Foreword
Introduction
Picture
of the Magician
1:
About
the Elements
2:
The
Principle of Fire
3:
The
Principle of Water
4:
The
Principle of Air
5:
The
Principle of Earth
6:
The
Light
7:
Akasa
or the Ethereal Principle
8:
Karma,
the Law of Cause and Effect
9:
Man
10:
Diet
11:
The
Material Plane
12:
The
Soul or the Astral Body
13:
The
Astral Plane
14:
The
Spirit
15:
The
Mental Plane
16:
Truth
17:
Religion
18:
God
19:
Asceticism
Foreword
There is no doubt that every one who
has been searching for the true and authentic cognition, in vain
looked for years, if not even for a lifetime, to find a reliable
method of training. The ardent desire for this noble aim made
people again and again collect a mass of books, from near and far,
supposed to be the best ones, but which were lacking a great deal
for real practice. Not one, however, of all the seekers could make
any sense from all the stuff collected in the course of time, and
the goal aimed at so fervently vanished more and more in nebulous
distances. Provided the one or the other did start to work on the
progress after instructions so highly praised, his good will and
diligence never saw any practical results. Apart from that, nobody
could reliably answer to his pressing questions, whether or not
just this way he had selected, was the correct one for his
individual case.
Just at this time Divine Providence
decided to help all those seekers who have been searching with
tough endurance to find means and ways for their spiritual
development. Through this book universal methods are given into
the hands of mankind by a highest initiate who was chosen by
Divine Providence for this special task.
It can be said
without exaggeration that never before have these complete magical
methods been accessible for the public.
Otti Votavova
Introduction
Anyone who should believe to find in
this work nothing else but a collection of recipes, with the aid
of which he can easily and without any effort attain to honor and
glory, riches and power and aim at the annihilation of his
enemies, might be told from the very inception, that he will put
aside this book, being very disappointed.
Numerous sects and religions do not understand the
expression of “magic” otherwise than black art,
witchcraft or conspiracy with evil powers. It is therefore not
astonishing that many people are frightened by a certain horror,
whenever the word “magic” is pronounced. Jugglers,
conjurers, and charlatans have discredited this term and,
considering this circumstance, there is no surprise that magic
knowledge has always been looked upon with a slight disregard.
Even in the remotest times the MAGUS has been regarded
as one of the highest adepts and it might be of interest to learn
that, as a matter of fact, the word “magic” is derived
from this word. The so called “sorcerers” are by no
means initiates but only imitators o the mysteries, who counting
partly on the ignorance and partly on the credulity of the
individuality or a whole nation in order to reach their selfish
aims by, lies and fraud. The true magician will always despise
such practices.
In reality, magic is a sacred science, it is, in the
very true sense the sum of all knowledge because it teaches how to
know and utilize the sovereign rules. There is no difference
between magic and mystic or any other conception of the name.
Wherever authentic initiation is at stake, one has to proceed on
the same basis, according to the same rules, irrespective of the
name given by this or that creed. Considering the universal
polarity rules of good and evil, active and passive, light and
shadow, each science can serve good as well as bad purposes. Let
us take the example of a knife, an object that virtually ought to
be used for cutting bread only, which, however, can become a
dangerous weapon in the hands of a murderer. All depends on the
character of the individual. This principle goes just as well for
all the spheres of the occult sciences. In my book I have chosen
the term of “magician” for all of my disciples, it being
a symbol of the deepest initiation and the highest wisdom.
Many of the readers will know, of course, that the word
“tarot” does not mean a game of cards, serving mantical
purposes, but a symbolic book of initiation which contains the
greatest secrets in a symbolic form. The first tablet of this book
introduces the magician representing him as the master of the
elements and offering the key to the first Arcanum, the secret of
the ineffable name of Tetragrammaton*, the quabbalistic
Yod-He-Vau-He. Here we will, therefore, find the gate to the
magician’s initiation. The reader will easily realize, how
significant and how manifold the application of this tablet is.
Not one of the books published up to date does describe the true
sense of the first Tarot card so distinctly as I have done in my
book. It is – let it be noted – born from the own
practice and destined for the practical use of a lot of other
people, and all my disciples have found it to be the best and most
serviceable system.
*Tetragrammaton literally means “the
four-letter word”. It was a subterfuge to avoid the sin of
uttering the sacred name YHVH (Yahveh) or Jehova as it later
became when the vowels of another word were combined with the
consonants of YHVH.
But I would never dare to say that my book describes or
deals with all the magic or mystic problems. If anyone should like
to write all about this sublime wisdom, he ought to fill folio
volumes. It can, however, be affirmed positively that this work is
indeed the gate to the true initiation, the first key to using the
universal rules. I am not going to deny the fact of fragments
being able to be found in many an author’s publications, but
not in a single book will the reader find so exact a description
of the first Tarot card.
I have taken pains to be as plain as possible in the
course of the lectures to make the sublime Truth accessible to
everybody, although it has been a hard task sometimes to find such
simple words as are necessary for the understanding of all the
readers. I must leave it to the judgment of all of you, whether or
not my efforts have been successful. At certain points I have been
forced to repeat myself deliberately to emphasize some important
sentences and to spare the reader any going back to a particular
page.
There have been many complaints of people interested in
the occult sciences that they had never got any chance at all to
be initiated by a personal master or leader (guru). Therefore only
people endowed with exceptional faculties, a poor preferred
minority seemed to be able to gain this sublime knowledge. Thus a
great many of serious seekers of the truth had to go through piles
of books just to catch one pearl of it now and again. The one,
however, who is earnestly interested in his progress and does not
pursue this sacred wisdom from sheer curiosity or else is yearning
to satisfy his own lust, will find the right leader to initiate
him in this book. No incarnate adept, however high his rank may
be, can give the disciple more for his start than the present book
does. If both the honest trainee and the attentive reader will
find in this book all they have been searching for in vain all the
years, then the book has fulfilled its purpose completely.
The Author.
Picture
of the Magician: The first Tarot card - Interpretation of the
Symbolism
Below
you will find the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms expressed
in a symbolic manner.
The female on the left side and the
male on the right side are the plus (positive) and the minus
(negative) in every human being.
In their middle is seen a
hermaphrodite, a creature personifying the male and female
combined in one as the sign of concinnity between the male and
female principle.
The electrical and magnetical fluids
are shown in red and blue colors, electrical fluid being red,
magnetical fluid blue.
The head region of the female is
electrical, therefore red, the region of the genitals is
magnetical, consequently blue. As for the male, it happens to be
in inverted order.
Above the hermaphrodite there is a
globe as a sign of the earth sphere, above which the magician is
illustrated with the four elements.
Above the male, there are the active
elements, that of the fire in red and the air element in blue
color. Above the female there are the passive elements, the water
element in green and the element of the earth in yellow color.
The middle along the magician up to
the globe is dark purple, representing the sign of the akasa
principle.
Above the magician’s head, with
an invisible ribbon for a crown, there is a gold-edged silvery
white lotus flower as a sign of the divinity. In the inside there
is the ruby red philosophers’ stone symbolizing the
quintessence of the whole hermetic science. On the right side in
the background there is the sun, yellow like gold and on the left
side we see the moon, silvery-white, expressing plus and minus in
the macro- and microcosm, the electrical and magnetical fluids.
Above the lotus flower, Creation has
been symbolized by a ball, in the interior of which are
represented the procreative positive and negative forces which
stand for the creating act of the universe.
The eternal, the infinite, the
boundless, and the uncreated have been expressed symbolically by
the word AUM and the dark purple to black color.
Initiation I
Theory
The Great Secret of the Tetragrammaton
or the Quabbalistical Yod-He-Vau-He
Device: That which is above is
also that which is below (Hermes Trismegistus)
1: About the Elements
Everything that has been created,
the macrocosm as well as the microcosm, consequently the big and
the small world have been achieved by the effect of the
elements. For this reason, right from the beginning of the
initiation, I shall attend to these powers and underline their
deep and manifold significance in particular. In the occult
literature very little has been said about the powers of the
elements up to now so that I made it my business to treat this
field of knowledge still unknown and to lift the veil covering
these rules. It is absolutely not very easy to enlighten the
uninitiated so that they are not only fully informed about the
existence and the activity of the elements, but will be able to
work with these powers in the future practically.
The whole universe is similar to a
clockwork with all its wheels in mesh and interdependent from
each other. Even the idea of the Godhead as the highest
comprehensible entity may be divided in aspects analogous to the
elements. Details about it are found in the chapter concerning
the God-idea.
In the oldest oriental scriptures,
the elements are designated as tattwas. In our European
literature, they are only considered on the ground of their good
effects and in so far as we are warned against their unfavorable
influence, which means that certain actions can be undertaken
under the influence of the tattwas, or else must be omitted. The
accuracy of this fact is not to be doubted, but all that has
been published up to date points to a slight aspect of the
effects of the elements only. How to find out about the effects
of elements respecting the tattwas for any personal use, may be
sufficiently learned from astrological books.
I am penetrating far deeper into
the secret of the elements and therefore I have chosen a
different key, which, although being analogous to the
astrological key, has, as a matter of fact, nothing to do with
it. The reader, to whom this key is completely unknown, shall be
taught to use it in various ways. As for the single tasks,
analogies and effects of the elements, I shall deal with tem by
turns and in detail in the following chapters, which will not
only unveil the theoretical part of it, but point directly to
the practical use, because it is here that the greatest Arcanum
is to be found.
In the oldest book of wisdom, the
Tarot, something has already been written about this great
mystery of the elements. The first card of this work represents
the magician pointing to the knowledge and mastery of the
elements. On this first card the symbols are: the sword as the
fiery element, the rod as the element of the air, the goblet as
that of the water and the coins as the element of the earth.
This proves without any doubt that already in the mysteries of
yore, the magician was destined for the first Tarot card,
mastery of the elements having been chosen as the first act of
initiation. In honor of this tradition I shall give my principal
attention to the elements for, as you will see, the key to the
elements is the panacea, with the help of which all the
occurring problems may be solved.
According to the Indian succession
of the tattwas, it runs as follows:
Akasa - principle of the ether
Tejas - principle of the fire
Waju - Principle of the air
Apas - principle of the water
Prithivi - principle of the earth
In accordance with the Indian
doctrine, it has been said that the four somehow grosser tattwas
have been descended from the fifth tattwa, the akasa principle.
Consequently akasa is the cause ultimate and to be regarded as
the fifth power, the so-called quintessence. In one of the
following chapters, I shall inform the reader about this most
subtle element akasa in detail. The specific qualities of each
element, beginning with the highest planes right down to the
grossly material level, will be mentioned in all the following
chapters. By now the reader has surely realized that it is no
easy task to analyze the great mystery of creation, and word it
in such a way that everybody gets the chance of penetrating the
topic to form a plastic picture of it all.
The analysis of the elements will
also be discussed and the great practical value of them
underlined, so that every scientist, whether he be a chemist, a
physician, a magnetizer, an occultist, a magician, a mystic, a
quabbalist or a yogi, etc., can derive his practical benefit
from it. Should I succeed in teaching the reader so far that he
is able to deal with the subject in the proper way and to find
the practical key to the branch of knowledge most suitable for
him, I will be glad to see that the purpose of my book has been
fulfilled.
2: The Principle of Fire
As it has been said before, akasa
or the etheric principle is the cause of the origin of the
elements. According to the oriental scriptures, the first
element born from akasa is believed to be Tejas, the principle
of fire. This element as well as all the others manifest their
influence not only in our roughly material plane but also in
everything created. The basic qualities of the fiery principle
are heat and expansion. In the beginning of all things created
therefore must have been fire and light, and in the Bible we
read: “Fiat Lux” – There shall be light.
The origin of the light, of course, is to be sought in the fire.
Each element and therefore that of fire, too, has two
polarities, i.e., the active and the passive one, which means
positive (+) and negative (-). Plus will always signify the
constructive, the creative, the productive sources whereas minus
stands for all that is destructive or dissecting. There are
always two basic qualities, which must be clearly distinguished
in each element. Religions have always imputed the good to the
active and the evil to the passive side. But fundamentally
spoken, there are no such things as good or bad; they are
nothing but human conceptions. In the Universe there is neither
good nor evil, because everything has been created according to
immutable rules, wherein the Divine Principle is reflected and
only by knowing these rules, shall we be able to come near to
the Divinity.
As mentioned before, the fiery
principle owns the expansion, which I shall call electrical
fluid for the sake of better comprehension. This definition does
not just point to the roughly material electricity in spite of
its having a certain analogy to it. Every one will realize at
once, of course, that the quality of expansion is identical with
extension. This elementary principle of fire is latent and
active in all things created, as a matter of fact, in the whole
Universe beginning from the tiniest grain of sand to the most
sublime substance visible or invisible.
3: The Principle of Water
In the previous chapter we have
studied the origin and the qualities of the positive element of
fire. In this chapter I am going to describe the opposite
principle, the water. It is also derived from akasa, the etheric
principle. But in comparison with fire, it has quite contrasting
qualities. These basic qualities are coldness and shrinkage. The
point in question are also two poles, the active one being
constructive, life-giving, nourishing and protective, whereas
the negative pole, similar to the one of fire, is destructive,
dissecting, fermenting, and dividing. As this element owns the
basic quality of shrinking and contraction, it has produced the
magnetic fluid. Fire as well as water are operating in all
regions. According to the rules of creation, the fiery principle
would not be able to exist all by itself if it did not conceal
inside as opposite pole the principle of water. These two
elements, fire and water, are the basic elements with the help
of which all has been created. In consequence of these facts, we
have everywhere to reckon on two main elements. Moreover with
the electrical and magnetical fluids which represent the
contrasting polarities. 4:
The Principle of Air
Another element derived from
akasa is that of air. Initiated people do not regard this
principle as a real element, but they will grant it the role of a
mediator between the fiery and the watery principles, so that the
principle of air will, in a certain way, establish the neutral
equilibrium, acting as a medium between the active and the passive
activities of water and of fire. Through the interaction of the
active and passive elements of fire and water the whole created
life has become motion.
In its mediatorship the principle
of air has assumed the quality of warmth from the fire and that
of humidity from the water. Without these two qualities any life
would be inconceivable. These two qualities will also grant two
polarities to the airy principle, which means in the positive
outcome the life-giving polarity, and in the negative aspect the
destructive polarity.
In addition to that let me say
that the mentioned elements are not t be regarded as ordinary
fire, water and air which would solely represent aspects of the
grossly material plane but in this case universal qualities of
all elements are concerned.
5: The Principle of Earth
It has been said of the principle
of air that it does not represent an element proper and this
affirmation goes for the principle of earth likewise. Now this
means that out of the interaction of the three foresaid elements
the earthy principle has been born as the last element which by
its specific quality, the solidification involves all the three
elements. It is this quality in particular which has given a
concrete shape to the three aforesaid elements. But at the same
time the action of the three elements has been limited with the
result of space, measure, weight and time having been born. The
reciprocal action of the three elements together with that of
the earth, thus, has become tetrapolar so that the earthy
principle may be labeled now as a 4-pole magnet. The fluid in
the polarity of the earthy element is electromagnetic. All the
life created can therefore be explained by the fact that all
elements are active in the fourth, i.e., the earth element.
Through realization in this element came out the Fiat, “It
shall be”.
Details concerning the specific
influences of the elements in the various spheres and kingdoms,
such as the kingdoms of nature, of animals and of human beings
will be found in the following chapters. The main point is that
the reader gets a general impression about the workshop and the
effect of the elemental principles in the entire Universe.
6: The Light
Light is established on the
principle of fire. Light without fire is unconceivable and for
this particular reason it is an aspect of the fire. Each fiery
element can be converted into light and the other way around.
Therefore light involves all the specific qualities such as
shining, penetrating, expanding.
The opposite of light is darkness,
which has come out of the principle of water. Darkness has the
contrasting specific qualities of the light. Without darkness,
light would not only remain quite unrecognizable, but without
darkness there would never be any light at all. Evidently light
and darkness must have been produced by the mutual play of two
elements, consequently those of fire and water. Light in its
outcome therefore has the positive quality whereas darkness has
the negative one. This interplay evidently is working in all
regions.
7: Akasa or the Ethereal
Principle
Several times while describing
the elements I have said that they proceed from the ethereal
principle. Accordingly, the ethereal principle is the ultimate,
the supreme, the most powerful thing, something inconceivable,
the ultimate cause of all things existing and created. To put it
in a nutshell, it is the causal sphere. Therefore akasa is
spaceless and timeless. It is the non-created, the
incomprehensible, the indefinable. The various religions have
given it the name of God. It is the fifth power, the original
power. Everything has been created by it and is kept in balance
by it. It is the origin and the purity of all thoughts and
intentions, it is the causal world wherein the whole creation in
subsisting on, beginning from the highest spheres down to the
lowest ones. It is the quintessence of the alchemists; it is all
in all.
8: Karma
An immutable law, which has its
aspect just in the akasa principle, is the law of cause and
effect. Each cause sets free a corresponding effect. This law
works everywhere as the most sublime rule. Consequently every
deed proceeds from a cause or is followed by any result.
Therefore we should not only accept Karma as a rule for our good
actions, as the oriental philosophy puts it, but its
signification reaches farther and is a very deep one.
Instinctively all men have the feeling that something good can
bring good results only and again all the evil must end up with
evil or, in the words of a proverb, “ Whatsoever a man
sows, that shall he reap”. Everybody is bound to know
this law and to respect it. This law of cause and effect governs
the elemental principles, too. I have no intention to enter into
details of this law, which could be expressed in a few words, as
they are quite clear so that every reasonable man will
understand them. Subject to this law of cause and effect is also
the law of evolution or development. Thus development is an
aspect of the karma law.
9: Man - About the Body
Man is the true image of God; he
has been created in the likeness of the universe. Everything
great to be found in the universe is reflected, I a small
degree, in man. For this reason, man is signified as a microcosm
in contrast to the macrocosm of the universe. Strictly speaking,
the entire nature manifests itself in man and it will be the
task of this chapter to inform about these problems.
I do not intend to describe the
physical occurrences in the body because everybody can find
information about it in any respective work. What I shall teach
is to regard man from the hermetic standpoint, and I shall
enlighten interested people as to how to use the fundamental
key, the influence of the elements on man, in the right way.
A well-known maxim says, “A
sound mind in a sound body”. The genuine truth of this
aphorism represents itself immediately to everybody dealing with
the problem of man. There surely will arise the question, what
health is from the hermetic point of view. Not every one is
capable to answer this question at the first instant. Seen from
the hermetic angle, health is the perfect harmony of all the
forces operating inside the body with respect to the basic
qualities of the elements. There need not prevail such a great
disharmony of the element a to set free a visible effect which
is called disease. For disharmony in the form of sickness is
already an essential disturbance in the workshop of the elements
inside the body. The main condition for the novice is to
concentrate himself absolutely on his body. The outwardly
visible expression of the body resembles that of a beautiful
garment, an beauty, in all its aspects, is likewise an aspect of
the divine nature Beauty, properly speaking, is not only that
which pleases us or appears to be sympathetic to our taste,
because sympathy or antipathy are dependent on the interaction
of the elements. Genuine health is rather a basic condition of
our spiritual rising. If we like to live in beauty, we must form
our house, our flat, or, in this case, our body beautifully and
fill it with harmony.
According to the universal law,
the elements have to perform certain functions inside our body.
These are mainly: building up the body, keeping it alive, and
dissolving it. The positive part in the body, the building up,
is therefore the business of the positive or active side of the
elements. The preserving part is brought about by the linking or
connecting part of the elements, i.e., the neutral, whereas the
destructive or dissolving part in the body is realized by the
negative qualities of the elements.
It is obvious that the fiery
principle in the active form with its electrical fluid will
exert the active, expansive, building-up influence. The contrary
will be the case in the negative form.
The watery principle, in its
active form, will influence the building-up activity; in its
negative form, it will produce the disintegrating, dissolving
activity of all the fluids in the body.
With the principle of air rests
the task of controlling the electrical fluid of the fire and the
magnetic fluid of the water in the body, keeping them in
balance. For this reason it has been characterized as the
neutral or mediating element.
It has been said in the
fundamental key about the forces of the principle of earth that
it has the function inside the body to keep together the
influences of the three elements. In the active form of the
earthy principle, it has an animating, vivifying, invigorating
influence and, in the negative form, it is the other way round.
The earthy principle is responsible for the thriving as well as
for the ageing of the body. We could mention quite a lot of
analogies with respect to the influence of the elements inside
the body, but let it be enough with the foregoing explanations.
Adepts of all periods never
described the effects of the elements in particular, probably to
avoid any misuse, but they did know very well all about it. They
divided man in three basic conceptions, attributing the head to
the fiery principle, the abdomen to that of water, and the chest
to the airy one as the mediating principle between fire and
water. How very right they were with their dividing man becomes
obvious at the first look, because all that is active or fiery
takes place in the head. In the abdomen it must be the contrary,
the watery, the secretion, the work of the saps, etc. The chest
underlies the air and has a mediating part, because here
breathing takes place quite mechanically. The earthy principle
with its cohesive power or ability of holding together
represents the whole of the human body with all its bones and
flesh.
Now the question will arise were
and how akasa or the etheric principle occurs in the grossly
material body. In doing some deeper thinking, everybody will be
able to answer this question by himself, for the etheric
principle is hidden in its most grossly material form in the
blood and in the seed and in the reciprocal action of these two
substances in the vital matter or in the vitality.
As we have learned, the fiery
element produces the electrical and the water element the
magnetic fluid. Each of these fluids has two-pole radiations, an
active and a passive one, and the mutual influences and
interactions of all the radiations of the four poles resemble a
tetra-polar magnet, which is identical to the secret of the
Tetragrammaton, the Yod-He-Vau-He of the quabbalists. Therefore
the electromagnetic fluid in the human body, in its emanation,
is the animal magnetism, the Od or whatever name it has been
given. The right side of the human body is active-electric,
provided that the individual be right-handed. The left side is
passive-magnetic. As for the left-handed person, the contrary
will take place. The emanative power of this electromagnetic
fluid is dependent on the capacitance, i.e., the intensity of
action of the elements inside the body. The more harmoniously
this action of the elements is going on in the body, all the
stronger and purer this emanation will be.
With the help of certain
exercises as well as by a correct attitude and an exact
observance of these rules, the capacitance, strength and
influence of this electromagnetic fluid or Od can be increased
or diminished according to whatever necessity requires. The way
of doing it will exhaustively be illustrated in the practical
part of the present work.
The electrical as well as the
magnetical fluid in the human body have nothing to do with the
kind of electricity or magnetism we know, although a certain
analogy exists. This law of analogy is a very important factor
in the hermetic science and the knowledge of it enables the
adept to perform great miracles with the aid of this key.
The food contains the elements
mingled with each other. The result of taking in food is a
chemical process by which the elements are preserved in our
body. From the medical point of view, the taking in of any kind
of food, together with the breathing, causes a process of
combustion. The hermetist sees far more in this process than
just a simple chemical event. He regards this combustion as the
mutual dissolving of food, just like the fire is kept burning by
fuel. Therefore the whole life depends on the continuous supply
of fuel, that is the food and the breathing. To supply every
element with the necessary preserving substances, a mixed food
is advisable which contains the fundamental materials of the
elements. If we were to restrict our whole life to a one-sided
kind of food only, our body would, without any doubt, fall ill,
meaning that such a kind of food would produce a disharmony in
the body. By the disintegration of air and food, the elements
are provided with the supporting substances and in this way
their activity is maintained. Such is man’s natural mode of
life. If an element is missing, as it were, the fuel, all the
functions depending on it are immediately affected. If, e.g.,
the fiery element in the body works excessively, we feel
thirsty, the air element makes us feel hungry, the element of
water causes a feeling of cold, and the earthy element produces
tiredness. On the other hand, every over-saturation of the
elements causes reinforced effects in the body. A surplus of the
fiery element creates a yearning for movement and activity. If
this be the case with the watery element, the secretive process
will be stronger. Any over-saturation of the airy element
indicates that we must be moderate in taking food at all. An
over-saturation of the earth element affects the aspects of
sexual life, which must not necessarily find expression in the
sexual instinct in the fleshly sense. It is quite possible - and
this will especially occur in the case of elderly people - that
they will feel a longing for increased activity and for
productive agility.
In their active and passive
polarity the electric and the magnetic fluids have the task of
forming acid combinations in all the organic and inorganic
bodies, from the chemical point of view, eventually from the
alchemistic standpoint too. In the active sense they are
constructive, and in the negative sense they are destructive,
dissolving and disintegrating. All this explains the biological
functions in the body. The final result is the circulation of
life, which is brought into existence, thrives, ripens and fades
away. This is the sense of evolution of all things created.
10: Diet
A reasonable line of life
maintains the harmony of the elements in the body As soon as a
disharmony in the effect of elements becomes manifest, the
elements being extant in a weakened or a prevailing way, special
measures have to be taken as far as food is concerned to carry
the elements back to their normal course or at least to
influence them favorably in this respect. Therefore the most
varying diets are prescribed for specific cases. In times long
passed, numerous observation led men to this opinion, of which
they ignored the exact reason.
If the disturbance of the
elements is such as to render visible this disharmony, it is no
longer solely a disharmony but we have to deal with an illness.
This will mean that more drastic remedies will be necessary to
reestablish the indispensable harmony, providing we desire to
bring the body back to its normal function and complete
recovery. All the curing methods known up to this day have been
based on this fundament. I desist from particularizing such
methods, as most of them are generally known. The natural
therapy employs thermic effects such as bathing, poultices,
herbs, massages, etc. The allopathist utilizes concentrated
medicines, which are causing the effects corresponding to the
elements and destined to repair health. The homoeopathist brings
to life the contrasting element according to the device “Similia
similibus curantur” to achieve the balance of all that is
in danger in conformity with the polarity laws. The
electro-homoeopathist by use of his remedies, influences the
electrical and magnetical fluids directly to balance the
disorderly elements, according to the kind of illness, by a
suitable reinforcement of these fluids.
And so each curing method serves
the purpose of restoring the disturbed equipoise of the
elements. By studying these influences of the elements on our
body, the magnetopath or magnetizer has far more possibilities
of influencing the body through his powers, especially if he is
capable to awake the electrical or magnetical fluid consciously
in himself, increasing and transferring it into the part of the
body that has come into disharmony. I have dedicated a special
heading of this book to the practical side of this treatment.
So far the total functions of the
body have been stated in detail. But each part of the body is
also, in analogy with the effect of the elements in the body,
influenced by a specific element, which finds its expression in
the polarity of the responsive part of the body. It happens to
be a very interesting fact that in the workshop, respectively in
the clockwork or mechanism, which is to say in the human
organism, some organs, from the inside to the outside,
reciprocally own the electrical fluid, and from the outside to
the inside they possess the magnetical fluid, which affects the
functions in the entire organism in an analogous and harmonious
way. In other organs the reverse process takes place, the
electrical fluid operating from the outside to the inside, the
magnetical one from the inside to the outside. This knowledge of
the polar emanation is called in the hermetic art the “occult
anatomy of the body”. And the knowledge of the effect of
this occult anatomy is extremely important for every adept who
wants to know his body, to influence and to control it.
I shall therefore describe this
occult anatomy of the human body with respect to the electrical
and magnetical fluid, that is to say, in the positive and in the
negative sphere of action.
These arguments will turn to
magnetopath’s great advantage because he will treat the
sick part of the body wither with the electrical or the
magnetical fluid, according to the center of the disease. But
this knowledge will bring great profit to everybody else too.
The Head: The forepart is
electric, the back of the head is magnetic and so is the right
side; the left side is electric and so is the middle.
The Eyes: The forepart is
neutral and so is the background. The right side is electric and
so it is with the left side. The inside is magnetical
The Ears: Forepart neutral, back
part also. Right side is magnetical, left side electrical,
inside neutral.
Mouth and Tongue: Forepart
neutral, back part as well. Right side and left side both
neutral, inside magnetical.
The Neck: Forepart, back part and
right side magnetical, left side and inside electrical.
The Chest: Forepart
electromagnetic, back part electrical, right side and inside
neutral, left side electrical.
The Abdomen: Forepart electrical,
back part and right side magnetical left side electrical, the
inside magnetical.
The Hands: Forepart neutral, back
part also, right side magnetical, left side electrical, the
inside neutral.
The Fingers of the Right Hand:
Fore- and back part neutral, right side electrical, left side
also, the inside neutral.
The Fingers of the Left Hand:
Fore- and back part neutral, right side electrical, left side as
well, the inside neutral.
The Feet: Fore- and back part
neutral, right side magnetical, left side electrical, the inside
neutral.
The Male Genitals: Forepart
electrical, back part neutral, right and left side also, the
inside magnetical.
The Female Genitals: Forepart
magnetical, back part, right and left side neutral, the inside
electrical.
The Last Vertebra & Anus:
Fore and back part neutral, right and left side as well, the
inside magnetical.
With the help of this occult
anatomy and the key of the tetrapolar magnet, the adept may
compile further analogies if wanted. The alchemist will
recognize that the human body represents a genuine Athanor in
which the most perfect alchemistic process, the Great Work or
the preparation of the Philosophers’ Stone is visibly
performed.
Herewith the chapter dealing with
the body is finished. I do not assert that all has been
regarded, but in any case, with respect to the elements, I mean
to say, the four-pole magnet, I have treated the most important
problems and revealed the secret of the tetragrammaton in view
of the body.
11: The Roughly Material
Plane or the Material World
In this chapter I will not
describe the roughly material world, the kingdoms of minerals,
vegetables and animals, nor will I deal with the physical
processes in nature, because everybody has already learned at
school that there are such things as the north and south poles,
how rain originates, how storms are brought about, etc. The
incipient adept might not be so very interested in these
occurrences, but he will rather endeavor to know all about the
material world by means of the elements and their polarities. It
is needless to mention that on our planet, there are fire,
water, air and earth, a fact absolutely clear to each reasonably
thinking person. Notwithstanding, it will be very useful, if the
adept becomes acquainted with the cause and effect of the four
elements and knows how to use them correctly, according to the
corresponding analogies on the other planes. How it is possible
to contact higher planes through knowing the grossly material
elements, will be reserved to a further chapter dealing with the
practical use of magic. At the moment, it is important to know
that of our earth the working of elements in the subtlest form
is evolving off in exactly the same manner as in the human body.
By drawing analogies to the human body, one will certainly find
out how to draw the parallel to the elements, and state that the
analogy with the human body seems justified. In the chapter
relative to the human body we have been discussing the mode of
life and the functions of the elements, with respect to the body
and, if the adept succeeds in using the elements in the most
subtle form, he will already be able to achieve wondrous things
on his own body, and not only this, he can, in all conscience,
affirm that nothing is impossible in this respect.
The earthy element implies the
four-pole magnet with its polarity and the effect of the other
elements. The fiery principle, in its active form, causes the
vivifying principle in nature and in the negative form the
destructive and disintegrating one. The principle of water, in
its negative form, is operating the contrary effect. The
principle of air, with its bipolar polarity, represents the
neutral, the balancing and the preserving essence in nature. The
earthy element, according to its peculiarity of cohesion, has as
a basis the two great fundamental elements of fire and water
together with the neutralization of the airy principle. Hence it
must be regarded as the most grossly material element. By the
interaction of the fiery and the watery element, we have, as
already mentioned in connection with the body, got the magnetic
and the electric fluid, the two basic fluids originating,
according to the same laws, in the body and having their mutual
effects. Both these elements, with their fluids, are the cause
of all that happens materially on our earth; they influence all
the chemical processes inside and outside of the earth in the
kingdoms of minerals, plants and animals. Hence you see that the
electric fluid is to be found in the center of the earth,
whereas the magnetic one is on the surface of our earth. This
magnetic fluid of the earth surface, apart from the property of
the principle of water or the cohesion, attracts and holds all
material and compound things.
According to the specific
properties of a body, which depend on the composition of the
elements, each object, with respect to the electric fluid, owns
certain emanations, the so-called electronic vibrations that are
attracted by the general magnetic fluid of the entire material
world. This attraction is called the weight. Consequently,
weight is an appearance of the attractive power of the earth.
The well known attractive power of iron and nickel is a little
example respecting an imitation of that which is happening, in a
big measure, on our whole earth. What we understand, on our
earth, a magnetism and electricity, is nothing else but an
appearance of the four-pole magnet. For, as we know already, by
an arbitrary pole-changing, electricity can be obtained from
magnetism and, in a mechanical way, we get magnetism through
electricity. The transmutation of one power into another,
properly speaking, is already an alchemistic or magic process,
which, however, in the course of time, has been generalized so
much that it is no longer regarded as alchemy or magic, but is
simply ascribed to physics. For this reason, it is obvious that
the four-pole magnet can be used here also. According to the law
concerning the problems of magnetism and electricity not only in
the body – as mentioned in the foregoing chapter – but
also in the grossly materialistic world, each hermeticist
exactly knows that what is above is also that which is below.
Each adept who knows how to employ the powers of the element or
the great secret of the tetragrammaton on all planes is also
capable to achieve great things in our material world, things
which the outsider would regard as miracles. The adept, however,
sees no miracles in them for, backed by the knowledge of the
laws; he will be able to explain even the most remarkable
curiosity.
Everything on our earth, all
thriving, ripening, life and death depend on the statements made
in these chapters. Hence the adept fully conceives that physical
death does not mean disintegration, passing into nothingness,
but what we consider as annihilation or death is nothing else
but the transition from one stage into another. The material
world has emerged from the principle of akasa, i.e., the known
ether. The world also is controlled and kept by this same
principle. Therefore it is understandable that it is the
transmission of the electric or the magnetic fluid on which are
based all the inventions connected with the communication at
distance, through the ether, such as radio, telegraphy,
telephony, television and all the other inventions to be
achieved in the future, with the aid of the electric or magnetic
fluid in the ether. But the fundamental principles and laws
were, are and always will be the same.
A very extensive and exciting
book could be written solely about the effects of the various
magnetic and electric fluids on the grossly material plane. But
the interested reader who has decided to walk on the path of
initiation and will not be deterred by the study of the
principles, will find out by himself all about the varieties of
powers and properties. The fruits and the insights he earned, in
the course of his studies, will indemnify him amply.
12: The Soul or the
Astral Body
Through subtler vibrations of the
elements, through the electric and the magnetic fluid of their
polarity, the man proper, the soul has proceeded from the akasa
principle or the finer etheric vibrations. In the same way as
the elements are functioning in the material body, the soul or
the so-called astral body will behave. The four-pole magnet,
with its specific qualities, connects or amalgamates the soul
with the body. This amalgamation takes place, with analogy to
the body, by the electromagnetic influence of the elements. We,
the adepts, call the astral matrix or life this active behavior
of the elements or the so-called electromagnetic fluid of the
soul. This astral matrix or the so-called electromagnetic fluid
of the soul is not identical with the occultists’ aura I
shall speak of later. The astral matrix or the electromagnetic
fluid is the connecting link between the body and soul. The
fiery principle causes in the soul what is constructive, the
principle of water causes the animating, the principle of air is
balancing, and the earth principle causes what is thriving,
compound and preserving in the soul. The astral body is
performing exactly the same functions as the material body.
Man has been fitted with the five
senses corresponding to the five elements, of which the astral
body or the soul, with the help of the bodily senses, makes use
to receive perceptions of the physical world. Our immortal
spirit realizes this receiving and operating of the five senses
through the astral and the material body. Why this spirit is
immortal will be explained in a later chapter. Without any
activity of the spirit in the soul, the astral body would be
without life and dissolve itself into its components.
As the spirit would not be able
to operate without the intervention of the soul, the astral body
is the seat of all the qualities the immortal spirit has.
According to its development and maturity, spirit has a
different electric or magnetic fluid vibration, which becomes
outwardly patent, in soul, in the four temperaments. In
accordance with the predominant elements, we distinguish the
choleric, the sanguine, the melancholic, and the phlegmatic
temper. The choleric temper is due to the element of air, the
sanguine temper is due to the element of air, the melancholic
temper is born from the water element, and the phlegmatic one is
ascribed to the earthy element. The strength and vibration of
the respective element corresponds in the various properties to
the strength, vigor, and expansion of the respective fluid
vibrations.
Each of these four elements,
which determine man’s temper, in the active form, owns the
good properties, and in its passive form, the contrary or bad
qualities. It would be too prolix to inform here about the
effects of the elements, and it is better for the incipient
adept to find out himself further effects by his own meditation.
This manner also has a very special reason, on the path to
initiation. Here I shall a few examples only:
The choleric temper, in its
active polarity, has the following good qualities: activity,
enthusiasm, eagerness, resolution, courage, productivity, etc.
In the negative form these qualities are: gluttony, jealousy,
passion, irritability, intemperance, bent to destruction, etc.
The sanguine temper in its active
form shows: capacity of penetrating, diligence, joy, adroitness,
kindness, clearness, lack of grief, cheerfulness, optimism,
eagerness, independence, familiarity, etc. In the negative form:
continual feeling of being affronted, contempt, propensity to
gossiping, lack of endurance, slyness, garrulousness,
dishonesty, fickleness, etc.
The melancholic temper in its
active form: respectability, modesty, compassion, devotion,
seriousness, docility, fervor, cordiality, comprehension,
meditation, calmness, quick to give one’s confidence,
forgiveness, tenderness, and so on. In the negative form:
indifference, depression, apathy, shyness, laziness, etc.
The phlegmatic temper in its
active form: respectability, reputation, endurance,
consideration, resolution, firmness, seriousness,
scrupulousness, thoroughness, concentration, sobriety,
punctuality, reservedness, objectivity, infallibility,
responsibility, reliability, circumspection, resistance,
self-assurance, and so on. In the negative form: insipidity,
unscrupulousness, misanthropy, dullness, tardiness, laziness,
unreliability, laconism, and so on.
The qualities of the
temperaments, according to the preponderant quality, form the
basis of the human character. The intensity of these qualities
shown outwardly depends on the polarity, the electric or the
magnetic fluid. The total influence of the effects of the
temperaments results in an emanation professionally called aura.
Therefore this kind of aura is not to be compared with the
astral matrix, because between these two conceptions there is a
thumping difference. The astral matrix is the connecting
substance between body and soul, whilst the aura is the
emanation of the action o the elements in the various qualities,
having its origin either in the active or in the passive form.
This emanation in the whole soul produces a certain vibration
corresponding to a certain color. On the grounds of this color,
the adept can exactly recognize his own aura of that of another
being with the astral eyes. Backed by this aura, the seer can
establish not only a man’s basic character, but he also can
perceive the action or the polarity of the soul’s
vibration, and influence it eventually. I shall speak of these
problems in a more detailed way in a separate chapter relating
to introspection. Hence, a man’s temperament influences his
character, and both together, in their effect as total result,
are creating the emanation of the soul or the aura. This is also
the reason for high adepts or saints always being represented in
the images with a halo identical to the aura we have described.
Besides the character, the
temperament and the activity of the electromagnetic fluid, the
astral body still has two centers in the brain, the cerebrum
being the seat of normal consciousness, whilst in the
cerebellum, there is the opposite to the normal consciousness,
the sub-conscious. As to their functions, see the chapter
concerning the “Spirit”.
As it has been said before,
according to the elements, the soul is divided in exactly the
same way as the body. The psychic functions, powers and
properties also have their seat respectively in the soul and
certain centers analogous to all the elements, which the Indian
philosophy designates as charkas. The awakening of these charkas
is named Kundalini yoga in the Indian doctrine. I desist,
however, from a comment on these lotuses or centers, because the
student interested in this problem will find all the necessary
enlightenment in the respective literature. I will touch on it
only slightly and say that the lowest center is the so-called
Muladhara or earth center, having its seat in the lowest part of
the soul. The next center is that of the water, with its seat in
the region of the sexual organs and designated in the Indian
terminology as Swadisthana. The center of fire, as center of the
soul, is in the umbilical region and is named Manipura. The
center of air as compensatory element is in the region of the
heart and is termed Anahata. The center of the ether or
principle of akasa is found in the region of the neck and is
named Visudha. Another center, that of volition and intellect,
is between the eyebrows and is called Ajna. As the supreme and
most divine center is regarded as the thousand-petaled lotus,
named Sahasrara from which derive and are influenced all the
other powers of the centers. Beginning at the top, from the
supreme center, along the neck, down to the lowest center, like
a channel runs the so-called Susumna or the akasa-principle
already known to us, liable for the connection and control of
the entire centers. Later on, I shall come back to the problem
of the evocation of the snake-power in the single centers. In
describing the soul, the principal task will be to establish the
connection of the elements with their positive and negative
polarities in the soul, and give a neat idea of it. One will see
that the body, as well as the soul, with their effects are alive
and working, that their preservation and destruction are subject
to the immutable laws of the four-pole magnet, i.e., the secret
of the tetragrammaton, and governed by them. If he who is to be
initiated will attentively meditate about it, he will win a
clear idea not only of the bodily functions, but also of those
of the soul, and come to a sound notion of the mutual
interaction according to the original laws.
13: The Astral Plane
The astral plane, often
designated as the fourth dimension, has not been created out of
the four elements, but it is a density-degree of the akasa
principle, consequently of all that up to now, I the material
world occurred, is actually occurring and will occur, and has
its origin, regulation and existence. As said before, akasa in
its most subtle form is the ether, well known to all of us, in
which, amongst other vibrations, electric as well as magnetic
ones are propagating. Consequently this vibration-sphere is the
origin of light, sound, color, rhythm, and life in all tings
created. As akasa is the origin of all existing things, all that
ever was produced, is being produced and will be produced in the
future is reflected in it. Therefore, in the astral plane there
is to be seen an emanation of the eternal, having neither a
beginning nor an end, as it is timeless and spaceless. The adept
who sees his way about this plane may find everything here, no
matter if the point in question be in the past, the present or
the future. How far this perception will reach depends on the
degree of his perfection.
Occultists and spiritualists and
most of religions name the astral pane the World beyond.
However, the adept knows very well that there is no such thing
as Hence and Beyond and feels no fear of death, which concept is
quite strange to him. If, by the disintegrating work of the
elements or a sudden breakup, the astral matrix which is
connecting matter between the grossly material body and the
astral body has got loose, then will happen what we commonly
call death, which, however, in reality is nothing else but a
passage from the terrestrial world to the astral world. Backed
up by this law, the adept knows no fear of death, being
convinced that he will not approach uncertainty. Through his
control of the elements, besides many other things, he also can
achieve a slackening of the astral matrix, which will result I a
spontaneous separation of the astral body from the mortal frame.
Thus he will be able to visit the remotest regions, transfer
himself into various planes in the form of his astral body. This
is the positive explanation of so many tales in which saints
have been seen at the same time in different places and even
have been working there.
The astral plane has various
kinds of inhabitants. First of all, there are the deceased ones
who having left the earth are abiding in the corresponding
density-degree, according to their spiritual maturity, which is
designated by various religions as heaven or hell, the adepts
seeing only symbols therein. The nobler, purer and the more
perfect an entity happens to be, all the purer and finer will be
the density-degree of the inhabited astral plane. Little by
little, the astral body is dissolving, until it has become
suitable to the degree of vibrations of the respective step of
the astral level, or identical with it. As you see, this
identification depends on the maturity and the spiritual
perfection the entity concerned achieved on this earth.
Besides, the astral plane is
inhabited by many other beings of which I am mentioning only
some species here. There are to so-called elementaries, entities
with one or only very few qualities, according to the dominant
vibrations of the elements. They are living on the similar
vibrations proper to man and transmitted by him into the astral
plane. Among them, there are some which have already reached a
certain degree of intelligence, and some magicians are using
these low-powered beings for their selfish purposes. Another
kind of being is the larvae, which have been brought into life
consciously or unconsciously, by intense sensorial thinking,
through the astral matrix. They are not real beings, but only
forms thriving on the passions of the animal world, on the
lowest step of the astral level. Their instinct of
self-preservation carries them into the sphere of those men
whose passions are responsive to them. They will try, directly
or indirectly, to raise and kindle the passions slumbering in
man. If these forms are succeeding in seducing men to give in to
their suitable passion, they are feeding and thriving on the
emanation of this passion produced in man. Man laden with many
passions will attract a host of such larvae in the lowest sphere
of his astral plane. A great fight takes place and, in the
problem of magic, this fact plays an important role. More about
it is to be founding the chapter dealing with introspection.
There are also other elementaries and larvae, which can be
produced in the artificial magic way. As to further details, see
the practical part of this book.
Another kind of being the adept
often has to deal with in the astral plane must not be
overlooked, namely the beings of the four pure elements. In the
element of fire, their name is salamander; in the air element
they are the sylphs, in the water element, they are called
mermaids or undines, and in the element of earth there are the
gnomes or goblins. These beings represent, as it were, the
connection between the astral plane and the earthly elements.
How to establish the connection with these beings, how to
control them, what can be achieved with their help, all will be
reserved to the practical part of the present book to which I
shall dedicate the special chapter, “Magic of the Elements”.
Furthermore, there is a host of
other beings such as satyrs, woodmaidens, watergoblins, etc.,
who could be specified. Even if all this sounds like a fairy
tale, on the astral plane the previously described beings are
the very same realities as all the other earthly beings. The
adept’s clairvoyant eyes can see all of them, if he desires
so, and is able to establish the connection with them, so
excluding any doubt of the existence of these beings right from
the beginning. That is why the adept has to first and learn to
examine, before being able to judge.
14: The Spirit
It has been said before that the
spirit of man has been created in the image of God and consists
of body, soul and spirit. The preceding chapters have made it
evident that body and soul serve only as a veil or garment for
the spirit. The spirit is the immortal part and the image of
God. It is not easy to define something divine, immortal,
imperishable, and to put it into the correct terms. But here, as
well as with any other problems, the key of the four-pole
magnet will be a great help for us.
From the supreme prototype
(akasa), the original source of all beings, has proceeded the
spirit, the spiritual EGO with the four specific elemental
qualities, proper to the immortal spirit, which was created in
God’s image.
The fiery principle, the
impulsive part, means the will (volition). The airy principle
shows up in the intellect (mind), the watery principle
respectively in the life and the feeling, and the earthy
principle is representing the union of all the three elements in
the consciousness of the ego.
All the other qualities of the
spirit are based upon these four original principles. The
typical part of the fifth, say the etheric principle (akasa)
manifests itself, in the highest aspect, in the faith and, in
the lowest form, in the instinct of self-preservation. Each of
these mentioned four elemental principles has many other aspects
corresponding to the law of analogy of the polarity or the
positive and negative elements. All of them together form the
ego or the spirit. For this reason, we can make the fiery
principle responsible for strength, power and passion; memory,
power of discrimination and judgment are ascribed to the air
principle, conscience and intuition to the principle of water,
egotism and the instincts of self-preservation and propagation
to the earthy part of the spirit.
It would be too long to quote all
the properties of the spirit with regard to the elements. The
incipient adept can enlarge these qualities by serious studies
and deep meditation, with respect to the analogous laws of the
four-pole magnet. This happens to be a very meritorious work
which never ought to be neglected, because it will lead to great
success and secure results.
These three chapters relating to
body, soul and spirit have represented man in his most perfect
form. By now, the disciple ought to have realized how very
important it is to know one’s own microcosm for the
initiation and especially for the magic and the mystic practice,
as a matter of fact, for the whole of the secrets. Most of the
authors, from sheer ignorance or for other cogent reasons, have
omitted this extremely important part, the foundation.
15: The Mental Plane
As the body ahs its earthly
plane, and the astral body or the soul owns the astral plane,
the spirit too has its own plane, the so-called mental plane or
mental sphere. This is the mental sphere with all its virtues.
Both these spheres, the material
as well as the astral one have been born from the akasa or
original principle of the respective sphere, through the four
elements, and also the mental sphere is built upon the same
foundation, and therefore likewise a product of the akasa
principle of the spirit. Similar to the spirit, developing in a
four-pole magnet by corresponding work and showing an
electromagnetic fluid analogous to the astral body, on account
of the effect of the elements, as a secondary phenomenon of the
polarity on the outside, the mental body develops in the mental
or spiritual sphere. Just in the same way as the astral body,
through the electromagnetic fluid of the astral world, forms an
astral matrix, the so-called astral od, the electromagnetic
fluid of the mental world forms a mental matrix linking the
mental body to the astral body. This mental matrix or the mental
od, the so-called mental substance, is the subtlest form of
akasa which controls and preserves the spiritual activity in the
astral body.
At the same time, this mental
substance is electromagnetic and is regarded as leaser of the
ideas to the consciousness of the spirit, from where it is put
into activity through the astral and the roughly material body.
So this mental matrix or the mental od, with its double-pole
fluid, is the subtlest substance we can imagine in the human
body.
Simultaneously, the mental sphere
is the sphere of thoughts which have their origin in the world
of ideas, consequently in the spiritual akasa. Each thought is
preceded by a basic idea which, according to its property,
accepts a definite form, and arrives to the consciousness of the
ego through the etheric principle, consequently the mental
matrix, as expression of the thought in the shape of a plastic
picture. Therefore Man himself is not the founder of the
thoughts, but the origin of each thought is to be sought in the
supreme akasa sphere or the mental plane. Man’s spirit, as
it were, is the receiver, the antenna of thoughts from the world
of ideas, according to the situation in which Man happens to be.
The world of ideas being all in all, each new idea, new
invention -- in short, all Man believes to have created by
himself -- has been brought out of this world of ideas. This
production of new ideas depends on the maturity and attitude of
the spirit. Each thought involves an absolutely pure element,
especially if the thought implies abstract ideas. If the thought
is based on several combinations of the ideal world, different
elements are effective in their form as well as in their mutual
emanation. Only abstract ideas have pure elements and pure polar
emanations, as they descend directly from the causal world of an
idea.
From this cognition we may draw
the conclusion that there are pure electric, pure magnetic,
indifferent and neutral ideas from the standpoint of their
effect. According to the idea, each thought in the mental sphere
has its own form, color and vibration. Through the tetra-polar
magnet of the spirit, the thought arrives at the consciousness,
from where it is forwarded to realization. Each thing created in
the material world consequently has its cause in the ideal
world through the thought and the spiritual consciousness, and
is reflected therein. If the point in question is not exactly an
abstract idea, several forms of ideas can be expressed. Such
thoughts are electric or magnetic or electromagnetic, according
to the elementary property of the idea.
The material plane is bound to
time and space. The astral plane, sphere of the perishable or
mutable spirit, is bound to space, the mental plane being
timeless and spaceless. The very same thing happens with all the
mental properties. The reception of a thought in the mental
body, through the link of the astral and mental matrix bound to
space and time in the total form, needs a certain amount of time
to become fully conscious of this thought. According to the
mental maturity, the train of thoughts is different in each
individual. The more advanced, the more cultured man is, the
faster thoughts will develop in mind.
Likewise as the astral plane is
inhabited, so too is the mental plane. Besides the ideal forms,
there are principally the deceased ones whose astral bodies have
been dissolved by the elements in the course of their ripening,
and allotted, according to the degree of perfection, to regions
corresponding to their mental sphere.
Besides the mental sphere is the
sphere of the so-called elementals, beings created consciously
or unconsciously by man as a result of repeated and intense
thinking. An elemental being is not yet so condensed to form or
to assume any astral shape for itself. Its influence is
therefore limited to the mental sphere. The difference between
an ideal form and an elemental lies in the fact that the ideal
form is based on one or several ideas. On the other hand, the
elemental is equipped with a certain quantity of consciousness
and therefore with the instinct of preservation, but otherwise
it does not much distinguish from other mental living beings,
and it can even take the same shape as the ideal form. The adept
often resorts to these elemental beings. The problem of how to
create such an elemental, how to preserve it and how to utilize
it for certain purposes, will be approached in the practical
section of this book.
There would still be quite a lot
to be said about the particular, specific properties of some
beings. But all that we have pointed out previously should be
sufficient to stimulate the work and contribute to a succinct
enlightenment about the mental plane.
16: Truth
Let us now leave the microcosm, I
mean to say, man with his earthly, astral and mental bodies, and
turn to other problems which also are imminent to be solved by
the incipient adept. First of all, there is the problem of
truth. A great many philosophers have already paid serious
attention to this problem, and we also will have to approach
this task.
We shall deal here only with such
kinds of truth about which we must be thoroughly informed. Truth
depends on the insight of each individual. And as we cannot all
have the same insight or perception, it is impossible to
generalize the problem of truth. Therefore from is standpoint
and in conformity with the degree of his maturity, each one will
have his own truth, providing he sees it quite honestly. Only he
who knows and masters the absolute laws of the microcosm and
the macrocosm is entitled to speak of an absolute truth. Certain
aspects of the absolute truth will be surely acknowledged by
everyone. Nobody, indeed, will doubt that there is life,
volition, memory and intellect, and will refrain from arguing
about these facts. No sincere adept will impose his truth to
anyone who is not yet ripe for it. The person concerned would do
nothing else but regard it again from his own standpoint.
Therefore it would be useless to argue with non-professionals on
higher kinds of truth, except people eager to search the heights
of truth and beginning to ripen for it. Anything else would be a
profanation and, from the magical point o view, absolutely
incorrect. At this point, all of us will have to remember the
words of the great Master of Christianity: “Cast not
your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their
feet.”
To truth belongs also the
capacity of correctly differentiating among knowledge and
wisdom. Knowledge depends, in all domains of the human
existence, on the maturity, receptivity and understanding of the
mind, and the memory without regard to whether or not we have
been able to enrich our knowledge by reading, transmitting or
other experiences.
There is a wide difference
between knowledge and wisdom and it is much easier to win
knowledge than wisdom. Wisdom depends, not in the least, on
knowledge, although both are identical up to a certain degree.
The source of wisdom is in God, that is to say, in the causal
principle (the akasa) on all planes of the material, astral, and
mental worlds. Therefore wisdom does not depend on mind and
memory but on the maturity, purity and perfection of the
individual personality. Wisdom could also be considered as a
developmental stage of the ego. Therefore, insights are not
passed on thought the mind, but – and this particularly –
through intuition or inspiration. The degree of wisdom is
therefore determined by the state of development of the
individual.
This will not mean, of course,
that we ought to neglect knowledge; on the contrary, knowledge
and wisdom must go hand in hand. The adept will therefore
endeavor to get on in knowledge as well as in wisdom, for
neither of the two must lag behind in development.
If knowledge and wisdom keep the
same pace in development, the adept is enabled to grasp all the
laws of the microcosm and the microcosm, not only from the point
of view of wisdom, but also from the intellectual side, that is,
in a bipolar way, to perceive and utilize them for his own
development.
In al the planes, we have already
learned how to know one of the numerous laws, the first main
key, the secret of the tetragrammaton or the four-pole magnet.
Being a universal key, it can be used to solve all problems, all
laws, all kinds of truth – in sort, everything, provided
that the adept knows how to use it properly. As time goes on and
his development unfolds and he is advancing in hermetics, he
will be acquainted with many more aspects of this key, and be
forced to accept it as an unchangeable law. He will no more
wander in darkness and uncertainty, but he will carry a torch in
his hand, the light of which will penetrate the night of
ignorance.
This brief summary will suffice
for the adept to instruct him how to deal with the problem of
truth.
17: Religion
The incipient magician will
confess his faith to a universal religion. He will find out that
every religion has good points as well as bad ones. He will
therefore keep the best of it for himself and ignore the weak
points, which does not necessarily mean that he must profess a
religion, but he shall express awe to each for of worship, for
each religion has its proper principle of God, whether the point
in question be Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or any other kind
of religion. Fundamentally he may be faithful to his own
religion. But he will not be satisfied with the official
doctrines of his Church, and will try to penetrate deeper into
god’s workshop. And such is the purpose of our initiation.
According to the universal laws, the magician will form his own
point of view about the universe which henceforth will be his
true religion. He will state that, apart from the deficiencies,
each defender of religion will endeavor to represent his
religion as the best of all. Each religious truth is relative
and the comprehension of it depends on the maturity of the
person concerned. Therefore the adept does not interfere with
anybody in this respect, nor will he try to sidetrack anyone
from his truth, criticize him, to say nothing of condemning him.
At the bottom of his heart he may feel sorry for fanatics or
atheists without showing it outwardly. Let everybody hold on to
what he believes and makes him happy and content. Should
everybody stick to this maxim, there would be neither hatred nor
religious dissensions on this earth. There would be no reason
for disputes and all turns of mind could exist happily side by
side.
Quite a different thing is, if a
seeker, dissatisfied by materialism and doctrines, and longing
for spiritual support, will ask advice and information of an
adept. In such a case the adept is obliged to supply the seeker
with spiritual light and insight, according to his mental
powers. Then the magician should spare neither time nor pains to
communicate his spiritual treasures and lead the seeker to the
light.
18: God
Since the remotest times, Mankind
has always believed in something beyond human understanding,
something transcendental that he idolized no matter whether
there was question of personified or unpersonified conceptions
of God. Anything man was unable to understand or to comprehend
was imputed to the powers above such as his intuitive virtue
admitted them. In this way, all the deities of mankind, good and
evil ones (demons) have been born. As time went on, gods,
angels, demiurges, demons and ghosts have been worshiped
irrespective of their ever having been alive in reality or their
having existed only in fancy. With the development of mankind,
the idea of God was shrinking especially at the time when, with
the aid of the sciences, phenomena were explained that
previously were ascribed to the gods. A lot of books would have
to be written if one wished to enter into details of the various
ideas of God in the history of the nations.
Let us approach the idea of God
from a magician’s standpoint. To the plain man the idea of
God serves as a support for his spirit just not to entangle
himself in uncertainty or get out of his depth. Therefore his
God always remains something inconceivable, intangible, and
incomprehensible to him. It is quite otherwise with the magician
who knows his God in all aspects. He holds his God in awe as he
knows himself to have been created in its image, consequently to
be a part of God. He sees his lofty ideal, his first duty and
his sacred objective in the union with the Godhead, in becoming
the God-man. The rise to this sublime goal shall be described
later on. The synthesis of this mystic union with God consists
in developing the divine ideas, from the lowest up to the
highest steps, in such a degree as to attain the union with the
universal. Everyone is at liberty to abandon his individuality
or to retain it. Such genii usually return to earth entrusted
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