Passages similar to: Turba Philosophorum — The Thirty-Second Dictum
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Turba Philosophorum
The Thirty-Second Dictum (32)
Bonellus saith: According to thee, O Pythagoras, all things die and live by the will of God, because that nature from which the humidity is removed, that nature which is left by nights, does indeed seem like unto something that is dead; it is then turned and (again) left for certain nights, as a man is left in his tomb, when it becomes a powder.* These things being done, God will restore unto it both the soul and the spirit thereof, and the weakness being taken away, that matter will be made strong, and after corruption will be improved, even as a man becomes stronger after resurrection and younger than he was in this world. Therefore it behoves you, O ye Sons of the Doctrine, to consume that matter with fire boldly until it shall become a cinder, when know that ye have mixed it excellently well, for that cinder receives the spirit, and is imbued gh with the humour until it assumes a fairer colour than it previously possessed. Consider, therefore, O ye Sons of the Doctrine, that artists are unable to paint with their own tinctures until they convert them into a powder; similarly, the philosophers cannot combine medicines for the sick slaves until they also turn them into powder, cooking some of them to a cinder, while others they grind with their hands. The case is the same with those who compose the images of the ancients. But if ye understand what has already been said, ye will know that I speak the truth, and hence I have ordered you to burn up the body and turn it into a cinder, for if ye rule it subtly many things will proceed from it, even as much proceeds from the smallest things in the world. It is thus because copper like man, has a body and a soul, for the inspiration of men cometh from the air, which after God is their life, and similarly the copper is inspired by the humour from which that same copper receiving strength is multiplied and augmented like other things. Hence, the philosophers add, that when copper is consumed with fire and iterated several times, it becomes better than it was. The Turba answereth: Show, therefore,O Bonellus, to future generations after what manner it becometh better than it was! And he: I will do so willingly; it is because it is augmented and multiplied, and because God extracts many things out of one thing, since He hath created nothing which wants its own regimen, and those qualities by which its healing must be effected. Similarly, our copper, when it is first cooked, becomes water; then the more it is cooked, the more is it thickened until it becomes a stone, as the envious have termed it, but it is really an egg tending to become a metal. It is afterwards broken and imbued, when ye must roast it in a fire more intense than the former, until it shall be coloured and shall become like blood in combustion, when it is placed on coins and changes them into gold, according to the Divine pleasure. Do you not see that sperm is not produced from the blood unless it be diligently cooked in the liver till it has acquired an intense red colour, after which no change takes place in that sperm?* It is the same with our work, for unless it be cooked diligently until it shall become a powder, and afterwards be putrefied untilit shall becomea spiritual sperm, there will in no wise proceed from it that colour which ye desire. But if ye arrive at the conclusion of this regimen, and so obtain your purpose, ye shall be princes among the people of your time.
Chapter 22: Of the Birth or Geniture of the Stars, and Creation of the Fourth Day. (102)
And now, when it is almost made, then it has its true virtue and colour, and there is nothing wanting except in this, that the spirit cannot elevate i...
(102) And now, when it is almost made, then it has its true virtue and colour, and there is nothing wanting except in this, that the spirit cannot elevate itself with its body into the light, but must remain to be a dead stone; and though indeed it be of greater virtue than other stones, yet the body remaineth in death.
Chapter 18: Of the promised Seed of the Woman, and Treader upon the Serpent. And of Adam 's and Eve 's going forth out of Paradise, or the Garden in Eden. Also of the Curse of God, how he cursed the Earth for the Sin of Man. (9)
Here now all is clear [and manifest] in the Light; for he had lost the heavenly Fruit, which grew for him without Labour [or Toil of his;] and now he ...
(9) And God said; In the Sweat of thy gFace, thou shalt eat thy Bread till thou turn to Earth again. Here now all is clear [and manifest] in the Light; for he had lost the heavenly Fruit, which grew for him without Labour [or Toil of his;] and now he must dig and delve in the Earth, and sow and plant, and so in the four Elements must get Fruit, in Cares, Labour, Toil, and Misery. For while the Element, or the Virtue [or Power] out of the Element, sprung forth through the Earth, there was so long a continual lasting Root to the Fruit; but when the Element (by the Curse) withdrew, then the congealed Death, Frailty, and transitory Fading, was in the Root, and they must now continually be i planted again: Thus the turmoiling Life of Man took Beginning, wherein we must now bathe ourselves.
The Chapters numbered 51 and 52 are not found in the most ancient papyri, but the substance of them and their formulas are met with on the ancient...
(4) The Chapters numbered 51 and 52 are not found in the most ancient papyri, but the substance of them and their formulas are met with on the ancient coffins [65] and in the Pyramid texts. See, for instance, Unas 189, Teta 68, with M. Maspero’s note on the latter text. I do not, however, believe, as M. Maspero does, that these texts convey the idea “so frequent[!] among half-civilised peoples, of another life in which the deceased will have nothing to eat and drink but excremental matter.” That the which I translate ‘dirt’ and ‘lye’ are of this nature is quite certain, but they are objects of abhorrence to the Sun-god, like the dead rat and the putrid cat in chapter 33, because he is a consuming fire, and “whatsoever he findeth upon his path he devoureth it,” Unas 515. It is only natural then that the deceased who is identified with the Sun-god in these texts should express his execration of such offensive matter. He is not afraid of being limited to this food, his fear springs from the opposite extreme
Chapter 17: Of the horrible, lamentable, and miserable Fall of Adam and Eve in Paradise. Man 's Looking-Glass. (9)
How then canst thou think that God has created the eternal Man out of the four Elements, or what has proceeded from them, which are but corruptible?
(9) Moreover, what has proceeded from the four Elements may be perceived in the Fierceness of the Fire, how instantly the strong Air goes forth from the Fire; and the Stone or Wood is nothing else but a Sulphur from the Water and from the Earth; and if the Tincture be consumed by the Fierceness, then the [Wood or Stone] would come to Ashes, and at last to nothing; as indeed, at the End, this World with the four Elements will come to nothing, and there shall remain nothing else of them in the eternal Element, but the Figure and the Shadow in the Wonders of God. How then canst thou think that God has created the eternal Man out of the four Elements, or what has proceeded from them, which are but corruptible?
Wherefore also the apostle exhorts, "that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men," who profess to persuade, "but in the power of God," which...
(10) Wherefore also the apostle exhorts, "that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men," who profess to persuade, "but in the power of God," which alone without proofs, by mere faith, is able to save. "For the most approved of those that are reputable knows how to keep watch. And justice will apprehend the forger and witnesses of lies," says the Ephesian. For he, having derived his knowledge from the barbarian philosophy, is acquainted with the purification by fire of those who have led bad lives, which the Stoics afterwards called the Conflagration (ekpurwsiu), in which also they teach that each will arise exactly as he was, so treating of the resurrection; while Plato says as follows, that the earth at certain periods is purified by fire and water: "There have been many destructions of men in many ways; and there shall be very great ones by fire and water; and others briefer by innumerable causes." And after a little he adds: "And, in truth, there is a change of the objects which revolve about earth and heaven; and in the course of long periods there is the destruction of the objects on earth by a great conflagration." Then he subjoins respecting the deluge: "But when, again, the gods deluge the earth to purify it with water, those on the mountains herdsmen and shepherds, are saved; those in your cities are carried down by the rivers into the sea." And we showed in the first Miscellany that the philosophers of the Greeks are called thieves, inasmuch as they have taken without acknowledgment their principal dogmas from Moses and the prophets. To which also we shall add, that the angels who had obtained the superior rank, having sunk into pleasures, told to the women the secrets which had come to their knowledge; while the rest of the angels concealed them, or rather, kept them against the coming of the Lord. Thence emanated the doctrine of providence, and the revelation of high things; and prophecy having already been imparted to the philosophers of the Greeks, the treatment of dogma arose among the philosophers, sometimes true when they hit the mark, and sometimes erroneous, when they comprehended not the secret of the prophetic allegory. And this it is proposed briefly to indicate in running over the points requiring mention. Faith, then, we say, we are to show must not be inert and alone, but accompanied with investigation. For I do not say that we are not to inquire at all. For "Search, and thou shalt find," it is said.
Continuing: "Philosophers say there is no true solution of the body without a proceeding coagulation of the spirit, for they are interchangeably...
(64) Continuing: "Philosophers say there is no true solution of the body without a proceeding coagulation of the spirit, for they are interchangeably mixed in a due proportion, whereby the bodily essence becomes of a spiritual penetrating nature. On the other hand, the incomprehensible spiritual essential virtue is also made corporeal by the fire, because there is made between them so near a relation or friendship, like as the heavens operate to the very Depth of Earth, and producing from thence all the treasures and riches of the whole World.
All true Philosophers of the natural or Hermetic sciences begin their labors with a prayer to the Supreme Alchemist of the Universe, beseeching His...
(1) All true Philosophers of the natural or Hermetic sciences begin their labors with a prayer to the Supreme Alchemist of the Universe, beseeching His assistance in the consummation of the Magnum Opus. The prayer that follows, written in a provincial German centuries ago by an adept now unknown, is representative: "O holy and hallowed Trinity, Thou undivided and triple Unity! Cause me to sink into the abyss of Thy limitless eternal Fire, for only in that Fire can the mortal nature of man be changed into humble dust, while the new body of the salt union lies in the light. Oh, melt me and transmute me in this Thy holy Fire, so that on the day at Thy command the fiery waters of the Holy Spirit draw me out from the dark dust, giving me new birth and making me alive with His breath. May I also be exalted through the humble humility of Thy Son, rising through His assistance out of the dust and ashes and changing into a pure spiritual body of rainbow colors like unto the transparent, crystal-like, paradisiacal gold, that my own nature may be redeemed and purified like the elements before me in these glasses and bottles. Diffuse me in the waters of life as though I were in the wine cellar of the eternal Solomon. Here the fire of Thy love will receive new fuel and will blaze forth so that no streams can extinguish it. Through the aid of this divine fire, may I in the end be found worthy to be called into the illumination of the righteous. May I then be sealed up with the light of the new world that I may also attain unto the immortality and glory where there shall be no more alternation of light and darkness. Amen."
Timaeus: and all the species of stone called “fusible”; while those which contain more water include all the solidified substances of the type of wax...
(61) Timaeus: and all the species of stone called “fusible”; while those which contain more water include all the solidified substances of the type of wax and frankincense. And now we have explained with some fullness the Four Kinds, which are thus variegated in their shapes and combinations and permutations; but we have still to try to elucidate the Causes which account for their affective qualities. Now, first of all, the quality of sense-perceptibility must always belong to the objects under discussion; but we have not as yet described the generation of flesh and the appurtenances of flesh, nor of that portion of Soul which is mortal. But, in truth, these last cannot be adequately explained
Servius, commenting on Virgil's Æneid, observes that "the wise Egyptians took care to embalm their bodies, and deposit them in catacombs, in order...
(50) Servius, commenting on Virgil's Æneid, observes that "the wise Egyptians took care to embalm their bodies, and deposit them in catacombs, in order that the soul might be preserved for a long time in connection with the body, and might not soon be alienated; while the Romans, with an opposite design, committed the remains of their dead to the funeral pile, intending that the vital spark might immediately be restored to the general element, or return to its pristine nature." (From Prichard's An Analysis of the Egyptian Mythology.)
As the alchemist must do his work in four worlds simultaneously if he would achieve the Magnum Opus, a table showing the analogies of the three...
(48) As the alchemist must do his work in four worlds simultaneously if he would achieve the Magnum Opus, a table showing the analogies of the three principles in the four worlds may clarify the relationship which the various parts bear to each other. The early masters of the art of alchemical symbolism did not standardize either their symbols or their terms. Thus it required great familiarity with the subject combined with considerable intuitive power to unravel some of their enigmatical statements. The third and fourth divisions of the following table are given alternative renderings, owing to the fact that some authors did not draw a clear line between spirit and soul. According to the Scriptures, spirit is indestructible, but soul is destructible. Obviously, then, they are not synonymous. It is clearly stated that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die," but "the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." The table of analogies, as nearly as they can be established, is as follows:
No complete records are available which give the secret doctrine of the Egyptians concerning the relationship existing between the spirit, or...
(51) No complete records are available which give the secret doctrine of the Egyptians concerning the relationship existing between the spirit, or consciousness, and the body which it inhabited. It is reasonably certain, however, that Pythagoras, who had been initiated in the Egyptian temples, when he promulgated the doctrine of metempsychosis, restated, in part at least, the teachings of the Egyptian initiates. The popular supposition that the Egyptians mummified their dead in order to preserve the form for a physical resurrection is untenable in the light of modern knowledge regarding their philosophy of death. In the fourth book of On Abstinence from Animal Food, Porphyry describes an Egyptian custom of purifying the dead by removing the contents of the abdominal cavity, which they placed in a separate chest. He then reproduces the following oration which had been translated out of the Egyptian tongue by Euphantus: "O sovereign Sun, and all ye Gods who impart life to men, receive me, and deliver me to the eternal Gods as a cohabitant. For I have always piously worshipped those divinities which were pointed out to me by my parents as long as I lived in this age, and have likewise always honored those who procreated my body. And, with respect to other men, I have never slain any one, nor defrauded any one of what he deposited with me, nor have I committed any other atrocious deed. If, therefore, during my life I have acted erroneously, by eating or drinking things which it is unlawful to cat or drink, I have not erred through myself, but through these" (pointing to the chest which contained the viscera). The removal of the organs identified as the seat of the appetites was considered equivalent to the purification of the body from their evil influences.
Chapter 17: Of the horrible, lamentable, and miserable Fall of Adam and Eve in Paradise. Man 's Looking-Glass. (16)
Now the Knowledge of Good and Evil is not manifest in the Paradise, and in the Kingdom of Heaven, but only in what is proceeded out of the Element, in...
(16) But when the Wisdom of God saw that Man, from the Spirit of the World, came to lust, to mingle himself with the four Elements, then came the Commandment and said; Thou shalt not eat of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now the Knowledge of Good and Evil is not manifest in the Paradise, and in the Kingdom of Heaven, but only in what is proceeded out of the Element, in the Fierceness, there only stands the Knowledge of Evil manifest; and there only the Essences are capable of being kindled, and so therein Death sticks; of which God said, When thou eatest thereof thou shalt die.
The Ancient Mysteries and Secret Societies: Part Three (9)
To the Eleusinian philosophers, birch into the physical world was death in the fullest sense of the word, and the only true birth was that of the...
(9) To the Eleusinian philosophers, birch into the physical world was death in the fullest sense of the word, and the only true birth was that of the spiritual soul of man rising out of the womb of his own fleshly nature. "The soul is dead that slumbers," says Longfellow, and in this he strikes the keynote of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Just as Narcissus, gazing at himself in the water (the ancients used this mobile element to symbolize the transitory, illusionary, material universe) lost his life trying to embrace a reflection, so man, gazing into the mirror of Nature and accepting as his real self the senseless clay that he sees reflected, loses the opportunity afforded by physical life to unfold his immortal, invisible Self.
Chapter XI: What Is the Philosophy Which the Apostle Bids Us Shun? (6)
The elements are worshipped, - the air by Diogenes, the water by Thales, the fire by Hippasus; and by those who suppose atoms to be the first...
(6) The elements are worshipped, - the air by Diogenes, the water by Thales, the fire by Hippasus; and by those who suppose atoms to be the first principles of things, arrogating the name of philosophers, being wretched creatures devoted to pleasure. "Wherefore I pray," says the apostle, "that your love may abound yet more and more, in knowledge and in all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent." "Since, when we were children," says the same apostle, "we were kept in bondage under the rudiments of the world. And the child, though heir, differeth nothing from a servant, till the time appointed of the father."
Paracelsus, when describing the substances which constitute the bodies of the elementals, divided flesh into two kinds, the first being that which we...
(11) Paracelsus, when describing the substances which constitute the bodies of the elementals, divided flesh into two kinds, the first being that which we have all inherited through Adam. This is the visible, corporeal flesh. The second was that flesh which had not descended from Adam and, being more attenuated, was not subject to the limitations of the former. The bodies of the elementals were composed of this transubstantial flesh. Paracelsus stated that there is as much difference between the bodies of men and the bodies of the Nature spirits as there is between matter and spirit.
The Theory and Practice of Alchemy: Part One (165)
In alchemy is found again the perpetuation of the Universal Mystery; for as surely as Jesus died upon the cross, Hiram (CHiram) at the west gate of...
(165) In alchemy is found again the perpetuation of the Universal Mystery; for as surely as Jesus died upon the cross, Hiram (CHiram) at the west gate of the Temple, Orpheus on the banks of the river Hebros, Christna on the banks of the Ganges, and Osiris in the coffin prepared by Typhon, so in alchemy, unless the elements first die, the Great Work cannot be achieved. The stages of the alchemical processes can be traced in the lives and activities of nearly all the world Saviors and teachers, and also among the mythologies of several nations. It is said in the Bible that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." In alchemy it is declared that without putrefaction the Great Work cannot be accomplished. What is it that dies on the cross, is buried in the tomb of the Mysteries, and that dies also in the retort and becomes black with putrefaction? Also, what is it that does this same thing in the nature of man, that he may rise again, phœnix-like, from his own ashes (caput mortuum)?
Chapter 6: Of the Separation in the Creation, in the third Principle. (10)
For the Birth in the whole Space of this World (as far as Lucifer's Kingdom reached) was thus; and therefore there is very different Kind of Earth, Me...
(10) And further, when the Horror [or Crack or Shriek] of the Fire is come into its harsh Mother, and has thus overcome its Mother, then itself is much more terrified, for there it loses its fierce or strong Property, because the Mother [has] attained another is come to be, which in the inanimate Matrix, the Materia, [or Matter,] in the Midst of the Horror [or Crack] is come to be a soft and bright mixt Matter, viz. from the Crack of the Light [is proceeded] Gold, Silver, Copper, Tin, Lead, &c. according as every Place in the Matrix stood in the wrestling Center. 1 1. For the Birth in the whole Space of this World (as far as Lucifer's Kingdom reached) was thus; and therefore there is very different Kind of Earth, Metals, and other Things in one Place, than in another. And it is plain before our Eyes, that all Metals are mixed which proceeds from the a bringing forth in infinitum; which we well understand and see, but cannot utter, nor dare we speak it, for it troubles us, and it reaches into the Deity, which is without Beginning, and eternal; therefore the Creature must let it alone upon Pain of the Loss both of its Reason and Sense.
The theurgic art, therefore, perceiving this to be the case, and thus having discovered in common, appropriate receptacles, conformably to the peculia...
(2) For, since it is requisite that terrestrial natures should by no means be destitute of divine communion, the earth also receives a certain divine portion from it, sufficient for the participation of the Gods. The theurgic art, therefore, perceiving this to be the case, and thus having discovered in common, appropriate receptacles, conformably to the peculiarity of each of the Gods, it frequently connects together stones, herbs, animals, aromatics, and other sacred, perfect, and deiform substances of the like kind; and afterwards, from all these, it produces an entire and pure receptacle. For it is not proper to despise all matter, but that alone which is foreign from the Gods. But that matter is to be chosen which is adapted to them, as being able to accord with the edifices of the Gods, the dedication of statues, and the sacred operations of sacrifices. For no otherwise can a participation of superior beings be obtained by places in the earth, or by men that dwell in it, unless a foundation of this kind is first established. It is also requisite to be persuaded by arcane assertions, that a certain matter is imparted by the Gods, through blessed visions. This matter, therefore, is doubtless connascent with those by whom it is imparted. Hence, does it not follow that the sacrifice of a matter of this kind excites the Gods to present themselves to the view, immediately calls forth the participation of them, receives them when they accede, and perfectly unfolds them into light?
Chapter 22: Of the Birth or Geniture of the Stars, and Creation of the Fourth Day. (85)
But now every qualifying or fountain spirit has the property of the whole or total nature, and its fabric or work, at the time of the kindling of the ...
(85) But now every qualifying or fountain spirit has the property of the whole or total nature, and its fabric or work, at the time of the kindling of the wrath, was together also incorporated in death; and out of every spirit's fabric or work, earth, stones, mineral ores, and water came to be.
Chapter 17: Of the horrible, lamentable, and miserable Fall of Adam and Eve in Paradise. Man 's Looking-Glass. (83)
Here now we find, that they heard the Voice of God in the Garden; for the Element, which is before God, wherewith Man qualifies [or mixes,] that did...
(83) Here now we find, that they heard the Voice of God in the Garden; for the Element, which is before God, wherewith Man qualifies [or mixes,] that did tremble because of Sin; and Sin was manifested in the Element of the Mind, first in Adam and Eve, and then Fear and Terror fell into the Essences of the Soul; for the first Principle in the [fierce] Sternness was stirred, so that [Principle] got (as a Man may say) Fuel for its Source of Fire. And it is risen up in the Kindling, in a Contrariety of Will, in the Essences, where one Form has continually opposed the other, viz. the sour Tartness, and the Cold, with their Attracting, have awakened the bitter Stinging and Tormenting in the Essences of the Tincture of the Blood in the Spirit; and the bitter Raging and Rising has awakened the Fire.