Anger, my son, is the destruction of [[Vol.
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all that man obtains .
.
.
and prevents the attainment of emancipation.
The sages shun wrath.
Be not thou, my child, subject to its influence.
Let not those unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed; let thy sacrifice cease.
Mercy is the might of the righteous" ( Vishnu Purana , Book i., ch.
i.).
Thus, every such "sacrifice" or prayer to God for help is no better than an act of black magic.
That which Parasara prayed for, was the destruction of the Spirits of Darkness, for his personal revenge.
He is called a Pagan , and the Christians have doomed him as such, to eternal hell.
Yet, in what respect is the prayer of sovereigns and generals, who pray before every battle for the destruction of their enemy, any better?
Such a prayer is in every case black magic of the worst kind, concealed like a demon "Mr.
Hyde" under a sanctimonious "Dr.
Jekyll." In human nature, evil denotes only the polarity of matter and Spirit, a struggle for life between the two manifested Principles in Space and Time, which principles are one per se , inasmuch they are rooted in the Absolute.
In Kosmos, the equilibrium must be preserved.
The operations of the two contraries produce harmony, like the centripetal and centrifugal forces, which are necessary to each other -- mutually inter-dependent -- "in order that both should live." If one is arrested, the action of the other will become immediately self-destructive.
Since the personification called Satan has been amply analyzed from its triple aspect -- in the Old Testament, Christian theology and the ancient Gentile attitude of thought -- those who would learn more of it are referred to Vol.
II.
of I SIS U NVEILED, chap.
x.
See also several sections in Book II., Part II.
of this work.
The present subject is touched upon and fresh explanations attempted for a very good reason.
Before we can approach the evolution of physical and divine man, we have first to master the idea of cyclic evolution, to acquaint ourselves with the philosophies and beliefs of the four races which preceded our present race, to learn what were the ideas of those Titans and giants -- giants, verily, mentally as well as physically.
The whole of antiquity was imbued with that philosophy which teaches the involution of spirit into matter, the progressive, downward cyclic descent, or active, self-conscious evolution.
The Alexandrian Gnostics have sufficiently divulged the secret of initiations, and their records are full of "the sliding down of AEons " in their double qualification of Angelic Beings and Periods: the one the natural evolution of the other.
On the other hand, Oriental traditions on both sides of the "black water" -- the oceans that separate the two Easts -- are as full of allegories about the downfall of Pleroma, of that of the gods and Devas.
One and all, they allegorized and explained the F ALL as the [[Vol.
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desire to learn and acquire knowledge -- to KNOW.
This is the natural sequence of mental evolution, the spiritual becoming transmuted into the material or physical.
The same law of descent into materiality and re-ascent into spirituality asserted itself during the Christian era, the reaction having stopped only just now, in our own special sub-race.
That which, perhaps ten millenniums ago, was allegorized in Pymander in a triune character of interpretation, meant as a record of an astronomical, anthropological, and even alchemical fact, namely, the allegory of the seven rectors breaking through the seven circles of fire, was dwarfed into one material and anthropomorphic interpretation -- the rebellion and Fall of the Angels.
The multivocal, profoundly philosophical narrative, under its poetical form of the "Marriage of Heaven with Earth," the love of nature for Divine form and the "Heavenly man," enraptured with his own beauty mirrored in nature -- i.e.
, Spirit attracted into matter -- has now become, under theological handling: "the seven Rectors disobeying Jehovah, self admiration generating Satanic Pride, followed by their F ALL, Jehovah permitting no worship to be lost save upon himself." In short, the beautiful Planet-Angels, the glorious cyclic aeons of the ancients, became henceforward synthesized in their most orthodox shape in Samael, the chief of the Demons in the Talmud, "That great serpent with twelve wings that draws down after himself, in his Fall, the solar system, or the Titans." But Schemal , the alter ego and the Sabean type of Samael, meant, in his philosophical and esoteric aspect, the "year" in its astrological evil aspect, its twelve months or wings of unavoidable evils, in nature; and in esoteric theogony (see Chwolson in N ABATHEAN A GRICULTURE, Vol.
II., p.
217), both Schemal and Samael represented a particular divinity.
With the Kabalists they are "the Spirit of the Earth," the personal god that governs it, identical de facto with Jehovah.
For the Talmudists admit themselves that S AMAEL is a god-name of one of the seven Elohim.
The Kabalists, moreover, show the two, Schemal and Samael, as a symbolical form of Saturn, C HRONOS, the twelve wings standing for the 12 months, and the symbol in its collectivity representing a racial cycle.
Jehovah and Saturn are also glyphically identical.
This leads in its turn to a very curious deduction from a Roman Catholic dogma.
Many renowned writers belonging to the Latin Church admit that a difference exists, and should be made, between the Uranian Titans, the antediluvian giants (also Titans), and those post-diluvian giants in whom they (the Roman Catholics) will see the descendants of the mythical Ham.
In clearer words, there is a difference to be made between the Cosmic, primordial opposing Forces -- guided by cyclic law -- the Atlantean human giants, and the post-diluvian great adepts, whether [[Vol.
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of the right or the left hand.
At the same time they show that Michael, "the generalissimos of the fighting Celestial Host, the bodyguard of Jehovah ," as it would seem (see de Mirville) is also a Titan, only with the adjective of "divine" before the cognomen.
Thus those "Uranides" who are called everywhere "divine Titans," and who, having rebelled against Kronos (Saturn), are therefore also shown to be the enemies of Samael (an Elohim, also and synonymous with Jehovah in his collectivity), are identical with Michael and his host.
In short, the roles are reversed, all the combatants are confused, and no student is able to distinguish clearly which is which.
Divine archetypal beings or eternal attributes dwelling within the Pleroma, often arranged in male-female syzygies.
The passage explicitly mentions 'the sliding down of AEons' in their double qualification as Angelic Beings and Periods, and calls them 'the glorious cyclic aeons of the ancients.'
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The passage criticizes the reduction of complex cosmological allegories into 'one material and anthropomorphic interpretation — the rebellion and Fall of the Angels,' identifying anthropomorphism as a theological error.
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 draws glyphic and structural identifications across traditions — Jehovah = Saturn = Samael, Schemal = the year with twelve wings, the seven rectors = the seven circles — mapping one level onto another.
The passage's overarching framework is cyclic evolution — the 'progressive, downward cyclic descent,' 'cyclic aeons,' 'racial cycle,' and the assertion that 'the same law of descent into materiality and re-ascent into spirituality asserted itself during the Christian era' — making this the organizing principle of the entire passage.
A secondary creator deity—often ignorant or malevolent—responsible for fashioning the material world, distinct from the supreme transcendent God.
The passage identifies Jehovah with Saturn/Samael and presents the 'seven Rectors disobeying Jehovah' as a misreading of a higher cosmological truth, positioning Jehovah as a secondary, material-ordering deity rather than the supreme transcendent God.
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 describes the 'sliding down of AEons,' the progressive descent of spirit into matter, and the cascading structure from the Absolute through successive planes.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The entire passage is an act of esoteric exegesis, revealing that the 'multivocal, profoundly philosophical narrative' behind the 'Fall of the Angels' has been 'dwarfed into one material and anthropomorphic interpretation' by exoteric theology.
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 explicitly names and elaborates 'the involution of spirit into matter, the progressive, downward cyclic descent' as the governing cosmic process, complemented by 're-ascent into spirituality' — this is the central structural theme of the entire passage.
A magical or spiritual orientation that turns occult power toward self-aggrandizement, domination, or personal ends divorced from — or actively opposed to — service of the divine, contrasted with the Right-hand Path's use of the same powers in reverent service and selfless healing. Distinct from psychic_attack (one specific malevolent technique this orientation may employ, not the standing orientation itself) and forbidden_knowledge (a transgression-against-divine-prohibition narrative, not an ongoing praxis-orientation).
The passage condemns prayer for the destruction of enemies as 'black magic of the worst kind' and 'personal revenge,' contrasting it with the righteous path — a clear delineation of a malevolent magical orientation.
The balance of two contrary forces as the structural law of cosmos and operation — Lévi's equilibrium, expressed in Kabbalah by the senary: the will of God in its first cause, liberty in man, mathematical equilibrium in matter; the twofold vibration required to direct the Astral Light safely.
The passage explicitly states 'the equilibrium must be preserved' and that 'the operations of the two contraries produce harmony, like the centripetal and centrifugal forces, which are necessary to each other — mutually inter-dependent.'
The divine fullness or totality of the highest realm, populated by aeons and divine attributes, contrasted with the deficient material world.
The passage explicitly references 'the downfall of Pleroma' and contrasts the divine fullness of the aeons with the material world into which they descend.
The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).
The passage's central metaphysical claim is that 'evil denotes only the polarity of matter and Spirit' and that the two principles are 'one per se' — a direct articulation of the Hermetic polarity doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature.
The polemic against animal and blood sacrifice as ignorant or demonic worship — the prophetic and gnostic critique that the cult the sacrificers serve is actually the archons' (in the Gospel of Judas, the disciples' offerings are revealed as service to Saklas, and the priests at the altar are the twelve themselves); distinct from ritual_purity (a state of preparation) and theurgy (consecrated engagement with the divine) in being a wholesale repudiation of sacrificial practice.
The passage explicitly states that 'every such sacrifice or prayer to God for help is no better than an act of black magic' and condemns the Vishnu Purana's sacrificial framework as worship of the 'Spirits of Darkness.'
The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.
The passage distinguishes between the 'profoundly philosophical' esoteric meaning and the 'material and anthropomorphic' exoteric interpretation, holding that both registers exist but the outer is a 'dwarfed' version of the inner.
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 passage describes 'the same law of descent into materiality and re-ascent into spirituality' and 'cyclic evolution' as a pendulum motion operating across cosmic and racial timescales.
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The passage asserts the two opposed principles are 'one per se, inasmuch they are rooted in the Absolute,' making the ultimate oneness of all existence a central claim.
The 1 Enoch narrative in which a class of originally-good angelic beings (the Watchers) descends, mates with women, and teaches forbidden arts — the substrate that Gnostic archons inherits and inverts: archons are born malevolent, the Watchers fall through transgression.
The passage narrates the 'seven rectors' rebellion and fall, the 'rebellion and Fall of the Angels,' and the Titans who 'rebelled against Kronos' — all variants of the Watchers descent narrative.