Thus proceed the cycles of the septenary evolution, in Septennial nature; the Spiritual or divine; the psychic or semi-divine; the intellectual, the passional, the instinctual, or cognitional; the semi-corporeal and the purely material or physical natures.
All these evolve and progress cyclically, passing from one into another, in a double, centrifugal and centripetal way, one in their ultimate essence, seven in their aspects.
The lowest, of course, is the one depending upon and subservient to [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * See the "Sacred Mysteries among the Mayas and the Quiches, 11,500 years ago," by Auguste le Plongeon, who shows the identity between the Egyptian rites and beliefs and those of the people he describes.
The ancient hieratic alphabets of the Maya and the Egyptians are almost identical.
[[Vol.
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our five physical senses.* Thus far, for individual, human, sentient, animal and vegetable life, each the microcosm of its higher macrocosm.
The same for the Universe, which manifests periodically, for purposes of the collective progress of the countless lives , the outbreathings of the One Life; in order that through the Ever - Becoming , every cosmic atom in this infinite Universe, passing from the formless and the intangible, through the mixed natures of the semi-terrestrial, down to matter in full generation, and then back again, reascending at each new period higher and nearer the final goal; that each atom, we say, may reach through individual merits and efforts that plane where it re-becomes the one unconditioned A LL.
But between the Alpha and the Omega there is the weary "Road" hedged in by thorns, that "goes down first, then -- Winds up hill all the way Yes, to the very end .
.
.
.
." Starting upon the long journey immaculate; descending more and more into sinful matter, and having connected himself with every atom in manifested Space -- the Pilgrim , having struggled through and suffered in every form of life and being, is only at the bottom of the valley of matter, and half through his cycle, when he has identified himself with collective Humanity.
This, he has made in his own image.
In order to progress upwards and homewards, the "God" has now to ascend the weary uphill path of the Golgotha of Life.
It is the martyrdom of self-conscious existence.
Like Visvakarman he has to sacrifice himself to himself in order to redeem all creatures, to resurrect from the many into the One Life.
Then he ascends into heaven indeed; where, plunged into the incomprehensible absolute Being and Bliss of Paranirvana, he reigns unconditionally, and whence he will re-descend again at the next "coming," which one portion of humanity expects in its dead-letter sense as the second advent , and the other as the last "Kalki Avatar." [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * Which are in truth seven as shown later, on the authority of the oldest Upanishads.
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The doctrine of the periodic restoration or recurrence of all things to their original state after vast cycles.
The passage describes periodic restoration: each cosmic atom 're-becomes the one unconditioned ALL' and the divine will 're-descend again at the next coming,' indicating vast cyclic recurrence to an original state.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
The passage states that each level of life is 'the microcosm of its higher macrocosm,' making the Hermetic axiom of structural reflection at every scale explicit.
Fragments of divine light or spirit trapped inside material bodies, awaiting liberation and return to their source.
Every 'cosmic atom' is a fragment that will 'reach through individual merits and efforts that plane where it re-becomes the one unconditioned ALL,' functioning as a trapped divine spark awaiting return to source.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The passage explicitly lays out a septenary cascade from the spiritual/divine down through psychic, intellectual, passional, instinctual, semi-corporeal, to purely material natures, each 'subservient' to the one above, with centrifugal and centripetal motion between them.
The doctrine that the divine or a spiritual principle takes on a specific, bounded material or bodily form — descending from an unconditioned state into individual, corporeal existence — as a discrete act rather than a diffuse pervading presence. The Christian Word made flesh, the Hindu avatara, the Egyptian pharaoh as living Horus, the Vajrayana tulku. Distinct from divine_immanence (the general claim that the divine pervades all of creation diffusely, not a specific embodiment-event) and separation_from_source (the felt exile FROM origin, the opposite motion) in describing a specific, individuated descent INTO a particular body or form.
The divine 'God' descends into matter, 'connected himself with every atom in manifested Space,' and identifies with 'collective Humanity'—a specific, individuated descent into corporeal existence as a discrete act within the cycle.
The doctrine that the cosmos unfolds as a structured descent of spirit into matter — a directional process traced stage by stage from an unconditioned principle down through successive planes to full materialization — complemented by its own eventual return ('evolution'). Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (the static structure of the resulting levels of the cascade) and cosmogony (a single originating event rather than an ongoing staged process) in naming the directional cosmic PROCESS of descent itself, paired with its own complementary ascent.
The passage traces the directional process of spirit descending 'from the formless and the intangible, through the mixed natures of the semi-terrestrial, down to matter in full generation, and then back again, reascending'—naming the staged descent and its complementary ascent as the core cosmic process.
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.
The passage explicitly declares that human, animal, and vegetable life are each 'the microcosm of its higher macrocosm,' and extends this to the Universe itself, making the human-as-cosmos mirror a central structural claim.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The 'one unconditioned ALL' and 'one in their ultimate essence' point to an absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all seven natures flow.
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The final state of 're-becoming the one unconditioned ALL' and being 'plunged into the incomprehensible absolute Being and Bliss of Paranirvana' describes the merging of the individual with the divine, transcending personal identity.
Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.
The entire structure is organized around the number seven (septenary evolution, seven aspects, 'one in their ultimate essence, seven in their aspects'), with the number five for physical senses noted as actually seven per the Upanishads.
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The entire second half of the passage describes the soul's ascent back to its divine origin: climbing the 'weary uphill path of the Golgotha of Life,' sacrificing self, and finally being 'plunged into the incomprehensible absolute Being and Bliss of Paranirvana.'
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The 'double, centrifugal and centripetal' cyclic evolution, with descent into matter and reascent at each new period, describes a measured pendulum swing operating in the cosmic-historical register.
The Pilgrim 'has struggled through and suffered in every form of life and being,' passing through human, animal, and vegetable incarnations across the cycle.
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The passage's dominant narrative arc is the staged upward journey: from the 'bottom of the valley of matter' through the 'weary uphill path of the Golgotha of Life' to 'heaven indeed' and Paranirvana, a multi-level ascent through planes of being.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage asserts that all natures are 'one in their ultimate essence' and that every atom ultimately 're-becomes the one unconditioned ALL,' making non-duality a central theological claim.