 mathers peremptorily e

iumship of d. d. home also lapsed from time to time, probably because he suffered from a tubercular diathesis. mediums who are conscious during the production of phenomena appear to suffer more than those in trance. the extrication of power from their organism seems a veritable trial for nerve and flesh. producing the phenomena is often equivalent to putting the body on the rack. the neoplatonist philosopher iamblichus says in divination: often at the moment of inspiration, or when the afflatus has subsided, a fiery appearance is seen.the entering or departing power. those who are skilled in this wisdom, can tell by the character of this glory the rank of the divinity who has seized for the time the reins of the mystic s soul, and guides it as he will. sometimes the body of the man is viol

s laertius noted that pythagoras once recognized the soul of a departed friend in a dog that was being beaten. plato picked up on the idea and expounded it in several of his dialogues, most notably the phaedo and republic. according to the vision of truth that one attains, one will be born in the next life in a body suitable to that attainment, plato said. the most enlightened will be reborn as a philosopher, musician, artist, or lover. at the lowest level, he placed tyrants. once a soul has beheld true being, it will pass from animal into human form, he said. plato also put forth the idea that a person chooses his next life, the very choice being a sign of his character. the idea of metempsychosis was also held by some of the gnostics, and it became a source of disagreement between them a

metempsychosis and reincarnation. origen, a christian theologian of the third century with a platonic background, tried to defend some aspects of the metempsychosis doctrine, primarily the prior existence of the soul, but soon gave up, having found the idea contrary to the new testament teachings. metempsychosis found its last great philosophical defender in plotinus (205.270 c.e, the neoplatonic philosopher. he saw repeated births of the soul as a means for its education. by being in the body, the soul learns how desirable is the nonphysical existence, plotinus taught. the idea of reincarnation lingered in the west, passing through a succession of gnostic groups, but experienced a rebirth in the twentieth century. it s current spread, however, has a basis in indian and oriental ideas of r

al. as the concept of natural law and an orderly universe developed, the word miracle gradually took on the meaning it has had for the last three centuries.an event that occurs outside the laws of nature as we know them. christian theologians tended to view a miracle as an event caused by god laying aside one of his own laws out of his concern for humanity. david hume (1711.76, the great scottish philosopher, defined a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature. the idea that nature follows certain laws and the consideration of whether or not those laws can be violated set the issues of a modern debate. alfred russel wallace, prominent nineteenth-century scientist, in his book on miracles and modern spiritualism (1881, assumes the existence of natural law and objects to hume s skepticism

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTERS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EXTRATERRESTRIALS AND OTHERWORLDY BEINGS

he gives the pseudonym polly bromberger. in the early 1980s bromberger conjured up a spirit guide a personal archetype, she sometimes called it and gave it the name abram. with long, unkempt hair and wearing a white robe and sandals, abram looked biblical. he came more clearly into focus after bromberger had undergone a period of meditation and reflection. a student of the great psychologist and philosopher c. g. jung, bromberger used a process she learned from jung's writings active imagination to bring abram into her life. in time she came to feel that he had a kind of independent existence. she told rojcewicz that sometimes i feel he can be a force opening me on purpose to make me stretch myself, and work myself, and sometimes i get frustrated with it. on the whole, however, she was co

o books on his experiences and became a prominent fig u re on the contactee circuit. with the passing of the initial w a ve of enthusiasm about contactees, angelucci became little more than a distant m e m o ry of saucerd o m s heady early days. hi s death in los angeles on july 24, 1993, was little noted. in his time, however, his claims attracted the attention of the celebrated psychologist and philosopher c. g. jung, who wrote about them in one of his last books. jung observed, the individuation process, the central problem of modern psychology, is plainly depicted. in an unconscious, symbolic form. although the author with his somewhat primitive mentality has taken it quite literally as a concrete happening (jung, 1959. see also: contactees further reading angelucci, orfeo, 1955. the s

t was said, communicated only with ashtar; the ashtar command, on the other hand, was a concept promulgated by another early contactee, robert short. he and van tassel had been friends but parted company when short decided to make ashtar s communications commercial and mainstream, in order for personal notoriety, not for a truth to the public. wettlaufer insisted that ashtar is not a metaphysical philosopher or rambler and moreover, he cannot be reached via channeling (though van tassel s own method of communication seemed indistinguishable from channeling to most observers. the statement goes on, the ashtar of ashtar command is a real personality. a clone of the original ashtar, and is dangerous. a disobedient angel (wettlaufer, 2000. the name ashtar may owe its inspiration to a nineteent

al event, though almost eve ry theorist has p roposed a different one. most writing, howe ve r, has taken an alternative- h i s t o ry appro a c h, paying little heed to mainstream arc h a e o l o g y, h i s t o ry, and science, while taking atlantis into the realm of unfettered speculation. the legend of atlantis begins in two works, timaeus and critias (written circa 355 b.c, by the great greek philosopher plato. as in his earlier work the republic, plato wrote these works as dialogues among four wise men, including plato s teacher socrates. in the course of a long discourse on philosophical issues of various kinds, critias, a historian and plato s great-grandfather, tells of a story that he ascribes to his grandfather, who heard it from his father. around 600 b.c, while traveling in eur

f the third kind further reading fort, charles, 1941. the books of charles fort. new york: henry holt and company. grove, carl, 1971. the airship wave of 1909. flying saucer review 17, 1 (january/february: 17 19. vallee, jacques, 1974. the pattern behind the ufo landings. in charles bowen, ed. the hu- manoids, 27 76. london: futura publications. li sung li sung, said to be the spirit of a village philosopher who lived in northern china in the eighth century, channeled through alan vaughan. vaughan, a longtime writer on psychic phenomena, first experienced li sung in 1983, but sixteen years earlier, three british mediums had told him he would be communicating with this chinese spirit. vaughan said he did not believe them. but one day, while he was teaching at a psychic seminar in sedona, ar

omponent minds, on the assumption that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. perhaps this is the entity that holds the secret to the ufo mystery (grosso, 1991. in his view, psychoterrestrial phenomena are so powerful that, for example, in their ufo manifestation they are even able to show up on radar. grosso drew inspiration in his speculations from the celebrated swiss psychologist and philosopher c. g. jung. in his own reflection on the ufo phenomenon, however, jung, who thought ufos were probably of extraterrestrial origin, rejected the psychoterrestrials 203 an artist s impression of a gray alien, based on witness descriptions, an example of a psychoterrestrial being (debbie lee/fortean picture library) notion of materialized psychisms as impossible, and, in particular, he di

other channelers claimed to have heard fro m seth. one, thomas massari, re p o rted that seth had communicated with him as early as 1 9 7 2. see also: channeling further reading roberts, jane, 1970. the seth material. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall, 1972. seth speaks: the eternal validity of the soul. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. seth 221, 1978. the afterdeath journal of an american philosopher: the world view of william james. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall, 1981. the god of jane: a psychic manifesto. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. shaari shaari is an extraterrestrial who inhabits the body of a young professional woman. the woman, an occasional practitioner of channeling, was seriously injured in a car accident. after the accident, she decided that she had served

FAUST

be taught full many a day what at one stroke you ve done alway, like eating and like drinking free, it now must go like: one! two! three! in fact, when men are fabricating thought, it goes as when a weaver s masterpiece is wrought. one treadle sets a thousand threads a-going, and to and fro the shuttle flies; quite unperceived the threads are flowing, one stroke effects a thousand ties. then some philosopher steps in, and he will demonstrate to you it so must be: the first was so, the second so, and thus the third and fourth are so; and if no first nor second had been there, the third and fourth one would be never. all students prize that everywhere, but are they weavers? no, they re not that clever. who ll know aught living and describe it well, seeks first the spirit to expel. he then ha

FELDMAN DANIEL QABALAH THE MYSTICAL HERITAGE OF THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM

.1111, and the recorded teachings of sufi masters such as rumi, ibn arabi, al- suhrawardi, ibn ata allah, al bayazid al bistami, al junaid of bagdad, abdul qadir al jilani, al hallaj and others.30 western alchemy was derived in great measure from the writings of a number of sufis concerning the mystical analogy of the purification and transformation of metals into the stone of unity, known as the philosopher s stone. 31 33' 8: h" 2: 2 2:e 8% the mystical worldview of sufism, as delineated in the qur an, is basically identical to the qabalistic worldview rooted in the torah. as with the qabalah, someone new to the study of sufism will find a plethora of specialized and abstract terminology used to describe its mystical worldview. the challenge is further exacerbated by the fact that there a

FRANCIS A YATES GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

seed of life" aaos rising from his couch-threw away his sword and exclaimed aloud "now for realith "obeliscus heliopolitanus. from athanasius kircher, obeliscus pamphilius, rome, 1650, p. 371 (photos: warb. inst) 339 viii preface many years ago i planned to make an english translation of giordano bruno's la cena de le ceneri with an introduction emphasising the boldness with which this advanced philosopher of the renaissance accepted the copernican theory. but as i followed bruno along the strand to the house in whitehall where he was to expound the copernican theory to knights and doctors, doubts arose. was that journey imaginary and was the supper really held at the french embassy? and was the copernican theory really the subject of the debate or was there something else implied in it?

ustinian genealogy of hermes, which at once places him in extreme antiquity, and almost in a mosaic context. augustine has written of mercurius, continues ficino, also cicero and lactantius. he repeats the information from cicero that mercurius "gave laws and letters" to the egyptians, adding that he founded the city called hermopolis. he was an egyptian priest, the wisest of them all, supreme as philosopher for his vast knowledge, as priest for his holiness of life and practice of the divine cults, and worthy of kingly dignity as administrator of the laws, whence he is rightly called termaximus, the three times great.2 he is called the first author of theology: he was succeeded by orpheus, who came second amongst ancient theologians: aglaophemus, who had been initiated into the sacred tea

oroaster.1 the genealogy of the prisca theohgia forcibly demonstrates the extreme importance which ficino assigned to hermes as the fons et origo of a wisdom tradition which led in an unbroken chain to plato. much other evidence could be quoted from his works of ficino's unquestioning belief in the primacy and importance of hermes, and this attitude impressed an early biographer of the florentine philosopher who says that "he (ficino) held it as a secure and firm opinion that the philosophy of plato took its origin from that of mercurius, whose teachings seemed to him closer to the doctrine of orpheus and in certain ways to our own theology (that is, to christianity) than those of pythagoras."2 mercurius wrote many books pertaining to the knowledge of divine things, continues ficino in his

philosophy of plato took its origin from that of mercurius, whose teachings seemed to him closer to the doctrine of orpheus and in certain ways to our own theology (that is, to christianity) than those of pythagoras."2 mercurius wrote many books pertaining to the knowledge of divine things, continues ficino in his preface to the pimander, in which he reveals arcane mysteries. nor is it only as a philosopher that he speaks but sometimes as a prophet he sings of the future. he foresaw the ruin of the early religion and the birth of a new faith, and the coming of christ. augustine doubts whether he did 1 in the theohgia platonica, ficino gives the genealogy as (1) zoroaster (2) mercurius trismegistus (3) orpheus (4) aglaophemus (5) pythagoras (6) plato (ficino, p. 386. in the preface to the

ed,2 testifying to the profound and enthusiastic interest aroused by hermes trismegistus throughout the renaissance. the ban of the mediaeval church on magic had forced it into dark holes and corners, where the magician plied his abominated art in secrecy. respectable people might sometimes employ him surreptitiously and he was much feared. but he was certainly not publicly admired as a religious philosopher. renaissance magic, which was a reformed and learned magic and always disclaimed any connection with the old ignorant, evil, or black magic, was often an adjunct of an esteemed renaissance philosopher. this new status of magic was undoubtedly mainly due to that great flood of hterature which came in from byzantium, so much of which dated from those early centuries after christ in which

cult practised by the holy hermes. and that cult involved the practice of astral magic. the statues in the temples, the "terrestrial gods, were animated by knowing the occult properties of substances, by arranging them in accordance with the principles of sympathetic magic, and by drawing down into them the life of the celestial gods by invocations. so it would become a legitimate practice for a philosopher, even a devout practice associated with his religion, to "draw down the life of the heaven" by sympathetic astral magic, as ficino advised in his work on magic, the de vita coelitus comparanda. the rehabilitation of the asclepius, through the discovery of the corpus hermeticum, is, i believe, one of the chief factors in the renaissance revival of magic. and this can only be understood

riters interested in natural philosophy speak of him with respect; for roger bacon he was the "father of philosophers",6 and he is sometimes given a genealogy which makes him even more ancient than ficino or the designer of the siena mosaic thought. in the preface to a twelfth-century translation of an alchemical work, it is stated that there were three hermeses, namely enoch, noah, and the king, philosopher, and prophet who reigned in egypt after the flood and was called hermes triplex. the same genealogy of 1 festugiere, i, pp. 112 ff. the liber hermetis was discovered by gundel and published by him in 1936. 2 festugiere, i, pp. 139 ff. 3 ibid, pp. 283 ff. 4 thorndike, i i, pp. 214 ff; festugiere, i, pp. 105 ff. 5 in his speculum astronomiae; see albertus magnus, opera, ed. borgnet, x, p

(see c.h, ii, pp. 268-9. 6 thorndike, i i, p. 219. 48 hermes trismegistus and magic "hermes mercurius triplex" is also given in a thirteenth-century treatise on astrology, and the same explanation of why he is "three-fold".1 it will be remembered that ficino in his argumentum before the pimander gives a similar explanation of "trismegistus" as referring to hermes in his triple capacity of priest, philosopher, and king or law-giver. the mediaeval genealogy, however, takes hermes triplex back before moses to the time of noah. there is an extremely comprehensive treatise on sympathetic and astral magic, with particular reference to talismans, which goes under the name of picatrix. though the authorship of picatrix is not assigned to hermes trismegistus, the work frequently mentions him with g

FREEMASON BLUEBOOK

safely moor us in a peaceful harbor, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary shall find rest. the fortyseventh problem of euclid was an invention of our ancient friend and brother, the great pythagoras, who, in his travels through asia, africa, and europe, was initiated into several orders of priesthood, and is said to have been raised to the sublime degree of master mason. this wise philosopher enriched his mind abundantly in a general knowledge of things, more especially in geometry, or masonry. on this subject he drew out many problems and theorems; and among the most distinguished he erected this when, in the joy of his heart he exclaimed, eureka! signifying, in the grecian language, i have found it; and upon the discovery of which he is said to have sacrificed a hecatomb

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL 2

wn attachment to masonry, i have no doubt that you will perform all the duties which may be devolved upon you in a manner creditable to yourself and satisfactory to the grand lodge. maine masonic text book file//c /grand lodge/bluebook/bluebook1.htm (76 of 76 [11/22/1999 11:51:56 f freemasonry and catholicism by max heindel [1865-1919] click here to return to the previous html page. part vii the philosopher's stone--what it is and how it is made. those who have studied the writings of the ancient alchemists have always been much mystified by what is said concerning the philosopher's stone and the process of transmuting the base metals into gold. these claims have naturally given rise to a great deal of vague speculation. from time to time, students have asked for a direct statement from t

our whole creative force must be turned upwards so that you shall become a hermaphrodite spiritually, and thus able to objectify your ideas and speak the living word which shall endue them with life and make them vibrant with vital energy. this dual creative force thus expressed through the brain and larynx is the 'elixir-vitae' which springs from the living stone of the spiritually hermaphrodite philosopher. the alchemical process of kindling and elevating it is accomplished in the spinal cord where the salt, sulphur, mercury and azoth are found. it is raised to incandescence by high and noble thought, by meditation upon spiritual subjects, and by altruism expressed in the daily life. the second half of the creative energy thus drawn upward through the spinal canal is a spinal spirit-fire

ed higher and higher and when it reaches the pituitary body and the pineal gland in the brain, it sets them to vibrating, opening up the spiritual worlds and enabling man to commune with the gods. then this fire radiates in all directions and permeates the whole body and its auric atmosphere, and man has become a living stone, whose luster surpasses that of the diamond or the ruby. he is then the philosopher's stone" there are many other symbols and similes taken from the world of chemistry and applied to the processes of spiritual growth which eventually makes men living stones in the temple of god. but enough has been said in the foregoing to show what was meant by the ancient alchemists by such terms and the reason why they clothed their teachings in symbolical language. the way of init

on is, however, and has always bee open to anyone who really an truly seeks for enlightenment and is willing to pay the price in the coin of self-denial and self-sacrifice. therefore, seek the temple door and you shall find it; knock and it shall be opened unto you. if you seek prayerfully, if you knock persistently and if you labor manfully you will in time reach the goal and you will become the philosopher's stone. celibacy and marriage in order to avoid misunderstanding, it should be said that this lesson was only given to the aspirant to discipleship to show him the reason why it is necessary for him to live a pure and chaste life. it does not apply to the masses who have no spiritual aspirations and are as yet unable to restrain their passions. the rosicrucians do not even advocate an

ink below its level, it would, indeed, be very wrong for aspirants to discipleship to live an entirely celibate life for the sake of self- advancement when conditions permit them to wed; furthermore, the expenditure of the creative force at the few times in a life when it is legitimately required for propagation would not seriously interfere with the spiritual development undertaken to become the philosopher's stone, and the soul- growth gained by assuming the duties of parenthood would far outweigh any possible loss. what the rosicrucians teach then is that marriage between people who will limit their use of the creative function to the purpose of propagation is eminently good, noble and productive of great soul-growth, but that unmarried aspirant should live an absolutely celibate life i

does every other tekton, mason or phree messen (child of light) as the egyptian called such, descend through the nine arch-like strata of the earth. we shall find at the time of the first advent of christ both hiram abiff, the son of cain, and solomon, the son of seth, reborn to take from him the next great initiation into the christian mysteries. in the last chapter we saw while considering "the philosopher's stone" that the spinal cord is the principal laboratory for the alchemist, and that the spinal spirit fire, generated by turning the creative force upward through the spinal canal, passing it between the pituitary body and the pineal gland in the brain, gives to man a third eye as it were wherewith to see in the spiritual worlds. when this serpentine spirit fire has been sufficiently

ts true ancient mystic self, and though catholicism has been terribly tarnished by the touch of time, in this one thing there is no difference, namely, that the war is as keen as ever. the efforts of the church are not concentrated upon the masses, however, as much as upon those who are seeking to live the higher life so that they may gain admission to the mystery temple and learn how to make the philosopher's stone. as mankind advances in evolution, the vital body becomes more permanently positively polarized, giving to both sexes a greater desire for spirituality, and though we change from the masculine to feminine in alternate embodiments, positive polarity of the vital body is becoming more pronounced regardless of sex. this accounts for the growing tendency towards altruism which is e

our dense body gravitates towards the center of the earth, therefore, a change must take place; also paul tells us that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. but he also points out that we have a soma psuchicon (mistranslated natural body) a soul body, and this is made of ether, which is lighter than air and therefore capable of levitation. this is the golden wedding garment, the philosopher's stone, or the living stone, spoken of in some of the ancient philosophies as the diamond soul, for it is luminous, lustrous, and sparkling--a priceless gem. it was also called the astral body by the mediaeval alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the starry regions. but it is not to be confounded with the desire body which some of the mod

FREEMASONRY AND CATHOLICISM BY MAX HEINDEL

lying these two great institutions as determined by occult investigation the rosicrucian fellowship international headquarters p.o. box 713 oceanside, california, 92054, u.s.a. table of contents* part i: lucifer, the rebel angel* part ii: the masonic legend* part iii: the queen of sheba* part iv: casting the molten sea* part v: the mystery of melchisedec* part vi: spiritual alchemy* part vii: the philosopher's stone--what is it and how it is made* part viii: the path of initiation* part ix: armageddon, the great war, and the coming age part i lucifer, the rebel angel the rosicrucian fellowship aims to educate and construct, to be charitable even to those from whom we differ, and never to vent the venom of vituperation, spite, or malice even upon those who seem deliberately determined to mi

quintessence of knowledge derived in the experience of working with it. thus the combined quintessence of these various base metals would form a spiritual sublimate of knowledge incomparable in potency, valuable beyond all earthly things. being of ultimate purity it would contain no color, but resemble a "sea of glass" whoever should lave in it would find himself endowed with perpetual youth. no philosopher could compare with him in wisdom; this "white stone" knowledge would even enable him to lift the veil of invisibility and meet the superhuman hierarchs, who work in the world with a potency undreamt of by the masses. masonic traditions tell us that hiram's preparations were so perfect that success would have been assured, had not treachery triumphed. but the incompetent craftsmen whom

erge and be unified in the kingdom of christ. we have already seen how hiram abiff, the widow's son, left his father, the lucifer spirit samael, after the baptism of fire in the molten sea, and how he received the mission to prepare the way for the kingdom among the sons of cain, his brethren, by developing their arts and crafts as temple builders--masons- and teaching them the preparation of the philosopher's stone or molten sea. thus also the physically negative sons of seth must learn to leave their father, jehovah, and naturally the first to take the step must be a great soul. as the superlative skill of the sons of cain was focused in hiram abiff at the time of his baptism of fire, so the sublime spirituality of the sons of seth was centered in jesus at the time of his baptism in the

ll allow him to form altruistic purposes and desires. thus the age of altruism was there inaugurated. by faith in this blood, and by imitation of the christ life the sons of seth are therefore provided with a means of purging from themselves the curse of selfishness; while the sons of cain were given the emblem of the rose and the cross to teach them to work faithfully to make the molten sea, the philosopher's stone, and to find the new word which shall admit them to the kingdom, for they believe more in works than in faith. the accompanying chart shows graphically the three ages mentioned in this article (1) the first age, when each human being was a complete creative unit, male-female, double sexed, and ruled by one hierarch, melchisedec, who filled a dual office as king and priest (2) t

FULLER J F C SECRET WISDOM OF THE QABALAH

e mishna, midrashim, zohar, and scores of other books, the bewildering nature of which may be recognized in a few minutes by glancing through a talmudic miscellany by paul isaac hershon. the word hlbq (qblh) is spelt in many ways, such as qabalah, qaballah, cabala, kaballa, and even, though quite incorrectly- gabella. it is not derived from such fantastic origins as the name of kapila, the indian philosopher, or from the name of the goddess cybele, for the word simply means greception h, something received an oral transmission, an oracle, or the spoken word. and the reason is, as we have already mentioned, that for ages the qabalistic doctrines were not set down in writing or print, the hebrews considering them too secret and sublime a wisdom for the common eye. this wisdom is formed withi

. evil exists, for god's own wise purpose, by the sufferance of the absolute one, who gives us the blighting cold, frost, and night, and also the beneficent and blessed daylight, warmth, and sunshine. man therefore partakes of two regions, that of the external, visible, matter world, that of evil and darkness, and that of the internal spiritual higher world, that of goodness and light. the german philosopher hegel holds that a thing can only exist through its opposite, that the thing and its opposite must arise together, and that eternally, as the complements of a unity; white is not without black, nor black without white, good is not without, nor is evil without good. this is the doctrine of the siphrah d'tzinoothah and the sepher ye'tzeer-ah. at the very beginning of the life germ, disso

re of earth, in a word all those bodies which compose the mighty frame of the world, have not any substance without mind. so long as they are not actually perceived by me, or do not exist in my mind, or in that of any other created spirit, they must either have no existence at all, or else subsist in the mind of some eternal spirit [the ayin. quoting these remarkable words of this most remarkable philosopher, sir james says .modern science seems to me to lead, by a very different road, to a not altogether dissimilar conclusion. because of our different line of approach we have reached the last of the above three alternatives first, and the others appear unimportant in comparison. it does not matter whether objects gexist in my mind, or in that of any other created spirit h or not; their ob

ely, why does it vary? we know that in the material world conviction depends on one or more of the three spheres of power- the physical, sensuous, and the intellectual- and that this mastership stands beyond good and evil because it is a power for good and evil. a skilled craftsman may use his energy and talents for the benefit or detriment of mankind, and so also a skilled demagogue or a skilled philosopher. is not a similar process also applicable to the spiritual sphere, granted that there is such a sphere? and if this be not granted, then some abnormal intellectual or sensuous sphere must be assumed. to us the threefold order is not alone patent to the qabalah, but is an obvious rational conception. we know that we are composed of matter, but matter plus something we call our ego. we k

GAMBLE ELIZA BURT THE GOD IDEA OF THE ANCIENTS OR SEX IN RELIGION

the essentials which constitute a deity. in other words, woman is not a creator. from the father is derived the soul of the child, while from the mother, or from matter, the body is formed. hence the prevalence at a certain stage of human history of divine fathers and earthly mothers; for instance, alexander of macedon, julius caesar, and later the mythical christ who superseded jesus, the judean philosopher and teacher of mankind. henceforth, caves, wells, cows, boxes and chests, arks, etc, stand for or symbolize the female power. we are given to understand, however, that for ages these symbols were as holy as the god himself, and among many peoples even more revered and worshipped. we have seen that the ancients knew that matter and force were alike indestructible. according to their doc

as been employed as a symbol of regeneration, and as it contained the beginning of things it was female. the hindoos regard it as sacred, and in one of their most solemn prayers it is thus invoked: waters, mothers of worlds, purify us![78 [78] quoted by inman from colbrook, vol. i, p. 85. doubtless it was from these ancient speculations regarding the beginnings of things that thales, the milesian philosopher, received his doctrine that water is the original principle. the ancient egyptians and the jewish people to this day have the custom of pouring out all the water contained in any vessel in a house where a death has taken place, because of the idea that as the living being comes from water, so does it make its exit through water. hence "to drink or to use in any way a fluid which contai

s be diminished, all wicked works be burnt up. win for thyself property by right-dealing. speak truth with the rulers and be obedient. be modest with friends, clever, and well wishing. be not cruel, be not covetous. combat adversaries with right. before an assembly speak only pure words. in no wise displease thy mother. keep thine own body pure in justice" confucius, the great chinese teacher and philosopher, who lived probably in the sixth century b.c, may be said to have been a humanitarian or moralist instead of a mystic. although he believed in a great first principle, or cause, which he termed heaven, we are given to understand that in his philosophizing little mention was made of it. the system known as confucianism was not originated by confucius. in referring to this subject legge

e sun, the first named standing for the sun in aries. the effigies of a crucified savior found in ireland and scotland in connection with the figure of a lamb, a bull, or an elephant, the latter of which is not a native of those countries, shows that they do not represent christ, but a crucified sun-god worshipped by the inhabitants of the british islands ages before the birth of the great judean philosopher and teacher. it is plain that crishna of india and the persian mithra furnished the copy for the jesus of the romish church, all of whom mean one and the same thing--the second person in the solar trinity. by the jews, who attempted to ignore the female principle, this god is called the "lord of hosts" and "god of sabaoth" which astronomically means god of the stars and constellations

GILBERT AE WAITE A MAGICIAN OF MANY PARTS

nclusions'withoutallowing himself to be committed to any statement which the ordinary reader might construe into a definite opinion'(secretsectsofsyria,p. 59. however difficult his prosemightbe, there were manywhostruggledwithit successfully and came to admirebothwaite and his thought.w.b.yeats was one such; he saw waite as'theone deep student'knownto him of louis claude de saint-martin-amystical philosopher extraordinarily difficult to grasp. in similar veinjohnmasefield described waite as 'by far the most learned modern scholar of occultism-s-and this because waite recognized the spirituality of certainofthe alchemists. waite himself looked upon his studiesof the occult (or of'thesecret tradition, as he preferred to call it) as of subsidiaryimportance-froma literary pointofview-tohis poe

and this is the reason that so many transcendental discourses are merely blank and tedious to us, because they have to. dowithtruth and beauty, and the destiny of the soul, and all the great, faint, faded symbols of the reality. and this is why all poetry is so interesting to us, because it has to dowithskies,withwoods,withbattles,withtemples,withwomen and wine,withthe ultimate miracles which no philosopher could create.in those terms waite could. never again be a poet, for after the resolutionofhis traumatic inner conflicts, poetry was no longer an end in itselfbutonly a means to an end: he was achievingadelayedmaturity, and at the same time becoming increasingly self-aware, and venturing eagerly on to the shifting sandsof it was a new world for waite; a world that heldoutthe promiseofpr

is childhood; in particular in thearabian tales that had so delighted him with its stories of the 'hidden city of ad' and of that 'other and greater city which iscalledirem. this was the city,raisedon pillars, that contained the great secret of earthly riches and had as its chief treasure 'a chest of goldfilledwith a red powder. waite could not know then that 'this is the powder of alchemyand the philosopher's stone. it is encircled by a river of mercury; for 'what should1know in my childhood concerning the stoneat the red, or thatestinmercurioquicquidquaeruntsapientesibut the talismanicseedof this romance of alchemyfellunawares in receptive soilandbecameaplant which iwas destinedto tend long afterin my own garden of the mind'(sly,p.28).beforethisalchemicalplantfloweredwaitehaddiscoveredbo

mphis and mizraim (which he was)butalsoas a prominent satanist'(which he was not).thediana vaughanaffairwas nothing more than aflashin the pan, and waite's secondbook on the palladium,dianavaughanandthequestionofmodernpalladism,remained unpublished. but his role was not forgotten, and when he becameinterestedinmartinism-arite basedlooselyon the philosophyoflouisclaude de saint-martin 'the unknown philosopher (1743-1803, and on the teachings of his mentor, martinesdepasqually(1715-79- johnyarker,to whom he wrote foradviceabout the martinist order, encouraged him to join:i found an objection in themasonicbranchoftheorderofstmartinto receive a non-mason, and i have no doubt that it would be found inconvenient both to you and to them. however, that need not interferewithmy conferring the order

1914 and 1910 are missing so that his experiences can probably be referred to one orotherofthose years. 2. books on the subjectoftarot cards are legion. for present purposes the most useful are: s.r.kaplan,encyclopaediaof tarot 2 vols,(1978, 1986; m.dummett,thegame ofiarot (1980 [extremely hostile to all esoteric interpretations; perhaps because the author is (a) aromancatholic (b) a professional philosopher, and (c) a confirmed addictofcard games];and],shephard,the tarot 'irumps:cosmosinminiature(1985).3.pamelacolmansmith probablyjoinedtheorderon 2 november 1901,buther entry on the roll is undated (the previous signature is so dated and neophytes often entered together, and it may have been closer to the dateofthe schismof1903. by 16 april 1904 she was still in the grade of zelator. 4. th

GILBERT THE GOLDEN DAWN TWILIGHT OF THE MAGICIANS

rmottoesof'srioghail mo dhream, quod scis nescis (westcott as himself, although he normally used the motto sapere aude) and magna est veritas et praelavebit,'toconstitute and rule the isis-urania temple no. 3'.thisthey duly did, their first act being the initiation of nine members at the spring equinox ceremony that same march.thefirst of the new initiates was miss mina bergson, the sister of the philosopher henri bergson, soon to bemrsmathers and thus central to the entire story of the order. mathers himselfis an enigma.hewas born in1854,educated at bedford grammar school and lived with his widowed mother atbournemouth255where he was made a mason in18n-untilher death in1885,when he moved to london to dedicate himself to hermetic philosophy, magical practice and an obsession with his fanci

GILBERT THE MAGICAL MASON

ative of the founding of the rosicrucian fraternity, was printed and published at cassel, in germany.thesoc. rosie. in anglia possesses a copy, which is preserved in the library of the high council in 1615 thefamawas re-published at frankfort-on-the255 main with the addition of the tract calledconfessio frater255 nitatis;these have been attributed to valentine andrea, and also to joachim junge, a philosopher and mathematician, who died 1657, to the mystic giles guttman, and to one tauler, of whom little is known. it should be noted that although thef amaand theconfessiogavetothe world a knowledge of the existence of the rosicrucian fraternity, there is no evidence that these publications were authorized; and, indeed, certain discrepan255 cies to be found in these tractates bear internal ev

in bearstead church, kent, there is a fine monument to fludd, with a long inscription, and near by are still the rose farm and rose inn upon land he had owned. fludd became the first magus in england and wrote many learned works on kabalistic theosophy and rosicrucian doctrines, the most notable being hisapologia,1616,tractatus1617, andsummum bonum,1629.to him succeededsir kenelm digby(1603-1665),philosopher; poet and rosicrucian, author ofthe natureofman's soulandthe natureofbodies,also works upon medicine and the cure of wounds by sympathy. the rosicrucian cross of this frater was exhibited to fratres of the metropolitan college a few years ago, having been kindly lent by the present representative of this old family. francis lord bacon, who lived from 1561to 1629, was much influenced by

ter close athand,to whom he dictated his numerousandelaborate treatisesuponall sorts of subjectshumananddivine, rosicrucianandcabalistic.theclassical researches offluddassisted in laying the foundations ofmodernchemistry,buthave long since passedintooblivion.ourancientfraterwas the real founder of rosicrucianism in thiscountry,andhis fame has never been surpassed, as an originalthinkeror mystical philosopher. he waschiefofthemedical school which laid claim tothepossession oftherosicrucian key to the universal science, oftheconstitution of the universe,ofthis world and of man. he framed a more consistent viewthanthenotable paracelsus who precededhim;his works gave rise to somuchdiscu.sionamongthelearned of his ownandthenext generationthateven his errors led tomuchenlightenment.50themagical

ch i conclude that, according to his meansanomalies inrnsbiblical views of man 153and opportunities, each man should seek out these matters for himself, and work out his own salvation, or future progress, and that we should not trust too much to the aid of others. the histories ofallreligions point out the tendency to the formation of a class of men whose business is not alone that of teacher and philosopher, but also that of soul-saving; and not sooner does soul-saving become a profession and a means of livelihood, than do the tendencies to fraud and folly, to manufacture doctrineadmajoremdeigloriam,creep in. doctrines are perverted by, and in favour of this privileged class and new profession, and the simple truths of man's origin, course, lifeaimand destiny, are obscured to demonstrate

ise unattainable by the dreamer, is left unexplained by science, so long may, such as desire it, hold the belief that god or some divine power, or some spiritual being superior to ourselves, may on occasion deliver unto some man, some truth it is good for him to know. let no one be ashamed still to believe in a spiritual world, although he cannot prove its existence to the rationalist or material philosopher; for remember that the philosopher candreams 191certainly never prove that a divinity and a spiritual world do not exist.[paper read on 4 october 1906. reprinted from s.r.i.a.,transactionsofthe metropolitan college(1906, pp.31-8.]20.divinationandits historya famous poet has written 'knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers, and the phrase embodies a solemn truth. from his first entry upon t

d divine your athens has produced and diffused among men, nothing is more excellent than the mysteries which exalt us from a savage state to true humanity; they initiate us into the true principles of life, for they teach us not only to live pleasantly, but to die with better hopes' plutarch, abouta.d.100, said:'inthe mysteries the great first cause of all things is revealed' epictetus, the greek philosopher, 120a.d.,tells us that the mysteries showed men how to regulate their lives to attain a happy death. the eminent author, william warburton (died1779),bishop272themagical masonof gloucester, in hisdivine legationofmoses,1.,294,wrote 'antiquity considered initiation into the mysteries as a delivery from a living death of vice, brutality and misery, and as the beginning of a new life of v

g the sacred mysteries in the visit of l243.neas to hades. a small volume, calledcrata repoa,describing initiation into the egyptian mysteries, was published in 1770, anony255 mously.itprofessed to give details of a series of degrees of the ancient egyptian mysteries as follows:1.pasrophoros or novice. 2. neocoros or craftsman. 3. melanophoros or master. 4. christophoros or judge. s. balahatos or philosopher. 6. knephu or astronomer. 7. prophetos, or prophet and priest.itstates that in these grades a secret language, called amma255 nian, was taught and used. this essay was by many people taken as a real revelation of antiquity, but the pretence was disclosed by the german authority, kloss. our rosicrucian frater,f.f.schnitger, translated and published this tract in 1890. j.m. ragon, the fa

nerva, and from it the god was re-born and restored to olympos. from the burnt remains of the titans all mankind was produced byzeusas the demiurgos, the fashioner of this earthworld.thedionysia, at their origin, were concerned with this fable, which refers both to the gods and to men- to human incarnation, sufferings, death, and re-birth, as is learnedly explained by olympiodorus, a neo-platonic philosopher of the sixth century. clemens, of alexandria, tells us of the special attributes or symbols which were used- the thyrsus, the pine cone, the golden apples, a wheel, a fleece of wool, the bone of the ankle, and a spotted animal skin.thepanathenaiawere another very important series of religious festivals. they were held in honour of athene255 minerva, the patroness of athens. in this cas

GILBERT THE SORCERER AND HIS APPRENTICE

oundations of the hermetic order of the golden dawn. from 1888 the story of macgregor mathers is the story of the golden dawn,butbefore then, in 1885, he had moved to london, joined anna kingsford's hermetic society, in which he delivered his first major lecture" and publishedthe kabbalah unveiled,his most successful and influential work.5and before 1888 he had met mina bergson, the sister of the philosopher henri bergson, who was to become successively the first initiate of the golden dawn and mathers' wife. after their marriage, in june 1890, they lived at forest hill close to the horniman museum, of which mathers had been made curator;butby 1892 they had moved to paris, where they remained- save for a prolonged visit to london for theequinoxandlooking glasscases of 1910 and 1911- until

GILBERT R A CHAOS OUT OF ORDER THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SWEDENBORGIAN RITE

d of visionaries believed and taught is unclear; their doctrines have been described as a blend of swedenborgianism and roman catholicism, salted with occultism. to the cold intellectualism of the swedish visionary was added the veneration of the virgin mary and recital of the athanasian creed; while individual members studied renaiss-ance alchemy, the theurgy of alexandria, hermetic authors, the philosopher s stone, the divine science of numbers, and the mystical interpretation of dreams4[4. even less is known of the rituals they practised, but when two english swedenborgians, william bryan and john wright, visited the society in 1789, they were finally initiated into the mysteries of their order, after a certain process of examination, probation, and injunction of secresy 5[5. subsequent

GILBERT R A THE MASONIC CAREER OF A

t 'waite is a rosicrucian, and cannot be suspected of catholic leanings (p. 110. he was evidently unfamiliar with both waite's life and his published works. martinism and the road to the craft after the diversions of the diana vaughan affair, waite returned to his more serious literary pursuits. he was becoming increasingly interested in the philosophy of louis claude de saint-martin 'the unknown philosopher (1743-1803, and in the newlycreated martinist order of the french occultist 'papus (dr. gerard encausse, 1865- 1916. he wrote to yarker for advice about joining the martinist order; yarker was enthusiastic 'i found an objection in the masonic branch of the order of st. martin to receive a non-mason, and 1 have no doubt that it would be found inconvenient both to you and them. however t

waite treated martinism as 'a body of mystic doctrine, and not a 39[39] letter from yarker to waite, manchester 30 january, 1897. in the collection of the late geoffrey watkins 40[40] letter from waite to yarker, gunnersbury, 5 february 1897. formerly in the yarker library, now in private hands. 41[41] printed in light, for 2 july 1898 42[42] the life of louis claude de saint-martin, the unknown philosopher, and the substance of his transcendental doctrine (wellby, 1901. the book was to have been issued in 1900 by redway but his business had failed in the interim and was taken over by wellby. masonic rite devised by saint-martin to replace the elect cohens'43[43. he was also sceptical of 'papus's' claims as to saint-martin's masonic connections and advised his readers 'to bear in mind tha

and experiment (kegan paul, 1891 (part 3, section 3: the freemasons) azoth, or the star in the east (theosophical publishing society, 1893 (appendix ii: the secret of freemasonry) devil-worship in france, of the question of lucifer. a record of things seen and heard in the secret societies according to the evidence of initiates (redway, 1896) the life of louis claude de saint-martin, the unknown philosopher, and the substance of his transcendental doctrine (wellby, 1901 (appendix iv: martinism and the masonic rite of swedenborg) studies in mysticism (hodder& stoughton, 1906 (part ill, chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 concern freemasonry) the secret tradition in freemasonry and an analysis of the inter-relation between the craft and the high grades in respect of their term of research (rebman, 1911)

GLOBAL FREEMASONRY

ns believe, but in beings that have spirit. but, in order not to accept the existence of god, masons resort to the foolish belief that attributes "spirit" to atoms. this materialist belief espoused by masons is a new expression of a pagan belief called "animism" which supposes that every material thing in nature (rocks, mountains, winds, water, etc) has its own spirit and consciousness. the greek philosopher aristotle combined this belief with materialism (the belief that matter is uncreated and is the only absolute) and even today, the attribution of consciousness to lifeless things being the essence of materialism has become a kind of contemporary paganism. global freemasonry ddg materialism accepts the creative ability of lifeless and unconscious matter. in other words, it turns matter

GNOSTIC CATECHISM

t 'waite is a rosicrucian, and cannot be suspected of catholic leanings (p. 110. he was evidently unfamiliar with both waite's life and his published works. martinism and the road to the craft after the diversions of the diana vaughan affair, waite returned to his more serious literary pursuits. he was becoming increasingly interested in the philosophy of louis claude de saint-martin 'the unknown philosopher (1743-1803, and in the newlycreated martinist order of the french occultist 'papus (dr. gerard encausse, 1865- 1916. he wrote to yarker for advice about joining the martinist order; yarker was enthusiastic 'i found an objection in the masonic branch of the order of st. martin to receive a non-mason, and 1 have no doubt that it would be found inconvenient both to you and them. however t

waite treated martinism as 'a body of mystic doctrine, and not a 39[39] letter from yarker to waite, manchester 30 january, 1897. in the collection of the late geoffrey watkins 40[40] letter from waite to yarker, gunnersbury, 5 february 1897. formerly in the yarker library, now in private hands. 41[41] printed in light, for 2 july 1898 42[42] the life of louis claude de saint-martin, the unknown philosopher, and the substance of his transcendental doctrine (wellby, 1901. the book was to have been issued in 1900 by redway but his business had failed in the interim and was taken over by wellby. masonic rite devised by saint-martin to replace the elect cohens'43[43. he was also sceptical of 'papus's' claims as to saint-martin's masonic connections and advised his readers 'to bear in mind tha

and experiment (kegan paul, 1891 (part 3, section 3: the freemasons) azoth, or the star in the east (theosophical publishing society, 1893 (appendix ii: the secret of freemasonry) devil-worship in france, of the question of lucifer. a record of things seen and heard in the secret societies according to the evidence of initiates (redway, 1896) the life of louis claude de saint-martin, the unknown philosopher, and the substance of his transcendental doctrine (wellby, 1901 (appendix iv: martinism and the masonic rite of swedenborg) studies in mysticism (hodder& stoughton, 1906 (part ill, chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 concern freemasonry) the secret tradition in freemasonry and an analysis of the inter-relation between the craft and the high grades in respect of their term of research (rebman, 1911)

GNOSTIC HANDBOOK

to use a highly spiritual and ethereal description such as that by the kabbalists or see the supposed fall of man in more material terms it is of little importance, something occurred and the algebra we use to represent it is somewhat irrelevant. the church teaches that god is the source of all perfect and that the whole world, visible and invisible, is his creation. yet one does not need to be a philosopher to observe that in this world of ours moral and physical evil- suffering, cruelty, decay, death- is abundantly present. how then can god, the supreme good, be the cause of suffering and evil? must he be held responsible for wars, epidemics, the oppression of the poor by the rich..the bogomils (a medieval gnostic sect) had an answer which was at least logical and consistent; evil and pa

GNOSTIC STUDIES THE GNOSTIC HANDBOOK II GNOSTIC THEURGY

tradition, contaminated the planes and caused the lowest reaches of the desire plane to become what we know as physical. it also caused a breach in the spiritual world, and formed what is known in gnosticism as the great schism. the great schism the church teaches that god is the source of all perfect and that the whole world, visible and invisible, is his creation. yet one does not need to be a philosopher to observe that in this world of ours moral and physical evil- suffering, cruelty, decay, death- is abundantly present. how then can god, the supreme good, be the cause of suffering and evil? must he be held responsible for wars, epidemics, the oppression of the poor by the rich..the bogomils had an answer which was gnostic theurgy page 35 at least logical and consistent; evil and pain

cted the spiritual path. the life of the gnostic on the path, involves the total transformation of the individual from one substance (dialectic) to another (static) and accordingly, involves the greatest revolution in consciousness possible. this transformation cannot be readily expressed in words but needs to be experienced. an interesting description of the transformation is given by the german philosopher fredrich nietszche, when he discusses the process of "overcoming man" and becoming the overman, comparing the gap between man (dialectic man) and the overman (static man) in the following terms. gnostic theurgy page 145 i teach you the overman. man is something that shall be overcome. what have you done to overcome him? all beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do

, he outlined a powerful system in which he taught that man was asleep and that mankind as a whole spent their whole lives in that state. he emphasised the need for a superhuman act of will to go beyond the sleep we are in and the need for a new path for the present age. he argued that the paths of the fakir, monk and yogi were for the old age and a new path was needed for the present period. the philosopher of the equinox of the gods- fredrich nietzsche we have considered some religious and occult perceptions of the equinox of the gods, there are obviously many more, we could fill a whole book just considering many of the perceptions people had of the change that occurred. when it comes to philosophy it is much the same, however, one name stands out above the others- that of fredrich niet

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS A

on on [h. the adept must now pass an examination on assigned ritual work [h1. reading list for z.a.m *1. astral projection, ritual magick and alchemy by francis king *2. fama fraternitas (provided *3. confessio (provided) 4. the middle pillar by israel regardie 5. the gospel of john- new testament 6. the book of revelations- new testament 7. genesis- old testament 8. ezekiel- old testament 9. the philosopher's stone- by israel regardie 10. catenea- by homeri 11. lexicon of alchemy- by rulandus 12. philosophy of natural magic- by agrippa 13. egyptian magic- by florence farr 14. the kabbalah unveiled- by s.l. mathers 8 15. zanoni- bulwer lytton 16. history- sword of wisdom- by ithell colquhon it is not required that the z.a.m. read each book, but the z.a.m. must furnish a report of at least

GOLDEN DAWN RITUALS ENOCHALL

own as czons. czons: angel, also known as czns. d: three/ third. d ialprt: third flame. d u i v/ du iv: in to the third angle. da: there/ three. daalo: demonic name (reversal of olaad) commanding cacodemons of earth of water. daltt: angel also known as datt. damploz: variety. daox: 5678. dapi: subservient angel of fire angle of water tablet, also known as daspi. darbs: obey. darg: 6739. darr: the philosopher's stone. dansar: wherefore. darsar: wherefore (cf. bagle. daspi: angel, also known as dapi. datt: subservient angel of earth angle of fire tablet, 19 also known as daltt. dax: loin/ loins. daxil: thy loins. dazis: head/ heads/ their heads. dazis siatris: the heads of scorpions. daziz: heads/ their heads. ddnh: subservient angel of air angle of water tablet. de: of/ to. dedvilh (meaning

GREENFIELD ALLEN SECRET CIPHER OF THE UFONAUTS

ncient gnostics saw the god and devil of conventional theology as an ego-maddened entity under the delusion that it, indeed, is the ultimate being! the late phil dick, in his last gnostic allegorical fiction, eventually settled on the name v.a.l.i.s. or vast active living intelligence system for this being or demiurge. he wrestled through his literary career and secret life as a christian gnostic philosopher with whether valis was a benevolent, if machine-like deity of a sort, or an insane extraterrestrial supercomputer. throughout recorded history, and, from the evidence of primitive objects and works of art, for aeons before, certain humans have had the capacity to tune into or channel various of these higher intelligences with varying degrees of accuracy. these humans have been our seer

GRERALD SCHUELER AN ADVANCED GUIDE TO ENOCHIAN MAGICK

which underlies all organic and inorganic matter. h.p. blavatsky, glossary to the voice of the silence the practice of alchemy has often been associated with the chemical process of turning base metals into gold. how-ever, enochian magick recognizes another important branch of alchemy- turning ignorance into wisdom, sickness into health, and mortality into longevity. it is symbolically called the philosopher's stone, the stone of the magician, and it works through a magical process of transmutation. it is not just a physical process but mental as well. the 'base metal' is the human body and mind, and the 'pure gold' is the body immunized against sickness and age with mind enl ightened to the true nature of things. within and around the human body is an aura, a subtle body of light with sev

GRIMM JACOB TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY VOL 3

u are not to imagine^ hans sachs calls an old sorceress by turns^ die alt unhuld' and' die weise frau' iv. 3, 32-3 (see suppl' vegius in the lex burg. 16, 3 and ohg. 1, 8 has been taken to mean magician; but, as the rubric' viator' in the last passage shews, it is one who fetches and carries, index, delator' of hke meaning are: xceiser manv, u-eise frau, kluge frau; on. visiudamadr, sage, natural philosopher, fornald. sog. 1, 5; serv. vietcht peritus, vietchtats -titsa veneficus -ca; pol. wieszczka sorceress, fortune-teller, wieszczyka night-hag, lamia; sloven, vezha witch. 3 analogous is the 0. fr. devin, divin, magician, diviner. witega. spa. galdor. 1035 inasmuch as spying is foreseeing and seeing, there is another word for conjuring that i can connect with it. without any bodily contac

H SPENCER LEWIS ROSICRUCIAN MANUAL AMORC 1990

sitatis illuminati.fellow, andhra university india.chancellor, rose-croix university (set biographical reference on page 125 [10] mrs. may banks-stacey co-founder and first grand matre in u.s.a (see biographical reference on page 123 [11] master kut-hu-mi, the illustrious d. g. m. of tibet (bod-yul) beloved hierophant of the r.c [12] robert fludd robert fludd (1574-1637. english physician, mystic philosopher, and rosicrucian apologist. fludd wrote the brief apology for the fraternity of the rosy cross and other treatises wherein he zealously defended the rosicrucians of his time [13] isaac newton sir isaac newton (1642-1727).english natural philosopher and rosicrucian. newton, a genius in the worlds of physics and mathematics, put forth concepts which had a revolutionary impact on science

ef apology for the fraternity of the rosy cross and other treatises wherein he zealously defended the rosicrucians of his time [13] isaac newton sir isaac newton (1642-1727).english natural philosopher and rosicrucian. newton, a genius in the worlds of physics and mathematics, put forth concepts which had a revolutionary impact on science [14] jacob boehme jacob boehme (1575-1624).german mystical philosopher and rosicrucian. boehme was the author of aurora, a book which inspired ecclesiastical opposition, but provided a profound influence on later philosophical thought [15 [16] above- the plaza and fountain, this view was taken from the promenade of the rose-croix university building and reveals the attractive plaza and the fountain, which at night may be magnificently illuminated. the pla

ane plane. the personality is essentially unworldly and immaterial because its purpose is to function on the immaterial plane. the two, personality and individuality, or the psychic and mundane, the immaterial and material working in unison, reveal an entity recognized both through its individuality and personality as it expresses itself in daily life.(see reincarnation and also soul personality. philosopher's stone.the principal search of the alchemists was for a pure and penetrating matter which, when applied to the metals, plants, or vegetables, exalts them. this perfect essence, this soul of matter, imparts its nature to all that is brought into contact with it. this substance which transmits its perfect qualities was called the philosopher's stone. to the transcendental alchemists, th

ilosopher's stone.the principal search of the alchemists was for a pure and penetrating matter which, when applied to the metals, plants, or vegetables, exalts them. this perfect essence, this soul of matter, imparts its nature to all that is brought into contact with it. this substance which transmits its perfect qualities was called the philosopher's stone. to the transcendental alchemists, the philosopher's stone was not a substance but the spiritual gnosis and exalted wisdom whose virtue transmutes man to a higher plane of consciousness and personal power. pineal and pituitary.glands which, in their physiological purpose, have to do with the regulating of various functions of the body such as the circulation of the blood, the growth of the bones and tissues, and the development of the

HAMIL THE ROSICRUCIAN SEER

intervalsduringthenight,andwerereproduceduponmesmerisingthepublishedmaterial217youth, the learned sceptic dogmatically declares it impossible, and contradicted by the established laws of nature;-forgetting that these laws are merely certain modes of acting which we have discovered nature tofollow.such an objection,infact, assumes that we have a complete knowledge of physical science; whereas, the philosopher most deeply versed initwillbe the first to confess, like newton, that he is but a boy gathering pebbles on the seashore, and knowing almost nothing of the vast ocean of truth that rolls athisfeet'-editorofthedublinuniversitymagazine,vol.xxxviii.,p. 384.to the editor of the zoistsir,-ibeg to submit to your notice a mesmeric cure, effected without medicine, of a 'declared hopeless case'

isance and i must get rid of a lot (not occult) they get so horrid dusty in the london smoke if they are not kept in a bookcase, and even there they are bad enough, but i am always in pain and have no heart to move about or do any thing after business is over.letme know where to address you when you get to'paradise'-andwith kind regards believe me, yours faithfully and fraternally. now act like a philosopher and take care of yourselfliwalter moseley of buijduas park. he had been initiated into freemasonry in apollo university lodge no. 357, oxford, when a student at trinity college, but although remaining a member for the remainder of his life he was not an active freemason. he appears to have been more interested in practical magic. on his death his collection was bought by redway and inc

or paper [illegible] know the work i will get a copy also. i hope mrs irwin is quite well and has become converted and trust i shall soon be well enough to pay my respects to her,&with kind regards i remain, faithfully and fraternally yours.1anuntitled paper given by spencer to the bristol college sria, a rather confused statement on the history of occultism, rosicrucianism and the search for the philosopher's stone.323 raymond buildings, grays inn,w.e.8 march 1876 dear bro. irwin, i rejoice i am so soon to see you. i shall be in the restaurant (down below) at the freemasons' tavern! on thursday atvlpast 4 to get a [illegible].hockley'slettersto theirtmns75freemasonry, alchemy and occultism. hockley is possibly referring tothelifeofcagliostro,printed by hookham (1787).3260[no address]zzjul

hepimanderofhermestrismegistusand the works of paracelsus.20see note 5 above.21william canynges(?1399-1474),five times mayor of bristol; m.p. for bristol1451and1455;rebuilt st mary redcliffe, bristol, and the college at westbury where he became a monk in1467and deanin1469 22john frederick helvetius (d.1709),alchemist. on27december1666he received a mysterious visitor whom he claimed showed him the philosopher's stone. he believed the stranger to be artist elias, the prophetofalchemy, whose coming had been foretold by paracelsus. see a. e. waite,thesecrettraditioninalcherny(1926),pp.307ff.23johannes amos comenius(1592-1671),scholar and educational reformer. memberofthe moravian brethren: pastor(1614);elder(1632);bishop of lissa, poland(1648).influenced by the mystical writings of boehme.24jo

tus,which first appeared in1680. 28probably reuchlin,deartecabalistica(1517).29see note 9 above.30john heydon'stheholyguideleadingthewayto thewonderof theworld(acompletephysitian. withrosiecrudenmedicines(london,1662. 31see note 8ofletter2.32presumably hockley had supplied irwin with the meeting dates of british lodge no. 8 and the grand stewards lodge.hockley'slettersto the[twins51discovered the philosopher's stone in 1645. his writings were published 1654-84. 8theauthor of the two editions is unknown. they consist of potted lives of alchemists 'a selectionofthe most celebrated treatises on the theory and practice of the hermetic art, and an interesting if inaccurate booklist. they were hastily re-edited and added tobya. e. waite for his edition of 1888, a work whose existence he probably

le(1717).17 arthur dee (1579-1657, sonofdrjohn dee, alchemist, astrologer and unlicensed medical practitioner. author of the rosicru255 cianfasciculuschemica,(1631).18 dr john dee (1527-1608, the most celebratedofenglish astrologers. a mathematician by training he practised crystallomancy with albert laski and invoked spirits with edward kelly. he headed a fraternity, dissolved in 1589,toseek the philosopher's stone and invoke angels. wroteatreatiseof therosiecruciansecrets.19drjohn everard(c.i575-c.1650, divine and mystic, translator of50 therosicrucianseerpage 8 of his holy guide,30 fudged from agrippa's occult philos. book2page30.31i have many different forms of same twomssandit is a curious subject, i would go into it if i had time and were not so precious old. i hope this summer to do

for obvious reasons their locations are not given here.dated manuscripts1825 habai, containing the nature and offices of spirits, mystic incantations..extracted from scarce and valuable works. 1828 magia de profundis seu clavicula solomonis regis et theurgia goetia. with drawingsofcharacters, seals, penta255 cles etc (hi02* 1829 occult spells (talismanic magic.(hii2)1829 journal of a rosicrucian philosopher from apriljothto june 15th 1797, containing the processofthe philosopher's stone. by an alchemist. 1832 bookofthe offices and ordersofspirits; transcribed from a folioms.written byt.porter, 1583 [and] keys of rabbi solomon, transcribed from a ms translation into french, and thence into english bydrsibley, byt.palmer (hioi) 1833 collection of horoscopesofalchemists, astrologers and occu

ng the processofthe philosopher's stone. by an alchemist. 1832 bookofthe offices and ordersofspirits; transcribed from a folioms.written byt.porter, 1583 [and] keys of rabbi solomon, transcribed from a ms translation into french, and thence into english bydrsibley, byt.palmer (hioi) 1833 collection of horoscopesofalchemists, astrologers and occult philosophers.(hi2i)*1833 journal of a rosicrucian philosopher.[as 1829 [and] copy of the admissionofdr. bacstrom into the society of the rosy cross by the count du chazal at the island of mauritius 1794 (hrob)secretwriting29certify that it was true! if the original could be found it would provide one of the most remarkable instances of proven clairvoyance ever recorded. a further ten manuscripts recorded in redway's catalogues cannot now be trace

HANDBOOK OF EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

eiburg and g ttingen, 1980. 74. this papyrus is now in the british museum, london (pbm 10188. for a full translation, see appendix: primary sources. for a commentary on the creation myths, see j. p. allen, genesis in egypt: the philosophy of ancient egyptian creation accounts, 2d ed, yale egyptological studies 2 (san antonio, tx, 1995, 27 30. 75. this inscription is mentioned by the neo-platonist philosopher iamblichus in his book mysteries of egypt, written around 300 ce. the major temples and royal tombs of sais now lie beneath a marshy area that has not been fully excavated. 76. see appendix: primary sources under hibis texts. the temple of hibis has now been dismantled and is going to be rebuilt on a drier site. 77. the truth about herodotus probably lies somewhere between these opposi

HELENA BLAVATSKY NIGHTMARE TALES

ur went, with extraordinary, almost miraculous talent. yet as he was poor and had not hitherto made aname for himself in europe, he remained for several years in the capital of france- the heart and pulse ofcapricious continental fashion- unknown and unappreciated. franz was a styrian by birth, and, at the timeof the event to be presently described, he was a young man considerably under thirty. a philosopher and adreamer by nature, imbued with all the mystic oddities of true genius, he reminded one of some of the heroesin hoffmann's contes fantastiques. his earlier existence had been a very unusual, in fact, quite an eccentric nightmare talesthe ensouled violin61 one, and its history must be briefly told- for the better understanding of the present story. born of very pious country people

HELENA BLAVATSKY THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY

all are one. nor, as just remarked, that a prayer is a petition. it is a mystery rather; an occult process by which finite and conditioned thoughts and desires, unable to be assimilated by the absolute spirit which is unconditioned, are translated into spiritual wills and the will; such process being called "spiritual transmutation" the intensity of our ardent aspirations changes prayer into the "philosopher's stone" or that which transmutes lead into pure gold. the only homogeneous essence, our "will-prayer" becomes the active or creative force, producing effects according to our desire. q. do you mean to say that prayer is an occult process bringing about physical results? a. i do. will-power becomes a living power. but woe unto those occultists and theosophists, who, instead of crushing

hilosophy teaches us that, as there are seven fundamental forces in nature, and seven planes of being, so there are seven states of consciousness in which man can live, think, remember and have his being. to enumerate these here is impossible, and for this one has to turn to the study of eastern metaphysics. but in these two states-the waking and the dreaming-every ordinary mortal, from a learned philosopher down to a page 44 the key to theosophy- hp blavatsky.txt poor untutored savage, has a good proof that such states differ. q. you do not accept, then, the well-known explanations of biology and physiology to account for the dream state? a. we do not. we reject even the hypotheses of your psychologists, preferring the teachings of eastern wisdom. believing in seven planes of kosmic being

nd the logos in man is the eternal ego, that which reincarnates and lasts forever. but how can the evanescent or external shadow, the temporary clothing of that divine emanation which returns to the source whence it proceeded, be that which is raised in incorruptibility? q. still you can hardly escape the charge of having invented a new division of man's spiritual and psychic constituents; for no philosopher speaks of them, though you believe that plato does. a. and i support the view. besides plato, there is pythagoras, who also followed the same idea. says plutarch: plato and pythagoras distribute the soul into two parts, the rational (noetic) and irrational (agnoia; that part of the soul of man which is rational is eternal; for though it be not god, yet it is the product of an eternal d

outward man, but one of them must prevail; and from the very beginning of the invisible affray the stern and implacable law of compensation steps in and takes its course, faithfully following the fluctuations. when the last strand is woven, and man is seemingly enwrapped in the network of his own doing, then he finds himself completely under the empire of this self-made destiny an occultist or a philosopher will not speak of the goodness or cruelty of providence; but, identifying it with karma-nemesis, he will teach that, nevertheless, it guards the good and watches over them in this as in future lives; and that it punishes the evil-doer-aye, even to his seventh rebirth-so long, in short, as the effect of his having thrown into perturbation even the smallest atom in the infinite world of

ulates as his first principle, the existence of a certain universal solvent in the homogeneous substance from which the elements were evolved; which substance he calls pure gold, or summum materiae. this solvent, also called menstruum universale, possesses the power of removing all the seeds of disease out of the human body, of renewing youth, and prolonging life. such is the lapis philosophorum (philosopher's stone. alchemy first penetrated into europe through geber, the great arabian sage and philosopher, in the eighth century of our era; but it was known and practiced long ages ago in china and egypt. numerous papyri on alchemy, and other proofs that it was the favorite study of kings and priests, have been exhumed and preserved under the generic name of hermetic treatises. alchemy is s

tists, etc. but it became still more famous for its eclectic, or new platonic school, founded by ammonius saccas in 173 ad, whose disciples were origen, plotinus, and many other men now famous in history. the most celebrated schools of the gnostics had their origin in alexandria. philo-judaeus, josephus, iamblichus, porphyry, clement of alexandria, eratosthenes the astronomer, hypatia, the virgin philosopher, and numberless other stars of second magnitude, all belonged at various times to these great schools, and helped to make of alexandria one of the most justly renowned seats of learning that the world has ever produced. altruism from alter, other. a quality opposed to egoism. actions tending to do good to others, regardless of self. ammonius saccas a great and good philosopher who live

above) so called because of their practice of interpreting all sacred legends, myths, and mysteries by a principle of analogy and correspondence, which rule is now found in the cabalistic system, and preeminently so in the schools of esoteric philosophy in the east. ananda (sans) bliss, joy, felicity, happiness. a name of a favorite disciple of gautama, the lord buddha. anaxagoras a famous ionian philosopher, who lived 500 bc, studied philosophy under anaximenes of miletus, and settled in the days of pericles, at athens. socrates, euripides, archelaus, and other distinguished men and philosophers were among his disciples and pupils. he was a most learned astronomer, and was one of the first to explain openly that which was taught by pythagoras secretly-viz, the movements of the planets, th

of apollo, the son of jupiter and latona, called phoebus, helios, the radiant, and the sun-the best and most perfect is the one of this name, which is in the belvidere gallery in the vatican, at rome. it is called the pythian apollo, as the god is represented in the moment of his victory over the serpent python. the statue was found in the ruins of antium in 1503. apollonius of tyana a wonderful philosopher born in cappadocia about the beginning of the first century; an ardent pythagorean, who studied the phoenician sciences under euthydemus, and pythagorean philosophy and other subjects under euxenus of heraclea. according to the tenets of the pythagorean school he remained a vegetarian the whole of his long life, ate only fruit and herbs, drank no wine, wore vestments made only of plant

HEPTAMERON

ny, are probably questions upon which the court will not feel called upon to pass. i perceive no other feature of the petitioners' constitution that is obnoxious to legal objection, and accordingly i have the honor to report that i show no cause why the prayer of the petitioners should not be granted- august w. alexander, amicus curiae. page, 1 heptameron: or, magical elements of peter de abano, philosopher in the former book, which is the fourth book of agrippa, it is sufficiently spoken concerning magical ceremonies, and initiations. but because he seemeth to have written to the learned, and well-experienced in this art; because he doth not specially treat of the ceremonies, but rather speaketh of them in general, it was therefore thought good to adde hereunto the magical elements of pe

HOWE THE ALCHEMIST OF THE GOLDEN DAWN

have two female cousins coming, which would make our bed-rooms scarce, and we could not give you so good a one as you had last time. please let us know-as soon as you conveniently can that we may be ready for you. we will not talk now but reserve it till you come. 1 i have not been able to discover what brought mina- later she called her elf moina- bergson, the sister of henri bergson, the rench philosopher, to london. according to annie horniman 'early iii october 1882 at the slade school [of art, university college, gower street, i made the acquaintance of mina bergson. in the beginning of 1888 she introduced mr mathers to me as an interesting man whom she did not want to marry' for the mathers menage in london (189 -2) and subsequently in paris see my the magicians of the golden dawn

HP LOVECRAFT A DARK LORE

arch, 1927 published may and july 1941 in weird tales, vol. 35, no. 9 (may 1941, 8-40; vol. 35, no. 10 (july 1941, 84-121 'the essential saltes of animals may be so prepared and preserved, that an ingenious man may have the whole ark of noah in his own studie, and raise the fine shape of an animal out of its ashes at his pleasure; and by the lyke method from the essential saltes of humane dust, a philosopher may, without any criminal necromancy, call up the shape of any dead ancestour from the dust whereinto his bodie has been incinerated- borellus i. a result and a prologe 1 from a private hospital for the insane near providence, rhode island, there recently disappeared an exceedingly singular person. he bore the name of charles dexter ward, and was placed under restraint most reluctantly

the laboratory where most of the chemical experiments were conducted. curious porters and teamers who delivered bottles, bags, or boxes at the small read door would exchange accounts of the fantastic flasks, crucibles, alembics, and furnaces they saw in the low shelved room; and prophesied in whispers that the close-mouthed "chymist- by which they meant alchemist- would not be long in finding the philosopher's stone. the nearest neighbours to this farm- the fenners, a quarter of a mile away- had still queerer things to tell of certain sounds which they insisted came from the curwen place in the night. there were cries, they said, and sustained howlings; and they did not like the large numbers of livestock which thronged the pastures, for no such amount was needed to keep a lone old man and

once trying to recite it to his close friend dr. checkley till he saw how greatly it disturbed the urbane rector. it read 'the essential saltes of animals may be so prepared and preserved, that an ingenious man may have the whole ark of noah in his own studie, and raise the fine shape of an animal out of its ashes at his pleasure; and by the lyke method from the essential saltes of humane dust, a philosopher may, without any criminal necromancy, call up the shape of any dead ancestour from the dust whereinto his bodie has been incinerated' it was near the docks along the southerly part of the town street, however, that the worst things were muttered about joseph curwen. sailors are superstitious folk; and the seasoned salts who manned the infinite rum, slave, and molasses sloops, the rakis

hyperborean worshippers of tsathoggua; one from the wholly abominable tcho-tchos; two from the arachnid denizens of earth's last age; five from the hardy coleopterous species immediately following mankind, to which the great race was some day to transfer its keenest minds en masse in the face of horrible peril; and several from different branches of humanity. i talked with the mind of yiang-li, a philosopher from the cruel empire of tsan-chan, which is to come in 5,000 a.d; with that of a general of the greatheaded brown people who held south africa in 50,000 b.c; with that of a twelfth-century florentine monk named bartolomeo corsi; with that of a king of lomar who had ruled that terrible polar land one hundred thousand years before the squat, yellow inutos came from the west to engulf it

HP LOVECRAFT THE ALCHEMIST

castle in which i sat had been a feared and impregnable fortress. it told of a certain ancient man who had once dwelled on our estates, a person of no small accomplishments, though little above the rank of peasant, by name, michel, usually designated by the surname of mauvais, the evil, on account of his sinister reputation. he had studied beyond the custom of his kind, seeking such things as the philosopher's stone or the elixir of eternal life, and was reputed wise in the terrible secrets of black magic and alchemy. michel mauvais had one son, named charles, a youth as proficient as himself in the hidden arts, who had therefore been called le sorcier, or the wizard. this pair, shunned by all honest folk, were suspected of the most hideous practices. old michel was said to have burnt his

ISIS UNVEILED

eak away from their respective religious denominations. these are the back-door nicodemuses. and now with hlate let us inquire. what is truth? where is it to be searched for amid thb multitude of warring sects? each claims to be based upon divine revelation, and each to have the keys of the celestial gates. is any one of them in possession of this rare truth? or, must we exclaim with the buddhist philosopher "there is but one truth on earth, and it is unchangeable: and this is that there is no truth on it" though we have no disposition whatever to trench upon the ground that has been so exhaustively gleaned by those learned scholars who have shown that every christian dogma has its origin in a heathen rite, still the facts which they have exhumed, since the enfranchisement of science, will

e sense of this sentence, as well as that of the hebrew word ludt (translated in the septuagint 'angels' while it means emanations" were understood rightly, the mystery of the christian trinity would have crumbled, carry- ing in its downfall the new religion into the same heap of ruins with the ancient mysteries. this is the true reason why dialecticians, as well as aristotle himself, the 'prying philosopher' were ever obnoxious to christian theology. even luther, while on his work of r^orm, feeling the ground insecure under his feet, notwithstanding that the dogmas had been reduced by him to their simplest expression, gave full vent to his 54. daderotiom, xzziii, 2, p^wk? traiiiut d 'fiery l w' in the en^idi bible. digitizecoy google orphean views of aether 35 fear aad hatred of aristotle

rit. du maniek, i, p. 297. 66. z-afouoie, illmepart, ch. it, p. 257: puu, 1892, 3nl ed. the words "converted uid cmmcnted by sl paul" may have been in earlier editioni, but aie not in snl. 07. le rpuilime, eu, p. 215. digitizecoy google plato's prudent reserve 39 "i^tom no person hat seen except the son" can doubt that jeaus was a disciple of the same seckt doctrine which had instructed the great philosopher? for, as we have shown before now, plato never claimed to be the inventor of all that he wrote, but gave credit for it to ivthagoras, who, in his turn, pointed to the remote east as the source whence he derived his information and hb philosophy. moreover, it is undeniable that the theologies of all the great nations dovetail together and show that each is a part of "oae stupendous whol

and that, at the same time, this cause ie the generalise dement of au that it. it is these last sephiroth that constitute the natural world, or nature in its essence and in its wiive principle, na- tara natunau^ this kabalistic conception is thus proved identical with that of the hindfi philosophy. whoever reads plato and his dialog timaeux, will find these ideas as faithfully echoed by the greek philosopher. moreover the injunction of secrecy was as strict with the kabalists, as with the initiates of the adyta, and the hinda yogia "close thy mouth, lest thou sbouldst speak of thie [the mystery, and thy heart, lest thou sbouldst think aloud; and if thy heart has escaped thee, bring it back to its place, for such is the object of our alliance "this is a secret which gives death: close thy m

by ecclesias- tical history with the aureole of a martyred saint; the despoiled philo' aophers, the neo-platonists, and the gnostics, daily anathematized by the church all over the world for long and dreary centmiea; the curse of the unconcerned deity hom-ly invoked on the magian rites and theurgic' practice, and the christian clergy themselves using lorcery for ages; hypatia, the glorious maiden-philosopher, torn to pieces by the christian mob; and such as catherine de m dicis, lucrezia borgia, joanna of naples, and the isabellas of spain, presented to the world as the faithful daughters of the church, some even decorated by the pope with the order of the 'immaculate bose' the highest emblem of womanly purity and virtue, a symbol sacred to the virgin-mother of god! such are tiie examples

thstand peter "to the face; and if peter "was to be blamed" end loaa vorong, then he was not infauible. how then can his successor) boast of his infallibihtyp every kingdom divided agunst itself is brought to desolation; and every house divided against itself must fall. a plurality of masters has proved as fatal in reli- gions as in politics. what paul preached, was pr^tched by every other mystic philosopher "stand /lut aerefore in the liberty wherewith christ hath made us free, and be not eniangled again wuh the yoke of bondage" exclums the honest apostle-philosopher; and adds, as if prophetically inspired "but v ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" that the neo-platonists were not always despised or accused of demonolatry is evidenced in the a

hich the profanations of gnos- ticism made the militant and official church completely lose^ 168. see art magic, art. on peter d'abaoo. 1b9. somm ritual, pp. 429-433; see la magia au xlxmt tikle, pp. 142-3, 170. dogmt tl ritud de la haatt inatie. rituel, ch. vr. digitizecoy google 88 isb unveilbd how fantastical therefore is the assertion of father ventura that while augustine was a manichaean, a philosopher, ignorant of and refus- ing to bumble himself before the sublimity of the "grand christian reve- lation" be knew nothing, understood naught of god, man, or universe "he remained poor, small, obscure, sterile, and wrote nothing, did nothing really grand or useful. but, hardly had he become a christian when his reasoning powers and intellect, enlightened at the lumittary of fmih, elevate

sors; its hierophants and prophets, myitae and ejxtjaae^ of the once sacred adyta of the temple shown as demoniacs and devil-worship- ers. decked in the despoiled garments of the victim, the christian priest now anathematizes the latter with rites and ceremonies which he has learned from the theurgists themselves. the mosaic bim is used as a weapon against the people who furnished it. the heathen philosopher is cursed under the very roof which has witnessed his initiation; and the "monkey of god (t. e, the devil of tertullian "the origioator and founder of magical theurgy, the science of illusions and hes, whose father and author is the demon" is exorcized with holy water by the hand which holds the identical liiuiu* with which the ancient augur, after a solemn prayer, used to determine th

ISRAEL REGARDIE A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO GEOMANTIC DIVINATION

dly paraphrase the remark made by garibaldi, and say that "a priest knows himself to h an impostor, unless he be a fool, or htue been tavght to lie from boyhood" digitizecoy google digilizocb, google digilizocb, google !cb, google digilizocb, google digilizocb, google digilizocb, google digilizocb, google i digilizocb, gooesby the same author the golden dawn the tree of life the middle pillar the philosopher's stone the eye in the triangle a garden of pomegranates in this series how to make and use talismans a practical guide to geomantic divination by israel regardie the aquarian press 37/38 margaret street, london, w.e first published june 1972 israel regardie 1972 contents introduction 1. the gcomantic symbols 2. method 3. the judge and two witnesses 4. the question 5. the i louse 6. th

JASMUHEEN THE FOOD OF GODS

itional insights to what we shared earlier. as a yoga teacher, christian also offers a few extra tools for energizing the bio-system that many have found useful. the pineal gland is considered one of the body s greatest mysteries. today we know that it is an endocrine gland which secrets the hormone melatonin. it is shaped like a pine cone and placed exactly in the middle of the brain. the french philosopher descartes suggested that the pineal gland, or the cone gland, as he called it, was the dwelling place of the soul, and the gateway to the spiritual world. but apart from this comment, western science has mainly ignored this gland and considered it more or less useless. since darwin it has been described as reminiscent of an eye which no longer is in use, and originates from earlier his

JENNINGS HARGRAVE ROSICRUCIANS RITES MYSTERIES

hilosophy, or more properly of theosophy, which has not only exercised, for hundreds of years, an extraordinary influence on the mental development of so shrewd a people as the jews, but has captivated the minds of some of the greatest t viii preface thinkers of christendom in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. it and all that refers to it therefore claims the greatest attention of both the philosopher and the theologian. the thinkers of the past days, after restlessly searching for a scientific system which should disclose to them the deepest depths of the divine nature, and approve to the understanding the real tie which binds all things together, found the craving of their mind satisfied by this theosophy. we say enough in reference to the august possessors of this knowledge when

knowledge when we remind the reader that among those who knew how to wield (and to adapt, the stupendous acquisition to which they were supposed to have at last penetrated, were raymond lully, the celebrated scholastic, metaphysician, and chemist (died 1315; john reuchlin, the renowned scholar and reviver of oriental literature in europe (born 1455, died 1522; john picus di mirandola, the famous philosopher and classical scholar (1463 1594; cornelius henry agrippa, the distinguished philosopher, divine, and physician (1486 1535; john baptist van helmont, a remarkable chemist and physician (1577 1644; dr. henry more (1614 1687; and lasty and chiefly (in regard of whom this whole book is but the translation and exposition of his highly-prized and very scarce works, our own countryman* rober

ppa, the distinguished philosopher, divine, and physician (1486 1535; john baptist van helmont, a remarkable chemist and physician (1577 1644; dr. henry more (1614 1687; and lasty and chiefly (in regard of whom this whole book is but the translation and exposition of his highly-prized and very scarce works, our own countryman* robert flood or fludd (robertus de fluctibus, the famous physician and philosopher (1574 1637. hargrave jennings. london, april 6th, 1879* in regard to the value and rarity of roburt fludd s books, it may be mentioned that isaac d israeli says that forty and seventy pounds were given for a single volume abroad in his time such was the curiousity concerning them. at the present time the value of these books has greatly increased. fludd s volumes, and any of the early

are an imposition. it is easy to discredit things which we do not understand in fact, nature compels us to reject all propositions which do not consist with our reason. the true artist is supposed to avoid all suspicion, even on the part of those nearest to him. and granting the possibility of the rosicrucian means of the renewal of life, and supposing also that it was the desire of the hermetic philosopher, it would not be difficult for thomas vaughan. 35 him so to order his arrangements as that he should seem to die in one place (to keep up the character of the natural manner of his life, by withdrawing, himself, to reappear in another place as a new person at the time that seemed most convenient to him for the purpose. for everything, and every difficult thing, is easy to those with mo

of his fraternity so the author adds to be living even now; and a person of great credit at nuremberg, in germany, affirms that he conversed with him but a year or two ago. nay, it is further asserted, continues the author, that this very individual is the president of the illuminated in europe, and that he sits as such in all their annual meetings. thomas vaughan, according to the report of the philosopher robert boyle, and of others who knew him, was a man of remarkable piety, and of unstained morals. he has written and edited several invaluable works upon the secrets of the philosophers, some of which are in our possession; among others: introitus apertus ad occlusum regis palatium; lumen de lumine; magia adamica; anima magica abscondita; and other learned books; advancing very peculia

iants in wisdom who know how to carry on to perfection the knowledge which centuries have been piling up before them. but the age in which such men are cast is often unequal to appreciate the genius which seeks to elevate its aspiration. thus it was in 1820 that mr. william brougham proposed to consign george stephenson to bedlam, for being the greatest benefactor of his time. but now that we the philosopher hume. 37 have adopted somewhat fully his rejected ideas of steamlocomotion and high rates of speed, which were with so much difficulty forced upon us, we complacently call ourselves enlightened; and doubtless we are tolerably safe in doing so, considering that the stephensons, and similar scientific visionaries, no longer live to contradict us. we might add, that the rosicrucians hold

montfau on s monumens de la monarchie fran aise, paris, 1729, also jean-jacques chifflet, anutasis de childerie, 1655. see also notes and queries, 1856, london, 2d series, for some under the stone or the mystic human possibility, is the infant saviour, born in the mysterious month of the propitiation, or the mystical astrological and astronomical escaped month of the zodiac; and the stone is the philosopher s stone. the lisses of france. 43 learned papers on the fleur-de-lis. in the early armorial bearings of the frankish kings, the lilies are represented as insects, sembed (seeded, or spotted, on the blue field. these are, in their origin, the scarab ei of the orientals; they were dignified by the egyptians as the emblems of the enlightened. if the reader examines carefully the sculpture

iron on the so sudden clattering (as of the crowbars of man) on its operations of fire. 73 stony doors: stone caving the thing fire, unseen, as its sepulchre; stroke warning the magical thing forth. whence comes that trail of fire from the cold bosom of the hard, secret, unexploding flint? children as from what hard, rocky breast; yet hiding its so sacred, sudden fire-birth! who and what science-philosopher can explain this wondrous darting forth of the hidden something, which he shall try in vain to arrest, but which, like a spirit, escapes him? if we ask what fire is, of the men of science, they are at fault. they will tell us that it is a phenomenon, that their vocabularies can give no further account of it. they will explain to us that all that can be said of it is, that it is a last

KARR DON NOTES ON EDITIONS OF SEFER YETZIRAH IN ENGLISH

ted new york: schocken books, 1964. n. daniel korobkin, the kuzari: in defense of the despised faith, northvale/jerusalem: jason aronson inc, 1998; this edition includes informative footnotes. further on halevi, see israel efros, some aspects of yehudah halevi s mysticism and some textual notes on yehudah halevi s kuzari, in studies in medieval jewish philosophy (mentioned above) yochanan silman, philosopher and prophet: judah halevi, the kuzari, and the evolution of his thought (albany: state university of new york press, 1995) diane lobel, between mysticism and philosophy: sufi language of religious experience in judah ha-levi s kuzari (state university of new york press, 2000. chapter 4 (titled the sefer yetzira) of joseph dan s unique cherub circle (t bingen: mohr siebeck, 1999, begins

KARR DON NOTES ON THE STUDY OF EARLY KABBALAH JEWISH MYSTICISM IN ENGLISH

j. dan and f. talmage (cambridge: association for jewish studies, 1982. halbertal, moshe. concealment and revelation: esotericism in jewish thought and its philosophical implications, translated by jackie feldman. princeton. oxford: princeton university press, 2007, chapter 11 gtradition, closed knowledge, and the esoteric: secrecy and hinting in nahmanides f kabbalah h. henoch, chayim j. ramban: philosopher and kabbalist. northvale. jerusalem: jason aronson inc, 1998. idel, moshe. gnahmanides: kabbalah, halakhah, and spiritual leadership, h in jewish mystical leaders and leadership in the thirteenth century, edited by m. idel and m. ostow (northvale/ jerusalem: jason aronson inc, 1998. koren, sharon faye. gkabbalistic physiology: isaac the blind, nahmanides, and moses de leon on menstruat

5. scholem, gershom. gthe concept of kavvanah in the early kabbalah, h in studies in jewish thought: an anthology of german jewish scholarship, edited by alfred jospe (detroit: wayne state university press, 1981. willensky, sara o. heller. gthe efirst created being f in early kabbalah: philosophical and isma fillan sources, h in binah, vol. 3 (ed. j. dan; westport: praeger, 1994. gisaac ibn latif.philosopher or kabbalist? h in jewish medieval and renaissance studies, edited by alexander altmann (cambridge: harvard university press, 1967. wolfson, elliot. gnegative theology and positive assertion, h in daat, nos. 32-33 (1994. through a speculum that shines. vision and imagination in medieval judaism. princeton: princeton university press, 1994: chapter six. gvisionary gnosis and the role of

odes, psalms, fragments (garden city: doubleday and company, 1983 and 1985. it is a collection of utmost value, far more inclusive than the previous standard, apocrypha and pseudepigrapha of the old testament, edited by r. h. charles (2 vols, oxford: clarendon press, 1913; rpt 1973* b. philo philo, who has a somewhat anticlimactic relationship with jewish mysticism, was the most important jewish philosopher of the first century. thoroughly hellenized, he begins for us the long, and rather strained, counterpoint between neoplatonism and judaism (and, indeed, jewish mysticism) which simmers right on up to spinoza and beyond. of particular use in the present context are the following: on philo. borgen, peder. gheavenly ascent in philo: an examination of selected passages, h in the pseudepigr

ism and philosophy: sufi language of the religious experience in judah halevi fs kuzari. albany: state university of new york press, 2000. schwartz, dov. gjudah halevi and abraham ibn ezra h= chapter one) in studies on astral magic in medieval jewish thought, translated by david louvish and batya stein [the brill reference library of judaism, vol 20 (leiden. boston: brill, 2005. silman, yochanan. philosopher and prophet: judah halevi, the kuzari, and the evolution of his thought. albany: state university of new york press, 1995. sirat, colette. a history of jewish philosophy in the middle ages: chapter 4. strauss, leo. gthe law of reason in the kuzari, h in proceedings of the american academy for jewish research, vol. xiii (new york: 1943. iii. some works by abraham ibn ezra have been tran

LAITMAN M FROM CHAOS TO HARMONY

basis of nature, by which every living organism exists, as well as the whole of nature. to have a meaningful, secure, and peaceful life, we must know the perfect method to satisfy the desire to enjoy, the ego. 51 3 altruism is life s law when we research nature, we discover the phenomenon of altruism. the word, altruism, comes from the latin word, alter, which means other. the 19th century french philosopher, auguste comte, defined altruism as the opposite of egoism. other common definitions of altruism are love of others, devotion of self to love of others, excessive generosity, a predilection to work for the good of others, and non-egoistic care for others. like egoism, altruism is a term that fits no other creature besides man. this is because concepts such as intention and free will re

LAITMAN M KABBALAH REVEALED

obably the best known example of a great kabbalist who was also a great leader. the involvement of kabbalists in their societies helped their contemporary scholars develop the basis of what we now know as western philosophy, which later became the basis of modern science. in that regard, here s what johannes reuchlin, a humanist, classics scholar, and gottfried leibnitz, a great mathematician and philosopher, candidly expressed his thoughts on how secrecy had affected kabbalah: because man did not have the right key to the secret, the thirst for knowledge was ultimately reduced to all sorts of trivia and superstitions that brought forward a sort of vulgar kabbalah that has little in common with the true kabbalah, as well as various fantasies under the false name of magic, and this is what

LAITMAN M KABBALAH SCIENCE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE

convert the name kabbala, unknown to the greeks, in the greek name philosophy. pythagoras philosophy emanated from the infinite sea of the kabbalah. this is the kabbala, which does not let us spend our lives on the ground, but rather raises our intellect to the highest goal of understanding--reuchlin, de arte cabbalistica giovanni pico della mirandola (1463-1494) an italian scholar and platonist philosopher whose de hominis dignitate oratio (oration on the dignity of man, composed in 1486, was a characteristic renaissance work. it reflected his syncretistic method of taking the best elements from other philosophies and combining them in his own work. additionally, della mirandola researched kabbalah, the bible, and the koran after reading them in their original languages. this true interp

ted today. adam, the first man, was very familiar with the kabbalah. he knew the signatures of all things, and hence gave all animals the most suitable names. therefore the hebrew language too contains the best names for all animals, which themselves indicate their nature--kurt sprengel versuch einer pragmatischen geschichte der arzeikunde raymundus lullus (1235-1315) lullus, a spanish writer and philosopher born into a wealthy family in palma, mallorca, was well educated, and became the tutor of king james ii of aragon. he wrote in arabic, latin and catalan. he wrote treatises on alchemy and botany, ars magna, and llibre de meravelles. the creation, or language, is an adequate subject of the science of kabbalah that is why it is becoming clear that its wisdom governs the rest of the scien

re subordinate to that wisdom (sapientia; and their= the sciences] principles and rules are subordinate to her= the kabbalah] principles and rules; and therefore their= the sciences ]mode of argumentation is insufficient without her= the kabbala--raymundus lullus, raymundi lulli opera p r o m i n e n t s c h o l a r s w r i t e a b o u t k a b b a l a h 213 giordano bruno (1548-1600) this italian philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, and occultist was ahead of his time. his theories anticipated modern science. the most notable of these were his theories of the infinite universe and the multiplicity of worlds, in which he rejected the traditional geocentric (earth-centered) astronomy and intuitively went beyond the copernican heliocentric (sun-centered) theory, which still maintained a fi

the whole divinity can be affiliated to one original source, as well as the whole light, which shines originally and independently, and the images, which break in numerous different mirrors as in just as many individual objects can be led back to a formal and ideal principle, the source of those images--giordano bruno, le opere italiane gottfried wilhelm leibnitz (1646-1716) leibnitz was a german philosopher, mathematician, and political adviser, important both as a metaphysician and as a logician and distinguished also for his independent invention of the differential and integral calculus. in 1661 he entered the university k a b b a l a h, s c i e n c e, a n d t h e m e a n i n g o f l i f e 214 of leipzig as a law student; there he encountered the ideas of men who had revolutionized sci

thirst for knowledge here eventually led to vanities and superstition of all kinds, from which ultimately developed a kind of vulgar cabbala that lies far away from the true one, as well as diverse fantastic theories under the false name of magic; the books are teeming with those--leibnitz hauptschriften zur grundlegung der philosophie friedrich von schlegel (1772-1829) german writer, critic and philosopher, contemporary of goethe, schiller and novalis. a pioneer in comparative indo-european linguistics and comparative philology, schlegel deeply influenced the early german romantic movement. he is generally held to be the person who first established the term romantisch in the literary context. the true esthetics is kabbalah--schlegel, kritische f. schlegel-ausgabe publisher: ernst behler

LAITMAN M THE KABBALAH EXPERIENCE

l a h e x p e r i e n c e 240 t h e s o u l a n d t h e p h y s i c a l b o dy q: where inside the body is the soul? a: it is impossible to describe what the soul is and where it is in the body just by observing it with our minds. that is because within us there is now only the animate soul, the force that sustains us. there is not an organ in our body that is capable of feeling the soul. q: the philosopher deckard argued that the soul is where the third eye is, whereas yogananda maintained that it is in the brain. a: you are trying to convince me that the soul is somehow connected with the body and that it is, for example, where the third eye is. perhaps you agree with yogananda that the soul is in the brain, and thus you ascribe the brain activity to the soul because you, as yet, do not

LEADBEATER CW GLIMPSES OF MASONIC HISTORY

ian succession directly, although something of its inspira-tion and influence was transmitted to certain of the mystic schools of the middle ages. nevertheless our rites have the same purpose, symbolize the same invisible worlds, and are intended to prepare candidates for the same august reality that lies behind all true systems of the mysteries alike. 386. the school of pythagoras 387. the great philosopher pythagoras was born in samos about 582 b.c, and was the founder of the school that bore his name and studied his teachings in greece, italy, egypt and asia minor. mr. g. r. s. mead says of the pythagorean school: 388. the finest characters among women with which ancient greece presents us were formed in the school of pythagoras, and the same is true of the men. the authors of antiquity

of speculative masonry, and also as a bro. of the rosy cross; the latter suggestion is possible, although no evidence exists upon the point, but the former cannot of course be accepted by those who hold that masonry has descended from the ancient mysteries. a speculation is put forward by bro. a. e. waite in a recent book, connecting the acception with robert fludd, the great english rosicrucian philosopher (1576-1637. he says: 576. however and whenever it arose, my thesis is that the acception may have included a group of hermetic students, of which there were many at the period; that fludd drew them together or took his place among them; and that- after his manner and the manner of the rosy cross- they began to speak of spiritual building in a hall of masons, of a hermetic art in stone;

writing the silentium post clamores (1617; the symbola aureae mensae (1617, and the themis aurea (1618- all of which expound and defend rosicrucian and alchemical philosophy. thomas vaughan, although not an actual member of the society, was in close sympathy with its tenets, and translated into english the fama fraternitatis and the confessio. there were robert flood, a great english rosicrucian philosopher, author of the tractatus apologeticus, the tractatus theologo-philosophicus, and other works; sincerus renatus, or sigmund richter, who published in 1710 the curious work, the perfect and true preparation of the philosophical stone, according to the secretof the brotherhoods of the golden and rosy cross, with which is included the rules of the above-mentioned order for the initiation o

held the parchment called t, the which next unto the bible is our greatest treasure, which ought not to be delivered to the censure of the world. various other objects were discovered- looking-glasses of divers virtues, little bells, burning lamps, and chiefly wonderful artificial songs- and most important of all, the secret book m. and other volumes, including certain of those of paracelsus, the philosopher and chemist of the sixteenth century. 718. such is the traditional history of christian rosenkreutz, as contained in the documents of the order. the form in which the story is cast shows that it is obviously not intended to be an historical narrative. it is clearly designed as an allegory to express certain hidden truths to those whose eyes are opened, even though historical details ar

LEWIS JAMES SATANISM TODAY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION FOLKLORE AND POPULAR CULTURE

its mythology, folklore, philosophy, literature, and history. new york: harper& row, 1977. aquinas, thomas anyone assailed is exercised by fighting against opposition. it was fitting for this procuring of man s welfare to be brought about through the wicked angels, lest they should cease to be of service in the natural order after their fall. aquinas, summa theologica the catholic theologian and philosopher st. thomas aquinas (c. 1224 1274) was born in roccasecca, italy. educated by the benedictines of monte cassino, he became a master in arts at the university of naples before entering the order of dominicans in 1244. in 1252 he was sent to the university of paris for advanced study in theology and taught until 1259, when he went back to italy to spend about ten years at various dominica

dealt with overtly, though they are alluded to in song and dance. there is also a happy ending: the devoted love of his wife is enough to protect him from the fate of being condemned to hell. dante alighieri devils and angels are included in dante s great epic, the divine comedy: satan at the core of the earth and apex of hell, and multitudes of the good angels in his paradise. the italian poet, philosopher and theologian dante alighieri (florence 1265 ravenna 1321) was born of a guelf middleclass family. he played an important role in florentine civic and political life. after writing his first work, the vita nuova, about his youthful idealistic love for beatrice portinari, he took an active part in the administration of the commune and was on the imperial side in the struggle between gu

st. mathers claimed to have written to her, and to have received a great mass of information and rituals, along with a charter for the isis-urania temple. after the other two founders died, westcott resigned in 1887 to concentrate on the sria, of which he was supreme magus, leaving mathers in complete control of the hogd. in 1892 mathers moved to paris, where he married moira, the daughter of the philosopher henri bergson, and from where he proceeded to direct the affairs of the hogd. the four had claimed to have a charter and a set of rituals from the secret chiefs of the rosicrucian order in germany, but in fact it was all written by mathers.mathers was one of the most brilliant amateur scholars of his generation, who also translated the greater key of solomon and several major cabalisti

alah unveiled, establishing himself as an occult scholar.during this time he met with wynn westcott and others to decode and rework a number of magical manuscripts. these became the basis of the hermetic order of the golden dawn (hogd, founded in 1888. westcott soon left the group and mathers gained complete control. in 1890 he married mina (later changed to moira) bergson, the daughter of famous philosopher henri bergson. in 1891 or 1892 he moved to paris and established a temple of the ogd, adding it to the temples in london, edinburgh, weston-super-mare, and bradford. the organizing idea of the ogd was the hermetic principle of correspondence between the microcosm (human being) and the macrocosm (the universe. through the proper magical procedures, a person can access or make manifest a

en court, 1993. wakefield, hollida, and ralph underwager. return of the furies. chicago: open court, 1994. mephistopheles the legend of faustus, who signed a pact with the devil by selling his soul to mephistopheles, became popular with goethe s faust. the basic narrative is, however, much older, originating as a mythical story during the medieval period. dr. faust s story drew upon the life of a philosopher who decided to make a living by casting horoscopes and predicting the future. in subsequent decades, faust s life was transformed into the legend of a philosopher who decided to abandon philosophy and devote himself to magic practices and spells. once, while practicing magic invocations,mephistopheles appears to the doctor with a proposal: mephistopheles will teach the doctor the devil

-shaytan (the demon, and was conceived of as a tempter. he is also associated with the lower human principle, the flesh, or the nafs, and has the power to lead humans astray by disguising his identity and inducing humans to do evil deeds. in the biblical literature, satan and the serpent are often interchangeable, particularly in the apocalyptic literature. but in the third century, the christian philosopher origen fully established the association between satan and the snake. in the following centuries the snake was conceived of as either the tool of satan, or as his incarnation. satan, however, is not only the symbol of death and evil. in judeo-christian and islamic folklore traditions, where he is typically depicted as the horned one, he appears in association with fertility and sexuali

had remained unburied or were not fed enough sacrificial food. the kingdom of hades was a dark underground realm surrounded on all sides by five rivers (lethe, styx, phlegethon, acheron, and cocytus) and at the entrance the mythical threeheaded dog cerberus stood guard. plato introduced the idea of a postmortem judgment based on good and evil deeds during one s life into greek spirituality. this philosopher also aimed at understanding hades as a psychological state rather than as a physical location, while all the symbology related to it was interpreted allegorically. in judaism the underworld was viewed as a dusty shadowy realm called sheol, representing the extreme point in the universe, at the opposite end from heaven. in the ethiopian apocalypse of enoch, sheol is subdivided into thre

LIBER 141

r initiations confirmeth this. yet considerations of divinity and of philosophy, and even of physics, do assure that our way excelleth others even as spring tides exceed the neap. water burneth the skin not at all, and the oil of vitriol but slowly but add a drop of water to the drop of oil, and instantly cometh heat and a pang intense and sharp. this is but analogy, yet just, and pleasing to the philosopher. xii of the choice of an assistant with regard to the choice of one to serve this sacrament, man is so confused in mind, and so easily deceived as to this matter, that it seems to us not unreasonable to allow full sway to the caprice of the moment. for this caprice so-called is in truth perhaps the voice of the sub-consciousness; that is, it is the deliberate choice of the holy phallus

LIBER 777

bine these ideas, not in the mutual toleration of subcontraries, but in the affirmation of contraries, that transcending of the laws of intellect which is madness in the ordinary man, genius in the overman who hath arrived to strike off more fetters from our understanding. the savage who cannot conceive of the number six, the orthodox mathematician who cannot conceive of the fourth dimension, the philosopher who cannot conceive of the absolute all these are one; all must be impregnated with the divine essence of the phallic yod of macroprosopus, and give birth to their idea. true (we may agree with balzac, the absolute recedes; we never grasp it; but in the travelling there is joy. am i no better than a staphylococcus because my ideas still crowd in chains? but we digress. the last attempt

ty senior of genesis, that lawgiver of leviticus, that phallus of the depopulated slaves of the egyptians, that jealous king-god of the times of the kings, that more spiritual conception of the captivity, only invented when all temporal hope was lost, that medi val battleground of cross-chopped logic, that being stripped of all his attributes and assimilated to parabrahman and the absolute of the philosopher? satan, again, who in job is merely attorney-general and prosecutes for the crown, acquires in time all the obloquy attaching to that functionary in the eyes of the criminal classes, and becomes a slanderer. does any one really think that any angel is such a fool as to try to gull the omniscient god into injustice to his saints? then, on the other hand, what of moloch, that form of jeh

LIBER ALEPH

directly threaten its political stability, only such modes of life as work manifest and proven hurt to others, or cause general disorder by their scandal. therefore save and except he interferes thereby with the root laws of common weal, a man is free to develop as he will according to his true nature. s liber aleph vel cxi 126 du de scienti modo (of the method of science) o the mind of the early philosopher, therefore, any variation in type must appear as a disaster; yea, intelligence itself must perforce prove its value to the brute, or he distrusteth it and destroyeth it. yet as thou knowest, that variation which is fitted to the environment is the salvation of the species. only among men, his fellows turn ever upon the saviour, and rend him, until those who follow him in secret, and it

LIBER CXLVIII SOLDIER AND THE HUNCHBACK

, for all its? form. and the name of that question is nibbana. take this matter of the soul. when mr. judas mccabbage1 asks the man in the street why he believes in a soul, the man stammers out that he has always heard so; naturally mccabbage has no difficulty in proving to him by biological methods that he has no soul; and with a sunny smile each passes on his way. but mccabbage is wasted on the philosopher whose belief in a soul rests on introspection; we must have heavier metal; hume will serve our turn, may be. but hume in his turn becomes perfectly futile, pitted against the hindu mystic, who is in constant enjoyment of his new-found atman. it takes a buddha-gun to knock his castle down. now the ideas of mccabbage are banal and dull; those of hume are live and virile; there is a joy i

ant enjoyment of his new-found atman. it takes a buddha-gun to knock his castle down. now the ideas of mccabbage are banal and dull; those of hume are live and virile; there is a joy in them greater than the joy of the man in the street. so too the buddha-thought, anatta, 1 [joseph mccabe, a grationalist h/ atheist writer of the period. t.s] 14 liber cxlviii is a more splendid conception than the philosopher fs dutch-dolllike ego, or the rational artillery of hume. this weapon, too, that has destroyed our lesser, our illusionary universes, ever revealing one more real, shall we not wield it with divine ecstasy? shall we not, too, perceive the interdependence of the questions and the answers, the necessary connection of the one with the other, so that (just as 0 is an indefinite) we destroy

LIBER LVII

tly taken from golden dawn teachings or rituals which accompanied the instalments of the temple of solomon the king in equinox i (2-3. most can be found in regardie, golden dawn. t.s] 28 [i.e, crowley. t.s] 18 liber lviii great. the clash of these produces a finite positive idea which happens (see tycarb29 for a more careful study, though i must not be understood to indorse every word in our poet-philosopher.s thesis) to be light, rwa. this word rwa is most important. it symbolises the universe immediately after chaos, the confusion or clash of the infinite opposites. a is the egg of matter; w is b, the bull, or energy-motion; and r is the sun, or organised and moving system of orbs. the three letters of rwa thus repeat the three ideas. the nature of rwa is this analysed, under the figure

LIBER LXVII THE SWORD OF SONG

onscious power watching my mind, each thought controlling, hurling to nothingness, while rolling the thunders after lightning.s flower* see his remarks upon the rational piano, and the conclusions to which the evidence of its senses would lead it. 595 600 605 610 615 620 625 a test. the artist.s concentration on his work. yogi but a more vigorous artist. indignation of poet suppressed by yogi and philosopher alike. 38 the sword of song destroying passion, feeling, thought, the very practice you have sought unconscious, when you work the best, i carry on one step firm-pressed further than you the path, and you for all my trouble, comment .true .auto-hypnosis. very quaint!.53 no one supposes me a saint.54 some saints to wrath would be inclined with such a provocation pecked! but i remember a

enly, once the rate of change has been sufficiently slowed down, so that, even for a few seconds, the relation of subject and object remains impregnable. it is a circumstance of little interest to the present essayist that this annihilation of duality is associated with intense and passionless peace and delight; the fact has been a bribe to the unwary, a bait for the charlatan, a hindrance to the philosopher; let us discard it* hume, and kant in the .prolegomena. discuss this phenomenon unsatisfactorily..a. c. it is this rapture which has ever been the bond between mystics of all shades; and the obstacle to any accurate observation of the phenomenon, its true causes, and so on. this must always be a stumblingblock to more impressionable minds; but there is no doubt as to the fact.it is a f

his being the sole condition on which morals, religion, and fees to priests can continue. for the deist has only to advance his fundamental idea to be forced round in a vicious circle of absurdities.1 the buddhist makes a clean sweep of all this sort of nonsense. he analyses the phenomena of mind, adopting berkeley.s paradox that .matter is immaterial. in a sane and orderly way. the .common-sense philosopher. whom i leave to chew the bitter leaves of professer huxley.s essay .on sensation and the unity of the structure of sensiferous organs. observes, on lifting his arm .i lift my arm. the buddhist examines this proposition closely, and begins .there is a lifting of an arm. by this terminology he avoids teutonic discussions concerning the ego and nonego. 2 but how does he know this proposi

LIBER SAMEKH

if we reject or alter the negative of a photograph we shall not get a perfect positive. this means, free from ideas, however excellent in themselves, which are foreign to it. for instance, literary interest has no proper place in a picture. liber samekh svb figvra dccc 32 is sublimely quintessiantial of his ideal. a musician may be rapt away by majestic melodies such as he never hoped to hear. a philosopher may attain apprehension of tremendous truths, the solution of problems that had baffled him all his life. conformably with this doctrine, we read of illuminations experienced by simple-minded men, such as a workman who gsaw god h and likened him to ga quantity of little pears. h again, we know that ecstasy, impinging upon unbalanced minds, inflames the idolized idea, and produces fanat

LIBER V VEL REGULI

mens fell into the hudson river, he might remember the proverb and clutch at an imaginary straw. words such as .truth. are like that straw. confusion of thought is concealed, and its impotence denied, by the invention. this paragraph opened with .we know: yet, questioned .we. make haste to deny the possibility of possessing, or even of defining, knowledge. what could be more certain to a parabola-philosopher that he could be approached in two ways, and two only? it would be indeed little less that the whole body of his knowledge, implied in the theory of his definition of himself, and confirmed by every single experience. he could receive impressions only be meeting a, or being caught up by b. yet he would be wrong in an infinite number of ways. there are therefore a013 possibilities that

LIBER XLI THIEN TAO

nomalies which disgusted the nation by a campaign of glaring and venal sophistries. these deceived nobody, and only inspired the contempt, which might have been harmless, with a hate which threatened to engulph the community in an abyss of the most formidable convulsions. such was the razor-edge upon which the unsteady feet of the republic strode when, a few years before the date of my visit, the philosopher kwaw landed at nagasaki after an exhilarating swim from the mainland. ii( gstanding alone. h) kwaw, when he crossed the yellow sea, was of the full age of thirtytwo years. the twenty previous equinoxes had passed over his head as he wandered, sole human tenant, among the colossal yet ignoble ruins of wei hai wei. his only companions were the lion and the lizard, who frequented the crum

ought assures your beetle-headed suppliant that your glorious nobility must meet him before the controversy can be decided (9) true. would your sublimity condescend to defile himself by entering this muck-sweeper fs miserable hovel (10) expect leprous dragon with beri beri at your high mightiness fs magnificent heavenly palace to-morrow (thursday) afternoon at three sharp. thus met kwaw, the poet-philosopher of china; and juju, the godfather of his country. sublime moment in eternity! to the names of joshua and hezekiah add that of kwaw! for though he was a quarter of an hour late for the appointment, the hands went back on the dial of juju fs chronometer, so that no shadow of distrust or annoyance clouded the rapture of that supreme event. iii( gthe manifesting of simplicity. h) gwhat, h

LIBER XV CHYMICAL JOUSTING OF PERARDUA

t. now this metal is not in any wise like unto earthly metal; let the brethren well beware, for many false knaves be abroad. three things be golden: the mineral gold of the merchant that is dross; the vegetable gold that groweth from the seed of the scroll by virture of the lion; and the animal gold that cometh forth from the regimen of the dragon, and this last is the sole marketable gold of the philosopher. for, behold, an arcanum! i charge you, keep secret this matter; for the vile brothers, could they divine it, would pervert it. this mineral gold cannot be changed into any other substance by any means. this vegetable gold is fluidic; it must increase wonderfully and be fixed in the perfection of the sphinx. but this our animal gold is to this mighty pitch unstable, that it can neither

LINDOW JOHN NORSE MYTHOLOGY A GUIDE TO THE GODS HEROES RITUALS AND BELIEFS

d who performed historical acts (it is important to remember that berserks and dragons were not as fantastic to medieval historians as they seem to us) that look very much like some of the myths about thor that later were to be told by the nordic peoples. the idea that gods derive from humans whose actions are reinterpreted and deified by later generations is called geuhemerism, h after the greek philosopher euhemeros (fl. 300 b.c.e, whose claim to have discovered an inscription showing that zeus was a mortal king elevated to deity was generalized into a theory that has had considerable currency down into modern times. snorri fs euhemerism in the prologue to his edda continues with odin, whose gift of prophecy informs him that his future lies to the north. he sets off from tyrkland with a

LOGOMACHY OF ZOS

ophical presuppositions but is itself no better off with its 2. 9% e..1( x..1..1 2 e' 5 ]7 the flesh inherits all things. the last act man will forego is his sadism. human inventiveness: ego and sin. all virtues are expendable and dissipate easily, whereas evil is ever near and plethoric. the beginning of wisdom "wouldst thou be virtuous? then search out thine own evil (epictetus [footnote: stoic philosopher ca. 60.110 a.d] thence the stoic diverts his own evil to combat other evil. yes, and cast his bread upon the waters, without thought of return: what hurt shall accrue? virtue by stealth, fearless condemnation of evil. our significance: a virus or an axial shift could destroy mankind totally. consciousness may result from a reaction to infinite impacts. if we could define all the concei

LURQUIN STONE EVOLUTION AND RELIGIOUS CREATION MYTHS

thority in matters of doctrine, leaving it up to potentially many religious leaders to offer their own interpretation of the sacred texts. and there is the old joke: three jews, four opinions. historically, the general attitude of judaism has been that the creation account in genesis should not be taken literally: it is symbolic rather than descriptive of an actual fact. the great medieval jewish philosopher creationism and intelligent design 23 maimonides even wrote that only ignoramuses would take genesis literally. on the other hand, the age of earth, how life-forms came to be, and the timing of the appearance of humans are still very much debated by jewish scholars. for example, there is no general agreement on what is meant by days in genesis. be that as it may, many orthodox rabbis s

considers that humans are more perfect than, say, worms. yes, humans are more complex than worms, but they are not more perfect than worms in an absolute sense, and certainly not more adapted to their natural habitat than are worms. in fact, the notion that there exists a natural scale measuring perfection is an old one. what is called the great chain of being was first proposed by ancient greek philosopher aristotle and was further developed by the medieval scholastic thinker st. thomas aquinas (1225 1274. its corollary, the idea of biological, and even moral, progress, is a concept that survived into the nineteenth century (and quite possibly is still alive today in some quarters. this concept seems to have influenced lamarck. the great chain of being ranks all things according to their

xperiments dealt with the motion of accelerated bodies, the results of which were in agreement with a rotating earth but could not be reconciled with universally accepted ancient greek aristotelian physics and its reinvigoration by religious, scholastic medieval thinking. the dangers of creationism 187 the key term here is thus reproducible experiments. in other words, galileo was not an armchair philosopher-scientist who merely thought up alternatives to old science. contrary to aristotle and his medieval followers, galileo put nature to the test. do neocreationists, who, superficially, emulate some of the bold thinking of galileo and his demise at the hands of the establishment, merit the title of scientific victims of pervasive darwinism? the answer must be no. for one thing, what they

MANLY P HALL THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES

w jerusalem--the grand secret of nature. 145 alchemy and its exponents the multiplication of metals--the medal of emperor leopold i--paracelsus of hohenheim--raymond lully--nicholas flarnmel--count bernard of treviso. 149 the theory and practice of alchemy the origin of alchemical philosophy--alexander the great and the talking trees--nature and art--alchemical symbolism--the song of solomon--the philosopher's gold. 153 the theory and practice of alchemy, part ii the alchemical prayer--the emerald tablet of hermes--a letter from the brothers of r. c--the magical mountain of the moon--an alchemical formula--the dew of the sages. 157 the chemical marriage christian rosencreutz is invited to the chemical wedding--the virgo lucifera--the philosophical inquisition--the tower of olympus--the hom

is common urge the unfolding human intellect has explored the extremities of imaginable space without and the extremities of imaginable self within, seeking to estimate the relationship between the one and the all; the effect and the cause; nature and the groundwork of nature; the mind and the source of the mind; the spirit and the substance of the spirit; the illusion and the reality. an ancient philosopher once said "he who has not even a knowledge of common things is a brute among men. he who has an accurate knowledge of human concerns alone is a man among brutes. but he who knows all that can be known by intellectual energy, is a god among men" man's status in the natural world is determined, therefore, by the quality of his thinking. he whose mind is enslaved to his bestial instincts

gods wanted nothing, the cynics affirmed that those whose needs were fewest consequently approached closest to the divinities. being asked what he gained by a life of philosophy, antisthenes replied that he had learned how to converse with himself. diogenes of sinopis is remembered chiefly for the tub in the metroum which for many years served him as a home. the people of athens loved the beggar-philosopher, and when a youth in jest bored holes in the tub, the city presented diogenes with a new one and punished the youth. diogenes believed that nothing in life can be rightly accomplished without exercitation. he maintained that everything in the world belongs to the wise, a declaration which he proved by the following logic "all things belong to the gods; the gods are friends to wise pers

iritual enjoyments. pleasure, furthermore, is limited wholly to the moment; now is the only time. the past cannot be regarded without regret and the future cannot be faced without misgiving; therefore neither is conducive to pleasure. no man should grieve, for grief is the most serious of all diseases. nature permits man to do anything he desires; he is limited only by his own laws and customs. a philosopher is one free from envy, love, and superstition, and whose days are one long round of pleasure. indulgence was thus elevated by aristippus to the chief position among the virtues. he further declared philosophers to differ markedly from other men in that they alone would not change the order of their lives if all the laws of men were abolished. among prominent philosophers influenced by

existence of the soul, actual immortality is not included in their tenets. the soul was said to be composed of eight parts: the five senses, the generative power, the vocal power, and an eighth, or hegemonic, part. nature was defined as god mixed throughout the substance of the world. all things were looked upon as bodies either corporeal or incorporeal. meekness marked the attitude of the stoic philosopher. while diogenes was delivering a discourse against anger, one of his listeners spat contemptuously in his face. receiving the insult with humility, the great stoic was moved to retort "i am not angry, but am in doubt whether i ought to be so or not" epicurus of samos (341-270 b.c) was the founder of the epicurean sect, which in many respects resembles the cyrenaic but is higher in its

verse; and phenomenalism restricts knowledge to facts or events which can be scientifically described or explained. the most recent developments in the field of philosophic thought are behaviorism and neo-realism. the former estimates the intrinsic characteristics through an analysis of behavior; the latter may be summed up as the total extinction of idealism. baruch de spinoza, the eminent dutch philosopher, conceived god to be a substance absolutely selfexistent and needing no other conception besides itself to render it complete and intelligible. the nature of this being was held by spinoza to be comprehensible only through its attributes, which are extension and thought: these combine click to enlarge the ptolemaic scheme of the universe. from an old print, courtesy of carl oscar borg

ined supremacy over the will and the life is ruled by reason and not by impulse. the strength of christianity, said schopenhauer, lay in its pessimism and conquest of individual will. his own religious viewpoints resembled closely the buddhistic. to him nirvana represented the subjugation of will. life--the manifestation of the blind will to live--he viewed as a misfortune, claiming that the true philosopher was one who, recognizing the wisdom of death, resisted the inherent urge to reproduce his kind. click to enlarge the tree of classical mythology. from hort's the new pantheon. before a proper appreciation of the deeper scientific aspects of greek mythology is possible, it is necessary to organize the greek pantheon and arrange its gods, goddesses, and various superhuman hierarchies in

efforts to classify knowledge according to the baconian system revolutionized european thought; voltairism, which assailed the divine origin of the christian faith and adopted an attitude of extreme skepticism toward all matters pertaining to theology; and neo-criticism, a french revision of the doctrines of immanuel kant. henri bergson, the intuitionalist, undoubtedly the greatest living french philosopher, presents a theory of mystic anti-intellectualism founded upon the premise of creative evolution, his rapid rise to popularity is due to his appeal to the finer sentiments in human nature, which rebel against the hopelessness and helplessness of materialistic science and realistic philosophy. bergson sees god as life continually struggling against the limitations of matter. he even con

MEANING OF MASONRY

he old manner of life, which at every moment negates all that ritual implies? the ancient mysteries, then, involved much more than a merely notional philosophy. they required also a philosophic method of living--or rather of dying. for as socrates said (in plato's phoedo, from which much masonic teaching is directly drawn and which every masonic student should study deeply" the whole study of the philosopher (or wisdom-seeker) is nothing else than to die and be dead; an assertion repeated by plutarch" to be initiated is to die; and by the christian apostle" i die daily" their method was divided into two parts, the lesser and the greater mysteries. the lesser were those in which the more elementary instruction was imparted, so that candidates might forthwith set about to purify and adapt th

MICHAEL TSARION ATLANTIS ALIEN VISITATION AND GENETIC MANIPULATION

he use of biological weapons, each of which pro-duced its own specific effect. the samhara debilitated its victims by attacking themotor center of the brain, and the moha caused blockage of nerve impulses, resultingin complete paralysis. in the chinese feng shen veni i, we find similar descriptionsof germ warfare, and again reference is made to specific weapons causing specificresults. the indian philosopher aulukya discussed in his teachings the miniature solarsystem within the atom, molecular construction and transformation, as well as the the-ory of relativity, more than 2800 years before einstein. from the epic mahabharata,we read the following astonishing passage: it was as if the elements had been unleashed. the sun spun round. scorched by the incandes-cent heat of the weapon, the wo

yed? a continent was reputedly the size of europe. it boasted gorgeouscities, advanced technology and utopian government. it suffered a cataclysm and was reduced torubble that sank beneath the sea, lost forever. the legend of atlantis has been around for thousandsof years, and whatever its factual validity may be, it does claim a noble heritage, for its earliestknown proponent was plato.the greek philosopher wrote of atlantis in two of his dialogues, timaeus and critias, around370 b.c. plato said that this was a true story which derived from then-200-year-old records of thegreek ruler solon, who heard of atlantis from an egyptian priest. plato wrote that the continent layin the atlantic ocean near the straits of gibraltar until its destruction 10,000 years before. intimaeus, plato describe

final devastation of the complete universe [the end of the duration of brahma's life],a flame of fire emanates from the mouth of ananta (bhagavata purana 2.2.26) sage patanjali, the author of yoga-sutras, is considered by some to be an incarnation of shesha. he isthe author of the mahabhashya, the celebrated commentary on the grammar of panini, and a defense ofthat work against the criticisms of philosopher katyayana. his name allegedly represents that he fell asa small snake from heaven into the palm of panini (pata- fallen, anjali- palm. south indian v aishnava philosopher and spiritual leader ramanuja (11th century) is also considered anincarnation of shesha. atlantis, alien visitation, and genetic manipulation315 appendix e: dragons and serpents balarama the foremost manifestation of

duced as weapons in britain. 1805 morphine isolated by sarturner. 1806 napoleon defeats prussia (germany) at the battle at jena, causing prussia to realize that theirdefeat, they believed, was due to soldiers thinking only about themselves during time of stress in battle.prussia then took the principles set forth by rousseau and locke and created a new three-tier educa-tional system. the prussian philosopher fichte, in his address to the german people, states that thechildren will be taken over and told what to think and how to think it. 1807 french abolish slave trade by law. 1807 england prohibits slave trade. 1809 albert pike born in boston, massachusetts. 1809 massachusetts encourages its towns to make provision for the vaccination of inhabitants with cowpox vaccine. 1810 hahnemann fou

, sturgis, forbes and delano)joined connecticut (alsop) and new york (low) trafficking families under the auspices of the russellcompany and the british. 1830 export of nitrates from chile begins. 1830 britain imports 18,956 chests of opium to china. opium becomes the largest commodity in worldtrade. element v anadium is discovered. 1831 mazzini is exiled to france. 1831 george hegel dies. german philosopher who gave rise to the hegelian dialectic: thesis (createthe crisis) anti-thesis (offer the solution) which is the basis of globalist elite manipulation paradigms.the synthesis achieved becomes a symptomatic response instead of addressing the real cause (govern-ment. the world order organizes and finances jewish groups, anti-jewish groups, communist groups,anti-communist groups, and othe

MICHAEL W FORD THE VAMPIRE GATE

are impaired physically, you need not be in the astral plane. this is the process of developing the will. those who utilize the ritual practice of shape shifting understand, your limitations are set by you. this goes back to you are the only god that is and that before you can experience something more spiritual, you have to realize that you control the extent and power of your destiny. platonist philosopher plotinus (a.d. 203-269) defined specific levels of our universe. while they may or may not be valid, they are important in our study and definitions of subjective practice: 1. the world of matter. 2. the soul-world or spirit of the material universe. this looks downward into matter. 3. the higher spirit-world, that looks upward. this would be defined in luciferian witchcraft as 11 azal

indeed lifebreath, the essence of life itself. in the practice of yoga, specifically, ahrimanic yoga, the luciferian controls the flow of lifebreath throughout their body, growing stronger from refining the flow of this energy through the different chakras. while qi can be controlled, it is a part of the universe and thus may be absorbed and used magickally. 12 qi was written about by the chinese philosopher mo di and noxious vapors that would arise from a corpse were it not buried deep enough. later qi was understood as being a part of everything in the material and even spiritual world. qi was best understood as the energy surrounding the human body, slightly larger than the physical body. qi is the etheric body, the astral essence which maintains the human body. it can be directly contr

MOODY RAYMOND A LIFE AFTER LIFE

, for example, that whereas the physical body was weak and ugly, the spiritual body will be strong and beautiful. this reminds one of the account of a near-death experience in which the spiritual body seemed whole and complete even when the physical body could be seen to be mutilated, and of another in which the spiritual body seemed to be of no particular age, i.e, not limited by time- plato the philosopher plato, who was one of the greatest thinkers of all time, lived in athens from 428 to 348 b.c. he left us a body of thought in the form of some twenty-two philosophical plays or dialogues, most of which include his teacher socrates as chief interlocutor, and a small number of letters. plato believed strongly in the use of reason, logic, and argument in the attainment of truth and wisdom

MORALS AND DOGMA

ve, that is one of the lights of the lodge. for further instruction as to the symbolism of the heavenly bodies, and of the sacred numbers, and of the temple and its details, you must wait patiently until you advance in masonry, in the mean time exercising your intellect in studying them for yourself. to study and seek to interpret correctly the symbols of the universe, is the work of the sage and philosopher. it is to decipher the writing of god, and penetrate into his thoughts. this is what is asked and answered in our catechism, in regard to the lodge* a "lodge" is defined to be "an assemblage of freemasons, duly congregated, having the sacred writings, square, and compass, and a charter, or warrant of constitution, authorizing them to work" the room or place in which they meet, represen

aimed to be the lord god; and statues and images of him, in silver and gold, were found throughout the known world. he claimed to be regarded as the god of all men; and, according to suetonius, began his letters thus"_our lord and god commands that it should be done so and so" and formally decreed that no one should address him otherwise, either in writing or by word of mouth. palfurius sura, the philosopher, who was his chief delator, accusing those who refused to recognize his divinity, however much _he_ may have believed in that divinity, had not the right to demand that a single christian in rome or the provinces should do the same. reason is far from being the only guide, in morals or in political science. love or loving-kindness must keep it company, to exclude fanaticism, intoleranc

iritual _non_-sense "to retract" for example, is to _draw back, and when applied to a _statement, is symbolic, as much so as a picture of an arm drawn back, to express the same thing, would be. the very word"_spirit" means"_breath" from the latin verb, breathe. to present a visible symbol to the eye of another is not necessarily to inform him of the meaning which that symbol has to you. hence the philosopher soon superadded to the symbols explanations addressed to the ear, susceptible of more precision, but less effective and impressive than the painted or sculptured forms which he endeavored to explain. out of these explanations grew by degrees a variety of narrations, whose true object and meaning were gradually forgotten, or lost in contradictions and incongruities. and when these were

contemplates the truth close at hand, is forced to disguise it, to induce the multitudes to accept it. fictions are necessary to the people, and the truth becomes deadly to those who are not strong enough to contemplate it in all its brilliance. if the sacerdotal laws allowed the reservation of judgments and the allegory of words, i would accept the proposed dignity on condition that i might be a philosopher at home, and abroad a narrator of apologues and parables. in fact, what can there be in common between the vile multitude and sublime wisdom? the truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason" moral disorders produce physical ugliness, and in some sort realize those frightful faces which tradition assigns to the demons. the first druid

unless you be content with one, you lose the comfort of both. if you covet learning, you must have leisure and a retired life; if honors of state and political distinctions, you must be ever abroad in public, and get experience, and do all men's business, and keep all company, and have no leisure at all. if you will be rich, you must be frugal; if you will be popular, you must be bountiful; if a philosopher, you must despise riches. if you would be famous as epaminondas, accept also his poverty, for it added lustre to his person, and envy to his fortune, and his virtue without it could not have been so excellent. if you would have the reputation of a martyr, you must needs accept his persecution; if of a benefactor of the world, the world's injustice; if truly great, you must expect to se

ven to the poor. it is sweeter to forgive than to take vengeance. gaming and quarrels lead to misery. there is no true merit without the practice of virtue. to honor our mother is the most fitting homage we can pay the divinity. there is no tranquil sleep without a clear conscience. he badly understands his interest who breaks his word" twenty-four centuries ago these were the chinese ethics "the philosopher [confucius] said 'san! my doctrine is simple, and easy to be understood' thseng-tseu replied 'that is certain' the philosopher having gone out, the disciples asked what their master had meant to say. thseng-tseu responded 'the doctrine of our master consists solely in being upright of heart, and loving our neighbor as we love ourself" about a century later, the hebrew law said "if any

. religion, to obtain currency and influence with the great mass of mankind, must needs be alloyed with such an amount of error as to place it far below the standard attainable by the higher human capacities. a religion as pure as the loftiest and most cultivated human reason could discern, would not be comprehended by, or effective over, the less educated portion of mankind. what is truth to the philosopher, would not be truth, nor have the effect of truth, to the peasant. the religion of the many must necessarily be more incorrect than that of the refined and reflective few, not so much in its essence as in its forms, not so much in the spiritual idea which lies latent at the bottom of it, as in the symbols and dogmas in which that idea is embodied. the truest religion would, in many poi

or and the created, the necessary mathematics of the infinite, proved by the measures of a single corner of the finite--all this is expressed by this single proposition of the great egyptian hierophant_"what is superior is as that which is inferior, and what is below is as that which is above, to form the marvels of the unity_ xx. grand master of all symbolic lodges. the true mason is a practical philosopher, who, under religious emblems, in all ages adopted by wisdom, builds upon plans traced by nature and reason the moral edifice of knowledge. he ought to find, in the symmetrical relation of all the parts of this rational edifice, the principle and rule of all his duties, the source of all his pleasures. he improves his moral nature, becomes a better man, and finds in the reunion of virt

NAUDON PAUL THE SECRET HISTORY OF FREEMASONRY

nce of society such as the one the romans had let loose. despite the official resistance of the church, this science was a synthesis, a joining: the great renown of the roman empire, like the wisdom of greece or egypt, had never vanished from the memory of men. the church was the direct heir to rome and retained its dominance in this new world. but now next to the theologian stood the jurist, the philosopher, and the scholar. this conjugation, a return of authentic traditions, was the collective work of the latins (europeans or their descendants living in the latin states in the holy land, the people of the east, and the arabs. we have seen a broad view of the role played by the byzantine world in the growth of culture in the west. it was the arabs, though, who reintroduced aristotle in a

urch saint jacques de la boucherie.8 this same nicholas flamel gave two paintings to this church in 1413, one of which is called an image of a misericorde of our lord, whereas the other depicts the passion and the resurrection.9 it so happens that the coat of arms of the parisian masons and stonecutters depicted the resurrection and ascension of jesus christ. another famous architect and hermetic philosopher from a later time is philibert delorme, the builder of many "dwellings for philosophers" who was "general master of the masonry of the kingdom as well as the king's chaplain.10 it is important to underscore that the immense symbolism, the true thought of the middle ages, was not only the philosophical province of great doctors and scholars; it had a universal teaching power and the chu

ht with him his own pertinent opinion. the resulting understanding generally agreed upon was that freemasonry was the "original religion" handed down from such diverse sources as king arthur, richard i, ramon lulle, the gnostics and the school of alexandria, the templars (as instructed by judas of galilee, disciple of the hermit banon, pythagoras, plato, jesus christ and the apostles, the persian philosopher each-ben-mohammed- eleansi, ormus, the egyptians, the benedictines, the rosicrucians, zoroaster, abbaris, channondas, eudoxus, hermippis, hermes trismegistus, porphyrus, plotinus, proclus, jamblique, the priesthood schools of india, the gauls, the hebrews, the essenes, and the persian magi.22 the temple of solomon had been transformed into the tower of babel. only a single brother, one

ONYX TABLET OF SET

t all of it is hostile, much of it that appears benevolent or even neutral is in fact governed by natural or human forces which are ultimately predatory. onyx tablet: ot.intro temple of set author: michael a. aquino vi date: june 21, 1997 ce revision: html revision: august 8, 1999 ce thus, like the church of satan before it, the temple of set sees society in much the same way as the enlightenment philosopher thomas hobbes described it: a fiercely competitive struggle in which each person is driven solely by personal gratification. professed altruism is merely disguised gratification, as is most of what is termed "love. the task of the temple of set is twofold: first, we wish to construct a haven for initiates in which hobbesian motives and behavior are minimized, if not eliminated. in thei

PHILIP NEIL MYTHS LEGENDS EXPLAINED

the archer god that led him to be identified with the sun, whose rays fall like arrows to earth, and earned him the name phoebus, the bright. the laurel was sacred to apollo as a result of his love for daphne. at his shrine at delphi, his high priestess, pythia, chewed a laurel leaf before uttering an oracle. the answers given in her divinely inspired ecstasy were often obscure and ambiguous. the philosopher heraclitus wrote, the lord whose oracle is in delphi neither declares nor conceals, but gives a sign. apollo even the swan sings of you. as it lands upon the banks of the river peneus. the sweet-singing bard sings of you first and last with his high-tuned lyre. hail lord! hear my song. homeric hymn to apollo this greek votive relief dating from the 5th century bce shows a family sacrif

bull lover (see p. 56, and the minotaur, the offspring of this union, can also both be seen as manifestations of this god. ariadne, as mistress of the labyrinth (which represents the underworld) is the minoan persephone (see pp. 28-29. this interpretation explains the stories in which dionysus is the son of persephone, and also why dionysus in his role as hades lays claim to ariadne. the ephesian philosopher heraclitus tells us that hades and dionysus are one. dionysus and the dolphins dionysus, drunk on wine and as pretty as a girl, was captured while fast asleep on the island of chios by sailors. when he awoke, he asked to be taken home to naxos. the sailors agreed but treacherously sailed the other way. realizing this, dionysus pretended to weep and implored them to take pity. but they

kuo-lao was a famous hermit who resisted all attempts to lure him to the capital city. at last he made the journey, at the request of the empress wu, but when he reached a temple he fell down dead. his body decayed and was eaten by worms, yet he recovered. he traveled on a donkey which he could magically fold up into a piece of paper this is what he is holding. lu tung-pin lu tung-pin was a moral philosopher. one day he met chung li ch uan, the first of the immortals. while chung li was heating rice wine, lu fell asleep and dreamed his future life, in which he was successful and happy, but ultimately lost everything. he awoke convinced of the vanity of worldly ambition and became chung li s disciple. he traveled the world fighting evil and helping people, and is shown carrying a magic swor

REGARDIE ISRAEL THE COMPLETE GOLDEN DAWN

the chaos, the darkness, and the gates of the land of night" while man is assumed into godhead, and the divine spirit is brought down into manhood, a new heaven and a new earth make their appearance, and familiar objects take on a divine radiance as though illumined by an inter <39> nal spiritual light. and this is what, in part at any rate, was meant by the old alchemists, for the finding of the philosopher's stone converts all base metals into the purest gold. in his book centuries of meditation, thomas traherne gives an interesting description of the rapture of the inner personality, its reaction to the world, when it is freed by the mystical experience from all entanglements. he says "the corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be reaped, nor was ever sown. i thought it

me time that the first consecration establishes a semblance of the pillats to his right and left, it also has drawn forth from him a semblance of himself to the place vacated by the hegemon between the pillars (that is, the ceremony induces a species of schizophrenia so that the initiation may be effected. but see jung's commentary to the secret of the golden fher, and also my book on alchemy the philosopher's stone.-i. r) here then stands the shadow of the candidate while the scales of the balance oscillate unseen. unseen also and colossal, there is imaged before him tho-0th) as mettatron, in the sign of the enterer of the threshold, ready, according to the decision of the human will, to permit or withhold the descent of the lower genius of the candidate. meanwhile, the great assessors of

example of the first stages of that mode of operation, there is given an experience recorded many years ago by g. h. frater sub spe, and to some it may prove suggestive. the section on alchemy remains quite obscure since the subject does not interest me; and i regret that i have not been able to acquire a record of an operation based on it (n. b. since this was written, my book entitled the <154> philosopher's stone has been published. it is a fairly protracted survey and analysis of alchemical ideology.-i. r) the requiem ritual is an original contribution, though based on fundamental formulae, and i hope it will be found useful. so far as the first sections on actual ceremonial magic are concerned a few remarks may seem appropriate. let it be noted first of all that a formal circle and tr

RELIGIOUS TENANTS OF THE YEZIDI

slight infusion of the gospel has transformed the last remnant of the polytheists, into the christians of s. john, in the territory of bassora" it is not within the scope of this work to trace with precision, the relation existing between the modern yezeedees and the magians of old; enough has been advanced to show p. 127 that the religious system of both took its rise from the famous prophet and philosopher of the persians, and the after history of the yezeedees, their admixture with christians, and subjection to moslem rule, will fully account for any variations in their present opinions and rites, from those which they originally professed and practised. fr. 1 fn. 1. mr. layard, in his "nineveh and its remains (vol. ii. p. 462) gives the annexed sketch of a bird from one of the slabs du

RITUALS OF THE SOCIETAS ROSICRUCIANIS IN ANGLIA

latter part of the 15th century.the lives of the rosicrucians were dramatic to a sensational degree. the practical branch of thesociety was in charge of alchemists and hermeticists, who while they claimed, and not withoutmuch reason, their ability to transmute metals to silver or gold, further sought for mental and moralpowers, rather than riches, which are the aims of true philosophers. the real philosopher looks notfor pomp, glitter, splendour nor luxury, he has been schooled in a higher sphere and he appreciatestheir transitory nature. wealth in money to him is dross, far desire, and freedom from confusedannoyance of worldly thoughts, which are engendered and distracted by the purchases of riches.possessions, honour, rank and money to him are but as trifles; he forces the growing supern

hese great mysteries,would we be able to comprehend and understand them, unless he should bestow upon us some newfaculties of the mind?before yielding to a fuller consideration of these special subjects, let me advert to your recentinstruction and approach less abruptly such momentous revelations.as a theoricus you bowed to aesculapius, the god of medicine, but reverence is also due to theancient philosopher hermes trismegistus, almost contemporaneous with the law-giver moses, andcalled 'thrice great, by reason of his virtues and great learning. it was he who gave us the divisionof a day into hours. he is the alleged inventor of alchemy: the father of that species of philosophy,which claims to solve and explain all the phenomena of nature from the three chemical principles,salt, sulphur an

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART I

al magic universal doctrine of the trinity; that, in a word, he regretted nothing of the old world but its magnificent symbols and its too gracious images. julian was not a pagan; he was a gnostic allured by the allegories of greek polytheism, who had the misfortune to find the name of jesus christ less sonorous than that of orpheus. the emperor paid in his person for the academical tastes of the philosopher and rhetorician, and after affording himself the spectacle and satisfaction of expiring like epaminondas with the periods of cato, he had in public opinion, by this time fully christianized, but anathemas for his funeral oration and a scornful epithet for his ultimate memorial. let us pass over the petty minds and small matters of the bas-empire, and proceed to the middle ages. stay, t

itrary, and are all indicated in the great universal key, of which we give for the first time a complete and adequate explanation. let this work now go its way where it will and become what providence determines; it is finished, and we believe it to be enduring, because it is strong, like all that is reasonable and conscientious. eliphas levi. 1 i' a the candidate disciplina ensoph ketheri when a philosopher adopted as the basis for a new apocalypse of human wisdom the axiom: i think, therefore i am, in a measure he altered unconsciously, from the standpoint of christian revelation, the old conception of the supreme being. i am that i am, said the being of beings of moses. i am he who thinks, says the man of descartes, and to think being to speak inwardly, such a one may affirm, like the g

suddenness in the operations of nature, and we must not risk any violent rupture of the bonds of a departing soul. death is never instantaneous; it is, like sleep, gradual. so long as the blood has not become absolutely cold, so long as the nerves can quiver, a man is not wholly dead, and if none of the vital organs are destroyed the soul can be recalled, either by accident or by a strong will. a philosopher declared that he would discredit universal testimony rather than believe in the resurrection of a dead person, but his utterance was rash, for it was on the faith of universal testimony that he believed in the impossibility of resurrection. supposing such an occurrence were proved, what would follow? must we deny evidence or renounce reason? it would be absurd to say so. we should infe

RITUEL ET DOGME DE LA HAUTE MAGIE BY ELIPHAS LEVI PART II

ra-christian abstraction, and the cultus of the pantheons, by rehabilitating socrates, prepared altars for that unity of god, of which israel had been the mysterious preserver. but the synagogue denied its messiah, and the hebrew letters were effaced, at least for the blinded eyes of the jews. the roman persecutors dishonoured hellenism, and it could not be restored by the false moderation of the philosopher julian, surnamed perhaps unjustly the apostate, since his christianity was never sincere. the ignorance of the middle ages followed, opposing saints and virgins to gods, goddesses and nymphs; the deep sense of the hellenic mysteries was less understood than ever; greece herself did not only lose the traditions of her ancient cultus but separated from the latin church; and thus, for lat

uence of human will and intelligence upon the operations of nature, dependent in part on its labour, is otherwise a fact so real that all serious alchemists have succeeded in proportion to their knowledge and their faith, and have reproduced their thought in the phenomena of the fusion, salification and recomposition of metals. agrippa, who was a man of immense erudition and fine genius, but pure philosopher and sceptic, could not transcend the limits of metallic analysis and synthesis. etteilla, a confused, obscure, fantastic but persevering kabalist, reproduced in alchemy the eccentricities of his misconstrued and mutilated tarot; metals in his crucibles assumed extraordinary forms, which excited the curiosity of all paris, with no greater profit to the operator than the fees which were

pt. hermetic science, like all real sciences, is mathematically demonstrable. even its material results are as exact as a well-worked equation. hermetic gold is not only a true doctrine, a shadowless light, truth unalloyed with falsehood; it is also material, actual, pure gold, the most precious which can be found in the veins of the earth; but the living gold, living sulphur, or true fire of the philosopher, must be sought in the house of mercury. this fire feeds on air; to express its attractive and expansive power, a better comparison is impossible than that of lightning, which primally is a dry and terrestrial exhalation united to humid vapour, and afterwards, assuming an igneous nature, in virtue of its exaltation, acts on its inherent humidity, which it attracts and transmutes into i

an of the parable, or like those scribes who questioned tempting. ever stubborn and ever feeble, what he fears above all is the recognition that he is in the wrong. the past disquiets him, the future alarms him; he seeks to compound with himself and to believe that he is a good and well-disposed man. his life is a perpetual struggle between amiable aspirations and evil habits; he thinks himself a philosopher after the manner of aristippus or horace when accepting all the corruption of his time as a necessity which he must suffer; he distracts himself with some philosophical pastime and assumes the protecting smile of mecaenas, to persuade himself that he is not simply a battener on famine like verres or a parasite of trimalcion. such men are always mercenaries, even in their good works. th

an egg. f but the book of hermes 145 they understood thereby the physical, material world, while the seers meant the geographical, ideal, image-world, created by mind and the logos. as a fact, the priests of egypt represented mind, intelligence, kneph, with an egg placed upon his lips, to express clearly that the egg was here only a form of comparison, an image, a mode of speech. choumountou, the philosopher of the ezour-veda, explains after the same manner to the fanatic biache what must be understood by the golden egg of brahma. h we must not despair altogether of a period which still concerns itself with these serious and reasonable researches; we have therefore cited these pages of m. chaho with great mental satisfaction and profound sympathy. here is no longer the negative and desolat

s and amplifies by science. the first conquest of science, and the first result of the exact sciences, is the sentiment of reason. the laws of nature are algebraic. thus the sole reasonable faith is the adhesion of the student to theorems, the entire essential justice of which lies outside his knowledge, though its applications and results are demonstrated adequately to his mind. so does the true philosopher believe in that which is and does not admit a posteriori that all is reasonable. but no more charlatanism in philosophy, no more empiricism, no more system! the study of being and its compared realities! a metaphysic of nature! then away with mysticism! no more dreams in philosophy; philosophy is not poesy but pure mathematics of realities, physical and moral. leave unto religion the f

ROBERT KIRK WALKER BETWEEN WORLDS

researcher or author groping after the yet-tobe- established disciplines of folklore. he marshals his evidence of customs, occurrences, beliefs and individual cases to support a deeply philosophical or metaphysical argument and not with the intent of making a definitive or preliminary collection of gaelic beliefs in its own right. the techniques that kirk uses to present his case are those of the philosopher and scholar of his period, and they are easily overlooked by the modern reader, even by the trained folklorist, as they derive from a type of classical and religious education and training in logical presentation no longer used today. we shall return shortly to the ultimate aim and nature of his argument. second, he is not presenting 'evidence' of the second sight, not even in the mann

g on saddles with stirrups, and the discoveries of the secret commonwealth 54 microscopes [all of] which were sometimes as great a wonder and hard to be believed [in. http//www.dreampower.com/kirk_wbw/pg_50.htm (4 of 10 [10/9/2001 12:35:05 am] robert kirk- walker between worlds(pages 50-59) 10. though i will not be so curious nor so peremptory as he who will [seek to] prove the possibility of the philosopher's stone from scripture [as in] job 28:1,2 [or] job 22:24-25, or [to prove] the plurality of worlds from john l4:2, and hebrews 11:3 or [to attempt to prove] the circulation of the blood from ecclesiastes 12:6; nor the talismanical art from the blind and the lame mentioned in 2 samuel 5:6. yet i humbly propose these passages which may give some light to our subject at least, and show th

elements to it, such as the mason word. 3. the second sight. 4. curative charms (see page 63) 5. magical proof against wounding used by scottish soldiers. with the possible exception of the scottish mason word, these curiosities are found worldwide in various folk traditions, albeit taking varied forms. page 54 though i will not be so curious nor so peremptory as he who will [seek to] prove. the philosopher's stone from scripture. or the plurality of worlds. or the circulation of the blood. nor the talismanical art. yet i humbly propose these passages which may give some light to our subject. first kirk disclaims a list of passages as possible proofs of obscure subjects revealed by the bible, thus encouraging us to look such passages up immediately. his choice is in some cases rather a cu

RUBY TABLET OF SET

evision: oct 13, 1997 ce subject: philosophy reading list: 3l, 16a, 16l, 16m thomas aquinas (1225-1274) was a christian cleric who ultimately achieved catholic sainthood by his success in reacting to (a) the challenge of islam and (b) the rediscovery of classical philosophy, particularly that of aristotle, ca. 1140. by 1250 aristotle's influence had become so great that he was referred to as "the philosopher" hence it was necessary to refine catholicism to an intellectual precision comparable with that of aristotle, and also to make aristotle's more secular/scientific works tolerable to the church through a flattering interpretation of them. the bewildering complexity of thomas aquinas' philosophy may be illustrated by one dictionary definition, which describes "thomism" as. teaching that

ake their place "for the manner in which men live is so different from the way in which they ought to live that he who leaves the common course for that which he ought to follow will find that it leads him to ruin rather than to safety" this focus on reality ultimately encourages man to attain dignity by taking complete responsibility for himself. machiavelli may be considered the first political philosopher who bases his philosophy solely upon "natural [as opposed to divinely inspired] mankind. the "divine law" part of aquinas' four-part, legal universe is irrelevant to machiavelli. it is problematical whether machiavelli is properly called a political scientist, since his historical studies and examples are relatively selective and illustrative of his point of view rather than scientific

arties" with it. government should be authoritarian but not totalitarian. hobbes preferred monarchy as a form of government, but monarchy based upon its social effectiveness in maintaining order. not based upon the "divine right of kings" principle. while hobbes is systematic, he is not scientific in the sense that he supports his contentions with empirical evidence. he is still a purely rational philosopher, much like machiavelli. he was the first exponent of "possessive individualism. the trade oriented ethic of the 17th century that ran counter to the landed aristocratic system and institutional religious conflict. he advocated politics based upon material self-interest for individuals. hobbes differs from machiavelli in that hobbes does propose a morally binding social law (based on na

general will" rousseau allows no reserved or inalienable rights against the government [as does locke, because they de facto weaken the "general will" by allowing individuals to ignore the social contract at critical moments. moreover it is the private life of the individual which determines his respect for public laws and institutions. rousseau is perhaps a little too conveniently considered the philosopher of the french revolution [as locke is of the american. it is true that rousseau's espousal of emotion over reason, and his glorification of the masses (the "general will) lend themselves to this interpretation. but the actual causes of the french revolution (more properly revolutions, as there was a series of them) were (1) the inability of the french absolute monarchy to effectively r

for xeper's opposite brought suggestions of "stasis" as that opposite from dr. aquino and magus flowers. magus flowers' discussion stated "in greek there is a perfect set of opposites for this: dynamis (which is also a normal word used for magical power) and stasis" he proposed that xeper and dynamis were equivalent, and that stasis is their opposite. despite the discussions by these two revered philosopher magicians, the grand master still insists that xeper is a directional dynamis, in a positive direction, and that its opposite is also a directional change, but in a negative direction. we therefore accept the unintended offer of dynamis and stasis as undirectional opposites, and place xeper and its opposite lower than these in the hierarchy. opposition 1a2a1 consciousness- unconsciousn

on i date: july, xxv html conversion: jan 01, 1998 ce subject: philosophy: existentialism reading list: to begin, when we speak of existentialism, we refer to the ideas of those philosophers who take the lone individual as the starting point and main object of attention in regard to any sort of philosophical speculation. these sorts of philosophies(3, began in the mid-19th century with the danish philosopher soren kierkegaard, who rebelled against philosophical systems such as that of hegel, which explained man in terms of how he fit into a universal or social system, with no regards to the individual himself. kierkegaard and friedrich nietzsche are usually considered as the founding fathers of existentialism, even though nietzsche himself does not fit so neatly into this category, particu

pose plato's students to demanding mental gymnastics which will inspire them to recollect knowledge of the forms. the gryphon: you have recollected admirably. the gryphon dematerializes. the sphinx: is it not interesting that the example given by socrates in the meno employs mathematics and geometry? that ties in rather neatly with the inscription over the entrance to the academy. to the platonic philosopher, then, that inscription would have meant something more than mere ability to calculate areas of triangles. in effect it would say: let no one ignorant of the recollective basis of knowledge leave here. the chimaera: harking back to what you said concerning plato's exposure to pythagorean concepts, it is quite appropriate. mathematical consistency was plato's "foot in the door" so to sp

and that of yoga. meets these criteria exactly, given that the "identical circumstance" in this case is earthly incarnation. the chimaera: similar evidence could be obtained from additional case studies of other initiatory systems. but one substantiation suffices for our discussion. the sphinx: and now, i think, we are finally in a position to understand plato's distinction of the work of a true philosopher from that of a sophist. let us return to the sophist. he turns to page #998: stranger: well, now that we have agreed that the kinds stand toward one another in the same way as regards blending, is not some science needed as a guide on the voyage of discourse, if one is to succeed in pointing out which kinds are consonant, and which are incompatible with one another. also, whether there

SALMANRUSHDIE THESATANICVERSES

had to make sure there would be enough for the hotel room, and everything, so that he was too nervous to ask his father if they could go to a movie, not even one, not even _the pure hell of st trinians, or to eat out, not a single chinese meal, and in later years he would remember nothing of his first fortnight in his beloved ellowen deeowen except pounds shillings pence, like the disciple of the philosopher--king chanakya who asked the great man what he meant by saying one could live in the world and also not live in it, and who was told to carry a brim-full pitcher of water through a holiday crowd without spilling a drop, on pain of death, so that when he returned he was unable to describe the day's festivities, having been like a blind man, seeing only the jug on his head. changez chamc

excellent goddess for a businessman" mirza saeed said "and in my heart" srinivas added. mirza saeed lost his temper "but goddesses, i swear. even your own philosophers admit that these are abstract concepts only. embodiments of shakti which is itself an abstract notion: the dynamic power of the gods" the toy merchant was looking down at ayesha as she slept under her quilt of butterflies "i am no philosopher, sethji" he said. and did not say that his heart had leapt into his mouth because he had realized that the sleeping girl and the goddess in the calendar on his factory wall had the identical, same-to-same, face. o o o when the pilgrimage left town, srinivas accompanied it, turning a deaf ear to the entreaties of his wild-haired wife who picked up minoo and shook her in her husband's fa

SAPPHIRE TABLE OF SET MAIN

even though be may regard himself as a "student" of his calling. in magic and metaphysics, the master is one who understands those things which others call "occult" or "mysteries. he author: michael a. aquino vi temple of set date: march 10, xi html conversion: dec 7, 2000 ce subject: the master of the temple may be called a saint, a sage, a mahatma, a medicine man, a shaman, a witch doctor, or a philosopher. transculturally he is a master. within the initiatory arts of magic, the concept of the master has been most precisely formulated to date by aleister crowley. let me cite the key descriptive passages concerning a master of the temple (8=[3] of the a:.a. from magick in theory and practice "the essential attainment is the perfect annihilation of that personality which limits and oppress

the achievements of the students, the group deserves the contempt it gets. the second type of distrust is a subtle and ignoble one "i don't think i can get better" the latter view breeds a nihilism and cynicism that eventually rots both its holder and his culture *initiation is about process, not (merely) ceremony. i wonder if any intellectual historian has paid attention to the fact that process philosopher henri bergson's sister was macgregor mather's wife. the essential idea of process philosophy is that "the many become one and are enriched by one" as we develop into the only open place for us, the future, we are constantly putting our lives together. generally this is done on a haphazard plan. we are somehow the product of our genes, our relationships, our education, and so forth. the

SAPPHIRE TABLET OF SET

even though be may regard himself as a "student" of his calling. in magic and metaphysics, the master is one who understands those things which others call "occult" or "mysteries. he author: michael a. aquino vi temple of set date: march 10, xi html conversion: dec 7, 2000 ce subject: the master of the temple may be called a saint, a sage, a mahatma, a medicine man, a shaman, a witch doctor, or a philosopher. transculturally he is a master. within the initiatory arts of magic, the concept of the master has been most precisely formulated to date by aleister crowley. let me cite the key descriptive passages concerning a master of the temple (8=[3] of the a:.a. from magick in theory and practice "the essential attainment is the perfect annihilation of that personality which limits and oppress

the achievements of the students, the group deserves the contempt it gets. the second type of distrust is a subtle and ignoble one "i don't think i can get better" the latter view breeds a nihilism and cynicism that eventually rots both its holder and his culture *initiation is about process, not (merely) ceremony. i wonder if any intellectual historian has paid attention to the fact that process philosopher henri bergson's sister was macgregor mather's wife. the essential idea of process philosophy is that "the many become one and are enriched by one" as we develop into the only open place for us, the future, we are constantly putting our lives together. generally this is done on a haphazard plan. we are somehow the product of our genes, our relationships, our education, and so forth. the

SATANGEL

es stolen good, punishes miscreants, finds out all underhand dealings, and locates hidden treasure. aniquiel one of the nine great dukes of hell, specifically named as being the serpent in the garden. ariton (goetia. demon king of water, and the west. ashmedai, asmodaios, asmodeus, asmoday (goetia, 32nd spirit, latin asmodeus, talmudic asmeddai, meaning being of judgement. ex- cherubim, more of a philosopher than a fiend. originally a persian deity, it is supposedly he who killed the seven bridegrooms of sarah and fought rapha-el, before being banished to upper egypt. classically, the patron demon of passion, lechery, luxury, sensuality, who wreaks havoc seducing nuns and monks. may appear with three heads, a bull, a ram and a man, and the feet of a rooster or goose, and a serpent s tail

SATANIC RITUALS

hat he entertained a private belief in the mythos, he would reply that an objective detachment from one's material was necessary for effective writing. he was wont to mention the most nightmarish of his narratives with a levity bordering upon scorn, as though he did not consider them of genuine literary substance. as an author, lovecraft enjoys an established reputation, but what of lovecraft the philosopher? perhaps the most significant clues to the philosophy in the cthulhu mythos derive from the author's fascination with human history, particularly that of the classical eras. that much of his work used material taken from egyptian and arabian legends is well known. there is evidence that he was acutely aware of civilization's effects upon mankind-both educational and repressive. his tal

SATANICON

e free from the greatest social pestilence ever to plague mankind xianity! to my few fellow antichrists who will understand; for only you can now understand that most noble beast whose number is 666 that invisible (and perhaps indiscernible) number spoken of in revelation this requires wisdom. for those who have perception the ascension of satan in the third year of the age of evil as a religious philosopher of evil, i don t fell the need to stay within a strict set of traditional rules (isn t that an affliction of xianity) regarding our satan/reality-based mythology and symbolism. it s time we evolve (an inability of xianity) into a new phase of religious reverence: satan will be actively represented and recognized by more than the one traditional aspect of fire. it s only proper and beco

SATANISM AN EXAMINATION OF SATANIC BLACK MAGIC

ribe a system of esoteric knowledge and practical techniques- and this system is also known as 'the black arts. the difference between the left and right hand paths: the aim of all genuine occult paths or systems, whether designated right hand or left hand, is to achieve or find a certain goal as well as to impart esoteric knowledge and abilities. the goal is variously described (e.g.'gnosis, the philosopher's stone, enlightenment. however, it has been a common misconception that the rh paths were altruistic and the lh paths egocentric- i.e. the difference between them was seen in individual moral terms. another misconception is in seeing the difference in absolute moral terms- i.e. the rh paths as representing "good" and the lh paths as "evil. recently, attempts have been made to formulat

SCHLAGER NEIL WORLD RELIGIONS REFERENCE LIBRARY

l. c. 551 479 bce life span of the scholar kongzi, who is known in the west by his latinized name, confucius. xi c. 540 c. 470 bce life span of mahavira, considered the main founder of jainism. 539 bce mesopotamian religion ends when babylonia accepts cyrus of persia as king. 515 bce the second jewish temple is built in jerusalem. 483 bce death of the buddha. c. 470 399 bce life span of the greek philosopher socrates. c. 428 348 bce life span of the greek philosopher plato. 384 322 bce life span of the greek philosopher aristotle. c. third century bce period in which the major text of daoism, the dao de jing, is likely written. c. 273 c. 232 bce the emperor ashoka of maurya, in present-day india, begins to spread buddhism beyond the borders of india. c. 6 bce jesus of nazareth, also known

8 life span of nanak dev ji, the founder of sikhism. 1492 jews are expelled from spain. 1517 the german augustinian monk martin luther launches the protestant reformation, which divides christianity into two main denominations, or branches: catholicism and protestantism. 1817 92 life span of mirza husayn ali nuri, later known as baha u lla h, who was the founder of the baha faith. 1844 the german philosopher karl marx makes his famous statement that religion is the opium of the people. 1867 beginning of the meiji restoration in japan, during which shinto is made the official state religion. 1870 the british scientist thomas henry huxley coins the term agnosticism to describe his own skepticism (doubt) regarding the existence of god. 1893 the paper what is hinduism? by swami vivekananda, pr

r sect of hinduism, which sees shiva( the destroyer) as the central god. shrine (jinja) shinto: the traditional, mainstream practice of shinto, with emphasis on the local shrine. skepticism: doubt or disbelief toward a particular proposition or object. skepticism: a philosophical system that doubted the possibility of ever discovering real truth through the senses. socratic: having to do with the philosopher socrates and his method of asking questions of students to develop an idea. solstice: the points in the year when the day is longest (the summer solstice, generally on june 21) and the shortest (the winter solstice, generally on december 21. sophists: a group of traveling teachers in ancient greece who doubted the possibility of knowing all the truth through the physical senses. state

t religious figures can be an excellent way of learning about different religions. choose two religious figures, one from the past and one from the present. write a report in which you discuss their lives. how are their religious beliefs seen in their actions? include a photo or drawing of each figure. figures from the past might include zarathushtra, the founder of zoroastrianism, or the chinese philosopher confucius. modern figures might include black elk, the native american who wrote about his life as a member of the lakota sioux tribe, or malidoma some, who has written about his african religious heritage. world religions: almanac xxxv research and activity ideas world religions almanac volume 1 michael j. o neal and j. sydney jones neil schlager and jayne weisblatt, editors 1 what is

he called natural selection, and not divine planning produced the many species on earth. darwin s second work, the descent of man (1871) took this idea a step further, applying it specifically to humankind. this was seen as an assault on the bible s teachings that god created man in his image. so furious were the debates raised by these books that, by the end of the nineteenth century the german philosopher friedrich nietzsche (1844 1900) could declare, god is dead. nietzsche s declaration was premature; he was also speaking primarily of the west, europe and the united states. in the twenty-first century, a large debate between science and religion, at least in the united states, continues to rage over evolution. evolution is taught in schools, but many christians believe that their belie

uch thought came from outside of religion and was secular (worldly or nonreligious) in nature. the ancient greeks worshipped a number of gods, with zeus the leader among them. he was not a creator-god, but he did uphold the moral order, or the right and proper way of existence. the greek pantheon, the set of all their gods and goddesses, was attacked as early as the sixth century bce by the greek philosopher xenophanes (570 475 bce. he thought that a group of hard-drinking and loose-living deities like the greek gods were hardly god-like in their behavior. xenophanes, however, was no atheist. he suggested instead that one god was directly connected to the world. his criticism of the greek pantheon was important, though, because it showed that humans could question the existence of gods. wo

e the indian materialists, looked for a material explanation for the existence of the universe. democritus (c. 460 370 bce) suggested that all matter in the universe was made of eternal elements he called atoms. if atoms were eternal, democritus reasoned, then the universe had always existed and would always continue to exist, and, as a result, there was no need for a creator. another early greek philosopher, anaxagoras (c. 500 c. 428 bce, was exiled from the greek city of athens for stating that the stars, planets, and the sun were material objects and not heavenly bodies, or god-like spirits to be worshipped. another thinker, protagoras (c. 485 420 bce, was banned from athens for saying that he had no way to know if gods existed or not, which is the central idea of agnosticism. ancient g

he sun were material objects and not heavenly bodies, or god-like spirits to be worshipped. another thinker, protagoras (c. 485 420 bce, was banned from athens for saying that he had no way to know if gods existed or not, which is the central idea of agnosticism. ancient greece also provides an example of a movement that could be consistent with modern atheism. the epicureans, or followers of the philosopher epicurus (c. 340 c. 270 bce, believed in a material universe, like the atomists. they rejected the idea of divine wrath (anger) and retribution( punishment, refusing to believe that gods took vengeance on individuals who made them angry. epicureans took great care, however, to avoid denying the existence of gods. instead, epicurus taught that the gods were physical beings, unconcerned

SECRET TEACHINGS OF THE ROSICRUCIANS IN THE 16 17C

s of similar content added by p.s. altona. printed and published by joh. ad. eckhardt, book-printer to h.m. the king of denmark. the full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet- proverbs 27, 7. a scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not; but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth- proverbs 14, 6. an anonymous treatise on the philosophers' stone if a philosopher you wish to be, let only patience dwell in thee. where on this globe lives a man so wise, who'll ever learn what four ones do comprise, and even if he'd know all this, he'd still always be an apprentice. therefore, o human, with all thy might, recognise god and thyself in god's and nature's light, both these lights god pours into thee, that a likeness of him thou mayest be, he is one f

fame, do not begrudge every mocker's great name. with sophisticated vanity they strut, unbeknownst to them is what thou'st got. be happy with what god to thee gave, defy, that four in one they have. fiat and amen, be my treasure, a fourfold sphere always together. o domine quam mirabilia sunt opera tua. lord, thine eternal spirit is in all things. salvator mundi coelum et terra. there is never a philosopher who nature's ultimate principle doth not know. speculum divinum occultum atque natura rerum seu instrumentarum igneum philosophorum et laboratorium perpetuum four fires are floating in this world, wherein god holdeth a center, that is locked up in four, out of which heaven and earth were poured so thou has all in all, earth and heavens in one together, look well at it, it is to thy goo

of the body suffered through a fall, salvation came to the human soul through iehova, jesus christ. the bodily health is brought back through a thing not good to look at. it is hidden in this painting, the highest treasure in this world, in which is the highest medicine and the greatest parts of the riches of nature, given to us by the lord iehova. it is called pator metallorum, well known to the philosopher sitting in front of the mountain-cave, easy to obtain for anybody. but the sophists in their sophistic garb, tapping on the walls, recognise him not. at the right is to be seen lepus, representing the art of chemistry, marvellously white, the secrets of which with fire's heat are being explored. to the left one can see freely what the right clavis artis is; one cannot be too subtle wit

SEPHER YETZIRAH WESTCOTT

roduced here. the following interesting quotation is from rabbi moses botarel, who wrote his famous commentary in 1409-"it was abraham our father--blessed be he--who wrote this book to condemn the doctrine of the sages of his time, who were incredulous of the supreme dogma of the unity. at least, this was the opinion of rabbi saadiah--blessed be he--as written in the first chapter of his book the philosopher's stone. these are his words: the sages of babylon attacked abraham on account of his faith; for they were all against him although themselves separable into three sects. the first thought that the universe was subject to the control of two opposing forces, the one existing but to destroy the other, this is dualism; they held that there was nothing in common between the author of evil

SIR EDWARD BULWER LYTTON ZANONI A ROSICRUCIAN TALE

one of those fond, caressing fathers whose children are ever playing round their knees; his mind and soul were so thoroughly in his art that domestic life glided by him, seemingly as if that were a dream, and the heart the substantial form and body of existence. persons much cultivating an abstract study are often thus; mathematicians proverbially so. when his servant ran to the celebrated french philosopher, shrieking "the house is on fire, sir "go and tell my wife then, fool" said the wise man, settling back to his problems "do i ever meddle with domestic affairs" but what are mathematics to music music, that not only composes operas, but plays on the barbiton? do you know what the illustrious giardini said when the tyro asked how long it would take to learn to play on the violin? hear

's handwriting, and the story is given on m. petitot's authority, volume i. page 62. it is not for me to enquire if there be doubts of its foundation on fact. ed "you ask how it will affect yourselves, you, its most learned, and its least selfish agents. i will answer: you, marquis de condorcet, will die in prison, but not by the hand of the executioner. in the peaceful happiness of that day, the philosopher will carry about with him not the elixir but the poison "my poor cazotte" said condorcet, with his gentle smile "what have prisons, executioners, and poison to do with an age of liberty and brotherhood "it is in the names of liberty and brotherhood that the prisons will reek, and the headsman be glutted "you are thinking of priestcraft, not philosophy, cazotte" said champfort (champfor

d with vivid interest, at least, if not with implicit belief, to the wonders told of each more renowned ghost-seer, and his mind was therefore prepared for the impression which the mysterious zanoni at first sight had produced upon it. there might be another cause for this disposition to credulity. a remote ancestor of glyndon's on the mother's side, had achieved no inconsiderable reputation as a philosopher and alchemist. strange stories were afloat concerning this wise progenitor. he was said to have lived to an age far exceeding the allotted boundaries of mortal existence, and to have preserved to the last the appearance of middle life. he had died at length, it was supposed, of grief for the sudden death of a greatgrandchild, the only creature he had ever appeared to love. the works of

opher and alchemist. strange stories were afloat concerning this wise progenitor. he was said to have lived to an age far exceeding the allotted boundaries of mortal existence, and to have preserved to the last the appearance of middle life. he had died at length, it was supposed, of grief for the sudden death of a greatgrandchild, the only creature he had ever appeared to love. the works of this philosopher, though rare, were extant, and found in the library of glyndon's home. their platonic mysticism, their bold assertions, the high promises that might be detected through their figurative and typical phraseology, had early made a deep impression on the young imagination of clarence glyndon. his parents, not alive to the consequences of encouraging fancies which the very enlightenment of

of all the weaknesses which little men rail against, there is none that they are more apt to ridicule than the tendency to believe. and of all the signs of a corrupt heart and a feeble head, the tendency of incredulity is the surest. real philosophy seeks rather to solve than to deny. while we hear, every day, the small pretenders to science talk of the absurdities of alchemy and the dream of the philosopher's stone, a more erudite knowledge is aware that by alchemists the greatest discoveries in science have been made, and much which still seems abstruse, had we the key to the mystic phraseology they were compelled to adopt, might open the way to yet more noble acquisitions. the philosopher's stone itself has seemed no visionary chimera to some of the soundest chemists that even the prese

nets and powers have never been more than most partially explored, the rosicrucians, especially arrogated. he remembered to have heard in germany of the work of john bringeret (printed in 1615, asserting that all the languages of the earth were known to the genuine brotherhood of the rosy cross. did zanoni belong to this mystical fraternity, who, in an earlier age, boasted of secrets of which the philosopher's stone was but the least; who considered themselves the heirs of all that the chaldeans, the magi, the gymnosophists, and the platonists had taught; and who differed from all the darker sons of magic in the virtue of their lives, the purity of their doctrines, and their insisting, as the foundation of all wisdom, on the subjugation of the senses, and the intensity of religious faith?

dimly through the darkened knowledge of latter disciples, labouring, like psellus and iamblichus, to revive the embers of the fire which burned in the hamarin of the east. though not to us of an aged and hoary world is vouchsafed the name which, so say the earliest oracles of the earth "rushes into the infinite worlds" yet is it ours to trace the reviving truths, through each new discovery of the philosopher and chemist. the laws of attraction, of electricity, and of the yet more mysterious agency of that great principal of life, which, if drawn from the universe, would leave the universe a grave, were but the code in which the theurgy of old sought the guides that led it to a legislation and science of its own. to rebuild on words the fragments of this history, it seems to me as if, in a

nduct me to the chamber of viola pisani. you have no further need of her. the death of the jailer opens the cell of the captive. be quick; i would be gone" mascari muttered some inaudible words, bowed low, and led the way to the chamber in which viola was confined. chapter 3.xviii. merc: tell me, therefore, what thou seekest after, and what thou wilt have. what dost thou desire to make? alch: the philosopher's stone. sandivogius. it wanted several minutes of midnight, and glyndon repaired to the appointed spot. the mysterious empire which zanoni had acquired over him, was still more solemnly confirmed by the events of the last few hours; the sudden fate of the prince, so deliberately foreshadowed, and yet so seemingly accidental, brought out by causes the most commonplace, and yet associat

SPENSER THE CULT OF THE ALL SEEING EYE 1960

of cumaen song now comes (novus ordo seclorum altered from magnus soeclorum ordo, a mighty order of ages is born anew. both the prophetic virgin and saturnian kingdoms now return. now a new progeny is let down from the lofty heavens. favor, chaste lucina, the boy soon io be born in whom the iron age shall come to an end, and the golden one shall arise again in the whole earth" virgil was a pagan philosopher of rome.16 the literalure on the mystic meaning of the seal is extensive and amazing. it appears that almost every secret fraternity, society and movement in the country has claimed the seal's reverse side as its own. celestia root lang wrote:17 "the reverse side must have been designed by a mystic, one versed in symbolism. all true theosophists ought to be able to see. the connecting

STEINER RUDOLF CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT

. times, 2/6/64) he did not make a direct reference to the temple. nevertheless, his statement was interpreted by temple sponsors as pre-arranged support for their project, and as evidence of their immense influence in washington -hofurther reading 233 index 235 introduction christianity as mystical fact was a significant book in rudolf steiner s biography, being the first in which the well-known philosopher of freedom and goethe scholar came forward with an interpretation of christian beginnings and of the continuing relevance of christianity to modern life an interpretation he continued to develop and deepen over the next twenty-five years.1 but it was even more significant for raising issues that have dominated the whole discussion of christianity in the remainder of our century. it was

in fact they resemble things encountered in the sense-world. is it not the case that they are made by someone who selects and brings together features from the natural world? the primitive hunter makes a heaven where the gods engage in marvelous hunting. the greeks populated their olympus with divine personalities, but the originals belong to the real world of greek cultural life. the early greek philosopher xenophanes (575 480 b.c) exposed this situation with rude logic. the early philosophers were entirely dependent upon mysteriosophy (we shall presently demonstrate this in detail, beginning with heraclitus) we may assume therefore that the views of xenophanes are equally those of the mystai: 18 christianity as mystical fact but men believe that the gods must be born, and in shape must b

and death, even if ordinary people seem not to realize it. if this is true, and they have actually been looking forward to death all their lives, it would of course be absurd to 44 christianity as mystical fact be troubled when the thing comes for which they have so long been preparing and looking forward.47 and he reinforces this by asking one of his friends: do you think that it is right for a philosopher to concern himself with the so-called pleasures connected with food and drink. what about sexual pleasures. and what about the other attentions that we pay to our bodies? do you think that a philosopher attaches any importance to them? i mean things like providing himself with smart clothes and shoes and other bodily ornaments; do you think that he values them or despises them insofar

do you think that he values them or despises them insofar as there is no real necessity for him to go in for that sort of thing. is it not your opinion in general that a man of this kind is not concerned with the body, but keeps his attention directed as much as he can away from it and toward the soul. in this, then in despising the body and avoiding it, and endeavoring to become independent the philosopher s soul is ahead of all the rest.48 in conclusion, says socrates, the pursuit of wisdom has this much in common with dying, that it leads a person away from the body. but to what does it lead? to the spiritual. socrates takes up the theme: now take the acquisition of knowledge; is the body a hindrance or not, if one takes it into partnership to platonic mysteries 45 share an investigati

uishing true things from false must be set in opposition to our bodily senses and is not subject to the conditions that bind them. in particular it cannot be subject to the law of coming-to-be and passingaway, for it contains in it the true, which has no yesterday or today, and unlike the things of sense cannot fluctuate from one day to another. the true must itself be eternal. and insofar as the philosopher turns away from the perishable objects of sense and turns toward the true, he or she enters the domain of the eternal. and if we immerse 46 christianity as mystical fact ourselves totally in the spirit, we are living totally in the true. the sense-world is simply no longer there for us in its merely sensible form. socrates says: don t you think that the person who is likely to succeed

and unadulterated object, cutting himself off as much as possible from his eyes and ears and virtually all the rest of his body, as an impediment which by its presence prevents the soul from attaining to truth and clear thinking?50 and a little later: is not what we call death a freeing and separation of soul from body. and the desire to free the soul is found chiefly, or rather only, in the true philosopher; in fact the philosopher s occupation consists precisely in the freeing and separation of soul from body. well then, as i said at the beginning, if a man has trained himself throughout his life to life in a state as close as possible to death, would it not be ridiculous for him to be distressed when death comes to him. then it is a fact, simmias, that true philosophers make dying their

ons; several tombs of osiris were shown in egypt. the limbs of the god were thus to be found scattered here and there in widely separated places. osiris himself, however, came forth from the netherworld and vanquished typhon. a ray from him fell upon isis, who in consequence bore his son, harpocrates (horus).77 and now compare with the myth the world-view presented by the fifth century b.c. greek philosopher empedocles. he asserted that an original unity was torn apart into the four elements (fire, water, earth, and air) or into the multiplicity of existent beings. he posited two opposing powers, which bring about within the world of existing things the processes of becoming and passing-away, namely love and strife. empedocles says of the elements: myth and mysteriosophy 71 they remain for

ride of existence, brought together by love, the elements forming a union. then come hatred and strife, and fatally tear them asunder, once more they wander alone, on the desolate confines of life. 72 christianity as mystical fact so is it with the bushes and trees and the water-inhabiting fishes, animals roaming the mountains, sea-birds borne by their wings.79 empedocles clearly implies that the philosopher is one who rediscovers the divine original unity in things, hidden under a spell, whirled about by love and strife. but if we find the divinity who is hidden there, we must ourselves be divine beings. for empedocles adheres to the view that like can only be known by like. 80 these ideas about the nature of humanity and the cosmos transcend considerations of sense experience. they are i

TEXE MARRS CODEX MAGICA SECRET SIGNS MYSTERIOUS SYMBOLS AND HIDDEN CODES OF THE ILLUMINATI

ee press! christopher mark adds: the news is a farce. as is the case with the financial institutions, which are caution- you are entering the forbidden zone 17 concentrated in the hands of the few, long ago the media was bought and paid for..what you read and what you see on a daily basis is largely manufactured. you are being lied to each and every day.3 thomas mann, the keen social observer and philosopher, once suggested that men are erroneously taught to believe that it is forbidden and wrong to expose the works of darkness, or to reveal the machinations of evildoers, especially evildoers who, though they act in hellish ways, the deceived world at large so obviously holds in the highest regard: that is the secret delight and security of hell, that it is not to be informed on, that it i

at and republican (thesis and antithesis, both of which they control. but the conflict of these two opposites never leads to a real solution, only to a fluid, sketchy "synthesis" problems are never completely and satisfactorily resolved. the dualistic process is never ending. we are all citizens of "neverneverland" and we don't even know it. the third side to every issue here's how one illuminist philosopher, satanic priest anton lavey, explained it: there are not always 'two sides to every issue' that statement is a ridiculous slogan invoked by vested interests. in matters of significant concern, there is invariably another alternative: a third side, a satanic side 'two sides of the same coin' is what most major issues are artfully constructed to be. subsequently, the populace lives by im

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eing transformed by energy into a variety of conditions and shapes that come into existence only to pass away eventually in time and space. death, therefore, is the end of existence for all who succumb to its ultimate withdrawal of the life force. from time to time, however, highly regarded scientists have protested that such a view of the universe leaves out a sizable portion of reality. british philosopher and mathematician alfred north whitehead (1861 1947) observed that a strictly materialistic approach to life completely ignored the subjective life of humans or that area of existence which is commonly called the spiritual. it in no way accounted for emotions the manner in which human beings experience the feelings of love between a woman and a man, between parents and children; the jo

w worlds in outer space, but, osis wonders how the age-old problem, what happens when someone dies, compares with these material challenges? is it not equally important to know the certain answer to such a basic question of human existence? in his a practical guide to death and dying (1988) author john w. white, a founding member of the international association for near-death studies, quotes the philosopher socrates (c. 470 399 b.c.e) statement just before drinking the hemlock that would kill him: to fear death, gentlemen, is nothing other than to think oneself wise when one is not; for it is to think one knows what one does not know. no man knows whether death may not even turn out to be the greater of blessings for a human being, and yet people fear it as if they knew for certain that i

e soul as a thought of god, and he considered the physical body to be simply one of a succession of receptacles for the housing of the soul. many of his followers became vegetarians, for he taught that the soul might live again in animals. because of his importance to early greek culture, pythagoras is among those individuals given the status of becoming a myth in his own lifetime. therefore, the philosopher was said to have been born of the virgin parthenis and fathered by the god apollo. pythagoras s human father, mnesarchus, a ring merchant from samos, and his mother consulted the delphic oracle and were told that he would be born in sidon in phoenicia and that he would produce works and wonders that would benefit all humankind. wishing to please the gods, mnesarchus demanded that his w

n action in the world, in universal macrocosm, and in the earthly microcosm of the human being. numbers were transcendent entities, living virtues of the supreme one, god, the source of universal harmony. devoted to his studies, his travels, and his school, pythagoras did not marry until he was about 60. the young woman had been one of his disciples, and she bore him seven children. the legendary philosopher died while exercising authority over his strict standards of admittance to his school. he denied a man acceptance because it was apparent that the wouldbe student had an unruly temper that could easily become violent. the rejected follower fulfilled pythagoras s negative evaluation by angrily leading a mob against the school and burning down the house where the teacher and 40 students

soul s preexistence: we were in being long before the foundation of the world. we existed in the eye of god, for it is our destiny to live in him. we are the reasonable creatures of the divine word; therefore, we have existed from the beginning, for in the beginning was the word. not for the first time does he show pity on us in our wanderings; he pitied us from the very beginning. the christian philosopher st. augustine (354 430 c.e) asked the eternal question in his confessions: say, lord did my infancy succeed another age of mine that died before it? was it that which i spent within my mother s womb? and what before that life again, o god was i anywhere or in any body? even though the majority of eastern cultures maintain a belief in reincarnation as an integral element in their religi

which exists even for the so-called inorganic matter, for a floating atom, be denied to the spirit, whose attributes are consciousness, memory, mind, love! really, the very idea is preposterous. if the pythagorean metempsychosis should be thoroughly explained and compared with the modern theory of evolution it would be found to supply every missing link in the chain of the latter. there was not a philosopher of any notoriety who did not hold to this doctrine, as taught by the brahmans, buddhists, and later by the pythagoreans. in 1878, blavatsky and olcott moved to bombay, india, to be nearer the mahatmas and masters, the members of the great white brotherhood who appeared to her in their astral bodies to relay metaphysical teachings. after a turbulent period in india, which she left under

ther personality claiming to occupy the body of the subject and the entity speaks of a former life, not of communication with surviving loved ones. m delving deeper stevenson, ian. twenty cases suggestive of reincarnation. 2d ed. charlottesville: university press of virginia, 1974. making the connection anthroposophy a spiritual or religious philosophy that rudolph steiner (1861 1925, an austrian philosopher and scientist, developed, with the core belief centering around the human accessibility of the spiritual world to properly developed human intellect. steiner founded the anthroposophical society in 1912 to promote his ideas that spiritual development should be humanity s foremost concern. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 70 after

scientifically and conclusively that a future existence awaits the soul of each human who passes from life to death. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d 74 mediums and mystics t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d mediums and mystics 75 anative american indian medicine man, spiritual leader, philosopher, and acknowledged spokesman and intertribal shaman for the cherokee and shoshone tribes, rolling thunder, served as a consultant to the popular films billy jack (1971, and its sequel, billy jack ii (1972. his way of life as a powerful healer, teacher, and activist gave him widespread fame following the films. internationally known, rolling thunder s spiritual counsel and tribal skills

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st double their energy for they must constantly be assessing their impressions against what they know to be reality. in addition to tests for clairvoyance and other manifestations of esp conducted under hypnosis, numerous experiments have been conducted with the subjects under the influence of various psychotropic or psychedelic drugs. in 1966 r. e. l. masters, a psychologist, and jean houston, a philosopher, were running lsd, mescaline, and psilocybin experiments at the foundation for mind research. while engaged in this study, a number of subjects reported instances of telepathy and clairvoyance. these consistent reports were responsible for houston s and masters inauguration of a specific esp experiment. their goal was to elicit extrasensory impressions during the psychedelic sessions

ll as contemporary christians to lead the world into evil before christ returns to earth to redeem and rescue the faithful. can also refer to any person who is in opposition to or an enemy of jesus christ or his teachings, as well as to those who claim to be christ, but in fact are false and misleading. anthroposophy a spiritual or religious philosophy that rudolph steiner (1861 1925, an austrian philosopher and scientist, developed, with the core belief centering around the human accessibility of the spiritual world to properly developed human intellect. steiner founded the anthroposophical society in 1912 to promote his ideas that spiritual development should be humanity s foremost concern. apocalypse from the greek apokalupsis, meaning revelation. in the bible, the book of revelation is

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christian rosencreutz (1378.1484, a brilliant magus, who at the age of 16 had already gained secret wisdom teachings from the sages of arabia and the holy land. when rosencreutz returned to germany circa 1450, he became a recluse, for he could see that europe was not yet ready for the complete reformation which he so yearned to present to it. for one thing, he claimed to have acquired the fabled philosopher fs stone, which enabled him to produce all the gold and precious gems necessary to allow him to build a house where he could live peacefully and well. to share the power of the legendary stone of transmutation with the unwise, the worldly, and the greedy would be disastrous. quietly, rosencreutz accepted only a handful of carefully evaluated students to whom he imparted the knowledge t

. the manifestos created great excitement in early seventeenth-century europe. royalty, common folk, merchants, mystics, alchemists. all clamored for more information about the mysterious secret brotherhood. those who were ill wished healing. those who were poor were eager to accept a portion of the wealth the brotherhood was willing to distribute. those who were greedy wanted their turn with the philosopher fs stone and their opportunity to transmute tons of base metals into tons of gold. and perhaps most of all, people wanted to join the secret society and become rosicrucians, but no one knew where any of their lodges were or where they might find the house of the sainted spirit. desperate individuals placed their letters of application for the fraternity in public places where they hope

lic church? unlikely, for luther would not have used the language of the alchemist and the magus. another member, according to some, is the great francis bacon (1561.1626, whose unfinished manuscript, the new atlantis (1627, describes an earthly utopian paradise, a secret brotherhood who wear the rose cross on their turbans, who heal people without charge, and who meet yearly in their temple. the philosopher rene descartes t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d secret societies 31 (1596.1650) was once nearly arrested on the accusation that he was a member of the secret society, but he convinced his accusers that the rosicrucians were invisible, while, he, it was plain to see, was not. while the true identity of the rosicrucians may never b

and sorcery 43 de givry, emile grillot. illustrated anthology of sorcery, magic and alchemy. trans. by j. courtenay locke. new york: causeway books, 1973. seligmann, kurt. the history of magic. new york: meridian books, 1960. spence, lewis. an encyclopedia of occultism. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1960. roger bacon (c. 1220.1292) roger bacon, an english franciscan friar, scientist, and philosopher, accepted what he termed the gnatural magic h that occurred within mathematical and physical areas of experimentation, but he was resolutely against the use of incantations, the invocation of spirits, and the casting of spells. in his opinion, magicians were charlatans, reciting magical formulas even though they knew the effects they created were but the products of natural phenomena

elvetius, his place in the history of alchemy is secure because, according to tradition, he witnessed a genuine transmutation of base metal into gold and later replicated the process in the presence of doubtful observers. on december 27, 1666, when he was working in his study at the hague, a stranger appeared and informed him that he would remove all helvetius fs doubts about the existence of the philosopher fs stone that could serve as the catalyst to change base metals into gold because he possessed such magic. the stranger immediately drew from his pocket a small ivory box, containing three pieces of metal of the color of brimstone and, for their size, extremely heavy. with those three bits of metal, the man told helvetius, he could make as much as 20 tons of gold. helvetius examined th

nswered firmly that he was not allowed to do so. it was enough that he had verified the existence of the metal to helvetius. it was his purpose only to offer encouragement to alchemical experiments. after the man fs departure, helvetius procured a crucible and a portion of lead into which, when the metal was in a molten state, he threw the stolen grain he had secretly scraped from the stranger fs philosopher fs stone. the alchemist was disappointed when the grain evaporated and left the lead in its original state. thinking that he had been made the fool by some mad burgher fs whimsey, helvetius returned to his own experiments, forgetting about the dream of a magical philosopher fs stone. some weeks later, when he had almost forgotten the incident, helvetius received another visit from the

himself, allowing the alchemist to convert six ounces of lead into pure gold. t h e g a l e e n c y c l o p e d i a o f t h e u n u s u a l a n d u n e x p l a i n e d magic and sorcery 45 helvetius found it impossible to keep a secret of such immense value and importance. soon the word of his remarkably successful experiments spread throughout holland, and helvetius demonstrated the power of the philosopher fs stone in the presence of the duke of orange and many other prestigious witnesses. the duke fs own goldsmith assayed the gold and declared it to be of highest quality. the famous philosopher baruch spinoza (1632.1677) visited helvetius in his laboratory and examined the crucible and gold for himself. he left the alchemist convinced that the transmutation had been authentic. soon, aft

ncyclopedia of occultism. new hyde park, n.y: university books, 1960. albertus magnus (c. 1193.1280) albertus magnus, bishop of ratisbon, became interested in alchemy and is credited with some extraordinary accomplishments, including the invention of the pistol and the cannon. albertus is said to be one of those magi who actually achieved the transmutation of base metals into gold by means of the philosopher fs stone. in addition, some said that he was able to exert control over atmospheric conditions, once even transforming a cold winter day into a pleasant summer afternoon so he and his guests could dine comfortably outside. a prolific writer, albertus produced 21 volumes containing directions for the neophyte- practicing alchemist. certain witnesses to his laboratory credited him with t

THE MIDDLE PILLAR

gs. he was the one initiate uniquely qualified for his appointed task-the task of successfully presenting magic as a therapeutic tool to the skeptical world of psychology, and ultimately, to bring psychotherapy and magic together. in the winter of 1936-37, regardie was bedridden in london for two weeks with a bad case of bronchitis. during this time he wrote most of what would be published as the philosopher's stone, a book about alchemy from a jungian perspective. at the time regardie was convinced that laboratory alchemy was fallacious, and that only theoretical, spiritual, or psychological alchemy was valid (by 1970, however, interaction with practical alchemists such as frater albertus of the paracelsus research society caused him to change his opinion on this. he began his own alchemi

igher self. silence with reference to symptoms and results is therefore most desirable. endnotes 1. ths is daath, which is not a sephirah, but rather a conjunction of chokmah and binah. 2. from the neophyte ritual. see regardie, the golden dawn, 129. 3. the symbol of the rosicrucians. rosicrucianism is a form of mystic or esoteric christianity whose teachings embrace the hermetic sciences. 4. the philosopher's stone is an alchemical symbol of true spiritual attainment. the search for the philosopher's stone is the search for truth and illumination. 5. along the same lines, each letter of the hebrew alphabet has a musical note attributed to it. thus each divine name in hebrew can be sung or played on a musical instrument. see the appendix: the musical qabalah. 6. in this list, regardie has

cal and spiritual tools for the balance, healing, and integration of the human psyche. they relate to different parts of the subtle body, and thus each system requires a different method of working. yoga it is presumed that yoga was developed in india by the inhabitants of the indus river valley. the exact methods and philosophy of the practice were gathered into a coherent system by patanjali, a philosopher of the second century b.c.e. the various disciplines of yoga are not restricted to hindus, however, for people of all faiths yoga, chakras, and the wisdom ofthe east 161 have studied and practiced them. the sanskrit word yoga means "union" and from it is derived the english word "yoke" th ism plies a "harnessing" of our latent psychic energies. yoga is a science of physical, mental, an

or centuries the fivepointed star has been used as a symbol of protection and a talisman for health and well-being. it was popular among the babylonians, egyptians, assyrians, and hebrews. according to eliphas levi, magicians of old used to draw the symbol upon their doorsteps, to keep malevolent spirits out and beneficent spirits in. and as early as the sixth century b.c.e, pythagoras, the greek philosopher-mystic, used the pentagram as a holy symbol for his followers. five was a number peculiarly associated with the ideas of marriage and union, as it is the first number beyond the monad formed from the union of the first odd and even numbers, male and figure 11: backing into the tree. the pentagram 185 female. it is also said to represent the human figure, with arms and legs outspread. t

ilosophical stone and of the great work. the most perfect alembic in which the quintessence can be elaborated is conformable to this figure, and the quintessence itself is represented by the sign of the pentagram.l2 here levi gives us clues about the numerical dimensions of the pentagram, for by it is "measured the exact proportions" of the athanor, the alchemical oven which is used to obtain the philosopher's stone-a symbol for spiritual illumination and expanded consciousness. what is so important about the proportions of the pentagram? through the number five, the number of points on this figure, the pentagram is connected to the sphere of geburah on the tree of life, and to its corresponding planet, mars. the pentagram represents that fiery, purifying power of the divine that takes the

corresponding planet, mars. the pentagram represents that fiery, purifying power of the divine that takes the name of pachad or "fear" one of the titles of geburah, whose other primary title is "strength" another higher function of geburah is that of din meaning "justice "judgment" or "severity" the divine name of geburah is elohim gibor or "god of battles" according to iamblichus, a neoplatonic philosopher-magician of the fourth century c.e "the pentad is highly expressive of justice, and justice comprehends all the other virtues."l3 in his book numbers, their occult power and mystic virtues, w. wynn westcott states that the pentad is called "the unconquered" westcott also states: proclus on hesiod gives two reasons for its semblance to justice "because it punishes wrong, and takes away

THE STAR IN THE WEST BY CAPTAIN FULLER A CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE WORKS OF ALEISTER CROWLEY

as clean as man, and a wife married or unmarried as pure as any virgin. generation is no more filthy than alimentation; both are necessary, both are accompanied by natural appetites; the one maintains the individual, the other the race; both may be carried to extremes, both may become lusts *a disciple of pythagoras once asked him, when was it permitted him to cohabit with his wife? to which that philosopher replied: gwhen you are tired of resting. h theano, wife of pythagoras, was also once asked: ghow long does it take for a woman to be purified who has known a man? h to which she answered: gif it is with her husband, she is purified by the act, if with another she is for ever defiled. h for it is not marriage which sanctifies love, but love which justifies marriage .edouard schure the w

uby of the poppy and the sapphire of the cornflower; so with us, it is synthetically that we rise, and not analytically. blake grasped this idea and so did joseph de maistre. the arcanum of solomon is represented by the two pillars of the temple, yakheen and boaz, the two forces, the white and the black; separate and contrary, yet in their polarity they are uniform, equilibrating their unity. the philosopher fs stone, as hermes declared, consisted in separating the ethereal from that which was gross. thou shalt separate the earth from the fire, the ethereal from the gross, gently, but with great industry. it ascends from earth to heaven, and again it comes down from heaven to earth, and it is invested with the potency of superior and inferior things. thou wilt possess by this means the glo

he vast waters of the deep. before the name of that which is beyond life and death, beyond matter and energy, beyond the human and the mortal; he stands, holding before us as a standard, the homologue of the labarum of old, gin hoc signo vinces c non timendum est veritate duce. h in order to cut a long story short, it may be assumed that so-called modern philosophy finds its founder in the french philosopher descartes; for it was he who started to unravel the penelope web of tangled philosophic thought, which had lain sleeping for a thousand years or more upon the sterile shelf of christian impotence. his theories of ginnate ideas h raised the anger of locke, the disciple of aristotle and bacon. revolting from the cognito ergo sum of descartes, he compared the mind to a tabula rasa, on whi

nd blind alleys in this great labyrinth of parnassus, so in this clue, which has been given us, we shall find many twisted threads, yet all of one fibre, which will lead us, the weary wanderers in the mysteries, to that certain and blissful kingdom which shall be our beginning. kant has said, the business of all philosophy is to answer the question hwhat can i know? h huxley, perhaps the astutest philosopher since the days of the magus of konigsberg, observes that it is impossible to answer the question gwhat can i know? h unless in the first place there is a clear understanding of what is meant by knowledge, and in order to answer this question, gwe must have recourse to that investigation of mental phenomena, the results of which are embodied in the science of psychology. h* but the true

when dwelt i, in the mount of venus, even i *tannhauser, vol. i, p. 256. crowleyanity quod utilius deus patefieri sinet, quod autem majoris momenti est, vulgo adhuc latet usque ad eliae artistae adventum quando is venerit. god will permit a discovery of the highest importance to be made, it must be hidden till the advent of the artist elias. thus prognosticated paracelsus* and further that divine philosopher predicted *paracelsus once assured the students of avicenna and galen that his shoe-ties knew more than these two physicians; and that all the universities, and all the writers united were less instructed than the hairs of his beard. how much more now so crowley. hoc item verum est nihil est absconditum quod non sit retegendum: ideo, post me veniet cujus magnale nundum vivit qui multa

nnot exist except in the mind of some divine being, failing (perhaps purposely) to see that such a being was also but a figment of his mind *3. ibid. p. 79 *4. ibid. p. 55. hume hume, at heart a thoroughgoing agnostic and man of the world, saw the practical falsity of abstruse philosophy, the conclusions of which were at once dissipated by the gfeelings of our heart, h which reduced gthe profound philosopher to a mere plebeian. h he forcibly asserts, that ideas of primary qualities are attained by abstraction. gan opinion which if we examine it accurately, we shall find to be unintelligible, and even absurd. h he further agrees with berkeley in stating that: gan extension that is neither tangible nor visible, cannot possibly be conceived, h and that, gthe mind has never anything present to

luence, may change, without any change in their sensible qualities. this happens sometimes, and with regard to some objects: why may it happen always, and with regard to all objects? what logic, what process of argument secures you against this supposition? my practice, you say, refutes my doubts. but you mistake the purport of my question. as an agent, i am quite satisfied in the point; but as a philosopher, who has some show of curiosity, i will not say scepticism, i want to learn the foundation of this inference. no reading, no inquiry has as yet been able to remove my difficulty, or give me satisfaction in a matter of such importance. can i do better than propose the difficulty to the public, even though, perhaps, i have small hopes of obtaining a solution? we shall, at least, by these

nite omnipresent spirit who contains and supports it. h* midnight is striking, and we once again begin the eternal (and infernal) chain a,b,a,b,a,b *three dialogues, p. 65. parallel extracts from the gthree dialogues between hylas and philonous h and gan enquiry concerning human understanding h gaway then with all that scepticism, all those ridiculous philosophical doubts. what a jest is it for a philosopher to question the existence of sensible things, till he hath it proved to him from the veracity of god; or to pretend our knowledge in this point falls short of intuition or demonstration! i might as well doubt of my own being, as of the being of those things i actually see and feel. h. p. 91. gnow, it is plain they [things] have an existence exterior to my mind c there is therefore some

THE SECRET RITUALS OF THE OTO

n your guard: for they that seek to devour you are about the gate! but of all this it is not here written: this is the book of the pathway that leadeth unto life. of the alchymists our illuminated brethren the alchymists, being wise with the wisdom of god, and cunning with the cunning of men, did apply themselves more especially to physical magick, to the finding of the medicine of metals and the philosopher s stone, the tinctures white and red, and the elixir of life. for (said they) with wealth cometh leisure, and with health, energy, and with long life an extension of file//c /documents%20and%20settings/michael..0secret%20rituals%20of%20the%20o.t.o/p3c3.html (5 of 18 [12/28/2001 2:05:41 pm] the secret rituals of the o.t.o. time; all these will we devote to the performance of the great w

TURNER ROBERT ARBETEL OF MAGICK

g unto them, knew none of these sciences. abraham sanctitate& sapientia omnium pr stantissimus, primum cald os, deinde phoenices, demum egyptios sacerdotes, astrologia& divina docuerit. abraham the holiest and wisest of men, did first teach the caldeans, then the phoenicians, lastly the egyptian priests, astrologie and divine knowledge. without doubt, hermes trismegistus, that divine magician and philosopher, who (as some say) lived long before noah, attained to much divine knowledge of the creator through the study of magick and astrologie; as his writings testifie. the third kind of magick containeth the whole philosophy of nature; which bringeth to light the innermost virtues, and extracteth them out of nature s hidden bosome to humane use: virtutes in centro centri latentes; virtues hi

scend from a mean state to dignities and honours, and to establish a newer family, which may be illustrious and do great things. 3. the third is, to excel in military affairs, and happily to achieve to great things, and to be an head of the head of kings and princes. 4. to be a good house-keeper both in the country and city. 5. the fifth is, to be an industrious and fortunate merchant. 6. to be a philosopher, mathematician, and physician, according to aristotle, plato, ptolomy, euclides, hippocrates, and galen. 7. to be a divine according to the bible and schooles, which all writers of divinity both old and new have taught. aphorism 25. we have already declared what a secret is, the kindes and species thereof: it remaineth now to shew how we may attain to know those things which we desire

TYSON DONALD NEW MILLENNIUM MAGIC

is the universe of the uncreated, or chaos. the ancients usually pictured it as a seething gray mist in which undefined monsters dwelt. this is artis- tic license since the unmanifest lacks all qualities, induding mistiness and gray- ness, and its inhabitants (if it could be said to have any) are without form or duration. by its very nature the unmanifest is inconceivable. any picture or model a philosopher might form of it becomes at once invalid precisely because it has been formed, and therefore no longer represents the formless universe. even fea- tureless space has dimension and exists in time; it is a part of creation and cannot be used to represent the unmanifest. chaos has a secondary connotation, which should not be confused with its pri- mary meaning. it is sometimes said to be

es with no pattern of repetition (3.14159265. hence, it is impossible to convert a square into a circle of exactly equal area, or vice versa. alchemists and rosicrucians regarded this inability to convert the measure of a circle to the measure of a square as of supreme significance. they used it as the basis for one of their spiritual quests after enlightenment, the others being the quest for the philosopher's stone that would turn base metal into gold, and the quest for the elixir of life that would cure all disease and grant immortality. the magus draws the circle clockwise in imitation of the apparent course of the sun, moon, and stars across the heavens, establishing a sovereign rule of order under the light. the circle is drawn out through the centerpoint of the magus and mentally pro

tegories and magically acted upon through the appropriate point of the nonagram. other uses will suggest themselves to the magus. the mystic and cult leader g. i. gurdjieff taught a type of nonagram in private lectures given to his inner circle of followers in st. petersburg in 1915. the construction of gurdjieff's symbol, which he called the enneagram and regarded as the universal symbol and the philosopher's stone, is based on the decimal equivalents of the divisions of seven'/7,2/7 'y7, and is completely described by p. d. ouspensky in his work in search of the miraculous. serious stu- dents may wish to consult this work. t he decagram can be drawn in two ways. the common decagram is made of two interlocking pentagrams, one pointing up and the other down. it accords with the structure o

only the vaguest ideas about the object of their adoration, blindly embrace magic for such shallow reasons as power and romance. both approaches display a lack of balance and violate the golden mean formulated by pythagoras "one must choose in all things a mean just and good" 23 error and confusion dwell in extremes. pythagoras teaches "even as truth, does error have its lovers: with prudence the philosopher approves or blames" do not be quick to embrace any definition of magic; by the same token, con- sider well before you reject it. above all, think for yourself. if you have not yourself considered a subject in detail, turning over its pros and cons in your own mind, then what you believe about that subject is not the product of your personal understanding, but is doctrine received from

ce that occur are the work of evil spirits possessing those who have a weak sense of identity and a poor training in moral and ethical behavior. ev& when an invoked spirit is benign, too often the magus becomes intoxicat- ed with the strange and novel sensations caused by close contact with a spirit and forgets the reason for conducting the invocation. john dee, the great elizabethan magician and philosopher, suffered this impediment when seeking to scry spirits within his showstone. the spirits he invoked were willing to share the knowledge he sought, but he became hopelessly intoxicated by their presence. finally he was forced to employ the alchemist edward kelley as his seer, and to write down the sayings and visions of the spirits that kelley related to him. invocation relies on standa

s. thoth of egypt, zoroaster of persia, abaris of scythia, daedalus of crete, pythago- ras of samos, moses of israel, apollonius of tyana, jesus of nazareth, plotinus of lycopolis, and iamblichus of chalcis, were magi. the magus of five hundred years ago was what we now call a renaissance man, and pursued mathematics, art, and alchemy. two thousand years before that, he or she was the pythagorean philosopher who traveled to egypt and chaldea to study the mysteries. twenty millennia before that the magus was a shaman with stag antlers and a feathered cape dancing around the campfire. today the magus has no social cast and lives as a misfit in society. educated, often successful, he or she cannot be satisfied with an externally imposed role. even when social norms change like spring fashions

TYSON DONALD SOUL FLIGHT

(papaver somniferum, deadly nightshade (atropa belladonna, henbane (hyoscyamus niger, black nightshade (solanum nigrum, mandrake (mandragora oficinarum, thornapple (datura stramonium, darnel (lolium temulentum, poison lettuce (lactuca virosa) and black poplar (populus niger. hemlock and water hemlock have similar poisonous effects. it was a concoction of hemlock that was used to execute the greek philosopher socrates. hansen asserts that the juices of the two hemlocks, when rubbed into the skin, cause the sensation of gliding through the air.31 monkshood is poisonous when applied to the surface of the skin. the naturalist pliny the elder wrote in his natural history that the roman calpurnius bestia murdered a succession of wives by rubbing aconitine on their sexual parts as they slept "it

hich was their invariable accompaniment; in other words, the physical appearance which the possession of the elixir of life has traditionally supposed to confer. on the other hand, when the rendezvous has been in a place free from easy access by the outer world they have usually been in symbolic robes and insignia.l16 both mathers and his wife, the former mina bergson, sister of the famous french philosopher henri bergson, were strongly mediumistic. they communicated with the secret chiefs through a variety of methods familiar to spiritualists-mathers specifically mentions astral projection as a key method in his manifesto, but he and his wife also used other techniques. almost the whole of the second order knowledge has been obtained by me from them in various ways; by clairvoyance, by as

tterns by kabbalists as a way of emphasizing different aspects of their collective nature and interactions. the tree of life adopted by the golden dawn is only one of these symbolic patterns for the sephiroth, although it may be the most sophisticated. it appears almost exactly as it was used by mathers and his flock in an illustration in the 1652 work oedipus aegyptiacus, written by the mystical philosopher and jesuit priest athanasius kircher (1601-1680. very similar trees of the sephiroth, though not in all their details, are older, but there exist numerous symbolic arrangements of the sephiroth that do not resemble trees in the least. one of the more popular arrangements developed by jewish kabbalists was concentric, so that the sephiroth are shown emanating outward in everwidening cir

TYSON DONALD THE POWER OF THE WORD

ys a vacillation between three and four which comes out over and over again (psychology and alchemy [princeton university press, 19801, p. 26. jung saw the shifting of focus back and forth between systems based on three and four as a wavering between a spiritual and a physical emphasis. alchemists captured this dynamic relationship in the symbol of the squared circle. along with the making of the philosopher's stone and the discovery of the water of life, the squaring of the circle was the prime achievement of alchemy. it was represented geometrically by a circle within which was a triangle, within which was a square, within which was a circle. from the unity of the circle arises trinity, and trinity gives birth to quaternity, which in the highest mystery returns to unity once again. the c

re for the first time because of its practical utility in ritual magic, the overt banner of scorpio, hhiv, would be vibrated "he-hay-yod-vav" whereas the occult banner of scorpio, hhiv, would be vibrated "hay-he-yod-vav" this vocalization of a name letter by letter is not as unusual as might first appear. the language called enochian, which was received psychically from spirits by the elizabethan philosopher john dee and his seer, the alchemist edward kelley, is almost unpronounceable unless it is voiced letter by letter. when enochian was adopted into the golden dawn as a magical alphabet and language suitable for vibrating words of power, this letter by letter method of speaking it was adopted and was carried on by the great beast, aleister crowley, in his own system of magic. the golden

houghts. this is almost always the case, even with the most skillful and dedicated healers. medical science may be limited, but within its limits it is effective and should be turned to first, not last, for the treatment of sickness. only after you have consulted a doctor should you consult a magical healer or attempt to use magical healing techniques on yourself. viii i n 1564, the great english philosopher, astrologer, and magician john dee wrote a short latin tract in the form of twenty-four theorems titled the monas hieroglyphics (the hieroglyphic monad. it was begun on january 13th and finished on the 25th of the same month while dee was visiting the city of antwerp. the work was printed at antwerp by william silvius in march of 1564. in structure, it follows the pattern of classical

ritual object, the beginner in magic runs into a perplexing difficulty. an object can only be made pure by applying something to it that is already pure. this is known as the principle of contagion, whereby anything strongly charged with a particular occult virtue tends to pass that virtue on to other things less strongly charged when the two come into physical or symbolic contact. as the arabian philosopher avicenna observed "when a thing standeth long in salt, it is salt, and if any thing stand in a stinking place, it is made stinking (see the book of secrets [oxford university press, 19741, p. 74. to magically cleanse the rings, we need purified and consecrated water, yet we cannot make the water unless we apply to it something that is itself pure. in religion this difficulty is overcom

act as his seer. many times he threatened to leave dee, but always he was held by the prospect of discovering the secret of the powder, which could turn base metals to gold. throughout his association with dee, kelley constantly urged dee to devote himself to alchemical matters. the salary dee paid kelley for his labors as a seer was scant compensation compared with the glittering visions of the philosopher's stone. 186 tetragrammaton references by the spirit guide madimi, who came in the form of a little girl, to her "mother" are highly significant. madimi constantly refers to the authority of her mother, who is a kinswoman of nalvage, the spirit who delivers the enochian keys. dee asks madimi's mother her name, and the spirit answers "i am of the word, and by the word (casaubon, p. 27

WALLIS BUDGE E A LEGENDS OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS

o the mainland, to italy, germany, france, spain and portugal, and then crossing the western end of the mediterranean it entered north africa, and with carthage as a centre spread east and west along the coast. wherever the cult of isis came men accepted it as something which supplied what they thought to be lacking in their native cults; rich and poor, gentle and simple, all welcomed it, and the philosopher as well as the ignorant man rejoiced in the hope of a future life which it gave to them. its egyptian origin caused it to be regarded with the profoundest interest, and its priests were most careful to make the temples of isis quite different from those of the national gods, and to decorate them with obelisks, sphinxes, shrines, altars, etc, which were either imported from temples in e

hes us to entertain of the divine nature itself, partly clear and partly obscure. and inasmuch as the devotees of isis after their decease are wrapped up in these sacred vestments, is not this intended to signify that this holy doctrine still abides with them, and that this alone accompanies them in another life? for as 'tis not the length of the beard or the coarseness of the habit which makes a philosopher, so neither will these frequent shavings, or the mere wearing of a linen vestment, constitute a votary of isis. he alone is a true servant or follower of this goddess who, after he has heard, and has been made acquainted in a proper manner with the history of the actions of these gods, searches into the hidden truths which lie concealed under them, and examines the whole by the dictate

WESTERN MANDALAS OF TRANSFORMATION SR AL

chimia, or. alchemy. in latin gematria, the "gold of the philosophers (aurum philosophorum) equals 231, which is the, number of gates connected to the sephiroth. this number also equals "dawn of the philosophers (aurora philosophorum, a hidden reference to the true golden dawn. the 231 gates are all of the possible two-letter combinations of the hebrew letters, a hint that a practicing qabalistic philosopher should perhaps explore these hidden gates. figure 9-l we have mentioned that there is an intimate relationship between venus, or daleth, the door (represented in tarot by the empress [see figure 9-m, and nun, which in the qabalistic scheme is connected to scorpio (ruled by mars. here is clothed one of the greatest secrets of occultism. it has to do with transmutation of the life force

s life (pattern on the trestleboard) chapter 10 the kamea of hod/mercury the magical numbers of mercury are eight, sixty-four, 260, and 2080. mercury, the eighth sephira, is known as the ogdoad. in it is concealed the mystery of the completion of the great work; and indeed, mercury holds many alchemical secrets. number eight was the number used to designate both christ.often taken as the symbolic philosopher's stone to the christian qabalists.as well as mercury. dr. case said: the real secret of this stone is the real secret of the cross, which is the end and so the fulfillment of that whole dispensation that is represented symbolically by the twentytwo letters of the hebrew alphabet (1985, p. 41. the function of this magical principle represented by the philosopher's stone was synthesis

WICCA MAGICK OCCULT THREE GREEN BOOKS DRUIDISM

spel according to zen editor s note: this collection of sayings was taken from a book called the gospel according to zen: beyond the death of god edited by robert sohl in 1970. i highly recommend the book to you. three sayings of jesus jesus said to his disciples: make comparisons; tell me what i am like. simon peter said to him: you are like a just angel. matthew said to him: you are like a wise philosopher. thomas said to him: master, my mouth will in no way endure my saying what you are like. jesus said: i am not your master. jesus said: let him who seeks not cease his seeking until he find; and when he find, he will be troubled, and if he is troubled, he will marvel, and will be a king over all. jesus said: i m the light which is over everything. i am the all; from me the all has gone

ich people ask. a teaching always remains the same: truth cannot alter! some time later, mulla nasrudin approached the same man for a job as a gardener. you seem rather old, said the lecturer, and i am not sure that you can manage the job. i may look different, said nasrudin, but i have the same strength i had twenty years ago. he got the job on the strength of his assurance. soon afterwards, the philosopher asked nasrudin to shift a paving- stone from one part of the garden to another. tug as he might, the mulla could not lift it. i thought you said that you were as strong as you were twenty years ago, said the sage. i am, answered nasrudin, exactly as strong. twenty years ago i could not have lifted it, either! the value of the past nasrudin was sent by the king to investigate the lore o

if you can, but do not tell them so. lord chesterfield a man who stands behind a wall can see nothing else. japanese the wise make more use of their enemies than fools of their friends. german each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing with others his bit of wisdom. baba ram dass a man begins cutting his wisdom teeth the first time he bites off more than he can chew. herb caen remember your philosopher s doubts. beware! the mind of the believer stagnates. it fails to grow outward into an unlimited, infinite universe. rev. mother taraza, dune conclusion to the green books? i hope that you have enjoyed them. please feel free to seek more selections to add to this collecti chistoric lecture- golden dawn by v.h. frater sapere aude (dr. w. wynn westcott) the order of the g.d. in the outer

WILLIAM WESCOTT NUMBERS THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES

e returned with his mind well stored and his judgment matured, to his home, intending to open there a college of learning, but this he found to be impracticable owing to the opposition of its turbulent ruler polycrates. failing in this design, he migrated to crotona, a noted city in magna graecia, which was a colony founded by dorians on the south coast of italy. it was here that this ever-famous philosopher founded his college or society of students, which became known all over the civilized numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott world as the central assembly of the learned of europe; and here it was in secret conclave that pythagoras taught that occult wisdom which he had gathered from the gymnosophists and brahmins of india, from the hierophants of eg

his metaphysica, moralia magna, and nicomachean ethics. nicomachus of stagyra was his father. 6. b.c. 276. eratosthenes, author of work entitled kokkinon or cribrum, a sieve to separate prime from composite numbers. 7. b.c. 40. cicero. refer to his works de finibus and de natura deorum. 13. 8. 50 a.d. nicomachus of gerasa; treatises on arithmetic and harmony. 9. 300 a.d. porphry of tyre, a great philosopher, sometimes named in syriac, melekh or king, was the pupil of longinus and plotinus. 10. 340 a.d. jamblicus wrote de mysteriis, de vita pythagorica, the arithmetic of nicomachus of gerasa, and the theological properties of numbers. 11. 450 a.d. proclus, in his commentary on the works and days of hesiod, gives information concerning the pythagorean views of numbers. 12. 560 a.d. simplici

r a, from being chosen to commence the set of letters, had the task of representing the monad. in numeration, note that the romans began with lines, i, ii, iii, iiii, and then followed the acute angle v for 5, then for ten this was doubled x, for fifty the angle was laid down and became l, for a hundred, two fifties, one inverted became c, for five hundred c and l became d. hermias, the christian philosopher, author of ridicule of the gentile philosophers, quotes from the pythagoreans. 35. the monad is the beginning of all things- arche ton panton he monas. numbers--th eir occu lt power an d mys tic vir tu es by w. wyn n wes tcott the figure of one signifies identity, equality, existence and preservation; it signifies living man alone among animals erect. on adding a head we make of it p

WOLFSON ELLIOT ALEF MEM TAU KABBALISTIC MUSINGS ON TIME TRUTH AND DEATH

is the being of eternity, the eternal being, which temporally becomes in the eternality of temporal becoming.334 in the essay das neue denken, published in 1925 with the aim of offering readers pointers on how to read der stern, rosenzweig writes that time is entirely real for the one who embraces the new thinking (neue denken, which he also calls speech-thinking (sprachdenken, in contrast to the philosopher interested in immutable essences who wants to know nothing of time. the critical element of speech, therefore, is the verb, which in german is zeitwort, literally, timeword, the part of language that conveys knowledge of the tenses (zeiten) of reality. 335 rosenzweig thus expresses the secret of the wisdom of the new philosophy encapsulated in goethe s phrase understanding at the right

ial measure of the world and the temporal magnitude of eternity. the convergence of space and time that ensues from this dual connotation is further enhanced by the rabbinic etymology that playfully relates the word olam to the root alam, to conceal or to hide. 5 the mystery of being is disclosed by the juxtaposition of space and time that characterizes our experience of the phenomenal world.6 as philosopher and sinologist fran ois jullien succinctly put it in a more contemporary vernacular, le temps et l espace ne sont pas dissociables l un de l autre: aux portions du temps r pondent des parties de l espace, leurs embl mes sont communs, chaque p riode est solidaire d un climat, chaque orient li une saison. 7 particularly in the arena of ritualized behavior, one discerns the concomitant sp

ce of history and myth that endows ritual performance with historical meaning and historical facticity with ritual transcendence. 12 recurrent patterns transpire within the narrative framework of linear succession the timelessness of lived time extending in an attenuated circle of 56 chapter two return13 yielding a temporality where the interminably ephemeral is ephemerally interminable.14 as the philosopher eric voegelin observed in his reflections on the historical evolution of ancient israelite cosmology and eschatology, when the revelation of the transcendent god has become the experiential center of order and symbolization, the transcendental implications of the compact symbols are set free; and correspondingly the volume of meaning in the symbols shrinks until the ritual renewal of o

oral perspective it necessitates that what has come to pass will come to be again, all that has taken place will be cast up by the sea again.87 in a world of constant change, the only constant is change, the perpetual (un)becoming of the permanent flux of impermanence.88 needless to say, there are critical differences between the sixteenth-century jewish homilist and the nineteenth-century german philosopher, which i do not mean to ignore or to minimize. nevertheless, nietzsche s depiction of the moment as the meeting-point of the eternal past and eternal future provides a useful way to interpret the view articulated by maharal. moreover, for both of them, the recurrence of the past in the present entails not a quantifiable and hence predictable repetition of the same, but rather an indete

here it has been.26 to see what lies ahead one must be mindful of what is at the head. beginning is a veil that shrouds what has come before, and thus origin keeps itself concealed in the beginning. surprisingly, i have found in the words of heidegger a key to unlock the bahiric symbolism. before proceeding to unpack this symbolism, let me briefly comment on using the views of a twentieth-century philosopher to explicate an esoteric theosophy crystallized in the middle ages. in spite of the blatant differences between medieval kabbalists and heidegger, too obvious to warrant delineation, applying the poetic thinking of the latter to the former is justifiable on two accounts. first, historical connections (especially through secondary channels of influence like schelling)27 between heidegge

d. to be always beginning, then, is to be never ending, but to be never ending is to be always of the moment. to be always of the moment is to always be of the moment, that is, to begin in the beginning that cannot begin because it has already begun if it is the beginning that can(not) begin. the beginning is, in the language of nagarjuna, the renowned before alef/ where beginnings end 131 indian philosopher of the middle way (madhyamika, the primary arising that produces the arising of arising. 87 the arising of arising entraps the mind in the insurmountable paradox of simultaneously a rming and denying the possibility of arising: if there is an arising of arising, the arising will have already been, since in the absence of its having been we could not speak of its having arisen, but if i

hich is further characterized by the dialectical play of generation and destruction, the rendering of justice and reparation from one being to the other from their mutual injustice. see serres, anaximander, pp. 135 143; dastur, heidegger on anaximander, pp. 179 190, esp. 185 188. 215. needless to say, many scholars have addressed the heideggerian notion of the fourfold. see, in particular, levin, philosopher s gaze, pp. 116 169. 216. heidegger, contributions, pp. 259 260. 217. ibid, pp. 259, 260, 264 (emphasis in original. 218. ibid, p. 265. 219. koyr, la philosophie, pp. 279 301, 320 327; caputo, mystical element, p. 98; walsh, mysticism, pp. 30 32; helting, heidegger und meister eckehart, pp. 56 58. for more detailed discussions on the influence of the theosophical gnosis (primarily thro

of the son of god, edited by stephen t. davis, daniel kendall, sj, and gerald o collins, 273 299. new york: oxford university press, 2002. time and eternity. ithaca: cornell university press, 1991. lepoidevin, robin. zeno s arrow and the significance of the present. in time, reality, and experience, edited by craig callender, 57 72. cambridge: cambridge university press, 2002. levin, david m. the philosopher s gaze: modernity in the shadows of enlightenment. berkeley: university of california press, 1999. levinas, emmanuel. alterity and transcendence. translated by michael b. smith. new york: columbia university press, 1999. basic philosophical writings. edited by adriann t. peperzak, simon critchley, and robert bernasconi. bloomington: indiana university press, 1996. di cult freedom: essa

ZALEWSKI SECRET INNER ORDER RITUALS OF THE GOLDEN DAWN OCR

when he reaches the altar. he gives up his wand, the rod of power; but the light with which he has shown others the way of return to the spiritual centre, he returns to its source. he hands it from darkness to light across the altar into the safe keeping of the hegemon. in the 0=0 grade kerux represents man, the alchemist, who in the beginning is the homeless wanderer intent on his search for the philosopher's stone. gradually, he brings the candidate to the goal of his secred quest, added by the ray of light from his own spirit, dim and faint though it is. but now he must sacrifice even his own spiritual light. it is only when he has renounced his own individual spirit that the higher powers can be moved into action. for kerux this represents a kind of death. the death of the self. he rea

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