The Hermetic Tradition PDF

che heRmeETciIc TRADITION Symbols and Teachings of the Royal Art Julius Evola Translated from the Italian by E. E. Rehmus Inner Traditions International One Park Screee Rochester, Vermont 05767 Copyright © 1971 Edizioni Mediterranee Original Italian ticle: La tradizione ermetic...

che heRmeETciIc TRADITION Symbols and Teachings of the Royal Art Julius Evola Translated from the Italian by E. E. Rehmus Inner Traditions International One Park Screee Rochester, Vermont 05767 Copyright © 1971 Edizioni Mediterranee Original Italian ticle: La tradizione ermetica:Naswat simboli, nella sua dottrina e nella sua “Arte Regict” English translation copyright © 1995 Inner Traditions International All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any infor- mation storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Bvola, Julius. [Tradizione ermetica. English] ‘Phe hermetic tradition : in its symbols, doctrine, and “royal art” / Julius Evola ; cranslated from the Italian by F. F. Rehmus. pom. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-89281 -451 -9 1. Hermetism. 2. Symbolism. |. Ticle BH 1614.F9613 1994 135'.4--de20 94-4085 CIP Printed and bound in the United States 109876543 Text design and layout by Virginia L. Scott This book was typeset fn Italian Electric, withThor as a display face  CONTENTS Foreword by H. T. Hansen vii Translator's Note xiv Preface Xv PART ONE: The syMBOLs AND TEACHINGS Introduction to Part One: The Tree, the Serpent, and the Titans 2 One: The Pluralicy and Duality of Civilizations 43 Two: Living Nature 15 Three: The Hermetic Knowledge 17 Four: “One the All” and the Dragon Ouroboros 20 Five: The Hermetic Presence 23 Six: Creation and Myth 27 Seven: “Woman,” “Water,” “Mercury,” and “Poison” 30 Hight: The Separation: Sun and Moon 33 Nine: Frozen and Flowing Waters 36 Ten: Salt and the Cross 39 Eleven: The Four Elements and Sulfur 41 Twelve: Soul, Spirit, and Body 44 Thirteen: The “Four” in Man 47 Fourteen: The Planets 52 Fifteen: The Centers of Life 56 Sixteen: The Seven, the Operations, and the Mirror 60 Seventeen: Gold in the Art 64  Eighteen: Shadow, Ashes, and Remains 66 Nineteen: Philosophical, Incest 74 Twenty: The Tomb and Thirst 74 Twenry-One: Saturn: Inverted Gold 79 Twency-Two: The Field and the Seed 84 Twenty-Three: The Sword and the Rose 86 Twenty-Four: Stem, Virus, and Iron 90 PART CuLO: The HERMETIC ROYAL ART Introduction to Part Two: The Reality of Palingenesis 94 Twenty-Five: The Separation 100 Twenty-Six: Death and the Black Work 104 Twenty-Seven: The Trial of the Void 109 Twenty-Eight: The Flight of the Dragon 412 Twenty-Nine: The Dry Path and the Wet Path 415 Thirty: Hermetic Asceticism 118 Thirty-One: The Path of the Breath and the Path of the Blood 122 Thirty-Two: The Heart and the Light 126 Thirty-Three: Denudations and Eclipses 129 Thirty-Four: The Thirst for God and the Corrosive Waters 133 Thirty-Five: The Path of Venus and the Radical Path 138 Thirty-Six: The Hermetic Fires 142 Thirty-Seven: The White Work: Rebirth 146 Thirty-Eight: The Coniunctio in White 149 Thirty-Nine: The Eternal Vigil 152 Forty: The Body of Light and Production of Silver 155 Forty-One: Birth into Life and Immortality 163 Forty-Two: The Red Work: Return to Earth 168 Forty-Three: The Alchemical Colors and Multiplication 173 Forty-Four: The Planetary Hierarchy 177 Forty-Five: Knowledge of the Red and the Triunity 184 Forty-Six: Prophetic Knowledge 190 Forty-Seven: The Four Stages of Power 193 Forty-Eight: Metallic Transmutation 196 Forty-Nine: Correspondences, Times, and Rites 203 Fifty: Silence and the Tradition 208 Fifcy-One: The Invisible Masters 213 Index 217  FOREGIORO or Julius Evola (1898-1974) alchemy was nor—as is generally believed—a single specialized subject con- cerning itself exclusively with mecals and their corre- spondences in maf, but rather a comprehensive physical and metaphysical system embracing cosmology as much as anthropology (in the sense of a complete knowledge of man in body, soul, and spirit).' Everyching—nature and supernature— can be found in it. To Evola, hermetism and alchemy are one and the same. The goal of this system is the understanding and experiencing of an ensouled “holy” organism, replete with living powers, in whom everything is wonderfully interwoven, connected to and communized with everything else. Man stands in the middle where he is microcosm in analogy to the whole macrocosm: As above, so below—in the words of the Emerald Tablet. The alchemical symbol language as the expression of this universal system must therefore also have correspondences in all the other mysteriosophic spheres and can consequently serve as a universal key in these spheres, just as, vice versa, any other mystery teaching has the power to fill in the lacunae of esotericism in alchemy. Alongside Arturo Reghini (1878-1946)—and surely also at his suggestion— Evola was one of the few in those years who were aware of this parallel, especially to ancient theurgical practice. In 1926 Evola published an article in Ulera (the newspaper of the unusually liberal Theosophical lodge in Rome) on the cult of Michras in which he placed major emphasis on the similarities of these mysteries ! This foreword first appeared in Ansata-Verlag’s Die Hermetische Tradition (Interlaken. Switzerland, 1989). It is translated from the German by E. E. Rehmus and H. T. Hansen. with hermetism. In the UR group (1927-29), of which Evola was a member, specific alchemical symbols were employed in the teaching of "Magic.”? It is this practical aspect that is emphasized here, for alchemy cannot be grasped by abstract thought alone, much less is it just a psychic process in the unconscious (C. G. Jung’s theory),? but much more than that: it is an exercise of soul and spirit in the best Platonic tradition. ‘Where did Evola’s early preoccupation with alchemical symbolism come from? After his Dadaist and philosophical period, Evola came in contact with Theosophi- cal and Freemason circles.* Here we can especially point to Reghini, of whom Evola writes in his aucobiography,> that he either lent him the essential alchemical texts or at least informed him of them. Through the very significant esoteric magazines, Athanor and Ignis (1924-1925), edited by Reghini, Evola became acquainted with a whole series of contributions to alchemy that were enough to give him his firsc hints of knowledge.® Reghini’s influence must have been decisive because so many of his quotations are also favorite quotations of Evola’s.” In his autobiography Evola quotes from early translations of René Guénon’s Le voile dlsis (later the Etudes cradicionelles), which also gave him suggestions for his vision of alchemy. Jacopo da Coreglia® writes that it was a priest, Father Francesco Oliva, who had made the most far-reaching progress in hermetic science and who—highly prizing the keen spitit and intellectual honesty of the young seeker—gave Evola access to records strictly reserved for adepts of the narrow circle. These were concerned primarily wich che teachings of the Fraternity of Myriam (Fratellanza Terapeutica Magica di Myriam), founded by Doctor Giuliano Kremmerz (pseudonym of Ciro ? In 1985 Ansata-Verlag published the first volume of the UR group data reports and documents under the title Magie als Wissenschaft vom Ich (Magic as science of the ego). The second and third volumes of these monographs are to be published by Ansata in forthcoming years. Many passages difficult to understand in the present book are explained in chese monographs as these monographs are comple- mented in The Hermetic Tradition. 3 Alchemy is nora psychotherapeutic path in the classical sense. It is actually intended for che absolutely spiritually healthy person, in whom “individuation” has already been accomplished. Only then is its practice permitted in order to make of “life” a “super-life.” Where nature alone can do nothing more, there must the alchemical “art” take over. The alchemical work is psychotherapeutic only to the extent that the great healing (reintegration of man in transcendence) stands in analogy to the small healing (making the psyche well). *Sce our introduction to Evola's Revolt ugainst the Modern World (Rochester. Vt.1994) 5 Il cammino def cinabro (Milan, 1972), 109. 6 Most prominent of these are Reghini’s "Brevi note sul Cosmopolita ed i suoi scritti” (Brief notes on che Cosmopolite and his writings) in Jgnis nos. 3, 4, 5, and “Ode alchemica di Fra Marcantonio Crassellame Chinese” (The alchemical ode of Fra Marcantonio Crassellame Chinese) in Jgnis nos. 8 and 9. ? Especially those of Braccesco, Sendivogius, and Michel Potier’s, Phifosophia pura. 8 Arthos, no. 16 (Genoa), 48ff. aah ae tadieahietahay’s, A edatbea ee tasaietadee’ 2 aGa el ates eceak Lae ee o Foreword Formisano, 1861-1930). Evola mentions in the notes to chapter 11 that the Myriam’s “Pamphlet D”? laid the groundwork for his understanding of the four elements. Where this group in turn got its knowledge remains a secret. In its own view, and Jacopo da Coreglia also shares this opinion, the Myriam (which seems zo have split into many groups) is the last torch-bearer of a tradition that has been ‘sanded down—under constantly changing names—from the classical times of Pythagorean paganism and it is independent of the Freemasons or similar contem- porary movements. In his Pour la Rose Rouge et la Croix d'Or CountJ.P. Giudicelli de Cressac Bachellerie reveals its inner structure and current grading process. In addition, there is the decisive influence of Ercole Quadrelli, who under the pseudonyms of Abraxas and Tikaipos, made some especially important contribu- zions to the UR group. And it should be mentioned in this regard that Quadrelli was trained by Giuliano Kremmerz and the Myriam.'® ‘The freely accessible works of Kremmerz—/ dialoghi sull ermetismo (Dialogues on hermetics) and his magazine Commentarium (1910-12)—also did much for Evola's spiritual development in the realm of alchemy. His acquaintance wich the Chymica vannus and with the alchemist Philalethes probably go back to these works, The strongest and perhaps decisive influence on the Evolian conception of alchemy as a universal system is probably Cesare Della Riviera's I! mondo magico degli herai (The magical world of the heroes), (Mantua, 1603; Milan, 1605). This is one of the few cexts of that time that helps itself to a hermetico-alchemical language, but is of an unequivocally holo-cosmological character. Alchemy is always placed in perspective with the other hermetic disciplines—such as magic and astrology—and is not regarded as an autonomous and specific teaching. For an alchemical book the unusually many references to the Abbot Johannes Trithemius (4462-4516) in chis work point also in this direction. The firsc tangible result of these studies was shown in the periodical Krur(sequel to UR).! There Evola presented a first shot at discussing the hermetic tradition and anticipated the essential content of the later book. The alchemical tradition was still portrayed only as pagan and not as a royal tradition, an attribute chat in the final edition received so central a position that it brought Evola into conflict with other representatives of the traditional weltanschauung. A broader and altogether different influence on Evola at this time came as a result of his meeting the Indian alchemist C. S. Narayana Swami Aiyar of Chingleput, 2 Appeared only as private publication for the inner circle. In his Eros and the Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex (Rochester, Vt., 1991) Evola describes some of the sex magic practices of this group © See Dr. Renato del Pontés’ introduction to Magie als Wissenschaft vom Ich. " KRUR, 1929 (reprint, Teramo, 1981). 154ff., 201ff., 251ff., 307ff.; see also p. 374tf Horeword+ +e eee e eee gal Spe ee Barend “jhSUS teaiats otttodismeiaiaen wren. Ovgaaetehers ix  who expounded on che great importance of the breathing techniques in alchemy and how it helped to ingest certain substances. In 1930 Evola wrote “The Doctrine of Transmutation in Medieval Hermetics” for Bilychnis (no. 275). In abridged form, the articled contained the fundamental precepts of La cradizione ermetica, which was published by Laterza in 1931. (The 1934 edition was insignificantly altered and expanded in 1948. This was followed in 1971 by Evola's last revision, which is the basis for this translation.) It is interesting in this regard that Benedetto Croce was instrumental in helping Evola to make contact with this eminent publishing house. In the archives of Laterza are several of Evola’s unpublished letters that refer to The Hermetic Tradition, and in which Croce’s mediation appears again and again. One letrer in particular is important, for in it Evola seems to answer the publisher's reproaches that the work was overloaded with annotations and had too little public appeal. Evola argued chat it was not written for public appeal but only and simply to show for the first time that alchemy was not just the beginning of chemistry, bur a profound and forgotten mystery-science; and without the abundance of quotations Evola would be marked as a visionary and the publisher criticized for not being serious. Evola’s conviction chat alchemy was a universal system clarifies his endeavor to see this work as the completion and synthesis of all his earlier works in philosophy, magic, and Tantrism. Hence his emphasis on the pre- or, more cor- rectly, super-Christian character of the hermetic tradition. Naturally, Evola’s belief in the all-inclusive character of hermetism did not go unchallenged. Certainly his most important critic was the second great herald of Tradition, René Guénon, to whom Evola, nevertheless, was indebted for outstand- ing insights (and the idea of the Tradition in che first place). In his review of The Hermetic Tradition in the Voile d'Isis S in April of 1934,12 though basically positive, Guénon rejects quite strongly the idea that alchemy is a complete metaphysical doctrine and reduces it to the status of a mere cosmo- logical system. According to him, a true tradition could never have come from an Egypto-Hellenic origin, then passed on to Islamic esotericism, and from there to Christian esotericism. In addition, alchemy had always been integrated into these various currents, whereas a pure and complete tradition has no need for some other tradition serving as an auxiliary vehicle. Moreover, it is an indication of the special character of alchemy that this path of knowledge in traditional societies should be a domain of the second caste, of the Kshatriyas (warrior caste), whereas only the Brahmins were truly dedicated to metaphysics. The last argument was correct, as far as Evola was concerned, for he had always seen himself as Kshatriya *? Contained in Formes craditionelles ex cycles cosmiques (Paris 1970), 119¢f aerey Pieee aan as Ach Wd pisses Foci and for him alchemy and the possibiliry of continuing to experiment on the spiritual plane—the “art” aspect—were extremely important. Nevertheless, the presenc work and its representation of alchemy is no willful or special interpreta- tion on Evola's parc, although on the ground of his “personal equation” some aspects may have been given a stronger emphasis—especially the active and the inner alchemy (nei-can). Guénon’s opposition was consistent; it is known chat the “Redness” represents the highest stage in alchemy and is above the "Whiteness.” The Red (or Purple) embodies an active state, which naturally stood in a contrast to the White, which the contemplative Brahmin exhibits. (Evola points this up quite clearly in chapter 23). Against Guénon’s view that the “white” Brahmin caste unequivocally held the highest place in the traditional world, Evola set the “purple” king as “pontifex” (bridge-builder) uppermost between Heaven and Earth. With the priority of the symbolic color red over white in hermetism, Evola seems to have a point. But Guénon could only call alchemy a specialization and he could never assign it the universal character that Evola did. In spite of Evola’s decided rejection of Jung’s psychological interpretation of alchemy, Jung described The Hermetic Tradition as a “detailed account of Her- metic philosophy,” and he cites approvingly an entire section in translation.’? Evola never saw himself as a shaper or creative interpreter of alchemy, but only as one who did no more than deliver this knowledge, clarifying it, to be sure, bur broadcasting it unchanged. Guénon repeated the reproach against universality in his review of Evola's 1932 edition of Della Riviera’s I! mondo magico degli heroi (published with Evola’s commentary). Guénon also blamed Evola for the assimilation of alchemy by magic.'* To be sure, Guénon’s authority to judge alchemy has now and then been questioned, considering that he himself had never written a work on the subject. Eugene Canseliet, for example, the alleged disciple and publisher of the works of Fulcanelli,!5 doubted Guénon’s competence on this matter.“° On the other hand, neither does Guénon hold his criticism back from Fulcanelli, especially his Fréres d Heliopolis.” 3.C. GC. Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, vol. 12 of the Collected Works (Princeton, NJ., 1968), 228, 242n. | Comptes rendus (Paris, 1973), 7ff. {5 See especially Pauwels/Bergier. Aufbruch ins drirte Jahrtausend (Bern, 1962) and Kenneth Rayner Johnson, The Hulcanelli Phenomenon (St. Helier, 1980) ‘© Robert Ainadou, Le feu du soleil (Paris, 1978). 17 R. Guénon, Formes eraditionelles, op cit., 166. Foreword... ee ee ee ee ee ee eee es xi  Evola’s work after the publication of Mondo magico degli herof was more and mote politically defined, and aside from the insignificant changes in the revised editions of The Hermetic Tradition and single reviews and articles, Evola was silent about alchemy. Mention is found of course in his Eros and che Mysteries of Love: The Metaphysics of Sex. where the sexual background of alchemical sym- bolism is illuminated. An essential complement of Evola’s alchemical work was his interest in Chinese alchemy, revealed in his editions of two Chinese alchemical treatises. {8 This interest is also evident in che title of his spiritual autobiography, I cammino del cinabro (The path of cinnabar). In Chinese alchemy the path of liberation is the journey from the “lower” to the “higher” cinnabar; chemically as well as alchemically cinnabar derives from the union of Sulfur (che masculine principle) and Mercury (the feminine principle). Despite the widest coverage in the present work by the author himself, one point must also be emphasized here again: if we are now really to understand the following—not just intellectually, but also spiritually and in body and soul, in a word, completely- our consciousness must risk a leap. In its profundity the meta- phorical world of alchemy is simply not accessible to the contemporary abstract understanding. We must, for once, turn off the continual din of reason and listen with the “ear of the heart” if we want to have the symbols strike responsive chords in ourselves, Two worlds are met with here: on the one hand a timeless world, lying beyond reason, prehistorical, and beyond history, and on che other, a time-bound, historical world that is chained to dialectical reason. Between them there is now no gradual passage, but an abyss, which we must leap over. What does Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling say? “Accordingly hiscorical and prehistoric Gimes are not merely relacive differences between one and the same time, they are cwo essentially different kinds of time completely removed from one another, and mutually exclusive. We call it completely different time... full of events, but of quite another sore, and conforming to quite a different law."' Since modern man is so slow to lay aside his belief in progress, which stamps his thought patterns and distorts his yardsticks—it seems to him almost monstrous (8 Lu-Tsu, I! mistero del fiore dora (The secret of the golden flower [Rome, 4974]). and with Lu Kwan Yu (Charles Luk), Lo yoga def cao (Rome. 1976). Boch works appear with commentary (the second, necessarily only in part, because of his death) by Evola. Not without importance in this context are the Evolian editions of the famous Tao te Ching: First as Libro della via e della vireu (Lanciano, 1923), and then in a completely revised version under the title of: I! libro del principe ¢della sua azione (Milan, 41959). 19 Finleitung in die Philosophie der Mythologie in Sammelte Werke (1856; reprint. Darmsczade, 1976), 1:233-36. Sals Bisa Site i ik oratePe be hs agNNghianae Leic Stes 2-Foreword ates thdee that there also exist completely different ways of thinking -and that is why the astronomer does not understand the astrologer (in the ancient sense), the modern priest does not understand the Egyptian hierophant, the philosopher does not understand che initiate, and the chemist does not understand che alchemist. Al- chemical symbolism has now admittedly been found to have widely influenced literacure, painting, and sculpture in the past. Literati and art historians concern themselves about the interpretation of this work. They can immediately discover worthwhile suggestions in this book, if they wish to penetrate this other world. H. T. Hansen + etree rete eee re Sil eieew tale och aha S ov enectaue rarer tt Foroword+e  TRADSLATOR’S NOTE itles of works that appear in English in the text will appear in their original languages in rhe notes, follow- ing the sources and editions from which Evola cites. No attempt has been made to include publication data on English translations for the many works to which Evola refers. (Some of these works are available in English, but many of them are no longer in print.) Brackets in the quoted material in the text proper contain Evola’s own glosses and interpolations; other brackets in the text and footnotes are clarifications and notes from the translator. p The Cosmopolite says: "What you're looking for is in front of your eyes; no one can live without it, all creatures serve it, but few even notice it; and everyone has it in his power.”® And in the Seven Chapters of Hermes: “[ have come to tell ye what ye do not know: the Work is with you and within you: once ye find it in yourselves, where it continuously resides, you will possess it forever right there where ye stand."7 The word heaven, of which it is said in che Gospels, “the kingdom of heaven is within,” is also used for che First Principle in the hermetico-alchemical tradition. But for this there is, as we've said and will see, another even more frequent and typical symbol: wacer. The mystical hermetism of Boehme says about it: “This water endures throughout eternity. It reaches every corner of this world and is the Water of Life which penetrates beyond death... nowhere is it perceptible or apprehensible (‘difficult to contemplate,’ Zosimos said]. Bur it fills everything equally. Ic is found also in the body of man and when he thirsts for this water and drinks of ic, che Lighe of Life shines in him.”® Thus is affirmed once and for all chat “man is the center in which everything winds up: the quintessence of the whole universe is locked in him. He participates in the virtues and properties of all individuals.”* But the body being the most concrete expression of the human entity, in hermetism the same cosmic symbols also designate the “mystery” of corporeal- ity—and now we begin better to understand that which is “nearer than any other thing,” which “all have before cheir eyes and ac their fingertips,” considered vile by the ignorant and held by the sages as most precious of all. The Buddhist * Entretiens, BPC, 2:86, 87, 88. 4 Texe in CMA, 3:124. 3 Texe in CMA, 3:117, 124. Ct. Commentatio de pharmaco catholico (Amsterdam, 1666), 4, §8 5 De sulphure (Venice, 1644), 208; BPC, 3:273, 279. ° Text in BPC. vol. 4. ® J. Boehme, Aurora, 24, §38, 39. ° Pernery, Fables, 1-72. Dh eee ee ee eee eee es Che Symbols and Ceachings saying: “This body, a mere eight hands tall, comprises che world, is the creation of che world, the end of the world and the path that leads to che resolution of the world” strongly complements the Tabula Smaragdina: “That which is above is as that which is below, and that which is below is as that which is above, for the performance of the miracles of the one thing.” This is expressed in the Greek texts as: “Everything in the macrocosmos, is also in man”!° and is echoed by Boehme: “The earthly body you inhabit is all one with the totality of the enflamed body [char is, the body living in the special state of the “fire” of che spirit] of this world.""' Still another hermetic sentence: “Look, it is a unique thing, having a unique root, of a uniqueness to which nothing exterior to it has been added, but which in che working of the Art, many superfluous things have been removed." This fundaimencal principle of hermerism, as we shall see, provides various orders of correspondence: real, analogical, “magical.” Certain structures of reality, certain metallic states—conceived as silent astral fecundations in the gremium matris terrae—certain natural phenomena of the urano-planetary world, are con- ceived as ossifications of forces that reveal their secret in corresponding states of the spirit chat lie sleeping in the heart of corporeality. In the Orient they teach that by following the traces left behind in us by the dtman we can attain the knowledge of the universe.'3 Agrippa, paraphrasing Geber, expounds on the same teaching with equal clarity: "No one can excel in the alchemical are without knowing the principles in himself; and the greater the knowledge of the self, the greater will be the magnetic power attained thereby and the greater the wonders to be realized.”!4 “Ambula ab incra” is one of the mottoes of the Commentatio de pharmaco catholico. And this “interior way,” this via sacra that begins with che “black hie- ratic stone"—tepatixt) Aidoo pedaiva the “stone that is nor a stone” but an “image of the cosmos"~Kéopov pinta “our black lead” (all symbols of the human body, from this poine of view), and along the course of which will rise up Gods and Heroes,!5 “heavens and planets,” elemental men, metallic and Olympiodorus, text in CAG, 2:100. Aurora, 24, 867. 42 In Theacrum chemicum (Ursel, 4602), 4:855 et seq. 13 Brihadaranyaka-lpanishad, 4.6.7 14 Aprinpa. De occulta philosophia, 3.36. ‘5 Ie is useful to recall chat the Romans ritually pur a black stone—Japis niger ar the beginning of the Via Sacra. The hermezic work in the Greek cexes sometimes refers to itself as “the mystery of Mithras” and Mithras was conceived as a god, or hero, issuing out of a scone, who would subjugate the Sun. Upon “this stone” evangelistically—must be built a “church”; while “lords of the temple,” as we have said, were referred to as hermetic masters. We can go quite far with such meaningful associations The Hermetic Presence + + + 0 0 ee tte te ee ee ee ee iw 25 sidereal'’—this path is enigmatically contained in the sigil represented by VITR.LO.L., explained thus by Basil Valentine: “Visita Inceriora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occulcum Lapidem’” (pass through the bowels of the earth fearth - "the body”), and by rectifying thou wilt find the hidden stone). Eventually, along that path the knowledge of self and the knowledge of the cosmos intersect and season one another, until they become the one and the same marvelous thing, the true goal of the Great Work. As above, so below, as in spirit, so in nature. Within the human organism, as outside it, are present the Three, the Four, the Seven, the Twelve; Sulfur, Mercury, Salt; Earch, Warer, Air, Fire; the Planets; che Zodiac. "The furnace is unique"—affirm the Sons of Hermes enigmatically— “unique the pach and unique, as well. the Work."!” “There is but one Nature and one Arc.... The Work is all chere is, and beyond it there exist no other truths."!* In che Hermetic Triumph it is said that “our Stone” exists, but that it hides itself uncil che artist can lend a hand to Nature.!9 The hermetic Art is to illuminate anew the meaning of the analogies by reestablishing the realicy of what they represenc: self-sufficient and not needing anything but self-sufficiency. To need nothing at all is the “unique thing’ itself, the “divine” and operative technique,”"téyvn Beta, téyvn doyatixy.” The latter, “via the affinity of natures, controls the natures of like substances." For that which can be said with the greatest certainty is that “the Work is a third world, like the other two, but with the forces of the macrocosmos and of the microsmos reunited in it." 46 Cf, Bochme Aurora, 25, §83: (“So man will recht urkunden der Sternengebure oder Anfang, so muf man eigentlich wissen dic Geburt des Lebens, weil sich das Leben in einem Leib gebihrec, denn es ise alles einerlei Geburr " (In order to know the origin of the stars or che Beginning, you must understand the origin of life, and how life originates in the body. because in everything there is only one origination.)— Trans ] 1? Pseududemocritean texts, CAG, 3:37 18 Novum lumen chemicum (Venice, 1644). 62. ‘9 Text in BPC, 3:272 20 The many hermeric expressions refer co this idea according co one of their principle meanings—that nothing can be added to the symbolic “matters”, chat they suffice to pertect themselves and nothing exterior ro them can confer that perfection; chat they contain in themselves the principles of all the operations. Citing Morienus (Entretiens, BPC, 2:62) tor all: “Those who have what chey need in themselves (the hermetic masters], require nobody's help.” 4 CAG, 2:209. ?2 Livre de la miséricorde, CMA, 3:179. DOr i See tae Oise Sra tay ee cstane he Sites The Symbols and Ceachings  CREATION AND myth e wish to call attention to one final aspect of the analogy. According to the hermetic con- ception, as the elements of the cOsMOS COrre- spond to chose within man, so both the process of creation—and the process by which man, through the Are, reintegrates himself wichin himself—follow an iden- tical path and have che same meaning. The analogy between the alchemical Are ~ xnusta- and the Acc of the Demiurge—Koopomia—goes back to the first Greek texts of Pelagius, Comarius, Zosimos. We can easily recognize the phases of Creation in the different phases of the hermetic work: the initiation experience furnishes the key to cosmogony, and vice versa: according to the hermetic exegesis, every traditional cosmogony and mythology has, among other meanings, an explanation shaped and veiled by the enigmas of the different operations and transformations of the Art.! In order to make sense of this teaching it is clearly necessary to abandon the idea 1 Cf., CAG, 2:213-14. This idea is explicit in Crassellame. Ode alchemica (text in O. Wirth, Le symbolisme hermétique (Paris. 1909), 161): “Out Great Work shows clearly that God has made the whole in the sate way thar the pbysical clixir is made.” Morienus, (Encreciens, BPC, 2:88): “Ie contains in itself the four elements and resembles the world and che composition of the world.” Cf. Della Riviera. Mondo magico. 46. 98 99; Philalethes, Incroitus apertus ad occlusum regis palarium, chap. 5; Pemety. Fables, 1:25; Hortulanus (Commentatio Tabulac Smaragdinae. BPC, 1, §44- “Our stone is made in the same way that the world was created.” of the Creation as a historical fact over and done with in the spatial and temporal past. We must conceive of it as functioning in an ongoing state, metaphysical in its own right and therefore beyond space and time, beyond past as well as future, which is more or less that same state that some mystics, even Christian mystics, have called eternal crearion. On such a basis, creation is an ever-present event that consciousness can always recover by actualizing itself in states, which—according to the “principle of immanence’—constitute the possibilities of its profound na- ture~—its “chaos"—while in the cosmogonic myth, they are presented to us in the form of symbols, gods, images, and primordial acts.? And given that the goal of the “ambula ab intra,” of the hermetic “inner path” descending to the "interior of the earth” is precisely that “profound nature,” this aspect of the hermetic reaching is easily explained. And as the alchemists not only take the ditterent phases of the Hesiodic, or even biblical, creation for a paradigm, but sometimes extend the analogy to the same episodes in the life of Christ and particularly to the Herculean and Jasonic lahors, all of these to them are neither “historical facts” nor “fables” but allusions to extratemporal spiritual states and acts. We must add to the above that this “living of the myth” has, in hermerism, nothing even vaguely “mystical” about it. Aside from all thar has been said, “living the myth” means to arrive by means of symbols at a perception of that metahistorical order in which nature and man himself, so to speak, are found in a state of creation and which, among other things, contains for us the secret of the energies that activate within and behind visible things and human corporeality. We shall see that none other is the premise in all strictly alchemical (i.e., not simply initiatic) operations. For now we shall confine ourselves to pointing out che connection between such ideas and the deepest understanding of the ancient traditions according to which gods, demons, or heroes are the introducers to “physical reality” or to living consciousness, of the mysteries of nature. Hermetically “to know" a god is to realize a “creative state” that is at the same time a metaphysical significance, the “secret soul” and the occult power of a specific process of nature. ? Hermetism, moreover. reaffirms the traditional idea of che internal unity of all myths. as expressed by J. M. Ragon (De fa Maconnerie occulee ec de [initiation hermérique (Paris, 1926], 44): “On recognizing the cruth of the alliance of che two systems. the symbolic and the philosophical—in rhe allegories of rhe monuments of all ages, in che symbolic writings of the priesthoods of all nations. in the rituals of che mystery societies we obtain a constant series, an invariable system of principles that proceed our of a vast. impressive, and genuine superstucture. which is the only framework in which they can be cruly coordinated.” Concerning che symbolic content of rhe myth, we will limit ourselves co reproducing just chis one testimony trom Braceesco (Fspositione, fols. 77b, 42a): "The Ancients hid this science in poetical fables and spoke through similitudes... chose who have no knowledge of this science cannot know what the Ancients incended, what chey wished co indicate by the names of so many gods and goddesses. or by their generations, love atfairs and mutations. Nor should you imagine that moral lessons are hidden in these fables.” QB tie ee aN cee ee ee Che Symbols and Weachings  The different references in the texts to “genii,” gods, etc., which in dreams or visions have revealed to the “Sons of Hermes” the secrets of the Art, must be understood in the same sense. Now we shall go on to consider the developments of the hermetic doctrine in regard to the principles comprising the “one knowledge." n and Myth- Creatio e+ +> Se +--+ Lovey ee ral ee eae earae ake, 2O  “QlOMAN,” “GLATER,” “NERCURY,” ANd “POISON” e have spoken of che &v 6 mé&v. But we need to begin by establishing the “chaos” or “every- ching” aspect of the “one.” In the strictest sense, this is che First Matter: che undifferentiated possibility, the origin of all generation. In hermetism, although the symbolism that designates it is rather diverse, it recapictulates the symbols utilized by many ancient civilizations. It is “Night,” the “Abyss,” the “Matrix”; the place of the "Tree," and as we have also seen, the Woman—the Mother, the “Lady of the Philosophers,” the “Goddess of sublime beauty.” But the technical and specific symbols of the hermetico-alchemical texts are, above all, those of Water and Mercury. “Without the divine Water"—Oeiov USatog—“nothing exists"—obdev éottv— says Zosimos:? “it works every operation through its components [that is to say, in that by which it rakes form].” Water of the Abyss—évaftaaaiov téop, Mysterious Water, Divine Water, Permanent Water, Living Water (or Water of ! This last, in the chird key of Basil Valentine (Aurelia occulrum philusophorum, BCC, 2) is offered as the “Woman ot rhe Sea,” and at the same time, refers to the “center of che Tree chat is in the center of Paradise.” what "the Philosophers have sought su carefully.” 2 CAG, 2:144 Life), Eternal Water, Silver Water (bdpapyvpov), Ocean, Mare Noscrum, Mare Magnum Philosophorum, Aqua-Spirit, Fons Perennis, Heavenly Water, etc., are expressions found everywhere. in the texts. On the other hand, between the symbols of the Feminine Principle and those of the Waters—"Mother Earth,” “Waters,” “Mocher of the Waters,” “Stone,” “Cavern,” “House of the Mother,” "Night,” “House of Profundity” or of “Strength” or of “Wisdom"~there is a connection that goes back to the beginning of time.* And this is what hermetism reclaims. Meanwhile che Waters, the “Radical Wetness,” the “Lady of the Philosophers,” Chaos, the &v 70 néiv, the “mystery sought for cons and finally found,” ete. all come down, alchemically, to Mercury. Everything is composed of Mercury (or Mercurial Water), say the texts; it is what constitutes, they say, che Macter. the beginning and the end of the Work. We have mentioned another association: the Serpent or Dragon. This is— KadoAKds Odtc- the “universal” or “cosmic Serpent” which, according to the gnostic expression, “moves through all chings.”4 Its relation to the chaos prin- ciple—"our Chaos or Spirit is a Dragon of fire that conquers all”°-and to the principle of dissolution’~Aei@org—(the Dragon Ourobouros is che dissolution), goes back to the most ancient myths. Hermetism, however, also uses more particular symbols tor this. Venom, Viper, Universal Solvent, and Philosophical Vinegar designate the power of the undiffer- entiated, at whose touch all differentiation can bur be destroyed. But at the time we find che word menscruum to indicate the same principle and, as such—that is, as the blood of che symbolic “Lady” which nourishes generation—it also takes on the opposite meaning of the Spirit of Life, che “Fountain of Living Water,” che “Life in the bodies, that which aceracts, the Light of lights.”” The principle in question, then, has a double meaning. It is Death and Life. It has the double power of solve and of coagula: it is the “Philosophical Basilisk,” like a bolt of lightning burning all “imperfect metal” (Crollius); “Terrible Fountain,” which if allowed to run over would lead to ruin, but which confers victory over all things to the “King” who knows how to bathe in it (Bernard of Treviso). It is 4 Cf. H. Wirth, Der Aufgang der Menschheit (Jena, 1928), and J. J. Bachoten, Urreligion und antike Symbole (Leipzig, 1926). 4 In Hippolytus (Phifosophumena, 5.9; cf. 5.16). where che Serpent as the hermetic Mercury in Basil Valentine is assimilated to the river by the spring thar issues from the center of Eden. and secondly ro the Logos of John, whereby all things are made (an assimilation chat we also tind in hermetism); for Boebme Mercury is the Sound. the Verb. the “Word of God, manifestation of the eternal Abyss" (Aurora. 4, §§13, 44; De signarura, 8, §56). 5 Philalethes, acrojcus apercus, chap. 2 ® Pseudodemocritean texts, CAG, 3:22 ? Syrian texts, CMA. 2:458. “Woman,” “Water,” “Mercury,” and “Poison”. 2 0 ee ee ee eee wee 31 the Ruach, Spirit or Breath, the “undifferentiated principle in every individual”; it is the “black Lead,” and also the “Magnesia,” the “Quintessence,” that which can do everything in all things—pHn Na pHsi—and thar to those who know -nown— and who understand its use, ic supplies Gold and Silver.’ In reality, by the same absolutely undifferentiated nature of that which it signifies, the symbolism used by the texts for this purpose is unlimited. The hermetic authors say explicitly that everything can be designated by anything— including the most extravagant things—with the aim of misleading the ignorant. What is of interest, however, is how we relate these symbols co a spiritual state under che guise of an experience: given that for hermetism one must consider true what Aristotle said of the Mysteries, chat perhaps one went ro them not to learn, but to acquire a deep impression from a lived experience—ob padgiv, dAAg ma@etv.’® ft is in this sense chat one must understand the expressions relative to the same priniciple of which we have just spoken, that we find in certain kindred currents of hermetism: "Water rhat produces trembling’—@prxtov Bédop;!! "The darkness is a rerrible Water!"—10 d& oxdtog Sdap éoti doBépov;'!? "Complete power of violent agitation, like water in constant movement”, that which brings “What makes permanent, frees what goes, destroys what grows”; and in whose image were made Cepheus, Prometheus and Japheth."'* Boehme says it better, “The essence is squeezed wholly out of death through the death process, which is effected in the great anguish of the impressure where there is an existential death torment, which is the mercurial life... and this fearfulness comes from the Mercury, or the anguish of death." [c's a matter of coming into contact with the venom, with its dissolving force, as death, that breaks up the finite essences. So, hermetic Mercury, the “Philosophical Basilisk,” chat acts like a bolt of lightning (recall the bolt that struck the Titans), corresponds to prana. the life force, which in the Hindu tradicion is also called the “supreme cause of terror” and "brandished fireball,” which, however, “makes who knows it immortal."! Tn Assyrian mythology, the god Marduk has chunderbolts in borh hands when in combat against the Chaos monster, Tiamat. This symbolic combat leads us to the next phase, that of separacion. * Pernety, Dictionnaire. 444 ° CE CAG 2:91, 94-96, 98, 144 10 In Synesius, Dion., 48. "The Grear Magical Papyrus of Paris, text in Introduzione alla magia. 4:144[f. '2 In Lippolytus, Philosophumena. 5. 9. '3 Ibid, 5:14 4 Bochme, De signatura. 3. $819. 20. (“Das Wesen geher alles aus dem Tode durchs Stcrben, welches geschicht in der grofetn Angst des fmpressens. da cine sterbende Qual ise. welches das mercurialische Leben isr und dieser Schreck ist aus dem Mercurio oder aus der Angst des ‘Todes.'—Trans. J 'S Karha-Upanishad, 2.4.2 7. The Symbols and Ceachings  che SEPARATION: SUN ANDO MOON éé ature takes pleasure in itself” and “Na- ture dominates itself.” Here is the possi- bility of “nature” being desire, abandon- ment to itself, spontaneity, and identification with self-gratification. At the same time it is the possibility of saying no to itself, of manifesting itself as that which acts against itself, chac which dominates and transcends itself, to the point of actually making the distinction between chat which dominates (“masculine,” ac- tive) and that which és dominated (“feminine.” passive), in which alone is found the ancient chaotic nature. Such are, sub specie interioritacis, che two poles that in splitting apart, release one from the other. We can also say that in the One the All, the “One” and the “All” now crystal- lize as cwo distinct principles. The “One” takes on the meaning of a cencer that manifests in the heart of chaos (the All”) and affirms itself there as a principle of incorruptible fixity, stabilicy, and transcendence. From the signature of Q—"the first matter” -we move on to ©, which is the ancient hieroglyph of the Sun. And that which in the originating matter was undetermined possibility, a passive potentiality for any quality, change, or chaotic transformation, is turned into a quite different principle, which in hermetism corresponds to the feminine symbol of the Moon €.  Sun © and Moon C is the fundamental hermetic duality. It can be said that the Serpent, upon multiplying itself, has opposed itself to itself and the principle symbols that expressed themselves as the “prima materia”—Woman, Dragon, Mercury, the Waters—now serve only to express the lunar force. Separated from the center, this force becomes a blind impulse and savage flood. Its downward direction is the direction of the “fall” precisely indicated by the alchemical hiero- glyphic of the Water principle V. under that aspect identical co the Moon €. The dragons (like the Bulls) become those which the solar beroes~ Mithras, Hercules, Jason, Apollo, Horus, ete.—fight against. They are called by the alche- mists, in the hermetic interpretation of che myth, “green” and “undigested,” because they have not yet suffered the “maturation” or domination that will cransmute them co higher orders of power. In place of the Primordial Woman, of the solitary Virgin of the World, xdopov Képn, are introduced pairs in which is expressed the duality of che Tellurian and Uranian principle: Earth-Heaven, “Above, che celestial. Below, the cerrestrial. The work is completed, masculine and feminine helping together.”"? Mercury is “fixed” and “coagulated”: such is che sense of Flamel’s sixth figure, which is a crucified Serpent? If che Dragon figures again in che center of the “Citadel of the Philosophers” of Khunrath, it is nevertheless a dragon that must be conquered and killed: the one that incessantly devours itself. This is Mercury as burning chirse,* covetousness, hunger, blind drive for gratification,® and thus the “viscous nature,” the principle of identification and self-absorption nature “fascinated” and conquered by na- cure. Such is, macroscopically, the secret of the sublunary world of changing and "CE. Bliphas Levi, (Histoire de la magic (Paris, 1922], 138): “Life is a serpent that incessantly creates and devours itself. One must ignore fear and plant one’s foot firmly on its head. Hermes, by doubling it. opposes it to itself, and in erernal equilibrium makes of it che talisman of his power and rhe glory of his caduceus.” ? CAG, 2:147. # Grillo de Givry, Musée des sorciers. mages et alchimistes (Paris, 1929), 398, 414, plaze 347. 4 Pseudodemocritean texts, CAG, 2:20 For che symbol of the dragon that devours irself, see Ostanes in CMA, 3:119-20. 5 In De signatura, 2, §7, Bochme speaks of a craving or will rhat cannot satisfy icselt outside of itself, char is the property of a “hunger that feeds on itself.” Cf. 3. §3: “This desire was present in the Nothing before itself, cannot look for anything beyond itself, and cannot find anything in nature but itself.” In 3, §12: “The desire leaps up out of the Abyss fef. the alchemical “warer of che Abyss”) and in that very desire we find the begining of nature.” This touches on the symbol of the dragon that devours itself and Mercury as “burning thirst.” © Apart from rhe quotations and comments in the Pseudodemocritean texts (CAG, 2:63), it is said that Mercury binds with che elements and cannot be separated from them, which is why it is “dominated and dominating” at the same time (amalgamation). “Viscous” soul is an expression to signify the spiritual state of man on which chis force acts. Pernety (Dictionnaire. 202) speaks of a “Viscous Hurnidity,” that is “the Mercury of the Philosophers,” which is the basis for “all the individuals of the three kingdoms of nacure.” ade site we: eee a ez antes Saas ete ata Ae Ghe Symbols and Ceachings becoming, opposed to the uranian region of being, of the discarnate stabilicy of celestial natures reflecting the mode of pure spiritual virility. Transposed to hermetic, metallurgical symbols, the principle of the Sun © corresponds to Gold, that substance which no acid can alter; and the principle of the Moon € corresponds to fluid Silver or Silver-Water (the ancient name for Quicksilver or Mercury). Under a certain aspect the solar principle can be related to the color red and the second principle to white, referring, then, to Fire and Light, respectively. Fire is che proper virtue of che solar principle, not che fire of desire, generative ardor, or lust, but the Mamma non urens, the nonmaterial principle of all animation Light, per se, is more closely related to the feminine, lunar principle as Wisdom which, with respect to © has the same nature as the light that the Moon reflects from the solar principle. There is a special alchemical symbol chat is in part equivalent to the Sun, arsenic, which is explained by the Greek word @poevixd vmeaning both “arsenic” and “masculine” or “virile."® Still another symbol is Niter or Saltperer, whose ideogram © indicates the predominance of a phallico-virile principle (the vertical | which curs through the “prima materia” ©. The symbolism of Niter (Saliccer) is much used by Boehme, with which he expresses the “heat chat activates the light,” the “active, boiling virtue” of the divine powers in opposition to Mercurius ot Sound (the corresponding Light principle), which is, we shall learn, the principle of all individuation. 7 By virtue of chis tire, which is "a part of celestial homogeneity,” an “invisible spirit,” a “soul not subject to the dimension of bodies,” a “miracle that only the Philsophers can recognize.” immense, invisible, apt by its virtue for action to be present everywhere. See Agrippa, De occulta philusophia, 1:514; Philalethes, Epise. di Ripley. §§56, 57; Regulae, chap. 10 8 CAG, 2:417: “Symholically, in enigma, arsenic was understood co mean virility.” The Separalion: Sun and Moon -. +++ = i PROS 13|  FROZEN ANDO FLOWING WLATERS nee the two principles have been separated, the connec- tion that can be made between them is of two kinds: © (the Sun, Gold) can be dominated by € (the Moon, the Waters), or ic can dominate them. In the first case we have the law of becoming, proper to that world which, from ancient times co the scholastic era has been appropriately referred to as sublunary, and in the Hindu tradition, notably in Buddhism, the world of samsara-which is the hermetic “dissolution,” the secret of those myths in which figure men and primordial beings devoured by dragons or other natures personifying the wer principle of chaos (for example, the Egyptian myth of Typhon-Seth and Osiris). The second case refers to everything thar reflects the immovable © having the character of an (“exhaustively”) completed, perfected ching, and to everything in which exists more cosmos than chaos through the predominance of a law of order, organization, and equilibrium over mere change. From this there follows, in particular, a relation of the Gold principle --Sun, Fire, Niter, etc—to everything that is individual and corporeal, in the sense of a signature having the stable imprinting of a power; and of the Moon principle to everything that is “volatile” and unable to grasp the “vital spiric,” the subtle energy of transformations. In the literature we find a multitude of allusions confirming such relationships—Frozen Waters and Flowing Waters: forces individualized and fixed by the Solar principle, and forces in the elemental state. In Aristotelian terminol- ogy, we can say that in general the Sun is “form” and the power of individuation, while the Moon—which preserves the archaic Mother and Woman symbols- expresses the “material” and universal: to the undifferentiated vitality, co the cosmic spirit or ether-light, corresponds the feminine. Everything, on the contrary, that opposes it as specialization, qualification, or concrete individuation reflects, chen, the masculine solar principle. Here functions that power of limitation, the contracting virtue (che coagula in opposition to the solve) to which this passage of Boehme refers: "The universal divinity, in its most intimate and essential genera- tion, in its nucleus, possesses a sharp and terrible asperity, which astringent quality is an excessive, radical, firm attraction... , similar to winter, when the cold is bitter and unbearable, to che poine of water being transformed into ice.”' The strange alchemical cerms “cold fire” and “igneous cold” have an analogous meaning: the peculiaricy of the Fire of the “primordial Masculine” as it opposes the moist and savage qualicy of the "impure matter” and of the Lunar Dragon, is precisely to be frozen at the same time. It animares, and also dominates, binds, projects a “fixation”; and from ic detaches forms in which the Waters are chained cogether by a law, till chey culminate in the miracle of the Mysterium Magnum, of a life with a central consciousness that says to itself: “I.” In pages to come the context of our discourse will show precisely how Gold or the Sun, in one of its main practical senses, expresses what we can call the ego principle; whether it manifest itself in “earthy,” “vulgar” form, (where it is only a mirror of the crue Sun projected by the fortuitous Waters of the Current”), or whether it unites only to itself, or is pure, in the form of noble, living metal, and then acquires effectively the value of “center” as in the primordial state. Such is the key to understanding the operations of the Art according to the central meaning of the work of palingenesis. We should mention again that, in this context, the choice of the symbol of the Stone for the human body acquires a complementary justification: the body, as a completed, organized, and stable Nature is a “fixed” ching as opposed to the instability of psychic principles and the volatility atcributed to "spirits"; so nor only is the relation of Sun, Gold, and Hire with the body (directly or through the equivalent symbols) very frequent, but when the same spiritual interior being has acquired the supernatural stability of the regenerated, the corporeal principles are elevated to a higher plain, and che “two are made one” in a “spiritual corporealicy”; and the word that serves once again to express that corporealicy will be this same Stone: the Philosopher’s Scone. The hermetic imperative is: “Transform yourselves, ye dead stones into living philosophical { Boehme, Aurora. 13, §§55, 57: ["Die ganze Goctheit hac in ihrer innersten oder anfanglichen Gebure im Kern gar eine scharfe, erschreckliche Sharle, indem die herbe Qualitat gar ein erschrecklich herb, hart, finster und kalt Zusammenziehen isc, gleich dem Winter, wann es grimmig kale ist, daB aus dem Wasser Eis wird."—Trans.] Hrozestiand Towitig Walersidt2 thea aes bs ya Baten AS Sag 37 stones"—transmutamini de lapidibus mortuis in vivos lapides philosophicos.* In this aspect of its symbolism an influence on hermetism is rather apparent on the part of the spirit of the classical tradition. The value attributed in the classical world to all that has form, that is completed according to a limit and a measure— népac; the contempt antimystically given, on the other hand, to that which is indeterminate and indefinite—eipov—is reflected in the connection that hermetism establishes between the principle of corporeality and the signature of Gold (Sun), the most noble of nature’s elements. "To treat the Fire of Mercury [the fire-desire] with Fire, and unite Spirit to Spirit, with the aim of tying the hands of the Virgin, of this fleeting demon,” is, in this regard, an enigmatic expression, but then full of significance for the Greek alchemists.? Its sense will be seen with greater clarity in what follows; and we shall also see that in every tradition of which we speak “heaven” is used as a symbol for all the invisible, spiricual, and impersonal states and principles. It has the feminine function with respect to the masculine one of corporeality, with respect co the “dragon without wings” that contains the germ of the Gold—or of the personality in a superior sense (the hermetic King). 2 Dorn, Speculativae philosophiae in Theatrum chemicum, 1:265-67. 3 CAG, 2:206 4‘ The wingless dragon is one that cannot rise up from the earth, that is, it tinds itself joined to the body. BB kak oa is cee eee ee « Che Symbols and Teachings  SALT Ano THE CROSS e na Greek alchemical text we read “One becomes Two and Two become Three; and by means of the Third, the Fourth achieves Unity. Thus the two create noth- ing but One."! The thoughts already expressed about the hermetic quality-—@ and C-—lead us to the understanding of the “Third.” If as we have suggested the law of “desire” and of self-absorption is expressed by the descending direction of the symbol for water V, everything in the “one thing” that is on the contrary oriented toward the principle of the Sun can be expressed by the ascending opposite direction, that is, flame: whence the alchemi- cal sign of Fire.’ Water V Fire A But there is an even more schematic symbolism. The passive water nature of the feminine principle as compared to the masculine can be expressed by a horizontal line —, which conveys the idea of “lying flat”; whereas the rising direction of fire can be expressed by the vertical |, which comprises both the idea ! Philosophus Christianus, CAG, 2:404. The analogy can be corroborated in an expression of Lao-tzu, in the Tao te Ching, 42. ? To this, incidentally, chere is a strong resemblance of hermetic wacer and tire co the Hindu cradition’s tamas and sartva. of virility and of stabilicy:--6 ord, “that which is standing.” The “two” that become “three” are the two in their joining. And ideographically, that can be expressed by che cross +, equivalent from this point of view to the seal of Solomon (overlapping of A and V). Having said this, we can proceed with the hermetico-alchemical symbolism. The poine of intersection, which is the “third” represented by the cross, can have a double meaning: first the point of the “fall” and neutralization; second, the active synthesis of both as male and female powers creatively united. The first case defines the hermetic idea of the fixed (as opposed to volatile) taken in a negative sense. This is the state of petrification, arrest, suspension, and stagnation devoid of life. Ic is the “body” element in the widest sense where the Gold, although present, is as restricted in its power as the opposite’ principle to which ic has reacted. It is the negative side of individuation with roors in a state of contrast between the two: the “two enemies,” che two dragons that devour one another in turn, the eagle fighting che serpenc, etc., according to the variations of the ciphered language. It is chat which we find in the ideogram of sale ©, “materia prima” © qualified in the sense of stagnation as indicated by the horizontal. In its more generally accepted sense, salt expresses the physical stare or world interpreted as a state or world in which the “corpses” of invisible battles, of cosmic interfer- ences between powers are precipitated. Here the body is equivaleitt to “sepulchre" and “prison,” the symbolic rock to which Prometheus has been chained in order to purge che unfortunate failure of the titanic audacity—equivalent to the act of possession, to the primordial individuation that did violence to the “goddess.” Adding to the “Third” the Two that have engendered it, we obtain the meta- physical Triad, the hermetic notion that proceeds from the traditional general teaching: Sun, Moon, and Earth—world of pure spiritual virility, world of plasmic forces and becoming, and world of bodies—and, sub specie interioritatis, three corresponding conditions of the spirit. Three crowned serpents or three serpents rising from three hearts express the triad of Basil Valenrine; the three ears and three “vapors”—ai@aAat—of Ouroboros; three serpents that emerge from the cup chat che andragyne holds in one hand, while with the other she squeezes a single serpent, in the Rosarium philosophorum and in the Viatorum spagiricum; a serpent with three heads in the German edition of the Crede mihi of Norton; and thus we have established che provenance of the triple dignity of the first master of this tradition, Hermes Trismegistus. 3 Cf. Ineroduzione alla magia, 1:129-34; and reference could also be made to the Simonian teaching (Philosophumena, 5.19) char explains the particular beings as che result of crisscrossing interferences of spiritual powers: their “types” (tdmog, idéa) would be “seals” or “imprints” engraved by one on another. AQ ¢-HieBoating 6 cee eee eee ee eee s Che Symbols and Ceachings  son che FOUR EeLemencs ANDO SULFUR 5 n another of its aspects, however, the cross also leads us from the "Two" to the “Four” by way of the beams and quarters that result from the intersection. The cross, then, is the cross of the four Elements: Fire above, Earth below, Air to the right, and Water to the left.! The state of arrest and petrification, which is che mystery of Salt, leads us beyond itself from Fire and Water to the signs that give the hermetic sense of the other two Elements: Earth 'W is a stoppage or syncope in the direction of the “fall” that is characteristic of the waters V; and analogously, Air & is a stoppage or break in the ascending direction of fire A. So that from the Two, through the Third (Salt), proceed the Four: the tetrad of the Elements.* Fire A Water V Earth ¥ Air& 1 Cf G. Kremmerz, Fasciculo D della Miryam ((Pamphier D). part of the secrec teachings of this contemporary group that upholds che hermetic tradition) ? For the analysis of che elements contained in the complete symbol of the cross, ¢f. Della Riviera, Mondo magico 24-28, 40 44; and J. Dee, Monas hieroglyphica, passim. For rhe. signs of the four hermetic elements, cf. also O Wirth, Le symbolisme hermétique. hfe 8 Ue eee are Mo BO be Steer wb ce aisle: eae, 'y, see ee eee 2 Se eesAs  According to this aspect of the symbol, the central point of the cross expresses the point of unity of the four Elements, the originating superior and anterior to their four differentiations given by the four directions. Thereby it expresses the Quintessence, the incorruptible and simple principle that, according co the tradi- tion, is the substratum, the principle of life and the nexus of reciprocal union formed by the four elements. Here we must point out that, like the elements, the hermetic Quintessence—the equivalent of the Pythagorean 6AKde, the Hindu akasha, the Qabalistic avir, Taoist chi, etc.—is not considered a speculative abstraction or some contrivance of the “physics” of yesteryear, but a reality to which corresponds a specific spiritual experience. And the symbolic central point of the cross, as soon as it is “known to the magical hero and understood,” says Della Riviera,? “becomes the root and origin of all magical marvels.” In accord with the more operative than speculative orientation of hermetic alchemy, the sign + is rarely encountered in isolation. More often it forms part of other symbols expressing the principles and powers that stand over the four Elements, although it also enters into elemental combinations. Thus, for example: Sulfur # Mercury ¥ This Mercury must not be confused, of course, with Original Mercury. It is a Mercury that is still impure and “terrestrial.” Its symbol ¥ expresses the state of the elements + in a nature & subject co che lunar law of uansformations (superior position of che Moon ¥ with respect to the symbol of undifferentiated substance O). The symbol for Sulfur # gives us, on the contrary, the condition of a Fire A in domination over the elements (A over +). Sulfur # should not be confused, however, with Sulfur in a pure or “native” state, which in the beginnings of alchemy was given a different symbol Y, the same as Aries, symbol of the masculine principle of every generation and direct manifestation of the power of Gold. Only to such a principle are expressions referred like this of Zacharias: “The Agent, whose nature shows the power and strength over matter to that which it is united, is Sulfur”;* or again, “Sulfur is the principle chat gives form."® The rrue Sulfur “of the wise” is an incombuscible Sulfur. And another impressive alchemical expression that indicates the unalterable quality of “not catching fire” is this celestial and royal barrier: “Our sulfur is a sulfur thar does not burn and that Fire 3 Della Riviera. Mondo magico, 39 4 Philosophie naturelle des métaux, BPC, 2:512. 5 Pernery, Dictionnaire, 270. AQ ce eee ee eee See ee eee The Symbols and Ceachings (understood as an equivalent of "Poison"] cannot devour."* The expression “@efov dvpov” is seen in Pseudo-Democritus in connection with the formula: “Nature dominates nature,”” and the Syrian texts also speak of a noncombustible sulfur that “arrests the fugitive”;* it is a dominating activity, exempt from every instinctive element or inner principle (spiricual Sulfur, says Philalethes) of action and life, but proceeding from the superiority and fixity of the solar center. On the other hand, when Sulfur is designated by #, it expresses, strictly speaking, the same power, but already in an impure state, because it is chained co mazter and a form chat it still animates and in which it constitutes potentially the “divine” principle (che double meaning of @ciov, “Sulfur” and “divine”). And in addition, it is the teaching of the whole tradition that “the perfection or imperfection of metals [that is, of the individualized essences extracted from the symbolic ‘mineral’ or Earth] is deter- mined by the withdrawal or [by the state of] participation of their Agent, that is, the Sulfur.”® ® Text in CMA, 3:52; ef. Pernecy (Dictionnaire, 469): the "Sulfur of the Sages” is “the incombustible, the seed fixed in matter, the true internal agent.” 7 CAG, 3:47, 373. * CMA, 2:28 ° Zacharias, Philosophie nacurelfe des métaux, BPC, 2:513 The Four Elements and Sulfur... 2.2 Sleris ie ane BE Wed 43,  SOUL, SPIRIT, AND BOoY efore proceeding we should pause a moment in our correspondence of human nature to the principles we have been contemplating in accordance with the pro- nouncement: “Everything that exists in the macrocosmos, man also possesses.” Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt are found in che (trimundial) universe and in man, in whom the three “worlds” are manifested as soul, spirit, and body. It should be noted henceforth that soul and spiric do not possess the same meaning here that they do in our time. In this context the “Soul” is the supernatural element peculiar to the personality. The “Spirit,” on the other hand, is to be taken as the whole package of psycho- biological energies constituting something between the corporeal and che noncorporeal and that together may properly be said to constitute life, that is, the animating principle of the organism. Having said this, let us declare that man carties hermetically in his soul, the presence of the solar and golden force ©; in his spirit he carries that of the lunar and mercurial force Y; and finally, in the body, the force of Salt © is expressed—that is to say, directly linked to the “Fall” are ctucifixion and imprisonment, while with the “resurrection” comes subjugated power, “burning water,” fixed by spiritual law. This is why Bernard of Treviso says in Parole délaissée: “There is a trinity in unity and a unity in trinity, and there we find Body, Spiric, and Soul. And Mercury and Arsenic as well.” And Boechme writes: “Everything that grows, lives, and moves in this world is in Sulfur, and Mercury is its life. And Salt is the corporeal essence of Mercury’s hunger.” Such correspondences can easily be found in the texts; it suffices to bear in mind he symbolic equivalences so far assigned and some others that can be intuited, and ‘o be on the lookout for those contexts where, under some other point of view, the ame symbols acquire a meaning that can sometimes take the direct opposite of heir usual ones.” awan From the ternary correspondences in man we can pass on to the quaternary, which refer to the Elements. First of all we must mention the power of the Earth emenc. Here, co understand complerely, we need to recall everything that has been aid about those neutralizations of opposing principles that create the “body” “ow » spect of beings. In one of its aspects, the opposition takes place between the niversal and the individual and causes a blockage of the consciousness resulting in mehe perception of an exterior, material world. In che “petrification” of the spiritual world created by the bodily senses, in the breaking of contacts, in perception conditioned by the dualistic law of I-not-l (which, as we have said, is the main obstacle to modern understanding of the traditional sciences), it is che power of Salt that operates. But Salt, Body, Stone, and Earth, in che aspect of the hermetic symbolism we are discussing, are equiva- lents. So the power of Earth in man will be chat which forces on him, via the physical body, the materialistic vision of the world? ' Bochme, De signarura, 4, §19: ["Alles, was da wachst, lebet und webet in dieser Welt, das stehet im Sulphur, und im Sulphur ist der Mercurius das Leben, und das Salz ist im Mercurio das leibliche Wesen seines Hunger. "—Trans.] 2 In one of the Azoth figures that shows a man in the act of raking upon himself the whole universe, Basil Valentine reveals the crue “material of the Opus,” and another figure in che same document labeled with the familiar command, Visita interiora terrae rectiticando invenies occulcum lapidem, gives the explicit correpondences Sun-Fire-Soul, Moon-Spirit. Body-Stone. Cf. also Bernard of Treviso, Parole délaissée (BPC, 2:432), where Sulfur is indicated as the Soul, rhe simple element of the Stone (of the human composite) separated from all corporeal burden; also in De pharmaco catholico (3. §16): “The Philosophers, when speaking of Earth, meant by thar nothing more than the body, and by the body nothing more than Salt”; and (5. fl4): "This [Mercury] invades and penetrates, as spirit, rhe other two principles, Sale and Sulphur (tead body and soul]. which it unites and controls constantly, by natural heac.” In the Triomphe Herinéciyue (BPC, 3:302): “There are three ditferent substances and three principles of all bodies—Salt, Sulphur and Mercury, which are Spirit, Soul and Body.” The same expression is in the Salterio df Ermotilo. Cf. also Sendivogius (De sulphure, 173): "The body is Earth, the Spirit Water, the Soul is Fire, ie., the sulfur of Gold.” See also Flamel. Désir désiré, §6, and Pernety, Dictionnaire, viii. The texts, as can plainly be seen, are quite explicit. it would be interesting to know what those who reduce alchemy to "infantile chemistry” make of such statemenrs 3 CER. Bludd (Weriusgue cosmi historia 2 (Oppenheim, 69] and de Givry, 5:204): The carch is represenzed as the center of the sensible world. The five human senses which are the basis of sensorial perception therefore correspond to it. We might also recall that in a manuscript of the fourteench century, attributed to Hortulanus. che figura terrae is given by the opposition of che cwo directions, V and & that are neutralized in the sign of the seal of Solomon (see CMA, 1:74). Soul, Spirit, and Body + + 0 6 ee ee ee ee ee AS  From this there follows a fundamental point: the ordinary man does not know the other three Elements—Air, Water, and Fire--as chey actually are in chemselves -the common man knows only che ability to perceive what these Elements undergo when they manifest chrough the Earth element—that is to say, as they are translated in the processes of the corporeal perception. Water, Air, and Fire, as everyone knows them (chat is, as states of physical matter), are no more than correspondences—so to speak—tangibly symbolic of the true elements called “liv- ing” by the hermetic masters. In themselves, they are other existential states, other modalities of consciousness, quite separate from the body, that can transpose all the principles of things according to their noncorporeal nature, just as in che corporeal existence, in the terrestrial body, all principles are analogously transposed and known by their manifestations in the Earth element. In the most universal sense, this earthing of the metals (i.c., the individualized principles) is sometimes called impurity, dross, or shadow. The other elements beyond Earth, which together constitute the “Philosopher's Heaven,”* can only be apprehended by a consciousness different from that which comes from the body, even if such consciousness has been perfected by all che expedients of modern science. The principle of this other knowledge is “Like is known by like,” and here again the premise is that in the essentiality of man are also contained the essences of all the other elements, that is, the potentialicy of other states of consciousness apart from that under the spell of the Earth clement. And here we arrive at the quaternary classification of man in the wholeness of his being. 4Cf. Zohar, 1.39b, where the statement chat "The visible is the reflection of the invisible” means that the symbolic “Earth” is the visible part of “Heaven,” thac is, the visibility of the invisible. Pernecy (Fables, 1:60), defines Earch as "the material principle of everything that exists,” which implies also the physical stare of the other three elements as well. BG Sot ah ee ete ehh aks BS en tos The Symbols and Ceachings  che “FOouR” in MAD he quaternary division derives directly from the already explained ternary division, but within the middle term Spirit, which is the source of the subtle life-giving ener- gies, we can distinguish between two aspects. The first refers to a group of forces undergoing the ascent of the “Body” principle, which are stuck to the Body as to their lodestone and nourished by the Body as the flame is nourished by the firewood from which it comes forth and which, little by little, it consumes. The second aspect refers to a group of forces conforming, on the other hand, to the idea of the “Soul” principle, which co a certain degree, transmits to them its “solar” quality. Alchemically speaking, the Spirit is Mercury. Thus, we shall also encounter within the sign of this symbolic substance a bipartite division into ¥ and $. The second of these symbols corresponds to the Double Mercury or Androgyne, possessing the nature of fiery or burning Water, expressions that betray their identity with the Fire or Soul principle. And in fact its symbol is obtained from that of ordinary Mercury ¥ by the substitution of the sign of Aries Y, or Sulfur in the pure state, for that of the rising Moon &. Thus life forces are interpenetrated by a masculine spiritual quality, which reveals the rising of ©, the Gold or Soul. Having said this we can proceed to explain the quartering as follows: In man, before everything else, there is a cerrestrial being, also called a Saturnian being, or simply Saturn. It is through him che “Earth” force acts, which determines and maintains the density or heaviness (“our lead"—p6A1Boe uétepog'—in a quite specific sense). This is the hard and tangible animal body and manifests itself principally through the element of calcium (bones), and also through horny mate- rial, cartilage, tendons, etc. Sub specie interioricatis this entity is seen as the power of devouring and yearning (the voracious desiccation and greedy aridicy of “dry land,” in the alchemical jargon), the root of all thirst and desire. The titanic, tellurian element that is spoken of in Orphism refers to this entity, which is also the primordial principle of individuation. It is the “fixed” par excellence: and even though it is the eternal matrix of individual bodies, at the same time, since they are so ephemeral, it appears as the God who after having created them, devours them. Ic is the hermetic exegesis of Saturn's double aspect, king of the “Golden Age” (we shall see that this is related, among other things, to the primordial spiritual state of corporeality) and devourer of his own sons. In che second place we have an aquatic (“fluid”) or Lunar entity: that is, of Mercury, or Mercury in a limited sense ¥Y, and Moon. Here we must refer co the general notion of the double: che Egyptian Ka, the "wind of the bones” and the Ob of Hebrew esotericism, the Etruscan Jasa, the Hindu "subtle form” (st&kshmasdrira) and priina, etc. Ic is the life of the Saturn-body entity, by virtue of which, it is considered as the carrier of the various racial energies, the genetic inheritance of our “primordial forefathers” (the relationship between the “double” and the totem among primitives).? That for which the first entity is the skeleton, for this second entity is the white nervous and glandular system through which a plasmodic influence is exercised. With regard to consciousness it represents the creshhold over which che exterior penetrates into the interior: Mercury is the seat of the senses, the mirror in which are illuminated the phantasms of things (whence its connection to the power of the imaginacion),? both when they are produced through the first being (normal physical perception) and when they are produced directly (paranormal psychic perception). Then we have the Mercury united with the Fire, a more subtle “fluid” entity, less corporeal, more specialized by an intimate interpenetration with the soul principle, as we explained in discussing the $ symbol. On the other hand, as fire on contact with water results in the gaseous or airy state, so this entity, which the ancients frequently designated as body or igneous form, we must recognize as the correspondence to the Air element #, understood as a blockage of the pure Fire power A. The latter, represented by red blood, provides the vital or animal heat 1 Kor the Black Lead of which “che ancients speak as the foundation that underlies substance,” cf Zosimos, CAG, 2:223 ? Cf. Lévy-Bruhl. L ame primitive (Paris, 1927), 238-49. 3 Whence Agrippa (De occulta philosophia 2:28), has the imagination correspond to Water and simple Earth feelings. AB oho aise S Sete eee ek ee ee eta, Ba Che Symbols and Ceachings and all power of movement, just as the preceding ¥ js the principle of “etheric light” diffused in the senses and vitalizing the white nerves. Finally, we have the inte/fectual entity, which is the Sun and Gold in man. It is the center ©, the principle of spiritual stability, radiant and not inert, primary origin of everything that through § and ¥ arrives at the telluric union, to move it and make ic alive in a higher sense. In itself supra-individual, it gives rise to individuality, the ego-function. It is the vobg, according to the Hellenic mystery conception; the first power of Fire (the "Fire of the Stone” of the Arab alchemical texts); the “stable and nor falling soul” of Agrippa.*In the Corpus Hermeticum it is called “incorporeal essence, neither moved by anything, nor in anything, nor towards anything, nor for anything, because it is a primary force, and what precedes has no need of anything following”; “an essence that possesses its own end in itself” is idencified with this same principle. Such are the Four in man—and such are the seats wherein knowledge of the hermetic Elements can take place. They have different forms, bur they are present and active in man simultaneously, the first in a spatial way, the other three in a nonspatial way, like different states of the body (in the ordinary sense) and of physical matter. The normal man does not have any distinct knowledge of them: in him they are experienced in a confused way in a general sensation (coenesthesis), which is illuminated in the form of sensory phantasms and reflected images and very rarely in actions of the igneous principle or of concentric (cyclopedic) solar vision (referring to the “third eye” of Oriental tradition). It is the impure state of the “mixed,” the obscurity of the “tomb of Osiris” (Osiris = ©) and according to the expressions of the texts, the indistinguishable quality of “our philosophic chaos,” in which, whoever surrenders himself to the hermetic Art, must extract the individual natures spagyrically. Only then emerge the four possibilities as glimpses and reintegrations in metaphysical contact with the Elements. It goes without saying that the organic systems (skeletal, nervous, and blood) brought into contact with the different entities, are not these entities, but manifestations, apparitions of them in the heart of the saturnian terrestrial being. In alchemical terms this last is the “thickened” (or gross); the conjunction of the rest is the “subtle” or “volatile” (in the broad sense): Earth and Heaven. So, “Like knows like.” Thus, as long as man is amalgamated with the Earth entity, he will know nothing more than the Earth aspect of things and beings—their physical and sense aspect. Likewise, in the lunar entity taken from the “tomb,” "Ibid., 3:44. ° "Treated under The Virgin of the World, 3 (text in Mead, 239, 245). ® The lines of chis four-part division follow Kremmerz, Fascicolo D della Miryam and I dialoghi sullermetismo (Spoleto, 1929}, 6-7, 11. 116. We have chosen to give chem directly, to make it easier for the reader co find the best way co explain the meanderings of symbolism in the texts. TRA Reme Made se tabs et oe oe de deeds toe See oe es 49 naked, he would know Water, not the vulgar water, but the luminous and perma- nent Water of che Sages, and everything would be conceived as a kind of “Water” (subtle perception); and the Air and things ruled by Air--“Eagles"—would be known in the $ entity; and finally, in its own center, reintegrated in the solar purity of ©, “soul standing and not falling,” a simple and universal vision, the “cyclical” or “cyclopic” vision would be enclosed in the interior of the “Fire Spheres.” There the Homeric "Staff of Hermes” would be in operation, at whose contact everything is transmuted into the state of symbolic Gold (in this context, this is the passage from the common perception of the world to that of the—Kéopog vontéc— intelligible world).” A final point regarding the hermetic symbolism of colors. After black, which is appropriate for Earth, che obscure Lead, and Saturn, we have the white of ¥ the Moon or Venus.®the red of $, and the golden color of ©. As we shall see, to each one of these colors corresponds a phase of the hermetic work that focuses precisely on the principle in question. Moreover, the symbol also encompasses the four kingdoms of Nature, considered as symbols and manifestations of corresponding forces. In the celluric entity man contains in himself the mineral kingdom; in the lunar, “our Water” entity be contains the vegetable kingdom (whence the reason for che permutation of the white color for the green of vegetability); in the igneous, 7 In che literature the differentiation becween ¥ and & is often shown by the symbol of two “fumes” or “vapors,” one white and the other red, or quite simply by two stones, one red and che other white, which are liberated from rhe stone (che body), by che cwo trees, one lunar, the other solar (cf. the Cosmopolite; Braccesco. Clef de Ja grande science, etc.), by the ewo Mercuries, occidental and oriental, one of chem Spirit and the other corresponding to the Soul. The last is poison, unless mitigated— * chilled"—by the other Mercury ¥ (CMA, 3-208); poison, devouring fire, and also (Promethean) vulture are equivalents in the tradition, for which, cf. Corpus Hermeticum (10.17-18): "When the intellectual principle [vobc, ©) is liberated from che body of Earch, it is immediately reclothed in its cunic of Fire, which it could not save [integrally], while inhabiting this Earth body, since the Earch does not support Hire... with the result chat Water [g ] surrounds the Earth and forms a bulwark co protect it from the Fite.” Cf. also Agrippa (De occulta philosophia, 3:37): “The soul in its descent reclothes itself in a celestial and aerial corpuscle, which some call the etheric vehicle, and others the chariot of the soul ~ by means of which the Soul is infused first in the central point ot rhe heart, which is the center of the human body, and from there expands into every part and member; which ic does by uniting its chariot with che natural heac {8] by means of the hear of the Spirit generated by the heart; and by means of this heat ic is immersed in che humors [9 } through which it accedes to the members, in the same way chat che hear of the Fire atcaches itself co the Air and Water, although reaching che Water {¥] by the Air (8 J.” Kor other references of correspondences with che blood, etc., cf. CMA (Syrian text) 2:315; Livre d‘Oscanes, CMA, 3:120; Corpus Hermeticum, 10.13; Zosimos, CAG, 2:133; De signacura 11, §10; Livre du mercure oriental, CMA, 3:212, etc. In Boehme we can point out a very expressive symbolism: the echeric body ¥ is compared to an “oil,” in which bums the igneous qualiry # becoming splendor, light of life, “life of joy char exalts everything.” Every sickness is but a“ venemous corruption” of this oil—upon extinguishing its light. the body decomposes. Concerning the “aqueous” alteration of this oil by the “Fall,” about which Boehme also speaks (De signatura, 6, §§3, 23, 25. 28; 7, §2); see below. 8 On occasion, instead of white we find green by chromatic analogy to the energies of vegetable life. DOA ve fe Sela BoaCectenie aioe 2 ay Ania a Ne ene Che Symbols and Teachings the animal kingdom; and finally in order to represent himself and nothing but himself chere is the intellectual or “incombustible Sulfur” entity ©. Within the framework of the world vision to which hermetism pertains, there are simulcaneously real, magical, and symbolic correspondences; kingdoms of nature, states of matter, systems of corporeality, and human consciousness consid- ered as different manifestations of the same metaphysical principles. Ther Bour? incMain. 25. 27fees wee ace tae. ectectal a aero hart ©:wie Beoa, 51  Fourteen che PLANETS he same metaphysical correspondences apply to another teaching that hermetism also shares with the most an- cient traditions: that of che Seven—which prevails in the symbolism of the seven planets. Metaphysically, Seven expresses the Three added to the Four. According to the established meaning of these numeric symbols, Seven is the manifestation of the cteative principles (triad) in relation to the world made up of the four elements (3 + 4): the full expression of nature creating nature (natura naturans) in action.! These seven principles are simultaneously internal and external,’ residing in man and the world in the visible and invisible aspect of both. Sometimes in the teaching they undergo a duplication, which expresses the duality existing berween the Sun (“being”) aspect and the Moon (“energy”) aspect of each individual power (whence the hermetic symbolism of the two trees each with seven braches or seven fruits, arbor solis ec arbor lunae); or else the duplication is that existing between the septenary as it is in itself, and what the septenary becomes upon the intervention of the “Fall” and the domination of the Earth element. As for references, we can start with this from the Corpus Hermeticum: “The intellectual entity, male and female god [che primordial androgyne composed of © ! Cf. Livre de la miséricorde (CMA, 3:168): “The Opus is wrought through seven chings: the spiritual, the corporeal [ © and € ] and their combination, determined in Air. Water, Fire and Earth.” 2 Boehme. De signatura, 9, §8: “In eternal nature as in external nature there are seven forms, which the ancient sages indicaced by rhe names of the planets.” [Es sind vornehmlich sicben Gescalten in der Natur, beides in der ewigen auferen, dang die duferen gehen aus der ewigen. Die alten Weisen haben den sieben Planeten Namen gegeben, nach den sieben Gestafren der Natur. Trans] and € J,which is Life and Light, engenders by means of the Logos, another creative intelligence, God of Fire and Fluid, who in turn creates seven ministers, who enclose within their circles the sense-perceived world. Their dominion is called eiuappévn (Fate). Here the last phrase sends us back to the tradition referred to by Plato as the Wheel of Fate composed of seven spinning spheres, ruled by the “daughters of necessity.” The preceding distinction makes this necessity the work of a second god, beyond whose realm, however, exists an even higher intellectual androgynous entity. And in the function of this higher region can be seen the same seven principles. Besides, in that gnostic, mystery ambience in which the Greek alchemical texts took form, it was customary to teach the existence of two seprenaries, a lower, called the “sevenfold serpent, daughter of Ialdabaoth” (a name for the “second god”) and the other, higher and celestial, which in its totality could be made to correspond to the eighth sphere (that “beyond the Seven") or ogdoad,* also placed by Plato above those of “necessity.” The gnostic Valentinus calls it the “Heavenly Jerusalem." A gnostic-hermetic papyrus conceives of it as the “Holy Name,” being che seven Greek vowels taken as symbols for the “Seven Heavens,” while the Eighth is the "Monad” or unity “of anocher kind,” which repeats them on a higher plane; we can then establish a connection with the schematic of the eight-rayed stars in the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra” And vice versa we can consider, above all, the higher septenary, and see in the last of the seven forms the substratum of the inferior septenary, which is born through the symbolic “Earth.” It is in chis way that Boehme sees in the seventh principle, “Nature,” the expansion (exterioriza- tion) of the other six—the “body” being che seventh, and the others being its “life” (in a transcendent sense): “The seventh spirit is the spirit-fountain of nature. Once engendered, it becomes the mother of the other seven. It comprises in itself the other six, and generates them in turn [chat is, manifests them in her own form by making them manifestations in visible nature; for example, the seven visible planets, which are the sense-perceived symbols of the invisible): since in the seventh exists the natural and corporeal essence... In this, one of the seven forms of nature dominates the others, and each one collaborates according to its own 2 Corpus Hermeticum, 1.9. For che sense of the Fluid and of che Fire, which is the substance of this passage, cf. Hippolytus (Philosophumena, 6, §§7, 8: "Rivers have been designated as the moist element of generation, and Fire the impetuous desire for generation.” For the higher state, in this text as well as in che Corpus Hermeticum, "a new man, who is androgynous” is also mentioned. * Tn Irenaeus, Adversus haereses. 1.30.5. 5 Plaro, Republic, 10.614C. ® In Hippolytus, Philosophumena, 6, §32; cf. §49 where the teaching of Marcus the Gnostic sees forth the cotrespondences to the seven Greek vowels. 7 Leiden papyrus W, in Berthelot, lneroduccion 4 Fétude de la Chimie, 17; cf. CAG, 3:302. The Plancts te ttt tt te te ee 53 essential strength, naturalizing itself in the body according to its rank.”® “Body,” here, of course, has to be understood in che broadest sense, in which the tangible human body is merely a particular case of its own. These same doctrines, presented in the form of myths and descriptions of cosmic entities, must be related to the meanings and possibilities of inner experi- ence, especially with regard to the differentiation between the two septenaries. We can thus return to the hermetic text cited above? wherein it is said that man, once awakened to a will co create, wants to bypass the limits of the circles of necessity and master the power residing in Fire. This is clearly a variation on the Promethean myth, which also ends in a “fall”: che man who is “superior to harmony [chat is, to the universal order, the unity of the various laws and natural conditions], to harmony becomes a slave. Although hermaphrodite like the Father and above sleep, he remains dominated by sleep.”!° But sleep is an esoteric word traditionally meaning consciousness weighed down by the conditions of the animal body, in antithesis to the symbol of the awakening of the initiate with the work of descroying sleep (nidrabhanga in the Hindu texts), by the “sleepless” intellectual nature—1) dbo1g &ypvmvoc—of which Plotinus speaks. As Buddhistie avidya, so this symbolic “sleep” can be considered equi