This article is about the magical and religious movement stemming from the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. For other uses of the term "Hermetic", see
Hermetic (disambiguation).
or the
Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of
philosophical and
religious beliefs
[1] based primarily upon the
pseudepigraphical writings attributed to
Hermes Trismegistus. These beliefs have heavily influenced the
Western esoteric tradition and were considered greatly important during both the
Renaissance[2] and the
Reformation.
[3]
[edit] Terminology
The term
Hermetic is from medieval Latin
hermeticus, which is derived from the name of the Greek god,
Hermes. In English, it has been attested since the 17th century as the adjective
Hermetic (as in "Hermetic writers" e.g.
Franz Bardon). The synonymous
Hermetical also occurs in the 17th century. Sir
Thomas Browne in his
Religio Medici of 1643 wrote "
Now besides these particular and divided Spirits, there may be (for ought I know) a universal and common Spirit to the whole world. It was the opinion of Plato, and is yet of the Hermeticall Philosophers." (R.M. Part 1:32).
In Greece, the use of words beginning with
herm dates from at least 600 BCE.
Hermetic refers to a pillar or post that was used in pre-classical Greece, "of square shape, surmounted by a head with a beard. The square, limbless Hermes was a step in advance of the unwrought stone."
[4] The stone pillar was used to communicate with the deities. The god, Hermes, is a generic term used by the pre-classical Greeks for any deity, and was only later associated with the god of knowledge in Athens in the 2nd Century CE.
[5] The word, hermetic, was used by Dr. Everard in the English translation of
The Pimander of Hermes(1650).
[6] Mary Anne Atwood mentioned the use of the word Hermetic by Dufresnoy in 1386.
[7][8]
[edit] History
[edit] Late Antiquity
In
Late Antiquity, Hermetism
[9] emerged in parallel with
Gnosticism,
Neoplatonism, and
early Christianity, "characterized by a resistance to the dominance of either pure rationality or doctrinal faith".
[10]
The books now known as the
Corpus Hermeticum were part of a renaissance of
syncretistic and intellectualized pagan thought that took place around the 2nd century. Other examples of this cultural movement would include
Neoplatonist philosophy, the
Chaldaean Oracles, late
Orphic and
Pythagorean literature, as well as much of
Gnosticism.
The extant Greek texts dwell upon the oneness and goodness of God, urge purification of the soul, and defend pagan religious practices, such as the
veneration of images. Many lost Greek texts, and many of the surviving vulgate books, contained discussions of
alchemy clothed in philosophical metaphor.
[citation needed] And one text, the
Asclepius, lost in Greek but partially preserved in Latin, contained a bloody prophecy of the end of Roman rule in Egypt and the resurgence of pagan Egyptian power.
The predominant literary form is the dialogue:
Hermes Trismegistus instructs a perplexed disciple on some point of hidden wisdom.
[edit] Renaissance
After some centuries out of favor, Hermeticism was reintroduced to the West in 1460, when the monk
Leonardo da Pistoia[11] brought the
Corpus Hermeticum to
Pistoia to be translated by
Ficino. In fact
Leonardo da Pistoia (monk) was the pseudonym of Leonardo Alberti de Candia, a noble of the
Alberti (family) of the counts of
Prato in Pistoia. He was one of the many agents sent out by Florence's ruler,
Cosimo de'Medici, to scour European monasteries for lost ancient writings.
[12]
Leonardo searched for the ancient Hermetic manuscripts throughout the regions surrounding
Constantinople,
Pera and
Galata, a part of the dogal republic that had been granted by the
Byzantine Empire to
Genoa in 1273. He conducted his investigations under the protection of the Byzantine podestà during the period of the joint Byzantine and Italian podestà, prior to the capture of Constantinople in 1453 by
Ottoman Turks.
In 1614
Isaac Casaubon, a
Swiss philologist, analyzed the Hermetic texts for linguistic style. He concluded that the Hermetic writings attributed to Trismegistus were not the work of an ancient Egyptian priest, but in fact dated to around the second and third centuries of the
Common Era.
[13][14] Even in the light of Casaubon's linguistic discovery and typical of many of the self-styled adherents of Hermetic philosophy scattered throughout 16th and 17th Europe, Thomas Browne in his
Religio Medici (1643) confidently stated- "
The severe schools shall never laugh me out of the philosophy of Hermes, that this visible world is but a portrait of the invisible". R.M.Part 1: 12. In the nineteenth century Walter Scott placed their date shortly after 200 CE, while Sir W. Flinders Petrie placed them between 200 and 500 B.C.
[15] Plutarch's mention of Hermes Trismegistus dates back to the first century CE, and
Tertullian,
Iamblichus, and
Porphyry are all familiar with Hermetic writings.
[16]
In 1945, Hermetic writings were among those found near
Nag Hammadi, in the form of one of the conversations between Hermes and
Asclepius from the Corpus Hermeticum, and a text about the Hermetic mystery schools,
On the Ogdoad and Ennead, written in the
Coptic language, the last form in which the Egyptian language was written.
[17]
[edit] Hermeticism as a religion
Tobias Churton, Professor of Western Esotericism at the University of Exeter, states that "the Hermetic tradition was both moderate and flexible, offering a tolerant philosophical religion, a religion of the (omnipresent) mind, a purified perception of God, the cosmos, and the self, and much positive encouragement for the spiritual seeker, all of which the student could take anywhere".
[18] In fact, Lutheran Bishop James Heiser recently evaluated the writings of Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola as an attempted "Hermetic Reformation."
[19]
[edit] Religious and philosophical texts
Though many more works have been attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, Hermeticists commonly accept forty-two books to his credit.
[citation needed] Most of these books, however, are reported to have been destroyed when the
Great Library of Alexandria was razed.
[citation needed]
There are three major works which are widely known texts for Hermetic beliefs:
[citation needed]
- The Corpus Hermeticum is the body of work most widely known and is the aforementioned Greek texts. These seventeen books are set up as dialogues between Hermes and a series of others. The first book involves a discussion between Poimandres (also known as Nous and God) and Hermes, supposedly resulting from a meditative state, and is the first time that Hermes is in contact with God. Poimandres teaches the secrets of the Universe to Hermes, and later books are generally of Hermes teaching others such as Asclepius and his son Tat.
- The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus is a short work which coins the well known term in occult circles "As above, so below." The actual text of that maxim, as translated by Dennis W. Hauck is "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracle of the One Thing".[20] The tablet also refers to the three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe. Hermes claims his knowledge of these three parts is why he received the name Trismegistus (thrice-great, or Ao-Ao-Ao meaning "greatest"). As the story is told, this tablet was found by Alexander the Great at Hebron supposedly in the tomb of Hermes.[21]
- The Perfect Sermon, also known as The Asclepius, The Perfect Discourse, or The Perfect Teaching was written in the second or third century and is a Hermetic work similar to The Corpus Hermeticum but outside the seventeen books it normally comprises.
There are additional works that, while not as historically significant as the three mentioned above, have an important place in neo-Hermeticism and its study.
- The Kybalion: Hermetic Philosophy is a book published in 1912 CE anonymously by three people calling themselves the "Three Initiates." Many of the Hermetic principles are explained in the book.
- A Suggestive Inquiry into Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy written by Mary Anne Atwood, and originally published anonymously in 1850. This book was withdrawn from circulation by the author but was later reprinted after her death by her longtime friend Isabelle de Steiger. Isabelle de Steiger was a member of the Golden Dawn, and this book was used as the basis for the study of Hermeticism by the Golden Dawn, which resulted in several published works by members of the Golden Dawn.[22]
- Arthur Edward Waite, member and later head of the Golden Dawn, wrote the Hermetic Museum and later the Hermetic Museum Restored and Enlarged and did the editing for Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus that was published as a two-volume set. Arthur Edward Waite considered himself an Hermeticist and was instrumental in adding the word "Hermetic" to the official title of the Golden Dawn.[23]
- W. Wynn Westcott, a founding member of the Golden Dawn, edited a series of books on Hermeticism called the "Collectanea Hermetica," published by the Theosophical Publishing Society.[24]
- Franz Bardon, Initiation Into Hermetics is the title of the English translation of Franz Bardon's first of three volumes concerning self-realization in line with the Hermetic tradition.
[edit] Why Thrice Great?
[edit] The "Prisca Theologia"
Many Christian writers, including
Lactantius,
Augustine,
Giordano Bruno,
Marsilio Ficino,
Campanella and
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola considered Hermes Trismegistus to be a wise pagan prophet who foresaw the coming of Christianity.
[25][26] They believed in a
prisca theologia, the doctrine that a single, true, theology exists, which threads through all religions, and which was given by god to man in antiquity.
[27][28] In order to demonstrate the verity of the 'prisca theologia' Christians appropriated the Hermetic teachings for their own purposes. By this account Hermes Trismegistus was either, according to the fathers of the Christian church, a contemporary of Moses
[29] or the third in a line of men named Hermes i.e. Enoch, Noah and the Egyptian priest king who is known to us as Hermes Trismegistus
[30] or thrice great on account of being the greatest priest, philosopher and king.
[30][31]
This last account of how Hermes Trismegistus received the name "Trismegistus," meaning "Thrice Great," is derived from statements both in the
The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, that he knows the three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe.
[32] The three parts of the wisdom are
alchemy,
astrology, and
theurgy. The pymander, from where Marsilio Ficino formed his opinion, states that "they called him Trismegistus because he was the greatest philosopher and the greatest priest and the greatest king".
[33]
Another explanation, in the Suda (10th century), is that "He was called Trismegistus on account of his praise of the trinity, saying there is one divine nature in the trinity".
[34]
[edit] The three parts of the wisdom of the whole universe
Alchemy—The Operation of the
Sun: is not simply the changing of physical
lead into physical
gold.
[35] It is an investigation into the spiritual constitution, or life of matter and material existence through an application of the mysteries of birth, death and resurrection.
[36] The various stages of chemical
distillation and
fermentation, among them, are aspects of these mysteries, that, when applied quicken Nature's processes in order to bring a natural body to perfection.
[37] This perfection is the accomplishment of the
Magnum opus (Latin for Great Work).
Astrology—The Operation of the
Moon: Hermes claims that
Zoroaster discovered this part of the wisdom of the whole universe, astrology, and taught it to man.
[38] In Hermetic thought, it is likely that the movements of the planets have meaning beyond the laws of physics and actually hold metaphorical value as symbols in the mind of
The All, or God. Astrology has influences upon the Earth, but does not dictate our actions, and wisdom is gained when we know what these influences are and how to deal with them.
Theurgy—The Operation of the
Stars: There are two different types of magic, according to
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's
Apology, completely opposite of each other. The first is γοητεια,
Goëtia, black magic reliant upon an alliance with evil spirits (i.e. demons). The second is Theurgy,
divine magic reliant upon an alliance with divine spirits (i.e. angels, archangels, gods).
[39]
Theurgy translates to "The Science or art of Divine Works" and is the practical aspect of the Hermetic art of alchemy.
[40] Furthermore, alchemy is seen as the "key" to theurgy,
[41] the ultimate goal of which is to become united with higher counterparts, leading to the attainment of Divine Consciousness.
[40]
[edit] Hermetic beliefs
As stated above In Hermetic religion the supreme Deity, or Principle, is referred to variously as 'God', 'The All', or 'The One'. The
absolute is the central focus of Hermeticism and therefore it is difficult to assign it a position among the traditional Theistic religions, or along the monotheistic and polytheistic spectrum.
Hermeticism transcends both
Monotheism and
Polytheism as well as
Deism and
Pantheism within its belief system, which teaches that there is a
transcendent God,
The All, or
The One, of which we, and the entire
universe, participate. Also it subscribes to the notion that other beings such as
gods and
angels, and
elementals exist in the
Universe.
[edit] Classical elements
The four classical elements of
earth,
water,
air, and
fire are used often in alchemy, and are alluded to several times in the Corpus Hermeticum.
[edit] As above, so below
The Magician displaying the Hermetic concept of
as above, so below.
These words circulate throughout occult and magical circles, and they come from Hermetic texts. The concept was first laid out in
The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, in the words "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing".
[20]
In accordance with the various levels of reality: physical, emotional, and mental, this relates that what happens on any level happens on every other. This is however more often used in the sense of the
microcosm and the macrocosm. The microcosm is oneself, and the macrocosm is the universe. The macrocosm is as the microcosm, and vice versa; within each lies the other, and through understanding one (usually the microcosm) you can understand the other.
[42]
[edit] Posthumous fate
There are mentions in Hermeticism about "
metempsychosis" or the multiple occurrences of a being through the manifestation, before he gets liberated from any condition. As Hermes states:
O son, how many bodies we have to pass through, how many bands of demons, through how many series of repetitions and cycles of the stars, before we hasten to the One alone?
[43]
[edit] Morality, good, and evil
Hermes explains in Book 9 of the
Corpus Hermeticum that
Nous brings forth both good and evil, depending on if he receives input from God or from the
demons. God brings good, while the demons bring evil. Among those things brought by demons are:
adultery, murder, violence to one's father, sacrilege, ungodliness, strangling, suicide from a cliff and all such other demonic actions.
[44]
This provides a clearcut view that Hermeticism does indeed include a sense of morality. However, the word good is used very strictly, to be restricted to use to the
Supreme Good, God.
[45] It is only God (in the sense of the Supreme Good, not The All) who is completely free of evil. Men are exempt from having the chance of being good, for they have a body, consumed by their physical nature, ignorant of the
Supreme Good.
[46]
Among those things which are considered extremely sinful, is the focus on the material life, said to be the only thing that offends God:
As processions passing in the road cannot achieve anything themselves yet still obstruct others, so these men merely process through the universe, led by the pleasures of the body.
[47]
It is troublesome to oneself to have no "children". This is a symbolic description, not to mean physical, biological children, but rather creations. Immediately before this claim, it is explained that God is "the Father" because it has authored all things, it creates. Whether father or mother, one must create, do something positive in their life, as the Supreme Good is a "generative power". The curse for not having "children" is to be imprisoned to a body, neither male (active) nor female (thoughtful), leaving that person with a type of sterility, that of being unable to accomplish anything.
[48]
[edit] Cosmogony
The tale is given in the first book of the
Corpus Hermeticum by
God to
Hermes Trismegistus after a meditation. It begins as God, by an act of will, creates the primary matter that is to constitute the cosmos. From primary matter God separates the elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Then God ordered the elements into the seven heavens (often seen as the spheres of
Mercury,
Venus,
Mars,
Jupiter,
Saturn, the
Sun and the
Moon) to travel in circles and govern destiny.
The Word then leaps forth from the materializing elements, which made them unintelligent. Nous then made the governors spin, and from their matter sprang forth creatures without speech. Earth then was separated from Water and the animals (other than Man) were brought forth from the Earth.
The God then created Man,
androgynous, in his own image and handed over his creation. Man carefully observed the creation of his brother, the lesser Nous, and received his and his Father's authority over it all. Man then rose up above the spheres' paths to better view the creation, and then showed the form of the ALL to Nature. Nature fell in love with it, and Man, seeing a similar form in his own reflection in the water fell in love with Nature and wished to dwell in it. Immediately Man became one with Nature and became a slave to its limitations such as
gender and sleep. Man thus became speechless (having lost the Word) and became double, being mortal in body but immortal in
spirit, having authority of all but subject to
destiny.
[49]
[edit] Hermetic brotherhoods
Once Hermeticism was no longer endorsed by the Christian Church it was driven underground and a number of Hermetic societies were formed. The Western esoteric tradition is now heavily steeped in Hermeticism. The work of such writers as Pico Della Mirandola, who attempted to reconcile Jewish
Kabbalah and
Christian mysticism, brought Hermeticism into a context more easily understood by Europeans in the Renaissance.
A few primarily Hermetic occult orders were founded in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance
. Hermetic magic underwent a nineteenth century revival in Western Europe,
[50] where it was practiced by people and within groups such as the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Aurum Solis, Ragon, Kenneth M. Mackenzie,
Eliphas Lévi, Frederick Hockley,
William Butler Yeats, and
Arthur Machen.
[51] Many Hermetic, or Hermetically influenced, groups exist today, most of which are derived from the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucianism or Freemasonry.
[edit] Rosicrucianism
Main article:
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a Hermetic/
Christian movement dating back to the 15th century. It consists of a secretive inner body, and a more public outer body under the direction of the inner body.
This movement is symbolized by the rose (the soul) and the cross (the body of 4 elements). In other words, the human soul crucified on the cross of the material plane.
The Rosicrucian Order consists of a graded system (similar to
The Order of Freemasons) in which members move up in rank and gain access to more knowledge. There is no fee for advancement. Once a member is deemed able to understand the knowledge, they move on to the next grade.
There are three steps to their spiritual path:
philosophy,
qabbalah, and
divine magic. In turn, there are three goals of the order: 1) the abolition of
monarchy and the institution of rule by a philosophical elect, 2) reformation of science, philosophy, and ethics, and 3) discovery of the
Panacea.
The sources dating the existence of the Rosicrucians to the 17th century are three German pamphlets: the
Fama, the
Confessio Fraternitatis, and
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz.
[52] Some scholars believe these to be hoaxes,
[53] and that antedating Rosicrucian organizations are the first appearance of any real Rosicrucian fraternity.
[edit] Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Unlike the
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was open to both sexes, and treated both as equal. The order was a specifically Hermetic society, teaching the arts of alchemy, qabbalah, and the magic of Hermes along with the principles of occult science.
Israel Regardie claims that there are many orders, who know what they do of magic from what has been leaked out of the Golden Dawn, by what he deems "renegade members."
The order maintained the tightest of secrecy by severe penalties for loose lips. Overall, the general public was left oblivious to the actions and even existence of the Golden Dawn, making the policies a success.
[54] This secrecy was broken first by
Aleister Crowley, in 1905, and later by Israel Regardie himself in 1940, giving a detailed account of the order's teachings to the general public.
[55]
[edit] Esoteric Christianity
Hermetism and Hermeticism remains influential in
Esoteric Christianity, especially
Martinism.
[edit] See also
- ^ Churton p. 5
- ^ "Hermeticism" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
- ^ Heiser, James D., Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century, Repristination Press, Texas: 2011. ISBN 978-1-4610-9382-4
- ^ The Religion of Ancient Greece, by Jane Ellen Harrison, pgs 17–19.
- ^ The Religion of Ancient Greece by Jane Ellen Harrison pgs 21–30.
- ^ Collectanea Hermetica Edited by W. Wynn. Westcott Volume 2.
- ^ See Dufresnoy,Histoire del' Art Hermetique, vol. iii. Cat. Gr. MSS.
- ^ A Suggestive Inquiry into Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy by Mary Anne Atwood 1850.
- ^ van den Broek and Hanegraaff (1997) distinguish Hermetism in late antiquity from Hermeticism in the Renaissance revival.
- ^ van den Broek and Hanegraaff (1997), p. vii
- ^ This Leonardo di Pistoia was a monk [1], not to be confused with the artist Leonardo da Pistoia who was not born until c.1483 CE.
- ^ Salaman, Van Oyen, Wharton and Mahé,The Way of Hermes, p. 9
- ^ Tambiah Magic, Science, Religion, and the Scope of Rationality pp. 27–28.
- ^ The Way of Hermes, p. 9.
- ^ Abel and Hare p. 7.
- ^ Stephan A. Hoeller, On the Trail of the Winged God—Hermes and Hermeticism Throughout the Age, Gnosis: A Journal of Western Inner Traditions (Vol. 40, Summer 1996).
- ^ The Way of Hermes, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Churton p. 5.
- ^ Heiser, James D., Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century, Repristination Press: Texas, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4610-9382-4
- ^ a b Scully p. 321.
- ^ Abel & Hare p. 12.
- ^ "A Suggestive Inquiry into Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy" with introduction by Isabelle de Steiger
- ^ "Hermetic Papers of A. E. Waite: the Unknown Writings of a Modern Mystic" Edited by R. A. Gilbert
- ^ "The Pymander of Hermes" Volume 2, Collectanea Hermetica" published by The Theosophical Publishing Society, 1894.
- ^ Yates, F., Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Routledge, London, 1964, pp 9–15 and pp 61–66 and p 413
- ^ Heiser, J., “Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century", Repristination Press, Texas, 2011 [ISBN 978-1-4610-9382-4]
- ^ Yates, F., Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Routledge, London, 1964, pp 14–18 and pp 433–434
- ^ Hanegraaff, W. J., New Age Religion and Western Culture, SUNY, 1998, p 360.
- ^ Yates, F., Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Routledge, London, 1964, p 27 and p 293
- ^ a b Yates, F., Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, Routledge, London, 1964, p52
- ^ Copenhaver, B.P., "Hermetica", Cambridge University Press, 1992, p xlviii
- ^ Scully p. 322.
- ^ Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. xlviii
- ^ Copenhaver, Hermetica, p. xli
- ^ Hall The Hermetic Marriage p. 227.
- ^ Eliade The Forge and the Crucible p. 149 and p. 155–157
- ^ Geber Summa Perfectionis
- ^ Powell pp. 19–20.
- ^ Garstin p. v
- ^ a b Garstin p. 6
- ^ Garstin p. vi
- ^ Garstin p. 35.
- ^ The Way of Hermes p. 33.
- ^ The Way of Hermes p. 42.
- ^ The Way of Hermes p. 28.
- ^ The Way of Hermes p. 47.
- ^ The Way of Hermes pp. 32–3.
- ^ The Way of Hermes p. 29.
- ^ PŒMANDRES, THE SHEPHERD OF MEN
- ^ Regardie p. 17.
- ^ Regardie pp. 15–6.
- ^ Yates, Frances (1972). The Rosicrucian Enlightenment. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7100-7380-1.
- ^ Prof. Carl Edwin Lindgren, "The Rose Cross, A Historical and Philosophical View" — http://users.panola.com/lindgren/rosecross.html
- ^ Regardie pp. 15–7.
- ^ Regardie p. ix.
[edit] References
- Abel, Christopher R. and Hare, William O. (1997). Hermes Trismegistus: An Investigation of the Origin of the Hermetic Writings. Sequim: Holmes Publishing Group.
- Anonymous (2002). Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
- Budge, E. A. Wallis (1895). The Egyptian Book of the Dead: (The Papyrus of Ani) Egyptian Text Transliteration and Translation. New York: Dover Publications.
- Churton, Tobias. The Golden Builders: Alchemists, Rosicrucians, and the First Freemasons. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2002.
- Copenhaver, B.P. Hermetica, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992.
- Garstin, E.J. Langford (2004). Theurgy or The Hermetic Practice. Berwick: Ibis Press. Published Posthumously
- Hoeller, Stephan A. On the Trail of the Winged God: Hermes and Hermeticism Throughout the Ages, Gnosis: A Journal of Western Inner Traditions (Vol. 40, Summer 1996). Also at "Hermes and Hermeticism". Gnosis.org. http://www.gnosis.org/hermes.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- Heiser, James D. (2011). Prisci Theologi and the Hermetic Reformation in the Fifteenth Century. Texas: Repristination Press. ISBN 978-1-4610-9382-4.
- Powell, Robert A. (1991). Christian Hermetic Astrology: The Star of the Magi and the Life of Christ. Hudson: Anthroposohic Press.
- Regardie, Israel (1940). The Golden Dawn. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications.
- Salaman, Clement and Van Oyen, Dorine and Wharton, William D. and Mahé, Jean-Pierre (2000). The Way of Hermes: New Translations of The Corpus Heremticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius. Rochester: Inner Traditions.
- Scully, Nicki (2003). Alchemical Healing: A Guide to Spiritual, Physical, and Transformational Medicine. Rochester: Bear & Company.
[edit] External links
Divine or Cosmic Consciousness: The first stage of this metaphysically vertical parameter, the Divine Universe, the upper World of Atzilut, the plane of Active or Free Intelligence or Logos or Overmind Intuition, includes the Divine Worlds, Cosmic Gods and Godheads; intermediate between the Infinite Noetic Godhead (Logos) and the Manifest Temporal Cosmos. Neither totally eternal, infinite and transcendent, or finite and dualistic, this important Plane stands between the two. Here is where the One Light of the Logos or Transcendent Nous becomes a prism of many radiances, archetypes, gods, sefirot, lights... These in turn supervise the creation below. In Kabbalah this is best described as the World of Atzilut (Divine Emanation), although Sri Aurobindo uses the term Overmind, and Theon Free Intelligence. Moving up from lower finite existence, this plane or universe is experienced as a place of profound and subtle cosmic and esoteric mysteries and gnosis hinting at the Unfolding of the Logos [c.f. Gnosticism, Lurianic Kabbalah, etc], in which there is no distinction between oneself and the cosmos [Sri Aurobindo].
Enlightened Spiritual Mind and Gnosis: The next Universe down from the Divine Pole of existence is the noetic universe, region of pure Enlightened mind, a series of Spiritual Worlds of emanated hierarchies. These are the spiritual hierarchies that emanate from and are the expression and aspects of the Divine world, the ideational Gods and archetypal or divine-Angelic hierarchies. This includes the archetypal or Higher Angelic hierarchies from which originate the gnostic idea-forms that filter down into the angelic ideational planes. The hierarchies of this Universe still have a greater demiurgic or Creative power than the Affective hierarchies below them. In Kabbalah this is the Archangelic Universe, or the World of Beriah (Creation). According to Sant Mat and to Theon there are several universes here, pure spiritual ontocosms beyond the abstract mental plane. This is equivalent to Sri Aurobindo's Higher Mind level. Moving up from lower finite existence, this ontocosm, to which corresponds in part the Sahasrara or Crown chakra above the head, confers the option of Liberation from rebirth, should one choose that. Sri Aurobindo refers to three levels or gradations of spiritual mind - from lower to higher this is the Higher Mind, Illumined Mind, and Intuitive Mind (the latter intermediate between Mind and Overmind (Divine or Cosmic Consciousness). Moving up from lower finite existence, these universes are experienced as a great Enlightenment, and humans who have attained this state are seen as great saints, avatars and buddhas.
Spiritual Mind or Pure Intellect: The next Universe down, the Plane of Pure Mind or pure intellect, is the region of pure Creative Ideas. In Kabbalah this is the Angelic Universe, or the World of Beriah (Creation) of Kabbalah, as well as perhaps the upper part of the world of Yetzirah (Formation). It includes the highest faculties normally active in even the developed individual, and the higher unconscious in part, as well as many regions beyond normal human consciousness. Included here are the spiritual hierarchies that emanate from and are the expression and aspects of the Enlightened Mind worlds, including spiritual archetypes which filter down and eventually manifest in the Physical universe. The Ajna chakra (and one might also assume the Nirvana or "lower" crown chakra) is associated here (i.e. due to the fractal nature of reality, this universe corresponds to the ajna etc (just as other universe correspond to their chakras - the spiritual-gnostic to the crown, the "Physical" or Form universe to the muladhara), but the chakras still (in my understanding pertain to the subtle or inner Form universe). Sri Aurobindo refers to this as the lowest of the four levels or gradations of mind - the pure Thinking Mind, or simply Mind or Mental plane. This is in its own realm pure and unsullied by ignorance; it is only the Mind mixed with the lower levels that leads to delusion and doubt, and the limitations of the outer or "gross" surface consciousness. An alternative classification would be to include the Mental as the lowest sublevel of the Noetic.
Universe of Desire or Intention: (Pure Psychic Universe(s)). The psychic or desire or intentional reality, is, like all the planes or universes, a vast region, with many subdivisions. Most often it is divided into two. The higher levels are heaven regions of pure spiritual emotion and love, can be called the Angelic Universe, being in part equivalent to the Kabbalistic Yetzirah and spiritualist celestial realms, and a region of pure Love and Compassion. It includes the Spiritual and Spiritual-Psychic World; the highest faculties normally active in a person; the higher unconscious in part. This is the lowest of the spiritual heaven realms or "pure universes", and is represented by the Anahata or Heart chakra, wherein dwells the Higher Self (hence Max Theon identifies this region with theSoul degree). The lower subdivisions correspond to various psychic and occult planes of existence. Many of the higher psychic experiences, revelations, religious experiences, and so on, come from here. This is a region of great desires and passions, and a snare for the gullible and unwary, who mistake the half-luminous denizens of this Plane for an ascended master or superme deity. In western esotericism such as Theosophy and Hermeticism, this is or includes the Astral plane. Theon uses the term Nervo or Nervous.
Universe of Material Form: (Gross and Subtle Physical) The most manifest universe, the plane of Form or Matter, can also be divided into one or more upper or more subtle spiritual and a lower or dense subdivision. These are referred to in Adya Theosophical, Anthroposophical, and some New Age thought as the Etheric and the Physical. The Etheric region represents the interface between the Psychic (and more subtle realities) and the Physical proper. It also includes many refined, subtle and Imaginal states of existence that have little relation to our world, or only irrupt into the known universe occasionally, as UFOs and other anomalous (Fortean) phenomena. In even more subtle dimensions of the physical one finds the physical Astral region, and beyond that Steiner's Spiritual Heirarchies. In the subtle physical also there is what in esoteric Islam is widely called the Imaginal Realm, the Barzakh or the Intermediate World, in which "bodies are spiritualitised and spirits corporalised". In western esotericism such as Theosophy and Hermeticism, this is or includes the Astral plane. Theon uses the term Nervo or Nervous Degree. (perhaps equivalent to "etheric" - nadis etc?). The Etheric and Imaginal also provide the blueprints for the Physical universe. Below this of course is the dense physical plane is the material universe, the lower part of the World of Asiyah, which includes physical consciousness, the mundane mind, higher states of consciousness, and also the very restricted state of consciousness in inanimate matter going all the way down to the inconscience of "formless" matter (only formless when expreinced subjectively) or hyle; source of physical laws, and theatre for the soul's evolution, crucible of self-transformation, and the working out of the Divine Plan.
