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praxis

Active Contemplation

A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.

420 passages · 16 traditions
neoplatonism: 97 passagesneoplatonism97western_esoteric: 97 passageswestern_esoteric97christian_mysticism: 62 passageschristian_mysticism62renaissance_hermeticism: 61 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism61greek_mystery: 27 passagesgreek_mystery27jewish_mysticism: 20 passagesjewish_mysticism20hermeticism: 15 passageshermeticism15hinduism: 15 passageshinduism15platonism: 10 passagesplatonism10egyptian: 6 passagesegyptian6taoism: 3 passagestaoism3celtic: 2 passagesceltic2gnosticism: 2 passagesgnosticism2buddhism: 1 passagebuddhism1native_american: 1 passagenative_american1sufism: 1 passagesufism1
neoplatonism97
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter IX
“In the last place, the dispositions of the soul of those that invoke the Gods to appear receive, when they become visible, a liberation from the passions, a transcendent perfection, and an energy entirely more excellent, and participate of…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter X-a
“What you introduce, however, for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of these things, whether it be your own opinion, or whether you have heard it from others, is neither true nor rightly asserted. For you say, “ that to speak 104 boastin…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XIV
“Concerning another kind of divination, also, you say as follows: “ Others who are conscious what they are doing in other respects, are divinely inspired according to the phantastic part, some indeed receiving darkness for a cooperator, othe…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXI
“I think, therefore, that all who are lovers of the contemplation of theurgic truth will acknowledge this, that the piety which pertains to divine natures ought not to be exercised towards them partially or imperfectly. Hence, since prior to…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-e
““The divine Iamblichus, however, doubts how the Gods are said to be allotted certain places according to definite times, as, by Plato in the Timæus, Minerva is said to have been first allotted the guardianship of Athens, and afterwards of S…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-f
“Thus they recognised things supreme in such as are subordinate, and the subordinate in the supreme: in the celestial regions, terrene properties subsisting in a causal and celestial manner; and in earth celestial properties, but according t…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-g
“So that all things are full of divine natures; terrestrial natures receiving the plenitude of such as are celestial, but celestial of supercelestial essences; while every order of things proceeds gradually, in a beautiful descent, from the…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ad
“But Pythagoras, as he was astronomizing, happened to meet with the Phrygian piper at an unseasonable time of night, and persuaded him to change his Phrygian for a spondaic song; through which the fury of the lad being immediately repressed,…”
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western_esoteric97
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 5 (part 1)
“Click to view THE TEMPTATION OF EVIL From Cædmon. INTRODUCTION THE mystic tradition in Christian Times is preserved, apart from all questions and traces of Instituted Mysteries, in the literature of Christian Mystical Theology; it is a lar…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 9 (part 4)
“The sources of occult wisdom, it proceeds, are, firstly, in God; secondly, in spiritual essences--that is to say, the Angelical Hierarchy; thirdly, in corporeal creatures, the reference being probably to the signatura rerum of Paracelsus; f…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 11 (part 3)
“While it thus ensures against evil, it gives happiness in domestic matters and in the enterprises which contribute to prosperity and to the pleasures of a contented life. The proviso is that [paragraph continues] "the instructions must be…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter VII (part 3)
“This Involuntary stage of Creation is sometimes called the "Outpouring" of the Divine Energy, just as the Evolutionary state is called the "Indrawing." The extreme pole of the Creative process is considered to be the furthest removed from T…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XIV (part 2)
“While at first there seems to be only an "I" existing, a more careful and closer examination reveals the fact that there exists an "I" and a "Me." These mental twins differ in their characteristics and nature, and an examination of their na…”
The Kybalion (Three Initiates) | Chapter XV (part 1)
“CHAPTER XV HERMETIC AXIOMS "The possession of Knowledge, unless accompanied by a manifestation and expression in Action, is like the hoarding of precious metals-a vain and foolish thing. Knowledge, like wealth, is intended for Use. The La…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 2. Analysis Of The Nature Of Psychic Attack-a
“THE essence of a psychic attack is to be found in the principles and operations of telepathic suggestion. If we put together what we know of telepathy and what we know of suggestion, we shall understand its modus operandi. Suggestion is o…”
Psychic Self-Defence (Dion Fortune) | 4. Projection Of The Etheric Body-c
“I have never actually seen such bruises myself, but I have been told of them by people who have either had them themselves, or seen them. It is a well-known fact that if an occultist, functioning out of the body, meets with unpleasantness…”
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christian_mysticism62
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 1, Section 1f
“And in all the other Divine enlightenments which the occult Tradition of our inspired teachers hath, by mystic Interpretation, accordant with the Scriptures, bestowed upon us, we also have been initiated: apprehending these things in the pr…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1a
“CHAPTER III What is the power of Prayer? Also concerning the Blessed Hierotheus and concerning Reverence and the Writing of Divinity. 1. And first of all, if it like thee, let us consider the highest Name, even “Goodness,” by which all t…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 3, Section 1c
“It would be an impiety to do so, for he is almost equal to the Scriptural Writers, as he showed when he met with them to view the body of the B. V. M. even among our inspired Hierarchs (when, as thou knowest, we with him and many of our…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1b
“Hence have they their celestial orders, their self-unities, their mutual indwellings, their distinct Differences, the faculties which raise the lower unto the higher ranks, the providences of the higher for those beneath them; their preserv…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 4, Section 1af
“277 ἑνώσεις, διακρίσεις, ταὐτότητες, ἑτερότητες. 278 Hence parts are united into wholes and wholes articulated into parts, and hence each thing is identical with itself and distinct from everything else. 279 e.g. Moisture interpenetrates…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 7, Section 1b
“(2) Wisdom as a whole = Wisdom embodied in the universe as a whole. (3) Wisdom in each individual instance = Wisdom as shown in the structure of some particular plant or animal, or part of a plant or animal. (1) Is an Emanation; (2) and (…”
Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names | Chapter 7, Section 1f
“The angels are conceived of as being always in such a state of contemplation. 408 God is the Manifested Absolute. Hence qua Absolute He is supra-sapient, qua Manifested He is wise (cf. ch. i, § 1). The Persons of the Trinity possess on…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | VI-e
“Therefore sanctification is the best of all things, for it cleanses the soul, and illuminates the conscience, and kindles the heart, and wakens the spirit, and girds up the loins, and glorifies virtue and separates us from creatures, and un…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter II
“"A simple creature unlettered.—Which creature afore desired three gifts of God" These Revelations were shewed to a simple creature unlettered, the year of our Lord 1373, the Thirteenth day of May. Which creature [had] afore desired three gi…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter III-a
“"I desired to suffer with Him" And when I was thirty years old and a half, God sent me a bodily sickness, in which I lay three days and three nights; and on the fourth night I took all my rites of Holy Church, and weened not to have lived t…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter VI-b
“And therefore we may with grace and His help stand in spiritual beholding, with everlasting marvel of this high, overpassing, inestimable Love that Almighty God hath to us of His Goodness. And therefore we may ask of our Lover with reveren…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter X-a
“"God willeth to be seen and to be sought: to be abided and to be trusted" And after this I saw with bodily sight in the face of the crucifix that hung before me, on the which I gazed continually, a part of His Passion: despite, spitting and…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter XXI
“"We be now with Him in His Pains and His Passion, dying. We shall be with Him in Heaven. Through learning in this little pain that we suffer here, we shall have an high endless knowledge of God which we could never have without that" It is…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter XXIX
“"How could all be well, for the great harm that is come by sin to the creature?" But in this I stood beholding things general, troublously and mourning, saying thus to our Lord in my meaning, with full great dread: Ah! good Lord, how might…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter XLI-b
“God accepteth the goodwill and the travail of His servant, howsoever we feel: wherefore it pleaseth Him that we work both in our prayers and in good living, by His help and His grace, reasonably with discretion keeping our powers [turned] t…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LI-c
“I assented willingly, with great desire, and inwardly [beheld] with heedfulness all the points and properties that were shewed in the same time, as far forth as my wits and understanding would serve: beginning my beholding at the Lord and a…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LI-d
“And thus Mercy and Pity dwelleth with mankind unto the time we come up into Heaven. But man is blinded in this life and therefore we may not see our Father, God, as He is. And what time that He of His goodness willeth to shew Himself to m…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LI-e
“For I saw the Lord sit as a man, and I saw neither meat nor drink wherewith to serve him. This was one marvel. Another marvel was that this majestic Lord had no servant but one, and him he sent out. I beheld, thinking what manner of labo…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LI-f
“Thus was He, the Servant, afore His coming into earth standing ready afore the Father in purpose, till what time He would send Him to do that worshipful deed by which mankind was brought again into heaven;—that is to say, notwithstanding th…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LI-g
“That he stood adread before the Lord and not even-right, betokeneth that His clothing was not seemly to stand in even-right afore the Lord, nor that might not, nor should not, be His office while He was a labourer; nor also He might not sit…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LVIII-a
“"All our life is in three: 'Nature, Mercy, Grace.' The high Might of the Trinity is our Father, and the deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother, and the great Love of the Trinity is our Lord" God, the blessed Trinity, which is everlasting…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LXIV-b
“It is God's will that we set the point of our thought in this blissful beholding as often as we may,—and as long time keep us therein with His grace; for this is a blessed contemplation to the soul that is led of God, and full greatly to Hi…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LXIX
“"I was delivered from the Enemy by the virtue of Christ's Passion" After this the Fiend came again with his heat and with his stench, and gave me much ado, the stench was so vile and so painful, and also dreadful and travailous. Also I hear…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LXXVII-a
“"Accuse not thyself overmuch, deeming that thy tribulation and thy woe is all thy fault." "All thy living is penance profitable." "In the remedy He willeth that we rejoice" Our good Lord shewed the enmity of the Fiend: in which Shewing I un…”
Revelations of Divine Love | Chapter LXXVIII
“"Though we be highly lifted up into contemplation by the special gift of our Lord, yet it is needful to us to have knowledge and sight of our sin and our feebleness" Our Lord of His mercy sheweth us our sin and our feebleness by the sweet g…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 1)
“p. 33 THE DOCTRINES OF JACOB BOEHME. "Our whole doctrine is nothing else but an instruction to show how man may create a kingdom of light within himself. . . . He in whom this spring of divine power flows, carries within himself the d…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 1 (part 8)
“1 "When my spirit, full of sorrow, earnestly, and as if moving in a great storm, arose in God, carrying with it my whole heart and mind, with all my thoughts and with the whole of my will, and when I would not cease to wrestle with the love…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 5)
“The will beholding itself in the mirror of wisdom causes its own image to appear within the groundlessness, and thus it creates a foundation in its own imagination." ( Menschwerdung , ii. 1.) "Wisdom, the eternal virgin, the playmate of Go…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 2 (part 7)
“The light of God has also the quality of the fire, but in it the wrath is changed into love; hate and bitter pain into mild beneficence and sweet desire or satisfaction." ( Menschwerdung , i. 5–16.) "The fountain of love is a clasping and…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 6)
“49.) Thus the light conquers the darkness, but does not destroy it; it merely becomes victorious over it and consumes it in a manner comparable to that of the assimilation of food by the organism which conquers and consumes that food by mea…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 2)
“91 "Christ never said, 'I, in my human selfhood, am the voice of God, I am speaking as God, in or with God,' &c.; but He said, 'The words which I speak are the Father's, who lives in me '—that is to say, who lives in my human or natural sel…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 3)
“7.) "We cannot reasonably suppose any formation or differentiation to have existed in the eternal One from which, or according to which (formation) something could have been made; for if such a form, or predisposition to making a form, had…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 4 (part 6)
“"The created world was before the mysterium magnum, for all things were then in a spiritual condition in wisdom, as in a continual play or wrestle of love. The one only Will conceived this spiritual form into the Word, and permitted the in…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 5)
“109 the spirit of holiness cannot enter unless unholiness is chased away. In this battle against evil the angels are always ready to assist man in an invisible manner against the temptations of the "devils," provided that he is willing to…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 6)
“"In the lightning flash, the fourth form of nature, is the origin of life, and it attains perfection in the constancy of the fire. Here, in the object of division, is the p. 111 spirit born, and this spirit can either go backwards and ent…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 5 (part 11)
“Man must know evil for the purpose of becoming able to realise the good, after which he returns to the latter; but as everything seeks for its own corresponding principle, he in whom evil has become paramount will remain in evil. p. 121 "…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 6 (part 8)
“They are fire-flames, illumined by the light of God, but we attain the great fountain of meekness and love which is welling up within the holy essentiality of God." 1 ( Menschwerdung , i. 5.) Man comprises all three principles: the princip…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 5)
“13.) Man can attain real similarity to God and perfect beatitude only by decisively willing to put his will into the Son, as the Heart or Light of the Father. "God has the eternal and unchangeable will to generate His Heart and his Son, an…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 8)
“15.) The forthcoming of the tree of temptation is not to be wondered at, because Adam was endowed with great powers, and an earthly form as a protection to him against the powers of hell. 1 "Reason (man's reasoning) says, 'Why did God perm…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 9)
“If it had not been for that circumstance, he would in his selfishness even have become a devil by the power of the fire." 4 ( Stiefel , ii. 363.) "When the devil saw that lust resided in Adam, he acted still more powerfully upon the Sal-ni…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 11)
“162 [paragraph continues] Eve, the latter was the first to be seduced to fall away from God. 1 "The lust originated in Adam, but thereupon this perverted desire began to be excited in the woman." ( Stiefel , ii. 375.) "Eve was lusting aft…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 7 (part 13)
“154:1 This is the difference between life in the terrestrial and life in the celestial states of nature, that the former is differentiated into forms, each of which loves to live in the consciousness of its own illusive self— i.e. , in a s…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 1)
“p. 164 CHAPTER VIII. NATURE, OR THE THIRD PRINCIPLE. "The godless seeks for God outside of his own self, and the Christless sectarians seek for a personal Christ in history; but the man of God and the true Christian know God and Christ w…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 6)
“1.) "The terrestrial consciousness corrupted the celestial one, and the former became the Turba of the latter. Likewise, the Fiat made the earth and stones out of the eternal essentiality." ( Menschwerdung , i. 9.) "But in the earth we fi…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 8 (part 7)
“The outbreathed desire—that is to say, the love of the divine power for nature, wherefrom nature and self-will have originated—is longing to get rid of the natural perverted self-will, and is destined, at the end of time, to be free of the…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 1)
“p. 180 CHAPTER IX. GENERATION. "Let every Brahman, with fixed attention, consider all nature, both visible and invisible, as existing in the Divine Spirit. For when he contemplates the boundless universe in the Divine Spirit, he cannot…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 6)
“He could generate in a virginal state, and procreate by means of his will and out of his own substance, without any pain or laceration." ( Threefold Life , ii. 24.) "If man had withstood the temptation one human being would have been born…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 9 (part 9)
“183:1 If man's imagination were not excited by the pictorial representations which the objects of the surrounding world call forth in his mind by means of his external senses, but if his mental activity were restricted to forming images by…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 5)
“The wrath must kill and consume the external image that has grown in the wrath, but from its death springs forth the eternal life." ( Mysterium , xxviii. 14.) "Abel, representing an antitype of Christ, who was to suffer death for humanity,…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 8)
“9.) "In those heathen that were highly intellectual in the light of nature the interior holy realm was mirrored, and although the true divine intelligence was closed to them, and although they beheld merely an external reflection, neverthel…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 10 (part 10)
“Thus the desire of God in the Word perceived the desire of man through the fire; for in the (divine) fire was consumed the animal vanity in the will of man, by means of the wrath, and then the purified human will, with the incorporated para…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 11 (part 9)
“225:1 All disputes about the nature of Christ only prove that the disputants are not Christians, because if they were true followers of the Christ they would have the living Christ within themselves, and know His true nature. The misunders…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 12 (part 4)
“There was then no earthly food or drink, and the soul of Christ knew very well that she was in God, and that she could make terrestrial bread out of stones, as there was no other bread there. But she did not desire to eat with her celestia…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 3)
“To accomplish this he must rise by the aid of the divine Spirit within himself above the inferior elements within his own nature, and thus surrender his whole self-will to God, an act which is expressed in the original meaning of the word "…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 4)
“will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of My Father in heaven." It would seem self-evident that no being inferior to the Father in heaven can possibly do the will of the Father, because no one can do the will of God unl…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 5)
“First, by the severe wrath of God, the abyss and dark world, which is the centre of the created life of the soul, whose innermost root is desire. The second chain is the fiery longing of the devil for the soul, in consequence of which he t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 8)
“A sprout grows from the earth, and thus the substance of which it is formed flies from the earth and is attracted towards the sunlight until it becomes a plant or a tree. So does the divine Sun draw the human lily, i.e. , the new man in h…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 14)
“It would then be easy for us to grant our own desires, if in that divine state there could be room for personal desires of any kind. 268:1 True prayer is the bringing of will, thought, and word into one Δ by the power of the Spirit of God.…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 13 (part 15)
“If he then, in his imagination, sinks himself into the abyss, he is then already there, and in this abyss is his pearl (the celestial jewel)." ( Grace , ii. 43.) 279:1 This may be expressed in other words by saying that desire gives rise t…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 4)
“Each person feels that according to the quality of his Turba , one in one way and another in another. The avaricious soul, for instance, suffers from cold; the angry soul from heat; the envious soul experiences bitterness; the conceited is…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 10)
“When, then, death actually takes place, and separates the soul from the body, the poor soul will then cling to that thread and refuse to let go her hold of it, but all her essences are still deeply immersed in the wrath of God; she is tortu…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 14 (part 11)
“309 As a matter of course, no dead soul can be made alive by prayer, neither can mere lip-prayer or any empty ceremony aid the soul in freeing herself from the bonds of matter, but the living may aid the "dead," and especially the dying, by…”
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renaissance_hermeticism61
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-j
“The body is in the soul, the soul is in the mind, the mind is in God. The life of the soul is the true life of the man. Of all his various faculties, that which rules all, that which exalts our nature, is Thought. By means of it we rise…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-a
“. Tansillo, Cicada. Tans. The enthusiasms most suitable to be first brought forward and considered are those that I now place before you in the order that seems to me most fitting. Cic. Begin, then, to read. Tansillo. 1. Ye Muses, t…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-c
“Hence he cries: "O mountain of Parnassus, where I abide! Muses, with whom I converse! Fountain of Helicon, where I am nourished. Mountain, that affordest me a quiet dwelling-place! Muses, that inspire me with pro found doctrines. Fount…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-d
“Some are called in vain to put in a ready appearance, and are chiefly those which proceed from the lower instincts, and which obey the reason either not at all, or very little; and forcing himself to prevent their actions and condemn those…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-f
“One thing is certain, that he who loves wisely in youth will in age not go astray. But derision is for those of mature age, into whose hands Love puts the alphabet. Cic. Tell me now why Fate is called blind and bad. Tans. Again, blind…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-c
“I can very well conceive, from what you have said, the condition of that heroic enthusiast, who says, "My hopes are ice and my desires are glowing," because he is not in the temperance of mediocrity, but, in the excess of contradictions, hi…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-d
“So that, finding himself thus ascending and descending, he feels within his soul the greatest dissension that is possible to be felt, and he remains in a state of confusion through this rebellion of the senses, which urge him thither where…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Second Dialogue-e
“Herein he proves that his love is truly heroic; because he proposes to himself as the chief aim, not corporeal beauty, but rather the grace of the spirit, and the inclination of the affections in which, rather than in the beauty of the body…”
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greek_mystery27
Orphic Hymns | Hymn I. THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA
“I. TO THE GODDESS PROTHYRÆA * . The FUMIGATION from STORAX. O venerable goddess, hear my pray'r, For labour pains are thy peculiar care; in thee, when stretch'd upon the bed of grief, The sex as in a mirror view relief. Guard of the race, e…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXVI. MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY
“LXXVI. To MNEMOSYNE, or the GODDESS of MEMORY * . The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE consort I invoke of Jove divine, Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine; p. 215 Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind, By whom the soul with inte…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXXVII. AURORA
“LXXVII. TO AURORA. The FUMIGATION from MANNA. HEAR me, O Goddess! whose emerging ray Leads on the broad refulgence of the day; Blushing Aurora, whose celestial light Beams on the world with red'ning splendours bright: Angel of Titan, whom w…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 4 (part 1)
“p. 1 THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS 1. First worship the Immortal Gods, as they are established and ordained by the Law. 2. Reverence the Oath, and next the Heroes, full of goodness and light. 3. Honour likewise the Terrestrial Dæmon…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 4 (part 2)
“Wherein have I done amiss? What have I done? What have I omitted that I ought to have done? 43. If in this examination thou find that thou hast done amiss, reprimand thyself severely for it; 44. And if thou hast done any good, rejoice.…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 5 (part 1)
“p. 9 NOTES ON THE GOLDEN VERSES OF PYTHAGORAS FROM THE COMMENTARIES OF HIEROCLES. The Golden Verses may be divided into two parts, the first treating of the Practical or Human Virtues, whose aim is the making of Good Men; and the second,…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 5 (part 2)
“The mortal Oath--that used amongst men--has to be reverenced as an image of the other, and as leading to the greatest strength and stability of character. And if man would reverence the Oath, then must he do all in his power to understand…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 5 (part 3)
“"Thou shalt not hope what thou ought'st not to hope," knowing the nature of all things, and what is possible. 55. The Gods near at hand are virtue and truth. p. 17 59, 60. The fatal strife is caused by our inclination "madly to run cou…”
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jewish_mysticism20
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1a
“CHAPTER V. 1. (It is written) Isa. i. 4: "Woe unto the sinful nation, unto the people heavy with iniquity, unto the seed of evildoers, &c." (Here the author of the "Siphra Dtzenioutha" reasoneth concerning the small word HVI, "woe," whi…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1c
“And to it also pertain the following names, namely, the name) IH, Yah (whensoever it is written in full with A in this manner:) IVD HA, Yod Ha (and containeth the number of the numeral powers of the letters of the Tetragrammaton, namely, 26…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1d
“5; "And thou shalt place upon me thine hand:" KPKH, Khephakha . (Where this word KPKH, if it be written according to the usual p. 100 custom KPK, Khephakh , yieldeth the number 120. But now by adding the paragogic H of the female, there…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1e
“31: "And He was wise above every man." Because these are not classed with man. 21. (But when it is said) "And the Tetragrammaton gave him wisdom," then is understood the supernal He . (Because he gave unto him the influx of the wisdom of…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1f
“[The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are divided into three classes, the three mothers as they are called, AMSh; the seven duplex letters, BGDKPRTh, so called because they are sometimes tenues and sometimes aspirates, according to whether th…”
The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1h
“35: "Ye shall not do iniquity in judgment, in dimension, in weight, and in measure." (Where these four are mystically intimated.) 37. (There is one) rigorous judgment (of severity),another that is not rigorous (that is, of the kingdom). T…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter II
“CHAPTER II. 1. Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, ⌈ and ⌉ the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and transgress not against thei…”
The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) | Chapter III
“CHAPTER III. Observe and see how (in the winter) all the trees ⌈⌈ seem as though they had withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old foliage from two to three years till the…”
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hermeticism15
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1a
“Poemandres, the Shepherd of Men <This is the most famous of the Hermetic documents, a revelation account describing a vision of the creation of the universe and the nature and fate of humanity. Authors from the Renaissance onward have been…”
Corpus Hermeticum 1: Poimandres | Section 1b
“But when He raised His head, I see in Mind the Light, [but] now in Powers no man could number, and Cosmos grown beyond all bounds, and that the Fire was compassed round about by a most mighty Power, and [now] subdued had come unto a stand.…”
Corpus Hermeticum 3: The Sacred Sermon | Section 1
“The Sacred Sermon 1. The Glory of all things is God, Godhead and Godly Nature. Source of the things that are is God, who is both Mind and Nature - yea Matter, the Wisdom that reveals all things. Source [too] is Godhead - yea Nature, Energy,…”
Corpus Hermeticum 4: The Epistles | Section 1b
“And having raised themselves so far they sight the Good; and having sighted it, they look upon their sojourn here as a mischance; and in disdain of all, both things in body and the bodiless, they speed their way unto that One and Only One.…”
Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1a
“Though Unmanifest God Is Most Manifest 1. I will recount to thee this sermon (logos) too, O Tat, that thou may'st cease to be without the mysteries of the God beyond all name. And mark thou well how that which to the many seems unmanifest…”
Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1b
“Would that it were possible for thee to get thee wings, and soar into the air, and, poised midway 'tween earth and heaven, behold the earth's solidity, the sea's fluidity (the flowings of its streams), the spaciousness of air, fire's swiftn…”
Corpus Hermeticum 5: The Discourse of Hermes to Asclepius | Section 1c
“And for this cause hath He all names, in that they are one Father's. And for this cause hath He Himself no nome, in that He's Father of [them] all. Who, then, may sing Thee praise of Thee, or [praise] to Thee? Whither, again, am I to tur…”
Corpus Hermeticum 7: The Seven Powers | Section 1
“The Greatest Ill Among Men is Ignorance of God 1. Whither stumble ye, sots, who have sopped up the wine of ignorance and can so far not carry it that ye already even spew it forth? Stay ye, be sober, gaze upwards with the [true] eyes of the…”
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hinduism15
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter VIII, Section 1a
“CHAPTER VIII. Ar g una said: What is that Brahman, what the Adhyâtma, and what, O best of beings! is action? And what is called the Adhibhûta? And who is the Adhiya g ña, and how in this body, O destroyer of Madhu? And how, too, are yo…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter X, Section 1a
“CHAPTER X. Yet again, O you of mighty arms! listen to my excellent words, which, out of a wish for your welfare, I speak to you who are delighted (with them). Not the multitudes of gods, nor the great sages know my source; for I am in ev…”
The Bhagavad Gita | Chapter XII, Section 1
“CHAPTER XII. Ar g una said: Of the worshippers, who thus, constantly devoted, meditate on you, and those who (meditate) on the unperceived and indestructible, which best know devotion? The Deity said: Those who being constantly devoted, and…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 17
“Meditation with an object follows these stages: first, exterior examining, then interior judicial action, then joy, then realization of individual being. In the practice of meditation, a beginning may be made by fixing the attention upon so…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 38
“Or a pondering on the perceptions gained in dreams and dreamless sleep. For the Eastern sages, dreams are, it is true, made up of images of waking life, reflections of what the eyes have seen and the ears heard. But dreams are something mor…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 39
“Or meditative brooding on what is dearest to the heart. Here is a thought which our own day is beginning to grasp: that love is a form of knowledge; that we truly know any thing or any person, by becoming one therewith, in love. Thus love h…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 42
“When the consciousness, poised in perceiving, blends together the name, the object dwelt on and the idea, this is perception with exterior consideration. In the first stage of the consideration of an external object, the perceiving mind com…”
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I | Sutra 47
“When pure perception without judicial action of the mind is reached, there follows the gracious peace of the inner self. We have instanced certain types of this pure perception: the poet's divination, whereby he sees the spirit within the s…”
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platonism10
Plato: Phaedo | Section 1ad
“I might compare him to a person who began by maintaining generally that mind is the cause of the actions of Socrates, but who, when he endeavored to explain the causes of my several actions in detail, went on to show that I sit here because…”
Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1ab
“The two speeches, as you may remember, were unlike-I the one argued that the lover and the other that the non-lover ought to be accepted. Phaedr. And right manfully. Soc. You should rather say "madly"; and madness was the argument of th…”
Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1ae
“I quite admit, Socrates, that the art of rhetoric which these men teach and of which they write is such as you describe-there I agree with you. But I still want to know where and how the true art of rhetoric and persuasion is to be acquire…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1b
“But when I hear another strain, especially that of you rich men and traders, such conversation displeases me; and I pity you who are my companions, because you think that you are doing something when in reality you are doing nothing. And I…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1m
“For if they had understood him they would surely have built noble temples and altars, and offered solemn sacrifices in his honour; but this is not done, and most certainly ought to be done: since of all the gods he is the best friend of men…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1z
“Marvel not then at the love which all men have of their offspring; for that universal love and interest is for the sake of immortality." I was astonished at her words, and said: "Is this really true, O thou wise Diotima?" And she answered w…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1aa
“"These are the lesser mysteries of love, into which even you, Socrates, may enter; to the greater and more hidden ones which are the crown of these, and to which, if you pursue them in a right spirit, they will lead, I know not whether you…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1ab
“This, my dear Socrates," said the stranger of Mantineia, "is that life above all others which man should live, in the contemplation of beauty absolute; a beauty which if you once beheld, you would see not to be after the measure of gold, an…”
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egyptian6
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 19 (part 9)
“, the "house of cloth," was a district belonging to the temple of Suten-henen or Heracleopolis in Upper Egypt.] Ubes-hra-per-em-khet khet,[l] and Maa (106) -em-qerh-an-nef-em-hru. The chief of the holy ones (107) who minister in his chamber…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 29 (part 2)
“Text [CHAPTER CXXXIII.]: (1) TO BE SAID ON THE DAY OF THE MONTH. (2) Osiris Ani, the scribe, triumphant in peace, triumphant, saith: "Ra riseth (2) in his horizon, and the company of his gods follow after the god when he appeareth from his…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 32 (part 2)
“May I enter into the presence of Ra daily to hear his words, and may I sit down among the (8) mighty gods of Nut. May a homestead be made ready for me, and may offerings of food and drink be put before me therein. May I eat therein; (9) m…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 33 (part 1)
“PLATE XXVI. underworld fear me, and they (17) fight for me [in their habitations]. I, in very truth I am a shining one and a dweller in light, who hath been created and who hath come into being (18) from the body of the god. I am one of…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 40 (part 4)
“I have sailed on its Lake that I may come unto its cities, and I have drawn nigh It unto the city Hetep. For behold, I repose at the seasons [of Horus]. I have passed through the region of the company of the gods who are aged and venerable…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 95)
“see also Maspero, Hymne au Nil, publié et traduit d'après les deux textes A Musée Britannique , Paris, 1868. 4to. 2 Pyramid of Unas, l. 219; Pyramid of Teta, ll. 60, 286; Pyramid of Pepi I., ll. 444, 593, etc. 3. Pyramid of Pepi I.,…”
taoism3
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 10
“When the intelligent and animal souls are held together in one embrace, they can be kept from separating. When one gives undivided attention to the (vital) breath, and brings it to the utmost degree of pliancy, he can become as a (tender) b…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book I (part 1)
“p. 164 THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-DZE. BOOK I. PART I. SECTION I. Hsiâo-yâo Yû, or 'Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease 1 .' 1. In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, the name of which is Khwän 2 ,--I do not know how many lî in size. It changes…”
The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) | Book VI (part 5)
“Dze-sze 1 , Dze-yü 1 , Dze-1î 1 , and Dze-lâi 1 , these four men, were talking together, when some one said, 'Who can suppose the head to be made from nothing, the spine from life, and the rump-bone from death? Who knows how death and birt…”
celtic2
The Mabinogion | Tale PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC-l
“And in the morning he arose, and when he went forth, behold a shower of snow had fallen the night before, and a hawk had killed a wild fowl in front of the cell. And the noise of the horse scared the hawk away, and a raven alighted upon th…”
The Mabinogion | Tale PEREDUR THE SON OF EVRAWC-m
“And while thy speech and thy soft words last, a coat of thin linen were armour sufficient for thee, and thou wilt not need to break either lance or sword in fighting with the knight in the state he is in.” Then said Gwalchmai to Kai, “Thou…”
gnosticism2
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 2
“Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 9
“Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fel…”
buddhism1
The Dhammapada | Chapter II, Section 1a
“p. 9 CHAPTER II. ON EARNESTNESS . 21. Earnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvâ n a), thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead already. 22. Those who are adv…”
native_american1
The Soul of the Indian | Chapter II-d
“Names of any dignity or importance must be conferred by the old men, and especially so if they have any spiritual significance; as Sacred Cloud, Mysterious Night, Spirit Woman, and the like. Such a name was sometimes borne by three generat…”
sufism1
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY V-e
“"In yourselves are signs; will ye not behold them?" (Koran li, 21). 12. See Gulshan i Raz, I. 92. Mr. Mansel (Bampton Lectures, p. 49) says: "A thing can be known as that which it is only by being distinguished from that which it is n…”