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praxis

Alchemical Work

The transformation of base substance — outer matter or the inner soul — into a purified, perfected, or 'gold' state; the magnum opus as both laboratory practice and spiritual allegory.

355 passages · 14 traditions
western_esoteric: 146 passageswestern_esoteric146renaissance_hermeticism: 82 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism82christian_mysticism: 80 passageschristian_mysticism80sufism: 14 passagessufism14gnosticism: 7 passagesgnosticism7neoplatonism: 7 passagesneoplatonism7hermeticism: 4 passageshermeticism4egyptian: 3 passagesegyptian3greek_mystery: 3 passagesgreek_mystery3theosophy: 3 passagestheosophy3celtic: 2 passagesceltic2taoism: 2 passagestaoism2hinduism: 1 passagehinduism1native_american: 1 passagenative_american1
western_esoteric146
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 6 (part 1)
PART I THE LITERATURE OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC Click to view THE SERPENT OF THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES. From a Greek Vase Painting. CHAPTER I The antiquity of Magical Rituals § 1. The Importance of Ceremonial Magic THE ordinary fields of ps…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 7 (part 1)
§ 2. The Distinction between White and Black Magic Having considered the possible standpoints from which the Rituals may be regarded, we come now to the distinctions that are made between them, and, first and foremost, to that which has be…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 8 (part 2)
Hochmaël ), and thereafter wrote seven volumes of Magical Art, "giving the kernel to us and the shells to others." From these books he seems afterwards to have extracted ninety-three chapters, containing a summary of the whole subject, and…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 9 (part 3)
The missing books are those of Microcosmical Magic, or Spiritual Wisdom; Olympic Magic, that is, the evocation of the Spirits of Olympus; Hesiodiacal and Homeric Magic, being the operations of Caco-daimones ; Roman or Sibylline Magic, conce…”
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 9 (part 5)
Click to view THE CHARACTER OF HAGITH The government of Venereal concerns is entrusted to HAGITH, and the person possessing his character is adorned with all beauty. He converts copper into gold in a moment and gold instantaneously into co…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 20 (part 1)
§ 7. The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage The existence of this text had been known to students for a considerable period before it was made available in an English translation by the editor of the Key of Solomon . The amateurs of occul…”
The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite) | Page 49 (part 3)
Amen . When shaping this knife recite the Psalm Deus, judicium tuum Regi da . Then write these words upon the Rod: AGLA, ADONAY, ELOE, may the work of this wooden Knife be accomplished by you! Say also over it: CARA, CHERNA, SITO, CIRNA.…”
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renaissance_hermeticism82
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter III — Of the Four Elements, Their Qualities, and Mutual Mixtions | Chapter III, Section 1
CHAPTER III. Of the Four Elements, Their Qualities, and Mutual Mixtions . There are four Elements, and original grounds of all corporeal things—Fire, Earth, Water, Air—of which all elemented inferior bodies are compounded; not by way of hea…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter IV — Of a Three-Fold Consideration of the Elements | Chapter IV, Section 1
CHAPTER IV. Of a Three-Fold Consideration of the Elements . There are, then, as we have said, four Elements, without the perfect knowledge whereof we can effect nothing in Magic. Now each of them is three-fold, that so the number of four ma…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter V — Of the Wonderful Natures of Fire and Earth | Chapter V, Section 1b
Hence it was that the first and most wise institutors of religions and ceremonies ordained that prayers, singings and all manner of divine worships whatsoever should not be performed without lighted candles or torches (hence, also, was that…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter IX — Of the Virtues of Things Natural, Depending Immediately upon Elements | Chapter IX, Section 1
CHAPTER IX. Of the Virtues of Things Natural, Depending Immediately upon Elements . Of the natural virtues of things, some are Elementary, as to heat, to cool, to moisten, to dry; and they are called operations, or first qualities; and the…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XIV — Of the Spirit of the World, What It Is, and How by Way of Medium It Unites Occult Virtues to Their Subjects | Chapter XIV, Section 1a
CHAPTER XIV. Of the Spirit of the World, What It Is, and How by Way of Medium It Unites Occult Virtues to Their Subjects . Democritus and Orpheus, and many Pythagoreans, having most diligently searched into the virtues of celestial things…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XIV — Of the Spirit of the World, What It Is, and How by Way of Medium It Unites Occult Virtues to Their Subjects | Chapter XIV, Section 1b
And we know how to do that, and have seen it done; but we could make no more Gold than the weight of that was out of which we extracted the Spirit; for seeing that [ gold ] is an extense form, and not intense, it cannot beyond its own bound…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XXXVI — Of the Union of Mixed Things, and the Introduction of a More Noble Form and the Senses of Life | Chapter XXXVI, Section 1
CHAPTER XXXVI. Of the Union of Mixed Things, and the Introduction of a More Noble Form and the Senses of Life . Moreover , we must know, that by how much the more noble the form of anything is, by so much the more prone and apt it is to rec…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTION-l
There he passed the first day of that imprisonment which was to last for eight years. The next day he went over the lagoon in a gondola, in the company of his jailors, who took him to the prison of the Holy Office, and left him there. Lev…”
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) | Second Dialogue-a
. Tansillo. Now begins the enthusiast to display the affections and uncover the wounds which are for a sign in his body, and in substance or essence in his soul, and he says thus: 9. Of Love the standard-bearer I; My hopes are ice, and g…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-a
. Tansillo . There are several varieties of enthusiasts, which may all be reduced to two kinds. While some only display blindness, stupidity, and irrational impetuosity, which tend towards savage madness, others by divine abstraction bec…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-b
It is not a fury of black bile which sends him drifting outside of judgment, reason, and acts of prudence, and tossed by the discordant tempest, like those who, having violated certain laws of the divine Adrastia, are condemned to be scourg…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-c
Here he shows his love not to be like that of the butterfly, of the stag, and of the unicorn, who would flee away if they had knowledge of the fire, of the arrow, and of the snares, and who have no other sense than that of pleasure; but he…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-g
Such over-boldness rarely grief escapes." "Fear not the utmost ruin then," I said, "Cleave confident the clouds and die content, That heaven has destined thee to such illustrious death." Cic . I understand when you say: "Enough that thou h…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-h
In which generation finding themselves once more through the changes which permutably succeed, they return again to the superior forms. Cic . So that they mean, that souls are impelled by the necessity of fate, and have no proper counsel…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-a
. Tansillo . Thus is described the discourse of heroic love, in all which tends to its own object, which is the highest good; and heroic intellect, which devotes itself to the study of its own object, which is the primal verity, or absolu…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-b
He forms intelligible conceptions in his own way and proportions them to his capacity, so that they are received according to the manner of the recipient. Tans. And does he hunt through the operation of the will, by the act of which he co…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-a
. I. Cic . Now show me how I may be able for myself to consider the conditions of these enthusiasts, through that which appears in the order of the warfare here described. Tans . Behold how they carry the ensign of their affections or…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-f
I understand it all; but what is the meaning of, "May I be happy in this governance and with these bonds, and may that light not cease?" Tans. He means, and he proves, that every sort of love, the greater its dominion and the surer its hol…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-h
That legend contains all the meaning of the thing in so far as it can be explained, for it means that he turns and is turned, that is to say movement present and accomplished. Cic. Excellent! And therefore those circles which so ill expl…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-l
Here are shown the pains and troubles which beset love, principally love of a low kind, which is no other than the forge of Vulcan, that smith who makes the bolts of Jove which torment offending souls. For ill-ordered love has in itself th…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-r
But it is not so, if you consider well, for it cannot be that in one instant, which is an atom or point, love persists or endures; therefore one must of necessity understand the instant in another signification. And for the sake of getting…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | PREFACE
. The second part of "The Heroic Enthusiasts" which I am now sending to the press is on the same subject as the first, namely the struggles of the soul in its upward progress towards purification and freedom, and the author makes use of low…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-c
And I will say, because to me this pain Is dearer than all other pleasures are. Mar. In reference to this I told you that although one should be attached to corporeal and external beauty yet he may honourably and worthily be so attached;…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-e
For nothing is produced absolutely from a homœogeneous (pacifico) principle, but all from opposite principles, through the victory and dominion of one part of the opposites, and there is no pleasure of generation on one side without the pai…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-f
But Providence wills that these, instead of rising to the sky, should go together to the shades of Orcus, so that naught is the glory of him who extols and of him who is extolled; for the one has woven a statue of straw, or carved the trunk…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-n
So much so that whatsoever you might add thereto would appear to me superfluous. IX. Ces. Let us see what is here represented by those two radiating arrows upon a target around which is written: Vicit instans. Mar. The continual strugg…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | First Dialogue-o
Because those lights which made present the illuminating, acting intellect and sun of intelligence found easy ingress through his eyes; that of Truth (the intellect of Truth?) through the door of the intellectual faculty; that of Goodness (…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-c
First, because such an impediment cannot exist in action, if (equally?) violent opposition is not put into action;[U] second, because in so far as the waters are actually in the eyes, they can give passage to the heat as to the light; for,…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Third Dialogue-f
Here the eyes imprint upon the heart, that is upon the intelligence, and rouse in the will an infinite torment of love, where there is no pain because nothing is sought which is not obtained; but it is happiness, because that which is there…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fourth Dialogue-d
Therefore, in the sistine he would have space made for him to pass; for if anybody should be touched by his fires he would become such that he would have no more feeling of the flames of hell, for their heat would be to him as cold snow. 6…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-b
By her finally, they were treated in such a manner that, blind and homeless, with great labour having ploughed the seas, passed over rivers, overcome mountains, traversed plains for the space of ten years, and at the end of which time havin…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori) | Fifth Dialogue-c
Too long, too long our limbs Have wandered o'er the terrene globe, So that to us it seems As if the shrewd wild beast, With false and flattering hopes, Our bosoms has encumbered with her wiles. Wretched henceforth, we see, though late, the…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1a
THE AURORA OF THE PHILOSOPHERS. BY THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS. WHICH HE OTHERWISE CALLS HIS MONARCHIA. CHAPTER I. CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF THE PHILOSOPHERS’ STONE. ADAM was the first inventor of arts, because he had knowledge of all thing…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1d
For the Ternary, with the magical Quaternary, produces a perfect Septenary, endowed with many arcana and demonstrated by things which are known. When the Quaternary rests in the Ternary, then arises the Light of the World on the horizon of…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1e
Moreover, no small error has arisen in the liquid of vegetables, with which a good many have sought to coagulate Mercury , and afterwards to convert it with fixatory waters into Luna, since they supposed that he who in this way could coagul…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1f
So, then, they put forth that the whole thing hinged upon natural vegetables, though not as to its matter, because their stone contains within itself a body, soul, and spirit, as vegetables do. CHAPTER VIII. CONCERNING THOSE WHO HAVE SOUG…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1g
Hence they predicted that, in the last times, there should come a most pure man upon the earth, by whom the redemption of the world should be brought about; and that this man should send forth bloody drops of a red colour, by means of which…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1h
The same opinion must be passed on the sublimation of Mercury by mineral spirits, for the white and the red, as by vitriol, saltpetre, alum, crocuses, etc., concerning all which subjects that sophist, John de Rupescissa, romances in his tre…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1i
Now the sophists have mixed this counterfeit Venus with twice its weight of Luna, and sold it to the goldsmiths and mint-masters, until at last they have transmuted themselves into false coiners – not only those who sold, but those who boug…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1j
But this is not done in the way pointed out by such evil sophists as Geber in "The Sum of Perfection", Albertus Magnus, Aristotle the chemist in "The Book of the Perfect Magistery", Rhasis and Polydorus; for those writers, however many they…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1k
Nature herself is wise, and turns all the waters of vegetables to a lemon colour, and after that into an oil which is very red like blood. The reason why this is so slowly accomplished arises from the too great haste of the ignorant operat…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1l
Take the corporal Mercury, in the proportion of two parts; pour it over three parts, equal in weight, of the aforesaid oil, and let them remain together for forty days. By this proportion of weight and this order the multiplication becomes…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1m
In this way you will have the supreme mystery and arcanum of Nature, to which scarcely any equal can be assigned in the nature of things. Let these two oils in combination be shut up together in a phial after the manner described, hung on…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1n
After the mortification of vegetables, they are transmuted, by the concurrence of two minerals, such as Sulphur and Salt, into a mineral nature, so that at length they themselves become perfect minerals. So it is that in the mineral burrow…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1o
There are also two matters of the Stone, Sol and Luna, formed together in a proper marriage, both natural and artificial. Now, as we see that the man or the woman, without the seed of both, cannot generate, in the same way our man, Sol, an…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1p
From the fact that the philosophers make mention of certain preparations, such as putrefaction, distillation, sublimation, calcination, coagulation, dealbation, rubification, ceration, fixation, and the like, you should understand that in t…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1q
CONCERNING INSTRUMENTS AND THE PHILOSOPHIC VESSEL. Sham philosophers have misunderstood the occult and secret philosophic vessel, and worse is that which is said by Aristoteles the Alchemist (not the famous Greek Academic Philosopher), giv…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1r
CONCERNING THE SECRET FIRE OF THE PHILOSOPHERS. This is a well-known sententious saying of the philosophers, "Let fire and Azoc suffice thee". Fire alone is the whole work and the entire art. Moreover, they who build their fire and keep…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1s
He says, also, that this is the key and the end of the work, concluding that the ferment is nothing but paste, as that of the sun is nothing but sun, and that of the moon nothing but moon. Others affirm that the ferment is the soul, and if…”
Paracelsus: The Aurora of the Philosophers | Section 1v
So long as the viridity or greenness of vitriol subsists therein, it is of a soft quality and substance. But if it be excocted so that it is deprived of its moisture, it is thereby changed into a hard stone from which even fire can be stru…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1a
THE COELUM PHILOSOPHORUM, OR BOOK OF VEXATIONS; By PHILIPPUS THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS. THE SCIENCE AND NATURE OF ALCHEMY, AND WHAT OPINION SHOULD BE FORMED THEREOF. Regulated by the Seven Rules or Fundamental Canons according to the seven…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1b
On the other hand, the perfect metals, Sol and Luna, are not consumed in that same fire. They remain in the fire: and at the same time, out of the other imperfect ones which are destroyed, they assume their own body and become visible to t…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1c
In like manner, they do not much fear those of an inferior order, because they are remote, and none of the living knows their condition or has experienced the misery of their punishment. For this cause an infernal spirit is accounted as no…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1d
Of his own nature Saturn speaks thus: The other six have cast me out as their examiner. They have thrust me forth from them and from a spiritual place. They have also added a corruptible body as a place of abode, so that I may be what the…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1e
And this is the transposition of the metals from one death to another, that is to say, from a lesser degree into one greater and higher, namely, into Luna; and from a better into the best and most most perfect, that is, into Sol, the brilli…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1f
In these five metals the cold abodes with their regimens are especially found. Hence it happens that Sol can with difficulty be liquefied without the heat of fire, on account of the cold whereof mention has been made. For Mercury cannot a…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1g
It works essentially where otherwise there is no hope. It accomplishes that which is deemed impossible. What appears beyond belief or hope emerges into truth after a wonderful fashion. NOTE ON MERCURIUS VIVUS. Whatever tinges with a whi…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1h
These and the like, whereof there are some very far-fetched in Alchemy, are mere incumbrances of work; since even if Sol and Luna could be made by them they rather hinder and delay than further one’s purpose. But it is not from these – to…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1i
But what must be done besides to Mercury in order that its moisture and heat may be taken away, and in their place such an extreme cold introduced as to congeal, consolidate, and altogether mortify the Mercury? Do what follows in the sente…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1j
Note, that Sol and Luna can be made easily from Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter, but from Mars and Venus with difficulty. It is possible to make them, however, but with the addition of Sol and Luna. Out of Magnesium and Saturn comes Luna, an…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1k
It is of an obscure and transparent blackness, the colour of iron. It is the hardest of all; but is dissolved in the blood of a goat. Its size at the largest does not exceed that of a hazel nut. The Magnet Is an iron stone, and so attrac…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1l
In the absence of all ordeal by fire, there is no proving of a substance possible. For fire tests everything, and when the impure matter is separated the three pure substances are displayed. – De Origine Morborum ex Tribus Primis Substans…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1m
Venus is the first metal generated by the Archeus of Nature from the three prime principles after the marcasites and cachimiae have been separated from these. It is formed of the gross redness which is purged off from the primal Sulphur of…”
Paracelsus: Coelum Philosophorum, or Book of Vexations | Section 1n
When the occult dispenser of Nature in the prime principles that is to say, the potency called Ares, has produced the gross and rough genera of stones, and no further grossness remains, a diaphanous and subtle substance remains, out of whic…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1a
THE BOOK CONCERNING THE TINCTURE OF THE PHILOSOPHERS WRITTEN AGAINST THOSE SOPHISTS BORN SINCE THE DELUGE, IN THE AGE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD; By PH. THEOPHRASTUS BOMBAST, of HOHENHEIM, Philosopher of the Monarchia, Prince…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1b
I have a treasure hidden in a certain city called Weinden, belonging to Forum Julii, at an inn, - a treasure which neither you, Leo of Rome, nor you, Charles the German, could purchase with all your substance. Although the signed star has…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1c
On which account, from my standpoint, many rustics have been ennobled; but, on the other hand, through the speculative and opinionative art of these many nobles have been changed into clowns, and since they carried golden mountains in their…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1d
Since, then, the subject of the Tincture has been sufficiently declared, so that it scarcely could or ought to be exceeded in fidelity between two brothers, I approach its preparation, and after I have laid down the experiences of the first…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1e
But at this time, when Theophrastus Paracelsus has arrived as the Monarch of Arcana, the opportunity is at hand for finding out those things which were occult to all Spagyrists before me. Wherefore I say, Take only the rose-coloured blood…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1f
As I have begun the process of our ancestors with the Tincture of the Philosophers, I will now perfectly conclude it. CHAPTER V. CONCERNING THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROCESS OF THE ANCIENTS, MADE BY PARACELSUS. Lastly, the ancient Spagyrists…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1g
This fact has rendered that same Aristotle, with his ill-founded philosophy, fatuous. For truly, when the rustics in Hungary cast iron at the proper season into a certain fountain, commonly called Zifferbrunnen, it is consumed into rust, a…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1h
This is the Catholicum of the Philosophers, by which all these philosophers have attained long life for resisting diseases, and they have attained this end entirely and most effectually, and so, according to their judgment, they named it Th…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1i
Among the many writings which have been fabulously attributed to Hermes, there does not seem to be any record of an apocalypse, and it is impossible to say what forged document may have been the subject of interpretation by Paracelsus. As…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1k
But in its third nature it appears as an aerial body, of an oily nature, almost freed from all imperfections, in which form it does many wondrous works, producing beauty and strength of body, and (a small quantity being taken in the food) p…”
Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers | Section 1l
This spiritual substance is neither heavenly nor hellish, but an airy, pure, and hearty body, midway between the highest and lowest, without reason, but fruitful in works, and the most select and beautiful of all other heavenly things. Thi…”
Paracelsus: The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists | Section 1a
The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists. By Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, Paracelsus the Great NATURE begets a mineral in the bowels of the earth. There are two kinds of it, which are found in many districts of Europe. The best which…”
Paracelsus: The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists | Section 1b
So the water and the air will again ascend first, and afterwards the element of fire, which expert artists recognise. The earth will remain in the bottom of the vessel. This collect there. It is what many seek after and few find. This d…”
Paracelsus: The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists | Section 1c
Ah, Charles the German, where is your treasure? Where are your philosophers? Where your doctors? Where are your decocters of woods, who at least purge and relax? Is your heaven reversed? Have your stars wandered out of their course, an…”
Paracelsus: The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists | Section 1d
This work, the Tincture of the Alchemists, need not be one of nine months; but quickly, and without any delay, you may go on by the Spaygric Art of the Alchemists, and, in the space of forty days, you can fix this alchemical substance, exal…”
Paracelsus: The Treasure of Treasures for Alchemists | Section 1e
But this kind differs from what is more commonly called Balsam, in that the one is conservative of the living, and the other of the dead. - C hirurgia Magna , Pt. II., Tract II., c 3. The confection of Balsam requires special knowledge o…”
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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 6)
2.) "If there is to be a light, there must be a fire. The fire produces the light, and the light renders the fire manifest; it receives the nature of the fire within itself and resides in the fire." ( Mysterium , xl. 2.) "Joy enters the s…”
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 1)
p. 71 CHAPTER III. THE SEVEN PROPERTIES OR QUALITIES OF ETERNAL NATURE. 1 I. ♄ ☾ II. ☿ ♃ III. ♂ ♀ IV. ☉ V. ♀ ♂ VI. ♃ ☿ VII. ☾ ♄ When the Eternal One, in its aspect as a Trinity and with reference to divine wisdom, reveals itself o…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 4)
The will cannot attain this light, and the more it desires for freedom the greater will be the attraction caused by the desire." ( Six Theosophical Points , i, 38.) "There must be au opposition, for the will desires not to be dark, and this…”
The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme | Chapter 3 (part 5)
The first of these three states, being a beginning of all power and strength, originates from the quality of the Father; the second, being the source of all activity and differentiation, comes from the quality of the Son; and the third, bei…”
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 3 (part 7)
171.) When the power of the light becomes revealed it manifests its activity first of all in the Fifth Quality , which is evolved by means of the preceding four as sweet love, or a luminous water-spirit. "The first three principles are mer…”
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sufism14
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUE-b
Knowest thou why thy mirror reflects not? Because the rust has not been scoured from its face. If it were purified from all rust and defilement, It would reflect the shining of the SUN Of GOD.6 O friends, ye have now heard this tale, Whic…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY II
The Oilman and his Parrot. An oilman possessed a parrot which used to amuse him with its agreeable prattle, and to watch his shop when he went out. One day, when the parrot was alone in the shop, a cat upset one of the oil-jars. When the oi…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VI-b
They possess freewill and compulsion besides, 4 As in oyster-shells raindrops are pearls. Outside the shell they are raindrops, great and small; Inside they are precious pearls, big and little. These men also resemble the musk deer's bag;…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VII-a
The Merchant and his Clever Parrot. There was a certain merchant who kept a parrot in a cage. Being about to travel to Hindustan on business, he asked the parrot if he had any message to send to his kinsmen in that country, and the parrot…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IX-d
I knew of myself what ye thought, But I desired that ye should speak it; As this boasting of yours is very improper, So shall my mercy be shown to prevail over my wrath: O angels, in order to show forth that prevailing, I inspired that pret…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY IX-e
The useless thorn desires the autumn, That autumn may associate itself with the garden; And hide the rose's beauty and the thorn's shame, That men may not see the bloom of the one and the other's shame, That common stone and pure ruby may a…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY X-a
The Man who was Tattooed. It was the custom of the men of Qazwin to have various devices tattooed upon their bodies. A certain coward went to the artist to have such a device tattooed on his back, and desired that it might be the figure o…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY X-b
The courtier who attends in the presence of the king Is served better than the stranger outside the gate. The difference between them is beyond calculation; One sees the light, the other on]y the veil. Strive to obtain entrance within, If…”
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gnosticism7
Gospel of Philip | Section 1c
And Jesus said, “Whoever will not eat my flesh and drink my blood has no life within him.” What does he mean? His flesh is the word and blood the holy spirit. Who has received these has food and drink and clothing. I condemn those who sa…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1d
When the child is grown, however, then the father turns over all he possesses. THE LOST Those who have gone astray are those born of the spirit. And they are usually lost because of the spirit. So from one single breath of spirit the fir…”
Gospel of Philip | Section 1k
If you become light, light will share you. If you are of those from above, one of those from above will rest in you. If you become a horse or a donkey or bull or dog or sheep or another animal that is wild or tame, then neither a person n…”
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 22
Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 114
Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make h…”
Pistis Sophia | Document FIRST-o
It happened therefore while the Rulers of the Aeons, with those of the Destiny, with those of the Sphere are abiding, doing this kind (of thing) [36 ] turning them round, eating the purgation of their matter, having not been allowed to make…”
neoplatonism7
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XI
It appears to me, also, that the present question errs in another respect. For it is ignorant that the offering of sacrifices through fire has the power of consuming and destroying the matter of them in a greater degree; that it assimilates…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-n
As, therefore, it is possible for the tyrannic life, when suddenly changed, to become aristocratic, through employing strenuous promptitude and a divine allotment, but the gradual ascent is from a tyrannic to a democratic, and from this to…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-w
Cathartic virtue, therefore, alone must be called the salvation of souls; since this cuts off, and vehemently obliterates, material natures, and the passions which adhere to us from generation; separates the soul and leads it to intellect;…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ai
with evil dæmons], which are hurled forth before the Gods, but on entering the interior parts of the temple, unmoved, and guarded by the mystic rites, they genuinely receive in their bosom divine illumination, and divested of their garments…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIII-ap
Η γοητεια δε εστι τεχνη τις περι τους ενυλους και χθονιους δαιμονας φαντασιοσκοπουσα τοις εποπταις τα τουτων ειδωλα. και τους μεν ωσπερ εξ αδου αναγουσα, τους δε υψοθεν καταγουσα, και τουτους κακωτικους. και ειδωλα αττα υφιστησι φαντασματ…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 67
Section 6 6. For, as the ancient teaching was, moral-discipline and courage and every virtue, not even excepting Wisdom itself, all is purification. Hence the Mysteries with good reason adumbrate the immersion of the unpurified in filth, ev…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 97
Section 7 7. We can scarcely do better, in fine, than follow Plato. Thus: In the universe as a whole there must necessarily be such a degree of solidity, that is to say, of resistance, as will ensure that the earth, set in the centre, be a…”
hermeticism4
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 10: The Sermon on the Mount | Section 1b
For It doth will to be, and It is both Itself and most of all by reason of Itself. Indeed, all other things beside are just bacause of It; for the distinctive feature of the Good is "that it should be known". Such is the Good, O Tat. Tat…”
Corpus Hermeticum 12: The Prayer | Section 1d
Now it is units that give birth to number and increase it, and, being decomposed, are taken back again into themselves. Matter is one; and this whole Cosmos - the mighty God and image of the mightier One, both with Him unified, and the con…”
Corpus Hermeticum 14: The Discourse of Hermes to Ammon | Section 1b
Now if the Maker is naught else but That which makes, Alone, Simple, Uncompound, it needs must do this [making] to Itself,—to Which its Maker’s making is “its being made.” 2 And as to all that’s being made,—it cannot be p. 261 [paragraph c…”
egyptian3
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 5 (part 3)
When Isis heard of this she went to Byblos, and, gaining admittance to the palace through the report of the royal maidens, she was made nurse to one of the king's sons, Instead of nursing the child in the ordinary way, Isis gave him her fin…”
The Egyptian Heaven and Hell | Chapter 8 (part 3)
AFU-RA), twelve goddesses, who open the gates in the earth, twelve goddesses, who guide the god, and nine gods, "who praise Ra" (vol. i., pp. 9-11). So soon as AFU-RA has entered this DIVISION (ARRIT) he calls upon the gods to let him pr…”
The Egyptian Heaven and Hell | Chapter 30 (part 1)
TWELFTH DIVISION OF THE TUAT. II. EASTERN VESTIBULE OF THE TUAT ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF GATES. The last section of the BOOK OF GATES contains representations of the Gate TESERT-BAIU, with its two doors (vol. ii., pp. 302, 303), which…”
greek_mystery3
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXIV. PROTEUS
XXIV. TO PROTEUS * . The FUMIGATION from STORAX. PROTEUS I call, whom Fate decrees, to keep The keys which lock the chambers of the deep; First-born, by whose illustrious pow'r alone All Nature's principles are clearly shewn: Matter to chan…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn XXXVIII. CORYBAS * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE
XXXVIII. TO CORYBAS * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE. THE mighty ruler of this earthly ball, For ever flowing, to these rites I call; p. 170 Martial and blest, unseen by mortal sight, Preventing fears, and pleas'd with gloomy night: Hence…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 13 (part 76)
Ἐκ δὲ Τυφωέος ἔστ᾽ ἀνέμων μένος ὑγρὸν ἀέντων, νόσφι Νότου Βορέωτε καὶ ἀργέστεω Ζεφύροιο· 870 οἵ γε μὲν ἐκ θεόφιν γενεή, θνητοῖς μέγ᾽ ὄνειαρ· Οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι μαψαῦραι ἐπιπνείουσι θάλασσαν· αἳ δή τοι πίπτουσαι ἐς ἠεροειδέα πόντον, πῆμα μέγα θνητο…”
theosophy3
The Secret Doctrine | Page 26 (part 3)
So has Sefekh Abu who builds the house on high, as Wisdom (Sophia) built hers with seven pillars. . . The primary Kronotypes were seven, and thus the beginning of time in heaven is based on the number and the name of seven, on account of…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 56 (part 3)
2, Page]] 113 THE SECRET WORK OF CHIRAM. active emanations from the three higher principles in man, namely, "Spirit, Soul, and Mind," or Atma, Buddhi, and Manas. It is the spiritual and also the material human basis. Rudimentary man, hav…”
The Secret Doctrine | Page 82 (part 1)
The Secret Doctrine by H. P. Blavatsky -- Vol. 2 [[Vol. 2, Page]] 519 THE "FATHER OF MORTALS." § XX. PROMETHEUS, THE TITAN. H IS O RIGIN IN A NCIENT I NDIA. I N our modern day there does not exist the slightest doubt in the minds of…”
celtic2
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-a
In times past there lived in Penllyn a man of gentle lineage, named Tegid Voel, and his dwelling was in the midst of the lake Tegid, and his wife was called Caridwen. And there was born to him of his wife a son named Morvran ab Tegid, and…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESIN-c
Elphin of notable qualities, Be not displeased at thy misfortune; Although reclined thus weak in my bag, There lies a virtue in my tongue. While I continue thy protector Thou hast not much to fear; Remembering the names of the Trinity, Non…”
taoism2
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 22
The partial becomes complete; the crooked, straight; the empty, full; the worn out, new. He whose (desires) are few gets them; he whose (desires) are many goes astray. Therefore the sage holds in his embrace the one thing (of humility), and…”
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…”
hinduism1
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book IV | Sutra 23
The psychic nature, taking on the colour of the Seer and of things seen, leads to the perception of all objects. In the unregenerate man, the psychic nature is saturated with images of material things, of things seen, or heard, or tasted, o…”
native_american1
Myths of the Cherokee | Myth 62b
Under the blanket on the seat were long, sharp thorns of the honey locust, with the points all sticking up, but when the boy sat down they did not hurt him, and then Thunder knew that it was his son. He asked the boy why he had come. “I h…”