"I am the eye with which the universe beholds itself and knows itself divine;
All harmony of instrument or verse, all prophecy, all medicine, are mine, all
light of art or nature; --- to my song, victory and praise in their own right
belong." .................. Shelley
The ongoing quest for the Philosopher's Stone, the
elixir of life, and that mystic process by which man could turn lead
into gold, has obsessed, impoverished, and in some cases cost the life
of more than just a few practicing alchemists, depending on the time and
circumstances to which they were born. Most of the hardships of the
alchemists were due to exposing the incredibility of the Christian
Church during the centuries of wanton slaughter perpetrated by the
"Unholy Inquisition". Added to this was the precarious dilemma that if a
king asked an alchemist to produce gold and he was not successful, it
was quite likely that the unfortunate alchemist could well meet with an
untimely end.
It is believed by Hermetic philosophers
that man, the microcosm, is but a reflection on a small scale of the
universe, or macrocosm. All things in the universe are linked in harmony
with each other. Man has the ability to discover and use this harmony
for his own benefit, primarily through the system of correspondences
that outline a special relationship between certain climates, feelings
and objects, and ultimately by coming to understand the nature of the
universal spirit that permeates the universe. It was this spirit that
the alchemists were attempting to identify and possess in the
Philosopher's Stone. Alchemy, being the paradigmatic Hermetic art, was
for the famous alchemist Paracelsus a means of understanding the miracle
of creation. Since the creation of the cosmos was a chemical action,
Paracelsus believed that the universe continued to operate according to
chemical laws. Therefore, if he made a deep and extensive study of the
chemistry of creation, he felt certain that he could learn, not only
about Nature, but about the Creation of World and Universe as well.
Alchemy from its origin was born out of Hermeticism and by
no means was it limited to chemical process alone. Also encompassed are
the fields of Pythagorean lore, the theory of the four elements, the
microcosm / macrocosm relationship and the Lullian art (alchemist
Raymond Lull) all were inextricably tied together with the original
Hermetic revelations. The revival of Hermeticism during the Elizabethan
period marked the dawn of the scientific age because it unleashed the
driving spirit that inspired man to compel natural forces to serve him
to an extent never dreamed of before. Renaissance Hermetic Magic was an
enlightened and refined discipline and diametrically opposed from the
dark and primitive Black Magic of the middle Ages. However, there was
never a complete break between Medieval and Renaissance Magic; both were
based on similar assumptions.
Hermes was the Father
of Occult Wisdom. Much of the surviving teachings of Hermes are
contained in the text known as the Corpus Hermeticum. Hermeticism views
the universe in terms of Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Spirit and
Matter. Like their Gnostic contemporaries, both preach a mind-body
dualism and salvation through the possession of true and divine
knowledge. Hermeticism encompasses both pantheism and
Monistic-polytheism (soft polytheism) within its belief system. It
teaches that The All, or one "CAUSE", is that which we, and the entire
universe, are all a part. Also it subscribes to the notion that other
beings such as gods and angels, ascended masters and elementals exist in
the universe as parts of The All.
What is meant by
the term "The All" in Hermeticism is clearly explained in this following
passage from the Kybalion: "Under, and back of, the Universe of Time,
Space and Change, is ever to be found The Substantial Reality---the
Fundamental Truth.”Substance" means that which underlies all outward
manifestations; the essence; the essential reality; the thing in itself,
etc. "Substantial" means actually existing; being the essential
element; being real, etc. "Reality" means the state of being real; true,
enduring; valid; fixed; permanent; actual, etc.
Under
and behind all outward appearances or manifestations, there must always
be a Substantial Reality. This is the Law. Man considering the
Universe, of which he is a unit, sees nothing but change in matter,
forces, and mental states. He sees that nothing really IS, but that
everything is BECOMING and CHANGING. Nothing stands still---everything
is being born, growing, dying---the very instant a thing reaches its
height, it begins to decline---the law of rhythm is in constant
operation---there is no reality, enduring quality, fixity, or
substantiality in anything---nothing is permanent but Change. He sees
all things evolving from other things, and resolving into other
things---a constant action and reaction; inflow and outflow; building up
and tearing down; creation and destruction; birth growth and death.
Nothing endures but Change. And if he be a thinking man, he realizes
that all of these changing things must be but outward appearances or
manifestations of some Underlying Power---some Substantial Reality.
All thinkers, in all lands and in all times, have
assumed the necessity for postulating the existence of Substantial
Reality. All philosophies worthy of the name have been based upon this
thought. Men have given to this Substantial Reality many names---some
have called it by the term of Deity (under many titles); others have
called it "The Infinite and Eternal Energy"; others have tried to call
it "Matter"---but all have acknowledged its existence. It is
self-evident---it needs no argument."
Though many
religious sects have incorporated useful aspects of Hermeticism into
their own body of religion such as Rosicrucianism, Gnosticism,
Christianity, Neo-Platonism and the like, the most fertile ground for
Hermetic thought is best represented in Wotanism, as Wotan and Hermes
have long been believed to be both one and the same entity. The lion's
share of Hermetic teachings were destroyed between the three burnings of
the Great Library of Alexandria, but the ever faithful Hermetic souls
through the long course of history have kept that which remained, well
preserved. Wotanism today has incorporated the full body of Hermeticism
into its own and maintains these ancient teachings in their purest and
original form. Hermetic Philosophy is the only Master Key which opens
all the doors of Occult Teachings and must be insured a safe haven for
the benefit of all of posterity.
The Principles of
Truth are Seven; he who knows these, understandingly, possesses the
Magic Key before whose touch all the Doors of the Temple fly open. The
Seven Hermetic Principles upon which the entire Hermetic Philosophy is
based are as follows:
#1 THE PRINCIPLE OF MENTALISM: ("The All is Mind; The universe is Mental")
#2 THE PRINCIPLE OF CORRESPONDENCE: ("As above, so below; As below, so above")
#3 THE PRINCIPLE OF VIBRATION: ("Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.")
#4 THE PRINCIPLE OF POLARITY: ("Everything is Dual; everything has
poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the
same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree;
extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be
reconciled.")
#5 THE PRINCIPLE OF RHYTHM: ("Everything
flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall;
the pendulum-swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to
the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.")
#6 THE PRINCIPLE OFCAUSE AND EFFECT: ("Every Cause has its Effect;
every Effect has its Cause; everything happens according to Law; Chance
is but a name for Law not recognized; there are many planes of
causation, but nothing escapes the Law.")
#7 THE CAUSE OF
GENDER: ("Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and
Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all planes.")
The Egyptian moon god, Thoth, God of Wisdom and Justice,
like most other divine archetypes, was derived from a real-life
historical personage. The man who justly earned this deification was the
greatest of all sages, who was known by the Greek name, "Hermes
Trismegistus", (Thrice Greatest). The Atlantean high priest Hermes is
most remembered for his astounding knowledge on many subjects and as
designer of the great pyramids, music, astronomy, alchemy, hieroglyphic
writing to name just a few of his many, many amazing accomplishments.
Hermes on one occasion was known to have made a trip to Phoenicia to
work on a flying craft for king Cronos. Hermes was called the Thrice
Greatest because he was considered the greatest of all philosophers, the
greatest of all priests and the greatest of all kings. The Egyptians
viewed Hermes as a God and honored him with the name "Thoth". According
to historian Sanchuniathon, In the Egyptian myths Hermes became known as
the "Scribe of the Gods", and his writings are traced upon the tables
of the most distant memory. With a gesture Hermes veils these records
from the uninitiated, but reveals them to such as have awakened their
inner consciousness.
Hermeticism raised man from the
status of a pious and awestruck observer of God's wonders and encouraged
him to operate within his universe by using the powers of the cosmos to
his own advantage. Hermeticism has frequently been compared to
Gnosticism and does share many similarities. Each is concerned with the
knowledge of God, the world and the soul, and equally teaches that the
human soul can only escape from its bondage to matter if it possesses
the true knowledge or understanding, which is the privilege of the
select few. The spirit, to the Hermeticist, is considered godly and
good. Matter and the body are of the lower unconscious levels. Man must
live in conformity with the spirit, which means that he must try to know
God and the divine entities while here on earth and to eventually
ascend to his rightful place above the base world of matter which is his
temporary prison.
"The possession of Knowledge, unless accompanied by a manifestation and
expression in Action, is like the hoarding of precious metals---a vain and foolish
thing. Knowledge, like Wealth, is intended for Use. The Law of Use is Universal,
and he who violates it suffers by reason of his conflict with natural forces."
.........................The Kybalion
For the Hermeticist..... it is through mystical
experience that man attains liberation. In fact that experience, when at
its greatest intensity, the soul is wholly absorbed in the vision of
the Godhead. For the same reason sejdr (Aryan shamanism) was much
employed throughout European paganism. Understanding and the higher self
are the only important things. For the Hermeticist... it is through
mystical experience that man attains liberation. In the religion of
Teutonic Wotanism, Wotan himself, as reigning archetype, is
characterized as a practicing sejdr master. Like the Egyptian sun gods,
Ra and Horus, Wotan's left eye symbolized the moon and his right eye,
the sun.
Hermes specifically referred to the sun as
the "demiurge" or "the second God". He further states, “In the center of
all, rests the sun. For who would place this lamp of a very beautiful
temple in another or better place than this, whence it can illuminate
everything at the same time? As a matter of fact, some are still known
to call it 'lantern', others, 'the mind' and still others 'the pilot of
the world'." Hermes himself will always remain the "Great Central Sun of
Occultism", whose rays have served to illumine mankind through his
divine teachings. All the leading religions today can be traced back to
the wisdom of Thoth Hermes, the greatest teacher to have ever walked the
Earth in our known history. As for the all High Creator God of the
Universe, it is important to remember that while All is in THE ALL, it
is equally true that THE ALL is in All. To him who truly understands
this truth hath come great knowledge!
Both the cross
within a circle, known as the Solar wheel, or Wotan's Eye, and the
Fylfot, or Swastika are representative of the earliest known sun symbols
of Aryan man, dating back, to Hyperborean and Atlantean times. Hermes
supported and enriched this idea which respected the sun's spiritual
role with and within man. The fact that light could visibly embody
itself in the sun is one of the central mysteries of Hermeticism and
tremendously significant to the alchemists. As Hermes writes, "The sun
occupies the highest dignity; we represent it (on account of its
superiority) by a full circle with a visible center." You do not have to
shovel out or sweep out the Darkness, but by merely opening the
shutters and letting in the Light, the Darkness will likewise disappear.
To kill out a Negative quality, concentrate upon the positive Pole of
that same quality, and the vibrations will gradually change from
Negative to Positive, until finally you will become polarized on the
Positive pole instead of the Negative. To change your mood or mental
state---change your vibration!
Horus was known as one
of the sun gods of ancient Egypt and Set was his counterpart, as the god
of darkness. At midday when the sun is at its highest point, this third
element was symbolic of the All High God. Thousands of years later the
Christians adapted a much similar trinity to their own religion, using
an All High God, with Jesus representing light and Satan representing
darkness. The life-giving sun comes up on the horizon (Horus) and sets
(Set) into darkness. When we speak of the horizon and sunset, we are
using words which have particular origins with the Egyptian gods, namely
both Horus and Set. When Christians speak of the Son of God physically
walking on water, this is a grossly misconstrued interpretation from its
true occult origin, which was to represent the literal light of the Sun
in the sky reflecting upon the water, we say the suns light walks or
dances upon the surface of the water, not a man actually walking on
water. Many of the ancient mysteries have been misrepresented in such
ways and taken in the literal sense to further enhance a story only to
the further confusion of its reader.
The ancient
Egyptians used to place a winged solar disk over the gateway of every
temple forecourt. In all the original pagan systems everything is
circular, self-generated, self-nourished, self-renewed (as symbolized in
the Ourobouros which is a circle formed by a snake biting its own
tail). Many religions serve to cloud the life truths which are always
self-evident in Nature. The secrets of Nature are not secret as such,
but a way of life that will not be revealed until we fulfill the true
mission of our enlightenment. All human progress has sprung from the
repeated effort of the soul of man to give expression to those primeval
spiritual ideas that were implanted deep within the memory of the races
of man when they first experienced their original beginnings upon the
Earth.
Hermeticists believe, as is stated in the
Kybalion, that the half-wise, recognizing the comparative unreality of
the Universe, imagine that they may defy its Laws---such are vain and
presumptuous fools, and they are broken against the rocks and torn
asunder by the elements by reason of their folly. The truly wise,
knowing the nature of the Universe, use Law against laws; the higher
against the lower; and by the Art of Alchemy transmute that which is
undesirable into that which is worthy, and thus triumph. Mastery
consists not in abnormal dreams, visions and fantastic imaginings or
living, but in using the higher forces against the lower--- escaping the
pains of the lower planes by vibrating on the higher. Transmutation,
not presumptuous denial, is the weapon of the Master. Our business in
this Universe is not to deny its existence, but to LIVE, and to LEARN
using the Laws to rise from lower to higher. We are all on The
Path---and the road leads upward ever, with frequent resting places.
"The wise ones serve on the higher, but rule on the lower. They obey the laws
coming from above them, but on their own plane, and those below them, they
rule and give orders. And, yet, in so doing, they form a part of the
Principle, instead of opposing it. The wise man falls in with the Law,
and by
understanding its movements he operates it instead of being its blind slave."
....................The Kybalion
We have indeed reached a turning point now in life,
beyond which we dare no longer submit to the rigidity of dogma. Religion
must always be a guide, not a jailer. Over 4,000 years ago Hermes put
forth these words: "O people of the earth, men born and made of the
elements, but with the sleep of ignorance! Be sober and thoughtful.
Realize that your home is not in the Earth but in the Light. Why have
you delivered yourselves over to death, having power to partake of
immortality? Repent, and change your minds. Depart from the dark light
and forsake corruption forever. Prepare yourselves to climb through the
Seven Rings and to blend your souls with the Eternal Light."
The sun wisp of Aryan man shines its ancient ray of Life and
Light from the Eye of Wotan. The age old Hermetic circles will never be
broken. If you seek to understand the whole universe, you will
understand nothing at all.... but seek to understand yourself and you
will come to understand the whole universe. The lips of wisdom are
closed, except to the ears of Understanding. True Hermetic Transmutation
is a Mental Art! THE ALL IS MIND; THE UNIVERSE IS MENTAL. "Wisdom is
as a flower from which the bee its honey makes and the spider poisons
each according to its own nature." Chose your Path and Time on Earth
wisely!
Posted in: Europe,Indo-European
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