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Keys to the Golden Palace of Our Magnum Opus.)
28. They are also the eternal secrets of the Great Lamp of Wisdom: there is
the light, and the oil, and the lamp itself.
(Comment: The Lamp of Wisdom is what guides the soul on its journey to the
summit of the Great Mountain of Hermetic Attainment. The Lamp is held in the
`hand' of our True Self who is represented in Tarot by "The Hermit". The Hermit
holds this Lamp on high that we may comprehend the threefold nature of the Great
Work to illumine our Path and make bright our ways.)
29. Study thou well this threefold teaching of Hermes-Mercurius- Thoth,
Thrice-greatest-Master of the Opus of the Sun; and so shalt thou
accomplish the Great Work of the Aeon.
(Comment: The Hermit is the image of Hermes-Mercurius-Thoth, as one who has
attained the Great Work and who now stands ready to illumine all others below Him
on the Path with the threefold teaching of the ages. Yet only those who are truly fit
for His Teaching can recognize His Wisdom. The unfit cannot recognize His
Wisdom, since they are blind and stupid, unable to see or comprehend the obvious,
the Light which is even now upon them.)
30. Thou shalt also know that the Three Higher Principles of which We
speak are mysterious revelations of a more Ineffable Trinity of Inscrutable
Unity.
(Comment: This seems to imply a mystery of Qabalistic significance in which
Kether, Chokmah and Binah are but reflections of three higher abstract concepts,
called Ain (Nothing), Ain Soph (The Limitless), and Ain Soph Aour (The Limitless
Light). These are the three Veils of Negative Existence which are beyond the Tree
of Life. From them, however, emanate the three Supernals, and from these the
remaining Sephiroth.)
31. Now the Inward Work is threefold; and the Outward Work is threefold.
Each is a Threefold Unity of Soul, Mind and Body.
(Comment: The Inward Work is, of course, Mystical Alchemy and the Outward
Work is, of course, Sexual Alchemy. Both of these operations are comprised of
three basic stages. These three stages are called Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo,
or the Black, the White, and the Red. Nigredo is the stage of Dissolution, which is
the Putrefaction of our work; Albedo is Coagulation, which is the Synthesis of our
work; and Rubedo is Sublimation, which is the Multiplication of our work.
These three stages are represented by three figures which constitute the
Astrological Trinity of Scorpio. These are the Scorpion, the Serpent, and the Eagle.
The Scorpion is Nigredo, the Serpent is Albedo, and the Eagle is Rubedo. The
latter of these three is the astrological equivalent of the alchemical Phoenix and
Pelican. It represents the Great Attainment, the rebirth of the soul or stone, which
can now transfigure all base metals into the Perfect Gold of Nature. Thus the great
emblem of the New Order of the Golden Dawn (Order of the T.·.G.·.D.·.) is the
Eagle whose Vast Wings represent the Liberty of the Adept to accomplish the Great
Work.
The three stages in Mystical Alchemy, or the three states of the stone, are
transmutations of a most peculiar kind. They are, in fact, metamorphic in nature,
constituting actual quantum jumps or abrupt transitions from one state of
development to another; they do not necessarily follow a logical pattern of change.
The stone itself remains continuous throughout the operation, but the changes it
endures are not connected with each other in any phenomenological or observable
sense. Each stage is a complete transformation of the stone, a veritable death and
rebirth of its soul from one state of existence to another. Each stage, though it be
the natural result of our work, comes about unexpectedly; it is an unpredictable
event in the space-time continuum.
Now in this threefold experimental operation the saline stone of Our Majestic Work
first undergoes a critical death or disintegration process, which is also a purification
of its soul, mind and body. It then becomes the White Tincture of our work, which is
a magical consecration of the stone, and this White Tincture transmutes base
metals into the Silver of the Moon. Then it becomes the Red Tincture of our work,
the Elixir of Life, which transmutes base metals into the Living Gold of the Sun.
In Egyptian mythological symbolism, this threefold operation is represented by the
slaying of Osiris by his brother Set, His revival through the Magick of His wife Isis,
and His mysterious resurrection in His son Horus, who is the Aurum Aurea or
Golden Dawn of Our Regal Art, and whose holy image is the Solar Eagle. Such is
the death and rebirth of THAT which is like unto itself: such is the Great Experiment
of the Royal Art of the Sun!
DISSOLUTION is the FIRST KEY to the GREAT WORK. It is the purification of
Sulphur and Mercury. COAGULATION, the second key, is the unification of
Sulphur and Mercury with the aid of Salt. These two keys correlate with the
alchemical formula "solve et coagula". SUBLIMATION, the third key, is the
multiplication of the stone by repeating the actual operation, and the effect of this
process is the exaltation of the Philosopher's Stone.
Eliphas Levi wrote: "This stone is both one and manifold; it is decomposed
by analysis and recomposed by synthesis. In analysis it is a powder, the
alchemical powder of projection; before analysis and in synthesis it is a
stone." The analytical decomposition of the stone is the dissolution of our work; it is
the volatilization of the fixed. The synthetic recomposition of the stone is the
coagulation of our work; it is the fixation of the volatile. These two alchemical
processes result in the production of the Philosopher's Stone, but only in potential
form. It is not until the stone is subjected to Sublimation that it is completely
regenerated and, ergo, capable of transmuting base metals into gold and conferring
immortality.
Sublimation ultimately becomes an eternal self-generating process which
regenerates the stone time and time again, making of the stone an immortal soul,
and an eternal traveler on the Great Circle of Perpetual Initiation. Sublimation makes [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
Keys to the Golden Palace of Our Magnum Opus.)
28. They are also the eternal secrets of the Great Lamp of Wisdom: there is
the light, and the oil, and the lamp itself.
(Comment: The Lamp of Wisdom is what guides the soul on its journey to the
summit of the Great Mountain of Hermetic Attainment. The Lamp is held in the
`hand' of our True Self who is represented in Tarot by "The Hermit". The Hermit
holds this Lamp on high that we may comprehend the threefold nature of the Great
Work to illumine our Path and make bright our ways.)
29. Study thou well this threefold teaching of Hermes-Mercurius- Thoth,
Thrice-greatest-Master of the Opus of the Sun; and so shalt thou
accomplish the Great Work of the Aeon.
(Comment: The Hermit is the image of Hermes-Mercurius-Thoth, as one who has
attained the Great Work and who now stands ready to illumine all others below Him
on the Path with the threefold teaching of the ages. Yet only those who are truly fit
for His Teaching can recognize His Wisdom. The unfit cannot recognize His
Wisdom, since they are blind and stupid, unable to see or comprehend the obvious,
the Light which is even now upon them.)
30. Thou shalt also know that the Three Higher Principles of which We
speak are mysterious revelations of a more Ineffable Trinity of Inscrutable
Unity.
(Comment: This seems to imply a mystery of Qabalistic significance in which
Kether, Chokmah and Binah are but reflections of three higher abstract concepts,
called Ain (Nothing), Ain Soph (The Limitless), and Ain Soph Aour (The Limitless
Light). These are the three Veils of Negative Existence which are beyond the Tree
of Life. From them, however, emanate the three Supernals, and from these the
remaining Sephiroth.)
31. Now the Inward Work is threefold; and the Outward Work is threefold.
Each is a Threefold Unity of Soul, Mind and Body.
(Comment: The Inward Work is, of course, Mystical Alchemy and the Outward
Work is, of course, Sexual Alchemy. Both of these operations are comprised of
three basic stages. These three stages are called Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo,
or the Black, the White, and the Red. Nigredo is the stage of Dissolution, which is
the Putrefaction of our work; Albedo is Coagulation, which is the Synthesis of our
work; and Rubedo is Sublimation, which is the Multiplication of our work.
These three stages are represented by three figures which constitute the
Astrological Trinity of Scorpio. These are the Scorpion, the Serpent, and the Eagle.
The Scorpion is Nigredo, the Serpent is Albedo, and the Eagle is Rubedo. The
latter of these three is the astrological equivalent of the alchemical Phoenix and
Pelican. It represents the Great Attainment, the rebirth of the soul or stone, which
can now transfigure all base metals into the Perfect Gold of Nature. Thus the great
emblem of the New Order of the Golden Dawn (Order of the T.·.G.·.D.·.) is the
Eagle whose Vast Wings represent the Liberty of the Adept to accomplish the Great
Work.
The three stages in Mystical Alchemy, or the three states of the stone, are
transmutations of a most peculiar kind. They are, in fact, metamorphic in nature,
constituting actual quantum jumps or abrupt transitions from one state of
development to another; they do not necessarily follow a logical pattern of change.
The stone itself remains continuous throughout the operation, but the changes it
endures are not connected with each other in any phenomenological or observable
sense. Each stage is a complete transformation of the stone, a veritable death and
rebirth of its soul from one state of existence to another. Each stage, though it be
the natural result of our work, comes about unexpectedly; it is an unpredictable
event in the space-time continuum.
Now in this threefold experimental operation the saline stone of Our Majestic Work
first undergoes a critical death or disintegration process, which is also a purification
of its soul, mind and body. It then becomes the White Tincture of our work, which is
a magical consecration of the stone, and this White Tincture transmutes base
metals into the Silver of the Moon. Then it becomes the Red Tincture of our work,
the Elixir of Life, which transmutes base metals into the Living Gold of the Sun.
In Egyptian mythological symbolism, this threefold operation is represented by the
slaying of Osiris by his brother Set, His revival through the Magick of His wife Isis,
and His mysterious resurrection in His son Horus, who is the Aurum Aurea or
Golden Dawn of Our Regal Art, and whose holy image is the Solar Eagle. Such is
the death and rebirth of THAT which is like unto itself: such is the Great Experiment
of the Royal Art of the Sun!
DISSOLUTION is the FIRST KEY to the GREAT WORK. It is the purification of
Sulphur and Mercury. COAGULATION, the second key, is the unification of
Sulphur and Mercury with the aid of Salt. These two keys correlate with the
alchemical formula "solve et coagula". SUBLIMATION, the third key, is the
multiplication of the stone by repeating the actual operation, and the effect of this
process is the exaltation of the Philosopher's Stone.
Eliphas Levi wrote: "This stone is both one and manifold; it is decomposed
by analysis and recomposed by synthesis. In analysis it is a powder, the
alchemical powder of projection; before analysis and in synthesis it is a
stone." The analytical decomposition of the stone is the dissolution of our work; it is
the volatilization of the fixed. The synthetic recomposition of the stone is the
coagulation of our work; it is the fixation of the volatile. These two alchemical
processes result in the production of the Philosopher's Stone, but only in potential
form. It is not until the stone is subjected to Sublimation that it is completely
regenerated and, ergo, capable of transmuting base metals into gold and conferring
immortality.
Sublimation ultimately becomes an eternal self-generating process which
regenerates the stone time and time again, making of the stone an immortal soul,
and an eternal traveler on the Great Circle of Perpetual Initiation. Sublimation makes [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]