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cosmology

Microcosm Macrocosm

The human being as a small-scale image of the entire cosmos; the body, soul, and intellect mirroring the structure of the heavens and the divine — distinct from correspondence in that it makes the human the privileged mirror.

488 passages · 14 traditions
western_esoteric: 132 passageswestern_esoteric132christian_mysticism: 102 passageschristian_mysticism102neoplatonism: 63 passagesneoplatonism63renaissance_hermeticism: 61 passagesrenaissance_hermeticism61hermeticism: 29 passageshermeticism29jewish_mysticism: 19 passagesjewish_mysticism19platonism: 17 passagesplatonism17taoism: 14 passagestaoism14gnosticism: 12 passagesgnosticism12greek_mystery: 11 passagesgreek_mystery11sufism: 10 passagessufism10egyptian: 9 passagesegyptian9finnic: 6 passagesfinnic6celtic: 3 passagesceltic3
western_esoteric132
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Life and Teachings of Thoth Hermes Trismegistusg
The Supreme Being--the Mind--male and female, brought forth the Word; and the Word, suspended between Light and darkness, was delivered of another Mind called the Workman , the Master-Builder , or the Maker of Things . "In this manner it w…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Initiation of the Pyramidi
The Mysteries taught that the divine energies from the gods descended upon the top of the Pyramid, which was likened to an inverted tree with its branches below and its roots at the apex. From this inverted tree the divine wisdom is dissem…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Sun, A Universal Deityg
According to the mystics, there are three suns in each solar system, analogous to the three centers of life in each individual constitution. These are called three lights: the spiritual sun, the intellectual or soular sun, and the material…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Sun, A Universal Deityh
In the heart of the regenerated, the divine power, stimulated by the Light of the Logos, grows into a Sun which illuminates his mind." In a note, the same author amplifies his description by adding: "The terrestrial sun is the image or refl…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Zodiac and Its Signsf
A new and different sidelight on zodiacal symbolism is supplied by John Cole, in A Treatise on the Circular Zodiac of Tentyra, in Egypt : "The symbol therefore of the Goat rising from the body of a fish [Capricorn], represents with the grea…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Zodiac and Its Signsj
Pythagoras taught that 10, or the unit of the decimal system, was the most perfect of all numbers, and he symbolized the number ten by the lesser tetractys , an arrangement of ten dots in the form of an upright triangle. The early star gaz…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Bembine Table of Isisk
Is not the Holy Temple in the center the great throne of the many-formed Spirit of Nature which is shown in the middle of the Tablet? What are the seven triads but the seven Powers that rule over the world? Psellus writes: 'The Egyptians…”
The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall) | The Bembine Table of Isisl
The relation of these two zodiacs to the subzodiacal spheres has a correlation in the respiratory system of the human body. The great fixed zodiac may be said to represent the atmosphere, the movable zodiac the lungs, and the subzodiacal w…”
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christian_mysticism102
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | Ia
THE ATTRACTIVE POWER OF GOD St John vi. 44. —“No one can come unto Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him.” Our Lord Jesus Christ hath in the Gospel spoken with His own blessed lips these words, which signify, “No man can come…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IIIa
THE ANGEL’S GREETING St Luke i. 28 .—“Hail, thou that art highly favoured among women, the Lord is with thee.” Here there are three things to understand: the first, the modesty of the angel; the second, that he thought himself unworthy to…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IIIb
The earth cannot flee from heaven: whether it flee up or down, the heaven rains its influence upon it, and stamps its impress upon it, and makes it fruitful, whether it be willing or not. Thus doth God with men: whoever thinketh to escape…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | IVb
No, they are certainly not; for the work of the angels is the will of God, and the will of God is the work of the angels; their service to us does not hinder their joy nor their working. If God told an angel to go to a tree and pluck cater…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | Va
THE SELF-COMMUNICATION OF GOD St John xiv. 23 .—“If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” We read in the Gospels that Our Lord fed many people with five…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | Vc
Thus happens it to the noble soul which goes to God to school, and learns there what God is in His essence, and what He is in the Trinity, and what He is in man, and what is most acceptable to Him. St Augustine saith that the righteousness…”
Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation) | VIIc
When a good work is done by a man, he is free of it, and through that freedom is liker and nearer to his Original than he was before. The moral task of man is a process of spiritualization. All creatures are go-betweens, and we are placed…”
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…”
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neoplatonism63
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter V
Moreover, that which purifies souls is perfect in the Gods; but in archangels it is anagogic. Angels alone dissolve the bond of generation. Dæmons draw souls down into nature; but heroes lead them to a providential attention to sensible wor…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVI
Descending, however, to particulars, the soul of animals, the dæmon who presides over them, the air, the motion of the air, and the circulation of the heavens, variously change the viscera, [74] 156 conformably to the will of the Gods. But…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II
But we sometimes see that take place which is now proposed to be considered. For it happens that spirits are commanded [to do this or that] who do not use a reason of their own, and have not the principle of judgment. Nor does this occur ir…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter II
The hostile opposition, therefore, in the things that are now proposed, may be easily dissolved by demonstrating the dignity of wholes with 226 respect to parts, and by recalling to your recollection the exempt transcendency of the Gods abo…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter Xa
We, however, admit all these assertions; physical essences, indeed, being coexcited as in one animal, according to aptitude or sympathy, as in another respect being subjects, and following and being subservient to the cause of the efficacy…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XVIII
According to another division, therefore, the numerous herd [or the great mass] of men is arranged under nature, is governed by physical powers, looks downward to the works of nature, gives completion to the administration of Fate, and to t…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter XXIII
The various mode, therefore, of sanctity in sacred operations partly purifies and partly perfects some one of the things that are in us or about us. And some things, indeed, it restores to symmetry and order; but others it liberates from mo…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI
You say, therefore, “ that according to many of the Egyptians, that which is in our power depends on the motion of the stars .” What the truth, however, is respecting this, it is necessary to unfold to you from the Hermaic conceptions. For…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VI
If, however, it be requisite to unfold to you the truth concerning the peculiar dæmon, we must say that he is not distributed to us from one part of the heavens, or from some one of the visible elements; but that from the whole world, the a…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VII
From these things, therefore, it is easy to answer your next question. For the peculiar dæmon does not rule over one of the parts in us, but, in short, over all the parts at once, and extends to every principle within us, in the same manner…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIo
In the next place, departing from intellect, and descending into reasoning and dianoia, it no longer apprehended real beings by simple intuitions, but syllogistically and transitively, proceeding from one thing to another, from propositions…”
Iamblichus: On the Mysteries | Chapter VIIIv
Hence some of them preside over men, others over lions or other animals, and others over plants; and still more partially, some are the inspective guardians of the eye, others of the heart, and others of the liver.” He adds, “all things, ho…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 37
Section 4 4. If, then, the perfect life is within human reach, the man attaining it attains happiness: if not, happiness must be made over to the gods, for the perfect life is for them alone. But since we hold that happiness is for human be…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 92
Section 2 2. Supposing we accept this view and hold that, while things below the moon's orb have merely type-persistence, the celestial realm and all its several members possess individual eternity; it remains to show how this strict perman…”
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…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 105
Section 2 2. Are these planets to be thought of as soulless or unsouled? Suppose them, first, to be without Soul. In that case they can purvey only heat or cold- if cold from the stars can be thought of- that is to say, any communication fr…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 162 (part 2)
As a matter of fact the ancient doctrine of the Divine Essences was far the sounder and more instructed, and must be accepted by all not caught in the delusions that beset humanity: it is easy also to identify what has been conveyed in thes…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 182
Section 6 6. But in fact everything follows its own Kind; the birth is a horse because it comes from the Horse Kind, a man by springing from the Human Kind; offspring answers to species. Allow the kosmic circuit its part, a very powerful in…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 191
Section 4 4. That water extinguishes fire and fire consumes other things should not astonish us. The thing destroyed derived its being from outside itself: this is no case of a self-originating substance being annihilated by an external; it…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 195 (part 2)
Bad men rule by the feebleness of the ruled: and this is just; the triumph of weaklings would not be just.…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 196
Section 9 9. It would not be just, because Providence cannot be a something reducing us to nothingness: to think of Providence as everything, with no other thing in existence, is to annihilate the Universe; such a providence could have no f…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 205
Section 18 18. Souls vary in worth; and the difference is due, among other causes, to an almost initial inequality; it is in reason that, standing to the Reason-Principle, as parts, they should be unequal by the fact of becoming separate. W…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 220 (part 1)
Section 6 6. What, then, is the achieved Sage? One whose Act is determined by the higher phase of the Soul. It does not suffice to perfect virtue to have only this Spirit [equivalent in all men] as cooperator in the life: the acting forc…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 227 (part 1)
Section 6 6. What then, in sum, is to be thought of Love and of his "birth" as we are told of it? Clearly we have to establish the significance, here, of Poverty and Possession, and show in what way the parentage is appropriate: we have a…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 227 (part 2)
We are forced to assume that there is a Matter of the Intellectual Order, and that Beings partaking of it are thereby enabled to enter into the lower Matter, the corporeal.…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 293
Section 6 6. But how comes it that while the All-Soul has produced a kosmos, the soul of the particular has not, though it is of the one ideal Kind and contains, it too, all things in itself? We have indicated that a thing may enter and dwe…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 297
Section 10 10. In view of all this we must now work back from the items to the unit, and consider the entire scheme as one enduring thing. We ascend from air, light, sun- or, moon and light and sun- in detail, to these things as constitutin…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 312
Section 25 25. Now comes the question, equally calling for an answer, whether those souls that have quitted the places of earth retain memory of their lives- all souls or some, of all things, or of some things, and, again, for ever or merel…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 313 (part 1)
Section 26 26. Now if sensations of the active order depend upon the Couplement of soul and body, sensation must be of that double nature. Hence it is classed as one of the shared acts: the soul, in the feeling, may be compared to the wor…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 321
Section 1 1. What, then, will be the Soul's discourse, what its memories in the Intellectual Realm, when at last it has won its way to that Essence? Obviously from what we have been saying, it will be in contemplation of that order, and hav…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 330
Section 10 10. The ordering principle is twofold; there is the principle known to us as the Demiurge and there is the Soul of the All; we apply the appellation "Zeus" sometimes to the Demiurge and sometimes to the principle conducting the u…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 340
Section 20 20. As with bodily pain and pleasure so with the bodily desires; their origin, also, must be attributed to what thus stands midway, to that Nature we described as the corporeal. Body undetermined cannot be imagined to give rise t…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 347
Section 27 27. If the earth transmits the generative soul to growing things- or retains it while allowing a vestige of it to constitute the vegetal principle in them- at once the earth is ensouled, as our flesh is, and any generative power…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 349 (part 1)
Section 29 29. But- keeping to our illustration, by which the body is warmed by soul and not merely illuminated by it- how is it that when the higher soul withdraws there is no further trace of the vital principle? For a brief space there…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 355 (part 1)
Section 35 35. But we must give some explanation of these powers. The matter requires a more definite handling. How can there be a difference of power between one triangular configuration and another? How can there be the exercise of po…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 357
Section 37 37. We must not rob the universe of any factor in its being. If any of our theorists of to-day seek to explain the action of fire- or of any other such form, thought of as an agent- they will find themselves in difficulties unles…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 368 (part 1)
Section 2 2. If sight depends upon the linking of the light of vision with the light leading progressively to the illumined object, then, by the very hypothesis, one intervening substance, the light, is indispensable: but if the illuminate…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 401
Section 1 1. Many times it has happened: Lifted out of the body into myself; becoming external to all other things and self-encentered; beholding a marvellous beauty; then, more than ever, assured of community with the loftiest order; enact…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 414
Section 5 5. How then can a multitude of essential beings be really one? Obviously either the one essence will be entire in all, or the many will rise from a one which remains unaltered and yet includes the one- many in virtue of giving its…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 418
Section 2 2. Let every soul recall, then, at the outset the truth that soul is the author of all living things, that it has breathed the life into them all, whatever is nourished by earth and sea, all the creatures of the air, the divine st…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 434
Section 2 2. We begin with the soul, asking whether it is to be allowed self-knowledge and what the knowing principle in it would be and how operating. The sense-principle in it we may at once decide, takes cognisance only of the external;…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 482 (part 1)
Section 4 4. To "live at ease" is There; and, to these divine beings, verity is mother and nurse, existence and sustenance; all that is not of process but of authentic being they see, and themselves in all: for all is transparent, nothing…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 488
Section 10 10. This is why Zeus, although the oldest of the gods and their sovereign, advances first [in the Phaidros myth] towards that vision, followed by gods and demigods and such souls as are of strength to see. That Being appears befo…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 495
Section 3 3. We will have to examine this Nature, the Intellectual, which our reasoning identifies as the authentically existent and the veritable essential: but first we must take another path and make certain that such a principle does ne…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 501
Section 9 9. What, then, is the content- inevitably separated by our minds- of this one Intellectual-Principle? For there is no resource but to represent the items in accessible form just as we study the various articles constituting one sc…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 512 (part 2)
True, greatness and smallness are not claimed to be quantities, but relations: but it is by their apparent possession of quantity that they are thought of as relations. All this, however, needs more careful examination. In sum, we hold th…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 570
Section 9 9. So much for one of the genera- the "Substance," so called, of the Sensible realm. But what are we to posit as its species? how divide this genus? The genus as a whole must be identified with body. Bodies may be divided into the…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 606
Section 16 16. But if that Principle can never fall to evil and we have given a true account of the soul's entry or presence to body, what are we to say of the periodic Descents and Returns, the punishments, the banishment into animal forms…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 621
Section 1 1. It is suggested that multiplicity is a falling away from The Unity, infinity being the complete departure, an innumerable multiplicity, and that this is why unlimit is an evil and we evil at the stage of multiplicity. A thing,…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 623
Section 3 3. And there is the question How can the infinite have existence and remain unlimited: whatever is in actual existence is by that very fact determined numerically. But, first, if multiplicity holds a true place among Beings, how c…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 624
Section 4 4. We have to enquire into the existence of the Numbers in the Intellectual. Are they Ideas added to the other Ideas? Or are they no more than necessary concomitants to the Ideas? In the latter case, Being, as the first [in the In…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 657 (part 1)
Section 18 18. But in what way is the content of Intellectual-Principle participant in good? Is it because each member of it is an Idea or because of their beauty or how? Anything coming from The Good carries the image and type belonging…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 659
Section 20 20. Since we are not entitled to make desire the test by which to decide on the nature and quality of the good, we may perhaps have recourse to judgement. We would apply the opposition of things- order, disorder; symmetry, irregu…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 679 (part 2)
But this would make the power something outside itself; there would be, I mean, the power it grasped and the power by which it grasped: if there is but the one power, what is there to grasp at?…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 94
Section 4 4. But matters are involved here which demand specific investigation and cannot be treated as incidental merely to our present problem. We are faced with several questions: Is the heavenly system exposed to any such flux as would…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 112 (part 1)
Section 9 9. This brings us to the Spindle-destiny, spun according to the ancients by the Fates. To Plato the Spindle represents the co-operation of the moving and the stable elements of the kosmic circuit: the Fates with Necessity, Mothe…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 118
Section 15 15. According to Plato, lots and choice play a part [in the determination of human conditions] before the Spindle of Necessity is turned; that once done, only the Spindle-destiny is valid; it fixes the chosen conditions irretriev…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 267
Section 1 1. Supposing we played a little before entering upon our serious concern and maintained that all things are striving after Contemplation, looking to Vision as their one end- and this, not merely beings endowed with reason but even…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 290
Section 3 3. Is it a question of part in the sense that, taking one living being, the soul in a finger might be called a part of the soul entire? This would carry the alternative that either there is no soul outside of body, or that- no sou…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 433
Section 1 1. Are we to think that a being knowing itself must contain diversity, that self-knowledge can be affirmed only when some one phase of the self perceives other phases, and that therefore an absolutely simplex entity would be equal…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 552
Section 14 14. Why is Quality, again, not included among the Primaries? Because like Quantity it is a posterior, subsequent to Substance. Primary Substance must necessarily contain Quantity and Quality as its consequents; it cannot owe its…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 566
Section 5 5. These are incontrovertible facts in regard to the pseudo-substance of the Sensible realm: if they apply also in some degree to the True Substance of the Intellectual, the coincidence is, doubtless, to be attributed to analogy a…”
Select Works of Plotinus | Select Works, Section 658
Section 19 19. Are we to rest all on pursuit and on the soul? Is it enough to put faith in the soul's choice and call that good which the soul pursues, never asking ourselves the motive of its choice? We marshal demonstration as to the natu…”
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renaissance_hermeticism61
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter VII — Of the Kinds of Compounds, what Relation They Stand in to the Elements, and What Relation There Is Betwixt the Elements Themselves and the Soul, Senses and Dispositions of Men | Chapter VII, Section 1a
CHAPTER VII. Of the Kinds of Compounds, what Relation They Stand in to the Elements, and What Relation There Is Betwixt the Elements Themselves and the Soul, Senses and Dispositions of Men . Next after the four simple Elements follow the…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XII — How It Is That Particular Virtues Are Infused into Particular Individuals, even of the Same Species | Chapter XII, Section 1
CHAPTER XII. How It Is That Particular Virtues Are Infused into Particular Individuals, even of the Same Species . There are also in many individuals, or particular things, peculiar gifts, as wonderful as in the species and these also are f…”
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 XXII — How Inferior Things Are Subjected to Superior Bodies, and How the Bodies, the Actions, and Dispositions of Men Are Ascribed to Stars and Signs | Chapter XXII, Section 1a
CHAPTER XXII. How Inferior Things Are Subjected to Superior Bodies, and How the Bodies, the Actions, and Dispositions of Men Are Ascribed to Stars and Signs . It is manifest that all things inferior are subject to the superior, and after…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XXII — How Inferior Things Are Subjected to Superior Bodies, and How the Bodies, the Actions, and Dispositions of Men Are Ascribed to Stars and Signs | Chapter XXII, Section 1b
The several Signs, also, of the Zodiac take care of their members: So Aries governs the head and face; Taurus, the neck; Gemini, the arms and shoulders; Cancer, the breast, lungs, stomach and arms; Leo, the heart, stomach, liver and back; V…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter XXXIII — Of the Seals and Characters of Natural Things | Chapter XXXIII, Section 1a
CHAPTER XXXIII. Of the Seals and Characters of Natural Things . All Stars have their peculiar natures, properties, and conditions, the Seals and Characters whereof they produce, through their rays, even in these inferior things, viz., in…”
Agrippa: The Philosophy of Natural Magic, Chapter LII — Of the Countenance and Gesture, the Habit and the Figure Of The Body, and to What Stars Any of These Do Answer—Whence Physiognomy, and Metoposcopy, and Chiromancy, Arts of Divination, Have Their Grounds | Chapter LII, Section 1b
Jupiter signifies a man to be of a pale color, darkish red, a handsome body, good stature, bold, of great eyes (not black altogether) with large pupils, short nostrils not equal, great teeth before, curled hair, of good disposition and mann…”
The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part I (Gli Eroici Furori) | INTRODUCTIONj
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…”
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hermeticism29
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 1: Poimandres | Section 1f
All this befell me from my Mind, that is Man-Shepherd, Word (Logos) of all masterhood, by whom being God-inspired I came unto the Plain of Truth. Wherefore with all my soul and strength thanksgiving give I unto Father-God. 31. Holy art T…”
Corpus Hermeticum 2: The Serapeum | Section 1b
A: How is it, then, that things down here, Thrice-greatest one, are moved with those that are [already] moved? For thou hast said the errant spheres were moved by the inerrant one. H: This is not, O Asclepius, a moving with, but one again…”
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 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 8: The Eight Sphere | Section 1a
That No One of Existing Things doth Perish, but Men in Error Speak of Their Changes as Destructions and as Deaths <The idea of cyclic change central to CH III, "The Sacred Sermon", also takes center stage here. A current of ancient specula…”
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jewish_mysticism19
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) | 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) | 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 Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha) | 1i
And IVBL, Yobel , "jubilee," is H, He (the first He of the Tetragrammaton); and He is the spirit rushing forth over all (because the mother is the world to come, when in the resurrection all things will receive the spirit); and all things s…”
The Greater Holy Assembly (Idra Rabba Qadisha) | Idra Rabba, Chapter 1 (part 2)
1 12. "For it is written, Deut. xxxiii. 29: 'Blessed art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee?' Also it is written, Exod. xv. 11: 'Who is like unto thee among the gods, O Tetragrammaton?'" 2 13. He called Rabbi Eleazer, his son, and…”
The Kabbalah Unveiled | Introduction, Section 1a
p. 43 SPRA DTzNIOVThA (SIPHRA DTZENIOUTHA); OR, THE BOOK OF CONCEALED MYSTERY. CHAPTER I. 1. Tradition .--"The Book of Concealed Mystery" is the book of the equilibrium of balance. [The word "Dtzenioutha" is difficult to translate, but…”
The Kabbalah Unveiled | Introduction, Section 1b
[But the first idea of equilibrium is the Ancient One (the first Sephira, or Crown Kether), because it is the first potential limitation of the boundless light which proceeds from the Limitless One. That is, the central point of Kether is…”
The Kabbalah Unveiled | Introduction, Section 1d
and must therefore be referable to the Edomite kings.] p. 48 19. And it hath proceeded out of that which hath undergone the curse, as it is written in Genesis v., 29, "From the earth which the Lord hath cursed." (The meaning is: That the…”
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Plato: Phaedrus | Section 1q
Thus far I have been speaking of the fourth and last kind of madness, which is imputed to him who, when he sees the beauty of earth, is transported with the recollection of the true beauty; he would like to fly away, but he cannot; he is li…”
Plato: Republic | Section 1h
Yes, but not in a satisfactory manner; you frightened us by interposing objections, which certainly showed that the discussion would be long and difficult; and what still remains is the reverse of easy. What is there remaining? The questi…”
Plato: Republic | Section 1j
And if a necessity be laid upon him of fashioning, not only himself, but human nature generally, whether in States or individuals, into that which he beholds elsewhere, will he, think you, be an unskilful artificer of justice, temperance, a…”
Plato: Republic | Section 1r
There you are right, he said, since we have made them to share in all things like the men. Well, I said, and you would agree (would you not?) that what has been said about the State and the government is not a mere dream, and although diff…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1j
And on the same principle he who gives himself to a lover because he is a good man, and in the hope that he will be improved by his company, shows himself to be virtuous, even though the object of his affection turn out to be a villain, and…”
Plato: Symposium | Section 1l
The course of the seasons is also full of both these principles; and when, as I was saying, the elements of hot and cold, moist and dry, attain the harmonious love of one another and blend in temperance and harmony, they bring to men, anima…”
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: Timaeus | Section 1l
This entire compound he divided lengthways into two parts, which he joined to one another at the centre like the letter X, and bent them into a circular form, connecting them with themselves and each other at the point opposite to their ori…”
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Tao Te Ching | Chapter 5
Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with. The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they deal with the people as the dogs of gras…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 7
Heaven is long-enduring and earth continues long. The reason why heaven and earth are able to endure and continue thus long is because they do not live of, or for, themselves. This is how they are able to continue and endure. Therefore the…”
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…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 13
Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind). What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace is being in a low position (after the…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 16
The (state of) vacancy should be brought to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. All things alike go through their processes of activity, and (then) we see them return (to their original state). When thin…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 23
Abstaining from speech marks him who is obeying the spontaneity of his nature. A violent wind does not last for a whole morning; a sudden rain does not last for the whole day. To whom is it that these (two) things are owing? To Heaven and E…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 25
There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarde…”
Tao Te Ching | Chapter 26
Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement. Therefore a wise prince, marching the whole day, does not go far from his baggage waggons. Although he may have brilliant prospects to look at, he quietly remains (in his p…”
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gnosticism12
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 1i
His seed was Jesus, and the plant was the cross.” The tree of life in the middle of that garden of paradise is an olive tree, and from the olive tree comes chrism, and from that oil comes the resurrection. THE WORLD EATS BODIES The world e…”
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 3
Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and i…”
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 24
His disciples said to him, "Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 29
Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty."…”
Gospel of Thomas | Logion 48
Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in this one house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move Away,' and it will move away."…”
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Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 14)
If this is the case, do not they who deny that prayers are to be offered to the Gods, and who prevent their souls from being united with the divinities, that is with beings more excellent than themselves, appear similar to those who are dep…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 4 (part 15)
For the generative causes of things, are contained by similitude in their effects; and in causes themselves their progeny subsist, comprehended in perfect union and consent. Hence the celestial orbs impart a copious defluxion of good to th…”
Orphic Hymns | Front Matter, p. 5 (part 5)
101 who profess, says he, the Orphic theology, consider a two-fold power in souls and in the celestial orbs: the one consisting in knowledge, the other in vivifying and governing the orb with which that power is connected. Thus in the orb…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn X (part 1)
X. TO PAN * The FUMIGATION from VARIOUS ODORS I Call strong Pan, the substance of the whole, Etherial, marine, earthly, general soul, Immortal fire; for all the world is thine, And all are parts of thee, O pow'r divine. p. 131 Come, bles…”
Orphic Hymns | Hymn LXV. VULCAN * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE and MANNA
LXV. TO VULCAN * The FUMIGATION from FRANKINCENSE and MANNA. STRONG, mighty Vulcan, bearing splendid light, Unweary'd fire, with flaming torrents bright: Strong-handed, deathless, and of art divine, Pure element, a portion of the world is t…”
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 10 (part 2)
It is not proper to despise those things of which we shall be in want after the dissolution of the body. 36. You should not ask of divinity that which, when you have obtained, you will not perpetually possess. 37. Accustom your soul aft…”
The Golden Verses of Pythagoras | Section 11
p. 62 PYTHAGOREAN SENTENCES FROM THE PROTREPTICS OF IAMBLICHUS 1. As we live through soul, it must be said that by the virtue of this we live well; just as because we see through the eyes, we see well through the virtue of these. 2. It must…”
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The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | PROLOGUEb
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 Ia
The Prince and the Handmaid. A prince, while engaged on a hunting excursion, espied a fair maiden, and by promises of gold induced her to accompany him. After a time she fell sick, and the prince had her tended by divers physicians. As,…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vc
The skill taught by God to the silkworm Is a learning beyond the reach of the elephant. The earthly Adam was taught of God names, 4 So that his glory reached the seventh heaven. He laid low the name and fame of the angels, 5 Yet blind ind…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Vd
But the light that lights the heart is the Light of God, Which is distinct from the light of reason and sense. At night there is no light, and colors are not seen; Hence we know what light is by its opposite, darkness. At night no colors…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY Ve
"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…”
The Masnavi, Book I (Rumi) | STORY VIIa
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 IXd
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 XIV
The Chinese and the Greek Artists. The Chinese and the Greeks disputed before the Sultan which of them were the better painters; and, in order to settle the dispute, the Sultan allotted to each a house to be painted by them. The Chinese pro…”
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egyptian9
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 10 (part 4)
In his daily course he vanquished night and darkness, and mist and cloud disappeared from before his rays; subsequently the Egyptians invented the moral conception of the sun, representing the victory of right over wrong and of truth over f…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 10 (part 10)
There is no one word which will exactly describe the Egyptian conception of Maat both from a physical and from a moral point of view; but the fundamental idea of the word is " straight," and from the Egyptian texts it is clear that maat mea…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 23 (part 6)
Text [CHAPTER LVI.]: CHAPTER OF SNIFFING THE AIR UPON EARTH. [He saith]: "(2) Hail, Tmu, grant thou unto me the sweet breath which is in thy two nostrils. I embrace the mighty throne which is in Unnu,[4] and I watch and guard the Egg of t…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 86)
tav 346.] {p. cxiii} Ausar or Osiris , the sixth member of the company of the gods of Annu, was the son of Seb and Nut, and the husband of his sister Isis, the father of "Horus, the son of Isis," and the brother of Set and Nephthys. The v…”
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.,…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 43 (part 99)
The charms against serpents in the pyramid texts of the Vth and VIth dynasties have their equivalents in the XXXIst and XXXIIIrd Chapters of the Book of the Dead, which are found on coffins of the XIth and XIIth dynasties;[2] and in the XVI…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 6 (part 12)
Every khu and every god stretcheth out his hand unto this Pepi when he cometh forth into heaven by the Ladder of God . . . . that which he seeth and that which he heareth make him wise, and serve as food for him when he cometh forth int…”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) | Chapter 38 (part 6)
Vignette: The goddess Neith. Text: (11) The fore-arms of Osiris Ani, triumphant, are the fore-arms of the lady of Sais. Vignette: The god Sut. Text: (12) The backbone of Osiris Ani, triumphant, is the backbone of Sut. Vignette: A god.…”
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The Kalevala | Rune IVg
As the tear-drops fall and mingle, Form they streamlets three in number, And their source, the mother's eyelids, Streamlets formed from pearly tear-drops, Flowing on like little rivers, And each streamlet larger growing, Soon becomes a rush…”
The Kalevala | Rune IXf
Thus it was be tried the balsam, Thus the magic salve he tested, Touched with it the splintered sandstone, Touched the broken blocks of granite, Touched the fissures in the mountains, And the broken parts united, All the fragments grew toge…”
The Kalevala | Rune Xb
From her temples beams the moonlight, From her breast, the gleam of sunshine, From her forehead shines the rainbow, On her neck, the seven starlets, And the Great Bear from her shoulder. "Ilmarinen, worthy brother, Thou the only skilful bl…”
The Kalevala | Rune XVIIb
Wise Wipunen, full of song-charms, Opens wide his mouth and swallows Wainamoinen and his magic, Shoes, and staff, and iron armor. Then outspeaks the wise Wipunen: "Many things before I've eaten, Dined on goat, and sheep, and reindeer, Bear…”
The Kalevala | Rune XVIIf
"I shall set my forge and bellows Deeper, deeper in thy vitals; I shall swing my heavy hammer, Swing it with a greater power On thy heart, and lungs, and liver; I shall never, never leave thee Till I learn thine incantations, Learn thy many…”
The Kalevala | Rune XXVf
Neither did the prudent hostess, Beautiful, and full of wisdom, Let the barley sprout too freely, Lest the beer should taste of black-earth, Be too bitter in the brewing, Often went she to the garners, Went alone at hour of midnight, Was no…”
celtic3
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESINc
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…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESINg
And so, when the bards and the heralds came to cry largess, and to proclaim the power of the king and his strength, at the moment that they passed by the corner wherein he was crouching, Taliesin pouted out his lips after them, and played “…”
The Mabinogion | Tale TALIESINh
I have been with my Lord in the manger of the ass: I strengthened Moses through the water of Jordan; I have been in the firmament with Mary Magdalene; I have obtained the muse from the cauldron of Caridwen; I have been bard of the harp to L…”