Aleister Crowley defined magick as the “Science and Art of causing
Change to occur in conformity with Will”. However, all magical working
concerns the manipulation of glamours, and none of these results or the
desires that fuel them have any substance or reality in themselves.
Hadit is the Magician and the Exorcist, and all phenomena appear
spontaneously—there are no causes and no effects.— Hermetic Qabalah Initiation Workbook
Advaita or Non-Dual reality is often ascribed exclusively to Eastern
mysticism, as though it had no part in the Western Hermetic Tradition.
And yet, the Hermetic Tree of Life does not begin with Kether, the
‘One’, or Chokmah, the ‘Two’. The three veils of Negativity that precede
Kether—Ain, Ain Soph and Ain Soph Aur—have a vital role in all
practical working, whether the aim is mystical, magical or both. When we
begin meditation on the Tree of Life with Kether, or the Rituals of the
Pentagram with the word “IAO”, aspiring upwards, there is a momentary
pause. In that pause, we clear our minds of all thought and sensation,
and contemplate the Ain as no-thing, no object, no subject—pure
emptiness and spaciousness. Then when we utter the first words, Kether
is truly formulated from the three veils of the infinite.
Kether and Atziluth as a concentration of the three veils of Negative Existence
The Mexican sorcery or shamanism that
is described in the writings of Carlos Castaneda is none too different
from the magick of the Hermetic tradition. The trick of following a
symbol back to its source with the infinite—analogous thought as opposed
to analytical thought—is vital to both traditions. With the Mexican
sorcerers, there is more emphasis on the natural world, whereas the
urban magician is usually inclined towards more abstract ciphers. The
hieroglyphs are ‘out there’ in nature, in rocks, plants, mountains,
physical places and their genius loci.
However, this is no
different than the magick practiced by our ancient Egyptian forebears.
Every bird, animal, creature, stone, plant, building or place is a
cipher of the infinite. The word “cipher” itself is derived from the
Arabic sifre , meaning “zero”, and there is a meaningful correspondence between sifre and sephira or “number”. In the Egyptian Book of the Law, Liber AL vel
Legis, Nuit says: “Every number is infinite; there is no difference.”
The teachings of Castaneda’s Don Juan insist that the nagual —the
Mexican word for the formlessness and space that is the true nature of
matter—is the only source of real power to the magician or shaman. The nagual—more
or less equivalent to the thread of the Ain Soph of the Qabalah—is the
timeless source of all magick and sorcery. It is said that if a sorcerer
has enough power, then he or she can enter the nagual and leave
it at any point in space or time. A shaman can thus disappear from one
place and in an instant be transported to some other place a thousand
miles away. The Mexican shaman gains knowledge of every thing, object,
creature or plant, by entering into the formless reality that is veiled
by the object. Likewise, the Kemetic and Hermetic magician follows every
symbol back to its source with the infinite.
Lightning Flash
One unique thing about the Hermetic practice is that we start at the top
and then draw down the force, before working upwards again. In other
traditions, it is more common to begin from the ground and work your way
up. So it appears from our practical work that we begin with Kether the
Crown, the first emanation of the Tree of Life. Kether more or less
approximates with the Atman of Eastern philosophy. The Egyptian god Atem
or Atem Ra embodies much the same principle. However, numbers begin
from zero, not one. The idea of negative existence or Non-Being is as
integral to the Hermetic tradition as it is to Eastern Advaita. In the
Qabalah we have three veils of the negative light, the Ain, the Ain Soph
and the Ain Soph Aur—No-thing, Limitless Space, and Limitless Light.
Kether is the first appearance, and is really a concentration or mirror
reflection of those three veils of the infinite. The traditional name of
Kether in Atziluth is AHIH, “I Am”, the pure existence,
undifferentiated. If we say “I Am” backwards, we declare “Maya”—that
the ‘One’ is the root of the delusion of appearances. The Ain, Ain Soph
and Ain Soph Aur reflected in Kether is Light in Extension, the LVX
formulation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. When this is
reversed, we formulate NOX or Night, the threefold eye of Ain, Not-Self
or Non-Being. The word Ain is closely related to the letter and word
Ayin, the eye of the void.
The Qabalist bears in mind at all times that the sephiroth of the
Hermetic Tree exist at four worlds or levels, and that there is a tree
in every sphere. The divine world, Atziluth, is more or less the plane
of the gods at the cosmic level. The Egyptian gods are Neters,
“Principles”, that are the divine expressed in nature by natural laws.
Nuit and Hadit, the primary gods of the Egyptian Book of the Law, Liber
AL vel Legis, are the most cosmic or absolute of all the gods. As such,
their first place on the Hermetic Tree is with the Ain and the Ain Soph.
There is some correspondence with Shiva and Shakti of the Eastern
Tantras.
On the plane of time and space, the temporal world, all things, objects
and creatures appear to be a result of causes. We therefore tend to
perceive everything as a chain of cause of effect. Malkuth in Assiah is
the world of action and elements, identical to the Sanskrit “karma”. In
the cosmic world of Nuit and Hadit, there are no causes and no
effects—there is no time. The notion of time where there seems to be a
past that is no more, a present that is ‘here’, yet constantly moving
forward, and a future that is as yet unborn, does not come about until
the midpoint of the Tree, Tiphereth. Even then, time does not fully
obtain until we reach Malkuth, the world of manifest appearances. The
perception of cause and effect, although real enough on its own plane,
is a trick of how we perceive things.
Form vs. Formless Reality
The argument between the advocates of a formless absolute and those that
revere gods, divinities, is an exceedingly ancient one. The great Hindu
sage Ramakrishna proposed a satisfying solution to that argument. The
story goes that one day Ramakrishna encountered some ardent followers of
Shiva, and they said to him, “Why are you worshipping this goddess? She
is Maya, the great delusion. We are followers of Shiva, who is Formless
and absolute, the only Reality.” Ramakrishna went away to think and
meditate on this. When he returned, he found the Shivaites again and
told them, “You are right! However, so am I! The goddess that I love is
the Form of the Formless. Ultimately, the Form and Formless are
perfectly equal and amount to an expression of the same Reality.”
The thread of the Ain Soph does not only exist ‘above Kether’, for it is
the key to transformation at every conceivable level. How does Geburah,
the 5th sephira, become Tiphereth, the 6th? How does the world of
Yetzirah become the world of Assiah? It is through the thread of the Ain
Soph that weaves throughout the worlds. In the numerical scheme of
things, Malkuth is ‘below’ and Kether is ‘above’. And yet, Malkuth is
Kether, but after another fashion. The Ain Soph is hidden in Malkuth—and
so present at all times—as much as it is ‘above’ even Kether.
In the practice—whether it is a meditation on the Hermetic Tree, the
Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, or an operation to consecrate a
talisman, we start at the ‘top’, the most absolute that we can conceive,
then work towards manifestation. And that is the transformation or
Great Work that is essential to magick and alchemy, the working upon the
plane of matter. When this is reversed, so that each symbol is followed
back to its source in the infinite, the Non-Dual reality may be
realised. To use the Eastern terminology, which is more familiar to many
than the symbolism of the Hermetic tradition, Jnanamudra leads naturally to Mahamudra. According to “The Rites and Ceremonies of Hormaku”, Ritual Magick
:The adept embraces both heaven and hell, becoming at the last a
flame—and then the fire itself. Enoch provides the primary example of
magical invisibility since, after the translation of his Ka into spirit
or Khu, he was never seen again on earth by mortals. When the adept
knows that which he loves even as he is known and loved, a universe is
crushed to nought (i.e. returned to Nuit). “That which remains” (Liber
AL, II: 9) is not created from the substance of the earth—for it is not
of created things. The adept—unless he falls back into time and space at
the crossroads—is therefore invisible to all men, even while dwelling
in the body of flesh.
The True Will in the tradition of Thelema is a wonderful conception, and
can be truly liberating. It is inevitably confused, though, with the
personal will that appears to drive choices and decisions that, in turn,
seem to affect changes in the material life. If too much personal
energy is applied to effecting change on its own plane , that
energy becomes depleted and the Ka (vital body) becomes a vampirical
force. Although vampires and ghouls are a glamorous concept, especially
to those that have never experienced the psychic planes directly, the
(relative) reality of such things is unpleasant, to put it mildly.
The Great Work of magick and alchemy is identical, and the work of
transformation is effected downwards on the planes, “As above so below”.
The world of Assiah is ‘negative’ to the ‘positive’ of the world of
Yetzirah. Geburah is negative to Binah and Chesed, but positive to
Tiphereth and Hod. To work upon Malkuth, the plane of material illusion,
one does not begin with a wish or desire—though such a wish may have
served as a lever to turn the magician towards the Great Work. With the
Ain or non-conceptual reality there is no subject, no object and no will
to do anything or to change anything. There are no things or objects
with Ain, there is no-thing to desire or crave and no one to desire it.
Yet it is from Ain that magick is worked and it is only by embracing
Non-Being that the true Will is known. Magick and mysticism can easily
be seen as two entirely different paths, one leading this way, the other
leading that way. The magick of the true Will, however, works
simultaneously from the Formless to Form, and from Form to the Formless.
This mirroring or doubling of the worlds is described in the writings
of Kenneth Grant as the “Aeon of Zain”, named after the 17th path of the
Hermetic Tree to which the symbol of the sword is referred.
The downward striking action of the Flaming Sword or Lightning Flash—the
word or utterance of Kether which is itself a mirror of the void of Ain
Soph—automatically invokes a reflex, a current of return from Malkuth.
This simultaneous, two-way relationship between the Formless void and
its expression in matter and substance weaves the very fabric of
anything we can perceive as existence. By travelling to and fro across
the planes, a ‘substance’ is created that has an existence outside of
the gates of matter and time. This is no different than the immortal
stone or elixir of life that was described by medieval alchemists.
Referring once more to the writings of Carlos Castaneda, Don Juan was
always insistent that the ‘tricks’ of the shamans, whether to travel
over vast distances, to effect magical transmutations upon things,
creatures or humans, or to play some humiliating practical joke upon an
unwary acolyte, has deadly serious intent. And that intent is the
ultimate liberation of the soul from all constraints of matter, time and
death. This is no different in any way from the Great Work of the
Hermetic tradition or the goal of liberation of the Advaitans.
Peter Kingsley has presented convincing evidence that it is better to view
him as an ancient Greek “Divine Man” (Theios
Anêr), that is, a Iatromantis (healer-seer,
“shaman”) and Magos (priest-magician). In his own
time he was viewed as a prophet, healer, magician and savior.
His beliefs and practices were built on ancient mystery
traditions, including the Orphic mysteries, the Pythagorean
philosophy, and the underworld mysteries of Hecate, Demeter,
Persephone and Dionysos. These were influenced by
near-Eastern traditions such as Zoroastrianism and Chaldean
theurgy. Empedocles, in his turn, was a source for the major
streams of Western mysticism and magic, including alchemy,
Graeco-Egyptian magic (such as found in the Greek magical
papyri),
Neo-Platonism, Hermeticism and Gnosticism. The
Tetrasomia, or Doctrine of the Four Elements,
provides a basic framework underlying these and other
spiritual traditions. (See Kingsley’s Ancient Philosophy,
Mystery and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition cited at the end of this article,
for more on the Empedoclean tradition; a review is also available.)
Empedocles used a variety of words for each of the Roots,
and from their range of meanings we can get some idea of his
conception of the Elments. (I capitalize words such as “Earth”
and “Element” to distinguish the magical or spiritual concepts
from the mundane ones.) For Earth he also used words meaning
land, soil and ground. For Water he also used words meaning
rain, sweat, moisture, sea water and open sea. For Air he also
used clear sky, heaven, firmament, brilliance, ray, beam, glance,
eye, splendor, mist and cloud. (This inconsistency between
bright clear sky – aithêr – and misty clouds –
aêr – will be explained when we discuss Air.)
For Fire he also used flame, blaze, lightning, sun, sunlight,
beaming and East.
(See Wright, p. 23, for a table of the Greek
terms.)
Now hear the fourfold Roots of everything:
Enlivening Hera, Hades, shining Zeus,
And Nestis, moistening mortal springs with tears.
As was common practice with Divine Men, Empedocles gave
his students knowledge in riddles to help develop their abilities,
and this seems to be one of those riddles (ainigmata).
Even in ancient times
there was debate and differing theories about the
correspondence between the Gods and Elements, but Kingsley (Part I) seems to have solved
the riddle, as will be explained later . To avoid undue suspense I will reveal the solution here:
Zeus is Air, Hera is Earth, Hades is Fire and Nestis (Persephone)
is Water.
Empedocles’ equation of the Roots with deities show that he
conceived of the Elements as more than material substances (or
states of matter). It is better to think of them as spiritual
essences (modes of spiritual being), which can manifest
themselves in many ways in the material and spiritual worlds
(they are form rather than content, structure rather than
image). Some of these manifestations will be explored when we
consider the individual Elements; here I will mention a few to
indicate the possibilities.
Most obviously there are the macrocosmic manifestations of
the Elements, for example, the land, the sea, the sky and the
sun. They are also connected with the sublunary spheres:
Heaven, Earth, Abyss (the subterranean water) and Tartaros
(the subterranean fire). There are also microcosmic
manifestations, for example, as components of the human
psyche (mental, astral, etheric and physical bodies), which will
be discussed later.
The Elements also represent the stages in various processes
of growth and transformation (embodied, for example, in the
alchemical Rotation of the Elements), such as the stages in the
Ascent of the Soul in Chaldean Theurgy (Divine Invocation), also discussed later.
Finally, from the standpoint of Jung’s psychology, the Elements (like the Gods) are archetypes; because they are
structures in the collective unconscious, they are universal
(present in all people). As archetypes, they are beyond
complete analysis; they can be “circumscribed but not
described”; ultimately they must be experienced to be
understood. Nevertheless Empedocles and his successors
(especially Aristotle) did much to illuminate the nature of the
Elements and their interrelationships (and I will be leaning on
their discoveries). Since much of the meaning of the Elements
inheres in their interrelationships, I’ll begin with the Elements
in general before turning to Earth specifically.
Aristotle in the century following Empedocles, who based his analysis
on the four Powers (Dunameis) or Qualities, which
were probably first enumerated by Empedocles. This double
pair of opponent Powers, Warm versus Cool and Dry versus
Moist, are the key to a deeper understanding of the Elements.
Like the Elements, they must be understood as spiritual forces
rather than material qualities (warm, cold, dry, moist).
The Powers manifest in as many ways as the Elements. The
Pythagoreans identified one of the most important of these, a
natural progression that can be called the Organic Cycle. The
first phase of growth is Moist: spring rains, pliant green shoots,
rapid growth. The second phase is Warm: summer sun,
flourishing individuality, mature vigor. The third is Dry:
autumn leaves, inflexible stems, stiffening joints. The fourth is
Cool: winter chills, loss of identity, death. This cycle is also the
basis for one form of the alchemical “rotation of the elements,”
from Earth to Water to Air to Fire and back to Earth. Although
the Organic Cycle can be found throughout nature, Aristotle
discovered the deeper essence of the Qualities, which reveals
their spiritual nature, as we’ll explore in detail when we
consider the individual Elements.
see figure).
(It is most common to place the Elements at the corners and
the Powers between them, but it is better to place the Powers at
the corners, since they are absolute, and the Elements between
them, since they are mixtures of the Powers.) The Square
shows that Earth is Dry and Cool, Water is Cool and Moist, Air is
Moist and Warm, Fire is Warm and Dry.
Aristotle further explains that in each Element one Power is
dominant. Therefore Earth is predominantly Dry, Water
predominantly Cool, Air predominantly Moist, and Fire
predominantly Warm. The dominant Power is the one in a
counterclockwise direction from the Element in the Square of
Opposition; thus the arrow by each Element points to its
dominant Power. The vertical axis represents the active
Qualities (Warm, Cool), the horizontal represents the passive
(Moist, Dry). The upper Elements (Air, Fire) are active, light and
ascending, the lower (Water, Earth) are passive, heavy and
descending. The Elements on the right are pure, extreme and
absolutely light (Fire) or heavy (Earth); those on the left are
mixed, intermediate and relatively light (Air) or heavy (Water).
The absolute Elements exhibit unidirectional motion (ascending
Fire, descending Earth), whereas the relative Elements (Air,
Water) can also expand horizontally. The Organic Cycle (the
cycle of the seasons) goes sunwise around the square.
Unlike the chemical elements, the spiritual Elements can be
transformed into each other, but only in accord with laws
discovered by Aristotle
(see Gill).
Understanding these laws is a prerequisite to transforming
and combining them in their various manifestations. In brief,
one Element can be transformed directly into another only if
they share a common Quality (and are thus adjacent, not
opposed on the Elemental Square). For example, Water is
transformed into Air when the Water is acted on by a larger
quantitiy of Air, since the Water’s Coolness is “overpowered” by
the Air’s Warmth; the common Moist quality is retained through
the transformation. This process is reversible, since Air can be
transformed back into Water by acting upon it with sufficient
Water.
Direct transformation between opposed Elements is
impossible. Thus Water cannot be transformed directly into
Fire, since they have no common Quality to give continuity to
the process, but the Water can be transformed indirectly by
changing it first into Air or Earth. This occurs when the Water
is acted upon by a larger quantity of Fire. We can move around
the Square, but not across it.
Raymon Llull
(c.1229-1315), known as “Doctor Illuminatus,” extended the
Aristotelian analysis by explaining how two Elements can act
upon each other. Whenever we have similar quantities of two
Elements with a common Quality, the Element in which it’s not
dominant is “overcome” or “conquered” by the one in which it is.
For example, when Water combines with Earth, the Earth is
overcome, because they are both Cool, but Coolness dominates
in Water. Therefore, the result will be predominantly Cool, with
an additional Quality of Moistness, which makes it Watery.
Llull’s analysis leads to a Cycle of Triumphs, which is shown by
the arrows on the Elemental Square. Thus Fire overcomes Air,
Air overcomes Water, Water overcomes Earth, and Earth
overcomes Fire. Notice that in each triumph (except the last),
the more subtle Element overcomes the grosser Element.
Aristotle
(see Gill)
also explained a process by which two opposed Elements can
be irreversibly transformed into a third. For example, if Fire
acts on a mixture of Earth and Air, these two opposed Elements
will be transformed into Fire, which takes its Dryness from the
Earth and its Warmth from the Air. The transformation is
irreversible, although some of the Fire could be transformed
back into Earth and, separately, some of the Fire back into Air.
This process cannot be used to transform two adjacent Elements
into a third, for example Fire and Air into Water or Earth. If we
kept the Fire’s Dryness and the Air’s Wetness, we would have
contradictory Qualities; if we kept the Fire’s Warmth and the
Air’s Warmth, the result would be neither Wet nor Dry. In both
cases the result is impossible (either by the law of
noncontradiction or by the law of the excluded middle). (The
other two possible combinations of Qualities yield Air and Fire,
in which case there is no transformation.)
Finally, whenever we have two opposed Elements acting
upon each other, they tend to neutralize, leading to a result that
is weakly one or the other. However, the essence of the
alchemical Great Work is a proper unification of opposed
Elements (especially Fire and Water), a Coniunctio
Oppositorum (Conjunction of Opposites) in which they
form a higher unity, rather than annihilating each other; this
will be discussed when we come to Water and Fire.
Before proceeding to a detailed consideration of the
individual Elements, it will be worthwhile to consider some of
the meaning embodied in the familiar Elemental Signs (as
shown in the figure of the Elemental Square). The triangles
represent the active Power (Warm or Cool) in each Element.
The elemental signs of Earth and Water have in common the
pubic triangle, because these Elements are traditionally
feminine and more passive, since they have in common the
contracting, uniting Cool Power
(see below on Coolness); the
downward triangle also shows these elements are descending
(Water and Earth fall). Conversely Air and Fire have the phallic
triangle, because they are traditionally male and more active,
since they have in common the expanding, separating Warm
Power (discussed with Air); the upward triangle shows these
elements are ascending (Air and Fire rise). Thus the Stoics
associated the analytic, masculine Elements with Word
(Logos) and the synthetic, feminine Elements with
Matter (Hulê). Finally, in the elemental signs
for Air and Earth, the crossbar represents a denser or grosser
(less subtle) form of the Element, as Earth is of Water, and Air
of Fire.
Introduction)
that Earth is Dry and Cool, with Dryness dominating,
therefore I will begin the discussion of Earth with a more
detailed explanation of its Powers. (It will become apparent
that they have a much broader meaning than implied by the
names “dry” and “cool.”)
Aristotle
explains that the Dry power gives things their shape, their
rigid structure. Thus we may identify the Dry power with
form and say that it is formative, determining and
solid. In a psychological context Dryness is associated with
stubbornness, purpose, dependability, practicality and
authority. Because of its rigidity, the Dry Power is unreceptive,
inflexible, manipulative, commanding, arguing, domineering,
strict, and tends to oppose circumstances. In general, Dryness is
concrete and grounded.
The Warm power, according to Aristotle, separates things
(e.g. by evaporation or distillation), and therefore its opposite,
the Cool power has the effect of uniting them. In essence,
Coolness is mixing, joining, synthetic, and relating; in a
psychological context it is loving, undiscriminating, indecisive,
careless, nurturing, sympathetic, cooperative and creative.
Further, whereas the Warm power is expanding, the Cool power
is contracting, absorbed, and inward-directed; psychologically
it’s associated with concentration and quietude. Because of its
tendency to join together, Coolness is stable, steadfast and
enduring.
Earth represents essentially inert matter (because of the
dominance of Dryness); it is primarily fixed, whereas all the
other Elements have some mobility. Thus Earth corresponds to
the material body of living things, which must be animated by
the other Elements in order to be alive. Also, elemental Earth is
associated with the time from the Autumn Equinox (peak of
Dryness) to the Winter Solstice (peak of Coolness), i.e., our
Autumn, which is primarily Dry (the dominant quality of Earth).
The foregoing analysis shows that Earth is better pictured as
cold, dry ash or as hard crystal than as moist, warm loam. (The
latter image is more suited to the mixture of Water and Earth,
as will be explained when we come to Water.)
Hera the Earth Goddess
Peter Kingsley argues persuasively that Empedocles associated Earth with
Hera. One reason is that Empedocles calls Hera “enlivening”
(pheresbios, literally, “life-bringing”), which was a
traditional epithet of Earth Goddesses (including Gaia and
Demeter). One might expect Earth to be associated with Hades,
but in Greek the Earth (Gaia, Khthôn) is
mythically and grammatically feminine, which makes it more
likely to be associated with Hera. (When we discuss Water we’ll see why Earth isn’t associated with Nêstis, the other
Goddess mentioned by Empedocles.) The later, Stoic theory of
the Elements associates Earth with Hades, but this has little
mythological support, because the Greeks associate Hades with
the alien Underworld, not the familiar Earth. Furthermore, the
Stoic theory is based on a correspondence between Hera and
Air, which seems plausible (Hera is the wife of the Sky God), but
has other problems that we’ll see when we discuss Air. (In contrast, Diônê, sometimes called Zeus’s “first wife,”
is a Sky Goddess; indeed Her name is a feminine form of “Zeus.”)
As discussed above, one of the primary characteristics of
Earth is its stability. Therefore, Hera is the protectress of the
stable family and home, and the family in turn is the stabilizer
of the social order. Furthermore, Hera is a fertility Goddess
since She provides the stable foundation of procreation and of
the survival of the species, which differs from the less
predictable fertility of Aphrodite or Pan.
In this way She is responsible for the fertility of people, but
“enlivening Hera” is also responsible for the fertility of the
earth, and therefore is connected with Gaia, Demeter and other
Earth Mothers. Thus the marriage of Zeus and Hera corresponds
to the union of Heaven and Earth; they unify the opposed
elements Air and Earth. (Zeus and Hera are the Lord and Lady,
which is what Hêrôs and
Hêra mean in Greek.) Hera renews Her
virginity each year by bathing in the spring Kanathos at
Nauplia; so also, the Elemental Square
shows us that Water leads Earth around the (sunwise) cycle
of the seasons.
Plutarch (On Isis and Osiris)
says that Demeter is the same as Isis, who is called the
Recipient, Preserver, Distributor, Material Principle, Gentle
Nurse, All-receptive, Earth and Matter; She is the Seat and Place
of Generation, and Receptive of Every Form of Generation. Thus,
Isis and Osiris are the Preserver and the Creator, like Hera and
Zeus. They correspond to the soil of Egypt (Isis) and the Nile
(Osiris), which makes the land fertile. So also the opposites
Dryness and Moisture are the dominant Powers of the Elements
governed by Hera and Zeus (Earth and Air).
Air and Fire ascend, and Water descends, but Earth is fixed
at the bottom; it is secure, the solid foundation of being.
Therefore the Tarot suit of Pentacles (or Coins) is associated
with Earth, since the ground of stable being is Earth and, more
generally, substance (as in “a man of substance”). (The only
offspring of Hera and Zeus, the Scepter-bearer, were Ares the
Sword-bearer and Hebe the Cup-bearer.) In processes of
emanation, Earth is the material Effect of the Unification (Air) of
the creative Impulse (Fire) with its Object (Water), which is
summarized in four-letter name of Jove: IOUE. This emanation
is represented in the Tarot court cards, in which Earth
corresponds to the Pages (or Princesses).
(This is discussed further in the Pythagorean Tarot,
in the discussions of the suits
and the court cards.)
The contrast between the immobile Earth and the mobile
Elements Water, Air and Fire exhibits a 1+3 structure typical of
many spiritual and divine quaternities. Jung explains that “the
fourth represents an incommensurable other that is needed for
their mutual determination,” which is precisely the role played
by Earth among the Elements.
The special status of Earth is also apparent in the myth of
how the three brothers, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, divided the
world among themselves after They defeated the Titans.
Poseidon rules the sea (Water), Zeus rules the sky (Air), and
Hades rules Tartaros (Fire), but the Earth is held in common
between them. All three recognize the sovereignty of Earth.
Pherecydes the view that Chaos (Khaos) is Watery, deriving it
from kheisthai (to flow). The Primordial Chaos is
considered Watery because it is confused (mixed) and formless
(i.e., Cool and Moist). Similarly, according to the Pythagorean
Alkman (c. 600 BCE), in the beginning there was a “trackless
and featureless” waste of Waters. There is also an Orphic
theogony in which the first deities are Okeanos and Tethys,
corresponding to the Abyss (sweet subterranean water) and
Tiamat (bitter salt sea). Therefore Water (Chaos) precedes
Earth (Gaia), which gives matter its form.
As remarked in the discussion of Earth,
elemental Earth is Cool (connected) and Dry (form imposing).
Thus it is too rigid and inflexible to support life, but can be
given this flexibility by Water. Therefore Primal Mud, the
fertile loam of our Mother, is a combination of dry, crystalline
Earth with moistening Water. This is why Water, which gives to
inanimate Earth the ability to develop, transform and adapt, is
associated with the “vegetative soul” possessed by all living
things. It is also why many cosmogonies begin with Primal
Mud.
According to Pherecydes’ cosmogony,
the living Earth came into being when Zeus and
Khthoniê (She Beneath the Earth) married, and on the
third day of the wedding, the Unveiling
(Anakaluptêria), the craftsman Zeus wove an
elaborate, variegated Robe (pepoikilmenon Pharos),
which He gave to Khthoniê as a gift. It was adorned with
land and sea, with rivers and trees, with mountains and
meadows, with all of Earth and Okeanos, the Primal Ocean, and
with the Mansions of Okeanos. (These are the three great
divisions of the world: Earth, Encircling Ocean, and the Realms
beyond the Rim. Above the three is Heaven and below is the
Underworld; all together they are the Fivefold Cosmos.)
When Khthoniê, Queen of the Underworld, had
wrapped it around Her, She became Gaia, Mother Earth.
Likewise, the Orphic Poems say that the Earth is the Robe of
Persephone, of She Beneath the Earth. The Robe, after it had
been the cover of the sacred marriage bed, was hung upon the
Goddess’s Tree of Life. Thus the mantle of our world surrounds
Khthoniê’s Tree, the Tree of She Beneath the Earth.
As was explained in the Introduction,
Earth is overcome by Water, and so the result of combining
the two is more Watery than Earthy. That is, the Primal Mud is
more like chaotic elemental Water: formless (because Moist)
and confused (because Cool, and therefore mixing).
Nevertheless, the Primal Mud is both Dry and Wet,
corresponding to the elements Earth and Water, and so this
“Prime Matter,” which is the basis of the Great Art, is called the
“Dry Water” by the alchemists.
From this perspective, Water and Earth constitute the “gross
body”; Air and Fire provide the astral and radiant bodies,
respectively. In Empedocles’ terms, Earth and Water are the
body (sôma), Air is the soul
(psychê), and Fire is source of power
(kinêtikê). Alchemically, the body is the
Salt, which is joined by the Quicksilver (etheric body: Air) to the
Sulfur (radiant body: Fire). So also the Stoics say that the (Cool,
synthetic) “feminine” elements Earth and Water constitute
Hulê (Matter or Resource), whereas the (Warm,
analytic) “masculine” elements Air and Fire constitute
Logos (Word or Thought).
Earth and Water are the only tangible (touchable) elements;
Fire and Air are intangible. Since Water and Earth are both
Cool, their tendency is toward greater mixture; this is the
entropy of gross matter. They tend to the cold and dark
through the dissolution of form (because the mixture is
Watery).
The “igneous spirit” (the Heat residing in both Fire and Air)
gives motion to inert matter and makes it active. These
Elements tend to warmth and light through the generation of
energy. Thus Menstruum, the Living Mud, which
combines the Cool feminine elements Earth and Water
(represented by pubic triangles), is animated by
Semen, which combines the Warm masculine
elements Air and Fire (represented by the phallic triangles).
Therefore Warmth and Moisture are the two principles of
generation, which animate the sterile Earth and bring it to life.
In conclusion, Water is the spiritual principle of flexible
union, which permits both dissolution and transformation.
Water provides the Primordial Chaos, which combines with
Earth to yield the Primal Mud from which life is born. Water is
associated with Persephone, the agent of rebirth in the
Underworld, who brings the tears of mourning but also the
Ambrosia of immortality.
Why is this mediation necessary? In “Water,”
I said that Water + Earth constitutes the Primal
Mud, the “gross body,” which is potentially alive,
but not animate. On the other hand, Fire is the
principle of action, the efficient cause of all
motion, but it cannot act directly on Primal Mud
(for they are opposed, Primal Mud being
predominantly Watery). However, Air can mediate
between Fire and Primal Mud, because it has Warmth
(active differentiation) in common with Fire, and
Moisture (flexibility) in common with Water. Thus
Air is the active Spirit, which operates on the
passive structure of Earth and the flexibility of
Water. We may say that Air conveys the Fiery Power
and facilitates its embodiment. In general, as
mediator, Air transmits powers and influences, and
therefore Air is the vehicle of coordination and
communication
(see below, “Air, the
Governor”).
Thus the Stoics attributed to Heraclitus
(6th-5th cent. BCE) the idea that the soul is an
Exhalation or Warm Vaporization
(Anathumiasis) from bodily moisture; as we
might say, the Fiery Soul evokes the Breath Spirit
from the body’s Primal Mud to be the means by which
the two can unite.
So also, as mentioned in “Water,”
Prometheus molded human bodies from Earth and
Water, and gave Heavenly Fire to them. But they
were not complete before Athena breathed Air into
them.
Water,
for Water gives the power of growth and
development to lifeless matter (Earth), and I will
discuss the Mind with Fire;
here our concern is the Spirited Soul and its
vehicle, the aerial or spirit
body.
The Aerial Spirit’s role as a subtle, invisible
governing faculty was recognized in ancient times.
For example, Diogenes of Apollonia says, “It seems
to me that that which has intelligence is what
people call Air (Aêr), and that all
people are steered (kubernasthai) by this,
and that it has power over all things. For the
very thing seems to be a God and to reach
everywhere and to dispose all things and to be in
everything.” (It is significant that the word he
uses for “steered,” kubernasthai, is
related to kubernêtikos, meaning
“skilled in steering or guiding,” which is the
origin of our term cybernetics, referring
to the principles of intelligence and governance in
animals and machines. Air is the Cybernetic
Element.) Diogenes’ statement also suggests that
Air plays a role in the World Soul
(Psukhê tou Pantos) as well as in
individual souls, and that is our next topic.
I have already mentioned
that Anaximenes considers Air to be the First
Principle (Arkhê) of the cosmos; it
is infinite, eternal, ever-moving and divine; he
calls Air the Father of the Gods (which recalls
Zeus’s common title: Father of Gods and Humans).
Anaximenes also says, “Just as our Breath-Soul
(Psukhê), being Air
(Aêr), governs us, so Spirit-Breath
(Pneuma) and Air (Aêr)
encompass the whole cosmos.” This suggests that
the governance of the cosmos is accomplished by the
Spirit-Breath of the World Soul. Indeed, Philemon
says that Air, who is called Zeus, knows everything
done by Gods or mortals, because He is everywhere
at once. So also Empedocles points to the God’s
subtle nature: "He is a Spirit-Mind
(Phrên), holy and ineffable, and
only Spirit-Mind, which darts through the whole
cosmos with its swift thoughts.“ (Note that the
term translated Spirit-Mind, Phrên,
is the singular of Phrenes, Breast.) Here
again we see Air as a medium of communication and
governance, but on the cosmic scale.
However, just as we all breathe the same Air,
and the Air in my breast is continuous with that in
yours, so also the World Soul is continuous with
individual souls (an idea we also find in the
Upanishads, where Brahman, the World Soul
identified with Prâna (Breath), is
identical to Âtman, the individual
Life-breath). As the nervous system integrates the
activities of individual organs to work for the
sake of the organism, so the Air binds our
individual souls into one World Soul. Microcosm
and macrocosm unite.
Philo of Biblos (64-140 CE) translated a
“Phoenician History,” which was supposed to have
been written by Sanchuniathon before the Trojan War
(which is not unlikely) and to be based on Egyptian
scriptures attributed to Thoth. According to this
myth, in the beginning there was a Primal Wind, a
breath of mist and darkness (i.e.
Aêr); also there was
Môt, the muddy chaos of Erebus
(khaos tholeron Erebôdes), that is,
the formless Primal Mud. The Primal Wind
fertilized itself and became Desire
(Pothos, perhaps corresponding to Semitic
Rûah, which means Breath but also
connotes Desire). Further, Môt became the
Cosmic Egg, and the cosmos was born when Desire
opened the Cosmic Egg (as also in the Orphic
cosmogonies), which led to a separation of the
Elements.
According to Eudemus (4th cent. BCE), the
Phoenicians who lived in Sidon also believed that
the universe was born of Air. In the beginning was
Time (Khronos), Desire (Pothos)
and Fog (Omikhlê). Desire and Fog
united, giving birth to Aêr and
Aura (Moving Air).
When discussing alchemy, the first thing you must understand is that in relation to modern chemistry, alchemy is relevant only in terms of history. Moreover, the value of the alchemists philosophical system has nothing to do with the literal interpretation of alchemical operations; but rather the message is hidden behind allegories, symbols and formulas. So the essence of alchemy is not the transformation of metals, but rather the transformation of the self.
Alchemists tell us the story of the matter passing through four main states: nigredo, albedo, citrinitas, rubedo. In nigredo, the matter is full of impurities, “unpolished”, so that in the albedo to be “cleaned” divided into two opposing principles. Citrinitas represent the transmutation of silver into gold, or the stage of “wise old man” – according to Carl.G.Jung‘s analytical psychology. Finally, in the state of rubedo the two opposing principles come together (coniunctio), giving birth to the two-headed eagle (Atahnor logo ), which symbolizes the discovery of the authentic self, the last stage of consciousness.
A similar initiatic journey we can find in tarot, as Oswald Wirth notes, where the story begins with the fool, which in French is called Le Fou, resembling Le Feu (Fire), thus referring to the alchemical process of transforming lead into gold. Perhaps the word game may lead us to the principle always reminded by alchemist Theophrastus noted Ph. Paracelsus, who urges alchemists to pass their theories through the fire, i.e. to test, experiment. Fire also symbolizes the active principle, or libido – described by Jung as the [psychic] energy of the individual. Moreover, if we interpret fire as the potency or the will to transform of the individual, we conclude that the fire that burns in Athanor (the furnace of alchemists) is the necessary will that “burns impurities” – the fuel that turns lead into gold. Moreover, even Gaston Bachelard in “Psychoanalysis of Fire” talks about the Prometheus complex, wich is explained to be: “Oedipus complex in intellectual life“ – so fire is engine that makes us want to know more. Paracelsus said that no operation can be done without this fire.
It is reasonable to consider both alchemy and tarot philosophical systems expressed through allegory, which focuses on the hidden potential in every individual (i.e. nigredo, the fool), which with labor and continuous “polishing” is able to discover his authentic self:
„nigredo is the revelation of the incompleteness of substance, that needs processing to become gold. This is why the matter is crying for the help of a man, which, by knowing and understanding, will save its soul from the netherworld.”
Nigredo also symbolizes the shadow of self, or the self [unconsciously] confronting its shadow. In the state of albedo we become aware of the shadow of the self, and impurities (unnecessary, harmful concepts) are removed. Also, we become aware of the opposite concepts anima and animus, that will be joined togheter in an alchemical process in rubedo : the Sun (gold, male) and the Moon (silver, female) come together; thus this operation is also symbolizing the union of conscious and unconscious – the consciousness in its fullness. In this respect some Gnostics, and some psychoanalysts and historians of religions have concluded that The Great Art means combining masculine (Sulphur) and feminine (Mercury) – a process more or less sexual. Mircea Eliade, great historian of religions noticed:
„European alchemy defines the Great Art as the <secret> to combine the <Masculine> with the <feminine>.”
Another thing that Paracelsus and other alchemists repeated was that to fulfill the alchemic operation, each step needs to be done perfectly, in perfect order. This reminds us that we must be diligent, not to deviate from the path, otherwise we will not obtain the rubedo state. The alchemist is somebody that makes order out of chaos (ordo ab chao), and in a sense, I believe that two-headed eagle symbol is representative of the whole process of acceptance, integration and transformation of the shadow in the entire being. The two-headed eagle is anima and animus fusioned, it’s the man aware of its shadow – unconscious becoming conscious.
Oswald Wirth notes that these ancient mystical symbols and allegories used to be a bridge between the conscious mind, and the collective unconscious. As I mentioned above, nigredo can also symbolize shadow or [collective] unconscious – the source of archetypes and symbols. So the moment we get out of the darkness (nigredo) – that miserable state of ignorance and unawarness -, is the moment we become aware of our shadow, when we distinguish subject from the object in the process of shadow projection.
Anyway, the alchemists have used different formulas to write their “alchemical recipes” to keep the knowledge away from the profane. A thing that was pretty common between alchemists was to associate different metals and different stages of processing (e.g. rotting) with various mythological names, thereby converting an alchemical recipe into a story or a myth – or vice versa. For example, Apollo (Sun) corresponded to gold. Jean Marie Ragon goes further and states that in the Greek myth of Apollo killing the snake Python hides an alchemical process, a meeting between coarse material and the philosophical fire. Moreover, many psychoanalysts (e.g. Jung) were concerned with the interpretation of myths in a rather metaphorical way, believing there are hidden meanings behind metaphors, myths and alchemical works (see C.Jung’s interpretation of the text “Consurgens Aurora“) . I
wanted to mention this because most people are skeptical about alchemy
(I am one of them), but I think that in many cases, the skepticism is
due the literally interpretation of alchemical texts/ myths. And it seems clear that D’Espagnets alchemical recipe that included a red dragon and seven or nine clean eagles that turns into a swan, doesn’t ask us to get a red dragon itself (nor claimed it will turn into a swan). And regarding Count Saint-Germain’s The Most Holy Trinosophia, it would be really foolish to think that that fantastic trip really took place (in the physical world).
A conclusion, and also a review could be that alchemy is a complex philosophical system, well-built, revealed in stages. Behind the seemingly chemical formulas or mythological character, there are beautiful teachings hiding, and the ultimate knowledge is reserved to the one with a sharp mind, escaping from the labyrinths built by alchemists. I think that Mircea Eliade concluded very nice his work “Cosmogony and babylonian alchemy“, reminding us that everyone has the potential to become gold, to transform his flaws and troublesome self (lead) into gold:
„Transmutation of metals, which at one point becomes the basic idea of alchemy, has its justification in the belief that any metal can perfect itself to the ultimate stage of matter, turning into Gold.”
The title of ninth Sephira, or emanation of the Tree Of Life, is YSVD (Yezod). It is the Sephira of the Lunar magick of Aub, or Ob, the Serpent (whence “obeah”). The Serpent is a Symbol common to the Yezidi, Voodooists, Tantrics, and Thelemites. Yezod or Yesod as the secret center of the Yezidi is an apt description of the Sephira wich corresponds to the sexual center in the human body. Yesod means “Foundation”, and the Hadit of the Thelemites, is the Foundation of the World, as Yesod is the foundation of the Tree Of Life. The accursed God of the South is, then no other than the lord of the reproductive forces typified by the southernmost Sephira-Yesod. Yesod is attributed to the Moon. not to the Sun. The curious symbolism is explained by the connection of the Serpent or Dragon with the lunar current typified by Babalon- “for he is ever a sun, and she a moon”. The symbolism may be fathomed at the Hindu level of mythology where Shiva (the Indian Seth) is called “the god with the crescent” (i.e the moon) in the Bhagavad Gita. Also, Thoth the Moon-god, was originally the God of Sirius, identical with the Star-God-Seth, before the luni-solar mode of reckoning time supplanted the stellar reckoning. This is the reason why the inverted pentagram, or pointed towards the south is usually abhorred as a seal of the devil. Is the seal of Satan because it invokes the snake sex, snake Obeah. The osirisian, and Christians, fled from this aspect of existence, and the pentagram of Set, the south, was considered the symbol of impurity and of abomination. It is still the star of Satan for those who consider the use the current of sexual magic as “evil” that is diabolic. Originally there was no moral pollution; it comes from the hands of the followers of the cult of the old Aeon, those represented in myth by God Dying: Adonis, Osiris, Christ, etc
I believe in one secret and ineffable LORD; and in one Star in the company of Stars of whose fire we are created, and to which we shall return; and in one Father of Life, Mystery of Mystery, in His name AIWASS, the sole viceregent of the Sun upon Earth; and in one Air the nourisher of all that breaths.
And I believe in one Earth, the Mother of us all, and in one Womb wherein all men are begotten, and wherein they shall rest, Mystery of Mystery, in Her name BABALON.
And I believe in the Serpent and the Lion, Mystery of Mystery, in His name BAPHOMET.
And I believe in one Gnostic and Catholic Church of Light, Life, Love and Liberty, the Word of whose Law is ΘΕΛΗΜΑ.
And I believe in the communion of Saints.
And, forasmuch as meat and drink are transmuted in us daily into spiritual substance, I believe in the Miracle of the Mass.
And I confess one Baptism of Wisdom whereby we accomplish the Miracle of Incarnation.
And I confess my life one, individual, and eternal that was, and is, and is to come.
The Philosopher’s Stone (note double-headed eagle in centre of diamond). See also Vajra (diamond, thunderbolt).
Double-Headed Eagle (The end product of the Magnum Opus). See also: Rebis in Alchemy, the divine Hermaphroditus (child of Hermes (Intellect) and Aphrodite (Feeling)), Ardanarishvara (androgynous form of Shiva merged with Parvati).
Occult Aspects 