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ROSIGRU Cl AN ORDER
A M O R C
Supplementary Monograph
T h e subject m a tte r of th is m onograph m u st be understood by th e re a d e r o r stu d en t
of sam e, no t to be th e official R osicrucian teachings. T hese m onographs constitute a series
of su p p lem en tary studies provided b y the R osicrucian O rder, ,A M O R C , both to m em bers
a n d n onm em bers, because th e y are not the secret, p riv ate teachings of th e O rder.
T h e object of these su p p lem en tary m onographs is to broaden th e m in d of the stu d e n t b y
p resen tin g h im w ith the w ritin g s, opinions, a n d dissertations of au th o rities in various fields
of h u m a n en terp rise a n d endeavor. T h erefo re, it is q u ite probable th a t th e re a d e r w ill
note at tim es in these su p p lem en tary m onographs statem ents m ade w hich are inconsisten t
w ith the R osicrucian teachings or view point. B ut w ith the reaiization th a t th e y are m ere
ly su p p lem en tary a n d th a t th e R osicrucian O rganization is not endorsing or condoning
th em , one m u st tak e them m ere ly for th e ir p rim a facie value. T h ro u g h o u t th e supple
m e n ta ry series th e au th o rs or tran slato rs of th e subject w ill be given due cred it w h en ev er
w e have know ledge of th e ir id en tity .
if
a
SPECIA L SU B JEC T
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INNER HERMETIC TEACHINGS
The power to transform, or an act or process of transforming
something common into something precious is one of the definitions
given of the word "alchemy."
Transmutation or change on all planes
of existence, visible or invisible, and in all aspects of life is the
basic idea presented in those teachings derived from the sage, Hermes
Trismegistus, and which are called in their entirety by the name "Her
metic philosophy."
But whether by this name or another, throughout
all ages there have been those whose imaginations have been fired by
these ideas.
It was reasoned that as man was created in the image of
God, so then may men create as God creates.
"As above, so below" is
the axiom of the alchemist.
There could not be one set of laws for
the Cosmic and another for man; therefore one set of laws governed
all--Cosmic laws, and these laws would be the same, no matter where
applied.
Creation began when Cosmic Mind, through the power of will, pla
ced a concept into consciousness, where it was brought forth as ma ni
festation.
The alchemist, following this reasoning, conceived the
idea of "prima materia" or "first matter," a basic substance from
which all matter is formed.
This prima materia is what the Rosicru
cian calls "spirit energy," for when motion or vibration was injected
into spirit energy, through mind, will, and consciousness, then that
spirit energy divided itself into all forms of matter.
The alchemist did not know the terminology of modern physics, yet
he conceived and grasped the concept that, theoretically, it should
be possible to alter matter into the prima materia and form it into
whatever he desired, for in reality, all matter was one, there being
only a differentiation of vibration among its many formings.
Accept
ing this premise as a truth, the structure of the alchemist's reason
ing and the development of his ideas were logical.
He believed that
all common or base metals could be transmuted into what he felt was
their highest form gold, and that there could be created a "tincture"
that could effect this transmutation.
He dreamed of the transmuting
of the human body into a state of perfection, and of a universal
medicine that would cure all ills.
And he believed in the possibility
of the transmutation of all that was base and common in the essence
of man's personality into that transcendent being the Master person
ality.
These were more than just dreams, for there was the evidence
from those out of the past who had already walked that way.
The goal of the alchemist, then, is the transmutation of some
thing common into something precious.
It is achieved through a true
understanding of the Law of Correspondences, or Cosmic law working
on all levels.
The process of transmutation is, however, one of growth as well
as a change.
By tradition, the "how" of it has always been a care
fully hidden secret.
The medieval alchemist chose to describe the
He is to concentrate
Moist nature
F:
ire
n r
Air
Water
Light
w'clfrd
|
I
Earth)1
However, Light is Mind, the first God, and the Word is thus the
son of God.
This corresponds to man in whom mind is the father and
speech the son.
(Nous, Mind, is Father and corresponds to Ptah.
Logos, Word, is Son and corresponds to Thoth.)
The two are united, for life is the union of logos and nous, word and
mind.
Concentrating on the Light, the writer finds that it consists of
innumerable Powers, and that it has become an ordered, boundless kosmos, and what he has seen is the archetypal idea of creation, the cos
mic pattern.
The elements of nature come into being from the will of
God, by the Word and by copying or imitating the archetypal k o s m o s .
Thus, the material kosmos is a copy of the archetypal kosmos.
The first Mind is Life and Light.
It is bisexual or bipolar,
having within itself both factors necessary for creation.
So it brings
forth another Mind, the Maker of things (the architect of the universe
as some later writers have put it, or the artisan of alchemy who, as
nature, is assisted by the human artisan.
It is possible that this
is where Jacob Boehme got his concept of two Minds and two Wills.)
The second Mind was fire and spirit or air.
He made seven Admin
istrators who encompass the sensible or material kosmos.
(These
We have been told that the Word came out of the Light; and that
fire, air, water, and earth were separated and kept in motion by the
Word.
Now we learn that the Word leaps up from the downward-born
elements into the pure nature and is united to the Maker, the second
Mind, for the Word is one nature with that second Mind.
Without the
Word, the elements are pure matter.
Mind the Maker is the Demiurgos,
the Creator.
Together with the Word it encompasses the spheres of
the planets and stars, whirls them around so that they begin where
they end.
From the elements Nature, as the second Mind, wills and brings
forth creatures without Logos, winged things in the air, things that
swim in the waters, etc.
But Mind, who is Life and Light, is that
which gives birth to Man, that is, the Cosmic Man, who is like Man,
the image of his Father.
God loves His image and bestows on Man all
He has made.
Man wishes to create also and is given permission by the Father.
Each of the seven Administrators gives man a share in its own ordering.
(In other words, it is this share in the ordering which makes man co
worker of the cosmos, and it is partly this which he returns in his
ascent through the spheres to God.)
Man understands the essence of
the Administrators, and partakes of their nature, and wills to break
through the boundary of their spheres.
Nature is the form (morph on ) of God.
Man has the working of the
seven Administrators.
(The myth of the love of nature and man sym
bolizes their attraction, harmony and union.
Both are the image of
God:
they are the macrocosm and the microcosm.
Man, however, has
logos, reason, while nature is without reason.)
Furthermore, Man is
dual.
He is mortal because of his body and immortal because of the
essential Man, (or that part of him which is derived from Mind or
Nous.)
He has all things in his power, yet he is subject to Des
tiny.
He is above the Harmony or outside the kosmos, yet he is ser
vant to it.
As God is bisexual, so is Man.
The immortal part of
Man is sleepless as his Father is sleepless, yet he is, in his mor
tal part, overcome by sleep.
From the union of Man and Nature come seven men who are also bi
sexual.
(We have, then, the archetypal or cosmic Man, seven adminis
trators, seven archetypal men, and even God who are bisexual, or
bipolar; capable of creation from their own natures or elements.)
The seven men receive the vital spirit from ether, from fire its
ripeness, from earth the negative and from water the positive pola
rity.
In them Life becomes soul, and Light becomes Mind.
All living creatures had been bisexual but are separated, males
and females, and all creatures multiply according to their kind.
That one who would learn to know himself, however, will enter
into that Good which is above all being.
He who is led astray in
eros or love expends his love on the body and wanders in the darkness
of the sense world and suffers death.
("The man who knows himself"
refers to knowledge of the whole self as opposed to one who is lost
in the world of the objective senses.)
Ignorance, therefore, consists in love of the material which is
the source of darkness.
He who knows himself enters the Good because
the Father of all consists of Life and Light.
The immortal part of
man is derived from Life and Light.
The man who knows this returns
to Life.
Mind is present in good and holy men.
Guardian, will bar the evil activities.
Yet
As Hermes says, "Thou art whatever I am; Thou art whatever I do;
Thou art whatever I say."
God
God
God
God
is
is
is
is
Air
Water
(In Book VIII Hermes also teaches his son, this time regarding
destruction and death.
But from this we learn the nature of God, the
kosmos, and man.)
Death is a name void of fact, for death is destruction and nothing
in the kosmos is destroyed.
The kosmos is a second God, an immortal
being, and no part of it can die.
First is God, eternal, without beginning, the Maker of the whole.
Second is the kosmos, made by God in His image, kept in being by
God, an ever-living being.
The Father is eternal in Himself, but the kosmos is made everliving by the Father.
The third is man, made in the image of the kosmos.
He has mind
above all earthly creatures.
He feels himself to be part of the kos
mos and can apprehend God by thought.
He apprehends the kosmos as a
body, but he understands God as incorporeal, as the Mind of the Good.
Matter retains some disorder in the world, which is the reason
for growth and decay.
The kosmos is made by God and is in God.
Man is made by the
kosmos and is in the kosmos.
The beginning, end, and union of all is
God.
Book XI, like the first book, is a dialog between Mind and Her
mes, the latter wanting to know the nature and relationship of the
kosmos and God.
We have discussed God, kosmos, and man.
The series
or perhaps modes or manifestations of God are in a descending order,
to use a metaphor:
God, Aeon or eternity, Kosmos, Time, Becoming. . . .
God makes Aeon.
Aeon is in God.
Aeon's soul is God.
Aeon makes Kosmos.
Kosmos is in Aeon.
Kosmos' soul is Aeon.
Aeon makes Time.
Time is in Kosmos.
Time makes Becoming.
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Trismegistus, having the three parts of the wisdom of the whole world.
All that I have said concerning the work of the sun is fulfilled."
In order to understand the Emerald Tablet, we will first point out
some of the main concepts in it, then read the text itself, and then
explain some of the concepts further.
Finally, since as far as I know
it has not been done, parallels between the Tablet and the Hermetic
writings will be discussed.
First and basic to Hermetic philosophy in any form is the As above,
so below idea, or as the Tablet says, "That which is below (or inferior)
is like that which is above (or superior)." This is analogous to the
macrocosm and microcosm, the great world which is the cosmos and the
small world which is man.
It is expressed in the writings by saying
that the cosmos is made in the image of God, and man in the image of
the cosmos.
Second, there are three expressions which use the idea of the one,
and we must understand what they mean.
The Tablet states, "That which
is above is like that which is below for accomplishing the one t hi n g ."
This one thing which is accomplished is what the alchemists called the
philosopher1s stone, but in mystical terms it refers to the attunement
and Cosmic consciousness.
The Tablet also says, "As all things are created from one. . . .
so all things are born from this one thing. . . . "
The one from which
all things are created is the first matter (prima materia) of the
alchemists.
We say all is vibratory.
All things are created from
the first matter.
All things are born from the philosopher's stone.
The Tablet teaches that all things are created by the will and
command of the one United, or, depending on the version, a similar
term.
This, of course, refers to God as creator, or in terms of the
Hermetica to Mind the Maker.
Third, Creation is by the will and command of God, and the com
mand is verbal; hence, it is the Creative Word.
Creation, then, is by
the will and Word.
Fourth, its (meaning the stone's) father is the sun, its mother
is the moon, representing duality, but duality within the o n e .
Fifth, the Tablet says, "This is the father of all perfection in
the whole world."
God, being perfect, is the father of perfection in
the world.
But since God created the first matter, it too could be
considered the father of perfection.
And the philosopher's stone or
Cosmic consciousness properly used also creates perfection.
Sixth, "Its power is perfect when it is changed into earth."
attains perfect power in earthly manifestation.
It
Seventh, "So you should separate the earth from the fire, and the
subtle from the thick or gross."
Whether the alchemy is practical or
transcendental, the earthly and material must be separated from the
spiritual or psychic.
Eighth, "It ascends from earth to heaven
earth and receives the power of the Above and
cent to earth and reascent to heaven in birth
life the ascent and descent in meditation, or
in the alchemical vessel which give power.
Ninth, "This is the most powerful power, for it can overcome all
subtlety and can penetrate all that is solid."
This power is both
material or physical and psychic or subtle.
Tenth, "Thus was the world created
. . . of which this is the
way to work."
That is, as God created the world, and as the cosmos
creates, so can man.
Man should work the same way as does God and
nature.
One key to the meaning of the Emerald Tablet is the interpreta
tion of the "one thing" in the phrase "for accomplishing the wonder of
the one thing."
The first sentence of the Tablet says that the Above and Below,
the superior and inferior, the macrocosm and microcosm are alike b e
cause of their correspondence and for the purpose of accomplishing the
one thing.
Superior and inferior refer to the realms above and below,
and in ancient times this usually meant the realm above the moon and
that below the moon.
By the law of correspondences, the "one thing" refers to the
Divine or Cosmic itself, the Cosmic in the universe, and in man.
This
may be symbolized in alchemical terms by the philosopher's stone, or
the union of duality, or the chymical marriage.
It is represented in
mythology, in medieval legend, and in mystical symbolism.
But the "one thing" is both
transmutation, which is a return
state of being.
The "one thing"
mutation, whether it is physical
The second sentence tells us that all things are created from one
by the will and command of the one United (eines einigen) or by the
meditation of the one United who created it.
The one from which all
things are created is the prima materia, the first matter, from which
all elements arise.
The elements evolve from this matter to perfec
tion, and metals evolve from the lowest form to perfection or gold.
Development is from the "one" created by the will of the one United,
or God, to the one thing which is accomplished.
The "one thing" which is accomplished, and the one which is created
by God, and the one United or God Himself are all related and might be
considered as essentially the same or one.
The first matter is the b e
ginning of creation emanated from God, the "one thing" is the return to
perfection, the Cosmos, or God.
The one which is created by God may also be considered to be the
cosmos, which in the Hermetic writings is an image of God, or to be
man, who is an image of the cosmic and God.
Then the "one United" is
God, who creates the "one" which is the cosmos or man or the first
matter, from which the "one thing" is accomplished or transmuted.
The passage also says that all things are created from one b^ the
will and command or by the meditation of the one United in the same
way as things are born from the one thing.
As God creates, so do the
cosmos and man.
We might rephrase the first part of the Tablet:
The macrocosm
and microcosm correspond for accomplishing the one thing (transmuta
tion) . As all things are created from one (first matter) by the will
and command of the one United (God), so all things are born from this
one (first matter) by dispensation and union (in the work of m a n ) .
This is the Divine Mind which creates itself by itself and restores
itself to itself.
It is also the Divine in man, the artisan, who
creates by imitating the Cosmic Creator.
These basic concepts in dif
ferent forms are common to both the Tablet and the Hermetic writings.
The command is analogous to the Word or Logos in the Hermetica.
Creation and transmutation are accomplished by means of the will and
the command or logos, or as some versions of the Tablet say, by me di
tation.
Furthermore, this is a creation or restoration, which implies
a cyclic renewal, a continuing process.
The creator is the Cosmic agent or artisan who uses will and com
mand.
The cosmos and man are agent and artisan who use dispensation
and union or adaptation.
The third sentence begins, "Its father is the sun, its mother is
the moon."
The sun and moon symbolize duality of which the "one thing"
is the union.
But they also represent the Above and Below, the
superior and inferior realms.
Thus the "one" is born of a duality.
The sun is the light giving,
the active, the sulphur, the king, gold.
The moon is the light receiv
ing, light reflecting, the passive, the mercury (or s al t ) , the queen,
silver.
The sun is immaterial, the subtle, the volatile, the psychic;
in relation to the sun, the moon is the material, the gross, the fixed,
the lower vibratory ra t e s .
2.
3.
The subtle (the soul or psychic part) ascends to the Above and
receives power, and it descends to the Below and receives
power.
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The Tablet and the Hermetic writings both say that All is from
In Book III of the Hermetica we find this:
"God is first of all things, the universe and nature are derived
from God."
"God is the source of all that is; He is the source of mind,
nature, and matter, the wisdom that reveals all; for He is the
source of all, nature, energy, necessity, the end and renewal."
Book IV says, "With Logos, not with hands, did the demiurgos
(Mind the Maker) create the universal K o s m o s , so you should think of
Him as everywhere and ever-being, the Author of all things, the One
and Only, who by His will created all things.
"His body cannot be touched, seen or measured; it is not extended
in space; it is like nothing else.
It is neither fire, water, air,
nor breath (pneuma) ; yet all these come from Him."
This passage also states plainly the role of Logos, the Creative
Word, as the agent of the Author, Mind the Maker.
Book IV also contains
and root of all, is in all
source nothing is; but the
it is the beginning of all
no other source.
this passage:
"The One, being the source
things as root and source.
Without
source is from nothing but itself, since
else.
It is its own source, since it has
"The One, being the source, contains all number, but is contained
by none.
It generates every number and is generated by no number.
"Now all that is
increase and decrease;
That which is subject
cumbs through its own
One.
"And now, 0 Tat, I have drawn for you, as far as possible, the
image of God.
If you will dwell on this with the eyes of your heart,
then believe me, my son, you will find the upward path, or rather,
the image itself will guide you. . . . "
The Tablet says, "As all things are created from one, by the
will and command of the one United (or Alone One) who created it, so
all things are born from this one thing by dispensation and union."
In the H ermetica, Hermes instructs his son Tat in Book V.2:
"Making all things appear, He appears in all and by all, but especially
in those in which He wills to manifest.
Therefore . . . pray first
to the Lord and Father, the Alone One from whom the One comes to show
His mercy to you, so that you may know and understand so great a God,
and that one ray from Him may shine in your mind."
Book X I . 11 also expresses the fundamental unity or the One:
is apparent that some One does these things, and that He is One.
Soul is one, life is one, matter is one."
"It
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laws of God through God's bounty and blessing, and who is not likely
to mistake the true nature of the gift, or to abuse it against his
own eternal welfare.
It is the gift of the Holy Spirit, the loving
bounty of the great God, which comes down from the Father of light.
He who masters this art'must have asked and obtained wisdom of God,
since he has not only gold, silver, and all the riches of this world,
but also perfect health, length of days, and the comfort to be derived
from a reassuring type of the bitter passion and death of Jesus Christ
the hand of God and not of man, joined together and transmuted into
its essence by nature alone.
This we take, dissolve, and again con
join, and wash with its own water, until it becomes white and then
again red.
Thus our earth in which we now may easily see our sun
and moon, is purified.
For the sun is the father of metals, and the
moon is their mother, and if generation is to take place, they must
be brought together as husband and wife.
By itself neither can pro
duce anything, and therefore the red and white must be brought to
gether. . . . The first matter is the earth into which we cast our
grain, that is to say, our sun and moon, which then bear fruit after
their kind."
"If therefore any man know the principle and method of creative
nature, he should have a good understanding of our art. . . .
In the
beginning when God made heaven and earth, there was only one matter,
neither wet nor dry, neither earth, nor air, nor fire, nor light, nor
darkness, but one single substance resembling vapor or mist, invisible
and impalpable.
It was called Hyle, or first matter.
If a thing is
once more to be made out of nothing, that "nothing" must be united
and become one thing.
Out of this one thing must arise a palpable
substance, out of the palpable substance one body, to which a living
soul must be given, whence through the grace of God it obtains its
specific form."
". . .the Philosopher's Stone grows not only on 'o u r 1 tree, but
is found, as far as its effect and operation are concerned, in the
fruit of all other trees, in all created things, and vegetables, in
things that grow and in things that do not grow.
For when it rises,
being stirred and distilled by the Sun and Moon, it imparts their
own peculiar form and properties to all living creatures by a divine
grace.
It gives to flowers their special form and color.
All metals
and minerals derive their peculiar qualities from the operation of
this Stone.
All things are endowed with their characteristic quali
ties by the operation of this Stone, i.e., the conjunction of the
Sun and Moon.
For the sun is the Father, and moon is the Mother of
this Stone, and the Stone unites in itself the virtues of both its
parents.
If you understand the operation, the form, and the quali
ties of this Stone, you will be able to prepare it.
If you do not,
give up all thought of ever accomplishing this task."
"Observe, furthermore, how the seeds of all things that grow,
as, for instance, grains of wheat or barley, spring forth from the
ground by the operation of the Stone, and the developing influences
of sun and moon; how they grow up into the air, are gradually matured,
and bring forth fruit, which again must be sown in its proper soil.
The field is prepared for the grain, being well ploughed up, and
manured with well rotted dung; for the earth consumes and assimilates
its food, and separates the subtle from the gross.
Therewith it calls
for the life of the seed, and nourishes it with its own proper milk,
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" . . . let the sons of Hermes know for certain that the extrac
ting of the essence of gold is a mere fond illusion, as those who per
sist in it will be taught to their cost by experience. . . .
If, on
the other hand, a person is able to transmute the smallest piece of
metal (with or without gain) into genuine gold or silver which abides
the usual tests, he may justly be said to have opened the gates of
nature, and cleared the way for profunder and more advanced study.
It is with this object that I dedicate the following pages, which
embody the results of my experience, to the sons of knowledge, that
by a careful study of the working of nature they may be enabled to
lift the veil and enter her inmost sanctuary. . . . The inward mean
ing of our philosophy will be unintelligible to vainglorious boasters
to conceited mockers, and to men who smother the clamorous voice of
conscience with the insolence of a wicked life; as also to those igno
rant persons who have fondly staked their happiness on senseless
methods.
The right understanding of our art is by the gift of God,
or by the ocular demonstration of a teacher, and can be attained only
by diligent, humble search, and prayerful dependence on the Giver of
all good things. . . .
I would earnestly ask the sons of knowledge
to accept this Book in the spirit in which it was written; and when
the HIDDEN has become MANIFEST to them, and the inner gates of secret
knowledge are flung open, not to reveal this mystery to any unworthy
person; also to remember their duty toward their suffering and dis
tressed neighbors, to avoid any ostentatious display of their power,
and above all, to render to God sincere and grateful thanks with
their lips, in the silence of their hearts, and by refraining from
any abuse of the Gift.
Simplicity is the seal of truth."
"Nature, then, is one, true, simple, self-contained, created
by God and informed with a certain universal spirit.
Its end and
origin are God.
Its unity is also found in God, because God made
all things.
Nature is the one source of all things; nor is anything
in the world outside nature or contrary to nature.
Nature is divided
into four 'places' in which she brings forth all things that appear
and that are in the shade.
According to the good or bad quality of
the 'place' she brings forth good or bad things. . . . Nature is not
visible, though she acts visibly.
She is volatile who manifests her
self in material shapes, and her existence is in the Will of God.
It
is most important for us to know her 'places,n and those which are
most in harmony and most closely allied, in order that we may join
things together according to nature, and not attempt to confound
vegetables with animals, or animals with metals.
Everything should
be made to act on that which is like to it, and then nature will per
form her duty.
"Students of nature should be such as is nature herself:
true,
simple, patient, constant, and so on. . . . They should always be
ready to learn from nature and to be guided by her methods, ascertain
ing by visible and sensible examples whether that which they propose
to perform is i n "accordance with her possibilities.
If we would
reproduce something already accomplished by nature, we must follow
her, but if we would improve on her performance, we must know in and
by what it is ameliorated.
"As nature has her being in the Will of God, so her will, or
seed, is in the elements.
She is one and produces different things,
but only through the mediate instrumentality of the seed.
For nature
performs whatsoever the sperm requires of her, and is as it were only
the instrument of some artisan.
The seed is more useful to the
artisan than nature herself, for nature without seed is like a gold
smith without silver or gold, or a husbandman without seed grain.
Wherever there is seed, nature will work through it whether it is
good or bad. . . . The seed, then, is the elixir of anything, or its
quintessence, or its most perfect digestion and decoction, or again
the Balm of Sulphur, which is the same as the radical moisture in
metals. . . . The four elements produce seed through the Will of God
and the imagination of nature; . . . the four elements by their
continual action project a constant supply of seed to the center of
earth, where it is digested, and where it proceeds again in gener
ative motions.
Now the center of the earth is a certain void place
wherein nothing is at rest, and upon the margin or circumference of
this center the four elements project their qualities. . . . The
magnetic force of our earth-center attracts to itself as much as is
needed of the cognate seminal substance, while that which cannot be
used for vital generation is thrust forth in the shape of stones
and other rubbish.
This is the fountainhead of all things terrestrial.
. . . The seed which is the product of the four elements is projected
in all directions from the earth-center and produces different things
according to the quality of the different places.
Thus while the
seed of all things is one, it is made to generate a great variety of
things. . . . So long as nature's seed remains in the center, it can
indifferently produce a tree or a metal, an herb or a stone, and in
like manner, according to the purity of the place it will produce
what is less or more pure.
But how do the elements generate the
seed? There are four elements, two heavy and two light, two dry and
heavy and two light, two dry and two moist, but one driest and one
moistest of all.
These are male and female.
By God's Will each of these
is constantly striving to produce things like to itself in its own sphere.
Moreover, they are constantly acting on one another, and the subtle
essences of all are combined in the center where they are well mixed and
sent forth again by Archeus, the servant of nature. . . .
"The first matter of metals is twofold, and one without the other
cannot create a metal.
The first and principal substance is the moisture
of air mingled with warmth.
This substance the Sages have called Mercury
. . . . The second substance is the dry heat of the earth, which is
called Sulphur. . . .(The seed is not the entire body nor part of it.)
For there is in every body a central atom, or vital point, of the seed,
even in a grain of wheat.
Neither the body nor the grain is all seed,
but every body has a small seminal spark which the other parts protect
from excess of heat and cold.
"The metals are produced in this way:
After the four elements
have projected their power and virtues to the center of the earth, they
are in the hands of the Archeus of Nature, distilled and sublimed by the
heat of perpetual motion towards the surface of the earth.
"Some think that each metal has its own seed.
But this is a great
mistake, for there is only one seed.
The sperm which appears in Saturn
(lead) is the same as that which is found in gold, silver, copper, etc.
Their difference is caused by the place and by the time during which
nature was at work on them. . . . For the purer the place is, the more
beautiful and perfect will the metal be.
We must note also that the
vapor is constantly ascending, and in its ascent from the ear th s center
to its superficies it purifies the places through which it passes.
Hence
precious metals are found now where none existed a thousand years ago,
for this vapor, by its continual progress, ever subtilizes the crude and
impure, and as continually carries away the pure with itself.
This is
the circulation and reiteration of nature.
All places are being more
and more purified:
and the purer they become, the nobler are their
products.
" . . . the seed is nothing but congealed air, or a vaporous humor
enclosed in a body, and unless the seed is dissolved by a warm vapor, it
cannot work.
Now the nature of this seed which is produced out of the
four elements is threefold:
it is either miner al , or vegetable, or
animal.
"Nature brings forth mineral or metallic seed in the bowels of
earth. . . . Yet . . . the fact remains. . . that that which is above is
as that which is below, and that which is born above has origin from the
same source which is at work down below, even in the bowels of the earth.
" . . . the Sages have been taught of God that this natural
world is ,only an image and material copy of a^heavenly and spiritual
pattern; that the very existence of this world is based on the reality
of its celestial archetype; and that God created it in imitation of
the spiritual and invisible universe, in order that men might be the
better enabled to comprehend His heavenly teaching, and the wonders of
His absolute and ineffable power and wisdom.
Thus the Sage sees
heaven reflected in Nature as in a mirror, and he pursues this Art,
not for the sake of gold or silver, but for the love of the knowledge
which it reveals. . . . If you will but rightly consider it, you
yourself are an image of God, and a little picture of the great world.
Nature cannot work till it has been supplied with material:
the first
matter is furnished by God, the second matter by the Sage.
But in the
philosophical work, Nature must excite the fire which God has enclosed
in the center of each thing.
The excitation of this fire is performed
by the will of Nature, and sometimes by the will of a skillful Artist
who can dispose Nature, for fire naturally purifies every species of
impurity."
"The three principles of things are produced of the four ele
ments in the following manner: . . . fire began to act on air and
produced Sulphur; air acted on water and produced Mercury; water by
its action on earth produced Salt.
Earth, alone, having nothing to
act on, . . . became the nurse or womb of these three principles. . . .
"In every natural composition, these three represent the body,
the spirit, and the hidden soul.
If, after purging them well, you
join them together, they must, by a natural process, result in a most
pure substance."
(This gives the following table:)
Fire
Sulphur
Soul
Air
V--- >Mercury
Water
->-Salt
Body
Earth-
Receptacle
Spirit
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Skey, (though the opinion be vain, that the Star is the Denser part
of his Orb,) hath notwithstanding so much affinity with the Star,
that there is rotation of that, as well as of the Star.
Therefore,
it is one of the greatest Magnalia N a t u r a , to turn Water or Watry
Juyce into Oyl or Oyly Juyce:
Greater in Nature, than to turn
Silver or Quick-silver into Gold.
"The Instances we have wherein Crude and Watry Substance,
turneth into Fat and Oyly, are of four kindes.
First, In the Mix
ture of Earth and Water, which mingled by the help of the Sun,
gathered a Nitrous Fatness, more than either of them have severally;
As we see, in that they put forth Plants, which need both Juyces.
"The second is in the Assimilation of Nourishment, made in the
Bodies of Plants, and Living Creatures; whereof Plants turn the Juyce
of meer Water and Earth, into a great deal of Oyly matter:. . .
"The World hath been much abused by the opinion of Making of
Gold.
The Work it self, I judge to be possible; but the Means
(hitherto propounded) to effect it, are in the Practice, full of
Error and Imposture; and in the Theory, full of unsound Imaginations.
For to say, that Nature hath an intention to make all Metals Gold;
and that, if she were delivered from Impediments, she would perform
her own work; and that, if the Crudities, Impurities, and Leprosies
of Metals were cured, they would become Gold-*, and that a little
quantity of the Medicine in the Work of Projection, will turn a Sea
of the baser Metal into Gold by multiplying.
All these are but
dreams, and so are many other Grounds of Alchymy. And to help the
matter, the Alchymists call in likewise many vanities, out of
Astrology, Natural M a g i c k , Superstitious Interpretations of Scrip
tures, Auricular Traditions, Feigned Testimonies of Ancient Authors,
and the like.
It is true, on the other side they have brought to
light not a few profitable Experiments, and thereby made the World
some amends:
But we, when we shall come to handle the Version and
Transmutation of Bodies, and the Experiments concerning Metals and
Minerals; will lay open the true Ways and Passages of N a tu r e, which
may lead to this great effect.
And we commend the wit of the
Chineses, who despair of making of Gold, but are mad upon the making
of Silver.
For certain it is, That it is more difficult to make
Gold, (which is the most ponderous and materiate amongst Metals) of
other Metals; less ponderous and less materiate, than (Via versa)
to make Silver of Lead, or Quick-silver; both which are more ponder
ous than Silver:
So that they need rather a further degree of
Fixation, than any Condensation.
In the mean time, by occasion of
handling the Axioms touching Maturation, we will direct a tryal
touching the Maturing of M e t a l s , and thereby turning some of them
into Gold; for we conceive indeed, That a perfect good Concoction,
or Digestion, or Maturation of some Metals will produce Gold.
And
here we call to m i n d e , that we knew a Dutchman that had wrought
himself into the belief of a great person, by undertaking, that he
things. . . . Therefore, let all your hope be stayed on God, and let
constant prayer, to impart to you this Blessing, be the beginning of
your work, in order that you may safely reach the end, for the 'fear
of God is the beginning of w i s d o m . 1
"He who would seek the greatest of all earthly benedictions,
the knowledge of all created good, and of the effectual virtue which
God has liberally implanted in stones, herbs, roots, seeds, animals,
plants, minerals, metals, and all things, must fling away every
earthly thought, hope only for freedom of heart, and pray to God
with the greatest humility.
Thus the aspiration after freedom will
soon be realized. . . .
"Next in order after prayer follows Contemplation, by which we
apprehend the essential properties of a thing, the circumstances by
which it is conditioned, its matter, its form, its operations and
their source, whence it is infused and implanted, how it is generated
by the Stars, formed by the elements, produced and perfected by the
three principles.
"Again, it enables us to understand how the body of anything
can be dissolved, i.e. resolved into its first matter or essence; to
this change I have referred. . . as the transmutation of the last sub
stance into the first, and of the first substance into the last.
"This Contemplation. . . is heavenly, and spiritually appre
hended, for only the spiritual mind can grasp the circumstances and
foundation of all things.
Now, this Contemplation is two-fold:
one
is called impossible, the other possible.
The former consists in
endless meditations, which have no result because their object is
intangible.
Such problems are the Eternity of God, . . . the
infinite nature of the Godhead. . . .
"The other part of Contemplation, which is possible, is called
Theory.
It deals with the tangible and visible which has a temporal
form showing how it can be dissolved and thereby perfected into any
given body; how every body can impart the good or evil, medicine or
poison, which is latent in it; how the wholesome is separated from
the unwholesome; how to set about destruction and demolition for the
purpose of really and truly severing the pure from the impure. . . .
"It is the most important aspect of our Art, and is expressed
by the following words:
Seek first the Kingdom of God and His
justice by Invocation and all other things that men need, for sup
port and health of the body, will be added unto you.
"On theory, which lays bare the most intimate relations of
things, follows Preparation, which is perfected by manual operation,
and yields a tangible result.
Out of preparation arises knowledge,
which lays bare the foundations of Medicine.
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a_
I"*
. . .
i*
. . .
"And since God, Almighty, Himself has created the whole great
World, all celestial, animal, vegetable, and mineral natures from one
single thing and primeval root, how should man be wiser than God, and
for this work which not less than the Great Outer World contains
within itself the seed and qualities of all creatures use more than
one thing.
"For this said Art . . . should imitate nature.
The matter of
Art will be the matter of Nature, and, since the matter of Nature is
unique, . . . the matter of Art will be unique.
" (Theophrastus) in the Liber Metamorphoseos (sic) terms (the
three principles) Mercury, Salt, and Sulphur.
This is just the opinion
of Hermes and other philosophers /' speaking of Spirit, Body, and Soul.
. . . Remember for the present that he calls the one thing, from which
shall be born the great and also the little world, a Red Lion. . . .
But it is called a Lion on account of its great strength and power.
For as a lion is the strongest and fleetest animal, . . . so also,
among things created, there will not easily be found a fleeter, stronger,
more penetrating thing,
subjugating, overcoming, and ruling without
exception, man and others.
"Hermes confirms such swift strength, saying:
'This matter is
the strongest strength of all strength.' This is also experienced
by those who know this Lion, and by proper preparation have been
instructed how to use it upon other creatures.
Then one sees after
what manner this thing occupies, conquers, destroys, kills all things,
even changing them from one form into another. . . . Hermes:
'Behold
it conquers every subtle, and penetrates every solid, substance.
"'This Lion is named by many but known by few.'. . . Only those
whose eyes God has opened to Nature's virtues and powers, can
recognize and use it.
Yet in its substance, nature, and matter it
is so common, often-used a thing that Bernhardus says, 'the whole
world have it before their eyes.'
Morienus asserts it is so universal
that man could not live without it.
"Richard the Englishman says, 'This Lion by nature's aid and the
artists art may be transmuted into the White Eagle, and thus, out of
o n e , two are m a d e .'
"Here, the Author has wished to signify that, in this Art man
must follow the rule left him by God, the First Chemist.
For God,
having created all Creatures and Elements out of one thing, viz.
Water, it follows that He began by making two things out of the Origi
nal one thing, the first He has taken up on high, making of it a
heavenly water; the other was gathered together below, and by coagula
tion became Earth.
"Thus also in this work the Artist must divide his process into
two parts:
'
"1.
By distillation conduct part on high, making of it a clear,
heavenly Spiritual Water, here called a White Eagle. . . . Our Eagle
is the true key to human renovation, and the bath of new Birth and
Rejuvenation. . . .
"This Eagle is the first part of the water which ascends on high
The Ascendens of Hermes mentioned in his Table t.
"2.
The other part of the water or of our Lion according to
the teaching of Moses, became corrupted and dry.
That is now the
second part of our Art,. . . To speak plainly concerning it, it is
the dry, waste earth. . . . It has its first name of Lion by reason
of its aforesaid strength and sharpness.
Hermes calls the inferior substance gross or descending.
(Theophrastus) "says, 'For the Beginning of the World there is
One Sole Element which is Primary Matter, from the Division of which,
by reason of opposing qualities, were generated the four Elements,
which were in it potentially.1
"If you begin with one thing you must first make two of it.
But
by taking two, such as Earth and Water--Nature having educed this
Binary from one you are saved the trouble, and have only to generate
the third, which, as aforesaid, is always hidden in one of these two."
"My noble and dear Son, in order that I may communicate to you
in the briefest manner my knowledge of the right, true, philosophical
Stone, now know and understand that this Stone is composed of two
things, Body and Spirit, to wit, male and female Seed, That is,
Mercurial Water and Corpus Solis (Body of the S u n ) , as may be read in
all philosophical works.
son, the sages say in their books that common gold and
their gold or silver, since theirs are living, while
dead, and therefore incapable of imparting to others
they themselves are wanting in. . . . It is impossible
ROSICRUCIAN ORDER
AMORC
T R A D E M AR K
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If he can find an opportunity, he will give you the slip and leave
you to a world of misfortune.
By his countenance you will know
whether he is pleased or displeased.
Therefore, lay bonds on him,
that is, shut him close where he may not get forth, then go wisely
before with heat and ever observe his countenance, so shall you pass
on forward, or turn, or go back as you see his countenance and temper
inclined.
In the next place, you are to understand that he was born to be
a drudge, and is a servant to all his brethren.
He monopolizes the
whole toil and labor to himself.
If you do anything, he will take
snuff and will leave all the work for you to do.
Thirdly, he has the habit of perpetual working, and therefore
if you allow him one hour's respite, he will never work more, for in
his Father's house he committed the offence of Cham (Ham, the son of
Noah) and is therefore judged to be a servant of servants.
His body
is tender, yet he will have no clothes, for he is doomed to a per
petual inconstancy and is as unstable as water.
Restoring also of his natural h e a t .
Of Radical humidity it loseth n o n e ,
Inducing solution into our Stone most m e e t .
The first place you come to is a large room floored with black,
the hangings part black, bluish, and yellowish, in which you may see
a carcass entombed, and very rotten; a serpent almost dead with cold
laid to the fire, and a fountain still flowing forth to water a pot
which is near it in which is planted an herb much like Ros solis.
(The fountain represents the fountain of life; the Ros solis means
dew of the sun.)
The herb has the root black and leaves yellow, with
bluish veins and black spots in them continually standing in a dew.
(The leaves grow from the black first matter and are partly yellow,
meaning they are attaining the final end of the transmutation.)
Over
it is the sun as in the solstice, shining in its full vigor, and
under it a fire as it were of Etna burning continually.
(Fire not
only refers to the physical heat of transmutation, but concentration
and meditation.)
The fountain still sends a few small streams of
pearly water to the root of this herb, which by insensible pores
ascend and stand like drops discolored on the leaves of the herb,
which seems as though blasted and withering, and yet always full of
drops, which dropping down again and rising continually, resolve
the tree into a viscous juice, which is afterwards dried up into a
dust, yet unctuous to sight and very black.
(The ascending and
descending water in transcendental alchemy refers to raising the
consciousness in mystical union and its descent again to the objective
level.)
After Philosophy I_ you behight.
(Behight means to vow or promise.)
Then I saw Nature as a
Queen gloriously adorned, sitting on her throne and in her hand a
through a small pipe he poured out his water, and the fire came out
with the water without any particular sha p e, only it added luster to it.
The Water-bearer popped under the streams, and I saw them no m o r e .
I saw a lady in the midst of it, who in no way resembled the
former beauty whose name was Nature; yet she was very beautiful like
Helena.
This lady was naked and at first appeared very small and
waxed bigger and bigger until the water appeared no more, but she her
self had transmuted its whole substance into her shape.
Unlike the
first lady, she was impatient of the heat I had made, yet she was so
enclosed she could not get out.
The King, seeing her, knew her to be his sister, his mother, and
his wife, and ran to her and took her in his arms.
She embraced him
so that he could not shake her o f f , and with sweat and tears so bestreamed his robes that they changed suddenly to a color of silver.
The King asked what she desired.
She answered that her desire
was to have of him conjugal fealty.
"For," she said, "I cannot en
dure this heat, and I must die in i t , and without me your Highness
can have no offspring."
The King condescended, and as soon as she
conceived the King's seed, she was better able to endure the fire.
She was not content with one and had more, even to eleven.
Then the
King became very weak and wasted away.
His sweat and tears grew into
a large stream in which both the King and she were drowned.
While I wondered at the strangeness of the object, I thought I
saw them ascend again, but considering it carefully I found that there
swam on the water a carcass void of life, so that it grew livid, black,
bluish, and yellowish; it infected the waters which were before clear.
Now they grew thick and black, resembling slime.
With the heat of the
sun, the moisture was dried up, and I sought what was become of the
bodies.
I found a venemous toad which seemed to be dying, and a raven
almost famished looking for meat lighted on the toad and with its
poison died,
(The King and Queen represent the positive and negative.
Their union produces both offspring or multiplication and putrefaction
or reduction to the first matter symbolized by the toad and raven.
The
four colors stand for the process of transmutation.)
A voice said to me, "You must not leave us; if you do our Persons
and Kingdom are lost without recover."
I saw Nature walking up and
down among the carcasses, and in her hand her unparallelled lamp.
I
saw in those rotten atoms the Ideas of all things, and I found the
dead King and his Wife were entombed in a Field Sable, and the Tomb
was of polished Ebony.
Most strange was it that the Tomb and entombed
carcass were inseparably one.
(Nature's lamp is the true light.
The
tomb is of the King and Queen, or the vessel of transmutation again,
but the Ideas of all things refers to all knowledge.)
On the tomb I found written a prophecy:
If the fire were kept
equal and continual, they should rise again and be more glorious and
I said to the voice in the glass, "I must be directed both what
and how and when to do."
The voice answered me, "Take no care, only
do as I shall direct, and all shall be well.
In the meantime you may
view the places that are about.
Ask of me and I shall inform you in
whatever you desire."
I said I should count it a privilege to serve
her.
She gave me a ball of fine silk and said, "Make this fast to a
pin of this tower, and then go around and behold the place.
Carry
this with you and unwind it as you go, and by it you may return till
you know the place."
I was no sooner out of that place but a thick darkness appre
hended me.
Though my head was transparent and very light, and I took
a candle with me which was burning continually, yet the darkness would
not receive the light, for they were not homogenial.
Here and there
it condensed into strange figures as of birds, beasts, and creeping
things of monstrous shapes, so that the rays extended but a little way
and shot in beams, and the darkness stood in clusters.
There were a multitude who could not discern my light but beheld
it as if through a thick cloud and judged it ominous.
(In other words,
they could not behold the true light.)
They could not bear the luster
of the candle but cried out and ran away.
I saw that they had light
as of Fox-fire, or rotten wood, and glow worms.
With this they sat in
consultation reading Geber, Rhasis, and such (earlier alchemists.)
The
darkness had a false Light of its own with which it seemed its in
habitants were enlightened.
I set my candle down by which I intended to return.
When I was
out of sight of it, my head seemed opaque, and a wind almost blew me
down.
I took my thread and made it fast to my girdle. It was well I
did, for a vertigo came on me, and I fell and slumbered.
When I awoke,
thought it was no more dark but daylight.
I felt for my thread which
I could not see by that light.
I beheld I was in a ruinous place of
millions of turnings, each leading several ways.
Every room was so
lighted by Fox-fire and glow worms that it seemed to be day.
(The
ruin is both the world and maze.
The light is a false one.)
I took out a small book to see if I could read it.
It was called
Enchiridion Physicae Restitutae (Manual of Restored Physics) with an
Arcanum at the end.
I could not read one word.
An aged and decrepit
man met me, his face rugged, his eyes bleared, his hands and fingers
were worn down.
He saluted me merrily and asked what book I had.
"It
is," said I, "Arcanum Hermeticum." "It was a good book," said he.
"But," said I, "I went to peruse my book, and I can read not one word
in it."
He asked to see it and read out of it such strange things
that I had never heard of before.
The light was different from that about the Tower, so I tried
to read there, and all I could not read before I could read there
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Lecture Eight
2.
3.
4.