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Transcendental Magic II: The Ritual (Éliphas Lévi) · 113 of 123 · tr. A.E. Waite

22. The Book Of Hermes-f

חBalance, attraction and repulsion, life, terror, promise and threat. Hieroglyph, JUSTICE with sword and balance. ט Good, horror of evil, morality, wisdom. Hieroglyph, a sage leaning on his staff, holding a lamp in front of him and enveloped completely in his cloak. The inscription is THE HERMIT or CAPUCHIN, on account of the hood of his oriental cloak. His true name, however, is PRUDENCE, and he thus completes the four cardinal virtues which seemed imperfect to Court de Gebelin and Etteilla. יPrinciple, manifestation, praise, manly honour, phallus, virile fecundity, paternal sceptre. Hieroglyph, THE WHEEL Of FORTUNE, that is to say, the cosmogonical wheel of Ezekiel, with a Hermanubis ascending on the right, a Typhon descending on the left and a sphinx in equilibrium above, holding a sword between his lion's claws -an admirable symbol, disfigured by Etteilla, who replaced Typhon by a wolf, Her-manubis by a mouse, and the sphinx by an ape, an allegory characteristic of Etteilla's Kabalah. כThe hand in the act of grasping and holding. Hieroglyph, STRENGTH, a woman crowned with the vital [infinity sign] closes, quietly and without effort, the jaws of a raging lion. לExample, instruction, public teaching. Symbol, a man hanging by one foot, with his hands bound behind his back, so that his body makes a triangle, apex downwards, and his legs a cross above the triangle. The gallows is in the form of a Hebrew TAU, and the two uprights are trees, from each of which six branches have been lopped. We have explained already this symbol of sacrifice and the finished work. מThe heaven of Jupiter and Mars, domination and force, new birth, creation and destruction. Hieroglyph, DEATH, reaping crowned heads in a meadow where men are growing. נThe heaven of the Sun, climates, seasons, motion, changes of life, which is ever new yet ever the same. Hieroglyph, TEMPERANCE, an angel with the sign of the sun upon her forehead, and on the breast the square and triangle of the septenary, pours from one chalice into another the two essences which compose the Elixir of Life. סThe heaven of Mercury, occult science, Magic, commerce, eloquence, mystery, moral force. Hieroglyph, THE DEVIL, the Goat of Mendes, or the Baphomet of the Temple, with all his pantheistic attributes. This is the only hieroglyph which was properly understood and interpreted correctly by Etteilla. עThe heaven of the Moon, alterations, subversions, changes, failings. Hieroglyph, a TOWER struck by lightning, probably that of Babel. Two persons, doubtless Nimrod and his false Prophet or minister, are precipitated from the summit of the ruins. One of the personages in his fall reproduces perfectly the letter Ayin. פHeaven of the soul, outpourings of thought, moral influence of idea on form, immortality. Hieroglyph, the BLAZING STAR and eternal youth. We have described this symbol previously. צThe elements, the visible world, reflected light, material forms, symbolism. Hieroglyph, the MOON, dew, a crab rising in the water towards land, a dog and wolf barking at the moon and chained to the base of two towers, a path lost in the horizon and sprinkled with blood. קComposites, the head, apex, prince of heaven. Hieroglyph, a radiant SUN and two naked children, taking hands in a fortified enclosure.
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Themes
Alchemical Workpraxis

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.

Explicit references to the 'Elixir of Life' and Temperance pouring essences indicate alchemical transformation processes.

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Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

Divine forces are depicted through human and animal forms such as 'Angel', 'Woman', 'Man', and the 'Goat of Mendes'.

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Correspondencecosmology

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 systematically links Hebrew letters, Tarot hieroglyphs, planetary heavens, and virtues, embodying the Hermetic axiom that cosmic structures reflect one another.

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Letter Meditationpraxis

Contemplative practice focused on Hebrew letters as cosmic symbols or gates of divine power.

The text serves as a guide for contemplating Hebrew letters as cosmic symbols and gates of power.

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Letters Of Creationcosmology

The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence.

The text is structured around Hebrew letters (Chet, Tet, Yod, etc.) described as principles of manifestation and creation.

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Related passages · 13 parallels
jewish_mysticism|Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation)|Section 1d
Resh, predominant in peace, crowned, combined, and formed Saturn in the Universe, the sixth day of the week, and the left nostril in man. Tau, predominant in beauty, crowned, combined and formed Jupiter in the Universe, the seventh day in…”
Shared concept: Letters Of Creation — The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence. (derived)
jewish_mysticism|Sefer Yetzirah (The Book of Formation)|Section 1a
Wescott, tr. (1887) CHAPTER 1 1. In two and thirty most occult and wonderful paths of wisdom did JAH the Lord of Hosts engrave his name: God of the armies of Israel, ever-living God, merciful and gracious, sublime, dwelling on high, who i…”
Shared concept: Letters Of Creation — The twenty-two Hebrew letters as the building blocks through which God creates and sustains all existence. (derived)
platonism|Plato: Timaeus|Section 1ad
That which yields has a small base; but that which rests on quadrangular bases is firmly posed and belongs to the class which offers the greatest resistance; so too does that which is the most compact and therefore most repellent. The natu…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — 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. (derived)
hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 11: The Hymn|Section 1b
It <i.e., Soul> fills it <i.e., the Body of the Cosmos> from within, and from without encircles it, making the All to live. Without, this vast and perfect Life [encircles] Cosmos; within, it fills [it with] all lives; above, in Heaven, con…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — 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. (derived)
theosophy|The Secret Doctrine|Page 10 (part 2)
The whole Kosmos in its objective form is Vaikhari-Vach , the light of the Logos is the Madhyama form, and the Logos itself the Pasyanti form, and Parabrahm the Para form or aspect of that Vach. It is by the light of this explanation that…”
Shared concept: Correspondence — 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. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|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…”
Shared concept: 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. (derived)
platonism|Plato: Phaedrus|Section 1r
But he whose initiation is recent, and who has been the spectator of many glories in the other world, is amazed when he sees any one having a godlike face or form, which is the expression of divine beauty; and at first a shudder runs throug…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 9, Section 1c
For just as, supposing we were in thought to represent the soul itself in bodily shape, and represent this indivisible substance as surrounded by bodily parts, we should, in such a case, give the surrounding parts a different meaning suited…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XIV
Concerning another kind of divination, also, you say as follows: “ Others who are conscious what they are doing in other respects, are divinely inspired according to the phantastic part, some indeed receiving darkness for a cooperator, othe…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|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…”
Shared concept: 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. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|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…”
Shared concept: Anthropomorphism — Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery. (derived)
jewish_mysticism|The Book of Concealed Mystery (Siphra Dtzenioutha)|1f
[The letters of the Hebrew alphabet are divided into three classes, the three mothers as they are called, AMSh; the seven duplex letters, BGDKPRTh, so called because they are sometimes tenues and sometimes aspirates, according to whether th…”
Shared concept: Letter Meditation — Contemplative practice focused on Hebrew letters as cosmic symbols or gates of divine power. (derived)
jewish_mysticism|The Kabbalah Unveiled|Introduction, Section 1j
(Here a reason is adduced from the proposed text itself, showing how the last letter of this form of the Tetragrammaton, namely, I, Yod , may be said to symbolize the bride, since p. 57 [paragraph continues] God himself might behold in tha…”
Shared concept: Letter Meditation — Contemplative practice focused on Hebrew letters as cosmic symbols or gates of divine power. (derived)